The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian

  • Eight Nigerian start-ups, 12 others for World Bank’s digital programme

    Eight Nigerian start-ups are amongst 20 of the most promising African digital start-ups that will take part in the XL Africa residency, the flagship initiative of the business accelerator launched last April by the World Bank Group’s infoDev program. XL Africa is funded by the governments of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and administered by the World Bank Group with implementation support from IMC Worldwide, VC4A, and Koltai & Co.

    The program, which ends on November 17 in Cape Town, South Africa, will allow the entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from their mentors and peers, increase their regional visibility, and get access to potential corporate partners and investors.

    The eight selected Nigerian start-ups that will participate in the event include Electronic Settlement Limited (FinTech, Nigeria), MAX (Transport, Nigeria), ogaVenue (Venue Platform, Nigeria), Prepclass (EdTech, Nigeria), Printivo (Printing, Nigeria), Rensource (Energy, Nigeria), TalentBase (HR, Nigeria), and Tizeti Network Ltd. (Connectivity, Nigeria).Other participating African digital start-ups include Aerobotics (Data, South Africa), Asoko Insight (Data, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, United Kingdom, and Nigeria), Coin Afrique (Marketplace, Senegal and Benin), Edgepoint Digital (Jamii), (FinTech – Insurance, Tanzania),and Lynk Jobs Ltd. (HR, Kenya).

    Others are Ongair (SME Services, Kenya), Pesabazaar.com (FinTech, Kenya), Rasello Company Ltd. (SME Services, Tanzania), Sendy Ltd. (Delivery, Kenya), Snapplify (Publishing, South Africa and Kenya), Sokowatch (Delivery, Kenya), and Timbuktu (Travel, South Africa).

    The 20 successful African start-ups were selected from a pool of over 900 applicants, specializing in digital solutions for the African market, including Financial Technology (Fin-Tech), transportation, health care, education, human resources, and Business to Business (B2B).

    All companies provide a digital product or service currently available in one or more African markets and show potential to scale across the region.

    The residency will conclude with the XL Africa Venture Showcase, a regional event organised in association with the African Angel Investor Summit, in which the entrepreneurs will present their business models to a select audience of corporations and investors.

    With support from African investment groups, XL Africa will help the start-ups attract early stage capital between $250, 000- $1.5 million.”We are pleased by the interest infoDev and XL Africa generated across the continent in just a few months,” Director of the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Klaus Tilmes, said.According to him, XL Africa attracted firms with high-growth potential, with many having female co-founders, and have already raised early stage investment while also demonstrating significant market traction.

  • Letter to Nigerian Imams

    Letter to Nigerian Imams

    Preamble

    Dear Nigerian Imams, in the name of Allah, The compassionate, The Merciful, with humility and due respect in the spirit of Islam, I hereby forward this open letter to you as a way of rubbing minds and comparing notes with you on matters of common interest. In terms of age, knowledge, experience of life and charisma, I may not be qualified to tutor you on Islam. And this letter is not meant to do that. But the dynamism of this divine religion of ours is such that no one has any monopoly of either knowledge or piety, no matter his age or experience. And no one can evidently claim to possess purer soul and conduct than those of his fellow Muslims. Only Allah knows and can identify His true servants and reward them accordingly. This is manifest in Qur’an 49 verse 13 where He says: “We have created you (human beings) as males and females. And ‘We have’ classified you into nations and tribes that you may interact with one another. Surely, the most dignified among you before Allah are those who are most pious”.

     

    The Message

    ‘THE MESSAGE’ column as a reminder on Islamic matters does not ascribe any authority to itself. But in the process of comparing notes we may jointly find a clue to the problem we want to diagnose here. Two major issues jointly form the subject matter of this letter. One is the Qur’anic schools in Nigeria. The other is the Mosque affairs. The two are closely interrelated.

    You will recall Sirs, that Islam first reached some parts of what is now call Nigeria in the 11th century CE. That was over 1000 years ago when no one could have dreamt of a country to be called Nigeria. Even the colonialists who caused the emergence of Nigeria as a country were, at that time, still wallowing in blatant ignorance as they foraged wildly and aimlessly in the darkness of life. It took 500 years after the arrival of Islam before Christianity came to Nigeria in the 16th century. Today, if the two religions are compared in terms of education and material progress in this country, one will be found obviously ahead of the other by far. As a matter of fact, it will seem as if Christianity preceded Islam in Nigeria by 500 years. There is a fundamental question here not yet asked let alone answered. Where did things begin to go wrong for the Nigerian Muslims?

    It is only logical that a question like this is asked at this stage before any answer can be provided. From a Yoruba adage we learn that “when a kid falls he looks forward to someone who will lift him up. But when an adult falls, he looks backwards to see the cause of his fall”. After over 1000 years in Nigeria, Islam is eminently qualified to be called an adult. Thus we can jointly look back to see where things started going wrong if we sincerely adhere to Islam as we often claim.

    If the past generations of Nigerian Muslims did not ask the above question, it wasn’t because they lacked intellect or foresight. Even if they had asked such question, their hindrance would have been lack of wherewithal to answer it effectively. They could therefore be pardoned. The circumstances in which they embraced Islam and practiced it were quite different from those of today. That they even stood firmly by Islam in those days at all, despite the implacable persecutions and segregation they faced was an impeccable testimony to their steadfastness in faith.

    Unlike Christianity which was escorted down by its European propagators and strengthened by the colonialists after assuming power, Islam only migrated to Nigeria unaccompanied. That it emerged a force to be reckoned with was only due to the grace of Allah through the 18th century great Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio. Nothing encouraged that great scholar to embark on the Jihad more than education. It should be remembered that both Usman Dan Fodio and his son (Muhammad Bello) made such complex linguistic, theological, scientific and legal studies that the one had 93 books to his credit while the other had 97.

     

    Intellectual encounter

    It is also on record that Hugh Clapper-ton, a British colonial agent, once had an interesting intellectual encounter with Sultan Muhammad Bello, in 1824. After the encounter, Clapper-ton had to admit thus: “He (Muhammad Bello) continued to ask me several other theological questions, until I was obliged to confess myself not sufficiently versed in religious subtleties to resolve these knotty points”.

    And when Clapper-ton returned to Sokoto two years later (1826) and presented Bello with a complete copy of Arabic Euclid he was shocked to learn that his host already possessed one. (Euclid is an ancient geometry book of 13 volumes named after its Greek originator).

     

    Literacy in Nigeria

    When the Europeans first came to this territory in the 16th century the north was the only part of what is now called Nigeria that was literate. And that was because Islam had reached that part of the country since the 11th century with its Arabic literacy. The English colonialists confirmed this on their arrival in Nigeria in the 19th century. And that was why they were much more cautious in their dealings with the northerners than they were with the southerners.

    That the colonialists did not retain Arabic literacy in the north was due to the fact that they did not understand that language and could not communicate with it. If they had not ignored Arabic literacy, the north would not have been perceived as backward literarily today by the south. At least by 1919 when the south was just beginning to embrace literacy, the north already had about 25000 schools where students were taught various subjects in Arabic language.

     

    Education in Nigeria today

    Today, however, almost 70% of Nigerian Christians are conveniently lettered either in English which is the official language of Christianity in this country or in their vernacular languages through the Roman alphabets. That has enabled them to translate the Bible into over 20 Nigerian languages.

    But on the contrary, less than 10% of Nigerian Muslims can be said to be competently familiar with Arabic literacy. And without adequate literacy in Arabic language, there can be no thorough understanding of Islam which is the total way of life for any serious Muslim. Today, despite the age of Islam in Nigeria and the population of the Muslims, the Qur’an has just been translated into less than ten Nigerian languages. Even that was only possible because the initiators of those translations were well educated in the language of the Qur’an.

    Many Muslims who passed through the Qur’anic schools in Nigeria and claim to have graduated (through celebration of Walimah) end up being serious embarrassments to Islam.

     

    Problem of Qur’anic Schools

    The problem of Qur’anic schools in Nigeria is not just about faulty curriculum but also about primordial teaching methodology.

    In the Western conventional schools, children are not only first taught the language of learning, they are also encouraged to stay and learn in those schools even as friendly environments are created for them. They are encouraged to wear neat and attractive school uniforms. They are provided with toys and other play materials which can endear them to learning in those schools. The teachers do not only advise parents to feed their wards before coming to schools or give them food to eat in school but also encourage the pupils to maintain good hygiene while eating. Thus, the pupils always want to be in schools. And whatever they are taught becomes the gospel truth which no one else can easily alter in them. Most of those pupils grow up in life to become greater than their teachers because the foundation of their learning is very solid and formidable.

    This is not the case with Qur’anic schools which children of nowadays find abhorrent. Parents whose children attend both conventional and Qur’anic schools may ask those children to compare and contrast. If Muslim children could tolerate the inadequacies of the Qur’anic schools in the past it was simply because they had no alternative. The same cannot be said of now. That is why the population of children in Qur’anic schools has dwindled so tremendously.

     

    Role of Language in Education

    Language has a prima facie factor of any culture is a sine qua non in education. A culture not entrenched in a language is only bidding its time. Islam is a foremost culture with a foremost language. But with due apology, the attitude of some of you (Imams) and the clerics you appoint as custodians of the Qur’anic schools have virtually changed the colour and the taste of Islam as a culture in Nigeria. Rather than being an attractive place of learning, Qur’anic schools have been turned into scaring centres for our children. And only a very few of those children will willingly want to attend Qur’anic schools. The result is that no seriousness is attached to those schools in our society any longer. We all know the long term repercussion of this.

    Ironically, the method of teaching introduced in Nigeria by the colonialists was copied from the Muslims who standardized education in the world. The only addition made to that method by the Westerners is monetization of knowledge through emphasis on certification of education.

     

    Qur’anic Teaching Methodology

    It is rather inconceivable that the so-called Qur’anic teachers would cultivate a short cut to Islamic education by teaching the children from the peak. This is generally influenced by the pecuniary gain accruing to those clerics from Walimah.

    Qur’an is the epic literature in Arabic language. It is the encyclopedia of Islam. It is not meant for recitation alone. It is the final source of researches in all fields of learning for those who know its value. To be able to recite or use Qur’an for any research, one needs to understand the language in which it is written which is Arabic. No one can meaningfully read and comprehend the Encyclopedia Britannica without understanding English language.

    Perhaps the point needs to be made clear here that it is not compulsory that all Muslims should understand Arabic before they can recite the Qur’an. But anybody who wants to claim authority in Islamic knowledge must, of necessity, be able to read, write and comprehend Arabic language very well.

     

    Translation

    There can never be any true translation of a language to another language without sacrificing some elements of the originality of the mother language. This is where the error lies in the current methodology of teaching the Qur’an to Nigerian children by Nigerian clerics. Children’s brain is like a rock upon which a mark is made. Return to that rock many centuries later and you will still find the mark intact.

    In Islam, Qur’an is the Glass House in which the Muslims’ minds reside. The foundation of that house is Arabic language. Without understanding Arabic it is impossible to comprehend any literature written in Arabic, be it the Qur’an or Hadith. The best that can be achieved in such a circumstance is to memorize some parts of the Qur’an and base it understanding on hearsay or translated documents.

     

    Summary

    The summary here is that no education can be correctly imparted to any school child with the teaching of encyclopedia as a first course. As a matter of fact, a good teacher does not need to teach his or her pupils the contents of an encyclopedia. Just teach those pupils the language in which the encyclopedia is written and they will do the rest on their own at the appropriate time. That is what prompted the late Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory to establish the famous institute of Arabic and Islamic education (Agege) called MARKAZ in 1952. The indefatigable sage had also gone through the old system which he later found to be a cog in the wheel of Islamic education in Nigeria. He therefore traveled to Egypt for proper Islamic education and methodology of teaching despite his meager resources then. His intention was to pave way for millions of Nigerians and other Africans who might genuinely aspire to become Islamic scholars. Today, this columnist, being an alumnus of that great institute, is one of the beneficiaries of that blessed effort.  The full story of MARKAZ will be published in this column in the near future ‘in sha’A llah’.

     

    Review of Qur’anic education

    To endure in Nigeria, Qur’anic education will need a serious review by no other forum than yours (Nigerian Imams). The children attending Qur’anic schools must be made to see its value. The environment of learning must be made conducive for those children. The teachers in charge must be humane in conduct and in thought. The methodology of teaching must be made attractive to the learning pupils. Emphasis must be laid on language at the initial stage to enable the pupils know the meaning of what they are learning. Reading and writing assignments must be given to those pupils constantly. The idea of Walimah is not bad but it must be de-emphasized to reduce the impression that Qur’anic schools are mostly about Walimah for the benefit of Qur’anic teachers. Instead, premium must be placed on building total Muslims rather than just Qur’an readers.

     

    Memorisation of the Qur’an

    Memorization of the Qur’an is very laudable but knowing the meaning and the Islamic application of what is memorized should be giving priority. There must be close and lively interaction between the teachers and the pupils. A good arrangement must be made for teachers of Qur’anic schools to be reasonably remunerated. Periodic excursions to places of Islamic interest should be arranged for the pupils to boost their orientation and to expose them islamically. There should be inter-Qur’anic schools’ quiz competitions, debates and sports. Children of Qur’anic schools must look neat and decent in appearance.

    By the time all these measures are effectively taken the dwindling population of pupils in Qur’anic schools in Nigeria would have evidently become a part of history. And the fading interest in Qur’anic education would have been adequately rekindled. As for the Mosque affair which is the second leg of this letter, please watch out for it in this column in the near future God willing.

  • Ghanaian investors to explore Nigerian market

    Real estate investors from Ghana are set to test Nigerian real estate market. This is coming on the heels of the planned arrival of a delegation of over 15 Ghanaian real estate companies for the first-ever Ghana Property Show slated to hold in Nigeria on December 9, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Chief Executive Officer, Business Marketing and Joint venture Advocacy (BMJA) Service, Mr. Steve Ike, whose company is organising the event, said the delegation will showcase “an impressive array of Ghanaian housing stock.”

    Ike, who spoke at a briefing in Lagos,  stated that the Ghana Property Show in Nigeria has been designed as a unique platform to showcase and market top Ghana-based real estate investment opportunities to interested Nigerian investors and non-resident Ghanaians.

    “Nigerians and Ghanaians are known to share a great a deal of cultural, social and business relationship. For years, citizens of both countries have traded business and exchanged visits, so much so that many Nigerians have found a “second home” in Ghana and vice-versa. This property tradeshow has been long overdue and is now taking place due to overwhelming demand from the hundreds of Nigerian investors and non-resident Ghanaians, who are willing and waiting to invest in Ghanaian real estate,” he explained.

    According to the organisers, Ghana is one of the most attractive African property investment destinations for real estate investors. He listed the benefits of investing in Ghanaian real estate to include: a stable and rapidly growing economy, stable political climate; favourable foreign investment environment; low taxation regime; favourable returns on investment; a friendly people and environment; decent and improving basic infrastructures; remarkable ease of doing business; educated workforce and great food.

    The event, which will also be used to promote deeper and broader economic, cultural and commercial relations between Ghana and Nigeria, will feature general discussions about the Ghanaian investment climate, the real estate industry, as well as related information on the culture, education and sundry socio-economic factors.

    The array of property stock to be showcased at the event will include residential, commercial, retail, hotel/hospitality, and industrial properties. The  coverage area where these properties are located extends from Accra, the Ghana capital city, to Tema, Kumasi and other exciting locations. Already, over 1,000 investors have already been confirmed to attend the event, which would facilitate direct connections between participating companies and potential investors.

    At the event, guests can look forward to special and exclusive offers including immediate sign-up benefits, opportunity to arrange all-expensive paid trips to Ghana, and instant gifts.

  • Label to release four Nigerian acts in Ghana

    Label to release four Nigerian acts in Ghana

    Four Nigerian singers have been signed to Ghana-based Kingsnation Worldwide Music and are due to release release their maiden singles, according to owner of the record label, Nzekwesi Nonso.

    Nzekwesi, the CEO of Kingsnation Worldwide Music, who is popularly known as Fraser, said his desire to contribute to the entertainment industry informed his decision to “release the singles of four different artists at the same time, though on the same label.”

    The artistes are Joshua Ojo, a.k.a  Lomor Cute, a fuji pop artiste from Ondo State who holds an National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, Sylvester Chuwudi, a.k.a Kendi  Ross, a hip-hop act from Imo State, Peter Awe, a.k.a 2icy, a reggae dancehall act who also hails from Ondo State and Ifeanyi Chukwu a.k.a Drumlord, an afropop soul singer from Imo State who has a passion for drumming

  • Nigerian food crops loaded with deadly poisons

    When you read the little report below this introduction, you may become afraid of modern foods and meals because you probably now realise they are armouries of poisons which cause most, if not all, of today’s monstrous diseases…pain and premature death. You may find yourself at a cross-roads: if food, like air and water, is poisoning you every time you eat, and you cannot stop eating or improve the quality of the food available to you to eat, what can you do other than go on eating the food of the time, knowing, as you eat it, that you are consuming loads of poisons with it which, someday, may strike a deadly blow at your health, as it is striking at others all around you? Some of the things that can be done to reduce the risk of being poisoned and prematurely killed by the foods we eat are suggested in the second article in this column titled SOME NATURAL MEDICINES FOR POISONS IN FOOD.Those suggestions are just a few of the things that can be done, as regular readers of this column will readily recall. The first article, which gave rise to this subject, was originally written by Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, a Senior Fellow of the Center for Democracy and Development, and a Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES. The article was posted by Mr. Dotun Akintoye on the GOLDEN CROWN FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE chat group platform. I am a member of the co-operative. He is the President. The co-operative at present subscribes to the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers Project, the aim of which is to enlarge agricultural output and make food abundant and cheap. The ultimate goal of this co-operative is organic agriculture and food production, which is in direct opposition to today’s killer conventional agriculture which the post below exposes. Conventional agriculture tampers with Mother Nature’s Code of Life in the foods it tinkers with, to make them bigger, though not necessarily more nutritious, more resistant to disease and more yield per acre. Thus, you would find apples which can stay on the shelf for more than one year without becoming rotten, one major reason I stopped eating apples a long time ago. Thus, you would find chicken wings and turkey parts massively imported into Nigeria. More than 10years ago, I stopped eating them as well. Chickens and turkeys are injected with drugs which are often meant to be discontinued at least 14 days before slaughter. But, to beat market deadlines, this safety protocol is often unheeded. Fish are now killed with dangerous chemicals. I stopped eating cucumbers when I learned from a Nigerian cucumber farmer in Ogun State of Nigeria that we, too, heavily douse cucumber farms with pesticides. I gave up in banana as night cap snack for potassium and some sugar when carbide-ripened bananas almost killed me three times…thanks to the availability of Diatom and Activated Charcoal. Well, I cannot run from the world. Nigeria is still better in terms of these matters than many countries in Europe and America. In a short while, I will tell you about how I managed to get by. Meanwhile read Prof. Ibrahim’s article…

     

    Eat and Quench: Let’s Listen To What Our Food Is Telling US

    By Jibrin Ibrahim Premium Times, 6/10/ 2017

     

    “Our food is normally composed of a lot of dirt; poison, dangerous chemicals, GMOs, and we are all rapidly eating ourselves to death. The easiest way of demonstrating this is to refer to research by the European Union on what they found in the food we sent them to eat. They discovered that the items from Nigeria contained glass fragments, rodent excreta and dead insects. They also found high levels of chemicals like dichlorvos, diometrate and trichlorphon in the products.

    “Some of these chemicals were used in the planting process; others were used in preservation. The poisonous chemicals did not serve their purpose because microbes such as salmonella, aflatoxins and mould had contaminated the food.

    “Nigeria does not meet basic standards of food hygiene in the planting, growing, preservation and transportation of its food. I remember the shock of a Kenyan colleague who saw meat being carried in the open boot of a rusted taxi and shortly after a man behind a motorcycle carrying the leg of a cow on his head without any covering.

    “He asked me if we have any organisation that set and monitor standards and I confirmed that we had but as always, they do not do the work they are paid to do.

    “It was not surprising that the EU was categorical in its decision in 2015 and 2016 to formally declare that the 42 food items exported from Nigeria were not fit for human consumption. It might well be that the exporters had actually chosen the best from our markets to export to Europe and the reality is that our best is not good enough for human consumption.

    “The items included beans, melon seeds, palm oil, bitter leaf, pumpkin, shelled groundnut and live snails. In other words, the things we eat everyday that we were trying to sell to our compatriots in Europe. Had they passed the sanitation test, then issues of not having labels, improper packaging, lack of health certificates and other entry documents would have arisen?

    “After the incident, Audu Ogbeh, the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, warned that Nigerians might be killing themselves in installments through the food that they eat.

    “Ogbeh listed several of such poisonous foods, including moin-moin (bean cake) wrapped with cellophane (nylon) and cooked in a manner that transfers dangerous chemicals are released into the beans.

    “Another dangerous habit of millions of us is consuming sachet water that has been exposed to the sun at over 30 degrees Celsius to multiply the number of liver and kidney failures in our society.

    “Currently, there is panic in informed circles that the massive quantities of tilapia fish and frozen chicken consumed in Nigeria have been preserved with chemicals normally used for embalming dead bodies and that’s why they never go bad.

    “Not only are we all accelerating our movement to our deaths, we are already embalming our bodies before time. Talking of meat that never goes bad, I have always wondered what xxx (name of product concealed by this column), which we are told is a sausage is made of. Every other type of sausage I know of goes bad after some time but not xxx.

    “This week, the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) revealed that Nigerian peasant farmers spend $400 million annually on the purchase of pesticides. They say that we use them in an improper manner and millions of Nigerians are falling sick due to pesticide poisoning.

    “This information is from the executive director of the institute, Professor Olufemi Peters. He lamented that rather than continue to kill ourselves with these chemicals, there are cheaper and healthier forms of storage such as the inert atmosphere silos for grain storage. Sadly, public health was one of the first victims of the collapse of governance in the country.

    “One of the most serious threats to public health in the country is the grand entry and dangerous plot to takeover our agriculture by Monsanto, the chemical company that produces genetically modified organisms (GMO) and calls their dangerous products food.

    “The Nigerian government has given approval for GMOs to be grown on our land. The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) into which Monsanto has been pumping dollars has become the advocacy agency for promoting their GMOs and chemicals. Our own governmental institutions are mortgaging our future.

    “The first major Monsanto project in Nigeria is to grow glyphosate infused maize. Recent studies have linked glyphosate to health effects such as degeneration of the liver and kidney, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is unfortunate that Bill Gates with his America First mentality is sponsoring Monsanto’s Water Efficient Maize for Africa, a five-year development project led by the Kenyan-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation, which aims to develop a variety of drought-tolerant maize seeds.

    “Why will he not invest in the Institute of Agricultural Research project in Ahmadu Bello University that is developing draught resistant maize that does not have the dangers of what Monsanto is doing? My fear now is that Aliko Dangote who is planning to invest billions of dollars into Nigerian agricultural production is now sucked into this Monsanto project. There are reports that some of the food aid being currently imported into Nigeria is GMO.

    “As a first step, the ministers of Agriculture and the Environment should call the National Biosafety Management Agency to order and make them withdraw the authorisation issued for the production of GMO crops. Given our fragile ecosystems and stressed environment, we must take our biosafety seriously and avoid the path of introducing crops that are dangerous to the health of our people and our environment.

    “Nineteen European countries that care about the health of their people have completely banned genetically modified crops. Even the Russian State Duma recently passed a bill banning all import and production of genetically modified organisms in the country. We must not allow Nigeria to be turned into a dumping ground for what sensible countries have rejected.

    “Sincere scientists have shown evidence that Monsanto’s crops are genetically enhanced to tolerate the use of the herbicide glyphosate which was declared as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

    “Everyday, more and more Nigerians are falling sick and dying and as we weep for them, we often wonder why so many young people are going. Maybe the question we should be posing is how come some Nigerians are still alive given the intense and systematic way we are poisoning ourselves.

    “——A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.”

     

    Some natural medicines for poisons in food

    When I was a boy, I hated a meal of beans. It was not for the same reasons as our children do today. Many children of today who hate to eat beans agree to if the meal is garnished with, say, beef, chicken, fish, plantain or those things which gladden the pallet better than just beans in the plate. My aversion for beans arose from those tiny, whitish objects which appeared in the plate and looked like maggots. Who would like to see, let alone eat, maggots in a bowl of food? Apparently, those “maggots” were weavils eating up the beans. Nowadays, those insects are no longer seen in the beans we eat because the grains are preserved with chemicals dangerous to insect and even human life. That is why we often hear reports of people dying after a meal of beans. Apparently, the chemical preservatives were not expired from the beans before the grains were cooked and eaten.

    What we observe in beans occurs in practically every food crop or/and even processed foods and drinks. Only recently, there was a legal uproar about some of the products of Nigerian Bottling Company which were rejected, seized and destroyed in the United Kingdom (U.K.) because they contained higher levels of the preservative Sodium Benzoate than is permitted for the safety of health in European Union (EU) countries.

    When we look left, right, center up and below, as it were, we find there is nowhere to hide, as we are now immersed in an ocean of poisons from food, air, water and even our emotional responses to every-day friction from living experiences. And this has led many health seekers and researchers to the conclusion that, we’d be entombed in these poisons and die prematurely and gruesomely unless we fight back. At present, there are two major ways of fighting back. The first is to abandon these deadly foods and eat organic, that is naturally grown foods, in their places. But organic foods are scarce and expensive, where available. Besides, there is a lot of deceit in the market place where drugged foods are passed on as organic foods. The second way of fighting back, even where one cannot obtain or afford real organic foods is by aiding the body’s organs of elimination to expel these poisons, and by protecting these organs against these toxins. It is from these endeavours that the following ideas have emerged…

    1. Detoxification
    2. Antioxidation
    3. Mineralisation
    4. Oxygenation
    5. Immune boosting

    Detoxification

    This is a broad field that cannot be exhausted here. It may involve high colonic irrigation with coffee (not edible coffee) enemas or other detox herbs. Largely, I always target the liver, the gastro-intestinal tract, the kidneys and the Urogenital system, the respiratory system and the skin. These are the major organs Mother Nature provides the body for the elimination of wastes and poisons. We must support their work thankfully with helpful herbs and foods, and protect them as well. The liver is the apparent commander-in-chief of the detoxification process. One of the well known detoxifiers of the liver is Dandelion. Its bright yellow flowers provide antioxidants and flavonoids. The exert diuretic action on the kidneys but, unlike pharmaceutical diuretics, do not leach potassium from the blood and create heart and other problems. They are rich in Vitamin A, B, C and Zinc. Dandelion root supports bile production in the liver, which helps the transport of toxins out of the body. In the course of its work of eliminating toxins from the blood, a chemical substance known as Acetaminophen causes oxidative stress in the liver. Many studies have reported that the antioxidants found in Dandelion root, Jerusalem artichoke, Turmeric and Rosemary help this condition. The University of Windsor, Canada, in 2011 experimented with Dandelion root extract on skin cancer cells and found that, within 48hours, it began to kill the cells. Another study in Oncotarget was reported to kill about 95 percent of colon cancer cells in 48 hours. Favourable reports are mentioned, also, in respect of Pancreatic breast, prostate cancers and leukemia. The anti-cancer activity is linked to its antioxidant potential. The leaves of Dandelion support vision health because of its high Vitamin A content.

    Another herb good for detoxification is Red clover. It supports toxin break-down in the lymphatic system, the lungs, the blood, the liver and the skin through its diaphoretic (sweat inducing) action. It helps to prevent inflammation in the liver and to help the liver from becoming a fatty liver which cannot process fats because it cannot produce enough bile salts to do the job.

    I often suggest Burdock root as a liver and blood purifier because it has been used for these purpose and more for thousands of years. It is diaphoretic and diuretic as well. With more toxins leaving the body through the skin and the urinary system, the workload of the liver, which is also helped by Burdock root, reduces to such a point that enables this organ to not only become more efficient but to also heal itself as well.

    There are other great liver herbs such as Milk thistle, Carqueja, Yellow dock, Chanka piedra, Greater celedine, Garlic, Beet root et.c, Grape seed extract, Pawpaw (papaya) leaf juice.

    Antioxidation

    Free radicals damage cells. Antioxidants wage wars against them and knocks them out, leaving the cells free of molestation. Practically all the herbs and supplements mentioned in this column have one antioxidant potential or the other. The list is endless…Orange peel, Pawpaw leaf juice or Pawpaw seeds, Spirulina, Kale, Wheatgrass, Chlorella and Cilantro, among others. Chlorella and Cilantro, a great herb the Yorubas call efo ebolo (r:d:d) chelate (drag) heavy metals out of the body. Cilantro is a great kidney herb which doubles in other systemic functions as well. We cannot forget Stinging Nettle, that great detoxifier, antioxidant and nutritive herb.

    Mineralisation

    Poisons in foods make the blood acidic. Acidic blood and tissue make the internal environment inhospitable for the cells, the immune cells and organs inclusive. Green herbs mentioned above bring minerals into the body to neutralize acid. These herbs also introduce oxygen. Germs hate alkaline and oxygenated environment, both of which are liked by the immune system. So, when we aid the organs of waste and poison elimination, when we protect them as well, when we alkalinise and oxygenate the system, thereby empowering the immune system to defend and protect the body, we can overcome the dangers in which we stand in the ocean of poisons in which we live today. People who face prostate gland challenges should clean up with pawpaw leaf powder tea, Stinging Nettle root tea, Cilantro tea and Willow herb tea. Heart conditions need Hawthorn berries tea. The digestive system will run well, for example, on Red Kidney Bean pod powder tea. The list is endless.

  • Funding Nigerian, German businesses with $2b trade lines

    Funding Nigerian, German businesses with $2b trade lines

    Access Bank Plc is ready to boost trade relations between Nigeria and Germany. To achieve this, the Tier-1 lender is collaborating with DEG – Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK Nigeria) to make over $2 billion trade lines available to small enterprises that will drive trade volumes between both countries. The German Business Desk Nigeria –Financial Support and Solutions, opened in Lagos in October which will operate in partnership with Access Bank will at the centre of the ongoing business integration and partnership. COLLINS NWEZE who covered the event, reports.

    journey by air from Nigeria to Germany will last for over seven hours non-stop. The two countries are determined to bridge this long-distance by building formidable trade relations to stimulate both economies and create wealth for their people.

    At the centre of this partnership is Access Bank Plc, which has collaborated with DEG – Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK Nigeria) to deepen trade relations between Nigeria and Germany.

    The initiative is borne out of the partnership between Access Bank and DEG to support German business and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. It is supported by Executive Management in DEG and Access Bank Plc.

    The German Business Desk Nigeria –Financial Support and Solutions was opened last month in Lagos to drive the new trade relations. The desk was created to facilitate financial advisory and support services make $2 billion correspondent trade line support available to German and Nigerian SMEs.

    Speaking at the event, Access Bank Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe, said that Nigeria remains a big market with enterprising people. He said the bank is at peace with credible partnership and determined to alter the narrative about German-Nigeria trade.

    He said that Access Bank will be providing tailor-made financial solutions for German exporters and Nigerian importers. The lender is expected to translate and balance commercial and financial supply and demand. It will also provide specialised financial packages to facilitate trade.

    Wigwe said that trade financing is just one part of the project, adding that the bank will in partnership with the stakeholders support Nigerian businesses. “The relationship between countries starts with relationship between individuals. It will translate to greater relationship between Nigeria and Germany. Nigeria will benefit especially since we are just coming out of recession. Growth and economic opportunities do not happen by chance, but by strategic partnership,” he said. He said the partnership will help support German firms that want to do business in Nigeria.

    Wigwe said: “At Access Bank, we are constantly searching for innovative ways to provide solutions to meet our customers’ needs. This collaboration with a first rate partner like DEG – Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft leveraging on their global investment footprint and our local industry expertise in setting up a German Desk is the first of such initiatives in the country.

    “This desk which will be bi-lingual will provide customised long term and cost effective financial solutions to our clients available to conduct business with German corporates.”

    Also speaking, the bank’s Group Deputy Managing Director, Roosevelt Ogbonna, said Access Bank Plc, with N480 billion shareholders’ fund is the third largest bank in Nigeria. He said the bank currently has eight million customers and 385 branches, which has remained a critical milestone in getting the lender great rating by Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors, S&P and Agusto & Co. He said Access Bank of Nigeria is determined to be number one bank in Nigeria in the next five years.

    Ogbonna disclosed that out of more than $10 billion in German investments on the African continent each year, 90 per cent is with just three countries – South Africa, Nigeria and Algeria.

    “Nigeria is Germany’s second most important trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa). The volume of bilateral trade between Germany was about 5.4 billion Euros in 2014 and 2.9 billion Euros in 2015. This has provided increased benefits to the Nigerian economy in terms of job creation, revenue generation, growth in Gross Domestic Product, technical and management capacity development and cutting-edge technology,” he said.

    He noted the “German Desk – Financial Support and Solutions” will benefit from the support of the German Consulate in Lagos.

    Ogbonna said that the partnership will also help to boost Nigeria’s perception by German companies. “We want to improve image and fast tract trade relations between Nigeria and Germany. There will be market entry-support for German companies,” he stated.

     

    The German Business Desk Nigeria

    Senior Banking Advisor, German Desk, Daniela Grunert said the German Desk will provide financial services, such as setting up accounts, providing short to medium-term credit lines, services for financing trade and transaction banking.

    This also includes financing solutions for local companies wishing to acquire German equipment or services, because German companies often start establishing business ties with local companies via their export business before they invest in emerging markets such as Nigeria. To do so, they need to obtain suitable financing solutions for their local clients.

    Grunert is not only fluent in German and English but is experienced in working with banks and German companies. She is a networker: contact to Nigerian and German business community and fully knows both cultures.

    She said the desk will help facilitate engagement with Nigerian businesses, German owned enterprises on trade opportunities and also create customised solution unique to each business needs.

    “Jointly with our customer Access Bank DEG wishes to support German companies and their trading partners. Within the scope of the “German Desk – Financial Support and Solutions” we offer innovative financing solutions tailored to the needs of German companies and their local partners. They can get information about financial services from a single source and make direct use of the partners’ network on location,” said Bruno Wenn, chairman of DEG’s Management Board.

    According to the representative of AHK Nigeria, Marc Lucassen, the German Desk would help to fill the gap that has been in existence in the Nigerian-German business relations.

    “We are very much in favour of this landmark partnership which provides the required solutions to recent demand for additional financial support mechanism for the Nigerian-German business relations. Our role is to connect the Nigerian-German business partners to the German desk in Access Bank in terms of financial solutions.”

    The German “AHK” and delegation network is the international backbone of Germany‘s economy. DEG has close partnerships with more than 200 financial institutions worldwide: are specialists in their local markets with a strong focus on the SME sector. Access Bank has a close relationship with  local businesses and can provide customised financial solutions.

    Key Focus will be expanding the opportunity for Trade Volume growth and collaboration between German and Nigerian SMEs. German Desk shall facilitate financing of German Companies via long-term cost effective finance for German affiliated business. German Desk shall provide an agency relationship between DEG and German clients.

    The firm offers financial solutions such as structured trade; project and structured finance among others. Global Footprint and extensive presence across all trade centres in Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, UAE and United Kingdom that enable us provide solutions to our clients.

    In-depth Experience, robust balance sheet and full spectrum of financial products in consummating deals promptly. We are the industry’s leading Treasury house, trading the largest volumes across all Treasury product offerings.

    Director German Corporates, The German Desk Initiative, Klaus Helsper, said customers are offered appropriate long-term financing. “We provide individual advice in order to shape investments and businesses more professionally, efficiently and sustainably. With our promotional programmes we co-finance feasibility studies, pilot projects and various Business Support Services,” he said.

    He said the team will develop financing solutions for infrastructure projects that are viable for the long term and can be flexibly structured. “We arrange large volumes and involve additional investors. Project developers benefit from in-depth advisory services based on our extensive sector and industry know-how.  We have an extensive network in emerging and developing countries,” he said.

    Continuing, he said that as an anchor investor, DEG is there right from the start, to strengthen the capital base and mobilise further investors. “We are an experienced and well networked partner. We provide advice based on our funds and structuring expertise and our comprehensive country and regional know-how. We provide long-term support even during challenging phases. Banks receive financing as needed. We have in-depth knowledge on the financial sector. Banks benefit from our advisory programme on sustainable ways of expanding their SME business. By means of our Business Support Services, we provide assistance with risk or liquidity management, or with implementation of environmental and social management systems,” he said.

    He disclosed that for 55 years, DEG has been providing German corporates with reliable support, advice and financing for the entire duration of their involvement abroad. ‘’We offer country and industry know-how, along with market experience and essential contacts on the ground. Our customers benefit from promotional programmes designed for feasibility studies or pilot projects. With our “German Desks” in selected countries, we offer German companies and their trading partners a one-stop service at local banks.

    “Successful private enterprises are key drivers of economic development. Markets, enterprises and the local population benefit from DEG’s work. Many of the co-financed enterprises take on social responsibility by, for instance, paying above-average wages, offering pensions or health insurance and operating health centres, nurseries and schools,” he stated.

     

    Nigeria/German trade relations deepened

    Nigeria is a hub for West Africa and the economic powerhouse in the region. Bilateral Nigerian-German trade volumes exceed $2.9 billion (2015). Main exports from Germany to Nigeria include high quality machinery and automotive parts. Intelligent trade finance solution could strongly foster the bilateral trade.

    The German Desk can rely on three strategic partners with a strong footprint in Nigeria: Access Bank offering a wide range of financial products and services, AHK being the first point of contact for German companies entering the market & DEG in the region since 2008.

    As part of the cooperation, DEG puts its network at the disposal of the respective local partner bank and, where necessary, provides it with additional long-term capital, allowing them to offer financing for local customers of German companies. Neighbouring markets are also to be covered with the partner banks’ networks.

    The desk will help in building up a strong portfolio and provide quality customer service. It will also be spreading the word in Germany with local business associations, political representatives and potential customers.

  • Aboliki balm : Nigerian brand gone global

    A hot balm being hawked on the streets, Aboliki Balm, has never appeared on any advert. The product is an awesome representation of what a brand should be. It thrives on consumer experience and a wide distribution network. The product is used to temporarily relieve minor pains. It is also used for the relief of flu. The brand has been awarded by European Society for Quality Research, Institute For Government & Leadership Technology, West African Direct Marketing Award, and West African Corporate Achievement Award.

    The ointment is manufactured and distributed  by J. C. Udeozor Global industries Ltd. The company’s head office is in Iduowinna, Edo State and it has an international office in Nottingham, United Kingdom. With a unique service proposition of ensuring “healthy muscles”, combined with minimalist branding, the product is being sold in Europe, North America and some other parts of the world.

    A consumer based in Europe, Afrilaskan Jules, who got Aboliki Balm from Amazon, said: “It works wonders”. In his testimonial to the product, he said:”I put it on my feet at night to get rid of a cold and on my muscles when they are sore. It works so good”.

    But some users of the balm have also complained about the intense heat it generates on the skin.

    A user who gave his name simply as John said when the balm strayed into his a larceration on his skin,  he saw hell.

    1. C. Udeozor Global industries Ltd has demonstrated that a brand is just a great product; a product that meets the consumers’ needs and translates to a wonderful experience. The company has also metamorphosed into a corporate multinational with competence in marketing and distribution.

  • Nigerian media aides and the Tantalus plague (2)

    •Mutations of the journalist in the corridors of power

    A notable politician/public officer dismisses fear of backlash over his persistent rape and impregnation of minors. He brags to a friend in Diaspora, in his native dialect translatable thus: “The news is dead on delivery. I have top journalists at my beck and call.” He bragged that he has journalism’s shining lights on a leash of cash. As the mongrel dares extremities for a gift of bone, so do his ‘boys’ in the media, he claimed.

    Predictably, the most senior media aide in the culprit’s pack of hounds spread the cash and killed news of his sex crimes.

    It is only fair that the aide watches helplessly as randy, power-drunk politicians rape his daughters and infect them with gonorrhea, like his principal’s underage victims; by Edumare’s retributive grace. It is only just that Edumare situates the fruit of his loins in similar circumstances, without the luxury of justice. That he might understand agonies of his principal’s victims and their families.

    The media aide is neither conflicted nor appalled. He says: “Na today e dey happen?” (It’s no oddity. It happens). A passion for truth and ethics could never spur him to imperil his job – which he considers a saving grace, his ‘out’ from bleak, thankless Journalism.

    The life of a journalist-turned-media-aide is a parody in which honour plays no part. Unlike other members of his principal’s court, he enjoys no prideful place. He sits on his haunch, like a dog on its paws outside its master’s court. Like the hound, he is forever waiting to lunge, with a kill-cry and bare fangs, at perceived ‘detractors’ of his principal, the dog owner.

    ‘Ki lo ma nse awon boys yii naa?’ (What’s wrong with these boys?), he drones irritably, whenever his former colleagues in the media, subject his principal to harsh scrutiny and objective criticism. He assures his principal – who could be the president, senate president, a state governor, legislative speaker or local government chairman – that the press can be bought over.

    Media aides wrongly assume every news editor, correspondent and  reporter to be manipulable by cash, a foreign trip, a gallon of vegetable oil, Christmas/Ileya ram or a bag of rice, items by which his conscience was sold and bought.

    Thus he gets a generous budget to silence the ‘boys’ and inspire them to ignore the ineptitude and corruption of his principal. Of the bribe allotment, the media aide siphons 70 per cent to his personal account, and splits the remainder among the ‘boys.’

    It never gets old to see the so-called ‘press boys’ scurry for residue of the bribe with dark delight. Rebels against the prevalent rot are daubed unfairly aggressive, biased, sanctimonious or driven by questionable animosity because they have been ‘left out.’

    There is a difference between ‘press boys’ and ‘Gentlemen of the Press.’ The press boy forever prowls, lobbying along the corridors of power in frantic quest to become media aide. A ‘Gentleman of the Press’ however, is a true ethical native. And he exists.

    He understands that the work of a media aide connotes the soul’s struggle against the body. Thus he rejects the role, knowing that as media aide, he would suffer the affliction of languid ethics, insatiable lusts and poisonous glamour, like a courtesan haunted in post-orgasmic flush, by relentless spasms of lust for riches and unearned pleasure. Like fabled Tantalus, his thirst is never quenched.

    Media aides get confused too. Mcenteer calls this condition occupational hazard for those who move from journalism into government, or vice versa. They experience confusion about the role and functions on their new jobs, likewise their colleagues and news audience, seeking information from or about them, their professionalism and evolving identities.

    Reuben Abati for instance, was a notable, venerated critic, celebrated at home and abroad. Yet he suffered irredeemable descent as justifier of ineptitude and political trifles as ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media Affairs (SAMA).

    Enter Femi Adesina, SAMA to President Muhammadu Buhari. Adesina’s performance as presidential media aide further diminishes the worth of the journalist in the corridors of power. Although his apologists within and outside media circuits justify his indiscretions claiming, “What’s he supposed to do? Would you quit if it were you?”

    Nobody is asking Adesina to quit. Yet it is instructive that a man who used to be a journalist of immense wisdom and worth, at least to those inspired by him, has been reduced to whatever he is currently.

    Adesina’s difficulties vary in character and severity but are classifiable as problems of ethics, irony, conflict, confusion and blur. What if he had vied for the presidency? This couldn’t be preposterous given his once luscious reputation as a thought moulder, manager of men and resources. Sadly, like his predecessors and several lesser aides, he manifested as glowing work of self-sculpture, until his descent into the labyrinth of power, as presidential statuette and every gadfly’s unfinished model.

    Similar ethical dilemma afflict journalists across the seas. Charles Royer suffered unpleasant, public, irony at his election to Seattle City Hall. Before he became American Mayor, Royer attained fame for his nightly 60 to 90-second political commentaries on KING-TV. In 1976, his half-hour documentary, “The Bucks Stop Here,” exposed improper use of special-interest money in the state legislature.

    The programme earned him two national journalism awards. When he became Mayor in 1977, Royer decided to share valuable information with his former press colleagues in off-the-record sessions. But TV crews wanted to bring their cameras into the meetings, against his wishes. Royer eventually showed up on TV and newspaper front pages, shoving TV cameras out. He will forever remember the headline with the photo: “TV Commentator turned Mayor shuts out TV.”

    Another poignant example is Edward R. Murrow, respected radio and TV journalist’s alleged bid to prevent the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  from airing “Harvest of Shame” soon after he became the head of United States Information Agency. It was one of Murrow’s final documentaries for the CBS network and it revealed the terrible living and working conditions of migrant farm laborers in Florida.

    His attempt however, failed, but leaked to the press thus embarrassing the novice bureaucrat. “Murrow, the government propaganda chief, had tried to censor Murrow, the muckraking journalist,” notes Mcenteer.

    Despite their shortcomings Royer and Murrow served in more ennobling circumstances. Not as glorified errand boys or attack hounds. It is the job of journalist turned media aides to pitilessly offer harsh but constructive criticisms from patriotic and envisaged media perspective, of their principals’ intended policies or actions before they are made public.

    If it is their principals’ wish to transform Nigeria, media aides should help them understand that in heaven, saints don’t become ‘God’ and an angel is nobody in particular.

  • Troops kill 11 Boko Haram insurgents, destroy IED factory in Borno

    Troops kill 11 Boko Haram insurgents, destroy IED factory in Borno

    The Nigerian Army on Wednesday said its troops had killed 11 Boko Haram insurgents and destroyed a bomb making factory at Ngala Local Government Area of Borno.

    Brig.-Gen. Sani Kukasheka, the Director, Army Public Rations said this in a statement in Maiduguri.

    Kukasheka said that the troops, in joint operations with the Air Force and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), on Tuesday attacked insurgents’ hideouts at Mogole, Ngaiwa, Tongule, and Warsele villages of Ngala Local Government Area of the state.

    He disclosed that the troops destroyed the insurgents’ logistics base and a workshop at Ngaiwa village and an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making factory at Tongul.

    The director further said 85 persons were rescued from the insurgents in the villages.

    Kukasheka said that the troops also recovered a gun truck; four suicide bomb vests, various IED making materials, three Dane guns.

    Others, he said were: one Barretta pistol, 22 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 5 motorcycles, 13 bicycles and a wheelbarrow.

    “Tuesday Oct. 24 will go down as one of the best in the outing of troops of 3 Battalion, 22 Brigade Nigerian Army of Operation LAFIYA DOLE in their daily clearance of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists, especially in northern parts of Borno.

    “The unit in conjunction with gallant 22 Mobile Strike Team accompanied by Civilian JTF, based on credible information carried out offensive operations at suspected Boko Haram terrorists hide outs at Mogola,” he said.

    Other areas where the soldiers carried out operations he said were Ngaiwa, Tongule and Warsele villages in Ngala Local Government Area of the state.

    “The operation which was supported by the Nigerian Air Force was very successful in achieving its objectives”.

    NAN

  • Nigerian media aides and the Tantalus plague (1)

    •Mutations of the journalist in the corridors of power

    Man loses wife and three kids to vehicle accident caused by bad road. Media aide justifies governor’s refusal to repair the road, claiming there were more pressing state projects. Aide scornfully dismisses uproar over the incident as negligible tirade of ‘the wailing wailers.’

    It is only fair that the aide suffers the loss of all his children and wife, in similar circumstances, that he might understand the misery of the bereaved father and husband.

    If presidential media aides disdainfully justify government indolence in curbing frequent murder of innocent rural families by northern herdsmen, it is only fair that such aides suffer inexplicable, brazen murder of their loved ones too. That they might understand the insane pain borne by victims of such killings.

    A governor cum phony progressive honours an African president with an obscene N520 million effigy, to the consternation of his impoverished electorate. His media aide justifies the juvenile enterprise even as the governor owes salaries and pensions. It is only fair that the aide experiences divinely imposed hunger and famine of the purse, that he might understand the agony of the state’s starving, elderly pensioners.

    If after experiencing such losses, media aides are able to smile, keep a stiff upper lip and unflinching belief in the ‘fairness, efficiency and honesty’ of their principals, Nigerians may begin to assimilate their illusory gospel of fortitude and hope.

    The contemporary media aide urges you to be happy irrespective of your plight. He advances to dissenters, the illusion of happiness, an attitude akin to David Cooperrider’s “Transformational Positivity.”

    Media aides urge oppressed electorate to embrace their pains and see the world anew, touting obscure and incomprehensible jargon about the power of positive thinking. ‘Nigeria is getting better,’ they urge the citizenry to believe.

    Their admonition would be edifying had they experienced same miseries as the citizenry they request such optimism of. Their smiley gospel of contrived bliss and resignation would be acceptable if they could mount the soapbox and preach so, soon after they lose loved ones to avoidable deaths caused by bad governance by the principals they represent.

    When the citizenry complain of perceived shortcomings of their principals, media aides liken expressed dissent to whimpers and cries of neutered enemies of the state. These days, they simply dub every critic, a ‘wailing wailer.’ For instance, if you criticize the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, you must be one of the greedy beneficiaries of immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan’s corrupt regime.

    If you complain of deaths on the nation’s bad roads, hospital corridors of death, substandard schools, corrupt, overzealous government agency officials , they tell you that Nigeria can’t achieve a sudden resurrection from devastation and sleaze foisted upon her by previous regimes.

    There is no gainsaying that Nigeria currently experiences pangs of a healing process, which requires patience and commitment to the course of positive ‘change.’ It is an open secret however, that the process of rebirth is constantly hobbled by leadership and nemeses enslaved to hubris, nepotism, greed and a god complex.

    The incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) government expects to be cuddled and patronised while its chieftains and elected officers foists on Nigeria, grotesque governance akin to that imposed on the country by immediate past leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    No doubt, bad roads and deadly waterways, substandard education and healthcare, depressive economy and unemployment , insecurity and untimely death, still constitute the greatest assault on the populace by the ruling class.

    The citizenry’s deadliest  aggressor, however, are journalists turned media aides in the corridors of power. They are like Spenser’s genitally deformed Duessa to the ruling class’ misshapen phallus.

    From the presidential villa and state houses, to lower public service ministries, journalists mutate into modern versions of the whore of Babylon. Like Spenser’s Acrasia, Phaedria, Malecasta, Duessa and Hellenore, they foster the triumph of predatory government over a critical press. While a shrewd few struggle to stay upright and true, a greater number play whore to the ruling class.

    It is instructive to note however, that the Nigerian media aide nurtures variants of lesser aides or attack dogs within and outside his office. While he licks the boot of his principal, his minions jostle for crumbs from his ‘operating budget’ or the largesse he gets from his employer.

    Mongrels to the media aide often function further down the pecking order; they are the thugs and trolls of the traditional and new media. They issue caustic retorts to critics and perceived detractors of the media aide and his principal. A critique of a presidential media aide’s disgraceful sycophancy for instance, attracted sharp retort from one of his thugs.

    Manipulative and exploitative, media aides tirelessly seek to validate humiliation, poverty, pestilence and death foisted upon mostly poor, underprivileged citizenry by their principals.

    But unlike majority of Nigeria’s impoverished who are driven by hunger, tokenism and base sentimentality to justify the callousness of their elected representatives, these ‘Yes-men’ aren’t conditioned so by severe bouts of hunger or affliction by Stockholm Syndrome.

    They are in perfect control of their desires and aspiration to be ‘turned’ and dominated by predatory principals. They are eager to serve and devote their lives to the celebration of evil, in whatever guise, as long as it translates to currency deposits in their bank accounts.

    They are greatly efficient in closed, womblike spaces; the TV studio, compact halls, the boardroom, and State House press halls. These replace the medieval spaces in the bedchamber, groves and caves like the leafy grotto of Homer’s Calypso, where their medieval archetype is captured, seduced, sodomized and infantilized.

    Thus Nigeria’s major affliction besides the archetypal rogue, corrupt journalist includes, Special Advisers on Media Affairs, some State Commissioners for Information, Chief Press Secretaries and Special Assistant on Media Affairs. These ‘Yes-men’ conduct themselves like political Labradors, constantly undergoing psychological entrancement, thus turning their linearity of quest into a Tantalus problem.

    Tantalus, the eternally hungry king in Greek mythology, was condemned to stand in water under a fruit tree. Whenever he tried to drink or eat, the water or fruit receded beyond his reach. Such is the predicament of the media aide. Like his principal, he is ravenous for unearned riches and other vulgar perks. Thus his insatiable appetite for the spoils of office, irrespective of his position at the root of the totem pole.

    Media aides should be pitied. They bring no honour to their work. They are mere errand boys hence their inability to speak truth to power. Before their descent and domestication like yard dogs, some of them struggled to personify the country’s finest press men, critics and leaders of thought. Today, they serve in mortifying circumstances, in capacities unbecoming of patriot-journalists and critics.