The Nation Newspaper

Tag: live

  • ‘We can’t live together anymore’

    A middle-aged woman, Patience Enahoro, has pleaded with an Agege Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve her five-year-old marriage to her husband, Julius, over false acusation.

    The petitioner, a fashion designer, said their marriage sailed into troubled water in 2011 when her husband accused her of engaging in extra-marital affairs.

    “He has never caught me with another man but whenever I returned late from shop, he says all sort of things,” she said.

    Mrs Enahoro said her husband secretly followed her to her shop to see the number of men she talked to on her way.

    She said: “There was a time I returned from the shop and he accused me of prostituting because I greeted a man on my way to work; I kept wondering how he knew the person I greeted that morning.

    “He sent me out of his house and said he didn’t want me and that he wasn’t ready for marriage. After I spent seven-months in my brother’s place, he asked for forgiveness and I came back to him in 2013.”

    She further said that three months after she returned, he accused her of fornicating.

    “When I moved back to his house, his sisters insisted that I should go to our village for sacrifice but I declined going to the village because I didn’t fornicate with any other man. I even swore with a Bible. As if everything he has done wasn’t enough, my husband said he saw me in a hotel with another man and that made me to park out of his house. I can’t continue to live with a man who doesn’t trust his wife; we can’t even live together anymore,” Mrs Enahoro said.

    The respondent, Mr Julius Enahoro, said the misunderstanding started during courtship and it was because his wife returned home late from work.

    He said his wife was fond of receiving phone calls at night and whenever he complained, she wouldn’t listen.

    “Whenever I scold her for returning home late, she abused me. She doesn’t want to see me with any of my relations and I have told her brothers on several occasions. I once packed her things out of the house but later had a deep thought and took her back ,” he said.

    Enahoro said when she left; he tried so many efforts to reconcile with her but her brother beat him.

    “Her family is not in support of our union. I don’t trust her anymore and we can’t live together. I also want her out of my life,” he said.

    The Court’s President, Pa Adekunle Williams adjourned till October 20.

  • The king is dead; long live the king!

    I remember President J.F. Kennedy’s  famous and everlasting inaugural speech  on that wintry morning of January 1961 when as the youngest President of the USA said among other things how the work of government is never done not in one term or even according to him in our life times. It was a prophetic statement because he was soon cut down by an assassin’s bullet even before he finished the first term. Of course he said other things like ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. He idealistically said that America’s foes and friends alike should know that the baton  of the defence of freedom has been passed  on to a new generation of Americans nurtured in war and ready to pay any price in the defence of  liberty and freedom where ever they are threatened. Americans lapped it up especially coming from the mouth of the dangerously handsome young president. No American president can say that today and be applauded unless of course those Americans on the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party and their running dogs in the so-called Tea Party.

    When a king or Queen dies in England, the continuity in government is captured by the saying the king is dead long live the king. Amongst the Yoruba the same sentiment is contained in the statement Baba ku Baba ku meaning father has died but he lives on in the next oldest member of the family. All these preambular statements are to emphasize that the work of government is continuous and is never completely done by any regime. This is however not an excuse for inertia or clueless performance.

    The government of Jonathan now belongs to history and when the dust has settled and the healing hands of time have passed over the events of recent times, the judgement on his regime may or not be severe. The usefulness of such historical judgement will serve as a warning or compass to the successor regimes. What we can call instant history is that the Jonathan administration has fallen below expectation. This apparent failure can be seen in the collapse of the economy less than a year after the current reduction in crude oil price. What this means is that we were eating our fruits and seeds at the same time like a foolish farmer. Many critics including this writer had warned ad nauseam that the drunken financial fashion the country was being run was not sustainable. The stupendous salaries and allowances paid to members of the executives and legislators at local, state and federal levels were heavy enough to sink the ship of state. Now chicken has come home to roost. There is no fuel to run our homes and the national economy. Power generation is now just over 1000 megawatts and with no diesel the country would soon grind to a halt. Recently I went to Abuja and in the absence of aviation fuel, I had to return to Lagos by road something I had not done in 20 years. Most states of the federation stopped paying salaries since January with the consequence of parents being unable to pay their children’s school fees. Since quite a large percentage of parents now send their children to fee-paying private primary, secondary and tertiary institutions many young people are at home idling their lives away. The result of growing unemployment and underemployment is armed robberies complicating the already existing insecurity problems associated with Boko Haram and cattle rustling in the northern part of the country. Even the apparent reduction of militancy in the Niger Delta creeks is still early to be celebrated and the spreading spate of kidnappings for ransom constitutes reason for worry. The infrastructural deficit on our roads, rail, sea ports and the danger of inadequate aviation infrastructure are enough to overwhelm any government.

    Does it then mean that the outgoing administration was an unmitigated failure? The answer is not clear cut. What is clear is that the administration is not ending well in view of the fact that the country has ground to a halt. There is no electric power from the companies allegedly fronting for political big-wigs and there is no diesel to power individual generators and even those who have not been paid for six months by their governments have no money to buy petrol and diesel if they are available and they are not. I feel sorry for the outgoing president that he is ending his regime in a whimper and in an anti-climax. The only positive thing this government will be remembered for is the Almajiri schools inadequate as they may be in number. Certainly not the mushroom universities established for political considerations and the welter of private universities for profit licensed by the Jonathan administration.

    But what is to be done? The Buhari administration cannot be expected to perform a miracle when it is burdened by local and foreign debt of over $60 billion. It can at the same time not fold its hands and do nothing. It must not take on too many things at the same time but should tackle the problems one at a time unless where the problem has interlocking relationship for example the problem of power has bearing on appropriate pricing of petroleum products. Security and infrastructure are related and so is security and employment. Money, lots of it will be needed to tackle the myriad of problems facing the country. We must move away from a situation where only salaried workers alone pay taxes while the rich and the famous hardly pay taxes. If people do not pay taxes, then they won’t have a sense of ownership of the government. No matter how small, people would have to pay something to fund their government. Value Added Tax (VAT) must also be increased substantially because these are in most cases luxury taxes on the class most able to bear them. I have said this before: states should be advised to levy property and land use taxes to run their governments rather than relying on federal allocations which are really unearned petrol commissions.

    It is very gratifying to note that the incoming government says it will focus on agriculture and solid minerals exploitation. I will want to enter a caveat here. We heard this before. If we are going into agriculture, it must be massive agricultural business through loans to young graduates who want to go into the business as well as loans to existing farmers who have proved their ability and seriousness. Government must prohibit imports of agricultural products where we have comparative advantage. We should not be importing vegetable oils and rice. We should stop importing wines, champagne and hard liquors in order to conserve our foreign reserves and restore sanity to our country especially our youths who are on slippery slope to drunken degeneracy. We must ensure that our concentrating on solid mineral exploitation is not another Abacha freebies given  to powerful and well connected people in the name of solid mineral exploitation In this regard let big foreign companies be invited and provided tax holidays to encourage them to get involved in our new plans.

    Let the new administration recover as much money as possible from what have been stolen and use the proceeds to embark on massive public works by direct labour of our youth. This will generate enthusiastic support for the government and reduce youth anger and unemployment. The first 100 days will be crucial and government must ensure that it is not business as usual. We can no longer afford this and we have lost so much ground already and the people can no longer wait for action to tackle the problems of this country. We are down and it can not be worse than this and we can only go up. The best way to start while the iron is hot is to eliminate the so-called oil subsidies that have ended subsidizing the lavish and opulent life styles of politicians, plutocrats and oil oligarchs in our country. Everybody is fed up with the humiliating scarcity of fuel in an oil producing country and if the only way to solve this problem once and for all is to throw importation and sale of refined petroleum  open to all who have the capacity while fixing our refineries, then that is the reasonable thing for government to do  and  the question of subsidies will  be gone forever.

    Finally, what is left for most of us  to do is to wish our former President Jonathan, good luck in the years ahead and President Muhammadu Buhari Godspeed in the journey of piloting the ship of state.

  • It takes maturity to live with a Woman –B-CODE

    It takes maturity to live with a Woman –B-CODE

    Godwin Chinedu Nzekwe, known with the stage name B-Code, recently released his second single ‘Lemme know’ directed by Toyin Lawani after his first single, titled ‘Rollercoaster’, was directed by Patrick Elis under paparazzi records. B-Code, a petroleum engineering graduate, who also plays the konga drum, started music professionally in 2008. In this interview with JOE AGBRO JR., he talks about his passion for music, inspiration and more.

    The music industry is very competitive at the moment. What is unique about your music?

    I am not going to say that I am the strongest vocalist but what counts is my versatility. You can’t really predict what I would do next. I may do afro pop today and tomorrow I could do a reggae song and next you would hear another song done in R n B. I can switch style and my versatility is my very strong asset.

    How did it all begin for you in music?

    I am not one of those who would say it started when they were five and all that. My mother was a lead singer in a dance troupe and they even had some records. I grew up in a family of nine made up of seven boys. We started by going to events to perform and gradually it got bigger and better. In year 2006, the love for it grew and I decided to take it to a professional level.

    My friends and I started writing songs and in 2008, we did it with paparazzi records. My elder brother, Samuel, actually opened the record label because of me. He is based in Austria and when he came home, he heard a couple of my songs and he was impressed. When he came back, he decided to open the label and that same year I got admission.

    How do you get motivation for your songs?

    I have dropped some singles, dropped some videos and done a couple of things way back in school, that is the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, where I studied Petroleum Engineering. I have performed in different places and I have been involved in a number of competitions. In year 2002, I won the best act in school. I like my career in Petroleum Engineering but it would be on hold for a couple of years.

    Everything about life inspires me; the good times and the hard times, as well as the times that you feel confused. Life is about the ups and downs. You get the downs to make you stronger and it also makes you not to forget how you got up there. When you have the good times, you appreciate it with good music and when you are confused you write confused songs. So when people who have gone through that stage get to hear such they appreciate the persecutions and the things that they have passed through more.

    Talking about confusion, Bobby Brown and his family are passing through this phase. What do you think about what his daughter, Bobby Kristiana Brown, is going through at the moment?

    It is really sad and unfortunate. Her mother died about three years ago and now the girl is in a coma and she is being abused. I don’t know whether I should say that he is not being watchful or careful. But sometimes, you are so watchful and the same thing still happens. Sometimes, I think it is part of life and you really don’t know if it is your mistake or someone else’s mistake.

     A number of local and international celebrities take drugs for motivation. What do you think about this?

    For me, I have been inspired naturally. I do not smoke but if I tell you that I do not drink, then I would be lying. I hang out with friends and drink occasionally. I know my limits and I do not take drugs at all. My advice to fellow upcoming artistes is that they should not be under pressure; they should not do drugs to get inspiration. Inspiration should be natural; all these things are just temporary. Once you get addicted, without it, you are hopeless. Womanising is another problem, especially for men, but the truth is that whether you are an act or not, women would always be there. They have been there from the inception, they are drawn to celebration. I love them and respect them like my mother and sisters.

    I know where to draw the line of friendship and relationships because sometimes you might be friendly and they may get the wrong impression. So if you change the situation at this point, they would feel heartbroken and very emotional. I relate with my female fans in a friendly way.

    Who would you describe as your role model in the industry?

    I would say that 90 per cent of the artists coming up in Nigeria would tell you that Tuface Indibia is good. I respect him to the core. He is an act you just feel so proud of; he is an act that you just wish to be like. MI is an extraordinary rapper, I respect him a lot. There are so many young talents that I admire, like Wizkid. There are so many of them that make the industry fun and they inspire me a whole lot. They make you want to do much more. On the International scene, I admire Akon, R.Kelly and recently I admire Chris Brown. He has brought something fresh to R and B.

     Why did you study Petroleum Engineering and now you are in music?

    The truth for me is that music is life. I have been in music before I went to school. The course, Petroleum Engineering, is very challenging. It is a course that I admire a lot. I chose it because music for me is natural and I wanted to study something new. Instead of restricting myself to music, I said why don’t I divert and do something fresh. Expand the knowledge and not just be in the arts to study music. I wanted to be a professional in two fields and it wasn’t easy convincing my people initially. Then going back to music, my people were like ‘are you sure this is what you really want to do?’ Music in me is very exciting. Even if I decide that I want to do something else in future, I still see myself writing songs for people. My albums are all in the works and it should be out early next year.

    After explaining all this to my family, they also saw the passion and the zeal. They said that as long as I assure them that I would be successful, they would support me. Of course, I know that I can’t put in all this and not aim for the top. I believe that with hard work, it would be a success story. In going back to music, my family was like ‘are you sure this is what you really want to do?’ Even if I decide that I want to do something else in future, I still see myself writing songs for people.

    What does style mean to you?

    For me, being stylish is being comfortable. Today, I may put on my jeans and tee shirt with a simple hat and tomorrow you could see me in a shirt and straight trousers. Being stylish is looking clean, smart and comfortable. Looking good for me is not just about wearing something expensive, it has to do with how you put it all together to look unique.

    What are some of the challenges?

    The truth is that the biggest challenge is working with the right set of production crew. As an artist, I feel that to get a great song, the producer and people you work with should feel and understand the emotion behind the song to get a great production. Everyone has a favourite singer, favourite rapper and so you must give them the reason why they must like you and their favourite. So far, it has been good. I have a wonderful management.

     Let’s talk about your mentors. Who are those inspiring you?

    First, I would say my brother, Samuel, has been great while my management team has been wonderful. They believed in me from day one. My parents are late; I lost my dad in year 2002 and my mum in 2007. She was diabetic. My brother was a footballer but now he is retired. He played for an underground team in Austria before going into business. Dad was a civil servant, mum was also a civil servant and she did a couple of business by the side.

    Are we talking about marriage now?

    No! Falling in love is not a problem. Marriage, however, needs a whole lot of dedication and maturity. I didn’t say women are difficult but they can be difficult sometimes. It takes a whole lot of maturity to live with a woman for the rest of your life.

    Where do you hope to be in the next five years?

    I would like to consolidate on the gains. In addition, if I want to move to any other area it would be clothing. I love clothes and I know how to do some sketches. I also have some guys that I want to work with on this.

  • I don’t live for recognition –Obiwon

    I don’t live for recognition –Obiwon

    Gifted RnB singer, Obiorah Nwokolobia-Agu, aka Obiwon, made headlines a couple of years ago when he delved into gospel music. Looking back now, he says he has not had cause to regret. He speaks with OVWE MEDEME about his career, the gospel, family and sundry issues.

    You started out as a secular artiste but ended up doing gospel music. How would you say you have fared so far?

    Life as an artiste, especially now as a gospel artiste and a minister of the gospel – it has been great. Gospel music is what I’m passionate about. It is what gets me up every morning and what keeps me going.

    Could you recount the experience that led to you taking that decision?

    I got born again in 2008. I had an experience, an encounter with Christ and that changed my life completely. I had a call to do what I’m doing right now, which is basically to use my music more directly for the kingdom of Christ and in all the other ways I’m applying it; but majorly for the kingdom of Christ.

    What was the particular experience that led to you going into gospel?

    It is a very long story. I’ve told it as much as I can in many interviews. After my first album, after I got my first hit song in the entertainment industry, I met a certain kind of lifestyle that made me reflect and think of life and how I want it to end up.

    Also, looking at other icons and musicians before me and the way they were ending up wasn’t something pleasant. That was scary and I felt there was something better for myself and my gift which I was searching for, which took me back to my initial faith from my parents. It made me query that faith and in the course of querying it, I found out how real it was. I encountered Christ and I gave my life to God.

    Along the line, I still wanted to be an RnB artiste but the deeper I got into God, the clearer it was that I had a calling that I had to use my gifts directly for his kingdom. I finally gave in, and that is where we are today.

     

    Have you ever had any cause to regret that decision?

    Absolutely not. When God is your friend, it is not like you won’t have challenges but if He is your friend and you fellowship with him, that is what makes life worth living.

    So far, how many gospel albums have you released?

    The album that had my second hit song, which is ObiMu o, was a gospel album. But because it is a love song, a lot of people don’t know it is a gospel album. I released Gold Water in late 2013 which had songs like Hail My King and For Your Love and which fetched me quite some gospel awards last year.

    How did the album fare?

    It did wonderfully well. Gospel music is something you grow into. Most times, if you make a transition like that, especially if you are going into Christendom, you start from the scratch and build it up. It is almost impossible to do a level to level move. The initial challenge is basically getting people to accept that I’m serious with what I’m talking about. When I first said I was doing gospel, a lot of people thought I was basically joking, but now the churches are taking me seriously. Christians are taking me seriously and we are moving on from there.

    Talking about awards, would you say the gospel music industry has given you the recognition you deserve?

    It depends on what you mean by recognition. I don’t live for recognition. I live to change lives, to bless souls and to win souls for the kingdom of God. And if the recognition comes, fine. If there is anything I look out for in the gospel community and in the Christian communities, it is just to be able to have the platform to share the gospel with fellow Christians or even share with unbelievers. But the recognition, in form of awards, has come and I am grateful for the people who have recognised the call of God in my life and have given to support my ministry

    Is your fan base as strong as it used to be when you were doing secular music?

    I have fans who support what I am doing. The essence of my call is to make them pay attention to the kind of music that I am doing now, especially considering where I am coming from. But as I said, when you do a transition, especially into the gospel genre, you will realise that there is still a lot to be done in the gospel music industry. I have basically come to this side to build and I’m building. It is my prayer that God will take us to where he called us to be.

    Since you made the transition, have you had any nasty experience from a fan?

    First of all, I am married. I have two children by God’s grace. Secondly, when you are a public figure, when you sing or when you have some level of talent that people appreciate, it does attract people but I treat my fans as my friends and my fans basically understand who I am and what I stand for. We relate to each other as brothers and sisters and that is basically it. If anybody tries to cross any boundary, I just nicely tell them that is not who I am. The important thing is knowing who you are and then falling on to God so that you don’t misstep.

    Would you encourage any of your children to go into music?

    Why not? If that is what God has called them to be, I don’t have an issue with it. The worst thing you can do for a child is to try to take them away from their God-given path. Everybody has come into the world with a gift and sometimes, as parents, we have an idea of the gift we want our children to have but the most important thing is the gift they are most passionate about and what we do is to give them direction. If one or both of my children have music as their gift, I am only their guardian here on earth. Who am I to say no?

    How much time do you get to spend with your family?

    Family is important. My family is my first ministry. I thank God for an understanding wife. Many times you have to balance; you have to know when to shut down. It is usually easier for the males, so to say. It is a little easier for the males than the females because most times females multitask. Motherhood is very difficult but fatherhood is not easy as well, but it hasn’t really affected much because God has given me grace to strike some balance and to have the most time with my family.

  • I am tired of life, I don’t want to live anymore

    I am tired of life, I don’t want to live anymore

    TWO weeks ago, we reported the story of   Elder  Dikam Garba Dabo’ok, a 107 -year-old who glamorously walked his  95-year-old wife, Madam Ka’an Nafung, down the aisle.

    The ceremony, which took place at the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Chizu village in Bwai, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, remains the talk of the town till date.

    The wedding, which was contracted 70 years after the couple  have been  living  together and had children, was filled with a lot of excitement and fanfare as the aged couple overcame their frailty and danced frenetically to the melodious songs played by the vivacious musical band.

    They dressed in neatly made wedding suits and gowns with a long queue of grooms’ men and bridal train behind them as they moved from one place to the other.  They equally took photographs like young couple and fed each as if they were just doing so for the first time.

    Unfortunately, the fun that greeted the ceremony seems to have fizzled out. Just when many expected him to be savouring the joy of that widely publicised wedding ceremony and his ‘honeymoon’, he surprisingly pulled the trigger and fired a damning shot, saying he is tired of life and wishes to die.

    Why is he tired of life wishes to die? You may want to ask. Elder Dikam says his desire to die is simply borne out of the frustrations and pains  caused by his blindness and old age.

    He said: “I am fine as you can see, only that I can no longer see with my eyes. The eyes are gone. That is just the end of life, I am not somebody that likes staying in one place. I am a very active somebody right from my youthful age; even at this old age I am still active. I should have been going to my farm if not for the eyes, but now I can’t go anywhere. I have to remain at home all days. So there is no life without the eyes.

    “I have been praying to God to take my life but God is still keeping me alive. Truly, I am not enjoying this old age but I can’t take my own life; it is God that created me and it is God that can take my life at anytime he so wishes. I don’t wish to live any longer, all my mates are gone, I don’t know why God is still keeping me. I am no longer useful in this life, I should go to the world beyond, but God is not seeing it that way.

    “I have stayed too long and I am no more enjoying this life. The pains associated with old age are not something you would wish to experience.  I don’t wish to live longer than this. It will be a relief for me to die now; I won’t pray to live longer than this because I’m plagued by the burden of old age already. I appreciate God for giving me long life but I will appreciate God the more if He takes me home now. I’m okay with the number of years that I have spent so far.  All my age mates are gone, I am the only one left, and I’m just here doing nothing. So it is better to go.”

    Asked how the eye challenge started, he said: “I don’t know. It started like a small problem; the eyes were itching me and after some time, I could no longer see with the eyes. For the past two years now, I can’t see with my eyes again.I have used native and orthodox therapies but the eyes refused to heal. People now say it is due to my age, I have to live with it.”

    In spite of his challenges, he admitted that God has been very kind to have kept him till date, saying:  “Yes, I know God loves me by  protecting me all this while. God gave me long life above my mates and blessed me with children; even my first wife, the one I wedded recently is still alive. I thank God for all these and several other things He has done for me.”

    Why I formalised my marriage 70 years after living with my wife

    Contrary to the feelings among the people that he did not do church wedding early in life because he wasn’t a Christian, Elder Dikam said:  “I have been a Christian all my life, I came from Christian parents. It was just that I could not have a church wedding since I had more than one wife. I was part of the people that laid the foundation of this church (the church in the village). I was part of those who brought the church to this village, so  I am a foundation member of this church.

    “It took me this long to wed because I had many wives and the church would not allow you to marry more than one if you want them to join you and your wife in the holy matrimony. So since I had more than one, there was no way I could go to the church for wedding.

    “I did the church wedding now because I am left with one wife. The rest died long ago and I am now left with one, that is why the church allowed me to have the church wedding. But all these happened as arranged by God Himself, it was not my making.

    “I had seven wives and 30 children before now but 13 of them have died leaving only 17 children. I can’t remember the name of my first child because he died few years after birth. I can’t remember his name, but I know he was a male child.”

    If he had the vigour to marry seven wives in his early days, he said taking a new wife is no longer in his agenda. Laughing, he said: “Haba!, I can’t! What for? I did that in the past but I can’t do that any longer.”

    How cow business made me wealthy

    Elder Dikam recounted that he was one of the wealthiest men in his community during his days following his involvement in buying and selling of cows which, he said, was a very lucrative business back then.

    “I have never worked in any government establishment all my life. I lived and worked as a cow trader and farmer all through. I was into the business of buying  and selling of cow. It was a lucrative trade that time. I would go to the Fulani people and buy cows and sell them to those that had hotels and those who had social functions, especially during Christmas and other festivities like marriage, burial, launching and so on. So anybody that had a ceremony to do always came to me to book for cows and I always delivered to them at the agreed time.

    “The biggest cows cost between £10 and £15  (translating to N20 and N30 per big cow). It was big money and it was only few people who could afford to own a car that could afford a cow. And I made a lot of gains. I made  an average of £2 from each cow and at times, it could  be more or less. Apart from buying and selling, I also reared cows. I would buy a new-born cow from the Fulani herdsmen and I would bring it home and feed it until it would become very big enough for me to sell it.

    “I was making more gains from that one and so I started keeping more cows until I had a flock of cattle. That made me one of the richest men in town because some other traders found it difficult to buy even a cow to resell when I had plenty of them. If you look at it from that perspective, I should be among the richest men living in my area then. That was why so many women got close to me and that was the reason why I had up to seven wives,” he narrated.

    My regret about Fulani herdsmen and  natives quarrel

    Looking back at the cordial relationship the natives in Plateau and the Fulani herdsmen enjoyed in the past, Elder Dikam expressed concern about the hostility among them in recent times.

    “I did the business for more than 50 years, but I was also into farming to feed my family. I used part of the gains I made from the cattle business to hire labourers to farm for me.

    There was no single problem between us and Fulani herdsmen back then. In fact, they were our best friends.  We had trust and confidence in one another. Many people in the village would take their sons and hand them over to the Fulani herdsmen to teach them how to graze cattle. That was the extent of the cordial relationship we had and enjoyed among ourselves. We depended on them to do a lot of things that time and they were ever willing to do that. But now, we hear Fulani fighting with the natives and vice versa. It never happened during our time.”

    My understanding of life then and now

    He further decried the decadence and violence in the larger society, describing life in the past as better than the present.

    “My son, life then was better than now. Life is not what it used to be.  There are so many atrocities now that were unheard of in the past. Now, people don’t have the kind of freedom we had and there is so much fear now. There are fears of thieves, fears of armed robbers, fears assassins, Boko Haram and many more. In our time, we never had such problems.

    “Today, children no longer listen to their parents, children are no longer afraid of their fathers and mothers. There is too much adultery and fornication.”

    My kind of food at this age

    With  his set of teeth almost falling off and the remaining already deprived of vigour as a result of old age, he said he has stopped eating meals that are capable of inconveniencing his feeble gum. “I now eat like a baby (laughs). I prefer to take pap throughout the day; I don’t enjoy tuwo anymore. I can’t eat meat or fish because my teeth are weak. I don’t like eating rice. But I do eat cooked potatoes because it is soft, that is all.”

    My advice for the younger generation

    As an old man who has seen it all in life, he advised the younger generation to take life seriously.

    “Children of nowadays are very lazy; they are not doing anything, they think they can get anything they like in life without doing anything. That is why they go and rape young girls because they cannot marry or feed a woman. They cannot farm and will not want to go to school either.

    “All they want is government work so that they can sit in one place and government will be paying them salary. That is why there is so much crime because youths are idle. They don’t want to use their strength to work. They want everything free. So I will advise them to use their power to make money and desist from all forms of criminal acts.”

  • This age that we live in

    In time, what youth deems to be crystal, age will find to be dew. Apology to Browning, but at no time has his rational thought attained greater realism than the present age. This age that we live in, we claim, is the age of the Nigerian youth. Thanks to the “wasted generation,” they have learnt to tell us what we love to hear: that we are the proverbial bastions of hope and sureties of a better tomorrow – even as they abort our dreams of bliss and we feed on the fetuses as hope, today.

    Such is the magnitude of duplicity we excite. In spite of the falsity we inflame, we have learnt to live for the benefits of the trifling and maleficent. And when the glitter begins to dim and the applause of the gallery begins to peter out, we recline to do what we have learnt to do best; we mount our soap boxes and curse the times; we blame everybody and everything but ourselves for the emptiness we personify, always.

    Just so hollow and ineffectual are our lives today that for the most part, our wantonness and insatiable lust for wealth smothers that towering humanity that we ought to live for. “Wealth at all cost…Craftiness above sweat!” becomes the mantra and mighty levers by which we seek fulfillment and perpetuation of the Nigerian dream. Thrift and toil and saving that were once unimpeachable sureties to dependable hopes and fresh possibilities are today, guiding principles of the “weak” and “slothful” according to the 21st century Nigerian youth.

    Today, we seek the benefits of the chase and scorn the chase, except in infinite circumstances in which we pervert the context of the pursuit to chance on success. We elevate material prosperity as the touchstone of all successes and already the fatal might of this persuasion consumes us overwhelmingly, replacing the finer type of Nigerian youth with vulgar fortune hunters.

    That is why today, our banks are riddled with youthful bankers adept at stealing and fleecing poor, unsuspecting customers of their hard-earned savings. That is why today, our offices are plagued with promising youths able at adding limitless zeros to the back of every numeral with a Naira sign. That is why today, our podiums reverberate with the footsteps and platitudes of cunning and undeniably lazy youths remarkably versed at regurgitating stolen anecdotes to their intellectually challenged peers at random.

    Today the promising youths that we are, parade ourselves as willing muscles for devious politicians and criminal masterminds with a “master plan.” Such promising youths we have amongst us whose ministries traverse “Advocacy,” “Mentoring” and whatever fancy title aptly befits their “Ministry.” What are they advocating? Who are they mentoring? In pursuit of what? Money…maddening stacks of craftily earned money. Need I mention the doctor, nurse, journalist, internet scammer, accountant, policeman, and student whose hearts dangerously skip at the mention of every speedy shortcut to the good life?

    The tragedy of today’s youth lies not in our catastrophic unity in pursuit of devastating fortune and self-destruct, but in our perpetual inclination to delude ourselves by subscribing to the farce that we are the next best hope to happen to our ailing fatherland. A broad wave of disillusionment and darkness yet hangs above the silver linings we desperately hope to succeed our darksome clouds. Yet with precision and unfaltering devotion, we work ourselves up into such a state in which we can only see the volcanic flare of our destructive acts as glitters of grandeur.

    Just some few months back, during the April general elections to be precise, certain characters were erroneously identified as youth leaders amongst the nation’s youth and they were therefore, courted by the ruling class. The objective was to win their support and eventually, the overwhelming goodwill and patronage of the Nigerian youth. They did win their support and apparently, the patronage of a major percentage of the Nigerian youth.

    Today, we reap the benefits of self-deceit. It hardly matters if President Goodluck Jonathan and company are everything we thought they would be or they promised to be – we get what we deserve. We deserve the incumbent administration. And come 2015, we shall elect such characters that we deserve.

    Today it makes little difference what we think or dream, we lack the will and beaming brightness of morality to actualize it. The ferment of our striving towards self-realization is to the order of the universe like a cog within a wheel: beneath our brazen display of will are smaller but like problems of ideals, of tact, of leaders and the led, of poverty, of courage and cowardice, of tribalism and corruption, of order and subordination, and, through it all, the problem of self-deception.

    Very few of us know of these problems, and the few that are intelligent enough to know are too unintelligent to do anything about it; and yet here we are, awaiting a miracle, a messiah or another martyr to sacrifice on our altar of hollowness and self deception. In the thick of it all, we suffer the slow, steady disappearance of a certain type of Nigerian,—the hopeful, faithful, dependable patriot with incorruptible honesty and dignified humility.

    Never in the history of this potentially great nation have we witnessed such decadence as we have now. The Nigerian youth, despite our clamour for change, are caught in the vicious grip of our innate will. Our agitations for change are simply whimsical, their cadences and deployment for change are wholly determined by the promontories of our vanities, the ancient axe of fate and nemesis of humanity.

    Like the “wasted generation,” we seem to accept and joyously celebrate the ridiculous and passionate belief that somewhere between men and cattle; God created a tertium quid, and called it Nigerian. But uncomplicated as they are, our wanton inclinations have become virtually intolerable by even you and me. Our clownish, simple strivings that at the outset, made us tolerable within our limitations, have manifested as excruciating yokes choking us all, to the death. Hence we cry out and predictably direct our anger and grief at the wrong culprits: the ruling class.

    Why should we continue to attack and blame President Goodluck Jonathan and company for the shamefulness that our lives depicts? We should be ashamed to lay the death of our hopes, unalterable poverty among other things at their doorsteps knowing that like us, they are caught in a similar vortex of wantonness, mental and psychological handicaps. Even the whole world knows that the ruling class as we have it now, merely constitutes a tangle of thorns and forest shrubs; in time, they will wither and die off – if we cannot man up and clear them over.

    Our talk and dream is to become such men and women of character that Nigeria is yet to herald but behind our talk and fantasy lurks an afterthought and unavoidable reality of our inability to become the men and women of character that Nigeria deserves.

    We are no better than our “wasted” elders. For all the genius and vaunted depth of our self-styled youth leaders, the best we could do is rehash the idiocy and incapacities of our ruling class. Surface meets surface.

    • To be continued…

  • My sister felt she would live, says Ekiti deputy governor’s sibling

    My sister felt she would live, says Ekiti deputy governor’s sibling

    It was all gloomy yesterday at the 25, Royal Palm Drive, Osborne Foreshore Estate II, Ikoyi, Lagos home of the late Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, as sympathisers trooped in commiserate with her family.

    Mrs Olayinka died on Saturday in Lagos after a long battle with cancer.

    To her younger sister, Mrs. Fehintola Tade-Adekunle, who spoke on behalf of the family members, a role model is gone.

    According to her, the deceased was optimistic she would recover. “No one will call me ‘kora’ again, Mrs Tade-Adekunle said, adding: “She gave me the pet name because I was very fair as a baby. Growing up with sister Funmi was fun.

    “I fed her at the hospital last week. She was strong and optimistic she would make it. She told me we will sit together in the house once she was discharged from the hospital.

    “She was a rallying point. She was very optimistic of making it through. She never gave up on her bed. She was still active and talked with us even on her bed.

    “She was our role model, mother and everything. She was always interested in everybody and carried everyone along, such that you would never know ours was a polygamous home.”

    Mrs. Tade-Adekunle noted that the late Mrs Olayinka, who was the first of six girls in the family of 10 children, was a strong woman who competed among men without intimidation.

    “She was very hardworking. Except for her looks, everything about her is manly. She usually called us ‘the girls’ and would ask after everybody regularly.

    “Her death is still a joke – to me. I still feel like she is still sleeping. I just want to wake up and realise I have been dreaming. Life without her will be so tedious.

    “Even as a deputy governor, her commitment to the family did not shake. She was still sending us text messages and prayers. If you called her and she was not able to pick your call, sister Funmi would ensure your call was returned, even if it was midnight.

    “We were happy and stood beside her throughout the struggle. We are happy she was committed in her service to our people. She was a beacon of hope.”

    Among sympathisers that thronged the deceased’s home were former Ogun State Governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba; Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu; Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and her Ogun State counterpart, Segun Adesegun; House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele; Senator Olurunimbe Mamora, as well as Lagos Commissioner for Environment Tunji Bello.

    Osoba, who was sober, neither signed the condolence register nor spoke with journalists.

    Akeredolu, who spoke after commiserating with the deceased’s husband, Olayinka and three children, Yeside, Lolade and Olumide, noted that her death has left a big vacuum in leadership.

    He said he had called the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, about five days ago to enquire about the state of her health and was told that she was getting better.

    “It was a shock to hear few days later that she had died. Funmi had been ill for a while, no doubt, but we were hopeful she would make it.

    “Funmi will be remembered for her unflinching support and loyalty to her governor, Fayemi, when he was struggling to reclaim the Ekiti mandate.

    “She was with him in every step of the way and, together, they were inseparable. We all saw her as the only person that stood beside him almost everywhere.

    “She will be missed and I pray God will grant the state and the family the fortitude to bear the loss.”

    Akeredolu said the late Mrs. Olayinka would always be remembered for her dignified poise and sartorial splendour.

    To Mamowora, the deputy governor’s death was a pity and sad loss.

    He said: “It is a pity that we lost her at this point in time. She was a very amiable person, especially with her infectious smile.

    She carried herself with dignity deserving her office. Of course, she did not carry her office on her head.

    “She gave her job the best she could, and was always willing to lend a helping hand. Funmi left a legacy and the family should take solace in the fact that it was God’s will.”

    Adesegun, who signed the condolence register, said: “It is a sad loss, beyond words and I pray that God in His infinite mercies will grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss”.

    Bamidele described the late Mrs Olayinka as a diligent woman with grace.

    “I know that all the people of Ekiti State, her family and the entire nation will miss her greatly.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Boy,3, requires N2.5m to live

    Boy,3, requires N2.5m to live

    Three-year-old Praise-God Olafisoye has a life-threatening ailment. He has a hole in his heart and needs N2.5 million for corrective surgery in India. He has dropped out of school and cannot play with his friends because of the ailment. Olatunde Odebiyi writes.

     

    He is three, an age at which he should be running around with his peers. Praise-God Olafisoye has no luxury for that because he is in pains from a life threatening ailment. He has a hole in his heart.

    At such a tender age, he is shouldering a burden bigger than him. He cannot play like his mates; he is always confined to a spot to keep him from aggravating the disease.

    He needs N2.5million for corrective surgery. But his father, Mr Oluwafemi Olafisoye cannot afford that amount. His carpentry job doesn’t fetch him enough money to feed his family let alone pay his son’s medical bill.

    Since he cannot shoulder the responsibility, he is calling on Nigerians to help save his son.

    Olafisoye said he was told five months ago that Praise-God has a hole in the heart and that if not operated in time, the boy would die.

    He said this is why he is seeking financial help to save his son.

    He said: “So far my wife, Nnena and I have only raised N452,365 but this amount is not enough to perform the surgery.”

    He said Praise-God cannot play the way he used to before the diagnosis, stressing that for his age he is already frustrated.

    Olafisoye said: “Whenever he wants to play rough, I stop him because of his health and that makes him feel he is a bit different from other children. It would mean the whole world to me to see my son fully recovered. I know he is the kind of child who enjoys being in the company of friends.

    “When Praise-God was born, he was hale and hearty; we never noticed any form of illness in him. But after some time, I observed that his head was bigger than before, I told his mum but she thought it was nothing since it did not affect him in any way. After one and a half years, I started noticing some changes in his body. He started bending down often. He could do that many times in a day. His tongue was becoming blue black and he became lean. His breathing too was faster, most times, than normal and he developed teary eyes with changes in the colour of the pupils of his eyes.

    “Praise-God would lose his appetite and often refuse to eat. Whenever this happens, I usually give him vitamin B complex which helps him to eat. His favourite food is Indomie noodles and egg. I also give him eye drop whenever there are tears in his eyes.”

    He said he took him to a Primary Health Care (PHC) centre in Agege area of Lagos State last June where he was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    “It was there it was discovered that he has a hole in his heart after taking X-ray and doing echocardiograph –test,” he said.

    A medical report by the hospital said Praise-God is a three year-old patient of the Paediatric Cardiology Unit of LASUTH, Ikeja.

    “He is being managed as a case of Congenital Heart Disease (Tetralogy of fallot). He requires surgical intervention,” the report said.

    His father said to maintain the boy’s health, he uses ‘propraniolol’ a drug bought in the hospital but compounded for free.

    He said before his son was diagnosed he used to give him ‘Aminopem’ and ‘Gideon blood tonic’.

    Olafisoye said Praise-God was a Kg 1 student of Divine Favour Private School in Ogun State before he was stopped due to his ill health.

    Olafisoye said his wife is a petty trader who sells provisions, lives at Iyana Abule area of Ogun State with rest of the family.

    He said he has made efforts to get financial help from the Lagos State Ministry of Health and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola but nothing had been forthcoming.

    He urged well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organisations and firms to come to the aid of his son.

    Olafisoye said an account was opened in his son’s name. Account Name: PraiseGod Oluwaseun Olafisoye, First Bank: Account Number: 3065255475 or call his father on 07062033976.

     

    What is hole in the heart?

    A term that often conjures up some very obscure images, a hole in the heart is not as uncommon as most people think. The correct terminology for this condition is called septal defect because in patients with a ‘hole in the heart’, the septum (which is the tissue that divides the heart into chambers) develops with a valve-like gap. In the developing foetus this gap exists in order to maintain the circulation of the baby and usually closes after birth but in some this does not occur and the gap remains open.

     

    Causes

     

    Although there is no known exact cause for the problem occurring it is thought there is a connection between the expectant mother having had German measles or if the pregnant person has developed a condition called toxoplasmosis after having contact with infected cat excrement.

    In many cases, however, no cause is ever found and it is simply something that occurs as the baby grows. that is why it is known as a congenital condition.

     

    Treatment

     

    the range of treatment depends upon how the individual is managing the problem. As many people are unaware they have the condition it is not always necessary to treat it and the treatment may cause more damage or offer more risk than simply leaving it alone.

    In small babies and youngsters the hole often closes as the person matures whilst others will find they are suffering more with their breathing as they age and will discuss with a specialist which course of treatment will work for them. Sometimes, the treatment will involve the use of a catheter (narrow but long tube) being fed into the circulatory system via an incision in your leg or groin. This catheter is guided to the defect following which a small device like an umbrella is inserted and opened which is placed over the defect. This is often the best form of treatment but may not be effective for everyone.

    Surgery is frequently an option and involves a major operation in which a graft is placed over the defect and effectively closes the gap.

    If major surgery is the only option it is important that the patient is in otherwise good health to ensure effective and speedy recovery.

    A hole in the heart may be a potential problem in the future and depends on the location and severity of the defect but for many it causes no major problems and will not need treating.

     

  • Ideas that live

    Ideas that live

    Steve Biko was one of the iconic figures of the South African struggle against the racist, oppressive and immoral system of apartheid. Throughout his involvement in the struggle, and especially in his last days, he epitomised the best in the tradition of resistance movement, defying the arrogance of the operators of a system that denied its victims one of the most precious gifts of the creator—freedom and justice. In the end, he was brutally murdered in prison. But he left a lasting legacy with words to guide and advance the cause for which he died. He reminded us that “it is better to die for an idea that lives than to live for an idea that dies.” These words, crafted on the commemorative stone that marked Biko’s final resting place are worthy of the attention of intelligent human beings.

    It is better to die for an idea that lives because in the life of the idea, the immortality of the dead is assured. On the other hand, living for an idea that dies makes one a living dead. We still remember the like of Steve Biko and Martin Luther King Jr. Indeed Dr. King has his memorial monument alongside those of former presidents in the prime real estate of the United States capital while those who tormented him and organised his premature death lived in ignominy, and, in death no one remembers any of them.

    Freedom has long been recognised as the inalienable gift of the creator to human beings. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher of the enlightenment era agonised over the plight of humans in political societies when he observed that “man is born free but is everywhere in chains.” Whether in the bondage of enslavement, colonial domination, racial oppression, or pseudo democratic arrangements that deny the humanity of citizens, the struggle for freedom and justice have always loomed large. These are the ideas that live. It is the struggle for the realisation of these ideals that move nations and societies to the centre stage of history.

    Our societies have not lagged behind in such endeavours even though it is disheartening, as I would argue, that the burden of the struggles has been disproportionately endured by a few while the freeloaders almost always end up the beneficiaries of the successful outcome. For, while the struggle may be long and brutal, it almost always ended up with victory for the ideas that live. It cannot be otherwise. The human being is not made for bondage or injustice. The spirit would always reject oppression and tyranny. And even those that for selfish reasons side with oppression while it lasts will always take full advantage of its demise to advance the same self interest.

    There are copious resources from our history. The struggle against colonial imposition pitted natives against natives, with some siding with the colonisers. And the battle for independence tarried for a while because of indecision on the part of some about its benefits. In the end, those that hesitated and slowed down the process turned out to be the greatest beneficiaries of the struggle.

    Independence was earned on the proverbial platter of gold because there was no formal war of independence. But those who lost individual rights and privileges because they stuck out their necks knew what they endured.

    Then democratic governance descended into the hell of military dictatorship and the struggle for freedom assumed a different dimension as an internal one among citizens with different ideas of governance. While the military might claim that circumstances forced them to take over and defend national integrity, there was no denying the fact that the hard-earned freedom was in jeopardy. Th e same individuals and groups rallied to its cause, fought the military and won the battle, not without a significant loss of lifes and property.

    In the struggle against military tyranny, there was the usual corps of egotists for whom it is better to live for an idea that dies. They were the praise singers, the fifth columnists, and the plain traitors to the cause of freedom. They were the ones who, while not clearly preferring servitude to freedom, sought to advance their interests at the expense of the larger whole and the integrity of the nation. They enjoyed the patronage of their military friends while it lasted but the idea for which they live has since suffered a fatal assault. Now, they cannot proudly reference their once passionately held convictions. Isn’t this sufficient lesson for everyone to steer clear of ideas that die?

    At present there is another battle going on between ideas that live and ideas that die. This is actually not a different battle; it’s just another front of the same old battle. It is still the battle for the fullness of freedom. The nature of our independence from colonisation meant that we are to be one entity without regard to ethnic or national identities. We concurred because it was a condition for freedom. But then we accepted our differences and agreed that the best means of enlarging our freedom is to preserve our various cultures and languages through a federal system of governance universally acknowledged as the most effective method of governance in a multi-national society.

    The abrupt end to the independence and republican constitutions which gave teeth to that understanding dealt a fatal blow to the practice of federalism replacing it with military unitarism. The idea of militarism has since died but the concomitant idea of unitarism has not been discarded. Why?

    The reason that unitarism has not been discarded is because there are still those who live for an idea that dies. There are still those egotists who benefit from the sustenance of decadence and whose sole purpose in life is not the immortality of existence through the promotion of ideas that live. They are attracted to unitarism for as long as they command the levers of power and are in the position to dole out favours. But it is certain that unitarism will go the way of other ideas that die and their present promoters will, again, shamelessly turn out to embrace true federalism and its attendant benefits. In the fullness of time, it will all happen before our very eyes. It always does.