The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nation

  • Media vital for nation building -Mercy Ebuetse

    Media vital for nation building -Mercy Ebuetse

    Publisherof Shalom Truth Magazine (STM), Mercy Ebuetse, has called on media owners in the country to down play stories that promote violence and immorality in the society.

    She made the call during the launch of the magazine at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja Lagos State.

    Information Minister, Labaran Maku; Abia State Governor, Dr Theodore Orji and General Overseer of Faith Tabernacle, Bishop David Oyedepo, were duly represented at the ceremony which took place during the week.

    The publisher identified the need to save Nigerians from distasteful publications as her reason for establishing the magazine, saying: “We believe that in building a strong nation, the role of the media is very paramount. Therefore, stories that promote sex and other vices should not be encouraged by the media.

    “If you look through the media these days, all you find are daily reports of war, ritual killings, kidnapping, insecurity and other several unpalatable stories that are unhealthy for the consumption of an average Nigerian. STM seeks to play a refreshing role of shifting the mind of an average reader to issues that promote peace and development. We are out to celebrate life in its entirety, especially at this period where moral decadence breeds insecurity in our country.”

    She stated that the establishment is concerned about working with the government to build a virile nation, adding, “We are joining forces with the Nigerian government to ensure that we have healthy minds in the society, people that can stand intellectual discourse. We are also concerned about the growing rate of unemployment in our country and would try to contribute our quota towards reducing it.”

    The Covenant University graduate identified access to finance as a serious challenge to young entrepreneurs in the country and called on the federal government to address the challenge. “Institutions should be put in place to help out those who need assistance to birth their dreams. Those at the helms of affairs in the country should assist young entrepreneurs to grow in the overall interest of the nation and the people,” she said.

    Representative of Abia Sate Governor, Mao Ohuabunwa, lauded the publisher for her courage to float the magazine and encouraged other youths in the country to emulate her.

    “Mercy read engineering in the higher institution but has veered into publishing today. She didn’t stay at home waiting for when her dream job would come. I will encourage other youths to emulate her. We are planning to hold a youth summit in Abia State later in the year and would invite her speak to our youths,” he stated.

  • Soyinka is conscience of our nation, says Tinubu

    Soyinka is conscience of our nation, says Tinubu

    Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka is the conscience of the nation.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by his Media Office, Tinubu said: “No word can describe what you have achieved as a professional  and a patriot. You are one of a kind. You have become the conscience of our nation, pricking us and alerting us to the dangers ahead. You have not stopped there; you have gone further to proffer solutions in a timely and comprehensive manner on how to move things forward. Your words and interventions continue to resonate here at home and globally.

    “You remain one of the few  truly celebrated Nigerian icons and a solid and powerful voice. Indeed, one of the very few powerful voices who continue to speak up against injustice, inequality and creeping fascism. The more they try to diminish you, the more your status rise in distinction to their incoherence and verbiage. Each time they try to silence you, your voice rings out louder and clearer. You have always said: ‘The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.’ And you  are being proved right with our experience. We take instruction in these words of yours.

    “Nigeria’s search for true democracy remains on course because of your unrelenting and lucid interventions. Through the years, you have demonstrated a fierce commitment to the Nigerian project and worked assiduously with different groups and organisations in the singular effort to ensure that Nigeria’s democracy survives and we achieve an egalitarian society.

    “I identify with you in this struggle for a better and greater Nigeria and stand side by side with you in your condemnation of the impunity of the present administration and the demand you have made that the current Nigerian government has a case to answer for all the unconstitutional acts it is perpetrating.

    “I celebrate with you today. May you grow in wisdom and knowledge. May you find peace and remain in good health. Happy birthday.”

     

  • The humbling of a proud nation

    For a country famed for its sporting prowess, Brazil’s on-field execution of the 2014 FIFA World Cup project floundered from the start. With more than a chink in the armour of Coach Felipe Scolari’s team, the campaign soon disintegrated like rain-washed sandcastle on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

    Veteran striker Fred failed to fly and the much-touted Hulk barely pulled his weight, but it was skipper Thiago Silva’s and skillful forward Neymar Junior’s absence in the semi-final against Germany that ultimately sank the Selecao’s hopes of topping their record fifth title.

    Brazilians thought as much. Marta Nascimento, a ticketing officer with local airline, TAM in Salvador said: “The players were so united that when one of them got injured, the others decided not to play.”

    Francisco Almeida, manager of a Shell fuel station at the Vasco da Gama area of the city, blamed the turn of events on the coach. “Felipe is responsible for the result. Compared to Germany that had been playing together for six years, he chose young players. Five Neymars in the team would not have made a difference.”

    Fred had no part to play in the campaign and the inclusion of either Ronaldinho or Robinho might have helped, he pointed out.

    Indeed, Scolari’s team was high in potential but low in star quality. When a team leans on the delicate shoulders of a gifted 22 year-old to win its sixth title before a demanding home crowd, a fight for third place with the Netherlands is as good as it gets.

    From Croatia to Mexico in the first round and Chile to Colombia in the second round and quarter-final, the boys in yellow progressed more from favourable officiating than form. But luck changes sometime.

    Silva missed last Tuesday’s semi-final through suspension after a consecutive foul in the quarter-final against Colombia while opposing defender Juan Zuniga inflicted a deeper wound on the Selecao with a knee-in-the-back challenge on Neymar.

    That, for a team that battled scepticism all through and a nation that watched heart-in-mouth from the opener with Croatia, was the last straw. No longer able to ride on the youngster’s fragile back, Brazil turned to prayer.

    As the country froze in a sea of supporters’ yellow and green last Tuesday in Pelourinho – Salvador’s historic centre – as elsewhere in the vast entity called Brazil, the sympathetic visitor mouthed a significant portion of the prayer. May Brazil win.

    Germany had other ideas. Thrice world champions, the Europeans tore the script and ripped through Brazil’s delicate spine to inflict an unprecedented 7-1 punishment.

    Through the brutal conquest beckoned the truth: huge financial sacrifice and massive stadia construction toll aside, Brazil never really deserved the cup. The tears ran afterwards, down dejected faces and replica jerseys into the mugs and cans of beer (cervaja) handled by revellers-turned-mourners.

    While music blared from loudspeakers and die-hard fans lingered to dance and dilute their sorrow on the streets, the crowd thinned out quicker than usual. Cervaja in hand, one bare-chested fan flung his jersey to the floor in passing and was soon copied. For empty can collectors and the destitute, it turned out to be a day of rich pickings; for disheartened fans, a day to embrace rather than question evidence.

    But questions will always be asked of Scolari’s selection. Whether the inclusion of seasoned campaigners Ronaldino, Kaka and Robinho would have made any difference is consigned to the realm of conjecture, however.

    What is clear is that on account of pedigree and commitment, either of Germany and Argentina merits the ultimate football crown in today’s decider at the magnificent Maracana Stadium in Rio.

    A football theory

    Following the Brazil 2014 World Cup finals has yielded something beyond match analysis and travelogue. Today, I set aside the struggles of the host team to announce the result of a personal research. To the question of life after football for retired and retiring stars I present a solution. I would recommend Olympic Diving but it’s rather late in the day as some would die of sheer fright from leaping off a flexible board 10 metres above a deep pool. So, the safer option: acting.

    Yes, the thespian art would suit footballers to a tee. If you doubt it, recall the now-familiar match scenario of a player taking a slight elbow to the chest and tumbling to the turf clutching his face and thrashing about. Or the grazing of the ankle and a player somersaults before clutching his shin in ‘sheer agony’.

    What about the impetuous head-nudge, a.k.a. “headbutt” in the Portugal-Germany encounter and the ensuing tantrum in the case of Pepe vs Muller?

    While we are at it, we might as well cite the opening act, Fred vs Croatia defenders. We will, however, refrain from commenting on Chiellini vs Suarez as the matter is still in court – the court of public opinion, even though FIFA subsequently ruled a 10-match ban for “biting” by the toothy Uruguayan.

    A historic day to remember

    On the bus to the Historic Centre of the city, or Pelourinho, one Sunday, I handed the conductor the normal B$2. 80 fare but he launched a rant in Portuguese. Not again, I thought. Just when I think I can blend in, someone blows my cover. Nao fallas Portuguese, I managed to say. He handed back half of the fare. More than pleased with the financial relief, I thank him. Obrigado. I should go out more on weekends.

    Following time well-spent at the Centro Historico meeting Nigerians and fans from around the world, I vacated Pelourinho rather late. As I waited for a bus, a crowd of passengers formed. Travelling in the night suddenly seemed a huge risk. What if a fracas ensues? The thought barely shaped in my mind when policemen on duty scrambled to quell disturbance some metres away. Lucky me.

    It turned out to be nothing serious. But I liked the policemen´s reaction. Two buses came in but declined to ferry passengers for reasons probably related to low traffic. A smaller bus finally arrived that was ready for boarding. I braced myself for some commotion after a nervy wait. None occurred. As usual, a lazy queue formed. Then the driver (called motorist here) took off like a shot, ramming the creaking coach through the night.

    A real maniac on the freeway, he lurched over bumps and crevices, angled through corners and pulled to a sharp stop at bus shelters. Knowing that the average bus route circled the coast and cliffs, I hoped at some point that the driver would take it easy. Then I looked out through the window and saw that we were on the cliff-side, and he wasn’t taking it easy.

    Visions of a scanty bus somersaulting into the ocean below flashed before me, but I took a cue from the forever docile passengers and shook off panic. In two weeks of riding on public buses (or onibus), I hadn’t heard a single passenger complain about over-speeding. The conscientious foreigner who should would find himself terribly outnumbered and possibly out-talked.

    At my bus stop at last, I jumped off and almost ran. This, I thought as I walked to my hotel, is one reason amongst many why Brazil cannot be counted as a fully developed society. No organised society can do without limits. Nigeria may be years, even decades behind Brazil in development, but I can, with reasonable enlightenment, question the inadequate enforcement of speed limits here.

    To play like the ‘Brasileiro’

    Do you dream of being a beach bum for once in your life? Then head to the Brazil coast. Lodge at any of the hotels on Salvador’s shoreline and hit the city centre by bus or taxi. Shop and window-shop at any of the large shopping centres: Shopping Salvador, Shopping Iguatemi and Shopping Barra after changing foreign currency into the local legal tender, Brazil reais (B$).

    While there, savour a buffet lunch that is weighed for the bill. Now you are living it up like the ‘Brasileiro’, or true Brazilian. Then trawl through the famous Mercado Modelo (Modern Supermarket) for handicrafts and gifts before visiting the upper part of Pelourinho by the famous elevator, Elevador Lacerda. Finally, purchase beach gear on the streets and in any of the shops in Pelourinho while taking time out to photograph tourist attractions in a perpetual carnival atmosphere.

    By the way, it is no surprise that the ultimate beachwear, a pair of flip-flops, goes for a tidy sum of 30 reais (about 2, 000 naira). The common slippers are so accepted here as to be almost formal. So, to blend in, beach bum-in-training, arm yourself with flip-flops, colourful Bermuda shorts, vest (or no vest for the male), sun shades and a football. Ball? Yes, Brasileiros covet the object.

    The other day, a petrol station near my base released soft footballs used for promotion  and nearly caused a stampede. Pedestrians stopped traffic to run across the road and pick some of the bouncing items. Motorists screeched to a halt to pack a few into car booths. Even more bizarre, a woman stopped a bus she rode on, disembarked and squealed in delight as she scooped two before resuming the trip.

    Nigerian state in Brazil?

    That would be Bahia with its capital, Salvador the most Nigerian of them all. The first-time visitor may struggle to communicate in Portuguese, but if you are Nigerian and, better still, Yoruba-speaking, strain your ears and you should identify words or parts of words like Acaraje, the Brazilian version of the Nigerian snack, akara. It is a corruption of the phrase “akara egbe” (dried akara) as confirmed by  Misbah Wale Akanni, the liaison officer attached to Nigeria House, the Nigerian Embassy’s art and tourism centre in Pelourinho, Salvador.

    Acaraje is prepared in much the same way as the original. Bean flour is fried in palm oil with pepper, shrimps and spices served in the split cake upon demand. Come to Brazil and watch locals and tourists delve into Acaraje with equal gusto. Beyond language and cuisine, cultural practice handed down by enslaved Africans in centuries past extends to dressing, especially during festivals, and traditional religion worship.

    Friend today, gone tomorrow

    As can be imagined, I make new friends everyday. And as expected, I lose them everyday. I must have met a thousand people from all parts of the world. They come with a few things in common  beside the love for football and a willingness to see Brazil at its passionate best.

    For nostalgic effect, I recall my first acquaintances. They are long gone from Salvador, and my memory of them remains poignant. First there were the Fountains, a family of four from the Bahamas who loved football and wished to see the Super Eagles lift the World Cup. Some wish.

    Then came Debbie the Zimbabwean from Australia who was “doing six Brazilian cities” and afterwards, Susan, a tall, relaxed women’s football player from Australia covering 11 cities. She was travelling to another city “6 a.m. tomorrow morning” after arriving in Salvador the day before.

    And I shall not forget the African friends who breathed France. Originally from Senegal’s Casamance region, Antoine Faye settled with his parents and siblings in Lyon. Luol Gomis and Jean Heggan originated from Guinea. After a week in Salvador, the chatty group said their goodbyes and headed to Rio de Janeiro to savour the World Cup finale. Me? I toured Salvador some more.

  • Mandela and the Rainbow Nation

    n his effort to end the Apartheid regime in South Africa in the early 1990s, the late Nelson Mandela was admirably tough on his struggle to free his countrymen from the ruinous regime that turned them into slaves in their fatherland.

    In the end, South African gained free in politics but economically, the people still depended on their tormentors, who did not leave the country after the Apartheid regime crumbled.

    The South African economy remained the largest in Africa but the country has distinction as world’s most economically-skewed nation since 2009.

    This lopsidedness is not new. It grasped the attention of critics as far back as 1998 when the then Deputy President, Thabo Mbeki, stated before the parliament that South Africa was not a nation of a homogeneous people. He added that it was merely two nations rolled into one.

    To Mbeki, the country could be seen as a superficial society of “small” affluent white men whose lifestyles rivalled the super-rich anywhere in the world. The other people in South Africa, according to Mbeki, are black citizens who seemingly have a permanent date with poverty. Mbeki’s statement, which came to be known as “Two-Nations Speech”, is now regarded as a candid refutation of racial-economic harmony around the world.

    Besides, was Mbeki foretelling a racial confrontation by his speech? Did he have knowledge of impeding Marikana massacre of August 2012 when 34 striking miners were gunned down by police in broad daylight?

    In analysing South Africa’s economic inequality, social critics agree from the outset that colonialism and Apartheid had much to do with it. But in the post-apartheid era, a small undercurrent of thought emerged suggesting that the country’s socio-economic woes were aggravated and perpetuated by “compromised negotiations” that were spearheaded by the liberation icon, Nelson Mandela.

    After all, he was the beloved, the ultimate victim of apartheid struggle. Post-Mandela era, the ghost of the “compromised negotiation” hunts the country.

    Indeed, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah had addressed the same question of what domain should African anti-colonialism target first: politics or economy? Nkrumah responded in his capacity as the elder statesman in African nationalism, asserting: “Seek ye first the political kingdom and all things shall be added unto you.”

    During the negotiations to abolish Apartheid, was Mandela aware of Nkrumah’s political kingdom dictum? He would be forgiven if he was not aware. After all, he was already in prison when African nationalism became popular.

    In addition to his well-known photographic memory, Mandela was well read. Prof Ali Mazrui told how he was once in a conference and, accidentally, bumped into Mandela in the hallway. Startled, Mazrui greeted the global icon and introduced himself as Ali Mazrui. Mandela responded: “Oh, Professor Ali Mazrui, nice to meet you! I used to read your publications when I was in prison!”

    If Mandela remembered Mazrui’s name and he had read his publications while in prison, he certainly knew of the economic-political kingdoms debate prior to African decolonisation.

    Indeed Nkrumah’s dictum on this issue is one of his three most cited statements and Mazrui has published extensively on Nkrumah. In de-emphasising the economic front in the negotiations to abolish apartheid, was Mandela acting under the spell of Nkrumah?

    In all likelihood, Mandela was preoccupied less with ideologies than the practical circumstances that surrounded him. For the survival of his country, he had chosen to enlist the political kingdom first of reconciliation and nation-building.

    This attempt to build a Rainbow Nation was indeed the only viable alternative that was open to discussions. In this sense, Mandela was not alone. He was in the mould of Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta, who also came out of a colonial jail and wrote a book clearly aimed at ‘coddling’ his former British detractors. Hence, the unsurprising title of his 1968 book: Suffering without bitterness.

    The mood of doom that hung over South Africa deteriorated immensely from the 1980s and was profoundly unattractive to foreign investor. International economic sanctions had become universal and were now biting deeply. Suddenly, these forces were boosted by the 1986 passage of the US Congressional Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. The movement was also gaining momentum in the US and contributed further to Apartheid’s economic woes.

    Mandela did play his historical part in terminating political apartheid and bringing democracy to the South Africa peacefully. For that he won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. But the task of fusing socio-economic equality into the political kingdom turned out to be arduous undertaking.

    This year marks two decades of democracy in South Africa. Yet, the de facto economic apartheid remains intact. South African blacks remain pathetically poor. In 2009, South Africa surpassed Brazil as the most skewed society in the world.

    In Mbeki’s opinion, South Africa is yet to be a nation; it remains two nations in one. How to narrow the gap between the white and black, and how to construct genuine fundamentals of a Rainbow Nation eluded Mandela. Unlike Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Mandela’s South Africa is an incomplete revolution, a work in progress.

     

    Segun, 300-Level, Public Administration, LASU

     

  • Here comes The Nation Archive

    Here comes The Nation Archive

    The Nation newspaper made history at the weekend when it became the first Nigerian newspaper on the world’s latest media disc, the BluRay disc. The newspaper now has a digital archive of all its editions over the last two years, on a single digital disc and the universally available USB flash drives and SD cards.

    The new offering from the newspaper, now makes it possible to carry the more than 62,000 pages of The Nation newspaper published over the last two years, in a shirt pocket. It is also now easy to instantly search to find any stories or even any word, including advertisements and announcements published in any of the more than 62,000 pages printed in the 731 editions of the newspaper, between January 2012 and December 2013.

    Any of the 62,000 pages or specific story can also be perfectly reproduced in full colour, on any size of paper and printed from any personal computer, android tablet computer or phone and any other digital-age device capable of reading flash drives or SD cards.

    The totally Nigerian feat, is the culmination of a 25 year-old dream by The Nation’s Science and Technology Editor, O’seun Ogunseitan, and his small team of Nigerian computer programmers. Ogunseitan had been on a leave from the newspaper over the last three years, to see the project through.

    Presenting the first copies of the digital-age Nigerian media landmark to The Nation management in Lagos, Ogunseitan dedicated the unique e-publications to the memory of the late media mogul, Bashorun M.K.O Abiola who “first supported the idea way back in 1990 and Asiwaju Tinubu who inspired the rebirth of the quest in 2009”

    The media archivist thanked God for giving him an unusual tenacity of purpose which enabled him “to stay on course, on an uncharted path for 25 long years”. He also singled out Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State for his trusting belief in the novel idea and the unquantifiable support that finally saw to the arrival of the Nigerian media on the global media stage.

    The storage and use of past editions of Nigerian newspapers, have always been laborious undertakings. Easily wear-prone, past editions of Nigerian newspapers took so much library floor and wall space, yet they can only be used by one person at a time and have to be manually searched.

    Now without any internet connection and in any part of the world, even in the remotest part of Nigeria, a pocketable BluRay disc or a regular USB flash drive, not much bigger than a jacket button, now instantly makes available more than 62,000 pages of fully searchable and printable editions of The Nation.

    Also as many people as are connected to a single computer having a single copy of The Nation’s Digital archive, can search for any word and be instantly taken to the complete newspaper edition and the page or pages containing the word. The particular pages can be reproduced perfectly, even in colour by merely sending the page or pages to a regular colour printer connected to the computer, no matter how old the newspaper edition is.

    Unlike the printed hard copy of newspapers which withers in a few years, the digitalised archive of The Nation, can apparently last forever, since a copy on the Blu-ray disc can last more than 80 years without any degradation even as perfect replications of the digital archive can easily be done in minutes by the newspaper organisation.

    The digital archive copy on sale is also digitally protected against duplication and everyday computer copying, making the possibility of low quality pirated copies remote and guaranteeing legal acceptability of certified print-outs of the digital archives.

    Only the most modern of libraries worldwide, made any long-lasting microfilm copies of Nigerian newspapers for archival storage and library use. Such microfilmed library copies of newspapers, however need expensive microfiche readers to read the microfilms. Most libraries, including all Nigerian newspaper libraries, simply book-bind physical copies of the newspapers into heavy monthly volumes which they make available on request to one user at a time.

    Bound copies of old newspapers are cumbersome and unreliable in storage. The newspapers easily become weather-beaten due to humidity and heat particularly in the tropics despite taking enormous wall and floor space in libraries. Yet researchers in need of reference to the old newspaper editions, must also have an idea of the date of the publication of specific write ups, to know the bound editions to look for.

    The advent of web-based search engines such as Google, made it slightly easier to access past newspaper editions published online, using keywords. But even such copies from the internet, are just the story texts, as reported in the newspapers, not the full newspaper pages showing the stories and advertisements and announcements, as it normally published in the physical newspaper.

    Advanced newspaper websites like The Nation’s website too, provide full graphic views of complete digital editions of the physical newspapers. But such e-copies, available online only on the day the papers are published or later on subscription, are most of the time incomplete in delivery, due to by slow internet connectivity. Such online copies are also not searchable or printable.

    A public presentation of the maiden digital archive of The Nation is in the offing, just as there are plans to add all editions of the newspaper since inception in 2006, to the new portable digital newspaper library.

     

  • Beggars back in nation’s capital

    Beggars back in nation’s capital

    The effort of the FCT Administration to make Abuja a world-class city has remained futile with the presence of beggars in the city. It is not a new thing to see beggars on major streets in Abuja. What is new, or what runs through the minds of many, is why some of the people beg.

    The battle to get them off major centres of Abuja metropolis is getting tough by the day. In 2011, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, read the riot act to all heads of agencies and departments following the poor environmental condition of the city. He gave them one directive: to get beggars off the streets of the capital.

    Consequent to that charge, over 170 beggars were repatriated to states such as Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, and Gombe. Others were taken to Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Plateau and Abia states. The exercise was seen as an effort to clean up the capital by the Mohammed administration.

    But two years after the instruction to rid Abuja of beggars, the activities of beggars are becoming visible again in the capital city.

    Beggars, who were dislodged by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) around Wuse, Berger, and Area One, are suddenly returning to the streets in the city centres.

    In satellite towns like Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba, Gwagwalada and Kubwa, beggars have found solace in the pedestrian bridges at night where they beg for arms from residents.

    The beggars are of the excuse that Abuja is not meant for the high class alone, hence the need for them to stay. Besides the suburbs of the city, you can also find them in strategic locations like the entrance of banks, mosques, churches, major bus stops; motor parks and major road junctions where they feel those with good hearts will see them and give them alms.

     

    Beyond gender

    Gender is not a barrier in the business of begging as both male and female are into it. Some live with one form of deformity or the other while some decided to embrace begging as a profession and a way to make ends meet.

    One would expect that only those who have reasons to beg should beg but a second thought on the idea of begging would remind one of the axiom: “there is ability in disability”. This indicates that disability should not be an excuse for one to engage in begging.

    There are different kinds of beggars. We have the habitual beggars, who are always dressed in shabby clothes. They carry umbrellas, plates and bags to keep what they are given by the kind-hearted ones. To attract more pity especially from women, some carry babies who always look mal-nourished with unkempt hair and outfit. Some even hold plastic plates in case a philanthropist gives them any kind of meal.

    There is yet another category of beggars who actually live with one form of disability or the other. The blind, among these categories, are seen with their sticks and sometimes accompanied by a relative who helps in directing them.

    To get the attention of good-hearted people, they sing songs, blessing before and after they receive some gifts.

    The deaf and dumb among the beggars go about with identification cards, envelopes and sometimes a carton around their necks with the inscription; “I am deaf and dumb, please assist me”.

    Also, some people under the guise of running a non-governmental organisation that caters for the disabled go from one organisation to the other seeking fund to assist people living with disabilities.

    At the major junctions at Kubwa, our correspondents encountered some dwarfs moving in company of their likes seeking alms. “Why should dwarfs also beg, what is their excuse for begging?” were the questions in their minds.

    When one of them who simply identified himself as Zakari Tanimu was asked why he was begging, he said: “I did not go to school when I was young and I am too old to go now. I have tried to work in different places but I have been turned down severally. I concluded that if those who have normal heights are still there looking for jobs, when will I get a job?

    “My height is a disadvantage to me. If they are even considering anybody for a job; I know I will be the last. So, instead of just waiting endlessly, I have decided to beg.”

    Kudirat Salisu, mother of three who sits at one corner of the newly constructed pedestrian bridge at NICON Junction said: “If I don’t beg, how will I take care of my children and myself. I used to help people do their domestic chores, like washing clothes and keeping their houses clean but they started complaining that I should not be coming with my children. Where will I keep them while I go to work?

    “That was why I stopped and I don’t have enough money to start up any business. So, that is why I am begging.”

    Isah Djibril is another beggar who said he discovered that one of the means through which one could sustain oneself in the capital city is through begging for alms.

    The 42-year-old Adamawa State-born and father of four kids begs for alms at night at the popular Gwarimpa-Kubwa Express Bridge. He rubs the floor of the bridge with his buttocks as he strives to make ends meet.

    Isah Djibril, who spoke in Hausa through an interpreter, said he had been in the begging business for a long time. He explained that through begging, he has been able to provide for his family.

    According to Hauwa Amina, another beggar along the Wuse Bridge, the economic situation made her go into street begging. Asked if she is not scared of arrest by officials of AEPB, Hauwa, who spoke in Pidgin English, explained that government officials are the ones disturbing them by coming here to drive them away.

     

    A new trend

    The tales of Hauwa Amina or Kudirat Salisu are not different from hundreds of others, including a few literate ‘corporate’ beggars who throng the bus stops and other areas in the FCT at closing hours to seek financial assistance. The differences lie in their appearances.

    This paradigm in begging in the nation’s capital has become treacherous.

    This set of beggars often called corporate beggars is smart and unassuming to passersby. Their mode of dressing reflects confidence from distance; attractive and neat. But on a close contact, they represent treachery and deceit.

    This set of beggars or individuals give the impression of being stranded to get money from people. Abuja residents are now used to these tricks played by this set of beggars. Like a lie told many times, it becomes ineffective.

    Is there any help for them? With the rise of beggars in the nation’s capital, is there a way the government can get them off the streets?

    The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Social Development Secretariat, Mrs. Blessing Onuh in a recent publication said the FCT Administration recently rehabilitated some of these beggars in the capital city.

    “The secretariat recently concluded the training of about 90 women beggars at the Karinmaji Settlement,” she said.

    She further said: “The women were registered in co-operative groups and given monetary assistance by the secretariat.”

    Also, in a recent interview, the Principal, Bwari Rehabilitation Centre, Comrade Bala Tsoho expressed dismay at the unwillingness of most of the beggars to embrace the FCTA’s initiative to rehabilitate them at the centre.

    According to him, those who are into begging have lost their sense of dignity and pride.

  • National Confab: ‘Ndokwa nation to seek reduction of power at the centre’

    National Confab: ‘Ndokwa nation to seek reduction of power at the centre’

    Paul Enebeli, President-General, Ndokwa Neku Union, is a pharmacist and member on the board of NAFDAC. In this interview with OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE, he  speaks on  the proposed National Confab , developmental challenges facing his people and Delta State 2015 gubernatorial elections, among others.

    That has been the focus of your administration since you assumed office?

    The focus of my administration is to unify the Ndokwa people, getting them together to begin to think as one, dream as one. Before my assumption of office there was division along political and sectional lines. We reached out to all shades of opinion, all strata of people so that they can buy into our vision for our people.

    What are the developmental challenges facing the Ndokwa people?

    The challenges facing our people are enormous. They are the issues of lack of government presence, both States and federal, especially the federal government. In terms of the federal government presence in Ndokwa land the only visible one is the dilapidated prison yard and maybe some adjoining police stations .We do not have a tertiary educational institution, we lack also a tertiary health institution. There are many places in Ndokwa land were one cannot drive on the roads year round especially in Ndokwa East because the terrain is  swampy and in a rain forest area. There is also the issue of electricity, despite the fact Okpai Power plant is domiciled in Ndokwa land and produces about 10 per cent   power to the national grid, our people still wallow in darkness because we produce power in Okpai and federal government installs a step-down transformer at Obosi, Anambra State.
    There is the issue of oil exploitation, Ndokwa has become a major oil and gas hub in Nigeria with so many oil companies operating in Ndokwa land. With the level of the destruction of the flora and fauna of the region we cannot see any bright future for our people. Our youths are unemployed , the farm lands have been despoiled with oil spills, there is also the fertility related  health issues resulting from continuous gas flaring.
    It is sad to know that in Ndokwa East we have no banks there is no way an economy will grow without banks. There is also the issue of human capital, because we do not have tertiary institutions, save the private University established by our illustrious son and Aboh Polytechnic only recently approved by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s regime. So, our children cannot go to university.
    What you have in Ndokwa is the phenomenon of child fathers, you find 18-year-olds having children and this causes unemployment, restiveness among the youths. We are using this medium to call on government to respond to these challenges enumerated above.

    What is the idea behind the N1 billion country club project?

    My major reason why I decided to embark on that was that I realized that a lot of the Ndokwa elite get to know themselves late in the day such that they are not able to envision together. This is because a  lot of them did not grow up at home, they grew outside the Ndokwa area and so when they came home they had no contemporaries and they had no people to meet and talk. We thought  a country club  will be a place where the elite will come and meet, discuss issues of mutual importance, discuss ideas, share opinions about Government and the way forward and by so doing  the consensus building process will start you achieve a lot when you can sit down with people maybe in a relaxed environment with a glass of beer and whatever and  that brings people.

    What is the Union doing to check the growing incidence of conflicts between oil companies and host communities?

    Since I came into office we have been sitting together as an executive to find lasting solutions to the challenges oil exploitation pose for our people. If we do not have a clear- cut oil policy within our area there is going to be problem later on because there will be issues land disputes.
    We produce oil in Ndokwa land but we do not know the quantum of oil produced; it is shrouded in secrecy. It is not good for us. Government should be transparent enough to tell us the quantity of oil that is been produced in our land. If you look at the State’s intervention agency DESOPADEC, the constitution of the board has something to do with the quantum of oil produced. For a long time our quantum of oil has remained the same despite the fact that so much is produced by marginal fields in the area. We have a big challenge because ours is still a new organisation. I am just beginning to lay the right foundations for a take-off  of a more organised and better focused union. There is a lot that needs to be done.
    We do not have our sons and daughters at the commanding heights of the oil industry, so we are unable to get information. We have been preaching peace to our youths to allow us to engage government. I do not know how long they can continue to give us time to negotiate with government. In 2014 we plan to engage the Nigeria National Petroleum (NNPC) Corporation and its joint venture partners to really know what our situation is we cannot continue to remain at a particular level of oil production, yet many oil companies come to do business in our land.
    There are cries of marginalisation among Ndokwa people; do you think this is justified?

    I think it is justified. What else can be marginalisation in a people that produce so much to the economy? I have not talked about the amount of manpower that we have both in Nigeria and Diaspora. For us it is even worse despite all these contributions we have never produced a Minister, Governor, Deputy Governor, an ambassador, even at the federal level there is no Special Assistant in the Presidency, from this Ndokwa are not only marginalized we are near annihilation. That is why are saying that the only way to assuage this injustices is to produce the next Delta State Governor in 2015

    What are the issues to be canvassed by the Ndokwa people in the proposed national dialogue?

    I do not know whether I should let the cat out of the bag. We support the national confab as proposed by the President Goodluck Jonathan. We believe that any opportunity for Nigerians to sit down and talk is a welcome one especially for minorities. The majority tribes have taken us for granted for too long.
    We believe that the centre is too powerful; power needs to be devolved to the states or the local government areas. Principles of Derivation should be revisited, with 50  per cent as suggested sharing formula of resources. Presidential system which we are operating is too expensive, and the best way to go is the French model, the legislature will be part time. As it stands a lot of money is being spent on salaries and overheads, with nothing left for capital projects.
    More states needs to be created. Since after independence the structure of government has not favour Ndokwa land. Before independence, Aboh Division which metamorphosed into the present Ndokwa land used to be at par with the defunct Asaba Division, today the Asaba Division has about six local governments while the old Aboh division still has three. At the level of federal constituencies the old Aboh division is only one which is the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal constituencies. Asaba has two federal constituencies same inequalities apply across the country with Kano State having about 44 local council areas.
    If an Anioma State is created then we may be able to clamour for the number of local government areas we deserve. We believe these issues can only be discussed in a free and unfettered environment as the national dialogue as envisaged by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Why have the Ndokwa people repeatedly failed to produce a governor?

    Because the Ndokwa people have been shut out of power for so long they lack the political contacts at the highest level of government to influence anything at the State level due to the overbearing attitude of a too powerful center. We have not failed because we lack competent hands like the saying goes “Talent is everywhere but opportunities are lacking”. We have not been lucky enough to have the sympathy of out-going governors in the past, as this has a role to play in who succeeds them. I hope that luck will smile at us come 2015.

    Do the Anioma people have a clear-cut strategic plan to clinch gubernatorial power in 2015?

    Are you going to say the Itsekiris were more strategic that they produced Governor Uduaghan? I have my doubts, and I do not think it was the Itsekiris who made Uduaghan governor or that ex-Governor was governor because the Urhobos were more strategic. What I know is that there is a groundswell of opinion for power to rotate. The reason is people want participatory democracy. If anyone told you some years back that an Ijaw man will be President of Nigeria you will not believe. That gives people hope that given the right framework and the right thinking anyone can become President of Nigeria. If the majorities agree to flex their muscle and use their numerical strength President Jonathan will stand no chance. We will not expose strategy, but we know that there is a groundswell of opinion for power to shift in the State.

  • ‘We’ll play our role in nation building’

    ‘We’ll play our role in nation building’

    Fifty undergraduates have promised to assist in achieving effective university administration to boost national development. They spoke at the 12th Correspondents’ Workshop organised by The Nation in conjunction with Coca-Cola System in Nigeria. AYODEJI ADESINA and OPEOLUWA SONUGA (400-Level Law Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) report.

    “Yes,” say the speakers at the 12th CAMPUSLIFE Workshop held at Citilodge Hotel in Lekki, Lagos last weekend.

    The three-day capacity-building seminar sponsored by Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited also featured the fifth award ceremony where student-contributors to Campus Life were rewarded.

    Student-writers from different campuses invited for the event converged on the Matori, Lagos headquarters of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation on Friday.

    The event kicked-off with a tour of The Nation’s facility. The students were conducted round by CAMPUSLIFE Coordinator Wale Ajetunmobi. The first port of call was the Newsroom where the students learnt about newspaper production.

    They also visited the Production room, Pre-press section and Press Hall, where they learnt about newspaper printing and circulation.

    Because of the late arrival of some of their colleagues, the students could not proceed to the NBC plant in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, on excursion. The event was cancelled to meet up with award dinner.

    For the students, it was an opportunity to catch up again after a long time of communicating with one another due to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. On their way to the hotel, the students were treated to a sumptuous meal of rice and chicken at Sweet Sensation eatry.

    On Saturday after breakfast, the workshop began with the rendition of the National Anthem. Ajetunmobi took the participants through writing rules to refresh their memory on campus journalism.

    Mr Agbo Agbo, husband of the late pioneer Editor of CAMPUSLIFE, told the students to always read their published reports for improvement.

    The duo of Caleb Adebayo, 400-Level Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and Uche Anichebe, a student of the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus, made presentations on a four-day Peace Conference they attended in their capacity as CAMPUSLIFE reporters two months ago in Port Harcourt.

    The seminar was facilitated by Chevron in conjunction with Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited. The students said the event enable them to learn how to promote peace in the society, adding that they had become change agents. They urged their colleagues to promote peace in any community they found themselves.

    Adesuwa Ifedi, the country coordinator of Enactus Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation promoting entrepreneurship among students, said because of Nigeria’s population, its youths were strategic to the world market. She told the participants, who she described as “Caleb generation”, to keep hope alive, saying those who did not believe in the coming good days in Nigeria may not witness the period when it comes. Stressing that Nigeria’s future is bright, Ifedi said foreign firms that left the country in the 1980s and early 90s were returning because “Nigeria is too big to ignore”.

    She said youths should acquire necessary skills and knowledge to be relevant in the emerging business world and end poverty on the continent.

    Ifedi played a video about the life of an average Nigerian, going through human evolution phases and ended up with these posers: “Did he live his life as a footprint on the sands of time? Or as a legacy in the minds of men or as if he never were born on earth?”

    Mr Fred Chiazor, Coca Cola’s Scientific Regulatory Affairs Manager, spoke on Sparkling facts to dispel certain beliefs about Coca-Cola products. He said continuous intake of the beverages could not cause diabetes.

    Tolu Ogunlesi’s entry into the Elizabeth Hall of the hotel drew applause from the students. The unassuming Ogunlesi began his presentation in an unusual manner.

    He asked: “How many of you would love to practise journalism after graduation?”

    Dazed by the poser, a few of the students answered in the affirmative. Ogunlesi asked again: “Isn’t it that everybody here is a writer?”

    Ogunlesi, a trained pharmacist turned journalist and CNN/Multichoice African Journalist Award winner, said he never set out to become a journalist during his undergraduate days. Noticing the bewilderment on the participants’ faces, he said he had a different plan after graduating from the University of Ibadan in 2004. He wanted to be a management consultant, he said.

    “I cut my professional tooth in Accenture, a consulting company, and I just wanted to practise as a management consultant. But the opportunities that opened for me changed all the plans,” he said.

    Ogunlesi, who spoke for 20 minutes, said his penchant for “stringing words together” changed his life and discipline. He told the students to prepare to face life’s challenges, saying what they set out to become may be different from what life would bring to them after graduation.

    He urged the student-writers to adapt to the new media, saying journalism is changing from the conventional print and electronic media to digital platform. He advised the students to keep an open mind on all matters and take advantage of social media.

    Getting a job in media houses, he said, would soon require candidates sending links of their original works on their blog. “The quality of your work and who you know would greatly influence how far you can go in journalism,” he said.

    Ogunlesi noted that that there is no end to self-development, saying: “There is no excuse any more. There is no excuse to not know or find out new things. Find experts to learn from and do things that will make experts want to listen to you. People will always give serious people attention. Writing can be learnt. We learn a lot by imitation. When you read a particular writer for so long there are tendencies you begin to reason and write from perspective similar to the writer of such works.”

    After the workshop, the students went on community outreach campaign to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in Idi-Araba. They visited children being treated for cancer through Child Survival and Development Organisation of Nigeria (CSDON), a non-governmental organisation established by wife of former Cross River State governor Mrs Onari Duke.

    After the outreach, the participants visited CSDON office in Ikoyi, Lagos, where they spoke with Mrs Duke on how to end infant death in Nigeria.

    According to Uche, it was a life-time experience for her to be part of the youths being mentored through CAMPUSLIFE. UNIMAID’s Taiwo Isola said his flair for selfless service was renewed after the workshop. He hailed The Nation and Coca Cola System for creating a “progressive” platform for youths to channel their thoughts on issues affecting them and the nation.

     

  • ‘Only thinking will end Nigeria’s woes’

    ‘Only thinking will end Nigeria’s woes’

    Pastor Ladi Thompson is a frontline member of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a passionate public commentator. In this encounter with DADA ALADELOKUN, he delves into the foundation of Nigeria’s worsening plight and suggests the way out.

    Our dear country, Nigeria, will shortly, celebrate its 100 years of existence. Don’t you think it calls for wild celebration?” This is the poser that exposed the pent-up angst of Thompson, an architect-turned Senior Pastor of Living Waters Unlimited, a Lagos-based sanctuary.

    Without prevarication, he declared: “That the nation is distressed is no longer an issue. What we should do now is to declare a day of national thinking. This is what has been missing in our dire quest at addressing the numerous problems plaguing the country. We must engage in thinking based on research, truth and high moral standard.

    “The amalgamation of the country in 1914 is not the issue. Nigeria is heading for trouble. I have said it before that Dr Goodluck Jonathan could be the last president of the country. That statement could be taken positively or negatively. The problem is that as long as we continue not to think honestly as a people, our problems will compound.”

    Further delving into the fundamentals of the nation’s malaise, Thompson explained: “The amalgamation was possible because of the activities of one Tubman Goldie who hired Lord Frederick Lugard to come to the coastal area under imperial standards. It was in 1900 that Britain bought about 50 per cent of what is Nigeria today from Goldie. This brought Lugard into the picture. Interestingly, he had served under Goldie before and he was employed by the British Crown. When he took over, he flipped through Goldie’s files to realise that he (Goldie) had the plan to form one big economic unit out of the country; 1914 was just one of the numerous plans of Goldie. The most important thing now is to quickly engage in dispassionate thinking to get out of the doldrums.”

    Asserting that Nigeria is a country destined to do the thinking for the black race, and champion the redemption of the lost glory of Africa, he said if that must be achieved, “we need to look beyond 1914 to 1884.”

    Why? He was asked. His reason: “At the Berlin Conference of that year, landmark decisions were taken. You and I are speaking English today as our official language of our country because of the decisions that were made at the conference. There were 14 nations including the United States of America at the conference. They sat without getting the input of native Africans and divided Africa as artificial nations. Curiously, Bismarck, the then German Chancellor, was interested in Nigeria. Goldie argued for the British interest in the country and secured this territory for the British Crown. We must think back to look at the foundations of the country before talking about moving forward.”

    When reminded that the government was set for a national conference, the activist cleric said: “To me, it is a call by political jobbers. It will not help as the country will only be running around in circles. Since the country’s birth, there has never been deliberate attempt at consensus building on the part of the people. I guess that for political reasons, some people believe that the conference would checkmate the Boko Haram insurgency; they are using the Boko Haram problem as a bargaining tool. It is a cosmetic effort.”

    On how the nation can embark on the National Day of Thinking, he explained: “It should be a day when television stations will present the history of the country to the people since 1884; it will let us where we are and where we are coming from. While the future is not in the past, the threat to the future is in the past.”

    Taking a deep look at why the challenge of developing the country has remained a hard nut to crack, Thompson said: “What has happened to Nigeria is that the people have been so much brutalised. Nigeria is a patient with about four sicknesses – cancer, HIV-AIDS, recurring case of diabetes and malaria fever. It is a serious task for a skillful doctor because the drug that will cure one might have an adverse effect on the other. With all the major problems we have now, only intellectual thinkers can find seek appropriate solutions. This is why I said Jonathan could be the last President of Nigeria if he fails to do the right things. With the present architecture of the country, Nigeria will go nowhere.

    “The issue of Boko Haram has not been well handled by government as it remains a credible threat to the nation. For well over a decade, some of us had seen it coming through objective researches that the problem was lurking, but the myopic never took us seriously. Lurking in the shadows is the problem of widespread corruption – not just financial corruption. We have the foundational problems that were laid by the founding fathers of the country from the very beginning. The problem of the Niger Delta is still there; the last is that of nepotism. And to kill all these birds with one stone, one needs to trace the common feature of the problems. One can only arrive at the problem by resorting to history of how things came the way they are.”

    He spoke further: “Many people never knew that the eastern part of the country had the best in terms of advantage by the time the country was going into independence. The Igbo-speaking people were the most educated of all the ethnic nationalities in the country. They were even intimidating all other groups in the country. The table was turned under the regional government of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Western Region in the 1950s. For 10 years, Awolowo government ensured that his achievements surpassed those of the Eastern Region.  So, if Nigeria will lead Africa, we must put on our thinking cap.”

    On how the ideal leader can emerge to rescue the nation from dire straits, he maintained: “That is why I said Jonathan might be the last President of Nigeria if fails to act rightly. Nigerian youths are dying trying to cross the Sahara Desert into Europe in a desperate bid to escape from the current nightmares in the country. Let Jonathan wake up to realise that history beckons on him to rework this country. He has to be a statesman by genuinely using his incumbency to reorder the country.”

  • Leaders urged on nation building

    Leaders have been charged to always come together in prayers and supplication for the unity and development of the country.

    This was the crux at the fourth National Prayer Breakfast, held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    In his exhortation, the Executive Director, Apostles in the Market Place, Nigeria, Pastor John Enelamah, said the country needed God-fearing leaders that will drive it to development and advised them never to despair in heeding divine call.

    Dignitaries who were present on the occasion included the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole; and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Ramrat Layne Admassu, who gave the goodwill message.

    The Senate President, Senator David Mark was the Chief Host. He also represented President ,Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    who was the Special Guest of Honour. Ofcourse most members of the National Assembly were also present.

    The National Prayer Breakfast is a platform to promote lasting relationships for national development, irrespective of political opinions, persuasions or affiliations.