The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Family

  • Family of four dies in road crash

    Family of four dies in road crash

    FOUR members of the Abdulkadir Wambai family of Lafia Municipal Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have died in a road accident.

    The victims are Mr Ahmad Abdulkadir Wambai, his wife Khadijat and two sons, Usman and Isma’il. They were on their way to Lafia when the vehicle in which they were travelling collided with a Bedford lorry.

    The late Usman and the late Khadijat were 200-Level students of the Nasarawa State University in Keffi (NSUK). They were in high spirits when they wrote their final paper last Monday. They were eager to go back home and spend the semester break with other members of the family.

    On the day they were to travel, the late Khadijat got a call from her husband, who informed her of his coming to Keffi with his daughter, who just got admitted into a pre-degree programme at the university. The husband, it was gathered, urged the late Khadijat and the late Usman to delay their trip and promised to take them back to Lafia in his car for their holiday.

    On their way to Lafia, their car broke down on the Akwanga-Lafia highway. After efforts to repair the vehicle failed, the family parked it at a police station on the expressway and joined a commercial bus.

    A few minutes into the journey, the bus had a head-on collision with the lorry coming from the opposite direction. The bus summersaulted severally before bursting into flames. All the 13 passengers on board were burnt to death.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that a member of the family, Musa Abdulkadir Wambai, broke the sad news to other family members after he was informed by sympathisers on the scene. Musa, it was learnt, immediately called another member of the family, Mr Ahmad Sulaiman Wambai, who is a popular politician in Lafia.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the deceased were identified through their identity cards found on the scene. “The sympathisers, who rushed to the scene, saw our family name on the victims’ identity cards. One of them called me to confirm if I am related to the accident victims. I put a call through to our elder brother, who informed me that somebody had called him too,” Musa explained.

    He added: “We arrived on the scene at about 12 midnight and met the vehicles still burning with Ahmad’s half body by the side of the burning vehicles. The villagers told us that when the accident happened, Ahmad made efforts to jump out of the vehicle but his legs were trapped in the bus.”

    An eyewitness, who did not say his name, said: “We tried to rescue him from the raging flame but his legs were trapped in the vehicle; he shouted repeatedly: “La’ila ha illallahu Muhammadu rasulullahi, sallallahu alaihin wa’salam”, which means “there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.

    The witness said the late Ahmad continued to recite the Quranic expression until he died.

    Musa told our correspondent that the victims were given mass burial the following day because none of them could be identified.

    The late Usman reportedly phoned a friend when his late father’s car developed fault on the expressway. Muhammad Usman, a close friend and course mate of the late Usman, said he received the news of his friend’s death with shock.

    He said: “We were very close. I could have been on the bus with him because he wanted me to join his family in the car. Later I called him to say I could not travel because of other engagements. As they were moving, Usman still kept in touch. In short, he even called and informed me that their car had a problem and that they were boarding another bus to complete the journey. I was shocked to be informed that my friend is no more. I cannot imagine how my life would be without him. He was one person I knew, who could not hurt anybody. He was an upright and complete gentleman.”

    The late Khadijat’s course mate, who did not want her name in print, said the class would miss her because she was a friend to all. “She was down-to-earth and never fought with anybody. Even though she was elderly, she played with everyone without discriminating,” she said.

    The late Usman was a student of Geography Education; the late Khadijat was studying Islamic Religious Studies.

    Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) told CAMPUSLIFE that the accident occurred when the truck veered off its lane and moved to the other side of the expressway.

     

     

  • ‘Dad was scared I wouldn’t be able to feed my family’

    ‘Dad was scared I wouldn’t be able to feed my family’

    Temitope Odebiyi, better known as Topsticks, is making a name for herself as Nigeria’s ‘number one’ female drummer. In this interview with MIRACLE ENWEREMADU, Topsticks, who is at present making waves in a male-dominated profession, tells her story and her journey into the world of drumming. Excerpts:

    WHY are you called Topsticks? It’s because I deal with sticks and my sticks must always be on top of every other stick. I went to do a photo session one day and the photographer was tagging my picture with sticks; along the line, I just saw Topsticks and it really caught my fancy. He gave me the name because my name is Tope; so he just removed letter ‘e’ and added ‘sticks’. I loved the nickname and I looked at it from the spiritual angle that my sticks would always be on top, hence the name.

    How did you become a drummer?

    Restlessness led me into drumming (laughter), but I’ll say I love music and sounds generally. Drum was actually my first instrument, though I started learning keyboard at a time because I wasn’t always opportune to play the drums. So, I started learning how to play keyboard first, but it wasn’t really my taste, so I went back to drumming. I started in the church. I once saw a person drumming and I was inspired and loved what he played. From there, I began to hit drums on my own without tutorial. The first time, I hit the drum, it was as if I had been playing drums for long and a person who saw me was like, so you have been playing drums but have been hiding all this while? He could not believe it was my first time because it was very natural for me. So, over the years, I went for tutorial and music school to upgrade it because when God gives you a gift, you have to plant, water and make sure it grows.

    How long have you been drumming now?

    It’s been long. Drumming has been part of me for several years, more than eight years now. But if you say from the professional point of view, I would say like four years ago.

    How have you been able to succeed in a masculine and energetic profession?

    Well, drumming as you said, is a masculine activity, a male-dominated field. And for a lady to thrive in it, she must have built her energy to some extent like a guy, though she can’t be exactly like a guy, but she has to build it. It comes with lots of exercises and constant practices on the drum. Even sometimes, you don’t feel you are losing energy until you stop drumming and then you begin to pant. But while the action is on, you are just enjoying yourself. Apart from that, the most important thing is the grace of God that gives you strength.

    Tell me more about how you enjoy yourself while on the drum.

    I really enjoy it because it is very interesting. Music generally is emotional. If you don’t feel yourself, people will not feel you. Whenever I am drumming, I often forget my environment and flow into the spirit of the music. The only thing that can disrupt the mood is probably emotion, when something just comes to my mind or I realise the sound is not on point. But most times, you just look over these things and enjoy yourself. This gives me the liberty to play with much expression.

    How about your audience, how do you carry them along?

    Though I don’t always watch them, but I do sometimes. You will see people looking surprised. Though you don’t hear them, but you will get feelings like ‘is she really a lady?’ especially when they see me for the first time. Sometimes, instead of people dancing, they would just stand, fold their hands and stare at you with some strange expressions on their faces.

    What do you hate about drumming and how challenging has it been?

    It is very challenging and the only thing I don’t like about it is that it is too energy-sapping. I wonder why it should be so (laughs). When I see guys drumming, I am like, ‘Oh God! When will I meet up?’ When you go to events, you see different artistes with different styles and you see them slamming so hard, then it looks as if you are intimidated. But one thing I tell myself is that I have my own uniqueness in my own way. So I just do my things in my own way irrespective of what others do and people still enjoy me. When I was still learning to drum, the competition was so stiff because I was always in the midst of guys. The boys say some bad things at times at my back. They said, ‘what can she even play, it’s just because she is a lady’. They don’t know I hear them and this makes me feel so sad. There was a day I performed at an event. The organiser so liked me and asked me to play for the next service. I almost bent the drummer there. So he (the drummer) went and told the director to change the chord that I was playing, that I couldn’t play it. I felt very bad, but things like that just pushed me to go and work harder.

    What else do you do apart from drumming?

    I also do solo performance, which is playing the drums alone to create different beats. I am also into academics. I love reading a lot. That is why after my first degree, I eventually did my Masters in History and I am planning to go for my PhD in History too, but that’s if music permits anyway because by the time God opens bigger opportunities, I may be too busy.

    You look very young and have already attained your second degree and about going for Ph.D?

    (Cuts in) I am very old, but my face looks young. I am in my late 20’s!

    Why have you been studying History only?

    I fell in love with the course right from my undergraduate level. I don’t want to limit myself because the human mind is large. I don’t want to remain in just one thing. I want to know more about the past and present.

    Have you ever worked with your History degree?

    No. I just love reading, just as the way I love drumming and love to explore the academic world. I even want to run my PhD programme this year.

    How about your parents and siblings?

    They are fine. My sister is here in Nigeria, but my parents are out of the country.

    Is it true that your parents did not support your becoming a drummer?

    That was initially because most parents want their children to become bankers, doctors, etc. My father would condemn my drumming and would ask how I would feed the family with drumming. But when money, fame among other things, began to come, they then realised there is a future in me. They have even attended many of my concerts. The first time I appeared in a newspaper, my father bought many copies of the paper and distributed to many of his friends and our neighbours.

    That means you make much money now.

    Yes, but I still want more (laughs).

    When and why did you join the Breath of Life Ministries?

    I joined them in 2009 because I found a place I could express my music because the church loves music and supports talents. So I found a platform and a place of worship, an atmosphere where they love and worship God. That got my interest.

    You have performed at many events. Can you share your experience with us?

    The first time I appeared in a newspaper, I performed at Bola Ige’s 6th year remembrance in Osun State. I performed at the birthday ceremony of Ondo State governor last year with my female band. I have even performed at a birthday ceremony for Mr. Sam Omatseye. I performed at Star Quest in 2008. I have also performed in concerts abroad.

    How about your all-female band?

    The band, which was very difficult to put together, is now fully in place and we now perform at different events with a lady on the keyboard, a lady on the drum and other instruments. I also have some other ladies under my tutelage.

    I gathered that you are also a drum coach. How true is this?

    Yes. I am a drum coach at the ‘Rock’ music school, a subsidiary of Breath of Life Ministries.

    Before I forget, you said you performed at Star Quest, what were some of the impressions you had while there?

    That was the first time I ever performed on a big stage. I met lots of people, and of course, I was on TV.

    How do you relate with your fellow male and female drummers?

    Seventy percent of my friends are drummers and are males. I have few females that I’m grooming. I relate with them very well, and musically too. Some of them trouble me that they want to learn. That is what helps me. I learn from anybody. Once I see you are a drummer, I will not let you go. You must teach me something, even if it’s a stroke. The only person that sat down and taught me for about three years was Kingsley, the music director of Daystar Ministries. He coached me separation, African drumming and other foreign drumming techniques.

    Have you met with other Nigerian recognised female drummers like Ara?

    Funny enough, I have never met her. But I have met with Ayanbirin. We did something together. They play talking drums and I wish I could play the talking drum too. But what I do is that I translate some of their lines into the drum and make the drum set to also talk.

    Are you married?

    No. I am not married yet, but I’m planning to do so soon.

    Is it that suitors are not coming?

    (Laughs) Well for now, I’m not in a serious relationship with any man. For the kind of thing I do, one has to be very careful in making choices. Once you make the wrong choice, it can kill you and your career. In order to maintain the career, I am being very careful with God’s guidance and direction to wait for the right person. Though they have been coming, but once I find out that they don’t fit into the future, I don’t bother wasting my time with them. But I’m sure, according to the time of life, it would happen.

    Why are you being referred to as ‘Naija No 1 Female drummer’?

    When the acronym was given, I was surprised myself. It was an advert. The thing just came up in the studio like that and it was not bad. There was a time I met an MC, she encouraged me to stamp my record before other ladies come up because as at then, I was the only female drummer that she knew could perform at any time. She said stamping my record was like a leadership authority. So, when somebody mentioned the title, ‘Naija No 1 female drummer’, I loved it, adopted it and began to use it.

    But are you truly the No 1?

    I can’t say whether it’s true or not because there are other female drummers too. To be called No 1 means you are the first to be recognised. In fact, I get lots of calls. Anytime they need any female drummer, the first person that comes to mind is Topstick. So I think I accept it and could say that it is true.

    So what are your plans for the future?

    There are lots of things going on underground. I intend to push my band into something that is very unique and rare. Aside from performing at different events, we intend to do our own recordings and video shooting. I also intend to open a kind of workshop to educate some other Nigerians, especially female instrumentalists and female drummers. I have some recordings on YouTube which are minor ones, but I plan to do something more proper. All these are capital-intensive.

    What advice do you have for young up and coming drummers?

    There is always a price to pay. They should be patient, practise and above all, let God be your source, because drumming is very demanding unless you want to remain a local champion. But if you want to become a professional, you need to work extremely hard. You need your instinct to be on point always. And always get enough materials that can inspire you when you are performing.

  • Family consults oracle over woman’s death

    Family consults oracle over woman’s death

    Nearly two weeks after the death of their daughter, Ms Chikodi Nwanwoala, the family of Nwanwoala, leaders, elders and youths of Obite 3 community in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, are yet to find the answer to the pressing question of who killed her.

    Chikodi, 43, was ostensibly strangulated, just four days into the New Year on January 5. She had retired to bed after preparing dinner on the fateful day when unknown assailants killed her.

    Her remains were found at about 3:00am under a tree in the compound where she went to sleep on that mysterious night.

    An elder in the Nwanwoala family, said: “She was dragged out of her house to the bush near the family house and after killing her they dragged her corpse back to the compound and dumped her under the tree. The only people that can do this are not strangers but members of this community.”

    Since then, the search for the perpetrators of the wicked act had been on.

    But in a new twist to the drama and an apparent no-confidence vote on security operatives, particularly the police, in unravelling the masterminds of the dastard act, the family recently took the ancient means to solve the puzzle. They have decided to consult the oracle.

    To show their determination, the leaders of Obite 3, during an emergency meeting raised N500, 000 to consult oracles, deities and perform rituals to assist them find the killers of their daughter.

    It was gathered that the decision to use the ancient means to unravel her killers became necessary because no motives could be found for anybody to want to kill the young.

    “We cannot remember her having any quarrel or disagreement with anyone,” one of her siblings told Niger Delta Report.

    Chief Ndubuisi Nwankwoala, the oldest man in the family and the brother to the deceased, alleged that his sister was strangulated to death. He noted that the bruises at her body and the police confirmation attest to how she was killed, adding that nothing will stop him to find the perpetrator of the evil act and bring them to justice.

    Chief Ndubuisi said his younger sister did not complain of any sickness nor did she had any altercation with any member of the family or the community.

    “According to my younger brother she was not sick; she didn’t have any confrontation with anybody before she went to the bed. But it happened that by 3am on January 5, 2014 when one of her brothers came outside to urinate, he saw her lifeless body under the tree in front of her room.

    “I was in Port Harcourt when it happened then I asked by brother who informed me about the incident to go and called the elders and ensure that they followed him to the scene where her corpse was dumped. I also instructed him to call the ambulance and take her lifeless body to the mortuary after the elders might have seen the corpse,” he said.

    Chief Ndubuisi said while the elders would be using the traditional way to search for the killer he will also be giving his support to the police who have come to the family to get all necessary information and materials for their investigation. He said he is happy that the chief and elders including the youths at the community are not sleeping over the issue of his sister’s murder.

    “Everybody in this community is not sleeping over the murder of my sister; they want to know those behind her death. Strangers cannot enter this community and strangulate my sister to death those who did this are not living far from this community.,” he added.

    Comrade Anaele Cyracus, the youth leader of Obite 3 community said youths will do everything possible to unmasked the killers of Chikodi.

    “We are not happy on what happened; we are presently graved at the moment over the death of Chikodi. The youths have agreed to give our support to the family members and the community by ensuring that whoever that killed our sister must be exposed and face wrath of the law,” Anaele vowed.

    Still the security forces, including JTF, police and State Security Service (SSS), continued an intensive manhunt for the renegade. Sources in the area said Kelvin was confined to a section of the forest in the area, where usually moved in the dead of the night. A newspaper report, which speculated that the wanted criminal had sneaked out of the country to the Republic of Benin, later turned out to be untrue.

    The Nation reliably gathered that when security dragnet closed in on him, Kelvin made desperate effort to top official of the state government. “He offered to surrender if the government would be granted him amnesty,” our source said.

    It was gathered that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who was approached about the offer turned it down, insisting that Kelvin had committed too many atrocities and killed too many innocent persons to get a soft landing.

    It was in the midst of his desperate effort for immunity from his crimes that he allegedly resurfaced in Kokori on Thursday, September 19 to declare his preparedness to fight for the emancipation of the Urhobo people.

    He gave the Federal Government 60-day ultimatum to meet his demands in order to avert disaster. The story was that he stormed the community with masked youths armed with dangerous weapons. He was reportedly welcome by hundreds of dancing women and children, who described him as their saviour and a freedom fighter.

     

     

  • Family denies report on Oshodi ‘ownership’

    The Agedegudu Onigbesa family of Oshodi in Lagos has dbunked a media report which it said misrepresented the facts about the town’s true origins.

    Its lawyer, Tunde Alade Dauda-Agedegudu, at a briefing, said contrary to the report, the founder of Oshodi town was Onigbesa.

    He said Chief Oshodi Tapa was allegedly a domestic servant of Oba Esilokun of Lagos and one of the sons of Esilokun. Oba Kosoko also inherited him after the death of Esilokun as a domestic servant, the lawyer said

    “There is, no doubt, about who the founder of Oshodi town was, as the Oshodi Tapa family stated in their testimony during trial in the suit numbered AB/16/57. They stated that Onigbesa gave them only 206 acres as absolute grant. So, how did they (Oshodi-Tapa) become the owners of the whole of Oshodi Town?

    “The same facts were stated in various chieftaincy tribunals constituted at various periods by the Lagos State government on Oshodi. The Oshodi-Tapa family is a tenant of Agedegudu Onigbesa who are Aworis. The Supreme Court judgment is still there.

    “The compensations for the acquisition of land for government agencies were paid to Agedegudu Onigbesa family and not to Oshodi-Tapa family. The records are there. This was also stated in the judgment.

    “The intelligence report on the Aworis of Ikeja Division contained the fact that Oshodi-Tapa were paying rent on Oshodi land to Chief (Baale) Oseni Agedegudu.

    “It is also on record that in 1993, a deed of surrender was executed between the government of Nigeria, represented by Governor Donald Cameron and Chief Agedegudu, then Baale of Oshodi in respect of a piece of land earmarked for a market, which is known till today as Kairo market,” the lawyer said.

    According to the family, the claim that Oba Onigbesa was chased out of Igbesa Town by the Dahomey warriors and later came to settle in a thick forest known today as Oshodi Town was not true.

    “The truth as stated in the court was that the then Oba of Lagos requested the Onigbesa family of Oshodi to allow the Oshodi-Tapa who are warriors to defend part of Lagos against Dahomean slave raids from incursion into Lagos. The Baale then was Chief Oseni Agedegudu,” the family said.

    On the installation of Oshodi Baales, the family said: “Succession to the stool of Baale of Oshodi for over 300 years has been hereditary amongst the descendants of Onigbesa family.

    “The first on the land was Onigbesa. After Onigbesa was Oluyiyabi, son of Onigbesa, followed by Ogundamija the son of Oluyabi; then Idowu Agedegudu, Oseni Agedegudu, Dauda Agedegudu, and Salami Agedegudu.

    “They are all descendants of Onigbesa, the founder of Oshodi town,” the lawyer added.

     

     

  • Experts laud official launching of the International Year of Family Farming

    Experts laud official launching of the International Year of Family Farming

    Thousands of farmers throughout the world have vindicated the role of family farming, through simultaneous activities on the occasion of the official launching of the International Year of Family Farming IYFF-2014, which over the weekend in New York.

    70% of the food consumed in the world comes from Family Farming and 40% of families live from this activity.

    For the World Rural Forum (WRF), coordinator of the Civil Society programme for the IYFF-2014 and promoter of its declaration, together with more than 360 organisations in five continents, the launching of this International Year opens up a unique opportunity to promote public policies in favour of the development of family farming, whose role and potential as guarantor of food security is not sufficiently acknowledged.

    A delegation of the WRF –consisting of its Executive Secretary, José María Zeberio, and the Coordinator of the IYFF-2014 Civil Society Programme, José Antonio Osaba– participated at the official launching in New York, together with top representatives of the United Nations, FAO, IFAD and various national governments.

    Strengthening Family Farming is the most efficient means to combat hunger and poverty. 70% of the food consumed in the world is produced by Family Farming, in all its diversity, and 40% of the families in the world live from this activity.

    “The most effective way to combat hunger and malnutrition is to produce food near the consumers, precisely what Family Farming does, not the large itinerant investors”, explains Jose Antonio Osaba (WRF), Coordinator of the IYFF-2014 Civil Society Programme.

    In his opinion, to strengthen the work of the millions of family farmers in the world (nearly 2,500 million people in rural areas live from agriculture in developing countries) it is necessary for countries to guarantee “the protected access to land, water, sea and other natural resources). In addition, “the right of people to produce their own food” needs to be acknowledged.

    Family Farming according to the FAO is a “way of organising forestry and agricultural production, as well as fishing, grazing and aquaculture, which is managed and conducted by a family and which largely depends on the family labour force, both men and women. The family and exploitation are linked, they co-evolve and combine economic, environmental, reproductive, “social and cultural functions”. When speaking of Family Farming we also refer to artisanal fishing people, shepherds, harvesters, landless day-labourers and indigenous communities.

    The IYFF-2014 is the first International Year preceded by a civil society campaign, promoted by the WRF and backed by more than 360 civil and farmers’ organisation in five continents. After its declaration by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the civil society promoted its celebration as a tool to obtain public policies in favour of the sustainable development of agricultural systems based on the family unit: all of this with a commitment and spirit of cooperation with the official programme of the United Nations, organised by the FAO.

  • Pa Kasumu: family waits on Fashola

    Pa Kasumu: family waits on Fashola

    Family members of veteran actor, Kayode Odumosu, otherwise called ‘Pa Kasumu’ are wary of the story of the proverbial housewife, who threw away the tadpole-infested water, thinking the rumbling cloud will emit torrent. Reacting to the rumour that Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has offset the N12 million needed for the treatment of their father’s kidney, heart and stroke ailment, the actor’s son, Jide Odumosu, told The Nation that, although the Governor facilitated a medical test which was conducted on Saturday, it is not yet certain, the exact help which the Lagos state helmsman may be rendering.

    Jide said it was necessary to clear the air, as there are media reports, stating that their family has collected N12 million from the Governor in lieu of the actors’ medical treatment abroad.

    “The truth of the matter is that the Governor has intervened by asking us to take him to a hospital in Ikoyi for a medical test. It is not true that the Governor has given us N12 million. The Governor himself has not told us that he is going to foot the bill. But he paid for the medical test which was performed on him on Saturday.”

    Asked if the Governor visited the actor personally, Jide said he (Fashola) was represented by his personal doctor. He would not know how much the test cost, but said it was totally on the Governor’s bill. He disclosed that apart from the two tests done on Saturday, another one is expected to be conducted today, also on the Governor’s bill.

    On how much has been realised from public contributions so far, Jide said the amount received so far is less than N1.5 million, out of which N1 million was donated by a Commissioner in Lagos State. Responding to whether his father’s colleagues have been of any help so far, he noted that the N1 million donation was facilitated by some of his (Pa Kasumu) colleagues in the film industry.

    Jide revealed that some of the tests carried on the actor where to determine the state of his brain, as the ailment appears to be affecting his brain. He said the second test was necessitated by the initial one, whereby the neck region was discovered to have also been affected.

    Reports say the actor is being affected by partial stroke, to which his son admitted, said to be progressive. He expressed fear that the situation is already affecting the actor’s sight and speech. As it is now, his father suffers a heart, liver and brain problem, Jide, second son of the actor, confirmed.

    Should Fashola’s aid reach the Odumosu’s it will be another of such help from the Governor, who, last year, donated N4.5 million to ‘Fuji House of Commotion’ star, Ngozi Nwosu, for a medical surgery abroad.

     

  • Why success in the family (3)

    ear Reader, It is good to come your way again today. It is a good day for you! Three weeks ago, I taught on some of the reasons why your marriage must succeed. Last week, I taught on some principles of a successful marriage. This week, I want to show you some of the dangers of lack of success in marriage.

    A successful marriage does not just happen; it is made to happen. God has laid down some principles for success in marriage, but failure to follow those principles is what results in failure or lack of success.

    What then are the dangers of a bad marriage? What happens when a couple does not succeed in their marriage?

    Christian marriage fails, it gives unbelievers room to blaspheme the name of God. The Word of God says: For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written (Romans 2:24). When your unbelieving neighbours hear you and your wife fight and quarrel everyday, call your children all manner of ungodly names, or your children are typical examples of what the Bible refers to as “unruly”, your Christian testimony is actually what is being affected. You cannot witness to them or invite them to church, when they are aware of the situation in your family.

    As a man, if you shy away from your covenant responsibilities in the home – such as the provision of basic necessities of life, how do you expect the unbelievers around you to accept your Christian testimony? If a man travels out of town just at the point when his wife is about to put to bed or his children are about to resume at school, making no provisions whatsoever for them, what kind of testimony does he have? These affect his Christian testimony negatively.

    It Hinders Answers To Prayers: Disharmony in a Christian home is the fastest way to hinder you from receiving an answer to prayer. Prayer is essentially communication with God. When your home is in disarray, try as you may, your prayer will be hindered. Every Christian needs special relationship with God, by spending time in communing with Him. But when you and your spouse or members of your household are always at loggerheads, not only your relationship with them is affected, your relationship with God is also affected.

    Remember that God’s eyes run to and fro the earth (2 Chronicles 16:9). So, God sees you when you are fighting with your spouse, after which you go to church to pray and fellowship. God is not mocked; He cannot be deceived. Don’t deceive yourself. You need to straighten out your relationship with your spouse and members of your household, so that your communication line with God will not be blocked.

    Your Giving Life Is Unfruitful: If your marriage fails, it will definitely affect your giving life. The Word of God says: Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matthew 5:23-24). This explains why a lot of Christians give so much, yet receive so little! They quarrel and fight at home, and then bring their gifts to the altar and expect it to be fruitful. Giving is a futile exercise, until there’s sanctity in the home.

    God is not in need; even if He were, no human being is qualified to meet His needs! We all depend on Him for sustenance. You must know that your first neighbour is your spouse and members of your household. If you want God to honour your seeds sown, ensure you are at peace with your family. Until that is in place, your giving amounts to nothing.

    The Future Of Your Children Is Affected: Family failure and disharmony has a great effect in the future of the children in such homes. This is primarily because for a child, “an ounce of example is worth much more than a ton of preachment”, says a wise man. Whenever you are quarrelling and fighting with your spouse, your children are taking note of it. One day, they will ask you whether you are genuinely born again!

    On the other hand, you must also realize that whatever your marriage looks like, could be duplicated in their homes in the future. Would you want your children to be doing what you are doing? That is food for thought!

    Can you boldly ask your children to follow you as you follow God? Wouldn’t they miss heaven, if they were to follow your example? God designed marriage and home for success. For this success to become a reality, however, each marriage partner has parts to play. Man is the primary beneficiary of family success, not God. Look at this testimony:

    If your marriage succeeds, you are the one to benefit, and if it fails you are the one to suffer. You shall not fail! Don’t let your lack of commitment to the success of your family become a hindrance to your children in the future. Beware! May you leave a Christian legacy for your children; may they remember you for good! You shall succeed in Jesus’ name!

    You need God to succeed in your home. Are you born again? If not why not, say this prayer and be born again: Dear Lord Jesus, I come to You today as a sinner. Forgive me of my sin. I believe You died and rose on the third day for my sins. Cleanse me from all my sins. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today.

    Congratulations, you are now born again! I believe that you will begin to experience the reality of the price that Jesus paid for your sins at Calvary. All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name!

    Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through:

    E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 08141320204; 07026385437; 07094254102

    For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Single With A Difference, Building A Successful Family, and Success In Marriage (Co-Authored with Bishop David Oyedepo).

     

     

  • Row over death of man pushed off moving bus…Family demands body for burial

    Row over death of man pushed off moving bus…Family demands body for burial

    THE only thing that would stop the tears of Tawakalitu, whose husband, Saheed Alabi, allegedly lost his life in an encounter with an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority’s (LASTMA) on February 2, 2012, is the release of her husband’s body.

    The 30-year-old bus conductor met his untimely death after his bus was flagged down by some LASTMA officials at Toll Gate area of Ketu. The errant officials were said to have dragged him down from the moving vehicle, leading to his death.

    His body was taken to Ikorodu General Hospital and has not been released for burial in spite of protests by his lawyer and family members.

    Recalling the incident, Tawakalitu said: “I was at home the day the incident occurred. My husband’s elder brother, Fatai, called me on the phone and said that my husband had died while he was being trying to stop his vehicle.

    “He was said to have been dragged down while the vehicle was in motion and he fell on the pavement and died. We reported the incident at the Ketu Police Station but we have not got any response.

    “I was carrying a three-month pregnancy when he died. I have since been delivered of a baby boy named Waris on August 8, 2012. We have appealed to the authorities of the hospital to release his body to us but our appeal has been turned down.

    “I feel it is high time we called on the relevant authorities to release the body to us so that we can point to his tomb when the four children I had for him grow up.”

    Tawakalit said that life had become a nightmare since the tragic death of her husband and she now lives on charity.

    She said: “I don’t have enough money to feed my children or take care of their education. I need help to provide for their needs, especially my baby. Although the erring LASTMA official offered me N50, 000, I rejected it on the basis of advice from my lawyer.

    “Shortly after the incident, some members of a Lagos-based charity organisation visited me and paid my children’s school fees. They even brought some rice and beans for me during the Ramadan period.”

    Several petitions forwarded to the police and LASTMA authorities over the matter are yet to yield results as Alabi’s body remains in the mortuary.

    A letter written to LASTMA by the counsel to the family, Mr. Omobolaji Adejumo, reads in part: “We hold brief for Mrs. Taswakalitu Rashidi Alabi and Rukayat Alabi, the wives of Rashidi Alabi, the bus conductor dragged down from a moving bus by LASTMA officials, resulting in his untimely death.

    “Our brief further revealed that it was on February 5, 2012 that Alabi was killed when he was going about his lawful duty at the Toll Gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at Ketu.

    “The most painful aspect of this scenario is refusing the family the right to bury their dead, which has compounded their sorrow ”

    The refusal by authorities of Ikorodu General Hospital to release Alabi’s body to his family and the the notice that abandoned bodies in the hospital prompted the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, to step into the matter last year.

    In a letter written by the NBA to the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, dated August 24, 2012, it said: “The attention of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch (Human Rights Committee), has been drawn to a newspaper advertisement of August 19, 2012 by the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary to the effect that it would give mass burial to bodies in its morgue unclaimed within seven days of the publication.

    “We respectfully bring to your notice that the body of one Rashidi Alabi, an alleged victim of a fatal attack by a LASTMA official earlier in the year, precisely sometime in February, lies in the morgue of the Ikorodu General Hospital.

    “Please, be further informed that there is an ongoing police investigation into the cause of death of the said Rashidi Alabi, with a view to prosecuting those found culpable of causing his unlawful death.

    “Of course, the Coroners Laws of Lagos State prescribe a mandatory coroner’s inquiry into the death of any citizen of Lagos State whose death occurred in questionable circumstances.

    “In the light of the above, we hereby humbly request the exception of the body of the said Rashidi Alabi from the intended mass burial.”

    Speaking on the matter, Adejumo said: “We think that it is an injustice to a family whose breadwinner was killed in controversial circumstances by law enforcement agents to pay a public hospital for taking custody of his body. Let them release his corpse for us to bury.

    “Bear in mind that our clients are Muslims and in Islamic tradition, the dead are buried within 48 hours and the wife stays indoors for 40 days after burial.”

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Police spokeperson, Ms. Ngosi Braide, said she had no details of the incident. She said: “I don’t have the details now, but I’ll communicate with you as soon as I get the details.”

    Attempt by our correspondent to get the response of spokesperson of LASTMA, Mrs. Bola Ajao, was not successful. She did not acknowledge the first text message sent to her phone by our correspondent asking him to resend it. She also failed to answer her calls when our correspondent again called to know if she got the second text message.

     

  • Back as One big, happy family!

    I know that there are many Nigerians who will swear that the implosion currently rocking the Peoples Democratic Party of President Goodluck Jonathan is the long-awaited divine response to the anguished prayers of Nigerians for freedom. After 14-years bondage in the hand of a party sworn to serve citizens the cup of affliction till kingdom come, it seems that not even our prayer-addicted but by now traumatised fellow citizens would have anything left in their arsenal of good wishes for the party.

    Going merely by indications at the weekend, it seems that those in the business of prayers still have a long way to go as far as the quest to rid the nation of the PDP yoke is concerned. I start with the so-called resignation of the treasurer of the Baraje-led faction of the PDP said to have been procured at the villa over the weekend. While the matter of how the nPDP treasurer, Malam Tanko Isiaku Gomna, found himself in the lion’s den would remain a matter of conjecture, it is good grief that the lone unwilling (?) guest at the villa didn’t have to suffer the pains of losing life or limbs. At least he was given the option to either resign from his beloved nPDP or forfeit his company’s contracts with the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency and the Federal Ministry of Works. Oh yes, he resigned with gusto –followed by a treatise rationalising his Pauline somersault with a pledge of allegiance to the Bamanga Tukur leadership and a clarion call on all party faithful to do the same! That was one down. I hear from the grapevine that many more surprise resignations are on the way.

    That was however, merely one part in the two-part play staged at the weekend. Elsewhere within the same precincts of the Villa, a “ceasefire” was in earnest between the group of seven “rebel” governors, President Jonathan and the leadership of his faction of the PDP. By late Sunday night, a communiqué which suggested that the feuding parties may to have resolved to let Nigeria be, emerged. By the terms of the temporary truce, the parties are expected to sheathe their swords in the understanding that the issues in dispute are not necessarily irreconcilable. And just like that?

    The army of volunteers and the not-so-well-wishers drafted into the party’s turf wars would by now be licking their wounds for their exaggerated expectation that their predicted implosion would create a reformed PDP. And this applies to those who have long sworn that things will never be the same again for the party; it is apparent that not only did they rejoice too soon, they suffered terrible underestimation of the power of the patronage machine in Abuja to force behavioural change. Nigerians have between now and October 7 to see how many would be left of the nPDP members when the machine is fully deployed as it would surely be.

    Of course, the war was never about us in the first place. This was the point so beautifully made by my colleague, Segun Ayobolu in his illuminating back page column of last Saturday. It’s not about fixing our unworkable federal contraption much less about addressing those age-long economic strictures that continue to hobble the nation’s capacity to renew itself. It is not about the rot in our educational system that has left 10 million kids out of school; an educational system that continues to churn out barely literate graduates. It is not about defining Nigeria’s place in the sun among the mass in the 21st Century and beyond. It is not about advancing the cause of our collective security or such nobler goals.

    It is none of those.

    It is about the office of President and who occupies the office in 2015. That is what is tearing the PDP apart – for which Nigerians – treated as unknown equation by the PDP, have now been drafted to the role of cheerleaders.

    The G-7 wants Goodluck Jonathan out. That seems fine, and it is entirely their business – not ours – at least not at this time. I believe they have done well in seducing Nigerians into taking sides in their bitter family squabble. In this, one must give it to the leading lights of the “rebellion” for their profound mastery of social psychology of the ordinary Nigerian – particularly his instinctive penchant to rise in defence of the underdog during moments of unrestrianed use of power as we continue to see in Rivers where the governor and his loyalists are under siege.

    However, beyond the attempt by the G-7 to play the spoiler, where is their case for a different PDP that is less arbitrary less contemptuous of the people?

    The prospect of a shrunk presidency in the event that President Jonathan decides to run is however more frightening. The issue clearly isn’t so much about the right of President Jonathan to run in 2015 but whether in the current circumstances, it is in the nation’s interest for him to run. I must say here that part of the unfortunate consequences of the PDP’s war of attrition isn’t just the diminished aura of the most powerful office in the land but also the diminution of its moral authority. Surely, the squandering of the pan-Nigerian mandate of 2011 for what is now a full-blown Ijaw Presidency is the stuff of which anti-heroes are made.

    The bitter truth remains that those expecting the PDP to go the way of the fictional Humpty Dumpty are in for a rude shock; the party will pull back with or without Nigeria and Nigerians. As for Jonathan, he will run; the inexhaustible gravy in Abuja will ensure that every opposition to his running will be smothered just in time to ensure he enjoys his smooth sail. Win or lose; it does not really matter, at least not with the vote-harvesting PDP machine primed to deliver. Whichever way it goes, out nightmares can only continue.

    It is something for those seeking to pray the PDP out of existence should ponder over. Didn’t the scriptures say that heaven helps those who help themselves? Who says that the battle to retrieve the dignity of the citizens from the PDP taskmasters could be achieved by wishing the party dead? And this in a multi-party democracy?

    Nigerians ronu!

  • Family products get awards

    Ariel Detergent and Always sanitary pad, leading brands from consumer goods company, Procter and Gamble (P&G) Nigeria, have bagged awards at the BusinessDay Generation Next Survey Awards.

    Always was conferred with the award of ‘Coolest Sanitary pad 2013’; Ariel got the ‘Coolest Detergent’ award at the ceremony organised by HDI Youth Marketers in collaboration with Business Day in Lagos last weekend. Oral B toothpaste was also nominated for an award in the category for toothpastes.

    P&G’s Company and Femcare Communication Manager, Miss. Tomiwa Akande, said,” P&G is honored by this special recognition for two of our flagship brands in Nigeria. The company is dedicated to making everyday life a little better for Nigerians. One of the ways we do this is by providing innovative world class brands, the latest product innovation, technology and standards to meet the needs and budgets of our Nigerian consumers. The awards show that our brands are appreciated by consumers across Nigeria and for this we are truly grateful”.

    The Managing Director, HDI Youth Marketers, Mr. Joko Okupe said the awards were conferred on brands based on results of a recently concluded survey in the country. “The survey was in three stages. There was the poll building, then the submission of entries, and then the focus group discussion to collate findings. HDI aims to make meaningful and memorable differences in the lives of youths in Africa and to understand the fast-changing dynamics of youth culture and their behavior”, Mr Okupe said.

    Editor–in-chief of Business Day newspapers, Professor Jemie Onwuchekwa said “It is important to note that the youth constitute approximately 60 per cent of the Nigerian population. This is very large and they are, therefore, a force to reckon with. They are primary consumers of several brands, influencers of some brands and the future market for most brands.”