The Nation Newspaper

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  • Fayose and the 1,000 clerics

    We are in for a good time. I mean we the reader and writer, starting from 16 October, 2014, Ekiti State would become the honey pot for juicy Hardball materials. Those who know the new governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose can vouch that he doesn’t take prisoners. He ‘shoots’ from the hips and he can outgun any cowboy.

    Fayose is like the proverbial animal in Igbo lore that chews his food coolly while the hunter exhausts himself shooting at it – anu ana gba egbe o na ta nni! We expect to get, at least, one titillating gist per day from that quarter with Fayose now fully in charge. The game is on already. On Tuesday at a live television interview, he challenged all the clerics in Ekiti to report en masse and effect spiritual cleansing of the government house before he would step into it.

    Hear him: “I am expecting all the pastors; they would first be at the new State House to carry out a thorough spiritual cleansing before we enter the building…

    “Even if they are up to 1,000, they should all come for the spiritual cleansing… but any pastor who is not sure of his calling shouldn’t come.”

    This is a foretaste of the ‘goodies’ to come from Bobo Fayose, the only governor with ‘street credibility’. Imagine a thousand clergymen raining ‘fire’ on the demons that may have been implanted in the imposing new edifice on the hill. It would only be by the special grace of the almighty that even the building will not be razed along with the ‘enemy’.

    Whoever thought there was something untoward in Fayose’s victory (other than the power and ingenuity of stomach infrastructure) would be convinced by the upwelling of excitement in the state last Thursday. Ekiti shut down for Fayose, was the blazing lead headline of some newspapers. The state was indeed shutdown and the star of the day was in his elements; he did not let anyone down.

    A man of his own wiles and ways, he is not constituted to impress or conform to your ways or mine; he does it his own way regardless. Thus on his special day, his inauguration as governor for the second time, he turned out in open-armed, almost body-hugging, danshiki. For the uninitiated, danshiki is hunters’ dress. He matched it with a cap that would have better suited a flowing agbada and he covered his eyes with a lightless photo-chromic glasses.

    His turnout on his big day reinforced the victory of the street and signposts the days ahead. He insinuated so much in his inauguration speech that it would be business as usual, but this time in an unusual way, if you can decode that. He rode into the venue in a Mercedes Benz 200 1965 model; he told squirming multitude that the out-gone government had thrown the state into an ocean of debts totaling about N84 billion, though he had not even set his foot into the governor’s office yet.

    And here is the banger: he announced his advisers shortly after and feted the loyal people of Ekiti with what must be their just dessert: a Special Adviser in charge of STOMACH INFRASTRUCTURE. Wow, it must be a-dream-come true for the great people of Ekiti, a great reawakening.

  • NANS wildcard (1)

    In 2001, Croatian tennis star, Goran Ivaniševiæ was invited to participate in Wimbledon – one of tennis’s oldest and most prestigious grand slams – as a “wildcard.” He was ranked World No. 125, prior to that he was the World No.2 at the height of his career.

    A “wild card” is often awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal process or qualifying series which allow them to enter competitors whose abilities are below the required standards. In some instances, wild cards are given to the host nation in order to boost their chances.

    As an avid tennis fan, I watched the final with the enthusiasm a Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea fan would watch their teams play. His No. 125 position was not sufficient to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time runner-up – 1992, 1994 and 1998 – he was awarded the “wildcard” for entry into the singles draw. What happened next was one of the sweetest stories to come out of tennis.

    He defeated former and future World No.1 players Carlos Moyá, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin to reach the semi-final, beating home favourite Tim Henman in five set at the semi-final, setting-up a match with the previous year’s runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter.

    In a match lasting over three hours, Ivaniševiæ defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. With the win, Ivaniševiæ became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon. He made history and the wildcard paid off just when he thought he was done with tennis.

    Don’t get carried away with a bit of tennis history as I’m not writing about tennis today but about the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) which last week extended its own version of a wildcard to President Goodluck Jonathan by conferring on him the title of “Grand Commander of Nigerian Students.” As expected of an event of this nature, it generated ruckus within the ranks of Nigerian students.’ It is coming on the heels of the conferment of “Mandela Icon Award” on Chief Olabode George by Zone C – North Central – of NANS which is equally causing disquiet in the ranks.

    I wrote a three part series on NANS last year which brought me face to face with the rot within the association and the pathetic state of student unionism in the country. As a result of calls I got from concerned stakeholders – past and present NANS Presidents, varsity authorities etc – I started questioning where we got things so wrong. NANS, as presently constituted – I was told by a concerned stakeholder – is a “platform for anything goes.”

    I was made to understand that since the NANS convention is slated for Asaba from September 11 (today) through Sunday, the present leadership has all this planned to grab a “piece of the action” before their tenure elapses. That is where we are!

    My curiosity for writing the series last year stemmed from receiving correspondences from three individuals claiming to be “president” of NANS. What followed was like opening up a can of worms of accusations and counter accusations which goes to show that the house of present day NANS is actually built with tinderbox waiting to be ignited at the slightest provocation.

    In the run up to its 26th convention, student delegates from institutions of higher learning across Nigeria converged in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, and “elected” Yinka Gbadebo of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife as the president. The congress was controversial because Prince Miaphen and Adelu Monehim James of OAU kicked against Gbadebo’s election.

    After the controversial and heated convention, NANS witnessed a split along ethno-religious lines when a former undergraduate from Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto (UDUSOK), announced a “Northern NANS.” This almost tore the union apart, but the students eventually came together after finding a common ground of agreement.

    However, that split fostered deeper ideological conflicts and schisms between different interest groups and weakened the broad platform of NANS; this unfortunately has continued to date. One delegate was compelled to allege that: “Student unionism has been infiltrated by dirty money politics as well as brigandage by members of some confraternities and cult groups.”

    But some past activists strike a more sympathetic note. They see the new developments as not simply evidence of student leaders’ “degeneration,” but as a symptom of broader problems in the larger society like in 2005 when the then NANS president Orkuma Hembe used the platform to campaign for Obasanjo’s third term gambit and even went further to award him “Defender of Democracy”. Perhaps he was too young, or does not have a sense of history to remember that it was this same defender of democracy that proscribed NUNS, the precursor of NANS and under whose administration some NUNS activists were rusticated from their various universities.

    The conferment of the “Grand Commander of Nigerian Students” on President Jonathan is generating comments because of previous antecedents. Rewind to the 1990s. That era birthed the rent-a-crowd presidential endorsement movements. First to emerge was the Arthur Nzeribe, Abimbola Davies and Jerry Okoro movement which sought an extension for Babangida’s military government through the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN).

    Anyone familiar with Nigerian history will know that their activities contributed to what would later culminate into the June 12 crisis and its attendant repercussions. It ushered in the Abacha regime and a similar organisation, the Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA), founded by the trio of Daniel Kanu, Johnbull Adebanjo and Emmanuel Okereke.

    In the last couple of months, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) that seeks to sell the Goodluck Jonathan candidature to Nigerians is simply reenacting the Abacha and Babangida inglorious years. Recollect also that in the run up to the election in 2011, there was a neighbour-to-neighbour movement that carried out a vigorous campaign for Jonathan.

    It is within this prism that we can situate the present conferment especially by its timing and nature. Some are questioning the rationale of the award against the backdrop of the myriad of problems confronting the “students” on campuses they still found the time to be conferring awards on politicians instead of concentrating on their studies.

    Given the steady decline of NANS over the years, its endorsements are not out of sync with its previous sophistry. This same group lost three members to a road accident some years back while on a similar trip to bestow a “Governor of the Year” award on Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State.

    A couple of years ago, it was going to confer on Olabode George the Kwame Nkrumah award in the name of the All Africa Students Union. The latter organisation disowned it calling the promoters a band of frauds but they still did not back off from that pursuit. Penultimate week, they succeeded in granting him the Nelson Mandela icon award. The sad part of all these is that these are supposed to be the “leaders of tomorrow.”

    Before castigating real students for allowing their association to be hijacked by hawks, let’s not forget that this is an association that has been infiltrated by cults and fraternities on campuses. I was informed that students’ with genuine leadership intentions keep away for fear of their lives.

    At the conferment of the award on Jonathan, Yinka Gbadebo, was quoted as saying he would mandate all students to cast their votes for Jonathan. How he proposes to “mandate” his colleagues into voting a candidate of his choice is not as worrisome as the blatant manner he makes these declarations without any scruples about being embarrassed if contradicted by his constituency. “What do our children learn in universities these days?” A concerned parent reacted.

    It befuddles the mind really. But what is clear is that what we call NANS today is simply a band of opportunists looking for every opportunity to take their share of the proverbial national cake. Their desperation to be included in the routine sharing of the national cake perhaps explains why you never see these professional students ever associated with anything academic. They are junketing about while the serious ones are busy in the classrooms.

     

  • 1,900 die of Ebola as WHO seeks $600m to tackle outbreak

    1,900 die of Ebola as WHO seeks $600m to tackle outbreak

    ore than 1,900 people have now died in West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

    There have been 3,500 confirmed or probable cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

    “The outbreaks are racing ahead of the control efforts in these countries,” WHO chief Margaret Chan said.

    The WHO is meeting next Thursday to examine the most promising treatments and to discuss how to fast-track testing and production.

    Disease control experts, medical researchers, officials from affected countries, and specialists in medical ethics will all be represented at the meeting in Geneva.

    At least $600m (£360m) are needed to fight the virus, and more than 20,000 people could be infected before the outbreak is brought under control, the WHO has warned.

    Ms Chan described the outbreak as “the largest and most severe and most complex we have ever seen”.

    “No-one, even outbreak responders with experience dating back to 1976, to 1995, people that were directly involved with those outbreaks, none of them have ever seen anything like it,” she said.

    More than 40 per cent of the deaths have occurred in three weeks leading up to 3 September, the WHO says, indicating that the epidemic is fast outpacing efforts to control it.

    On Wednesday, Nigeria reported two further cases in the city of Port Harcourt.

    There had previously only been one case outside the city of Lagos, where five people have died from the virus.

    The outbreak is having a knock-on effect as far away as Thailand, where sailors are becoming fearful of sailing to Africa, affecting shipments of rice.

    Vichai Sriprasert, of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told the BBC that crews are afraid to go to Africa because of the threat of Ebola – despite evidence that infection and death is unlikely.

    West Africa imports millions of tons of rice, much of it from Thailand.

    The cut in demand is hitting the price of rice in Thailand and affecting farmers, he said.

    “The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Port Harcourt has the potential to grow larger and spread faster than the one in Lagos,” the WHO warned.

     Also on Wednesday, the first British person to contract Ebola during the outbreak was discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.

    On Tuesday medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned that a global military intervention was needed to combat the outbreak.

    MSF condemned the global response so far as “lethally inadequate” and said the world was “losing the battle” to contain the outbreak.

    It has called for military and civilian teams capable of dealing with a biological disaster to be deployed immediately, as well as for more field hospitals with isolation wards to be set up, trained healthcare workers to be sent to the region and air support to move patients and medics across West Africa.

    The Ebola outbreak in Port Harcourt could spread wider and faster than in Lagos, the WHO warned yesterday.

    The UN health body said the virus’ arrival in Port Harcourt, 435 kilometres east of Lagos and home to oil and gas majors such as Shell, Total and Chevron, showed “multiple high-risk opportunities for transmission of the virus to others”.

    Until the Port Harcourt case was announced, Nigeria’s government had indicated that the virus was contained in Lagos.

    Nigerian authorities are monitoring nearly 400 people for signs of Ebola after they came in contact with a Port Harcourt doctor who died of the disease but hid the fact that he had been exposed, a senior Nigerian health official said on Thursday.

    Dr. Abdulsalami Nasidi, project director at Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said there was a sense of “hopelessness” due to the lack of proven drugs or vaccines to treat Ebola that has infected 18 people in Africa’s most populous nation.

    He said that more isolation wards were being opened in the oil industry hub but voiced confidence that there would not be “many cases” there.

    After having contact with an Ebola patient and before his own death on August 22, the Port Harcourt doctor, named by local authorities as Iyke Enemuo, carried on treating patients and met scores of friends, relatives and medics, leaving about 60 of them at high risk of infection, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

    The doctor’s wife, who is also a physician, and a patient in the same hospital have been infected with Ebola, the WHO said.

     “Everything about this doctor was in secrecy, he violated our public health laws by treating a patient with a highly pathogenic agent who revealed to him that he had contact with Ebola and didn’t want to be treated in Lagos because he might be put in isolation,” Nasidi said.

    “He treated him in secrecy outside hospital premises. When he became ill he did not reveal to his colleagues that he had contact with someone who contracted Ebola. He was taken to General Hospital, a private hospital that sees everybody.

    “That is the only case that effectively escaped our surveillance network. We are paying now for it,” Nasidi said.

    He spoke on the sidelines of a two-day WHO experts meeting aimed at speeding development of Ebola drugs and vaccines.

    The United Nations said $600 million (Dh2.2 billion) in supplies would be needed to fight West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the death toll from the worst ever epidemic of the virus topped 1,900 and Guinea warned it had penetrated a new part of the country. The pace of the infection has accelerated, and there were close to 400 deaths in the past week, officials said on Wednesday. It was first detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

    The haemorrhagic fever has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, and Senegal, and has killed more people than all outbreaks since Ebola was first uncovered in 1976. There are no approved Ebola vaccines or treatments.

    An experimental Ebola vaccine that Canada said it would give to the World Health Organisation for use in Africa was as of Wednesday still in the lab that developed it as officials are puzzled over how to transport it.

    Ottawa said on August 12 that it would donate between 800 and 1,000 doses of the vaccine, being held at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

    “We are now working with the WHO to address complex regulatory, logistical and ethical issues so that the vaccine can be safely and ethically deployed as rapidly as possible,” Health Canada spokesman Sean Upton said in a statement.

    “For example, the logistics surrounding the safe delivery of the vaccine are complicated.” Upton said one of the challenges was keeping the vaccine cool enough to remain potent.

    Human safety trials are due to begin this week on a vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and later this year on one from NewLink Genetics Corp.

    The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday a federal contract worth up to $42.3 million would help accelerate testing of an experimental Ebola virus treatment being developed by privately held Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.

    Dr. David Nabarro, senior UN Coordinator for Ebola, said the cost of getting the supplies needed by West Africa countries to control the crisis would amount to $600 million. That was higher than an estimate of $490 million by the WHO last week.

    Moving workers and supplies around the region has been made difficult by restrictions by some countries on air travel and landing rights as they try to control Ebola’s spread.

    “We are working intensively with those governments to encourage them to commit to the movement of people and planes and at the same time deal with anxieties about the possibility of infection,” Nabarro said.

    He said the president of Ghana has agreed to allow an air bridge, or route, through the country to affected regions to move people and supplies.

    Ivory Coast, which closed its borders with Liberia and Guinea last month, said on Tuesday it would open humanitarian and economic corridors to its two western neighbours.

    WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan told a news conference in Washington, “This Ebola epidemic is the longest, the most severe and the most complex we’ve ever seen.” Chan said there were more than 3,500 cases across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Amid shortages of equipment and trained staff, more than 120 health care workers have died in West Africa in the Ebola outbreak. The Liberian government has begun offering a $1,000 bonus to any health care workers who agreed to work in Ebola treatment facilities.

  • Taxation of contract and direct labour procurement of Ministries,Departments and Agencies (Mdas) of government in Nigeria. (1)

    The Nigerian Tax Laws have provisions for the Taxation of contract Expenditure including those of Government, Ministry, Department and Agencies. The withholding tax (WHT) provision was introduced into the tax system in 1997 with limited coverage to rent, dividends and directors fees. Tax deduction at source has since been expanded to include:

    – All aspects of building, construction and related services.

    – All types of contract and agency arrangement, other than outright sale and purchase of goods and property in the ordinary course of business.

    – Consultancy, technical and professional services.

    – Management services.

    – Commissions

    – Interest and Royalty.

    The introduction of WHT regime came about in order to address the problem of tax evasion although, there is the overriding objective of full disclosure, transparency, predictability and fairness.

    Despite the huge Tax Revenue from award of contract and related source deductions, there is a growing interest in the usage of direct labour system in project procurement in Nigeria especially in the public sector. Direct Labour system is one of the several options of procurement used for project delivery process. This type of system is regarded as in-house because procuring entity, as different from contractor’s staff carry out the project delivery process and activities. One of the reasons for the preference for direct labour procurement is the Tax effect. Government Ministries, Department and Agency consume the services of contractors and hence are to be charged VAT by contractors who execute contract for them.

    This paper is intended to highlight how Government Expenditures are taxed in Nigeria and the extent to which direct labour procurement can be a Tax evasion scheme. This paper will not in any way address Tax issues relating to Corporate and Individual Expenditures.

     

    The Public Procurement Act 2007 And Award Of Contract

    By the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the following should be noted about award of contract and Public Procurement:-

    i. Procuring Entities should outsource those services that are either not part of their core business activity or for which there is a fluctuating requirement in terms of specialist skills or Equipment, or where the open market provides a more efficient and commercial alternative.

    ii. The approval and maintenance of monetary and prior review thresholds is important for the faithful implementation of the PPA. The thresholds establish relevant approving authorities and methodologies. “Monetary Thresholds” is defined in the interpretative section of the Act to mean the value limit in Naira set by the Bureau outside of which an approving authority may not award a procurement contract.

    iii. Procurement to be executed:-

    a. by open competitive bidding, except as otherwise exempted;

    b. In a manner which is transparent, timely, and equitable for ensuring accountability and conformity with the Public Procurement Act and regulations deriving therefrom;

    c. With the aim of achieving value for money and  fitness for purpose;

    d. In a manner which promotes competition, economy and efficiency; and

    e. In accordance with the laid down procedures and timelines.

    iv. Where the Bureau has set prior review thresholds, no funds shall be disbursed from the Treasury/federation Account/ or any bank account of any procuring entity for any procurement falling above the set thresholds unless the cheque, warrant or other form of request for payment is accompanied by a “Certificate of ‘No Objection’ to Award of Contract” duly issued by the Bureau.

    v. Subject to the monetary and prior review thresholds for procurements, the Parastatal Tenders’ Board of a government agency, Parastatal, or corporation or in the case of a ministry or extra-ministerial entity, the Ministerial Tenders’ Board shall be the Approving Authority for the conduct of public procurement.

    vi. The following procedure shall be observed by ministries, extra ministerial offices, and other arms of government in implementing their procurement plans, viz;

    a. Advertise and solicit for bids in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the Bureau from time to time;

    b. Invite two (2) credible persons as observers in every procurement process, one from a private sector professional organization relevant to the procurement and the other from non-government organization working in transparency, accountability and/or anti-corruption areas;

    c. Receive, evaluate and make a selection of the bids in accordance with prescribed guidelines;

    d. Obtain the approval of the tenders board for the award of contract to successful bidder.

    e. Obtain “certificate of ‘No objection’ to award contract” from the Bureau where contract is outside the threshold.

    vii. All bidders in addition to requirements contained in any solicitation documents shall:

    a. Possess the necessary:

    – Professional and technical qualifications to carry out particular procurement

    – Financial capability;

    – Equipment and other relevant infrastructure;

    – Shall have adequate personnel to perform the obligations of the procurement contracts.

    b. Possess the legal capacity to enter into the procurement contract

    c. Not be in receivership, the subject of any form of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings or the subject of any form of winding up petition or proceedings

    d. Must have fulfilled all its obligations to pay taxes, pensions and social security contributions.

    viii.         Procurement Approval Threshold  (2012)

    ix. Reduction or Contract splitting is an offence in the Public Procurement Act.
    x. The Accounting Officer of every procuring entity shall be the person charged with the line supervision of the conduct of all procurement process; in the case of Ministries, the Permanent Secretary and in the case of Extra Ministerial Departments and Corporations, the Director General or Officer of Coordinate responsibility.
    xi. Procurement by Accounting Officers must be on the

    basis of approved quotation or Tender. Selection must be made from at least three quotations.

    xii. Section 19 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 specifies conditions for “Force Account” i.e Direct Labour, which should be executed within three months, to include

    – The procuring entity has ascertained that a schedule of rates, cost – plus or target contract would not be feasible, as quantities of work to be carried out cannot be defined in advance;

    – Works are small and scattered or in remote locations with no local contractors and demobilization costs for outside contractors would be too high;

    – Works must be carried out without disrupting existing operations;

    – The risk of unavailable work interruptions is better borne by procuring entity than by a contractor;

    – No contractor is interested in conducting the work at a reasonable price;

    – It has been demonstrated that Force Account (Direct Labour) is the only practical method for constructing and maintaining works under special circumstances; or

    – Where national security would be compromised if any other method was used.

     

    BLIBLIOGRAGHY

    1. Financial Regulations (Revised to January 2009); Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    2. Public Procurement Act 2007: Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    3. Companies Income Tax Act, Cap C. 21, LFN 2004

    4. Value Added Tax Act, Cap V.1 LFN 2004.

    5. Federal Inland Revenue Service Information circular No: 9801 (1998)

    6. Federal Inland Revenue Service Information circular No: 9502 (1995)

    7. Federal Inland Revenue Service Information circular No: 2006/02 (2006)

  • She abandoned me as a baby.Now it’s payback time! (1)

    NORA is a girl in her early 20s who was abandoned by her mother in an orphanage when she was a baby. After leaving the orphanage, she sets out to make her way in the world. Later, she decides to look for her birth mother, to discover her roots. What she found out was not what she was expecting…

    It was a public holiday and while many workers were on break from their duties, I was extremely busy at the popular eatery/ restaurant where I worked in the city. We had been serving customers since we opened at 8 am and more were still coming in at past six o’clock. Maria, the new girl employed a few months before was supposed to have come in to take over from me on the evening shift, but she was no where in sight.

    Our manager, Mr Johnson kept glancing at his watch and frowning deeply whenever he came out from his small office at the back of the eatery.

    “Where’s that girl? Is this how she wants to do this job? She should have been here hours ago!” he stated with a scowl on his face.

    I had been standing for hours at the counter attending to customers and my feet were killing me. I longed to sit down and take a break with a cold drink and maybe a nice, hot pastry like the type we served our customers. But of course, it was a luxury I could not afford as we were so busy.

    Seeing how upset the manager was, I told him I would keep working till Maria showed up. He looked relieved and after ensuring everything was going smoothly at the counter, returned to his office.

    I had been working in the eatery and fast food restaurant for nearly two years and though the job could be stressful at times, I enjoyed my work. It was the first job I got on leaving the orphanage where I had lived all my life. It was the only home I had ever known, the other children and our carers the only family I had. When I was leaving the place two years before, I had felt really sad and had wept at all the familiar faces I was leaving behind. Though I wanted to see the world beyond the orphanage walls, I was a little apprehensive at the new life waiting for me and worried whether I could cope on my own, with no parents, siblings and other relatives.

    Two years down the line however, I was coping quite well in the ‘big, bad world outside’ as the Chief Matron at the orphanage or Big Mama as we all called her referred to the world outside the orphanage walls. It was Big Mama who arranged the job for me and even got a place for me to stay not too far from my workplace. “Work hard, stay focused and trust nobody. The world is a wicked place as you will find out soon enough,” she advised me before I left. She told me other things but more of that later.

    “Good afternoon, sir. What will you like to have? We have local, continental and other dishes!” I said to a customer that just came in.

    Thirty minutes later, Maria came in looking harassed.

    “Nora, I’m so sorry for coming in late but I had to…” she started to say but I cut her short.

    “You are always full of excuses! Are you the only one with problems? Anyway, Mr Johnson is really upset with you! Just go in and change so I can go home. I’m tired!” I said irritably.

    When I went inside to change to my street clothes, Maria drew me aside and apologised for being late. “It’s my son. He was sick and I had to take him to the hospital,” she said.

    “It’s the manager you should be worried about. Go in and apologise to him. And next time, try to call so we know where you are,” I said, picking up my bag and heading for the back door the staff normally used.

    ***

    On reaching home, I took a cold bath and went straight to bed as I was so tired and I had to resume work early the next day. I woke up sometime in the night, at about 3 am. Since I no longer felt sleepy, I decided to do some cleaning in my small apartment. I swept, dusted and washed some of my dirty clothes that had piled up. It was nearly six o’clock by the time I finished so I took a shower and prepared for work. On my small dressing table, besides my make up case was the most expensive piece of jewelry I owned: a gold bracelet which was engraved with the name C. Clarkson.

    “It was on your wrist the day you arrived the orphanage,” Big Mama had told me on the eve of my departure from the home. “Your mother brought you here but she disappeared before we could get her full details. I think the bracelet belonged to her; her name was Carol and she was 18 years old then. That’s the only information we have about her. I’ve kept it for you all this while waiting for the day you will come of age and leave us. That day has come,” she had stated, handing the bracelet to me.

    I examined it, noting its intricate design. It was beautiful and looked very expensive.

    “It looks valuable,” I said.

    Big Mama nodded.

    “Yes. With that, I believe you can trace your mother. That is if you want to,” she stated.

    “I’m not interested. She abandoned me. So, why should I look for her?” I said shortly.

    “Nora, my dear. Don’t be too hard on her. She was very young. She must have had her reasons,” said Big Mama. I was not interested in knowing her or whatever reason she had for dumping her new born baby in an orphanage and running away, never to return.

    “She’s not my mother! You and the other women here are the only mothers I’ve ever known. I don’t need anyone else!” I had stated firmly.

    “Blood is thicker than water, my dear child,” said Big Mama, smiling a little.

    That was two years ago and a lot had happened to me since then. I had grown more mature, more tolerant. Perhaps, that might be the reason why as I gazed at the bracelet that morning, I felt a little curiosity. For the first time, I wondered what the original owner of the bracelet, my birth mother looked like, what kind of person she was, her family, friends and so on.

    And most importantly the reason she dumped me, a helpless baby at the orphanage. What kind of mother would do that, I wondered. I needed to speak with some one about it, a person with more experience of life than me.

    A few days later, I had a day off and I went to visit Maria at home after her shift ended at the eatery. She was a few years older than me and the mother of a four year old boy, whose father disappeared after his birth.

    “He came to the hospital just once to see me and the baby. I’ve not set my eyes on him since then. No word, contact or anything. I don’t know what part of the world he is and frankly I don’t bloody care!” Maria had told me earlier when I had asked about her son’s father.

    Maria was cooking in the small communal kitchen she shared with her co-tenants in the face-me-I-face you type of building where she lived with her son, Toby and a younger sister.

    “I stopped at the market on my way from work to get some soup ingredients,” she explained, wiping her hands on a cloth.

    “I hope it will be tastier than the ones they cook at the eatery. I’m very hungry o!” I stated. I sat down in the room and played with Toby while she prepared the eba for the soup. After we had eaten, Maria and I sat chatting while Toby took a nap.

    “No way! There’s nothing on earth that will separate me from my child,” Maria maintained. It was in reply to a question I had asked her if there could be any circumstance or situation that will make her abandon her son, dump him with total strangers.

    “Why would I do such a terrible thing? I love my son, he’s my world. He makes me happy; he’s my sole consolation for all the nasty things that have happened to me,” she added, then turning to me, queried:

    “But why do you ask such a question?”

    I then told her my story, how my mother had abandoned me at the orphanage as a baby. “I never knew her. I grew up calling the women at the orphanage, ‘Mama’, while my own mother is somewhere out there, not concerned whether I’m alive or dead, if I’ve eaten or starving. What woman does that?” I asked rhetorically.

    “Poor Nora. I feel your pain. But understand that people are different, circumstances are also different. Nobody knows what made her do it. Or the countless other women who had done the same to their babies. It doesn’t mean she didn’t love you. Something must have happened to make her do what she did. Perhaps, you should find out,” she advised.

    “How?” I asked.

    “Look for her. That will be the first step. Other things will follow,” Maria said.

    “What if she doesn’t want to see me after all these years? If she had been interested, she would have come looking for me!” I pointed out.

    “As I said, we don’t know what happened. Besides, there’s no woman who won’t be happy to reconnect with her child after 20 something years of separation. Especially one that has grown into such a beautiful girl like you,” she said, smiling brightly at me…

     

    To be continued

    Don’t miss what happens next Saturday, when Nora goes in search of her long-lost mother.

    Names have been changed to protect Nora’s identity and other individuals in the story.

    Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com

  • 1,072 casual workers in Delta engaged

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has approved the appointment of 1,072 casual workers into the workforce.

    Uduaghan announced this yesterday at the May Day celebrations in Asaba -the state capital.

    The governor, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ovouzourie Macauley, said the approval is in fulfilment of an earlier promise.

    He said casualisation of staff has never been a policy of his administration.

    Uduaghan advised persons not properly engaged by the Civil Service Commission to stop work.

    The governor said he had directed the Head of Service to issue an appropriate circular on the issue.

    He said the government would not entertain any further representation on behalf of casual workers.

    Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC)Chairman Williams Akporeha praised the government’s plans to revive the Delta Glass Factory, Ughelli, and urged that a similar initiative be extended to Delta Steel Company, Ovwian –Aladja and the Asaba Textile Mills.

  • 1,000 bad billboards removed in Ibadan

    The Oyo State Signage and Advertising Agency (OYSAA) has demolished over 1,000 dilapidated billboards in Ibadan, the state capital.

    The demolition, which began about a week ago, has touched Toll Gate, Government Secretariat-Parliament road, Agbowo Shopping Complex, Bodija and Sango, among others.

    OYSAA Director-General Mr. Yinka Adepoju said over 1,000 bad billboards and countless posters had been removed.

    Adepoju said they gave the owners of the billboards 21 days ultimatum to remove them but they failed to comply.

    He said: “We are determined to give Oyo State a facelift and sanitise outdoor life. The deplorable state of many billboards in Ibadan is worrisome.”

    Adepoju said the outdoor space would be re-planned for mutual profitability, adding that there would no longer be room for massive display of billboards at road junctions and roundabouts.

    He urged advertising agencies to register with OYSAA, warning that any billboard erected by any unregistered agency would be removed and such agency prosecuted.

  • IBBUL matriculates 1,400 students

    About 1,400 students have sworn the matriculation oath of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL) for the 2012/2013 academic session.

    The new students represent about 9.3 per cent of the 15,000 candidates who applied for placement in the university.

    Addressing the students, Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Ibrahim Adamu Kolo, urged them to face their studies with all seriousness to justify the opportunity of the admission and investment of their parents.

    “Out of over 15,000 applications received for admission, only a fraction were able to scale the herculean hurdle of been qualified to be offered the admission, hence the need for you to be committed and disciplined about every academic activity,” he said.

    He also advised them to desist from any act that could jeopardise their future and the image of the university as the institution does not compromise on issues of academic standard.

    Kolo, while commending the cordial working relationship his administration is enjoying with members of staff, also appealed to the parents and well meaning individuals in Niger State to support the university by establishing legacy projects to accelerate its development.

     

  • ‘Egbin Power Plant generates 1,030 MW’

    The Egbin Power Plant is now generating 1,030mw of electricity, up from 600mw, according to its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mike Uzoigbe.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that five of the six turbines of the plant are now working at full capacity.

    The Egbin Plant power generation dropped from 1,080mw to 600mw on December 5, because of a national system collapse.

    The collapse led to a shutdown of the station.

    Uzoigbe assured that the station would meet its generation capacity of 1,320mw fully as the unit six, which was faulty, was being repaired.

    He said: “Egbin is generating at 1,030 megawatts capacity on five turbines, which is being distributed based on demand.

    “When all the units are working to capacity, we will distribute in full blast.

    “What we are doing is to maintain and improve on existing generation.’’

    Uzoigwe denied the insinuation that the Egbin Plant had been shut for its inability to generate power.

    “Over the years, we have had problems of obsolete equipment and spare parts.

    “But since government started tackling the problems of the power sector very seriously, things are picking up gradually.

    “It is only the sixth turbine that is still down, but government is making necessary arrangement to revive it.

    “By the grace of God, we will be able to bring it back and be in a position to approach the 1,320 megawatts,’’ he said.

     

  • 1,747 Kwara pilgrims back home

    A total of 1,747 pilgrims from Kwara State have so far returned home after performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

    The number was among 2,486 pilgrims from the state who went on pilgrimage.

    The Permanent Secretary, General Services in the Kwara Civil Service, Alhaji Muritala Sheu, gave the information while addressing newsmen.

    Sheu, who is in charge of hajj operations, said the aircraft which conveyed the fourth batch of 530 pilgrims from Jeddah arrived at the Ilorin International Airport.

    The permanent secretary said the remaining 739 pilgrims from the state would be flown home in two batches.

    He said the State Muslim Pilgrims Board, has concluded plans for the successful return of the remaining pilgrims in two batches.

    Sheu gave an assurance that all the pilgrims from the state who had returned were in good health.