The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cage

  • Fishing cage: Bello to kick off pilot scheme

    FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has expressed determination to ensure the success of the Federal Government initiative on the development of fishing cage aqua culture in the Territory.

    The Minister gave this assurance when the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Economic Management Team, Mr. Dolapo Bright paid him a visit in his office.

    Bello expressed joy that the FCT is one of the five states chosen by the Federal Government for the development of the fishing cage culture project, adding that the programme is in tandem with the efforts of the Federal Government to diversify the economy and create more jobs.

    According to him, “FCT will be interested in the three levels of the project which include locating some of the fish cage aqua culture projects in accessible bodies of water for the purpose of serving astourist attractions; establishing some as economic empowerment projects for rural residents and developing others as entrepreneurship ventures for the youths of the Territory.

    “We are happy that the FCT has been selected to be among the states that would develop the pilot scheme of this project which we consider to be a very important focal point for job creation.”

    The Minister, who lamented the uncontrolled fishing activities going on at Jabi Lake, directed the Department of Fisheries to ensure proper monitoring and regulation of the net size used for fishing, in order not depopulate the water bodies.

    Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Dolapo Bright, stated that the fishing cage aqua culture project was part of the social investment programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. He said the project which would be financed by the World Bank is designed as part of the efforts at the diversification of the economy, job creation and producing fish for protein.

    He however decried the situation where the nation is spending over $1

    Billion dollars annually in the importation of fish when it has all it takes to be self-sufficient in the area.

  • A cage for the lions

    Suddenly, we have realised that the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon can cause us pain inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo during the World Cup qualifier in August. The talk around the country is a likely upset for the Cameroonians. And cynics of the NFF are praying that the Super Eagles fall at home. Fortunately, anytime the odds are against the Eagles, as it seems now, they rise up to the occasion with incredible performances.

    My hunches tell me that Iheanacho will destroy the Indomitable Lions in Uyo. He hasn’t played against them. He is presently not playing for Manchester City, which makes him more dangerous because he is fitter, perhaps match rusty. But I doubt this.  He will be kicked and elbowed by the Cameroonians but he will triumph over them. He is big. He cannot be shoved aside easily. He likes taking responsibilities. But the biggest problem that the Lions will have in trying to stop him is that he shoots accurately. And with a short Cameroonian goalkeeper, join me in celebrating Iheanacho, months before the game. If Rohr gives Victor Moses the kind of free role he had in previous games, I foresee Iheanacho scoring a hat-trick, with one of the Cameroonians sent off. My confidence rests on the fact that Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, is deceiving himself to think that Gabriel Jesus is better than Iheanacho. I celebrate anytime Iheanacho is benched at City. It leaves Nigeria with an angry striker, who is ready to explode whenever he hits the pitch. I pity the Cameroonians, now that Rohr has stated that he will field the new boys in the two international friendlies in London against Senegal and perhaps the Black Stars of Ghana.

    I’m excited that members of the Super Eagles aren’t ranting over what they would do when the chips are down. They fumble when they talk in the media before games.  Our players’ stoic silence has been commendable. It is best to keep what they would do on match day to their chests than to offer tips that could guide their opponents.

    Indeed, the Indomitable Lions won’t respect us. They would come to Uyo with swollen heads, more so, if they distinguish themselves in the Confederations Cup tournament. I reckon that the matches of the Confederations Cup will give Gernot Rohr and his players enough time to critically dissect the Africa Cup of Nations champions. This game is a clash of brain and brawn. With due respect, the Cameroonians are more of brawn than wits. That is the difference with the Eagles, an admixture of brain and brawn.

    The Confederations Cup in June will expose the Lions as an ordinary side. The officiating will be better than what we saw in Gabon. The emphasis will be on exhibiting skills and executing team’s tactics, not kicking star players and elbowing them like it happened at the Africa Cup of Nations. I expect Rohr to physically watch these games.

    Interestingly, Rohr has analysed the Lions’ strengths during the Africa Cup of Nations, which include launching their attacking onslaughts from the flanks and relying essentially on aerial prowess from long balls delivered by the wingers. Rohr feels strongly that playing tested and robust wing backs, instead of the traditional full backs, will help the Eagles curtail the Lions’ attacking forays. The Eagles’ manager has tactically kept his tactics to nail the Lions,

    should they replicate what he saw in Gabon. That is the hallmark of good tacticians.

    The forthcoming clash between Nigeria and Cameroon reminds me of the quarter-finals game between Nigeria and Cote d’ Ivoire during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. Very few people gave the Eagles a chance to beat the Ivoriens. Our players felt slighted and gave the game their best. I wasn’t shocked when we beat them. It again underlines why Austin Okocha’s sterling performance was all that the Eagles needed to beat the Cameroonians at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations held in Tunisia. The Cameroonians had beaten us in previous games. Even their fans openly boasted before the game. Indeed, they had the effrontery to carry a casket on which they wrote “RIP Super Eagles.” I recall Okocha seeing it and shaking his fingers to indicate that they would suffer later that day. Okocha did his magic and the boastful fans wept.

    Many have forgotten that we beat the Lions in a friendly game in Belgium, with Sunday Oliseh as coach. I’m not being a patriot here. I like watching the Eagles when they are under-rated. We have found their number. So they stay fixed, now that they think they are unbeatable.

    Beating the Cameroonians will be a piece of cake now, than if they had failed at the Africa Cup of Nations. What I saw from the Cameroonians when they played against Senegal raised my belief that they would be beaten by the Eagles. Against Senegal, the Lions had problems dealing with Mane, whose style isn’t anything different from what Ahmed Musa does – push the ball head and outrun the defenders. I don’t think that Mane is faster than Musa, which should be an edge. The difference between Musa and Mane is that the latter can score goals. Musa too can, except that he isn’t as efficient as Mane. The flipside to the advantage of Musa’ pace for the Eagles is that he has to be taught how to deliver the balls on the ground to Kelechi Iheanacho. It would be counter-productive for Musa to send in high balls from the flanks because the defenders would not be troubled.

    Again, the Senegalese showed us that keeping possession gave the Lions problems. The Cameroonians resorted to kicking and elbowing the shorter Senegalese. Indeed, the Cameroonians recorded 40 fouls in the game, with only two yellow cards shown to the offenders. Sadly, no red card was shown to the hard-tackling Lions, in spite of the fact that many Senegalese left the pitch with bandaged heads from elbowing by their opponents.

    The implication of this is simple. I feel strongly that our players can’t be bullied easily like the Senegalese. I also know that the Eagles aren’t a one-man squad. With the way Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses are playing, I don’t see how the Cameroonians will play for 90 minutes without getting a red card or two. Moses and Iwobi don’t need to get close to any markers to dribble them. What that means is that the Cameroonians at the defence will be forced to pull at their shirts or launch vicious tackles from behind to stop Moses and/or Iwobi. There is a limit to which the referee can cast an indulgent eye on such unsportsmanlike acts.

    I have been laughing since most people asked what our chances are against the Africa Cup of Nations winners. The game against Cameroon will be won in the midfield. And I’m yet to see any player who has dispossessed John Mikel Obi of the ball. I also pity the Cameroonians if they hope to shove aside energetic Oghenekaro Etebo in the Eagles’ midfield. It will take more than what they did in Gabon to also muscle out Ndidi in the midfield. And with the Eagles initiating their attacking forays from the midfield, it will only take the presence of wasteful strikers upfront for the Lions to escape without conceding a goal or two in the first half.

    In a long while, the Eagles haven’t played a game at home with the odds so stacked against them like in this tie. And I appreciate Rohr’s cautious utterances. He speaks without letting out how he intends to handle the Lions beyond asking for friendly matches to help the Eagles blend properly. Rohr raises the alarm about the composition of the Lions. He, however, feels that we must get our acts right to beat the Cameroonians.

    “This is a very big chance for Cameroon to have six games in one month and a half together. This experience for a group is very precious and we do not have it. Everybody is working at his club. They are in Europe and everywhere so we do not have any experience together and Cameroon has it now so they have an advantage in preparation but you know it is a long time to go till August,” Rohr said.

    “The road to Russia is very difficult because we must eliminate Cameroon so just like everyone can see now, Cameroon is a wonderful team. We have strikers who can score but we must work a lot to be better. From what I saw at AFCON, Cameroon is a great team so we have to be very, very strong,”

    “Many things can change between now and then. There will be a transfer window at the beginning of the new season. Perhaps some Cameroonian players will make big moves. Cameroon has a big team now. Everybody has seen it.”

     “We must work hard to go to Russia because in the two games against Cameroon, anything is possible. We must win our first game in Uyo and after we will see, but before that we have another game to play against South Africa in the AFCON 2019 qualifiers.”

    Good talk Rohr. Good to also know that NFF chiefs have named a game between Nigeria and Senegal for the Eagles on March 23. The Senegalese will give the Eagles a good game since they are the best ranked African side. But it is the game against African sides, such as DR Congo, which has similar hard-tackling style of play that the Eagles need. In this World Cup qualifier, FIFA men will pick world class referees, who will be more vigilant than those who were at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Those referees were either lenient or incompetent.

    NFF must provide all the logistic support for the Eagles to peck the Lions. Issues, such as match bonuses, allowances and training kits should be sorted out at least three months to the game. The players know the benefits of playing at the World Cup and how it helps in getting better deals from new clubs.

  • Boosting cage fish farming

    Boosting cage fish farming

    At a time fish stocks are declining globally due to factors, such as climatic change and pollution, cage fish farming technique has become an encouraging alternative that yields 10 times the ‘fish catch’ compared to ‘fish reared’ in ponds,or in the sea. The West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme  is working with the private sector to boost fish production nationwide, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Phil Onuoha produces fish seeds. His interest in farming started from youth, having been born into a fish farming family.

    Though they did not have the technology and the infrastructure then and they were not able to pay scientists to teach them fish hatchery management and practices.

    Against this background, Onouha has moved to enlighten farmers that they could make money from the trade as well as improve their diet as fish is highly nutritious. He rears catfish and sells fingerlings to farmers who rears them. According to him, fish farming can  boost farmers’ income.

    His farm, aside from producing fingerlings and grown-outs, provides education on fish farming to  farmers and institutions.

    But one day, a competitor poured poison into his water source and his uncle made losses. This made him to research into how to address the issue of water supply. He said farmers spend a lot of money on generators to ensure that water supply at their farm go on uninterrupted. The cost of fuelling affects the farms income.

    To solve this problem, Onuoha said the government and the private sector should encourage Nigerians  to practise fish cage farming, which will require them using the abundant natural sources of water. According to him, the rivers and estuaries in Nigeria are extremely suitable sites for fish cage farming.

    The streams and rivers, therefore, offer opportunities for pond culture, while the larger rivers and lakes offer opportunities for intensive cage culture. Onuoha  said locating fish farms within  water bodies is crucial and most productive and would bring returns to the investors.

    Generally, cage fish farming involves the use of nets mounted on metallic frames to form a cage. The cage is placed in a specific area, where it floats on water. The method is cost-effective and increases inland fish production substantially, he said.

    The fish, such as tilapia, mature between six and eight months. Un-der this procedure, fish rearing is done in an enclosed area in a natural aquatic environment where the water continuously flows  without accumulation of debris, which is why there is no pollution or ammonia deposition as in the case of stagnant and low density water ponds.

    At the end of the culture period, which ranges from six to eight months, three to five tonnes of fish are produced from one cage.

    The biggest advantage of cage farming, according to Onuoha, is that it saves water as there is no need to change the water as sea water flows continuously through the cages. Natural food is easily available for the fish to feed on and there’s no need to put up any time or space-consuming infrastructure except the cages.

    However, not all areas are suitable for cage farming. There needs to be optimum depth of at least 10 metres from the shore; the sea should be more or less calm without high waves and currents where the cages are located. The salinity, ammonia, nitrate should be all within permissible limits, according to experts.

    Cage culture is a new method of fish farming. According to experts, a stock of about 1,500kg can be accommodated in a cage of two metres length, two metres wide and two metres deep

    The disadvantage is that cages can only be used in water which is more than five metres deep.

    China has recorded some successes in cage culture and marine fish cage culture.

    Head of Trade, Marketing Department, Green Agriculture West Africa (GAWAL), a subsidiary of China General Construction (CGC Nigeria Ltd), John Wen, said his organisation is working with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), Nigeria to promote the development of small scale cage fish farms across the  country.

    The cage culture would be small-scale operation located onshore or in mangrove creeks, not far from farmers’homes for easy management, security and saving of labour costs.

    He  said the  company  was  cooperating with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives for the promotion of fish cage culture by introducing advanced fish farming techniques from China.  In 2013, the company  signed  a  memorandum of understanding (MoU) with WAAPP-Nigeria for agricultural cooperation. The deal has covered construction of biogas digesters and fish cage culture projects, production and supply of rice and maize-certified seeds.

    Chief of South-South Cooperation, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Festus Akinnifesi, said since 2003, about 650 Chinese experts and technicians have been fielded in Nigeria for a minimum of two years. The experts are deployed in all the country’s 36 states and a majority of them live in rural communities. Once there, the experts share their knowledge, skills and experiences, and have helped introduced, demonstrated and enabled the adaptation of more than 200 Chinese-developed scalable technologies and innovations.

    In Koton-Karfi, Kogi State, members of a new cooperative are waiting for about 4,000 tilapia to mature in eight bamboo-and-net cages anchored to the shore of a small lake. “Traditionally we fish by setting nets, but we’re never sure how much we’ll catch,” explains 20-year-old Al Hassan Tijani.

    “With fish cage culture, we know how many fish we will harvest, and how much we will earn,” he added.

  • Boosting cage fish farming

    Boosting cage fish farming

    At a time when fish stocks are declining globally due to factors such as  climatic change and pollution, cage fish farming technique, has become an encouraging alternative that yields 10 times the ‘fish catch.’  compared to ‘fish reared’ in ponds,or in the sea. The West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme  is working with the private  sector to boost fish production nationwide, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Phil Onuoha  produces  fish seed and is a grow-out farmer. His interest in farming started while he  was young, having been born in a fish farming family.

    Then, they  never  had  the technology and the infrastructure and were not able to bring in scientists to teach them  fish hatchery management and practices.

    He wanted to enlighten farmers that they could make money from the trade as well as improve their diet as fish is highly nutritious. He rears catfish and sells fingerlings to farmers who then rear them. According to him, fish farming has been identified as a way to help farmers achieve middle-level income.

    His  farm, aside from producing fingerlings and grown-outs, provides education on fish farming to interested farmers and institutions.

    At one point, a  competitor poured poison into his water source and his uncle recorded massive losses. This made him to think and do more research on how to address the issue  of  water supply. He said farmers spend a lot of money on generator in most cases to ensure that water supply activities at their farm go on uninterrupted. The cost of fuelling eats deep into whatever gains the farm would have made.

    To address this problem, Onuoha said the government and the private sector should encourage Nigerians  to practise fish cage farming, which will require them utilising  the  abundant  natural sources of water. According to him, the rivers and estuaries in Nigeria are extremely suitable sites for fish cage farming.

    The streams and rivers, therefore, offer opportunities for pond culture, while the larger rivers and lakes offer opportunities for intensive cage culture.  Onuoha  said  locating  fish  farms within  water bodies is  crucial  and  most productive and would   bring returns to the investors.

    Generally, cage fish farming involves the use of nets mounted on metallic frames to form a cage. The cage is placed in a specific area, where it floats on water. The method is cost-effective and increases inland fish production substantially, he said.

    The fish, such as tilapia, mature between six and eight months. Under this procedure, fish rearing is done in an enclosed area in a natural aquatic environment where the water continuously flows  without accumulation of debris, which is why there is no pollution or ammonia deposition as in the case of stagnant and low density water ponds.

    At the end of the culture period, which ranges from six to eight months, three to five tonnes of fish are produced just from one cage.

    The biggest advantage of cage farming, according to Onuoha, is that despite being a fish culture technique, there is no need to change the water as sea water continuously flows through the cages, there is some natural food easily available for the fish to feed on and there’s no need to put up any time or space-consuming infrastructure except the cages.

    However, not all areas are suitable for cage farming. There needs to be optimum depth of at least 10 metres from the shore, the sea should be more or less calm without high waves and currents where the cages are located. The salinity, ammonia, nitrate should be all within permissible limits, according to experts.

    Cage culture is a new method developed in recent times. According  to experts, a stock of about 1,500kg can be accommodated in a cage of two metres length, two metres wide and two metres deep

    The disadvantage is that cages can only be used in water which is more than five metres deep.

    China  has  recorded a success story  in cage culture and marine fish cage culture.

    Head of Trade, Marketing Department, Green Agriculture West Africa (GAWAL), a subsidiary of China General Construction (CGC Nigeria Ltd), John Wen, said his organisation is working with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), Nigeria to  promote the development of small scale cage fish  farms across the  country.

    The  cage culture would be small-scale operation located onshore or in mangrove creeks, not far from farmers’ houses for easy management, security and saving of labour costs.

    He  said the  company  is  cooperating with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives for the promotion of fish cage culture by introducing advanced fish farming techniques from China.  In 2013, the company  signed  a  memorandum of understanding (MoU) with WAAPP-Nigeria for agricultural cooperation. The  cooperation has covered construction of biogas digesters and fish cage culture projects, production and supply of rice and maize certified seeds.

    Chief of South-South Cooperation, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Festus Akinnifesi, said since 2003, nearly 650 Chinese experts and technicians have been fielded in Nigeria for a minimum of two years. The experts are deployed in all the country’s 36 states and the vast majority of them live in rural communities. Once there, the experts share their knowledge, skills and experiences, and have helped introduced, demonstrated and enabled the adaptation of more than 200 Chinese-developed scalable technologies and innovations.

    In Koton-Karfi, Kogi State, members of a recently established cooperative are waiting for some 4,000 tilapia to mature in eight bamboo-and-net cages anchored to the shore of a small lake. “Traditionally we fish by setting nets, but we’re never sure how much we’ll catch,” explains 20-year-old Al Hassan Tijani.

    “With fish cage culture, we know how many fish we will harvest, and how much we will earn,” he added.

  • Onaiyekan, UN, APC: time to cage Boko Haram

    Onaiyekan, UN, APC: time to cage Boko Haram

    The United Nations (UN), All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, have expressed shock over Wednesday’s bomb attacks in Kaduna that targeted Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as well as prominent cleric Dahiru Bauchi.

    APC, in a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, sent its condolences to the families of the victims and pray that God would give them the much-needed strength at times like this, while also wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

    It said the attempted assassination of Gen. Buhari has changed the narrative about the insurgent group and knocked the bottom off the sinister, irresponsible and partisan colouration given to the insurgency by the Federal Government.

    APC said while no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the mere fact that it occurred at all is a lose-lose situation for the Jonathan Administration.

    “Whether it is Boko Haram or not, one thing remains: This government has failed woefully in its core constitutional duty of protecting the security and welfare of the citizenry. And we mean all the citizens, not just the leaders!

    “And contrary to the simplistic and clearly selfish portrayal of the Boko Haram insurgency as a sinister plot to bring down the government of Jonathan, it should now be clear to the FG that has engaged in ceaseless finger-pointing instead of tackling the insurgency headlong that Boko Haram is an enemy of Nigeria and of all of humanity.

    “It is a real problem that is capable of consuming this country if immediate and urgent steps are not made now by the FG to move away from its politicisation of the crisis, its decision to use it as a trump card for President Jonathan’s re-election and exploit it as a ticket to international relevance for the President. If anything untoward had happened to Gen. Buhari on Wednesday, the consequences are only better imagined than witnessed!

    “If indeed the APC is behind Boko Haram and Gen. Buhari is a sympathiser of the evil group, as the FG wants the world to believe, could it be that the insurgents do not know their leaders or sympathisers, assuming they are behind the attack? If they are not responsible for the attack, doesn’t that support the theory in some circles that Boko Haram has become a franchise, hence there is the Boko Haram of Abubakar Shekau and the political Boko Haram?

    “Whatever happens now, the satanic and repulsive theory of the PDP-led FG that the opposition APC is using Boko Haram to truncate the Administration of Jonathan is up in flames. Therefore, it is time for them to change the narrative, see Boko Haram for what it is – an enemy of Nigeria – and rally the citizenry, irrespective of their political, ethnic or religious affiliation, behind the government’s efforts to tackle it decisively,’’ the party said.

    It said as a first step, President Jonathan must stop the wasteful contract he signed with the US-based firm Levick to help demonise the APC as the sponsor of Boko Haram, and to demonise any Nigerian who is perceived to be an enemy of the government.

    The party said: “It is this kind of demonisation, using pseudo and out-of-job analysts, that helped to set the stage for Wednesday’s failed assassination attempt against Gen. Buhari.

    “Then the President must address Nigerians to tell them that Boko Haram is not just an enemy of his government, it is an enemy of the opposition, of Christians, of Muslims and of the different ethnic groups.

    “Instead of dividing Nigerians along religious, ethnic and political lines, President Jonathan should borrow a leaf from his predecessors. Obasanjo never said the Niger Delta militancy was aimed at his government or his people, he tackled it headlong. Yar’Adua it was who finally ended the militancy, without saying it was aimed at his government or his people.”

    The party reiterated its earlier stand that only a non-partisan approach would galvanise Nigerians against Boko Haram, which is rooted more in the years of bad governance that have resulted in mass unemployment, massive corruption, economic imbalances and made the youth to become hopeless, thus creating an army of willing tools for criminal activities

    It repeated its offer to work with the Federal Government to battle Boko Haram and its call for a national stakeholders’ conference to help fashion out a comprehensive counter-insurgent blueprint for the nation.

    APC said rather than just throwing money at what has now become a bottomless pit, rather than creating the avenue for some unpatriotic citizens to feed fat on the insurgency, the FG should engage in new thinking.

    “After almost five years and 14 billion US dollars, Boko Haram is stronger today than ever. Whereas the average death toll in the previous years has been 1,500, more than 3,500 people have been killed so far this year! There is no stronger evidence that what is needed to successfully fight Boko Haram is not just 1 billion dollars, but a comprehensive approach that includes efforts to tackle the social and economic roots of the insurgency,’’ the party said.

     

    Onaiyekan: we mus not

    push our luck too far

     

    Cardinal Onaiyekan said it is time Nigeria tackled Boko Haram menace headlong and avoid pushing its luck too far.

    He said Nigeria had been dancing on the brink of chaos for too long except for the grace of God sustaining it.

    He said the insurgency is a symptom of a wider disease which must be urgently addressed.

    He also warned against sliding the nation’s democracy towards a one-party state.

    He said one-party system had never worked in any part of Africa.

    Onaiyekan gave the warning in an extempore address during a courtesy call on him by a delegation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was led by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

    He said: “I believe that God has been with Nigeria for so long. We have been dancing on the brink of chaos and somehow He accepts us not to fall over. But we should not push our luck too far.

    “Boko Haram, in my view, is a symptom of a wider disease and I hope we know that. And if we don’t tackle that wider disease, we might finish with Boko Haram and move on to another.

    “Meanwhile, we should do our best to rid our country of this menace which, as Chief Oyegun said, has taken over all of us. Every part of Nigeria has been taken over even though the epicenter is in a particular angle.

    “I am now 70 years old and I have seen the most important stages in the development of this our country. I was born into the colonial era. I schooled during the transition between the colonial and independent nation.

    “And I have seen all the different changes, tumbling and fumbling that we are going through between the 1960 and to date. One thing that has become clear in my mind is whatever anybody is saying something has happened in this country. We do have a country called Nigeria, and I believe that it is a viable project. There are challenges of course no doubt. There are dislocations, no doubt about it. The fact that there are contradictions, it is very glaring.

    “ Often, deliberately, they injected the contradictions into the system to cause confusion, but once we believe that we want to live in one country, our efforts should be made towards arriving such a way that our differences can be appreciated, and we do all we can, not to disorganize ourselves.

    “Above all, avoid utter chaos. We are looking television to see what happens when things fall apart. Unfortunately when that happens it is not people like you and I that will suffer most, it is the poor people, who have nowhere to run to and who don’t understand why things are not going well.”

    Cardinal Onaiyekan said Nigeria has every cause to have a viable democracy.

    He also warned against the danger of rigging elections claiming that such indulgence is worst than military dictatorship.

    He added: “Democracy has its ways. It is not the only way for ruling. But it is considered the best way. We still have some kind of monarchy like in Britain, Netherlands and Spain. We also have modern democracy involving political parties presenting themselves to people with manifestos which constitute programmes for them.

    “They defend them at all cost because if it is not well defended, you end up with dictatorship. This is why I say rigged elections are worst than military dictatorship for the simple reason that in the military coups somebody take it with the guns. He doesn’t pretend; I put you there. If you rig election, somebody who rigs election takes over and tells the world that I put him there , adding insult to injury.

    “We can and we should be able to achieve a viable democracy in this country if it is our desire to build a country where everybody sees each other as belonging to the same nation. That is one of the reasons why your group has organized itself to form a political party different from the party that is in government.”

    He said Nigeria cannot afford to be a one-party state because the system had never worked in any part of Africa.

    “And I believe that the government should not be surprised that there is another party otherwise we should be told that we are one party state. And one-party system as you know has been thriving in many parts of Africa and we have found it wanting. So, we have to be sincere with ourselves and I keep praying that this sincerity will be carried through.”

    Cardinal Onaiyekan said he would continue to talk until things are put right in the country.

    He said:” As a religious leader I pray, but I don’t only pray, I think and I do not shy away from expressing my mind as a Nigerian because politics is too important to be left to politicians alone. All of us are interested, we are all involved.

    “By the way God has organised and by the rules of my church, I cannot be a member of a political party nor can I be a candidate in any election, my church forbids it for excellent reasons. But I am not indifferent to how my country is ruled. This is why I am very happy to receive the chairman of APC party. I will gladly welcome the chairman of any other party that  may think he wants to pay me a courtesy  visit.

    “I thank you and you political party for coming to my house. Even if you are not a Catholic, I will still pray for you. I will pray for political leaders so that they will be rightly guided so that they may have the grace to do the right thing because there is a difference between being rightly guided and doing the right thing. It is not quite often that you do the right thing that you are guided to do. But it requires God’s grace to be able to do the right thing. We pray we have the patience, courage to do the right thing.”

     

    UN expresses outrage

     

    The UN envoy for West Africa   condemned the latest killing of civilians reportedly by the Boko Haram.

    Said Djinnit, the head of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), expressed profound outrage at the attacks which occurred over the weekend and yesterday, resulting, according to initial reports, in the death of more than 130 people.

    According to a statement released by UNOWA, the violence also forced some 15,000 people to flee to the Borno state capital of Maiduguri as well as to neighbouring towns of Biu and Goniri.

    Mr. Djinnit, who is also the Secretary General’s High Representative to Nigeria, expressed condolences to the bereaved families and called on the Nigerian authorities to do all they can to end the carnage and bring the perpetrators to justice.

    He also reiterated the UN’s support for effective regional efforts to put an end to the terrorism threat and Boko Haram attacks.