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Tag: Nigerian

  • Jona e don come again

    Jona e don come again

    Here lies our mutton-loving king,
    Whose word no man relies on,
    Who never said a foolish thing,
    And never did a wise one – John Wilmot (1647-1680), Earl of Rochester, on Charles II (1630-1685)

    Jona e don come again – what does that remind you of? Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and his immortal number, Fela e don come again? Fela, that with his stinging lyrics and brash irreverence whipped wayward Nigerian leaders, military and civilian, into line?

    And who does the Wilmot quote above, on King Charles II of England, remind you of? Change “mutton-loving” to “cassava bread-gobbling”, and you would probably see Charles II leap into 21st century Aso Rock; and our own Goodluck Jonathan dive into 17th century Court of Saint James!

    There are differences in specifics, of course. While Charles II loved his mutton and Goodluck Jonathan loves his cassava bread, the jury is still out on whether or not, like Charles II, no one ever relies on Jonathan’s word, whether Jonathan never said a foolish thing or ever did a wise one – since his first term is still counting; and he is busy, very busy, ogling a second!

    What is without controversy, however, is that like Wilmot’s rather unflattering impression of Charles II (who should have been wiser, for his father Charles I – 1600-1649 – was executed by the Oliver Cromwell mob), Nigerians are nervy about the their president’s lack of verbal rigour, since they hold their breath anytime the president speaks extempore – and he never disappoints by the seeming sheer shallowness of his thinking; and the seeming eternal grudge in his psyche!

    It is true: Ibrahim Babaginda peppered us with subversive slipperiness, Sani Abacha sapped us with Stone Age starkness, Olusegun Obasanjo bombed us with empty superiority complex, and Umaru Musa Yar’adua (Allah rest his soul!) teased us with health-challenged taciturnity.

    Might Goodluck Jonathan be adding a lack of gravitas and executive inferiority complex to the mix? That brings to the fore the president’s latest gaffe, during his surprise visit to the Police College, in Ikeja, Lagos.

    Now, without reference to the merit or demerit of the president’s points, that outburst followed a disturbing pattern, which always sends many a concerned Nigerian reeling.

    As a dutiful president, highly paid and generously maintained by the citizens, his job was to go there, after the Channels TV expose, to find out the level of the rot and fix it.

    But alas! The president, from his comment, was sadder at the PR disaster the decaying Police College was giving his government than at the scandalous decay of Nigeria Police’s premier training college! How can a president justify his keep with such grudge reasoning?

    O yes: a committee has been set up to probe the rot and make recommendations and all that “Jonathanistic” predictable! But by that tragic Freudian slip, of a president fishing for motive when the reality of the situation was sobering enough, most would continue to doubt the appropriateness of Jonathan’s temper for leadership; and even his competence to analyse problems and solve them.

    So, Jonathan is more interested in smashing his self-conceived agent provocateurs who allowed “penetration” into the sorry college than he is in fixing the mess. Now, what sort of self-misguided president is that?

    But that was not the first time President Jonathan would evince such abhorrent traces. In January 2012, after the “fuel subsidy” removal ill-advised by his Breton-Woods radicals, bent on making Nigeria the eternal peon of their Western metropolitan masters, Goodluck Jonathan fumed without end on how his enemies sponsored the protests; and how these presidential traducers provided Lagos protesters with choice victuals and bottled water; that even his own presidential villagers of Otuoke could not afford!

    To start with, such un-presidential whining was absolutely uncalled for – both as private riposte and public presidential counter. In a democracy, the legitimate job of the opposition is to paint government black to ease its own way to power, just as the government, if it falls into opposition, is perfectly entitled to same tactics, to claw its way back from power wilderness.

    But the disturbing pattern then – as now in the Police College case – was that the president would blame people protesting a heinous policy rather than rebuke himself that pushed that policy. As it has turned out, the so-called “subsidy” was partisan election gravy which Jonathan wanted Nigerians to, willy-nilly, pay back. What if those protests had not partially checkmated that unconscionable plot!

    To compound the Jonathan presidential tragedy, he has surrounded himself with “elders” pushing his cause who nevertheless are no more than juveniles – and wilful, misguided ones at that!

    The other day, Elder Godsday Orubebe, minister of Niger Delta affairs, pounced on Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi, for no crime than a rumoured aspiration for presidential ticket 2015; and for not “respecting” the president – as if Jonathan were a god to be worshipped willy-nilly and not a republican chief public servant to be judged, rewarded or punished strictly by the worth of his work.

    Then on January 24, Edwin Kiagbodo-Clark, Ijaw nationalist, took up the president’s case, descending on the PDP Governors’ Forum for not bowing and trembling before his protégé; and former President Olusegun Obasanjo for subverting the PDP party order.

    To be sure, Clark’s attack on Obasanjo is not unjustified, for Obasanjo really ruptured the PDP hierarchy by amassing both presidential and party powers. But is Pa Clark piqued because Obasanjo grabbed power or because Jonathan has the governors to contend with, in his own sorry attempt to repeat Obasanjo’s power-grab rascality?

    Pa Clark, with all due respect to him, speaks like one without a sense of history. As a younger man, he served under the young Gen. Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975). Sure, Gowon back then, had his own share of gaffes, like the claim that Nigeria’s problem was not money but how to spend it.

    Still, Gowon boasted no doctorate when he ruled (though he earned one later); and was far more callow than Jonathan. But was Gowon a tell-tale of fumbling, and lack of rigour and wisdom like Jonathan, with his PhD, now? Yet, Clark would bad-mouth anyone saying Jonathan is unfit for second term, as his disastrous first-term record is clearly showing – just as he libelled anybody that opposed Jonathan’s presidential bid in 2011.

    Well, there is news for Pa Clark and his protégé. A time was, when some power brokers thought you just needed a stamp of the North, no matter how defective you were, and you were as good as president. That prompted the disastrous Bashir Tofa-Sylvester Ugoh 1993 presidential ticket.

    Now, Clark and co think if only Jonathan can muscle the PDP nomination (like Obasanjo before him), his presidential encore is assured. Let Pa Clark, and his ilk, dream on. Someone needs to be sacrificed, anyway, to clear the illusion that only the worst is good enough as president for Nigeria.

    Jonathan, with his utterly uninspiring present term and clearly illogical fixation with a fresh term, has done enough to earn that electoral disgrace.

     

  • As Nigerian troops deploy in Mali

    As Nigerian troops deploy in Mali

    There is a saying in Yoruba that if your neighbour is feeding on house rat and you fail to warn him, by the time he begins to cough at night you will not be able to sleep. Since the fall of the Moammer Ghadafi regime in Libya about two years ago the rest of North Africa has not been able to sleep due largely to the terrorist activities of armed supporters of the late dictator displaced by the Libyan revolution.

    Working in concert with other terrorist groups aligned with al Qeada in the Maghreb region, the ex Ghadafi boys trained by the slain dictator are all over North Africa causing havoc and are beginning to show their hands in West Africa.

    For the over three decades that Colonel Ghadafi was in charge in Libya he harboured and trained terrorists from other African countries who later returned home to destabilize their countries. Remember Charles Taylor and his NPFL rebels in Liberia including Yommie Johnson’s? They were all trained by Ghadafi in Libya and funded by him to cause the civil war that later engulfed the West African country. The Sierra Leonean civil war and the general instability in the Mano River region including Guinea and to some extent Cote D’Ivoire could all be traced back to Ghadafi and his band of terrorists. The Chadian civil war in the 80s had its roots in Libya.

    Throughout his stay in the Presidential Villa in Tripoli, Ghadafi was never at peace with his Arab neighbours as well as he was once accused of sponsoring an assassination attempt on late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia at one Arab League summit. Yet with all his terrorist tendencies and destabilization activities in the continent and beyond well known, nobody in the defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU) did call him to order. Citing a provision in OAU’s charter that forbids member States from interfering in the internal affairs of another member country, African leaders looked the other way as Ghadafi was causing trouble all over the place even when his activities amounted to interference in those countries he was destabilizing.

    Shortly after his fall these band of terrorists spread across North Africa and some, especially the Touaregs of West Africa moved back into the region with all their arms and ammunitions and West Africa has known no peace ever since. After unsuccessful attempts at having a foot hold in Mauritania, these terrorists took a large chunk of Mali, especially the north, last year and were beginning to spread to the south on their way to overthrowing the government in Bamako when French forces intervened and drove them back.

    France, acting under a United Nations resolution last week sent Special Forces and fighter jets to Mali to confront the rebels and their al-Qeada allies pending the arrival of a West African force to be led by Nigeria’s Major General Shehu Usman Abdulkadir. The Nigerian led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) will draw troops and equipments largely from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin Republic.

    Last week the Nigerian senate approved a request by President Goodluck Jonathan to deploy 1,200 Nigerian troops to Mali and over the weekend the Nigerian Air Force sent two fighter jets join the war.

    Not a few Nigerians are worried about the deployment of our soldiers in Mali and their worries are well founded. In the 90s Nigeria was at the head of a West African intervention force called ECOMOG that was dispatched by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene in the Liberian civil war. Our troops were also involved in Sierra Leone where another civil war was raging. In both instances we had bitter stories to tell. Though the wars were eventually halted and peace restored in the two countries, our soldiers were bruised and our efforts largely unappreciated especially by Charles Taylor who eventually became president of Liberia. The cost of the wars to Nigeria, especially Liberia’s was enormous both in terms of human and material resources. Many Nigerian civilians were massacred by Taylor and his NPFL rebels in Liberia just because our troops came to intervene in the war. Many of our soldiers were killed and millions of dollars spent (much of which was wasted) prosecuting the war which most Nigerians believed we had no business being part of. I doubt whether Nigeria has recovered fully, especially militarily from the effect of that war and now that we are getting involved in another West African war, the rule of engagement and the tenure of our involvement must be well spelt out to avoid a repeat of what we went through in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    While some might want to argue that Nigeria being far away from the theatre of war in Mali has no business sending soldiers there, the fact that some of the Boko Haram militants threatening the peace in northern Nigeria had reportedly confessed to receiving training in Mali is enough to convince that the Malian civil war is a threat to the Nigerian nation. The facts also that some elements of al-Qeada have been found to be offering support to Boko Haram and the weekend attack and killing of two members of Nigeria’s contingent to AFISMA by a hitherto unknown terrorist group somewhere in Kogi state are further justifications for our involvement in Mali.

    But in sending our troops to Mali, care must be taken to ensure that all the necessary equipment and logistical support were provided for them, including their allowances. It is hoped that those being sent have been properly trained both in peace keeping and enforcement, and the rules of engagement properly spelt out. The scandals that accompanied our involvement in ECOMOG must be totally avoided in AFISMA. Our soldiers must behave well especially in their relationship with local civilians including the women.

    Now that we are in Mali, the likelihood of the terrorists and their allies in Nigeria particularly Boko Haram targeting strategic places and even military installations in the country should not be ruled out hence the need to scale up security protection around such places. Areas with high civilian congregation should also be properly protected while some high profile individuals both within and outside government should also be given increased protection. Nobody could say for sure the reason behind the gun attack on the convoy of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero in Kano at the weekend. People like him could be vulnerable.

    It will also not be out of place for the Foreign Affairs Ministry to issue a travel advice to Nigerians living in Mali in particular and neighbouring West African countries to be less visible and avoid volatile areas where they could be singled out for attack by the terrorists or their sympathizers.

  • Nigerian don appointed chair in South Africa

    Nigerian don appointed chair in South Africa

    Professor Abiodun Salawu has been appointed to the Mazisi Kunene Chair at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa.

    The Chair, which is domiciled in the School of Arts, College of Humanities of the university, was established by the university in conjunction with the Mazisi Kunene Foundation to preserve and promote the works of Mazisi Kunene and those of other African writers. The chair will focus on African oramedia and the modern media using African languages.

    Prof, Raymond Mazisi Kunene, in whose name the chair was established, was designated by UNESCO as the Poet Laureate of Africa. He authored classical works such as Emperor Shaka the Great, Anthem of the Decades, Zulu epic poems, and Ancestors and the Sacred Mountains. His published literary works in isiZulu have also been translated into French, German and Japanese. He was involved in the liberation movement for the apartheid South Africa. He was an academic at the University of California-Los Angeles while in self-exile and later at the University of Natal, Durban (one of the two universities that merged to make the UKZN). He died in 2006.

    The Chair holder, Salawu, has published extensively on African language media. He edited the seminal book, Indigenous Language Media in Africa. His other areas of research interest include African folk media, development communication, critical media studies and new media. He has to his credit numerous journal articles and book chapters.

    Salawu is moving from the historic University of Fort Hare, also in South Africa. Prior to his relocation to South Africa, he had taught journalism, communication and media studies in various institutions in Nigeria including The Polytechnic, Ibadan; University of Lagos and Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo.

    He holds a PhD in Communication and Language Arts of the University of Ibadan, PGD and MSc in Mass Communication of the University of Lagos, and a B.A (Hons) English Studies of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife.

    The UKZN which prides itself as the premier university of African scholarship is a foremost university in Africa and has also been listed in the top 500 universities in the world. The university entered into an agreement with the Mazisi Kunene Foundation in 2006 to establish the chair for the purpose of commemorating the life and works of the poet laureate. The chair is expected to build his scholarship around the man of letters.

     

  • Nigerian farmers and 10 million phones

    Nigerian farmers and 10 million phones

    SIR: The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is reported to have earmarked a whopping sum of N60 bllion for the purchase of about 10 million GSM phones to be distributed to farmers all over the country.It is undoubtedly trite to assert that for the first time in the post-military life of our country, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is being superintended by a World Class Nigerian Scholar, Dr.Adewunmi Adesina. However, what bothers one is how the same ministry headed by this outstanding Nigerian, would be associated with a kindergarten policy of this nature.

    No matter how hard the ministry may shop to repair the situation, Nigerians are left wondering again where this sort of thing is coming from.

    Is this the best the technocrats in the ministry can come up with in the 21st century where ground-breaking ideas daily contest amongst themselves to win the attention of an enlightened world? Do we excuse them as simply part of the Nigerian majority already burdened by the near total collapse of infrastructure, so much so that this collapsed state can only sustain shallow policies of this nature as against long-lasting institutional reforms?

    The solution to our agricultural challenges does not lie in a cosmetic approach anchored on buying and distributing GSM Phones to rural farmers. What has happened to our very many faculties of agriculture, which today only exist in form but definitely not in substance, simply occupying space without the required funding and facilities to power it to produce 21st Century driven ideas and innovations that has taken the foreign universities that our leaders all troop to for advice and intellectual salvation to where they are today?

    What has also happened to the many agricultural research institutes annexed to our universities, which ordinarily were established years back with billions of naira, to serve as Centres of Excellence in terms of scientific researches and agricultural revolution, but which today has all been run aground by decades of serious underfunding and neglect?

    What has happened to the research section of the very many government agricultural agencies that at a time used to have the best of hands, even some trained in some of the best institutions in the world? What has happened to the many university farms spread all over the country once equipped with some of the best implements, that if well run would have just been enough to feed the states in which they are located and even beyond?

    But can anyone of us be surprised, in a country where government is known for buying books for primary school pupils instead of empowering their parents by creating jobs, why won’t the same government also think of buying phones for farmers. Maybe tomorrow, we would again be jolted from our sleep with the news that the federal government has set aside another N30Billion to help recharge these farmer’s phones.

    Suffice to say that it’s only around here that government’s policies continue to run as a stream of unending of jokes, rather than as matters of national importance.

    Nigerian farmers need not be given fish as handouts from the government; rather focus should frontally be to teach them on how best to fish. If only the faculties of agriculture in federal universities will get just half of this N60 billion, they would achieve in one year what these 10 million China Phones will not achieve in 10years.

    • Olusola Adegbite, Esq.

    Kubwa,

    Abuja.

     

  • Nigerian men don’t want any burden—Liz Anjorin

    Nigerian men don’t want any burden—Liz Anjorin

    What other better way to start the New Year than this. Popular Yoruba Nollywood actress Liz Anjorin has landed a mouth-watering endorsement deal with DODAN Industries, a tomato paste company. The deal which came her way on the third day of the New Year with an official car is certainly making the actress glee with excitement.

    Since signing the contract, the De-sella Tomato Ambassador has been full of thanks to God and is not hiding that fact.

    The deal which came five days to her late mother’s one year remembrance, without a doubt, brought some nostalgic feelings. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, Liz captures her nostalgia and opens up on life after her mother’s death. She also speaks on her new passion and marriage. Excerpt:

    ONE year after your mother’s demise, what would you say you miss most about her?

    What I miss most about my mum? Of course I miss her prayers. I miss the motherly care. I also miss her jokes. Oh! My mum jokes a lot. Each time I recall some of her jokes I just smile. My mum will say things like E ti de la ti travel (You are back from your trip. Se e mu bumper short wa fun mama (hope you brought me bumper short). You can imagine it yourself, a very old woman at that time, asking if you brought her bumper short. She had a great sense of humour. There’s another one she says, A n lo si Abuja o (We are going to Abuja o).

    When I reply her, Eyin ati tani? (you and who?).She will say to me, ‘Do you think I’m not in town’ (Se o ro pe mi o si n le ni?). Then there is also the normal slang, maybe you and her are having an argument over something she will say, Gbe mi lo tation n gbayen’ (take me to the station then). Really, sometimes when I remember some of her jokes I laugh out loud!

    Actors are known to run busy schedules. Were you beside her at her last moments?

    No, because I didn’t even think it would happen. She died January 8, 2012. It was a New Year. We were preparing for strike so I made some provisions for her for and asked someone to take them to her. So when they got there they just called me to tell me they met her corpse.

    How did you take it?

    Though she was old, very old, it was still a shock and painful for me. Immediately, I started to imagine how I’m going to cope without her. I thought to myself, if I offend anybody, who will they report me to? And who is going to talk on my behalf? Who is going to take care of my daughter? At least, we visit grandma from time to time. My daughter was always fond of saying, ‘let’s go grandma’s place’. So her death was very painful.

    Now that there is no grandma to look after your daughter, with your busy schedule, do you make out time for her?

    Thank God my daughter is not a baby. She’s in boarding school. Moreover, it’s a matter of setting your priorities. When I’m supposed to spend time with my daughter, like when she’s on holidays, I give her my all.

    So prioritising is the word. With that you can’t go wrong. During her holidays, we come here; we come to my shop together. If I’m going to buy my stock I take her long. I try to show her one or two things with respect to the business. Though I don’t take her with me when I’m travelling abroad to get things but I’m already making plans for her to study abroad after her secondary school.

    At a young age, you’re already involving her in your business. How old were you when you started doing buy and selling?

    I actually started at a tender age; very, very tender. My mother used to tell me that as a woman if you can’t work with your hands you will work with your body. So the choice was mine to take. And then she would add, it’s what you labour for that lasts long. I realised I love business so it was easy, my mother didn’t have to force me to do it. Some people say it’s the Badagry in me. That Badagry people love business a lot.

    How do you feel when they call you an Egun girl?

    I like it when people make that their usual snag, omo Egun. I’m not a bastard. I’m proud to be an Egun girl. My Egun name is Oyenukume. If you check my BB, you will see on my display, Elizabeth Anjorin Oyenukume. And the meaning of Oyenukume is Ni sho ju won ni mo ma se se rere (I will succeed while they are alive). If I’m travelling to Babagry at times and I tell them my name is Oyenukume, they give me special treatment. They treat me like a queen.

    Then they start to speak Egun. That’s when I now tell them that I don’t understand the language. I’m proudly Egun. Some people will be like omo Eko ni mi (I’m a Lagosian) when in actual sense they are not, but not me. I’m not ashamed of my heritage. There was this guy I know who’s from Badagry and when I said to him, he denied. He said he’s from Lagos Island. And I told him that anyway, me, I’m a proper Egun girl. Don’t I look beautiful? Egun people are beautiful.

    How long ago did you set up this place?

    About ten months ago. ‘Peak Me’ was formerly at Abule-Egba. But I relocated to Ogba, like I said about ten months ago, and the name changed from ‘Peak Me’ to ‘Peak Me Reloaded’ Super mart.

    The beads that I see here are a quite unique and I’m shocked to find out that you actually do them yourself. So what time did you have to go and learn how to make beads?

    Initially I had people who were beading for me. But there was a day somebody ordered for six beads at very good prices. I called my bead maker and gave her the money and told her when to deliver the beads based on my agreement with the customer. But to my surprise, the very day the person was supposed to pick up the bead, I called my bead maker to bring the beads for me and she said, she had been busy, that she didn’t have time.

    To crown it all, she said, ‘I’ve not even touched your job yet’. Upon hearing this I was mad. When the customer arrived I pleaded with her and told her about the situation. To my surprise, she said, ‘Oh don’t worry. You can keep the money. When I’m back from my travelling I will come and pick them up.’ After that incident, I started trying my hands on beads.

    As God would have it, it all just started to fall into place. After sometime, I became more creative than I ever imagined. My beads are unique as you can see. I rarely admit to people that I never learnt it formally because it’s hard for them to believe but honestly that’s the truth. I can call one of my staff to confirm it to you. But that’s by the way. Whenever I travel I get brooches and glass crystals. With those two, our beads look unique. I’ve seen customers who say to me, Lizzy, I don’t like beads but with all these that I’m saying, I’m falling in love with beads. With bead you’ve got to be super calculative. If you have ten steps of bead when you get to the tenth one and you are not correct about it you have to lose the whole thing and start from the scratch. Beading is hard really. Its complex but I love it. I have passion for it just like I have passion for acting.

    What class of people in the society are your clientele?

    I have beads as low as N7, 000, N10, 000, N15, 000, N20, 000 upward. We have bead of N150, 000, so you see I carter for all levels of the society. For me it’s not about the money really. It’s about the creativity that I put into it, that each time people see my work that they go like, wow! Who did this? So that is it really. I believe in being the best in everything that I do.

    Back to your acting career, for 2013 what are the things you are working on?

    I’m working on Kofo The First Lady. It’s a continuation of Kofo Tinubu. The movie Kofo Tinubu centres on the physically challenged in the society, their plight, among other things. In Kofo The First Lady is a governor and his physically challenged wife. Now, are the people going to accept the woman as his first lady? How is she going to cope among other first ladies? These and many more is what the movie seeks to address.

    Is it a real life story?

    No. It was inspired by my idea of what the physically challenged in our society go through daily, the rejections and all. It’s a well known fact that they are discriminated against. People condemn them. People don’t want to have anything to do with them. Even their parents are so shy of them. They are not proud of them. They keep them in the house away from people. And they go through emotionally tortured.

    You seem passionate about this. Do you have a firsthand experience of something like that?

    No. But after Kofo Tinubu, I came up with Liz Anjorin Foundation for the physically challenged. I went to their different schools and home. And I saw different cases. Some of them have been locked up in one room since the past fifteen years. They just open the room, throw food at them and lock the door against them. Some of them have never seen day-light before. These scenarios were actually what led to the Liz Anjorin Foundation (for the physically challenged).

    How has the foundation been of help to the physically challenged?

    We’ve been to the school of the blind for instance. I went there. Spoke to them. When I was leaving, I gave them some things. I let them realise that in disability there is ability. I made them realise that being physically challenged is not a death sentence. It’s not the end of one’s life. Basically, I advised them in company with my team. We hope to revisit them soon.

    What I’m trying to do is to let people know that these people do exist and need all the love, care and attention that they can get. As an individual you can go and see them and appreciate them with little gifts. I can assure you that it goes a long way. Truth is some people do not know that we have such people in our society.

    Like me, for instance, if I hadn’t done Kofo Tinubu and had not gone to see them I wouldn’t have known that some of their cases are really extreme like that. Home or Orphanage is different from theirs. In homes we have able bodies, just that they do not have mothers and fathers. But these people that I’m talking about, some of them do have mothers and fathers but they’ve been disowned by their own parents.

    There is the story making the rounds that you just landed yourself an endorsement deal. Tell us about.

    It’s not a rumour. It’s true!

    Is this your first endorsement? And how do you feel about it?

    Yes it’s my first. I feel happy. I feel great because first, coming in the beginning of a New Year, 3rd of January to be precise, it’s a great thing. It’s something to be thankful for. It’s a blessing from above. Coming five days to my mum’s one year remembrance, indeed, my mum lives on.

    How financially rewarding is this endorsement?

    I can’t tell you how much is involved but I can tell you for sure that it’s financially rewarding with an official car (laughs).

    How many years’ contract did you sign with them?

    It’s a one-year contract.

    What is the name of the brand?

    DODAN Industries.

    This is your New Year and already goodies have started to come your way. What are your resolutions for the year?

    For me, I don’t like to make resolutions. All I can say is pray for me that God should give me long life, strength, wisdom, knowledge and understanding. With that I can do things. Me I love surprises. So I don’t like forecasting that 2013 I will be this I will be that. I don’t own myself. God owns us all.

    What are those things you did in 2012 that you would want to do differently in 2013?

    Everything I did in 2012 was perfect, except my mum’s death. January 8, 2012 was pathetic. That event took a toll on me because I didn’t really plan for that. Imagined, I and my mum had talked about my movie Kofo Tinubu. We had fantasised about its release but unfortunately, when we released it she was no more. But by and large, 2012 was a great year.

    After her death I opened this shop. I did her final burial and dad’s final burial too. I did a lot of things. And I thank God for my life. I bless Him; exalt His name because for everything He was there for me. I can’t think of anything I want to do differently this year. When my mother was alive, being the only child, there were insinuations that my mother was instrumental to my success.

    I don’t know if you understand what I’m trying to say. What they mean is that spiritually, my mother was my back bone. So immediately my mother passed away, a lot of them were like, let us see how she’s going to continue to make it big. Seeing that many of them were expecting my downfall, I went to God in prayer, seeking His face and telling him about their thoughts and asking Him to intervene because He’s my father and mother. And I thank Him for proving Himself faithful. If I know where that man lives, I will go there, wash His clothes, iron them and cook the best meal for Him. I mean my God!

    As an upwardly mobile chic, with all the ‘extras’, doesn’t it sometimes scare men away from you?

    That’s there cup of tea o my sister. Now, Nigerian men are crazy o. They don’t want to carry any burden. If you are hearing such thing as, ‘my sweetheart, ‘my heartthrob’, na money. But looking at it, should it be a put-off for men? I think it should encourage any serious man.

    Are you saying that you’ve never met any man that got intimidated by your success?

    No, in fact they fall in love crazily because I’m an entrepreneur.

    How are you sure it is not because of your money that they fall crazily in love with you?

    Money, I don’t have money. Business woman no dey get money. For where? As a business woman, everything we make we put back into the business. You can’t find money in our accounts.

    Frankly speaking, when are you going to say the words ‘I do’?

    Soon

    We’ve been hearing this soon for some time now. It is likely to be 2013?

    I don’t know. You wan give me your papa? He will buy me a stretch Limo (laughs).

    Recently in one of your interviews, you got into an issue with a fellow actress, Iyabo Ojo. Tell us about it.

    No don’t let us go there. We’ve settled. Iyabo Ojo is my best friend. As a matter of fact, she was the first person that greeted me for my mum’s one year remembrance today. So she’s my best friend.

  • Nigerian gets U.S court appointment

    Nigerian gets U.S court appointment

    A Nigerian woman, Bunmi Awoniyi, has been appointed to the Sacramento County Superior Court in California, United States, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    According to local media reports monitored on Sunday by the North America Correspondent of NAN, Awoniyi, 48, and Steven Gevercer’s appointments were announced by Governor Edmund Brown Jr. of California.

    Awoniyi has served as a principal attorney with a family law firm since 1994 as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patino School of Law from 1997 to 1998.

    She is an associate attorney at the Law Office of Steven L. Wessels from 1993 to 1994 and an associate attorney at the Law Office of Brady and Kent from 1992 to 1993.

    Also, Awoniyi was a law clerk at the Law Office of D. Kapp Nees in 1991 and a crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service in London from 1989 to 1990.

    She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Inns of Court School of Law, a Masters of Law degree from the Leicester University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Essex.

    Awoniyi is a certified family law specialist. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on December 3, 2011.

    “I could not be more delighted or excited. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours the fruit of a yearlong arduous interview and screening process and an application that took me the better part of a year to complete.

    “Through all of the many lost hours on the weekends and evenings devoted to this process, to see it come to manifestation is truly marvelous.

    “ I am humbled and God is so good! It is a new season,’’ Awoniyi a Democrat said on her appointment.

     

  • It’s a wrap for Nigerian Idol auditions

    It’s a wrap for Nigerian Idol auditions

    … show hits TV December

     

    FOLLOWING weeks of touring the country in search of raw talents, the Nigerian Idol team returned to Lagos for the grand finale of Season 3 auditions which held at Dream Studios, Bamako Estate, Omole.

    From Friday, November 9 to Saturday, November 10, 2012, aspiring youths in their thousands turned out to take a shot at being the next Nigerian Idol. Lead sponsor Etisalat stepped it up with the concerts by adding more exciting, young and vibrant acts in the industry like Chuddy K, May D and Olamide.

    “It has been a mind-blowing experience for the Idol team over the last one month, as we have seen and heard dynamic voices from the five states where auditions took place. There is a reason why Nigerian Idol is called the real deal and this is why Nigerian youths look forward to the opportunity to be part of the show every year. Nigerians haven’t seen anything yet from the last two seasons, as a greater than Mercy is going to be revealed come December when the show will begin to air,” said Tiwalola Medubi, the Project Manger.

    Hosted by On-Air Personality; Ill Rymz, the judges for this season are; African-American dancer, singer and former Michael Jackson’s personal choreographer; Jeffrey Daniels, veteran singer, Yinka Davies and Afro-beat legend, Femi Kuti. Prizes up for grabs this season are N7.5 million cash, a recording contract worth N7.5million and an SUV.

  • U.S. envoy:Nigerian leaders must not encourage division for selfish ends

    U.S. envoy:Nigerian leaders must not encourage division for selfish ends

    Speaking at a seminar of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria , United States Ambassador to Nigeria Ambassador Terence McCulley challenged Nigerian leaders at all levels to ensure the diversity of the country is used to its advantage rather than its disadvantage. Excerpts:

     

    By drawing from such a broad pool of talent, the Humphrey Fellowship programme provides a model of what can be accomplished when people with very different experiences and worldviews come together to learn from one another. In a way, that serves as a microcosm of the topic on which you have asked me to speak today: “Fostering Unity in Diversity in Nigeria: Learning from the American Experience.” Now, I have to admit, this title is a bit misleading, because the “American Experience” of finding unity in diversity, while perhaps instructive, is certainly not yet complete because our journey is not yet complete. And that, to some extent, is the point of the experience: there will always be different cultures, races, ethnicities, and viewpoints from which to learn and grow. In this regard, Nigeria and America are – as one of my distinguished predecessors once remarked – “two pilgrims on the same path.”

    America and Nigeria thus offer grand examples of how diverse peoples can come together to build a great nation. Each country is teeming with talented individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions. The Fellowship Alumni in this room carried out their studies all over the United States—at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, Johns Hopkins in Maryland, American University in Washington, D.C., Emory University in Georgia, to name just a few examples—and you are each certain to have been struck by the magnitude of diversity that is a hallmark of our country. From Southern California to the Oregon coast, from Chicago to Florida, all across America you will find people of various races and ethnicities, with different religious views, distinctive cultural norms, and divergent political ideologies. What holds us all together, what unites us, is our strong sense of nationhood. I am reminded of a banner headline in the French newspaper “Le Monde” the day after September 11, 2001. “We are all Americans.” Now, that was an expression of global solidarity from one of our oldest allies in the aftermath of a day of horror. But it is also an expression of how we feel as a people, how we feel as a nation. Regardless of our differences…, we are all Americans. And when we speak of diversity, we speak broadly, of characteristics both obvious and not. Racial and ethnic differences are perhaps more readily observable than other marks of diversity. But diversity is not just about race, to be sure.

    Much of America’s diversity comes from our history as a nation of immigrants. In fact, the United States is often referred to as the “Great Melting Pot,” a metaphor that suggests the blending of many cultures, languages and religions to form a single national identity. But this metaphor fails to capture the slow, complex and frequently turbulent process by which immigrants of diverse backgrounds and beliefs join U.S. society, even as they transform it. I am here to tell you that unity in diversity is hard work.

    The United States may be viewed as “a permanently unfinished country,” because it is continuously being built and rebuilt by immigrants. Indeed, it has been the world’s leading destination country for immigrants from the 19th century to the present. Newcomers pose a recurrent challenge fundamental to American life: enabling communities of very different peoples to learn to act collaboratively under conditions of openness, change and choice, all within the confines of one system.

    In the U.S., much of the stability that exists in our nation of immigrants comes from our laws and institutional reforms within our pluralistic democracy. Through legislative actions supported by a transparent, independent judiciary which protects the rights of all including minorities and immigrants, we create, encourage, and enlarge opportunities for education and social mobility. With our system of democracy, we permit and nourish the co-existence of those with differing ideologies, convictions, and interests. As a result, we have immigrants and native-born citizens partnering to create a shared collective and institutional life, both as a national community and as a constellation of local communities marked by differences in class, race, religion and culture. Our nation of immigrants has seen wave after wave of newcomers displaying remarkable creativity and flexibility in adapting to the American pluralistic culture, even as they helped to transform it, adapt it, and make it their own.

    The history of Africa and of Nigeria specifically does not mirror that of the United States in terms of immigration. Yet, like America, Nigeria boasts the co-existence of many ethnic groups in a democratic land. Nigeria’s ethnic groups are 370 strong, with long histories and varying cultural norms. For the Nigerian democracy to continue to work, for it to blossom, conflicts among ethnic groups need to be addressed, and differences embraced. And Nigeria’s leaders – at the local, state, and federal level – need to promote unity, not encourage division for selfish political ends.

    As I mentioned, America is ever adapting in terms of embracing diversity. But again, the key is to strive to come together based on what is shared, not to divide based on what differs among us.

    Our recently re-elected President, Barack Obama, has said that “we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity—diversity of thought, diversity of culture, and diversity of belief. In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family.” In America and in Nigeria, the common issues we face, the common hopes we have, are all human issues, all human hopes. We seek stability in our democracies. We desire positive action from our leaders. We expect food security. We look for economic opportunity. We want high-quality education for our children no matter their socio-economic status. We work for a protected environment that will be as safe and useful for our children and our children’s children as it is for us. And we, as Americans, as Nigerians, as human beings, wish for peaceful co-existence that allows us to embrace our backgrounds and our unique characteristics even as we build our societies together. To accomplish this, we must look to what binds us together and work to achieve those common goals.

    But again, the concept of diversity is a broad one. I want to take a moment to discuss the importance of religious diversity and the principle of religious freedom. The freedom to worship is a cherished right in the United States, one that has historical roots older than the formation of the nation itself. In the 21st century, the United States pulses with a unique cultural chemistry which sees followers of more diverse faiths in many communities throughout the country.

    Consider this: Most Americans were Christians when the United States was founded more than 200 years ago, but now the United States is the world’s most religiously diverse society. Between 1990 and 2001, the number of Christians in the U.S. increased by 6.6 percent while the number of those practicing all other religions grew by 69.1 percent. People of different faiths contribute to the fabric, strength and character of the United States, in all walks of life.

    To be sure, there are challenges to religious co-existence. Yet again, the guiding principle is that which binds, not that which divides. In terms of religion, that concept is the desire to worship freely or not at all. For Americans, religious liberty is embedded in the Constitution and reflected in our guiding Constitutional principle of separation of church and state. And I believe Nigerians must also work together to build their nation irrespective of their religious beliefs. If one puts continuous emphasis on differences, rather than working toward overall betterment while co-existing, one risks chipping away at the very fabric of the nation.

    Too often, when we talk about Nigeria and with Nigerians, we hear about the differences: the Muslim North and the Christian South, the Igbo, the Hausa, and the Yoruba. Nigerians deserve better; Nigerians can do better. While you should be proud of your religion, your culture, your background, your beliefs, you can do so in light of the fact that you are all Nigerians, drawing inspiration from the uplifting words of your national anthem. And I have to say that as I travel across your great country, I am inspired by your powerful sense of nationhood.

    And there is much to celebrate in Nigeria. As I said to you last year at this event, I have worked as an American diplomat in Africa since the mid-1980s, when I began my service in Niger Republic. The remarkable changes I have witnessed on this continent over the past 27 years, changes effected by remarkable African men and even more remarkable African women, make me an optimist about Nigeria’s future. Indeed, the people of Nigeria, with their intelligence, drive, ingenuity, and capability, make me an optimist about Nigeria’s future. Leaders like those assembled in this room, particularly the talented Humphrey Fellowship alumni, are those who will enable Nigeria to achieve its potential.

    And as for us, your fellow pilgrims, the United States remains committed to the people and progress of Nigeria. We are committed to helping foster an environment in which this great nation continues its path of becoming a powerful force both regionally and on the world stage, a beacon of what can be achieved in a thriving, diverse, populous democracy. And while we have our history to share by way of example, we encourage you to not only accept but also welcome the fact that finding unity in diversity is an ongoing challenge, a constant work in progress. And it is not just about tolerance, but about enrichment, and dignity, and going forward as one. And, as I have suggested, it is truly challenging, but it is what will make you stronger.

    As Hubert H. Humphrey wrote of the United States, “Just as we welcome a world of diversity, so we glory in an America of diversity—an America all the richer for the many different and distinctive strands of which it is woven.” We do welcome a world of diversity, and we glory in a Nigeria of diversity, one that is all the better due to its vibrant people.

     

  • Nigerian leaders must change from their ways

    Nigerian leaders must change from their ways

    SIR: The state of the Nigerian nation is worrisome and we must appreciate the fact that Nigeria and Nigerians need prayers. Nobody understands the present situation. And the leaders we have around should be sincere for the sake of corporate existence of Nigeria . But they are hiding a lot of things from the public.

    The brazen unfaithfulness in the nation breeds corruption and fraudulent practices that are eating deep into the resources of the nation and affecting the economy very seriously, thus leading to inadequacy of infrastructure which the economy needs for grow.

    Our electricity is not functioning as expected and the authorities are collecting money. People are paying money for the water that is not supplied. Instead of the government to provide electricity, water and other basic amenities, they are short-changing the public by importing generators for the public; even in Benin Republic they are not using generator.

    Leaders are using the money for the convenience of the people, not for their own personal gain.

    Our roads are not motorable. They are death traps as the money that is supposed to be used to fix our roads are being shared to buy trailers and heavy trucks that are spoiling the roads and causing fatal accidents, claiming the lives of the citizenry without any care.

    On the petrol subsidy money, government is not subsidizing anything. They are using the money accruing from increase in petrol price to build refineries outside the nation and petrol stations for us in Nigeria , where fuel is being sold to us at exorbitant rates.

    They are increasing tuition fees in higher institutions, beyond poor man’s reach without creating jobs. Nigerians are already frustrated, hence the spate of kidnapping, blood shedding, armed-robbery and sundry forms of killings here and there. Our leaders should know that if the children of the poor are hungry, the children of the rich will not sleep.

    Let our leaders be warned that unfaithfulness and corruption will continue to frustrate people and the more frustrated the people are, the more problems should be expected in this nation.

    The word of God says “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,” Proverbs 14: 34 . Our leaders in every sphere of governance should read the handwriting on the wall and repent, or they should be expecting more problems for the nation because in Proverbs 15: 27, it is written: “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but, he who hates bribe will live.”

    Also, 2 Chronicles 7: 14-15 records: “If my people who are called by my name could humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land… Now my eyes will be opened and my ear attentive to prayers…”

    Therefore, let our leaders repent from their wickedness, selfish ways, so that God can hear our prayers. When a country is well governed, there will be peace, prosperity and progress throughout the nation. A word is enough for the wise.

     

    • Pastor Raphael Olalekan-Adesina,

    General Overseer, His ComingEvangelical Church

    Int’l Inc, Nigeria.

     

  • ‘Prostate cancer kills 14 Nigerian men daily’

    ‘Prostate cancer kills 14 Nigerian men daily’

    Prostate cancer killed 14 men everyday in Nigeria, the Coordinator, National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCPP), Lagos State branch, Dr. Abia Nzelu, has said.

    Nzelu, who said this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday, noted that the figure was based on studies.

    She said that most men report their cancer cases late when the symptoms had already manifested and attributed the situation to ignorance.

    According to her, people die unnecessarily, even when they are diagnosed because there are no facilities to treat them.

    “Prostate cancer, the second commonest cancer in men, kills 14 men in Nigeria every day. This is not acceptable because it can be prevented.

    “India has over 120 comprehensive cancer centres and we don’t have even one centre that has everything to take care of any kind of cancer that can carry out world class research.

    “ We need something like this in our own country, because apart from the fact that those that have, can afford it and travel, what of those that cannot?

    “In Nigeria, cancer is like a death sentence that is why most deaths here are unnecessary; they are untimely.

    “When we had the Dana crash, we are all shouting, but each day people are dying of cancer. Because, they are dying silently, we are not doing anything about it,” she said.

    Nzelu said the prevention should be through life style modification, screening and routine checkups, at least once a year for those who are 40 and above.