The Nation Newspaper

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  • Nepal celebrates Day of the Dog

    Nepal celebrates Day of the Dog

    Nepalis celebrated the day of the dog on Tuesday as part of the wider week-long Tihar festival.

    The country’s dogs were adorned with marigold garlands, had vermillion smeared on their foreheads, and were fed special treats.

    Kukur Tihar, or dog festival day, is a ritual among the Hindu majority and is also widely observed by the rest of the population.

    The week’s Tihar festivities also honour crows, cows and oxen.

    “I don’t have a dog but I enjoy them anyway, so I decided to make garlands for two streets dogs outside my house,” said Kalpana Shakya, who spent her morning plucking flowers for the garlands and making a pot of chicken and rice for the dogs.

    “Dogs are the symbol of the protector god, Bhairava, an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva, ‘’

    “They bring us prosperity and they were born to be our friends, so we worship them on this day,” Shakya said.

    “I think Nepalese should do this every day, it’s great to love a dog and to show that love,” said Warrick Middleton, an Australian tourist who participated in the ritual.

    Others pointed out that Nepal’s stray dogs are not always so feted.

    “How is it that these animals, so respected one day, can be neglected the next?” said Uttam Kafle, director of Animal Nepal, who estimates that more than 22,500 dogs live on the streets of Kathmandu alone.

    This year the organisation took in more older dogs than usual, he said, partly because so many were made homeless by the devastating earthquake in May, adding that some were also abandoned by their owners when they got sick or old

     

  • The Returnee (2)

    The Returnee (2)

  • ‘I’m a high class prostitute, but my parents think I work in a bank!’

    Follow @Escapades007

    (This series is about a young lady named Vanessa who lives a double life in the big city- by day, she passes for a respectable, professional lady while at night, she turns into a high class hooker who works the streets for money). Enjoy!

    ***

    “Vanny baby! You are looking sweet! Where are you off to so early in the morning?” Sasha, my friend and flatmate inquired. She had just come in from an appointment with a ‘client’ and looked tired, like someone that had not had a sound sleep for days. Considering the person she had gone to meet, I was not surprised.

    “Babe, as you see me so, na Abuja I dey face so o!” I replied in pidgin English, fastening the clasp on my small, portable travelling bag. 

    “Abuja? Ha! Wetin dey? Babe, yarn me na!” she cajoled. She flopped on the sofa, kicked off her shoes and stretched out comfortably.

     “No time for that now. I have a 9 o’clock flight to catch and I’m running late. I’ll call you once I get to Abuja.” 

     Picking up my bag, I headed for the door. Sasha came out to see me off as I entered the cab I had chartered.

     “Call me when you arrive o!” Sasha said through the cab window. I waved and we set off for the airport.

     I glanced at the gold watch on my wrist that had been a gift from one of my clients. It was past seven. I had enough time to catch my flight. My phone rang then and I searched inside my handbag for it.

     It was Bibi, my very close friend, professional colleague and confidant.

     “Vanessa, where are you?” were her first words to me. That was vintage Bibi, no time for preambles.

     “Haba, Bibi! Your Mama no teach you how to greet your elders for morning?” I said teasingly. Though Bibi and I were born the same year, I was some months older than her and I never let her forget it.

     “Elders ko, greetings ni!” she rejoined. She told me the time for the ‘job’ that was taking me to the capital city had been rescheduled.

     “Moneybags just called to say he won’t be able to see us till late today. Something to do with an important meeting tonight,” she said. 

     I was to head to the hotel she was lodging as soon as I arrived the city, she stated, adding that Sheila was with her. 

     Sheila was the other girl in our small group with a mandate to succeed by what ‘nature had blessed us with’, in other words, our looks. More of the group later…

        Easy money

      The journey to Abuja was smooth. It was raining when we touched down and I took a cab to meet Bibi and Sheila who were already comfortably settled in their rooms in the posh hotel ‘Moneybags’ had booked us into.

     Before I tell you what went down with ‘Moneybags’ that night, let me give a brief intro into my life and those of my girlfriends.

     My name as you have already deduced is Vanessa and I’m a young lady in my 20s. I’m a graduate with a good degree from one of the Universities in the country. Bibi and I were school mates; we met in our second year and became friends. It was Bibi who introduced me into this ‘business’. Before I started moving with her, I was a typical young, innocent girl, who did not know much about life and whose dream was to be a broadcaster when I graduated. 

     But Bibi put all those ideas out of my head.

     “Look at you. You are young, pretty with the whole world before you. Why waste all that, and give yourself so much stress working for peanuts after leaving school when you can make more money through ‘hustling’. Besides, there are no jobs these days. So many graduates are out there searching endlessly for non-existent jobs. My dear, there are better ways of making it in this country. Stay with me and I will teach you the ropes!” she had said.

     Maybe it was curiosity or just youthful exuberance for I started hanging out with Bibi and her group. I noticed one thing immediately about them- they always had money and were never broke unlike so many other students in school who operated a 0-1-0 eating formular just to survive.

     I found out the secret some time later when I became part of the group. Bibi and her friends dated only men who were very rich, mostly millionaires and the powerful men around. They did not have time for any one without money and steered clear of their fellow male students as if they had an infectious disease.

     “Who has time for those losers,” Bibi would say with a hiss whenever a male student expressed interest in her.

      With time, I joined their group and began making money. My lifestyle changed and so many other things as well. My parents who were normal, hardworking people never suspected what I was doing at school. My father worked as a top executive in a company for many years before he retired some years ago. He provided well for the family, paid my school fees and those of my other siblings on time and was generally a good father.

     Coming from such a middle-class background, why would I be doing ‘runs’ and hustling on campus, you might wonder. Greed, insatiable desire for the good things of life, peer pressure, love of fun? Any of those things could have been responsible for what I became.

     Anyway, after graduating, we took our game to a much higher level. With the help of Madam Clara, a woman who is into arranging young girls for top politicians, businessmen and the like in town, we began to move in really top circles. While our mates were going around searching for jobs, Bibi, the other girls and I were living the good life. I made so much money in such a short time that I was able to build my first house within two years after leaving school which I rent out. I have a fleet of exotic cars and wear only designer clothes and accessories.

     I kept the house a secret from my parents and other family members. I knew my parents would have heart attacks if they ever guessed the kind of ‘work’ I was doing. So, I have been very careful in hiding things from them. I’m almost completing my second building and that too is a secret. 

     I live a double life. By day I’m this angelic looking, respectable lady and by night I hustle for a living.

     I’m alone in the city as my parents have relocated to our home town. I’ve told them I’m working in the Nigerian branch of a multinational, financial institution and I’m well paid. As for the well furnished duplex in a classy part of town where I live, I tell them it’s my official accommodation which comes with the job.

     The real ‘job’ which I’m doing though is completely different from the fake one my family believe occupies my time.

     It’s the job that has brought me to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory on this rainy day to meet with a man we have nicknamed ‘Moneybags’ because of his stupendous wealth. The job, which was organised by Bibi is worth a couple of millions. Not bad for a few hours work!

     We get paid handsomely and also get a chance to make some top connections. What’s not to like?

    Names have been changed to protect Vanessa’s identity and other individuals in the story.

    For Archive, Visit Patience Saduwa

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  • Twitter introduces poll

    Twitter introduces poll


    Twitter, online social networking service has given its users the ability to engage more audience using polling. This was contained in a post on Twitter Blog by Todd Sherman (@tdd), Product Manager, who said: "We’re excited to share that in the coming days, everyone will be able to create polls on Twitter. "And, with just a couple of taps, people can weigh in on all the topics they care about." According to Sherman on the blog post, if you want the public’s opinion on anything — what to name your dog, who will win tonight’s game, which election issue people care most about — there’s no better place to get answers than on Twitter. "For poll creators, it’s a new way to engage with Twitter’s massive audience and understand exactly what people think. For those participating, it’s a very easy way to make your voice heard. Over the next few days, we’re rolling out the ability to create polls on iOS, Android, and on desktop at twitter.com. Once you see the poll icon shown above in the compose box, give it a try and create your own poll!

  • Candy Crush Gets New Owner At $5.9bn

    Candy Crush Gets New Owner At $5.9bn


    Candy Crush Saga, a match-three puzzle video game is about to be acquired by a new owner. The deal has been sealed at whopping $5.9bn (£3.8bn). The new owner, US computer game company, Activision Blizzard, which produces World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, is buying King Digital Entertainment, the creator of Candy Crush. According to Activision in a statement, the acquisition would make it a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms. The Call of Duty series is one of the world's best selling console games, while Candy Crush is among the most popular games on mobile devices and on PC. Video game publishers are switching from the physical sale of games to digital growth as consumers move from consoles to playing on Smartphones, iPads and tablets. Activision Blizzard's chief executive, Bobby Kotick told an online News Agency that the company wanted to broaden its reach and appeal to a larger demographic. He said that 60% of King Digital Entertainment's players were female, and that no games console or hardware, besides a smartphone, was needed to access its games. It will be recalled that Candy Crush Saga was released by King on April 12, 2012 for Facebook, and on November 14, 2012 for iOS, Android, Fire OS, Windows Phone, Windows 10, and Tizen. It is a variation on their browser game Candy Crush.

  • Touch of Fate (1)

    • Prologue: 
      Somewhere on a campus in Nigeria- 2002

    The four friends in the black SUV had had a great time at the party and were on their way back to their campus in the early hours of the morning. They had written their last papers the previous day and in a few days, they would all be leaving school for the last time. The party had been their way of ‘cooling off’ from all the stress of their final exams as well as hanging out together for the last time.
    Except for the one driving, the others were slightly drunk. As they drove along, they spoke in slurred tones of some of the things that had gone down at the party. The main topic was the fight that had broken out between one of their classmates and another boy over a girl.
    “Men, that Derek is a fool. Why would he fight over a girl when there are so many out there,” one of them at the back remarked.
    “Do you blame him? That babe is really hot! Is it her mesmerizing eyes? Or those ‘killer’ curves of hers?” said his back seat mate.
    “Don’t tell me you’ve been ‘scoping’ her all this while,” the one in the passenger seat in front stated, turning round to look at his friends at the back.
    This caused much ‘yabis’ (insults) being thrown at the one at the back seat who had made the remark.
    They had just driven past the library sometime later when it happened. As the driver turned into the road that led to their hall of residence, he ran into a dark figure that had run across the road. It was a dark spot as there were no street lights by that part of the road. 
    “What was that?” the guy in the passenger seat asked the driver. Their friends at the back had fallen asleep and were dead to the world.
    They both got down and rushed to the figure on the ground. It was too dark to see properly but they could tell it was a female. She lay still, not making any sound.
    “Is she dead?” he asked his friend.
    “I don’t know,” he replied, bending down to look at the figure. He shook her gently on the shoulder but got no response. “Maybe we should take her to the clinic,” he stated.
    “We can’t. What if she’s dead? We will be charged for murder,” he stated, a frightened tone in his voice. Taking his friend’s hand, he said: “Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do for her.”
    The other guy reluctantly got up and they went into the car and drove away. As they left, the prone figure on the ground groaned a little then lay still once more…

    Ten years later…
    The banking hall was crowded as usual that Friday morning. Don, a tall, slim man in a blue shirt and black trousers, stood at the entrance, wondering how long it would take him to transact the business he had come for. He made his way to one of the queues and was taking his place behind the last person on the line when he heard his name. 
    He saw a young lady sitting at a desk in the open space behind the counter waving at him.
    He went over and stood by the counter. She looked strangely familiar though he couldn’t remember where he had seen her before.
    “Come inside,” she invited him, pointing to the small opening near the wall.
      The lady called Helen turned out to be a school mate of Don at the university. She had in fact been course-mates and a friend of his cousin Tasha who had been two years his junior.
    “Sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You look so different,” he stated, looking at her closely. He could remember her as a somewhat skinny girl with a pimply face who always wore her hair in braids. That student of many years ago was in sharp contrast to the pretty-looking, confident lady in a dark suit with her hair in a long, sleek weave. She had put on some weight and it suited her.
    She smiled at his words.
    “I understand what you mean. Sometimes I hardly recognize myself when I look at my old pictures,” she noted. 
    “You are looking really fine,” he stated in an admiring tone. “You work in this bank?” he asked, looking round the office.
    “Yes. I’ve been here for about four years.”
    “That’s good. Hope you are enjoying the job…”
    They sat chatting about school days and old friends they had not seen for years.
    “What about Tasha? I’ve not seen or heard from her for a long time,” she stated. Don told her she was based abroad and was married with kids.
    “That’s nice,” Helen said quietly.
    Later, after she had assisted him in his transaction at the bank, she saw him off to his car.
    That was when he noticed the limp. She walked as if one of the legs was shorter than the other and it affected her gait. Since it could not have been caused by high heeled shoes as she was in a pair of flat pumps, he wondered what could be responsible. He could not remember her walking that way back in school.
    He got into the car and before starting the engine he glanced at her legs then up at her face.
      She noticed him staring and sighed.
    “I know you must be wondering about my leg. It’s a long story, something I will tell you some other time,” she said. 
    “Let’s meet up for lunch one of these days then,” he stated. They exchanged numbers before he drove off.
    Shortly after, Don travelled out of town on official business. He was so busy that he forgot all about his lunch date with Helen. It was on his return that he got a call from her.
    “Oh! I’m so sorry! I know I should have called but I’ve been really busy at work. You know how it is,” he said apologetically.
    “Is it just work or its something else?” she asked in a teasing tone of voice.
    “Like what?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
    “Like girls, perhaps. You used to have quite a reputation of being a ladies man back in school,” she said.
    He laughed at that.
    “That was then. I’m a changed person now, much more serious-minded,” he noted.
    They chatted for a while and before hanging up, Don said he would love to take her out for dinner that weekend. She agreed to the date then hung up.
    “Who were you talking to that has put such a big smile on your face, Helen? That is making you look so happy,” asked Tina, a colleague who sat close to her.
    “I’m always happy,” she replied, as she checked some figures on the computer.
    “I know. But today, you are glowing. Tell me the secret,” she persisted.
    “Just face your work, ok. Busybody,” Helen said scornfully.
    “Or is it that tall, fine bros that came the other day? Is he your new boyfriend? Gist me now!” Tina asked again.
    “Mind your business!” Helen said, getting up and walking away towards the restroom.
    “Hmm. Some people are so stingy; they don’t know how to share. What’s wrong in giving me a little gist about the guy? Na wa oh,” Tina said to herself before resuming her work on the computer.
    Some days later, they went for dinner at a nice restaurant not far from her office.
      “Why are you smiling?” Helen queried, looking across the table at him. They had placed their orders and were waiting for the food to be served.
    “I’m comparing that skinny little girl on campus all those years ago with the beauty I’m looking at now,” he said, smiling at her. “Whatever happened to her?” he asked.
    She gave a short laugh before saying:
      “Well, she grew up. I was in my teens back then. And teenagers grow up,” she pointed out.
    “You are right. It’s a good thing you didn’t look like this back then. You wouldn’t have escaped,” he stated.
    “Escaped what?” she said, taking a sip of her drink.
    He pointed at his chest. 
    “Me,” he said, grinning broadly.
    “So, I was right then. About your bad boy reputation,” she said.
    “Yeah. We did a lot of crazy stuffs in those days. We were young then…” he said, his mind going to a certain incident that happened on a dark, moonless night all those years ago.
    It was about a week later when they met up for drinks that she told him about the accident that broke her leg.
    “It was towards the end of the session and it was exam period. I had two more papers to write so that evening I had gone to the library with a friend of mine. She had however, left just before midnight, saying she was feeling sleepy. I stayed for another hour or so before deciding to return to my room,” she stated.
    She said it was on the way to her hall of residence that the accident occurred.
      “Everything happened so fast. I was close to the library and I remember crossing the road when a car came on high speed round the corner and knocked me down. It was a dark night and there were no street lights at that spot. Anyway, I must have been unconscious for I woke up the following day at the school clinic. I had a lot of bruises all over my body and my right leg was broken as well.” She added that her parents later came and took her to another hospital where they tried to set the bones on her leg. “They really tried. But the damage to the bone was much. So, by the time the leg healed, I ended up with a limp,” she said.
    “I’m really sorry to hear about this. It must have been terrible for you. Can you remember the day this incident happened?” asked Don curiously.
    “Of course. Its a day I can never forget,” Helen stated, telling him the date.
    “And the car that hit you? Can you remember it and the person driving it?” he asked earnestly.
    She shook her head.
    “I told you it was dark. I never saw the driver of the car. But I remember the car looked big, like a jeep…”
    At her words, a cold chill like the type that descends on one about to have a fever, came upon him. He stared at her, a dazed look on his face.
    “It can’t be. It can’t be. No way…” he kept muttering to himself.
    “Don! What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!” Helen said, looking worriedly at him…

     

    For Archive, Visit Patience Saduwa

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  • What Nigerians want from Federal Executive Council

    Due to the current economic, security and infrastructural challenges in the country, Nigerians have began to express their expectations from the incoming Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    In a tweet chat between 2:00pm and 3:00pm on Monday, Twitter users used the hashtag #MondayTango to emphasize the need for the FEC to initiate government policies and programmes as well as ensure that they are properly implemented.

    Expectations have ranged from transparency, to self operated social media accounts, to the promised change.

    (see interactions below)


    https://twitter.com/thesoccerlyst/status/661173767176069120


    https://twitter.com/thesoccerlyst/status/661181128716509185

    As Nigeria anticipates the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, what are your expectations from the Federal Executive Council?

  • My master’s son (4)

    My master’s son (4)

    Follow @Escapades007

    I quickly picked up the paper and my heart froze as I read the story. The report was about Edward. It stated that he had been involved in a car accident a few days before and that he was in a critical condition in an undisclosed hospital.

    ‘While the doctors are battling to save his life, a source close to the family disclosed that his parents are making frantic efforts to have him taken to a hospital abroad,’ I read. I stared at the paper in disbelief, not believing what was before my eyes.

    Edward in an accident? How did this happen? Different thoughts kept swirling through my mind. I was walking away from the vendor’s stand in a daze when the man said: “Aunty, you never give me money for the paper o!”

    I apologised, paid him and left. Throughout that day, I thought about nothing else but the accident.

    I kept praying that he would be alright. I longed to get an update on his situation but there was no one I could reach immediately. My mother had stopped working for the Addamsons some time ago after my grandmother fell seriously ill. She had resigned and had relocated to the village to take care of the old woman. As soon as I closed from work, I took a cab and rushed to the family house. 

    The place had not changed much since I left. The security men at the gate, on recognising me, let me in. None of the family members was at home, they said. It was one of the maids, Charity, who gave me a bit of information on the situation. She said his parents were travelling with him that night to a foreign hospital.

    “We are all praying so Oga Edward will recover soon,” she said. 

    It took months before Edward had recovered enough from his injuries to return to Nigeria. And it was not a full recovery as I found out when I went to visit him at home. He was in a wheelchair, a result of the spinal cord injuries he had sustained in the accident. Though I was so happy to see him alive, I felt bad seeing the once vibrant and lively Edward sitting in a wheelchair, unable to walk. 

    That first day, I spent a long time with him and it was like old times even though circumstances had changed. He was married now, had survived a near fatal accident and was confined to a wheelchair. His wife, Cherry was hardly around as she still lived in their marital home while Edward was at the family home during his recuperation period.

    Anytime, I visited, Edward was always very happy to see me. We would spend many hours chatting, watching movies together or playing some board games like Scrabble which he loved. It got to a point that he even suggested I should move back to the house so I could be closer to him. It was in the evening and the nurse who attended to him at home, had closed for the day.

    “What about your wife? How will she feel when she hears that a former girlfriend of yours had moved into your home?” I asked. 

    He smiled wryly before stating:

    “My wife? How many times do you see her here?”

    “Maybe she is busy with her job,” I suggested.

    “What job? Cherry doesn’t work! She is probably too busy with her shopping and hanging out with her equally rich and idle friends to have time for her crippled husband!” he said with some bitterness. Besides his wife, I wondered about his parents reactions too. Afterall, it was due to their interference that Edward and I had broken up. Though to be fair to them, since my return, they had been very friendly especially seeing how my presence made their son happy and less depressed about his condition.

    Back to base

    With no objections from his parents, I moved back to the house. Truth was, I wanted to be close to him so I could help in any way in his recovery. So, I did not mind the relocation. Each day, after closing from the office, I always looked forward to going home so I could be with Edward. With time, he became almost like his old self and less prone to bouts of depression and self-pity.

    Things went on this way until about a year after I had been living there. I returned from work one evening to find Edward looking despondent. Thinking he was in pain or something, I asked if I should send for the nurse to give him some drugs.

    He shook his head.

    “I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong with me,” he said.

    It was much later I found out what had been bothering him. He told me that his wife, Cherry had filed for divorce and wanted out of the marriage.

    “Can you believe she broke the news to me by text message? She did not even have the courtesy to come here and tell to my face that she is no longer interested in the marriage. All because I’m now wheel chair bound! She says she is too young to be saddled with a husband who is virtually a cripple and can’t perform his duties as a man anymore! And that she has fallen for some one else!” I could see he was getting really upset so I tried to calm him down.

    His parents were equally shocked when they heard what Cherry had done. 

    “What kind of wife would abandon her husband in his hour of need?” said his mother one day when she was discussing the issue with a friend of hers who had come to visit Edward.

    “It shows the state of the world today. Most young people don’t take their marital vows seriously. They jump ship at the first hint of trouble. No patience at all!” the friend chipped in.

    Some months later, after the breakdown of his marriage, Edward’s mother sent for me one day. We had a long chat, with the main focus being Edward. She pleaded with me to overlook the past, particularly the shabby way her husband and herself had treated me while Edward and I were dating.

    “I realize now, we made a mistake. We should not have stopped you both from being together.  I can see that my son really loves you and you genuinely care for him. Look at the way you’ve been caring for him since his illness. You have stood by him while the stupid, so called wife has abandoned him,” she said.

    She told me that Edward had spoken to her about resuming our old relationship, that he even wants to marry me.

    “I want to plead with you to please accept his proposal when he eventually summons the courage to ask you. Chief and I can now see that you are the only one who can make him truly happy. Please, Laura, my dear, he needs you now. We are ready to do anything you want. All we ask is just be with our son and make him happy again, be his old self once more” she stated earnestly.

    True to her words, Edward proposed to me a few days after his mother spoke to me. He said he had not stopped loving me and could not imagine being with anyone now except me. I did not turn him down or accept. I simply told him to give me sometime to think about it. 

    “I’ll be travelling to the village to visit my mother. I’ll give you an answer on my return,” I told him. He did not seem to mind, stating he was ready to wait as long as ‘my answer would be favorable to him.’

    Though I still loved Edward and it would make me very happy to be his wife, I had not fully forgotten the pain his parents put me through after they broke up our relationship. Now, they are begging the same person they did not want anything to do with their son because of her poor background, to marry him. How ironic! What will happen tomorrow if Edward recovers fully and they remember my roots and want to kick me out again? The last tests by some specialists doctors who had examined Edward showed he could regain the use of his legs with time and proper care. A physiotherapist had even been engaged to work on him.

    So, this time around, I want to be careful. My trip to see my mother in the village is to seek her advice on the matter. She is older and wiser and would advise me on the best decision to take. 

    I also want readers of my story to make an imput, to advise me about the issue- should I accept Edward’s proposal or not? Thank you.

    Concluded

    Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator, Laura and other individuals in the story.

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  • On Amosun: The Unwise Act of Pius Adesanmi

    On Amosun: The Unwise Act of Pius Adesanmi

    In Justin Kruger’s and David Dunning’s work titled, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments,” the dangers of ignorance and how it stifles learning was elucidated. It is commonly called the Dunning-Kruger effect.

    Essentially, the Dunning-Kruger effect talks about ignorance, which the Wikipedia, also defines as a state of being uninformed. The same Wikipedia defines the word “ignorant” as an adjective describing a person in the state of being unaware. The same word is also used to describe “individuals who deliberately ignore or disregard important information or facts.”

    In fact, in the UK and the US such persons who are willfully ignorant are commonly referred to as “ignoramus.” The Wikipedia further says that ignorance is distinguished from stupidity, although both can lead to “unwise” acts.

    With that statement, the Wikipedia may just have hit the bull’s eye. Or how else would one describe a situation where an otherwise respectable Professor blindly jumps into the fray over an issue on which he is either totally uninformed or has chosen to be deliberately ignorant?

    Indeed, the article titled, “Pius Adesanmi On Ibikunle Amosun’s Treatment Of Teachers,” and published on Naij.com, an online publication, on Tuesday, October 13, 2015, can only be best described as an “unwise” act.

    In the said article, Adesanmi, described as a professor of English and African Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, sadly failed to conduct the simplest of research which, for instance includes a Google search, before hurrying to type expletives with which he laboured to paint Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the Ogun State governor, as a dictator over a matter in which the governor was not in any way directly connected.

    So why would a supposed intellectual commit such a faux pas? Could it be because he was too lazy to research and find out that as far back as August 27, 2015, the Ogun State Civil Service Commission, which is an autonomous body created by Section 197 of the 1999 Constitution with powers to appoint persons to offices in the State civil service; and dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding such offices, had issued a statement explaining what happened in the case of Mr. Jola Adegbenro and five other officials of the state Ministry of education who were sanctioned for conducts that breached public service rules?

    Or was it that he couldn’t comprehend the Commission’s explanation that it acted on petitions from concerned parents who were alarmed that statements earlier used in campaign flyers and newspaper advertorial sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Ogun State, in the run up to the 2015 gubernatorial election, curiously found their way into comprehension passages served for their children as examination script?

    Indeed, what was masqueraded as an examination question given to SS1 students in Ogun State during the June/July 2015 third term unified examination was a material containing politically-motivated falsehood that had earlier been severally published in campaign flyers and newspaper advertisements by the PDP in Ogun State, months before the 2015 general elections. The same material was published online by the PDP and its known allies.

    Perhaps the challenge is that our erudite professor couldn’t grasp the explanation of the state Civil Service Commission that Mr. Adegbenro and his co-travellers were given fair hearing and an opportunity to defend themselves, both in writing and orally, before a committee set up to investigate the issue. And that they all admitted the nexus between the controversial examination passage and previously published campaign flyers of a political party. Not only that, Mr. Adegbenro also admitted having authored the previously published political material which he subsequently turned into an examination script given to school children.

    Even more important is the fact that Professor Adesanmi may not know that the action of Mr. Adegbenro and his co-travellers, according to the state civil service commission, was in breach of section 04420 (1) (a) (b) and (d) of Public Service Rules.

    Another thing our dear Professor may have been ignorant of but which the civil service commission had taken the pains to explain is that the said Rule 04420 of the extant Ogun State Public Service Rules, which I understand applies to public servants not just in Ogun State but all over the country, provides, among other things, that: “no Officer shall without the express permission of his Permanent Secretary/ Head of Extra-Ministerial Department, whether on duty or on leave of absence; contribute to, whether anonymously or otherwise or publish in any newspaper, magazine or periodical or otherwise publish, cause to be published in any manner anything which may reasonably be regarded as of a political or administrative nature.”

    It is on the basis of this rule that the Ogun State civil service commission, without prejudice to the powers of the governor, has decided to sanction the erring officers.

    Could Professor Adesanmi have been ignorant of these facts which have since been in the public domain or could he have been a victim of the desperation to want to play to the gallery?

    Honestly I am still at a loss as to what may have made an otherwise respected scholar fail to also engage in a simple introspection, which should have spurred him into seeking to know why the trade unions of the affected teacher, whose rights he claimed were trampled upon by an imaginary dictator, would resort to pleading on his behalf rather than challenge the civil service commission’s decision in court. Could it be because they know that their colleague had indeed acted in breach of the civil service rules?

    If only he had paused to give that aspect a second thought, Professor Adesanmi may have been saved the embarrassment of appearing like a scholar incapable of conducting simple research on a subject matter of interest.

    So is Professor Adesanmi that ignorant? Methinks the answer is an emphatic no. Far from it, Professor Adesanmi, whose profile described as a widely-cited commentator on Nigerian and African affairs, is too intelligent not to know. Even if he didn’t know, he is also too intelligent not to know that he could jolly well have asked or conducted some little research.

    What went wrong? I think he just chose to pretend like he didn’t know. In this particular instance, it seems knowing the facts and or choosing to present them to the reading public will not serve his purpose and that of the persons who may have sent him on this ignoble trip of travesty.

    This is why I am of the opinion that Professor Adesanmi, in this particular instance, chose to appear ignorant whereas he is far more capable than he has unfortunately portrayed himself to be.

    Looking beyond our dear professor and his co-travellers, the important point that needs to be made is that the teacher in question has decided, against public service rules, to play politics. That is why he was shown the way out of the system, by the civil service commission, so that he can be free to actively engage in politics rather than hide behind the chalkboard in doing so.

    Adejuwon Soyinka, a multiple award-winning journalist, is the Senior Special Assistant, Media, to Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

  • My best friend’s husband (1)

    My best friend’s husband (1)


    The first time I set my eyes on Eric, something told me I had met 'the one' I had been searching for. My soul just went out to him as romantic writers would describe it. Unfortunately, it was all one sided- Eric did not reciprocate my feelings. Instead, he had eyes only for my best friend, Patra. Patra and I had known each other since we were very young. Infact, we grew up together in the same neighbourhood and had attended the same secondary school. Later, her father, who worked in a government parastatal, was transferred to Abuja and we lost contact for a while. As fate would have it, she was posted to Lagos for her youth service programme and that's how we got reunited. By then, I was running my own business, a wedding planning outfit. When Patra finished the NYSC, I invited her to come and join me in the business. We have been working together for about four years and the business has grown in that period. And we have not had any personal problems, that is until Eric came on the scene. I first met him at a client's house. She was Eric's sister who had contracted us to plan her wedding. She was still living with her parents and Eric, who lived elsewhere in town, was on a visit to the family. I pride myself on being someone who is not easily carried away by emotions especially where men were concerned. But meeting Eric changed all that. I think I was attracted to him from the first time we met, which was a record as it usually took me time to get to like a guy. Anyway, after that first meeting, I did not see Eric again till some weeks later. Patra and I had finished another meeting with Sharon, his sister and were on our way out when he arrived. My heart grew warm at the sight of him, wishing he had come earlier. "I see you ladies are done already," he said as he stepped out of his car. I told him we had another session with Sharon in a few days. "I hope my sister is not giving you a tough time. She can be quite stubborn you know," he stated, his eyes all the while focused on Patra. Then lowering his voice in a conspiratorial tone, he added: "This is top secret. She has been like that since we were young. I feel sorry for the young man she wants to marry. The poor guy doesn't know what is about to hit him!" And with that, he waved at us and walked briskly towards the house, leaving us gaping after him. One day in our small office, Patra and I were going through some files on her laptop when her mobile rang. She walked towards the window and spoke for sometime on the phone, then turned to me, a surprised look on her face. "Who was it?" I asked indifferently, my eyes on the computer. "It's that guy Eric, Sharon's sister. He wants to take me out for a drink or something. He says you can come too if you are free," she said. At the mention of his name, I looked up quickly, fully interested. "Why would he want to do that?" I asked. I remembered the way he used to look at Patra the few occasions we had met him and my heart fell. God, I hope it's not what I'm thinking, that he likes Patra. He can't because I want him for myself, I silently prayed. "Who knows, Una? Maybe, he just wants to show appreciation for all the hard work we have put in planning his sister's wedding," she stated, with a shrug. Deep within me, I knew it was more than that...   Losing Eric My worst fears were confirmed during the outing with Eric. He took us to an open air garden bar by the lagoon front in the city. We sat close to the water front where some water hycinths grew profusely. That evening, it was clear to even the blind that Eric liked my friend. It was not just because he paid more attention to her, but the manner he looked and interacted with her. At a point I simply sat, glumly staring at a few boats that were speeding away on the water, leaving a trail of foamy water in their wake. Though it was a nice outing, I felt unhappy at the way things had turned out. Eric whom I liked so much had obviously chosen my friend over me. And she seemed to like him too as she confessed to me when we got home later that night. For one of the few times since our friendship began, I was angry with Patra. I felt betrayed and resentful, feeling that because of her, I had lost Eric. How can you lose someone you never had in the first place, the reader might wonder. Truth is, from the first moment I set my eyes on him, in my mind, he was already mine. Now, my friend had taken him from me! I knew I was being unreasonable but I could not help myself. I was consumed by jealousy, wondering what was so special about my friend that Eric would chose Patra over me. I kept all these thoughts to myself and never allowed how I felt about Eric to show. Even when they started dating fully, I wished her the best in the relationship. Deep inside me however, I prayed it would not last and that they would break up within a short time. My prayers stayed unanswered for with time, their relationship seemed to wax stronger and stronger. My friend had fallen in love and it showed in the glow in her eyes whenever she talked about him. She never hid anything from me concerning their relationship, both the ups and downs. Whenever they quarreled, I was the one she ran to, complaining bitterly about his 'difficult ways' and how controlling he could be. At such times, I would put my jealousy of her aside and console her as a friend. It was painful seeing them together but at least I took consolation in the fact that my friend was happy. Gradually, I began to accept the relationship, feeling they were meant to be. There was nothing I could do about it and I had to move on. But try as I could, the strong feelings I had for Eric never waned. It was to have dire consequences later as my story will show...   Names have been changed to protect the identity of Una, Patra and other individuals in the story

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