The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ngozi!

  • Ngozi: Living in many hearts

    Four years ago, I got a call from the Press Club, University of Lagos inviting me to be the special guest of honour at the inaugural Ngozi Agbo memorial lecture which they have instituted to keep the vision and ideals of the late Mrs. Ngozi Agbo who passed on five years ago – last Sunday – alive. Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, the online editor of this newspaper was the chairman – he has remained a pillar ever since. I was really touched by the students’ gesture. The baton has been passed from one leadership to another – even to those who never met her in person, but cherish what she stood for.

    That gesture was like a prelude that Ngozi’s vision and dreams was far bigger than one had earlier thought. Like good ambassadors, the students’ that passed through her tutelage ensured others “know” her even though they never met her in the flesh. I met one of them – Abdulsalam Mahmud – during a trip to Abuja last week and the way he spoke about her moved me. Because he was young, I asked if he met her in person. He said no, but learnt about her through others.

    In a tribute on this page last year, one of her “children” Gilbert Alasa wrote this: “For the past four years, we have wailed and sobbed, kissing the back of trees. We have become philosophers, probing the very mystery of existence. We have questioned death and even wondered why it took Aunty so soon. We have sighed time and again and even tempted to question her Maker for taking her life while the weight of many Nigerian youths rested on her shoulders. We have looked to the sky for answers that never came. But all of these points to the words of George Elliot that: ‘our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”

    This is a powerful tribute from a grateful “son.” A quote by John MacArthur that I love so much captures the essence of my writeup today: “To put it simply, leadership is influence. The ideal leader is someone whose life and character motivate people to follow. The kind of leadership derives its authority from the force of righteous example, and not merely the power of prestige, personality or position.”

    So, how influential was this lady in what she did for years? She was indeed influential as she succeeded in raising a generation of conscious youths who continue to excel in their chosen fields. I’d like to start with Wale Ajetunmobi. Wale holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Chemistry from University of Ilorin (UNILORIN). Ngozi groomed him right from his undergraduate days to be her assistant whenever he was on holidays. Wale – an industrial chemist turned award winning journalist – now plays the role of editor and beacon of light to other “campuslifers.” Last year, Wale was selected for the United States (U.S.) government’s International Visitors’ Leadership Program (IVLP) fellowship, which gave him the opportunity to cover the role of millennials in the last U.S. electioneering.

    In the same newspaper – The Nation – we have Hannah Ojo who is waxing stronger daily. Femi Asu, of the Punch won the 2015 CNN African Journalist of the year. Toluwanimi Eniola is also with the Punch, Jonah Ayodele Obajeun is with Procter & Gamble. Dayo Ibitoye leads the digital media team at Chevron’s PIND Foundation; Ngozi Emmanuel became the youngest female university lecturer in Nigeria, while Jumoke Awe is now an entrepreneur and equally champions the cause of the girl-child.

    Others championing the girl child cause are Comfort Onyanga Ogon (CLICE Foundation) and Jennifer Umeh (Hope for African Girls Initiative (HAGI), Jennifer is also the Editor in chief of “Who-is-Who” in Campuslife magazine.  Other campuslife products include Tosin Oluwalowo (Sunshine Herald), Abdulsalam Mahmud (Nigeria Now), Alasa Gilbert (Wakanow), Nurudeen Temilola Yusuf (who as Students’ Union president led the popular fee hike struggle in LASU), Wale Bakare, a Google Ambassador, Muhammed AbdulKareem Alabi (a lawyer and media/policy strategist), Gbenga Ojo (Publisher, Exceptional magazine); Habeeb Whyte ( lawyer and youth advocate), Chisom Ojukwu (PWC), Onyinye Nkwocha (Zenith Bank); Jeremiah Oke (Daily Trust), Akinola Debo, and others too numerous to mention.

    If anything, the late Ngozi successfully passed the baton to an emerging generation of leaders whose exploits would help redefine the future of this nation. Today, many of her “children,” are challenging status quo and rewriting history in various fields and endeavours not just in Nigeria, but the world at large.

    Her vision was anchored on building the total man and looking at the core values and attributes that defines him, attributes that always emphasises the highest level of moral and ethical regeneration and the molding of sound character which she instilled in her “children.” She never fails to remind them that they are always a shining light to their generation, and coming into contact with these students you will realise that the objective is already bearing fruit.

    Does that mean her preoccupation is only with undergraduates? Absolutely not, Ngozi was also a student of leadership. She often drive the point home to her undergraduates to steer clear of ethnic jingoists and divisive individuals who have the innate capacity of filling their minds with xenophobic ideologies that have the tendency of creating hatred, rancour and bitterness in the society.

    The now rested annual capacity building Workshops and Award ceremonies she undertakes every year with the support of Coca-Cola Nigeria and Nigerian Bottling Company was a pointer to the fact that apart from merely sending in articles for publication she ensures she had one-on-one contact with her undergraduates to be certain that the venture they are undertaking is far bigger than having their stories published in the newspapers.

    Another sterling quality of the vision is the molding of character. Ngozi was a disciplinarian; she didn’t mince words when it comes to discipline. Two instances will suffice here. Two weeks before her death she held her 9th Annual Campus Life workshop in Lagos where she invited more than 50 students from tertiary institutions across Nigeria. Some undergraduates who could not make it to the workshop called her and pleaded that she sends them their certificate of attendance.

    She took her time to patiently lecture them that it is morally wrong for her to send certificate to someone who did not attend the workshop; she equally told them that it will be against the tenet of what she teaches. Some later called back to apologise. What actually touched me was how she linked the whole incident to the vision of Campuslife. There are countless other encounters that I can’t mention for lack of space.

    So what are the lessons from her leadership? I will list five clear attributes that I identified. The first is deep insigt. Authentic leaders have insight which we sometimes refer to as vision, which usually has exclusive reference to the future. The Campuslife project clearly demonstrates that. While leaders must have vision, they need more, they need wisdom and discernment.

    Secondly, initiative plays a fundamental role. In this regard, authentic leaders go first. They don’t sit on the sidelines. They don’t ask others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Instead, they lead by example. Ngozi blazed the trail by introducing Campuslife which almost all the newspapers today have variants of.

    Thirdly, authentic leaders exert influence. Ngozi did. I found out that it is no coincidence that influence and influenza (the flu) come from the same root word. Real leaders are contagious. People “catch” what they have. People are drawn to their vision and their values. They are able to gather a following and move people to act. In essence, they create ripple effect wherever they go. Ngozi did.

    True leaders have impact and they make a difference. Ngozi impacted a generation of Nigerian students, she did not sit and bemoan “our falling standard of education,” she just did what she needed to do. The measure of leadership cannot be found in the leader; it is found in the impact the leader has on his or her followers.

    A true leader has integrity which in a sense is the foundation of authentic leadership. Those who knew her can attest to this sterling character in her. She abhors mediocrity and sloppiness, she dots her “i’s” and crosses her “t’s” always.

     

     

  • Ngozi…the vision endures

    Last Saturday was the fourth year anniversary of the death of late Mrs. Ngozi Agbo, the Amazon, who introduced the CAMPUSLIFE section of this newspaper. Over the years, I have written glowing tributes to this great woman who was my late wife. This year, I decided to take the back seat and allow one of her ‘children’ to take the stage. Gilbert Alasa is an award-winning writer and a proud alumnus of CAMPUSLIFE vision. In this piece, Gilbert writes on how the late Aunty Ngozi (as she was fondly called by students) impacted his life. The stage is yours Gilbert.

    For the past four years, we have wailed and sobbed, kissing the back of trees. We have become philosophers, probing the very mystery of existence. We have questioned death and even wondered why it took Aunty so soon. We have sighed time and again and even tempted to question her Maker for taking her life while the weight of many Nigerian youths rested on her shoulders. We have looked to the sky for answers that never came. But all of these points to the words of George Elliot that: “our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”

    So, Aunty Ngozi is never dead. She’s like John Keats’ poetry of the earth. While the symphonies of Mother Nature, in Keats’ view, are endless, same can be said of the eternal impact that colours the Aunty Ngozi story. And to imagine that all of these took place just within a space of four years of running the Campus Life project, attests to the efficacy of her assignment.

    Hence, instead of chanting dirges and waling songs, our gaze should begin to shift to the victory in her death. We should begin to appreciate the story she told with her transitory existence, drawing valuable lessons that allow us live in the consciousness of tomorrow. We should be moved, not by the pain her death wreaked on us, but by the inspiration of her legacies. And as we trudge this material world, our lives should begin to mirror the values she lived for, and nudging our common humanity to stand the gap for Nigeria and Nigerians muffled by the rumpuses in the system.

    If anything, Aunty Ngozi successfully passed the baton to an emerging generation of leaders whose exploits would help redefine the future of this nation. Today, many of her “children,” as she fondly called us are challenging status quo and rewriting history in various industries and endeavours not just in Nigeria, but the world at large. Talk about the media, advocacy, health, business, international development, politics, finance, etc. That’s a story for another day.

    After God, I owe all I become today to my encounter with this woman. She believed in me at a time when I didn’t believe in myself. Aunty Ngozi gave me a voice in a noisy world where no one gives you a chance. She allowed me sing my own song and tolerated the occasional wrong note. She taught me that with hard work and focus, each of us can rise to the pinnacle of achievement, irrespective of where and how our journey started.

    It all began in 2008, first time I stumbled on CAMPUSLIFE pull-out in The Nation. At first, I was awed by the enormity of talent and passion brimming from the pages of what later became a trend-setter for Nigeria’s media. And to my amazement, all the reporters were students; some were even 100-Level students! So I decided to “shoot” Aunty Ngozi a mail, telling her how I loved to be part of the movement. Her response was prompt and reassuring:

    “Gilbert, I must say I’m impressed with your mastery of the English Language even in this small mail. You don’t sound at all like those green-eyed Jambites one sees around.  I however regret to tell you that we must wait until you get into a higher institution. I’ve been asking my bosses for additional pages so we can include people like you as well as NYSC members who I feel have something interesting to say. Pray for favour for me.”

    Just before I could scream Jack, my by-line became a regular feature on the platform every other week. I explored CAMPUSLIFE to build a wider following, knocking on every door, challenging injustice, speaking for those who could not speak for themselves and talking to everyone that matter on campus and even outside. For me, this was the very genesis of my journey into significance. And every day, I am grateful that though I may not have taken the right decision at every point of my life. But joining Campus Life was certainly my most rewarding decision ever; not just for the opportunities it brought my way but the inspiration and assurance that my life indeed counts.

    As we commemorated Aunty Ngozi’s death last Saturday, we must appreciate the victory in her death; that Aunty literarily resurrected and transfigured into the hundreds of stars who cut their teeth under her tutelage. And that Aunty Ngozi brought redemption to a world in search of meaning and healing. We should remember the beautiful soul she left behind, a wonderful son. His success as a young man should form a barometer with which we assess our own success. We should remember his birthdays and be part of his journey into the man Aunty Ngozi would be proud of.

    As Italian dramatist and Noble Prize-winning writer Luigi Pirandello noted in Henry IV, we start dying as soon as we are born. So death should not scare us. What will be tragic is to have journeyed through this world without answering the very questions of our destiny. And as our weary days slowly tick away, impact should remain how we keep score. It is only then we can truly say we have transcended our years on earth– as Abram Maslow saw.

    So rather than bask in tears today, we should appreciate the gift we found in Aunty Ngozi as divine instrument to build the tens of hundreds of young people inspiring change in this country today.

    We should be grateful for the exploits of Dayo Ibitoye who leads the digital media team at Chevron’s PIND Foundation as well as Ngozi Emmanuel who became the youngest female university lecturer in Nigeria. We should be grateful for Femi Asu, correspondent with Punch Newspaper who won the 2015 CNN African Journalist of the year and Jumoke Awe who champions the cause of the girl-child. We should also be grateful for Wale Ajetunmobi, who, for the past four years, has taken the gauntlet of managing the pages, and raising the next generation of CAMPUSLIFERS, and many more. All these represent the immortality of Aunty Ngozi’s soul.

    There are others that are equally making exploits that space will not allow me to state here, but suffice to say we are here to make an impact that will resonate well into the future.

    In his novel The Stranger, Albert Camus inspired the line: “Since we are all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.”  The circumstances of our death clearly don’t count, only impact does. As we prepare to pass our own baton, we should live in the consciousness of our date with posterity.

     

     

     

  • Aunty Ngozi, four years on…

    For many a youth, May 28, is just like any other day. But, for the alumni and current crops of student-writers contributing to CAMPUSLIFE, a pullout in The Nation newspaper centred on campus events, May 28 comes with a blend of emotions – grief, sorrow and tears. It is a day that will linger in our minds, for it is no ordinary day.

    On May 28, 2012, the pioneer Editor of CAMPUSLIFE, Mrs Ngozi Nwozor-Agbo, passed away after complications from childbirth. Death, as the saying goes, is a necessary end that will come. But, a wave of emotional turbulence runs down our spine when we lose loved ones.

    Aunty Ngozi, as she was fondly called by students, was one human we thought shouldn’t die at the time she left the world. She was dear to us – I mean the CAMPUSLIFE writers – just as she showed us care. When the news of her death broke, we felt a hard-to-fill vacuum had been created in our hearts. We cried not for Aunty Ngozi’s physical transition, but for the values that died with her. It was a great loss, not to The Nation alone, but to the world of journalism and the nation.

    One thing we have been made to understand about life is that, we shouldn’t question God, for he knows the end, from the beginning. Aunty Ngozi died at her prime, but for the short years she lived, she contributed significantly to the development of young people all over Nigeria.

    Aunty Ngozi was an epitome of creativity, humility and passion. She was passionate about changing lives and mentoring young people. She believed she had the capacity to change bad orientation and behaviour ruining the lives of many youths, which was why she voluntarily became a teacher for many of us. She nurtured us and developed our mental capacity to face challenges and become change agents of our country.

    On Saturday, it will be four years she died. How time flies! Some of us who met Aunty Ngozi can testify to her motherly care and her passion to see us prosper in our personal endeavours. She shaped our lives and showed us positive values. Some must have said, ‘what would life have been if Aunty Ngozi was still here?’

    We miss her wise counsel, her precious advice, her compassionate heart, her intelligence and her love for a new Nigeria, which was built on the crop of young people she mentored to explore the world.

    Truly, we have moved on. These four years have been a period of success for the army of brilliant youths she mentored and left behind. We know she left invaluable legacies that we have built on. This is why Aunty Ngozi remains alive. She is probably smiling down and dancing in happiness knowing that the seeds she planted while have grown so beautifully.

    Most, if not all of Aunty Ngozi’s ‘children’ are brands in their respective endeavours. The widely-travelled Dr. Laz Eze (correspondent at University of Ibadan) is at the front of a vanguard fighting malaria and maternal death in the country. The Amazon, Hannah Ojo (Obafemi Awolowo University), is proving her worth at The Nation with her life-changing journalism.

    Ngozi Emmanuel is now a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State.  Jumoke Awe is changing lives with her numerous women and girl-child initiatives. Charles Udenze and Emmanuel Shebbs (the popular Calabar two) are doing well with their youth-oriented projects in that axis.

    Nnamdi Ezike is abroad, learning and helping the white men to learn as well. Iheanyi Igboko, the award winning writer from Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), is making wave with his non-profit activities. Shola Ilesanmi, another fine CAMPUSLIFE writer, is a respected on-air personality in Orange FM in Akure, Ondo State.

    Gerald Nwokocha, another award-winning CAMPUSLIFER, has kept the flag flying with his pen and brain. Stanley Ibeku is  doing wonderful things in his line of consultancy and human development. The guy in The Sun, Emeka Attah is painting the whole pages of the newspaper with his knowledge of the pen.

    Dayo Ibitoye is the guy to look out for when it comes to youth development and digital marketing. Tosin Oluwalowo is engaging youths on building a better Nigeria. Olusegun Adegbenro became Special Assistant to former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi on New Media. Tobi Eyinade is reviving reading culture through her book firm. The list is endless. We are using the values we learnt from Aunty Ngozi to change our society and put our nation back on the right track. This does not mean we are happy she left at a time we all needed her around. Our gratitude to God knows no bound as we thank the Almighty for using Aunty Ngozi to bring us all together, make us a family and make us ambassadors of a new Nigeria.

    For those, especially the new CAMPUSLIFERS, who did not have the opportunity of meeting her, follow the footsteps of those who did and whose lives Aunty Ngozi touched for good.

    Wale Ajetunmobi, another product of Aunty Ngozi’s University of Development, is now keeping the fire of CAMPUSLIFE burning. He has been doing wonderful job since the responsibility fell on his lap to continue the good work. Wale deserves commendation for not letting that ‘sacred page’ die. We have been supporting him with our prayers; we want to hear more successful stories of CAMPUSLIFE students to keep Aunty Ngozi’s legacies alive.

    We pray that her soul continue to find rest with her maker. May all of us continue to lead a life that will change lives for good. Rest on, mama Pushing Out. You remain in our heart, Aunty.

     

    Obioma, ex-CAMPUSLIFE reporter in Abia State Polytechnic, writes from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Ngozi: Remembering the campus Amazon

    Ngozi: Remembering the campus Amazon

    To put it simply, leadership is influence. The ideal leader is someone whose life and character motivate people to follow. The kind of leadership derives its authority from the force of righteous example, and not merely the power of prestige, personality or position.”

    The quote above is taken from “The Book on Leadership” by John MacArthur, a prominent Bible scholar and pastor based in the United States. After reading the book which gives us 26 principles for leadership found in the life of Apostle Paul, I found some of the attributes in the life of late Mrs. Ngozi Agbo, initiator and first editor of the Campus Life pullout in this great newspaper who passed on on May 28, 2012, exactly three years today.

    MacArthur uses Paul’s voyage to Rome, and subsequent shipwreck, as chronicled in Acts 27 and Paul’s second letter to Corinth to derive these principles. Throughout its pages, MacArthur rendered a wonderful synopsis of God’s standard for leadership. These principles are both a relief and a challenge. As a relief, we don’t have to feel bad that we are not as inventive, creative, or powerful as the CEO of a major Nigerian corporation in order to lead and have influence. Although we are relieved from the world’s standard, we now must face the counter-culture challenge of leading as God would have us to lead: with character, humility, and service.

    The author told his readers that they are all called to lead whether at home, work, school, or play. He did an exceptional job of making God’s principles of leadership accessible and easy to comprehend. For those who met the late Ngozi in person – or by extension through her work – they cannot but notice her exceptional leadership qualities and influence which is being felt to date through the exploits of her students.

    One of such is the annual Ngozi Agbo Memorial Lecture which the Press Club of the University of Lagos instituted – on their own – to keep the vision, ideals and dreams of this great and influential lady alive.

    This singular act goes to reinforce the fact that great ideas and visions don’t die, they blossom even if the visionary is no longer alive. Being a mental picture or concept in the imagination, a vision is also the ability to anticipate the direction a worthy cause or future an event will take, such is the power of vision.

    Ngozi dreamt years before she passed on that Nigeria – despite the socio-economic and other challenges she faces – has the potentials of being a great nation. She believed that the potentials lie in the hands of the youths and she birthed an idea that would give them the platform to express their dreams for the nation. A veritable platform, The Nation newspaper employed her giving her wings to soar. Ngozi, the lovely lady who wrote this column for four years, “passed” the mantle to me to “run with the vision” (the title of the first article I wrote on June 28, one week after her burial).

    Her vision is anchored on building the total man and looking at the core values and attributes that defines him, attributes that always emphasises the highest level of moral and ethical regeneration and the molding of sound character which she instilled in her “children.” She never failed to remind them that they are always a shining light to their generation, and coming into contact with these students, I always notice that the objective are bearing fruit as the UNILAG students clearly demonstrated by their instituting an annual lecture in her memory.

    Does that mean her preoccupation is only with undergraduates? Absolutely not, Ngozi was also a student of leadership and those who were familiar with this column when she handled it know too well of her passion for leadership; from leadership in the home to religious and secular leadership.

    She often drive the point home to her undergraduates to steer clear of ethnic jingoists and divisive individuals who have the innate capacity of filling their minds with xenophobic ideologies that have the tendency of creating hatred, rancour and bitterness in the society. This they can only do if they are inculcated with the right value system.

    The capacity building Workshops and Award ceremonies she undertook every year with the support of Coca-Cola Nigeria and Nigerian Bottling Company is a pointer to the fact that apart from merely sending in articles for publication she ensures she has one-on-one contact with her undergraduates to be certain that the venture they are undertaking is far bigger than having their stories published in the newspaper.

    Another sterling quality of the vision is the molding of character. Ngozi was a disciplinarian to the core and she doesn’t mince words when it comes to discipline and her students know that, I will point out two instances here. Two weeks before her death she held her 9th Annual Campus Life workshop in Lagos where she invited more than 50 students from tertiary institutions across Nigeria. Some undergraduates who could not make it to the workshop called her and pleaded that she sends them their certificate of attendance.

    She took her time to patiently lecture them that it is morally wrong for her to send certificate to someone who did not attend the workshop; she equally told them that it will be against the tenet of what she teaches. Some of the students called back to apologise for their misdemeanor saying they never saw it that way. What actually touched me was how she linked the whole incident to the vision of Campus Life. There are countless other encounters that I can’t mention here for lack of space.

    So what are the marks of true leadership that she bore? I will list five clear attributes that I identified during our brief union. The first is deep insight. Authentic leaders have insight which we sometimes refer to this as vision, but that usually has exclusive reference to the future – the project at hand clearly demonstrates that. While leaders must have vision, they need more, they need wisdom and discernment.

    Secondly, initiative plays a fundamental role. In this regard, authentic leaders go first. They don’t sit on the sidelines. They don’t ask others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Instead, they lead by example. Ngozi blazed the trail by introducing Campus Life which almost all the newspapers today have variants of.

    Thirdly, authentic leaders exert influence. Ngozi did. I found out that it is no coincidence that influence and influenza (the flu) come from the same root word. Real leaders are contagious. People “catch” what they have. People are drawn to their vision and their values. They are able to gather a following and move people to act. In essence, they create ripple effect wherever they go. Ngozi did.

    True leaders have impact. At the end of the day, leaders make a difference. Ngozi made a huge impact on a generation of Nigerian students, she did not sit and bemoan “our falling standard of education,” she just did what she needed to do. The measure of leadership cannot be found in the leader; it is found in the impact the leader has on his or her followers.

    A true leader has integrity which in a sense is the foundation of authentic leadership. Those who knew her can attest to this sterling character in her. She abhors mediocrity and sloppiness, she dots her “i’s” and crosses her “t’s” always.

    There is no better epitaph to write for this bold, unique, courageous and determined lady than to say that some of her “children” are now living out what she taught them, her efforts were not in vain. Wale Ajetunmobi now edits the Campus Life pages, Gbenga Ojo now publishes Exceptional Magazine, Faith Olaniyan now runs a Youth Development programme, and Jumoke Awe runs a Girl-Child NGO. Again, there are more of Ngozi’s former students contributing positively toward the emergence of a better society which space will not allow me to recount. I believe they will tell their own stories.

    The child she died giving birth to is now a strong and happy toddler with visibly signs of intelligence which goes to show that her blood runs in his veins. No doubt, Ngozi, the campus Amazon, lives on.

     

     

  • Ngozi, not too artful dodger

    •Finance minister’s attempt to demonise state govts unsuccessful 

    Even as she continues to put up a bold face trumpeting the purported successes and ‘solid economic legacies’ being bequeathed the nation by the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan administration, which she is serving as finance minister and almighty Coordinator of the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s claims are mocked by the glaring failures of the economy under her stewardship. One of the symptoms of the country’s current chronic economic crisis is the inability of various levels of government to pay their workers’ salaries, from periods ranging between three and six months.

    Some of the state governments caught in this quandary are Oyo, Osun, Cross River, Rivers, Abia, Plateau and Bauchi. The affected workers in the states have reportedly adopted several demeaning and dehumanising survival strategies, including going to work only once or twice daily, begging for money from friends and relatives, doing menial jobs to survive, skipping lunch breaks or consumption of barely nourishing diets such as garri and groundnuts. These practices no doubt have severe negative implications for the psyche, health, self-esteem, motivation, productivity and fulfilment of workers and their families, and can only further deepen the economic crisis.

    In her response to this crisis of unpaid salaries, Okonjo-Iweala turns out to be not too artful a dodger after all. She creates the impression that the Federal Government has been able to pay salaries of its workers as a result of the astute management of its resources in the face of drastic revenue shortfalls caused by the steep decline in international oil prices. On the other hand, she magisterially insinuates, the states have simply failed to do the rational thing of prioritising salaries, given the dire revenue situation.

    The economic Czar cannot, however, conceal the reality that the Federal Government has indeed borrowed about N473 billion to pay salaries and that it raised its borrowing level from N570 billion to N882 billion to fund the 2015 budget. Even then, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has claimed that thousands of Federal Government workers are being owed salaries and various allowances in the range of N50 billion.

    As far as Okonjo-Iweala is concerned, the salary crunch is the inevitable result of the sharp dip in oil prices in late 2014, which accounted for about 50 per cent reduction in federally collected revenue, in addition to low revenue realised from non–oil sources. She conveniently ignored the fact that for at least two years before the over 50 percent drop in oil prices, a barrel of the country’s crude oil had sold for over $100. And even during this period of sustained high revenue performance, the country consistently lost over 20 percent of its revenue to massive oil theft and oil production shut-ins, as well as humungous corruption associated with the management of the Federation Account and other consequences of the ineptness and inefficiency of the Federal Government.

    The incoming administration clearly has its work cut out on this matter. For one, the funds must be found to urgently pay the backlog of salaries in the interest of justice and equity. Again, the huge drain of scarce resources through the alarming level of corruption at all levels and the unsustainable emoluments and allowances of elective office holders must be decisively tackled. This requires that the president-elect in particular, General Muhammadu Buhari, draw on his tremendous goodwill and moral authority as well as that of his party to push through changes that may be painful but necessary.

    Above all, the radical re-structuring of the current unitary system masquerading as federal, in which most of the component states of the polity are economically unviable and dependent on oil revenue handouts from the centre, must be the central focus of the promised change agenda.

  • Poor, poor Ngozi

    Call her the rich poor girl. She is in misery now; so much so she is miserable. Every day she wails in the media seeking to be heard, wanting justification and affirmation. After nearly a decade of calamitous outings as the manager of Nigeria’s purse strings, she looks back now with much anguish and pain and emptiness assails her.

    If only Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, out-going Finance Minister, would just keep mum and walk gracefully into the oblivion that awaits her, we might just overlook her woeful outing and go on to pick the pieces of our broken lives, the outcome of her poor economic management. But she would not let us be. She insists she is the best thing that happened here since 1914; and she ends up aggravating the poor populace she has effectively immiserated these past years.

    Just last weekend, Ngozi, growing increasingly sanctimonious as her misadventure comes to an end, told us that she and her clueless team mates are leaving solid economic legacies. How cruel and insensitive can a failed public official be?

    She identified some of such legacies as agriculture in which food production has increased impacting on prices; she points to what they term as National Industrial Revolution (in this i-age!) with the accompanying automotive policy as another of the Jonathan administration’s legacies. There is also, according to her, impressive rise in cement production which has made Nigeria a net exporter of the product. The creation of about 1.4 million jobs yearly out of the required 1.8 million; the creation of a mortgage market to help provide affordable housing and the launch of Development Bank of Nigeria which will support small businesses. These are solid legacies they are leaving behind.

    Hardball’s main grouse with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is that she often talks to us as if we have eggshells for brains. She forgets that we too have eyes to see and can at least count in vernacular even if we cannot bamboozle with current World Bank and IMF’s economic slogans.

    She may live in denial but we know as a matter of fact that the agric sector under the watch of Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina is the best-managed scam of the Jonathan’s administration. Ditto for Dr. Olusegun Aganga’s Commerce and Industry Ministry. What we had from this due for four years was a well-choreographed import levy racketeering.

    Two examples will help us here. Dr. Adesina sang so loudly about Nigeria’s rice revolution and sufficiency yet he is leaving us with a N25 billion excess rice import levy palaver in just one transaction stream. How could this heavy importing be for a country that claims 40 percent sufficiency in rice production?

    Second, how could Okonjo-Iweala in good conscience brand the rushed importation and assemblage of partially knocked-down auto parts as vehicle manufacturing (“for the first time in Nigeria”) and industrial revolution? What had Peugeot, Volkswagen and Benz been doing in Nigeria rather unsuccessfully, for nearly four decades?

    We urge Ngozi to just give us a break and take a quiet exit. If an economy that has no power supply and is plagued by high exchange rate and salary backlog has not collapsed, then what is economy? So much has gone wrong madam and you need to know that the populace is in deep misery now, thank you.

     

  • Genevieve Nnaji, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in serious campaign

    Genevieve Nnaji, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in serious campaign

    TOWARDS ensuring a better and safer living condition for the Nigerian masses, Nigerians and friends from other countries have continued to pray for a stable and peaceful country. In line with that, some group of Nigerians have put up a campaign tagged Action 2015, Our Nigeria.

    Among those present at the event to discuss way forward for the country’s growth were Nigerian inspirational singer, Nikki Laoye, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, ex-super Eagle international, Samson Siasia, and actress, Genevieve Nnaji.

    According to Nikki, the event brought children from different schools under the ages of 15 all in a bid to share their feelings about the disturbing issues affecting them.

    “Just performed the Nigerian National Anthem at the official launch of the #Action 2015 NG alongside Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and @genevievennaji and Samson Siasia and Children of age 15 years from different schools. This event is happening across the world today as we speak and fight for a better Nigeria, better world for our children,” Nikki stated.

    Earlier in the week, Nnaji lent her voice to the call for a peaceful country when she said on her Instagram page; “We lose everything when we lose hope. Keep faith alive and please #PrayForNigeria wherever you are. #OurLivesMatterToo. Thank you and God bless.”

  • Ngozi: Remembering an Amazon who dreamt

    Ngozi: Remembering an Amazon who dreamt

    Come June 6, 2014, the Press Club, University of Lagos will be honouring late Mrs. Ngozi Agbo, their mentor and initiator of the Campus Life pullout in this great newspaper who passed on on May 28, 2012. The event would be the third annual Ngozi Agbo Memorial Lecture, which the Club, an organisation with members drawn from all faculties within the campuses of the university undertook on their own to keep the vision, ideals and dreams of this great woman – and my late wife – alive. They also intend using the event to launch their Journal – UNILAG Gong – a monthly magazine to be freely distributed within the university community.

    This singular act goes to reinforce the fact that great ideas and visions don’t die; they blossom even if the visionary is no longer alive. Being a mental picture or concept in the imagination, a vision is also the ability to anticipate the direction a worthy cause or future an event will take, such is the power of vision.

    Ngozi dreamt years before she passed on that Nigeria – despite the socio-economic and other challenges she faces – has the potentials of being a great nation. She believed that the potentials lie in the hands of the youths and she birthed an idea that would give them the platform to express their dreams for the nation. A veritable platform, The Nation newspaper employed her and gave her wings to soar. Ngozi, the lovely lady who wrote this column for four years, passed on two years ago and the mantle fell on me to “run with the vision.”

    Her vision is anchored on building the total man and looking at the core values and attributes that defines him, attributes that always emphasises the highest level of moral and ethical regeneration and the molding of sound character which she instilled in her “children.” She never failed to remind them that they are always a shining light to their generation, and coming into contact with these students you will realise that the objective is bearing fruit as the UNILAG students clearly demonstrated by their instituting an annual lecture in her memory.

    Does that mean her preoccupation is only with undergraduates? Absolutely not, Ngozi was also a student of leadership and those who were familiar with this column when she handled it know too well of her passion for leadership; from leadership in the home to religious and secular leadership.

    She often drive the point home to her undergraduates to steer clear of ethnic jingoists and divisive individuals who have the innate capacity of filling their minds with xenophobic ideologies that have the tendency of creating hatred, rancour and bitterness in the society. This they can only do if they are inculcated with the right value system. The annual capacity building Workshops and Award ceremonies she undertook every year with the support of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company Limited is a pointer to the fact that apart from merely sending in articles for publication she ensures she has one-on-one contact with her undergraduates to be certain that the venture they are undertaking is far bigger than having their stories published in the newspaper.

    Another sterling quality of the vision is the molding of character. Ngozi was a disciplinarian to the core and she doesn’t mince words when it comes to discipline and her students know that, I will point out two instances here. Two weeks before her death she held her 9th Annual Campus Life workshop in Lagos where she invited more than 50 students from tertiary institutions across Nigeria. Some undergraduates who could not make it to the workshop called her and pleaded that she sends them their certificate of attendance.

    She took her time to patiently lecture them that it is morally wrong for her to send certificate to someone who did not attend the workshop; she equally told them that it will be against the tenet of what she teaches them. Some of the students called back to apologise for their misdemeanor saying they never saw it that way. What actually touched me was how she linked the whole incident to the vision of Campus Life. There are countless other encounters that I can’t mention here for lack of space.

    So what are the marks of true leadership that she bore? I will list five clear attributes that I identified in my time with her. The first is deep insight. Authentic leaders have insight which we sometimes refer to this as vision, but that usually has exclusive reference to the future – the project at hand clearly demonstrates that. While leaders must have vision, they need more, they need wisdom and discernment.

    Secondly, initiative plays a fundamental role. In this regard, authentic leaders go first. They don’t sit on the sidelines. They don’t ask others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Instead, they lead by example. Ngozi blazed the trail by introducing Campus Life which almost all the newspapers today have variants of.

    Thirdly, authentic leaders exert influence. Ngozi did. I found out that it is no coincidence that influence and influenza (the flu) come from the same root word. Real leaders are contagious. People “catch” what they have. People are drawn to their vision and their values. They are able to gather a following and move people to act. In essence, they create ripple effect wherever they go. Ngozi did.

    True leaders have impact. At the end of the day, leaders make a difference. Ngozi made a huge impact on a generation of Nigerian students, she did not sit and bemoan “our falling standard of education,” she just did what she needed to do. The measure of leadership cannot be found in the leader; it is found in the impact the leader has on his or her followers.

    A true leader has integrity which in a sense is the foundation of authentic leadership. Those who knew her can attest to this sterling character in her. She abhors mediocrity and sloppiness, she dots her “i’s” and crosses her “t’s” always.

    There is no better epitaph to write for this bold, unique, courageous and determined lady than to say that some of her “children” are now living out what she taught them, her efforts were not in vain. Wale Ajetunmobi now oversees the Campus Life pages in The Nation every Thursday, Gbenga Ojo now publishes Exceptional Magazine, Faith Olaniran now runs a Youth Development programme, David Osu of FUTA is a United Nations Ambassador on Education, and Jumoke Awe runs a girl-child NGO. Again, there are more of Ngozi’s former students contributing positively toward the emergence of a better society which space will not allow me to recount, they will tell their own stories someday.

    The child she died giving birth to is now a strong and happy toddler with visibly signs of intelligence which goes to show that her blood runs in his veins. No doubt, Ngozi the trailblazer lives on.

  • UNILAG students honour Ngozi Agbo

    The second Memorial Lecture in honour of the former CAMPUSLIFE Co-ordinator, the late Mrs Ngozi Agbo, has been held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The lecture, which was organised by the Press Club of the university, took place in the board room of the Faculty of Social Sciences with the theme: Becoming a successful campus writer.

    The guest lecturer and the Editor of The Nation, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, spoke on how students can be successful writers. He was represented by Wale Ajetunmobi, the Co-ordinator of CAMPUSLIFE.

    Ajetunmobi , who recalled how he met the late Mrs Agbo, noted that CAMPUSLIFE is a life-transforming platform floated by the newspaper.

    The Industrial Chemist turned journalist said the late Mrs Agbo carved a niche for herself in discovering and building the youths for a better future, saying there would not have been a platform where undergraduates would converge to air their views if the honouree did not initiate CAMPUSLIFE project.

    He described campus journalism as a nascent form of journalism being practiced by students of higher institutions across the world. He added that campus journalists write on issues related to campus life and people, including student-lecturer, student-student, lecturer-lecturer, student-management and student-host community relationships.

    He said: “To be credible, a campus writer must discharge his role within the purview of campus with courage and openness, without compromising his responsibility to the students on whose side he must always be.”

    According to the speaker, the ethical code binding a professional journalist, such as objectivity, fairness, openness, credibility and accountability, also applied to a campus journalist, which he described as interface between the students and management. He, however, cautioned that campus journalists should not write to paint the management as the devil all the time.

    Mr Damilola Ademola, a graduate of Microbiology, UNILAG, and former CAMPUSLIFE reporter, who is a post-graduate student of Mass Communication in the university, took the audience through his adventures and the reasons why he left the field of natural sciences to pursue a course in journalism at the post graduate level.

    According to him, the late Mrs Agbo inspired and nurtured him through CAMPUSLIFE platform during his undergraduate days. Ademola said the inspiration he got from the gesture prompted his decision to veer into journalism.

    The event was attended by students and some staff of the university.

     

  • ‘Aunty Ngozi never died’

    ‘Aunty Ngozi never died’

    A year after her demise, students from across campuses have continued to pay tributes to the late CampusLife ‘girl’ Mrs. Ngozi Agbo. GILBERT ALASA (400-Level Foreign Languages, University of Benin) and Dhikru Akinola (400-Level Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) spoke to some of them and ex-CAMPUSLIFE writers.

     

     

    How time flies! It has been 367 days since former CAMPUSLIFE Editor Mrs. Ngozi Agbo died. To her many students on campuses across the nation, Aunty Ngozi, as the late Mrs. Agbo was fondly called, lives on.

    Many of them are still crying and asking God why He chose to call their mentor to heaven. To them, Aunty Ngozi’s death had robbed the youth of a gem who could have redeemed more lives from the path of criminality.

    As CAMPUSLIFE coordinator, Mrs. Agbo, through her column, engaged many students and youths productively. She told them to stop complaining about what the government failed to do for them. She encouraged them, through personal and open counselling, to put take destinies in their hands by discovering their talents and abilities.

    Mrs. Agbo died on Monday, May 28, 2012 after she was delivered of a baby boy at the General Hospital, Abule-Egba, Lagos. Her death was as a result of complications after childbirth. Last Tuesday, it was a year Aunty Ngozi died. But, to many students she never died. She lives on in their hearts and in her legacies. Tributes have continued to pour in for her from her ‘children’ on campuses.

     

    Tributes

    The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Yinka Gbadebo, in a statement, said: “The NANS remembers the late Editor of the popular CAMPUSLIFE being published by The Nation newspaper, Mrs Ngozi Agbo. Our thoughts are with the management of the newspaper and the family of the deceased.”

    – NANS

     

    Aunty Ngozi will continue to linger in the minds of students across tertiary institutions. We have lost our guardian angel. Since her death, campus journalism has not been the same again. I can never quantify what I have gained over the years from reading her educative column, Pushing Out. – Valour Iduh, 400 Level Foreign Languages, UNIBEN

     

    Aunty Ngozi lived a life of self-transcendence as postulated by Abraham Maslow. There are two kinds of human beings in the world: those who exist and those who live. Those who exist merely journey through life. But those whose existence changed the course of human history are the ones that live better life. Aunty Ngozi lived such a life and remained an embodiment of impact and value. Even in her death, her ideas are still changing lives across campuses till today.

    – Donald Anavhe, 400-Level Political Science, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma

     

    I got to know the late Aunty Ngozi Agbo through CAMPUSLIFE. The first time my story was published in The Nation newspaper, I took the paper everywhere I went that day. It was on September 15, 2010. I became a hero or sort; every campus association wanted me in their fold. When the Asiwaju Leadership Forum was founded in my state, I was made the publicity secretary and media adviser. All these could not have been possible if not for what Aunty Ngozi started through her initiative. She was a rare bred. I must confess that the weekly publication has been able to address some critical issues on campuses. – Afolabi Oni, ex-Campus Life writer and English graduate of OAU

     

    Aunty Ngozi, my beloved name sake. You were a renaissance woman; a beautiful lady inside out. I am still missing you. Every minute I think about you, I always feel like you never died. You remain my role model, mentor, sister and mother. You were the most disciplined and straightforward personality I have ever come across. I still remember when death came calling; it is just like yesterday. I remember how you smiled at me and told me to fatten up. Aunty Ngozi, I still carry you in my spirit. I remember the day I got a call that you had left; tears could not express how inconsolable I was. I cried as I kept on dialing your phone line; but you never picked. I still don’t believe that my Aunty is gone. My mentor, my love, my namesake and role model. I will always remember you. – Ngozi Emmanuel, Mass Comm. graduate from UNIZIK), Awka

     

    Aunty Ngozi is not dead, she is still alive. Though physically we cannot see her, her legacies live on. Death has done its worst and we, her children, have survived the agony it brought. She will forever be remembered; she will forever be in my mind and that of many young Nigerians that had gone through her tutelage. Sleep on Aunty. – Dayo Ojerinde, a Corps member, NYSC, Keffi, Nasarawa State

     

    Remembrance is a golden chain death tries to break, but all its effort is in vain. To have, to love, and then to part is the greatest sorrow of one’s heart. The years may wipe out many things, but some they never wipe ou – like memories of those happy times when we were all together. To a mentor, I remember you today. Sleep on in the bosom of your Creator. – Faith Olaniran, Biochemistry graduate from FUT MINNA

     

    My heart is still in pain even though it is a year since Aunty Ngozi left us. I saw her a few days to her death, with her heavy tummy. Aunty was a motivator, a rare gem, a teacher, a mother, a sister, an innovator and a creative woman par excellence. She empowered many of us with her ideas. She helped to clean the streets of this country of crimes. Who would have believed his/her name would feature in a national daily such as The Nation newspaper? Aunty Ngozi made this possible through her initiative.

    I remember how aunty used to call me on phone concerning my articles, telling me how to be a good writer. I was a bad writer until Aunty redefined my writing skill. I miss Aunty a lot. Her death came to many of us as a rude shock but we are consoled by the fact that she left Chima, her baby and CAMPUSLIFE, her project that has affected many of us positively. – Habeeb Whyte, 500-Level Law, UNILORIN

     

    I still miss her. I pray God should give all of us the fortitude to bear the loss. It is a sad incident I don’t like remembering. – Opeoluwa Sonuga, 400-Level Law, OAU:

     

    I am still sad. I only saw her once and had been looking forward to another encounter with her when death struck. I am consoled by the fact that she impacted many lives within the short period she lived.

    – Caleb Adebayo, 400-Level Law, OAU:

     

    I met Aunty Ngozi just a week before her untimely death. She was so welcoming. Her CAMPUSLIFE project remains incomparable even though other newspapers now copy the initiative. I would not have attained this height without her. May God repose her. – Femi Ogunjobi, 400-Level Language Arts, OAU

     

    Through her youth development initiative, Aunty Ngozi etched her name in gold. When others were doing the same thing, she opted for something new and, today, that concept has been copied. – Wilberforce Arevore, 400-Level Language Arts, OAU

     

    I was shocked when Wale Ajetunmobi called me on May 28, 2012 to break the news of Aunty Ngozi’s death. That’s not true, I muttered. But then, I knew Wale could not be cracking jokes with Aunty’s life. I logged on to Facebook and I saw the truth. Oh, Aunty Ngozi! We must thank God for protecting her baby. My prayer is that God should continue to protect him in Jesus name. Continue to rest in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ till we meet to part no more. Adieu, my mentor in journalism. – Tunmise Oladipo, English graduate, UNILORIN

     

    May 28, 2012 was a bad day for Nigerian youths and the teeming campus writers across the nation. An Iroko fell on that day. The news shook the entire campuses. A crusader of due process, a senior advocate of Nigerian students, an Amazon, a heroine with beauty and brains died. Aunty Ngozi, you were a patriotic citizen that I will always describe as a fountain from which many drew their waters; a mentor to many youths. Indeed, women of your status and qualities are not easy to come by. Through my interaction and work with you, I understood that you were a woman of high integrity with a strong drive for change and development. In pursuit of your goal, you taught us perseverance, patience and tenacity. It was via the vision of CAMPUSLIFE that gave birth to campus-centred pages in many national dailies today. The vision will never die. You left it in good hands. We will not disappoint you. We will impact lives and make marks in our world. Aunty Ngozi, you are not dead. You live in us forever. – Gerald Nwokocha, graduate of Information Technology, FUTO

     

    A year on, yet it feels like yesterday. Aunty Ngozi, I still wish you were here. The CAMPUSLIFE family has not been the same. We could not have wished for a better you; it’s been difficult flipping through the pages without thoughts of you. You became our source of wisdom yet never waited on to reap from where you have sown. Words fail me to recount how big your heart was, accommodating all of us from diverse backgrounds and parts of the country. From South to the North, and to the West and back to the East, your children flourish and keep the dream alive. You overlooked our mistakes and molded us into perfect examples of how a youth should behave. You were the uncommon mother who was building the nation, giving us hope with the CAMPUSLIFE project. That dream we must continue to nurture.

    Aunty Ngozi, you were our finest Amazon who went out of her way to boost our self-esteem as student-writers. Now, we believe in ourselves and it is amazing what we can accomplish with our lives. You will live long in our hearts, Aunty Ngozi. – Geoffrey Eneyo, Lagos Law School, Lagos

     

    Immortality for man is attained when he has held the door to life open for others to go through. Even when the door closes and he is on the other side of the door, everyone knows who ushered them in. Live forever in our hearts, Aunty Ngozi. I miss you. – Onyinye Nkwocha, English graduate of IMSU, Owerri

    I know I miss a mother, Aunty Ngozi. Yet I am very sure she’s not dead. This has always been my joy, my hope and even my dream not to die just as she’s not dead. The CAMPUSLIFE vision is still alive. See the generals it has continued to breed from all parts of the world. This is the true measure of success, of leadership, and of motherhood. Being able to pass on the ‘greatness’ to others, especially in a society where greatness is scarce, remains our solace. It also determines the longevity of your life. You lived for 36 years, but I tell you, you live on forever. You will be remembered by the people you inspired, nurtured and raised to surpass the sky. Aunty Ngozi’s dreams live on. – David Osu, 400-Level Urban and Regional Planning, FUT MINNA

     

    Aunty Ngozi was a quintessential woman. She was, during her lifetime, a source of inspiration to several youths spread across tertiary institutions. Aunty did not only give me my first bye-line, she made me believe that there is nothing I cannot do. She was like a fine rose, for her flagrance touched a good number of people. Aunty encouraged me to work hard. She would call and at the end of the call, remind me that I should, at all times, aspire to be the best that I could be. CAMPUSLIFE was her brainchild, and it is indeed refreshing to know that this child lived on. Aunty lives on forever in the strong rooms of our hearts. Sleep well. – Uche Anichebe, 500-Level Law, UNIZIK

     

    I looked through the pages, but you were not to be found. Yet, you were closer to us. A year after your departure, your thought remains evergreen. You live in our hearts and we will always remember and keep your legacy. RIP Aunty Ngozi. – Chinenye Okonkwo, a graduate of UNICAL

     

    It is a year since you left me, you left baby Chima, you left your beloved husband, you left CAMPUSLIFE. Aunty Ngozi, what more can I say? Your legacy cannot be erased, your footprint remains so clear. My eyes are filled with tears for my role model and my mother. What I am today is based on the discipline you inculcated in me. You did not only teach me how to write, you taught me discipline. You remain in my heart forever. – Hope Ofobike, Mass Communication graduate, UNIJOS