•The Federal government should treat with gravity acts of religious violence
It is a grand irony. Adherents particularly of the two major religions in the country often express the belief that the God they serve has at least two major attributes. First, he is a deity characterized by infinite love for his creations and second, he has unlimited power. Yet, some of those who profess these religious faiths many times tend to exhibit a degree of hatred for their fellow human beings that is unworthy of a loving God while also perpetrating hideous crimes against humanity in the name of defending a creator supposedly more than able to defend himself.
For instance, the protracted Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives in the North-East of Nigeria has been projected by its misguided protagonists as a holy war in the name of God. True, the country has had cause to heave a sigh of relief at the substantial progress made over the last year in downgrading Boko Haram’s offensive capabilities and gradually restoring normalcy to the embattled region. However, there are rising anxieties over the recent increase, in different parts of the country, of cases of religious intolerance that have resulted in the violent deaths of innocent citizens.
One of such cases occurred on June 2 at the kofar Wambai market in Kano when a 74-year-old woman, Madam Bridget Agbahime, was clubbed to death by an irate mob for alleged blasphemy. The deceased’s offence was her reported objection to the Islamic, feet washing rite being performed by a Muslim man in front of her shop before going for worship at the local mosque. Responding to an obviously false alarm that the victim had blasphemed the holy prophet, Mohammed, the unthinking mob snuffed life out of the helpless woman.
Another such dastardly act of religious extremism occurred in the Kubwa community of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, at 5am on Saturday, July 9. On that fateful day, Deaconess Eunice Mojishola Elisha Olawale, was brutally murdered while carrying out her daily evangelistic mission in the area. Incidentally, the mother of seven who is also married to a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), had reportedly been carrying out early morning evangelism without incident for several years in a hitherto peaceful community populated by both Christians and Muslims.
Again, on Friday, July 15, Muslim youths were reported to have attacked the Saint Phillips Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, near Zuma Rock in Niger State, destroying the church’s properties including doors, windows, the altar and musical instruments, beating up the security men and chasing away a group of women holding a prayer meeting in the premises. The youths’ grouse was reportedly that Friday is the Muslim’s day of prayer and that Christians could only worship on Sundays. This is grossly reprehensible.
All of these atrocities constitute a gross violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion as well as the sanctity of human life and property in the country. It is unfortunate that, while arrests were said to have been made by the police authorities in these cases, none of the suspects have been charged to court for their alleged criminal infractions. It is important that those who engage in such acts of impunity are swiftly brought to justice as a future deterrence to other like-minded felons.
We call on political and community leaders, traditional rulers and clerics of the different faiths to collaborate in inculcating the virtues of tolerance and peaceful cohabitation in the diverse peoples of our various communities. The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, certainly struck the appropriate note when, in the aftermath of the Kano tragedy, he said: “We will not accept a situation where people either Christians or Muslims, would hide under the umbrella of religion to commit crime. If someone had insulted God, the person should be left for God to take care of”. We concur.
What a school has the appellation, ‘International,’ does not make it so, says the British Council. This revelation is significant for parents who are easily wooed by a school’s name, its boast of offering foreign curriculum, or its facilities and environment.
An International school is much more. It should be one that encourages pupils to learn the six core skills adjudged to be critical for them to excel in tomorrow’s world. The skills are: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Collaboration and Communication; Creativity and Imagination; Citizenship; Digital Literacy; and Student Leadership and Personal Development.
Four secondary schools that sufficiently demonstrated the integration of these skills into their curriculum through programmes they initiated as well as collaborations with schools abroad were honoured with the International School Award (ISA) by the British Council at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The schools were: Charles Dale Memorial International College, Port Harcourt; Lifeforte International High School, Ibadan; Olashore International School, Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State; and STEE International School, Lagos.
Director of Programmes at British Council Lagos,Louisa Waddingham, praised the four schools found deserving of the award. She added that teaching the skills to children was not easy, explaining that the council’s Connecting Classrooms project was initiated to achieve such through sharing of ideas among schools in various parts of the world.
“Today, we are rewarding four schools. We’ve been impressed and delighted by the variety of international programmes they did,” she said.
Linda Ashaolu, Project Manager, Education, British Council, said the four schools were among the 12 that entered for the ISA when the cycle started in 2014. Of the eight that completed the programme, she said only four were found to meet the benchmarks.
“It is wonderful that we can call ourselves international schools. But how do you show that the teaching in your school is international? Going to collect curriculum from the UK or America does not ensure international learning. Your activities, do they know how to be global citizens; culturally aware? How do you bring that to the classroom? Not all schools were able to demonstrate that. But these four schools were and that’s why they got the awards,” he said.
School owners and managers present at the award also gained insight on what to do to improve their schools from Jane English, Principal of Paignton Community & Sports Academy, and British Council School Leadership Consultant.
She underscored the importance of good leadership to a school’s progress. She also distinguished the qualities of a leader from a manager and an administrator. She explained that a person can fit into the three roles but a good head teacher should strive to always lead.
Ms English shared her school’s motto, which was adopted from the Bombay Hospital Motto, to demonstrate that children are at the centre of what a school does and should be well taken care of.
The motto reads: “A pupil is the most important person in our school. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. “He is not an outsider in our school, he is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him; he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.”
Mr Derek Smith, Principal of Olashore International School, said the school participated in the ISA because it ties in with its vision to prepare pupils as global citizens.
“The society we live in is changing so we are preparing students for the future. When we looked at the award, I felt it marks closely with what we do,” he said.
Those who swindled the country must not go unpunished
Nigerians may not yet know those involved in the messy $2billion arms deals that have dominated the country’s media in the last few days. But they know that a lot of money meant to purchase arms and ammunition for the Nigerian Armed Forces ended up in private pockets in the better-forgotten, yet difficult to forget Goodluck Jonathan years. Budget allocations to security/defence, especially in the Jonathan era, is enough evidence of what was sunk into these areas, sadly, without result. In 2008, we spent N444.6 billion on security; 2009: N233 billion; 2010: N264billion; these were Umaru Yar’Adua years. In 2011, after former President Jonathan had taken over, we committed N348 billion to security; 2012: N921.91 billion; 2013: N1.055 trillion. It fell to N968 billion in 2014, about 20 percent of the year’s N4.962 trillion budget.
These were budgetary allocations alone. But, going by revelations now coming up after the arrest of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), and others suspected of involvement in the arms scam, it is getting clearer that the Jonathan government went beyond budgetary provisions in disbursing funds to the Office of the NSA, ostensibly for security purposes. Former finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said she also gave $322m to Col. Dasuki from the loot recovered from the Late General Sani Abacha. In her words, “the NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations since, he noted, there cannot be any development without peace and security”.
These defence disbursements have many mindboggling dimensions. One, we did not have value for the money. And no one would have expected that a country at war with the dangerous Boko Haram sect would have been so inhumanly raped by those who were supposed to ensure its wellbeing. There is also the dangerous implication for our armed forces whose men and officers were ordered to confront the murderous Boko Haram gangsters, literally with bare fists.
Perhaps we need some statistics to drive the points vividly home. Boko Haram insurgents have killed more than 20,000 people since their insurrection began in 2009 and displaced more than 2.3 million from their homes. Indeed, the insurgents had wreaked havoc that would take decades to reverse, particularly in the north-eastern part of the country where their activities have been most pronounced. The group has carried out mass abductions, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, in April 2014. Some of them have returned; others remain at large.
All these explain the joy across the land when officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) began to arrest suspects in connection with the $2billion arms deals. Others that are now having their day in court with the former NSA are former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State who allegedly collected N100million cash from Dasuki; Emeritus Chairman of Africa Independent Television (AIT), Chief Raymond Dokpesi, said to have collected N2.1billion from Dasuki’s office. The EFCC has also launched a manhunt for a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Haliru Bello, in connection with some diverted arms cash. One of the suspects in the EFCC’s custody is said to have refunded N200million and has pleaded for bail to refund about N1billion credited to him as diverted funds.
One good thing about what is happening is that hitherto untouchables are now being touched. That is the way it should be; the law should be no respecter of persons – soldiers, governors, ministers, religious leaders, lawyers, journalists, media owners, even former presidents! Although the case proper is yet to start, we are already being treated to melodious songs; some people are singing like canaries already. I can’t wait to hear more melodious tunes from the big people that would sing – treble, tenor alto, bass – from the witness box in the coming harvest of songs that would make the Apostolic Faith Church Annual Musical Concert a child’s play!
But Nigerians should rejoice that they did not allow their military to commit serial senseless murders in the name of punishing soldiers for mutiny because it would have been disastrous if we are now hearing what happened after those innocent soldiers had been killed. Yet, the then Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh, endorsed the summary trials and execution of the soldiers and officers who deserted the war front because they did not want to commit suicide that the Nigerian authorities wanted them to commit. Regrettably, Badeh was quoted to have said: “In fact, may be you will now push us to go and start doing field court-martial in the bush. We try them, in five minutes we would have finished the trial, kill them, bury them and we go on with the fight,” Badeh said in reaction to the barrage of criticisms that trailed the sentencing of 12 soldiers to death for alleged mutiny and other military offences. Now, the question is: Do you confront bandits who have superior weapons with bare hands? Only God knows how many soldiers and officers had gone the Badeh way in the military era over coups, real or phantom.
This was simply the height of man’s inhumanity to man. The same Marshal Badeh it was who testified that he headed a military that lacked equipment, when he was handing over to his successor, Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin in Abuja, following his well deserved sack alongside other military chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 13. “The task of coordinating the military and other security agencies in the fight against the insurgents is perhaps the most complex and challenging assignment I have had in my over 38 years in service. For the first time, I was head of a military that lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight an enemy that was invisible and embedded with the local populace”, Badeh said at the occasion.
Now, if Badeh knew his troops did not have equipment, why approve the killing of soldiers who refused to make themselves available for suicide? Perhaps it did not occur to him and his colleagues that these soldiers are somebody’s children; somebody’s husbands; somebody’s fathers, some people’s breadwinners, etc. Again, was the former chief of defence staff not aware of the billions that had been budgeted for the same military to buy arms and ammunition? What happened to the billions and why would the military still be left without weapons and motivation, as confirmed by even the United States Director of the African Centre at Atlantic Council in Washington DC, Dr. Peter Pham?
If security is a function of huge budgetary and extra-budgetary allocations, then Nigeria should be one of the most secured countries on earth, given the stupendous amounts that security has swallowed in the country’s budgets in the last three years in particular. That this is not so is depressing enough. The matter is worsened by the ungodly manner the military authorities handled it. Indeed, I am beginning to be convinced that God would have to create special courts for Nigeria on the Day of Judgment. He would need more than the required number of angels for (the same) security reasons so that our big men who know all the tricks to evade judgment after committing crimes would not play a fast one on His angels. Those who say the furnace in hell would be reinforced seven times more than usual on that great day must have had Nigeria in mind. Very soon, some of the big suspects would start having strange ailments and they would be asking the courts to let them travel abroad for treatment. But the courts should be vigilant.
Part of the beauty of the arms deals case is that it would check impunity on the part of public officials and their collaborators. Those close to the seat of power did so many things with impunity even so that the blind would see, especially in the immediate past. President Jonathan would need all the angels swearing on his behalf that truly, he was not aware of these monumental scams because, in terms of whistle blowing, he had a surfeit of it; but, rather than do something, he was busy distinguishing between stealing and corruption.
The EFCC should cast the net even wider to get in all the others who might have partaken in the sharing of the arms funds. No one needs to remind President Buhari (as a general) that the scam is beyond fighting corruption. It has implications for loyalty, professionalism and cohesion in the military. It has implications for national security. It has gone beyond being swept under the carpet.
Eight years after it was established, the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH) in Okitipupa Local Government Area looks anything, but a higher institution. The campus is covered by weeds and it is confronted with academic and infrastructural challenges. Members of the host community are not happy with the state of the institution, reports TAIWO ADEBULU.
After a 10-minute drive from Okitipupa on the Igbokoda Highway in Ondo South Senatorial District lies a fallow land bordering Igodan-Lisa, Igbodigo and Erinje communities in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State. The land is the permanent site of the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH) which was founded in December, 2007.
For a people whose community has suffered neglect, the establishment of the university was seen as a sop. They rejoiced when the law setting up the school was passed by the Ondo State House of Assembly in 2008. Eight years after, the institution is an eyesore.
The campus is hardly visible, even at close range. From the main gate, an array of uncompleted buildings welcomes visitors. The weather-beaten structures are surrounded by thick weeds. The corroded gates are manned by under-fed security personnel who stop and search vehicles going into the campus.
But for the rectangular signboard that bears the institution’s name, a first-time visitor could mistake the campus for a farmland. The long stretch of road from the main entrance that leads to the heart of the campus is untarred and in bad shape.
On the left side, after the main gate, is the uncompleted Sport Complex. It can only be identified by a signpost, having been overgrown by weeds. On the right is the Students’ Union Building (SUB), which has been converted to the Centre for Entrepreneurial and Leadership Training (CELT).
Investigation by CAMPUSLIFE showed that the CELT building has been leased out to businessmen as bakery and water factory. Plantain chips merchants occupy a section of the building.
•The main library covered by weeds
At a junction on the campus is the Senate Building, which has been under construction since 2008. Next to it are the Administrative Block and main library, which are also under construction. These structures have been covered by bushes.
The school has been shut since May 27, following protests by students over fee hike. Ondo State indigenes pay N125,000; non-indigenes, N175,000. Irked by the exorbitant fee, students went wild, blocking the Igbokoda Highway to draw attention to their plight.
But, the closure of the school is not the reason the campus is covered by weeds. The campus has hardly developed beyond its foundation stage because of neglect.
The only completed building is the “Faculty of Engineering”, which was converted to the Faculty of Science, because the
•The univerity Senate Building still under construction
engineering programmes are yet to be approved. The faculty building has a cafeteria, a block of classrooms, three laboratories and offices and a 500-seater lecture theatre, which also serves as the school auditorium. A few steps away from the faculty is an under-sized health care centre with scanty facilities.
Investigations revealed that the university started with four faculties which have now declined to one. With the pioneer students still struggling to complete their programmes about seven years after their admission, students, fate is hanging in the balance. The future seems bleak for many of them because they lack practical knowledge of their discipline.
Such is the case of Olayinka Ewuyemi, a 400-Level Fisheries and Aquaculture student, who hopes to acquire modern fish farming skills. After four sessions in school, Olayinka can only boast of theoretical knowledge of the discipline.
Olayinka said: “It has not been easy studying in an institution where nothing works. We pay school fees through our nose yet we do not have value for our money. We just read; no practice. We have only had one practical class in four years. The school has a fish farm but it is run for business alone. They would tell us there is no directive from the management to allow us use the fish farm for practical.”
A 500-Level Zoology student, who pleaded not to be named, lamented the poor condition of the university. He said: “We are not being taught Zoology in a proper way. We have not gone for excursions because the university does not allow us. The school doesn’t have a standard zoo that can help our learning.”
To save the university from extinction, the students came together to form a pressure group known as Save OSUSTECH Forum (SOF) to champion the course of progress in the institution. The group chairman, Gbenga Akinsuyi, a 500-Level Computer Science student, said the forum was established to fight injustice and pressure the government to give attention to the institution.
He said: “As I speak to you, the whole campus is covered in bush, with no facilities. We won’t keep quiet while OSUSTECH is turned to a farmland. We have embarked on protests to draw attention to our plight. Things should no longer be done through the backdoor. In May, we learnt some university officials were holding screening for candidates, who applied for Deputy Registrar and Bursar. We went there to disrupt the process, because that could only be done by the Governing Council. But, this is not in place. An higher institution shouldn’t be run that way.”
A top management official, who preferred not to be named, said the vision setting up the school died immediately it took off. “What do you expect from a university that has no Governing Council and has been run without structure for five years? The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Tolu Odugbemi, runs the university unilaterally. In the past five months, five lecturers have resigned because the working condition is not favourable and the leadership style is hostile.”
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the last time Prof Odugbemi was on campus was March 18. He allegedly runs the school from its liaison office in Akure. He lives in the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge in Akure, the state capital, which is three-hour drive from Okitipupa.
A senior lecturer, who does not want to be named, said the VC administers the university in absentia. “The VC doesn’t pick our calls. We have been talking to him only through emails and text messages since 2010. Sometimes, he would be incommunicado for weeks. We are all used to that administrative style,” he added.
Dr Dipo Akomolafe, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and local chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said there was nothing wrong in the VC’s administrative style. “It’s the era of Information Communication and Technology. It is not bad if the VC runs the university effectively wherever he is,” Dr Akomolafe said.
Yemi Fafoluyi, president of Save Ikale Youth Vanguard, expressed disappointment over the state of the institution. He said: “The situation in OSUSTECH has been a source of concern to us. I can categorically tell you that the problem the university is facing today is a script written by Governor Olusegun Mimiko; it is being acted by the VC. Go there to the campus, there has been no project for the past three years. The institution is broke.”
A community leader in Igodan-Lisa, Pastor Babatope Ayesanmi, expressed concern on the manner the university is being run. According to him, there is no relationship between the management and the host community.
He said: “We tried our best to partner with the university but the Vice Chancellor has been avoiding us. I even went to meet the VC to discuss the concerns of the host community but he was not ready to give me audience.”
Efforts by our correspondent to speak to the outgoing VC were futile. Prof Odugbemi was said to have been unavailable by a security man at the VC’s Lodge. The university does not have Public Affairs Unit that can give information on the challenges it is facing.
Prof Odugbemi’s tenure ended last Saturday but the school has remained underdeveloped. Many believe the choice of a new VC would go a long way in determining what the school would look like in the next few years.
But, the chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Ondo South Senatorial District, Ven. Emmanuel Akinboyo, who led a delegation to the governor, said Mimiko promised the university would be re-opened soon.
The title of this article today is not mine; it was used as an introduction to Christians to be more than a showpiece of morality because they are called to be salt and light in the world; a preserving and uplifting influence among men. In essence, they are expected to be God’s change agents in the world.
It relates this story told by Armstrong Williams an American political commentator, entrepreneur, author and host of a daily radio show. He is also the founder and CEO of the Graham Williams Group, an international marketing, advertising and media public relations consulting firm and confidant of Ben Carson, one of the presidential front runners of the Republican Party.
Williams wrote that one summer day his father sent him to buy wire and fencing for his farm in Marion County, South Carolina. He was delighted to go into town because he got to drive the pick-up by himself and at age 16 that was a wonderful thrill. However, there was a damper put on his spirits when his father told him he would have to ask for credit at the store. Being a prideful 16 year-old it was difficult for him. He says it was 1976 and the ugly shadow of racism was still a fact of life. He had seen his friends ask for credit and then stand, head down, while a patronising store owner questioned whether they were “good for it.”
Unperturbed, he went to Davis Brothers General Store where the owner, Buck Davis stood behind the register, talking to a middle-aged farmer. “When I brought my purchases to the register, I said carefully, ‘I need to put this on credit.’” The farmer gave him an amused cynical look. But Buck’s face didn’t change. “Sure,” he said easily. “Your daddy is always good for it.” He turned to the other man. “This here is one of James Williams’ sons.”
The farmer nodded in a neighbourly way. “I was filled with pride as James Williams’ son. Those three words had opened a door to an adult’s respect and trust. That day I discovered that a good name could bestow a capital of good will of immense value. The good name my father and mother had earned brought our whole family the respect of our neighbors.” Williams wrote.
That is one the powers of a good name, it can’t be bought with money. I saw that power reenacted once more last Saturday when the Press Club of the University of Lagos invited me as a special guest to the 4th edition of the Ngozi Agbo Memorial Lecture. Also invited were Mr. Sam Omatseye, the chairman of the Editorial Board, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, the Online Editor and Wale Ajetunmobi, Editor of CAMPUSLIFE, all of The Nation. Dr. Eghosa Imasuen of Farafina, Mr. Adeola Yusuf of The New Telegraph and Mrs. Chichi Umaseeaka, publisher of 9inteen magazine also graced the lecture.
It was quite encouraging to see students, some of whom never met Ngozi in the flesh, celebrating her works and virtues. Mr. Omatseye and Mr. Otufodunrin arrived early and had to wait patiently for close to an hour for the students to get their public address system functioning. They remained there for over three hours that the event lasted.
Why would they leave their homes on a Saturday morning that they were expected to be resting after the rigours of newspaper production? They were there to honour a lady whose work has continued to wax stronger almost four years after her death. Just like the students, there’s no doubt that the late Ngozi Agbo meant a lot to them.
In his opening address as the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Omatseye said anything that pertains to furthering the cause of journalism and the mind will always get his attention. “Ngozi,” he said, “was a very powerful force in the life of campus journalism in Nigeria and The Nation as a newspaper… when the idea of CAMPUSLIFE was first mooted and discussed in the committee of editors meeting we felt it was too grandiose, but we allowed it to go.”
He highlighted two instances of the success of the project when he visited his alma mater (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife) where a sizeable proportion of the student made mention of “Aunty Ngozi.” He added that he went away with the conviction that “CAMPUSLIFE is more than just a publication, it is a family.” All this because of Ngozi’s unique style of being a life coach, mentor as well as an editor all wrapped in one.
The second instance, according to him, was when he visited the Vice-Chancellor and the issue of the most popular paper on campus was raised. The Public Relations Officer insisted a particular paper was the most popular, but he disagreed. They had to visit the vendors’ stand where they were unequivocally told that The Nation was the most sought after newspaper, especially its Thursday’s edition when CAMPUSLIFE is published.
“It is credit to the work of Ngozi at that time. She knew what she was doing had consequences for the wider society, so she wasn’t partial. What she did for The Nation is hard to beat, she was a trailblazer. That’s why years after her death her work kept waxing stronger.”
It gladdens my heart to see that the Press Club of the University of Lagos institute – on their own – an annual lecture series to keep the vision, ideals and dreams of this great and visionary lady alive. This singular act goes to reinforce the fact that great ideas and visions don’t die, they blossom even if the visionary is no longer alive. Being a mental picture or concept in the imagination, a vision is also the ability to anticipate the direction a worthy cause or future an event will take, such is the power of vision.
In the crafting of vision, the character of the visionary is significant. One of Ngozi’s dreams was that Nigeria has the potentials of being a great nation. She believed these potentials lie in the hands of the youths which was why she birthed the idea that eventually gave them the platform to express their optimisms, suggestions and concerns on how to achieve these potentials.
Her vision is anchored on building the total man and looking at the core values and attributes that defines him, attributes that always emphasises the highest level of moral and ethical regeneration and the molding of sound character which she instilled in her “children.” She never failed to remind them that they are always a shining light to their generation.
There’s always something unique about “ex-CAMPUSLIFERS” that you cannot but notice. They’re always drivers of idea and not laggards; they never miss opportunities and they often go the extra mile to achieve their dreams in whatever field they find themselves. I am confidently proud of these young men and women. The bottomline is Ngozi did not live and die in vain as they will not shy away from telling you she gave them wings to soar.
Does that mean her preoccupation was only with undergraduates? Absolutely not, Ngozi was also a student of leadership and those who were familiar with this column when she handled it know too well of her passion for leadership; from leadership in the home to religious and secular leadership.
She often drive the point home to her undergraduates to steer clear of divisive individuals who have the innate capacity of filling their minds with xenophobic ideologies that have the tendency of creating hatred, rancour and bitterness in the society. Those who knew her can attest to the fact that she was detribalized; once you’re intelligent, you’re Ngozi’s friend irrespective of where you come from.
The now rested capacity building Workshops and Award ceremonies she undertook annually with the support of Coca-Cola Nigeria and Nigerian Bottling Company is a pointer to the fact that apart from merely sending in articles for publication, she ensures she has one-on-one contact with her undergraduates to be certain that the venture they are undertaking is far bigger than having their stories published in the newspaper.
Her story shows that there is indeed power in a good name as the Bible states.
From the onset the name and shame campaign by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sounds too ordinary to come from such a technocratic organization. The phrase lacks sophistication and sounds and reads like something coming out from die-hards of a political party wanting to get even with their rivals. Reducing a matter as serious as debt recovery (running into hundreds of billions of naira) to mere emotional expression reveals the weakness of the banks and the regulatory authorities.
Although it would be wrong to say categorically that the programme is politically motivated, it will also not be wrong to argue that the phrase is in sync with the current political mood in the country. Coming at a period when the new regime is making a song and dance of anti-corruption and fraudulent economic and financial practices, there can be no doubt that Nigerians will be more interested in its political implications than the economic. And that is the danger, albeit the fact that the final objective of the name and shame exercise is laudable.
Not unexpectedly, the exercise has already sparked off so much controversy bordering mostly on rebuttals by the affected organizations and individuals of their inclusion on the name and shame lists published by some banks. As it is, almost every company or director named in the lists has denied owing the banks. Although it is tempting to say that such denials are to be expected, the overall result is that beyond the “Political Effect” of the publications, the CBN and the banks might have failed, at least for now, in achieving the initial objective. For, in the face of the denials, the onus of responsibility now lies with the banks to prove that they are owed by the organizations concerned. And since the mere publication of names does not make the debtors culpable, it means that they will remain innocent until it is proved otherwise. And if the matters ever get to the courts, then we should forget it.
In my view, a situation where almost every so–called debtor has put up a vehement denial shows that the lists published might not be error-proof. But they should be, given the assumed sophistication of the banks and the implications – political, social and economic – of the exercise. For me, it would be quite unfortunate if any of the banks published any of the debtor organizations and their directors without being 100 per cent sure. Yes, 100 per cent, because there should be no room for such laxities in that sector. That disputes have already arisen shows that the sector has, either by design or default, become part of the pervasive malaise in the Nigerian system. It is something we can ill afford.
As I noted at the beginning, the first sign that the exercise might have been poorly conceived is the appellation given to it. Shame? Shame who? Shame who you do not have an incontrovertible evidence against? Agreed, the banks may still come up with such (fool proof) evidence but that may take some time. As things stand, it would not be out of place for critics to accuse the CBN and the banks of playing to the gallery. The idea might have been mooted before the current political dispensation but the apparent tardiness of which the banks are being accused has given room for critics to see some political contents, however marginal, in the exercise.
In spite of the haziness of the exercise so far, it should be hoped that it will overcome the initial setbacks to go ahead to realize the objective for which it was embarked on; which is to sanitize the banking system. Still, something tells me that the name and shame exercise might have been conceived as a one-sided effort. If we assume, at least for purposes of argument, that so much rot exists in the banking system, then it is proper to ask the following questions: Where were the banks? Where were they when things were going from bad to worse?
We understand that most of the debts are accumulations of unpaid interests on the principal money borrowed. But that also raises the question as to whether the businesses where going concerns. Where the companies operational and at what capacity when the loans were granted? At what point did the banks notice that the facilities had become non-performing?
If a company has ceased to carry out the business for which it obtained a loan, should the bank still go ahead to charge interest from a non-existent business ? How thorough were the appraisals before the loans were granted?
There is no attempt here to teach the bankers their job but we believe that given that the banks also operate in a larger environment that has been be-devilled with several flaws, it would be wrong to assume that they (the bankers) cannot share in the blame. In any case, stories of sharp practices amongst bankers are quite familiar. Not too long ago, some bank chief executives were jailed for presiding over the granting of loans to companies in which they had huge interests.
The point being made here is that while the overall objective of the name and shame exercise may be theoretically attractive, it also offers an opportunity for the banking sector to re-examine its modus operandi.
There is this story that one of the cases involved arose because a certain bank manager was fond of dipping his hands in the money of his customer. He had approved an overdraft (OD) but each time the customer came to draw from the OD, the manager would also take out from the money and prepare the documents to read that it was the customer that took away the extras. Eventually, the bubble burst. A dispute arose over the figures and inevitably, the facility became problematic. Curiously, this particular debt is among those listed by the bank in the ongoing name and shame exercise.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that his administration is close to ending the sharp practices in the oil and gas sector. The perpetrators will be named, he said.
He also spoke of his ongoing search for “decent”, “patriotic” and “selfless” politicians and technocrats who will be ministers. The President has promised to name his ministers in September.
Buhari, who spoke on his vision for a greater Nigeria on “Good Morning Nigeria”, a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Abuja, pragramme, said oil was still being illegally exported by July 3.
He said the Federal Government was working assiduously to expose those behind the reported under-dealings in the oil sector, promising to update members of the public on the government’s investigation into the matter.
According to him, the government’s aim is to identify and prosecute all those found culpable. Shipping documents are being compiled for onward submission to countries of destination of stolen crude oil from Nigeria.
His words: “The search continues; up to the third of this month (July 3), our crude was still being illegally lifted by people who are in government. We are trying to get these documents. We are getting the cooperation of the international community.
“We are going to make sure that those who perpetrated this theft against Nigeria are faced with facts very soon and are taken to our courts.
“We’ve got the cooperation of some of the countries of the destinations of our crude (oil) and we are discussing with them.
“We have to maintain high confidentiality so that we don’t risk some of the loyal Nigerians that are helping us to trace the destinations of this stolen crude and then the accounts into which the monies are being paid instead of the Federal Governments account.”
Buhari said his administration was studying the recommendations on how the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be reorganised.
He described his recent trip to the United States (U.S.) as very successful as he was able to extract the commitment of President Barack Obama to assist and support the country in tackling its economic and security challenges.
He said the U.S. and European countries had also pledged to assist Nigeria by putting in place a security mechanism in the Gulf of Guinea to check oil theft.
Responding to a question on the quality of his Federal Executive Council (FEC), the President politicians and technocrats would make the list of nominees for ministerial appointments.
He said: “From what I have seen so far, we need really patriotic Nigerians – Nigerians that can work very hard, knowledgeable, experienced, committed Nigerians – to be in charge of ministries.
“A lot of the institutions of Nigeria – important institutions – were compromised. Everybody was for himself and God for all of us; it’s most unfortunate.
“We have the people, educated people, experienced people but everybody seemed to be working for himself – how much he could get as much and as quickly as possible.
“We have to look for technocrats and we have to look for politicians and certainly we have to look for decent people in this class to give them the responsibility of being in charge of ministries and important parastatals (agencies).”
On the leadership tussle in the National Assembly, Buhari urged those behind the dispute to search their conscience and abide by the party’s decisions.
He urged Nigerians to cooperate with his administration to develop the country and warned that no part of Nigeria would be allowed to operate on its own.
The President added that Nigeria “must remain one”.
It lacks facilities of a good school, Oguola Junior and Senior Secondary School in Benin, the Edo State capital, is a school only in name. Its staffroom is under a tree; while 1,260 pupils are crammed into six classrooms, reports OSAGIE OTABOR.
It was in the news for the wrong reasons few weeks ago. Fourteen of its pupils were arrested for alleged involvement in cultism. The nation was shocked – junior secondary school pupils in cultism! Their release after police investigation has doused tension that Oguola Junior and Senior Secondary School in Benin City, the Edo State capital, is not a breeding ground for cultists.
The police said the pupils unknowingly bought emblems and paraphernalia of some cult groups.
A visit to the school revealed why the pupils may find it difficult to sit and learn in the classrooms. The school, in Ihinmwin quarters of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state, is the only government-owned secondary school in the locality.
There are no signposts to identify the school though it has a fence. However, the gate is broken, and there are no security men.
The Junior school arm is a block of six classrooms serving 1,260 pupils.
The other two dilapidated blocks serve as the senior secondary school and it has about 1,000 pupils.
For a facility that serves 525 per cent above the UNESCO-recommended class size of 40, it is is no surprise that many of the pupils stand outside the junior school’s classrooms to learn. It means that for every pupil in class, about five others are outside by the window frame learning.
If it were to meet the standard, the junior school would need about 31 classrooms to comfortably accommodate the pupils.
The junior school has no toilets. A small plantain farm serves as toilet for the pupils and their teachers.
The teachers also do not have a staffroom. What serves as office for the 21 teachers and others doing their industrial attachment is a tree in front of the school building. It is the only tree in the compound. Whenever it rains, the teachers relocate to the verandah of the building.
A little cubicle between two classrooms is the principal’s rather bare office. It boasts of a table, two old chairs and a small shelf. Curtains and fans are luxuries the school cannot afford. Like the classrooms, part of the ceiling is bad.
One of the reasons the office is bare is because of the thieves. The principal, Mr Ufumwen Bello Ozemwogie, said books supplied by the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board as well as registers and other documents were stolen, forcing him to relocate the remaining to his own home pending when the security improves.
He also said he had reported the sad situation of the school to the concerned authority but no result had been achieved. He said the workers were demoralized but tried to put in their best for the students.
He said: “We don’t have a staff room. This is the only way to make ourselves comfortable. The little room we have cannot contain us. Those teachers who stay under the fan cannot be compared to us here under the tree.
“Our books are being stolen by hoodlums. They would break the ceiling so I have to take some books to my house.
“Since I came here, officials of the state government came twice and I showed them available land for more buildings. If you come here during dry season it is horrible because everywhere is dusty. We don’t have toilets and you can see the whole place.
“The students are eager to learn. They still struggle to perform very well. All we need is support and assistance by erecting more buildings for us.”
Despite its poor state, Ozemwogie said the school is still oversubscribed because it is the only one in the locality.
“Last year, all the primary schools around here posted 720 pupils into JSS 1; and there was no way I could reject them. I had to manage to admit 420,” he said.
A teacher who pleaded anonymity blamed the Ihinmwin community elders for the poor state of the school.
The teacher said when the principal and other top officials visited the community head, they were allegedly driven away when the elders discovered that they were not there to discuss about land.
He said: “The community is not showing concern. They are supposed to cry out because their children are in this school. We went to the Palace of the Enogie but we were not allowed in because we did not go there to discuss about land development,” he said.
The situation at the Oguola Senior Secondary School seems to be more pathetic. The two buildings in use are dilapidated. One has four classrooms, while the other has two. It was learnt that four different classes are forced to learn in one classroom. The senior school pupil-population is 416.6 per cent above the UNESCO recommendation.
Unlike the junior school, its 15 teachers work in an unkempt and tight staff room. It was a classroom that was converted to a staff room but it cannot accommodate all 15 teachers. The floor is uneven, and the ceiling boards are broken. There are no curtains.
Two cubicles serve as the office of the Principal and the Vice Principal. The principal’s office has also been bugled several times through the ceiling or window.
A room which serves as laboratory for all science subjects is practically empty; and there is no library.
A teacher who pleaded anonymity said the administration of late Prof Ambrose Alli in the 80s had started to erect an additional building for the school but it was abandoned at the foundation stage.
The senior school at least has toilets – three pit latrines for pupils and teachers.
There are no windows in all the classes, including the principal’s office and the staff room.
Teachers in the school refused to comment but a senior member of staff described their situation as difficult and unbearable.
The teacher said: “In modern school, we talk about water system but we use pit toilet here which is not acceptable to UNESCO. The students are learning under a difficult atmosphere. Most things are not in place. When it is raining, the students cannot stay in the classes.
“We have shortage of manpower. The teachers are not enough. There are almost 1,000 students in this school”
But for the intervention of the Parents Teachers Association in providing furniture for one of the classrooms, the teacher said the situation would have been worse.
The source lamented that teachers spend personal resources to keep the school going and has been ignored by the government.
“It is a porous situation we are in. We made arrangement with the local vigilante to provide security and we pay them with our money just to keep the system going. Things are really difficult here.
“The authorities know about our situation here. We have complained before but nothing was done. There has been no government attention in this place since the administration of late Ambrose Alli. We have only one laboratory for Agriculture, Chemistry and other science subjects. There is no good laboratory here,” he said.
Some pupils who spoke with The Nation urged government to renovate their school and give them additional buildings.
When our reporter visited the palace of the community head, he was not in. However, his aides promised to call our reporter when he returned. This promise was not fulfilled before this report was completed.
A few days ago, while I stood by the news-stand of the University of Calabar Library running my eyes over the newspaper headlines about our political landscape, I met a young bespectacled man, who had the demeanour that suggested he was intelligent. We exchanged opinions on issues about the election and the political parties for quite a few hours.
He demonstrated much sagacity in the conversation, buttressing his arguments with logical and factual points. After our argument, I introduced myself and shook hands with him, to herald a new friendship. But my introduction was reciprocated with a name that reverberated with war-like vitality in my eardrums. It sounded: Worship God. I was moved to laughter and then into displeasure. I couldn’t figure out how such an intelligent young man managed to harbor an excrescence on his persona. When I inquired the reason for such a name, he merely responded that it was his parents’ choice. It baffled me; it worried me.
In all parts of Africa, names are unique and special in every way. They identify a person and his origin. For example, the names Awoonor and Chukwuemeka both reveal that the owners of the name are of Ghanaian and Nigerian extraction respectively.
In Nigeria precisely, during the pre-independence era, Western and English names were widespread. Because of the difficulty encountered by the British colonialists in pronouncing our African names, they foisted English names upon Nigerian employees then. So, the colonialists ensured that those who wanted to get education through the mission schools jettisoned their native names for English counterparts. Ergo, names such as Richard, Francis, Charles, Brown, Elizabeth, Anita and a host of others are vestigial remains of the British enforcement.
However, with our political emancipation from the British imperialists, the strength of the Western names began to wane, and our traditional names started to rise, springing to prominence like mushrooms on a Harmattan morning. Consequently, this revitalised our multifarious cultures and strengthened our cultural bond.
In the past, the process of naming a child was usually rigorous and laborious. It was considered sacred. The choice of names was carried out seriously, as it was believed that names have a special significance on the child. By giving a child a name, parents go beyond viewing the child as an embryological product of cellular fusion but as a gift that should be respected and given an identity. Besides being the child’s identity, names are regarded as cryptic forces which direct the child’s path. They express concern for the child’s future and the parents’ expectation for the child. Traditional names are attributes that the child is hoped to acquire.
Unlike the Western names and occidental cultures, African names usually are steeped in myths and fables. In the Yoruba culture, for instance, children who die each time they are born are given such names as Kokumo, Kosoko, Durojaiye and several others. These names, it is hoped, will lure such children into staying and not die again. The circumstances which surround a child’s conception is an important factor that determines a child’s name. Still in the Yoruba culture, the first child of a twin is christened Taiwo, which is an abridged form of Eni ti o wa to aiye wo. When translated in English, this means: he who came to taste the world.
The tale behind that name is that the second child, Kehinde (he who comes after), tells the elder
twin to go to the world firsts and give it (kehinde) a shout if the world is sweet. Therefore, if the first twin, for any reason, does not cry, it will be hard to get kehinde to follow. Traditional names are also given as supplications to the Creator, to protect the child from evil. Chinualumogu (May God fight on my behalf), for example, Eze, Ade, Obio, Omo ovie, Effiom, Ovie are some of the names given to children of royal lineages across Nigeria.
However, there appears to be an emergence of an excrescence on our naming culture recently, one which is fast gaining currency in our society. Every now and then, these names bark at me from print.
The list goes thus: Wonderful, Worthy, Great, Divine, Destiny, Praise, Possibility, Happiness, Unique Victory, Testimony and even the more ludicrous God is able and Amen. These names are completely bereft of meaning. No doubt they are products of religious dogmatism.
Worse still, some of these names are adjectives, which in English grammar do not serve a nominal function. It is seemingly obvious that our slavish adherence and blinding loyalty to religion has beclouded our reasoning and lobotomized our sensibilities. Our cultural values are teetering on the brink of obscurity owing to our religious fanaticism.
Our younger generations are no more christened names which appreciate the presence of light in our lives. Gone are the days when stunning beauties bore such sweet names as Arewa, Asake, Ngozi, Irohghene, Onyinye and many more. Such names taste delectable when chewed and sweet-sounding when absorbed.
Regrettably, our progenies are dubbed names which jar on our nerves when blurted.
May I state here that I don’t mean to appear impious or irreligious? All I clamour for is the revitalitisation of our rich cultural and traditional names. They are our pride. They are the epitome of our freedom and independence. And, above all, they reveal to the world a cultural heritage that emanates from a fascinating history.
Shareholders of UBA Capital Plc yesterday approve the change in the name of the company to United Capital Plc, paving the way for the investment banking and capital markets group to conclude the process of name change.
At an extraordinary general meeting held in Lagos, directors and shareholders of the company approved the change in the name.
Speaking at the meeting, chairman, UBA Capital, Mr. Chika Mordi said UBA Capital has a proud heritage as one of Africa’s leading financial services companies.
According to him, the group would build on its heritage and use its new brand identity as a catalyst to create greater values.
“The new name reflects our shared determination to transform the continent’s financial sector, delivering exceptional value to both our shareholders and customers,” Mordi said.
UBA Capital was until recently a member of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group. It was spun off and its shares distributed to existing shareholders of UBA in compliance with the new banking regime that requires banks to form holding company structure to hold non-core commercial banking subsidiaries or divest from such businesses. It was subsequently listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
UBA Capital offers four services including investment banking, asset management, trusteeship and securities. In 2013, it was named the Best African Investment Bank at the Africa Investor Awards.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is rounding off year-end review of its key group and sectoral indices. These included the NSE 30 Index, NSE 50 Index and the five sectoral indices- the NSE Banking Index, the NSE Consumer Goods Index, the NSE Oil & Gas Index, NSE Industrial Goods Index and the NSE Insurance Index. The composition of these indices after the review will be effective on January 1, 2015. The review will witness the entry of some major companies and exit of others.
Major highlights of the review included the replacement of five companies in the NSE 30 Index. Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group, Total Nigeria Plc, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria and Ashaka Cement Plc are being replaced by Seven-Up Bottling Company, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Unity Bank, Sterling Bank and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. The NSE 30 Index tracks the 30 most capitalised companies on the NSE and largely controls the overall market situation.
The NSE-30, NSE-50 and NSE Industrial Indices are modified market capitalization index with the numbers of included stocks fixed at 30, 50 and 10, respectively. The numbers of included stocks in the NSE-Consumer Goods, Banking, Insurance and Oil/Gas Indices are 15, 10, 15 and 7, respectively.
