The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerians

  • Nigerians are suffering and smiling

    SIR: Living in Nigeria is like a bitter and sweet symphony.  Nature endowed the nation with abundant beauties.  The landscape across the country is like a bed of green grass.  Flourishing vegetation in various regions makes an awesome basket of exquisite delights.  The sun glows soothingly like a lover’s gentle eyes.  Its beaming in dry season can cause a stranger to run under the shade, trees big as giant umbrellas comfortingly cover the open spaces.  Natives sweating under colourful clothing stir wonders to the imagination.  They excitedly go about their business with soaking handkerchief in their hands mopping their brows.  The sound of the exotic languages in the market places is like an orchestra.

    Nigerians must have been made of a special breed.  Farmers, traders, civil servants, students; the society wakes every morning to start the crucial exercise to make a living.  There is no steady power supply, no running water, no good roads; all the modern amenities that make life livable are a luxury to the masses.  Yet like soldiers in a war front, they carry on.  They gather in their houses, churches, bars, and other rendezvous at the end of the day and let off steam like a boiling pot.  They infuse their lives with joy.

    A village clown once observed that you do not need money to live in Nigeria.  He explained that there are many social events going on every day of the week.  He looks for posters for news about where there is a wedding, wine carrying, funerals, chieftaincy celebrations, thanksgiving and numerous other occasions.  He dresses up in his best clothe and goes to these events.  There is no invitation required to get reception.  Some days he is so drunk and ate so much that he is tired to meet up to all his engagements.  He is dumbfounded that people want to leave Nigeria to travel anywhere in the world to live.

    Here profoundly may lie the secret of the smiling faces one sees all over the country.  An average Nigerian toils day and night under excruciating circumstances to become successful.  The first thing he does once he has money is to have a lavish occasion to demonstrate to his community that he has achieved social status.  The size of one’s event is the measure of his acceptance.  The recognition accords him honor and respect.  In some unfortunate situations, folks are confronted with social pressure.  They sell their land, personal properties or borrow money to have a flamboyant funeral for example.

    Nigerians at their best have a culture of celebration.  They dance at festivals, churches, funerals, weddings and every other occasion.  There is no situation that they do not as a custom to turn into a celebration.  This tradition may appear infantile.  However, it seems to help the society overcome like it does with the perpetual onslaught of injustice peppered by a corrupt political system.  They sing always thanking God for everything.

    The melody is sweet.  Under the moonlight, the sky is blue.  The land provides fresh harvest all season.  The people march jubilantly to welcome each dawn.  There will be rainfall.  There will be sunshine.  Nature made the weather kind.  Nigerians close their eyes at night and live the fantasy.  They have the magic to create happiness.

     

    • Pius Okaneme

    Umuoji, Anambra State.

  • ‘Nigerians should ask what govt is doing with SURE-P cash’

    A director in the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Retired Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga has challenged Nigerians to ask their various governments, whether local, state or federal, what they are doing with their SURE-P funds.

    Nkanga said SURE-P funds are shared between the three tiers of government with the purpose of helping the federal government to fast track development in the various communities in the country and that the funds must be well utilised.

    The retired air force officer said that it was wrong for Nigerians to only focus on the Federal Government regarding the development of their areas when the other tiers get substantial part of the SURE-P fund, saying that the fund was made for good governance for the people.

    Speaking in Aba during the flag-off and monitoring of SURE-P/FERMA public works on roads in the Southeast, Nkanga who is the Southsouth representative on the FERMA board, said that it is only when the people monitor the movement of the funds that government at various levels will be up and doing in the discharge of their duties.

    Nkanga who represented the chairman of FERMA board, Chief Ezekiel Adeniji, said that the FERMA SURE-P public work programme has already employed 6294 youths across the country and expressed hope that before end of the year it would engage 10000 youths who are paid N18,000 monthly.

    He said that the present administration decided to start the SURE-P because of the youths in the country with the aim of allowing them to be gainfully employed, “So that they will not trouble their parents until they gain admission into a higher institution of their choice”.

    The FERMA board member called on the states and Local Governments to deploy their own share of the funds to engage the youths as part of the President Jonathan’s fight against youth unemployment.

    Nkanga said that the introduction of SURE-P is part of good governance for the people of the country, saying, “Good governance brings peace while bad governance bring anarchy and youth restiveness, but the present government under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan is out to correct the ills of the society through the SUR-P programme”.

    He said, “This is a social security programme designed by the President for the youths and in the last two years over 2000 Federal Roads have been maintained, over 200 communities connected by rail and thousands of youths engaged and by the end of the year the FERNA SURE-P programme would employ 10, 000 youths and they will be getting Goodluck alerts from their banks every month”.

    Continuing, Nkanga said: “We want to work and get zero potholes on our roads as directed by Mr President, which we have been doing and Nigeria is consolidating on that so that we can be respected in the comity of nations”.

  • The economy

    The economy

    • In spite of grim prospects, window of rescue beckons

    Just as it is natural for citizens to entertain illusions about the coming of a new year and its promises of a new beginning, it is understandable that Nigerians are expectant about the 2014 economic outlook. Beyond the atmosphere of expectations, the natural question is whether the Jonathan administration can claim to have put in place the fundamental structures for hope in the current year.

    Of course, Nigerians know what the indications are. Nothing in the economic firmament projects any cheery outlook. Rather, what is presented as cold comfort is the bizarre rate of growth said to have averaged 7.5 percent over a decade; and if it comes to anything, part of the scorecard of the administration is supposed to be the off-shore investment of $1 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Lost, perhaps, on the government is the paradox of increasing impoverishment of Nigerians and the criminal under-investment in infrastructure and other critical enablers of development at a time of sustained oil earnings.

    The above is merely the background. The outlook would seem worse. The budget instrument of course remains a statement of grand intentions – which going by experience, may not be implemented. Like those before it, the recurrent trump the capital estimates in Budget 2014 by a ratio of 72.71 to 27.29 percent. If that is any threat to the well-being of the citizenry, it comes nowhere close to the menace of oil theft. Last year, the menace reached industrial scale, leading to an unprecedented shut-in of some 400,000 barrels of daily crude output. While it seems utterly unimaginable that the administration would surrender the artery of the economy to a cabal said to be responsible for denying the federation account of 20 percent of its revenue, worse is that the administration is even now unable to convince anyone of its readiness to do battle with the cabal.

    The Main Street is of course where the depressing reality is firmly etched. Presently, unemployment stands at a frightening level of 23.9 per cent, with youth unemployment put at 50 per cent. With poverty rate also standing tall at 67 per cent, the situation is akin to a time-bomb waiting to explode.

    Against the background, if we had expectation for 2014, it is for the Jonathan administration to lay out an ambitious programme to confront the terrible monster of non-inclusive growth –the phenomenon of growth without jobs. With the limited employment-generating potential of the enclave economy of oil now obvious to all, the challenge is to promote aggressively, rapid industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture, both to deliver value to Nigerians and to create jobs for the army of the unemployed.

    We expect the Federal Government to focus on the medium and small scale industries sector not just for the reason of their proven potential to deliver on jobs, but also as a strategy to curb the humongous import bill. The same applies to agriculture. It is time to unlock the proven potential of the two sectors for national development.

    Key to the realisation of the objective is massive investment in infrastructure to narrow the existing deficit; this is even more urgent in the energy, transportation and logistics sectors.  We also expect renewed focus on the problem of cost and access to funds which continues to pose stifling challenge to the small and medium scale business, rendering the prospects of competitiveness a daunting one. Rather than the current obsession with foreign portfolio investors, the Federal Government would do a far better job of paying attention to these issues which, aside offering far brighter prospects for the diversification of the economy, would go a long way to reduce the risk of its vulnerability.

     

  • ‘Nigeria is our country but America is home’

    ‘Nigeria is our country but America is home’

    OLAYINKA OYEGBILE, who recently visited the United States of America, writes on his experience and impressions.

    THERE is that universal belief among Nigerians that there is nowhere in any part of the globe that you will not find a Nigerian; no matter how distant. This has been proved right on many occasions.

    I arrived from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas that early Wednesday morning. My host who was supposed to pick me up at the airport was nowhere in sight. I was stranded. I had no phone with which to contact him. The one with me had my Nigerian SIM card, which would not work because I couldn’t afford to roam. I stood outside the Arrival Hall and was contemplating what next to do. Then I saw a counter with the inscription “Airport Information”, I walked to it and approached the fairly elderly lady sitting behind the massive counter.

    “Good morning, ma”

    “Hi, how can I be of help?” she asked, smiling. The smile was a soothing balm.

    I explained my predicament to her. I told her I needed to call a friend to pick me up. She asked if it was a local number. I answered in the affirmative. She directed on the codes to dial before the number and pronto I got through. On the other end was a former colleague. I explained to him my predicament.

    He allayed my fear and then dictated to me an address. He instructed me to walk out of the airport and give the piece of paper on which I had written the address to a taxi driver who would drop me there. As luck would have it, at the taxi stand the caucasian assistant I met there assigned to me a black taxi driver. I settled in the car and the trip began.

     

    Driving taxi in Houston

    As we drove out of the airport environment, a conversation started between us. You will always know a Nigerian anywhere you see one; that strong streak of determination and bonding. The driver asked me, “Are you coming from home?” Home here meaning Nigeria. I didn’t have to be told, his voice and ‘home’ sounded Nigerian. I told him I was just arriving from Brazil and was in Texas to spend a few weeks.

    That was the start of our discussion. He asked if I live in Brazil. I said no, adding that I only went there to attend a conference. “Are you going back home?” he wanted to know. “Yes,” I replied. He asked how the situation was at home and we talked at length.

    He told me his name. In the course of our discussion he found out that I am a journalist and he asked if all our discussion would feature in any story of mine. I confirmed this and even asked for a formal interview. I told him I would like to tell his story to our readers. However, he begged me not to use his real names and refused to allow me take his pictures. So, for this story, let us call him Nnamdi. According to him, he has been living in America for twenty years. He is satisfied with his job as a taxi driver in Houston, Texas. On why he does not want his real name disclosed, he said he was afraid that his immediate family and parents who are living in the east could easily become kidnap targets if it is known that he is in America. He said, “As far as many of my people are concerned I live and work in Lagos.”

    I asked how he has been able to manage this and he said his wife and three children live in Lagos. He returns home every year and travels with his family to the east still giving the impression that he lives in Lagos. He is, however, smart enough not to make it home during Christmas. He flatly refused to tell this reporter how he has been able to manage it, saying he does not want to give away his secret. Asked why he decided to leave his family in Nigeria all these years, he said he prefers to let his children finish their first degree at home and “become adults before coming to America.” I wanted to know why and he said, “My brother, let me tell you the truth. America is good but you should let your children become adults before they come here to study. At eighteen, a child here is free to take decisions without consulting the parents. I find this a bit lax. An eighteen-year-old is still a child at home. No be so?” he asked me. All I could do was to shake my head in silence.

    He concluded, “My brother, Nigeria is my country but America is home. It is unfortunate that Nigeria is the way it is. A majority of us here in America are here not out of choice but due to the condition at home. See me here, I am a taxi driver but I live well. I don’t lack anything. In this country you can live well as long as you don’t do beyond your means. As a taxi driver I can afford to send my children to decent schools if they are here. But is that applicable at home? Politicians who have stolen our money and spoilt the education system are now owners of private universities which their children don’t attend. Most of their children are here in America studying. They steal and can’t even build simple roads.”

    Nnamdi’s view represents that of a majority of Nigerians I met during my stay in the United States. Although some of them could be annoying and irritating because of the way they dismiss those of us who are at home. Some of them talked as if those of us at home are fools for “tolerating nonsense from politicians.” They then become abusive and quarrelsome when you ask them why they ran away and not help fight the ills they are talking about.

    For instance, I met a particular guy who claimed that he was “haunted out of the country by the military” and asked what he did, he claimed to have been a “human rights activist.” He could not give a definitive role he played that could have led to his being “haunted” by the military and in all my searches his name never crossed the radar because I was myself a player in the territory he claimed to have played a role during the military era.

    America is full of many of such Nigerians, as you have such so are the high-flying professionals. This was recently testified to by a former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Walter Carrington, who said in a recent lecture at the University of Ilorin that, “No country on this continent has historically had such a richness of human capital. Unfortunately, during the days of military dictatorships so many of your best and brightest fled abroad. Students overstayed their visas and professionals remained abroad, so reluctant were they to return home.”

    On this trip, from Houston, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts, there are countless Nigerians making waves from the Arts and humanities to the silent achievers in the sciences and other fields. For every Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that we know and read about in the media there are several others in the sciences and medical fields who are recording landmark achievements but are not known because they are in fields that perhaps do not readily embrace the klieg lights!

    A sizeable number of them are angry that Nigeria has refused to leave the realm of the mediocre despite the prospects it had at independence. They are amazed that something as basic as building roads that endure is beyond us as a nation. A few who have visited express horror at the fact that a country awash with millions of oil dollars does not have a single road that is comparable to any in Houston or anywhere in the United States.

    As an American once observed about our country, we seem to have all models of vehicles manufactured anywhere in the world on our roads, roads that we refuse to build or forgot to! Nnamdi asked me, “My brother, if I return home as a taxi driver do you think I’ll get anything near what I earn here? Look at the distance of the airport to where I am going to drop you, do you think I could cover such in Lagos or any city in Nigeria for that matter?”

    I asked him if he was not afraid he could be killed in America. For a moment he was quiet. I thought he was ruminating on what he was going to say. A short while later he burst into a roaring laughter. I was afraid he was going to lose concentration because we were on a wide long road and the traffic was light. Then he replied, “MY, na Nigeria dem no dey kill people? What about Boko Haram that has killed hundreds and thousands in Nigeria all the past years? How many have been arrested?”

    He paused and continued, “Six months ago some boys from Russia….”

    I interrupted him, “No, they are from Chechnya, not Russia.”

    “What is the difference? Well, na you be journalist wey sabi dat one. When those boys bombed innocent marathoners in Boston, how long did it take the police to arrest them?” he asked and looked at my face from the mirror. I was tongue-tied.

    “If that happened in Nigeria, do you think those boys would have been arrested in such a short time?”

    I tried to go away from that and came back to the issue of the insecurity of his job as a taxi driver, especially working in the airport. I made reference to the lone gunman who on November 1 entered the airport in Los Angeles, California and short dead a transport official and caused widespread panic at airports nationwide. It was as if he was ready for me and expecting I would raise this, he retorted, “Was he not arrested? Would that have happened in our country? Look, the government must seriously work on the issue of security and light if they want investors to come. The news we hear and read about home are frightening.”

    I told him it was the same with the United States that every day some pupils invade schools and shoot their mates or teachers, does that mean America is generally unsafe? He, however, insisted that whatever crime was committed was always unravelled. But at home what happens, he probed and listed many prominent and not-so-prominent individuals who have been killed in the last few years whose killers have never been found!

     

    Integrated transport system

    There is no way any Nigerian who has ever had an opportunity to travel abroad would not come home and be pissed off with the way our leaders have continued to preside over our affairs as if we are still living in the stone age. Moving from one part of the city, or country to the other has become so tough that one would have thought the world has not moved an inch since road transportation by vehicles was invented! We continue to build (?) roads as if we never foresee the future that the population is going to grow and the two-lane road of today would tomorrow be too narrow.

    For instance, the rail sector has been left in shambles. It is archaic and out of sync with the realities of today. The running of the rail sector is still under the federal list when in actual fact it should be left to the states or local governments to manage. This sector is the worst in the country in terms of development. Every government from that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan has always claimed to have spent billions on this sector. Yet no new tracks have been built apart from those built during the colonial days (I stand to be corrected).

    The same coaches used in the seventies when I used to travel from Jos to Ilorin are still being used today, the same for the fire engines. So where have the billions of dollars purportedly budgeted and spent disappeared to? Why should I drive from Sango all the way to Marina or Lagos Island when I should have parked in Sango or Agege Train Station and alight at Iddo and join another vehicle to my final destination? It is only in Nigeria where more man hours are spent on the road than in doing productive things. Yet our leaders and road mangers are not bothered.

    Is it that we lack critical thinkers in the corridors of power or there are no resources to accomplish this? I don’t believe it is due to lack of resources. It is sheer greed on the part of those trusted with responsibilities. Has this not been displayed by a minister spending about N250 million to purchase just two cars when such could have bought critical gadgets needed to equip our airports, which would benefit all and not some few individuals?

    Our so called leaders need to visit Houston, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts and see how other people think and project ahead. For instance, why should one leave Abeokuta and be coming to Lagos through the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and be going to Oshodi, and since leaving Abeokuta he only has only a single road to get there? No flyovers, no underground, not any point to detour off? Why has the intractable traffic snarl at the Abule Egba intersection of the road become so tough to crack? Would a simple flyover at that point have solved the countless man-hours drivers and commuters spend on that stretch? Are we thinking at all in this country?

    Nigeria is a country that depends solely on road transportation, yet we have failed woefully to plan and build durable roads? Are we too poor to build autobahn as seen in Germany, United States of America and other countries of the world? We build roads as if they are only meant for bicycles while those who have successfully integrated their transport systems are still working and thinking of how to improve the lives of their citizens. The number of hours many Nigerians, especially in Lagos, waste in traffic gridlock is enough to propel the country into the next age.

    In all spheres of our lives, Nigerians live as if we have no sense of the future. We fail to take care of little things, and if you fail to take care of little things there is no way you can manage big things. Take for instance, the other day I walked into a bookshop in Lagos to buy a book. What I saw was revolting! The books and the shelves on which they were displayed were full of dusts, yet this is a bookshop with many in its employ! This can never happen anywhere except here. Do the managers of this bookshop expect their patrons to be the ones to dust off the books they plan to buy? How does this encourage one to buy books? In other climes the bookshop is a place where book-buying has been made sexy. The way and manner they are displayed, no one would enter there and not be seduced to buy at least one book. What about post offices? Those who invented the use of Internet to communicate still maintain and fund their post offices whereas here they have become archival issues. Our post offices today are abandoned, smelly and dirty. Museums and other tourist attractions are neglected and dying. At the New England Museum, Boston, technology is prime as visitors see various water animals in their constructed natural habitat. This has been so for over forty years. We must learn to bring back the spark in all spheres of our nation’s life.

    We must invest seriously in technology if we are hoping to be part of the world because the way we are now, we are going to be left behind if care is not taken. Our banks and other institutions still continue to battle with the simple technology of what they call ‘network failure’ when in the USA students identity cards have become so sophisticated that they are used as ATM cards to purchase victuals at students eateries on campus!

    In Boston, I went on a city tour in an amphibious truck that later took us on a ride on a river. And while on this trip the driver regaled us with the history of buildings, streets and sites in the city. Do we have anything of sort in any of our cities? Yet we pay lip service to tourism. But how can you boost tourism with the kind of chaotic transport system we operate?

  • Stop celebrating corrupt leaders, cleric urges Nigerians

    A Muslim leader and member of the National Executive Committee of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Alhaji Mumakai Unagha, has urged Nigerians to stop celebrating corrupt and bad leaders.

    Unagha, who made the remark when Muslim religious leaders visited him in Warri, said respecting those whose greed and avarice put millions of Nigerians in poverty would only encourage them and others to continue in such evil ways.

    The Muslim cleric lamented that corruption and bad leadership have become endemic in Nigeria adding that they are growing very fast amongst the people who see it as normal.

    He therefore charged traditional rulers, religious and community leader to speak out against corruption, stressing that they should not remain silent

    Unaghai, who is a former Chairman of the Delta State Muslim Pilgrims Board, said leaders have divine roles to play in the day to day running of the affairs of the nation. He said they must not sit aloof and watch until the nation is brought to its knees by corrupt and bad leaders.

    The Muslim leaders particularly reminded the visiting Muslims that they are mirror others looked unto pointing out that they should be modest as ambassadors of Islam.

    He called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to restructure the anti-corruption organs, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corruption Practice Commission (ICPC) to meet the aspiration of Nigerians.

    He maintained that the two agencies have fallen short of Nigerians expectation stressing that they should be establish in both at the States and Local Government level.

    Also speaking, the leader of the delegation Alhaji Isa Onokeroraye, paised Unagha on his election.

    The Muslims particularly commended the Urhobos for giving him a seat in the highest Urhobo body in spite his religious background as a Muslim.

    He enjoined other ethnic nationalities to emulate the good gesture of the Urhobo people pointing out that it has portrayed the Urhobo as civilised and accommodating.

    Onokeroraye, however, urged Unagha to be loyal and submissive to the will of the people in the task of moving Urhobo forward.

    Highlight of the occasion was the former presentation of souvenir to Unagha.

    Among those who graced the occasion were Alhaji Wasiu Udi, Chairman of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Alhaji Jurbril Jenije, Chairman Jamaat Nastril Islam.

  • Four Cameroonians, three Nigerians nabbed

    Four Cameroonians, three Nigerians nabbed

    Four Cameroonians and three Nigerians suspected oil thieves are in the custody of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) for their alleged involvement in smuggling of 33,500 litres of 134 drums of 250 litres each of petroleum products out of the country.

    The products were concealed in 134 drums which have capacity to hold 250 liters each.

    The four Cameroonians suspects are: Lappa Bamileke, Fabian Lemonmu, Meluis Ameh and Elias Mume, while their three from Nigeria accomplices are; Egbe James, Emeka Igbokwe and Michael Effiong John.

    They were arrested by the Nigerian Navy while perfecting plan to ferry a large quantity of illegally refined petroleum products to Cameroon on that New Year’s Eve.

    Apart from the 143 drums of 250 litres of petroleum products, other items recovered from the suspected oil thieves, were two 40 horsepower engines, two pumping machines, as well as provisions which the suspects used to mask the stolen products in other to convince the border security that they were only carrying ordinary articles of trade.

    At the time of their parade at the Nigerian Navy office in Ikot Abasi, the seven suspected oil thieves pleaded not guilty to the allegation.

    One of the suspects, Lappa Bamileke, told our correspondent that he was only a passenger on the boat.

    “The only crime I committed was to board that boat. I don’t know anything about what I am being accused of. What will my father say when he gets to hear all these… I was only carrying provisions in that boat and not petroleum products. I cannot plead guilty to a crime I did not commit”, he lamented.

    Another suspect, Michael Effiong John said he has never stolen before in his life and pleaded that the case be properly investigated so he should be exonerated.

    “My father has died and my mother has died. I don’t have anybody to speak for me. I am not guilty of this offence. I have never stolen before in my life,” Michael said.

    The Navy Commandant, Commodore Isaac Ogbole, who spoke with reporters shortly after handing over of the suspects to NSCDC, said that it was possible that the suspects did not only deal on petroleum products but arms and ammunition as well.

    His words: “Our country and Cameroon, they have boundaries. There is nothing wrong. We are friends. But again, from all indications, these men… it is not only petroleum products that they have been carrying.

    “They have made useful statements to my people that their master is somewhere in Cameroon and I am sure he comes in and out. They could have equally smuggled arms and ammunition in and out of our country.

    From what we have seen, they are perpetual smugglers.”

    Responding, the Akwa Ibom state commandant of the NSCDC, Akwa Ibom State command, Pedro Awili Ideba commended the NNS for their partnership and gave the assurance that the case would be properly investigated and necessary prosecuting steps would be taken.

    His words: “I want to also assure the whole of Akwa Ibom and Nigeria in general that we will ensure that there is zero tolerance in oil theft and vandalism in our country. People should not walk in any how and steal our oil to another country. And people should not also steal our oil, adulterate it and sell it to our people to use to destroy their generators. We are determined, we’ve been doing it and we are going to do it again.”

     

  • Nigerians studying abroad reach out to needy

    Nigerian undergraduates studying in the Diaspora have put smiles on the faces of about 1,000 underprivileged youths.

    Last Friday, they set up a soup kitchen called New Year Soup Kitchen 2014, at Aunty Ayo’s Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Ikoyi, Lagos to from where they served food to the youth.

    The students raised funds with which they provided food, clothing, shoes, drugs as well as doctors to examine the youth.

    Coordinator of the kitchen, Miss Korimobi Gbonene, who is studying Supply Chain Management, at the University of Maryland, said for the first time, the initiative was being imported to Nigeria from the United Kingdom (UK) and US to impact the society.

    She said: “Soup kitchen is everywhere in the U.S. and UK, and it is about helping the needy in the society; that is why I think we should bring the idea back home and encourage the youth. Do not just think about yourself, think about everybody. I think that is how we can move forward as a nation.

    “We raised the donations from concerned people, who believe in our course and some people donated online and we were able to achieve drugs, cloths, food, shoes, drinks we bring in qualified doctors to examine the state of health of the children and mothers.

    “I am very happy with the turn out of the people, because we targeted 1,000 people and we achieved it through the collaboration of the trinity house church.”

    The head of planning, new year soup kitchen 2014, Miss Motunrayo Odu, an undergraduate of Law and Business Management from University of Derby, UK, said next year, the group hoped to reach about 5,000 youths.

    “Our aim is to help the needy and children because we do such in the UK. Our target next year is to feed over 5,000 people, clothe them also and give out books to the children.

    “Our message to the government is that, the youth are ready to take over leadership role in our society for a greater nation of our dream,” she said.

    Lauding the programme, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, representative of Eti-Osa 1 constituency at the Lagos State House of Assembly, said: “Though they have a very splendid background, they have decided to give to the poor; this is why we are talking about values of nurturing. I think we should all encourage them, we should ask other youths to emulate this.”

    He called on corporate organisations and Nigerians to continue to support the novel idea.

     

  • Minister advises Nigerians on unity

    The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed has congratulated Nigerians, especially those residing in the Federal Capital Territory as they mark the New Year.

    In his New Year message, the minister urged Nigerians to re-dedicate themselves to the building of a united Nigeria where generations yet unborn would be proud.

    According to him, this year is very special to the country because it marks the 100th year of the amalgamation of the Northern and the Southern Protectorates of Nigeria.

    Senator Mohammed called for patriotism where love for the country is most paramount, even as he urged them to shun any act that could bring about division.

    He said Nigerians should pray for their fatherland as well as its leadership, for God to continue to guide, protect and give President Goodluck Jonathan the strength and wisdom to steer the affairs of state, thereby implementing the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

    He appreciated God for sparing our lives to witness this New Year celebration, in spite of the daunting security challenges facing some parts of the country.

    Senator Mohammed urged Nigerians, particularly residents of the FCT irrespective of their religious beliefs or political inclinations, to continue to live in peace and harmony with one another.

    Mohammed enjoined residents to remain steadfast, believe in the capability of Nigeria’s leadership and be their brothers’ keepers, in keeping with the customs and traditions of Africa.

    The minister expressed the commitment of his administration to provide a serene and clean environment in consonance with the Road Map of his administration and transformation agenda of President Jonathan.

    On security, the minister further assured that all security outfits in the Federal Capital Territory are working together and are more than ever prepared to remain on top of any unexpected security breach.

    He, however, charged the residents to always assist the security agents with useful information on any suspicious movement because, he said, security is everybody’s business.

  • ‘Nigerians have long yearned for change’

    Imo State Governor and the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha has said the speed and excitement with which Nigerians from all the geo-political zones in the country and from other political parties have been defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), was an indication that Nigerians had long desired change. He added that the APC is determined to provide that change.

    Okorocha who spoke at the Government House, Owerri when some political stakeholders in the Southeast geo-political zone visited him, explained that for the first time in the political history of the country, members of other political parties, including the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would be defecting to a party that is not in power at the centre.

    According to him, the way people from all the geo-political zones have been trooping into the APC, the party has become the most visible national political party at the moment. This, he said, is an indication that Nigerians had been groaning in silence for change all these years. He commended the former chairman of the PDP in Kaduna State Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama, former commissioners in the state and a host of others who recently defected to the APC, describing the APC as a moving train every patriotic Nigerian must be desirous to catch up with.

    Governor Okorocha also urged governors on the platform of other political parties, and members of the National Assembly who want to join the APC to do so without further delay, adding that court action being taken by the PDP against some of the governors who defected to APC was aimed at discouraging others who intend to join the party.

    He noted that the law is very clear on elected officers who want to defect to another political party.

    Governor Okorocha also used the opportunity to call on all politicians in the Southeast zone to read the political handwriting on the wall and make hay while the sun shines, even as he remarked that those who have the interest of the Igbo at heart and who want Igbo land to develop should hasten to join the APC.

    Responding, Chief Moses Izuka Mboji said the coming on board of APC was timely and said the Igbo have a bright future in APC, especially with Governor Okorocha’s leading role in the party.

  • Former Speaker urges Nigerians to assist orphans, fetes 1,000 needy

    Former Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA), Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo, has urged wealthy Nigerians to emulate the giving spirit of an American donor, Bill Gate, and give towards the support of the needy members of the society.

    Oladipo who is a serving Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, said when a needy and less-privileged Nigerian is lifted up from deprivation or lack, the society and the country are lifted up as well.

    According to him, the Government should not be left to bear the burden of helping the needy hence the propriety of individuals and corporate organisations lending a supportive hand.

    Speaking in Sagamu while launching Kokumo Oladipo Memorial Foundation in memory of his late father, he recalled that if a well meaning individual had not taken up the responsibility of catering for him when he was orphaned at a tender age, his life would have been sharply differently from the success story it is today.

    The Foundation, he said, was initiated in remembrance of his late father Papa Kokumo who died in a fatal motor accident four years after the death of his  mother, leaving him and four other of his siblings  as orphans at a very tender age when parental love and guidance were most needed.

    Oladipo said: ”Bill Gate did not empower but he believed he could put his money in some places that can reduce maternal – child mortality and also fight malaria. If you pull a life up, you have saved a generation.”

    At the event which also featured empowerment for adults as well as end of year party for 1,000 less-privileged children and school pupils, he also noted that the Foundation would provide “healthcare and welfare services” to the needy indigenes and residents of Ogun State.

    According to Oladipo, in spite of the demise of his parents, God stood and supported him through the benevolence of kind hearted family members throughout the tough time.

    He noted that there were lots of less privileged children and orphans who may be going through similar ordeal but urged them to have courage, trust in God and have the determination to succeed irrespective of their challenges.