The Nation Newspaper

Category: Special Report

  • Sweating outside the labour room

    Sweating outside the labour room

    Men, by the design of nature, do not get pregnant. Ironically, checks showed that they also have their own way of going through labour pains. While many men would prefer to stay miles away from the labour room; a few have dared the odds to stand by their wives and share in the pains of child delivery. In this report, SEGUN AJIBOYE and INNOCENT DURU examine the ordeal of men in the course of waiting for news while their wives sweat it out in the labour room.

    Jude was caught sweating profusely in front of a maternity ward at a public hospital recently. He was neither jogging nor doing any physical exercise, yet he was drenched in his own sweat. He looked tensed and his eyes looking very red. He was speechless and appeared sick. But Jude was not ill. He had only become afflicted by the fear of the unknown because his wife was in labour for almost a whole day.  The only time he managed to speak was when another young man gladly walked out of the hospital with his wife and new born baby.

    “Congratulations,” he said, stammering. The man joyfully responded:  “Thank you. Just take it easy, your wife would soon deliver too and your worries would be over. I was in a worse mood than you are before my wife put to bed. Be of good cheers brother.” Smiling, he vivaciously led his wife into his car and they drove off.

    On the far left hand side of Jude stood another expectant father and his pastor. They were praying laboriously as if that was the last time they would pray. They were in the same shoes with Jude. They were going through what Patrick Doyle, a veteran actor, described as the mental anguish of men around the labour ward.  This simply attests to the fact that men are not exempted from labour pains.

    Femi Obimakinde shared his experience thus: “I would never pray to be around a maternity ward again in my life because the anxiety is overwhelming. When my wife was in labour, I took her to the hospital late in the night and because it was late, I couldn’t go back home. From that very moment we got there, a woman was already in the labour room getting ready to give birth. She was screaming and screaming from that night till the following morning without the baby coming out. All through the night, I was perplexed by her groaning that was laced with emotional remarks.

    “Before the day broke, another pregnant woman who was also trying to give birth died in the process. When I heard this, goose pimples enveloped my body. I kept pacing up and down as if I lost something and was busy searching for it.  I kept praying in a manner that I had never done before and almost telling God that I would not attempt to impregnate my wife again, if He could just make my wife to have safe delivery.

    “My mind was not helpful at that very point in time as different fearful thoughts kept springing up in me. I even tried to sleep so that the anxiety could disappear, but sleep would not come. I developed headache and lost appetite even when the day finally broke. Fortunately for me, she put to bed around 9:30 am and immediately she did, all the anxiety disappeared. When I told my wife what I passed through, she didn’t really appreciate it. She believed that her pains were more hurtful than what I passed through.”

    Biodun Ogun, a legal practitioner, said it is always traumatic to be around the labour ward when one’s wife is in labour. “It is even more depressing if she has some health challenges before going into labour. My wife was having high blood pressure when she was pregnant and was placed on some medication. On the day she was in labour, I took her to the hospital and the moment they checked her blood pressure, they found that it extremely high and there were fears that she might not be able to give birth  by herself.

    “I met another man whose wife was also having the same challenge and was on the verge of putting to bed. Because our wives were in the same condition, we became friends and encouraged each other. While the medical personnel were busy putting things in order to attend to my wife, I rushed to the canteen to eat. In the course of eating, I saw the other guy, walking past the canteen with heavy and tearful eyes. I sought to know what was the matter and he said the wife died.

    “The moment he said that, I literally passed away.  My heart started beating unusually even as I tried to console my friend. I quickly abandoned my food and ran to check my wife.

    As I was rushing down, I saw a nurse wheeling down a dead patient. My head suddenly swelled out of fear because my mind stupidly said it was my wife that they were wheeling away.

    It wasn’t a tea party at all even after she put to bed. The sight of another woman who had developed partial stroke after giving birth haunted me. I feared that because my wife had high blood pressure before she put to bed  she could also develop partial stroke.

    I wasn’t a sweet experience and it is only he who had such experience that can tell what it takes to go through it,” Ogun said.

    Patrick Doyle, standing next to his wife in a labour room, has increased his appreciation of the pains that women go through during childbirth.  He said: “I have been told and I have seen women in labour and I cannot underplay the amount of physical pain that they go through. I heard them scream and I know that it was real physical pain. It will not deride the pain that women go through during childbirth.   I have been physically present in the labour room during the birth of some of my children. The anguish that I went through was more mental than physical.

    “While I cannot diminish the physical pain of a woman, I cannot begin to tell you the degree of mental anguish I go through watching my wife in labour; the kind of fear I nurse because I have heard that women die during childbirth. I would always say to myself would this child come out right. I hope she comes out alive; I hope the child comes out perfect without any deformity. There would be fears going through your mind, especially when you are in the labour room. It is a different kind of pain. It is mental anguish that I cannot describe and I don’t think any woman can really understand it, just as men cannot really understand the physical pain that they go through. Therefore, I call it a draw.

    “When you are inside the labour room with a woman, while you may want to pray, you don’t want her to see you praying because she might think that you have seen a problem when there is probably no problem. You must contain all those fears and emotions, while at the same time holding her hand  making efforts to be reassuring her that it is alright. While you are saying it is alright, your head is saying  the baby should not die ; baby should not die .  But on the outside, you keep a smiling face and rubbing her hand and keep saying sorry , sorry , it will be fine. So you have to be a consummate actor at that point in time. It is never a time to do any funny thing.”

    The story is the same for popular comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, who witnessed the birth of his first child. According to him, “I made up my mind to be there for my wife when the time came for her to have our first child.”

    But if he thought the experience was going to be a pleasant one, he soon realized how wrong he was. “I realized that it was not palatable at all. At the same time, I saw first-hand that it was very messy. My mind went back to the movies that I had watched and I came to the realization that this was real and can never be compared to those movie scenes,”Adeyinka said.

    Adeyinka took something away from the experience. After that, he confessed that he began to respect the womenfolk much more than ever before. “I must confess to you that after that experience, I began to respect every woman. The truth is that prior to that experience, I respected women, especially my wife. But witnessing the delivery of a baby increased my respect for all women. My brother, I will recommend the experience for all men who don’t seem to appreciate their wives.”

    Speaking from his experience, Samson Oji, an accountant, said it is actually not only women that go through labour pain.  A lot of men, he said, also go through it. “The moment some women become pregnant, their husbands too become pregnant. The manner your wife delivers and the condition around where she delivers also will determine what your state of mind will be,” he said.

    He added: “My first experience was very nasty. A friend whose wife was pregnant put to bed and few hours after, the baby died.A few days after that, my wife fell into labour. As we were going to the hospital, the only thought that was coming to my mind was the unfortunate case of my friend.

    “When we arrived at the hospital, she was admitted. She was in labour for a whole day. I had to go home at night, but I couldn’t sleep all through the night. When the day broke, I rushed to the hospital without even having my bath. When I got to the hospital, I dashed to the room where she was the previous day, but she wasn’t there.  My eyeballs stood still and my whole body became numb instantly.

    “I tried calling the nurses, but none was at hand at the reception to attend to me. After some time, one of them came and told me that they moved her to another room. It was at that point that I regained consciousness. She put to bed the third day. It was a serious experience . I started laughing at myself afterwards, but initially, it wasn’t funny.  I had imagined the worst and allowed the fears to cripple my whole being.”

    Koffi Idowu, one of the leading comedians in the country, said his experience as a father has been quite funny.  He had wished to watch his wife give birth, but his wish was not allowed by the medical personnel when the wife was in serious labour pain.

    “My first experience in a maternity ward was when my first child was born in 2009. I had woken up to take my wife to the hospital as early as a 6:30 am, but our baby didn’t arrive until about 2: 15 in the afternoon. From that experience, I have learnt never to trust nurses and doctors when they say go and get olive oil.

    “When I got to the hospital, we didn’t go with all the necessary items. So at the time the baby was coming out, I had planned to witness it all, but when I was seeing the pain that my wife was going through, I could barely hold it. But when my baby would come out, they asked  me to go and get olive oil. I went downstairs to buy olive oil and before I could come back, the baby had been born. I didn’t like it and vowed that I must witness the next one. In fact, if I catch those nurses now, they will hate themselves. They sent me on an errand that was not necessary.

    “When the second child was coming,  I was at work, but because of the experience I had before, I  begged the organisers of the event that I was handling that my wife was in labour and that  I must be there with her. I must hold her hand. My wife actually held on till I got to the hospital and was wheeled to the theatre. Immediately, the boy came out. This time, it was less troublesome and burdensome. I don’t know where women get the strength. I don’t think anybody can start to stitch me up like that,”he said.

    Idowu further said: “But I must commend women. Any man who at any point in time has not celebrated women or any man who raised his hand to beat a woman has never been to a maternity ward. After that experience, I started respecting my wife more than I did before .  I started understanding what she goes through even beyond for nine months. I respect my wife and love her more now that I know the pains she went through in the labour room.

    “I am quite the calm type because my wife is very strong. She calms me. It is her mood that I follow.  We both understand each other. Even in serious situations, we always find a way to just go about our normal business. I was not so panicky and that further helped her to withstand the pressure of childbearing.”

    Tony Okoh said his anxiety was borne out of the pictures of all manners of deformed children he had always seen in magazines.

    He said: “I have learnt to avoid looking at the pictures of deformed children placed in some magazines after it caused me a lot of heartache when my wife was in labour.  If you are conversant with some of these magazines, you will see children born without private parts, some without limbs and some with their bodies having the features of animals.

    “I always enjoyed reading all these without knowing that I was consuming what would haunt me later. It was when my wife was in labour that the pictures started manifesting in my consciousness. I started fearing  that my wife could give birth to any of such things I had read in the magazines. At a point, my mind would flash a picture of my wife carrying a baby without legs in her hand. The thought was making me perplexed, but I used the power of faith to confront it.

    “The moment such thought comes to my mind, I would quickly rebuke it. When I could not control it any longer, I quickly called my pastor who came and joined me in praying for my wife and against all the evil thoughts running through my mind. It was nightmarish, but I thank God that my fears did not  materialize. I have learnt to do away with such publications and pictures after that nasty experience.”

  • Too busy for the family

    Too busy for the family

    On the surface, Mrs. Gladys M seems to have it all. She has a good job in a managerial position in a top company which comes with a fat pay cheque and other perks of the job. She has all the comfort money can buy and even more. But there’s something missing in her life that no amount of money can buy for her and that is time, especially time with her two children and husband.

    Gladys is one of those Lagosians whose nature and location of workplace have turned them into ‘nocturnal workers, who move around only at night’. With her office located on Victoria Island, Lagos, the lady leaves home by 4.30am every working day and returns home between 11:30pm and midnight, “depending on the traffic,” as she pointed out. “During the week, I’m like a single woman because I hardly see my family. The children are asleep when I leave for work and already sleeping on my return at night. As for my husband, he’s on his own! At weekends, I sleep nearly throughout Saturday and half of Sunday. It’s the two maids we have who are practically raising our children as my husband works too and his job makes him travel a lot,” she stated.

    Besides doing all the domestic chores in the house, the maids also drop the children, aged eight and six years old, at the private school they attend. “I only know they are at school when the maid who has dropped them calls to report that they have gone to school. I don’t even know their teachers as it’s their father who attends meetings at the school whenever they invite us for one. They have been at that school for their whole lives because I started dropping them at the crèche attached to the school when they were barely three months old.”

    Mr.  Njoku  Obi,  a retired banker,  also shared his experience. He told The Nation that he was hooked to drinking coffee and chewing  gum to remain awake on a daily basis for close to 10 years that he travelled from Igando, a suburb of Alimosho Local Government Area of the State to Victoria Island.

    “Working in Victoria Island and living in Igando, was a hell. The human in me was gone and I became more of a robot all through the years I travelled from my area to the Island. Imagine waking up by 4am and leaving home by 4:30am just to beat traffic.  After beating the traffic on the mainland, I always had that of the Island to contend with. After closing late in the evening, it  was equally horrifying going back home.

    “At times, one ends up getting home around 11: 30 pm or midnight.  On a traffic-prone day, one might get home around 1:00am. When it so happened, I would only manage to sleep for three  hours before my alarm rings for me to start preparing for the day’s work.

    “I was always groggy with sleep whenever I set out to drive to the office every morning. The same thing happens to other road users too, so it was common to see people hitting one another in traffic because they were dozing.  I was always had packs of coffee and chewing gum in my car that I always consumed while on the road and at work to remain awake. It was an inevitable addiction that was causing untold harm to my health.”

    He lamented that he could not give good attention to his children all through the period. The situation, he said, was aggravated by the fact that the wife was also embarking on the same routine life.

    “I was forced to prevail on her to resign her appointment because we had abandoned our parental responsibilities to our house helps and became total strangers to our children. It was a terrible thing because if the house helps had had some bad influences from outside, some unpalatable things could have happened to our children and that would have made all our struggles to be meaningless. I was also forced to resign thereafter because the stress was too much for me to bear,” he added.

    Ibe, an employee of one of the  leading oil companies in the country, also recalled his travails shuttling from his residence on the mainland to his office in Lekki every day. After several years of enduring the pains, he was forced to relocate to the Island.

    His words: “I used to live in the Isolo area of the Lagos mainland. Every working day, I would leave for work between 5:20am and 5:30am. The purpose was to beat the traffic and get to the office early. It always took us about two hours to get to the office, as we often got to the office  around 7:30am. This means we spent an average of two hours to get to the office. My office is at Lekki. Our normal closing hour is 4:30pm. In spite of that, I  wasn’t getting home  until between 8 and 9pm. Sometimes, it was worse. And you know, it was the same routine for many years.”

    The situation, he said,  had direct effect on his work and his health. “Yes, of course, it does. I ended up arriving at the office tired and edgy. I often took  time to settle for the day’s work. You can be sure that in such situation, it affected my productivity.Let me tell you, there was no day that passed then that I did I not take pain reliever in the morning and evening. Besides, the stress was making my blood pressure to rise. It became absolutely unbearable.

    “As time went on, I was tired and  had do something about it. That was the reason I ended up relocating to Lekki. And the difference was immediately obvious. Since I relocated,  It takes between 10 to 20 minutes to get to my office. I no longer have any need to be taking pain killers like before. My productivity, I am sure, has improved. Added to that, I am no longer as stressed as I used to be”.

    Busari  Musiliu, a resident of Sango Ota, Ogun State, said he was constantly eating kolanut and taking energy drinks to keep awake as he shared his predicament going from his area to work in Victoria Island. After several years of going through the rigorous travelling, he resorted to squatting with a friend living close to his place of work.

    “I would have died if I had continued to move from Sango Ota to Lagos Island every day.  There was a time that I fell seriously ill because I wasn’t resting well. The substances that I was taken had caused serious damage to my body.  I would wake up early in the morning and get back home very late in the night. By the I would be leaving the house my children would still be sleeping and by the time I would get home late in the night, they would have also gone to bed. I didn’t have any time for myself and always got angry and ever ready to sting like a bee because I was constantly stressed up.

    “After recovering from the illness, I was attacked and dispossessed of my valuables by hoodlums when I was going to work early one morning. These experiences made me to begin to seek for a close place to my office where I could squat. Luckily for me, I got a colleague who offered to assist me. I leave home on Monday morning taking along a few personal effects for the week and go back home on Fridays to spend the weekend with my family.”

     

    Day care, crèches to the rescue

    Indeed, for busy career mothers and fathers, day care centres, crèche, nurseries and the like are a God-sent. For such parents without live-in relatives like grandmothers, aunties and cousins who can act as carers for the newborn, a crèche is the next viable alternative when the nursing mother has to resume work at the end of her maternity leave.

    “After I gave birth, my mother came to spend some time with me. But she returned to the village three weeks later and I was alone with no helper. I had no choice but place my baby in a day care when I resumed work as I could not take him to work! He was just about two months old then. I felt bad about it but what could I do? It’s the bad economy that has made many women become their families’ breadwinners. In the past, our mothers and grandmothers  did not have to work in offices and other corporate environments. They worked mostly in the farms and they took their babies with them strapped to their backs. Today, society has changed. I can’t take my baby to my workplace as it’s a financial institution. It’s not allowed. Day care centres and crèches are the next alternative,” stated a mother of three who did not want her name in print.

    These city women’s experiences are reflective of the realities of parenting and child rearing in a mega city like Lagos. For many busy parents striving to work hard and bring in enough money to meet the family’s needs, it’s a hard choice they have to make. “It’s a choice between working to make money to enable you live a particular lifestyle or staying home to care for the children and living in penury,” stated Gladys.

    In many cases, child rearing and family life take the back seat, while the pursuit of money wins.

    To fill in the gap are nannies, house maids, crèches, play and nursery schools who now act as ‘surrogate mothers’ to the children. While the parents are busy at work, these carers feed, clothe, change nappies, rock them to sleep, soothe them when they cry, play with them and generally perform the functions which mothers, by their natural dispensation, are supposed to play.

    Our reporter met with one of such carers, Lydia Solomon, at a crèche at Ikeja who spoke on the onerous tasks of caring for other people’s children. The lady, who has been working there for four years, disclosed that the crèche opens for business as early as 5am to receive the children. “These working mothers sometimes leave home as early as 4 am. Many work in offices in Marina, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ajah or even Epe.” For the return journey home from work, Solomon stated that, “It all depends on the work schedule of each working mother. Some return to pick their children at 5pm, some at 8pm, some at 10pm while for others, we have to take them to their homes at 11pm.”

    Being separated from their mothers from such early ages can be traumatic for the children as she stated: “If the children had just started coming to the crèche, they feel bad. Some react by crying or clutching to their mother’s arms or body. But after a while, they get used to being dropped with us. It’s especially bad for breast-feeding babies. For such children, when it is their breast-feeding time, they cry and cry and there is nothing we can use to pacify them. They just keep wailing until the time passes. In such a situation, we have to keep petting them until they cry and sleep. When they wake, we continue the petting and after a while, they start playing.”

    One challenge most of these carers have is the lateness of parents in picking their children in the evenings. On this, Sarah David, a carer at a nursery at Apapa, noted: “Most parents don’t keep to time, they come late to pick their children. This is because they know the nanny is competent and capable and they feel their baby is safe with her, so they are relaxed. The last baby most times leaves my place very late like 9pm or 10pm. I’m not really impressed with  parents that pick their children at such odd hours; at least 6 pm in the evening is okay.”

     

    Separated too young

    To David, being separated from their parents so young does not portend well for the emotional well-being of the children which could lead to problems for them in the future.

    “The parents should allow love to flow between them and should have the conscience that, ‘my child is somewhere and I need to see him.’ When parents come late, the baby is already asleep, so what time do you have to spend or have love to share with the child? And very early the next day, you bring the child back to the day care.”

    Speaking on the issue and the challenges of caring for the children, Joy Udeh, another carer at a day care in Lagos, stated: “Some parents come late to pick their children. We drop our phone number because when it’s too late, we close so they have to come down to our own house to pick them. We work every day except Sunday. A dirty person who finds things irritating or is wicked and heartless cannot do this type of job.

    “It is very difficult to take care of the children and never easy because at times they cry, disturb, mess up the place. As a person doing this, you have to be very patient. Even when you want to get angry, you hold yourself back. I take them as my own children, put them on my back, teach them things like poems and do things that make them happy.

    ”Some parents are naturally lazy and it has become a habit that whenever they have a baby, they enrol them in care centers. We start taking in babies from two months old.”

    Not all parents like the idea of leaving their children in day care centres and crèches. Mrs Ene Osekhe, an Apapa, Lagos resident frowns at it, declaring: “I can’t keep my child in a day care center. Some people choose their job over their children. I love my child and I can’t leave him for anybody. That is why I decided to engage in business instead of working in a company. It takes the grace of God to care for children.”

    Due to the long hours these children stay apart from their parents, with time they begin to see their carers as their ‘real’ mothers, as Solomon noted: “Well, babies who are still breast-feeding still recognise their mothers. That is because, once the mother puts her breast in his mouth, the child sees the mother and the sense of identity is there. But for others who have stopped breast-feeding, they are more attached to us than their mothers. There are some who even do not want to go home in the evening. We have to keep shouting, ‘your mother is here, or your dad is here.’  Some of them after a while start calling us mommy. This has happened many times.”

    To experts, such early separation between a parent and child, the period when the most bonding should take place between them could have incalculable emotional and psychological damages on the child.

     

    Psychologists speak on the consequences

    Dr Leonard Okonkwo is a psychologist and he has this to say on the matter: “In as much as it is sometimes avoidable for parents to drop their kids with other people and go to work because they have to make ends meet, most of the time, it doesn’t augur well for the children. This is because it denies the parents and children or rather it discourages the necessary bonding that a child needs as he or she grows up. It is generally believed that a child’s personality grows as the age rises.

    “So all that happens to a child at that early age is very important. So when you leave a child of that early age at the mercy of day care, people who are usually two or three with so many children to care about, that necessary bonding becomes missing. And then when you have such deficiency in the bonding, other issues could develop later on that can affect the child eventually as the child grows up.

    “Of course there are health issues too. When a child does not develop the way he or she ought to develop, the child can develop some level of insecurity, which can be carried on to later in life. When you have so many children to take care of, it is certain that you cannot give everyone of them adequate attention. That is the problem that is likely to be seen in a day care. And that leaves the children with a sense of insecurity and anxiety, which may manifest much later in life. It could even lead the children to a mind situation, where they find it hard to trust people later in life.

    “That is the reason we should commend the Lagos State government for elongating the maternity leave. It is important. Nursing mothers need time with their children. They need to wean their children.”

    He blamed the situation on the bad economy and the level of poverty in the society. “If people were to be gainfully employed and not go far from home, some of these problems can be avoided. In a situation where you have two parents in a home and one can adequately sustain the family with his income, there will be no reason for the wife to be rushing out to work from home every day.

    “On the other hand, it is difficult to say that both parents should not work because there are challenges. They have to pay house rent, pay school fees, and then feed and protect their children. So it is difficult to determine for parents how or what they should do or not do in earning income, more so when it is not illegal. But as much as possible, there should be a lot of balance. No matter the job parents are doing, they should as much as possible have time for the children.”

    To Dr Tony Okeregbe of the University of Lagos, the effects of such early separation can be far reaching, affecting the child till adulthood and the society as well. “Definitely, being brought up by nannies, maids and other carers besides the parents can affect children’s socialisation. The family is the primary and first social unit; it’s the way you nurture the family that will affect the society as a whole. These days, many parents abandon their parental responsibilities and the upbringing of their children to nannies, maids and schools while they chase after money.

    “Can you believe that some even forget to pick their children from school like a case we had some time ago? Because of craving for material wealth and striving for survival, they don’t find the time to be with the children, to train or inculcate proper values in them, teach them real values of life. They believe money is everything and is the solution to all problems. These children will now be at the whims and caprices of society, to the outside world and whichever dominates wins. This is the reason for such anti-social behaviours like drug taking, cultism, prostitution, crime and other antisocial activities,” he stated.

    He advised parents to make the necessary sacrifice to spend time and train their children themselves instead of leaving the responsibility to others. “Their primary assignment as parents is the children and the family. Maids should not bring up children, it’s not their job. It’s the parents’ duty. If you know you won’t have time and rather focus on your career, then don’t have a family. It’s not by force!” he said.

    Continuing, he added: “As a course adviser in this school, I see students at 17/18 years old who are still like babies. They are not well trained or know anything about life. There are some of these young people who, due to bad experiences with maids, have been affected psychologically. They find it difficult to develop associations and relationships with people because they were violated and abused as children by the maids. We have one like that here. She has a very negative view of relationships because she did not have parental care; the care came from the maid who exposed her to things she should not have as a child.

    “Today, she finds it difficult to trust people. There were boys who were exposed to sex at a very young age and grew up having warped views about sexual life and relationships. So the effect of all these can be devastating on the children and the society generally.”

    Perhaps, it’s in a bid to avert such scenarios that have led some working mothers to leave their jobs and stay home with the children.

    Said Solomon: “Yes, there have been such cases. But for a working mother who is already used to going to work, resigning to come to sit at home, could be a trauma too. So it is better that she still finds some kind of work to do around her or which will enable her to also look after the baby. But the truth is, not many female city dwellers nowadays can really take care of babies and little children. Most of them depend on crèche or pre-school, even when they are not working mothers.

    “However, there are women who have resigned because of their children. A case in mind is a child who used to be regularly sick at the crèche. The husband had to tell the wife to resign to come home and look after the child.

    “There was also a case of a family who used to return late from work. The husband gets home at 8pm, while the wife gets home at about 11pm. The arrangement was that I bring the child home at few minutes to 11pm. Sometimes I get there, the woman is not back, when I wait, the husband will be unusually friendly with me. So, I stopped going there but they were not happy. They begged me to continue. But I couldn’t because I didn’t want to break their home.”

  • Amazing world of Nigeria’s graduates doing menial jobs

    Amazing world of Nigeria’s graduates doing menial jobs

    TIME was 1pm and the weather was as hot as it could ever be. The putrid smell of rotten materials rent the air. But not minding the unpleasant smell, the young men and women went about their business as if their lives depended on it, digging deep into the rubbish in search of valuables which they wished to dispose for money.

    To a large extent, their lives truly depend on scavenging on dump sites. With hot sweat streaming down their bodies and not showing any concern with the several on-lookers, they scramble and sometimes fight over seemingly worthless metals. This is the daily routine of these young Nigerians, many of who are graduates; they throng the popular Ojota refuse dump site in search of their daily bread. While many of them earn their daily bread as scavengers, many more have taken to other seemingly-demeaning jobs like commercial motorcycling and domestic servants, among others. Daniel Emeka, a Psychology graduate from the University of Ibadan, resorted to riding commercial motorcyclist popularly known as okada after his efforts to get an office job failed. He said:

    “I graduated in 2010 and searched for job everywhere to no avail. When life was becoming very unbearable, I decided to put the pride of being a graduate aside and took to commercial motorcycling to make both ends meet. It wasn’t easy starting the okada business itself because I didn’t have the money to buy a motorcycle. I was able to raise money from a family friend to purchase a motorcycle that has been helping me to survive,” he said. He blamed the apathy of the government and the culture of godfatherism in the country for the growing rate of unemployment, saying:

    “It is so unfortunate that our country is faced with the problem of godfatherism, a situation in which you have to know somebody before you can get a job. “Sometime ago, I went for a job interview, and on getting there, I was asked to provide a note from a reputable person standing for me. Because I could not provide one, I was not even asked anything. It is rather too bad that in this country, you would have to know somebody before you can achieve what you want.”

    Though Daniel is not totally happy with his present job, he said it was not a bad idea because it is better than getting involved in criminal activities to survive. “As a Christian, I have been taught not to forget the days of my little beginning. Being a dirty okada man is better than being a clean criminal. I believe that God will elevate me with time,” he submitted. Alice Owolabi is a graduate of the University of Ilorin. As an undergraduate, Alice had lofty dreams of what she wanted for herself. For her, a job in a bank is the most ideal.

    Years after graduation, Alice trekked the length and breadth of Lagos without a job. Her prayers were finally answered when she eventually got a job in one of the new generation banks. But while her dream was to work in the mainstream banking, Alice was employed as a cleaner. “I am managing the cleaning job since there are no jobs out there. My intention is to work in the bank as one of the key staff. It is so unfortunate I found myself as a cleaner.

    But I am still hopeful that God will change my situation. I will keep praying to God that one day, the manager would be led to look at my C.V and give me an opportunity to work as a staff and not as cleaner,” she said. Wale is 27 years old. The only son of a family of seven, he had lofty dreams of what he wanted to become when he grew up. But much of his dreams of becoming an engineer is fast fading away as he inches towards the proverbial age of 40.

    For seven years, Wale has made the dump site his work place, going there every day to make a living. “I started coming here about seven years ago. At the time, it was tough for me to decide, but today I am happy that I can feed myself without looking up to anybody. That is the reason why I am happy.” Indeed, Wale has good reason to be happy. His mother and two of his sisters also eke a living at the dump site. “As a child, I wanted to be an engineer.

    I went as far as the model college where I received engineering training. But I could not afford the fees and I had to drop out. Much as I tried, but I realised that I cannot continue to fold my hands and hope that a miracle would happen. That was why I decided to come here and work. I have my mother and two sisters who also work here.” Wale has not given up on hope. According to him, he hopes to go back to school someday.

    And towards that, he saves a huge chunk of his earnings. “I will go back to school one day. I started saving money from the first day that I started work here. That is even the reason why I am not married yet. My priority now is to get back to school.” Taye Taiwo graduated from a technical college, majoring in bricklaying, a profession he practised for several years. A self-acclaimed hard worker, Taye is not happy that despite several years of hard work put into his profession, he has not been successful.

    To make up for the shortfall in his earnings, he made a trip to a dump site one day. By the end of that day, Taye said he made enough that made him realise that he may have probably wasted his time working as a bricklayer. “I was a bricklayer. But after working for many years without having anything to show for it, I decided to look for another job. When I was working as a bricklayer, I would work and the owner of the job would refuse to pay.

    It was like I was working without anything to show for it. So, one day, I decided that rather than die in silence or become an armed robber, I would go and work on a dump site.” More than eight years after making that decision, Taye said he is proud of what he has been able to achieve. “I have a wife and children. I am also able to send my children to school without much difficulty. So, I am sure that I made the right decision to come and work here.“ Taye believes most of the problems confronting man are self-inflicted. According to him, some young men resort to stealing, armed robbery and other violent acts because they regard some jobs as demeaning.

    “I can do anything to earn a living as long as it not stealing. I tell you, most of the problems we have are because some people feel ashamed to do some jobs. They feel they are too big to do a particular type of job. Unfortunately, these same people are not ashamed to go into armed robbery. “I am not ashamed at all.

    I live in a comfortable house with my wife and children and my neighbours know the type of job that I do. If all of us would do away with pride, we would realise that there is a lot of things that we can do to earn a living without resorting to armed robbery of violent acts.” The stories of the two are not particularly different from several other young Nigerians who have found succour in the several dump sites scattered across the country.

    Michael Ajayi works in a factory. He resorted to the factory job after years of fruitless search for a job after graduation. While lamenting the nature of his job, Ajayi said, “I am not happy with the kind of job that I do. As a graduate, I am supposed to be rendering intellectual service to people and not be going through the hard labour that goes with working in a factory. “It is rather sad that the rate of unemployed graduates in the country is on the increase. That is why you find many graduates doing jobs they are not supposed to do.

    There is little or no hope for the youth. It is simply by the grace of God that one can be successful.” This is also the case with Rasheed Tajudeen. For over a decade now, Rasheed has concentrated his efforts on making a living by working at the Ojota dump site.

    Prior to this time, he had worked with several firms after training as a mechanical engineer. “I trained as a mechanical engineer. After graduation, I tried to get a good job without luck. At a point, I was working with some people who had contracts with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), but that also failed to bail me out of my

    misery.” Rasheed said he finally decided to work at the dump site, at first scavenging, before finally worming his way into the hearts of many truck drivers after he proved his worth as a good mechanic. “After that, the drivers started giving me jobs to do. Since that time, I have been here doing my work without any regret. I tell you, if most of our youths would seize whatever opportunity available to them rather than waste their time running after criminalities, this country would be better.

    ” Wakil Moshood confessed that he was compelled to earn a living disposing refuse when he realised that he does not want to lose his wife. According to him, years of fruitless search for a non-existent job after graduation forced him to put aside his shame and opted for a life as a scavenger. He is particularly scared of losing his wife to other men who could lure her with the good things of life that he is unable to provide. “The Yoruba have a proverb that a jobless man’s wife belongs to another man.

    I went round searching for a job without luck. And I see around me men whose wives engage in extra-marital affairs because their men could not provide for their needs. I cannot afford to go through such experience, so I decided to forget about shame and come here to hustle.”

    When Olujide Moyosore Dorcas gained admission to study Business Education at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, it never occurred to her that she would one day end up as a commercial tricyclist. After her graduation, she went into the labour market with the full hopes of landing her dream jobs. But after several years of combing the street, she gave up the search and settled for commercial tricycle business, a job majorly undertaken by men. “I searched for a job from when I graduated in 2011without any success. When things were getting very difficult, somebody introduced commercial motorcycling to me.

    It looked odd to me at the beginning, but I had no option than to go for it. “I first applied to a pure water company at Abule Agba for employment, but didn’t get it. Later, I applied to different schools for a teaching job without any luck. Thereafter, I applied for the post of a manager in a yoghourt manufacturing company in Mushin.

    I got the job, but the salary was nothing to write home about, so I had to quit,” she said. She narrated that it wasn’t easy when she started because her friends were not in support of it. “My friends didn’t buy the idea of driving tricycles.

    I would have given up because of that, but when I told my dad about it, he encouraged and gave me his full support. “I am not regretting my decision because I am earning enough money to meet my basic needs. I am living well and have no reason to look inferior before my male colleagues at the park. They are very friendly and encouraging,” she explained.

    She added that the passengers that patronise her have always admired her and at times dash her their balance. “My advice for those that are jobless is that they should try and find something doing to make both ends meet. This is very important because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

    If they put aside shame and do something, they would not have to depend on anybody for their basic needs. As I am now, I pay my rent, feed and clothe myself without waiting for anybody to give me a dime.’’ The story is the same with Stella Iroaja. In a chat with The Nation, the mother of three and widow said she does the job to make ends meet. She revealed that she started as an okada rider, which she also used to supply bread to people. After three years of engaging in the business, she saved sufficient money and bought a tricycle.

    “I have been running this Keke-Napep business for more than two years, and it is from this business I pay my children’s school fees, house rent and also take care of myself. “As a widow, I have to struggle to take care of my children because there is nobody to fend or cater for my needs. My first son is 21 years of age and he is in university.

    It is from this business I pay his school fees,” the Imo State born woman said. She proudly added: “I have my own personal car and it is through this Keke- Napep business I bought it. I am very popular in this business, being the first woman to start such around this area, so I do not face any challenge from either police or LASTMA because they know I am struggling to survive.”

  • A president’s misplaced priority

    A president’s misplaced priority

    Critical national problems Jonathan’s PR fund could have solved

    IN silence, her eyes raved. They uttered words that had no measure. Sitting on a corner bench in her shanty porch, she cut a perfect picture for a “save-the-needy” campaign. But Gladys Nenghe spotted no hope. She gave up on that two months before she turned 21in March 2012. That was after it became apparent to her that despite graduating cum laude from high school, she would not be able to proceed to a university of her dream. Nenghe had to forgo her ambition to study History and International Relations at the Lagos State University (LASU) because her father couldn’t foot her bills anymore. “I barely made it through secondary school,” she said.

    Stoically, she counted her losses and cast them behind her. But just when she managed to secure employment as a sales girl for an Ikeja, Lagos-based air freshener producer, Nenghe became the victim of an unavoidable and long-drawn out battle of will and wit between the Federal Government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). Sitting pretty on the bench in her filthy porch, Nenghe cursed the day the strike action began. According to the 23-year old, the strike action cost her too much, particularly her employment as guerilla marketer for the local air freshener producer.

    “I prayed fervently that we are allowed to go back to work. It didn’t matter what the government and NLC decided. Me…I needed to make money for my schooling. I needed money to survive. I have no mother to assist me and my father can do nothing. He is an old man. He was a civil servant in Benue State before he was sacked. Now, I have three brothers and a father depending on me. The strike ruined us. We had nothing to eat,” disclosed Nenghe, adding that the hopes of her entire family currently rests on a paltry N240 she had been holding on to since she scrounged it off a childhood friend.

    Cynthia Duru’s predicament also offers food for thought. Duru, a graduate of Industrial and Human Relations and Masters Degree holder in Business Administration (MBA) thought she had prepared herself well to compete in the country’s budding information technology industry. For five years, she studied hard. But after graduating in February 2011, Duru discovered that even those desirable qualifications mean little in Nigeria’s congested labour market.

    Duru struggled to keep faith, sending a total of 58 résumés to different organisations but she hasn’t got a single offer. Today, she applies makeup on newlywed brides for a fee, but that industry itself has recently become congested with the massive influx of secondary school dropouts and undergraduates seeking to augment their allowances and unemployed graduates seeking to make ends meet. Predictably, Duru’s earnings can barely sustain her hence she still squats with her elder brother in his one room apartment in Ogba-Aguda, Lagos.

    Miles from Nenghe and Duru’s peculiar problems, in faraway Kirfi Local Government, Bauchi State, Rabia Muhammadu, 30, struggles to feed her five children daily. In her drifting voice and tired gaze resonates the heartfelt wail of her 1,000-year-old village, Jagalwa. Lost behind a blur of withered flora and copious sand dunes, Muhammadu and over 2, 000 residents of Jagalwa struggle against intimidating odds every day.

    “We dwell in destitution and abject neglect,” said Muhammadu Danladi, 50, the deputy Jooro (deputy chief) of Jagalwa. There are no industries, small and medium scale enterprises in the area. Hence, the major means of livelihood for the entire community is subsistence farming. Jagalwa lacks electricity, pipe-borne water, good roads and a functional health centre. The houses are built with mud and bamboo and planks are used as beams for support.

    Due to government’s inability to provide basic amenities, the community, comprising “over 2, 000 people,” depend on a single well for their use. “Whenever it rains, we manage to get water from puddles that collect in a few potholes along the road. But we have to share the water in the potholes and the well with her cattle. Now that there are no puddles to draw from, the entire community depends on this single well (he said pointing to the well). The water is dirty but we are forced to drink it like that,” said Danladi, 50.

    Danladi complained bitterly of successive governments’ insensitivity to their plight. According to him, the government does not care what happens to them. “It’s like we do not exist to them (the government)…this is very bad. This is not what they promised us. They come here to campaign and seek our votes at election time; they promise to give us electricity, fertilizer, hospitals, good roads, pipe borne water and they promise to build schools for our children. It’s all lies. They come here to lie every time. No sooner had they got our votes than they forget us completely,” lamented Danladi.

    Farther from the local scenes of impoverishment and abject neglect, Ahmadu Bubaji, 74, grapples with grief he does not know how to make sense of. The resonance is bloodcurdling and replete with anguish and rage several months old. Bubaji’s misery is unbounded: the 74-year old lost his wife, Aminatu  thus suffering a brutal and sudden end to a marriage of 52 years Lima, their only daughter and two grandkids in a bloody attack carried out by Boko Haram in Bama. This occurred one month after he received news of his son’s death in the Nigerian Joint Task Force (JTF)’s April 16 offensive against the Boko Haram sect in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.

    Umar, his son, was gunned to death as the JTF sought to rout suspected Boko Haram sect members at Baga, in a campaign that left no fewer than 185 people dead. Precisely 2, 275 buildings were razed to the ground while 65 motorcycles and 40 cars were burnt in the attack.

    While Bubaji struggled to deal with his grief, Boko Haram insurgents dislodged from their camps in Sambisa Game Reserve by the JTF issued an ultimatum to residents of his community and Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. “They gave us one week to vacate our homes,” said Bubaji. Consequently, he fled with his daughter-in-law, Khadija, and Idris, his surviving grandchild, across the border into Cameroun.

    With thousands of their neighbours and residents of Bama, Gwoza and other neighbouring communities, they sought refuge in Mokolo. While in Mokolo, Governor Awa Fonka Augustine of Cameroon’s Far North Region visited them and urged them to leave with him for a better organised refugee settlement in Garwa.

    “We had no choice but to comply,” said Bubaji. According to him, his family and 2,997 fellow refugees had constituted great strain on their host Cameroonian community and it was only a matter of time before they encountered hostilities from their hosts who struggled to accommodate them and share their very scarce resources with them.

    Nenghe, Muhammadu, Danladi and Bubaji without doubt are united by a common bondthey are Nigerians on the receiving end of what Danladi describes as abject government insensitivity and neglect.

    But rather than get in the trenches to find lasting and humane solutions to their plight, the  Federal government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, contracted an image-laundering deal valued at $1.2 million (about N275 million) a year to Washington, DC, United States-based public relations firm, Levick Strategic Communications. Levick accepted the deal to help manage President Jonathan’s image, which has taken a beating in recent weeks over the Nigerian leader’s poor handling of the abduction of more than 250 high school girls in Chibok, Borno State by dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.

    Levick Strategic Communications was engaged to assist with a range of government affairs and public relations matters. The agreement is with effect from June 16, for an initial term of 12 months. According to the contract, professional fees for Levick staff will be billed at the rate of $100,000 per month (about N15,573,000).

    Levick is to engage Jared Genser of Perseus Strategies, “a lawyer in the international human rights and democracy community”, to assist in the firm’s objectives “to promote transparency, democracy and the rule of law throughout Nigeria”.

    The sub-contract to Genser will attract additional $25,000 per month (about N3.9million) and “will be passed through in its entirety Perseus Strategies”.  Levick will bill travel-related expenses and meals to the government. “We estimate these to average $22,500.00 per professional per trip,” the firm said.

    Additionally, the government will pay a percentage of the fees upfront. “It is our policy to invoice our clients a flat 4.50 per cent of monthly fees to cover these costs,” Levick said.

    Fees for other services, such as paid media, video production and web development, will be borne by the government in addition to the fees for Levick staff.

    “Actual long-distance or conference calling charges incurred on behalf of the client will be billed separately, at cost,” the firm demanded. The government will also bear third-party vendor expenses, such as private newswire, outsourced printing, copy jobs, and significant costs for postage and handling.

    Levick is to begin work upon receipt of advance quarterly retainer and interest of 1.5 per cent will be charged on all balances outstanding over 30 days. The government also agreed to indemnify and hold Levick and its agents “harmless” with respect to any claims or actions for libel, slander, defamation, copyright infringement, idea misappropriation or invasion of privacy arising out of the firm’s consultation.

    It was agreed that work would begin upon Levick’s receipt of the signed agreement and initial payment. The funds are to be sent by cheque to Levick or by wire transfer to its banker, BB&T, Washington, DC, with account number 5156166334.

     

    Nigerians express outrage over “window dressing” PR campaign

    In the wake of the President’s action, concerned segments of the citizenry have condemned the PR deal, claiming it is hardly the needed palliative to the nation’s escalating security, political and socio-economic woes.

    Yomi Sanya, a Lagos-based lawyer argued that no degree of image laundering could improve perceptions about Nigeria’s incumbent leadership in the eyes of the international community. “What the government needs to do is to get serious and start addressing the country’s several maladies with the purposefulness and aggressiveness they deserve.

    “That PR initiative is just another sad case of window dressing by Mr. President. He is yet to rescue the abducted girls of Chibok and he is desperate to repair his severely battered image. I will say that is simply a misplacement of priorities,” said Sanya.

    Corroborating him, Segun Lawson, a civil engineer, noted: “An atmosphere of distrust has submerged the trust we initially reposed in Mr. President. And it extends beyond his office to every other public officer. We do not trust our leaders anymore. And they do absolutely nothing to correct the situation. Life is scarier today than it used to be.”

    A hashtag #SomeoneTellLevick is currently trending in Nigeria in response to the image laundering deal between the Washington, DC-based public relations firm and President Goodluck Jonathan. Some of the hashtag critics of the deal accuse the American PR firm of accepting “blood money” to help burnish the image of a Nigerian ruler who appears absentminded and disconnected in the face of a deteriorating security situation in his country.

    True, the situation in the country presents a grim portrait of cynicism and hopelessness. And nothing accentuates this despondent state more than the scandalous episode of March 15, 2014; the incident involving thousands of traumatised and unemployed youths locked in a deathly struggle for the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) jobs. The NIS had advertised vacancies for 4,550 entry level officer positions but in response, 6.5 million unemployed graduates applied for the jobs each paying the N1, 000 fee non-refundable fee for the application form.

    Apparently swooning from the financial implication of registering applicants that exceed the number of advertised positions, the NIS proceeded to conduct a 35-minute aptitude test for half a million shortlisted job seekers, outdoor, in large city venues across the country, all in one day.

    By the time the pandemonium was over, 25 applicants had been trampled to death and thousands more sustained grievous injuries. The nation watched in horror as the catastrophe evolved with many parents and guardians watching helplessly as their children and relatives were forced to engage in a humiliating scramble for survival. Besides losing their dignity as humans, all of the applicants also lost their non-refundable application fees.

    In their reaction to the incident, the Minister of Interior and officials of the NIS blamed the multitude for flouting stipulated test centre procedures.

    That singular incident emphasised the country’s unemployment quandary. However, to understand the miseries of the Nigerian youth, it helps to understand the social realities of the world in which they are maturing into adults. Nigeria has arguably one of the richest and largest natural resource deposits in the world. Government and the structure of government however, constitute a challenge to development. For instance, the total cost of servicing government and public officers has continued to exceed 70 per cent of annual budget in the last 12 years while just little is left to service capital project or human development.

    Even so, the Nigerian leadership confidently announced a new gross domestic product (GDP) of $510 billion on April 6, 2014, up from the GDP of $290 billion, and thus becoming the largest economy in Africa after overtaking South Africa’s GDP of $370 billion. Nigeria’s output has reportedly been experiencing a continual expansion of about 6.5 per cent yearly over the past decade with a current population of 165 million, compared to South Africa with 3 per cent average annual growth rate and a population of 51 million.

    The new GDP figure was obtained by changing the base year from 1990 to 2013 for calculating its output to reflect newly emerged sectors of the economy such as telecoms, information technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production. The figure instantly shrank Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio from 19 per cent for 2012 to 11 per cent for 2013.

    Income per head for Nigerian citizen as per 2011 index is $1,423, that is GDP $235.92 billion divided by 165 million population. That of Singapore is $63,740 income per head with GDP $318.7 billion and population 5 million; Chile $14,623 with GDP $248.59 billion and 17 million population; Brazil $12,653 income per head with 196 million population and GDP $2.48 trillion.

    However, news about the country’s rising economic prosperity gives little cause for excitement amongst the citizenry. Ngozi Philomena Okor, a retired school teacher, argued: “What use are the figures they are quoting when the citizenry can neither feel nor enjoy the dividends of such reality? I think our government has taken us for granted. That is why they try to deceive us with such spurious figures.”

    Recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) states that Nigeria is not one of the African countries recording remarkable improvement in its human development index. The agency in its 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) Report listed Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania among the African countries that made the greatest strides in HDI improvement since 2000. According to the report, Nigeria was ranked amongst countries with low development index at 153 out of 186 countries that were ranked.

    Life expectancy in Nigeria is placed at 52 years while other health indicators reveal that only 1.9 per cent of the nation’s budget is expended on health and 68.0 per cent of Nigerians are stated to be living below $1.25 daily. Adult illiteracy rate is 61.3 per cent yet the report contradicts the reported growth in the Nigerian economy, with the country recording a GDP growth rate of 6.99 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

    At the backdrop of this grim situation, the nation has to contend with persistent power outage. Of about 35,000 MW energy needed to light homes and power industry in the country, Nigeria generated less than 10 percent at 3,463MW up till March 20, 2014 when it dropped to the previous abysmal level of 2,500MW or seven per cent. The government however, blamed the situation on “a significant drop in gas supply and a number of fire accidents along the Benin-Sapele highway.”

    Despite this grim picture, the country’s economy has been described as robust and resilient.

    At the backdrop of this socio-economic situation, the Nigerian youth are witness to the

    Federal Government’s outrageous budget of a whooping N992.57 million on food and general catering services for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo in 2012.

    Out of the N4.749 trillion budget presented by Jonathan to lawmakers at the twilight of 2011, N18.34 billion was budgeted for the state house and from that, the cost of foodstuffs, catering supplies and kitchen equipment for the President, his deputy and their offices was estimated to cost the nation N992.57 million, approximately N1 billion.

    This infuriated the nation’s teeming youth and drove them to the streets in a protest march tagged the “Occupy Nigeria” movement. Although the protest which was meant to object President Goodluck Jonathan’s removal of fuel subsidy as well as perceived profligacy of his administration occurred with maximum turnout and pockets of skirmishes that led to death of few youths in the hands of the police across the country, the situation, contrary to widespread apprehension, didn’t degenerate further than that. The “Occupy Nigeria” protest is over, but the youth have discovered more effective means of venting their frustrations: they simply pick up a gun and explosive device.

     

    Problems the N275 million PR money could have solved

    Instead of spending such money on what Ruqqayah Amona, an economist and grassroots microfinance bank administrator identify as “window dressing,” President Jonathan should have invested such money in resolving some of the country’s infrastructural and economic woes argued Amona. And she might not be too far from the truth. This is because the situation in wastelands like Jagalwa presents an eyesore. For instance, the only school in the community, Jagalwa Primary School, comprises just two classrooms and there are no desks or chairs in the classes save three rubber mats spread in one of the classes for pupils to sit and write on. Headmaster of the school, Zakka Husseini, claims that the school has a population of 85 pupils although the pupils that could be sighted at the time of The Nation’s visit barely numbered 16. En route the school, Husseini was sighted chasing after pupils that were fleeing from school although he maintained that the number of pupils in school was scanty because majority of the pupils had gone to visit an ailing classmate. Husseini doubles as the schools headmaster, science and mathematics teacher and he claimed that three other teachers frequently visited to assist in teaching the students.

    An interesting feature of the school, however, is that even though there is no electricity in the area, the two classes making up Jagalwa Primary School are fitted with ceiling fans and the floors are covered with expensive terrazzo. The headmaster could not identify clearly the classes making up the school and despite his hearty efforts to make excuses for the glaring lack characteristic of the school, he could not do much to explain away the school’s abject neglect by the government.

    And at a time that the country requires N56 trillion, according to Gimba Ya’u Kumo, Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), to reverse the nation’s housing deficit of 18 million housing units, such money could have been invested in bolstering President Jonathan’s touted drive to provide affordable housing to the homeless and low income earners.

    Housing experts argue that for those in the low income bracket, it is possible to build a house on a lean budget of between N2.5 million and N3 million. Rasheed Amoo, an electrical/construction engineer and Managing Director of Hardalt Technical Ventures, Papalanto, Ogun State, advised that aspiring house owners with lean budgets should look beyond the major city areas to acquire land for their homes. According to him, with N3million, you can build a modest home for yourself and your family on the city outskirts.

    The inherent advantages in diverting such money to finance low cost housing schemes or building hostels for the homeless in such locations are inestimable, argued Amoo. According to the former Project Engineer of Dunlop Nigeria Plc, if Mr. President had invested such money in ameliorating the nation’s housing woes, it would go a long way in resolving the nation’s housing deficit and homelessness.

    Several other infrastructural lapses across the country including the preponderance of bad roads, chronic electricity outages and inadequate healthcare have been identified as major areas deserving urgent government attention. “I do not understand why Mr. President prefers to pay N275 million to an American PR agency to create a favourable image for him at home and abroad. Why would he do that? If he could devote such money to supporting the improvement of ailing sectors of the country, the citizens will be happy with him. We will think favourably of him and he would need no expatriate PR firm to launder his severely battered image. Good leadership begets good image at home and abroad…It’s as simple as that,” said Tope Olubode, a school teacher.

  • ‘OUR LIVES AS GHETTO DWELLERS’

    TWENTY-FIVE old John has spent almost his entire life in the area. Since his parents relocated to Idi-Araba, a large expanse of slum located close to the lagoon in Oworonshoki area of Lagos, about 23 years ago, John has known no other place he could call home. Interestingly, in spite of the hellish condition of his community, John insists “there is life in the ghetto”.

    For John, and indeed every resident of this community, originally called ‘Golugo’, Yoruba word for foolishness, with no access road, potable water, drainage, school, hospital or other manifestations of modernity, living is in many ways comparable to Thomas Hobbs’ state of nature where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short; the state where man struggled against animals and other elements in the bid to conquer his environment.

    However, this has not in any form taken anything away from the pride of the residents, who in spite of their poor living conditions hold aloft their dream of a better tomorrow. This is the case with John who works as an estate agent in Ikeja.

    To gain access to his home, you would have to trek about 100 metres on a creaking plank bridge and then waddle through some murky water from the lagoon. The house itself is one of the few block buildings in the area. The floor is bare, with the water oozing out from the lagoon.

    Like John’s house, the entire community can only be accessed through a road strewn with dirt. The road takes you to a long stretch of narrow plank bridge on which the residents walk into their homes. With no toilet facility available to them, the lagoon serves as the platform for the residents to empty their bowels.

    The community is exposed to serious danger in the rainy season when the lagoon overflows its bank, driving reptiles into the living rooms of residents. But if you expect John to get despondent each time he closes from work and heads home, you are in for a surprise.

    “I have no reason to be sad or discouraged,” he said. “This is my home, and I am happy to live here. After all, it is my father’s house and I am proud of it.

    “Of course, I know that there is a difference between what obtains here and the situation in Ikeja where I am currently doing a part-time job because of the ASUP strike. Yet I appreciate the life around here. My brother, there is life in the ghetto.”

    Asked if he was being visited at the slum by his girlfriend, John expressed surprise that the question was asked in the first place. “I have a girlfriend and she comes here to see me. Like I told you, there is life in the ghetto and those of us who live here enjoy it. I am not the kind of guy that would be ashamed to bring his girlfriend here. I bring both my male and female friends to the community. I can never deny the area or speak ill of it.

    “When God blesses me, I will demolish the building and rebuild it for my father. If we abandon the community, who would come and develop it for us? It is a challenge that nature has dropped on our laps and we will face it headlong.”

    John is proud to be called a ghetto man, but not so for Akin. He (Akin) would go to any length to hide his identity as a slum dweller. Once he gets out of the community, he drops the garb of ghetto life and pose as a highly sophisticated and urbane man. For him, it is a taboo to bring a girlfriend to the community.

    Akin said: “I don’t bring my friends here, particularly the female ones. It is not possible for me to do that because most of them assume that I live in a high brow area. If you see me away from this community, you would never believe that I came out of this dilapidated wooden house, because I always dress very well.

    “If you were in my shoes, would you bring your babe here? No babe would ever want to have anything to do with you anymore if you bring her here. In fact, most babes in the area prefer to date people outside the community because they don’t want to remain in this condition longer than they have done.

    “If you are in this community whenever it rains, you would appreciate what we are talking about. The entire community is usually flooded. At times, parts of the wooden houses are blown away by storm. You could see that some residents are spreading their valuables outside for the sun to dry them.

    “The situation is worse if you are outside the community when it rains. This is because you will hardly be able to get into your house. Mosquitoes and other insects will deal with you mercilessly. The net can only protect you when you are sleeping. If you are not sleeping, would you be wearing the net everywhere? I think the mosquitoes have even become our friends and hardly do us any harm.”

    Another resident, Remi Adetayo, is also unhappy that she lives in the area. Claiming that she had spent 15 years in the area, she lamented the living condition of the people, blaming it more on the government, from whom she said the community had not received any form of attention over the years.

    She said: “I have lived here for 15 years. It has been challenging because the community has never received any form of attention from successive governments. The heap of refuse you are seeing all around the community is not our handiwork. It is not that we are dirty people who enjoy living in the midst of refuse. We are not. The community has been a marshy area from time. It gets worse whenever it rains.

    “To make sure we have something to step on when we are going out, we buy refuse from refuse collectors and fill our roads with it. We pay between N50 and N100 for a lorry load of refuse. We buy as many lorry loads as are needed to fill the area we need to cover. Kindhearted refuse collectors sometimes dash us the refuse they would ordinarily dump at refuse sites.

    “We also acquire rain boots for our children to enable them move around whenever there is heavy downpour. This also helps to prevent them from infections that may arise from walking barefoot in murky waters.

    “We have no basic amenities here. We go outside the community to get water for everything we do in the house. This is challenging because it requires so much time and energy to do this on a daily basis. Besides, we also spend a lot of money doing this every day. I am not a tenant. The house I live in is our family house.”

    Mosquitoes might be the worst enemies of the residents of this Lagos community, but the dirty water from the lagoon is also a veritable source of seasonal threat. In their battle for survival, the residents have devised ways of beating the water surge by raising the base of their structures very high in order to beat the water surge.

    But it is not that easy to escape mosquito bites, which have landed many of them in hospitals located several kilometres away. Despite the free treated mosquito nets distributed to them by the Lagos State Government, the residents, whose homes are made mostly of planks and rusty corrugated iron sheets and overgrown with weeds, are veritable breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Hence most of the residents regularly fall victim to malaria.

    “It is impossible not to have mosquitoes in an area like this. Malaria would have been killing us on a daily basis if not for the treated mosquito nets distributed by the Lagos State Government,” Remi said.

    While a first time visitor to the community would cringe at the sight of huge refuse and its nauseating odour, which gets worse whenever it rains, the residents struggle to buy truck-loads of it from refuse collectors and pour same on the paths that lead to their homes.

    “The refuse that litters the community may appear horrible to an outsider,” reasoned a resident who identified herself simply as Bose, “but it serves a good purpose here. We use it to fill the roads because we don’t have the resources to buy sophisticated materials to do that. They have been helpful all along.

    “We are used to the conditions in which we have found ourselves in the community. It is a natural habitat that many people would like to live in. Contrary to fears by people that cooking and eating in a place like this may lead to outbreak of sicknesses, I can confidently tell you that we have never had any such experience in the area.”

    Some of the wooden houses are occupied by their owners. The rent for the ones occupied by tenants ranges between N700 and N1000 every month. The rent for brick houses is between N2,500 and N3, 000.

    Taye Omonuberu lives with his grandmother. A graduate of the Yaba College of Technology, Taiwo, whose wife lives outside the community, has not been able to get a job since he left school. Left with no other choice, Taiwo said he was compelled to live in the squalor.

    He said: “I have been living here for the past 20 years. The community is another world entirely. It lacks all the basic things that one requires to live a happy life. As a young man, I am not comfortable living in the area. My wife could not even stay here with me because of the deplorable state of the community.

    “We live in Lagos, but we are worse off than most rural dwellers. We vote during elections and pay all the necessary dues and levies, yet we are regrettably not considered to enjoy the dividends of democracy. This is a ghetto to the core.”

    Issac, who said he had lived in the community for more than 20 years, does not see anything wrong with living in the area.

    He said: “I have been living here for the past 20 years. It has not been easy, but we thank God for helping us to weather the storm till this day.

    “The challenges we have in the community are multifaceted and they happen all the year round. It is, however worse during the rainy season. Whenever it rains heavily, the flood covers the planks that make movement possible in the area. This poses serious danger because one would not know where to put his feet in such an unpleasant situation.”

    Fortunately, the residents said they were yet to record any death resulting from a resident falling off the narrow wooden paths into the lagoon.

    Isaac said: “We have had situations where people fell off the plank into the water. But we have not recorded any case of death arising from such accidents. The saving grace is that many people in the community know how to swim very well. When they find themselves in such conditions, they always employ their swimming skills to get out of danger.”

    In spite their seemingly hopeless condition, residents of Idi-Araba have not lost the will to enjoy life. In the midst of the suffering, some of the shanties have satellite dishes hoisted on their roofs. These give their neighbours a sense of modernity as they gather round television sets to watch news from across the world on CNN, BBC and other satellite channels.

    Like most communities elsewhere, residents of Idi-Araba have devised ways to ensure their safety and ensure that the community is made unsafe for criminals who may be looking for safe havens.

    The head of the community, Chief Olorunwa Luwa, said his people had done well with the security problems by establishing a cordial relationship with the police. He, however, lamented the lack of basic amenities in his community, calling on the government to come to the aid of his people.

    “We are aware that the state government is doing very well, but we are yet to get their attention in our community. When you look around, you will see that we have little or no touch of government activities. The few developments we have here are through communal efforts.

    “We lack so many things in the community and would appreciate if the government could come to our rescue. We would appreciate if they help us with water supply, a health centre and a public school. We have none of these and it is having an adverse effect on our people.

    “If we have a health centre, our people will have quick access to medical attention and this would reduce the stress they go through travelling to distant places when there are emergencies.”

    Chief (Dr.) Aborewa John is the chief priest of the community. Together with other elders, he sees to the security and spiritual needs of his people.

    “Our community is a unique one in every sense of it. It is totally different from other ghettos you would find anywhere in the state. Unlike other communities where crime is prevalent, our community is totally free from criminal activities. We have put in place tight security measures which have made it impossible for criminals to operate in the area.

    “We have security men in every part of the community. They secure the entire area and make sure that nobody moves around after 9 pm. If anybody is found moving about, especially in a suspicious manner, they would apprehend the person and hand him over to the police.

    “We have a good working relationship with the police. It would also interest you to know that the community does not harbor people who would appear innocent at home, but go out to commit crime. We always keep eagle eyes on every member of the community to make sure that nobody tarnishes our image.

    “We may not have basic amenities but we have integrity. We also don’t condone promiscuity. It is totally against our principles in this area. If we find anybody engaging in promiscuous activities, we would quickly hand such a person over to the police.”

    Speaking on the state of slum communities in the state, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibiriogba, said the Lagos State Government woud not leave out any area across the state in its transformation agenda.

    Ibiriogba, who was responding to the condition of living in slum communities in the state, told The Nation that the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration is committed to bring development to every part of the state, including Idi-Araba community in Oworonshoki.

    He explained that the government had consistently warned residents about the need to always maintain a clean environment in other to avoid the outbreak of epidemic in their area.

    Ibirogba also explained other efforts of the government to ensure that residents in the state enjoy good health, which he said include the distribution of free treated mosquito net and free medical service. According to him, the state government’s free health service also includes the provision of free healthcare services to the people in all the local government areas across the state.

    “Well, let me first of all say that we have not forgotten about the slum in Oworonshoki. We are committed to bring development to every part of Lagos State. And that is why our impact is being felt in Badagry, Shomolu, Epe, Iyana Ipaja and every other parts of the state, where we are carrying out one project or the other.

    “You will agree with me that there is the possibility of an outbreak of an epidemic in any community where the condition of living is not hygienic. That is why we have upped our game as far as health for all is concerned. To solve this, we have established primary health centres in the local government areas so that people with minor ailment can easily go there for treatment.”

  • Gang-rape: Twist in Helen’s pursuit of justice

    Gang-rape: Twist in Helen’s pursuit of justice

    She came seeking justice after she was gang-raped and infected with HIV. But just when a ray of hope seemed to be appearing on the horizon, concerned observers have reasons to worry that Helen may not get justice in spite of existing legislations against the horror she was subjected to. Senior Correspondent, EVELYN OSAGIE, writes on the developing story of the 19-year-old rape victim published by The Nation two Saturdays ago.

    Nineteen-year-old Helen, who was gang-raped in Bariga, Lagos State, and infested with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), is seeking justice. But the road to justice appears to be long and tortuous as investigation reveals fresh facts and controversies. Helen’s battle for justice began penultimate Saturday when her story was first published by The Nation.

    Her heart-rending story drew responses from all quarters, following which two of the suspects allegedly involved in robbing and raping Helen at gunpoint were arrested. But medical examinations were said to have revealed that the two suspects arrested are HIV negative, forcing concerned observers to wonder what becomes of Helen and her quest for justice.

    Helen’s plight has not only caught the attention of millions of  Nigerians, it has also elicited the interest and support of many activist groups, including the Women Arise for Change Initiative (WA). By 4 pm of the day the news broke, all was set for a ‘makeshift’ roundtable at WA office in Lagos. It was led by its President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, and a network of journalists who are passionate about women and children.

    At the forum, Okei-Odumakin saluted the courage of Helen in breaking the silence, saying it takes courage to open up on such attack. She said it was unfortunate that a 19-year-old lady had been added to the list of rape victims.

    Okei-Odumakin said: “After reading through Helen’s story in The Nation where Helen called for justice, WA decided to come into the issue to ensure that justice is served. It was Helen yesterday, it could be anybody tomorrow. We must not fold our hands and continue to agonise, but organise and unite to ensure that such culprits are brought to book, no matter how highly placed they are. This is the time for Helen to be strong; all hope is not lost.”

    After some consultations, it was decided that making an official report to the police should be the first step in the road to justice. By 6 pm, the group was at the Bariga Police Division to make a case for Helen.

    At the station, Helen recounted her ordeal, revealing that on Tuesday, January 28, she was taken from Ago-Owu Street to an open and sandy corner at Adewale Adenaya Crescent, where she was raped by five men. Asked if she knew the culprits, she mentioned Slim Sun (an alias) and his brother (names withheld) as two of the five. The suspects lived opposite Helen on the same street.

    According to Helen, whom the incident has turned into a detective of some sorts, although it was early in the day, she saw their faces because aside Adewale Adenaya Crescent which was dark, the lights were on.

    Helen said: “I saw their faces when they robbed me. Later that day, as they were sitting in front of their house, I spotted them and knew they were the ones. When I moved close to them as if I wanted to buy something close by, I saw my phone, which had a particular mark, with them. I told my sister and phoned my senior colleagues in the office, but I was told not to accost them, because they might hurt me.

    “When I asked about them from the people in the area, I found that many people knew about their illegal activities. Two days after I was raped, while I was going to work in a neighbour’s car, who is a tenant in the suspects’ father’s house, we met another girl who had just been raped close to where I was raped. The tenant confirmed that the boys were suspected criminals.”

    Listening to Helen’s story, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Edmund Afraimu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said based on the space of time between when the incident happened and when it was being reported to the police, it would be difficult to establish a case of rape.

    He said: “When one is raped, you are to report to the police immediately. Keeping the evidence is another important thing to note. The moment one is raped, the victim should not clean up or change clothes, however messy, but rush to the hospital for proper examination. That would help in pinning down the perpetrators. As it is now, it may be hard to make a case on rape. She was raped in January and she is reporting in June. How can we prove that case?

    “Since she said they took her phone and money at gunpoint, that is a case of armed robbery. We will begin investigation immediately.”

    And so began investigation into the case. While praising the efforts of the police and the DPO’s response, Okei-Odumakin said the gruesome act had been on the increase in recent times, particularly in the area. She noted that culprits have been feeding on the ignorance and fear of the victims, observing that collective efforts, enlightenment and a more pragmatic legal framework are required to check the trend.

    She said: “Our law stipulates that anyone caught goes in for seven years- imprisonment, and it is heart-warming when the House of Representatives passed their own law that anyone caught in the act is liable to life imprisonment.

    “However, we have lots of laws in this country but the implementation has been a major impediment; and victims are ignorant about what to do to get justice. More needs to be done to educate the public on what to do.”

    WA penultimate Thursday wrote a petition, signed by Okei-Odumakin, to the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender (OPD), calling for legal intervention on behalf of Helen; OPD has since stepped into the case as Helen’s attorney.

    Slim Sun, 22, and his brother are already in police custody. However, they have denied the allegations, saying they have never being involved in any criminal activity. While Slim Sun claimed to be a computer engineer with a computer firm in Ikeja, his younger brother says he is a hairstylist at Ogba, Lagos.

    Slim Sun said: “I am not a rapist. When they came to our house and told me about it, I was surprised. I was sleeping then and cooperated. And I have never robbed anybody. I didn’t do anything.

    “Let’s assume it happened, would I still be staying in the house, knowing that she could identify me? I have never held a gun in my hand. I have never been arrested before for robbery. I am married and have just lost my son.”

    His brother claimed he was not even around when the incident occurred, saying: “You can go and ask my boss. On the said day, I was not in the area but at work. I am innocent.”

    The suspects’ parents (names withheld) said they were aware of Helen’s rape, but that their children were innocent of the crime.

    Their mother said: “I sympathise with her as a woman. I know how it may feel to face such, but my children are not the ones that raped or robbed her. They have never been involved in crime. Everybody knows Fatai. You can come to our area to investigate.”

    On Friday last week, an HIV test run on both suspects proved negative, while that of Helen remained positive. The Police asked Helen to undergo more tests to ascertain that she was raped.

    But based on the DPO’s earlier observation, observers wondered what the result would be like, given the space of time it occurred. Nevertheless, Helen has produced a report from the hospital where she went for medical checkup the day she was raped. It is the hospital her office uses.

    The report, signed by Dr. T.O. Jegede, reads: “Rape examination result: The above named patient was attended to by our facility on January 28, 2014 on account of rape. On examination, patient was depressed, with bruises on the lower/posterior vaginal clitoris and labrium majora. RVS test was done, which was positive.”

    In the meantime, the case has been transferred from Bariga to the State Criminal Investigation Department. But observers are worried over Helen’s dilemma, wondering if she still has a case now that two of the suspects have tested negative to HIV. Helen claims to have done her last HIV test two months before the incident took place and it proved negative.

    But Helen is being attacked by the defendants’ parents, who said that anything could have happened between then and the time she tested positive. Lawyers, however, say she still has a case and the suspects have a case to answer on rape and armed robbery.

    An activist Mrs. Akpoterabor, asked what would become of Helen’s cry for justice in the face of this dilemma, saying it is a representation of the plight and predicament of rape victims across the country.

    She said: “If Helen and another lady were raped the same day and another was raped two days after, one cannot but imagine how many ladies and girls have become victims of rape in that area. And every time you go there, you’d hear of fresh rape cases. When will it end?

    “If the culprits are HIV positive and are spreading the virus with full force, imagine how many young ladies have been infected. Helen was bold to speak out, but many more are still dying in silence.

    “I advise them to break the silence, get tested and treated. The government should really investigate the issue to prevent an epidemic. The police should stop these miscreants before it gets out of hand; that is, if it is not already out of hand.”

  • 19-yr-old, who tested HIV-positive after she was gang-raped, seeks justice

    19-yr-old, who tested HIV-positive after she was gang-raped, seeks justice

    Like any lady of her age, Helen, 19, dreamt of a bright future. That dream brought her from her hometown in Benue State, to Bariga, Lagos State, where she stayed with her sister. But in her quest for a better life, her dream was shattered last January when she was gang-raped. The incident dramatically altered her life. Helen, who is now living with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), is seeking justice against those who violated her. She tells her story to Senior Correspondent, EVELYN OSAGIE.

    HELEN (surname withheld) will be 20 years on October 10. But she now bears a burden that is too heavy for her age. She was gang-raped in January this year and was diagnosed with HIV last month. Due to the heart-rending experience and the medical diagnosis that followed, the once cheerful and vivacious Helen now wears a long face as she carries with her the psychological burden of the experience. After secondary school in 2008, Helen wanted to further her education, but being the fifth of 11 children comes with its own challenge. “Na the condition of no money, na im prevent me from going further,” said Helen when asked why she had not bothered to continue her education. Despite her background, Helen was unperturbed. Determined that she would return to school some day, she began working as a cleaner in a big firm at Lekki, Lagos, from where she hoped to save for school. She had worked there for almost a year before the tragic episode that altered her life dramatically took place. It was with a deep emotion that she recounted her ordeal. All was quiet and the street lonely early that Tuesday morning when the unsuspecting lady set out from her Bariga home to resume her morning shift at work. It was at exactly 5:05am, the same time she often left home everyday to board a bus some streets away to Lagos Island. But that morning, something was not right. She noticed five young men lurking about as she got out of her street’s gate. On seeing their fearsome appearance, her heart skipped a beat. Consumed by fear, her first instinct was to turn and run back into the street, but it was too late. She had been spotted. “They blocked and grabbed me. They pointed a gun at me and told me to be quiet and do everything they said I should do, or else they would harm me,” Helen said before she was overcome by emotion. After a short silence that seemed ages, she added: “I tried to shout but when I looked around and did not see anybody except those guys, I was so afraid and did as they said… They, then, carried me to one corner by the side of the street… (She bowed her head). They asked me to lie down.” Helen went silent again with head still bowed, to hold back tears. She said: “I begged them to release me, that I was on my way to work and that I didn’t have anything to offer them. They told me to shut up, saying they would waste me, if I didn’t like my life. I begged them to spare my life.” Her plea touched a member of the gang; he said she should be freed. But his statement fell on deaf ears, for Helen’s other attackers were determined to carry out their task to the letter. Fighting back tears, she said: “The others said he could leave if he wanted to; they then collected my handbag, my purse and the N5,000 inside with my two phones – one was in my hand. I used its torchlight; the other was in my Jeans pocket. They removed the phone, pulled off my trousers and started violating me (Silence)…They asked me to pull off my clothes. I begged them.” Her face became contorted as the agony of the incident swelled her being. Helen became silent again. One could see she was fighting to hide several conflicting emotions as she recounted. “But was there no way you could have shouted for help?” the reporter asked in an attempt to douse the tension. “There was no way I could have shouted because there were five of them against only me… I was so scared. So, I just kept begging them to release me.” As her attackers were beginning to enjoy their violent act, they spotted another young man and lady walking towards them. Helen’s attackers also pounced on the couple, robbing them of their valuables at gunpoint. Two of them also raped the second lady. By that time, Helen’s eyes were already swollen, from her trauma and obvious helplessness in the hands of the crooks. The two men raped the girl while the other three continued raping me,” she said in a subdued voice. On how she felt when her violators had their turns, Helen, in tears, said: “I swallowed my scream, felt very bad and closed my eyes as each of them…(Silence). For my mind e be like say make I get knife take kill them, because it was a very painful thing to experience. Before they started, I had asked if they had condoms but they said ‘No’. ‘’After they finished, all I could think of was running to the hospital and getting some drugs or treatment that could wash everything away from my whole being: my physical body, heart, soul and all. (Again, she lapsed into another silence). I felt very bad and, somehow, dirty.” After the incident She ran back home to her sister. Both ladies cried in silence; they felt ashamed to share with neighbours what had happened. As if that was not enough, while nursing the psychological trauma of the assault she got, another shocker happened to her on the same day. Helen discovered that her violators were her neighbours. “I recognised them: two of them live opposite my house. Before that time, I did not notice them. I see them every day and cringe; I’m always in fear each time I see them,” she said. Three months after Besides the traumatic rape, Helen has fallen into a worrisome medical condition. Last month, she was diagnosed with HIV at the General Hospital where she was rushed to after she was raped. Before then, Helen said she had been “negative”, adding that she knew through a test she did some time back. “When I went there when it first happened, they asked me some questions, gave me some drugs and told me to come back after three months for more tests. The three-month period lapsed last month. The hospital did the followup test and found that I have become HIV-’positive’. ‘’I felt bad, very bad; and I cried. In fact, the doctor tried to calm my mind; but I kept on crying that ‘I’m finished’. I wanted to take my life because I never expected this to happen to me. They told me life still goes on and that I can still live my life to the fullest. They say people with HIV are can be healthier than those who are negative with the help of drugs. Before I left the hospital, I cried and begged them to help me because I did not plan to live on drugs for rest of my life,” she said. With tears dripping freely and looking straight at the reporter as if to find answers on her face, she continued: “What kind of life can one live now? I feel so bad; I feel so weak and I am asking myself: what did I do wrong in this life to deserve this? What will happen to my dream of going to school? I have not been able to save for school, and I now am treating HIV.” The news of her status has added more sadness to her family who were still recovering from the shock of her violation. “When my parents heard the news, they were very sad and they all cried,” Helen said amid tears. The 20-year-old has since turned an advocate, seeking justice against her attackers. After living in fear for months, the dread of the rapists forced her and her sister to relocate last weekend. The move has emboldened to seek for justice, feeling she is beyond their reach. “I want justice. I need help. I want those men to go to jail for what they did to me and perhaps many other ladies in the area. These people cannot be allowed to go free. Everybody knows them as thieves in the area; they do not go to work or school but just hang around all day doing nothing. Still nobody has done anything about it. It is almost as if they are using charms. Their father is a very aggressive landlord. I see them always and I’m always in fear; that’s why we packed out of the house last weekend. You won’t believe that till we packed, my attackers are still using my phone,” she said. Helen’s sister, Stella, who was also in her 20s, said the whole incident has left the family heart-broken. Stella, who learnt a comforting hand to her sister, said: “We felt so weak and very unhappy, but there is nothing else we can do but to support her and pray that those crooks would be made to pay and suffer for what they did to my sister.”

  • President’s primary school in a state of disrepair

    President’s primary school in a state of disrepair

    Many pupils sit on bare floor

    Walk 280-metre distance to answer call of nature

    Flood disaster affected the school —SUBEB scribe

    THE sun shone with a certain kind of venom that morning. Not minding the heat, pupils of State School, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, ran playfully around the premises, screaming and laughing away.

    The second-term examinations were about starting; and after the revision process, it was time for the long-awaited break. And they made good use of it. As the schoolchildren played on, they were perhaps temporarily removed from their present reality – learning under unpleasant conditions and having to trek a long distance before using a lavatory.

    The scenery was a mixed grill. Shirts flew in rhythmic succession with the wind as some boys were seen playing with their makeshift ‘balls’ in a small group, while others, along with girls, sampled other games. Like in the case of the president, some had no shoes on; others wore rubber slippers or ‘shoes now turned slippers’. There was tattered-looking clothing as there were those who wore neat ones with shoes and/or stockings neatly folded. Despite the mix, they were united by play.

    The history

    As they amused themselves, they were oblivious of the great history behind their school, having produced men and women of repute, among whom are President Goodluck Jonathan and a former member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, now monarch of Imiringi, HRH Augustus Elliot Osomu. Along with other illustrious sons and daughters of Otuoke, these bigwigs once shared their playground; even though at that time the school had a different name, was in a different location and was from Primary One to Three. After completing Primary Three in the school, the President then moved to St. Michael’s Primary School, Oloibiri, to continue his Primary education.

    “The school was founded in 1937 by missionaries and was known as St. Stephen’s Primary School then,” said an alumnus and teacher of the school, Mr Obele Isaiah, 34. “At that time it was inside the community, beside the Anglican Church where the Town Hall now stands. Although there are conflicting dates about when it was moved to its present place (I think it was around the late 80s), but while I was a student, the name was changed to All State School under Governor Rufus Ada-George and later to State School. And now it has been divided into State School One and State School Two to manage the number of pupils we have.”

    Obele said the quality of education offered to pupils and dedication of teachers all through the years have been the bedrock behind the quality of persons the school has produced, adding that they were made to compete with secondary school pupils. Hearing Obele talk passionately about the school and seeing the pupils’ hearty and carefree disposition, one is forced to appreciate the wealth of humble beginnings.

    The values

    The L-shaped and M-shaped buildings (split in the middle by an independent building housing the library) located at the far end of the large compound houses the two schools. The school is next-door neighbour to President Jonathan’s Country Villa, containing three magnificent edifices, with Otuaba road separating both structures. And on the Main Road , it is directly opposite the Anglican Church on the Yenagoa/Otuoke Road . And not far away from it is the Federal University Otuoke, (FUO).

    This reporter met with only the Headmaster of State School One, Mr Inema Sylvester Damini, because at the time of her visit, his contemporary was not on seat. Damini said the core values of dedication and academic excellence establishing the school can be linked to the quality of its products. “I was told that apart from President Jonathan, this school has produced other highly-placed men and women from within and outside the town, like my teacher, Mr Obele, who has completed his HND and hopes to further his education but has come back to educate the young. It was possible because of the unity that had existed between community and the school authorities. At its establishment, it was said that the community tasked themselves to build the school. Also, pupils were dedicated to their studies; and parents monitored their educational development. And although teachers were not as many as they are today, they were very dedicated and serious,” he said.

    Damini said he and his team are determined to ensure that the school’s standard does not dwindle. The school has a library that gives pupils access to books, which, he said, is meant to improve on their reading culture. There is an ultra-modern computer pool with about 60 computers donated in 2010 by ETF but has remained moribund due to logistics problem, it was learnt.

    The decay

    Given its choice location and historical background, it is, however, unfortunate that the school is in a state of disrepair. The bright coloured-yellow-and-green paint coating on the wall of what appears as new buildings, with most windows facing the Main Road intact, are deceptive of the decay that lies within.

    The Nation gathered that the pupils, particularly those in State School One, are currently learning under very harsh conditions and unpleasant environment. Aside Primary Six that has all its doors and windows intact, other classes lack doors with some windows that have fallen off at the back, thus, giving free entry to sunlight and rain. The pupils often suffer the harsh rays penetrating into their room and are drenched, especially when it rains heavily; leading to concurrent feverish conditions.

    No chairs

    In some classes, blackboards are held up by wooden or plastic chairs or tables; the floor and ceiling boards have cracks in them; and there are not enough benches and chairs to go round. For instance, in a class of 60 pupils, the benches and chairs might not be more than 10. As a result, the pupils are forced to receive lectures sitting on dusty bare floors. Pupils were seen struggling for the little available seats. Most of their clothes were worn-out, perhaps due to the wear and tear of the constant washing that comes with sitting on a bare floor.

    “The classrooms are too small for the number of children we have. A single class now has more than 50 pupils; and more are coming every day. In some cases, two classes are merged into one to contain the pupils. The ceiling board and floors are bad. And we do not have enough chairs and tables. You’d find five, six to seven pupils forcing themselves to sit on only one seat. Only recently Christ Embassy donated 50 plastic chairs and tables for only Primary Six and after closing, we’d pack for security reasons.

    “With the school not properly fenced, security has been a major setback on the development of the school, especially hampering the use of the computer pool. People use here as a walkway because there are no gates and the fence has fallen off. And this is why thieves can have easy access in spite of our security guards. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, next term, we would start teaching computer because we now have better security guards with sufficient padlocks. And the computers that were stolen have been replaced by the guards,” Damini recounted their plight.

    The nursery classes have a unique arrangement, it was discovered. The benches and chairs in the large classroom shared by Nursery One, Two and Three had not more than six chairs in all. A nursery class which should not be more than 20 by education standard had about 55 pupils in Nursery One and 60 in Nursery Two and Three, which, Damini said, are combined for lack of space. Most of them sat playing on the ground; others loitered about within the room, while their teachers sat separately, each on a bench and chair, as the pupils stepped forward in turns to answer their questions.

    On one of the visits to the nursery, a drama ensued. A little girl stood crying profusely as she stared out of the window with her eyes following the reporter into the class. Confused and not understanding what was wrong, the reporter waved her “sorry” from a distance. Not satisfied, the girl cried some more. The class teachers, obviously having their hands full of conducting exams for a large class, were oblivious of her plight. Moved by the sadness in her eyes, the reporter scanned the room for something to pacify the little one. Unfortunately, there were no teaching/learning aids, no baskets or shelves full of toys, no plaything, no Barney or Dora with which to pacify her.

    Feeling frustrated, she then moved closer, reached out, stroked her head and said: “Sorry little one, sorry”. Responding almost immediately, the girl smiled, turned and played with her mates as if nothing had happened. Surprised, this reporter smiled, stared at the hollow in the middle of the ceiling and missing windows; shook her head and walked back to the Headmaster’s office.

    Toilet palaver

    The headmaster lamented further that the school lacks pipe-borne water and the lavatory is another major challenge the school is faced with. At present, there are no restrooms for both staff and pupils. The two buildings meant for toilets have been long abandoned because they were not properly finished. Pupils are left with no option than to use the wooden community toilets faraway on the creeks that would take about 10 minute-walk or more, which may also take longer for a child, to reach. The teachers complained about its unhygienic nature and the constant danger their wards are faced with. “It is not hygienic or safe for us but what can we do? Imagine these kids leaving the school and trekking to that place the community toilet is by the bridge when they are pressed! With all these tippers and ‘crazy’ drivers coming and going on the express, we are always afraid for the children. Even we, the teachers, have no choice but to go there when we are pressed,” Obele said.

    On a visit to the place, it was discovered that one would have to walk quite some distance that Google Map estimated to be about 280 metres before one can get relief. If a standard football pitch is about 100metres long, it means one would have to walk the distance of about two football pitches before he/she can get relief. One would need to walk past the president’s villa down the bridge, into the construction site of the villa to reach the two separate wooden buildings serving as toilets, which are separated into male and female.

    The male toilet was recently refurbished by the construction firm working on site, it was learnt.

    Covered with thick grasses, which may not be free from snakes and dangerous reptiles, and a fallen cement pole that may be difficult for a child to climb, is the female toilet that is another walking distance away from the male’s. On entering, one cannot but wonder how the children have been coping with this unhygienic arrangement.

    After jumping over the pole, one would then have to take her pick from any of the eight wooden doors with square openings staring directly into the water where one is expected to stoop to relieve oneself. The place smelt of stench, buzzed with flies, the rays of the sun penetrated the wall from all corners and the size of the hole can swallow up a child. It is a miracle that it has not swallowed up any before now.

    The lamentation

    While lamenting the sorry state of the school, Damini called on the government to look into their plight. “How long can we continue like this? The government should come to our aid. This school is supposed to be upstairs with the upper side holding the senior primary and the downside the junior primary. I have written letters to the Ministry of Education to supply chairs, I have not got any reply. I’ve been to Okolobiri; and written letters there, I have not gotten reply.”

    The response

    However, in an interview with The Nation, the Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Executive Secretary, Mr Walton Liverpool, commenting on the state of the school and what the government is doing about it, said: “Otuoke has the best schools in the state as the school in the President’s town. I am sure you visited the old school we have abandoned. ”

    “The school I visited is the State School in Otuoke close to the President’s house, which he said to be one he attended. Are you aware the school lacks chairs and toilet and many of the children sit on the floor to receive their lessons?” our reporter posed to him.

    He then replied: “The problem of chairs is a general one because of the flood disaster that happened. The school is not the only one with the problem. But we are working towards resolving the problem; as it is, it would cost so much to provide chairs for all the schools in the state. The toilet was also affected by the flood. It is not the only school affected by the flood. As I have said, we are working on them.”

    When our correspondent met the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Education, Salo Adikumo, on Wednesday evening for his response, he said he was going for exco meeting and asked the correspondent to call him later.

    But, repeated calls to his line the following day went unheaded. Neither did he respond to the text message sent to his line.

  • DOUBLE TRAGEDY 40-yr-old woman dies after husband was allegedly shot dead by police

    DOUBLE TRAGEDY 40-yr-old woman dies after husband was allegedly shot dead by police

    TRAGEDY shattered a jolly evening when blood mixed with a feast on Lagos Island on Saturday, March 29, 2014. The feast was to celebrate the arrival of a baby by a couple living at No 168, Adeniji Adele Street. The guests who turned out in pink ankara had wished for an encore as they danced to melodious music wafting from the giant speakers placed on the premises of a public vocational and skills acquisition centre where the event was held. But the joyous mood soon paved the way for a pall of grief when some policemen from Area ‘A’ Lion Building allegedly fired indiscriminate shots into the crowd. The hot bullets allegedly hit one Rasheed Olundegun, an employee of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and he died on the spot. The policemen, according to sources who asked not be named, had visited the venue of the ceremony and were said to have been handed food and some amount of money by the celebrant called Lanre. They allegedly left, but returned a few minutes later accusing some men of smoking Indian hemp. Attempts to persuade them to leave one of the men wrongly arrested failed as they started shooting sporadically to scare away people. The shooting was said to have caused pandemonium as people scampered for safety. Olundegun, who by then had just returned from a hospital where his ailing wife was rushed, however, was caught by the bullets while trying to run for his life. He felled down in a pool of his blood and died immediately. His 45-year-old wife, Bolatito, did not survive the shock of the news of her husband’s death. She was said to have died at the hospital when told of her husband’s death. She was buried on April 1 and is survived by two children. An eyewitness, who asked not to be mentioned, said: “Olundegun was hungry when he returned from hospital where his wife was rushed. He wanted to send someone to buy food from a vendor when he was told that the food being prepared to entertain guests at the party was ready. He was just about going to take the food when the police officers started shooting and was felled by their bullets. “I was talking with someone at the party when the teargas canisters fired landed near my foot. The policemen later started shooting as if those at the party were criminals. The late Olundegun had not even eaten the food he was given when he was shot dead. His wife who was admitted to a hospital died from the shock of her husband’s death when she received the news. A community leader, who spoke in confidence, explained that another resident was shot in the arm during the incident, while the policemen fled leaving the lifeless body of Olundegun on the spot. A neighbour, who was identified as Saheed Dosunmu, also had his left arm shattered by bullets during the incident. A resident, Gbade Lawal, said:“One Saheed Dosunmu, who was seated quietly was also shot and he is battling excruciating pain on his arms. The anti-robbery team led by one Inspector Asubiaro hurriedly left the scene as soon as the implication of their action dawned on them.” Peace further took a flight as aggrieved residents protested the gruesome killing of Olundegun. It was at that stage that a patrol team of policemen from the Adeniji Adele Division was attacked by a mob. Their vehicle was set ablaze while the men called for reinforcement to contain the fearless protesters. “Angry residents took to the streets to protest the killing and ambushed men of the Adeniji Adele Police Division who were patrolling the area. They burnt their patrol van and the confrontation lasted many hours,” Lawal said. “In order to cover up their misguided action, the policemen went to town with stories that they were attacked by hoodlums and that Olundegun was killed during the incident. They arrested the celebrant and other innocent residents mostly of Igbo extraction. The truth is that Olundegun was shot dead by an officer called Ola, aka Up Chelsea, who is now walking free. Meanwhile, a community leader, Prince Mukaila Akinsemoyin, has written a petition to the office of the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, asking him to intervene in the matter. A copy of the petition obtained by our correspondent reads in part: “It will be extremely hard for police to lie their way out of this…on March 29, 2014 about 10 pm, at FSP Centre, along Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, there was a naming ceremony going on when a group of policemen from the Lion Building Area ‘A’ Command headquarters stormed the party on the excuses that they sighted someone smoking marijuana in the street. As a result of this, the celebrant, according to eyewitnesses, gave the police the sum of N5000, so that his party would not be disorganized. The policemen collected the money from the celebrant and left. “A few minutes later, the same patrol team came back to the party and started shooting sporadically into the crowd as a result of which one Rasheed OIundegun was shot dead instantly, while one Saheed Dosunmu was also hit by bullets on his left hand. When the news of the death of Olundegun filtered to the hearing of his wife who was on admission in a hospital, the woman died. ‘’This is not the first time this so-called antirobbery team from the Area ‘A’ Command has been carrying out their nefarious activities in the area…the entire patrol team involved should be arrested and investigated and brought to justice. This is about ending impunity. ” Attempts to get the response of Lagos police spokesperson, Ms Ngozi Braide, failed as her phone was switched off, while a message sent to her phone line by our correspondent was not replied at press time. When her deputy, Mr Damasus Ozoani, was contacted, he declined comments, saying: “As I speak, I am attending a training programme outside Lagos, hence I cannot speak on the matter.”

  • CHRIS OKOTIE: Life after Stephanie

    CHRIS OKOTIE: Life after Stephanie

    THEIR relationship was one that captured the imagination of many, with some observers equating their love story to that of the mythical Cinderella and her Prince Charming. Unfortunately, unlike the latter, the romantic liaison of the ‘glamour boy’ of Nigeria’s new generation preachers, Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church, Lagos, and his then heartthrob, Stephanie Henshaw, did not have the ‘happily ever after’ ending of most fairytales.

    Their four-year marriage crashed like a house built on sandy, shaky foundation with a cryptic statement by the charismatic pastor to his congregation on June 24, 2012, which did not throw any light on what led to the break-up of their high profile union.

    To Pastor Okotie, who had been married before to Tina, it might not have come abruptly as issues that led to the collapse of the marriage must have dragged between the couple for a while.

    Just like his separation from the first wife, Tina, many of the church members were numbed, devastated by the news. But more of the church followers clung to the pastor and to the church with great devotion. Pastor Okotie remained a special attraction to his members. Many wept for him on our visit to the church immediately after the second separation took place. They said they loved him, that they felt sorry for his unsuccessful marriages but vowed to continue with the church.

    Nearly two years after, a thick wall of speculation and mystery still surrounds their marital break-up. Pastor Okotie, who, according to reports, had promised in 2012 that he would reveal to the world in the new year what his wife did to him to make him end their marriage, has not fulfilled his promise.

    In the early days of the split, the pastor, from close observations at the pulpit, looked troubled as he sang and did his solo performances during church services. Most of the female members were there to cry along as he sometimes sang in tears with some encouraging him to sing and give more.

    Over a year into life as a bachelor once again, Pastor Okotie has bounced back to life. He is now more relaxed at the pulpit and outside. The pains may linger around once in a while but the pastor is at ease with himself. He has come out to boldly say that he is not interested in marriage again.

    His church media department has equally stated the same to the ears of whoever may doubt that declaration. But then, the number of beautiful ladies flocking to the church has increased. Some well-known members of the church, who initially left, have even returned from the self-imposed exile abroad to fellowship there once again.

    And if you don’t know it, Pastor Okotie has not compromised his standards. His glamour lifestyle continues. The classy perks around the church remain. While many speculate about his inner most privacy, the pastor went on a spending spree few weeks back when a church source is said to have confirmed that he spent a whooping N120 million for a Rolls Royce Coupe, 2014 Bespoke Edition and another N33 million for a Range Rover.

    Our attempt to get the pastor to talk did not succeed, but questions begging for answers include: Will the women folk truly allow this charming pastor to live a successful life of bachelorhood at just 55 plus? And is this pastor truly capable of withstanding all the wiles of all those beautiful ‘born again’ ladies in his church and outside it?

    Who is ‘perfect’ enough for Pastor Okotie? Who has all the love that can keep Pastor Okotie from bachelorhood? Whose head fits the cap of Pastor Okotie’s wealth and luxury lifestyle and at the same time fits his spiritual needs? Where is that possible Mrs. Okotie hiding? Will she ever appear? Will she ever let him maintain that declaration of ‘no more marriage’? Only time will tell.

     

    What church members say

    The Household of God’s Church, which Okotie leads as the main pastor, is one of the ‘new wave’ churches in the country that attracts some of the ‘happening crowd’ in town with celebrities like movie and music stars, beauty queens, top professionals, the elites and the nouveau riche among its members. The marital woes of their youthful, charismatic pastor have left many befuddled, with some wondering if there will be light at the end of the dark marital tunnel for him.

    Gloria Doyle, musician and member of the church, is of the view that the decision to stay single or married again is a personal choice of the pastor. “If we want to follow what the word of God says, it is a two-way thing,” she said. “If you can stay alone and control yourself, fine, especially since he has tasted marriage twice before now. As a minister of God, if he feels he can contain himself, it is better for him to stay single. But if he feels he cannot contain himself, like you know, searching and moving from one lady to the other, then he has to go and get married. That is what the bible says.

    “So, it depends on the side that he finds himself. If he believes that he has tried the first marriage and then the second marriage, which, to me, was very abnormal, in the sense that it was not supposed to crash since they had been friends for about 19 years. If they have been friends for 19 years, then why get married only to crash it within four years? I call it abnormal because they should have made a success out of it.”

    Shedding some light on the intense struggle among some of the female church members to capture the handsome church leader for themselves, she revealed: “Of course, before I left Lagos, I know how it was there; it was a competition of some sort. Every girl in the church wanted him! Many of them were turning to fair ladies over night because they thought he likes fair ladies. So, they were using all sorts of things to turn themselves to fair ladies to gain his attention.

    “Some were leaving because they were like, they couldn’t get his attention. Ladies were trying all sorts of things to make sure that they could probably be the one. I had a very good close friend there then who said it that she could do anything to become Mrs. Okotie (laughs). I used to laugh at them then. There is no woman that will not want to spend her life with someone like that. That is the simple truth.

    “My sincere advice to him is to settle down, know his passion, and know the kind of woman that can fit into his passion before he gets married again. One thing I know is that God created a man and a woman for companionship. Money cannot fill in that gap. Having people surround you cannot fill in that gap because somehow at some point, they will go. When you talk about friendship and marriage, you are talking about someone that can fill in every moment with you.

    “The book of Proverbs says charm, which is beauty, is deceitful and beauty itself is vain. A God-fearing woman would be greatly praised. That is the kind of woman he needs to get married to. As a man of God, we expect that he understands the bible more than we do. He should be able to understand the woman that would fit into his calling as a minister of God. After that, he should get married. But if he feels that he wants to stay as a bachelor, it is still obtainable.

    “One thing I know is that God created a man and a woman for companionship. Money cannot fill in that gap. Having people surround you cannot fill in that gap because somehow at some point, they will go. When you talk about friendship and marriage, you are talking about someone that can fill in every moment with you. Sincerely, Pastor Okotie may say he is contented, but he is not a happy man. When you see a happy man, you know he is a happy man. I don’t see Okotie as a happy man.”

    Another member, who simply gave her name as Mandy, however, debunks that, insisting that the Pastor is, indeed, a happy man. “You are asking if my pastor is a happy man? Absolutely, he is a happy man. Why shouldn’t we be happy? He is happy. I am happy. We are all happy. Do you need a wife and children before you are happy? In most cases, it is not so. Let me tell you, our happiness is predicated on Christ. So that gives us joy. We have joy. Wife and children do not add or remove anything in you. You are who you are in Christ. And that is what matters.”

    She is also supportive of the Pastor’s choice of acquiring an ultra-expensive new Rolls Royce car, stating: “My Pastor has just acquired a Rolls Royce. If he has that, it means I have it too. You know, my Pastor is still looking very young, even in his mid 50s. He is single again. And he is happy.

    “No, my pastor is not going to get married again. He is married to Jesus. He needs his Rolls Royce, even now that he is single. What is wrong in a single driving a Roll Royce? Do you need a wife and children to drive a Rolls Royce with you? There is time for everything. My pastor is over 55; he doesn’t need to drive a Rolls Royce to impress ladies. He doesn’t even need to impress ladies for anything! He doesn’t need such impression.”

    Another member, Joy Davies, believes the pastor could stay single for life if he so desires. “The pastor is a holy person who thinks differently from every other member of this church and the society. I think the pastor might want to free himself from things of the world and wouldn’t want to get married again. It is okay for our pastor to remain single till the rest of his life, if he so desires,” she noted.

    Also speaking on the issue, Lanre Idowu, a member, said: “He has not changed his mind about his intention not to re-marry. I don’t know if he is happy or not. He has not given me authority to grant an interview on his behalf, so I don’t know. But in an interview he granted on this matter some time ago, he insisted that he will not get married again.

    “Please let our Pastor be, it is his personal life,” maintained James Ekundayo, a member. “If he desires to marry again, I am sure that none of us will be able to stop him. It is his life, whether he is a pastor or not, he still has his personal life to live. As an adult, he has a right to decide how he wants to live. Personally, if he re-marries, I will celebrate with him and other members of our church over it. But if he doesn’t, that is not my immediate business but his own. My pastor is happy and I am happy at the church,” he posited.

    Stella Monday, an irregular attendee of the church, attributes the pastor’s problem with marriage to his wealth. As she stated: “I have not been attending church recently, but I think the Pastor can re-marry. I mean, why not? There is nothing wrong with it. I did not know that he said he will not re-marry, like I told you earlier, I have not been to church for some time. Well, if he said so, then let us see how long that will last (laughs). But somehow, within me, I do not think he is a happy guy. And I don’t know why I think so.

    “From what I perceive, I always think that he could be happier. He is too lonely and sometimes, I think that too much money may be a problem. You know, sometimes when somebody has too much money, controlling it becomes an issue. Pastor Okotie is a wealthy man. He has a lot of money. However, you can’t change people. The women who want to marry him will have to learn to accept him and thread softly around him. I guess that should be the solution. But I know one good thing about him. He knows how to spoil women. So if you are a lady and the pastor spoils you, just know that it is your luck.”