The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Omoruyi, a political scholar par excellence – Mark

    Omoruyi, a political scholar par excellence – Mark

    Senate President, David Mark, on Wednesday lamented the death of university scholar and former Director- General of the defunct Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS) Prof. Omo Omoruyi.

    Mark described late Omoruyi as a political encyclopedia.

    A statement issued by the Special Adviser, (Media) to the Senate President, Kola Ologbondiyan, quoted Mark as saying that the nation has lost one of the best and fertile minds in politics and academics .

    Mark said, “Omoruyi was an academic and political giant who was very vast in the political history of Nigeria and Africa. A vacuum has been created with his exit.”

    He said Nigerians and generations yet unborn would remember Omo Omoruyi as a scholar who was ever ready to offer useful direction especially during difficult times.

    Mark urged the government and people of Edo State especially the bereaved family to take solace in the fact that Omoruyi lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation.

     

     

  • Clinton’s wife fined £80 by traffic warden

    Clinton’s wife fined £80 by traffic warden

    The former United States secretary of state was in town to receive a prize from the Chatham House think tank last week for her work in promoting “a new era of US diplomatic engagement.”

    But her entourage failed to buy the £3.30 ticket required to park the Mercedes for an hour on the exclusive St James’ Square in central London, and received a £80 fine.

    “The former US secretary of state was parked for nearly 45 minutes without paying,” said Daniel Astaire, an elected member of Westminster City Council.

    “I’m sure she will understand that we have to be fair to everyone, regardless of their status on the world stage.”

    There is some good news for former first lady Clinton, however — if she pays up within 14 days, the fine will be halved to £40.

    AFP reports that London Mayor Boris Johnson has previously complained about the refusal of US diplomats to pay a ten pound daily charge for the congestion zone in the centre of the capital.

     

     

  • David-West to Jonathan, NASS: You can’t amend the constitution

    David-West to Jonathan, NASS: You can’t amend the constitution

    A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, has faulted plans by President Goodluck Jonathan to send recommendations of the proposed national conference to the National Assembly, saying they lack the power to amend the constitution.

    David-West, who spoke to our correspondent in Ibadan on Wednesday, said both the President and the lawmakers seem not to understand the constitution they are using for governance.

    He said Section 9 of the 1999 constitution is clear on the procedure involved in the amendment of the constitution, adding this is contrary to the current amendment plans.

    He described their efforts as a mere “waste of time.”

    David-West said, “I am concerned and very much worried for some time now over how the amendment of the constitution is being discussed by the National Assembly. I was one of the few people that drafted the 1979 constitution and it is almost the same thing as the 1999 constitution. It is clear to me that neither the National Assembly nor the President had any power to alter or add one word to the constitution. I am surprised that they have not been called to order by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) or any of the numerous legal luminaries in the country.

    “I am saying this because Section 9 of the constitution clearly provides for how the constitution can be altered or changed. All what they have done so far are completely at variance with what is provided for in the constitution. It is an exercise in futility!”

     

     

  • Women to fight sexual harassment, child labour

    The Women’s Wing of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), on Wednesday, said that it was mobilising to fight sexual harassment targeted at women, child labour, as well as under-age marriage.

    The Chairperson of the Lagos wing of the congress, Ms Olubunmi Abikoye, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    “We are working on a programme to move against women’s sexual harassment and child labour, including under-age marriage, before the year runs out.

    “We are mobilising support to show that we are not in support of all the sexual harassment that is going on both in the public and private sectors.

    “We also frown at child marriage and say no to it,” she said.

    Abikoye said the union was partnering with some NGOs and women’s groups in various organisations, market women and the grassroots, to carry women from all cadres along.

    She called on both the federal and state governments to revert maternity leave for women back to 84 working days, instead of the current 84 days that included weekends.

    “The 84 days with weekends are not enough for a woman who has carried a pregnancy for nine months to take care of herself and her baby after birth.

    “Government should, therefore, revert to the 84 working days maternity leave,” she said.

    Abikoye advised women in the private sector to watch out for clauses that peg maternity leave at one month and reject them, while signing employment contracts.

     

  • ‘Nigerians spend N250b on medical treatments abroad’

    The organising committee of the Nigerian Centenary Charity Ball has said the Nigerian elite, both in public and private sectors spent about N250 billion annually on medical treatments abroad.

    The Secretary of the Organising Committee of the Charity Ball, Dr. Kingsley Esegbue, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.

    Esegbue said his committee planned to raise N8 billion at the upcoming centenary celebrations for the upgrading of medical facilities in the country.

    He lamented the quantum of capital flight arising from medical tourism by Nigerians, stressing that the development has continued to drain the nation’s scarce resources.

    According to him, the various medical problems that drain the country of such resources could be tackled at home if the necessary facilities were put in place.

    Esegbue said: “Sealing a hole in a child’s heart need not cripple the parents financially or take place in India. Replacing a damaged kidney could be done within our borders.

    “Every breast, cervical or prostate cancer patient should have access to quality care within Nigeria.

    “Our neurosurgery units need to serve the Nigerian people; no woman should have her bladder torn in the process of giving birth; and for victims of acid attacks, reconstructive surgery should be done within our borders.

    “Nigeria is blessed with skilled healthcare professionals. The requirements are the infrastructure/technology and perhaps the will.

    “Certainly, this is what the Nigerian Centenary Charity Ball hopes to achieve by equipping already existing National Referral Centers for heart and kidney diseases, neurosurgery, cancer care and management.”

    The committee scribe added that Nigerians, at home and in the Diaspora, would be mobilised for collective action towards making life more abundant for the average citizen.

     

  • Japanese Typhoon kills 17

    At least 17 people have been killed after a powerful typhoon lashed Japan’s eastern coast, BBC reports.

    An island south of Tokyo, Izu Oshima, was worst hit by Typhoon Wipha, suffering landslides and flooding.

    Many people died when houses collapsed or were buried in mudslides. At least 50 people remain unaccounted for.

    Work to protect the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant was carried out but the operators say it appears to have escaped the worst of the storm.

    In Tokyo, flights were cancelled, bullet train services suspended and schools closed.

    “It is the strongest typhoon in 10 years to pass the Kanto [Tokyo area] region,” Hiroyuki Uchida, the Japan Meteorological Agency’s chief forecaster, told journalists on Tuesday.

    Typhoon Wipha has now been downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves north-east.

    The storm brought strong winds and record rainfall on Wednesday morning.

    Nearly 5 inches (12cm) of rainfall fell in just one hour on Izu Oshima Island, some 120km (75 miles) south of Tokyo.

    The storm sent large volumes of earth down mountainsides and caused rivers to burst their banks.

    Television footage showed the remains of wooden homes buried in mud and covered in debris.

     

  • Nearly 1,000 died in Nigerian prisons – Amnesty

    Nearly 1,000 people, mostly suspected Islamist militants, died in Nigerian jails in the first half of this year, Amnesty International has said.

    Amnesty said some of the 950 victims were suspected to have been executed but many died because of the harsh, overcrowded conditions of the jails.

    Some starved to death. Others died after being shot or badly beaten then getting no medical attention.

    “The evidence we’ve gathered suggested that hundreds of people died in military custody in 2013 alone. This is a staggeringly high figure that requires urgent action by the Nigerian government,” Reuters quoted Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy Africa director, as saying in a statement.

    Military spokesman, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, said the army had not yet seen the report but would respond when it became available to them.

    The government’s habitual position is that detainees are well treated and rare cases of abuse dealt with.

    A four-year-old insurgency waged by Islamist sect Boko Haram, aiming to revive a medieval Islamic empire in Nigeria’s largely Muslim northeast, has killed thousands and brought a heavy military presence across the region.

    Residents of affected areas, as well as numerous human rights groups, have long accused the Nigerian military of carrying out summary executions of Boko Haram suspects and others – a charge it always denies.

    Privately, security officials admit such abuses are more widespread but see them as a reaction to an enemy whose vicious guerrilla tactics create a climate of fear.

     

  • Eagles will qualify for World Cup in style – Nsofor

    Eagles will qualify for World Cup in style – Nsofor

    Super Eagles striker, Obinna Nsofor, has promised Nigeria will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in fine style next month.

    Nigeria will host Ethiopia on November 16 in Calabar after taking a 2-1 advantage from Addis Ababa at the weekend.

    “We are not under any pressure after our win in Ethiopia. They will be the ones under pressure. We will play good football and score loads of goals to qualify for the World Cup,” Nsofor told MTNFootball.com

    The Lokomotiv Moscow forward admitted the Eagles suffered from the effects of the high altitude especially in the first half.

    “The altitude affected most of us and we waited for them in the first half to give us what they have,” he said.

    Meanwhile, second-half substitute Nosa Igiebor has declared that his best is yet to come for the Super Eagles.

    Igiebor replaced Nnamdi Oduamadi in Addis Ababa to stabilise the midfield of the Eagles and allow Mikel Obi a free role behind the Eagles front men.

    “It was a difficult game for us all, but we fought as a team to get the needed result,” he said.

    “I was introduced to stabilise the midfield and I did it to the best of my ability but sincerely my best is yet to come for the Super Eagles.

    “One thing I can say for now is that I will continue to give my all for this team to ensure that we make our country proud, for sure.”

     

  • Achieving sustainable food security

    Achieving sustainable food security

     

    Today marks the World Food Day. This is a day set aside for people all around the world who are involved in the many diverse elements of the food system to come together to reflect on the vital role that food plays in our lives and to consider how things can be done better.

    The theme for this year is: ‘Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition’. Every year, the world food day is celebrated to help increase understanding of problems and solutions in the drive to end hunger.

    It is said that food security takes place “when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” In order words, food security can only be achieved when everyone is involved.

    According to research, food security in Nigeria is a major issue. Despite the increase of food production, there is yet to be equilibrium with demand.  Also the absence of top notch harvesting, processing and distributing techniques lead to loss of produce. Total on oil at the expense of agriculture is another major issue in this regards.

    How well has Nigeria utilised her land mass for farm produce?

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was quoted to have said that N1.3 trillion was utilised for food imports this year.

    According to him, “our food imports are growing at an unsustainable rate of 11 per cent per annum thereby fuelling domestic inflation and increasing poverty.

    “We are importing products that we can either produce in abundance like N356 billion worth of rice, N217 billion worth of sugar and N97 billion worth of fish.”

    The minister also agrees to the fact Nigeria can locally produce what she imports: “we are also importing products that we can easily find local alternatives, which can equally reduce our import bill of almost N635 billion being spent on wheat production.”

    According to statements and figures, Nigeria can truly cut the disgraceful food import bill through empowering local farmers. This will definitely lead to achieving FAO’s vision of food security and nutrition.

    In his speech Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, states that a functioning food system is borne out of an equal demand and supply of food in the world.

    According to Silva, there are 840 million people who experience food shortages, 2 million people who suffer from nutrient deficiencies and 1.5million people suffering from overweight. He also identified the two greatest challenges causing a dreadful food situation in the world as:

    – Translating increase in food availability into better nutrition for all people and

    – How to make the necessary shift to environmentally and socially sustainable production and consumption systems.

    He therefore called on all to ensure their life styles are improved. This he says will help in solving the problems.

    In his words: “This year’s World Food Day theme “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition” is an invitation to us to consider just how well the system is working and what can be done to improve it.

    “From a rather narrow demand and supply perspective we can claim that, since 1945, the food system has worked remarkably well. The world’s population has tripled in this period, and average food availability per person has risen by 40 per cent. This is an extraordinary achievement and many economists would cite it as proof of the effectiveness of “the market” in inducing an adequate supply response to the growth in demand from a fast rising and richer global population. If we look a bit deeper, however, we shall see that there are huge flaws in how the food system operates.

    “The biggest failure is that, in spite of plentiful food supplies, the health of more than half the world’s 7 billion population is affected by under- or over-consumption. Just 3 years ago, the threat of famine forced millions of Somalis to abandon their homes to search for food, and as many as 260,000 people, many of them children, are estimated to have died of starvation. This was a horrific reminder that the global food market works well for those that have money but fails to respond to the needs of the poor.

    “What is clear is that “the market” alone does not automatically translate food availability into better nutrition, health, productivity and happiness. The most glaring market failure stems from the fact that those with the greatest food needs are unable, because of their poverty, to translate these into demand. They are caught in a hunger trap which is self-perpetuating because they do not have the means to buy or produce the food their family requires for a healthy life. That hunger persists in a world of plenty food is truly scandalous.”

    He attributed other challenges of food availability to include unsustainability of the present food system. This he stressed has both environmental and human dimensions.

    “Much of the extraordinary growth in food output has placed great stresses on natural resources. It has degraded soils, polluted and exhausted fresh water supplies, encroached on forests, depleted wild fish stocks, and narrowed biodiversity, leaving these resources with a diminished capacity to meet the food needs of our children and future generations. Intensive farming systems, combined with food wastage on a massive scale, have also become a big source of the greenhouse gas emissions that help to drive the processes of climate change that, in turn, are expected to create new adaptation challenges for farmers. Even the richer food consumers do not yet pay for the cost of this damage to natural capital or for clearing it up,” he added.

    Silva advised that as the world marks the World’s Food Day people over the  world should share  thoughts and experiences on how best to address  to translate rising food availability into better nutrition for all people and how to make the necessary shift to environmentally and socially sustainable production and consumption systems.

     

     

  • Olympian Ayodele: I regret being a Nigerian

    Olympian Ayodele: I regret being a Nigerian

    Olympian  Ayodele Peters  laments living in poverty despite being a former international sportsman.

     

    .Lost his wife, kids for N5, 000 medication

    .Regrets rejecting citizenship of France, Britain

    .Leaves in an uncompleted building

    .Forced to retire prematurely

    .Wants his entitlements paid

    A line in the National anthem says ‘The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain’ But whether this promise is strictly adhered to has become an illusion to the majority of Nigerians. But that is one promise that has been called to question in the lives of many who have spent their active years serving the nation. This particularly true of sports men and women abandoned by the nation at the most critical times of their lives.

    The families of sports legends like Hogan ‘King’Bassey, Rashidi Yekini, Muda Lawal, Sam Okwaraji, Christ Odumezua, Sam Ojebode, Joseph Ladipo, and lately Thomson Oliha, would testify to this fact. Even the living ones like Joe Mensah, Sebastian  Brodericks, Paul Hamilton, Davidson Andeh, Tunde Disu, Sunday Onyerekwa, Peter Konyegwachie, Peter Aneke, Joe Lasisi, and the first Olympic medalist for Nigeria, Nojeem  Mayegun, who now resides in Austria, cannot boast of enjoying the best of rewards for the services they rendered to their fatherland.

    One of the latest victims of this official neglect is Ayodele Peters, a retired boxer who went as far as representing Nigeria at the Olympics games in 1980. But all he has to show for that today is grinding poverty on account of which he lost his wife and children and now lives in an uncompleted building in a remote part of Lagos.

    Peters abode is situated on Kehinde Onifade Street, a lonely street in the Alaja area of Ayobo, a Lagos suburb. It is a three bedroom bungalow devoid of any identification number because of its remote nature. It has no doors or windows and looks abandoned in every sense. Tattered cloths serves as window blinds in the apartment he also shares with some domestic animals. The room that harbours him also harbours a stove, pots, and other cooking utensils,

     

    Like most Nigeria’s sport legends, his journey from grace to grass started when according to him he fell out with the officials of the Ogun State Sports Council in 1989. Having started his boxing career as a student of the Lagos State Technical College, where he graduated with a certificate in Building Technology in 1976, Peters was immediately co-opted as one of the pioneer staff of the Ogun State Sports Council after its creation same year. Recounting his ordeal, ‘Anikulapo’ as he is fondly called by his admirers narrated how he watched his wife and kids, a boy and a girl snatched away by the cold hands of death in a bizarre circumstance in 1996. According to him they had fallen ill at different times and he couldn’t provide five thousand naira for their medications.

     

    Just 56 years of age, the frail –looking ex-boxer is already looking 80. He took this correspondent through a long walk from the Megida Bus/stop, Ayobo to his resident, on Kehinde Onifade Street, as he keeps apologizing after every ten metres walked: “My brother I am really sorry taking you through this stress, I am ashamed we could not board an okada (Commercial motor-cycle), that is because I don’t have the hundred naira to spear. Please forgive me. This is what I have had to face for so many years now. At times I walk longer distance,” he had said repeatedly.

     

    Peters had represented Nigeria at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where he fought his way to the quarter finals before he was stopped by an Iraqi boxer in the 63.5 kg weight category. Before his Olympic appearance, he made his mark on the local scene as one of the most decorated boxers in the country, winning laurels at the prestigious National Sports Festival and other competitions for Ogun Statein the 70s and late 80s, with the dreaded Davidson Andeh as one of his contemporaries.

     

    “I was employed into the Ogun State Sports Council the same year it was created. So we were the pioneer employees of the state and I was placed on grade level 03. By 1978, I had four fights for Ogun State and after our recruitment, a former light- heavy weight champion then Archi More was in Nigeria on contract with the National Sport Commission and seconded to the Nigeria Amateur Boxing Association. He left Lagos and after some months came to Abeokuta. It is through him I discovered the secrets of boxing and after taking us through a course I was awarded a grade 3 coaching certificate.

     

    “Later I had to fight at the Alake area of the state against Kwara and Benue states all of which I won convincingly and I was in Ilorin and Makurdi as well and repeated the same feat. By 1979 I had boxed my way into the national team during the fourth National Sports Festival,Oluyole‘79 where I met the dreaded Davidson Andehin the finals and I had a cut on my eye-lead. I love him, I have a lot of regard for him, he’s got speed and one of the best boxers Nigeria has ever produced. I won silver for Ogun State at the competition but three months later we met again in the champion of champions’ competition (Eagles’ Belt) in Lagos, thought i had a good fight, but he defeated me again with a slim margin.

     

    “By 1980 I was one of the four boxers invited to the national camp and I was the only one that qualified because I won my three fights via knockouts to be the only qualified boxer from Ogun State ahead of the European championship, and by God’s grace I excelled. I returned from the competition and I was selected to represent Nigeria at the 22nd Olympics in Moscow same year where I lost in the quarter finals to an Iraqi boxer, I have forgotten his name now. Coming to Nigeria I was supposed to commence my annual leave after the Olympics, but was invited to the state camp in preparation for the all Technical Colleges Games hosted by Kano ‘tagged’Dala 80’. I reported to camp in Ijebu –Ode,my leave notwithstanding. I won the only gold medal among all the Ogun State contingents to that game. Though I got the award of the best sportsman of the year in Ogun State that year, but the sports council didn’t inform me so it was done in absential. Though I was sad about it, I had to move on. In 1981 I was selected again to represent the country at the European championship where I performed very well,” he explained.

    Expressing regrets at sticking with Nigeria when he had options of taking up the citizenship of top European countries like France and Great Britain, the Lagos born former athlete has had to leave from hand to mouth in his country of birth. Claiming to have lost everything he worked for in life, Peters’ only consolation is the fact that he is hale and healthy, and that his aged mother, who according to him is approaching her 90s and resides at the Magodo area of Lagos, is still alive.

    “I love boxing because it is a way of life. I am so sad now that I rejected the citizenship of some countries especially France way back in 1980 because I was carried away by patriotism for Nigeria. I loved representing my country, but now I don’t know how I feel about Nigeria. I feel deadness within me, I feel like I don’t exist anymore likewise some of my other colleagues, who are still alive. I am even grateful to God that I am able to walk around. There are some of my contemporaries that are very sick, blind, and yet the country they served all their lives is not looking their way why? Why are we like this? When will things change? Why do we do this to ourselves?

    “I regret being a Nigerian and I am ashamed. I am really ashamed; I don’t see anything good coming. This is a country where its only when you are active that you are remembered after that you are finished nobody looks after you. Look at countries as small as Benin Republic here they don’t neglect there ex –sportsmen or women. We call ourselves the largest black nation and we are like this. I am sad for Nigeria, and sad for the children coming into the world through this country. Is this what they will also face in the future? For one to spend his fruitful years serving a country and now leaving in an uncompleted building in my home state. What can I say, except that God should help me. I can’t pray for death, no. And I have become the greatest coward, the moment it comes to committing suicide, I am the number coward I can’t. I hope God will do something fast, put it in somebody’s heart to take me out of this mess. I am sorry in 1996 I lost my wife and two children to death for lack of money to purchase prescribed medicine I am a sad man. I am a loner,” he lamented.

    Peters continued: “I hope I will not die in this situation because it will not be a good story for the land and even those living on it. If so many of us have died mysteriously, then why do we need to serve the country? People keep billions in their accounts, what do they do with it? Our mind sets must change, what would have been enough for children yet unborn, one individual will just put it in his account. I am just praying that God will not allow me die this way. Since 1994 that the sports council threw me to the street because of money and title, yes I mean the Ogun State Sport Council. From 1976 to 1994 they pushed me out on compulsory retirement, by 1996 they asked me to write an application for voluntary retirement. I made grade level 07 since 1986, so how can the sports council place me on compulsory retirement without the Ministry of Sports? The Sports Council is a parastatal under the Ministry of Sports, so they can’t say they place me on compulsory retirement without the Ministry of Sports.

    “By 1991 I have made grade level 09 and this was why I was pushed out. They said I am not an indigene of Ogun State, when I was representing and winning laurels nobody saw that. The lord has been preserving my soul otherwise I would have been dead by now. I am more saddened and look humiliated being a Yoruba man from the South West, because all they want to do is to try and get you down. I watched how Abiola was killed and I cried for myself, my people are terrible. I was asked to go and box forOgun State, even when they know I was involved in a serious motor accident, I still have the scar on my head, 18 stitches and I have the medical certificate. I was asked to stay away from active boxing and the sports council asked me to go and box as the only condition to effect my reinstatement as directed by Cornel Raji Rasaki, since February 1988 before he was transferred to Lagos. Do you know I still had to box in 1989? But God helped me. The day Okwaraji died I was boxing at the University of Lagos where they put the ring. The 8th National Sports Festival and I still won a medal. Unbelievable! And the state governor, Military Administrator Navy Capt. Lawal, at the time said all medalist in the employ of the sports council should be promoted to the next salary grade level so that has put me to level 08 since ’89 but all through that year, the sports council didn’t effect it.

    “A new Director of Sports came on board, I went to him and he gave me a new appointment, placing me on grade 07, a position I attained in 1986. I was advised to take it because it will give me better opportunity to fight my case. So I took it and started writing letters and by 1991 the Commissioner for Sports who signed my reinstatement, Dr. Ibikunle died suddenly, and since then the sports council have failed to implement what has been given to them,” he narrated.

    According to him by 1989 the Director of Sports and the Administrative Officer in the state’s Sports Council were removed by the state government for financial impropriety. A Sole Administrator was appointed in person of one Mr.Runsewe. He went to him and presented his case again, but to his amazement, Runsewe expressed fears, revealing that those behind his case were too powerful to handle.

     

    “He said to me in confidence, Peters I have seen your paper but I am afraid, your people here are too powerful, I don’t want to die. Your case is before me but there’s nothing I can do. He then said if I can win a medal for the state at the sports festival he will have the basis to do something. I felt so bad after I have been asked to stop active boxing, but like I said earlier I won a medal to the glory of God. In 1991 a new Commissioner for Sports was appointed in the person of Mrs Oshifunke Kuku, you remember I said the other Commissioner, who signed my reinstatement died suddenly. I went to Kuku with my petition, and she assured me that I will receive a letter from her office, which I truly received three days later. I wrote the petition through the Sports Council as directed, and she confirmed that truly my reinstatement has been sent since 1988. She said she has effected it including the outstanding promotions for the medals I won. She told me that I will be given grade level 09 step 2. And I was congratulated by the Honourable Commissioner,” he said.

    He wallowed in that situation for some more years before a certain Military Administrator ofOgun State, Cornel Daniel Akintande warded in. He was addressing a forum at the Cultural Centre, where Peters indicated his intention to present his case. The governor requested that he’s allowed to speak despite efforts made to shut him down. And after presenting his case, he was asked to rout the details through the Director General Bureau of Establishment and Training at the Sports Council, Alhaji Egberongbe. The details was sent to the Sports Council as directed and three days later he was attacked by nine men for going to the cultural centre to talk to the Military Administrator.

    “I still have the Police and hospital reports in my hands. Despite the fact that I recognized two out of the nine men, who attacked me the Police didn’t arrest any of them in 1994. They said I must have stepped on powerful toes. I almost died after the attack but thank God for the passersby who untied me. My hands and legs were tied together and I was dumped in a thick forest for over three hours. That was at Ayeloja Village, behind the mechanic village Ita-Oshin.

    “All I am asking for is that I should be reinstated and paid my arrears of pension. It is my entitlement and I should not be denied. I also want to beg Governor Fashola to help me with a descent place to leave in and a job I can do for the state, I am a qualified boxing coach. Boxing gave us the kind of recognition we enjoyed on the world stage. It started in 1968, you remember Nojeem Mayegun, who won the first medal for Nigeria at the Olympics. Thank God he does not leave here but in Austria. I am grateful to God for him. But recently I learnt he said he was home sick and want to return home but that he’s afraid to come home. I love Governor Fashola for what he is doing for sports. Have you watch him play football, he is a beautiful footballer. I love him so much, and I know that if he was a boxer, things would have been better for the ex- boxers because those in boxing don’t value their own.

    “Go to the National Stadium and see where my coach Hogan Bassey is buried, he was buried like a pauper. I have told myself that if I have the money I will go and rebuild his tomb and make it more beautiful. His tomb should be a tourist attraction, he was a world champion. I don’t know but I pray His Excellency Governor Fashola can give me a place to leave. I want to discover and develop boxers for Nigeria. Already he has made a name for himself for what he has done as far as sports development is concerned. I love him for that and I don’t care about his religion,” he said.

    Comparing his situation with that of the biblical Job, Peters is fast losing sight of the fond memories he enjoyed representing Nigeria in boxing as he seems to have nothing to be proud of anymore. His present condition is so devastating that he feels abandoned by a country he spent his youthful years serving in the area of sports. Praying that succor will come his way soon, he is however determined to keep hope alive until his change comes.

     

    “I don’t think there’s any future for the sports in the country. If I had children I won’t allow them represent this country. My only option for them will be that they rather represent a country that will see to their welfare when they grow old. Even if you are injured while representing the country, they will still take care of the individual not a country like Nigeria. I am just being frank with,” he said.

    But if Peters’ claims are anything to go by, then something drastic should be done before we lose another sports legend as a result of negligence.