The Nation Newspaper

Category: Weekend Treat

  • How to solve relationship problems without breaking up

    How to solve relationship problems without breaking up

    Rois Ola

    Some say love is blind. True for some people and not true for some. Personally, I would say this is a relative term and an arguable one at that.

    Relationships need work, care, attention, commitment, loyalty and honesty. It takes two to make it work which is a fact. Relationship involves two adults with the ability to accept each other’s mistakes and forgive. The capacity to forgive, overlook and ignore works differently for everyone.

    We all know   that love is about action.  Love   needs to be nourished, kept vibrant and have the power to endure through hard times and not just in good times only. We all have various beliefs on the concept of having a soul mate, even if you are someone’s soul mate, you still have to work on the relationship, keep the relationship healthy is not for one person only, it is for everyone.

    The amazing thing about relationship is that you can indeed be with the right person, who is your “soul mate”, and still face numerous problems in your relationship because every relationship has and will have its own fair share of problems, no one can exist in a relationship without facing problems if you stay together long enough, sometimes the longer you are together the more problems you will face. The important thing to know is how to solve relationship problems without breaking up? Because if these issues are not properly and maturely handled, there will most definitely be a break-up.

    How you are able to sort your relationship problems is what shapes your love life and defines the health status of your relationship.  When you and your partner experience issues, quarrels, challenges and arguments, you know that you both need to answer  some questions in all sincerity and honesty.

    Do you try to amicably fix things? Do you take a temporary break from the relationship? Will taking a break from a relationship work? Should you seek out advice from councillors on relationship challenges?

    I will share a few ways to solve problems in relationship without breaking up. Please, note that there will be more than one way to resolve issues. It all depends on what works for you and your partner.

    Let us say that things between you are not at their best right now.  You have some long or short term relationship issues.

    You’ve been in a sad or perhaps destructive cycle:  fighting, making up, fighting again, ignoring each other, trying to communicate, but failing to do so in a healthy way.

    You are at a point where you are seriously considering taking a break from the relationship and fed up with recurring arguments. There are so many couples who have taken various steps in resolving issues by first taking a break or time out from each other. Some say it is a healthy way to sort issues. I won’t say it is or it is not, but it works differently for everyone.

    Time out from your relationship

    If you and your partner decide that taking time out would be a good idea, it is essential that you both agree on some specific rules that you would respect during this trial period.  Some suggestions include:

    1. An end date for the time out. The date at which point you two agree to evaluate the usefulness of the relationship break, and you decide whether or not to remain in the relationship or walk away.
    2. Would it be acceptable to date others during the break?
    3. Is sex with others allowed? If so, always use protection, so you do not put yourself or your partner at risk, especially if you are intending to come back together
    4. What will your communication look like during the break? It may be best to not communicate, to give yourselves a chance to “miss” each other.
    5. This will also allow you to tune into any feelings that might arise when your partner is not present. Are you happier? Sadder? This will help you determine if your relationship is worth saving.
    6. Use your time away from each other wisely. See friends you neglected during your relationship.
    7. Take up a new sport or hobby. Journal your feelings. Be selfish:  you only have yourself to concentrate on now in other words practise self-love. If you have never done it before please learn.

    Sometimes a break is indeed a valuable step to take towards resolving relationship issues, and sometimes a break leads to the break-up of the relationship so like I said it works differently for each couple.

    Whatever the outcome, it will be the one that was meant to be. If he or she is for you, then you will both find a way. Every relationship issue has its own peculiar solution.

    Good communication is important, or some level of communication, which is better than no communication. Of course, no communication leads to the eventual break-down of the relationship. One of the first tools you will use on how to avoid a break-up is your words.  Both of you need to be able to respectfully communicate your side of the story in order to move towards respect being the key word here. If you cannot manage this successfully, then you need to urgently find a neutral mediator to help you both.

    What drew you together?

    Going backward, figure out what drew you both together. Like when you both first met. What’s the gist behind you both meeting up. Can those feelings be revived?

    Change your boring lifestyle, learn to make life interesting for both of you. This takes effort not just words.

    Find out how to balance it and find what makes each of you happy. You have to try not to take each other for granted. This very easily happens. After a while, arguments will start and a once healthy relationship becomes toxic.

    Try new things together, no matter how small. Short weekend trips to places you’ve never seen before.

    Life is not a fairytale so is your relationship

    Let us face it, not many of us are informed that life is not sweet 24/7. One of the best bits of advice that couples can implement when  resolving issues in a relationship is to know that: Love is not a fairytale.  When you put two people together, you automatically have two different ways of looking at the world. We are talking about two entirely different thoughts, ways of reasoning, upbringing, background, tribes and sometimes religion too! So just imagine a million and one issues that can cause conflict.

  • ‘Sssh, my wife is sleeping…’

    ‘Sssh, my wife is sleeping…’

    Vera Chid-Maha

    It happened on board an international flight. A man was flying abroad with his wife on vacation. It was time for refreshment, so an air hostess pulled up her trolley to where the couple were seated. Just as she was about to take their order, the male passenger quickly whispered to her ‘ssshh, my wife is sleeping’ Can anyone beat that? How many men in this day and age will pamper their wives that much? How many men will be that considerate? It is rare. The striking thing about the couple was that the hubby was much older than the wife. But I know in my heart that there are some men that fall into this category. Older men! Yes, older men. When I say this; I mean men that are older than their wives.

    They are more caring; more attentive. These men pamper their wives more; reason is because their wives, to them, continue to be ever- young before their eyes. Don’t forget that beauty they say is in the eyes of the beholder. I have observed generally; I stand to be corrected though, most women feel safer in the hands of husbands that are older than them. The age gap could be two years or more. Generally speaking, the average woman craves for security.

    According to research findings; younger women often enjoy the company of older men for a variety of reasons. A very common reason that many women turn to older men is that these men are more mature than the men of their own age. The truth is that women mature faster than the men of their age.

    Women do not want to date a man who would rather spend time with her. This is not a problem with older men. As they have eyes for their women only; that is, when they are not too engrossed with their job. An older man waits up for his wife. They hold doors open for their women. She is considered a jewel for life. So, would you blame any woman for wanting them?

    Apart from showering their wives with endless attention, men who are mature also tend to be more self-confident as they know themselves better, which is something that attracts younger women. Sexually speaking, older men are more experienced though they tend to have less  sex drive, but many women find that the lovemaking with an older man is completely fulfilling to them, as older men are better at listening to the needs of a younger woman than a man of their own age tends to be. Not being  driven by testosterone often makes older men better in bed than younger men, older men often view pleasure in a different light than younger men and are more concerned with the woman’s pleasure as opposed to their own. This makes them very appealing to younger women.

    Older men tend to be more steadfast and stable and are generally more established and settled in their chosen careers than younger men. The security that comes from being financially viable and well established tends to draw younger women to older husbands. An older husband is no longer in college or struggling away at a low paying job but is secured and generally doing well at his profession, ideally. Women adore the chivalry that older men often show and they like the fact that older men have more respect for them and they are polite and have manners. Women like men who know how to be men. In today’s society, many young people are delaying growing. Some men want to be young permanently. You know, the ‘happy-go-lucky’ types?.

    Most women want to be with men who are responsible and can stand on their own to feed and are able to support themselves and take care of themselves without their mother’s help. These and other reasons are why most women prefer to marry older men. This is not to say that younger men are out of the question. I feel it is also a thing of the mind. I know that out there, there are younger men that are mature in mind.

    According to Marina Smiley, a relationship expert, she looked at other reasons why there is huge chemistry between younger women and older men. The reality is that sexual desire does not stop once a man reaches the age of fifty. There is a percentage of these men, who are looking for a life partner who is much younger than them; especially men that are trying to meet, then date, through the internet.

    There is no doubt that the younger woman, on her part, always makes her partner feel younger. However, the reality check is this; with age a variety of physical and emotional changes happen to the human body. A fact of nature that has nothing to do with our wishes. Unfortunately, we cannot cheat nature, but that does not mean the sex drive disappears. What it does mean is that the approach to sex will often change.

    The successful sex life of these couples is enhanced by the manner of approach. Successful couples have taken the time to learn the secrets and tricks that allows them to survive the difficult moments. If both partners really love each other, they will develop ways to please each other.

    In doing so, they have to trust each other and share their problems and sexual desires, openly. ‘Older men tend to be more steadfast and stable and are generally more established and settled in their chosen careers than younger men. The security that comes from being financially viable and well established is traits then tend to draw younger women to older husbands’

    Older  men need to understand that although they probably cannot maintain the same fast and furious pace as they did in their twenties, their life experiences should more than make up for the physical aspect of love making. Older men usually have more control over the physical and mental state of their being and a much greater knowledge of what elicits pleasure for a woman.

    This ‘experience factor’ grants them the ability of understanding the female body to stimulate and satisfy a woman which in turn should culminate in prolonged sexual stimulation prior to orgasm. Like I always say on this column, ‘love is where you find it. If you find it in either a younger or an older man, then so be it.

  • Blazers & pants

    Blazers & pants

    Kehinde OLULEYE

     

    FROM Bolanle Olukanni and Kiki to Cee C, these stylish celebs sure know how to rock a trend. The closet favourite isn’t going anywhere. Whether you are shopping for a classic or something to make a statement, now’s the time to make a move, because blazer based outfits will spice up your look no matter what you are wearing, especially if they are rightly combined.

     

    ceecee
    ceecee

     

  • Lethargy of the elite as an albatross

    Lethargy of the elite as an albatross

    By Nnedinso Ogaziechi

     

    The best of leaderships is often not provided by the most intelligent. The best of leaders in history have been known to be good managers of men and materials.  However, the ability of the people to hold leaders to account is equally a factor in how a nation fares because political philosophers already affirmed that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

    So the essence of the three arms of government, the executive, legislature and the judiciary is for powers to be evenly handled in democracies through proper checks and balances. On the other hand, the people themselves must be involved in making sure that they keep the elected people in check  to ensure that the democratic tenets are adhered to for the good of everyone.

    The Roundtable conversation this week wanted to find out how the abdication of responsibility by citizens has successively led to the poor performance of the nation economically and socially. It does seem that the office of the citizen has been vacant as most of those who ought to provide leadership are left to grandstand in their vacuity.

    Chido Nwakanma, a veteran columnist and a journalism lecturer at the School of Media and Communications at the Pan-Atlantic University  believes that the total apathy of the elite seems to be the fire in the flame of bad governance. He feels that all the elite do is sit back and complain without the necessary participation in leadership at their community levels. To him, everyone must not be in government but an active citizenry must hold the leaders to account in ways that they force them to realize that democracy is a government of the people and by the people and for the people.

    Mr. Nwakanma cites the example of Belarus that recently held their presidential election but had the citizens stand out for a month to protest the flawed election in that nation. They decided to protest peacefully until they get what they deserve – an election where the voices of the people are heard through the ballot box. He believes that as a people, Nigerians must reactivate the spirit of community. As the saying goes, charity must start from home. Most citizens are too self-centered to think about their communities. We have to be engaged citizens at every level. How many people are involved in their communities, town unions, estates, resident associations or streets in ways that they are aware of the problems that they themselves can solve and the ones that require the different tiers of government?

    To him, all the people involved in governments have school mates and classmates and townspeople and these are people that if they care at all would be in positions to caution their mates in government if they derail from programs that uplift the people. Most of the elite are too aloof to be productively functional in making sure they keep those in leadership on track.

    The market women for instance are organized but seeing that the elite are complacent, they go to the politicians and are satisfied with the little they are given, the middle class must get involved and that cuts across genders. The middle class seems unwilling to pay any price because when their friends and mates access leadership, they are often surrounded by the no ‘hopers’ who ultimately worship the leaders for crumbs while the elite that can stand up to their mates dissolve into thin air in self-preservation that is always counter-productive.

    The middle class of both genders must be ready to pay the price, sit it out with the leadership, and attend nocturnal meetings knowing you are doing that for a long term result. The men whose wives show capacity to lead must begin to disabuse their minds of the assumed dangers for women in politics because there are many capable and ready to-lead women that we as a country are losing out on their high productivity levels.

    Women must start grassroots politics instead of feeling that higher posts must be reserved for them as women. They must be willing to fight for power. Community involvement is the key, women must not just want to jump out to the peak without the grounds work of community growth politically. It might take time but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. The Nigerian middle class must wake up and do the right things and equally recognize that today’s woman has risen above being boxed into the ‘women affairs’ ministries and other parochial roles in a world ruled by ideas and technology.

    A lawyer and former Minister of Women Affairs and Woman leader, Iyom Josephine Anenih believes the leadership challenges the country is experiencing cannot be divorced from the fact that instead of the mutually shared leadership roles  between men and women, men tend to have edged out the women and naturally cannot handle what hitherto were shared leadership roles.

    She recalls that in pristine times, in her community, there were the Nze, Ozo and Isi Akpu titled men that spearheaded the leadership roles for the men, on the other hand, the women had their Awo Mmili, the Omu or Iyom as the arrow heads of the women. None of the gender roles were seen as mutually exclusive and she believes all other communities had their distinct leadership roles as well.

    The men and women played complimentary roles in communities and none was seen as really superior to the other. The men were in charge of land and territorial issues and were charged with protecting the communities. Women on the other hand were in charge of markets, shrines, streams and some other social institutions. There was clear but non-disruptive division of labour.  Curiously though, the women were adjudicators in most disputes and their decisions were as objective as they were final. Even when polygamy was a way of life, children were identified by their mother’s names and that did not diminish the ego of any man.

    Iyom Josephine therefore sees the fundamental chasm created by a holistic appropriation of western culture by Nigerians as disruptive and anti-development.  The fact that men seem to have surreptitiously  appropriated leadership she sees as  very dysfunctional and each community must begin to go back to the basics and ask questions about the past where all humans irrespective of gender could provide different levels of leadership. Like Mr. Nwakanma said, Iyom Anenih believes that Nigerians must begin to be more community-oriented, think more of shared leadership amongst the competent and ready rather than the present situation where there is a lot of inequities which ultimately affect both the leaders and the led.

    As a co-founder of Women Foundation Nigeria, an organization  that helps Nigeria women exchange views on global issues and empower women in politics, she feels that from her experiences professionally and politically, women must stop accepting the false narrative that leadership is a male duty. Being a member of the Gender Electoral and Constitutional Memoranda Committee, they worked very hard to incorporate women’s own perspective in Nigerian electoral laws.

    She was at the forefront of the domesticating Beijing affirmative action and worked very hard lobbying the National Assembly to review laws that are detrimental to women socially and politically.  Even though she had supporters in her project, she believes the narrative would change when the laws and the electoral acts recognize the rights of women in the country.  Women of Nigeria have achieved a lot academically, economically and otherwise but remain unsung and under-celebrated. Celebrating such women achievers to her would be up to fellow women as the men would never do that.

    However, she believes women must come together as a formidable group to chart a new cause of action not just for themselves but to help the men who are seemingly almost helpless. She wants the younger women interested in politics to develop a very thick skin because one of the strategies of the men is always to denigrate such strong politically competitive women as women of easy virtue just to scare and scar them psychologically. To her, women must win the psychological war posed by the men and meet them at the barricade.

     

    Nigerian women must realize that no man can lift you to prominence. Women must have the confidence to struggle for power on their own merit and capacity. She urges every generation of women to try to nurture and mentor other women and live their lives as examples through their personal efforts. Gender loyalty is the only virtue to her that can encourage more women participation in politics.

    Nigerian women have done so well but more often than not, the men deliberately tend to obliterate their contributions in all sectors but she has always been determined  through her many political roles, social organizations and platforms to re-orientate  the society to have a broader perspective about political participation. Women must own the process as much as the men too and back it up with a loud voice that must be heard. To Chido and Iyom Josephine, we must return to our sense of community and the elite must play their roles and not sit on the fence complaining pepertually.

     

    The dialogue  continues…

  • ‘ I never knew I was going to be a king’

    ‘ I never knew I was going to be a king’

    Smart, intelligent and charming. These are the words that aptly describes the 55th Alara of Ilara Kingdom In Epe, Oba Olufolarin Olukayode Ogunsanwo, TELADE 1V. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, the economist , talked about the journey to the throne, early life, how he joined the Lagos State Civil Service as an Inspector of Taxes in 1991 and rose to the top of his career as Executive Chairman of the revenue agency.

     

    How did you emerge as the Oba?

    I was selected by the Kingmakers as  the 55th Alara of the  Ilara  Kingdom, this took place due to the demise of my predecessor,  His Royal Majesty Alayeluwa,  Oba Akeem Okunola  Adesanya ll,  who joined his ancestors in October 2018 having spent 58 years on the throne. As at the time of joining his ancestors he was the longest reigning monarch in Lagos State. He became the Oba at the age of 16 and he reigned for 58 years, so he passed on at the age of 74. May God continue to bless his soul. After that in November last year, 2019 the Kingmakers requested that it is the turn of my ruling House, which is the Telade Ruling House to produce the next Oba Alara of Ilara Kingdom.

    Having received a notice to jump start the process from the state government through the Eredo Local Council Development Authority then eight of us were picked as contestants and the list was forwarded to the Kingmakers in Ilara. The rest as they say is history.   I was crowned on Thursday August 6, 2020 and His Excellency, Mr.  Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented me with the Staff of Office and Instrument of Appointment  on Sunday  August 16th, 2020.  History was made that day because the community had just witnessed another installation of a new Oba after 60 years.  The elderly and the youths were all excited to see a new king being installed.

    Was this an easy decision to make?

    It is only God that chooses kings and when he wants to do things he makes everything perfect. So for me, I see it as another call to service having being in service of Lagos for 26 years and rising through the ranks to become the Executive Chairman Lagos State internal Revenue Service. Even my stint in the service, was also a call to duty to assist the government to get revenue for the betterment of citizenry. It is with tax money that most things are done, infrastructure, roads, education, transport, health services and so on. So when the opportunity came and I was called, I prayed about it, I consulted and I said why not, let me go and serve my people. As the Yoruba’s will say ‘Ile la bo, isi mi Oko’ all that we have  been  trying  to do in the service let us come and try it here and see how  we move this community forward.

    What are the potentials of Ilara Kingdom?

    It only takes a visionary leader and someone that has the passion for his people to actually want to be on the right side of history to come and change things and to ensure that the community excels in every aspect. We are blessed here with agriculture, in terms of farming and fishing. We have a lot viable land, good soil, good weather and then we are surrounded by water all over the place, up to the lagoon then to the ocean. So fishing is part of the natural resources that the Almighty God has given to this community.

    There is a huge potential also for tourism here, and then we have a lot of human capital resources as well. We have capable hands; we have people that are well read.  And if we all join hands together and put our heads together, I want to believe that this community will become a mini London where everybody will want to be and the community will be very, very proud of. So part of what we intend to do is to partner with the Lagos State government, through The THEMES AGENDA  of  Mr. Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.

    What plans do you have for young people?

    The empowerment of youth is also very key. We will also try and see that we assist our children to continue to be educated and not only educating them but also to be self-reliant. This is because you can’t wait for the government to do everything for you. So with that we intend to create some vocational institutions where when our children go to school during the day and at the weekend they can come back to learn some things. Things like renewable energy, welding, art works since we intend to also go into tourism development, so that they will be able to create some art works that can be sold.  And we also look at areas where modern techniques of producing or providing farm products.

    For instance, if you have a cassava farm, it is not only to be producing that cassava and be selling but we can have an industry, a kind of cottage industry that can use the cassava to produce garri. We are Ijebus here and all of you know what they call garri Ijebu.  These are things that we are known for even our fishing industry also, we want to see how we can micro manage it in such a way that we can preserve the fish and we can package it in such a way that we can even begin to export to other neighbouring countries and internally within Nigeria.

    You have lived in the city for so long, aren’t you going to miss this?

    When you came in here didn’t you see that there is a lot of peace around here away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos? Everything is fresh here, the ambiance and everything is just great, and everything is just fresh. So, those are some of the things that people don’t know that they can enjoy here. With all the road networks that the government is doing now, this will be the next place that people can actually come and live. And once the government is able to put the 4th Mainland Bridge and improve on the multi modal transport facilities: the use of water, land and by road, people can move from one end of the state to another. So many people can actually live here and be working in Lagos and it will decongest Lagos.

    Why did you study Economics at the university?

    I actually wanted to study accounting but when I took my JAMB exams, I don’t know how my file got to economics department and I was given that admission straight away at first batch.  As an economist, you will be a manager of resources. As if God knows that I will still get to this point of becoming a King. I even had to acquire a master’s degree in economy.  So, I have no regrets as well that I studied economy and I can tell you that economy is a bit more dynamic.

    What has changed about you, now that you are an Oba?

    I have been my normal self even up till now nothing has changed. A friend sent a congratulatory message to me. We attended primary school at the same time in Ibadan and he started saying things like from my young age, I have always lived and comported myself like a king. That everything about me, the aura radiates that of a king and that there is no quality that they are looking for in a king that I don’t have. Even my past experiences made me realised that this is divine.

    What was it like growing up?

    Actually I was born in Ibadan; my parents were working in Ibadan then, even though my dad was born in this community. I grew up in Ibadan but every year we come home for Sallah. My parents were Moslems, they were born Moslems though they converted to Christianity later. So we used to come home for Ileya just like the period that just past, and each time we come home, I remember those days, we will go to the stream to fetch water. We go to swim in the river and all those things, so each year I always look forward to it. I am in love with the community, I am very, very proud to come from this community, I love my people and I have always been coming home.  I built a country home here and I didn’t know God was preparing me ahead. So, like I said everything was divine.

    Tell us about your favourite food?

    I think amala is my best meal. I also like pounded yam with vegetable and I like yam and eggs as well. Maybe fried eggs or steamed one.

    How do you relax when you are not working?

    I enjoy traveling, I enjoy reading, I like to read a lot and I enjoy listening to music. I am more of an academic.

    What genre of music appeals to you?

    I like Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Orlando Owoh and I like Wasiu Ayinde.

    Can we say that Kabiyesi is very stylish?

    I have always been a conservative dresser.  I love to wear suits to the office as a corporate man… And when I am wearing my native I am a bit detailed about it too.

    Now that you are Oba what is going to be your signature?

    White is good, blue is good. White is purity and blue is peace. My dressing will always go along that line, you know white and then blue and at times you just want to mix the thing, I don’t believe in dressing expensively but I like very decent way of dressing.

    Being a public person now you might have lost some privacy, how are you going to manage it?

    I have always been a private person, even with the throne you can see that it is a very, very traditional stool. There are certain things I can’t do definitely anymore.  That is what the throne demands and I have accepted it.

    How has the community been coping with the impact of COVID-19 ?

    We held some palliative programmes, at a point even when the pandemic was really on during the lockdown. We had to come down to do some palliative for all the communities around here, and they are have been very, very grateful and I will continue to do that for our people by the special grace of God. Because you can see that it is purely an agrarian community where people have very low level of income. So while we are trying to bring development to the community we also see how we can assist, particularly the young ones, the widows and then the elderly within our community.

    Recently, you were honoured with the Honourary Doctorate degree by the European-American University of Commonwealth of Dominica?

    I feel highly honoured and elated to be honoured with Honorary Doctorate Degree of Arts by the –European- American University of the Commonwealth of Dominica. You don’t know that people are watching your actions or inactions and they give honour to whom it is due at the appropriate time.

    The honour is what I continue to cherish for the rest of my life very because it came at a time that i just ascended the throne and will be a constant reminder of my responsibility and pact with my subjects.

  • Snakes lay siege to Gombe communities

    Snakes lay siege to Gombe communities

    Sola SHITTU, Gombe

     

    Admitting and treating snakebite patients at the Snakebite Treatment and Research Centre of the General Hospital in Kaltungo, Gombe State is a phenomenon that residents of the community as well as those of Biliri, Balanga and other mountainous settlements in Gombe State have had to live with for decades.

    But there was something extraordinary about a patient that was rushed to the emergency unit of the centre recently. The doctor on duty, identified as Dr. Agom Ibrahim, was shocked to find that the patient, a victim of snakebite, was heavily pregnant and had fallen into labour at the time she was rushed in.

    Sarah had been brought in from the farm by her relatives after she was bitten by a species of snake known as carpet viper, which is reputed as the most dangerous of the three poisonous species of snakes that are common in the area.

    “Sarah went into labour simultaneously as she was bleeding from the snakebite, and that meant additional loss of blood,” explained Ibrahim.

    The hospital was naturally thrown into panic, prompting the director of the centre, Dr Mohammed Suleiman, to be called to the emergency unit as the battle to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn baby began. Although the area is notorious for harbouring three species of poisonous snakes, namely carpet viper, cobra and pofadder, the carpet viper is regarded as the one with the deadliest bite.

    It is believed that this species of snake hot tempered and can strike even without being provoked, and its bite usually results in heavy bleeding and loss of blood on the part of the victim. Unfortunately, it was this most deadly species that bit Sarah. Thus, Agom’s first task was to control Sarah’s loss of blood to save her life and deliver her of the baby.

    Dr. Suleiman said: “It was a tough battle and we had little or no time to act because the poison was spreading very fast around her body.”

    By the time Sarah was delivered of her baby, the doctors found that she had lost a lot of blood from both the snakebite and the process of child birth. “She had no money to buy blood and it was already late in the night, yet we had to save the life of the mother,” said Agom as he relived the experience.

    But just as everyone was wondering what to do, Suleiman, the Director of the Centre, came to the rescue by calling some of the hospital’s workers to donate blood to Sarah. They responded positively and her condition was stabilised, following which the hospital commenced her treatment for snakebite.

    “She received six pints of blood and six vials of anti-snake venom before we were able to stabilise her,” said Suleiman who gladly displayed the picture of the baby on his mobile phone.

    Common occurrence

    While the incident involving Sarah was a rare incident in the hospital, snakebite is a daily occurrence, especially during planting and harvesting seasons. It is nothing unusual in the hospital to find snakebite patients who are less than a year old.

    Our correspondent’s first visit to the hospital revealed 11 patients on treatment for snakebite. The following day, four fresh victims of snakebite had reported at the centre between 9 am and 12 pm. “Our daily average record of patients is 10, especially during planting and harvesting seasons and during the heat periods,” said Suleiman.

    The prevalence of snakes and snakebites in the area is attributed to the mountainous terrain which provides habitation for snakes and the rodents that serve as food for them. Farmers, however, frequently come in contact with them and suffer snakebites in the process.

    Read Also: 10 students test positive in Gombe

    Jeremiah Daniel, one of the snakebite patients in the hospital, described the agony that comes with snakebite as terrible. Daniel, who was brought to the hospital unconscious, said he had spent five days trying to recover from the attack. He had lost a lot of blood before he was rushed to the hospital, consequently, he had to receive three pints of blood before his condition could stabilise.

    Lying on the hospital bed and looking frail, he recalled that he was going to the farm on the day the incident occurred.

    “I was going to the farm when a snake emerged from nowhere and bit me. Before I knew it, I had started feeling unconscious. That was how I was rushed here,” he said.

    Another victim, Adamu Ado, who was rushed to the emergency ward, said he was clearing weeds on the farm when a snake struck.

    But the presence of snakes is not limited to the farms or the mountainous parts of Gombe. The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Hammed Gana, recalled how he narrowly escaped snakebite twice in one day in the premises of his house in Gombe.

    He said: “It was in the morning on one weekend and I was trying to wet the flowers. I noticed a movement as I stretched my hand under the flowers and quickly withdrew my hand. As I looked carefully, behold, it was a carpet viper. I quickly picked a stick and killed it.

    “On the same day, while I was trying to get water from the tap, I noticed another snake between my legs. I jumped like I had never done before and again killed it with a stick. Our people are highly vulnerable to snakebites.”

    Yet most painful for Gana was the death of a young man who was bitten by a carpet viper near his farm in Gombe South. “The young man died within one hour while he was on the way to the hospital. It was so sad,” he said.

     Centre in dire need of funds

    However, despite becoming a unit in Kaltungo General Hospital since 1940 and its subsequent upgrade to a centre in 2019, access to funds remains a major constraint for Kaltungo Snakebite Treatment and Research Centre.

    “The patients are mostly people without voice, who cannot afford to pay for even a vial of anti-snake venom. So the state government has been the one solely bearing the burden of their treatments,” said Gana.

    According to him, a vial of anti-snake venom costs as much as N40,000, and to treat a patient fully requires a minimum of three vials, amounting to N120,000.

    He recalled that Governor Inuwa Yahaya have had to make emergency provision of N5 million for the purchase of the anti-snake venom produced only in one Latin American country, Costa Rica.

    “We can also get them from India, but the Indian one is not as effective as the Latin America one which gives us results within one week,” he said.

    “The Snakebite Treatment and Research Centre is the only one serving the six North East states of Gombe, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa and Borno.

    “We also used to have patients from other parts of the country like Plateau and Benue states. But because of proximity, our patients are mostly from the six North East states.”

    Suleiman said Taraba State alone accounts for more than 40 per cent of patients in the 150-bed hospital with just three wards for male, female and paediatric patients.

    He said: “The issue of snakebite is a huge one in Gombe State because a great portion of our state is actually within that belt and we do have quite a number of incidents of snakebites literally across all the eleven local government areas of the state.

    “As a result of that, previous governments thought it was very necessary that we have such a specialised hospital with facilities that take care of snakebites. But more prominently is the axis of Biliri, Kaltungo and Balanga; those hilly and mountainous areas of the state where our people, especially the farmers and rural dwellers do come into close contact with reptiles.

    “Ultimately, the hospital was created initially from a department of snakebites in the general hospital at Kaltungo to a specialised treatment and research centre, doing research around different species of the snakes that we have in the areas.

    “Recently, we ran short of the anti-snake venom. The state government has been doing everything possible to make sure that we have adequate stock of the anti-snake venom, but, of course, the uptake is quite high, especially at the peak of the season, when farmers are on the farm.

    “Now we are in the rainy season and farmers are on the farm. And you know the processes that are involved in natural farming. Farmers come in contact with them as they come out of their holes looking for food,” said the commissioner.

    •Aliru, a one- year- old
    snakebite victim

    The situation is further compounded by snakebite victims who rush to traditional healers for herbal treatment. While they do succeed at times, the victims see no improvement in most cases and then rush to the hospital. “But by then, it might be too late. Some come one or two weeks after the snakebite. The lucky ones do survive it though,” said Suleiman.

    On the viability of the option of herbal medicine for snakebite treatment, Suleiman said: “Even the traditional snakebite medicine healers, when snakes bite them, they rush to the hospital. But they beg us not to let the people know.

    “You see the problem with herbal medicine is that snakebite victims only respond to medicine produced from the actual venom of the type of snake that has bitten them. So the anti-venom is generated from the venom of the snake, and once it is given, it clears the venom from the body of the victim.

    “That is why traditional medicines have not been effective for persons that we have established that there is venom in their system.

    “For those who say traditional medicines work, sometimes the snake would bite but do not inject venom into the person’s body. And when they go to traditional healers and get healed, they do not know that it is not all snakebites that has venom injected into the body of the victim.”

  • What do landlords have against single ladies?

    What do landlords have against single ladies?

    Vera Chidi-Maha

     

    A childhood friend of mine, Taiwo, is currently having huge accommodation issues. Not because she cannot afford to get any place of her choice, but because the selfish, self-conceited, self-centered landlords we have in this part of the world are giving her a particular condition that she must meet before becoming their tenant.

    The condition she has been giving is not financial. Taiwo, being a big girl in her own rights, can financially afford any apartment of her choice. The condition is that she must produce a husband.

    What on earth is the meaning of that? That a lady must be married before she can have a decent accommodation of her choice? Oh; so if there is no man or stable man in her life because we still have very unstable men around. The type that will date you for years, yet refuse to the knots with you. She should remain homeless? Or worse still, she should become a squatter in some friend’s apartment even though she can afford to have her own place?

    Inasmuch as landlords should have the sole decision who their tenants should be, it is important that there should be laws checking things like this. The reason is that Taiwo is not alone in this. There are thousands of ladies out there who find themselves imaginary husbands. Some present their elder brothers, friends or even co-workers to act as their husbands just to enable them get accommodation.

    The reason, according to a landlord I had a chat with, is that single ladies are dangerous to accommodate. They bring into the compound all sorts of men and there is the danger of bringing in armed robbers to the house.

    A married woman, according to him, is more responsible. Her husband is there to keep a tab on her, but the single ladies are not held liable by anybody. She can leave the house when she likes and even take off for days on end without having to explain her movement to anybody which is not good. What if, God forbid, anything bad happens to her?

    “What if she is kidnapped or something terrible happens, the police will naturally choose to harass the landlord. These and many more reasons are why I cannot give my apartment to any single lady, rich or poor”, he concluded.

    In my opinion, the reasons given above are petty. How come houses are rented to our male counterparts without conditions? Is it a crime even in this computer age for one to be a woman? Or worse still, a single woman? Should woman now begin to force marriages on themselves in order to get a decent apartment?

    I recall a recent incident that occurred in one of the outskirts of Lagos, when a lady was relocated by her office to resume at their Lagos office with immediate effect. Lagos, for her, was a new terrain, so she needed a chaperone to show her around the metropolis. Top on her to-do list was getting a decent accommodation for herself at least that would enable her find feet before looking at other factors.

    Fine, the finance was made available by her company. So, it was not a problem of how much the rent was going to be, it was rather a question of where she chose to reside.

    Unfortunately for her, the agents she contacted to help out with the accommodation told her conditions that she might face with the landlord. She was told that she had to look for a man at all costs and present him as her husband. It was only on those terms that she would be listened.

    Another landlord gave an instance of when he gave accommodation to a single lady, recalling that time with bitterness. He said the lady on a number of occasions invited more than one man at a time and they ended up fighting each other. It did not stop there. It went further to become a police case and the scandal that followed was worse than imagined.

    Initially, she ignored the counsel of the agents until she continually met brickwall with the landlords. When she got tired of squatting from one friend’s place to the other, she had no choice but to present her chaperone as her husband. She now has a decent place she lives in under the guise that she is a married woman.

    I feel it is criminally wrong for things like this to still be happening. I feel that there should be a law in place to guide against things like this.

    I know of so many single ladies today in Lagos who have come up with imaginary husbands, just so that the landlord will see them as ‘responsible’.

  • “How we kidnapped judge’s wife, Cameroonian envoy, others’

    “How we kidnapped judge’s wife, Cameroonian envoy, others’

    Ebele Boniface

     

    A kidnapping suspect arrested for allegedly abducting the wife of an Appeal Court judge and killing her aide has said that he joined the gang that kidnapped the wife of an Appeal Court judge, a Cameroonian envoy and an Igbo businessman, among others, when commercial motorcycle was banned in Calabar, Cross River State.

    According to a police source, on Saturday, July 4, 2020, Ekwele Agube, the wife of a judge at the Court of Appeal, was kidnapped by six armed men who accosted her along Ministry Road, off NPA Junction in Calabar, Cross Rivers State and killed her aide identified as Glory Egbela before whisking her away to an unknown destination in their operation vehicle.

    The victim, who spent 14 days at the kidnappers’ den, was released after a ransom of N6.8 million was paid to her abductors.

    But few weeks after her release, operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT), who were detailed to investigate and track down the kidnappers, succeeded in arresting six suspected members of the gang.

    The suspects in police net include Nsense Bassy, Edet Ene, Christopher Effaeyo, Etim Offiong, Bassy Effiong and Luis Otubassy. Two locally made guns and 15 live cartridges were allegedly recovered from them.

    A police source revealed that the husband to the victim, Justice Ignatius Agube, had contacted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, informing him about the abduction of his wife, following which the IGP was said to have swiftly deployed operatives of the IRT led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to track down the suspects.

    The source further disclosed that the IRT made a breakthrough when it trailed one of the phone numbers used in negotiating the ransom to one of the gang leaders identified as Nsense Bassy a.k.a. Lion, and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime and led the operatives in arresting five other members, including the gang’s informant, cooks and boat boy.

    In an interview, Bassy confessed that he led other members of the gang in kidnapping two other persons, including a Cameroonian diplomat and an Igbo businessman. He said the victims, who spent one week each at their den, were released after a ransom of N2 million was paid for each of them.

    Read Also: ‘Name, shame bad judges for effective judicial reforms’

    The 30-year-old father of four and indigene of Akam Local Government Area, Cross Rivers State, said he took to kidnapping because he had no means of feeding his children during the lockdown which followed the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    He said: “I am a primary school dropout. My father has no job, my mother left me and I was left on the streets of Calabar to fend for myself.

    “I couldn’t learn a trade; I was just roaming the streets. But five years ago, I met my wife and we became friends. I impregnated her and she ended up having four children for me.

    “I was doing menial jobs to sustain my family, but when the Covid-19 pandemic started and there was a lockdown, I had no job and my family was hungry.

    “One of my friends known as Christian was the one who introduced me to kidnapping. I joined because there was no way I could get money to feed my children.

    “Our first operation was at White Market area of Calabar, where we kidnapped an Igbo man selling auto spare parts. We were six that went for the operation and we had six pistols with us. We kidnapped the man on the road.

    “We took him to the waterside and I left him at that point and went home. My other gang members were the ones who took the man into our camp, and it was Christian who introduced me to the gang that negotiated for the ransom.

    “Two million naira was eventually paid as ransom and I got N300,000 as my own share. I also bought cloths and food items for my children, and I gave a part of it to my brother who has no job. I also gave N50,000 to my wife to start a small business.

    “One month later, we kidnapped a Cameroonian who we found on the street trying to buy something. When we kidnapped him, Christian took the man’s car away and sold it. Later, we took the man into the creeks across the river but I didn’t go with them because I don’t know how to swim.

    “Christian was also the person who negotiated for the ransom and the man spent one week in our camp. Two million naira was eventually paid as ransom and I got N270,000 as my share.

    “I bought my pistol from one Chris who sells locally made guns at Ikang area of the state and I used it for the third operation, which was brought by one Luis who is a friend to Christian.

    They told me that the woman we were going to kidnap was very rich, and if we succeeded in kidnapping her, her husband or relatives would pay a huge sum as ransom.”

    Continuing, Bassy said: “Luis was the one who monitored the woman’s movement. When we eventually kidnapped the woman, we had an exchange of gunfire with some policemen on patrol. I did not know that somebody died in the process.

    “It was when we were arrested that I heard that someone died.  It was Christian that did the negotiation for ransom, and he took N4.8 million first from the victim’s family and absconded with the money.

    “The boys who were looking after the woman in the creeks refused to release her. They insisted that they must get their share of the ransom before they would release the woman. I went after Christian and he refused to see me. Then he dropped the woman’s phone at a place and directed me to where I found it.

    “I then called the victim’s family, requested for another N2 million and they gave it to me. I called the boys at the camp then they released the woman for me.  I got N350,000 as my share and gave the informant N100,000.

    “A few weeks later, I got a call from pastor, who asked me to come to the church. When I got there, I was surrounded by the police and I was arrested.”

    On his part, the gang’s alleged informant and motorcycle operator, Luis Otubassy (25), who is also married with a child, said he took to kidnapping after the government enforced the ban on commercial motorcycle in Cross Rivers State.

    He said: “I am a motorcycle operator and I joined the kidnapping gang when the government banned motorcycle operation in Calabar. Nsense, who we call Lion, linked me to the gang and I was using motorcycle to carry the gang members around town to look for whom to kidnap.

    “On the kidnapping of the Appeal Court judge’s wife, I didn’t know that her husband was a judge. I thought she was a contractor.

    “I was the one who pressurised other members of the gang to kidnap the woman and her aide was killed in the process.

    “I was given the sum of N70,000 as my share. I didn’t know that they got N6.8 million from the woman. I was only looking for money to buy pampers for my child. Now I feel very sad that I got only N70,000 out of N6.8 million.”

    Another suspect, Edet Ene (28), a native of Apkabiyo area of Cross Rivers State, who claimed that he had only primary school education, said he was the gang’s boat operator and regularly ferried the gang’s victims to their camp.

    He said: “I am the person paddling the boat into the creeks, and we used to spend 30 minutes on water before we would get to the camp. I am also the person that used to buy food for the victims.

    “I am an orphan and I have no one to help me. That was why I joined the gang.

    “On the first day, they called me and I ferried their victim into the creeks and stayed with them.  I was paid N180,000 when ransom was paid for the release of the victim and I used the money to rent a house for myself.

    “My mother died while I was five years old and I do not know my father. I have been struggling alone all this while. I fell for them because I was hopeless.

    “I also got N100,000 from the second operation and I bought a N70,000 mattress from the money.

    “I need the police to forgive me. I will never go into crime again.”

     

  • Unease as lecturers battle Fed Poly Rector

    Unease as lecturers battle Fed Poly Rector

    Some members of the staff of Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State are at daggers drawn with the Rector of the 28-year-old institution over alleged sundry infractions. GBENGA ADERANTI, who was on a visit to the school, reports on the state of affairs at the federal government owned institution.

     

    It was a clement Wednesday afternoon and the atmosphere at the Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State was calm and quiet. But behind the facade of serenity is a turmoil that threatens to shake the 28-year-old federal institution to its foundation.

    The first sign of the graveyard peace at the institution emerged at the rector’s office where new security measures were adopted in respect of visitors. No visitor or members of the institution’s staff was allowed into the office with a telephone. For instance, a senior lecturer at the institution was politely told to drop his phone with a security guard attached to the office as he awaited the Rector’s arrival.

    That had been the state of affairs in the school since its chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, demanded a thorough investigation of the rector, Dr. John Taiwo Adekolawole. It was a crisis that begun a few months after Adekolawole assumed duty.

    A source in the school said the first thing the Rector did on assuming duty was to make some sweeping changes, including the removal of some key members of the institution’s staff. This, it was learnt, did not go down well with many of them, particularly those that were directly affected.

    According to an aggrieved member of the staff, “when the rector came on board, all the duly elected deans of the schools were removed without any allegation.

    “He did not stop at that; he also removed various heads of departments without any offence committed by them or an indictment by any committee.”

    The foregoing was said to have resulted in a tiff between the Rector and a section of the institution’s staff, some of whom have accused Adekolawole of committing various infractions, including   highhandedness, favoritism and nepotism in the management of the affairs of the institution.

    Since then, various petitions have been written, calling for investigation of the activities of the rector.

    About two months ago, the School’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, in a letter dated June 8, 2020, had requested for thorough investigation of all the allegations levelled against Adekolawole.

    The rector was alleged to have spent more than N2 million from the polytechnic’s purse to renovate his private residence.

    According to a report submitted by a member of the ASUP in the school, “this is against the federal government regulation which forbids public servants from usingpublic funds for personal gain.”

    It was also alleged that the rector used the polytechnic’s funds that could have been used on profitable ventures to procure ‘unprofitable awards.

    According to the report, “within seven months of assumptions of office, how can the award of ‘Best Rector of the Year 2018’ be given in May 2018? He has been using the polytechnic’s funds to collect these awards from unaccredited organisations.”

    The rector was also alleged to have violated extant Federal Government directive on procurement of TETFUND project vehicle and bus.

    According to the report, Adekolawole was alleged to have failed to comply with the FG /TETFUND’s directive to procure a Toyota Hilux vehicle but procured a TATA Xenon Security Patrol Van and two TATA Xenon double cabin pick-up, being the project vehicle for 2016 TETFUND Special High Impact Project.

    Again, the rector was alleged to have had TETFUND approval for the purchase of one 30-seater Toyota bus but rather went ahead to purchase a TATA 30-seater bus.  The contract was alleged to have been awarded on July 22, 2019 in the sum of N68,932,678.00.

    The several appointments and recruitments made by the Rector were also alleged to have been done in flagrant disobedience of presidential directives.

    Adekolawole was said to have employed his direct son, Mr. Gooodness Edeaogbogun, and placed him on the Lecturer 11 cadre, which placed him above his contemporaries in the employment of the polytechnic before him.

    An official of the school told The Nation that apart from placing his son above his contemporaries, the rector was also accused of “upgrading his wife, Olukemi Adekolawole from CONTEDISS 7 to CONTEDISS 9, backdating her promotion to the date of her last promotion, which was January 2017.”

    Ironically, some months before the rector assumed office, the Junior Staff Appointment and Promotion Committee in a memo: FPE/JS/692/57, dated August 1, 2017 and signed by O. Adewoyin of the Establishment Affairs for the registrar of the institution to Mrs  Olukemi Adekolawole, did not approve the promotion of the rector’s wife and advised her  to seek further academic qualifications.

    A memo written to Mrs  Adekemi Adekolawole and made available to The Nation reads:  “The Junior Staff Appointment and Promotion Committee at its 50th regular meeting  held on 25th July 2017 considered you for year 2016 promotion in line with the revised 2013 scheme of service but did not approve your promotion due to inadequate academic qualifications.

    “The committee thereafter advise that you seek for further academic qualification to enable you qualify in subsequent promotion exercise.”

    To silence opposition, the rector was alleged to have used the instrument of state to harass those who had the temerity to question some of his decisions.

    While one of the aggrieved members told The Nation that he would not comment on the incident, another source insisted that some ASUP members were invited by the DSS to their Osun office for questioning.

    Another infraction committed by the Rector, according to a source at the federal institution, was manipulating the academic board to change the entry requirements for the purpose of admitting a candidate of  the rector who had deficiency in English Language.

    It was also alleged that the rector changed his name from Edaogbogun to Adekolawole in order to cover his past misdeeds.

    “On different occasions, he was indicted and punished for sundry offences before he became the Rector of the polytechnic.  One was where B.I. Okoji and Patrick Husseine chaired the panel. And in order to cover his past misdeeds, he changed his name to Adekolawole from Edaogbogun,” the source alleged.

    Rector reacts

    Reacting to the allegations, Adekolawole said they were all “dead issues”.

    He said: “There are no crises here. There is only peace. I think we should focus on positive things rather than dwell on distractions here and there.

    “The school has made another technological breakthrough with its innovation.

    “The school has produced its own ventilator which would be made available to the market soon. While imported ventilator goes for N35,000, we are going to sell to Nigerians at N20,000. We made everything here.

    “Right now, we produce face masks, hand sanitiser and other materials to assist in the fight against Covid-19.

    “Everything you see here, including the printing and furniture I’m using in my office are done in this school. We just won an award for innovation in far away Malaysia.

    “Those are the things we should focus on; not the crisis. We don’t have crisis in this institution,” he told The Nation.

    Insisting that he was not ready to engage in press war with anyone, he said the genesis of the whole disagreement was when one of the lecturers was probed and found to have engaged in plagiarism.

    He said although the school was yet to finish its investigation, the said lecturer teamed up with some other aggrieved ones to engage the Rector.

    Also speaking on behalf of the rector, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr Olusola Lawal, said the allegations levelled against the rector were mischievous.

    According to him, barely six months, after Adekolawole assumed office as the rector of the institution in April/May 2018, a petition was written to the Minister of Education who set up a high powered committee of the Governing Council to investigate the allegations. At the end of the investigation, the rector was absolved of all the allegations.

    Bringing up the same allegations that had been trashed in 2018 in 2020 is a rude shock.

    Lawal believes that the recent allegations were the handiwork of one of the ASUP members that was being disciplined for committing infractions.

    Reacting to the allegation of highhandedness, Lawal said it could not be true as the Rector takes staff welfare as a priority.

    “He converted/upgraded/re-graded over three hundred (300) staff that were wrongly placed,” he said.

    On the sack of HODs when Adekolawole assumed office, Lawal said: ”It was wrong for an outgoing regime to appoint command officers for an in-coming regime. More so when the outgoing regime had resolved on the Academic Board that anyone who had not presented inaugural lecture should not hold academic leadership post.  As at that time, all those elected had not presented inaugural lectures.

    “So by the decision of the Academic Board, they lost their seat and the election became null and void.”

    Lawal insisted that there was never a time the Academic Board  was manipulated.

    ”The specific case referred to was when the number of students admitted for ND 1 in the Tourism Department was far below the requirements to make the programme viable in the countdown to already scheduled Matriculation Ceremony, and the Academic Board unanimously gave a waiver that any applicant into ND 1 in Tourism Department  or willing to study Tourism with CREDIT PASS in Geography (a major requirement) but deficient in only one (1) subject requirement be given concessional admission but must make up the deficiency before graduation.”

    On the allegation of appointment/recruitment, he said it was not true.

    “Our Innovation Technology Centre (ITC) was set up as approved by the Governing Council.  The six (6) pioneer staff for the centre were sourced for under the scarce-knowledge-area-skills to foster the innovation drive of the institution.  The six (6) of them were sourced for, interviewed, appointed and placed on the appropriate level by the Governing Council.

    “Mr. Goodness Edaogbogun was one of the six (6) that were so appointed to man the Institution’s Weather Station in addition to being a member on the Innovation Technology Centre (ICT) on merit.  At the time of their appointment and even now, there are no alternatives on ground.

    “The appointments were done before the Presidential embargo on employment in 2018.”

    On the allegation that the rector’s wife Olukemi was wrongly promoted, Lawal said it was one of the issues the Rector addressed on assumption of duty to douse the crises emanating from inappropriate placement of staff.

    He said: “The Rector’s wife had ND 2000 (Lower Credit), HND 2003 (Pass) and was employed into the services of the Polytechnic in 2013 on Level 05 and eventually migrated to Level 06.

    “Before Adekolawole became the Rector of the institution, Mrs Adekemi was recommended for promotion and she was promoted to level 7. “

    Lawal said with Mrs Adekolawole’s ND certificate, she was qualified for the promotion.  He insisted that the issue of inappropriate qualification was as aberration and did not arise.

    He said: “Within three weeks of the release of letter of inappropriate qualification, she received two or three other letters.  The first letter stated that her non-promotion was due to some mixed-up in the Establishment Affairs Unit of the Registry while the other letter stated that her name was omitted in error in August 2017 before the Rector assumed office.

    “Her promotion was later effected but her letter was not released to her until the rector came on board as the rector of the polytechnic. Meanwhile, she obtained B.Sc. (Accounting) 2nd Class Upper in June 2017.”

    The school’s image maker said it was another misinformation that the rector used the fund of the federal institution to renovate his private residence. He said contrary to what was alleged, the rector did not receive any money from the polytechnic to renovate his house.

    He said: “The Rector merely saved the institution the cost of providing accommodation for him by using his house as the rector’s official residence.

    “The Works and Services Department customarily carried out some renovations under the normal renovation of roads and building votes at the rector’s residence.”

    Lawal said there was never a time the rector was indicted and that all the allegations against the rector were later found to be baseless.

    “Therefore, the then management was ashamed of the panel and their decisions and later directed that the report should be removed and expunged from all the polytechnic’s records, because it was legally adjudged as a miscarriage of justice.

    “Bldr. Hussaini and Mr. Okoji later apologised to the Management and the then Director for their role in the ignominious report.

    “It is rather unfortunate that a member of staff who should have destroyed his copy of the letter now brings it up from the archives after 25 years out of mischief, especially when the principal actors are dead.”

    He said the rector changed his name from Edaogbogun to Akolawole for spiritual reasons.

    He said: “The restructuring of his names was by spiritual injunction and personal, and was agreed to by his late father. All the names are really his, including Adekolawole, and were given to him at birth while Edaogbogun still remains the surname.  He merely adopted Adekolawole, which is his name, as surname as customary with a crown prince above the age of fifty (50).”

    The PRO told The Nation that while the rector had reordered his name, some people still prefer to refer to him as Edaogbogun. He cited a recent radio jingle of the school in which the rector was referred to as Edaogbogun. He said contrary to the belief in certain quarters, the rector did not violate any government regulation by altering his surname.

    According to Lawal, both TETFUND and Bureau of Public Procurement duly approved the procurement of three TATA Xenon double cabin vans instead of one Toyota Hilux vehicle at the same price because of the high vehicular deficit in the Polytechnic.

    Lawal said: “Both TETFUND and Bureau of Public Procurement duly approved the purchase of a TATA 30-seater Bus and a single cabin TATA Pick-up in place of a 16-seater Toyota bus all at same amount of N31,374,000:00 because of the high vehicular deficit in the polytechnic.  These are cost saving measures that the Rector ought to have been applauded for if not for mischief.”

    While many believe that ASUP  as a body is against the rector, a source told The Nation that “ASUP members above  Level 12 are not part of the shenanigan. Those against the rector are just doing so for not just cause.”

    A source close to the school told The Nation that one of the prominent  traditional rulers in Osun had waded into the matter, but whether he would be able to settle the crisis is what nobody knows.

    So the question agitating the minds of many is who will stop this war of attrition at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede?  When will it all end?

     

     

  • Kwara APC crises over – Oloriegbe

    Kwara APC crises over – Oloriegbe

    The senator representing Kwara Central Constituency and Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Dr Ibrahim Oloriegbe spoke with reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State on the crises that rocked the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state after displacing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the ruling party in the state, his exploits so far at the upper chamber of the National Assembly and his take on the calls in some quarters for adoption of electoral college for presidential elections, among other issues. ADEKUNLE JIMOH was there.

     

    WHAT has been your relationship with your constituents as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

    The functions of legislators worldwide are basically three, namely legislation, oversight and representation. In view of these, the assessment of any legislator should be based on his performance in these three areas. However, it should be noted that a legislator’s role or function is the most misunderstood in Nigeria, particularly in Kwara Central Constituency where the legislator comes from.

    This can be attributed to a number of factors. Basically, the fact that many years of Nigeria’s post-independence has been under military rule makes the citizens to recognise and understand government from the executive roles and responsibilities as the local government areas (LGAs), states and federal governments were under unelected executive functionaries.

    Under democratic dispensation, majority of citizens do not understand the difference between an elected legislator and an elected executive position holder in terms of roles and functions.

    Now to a leg of your question, in Kwara Central, the position of the senator for the constituency in the last 40 years had been under the direct or indirect control of one family who dictated what happened to all office holders in government and determined all that happened in governance. Hence the citizens were and still not able to differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of particular office holders. The situation was worse in the last eight years where the occupant of the senatorial seat was the ‘godfather’ of all political office holders in the state, and all things were done in his name and attributed to him. So I hope my people will understand these situations very well and know the real functions and duties of a legislator. I used more of innuendos because there is no need for name or character assassination.

    I had within this short period of time moved at least nine motions, sponsored six bills,  co-sponsored 13 bills, contributed to over 10 debates on bills and motions by other senators.

     You moved the first motion in the 9th Senate on July 2, 2019. What was the propelling factor for the motion titled ‘the need to strengthen security at the Nigerian Airport’?

    The reason basically stemmed out of a great concern for adequate security at the nation’s airports, particularly for the Muslim faithful who periodically travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Lesser Hajj. The subject of the motion was also relevant to my people at home as majority of them are Muslims who often engage in religious or business undertakings outside Nigeria.

    The key background to the motion was the wrongful arrest and conviction of two Nigerian citizens for drug trafficking, based on the detection of hard drugs in their luggage. More investigations into the matter revealed that some unscrupulous persons at the airport planted the banned substances. The resultant effect of the motion was the strengthening of security at Nigeria international airports and such sad incidents have not been reported in recent times. Some of my other motions include the urgent need to make the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) work for Nigerians. This led to the appointment of a new Executive

    Secretary for the NHIS and accelerated consideration of the NHIS reform bill sponsored by me. By God’s grace, I moved another motion for the urgent need to transfer back to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMO) the responsibility/authority to process all its procurement activities. The executive arm of government has returned the Procurement functions back to the FMO.

    I had within the last two years sponsored six bills among which are the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Bill, 2019 (SB66) awaiting committee report; Psychiatric Hospital Act (Amendment) Bill, 2929 to establish Federal Psyhchiatry Hospital in Budo Egba, Kwara State (SB376) at First Reading; and Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine of Nigeria Bill 2020 (SB394).

    Your party, APC, has been enmeshed in crises since the end of the last general elections, especially at state level. It was rumoured in some quarters that there is no love lost between the state governor and the chairman of the party in the state. Don’t you think the development could stifle the growth of democracy in the state if left unresolved?

    The tsunami like revolution that swept off the old political order in the state was unleashed without any visible arrow-head, who could have served as the leader of the group. Instead, leaders of various groups fought the battle at their levels and with their own tactics.

    The method was a very good one because we were all fighting our common opposition at the same time from all fronts. But it had its own backlash at the end, I must confess to you. As usual, each of these leaders started asserting his or her rights to everything concerning the party and governance. We saw the problem nevertheless as a family problem that was not unexpected. But the good news is that we have been able to resolve the crises because we have no alternative but to come together as an entity. In Kwara APC today, many aggrieved persons have been assuaged and others too will soon see the party as the only way out of subjugation and exploitation.

    What is your view on whether the nation should use electoral college for its next presidential election in order to save the enormous cost of conducting elections of that cadre in Nigeria?

    As a student of political science, I believe that the history of Nigeria is awash with numerous experimental political systems. In fact, there seems to have been no system of governance that has not been tried in this country before now. I believe that what we are doing at present is still the very best we should stick to, considering our heterogeneous identities as a nation. Universal participation in elections gives more representation. We are not yet matured to go for electoral college system.

    I will be on the side of the proponents of universal electoral college. What we need to do is to infuse more technological know-how into our electoral system to reduce the cost of conducting elections in our country.