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  • Surveyors harp on ethical standards, skill acquisition, others

    The Nigeria Institution of Surveyors (NIS) has agreed that the association have a need to do more on training, skill acquisition and ethical standards. They regretted that some unethical practice among members may have cost their clients some losses and is bent on addressing it with competitive training and welfare for members.

    Chairman of Association of Private Practising Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN), Akomolafe Ademola at the annual workshop of the Group held in Ikeja yesterday with the theme “ Professionalism on the Cross: Surveying practices and legal laws”, said the objectives of establishing the sub group of the institution is to afford members the opportunity of continuous development. He said the association has put in a place a robust strategy that involves maintaining a strong and cordial relationship with relevant associations and institutions.

    Admonishing the members he said: “To ensure that our practice is robust , sustainable and rewarding and how to make it better, it is important that we practice ethically putting the interest and satisfaction of our clients in view but also working in line with set industry standards. To this end the APPSN and NIS established the Practice Monitoring and investigating initiatives to give bite to our monitoring and investigating initiatives. It is important to also to warn our erring members that the administration will in no way tolerate unethical practice of any type”.

    Chairman, Lagos, NIS, Adeleke Adesina said they are poised towards sanitizing the institution . He encouraged his professional colleagues to be multi –disciplinary to serve the public more professionally adding that those who circumvent the law will no longer be absolved.

    The Guest lecturer Barrister Ogbebor Osaretin encouraged surveyors to be multi tasking to ensure they deliver service to their clients. He said some clients have unfortunately lost their land as a result ignorance by some surveyors who were not diligent enough to get fact and figures about a particular land that is in dispute.

    According to him when land is said to be in dispute are instances whereby two or more persons claim ownership of a parcel or piece of land, with each of them relying on his or her root of title to the said land, with a view to showing a better title than the other.

    He listed 5 ways in which ownership or title to land may be proved as proof of traditional evidence;

    ii. Proof of acts of ownership, acts by persons claiming the land such as selling, leasing, renting out all or part of the land, or farming on it or otherwise utilising the land beneficially such acts of time and numerous and positive enough to warrant the inference that he is the true owner;

    iii. Proof of production of document of title which must be authenticated;

    iv. Proof of ownership by acts of long possession and enjoyment in respect of the land to which the acts are done;

    v. Proof of possession of connected or adjacent land circumstances rendering it probable that the owner of such connected or adjacent land would in addition be the owner of the land in dispute, may rank also as means of proving ownership of the land in dispute.

    He advised that a surveyor who does not know the above will incur losses for his client underscoring the need for continuous education and skill acquisition.

    He added that surveyors are the only professionals, statutorily empowered to carry out survey exercise on any parcel of land in Nigeria, with a view to determining its identity, location, size, shape, boundaries, area and description and to produce the plan thereof and should not for any reason shirk their responsibilities.

  • Buhari congratulates Kano, Plateau governors

    President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State and Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State on the affirmation of their victories in the March 2019 gubernatorial polls by the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunals.

    Buhari, who is travelling with the two victorious All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to South Africa on a state visit, extended his goodwill to the duo on Wednesday shortly before departure from the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    Read Also: I’m not interested in third term – Buhari

    The President, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, described the verdict of the tribunals as a victory for democracy.

    He praised the people of Kano and Plateau states for maintaining the peace, and allowing due process of law to prevail by respecting the role of the judiciary in a democracy.

  • Old Benin technical school new bride for parents

    After 49 years of running without accreditation, the Benin Technical College, now the Government Science and Technical College, is experiencing a new lease of life, thanks to government funding. The school is now attracting pupils unlike before. OSAGIE OTABOR reports from Benin

    In the past, management of the Benin Technical College now Government Science and Technical College (GSTC) used to beg students to pick admission form into the college. It was a school seen as a place for those who could not do well in conventional secondary school.

    The sorry state of the school did not matter. In the absence of relevant facilities, the students were taught practicals in abstract. The dilapidated buildings that would welcome a first time visitor were an eye sore. The staff strength of the school depleted to 39 as no new staff member was employed when old ones retired or left for greener pastures.

    The school was first built in 1970 during the administration of late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia. It was said to have been built due to the clamour by Oba Akenzua II  for technical skills and sports training for youths.

    Its sports complex was built by the Canadian government and fitted with an Olympic-size swimming pool and other sports facilities. The school was planned to transform into a College of Technology.

    After Ogbemudia left power, the school was abandoned and left to rot. Successive administrations did not improve on Ogbemudia’s vision. Roofs were blown off, chairs were not replaced and the machines that went bad were not repaired.

    In the words of Principal of the school, Onaiwu Federick Osazuwa: “We were training students in quantity because we could admit anybody and they could be up to 200 in a class.”

    However, all that has changed, thanks to fresh investment in the school by the Edo State government led by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    The government built and equipped two blocks of 22 classrooms, workshops, internet facilities and air-conditioners, new bathroom and toilets,.

    Last week when this reporter visited the school, there was a huge crowd of parents and pupils at the gate struggling to check their wards’ names on the admission list.

    Obaseki visited the school immediately he was sworn in and vowed to reclaim the school’s vast land from encroachers and restore it’s glory.

    True to his words, the vast school land was fenced, including houses built by private individuals. In less than three years, the first phase of the project was delivered and admission was opened for new intakes.

    Unlike in the past when admission into the technical college was free for all, those now seeking to gain admission were subjected to written examinations and interview as the new school can only accommodate 40 students per class.

    Osazuwa told our reporter that the teachers did not believe Obaseki when he promised to revamp the college as they had heard such promises in the past.

    He said: “Many governments have come and gone but there was no refurbishing and rehabilitation of the college. Machines and tools were all grounded. Teachers were teaching practicals in abstract. Many things were neglected and the school collapsed. We have been teaching and learning under blown off roofs. The machines were obsolete. There were no teachers, no consumable materials. No subvention to the school. The teachers were just doing their best. Sometimes we bought materials for teachers. Teaching aids were not supplied. This was a standard school which has international swimming pool and sports complex. The staff strength was just 39. Some teachers retired and others left.Before Obaseki came, the staff strength was 39 – both technical teachers and non-technical staff.

    “When Obaseki first came here, he wept. He specifically went to the swimming pool. He walked in the weed inside and asked about some residential buildings in the school premises and we told him some persons sold the school land. He said he would fence the school including the buildings and revamp it to international standard. He said he will create industrial park where youths could be trained. He said he will help them to get tools to start up their businesses.

    “We thought it was a usual talk by government officials. Few days later, we saw bulldozers and surveyors working here. They started fencing  the college and reclaim the entire land. This new edifice is what you cannot get anywhere in this country. The equipment here are not found anywhere. From my office, I can communicate with all the teachers. I can watch what teachers are teaching and students are doing in their various classes.”

    Osazuwa said the college suffered in the past because the right people were not in charge.  He thanked Obaseki for reviving the college and employing more qualified hands to run the college.

    “Edo people should be grateful  to Obaseki for reviving technical education because technical education was dead. What killed technical education in Edo State was a situation where an historian or economist was appointed to head technical school. For many years, I was the first engineer to be appointed principal in this college. People who took management decision on anything that affect technical college knew nothing about engineering. A principal of technical school must know the principle and mechanism of any engine in any workshop. It is an engineering mechanism.

    “We used to have students trained in quantity but we now  train in quality, decency and credibility. Then, we could admit 200 students in a class but now we admit 40. The governor is working towards getting accreditation for the school. We are now 122 staff workers in this school from just 39, ” he said.

    Following the remodeling of the school, officials of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) led by its Deputy Director, Mallam Samaila Tanko visited the school for accreditation.

    Tanko said the delegation was impressed with facilities in the school and that the body would soon release result of their findings and make recommendations.

    Tanko urged the state government to continue in the positive trajectory it has started.

    Giles Omezi, an architect and Team Lead, GSTC Rehabilitation Programme, said phase 1 of the project was designed to be energy efficient as it has the capacity to harvest and use rainwater and operate with alternative off-grid solar energy, among other innovations.

    Omezi explained that a production cluster comprising spaces accessible to local tradesmen would soon be operational, which would make the facility a hub for job creation and skills development in the state.

    “We have solar panels for solar energy. We are harvesting rainwater as well. This is a test case of how sustainable our public buildings can be. We are going to be doing the same thing in the new phase. The institution will be fully networked with a site-wide fibre optic system, backup power from generators, off-grid renewable energy (solar power), rainwater harvesting and an integrated site-wide potable water system.

    “Old capital equipment that have been out of action for decades have been brought back to life; components with operational life in them are being reused and a sensitive attitude to refurbishing the old buildings means that we are utilising less new components and saving money.”

    He added that key infrastructure interventions in the project include a dedicated 33KVA line from the Benin North electrical substation which draws power from the NIPP Ihonvbor/Azura Power complex and a 45mbps fibre optic cable serving the college.

    Obaseki, who visited the school on an inspection tour said the commercial production hub would serve as a location for design and production of machines so as to create opportunities for students to work with those in the industry and translate what they learn to the real world.

    He said: “We have now finished building two new blocks with workshops that will accommodate about 800 students. We now need to move to the old blocks and begin to make them more modern. We are also rebuilding the electrical, mechanical and carpentry workshops. We are introducing plumbing and other trades.

    “We need more teachers that can teach technical subjects and we need to train them. We are considering different options as we are talking to foreign partners to provide technical support and assistance on how to bring people who have done this before to accelerate the training of our teachers.

    “We are working with several bodies particularly countries in the European Union (EU) as we need their support in executing projects of this nature and to help us deal with human trafficking and curtail irregular migration.”

    Some parents who spoke to our reporter said they want to enroll their children in the school because of the transformation and new buildings they saw.

    Mr. Isaiah Omorogbe, whose son did not pass the test, said he would reapply next year because jobs demand require skills and not mere paper qualification.

    Some teachers who spoke on condition of anonymity, urged the state government to provide adequate security for the school to avoid the installed equipment being stolen.

    The teachers recalled how thieves brought crane to steal two German machines in the school after overpowering security guards at the school.

    “The school has gotten a new shape and vision. What we need here is security. Last time, we lost two of our machines to robbers who came with crane and tied our security guard,” a teacher said.

  • Riot as FUTMinna students take on tanker driver, community

    There was pandemonium when students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (Futminna), in Niger State, tackled a tanker driver as a result of an accident that occurred around the school premises.

    An eyewitness told CAMPUSLIFE that the accident  occurred during the Students Union campaign in preparation for its election proposed to hold last weekend.

    During the students campaigning to other campus at Bosso, the tanker driver was reported to have hit a student while trying to overtake another car. Trouble started when the tanker driver remained adamant despite that the victim sustained serious injury and was quickly rushed to a hospital.

    “Instead of apologising to the entire students and settling the matter amicably, the driver fumed, saying’ ‘Is it not just one student out of many?’ The statement infuriated the already incensed campaigners who engaged the driver and the indigenes of the community,” the eyewitness said.

    A student, who identified herself simply as Mariam, confirmed the recalcitrance of the driver.

    She said: “When the incident happened, the driver did not feel sorry. This prompted the students to block the road, preventing other vehicular movement. Later on, other tanker drivers gathered and started all sorts of unfriendly acts.

    “They (drivers) threatened to burn down the students’ houses around, that is where the indigenes intervened that they would not fold their arms while their fathers’ properties  are being set ablaze, all because of the students.

    “It was later on that they started fighting the students with knives, weapons and even entered the school to destroy properties and burned down two cars.”

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, another student Adetoro Opeyemi said: “A student was standing on one of the campaign cars, and a tanker was coming from behind the car. Upon seeing this, the student jumped down from the car and the tanker hit him, this later caused a leg injury.

    “Students tried to stop the driver but he did not. After view minutes, he parked at a nearby filling station where the students rushed to him to explained what havoc he had caused. The driver’s reply got the students angry. Even though he escaped, all later turned to a fight between his fellow drivers, indigenes and students.”

    “The crisis started around 1pm on (last) Thursday and was later resolved the following day,” he added.

    Public relation office of FUTMinna Students’ Union Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, said it all happened when a driver hit one of the students campaigning around.

    “But before we knew it later that day, the drivers and the villagers have already joined to fight the students and started destroying properties including cars,” Ibrahim told CAMPUSLIFE on phone.

    He continued: “After the intervention of the government; the police came around and that worsened the whole thing. They were throwing teargas at the students which got many injured. Even the SU president and one of the vice presidential aspirants were wounded.

    “As a result of this, all academic activities have been put on hold for now, and instructions have been given that the tankers parked around the school should be moved away. The school is supposed to commence the semester examination in two weeks time, and the managements does not want to alter academic calendar,” he concluded.

  • Logjam

    THAT morning, time appeared frozen for a while. Everything stood still and there was chaos everywhere. Both sides of the road were blocked. Those going to Lagos who were taking the right lane and those heading the same way but following the wrong way were stuck in traffic.

    The situation was beyond the security agencies; they just looked on as motorists sweated it out in traffic that early morning. It was just 6.07a.m., and everywhere was locked down. Ascending the Long Bridge at Wawa was impossible as traffic stretched backward from there to MFM.

    It was also impossible descending the bridge at the same point as those trying to ascend it the wrong way blocked oncoming vehicles. Policemen from the nearby Wawa Police Division shouted themselves hoarse as they tried to restore sanity. But the motorists did not budge. They were determined to have their way despite being in the wrong.

    What happened around that corridor of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway on Monday was sheer madness. All hell was let loose as motorists attempted to get out of the traffic congestion at the same time at all costs,  but the more they did so, the more they compounded the gridlock. It was not something that should have caught the security agencies offguard because it all started on Sunday. They should have prepared for the Monday madness going by what happened the previous day.

    Anybody who followed that road on Sunday would have foreseen what happened on Monday. I was prepared for it, thinking that by leaving home around 6a.m., I would not be caught in the logjam. I was wrong. By the time I hit the express around 6.06a.m., I knew there was trouble. I was not prepared for what I saw. My calculation was that I would have ascended the bridge before running into traffic. But I ran into traffic virtually in front of my home.

    As I took my turn in the Lagos-bound traffic from Arepo busstop, I surveyed my surrounding; I had ample time to do that since we were not moving anyway. The drama on the other side of the road kept us busy as motorists blocking oncoming vehicles stood their ground.  There would not have been any need for that if the security agencies had got their act right ahead of time going by what we were told before Julius Berger began work at the Kara/Berger axis last month.

    They should have envisaged what happened on Monday and taken precautionary steps. Men and materials should have been stationed at both ends of the Long Bridge at Wawa long before dawn to stop any motorist from driving against traffic. As usual, they left everything to chance. You do not take chances in matters like this knowing full well the way many motorists behave at the slightest sign of traffic jam.

    The presence of the police and road safety personnel would have deterred motorists from driving against traffic. There is no other time than now for them to make their presence felt more on that  road,  at least until Julius Berger finishes its work there. Traffic on that road is something that motorists have come to live with, but their pains can be eased, especially during this difficult period of its rehabilitation by Julius Berger. This can be done with the police and road safety personnel maintaining a 24-hour vigilance on the road.

    The police and road safety personnel should not just appear on the scene when things have gone awry and think that they can perform magic. We have talked and talked about alternative routes to ease motorists’ pain without anything being done about the issue.

    Rather than improve on the untarred route from Wawa that bursts out at the OPIC intersection, Julius Berger has dug a ditch across the road, making it unusable. If the place had been available on Monday, things would not have been that bad. Why did Julius Berger do that? We may never know as the citizenry and their wellbeing matter little to the government and its contractors in matters like this. So, I will not be surprised if that Monday episode repeats itself. It was the last day of September and it turned out to be the most memorable day of the month. A September to remember! You can say that again.

    Cry of distress

    THE cry came from the depths of her heart. “Why do they like to kidnap me?” Madam Beauty Uguoere Siasia asked no one in particular. She was thinking out loud. She answered the poser thus: “They said my son is a millionaire”. Is it an offence for someone’s child to be well to do?

    I fear for Mama Siasia who kidnappers have now turned into ATM. They know that if they kidnap her, her son Samson will cough out any amount to get her back. For how long will she and her family live in fear of kidnappers? The first time they came for her in  2015, they held her for 12 days.

    They returned for her on July 19 and kept her till Sunday before releasing her after collecting an undisclosed amount of ransom. At 80, she does not deserve this kind of treatment. What she deserves now is round the clock protection by the police. Will that be asking for too much? I do not think so.

  • Maximising opportunities in cocoa sub-sector

    To boost foreign exchange earnings for the country, stakeholders in the cocoa sub-sector advise that there should be genuine commitment to enhance the value of cocoa through value addition and expansion of commercial opportunities, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

    Cocoa is essential to the livelihoods of 40 to 50 million people worldwide, including over five million smallholder cocoa farmers who grow the valuable crop.

    For instance, the growing popularity of cocoa on account of its health benefits is driving the market.

    Scientists have confirmed that cocoa is essential for the achievement of reduced inflammation and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), better blood circulation and improved cholesterol levels.

    Furthermore, increase in use of organic products due to their long-lasting skin care benefits has boost up the demand for cocoa beans in the cosmetics sub-sector.

    According to Grand View Research, United States-based market research and consulting company, the industry is undergoing unprecedented growth in order to cater for changing desires of the consumers.

    The impact of cocoa on the global economy is growing. Across the world, the industry provides millions of jobs and contributes significantly to gross domestic product (GDP) globally. The international cocoa beans market size is expected to reach $16.32 billion by 2025.

    Among the abundant natural resources that may be found in Nigeria, cocoa stands out.

    While cocoa is the nation’s best-performing commodity, growers are still reeling from price volatility, when bigger-than-expected harvests sent prices tumbling. The plunge hurt, cut incomes for thousands of farmers and served as a stark reminder of how vulnerable producers are to swing in international markets.

    One of those affected is the Chairman, All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Atakumosa West Local Government Area of Osun State. Olusoji is a cocoa famer. He has been in the business for more than 25 years. He farms on more than 20 hectares of land.

    Income from cocoa, he noted, enables families to pay for their basic commodities, medicines and schooling for their children.

    According to him, there are vast opportunities that farmers can take advantage of, adding that the key to the success of cocoa both in the domestic and international markets is in the quality of the beans and the workers who produce them.

    For him, there is always a market for cocoa; sometimes not at its best price.

    He then reeled off some of the challenges to its sustainability, which include the problems of climate change, deforestation and disease and some of the ways they were being addressed.

    All the solutions he proffered point to one intractable problem. However, it has become almost impossible for the people of Osu dependent on cocoa to survive on the money they make from the crop.

    OSU contributes to the total cocoa beans Nigeria offers the world chocolate market but the average daily earnings for a farmer are poor.

    Demand for chocolate has been growing worldwide and it’s expected to continue on this path over the coming years.  Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Togo are the main cocoa-producing countries in West Africa.

    Among the most important final destinations for Nigeria’s cocoa is Europe where more than 800,000 tons of chocolate are consumed each year. But the relationship between the chocolate consumers and producers has undergone a profound shift. When cocoa prices were high in the 1970s, the beans accounted for nearly half of the value of a chocolate bar.

    Currently, producers receive around six per cent of the value of the final product. The rest goes to branded manufacturers who take roughly 44 per cent share and retailers who take 35 per cent. This is because the squeeze in the value of the commodity makes the situation of cocoa farmers ever more precarious.

    Since 2016, the price for cocoa has fluctuated between $1,500 and $2,400 a ton.

    Although there have been schemes to  improve  the quality of production and yields, experts believe that supply glut and subsequent fall in global prices from 2017 shows the danger of boosting production without pursuing value addition.

    Globally, the market price of cocoa has been falling and the Programme Coordinator, Farmers’ Development Union (FADU) Victor Olowe believes that it was a major reason to add value to the nation’s cocoa beans.

    While Nigeria’s influence on global cocoa supply is massive, it’s mostly limited to unprocessed beans.

    Olowe said: “It was necessary to move from the sale of the raw cocoa beans to processed cocoa.

    Overly reliance on the export of raw cocoa was at the expense of the value creation as it is destroying local value.”

    Continuing, Olowe said: “Cocoa producers should invest in cocoa processing facilities to cut down on the cost of local processing and increase domestic consumption.”

    As Nigeria processes cocoa at home, the Chief Operating Officer, the Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, Robo Adhuze added that there are employment opportunities in the manufacturing of chocolate and butter.

    Adhuze said there was good potential for increasing the export of processed cocoa rather than exporting only cocoa beans.

    He said exporters needed to add value to the cocoa and much of that is done outside of the economy.

    While Nigeria, like other West African countries, have been seeking fortunes in cocoa, what exporters sell mostly are unprocessed beans. This is because the European cocoa and chocolate industry traditionally imports cocoa beans as raw material.

    Processing of cocoa and the purchasing of semi-finished products are traditionally done within Europe.

    According to analysts, the European chocolate industry prefers to keep different processing steps under close control. The idea is to ensure quality management but, most importantly, to match consumer tastes in different markets.

    Adhuze said a lot has not been implemented to get the cocoa industry back on track.

    He lamented that Nigeria and other cocoa producers have long been at the mercy of traders who set cocoa prices thousands of miles away in London and New York.

    He said chocolate manufacturing is a thriving business, in which big companies make high profits. While these companies are competing for ever higher market shares and higher profits, he said millions of cocoa farmers’ bear the costs by getting less and less share from the revenues.  He said insecurity of farmers’ income is affected by volatile cocoa prices.

    The consequences of price volatility, together with increasing production costs, he maintained, are economic insecurity and impoverishment for cocoa farmers.

    The only way out of the price volatility, he explained, is to improve upon processing and local production.

    Adhuze believes re-energising the cocoa sector entails building the capacity of farmers and providing them with high-quality planting materials.

    The other factor is introducing sustainable farming methods in cocoa-producing communities.

    He wants farmers to be trained in integrated crop pests and quality management, farm safety and child labour through the farmers’ field schools.

    Aside from training, he said farmers need seedlings of improved cocoa varieties.

    The clamour, according to him, is for high-yielding, disease-resistant and early-maturing seeds that can produce fruits within three years if the recommended agronomic practices are followed.

    According to him, long neglect has affected transportation and storage infrastructure and left most of the farmlands fallow for the most part.

    The President, Cocoa Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, Adeola Adegoke said improving cocoa production would benefit families of farmers.

    And in a country where unemployment rate is more than 70 per cent of the working population, he was of the opinion that strengthening the position of cocoa as a cash crop will provide an opportunity for increasing employment and foreign exchange earnings.

    Other stakeholders said it was not attractive to sell cocoa at a discount to local processors as there was ample demand internationally at premium prices.

     

    Challenge

    The primary reason many Nigerians do not patronise locally-made chocolates is because they are expensive and cannot be catered for by the ordinary man’s pocket.

     

    Cocoa’s promising market

    Despite negative impacts of economic downturn, analysts say the demand for cocoa in the food and chocolate confectionaries market will continue. Also the newfound application in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry keeps the pace of gains for the market high.

    The recent trends of using it as a raw material across diverse industries are also expected to give impetus to the cocoa market.

    In a stable market, a ton of bulk cocoa has an average value that ranges between $3,100 and $3,500 per ton.

    A Senior Lecturer, the University of Ibadan, Dr. Adeola Olajide called for concerted efforts to support cocoa farmers to improve their livelihood in the face of a number of social and economic challenges.

    Dr. Olajide said the cocoa sub-sector is a major engine of economic activity, generating significant export revenue and providing livelihood for many farmers.

    Future sustainable development of the sector, she noted, faces significant challenges, which include falling productivity, diminishing farmer incomes, poor physical infrastructure that obstruct access to markets and concerns over deforestation

  • Arts back to base

    The National Arts Theatre Iganmu Lagos used to be a site to behold. When it was constructed in 1976, it became a must-visit monument. It was the pride of Lagos when it served as the country’s capital city. With time, the magnificent edifice began to wear mournful looks due to politics of negligence which affected the entire creative industry. However, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports that the once-neglected edifice would soon bounce back to relevance as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injects N22 billion to revive the creative industry

    THE abandoned place of arts has roared back to life. thanks to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    There is a new lease of life of the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos and  a massive opportunity for creative artistes to ply their trade.

    The 43-year old edifice purpose built to host the second World Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC)  is to enjoy the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) injection of N22 billion seed capital.

    The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at Creative Summit in Lagos on Monday, said the intervention is to galvanise music and movie industry and support young entrepreneurs in the development of digital art content.

    Until now, the management of the 43-year-old edifice that hosted the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77), had been enmeshed in series of concession controversies following inability of government to sustain funding of the event venue, which was also allegedly earmarked for sale.

    Emefiele revealed that the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos will serve as initial pilot for the Creative Industries Park that will also cover other major cities in the country.

    “With the kind support of the Federal and Lagos governments, the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, is expected to serve as the initial pilot for the Creative Industries Park. Our plan is to develop a 40-acre Creative Industry Park around the National Theatre including giving the Theater itself tremendous face lift; thereby reopening the touring potential the National Theatre offered during the FESTAC 77 arts culture. Following the deployment of the pilot scheme in Lagos, we intend to set up similar parks in Kano, Port Harcourt or Enugu.”

    Besides, Emefiele noted that the park would serve as a showcase through which individuals would display their talents and abilities, which will, in turn, expose them to domestic and external investors that can provide them with additional resources that will engender further production and expansion of their creative works.

    He stated at the summit that a critical aspect of the park would be devoted to supporting the growth of Nigeria’s fashion industry.

    “The textile, apparel and footwear sub-sectors remain the second largest contributors to Nigeria’s manufacturing (after food, beverage and tobacco) sector. Total output in fourth quarter of 2017 was estimated at $1.3 billion or 23.3 per cent of manufacturing GDP.

    “Sadly, at present, Nigeria spends over $2 billion on imported textiles, including machine-made cloths imported from Asia which copy popular Nigerian designs. This action has taken place despite the abundant talents in the fashion industry in Nigeria, some of whom are gaining prominence locally and internationally,” he said.

    He noted that the initiative will also help to support the growth of the cotton and textile industry by off-taking on the products being produced in textile mills in Kano, Kaduna and Lagos.

    “Over the next five years, the park will help in supporting 10,000 young Nigerians with improved design skills, while creating over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) industry.

    “The Shared Service Facility will also serve as a showroom to the world on quality fabrics being designed and produced in Nigeria,” he said.

    Emefiele said over 50,000 Nigerians would benefit from this ICT centre, which will create over 25,000 software engineers and 150,000 skilled and unskilled jobs. He added that it could result in potential GDP gains of close to $2 billion while curbing importation of IT solutions that can be produced in Nigeria.

    Reacting to CBN’s initiative, renowned playwright, director and former Deputy Editor The Guardian Newspaper Mr. Ben Tomoloju, described the move as a positive development, saying it was long overdue considering the critical role of arts and the theatre complex in the nation’s economy. He noted that the idea of establishing a creative industry park at the National Theatre was a most welcome development, adding that the theatre complex itself needs total renovation. He observed that the vast space around the theatre complex has been under-utilised over the years which have been a constant target of land speculators in high and low places.

    “One has always spoken about the duty of government to create an enabling environment for the creative industry to grow. In fact, in an interview with a national daily published during the week, I suggested that the intervention fund-once approved for implementation-would go a long way in redressing untoward investment situation that the arts sub-sector is going through.

    “This is a salutary initiative by the Federal Government which, at the long last, assuages my feeling of despair about Buhari and the cultural sector. In 2015, at the inception of this regime, I had projected in a newspaper comment that Buhari had an antecedent in the military era that was art and culture friendly.

    “I recalled his Bayo Oduneye-headed Review Panel on Film and Theatre. I also recall his appointment of Col. Tunde Akogun as the Federal Sole Administrator for Culture which transformed the sector positively. These were the achievements that led one to the conclusion that his administration, this time around, would also make a significant impact on the fortunes of artists and the entire culture producers,” he said.

    According to Tomoloju, the initiative is a good step in the right direction, even as he appealed to those who will be engaged in various stages of the implementation to be patriotic, honest and altruistic to allow the initiative add value as expected to the lives of artists and creative individuals and also in the best interest of the Nigerian tourism agenda.

    Former Director-General Centre for Black African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) Prof. Tunde Babawale said any amount invested in the creative industry is a worthwhile venture.

    “Any amount invested in the creative industry is a worthwhile venture. It will lead to employment creation and infrastructural development. The Nollywood industry is the biggest employer of labour outside the government. This would further enhance the sector’s capacity for empowerment. We must ensure that the various unions in the sector are involved in the management of disbursement,” he added.

  • Atiku’s lamentable lamentation (II)

    The Daily Times’ great satirist, Ndaeyo Uko, once told the story of two ‘mad’ men, one of whom found his moment of lucidity stalking what he believed was a ‘suicidal customer’ at a food vending shack around which the lunatic had hung daily for leftovers; and if memory serves right, the other lunatic found his lucid moment stalking Uko’s very own father who he perceived also as being on a trendy, ‘suicidal’ tie-wearing madness. But not remembering the details of Uko’s interesting stories, I have arrogated to myself the poetic license to serve you my embellished versions of that great writer’s originals. The mad one at the eatery, over time, must’ve taken a deranged notice of this particular customer who regularly came asking to be served a combination of ‘ogbono’, ‘egusi’ and ‘ewedu’ soups to go with his favourite swallow -should we say- ‘eba’? Except that on this particular day, the ‘mad man’, it appeared, must’ve had enough hearing this gastronomically ‘self-harming’ alimentary combination. He had resolved, this fateful day, to end this ‘madness’ once and for all! And so after this customer had been served, the ‘lunatic’ angrily walked to his table, snatched the bowl of ‘soup’, guzzled it in one mad gulp, took the malformed mound of ‘eba’, stashed it in his raggedy pocket, handed over the emptied plates to the dumbfounded customer, and now at the top of his voice warned: “Always eat one soup so that we know the one that kill you! I say eat one soup” he repeated as he walked away, “so that we know the one that kill you!!”

    Uko’s other ‘lunatic’ was no less forceful in his demand, nor any less authoritative in the expression of his momentary lucidity. This one too must’ve -for some time- taken a deranged notice of Uko’s presumably civil-servant father, as the man would appear every morning to go to work wearing either a one-piece suit or a well-starched, short-sleeved shirt, but always on a perfectly knotted tie. And so, on this fateful day, the ‘mad man’, apparently having had enough watching what he must’ve thought was a daily, self-strangulating ‘madness’, had walked straight up to Uko’s father, grabbed him firmly by the tie, and at the top of his voice, was now questioning the victim of his stranglehold: “when will you allow this neck rest!? I say when will you free this neck!!?” And although it may have taken the intervention of neighbours to pull this ‘lunatic’ off the jugular of Uko’s gasping father, yet the moral of stories like these cannot be lost on the discerning; and which is that: there is just a thin line between sanity and insanity; and that often both those who lay claim to sanity and those who are truly insane may cross the threshold without knowing that they have. Ndaeyo Uko had used these stories as some kind of comic relief to caricature the weekly display of intemperance by an Admiral, Augustus Aighomu, IBB’s number two man who had a habit of turning his weekly press conference with State House correspondents into some kind of mad house for the vilest language to reply the regime’s many critics. But such malady becomes even one of a terribly infinite proportion if it has to take a tap by the existentially mad, on the shoulders of the presumably ‘clearheaded’, to warn them they are hovering right on the threshold.

    And so I was wondering, what would a momentarily lucid ‘mad man’ with a keen mind on the ‘juridical’ –as against the culinary or the trendy- have said to a litigious Atiku Abubakar, especially given the Waziri’s cheaply opportunistic grounds of petition against Buhari’s victory? Because we have seen that each of the three grounds of Atiku’s petition was actually an obvious gamble reminiscent of the opportunistic casket-game in Shakespeare’s tragic-comic play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Permit me to digress a little. To fulfil her late father’s royal wish, wealthy heiress of Belmont, Princes Portia, dutifully consents to a game of caskets by which, in the wisdom of her father, she may escape ‘gold diggers’ and gain a suitable husband from among princely suitors who must choose the casket containing her picture by un-coding both the ornamental motifs of the ‘precious’ metals by which the three caskets are represented and the confusing inscriptions that they respectively bear, namely, the ‘gold’ casket: ‘Who chooseth me shall GAIN WHAT MANY MEN DESIRE’; the ‘silver’: ‘Who chooseth me shall GET AS MUCH AS HE DESERVES’ and the ‘lead’ ‘Who chooseth me must GIVE AND HAZARD ALL HE HATH’.

    But like Ndaeyo Uko’s ‘souper’ who loved his ‘ogbono’, ‘egusi’ and ‘ewedu’ all in one bowl, Atiku had acted true to his covetous and gluttonous patrician character. He wanted all three precious metals: gold, silver and lead; and he wanted all three soups: ‘ogbono’, ‘egusi’ and ‘ewedu’. The claim that Atiku won the election was merely a ploy to shroud his opportunistic reliance on two seemingly low-hanging fruits: his contrived ‘server result sheet’ which –for its non-justiciability- was dead on arrival, and the non-issue of Buhari’s ‘qualification’ which –conscionably- was weak. Thus all that Atiku had succeeded in doing at the tribunal was to prove himself a jack of three dubious trades –‘cert’, ‘server’ and ‘substantial non-compliance’; and in the end he had turned out a grouchy ‘master of none’! Atiku had proved himself both of two proverbial opportunistic soldiers: a ‘soldier of fortune’ and a ‘sunshine soldier’. He had also proved himself both of two proverbial seekers of idle fortune: a ‘treasure hunter’ and a ‘gold digger’. He had hoped to reap where he did not sow. And without proving any of the three grounds, Atiku still believes that he has been denied justice. Meaning that either all five justices knew no law at all, or that they have elected –against the grain of law- to pervert justice. In truth, it is Atiku who had angled desperately to pervert and to benefit from the perversion of justice: his calumnious campaign for the removal of judges on the tribunal he did not trust, his desperate attempts to force judges to descend to the gallery, his frequent appeal to a partisan court of public opinion, his curious request to meet the tribunal judges in camera and his public denunciation of ‘law and fact’ in favour of what he termed ‘the pulse’ of the nation, all revealed a litigant who knew that he had no case. All of Atiku’s juristic ‘armour’, his ‘sword’ and his ‘shield’ rested on one ridiculously presumptive proof, that he won the election because it was ‘obvious’ that ‘Nigerians wanted Buhari to lose’.

    And that is Atiku for you. He is Nigeria’s only politician you’ll know who seems always, to exude this preeminent entitlement to be paid back –economically and politically- for some great favour you’d think he must’ve done to Nigeria in time past; very rare favours such as should equate, metaphorically, say, to giving a dying person the ‘kiss of life’ or cardio-vascular pulmonary (mouth-to-mouth) resuscitation; or maybe some great deed of derring-do such as equates, say, with being Nigeria’s Dedan Kimathi who led the country’s version of Kenya’s Mau-Mau revolution to secure our independence. Atiku is about the only politician you’ll know who approaches the politics of ruling this country with this toga of subtle -even if haughty- claim to a ‘right of first refusal’. And it is probably the reason he always demands his political desert in a combination of three uncompromising soups. Its either an all ‘ogbono’, ‘egusi’ and ‘ewedu’ bowl, or a gruelling court fight to the last ounce of energy! It is either his ‘gold, silver and lead’ all at once or no ‘casket game’ at all! Because to Atiku alone belongs not only the right to the ‘gold casket’ wherein to ‘GAIN WHAT MANY MEN DESIRE’ and the right to the ‘silver casket’ wherein to ‘GET AS MUCH AS HE DESERVES’, to him also belongs the right to the basest of them all, the ‘lead casket’, because Atiku is the only Nigerian politician you’ll also know who is ready to ‘GIVE AND HAZARD ALL HE HATH’ in order that he ‘GAINs WHAT MANY MEN DESIRE’ and that of it, he ‘GETs AS MUCH AS HE DESERVES’.

    Concluded

  • NDLEA charges two cousins with drug trafficking

    Two cousins, Jude Edward Okeke and Ifeanyi Okeke, who were allegedly caught in possession of hard drugs, were on Wednesday brought before a Federal High Court in Lagos.

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned the defendants before Justice Saliu Saidiu on a two-count charge of unlawful possession of the substances.

    Prosecution counsel Mr Abu Ibrahim alleged that the duo committed the offence on or about September 6, 2019, at their residence, No. 45, Vincent Ogumba Street, Startimes Estate, Off Ago Palace Way, Okota Lagos.

    He said the defendants, without lawful authority, knowingly possessed 24.9 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance under International Control and 16.9 kilogrammes of ephedrine, a prohibited precursor chemical.

    The court heard that the substances were prohibited and criminalised under Section 19 of the NDLEA Act.
    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Ibrahim prayed the court to remand both men in prison custody pending commencement of trial.
    But defence counsel Mr E.U. Nnolu opposed him.

    Read Also: Man ‘sells’ marijuana at NDLEA office

    “My lord, we have a bail application which has been served on the prosecution. We pray your lordship to allow us move the application,” he said.

    Obtaining the judge’s permission, Nnolu applied that the defendants be granted bail “in the most liberal terms.”
    He added: “The first defendant, Jude Edward Okeke, is not in a good state of health.”

    In a bench ruling, Justice Saidiu upheld his prayer.

    The judge admitted each defendant to bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties.

    One of the sureties must be a property owner within Lagos while the order must be a civil servant not below grade level 14 in the service of the Federal Government or the Lagos State Government, among other conditions.

    “The defendants are hereby remanded in prison custody till they perfect their bail terms,” the judge added.
    The case continues on November 4.

  • 2020 Budget: Buhari to chair extra-ordinary FEC Saturday

    Towards presenting the 2020 budget proposals to the National Assembly next week, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Saturday preside over an extraordinary Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

    This was disclosed by a top government official on Wednesday.

    The new efforts are towards returning the Federal Government budget cycle from May-June to January-December.

    The FEC meeting on Saturday is expected to cross the ‘t’s and dot the ‘I’s in final preparation for the submission to the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    Read Also; Buhari presides over FEC meeting in Aso Rock

    The presentation was meant to have taken place in the third week of September, but was stalled by President Buhari’s participation at the 74th United Nations General Assembly.

    Buhari had also on Wednesday proceeded to South Africa on state visit to honor the invitation of South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, towards discussing welfare of Nigerians, and finding common grounds for building harmonious relations with their hosts.