Thierry Kome is from Calabar Cross Rivers State but based in Manchester, UK. His passion for modelling and pageantry made him set up an outfit in Manchester. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make the desired impact over there and he recently moved to Nigeria and initiated the Dynamic Pageant Reality Show. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he opens up on his inspiration, initial challenges, opportunities for young girls and more.
What inspired you to go into the sector?
My journey started in Manchester where I ran a modelling agency. My vision then was to incorporate more Africans into the industry. Midway, I discovered that almost 90 per cent of the people coming to apply for modelling jobs were Europeans. The African models that I was looking for were not there. So, I started looking for answers and I have been travelling to other African countries. But, Lagos in particular has been the place that has always been at the forefront because of its uniqueness. I see Lagos as the New York of Africa. When I came to Lagos, I found some challenges, stigmatisation of what models are, the lack of enlightenment, and the industry is not as big as the movie and music industry.
So, I started thinking of how to get the sector up to standard. We were able to get a team together and do something different. We then realised that there had never been a TV Reality show for models and we decided to go that route. To see how we can shine a light and bring the models that are aspiring to the marketing. We have other incentives in place, so they just don’t come and participate. To make sure that they have a modelling life after the pageantry as well as professionalism.
Are you targeting upcoming models or those who are already in the system?
It’s for ladies between the ages of 18 to 27 years. You might not be an existing model or not even have a career in modelling, just a young girl aspiring to be a model.
We also found out that a lot of our young girls are into the wrong vices and we are trying to bring them back to the normal life. It is sad that they do not have opportunities and we are opening up opportunities for them and put them in that catch that something positive is coming. It doesn’t matter whether you can speak English or not. It doesn’t matter if you have a degree or not. They can apply from anywhere, even from the ghetto.
What type of models are you searching for. Is it the slim tall or plus sized?
Modelling is a broad industry. We are not selecting who wants to become a model. We are giving them a platform to showcase themselves. We are not the ones to select; the selection process is out there for the public to view. The audition has started and by 18th September they would be shortlisted to a thousand. At the end of the day, only 25 would be selected to go into the house. For now, we would be in Lagos alone but based on our database; we can decide to go into Regional audition. The selected contestants will be housed for 8 weeks from 20th September and it will be streamed live. At the end, there would be money, prize that includes a car. One of the catch is that Dynamic City model in Manchester can still incorporate them to be a model in the UK. We also have other categories like the green category for those who believe in tree planting, the environment and others.
Are you working with some of the designers in the country?
We don’t have restrictions on anyone who wants to participate and discussions still ongoing.
Would you be working with just females or a combination of male and female?
We are going to deal with only female models and there is a reason for that. We want to stay away from common trend. Anywhere there are housemates; there will be male and female. We want to reduce controversy, remove emotion and be strictly professional. Even if in due season males join, they would stay in separate homes. We are not going to mix them because we are bringing them in for Professional reasons. We want to stay away from those activities that would bring negative connotations about things. Imagine if you have an 18 year old going to a house with a grown up man. There are parents who wish their children to get certain professionalism but because of the way people put it out there, they want to keep their daughters away. So, we want to work in a way that parents would have confidence that if my daughter is going there, she is safe. We also have undertakings that all the participants make sure that their parents are aware; know where they are going and living conditions.
Also, we don’t want to make it like we want to pre select a certain kind of person or people. It is an open thing, a playing field and everybody is the same. The activities will be the same and whoever is coming to work with us is coming with the same notion. We have a whole lot of categories, judges, faculties, heads, sub heads, host who are all fashion inclined.
Nigerian models also complain about the pay. What can be done about this?
It is one of the things that we are trying to negotiate with sponsors. What we are trying to do is more than pageantry. We want to create a life after the pageantry. So that if they leave the house after the winner emerges, we go into conversations with sponsors on how to make things better for them and have a Professional life, not to be trafficked. We want them to be groomed and then find pleasure in that profession, as well as make a life out of the Profession. It is after that, that we do a follow up, guide them and give someone, for instance the third place a contract for a year. So, after the pageant, she goes home with a contract to work with the company. After that, she may get another depending on her performance or the opportunities available. We are not doing a one Project show. There are also other pet projects.
Let’s compare what’s on ground here with your experience abroad?
It is also one of the things that we want to change. I tend to envy those in Europe. If you look at the big brands in Europe, then they had TV and not internet or social media when they started. So, they had to physically look for their models by conducting research to get them. Today, 50 per cent or more still do that kind of selective selection within the society. A company in the heart of Italy would rarely come down to Africa to a place like Badagry to look for a model. But if in Africa, Lagos to be precise there is a company that can present that model that would be done. In the locality, you have a lot of stylist and creative in the sector, who still lack the ability to put up their products. Here in Nigeria, there is no Forum for a trend/walkway. Those are the things that we are trying to put in place. A Forum that Projects them once a month with about 20 design houses in Lagos to showcase their products, for exposure, market and popularity. The models will get jobs because they would have to be hired and it’s a chain reaction. We just have to start it, and then it takes off and begins to expand.
ADEBOLA ADEFIOYE is a coach, speaker, researcher and entrepreneur. Scroll down memory lane and you find that she actually dropped out of the university because of economic challenges in the family. It wasn’t easy at the beginning but she was determined to break all the barriers and achieve her dreams. She was also inspired by her mum who also went back to school after 6 children. In this interview with YETUNDE OLADEINDE, she talked about her first role as a volunteer and how it opened other doors for her, turning point, passion for childhood education, role models and more.
What are some of your achievements as a coach and mentor?
I offer private coaching and mentoring sessions to early childhood educators and women. Most of them have courageously stepped into their areas of passion and are thriving in it. The sessions are geared at personal development, helping people to gain clarity about their life and career goals and collaboratively identifying strategies to achieve them. Apart from my private mentorship and coaching program, I also offer volunteer mentorship support at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Africa, Sister2Sister Leadership Program of Newcomer Women’s Centre, Toronto and Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) Nigeria.
What would you describe as the turning point in your career?
Nothing in specific. I live each day doing my best and expecting the best. I am also very quick to discern opportunities and I embrace them. I think the steps I have taken in the past, decisions I have made and some help from good people has led me to where I am today. I am very intentional about everyday and I think that is what counts. So, I would say that everyday that I make good choices and decisions is a turning point in my career and life.
You have shown interest in issues around social entrepreneurship. What are some of the experiences in the sector?
I ventured into social entrepreneurship as a coping strategy after I dropped out from the university. I realized that helping others made me feel good and I thought my situation was not the worst. It’s been an ongoing learning for me in the past 22 years that I have been in the sector. My first volunteer role was in 2002 as a volunteer with Mark Makers International, Ibadan, Nigeria. The founder gave me a chance to learn almost everything and volunteering opened my world. I facilitated youth workshops in secondary schools, made presentations at youth events, attended HIV/AIDS awareness and other civil society training at Premier Hotel, Ibadan. As a youth-led community organization in the Alakia/Isebo area of Ibadan, MMI got a chance to be featured on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) television and it was a beautiful experience for the team. When people in my community told me they saw me on TV, I was so excited and grateful for that opportunity. I later moved to Lagos, where I continued working in the social sector and as an early year’s teacher.
What are some of the changes that you would like to see in the sector?
Funding for young non-profit, capacity building for sustainability of operations and programs is always a big challenge and that has been our experience at the Afro Women and Youth Foundation. I hope that the government and funding organizations will rethink how they provide support to grassroots and non-profit organizations. They should consider supporting us to scale rather than recycling funds to big organizations. The big organizations also started small and some organizations believed in them enough to fund their work.
You are also passionate about early childhood education. Tell us about this?
I lived with my aunty at Epe, Lagos for a while as a young adult and helped her a lot with her first three children. The experience taught me many things about children and I was curious to learn more about young children and I am still learning. When I needed flexibility in my work life as a new mom, I considered teaching in a Lagos private school and I liked it. I later enrolled in a Montessori school in Lagos and got a diploma. That further strengthened my work with young children and families.
As a new immigrant to Canada, I had clarity about what I wanted so I continued in the social entrepreneurship and child development sector. I have dedicated the last five years to leadership and professional development in both sectors. In the last two years, I have narrowed down my interest to working with racialised children and families and my current research and community work is geared toward this. My PhD research also will be focusing on collaborative work with racialised families to reduce inequities and improve health and well-being.
How can government help to make things better?
The government can help by just doing their job well so nonprofits are not burdened with many social issues. The government should do their job of providing equitable social services and support to citizens. Most nonprofits work on social issues that the government should be responsible for. We understand the government may not be able to do everything but they should be able to demonstrate clear strategies to solve most of the social issues and inequities of citizens like housing, homelessness, safety, violence, education etc. Most importantly, they should make sustainable funding available for people who are passionate about social issues and helping to improve health outcomes of citizens.
You are based in the Diaspora; how would you compare the experience in Nigeria with what obtains over there?
Both are invaluable. Most immigrants leverage on education and experiences from their home country when they immigrate. They may not just pay attention to those transferrable skills. For most Nigerians, our official English skills come handy in Canada. In fact, many schools have taken away the IELTS requirement for Nigerians and we hope more schools will follow suit. I had a lot of work and leadership experience in Nigeria and I am now acquiring more education and “Canadian” experience to build my career here. Also, there are more opportunities in Canada but who you are from your home country will most likely be amplified after immigration and you decide how far you want to take that to.
What are some of the other things that occupy your time?
Hanging out with very few friends and a self-care routine.
Let’s talk about life as a certified speaker?
I was just curious about knowing how to speak professionally. So, I decided to sign up for the John Maxwell Certification in Speaking, Coaching and Training. It is still an ongoing learning and most of my speaking engagement so far has been in my profession. I am most interested in speaking on issues related to Early Childhood Education/Educators, Child and Youth Care, Family Support, College/University students in community work programs, Gender-Based Violence, Anti-Racism, Youth Advocacy, Women’s Leadership and Empowerment etc. I am open to speaking opportunities in these areas. My next speaking engagement will be in September at the Toronto Metropolitan University where I will be speaking to the new graduate students of the Child and Youth Care program on how to be successful in the program.
Tell us about your role models, people you admire in your career or in life?
My mom, Mrs Omowale Ogunrinde, Pastor Adenike Adeyemi and Josephine Muhaya. They have all greatly inspired me with their journey and how they continue to help others to achieve their dreams.
What are some of the principles that guide what you do?
Real love, honesty, hard work, personal development and social justice.
What are some of the things that you would like to do in future?
I would love to start a publicly funded Early Childhood Education (ECE) College in Nigeria to support the amazing NCE teacher education programs already existing and also starting an online community of support for women.
If you had to advise Nigeria Youths today, what would you tell them?
I’ll tell them to actively participate in their communities by using their voices to speak against all forms of injustices especially violence against women and girls. I’ll also advise that they vote wisely if they are of age. We have too many old and weak people in leadership positions in Nigeria and to change that, it is important that the young generation envision stepping into those leadership roles and begin to prepare for it. Lastly, they should pay more attention to researching international opportunities when surfing the internet.
Your mum went back to school after having six children. How did this inspire you?
It was good to see her take responsibility for her personal finances. Every woman needs to have their own source/sources of income. It is a form of empowerment.
What type of books do you like to read?
I love to read inspirational and leadership books. I like real life stories.
What about the challenges especially when you dropped off from university and how you turned things around?
It was the most difficult phase of my life but I turned it around by helping other people in my community and relocating to Lagos for work. I did some buying and selling of fairly used clothes, I learned beading and hat making and those were ways I earned an income, got busy to avoid depression. I was also a committed church girl. I served in the ushering unit and my faith in God helped a lot. I was very hopeful about the future and confessed positive things about my future. When I started earning a fairly good income, I knew I needed to upgrade so I took the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) certification program, Montessori certification and Radio and Television Presentation course at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
What lessons has life taught you?
The most important one is to be kind to others. Many people are going through difficult times and making tangible efforts to improve their situation but people may not see the efforts. Help people if you can, they will not always need that help!
The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) has condemned the activities of one of its pastors in Anambra State who allegedly use his private property to detain, chain, and hold people hostage against their will in the guise of conducting deliverance and order the church be shut down.
In a statement issued by The Director of Administration, MFM, Akin Olawale, it came to the attention of the leadership of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) on Tuesday, 23rd August, that a place in Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State was allegedly being used to detain, chain and hold people hostage against their will in the guise of conducting deliverance.
“We (MFM) got the information with a rude shock as that is completely alien to our practice all over the world. Although the alleged pastor is one of our pastors, the said facility is a private property of the pastor and his activities of conducting such kind of deliverance are neither with the knowledge nor approval of the church leadership.
“In his response to our preliminary investigation, the pastor claimed the respective candidates who were being brought to him for prayer against mental ailment and drug addiction usually have their guardians to sign an undertaking for them.”
Olawale added: “we have immediately directed the said pastor to shut down the illegal facility being used in the name of the ministry and to report to the HQ for further actions. We are currently in touch with the relevant law enforcement agencies and the family members to ensure that issues are properly addressed and justice served accordingly.”
Oba Adetutu Akanmu, Onisabe of Sabe Kingdom in the Republic of Benin recently paid a royal visit to celebrate with the monarch of Igbobi-Sabe in Lagos on the occasion of this year’s Isese Day. The highly revered monarch took time out to speak with Gboyega Alaka on the relationship between the two thrones; his connection with the Oduduwa throne of Ile-Ife, Oyo and how one of the seven crowns of Oduduwa is now lost in history.
HOW excited are you, coming to Nigeria to celebrate Isese Day with us in Lagos this year?
Before we get to that, I need to let you know that this Igbobi-Sabe throne that is playing host to me today, their ancestors came from Sabe-Ile around 1800. You know the old Oyo Empire collapsed; but before then, Oyo had waged war on Sabe and took some Sabe people as slaves to Oyo. So it was after that Oyo collapsed that some of the Sabe captives scattered and some found their way down south to Eko here while others found their ways abroad overseas as slaves. It was some of the Sabe people and descendants that escaped from that Oyo that settled here in Igbobi. And like it is our Yoruba culture, they did not forget their history; and that was why they retained the name Igbobi-Sabe.
•From left: Onisabe of Igbobi Sabe, Oba Owolabi Adeniyi; his wife Olori Anike; Paramount Ruler of Sabe Kingdom, Republic of Benin, Oba Adetutu Akanmu and his Olori, Photo: Muyiwa Hassan.
Good that you have traced that history, because I was also going to ask you how your own Sabe in Republic of Benin relates with Igbobi-Sabe here in Lagos, Nigeria.
The predecessor of this current Oba visited me in Sabe Kingdom in Benin when he was alive. That was around 2006. It was after his demise that this current Oba started tracing history, until he identified my kingdom and decided to come home to pay a visit. In fact, when he wanted to be crowned, he invited me. He wanted me to be around on his coronation but I was not able to make it then. So when he invited me again on this occasion and I could spare the time, I decided to come over to honour him. In essence, like you heard him say, father has come to greet his son.
How does the Onisabe of Republic Benin throne relate to the Oduduwa Ife throne? We have been hearing the story, but it would be nice to hear it directly from a prominent monarch like you.
Sabe is a son of Okanbi, who is son of Odududwa, the great Yoruba progenitor. They were seven grandchildren; four are domiciled in what is today known as Nigeria, while the other three: Alaketu, Onisabe and Olupopo journeyed as far as the geographical location today known as the Republic of Benin. Unfortunately, of that three, only two of the three thrones are existing and traceable today. Olupopo went as far as Togo to settle. You know there were lots of wars in those days, so they were conquered and dispersed, so much that we can no longer trace them or the throne. Literally that throne got lost in history.
So aside the thrones in Nigeria, it is only two of the three thrones outside that are traceable today?
Yes. You know, Sabe Kingdom and people extends as far as Iganna near Oyo, where we have this Oyan River. It was when the Europeans came that they divided us. In the days of the Dahomey war, our people used to escape as far as Opara to hide; and when there was ceasefire or end of war, they would come back to base. The same story applies to the Ketu people. That was how we managed to retain our territory and kingdoms. The people of Olupopo were, however, not able to come together; and that was how we lost that kingdom and crown. So as we speak, we only have six direct crowns from Oduduwa still existing.
Can you reel out to us the other four direct Oduduwa crowns in Nigeria?
I know of Oyo throne. You know Oyo is the youngest among us, but he became the strongest. He was a fighter and conqueror and extended as far as Dahomey. He even collected tributes (Isakole) from the Dahomey people for about one hundred years. He used to collect the tribute through the Onisabe. The Ooni is another direct crown. The third is Orangun Ile Ila. I cannot remember the fourth now. I am very particular about Oyo and Ife because we all left from Ife. That part of history is not controvertible.
Does your kingdom still relate or do things with Oyo and Ooni of Ife?
Sure. The immediate past Ooni, Oba Sijuade Olubuse, came to visit me three times before he passed. When I became Oba in 2008, we came to crown me with the original Oduduwa crown to honour me. I also used to pay him visits, and he was always very delighted to have me. In fact he was always telling me, ‘You have come home. This is your home.’
How about Alaafin of Oyo?
You know we share border with Oyo. And that was why when I was crowned Oba, I went to his palace to pay him a royal visit. However, he didn’t quite receive me well. And that made me pull back a bit. But the Ooni always received me very warmly; and that was why our relationship grew. The Onisabe that I succeeded used to visit and relate with the two of them, and that was why I decided to follow in their tradition. Much later though, the Alaafin and I reconnected again and our relationship improved.
Have you established contact with this new Ooni?
Oh yes, I have visited the new Ooni three times. But of course you know he is a younger monarch and just came on, but I know our relationship will grow.
Can you make a comparison of the Yoruba in Nigeria and the Yoruba in the Republic of Benin; are there any differences in their cultures and lifestyles?
There is absolutely no difference. You know the traditional cults in Benin, the Ifon and co all speak Yoruba in their Igbale (occult shrine). Even the Ogu (Egun) have a relation with Yoruba. Their Egungun also speak Yoruba in their Igbale. So their spiritual language is Yoruba; and that should tell you something – that they also have Yoruba heritage. Even the King of Agbome, Gezo, his traditional spiritual head (Awo) is Yoruba. So they also have a trace of Yoruba in them.
This Agbome that you mentioned, where is it located?
Agbome is about 135kilometers from Cotonou. My own kingdom of Sabe is about 260 kilometers to Cotonou. Sabe is on the same Meridian pole with Iseyin in Nigeria, which is close to Oyo. So that king’s secret cult (Awo) is Yoruba. His egugun (masquerade) all communicate in Yoruba. So all the cultural practice, mode of housing are all like we have in Yoruba land. So the Yoruba culture has a strong influence on the Ogu (Egun) culture.
I once interviewed the Akran of Badagry and he told me that his people took roots in Kumasi in Ghana.
That may be true, but the cultures have interwoven.
Some even say that splinters of Yoruba extend as far as present day Ghana. How true is this?
It’s true, absolutely true. The Ewe people in Ghana, according to history, migrated from Ife. They are the ones that became Ajatado. It is from there that the Ogu people emerge and returned to Togo and became Alada, Agbome and Kogbonu (Ajase). They are the ones that extended to Badagry (Ogu). It is in the course of their movements that the languages transformed. The Agbome are also from Ile-Ife before they settled in Tado in Port Novo. It is from Tado that they came to establish in Alada. It was at Alada that they separated; one went to Agbome, another went to Port Novo (Ajase). The Ogu people call the Ajase people Kogbonu. It is the Ajase people that extended as far as Badagry. I am very familiar with the Akran of Badagry; I visit him regularly.
What language do Ajase people speak?
The Yoruba at the Seme border Nigeria-Benin, the Dimitrov people have the ability to mix with Nigeria and they have mixed with the Yoruba there. So many Yoruba from Oyo also settled there for business. They call Port Novo people Ajase. That is why we have many Yoruba in Ajase.
What are the deities and festivals you celebrate in Sabe?
We celebrate all the festivals and deities that you celebrate across Yoruba lands here. We celebrate Sango, we celebrate Ogun, Obatala, gelede; we celebrate egugun, Oro, Sapono and so on and so forth.
Do you ever wish that your kingdom was in Nigeria and not Republic of Benin?
To answer that question, I’ll tell you that the Oba that I took over from that signed the protectorate with the Europeans did not want to be classified with Benin at all. He wanted his kingdom to be placed in Nigeria alongside his kinsmen of Oyo, Ile-Ife, Abeokuta and other brother crowns. He fought to the extent that he was arrested and imprisoned for nine whole years. He said there are two rivers – Opara and Ofe. The colonisers put the demarcation/border point in Ofe; but he insisted that they should put the border by Weme River, so that he would be in Nigeria. That Weme River is what traveled in Badagry through to Awori-land and through to Lagos. He insisted he wanted to be with his brothers.
Can you tell us the number of Onisabe that has reigned in the history of the kingdom?
That will be around 55.
That is almost like that of Ife. History Ife has it that Il-Ife has been ruled by around 50-something monarch as well.
It has to be. That tells you that the history is not twisted or just made up. Of course we are the same. If you go to Alaketu Kingdom, I’m sure it’s about that figure as well, Ile-Ife. The same for Ila Orangun. That is why the Onisabe of Igbobi-Sabe calls me his father.
From the turbulence of early marriage childlessness to COVID-19, infection and loss of job to the man in the house, the Ajayi family has definitely had its share of marital challenges. The couple, however, came out stronger to even birth a Christian ministry. They share their story with Sam Unamka.
WHEN the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global economy in 2020, a greater section of the world, found itself working from home, avoiding social gatherings and spending a lot more quality time with their significant other. In some cases, this ended up enhancing and rescuing some relationships on the brink of collapse.
One such couple would be Emmanuel Olusoji Ajayi and Adedoyin Semilola Ajayi. Speaking to The Nation, both couple spoke of how the stay at home gave them the opportunity to strengthen the bond in their relationship and further value each other more spiritually, resulting in the Beulah Global Ministry, Weekly Virtual War Room and Prayer Zone.
Going down memory lane, Adedoyin said they first met in New Jersey, USA, through her sister’s husband.
“In May, I wanted to go to Los Angeles but my younger sister’s husband said he would want me to meet someone in New Jersey. At that time, I never even liked the idea of meeting people without a purpose. I also remember I had just come out of a bad breakup and so I was not interested in seeing anyone; I just wanted to go on vacation. I was 28 and I had an idea of my type of man. When I saw him at first, he looked nice but his height was not what appealed to me. We spoke and that was it.
“I went back to Nigeria and we kept conversing. Along the line, I noticed I was falling for his charm, his voice and most impor tantly, his love of God. But he was not a tall person and that posed a problem to me bcause I loved wearing heels. When he called at a certain point to invite me to the U.S the second time, I had no iota of feeling that he was going to propose because I believed in dating for a few years. However, when I got to New Jersey in July 2006, he had apparently planned with my sister’s husband and everybody else and he just went on his knees and proposed. By December 2006, that same year, we got married. It was a miracle for me”.
Adedoyin recalled that she developed cold feet. “I just did not know what to expect because there were people who felt I was moving in the wrong family. Even though a background check had been done on his family, I had to pray seriously when I was about to get married and after getting married. This was new to me as I had to relocate to stay with my husband”.
For Emmanuel, however, God had a hand in their first meeting down to the marriage.
“I think it is when you allow God to do things for you. It is almost like you are not in control of everything, God just does it. I don’t think I planned it to be as fast as everything was. I think around that time, she was always using the phrase “when God moves”. I remember her saying that after I proposed; and truly when God has a hand in anything – be it business or marriage, it is almost like you stand and watch what happens.
“One thing that we tried to do then was never telling everyone our plans. When God is doing something in your life, don’t go around telling people. What we were doing was fasting and praying for God’s will to take place.”
Sixteen years after
According to the couple, God has kept the marriage going despite turbulent moments.
“For the first three years of our marriage, I could not conceive and that was a great con cern to me. I remember I would go on the internet and see other people celebrating their children’s birthday and I would sob. But I never stopped trusting God, no thanks to my husband who supported me and took care of me. He was always there encouraging me. My husband’s family also did a lot in those three years and the beautiful thing was that his family were grounded in Christ. By the fourth year, I got pregnant and I was overjoyed. Now we have four kids. So, when a marriage starts with God, both partners have to return to God when issues arise,” Adedoyin said.
Her hubby corroborated her when he said: “We always say a word of prayer before we embark on something. I will admit that she is more passionate than me now in that regard.”
COVID-19 challenge
Emmanuel continued: “It was not all rosy for us as a family, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies were laying people off and I happened to be one of them. There was no money coming in at some point and we had to fight profusely with faith to make things work. But the biggest one that could make a believer panic was when I was infected with COVID-19. It was really a difficult period for me and the family. It was funny, however that my wife was not infected even though we were sleeping on the same bed. But a miracle happened. After much prayer and fasting, I got healed.”
His wife picked it up from there. “When the ambulance came to pick my husband, he had difficulty breathing. I had to go on my knees and pray and to the glory of God, my husband returned home healed without taking the vaccine. This was truly when we knew God had a plan for us despite the challenges. I would say that the year 2020 endeared us more to God, made us understand and improve our marriage as well as start up the Ministry”, Adedoyin added.
“I would say that I thank God for the kind of man I married. Yes, we have differences but we can resolve them quickly. That is what makes marriage mature. It can be heated at times and the fact that he is not a control freak and I do not make it more like oil and pepper. When we are upset, we do not pretend about it. Sometimes I want to spend money, but I go to God in prayer and beg him to touch my husband so that he will give me money and it works because God has heard and has touched his heart. There are times he too needs something, he says a quick prayer… I usually end up saying I did not initially want to heed to some of his sex requests but something would touch me and he would end up laughing saying he spoke to God before coming to me. We have never hit each other, there has not been any form of scandal, and we have to make sure things work. People say they want a marriage like ours and I used to tell them, it takes two people to make the marriage work,” Adedoyin stated.
She opined that marriages break these days because of a lack of tolerance. “People don’t want to tolerate any more. Also, there is a high level of immorality, people (Men and women) want fast money, and fast cars. They cannot hang in there when there is a challenge. For example, there are a lot of wives who won’t do anything for the man if he does not have money,” she stated.
When asked if he ever thought of quitting, Emmanuel said: “Marriage is a ministry and I think that if you are going to fulfill God’s purpose for your life, marriage is part of that. So for me to say that I want to quit marriage is like saying I want to quit living.”
Ethel Olomu, a breast cancer survivor recently shared her near death struggle with the dreaded disease at a charity even organised by M-one Events Nigeria to raise funds for cancer patients. She also spoke of her miraculous survival and how providence steered her into birthing an NGO, Engraced Life Foundation, which now helps people in similar condition. Gboyega Alaka reports.
Y nightmare
“It all started when I was going through a six-month Goldman’s Sachs Scholarship programme at the Pan African University, Lagos Business School and three weeks to my graduation. I woke up one day with a sharp pain on my left breast. My mum being a retired nurse, quickly asked me go to the hospital and a lump was confirmed. I then went for a lumpectomy surgery, which when taken to the lab for biopsy, the lump came out negative(benign. However, five weeks after, my nightmare started.
” I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and my breast was as big as almost ten people’s heads. I couldn’t stand up. Nothing was wrong with me before I slept, and when I called the doctor that did the lumpectomy for me, he was surprised. He said ‘Okay, don’t panic, I will prescribe you a medication that you’ll take and the swollen breast will go down’. Then I was living in Port Harcourt but the programme I was doing was in Lagos, so I was shuttling between Port Harcourt and Lagos.
“Three days after, nothing happened and the breast just kept getting bigger and bigger. My friend had to book the next available flight for me to go back to Port Harcourt; but how do I get to Port Harcourt with one breast as big as Olumo rock and the other normal?
“So she went to Yaba and bought the biggest size of track suit; then she used all the wrappers in her house to make a big ball which she put on my chest, and then she took me to the airport and straight back to Port Harcourt. At the hospital, they took me back to the theatre and I went through another surgery. They called it corrective surgery. Weeks after, nothing happened; it didn’t go down. The nightmare increased, I had to change doctor and went to another hospital. They took me back to the theatre, opened me up again for another corrective surgery and I passed out. I was bleeding profusely – blood, puss, fluid. In a day, we used like twenty towels, because my breast was leaking non-stop. We did that for a few months as we kept going from one hospital to another.
Giving up for dead
“My mum is a widow of 30+ years with seven children. Someone introduced us to Alternative therapy (local herbs specialist), and they gave me all sorts of concoctions to rub and drink; I almost died, yet no solution. At a time, I was bed-ridden. And then a family friend that was working in a government hospital, alarmed, said, ‘This girl is dying here!’ So he made arrangements for samples from my breast to be taken abroad for further investigations and sponsored it. When the result came back, the doctor’s actually thought the sample was for autopsy, because this was the last stage of breast cancer and not treatable?’ But they told them the pa tient was still alive, though bedridden and almost a vegetable. So they started looking for hospitals abroad that could take me in. They sent my medical records to hospitals in India, but none was willing to accept me. They advised my family not to bother spending money because it was a hopeless case and how I might not make it to India due to my terrible condition then.
“Finally, a particular hospital accepted since we were insisting, but on the condition to deposit ten million naira cash, but with no guarantees of me surviving.
“Of course by this time, we had sold most of our valuables, begged all the beggable; so by the time they said ten million naira, my family and few remaining friends turned to begging in a bid to raise funds. They didn’t keep quiet but spoke up, looking for any possible treatment. My mum, pastors prayed non-stop for my survival .
“In the process of raising money, I studied Chemical Engineering, though I’m not practising; I love crafting a lot and God has used me to craft a lot of unique neck beads. One day, a neighbour with whom I used to talk about my customers, saw one of my customers, who at the time was an influential person, at an event. She quickly ran to meet her; she told her, ‘your friend is dying’. The lady said, ‘which of my friends?’ She told her ‘Ethel’, and she said ‘I’ve been looking for her for months; her phone number is not going through.’
“Lo and behold, that was the angel God sent to me.
“She left the event, came to the house, and when she saw me in my rotten bedridden state, she fell down and cried. She said, what’s next? We told her we were looking for ten million to go for treatment in India.
She said ‘Ok don’t worry. There is an American doctor that comes from Atlanta’; he is in town now. His name is Dr John Ojukwu; he’s in Abuja, let me talk to him. She called him and by the time she forwarded the results to him, he knew it was a bad situation and he said if you insist, bring her let me see. So they literally way-billed me to Abuja and straight to his hospital at Asokoro. When he saw me, he was in shock at my deteriorating state. What do you want me to do? Then I couldn’t talk; I was deaf and mute with pain. I was taking tramadol in sachets in a day, just to ease my pain. It is only recently I started hearing about the damaging effects of tramadol.”
Let’s see what your God can do
“Dr Ojukwu took another look at me and said ‘I see light in your eyes but I don’t know what to do’.
He said, ‘Are you a Christian?’ I just blinked in response. Then he said, ‘Let’s see what your God can do.’
“And indeed, our God did the impossible wonders through medical science (Applause). I was placed on blood transfusion for six whole weeks to stabilise me.
“By the time he gave me the third chemo, the breast shrunk. That was when he said ‘I’ll treat you.’ I ended up taking nine shots of chemotherapy. I had mastectomy and I was booked for radiotherapy in Ghana. Then there was no radiotherapy machine working in Nigeria, quote me. So the closest place was Ghana. He booked me and I was on the queue waiting to go to Ghana. Two weeks before I was to go to Ghana, MeCure had just come to Nigeria. He said, ‘Go to MeCure, let’s run some CTscan and see the effects of the nine chemos and treatments that you have taken.’
“Now, while taking treatment, I always tell people that everybody can access their own miracle through different means depending on your belief and most importantly, faith. Some people would have headache, take Panadol and it would not go, while some would take it and it would go immediately. So before I take any medication or treatment, I pray for God to empower it to work.
“At MeCure, I went in for my routine checks and as I was about leaving, they said, ‘come, we’re not done’. A second person ran the test, again they said no they were not satisfied. Then the HOD decided to run the test over again herself, saying my medical file that my doctor sent them and the result they were getting did not correspond. They did it again and then said, ‘Anyway, go back to your doctor’.
“I went back to my doctor and my doctor told me I was cancer-free (Roaring applause). In fact the way he described it, he said ‘Your cells are like a newly born baby’s’, no need for Radiotherapy, no more Tamoxifen which I was supposed to take daily for 10years as part of the treatment plans.
“Of course while going through all these, my mum, family, pastors were praying and fasting, and God answered.”
The stigma
“Let me tell you, I went through a lot. My experience during cancer was the worst ever. I went through the ‘worstest’ of stigma again. Then, nobody was talking about breast cancer. It was a taboo; it was like a plague and some people mocked me, labelled me names, accused me of sinning differently and hence the reason cancer came as my punishment. I was called a witch, Of course this was all because of lack of awareness, enlightenment and education. You really can’t blame them, this was 2010. I went through a whole lot and there was no name people did not call me. After the treatment, even when I got well, I just crawled myself inside a box, I could not go out because of the odd stares I got from people. I was in my own world for more than four years except for my most amazing priceless family and friend turned my caregiver(Sis Rose) that showered me daily with love, prayers and encouraging words. I was stigmatised, judged and tortured with all sorts.
“But one day, my freedom came. I was mentally healed and I heard that little still voice: I KEPT YOU FOR A REASON, YOU ARE ALIVE TO FULLFIL A PURPOSE. YOU DID NOT SIN DIFFERENTLY, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE, BUT I KEPT YOU TO SAVE OTHER WOMEN.
“I thought, me to go and save other women in this my condition? Who would listen to me? I got married, relocated to Lagos and I went about my new found business. And then three years ago after much struggling, disobedience, I was brought to my knees. I was literally stripped of everything distraction, until I followed God’s directive.
And that was how Engraced Life Foundation was birthed
By the grace of God, today, we’ve been supporting women; we’ve been going to communities, through boats to the riverine areas, to screen indigent women and we’ve seen a lot. We’ve seen women with decaying breasts, some of them using cellophane to wrap them, some taking urine, faeces etc . Some don’t even know what it is and you’d hear them say things like, ‘ Ah, them say them donate my breast for witchcraft coven, na village people jazz me etc
“And God has blessed me with the best team/family (volunteers). We have over 100 volunteers- doctors, nurses etc that have been supporting us. We don’t pay them, they just signed up to assist us serve humanity, especially the ones that cannot access and afford medical care. We have screened over 9000 women for FREE.
“All through the journey with breast cancer, I was so strong-willed, held on to God’s words and promises. I never gave up hope. I had daily affirmative words that kept my faith ALIVE. My thoughts became my daily prayer and I kept it positive.
“This October to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Engraced Life Foundation will be touring three states and 10 communities to screen girls and women for FREE as we launch #PINKNAIJA.
“Come join us to lend your VOICE with your support and let’s Kick out Breast Cancer.
Becky Emmanuel Bassey is CEO of BEME Collections. A designer, single mother of three who got married at 19, shes tell Yetunde Oladeinde of her beauty regimen.
THINGS gradually fell apart but instead of dwelling on her challenges, Becky picked up the pieces, recovered self and ran with her creative dreams as a designer.
“Being a model would be more of relieving my dreams. I did a couple of things here as an amateur and also paid great attention to my looks. The name black Diamond came from discovering myself. One day I just looked into the mirror and told myself I can do everything. I am strong no matter what happens, I would always shine. I thought of being a diamond no matter the obstacles that came my way. I know my skin colour is dark and I am very of this and that was how I added black to it.
But there was a snag. “I was not looking good because of the odds and challenges that I was faced it. So, I had to start working on myself. I went to the gym regularly, tried to treat my skin and worked on the scars that I had on my body from violence. It was tough but gradually everything began to fall in place”.
Her creative skills worked for her style choices as well as creating a beauty routine that worked for her. “As a child, I love fashion and sketching designs.
Along the line Becky discovered the stimulating power of wearing the right clothes for the right occasion.
Gradually, she started to see how empowered, confident, and assured her outfits made her feel and how that impacted the way she was perceived.
Sophisticated, elegant, and undeniably feminine in spite of her low cropped hair style she has been able to create a bridge between her passion for fashion, motivating others and her personal life.
Ask about the things that make her tick and happily she takes you into her world.
‘I tried keeping that African woman look. Natural, dark blue and beautiful”.
Dark and lovely, aptly describes her glowing skin and she tells you about the things she does to maintain the glow. “I use coconut oil on my skin with vitamin E. It has a fabulous effect and it is something that works for me all the time”.
Apart from knowing what to wear at the right time, maintaining a magnetic skin tone, she also puts in a lot of effort to maintain her curves in the right places. “I go to the gym twice every week. Then I also did something special to have this curves in a natural way”, she enthuses.
You want to know about this amazing beauty secret, then come along and hear this: “Whenever I am bathing three times in a week I use oil in water to bath. I actually learnt this from my mom. This is done mostly by people from my tribe (the Akwaibomites).”
She continued: “I pour little coconut oil or baby oil in hot water in a bucket which I usually use has my bath. After bathing with shower I will sit on a kitchen chair, now use that hot oily water and massage my hip and ass. That is how I have been able to get these natural curves, looking like the real African woman.”
She added: “I go to the gym twice every week. I made up my mind to be happy no matter what and drinking lots of water and fruits are my thing. Whenever I notice my stomach is getting big I use turmeric, ginger and garlic in hot water and within a few days I’m back to shape”.
Barely three years after a German funding partner, GIZ, gave the multi-billion naira Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) a grant of N17 million for skills development and youth programme, a year-long investigation by KUNLE AKINRINADE has revealed how original copies of vital procurement documents about the project were destroyed in a controversial manner and infractions of Tender processes, leading to a demand for a refund of the sum of N14 million by the international donor.
BEFORE a cheering crowd of participants at the second Lagos Employment Summit on Thursday, March 3, 2022, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced a 100 percent increment in capital subvention to Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).
As part of his scorecard, Sanwo-Olu revealed that his administration had in the last three years committed more than N10 billion in grants to boost LSEFT’s activities and supported over 34,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The governor, who spoke on the theme: “Sustainable Job Creation Strategies: Collective Action and Prosperity for All”, at the event held at Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island, gave LSETF’s management a pat on the back for stellar performances since the inception of the agency.
He said: “We have seen that LSETF can work and indeed, it is working. We have seen the potential of the agency in sustaining the creation of job opportunities for our teeming productive residents. I strongly believe that we can achieve a lot more in bringing down the unemployment rate in Lagos if we entrust the agency with a lot more capital grants to support businesses and innovative people.
“We are doing this because the LSEFT management team has given us practical proof of concept that the intervention can boost employment opportunities.
“In this regard, I make an appeal to our funding and development partners to also double their donations to the agency, because there are more people in the state to be taken out of poverty when they have access to business finance.
“This way, we would be empowering more people to create wealth and spread prosperity.”
LSETF was established in 2016 via a law enacted by the Lagos State House of Assembly, with a take-off grant of N25 billion provided by the state government to provide financial support to over 100,000 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
In its pilot scheme in January 2017, around 705 entrepreneurs emerged as the first set of beneficiaries of the LSETF loan scheme, designed for enterprise development and economic productivity.
It would seem, however, that the governor was unaware that the much-applauded performance of the multi-billion naira employment agency belied the unethical practices that have blossomed in the closets of the agency in recent times.
Violation of terms of contracts
Issues that border on destruction of procurement documents and records as well as flight of due process in the handling of a multimillion-naira grant received from a German funding partner, Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in 2018 have continued to haunt the employment agency to date. Like a festering sore, the N17 million grants for skills development and youth employment programme given to LSETF by GIZ have shaken the integrity and credibility of the agency and have refused to heal.
The financial agreement brokered between LSETF and GIZ stipulates that the grant was meant to organise a youth skills development and empowerment programme that would run for a period of four months (November 2018 to February 2019) while beneficiaries would be given job placement with stipends.
•L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (middle) flanked by representative of LSETF Chairman, Mr. Dele Martins (right); representative of Turmeric Limited, Mr. Idowu Ademola (left) and others during the cheque presentation to beneficiaries at the launch of LSETF W-Initiative at De Blue Roof LTV, Agidingbi, Ikeja on Wednesday, September 4, 2019
As part of the conditions for the grant, according to sources, GIZ requested that LSETF must implement the project in accordance with its procurement procedure, which includes that vendors and Vocational Training Centers (VTCs) previously contracted for similar programmes funded by other donors must not be engaged for the new project.
Also, open competitive bidding was required by GIZ, requiring that no fewer than three VTCs must submit bids for each of the sectors of the skills acquisition programme- hospitality, catering, fashion design and carpentry among others.
It turned out that LSETF infracted the agreement as some vendors and VTCs were awarded contracts without going through the tender process as demanded by GIZ in the agreement with LSETF, and also in clear violation of the Public Procurement Law of Lagos State 2021, which states in Sections 26(1 a) and 28(3) respectively that: “that there shall be open competitive bidding, using clearly defined criteria and offering to every interested bidder, equal information and opportunities to offer the works, goods, and services needed…the Tender’s Board shall have the power to award and be responsible for procurement of goods, works, and services within the Benchmark set in pursuant to this Law.”
Instead, the employment agency merely re-evaluated some existing VTCs and vendors it had engaged for similar projects funded by an international funding partner. Also, the agency disregarded the funding agreement which required that the staff of the agency would not be engaged to implement the project by deploying its staff members to the field to implement the programme as the project team.
In a routine exercise to find out if LSETF had complied with the project implementation, the international development partner discovered that certain critical aspects of the terms of the agreement had been infracted by the agency.
Disturbed by the development, GIZ, among others, requested that the original copies of certain procurement documents relating to how the bids were opened, a letter of engagement issued to ad hoc personnel of the project team, justification for using the state public procurement policy and approval for the engagement of the agency’s staff as personnel of the project team (in contravention of contract terms to employ ad hoc staff) be provided by LSETF.
Although LSETF hinged its recourse to the use of the Lagos State Public Procurement guidelines or policy on adherence to the sanctity of public procurement law of Lagos State as the reason for non-compliance with the use of GIZ’s procurement procedure in the implementation of the project, it could not, however, provide some vital procurement documents on request by GIZ.
From 2020 to 2021, GIZ, through various communications and correspondences to LSETF, demanded certified copies of the relevant documents about the project in order to comply with the requirements of the annual audit exercise of its country office in Abuja, which was to start in July 2021.
One of the correspondences signed by one Motunrayo Ewumi, sighted by our correspondent dated May 4, 2021, GIZ said: “Please find attached observations from the documents sent in last week. Also note the following: 1. All tender documents must be submitted including the documents (proposals) submitted by other vendors. 2. Justification for the procurement process must be documented, signed, and stamped; the email trail does not suffice. 3. Tender process (is) not carried out for some vendors e.g Career4all, a justification must be documented as to why the vendor was selected instead of going through the tender process.”
A few days later, another letter signed by GIZ’s Ewumi, dated May 19 reminded LSETF of the need to provide necessary supporting documents it had earlier reiterated during a meeting held at the instance of LSETF.
The letter reads: “Sequel to the meeting we had on Monday, May 17, 2021, find below the details of the documents required. 1. Justification letter regarding why the Lagos State procurement policy was used and also for the vendors that were awarded the direct contracts without going through the tender process. 2. All necessary supporting documents should be included and previous ones should be checked to ensure they are correct and factual. 3. All tender documents should be submitted as discussed. 4. Justification letter for the LSETF personnel that worked on the project (Financial Agreement). Please ensure to submit the documents as discussed by Friday, May 28, 2021.”
Discordant tunes over recycled documents
Documents sighted by our correspondent showed the total value of the grant was N17, 984,000. The Financial Agreement (FA) summary shows that LSETF was to spend the sum of N1,079,040 on Publicity; N1,079,040 on Project Team; N16,106,560 on Training Cost and N719,360 on Monitoring and Evaluation.
Out of the total contract sum, a sum of N1,022,600 was expended on Publicity, and N616,140 was spent on Monitoring and Evaluation making a total N1,638,740. Relevant original documents were not provided by LSETF for the remaining expenditure.
The matter dragged on for weeks thereafter as GIZ awaited the submission of the original outstanding procurement documents it requested from LSETF.
In the face of the sustained pressure mounted on LSETF by GIZ for the submission of the documents and records on the project, the Executive Secretary of LSETF, Ms. Tejumola Abisoye, said in a letter to GIZ that original copies of procurement documents relating to the project kept in the custody of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) were recycled and could not be retrieved.
She attributed the circumstances surrounding the recycled documents to lack of supervision by the Procurement Department under the watch of one Mrs. Temitope Adeyemi, who resigned a few days earlier and relocated abroad.
The letter reads in part: “This outstanding document issue has been brought to my attention. My understanding is that we at LSETF has (sic) had some issues with the documents stored since 2016 and was (sic) experiencing storage constraints. We had contacted the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB), to help us with (a) storage solution for documents that had electronic copies. The communication to the affected units excluded the Procurement Unit.
“However, the Procurement Unit documents were erroneously included due to a lack of supervision and they did not have electronic copies. We only recently commenced an Electronic process for all Procurement activities at LSETF in 2020.
“When we tried to retrieve the document from LASRAB, we were advised that the documents collected were recycled and cannot be retrieved. The Procurement Approvals are however available as copies in Finance Unit. I also understand that some documents were requested from potential vendors.
“The employee responsible at that time has since resigned-Mrs. Temitope Adeyemi. At this time, we are not able to provide the original copies requested, for which I take full responsibilities. We apologise for the inconvenience and can ensure (sic) you this will never happen again.”
The Public Procurement Law of Lagos State 2021 Section 26(12) on Governing Rules on Public Procurement stipulates that “every procuring entity shall maintain both file and electronic copies of all procurement proceedings made within each financial year. The procurement records shall be maintained for a period of ten years from the date of the award of the contract.”
Curiously, as of the time of the purported recycling of the documents at LASRAB, LSETF was just five years old, raising questions as to the rationale behind the early destruction of the said documents.
Subsequently, GIZ demanded from LSETF the refund of the N14 million balance of the N17 million project for which there were no supporting original copies of procurement documents to back its spending.
In a dramatic twist, Mrs. Adeyemi, who had resigned from the employ of the agency on September 1, 2021, and had proceeded on her exit leave got wind of Ms. Abisoye’s letter to the GIZ few days into her exit leave in September 2021. She subsequently forwarded a letter to GIZ denying her complicity in the said destruction of original procurement documents at LASRAB.
She stated that Ms. Abisoye lied in her letter to GIZ wherein she linked her to the destruction of the procurement records.
The letter reads in part: “The previous response by the Executive Secretary (Ms. Abisoye) has prompted my response at this time…The LSETF Procurement Unit received a request from GIZ to provide all necessary documents for the FA (Financial Agreement) and GA (Grant Agreement) grant projects. In the process of gathering these documents, I was informed that the documents have been recycled/destroyed. I was surprised by this because as far as I am aware in my professional capacity, a Lagos State (procurement) document can only be destroyed after 7-10 years.
“The previous email (from Ms. Abisoye) suggests that I was responsible for this, which is a misstatement of the facts. To put it bluntly, this is a lie and I need to protect both my integrity and career. The procurement approval memo clearly stated that the documents are been (sic) sent to LASRAB for safekeeping and archiving purposes. It was at no time communicated to the Procurement Unit that the documents would be destroyed, so how come I am responsible for this?
She added: “From the previous mail, it can be misconstrued that this unfortunate incidence (sic) is the reason for my resignation. This is not so as I have to pursue my career objectives with other organisations that will align with my core values and principles of work in my chosen profession.”
An inquiry forwarded to the email address of Mrs. Adeyemi, who now resides in the United Kingdom (UK), was not responded to as of the time of publishing this report. Also, the identity and contacts of two female officials who were said to have worked with Mrs. Adeyemi at the Procurement Unit were not known at press time.
“Two ladies worked under the supervision of the former Head of Procurement Unit, Mrs. Adeyemi. I do not have their details and contacts, but I am told one of them has also been redeployed from the department,” a source told our correspondent.
LASRAB DG/LSETF responses
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent on July 23, 2022, the Director General of LASRAB, Ms. Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola explained that documents moved into the custody of LASRAB are usually retrievable and can be provided by LASRAB on request by any agency the documents belong to.
She stated that her agency would not destroy documents kept with it without the consent of the public agencies or parastatals that moved the documents into LASRAB’s custody for safe keeping.
She said: “We are the agency of government responsible for record management and archive in Lagos State. No agency of government can destroy, dispose or recycle any document without our consent.
“We are the ones that work with them to come up with a retention schedule which is basically the amount of time that a document can be used. For example, in line with the procurement law of Lagos State, procurement documents are supposed to be used for 10 years before they can be recycled.
“If an agency decides that it has documents or papers they are no longer using because a lot of agencies are struggling for space with old papers they cannot destroy by themselves, they would call us to come to take the documents into our custody.
“But they would have to write us an official letter stating that those papers have reached their life cycle and we take it up from there by assessing to see if truly the papers have reached their life cycle. We take them away from there and we see if the papers can be archived or not. ”If the papers have no archival value for Lagos State Government, we would recycle them.
Adebiyi-Abiola however declined comments on whether or not the procurement documents were recycled while in the custody of LASRAB.
She said: “In response to your question, I wouldn’t want to say that we (LASRAB) did it (recycle the procurement documents) for LSTEF or not because we have to protect their privacy.
“You know I am working for all government agencies and they have to be comfortable with me that this woman would not be saying this and that about them. So I have to protect their privacy.
“We have the right to do it (recycling documents) and we are doing it for all agencies. But for me to tell you that we did it for this particular agency, I can’t say it.”
Asked further to clarify whether or not there was a correspondent from LSETF requesting LASRAB to recycle some procurement documents, Adebyi-Abiola reiterated that her agency couldn’t have destroyed documents moved into its custody for safe keeping.
“No. We can never do that. As I said, I am not going to say anything specific about the matter because it could be LSETF or any other agency.
“But if any agency asks us to safe keep their documents, what do we gain by destroying them (documents)? Do you understand what I am saying?
“For us to destroy any document, it’s because we have been told by the agency that owns such documents to destroy them, probably because such documents are taking up a lot of space in their office. And when they are coming for retrieval, an officer from the agency will come with an official letter requesting such retrieval and there would be payment for retrieval.
“And when documents are recycled, they are gone. And for somebody to now use our name to say that we did something (recycled documents) without the request from an agency is unfair, because we follow protocol and we have not seen any letter of such.
“However, if any documents have been kept with us in our record centre, they will be there and they would be provided on request for retrieval if truly they are kept in our record centre.”
She urged our correspondent to first of all get clearance from LSETF before she could answer the question about whether or not the documents were destroyed by LASRAB.
“Can I say this, contact LSETF and ask them that you want to ask LASRAB this question and that LASRAB is not giving you a straight answer because LASRAB wants to protect your (LSETF) privacy. Ask LSETF to tell LASRAB if it’s okay (to answer the question).
“But if you want me to say specifically to the fact that there was a recycling of procurement documents belonging to LSETF, I won’t, because I am a professional. I can’t respond to such a question because it’s unethical.
“If I speak and my comments look good I know that such comments would make me run afoul of public service rules, and as the DG of an agency I have to get official clearance to speak on such a matter.
In her response on the telephone, Ms. Abisoye said as the Executive Secretary of LSETF, she has since taken full responsibility for the destruction of the procurement documents in her official communication with GIZ.
She said: “Yes. I agree hundred per cent and I take full responsibility which I already did with GIZ. I take hundred per cent responsibility because as the chief accounting officer, if anything goes wrong (at the agency) at any level of each stage I am responsible and I have taken full responsibility for it.
“I don’t believe in casting aspersions on people. Most importantly, what I normally say is that when you make a mistake, you have to take the next steps to make sure that you don’t make such a mistake ever again. And I think for us at LSETF we will make sure that we tighten things to make sure that that kind of thing doesn’t repeat itself again.
“Like I said, at the end of the day, it is an LSETF’s responsibility. I can’t speak for LASRAB and I don’t think they have (anything) in this case. I just told you I have taken full responsibility for the (recycling of) the documents and I don’t believe in throwing people under the bus.
“I think there’s a lot to learn in public service as there are many things you may not get answers to in public service. But you just have to do your best at all times and let God judge.”
Conflicting explanations
Explaining that the circumstances of the recycled procurement documents have led to the stoppage of funding of LSETF’s activities by GIZ, Ms. Abisoye said: ”LSETF made a mistake. It could still affect GIZ because they are the ones providing funds for some of our programmes, and when we stop receiving funds (from GIZ) because we have given them bad press, which they would consider as bad publicity, we would lose that relationship.
“Already because of the documents issue, we already lost it (funds from GIZ).
“GIZ hasn’t given us any funding, although they still have something going with the Lagos State Government, but not with LSETF anymore.
“We haven’t had any renewed agreement with GIZ since this incident happened.
“As of today, we have trained over 500 people. So, the relationship with GIZ is not one that we can take for granted.
When our correspondent asked Ms. Abisoye to confirm the N14 million refund demanded by GIZ following the inability to provide original copies of procurement documents to justify the implementation of the project, she asked our correspondent to send a mail requesting her official response on the matter.
In an email sent to our correspondent on August 18, 2022, Ms. Abisoye said: “In response to your email of 12th August 2022 for the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund’s (the “Fund”) position regarding the above subject matter, please note that the Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (the “GIZ”) GmbH is one of the Fund’s partners. They entered into a Financial Agreement with the Fund on August 17th, 2018 for the sum of NGN17, 000,000.00 – for a period between 12th November 2018 and 28th February 2019.
“As part of the conditions for the grant, the Fund had an obligation to follow GIZ’s internal policy on procurement processes.
“Unfortunately, we found ourselves wanting with this obligation by following the Lagos State Government’s Procurement Rules and recycling unprocessed documents received during implementation. This was/is in accordance with the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) directions, guidelines, and the Lagos State Government Civil Service Regulations.
“As a result of this conflict, the GIZ requested the refund of the balance of the grant, which the Fund was obligated to refund in accordance with the agreement.”
Against her earlier explanation that the controversial document matter had cost LSETF further funding from GIZ, Ms. Abisoye said the LSETF had closed ranks with GIZ with attendant partnerships on some projects.
“Following this incident, the Fund realigned its processes with the GIZ and both organizations continue to partner on different programs, including facilitating Peer Learning Programs for other State agencies which the GIZ is supporting with grants.”
Responding on Thursday to an inquiry earlier sent by our correspondent on August 11, 2022, GIZ’s Head of Project, Tobias Wolfgarten admitted that the procurement documents at LSETF were recycled and that it was important that the balance of the grant should be refunded to GIZ.
The letter reads: “I write in response to your enquiry with respect to funding provided by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). Please excuse the belated response. Unfortunately, your email was filtered out by our system and was found in the spam folder.
“Regarding your request: GIZ partners with the LSETF through the provision of grants for its skills development and youth employment program. Both parties have been committed to the terms of these grants.
‘Following a regular review of LSETF’s compliance with procurement stipulations under one of the grants an error was identified in relation to procurement under the said grant: LSETF noted that in compliance with extant Directions and Regulations in Lagos State, it had recycled unprocessed documents received during the implementation period relating to the grant.
“Due to GIZ’s procurement rules, provided in the agreement for the grant, LSETF had to provide the documentation in order to receive the fund.
“It, therefore, became necessary for LSETF to refund the balance of the grant to GIZ thereby marking a conclusive resolution of this issue.
“The correction of the error does not imply GIZ has general concerns with the compliance with LSETF and GIZ will continue the cooperation with LSETF.”
THE Senior Pastor, Grace Nation International, Dr. Chris Okafor, has cleared the air on the recent reshuffling in his ministry, saying: “It was long overdue,” adding that restructuring and cleansing should start from the church
He recalled that some of the church’s staff members were sacked for some unethical practices.
Okafor said this became necessary to reposition the church.
He said: “When issues like this happen in the church, we expect everyone involved to change and repent accordingly but some of them after being caught in one ungodly act or the other and they show no sense of remorse and readiness to change, the church has to lay them off.”
Okafor added: “When auditors came around, we discovered that some contracts were padded, invoices doctored and prices inflated. Usually, the church’s practice is to make them go through internal disciplinary measures and corrections because we believe people can change, but when it becomes unbearable and too constant, the church has to take a decision.
“It will shock you that some members of staff are also caught in illicit romantic relationships, and we have physical documents to prove all these claims.
“Meanwhile, it has come to the attention of the church that some people, who are affected by the church’s decision to instill discipline and re-enthrone integrity, have been going around to spread unfounded rumour to tarnish the image of the church.”
The senior cleric warned those who are casting aspersions on the church to stop or face the wrath of the law.
“We warned them to desist from this ungodly act as the church will not hesitate to make public arrest and prosecute anyone caught.
“We have committed them to the hand of God and we pray that God touches their heart for repentance before it is too late, otherwise they shall be made to face the full wrath of the law,” Okafor said.
The family is the first social institution created by God, thus, its relevance to a viable society can never be undermined. Speaking on the essence of family value in the larger society, The host of Family Summit and Senior Pastor of Trinity Family Worship Centre, Emmanuel Godfrey, spoke to Adeola Ogunlade during the last edition of the Family Summit 2022, organised by Trinity Family Worship Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, with the theme: ‘But from the beginning, it was not so’. Excerpts:
Can you tell us what influenced this ‘Family Summit’?
The ministry is directly ordered by the Holy Spirit and draws its inspiration from the scripture, knowing full well that the family unit is an institution ordained by God. The family is a creation of God; as such, the family is fundamentally the first social institution. The difference between canal believers and spiritual believers is that we are led by the spirit of God. Don’t forget, this is Trinity Family Worship Centre. We talk about God the Father; God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. From the beginning, the bible says; “And God said let us make man in our own image.” The word man there is like a generic term depicting male and female, and the trinity is the first spiritual family. Through this ministry, the families of the earth shall be blessed; the distorted family values shall be restored, and if we get it right – family-wise; the society will be alright because the family is the nucleus of the society.
What is the place of the family in the larger society?
If we could fix the family; if we could return back to the original state of how God had ordained the family to be – society will not have these problems. The reason we have a societal problem today is that family values have been distorted – that is why Jesus is drawing our attention back to the beginning; because from the beginning, it was not so. It is high time that the world comes together and knows that the solution to societal problems lies with the family – if we can fix the family, we can fix the world.
Outside biblical solutions, what are other psychosocial solutions that can be adapted to change this trend?
Fundamentally, the family is the first social institution. In every society; if you want to bring a change socially, it must start from the family. I think we should advocate for the ministry of the family – giving attention to the family. If you could solve the problem from the foundation of the family; we will be able to solve academic problems. Can you imagine the kind of rulers we have? They are not leaders – why are our students out of school? They are making budgets and it seems nobody cares, yet the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is on strike. I think for us to get it right; let’s go back to the family. The government should give the desired attention to the families, and we will get it right. The change we need, if it starts from the family, will be able to permeate into society and we will get the desired solutions.
According to a recent survey; four out of ten children born in Lagos have paternity issues. How can we address this as a society?
Once we have the right family values – no matter the family challenges; everybody knows that God is the one that gives children. So, what the family needs to do is to come together. Once there is unity, the family unit builds some kind of synergy that is capable of handling any challenges that the family faces; be it spiritual, financial, political, or academic. If the family unit comes together, I believe there is no challenge that the family will not be able to surmount.
Looking closely at the Christian families of today; there seems to be an increase in domestic violence and divorce among young couples. As a ministry focused on family values; how can we address this?
This holy convocation is targeting the family. This is not a political gathering; this is not a sports gathering; this is not a religious gathering; it’s a spiritual gathering where we bring families together to address the issues affecting the families. No matter how you are anointed, if you don’t do it right; going back to the original intention as the Trinity has ordained, drawing inspiration from the beginning – the bible says: let us make man, the Holy Ghost did not disagree with Jesus the son; the son did not disagree with God the father – they came together and formed the family. The family is a creation of God – so you may be religious and not spiritual. One of the imports of this gathering is that we are drawing the attention of society and believers to go back to the basis. If I fear God and I know the way God has ordained the family to be; I will not beat my wife. I will not defraud my wife; I will not do things that are inimical to the interest of the family because the bible is my family manual. The rate of divorces we have today is even outnumbering marriages including Christian families. So, a Christian family may be challenged with domestic violence; but if they could go back to the basics, go back to the word of God, no matter the hi-generation (fast lane) challenges the family will remain together.
Earlier you spoke about ASUU strike: so, as we move closer to the election, what is your advice to the electorate?
Although we are in the world, we are not of the world. But, it is incumbent on us as a responsibility to choose our leaders – as one of the elements of democracy. So, I’m using this opportunity to stimulate interest from all believers in Nigeria; this is the time for us to take back our country. Get your PVC; go and exercise your franchise. You know the people that have been oppressing you; you know the people that have been oppressing the families in Nigeria – this is a time for us to use our vote and send them into political oblivion. This is the time for all Nigerians to mobilize and it’s not just to be rhetorical about it – it’s time for action. The Nigerian electorate must use their PVC well, and it must be in conformity with your conscience and Christian values – don’t sell your votes; we are not the Esau generation, and we must not trade our birthright. Christians are more in this country, and we must exercise our civic responsibilities because when the righteous are enthroned the people rejoice; when wicked men are enthroned, the people like we have been having in Nigeria – suffer. Enough is enough, God has risen, but the responsibility of us as believers we must not abdicate it. We must exercise it and vote rightly, and vote for the people that will protect the interest of our families.
We are going to deal with only female models and there is a reason for that. We want to stay away from common trend. Anywhere there are housemates; there will be male and female. We want to reduce controversy, remove emotion and be strictly professional. Even if in due season males join, they would stay in separate homes. We are not going to mix them because we are bringing them in for Professional reasons. We want to stay away from those activities that would bring negative connotations about things. Imagine if you have an 18 year old going to a house with a grown up man. There are parents who wish their children to get certain professionalism but because of the way people put it out there, they want to keep their daughters away. So, we want to work in a way that parents would have confidence that if my daughter is going there, she is safe. We also have undertakings that all the participants make sure that their parents are aware; know where they are going and living conditions.
