Fans of Nollywood actress, Tana Adelana have continued to heap praises on her for her role in Kunle Afolayan’s latest Netflix movie, Ijogbon.
The actress, who played Mama Oby in the Netflix Original, has captured the hearts of many fans and critics alike with her exceptional performance in the movie.
Adelana, once again, proved her ability and versatility in Ijogbon having spoken three different languages.
Her social media page is abuzz with accolades with fans hailing her professionalism.
“The quick switch between languages and expressions was everything for me,” a fan wrote.
“You did a very good job in Ijogbon. Loved how you interpreted your roles perfectly and it seemed so real. I must go back and rewatch,” another fan said in a separate post.
In response she wrote, “it is a good day to take my flowers. A big thank you for the reviews and kind words.
Popular music act Don Crucifixto is back with a captivating tribute to remarkable women in his latest release, ‘Summer Time.’
The song, which is produced by Joey Benks of Savage Music, extols the virtues of extraordinary women and their infectious qualities.
In ‘Summer Time,’ Don Crucifixto takes a moment to celebrate women who embody the spirit of fun, adventure, and excitement.
The song likens spending time with such women to the essence of summer, where every moment is filled with warmth, joy, and unforgettable experiences. With its catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics, “Summer Time” is not just a song; it’s an ode to the vivacious women who make life brighter.
Oluwatosin ‘Orisha’ Adesanya, the Head of PR, Media and Strategy at Savage Music, commented on the synergy between Don Crucifixto and Joey Benks, stating, “The partnership between Don Crucifixto and Joey Benks has always been a formula for success. Their creative connection has produced hit after hit, and ‘Summer Time’ is no exception. This song is a testament to their musical chemistry.”
Awofeso Jeremiah Ebunoluwatobi, Don Crucifixto’s assistant manager, added, “With ‘Summer Time,’ Don Crucifixto continues to showcase his ability to create music that resonates with the soul. This song is not just a celebration of women; it’s a celebration of life and joy.”
Sensational singer, Biola Yakubu has attained new heights amongst his peers with the wide acceptance of his gospel tune, ‘Victory.’
Critics averred that the gospel music genre has been blessed with the song, which is described as a timeless classic which will surely leave an indelible mark on the hearts of scores of fans, listeners and fans alike for generations.
From the very first notes, the song exudes a powerful sense of joy and triumph. The song’s lively tempo, infectious rhythm, and spirited instrumentation create an atmosphere of celebration and praise.
Biola Yakubu’s vocals are both soulful and commanding, resonating with a sense of conviction that is genuinely inspiring.
Lyrically, the gospel song is a declaration of faith and victory in the face of life’s challenges. The lyrics speak of unwavering trust in the divine and the assurance that, through faith, we can overcome any obstacle.
The song’s message of hope and resilience is delivered with sincerity and fervour, making it a source of solace and encouragement for all who listen.
Biola Yakubu’s rendition of this gospel classic is nothing short of remarkable, and his passion for sharing his message of faith and victory is palpable in every note.
Leading art fair in West Africa, ART X Lagos, has introduced a new programme ART X Cinema for this year’s event.
The fair, themed ‘The Dialogue,’ is scheduled between November 2, 2023 and November 5, 2023 at the Federal Palace, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the organisers, the new section was created to showcase and support emerging and established filmmakers from the continent and diaspora.
The special segment will premiere with a screening program of artists’ films and documentaries, inspired by African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. It will feature artists including Binelde Hyrcan, Onyeka Igwe, Ibrahim Mahama, Betelhem Makonnen, Zen Marie, Fatimah Tuggar and others.
Founder and CEO of ART X Collective, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig said the eighth edition of the event is inspired to contribute to shaping society.
“2023 has brought with it an exacerbation of the challenges experienced in recent years across Nigeria and Africa, and in this pivotal year, we recognise that ART X Lagos’ evolving role as a gathering place for our community is all the more crucial,” she said.
Peterside-Schwebig added: “Our vision for the fair this year, presented through ‘The Dialogue’, will feature artists, both past and present, whose story forms based on folklore and tales by moonlight, graphic stories, film shorts and essays, produce nuanced portrayals of real and imagined places and people, and respond to, and subsequently navigate through, socio-political circumstances in Nigerian, pan-African and Diasporan histories.”
Emeka Erem is not a popular name but at the mention of Ajebo or Tegwolo, you would have both kids and adults laughing non stop. Erem aka Ajebo started his career as a radio presenter as well as a standup comedian but decided to test the waters with animation with special affinity for kids. On YouTube, he created a cartoon character, Tegwolo, whose naughty antics as a Warri kid is always up to some mischief.
The animation has gotten so popular that it has been cited as a means of teaching Nigerian children abroad and even foreigners how to speak pidgin English while Ajebo the comedian has taken a back seat. Ajebo speaks with The Nation Assistant Entertainment Editor, GBENGA BADA in this interview about his career trajectory, his positive influence on African children and more.
Hare some insights into the man Emeka Erem otherwise known as Ajebo
I am Emeka Erem but known by many as Ajebo. I have been on the radio for about 10 years.
I was a radio presenter. I started in Enugu when I was at the university’s Lion FM, UNN. I worked at Rhythm FM, Awka. When I graduated and came back to Lagos, I worked at Naija FM for five years. So somehow, it felt like we are not taking advantage of the media. But now, I just thought this is time to let the world know what I have been doing. After COVID, the digital space started to thrive. The character, Tegwolo, after COVID-19 lockdown, boomed a lot. First of all, we hit 1 million subscribers. As I am talking to you now We are about to hit 2 million subscribers on YouTube. In 2021, we were number one on the top 10 list of Top 10 breakout content creators of the year. In 2022, we are still on the top 10 list You know. And we have won several awards with the Tegwolo series. It won the Humor Award 2021, 2022 And the just concluded Nigerian
Comedy Awards put together by Wale Adenuga Productions. We won the Animation Comedy Brand of the Year.
Now that you have mentioned the Kiddies character Tegwolo, tell us more about it
So basically we’ve been doing great stuff and it’s globally recognized. As a matter of fact, we have audiences across the world because it’s YouTube. It’s the most popular cartoon brand in Africa And we are telling the African story. If you watch it, as long as you grew up in Nigeria or in Africa you can relate. It’s about a boy growing up on the streets with an African mom. You
know how African moms are with all their rules like not eating in people’s houses. It’s about growing up with an African mother and all the mischief that the small boys would do. A lot of people can relate once they watch it, so the whole of Africa accepted it. It’s big in Ghana, it’s big in Sierra Leone, it’s big in South Africa, It’s big in the UK, and in the US. And you know, there are back-end numbers to show for this. So what I decided to do was; at House of Ajebo, we are the king of animation comedy in Africa. Let’s talk about it. Let’s show the world. The internet can be very tricky. Because it’s online, you don’t need to come out to show everybody, so we don’t really blow our trumpets.
A lot of people love Tegwolo. A lot of people love Ajebo but they don’t even know that it’s the same person. So, people don’t know that it’s the same person Right? Now, what the Tegwolo brand did for me was, it showed me that children really want to hear the
African story What resonates with them Right? Because Every child can relate. The boy is dressing like a street kid. The boy is speaking pidgin. He called Tegwolo, Champion of
Warri, so he is exporting our culture and we get a lot of feedback from ajebota children in the UK, and the US. People say this is the closest touch of home their children have because once their children start to watch it, their children start to speak a little pidgin. So we want to let the world know that House of Ajebo is taking its place in the children’s space right now. We are about to launch a new brand which will launch on the 1st of November. Now what we are doing is, now we know that these children, we have the animation. We have taken our place as number one in the animation space in Africa, so we are like let’s give something that the next four generations of African children will talk about. So we are delving into learning and entertainment. House of Ajebo and the great things we’ve accomplished about Ajebo being the king of cartoons in Africa, the numbers are there, we do like 6 to 10 million views monthly on House of Ajebo, right? So we’re trying to create a background that will prepare the state for the long November 1. We want people to know, okay this is House of Ajebo, this is the person that has been doing all these great things. This is the take one, not that you all love, but because it’s Katsun you don’t get to see his face.
Animation in Nigeria is capital-intensive and less financially rewarding. How have you been able to sustain it?
I started House of Ajebo in 2013. I broke even in 2021. So for those years, I was just making the skits for the love of it. The day I have money, I will make and post. It trended about a year after
I posted the first video. It was after the lockdown that it started to pick up. I had even started giving up on it. I didn’t have the money to do it. After the lockdown, it was like this is the only thing I can do from home. There were No shows. And then we started afresh and we became very consistent. In one year, between 2020 and 2021, we moved from 120, 000 subscribers to
one million subscribers. Meanwhile, I had been doing it since 2013. As a matter of fact, my first Tegwolo skit was in 2016 but it was not consistent.
How did you manage to pull the Tegwolo character despite not being from Warri?
A lot of people will see me commend my pidgin. You know how comedy became popular when everybody wanted to centre their comedy around Warri. Everybody wanted to speak Warri Pidgin.
But first of all, Tegwolo is my story. I was stubborn as a child. I was a prayer point for my mother. I was a third child but I was that child that anything I watched I must replicate it. And I liked Jackie Chan a lot so if he kicks somebody’s stomach in a movie, I kick somebody in school the next day. The fact that I did not jump off as Superman from a building is because I didn’t see a high building to jump off from. I was very stubborn. I was a smart kid but I was stubborn. My knees were always dirty from being punished. I just like to do what I see in movies. So most of the things you see Tegwolo do are my personal stories. But to sell it at the time, It was easier to model it after a Warri character because they were stubborn people. As for his long head, I had a classmate we used to call bicycle seat head. Of course, I exaggerated it in the cartoon.
You achieved a lot without making noise about it. Why are you coming out now?
You know, because of social media, any information you post on your page goes out there. As somebody who has experienced media and PR, I did not put enough focus on my achievement. I
was building the Tegwolo brand, but now, we are expanding and we are about to launch Something new. It’s like we are going higher.
How many views do you garner and how does it translate to money?
I have a subscriber base of 1 .9 million but what converts to money is actually watching the videos. Not just your subscribers, but the views. You can have fewer subscribers but have people who just want to watch and go. What happened was, over the years, we snowballed into a proper animation company. So, I have a team of animators who go to Nigeria outside of Nigeria. All
I do is to make sure that every month, at least four episodes must go up on YouTube. So, it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of expenses but then, the show must go on. But what has happened now is that Tegwolo was created as a cartoon brand. It’s a cartoon series, but children started latching on. So now we are saying there is a vacuum somewhere. Children do not have enough of African
content. Don’t forget, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. If somebody is creating cartoons from abroad, they will do it according to their own mindset, their culture, their biases. Do you know that cartoons have now started adopting modern-day family dynamics? Those foreign dynamics are now being infused.
We can either keep quiet or do something. I have three daughters now; 4, 2 years and 8 months. So I’m actively involved in what they are watching. I’m like, okay, let me create something for this generation that they can grow with that is healthy and is informative. When we were growing up, the only child star that I remember at that time was Benita Okojie. Kids these days, there is nobody that they can role model after. That is where we are coming in. We are saying, and we’re not even trying to be religious. We are singing values, kindness, and happiness. You are beautiful the way you are, giving, respect, and love for family. It is what you expose to these children at this time that they grow up to manifest. So it was kind of a push for me to produce something that my children can relate with. And they are my first audience. We are addressing a lot of issues that can dent the destinies of children using music. And most importantly, it’s coming in Afrobeats.
How do you create the characters for your cartoon?
I studied Mass Communication for my first and second degrees. In my second year, I was already doing stand-up comedy but I wanted to be unique. That was the era when Basketmouth
started doing skits. I told myself that I wanted to be able to do this. So I said it somewhere that I’m going to crack jokes using animation. That was the beginning of my journey. While I was still in school, I was also opportune to work up close with AY and I met an animator. That was how we produced our first sets of characters. I was the main character. But then after a while, we
wanted to do something more unique and Tegwolo came in 2016. But right now where we are, we are expanding to the point where we can be the Disney of Africa. That’s what we’re trying to do. There are several things that we have put out. We have worked on it.
As an animator, are you restricting yourself to YouTube?
We are not limiting ourselves, but for now, we are on YouTube. It is better to do it on YouTube. No pressure. That’s why I said that technology created a disruption. If you had to do it on TV, we probably would have to buy airtime and look for sponsors. But with YouTube, we have the platform already. YouTube has about two billion active subscribers. The advert is already waiting for you. Just get attention on your brand. So that’s why we are starting with YouTube. You may even make more than you want to go and discuss with the cable channel When the time. When the time is right, you will see our movie. At the right time, with the right partnerships, with the right collaborations, you will see us on other platforms.
Where do you draw inspiration for your skits?
I have always been a creative. I have always loved to tell stories. I have always loved to tell stories. And basically, with my comedy background, I just wanted everything to be comedy. I resigned from radio in 2016 and became a full-time entrepreneur. So right now my children are inspiring me. If you take your eyes away for a second, one advert with adult content might just pop up, so I have to monitor them all the time. So they are my biggest inspiration right now. They are my first audience and I look at them and I say I will give you enough content to keep you going. It’s time we let children be children. That’s my slogan, because we are forcing a ‘Buga’ on our children. These are adult songs with no disrespect to the song. These are songs that are for adults. Allowed them to sing about what children should think about You know, and it’s a very huge vacuum in the entertainment space. Nobody is looking, talking about it, nobody is looking at it. I was one of the fortunate ones in my time. Because in my time, when everybody wanted to be Papa doctor or Papa lawyer, I said I wanted to be a comedian and I got the support of my parents. From the beginning, I wanted to be a
comedian.
Tell us about your fatherhood journey
So I think that something that has changed my life forever. I have three girls. Three adorable daughters. I work from home, so I am like a stay-at-home dad so they have access to me all the
time. I spend a lot of time with them. They want to be with me at all times. They want to argue when they come to me. Fatherhood has saddled me with a serious responsibility. I don't exactly go out to a lot of places that I want to go normally. I had very good parents who invested in me. So somehow I have that connection with them right and I’m intentional about every phase of their growth. I spend a lot of time with them. If they learn a new word, I know. That is how close I am with my girls. I am so close to them and you know they say I’m a great dad.
What’s next for House of Ajebo
Right now, we're going into the children’s educational learning and entertainment. We have realized that we don't have a lot of made-in-Nigeria or made-in-Africa content for children when it comes to learning. When we were little, we had Superman, Spider-Man and all that and our children are watching the same thing and they are shaping their mindset whether we believe it or not. Every cartoon we saw was white guys being superheroes, so somehow he gave us the impression that if we want to be great, we have to want to speak like them. We want our children to be comfortable in their skin, in their accent and learn values as Nigerians. Let them see us and admire us and want to be like us. That’s what is next.
Secondly, we’ve realized that people and if you go to children’s parties, you hear adult songs. When last did you go to a children’s party and from the beginning to the end they were
playing child-friendly songs? We are bridging that gap. We have created a library of over 200 songs that you can do a full children’s party for hours and play what children should be
listening to we'll reveal more as time goes on.
The songs on your playlist, are they all yours?
Yes, they are all part of the Ajebo collection. After the lockdown, while we were doing Tegwolo, we were creating nursery rhymes and key theme songs. We created those songs after the lockdown but somehow, Tegwolo took over. So we let Tegwolo play out it’s time well. Tegwolo showed us that children, African kids and the world are interested in our local content. Look at Wakanda, it's not our story. But the plot is African it’s one of the highest-grossing
movies of all time Look at Woman King. The world wants to see the African effect. But we who have the story are not doing anything about it. It's almost like neocolonialism all over again. So I always say this, we are out to tell the African story as it should be told.
After the Supreme Court delivered its landmark judgment in the appeals filed against the Presidential Election Petition Court verdict affirming President Bola Tinubu victory in the February 25, 2023 election, my mind immediately raced to former Vice President and PDP Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
What will now be Atiku’s next line of action, with the curtains now drawn on the 2023 election
The former vice president, more than 24 hours after the verdict, has not spoken about or officially reacted to it. What will he say when he eventually speaks? Is this the end of a battle for the exalted office spanning 30 years and which had seen Atiku contest six times unsuccessfully? Will Waziri Adamawa contest again in 2027 when he will be 81?
These are the issues that agitated my mind. In my view, the former vice president should properly examine his present situation and take the right decision. In arriving at his decision, Atiku needs to draw appropriate lessons from his political trajectory. And there are enough lessons from the political to legal and moral in the entire Atiku political saga.
First the political.
Atiku has struggled for the presidency for all of 30 years, since 1993. One top politician at one time labelled him the Raila Odinga of our time and not the Abraham Lincoln who contested various elective offices in the US many times, before eventually winning the presidency. Atiku came close to the presidency, in 2003 when then President Obasanjo, a wily old man, had to beg his deputy to get the PDP ticket only to return to descend heavily on him.
This last attempt at the presidency has been the most virulent and most expensive for Atiku. He contested the election on a broken political platform. First, his platform was weakened by a Group of 5 Governors called G5, who left the party on the cusp of the election, demanding the resignation of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as PDP Chairman. His platform was further weakened by the exit from the party of his ally and running mate in 2019, Mr. Peter Obi, who went to contest for the same 2023 election as the candidate of the Labour Party. One still wonders why Atiku for the sake of his lifelong ambition did not sacrifice Ayu before the election, allow him to step aside to keep the G-5 Governors in the party?
After losing the 2023 election to President Tinubu, Atiku embarked on perhaps the most expensive election petition in Nigeria’s history. He and his cohorts embarked on a voyage to the United States to authenticate Tinubu’s Chicago State University certificate, that the latter eminently earned in 1979. Atiku claimed Tinubu forged the certificate, but after the Chicago expedition, Atiku and his agents returned empty-handed. Atiku spent a fortune on U.S. lawyers. It would appear the lawyers sold him a dummy to cash out. They gave the impression that he could ride to the presidency on the back of an allegedly forged CSU certificate, despite warnings that the mission of discovery would boil down to nought. As the Justices of the apex court held, the matter of forgery was neither pleaded at the election tribunal nor any attempt made to amend the plea to include it.
There was no due diligence in the handling of the entire appeal and the original petition. Atiku filed 35 grounds at the Supreme Court on why President Tinubu’s election should be voided. He lost all. He claimed for instance that he won majority votes without adducing evidence on the superior votes he won.
The legal lesson: politicians should not allow lawyers to bind them into an electoral challenge that lacks a legal foundation, because when the chips are down the court will rule only on the basis of law.
The last point is on the conventional wisdom that when you try to beat a friend in a contest and hard as you try, you are not able to, it’s time to give up. My advice to Waziri Adamawa is that it’s time to quit the quest to be president.
The election petition filed by Atiku and the other filed by Mr. Obi of Labour Party which the apex court judges wasted no time in dismissing, have nonetheless served useful purposes. The court did justice to all the major issues brought before it on the points and merits of the law, which was why the judgment was widely applauded. Once again, the court has proven that it is one of the fundamental pillars of our democracy.
It is important to highlight a few of the issues the learned justices put to rest completely.
One, the apex court held that non- transmission of the results to IREV portal cannot invalidate the results as IREV is not a collation centre. The court held that what is important is the sanctity of the results from the polling units. It said the appellants did not demonstrate non-compliance or that the failure to transmit results to IREV portal affected the results of the election.
Two, Justice Okoro-led panel held that it is not mandatory for any candidate to win 25 percent in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to emerge president and that such is not a constitutional requirement for the valid return of a candidate as duly elected president.
Agreeing with the Presidential Election Petition Court or the lower court in the case, the court said if the framers of the constitution had wanted it that way they would have stated so specifically.
Three, the Supreme Court affirmed the 180-day limit for the hearing of election petition and dispensing with it. Election matters are time-bound and must be heard and concluded within the time allowed. The court further held that filing of additional evidence, not pleaded at the court of first instance, runs foul of the Electoral Act.
Indeed, Justice Okoro and his brother and sister Justices did a wonderful job for which posterity will remember them for good.
For President Tinubu, now that he has been handed a judicial clean bill, it’s time to concentrate on governance. This is not to say governance had suffered while the election cases lasted, but the cases were a distraction of sort. On that Thursday October 26 when the Supreme Court seven-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro delivered its verdict, President Tinubu listened to the judgment in his office after which he quickly went back to work.
But the unending flow of governors, both in APC and PDP, ministers and presidential aides to his office to congratulate him consumed part of the day’s schedule. He eventually retired home to continue work.
In his reaction to the judgement, the President affirmed that justice had been served and the validation of his election is a call to service and to more work.
“The victory of today has further energised and strengthened my commitment to continue to serve all Nigerians of all political persuasions, tribes or faiths with honlour and total respect for the diverse opinions uniting values of our citizens, ” he said.
●Rahman, former Thisday on Sunday Editor, is a Presidential Aide.
The creation of Israel in 1948 to usurp Palestine territory in the Middle-East was a grand scheme and conspiracy hatched by the Western power bloc comprising Britain and the United States of America (USA).
It was initiated by Britain, the colonial power in Palestine and supported by the US. Both countries yielded to the wish of a Jewish family called Rothschild, a stinking rich financial guru, who worked behind the curtain to make Israel a reality.
Thus Palestine became a puppet in an international chess game sacrificed by Britain to appease the whining Jews who were crying for a home state in the Middle-East. The Arabs had earlier shot themselves in the foot when they bought into the deception of a British statesman, Lawrence, popularly called Lawrence of the Arabs that made them to support Britain in the Eastern war against Turkey. Arabs’ support gave victory to Britain. To the surprise of the Arabs, Britain back-pedaled on the promise given to them that Palestine would be granted independence after winning the war against the Turks.
Unknown to the Arabs, Britain had another agenda that was hostile and injurious to their interest. That was the beginning of the debacle that is fueling the war of destruction in the Gaza Strip and probably West Bank.
At the inception of the resolve of the Jews to take over Palestine, Britain allowed them to hit Arab Palestine with unprecedented terrorist activities that unleashed mayhem on Jerusalem.
Hamas, tagged a terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank occupied territory of Arabs called Palestine, had a few days ago rained missiles on Jews without any provocation. Hamas who are fighting for the freedom for Palestine, in their destructive attack on Israel killed more than 1,000 Jews and kidnapped many Israelis, holding some hostage.
Israel too did not stand with arms akimbo. Its armed forces retaliated with showers of missiles raining deaths on the Arabs.
The international community was alarmed as it is feared that if this mutual destruction of the Jews and Arabs is not stopped, and quickly too, it could become the World War III which a French seer, Nostradamus had predicted would start in the Middle-East. The great seer had predicted the two World Wars and 9-11 in the US.
There is, therefore, palpable fear in the air that the World War III is on the way. What with Israel now a recognised state, occupying Arab Palestine land in 1948.
The emergence of the Jewish people now called Israel was in the area earlier known as Palestine. The area was under the control of Britain. The urge to win World War I that started in 1914 and ended in 1918 made Britain betray the Arab people whom the British authorities had earlier promised to grant independence for supporting Britain to defeat the Turks in a war called the Eastern war.
A Briton called T.E. Lawrence or better known as Lawrence of Arabia had convinced the Arabs to support Britain against the Turks.
In return, he promised them that Britain, as the colonial master that controlled Palestine, would grant it independence and had the state over to the Arabs. That promise was not fulfilled by Lawrence; thus leaving the Arabs regretting enabling Britain to defeat Turkey.
The Britons had in the thick of World War I decided to lure the United States into the war and they also needed the support of Jews who were living in the US. It is on record that there were about five million Jews in the US and more than 25 percent of them were living in New York.
They had influence. These were the powerful group of Jews who were financed and guarded by a financial guru Jew name Rothschild to launch Zionism.
The role that Victor Rothschild who had a telling influence on Lawrence manipulated him to jettison his promise to ensure that Palestine would be granted independence under Arab control. Britain turned Palestine into a gift toy to appease the Jews and left the Arabs panting for breath. The Balfour Declaration that gave Palestine to the Jews was never announced in the House of Commons. Arthur Balfour was the Foreign Secretary under the Lloyd George government during the war. It was a letter written by Balfour to Walter Rothschild, who was a representative of the English Federation of Zionists. The body was set up to prosecute the political cause that latter made Israel a reality in the land earlier called Palestine. In other words Zionism was never a religious movement, but rather a political machine that fought the cause of Jews and gave them a state in the Middle-East.
More than 20 years after, the private letter written by the British Foreign Secretary to Victor Rothschild was to become the instrument that led to the declaration and what could be called creation of Israel in 1948. The Balfour Declaration was, however, later called the Milner Declaration as it was drafted by Milner, who was the declaration drafter and its chief supporter in the War cabinet. Lord Rothschild bankrolled the movement to make Israel happen in the Middle-East. With the firm grip of Rothschild family on the government of Britain, the Arabs or Palestinians no longer had a say in the fate of their land.
Those who were quoting the Bible to justify the claim of Jews in Palestine conveniently forget that the Arabs too also have a portion of the Quran that they usually quote to rationalise their claim on Palestine.
Lloyd George who was Prime Minister of Britain on an occasion betrayed his support for the Jews in public when he lauded the brilliance, commitment and doggedness that qualified the Jews, in his estimation to have a right to the Palestine as he poured contempt on the Arabs. George said the Arabs were too stupid and foolish to make anything good out of Palestine if it was ceded to them.
Zionism, without any intent to malign members, promoters and its financier, was a terrorist organisation that was out to remove any hurdle or obstacle on the path to the creation of Israel. It was a foremost instrument of terror against those who were opposed to the realisation of its objectives.
Towards the end of World War II, Britain, a leader in the Allied Group that included the US was actively sponsoring the return of Jews especially those who survived the Holocaust in Germany and many of those who had escaped the war to the US to Israel.
In Jerusalem, there was a guest house, Presidential Hotel. The British government as the colonial master of Palestine provided a safe haven for Jews who were passed through Britain to Palestine and gave them accommodation. Presidential Hotel was used as a transit camp for the returnees.
With Mossad, Israel’s Secret Service on ground, under the control of Golda Meir, thousands of Jews, from Germany and the United States swelled the population of Jews in Palestine.
With the hardware of Britain and, of course, the US, the war that later broke out between Arabs and the Jews was an easy ride to victory by the Jews. The support of the US, Britain and other the Allied Forces was more than enough to ensure the Jews’ victory in subsequent war in the Middle-East.
With the availability of weapons of mass destruction in the possession of many nations, as well as the highhandedness of the Jews, the world appears to be on the precipice of self destruction.
The United Nations should persuade the warriors on both sides of the divide to accept the two-state policy. That is, the Jews should allow the establishment of a Palestine state side by side with Israel. This is the path to prevent the manifestation of Nostradamus prediction.
Mr. Jacob Etim, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State and commercial motorcyclist was determined to ensure that his children obtain quality education because he himself did not have the opportunity for same because of the circumstances of his birth and his environment. Unfortunately, he lost his only son in very bizarre circumstances, reports SUNNY NWANKWO.
Like many other poor Nigerian families, the parents of Mr. Jacob Etim, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, could not muster the funds to train him in school. Born into a large family, Etim hadn’t the luxury of joining other children of his age to play or while away time in the village as he was always busy helping his parents with farm work to ensure that there was food on the family’s table.
Having waited and got tired of watching his parents suffer, Etim decided to leave his family house in Akwa Ibom for the commercial city of Aba in neighbouring Abia State to face whatever challenge life would throw at him.
His mission in Aba was to come see how God could help him fend for himself and also ensure that his parents in the village got some stipends every month from his little savings.
Shortly after arriving Aba in 2008, Etim decided to learn furniture making; a skill that he anticipated would help him to grow his business to compete favourably with other brands in the market, using his little savings as a start-off.
In 2016, as part of his desire to have a helpmate and begin raising his own children, Etim used part of the little money that he was able to save from his furniture business to marry his beautiful wife, Onyekachi, in 2016. Mercifully, the marriage produced two beautiful children, a girl and a boy.
In 2018, the furniture workshop closed down despite his efforts to rejuvenate his business. Rather than stay idle, Etim was able to raise some money to buy a motorcycle which he used for commercial transportation to ensure that he not only put food on the family’s table but also meet the children’s academic needs and upkeep.
Penultimate Tuesday, Etim, like every other member of the household at their No. 2 Ugwumba Street residence in Aba South Local Government Area, woke up hoping that the day would bring good fortunes only for cruel fate to greet him with the sad news of the death of David, his only son.
If the death of David was shocking, the circumstances made it even more so, as he was said to have fallen to death from a three-storey building that housed his classroom. Not surprisingly, David’s has thrown up several questions that would take prudent investigation by the Abia State Police Command to unravel; the most pungent being why a teacher or class assistant would leave their toddler pupils in a three storey building without thinking of possible consequences.
Since the news of the death of the two-and-a-half-year-old baby broke, Abians and indeed Nigerians have been asking whether the teacher actually left him and other children to buy snacks and why the management of the school would keep pupils of that age in a three-storey building without thinking of possible dangers or threats to their lives.
Father’s account
“On Tuesday, October 17, I drove my two children to their school, Emerald International Academy, at N0. 20 Crystal Park, off Port Harcourt Road, Aba South Local Government Area, Abia State.
“On getting to the school, I made attempt to take the children inside but one of their teachers called me back to ask if I had paid their school fees. They said that they were on school fees drive and had been instructed not to allow any child entry into the school or their classrooms if they had not paid their school and other necessary fees.
“I didn’t have such money because I didn’t make any budget for such expenses. But because I didn’t want my children to be at home when other children were in school, I rallied round to ensure that I got money to pay their fees before they allowed them to go to their classes.
“Their school dismisses at 3 O’clock, and by 3:20 pm, I was in the school to pick my children. On getting to the school, I saw my daughter but didn’t see the brother, David. The sister told me that her brother fell from the building, but I didn’t understand what she was saying until a much older student that should be about 11-12 years came to explain to me.
“According to the boy, they were the people that first got to the scene to pick my child up from the floor and raised the alarm before some of the teachers came to collect him from them and rushed him to the hospital. From their account, blood was gushing out of my son’s nose and mouth when the teachers rushed to the hospital.
“I rushed to John Okorie Memorial Hospital, behind the Emerald School, where they said that my son was taken to. When I got to the hospital, I saw some nurses and the teacher who looks after them until parents came to collect their children.
“I saw my child lying on the floor and surrounded by the nurses as well as the teacher and some others who were crying.
“I asked what was happening, and the teacher told me that after the school dismissed, she went to buy snacks and returned to witness what had happened. The question is why would the teacher leave the children in such a high rise building to go and buy snacks as she wants us to believe, and leave the children in the hands of no adult?
“Usually, what happens is that when the school dismisses, the children are kept at the school’s security post where the security man looks after them until their parents come to pick them up. But what happened that day is what I don’t know.
“How can a teacher leave the children to go and buy snacks? Can’t she take the children to the security post before going to buy the snacks that she claimed she went to buy?
“At that point, when it was obvious that my son was dead, I didn’t know what else to do than to go to Ndiegoro Police Division (Cameron Barracks) to make an entry. It was after the entry that I went with the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) 3 to deposit the body of my boy at the mortuary.
“As we speak, the boy comes to me in dreams every day to ask that I should come and take him away from the mortuary. The sad thing is that until this time that we are talking, the management of the school is yet to reach out to us; not even to send a condolence message.
“That is heartless and insensitive of a school as big as Emerald International School.
“The next day, I was told that we were going to the State CID. When we got there, they said that the paper was not properly documented; that we should go back and properly document the papers. That is where we are.
“I want the government to come to my aid. A child is not owned by one person. My son who has a bright future just died because of the negligence of the teacher. I simply want justice for my son, David.
Mother’s account
“I am Mrs. Onyekachi Jacob, the mother of David Jacob.
“On Tuesday, October 17, I dressed my children up for school only for my husband to tell me that they (Emerald International School) said that our children would not be allowed into their classes unless we paid their school fees for the term.
“We did as we were told. We rallied round to pay their school fees the same day before they allowed them entry into their classes.
“While I was in my shop, something pushed me to start going to their school. What I had in mind was to bring them back from school. But to my greatest shock, what I met there has until date kept me traumatised.
“How do I explain to people that my son, David Chikamso Jacob, who went to school with his sister, Blessing, is dead?
“When I got to their school, it was Blessing that told me that her brother, David, fell from the last floor and crash landed. When I came into the school compound, even the gate man did not tell me what had happened. It was my daughter that held me by the hand and led me to the spot where her brother’s blood stained the floor.
“While I was still trying to know if what the elder sister said was true or not, another pupil in the school came and directed me to the hospital where my son was taken to. I went to the hospital to meet the corpse of my son who left home hale and hearty.
“At the hospital, no one was able to tell me how my only son died. I have been left shattered since the incident. I am pained and traumatised that a child I carried for nine months, a child that will always read my mind and knows how to act to lift my heart when I am not happy.
“He may be two-years-six months old, but he acts beyond children of his age. Why would the carelessness of a teacher end the journey of a bright son like Chikamso as I fondly called him?
“It has been my husband and I that have been running around since this incident. The teachers and school management have kept quiet. The school is on and no one cares. They have been acting as if nothing happened. Maybe they are doing all these because we don’t have the money to fight for justice.
“There was no adequate protection for the safety of the children in the school. The said teacher was careless and that was what resulted in the death of my son.
“My son is my blood and I will not just want this to go without my son getting justice.
“My son died not just a premature but a painful death, and the school is not perturbed. There is no atom of remorse from the school. No phone call from the school or the teacher. Nobody among them has cared to visit the family over the incident.
“Sometimes, if I went to the school and they have not dismissed, I do go to their class to pick them. If they had dismissed, they normally leave them with the gate man who I pick them from at the school gate. Why did their classroom teacher leave the children at the upstairs instead of keeping them with the school’s gateman as she used to do?
“From indications, Chikamso hit his head on the floor which caused his death. He has internal bleeding. I was told that, they tried placing him on oxygen, but instead of the air passing through, it was causing him internal bleeding.
“I am begging government for assistance. They should help us get justice for our son.”
School’s position
When contacted on the phone, one Peter Nwoke, who claimed to be one of the owners of the school, told our correspondent that the accounts of the parents to the late David were false and do not represent the true account of the death of their child.
This is even as Nwoke, who disclosed that he was at the State CID office in Umahia at the time of filing this report, affirmed that David was a pupil in their school.
The Commissioner of Education in the state, Prof. Uche Eme, told our correspondent that at the time of inquiry on the incident from her office, she was in a meeting.
The Education Commissioner said on the phone: “I have seen your text. In a case like this, there will be investigation.”
Contacted by our correspondent, the Public Relations Officer of the Abia State Police Command, Maureen Chinaka, said: “On the evening of October 17, 2023, at approximately 2000hrs, Mr. Jacob Etim Udo, residing at Ugwumba Street, Aba, accompanied by two individuals, arrived at the Ndiegoro Divisional Headquarters with the heartbreaking news of his son David’s tragic accident.
“David, a pupil of Emerald International School located by Crystal Park Road, Aba, was reported to have fallen from a school building, leading to his untimely demise.
“David was swiftly rushed to the hospital, but despite the best efforts of medical personnel, he tragically succumbed to his injuries.
“The child’s body has been recovered and placed for autopsy as part of our ongoing investigation.
“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for a comprehensive and discreet inquiry to unravel the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident.
“We understand the concerns and emotions that this incident has stirred within the community. We want to assure the public that a meticulous investigation is underway to uncover the truth.
“We urge everyone to remain calm and patient as we conduct this inquiry.
“The authorities are committed to a transparent and thorough examination of the facts, and we will keep the public informed of significant developments.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to Mr. Jacob Etim Udo and his family during this profoundly difficult time.
“We request the public’s cooperation and understanding while the investigation progresses.
“Rest assured we are dedicated to ensuring justice and will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of the truth.”
Minna neighbourhood residents recall ugly experience with suspected terrorist, security agents exchange of gunfire
150 AK47 rifles, 20 rocket propellers, 3,000 live ammunition recovered from suspect’s house
Residents seek compensation for damaged homes
Residents of Kolobe Unguwar, a community in Gbeganu part of Minna, Niger State capital, shuddered in the quietness of their rooms as gunshots boomed for about three hours on Monday. According to residents, the gunshots, which began at about11.30 pm and lasted till about 2.30 am on Tuesday, was heralded by an explosion which turned out the first in the series of explosions that followed.
Some residents who spoke with The Nation said there were three explosions within the space of every 20 to 30 minutes, accompanied with gunshots in an exchange of gunfire between a suspected terrorist and some men of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Army.
It was gathered that a suspected terrorist that had been on the watch list of security operatives started the shooting when he noticed the movement of the security operatives through the CCTV cameras he installed in his house. The suspect, who was said to have been on the watch list of security operatives, reportedly bought the house and moved in about two years ago. He was said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down a part of the fence of his house through which he escaped while his wife and children were arrested by security operatives.
The suspect was reported to have started firing gunshots when he noticed the arrival of security operatives through the CCTV cameras he installed in his house. He was also said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down some part of his house to facilitate his escape, leaving his family members behind.
Security operatives were then said to have taken away seven members of the suspected terrorist’s family. But it could not be ascertained at press time if the family members were in the custody of security agents in Minna or had been taken outside the state.
A night guard in one of the neighbourhood houses, Mubarak Abubakar, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet and was receiving treatment at the emergency unit of the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna. A top security source disclosed that 150 AK 47 rifles, 20 rocket propellers, and 3,000 live ammunitions were recovered from the residence of the terrorist.”
It was gathered that agents had been monitoring the activities of the terrorist, who is said to be an indigene of Kogi State, and had discovered that he was piling up dangerous weapons in the house.
“When the terrorist discovered that he was being overpowered by the security operatives, he brought down the back fence of his building and escaped through the bush path into an adjoining forest around Bosso area of the state,” a security source disclosed.
Some residents who recalled their experience with the frightening incident said that they had never witnessed anything like that in their lives, with some saying they thought the world was coming to an end during the long hours during the gun battle and explosions lasted.
Emmanuel Ikeji and other neighbours whose apartment are located opposite the house of the suspected terrorist, bore the majority of the damages caused by the explosion suspected to have been caused by the rocket launcher and other explosive elements.
Ikeji, who has lived in the area for three years, said: “At about 11.30 pm on the 23rd, I was inside my house when I heard some people shouting. The next thing I heard was the exchange of gunfire until around 2.30 am.
“By 3 am, we heard an explosion followed by shootings, then another explosion followed by some shootings also. The explosions occurred three times.
“We could not come out because we did not know where the bullets were coming from or who was behind the explosions. The shootings were also too much.
“The explosions caused our windows to break while the ceilings began to fall off. The walls in our rooms were cracking open. The impact was too much.”
I forgot my baby out of fear, says neighbour
Maryam Mohammed, whose window is directly beside the house of the suspected terrorist, said she was made to leave her baby inside the house while she and the other children were brought outside for the security operatives to search her house to ensure that the suspect was not hiding there.
She said: “I was inside the house sleeping when I heard shootings and movements. I woke up and found that all my windows were broken.
“Scared and not knowing what to do, I took my children to the other room, and we sat on the ground there.
“Later, we heard the security people knocking and shouting that I should open the gate, but I didn’t because I was scared. So they broke down my gate.
“When they got to my door, they shouted that if I did not open it, they would shoot us down, so I opened it.
“They asked about my husband and I told them my husband was late. They asked who was with me in the house and I said only my children and I.
“They told me to put my hand on my head and I obeyed. They then took me outside and made me to sit there with my children.
“I forgot my baby inside but I was not allowed inside the house despite my pleas that my baby was inside. That was how I left my baby inside while they began their search.
“They checked the whole room and asked if anyone had come inside in the last two hours and I said no. They checked and checked and even used a drone to check my ceilings and the surroundings.
“Still not satisfied, they broke the ceiling and entered inside but didn’t see anything. They now came out and asked me to return inside house with my children.
“When I entered, I saw one of them drinking a soft drink he had taken from my fridge. They removed all my curtains and in the process, tore some.”
Speaking about the suspected terrorist who escaped the security ambush, all the residents claimed they were not familiar with the family, which they said had moved to the neighbourhood about 18 months ago. They also said they had never seen the man while his wife and children do not relate with anybody.
The residents said the previous owner of the house sold water from his borehole but the terrorist who bought the house stopped selling the water, which other residents saw as a warning that they were not ready to mingle with anyone.
Maryam said she only used to greet the woman she suspected to be the suspected terrorist’s wife whenever she met her outside or when she came to buy firewood from her.
She said: “These people and I are not familiar with each other. What happens is if I met her outside, we would greet each other. I have not entered the house since they sold it to them. The only thing that makes her enter my compound is to buy firewood.”
Ikeji said: “I don’t know the person who lived there. I have not been to the compound. The person who sold the house was friendly with us and while he was there, I usually went there to buy water because there was a borehole with two giant tanks.
“But when the new owners moved in, they no longer sold water to the public. Since they came, I have not brought water from them. I don’t know the person. I haven’t even seen the new person who moved in.”
Residents demand compensation
The residents are seeking compensation from the government and security agencies in respect of the damages the security operation caused them.
Alhassan Ahmed, one of the landlords, said that windows of his houses were all broken, the ceilings were destroyed and the walls cracked while the fences were also broken down.
Ahmed said: “This is so devastating as I don’t know what do immediately about my damaged property. My tenants are rendered homeless.
“I am calling on good people of the state to come to my aid on this calamity. I hope to receive assistance on this issue.
“I also want to be directed on next line of action as a victim of circumstance, because things are expensive these days.
“Please let the government and security agencies come and compensate us. You can’t go to an operation, destroy people’s houses and leave them like that. Please, something needs to be done.
“All the windows in my house are broken. The ceilings came down with somae parts cracked while all the walls have also cracked. They need to do something for us.”
Maryam lamented that as a widow, she would not be able to take up the expenses that would arise from repairing the damages caused during the security operations, calling on the government to come to her aid.
When the Reporter visited the place, she was told that some youths around the vicinity had destroyed the parts of the house that were still standing after the gun battle while all the pieces of furniture, appliances, and fittings in the house were pilfered away.
The reporter met some people still carting away blocks, broken tiles, and the crumbles from the destroyed building when she visited.
Several of the residents whose houses were affected have left their houses pending when repairs would be made as majority of them said they no longer feel safe.
Numerous efforts made by our reporter and other journalists to get the government, Army or DSS to speak about the incident were abortive as the parties concerned chose to keep mum over the incident.
Insurgents take over sites as poor infrastructure compounds woes
Stakeholders lament comatose state of sector
Nigeria, in spite of its vast tourism potentials has been trailing smaller African nations with fewer potentials in terms of revenue and global ranking. With the creation of a stand-alone Ministry of Tourism by President Bola Tinubu, the challenge of foreign exchange scarcity can gradually begin to ease if other challenges bedeviling the sector are addressed and the needful is done to attract international tourists, INNOCENT DURU reports.
Emi Olowolabi, a native of Idanre in Ondo State started engaging in tourism activities as a child until he grew up to become the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in the state.
Idanre hills are some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in Nigeria. Located on a precambarian igneous batholith that is about 500 million years old according the records of the state government, the site, which was added to UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on October 8, 2007 in the cultural category, was a tourist attraction in its heyday as far back as the colonial era. But all that glory has faded.
“When we remember what the hills were in the past, we weep now,” Olowolabi said in an emotion-laden voice.
“Unarguably, Idanre is a tourism site of national importance,” he added as he went into a nostalgic recall of how the site used to be the delight of foreign tourists.
“When I was younger, I remember we used to stay at the foot of the hill, taking white people to the hill. They would not give us money, but they were giving us sardines,” he said.
On a daily basis, Olowolabi, a former Commissioner for Information in the state, said, “we could take five to 10 white people up the hills. Idanre Hills, which are called Oke Idanre, are a tourism destination of delight.
“Then, the colonial masters built rest houses. As you climbed the hill, you would rest, and there were about five to six rest points while climbing.
“There was pipe borne water everywhere then. But today, the place is on steady decline on account of inadequate attention.”
Since the return of democracy in 1999, Olowolabi said, the biggest attempt at developing tourism potentials in Idanre was made during the tenure of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu. “Then, they embarked on massive renovation of the site. They were on the verge of putting in place a cable car to get to the hill.
“When he left, the government that came after him, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, also showed some commitment to tourism. But rather than develop the historical site, he chose to develop the foot of the hills. He built rest houses, tourists hot spots, funs spots and so on. “By the time he left office, the government that came thought differently. So the place is actually a victim of inconsistency in government.”
“During Agagu’s era, Olowolabi further said, “Idanre Hills were listed as United Nations heritage site in professional lifting.
“That itself poses a lot of challenges as a world heritage site. Part of the requirement is that everything about the place must be left the way it is.
“You cannot introduce concrete, paint or iron roofing sheets. It has to be in that form. You can only use mud to renovate the houses and not cement.”
The sad state of Idanre Hills typifies the state of many other sites across the country. They have become an eyesore to the locals and irritatingly unattractive to foreigners.
The Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi State is another tourism site that has become a shadow of itself. Tourism stakeholders in the state are saddened by what has become of the site once regarded as the beautiful bride of the state.
Musa Bature, a player in the tourism sector, decried the condition of the site, saying: “Some investors who wanted to invest in tourism recently visited the place. But they said that what they used to hear about Yankari was not what they saw on ground.
“They were even saying that it is better for the authorities to tell the world the truth about the state of the site than telling lies about it. That tells you the state of the site.”
Speaking further, Bature said: “The road to the site is just about 40 per cent okay. And you know when we say 40 per cent, it means that it is below average.
“It is not something that can motivate foreigners to come into the area.
“When you take off from Bauchi to Alkaleri, the road is very very bad. It is nothing to write home about.
“When I went there about two months ago, the rooms, I mean accommodation, was nothing to write home about.”
Cross Rivers State, which sparkled as Nigeria’s tourism destination during the regime of Donald Duke, has also lost all the glitz and glamour that made other states envious of the global attention the land commanded. Dr Lucky George, a leading player in the industry, was close to tears as he spoke about the ruinous state of tourism in the state.
His words: “Cross River used to be the darling of holiday makers locally in Nigeria with the Obudu Mountain Resort in mind. The immediate past administration made a mess of the entire structure.
“The place is now a shadow of itself. There is nothing left in the Cross River axis of Nigerian tourism apart from the annual carnival.
“If you build a hotel of 50 rooms and you take a loan of N100 million from the bank and you are banking on once in a year event, how do you repay your loan?
“All the major hotels in Calabar now apart from Transcorp Hotel, the university graduates that are working in them are earning N20,000 a month.
“It tells you how poor the revenue, patronage is. If a hotel has 50 per cent occupancy averagely, you can afford to pay salary of N40, 000 or N50,000.”
More lamentations on various sites
In the Southeast part of the country, Anambra State is one of the states endowed with tourism potentials. Ogbukwu Cave and Water Falls is seen as one of the outstanding sites in the state. Sadly, it is being starved of the basic support it needs to attract attention beyond the Southeast region.
A former tour guide of the site, ThankGod Okechukwu, said: “There is a marked access road to the cave. You can use a vehicle to a point and park. Then you will trek about five poles to get to the cave.
“This cave has no religious implications. It is purely for tourism.
“We also need electricity. People are moving to the cave to establish businesses.
“If there is electricity, hotels will be attracted to the area. It will save people the cost of spending money on generator and more people will like to enjoy themselves there confident that there will be uninterrupted power supply.
“When people come with ice block to get there drinks cold and it melts, the picnic will not worth it anymore.”
He said that the government of Obiano made a remarkable attempt at developing the place, “but you know how politicians do their things. They erected change room before the cave. They awarded contract for the road leading to the cave but left it after putting drainage.
“Other works like the staircase that would lead somebody into the cave was done by the community. The state government was given some hectares of land to develop that place but they never did.
“(Governor) Soludo has not done anything about the cave. Since Obiano left, there has been no government attention anymore.
“At the federal level, when Nbanefo was the DG of tourism, he tried to enlist it as a national monument, but politics did not allow it to fly.”
By estimation, ThankGod said, the cave is a big site.
“When the Lebanese came there, they said it is the largest cave in West Africa. They came here through the help of the late Prof Achelonu of Imo State University. It has waterfall and two pavilions.
Schools around the Southeast, especially those in Natural Sciences Department and people from other places come here.”
Inadequate attention by government
The whole challenge, according to Olowolabi, is that government has not been paying adequate attention to tourism development.
He said: “I always refer to the Idanre Hills as a goldmine in neglect. Despite the parlous state of the site, every weekend, you find a convoy of coastal buses from different parts of Nigeria conveying students and tourists to the place.
“When they do the annual festival every May, the crowd there is unbelievable. All of this tells us that if developed, the place will be a money spinner for the government.
“When tourists come to Idanre, they travel to Akure to sleep because we don’t have any hotels that can take a coastal bus load of visitors. There is no hotel in Idanre that has up to 14 rooms.”
Wale Ojo Lanre, a frontline stakeholder in the industry, said: “All the tourism sites in Nigeria are weeping.
“Just of recent, you can digitalise Ikogosi in Ekiti. It has been concessioned to a private sector.
“Nigeria has over 700 coastlines but we have not been able to do anything about it. Gambia has only 68 beach lines and over 72 hotels. I have never visited any tourist site in Nigeria that has good infrastructure. I can never invite any foreign tourist to come.
“Most of the sites are crying. Most of them are in the wrong places. Most of them are neglected.”
Dr Lucky Gerorge on his part lamented the horrible state of roads which he strongly belives will never motivate tourists to visit the country.
He said: “Most of the tourist sites are just there. The attractions are not competitive enough and they have not been known to sway anybody to come in from Europe to spend holiday in Nigeria except you are coming with something else in mind.
“This is why Nigeria is not a leisure destina tion. A leisure destination is different from a business destination.
“What we spend money on as attraction is because people don’t have somewhere else to go to in most cases.
“The roads are very bad. I am doing my second PhD in Nsukka and I left Lagos in the morning and got there past 12 the following morning. It is that bad.
“Imagine telling a tourist to come into Nigeria. When you look at what you are coming to see in Nigeria and what you can see in other places, you will say Nigeria does not rank among preferred destinations.”
Mass tourism, according to him, is what makes a destination and not when three aor five people come into a place. “No country survives on those low number of traffic.
“Why is France the most visited country in the world? These people receive about 100 million travellers in a year. Spain receives about 70 million and Dubai gets close to 15 million.
“When you build hotels, you need people to fill them. The same thing when you build attractions, shops, etc.
Insurgents occupy tourism sites
Aside from neglect by various governments, findings also showed that the challenge of insecurity has done incalculable damage to tourism potentials of the country.
In Bauchi, Bature said, the challenge of kidnappings in communities and villages around Yankari Games Reserve has scared people from visiting the site like they used to do.
“People, including foreigners, used to go there in large numbers. Now the place is beginning to experience security challenges.
“Recently, communities and villages around the place have started experiencing the problem of kidnapping and that makes it not to be as safe as it used to.”
Also bemoaning the destructive impacts of insecurity on tourism in the country, Dr Lucky George said: “Insecurity is a major problem in Gashaka Gumti in Taraba State, on the Mambila Pateau axis. Before now, if you didn’t have money to go to London, you could go to the plateau and experience temperate weather. But insecurity has become a challenge there.
“The same goes for Bauchi, the Maiduguri axis and the Gombe axis. Don’t forget the Hadejia Nguru wetland where people used to go from Kano to Hadejia, from Hadejia to Nguru, from Nguru to where you have these migratory birds. That axis has been completely wiped out from the path of local tourism.”
Also speaking on this Barrister Wale Ojo Lanre lamented the calamity that insecurity has brought upon tourism in the country.
He said: “Successive governments don’t value those tourism sites. That is why insurgents occupy the place. Some of the protected areas called national parks, many of them have been occupied by insurgents.
“It is not about insurgency affecting tourism but insurgents have occupied those places. How will a tourist go to a site occupied by insurgents?”
Listing the various sites that have been taken over by insecurity, he said:
“Kanji National Park is under Boko Haram, Gashaka Gumti National Park is where we have Boko Haram’s headquarters. Sambisa Forest is part of the national park.
“Kamuku National Park has been occupied by insurgents. How can you go there? Tell me what you want to go and see.
“One of the ancient castles there in Kaduna was built by a German. I think the German there has been abducted.
“These are parts of the challenges facing tourism development in Nigeria.”
Successive governments, according to Wale Ojo-Lanre don’t think about tourism but they think about oil.
“If successive Nigerian governments think about tourism, they will protect it.
“Nigerian tourism industry is worth over 100 trillion dollars. If you know what is meant by tourism industry, you will be mad with successive governments in this country.”
Looking at how other countries turned their economies aound using tourism, he said: “Malaysia is a country like Nigeria. The population is about 25 million. In 2018, 26 million people visited the country because of tourism.
“How did that happen? Malaysia produces oil. In the early 80s, oil was their major revenue, so there was oil boom.
“But after oil boom, there was oil doom and they suffered. After that experience, Malaysia resolved that never will they allow their country to be maltreated by foreign power of petrol.
“They diverted all the money they made from oil boom to develop the tourism sites in their country, raising tourism from nowhere to highest revenue generator. Oil then came third after tourism.
“The manufacturing sector is the first revenue generator, tourism is second while oil after it.
“Nigeria didn’t do that. Imagine Nigeria giving N1billion to each state to develop two tourism sites. Do you know how many people will be employed? Do you know how much the 72 sites will inject into the economy?
How to revive tourism potentials
In spite of the despicable state of the tourism sector in the country, stakeholders strongly believe that all hopes are not lost yet.Wale Ojo Lanre says the country would need, among other things, a workable national policy to revive the sector.
“Nigeria must have a national policy on tourism. There must be a master plan.
“No country can move tourism forward without a master plan. It must be protected in the manner that the oil sector is protected by ensuring that we have tourism police.
“Jordan is the only country in the Middle East that doesn’t have oil but it thrives on educational tourism, medical tourism and real tourism. They have tourism police.
“Ghana makes more money from tourism than Nigeria and it does not have up to 10 tourism sites. Gambia too is making money from tourism.
“There is no legal framework on tourism. The existing ones are archaic.”
He continued: “It was only during the Obasanjo era that we had a semblance of tourism development. After Obasanjo’s regime, tourism went down and it has never been raised up since.
“The only thing that has consistently happened is the presence of stakeholders, practitioners, private sector who are just scratching the surface. So tourism is nowhere at all.
“Obasanjo was the only government that created a stand-alone ministry of art, culture and tourism. After his regime, the ministry of art and culture was merged with ministry of information.
“There is no specific budget for it. The budget comes under the Ministry of Information. It is the same thing with states that have ministry of culture and tourism. Most of them don’t understand what is meant by tourism.
“When one of the parastatals that is meant to be under tourism was talking about digital packaging of Nigeria’s tourism, I smiled and I said digitilisation my foot. You cannot build something on nothing.
“Where do you want to digitalise? You want to digitalise what is not there? Nigeria doesn’t have up to 10 tourism sites that you can lure people to come and use.
“I was the one that said there should be a stand-alone tourism ministry after Obasanjo. I was at the Senate on two occasions and called press conferences. Now it has been created. It was created newly.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the Ministry of Tourism on what its doing to salvage the industry was unsuccessful.
The spokesperson, Emem Offiong, did not answer call to her mobile line and was yet to respond our text message.
