The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mass

  • Gunmen kill two priests, 14 worshippers at mass

    Youths protest in Makurdi

    Buhari: we’ll hunt down killers

    Akume condemns killings

    it was another bloody day in Benue State yesterday.

    Gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, killed two Catholic priests and 14 others in two attacks.

    In the first attack, they invaded St Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor Mbalon, Gwer Local Government Area, at dawn during a mass, shooting dead the priests and 11 parishioners.

    They killed three other people later.

    Police Commisioner Fatai Owoseni said the gunmen “attacked worshippers around 5 a.m. during morning Mass”. “Other victims were killed during a burial ceremony later in the day.”

    He described the attacks as “unfortunate” and vowed to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

    Owoseni said that preliminary investigation revealed that the herdsmen had stayed around the area for sometime before carrying out the attacks. The commissioner said more policemen had been deployed in the area to forestall further attacks.

    The attackers sacked the village, setting ablaze 35 houses.

    The Catholic Diocese of Makurdi gave the names of its slain priests as Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha of St Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor.

    A statement by its Director of Communications, Rev. Fr. Moses Iorapuu, said that the attacks were perpetrated by herdsmen who stormed Mbalom and killed the two priests during the morning mass.

    The diocese expressed regrets at what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the security agencies in containing the killings.

    It said the herdsmen burnt down houses, destroyed crops and killed people.

    The church urged the authorities to stop the killings in the Benue valley.

    Iorapuu said the Diocese had been providing food and relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) since the beginning of the violence in the state and wondered why it could be a target of attacks.

    “The attacks on the priests are attacks on everything that we ever stood for and believed in,” he added.

    Rev. Fr. Mbachie and Igyor who were at the Benue State Police Command headquarters after conveying the priests’ bodies to the mortuary, said the attackers escaped unchallenged and there was no security man to confront them. Worshippers fled the scene for their dear lives.

    It was learnt that when youthsin Makurdi, the state capital, saw the body of one of the slain priests being brought to St Theresa’s Hospital Mortuary without its head, they got angry and took to the streets in protest.

    The protest forced traders to shut down the popular Wurukum market. Banks and other business premises were hurriedly shut. Parents withdrew their children from schools.

    The popular Katsina Ala Street, Igyor Chia Ayu Road and Makurdi – Gboko was deserted as residents trekked many kilometres to their destinations.

    Fr. Iyorapuu wondered why despite the heavy presence of the Police ,the Navy, Army and Air Force in Makurdi and Benue State, the killings had continued unabated  sine the beginning of the year.

    Governor Samuel Ortom has cut short his vacation in China. He is on his way back home.

    There were killings also last week in Logo, Guma, Makurdi and Naka by suspected Fulani militia.

    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Terver Akase said the governor would return to Makurdi “any moment from now because of the security challenge.

    Former Governor George Akume condemned the killings. In a statement, the senator said:  ”Today, April 24, 2018, I received the tragic news of the brutal killing of two Reverend Fathers, Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, VC, Mr. John Ibor – Catechist and over 17 lay faithful of St. Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpo, Mbalom in Gwer Local Government Area of Benue State. The victims were in the Church for the morning mass when they were attacked and killed by rampaging herdsmen.

    “This treacherous and inhuman action is unprecedented, unprovoked and highly condemnable in any civilised society. However, we seek solace in the fact that they died in the Lord and shall live with the Lord. May their blood usher in a new era of peace, love, tranquillity and progress in Benue State.

    “On behalf of my family and the good people of the Benue North-West Senatorial District, I wish to express my sincere condolences to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi and families of the victims of the latest acts of banditry and brazen criminality in our society. I also sympathize with those who have suffered varying degrees of injury as a result of the mayhem and pray for their quick recovery.

    “I also use this opportunity to call on Federal Government to urgently help bring a decisive end to the cycle of violence, destruction and killings in Benue State by ensuring that the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to justice.

    “Let me urge our people to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to constituted authorities, be law abiding and avoid taking the law into their hands. Security is our collective responsibility and the people are hereby called upon to support the government and work hand in hand with the security agencies to make it an attainable reality.

    “May the souls of the faithful departed through the Mercy God rest in peace.”

     

    Buhari: we’ll hunt down killers

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday described as “vile and satanic” the killing of worshippers and two priests at a Catholic church in Ukpor-Mbalom community in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, the President said: “I extend my sincere condolences to the government and people of Benue State, the Mbalom community, and especially the Bishop, priests and members of the St Ignatius’ Catholic Church, whose premises was the unfortunate venue of the heinous killings by gunmen.

    “This latest assault on innocent persons is particularly despicable. Violating a place of worship, killing priests and worshippers is not only vile, evil and satanic, it is clearly calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless bloodletting,” the President said.

    Stressing that the country will not bow to the machinations of evildoers, President Buhari vowed that the assailants would be hunted down and made to pay for the sacrilege committed.

  • Air Peace for mass route expansion

    Air Peace for mass route expansion

    The Chairman, Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, says the airline will in 2018 end air travel woes of most underserved destinations in Nigeria and the West Coast of Africa.

    Onyema said that the airline would also offer the flying public a preferred alternative on some key international routes in 2018.

    According to a statement by Mr Chris Iwarah, the airline’s Communications Manager, on Sunday, Onyema spoke at the management session to review the airline’s flight operations in 2017.

    Onyema said that the airline deserved commendations for rescuing Nigerian aviation industry and giving air travellers hope in the period under review.

    The airline chairman said he was quite satisfied that Air Peace was able to expand its fleet to 24 aircraft, in spite of the nation’s economic downturn and the aviation sector experienced in 2017.

    Onyema attributed the airline’s success in the three years of its existence to the unflinching support of the flying public and the quality leadership of its management team.

    The Air Peace chief said that the airline would remain grateful to its customers for their patronage over the years, urging the flying public to continue to trust the carrier’s services.

    According to him, Air Peace will continue to strive to sustain its uncompromising approach to safety, prioritisation of the comfort of its customers and jobs creation.

    He, however, said that the airline still has a lot of grounds to cover in its vision to transform air travel experience in Nigeria, West Coast of Africa and Dubai, Guangzhou-China, London, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg routes.

    He urged carrier’s management to brace up for the challenge of implementing the airline’s plan.

    Onyema said that this was to deepen air connectivity on many routes in the Northern part of Nigeria, including Kano and Yola, and other domestic routes.

    He expressed regret that industrial unrest by Air Traffic Control in Senegal compelled Air Peace to suspend the launch of its Freetown, Banjul and Dakar routes planned for Dec.15.

    Onyema, however, assured that the carrier would soon announce a new date for the launch of the three suspended West Coast routes.

    He said that the airline, which began flight operations to Accra-Ghana on Feb.16, was determined to expand to about nine destinations on the West Coast of Africa.

    Onyema added that the airline was awaiting the delivery of the two Boeing 777 Aircraft it recently acquired to start its flight operations to Dubai, Guangzhou, London, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

  • NULGE sues el-Rufai over mass sack

    NULGE sues el-Rufai over mass sack

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has dragged the Kaduna State government to the National Industrial Court, Abuja, to challenge the Kaduna State Local Government Councils’ order (Restructuring and Staffing Order) tagged: K.D.S.L.N. 2017.The order  sets the maximum staffing level for local governments and provides that the local governments, which have employees in excess of the maximum staffing level, be declared redundant.

    In the suit filed on behalf of NULGE by its counsel, Femi Aborisade, the union argued that the governor lacked the power to enact such law.

    Joined as defendants in the summon are the Kaduna State governor; Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly; the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; his counterpart for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; the state’s Local Government Service Commission and Head of Service, respectively.

    The union wants the court to declare the Kaduna State Local Government Councils (Restructuring and Staffing Order) tagged: K.D.S.L.N. 2017  unconstitutional

    Part of the reliefs sought by the union is “a declaration that the 1st Defendant, being a civilian governor of Kaduna State, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, lacks legislative powers and that the power of the 1st defendant are limited to maintaining the constitution and executing only the provisions of the law made by the state House of Assembly”.

    Meanwhile, NULGE has written to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to declare a trade dispute between the union and the Kaduna State government.

    In the letter signed by Aborisade on behalf of the union, NULGE said 4, 410 local government employees across the 23 local government areas in Kaduna State are set to be declared redundant by the new order of the state .

    In a related event, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba in Kaduna, led a peaceful rally to protest the 22,000 primary school teachers’ sack in the state.

    The rally, which  made up of teachers from 23 local government areas of the state, other state chapters of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Health workers union across the country, held in solidarity.

    Thousands of the protesters, led by NLC President, marched peacefully from the Labour House on Independence Way to the gate of the House of Assembly where they delivered their message amidst heavy security presence.

     

  • N720b subsidy arrears: PENGASSAN alerts on impending mass sack

    N720b subsidy arrears: PENGASSAN alerts on impending mass sack

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government to settle all debts allegedly owed oil marketers to avert job losses.

    The union said it believed that the payment would engender growth of not only the downstream sector, but all sectors in the industry and develop the economy.

    The senior staff trade union made the call against the backdrop of the threat by the marketers to embark on massive retrenchment of their  employees, if the government refuses settle the over N720 billion subsidy arrears.

    The debts, according to the marketers, are among the outstanding subsidy owed importers of petroleum products, accrued interest on loans from banks and exchange rate differentials, which made them halt importation of refined petroleum products, leaving only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as sole importers.

    A statement signed by the PENGASSAN National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Fortune Obi, urged the government to verify  the claims by the oil marketers and ensure quick settlement of genuine debts.

    “The government should try to separate the genuine claims by the importers from spurious ones and pay them accordingly because we will not like to be engulfed in the mistakes of the past where briefcase marketers milked the nation through dubious subsidy claims.

    “A situation where the workers in the industry bear the brunt of the government failure to honour its obligations as part of the importation deal will be unfair and unacceptable to our Association.

    This is against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s major policy of job creation,” Obi said.

    He said as much as PENGASSAN would support any move by the government to end subsidy regime and spurious claims by the marketers, it was also canvassing  the payment of debts that could hinder the downstream sector’s growth and attract investments into the sector.

    Obi noted that in the last five years, workforce in the downstream sector, especially the marketing sub sector, depleted by over 70 per cent, adding: “most of them were thrown into the already over-bloated labour market.”

  • Islamic cleric hosts first mass wedding in Ibadan

    Twenty-five Muslim couples were married at the weekend in a mass Nikkah (holy matrimony) in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

    It was held at Oja Oba Central Mosque at Mapo in the ancient city.

    The event was the first in  the state and Southwest.

    The mass wedding was attended by the Chief Imam of Ibadan, Sheik Abdul-Ganiy Agbotomokekere; the Chief Preacher of Ibadan, Sheik Abdul-fatai Alaga; Chief Ajanaasi of Ibadan, Sheik Zakariya Ona-Ido; the Mogaji Abata community, Alhaji Abdul-Mojeed Abata, among others.

    The facilitator, Sheik Taofeeq Akeugbagold, said it was meant to tackle adultery and fornication, which he said is rampant among youths.

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Al-Balag Islamic Organisation, through one of its arms, Ebi-Alayo (Happy Home), said many youths were fornicating because of the challenge of getting godly spouses.

    Addressing the couples, their families and other Islamic leaders, Sheik Akeugbagold said the weddings had the consent of parents of the couples.

    The cleric said since the initiative was introduced through the Ebi-Alayo (Happy Home) media outreach in January, over 100 applicants have showed interest.

    He said many applications were received from Lagos and Ibadan, adding that the group decided to join the 25 couples in Ibadan after checking their background, preparations and agreements (to abide by Islamic ethics).

    Akeugbagold, who chairs the Muslim Wing of the Pilgrims Welfare Board, said the group was also planning another mass wedding targeting 200 couples.

    The Islamic scholar urged willing Muslims to express their interest through the group’s hotline: 08057818180.

    He said his aspiration to cause a positive change emanated from the encouragement he got from Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    According to him, the governor always told him to find ways to touch the lives of residents through his appointment into the pilgrims board.

    Agbotomokekere enjoined couples to remain together, irrespective of challenges they may face.

  • ‘Fayose pre-empted commissioners’ mass resignation’

    ‘Fayose pre-empted commissioners’ mass resignation’

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose yesterday sacked all his commissioners, two years after he appointed most of them.

    The governor did not give reasons for his action, which has been attributed to an alleged indicting security report he got on the commissioners.

    In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Fayose ordered the sacked commissioners to hand over to the permanent secretaries in their ministries.

    The governor thanked them for their service to the State and wished them well in their future endeavours. Fayose approved the appointment of the former commissioners on December 03, 2014 and sent their names to the House of Assembly for confirmation.

    Majority of the commissioners were sworn in on July 2, 2015.

    Affected by the sack are: Owoseni Ajayi (Justice), Toyin Ojo (Finance) and Mrs Oso (Works).

    Others are: Bisi Kolawole (Environment), Lanre Ogunsuyi (Information), Kehinde Odebunmi (Agriculture), Kolapo Kolade (Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters) and Olurotimi Ojo (Health).

    Those sacked are: Deji Adesua (Public Utilities), Jide Egunjobi (Education), Mrs. Olayinka Ogundayomi (Women Affairs), Tayelolu Otitoju (Lands) and Gbenga Olajide (Budget and Planning).

    The Nation learnt from a government source that the governor got a security report that many Exco members had wanted to resign their appointments.

    The source said: “The governor had no option than to dissolve the Exco when he got wind of plans by many of them (commissioners) to resign because of the hard times they are going through.

    “Many of the commissioners came with high hopes, but what they met on the ground was nothing to write home about. They found themselves in a situation where a they could not approve more than N100,000, could not award contracts and other patronages.”

  • Why there is mass failure in Mathematics, by don

    A professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Medinat Salman, has identified lack of frequent practice, inadequate grasp of mathematics’technical language, poor mathematical background of the students and influence of parent on the child’s career choice as factors affecting performance of students in Mathematics in the Senior School Certificate Examinations by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council  (NECO).

    Others include incompetent handling of difficult mathematics topics by teachers, poor pedagogical approach or strategies, non-involvement of learners in practical classroom activities and failure on the part of teachers to relate mathematics to real life activities.

    Salman was delivering the 168th inaugural lecture of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin), Kwara State entitled: ‘Language and problem solving: The mathematics education links.’

    She said: “The implication of this finding is that the teaching of the subject is not being handled by qualified teachers. Hence, students dislike the subject and this leads to poor performance at this level and other higher levels of education since a poor foundation had been laid at the primary level.”

    She continued: “From my researches I have deduced the fact that the mode of instruction, especially at both primary and secondary levels of education remains overwhelmingly teacher-centred, with greater emphasis on the use of the lecture mode of instruction and textbooks rather than engaging students in critical thinking across subject areas and in applying the knowledge acquired to real life problems.

    “It is the teacher’s competence, ability, resourcefulness and ingenuity through effective utilisation of appropriate language, methodology and available instructional materials that could bring out the best from the learners in terms of academic achievement.”

    Salman, therefore, recommended that only professional teachers should handle the teaching of mathematics at all levels.

    “The ministries of education should organise regular trainings workshops and seminar for mathematics teachers at primary and secondary school levels. There is also the need for the ministries of education to get periodic feedbacks from researches conducted on challenges facing the teaching and learning of mathematics from faculties of education in Nigerian universities to assist in the implementation of the recommendations made from such studies,” Salman added.

  • Stop mass sack in oil sector, NUPENG tells Fed Govt

    Stop mass sack in oil sector, NUPENG tells Fed Govt

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has expressed concern over the increasing job losses in the oil and gas sector and  the closure of international oil companies.

    Addressing reporters after its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Lagos,  its National President, Comrade Igwe Achese, noted that Labour and Employment Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige’s, assurances that there was nothing reassuring in job cut would stop.

    The union urged the Federal Government to prevail on international oil companies (IOCs) country to stop the retrenchment.

    Achese said the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was majorly responsible for the rot in the industry and the slide in the returns accruable from investments by successive governments and investors.

    He called on the National Assembly to expedite parliamentary actions for speedy passage of the bill for the purposes of engendering transparency, accountability and commensurate returns in the operations of the oil and gas sector.

    He said the union believed that passing the bill will further enhance the visibility and attractiveness of the sector to both foreign and local investors.

    On the privatisation of the refineries, Achese said: “The CWC-in-Session notes the current calls and agitation by some interested capitalists for the privatisation of the nation’s four refineries.

    “We kick against such moves and advise the Federal Government to sincerely do the Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries and upgrade their systems in order to allow them produce at full capacity. The CWC believes that this will go a long way to reduce the massive importation of petroleum products into the country.”

    Achese also explained that the CWC-in-Session called on the Federal Government to grant tax holidays and free land for investors, who want to establish private refineries.

    He commended the Federal Government’s position to encourage operators of illegal refineries to be integrated into the establishment of modular refineries.

    He advised that the pronouncement should not be political, but matched with actions to train the refiners and put appropriate policies and regulations in place to regulate their operations in order to protect the eco system from possible negative effects of their activities.

    “We further urge the Federal Government to support the refiners with funds necessary for effective and efficient modular refineries, which we believe will go a long way in supporting the supply of petroleum products for local consumption and also generate employment opportunities for the restless youths,” he said.

    Achese lamented that the economy was still generator-driven, adding that power sector privatisation has failed.

    The Federal Government, he said, should put pressure on the electricity generation and distribution companies (GENCOs and DISCOs) to be alive to their responsibilities or have their licenses revoked.

    The union lauded the Federal Government’s efforts at addressing inflation.

    “The CWC x-rayed the state of the economy and commended the government in its efforts to shore up the naira against the dollar and the drop of the inflationary rate to 17.5 per cent.

    “The session, however, stated that a lot still needs to be done to address the current recession and reduce the hunger in the land. The CWC-in-Session wants the Federal Government to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and hunger in the land.”

    NUPENG added that the  government should vigorously address the issue of rising cost of goods and services.

    “The CWC-in-Session called on the Federal Government to look inward and put structures and strategies to restructure the economy.

    “The Session wants the National Assembly to quickly put finishing touches to the budget so that it can be passed and assented by the President, so that the liquidity squeeze can be addressed and debts owed contractors paid after verification,” Achese said.

  • Church of the Annunciation holds first mass wedding

    Catholic Church of the Annunciation Ori-oke Ejigbo, Lagos, recently recorded its first mass wedding.

    No fewer than 50 couples participated in the very important sacrament of matrimony.

    Priest-in-charge, Rev. Fr Pascal Aggrey, commended the couples for taking the bull by the horns to formalise their union.

    He admonished the newlyweds to live by the injunction of God as specified in the Bible.

    He reasons only those doing their own will and abandoning the injunction of God are finding it difficult in marriage.

    Marriage, as an institution established by God, he said comes with a lot of blessings.

    Aggrey advised people not to be thinking about lavish weddings aimed at impressing men but concentrating on obeying the will of God who knows all and sees all.

    “Marriage is not and should not be about fashion. It is not all about eating and drinking.

    “Rather it is about obeying the will of God who established it for the purposes of procreation, love, oneness and family upbringing.

    “When the focus is on fashion and food and dignitaries that will grace the occasion, you stand a chance of losing the substance which is maintaining a good relationship with God,” he submitted.

    A cross-section of the couples expressed delight for successfully normalising their marriages.

  • The weapon of mass obstruction – 1

    It is time to call a spade a spade or, in this instance, name the Nigerian media camera a weapon of mass obstruction. hat used to be mere occasional infraction, soon corrected, is fast becoming a Bill of Rights – for a minuscule sector of the professional community. We are galloping towards an order of social fascism of which – it must also be stressed – that same society is the prime facilitator of its doom. There are times when tolerance becomes acceptance, then tacit and even overt encouragement. Otherwise, why does it take so long to make the media photographer understand that he or she has no fundamental viewing right that overrides those of the lowest member of any gathering, anywhere and under any circumstance? Let us not beat around the bush – mobsters have taken over community, armed with nothing more lethal than the camera and a monstrous will to capture and monopolize space that belongs to the totality. The media camera has become a pest, an aggressive voyeur. Its wielders imagine that they own the world and its contents, that they have a divinely endowed right over the rights of all others, be they paying audience, invited guests, families, participating others, and indeed – most insolent of all – even the event initiators and rightful proprietors.

    They snarl, they hiss, they deliver what they consider looks of withering contempt when they are politely requested to move a little to this or that side, just so that the rest of inferior humanity can share in the event.  When successfully dislodged, they merely turn recurring decimal.  They shove their variegated bottoms right against the faces of others in some warped notion that that this is what the rest of humanity has gathered to see – their backsides – rather than the unfolding event. Never content to melt into the rest of the gathering, they preen themselves at ridiculous angles, stroll up and down sizing up guests like predators looking for their next meal, then – pounce! But do they depart, having obtained their scoop? Do they observe the camera courtesy norm of – Shoot and scoot? Not they! They pause, linger, block audience view while they look inside their lens as if to ensure that whatever prey has been captured within the ‘magic box’ has not escaped, survey the rest of the gathering like zoo keepers presiding over caged mammals, even when those mammals are virtually frothing at the mouth in frustration, then resume the same process with the uttermost condescension. To summarize:  today’s media cameraman or woman, genus Nigerianensis, believes that the sun shines through their buttocks, and that their mission is to shed light on the rest of humanity from that lower orifice.

    On Saturday, June 11, I attended one of the most nauseating of such unsolicited, substitute presentations. The event was the installation of the new Iyalode of Sagamu, successor to the late illustrious Iyalode, Madame DideoluAwolowo. I had re-organized my calendar months ahead to ensure that I could share the occasion. So, I am certain, had hundreds from all walks of life, then converged on that historic city. The day was ruined, the climactic moment stolidly obscured by the ungovernable, egotistical and abusive performance of media cameramen. They desecrated – I repeat – desecrated that event with their thuggish performance, one that saw off one hapless interventionist after another. The sacral moment was degraded. None of the audience was able to share in that solemn heart of the investiture, when the sacred akokoleaves are placed on the head of the celebrant. Not one of the friends, family, relations, colleagues and circle whom Chief Mrs. FolasadeOgunbiyi had invited was able to witness the ceremony for which a sizable number had even travelled across the Atlantic. Is that just? Equitable? Civilized? Or simply plain rude, unfeeling and insensitive? One half of the semi-circle of chiefs and royal retinue seated on the dais itself were totally blocked from sight – what with the backsides of the photographers pressed against their faces! These disrespectful, uncouth cameramen clambered over one another, expanding their opaque zone until any remaining viewing apertures were lost in a general congealment. I counted them – perhaps no more than 15 – but then they were joined by a handful of typical Nigerian copycat delinquents wielding their pathetic little phone cameras – i-pod, i-pad, i-do-as-i-please, and other ego feeding contraptions. After all, they were also armed with a camera, so they had a right to mount the royal dais and contest media thuggery with citizen thuggery.

    Were we witnessing a solemn but joyous occasion, I asked myself, or a rugby scrum in the wilds of Australia?  In vain did the Master of Ceremonies, one chief after another, relations and even frustrated ‘viewers’ approach to plead with them to ‘break it up’. In desperation, I even sent the granddaughter of the celebrant to them, hoping that the sight of a child would shame them, make them understand that they were setting a vile example for children, that they, in their homes would not tolerate such unruly conduct from their own children, wards, or home staff. It made no difference. They nearly trampled my poor emissary beneath their flailing legs. She threw up her hands in despair and I quickly recalled her to safety.

    My rights were violated that Saturday. I swear it will not be repeated, not at any event at which my presence is an undertaking of my own free will! There will be citizen action, and if all fails, the two legs that brought me there know how to find their way out. Unlike what appears to be the condition of today’s average Nigerian public, I am no masochist, cannot tolerate cheats – even of space attribution – and insist on my fundamental viewing rights.

    …To be continued tomorrow