The Nation Newspaper

Tag: jungle

  • Lagos remains jungle of heavy metal poisons (Part 2)

    LIKE germs which we have all learned to hate, fear and kill since medical researchers came up with the GERM THEORY of the causes of disease and death, the HEAVY METALS THEORY is staring us in the face today on an even more magnified scale than those posed by germs. Heavy metals are poisonous to the human body, are present in large amounts in the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. Mother Nature who designed the human body is renowned for her wisdom. She implanted in the human body mechanisms for removing these heavy metals, and she gave to man plants which, as foods or herbs help to empower these mechanisms. Man created neither the world in which he lives nor his body. He found himself in this wonderful creation as a guest for a purpose.  That purpose many people have failed to discover in many earth lives which are as good as wasted. Rather, they have become unruly guests in that creation who, would not adjust themselves to it, support and protect it for their own good and well- being but prefer to wantonly turn it upside down. This misconduct has led not only to the proliferation of germs despite pasteurisation, immunisation and the discovery of anti-biotic but, also, to the emergence of thousands of poisons and heavy metals in the air, food and water. As mentioned in the first part of this series, SEUN OGUNSEITAN, Assistant Science Editor of The Guardian in the 1980s, discovered at that time, the underground water in Ijesha area of Lagos, on which thousands of people depended for drinking and cooking water was polluted by heavy metals to the tune of thousand folds of the World Health Organisation (WHO) permitted safety levels. It must have been well over 30 years after, as cancer ravage climbed to an almost epidemic proportion, and as kidney failure, cataracts of the eye lens and other degenerative diseases began to overwhelm the medical profession that inklings of possible heavy metals poisoning began to filter to the public from government official. When this subject came up among some of my acquaintances in a housing estate and I said I did not drink the water from the bore hole in my house because I had not analysed it for heavy metal presence, one man said he damned the consequences and drank from his bore hole because he had no assurance that producers of “pure water” (sachet water) or bottle water removed heavy metals from their brands. I respected his argument. As I said in the first part of this series (it has been posted in www.olufemikusa.com), some pure water brands taste as if they are over-chlorinated. But when you boil the water, hoping to chase out the chlorine through vapourisation, you discover that the water tastes worse, implying that nothing good has happened to the solute. If anything, it has become more concentrated and, therefore, more dangerous. This part of the series will attempt to briefly examine some heavy metals, some of the havocs they cause human health, including death, and some of the foods and herbs which Mother Nature, in her wisdom provided on this earth, long before man set foot on it, for the removal of heavy metals we may ingest with food, water and air. Man has only been foolish not to read the CREATION MANUAL, as he reads the operational manual from the manufacturer of his motor car, air-plane, refrigerator or cell phone. Mother Nature speaks to us in the gardens, in the woods, but we have become so deaf we no longer can hear her voice audibly well enough to understand her language. We see the male pawpaw (Papaya) plant, which bears no fruit. We think it is a useless plant, and cut it down. We see lots of seeds in the pawpaw fruit and believe they are merely for the propagation of the papaya species. We see the soft kernel in the mango seed, and cannot make anything of it. Marigold flower smiles alluringly at us in the garden or road-side, and we merely walk by, hardly noticing it. Was it not only recently that some people began to appreciate corn silk? Today, we have discovered a new use (ulcer treatment) for olcra, when it is prepared in a special way that is said to be good as well for cancer. Need we mention again yet amazing results in cancer research which oncologists (cancer doctors) have achieved with LEMON GRASS which is largely known in Nigeria for Malaria Treatment, and perhaps from keeping snakes away from residences? We can go on and on, and on…

    Some Heavy Metals

    In the 1980s, about 30 years ago to be exact, I had my first known exposure to a heavy metal, mercury. It was only after that insult to my body and health that I realised how often I had been bombarded by heavy metals, without realising it. I had followed my wife to her dentist’s. Often, she saw him for scaling and polishing of the teeth. She suggested that, I, too, could scale and polish mine. The dentist frightened me when he said about six of my teeth could develop holes in six months but that I could avert that and their removal by filling up the wear and tear. I agreed. Then, he began to drill some of them, one after the other. I had thought he was just going to fill them up with some form of tooth material as we patch ashphalt roads with ashphalt. When the powder from the drilling made me believe he was doing the wrong thing, I didn’t allow him to touch the fourth, fifth and sixth teeth. He now proceeded to filling the three he drilled with what he called a mercury amalgam. A conference of German dentists and researchers years after exposed the danger of mercury amalgam to the world, and many people began to sue their dentists. One of these dangers is that mercury, being radioactive, may vapourise in the mouth, and the vapour may damage the gums, roof of the mouth and even engulf nerves, eyes and the brain. When I learned that, I began to take chelated zinc supplement with meals as this helps to drag mercury out of the blood and organs. If your dentist replaces mercury amalgam with plastic, you are likely to suffer as well from the problems of plastic in the body. They contain DIOXIN, a carcenogenic substance and other equally dangerous chemicals. Mercury is in the fish we eat, if it comes from deep sea into which industrial nations dump mercury waste from their industrial plants. As a schoolboy, I indulged in the use of ASEPSO, an anti-septic soap laden with mercury which ends up in the liver. Heavy metals include Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Bismuth, Gold Silver and Platinum. Lead is present in lead pencil, paints, petroleum, tyres etc. So, every time you inhale car or bus smoke, you are inhaling Lead in the air you breathe. If you paint your house and inhale paint smell, you are likely to ingest Lead. Children who eat paint flakes falling off walls when the paint adhesive expires may end up with Lead Poisoning and impairment of their brains. The same goes for children who assist their mothers to sell their wares by road-sides where traffic exhaust is rife. The World Health Organization (W.H.O) adds to its 16 top toxic metals, some of which are mentioned above, such metals as are required by the human body in small amounts but, in larger amounts, lead to toxicity and danger to health. These additions to the list include Manganese (for immunity), Chromium (for sugar balance), Cobalt, Nickel (cause cancer in the prostate gland), Copper (needed to prevent anaemia), Zinc (required by about 200 enzymes systems in the body), Selenium (needed for immunity), Silver, Antimony and Thalium (found in some lipsticks). Antimony, found in glass and ceramics among other household utensils, is also dangerous. But the most feared three heavy metals are Mercury, Cadmium and Lead. Lagos state is reported to have detoxified 7,000 school children of lead accumulation in their bodies.

    CADMIUM

    This heavy metal accumulates in the body. Long-term exposure causes renal (kidney) failure, lung disease and lung cancer. It may cause bone problems such as osteoporosis and osteomalacia, high blood pressure. It is thought that smoking up to 20 cigarettes in one day may raise cadmium levels in the body. Cadmium is used in batteries. It may even find it way into re-chargeable power sources, especially where low maintenance costs with high physical and electrical resistance to stress its desirable. Cadmium is present, also, in detergents, phosphate fertilizers and refined petroleum products, including plastics. Talking about plastics, we must note contact tenses, knee cap.

    Cilantro

    The Yoruba’s of two generations ago valued this vegetable which, till this day, is known among this south-western Nigerian people as Efo Ebolo (d-m … r-d) World-wide today, medical researchers accept cilantro as a great kidney cleanser and healer with many more health promoting benefit. For example, Cilantro removes heavy metals from the body, challenges and protects against oxidative stress and damage, improves sleep like Vervain and lettuce, helps against anxiety, lowers elevated blood sugar, thereby protecting against cardiovascular problems such as heart attack, heart failure and stroke, curtails urinary tract infections, overcomes digestive system upsets and food poisoning, among its many other benefits. Europe is now well ahead of Nigeria in the cultivation and use of this vegetables and herbs. Under its NEW USES OF AGRICULTURE culture in which agriculture is no longer practiced solely for growing food and cash crops. Medicinal vegetables and herbs such as cilantro are cultivated in plantation-size farms and processed into powders, capsules, tablets, tinctures etc. and sold world wide.

    CHLORELLA

    This is a green algae always mentioned in this column as good for cellular detoxification, cellular energy, blood sugar management, protection against Glycation End Products which may damage the eyes, kidneys and nerves, weight management, and mineralisation. There is no doubt that chlorella detoxifies heavy metals from the body and the brain in particular. But some experts say its binding to them may not be strong enough to pull these chelated heavy metals and chemicals completely out of the body. The implication of this is that these substances, though extracted from the cells, may congregate in the blood, and that chlorella may, therefore, need help from other detoxifiers to finish off the job if it cannot do it all alone. In this regard, Cilantro is often looked upon for this collaboration. People undergoing chemotherapy benefit from this collaboration. Personally, I prefer more than one line of attack or defence during detoxification. And that is why I do not fail to add to the protocol such other aid as Alkaline Vitamin C, Chelated Zinc. Grape Seed Extract, Orange Peel Powder and Cilantro, among others. Replacements, artificial eye lenses, pure water sachet and even cheap bottle water plastics.

    LEAD POISONING

    From wikipedia, we learn “The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain , constipation , headaches, irritability, memory problems, inability to have children, and tingling in the hands and feet. It causes almost 10 percent of intellectual disability of otherwise unknown cause and can result in behavioural problems. In severe cases, anaemia, seizures, coma on death may occur. Chickens are at greater risk as they are more likely to put objects in their month such as those that contain lead Paint and can absorb a greater proportion of the lead that the eat”.

    MERCURY POISONING

    From wikipedia, we learn again that symptoms of mercury poisoning may include muscle weakness, pour co-ordination, numbness in hands and feet, skin rashes, anxiety, trouble speaking, memory problems, trouble hearing and trouble seeing…  Long term complications include kidney problems, and decreased intelligence. Forms of mercury exposure include metal, vapour , salt and organic compounds. Most exposure is from eating fish, amalgam based dental fillings or exposure at work. In fish, those higher up the food chain generally have higher levels of mercury.

    NATURAL CHELATORS

    There are pharmaceutical agents which remove heavy metals from the body. We are concerned here about the natural agents, because being natural, they should pose less risk to health and be more effective since they are not manmade but designed by Mother Nature for this and other purposes.

    ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

    The fact that the burning charcoal release mercury into the air should be enough warning that the consumption of charcoal smoked foods may be dangerous. Some of the popular charcoal- roasted foods in Nigeria are beef barbecue (suya ), corn, plantain, fish and cow skin (ponmo or Ikanda). I enjoyed cow skin as a child, but not anymore. I always imagine now that not only may I be eating a potential shoe or hand bag, since they are made from hides and skin, but remember as well that cow skin is cured or roasted in bonfires of dirty, disused tyres fired by petrol and charcoal, all of which release not only toxic gases into the cow skin but heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, to mention only these.

    Charcoal is not all bad news, nevertheless. I am speaking now about Activated charcoal, the charcoal fired in the factory oven at immensely high temperature to free it of its toxic adhesive or composite materials, after which it is safe for oral use. In the doctor’s book of Home Remedies we learned: “finely ground, this substance which is often taken to alleviate gas may lapch onto cholesterol molecules in the body and escort them safely out. In one study, patient had a 41 percent drop in LDL levels after taking one quarter ounce of Activated Charcoal three times a day for four weeks”

    It goes on: “Some studies have found that Activated Charcoal tablets are effective in eliminating excessive gas. Charcoal absorbs gases and may be useful for flatulence, says Dr Klein. “It is probably the best available treatment after appropriate dietary changes have been made and other gastro- enterological diseases have been treated or ruled out.”

    When it comes to heavy metal chelating, it has been suggested that, while Activated charcoal may do the job in the intestine, it may carry no punch in the tissues, as the body can neither digest nor absorb it.

    ZEOLYTE

    Formed when volcanic eruptions mixed with sea water and cooled, zeolyte appears on the health food shelves today in liquid and solid forms. It chelates heavy metals, alkalises the body, strengthens immunity, is thought to improve mood, is anti- microbial, is a master detoxifier, support kidney function, reduces allergies, is anti oxidant, improves liver function and digest on. A type of named CLINOPTILOLITE was found in an experiment to remove toxic metals from the body through the urine without causing electrolyte depletion. Zeolyte works through its molecules which exert a strong magnetic force on metallic toxins in afflicted tissues, pulling these into themselves. The metals it galvanises to itself include is lead, aluminum, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

    Zeolyte worked for a Nigerian in Benin with a high prostate sensitive Antigen (PSA) text result so high that an oncologist advised his testes be taken out on account that he may be suffering from hormone dependent prostate cancer. The man took a gamble with zeolyte and the high PSA crashed to near normal in about two months to the surprise of even this doctor son. The miraculous healing power ascribe to zeolyte are not surprising, bearing in mind that all earthly life forms are said to have originated from water, and that sea water comprises about 94 elements, sea salt about 83 where as modern agricultural practices are based on only three… sodium, phosphorus and potassium. Maybe only from wheatgrass which takes up 100 percent of the elements in its soil environment, and other grasses do we have an attempt any more for the land to balance out with the sea in terms of nutritive potentials.

    DIATOMACEOUS EARTH

    Diatom was formed from the remains of unicellular algae like remains, some specialists say, more than 30 million years ago. It is a chalk – like day which has been used for decades to normalise blood lipids, detoxify blood and tissue , fight harmful organisms in the bowels and chelate heavy metals out of the body. It is about 96 percent silica in composition. This makes it good for skin elasticity, suppless and heath, hair growth, nail hardening and beauty. Silica is essential for optimal functioning of tendons, cartilage, blood vessels and bones. From the results of some studies, diatom improved the health of many organs, including the heart, liver and lungs. For human consumption, the food grade of Diatom is used, as in raw form, this natural product is a pesticide. The food grade has saved me more than on one or two occasions from food poisoning when I ate bananas ripened with carbide. I was close to death, to say the least. But I bounced back to life within one hour of UDEME JAMES who was with me making a drink of one teaspoonful of Diatom Powder in one glass of water. The drink absorbed the toxins in the bananas and helped to flush them out of the bowels and tissues.

     

  • Jungle justice and state culpability

    The increased frenzy in media reports of jungle justice on the streets of Nigeria gives serious cause for concern.

    Please note that I said “increased frenzy in media reports” and NOT the jungle justice itself; for that has always been with us like the saying goes, “from time immemorial”! That the media is now merely giving the despicable practice of “jungle justice” more front-page treatment’ is commendable because that is part of the expectations or even obligations of developmental journalism.

    I put the responsibility for the growing incidences of “jungle justice” squarely and unapologetically at the doorstep of the government. You cannot sow wind and not expect to reap whirlwind. The multiplier effects of state-sponsored violence over the decades have not only manifested in jungle justice reminiscent of what obtains in banana republics, but also in violent agitations from different segments of the society such as students’ movement, ethnic militias, religious extremists, hiding under one genuine (or spurious) cause or the other  to unfurl destruction, confusion in many cases. These beastly acts on society lead to fear and uncertainty, while the government hopelessly and helplessly looks elsewhere in unjustifiable abandonment of the people.

    The Nigeria state has demonstrated bewildering tolerance, encouragement and actual involvement and execution of violence in some instances; so much so that it is widely held, though erroneously, among the populace that the ONLY language government understands is VIOLENCE!

    Nigeria’s history, for long, has been dotted by the ugly spectre of unmitigated violence by “unknown soldiers”! Ironically, or appropriately (?), Fela sang in one of his albums on the invasion of his house, “we have unknown soldiers, we have unknown civilians, all equal to unknown government”; a larger percentage of the populace has therefore, turned into “unknown civilians”, executing instant “jungle justice” based entirely and regrettably on the spur of the moment and desperate resort to self-help.

    Another pertinent example is Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa, Nigerian dramatist, playwright, author, poet and environmental activist who had to pay the supreme price with his life. In the strides of activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Indira Ghandi and so on, Ken, as he was popularly called, embarked on non-violent agitation  to draw attention to the environmental degradation of his immediate community and the danger of the Ogoni people, using the instrumentality of arts, including  his peculiar writing prowess, to draw global attention and demand for justice, equity, fairness and other fundamental human rights for his people as enshrined in the UNDHR of 1948, and to which Nigeria was and still, a signatory!

    What happened to Ken? He was murdered by the state via a fait accompli military tribunal without an option of appeal. It must not be lost on us that this same military government seized the reigns of governance in the first place, by violence. In Fela-speak, they will qualify as a sort of “unknown government”

    Another instance of state-sponsored violence is what happened in Lagos and in fact, all over the country, around July 4 –7, 1983. There was a nationwide protest organized by the Campaign for Democracy (CD) over the inexplicable annulment of the June 12, 1983 presidential elections won by Bashorun M.K.O Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), an election which was adjudged as the fairest and freest presidential elections in the annals of Nigeria till date? To quell the protest, the military despot, Sani Abacha, called out the soldiers to repress ‘armless’ protesters. Nearly 200 civilians were killed on the streets of Lagos and hundreds of others across the country!

    Perhaps as a sadistic icing of the cake, Abiola himself was eventually murdered just like his outspoken wife, Alhaja Kudirat Olayinka Abiola, who was shot in broad daylight on a the street of Lagos by a certified sniper who later became an “Unknown” sniper as part of the ploy by the state to cover up the killing!

    As can be deduced from the fore-going, our history is littered with open and clandestine killings, violence and incivility by the state and its agents known for what Fela called “sorrows, tears and blood”.

    So, jungle justice has been planted, continuously nurtured, and has been subconsciously engrained in our national psyche by the state!

    One more example will draw home my point; a worker in a textile factory located in Isolo was unlawfully shot and killed by trigger-happy policemen at a checkpoint, some time, in the early nineties on his way to work. The police authority duly arrested the officer and locked him up. The victim, I found out had eight children. As the then coordinator of Ikotun/Idimu Unit of CDHR, I contacted Barrister Femi Falana, and we visited the family house of the deceased. We held discussions with his elder brother, explained our mission and readiness to prosecute the case free of charge. You know what? The senior brother of the deceased told us not to worry that he will use Psalms (in the Bible) to finish the man! This is to illustrate the lack of trust citizens have in the judicial system.

    But as the religious books’ finishing-up options got somewhat delayed, people are now resorting to immediate self-help via “jungle justice”. Students would rather destroy school properties before seeking audience with the management. Ethnic militias, for example, will rather blow up petroleum pipelines in order to get government attention. Political office holders would rather use armed youths and organizations to settle scores with opponents than to engage in any intellectual debate based on people-oriented manifestos.

    Undoubtedly, we need a total overhaul of the judicial system, massive reorientation of the populace, opening up the democratic space for accelerated and easy access to justice, popular and evidently efficient and effective alternative dispute resolution mechanism, and a government with demonstrated zero tolerance for violence at all levels.

    Until then, the bestial, base and horrific issue of jungle justice will not abate. The populist, flash-in-a-pan scape-goating of erring officers has turned out to be what it is: abysmal failure!

    A community, state, region, or nation engulfed by violence is a levelling respecter of nobody! No one is spared by the consequences of violence, either directly or indirectly in its ugly, negative multipliers.

    With the recent bewildering reports of “jungle justice”, cultism, ritualistic practices, and violence across the nation, the time to seek for alternative ways of social re-engineering is now or NOW!

     

    • Oladunjoye, journalist, sent this from Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State.
  • BUFFET in the jungle

    BUFFET in the jungle

    Senior citizens in Ekiti State gather together every year for an event they call Buffet in the Jungle. Hosted by retired Permanent Secretary and Chairman of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State, Chief Deji Fasuan, the event offers them the opportunity to unwind, relive old memories and offer advice to contemporary leaders and the younger generation, ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.

    MANY of them have seen it all. They had served their communities, state and the nation in different capacities. But they still retain their wits, intellect, wizardry and patriotic fervour.

    Having served in public service, their opinions are still invaluable and well-respected by the government and the society. But on many occasions, they are not celebrated.

    They have an annual get-together in which they celebrate themselves. It is known as Buffet in the Jungle, and it is convened by a respected elder in Ekiti State, Chief Oladeji Fasuan.

    It is a sweet reunion of old classmates, civil service colleagues and childhood friends, among others, who feel very relaxed and are usually elated to reunite with old colleagues and associates.

    The venue is Fasuan’s country home in Afao-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Inside the expansive compound are cocoa trees, banana and other species of trees and fruits which give it a jungle outlook.

    Although membership is open to those who are at least 60 years of age, majority of the members are 70 years and above. They had served as civil servants and in the military, police, academia, medicine, clergy and also engaged in private business.

    At the annual event, the elders drink palm wine, eat a species of yam called olo and vegetable soup, which bring nostalgic feelings of the delicacies that were popular in the days of yore.

    Capture1

    This year’s programme was jointly sponsored by Governor Ayo Fayose; the Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, and former president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kayode Obembe.

    About 300 members attended the event, including former governor of old Ondo State, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua; retired Anglican Bishop of Akure Diocese, Rt. Rev. Michael Ipinmoye; former General Secretary of Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr. Kunle Olajide; mother of the governor, Madam Victoria Oluwayose; renowned medical practitioner, Dr. Jimi Oke and others too numerous to mention.

    As the elders relished the local cuisine with nostalgic ecstasy, the premises of Fasuan’s house, where rich plantation of cocoa crops provided a cool, refreshing atmosphere, further made the buffet more memorable and exciting.

    The Convener explained that a dire need to revisit and relive virtues typical of a Yoruba man and particularly Ekiti man, which to him are integrity, simplicity, commitment and humility, among others, inspired the convening of the get-together.

    Fasuan said: “The philosophy really is that we as Ekiti people as a sub-ethnic group of the Yoruba nation, we have a culture, a background, and were raised in a rural area in Yorubaland to be simple, honest, committed and reliable. These are traits that are no more in vogue in Nigeria.

    “The fundamentals of our life are being prostituted by the political terrain. This is why about four years ago I thought of creating a forum for Ekiti people to meet, completely relax, look back, see what was happening in the past, for example in agriculture.

    “All of us were raised in rural communities. We ask questions like how did we do agriculture? What was the nature of our agriculture?

    In my own case, it was a tradition that when you have a senior brother, your son would not go to farm with you; he would go to farm with your senior brother.

    “We were doing that and agricultural products were plenty. Nobody was stealing another’s cocoa. You cut your plantain and put it on the road, nobody would touch it. These are cultures that we inherited.

    “All of us struggled to go to school. The elementary school, not primary. Our fathers toiled harvesting cocoa plantation to put us in schools. So I always like to relive my past. Education was very difficult then, but our parents were determined to let us have what they didn’t have.

    “These are values that are no more in vogue or that have been prostituted. So I thought about bringing all Ekiti elders together, regardless of our political leanings. I had invited about 200 but over 300 people have turned out today. Fortunately I have made provisions for about 350 people.

    “Every year, there has always been an improvement on the programme and on its purpose. You can see the resolutions that we passed today; that this idea of a buffet in the jungle, which is a meeting point for all senior and committed citizens in Ekiti, should be institutionalised so it would hold every year and with that, even when I would have passed away, they would still be doing it.

    “That is exactly my purpose—bring Ekiti together in a relaxed atmosphere and relive our glorious past and to be able to adopt our norms to what our fathers thought us.

    “I’m satisfied with what has happened today. The programme was more successful beyond my expectation. This is a voluntary service we are rendering to our people. Although, we seek government’s support so that it could be sustained.

    Capture2

    “I have got assistance from three sources to sponsor this outing: the governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose; Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) and former national president of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) who hails from Ikole, Dr. Obembe.

    “You could see that we are all happy. We sit on the basis of our ages. I’m 85 plus and my colleagues are sitting with me. Our younger ones who are over 70 are also sitting on their own. I am the happiest because this is what I have conceived and it has blossomed into this and my prayer is that after I might have gone, it will even be better.

    “My advice for the youth is that they should open their eyes and see what is happening around us. They should ignore the peripherals of life; things that are not tangible, not deep, and things that don’t go with our culture; ephemeral things that only pay off immediately but in the long run becomes disastrous.”

    Bishop Ipinmoye, who hails from Ijelu-Ekiti, said he was grateful to have been part of the buffet because “the gathering of we elders of Ekiti today is fantastic.”

    He said: “I have attended it three times now and I love it. I saw that what we are here for has been accomplished because we have spoken out the truth to ourselves as true sons and daughters of Ekiti.

    “We got to realise those things that are destabilising and eroding the integrity and unity and love that Ekiti people used to have before. I am okay with all that. Some of those pertinent to me are, among others, the unity of Ekiti, which to me has always been an indivisible one.

    “We are closely knitted in Ekiti and very close to one another. God has carved us here and made us homogeneous. Education was the primary of anybody in Ekiti in the days we were growing up. There was a graduate in every household.

    “I went to modern school at Ikole from 1958 to 1960. I was trekking from my village in Ijelu to Ikole with my box on my head, and it used to be a competition among parents then on ensuring that they educated their children.

    “I didn’t have much financial support from my parents, but with much determination, I caught up with my colleagues. That kind of spirit is no longer in Ekiti of today, and we must go back to it. That is the essence of this gathering.

    “Also, looking for quick money through politics should be discarded. Politics must be demonetized in Nigeria. Today, we have reunited after many years of attending same primary and secondary and tertiary schools together, and that is also heartwarming.”

    Dr. Oke, a community leader from Oye-Ekiti, also expressed the satisfaction he derived from being part of the buffet. According to him, the gathering would continue to strengthen the ties of brotherliness which Ekiti was once known for.

    “Today’s gathering is that of Ekiti indigenes who are dedicated and have one single goal of the continued unity of Ekiti. It is an annual programme being hosted by one of Ekiti’s greatest sons, Chief Deji Fasuan.

    “Having grown up in this kind of environment, it gives me joy to relive that humble rural and agrarian past where we are around cocoa farm, eat roast yam and drank palm wine.

    “And you can see the quality of the discussions by many who have been here today. The former deputy governor, heads of government parastatals and many who have reached the zenith of their careers.

    “I have gained that there is need to maintain the virtues that Ekiti and Yoruba man stand for–integrity, dedication, and resilience. I have supplied the calabashes which we use to drink the palm wine.”

    Evangelist Olumilua said: “This is to further strengthen our ties as Ekiti people and to sustain our traits of honesty, sincerity and integrity. And also the need to preserve our cultural heritage, particularly our language.

    “Personally, I have benefited from the programme as I have met many people I had not seen for a very long time.

    “We have also been able to discuss on where we are now, our past and where we are going. We are also appealing to our people abroad to come join hands together to develop our state.”

    YCE ex-scribe, Dr Olajide said: ‘This gathering today has helped tremendously our advocacy for the unity of the Yoruba race, because Ekiti is of the Yoruba race and the woe that has befallen the Yoruba race is shared by Ekiti, and this Yoruba Renaissance that we are advocating affects us here.

    “If we then get all our people together—Ijebu, Egba, Oyo and Ekiti among others—then we are moving forward. I’m satisfied that this gathering has reawakened the true Ekiti in us and now we have that sense of solidarity and oneness.

    “We are working towards attracting the brightest and best Ekiti indigenes who have left home. Once they know that there is security, stability and progress, they will come home. We have agreed to establish the branches of this buffet in the jungle in each local government area of the state.”

  • Prey in the jungle

    WHAT happens when you step on emotional toes? Well, that, unfortunately, is Moyo’s predicament at the moment. Slim, tall, with a flawless skin and curves in the right places, she has succeeded in stealing hearts from dusty emotional shelves. Why not! An eye (heart) for an eye (heart). Scroll down memory lane and you also find that our dear friend was once a victim; valuable hearts had vanished courtesy of some emotional shoplifters.

    Recently, she ran out of luck and was declared ‘wanted.’ She took to her heels and tried to find solace in the emotional jungle. The rugged owner of a missing heart did not give up; she staked everything to have her pound of flesh from this hawk – the one that had caused her so much pain. Strategically, she combed the nooks and crannies carefully and finally found the queen of hearts, looking remorseful. This was not time for sermons, and so she was beaten to a state of coma, with memorable scars. Jungle justice! It’s the norm and so it is best to tread with caution.

    If you do not want to be an emotional prey, then you must be in charge of the terrain. Don’t also bite more than you can chew. Always make sure that Cupid’s arrow is on target and if you miss the target, there is no harm trying again and again. Arrows? Yes, they are symbols that we see all the time. From the street signs, road markings and markings on doors indicating direction to a choice location.

     This also reminds you of Jeffrey Archer’s book, a Quiver full of Arrows. Fortunes are made and squandered, honour betrayed and redeemed and love lost and rediscovered. In this collection of short stories, you find the passion that drive men and women to love and to hate.

    A good hunter must have a quiver filled with sharp emotional arrows (strategies). Love birds need different arrows for the different phase (s) in their relationships. Arrows also have their different functions and you must understand the terrain. When you use a wrong arrow for the wrong target, it is not likely to work.

    What you are ‘chasing’ would determine the type of arrow required to achieve your emotional aims and objectives. In the emotional jungle, you run into all kinds of hearts. Hearts that are as gentle as a dove, hearts that are alluring as well as romantic. On the other side of the emotional divide are lions, crocodiles, hyenas and antelopes.

    Sadly, the emotional wilderness can be a death trap if you are not careful. You are likely to run into trouble when you list expect it to happen. On the prowl are hearts that are as cunning as a fox or hearts that are as wild as the tiger.

    If you are unlucky to fall hopelessly and helplessly with hearts in this category, then you must have your quiver filled with deadly emotional arrows. The arrows you chose would ultimately determine who becomes the prey in the emotional jungle.

    Without the required arrow in your custody, you are likely to be lily-livered and abandon the heart that you have be longing for , lusting after and wishing you had for keeps. Winners are usually wild with emotions and aware of all the tricks (arrows) in the quiver during the emotional hunting expedition.

    Learn the ropes, improvise, as well as update yourself with skills that would give you the sobriquet as hunter of hearts like lions and not just hunting for the emotional ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches or rats. The crux of the matter is that hearts in this category are not worth dying for.

    Surprisingly, in the emotional terrain, women are better hunters. They have mastered the skills and ultimately used it to capture and get what they want. In the woman’s emotional quiver are tears, smiles, patience, endurance, nagging, as well as intrigues.

    Having the right arrows without making use of them is as good as not having them at all. In addition, a good heart hunter must know how to put the emotional arrow on the bow and draw it back to meet its target. The further you draw the bow (love), the more distance it goes or covers.

    You therefore cover more distance by showing love consistently, sharing your affection and substance dutifully. It is very important to talk nicely to the person you think you love, claim you love or that just makes your heart skip a bit all the time.

    Interestingly, the best emotional arrows aim at trust. It is the arrow that controls all the other arrows in your quiver. You can be sure that once this affectionate arrow is missing in your quiver, then you would miss the target. Love without trust isn’t love. Like a doubting Thomas, you are going to see a dove in the emotional woods and imagine that what you are looking at is a tiger.

    When you also see a rabbit whispering sweet nothings into your ears, instead of turning around to caress this cupid-send angel, all you see is  a heart luring you to the rabbit hole, to be strangled, cleaned up and adorned with condiments before ending in the pepper soup pot as ‘ bush meat.’

  • Still jogging in the jungle

    To round off the independence anniversary of Nigeria, we bring you this morning excerpts from the novel, The Remains of the Last Emperor. Published in 1995, during General Abacha’s despotic blitz, the novel is as gripping in its horrifying details today as it was then. 

     FROM THE MEMOIRS OF A MAD DOCTOR (1)

    One thing that aggravates my nerves in these terrible times is the huge neon sign in front of Benitex Supermarket which pompously announces that thieves will be prosecuted. Now everybody knows that its owner, Ben Tojo, was an accountant who had stolen public money. And yet people submit themselves to all sorts of indignities in the hands of his security agents. Recently, a man was publicly flogged for stealing a loaf of bread. Each time I passed by this colossal empire of fraud, I develop skin rashes. Until I decided I could no longer bear the pain. The urge to do something desperate overcome me…..

    For about a week now, I’ve been going inside the supermarket and walking off with anything I could lay my hands on. I’m convinced that the guards and the attendants have seen me. And yet nobody had challenged me. Yesterday, I took a giant bottle of Aramis perfume. After spraying the contents in the air, I walked off with the empty bottle. I thought I would be challenged outside but nobody came. So I decided to change my approach. I walked in this morning with some of the things I had taken and dumped them right in front of one of the female cashiers.

    ‘Looks as if your guards are not as efficient as it is claimed. I’ve helped myself to all this over the past few days. There are a few more at home,’ I said with a shrug.

    The cashier examined me intently and then examined the goods intently.

    ‘All these are stolen goods,’ she said.

    ‘All these are stolen goods,’ I replied, gesticulating wildly at everything in the supermarket, including workers and shoppers.

    ‘Thieves are normally prosecuted,’ she said.

    ‘I thought so too!’ I said with bitter scorn.

    ‘We can drop the charge if you are willing to pay for them,’ she whispered to me in a very conciliatory manner.

    ‘So can we!’ I screamed.

    By this time, the shoppers who had queued behind me were openly expressing their impatience and irritation. The cashier became agitated. Frantically, she picked up the intercom.

    ‘There is a man here who had returned some stolen goods. I can’t make head or tail of what he is saying. Sounds mentally disturbed,’ she said and asked me to move aside for other shoppers.

    ‘Next customer, please.’

    Almost immediately, two hefty-looking uniformed men appeared. Each wore an ominous pair of glasses.

    ‘Is this the man?’ one of them asked.

    ‘Yes,’ the lady replied.

    ‘Oga, follow us,’ he said.

    There were shouts of, ‘thief, thief!’ at my heels as I followed them.

    Very soon, the door of what was nothing but a modern torture chamber suddenly swung open and I was elbowed in. I will never forget the horror and revulsion I felt on entering that place. Whips and lashes of all sizes and shapes, from the tender-looking to the most threatening grotesque were neatly stockpiled. A giant machine for administering electric shocks stood in the middle of the room. Ties, rags, dirty wigs, abandoned trousers, torn blouses littered everywhere. There were tiny specks of dried blood on the bare floor. Behind a desk sat a huge, potbellied man whose enormous lips and massive nose gave one the impression of a rhinoceros in a crouch. If I felt dizzy with fear and premonition, I decided not to show it.

    ‘Hmmm, looks as if Ben had invested his loot wisely after all. You need millions to protect stolen millions,’ I muttered.

    ‘What is he saying?’ the rhinoceros growled.

    ‘I think he is mad,’ one of his mates observed.

    ‘Well, if he is pretending to be mad, he wouldn’t have to pretend for long. He will really go mad when I lay my hands on his testicles,’ the rhino said and got up with a fearsome scowl.

    By now, I realized that our earlier description of his size was a vast understatement. He was as gigantic as Giant Alakuku, and his belly, shaped like an elephant worm, threatened to burst the seam of his trousers. He began to scratch his manhood in sadistic anticipation.

    ‘Sit down!’ one of them barked at me, pointing at the bare floor.

    ‘Only my dead body will sit on that floor,’ I said.

    ‘You may be right. Who knows whether by the time you get there, you may actually be dead!’ one of them said as they fastened on me and bore me down.

    ‘Now you will need to do as you are told. How many stubborn goats like you have become men of yesterday? All we need to do is to throw out your body when it is dark. The rest of the job is for the city council,’ one of them said as I writhed on the floor.

    ‘Now, what is his case again?’ the rhino asked impatiently.

    ‘He returned some goods he had stolen,’ one of them said.

    ‘I still have others at home,’ I protested.

    The rhinoceros completely ignored me. He began to chew his big finger as he figured out his verdict.

    ‘Hmmmm, at least he is partially honest. If half of the bastards are like this, we wouldn’t be sustaining these terrible losses,’ he growled.

    ‘You are right,’ one of them said.

    ‘So therefore, let him have thirty strokes as a warning. Give me a grade C koboko there,’ the rhino said, pointing at the stockpile of whips.

    ‘Not on your life! I want to be taken to court. Thieves are supposed to be prosecuted,’ I shouted.

    ‘Do you want to go to court? Can a church rat like you who cannot afford a decent meal afford a lawyer?’ one of the men shouted.

    ‘Incidentally, what do you do for a living?’ the rhino thundered impatiently.

    ‘I cure mad men. But it does appear that there are more mad men outside the asylum than inside,’ I said casually.

    ‘I think his head has knocked!’ one of them observed with cynical glee.

    ‘What do you do for a living?’ the rhino rumbled again with irritation.

    ‘I’ve told you,’ I said and tossed my ID card at them.

    One of the men picked it up.

    ‘How do we know you didn’t steal this either?’ he asked without much confidence.

    ‘Let me have it’, the rhino growled.

    The card was handed over to him and soon he began to look at the card and back at me all over in doubt and despair. I could now read confusion on their faces. I decided to make my move.

    ‘And now gentlemen – if I may ask you a foolish question – what do you do for a living?’ I asked springing up.

    There was a tense silence.

    ‘Isn’t that clear to you?’ one of them said.

    ‘Are you blind?’ the others chorused.

    ‘We work for Sonny Security – if you want to know,’ the rhino said.

    ‘I see. It is even worse than I thought. You make millions for your boss protecting stolen millions,’ I said with sympathy.

    They all stared at me in incomprehension. Only the rhino began to squint.

    ‘Isn’t it funny that a man of your education and standing in the society should become a petty thief?’ the rhino growled at last, eyeing me with suspicion and unease.

    ‘Exactly, That is the question I want to put to Ben,’ I said with a smile.

    The men looked at themselves.

    ‘Who is this Ben he is talking about?’ one of them asked his mates.

    “So you don’t even know the name of the owner of the supermarket?’ I sneered.

    ‘I think he is getting on to something dangerous,’ the rhino said.

    At this time, a private door opened and a spare, medium-sized man in an elegant French suit walked in. I instantly recognized Ben Tojo: dapper accountant, dapper playboy, dapper swindler.

    ‘Who is this man?’ he screamed, sensing from their expression that something was amiss.

    ‘He returned some of the goods he has stolen, and…’ one of them began.

    ‘And since then he has been harassing us,’ the rhino concluded miserably.

    Ben Tojo looked at the ID card on the desk and looked back at me in nervous alarm. I walked to the desk and picked the card. Calmly, I put it back in my pocket.

    ‘Ben, there is really no harassment,’ I began, addressing him with disarming familiarity. ‘They asked me whether it isn’t funny that a man of my education and standing in the society should be a petty thief and I said I have the same question for you.’

    The men looked at one another in disbelief.

    ‘Let him go, he is a mad man!’ Ben screamed and they all pushed me out like a pest.

    On my way out, I seized another giant bottle of Aramis perfume and emptied its content in the air.

     

  • Jungle justice: A slur on our character

    Rather than declining, jungle justice is on the increase in our society. A piece of mine was published a few months back on this topic, but it’s rather saddening that the menace is getting recognized more and more and has become a better way to pay back a culprit.

    This menace has gained a comfortable ground in the Southwest of our country, particularly Lagos State. These days, you hardly will go by a day without coming in contact with cases of these nefarious narratives. It’s disheartening and unspeakable to see a nation with a guided constitution engaging in this mischief. I sometimes find myself asking questions like, are our security agencies incapable? Or don’t they see to cases rightly? Or are our people just hell-bent on taking justice into their own hands?

    I stumbled on a post on a top leading Nigerian blog few days back, a man who should be in his early thirties was caught for an offence. Of course, the man could say nothing other than “it’s the devil’s work.” Now, is everything the devil’s work? You don’t do anything to earn a living and you want to survive. You waste your time while others invest meaningfully into theirs and you expect to survive too. How unrealistic this is. I didn’t know what he said, but what would he have said? For all I care, I didn’t know what he stole but I could quantify the extent to which he was beaten. He was beaten mercilessly and ruthlessly. His body was painted in his own blood; his head was bleeding profusely, would his body ache? Even more, I suspected.

    And for those fellows who practice jungle justice, the questions are simple: do we spare someone who has stolen our hard earned possessions? Do we spare his miserable life after throwing us into pain and endless anguish? Do we spare them after so much sorrow they have inflicted on our psyche? The questions are endless. I said it in one of my pieces entitled “ori bibe ko ni ogun ori fifo” that, no body in is right senses would support an immoral act as stealing and other punishable offences. Though I do know of only one person who would feel normal when his possessions get stolen and it’s definitely nobody. No matter the intensity of pain caused by these scoundrels, it is wrong for anyone to play down the mechanism of justice in retaliation to a wrong. Two wrongs don’t make a right, we are often cautioned. And since there are appropriate authorities who can see into cases like this, why not approach them in the quest for justice, instead of taking the laws into one’s hands?

    One of the incidences raises deeper questions that the angry mob just couldn’t decipher. While the incident lasted, I saw a young boy looking pitifully at the young man being beaten. His look seems to have suggested throbbing questions: what has he done? Why the unending beating? Why are people this ruthless? What do we want young minds to learn from incidents like these? That they should always take laws into their hands when anything happens? Do appropriate authorities take the right steps in seeing to justice prevail? These are crucial puzzles we must resolve ourselves. And by the way, what is the moral authority of these appropriate authorities in matters like these?  We have been deluded to realise that those whom we refer to as the appropriate authorities are antithetical to the import of that coinage. In my estimation, appropriate authorities refer to those who act in accordance to the dictates of their jobs; those who see the security of lives and properties as a superior essence, those who follow due process in the discharge of their tasks as well as those who cannot pervert the cause of justice on the altar of bribe.

    It will be interesting to know that our people are not barbaric; they are just thirsty for justice, and they wouldn’t take laws into their hands when authorities do the right thing. That’s pretty logical. It defeats the essence of justice when a culprit is caught and handed over to the right quarter, only to be seen the next day moving freely like an innocent person. Hence, let culprits be handed over to the right quarters, and let the quarter itself act justly and swiftly. Injustice on their part is preposterous.  Let each quarter do the right thing, so that we can have a conducive and habitable society for everyone. Let’s say no to jungle justice.

  • Prey in the emotional jungle

    WHAT happens when you step on emotional toes? Well, that unfortunately is Moyo’s predicament at the moment. Slim, tall, with a flawless skin and curves in the right places, she has succeeded in stealing hearts from dusty emotional shelves. Why not! An eye (heart) for an eye (heart). Scroll down memory lane and you also find that our dear friend was once a victim; valuable hearts had vanished courtesy of some emotional shoplifters.

    Recently she ran out of luck and was declared ‘wanted.’ She took to her heels and tried to find solace in the emotional jungle. The rugged owner of a missing heart did not give up; she staked everything to have her pound of flesh from this hawk – the one that had caused her so much pain. Strategically, she combed the nooks and crannies carefully and finally found the queen of hearts looking remorseful. This was not time for sermons, and so she was beaten to a state of coma, with memorable scars. Jungle justice! It’s the norm and so it is best to thread with caution.

    If you do not want to be an emotional prey, then you must be in charge of the terrain. Don’t also bite more than you can chew. Always make sure that Cupid’s arrow is on target and if you miss the target, there is no harm trying again and again. Arrows? Yes, they are symbols that we see all the time. From the street signs, road markings and markings on doors indicating direction to a choice location.

     This also reminds you of Jeffrey Archer’s book, a Quiver full of Arrows. Fortunes are made and squandered, honor betrayed and redeemed and love lost and rediscovered. In this collection of short stories, you find the passions that drive men and women to love and to hate.

    A good hunter must have a quiver filled with sharp emotional arrows (strategies). Love birds need different arrows for the different phase (s) in their relationships. Arrows also have their different functions and you must understand the terrain. When you use a wrong arrow for the wrong target, it is not likely to work.

    What you are ‘chasing’ would determine the type of arrow required to achieve your emotional aims and objectives. In the emotional jungle, you run into all kinds of hearts. Hearts that are as gentle as a dove, hearts that are alluring as well as romantic. On the other side of the emotional divide are Lion’s, crocodiles, antelopes, hyenas and antelopes.

    Sadly, the emotional wilderness can be a death trap if you are not careful. You are likely to run into trouble when you list expect it to happen. On the prowl are hearts that are as cunning as a fox or hearts that are as wild as the tiger.

    If you are unlucky to fall hopelessly and helplessly with hearts in this category, then you must have your quiver filled with deadly emotional arrows. The arrows you chose would ultimately determine who becomes the prey in the emotional jungle.

    Without the required arrow in your custody, you are likely to be lily-livered and abandon the heart that you have be longing for , lusting after and wishing you had for keeps. Winners are usually wild with emotions and aware of all the tricks (arrows) in the quiver during the emotional hunting expedition.

    Learn the ropes, improvise, as well as update yourself with skills that would give you the sobriquet as hunter of hearts like lions and not just hunting for the emotional ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches or rats. The crux of the matter is that hearts in this category are not worth dying for.

    Surprisingly, in the emotional terrain, women are better hunters. They have mastered the skills and ultimately used it to capture and get what they want. In the woman’s emotional quiver are tears, smiles, patience, endurance, nagging as well as intrigues.

    Having the right arrows without making use of them is as good as not having them at all. In addition, a good heart hunter must know how to put the emotional arrow on the bow and draw it back to meet its target. The further you draw the bow (love), the more distance it goes or covers.

    You therefore cover more distance by showing love consistently, sharing your affection and substance dutifully. It is very important to talk nicely to the person you think you love, claim you love or that just makes your heart skip a bit all the time.

    Interestingly, the best emotional arrows aim at  trust. It is the arrow that controls all the other arrows in your quiver. You can be sure that once this affectionate arrow is missing in your quiver, then you would miss the target. Love without trust isn’t love. Like a doubting Thomas, you are going to see a dove in the emotional woods and imagine that what you are looking at is a tiger.

    When you also see a rabbit whispering sweet nothings into your ears , instead of turning around to caress  this cupid-sent angel , all you see is  a heart luring you to the rabbit hole, to be strangled, cleaned up and adorned with condiments before ending in the pepper soup pot as ‘ bush

  • ‘Marriage is a jungle’

    ‘Marriage is a jungle’

    Toluwalope Juwe, a Computer Scientist, tied the nuptial knot with her beau, Aneez, last Saturday at the All Seasons Multipurpose Hall in Agbara, Ogun State, IBRAHIM ADAM reports.

    The All Season Multipurpose Hall in OPIC Estate, Agbara, Ogun State, was agog last Saturday when the families of Mr Wasiu Bashorun  and Mr Oluwafemi Juwe,  became one following the union of their children, Aneez and Toluwalope.

    Bashorun is a Provost of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education at Ijanikin, Lagos.

    It was a memorable day for the couple, with Gbedu Oba on the band stand.

    Guests, were beautiful in their choice attires.

    The event venue was decorated in orange, silver and white, matching the chairs set around tables, which were covered with gold and silver linens. The red carpet and flower vases at strategic points added colour to the hall. A projector, showing pictures of the couple and their families on their introduction, was placed at one side of the hall.

    The couple’s parents wore tea-green lace with carton colour Agbada, and matching caps, headgears and Ipele.

    The couple arrived in a black Avensis saloon car.

    The engagement started with the Bashorun family dancing into the hall to beats from  traditional drummers. They went to the bride’s family to pay homage.

    The groom, Aneez, came next with his friends. He was handsome in a white lace attire with silver and red agbada and a matching cap.

    Aneez pleaded to marry Toluwalope.

    A bevy of women in yellow and green attire accompanied the bride, Toluwalope, into the hall. She was a beauty to behold in her white lace Iro, and silver and red Buba with matching headgear and Ipele. Her red bead complemented her beauty.

    The couple took turns to prostrate, kneel, and sit with their parents for blessings.

    Aneez and Toluwalope exchanged engagement rings, sealing it with kisses.

    Reception followed with Abbey Wonder and his juju band entertaining guests. A popular Yoruba actor and comedian, Hafeez Oyetoro, a.k.a.Saka, anchored the event. He dished out rib-cracking jokes. The reception almost became a political gathering of sorts, with guests  chanting ‘Sai Baba’, ‘Sai Ambode’.

    There was enough to eat and drink.

    The couple’s parents also thrilled the guests with their dance steps and were sprayed with new naira notes.

    When Aneez and Toluwalope made their entry into the hall, dancing to soulfyl tunes from the live band, guests stood to honour them.

    The bride, Toluwalope, clad in a flowing white gown and the groom, Aneez, radiant in his white shirt, red tie, grey trousers and jacket with a black pair of shoes, looked splendid.

    Pastor Dare Abisoye said the opening prayer.

    Former Lagos State deputy governor and Chairman,AOCOED Governing Council, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, who chaired the event congratulated the couple and their parents.

    He said marriage is about patience; urging the couple to respect each other. “It’s a day of joy and our prayer is for them to live well till eternity,” he said.

    Prince Ogunleye told the couple not to be angry, urging the groom to make money available for his wife.

    Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Education Otunba Fatai Olukoga, supervised the cutting of the five-layer cake after the spelling of ALLAH.

    Otunba Olukoga also supervised how the couple fed each other before they sealed it with kisses.

    Pastor Sunday Adeboye coordinated the presentation of gifts.

    A close friend of the groom, Olasupo Bashorun, proposed the toast.

    The groom,  a graduate of Electrical, Electronics Engineering from Osun State University, said he met his wife during his industrial training at AOCOED. He described her as loving and caring.

    Toluwalope, a graduate of Computer Science from Ekiti State University, described her husband as brave and everything to her.

    “He is someone, who got me back 100 per cent and he is greatly important to me. I love him so much,” she said.

    The groom’s father, Mr Bashorun, advised the couple to allow virtue, determination and perseverance to be their watch words.

    He said life is full of ups and downs and prayed  God to meet their needs.

    He said: “Marriage is a jungle out there. It is a survival of the fittest and I pray to be there to guide them anytime they need my support.”

    The bride’s mother, Mrs Georgina Juwe, described her daughter as a good cook and a good woman.

    She advised the couple to be calm, patient and focused.

    “I feel fulfilled for this day; she is a beautiful woman and I will miss her cooking so much,” she said.

    Oloto of Oto-Awori Kingdom Oba Olanrewaju Aina (Kuyaniku 1) enjoined the couple not to beware of third party.

  • Gulder Ultimate Search: Contestants recount arduous life in jungle

    Gulder Ultimate Search: Contestants recount arduous life in jungle

    A contestant in the ongoing Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) reality show, Chinedu  Ubachukwu, has advised friends and family members to think deeply before applying for GUS in the future.

    According to the University of Port Harcourt graduate, would-be contestants must brace up for tough times, as staying in the jungle could be very harsh and unpleasant.

    Ubachukwu, who is a member of the Orange team in the 11th season of the show, stressed that he would discourage loved ones from competing on the show.

     

    He said: “To be sincere, if I should leave here, I won’t advise a loved one to come here. But the loved one may think I don’t want him to progress in life. Because he or she may think that I’ve come and I’ve made it and I don’t want him or her to make it. But here in the jungle, it is really tough.”

    Ironically, the graduate of Petroleum and Gas Engineering had dreamt of being in the jungle for the show, ever since he was young. It would be recalled that prior to entering the Aguleri forest, he said, “Gulder Ultimate Search is the first reality show I grew up watching and I have always admired the participants and I have always imagined myself in the jungle. I’m so happy and feel so fortunate to have made the last 14 this year.”

    Otto Canon is another contestant who only got on the show after four unsuccessful attempts. He too, admits that competing on the programme is very tough. “There’s so much difference between watching Gulder Ultimate Search on TV and experiencing it in reality. When you watch the show on TV, you really can’t tell what the feelings are like.”

    On his experience this far, Canon said: “I’ve come to appreciate food so much that the least piece of rice or gari means so much to me right now. At home, I don’t eat left over gari, but right now, I don’t care. At home, I’m very conscious of the water I drink. I will rinse the tumbler which I want to use to drink water, because I am particular about the tumbler being clean. Right now, I am very comfortable drinking water from the stream. The jungle is a place that humbles you and kills your pride.”

    Sharon Robinson, who finally got in after failing twice challenged anyone who thinks that GUS is easy to fill in the form and try next year.

    Evidently, life in the jungle has been a stark contrast to the luxuries of city life which the contestants are used to. The 14 contestants have had to depend on rain and stream water to quench their thirst, even after competing in grueling games. Their sleep has been cut short when it rains, because the palm fronds which serve as the roof of their huts sometimes fails to provide them the needed cover.

    The contestants have had to depend on palm kernels and ‘baby’ sugarcane which sprout from the grounds not too far from their jungle abode.

    Dr. Ikenna Emedike, one of the contestants, incurred the wrath of the Council of Elders and was almost evicted for taking cassava without authorisation. His action was considered as stealing. He gave the excuse of hunger and the desperate need to survive in the jungle.

    “When I was walking to the stream, I saw a heavily weeded farm looking like it had been abandoned for years. So I looked at it carefully and when I saw there was a cassava sprout, I felt it was abandoned. If it had been properly weeded, I wouldn’t have touched it. However, I admit stealing it, because it wasn’t my farm. It was just about survival,” he said.

    Notwithstanding, the show anchor man, Chidi Mokeme, described his act as shameful. Ikenna, alongside Otto Canon, his partner in the Indigo team, however appealed for forgiveness from the rest of the clan. Even though they were forgiven, the team lost three points.

    For the first time on the show, contestants were paired into groups of two members each. They were asked to pick up circular objects from a calabash and the two that picked the same colour formed a clan. There were seven colours in all – representing the colours of the rainbow. They were also instructed to wear colour-matching bandanas provided for them at all times.

    While the Indigo Team is made up of Otto Canon and Ikenna Emedike, the Blue team has Addoh Evi and Iroh Noella. Blessing Eriata and Loretta Erijakpor formed the Green team; Sandra Nwagbagiro and Chinedu Ubachukwu made up the Orange team; Samantha Appi and Sharon Robinson are the Red team; Emmanuel Afolabi and Joshua Nwagboso are the Yellow team, while Iwuoha Ikenna and Cosy Joe formed the purple team.

    The teams would garner points from various tasks, with the winning team getting seven points while the losing team would be awarded one point.

    After four games, Team Blue currently leads with an overall score of 22 points, followed by Indigo which has 19 points. Teams Purple, Orange and Yellow currently occupy the third, fourth and fifth positions with 17, 15 and 11 points respectively. The Red team is in sixth position with 10 points while the Green team is the lowest ranked with six points.

    The show airs daily on African Magic World (DSTV), Real -Stars (Star Times), Minaj TV Obosi (Terrestrial), Ebony Life TV (DSTV), Galaxy TV (Lagos, Ibadan and Ondo), Hip TV (DSTV & GoTV), Nigezie (Star Times) and WapTV (Star Times) from 10pm to 11pm, and on the AIT Network (Terrestrial) from 10:30pm to 11:30pm.

     

  • No to jungle justice

    No to jungle justice

    The gruesome killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) – Chidiaka Lawson, lloyd Toku, Tekena Erikena, Chidiaka Biringa – is no longer news. This barbaric act by the locals of Aluu Community in Rivers State has attracted criticisms from far and near.

    Whether the slain young men were guilty of the offence for which they were roasted is yet unknown. But the question that people keep asking is: Why would a sane community inhabited by rational human lynch their fellow men in such a cruel manner? Can human life be equated with material things,s such as laptops and phones?

    There is also another side to the sad story. There were reports that the lynched students visited the community to ask for money one of them lent his friend. Unknown to them, the lender had something else in mind for them. After the victims confiscated the lender’s phones and laptop, the fellow then raised a false alarm that he was being robbed. Of course, there is yet another angle but the bitter truth is that the slain students are no more alive to say their own side of the story.

    The boys were beaten to a pulp with various objects, bleeding from all part of their bodies. Afterwards, somebody brought petrol and another lit the match. The sight was too unkind. The villagers gathered as though it was a primeval village square, where thieves are guillotined. It seems it is no longer crime in Nigeria to take lives of others.

    There is a constituted authority in the country. Anybody that alleges must be able to prove in the law court. But the people of Aluu community took law into their hands; they are the judges and the accuser. They killed their victims over an allegation. Where are the items the slain students stole?

    Whatever the crime of the students were, who made the killers judges? Don’t we have courts in this country again? What stopped the “jungle judges” from handling the “robbers” over to the police? They would have played a commendable role if they had done so. Alas, they acted barbarism in broad day light and even had the courage to film the incident.

    The lynched students were upcoming musical artists in their life time. I carefully listened to the lyrics of one of their songs. It was as if they knew they were going to die by the sword of those who did not have respect for human lives. A refrain in the said song says: “There’s no love in the heart of the city.” And truly, there is no love in Aluu city. If there was love, the students would not have been and roasted as if they did not deserve to live.

    An emotional person would shed tears if he listens to the statement of Lloyd’s mother. She said Lloyd was a God fearing young man, who wouldn’t even hurt a fly. A day before the killing was his father’s birthday, his father called him and asked him to come over and celebrate it with him. Unknown to him, his son would be killed the day after his birthday. It was a very pathetic idea.

    Tekena Elkannah was buried in a forest in conformance to the custom of his hometown, which says that anybody who endures brutality, injuries and violence, would not be buried in the town. This handsome boy slept in the forest. No thanks to the Aluu community.

    I will not justify the action of the UNIPORT students, who went to burn houses and vandalising property in the village, but I believe no sane human being will be calm after viewing the video of how the victims were lynched.

    The village head and the 12 others, who were detained, should also face the music. They should be made to see the full wrath of the law. We all know this is not the first time such a situation is coming up, it occurs frequently. If not for the video by individual who should have made effort to call the police, all of us would have been in darkness.

    It is so unfortunate this ugly incidence occurred the same week Nigeria celebrated her 52 independence anniversary. May I use this opportunity to appeal to my fellow youth: it is high time we stopped this mob action against our fellow men. The government should also strengthen security in the country.

    Let us all join hands to say no to jungle justice. If we respect humanity, we will have a peaceful country. Jungle justice must stop.