The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • South Africa: your next destination

    South Africa: your next destination

    Holidays are special periods of time enjoyed by workers, students, managers of different corporate organizations and even business men, to relieve oneself of all the stress that have accumulated through the regular working hours.

    Over the years Nigerians have delighted themselves by travelling to places like the U.S, U.K, Canada and lately, to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, only a few, though, seems to have realized or discovered South- Africa, a nearby country on the continent, an equally considerable good choice place of adventure during holidays.

    A banker, Mrs. Folasade Efuwape, shares a recent holiday experience in South Africa-

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    The economy – According to Mrs. Efuwape, South Africa is a nice place to stay, firstly, the country’s economy is stable, much as it reflects in the exchange rate, between Rand and the Naira. One rand goes for about 15 to 16 naira”.

    Market price – she said; “things are relatively cheap over there, and the traders don’t inflate the price of commodities unnecessarily, they just tell you the normal price and they are very blunt.”

    The weather – Again, she also cited the weather condition in most South Africa’s cities as a factor; she says “It is usually cold out there, regardless of the time of the year. When you visit Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg, it is as though you are in Europe or America, except for Sun City, which is known for being hot.

    Exotic places to visit

    “We visited the Carlton place, a very big shopping mall in Johannesburg, where one could buy almost everything necessity”.

    “We also went on picnic to the Johannesburg zoo, also, and it was a very interesting experience. We saw animals of different types and sizes”.

    Speaking with a Travel agent in Lagos, Mr. Akinpelu Sesan also threw more light on why most travelers visit South Africa, either on holidays or for a long term stay and what they do stand to benefit.

    “Basically South Africa (SA) is a developed country. They have many tourist attractions comparable with those in Europe and America. Again, it’s cheaper to travel there, compared to Europe,” he said.

    “It’s relatively easy to procure SA visa, compared to Shengen visa, UK visa and American Visa. Many Nigerians travel there in order to have their visa on their passport so as to make it easier for them to get the other major visas named above. (Those other countries will most likely grant you visa if you’ve travelled before, especially to a place like South Africa).That is talking about those who have not been travelling abroad before.”

    He added; “University education is also very good and of high quality, it is quite affordable. SA is a good tourist destination!”

  • What to look for in a life partner

    What to look for in a life partner

    Relationship expert, Praise Fowowe in this chat with Adetorera Idowu, outlines the top qualities to look out for in a life partner.

     

    1. Home training: I cannot think divorce because I was brought up not to think about it. I do not steal and I have never prayed to God to help me overcome stealing. My father conditioned me not to steal. If I had to steal, it’s a new skill that I need to develop.I was not wired to have extra marital affairs and I had to take responsibility for myself not to do so. If a child has been properly brought up, you can be sure that the marriage will work. It’s not about speaking in tongues, because some people speak in tongues and lack home training. That’s why we say charity begins at home.

    2.       Values: Values must be compatible. What do you believe in? What drives you? Are you driven by material things like cars? I did not have a car when I proposed to my wife. What was in my account was less than 10 thousand naira. All I had was a dream and she was magnanimous enough to believe in me. My wife has never put any financial burden on me. Whatever I can provide is what she takes and she never compares me. What are your values? Are you someone who keeps to your word? Are you accountable? The 21st century love must not be at first sight but must hire binoculars to see from afar.

    3.       Current reality: Apart from values you need to ask, can I marry this man/woman based on current reality? Some people get married and hope the person will change; that they will change is hope – it never works. If he smokes or womanizes can you stick with him? Forget that God will change him. If he doesn’t change are you okay?

    4.       Vision: Never marry someone who is not going somewhere with his life, if the vision is not accurately defined, don’t go in. It’s like entering a one chance bus. You won’t land in your destination.

    5.       The question ‘why’: In addition to that vision is the question “Why?” A guy comes to meet you and says he loves you. Ask him why me? There are so many other girls and you’ll be shocked that 9 out of 10 can’t answer that question. They will say something like ‘I love your shape’. He doesn’t love you because he doesn’t know you. That’s why I don’t believe in love at first sight. You can’t love anyone at first sight because you don’t know the person. What you’re seeing is the person’s packaging. My package is not me. When you ask ‘why do you love me?” and the person says ‘Oh you just have straight legs’ what he is saying to you invariably is, I don’t want to marry a person, I want to marry a leg.

    Until you know why, don’t deal because it means the guy is going to mess you up. Every marriage in crisis that I have encountered, doesn’t know the reason why they got married. You hear some say “I married her because I wanted someone who could take care of the home and to cook” so the guy was looking for a housekeeper and cook and not a wife. People don’t know how to answer the right questions so they mess up. It is critical and if you understand these things, you can never go wrong.

    6. Adopt a family constitution – I also recommend for people to write their family constitution and to put punitive measures in it before you marry so that if we had agreed with the constitution before we married, that if you ever cheat on me and you are caught or you report yourself, you will first go through HIV screening and all medical tests before we think of the next step. So when it happens, you will bring out the constitution. People need to cover themselves but sadly people go sheepishly into relationships then they get in there and are surprised.

    The 21st century trend is to get yourself covered. It’s not a contract marriage. It’s agreement. Can two walk together except they agree? If you don’t want me to have extramarital affairs, state what you want e.g wild sex and friendship, so we can both fulfill our roles. That way we would build the most desirable families. The most important setting on earth is your family and it starts with the choice of who to marry. The reason why Nigeria is collapsing is because the family system has collapsed. When we build it right and build people right, we won’t have any problem.

     

  • Model youth mentorship program in Morocco

    Model youth mentorship program in Morocco

    Four American students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts who traveled to Ifrane, Morocco to develop a mentorship program between students from Al Akhawayn University (AUI) and youth at the Rita Zniber Foundation Orphanage write on their experience.

     

    Children need role models – such as parents or older siblings – to develop the life skills to become successful, independent adults.

    There are currently an estimated 153 million children worldwide who have lost one or both parents and have fractured familial support systems. Without mentors, these youth face considerably more hardships and obstacles, placing their well-being at risk.

    We are four American students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts who have traveled to Ifrane, Morocco to develop a mentorship program between students from Al Akhawayn University (AUI) and youth at the Rita Zniber Foundation Orphanage.

    The Zniber Foundation is located in Meknes, Morocco and it cares for more than 240 young people between the ages of six and twenty-four, providing housing, food, clothes, education and all other necessities.

    Our group visited the orphanage several times to learn about the organization.

    During our interviews with the director, Madame Ouafae Mhawash, we began to understand that the youth need emotional support in addition to the necessities of daily life. While here they are fortunate enough to have access to classrooms, a music room, an art room, and a play yard, however, they are missing one critically important element – a positive role model to inspire them to excel in school and stay out of trouble.

    Madame Mhawash explained that one of her main goals for the youngsters in her care is to see them more motivated in school so they may have better opportunities and go on to obtain successful employment upon graduation. She also noted that they tend to blame their failures – such as rebelling or not doing their homework – on their orphaned status, which prevents them from realizing their potential for success.

    We gathered additional information by asking the youngsters questions about their interests, future plans, and areas where they thought they needed help. We were excited to learn that they all have career paths they want to pursue – ranging from police officers to engineers. We also discovered that the older they get, the more help they want with their academic studies.

    All AUI students are required to provide community service so involving them with a volunteer program for the orphanage provided a perfect opportunity for both sets of students, with those from the orphanage gaining mentors, tutors, role models, developing friendships and acquiring many of the social skills needed for future success.

    During our seven week stay at AUI, we created an outreach program that connects student volunteers to the young people at the Zniber Foundation.

    This involved promoting the program to the AUI student body and throughout the college campus, engaging directly with AUI students and informing them of the benefits of the mentorship program and volunteering.

    We presented information at club meetings, displayed promotional posters, worked through the AUI Community Involvement Program by emailing the entire campus, created an AUI television ad and used crowdfunding to raise funds for the program. In addition – and in many ways the ‘icing on the cake’ – we organized a visit for AUI volunteers to the orphanage and introduced them to the staff and youngsters – an amazing experience for all those involved.

    We are hopeful that our efforts at AUI and Meknes will create a sustainable mentorship program that will add value to the lives and educational experience of all youth and volunteers involved. The success and sustainability of this initiative is greatly dependent on student volunteers and financial resources to implement this vision.

    The WPI Morocco project center was created ten years ago as part of an exchange program with AUI. Students from WPI attend AUI for a period of two months and complete an Interactive Qualifying Project that addresses problems that can be solved by fusing science and technology with community-based and societal needs.

    WPI students have completed a range of projects in Morocco, such as working with ADER Fes in the renovation of the Fes Medina, developing a composting program in Ifrane, working with a women’s carpet cooperative in Ain Luhh and addressing water issues with farming communities in the Atlas region.

    Abigail DaBoll-Lavoie, Jacquelyn Fanning, Fernando Galvez and Richard Thyden – are undergraduate students at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco.

  • ‘How we were raped’

    ‘How we were raped’

    Some rape victims last Thursday visited the National Assembly last to plead for the speedy passage of the Sexual Offences Bill pending for over two years.
    Assistant Editor, Onyedi Ojiabor presents the moving stories of the victim.

    Victim 1
    I was raped by two guys when I was returning back to my extra moral lesson at 3pm on 28 of April 2014 in Enugu. I know the boys. I reported to my brother and he took me to the police station immediately and they were arrested by policemen.
    The incident has affected me. I was in SS 2 when I was raped. I was supposed to take my senior WAEC but I repeated the class and the whole village is happy that the boys arrested. What I don’t know is how the police is handling the matter. Left for me the boys should be jailed to serve as a deterrent to others.

    Victim 2
    I am an auxiliary nurse and 21 years old, I was raped by my cousin. I was coming back home from the office around 6 pm, when my cousin called and told me he was sick. I told him that I won’t be able to see him because it was late but from the way he sounded on phone I was moved with pity, coupled with the fact he had a history of heart problem, I decided to go visit him.
    Little did I know he was not sick. I met him on my way to his house. He was dressed in a white cardigan, along a narrow, lonely road.
    In an attempt to feel his pulse, he grabbed me on the neck and we started struggling but he overpowered me and raped me.
    I went home bleeding and thereafter reported the incident to my dad, who busted into tears.
    An attempt to interrogate the boy failed as his father hid him. We then went to the police station the day after. Right now the boy is in Police custody

    Victim 3
    I am 15 years, I am in SS2. I was raped by a young man known as Ugochukwu. On the 11th of October 2014, I was on my way to the market, that was when he saw me and called me, pretending to have a message for me.
    That was when he started making some advances and I turned it down. He then invited one of his friends and they both raped me. He was later arrested. It affected my education

    Victim 4
    I am 40 years old. I have been married for 17 years now and I have been in pains in the last 14 years. I have been suffering from domestic violence. I have been keeping quiet about the whole abuse from my husband.
    One of the cases is this year when I was pregnant with my last child. I went for HIV test as part of the requirement in the hospital and they discovered I was positive. We were both placed on anti-retroviral drug but he later stopped taking his medication and started threatening to kill me because I refused to go to bed with him. He stopped taking care of me and my 5 children.
    He burnt our wedding picture. I reported to the police and he was arrested and detained but was later granted bail. Right now I have left the house

  • 10 things you should know about social media

    10 things you should know about social media

    The social media, which includes ( Facebook, Twitter, BBM, Whatsapp, Instagram, Google+, etc), has no doubt become the most vibrant and fastest platform for communication in modern times.

    Individual, groups, corporate companies and even business organizations, all have adopted the social media as a veritable tool, in selling their image, products and services.

    However, there are important things that people should know about the use of the social media as highlighted below:

    1. It’s not for idle interaction, it’s rather a learning tool.

    The social media should not be used for non profitable and lazy conversations, as it is usually the practice with many users (especially the youth bracket), rather it should be seen and used as a medium to learn and gain more knowledge and get vital information.

    2. Offers opportunity to be a global citizen

    With the use of the social media, every user has got the opportunity to reach other people in all parts of the world, just in a click. You can share and also receive information on latest developments globally, and again make your inputs suggest the ways forward on different burning issues rocking the world society, because the world, as is it said has become a “global village”. By so doing, you have made yourself an active citizen of the globe.

    3. It is a work tool

    The social media, again, serves as a very important work tool for people of all professions. You can easily reach out to more number of clients or customers at a time, through the social media platforms. By this doing disseminating important information about one’s business is more enhanced. It also encourages quick feedbacks, which in turn enables fast decision making and necessary changes for effective service delivery.

    4. Be careful what you share on Social Media

    You should be careful that you don’t do over-sharing and watch the contents of what you share on-line because you can be googled. Your name could be researched for, and everything that you have posted and shared on-line will come out. Your image will definitely be at stake, as the negative things that you have shared may give a wrong view or impression about your personality.

    5. Spend quality time on-line (determine what you are going to do)

    As a social media user, you need to set out goals on what to do every time that you go on-line. You should spend doing quality work and not just see everything you find available on-line necessary for you to engage in. Do what you have to do and save your time to doing other profitable things. As it is said, “time is money”, so don’t spend your time dwelling on things that will not add much to you.

    6. Your on-line preference should be things that matter to you

    You need to know from the on-set the things that will add value to you, and enhance your lifein the long run, and those are the things that should be your preference. Don’t engage yourself in every social media activity just because other people are there. Have a scale for the things you are looking for and know the ones you ignore, as this will help you to focus on only things (contents) that are useful to you.

    7. You don’t need to be on all social media

    It is actually not a must to be on all social media platform. You, as an individual person needs to choose the ones (social media platform) that will be most useful and convenient for you. If possible, delete some of those accounts (in case you are on all social media). This will help you to avoid unnecessary distractions.

    8. There are many fraudsters on-line; you need to be careful about the kind of response to others.

    You may need to know that fraudsters have also devised easier ways of carrying out their dubious activities, through the social media. They send fraudulent messages to people at random, and at different times. These fraudsters really do take advantage of careless and unsuspecting users, who reply them without taking their time to make enquiries and find out whom really they are chatting with, before striking a business deal with them. Many people, as a result, have ended up as victims. So once you are not sure about the identity of the person who has sent you a message, don’t reply!

    9. The username you use on social media is very important

    Know that the name you use on the social media is as good as the opportunities and offers that will come your ways. It also makes it easier for people searching for you to easily locate you when you use your real name. Again, you tend to be taken more serious by an intending business partner or prospective employer when they find out your on-line name to be the same as your real name. Just imagine how such people will feel if, for example your name is John Kola, and your facebook name is Jk- boy; you will not be taken seriously. By this point serious opportunities may be forfeited.

    10. Don’t abuse the use of social media

    It becomes an abuse of the social media if you just decide to share anything that comes your way, and comes to your mind (whether legal or not legal), without considering the moral value and effect of what you have shared.

    For example, sharing of obscene pictures on –line, posting derogatory words or statements about people (especially popular people), and sharing unconfirmed rumours or news about individual or group of persons, or even organizations. All these are abusive ways of the social media use, and it could have a detrimental consequence on your personality.

  • 5 reasons why celebrity marriages fail – Fowowe

    5 reasons why celebrity marriages fail – Fowowe

    The massive celebrity divorce cases in recent times have raised questions in different groups. Everyone seems to be asking. Why do celebrity marriages fail? In an exclusive chat with Adetorera Idowu, sex and relationship expert, Praise Fowowe, highlights 5 reasons why celebrity marriages fail.

    1. Upbringing

    I always tell people that there is nothing called a bad marriage; you can only have two bad people or one bad person upsetting the system. People attribute marital breakups to several reasons but the part no one talks about is the upbringing of the people involved. If you have not been brought up as a whole person from childhood, by the time you get married you are already destroyed and naturally you won’t be able to run a marriage.

    1. Unhappiness

    We often assume that because a person can speak English or act or sing, we assume the person is sane but most of the time I realise this is not true. When I counsel people and they tell me they are not happy in their marriages, the first question I ask is, “Have you ever been happy in your life?” And they realise they’ve never really been happy.

    1. Wrong intention

    People get married for the wrong reasons. Some because they feel it’s the next thing to do. Some feel because they have money, while some others do it because all their friends are married. These reasons signal that your reason for getting married is wrong.

    Only dead people can marry successfully. You have to be dead to yourself, dead to your ego; dead to what you think is right, dead to culture, dead to religion, dead to a whole lot of things. I’ve been married for over 8 years so I know what I’m talking about.

    1. Pride

    If I didn’t know many of these celebrities 10 years ago, I would have thought they were not born in Nigeria, because of the quality of lives they are living. Some of them wore patched up school uniforms while some were from extreme poverty. Suddenly, they start making money and they become totally different people.

    It’s shocking that we are in such a hurry to catch up with Hollywood. We are not just producing like them; we are beginning to act like them. For those who find themselves on the red carpet consistently, when they get married, they don’t know how to switch from red carpet to domestic mode so they still carry the red carpet mentality into their homes.

    At home, I’m a husband to my wife, a father to my children. I’ll be stupid to expect my wife to accord me the respect my fans accord me. She did not marry a celeb, she married a Praise Fowowe. That’s why I don’t know the difference between red or green or blue carpet. When people live their lives thinking that endorsement deals are a big deal then there is no way their marriages wont crash.

    1. Low self esteem

    We have people who think that being on the red carpet is a big issue. If you find yourself on the red carpet and think you’re bigger than the whole world, you have a self esteem problem and self esteem has nothing to do with whether you’re a celebrity or not. I realise that people who behave like that are people who are very poor. Poverty has nothing to do with money; poverty is a thing of the mind. When you’re mentally poor and you have something that looks like money, you’ll be rude to people.

    I’m free enough to eat roasted corn on the road.

    Because you’re a celeb, when your car breaks down you feel pressured, meanwhile it’s a normal thing. If I have to go from my office to Opebi and there is traffic and I have an appointment to catch, I will pick a NAPEP and go where I want to go. It doesn’t change me.

    When people have low self esteem, it manifests in so many ways so we call it irreconcilable differences. Irreconcilable difference is another word for immaturity. Mature people can reconcile every now and then.

     

     

  • Over 40 Nigerians empowered at Mara entrepreneurship initiative

    Over 40 Nigerians empowered at Mara entrepreneurship initiative

    Young Nigerian entrepreneurs win again as Mara Mentor One-on-One Abuja business pitch session draws attention of top stakeholders in the youth development and empowerment space including the Federal Minister of Youth Development, Hon. Boni Haruna and top Nigerian business leaders.

    Young Nigerian entrepreneurs moved closer to their entrepreneurial ambitions as they competed for a six-month mentorship placement under leading entrepreneurs at the second edition of the Mara Mentor One-on-One session held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

    The Mara Mentor One-on-One event, a session organized for ambitious entrepreneurs to engage experienced business leaders, provided over 60 budding entrepreneurs (mentees) with the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to 25 industry experts (mentors) and a place for a six-month mentorship period during which the experts would act as mentors, providing guidance and direction as they venture into the entrepreneurship space.

    The business leaders, who are also mentors on Mara Mentor, the largest entrepreneurship community in Nigeria (www.mentor.mara.com), grilled the young entrepreneurs (mentees) who were given three minutes each to pitch their business ideas in a clear and concise manner.

    At the end of the session which was moderated by leading Nigerian social media entrepreneur Japheth Omojuwa, over 40 mentees were selected for six-month mentorship placements.

    The selected entrepreneurs will now proceed for the mentorship period under the tutelage of a cross section of business leaders including: Mohammed Santuraki (Managing Director Bank of Agriculture), Hayija Aisha Babangida (Chairperson, Better Life for African Rural Women), Adekunle Adebiyi (GM, Regional Operations MTN Nigeria), Binta Max-Gbinije (CEO, Stanbic IBTC Trustees) among others.

    The One-on-One session, which is the sequel to the exceedingly successful Mara Mentor One-on-One Lagos event, had in attendance top stakeholders in the youth empowerment and development space, including The Federal Minister of Youth Development, Hon. Boni Haruna who commended young Nigerians for “driving their own future by creating opportunities for themselves and others, by undertaking different entrepreneurial ventures aimed towards economic freedom and empowerment.”

    According to the Minister, “The Mara Mentor program is a project designed to enhance entrepreneurship education, capacity building and mentorship for the young Nigerian entrepreneur,” the minister said, adding that the Federal Ministry of Youth Development has played an active role supporting the progress of the entrepreneurial initiative.

    The Minister also commended the business leaders present, thanking them for investing their time and expertise on young Nigerians.

    Mentors, including Dr. Mairo Mandara (Country Representative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Bankole Cardoso (MD EasyTaxi Nigeria), Aisha Augie-Kuta (Ace Photographer) and Hakeem Shagaya (CEO, KAMROD Prefabrication), also lauded the innovative nature of the Mara Mentor One-on-One sessions, encouraging young entrepreneurs to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions and take advantage of the unique business mentorship opportunity it offers.

    Following the success of the event, Hetal Shah, Head of Operations, Mara, assured participants Mara will facilitate mentor-mentee relationship during the six-month mentorship period and also provide the mentees with further support during and after the event.

    The Mara Mentor program was launched by President Goodluck Jonathan alongside Founder of Mara Group and Mara Mentor, Ashish J. Thakkar on May 29th, 2014 at the Democracy Day celebrations in Abuja. The Mara Mentor initiative is in partnership with the Federation, Ministry of Youth Development, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Planning Commission.

    The initiative is also supported by UN Women, Ernst &Young, Africa 2.0, MTN, Beat 99.9 FM, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries, BusinessDay, Pulse.ng, Enterprise54.com, TechCityNg, AGDC, Young Stars Foundation and other local partners.

  • ‘Why I left Economics for screen writing’

    ‘Why I left Economics for screen writing’

    Peace Oni may just be 23 years old, and may even have started Career on a ‘wrong’ track, having studied Economics as a first degree. But after a 3 months course in screen writing at the royal arts academy, in Surulere, Lagos, 5 short films for Afriwood and several scripts for Daddy girls TV series, she is now ready to explore and go deeper into the world of screen writing. She spoke to Tolu George on her life as a screen writer, among other interesting issues.

    How come you switched from a career in Economics to Screen writing?

    I hated every minute of studying economics, economics was your regular story of, oh my daddy said I should study this course, but I have always been interested in the arts, but I just wasn’t sure whether I wanted to take it up as a career, I also did a little bit of stage acting in school, and then I decided that this is something I really wanted to do, but as at that time, it was acting, but I knew that my daddy wouldn’t allow me do acting, so I decided to go into screen writing, the idea was to go into screen writing and show my daddy that I am intelligent and I have good plans and from there I could switch to a career in acting. I did acting back then, just for the fun, nothing more, but after a while, I decided that maybe I could just take it seriously, and then I looked at the movie industry in Nigeria and I had a lot of issues with it, and I am a firm believer of doing something about things that are wrong, so I thought Screen writing may just be it.

    When did you make the break into the industry?

    As a writer that was in June 2013, I met Yinka Ogun, the creator of tinsel, he came as a judge for one of our exams in Royal Arts Academy and from there, we got talking and then he introduced me to Afriwood, which is a project Under Africa Magic MNET, he told me about the project and how they were interested in upcoming writers, that could write an hour script for them and then I wrote the first script titled, a shot in the foot, it took me two months to write that script, I sent the film to the guys at Afriwood and they replied after a month that they liked the story, they went on to shoot the movie, while I went on to write four other scripts for them and am still with them.

    How would you describe your experience as a screen writer so far?

    Well for me I would say it’s been encouraging and that’s because there are a lot of projects for upcoming writers, as opposed to years before where you had producers treating screen writers like thrash. I think right now the screen writers are getting the respect they deserve. Although it’s not been completely smooth, but then again it’s better than what it would have been.

    Men dominate the crop of people who work behind the scenes in movies, do you sometimes feel intimated?

    No, not really, I feel intimidated as young writer, more than I feel intimidated as a female writer, that’s because at times when they call writer’s conferences and you see all these mature people, the likes of the man who wrote Mortal Inheritance, and then everyone looks so mature and they look like they know what they are doing, and then I am there, all fresh and young and you know, you have to look like you know what you are doing too. It takes a while to convince people that I am actually into this thing and I’m in it to give the best, but as I said, am new, so maybe I have not entered the circles where I would feel intimidated as a female writer.

    Peace OniSo why do you feel intimidated by these writers?

    As I said they look sure, they look like they know what they are doing, they look like they dominate, like they are in charge and then they have all these ideas on how things should go and everything, mean while things are changing every day, new ideas, new technology are all coming up, but you know these old generation writers are sort of set in their ways and ideas, so young people seem like a threat to them. For me I think that you just have to respect yourself and do your own stories and you will definitely find an audience, and that’s the thing I like about Ivie Okujaiye, she has broken the norm, came out and is doing her thing.

    How would you describe the Nigerian film industry?

    This is with all due respect to the industry in Asaba, what I mean is that, we all like to say that we are all Nollywood and all, but these set of guys seem to have these set of movies, called Asaba movies, I don’t know if you know all these movies with the village scenes and epic stories, and whether we like it or not before new projects, the likes of Afriwood came out, we’ve had this Asaba movies and those are the movies that people outside see, and if you take a look at the story line, it can be entertaining but I’m a huge fan of intelligence, so in as much as they can be entertaining, some of them don’t have a certain level of intelligence that I look for in my movies, and that most of my generation look for in their movies, so that is why you hear most people say I cannot sit down and watch a Nigerian movie, what am I watching in a Nigerian movie? I would rather sit down and watch an American movie, and you can’t blame them because they believe that watching a Nigerian movie is just for the laughs, nothing more, so when I say, I have issues, those are the kind of issues am talking about, you know these movies are entertaining and you know the way we are in Nigeria we are very dramatic and all that, but there is more to us as a people than drama, we can be intelligent, we have issues that surround our lives and I think that you can use movies to show these ideas. What inspires your own writing style?

    Well, for me, I write what I will like to go to the cinema to see, which is saying a lot, because we have people that will like to go to the cinema to see American movies, and whether we like it or not we don’t have the American culture, we are still Africans and there are still things that we do that make us who we are, I think we are more than drama, so the fact that there is more to us than what the world out there sees, which isn’t their fault, it is what we show them, inspires me to write.

    Who are some of the people that you look up to in the screen writing industry?

    I look forward to start writing like Tunde Babalola, I think that would be nice. Tunde Babalola is deep and he writes from the angle of someone that understands the Nigerian culture, you know he has lived here and he understands these things and he still aspires to show more about us, as an intelligent people.

    Most of the recognition in films goes to actors, very little recognition goes to Screen writers, does that make you sometimes toy with the idea of going back to acting?

    I think it depends on why you are doing what you are doing, you know some are in it for the glamour, if you are in the industry for the glamour, you are not supposed to be a screen writer, you are supposed to be an Actor, so people can see your face and all, for me actors are in the public light and I don’t want that, I want to be behind the scenes and that’s another reason why I decided to stick with screen writing. The screen writers guild of Nigeria are discussing about an award show, that is strictly for screen writers, where screen writers get to give directors award, basically, directors that can interpret their scripts well, I think those kind of things will work. I do not think that there is anyone, who would not like his work to be appreciated, in as much as most of us screen writers are quite people and we don’t want all the noise, but still, I think, it will be nice to get appreciated, because without a script, no other person would have a job. In as much as appreciation will be beautiful, it doesn’t mean that is what we live for, or that it is the reason we do what we do, there is passion for something and it is definitely not glamour.

    How do you relax?

    I sleep a lot, and then I like to hang out with friends, I also like to see movies and go for church activities

    As a young screen writer, do you get pressures from men so as to accept your scripts?

    No, not yet, but I hear that I would get that, but it hasn’t happened. I think it happens more for actors, than it does for screen writers, you know when a lady comes and she says she is a screen writer, it’s a whole new level entirely, it’s more of intellectual stuff, than just body, that is not to say that actors are not intelligent, I think actors are also intelligent. I happened to meet some guys and I could see from their look, that they already thought I was an actress, and they were ready to do their deed and when I told them that I am a screen writer, their entire demeanor and mood suddenly changed. It’s like a whole new level of respect, which of course I think, is a great thing.

    Where do you see yourself, as regards screen writing in 10 years time?

    In 10 years, I would really like to have my own production company, producing my own Christian movies.

     

  • Agony of pensioners

    Agony of pensioners

    “Rest Is Sweet After Labour”, is a truthful saying which is adopted by the Nigeria union of pensioners, NUP, as its motto: This motto is apt because every pensioner expects to have a sweet rest after laboring for the better half of his life. Rest is a connotation of comfort which comes after exiting from the hustle and bustle of life. It is essentially at the root of all human struggles in life. Everybody desires peaceful and stress-less living after old age. Thus, a father sends his child to School with the expectation to give him support when he becomes old. In the same manner a man establishes business in order to make profit which he saves in anticipation of making life easy for him when the chips are down. The Nigerian pensioner is no less desirous of a peaceful life devoid of stress after retirement. Once this desire is not met then there arise problems. But the question is: has this desire been met?

    The average pensioner had spent more than half of his youthful and productive life serving his or her fatherland in anticipation of the payment of gratuity and pension which he or she would fall back on after retirement. Unfortunately though, this has been a tall dream! No thanks to the absolute neglect and contempt for pensioners by successive governments and the twin evil of massive corruption by pension officers which has not only brought untold hardships, but also sent many of them to their untimely graves.

    There is no doubt pension problems, like many others, predate President Jonathan’s administration, however, It smacks of self delusion for his aides to exonerate him from blame for their continuation. This is unacceptable because it is presumed that the President knew these problems before aspiring to be President, and that he had ready answers to them, therefore there is no justification for shifting blames.

    Thus, it is an open secret that, pension problems, like many others, have grown from bad to worse since the advent of President Jonathan’s administration, and there is no hope or signs that they would soon be surmounted. Reason is that, all the supposed efforts embarked upon by Mr. President to sanitize pension problems have been half-hearted. Some of such efforts include the setting up of the Abdulrasheed Maina Pension Reform Task Team to sanitize pension administration in the country, a mandate which was creditably executed. Expectedly, Mr. Maina’s Task Team produced a Comprehensive Biometric Database of Federal pensioners, in addition to Smart Cards to minimize the frequency of verification exercises which had become veritable avenues for perpetuating corruption by government officials. Unfortunately though, these laudable achievements were scuttled by the Senate Joint Investigation Team headed by Senator Aloysius Etuk.

    This unfortunate development has predictably, further encouraged unprecedented corruption by pension officers, resulting in more sufferings for pensioners in terms of missing names, non-payment of pensions and deaths among many of them. In addition to these atrocities, pensioners have continually been forced to travel long distance to undergo sham verification exercises in-spite of their fragile health. They have also been forced many times to fill complaint forms which have always ended up in trash cans.

    Pensioner’s problems do not end there. Pensioners have not had their pensions increased since 2003, even though workers’ salaries have been increased several times since then. The Nigerian Constitution provides in sections 173 sub-section 3 and section 210 sub-sections 3, that pensions must be increased every five years and also whenever workers’ salaries are increased, whichever comes first, yet these constitutional provisions have been obeyed in the breach. Another very disdainful issue is the federal government’s vault-face over the 53 percent pension increase which it announced in 2009, but which it has scaled down to 33 percent.

    In an attempt to justify this unjustifiable action, the federal government said the reduction is as a result of the deduction of 10 percent tax, 7.5 percent contributory pension and 2.5 percent national housing fund, amounting to 20 percent. This is not only funny but laughable, because pensioners under the Pay As You Go system do not fall under the purview of any of the above. Pensioners will take nothing less than the official 53 percent increase from the federal government. Following from this, the three tiers of government in Nigeria are advised to note that pension matter is a statutory issue and not a privilege, which any leader can subject to his or her whimsical pleasure.

    Deriving from these official recklessness, it is no surprise that in a country like Nigeria, there are to be found many pensioners who still earn less than one thousand naira as pension per month, and to add salt to injury, they are not even paid as and when due. This is in spite of very difficult economic times, when even those who control and manipulate the Nigerian Treasury to their own advantage, are not content with their loot, jumbo salaries and mind-boggling allowances. And given the insouciant manner the federal government handles most important national issues, there is no hope that pensioners’ fate would change for the better any time soon.

    In this regard, pensioners have lost faith with steps so far taken by the federal government to sanitize pension administration in the country. Notable among such steps are the recent merger of the old and new pension systems under one law, and the creation of Pension Transitional Arrangement Department, PTAD, which is seen by pensioners as another ploy by government to create a new avenue for pension thieves to deal the last blow on the remaining pensioners alive. Pensioners also believe that if government really wants to sanitize pension administration, it should do more than just churning out laws that are obeyed in the breach or creating institutions that would serve as mere conduit pipes for top government officials.

    Given the above scenario, it is an incontrovertible fact that one of the most abused, traumatized and neglected categories of Nigerian citizens are pensioners whose only crime is that they had served their country meritoriously. Besides they are seen as old and weak men and women who lack the energy to fight for their rights as other able bodied individuals and unions do. This includes strike which is the only language the Nigerian system understands. But Nigerian leadership seem to forget that as old people, God would always prod them up, and would also punish every individual who maltreat the aged who are the conscience of society. Pensioners desire to be venerated and not maltreated.

    Finally the Nigerian government is hereby adviced to wake up from its slumber and apparent poverty of ideas, if it really wants to sanitize pension administration in the country, and declare national state of emergency on pension. Enough is enough, as pensioners are all tired of sanctimonious preachments which have been anything but deceitful.

    Banchir, is a member Nigerian Union Pensioners, NUP, Langtang Zone, Plateau State

     

  • How families in New York face stigmatization over Ebola

    How families in New York face stigmatization over Ebola

    As Ebola ravages communities in and outside Africa, many West African families in New York City are confronting new financial struggles and the fear of stigmatization.

    Beyond the heartbreak of losing family members to the disease, diaspora West African natives from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries most affected by the disease, are working harder to support families who are being forced by the governments to stay in their homes as a strategy to slow the spread of the disease in those countries.

    Mohammed Jabadeh 27, a New York City tour bus employee from Liberia with a wife and two young children, said he lost a sister in-law and a two month old niece in Liberia in the last two weeks. Since the outbreak started, 14 members of his family have died, and others are getting sick, including one of his brothers.

    “It’s actually heartbreaking to me because that’s one of my brothers I love very much,” Jabadeh said

    Sitting on a bench at Behagen Playground in the Bronx, dark skinned, 6 feet 2inches tall, a wristband around his left wrist with the inscription ‘Ebola must go’, Jabadeh looked like a grief stricken child.

    He said that he has been sending more money home to encourage his family to stay indoors, and doing so makes life more difficult for him in New York City. “You have to work extra hard in America and send them enough money so that they can have enough foodstuff,” he said.

    Among the West African communities in New York City, there is a growing fear of being linked to Ebola simply because of where they were born.

    “If our family members come from Africa and come to stay with us, say I came from Guinea and I have fever, I may be scared going to the hospital because they may treat me the same way and it is really traumatizing,” said Fatima Diallo 28, the Coordinator of Miss Guinea U.S.A.

    She said she is confused and worried about her father who lives in Guinea. “What do I do to protect my father, do I say leave the country because the situation is there? I can’t say that because some borders are actually closed.”

    Ms. Diallo had planned to travel to Guinea in August but had to cancel the trip because of the unpredictable schedule of many airlines to that area. “I don’t want to go to Guinea and be stuck,” she said.

    The fear of been stranded isn’t the only reason travel plans are been cancelled. Charles Cooper, a 33-year old from Liberia, who is chairman of the African Advisory Council to the Bronx Borough President, said he had planned to go back home for the both leisure and business in December but has changed his mind. “I believe it will not be safe by then, I am afraid of contracting Ebola.”

    For Mr. Cooper, cancelling the trip means losing money. It is also a setback for the business investment he was pursuing in Liberia.

    Despite the apprehension among families of those affected by the disease, there has been a significant rise in the number of organized events to increase awareness among diaspora Africans while also raising funds for families in affected countries.

    “We need to do more; we need to come together as a community to fights this issue,” Mr. Cooper said. “Only through this can we resolve what’s going on.”

    The Ebola Solidarity football match and Prayer vigil held at the weekend was part of the fund raising initiative, many more are lined up for the coming days and weeks.

    “I know it’s in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone but at this point it doesn’t matter because it is West Africa,” said Usman Gaye 34, from Gambia, he believes as Africans showing solidarity is the right thing to do.