Category: Abuja Review

At the inauguration of a restaurant in Abuja, aspiring entrepreneur were advised to let their passion drive them, DELE ANOFI reports

At the launch of her eatery Biobak Kitchen in highbrow Wuse 2, Abuja, Biodun Obakin, who is said to love treating people to some good food, had a wonderful opportunity to offer aspiring restaurateurs some tasty advice. But every budding entrepreneur may well take heed too.

Senior Pastor Sarah Omaku gave the event a spiritual footing, saying, “I don’t normally come to events like this because I’m always concerned about the money behind the project because it is most necessary to get money the right way and I am convinced about this. Biobak sought God’s guidance which came through prayers. The idea came from God, we pray it through and theirs is a desire from God which He granted with the blessing of Abraham

“She gathered her money kobo, kobo, this is not stolen money, it’s from kobo-kobo, gathering her money from her sweat, from her kitchens here and there.

“I came here also because Biodun is a blessing to people. I advise you that everything done in this business is done right, no short course, don’t use rotten ingredients, don’t take customers, not even your regulars over the years for granted because there are choices of over a 1000 for them to pick from. What you do will make customers keep coming back or not. You are not doing them a favour.”

Speaking with Abuja Review, Biobak urged Nigerians youths have been urged to shun violence and other crimes, noting that the pursuit of entrepreneurial passion is a recipe for unemployment in the country.

According to her, rather than complaining of unemployment and going into crime and other vices, the Nigerian youth must endeavour to pursue the passion for the innate God-given talent as a means of livelihood.

She said the state of the economy should not be allowed to stand in the way of starting a business, while adding that starting little appears to have been a major barrier for most unemployed Nigerian youths especially, the graduates.

She said: “You have to discover your passion, everybody has a passion or if I may say talent, apart from going to school, getting the degree and doing all the academic pursuit, there is always a passion. A passion will allow you do what you love to do that is inborn in you, what you enjoy to do.  So, find out what you enjoy to do, do it like a child’s play, do it like a business. That was what happened to me. I am a scientist by profession, but over time, I know that I love to cook, over time I know that I like to clean and I have been doing this all along, so your talent and passion is very important. That is number one

“Secondly, I want to tell our youths the act of starting small, the issue with our youth today is they don’t realise that you don’t have to become overnight in a day, getting to realize your dreams and be fulfilled  is a process of journey. So, let our youth understand that life is a journey and you have to start small, that is number one. I want to advice our youth that it is high time they learn to settle down, to start small, to do one thing or the other and build upon it, when you build upon it and you grow God will continue to improve you until it becomes the main thing”.

On how it all started and made it this far, Biobak explained that concentrating on the challenges facing the business would discourage venturing into it, “What I am doing now is like a joke and there is an adage that says; Whatever you enjoy to do, make it your business, God has helped me to make this act of cooking, this act of hospitality the business of today. Of course, the challenges are enormous, but one thing is that once you have interest in doing it, the challenges will not overcome you.

Finance is number one challenge. To start up or expand, many of us are fond of borrowing in the bank, we all know what happens when things are going according to plans. But from experience, it is not the time of to be borrowing in the bank when you start small, what you have, you have to be able to manage it, Don’t go beyond what you cannot cope with.

“Another challenge is staff, you know our children of today, they don’t want to do hard work, you have to do hard work in this kind of business, you cannot just start a restaurant and decide to live it for somebody to do it for you, you have to be part of your system, you have to love it, you have to do it, when they see you as example to do it, they would have no doubt to join you in doing it”.

Despite being the boss, she is still involved in the day-to-day preparation of the recipe and cooking “ Of course I do the cooking, you know it is what I love to do, I may not do everything but the basic ones, I buy my stuffs, ingredient, that’s where  good cooking starts. Whatever you buy is what you cook. So the act of buying right, buying the real thing, not buying rotten tomatoes, not rotten pepper, you have to go in and buy the healthy ones that is not spoilt ones and it would bring out a good taste at the end of the day. Quality of our standard is at stake and I’m not ready to compromise that. So, being involved in daily activities is not a big deal for me, I’ve been involved and it’s just a daily routine”.

“It is for this and other reasons that we have made it a family business. Yes, among my own children, I have chattered accountant, I have doctor, I have an architect but because of the nature of what I do, they grew up loving, learning and knowing to do it. It has become a family business and it is what we want to do and leave it to generations to come”.

It’s no longer news that President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking reelection to remain president and commander-in-chief beyond 2019.

He has even moved against all odds, challenges and discouragement standing between him and realising the goal.

Not even the advice of former President Olusegun Obasanjo early this year could stop him from pushing for his reelection bid.

All coast got clear for him to run for reelection when he got the support of members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and emerged as the Presidential flag bearer for the 2019 elections.

While the February 2019 election is fast approaching, Buhari now has other parties’ candidates, led by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to contend with.

It is also not news that the President has been enjoying the support of die-hard supporters within the country towards his reelection bid.

But what is new now is the supports coming to him from unexpected quarters.

This time around, the support for the President is coming from Nigerian youths living in France and other parts of the globe.

Although many Nigerians in France and outside Nigeria may not have the power to vote directly for President Buhari in the coming 2019 Presidential election, but they are putting in place strategies and action plans to ensure Buhari retains the number one Nigeria’s political seat in 2019.

Part of their plans is to sway the support and votes of their relations, friends and loved ones living in Nigeria for President Buhari during the election.

While many of them claimed they have never had it so good like under the Buhari’s administration, some of them have decided to follow up with their relations and friends on telephone and internet to garner the support for Buhari.

Others have also decided to physical relocate to Nigeria in the periods leading to the elections to boost support for the President.

Speaking with journalists in Paris last week Monday at the end of President Buhari’s interactive session with Nigerians living in France, the Director of Projects for Friends of Nigeria (FON) Europe, Unity Ivongbe, said “I think Mr. President is doing a good job, and the diaspora is also proud of him.

“We are constantly in touch with Nigeria and we have a sense of the pulse of the society. They are yearning for more change, they are yearning for more improvement in their welfare, which I think the President is tackling key areas of the society.

“Just because change does not happen overnight, there is need for more time so that most of what he is doing can become more pronounced. So, I will just say to the President, ‘Well-done and there is room for improvement.’

“It’s about making people to see that governance and government is not a one day thing. There is need to continue some of the things he started, that hopefully will translate to tangible impact on the people, because the people don’t care about statistics.

“We feel the pulse of the society at home because we are very well connected. We are hopeful that things can get better and more people will get dividends of democracy in Nigeria.” he added

The Chairman of APC in France, Mohammed Olanrewaju Balogun, spoke further on the new plan to get more votes for the President.

“I want to express my appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for what he has done in just three and half years. Honestly speaking, I’m very frequent in Nigeria, it’s not what I read in the newspapers or hear on the television, I’m always regular in Nigeria because I always come for meetings.

“We have a lot of changes in Nigeria today and at the same time I can tell you the transformation going on in Nigeria today is what you could never have imagined in the last four, five years despite the price of oil in Nigeria at the time this administration came to power.

“Despite selling oil at a cheaper rate today, there is a lot of success story being recorded. Look at the trains, look at the roads, look at the bailouts to states.

“These are the things that have not happened in Nigeria before. So the monies allocated to projects are being spent wisely. Today, we are all seeing it and people in diaspora are very very convinced about the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“In my last discussions with the France Ambassador to Nigeria, I was asking him what does Brazil has that Nigeria does not have that they were giving Brazilians visas free to Europe. He couldn’t give me an answer but ended up staring at me.

“I told him, trust me, after eight years of President Buhari’s administration, Nigerians will come to Europe for free because many of them, by the time they come, they will only come for shopping and they will go back to Nigeria because Nigeria is one of the most vibrant and lovely country on the planet.

“This is why I cannot be far away from home.

President Muhammadu Buhari has done a lot and we really need to commend him. It is only a blindfolded person that will not see the transformation going on in Nigeria today.

“We love him, we appreciate him and we promised that we will do call back home, just like we did in 2015, we will rally round Nigerians in the diaspora, they believe in him.

“I can tell you that one person in diaspora can convince at least five people in Nigeria. So, we are using that as our mechanism to make sure that he is reelected in 2019 and the project continues.” he said

On his part, the Vice President and co-founder of FON Europe, Abiodun Odunuga, said “We understand that it’s being three and half years or more and he is trying to lay a good foundation for the next four years. The average Nigerians don’t really care about policies, what he cares about is stomach infrastructure.

“Development is not a one off thing, and so many foundational steps have been taken in the last three and half years. As long as good progress is being made, we will support change all the way.” he stated

Apart from support of those physically present at the interactive session in Paris last week Monday, a website put together by a young Nigerian, Rotimi Edu, based in America for Buhari/Osinbajo reelection was also presented to the President by the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who was recently nominated Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Diaspora Commission.

From the presentation, the website creator disclosed that he will also exploit the YouTube as part of his contribution to the Buhari/Osinbajo campaign.

Stressing that the website goes beyond the conventional social media campaign, he said “I believe that this website will give you President Buhari connection to young people in the country and across the world …..

“This will be a source of centralized information to show Nigerians the progress that have been made in the last three and half years under your administration.

“It will also be a good platform to show to Nigerians the agenda of your administration in the next four years. This will take your campaign to the next level using social media.” he added

By the elections campaign timetable outlined by the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), these supports are definitely coming at the right time.

But the Buhari/Osinbajo camp will also be praying that these diaspora supporters really match their words with actions towards retaining the number one seat in 2019.

Two suspects meet a savage death in their taxi as Abuja residents cringe under the onslaught of dupes behind the wheels. FRANCA OCHIGBO reports

Consider how two suspected one-chance conmen ended up right on Suleja-Dei Dei Expressway. A man was driving towards Abuja town and right in front of him he saw people struggling in the back seat of a taxi in front of him. The back door of the taxi was flung open even though the car was still moving.

A lady was seen trying to jump out of the taxi, while a man in the back seat was trying to drag her back into the taxi.

The man seeing it all drove to the front of the taxi and blocked it with his car. This forced the taxi into a roadside drainage under the Dei Dei Bridge. Before the one-chance driver and his colleagues could come down, the driver that had blocked him jumped down shouting thief, thief, one-chance!

Immediately, people surrounded the taxi and grabbed the men and the lady that came out of the taxi.

The lady explained to them that she was the victim here. She boarded the taxi from Suleja and they were trying to steal her bag. In a bid to alight with her handbag, the man with her started fighting her. Before she could finish her explanation, a mob gathered and started beating the three men.

One of the men managed to escape into the crowd. While the other two were being beaten two policemen arrived demanding that they release the men to them. The mob refused, threatening to beat up the policemen if they didn’t leave.

When the police saw how serious the crowd was and felt there was nothing they could do, they had to leave. The two men were beaten to stupor, put back in their vehicle which was already in the gutter and set ablaze. They were burnt to ashes with the taxi.

By the time The Nation reporter got there, one among the crowd who refused to disclose his name said that route is used by one chance-taxi. The crowd explained that they had had so many of these cases of one-chance on that road, and when they are taken to the police the police release them when the crowd disperses, so they felt the best thing is anytime they catch any of them it will be jungle justice for them.

Abuja metropolis is known for such acts. One-chance dupe passengers and get away with it, sometimes they don’t just take bags, they beat up the passengers and inflict injuries on them.

How do you know one chance taxi? As soon as you enter they go like, what is in that Ghana must go in the boot of the car.

One of their allies who poses as a passenger will reply, it is dollars, oga.

Ha! dollars and you are not saying anything? Where did you get such amount of dollars from?

It is my Chinese boss; he travelled so I stole the dollars.

That way a greedy passenger will get inquisitive and insist on being part of the dollar sharing. In the process of wanting to be a part of the sharing they will dupe you and clean your account.

An incident happened that I witnessed some years back. A lady came from Benue State to spend her annual leave with some of her relatives in Abuja. In the Berger part of Abuja, some guys stopped to give her a ride while she was waiting for a taxi. After the usual pleasantries they told her that all the people she sees  in Abuja with big cars got their money through money doubling, that if she is willing they can make her rich before she resumes work in Benue and she will go back with a brand new Jeep of her choice.

She agreed and they asked her to bring N150,000, which she hurriedly gave them from her savings. They took her to a place in Karimu were they ‘washed’ some money in her presence and came up with N10,000. She was so excited. Noticing her excitement, they told her to bring N300,000. She had to travel to Benue to convince people to lend her the money, which she got and came back to Abuja and gave it to the people.

She was asked to come back the next day in the evening, by the time she got there around 6pm, they had disappeared into thin air. She went round the environment asking people and they said the house has been empty and people come and go. She was so devastated and confused, she cried her eyes out. She is now deep in debt and not knowing how to pay back. She left Abuja vowing never to visit the city again after her traumatic experience in the hands of one-chance.

Recently in Abuja, some guys that run Uber service joined the league of one-chance, no one knows if they are original Uber drivers or thieves disguising as Uber drivers. Two ladies called for Uber while in Shoprite Apo, the Uber driver came to pick them, instead of taking them to Sunnyvale he took them close there and diverted to an untarred road where his gang members were waiting for him. They gave these ladies the beating of their lives, collected their phones, bags and all they bought at Shoprite.

Presently they use so many techniques to steal from passengers now, they even go as far as one of their gangs hiding in the boot of the taxi, when they get to a quiet road they pretend that the vehicle is bad and park. While at it the gang member jumps down and they both collect everything from the passenger, leaving the passenger stranded.

This brings us to the issue of jungle justice in Nigeria today. In most cases this recourse to savagery which is fast becoming a national pastime is bewildering as it does not matter the supposed crime of which the suspect is accused. The jungle justice mob swings into action.

What is worrisome is that a lot of times innocent citizens are often the victims of these mobs who are often not held accountable. Just being on a street corner looking a little like someone accused of a crime the day before or even being a victim of witch-hunt could cost one his or her life. We have seen several examples of that across the country in the past few years. From killing of four innocent undergraduates in Port Harcourt, to killing of a lot of innocent people out there, sometimes you are not even sure if they are really criminals, but the problem is the real criminals have really bastardised the system.

It was a night of double celebrations last week as the Rotary Club of Apo honoured one of its members, Amara Chidinma Ezediniru who launched her maiden creative effort, a book titled: “In and Out”

Apart from the usual meeting of the organisation, it was the day Amara was having her birthday, an occasion which the organisation never fails to celebrate for its members.

The event doubled as a book launch and presentation.

Mr. King James, a lawyer, who reviewed the book, said it is a story of love but also of sorrow.

“Despite the agony, the protagonist is able to come out of the situation without being broken. The book In and Out is undoubtedly a masterpiece, edifying and enjoyable.

A journalist, and publisher of the online newspaper, Frontline News, Kemi Yusuf who read the book, gave the author high marks for the literary work, saying she exhibited very high standards in her work.

She said: “I dare say that the book in and out is a novel for the now and it depicts the story of the values of women in Nigerian and the continent of Africa.”

“Here is Dinaka, a young woman with higher education, who like many of her generation, was socialised to see marriage as the next step after a university degree and nothing near asking herself the kind of life she would like to build.

“Like thousands of women, whose minds have been opened by education but restricted by tradition, Dinaka who should have taken time for self-discovery, did as dictated by society.

“Did the protagonist in Ezediniru’s book look before she leapt into the marriage that ultimately left her sad, drained and disappointed in herself and probably the institution of marriage as well as the highly rated idea of love?

“As with good novels, as with great writers, Ezediniru manages to makes me love and understand with Dinaka whether or not she jumped into marriage with Eka and only really took a look at the man she married without compulsion, after so much water had passed under the bridge.

“Despite being Ezediniru’s first attempt at writing, she manages to present Dinaka’s honest story.”

While speaking on the form and content of the book, she noted that the storyline is a familiar tale in the country and the African continent.

The author while speaking on her creative effort said: “In and Out is a story borne of sheer curiosity, the curiosity to unravel the strength and weaknesses of marital relationships in our environment. It’s a story of a woman. This woman represents many women. The ‘many’ women who live in a facade of happiness while dying internally.

“Stories help to reinforce values. They are told to enforce reflections. It is my hope that the ‘woman’ represented in the story reads it and gives an unbiased judgement of what she could have done different in the circumstances.

“She will examine the role she played in her fate and the consequences of her indecision and lackadaisical attitude to important things of life. I hope she learns amongst other things that she is fully responsible for her life, not the society, not the church and not her husband.”

Speaking on the large turnout of friends for her event, she said:

“It’s such a delight having people gather to launch a book about a Nigerian woman. I feel immensely grateful to the girls of FGGC Gboko and Rotary club of Apo and all my friends and family who took time to make this occasion successful.”

Earlier, the project chairman of the Rotaract Club, Apo, General Bennard Ugwueke   took the gathering through the plans of the club in terms of projects and the aims and objectives of the Organisation.

According to him, it was imperative that the members attract more converts in the club in order to ensure that the laudable objectives are realised.

Ugwueke while speaking on the book said the best in the author has been put on paper for posterity to enjoy.

A middle-aged man identified as Kingsley lost his life a week ago after a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) lost control and fell into a river behind  EFAB Estate, Lokogoma District, Abuja.

Two other occupants of the vehicle survived the crash, which occurred in the morning after the SUV fell off a narrow bridge and landed with its back in the river.

It was learnt that residents rushed to the scene and  rescued the occupants, but Kingsley, who was the first to be rescued inexplicably returned to the water and was swept away.

After several hours of search, his body was found in the afternoon of that day by divers.

An eyewitness who identified himself as John told Abuja Review that he was in his room when he heard a loud noise from the scene.

He added that some residents said they saw the driver at top speed before the sad incident.

He said, “I was hearing a shout from my room, so I came out and saw people trying to bring the driver out of the vehicle.

“We had to smash the windscreen to bring him out of the car but in the process of doing that, he was beginning to drown and we managed to bring him out and took him to the hospital, but the third guy who was in the back seat drowned and we couldn’t find him.”

A resident, Emma Oha also corroborated that the driver was speeding when he crashed into the river.

“I don’t know whether he was trying to avoid hitting an Okada man (commercial motorcyclist) when he crashed into the river. We waded into the river and rescued the three occupants,” he stated.

Speaking further, Oha said, “We broke the windscreen and brought the three of them out of the vehicle; The first person we rescued later came back into the river shouting that his uncle was inside the car.

“He came back into the river and was swept away, maybe it was because he was weak and could not withstand the fierce current. We spent over one hour looking for his body, but we couldn’t find it.”