The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Beware

  • Beware of crazy lust

    This lady has come with her stories again? Yes! I have to always tell some of these stories for different reasons.

    I am going to share this true life story with you because it is a combination of two things: a lesson and a piece of advice to all the relationship seekers via online or any other social media platform. Caution should be your watch word.

    Whatever happens to you is not the business of the medium where you got the contact from. They can’t be liable for what follows. So dear sisters, be warned! Are we clear on that?

    Now, the story. I got this email on Saturday afternoon from a troubled reader. The beep of my Blackberry alerted me to a new message. I opened the mail and the content got me shocked. After reading the mail, I was so peeved I was tempted to call the guy in question and tongue-lash him for misusing an online platform to put someone through such emotional trauma. But I had to hold one and talk to you guys (my readers), first. It is a story you should all read.

    * * * * * *

    Dear Chichi,

    I am a regular reader of a newspaper (name withheld). I met this handsome guy on  their love link classified page. His name is Moses. He’s 27 years.  He lives at Iyana-Iba, Ojo, Lagos.

    Though he looks younger than his age, he is very sexy and romantic. This guy also sings. He’s funny, he’s sweet and fresh. His number is 07037396***. Chichi, I have met some guys, but I must confess this one is different. He is just a totally different guy.

    This was how we met. I saw his number and called him. He asked me to meet him in a hotel at the Iyana-Ipaja area. After spending some minutes talking and getting to know each other a little, he ordered for some drinks and paid for a room in the hotel. After drinking, he gently slid his fingers in my newly-made hair caressing it.

    Then, he started to whisper into my ears and sucking them, down to my neck. Before he got to my tits, I was very wet. He carried me up and put me on the bed. Then to my surprise, he got up and went out.

    When he went out, I never knew what he went to get.  But to my utmost surprise, he came back with ice-cream and ice-cubes from the bar in the hotel.

    He poured the ice cream all over my body, while the cube was in his mouth and he was kissing me with it, from my breast to all parts of my body – my ears, my ribs, my navel and finally my G-spot.

    And everywhere under me. He was practically eating and sucking me for almost 40 minutes. I was in cold heaven.  Chichi, I know you know what I mean, with ice-cube on your vagina! In fact, I had no choice than to spend the night with him. We had sex all night. It was up to 15 rounds and we never got tired.

    It was a very crazy and naughty night.

    It wasn’t my fault that I fell easily for him. I was carried away. Anyway, he is the kind of guy every girl would want to spend her lifetime with.

    When I got home the next day, I couldn’t stop thinking of him. The imagination of being with him, his thoughts filled my soul. So the next day I called him and he suggested we meet again.

    That same day, we made mad love, but after some rounds his face changed, and I asked what the problem could be. At that point, he brought out the exact copy of the paper where I got his contact from. He asked me to look once again at his request from E-Love link. It says he’s looking for a sugar mummy. “I am not looking for a girlfriend who I go dey spend on because I no get the money and time,” he told me bluntly.

    He said he thought I was from a rich and influential family, but he was disappointed to notice otherwise. He insisted he was searching for a mature, rich girl or lady who can possibly help him with a job and some real cash. Having said that, he walked out, leaving me in that hotel room. Since then, anytime I call his phone, he ignores my call.  I tried using other numbers; the moment he heard my voice, he ended the call.

    He told me he is a graduate and that he finished his youth service last year. All I need is for him to see me again. I wouldn’t mind if it is just once, even if it is for one minute.  We met just two weeks ago. He left me on Wednesday. For how long am I going to suffer this emotional feeling? He really swept me off my feet. Even, as I am typing this mail, I am wet from just thinking about him. Chichi, I beg you, help me out. I am having sleepless nights over this guy. Help me to mail, call or text him.

    Dear readers, I will be glad if you can advise Linda on what to do about her situation. I have informed her to expect a solution to her problem in our next publication.

  • Beware of friends

    Beware of friends

    Your Excellency,

    This is the first letter coming out of ‘The Message’ column to Your Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCON) as Nigeria’s next President. At the least expected time in your life, the same ladder that had failed you several times in several years suddenly lifted you to the pinnacle of your life’s ambition. And by the time you are sworn in on May 29, 2015 as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the grace of Allah, the reality of Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith will dawn on you that “the leader of a community is actually the servant of that community”.

    The first lesson to learn in this is that no human being, no matter how rich or famous, can occupy any position in life without the consent of the Almighty Allah. Thus, your ascension to that exalted seat is not because you are wiser, more pious, better informed or more experienced than others. It is rather a fulfilment of Allah’s promise thus:

    “Who are those that arrogate the duty of portioning out your Lord’s mercy (according to their whims) to fellow human beings? I (Allah) am the sole distributor of those sustaining bounties in this world (being their Creator) and I elevate some people above others in positions to enable some to be servants while others are masters. Surely the mercy of your Lord is better and more prosperous than the material wealth they amass”. Q. 43:32

     

    Power as a sword

    Your Excellency, power in the hands of a ruler is like a sword in the hands of a warrior. It can be used to attack (foes) or to defend (friends). It is also like destiny which can be used to demote the aristocrats or promote the hopeless downtrodden peasants. Power may serve as an instrument for dismantling hegemonies and enthroning hope in the hopeless masses. It is capable of being used to appoint or disappoint people across tribes, religions and interests. It can also be used to elongate or terminate lives depending on who wields it.

    But, sir, beyond every human power there is a Supreme Power which neither wanes nor ends. It is to that Supreme Power that all the power wielders in this world will finally surrender and render their accounts especially on how they used the power entrusted to them. As a Muslim sir, you must understand that everything in this world is ephemeral. The world has witnessed, in various countries and millennia, how men of ‘timber’ and ‘calibre’ ruled positively or negatively and what eventually became of them. History has always been an eyewitness.

     

    Basic attributes of governance

    Your Excellency, after security, law and justice, nothing else is held more sacrosanct in Islam than governance which can be likened to a magnificent canopy under which the people are supposed to take cover during torrential rains or burning sun.

    In a democratic environment, such canopy is owned, not by those who keep custody of it but by the citizenry who entrust its custody to them. Its custodians are just servants keeping the canopy in trust for the people. Perhaps that was one fact which most of your predecessors did not realise during their tenures.

    Sir, a similar letter was written to  former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan through this column shortly after their assumption of office in 1999, 2007 and 2011 respectively. But it seems that the lotus of office was too overwhelming for each of them (except Yar’Adua) to resist. In the letter, yours sincerely reminded each of them of two important incidents in the history of Islam both of which today serve as indelible models for world rulers, especially those of the West.

    One of the incidents was a letter which the fourth Caliph in Islam, Ali Bn Abi Talib wrote to Ashtar Bn Malik whom he appointed as Governor of Egypt. The other was the practical example of good governance exemplarily demonstrated by Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who ruled the Umayyad dynasty about 85 years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

     

    Caliph Ali’s Letter

    Your Excellency, please, find below an excerpt from Caliph Ali’s letter which has since served as a code of conduct in governance for all people who aspire to rule well. You may have some benefits to derive from it. It goes thus:

    “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Be it known to you Oh Malik, that I am sending you to a country which had experienced in the past both just and unjust rule. The people you are going to rule will scrutinise your actions with searching eyes just as you used to scrutinise the actions of those before you. They will speak of you just as you did speak of those before you. Note that the public speak well only of those who do well. It is they, who furnish the proof of rulers’ actions. Hence, the richest treasure that you may covet should be the treasure of good deeds.

    Keep your desire under control and deny yourself that which you have been warned against. By such abstinence alone, you will be able to distinguish between good and bad”.

    “Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindness and blessing to them. Do not behave to them like a barbarian in power and do not appropriate to yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They are either your brothers in religion or your brethren as human beings. Some of them are subjects of infirmity who are prone to making mistakes. But you must forgive them as you would like God to forgive you”.

    “Bear in mind (you Malik) that you are placed over those people as I (Caliph Ali) am placed over you. And there is God Almighty above him (Ali) who has given you the position of a Governor in order to look after those under you and be sufficient for them. You will be judged by what you do for or to them”.

     

    Temptation

    “Do not be tempted to use power and authority of office without exhausting investigation and facts concerning the matter at stake as that will corrupt your heart, weaken your faith in religion and create disorder in the state.”Never take counsel of a miser, for, he (or she) will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you with poverty around. Do not seek advice from a coward, he (or she) will weaken your resolution and dampen your morale. Do not take counsel of a greedy person, he (or she) will instil greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness, cowardice and greed deprive man of piety and push him into unbridled desperation. The worst counsellor is one who had served a tyrant before and shared his crimes. Do not appoint such a person as your adviser. He will lure you into crimes and turn you into a criminal”.

    “Great care should be exercised in revenue administration to ensure, not only the prosperity of the tax payers but also that of the masses. You should regard the proper upkeep of the land in cultivation (or economic resources of the nation) as of greater importance than the collection of revenues. He who demands revenue without helping land cultivators (or the workforce) ruins the state”.

     

    Plight of the Poor

    “Fear God when you are dealing with the problems of the poor who have none to patronise or protect their interest. They are forlorn, indigent, and helpless as they have become victims of the vicissitude of time. Assign for their uplift a portion of the state exchequer (Baytul Mal) wherever they may be. Let no state preoccupation slip them away from your mind for no excuse whatsoever, will be acceptable to Allah for neglecting their rights.….”

    “Finally, dear Malik, shun self-adoration. Do not indulge in self-praise nor encourage others to extol you because of all the viruses that undo good deeds of pious men, Satan relies most on praise and flattery. Breach of promise annoys God and man alike. Do not act in haste nor defer the execution of a good decision. Do not insist on wrong doing or slackness in rectifying the wrong already done”.

    “When people as a whole agree upon a thing, do not impose your own view on them just because you are in power. Note that power is transient and you will eventually exit or be forced to exit from it one day. And, remember that you will be called upon to render account to God while you remain in the negative chapter of history if your performance is abysmal….”

     

    Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz

    Your Excellency, Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who was cited above as the second historical incident was a famous Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. He became Caliph about 85 years after the demise of the Prophet.

    In a particular year during his reign, the state made so much money from the collection of Zakah that the problem was how to spend it. The tradition, according to Islamic injunction, was for the state to dispense Zakah to the poor among the citizenry from the much money made through the collection of zakat just as social welfare is dispensed to the jobless, the aged and weak in some sane countries today. But when this was to be done, it turned out that nobody in the entire state was so poor as to be a zakat recipient. The huge amount earmarked for zakat that year had to be returned to the state treasury. It is taken for granted here that a state without poor people is surely a state without beggars.

    Umar Bn Abdul Aziz, who became so famous in history as an ingenuous economic manager, ruled for only three years from 717 to 720 C.E. Yet, he died at the age of 37. The secret of his success was his ability to identify two major areas of economic management in governance. One was to regulate the cost of governance by ensuring that those in government were neither too many nor paid undeserved salaries even as he ascertained that the poor public employees were not enslaved (if psychologically) to the privileged political appointees or those elected to legislate for the state. And there was an independent body responsible for the determination of public workers’ remunerations.

     

    Second Secret

    Caliph Umar’s second secret of success was his official recognition of the middle class as the greatest employer of labour. He knew that if two million professionals or artisans in the state were able to employ three staff each, the burden of gross unemployment would be off the neck of the government because eight million people would have been effectively employed. And that would not only have ordinarily brought the rate of crime in the state to its lowest ebb it would have also enhanced the state economy tremendously.

    What he did, in emulation of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), therefore, was to use the resources of the state to encourage self-employment through professionalism and artisanship. He knew very well that whatever was spent on such a vital venture would return to the state treasury in many folds through taxation. Not only that sir, he also facilitated an education curriculum to suit that design.

     

    Heritage of the West

    Caliph Umar’s economic genius thus became the heritage of the Western countries and they are thriving gloriously in it today. Any government that eliminates the middle class as in the case of Nigeria automatically opens the gate of poverty and crime to the populace.

    Your Excellency, this is not the time to tell Nigerians any gory story of bad economy and a possible removal of fuel subsidy. They already know how economically ruinous the outgoing government had been in the past six years. And they do not believe in the existence any fuel subsidy which they had unwillingly accepted as an instrument of slavery.

     

    Oil Subsidy

    Most Nigerians are at a loss over the issue of subsidy because they are yet to know what the billions of Dollars realised annually for years from the oil sector has been used to achieve, especially when the Federal Government alone takes a lion’s share of 52 per cent of accruing oil revenue.

    To most if not all Nigerians, the year 2012 was a year of Armageddon. That was the year in which new vehicle number plates were rolled out and every vehicle owner was forced to purchase at exorbitant amount, despite the overwhelming poverty that had gone viral in the land. It was also the year in which new drivers’ licences as well as new vehicle particulars were introduced all at unaffordable prices and at a time when the removal of oil subsidy was being forced down their throat willy-nilly. Till date, the question remains unanswered about what became of the money realised from the ‘fuel subsidy’.

     

    Electricity

    Your Excellency, you do not need to be told much about the situation of electricity in Nigeria because you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria. Until a couple of weeks before the Presidential election that you just won, the electricity tariff had been spirally increased without the consent of the people. And that was done in anticipation of improved generation and distribution of that essential energy which was transferred to certain privileged Nigerians in the name of privatisation. All these are telling on them economically. Yet, power remains, shamelessly, a luxurious commodity today in a country where it is supposed to be a dire necessity. With stable power supply the problem of mass unemployment will be solved to a great extent and that will drastically reduce the crime rate in the country.

     

    Insecurity

    Your Excellency, as a retired Army General of worth, you do not need to be tutored on the issue of insecurity. It is a familiar terrain for you. But by and large sir, in steering the ship of this giant country, I pray the Almighty Allah to give you the faith of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), the patience of Prophet Ayub (Job), the courage of Prophet Musa (Moses), the bravery of Prophet Daud (David), the wisdom of Prophet Sulayman (Solomon), the innocence of Prophet Isa (Jesus) and the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Through the constant and genuine prayers of the ruled, rulers are able to measure their performance and their acceptability. Remember that the bitterest enemies are invariably found among friends. Only those who are close to you can kiss or bite you.

    Sir, gold and silver, this column (THE MESSAGE) has none to offer you. But a genuine piece of advice based on pure intention may be more valuable than all the ornaments of this world.

    As-Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

  • ‘Beware of prophets of doom’

    ‘Beware of prophets of doom’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has warned Lagosians to be wary of attention – seeking prophets and their patronising prophecies of doom.

    Reacting to a prediction by Primate Theophilus Olabayo of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh, Maryland, Lagos that APC would lose the governorship election in the state, APC’s Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe said the cleric was only aiming at regaining public relevance.

    He said Olabayo’s prediction never came to the party as a surprise, following his antecedents of failed predictions in the past.

    Igbokwe said the cleric was only trying to use APC to bounce back to relevance, having suffered physical, financial and spiritual setback years ago.

    “Is it not the same man who predicted years back that George W. Bush would defeat Bill Clinton only to publicly apologise that he saw Clinton and not Bush, after Clinton became the president?

    “In 1991, the ‘man of God’ predicted the imminent death of a very prominent Nigerian who threatened to sue him for the fake prophesies. The man is still alive and kicking at over 80 years. Are these not enough to make the self-acclaimed Nostradamus cover his face?

    The APC spokesman advised the ‘cleric’ to heed the word of the Bible, which says “Healer, heal thyself”.

    He said just as his past predictions had gone into the bin, this one will not be fulfilled.

  • Beware of fake football agents

    It’s not news that we have so many young Nigerians with the dream of becoming a professional football players. Most of them are often seen attempting to travel abroad all in the quest for professional football careers and many that have managed to cross the shores of the country have a lot to tell you when you meet them outside the country.

    Let me start by saying that there is nothing wrong for any youth to aspire playing professional football abroad but the way and manner they go about it is what is worrisome to me and this calls for serious concern because lots of youths have lost their freedom and dignity because of ambition to travel abroad.

    Meanwhile, I need to make something very clear and it is that our youths that are interested in becoming professional football players abroad should be weary of false agents who come with the idea that the youths should pay certain amount of money for them to be taken abroad  for trials. Many families have had to go through various harrowing experiences to fund their wards through such processes.

    While it is important that we state here clearly that some very important things should be considered when becoming involved in matters like this. Firstly, make sure that the club you want to attend the trials sends an invitation letter to you to participate in their trials. Ensure that you see the club’s invitation letter and not that of a third party in the name of an agent abroad inviting you to a trial to no specific club.

    Another strategy adopted by fraudsters is to say that they are taking the teams abroad for a mini competition and as such they put up a group of players with the notion that after they play the competition they will be discovered by agents who will eventually sign the players into European clubs.

    While some of the players have been able to secure playing contracts through these strategies others have ended up stranded in foreign lands without anyone to turn to. I have said it before now that we have thousands of Nigerian youth’s abroad that travelled with the expectation of playing football only to be abandoned by their so called agents in those countries.

    Depending on the country they find themselves some have resorted into business others have gone into other areas all in the name of trying to survive. But the truth is that because most of the boys are not educated they hardly find any reasonable job to do in Europe and thus becomes destitute in those countries.

    Youths and parents should be very wary about those who come to take your wards in the name of helping them to secure a football contract abroad. Many of these players have often forgotten that abroad, old players cannot find any club and that is why after they are able to secure one deal they find it difficult to renew their contract because of their age

    We need to be very careful because I have heard several negative stories of which if said a lot of families will be shocked. There was a young man I met in Liberia who claimed to have travelled to the country to play football. Honestly but for his name and ability to speak a Nigerian language you would have mistaken him for an airport tug.

    His story was that he was supposed to go to Libya from where he will move on to Spain but unfortunately for him by the time he got to Liberia he had exhausted all the monies that he came with and as such became stuck in Liberia. He was begging us to please give him some money for him to return to Nigeria. We tried the little we could but I don’t know If he eventually used the money to come back home or better still if he decided to stay put in Liberia

    Also in South Africa we have lots of youths that are roaming around the streets. Further investigation will reveal that some of them came to the country to play football but unfortunately today they are unable to play any football. You find them around most Nigerian restaurants begging for food and as I said earlier they have two major problems firstly they don’t have good papers and some don’t have any educational certificates.

    I wish to honestly advise any youth that loves to play football to be very careful and not fall into the trap of fraudsters. You need to know that if you are 25 or 30 years it will be difficult to make a team in Europe and because most players lie about their true age it is very difficult to get those young ones that will want to travel abroad.

    If truly you are good then try playing in one of the various clubs in Nigeria and don’t travel to Sudan, South Africa, Libya and other countries in the name of wanting to play professional football. I wish you all good luck.

    Merry Christmas to all.

  • Ayo, beware of the wide and merry way…

    Ah, in Nigeria’s ever ludicrous theatre, two Ayos strut the stage: one, of the Pentecostal-religious hue, who also doubles as secular president of Nigerian Christendom; the other, of the partisan political stock, who only last August won a stunning election in Ekiti, but now appears set to self-destroy, even before taking office.

    To both, the scriptural dictate, indeed diktat: beware of the wide and merry way that leads to perdition.  Embrace the straight and narrow path that leads to salvation.

    Are these two Ayos beyond redemption?  Hardly. Say the scriptures, after all: God does not want the sinner to perish but to repent and be saved.  Still, do the duo take this to heart?

    From the rapid-fire preacher, in the mould of a savvy sports-caster running live football commentary on radio, and donning his inimitable Afro hair, Ayo Oritsejafor has come a long way from the dashing spiritual side-kick to the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa.  From the adorable and respected tele-evangelist, who always signed off each excellent delivery with “ma wife, Mama Helen”, the beautiful and chaste one beaming by his side, Pastor Oritsejafor has scaled the apex of Nigerian Christendom, berthing as Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) president.

    But like an object that has vaulted a dizzying height and is set for a plummet, our beloved pastor appears hooked on the wide and merry way the Bible so sternly warns against.

    When a pastor cruises around in a private jet (O, it is for air evangelism — besides, my God is not a wretched God!), blindly takes CAN under him to uncritical partisanship and still grandstands, even when faced with a shameful scandal, involving his evangelical jet in probable money-laundering cum gun-running, running into $9.3 million, the wide and merry way beckons.

    And to think the revered pastor was paraphrased by a newspaper as having claimed “enemies of Christianity were linking him to the deal”! So, the pastor is Nigerian Christendom and Nigerian Christendom is the pastor?  Indeed, perdition urgently calls!

    The good pastor should take the wise counsel of Femi Falana: If his presidential lobbies shield him from prosecution for breaching the Companies and Allied Matters  Act (CAMA), which insists that “a jet registered for the facilitation of evangelism cannot be leased to another company for commercial purposes as churches are registered under CAMA as non-profit making organisations”, he should at least publicly apologise to Nigerians; and, like fumbling but remorseful King David, over the Uriah-Bathsheba affair, seek private forgiveness from his God. Otherwise, perdition beckons!

    As for the other Ayo, Fayose, he of stomach infrastructure in the rocky enclave of Ekiti, scandal and chaos appear, to him, second nature! Like the same Biblical King David, from whose house the sword never departed, Ayo Fayose and trouble would appear bound like fish and water.

    The embattled governor-elect is entitled to his plea of innocence.  But it is instructive that it is when he makes the precincts of the courts that a judge gets mugged; and it was when he lost a judicial call that a courtroom got invaded and court records shredded!

    Ayo, my son, beware of the wide and merry way…

  • Beware of Aso Villa!

    SIR: The journey to Aso Villa, a figurative nomenclature for the number one seat of power in the Federal Republic of Nigeria started way back in 1975 when the decision was taken by the then Federal Military Government of Nigeria to set up a committee to examine the suitability of the dual role of Lagos as a state and Federal Capital. The government under General Murtala Mohammed accepted the recommendation that the capital city of Nigeria be relocated to a new Federal Capital Territory in the geographic centre of the country at Abuja.

    The struggle to occupy the villa has always been attended by fierce competition that throws up regime tendencies of devious proportions. The realities that have reared their monstrous heads on the heels of our returns to democracy attest to this unhealthy competitions.

    Another period of fierce competition is around the corner. The drum for the macabre dance has long started beating. The tempo of the beat increases in crescendo as innuendos from opposing actors and groups heat the polity. Innuendos, statements laced with hidden assumptions in its varied forms as propaganda fly disguised as messianic messengers sent to set the people free from bondage.

    Democracy has come to define the boundaries of powers sought by modern men. However, it came with its challenges as men had to compete for power through electoral processes. These processes which encompass interest articulation, motivation, participation and mobilization provide man all he needed to resort to treachery and all evil machinations at his disposal to undermine the process for selfish end.

    When the chips are down and power is gained, attained by hook or crook, they allow power to intoxicate instead of invigorate them.   In our recent history as a nation, how many heads of government ascended the exalted seat, took occupancy of Aso Villa and came out with their partners? So, why can’t people thread with caution when chasing an ephemeral object, position or ambition in life?

    • Com. Ogbu Alexander Ameh,

     Abuja

  • Beware, your child may be dangerous!

    This article was first published under this column last year (06/07/13). Last weekend, a similar incident happened; 21-year-old Tolani Ajayi of the Redeemer’s University went about butchering his SAN father in a most gruesome manner. This article seems quite handy once again, isn’t it?

    Of unleavened evil: This must be the age of ‘unleavened’ evil for want of a more suitable word; a time when we must always expect the worst each day. Evils that never happened before, even in the dark ages, seem to be returning from the pit of hell to torment mankind every new day. A 64-year-old man, Chimezie Osuigwe, who is a former school principal somewhere in Oguta, Imo State is said to have kept his mother’s corpse in his house for about 10 years. It is yet to be ascertained whether he killed his mother and for ritual purposes as suspected. And he won’t say why he embalmed and co-habited with his mother’s remains for a decade.

    From Akwa Ibom State is a recent report that a teenage mother buried her child alive and from Gusua in Zamfara State, 25-year -old Kamal is reported to have killed his mother and two sisters and dumped their bodies in Gusua River. In Odukpani, Cross River State, Samuel Nsa picked up a machete and hewed his father down as if he were a tree. Samuel had allegedly stolen a goat on May 27, 2013 and when the youths brought a complaint to his father, the 78-year-old tired of his son’s criminal life, denounced him whereupon an enraged Samuel reached for the machete…The other day in Woolwich, England, we and the entire world saw the two British-born Nigerians butcher a man right in the middle of the road in broad daylight. More disturbing however, is the story of 18-year-old boy, Olanrewaju kayode-Aremu. That Olanrewaju killed his 46-year-old father, Victor kayode-Aremu, is not terrifically shocking, but the story is in the manner he committed the act.

    Seeing my father makes me angry! At about 10pm on May 1, 2013, as the rest of the family watched television downstairs in their duplex house in Eti-Osa,  Lagos, Olanrewaju trailed his father upstairs to his room and attacked him with a kitchen knife. His father managed to make it downstairs to the sitting room but son pursued father and right before his mother and younger siblings, Olanrewaju stabbed his father repeatedly as if possessed by a demon. Olanrewaju is said to have stabbed his father about 10 times leaving him no chance to live.

    “I killed my father because seeing him makes me angry,” said Olanrewaju. “The truth is that I always feel sad and angry anytime I see my father. I was just getting angrier when I was stabbing him because he didn’t love me…He forced me to study Geology in the university (instead of his preferred Biochemistry)… my dad knew (I hated him) because I am always cold when he is around me.”

    Of ‘cyber-psychotics’ and info-maniacs: The world is surely in distress. The world is assailed by what I want to call ‘cyber-psychosis’ or ‘info-mania’.  It is the death of abomination; the Internet age is damaging our children irretrievably; there is no abhorrent material they cannot find on the net. The more violent and bestial computer games are today, it seems the more profitable for the hawkers. Parenting today has become doubly difficult. For instance, yesterday, our parents worried about teenage pregnancy, today it is about young girls in the business of making babies for a fee. It is a tough age to be a good parent.

    Here is a supplement I found in my Bible (The Living Bible, Parents Resource Bible, page 1165) written by ROLF ZETTERSTEN. It is titled: THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR. I hereby reproduce it with the title:

    What parents can do

    It is called March Madness, and to millions of basketball fans it is the sporting event of the year. The National Collegiate Athletic Association selects America’s top 64 teams and pits them in do-or-die contests. For several weeks the tournament is held in arenas across the country, and roundball fans are glued to their television sets.

    The capper to March Madness is appropriately called the Final Four – when the surviving quartet of teams meet to determine the national champion. The site of the three-game play-off becomes a Mecca for basketball enthusiasts. One year I had the opportunity to attend the Final- four tournament at New Orleans, Louisiana, where more than 80,000 fans gathered to celebrate and witness the sporting contest.

    All the main events were held at the Superdome, a massive indoor coliseum that normally hosts professional football games. Even though I had no particular allegiance to any of the teams, it was not hard to get swept up in the excitement inside the enclosed stadium. Bands from each school blared fight songs as their respective supporters sang along. The cheerleaders motivated their fans to participate in chants and yells. People were dressed and painted in their team’s colours.

    Of course, once the games began, the cheering intensified. I was sitting in front of a large section of University of Michigan alumni. Every time their team scored, they applauded, hooted and screamed as if their lives depended on it. Many of the fans brought signs with them that conveyed clever slogans.

    I’ll never forget one such poster because it suddenly brought me back to reality. At one point in the game, after the Michigan team made a comeback, one man got up from his seat and began parading up and down the aisles holding a large cardboard sign above his head with this message: This is What We Live for.

    Although many people in the crowd apparently agreed with his theme, it had an adverse effect on me. I suddenly had a healthy dose of proper perspective. I turned to my friend who was also reading the sign and said, “I’m sure glad this isn’t what I live for.”

    I was reminded of the apostle Paul; if he held a sign above his head, it would have said, “For me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying – well, that’s better yet!” (Phil.1:21). In other words, his existence had only one purpose – to serve and glorify God. And Paul viewed his inevitable death as a promotion because it would take him to the Lord’s presence.

    So what do we live for? “Opportunities for Christ.” I believe they can begin at home, where we demonstrate our faith in simple, everyday ways. We live for accepting and loving our spouse. We live for teaching our children the wonderful truth of God’s creation. We live for demonstrating God’s forgiveness when our family members fail. We live for supporting our relatives when they need help. We live for encouraging children. We live for teaching them God’s Word and leading them to faith in Christ. We live for enjoying quiet moments with loved ones. We live for laughter around the dinner table. We live for achieving the intimacy that God wants us to have. We live for demonstrating the benefits of a disciplined lifestyle. We live for modelling charity, hospitality and equality to others outside our family circle.

    Sure, I’m crazy about competitive sporting events. The Final Four, the World Series, the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, and the NBA Finals are thrilling highlights of every year. But they are nothing compared to the excitement of a family intent on living for God.

    So, what do you really live for in your household?

  • APC governors beware!

    Since about July last year, the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory have been starved of funds through a drastic reduction of 40% of their statutory allocations attributed to shortfall in oil revenue. For instance, the state of Osun which used to receive monthly allocation of between ¦ 4.4 – 4.6bn now gets ¦ 3.2bn, a shortfall of a whopping ¦ 1.2bn – ¦ 1.4bn per month. Consequent upon this, some states have not been able to meet their obligation to workers in the payment of salaries and pensions as and at when due.

    For this strange development, the affected governors all over the country should raise local and international alarms about the coincidence of the alleged 40% cut in statutory allocations, just at the time some states’ elections (Ekiti and Osun) in 2014, and general elections in 2015, are anxiously being expected. Precisely what is the motive of the PDP led federal government for starving state governors of much needed funds at this time? We can hazard a reasonable guess. While the $20bn which ought to have gone to the states have disappeared into thin air, the coincidence of its disappearance at this time when elections are around the corner is highly suspect. The governors should cry out to find out the whereabouts of this whopping amount of money, especially as it is more than the nation’s budget for one year! With this kind of hard currency disappearing at election time, we are faced with the possibility of too much money in the coffers of the federal government to prosecute elections in some states this year, and especially the 2015 general elections, with money that belongs to all the states of the federation going to finance one party to the exclusion of other parties. I say this because the issue has been raised that the billions of dollars missing oil money, “largely from bumper oil revenue, have either been stolen by officers or mismanaged outright” through inflated contracts and phantom oil and kerosene subsidies that would usually be used for stock-pilling of funds for the state elections this year and, more especially, the Presidential and state elections next year. Those who would benefit from the missing oil money are the governors, National Assembly members as well as members of The House of Assembly of the ruling party, the PDP. All PDP candidates would share in this gigantic loot while the purported 40% shortfall to the PDP governors would be nothing compared to their portion of the unremitted (missing) billions of dollars already diverted to campaign funds, to the disadvantage of opposition parties

    From the look of things, the leading opposition party, the APC should feel worried about the damage money can do to them through hungry electorate and greedy, inconsistent and unprincipled politicians including those who may have defected to the APC, and may want to defect again to the PDP, for money. If the APC is not careful, the federal government could buy over as many as possible those now parading themselves as APC politicians from its incredibly huge war chest already stock-piled from unremitted oil money. My advice is that the APC and well meaning Nigerians should cry out daily to the people of Nigeria and the international community about the $20m missing oil money.

    This is against the background that the House of Representatives Ad Hoc committee on fuel subsidy reportedly discovered that the NNPC paid itself ¦ 847.94bn even after it had been paid another ¦ 844.94bn by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency in 2011, a discovery that revealed how the company had been making criminal double withdrawals from the treasury for many years!

    The Economist of London once noted of the ugly scenario in the oil industry:”Information about Africa’s biggest industry is an opaque myriad of numbers. No one knows which ones are accurate; no one knows how much oil Nigeria actually produces. If there were an authoritative figure, the truly horrifying scope of corruption would be exposed”. And the World Bank has said that about $400bn of oil money has been stolen since 1960, while companies like NOC of Malaysia, ARMCO of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and many others make about $10bn profit yearly, with investments in western countries and Asia. But in Nigeria, its NNPC incur a loss through missing money last year of between $10bn – $20bn to government officials and private companies who would plough the money back into some individuals’ private accounts from which some political party would eventually benefit for the purpose of prosecuting the 2014 and 2015 elections.

    Now, for the APC governors: be prepared for further withholding of statutory allocations, including allocations for the PDP as cover up for what the PDP governors’ would get from the missing oil money. This is the evil machination by the federal government to make it difficult, if not impossible, for you to pay workers’ salaries so that they would be turned against you before, and during, elections. The federal government hopes to benefit from this wicked strategy of starvation as a weapon in war. Apart from creating bad blood between APC states and their workers, the federal government may be trying to deprive affected states of financial assistance rendered to political parties by their governors from whom it is withholding substantial allocations. It is a new form of rigging which the APC governors must cry out loud and clear about to Nigerians and the international community. With the incredible amount of public fund amassed by the presidency and party officials, we can understand why President Jonathan boasted that the PDP would “use the polls to reclaim lost states at the coming elections”, even in the face of mounting unpopularity of his government and party. For all this, you should go to every corner of Nigeria, to cities, villages, the deserts, and mountain top to shout about this wicked strategy of the Jonathan administration, in all your campaigns to the good people of Nigeria whose wealth has been looted by wicked and ungodly politicians seeking a return to power by all means and at all costs.

    I am glad that Senator Bukola Saraki has noticed this wicked scenario when he “urged” President Goodluck Jonathan “not to stifle opposition states” (The Nation, March 10, p.5) and quickly followed by The Nation’s editorial titled “Jonathan’s subtle threat” (March 13, p.17). President Jonathan was reported to have warned opposition state governors “to stop abusing him and the federal government or they would lose so many things”. One would have denied this horrible presidential statement from Jonathan on his behalf, but events, as shown by withholding billions of Naira from states’ monthly allocations, confirm the president’s statement that they would lose many things, including more deductions from their legitimate full monthly allocations. So, APC Governors, be on the lookout and shine your eyes. The deduction of 40% from all the 36 states is a ruse, as eventually it would not affect the PDP states in terms of money that would be pumped into their coffers from the missing oil money. The pity of this all is that everything is happening just because of elections in which nobody knows who would take part, not to talk about winning. In the eyes of God political victimization, vengeance and witch-hunting could backfire, as God has a way of punishing the wicked, unrighteous and ungodly in the affairs of man, political intrigues and subterfuge included. Mr. President, Sir, you too must beware, for whatever you think will be may not be. In philosophy, we call this induction of caution.

     

    • Prof Makinde, FNAL is DG/CEO Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo, Osun State

  • Beware Dangote they said it couldn’t be done

    For more than three decades, the sad tale had been that it could not be done. Refineries and petrochemical industries are not viable under the current petrol price regime in Nigeria; no investor would build refineries unless the prices of petroleum products are raised to high heavens. But the more they increase the prices, the more they needed to increase it still. They became like a man suffused with brine who could not stop taking water.

    Successive federal governments in cahoots with the petroleum ministry, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and fuel import contractors had perfected this fraudulent fiscal regime and economic crime of shipping off Nigeria’s crude oil and importing at premium, refined products. For decades, they had perfected what is probably the greatest fraud in modern day economics. Not even the national protests in January, 2012 which shook the government to its foundations would make them have a rethink. A change of mind seems impossible under the current ruling party regime because petroleum products importation is the most viable source of huge slush funds.

    President Goodluck Jonathan and his oil minister, Dieziani Alison-Madueke would first build Noah’s Ark before they would contemplate a refinery in Nigeria. In the afterglow of the January 2012 upheavals over another thoughtless fuel price hike, the Federal Government had promised to build what it fancifully called six modular refinery plants (it called another one Greenfields refinery plant) at the cost of $4.5 billion and which were to be operational in 18 months. An MoU was signed with so much fanfare between the so-called American sponsors and the Federal Government. The first ones were to have started operation last month but as you read this dear readers, Hardball can confirm to you that no such has been turned anywhere in the country for this project. It is all a scam, apparently.

    Another case to prove that Federal Government is Nigeria’s number one enemy is the Olokola LNG project (OKLNG). This project company was formed in 2007 by NNPC, British Gas, Shell and Chevron to build a giant facility where natural gas would be converted to Liquefied Natural Gas for export. But eight years after, all the joint venture partners were so thoroughly frustrated they had to withdraw because NNPC deliberately delayed the final investment decision, thus killing a project that would have amounted to Nigeria, more foreign earnings, more value added to flared gas, and more jobs for our teeming youths. The decadent and near-moribund situation of Nigeria’s oil industry suits the kleptocrats managing it fine. They will never grow it.

    This is why we sound this caveat to Africa’s richest man and industrialist, Aliko Dangote, as he vigorously exhausts himself in the attempt to build a $9 billion petrochemical complex in Nigeria in the next two years. Dangote plans to establish the largest refinery in Africa which will virtually end the fraudulent importation of PMS, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene, etc into the country. This will also mean causing the winding down of the offshore refineries built by unpatriotic and wayward Nigerians; stopping round-tripping of Nigeria’s crude, eliminating a high powered syndicate of fuel smugglers and of course killing the importation racketeers.

    Hardball thinks Dangote will have to exterminate so many people in government and as well as the oil industry cabal, including the International Oil Companies who have also insisted that refining is not profitable in Nigeria, in order to have his way with his oil complex. In other words, Hardball is saying that unless Dangote has thought about all these, heaven and earth may pass away first before another refinery is built in Nigeria.

  • Lagos to residents: beware of Tuberculosis-infected cattle

    THE Lagos State government has alerted residents of the existence of tuberculosis-infected cattle in the state.

    It said the cattle were imported through porous borders.

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture Dr. Funsho Nuraini spoke with reporters yesterday at a news conference he addressed with the Chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, Mr. Bayo Suleiman .

    He said three operators of illegal slaughter slabs have been arrested.

    He traced the sources to 17 countries, which border the northern states.

    He warned residents to desist from patronising any unauthorised slaughter slabs.

    Displayiong the carcass of one of the cattle, he said: “Once you kill an animal, you will see if it is not normal. If it is a normal animal, it will not be coloured like this. This is a typical tuberculosis-infected animal and it is not good for consumption of the public.”

    Nuraini said the head of one of the cows butchered was infected with tuberculosis and could be deadly.

    He said: “We tracked down three illegal slabs namely Ajegunle, Alapere and Ajelogo. We are doing our best to track down the others .We know it is not easy. The markets keep evolving daily. Over three thousand animals are slaughtered daily; so, we have to go after them right, left and centre.”