The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dutch

  • Ajagun scores superb solo goal for Dutch side

    Ajagun scores superb solo goal for Dutch side

    Former captain of the Nigeria U-20 team, Abduljelil Ajagun scored a superb solo goal for Dutch side, Roda JC Kerkrade who were forced to a 1-1 draw by AZ Alkmaar at their home ground, Parkstad Limburg Stadion.

    Ajagun stole possession from the centre circle and embarked on a strong run straight into the opposition half before rifling an unstoppable drive into the corner to give his team the lead.

    However, his team were pegged back in the 59th minute when Wout Weghorst scored the leveller for the visitors, and they hanged on for a share of the spoils.

    On his part, Ajagun who moved to Roda Jc in the summer from Greek giants, Panathinaikos has emerged as one of the shining light of the Dutch side this season.

    So far he has made 12 appearances for the team with yesterday’s goal his first of the season. 23-year-old Ajagun captained Nigeria at the 2013 World Cup in Colombia and also represented Nigeria at the 2011 edition, shortly after playing a key role for Nigeria at the U-17 World Cup in 2009.

  • Meet DORIEN JACOB, the Dutch who sings in pure Yoruba

    Meet DORIEN JACOB, the Dutch who sings in pure Yoruba

    Married to a Yoruba man notwithstanding, listening to the gospel music album of Dorien Jacob, a woman from The Netherlands is a pleasant surprise. Not only are the songs in Yoruba, they are presented with faultless modulation. She spoke to VICTOR AKANDE about this and more. 

    Please give us a little background of yourself. 

    My name is Dorien Jacob; I’m originally from The Netherlands. My husband, Abiodun Jacob, is a Yoruba man, and we are blessed with three children. I play music and have been singing in choirs from a really young age.

    How did you meet your husband?

    We met in Holland.

    What really spurred you to learn Yoruba language?

    I picked it up over the years, but besides that, I always tend to pick up languages easily. Yoruba people in the Diaspora love to communicate in the Yoruba language rather than English. To enable understanding or enable a conversation, I needed a certain understanding of the language. When I showed interest and talent, my husband started to teach me more and more.

    Which came first; learning to speak Yoruba language or learning to sing in Yoruba language?

    It is funny because I can’t actually speak Yoruba fluently but I can understand most conversation. I do sing it fluently.

    How easy or difficult was the learning of this language, let alone the right intonation?

    By God’s grace, it does not take me long to grasp a song or a new melody. I did need time to be able to sing along with the African rhythm and drums as back home in The Netherlands we only ever sang along with a piano.

     What could have helped your quick grasp of the Yoruba intonation; the music notes?

    It will only ever be the grace of God. And my husband teaches me.

    How well accepted is your music abroad?

    Very well. We thank God that our music has gone internationally. I have been all over Europe, America and Nigeria

    What are your plans to market the songs in Nigeria?

    At the moment, we are still looking for a truthful marketer in Nigeria. Unfortunately, there are a lot of marketers with empty promises.

    Why gospel music?

    That is what God called me to do. Apart from, that my life has always been within classical and church music. I believe we have an obligation to God to spread the Word of God all over the world. Besides that, I have always sang gospel music and would not want to do anything else because that defeats the purpose where God called us to.

    Apart from your husband, who are the other people who have helped you in your chosen line?

    No support other than first of all God and secondly my husband

    Do you also play live music?

    We play live within churches, events, weddings and burials.

    What is the composition of your band like?

    We have our own band in the UK; saxophonist, drummer talking drummers etc.

    Do you play any special instrument?

    I learned music through playing the flute from when I was about 10 years old. I taught myself how to play the guitar. I have had violin, piano lessons and have been taught how to read music.

    Is any of your kids toeing your line?

    The kids love music. My daughter loves to sing and dance whereas my son can drum and dance.

     Is this your first album?

    Yes, it is.

    What are the other plans in the pipeline?

    By the grace of God, our next album will be out soon.

    What are the other things you do apart from music?

    I work full time as a specialised fertility nurse manager.

     Is music a hobby for you or a career?

    As God has given us forward so speedily it has become more than just a hobby. But we have to be honest here and I think a lot of musicians will agree with me that it is very hard to live on playing gospel music alone. People abroad don’t appreciate gospel music as much as in Nigeria and they don’t like to pay for music. So, yes, it is a career, but part time.

    Apart from learning Yoruba language, what other aspects of the culture do you know?

    I have been imbedded in the culture for a while now and very familiar with the culture, including preferences/ habits and values.

    How would you describe inter-racial marriage from your own experience?

    It becomes more and more normal abroad. When we got married, it was less common, so it came with its trials. The advantage of an inter-racial marriage is that you can combine the best of both cultures and pass it on to the children. Our children know how to behave and show respect in both our families and are aware of the differences. This helps them in later life and helps them to have an open mind for different cultures and habits.

  • MH17 crash: Dutch experts say numerous objects hit plane

    Dutch experts say Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke up in mid-air after being hit by “objects” that “pierced the plane at high velocity” in July.

    The new report also said there was “no evidence of technical or human error”.

    Correspondents say this matches claims that MH17 was hit by missile shrapnel.

    Investigators relied on cockpit data, air traffic control and images, as the crash site in eastern Ukraine remains too dangerous to access amid fighting between government troops and rebels.

    The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

    All 298 people on board, most of them from the Netherlands, died when the plane came down, amid reports it was shot down by pro-Russian rebels. The BBC’s Anna Holligan reports takes a close-up look at one of the first copies of the report

    The report made no comment on who might have fired the missile.

    Both sides in this conflict use the same weapon, reports the BBC’s transport correspondent Richard Westcott, and to find out who was responsible investigators would need to determine where the missile was launched.

    Investigators say the cockpit voice recorder “gave no indication that there was anything abnormal” on board

    The Dutch team analysed photographs of the wreckage that showed a number of pieces with multiple holes

    One expert said they should eventually be able to work that out with a combination of radar data and evidence from the scene, our correspondent reports.

    A sobering fact highlighted in this report was that three other, very large commercial airliners flew over the same area at around the same time, he adds.

  • 700m euro Dutch Growth Fund coming

    700m euro Dutch Growth Fund coming

    Nigeria is one of the countries to benefit from the Netherlands’ 700million euro Growth Fund to be launched in July, the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation, Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, has said.

    The decision to include Nigeria in the preferred list of countries came on the heels of the discussion between Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and his Dutch counterpart, last year.

    Aganga confirmed this during the Nigeria-Netherlands Business Forum in Lagos.

    The Netherlands minister is currently in Nigeria with a delegation of over 20 Dutch businessmen to tie win-win trade and investment relationships.

    The Dutch Growth Fund will enable the country’s entrepreneurs and SMEs to form Joint Ventures with their Dutch counterparts, expand their businesses and also invest in critical and thriving sectors.

    Aganga said: “Netherlands is one of Nigeria’s largest trading partners. Within the last five years, the value of trade between Nigeria and Netherlands has grown from about $2.5billion to about $10billion.

    “In addition to the fact that there are so many Dutch companies operating and doing well in Nigeria, there is also the E700m Dutch Growth Fund, which the Government of Netherlands is planning to establish which will be accessed by Nigerians in partnership with Dutch entrepreneurs who can bring in their know-how and innovation. This will make Joint Ventures easier between the two countries.

    “I want to commend the Dutch Government for this. When I went to the Netherlands about two years ago when the Fund was about to be created, I appealed to the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation, Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, that Nigeria should be included as one of the countries that will benefit from the Fund.”

  • ‘How police rescued kidnapped Dutch in Bayelsa’

    The Police in Bayelsa State on Sunday said they adopted high level of professional policing including engaging a negotiator to locate and free the three kidnapped Dutch.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, described the operations that led to the freedom of the Dutch as delicate adding that the aim of the police was to rescue them hale and hearty.

    Gunmen that operated along the waterways of Letugbene, Ekeremor Local Government Area, on May 4, kidnapped three Dutch and two Nigerians who are also naturalized citizens of Netherlands.

    The gunmen, however, released the Nigerian/Dutch citizens, Mr. Femi Soewu and Mr Sunny Ofehe on Monday evening but withheld Mr. Erhard Leffers, Mrs. Marianne Vos and Mr. Jan Andre Groenendijk.

    Ofehe, the Founder/Executive Director Hope for Niger Delta Campaign, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) based in the Netherlands, brought the Dutch to Amatu ll in Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, on a charity mission.

    Though the gunmen had earlier demanded N500million to set the hostages free, Opara said the police were not aware that any ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

    The police boss who spoke in Yenagoa said the police were able to rescue the victims after mounting much pressure on the assailants.

    He said the police employed a negotiator to engage the abductors in discussions in order to determine the state of health of the victims.

    “From the negotiator, we were able to establish that the people were still hale and hearty while we continued with the undercover policing”, he said.

    He said after locating the hideout of the kidnappers in the creeks, the police moved to the area and barricaded it with gunboats.

  • Abducted Dutch nationals regain freedom

    Abducted Dutch nationals regain freedom

    THE three Dutch nationals who were kidnapped by unknown gunmen around Letugbene community, Ekeremo council area of Bayelsa State, a week ago, have regained their freedom.

    Although facts around their release were still sketchy as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the foreign nationals, who were on a humanitarian expedition when they were kidnapped, were released in Ekeni community, Southern Ijaw council area of Bayelsa state.

    It could not be ascertained if any ransom was paid to facilitate their release, but a source who had been involved in seeing to getting the hostages released confirmed that they were being escorted to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital as this report was being filed.

  • Dutch exam body trains JAMB workers

    In its efforts to have a hitch-free Computer Based Test (CBT) during the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has organised training on Item Response Theory for its workers.

    A statement by Mr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB Public Relations Officer, noted that the training done in collaboration with CITO Netherlands was to draw knowledge from CITO’s 10 years experience in Computer Based Test.

    Executive Director, CITO Netherlands Mr Jan Wiegers, who anchored the training, noted the Board’s war against examination malpractice will yield fruitful result with the introduction of CBT, adding that electronic testing would reposition the nation’s education sector.

    The Dutch expert on e-Testing and Test Measurement said the flexibility of their existing modular structures has shown that CBT is the only examination that can guarantee quality assurance, standardisation of test and also ensure constructive processes.

    Wiegers’ presentation dwelt on CITO’s 10-year experience, its challenges and how it overcame them, urging the Board to follow its success story.

    The JAMB Registrar, Prof ‘Dibu Ojerinde who was represented by the Director, Corporate Support Services, Mrs Aisha Dahiru, thanked Wiegers for the training and assured him of the Board’s commitment to its CBT policy.

    The Registrar added that progress was recorded in the board’s trial test effort.

    For the 2013 UTME, the Registrar reiterated that three options, Computer Based Testing (CBT), Dual Base Test (DBT) and Pencil Paper Test (PPT)would be available until 2015 when the examination will be done only online.

    “We are convinced and optimistic that if CBT is working abroad it will work in Nigeria,” he said.