The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Magazine

  • NGOZI NWADINOBI: I used to be shy, with low self esteem

    NGOZI NWADINOBI: I used to be shy, with low self esteem

    Ngozi Jason-Nwadinobi is a writer, speaker, and works with a Federal Government parastatal in Oil and Gas. As a speaker who has featured on virtual and physical platforms like Tedx, and has inspired a lot of people. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she takes you into her world, talking about her passion for people, as well as having a burden to help change their mindset positively.

     

    Tell us about your memories of childhood, what dreams did you have then?

    I attended K. Kotun Nursery and Primary School, a private school on Bode Thomas, in Surulere, Lagos.

    My secondary education was at Federal Government Girls’ College, Owerri. Secondary school was fun; the only thing I didn’t like was having to travel all the way to and from Lagos/Imo states every term. It was quite stressful.

    Like most children in those days, I wanted to be a doctor.

    I later decided to be a teacher, then briefly toyed with the idea of going into news broadcasting. Also, I remember that I wanted to work with an international organisation like UNICEF or UNESCO. In retrospect, I think it was my love for people and passion for helping them that made me desire to work in the above mentioned places.

    What lessons has life taught you?

    Life has taught me to be myself and not try to be someone else. I’ve learnt to love myself and accept myself for who I am, while still working on being the best of myself. I’ve got to be happy, no matter what challenges life throws at me. Things always seem better and easier when you’re happy, than when you’re not.

    What are some of changes you will like to see in Nigeria today?

    I’d like Nigerians, including myself, to take responsibility for where we need to be. If we stop pointing accusing fingers at the next person, and do our little bit, I believe we’d have a better country.

    Some of these little changes could be keeping to time, keeping appointments, being honest in our dealings with others, keep your word when you make promises, etc.

    What are the principles that guide what you do?

    The first principle that I live by, is “do as you would be done by”.

    This means that I choose to treat people the way I’d like to be treated. I’d also like to be known as a person of integrity, as one whose word can be taken to the bank, because I mean what I say, and say what I mean.

    Tell us how you got into writing?

    Well, I would say that it has been a very interesting journey. I have always written, informally though. Right from primary school, I’d always been told that I had a flair for writing.

    I always did well in essay writing in primary and secondary schools. I however started writing intentionally, after I became a christian, the focus was to encourage and inspire people. First, with friends and family, then on Facebook.  What was the experience like at the beginning?

    I thought I knew it all! However, experience has shown me that I didn’t, I don’t, and there’s always room to learn more.

    People always complemented my writing. So, I took that to mean that I was really good at it; almost perfect, in fact!

    After publishing my first book, I started putting the materials together for my second book, I realised that the more you do something the better you become.

    I noticed I was writing more effortlessly and writing became more seamless for me.

    What are the other things that you are passionate about?

    I am interested in all things that have to do with women and children.

    Women go through a lot; most especially in this part of the world, and when a woman suffers, her children suffer too.

    As a woman who also has children, I’d like to do my own bit to help ease the unfairness of life that gets thrown at us and by extension, our children.

    You are also a speaker, what do you talk about?

    I speak about issues like mental, emotional and spiritual health. Life starts from the inside, that’s why we need to learn and understand how to live from the inside out, and not the other way around. If you’re good on the inside, you’ll definitely be good on the outside.

    How has this influenced your personality?

    I used to be very shy, with very low self esteem, but with all I’ve learnt and still learning, I have overcome most of my limiting beliefs.

    As I’m also passionate about teaching people, especially women. I am my first student, and I know I have to be a worthy example for others to follow.

    What are the challenges you encountered with the COVID_19 pandemic?

    At first, I was apprehensive about my safety and that of my loved ones, but my Pastor kept bombarding us with God’s word, and I became strengthened.

    Secondly, my absolute favourite way to de-stress and let my hair down, is by travelling; especially out of the country. I couldn’t do this throughout last year, and by October, it started getting to me.

    I had to make a 4 day trip in November, to Abuja, to calm myself down and recharge.

    It helped a lot.

    What are some of the memorable moments in your life and career?

    There has been so many memorable moments in my life and career. This include when I got the exact kind of job that I had been dreaming of. The second was when I got married to the kind of man I wanted to marry, and another would be when I was finally able to get pregnant and have children.

    I also remember the day a publisher approached me and told me how much value my writings have, and she encouraged me to write a book. This was how my first book was birthed.

    Tell us about the people you admire?

    There are quite a number of people that I admire, but I’ll just mention three of them.

    The first is Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. It was from him that I first learnt about the importance of mindset in our lives.

    There is also Pastor Joy Amenkhienan; she’s so strong and bold, she doesn’t allow anybody or anything to stand in her way once she decides what she wants.

    I also admire Chimamanda Adichie. Hers is an international household name, and I know it didn’t come by chance; she did her work. She also always seems so confident and sure of herself.

    I look forward to that season when my name will be known all over the world.

    What are the new areas that you are looking at?

    I’ve gone into coaching, and working on speaking on bigger stages.

    I believe I have a special calling for women.

    So, I have a coaching programme where I work with them to see themselves the way God sees them, renew their minds so they can revamp their lives.

    In other words, I work with these women to improve the quality of their thoughts, so they can improve the quality of their lives, live their dreams and be the best version of themselves.

    What type of books do you like to read?

    I like fiction a lot, I also like history books and biographies.

    Who or what do you consider as the greatest influence in your life?

    The Holy Spirit, my late father and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

    What is your definition of style?

    For me, style is first of all, comfortable, then classy, and timeless. I don’t always follow trends.

    How would you assess female authors in Nigeria today?

    Writing, in Nigeria, used to be dominated by the male folk, but that’s beginning to change now.

    We need to encourage our young women to dare to put themselves out there, and show the world what they’ve got.

    What message do you have for Nigerian youths at this time?

    Don’t give up! The environment we live in Nigeria is definitely a challenging one, but they can aspire to be the best that they can be, and see it come to pass.

    Through the years, and various experiences that I have had, I have learnt that the power to create the life we want lies within us; that we can be in charge of our emotions, words, habits, and ultimately our lives and this has propelled me to help others, women especially, realize the potential that lies within them.

    I also believe that God has specially called me to promote, inspire, motivate and encourage women to be their best and fulfill their purpose in life and living this calling through various avenues such as, publishing my book, “Mindset Matters”, creating online platforms where I encourage and inspires women to take practical steps towards living their best lives and providing resources that encourage a healthy mindset .

  • Sexual perverts on the prowl

    Sexual perverts on the prowl

    Many parents invest time and resources protecting the girl child from sexual perverts, ignoring the boy child who they presume are immune to such abuses. Similarly, local and international non-governmental organisations spend huge sums on enlightenment campaigns aimed at saving underage girls from sexual abusers without including the boy-child in their plans. The reality, however, is that many innocent boys are being sexually abused by both male and female adults, with many of the victims contracting sexually transmitted diseases and some even suffering depression. Worse still, many of the victims have also resorted to abusing other male and female children, INNOCENT DURU reports.

    • How randy adult males, females prey on innocent underage boys

    • Sex worker seduces eight-year-old boy, sucks his manhood

    • Adult male caught defiling five-year-old boy escapes arrest

    • How to identify sexually abused boys — Expert

    Children, especially the ones under 10 years, are usually presumed to be innocent and incapable of engaging in sexual activities. But that was not the case with eight-year-old Ayo who before that age had been defiled by an adult sexual pervert. Consequently, by the time he clocked age eight, he had not only become exposed to sex but recklessly so.

    It was learnt that Ayo grew up as a child with other members of his family in a Lagos neighbouhood that also hosted a lot of commercial sex workers. One of the prostitutes in the neighborhood was said to have developed a likeness for Ayo, jokingly referring to him as her son and buying things for him, especially at Christmas. Of course, Ayo’s parents suspected no foul play, considering the age gap between their son and their prostitute neighbour.

    “Along the line, the prostitute started sending Ayo on errands, and that continued until she began to take in the innocent boy in and started caressing him. She would hold him close to her and suck him gently with his hands placed on her breasts. At other times, she would tell the poor boy to finger her,”said John Wesley, a child counsellor who handled the victim’s rehabilitation.

    After his initiation into the immorality, the naive boy began to see the act as ideal, hence he started trying it out on other children even in school.

    Wesley said: “The number one effect was that the boy lost concentration in school and started to harass other female children of his age and those already developing breasts. The development was noticed by his teachers who reported it.

    “Whenever anybody tried to rebuke him, he looked at them somehow because he had been having affairs with an adult female.

    “It turned out a serious problem for the young boy as he did not believe that he had done anything wrong. But the boy is better now, and he even tries to distance himself from the opposite sex.

    “It took a lot of effort to handle his case. I had to reach out to my friends abroad who belong to the same organisation with me. It required a whole lot of funding to take the boy through the revamping process.

    “We had to do a whole lot of revamping, taking him through series of processes. For a long time, he was in a place like a boarding house, but strictly for boys. That was how he was gradually able to come out of it.

    “The boy is in a government boarding school now and doing fine.”

    Wesley also shared the case of a 14-year-old boy who was serially defiled and threatened by the elder brother’s wife.

    He said: “The boy’s uncle was always not at home because he was always getting contracts and travelling here and there.

    “The amorous affair started with the wife always telling the boy to come and sleep in their room for security reasons.

    “Gradually she lured him into having affairs with her. She always threatened that she would poison the boy if he told anyone about it. Because he was always eating at home, he feared that the woman could one day actually poison him, so he told one of his relations about it.

    “It was the person he told about it that mentioned it to us. We got the husband’s number and one of us suggested that we should call to tell him about the development. But I said no, because it might lead to murder, as we didn’t know the kind of man he was.

    “To save the marriage from collapse, we called the woman and began to speak with her. We told her that we were aware of what happened between her and the boy and warned that if anything happened to him within or outside the house, she would go to jail.

    “She told us she did not know how it happened. She said he was always at home with her.

    “She told one of us that was always speaking with her that she was depressed. We managed the issue until we arranged for the husband to take the boy away without knowing what really transpired between the boy and the wife.”

    Besides the aforementioned cases, Wesley said, “we have had about four others, but they were the ones who were even assaulting the females. At a young age, they had turned into rapists because they had gone through molestation from older persons.  They were like people who were demonized.

    “Parents would always not want to speak out, and that deprives us the chance to go into the matter. Out of 10 cases, we would have access to only about two, because they fear that we would make it public.”

    Mr Adaramola Sunday, the Executive Director of Emmanuel World Children Foundation, an NGO based in Ondo State,  said he was also a victim of defilement by an older woman at a tender age.

    Sharing the tales of some sexually abused underage boys he has handled in recent times, he said:

    “There was the case of a 14-year-old boy who actually went through that for a long time until we went to their school one day and he had to open up to us.

    “The abuse started six years before then; which means it began at the age of eight.  Unfortunately, the woman abusing him was a younger sister to the mother.

    “It started jokingly with the woman touching the genitals of the boy. She later graduated from that to sucking his manhood.

    “At a point, the boy started feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing because he complained that he always felt guilty in church whenever the preacher spoke in that line.

    “The lady in question lived with them, went to the university and returned during holidays to continue the affairs with the boy in the house.

    “That is just one of the series of cases I have handled.”

    The former National Chairman of Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) also shared the case of a junior secondary school (JSS1) boy who was being abused by an SS3 student who had taken the former as her school son.

    “Ironically, it happened in a school where disciplinary level was very high.

    “It started with exchange of gifts and doing assignments together.

    “According to the boy, it got to a point where the girl started asking if he knew the colour of the pant that she wore. From there, she started making him to touch her breasts.

    “The naïve boy started enjoying it with time and that went on for a long time until it became uncontrollable for both of them and people began to notice them.

    “Tired of the ungodly relationship, the boy opened up during a Christian camp programme my organisation  conducted  for a church.

    “The method we use after making presentations is to allow  kids to ask questions, but many of them would not come up openly to do so. We would then ask them to write their questions in paper with name and possibly not use their pen.

    “He came to have audience in the following session. It took us a long time before we could sort it out. The boy kept on begging that his parents must not know about it.”

    Recalling his personal experience at the hands of an older woman as a young boy, Adaramola said: “I had my own experience when I was younger with an older person who happened to be a neighbour’s daughter, and it went on for long.

    “Abuse of the boy child does exist, because of the patriarchal society that we have. The society believes that boys have to be strong, that they have power and the monopoly of being on top of situations.

    “When they are abused, boys usually don’t speak or report such incidents. A lot of these things happen right inside the house with relatives, house-helps and the likes, especially among people who live in big apartments. That was my own experience when I was younger.

    “The boys often want such relationships to be as secret as possible because of the societal view to it and because of the family view or reaction.

    “What we do often is to work with the boy and work out ways that the boy can actually prevent continuous reoccurrence.

    “On some occasions, we have to let the boy tell the culprit that he has reported her to us and that we would take action  if it continued. That has helped in curtailing some of these things.”

    Another NACTAL top member based in Lagos State, Ngozi Okoro, shared the story of  a 10-year-old boy serially abused by a 54 year-old woman in Lagos.

    According to her, “the boy’s mother’s shop was close to where the grandmother was living. Every time he followed the mother to her shop, he would branch to greet the grandmother before returning to the shop. At times, he would stay there to play.

    “There was a 54-year-old woman in the place. She had a son. But whenever the boy went there to play with her son, she would take the 10-year-old boy into her room and start abusing him.

    “The boy became used to it to the extent that once they got to the shop he would go straight to the 54-year-old woman’s house, and the woman would send her son out so that she could continue doing what she was doing with the boy.

    “She told him not to tell anybody about it and he didn’t. At a point, the mother started looking for the boy from time to time until they trailed him and saw where he entered.

    “When they challenged him, he confessed what had been happening between him and the woman. That was how they called one of our members and invited  the police to arrest the woman.

    “Surprisingly, we hear more of sexual abuse of boys now. They are being abused by both men and women. Parents need to watch out for their children and know what is happening to them.”

    Like Adaramola, Prince Wiro, the Coordinator of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability, a non governmental organisation based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was also a victim of sexual abuse as a boy-child.

    He said: “When I was growing up, the person that defiled me was an adult female. I was between seven and eight years old while the house-help who was doing that to me was between 18 and 19.

    “It happened in early 1990/91. It is one experience that I have not forgotten.  My mother was staying with us then and there was no awareness about all this then.

    “The house-help was like our mother. After some years, she took in for a man and she was sent away.

    “There are some children that such experience will push into getting deep into doing that kind of thing because the adult has exposed them to what they ordinarily should not know about at that age.”

    Ngozi Nwosu of  Vison Spring Initiative, a non-governmental organisation based in Ikorodu, Lagos, also shared the case of another  14-year old boy who  appeared to have been hypnotised by an older single lady.

    She said: “In December last year, I handled a case reported to me during a training programme for widows. During the programme, three of the women reported the abuse of their sons. I am following up one of the cases now at Alausa (Lagos) because the mother said the boy hardly listens to her. She said that each time  she was coming back from work, the boy would run out from the room of a lady who was their neighbour. And when she asked him what he was doing there, he would say the woman asked him to unzip her dress.

    “We are still making enquiries about the relationship between the boy and the lady. The boy is 14 years old.”

    Accounts of adult males defiling underage boys

    In spite of existing law against same sex sexual relationship in the country, checks revealed that homosexuality has been on the increase with the trend shifting to sexual abuse of underage boys.

    Our correspondent who has been following developments on  various northern groups speaking against sexual abuse using a tweeter handle called @ArewaMeToo, reports of  the case of a young boy who has remained traumatised after his senior in a boarding school initiated him into the bestial lifestyle.

    Sharing his ordeal on the above twitter handle with the subtitle ‘Boys are molested too’, the victim said: “Yeah! Am not bold enough to share my #ArewaMeToo story on my page. For a while, I wondered if I was gay, but I know I’m not. It happens sometimes to boys.

    “It all started when I was attending a boarding school. It was a typical northern Nigerian English school. I was a straight male before this dude ruined my life and coded this worst sexual orientation in my brain.

    “My first year in JSS class was hell. I was sluggish, naive and dumb. I was bullied by everyone, even those in my class, until this asshole enter(ed) my life. His name is Mubarak.

    “He was huge and among the honoured bullies at that time in the school. He was in ss1 but even SS3 students were scared of him because he was strong.”

    He then asked rhetorically: “Did you know what this motherfucker did to me? He protected me from being bullied. I thought he cared for me as a brother until one night, after isha prayer.

    “I was in the bathroom and someone grabbed my butt. It was Mubarak. I thought it was the normal rough play that boys used to do in dorm until he started asking me some ‘jamb’ questions.

    “I had my crotch grabbed by him numerous times and then (he would) point a small knife at my neck and said me and him would enter into trouble if I told anyone and he would kill me.

    “From that day, I was really uncomfortable and also kind of scared of the guy. He forced me to watch gay porn with him. I was 13 and I knew nothing about sex.

    “He started asking for blow jobs, hand jobs, whatever. He penetrated me about four times or more. I couldn’t speak up or tell anyone.

    “Things started getting out of hands. I was seriously ill and was taken back home.”

    Following the ugly experience, he said: “I begged my parents that I didn’t want to go back to the school and they agreed. It’s been eight years now. Mubarak is off my life but always in my memory.

    “There is so much that I don’t want to remember or want to tell, but there is also so much I will never, ever be able to forget.”

    That was just one of the horrible tales of how innocent kids in boarding houses have their sexual life distorted and their lives helplessly ruined.

    Sometime last year, precisely in May, Prince Wiro of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability, a non-governmental organisation based in Port Hacourt, Rivers State, said he  personally handled a case in D Line, Port Harcourt  where a 32-year-old suspect known as Chidi was caught trying to defile a 14-year-old boy.

    He said: “When the community arrested the suspect, instead of sending him to the police station, they decided to fine him.

    “I personally reported the case at Olu Obasanjo Police Station here in Port Harcourt. From there, the matter was transferred to the state CID and from there, it went to court. “Unfortunately, the parents of the child refused to come. They absconded with the boy. I don’t know if they were settled behind.”

    He added: “I have also handled a case in D Street, where a man was trying to assault a five-year-old boy and when the parents of the boy caught him and raised the alarm, the man ran away. That case was personally reported to Azikiwe Police Station in Diobu, Port Harcourt. Diobu Vigilance Group was also made to be aware of the incident.”

    Wiro regretted that parents only teach the girl child that they should not allow anybody to touch them here or there. But sex education now should be for both the male and the female child.

    “You are also supposed to teach the boys that if somebody touches them where he is not supposed to, they should raise the alarm.”

    Underage children living with disability are also taken advantage of by the perverts. Comfort Alli of Street Child Care and Welfare Initiative said: “There was this handicap boy that lives in a compound around Oshodi that was being sexually abused by one of the neighbours. Most of the cases are kept secret because families often feel it would rob off negatively on the child.

    “During the days of Kuramo, there was a whole lot of sexual pervasion going on there. Some rich men would go there to pick these children, sleep with them and give them N1,500.

    “It got to a point that some boys that we took from Kuramo started sleeping with themselves in the centre because they had been exposed.”

    Because of the disturbing experience, Alli said: “I had to go for counselling myself. That was how much I was affected because it was too much for me.

    “That was how we started hearing stories of how boys who have had sexual intercourse with a man before would behave. One of the ways of identifying them is that their nipples pop out because they get sucked.

    “They are most likely to abuse others because they have been exposed to it. We did our best to curb it. It was really disgusting.

    “There were reports of anal injuries among the boys. Among them were slangs like joko le’so (sit on nail). When you go and meet them, you will see that they are running temperature and not feeling very fine.

    “Then at Kuramo, big men with very big cars would go to pick them. Now there are other places where such happen. These include, Marwa, behind this present house where you have runaway people living in shanties. Those ones are the ones on the island and also the Lagos Island Market.

    “Of course, you know that wherever there is market, there would always be runaway children. When you come to the mainland, they are in large numbers at Oshodi, Mushin, Oyingbo, Ijora, Ido, Ikotun, Oko Baba, Oko-Oba and Agege markets.”

    She clarified that she didn’t have those with anal injuries in her centre, “but two of the boys who were exposed had staphylococcus which we had to treat.  A lot of such boys become abusers if they are not well managed. Some of them don’t see girls as anything; they prefer boys.

    “Their psyche has been damaged. They don’t fancy girls, they fancy males. Because they have been sexually abused by fellow males, they also want to do it to other males.

    “A lot of them end up depressed because they don’t know how to handle it. They live a confused life and can’t concentrate in school. Their academics are affected and when they are with their peers they have low self-esteem.  They are always very unstable.”

    With regard to her and her team, Alli said: “At some point, we try to reconcile them with their families, especially during holidays. When they take them back, you will begin to hear some funny stories like one of them who ‘fingered’ the sister and other disturbing tales like that.

    “Remember I told you that they are confused and will try to find out their own sexuality.”

    The list appeared endless as Nwosu also shared the story of  a 12-year-old boy who was abused by his senior in an Ogun State  faith-based school.

    “He was abused till he fell ill.  He was traumatised and was emotionally down.

    “In fact, this case was reported by the doctor because when they called the mother to come and take him, she brought him back to Lagos and took him to the hospital.  It was at the hospital that he told the doctor about what really happened.

    “It was the doctor who confided in us that the boy was traumatised.  Children who are abused are tarumatised psychologically and emotionally and cannot concentrate in school, and they start abusing other children.

    “They go off whatever you are saying. If you are saying A, they will be saying B.  If it is a case of a male abusing the child, he would be afraid of men, and if it is a woman that abuses a child, he would be afraid of females.

    “At times, it pushes them into taking drugs, and by the time you discover it, they would have gone far.

    “There are boys that are begging to come out of it.”

    Concluding, she said: “The doctor told the mother to report the case so that they could help the boy. She said okay, she was going to think about it. But at the end of the day, what she did was to take the boy out of the school. But that would not solve the problem unless the boy visits a psychologist for psycho-social support and therapy to help him forget that experience.”

  • Herdsmen crisis: Residents flee Ogun villages, head for Benin Republic

    Herdsmen crisis: Residents flee Ogun villages, head for Benin Republic

    With about 28 lives already lost as a result of reprisal attacks by herdsmen on some Ogun villages, many residents of the affected communities have resorted to taking refuge in neighbouring Benin Republic, KUNLE AKINRINADE reports.

    No fewer than 28 lives have been lost in various communities in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State in the last one week or thereabout as a result of deadly attacks believed to have been carried out by herdsmen. The attacks and the resultant deaths were in spite of repeated assurances of protection by the state government and security agencies.

    Hostilities between herdsmen and residents of about 29 agrarian communities in the aforementioned part of Ogun State dates back to as far as 15 years. The affected villages had been attacked in recent times by terror herdsmen who were said to have camped at Eggua, a neighbouring town from where they moved with their hordes of cattle, ravaging farmlands within the Ketu-Yewa communities, which share borders with the Republic of Benin.

    The villages include Ateru, Moro, Ologun, Agbon-Ojodu, Asa, Igbota, Ogunba-Aiyetoro, Oke-Odo, Ibore, Gbokoto, Iselu, Ijale, Ohunbe, Igbeme, Owode-Ketu, Igan-Alade, Lashilo, Oja Odan, Ijoun, Ateru, Moro, Ologun, Iyana Meta, Igbooro, Egbeda and Kuse, among others.

    The armed herdsmen, who usually lead their flock in search of pastures because of the rich vegetation in the Ketu-speaking villages, have also been fingered in the destruction of cash crops belonging to the native farmers as well as killings and raping of women who are mostly natives of the communities.

    The face-off peaked late last year when the residents prevented the herders from grazing and banished them from the communities.

    The Nation had exclusively reported how some soldiers attached to 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, later escorted the herders to the villages and openly flogged residents for rejecting them.

    In a bid to discountenance the report, the soldiers again visited the communities a week after the story was published asking the victims to recant, but the brutalised residents refused.

    Chronicle of attacks

    Investigation conducted by our correspondent revealed that in the last couple of days, some of the villages mentioned in the report have been raided and destroyed by the herdsmen.

    The well-coordinated attacks started with the killing of a farmer, Dele Owoniyi by suspected herders on February 7 at Oha village in Imeko area around 1 am. Several buildings and farmlands were destroyed by the hoodlums.

    It was said that the herders, who were armed with guns and machetes, immediately left for Iwoye-Ketu after carrying out the attack. Four days later, two persons were allegedly killed on Thursday, February 11 by herdsmen who stormed Owode-Ketu village.

    The victims – Isiaka Apesin and Adebayo Oguntosin, among other travelers, were said to have been ambushed by the herders along Owode Ketu-Ijoun axis, who bolted into a nearby forest after killing the villagers.

    The attack, according to sources, was carried out by the herders around 5 am. It was learnt that the bodies of the victims were evacuated from the scene of the attack by men of Eggua Police Division.

    The next day, Friday February 12, Imotto Orile witnessed the rage of the pastoralists who shot one resident dead and hacked another one to death. Same day, in the dead of the night, the herders took their bloody attack on innocent residents to Orile-Igbooro, where they killed six villagers and set houses and vehicles ablaze, while about 15 villagers, including children, sustained varying degrees of gunshot wounds.

    Three farmers were said to have been killed on Sunday, February 14 when herdsmen stormed Agbon-Ojodu village shortly after the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edward Ajogun, visited the area.

    The police commissioner, who visited some places in the troubled areas, including the palace of the Olu of Ilaro and paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, had promised adequate security of lives and property. But a few minutes after commissioner and his team left the area, the suspected herdsmen struck and killed three farmers.

    Also in the dead of the night on Sunday, February 14, the herders struck at Ibeku and Asa villages (the same communities where soldiers escorted herders to brutalise residents for rejecting herdsmen on December 19 last year, killing six persons, including one Kehinde Gbadamosi whose body was set ablaze.

    According to sources, the hoodlums had dragged Gbadamosi, an indigene of Oyo State, out of his house and killed him before they threw his body back into the house and razed the building.

    On Monday, February 15, they moved to Ijaka-Oke and Ijaka-Isale in broad daylight and started shooting at anything in sight. By the time the smoke from their guns receded, eight villagers had been dispatched into early graves while more than 16 commercial motorcycles were set ablaze.

    By the evening of the same day, they moved to Oke-Akanni and Oke-Imala villages in Ayetoro where an unspecified number of residents were killed and buildings set ablaze.

    The attacks occurred few minutes after Governor Dapo Abiodun visited Oja Odan and other communities in the area with members of his cabinet and heads of security agencies for on-the spot-assessment and assured the villagers of their safety with the deployment of a special police squad to tackle the herders.

    The governor said: “The delegation I sent told me what they saw. They said a lot of things happened, and as they were giving the report of what they saw, we heard that another attack happened.

    “I called a security meeting this morning. And before yesterday, I had set up a task force and bought new vehicles and motorcycles for Yewaland security. The task force consists of police, soldiers, civil defence corps and hunters to help us in terms of security in your area.

    “Tomorrow, by God’s grace, all the new vehicles and motorcycles will be released. The task force will be stationed here; they will not only patrol your areas and go back to Abeokuta,” he assured the people.

    Abiodun also promised to foot the hospital bills of those who were injured by herdsmen, pledging to help those who lost their property during the attack by cushioning the effect of the loss.

    In the early hours of Wednesday, February 17, the herders once again struck at Ilogun Orile village where they were said to have killed unspecified number of residents.

    Villagers flee to Benin Republic for safety

    Prompted by the spate of attacks, many villagers from the affected areas have deserted their homes. Some of the affected villages include Agbon-Ojodu, Moro, Asa, and Ibeku.

    When The Nation visited the area during the week, residents were seen moving out in droves for fear of another round of attack. At Asa, the ruins of the bloody attack stared one in the face as a few of the residents who came out of hiding on sighting our correspondent lamented their woes.

    Some bullet cartridges allegedly belonging to the herders littered the ground.

    A man was sighted moving his family on his motorbike out of the village. The man, who asked not to be named, said he was moving his family into safety at an undisclosed community in neighbouring Republic of Benin.

    He said: “I only escaped death by a whisker. But for Providence, I would have been dead by now. I don’t want to push my luck too far, so I have decided to relocate my wife and children to a village in the Republic of Benin where herdsmen are not allowed to do open grazing.

    ”Even if I stay back here, there is nothing to live on again. My farmland has been destroyed by these marauding herders. I am happy that I am leaving with my life intact.”

    A villager said the herders embarked on a shooting spree as soon as they stormed the community in a commando-like fashion, killing people and destroying properties worth millions of naira.

    He said: “After killing our people, they broke into residential buildings, stole their belongings and looted shops. They raided a phone shop, carted away several expensive phones and set the shop ablaze. A lot of our people have left for villages in Benin Republic for fear of being subjected to another attack by the mindless herdsmen.

    ”They brought out Gbadamosi aka Big Daddy from his house and killed him before setting his body ablaze. As you can see, his huge body has become charred from the fire.”

    Monarchs, lawmakers, residents lament

    Lamenting the development, the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, raised the alarm on February 13 that armed herdsmen were plotting to attack key communities in Yewa area.

    Oba Olugbenle said the plan of the armed herders was to hold the targeted villages down in terror as they had done in remote villages in the last one week.

    In a statement, the monarch urged President Muhammadu Buhari, the state government and security agencies to contain the sustained siege on Yewaland by armed herdsmen, noting that there had been the loss of lives, outright slaughtering of people, maiming and destruction of property by the herders.

    The monarch appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Abiodun and the security agencies to rise up as a matter of “extreme urgency” to their constitutional duties of securing lives and property by coming quickly to help, protect and defend them from the marauding herders.

    The statement reads in part: “The criminal and dangerous activities of these herdsmen have so far happened in Egua, Oja-Odan, Igan Alade, Gbokoto, Ijoun, Owode Ketu, Ebute Igbooro, Imeko Afon and other places with reports of plans to attack major towns in Yewa land.

    “The Federal Government and the state government are hereby implored, as a matter of extreme urgency, to act fast to secure the lives and properties of our people before it spirals out of complete control.”

    In his remarks during the visit of Governor Abiodun to the communities, the Eselu of Eseluland, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, said the people of the affected communities were demanding that the governor give an order for the eviction of Fulani herdsmen from the land.

    He said: “The herdsmen are killing our people seriously. They are killing our people in Ketuland, they raped our women, they destroyed our silos.

    “They have killed a lot of our people in Ketu, Igbooro, Iselu, Agbon-Ojodu, Asa, Ibeku and Oja-Odan. Within five days, the Fulani (herdsmen) have killed five persons in Igbooro, three in Asa, making eight. Your Excellency, our people have regards for you and they know that you will be just.

    “I know that if not for the governor, if we ask our people to face Fulani, there will be war. Due to this, we want the paramount ruler in Yewa to support us while we want the governor to give an order that Fulani should not come to Ketuland again.”

    Lamenting the gruesome killings, a member of Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Wahab Egungbohun, condemned the murderous activities of criminal herders, noting that that the alleged murderous activities of criminal herders appeared to have peaked lately.

    Reacting to the development, the senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Solomon Adeola, urged the Federal Government to stop the deadly attacks on Yewa communities by herdsmen.

    The lawmaker, who is a native of Yewa land, said citizens have the right to self-defence, noting that the government had failed to respond to the attacks suffered in the communities.

    In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Odunaro, Senator Adeola said the inaction of the Federal Government was responsible for the mindless attacks on villages in Yewa North, Imeko, Afon, Ipokia and Yewa South local government areas.

    He said: “I recalled that on various occasions on the floor of the Senate, I contributed to debates on the deteriorating security situation in different parts of the country and was always agitating for restructuring of the security architecture of the country.

    “I made a similar contribution to a senate-wide motion on general security only last week. Now, something specific must be done urgently to stop the arson and killings in Yewaland by relevant authorities and security agencies.”

    Condemning the killings, a former member representing Yewa South/Ipokia Constituency in House of Representatives, Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, suggested the deployment of surveillance drone to identify and track the herders.

    He said: “The spate of killings across Ogun West, be it by men of the Nigeria Customs Service, bandits or criminal herdsmen, is evident of lack of preparedness for governance and lack of clear cut strategy on the part of the current chief security officer of the state.

    “In my modest opinion, the CSO of the state should, as a matter of urgency, personally visit the affected villages and farming communities, commission the deployment of at least 50 high frequency aerial surveillance drones with night/infrared capabilities across those communities.”

    Akinlade added: “The government should request from relevant federal authorities the deployment of a joint task force security patrol comprising the armed forces and the police.

    “It is common knowledge that the cheapest and most efficient way to manage insecurity is to deploy deterrent mechanisms such as security tech hubs, communal intelligence gathering and leading from the front.”

    Restraining order not enforced as northern governors visit

    A community leader, Ishola Ademola, said the police and state authorities had failed to enforce a restraining order granted against the herders in 2007, by a State High Court sitting in Ilaro.

    “We got an injunction restraining herdsmen from grazing in our communities following their destructive and deadly activities-killings and raping our women as well as ravaging our farmlands,” Ademola said.

    The suit was filed by some monarchs and community leaders-Oba G.A. Olukunle; Oba Joseph Akinyemi; Chiefs Mathew Olukokun; Sabiu Bamgbola; Elijah Ayodele;Edun Samuel; A.A.Ayodele; Jimoh Abisekan; Olalekan Akintan; Ajana Fatosa and Rev. Enoch Korole.

    The defendants were the Sarkin Fulani of Eggua, Alhaji Ibrahim Adamu Oloru and his deputy, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman.

    In the ruling issued on November 1, 2007, the presiding judge, Justice M.A Dipeolu, held that the conduct of the herdsmen were unjustified and against the convenience of the residents.

    The judge said: “The respondents and members of Fulani community in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State are hereby restrained whether by themselves, servants, agents, privies or howsoever called, from going into or grazing their cattle or carrying out any activity whatsoever on the land situate, lying and being at Gbokoto; Isale; Pedepo; Ibayun; Abule Idi; Ohumbe; Igbeme; Asa; Ibeku; Iselu; Isiuku; Agbon –Ojodu; Moro; Agebelepon; Iyana Meta; Ikotun; Kobejo; Ijoko; Igbere; Alagbe; Agero; Ijege; Oke-Odo; Orobiyi; Korole; Abule Igbo; Ebute; Olope Meta; Okoso; Kodera; Abule Balogun; Iyalode; Abule Eyo; Orisada; Ogunba Ayetoro; Agbele; Gbedun; Sekeaje all of which constitute the Isale-Iselu community of Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

    “The order has neither been set aside nor appealed by the leadership of the herdsmen. Unfortunately, the police and state government failed to implement the order despite several pleadings and appeals made to them,” Ademola said.

  • ‘My experience in Biafran Army changed my life’

    ‘My experience in Biafran Army changed my life’

    MAZI Okechukwu Unegbu, lawyer, arbitrator and stockbroker, is currently Managing Director/Chief Executive, Maxifund Investments and Securities Plc. Unegbu, who boasts of over 30 years career in banking and finance, has worked in prominent financial institutions including First Bank, defunct African Merchant Bank, Progress Bank (rose to become Chairman/Chief Executive), Broad Bank and Citizens Bank (as Chief Executive in 2005) and equally served as former president/chairman of the Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). In this interview with IBRAHIM APEKHADE YUSUF, the Imo state-born technocrat fondly called OCKU and who turns 70 in August shares his experience managing men and resources. Excerpts:

     

    When does your typical day begin?

    For me, my typical day starts at 5.am in the morning. Once I’m up from bed, I say my prayers and take my morning exercise for about 45minutes and thereafter start getting ready to go out by 7-7:30am. By 8:30am, I start attending to my clients. I follow this regimen every day except on Saturdays because I sleep a bit late at past midnight to 1:00am and I wake up at 7:30am. On weekends, I spend one hour for my morning exercise.

    What’s your management philosophy?

    My management philosophy is what I call a combination of ideas. I like to engage people to do the job. I allow them to come up with their own ideas because some of these young chaps are smart people really. What I do is to use people around me to achieve results. The best you can do as a good manager is to leave the space open in such a way that there is freedom for everyone to operate and achieve their potentials.

    What’s your management style?

    Just like my management philosophy, I allow people to make their own inputs into any decision to be taken. What I do most times is that if I have an idea about any matter, I just throw it open to the floor for people to make their suggestions, and then I will sum up what they have done and take final decision.

    Do you delegate responsibility or you micromanage?

    Yes, indeed I delegate. I don’t micromanage at all. I delegate a lot. Like I mentioned earlier, my own idea of management is that once you give people the right tools to work with they can actually excel. That’s one thing I have seen in managing people.

    How do you motivate your staff?

    There is often a misconception out there that the only way to motivate people is by giving them salaries and bonuses alone. No that certainly is not true to a large extent. Fine, you can pay them fat cheques and salaries but there are far better ways to motivate your staff. In my own case, I give my staff the opportunity to excel in their chosen careers through creating the enabling environment and opportunities for growth.

    How do you reprimand your staff? Do you apply the stick?

    For me, the best you can do is to allow room for mistakes to be made so that they can learn from it. My own attitude is that if you get angry at your staff for making a mistake next time, they may as well sit down and do nothing. That way, you have ended up creating zombies.  However, if someone makes mistakes consistently, move such a person to another section and have him or her watched closely instead of asking that person to go outright. If you just fire such a person that would be tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bathe water. It’s not the right thing to do. Once you move the person to another department, you have already sent a signal to that person, and most times such people usually have something to prove about their competence. Most times, they excel in their new role. As a manager with over three decades experience that is what I have seen in management across different cadres. Even as a lawyer I have applied the same methods and it has worked for me as well. Currently, as a member of the Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association I can also testify that this method has worked for me.

    What motivates you?

    Motivation for me on a personal note is working with people. I like going out of my way to help people solve their problems. I tend to derive personal satisfaction in that. For me, the moment I can ensure that the next person to me or even someone I don’t know is able to achieve something through my efforts that gives me a level of indescribable joy.

    What is the best decision you have taken?

    I remember quite a few of them. I remember I took a decision to take Citizen Bank to the capital make at the time. I was able to negotiate everything and it went well. That to me was one of the best decisions I ever took as the CEO at the time. I also remember some of the roles and actions I took in ensuring that majority of my staff then were better place career-wise by taking them under my wings. Today, thankfully, I have many of my staff who are excelling in the banking sector and they still try to remind me of the part I played in building their careers. Such recollection is a thing of joy to me.

    What’s the worst decision you have taken?

    I remember as CEO how the action I took cost investors their money after we invested the funds in a bad business and we lost billions of naira as a result. It is one sad episode of my career I usually do not like to recall ever.

    What are your other areas of interest besides business?

    I love reading a lot. I play lawn tennis as well as table tennis. I also do photography too. I have all kinds of camera. Photography is one pastime I love so much. I just love taking shots of memory events around me. These days with a mobile phone, this is even a lot easier.

    What’s your choice holiday destination?

    I also travel a lot both within and outside the country most times. I can say for a fact that I have been to nearly every part of Nigeria today. But these days, travelling within the country is not safe as it used to be because of the problem of insecurity everywhere now. These days, if I travel I go by air and am conscious of myself wherever I go. I have been to Iseyin, Shaki, after Oyo state to see how local people live. In my state in Imo, I have travelled round all the 24 local government areas as well. When I travelled round I was able to appreciate each of the peculiar needs and challenges of these people and that sort of gave me a lot of ideas when I decided to go into the governorship race of Imo state few years later. I have also been to the UK and the USA too many times. Such trips abroad usually afford me the opportunity to learn new things and new trends that I can apply to my career and life in general. So travelling is more than an adventure for me.

    Do you read?

    Sure I do read a lot. I try as much as possible to read a book every month.

    What was the last book you read and when?

    Yes I had to read the book by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. I also read management books as a matter of routine. What I do is I just get the books of leading management authors and I read them up for ideas. I’m also now following every bit about digital currency. I packed myself in it. The whole world is now using digital currency. That is why I’m amazed that the CBN had to place a ban on crypto currency. From what I have found out through digital currency, a lot of youths who hitherto were idle and jobless are now fully engaged. The world has gone digital but it seems the apex bank is not yet in tune with such global development.

    What’s your favourite Nigerian meal?

    I don’t like egusi or rice at all. I like my eba with ogbono. I like amala with gbegiri and ewedu soup. I also like iyan or what is generally called pounded yam. I enjoy local foods a lot.

    Do you cook?

    Oh yes I do. My mother had all four us boys, there was no girl in our midst, so she taught us all how to cook. But I have reduced my activities in the kitchen because I have a dutiful wife who is ever ready to do the cooking for me.

    So you do the dishes as well?

    Oh sure, I do sometimes. I also do a lot of household chores too in order to relief my wife of stress. If there is nobody in the house and I happen to go to the kitchen and see the place unkempt, I take it upon myself to clean up the place. I think my wife appreciates that a lot.

    How do you unwind?

    I’m an outdoor person alright. I like to go to the club, Ikoyi Club to be precise, where I’m a life member now. At the club, I play lawn tennis, table tennis. I meet with my friends to network, socialise generally and relief stress. I also try to encourage my family to join me at the club too because it is such a place you can feel relax over a cup of tea or coffee. My wife is not the outgoing type but I try to encourage her to get out of the house once in a while. You see when you go out of the house; you’re refreshed and renewed in so many ways. I have followed that regimen for many years and I know it’s beneficial to me.

    You’re turning 70 years in a few months. How did your upbringing impacted who you’re today?

    My father was a customary court judge and was also into farming, trading and he made sure he excelled in all these areas as well. For me, that background sort of prepared me for life. I was a war commander during the Biafra war. I was just 17 years old then. During the war a lot happened. I remember during the war lizards and rats were the choice delicacies then. In fact, if you kill lizards or rats you made hot steaming pepper soup with it. It was so funny that you could also get sanctioned if you didn’t tell your superiors you were preparing such pepper soup. That is one nasty experience that has stayed with me. I can’t seem to obliterate it from my memory. I’m already compiling this experience and memories of the war in my memoir due for launch at my forthcoming 70th birthday in August 17th to be precise. I remember when I visited former president Olusegun Obasanjo at his Ota Farms when I was his Relationship Manager at the First Bank. He told me, are you not afraid coming to see a General. I told him I was not afraid that as his Relationship Manager I was even more powerful than he is because it is whatever I tell him that he would do. Then I said even as a War Commander in the Biafra Army, if I came across him during the war, I would have shot at him. He said, “yeeparipa!”

    I also remembered when I visited OBJ at the Aso Villa in Abuja as President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers with other executives. When we got there, Baba said he was president with a big P, while I was president with a small P. He also said bankers are thieves. He said so many times. But I never responded to him. So I told him, Baba I want to tell you a story. He said, ok go ahead. I said my father was a customary court judge. Anytime he came home, he would gather us all his children and say, ‘please don’t misbehave outside because if you do they will say you lack home training.’ When I said that, Baba OBJ looked at me and said, ‘so you’re calling me the head of thieves ba?” (laughs). I have been friends with OBJ for some time now.

  • Shock in Nasarawa community as car dealer commits suicide

    Shock in Nasarawa community as car dealer commits suicide

    By Linus Oota, Lafia

    Residents of Awe, a community in Awe Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, woke up on January 2 to the shocking news of the death of a 44-year-old father of two, Danladi Ali.

    Ali was said to have committed suicide after years of struggling to make ends meet following the collapse of his business as a car dealer and his inability to cope with the needs of his immediate family.

    Ali was said to have ended his life after leaving the house in the morning to the river side where he had been buying fish from fishermen for sale in Lafia, Nasrawa State capital, only to go straight into the bush and hang himself.

    His lifeless body was said to have been traced to the bush about five days after his death as the stench from it virtually took over the entire community.

    His death had sparked speculations that he might have been killed by marauding herdsmen in the area until his wife, Fatima, dispelled the rumour, saying that her husband must have taken his own life because he was battling with a lot of problems.

    Fatima, in a statement he made to the vigilance group in the area for onward transmission to the police, said shortly after the New Year, her husband left for Awe where he normally bought fish on credit from the fishermen in the area for sale to restaurants in Lafia.

    “When I did not see him for days, I became worried. His phone numbers were switched off, and I went to his single room apartment in Awe but did not find him there.

    “I knew that he had a lot of problems. He owed the fishermen and they kept disturbing him to pay them. He was also worried about his indebtedness in Abuja and kept expressing fears that he might be arrested by the police.

    “I knew that he was in trouble. He had emaciated. But one thing he never told me was his decision to hang himself. He should have at least bid me and the children goodbye. What a sad way to end his life.”

    Going down memory lane, Fatima said that she and the late Ali were brought together by fate, saying that her parents had objected to their union.

    She said: “When I wanted to marry him, my parents, who are now late, objected to it. They said they would not want me to marry from within my area, but I insisted on marrying him because I loved him.

    “It was nagging my chest when things got worse as he slowly turned into a nuisance, but the walking out of the marriage was not an option because of our two kids.

    “The frustration was so much that one day I thought of committing suicide. It is an understatement to say I became a beast in a twinkle of the eye.

    “It got to a point that I wondered if I was under a spell when my husband approached me for marriage, because things suddenly stopped going well to the point that we could not even feed ourselves.”

    She expressed worries that apart from the pain of losing her husband, she would now have to contend with the task of caring for their two children from the little money she makes from her petty provision business.

    She said that she believed that her husband hung himself because of his worsening financial situation.

    Fatima said: “I think he died out of frustration because his financial status was not okay. He was not able to pay the bills and he was having difficulties maintaining himself and his immediate family.

    “The purpose of our relocation to Lafia was to reorganise ourselves, but it was not working.”

    She recalled that her deceased husband was indebted to a lot of people in Abuja, and when he was not seen around, a lot of people raised the alarm. “But the truth is that life became so unbearable for us. He kept telling me that he could one day hang himself to death because the problems were too much without a solution in sight,” she said.

    For her, the psychological challenges, financial constraints and the burden of raising her two kids are major problems she has to battle with.

    “Since his death over a week now, my mind has been blank. Each time I think about life, I ask whether it is really worth it. I hope for death every day. I never wish to see the next day. Each time I wake up, I would sigh and say I’m alive again?!

    “The ordeal I will encounter as a widow is enormous and painful. In fact, it is difficult to tell how hard it would be for me to be a single parent. My life will be miserable.

    “One must think well before going into marriage. But marriage cannot be predicted because as some people are rushing out, others are rushing in. Therefore, one should think before getting married. One should know the man very well to be sure of compatibility and to also know if he is the supportive type before going in.”

    Asked how she met her deceased husband, she said: “I was working as a marketer in the bank and was able to take good care of myself. But when he came asking for my hand in marriage, I obliged because it is a normal thing for a woman to get married. But I was unfortunate that the man deceived me that he was a contractor, and he refused to tell me the truth until things went out of hand

    “I have really suffered. Each time I think about these, I weep because my life has been shattered.”

    The late Danladi Ali was an Indigene of Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. He attended College of Education Akwanga where he obtained a National Certificate of Education.

    After graduation, he relocated to Abuja in search of greener pastures but was unable to get a paid job, hence he got himself involved in car business where he would collect money from individuals and supply cars of their choice to them. Through this, he was able to eke out a living.

    In early 2017, he met Fatima at a settlement in Mada Station District in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state. She had completed her diploma programme in Business Administration at the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa and was working in the Marketing Department of Diamond Bank.

    The two met in Abuja while Fatima was trying to convince Ali to open an account with Diamond Bank. The relationship blossomed and in December 2017, they got married and settled down as husband and wife. Fatima, however, said that Ali had told her that he was a big term contractor with the federal government, and based on his appearance, he had no reason to doubt his claim.

    Within four years of their marriage, they had two children and Ali’s car business was going well. Fatima later resigned her job with Diamond Bank because she could not cope with the demands of her marketing job and the home front.

    However, things began to get awry when Ali allegedly collected a certain amount of money from one of his customers and spent it without supplying the car and went into hiding when the man insisted on getting the car or his money. The incident forced him to quit the business and life became unbearable for the family.

    At a point, Ali could no longer pay his children’s school fees or the house rent and was always going into hiding.

    When he could no longer bear the situation, he relocated from Abuja to Lafia and shuttled between Lafia and Awe for his fish business. Unfortunately, his financial condition continued to deteriorate until he decided to take his own life on January 2.

    His younger brother, who identified himself simply as Mr Ali, said he was shocked to see his late brother in the difficult situation he found himself. But he reckoned that his decision to commit suicide was an act for which God would find it difficult to forgive his soul.

    He said the burden of raising his two children would rest on his wife as other members of the family have nothing they could assist her with because they are peasant farmers.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Nasarawa State Police command, Mr Namsel Raham, said the matter was yet to be reported at the state head command.

  • Restructuring must begin with character of individual Nigerians — House of Reps member Egbona

    Restructuring must begin with character of individual Nigerians — House of Reps member Egbona

    The member of the House of Representatives representing Abi/Yakurr Constituency in Cross River State, Dr. Alex Egbona, offers a different perspective in the restructuring debate and the security challenges confronting the nation in this interview with INNOCENT DURU. The only political office holder elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in the state in the last general elections also speaks on the ongoing registration exercise in the party and the approval of a new polytechnic for his constituency by the federal government, among other issues.

    How is the fresh registration of APC members going in your area?

    It is going on very well. Some of us who are leaders are mobilising our followers and the people of our constituency to either  register as new members or revalidate their membership as old members. It is actually an opportunity for us to evangelise, if you like, and boost our membership. In my constituency, it is even more of a necessity for us to get more of our people to join the party because we are seeing development projects from the federal government. My only concern is that we should avoid any form of crisis as a result of the ongoing exercise. The registration exercise should unite and not divide us. There have been stories of clashes here and there in some parts of the country. We do not want to experience this in Cross River. I urge all my people to go about this business peacefully.

    But there are reports of fraudulent activities and even clashes during the registration is some states

    Well, I have read such reports in some states but in Cross River where I come from, I am not aware of any of such. The exercise has just commenced in earnest and those of us who are stakeholders are mobilising our people to go and get registered. I have personally revalidated my membership of the party and I am encouraging others to come in.

    You see, because of the what the APC government is doing at the national level for our state, the latest being the approval of a federal polytechnic for my constituency, my people are very excited and it is enough encouragement for them to want to join the party. They believe that I am showing the way to where good things are happening. So, they are enthusiastic to register afresh.

    You talked about clashes in some places. It is not happening in my constituency because the exercise is going on peacefully in every polling unit across the entire constituency. I am aware that same thing is happening everywhere in the state. The team that came to my constituency, for example, is led by a very credible and down to earth party man, Hon Chinedu Ogar. He is someone you can always trust to protect the interest of the party. So, he and his team members are doing what is expected of them.

    I believe that this is one exercise that will open doors of opportunities for the APC to draw more members ahead of the 2023 elections. You know, politics is a game of numbers. The more people we are able to rake in, the more it will become difficult for other parties to defeat us in future elections. It is also heart-warming to notice that people are really taking advantage of the registration and revalidation exercise to join the party. As the only elected member of the APC from my state, and from the little things that I have been able to attract to our constituency in the last few months since I settled down to work after those series of court cases and rerun election, my people are convinced that following me is much gain to them and to the generality of our people. So, it is safe to say that there cannot be any crisis in the course of the registration exercise because my people know what they want and people like us are involved.

    There are security challenges in the country now because of the activities of some killer herdsmen. What do you think is the way forward?

    It is very simple. I do not support criminal activities under any guise. I also believe that nobody has the right to use his business to destroy another person’s business or source of livelihood. People should know that where their right stops is where the right of others begins. Why should some people in the name of cattle rearing invade other people’s farmlands, destroy same and, in some cases, kill the owners of the farm or rape their women if they resist their actions? That is unfair and cannot be tolerated by anybody with conscience.

    But it still boils down to the issue of character and attitude. I believe that anybody who wants to do his rearing business should negotiate with the owners of the lands they are interested in, buy them if necessary, lease if necessary, hire if necessary and use them on the basis of the terms of agreement. If the herder respects the rights of the owners of farmlands and the farm owners also respect the rights of the herders, the clashes we are hearing of will cease. We must change in our disposition towards one another.

    The federal government has just approved a new polytechnic for your constituency. What does this mean to you?

    It means a lot to me. It means a lot to the people of Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency. It means a lot to the people of Cross River State. You must have heard that I sponsored a bill for the establishment of a federal polytechnic in my constituency. I took this as a project and the bill has already passed through the second reading stage. As a politician and parliamentarian, I believe in lobbying, I believe in the principle of give and take. The ultimate goal for every politician is to get results for their people.

    While the legislative processes were on-going, I had some information about the federal government’s plans to establish some polytechnics. So, I had to consult major stakeholders in my state and constituency on how to ensure that we did not miss out on it. Everybody worked in unity for the common goal of getting the federal polytechnic to be located in the constituency. I wanted it in Ekureku, because we have so much land and the people were willing and ready to offer their land. Other people wanted the polytechnic in their land. It is politics and it is all about interest. So, we were all interested in getting the school to our various places. But you see, if we had insisted on our interests, maybe we would have missed it. So, at a point, we all agreed that it should go to Ugep, the political headquarters of the federal constituency.

    Alex Egbona
    Alex Egbona

    Don’t forget that before now, the Obol Lopon Ugep, who is also the paramount ruler of Yakurr Local Government, His Royal Majesty Ofem Clement Ubana, had written to Mr President, telling him about the need for the school to be sited in Ugep. So, with his backing, one of Ugep’s sons in whom I am well pleased, Barrister Okoi Obono Obla, joined me as we moved to all the necessary offices in Abuja to pursue the matter.

    Mind you, past members of the National Assembly from the area had also played one role or the other at different times to ensure that a federal polytechnic comes to our state. Immediate past and the present ministers from the state also played tremendous roles. It was a team work and I am happy that we have got a higher institution of that magnitude to our senatorial district.

    There is one thing I keep saying: Mr President must have considered and approved this polytechnic for Ugep as reward for the people’s resilience and support for the APC. Remember that Cross River is a PDP state. So, PDP wanted to take all available positions in the state. But Abi/Yakurr people stood their grounds and at the end of the day, we won a seat in the House of Reps and I was declared winner, to represent the people.  That was during the general election. The election was nullified and a rerun ordered. That rerun was like war. PDP came with all their arsenals. They wanted to take the seat, but my people said it would not happen. That was when I saw the real colour of unity and love. People like Senator John Owan Enoh, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, who are not even from that federal constituency, stood by us and made sure that APC won. A lot of people from the PDP who believed in my capacity also stood by me and supported the Abi/Yakurr people. We won the rerun and I returned to the National Assembly.

    So, part of what Mr President was told was that look, this federal constituency stood their ground and supported the APC. So, let this be a reward for their dedication to the party. Thank God, Mr President listened and hearkened to the pleas of our people and today, we have a federal polytechnic. Interestingly, apart from approving Ugep as the location, Mr President also approved N2 billion for the take-off. So, we are full of gratitude to Mr President. I am personally grateful to all those who played different roles in making this happen. Let me say this: I have heard all kinds of comments about who did what and who did not do what. I don’t think we should fight over who takes the glory for the birth of the Ugep polytechnic. I was taught by my history teacher many years ago that the founder of an empire and the man who came to build it are all great men. If anything, I would say that the APC people and those Cross Riverians who stood on the side of truth, justice and fairness, insisting that the people’s votes counted, are the real heroes as far as this project is concerned. They are the people that should take the glory for the establishment of the polytechnic in Ugep. Perhaps, if the APC did not win anything, maybe, just maybe, the federal government might not have listened to us when we were fighting for this. But now, the battle is over. The polytechnic is safely in our hands. The next thing is for us is to remain united in doing all what we need to do so that the school can take off in October.

    What is your take on the clamour for restructuring the country and how will the National Assembly look at this burning issue on resumption?

    You must be aware that I am a member of the APC and our party is seriously in support of restructuring. That was why the party set up a high powered committee led by the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. The committee has since submitted its report and the party, to the best of my knowledge, is considering what the El-Rufai committee did. Having said that, let me add that apart from the APC as a party, I doubt if there is anybody in this country who does not believe in the theory of restructuring. The only area of disagreement, if you ask me, is in the modalities. There are people who argue that the six regional structures of the country should be changed. There are those who argue that each state should be allowed to take care of themselves and make due returns to the centre. There are people who believe that the country is too big to allow decisions to be taken by the centre, on behalf of the states. Some people want what they call true federalism.

    I have taken a look at the report of the El-Rufai committee and I am aware that some of these concerns were addressed by the committee. What is remaining now is for a definite statement to be made by the government at the centre on some of the issues. For me, we need to restructure, and the first port of call should be our character and attitude. I read recent reports where the immediate past president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was quoted as saying that Nigerians needed to restructure their mindset first. I agree with him, somehow. But I will add that Nigerians need to restructure their character and attitude first while we wait for other forms of restructuring to happen.

    You see, Nigerians have a way of shouting about restructuring, about this and that. Again, people have started calling for the birth of state police as a way of tacking insecurity in the country. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said so recently. Even El-Rufai has also talked about it. I think that was a few days ago. But what I have noticed is this: if Nigerians find the need to restructure their attitude and character, particularly in the way they deal with fellow human beings, crime rate will reduce, other forms of social vices will reduce.

    If a man considers that it is wrong and a crime against a fellow human being to plot to kidnap him, or kill him, or defraud him, he will not contemplate doing those things and, of course, the police and other security agencies will have less work to do. What that means is that there will be no clamour for state police.

    If Nigerians consider a change in their character and attitude towards others, nobody will be greedy; nobody will think of getting involved in acts of nepotism as we have seen in Nigeria today.

  • From police officers to robbery suspects

    From police officers to robbery suspects

    A number of policemen have been arrested, dismissed and sentenced for their complicity in armed robbery-related cases in recent times with experts calling for amendment to the training curriculum of cops and introduction of anti-corruption measures to rein in other members of the force with questionable character, KUNLE AKINRINADE reports.

    David Friday’s arrest last month came with shock and disbelief. The young officer, according to the Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, Bolaji Salami, was newly recruited but his lust for money led him into robbery with his accomplice, Innocent Victor, a soldier attached to the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Owena.

    For a fairly long time, Friday and his partner in crime were allegedly busy robbing innocent residents in the Ondo metropolis of money and valuables, especially at Ojadale Junction in Akure, the state capital.

    Luck eventually ran out on him when he allegedly stole a motorcycle used as exhibit at his duty post at Olofin Police Station in Idanre Local Government Area. And while he was being tried by the police authorities, he again conspired with Victor to rob a man of his motorcycle, using a dagger and other dangerous weapons.

    CP Salami said: “He (Friday) was being tried for that motorcycle theft when he was caught conspiring with a soldier to rob some people with a dagger. We paraded them and the victims identified them. Other victims also came and identified them. When we are done with our investigation, we will charge them to court.

    “Some of the items they reportedly stole included the sum of N6000, one Itel phone valued at N8500, 30 litres of petrol and N125,000.”

    A few days before Friday was apprehended, an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti had slammed a senior police officer, Okubo Aboye, with life sentence for robbery.

    The 57-year-old Aboye, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and his technician, Niyi Ibrahim Afolabi, 39, were said to have taken possession of a vehicle from robbery and kidnap suspects.

    According to the police, the vehicle was tracked to ACP Aboye after it was stolen from kidnap victims.

    The investigating police officers said the car was tracked to Aboye, who confessed to having bought the stolen Hilux van from his technician; an offence that runs contrary to Sections 346(2), 1(2) a and Section 5 of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012 and the Robbery and Firearms Special Provisions Act, Cap R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    The presiding judge, Justice John Adeyeye, found the duo guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

    The prosecutor, Felix Awoniyi, called seven witnesses and tendered exhibits, including statements of the accused persons and bond to release the van to the owner.

    According to the charge, ”the offence was committed on between May 9 and 19, 2005 at GRA, Ado Ekiti, when the first to seventh accused kidnapped one Moses Ajogri, 40, and robbed him of his Toyota Hilux van with Reg. No. APP 509 BK.”

    In his judgment, Justice Adeyeye said: “Kidnapping people for ransom is very rampant in not only the state but in Nigeria as a whole.

    “The court will be failing in its duties to protect the members of the society if adequate punishment is not given to the accused persons.”

    Other policemen arrested for robbery

    Like the ubiquitous tortoise in African folklore, four operatives of the disbanded notorious outfit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) allegedly conspired to rob one Chukwuma Odionye on June 4, 2018.

    The operatives, according to the police, invaded the residence of Odionye, popularly called Bishop, and falsely accused him of performing fake miracles.

    The cops, Sergeants Adeoye Adekunle, Adekitan Adebowale, Agbi Lucky and Odighe Hehosa, then took their victim to a hotel and further forced him to transfer to them a sum of N7 million before setting him free.

    Odionye subsequently wrote a petition against the officers after he was released, detailing his travails at their hands.

    “The petitioner stated that on June 4, 2017, he was in his house around Alagbado area of the state when four armed men stormed his house to effect his arrest on the allegation that he performed fake miracles,” a statement signed by the former spokesperson of Zone 2 Police Command, Lagos, Dolapo Badmus, said.

    The statement further read in part: “He stated that after his arrest, he was taken to one hotel at Agege (Lagos) where he was detained and threatened to be killed if he failed to cooperate.

    “He explained further that the following day, June 5, 2017, he was taken to the bank where he was made to transfer N7 million to the account of one of the operatives.

    “On receipt of the petition, the AIG ordered an investigation into the case. On the strength of investigation, it was revealed that no proper police procedure for investigation was followed in Mr. Chukwudi’s arrest.

    “The four SARS operatives actually abducted the man from his house and unlawfully detained him in the hotel under the guard of the suspects for personal gain.”

    In December 2018, four policemen attached to Ijanikin Division in Badagry, Lagos State were arrested after they allegedly robbed a Togo-based Nigerian of his CFA350,000.

    The suspects, Inspector Victor Amiete, Sergeants Samuel Gbemunu and Afolabi Oluwaseun and Corporal Adigun Omotayo, are currently detained at the Provost Section, Command Headquarters, Ikeja.

    The suspects were said to have mounted a checkpoint around Iyana Era on December 17, 2018 during which they robbed the victim, Theodore Ifunnaya, under the guise of a stop-and-search operation.

    The cops allegedly pushed Ifunnaya, who was returning to the country for the yuletide, into their van and took him to their station when they found hard currency on him.

    At their station, the victim was allegedly stripped, tortured, and photographed before they dispossessed him of his money.

    The erring cops subsequently invited a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator who changed the currency to its naira equivalent from which they gave Ifunnaya N2,000 for transportation to his Lagos residence.

    The culprits further threatened to release the nude pictures taken of Ifunnaya on social media and accuse him of cultism and armed robbery if he protested.

    Erring operatives dismissed for robbery

    In a move aimed at making scapegoats of erring officers, in July 2018, the Zone 2 Police Command dismissed the four officers for robbing Odionye.

    The four policemen, according to Badmus, were dismissed and subsequently charged to court for armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful detention, intimidation and threatening violence.

    She said the men were dismissed following a recommendation by a panel “based on the report of the investigation carried out on a petition against them.”

    She noted that the force would not tolerate any act of misconduct capable of undermining the value of international best practices of the police.

    The four officers held for a similar offence in Ijanikin were also dismissed after they appeared before the Police Provost Marshall at Ikeja, Lagos where they were quizzed for their involvement in the robbery incident.

    How to fix police excesses — Experts

    Some security experts who spoke with our correspondent believe that there had been various futile attempts by police authorities to contain widespread misconduct in the Nigeria Police Force.

    They are of the opinion that there must be political will on the part of the government to sanitise the Force in line with standard global best practices of policing.

    A security expert and founder of First Constabulary, a Lagos-based security firm, Dr. Modestus Okafor, urged the police authorities to introduce stringent disciplinary measures and curb corrupt practices among officers and men of the Force.

    He said: “The kind of curriculum offered at the police training centres across the federation should comprise moral discipline or studies required of policemen at their duty stations.

    “Greed and avarice as well as lust after lavish lifestyles are the harbinger of corruption that has become the order of the day among policemen.

    “Successive administrations in charge of the police force had tried to rein in errant officers, but what they did not consider is the fact that the overall attitude and conduct of personnel largely depends on the kind of training offered at training schools.

    “The only solution to this is to inculcate disciplined training that comes with stringent laws to curb violators most of whom over the years have been reveling in greed and opulent lifestyle with reckless abandon.”

    A lawyer, Frederick Nwapka, suggested that proactive measures be put in place to monitor policemen on duty and check their assets from time to time.

    Nwakpa said: “In the time past, there have been various initiatives by successive Inspector General of Police (IGP) to checkmate corrupt practices of operatives at their duty post.

    “One of them is the IGP X Squad which went round to monitor officers in town and a few arrests were made as unscrupulous officers were either found with money collected as bribe from motorists and offenders or arrested for extorting innocent persons.

    “However, the special squad has not been able to effectively comb the entire country for errant officers, hence, the need for sustainable monitoring outfits to checkmate officers and men of the Force.”

    He added: “In addition, there should be a mechanism for checking the assets of officers; something akin to a declaration of the assets of public officers with the code of conduct bureau.

    “This is necessary because not a few policemen have questionable properties in choice areas of Lagos and other cities across the country, without a system to find out how they come about these multi-million naira properties at variance with their salaries.”

  • How we formed kidnapping gang, by suspects arrested for abducting businesswoman

    How we formed kidnapping gang, by suspects arrested for abducting businesswoman

    By Ebele Boniface

    Two suspected kidnappers who allegedly abducted a Delta State-based businesswoman on January 14 have been arrested by operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    Chukwu Sunday and Chidokwe Efide were said to have been arrested at a spot very close to the Ibori Golf Club in Asaba Delta State after the victim, Maris Ibe, alerted the Inspector General of Police Adamu Mohammed about the incident.

    A police source who said the suspects had demanded a ransom of N1 million which was delivered to them before the victim was released, also revealed that operatives of the IRT headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari were immediately deployed to Delta State by IGP Adamu to hunt down Sunday and Efide.

    On how the suspects were smoked out of hiding, the police source said the victim tricked the kidnappers while in their den by telling them that she would convince her husband to increase the N500,0000 ransom they had demanded to N1 million.

    With this, said the source, she gained the trust of the suspects and also obtained vital information about them and their activities. The suspects were also said to have become so comfortable with her that they did not beat even blindfold her. And when they got their ransom, they led her peacefully to a bus stop where she boarded a vehicle that took her home.

    On regaining her freedom, however, she divulged the information she had about them to the police. The suspects were therefore shocked when operatives of the IRT who were deployed in Asaba, Delta State rounded them up and recovered three locally made guns, an axe, an iron cutter, 10 unexpended cartridges and the sum of N320,000, which was part of the ransom they collected.

    It was gathered that the suspects, who are indigenes of Anambra State residing in Asaba, confessed to the crimes during interrogation, saying that they took to kidnapping because they lost their jobs as sand loaders at Asaba Waterfront.

    In his confession, 28-year-old Sunday who is married with a child said: “I dig and sell sand for a living at a waterfront in Asaba. I was into farming before I was arrested in 2018 and sent to prison for two years for buying a stolen phone.

    “Upon my release, I went into sand mining at the Asaba Waterfront where I met one Ali and one Muritala who later became my very good and trusted friends.

    “They later confided in me that that they were into armed robbery and kidnapping. They also showed me their guns and took me to the place where they kept their guns.

    “But during the lockdown, they relocated to their hometown in Kogi State and left their guns behind. When things became very difficult for me as the lockdown continued, I picked up the guns and called one of my friends known as Efibe, who has no job, and we talked about forming a kidnapping gang.

    “For a start, we trailed a woman driving a nice car to her home. We were on a motorcycle when we saw her. We trailed and abducted her while she was at the gate of her house.

    “First, we asked the woman to step down from her vehicle and we walked her into the bush. The woman then called her husband and we spoke to him and demanded the sum of  N500,000, but she offered us N1 million because we didn’t take her vehicle.

    “She told her husband to increase the amount we demanded by N500,000 and also told him not to involve the police because she discovered that all we needed was just money to survive. We did not beat her and also did not blindfold her.

    “One of the woman’s brothers wanted to bring the ransom to us but the woman insisted that her sales girl should bring the money to us.

    “I was the person that collected the money from the sales girl on Awaine Road and I gave the girl N600 for transportation back home. I also led the woman to the expressway to look for her way home.

    “I got, N500,000 as my share of the ransom and it is still intact in my bank  account. I wanted to rent an apartment with the money.”

    Sunday said he was not the owner of the cutter and other home breaking equipment found with him.

    He said: “The owners of the cutters usually use it to steal big generators from telecommunication masts and from the homes of rich people within Delta State.

    “I have gone on one of such operations before but I was not given any money. It was three days after kidnapping that I was arrested by the police.

    “I have given my life to Christ and I want to turn a new leaf.”

    In his own confession, Efide, an Igala by tribe, expressed regrets and blamed Sunday of luring him into kidnapping.

    He said: “I have a child but I am not married. I had never done a thing like this before; it was my friend Chukwuka (Efide) that lured me into the dirty business.

    “It was the devil that also pushed me into it, and I have succeeded in putting my family to shame.

    “I used to make between N4,000 and N5,000 daily from loading tippers at the Asaba Waterfront, but the owners of the sand brought in some pay loaders which started doing our jobs and I was left with no option but to look for a way to survive.

    “The devil used my friend Chukwuka to lure me into kidnapping. I accepted to join him because I needed money to treat myself. I had a damaged kidney and I have no money to take care of myself.

    “I used part of my share of the ransom to buy a television set and a home theatre, then I kept the rest for my treatment.

    “But I am regretting my action now. This is the first time I would do this. Please, forgive me.”

  • There’s more politics in church than Aso Rock — Bishop Ossai

    There’s more politics in church than Aso Rock — Bishop Ossai

    Charismatic preacher and Bishop of City of Refuge Missions International, Oscar Ossai, was one of the ministers of God who ventured into politics in the build-up to the nation’s return to civilian rule in 1999 but had to quit the scene because of what he called “the abracadabra” that attended the “election and selection” of candidates, which made him to see politics as a dirty game! But Ossai, who had his apostolic tutelage under the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa of Church of God Missions International, returned to gospel ministry only to find that the politics in the church is even more overwhelming than obtains in the secular world. He relived his experience in this regard and other aspects of life in this interview with PAUL UKPABIO

     

    In 1999, you ventured into politics and you said you wanted to make a difference, but you soon opted out and never said anything about it again…

    (Laughs) That was a really lousy experience which I sometimes look back at and wished I knew better. Well, I was part of the founding members of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) in Enugu back then. In my political naivety, I contested for a seat in the House of Representatives. Little did I know that election in Nigeria goes beyond being a known figure or being qualified for the seat. You have to be selected by the people who are already there before you can face the people to contest. I felt there wasn’t internal democracy process in the parties.

    I believe that I won in 1999. But somehow, perhaps the results were changed from Abuja. I left them briefly because I got angry and got disenchanted. I left because I had told pastors all over the world, as a member of a pastors’ network which originated in America with over 30,000 pastors on its list worldwide, that I would emerge as the winner and would invite them to Nigeria to democratise the country with us.

    I had made lots of noise. I had told them that I won the primaries in the party, only to be told that I lost! It was difficult to face them, so I left politics.

    So you made a retreat?

    I had to. I didn’t understand the abracadabra that was played against me then. I couldn’t flow with the process because I saw that a lot of things were wrong.

    And you went back to embrace the church…

    Oh yes, I did just that. The church was home to me. I got born again early so I was part of the student Christian movement. I was in leadership position then at the University of Nigeria. And today, having put in almost 45 years in the church, there is no church I have not been part of except the Redeemed Christian Church of Christ.

    I started with Bishop Benson Idahosa in Church of God Mission. I was in UCC at a stage. I was in Scripture Union. I was in Household of God with Kris Okotie who repented right there in my hostel room in the university. At a stage, we were supporting Chris when he started Household of God. I was part of Revival Assembly with Anselm Madubuku. I was part of Glory Land; Word Mission Outreach with my friend Rev Johnson who was with me from the University; Christ Chapel where I had been a prophet in the church. I have been a prayer warrior and head of prayer ministry. I have been a choir member. I have been part of the pastoral team.

    You spoke about Rev. Chris Okotie…

    Yes. That is one of my seniors in Christianity.

    Can you recall how he became born again in your hostel room?

    Chris was a friend to Arch Eziekel Nya Etuk, my roommate. Our room, G211 in GH hostel was a room celebrated on campus as being a place for a new phase of born again Christians. I remember Chris saying to me once: ‘Are you saying this Ossai too will be going to heaven?’  We carved an image of being very well dressed and yet we were SUs.

    Chris began to come around a few times and eventually gave his life to Christ. This was same time that Jide Obi, who also later became a pop star, repented too.

    He was a musician at the time he became a born again Christian. Did you believe him initially?

    Initially, I didn’t. Because like we all knew him then, he was deep into music. He sang ‘I need someone…’ He used to come to my room. It was, however, when he got born again that my friendship with him got better.

    Did you believe that his being born again would last?

    As a matter of fact, some of us who were in the fellowship joined Kris Okotie then because we were afraid that he would backslide. We felt we should hang around him for this thing that God has done for him to survive. That was why some of us came to his church.

    Did he have to struggle with Christianity back then?

    Kris was a special person. In fact we were shocked. He nearly didn’t even graduate. He just started reading the bible in the bush and everywhere. The quantum of time the guy used in improving himself spiritually was awesome. He made a lot of sacrifice. I have never seen a thing like that. His was phenomenal. One can recall that he got born again with Jide Obi, but where is Jide Obi now? Kris Okotie continued and before we knew it, went ahead and started a church. Some of us in the fellowship then suddenly considered him too serious. His boldness shocked everybody, and that is the truth. I was there. I saw him first giving his life to Christ and I have seen him as a pastor, how he has held on and he loves God with all his heart!

    What prompted your recent return to politics?

    It was while in the church I realised that when people talk about politics, I saw the ignorance in it all. Church people talk down on politics and I see a lot of ignorance in that because the church itself is totally immersed in politics. There is no gathering of two people where there is no politics, even in families. And even in the church, the politics there is more than the politics in Aso Rock (Presidential Villa). I think what they are talking about and they are against in the church unknown ingly is party politics. That is what the church seems to be against. They don’t know much about that because they have not been there.

    Bishop Oscar Ossai
    Bishop Oscar Ossai

    Some pastors don’t know anything about politics. My argument has continued to be that politics is about how do we share scarce resources because resources are forever scarce? How do we make sure the greater majority of the people get as much as possible from the resources that are scarce? That is what politics is about.

    If the church does not understand and does not like politics, what will you as a bishop be doing in it?

    I am seeing politics in a different light. The church should be a bridge between the people and society. The church should have a message for the world, and that message is what I am asking God for.  The Nigerian church is yet to attain the fullness of the measure of Christ in the area of government, and the Nigerian government does not see the church as a partner in progress, which is what it should be because the church is a platform for government to reach out to the society, but government does not understand this.

    The reality of the situation is that the communication theory that talks about two-step flow is what the government of Nigeria does not know how to apply for their messages to reach the grassroots. The church is a veritable tool that can be used to connect society to government. So governance has to be relevant in the church and the church relevant in the issues of state. It baffles me when Christians wonder why I talk about politics when I am inside the church.

    You are definitely an Igbo man in Lagos…

    Yes, I have lived here for 35 years, schooled here, went to University of Nigeria, Nsukka for my first degree, then the University of Lagos for post graduate diploma and masters degree.

    What difference do you see between today’s Lagos and the Lagos of those days?

    A lot of difference! When I arrived in Lagos, it was a bit friendlier. I am not talking about individuals now. Lagos then was a place you could come and immediately fit in. Lagos was a place where any little idea you come up with sells! Lagos was a place where you could just run into a destiny helper, unlike now that even the destiny helpers themselves are struggling. Things are tight everywhere now. The city was more accommodating. We didn’t see much difference then, and as an Igbo man wherever God takes us to, we put all our eggs in that basket. We develop the place. That is how God made us.

    How was growing up for you and what was it like?

    I was born in Enugu city and the war drove us out of Enugu and we ran round and ended back in my village. I am the fourth child in the family of 11, 4 boys, I’m the second son, and 7 girls from one mother and same father. My father was not a rich man, he was poor and retired from public works department as a painter, an artisan. But he was the first person in our village who left to experience township. So he was a respected man in the sense that a lot of people that came out of the village had him as a base to start life in the city.

    My father believed in education and today, my family is a family that is recognised with education in my village. We had the first graduate in the family who was my mother’s younger brother, who became the cynosure, so to say, for everyone in the village. I remembered when we were small, my father used to hang his bicycle on the wall. There was a way he built the wall so that he could hang it and there would be space for us to sleep on the floor. I didn’t grow up in wealth, but I had a family where there was love; where no matter how hard it was outside, you could run because Mama would have hot food for you.

    Is Nigeria ready for a Christian president at this time?

    I guess that I should know the answer to that question. Yes, Nigeria is ready for a Christian president at this time. Ask CAN, ask PFM. Let me even tell you about the thinking inside the church today. The Nigerian church represented by the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, are really saying that the only hope for Nigeria is for a proper born again Christian to emerge as the President of Nigeria. That is the thinking of the church today in Nigeria. But whether they will get up as a church to pursue the ambition is a different issue entirely.

    I am an elder in the church. I am a senior bishop. I am no longer a small child in the church, so i should know. The thinking is that we need a David ordained by God to turn around things in this country because no matter how successful you are from Nigeria you are at best a personal success.

    But collectively, we are all failures. I preach the gospel all over nations in the world they ask Bishop Oscar you speak very well, you love God, but how come your country is the way it is with men like you? So once they ask me that question, I feel weak physically. Indirectly, they tell me that I should go and practice what I preach in my country. And that is what Donald Trump too told us: ‘Go and practice your faith in your country first.’

    Your last word for Christians in Nigeria

    I believe that as Christians, we can change this country. I believe that Nigeria can be better than we see it. I was sitting with a former Chief of Air Staff in his house and they took light. I said to him, ‘Oga, do you see what I am saying?’ He said what are you saying, Bishop? I told him you retired as a former Chief of Air Staff; look at how you are sweating in your own sitting room. Your colleague in Washington DC, the guy that you did some courses with, will he be experiencing such a light outage? So that is it. We have to correct these things.

    The first day I landed in America about 25-30 years ago, I thought the weather would be coloured pictures like in the book. I flew from Lagos-Brazil-Florida. So as I was alighting from the plane, I was shocked when I realised that it was like our weather in Nigeria. The sky was the same, only that the roads were well planned, health care system functioned, bright lights, water working. In fact, when I saw the light, I jumped up to quickly iron my clothes before they would take it! I had to unlearn something.

    I know it is possible here. I believe we can do all that too here as Christians. I am encouraging Christians to come out and let’s join hands to build this nation. It is a national cry. Let’s stop pretending that politics is dirty. Go and clean it up if it is dirty.

  • Make it metallic

    Make it metallic

    By Atanda SHERIFF

     

    It is Valentine’s Day tomorrow. There is a lot of excitement in the air. A time traditionally known for outfits in red and white.

    However, you will notice that the trend is shifting for many.  Instead, you find them going for outfits in metallic shades that dazzle. This can be found in the tops,  dresses or trousers and more. Others simply made use of the metallic for their shoes, bags, belts, jackets and other accessories.

    If you are excited by the effect created by the metallic shade, you can join the train and make bold statements your way.

     

    •  Ini-Dima Okojie

    Ini-Dima looks quite appealing in this red and white top and trouser. In the background

    is a signature red designer purse that speaks class. She also displays a brown raffia bag

    with her name boldly written on it.

     

    • Bukola Adeeyo

    Bukola dazzles in this silver shimmering gown. The effect of the studs, metallic shoes and smart outlook make her really exciting to behold.

     

    • Kim Oprah

    Shimmering and stylish. This simple shirt and trouser combination speaks volume .

     

    • Ruky Sanda

    Black is beautiful. This simple black dress makes Ruky a delight.

     

     

    • DJ Cuppy

    Her pink hairdo is the trademark. She also looks cool in this brown top, trouser and jacket.

    • Nkechi Blessing

    Regal. She rocks in this silver and deep peach top and trouser. It certainly sits well on her silver and black high heeled shoes.

    • Shaffy Bello

    Shaffy steps out looking glamorous in this simple top and pant. The unique part of her combination is his flowing Kimono top also in black but with Ankara patches and trimmings.

    • Mo Cheddah

    Cute! That is what comes to mind as you admire the singer in this black tee shirt and sexy brown shorts. Her sandals are magnetic clinging nicely to her beautiful skin in style.