The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MAN

  • The president is a good man

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a good man.  Look at his gentle mien and unassuming carriage in spite of being the President of the most populous black nation on planet earth.   Look at how he is transforming Nigeria; the news media; the tabloids, tubes and online publications are awash with the benevolent achievements of the President.  Look at the roads, the airports, railways, power sector to name but a few.  Forget about the facts that there are no physical evidence on the ground; just tune to the Nigerian Television Authorities (NTA) and paid adverts in other media houses.  Recall the 2011 General Elections, the President had an overwhelming majority across the geopolitical zone because the Nigerian people love him as a good man.   Even though the baboons and the dogs were soaked in blood when the result was out, the election was relatively free and fair and the President genuinely won that election fair and square.

    His transformation programme commenced shortly after he was sworn.   First, he removed the controversial subsidy on petroleum products and hiked fuel prices as a reward to the people and kerosene became out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians.   When Nigerians went to the street in protest, the security forces and police fired live ammunition and killed scores of people. The President would rather hurt the poor masses than take on the corrupt officials responsible for the failure of the subsidy regime.   It was easier and better for the government to make the poor masses bear the burden and subsidize the ineptitude of government officials and rogue elements in the petroleum industry.   Everybody can attest to the fact that the President is a good man.  Look at those officials fingered for grafts of monumental proportions in his cabinet; aviation, petroleum and the interior.  Rather than bring them to book, the President rose stoutly to proselyte in their defence giving us presidential distinction between official corruption and stealing.

    Again, look at the mega seizure of $9 million and $5 million respectively by the South African government on a botched arms deal to tackle insecurity and the insurgency in the North-east.  Driven by patriotism, the President maintained golden silence while the South African authorities found it exciting to bathe the nation in the murky water of corruption in the market square.   Only his garrulous and loquacious Special Assistants (SAs) took the air waves to insult the intelligence of the people and expose their puerile logic.

    The President is a good man; look at those felons of yesterday and political fugitives who even disguised as women to escape arrest in UK.   He not only pardoned them, he also honoured them with Nigeria’s National Merit award.   Can you beat that?   He is all over the churches and recently he declared for the Anglicans and bagged the highest ecclesiastical Anglican award, the first of its kind.   His detractors and political enemies want him to be like a Pharaoh or a General.   As a good man he even forgot that he is the Commander-in-Chief and indeed, that all the Generals are supposed to be under him.

    His detractors wanted him to visit Chibok after the abduction and kidnapping of over 200 school girls by the Boko Haram.   The President would rather act the statesman that he is; the imperial majesty.  It is not statesmanlike for a ruler to visit indigent people struck by misfortune.  It is the bereaved that should rather pay homage to their king in the moment of calamity. Critics and opposition who would not understand keep pestering the Chief Executive of Nigeria to perform.   The sins of the President’s traducers and opposition are legion.   They want him to be a performing President.   They want him to take charge and be in control and make Nigeria take its rightful place among the comity of nations.

    The President is a good man that is why people fight for him in all things.   Look at those perceived irritant governors who had the audacity to stand to his authority, ordinary police commissioners fought for him and caged the lion in them while the state House of Assembly members sack the others as many more sit on edge.  His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan is a good man.   This is not because he has goodluck attached to his name.     As if that was not enough, he had no shoes when he was growing up which also showed a quintessential Nigerian grassroots man.  He is an academic doctor of a fine breed by dint of hard work.   I understand he was even a teacher in a College of Education somewhere in Rivers State; I am not sure now.    He is soft-spoken and an introvert.

    He was loyal to his principals and political masters and subservient to a fault.   When he was the Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State, he was seen but rarely heard until his boss caught a tiger by the tail, and was impeached.   As a good man, he was sworn in as the substantive governor of Bayelsa State.   Mother luck shone on him again when former President Obasanjo handpicked him to be President Yar’Adua’s running mate.   When the Nigerian power cabal tried to scheme him out of the power equation, he watched the bizarre drama go into melodramatic fever pitch.

    Nigerians rose up in their numbers and fought for him, and the doctrine of necessity was invoked which brought him in as President of the Federal Republic.   This broke the broke the jinx of monopoly of power by the so-called majority ethnic groups and gave hope that any Nigerian can aspire to the highest office in the land.    This was how the reluctant good man became President.   He has all the attributes of a gentleman notwithstanding his remote humble background and upbringing.   When the President served out the tenure of his late former boss, some political hawks wanted to fence him off from further serving Nigeria because of mere gentleman’s agreement his political platform had which he found convenient to ignore, breach, disregard and broke.    Nigerians should not leave the adoption and endorsement of the President as the only qualified candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the card carrying members and the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) only.     Those who think he is not a good leader or under- performing should not forget that Nigerians have not chosen a good or performing leader yet.   When we make up our mind, we can do it and get the leader that will see himself as commander-in-chief and take bold and courageous decisions.   Good men do not make history, courageous people do.  Good men do not bring about historical change in the life of a nation but brave men do. True, visible physical transformation will only come from a brave and courageous leadership not from a good man.   Look around the world today; the people bring about the change they want: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Indonesia and even the just concluded Mid-term Elections in the United States of America where the Republicans now hold sway in both houses.  Rise up and bring about the change you want; The President is a good man.

    • Kebonkwu Esq. writes from Abuja

  • My wife’s attitude forces me to sleep inside vehicle, alleges man

    •Wife: you’re fetish

    When I asked my wife why she soaked all my clothes in water, she said she was sent to destroy me. Whenever she starts her trouble, I will leave the house to sleep in a vehicle.”

    Those were the words of 36-year-old auto mechanic, Jimoh Hassan, as he prayed the Customary Court in Alakuko, a Lagos suburb, to dissolve his marriage to his wife, Jibola, over her alleged troublesome attitude.

    According to him, It got to a point that I was putting on my brother’s clothes because my wife had burnt all my clothes. Even when I decide to sleep in the house, I am always scared because of her terrible attitude.

    “She never shows any remorse when she steals my money; instead, she would call my bluff. If our marriage is dissolved, I want our child in my custody.”

    However, the 34-year-old woman said: “The problem started when my husband began to have an affair with a woman in her house. I can’t fathom why he loves the woman because she has three children for three different men. He gives her N1000, while he gives me N500 daily. My husband stopped buying foodstuff from the day he started having sexual relationship with the woman.

    “He doesn’t believe in repairing damaged items in the house, but prefers to sell them. My husband stopped eating at home when I complained that the N500 he gave me during the last Ileya festival was too small. I have always endured it all. But I would say he tried to be smarter by bringing our case to the court before me.

    “My husband claimed to be broke, so he declined to give me N5000 to start another business. But it was a great shock to me when I learnt that he paid the woman’s daughter’s medical bill when she was hospitalised.”

    Jibola also accused her husband of being fetish, saying: “After I destroyed some fetish stuff that he kept in the house, a strange boil developed in my son’s body. The boil discharges some smelly pus; and when the pus splashes on any other part of the body, another boil will grow on the spot. As of now, it is still a mystery to me why my son is afflicted with that strange ailment. Now, both my husband and the woman have stopped sleeping in the house. But sometimes, the woman sneaks into the house in the morning.

    “But in spite of his attitude, I still love my husband very much.”

    The union, which was not contracted under the Native and Customary Law, is blessed with a child.

    The court President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, ordered Hassan to be giving his wife N8000 monthly, since he claimed to be giving her N2000 weekly.

    He advised the parties not to invade each other’s privacy and adjourned the case till November 10.

  • Igiebor receives Man of the Match Award

    Igiebor receives Man of the Match Award

    Super Eagles AFCON 2013 winner, Nosa Igiebor, was voted man of the match after scoring once and assisting in another in Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-2 victory over Asdod.

    He hit the back of Ashdod net with a trademark powerful shot finish in the 34th minute, after providing an assist to Omri Ben Harush for Maccabi’s second goal.

    Igiebor pipped his teammate Eran Zahavi, who scored twice in the game, to the award.

    He appears to have rediscoverd himself back in his comfort zone in Israel, after struggling to make headway with Real Betis in the Spanish La-Liga the past two seasons.

    The victory helped Tel Aviv maintain their strong start to the Israeli league after six games as they are presently second behind Ironi.

  • Multiple taxation discourages investment, says MAN

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Rivers and Bayelsa states has identified the challenge of multiple taxation on businesses in Rivers State as major problem militating against investment and business growth in the state.

    MAN also identified poor power supply and road network across the country as bane to reducing poverty and unemployment which it says drive insecurity.

    Its chairman in the two states, Emelia Akpan stated these in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital while unveiling its forthcoming 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM), in Port Harcourt “Developing SMEs in Rivers and Bayelsa states” as its theme.

    Akpan lamented the effects of series of taxes charged on the businesses of his members and alleged that Rivers State parades one of the highest number of tax lists in the country. He stressed that it has multiplier effects on poverty, unemployment and insecurity.

    According to her, charging  several taxes on a particular business has the tendency to frustrate growth of existing businesses, discourage the emergence of new ones and encourage relocation to other states that have friendly tax charges.

    She also noted that poor  power supply puts pressure on  production by hiking cost and subsequently market price of their products. She called on governments at all levels to come to their aid, by creating enabling environments for businesses to thrive in the country.

    She maintained that developing countries grow their economy from Small and Medium Sized (SMEs) and appealed for encouragement from governments and members of the public by way of patronage.

    Earlier, Akpan had thanked the state governor, Chibuike Amaechi   for providing good road network in the state adding that he has demonstrated high sense of responsibility in the area of road construction in the state, and expressed the hope that things would get better.

    She said: “On multiple taxation, Rivers Sate has one of the highest taxation lists in the whole federation. This is discouraging manufacturing and hindering the chances to reduce unemployment in the state.

    “We want to believe that the government is not aware of these, because the development has the tendency to discourage new investors, collapse existing businesses or even make them leave the state.

    “I am aware that no government will like this kind of thing; we therefore call on him to intervene in the situation.”

  • Man freed from death row

    A 30-year-old man, Monday Ilade Prosper, has been released from the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison 11 years after he was sentenced to death. He spent eight years on death row.

    He was barely 18 in 2003 when he was charged with armed robbery in Benin City for forcefully collecting his salary from his employer. He was a private driver to an industrialist who allegedly refused to pay him for three months.

    As his employer withdrew money from a bank, Prosper threw sand on his face, took the bag of money, counted out his salary and returned the balance, as was reported.

    He was arrested and charged with armed robbery, convicted and sentenced to death in 2006 by the Edo State High Court.

    Prosper waited for the hangman for eight years in great trauma, especially with the resumed executions last year.

    But the Court of Appeal in Benin allowed his appeal and overturned his conviction and sentence. The court held that the evidence was ‘spurious’ and the prosecution’s case was too weak for a conviction for armed robbery.

    A group, the Legal Defence & Assistance Project (LEDAP), which has in the last decade litigated over 210 cases of persons charged with capital offences or convicted and sentenced to death, called for capital punishment abolition.

    Its National Coordinator, Chino Obiagwu, in a statement, quoted Prosper as saying: “It is time to abolish the death penalty. Many of my friends on CC (condemned cell) in Kirikiri are innocent. I know that as a fact. It is true.”

  • Man, who has not urinated since January, needs N9m for kidney transplant

    For 43-YEAR-OLD Okechukwu Okoro, life has been so tough. He has not urinated since January– no thanks to a kidney problem that requires N9m to rectify. Okoro, who is resident in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, is from Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.  He is on admission at the male medical/surgical ward of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

    The young man’s wife, Chinenye, stated in Port Harcourt that her husband was diagnosed of End Stage Kidney Failure, with the two kidneys affected and had been sustaining his life through dialysis three times a week, since September 2013.

    Chinenye said: “My husband is now on maintenance dialysis three times a week. The cost of dialysis, with blood transfusion, iron sucrus injection, recormon injection, glucometer, pre and post-dialysis tests is N54,000 per session, at three times a week, totalling N162,000. For one month, it is N648,000.

    “According to medical advice, the only solution to save the life of my husband is transplanting of kidney and one year anti-rejection drugs, which is N9 million. We cannot afford the money.

    “I am pleading with government, corporate and non-governmental organisations, individuals and other members of the public to assist us, so that my husband will survive. Support should please be sent to: Okechukwu Okoro, GTB – 0139571638.”

    Chinenye also presented a letter from the Renal Unit of UPTH, signed by Dr. C. Wachukwu, a Consultant Nephrologist, affirming that Okechukwu is on admission in the hospital and suffering from end stage kidney failure.

    Wachukwu noted that survival of Okoro depended on life-long maintenance dialysis or kidney transplant, stressing that both modalities of treatment are expensive, requiring a minimum of $40,000 or the local equivalent, not within the reach of average patient.

  • Man found dead in Kaduna

    A 34-year-old graduate of Business Administration from Kaduna Polytechnic, Moshood Mohammed, was the yesterday found dead at NASFAT Village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    Mohammed was reported missing last Thursday.

    According to his brother, Kamal Yinka, Mohammed left Kaduna on Thursday morning to join a friend, who was supposed to take him to Ilorin in Kwara State, their country home, for a wedding scheduled for the weekend.

    Yinka said: “We were surprised to see his friend two hours later, who said he waited for Mohammed at Mando Roundabout but didn’t see him. We thought it was joke until this morning (Sunday) when we found his body around NASFAT Village.

    “His death is a big blow to our family because Moshood was a young man with a promising future. He just got married and has a two-month-old baby. He just got employed and his aged mother and immediate family were dependent on him.

    “We suspect that he was assassinated, but by who? We don’t know. So, we are leaving the assassins to God. If it is his position in the office they are interested in, let them have it. God will judge.”

    Police Commissioner Umar Shehu said: “I am not aware of the case, please call the PPRO.”

    Police spokesman Aminu Lawan didn’t pick his call.

  • The ‘great’ man in Jonathan’s kitchen

    The Head of the Presidential Stewards in the State House, Abuja, Mr. Onuh Michael, was a shining star last Monday when he stepped out alongside 313 others to receive national honours from his boss, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Onuh, who has put in over 30 years as a steward, has an unbroken record of serving nine presidents from Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s to Jonathan’s administrations.

    He has been attending to the domestic needs of the first family, which has given him opportunities to travel to so many countries, including the United States, Libya, Venezuela and Jerusalem.

    Not only was the 59-year-old steward, who lives in a rented apartment at Karu, Nasarawa State, given Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) Award at the 2014 National Honours Award at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, for meritoriously serving nine presidents, he was also among the three award recipients singled out for free housing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Before the award was given to him, he had earlier admitted that he had accommodation challenges, saying: “The regret I have is that for someone that has been working for his country for over 30 years, it is not good that I don’t have my own accommodation. I live at the outskirts of the city (in Karu, Nasarawa State) in a rented house.

    “My greatest challenge is coming all the way to work from a very far distance every day. Waking up by 3:00 a.m. to be at work and closing in the early hours of the morning only to be back again very early to work is a big challenge for me.” After receiving the award and listed among those to get free accommodation in the FCT, he expressed gratitude to President Jonathan for putting smiles on his face.

    He said: “The President is always full of surprises. He has done it again today.

    “I thank my God that I am witnessing this in my lifetime, that I am now a landlord in Abuja. I will ever be grateful to him.”

    Speaking on the Head of Presidential Steward at the 2014 National Honours Award, President Jonathan said: “A very dedicated steward who has survived every heads of state loyally since President Shehu Shagari. From Shagari till today, to have survived about nine presidents and nine first ladies, you must be a great man.”

  • 60 cheers to a good man

    60 cheers to a good man

    Olayinka Olanrewaju Ogunbiyi, a principal manager with the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), has celebrated his 60th birthday and retirement from service. The event was held at the Jubilee Hall of the Lagos Country Club in Ikeja, Lagos. OLATUNDE ODEBIYI reports. 

    It was an afternoon of celebration and an occasion to share in the joy of a good man. Members of the Lagos Country Club and some staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), family and friends came to the venue in choice traditional attires. Many used the silver head gears/caps chosen for the occasion.

    They came to rejoice with an engineer, Mr Olayinka Ogunbiyi, on the occasion of his 60th birthday and retirement from service. He retired as the principal manager in the distribution department of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) after serving for about 32 years.

    The Jubilee Hall of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, was decorated with pink and white fabrics and lightings all over.

    Divine Muzik, a life band, entertained guests.

    Pastor Oluwole Olatimehin of the True Divine Evangelical Ministry in Lagos said the opening prayer.

    The celebrator and his wife, Omokehinde, entered the hall in the company of friends and family members dancing to the music supplied by the band. Ogunbiyi wore blue linen Agbada and a pink cap. His male children wore the same linen but in different styles.   His wife wore blue lace blouse and wrapper with pink head gear, ipele, a pair of shoes and bag to match. Her female children also wore the same blue lace but made in choice beautiful styles.

    Pastor Olatimehin, in his short sermon, said it was good to celebrate one’s birthday because it would help you number your days and compare your life with God’s standard and requirement.

    He urged the gathering to live their lives in accordance to the purpose of God.

    “Be guided by God on a daily basis, follow His direction, fear Him and seek His wisdom. Let your treasure be in God and not in money, sex, power, houses, cars, corruption and all other fleshy desire,” he said.

    The chairman on the occasion, the Otunba of Igboholand in Oyo State, Otunba Olawuwo Oni, congratulated the celebrator and welcomed him to the ‘age of those getting younger.’ He described retirement from service as a life-time achievement, wishing him well on his journey.

    He said the celebrator is a loyal and committed friend.

    “He is a brilliant professional and a good man on his job,” he said.

    Some of the guests were also called to talk about the celebrator.

    A chartered accountant, Adeleke Elujoba, urged the celebrator to continue his good works, saying he has touched many lives.

    A retired engineer from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10, Mr Titus Adedeji, described the celebrator as humble, reliable, and transparent.

    Ogunbiyi, he said, is a man that has helped and is still helping so many people in diverse ways.

    Mr Babatunde Okunuga, a friend to the celebrator, described him as a complete gentle man.

    “He is quiet to a fault; he does not want to offend anyone and would therefore go out to all the way he can to ensure everyone is comfortable. He makes sure he attends to whatever problem people have anywhere,” he said.

    The celebrator and his wife, Omokehinde, took to the stage to cut cake. The three- step white cake with pink design was cut at the spelling of J-E-S-U-S.

    A session of photographs followed, during which guests dropped their gifts for the celebrator.

    The party continued with dance as family, friends, colleague and club members   were called one after the other.

    The celebrator said the day was his happiest.

    “I thank God for sparing my life till today. I won’t say I am fulfilled yet, but I thank God for what he has done today and I am hopeful that things will continue to be fine,” he said.

    Ogunbiyi added: “I am the Chairman in Brilliant Esteem Private School, I want to go into agriculture and I am still a consultant in PHCN. Life till 60 has taught me to be humble and diligent and I thank God because I never had a day of sickness.”

    His wife Omokehinde, the Proprietress of Brilliant Esteem Private School, gave God thanks on the life of her husband.

    “My husband is a good man to me; he is a nice father to the children, younger and elder brother to his family and he is a good in-law. He is a friend indeed; I wish him sound health and that he will not be tired as he is retiring,” she said.

  • ‘My husband caught me in hotel with another man’

    •She’s adulterous, man tells court

    A 40-year-old liquor vendor, Mudirat Yusuf, has told a Customary Court in Lagos that she cheated on her husband, Hakeem Yusuf.

    “Yes, it is true that my husband caught me in a hotel with another man, but we have settled it”, she told the Alagbado Customary Court, where her husband is asking for the dissolution of their 23-year-old union.

    Yusuf, a fruit seller and commercial motorcycle operator, is alleging that his wife is adulterous.

    He said: “The problem started 15 years after we got married. I hear some married women engage in extramarital sex, but I had never imagined my wife involving in such an undisciplined act. I was, however, embarrassed when my friends said they saw my wife and a man walk into a hotel.

    “On that day, I had gone to join my friends at an open bar in the neighbourhood and while we were having fun, they suddenly chorused:

    “So, you and your wife came to have some ‘nice time’ at the hotel today?” I smiled and told them that I left my wife at home with our children. But surprisingly, they said my wife had just entered the hotel opposite the bar.

    “So, I waited for over 20minutes, after which my wife came out of the hotel accompanied by one of my colleagues. She was obviously shocked to see me. So, I went back home and threw out her belongings because I was very upset. Four years after, I took her back after several pleas by her relations. I was assured she had turned a new leaf.

    “Sincerely, my wife assists me whenever there is a lull in my business, but I detest her adulterous lifestyle. My wife has never sought my help in most of the things she does. But she prefers to seek help from some other men.

    “When one of my wife’s male customers died, it was only my wife who was informed. So, she stood as the deceased’s wife during the funeral. It is even more painful when my wife says the man was just her customer, yet she wakes up every night mentioning his name, with tears cascading her eyes.

    “Recently, my wife told me she received an urgent call from her sister and I believed her. However, when I called to know her whereabouts, a man picked up the call, saying that the owner was busy. I thought I probably dialed a wrong number until the man picked up the call again, asking if I wanted my death certificate.

    “So, I think I have tolerated her enough. I am fed up with her attitude and I don’t love her any more. Our second child should be in her custody, while I look after the other three children.”

    While admitting that her husband caught her in a hotel with another man, Mrs Yusuf said they had resolved the issue, adding: “I am still pained by my customer’s death. So, once in a while, I lament his death because he came to my shop a few hours before he passed on that day. Since we got married, he has never introduced me to his relations. He doesn’t give me any allowance, but complains that I sell alcoholic drinks. He is temperamental. He once broke a bottle on my head when he saw some men in my shop, though he knows my customers are mostly men.

    “It is true that a man, who is my spiritual father, picked my call and rained curses on him. It was later he informed me about what transpired between them. I do my responsibility as a wife and I still love him. So, I don’t want this marriage dissolved.”

    The court’s President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, advised the couple not to invade each other’s privacy and obey the law.

    The case was adjourned till October 9, for hearing.