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Tag: indigenous

  • Agip makes case for indigenous technology

    Agip makes case for indigenous technology

    Oil major, the Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited has highlighted the need to develop indigenous technology to drive the oil and gas industry to boost local content.

    As part of measure to achieve the objective, the company said it is partnering with about 120 indigenous tTechnology companies in the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State to showcase “their capacities and capabilities development”.

    Its Vice Chairman/Managing Director, Massimo Insulla, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the company’s Indigenous Technology Forum and Exhibition for its deep offshore indigenous contractors held at the New Concorde Hotels, Owerri, the Imo State capital, yesterday, said the company recently organised training programme for 90 contractors in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, another training for 60 in the same category on Succession Planning in Asaba, Delta State, among others.

    He said about 360 had been trained by the firm under its Vendors Development Programme, and 250, under the Vendors Upgrade Awareness, and 120, in Vendors Exhibition, Gas Closure and Opportunities Engagement and provision of electricity to the Oguta Oil and Gas Park.

  • NDPHC chief seeks support for indigenous gas firms

    To get the required volume of gas   for  thermal power stations, the Federal Government should support indigenous oil and gas firms to increase their output, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Acting Managing Director Mr. Chiedu Ugbo has said.

    According to him, some of the indigenous oil and gas firms that are in the forefront of domestic gas supply include Accugas, GigaGas, Seplat Plc, and Shoreline.

    Ugbo, who spoke to The Nation on the importance of supporting the indigenous firms, said lack of robust mechanism for gas payment has made international oil firms (IOCs) that are major oil producers to shun local supply.

    He said: “Enormous resources are often expended in developing gas fields and the associated transportation infrastructure to deliver gas molecules for power generation. There is need for guaranteed payment for gas to ensure recovery of capital invested and return on investment.

    ‘’Also, given the poor payment history of the power industry, securitisation of the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) payments has been a huge challenge for the consummating commercial transactions and achieving financial closure for the projects that requires drilling, gas processing and construction of pipelines.’’

    Ugbo added: “A lot of associated gas is being flared because the IOCs, who are the owners of these fields, are not interested in developing them under the gas aggregation framework of the government. There is thus the need for a well publicised framework to be put in place for an interested investor or developer to have access to this gas in an existing production sharing contract (PSC), oil mining lease (OML) or oil prospecting lease (OPL) as well as a ‘willing seller willing buyer’ arrangement encouraged. In essence, there must be a flexible application of the aggregation framework. This policy was put in place to jumpstart gas availability and has a regulated price regime,” he said.

    The NDPHC chief said under the policy, all IOCs/gas producers must allocate a portion of their gas production to the domestic supply obligation (DSO0 mainly for power generation before they can allocate any gas for other commercial commitments or obligations. Recently, there has been growing call for a ‘willing buyer/willing seller’ arrangement rather than the regulated price regime which now seems like a straight jacket for the industry, he added.

  • Reps seek support for indigenous oil firms

    The House of Representatives’Committee on Local Content has called on the international oil companies (IOCs) to support indigenous oil service firms.

    The committee made the call during inspection of the shipyard and fabrication complex operated by West African Ventures (WAV) at Onne in Rivers State.

    Its Chairman,  Emmanuel Ekon, said patronage of WAV and other indigenous firms would help reduce capital flight and promote local content.

    Experts say about $8 billion is lost yearly to capital flight as a result of  jobs done by foreign firms. Based on this, the committee said it would push for a law to cancel contracts awarded by IOCs to foreign firms, which their indigenous counterparts can execute in-country.

    Ekon said the poor patronage of WAV shipyard, fabrication complex and marine facilities, as well as those of the other indigenous companies, has worsened capital flight in the oil and gas industry.

    He said the committee decided to  visit to assess its facilities  to avoid supporting indigenous contractors who are mere agents of foreign firms.

    “We believe that companies, such as WAV with huge investment in the country, and employer of over 5,000 Nigerians, should be encouraged so that the investors can do more. That way, we will reduce capital flight. WAV ought to be patronised first by the IOCs when they need marine services,” he noted.

    Ekon said indigenous firms if supported could boost revenue and enhance economic growth.

    He said: “What we have seen here is 100 per cent Nigerian company and by the Content law, WAV is supposed to be patronised first by the IOCs, where they need marine services. That’s what the law says and the law is not ambiguous but explicit, especially where there is Nigerian competence and in-country capacity. The law states that the IOCs or whoever is giving out contract, should give a Nigerian company the right of refusal.

    “The best the IOCs can do for Nigeria is to patronise indigenous companies such as WAV so they can in turn engage Nigerians teeming unemployed youths.”

    The committee chairman also admitted that issues relating to inadequate patronage were fallout of the global crisis in the oil and gas industry, but urged the IOCs to promote local content.

    “I think the primary thing is to make sure that the government wades in to restore peace particularly in the Niger Delta area where the oil and gas business is carried out. For now, we still have one major source of revenue in this country, which is the oil and gas business.

    ‘’Hence, the House of Representatives will oppose and cancel contracts awarded to foreign companies where there is in-country capacity, and where huge investments have been made local firms.

    “Basically, I think if there is peace and militant activities brought down to the barest minimum, opportunities will come in for WAV and other local firms. WAV has demonstrated capacity and needs to be patronised.

    A member of the Committee, Kehinde Agboola, said: “Drop in patronage is a global crisis; it’s not restricted to the oil and gas sector or WAV. The IOCs in Nigeria should patronise WAV because it is a good example of indigenous company with capacity. That is the whole essence of local content.”

    The committee members admitted that the Niger Delta issues contribute to the challenges of the indigenous companies, and stressed the need for the government ensures there is peace in the region as the oil and gas business remains the mainstay of the economy.

  • N/Delta: Indigenous people’s clamour for recognition

    SIR: The renewed militant activity in the Niger Delta is an indication of hopelessness and desperation. It is a sign of rejection of whatever remediation agenda is on ground now.  The militants are not unaware of the good intentions of the Buhari’s government to ‘mend fences’ particularly the President’s willingness to forge ahead with the UNEP Report decisions and recommendations to clean up the devastation caused by years of environmental neglect from petroleum extraction in Ogoniland.  But, they are desperate for more. They want to be involved in decisions of matters that affect them. They are indigenous people, and they have rights.

    The agitations of the indigenous people of the Niger Delta region seem genuine with violent proclamation as the last option for their self-determination.  Suffice it to say that, the government should diligently manage the clamour for self-determination and protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples as being done in other parts of the world, and more so, as being encouraged by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

    The desire for self-determination is a right. The right to self-determination has nothing to do with territorial integrity or secession.  It could be said that, self-determination grant a people numerous options such as, association, way of life, ownership of land and natural resources, development and healthy biodiversity.  Presently in Nigeria, this right could be tapped from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art.  1(1)) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 1(1)) both derived from the Charter of the United Nations  principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.  Apart from this, the indigenous people of the Niger Delta, and indeed Nigeria, are struggling for recognition and protection as vulnerable, marginalised and forgotten people. Added to self-determination is the right to land and natural resources, that is, claim of traditional ownership of their land and communities. The free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous people is essential for any development of these resources.

    However, the delay and political unwillingness of the government of Nigerian to attend to this matter might not be unconnected with the lack of cohesion among the indigenous peoples themselves. They have not harmonised their agenda. They have not availed themselves with the plethora of legal options being proffered by international and regional laws.

    The the people must come together. They must harness all their potentials and present a formidable national representation to fight the good course. Their ‘identity’ as ‘indigenous people’ must be promoted and propagated.  Awareness of this identity must be publicised locally and internationally.  Dialogue along the path of peace yields more meaningful gain than violence and war.  Those elements add up to the environmental issues causing devastation in the region.

     

    • Ebun Abolarin,

    Lagos.

  • How indigenous is the indigenous Nigerian?

    SIR: Are there tribes in Nigeria, that have borne experiences of the type endured by Samburu, Maasai, Pokot, Turkana, Borana, Gabbra and others in Kenya where indigenous people suffer policy exclusion and marginalization?

    Can any tribe in Nigeria, hand on heart, declare that they suffer marginalization like the SAN and KHOE in South Africa? This is in a country that encourages mother-tongue education for the first three years of schooling with enough funding for development of all official languages but find it convenient to exclude the SAN and KHOE because they aren’t official languages.

    Can any tribe in Nigeria, claim to have suffered annihilation so badly that it led to the culture of assimilation into national life, as though they never had a history, away from their roots?

    The SAN people in South Africa suffered linguistic persecution leading to the extinction of their languages. Today they speak Afrikaans as a first language, and their own tongue has been marginalised to the point where only the elderly can speak SAN and KHOE.

    Apart from colonization by the British, has any tribe in Nigeria been conquered by another Nigerian tribe and then been “civilised” and de-cultured by that other Nigerian tribe?

    Is there a tribe whose members have to provide everything for themselves because there is no institutional support, deliberately denied by the government? Are they harassed like the Zapatista communities in the South East of Mexico? Zapatista communities there battle to recover lost languages, cultural values and customs due to the acculturation policy of the government.

    Which tribe can honestly claim to be persecuted to the extent that its language and culture are so undervalued that the government moves to assimilate the group on grounds of national unity?

    Does any tribe suffer discrimination and even denied access to resources for food and livelihood like the Bakola, Baka and Bagyeli indigenous forest communities of Cameroon?

    History books teach that indigenous people are nearly almost always conquered by another group, foreign or local. These minorities are discriminated against by the conquerors as people with a low level of civilization and are denied access to quality education.  Indigenous folks in turn despise the education of the conquerors and wonder how it fits into their culture. Educational output becomes very poor because teachers are unwilling to be transferred to backward communities because the population of most indigenous people is too small (the reason for the ease of conquest). Indigenous people are therefore treated as insignificant in the national scheme of things.

    Most indigenous people live in rural hinterlands where access to everything good is lacking. Policies of state have to be made by a government that cares and especially for a government that seriously campaigns for the indigenous to become part of and contribute to national statehood.

    From these same history books, indigenous people whose existence is threatened in Africa, are in the Horn of Africa and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia,), in Cameroon and Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, The Great Lake Region, Cameroon), in Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana), in North and West Africa (the Toureg people of Niger and Mali, the Touareg of Southern Algeria, the Amazigh people of Morocco).

    Nowhere is Nigeria mentioned as having indigenous people suffering persecution by the state because of their allegiance to their tribe, cultural practices or as a result of accidents of birth and language.There is no policy in this country designed to alienate a group or groups of people. We only have policies that aren’t all embracing.

     

    • Simon Abah.

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Crime of being an innovative indigenous firm

    The penchant of many Nigerians for foreign-made products is so much that one has reasons to sometimes believe that those Nigerians themselves are imported!

    As a people, many of us love our things foreign: from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet. The average Nigerian—especially those that qualify themselves as people with taste—would typically prefer an imported product over one made locally, even though the locally made product might be of superior quality. That is the extent of our love affair with everything non-Nigerian.

    However, if no one at all prioritises and patronises Made-in-Nigeria, it shouldn’t be the Nigerian government – which is supposed to be the biggest promoter of local industry. But as hardly anything in Nigeria is close to the ideal, instead of consciously supporting local industry, successive Nigerian governments seem to have perfected the act of killing local industry. And so far, the current government has not proven to be any better. For us as a people, the Latin saying, nemo dat quod non habet—”no one can give what they don’t have”—is true. Hence, we, “foreign Nigerians”, can only give what we have; therefore we have always put our kind in government.

    So, it did not come as a surprise—for a nation that imports toothpicks—when it recently appeared in the news that more foreign IT firms were about to make inroads into the Nigerian market. If it were about a decade ago when the Nigerian software space was not as mature as it is now, that news may have been negligible, but not now when the IT industry and specifically the software sector in Nigeria is coming into maturity and capable of being a top foreign  exchange earner for Nigeria. However, if a few weeks from now, a top official in the private or public sector announces in sweet-sounding words that a deal has been signed with more foreign IT firms, it would not come as a surprise.

    According to the Office for the Nigerian Content Development in ICT (ONC), Nigeria loses over N1 trillion in foreign exchange annually to the importation of ICT devices and software. Of the said amount, N250 billion is lost annually to the importation and maintenance of foreign software. There is no better proof that Nigeria is a top global dumping ground of foreign-made software than the banking sector, where more than 90% of Nigerian banks currently use foreign software from India, Jordan, Switzerland, Finland and other parts of the world for their various banking needs. Their reliance is not because local technology cannot meet all their needs, but because they lack belief in local firms.

    If private firms can be forgiven for depending on foreign solutions when there are capable local replacements, government cannot be forgiven for doing so. Nigerian governments at all levels have been the biggest culprit of favouring foreign software over local software. Examples of this abound: at the federal level, GIFMIS at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) is powered by a software from Estonia, a country of 1.3million people (about 500,000 people less than the population of Ibadan); ITAS at FIRS is powered by a software made in Canada; IPPIS at OAGF is powered by a software from USA; Biometric Verification Number (BVN) at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc is powered by software from Germany; RTGS at Central Bank of Nigeria is powered by a software from Sweden.

    Remita, the well-known local software deployed by the Nigerian government, has been shot at from many quarters, either out of ignorance or because the shooters are against the positive changes the solution has brought to Nigeria. What Remita has done is that it has prevented the formerly prevalent thieving of government resources and has helped to institutionalise transparency in governance. So far, the Federal Government has been able to save more than N3 trillion through this locally made solution, and there is nowhere any top official of the federal government goes that they don’t sing the successes achieved with Treasury Single Account (TSA) which Remita powers. But if anyone told you that the providers of the software that has practically single-handedly brought an end to corruption in Nigeria have not been paid for more than a year (even though it is being used to pay government till date), you won’t believe it. But that is the truth. Such can only happen in Nigeria!

    Why does Nigeria hate her own so much? In a shabbily put-together report on its false allegation of fraud in the implementation of TSA, the Senate documented that “In spite of the initial relative advantage the bespoke solution, as  Remita,  could  have  over  the   globally  accepted Commercially available  Off The Shelf (COTS) software like SAP, Oracle Financials, Epicor, Navision etc., a desirable strategy is a two-step approach that starts with locally designed bespoke software solution and transiting to the more sophisticated and tested COTS.”

    There is no evidence greater that the Nigerian government—not exempting one that shouts CHANGE from the roof of its voice—doesn’t see local technology as capable of fully solving Nigeria’s challenges. Nigeria also appears to be buried under rubbles of inferiority complex, which have deprived us of the sense of appreciation for what is ours. As was said of Nazareth, it has been asked of Nigeria: “Can anything good come out of Nigeria?” Yes indeed, a lot of good is already coming out of Nigeria, but Nigerian are their own greatest enemy.

    According to the Ease of Doing Business Index of 2015, Nigeria is one of the worst places to do business in the world, after emerging 170th place among 189 countries ranked. In Nigeria, you’re literally your own government. Therefore, many businesses have either died or are awaiting death. The least one expects of successive Nigerian governments that have failed to provide power, the most vital element of a thriving economy, is support for local businesses who have managed to survive despite myriad of challenges. But no, not only does the Nigerian government not provide a conducive environment for businesses, government appears to be all out to stifle local businesses who manage to survive the tough environment.

    One of the most common excuses for the rejection of Nigerian solutions is that they are often not up-to-par. Sometimes, that’s only a perception that impinges us from overlooking products that have potentials or those that meet the standard. What we forget is that no solution is ever up-to-par the first time, not even those we have grown accustomed to importing. The solutions we import into our country were first grown by their own countries. Had their countries jettisoned them as we do ours, there would never be anything good enough for us to use.

    As a matter of fact, the taste of Nigerians for imported products is affront on our collective capability as a people. It is saying that we are a nation bustling with more than 170 million people without potentials. We are indeed our own enemies because we have not learnt to appreciate and nurture our inventions. Our taste has grown too accustomed to eating the fruits of other people’s labour, we strangle out those who manage to be innovative among us.

    Nigeria should truly value her own and stop despising the days of little beginning. Instead of running down local businesses, we should make conscious efforts to be a part of the growth of what is ours. There isn’t any reason, for instance, why Nigeria should be exporter of IT solutions that have been used and trusted locally. There is no reason Nigeria cannot export its TSA solution to the rest of Africa and the world, and by so doing, earn handsome foreign exchange. As a people, we need to stop being the only hindrance between where we should be and where we are.

     

    • Chukwuemeka, an IT expert wrote in from Lagos.

  • ‘IOCs, indigenous oil firms may cut more jobs’

    Local and International Oil Companies (IOCs) may sack more of their outsourced workers,  if the uncertainties in the global oil market continue, President, Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN), Austin Nweze has said.

    Nweze told The Nation that the global oil market climate compared to the Nigerian economy is not conducive. He said people were not ready to risk their resources and investments in Nigeria.

    According to him, operators in the upstream segment of oil and gas have lost many of their workers to market recession, adding that the sector would continue to downsize or right-size, going by the prevailing atmosphere in the industry.

    The sector, he said, has lost thousands of jobs across board, stressing that more workers are expected to join the labour market. “There is a general lull in activities in the industry. Aside the attendant loss of business in the upstream sector that led to sales of assets by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other oil majors, the downstream sector is battling problems.  There are virtually no new exploration activities in the industry. This is affecting the capacity of the sector to perform optimally,” he said.

    Nweze said according to a research carried out by the association, multinational and local oil companies have lost much to crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and other untoward practices, adding that they are not ready to incur more losses. The firms, according to him, are opposed to the idea of keeping certain workers as part of efforts at mitigating losses.

    Engineers, clerical workers and others, he said, will be mostly affected because they do not contribute much to their employers.

    He said: “From the research, oil and gas firms are ready to keep security and maintenance officers, who supervise and watch over their equipment. These are contract staff, which the oil companies outsourced. To oil and gas firms, their services are much needed in view of the unstable socio-economic environment in Nigeria.

    “It is expensive to maintain expatriate workers. Their salaries are in foreign currencies, and it would affect the operational costs of the companies if such workers are kept for long. Now, the industry’s problems have rendered them redundant.

    “Maintenance of security officials is important to the oil and gas servicing firms. The firms spend a lot of money in providing pipelines, building tanks, deploying exploration equipments to oil wells, and they would not be happy losing those things.  Though the Joint Task Force set up by the Federal Government to patrol and safeguard oil wells are trying their best, oil firms believe in providing their security to compliment whatever the government has done.”

    According to him, if contract staff such as securities and drivers, among others in the lower cadre lose their jobs, they would get new ones. Nweze said companies provide security and other contract staff for local and international oil companies, adding that their jobs are always needed in the industry. This category of workers collect small salaries, compared to the engineers, geologists, and other senior workers.

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) also alleged that the oil majors have sacked many workers in view of the problems in the industry.

  • Fed Govt urged to support indigenous sickle cell research

    A natural medicine practitioner, Dr. Solomon Abutoh, has urged the Federal Government to fund indigenous research to address sickle cell disorder (SCD) and leukaemia.

    He said natural medicine practitioners had been conducting researches to ensure that sickle cell, which is predominantly a black man’s condition, is curtailed.

    According to him, bone marrow transplant, which is a medical surgical procedure used in the treatment of many malignant blood diseases, such as sickle cell anaemia and leukemia, involves the use of high doses of chemotheraphy.

    This, he said, may pre-dispose people serious irreversible side effects.

    He continued: “Chemotherapy drugs can completely suppress marrow hematopoiesis (blood forming process) destroying pathological cancerous lesions of healthy areas including, donor material obtained directly from the bone marrow.”

    Other problems associated with bone marrow transplant are rejection of donor cells, arising from genetic incompatibility and lack of donor cells, and need for repeated transplantation.

    Also, there are infectious complications as a result of the complete suppression of blood production process, which reduces the protective abilities of the organism.

    Abutoh described bone marrow transplant procedure as expensive. It ranges from $360,000 (approximate N7,500,000) to $880,000 (approximately N16m) excluding flight tickets of patients and those to accompany them.

    He said not many Nigerians can afford the cost, adding: “medical procedure that has no guarantee against post-surgical relapse or even death”.

    The natural medicine practitioner urged health experts to expedite action on finding the cure. They should, in fact act on a viable, natural solution to the sickle cell and indeed leukemia, he added.

    He said in spite of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Alma Ata declaration of 1978 on primary health care, natural medicine is still relegated.

    He said there were locally made highly effective herbal drugs for the management of sickle cell disease and leukemia. It is also affordable.

  • Engage indigenous engineers’

    Engage indigenous engineers’

    The Chairman, Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Bola Olowe, has called on all levels of governments to engage indigenous engineers in their projects, saying local professionals were as good as their foreign counterparts.

    At the 21st Lawrence Arokodare Memorial lecture, with the theme “Commitment of Engineering into the Hands of Stakeholders: A Catalyst for National Development and Improved Living Standards,” Olowe condemned previous administrations guilty of engaging foreign firms at the expense of indigenous professionals.

    He said engaging local engineers and professionals would ensure a smooth take-off of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve the standard of living in the country.

    Urging governments and others to patronise local engineers so the nation can leapfrog into the league of developed nations, Olowe said this was imperative to reduce capital flight.

    He noted that governments must ensure indigenous engineers are patronised and given the right of place and opportunities to handle projects.

    “It is time we brought to the front burner the need for governments to take deliberate decisions to ensure indigenous engineers are patronised and given the right of place and opportunities to handle engineering development projects in Nigeria.”

  • Heralding Save Nigerian Indigenous Languages

    Heralding Save Nigerian Indigenous Languages

    At the moment, a group of people called Save Our Indigenous Languages in Nigeria are organising a reality show in different indigenous languages to debate a way forward for the preservation and promotion of endangered languages in Nigeria.  Edozie Udeze encountered the organiser by name Greg Ugboaja, who explained the concept and ideals of the show

    For some time now, some individuals and institutions both in Nigeria and across the globe have been organising programmes and workshops to encourage people to continue to speak and communicate in their mother tongue.  A few years ago, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) notified and warned the world about some endangered languages of the world.  The body has made it clear that if care is not taken by 2060 more local languages of the world will go extinct.

    What this means is that more people; more communities would have lost touch with their origin and where they are coming from.  The consequent result would make more people grope uncertainly in the world without knowing what to do with their lives, without knowing the language to speak except the foreign one they already know.

    But a young man called Greg Ugboaja who is now organizing a show to sensitise Nigerians on the need to push on with their various mother tongues opined that if constant attention is paid in this regard, a lot will be achieved.  He has a foundation called Save Our Indigenous Languages in Nigeria (SOLN).  In the past few days, he and his colleagues in the group have been putting up what he described as a contest for young people to discuss national issues in Nigeria.

    “We believe we’ve talked to the governments both at the states and federal levels in the English Language, and they’ve not been listening.  Now, let us try to do it in our individual local tongues to see how it works.  These languages are the languages that touch the hearts.  Our mother tongues know how to do the magic; how to appeal to the inner-recesses of both those who speak them and those who listen.”

    Ugboaja who is not only an artiste, but also the owner of Mmilioma, a production company that encourages the art to thrive, explains why the one week programme which held at the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) Iganmu, Lagos, was being recorded for the television audience.  “Yes, it is like a reality show.  However, this is the pilot show, the first edition of it.  What we are doing is that we are recording the pilot for TV.  It is being supported by National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Living Tongue Institute for Endangered Languages from USA, and Bond FM.  This is for us all to ensure we are not allowing our indigenous languages to die.”

    So, how would government now begin to understand the problems of the people when spoken in local languages?  “Yes Nelson Mandela said if you speak to a man in the language he understands, it goes into his head.  But if you speak to him in his mother’s tongue it goes into his heart.  So we feel that our governments will listen to us more when we apply this approach and method.

    “When we speak to them in the language that is their own, they will know that we are serious.  The English Language is no man’s Language as far as we are concerned.  For this edition, therefore, we are featuring 6 languages.  They include Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Idoma, Bini and Ibiobio.  What we do is that we swop the languages every season.  Once we are done with these, we will focus attention on more.  We have over 250 languages in Nigeria and that means we have a lot to do.”

    Describing it as an on-going project, Ugboaja insisted that those who participated must appear in their local attire with all the mannerisms that make the people who they are.  This is to make the show a total local issue where even attendees and participants would be encouraged to respect one another’s cultural tendencies.  “The project would have gone round the whole length and breadth of the country by the time we do it constantly for a while.  We have to do it step by step, stage by stage, to make sure we pay enough attention to as many indigenous languages as we can.”

    Although it is a pre-recorded programme, Ugboaja encouraged those involved in it to apply online first.  From then on Bond FM took it up and began to hammer on it and let the people to see the need for the youths to be a part of it.  Now, through the social media, people who are passionate about local languages came out to associate with it.  “You can see how enthusiastic the participants are.  How they are eager to prove a point.  Let people go back to where they are coming from in terms of recognising that they have a language to speak.  It does not diminish your person or belittle your esteem when you speak your mother tongue.

    “So we are telling government that we need to rescue our languages.  Look at every single industrialised nation of the world.  None of them speaks in foreign language.  Even America that speaks English had to Americanise it to suit their taste.  India that was colonised by Britain still promotes Hindi far above the English Language.  There is no industrialised nation that is moving forward today that relies on a foreign language to make it.  And when you go to Europe, even very minor nations with the influence of England, still speak their local dialects.  Go to Italy, go to Malta or Spain, even when Britain has influenced them one way or the other, they do not forget who they are or where they are coming from.”

    There is indeed something deeply inherent in your language.  It conveys a message deeper than when you want to do it in a foreign one.  “You lose the total import, you lose some moral values, you lose the total original touch of an issue when you try to convey your feelings in a foreign language.  Local tongues bond people together.  There are some words you cannot completely translate from Igbo to English, no matter how hard you try, it will still lose its original meaning and content.”

    In order to achieve this aim, the programme centres its contents on topics, on issues and themes that bother the country at the moment.  Ugboaja said, “Yes we harmonise our stand by concentrating on topics like security, youth unemployment, this is a federation of different peoples, religious matters, education and so on.  So, we bring people to talk on these issues through a debate in local languages.  Our position is therefore presented to the government in the same languages they are made.

    “As government is listening to you in Ibibio, those who come from that area in the National Assembly will be able to grasp the essence of what we have said.  We are not promoting tribe per se, no.  We are promoting languages.  So even if you are from Akwa Ibom and you understand another local language it is an advantage.  Or if it is in Yoruba you want to talk to government, you are welcome.”

    In the end, these themes will be pushed to the front-burner with expectation that the governments concerned will listen and act.  Those involved in the show would have also learnt one or two lessons to help Nigeria move forward.