The Nation Newspaper

Tag: news

  • Police arrest fake ASP, launch manhunt for two others

    A SUSPECTED fake Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has been arrested by the police in Lagos for alleged theft.

    The suspect, Marshal Oshigbemi, was arrested by policemen attached to Ilemba Police Division, Ojo for allegedly using fake identity, along with two others – now at large – to rob commercial sex workers and their customers of their money in brothels.

    The suspect, a 65-year-old father of 10 children, who hails from the Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta State, with his two accomplices, allegedly went into a brothel along Ilemba Road, posing as ASPs from the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) and arrested sex workers and the brothel’s manager for human trafficking.

    The fake policemen were said to have threatened to send them to jail if they refused to cooperate with them.

    It was gathered that the suspects allegedly collected N4,500 from the brothel’s bar man, and other sums from the sex workers and lodgers.

    An eye-witness said: “The suspect, with two others, came into the brothel, claiming that they were policemen from the State Criminal Investigations Department,Lagos. They said their victims should cooperate if they didn’t want to end up in their custody”.

    Another source said: “During their raid, I was curious because I did not see them come in any patrol vehicle. When I asked, they claimed that their driver went to buy fuel. I quickly called the Ilemba Police Division for policemen to come to our rescue”.

    Oshigbemi was said to be waving at a police patrol to further convince his victims that they were genuine when he was arrested.

    His accomplices who sensed danger immediately they saw the police patrol vehicles, however, escaped.

    Oshigbemi said he resorted to crimes to avenge his dismissal from the Nigeria Police in 2011, adding that he had no regret.

    Lagos Command spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the suspect was not a policeman, but said a police identity card was recovered from him.

  • Commissioner decries poor project execution

    Lagos State Government has threatened to take over the drainage and channelisation of Ikota River project at Lekki Scheme 2 Estate from the Federal Government because of the poor job done by the contractor.

    The Commissioner of Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, who visited the project, said he would write the Federal Government on the matter.

    According to Bello, the state government has a duty to protect the lives of her citizenry, especially as the rains are here with their attendant heavy flooding.

    During the inspection, the commissioner found that contractor used 300 mm pipes instead of the standard 1.5 metres. “In future, this could lead to flood with lives and properties threatened,” he said.

    If properly done, on completion, the channel is expected to deflood Mobil road, Lekki Phase 11, part of Ogombo village, Lekki County home, Gedegede-Tapa, Etinrin resettlement communities and others.

    Bello also visited Agungi channel, Osapa-Lagoon channel at Beach Resort Estate and the Spars/NICON Junction in the Lekki area.

    He reiterated government’s warning to those who live on wetlands along the flood plain areas and near the lagoon to relocate to safer areas.

    Bello, however, pledged government’s preparedness to build channels and storm water drains to de-flood the state. He promised to tour Victoria Island channels and others before the rains.

  • 30m may lose means of livelihood in Chad Basin

    The Executive Secretary of Lake Chad Basin Commission, Sanusi Amran Abdullahi, has said over 30 million people living in and around the Lake Chad Basin may lose their sources of livelihood, if the prevailing negative effects of climate change in the region are not addressed quickly.

    Abdullahi spoke in Abuja at the just-concluded 58th sessions of the Council of Ministers of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

    He said: “Climate change is real and the effects of climate change phenomenon abounds. The heat waves, the flooding, the draught and the southwards movement of the Sahara in the Sahel region are a few examples. We must make efforts to save the Lake Chad and the over 30 million of our people whose livelihood depends on the natural resources in the lake.”

    He urged member states to join hands in saving the region from climate change.

    He said: “Our salvation lies in looking inwards to find ways and means of mitigating the effect of climate change and imbibe the recommended mitigation measure suitable to our environment to stop the scourge of climate change that is causing degradation and water resources stress in our region, through proper planning and implementation of long term soil and water conservation interventions. This will guarantee our food security and alleviate poverty.”

    The Federal Government had expressed concerns over the receding waters in the Lake Chad Basin.

  • Of physics and economic growth

    SIR: If we have an economist, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinator of the Economy, then perhaps we should experiment with a physicist as minister of a related ministry with the job of chief creator of economic growth.

    I recall that in his Inaugural Lecture in 1973, 40 years ago, Professor Muyiwa Awe, first President of Nigerian Institute of Physics affirmed that physics is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs. Interestingly, Professor Awe was “Best Man” to the economist, now late, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade , who had served all Nigerian heads of government from Balewa to Babangida.

    Professor Aboyade referred to economics as the life blood of the nation. But which comes first? Physics or economics?

    On the technological chess board, mathematics is king, physics the queen and the diverse branches of engineering, the knights in shiny armour.

    Physics has given rise to a whole new range of technologies that have contributed trillions of dollars into the global economy. One of these is nanotechnology. World sales of Nanotechnology-enabled products by 2008 were estimated at $234 billion. This figure is expected by the US National Science Foundation to climb to $3000 billion by 2020, increasing the number of jobs in nanotechnology-derived industries from, 400,000 in 2008 to six million in 2020. Last year I read in the papers, Professor Segun Adewoye, secretary Nigerian Academy of Science, lamenting the fact that Nigeria is yet to have a policy on nanotechnology.

    If there are no golden eggs, there might be little of an economy to co-ordinate.

    Physicists have given rise to hydro-electricity, nuclear power, radio, television, mobile phone, microwave oven, laser CD and satellite and in the area of health-care as it concerns the imaging, screening, diagnosis and treatment etc. which many of our politicians and the elite go to “enjoy” outside the country.

    We must reinforce the notion in Nigerians particularly our elected representatives that physics is not only” the queen” but also the foundation of modern society.

    • Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth

    London, England

  • Lost in the global radar

    A bold foreign policy has become major mishap in the face of grave internal problems confronting Nigeria today. As they say in Latin, FUIMUS TROVES – we were once Trojans but TROY is no more.

    Though we recently hosted the South African President, the Polish Prime Minister, and even the Ghanaian President was in Uyo recently and we can still boast of an experienced foreign Minister who spent almost his entire public service life in the foreign affairs ministry, but the fire for which Nigeria was known in the foreign scene, has extinguished.

    In the past when Nigeria spoke the world noted and when Nigeria led the rest of Africa followed not because of population or resources but because of bold global foreign policy initiatives.

    But no more.

    It is either we lack the initiatives now or we are now hostage to our internal problems.

    In the global scene we have become very inert and supine.

    No doubt, we still attend regular global summits, regional meetings, presidential inaugurations, foreign burials, ceremonies and events but not in an active capacity but as onlookers, bystanders and mere back benchers.

    Passive is the word.

    Even Nigerian students who in the past, used to be very operative and dynamic on foreign affairs particularly on African affairs to the extent that they marched along with the government, have now been submerged with internal contradictions.

    Bad and negative stories have become part of our foreign exports.

    From 1960 till date, this country Nigeria has contributed in 25 peace keeping operations.

    In 1960 just before Nigeria’s independence, Nigeria signed a military pact with Great Britain so as to safeguard Nigeria’s security in the absence of full-fledged Nigeria army, Nigerian students demonstrated against the signing of the pact and the protests led to the cancellation of the pact by the Nigerian government.

    On February 13, 1961 on the eve of the African Summit in Casablanca, Morocco, France tested an atomic bomb which contained Plutonium and had an explosive force equal to 10,000-14,000 tonnes of TNT half as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb, in the Sahara desert in the French Polynesia.

    The radioactive fallout of the bomb affected people living in the remote part of the Sahara desert. The initiative on the protest against France was led by the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966). Nigeria expelled France ambassador to Nigeria, closed Nigeria’s ports and airports to French ships and planes. Sudan, Ghana, Egypt followed Nigeria’s step.

    In April 1964, the third battalion of the Nigeria Army led by Lieutenant Colonel Pam was air lifted to Tanzania to help President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania to train a new army following the dissolution of the Tanzania army after the mutiny.

    The arrival of the Nigeria troops allowed the British troops to depart. Between 1963 and 1965 world leaders were romancing not only our national leaders but the regional leaders in Nigeria as well. For example, Arch-Bishop Makarios of Cyprus (1948-1977) was a personal friend of the Premier of the Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Iheonucura Okpara (1920-1984) while the Premier of the North Sir Ahmadu Bello (1909-1966) was so popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that a few days before he was assassinated, he was given access to Prophet Muhammad’s very tomb. When the President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Francis Kofi Nwia Nkrumah (1909-1972) visited Nigeria in 1962, he slept in the personal house of his friend, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987) in his Okebola’s residence in Ibadan. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe(1909-1996) was a personal friend of the former President of Haiti, Francois Duvalier (1907-1971) alias Papa Doc. We all aware of the relationship between Balewa and the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. So loved was Balewa by world leaders that the day he was assassinated, there was a letter in his Babariga from Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia (1913-1978), the then leader of opposition in Ghana, alerting him that there was to be a coup in Nigeria. Even after the coup of 1966, General Gowon built personal friendship with other world leaders including Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Haman El-Hadji Diouri of Niger Republic, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo (1935-2005).

    However it was between 1975 and 1979 that we had dynamism in our foreign policy. In 1975 there was a pre independence struggle in Angola. On one side we had the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) led by Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto(1922-1979), on the other side was the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola) (FNLA) led by Holden Alvaro Roberto (1923-2007) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola(UNITA) led Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002).

    Both the FNLA and UNITA were sponsored by the apartheid South Africa along with the Western world. In November 1975, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-1976) flew to Addis Ababa for the OAU conference and announced that “Africa has come of age it is no longer under the orbit of any continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar”. To the surprise of everyone he announced Nigeria’s recognition for the MPLA as the legitimate government in Angola. On February 4, 1976, he dispatched his then deputy General Olusegun Obansanjo along with Chief Ebenezer Babatope to reassure the Angolans of the support of the government. Nine days later he was assassinated on his way to the office in Ikoyi, Lagos and General Obasanjo who succeeded him soldiered on with the execution of very bold and dynamic foreign policy.

    In fact Nigeria’s foreign Minister at that time Major General Nanveh Garba(1943-2002) was so active during that period that my then boss Chief Abiodun Aloba alias Ebenezer Williams, Pioneer General Manager of Nigeria Herald dubbed him “the foreign Minister of Africa”. During those years Ikeja airport correspondents like Dapo Aderinola, Seinde Dagunduro, late Kola Adeshina, Toye Akiyode, Tayo Falade, Mike Edemeyo, late Richard Amayo, Femi Ogunleye, Francis Emelefoun, Andre Diojemao, James Bello, Bisi Oloyede, Babson Adeyemi, Kunle Egbeyemi, Jimi Aderiokun, Alhaji Adio Saka and others were in the super cadre among journalists for their daily coverage of world leaders visiting Nigeria.

    In 1976, there was the Olympic in Montreal, Canada; Nigeria led 22 African countries to pull out of the games because of New Zealand’s links with apartheid South Africa. The IOC had earlier banned South Africa from participating in Olympics because of its racial policy. Nigeria also pulled out of the Edmonton commonwealth games in Canada in 1978.

    In 1980 Olympic games held in Moscow, President Shehu Shagari refused to heed the America request to boycott the Olympic games in spite of the America delegation including the famous Muhammed Alli that visited Nigeria and begged Nigeria not to take part whereas Niger, Mauritius, Malawi, Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Gabon participated.

    In 1986, General Ibrahim Babangida led 36 African and Caribbean leaders to pull out of the Commonwealth games over the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s dealings with apartheid South Africa.

    The last time global focus was on Nigeria was when President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected President of the African Union, chairman of the Commonwealth and chairman Non-aligned nations in 2004. Since then our status has reduced.

    If we have been active, President Barak Obama of the USA would not have flown over our air space to visit Ghana on July 10, 2009.

    Dante (1265-1321) wrote in his book inferno” there is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we are happy”.

    • Teniola, a former Director in The Presidency lives in Lagos

  • Osun cleaner under Aregbesola

    SIR: As a resident of Osun, there is a noticeable difference in the condition of environment under the current government of Governor Rauf Aregbesola compared to what obtained under the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led administration.

    In the last two and half years that Aregbesola has been in the saddle, much material and human resources have been invested in improving the state of the environment and sanitation. One recalls with relish that immediately after the governor was sworn in, he declared a state-wide 90-day emergency on environmental sanitation and waste management. This was to clear the Augean stable of a filthy and unhealthy environment that he met on the ground.

    Today, all markets across the state are cleaned every Thursday while general sanitation is held twice monthly. Street sweepers and highway managers have now become regular phenomena on our roads. This is complemented by the selfless efforts of the O’YES sanitation czars who are youth volunteers who joyfully render community development service while they are engaged as part of the O’YES scheme. In order to ensure a purposeful implementation of this environmental renewal programme, the government has encouraged the private sector participation (PSP). The PSP operators, working in tandem with the government, manage the many highway managers and the numerous refuse trucks that were purchased by the government. This, expectedly, has provided employment opportunity to many otherwise unemployed citizens of the state.

    The effort of the government to fight filth and dirt and thereby build a clean and healthy environment has, no doubt, yielded a positive return. The environmental sanitation drive as well as the distribution of treated mosquito nets to pregnant women, the young and the aged have helped in reducing the people’s exposure to the common tropical killer disease – malaria.

    Two programmes of the government, however, deserve special commendation – flood control and the beautification and upgrading of roads. Every citizen of Osun will recall the massive devastation that flood wrecked on many parts of the state during the raining season in 2010. However, the Aregbesola administration, in the last two years, has made sustained efforts to turn the situation around. In different parts of the state, extensive work has been on-going towards the dredging and de-silting of major rivers, canals and streams in the state. This timely intervention has brought great relief to the people of the state. It was something akin to a miracle when last year, despite the unprecedented national outlook of the cases of flooding, the State of Osun was spared. Thus, in addition to the prevention of damage to social and physical infrastructure, our people were spared the health hazards that usually come with floods.

    It is, therefore, a thing of joy that the Aregbesola administration recently scaled up the O’Clean Programme to O’Clean Plus. If the achievements of the O’Clean programmes are anything to go by, one can only foretell that O’Clean Plus will signal a better deal for our people.

    • Idowu Ajani,

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • Police kill two, arrest three in a foiled robbery in Ibadan

    It was a black day for armed robbers in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Saturday as the police foiled a major robbery at a bureau de change, killing three and arresting three other armed robbery suspects.

    The suspects, who rode on motorcycles to the bureau de change in Sabo area of the city around 5:30 pm, disengaged swiftly, swooped on the shop and commanded both customers and the operators to surrender all the currencies in their possession.

    A member of the gang, who manned the entrance of the shop was said to have fired a shot into the air to scare neighbours and passers-by forcing them to scamper for safety.

    Consequently, some of them contacted the police. The command swiftly mobilized members of a special task force code named: “Skynet” from the nearby Mokola Police Division. The armed police swooped on the shop instantly.

    On sighting the police, the armed bandits were said to have made attempts to escape by engaging them in a gun duel. Two of the five-member gang were killed in fire exchange while three others were arrested.

    The gun duel caused pandemonium in the Sabo/Mokola area as residents, passers-by and motorists tried to avoid been shot in the cross fire. While shop owners and customers ran for cover, motorists abandoned their vehicles to seek a safe haven. The development also caused a huge traffic in the area

    The bandits’ eventual defeat triggered jubilation among residents in the area and restored normalcy. Residents, traders and motorists hailed the police for a job well done.

    They corpses and three suspects were taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. (SARS) headquarters in Iyaganku.

    Incidents of armed robbery with motorcycles had increased in the state capital in recent times, forcing government to give commercial motorcyclists and tricyclists a 21 days ultimatum to register with the government or face ban.

    Two robbery incidents had been recorded earlier in the day.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mrs Olabisi Ilobanafor, confirmed the incident.

  • Family pleads for Monguno’s release

    The Family of Dr Shettima Ali Monguno, the elder statesman kidnapped in Maiduguri on Friday, has appealed to his abductors to release him without delay.

    Monguno, 87, was kidnapped by gunmen shortly after praying in his mosque in Mafoni, Maiduguri.

    Malam Rahama Ali-Monguno, spokesman for the family, made the appeal while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri on Saturday.

    Ali-Monguno said that the elder statesman needed to be released so that he could have access to his daily medication.

    “We are begging the abductors in the name of Allah to please release our father. They should consider his old age and his current state of health,’’ he said.

    He also urged the abductors to consider the numerous philanthropic gestures of the elder statesman.

    “Our father has been the life wire of many orphans, widows and vulnerable members of the society.

    “He has helped to build Qur’anic and Western schools and sponsored many indigent children to school,” he said.

    Ali-Monguno did not say if the abductors had made contact with the family or demanded ransom for his release.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Monguno, a member of the Borno Elders Forum, has been an advocate for dialogue with the Boko Haram sect for lasting peace in the state

  • IFJ urges media to rethink sterotypes of women in news

    IFJ urges media to rethink sterotypes of women in news

    The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday marked the International Women’s Day by calling on media organisations to help overcome dangerous stereotypes that contribute to discrimination, by rethinking the way they portray women in the media.

    This call follows a series of initiatives undertaken by the IFJ in recent years to campaign for a fair and balanced gender portrayal in the news, recognising the role and responsibility of journalists and the media.
    The IFJ says that the development of guidelines and gender ethical reporting checklists is a starting point to address stereotypes, silence, repression, intimidation (violence) and discrimination. It is now time to take further actions.
    “We recognise that shining a light in places where some do not want their actions to be seen, can be a very dangerous business. However, taking our own responsibilities for ethical gender reporting means to break through dangerous stereotypes, and walls of silence hiding discrimination, violence, and sometimes death,” says Mindy Ran, chair of the IFJ gender council.
    “As well as fair and balanced reporting, our responsibility is also about minimising potential harm to those we interview, recognising that the glare of the media can bring its own danger, and that those seldom heard voices at the edge are as important as those shouting in the middle.”
    In a special newsletter to mark International Women’s Day, the IFJ Gender Council is calling on journalists’ unions and media to reflect on the choices they make in the production of news and to reflect on the negative impact this may have on the public’s perception of women and on women’s lives.
    “Not presenting women’s lives as essential, valuable and worthy of respect, but as simply victims or second class citizens, tells whole new generations that it is ok to do so, when clearly – it is not,” warns Ran.
    As part of its activities leading up to International Women’s Day, the IFJ is also conducting a series of safety trainings for women in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

    ” The IFJ is committed to ensuring that women journalists who report from the front line and other challenging situations learn life-saving skills with a special emphasis on gender mainstreaming,” added Beth Costa, IFJ General Secretary.

  • Here is the news….

    Here is the news….

    FOR a long time, agents of violence dominated the headlines. They were all over the place: Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers and their cousins, the subsidy scammers as well as ethnic warriors, who kill whole families in one fell swoop.

    Not anymore. Our celebrities are back. They elbowed their way back to the front page last week. As usual, they did it in a big way. Dr Mike Adenuga Jnr, chairman of mobile giant Globacom, donated N500million to Bayelsa State flood victims.

    When Adenuga was named the chief fund raiser for the Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation the other day, those who claim to know the reclusive businessman swore that he would rather plough his personal cash into the relief efforts, rather than go cap in hand to raise money. Pride? Not really. Style? Sure. Ever seen a bull begging? But, many are asking if the business guru plans to let the cash go round all the flood-ravaged states. Why Bayelsa first? Is it the worst-hit? Is it because the President comes from Bayelsa? The questions are many, obviously coming from those who are not aware of Adenuga’s capability to spring surprises.

    Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the immensely endowed – the richest in the black world, says Forbes – president of the commodities king Dangote Group and chairman of the committee, had earlier donated N430million to the relief efforts. He instantly hit the headlines and went back to his business of making money. He returned last week in a frightful manner – isn’t that the way of the rich? – by shutting down the Benue Cement Company in Gboko, Benue State. Thousands of jobs are now hanging in the balance.

    Dangote Cement complained that the government had opened a floodgate of imported brands, precipitating a glut in the market and sparking a painful disinvestment plan. Public affairs analysts went to town. Will BCC be shut for good? If there is a glut, why are prices not crashing? What is the fate of the legion of workers and their dependants? Will the government succumb to “ blackmail” and ban importation of cement?

    Dangote Cement has invested a fortune in manufacturing. It deserves to reap the fruits of its labour. Importation is easier and cheaper – fewer workers to pay, no huge diesel bills, no spare parts headache and, therefore, more cash to make. If local manufacturers can get the market flooded, why allow importation, even as prices have stayed up there? The Nigerian economy defies all theories in the book. Here, the law of supply and demand hardly gets its due. Everything is upside down, in the language of the songster, the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

    Sanusi Lamido Sanusi also grabbed the headline. He slammed federal character, saying it promotes mediocrity. He demanded to know the relationship between the number of ministers and the principle. Many in the audience at the National Economic Summit in Abuja were wondering when the number one banker will stop talking. He had on November 27 in Asaba said that there was no economic sense in spending about 70% of our revenue on civil/ public servants, even as we are faced with a mammoth infrastructural deficit. His lucid postulation, expectedly, raised so much dust. Unionists were falling over one another to attack Sanusi. Many abandoned the message and went after the messenger. A man known for speaking his mind, the Central Bank chief almost apologised.

    Sanusi need not fret. He is entitled to his views, no matter how bitter such views are. With a suffocating bureaucracy, the economy cannot improve. The elite should insist on true federalism where the centre is made less attractive and there is devolution of power to the states. The Federal Government has become an overfed elephant, weighed down by its massive size and driven by a complex brain box that frequently malfunctions. It is stuck, like a truck with flat tyres. A situation where, according to the enfant terrible, 70% of earnings goes into recurrent expenditure is absurd.

    It is interesting that the Sanusi theory has come at a time the House of Representatives is threatening to order his arrest for shunning its summons. Remember the loquacious banker has been defending the right of the bank not to surrender its budget to scrutiny by the legislature, following the tradition in other places. Will police chief Mohammed Abubakar be asked to seize Sanusi? We are waiting for the drama which, like so many of such past braggadocio, may end in a sickening anti-climax.

    Those who had been asking where former Edo Governor Lucky Igbinedion had been got an answer. There were photographs of the former governor representing his dad the Chancellor at the Okada University, decked out in full academic regalia befitting of an experienced professor of Atomic Physics, his trademark moustache glittering, smiling as students were handed certificates during the convocation.

    How time changes. Not long ago, Igbinedion was accused of fleecing Edo of a huge amount of cash. He was hauled before a court. All that was left was for him to be sentenced to prison. But fate – sorry, I take that back – Justice Marcel Idowu Awokulehin intervened. He ruled that the former governor should pay a fine and go in peace. Plea bargain. Igbinedion then kept a low profile. Now, he is back; not to those days of lavish bunga-bunga continental parties and repulsive display of wealth. No. It is the academic circle, a world of freedom. Will students spare a thought for his experience?

    Women were not left out. Folorunso Alakija was listed as the world’s richest black woman by African Business Magazine. Instead of jubilation, it was condemnation that filled the air. Her critics started comparing her with the super star Oprah Winfrey. Some said she is a hairdresser; others described her as a tailor turned fashion designer. How did she come about an oil block? Has she ever been to Oloibiri? Which magazine is so called? The scornful questions were many.

    I am told the National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers has sworn that it will no longer stand by and watch its leading lights being subjects of mockery by idle hands. It has briefed a Lagos lawyer who is well versed in litigation to file a writ on its behalf because, according to a source, every opportunity it has to shine on the national or international stage is snatched away and derided – remember former Speaker Patricia Olubunmi Etteh? Is it a crime to be a hair dresser?

    In the United Kingdom, the Duchess of Cambridge checked into a hospital to treat acute morning sickness. Then, the media hit the overdrive in celebration of a less than two-month phenomenon. Television stations descended on the story in a ravenous manner. It was as if they were reporting the Olympics all over. Newspapers cast sensational headlines and ran indepth analyses about the Royals. All this for a baby that was still being formed in the womb? It was difficult to understand.

    But the excitement ended in a tragedy when two Australian DJs played a prank, calling the hospital and getting a nurse to put a hoax call through for the Duchess. Realising that she had fallen for a prank, Nurse Jacintha Saldanha committed suicide. The contrite pranksters have been crying. When “honour and humour clash”, should the resolution be suicide? The lesson? Even sensation has its limits in an unnecessarily exciting matter. But will anybody commit suicide here on questions of integrity? How many men – and women – of honour do we have?

    Also on the foreign scene, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a set of decrees that conferred on him some absolute powers. The people rose in unison to express their disappointment that a man who rode to power on the crest of a popular movement would so soon bid to entrench a dictatorship. At what point will leaders be jerked into the consciousness that the people’s power is supreme?

    That was the week of the rich–and the powerful. Now, kidnappers are back. On Sunday, they snatched Prof Kamene Okonjo, the 82-year-old mother of Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Ogwachiuku, Delta State. And on Monday, they grabbed Mrs Tayo Rotimi, wife of the former military governor, Brig.-Gen. Oluwole Rotimi, who was also Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States. Both women are yet to be found. What a country!

     

    Obasanjo: From Ghana to Osun

    ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo must have been wondering why Nigerians are so difficult to please. Despite the strenuous schedule on the farm in Ota, he accepted to lead ECOWAS election monitors to Ghana. Instead of praising his selflessness, critics have been so unsparing. They say he is the apostle of do-or-die elections and that his democratic credentials are suspect, considering his handling of the two elections that took place during his tenure. He was also desperate to secure a third term, they say, forgetting that Obasanjo had said that if he had craved tenure extension, God would have given it to him the way a father would hand his kid a toy.

    Back from Ghana, Obasanjo rushed down to Osun to settle the chieftaincy dispute at Orile-Owu. Then, he was asked to unveil the statue of the late Chief Bola Ige, the former Attorney-General and Justice Minister. Ige was murdered after resigning from the Obasanjo administration. His killers remain unknown to date. How did Obasanjo feel unveiling the statue?