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  • The crisis of values

    I once participated in a project: “The impact of communication on values.” I was in a sub-committee that looked at the impact of integrity, honesty, tolerance and cohesion on society, and the role that communication can play in instilling these values in our youth. Part of the strategy was to arrange focus groups meetings in tertiary institutions.

    In the groups I coordinated, I asked them one simple question: “what will you do if you find a missing N500, 000.00 in a bag in your institution?” I was shocked that only about five percent of the over 200 undergraduates I engaged said they would return the money to the owner, if they know who he is, or to the authorities to find the rightful owner. The responses I got were; “I’d be a big fool to return the money.” “God must have provided the money to pay my school fees.” “I’ll be a ‘happening’ guy on campus.” ”With that kind of money, I can pay for a room for myself in the hostel.” Etc. The project was about exploring the glue that holds society together thus it focused on nationalism, patriotism, tolerance, honesty and integrity, citizenship, development, cohesion etc.

    I was glad that at the end of each day’s deliberation, some of those who affirmed that they would keep the money eventually agreed it was the wrong thing to do. I recollect one of those on the side of integrity raising an important question: “if you succeed in keeping and spending the money then what next?” That question really got home and provided the opportunity for us to look at honesty and integrity dispassionately.

    Basic values are traditional and historic, reflecting aspects of the experience of a society. These values like right and wrong, tolerance, empathy, dedication etc. are oftentimes extracted from the main religious teachings of the society. In fact, a value system is based on averaging the total human experiences and producing a compromised version for all to follow. Religion is often present at the heart of a human value system.

    But our society is today at a values crossroad. The rate at which our youth engage in criminal enterprise has spiked in recent times. The most common is cybercrime and kidnapping. Cybercrime is ‘justified’ – by those who engage in it – on the ground that it does not ‘hurt anyone.’ Kidnapping is getting ‘dues’ from the ‘oppressors.’ This warped reasoning predominates among our youth today.

    As the outcome of the project I mentioned earlier stressed, communication has an important role to play in moving society in the right direction. World leaders realised this following the massive devastation of the World War II period. One of the disruptions that took place was in the area of communication.

    That disruption led to the evolution of communication for development (C4D) which mirrored broader shifts in theories and models of economic and social development. The basic assumption is that there are no countries or communities that function completely autonomously and that are completely self-sufficient, nor are there any nations whose development is exclusively determined by external factors. Every society is dependent in one way or another, both in form and in degree.

    Consequently, communication initiatives adopted a diffusion approach, which uses communication to carry out a transfer of information. This includes large-scale media campaigns, social marketing, dissemination of printed materials, ‘education-entertainment’ and other forms of one-way transmission of information from the sender to the receiver.

    With time, proponents of diffusion theory recognised the limitations of mass media – the way it was being run – in promoting sustained behavioural change. The new thinking thus incorporated interpersonal communication: face-to-face communication that can either be one-on-one or in small groups. The objectives are to share information, respond to questions, and motivate specific behavioural practices. The belief is that while mass media allows for the learning of new ideas, interpersonal networks encourage the shift from knowledge to continued practice. That was why the project I mentioned earlier engaged in focus group discussions.

    Communication for development has thus come to be seen as a way to amplify voice, facilitate meaningful participation, and foster social change. The 2006 World Congress on C4D defined it as “a social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It is also about seeking change at different levels including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating and learning for sustained and meaningful change.” Such two-way, horizontal approaches to communication include public hearings, debates, deliberations and stakeholder consultations, participatory radio and video, community-based theatre and story-telling, and web forums.

    While the west had known this for long, we only started imbibing them about two decades ago with the establishment of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), a parastatal in the federal Ministry of Information and Culture. If an opinion poll is conducted today, I believe most Nigerians would be shocked that an agency like NOA still exists; one can practically conclude that it is “irrelevant” because of its non-impact and the way it has been run.

    The NOA – because of its spread and network – is supposed to be a game changer in propagating our value system. I will advocate a disruption to professionalise the NOA by engaging professionals with vast knowledge of integrated marketing communication – who know what strategic communication is all about to assist.

    The NOA was established by Decree 100 on 23rd August, 1993. The Decree merged the Public Enlightenment (PE), War Against Indiscipline (WAI), and National Orientation Movement (NOM) Divisions of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture with the Directorate for Social Mobilization, Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).

    The rationale for the merger was to harmonise and consolidate efforts and resources of the government in the fields of public enlightenment, social mobilization and value re-orientation. The main objectives are: to ensure that government programmes and policies are better understood by the general public; mobilize favourable public opinion for such programmes and policies; encourage informal education through public enlightenment activities and publications.

    Others include establishing feedback channels to government on all aspects of Nigerian national life; establish appropriate national framework for educating, orientating and indoctrinating Nigerians towards attitudes, values and culture which project individual’s national pride and positive national image for Nigeria; awaken the consciousness of Nigerians to their responsibilities to the promotion of national unity, citizens commitment to their human rights to build a free, just and progressive society; develop among Nigerians of all ages and sex, social and cultural values and awareness which will inculcate the spirit of patriotism, nationalism, self-discipline and self-reliance.

    The final set of objectives include encouraging the people to actively and freely participate in discussions and decisions on matters affecting their general welfare; promote new sets of attitudes and culture for the attainment of the goals and objectives of a united Nigeria State; ensure and uphold leadership by example; foster respect for constituted authority; and instill in the citizens a sense of loyalty to the fatherland.

    I doubt if there’s anyone out there who would disagree that these are not a fantastic set of objectives. The question to ask is why have they not been achieved? Why didn’t we make progress and why were Nigerians not better informed about the workings of government? The simple answer is professional incapacity and strategy.

    The United Nations (UN) realises the critical importance of capacity this is why it employs the services of key and knowledgeable professionals to manage its interaction with people of diverse cultures and nationalities. Managing information is fundamental toward progress because it a delicate balance between progress and anarchy; It is not “job for the boys.” One of the major reasons for the Rwanda genocide was the poor management of information.

    It is amazing that when the world is moving forward, we are either static or moving backward. I see this happening daily. One of the ways to address this is for the NOA to explore ways of partnering with institutions and schools – tertiary, secondary and basic – to use their platforms to communicate with the students. They already have offices in all the local government areas in the country. So what is holding the agency back? Could it be dearth of capacity and strategy?

  • ‘Intensify fight against building LPG skids at filling stations’

    The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has called on the federal and state governments to heighten the fight against indiscriminate deployment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) skids at filling stations without considering the safety element. To them, the merging of LPG and petrol is a time bomb waiting to explode. They say the earlier stakeholders stood up against this deadly practice, the better, writes EMEKA UGWUANYI

    The fight against building liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) skids at petrol stations has been on in the past few years. However, owing to the increasing indiscriminate deployment of such skids at fuel retail outlets, it has become a great concern to players in the industry.

    The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has taken the fight to states. They had written almost all state governments and are partnering some, such as Ondo, Ekiti, Nasarawa and Ogun, to ensure that LPG, also known as cooking gas, is not sold in the same place with petrol.

    After their latest council meeting in Lagos, NALPGAM urged stakeholders, including federal and state governments, regulatory organisations and industry players to fight the menace.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr. Bassey Essien, said: “The LPG industry is growing in an exponential manner with increasingly being embraced by Nigerians. Currently, the number of households that have embraced LPG has risen significantly compared to the last five years.

    “The governing council of the association has met and, having risen from an emergency council meeting, has resolved to commend the Federal Government on the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic LPG and to draw the attention of the Federal and state governments to the increasingly indiscriminate deployment of LPG skids in petrol stations and refill outlets without taking into consideration the risk element involved in this.

    “We also resolved to align our association’s position with all relevant government agencies, particularly the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to curb this increasing menace. We want to appeal to the government that in as much as the association is doing so much to complement the deepening of LPG consumption in Nigeria, we are asking the government to create the enabling environment for players, so that we can actually go further to encourage more embrace and usage of LPG in many households in the country.

    “We want to appeal to the government in terms of representation that have been made on behalf of the industry as we have we noticed that such representations have not been inclusive because the industry is not well represented when issues  are being discussed with the government . There are several facets of the value chain and we are requesting that in subsequent dialogues, discussions and workshops, every facet of the value chain must be well represented so that issues and conclusions taken will be all embracing.”

    Read Also: NIPCO to extend gas facility to 25 off-takers

    Buttressing what Essein said, a council member, John Yakubu, noted: “What we have across the world is LPG bottling plants and not filling stations and what that entails is that for LPG bottling plant to exist anywhere, there are certain standards that must be met by the operators – either you have a mini-LPG bottling plant or standard LPG bottling plant.

    “There is nowhere fire and petrol co-habit; that is, what the association is saying; and that is the standard we adopt in building our plants. We are appealing to those deploying the skids either by their filling stations or their eateries to, please, adhere strictly to standard operating procedures as laid down by the DPR. You don’t have your own standard procedure, so that Nigeria will be safe and we will be safe as a people. We should not because of profit or what we want to benefit set this nation on fire. There is nowhere LPG is sold alongside petrol in the world.”

    The association’s National Deputy President, Oladapo Olatunbosun, said the removal of VAT has brought down the cost of LPG considerably. He noted that LPG value chain includes the terminals, engineers and the plant owners, but the key factor in the chain is the plant owners.

    “They are closest to the end-users. They serve as intermediaries between the terminal owners and the end users and if anything goes wrong, they answer for it.

    “They have ample investment. Our association’s membership is over 600 and their investment is in billions of naira, far more than you can imagine. Without plant owners, there will be no effective distribution of cooking gas anywhere in the world. The bottling plant companies are the ones that bottle the gas to make accessible to end-users or households. So, the plant owners cannot be left out in any decision-making process because it touches other facets.

    “The other facets of the value chain, such as the engineers and importers, don’t work directly in distribution and deepening of us-age of gas. As a very important part of the value chain, our interest has to be properly and fully represented. We don’t want to be represented by proxy in important decision making processes in the LPG industry. We (plant owners) are the key stakeholder in the LPG industry because we invested huge resources to ensure that the product gets to every part of the country. Therefore, decision-making in the industry must be inclusive of all players in the LPG value chain. Making portfolio investors represent the entire value chain in decision-making is not progressive because they don’t know the industry inside out in terms of operation and safety requirements.

    “DPR has given a deadline to all skid owners to move their skids from petrol stations because it agreed that marriage of LPG and petrol is a time bomb waiting to explode. DPR has directed them to migrate to mini plants if they couldn’t afford big plants before the expiration of the deadline next year. The regulator noted that such mini plants must be built away from petrol retail outlets. Adherence to that directive will ensure that necessary safety infrastructure and facilities are built in the mini or standard plants but because of the gain, some people are not adhering to the regulatory directive.

  • Meet Ajegunle’s best teacher

    Working in the teaching profession is not easy in Nigeria. However despite the poor remuneration and incentives, some educators still give their best. SAMPSON UNAMKA met some of them in Ajegunle.

    Teachers matter in many different ways. They are the reason why there are engineers, doctors, pilots, and many other professionals all over the world.

    But in this part of the world, appreciating them seems not common.

    A group in Ajegunle community in Lagos, recently organised an award tagged: Ajegunle Education Award, to appreciate teachers in the area.

    The award, the first of its kind in the area, was organised by Transforming Ajegunle Initiative. It was designed to celebrate teachers who despite scarce resources, have been exceptional in the community.

    The award was not only focused on teachers, as it also had categories that recognised non-teaching members of staff as well as schools that had transformed the community.

    During the colourful event attended by-who-is who in the community, Mr Salami Adekola of ACF Comprehensive College, Ojo Road, Lagos, got the Best Teacher Award, which had the prize sum of N50,000.

    Salami who studied Mathematics Education, at Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, has been teaching in the community for 13 years.

    Read Also: Best teacher lauds award as Maltina opens entries for 2019

    He said he is driven by passion to see others improve.

    “I derive passion from teaching; I love to teach not only in the classroom but also outside the classroom. I love to teach people and see them do better even if they do better than me,” he said.

    The 31-year-old Mathematics teacher said getting the award was not easy.

    “I had an interview session and it was not easy.  It took a lot of effort because so many questions were asked. It is a pleasure I came out the best. It is an honour; a privilege for me.  It is also another task ahead for me to keep doing more of what I have been doing before,” he said.

    Salami thanked the organisers for the initiative, saying that sometimes teachers need a little motivation to encourage them to continue to give their best.

    The Non-Teaching Staff of the Year Community Education Award went to Mrs Iju Eze of JOMAB Premium School.  She went home with a prize of N15,000.

    Convener of the Transforming Ajegunle Initiative, Grace Nkwocha, said she topped the criteria for the award

    On criteria for selecting the best non-teaching staff, Ms Nwocha said the panel considered the person who went the extra mile; who despite pay cut or delay did not transfer aggression to pupils.

    Ms Nwocha said she was inspired to organise the award to motivate teachers to be more productive.

    “I know there are two ways to get the best out of people, first you have to engage them by giving them the right tools and then you have to reward them because to me reward is a form of motivation,” she said.

    Winners were selected through vote and interview session.

    “We also had people vote because they all have the right to be the overall best in the community after being picked as the best in their schools, based on what they wrote”, she said.

    Other categories of the award include: Community Education Award for the Most Innovative School in Ajegunle – Helifest High School; Most Disciplined School – Tos Fadun School; Most Environmentally Responsible School – Morits International School; Ajegunle, Education-Friendly Chairman – Hon. Fatai Ajidagba, Chairman Ifelodun LCDA; TAP outstanding staff of the Year – Linda Obidiegwu (who got a smart phone courtesy of Golden Eagle, Ajegunle).

  • Edo to invest N2.1b Azura power proceeds in industrial park

    The Edo State Government said it plans to invest the N2.1 billion that will accrue from its divestment of 50 per cent of its equity in the Edo-Azura Power Project into the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park.

    A statement by the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the cash would go a long way in building the needed infrastructure for the park to come on stream.

    He said: “The state government is going to divest 50 per cent of its equity in Edo Azura Power project. We will be investing the proceeds in the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park project as we prepare to have the anchor investor settle down to business.

    Read Also: Edo okays N2.1b power proceeds for Benin Industrial Park

    “The state government will be providing the needed infrastructure for the project, including access roads and other needed structures to ensure the smooth take-off of the facility. We disclosed earlier that we have an anchor investor for the park.

    “With the funds we now have, we have all that is needed to effectively kick-off. Nothing is going to be left to chance. As is characteristic of the governor, this is a masterstroke as we now have funds to begin the project. We expect other investors to cash-in on the opportunities in the new industrial corridor.”

    Osagie noted that the money would be instrumental in ensuring that the state government meets its obligations to investors, by deploying the fund in constructing the access roads, clearing the environment as well as other physical structures, to drive investment.

  • Herbal drugs: Between tradition and academia

    Nature itself is the best physician
    – Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) Greek Physician

    It is believed that herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicines available to mankind which has seen improved development over the years. However, here in Nigeria, a wrong perception by some elites in our society today that all herbal medicines are toxic concoctions with adverse reactions which should not be consumed has created some setbacks for the expected development and breakthrough of traditional medicine in the health sector. Most people are of the belief that the use of herbs to treat, improve or maintain medical conditions is old-fashioned or archaic. The fear of the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicine in treating or preventing human ailments has pulled many away from accepting and patronizing herbal practitioners and their drug preparations.

    Due to easier affordability and availability of herbal medicines when compared with the conventional ones, most rural dwellers opt for the former. Also, with fewer side-effects of herbal medicine and its natural healing actions, others prefer herbal remedies to orthodox medicines. It is observed that even with the advent of technology which brought in civilization and modernization in the medical sector, the consumption of herbal medicines has steadily increased over the years. Apart from some risks posed by preparation and packaging methods, herbal medicines come with more benefits that far outweigh their risks. In fact, some researchers and natural health experts argue that the human body can only be totally cured of any sickness by administering natural substances, not by the use of inorganic chemical drugs.

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional herbal medicines are regarded as “finished, labelled medicinal products that contain active ingredients, aerial or underground parts of plants, or other plant material or combinations thereof, whether in the crude state or as plant preparations. Plant materials include juices, gums, fatty oils, alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils and any other substance of this nature. Herbal medicines may also contain excipients in addition to the active ingredients.”

    Read Also: Nigeria develops herbal drugs for treatment of Ebola, Malaria

    Generally, the medicinal parts of a plant which include roots, stem, leaves, fruits, seeds and flower are used as the active ingredients in herbal preparations. These plant parts carry the chemical compounds with medicinal properties that are found naturally in plants. Traditional herbal medicines, when introduced into the body can perform either curative or preventive function depending on the preparation of the composition of that herbal mixture. The medicinal property of herbs has also been proven to boost the human immune system. Hence, it is the reason why these plant-based herbal products are used as medicinal supplement too as seen in some herbal teas. Herbs are of natural source and are regarded as the best and most effective form of natural medicine.

    In August this year, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, stated in her keynote speech, titled ‘The role of NAFDAC in traditional herbal medicine development and approval in Nigeria’, that the regulation and development of herbal medicine in Nigeria is being hampered by some challenges. Some of those listed challenges, according to the NAFDAC boss, include poor documentation, lack of standardization and validation of methods and practices, lack of clinical trial of existing herbal medicines, lack of scientific proof of claims, inadequate number of standards for raw materials and lacing of herbal preparations with orthodox medicines among others. The D.G of NAFDAC added that, “this snail pace of development of the sector underscores the need to harness, document, research, standardize and regulate traditional herbal medicines in line with international best practices. In order to enhance the development of traditional herbal medicines and facilitate its contribution to the national healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, there is need for strict regulation and control of the products by NAFDAC.”

    Professor Adeyeye, in a bid to encourage herbal medicine practitioners to duly register and get approval for their products, further said, “To ensure the development of quality and safety standards for traditional herbal medicines, NAFDAC has established regulations and appropriate guidelines for the listing and/or registration of traditional herbal medicine products in Nigeria.” It was reiterated by NAFDAC that before any herbal product is approved by the agency, there is need for mandatory toxicology and safety evaluation report.

    Apart from listing and registration of herbal products as one of the ways by which the food and drug control agency regulates traditional medicines in Nigeria, conduct of Good Manufacturing Practice through facility inspection, laboratory analysis of herbal medicines, product advertisement control and Post-Marketing Surveillance have as well been deployed. The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) is also collaborating with NAFDAC on herbal medicine research.

    It will be recalled that sometime last year, the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a herbal clinic in order to increase research and development in herbal medicine. We salute this courageous move by FIIRO as a good step in the right direction towards improving and promoting locally inspired herbal medicare. Other government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and related institutions are urged to encourage herbal health researchers and practitioners to come out with their various contributions to this popular sector in the system. Maybe some day soon, the government may establish a parastatal for this increasingly growing exploration into nature’s resources, seeing the prospects and benefits ahead.

    With the guiding regulatory and research supports from NAFDAC and NIPRD, herbal medicine practitioners and manufacturers are well positioned to champion the coming together of tradition and academia in Nigeria for the delivery of a scientific herbal medicare alternative. Consequently, the health of the general public is safeguarded when duly approved traditional medications are used. Not only will the fear of taking herbal drugs, which is being nursed by many, be allayed, but also patronage will boost our economy. This way, herbal medicine becomes a viable alternative to modern orthodox medicine.

    After all, the man regarded as the founder of modern medicine, Hippocrates, said many centuries ago that we must go back to nature to get lasting remedy for our ailments.

     

    • Ojewale writes via kayodeojewale@gmail.com

  • LASU beats nine others to win Maritime debate

    Students from the Department of Law, Lagos State University (LASU) have emerged winners of the 2019 Maritime Blue Print Competition after defeating law students from nine other universities.

    The competition, sponsored by SIFAX Group, is one of the activities of the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime Conference, which is in its fourth edition and held in partnership with the Maritime Forum of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    At the end of the keenly-contested debate final involving the teams from LASU and UNILAG, the trio of Tiamiyu Hezekiah Toheeb, Enifeni Ibrahim and Emmanuel Omotayo Johnson lifted the trophy for LASU with 67 points, while the UNILAG team made up of Mubarak Agboola, Otitoola Folajimi and Alao Omeiza Joshua got 65 points.

    Other schools that participated in the debate were: Bowen University, University of Ilorin, Babcock University, Afe Babalola University, Crescent University, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University and University of Benin.

    The teams debated the topic: “Achieving the Blue Economy Dream in the Nigerian Maritime sector”.

    Speaking on the competition, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, praised the winning team for its doggedness and well-researched presentations.

    He noted that the competition’s key objective of stimulating university students’ interest in the maritime industry was gradually being fulfilled.

    He said:  “The quality of the thoughts and styles of delivery by the students have been very encouraging. This has shown that the competition on an annual basis is yielding its desired results. This competition will go a long way in stimulating the interests of the students in maritime business. SIFAX Group will continue to partner the Maritime Forum to make this a sustainable initiative.”

  • Group accuses NANS member of disrupting election

    THE Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Azeez Adeyemi, has been accused of disrupting the election of the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS).

    A group led by Comrade Ade Bash from the University of Lagos, described as ‘spurious’ the NAOSS election conducted at Iwe–Irohin in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, which produced Olamileke Ogunronbi as president.

    It, however, endorsed another election conducted at NSCDC’s College of Security and Management, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta where Saka Azeez Abidemi also emerged president.

    Bash told CAMPUSLIFE that ahead of the election, Adeyemi allegedly sent some threat messages to some NAOSS contenders, asking them to drop their ambitions or be dealt with.

    But Adeyemi described the group as’ impostors’, adding that their action amounts to ‘impersonation’ because Ogunrunbi is NAOSS’ legitimate president.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the accusations and counter accusations, were the fallout of NAOSS election, which appeared to be producing to parallel leaderships.

    CAMPUSLIFE checks revealed that the crisis started during a run up to the election, held in June after the electoral commission was instituted at a pre-convention earlier.

    The election produced Comrade Kehinde Olaonipekun Olusegun of the National Open University (NOUN), Abeokuta as the electoral committee chairman, alongside other members.

    Bash further alleged that Adeyemi mobilised some armed people to the election venue to disrupt it.

    “Nobody knew who they were. But, it was ascertained that they were not senators neither were they members of NAOSS,” said Bash,  a leading supporter of the Abidemi-led NAOSS.

    Read Also: NANS hails improved security in Katsina

    The group said the invaders were sponsored by Adeyemi who was also bankrolling a presidential candidate.

    “The NANS members came up with various moves and antics to disrupt the peace and serenity of the elections. They lured the security officials into dancing to their tunes to have their ways,” the group said.

    “While everyone was patiently waiting for the arrival of the electoral commission to conduct the elections, NANS agents were seen preparing for the election on their own and insisting that the election must hold for that day. We were wondering why they were adamant on the election holding when they are not even members of NAOSS,” he added.

    The source further explained that Adeyemi, alongside some NANS executive members, ensured they had access to the voting arena, while NAOSS members were shut out.

    Bash said as is the tradition, the outgoing president, who was also barred from entering the venue, was expected to declare the convention open as a prelude to voting. He said certain key members of NAOSS, who were observers in the election, were also denied access into the hall.

    “Out of 21 offices, they conducted election into three offices without the use of any ballot papers which is against the rules of NAOSS and election guidelines and the electoral chairman was forced to declare the results,” the group said.

    Bash noted that after the election, some students of Ogun extraction  summoned a peace meeting of stakeholders in the student unionism.

    The fallout was a resolution for fresh election, which held at the state Command of NSCDC, Oke-Mosan, where Abidemi emerged winner.

    Adeyemi, however, described the allegations as tissues of lies.

    Speaking through NANS Press Consultant Olasunkanmi Akinlotan, Adeyemi  said the election followed due process.

    Adeyemi denied ever mobilising thugs to the election venue. He described the elements behind the story as ‘irrelevant group of individuals’ desirous of heating up the polity.

    “The election held at the Iwe Iroyin was free and fair. It was keenly contested to the extent that it dragged till nightfall.

    “Many of your colleagues (refereeing to CAMPUSLIFE reporter) from national dallies as well as police and other security officers were in attendance as witnesses. In the end, Olamileke Ogunronbi from Ogun State Cooperative College Ijeja-Abeokuta won, and was declared president by the chairman of the electoral committee, who was also shielded by security officers while announcing the results.

    “These people later approached the Ogun State chapter Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC College of Security and Management and misled the provost that they wanted to have a students event, only for them to conduct a kangaroo election that produced Abidemi.

    “We later reached out to the Provost of the college, who said the students lied to him that they wanted to organise students activities, but he didn’t know it was election they wanted to conduct.

    “How could you conduct election with about 15 members on ground? What they have committed is simply impersonation.

    “They have been going from place to place to finding legitimacy to their faction. At a point, we wanted to take up the matter with them, but it was this same that Adeyemi who felt as the chairman of NANS, he would not close his eyes while his colleagues are being harassed.

    “They have been going around sending fake stories with scam mails to certain media houses without revealing their identities. Let them come out as we are coming out, if they are sure they have nothing else to hide. We are ready to honour any invitation by anybody since we have no skeleton in our cupboard.”

    Meanwhile, a top police source, who also witnessed the election at Iwe Irohin, described the Bash-led group as ‘unreasonable’.

    “To the best of my knowledge, the election was very peaceful and a winner unanimously emerged,” said the source who also craved anonymity.

    He continued: “We ensured we mobilised enough police officers to the venue. All efforts by some unscrupulous elements to thwart the election were resisted. So, if some people are saying the election was disrupted, that was a lie from the pit of hell.’’

  • Alumni donate musical instruments

    It was happiness all the way last Thursday when members of Saint Joseph Secondary School, Idi Mangoro, Agege Lagos (SJSS) 2001 set visited their alma mater to donate musical instruments.

    They were warmly received by the Principal, Mr. A.A. Iseyemi , who ensured all members of the staff and pupils were on the assembly ground to witness the donation – two big marker boards,  a Yamaha Keyboard with a keyboard stand, and a guitar.

    The 01 set was represented by Akintan Akinyemi (Chairman); Florence Makinde (Vice Chairman) and Segun Avresivu (Project Coordinator).

    While addressing the current pupils, the Chairman reminisced on school days by getting the pupils to sing the school Anthem with him.  He admonished them to inculcate the spirit of social responsibility by giving back to their alma mater no matter how small because little drops can make a mighty ocean.

    He advised the students to take their academics serious to guarantee a secured future.

    Speaking on the gesture, Isiyemi thanked 2001 set for its yearly contribution to the school. He prayed for their unity to grow stronger and for God’s blessings on them.

    Head Girl of the School, Onome Isibawo, appreciated the Alumni for deeming it fit to contribute to the school’s growth and development through the donation.

  • Philosophy behind Nigeria’s foreign policy on decolonization

    I am writing this to elucidate some of the principles that has guided Nigeria’s foreign policy since independence. This is necessary in view of the casual and glib talk among Nigerians who while deprecating the violence directed against Nigerians in South Africa always say “we after all, liberated the ungrateful country”. This is wrong history. We as a country contributed to the liberation of South Africa, we did not liberate the country. As far as I know, no Nigerian died any where in the liberation of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa. South Africans liberated their own country with the support of fraternal countries including our own.

    When Nigeria became an independent and sovereign country, the principle guiding our foreign policy was clearly articulated by our prime minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who for some time doubled as our foreign minister before Jaja Wachukwu was appointed foreign minister. Sir Abubakar, while addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations in October 1960, said Nigeria will support and protect the interests of all black peoples in the world wherever they may be. This presumably extended even beyond Africa to the Americas, South and North and the Pacific islands where blacks live. This was an ambitious declaration and many doubted the capacity of Nigeria to carry out this policy.  It is the hope and not its practical application of the policy that mattered. It gave hope to black Americans and other blacks under one kind of oppression or the other. Sir Abubakar was a cautious and conservative politician. He must have read the speech over and over and digested it. He must have asked his principal officials the import of his declaration. He also wanted to undercut his critics at home and the radical elements within his cabinet who must have convinced him he had to snatch leadership of the black world from Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who since the independence of his country in 1957, three years before Nigeria attained independence, had become the acknowledged leader of the black world. This policy was unanimously supported by the critical mass of our people. It is remarkable that since 1960 till now, this policy has endured in spite of the several changes of regimes and personalities at the helm of our country’s national affairs.

    This policy was grounded on the principle of when  a man, any man, suffers any where in the world, humanity as a whole suffers a little but when a black man suffers any where  in the world, because of the pigmentation of his skin colour and not because of his character, all black people every where suffer a lot. From this reasoning, it was clear to foreign policy makers and executors that in defending black people everywhere, Nigeria was vicariously defending its own honour and humanity. In other words, whether in the case of Sir Abubakar’s government breaking diplomatic relations with France in 1961 over the third nuclear test of that country in the Sahara thus protecting the entire African continent from radioactive fallouts, or Yakubu Gowon assisting to pay the salaries of police and civil servants in Grenada in  the Caribbean 1973, or Muhammed/ Obasanjo buying weapons for the MPLA government in Angola in 1976 and assisting the FRELIMO government in Mozambique and the various liberation movements in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, or, Shagari government’s intervention in Chad in the 1980s, Babangida’s assistance to Jamaica after the devastation of the Island  by hurricanes in  the 1990s, sending Technical Aid Corps to Fiji and his continued support for the liquidation of the apartheid regime in the 1990s and final emergence of  Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa and recently Buhari’s commitment of Nigerian troops to secure a peaceful transfer of power from  Yahya Jammeh to Adama Barrow in The Gambia; all fall within the rubric of protecting the interest of the black man and in so doing protecting our own interest.

    If blacks all over the world are doing well, we as a black people will not suffer the indignity of being looked down upon because of our black colour. In other words, the fate of Nigeria is intricately linked with that of all black people in a world where racism thrives. Even though everybody denies the place of race in foreign affairs, it is however without doubt central to politics among nations.

    This was the political phase of our foreign policy. Nigeria has succeeded to a certain extent in our foreign policy of decolonization. The continent has been rid of colonialism and imperialist domination but neo-colonialism still thrives in the sense that African economy is still largely dominated by former colonial powers of Britain, France and to a certain extent the West generally. In what was called economic diplomacy, Nigeria wanted to engage with other African countries including those it had assisted in joint partnership for mutual economic development to free the continent from neo-colonial domination. This was why Nigeria in the  1990s encouraged Nigerians to participate in fishing off the coast of Angola for example and in the development of Bauxite mines of Guinea in the 1970s and investment in cement and sugar industries in Benin in partnership with the governments of those countries.

    It must be admitted  that these economic ventures did not always succeed as expected but there was no attempt by Nigeria to exploit for its national benefit, inappropriate crude exploitative way western  countries exploit the countries they give aid and a technical assistance to. To do this would have destroyed the high moral grounds on which our foreign policy was founded. This policy of assistance with no strings attached informed the Technical Aid Corps put in place to assist other African countries and black countries in the Caribbean and the pacific countries during the Babangida’s regime. We could not have been criticizing the West and be following a post-assistance policy of exploitation. This however does not preclude individual business people doing businesses in countries where as a result of Nigeria’s goodwill, the environment is favourable for Nigerian private investment. In pursuit of this, we need not rub in the fact that the country so involved benefited from our largesse in the past. That would be immoral and unChristianly and unIslamic. Of course, there is no morality in politics but in the case in which we based our policy of decolonization on the wrongness and immorality of colonialism, standing on a high moral principle was appropriate.

    In the case of recent  xenophobic attacks against our nationals in South Africa, we can make a case for African solidarity without harping on whatever assistance we rendered in the past. Our assistance in the past based on our enlightened national self-interest which happened to have been in the interest of blacks in South Africa was out of our free will and judgement of what was good for our country. It  is quite different from asking for compensation for  current economic damage and injury inflicted on our people. This should stand alone from the sentimental issue of past assistance. Secondly, the nature of our people’s business in South Africa in particular and in other parts of Africa where our people are coming under serious pressure and sometimes murderous attack, needs to be considered and if necessary changed. Any business bordering on criminal and illegal nature must be deprecated and wound up. It is disgraceful for our people to be involved in  human trafficking, prostitution, drugs peddling, and  advance fees fraud and swindling of innocent people of their hard earned money. It is sad that the few of our people involved in these nefarious activities have damaged the many genuine business men and women. We must some how find a way by which our people would be told that each and every Nigerian is an ambassador of this country and that their behaviour abroad will either enhance or damage the image of the country which previous generations have built. Unemployment at home should not be an excuse for criminality abroad. Our government also must take more seriously the issue of job creation at home and control and reduction of our geometrically growing and ballooning population. It is a pity that the issue of the population bomb has not received the attention it deserves. No matter what we do to build a thriving economy, if the population continues to outstrip the economy, we shall continue to create an underclass of criminals at home some of who will find their ways to other parts of the continent as is already happening in our neighbouring countries where the image of the “ugly Nigerian” looms very large.

  • Sokoto releases N300m for WAEC, NECO exams fees

    NOT less than N300 million has been approved for payment of Sokoto State pupils who sat for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).

    In a statementd by the Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, Nura Bello Maikwanci, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal noted that the essence of the payment was to ensure prompt release of the results of its indigenes.

    The sum covered part of the cost of the 2018/2019 examinations for both bodies.

    “The  amount is meant for the payment of examinations fees for students who sat for the two examinations as it is expected that with this development the results of the students would soon be released”, the release stated.

    The government urged parents and candidates to exercise more patience, adding that” Sokoto State government is doing everything possible to ensure the release of their results in good time’’.