The Nation Newspaper

Category: Society

  • Love found on BRT

    Love found on BRT

    A management consultant with KPMG, former Miss Damilola Feyisayo Ekundayo, has tied the nuptial knot with her beau, an accountant with Guaranty Trust Bank, Oluwaseun Korede Bashua, at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Graceland Parish, Ojodu, Berger, Lagos. NNEKA NWANERI witnessed the event.

    ONe morning in September 2009, a Youth Corps member, Damilola Ekundayo, was  on board a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service enroute her place of primary assignment at the then African Petroleum (AP), now Forte Oil, on Lagos Island.

    She met Oluwaseun Bashua, who was not shy enough to ask her for her name. Of course, the well mannered Damilola treated him with courtesy, they discussed and exchanged phone numbers.

    From then on, the two struck a friendship and began what would later become a journey of a lifetime.

    Damilola and Oluwaseun exchanged marital vows before a large congregation at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Graceland Parish, Ojodu, Berger, on the outskirts of Lagos.

    While Damilola, an Economics graduate of Babcock University, is a management consultant with KPMG, Oluwaseun, also a graduate of Economics, is an accountant with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

    Damilola told The Nation how she met her beau. “He greeted me and I thought he was a stranger, so I didn’t answer him, even though he looked quite young.

    “He walked up to me, tapped my shoulder and introduced himself.  I saw some nervousness on his face when he asked for my phone number. I felt pity that I would turn him down after he had summoned all the courage to meet me. I decided to give him my number, but alas he neither had his phone or a pen with him. So, I hurriedly called out the number, assuming he would not get it right because I didn’t really want to give him. He called me later and we agreed to be friends, but usually talked once in a long time.

    ‘’I was off to the United Kingdom for my Masters’ programme in January 2011. For those two years, he was always calling and asking me to marry him. I kept declining because I was committed to someone.

    ‘’In 2013, I came back. Then I had broken up with the other guy and Seun was there for me. So, he asked to be my boyfriend in August 2013. I agreed and we began dating. On November 20, last year, he proposed.”

    She described Oluwaseun as dependable, godly, considerate, loving and hardworking.

    Nevertheless, the bride said she would miss her father.  “Everything is new. I can’t do things at my own pace as I used,” she said about her new status.

    The bride’s father, Mr Tayo Ekundayo, was full of joy, admitting that he had some low moments with the absence of his wife.

    He described his daughter as the mother hen, who stepped into the shoes of her mother, his late wife. He was also happy that his daughter had finally fulfilled her mother’s dreams.

    According to him, he and his three other children  would never be the same again with Damilola leaving them to join her husband.

    Ekundayo advised the couple to work as a team and make the best of their marriage, adding that the success of any marriage lies in the collaboration of both parties.

  • Thisday Editor buries mum in style

    Thisday Editor buries mum in style

    Thisday Editor Ijeoma Nwogwugwu,  has buried her mother Elizabeth Nwogwugwu after a funeral service at the Church of the Resurrection (Anglican Communion), 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos. NNEKA NWANERI reports.

    It was a funeral fit for a princess-full of colour and excitement.

    There was an army of dignitaries-politicians and professionals. They all came to bid Mrs Elizabeth Chinyere Nwogwugwu, mother of Thisday Editor Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, a final farewell in Lagos.

    She died on August 11, aged 74.

    It was a well planned celebration that had little or no tinge of a funeral. The rites began  with a Service of Songs. On Friday September 9,  the funeral service was held at the Church of the Resurrection (Anglican Communion), 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    All dressed in a uniform white attire, the children of the late Mrs Nwogwugwu occupied the front pews of the church with teary eyes and gloomy faces, starring intermittently at the coffin which bore the remains of their mother by the church altar.

    The one-hour service was officiated by the Vicar of the church, Ven Ife Okupevi, who described the late Mrs Nwogwugwu as a faithful parishioner.

    After the Bible reading from 1 Thessalonians 4:13, he gave a sermon, in which he urged the congregation to learn from the life of the deceased and turn to God. They should worship him with all our hearts, minds and spirit, by being in the society what we are in the church, he said.

    The remains of the late Mrs Nwagwugwu were interred at the Ikoyi Vaults and Gardens, and a reception to celebrate her held at the Civic Centre on Victoria Island.

    The first of the five children of the deceased, Ijeoma Nwagwugwu, described her mother as a hardworking and industrious woman who loved God.

    Her brother, Ugochukwu, recalled fond memories of his mother. He wrote in detail many memorable childhood days and how his mother made them special, like ruffling his hair at his wedding in 2012.

    Tributes came from the immediate past Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank PLC, Dr Alex Otti and many others. Otti described the late Mrs Nwogwugwu as a woman of uncommon feat who in the 60s went abroad for her university education, thus, making her a fulfilled woman.

    The late Mrs Nwogwugwu studied at the then Soviet Union (Moscow State University), where she majored in Russian language and literature earning a Masters in Philology in 1970.

    She worked briefly in the United Kingdom before returning to Lagos with her family in 1973 to join the Nigerian Civil Service as a translator. After 29 years of service, she retired as a Director, Information and Media at the Ministry of Defence.

    At the service were: Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi; former Anambra Governor Peter Obi; Chief Olisa Metuh; Co-founder and Group Executive Director, Sahara Group, Mr Tony Cole; Thisday Publisher Nduka Obiagbena and the  wife of the Chairman, Globe Motors Mrs Nkiru Anumudu, among others.

  • Life without our husbands—Widows of soldiers who died fighting Boko Haram

    Life without our husbands—Widows of soldiers who died fighting Boko Haram

    SHORTLY before he departed his home to join in the battle against the Boko Haram in the North East, Sergeant Adebayo called his wife, Modinat Adebayo, and handed over his bank accounts and other documents to her. He also asked his wife to take care of the children in his absence.

    It was a very emotional parting for husband and wife as the soldier left his family on that fateful day.

    “Before my late husband left  for the national assignment in which he died, he called me and asked me to take care of the children and handed over to me all his bank details,” Adesayo said as she struggled to hold back tears.

    Interestingly, Sergeant Adebayo was initially heading for Mali, but his troop was later diverted to Borno when the battle in that part of the country needed more soldiers.

    “His team was initially meant to go to Mali on a peace keeping mission. But on the way, they were suddenly asked to head for Maiduguri.

    “When they got to Sokoto, he called to inform me that they had been asked to move to Maiduguri instead of Mali. When he said that, I screamed and wondered why. He calmed me down and assured that all would be well. He asked me to simply put him in prayer. That was the end. I didn’t know he would leave me so soon,” Adebayo tearfully recalled her last moments with her late husband who paid the supreme price fighting the menace of Boko Haram.

    Asked how she received the news of her husband’s death, Modinat said: “His colleagues at the 9 Brigade came to the house to inform me about his demise. When I saw them coming, I didn’t suspect anything because I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t know anything about barrack life until I got married to my late husband.  Life has never been smooth for widows.”

    Remembering and talking about her late husband’s death is one task that Hajira Ibrahim always finds tough to handle. Making her talk was as tough as making a mother talk about the death of her child.

    And when she mustered the strength to speak, tears gathered around her eyes and she waited to gather composure. She had hardly started narrating the story when she started sobbing. “My late husband, a sergeant died in 2014 during an official assignment aimed at putting an end to insurgency in the North East.

    Shortly before he was declared missing in combat, Sergeant Ibrahim spoke with his wife and reassured her of his safety.

    “Till today, the military authorities are still saying that he is missing, but a friend of his called me after some time to inform me that he was dead. He was drafted into the mission in 2013.  I spoke with him in August 2014 before the information came that he is dead.  When we spoke, he told me that the situation over there wasn’t easy and that he wasn’t feeling okay.”

    Her husband also told her that he would soon be home. But that was not to be, as he died after that conversation with his wife. “He told me that he would soon be back home, but he never came back,” Hajiya said amidst another round of tears.

    However, despite her harrowing experience, Hajiya Ibrahim is determined to make the best of whatever opportunity comes her way. Though she works as a cleaner presently, her quest for higher education in life has never waned.

    “I am a cleaner in a school, but I am presently pursuing further studies to improve my life and that of my children.  I have two children and not finding it easy taking care of the family my husband left behind. Nobody cares to help. Nobody gives any support. It has only been by the grace of God that we have been carrying on.”

    Modinat Adebayo and Hajiya Ibrahim were just two of the numerous widows of soldiers who trooped to the Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai Sports Complex, at the Nigerian Army Cantonment, 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos to be empowered by the Nigeria Legion.

    Expectedly, it was an emotion-laden occasion for the beneficiaries and indeed everybody who turned up to witness the event. For the widows, it was a mixture of joy and sorrow. It was joyful because their lives were touched by the gesture of the men of the Nigerian Legion. But it also reminded the women of the loss of their husbands.

    Modinat and Hajiya were part of the 15 widows who got a grinding machine each as part of the efforts by the Nigerian Legion, Lagos State, to ease the burden inflicted on the women by the death of their breadwinners.

    Elated by the empowerment, Modinat lauded the Nigerian Legion for their support. “I am joyous to be a beneficiary of this empowerment scheme. It goes a long way to confirm God’s love and kindness in my life.  Initially, I didn’t want to attend the programme. I was highly reluctant to come, but the Spirit of God just nudged me to attend and to the glory of His name, I have been blessed. I thank the organisers for remembering people like us who have nobody to look up to,” she said.

    It was the same feeling for Hajiya, who said: “I am extremely elated by the assistance rendered to me by the Nigerian Legion. I sincerely appreciate them for stretching their hands of assistance to a poor widow like me, especially in this period that the economy is in recession.”

    Harriet Fabian, 55, is another widow that will not forget the Boko Haram issue in a hurry.

    With the benefit of hindsight, she said: “My husband died in 2014 in the course of fighting against Boko Haram. He was a Staff Sergeant and he served for 33 years before his death. I had six children for him. Life has been tough since he left us. I used to sell cooked rice but I stopped doing that since the price became extremely high. I have been doing nothing for sometime because of that. The challenges we are going through are massive and not in any way funny.

    “They are not one can merely talk about. It is somebody who is going through the same challenge that can really understand the enormity of the physical, psychological and emotional burden. In all, we give glory to God for not abandoning us. Part of His loving kindness towards us is the help we have received today from the Nigerian Legion. God is indeed the husband to widows because it is when somebody is in this condition that she will realise that she is on her own.  I am highly grateful to the Nigerian Legion once again. May God reward their generousity.”

    However, not all the widows who befitted from the gesture lost their husbands to the Boko Haram insurgency. Some others who spoke with our men said their husbands either died in auto crashes in the course of their duties or after complaining of one sickness or the other.

    The Nation’s encounter with Cecelia Okechukwu, one of the beneficiaries, triggered a deeper emotion. She instantly betrayed emotion when we cornered her.  Shortly after the hubby, Sergeant Cletus Okechukwu, died, she developed strange pains in her two legs and was asked to pay N1.6 million to carry out surgery on each leg. In spite of her challenges, Cecelia never gave up. Today, she has single-handedly raised their children up to the university level.

    She said: “I developed sharp pains in my legs shortly after my husband died.  I went to traditional bone setters who did all they could but the pains didn’t go. After that, I went to Igbobi. There, the doctor told me that it would cost N1.6 million to carry out surgery on each leg. I don’t have such money. They gave me a crutch to be moving about. They also always give me pain reliever to suppress the pains each time they come.

    “I am very happy to receive this support today. It shows that God loves and cares for me. I call on Him all the time and He has never disappointed me.  My husband, Sergeant Cletus Okechukwu, died in an accident at Apapa.

    “Life has been extremely difficult for the family since he departed but with the help of God, we have been surviving. Things were particularly difficult because his demise was untimely. It was not that he went to the battle front and died there. No. he was only going about his official assignment when he was involved in an accident and died. I have two children and to the glory of God, they are both in the university and about to complete their studies.”

    She attributed her survival to the love of God, adding: “Like I said earlier, it is God that has been assisting me. I work as just a cleaner at St. Agnes Catholic Church. So, you will agree with me that training the children in their father’s absence has been solely by the grace of the Almighty.

    “I am most grateful to the Almighty God. I will use the grinding machine to earn additional income and improve the living standard of my family. My prayer is that the people that organised this programme and their family members will never suffer the kind of fate that befell my hubby.”

    Another widow, Bolanle Maria Oloyede, a native of Ogun State, spoke about how her husband died in an auto crash.  She said: “My husband, a Sergeant, died in an auto crash during an official assignment. He was travelling from Ogun State to Lagos State when the accident occurred. We have three children who are now in higher institution. I am a trader and I must say that the Nigerian Army has been very good to us. We have three children who are now in higher institutions. I am highly grateful to the organisers of this empowerment programme because this gesture will go a long way in alleviating the challenges facing many of us.”

    For Bidemi Adeyemi and Jimmy Utibe Abasi, losing their partners in their prime is a life time scar that can never be healed.

    While Bidemi’s hubby died after she had given birth to six children, Utibe’s husband died while she was still carrying the pregnancy of her last baby, now a few months old.

    Bidemi said: “My late husband was a Staff Sergeant. He didn’t die in the course of fighting insurgency. He died of food poisoning. We took him to hospital and did all the necessary tests and treatment but he didn’t survive it. I have six children and going through hell taking care of them. As I am talking to you, they I don’t know how and where I would get money to pay their school fees. It is tough my brother but with God, we have been surviving. I am thankful and appreciative of the unexpected empowerment by the Nigerian Legion. May God always enlarge their coasts and forever support them in all they do.”

    Clutching her baby to her chest, Utibe said: “My husband Jimmy Nastsu died a Sergeant. He died here in Lagos at Yaba after complaining of headache. He died when I was carrying the pregnancy of my baby. We were married for 13 years. I sell second-hand clothing but life has been very challenging. I will appreciate if the government could provide us with loan to do business and improve our living standard. I thank the organisers for remembering poor ones like us. May God bless them.”

    Esther Leko looked visibly disturbed as she spoke about her husband’s demise. The incident was obviously the last thing she imagined would happen to her at her youthful age.  “I am 30 years old and a native of Edo State.  My husband was a Sergeant and we married for 11 years. I am a trader but you can be sure that the income is grossly inadequate to take care of the family. It is God that has been helping me. I will be very happy if the government could come to our aid to make life bearable for us.”

    Dorcas Bassey, another beneficiary, said: “I am 28 years. I married my late husband a Staff Sergeant in 2003. I have five children. He died in an accident on his way to work. I am only a sales clerk and from what you know, the salary is nothing to write home about. It was initially meant to augment what my husband was bringing in but it has become the only income the family depends on to survive.”

    Lamenting the plight of the widows, the Magaji (overall women leader), Roseline Jonah Emmanuel, said:

    “Apart from the burden of taking care of the children single-handedly, many of them are bedevilled by several other problems. For example, there was one of them whose husband used his brother’s name as next of kin. When he died, the benefits were paid to the brother. When the woman approached the authorities, they said there was nothing they could do about it because the deceased already put the brother as his next of kin. That was how the woman left empty-handed to go and face the herculean task of training and feeding the children without any help.

    “There is also another one that the late husband’s family members have come to take everything the husband left for them. They left her with nothing without minding what becomes of the children the husband left behind. It is really pathetic. If you take out time to hear the stories of some of these women, you will weep no matter how hard your heart may be.”

    She lauded the organisers for their support, saying: “We sincerely appreciate the organisers of this event because the widows are in dire need of this kind of empowerment. A good number of these women are suffering grievously and there can never be a better time to help them than now. Before their husbands died serving the country, the family responsibilities were shared by the women and their husbands. Now that the husbands are gone, they have been left to carry the burden all alone.”

    A top military officer, who did not want his name in print, however, debunked the allegation that officers don’t use their wives as next of kin. He said: “The military has changed all that. It is only the unmarried officers that are allowed to use the names of their relations as next of kin. Once you are married, you will be asked to change your next of kin to your wife or your children to avoid this kind of problem you are talking about.”

    Addressing the beneficiaries and guests, the National Coordinating Commandant of the Nigerian Legion, Col. Akoteyon, said: “We are here to honour the memory and celebrate the Nigerian soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in serving our fatherland. But we also pay tributes to the surviving family members who have been left behind.   I will like to use this occasion to call on all good citizens of Nigeria to collaborate with us in this crusade.

    “Corporate bodies, government parastatals, various foundations and philanthropic organisations should join hands with us in putting smiles on the faces of these wonderful Nigerians to ensure that their works are never forgotten. It is our belief that we can do it to support and empower the families and children of Nigerian fallen heroes.  We can provide scholarship for the children of the fallen heroes.  We can honour the fallen heroes and to publicly acknowledge their last full measure of devotion and recognise the value of sacrifice they rendered to our nation by being helping hands to the families they left behind.”

  • A lot of Nigerian women wear WRONG bra sizes

    EX-COMMITTEE member of the Nigeria Economic Summit, Seun Balogun, and her husband, Ayo Tayo-Balogun, retail underwear through a popular online store known as Brief Essentials. It was not exactly a line of duty for the couple who were into paid employment until “one day,” in the words of Seun, “I was looking for underwear and lingerie for myself as a mum, and then we found that there was really no major store that focuses on varieties of underwear. We found some at a few places, but they were too expensive. The ones that were not expensive were not of the kind of quality we wanted.”

    For her, therefore, the need for quality and affordable underwear became a challenge that gingered her entrepreneurial spirit. “We went online for additional search but didn’t see where one could really buy lingerie. At that time, we knew that online business was kicking off in Nigeria. That was around 2010. There were stores that closed up, like Kalahari Books Online, and there was Sabunta (now Jumia). So it became something we wanted to do and make a difference in the online sphere. We realised that we could do it because to some extent, we are technology people. That led us to establish Brief Essentials.”

    Asked how she and her husband arrived at the corporate name, Seun said: “We deliberated on the name to call the business until my husband suggested Brief Essentials one morning. It made a lot of sense because the name represented what we wanted to do.”

    Although initially Seun went out looking for underwear for herself and control undergarments that could help her get back her pre-pregnancy shape, she ended up selling underwear to everybody.

    She said: “Our first online sale was in April 2011. So we are five years on now. And we do not just sell underwear, shapewear and breathtaking lingerie for mums, we have something for everybody.”

    So how has the couple fared after five years in lingerie business?

    “It has been good,” retorted Seun. “There have been challenges, but generally, it has been very promising. Nigeria’s e-commerce space is still growing. A lot of education is required to get more people to buy online. But again, what we have seen is that when people are actually shown how to buy online, they find it more convenient to do so. So sometimes, it is about knowledge too and we do share that as well, especially with our customers.

    “We take out time to educate our potential customers on how to buy online by simply clicking and shopping directly on the website. We also educate them about their sizes and what’s suitable for their shape and pain areas. For instance, from our experience, a whole lot of Nigerians wear the wrong bra size, and our aim is to correct that. Every female out there deserves a beautiful pair. Issues with wrong bra size could range from a band that is riding up or a cup that is too big or too small. We do this lingerie education on our social media platforms and all available avenues that can be harnessed. From how to choose the right bra, how to wear the appropriate underwear, and even the kind of underwear that can fit some kind of clothing.

    There is a particular underwear for every kind of clothing and occasion. We want people to look good underneath it all. That is why we have several options, colours, types, sizes from band size 30 – 50 and cups A to KK and Shapewear up to 15XL. Our plethora of options also include senior citizens.

    “With over 5000 different types of underwear, we are specialised in that area.”

    While Seun’s husband, Tayo-Balogun has electrical and computer engineering background with over 15 years experience in the IT industry, Seun has a background in the social sciences with diverse experiences in finance, economics, branding, marketing and a strong flair for computer applications, graphics and web design.

    “All this put together has really helped us as a couple in running our business. That is why I advise people to keep learning because, the things you’ve learnt could come handy at some point in one’s life. “I have about 13 years experience working in a corporate environment. That has also helped.”

    Have there been challenges in the past five years of business growth?

    “Yes, there have been challenges,” chorused the couple. “We have had issues with people hacking into our site, for instance. But thank God my husband is also an IT Security Specialist, we were able to bring the site back up within a short time. Imagine if we had to pay for all that. It won’t be cheap.

    “Initially, we were working from home. But early last year, we moved it out of the home to an office where people can come in and pick stuff from us. But we sell more online because online is our core model. As for deliveries, we do deliver to all the 36 states in Nigeria. We have delivery partners as well.”

    Quality comes with a price. So how expensive are Seun and Tayo’s online products?

    “Our lingerie are not expensive,” replied Seun. “That is because when we compare it with other similar stores selling the kind of things we sell, I believe we are doing it right for the customers. To start with, everything we sell is top-notch. Besides, what you see in the big stores when you travel to the US or UK is what we sell.

    We have the big brands in our store and our prices are much better. Sometimes, we have a gap of up to 50% difference in our prices in comparison with similar items in the market. That is because our vision from the beginning was to sell lingerie online at affordable prices. Prices that Nigerians will be able to afford.

    “We believe that everybody has the right to wear beautiful lingerie, and it shouldn’t be too expensive. Seeing a lot of people coming back to buy repeatedly from us really means they are satisfied with their purchases.

    “I have realised that since we started five years ago, most of our customers’ way back are still our customers today. That really amazes us and it also means so much. They have been with us and they are still with us. That tells us that whatever we are doing is a niche product, which is giving value, and people are happy with whatever they are buying, and that is why they keep coming back.

    “So, our customer’s retention has been quite high, and that is what we are happy about and we really give God the glory.”

    Apart from being online and selling offline as well, Seun and Tayo acknowledge the importance of holding a fashion fair. “We are actually having one in a few days’ time,” Said Seun. “We had one in July at Intercontinental Hotel in Victoria Island (Lagos). It was an opportunity to meet some of our customers who live around us or are presently in the country.

    “By blending both together, we realised we would be able to deliver better results. There, we helped them to know their sizes, what was suitable for their body types, their body shapes and fitting for the kind of clothes they are wearing, that goes a long way to improve on the personal touch to our products. More importantly, meeting our customers and talking to them is something that we are happy doing and shall continue to do.

    “However, this is Africa. We have a culture that thrives on sanity. We do not like exposing our private body parts in public. So, during our shows, we do not use real models as such to display our products. We have a way of placing it on racks, use brochures, mannequins and so on. But at the same time, the real model live shows would have to depend on cultural acceptance before we can do it at some point.

    Do the lingerie they sell have African flair or they are limited to the regular Oyinbo stuff?

    Seun responded: “That’s our next phase. We are working presently on that. We are looking to experiment with some African styles and we know we will make it happen sooner than expected.”

    Asked what running an online business is like, she said: “It is easier to start an online business. The challenge is staying online, because when you need to scale, it becomes expensive.

    “If you are able to work out a great strategy that will enable you scale quickly online, then go for it. Online is good. You do not have to wait for customers. You can search. If you have a good search optimisation, you can get an edge.

    Seun also shared with us one of her best moments as an entrepreneur.

    “Sometime last year, I missed my flight to Lagos while I was returning from the Nigerian Economic Summit 21. So while waiting for the next flight, I decided to do a bit of marketing to some ladies at the airport lounge. While we chatted, I introduced brief essentials, but they apologised and replied that they already had places where they bought their underwear and that they were contented with the place.

    “Out of curiosity I asked them where they buy from and they told me they buy from Brief Essentials. That was amazing. That was when I told them that I didn’t even have to market to them anymore because I represent Brief Essentials. One of them said she had been buying from us for four years. Such stories keep us going. We feel we have done something unique that people appreciate. We are indeed very grateful to God that we created this idea that people have found beneficial.

    “We sell to everyone—male, female and children underwear, shape wear, bridal underwear, accessories, anything that is related to underwear—and that is necessary to solve several fashion dilemmas.

    Asked what it is like doing business with one’s wife, Tayo-Balogun said: “Even as a wife, I see her first as a partner and when it comes to business, I treat her like anyone I do business with. The distinction is necessary for business growth.

    On how often they sit together to discuss about their mutual business, Tayo-Balogun said: “Well, as it is, I am currently employed and I really have a tight schedule. But whenever I am available, we deliberate on the business.

    On who takes charge of stock of their products, he says he is contented allowing Seun to do it “One of her responsibilities as the person who runs the business is also locating suppliers and manufacturers,” he said, adding “I am comfortable and more relaxed doing business with my wife.

    “At a point, I had to insist that she should take complete charge, because in the beginning, she was on paid employment and it was becoming too stressful.

    “The business would have grown more than this, but because she was in paid employment; her first loyalty was to her employer; a situation I also encouraged. That is because I have employees too and I would want them to be loyal to me even if they have their private things they do.

    “So I am comfortable that she is in the family business. With her, I don’t have to worry about somebody robbing me of profit. If she mismanages our funds, it comes back to her (laughs).

    “I am really favoured to have a wife who understands the importance of business. No offence to other women, there are some women who would rather do something else, while some other women prefer to be in paid employment and aspire to be powerful in the boardroom. There is nothing wrong with that if their husbands are comfortable with that.

    “A husband and his wife have to sit together and discuss and be sure that a family business is really what they want to do. And if that is what they want to do, by all means, it is better to have my wife in business with me than having total strangers, especially with the issue of trust.”

    He prefers to describe himself as “someone who put a lot of value on giving value. Work makes me happy and relevant, I am also passionate about helping people. If I know something, I feel that it is my responsibility to let others know same. If I see a need, I usually see it as my responsibility to pass the information around.

    “I love family. I believe the family is the bedrock of the society and I think that everyone who aspires to have a family should cultivate the family and teach the children. There is a reason why God gave children to us and didn’t make them fall from trees.

    “So I’m interested in a better Nigeria. We should be interested in politics instead of leaving it to people some think are not qualified. I like privacy at my quiet moments, to read.

    Seun also sared the experience of working with her husband: “Yes, we work together and we also play together (laughs). My husband is a very amazing man and I enjoy working with him. He listens and we are able to talk about our issues and always find a way out.

    “If he were not the kind of person that he is, it would have been tough. The beautiful part of it is that he allows me to do whatever I want to do. If I tell him something, he asks, ‘Is that what you think? Okay, go ahead and do it’.

    “He is so supportive. He doesn’t want me to make mistakes. He is always ready to provide lots of insight and he always has insight. I appreciate him.

    “He is also an amazing father to our three children. Anytime he is not at work, he is with the family. He takes care of his family. He doesn’t joke with that. I thank God for having him and I thank his parents for bringing him up rightly.

    “We have a family support system which is wonderful. I am the CEO of the business, but most of the time, every decision I take is something that we have both agreed to do. As the CEO, I provide a lot of oversight, but we are a combination of two people who are passionate about something, and doing what they believe in.

    “In fact, being my husband makes it more interesting because the family that does anything together stays together, because a lot of things continually blends us together. Personally as a mum, I love to be around my children. I like to have time for them. That I have achieved by working for myself. And my husband also likes that. So I can say that we are all comfortable with the family arrangement.

  • 81-yr-old Islamic scholar’s undying passion: Whether I’m in Nigeria or passion, I must eat pounded yam DAILY

    81-yr-old Islamic scholar’s undying passion: Whether I’m in Nigeria or passion, I must eat pounded yam DAILY

    PROMINENT Islamic scholar, 81-year-old, Sheik Al-Mukadam Muhhamed Robiu Adebayo, is the founder of Jam’iyyat Lutfil-Laai International, an Islamic society with branches in several countries across the world, including the US and the United Kingdom.

    Sheu, as members of the society call him, came to Lagos as a 10-year-old boy in 1948. The son of an Ilorin, Kwara State-born Islamic scholar, Robiu Adebayo was sent to Lagos by his father to study the Quran under the tutelage of an Islamic scholar.

    “Though my father was a very prominent Islamic scholar in Ilorin, he preferred to send me to a Quranic school in Lagos,” he said with a touch of joy in his eyes.

    His father’s decision to send him to Lagos, Sheik said was informed by the belief that it was better for him to go out of his immediate family setting to get a good education.

    “The old people of my generation believed that a child may not be able to learn if he was taught by his parents. They also believed that a child needed to go outside his family to learn some things about life.”

    Asked if he was happy with his father’s decision at the time, he said: “In those days, you dare not argue with your father’s decision. Even your mother is compelled to support whatever decision the father made. It was the same in my own case. My father wanted the best for me, hence his decision to send me to Lagos.”

    His father’s decision to send him to Lagos will remain the best influence on his life. Young Adebayo arrived in Lagos without any formal education, but with the determination to make success of his father’s dream.

    Growing up, Sheik said he was always desirous of becoming an Islamic cleric. “You know that was the job that our father did. And since they worked for God, they wanted their children to follow in their footsteps, and that was what I did.”

    He arrived in the Kosoko area, Lagos Island area of Lagos, where he spent most of his younger days, and chose to focus his attention on his mission, which was to attend a Quranic school.

    “You know that I told you that my father wanted me to study the Quran, so that was what I focused my attention on at the time.”

    As a young man, Robiu Adebayo loved sports and participated actively in sports like football, boxing and table tennis.

    “For most young men of my generation, you had to love one sport or the other. For me, I loved football, boxing and table tennis and I was really active in these sports.”

    But, his arrival and survival in Lagos was not on a roller coaster. As a young man from the hinterland of the country, he was often referred to by his peers as an Ara oke (one from the hinterland). That tag, he confessed, put some limitations on young men at the time.

    “I came to Lagos from Ilorin, Kwara State. At the time, people who came from the hinterland part of the country were called ara oko. It really affected some young men who began to display inferiority complex.”

    But young Adebayo refused to bow to the tag and mixed with other young men. “I came as a young boy and I mixed very well with other boys of my age,” he said with a sense of pride.

    He also realised that he needed to do something that would earn him money. “I joined some other young men to fish. We would go to sea to catch fishes, which we sold to make some money. There is no island between Lagos and Badagry that we didn’t go during our fishing expeditions.”

    All the money he made, he said was spent on his quest for Islamic education and to fulfill his father’s advice that he must go to a Quran school.

    “All the money that I made was spent on Quran schools. My father insisted that I must go to a Quranic school and I just had to make sure that I heed his instruction.”

    In 1957, Sheik realised that he needed to get some form of formal education and decided to learn driving. At the completion of his training, he joined the employ of Leventis Motors, where he worked as a store keeper.

    While his boss’ wife loved him because he was always neat, some people in the company wanted the boss to sack him because of his lack of education. After sometime, the boss later heeded the advice and asked him to resign.

    “Some people went to the boss to sack me, but his wife really loved me because I was always neat. They told the boss that because I didn’t go to school, it would be easy for thieves to steal the cars in my care. After sometime, I was asked to resign.”

    After losing his job with Leventis, he got another job with the Nigerian Railway, where he worked till he started Islamic cleric job.

    After his decision to go full time into Quranic calling, Adebayo went back to an Islamic school, located in the Ebutte Metta area of Lagos.

    “In 1968, I decided to go to a Lebanese school in Ebutte Metta. It was a full time Islamic school built by the Lebanese government. It was also tuition-free. I spent three years at the school.”

    Sheik said he studied under the tutelage of about 10 Islamic scholars during his quest for knowledge and understanding of the religion. Doing that, he said, helped him to acquire different types of knowledge from different people.

    “In our time, we needed to ensure that we got full understanding of Islam. For me, I attended about 10 Quranic schools and each of them impacted on me in different ways.”

    Speaking on the seeming tension among religious groups, he said there was no need for it, insisting that only a religious leader that has a ‘hidden agenda’ would create tension among religious bodies.

    “There is no need for all this misunderstanding among the religions. There are several books that can enlighten the people on the right thing to do,” he said, before adding: “Let me tell you this, whatever religion you claim to profess, you’ll know in your heart if you are doing the right thing or not. A religious leader who is deceiving his followers knows what he is doing. But judgment should be left to God, because it is only Him that knows who is truly worshipping Him or not.”

    On his simple lifestyle, Sheik Adebayo wondered why a true man of God would go round town with unbridled display of opulence and aides. “While it is not wrong for a religious leader to have aides that would go round with him, what I don’t seem to understand is the way some people do it. If you go round with 1,000 aides, that does not stop you from having a stomach upset if you would have it. And funny enough, none of those around you would feel the same way with you. Most of the things that happen to man have been listed by God to happen. And if you see a true man of God, he would not come out himself to proclaim it. It is the people around him that will go round to speak of his good deeds.”

    At 81, Sheik Adebayo has barely slowed down on a few things she used to do before now. His day starts early in the morning when he rises to say his prayers. That is then followed up with a little exercise, which he said has been difficult for him to stop. “It is difficult for you stop doing a few exercises in the morning if you did sport in your younger days,” he said smiling.

    But one thing that the Sheik has found difficult to stop is his love for pounded yam. According to him, whether he was at home in Nigeria or anywhere outside the country, his daily meal of pounded yam remains a must.

    “My best food is pounded yam. And I eat it daily, irrespective of where I am. Whether in Nigeria, UK, US or anywhere, my day is not complete without a meal of pounded yam.”

    While the Sheik may not have any form of formal education, his understanding of English language is high. Asked how he was able to speak English, he laughed before saying: “I’ve lived in Lagos for more than 70 years. Who would live in Lagos for that number of years without being able to speak English language? Besides that, I have visited several foreign countries where I have my members. So, it should not be surprising that I speak English.”

    He, is, however, not resting on his oars in his quest for better education for the people. Aside from his Quranic school, his organisation has founded a nursery and primary school, with students cutting across religious divides.

    “What we are doing is to train better leaders. We observed that some Islamic teachers need to improve themselves in formal education. You can imagine a scholar who is not able to speak English language? So, we decided to establish a school. We have also acquired a large sparse of land in Ilorin where we hope to start a university very soon.”

  • MY LIFE- OKOROCHA

    MY LIFE- OKOROCHA

    SOME militants in Imo State recently surrendered their arms after an amnesty programme initiated by your administration. How easy was it to pull this through?

    Militancy has been a very big problem in Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta, the core oil producing local government areas in Imo State. This has led to many traditional rulers and highly placed individuals leaving their homes and villages to other parts of the country for safety. We have been battling this issue for a very long time. The most serious part of it was when they grouped themselves as Avengers and started destroying pipelines, destroying properties and killing innocent citizens. The attention of government was drawn and we held several Security Council meetings on how to aver the situation.

    I must at this point commend the Nigeria Police Force, the Army, the DSS and other security agencies, including our local security outfits which are called the Civil Guard, the Niger Delta Security Vanguard and the Community Watch. All these are efforts to solve the problem of militancy in the state, including the donation of 100 pickups to the security agencies. But then, we had so much difficulties and casualties. I took this matter to the Federal Executive Council on several occasions and reported the situation. So we decided to take the bull by the horns and applied the option of negotiation, lobbying and threat, all combined, and it worked out well. When we reached out to them with stick and carrot, including a show of force too from the police and the military, we were quite pleased that they accepted. That was what gave birth to the laying down of arms.

    But I must say that a good number of them are yet to lay down their arms. On Thursday, another group, which I consider the most notorious of all the gangs, will be coming to lay down their arms. The leader, I was told, has a lot of AK 47 and a lot of ammunition with over 500 boys in the creeks. Our understanding is that the same people operating here in Ohaji-Egbema also operate in Rivers State. So we are directly or indirectly solving the problems of both states by the strategy we have put together. But remember that mine is only to grant pardon. It is for the President to grant amnesty. But our pardon will lead to amnesty. We have assured them that we are going to guarantee them good living and better environment. But you know, I cannot do all that alone without the support of the Federal Government. That is where we are now. First is to get all of them to lay down their arms and then we commence the amnesty process.

    Apart from the militants, there are other criminal elements, like kidnappers and armed robbers who have been terrorising the riverine communities. Will they also benefit from this process?

    You may be surprised to find that the same people are doing all the harm to the society. They first of all come up as militants, as cultists, and when they no longer have resources to keep them moving in the creeks and forests, they resort to kidnapping and armed robbery. So, by solving this one problem, we are directly or indirectly solving the entire security problem of the state. You will recall that in the last nine months, we have not had any incident of kidnapping or armed robbery in the state. So I think this is the right movement in the right direction. As soon as this is done, Imo will become a safe haven.

    During the disarmament exercise, the major reason given by the restive youths for taking up arms was marginalisation occasioned by the indifferent attitudes of oil companies and the failure of government to address the challenges. How do you hope to tackle all this?

    Let me say that the agitations of the youths are germane but the approach is wrong. What they are agitating for is correct and worthy to be agitated for, but the approach is a conflicting lie. The youths have complained seriously about the activities of the oil companies, and 90 per cent of the problems we are having in the area is caused by the oil-producing companies. It is the oil companies who create these cult groups. First, they start as youth formations and they create the differences and fund them to fight each other to have easy way to extract their oil.

    We have continually asked the companies to liaise with the state government to address the issues of these communities but they prefer to deal with the communities as they claim that they have no business with the state; that they were empowered by the Federal Government to come for these projects. So when they come, they don’t even see the governor or any government official. They just go straight to drill their oil and desert the area and give the youths little money, sometimes N2 million, sometimes N5 million, and they start killing themselves. So oil companies must be warned in the Niger Delta Area to behave right, because they are the major cause of the problem.

    At a time in the life of your administration, the state government gave N500 million to youths from the oil producing communities as empowerment package. How far did it go in solving youth restiveness? Are you going to employ similar measure in the case of the repentant militants?

    No. Remember the first time when I came into office, through the office of the ISOPADEC, we were able to raise N500 million for the youths of Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta for empowerment, and that meant almost N10 million for every community, which was enough to start a small scale industry. But because of the restiveness of the youths at that particular time, and the urgent need to meet up with some of their challenges, we raised the money and empowered them individually to start barbing, farming and other kinds of businesses. Some of them actually succeeded, while most of them did not succeed.

    So, this time, we are not going to apply that same strategy. We are going to set up things under our project of one ward one factory, to set up things that will actually engage these youths to contribute their quota to the productive sector of our economy. This is what we intend to do. For instance, if I had used that N500 million to build factories, more of them would have been working now, rather than just empowering a few of them. So, that of our amnesty programme, after we have discussed with the Federal Government, is to see what we can set up in those areas to engage the youths positively.

    So what are the rural-based projects with which you have addressed unemployment in the state?

    Remember, we first set up what is called the Community Government Council (CGC), which was one of our first services to bring the government closer to the people and teach them to do things by themselves. Rather than everybody coming to Owerri, to the office of the governor, seeking succour, we decided to decentralise government and formed the fourth tier of government, which is called the Community Government Council, and this has helped a lot. It has helped us to kick-start a palm project where we got the youths into farming. We have started fish farming in Oguta and some other areas. These are some of the things we have done.

    It is mainly agriculture-based but we are trying to now anchor on this Federal Government’s borrowers’ programme to also get most of them committed. What is basically done is to establish a government where they can reach easily and where they can reach within a walking distance and get their own government and work out what is best suited for their lives and how they can use the resources of their land to empower themselves.

    Recently, you raised a serious concern about the deplorable conditions of Federal Government infrastructure particularly roads in the South East and how the people have waited in vain for the Federal Government. What are you and your colleagues in the South East doing to address this?

    Well, the infrastructure in the Southeast is really bad. I think it is the worst in the whole country, talking about the road from Enugu to Port Harcourt, Enugu to Onitsha, Owerri to Aba, Owerri to Umuahia, Aba to Ikot-Ekpene, Owerri to Bayelsa, all these roads are in sorry states. Unfortunately this was a creation of bad governance in the time past, and it is the challenge which is meant for this government to address. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari and I think we the Southeast Governors have spoken loud on this and we have agreed that there is need for urgent government’s intervention in these areas to assist the people of the South East who are currently suffering.

    You cannot even drive from Owerri to Enugu now. It is impossible. So we have all spoken with a loud voice, and this is where we should rather concentrate more—asking government for infrastructural support rather than talking of who gets what appointment and how. Because if it was appointment, the South East has held most of the lucrative appointments in the country in the last 16 years of the PDP administration. We produced the Minister of Finance. We produced the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. We produced several Senate presidents. We have produced the Deputy Senate President. We have produced the Governor of the CBN. We have produced the Chief of Army Staff. We have produced Inspector General of Police. We have produced all these under the PDP rule, but it didn’t reflect on any development in the land.

    So I think we should change our style, come together and inform President Buhari and the Federal Government to do something infrastructure wise. That is what we are asking for. Why we are asking people to represent us at the Federal Government level is because of these infrastructure. So if we can get the infrastructure, we are fine. So for me, I think we should emphasise more on infrastructure.

    Still on infrastructure, how are you coping with the numerous projects going on in your state, especially the urban renewal projects, in the face of the economic recession that has forced several states to abandon ongoing projects?

    It is a matter of passion. When you have passion for your country or your state, you will do what I am doing. I wish I can turn Imo State around in a couple of days to look like Dubai or America. This is my dream and I am restless about it. So I make sure I cut down cost drastically where necessary and put more in infrastructure. It is not easy, but I have been trying to do my best in this regard.

    Yes, agreed we have more projects than people think we can handle, but let me assure you that we will complete all of them. People were doubting that we would not complete the 27 general hospitals, 200-bed general hospital each in the 27 local government areas of the state. You will be surprised to know that some of these projects are 100 per cent complete and others are about 85 per cent complete. We have completed the 205 schools we are building. The roads we are constructing are all being completed. The Ikemba Ojukwu Centre, the Hero Square, the Government House, all the schools in the city are now brand new schools. The projects are just uncountable. It is about passion and determination to do so.

    But what really drives me is that I am building for the future. I see 100 years from now, not just 2019. I see beyond 2019 for Imo State. What we are embarking on now, which is making the headlines, is this urban renewal. We are trying to create eight lanes in all the roads in the city, and this is going to take about 100 kilometres of road within the city of Owerri when completed. Now, this is a huge project, but somebody has to do it, and we are happy we are getting the result. We will finish it before 2019. So it is about passion, cutting down cost and addressing priority projects rather than the sentiments and the euphoria that goes with the office. So you make sacrifice. I do not collect security vote. I have cut down the cost of governance to almost zero and interestingly too is for you to know that we have paid all our workers salaries up to date. We do not owe any worker a single salary in Imo State and we have commenced payment of pension.

    But in spite of these, the opposition against your government in the state seems not to be relenting…

    What do you expect? Do you want the opposition to sing my praise? Definitely not. They are not going to sing praises for the projects. When you are asking how I am doing, definitely not from my enemy, because he will tell you I am dead. That is the normal culture, especially in this part of the world where hate and hate campaign is the rule of the game. If you remember, the opposition said I was going to Islamise Imo State. It is not true. The opposition said that the church I built here is a mosque. You can see it. I am not against Islam, but I am a Christian. The opposition said that I was sick and that I was dead when I only went to see my grandchildren abroad. So, there is nothing literally that they have said that is correct or right. I think they are only overwhelmed by the number of projects. Things they could not do were done by somebody.

    The shocking thing is that what all of them in the past put together could not do, they now see somebody doing it. So it is expected that you have this kind of envy. But that is coming from a few but vocal people, and I liken it to a big forest that is very quiet until you have a falling tree and you hear a big noise and you think the whole forest is making noise. It is just the falling tree in the forest that is making the huge noise, so it is negligible. But with the social media and the type of our media practice, everybody has the right to say what he wants, but that does not reflect any practical reality.

    You made the headlines recently with the reduction of the working days for civil servants in the state from five to three. What are the perceived benefits of the new policy?

    I think that was really misconstrued and misrepresented in the public. What I said was that we should have three days of solid work in Imo State, likely from 7 o’clock to 5 o’clock every day, and we should try and finish all we have to do for the week in three days and leave the other two days for agriculture. Considering the economic predicament this nation is going through, at least we should be able to feed ourselves by so doing. Because of the high cost of living, the workers are able to save some money from washing their clothes, from transportation and having to feed outside their homes on working days. These are strategies to cut down cost, but most importantly, to go back to the land for agriculture, which is the best way to go.

    But having discussed properly with the workers, I think they now understand where I was coming from. The initial problem was that they were not properly informed, so they were scared that we were going to cut their salaries. We didn’t cut their salaries. We are still paying them what we are paying them and we are prepared to pay them. The initial issue of cutting their salaries was just noise from the opposition. So we are doing them a favour. We have packaged agric loans and we are also asking them to take advantage of the Anchor Borrower’s programme of the CBN. So, every worker in Imo State, we want them to have a second office because that single office of civil servants can no longer meet their needs and those of their families.

    Recently, the Federal Government announced that the economy had slid into recession, and the opposition is blaming your party, the APC, for lacking the capacity to manage the economy…

    Let me help you on this. I think there is a misunderstanding of the whole scenario. Mine will start with a question and really understanding what President Buhari is doing. Firstly, does President Buhari have the capacity to borrow $500 billion from the World Bank and all over the world? Yes, he has. And he has the credibility more than anyone else to borrow that money today, even in Africa. President Buhari can step out today and borrow money from Korea, China, Dubai, and he can bring this money and open the door for importation and rice will fly into this country from all corners of the earth. Water will be imported. Toothpick will be imported. And when there are more goods than the money available, the price will go down and rice will come back to N1,000 per bag. This is the scenario if we want to adopt that approach, which is what Nigerians are clamouring for without knowing how to put it.

    Now, given the fact again that Nigeria never made any savings when oil price was at its peak, we blew the money in corrupt practices, with people having billions of dollars in their accounts and buying properties abroad. So Nigeria had no reserve anywhere in the world. Now, our foreign reserve in which we used to have about $43 billion has come down to less than $19 million and we import everything. This is what the people do not understand and I don’t think anybody has been able to explain to Nigerians what this really means.

    But what President Buhari is saying is ‘I will not borrow. I will not allow importation. I have closed down all my borders so that Nigerians will bring down these cracked walls of economic inefficiency and build a sound one and create a new foundation.’ That is my understanding of the man’s language. And by so doing, Nigerians will now look inward. For the first time, Kebbi State is producing rice. And in Imo State, we are now embarking on rice production possibly to feed the entire Nigeria, because we have the water and we have the climate. Before now, we wouldn’t have thought of that. Now, many people have started producing tomatoes. People are looking inwards. Let me tell you, when one economic door closes, another one opens.

    That is what we are going through, and it is a matter of patience. It is either we decide to suffer it now and get it right for generations yet unborn or we go and open the boarders again and bring in the dollars and we crash and everybody will smile. But one day, either this President or one other President in the future generation will have to bear this brunt and fix this country once and for all. This is the Nigeria we are talking about, and I don’t think anybody has been able to communicate this to the people. And if we agree and all Nigerians will sign and let us push him to go and borrow $100 billion and allow them to import rice and make Nigeria a dumping ground, are we comfortable with this?

    Do we share in the pains of the poor? Yes we share in the pains of the poor. Are people dying, are people suffering? Yes, people are suffering. But what do we do? To suffer now and fix it or enjoy now and let our children suffer in the future? This is where I stand. So it is a 50-50 thing. What I advise now is that we should open some window for those basic and essential commodities that touch directly on the lives of the people, like health related matters. We should open up a little window for fresh air. The opposition is taking advantage of this because they think that Nigerians are not informed and it is difficult to deal with people who are not informed because they can sway them to anywhere for political gains.

    So, my worry even is that I don’t see how such a vision can be accomplished in such a short time, because it is a long-term project. I wish the previous leaders had built a state for the Nigerian state before we embarked on this democratic structure which allows us to work for only two years and use two years for campaign. It is a problem that should be addressed for me. I am not the President. I think the President of the country should highlight more on this.

    You were renowned for philanthropic gestures before you became governor. How much of that are you doing now?

    Philanthropy is my spirit and my spirit is charity. I have come to this world to help the needy and those who do not have. This is where I focus on and this has characterised my government. And that is why I am not in good terms with the big men of the society. But I have asked them to please bear with me. It is my nature, I care more about the people, the masses and the down-trodden. And for the Foundation, we are doing much. We are still expanding. In Imo State, we have built what we called the Imo Foundation with Cancer Palliative Centre and a full-fledged hospital. Now I am meeting the needs of the poor people. So charity is in my blood and my family. My wife has also built over 200 houses for indigent widows who live in shanties. So philanthropy is in my blood and I cannot change it.

    What were your growing up days like?

    I never had the privilege of being born into a rich family. If you know what is called a very poor family, that is the best way to describe my family, and that posed a lot of threat growing up. It affected my education, as I had to joggle with education in and outside the school premises. That I am able to have a master’s degree in Law is a miracle. It was really challenging. That saw me becoming a street trader, hawking different goods from garri to pineapples and oranges, graduating into the sale of used clothes, used cars, and later into new cars and real estate to become who I am today. But I love that history and I am proud of it. I cherish my poor background. In fact, it inspires me, rather than bring me down. It makes me to hate poverty and injustice.

    What gave you the insight to choose such a supportive woman as wife?

    I saw my wife and we got married in less than one week. There was nothing like courtship. There was nothing like chasing a woman. I saw her and I said, you are going to be my wife, and that was at the age of 22, 23, and I got married at that age. I think it was divine. It was more spiritual than physical. It is something both of us cannot explain, and that is why we have the happiest home in the universe. I am blessed with six children, three boys and three girls. I have four grandchildren and over 15,000 children of the Rochas Foundation.

    Have you ever thought about your political future beyond 2019?

    Don’t forget I have run for governor before. I have run for President of this country. I have run for Senate in the past. I have been a member of the PDP. I was also a member of the ANPP. I have been a member of APGA. All these in pursuit of my political ambition. But the stage that I found as a governor, am I satisfied? No, I am not satisfied, because I have not achieved all that I desire for this state and my country Nigeria. I will walk out of this state a great governor and I want to see a better Nigeria of tomorrow.

    But one thing I have said is that if I see somebody who can do that job which I think I can do, and my vision tallies with that of the person on how to make Nigeria great, I will subsume my ambition and support the person. That is my statement. But if at any time I do not see anybody who shares that vision and I do not believe that you can move Nigeria forward, then I will return to the trenches and dramatise that I am not satisfied

  • For the love of their mother

    For the love of their mother

    On September 11, the late Florence Jadesola Aboderin, wife of the founder of Punch Newspapers, the late Olubunmi James Aboderin,  would have turned 80. Her children threw a lavish party at the Haven Events Centre in GRA, Ikeja to celebrate their matriarch and the virtues she represented, 23 years after her death. NNEKA NWANERI was there.

    From the grandeur of the hall, the beautiful scenes, the contemporary dressing and décor at its finest, the  event – “Time out with Florence”- had them. All these announced to guests  and family members that the evening was to honour a great matriarch, the late Jadesola Aboderin, whose posthumous 80th birthday was being celebrated with fanfare. The Aboderins, of course, have it all – wealth, class and taste.

    These and many more they displayed last week when their late mother’s birthday was celebrated in grand style.

    She was the wife of the late James Olubunmi Aboderin, founder of Punch Newspapers. She was also the first woman African mortgage banker and a founding member of the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church. She died in March 1993 at 56, nine years after she lost her husband.

    To mark her day, a party was held in her honour at the Haven Events Centre in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

    The pageantry was all about the things she loved. They included Gatsby-style outfits, good old school karaoke, decorations and many more.

    There were music, drama, comedy and rib-cracking jokes that made the audience laugh. Comedian Lepacious Bose, with her new signature – slim figure – compered at the ceremony.

    Publisher of Punch Newspapers Mr Wale Aboderin recieved thumbs up when he took the microphone to perform various evergreen songs before the teeming guests.

    He sang, danced and moved about the stage, miming the lyrics of the songs to the delight of many, who stared in amazement.

    Before then, he described his mother as a polyglot and philanthropist, urging everyone to emulate her life by impacting on the lives of those in the society to be remembered after death.

    First daughter of the late Mrs Aboderin Angela Emuwa recalled how her mother loved potted flowers in her garden, and cooked for the pioneer members of the staff of Punch as they struggled to meet deadline.

    “I remember heliconias; the various coloured roses and hibiscus and jasmine vines growing by the entrance, a welcoming fragrance for visitors to our Ilupeju house. Those were exciting times.”

    The former Secretary for Health in the Chief Ernest Shonekan-led interim government, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, noted that  her daughter, Wunmi Obe, aka TWO, got her singing talent from her mother.

    Tunde Obe met his mother-in-law in 1988. She died five years after.

    The couple, Wunmi and Tunde, staged a 30-minute performance before hip-hop artistes 9ICE and Vector wrapped up the evening to make it a more memorable one.

    A biography of the late Mrs Aboderin, authored by the children, was distributed to the guests.

  • The world is waiting…

    It is generally believed that people no longer read in this generation, which is a bad news for writers. How do you write when you already have the impression that no one would read it? The other bad news for writers is that even when there are people out there who would read their articles, there are few available platforms to present them to the audience. Several times, the passion of young writers is killed by lack of opportunities to be read. Imagine the difficulty to get your articles published in newspapers or magazines! While the internet appears to be a great opportunity for every writer to be visible, it is not as easy as it seems. There are several blogs without enough traffic to justify the efforts invested in creating contents for them. There are too many sites and pages contending for the attention and limited time of online visitors that you cannot guarantee that your article would be an option.

    However, it is not true that people no longer read because you are reading this article right now. What is true is that people have changed their reading habits. You should learn the specific needs of your audience and how to satisfy these needs.

    Let me share my experience with you. I always wanted to share my ideas through writing but I never had the opportunity to do so. In 2009, I met the Editor of one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria and he promised to give me a column in his paper. I followed up this promise for two years but he never fulfilled the promise. Finally in 2011, I had the opportunity to write for a regional newspaper and this lasted till 2012. Though the paper was not distributed in the State I was in, I kept writing in faith that someone somewhere was reading. In 2013, I was blessed with the opportunity to start this column “Communicate Your Ideas” in The Nation Newspaper and the column is still published every Friday till date. For this, I am ultimately grateful to God, the Editor of The Nation Newspaper and his team.

    Since I started writing this column, I have received several comments from almost every State in the country. Here are a few of the heartwarming messages I have received:

    “I so much thank God that I changed my mind yesterday to go for The Nation Newspaper instead of my regular. Your article has kept my legs fixed and my mind focused. Not only me! Is your piece daily?”- Elder Samuel

    “I read your write up on communicate your ideas in The Nation Newspaper of Friday, June 10, 2016 and I want to tell you that the write up has really touched my heart. I abandoned my ICAN exams after 4 attempts, but after going through your write up, I have made up my mind to go back and complete it starting from this November Diet. Thanks for the priceless information”- Samuel.

    “Thanks for your encouraging piece “What’s Your Excuse?” in The Nation newspaper. I just read it. I have an unfulfilled dream (furthering my education) and I am believing God to help me through. I am encouraged. Thanks” – Fred, Abuja

    These and several other humbling comments led to the establishment of my website. The website is one of the fastest growing platforms on effective communication. Launched in September 2015, the site has enjoyed over 23,000 visits in just 13 months. It has also been visited from over 89 countries of the world with United States, Germany, France, Norway and United Kingdom among the top 10.

    From my experience, I learnt that you must never give up on your dreams because there are people out there waiting for what you have to offer. Writing in itself is a major task without being burdened with the worries of how to share it. I believe there are several world class writers waiting to be discovered. I have also received several requests from people who would love to develop their writing career. Therefore, as I appreciate The Nation Newspaper for the platform given to me, I am also creating a platform for others to develop. I have introduced a new feature, “Talented”, on my website where authors can write for free and have readers appreciate their articles.

    There is so much in you that you have not yet explored. According to Myles Munroe, “The wealthiest place in the world is not the gold mines of South America or the oil fields of Iraq or Iran. They are not the diamond mines of South Africa or the banks of the world. The wealthiest place on the planet is just down the road. It is the cemetery. There lie buried companies that were never started, inventions that were never made, bestselling books that were never written, and masterpieces that were never painted. In the cemetery is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential.” Never underestimate your gift because the world is waiting for you.

  • How fears over Abiara’s health threw Christian community into panic

    How fears over Abiara’s health threw Christian community into panic

    BARELY one week after the death of Pastor Christiana Abiara, wife of renowned evangelist, Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara, the Nigerian Christian community was thrown into panic early in the week over the health of the bereaved prophet. There were reports early in the week that he had to be rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, where doctors battled to save his life.

    Seventy-year-old Mrs Abiara had passed on after about 50 eventful years of preaching the gospel with her heartthrob and leading the women wing of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Agbala Itura worldwide. Not a few people had surmised that the man of God would find the death of his wife extremely painful and almost unbearable. The speculation proved prophetic when Prophet Abiara was rushed to the hospital; a situation that was quickly linked to the death of his heartthrob.

    As would be expected, the news of the popular prophet’s break down jolted the leadership of the Christian community with notable spiritual figures making spirited efforts to reach his family or visit him on the sick bed to douse their worries. And as he lay on his sick bed at a private ward of the UCH, Ibadan, Christian leaders took turns to reach the pastors in the ministry as well as family members and close associates for information on the evangelist’s condition.

    The Nation gathered that Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church a.k.a. Winners Chapel, was among the Christian leaders that personally visited Abiara at the hospital. Many other prominent church leaders were said to have made telephone calls to Abiara’s family members and friends to confirm that all was well.

    It was learnt that the calls only stopped coming in on Thursday when he was discharged from the hospital.

    A visit to the Christ Apostolic  Church Agbala Itura, Agege, a suburb of Lagos, on Wednesday, showed some women gathered in front of the church observing the usual Wednesday prayer.  They showed no sign that they had just lost Mrs. Abiara, who was not only dear to them, but also to the prophet.

    Speaking on the two unfortunate ‘incidents’, the Media Officer (Print), CAC, Agbala Itura, Lagos, Mrs Eniola Adepeju, told The Nation that there was nothing to worry about because the cleric had prepared the minds of members against such incidents.

    Adepeju said: “Papa had prepared the minds of the people, not for Mama’s death but generally on deaths.  He spoke a lot about it in recent times.

    “In fact, there is a book Papa (Prophet Abiara) wrote, which is about to be published. It is title ‘Why death?’ And when the incident happened, it was like Papa had been preaching about heaven, preaching about the kingdom of God, preaching about death.

    “Apart from the fact that we are human beings and we don’t want anybody to die, the members felt it. They had wished that God would prolong Mama’s life. It was received in good faith.”

    It was gathered that before the September 3 incident, Abiara was on the verge of travelling abroad for his annual vacation, as it was the only time available for him to rest.

    While Adepeju would not say when Abiara would leave hospital, she said Abiara might leave the hospital when they are sure he had rested enough, adding that “Papa would not be comfortable staying in the hospital.”

    But his first son, Pastor Isaac Abiara, played down the tension generated by reports of his father’s ‘Ill-health’.

    According to him, his father was taken to the hospital when it became clear that the stress created by the deluge of condolence visits to the septuagenarian was weighing him down.

    The younger Abiara, in an interview with The Nation, said: “The reason why he went to the hospital was the stress someone goes through when they lose a loved one. And he, being an international man, visitors were coming and it was physically overwhelming.

    “We made a decision as a family to have him go there and rest, backed by doctor’s advice. There is nothing wrong with him. He is not sick. He just needed to take a bed rest. He lost his wife of over 50 years.”

    He said his father was prepared for his wife’s, having been revealed to him  earlier.

    Besides, the younger Abiara said his mother lived a life of purpose, supporting her husband in ministry activities and showing care to others. For that purpose, he said, her burial will be considered as ‘going home’ because the family is happy that her Lord has called her to Himself.

    His words: “The news of my mother’s death was bitter-sweet. It was of shock and sadness on one hand but was received with joy on the other because we know she lived a good life. She was an epitome of grace, love, kindness and care. She was very caring, God-loving and a woman of wisdom.

    “So, while we feel sad because we are still trying to deal with it, the solace we have is that she lived a good life. We know that for sure, she is in heaven. That is our joy as Christians.”

    Explaining why it did not come as a shock to his father, he said: “Dad said God already told her to prepare for her passage. We prayed and prayed while she took ill but her death was the will of God. We can’t question God.

    “We don’t consider her passage as a negative thing because we believe she has gone to be with the Lord. Her passage just teaches others that are alive to do good, show care and be godly so they can keep the hope of going to be with the Lord at the end. That is why we call the ceremony a celebration of her life.”

    Highlighting how caring her mother was to her husband, the younger Abiara said one important thing their father always tells them is how much their mother cared for him.

    “One of the common important things Daddy tells us about his wife is how much she loved him. For instance, he told us that while he was preaching in Lagos about three weeks ago, she called and asked if he had eaten.

    “Daddy said he wondered so much why she should think about such, knowing full well that there was no way she could have sent food to him in Ikorodu.

    “He always tells us how my mum cared so much for him, how she supported him in his ministry. The second thing he always tells me and my siblings is ‘love your wife. Take care of your wife.’

    “That is the message I want to send to everybody. If you are married, take that time to love and appreciate your wife. I’ve never seen my father raise a hand against my mum.

    “My father travels to several countries of the world preaching. He has no other woman or children anywhere. The bond and love between them was so strong. It was godly love.

    “One of the lessons I learnt from them is that my father and mother loved each other to the last breath, till death did them part.”

    With such a strong bond, many would think that Baba Abiara would struggle to survive. But his son said he had no fear for his father’s survival, having been in ministry work for 50 years without a scandal.

    He said: “No fear for my dad after my mum’s departure. The reason is that in the Bible, God promises to be with us when we pass through challenges.

    “My father is a man of the word and he believes in whatever the Bible says. God, who called him and has been with him for 50 years in ministry, will continue to be with him. So, there is no fear. Absolutely no fear. He is going to be fine. He is going to be preaching. Normal church programmes continues right after the home-going programme.”

    The ‘home-going’ ceremony has been slated for the last week of November and early December.

  • ‘Why everyone calls me professor’

    IF there is one mission Moyosoreoluwa Jogunosimi feels bound to accomplish in life, it is to make Mathematics, one of the subjects most hated or dreaded by students, attractive and enjoyable, particularly for children.

    The petite lady, popularly called Moyotician or Professor on account of her prowess in Mathematics, had graduated from the university at the tender age of 19, had her master’s degree at 20 and became a university lecturer at 23. Now 28, Moyo, who had already taught Mathematics for three years in her alma mater, Covenant University, is now doing what she loves best—teaching kids the secrets of a subject that most of them dread.

    “I realise there is more to mathematics. Mathematics can be enjoyable, but there are several children like me who do not like it. So I said let me go out there and help some children, even though it looks sweeter to be lecturing in a university than running a Math clinic,” she said in a chat with The Nation.

    Interestingly, like many school pupils, Moyo grew up with a deep-seated phobia for the subject. For her, the approach of a Mathematics class was always a nightmare.

    But all that was before a visit by her grandmother paid to the family, during which the old woman, who had retired as a teacher, gave her the code with which she unlocked the secrets of Mathematics, opening wide the door to hitherto unknown opportunities for Moyo.

    Recalling how her romance with Mathematics was sealed by her grandmother, she said: “As a child, I used to have challenges with Mathematics. I never liked the subject at all. But one day, my grandmother came to visit us. And because she went to a teachers’ training college and was also an old teacher, she was a specialised mathematician. She began to teach me Mathematics and I suddenly began to enjoy it. It was like she unlocked the Mathematics side of my brain. And I was very young then.

    “My grandmother had a special way of relating. She was not a regular Mathematics teacher, but she was also not one who would make things look difficult or make you have a headache. She related lively and I realised that Mathematics is a cheap subject if you do it every day. That was when my love for Mathematics began.”

    Having fallen in love with Mathematics, you would expect her to study the subject in the university. While her grandmother gave her the key to solve the mysteries of Mathematics in primary school, her Chemistry teacher in secondary school had so much influence on her that she decided to study Chemical Engineering in the university.

    But while she planned to study Chemical Engineering, it seemed that providence had a different plan for her. “Although I so much loved Mathematics,” she said, “I didn’t really want to study it in the university. I wanted to study Chemical Engineering or Industrial Chemistry. The reason for this was because I loved my Chemistry teacher in secondary school so much that I wanted to be like her. In the process, I wanted something like Chemistry.

    “But by the time the admission list came out, what I was offered was Industrial Mathematics at Covenant University. Since I didn’t want to stay at home, I simply took the offer. Although I was not really happy at the time, my parents advised me to go ahead, saying that I could change my course later.”

    Agreeing to accept the course as a stop-gap measure brought another twist into Moyo’s love story with Mathematics.

    She said: “When I got to the university, during the first lecture I had in General Mathematics, there was this particular lecturer who walked in and said he wanted to teach us Mathematics so that when we got home we would start a Mathematics clinic and teach our friends. When he said so, everybody laughed. But for me, that was the defining moment of my life.”

    So, rather than switch course as she had planned, Moyo went on to complete her course and graduated with a Second Class Upper in Industrial Mathematics at Covenant University. She then proceeded with her master’s degree programme at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.

    Lecturing in a university at such young age surely has its challenges. But for the young ‘professor’, they were “very sweet challenges” despite the fact that there was little difference between her age and those of her students.

    She said: “I lectured for two years at Covenant University between 2011 and 2013. I was 23 years old at the time. Of course, none of my students was older than me, because it was a private university and there was a limit to age intake. But because of my stature, most of the students were bigger than me. And whenever I was taking the course, especially the first time I entered the class, they didn’t know I was a lecturer until they saw my ID card. It would only dawn on them that I was their lecturer when I brought out my laptop and took the microphone, asking them to settle down.”

    Moyo imbibed the culture of hard work early in life. According to her, “Nothing good comes easy. I think I developed that culture way back in secondary school. I sleep late and wake up very early, and that culture has been there for years. This is part of the things that helped me, because Covenant University was safe and I could leave the office at 2 am and be back in the office by 8am.

    “Yes, it was challenging. But it was a sweet challenge because it was like being paid for doing what you enjoy doing.”

    The daughter of an architect father and a businesswoman, Moyo said her mother, who she described as adept in several businesses, ensured that impacted on her young daughter and her siblings’ senses of responsibility early in life.

    She said: “My dad is an architect while my mum is a businesswoman. She enjoys business a lot and she owns a block-making industry. In those days, during the holidays, we would all go to the office and work,  and whenever we complained that it was a holiday and that we needed to rest, mum would say, ‘No, this is where your school fees come from.’ So, we would start to wet the blocks. In that process, I learnt a lot of things unconsciously.”

    Not one to forget an advice, Moyo confessed that she quit lecturing in the university to begin teaching children because of her former lecturer’s advice that she could organise Mathematics clinics.

    “That advice struck a chord in me that Mathematics can be better than this. I started to research, and I enjoy research so much, most especially the way developed countries teach Mathematics. I realised that they are handling their Mathematics in ways different from ours.

    “I realised that Mathematics can be enjoyed and that there are many children who do not like Mathematics. I imagine what would have happened if my grandmother had not intervened and taught me the secrets of Mathematics. It is for that reason that I said let me go out and help some children, even though it looks sweeter to be a lecturer in a university than running a Math clinic.”

    As would be expected, not everybody was happy with her decision to quit the university system, “but I had to quit because I wanted to create a creative niche around Mathematics. I wanted to coin out something for Mathematics, such that was beyond going to school and passing exams.

    “For me, Mathematics is more than mere writing down some things. These are some of the things that people don’t understand. When you are Mathematics inclined, it sharpens your mind, such that even if you are a furniture maker, it will help to give you a touch that the average furniture maker who is not Mathematics inclined would not have. It helps your creative thinking and improves your problem solving skills. These are some of the things that make Mathematics interesting.”

    Moyo is leading a revolution to make the teaching of Mathematics more enjoyable. She believes that there is an urgent need to move away from the ways the subject is being taught.

    She said: “People don’t understand that the world has changed from the 20th Century to the 21st Century. In those days, once you had a First Class degree, you were assured of a good job. But right now, no matter the level of your First Class, you also need to bring something special to the table apart from your university degree to get a good job. It is that special skill that you possess that will retain you on the job and even determine your progress.

    “These are some of the things we want to address. I want to bring fun into Mathematics for you to see and feel like you are doing Mathematics and you are excited about it. I must confess that I am really enjoying it.”