The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Foundation

  • Obi laid foundation for new Anambra, says Soludo

    Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Chukwuma Soludo yesterday laid to rest speculations that there was political tension between him and Governor Peter Obi.

    Soludo said Obi laid the foundation for a new Anambra. He spoke at the memorial thanksgiving mass in honour of his mother-in-law at the St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Isuofia.

    He did not only praise the governor for his achievements but described him as a man of destiny, whose discipline has ensured his success in life.

    The former CBN governor said Obi has laid a strong foundation for sustainable development, which he said future administration could consolidate on.

    He said the state needed a credible successor to sustain the gains of the past.

    Soludo disagreed with the governor’s plan to retire from politics, saying the country needed people like him, especially during these trying times.

    After the 2010 governorship election, Obi and Soludo have not been the best of friends.

    Rev. Michael Nwajiobi enjoined Christians not to run from pillar to post in search of miracles but should surrender their lives to God and remain steadfast in whatever position they found themselves.

    He said the governor had sacrificed much to make the state a role model and noted that his vision and mission had transformed all sectors of the state.

  • ‘Akande laid foundation for Osun’s growth’

    Former Osun State House of Assembly Speaker Prof. Mojeed Alabi has said former Governor Bisi Akande laid a sound foundation for the state’s development.

    Delivering a paper on behalf of former House of Assembly members, who served the state between 1999 and 2003, at a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital, Alabi said Akande’s administration symbolised prudence, commitment, development and integrity.

    He said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was able to rig the 2003 governorship elections in the Southwest because of the people’s impatience to harvest the dividends of democracy.

    “The impatience was due to the fact that they had lived long under the yoke of militarism and impunity for 15 uninterrupted years. This was coupled with the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, when the hope of an MKO Abiola presidency became furlong. For these, the people could not be blamed.

    “What remained questionable was the fact that our impatience blinded a significant proportion of our kinsmen and they fell for the antics of chop-I-chop political jobbers, who delighted in making false promises and peddling rumours.

    “The unceremonious exit of our government from the seat of power was, no doubt, a design of the moving PDP train that remained determined to crush all opposition in its way.

    “But the political impostors succeeded at that time because they found as willing tools some disgruntled elements, who were active in disseminating false information to the gullible masses with false promises.”

    Endorsing Governor Rauf Aregbesola for a second term, Alabi, on behalf of his colleagues, pledged their support for the governor.

    Aregbesola, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, assured the people that he would not let them down.

    In attendance were the Acting State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi and the President of Oranmiyan Worldwide, Prince Felix Awofisayo, among others.

  • Foundation upgrades Abuja cemetery

    Foundation upgrades Abuja cemetery

    THE Al-Muhibbah Foundation, a non-governmental organisation coordinated by the wife of the FCT Minister, Hajia Aisha Bala Mohammed, has inaugurated the Christian wing of the Gudu Cemetery, Apo, FCT.

    The foundations’ Director of Programmes, Hajia Ladi Ibrahim, who represented the chairperson/founder, recalled that “the foundation, while inaugurating the Muslim and the pagan sections at the foundation’s two years anniversary last year, did promise that the Christian wing will be inaugurated in due course; a promise that is being fulfilled today.”

    Commenting on the numerous landmarks and achievements of the foundation, the chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Israel Akanji said: “I am so happy that the promise made by Mrs. Mohammed sometime last year at the inauguration of the Muslim wing of the cemetery has been fulfilled. May Almighty God continue to bless and protect Hajia Bala Mohammed.”

    He used the occasion to emphasise that his association, in collaboration with Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), will oversee the use of the newly inaugurated wing of the cemetery in line with universally-accepted best practices; noting that the era of impunity on burial sites; especially this Gudu Cemetery by members of the public and relations to deceased will be curtailed.

    Reacting, Hajia Zainab Umar of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) called on other NGO’s in the territory to emulate Al-Muhibbah Foundation’s humanitarian services and benevolence to mankind; adding that other NGO’s must rise up to cater and take care of man’s final and permanent resting places(cemeteries).

    Hajia Mariam Lari Adamu of FCT Muslim Welfare Board praised the virtues of Al-Muhibbah’s Foundation; stating that Allah has a great reward for people and organisations that respond to the plight of the needy and mankind in generally.

    Al-Muhibbah Foundation erected the perimeter fencing of the Gudu Cemetery, constructed and built inter-locking access roads including solar-powered lights and gate house to the cemetery.

    In a related development, the foundation was at Kuje Area Council, FCT, to inaugurate and hand over the perimeter fencing of over one hectare to the Al-Ansar (The Helpers) Orphanage and donated food items worth several thousand of Naira to the home.

    Hajia Ladi Ibrahim, Director of Programmes who represented the organisation posited that the foundation is driven by a passion to assist the needy.

    Responding, Hajia Hadiza Abubakar, Naibatal Amirah, said Al-Ansar (The Helpers) is an Islamic non-governmental organisation established in 2003 with the aim of assisting and empowering the less-privileged members of the society; especially women and children and to run an Islamic-oriented orphanage in the FCT based on the fundamental principles embodied in the glorious Quran.

    She thanked the Al-Muhibbah for reaching out to them in their moment of need.

  • Lam Adesina’s son inaugurates foundation

    Lam Adesina’s son inaugurates foundation

    Dr. Ayobami Adesina, the eldest son of a former Oyo State Governor, the late Alhaji Lam Adesina, has inaugurated a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Ayo Lam Care Foundation, in memory of his father.

    The organisation will care for abandoned children and women.

    Adesina said the foundation would build on his father’s legacy of caring for the needy.

    He spoke yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while donating gifts to the Juvenile Correctional Institution and Child Care Unit, the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN) Orphanage and the Care People’s Foundation Motherless Babies’ Home.

    The gifts included cartons of soap, cereals, detergent and writing materials.

    Adesina said: “This foundation has been established in Nigeria and abroad to support children’s education like our father did when he was alive. I have learnt from my father to support children and that is why we are donating these items to these children. This is why we are starting the Ayo-Lam Care Foundation today.”

    The officer in-charge of the Juvenile Correctional Institution and Child Care, Mrs. Jumoke Adesina, thanked Adesina and prayed God to bless him.

    Co-ordinator of the FOMWAN Orphanage Alhaja Airat Ogungbenro prayed God to grant repose to the soul of the late Adesina.

    She said the deceased was a great philanthropist and friend of the orphanage.

     

  • Nigeria partners global foundation for out-of-school children

    Nigeria partners global foundation for out-of-school children

    Nigeria has entered into partnership with a global education foundation, the Educate-A-Child Programme, an initiative of Her Highness, Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser of Qatar, to address the challenge of out-of-school children in various countries.

    The programme is funded by the Qatari Government.

    The Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, yesterday led the Nigerian delegation to the high-level meeting, with the theme: Accelerate Efforts to Reach Out-of-School Children.

    A statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Education (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, said the three-day meeting is holding in Doha, Qatar.

    The minister worked out the partnership after briefing Ministers of Education from 17 countries attending the meeting.

    Wike, who presented Nigeria’s Country Report to the ministers and former national leaders, explained that the nation has taken vital steps to address the problems associated with out-of-school children since the Goodluck Jonathan administration came to office in 2011.

    He said the Federal Government has the political will to tackle the challenge posed by such children.

    According to him, the funding of infrastructural development, recruitment of teachers and involvement of various stakeholders in access creation programmes have led to a reduction in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

    Wike urged international agencies and other development partners to assist the nation in resolving the challenges posed by out-of-school children in Nigeria and other developing countries.

    He said: “In our country, we have given education the desired priority under the leadership of President Jonathan. We have the political will to ensure that we create access to quality education for our children that are presently out of school. We urge all development partners, especially the Educate a Child Programme, to invest in our nation to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

    “We have invested in the development of infrastructure in the form of the Almajiri schools in the North and selected some parts of our country for the construction of special girl-child schools and schools for the boy-child who is out of school in parts of the South. We look forward to targeted investments to help us develop more infrastructure to cater for more out-of-school children.”

    Wike had a private session with Sheikha Bint Nasser, Ministers of Education and former British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, on how to develop a strong international partnership to increase global access for out-of-school children.

    Addressing the opening session of the meeting, its Convener, Sheikha Bint Nasser urged international development agencies, philanthropists, wealthy nations and individuals to prioritise basic education as a right of less privileged children.

    She explained that she and her foundation, Educate a Child Programme, would continue to fund projects that enhance access to quality education for out-of-school children across the world.

    The philanthropist said Educate A Child will reach the 61 million out-of-school children, adding that the programme will work on education projects in Nigeria.

    Mr Brown, who is a United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Education, said there is a global emergency in education.

    The former British Prime Minister urged governments and international development agencies to increase the funding of education.

    He noted that without increased funding and improved access to education, poverty will undermine global development and stability.

     

  • Alaafin launches Culture Foundation

    Alaafin launches Culture Foundation

    The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III in partnership with a Portuguese, Dr. Paula Gomes, has launched a foundation, the Paula Gomes Cultural Foundation, for the preservation of Yoruba culture.

    The launch of the foundation at the Alaafin’s palace was attended by dignitaries, such as the Ambassador and High Commissioners from Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Australia.

    The event featured a lecture entitled Yoruba Culture In Diaspora-Brazil which was delivered by Prof Fabio Batista Lima, an expert in Yoruba culture and tradition in the Diaspora.

    He said Yoruba in Brazil is primarily talking about a philosophy of everyday life which is taught to observe, understand and interpret.

    “The Yoruba philosophy remains alive in the New World, in Brazil, Cuba and in other parts of the world within the Candombl» (institutions of Yoruba tradition), which becomes a new lifestyle in everyday’s individuals. I speak of the lifestyle as a unitary set of distinctive preferences as expressed in the specific logic of each subspace symbolic (verbal language, body language, decorations, food and ideology). In sum, the Yoruba portrayal through Candombl»s is through the joy of the collective memory of the ancestors. This immense wisdom has been passed through generations orally,” he said.

    Lima noted that the teachings of the enslaved ancestors, including the touches of drums, the various rhythms (Alujo beat, Ilu Agere) have great impact not only in the communities of ‘yards’, but more especially in the biggest party on the planet, carnival in Salvador.

    He said: “When you are in Salvador you will think that you are here in Africa. You will see the body movements, the gestural respect for older persons in black communities because they are holders of an ancestral knowledge. Everything is familiar. The philosophy of Yoruba traditions is about building a life with a set of guidelines that enhance the day-to-day lives of the people, which is incorporated into their ways of living in the new world.

    “The lifestyles generated in the Yoruba tradition function as a strategic plan in the lives of individuals and not that such plans are mechanically intellectualised. Events of individuals’ lives are in the newspapers and magazines are reconstructed according to the circumstances presented in an individual’s everyday life.”

    He observed that in Brazil, the full essence of Yoruba philosophy is within the Candombl», which focuses on the Orisas, through the myths, by engaging in the project of solving the problems of their faith on issues of work, money, health and sex.

    According to him, the Yoruba philosophy lacks an ethical improvement of the world or individuals in the sense employed by Christian religion or Islam. What matters, he said, is that people may enjoy lives in this world, dialoguing with their relationship with nature and cosmos.

    “It is noteworthy that Yoruba is not just words spoken in the ‘yards’ it is also present in the songs of Brazilian popular music. These reconstructions are tied to a web of meanings re-developed in Brazil, giving rise to new symbolic forms ‘yards’, quilombos and blocks-afros. This encourages African descendants to distance themselves from cultural oppressions caused by colonialist’s action.”

    Lima asserted that Brazilians respect and love deep knowledge of the Yoruba tradition, which thus ‘promote interdisciplinary teaching on the question of the historicity of various race relations in Brazil, the importantance of the study on Africa’s need to recognise black culture and its various manifestation as historical, environmental, economic, political and cultural causing black youths to perceive themselves as citizens and assets.”

     

  • Foundation hosts self-taught artist

    Foundation hosts self-taught artist

    Ibrahim Adebayo Lawal’s Memory and Metaphor which opened recently at the African Artists’ Foundation Gallery on Raymond Njoku Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, Works on display from April 18 to May 3 captures traditional symbols of power, deity and origination. Lawal succinctly harnesses the technique of embroidery and quilting to create tapestries of cultural and historical significance that explore traditionalism in contemporary Nigerian culture.

    The exhibition was, however, preceded by Meet the Artist, a preamble platform for group and solo exhibitions created by the foundation to introduce young and emerging artists to the public.

    Lawal researches and accumulates the ingredients of Yoruba folklore by intricately translating the figures of festival masquerades onto locally woven cloth, aso oke. These works create a visual time-line of folklore and customs while questioning the location of our indigenous identities. Lawal describes his tapestry work as ‘agbara asa’ which means “power of culture.” Lawal is a self-taught artist with origins in the fashion embroidery industry.

    He was born in 1979 and is from Ilorin, Kwara State. Lawal obtained a diploma in Cultural Administration from Nassarawa State University, Lafia, Nassarawa State (2011).

    Lawal trained as an apprentice embroiderer for six years shortly after completing his primary school education. He worked in the fashion industry with notable designers where he gained a fine understanding of textiles and quilting. Lawal’s recent work explores the indigenous customs and traditions of Nigeria’s diverse heritage and vanishing ideals in contemporary Nigerian society.

  • Foundation splashes millions on education game

    Foundation for Effective Leadership and Development (FELD), a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has given out nearly one-million naira to students in secondary and tertiary institutions who featured in an education quiz game.

    The last set of recording for the game show held at the Dream Factory studios, Alausa, saw Glory Okpara and Emmanuel Onwubuariri winning the secondary school category, winning together N300,000 Jide Odi from Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Jimoh Abubakar Sadiq from Lagos State University, and Anthony Onyeahialam from University of Lagos, also emerged winners in the three sets of recording for tertiary institutions with N550,000 won.

    My Education Quiz Play (MEQP) is a televised quiz show initiated for students in Senior Secondary Schools category, as well as tertiary institutions to earn money that will empower them enough to see their dreams of quality education accomplished. MEQP airs on a local television station Murhi Television (MITV), Alausa, Lagos every Saturday.

    The MEQP project director, Mr Godfrey, said the participants’ performances are indication of brighter hope for Nigerian students in future.

    He said: “Having witnessed over 15 sets of recording of MEQP, and with the level of intelligence the students have exhibited, I can say that the future of this country is very bright. The aim of FELD is to assist as many students as possible with their tuition fee, and also encourage a reading habit amongst our youths. Second stage of recording will start soon, and that excites us because more money will be earned towards someone’s education.”

    Some of the past winners of MEQP include, Ann Ejiegbu (N210,000.00); Emmanuel Idemudia (N130,000.00); Maduka Ebuka (N130, 000.00); Ozomena Akogun (N100,000.00); Chidinma Ezugu (N155,000.00); Precious Onowudijo (N120,000.00); Tolulope Ologun (N30, 000.00); and Ayodeji Opeyemi (N10,000.00).

    In the tertiary category, the winners are: AdeoyeAdesoji (N240,000.00); KelechiNwoku (N210,000.00); Abdulmajeed Kabir (N50,000.00); (Robert Ikhuona); and Olorode Samuel (N20,000.00) respectively.

    To be a participant in MEQP, Godfrey said intending students should simply text EXCEL to 35811 on their mobile phones.

     

  • Foundation offers free medical services

    Foundation offers free medical services

    A non-governmental organisation, Genotype Foundation, has offered free medical services to Lagos people. Besides, it gave people the opportunity for voluntary blood donation.

    Beneficiaries enjoyed free eye test with eye glasses. They were tested for HIV, genotype and blood group, blood pressure, weight and height, among others.

    It was during a free medical screening/ blood donation drive and counselling for sickle cell patients organised by the organisation in collaboration with Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS).

    Its executive director, Mrs Doris Gbemiloye, who lamented on the inability of Nigerians to observe regular medical checks, noted that the gesture to safeguard people’s health.

    “Our aim in this foundation is to help people to stay healthy, most especially sickle cell patients. We want to contribute our quota to making life better for sickle cell patients and ensuring reduction to new births of sickle cell,” she explained.

    She said that the assists sickle cell patients whenever they need help, adding: “We encourage people to donate blood regularly in a spate of three to four months. This is because sickle cell patients sometimes fall into crisis when they need blood to remain alive. Such instances, she said, include, accident, bleeding during delivery and blood

    Mrs Olatunde Olubunmi, a member of the group, who donated blood, urged Nigerians to cultivate the habit of voluntary blood donation to reduce death rate in the country,

    Jimoh Ayo Ade, another blood donor, said blood donation would help doctors to render quick and quality service to victims.

  • Pro-Chancellor lays centre’s foundation stone

    Pro-Chancellor lays centre’s foundation stone

    The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, University of Calabar (UNICAL) Governing Council, Dr Rowland Ehigiamusoe, has laid the foundation stone for the permanent office of the Centre for Educational Services (CES).

    Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Ehigiamusoe praised the management of the centre for the initiative of proposing and undertaking the construction of an ultra modern lecture and office block building.

    Ehigiamuse particularly praised the Director of the centre, Prof Bassey Bassey, who he described as a super intelligent and upright man, adding that the director had over the years displayed uncommon qualities to the admiration of the school authorities.

    He appreciated Prof Bassey for making the members of the Council, whose tenure would expire soon the opportunity to witness the foundation of the building, which he said was a fruit of their labour.

    Dr Ehigiamusoe was optimistic that the contractor handling the project would display expertise, which it used to construct the new Senate Chambers and hoped the edifice would be completed on time.

    The Pro-chancellor showered encomiums on the Director of Physical Planning, Mr Eyo Itam, for “his knack for high level professionalism in guiding the Council in matters of projects”.

    The Pro-Chancellor was accompanied to the site by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke and other principal officers of the institution.