Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday urged Nigerians to emulate the sacrificial love that Jesus Christ showed to all generations by preaching and showing love to all.
Osinbajo gave the advice while speaking to newsmen shortly after the Easter Service at the Aso Villa Chapel.
The VP had at the service preached on love to one another and said it was the foundation of the nation’s development.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osinbajo’s sermon is entitled: `Revelations on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.’
“It is a message for love for all; there is no tribe, no religion; regardless of faith, Jesus loves us. This is how we should relate with ourselves.
“It is a pure love and I think that it is what everyone should bear in mind at this time,” he said.
He reminded Nigerians to serve God faithfully to earn forgiveness and salvation in the hereafter.
Osinbajo noted that spiritually, Jesus stood between hell and heaven, and serves as an intercessor for mankind.
“All that is required is to believe in Him by acceptance of the commitment he made on the cross,” he said.
The service had in attendance, Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity and Sen. Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters. (NAN)
Senate President Bukola Saraki urged Nigerians to have confidence in the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in the country.
He assured that government was working hard to overcome the current challenged bedevilling the nation.
Saraki also called on the citizens to be optimistic and stay focused.
He enjoined Nigerians to continue to live in peace and uphold the unity of the country.
Senator Saraki spoke with reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital after his turbaning as Baba Adini of Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria.
On his Easter message he said: “My message is for us to live in peace and unity. I know that we will continue to make sacrifice, and we should be hopeful that the country will get better.”
” We should be hopeful that we will attain our promises with time. We just have to stay focused and determined and should not get distracted. I’m sure at the end of the day, we will get there.
“But the most important thing is that there must be unity and peace, and we must be able to come together and support government to be able to do our best. People should not give up. They should be rest assured that all is going to be well.”
Dr Saraki also made a case for the provision of funds in the constitution for the execution of constituency projects by lawmakers across the country.
He said such provision would allow the lawmakers to impact on the lives of their constituents.
Former Information Minister and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Prince Tony Momoh, in this interview with reporters in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), speaks on the Buhari administration, the crisis in ruling party and other partisan issues. Excerpts:
You allegedly said Nigerians should stone APC leaders, if the party failed to perform after two years. Did you actually make that statement?
Yes, I said so. I said if APC does not perform. In fact, the interview where I made the statement is still on my website. I said if things did not go as usual, I am quite sure we will perform by 2019. I also granted another interview where I said if in two years we do not perform, we should be stoned. Though it is not yet two years that this government was sworn-in, I am now telling you that we cannot be stoned because we have performed. To me, President Buhari has performed creditably well. To some others, even if the people of Mars say the president has performed, I know of others in Nigeria who will still not agree that the president has performed. So, I am confidently saying that as at now, nobody can say Buhari has not performed and this is before the end of his first two years in office. Now, we promised to secure Nigeria. We also said that we will stabilise the land through infrastructural development and then, there will be prosperity. So, the campaign foccused on tackling insecurity, fighting corruption and also reviving the economy. In the area of insecurity, there were 14 local governments under the control of Boko Haram in Borno state. As things were going, if Buhari had not been elected president, by now, many of us would have run away or died because Boko Haram would have taken over Abuja. Today, where is Boko Haram? In the latest video posted by Shekau, there were four people behind him and a voice supporting what he was saying but you can’t see the crowd. It is obvious that Boko Haram is finished. Gone are the days when they will decimate a whole village and hoist their flags. So, in the area of security, nobody can say that we have not performed.
What about corruption?
In the area of corruption, nobody can say that we have not tried. The fear of the EFCC today is the beginning of wisdom for corrupt ones. Everybody who has anything to hide is jittery of the EFCC, if not on the run. On the economy, nobody can now say Nigeria solely depends on oil. Everybody now sees agriculture emerging. People are now going to the farm. In fact, many of the farmers today are smiling to the banks. Another thing that people are not looking at is what is happening in the Southeast. I am confidently saying that a lot of our votes in 2019 will come from the southeast. Then, Enugu- Onitsha road was not addressed for the four years that Goodluck Jonathan was there. Enugu-Port Harcourt road was also not addressed. They were singing songs about Second Niger Bridge and not much was done. The erosion sites were all and neglected. Now, these issues involved a lot of capital and are now being addressed in the Southeast. Many leaders in the Southeast are seeing what APC is doing and are now moving in droves to the APC to help galvanise support for the party. So, we are performing and I am saying nobody can say they want to stone us if they are real in their assessment in the area of security, fighting corruption, and in the development of the economy.
You said the fear of EFCC is the beginning of wisdom. What do you make of the rejection of Acting EFCC Chairman; Ibrahim Magu for a second time even after President Buhari has given him a clean bill of health?
All these are areas of lack of understanding. The Senate, whether we like it or not, is to do the confirmation of those that the constitution says should be confirmed by the senate. People like ministers, ambassadors, judges etc. But, those not to be confirmed by the Senate are those the president can appoint for himself. The constitution shares power among the organs of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. So, if you want to know the limit of your power, you go to the constitution and point to the section that grants you that power. Specifically on Magu, if the senate refuses to confirm, that does not mean the powers of the president to appoint is removed. The senate can refuse to confirm him 100 million times and the president can send the name to the senate 100 million times. He can be Acting EFCC chairman for 100 thousand years, if he lives up to that time. So, there is no problem at all if we understand what we are supposed to do.
What do you make of the decision of the senate asking the president to replace him with another person?
That is why I said everyone must know the limit of his power. They cannot dictate to the president what to do. You can only reject him for confirmation. The president knows what to do next. If the president likes, he can send his name to the senate one million times. if he likes he can replace him with another person.
There is this general belief that President Buhari has lost control of his government to the cabals. What do you make of this?
All these show how much interest there is in the affairs of the EFCC. The EFCC is breaking bones right, left, front and centre and it is natural that some people will feel uncomfortable about that. If there is more than one report from the presidency on Magu, I have no hesitation to say it is indiscipline. But that doesn’t mean that the president has lost control. Everybody who knows the president knows that he gives responsibilities and then gives you the authorization. He is not those who will ask you to do something and will not give you the free hand to do it. That is his own way of governance. During his time as military head of state, his second-in-command, the late Tunde Idiagbon was very visible but that doesn’t imply that Buhari was not in control because he was the one who gave Idiagbon the work he did. The same thing is happening with Osinbajo today. Now, compared that to what happened between Obasanjo and Atiku between 2003 -2007. Buhari will always allow others to do job. There are some people who become envious because their subordinates are succeeding; not Buhari. He doesn’t compete with his subordinates and I tell you nobody is competing with him. The loyalty to him is total.
What is the way out of the face-off between the Senate and the Presidency?
There is no stand-off between the presidency and the senate. You know, all these things are routine in democracy. People may try to exceed their powers, but the beauty of democracy is that you put them where they belong. What powers do they have to summon Prof. Sagay? People have been quoting Tony Momoh vs the Senate. When I was the editor of Daily Times, the National Assembly invited me because we wrote something in the Grapevine column titled ‘MPs, Senators and Cards’. We said that some elected people, the highest elected body in Nigeria, should behave to sustain the image of that height because some of them will go to banks to seek loans. When they ask them for collateral, they will bring complimentary cards. They were not many that do this, but few. So, we pointed to this that they should be called to order. They became angry and started debating Tony Momoh and said I should come to tell them who among them were doing so. I told them I am not coming and I went to court that the invitation be quashed because the sergeant-at-arms has the powers of the Commissioner of Police. They can arrest you if you refuse to come. By the time the issue came up for hearing, they had withdrawn the invitation. I still went to court and the court addressed the powers of the senate, which is anchored in the constitution. I am a private citizen, editor of Daily Times. In fact, the senate invited me earlier because we said their salary was too high. They said we should come and tell them our salary in Daily Times. I said I am not coming for the fact that the Managing Director of Daily Times, Dele Cole, was sent from the Cabinet Office to be the MD. So, I said since he is a public officer, he can go. He went. It is not that one is stubborn by not going, but they have no right to call me to tell you what my salary is. I refused to go and the court told them the limit of their powers.
So, Prof. Sagay was right when he said they have no powers to summon him?
Of course! Why should they summon him? He has freedom of speech. He can say what he likes. If anybody is angry, then, they should take him to court. How can they ask him to appear before them? That is not their power. The power to call people for adjudication belongs to the judiciary. You can’t be a judge in your own case.
Many of your supporters are angry that they worked for this party, yet they are not being taken care of almost two years after the party came into power. Some even argued that many supporters of the PDP are still holding crucial positions in the government. What is your take on this?
About 73 million persons were registered to vote. We had 15 million votes and all of them are entitled to positions. But, how many positions are available? Everybody wants to be recognised for what they have done, but how many positions are there? My area of concern is to create an environment where people can do what they know how to do best. Not everybody can take political positions. Having said that, many APC members are angry especially because PDP people ought to have been removed but the fact is that Buhari is a democrat that annoys many other democrats because many other democrats are not tolerant. Democracy is anchored on the rule of law. Many of this people you call PDP members are there because of statutory position of their being there. If they have senate clearance to be there for years, you can’t remove them. I know some people may not like what I want to say now, but the truth is that many of these so-called PDP members who are holding positions are Nigerians. What if they have services to render and they are delivering in their positions? Should we move them out? This is my personal opinion.
What is your reaction to the release of the 2019 election timetable by the INEC?
INEC did not release anything. It only says you can predict the election that we will have in 2023, 2027 and even 2031. If you look at the constitution, it says the election must be conducted by a particular period before swearing in. That is the way to look at it. Anybody can work it out. There is nothing about heating up the polity. Politicians always heat up the polity. The fact is that Nigerians never end politicking. When elections are over, governance begins. Everybody is aware of this but they play politics throughout, which is wrong. This is the time for governance, not politics but some people are playing politics. Some people are even already consulting that I want to be this and that. Yet, they don’t know if they will live till then. Why do you think there was so much noise about the president’s illness? Some were even praying for him to die. It happened in the time of Yar;Adua, it happened in the time of Obasanjo. It also happened during the time of Azikiwe.
Will you advise the president to run in 2019, given his current state of health?
Am I the one to advise him? The president is entitled to two terms and then, he defeated all other candidates in the primary and his ticket to run between 2015 and 2019 was not negotiated. If he had said he will only do one term, then, one can start discussing whether he should seek re-election or not. The man is elected until 2019. At that time, God willing, he will express his intention. In 2011, he said he wasn’t interested anymore, but a lot of people pushed him to be interested and he ran. So, even if he says he is not interested in 2019 now, by that time, people will push him to be interested. And based on his performance, I don’t think even if he wants to go, people will allow him to go.
As a chieftain of the APC, are you happy with the way the affairs of the party are being managed?
Absolutely no. There are lot of problems in running the party. You can’t run the party without money. For instance, all the governors ought to be paying something every month. All the elected members ought to be paying something every month. The NASS ought to be paying something every month. All political appointees ought to be paying something every month to run the party. But, how much have they paid? You can’t run the party without money. Who is going to fund the party? It is as simple as that. That is the first basic thing. The party organs are all there; about 14 to 18 party organs from polling units, through the wards to local government, state, geo-political level and then, the national. All these are party men and they need to fund the party. Look at the Edo and Ondo elections. How much did the party give? Once someone has the ticket, the party takes over. But, the APC has no money to take over. So, people just blame the party for nothing. Democracy is not a child’s play. The key thing is money. The other one is organization and you can’t organise without money. Money is the fundamental thing.
The Federal Government says it will provide at least 15 million jobs for Nigerians by the year 2020 as captured in the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, gave the assurance at a news conference on ERGP on Tuesday in Abuja.
Udoma said that the implementation of the plan would deliver some key outcomes including generation of at least 10 gigawatt of electricity by 2020.
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“We want to bring down the rate of unemployment by creating over 15 million direct jobs by 2020 in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, services and particularly among the youth.
“We want the manufacturing sector to grow at average of 8.5 per cent, peaking 10.6 per cent by 2020.
“We want agriculture to also grow by 6.9 per cent over the Plan period; we want self-sufficiency in rice and wheat in 2018 and 2020 at the end of the plan period.
“We want 60 per cent reduction in imports of refined petroleum products by 2018 and to become a net exporter of refined crude by 2020.
“We expect an average of 4.6 per cent average real GDP (Gross Domestic Growth) growth rate over the Plan period with 7 per cent by 2020; we want to achieve single digit inflation rate by 2020.
“We want to increase crude oil output from 2.2 million barrel per day (mbpd) to 2.5 mbpd by 2020.
“We want to achieve at 10 gigawatt of operational electricity capacity by 2020.’’
Udoma said that the ERGP evolved from the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) which government had been implementing since 2016.
“Already, following the implementation of the SIP, the economy has shown signs of early recovery in the 4th quarter of 2016 as indicated in the recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“We need to build on that momentum.
“This Plan, which succeeds the SIP, sets out Government’s economic programmes and strategic interventions over the next four years (2017-2020).
“When implemented, it will put Nigeria back on the path of diversified, inclusive, sustained growth. This is therefore, our blueprint for economic recovery and growth.’’
Udoma further said that the plan would tackle the fundamental problems that held back the progress of the country in the past.
He said the future prosperity rests upon collective support towards effective implementation of the Plan over the next four years.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ERGP’s projected that Nigeria will make significant progress to achieve structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy in five key areas by 2020.
The key areas are stable macro-economic environment, agricultural transformation, food security, sufficiency in energy and improved transportation infrastructure.
A cleric Reverend Lawrence Olaoluwa has urged Nigerians to fear God.
He spoke at The African Church Cathedral Salem, Ebute-Meta, Lagos, during a service to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Speaking on the theme, “Entering into your Glory”, the cleric urged Nigerians to be humble, obedient and always engage in good deeds.
According to him, the event symbolised the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. He said it was also a day to mark the centenary celebration of the Disciples of Christ.
God, he said, has prepared an eternal glory for everyone.
He said: “He does not want us to lack anything, but it is our responsibility to ensure that we work and live in accordance with God’s commandments. To experience the glory of God means to be singled out by Jesus and approved for success and crowning in the things of God. The glory of God also means divine presence. God has prepared glory for us here on earth and also in heaven but we have to believe in Jesus to experience the glory.
“God is calling us unto total obedience, without excuse, so that we can enter and enjoy good things of God including peace all round. Are you living a life of righteousness, holiness and one pleasing to God? God has a package of eternal glory kept for us in heaven. It includes everlasting life, glorious body, glorious mansion, treasures, and crown of glory, crown of life and crown of righteousness.”
After the church service, members moved round Oyinbo, Lagos Mainland, waving palm leaves and singing. The procession was led by a boy, who sat on a donkey.
In this piece for The Nation, an Indian journalist of South African origin, ROBIN SHUKLA examines the travails of Nigerians and other Africans in India, where brown seems darker than black
For a nation greatly distressed over its people getting harassed and killed in racist attacks in the U.S., India seems to have minimal qualms over its own senseless hatred of Africans.
March 27, 2017 saw three African youths being brutalised by a large mob of Noida residents. The attackers were reportedly incensed over the death of a 16-year-old Indian drug-user who succumbed to a probable overdose, and over the subsequent release of five Nigeria-born students suspected of having provided drugs to the deceased.
Nigerian attacked by Noida mob on March 27, 2017
Anti-African violence has again reared its ugly head after a lull of about seven months. Last year, sometime in July 2016, there were two kinds of reports coming out of Africa: One was of Indian PM Narendra Modi’s five-day-four-nation jaunt to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. The other pertained to retaliatory violence unleashed against Indian traders in Congo over the killing of a Congolese woman, Cynthia (32), who was murdered by her Indian husband and chopped into pieces in Hyderabad, India!
During his much tom-tommed people-to-people interactions in those four countries, Modi failed to address the issue of frequent racist attacks across India that had riled the entire African continent of 54 countries. One can only hope that nobody stokes anti-India sentiments there in retaliation for the current Noida attacks, because the video footages are very sickening.
In the aftermath of Monday’s attack, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had tweeted, “I have asked for a report from Government of Uttar Pradesh about the reported attack on African students in Noida’ and ‘He (UP CM Yogi Adityanath) has assured that there will be a fair and impartial investigation into this unfortunate incident.”
Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said: “The government is committed to ensuring safety and security of all foreigners in India. People from Africa, including students and youth, remain our valued partners.”
The administration had obviously failed to see an oncoming situation, even though on March 25, 2017, more than 500 (some say 1,000) residents of Greater Noida housing societies had taken a morcha to the SSP office to protest against what they termed ‘police inaction.’ That the marchers were holding printed banners and posters seeking the eviction of Nigerians should have alerted police to the fact that there was a behind-the-scenes channelizing of hatred, and that the morcha was not just a spontaneous expression of anger against an Indian drug-user’s death.
Earlier attacks on Africans
Last year, on May 25, 2016, a grand Africa Day Celebrations event was almost boycotted by 42 African nations because a 23-year-old Congolese national, Masonga Kitanda Oliver, had been beaten to death in the Vasant Kunj area of India’s capital, Delhi, only five days earlier, on May 20.
Congolese national Masonda Ketanda Oliver, killed in Delhi on May 20, 2016
Diplomats of African nations had planned to stay away from the Africa Day Celebrations, organized in Delhi by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, as a mark of protest against the discrimination and violence faced by their countrymen in various parts of India. The envoys of several African countries signed and sent a strong letter ticking off the Indian government for failing to protect their nationals.
As a matter of fact, hundreds of Africans were set to march alongside members of the Association of African Students of India in an anti-racism rally to condemn the atrocities. However, senior BJP leaders like the then Minister of State for External Affairs, General (retd) V.K. Singh and Sushma Swaraj had made placating noises about brotherhood, shared histories, etc, and the rally was cancelled. Some diplomats later condescended to attend the Africa Day Celebrations where they voiced their concerns and displeasure over India’s treatment of Africans.
Alem Woldermariam, the Ambassador of Eritrea, warned, “Given the pervading climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending to their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be guaranteed.’
Ironically, on May 25, 2016, on the day Africa Day Celebrations event was held in Delhi, a 23-year-old male Nigerian student, Ghazeem, was assaulted with an iron rod and had to be hospitalized after a tiff over parking his car in Hyderabad. A day later there were as many as four attacks with bats and iron rods on nine African nationals, including four women and a boy, in the villages of Rajpur Khurd and Maidan Garhi located in South Delhi.
It would be pertinent to point out that Rajpur Khurd, in addition to its population of about 5,000 Rathi Jats, has more than a 1,000 African men and women renting spaces for up to Rs.15,000 per month and friction between locals and the dark-skinned foreigners has continued to trigger violence from time to time.
Sordid history
The state of Karnataka brought real shame to India in February 2016, when a 21-year-old Tanzanian woman was pulled out of her car in Bengaluru, her clothes torn off by a mob that beat her up and continued to chase her even as she fled into a bus. The horror of horrors was that passengers, our own dear Kannadigas, pushed her out of the bus and into the hands of her ravagers even as Bengaluru police looked on and then stood by mutely as her car was torched by the mob.
Tanzanian woman was beaten and stripped in Bangalore in February 2016
Bengaluru has been bad to Africans before. In March 2015, a mob in the northeast part of the city attacked men from the Ivory Coast with stones and beer bottles. In July 2013, 44-year-old Wandoh Timothy from Chad was attacked by a mob in Bangalore after an argument with bikers while he was on his way to pick up his three-year-old daughter from school. Timothy has been living in India for more than a decade and is happily married to an Indian girl.
– Chad national Wandoh Timothy, attacked by a mob in Bangalore in July 2013, seen here with his family
In September 2014, three students, Yohan, Mapaga and Guira, from Gabon and Burkina Faso were set upon by a mob at a Delhi metro station for alleged eve-teasing.
Most of us may remember the despicable behavior of Aam Aadmi Party’s cabinet minister Somnath Bharti who, in January 2014, led a raid against Ugandan women for alleged drug dealing and prostitution rackets in Delhi. Most of the women were allegedly molested, leading to uproar in their home country.
In December 2013, 36-year-old Obodo Uzoma Simeon from Nigeria was hacked to death in north Goa, allegedly the fallout of a drug peddling dispute. There were spontaneous street protests by other Africans, many from Nigeria itself and police had to intervene to prevent a law and order situation.
On April 21, 2012, Yannick Nihangaza from Burundi was attacked by nine youth from well-to-do families in Jalandhar, Punjab. He was hospitalized and went into a coma, from which he recovered a few months later. The traumatized young man died after two years, in his home on July 1, 2014.
Nigerian national Obodo Uzoma Simeon, killed in Goa in December 2013
Color prejudices run deep
Even a cursory enquiry will expose the scary situation of the common Indian perceiving Africans as almost a subspecies, and many Africans have gone on record about the teasing and baiting they have had to cope with from unknown persons or groups on the streets of India, or from their overtly suspicious neighbors who view every African as a drug-smuggling or online-racketeering Nigerian.
Anti-African prejudices continue to run deep in Goa where even BJP ministers are known to have mouthed off uncalled for remarks and later had to eat their words for reasons of political correctness. Nothing is mentioned however about the violent Russians who have virtually taken over swathes of Goa’s beachfront areas into which Indians are discouraged from entering.
The dangerous downside
On the numbers front, there could be a fine line we are crossing as population equations could well work against us. We may have at best about 50,000 Africans currently in India as against the millions of Indians living and working in that continent. At any time, injustices highlighted here could trigger violent retaliation in various parts of Africa, a situation India could ill-afford.
There was a backlash of sorts after the killings of Masonga Kitanda Oliver and Cynthia, with many Indian settlers getting roughed up and shot at while their shops were vandalized in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. There are about 5,000 Indian living in that country.
On the economic front, India’s trade with Africa is worth approximately $72 billion, and it sources 24% of its crude oil from Africa. Several Indian private companies have invested there in the agriculture, renewable energy, pharmaceutical, automobile, telecommunication and engineering goods sectors.
China’s trade there was pegged at upwards of $200 billion in 2012, three times as much as that of India, with US figures pegged at $100 billion. Bad relations and the presence of such business rivals could be our undoing.
Gabon and Burkina Faso nationals, Yohan, Mapaga and Guira, attacked in a Delhi Metro station in September 2014
What about dark-skinned Indians and Asians?
There is scarcely a dusky complexioned Indian who will not have heard the word kalia or kali being used in reference to him or her because of skin tone.
The advertising for fairness creams which one sees on almost all of the hundreds of TV channels and scores of magazines and newspapers in almost all languages may easily be crossing the billion-rupee mark each year.
Parents and grandparents groom little girls with applications of various pastes made from ingredients in the kitchen to lighten their color. As they grow older, manufactured cosmetics get used and there are several in the market to choose from.
Even players like Nivea, who were satisfied with the success of their winter creams and lotions and deo-sprays, have graduated from under-arm whiteners to lotions that could bring in fairness all over!
The obsession with fairness is not a factor only with the fairer sex. There are Fair and Handsome creams, face washes, and lotions and many other such products for the men and boys, with superstars and cricketing legends endorsing and vouching for their efficacy. The contagion has spread as easily as cream and lotion, thanks to the deep-rooted prejudice that Indians have against their dark-skinned countrymen or women.
Matrimonial prospects are better for the fair and good-looking while those a few shades down have to offer a dowry of extra cash and goods to get a chance at being carted away by a spouse.
Not a new problem, God suffered too
Colour equations in India have avowedly ancient origins. As the Vicco people tell us in their jingles, a fair and lovely complexion is guaranteed because their turmeric cream has ingredients recommended in ancient Ayurvedic texts.Yashomati Maiya se boley Nandlala Radha kyun gori, mai kyun kala
These are the first words of a popular song from the super hit film, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, which even today has sing-along acceptability among all age groups and persuasions. Little Lord Krishna is asking his mother, “why is it that Radha is fair and I am black”.
Our dusky curd-grabbing flute-playing god is the stuff of many romantic legends and enjoys absolute devotion among Hindus. He has an overseas presence via the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), where mostly white devotees adopt Indian sadhu and sadhvi nomenclatures and attract attention at various temples across the globe with their heavily accented chanting and their swaying and dancing to bhajans sung to an accompaniment of cymbals and drum beats.
Unfortunately, acceptance of black or dark skin is limited only to Krishna and a few other gods and goddesses like the dark Kali Mata (Durga) and the pitch black Balaji of Tirupati.
In fact, Lord Balaji is probably the most venerated figure, ensconced atop Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati Hills, the most visited place of pilgrimage in India when compared to all the mountain trudging and river dipping at various other yatras, kumbhs and maha-kumbhs in the East, West and Northern parts of the country and also the Sabarimala walkathon in the southern state of Kerala.
Skin color may well continue to be one among India’s various intolerance issues, but it may not be safe to continue to subject Africans to our biases and prejudices. If patience runs out, those of us living in or visiting Africa may find it difficult to mouth the usual drivel about ‘Africans being our brothers and being very safe in India’ with our badly bruised lips and broken teeth.
Covenant University (CU) Ota in Ogun State chancellor Dr David Oyedepo has said anyone who cannot clarify his message to his listeners has not “communicated”.
Oyedepo said there is a correlation between man and language because of their dynamism, adding that this necessitates the need for the former to continue to acquire as much efficiency as possible on language use.
Oyedepo spoke at the inaugural lecture series at CU premises on Friday delivered by a professor of Stylistics Christopher Awonuga at the university.
Awonuga spoke on the theme: ‘’What does this text mean? Stylistics and the process of interpretation’’ Oyedepo said examples abound the world over where clarity of communication had resulted in ‘quality decision making’ that had shaped the society and brought about positive development.
The senior cleric said his calling as a communicator of the gospel of Jesus Christ has made him traverse the world. Yet, he continued to discover new challenges and gaps in his communication skills, as well as the need to address them as urgently as possible.
“What I expected is what I found,” Oyedepo said referring to the delivery of Awonuga’s lecture.
“This lecture of today applies to everybody,” he continued.
“It is unfortunate that many of us speak but only few communicate. This is where the essence of meaning comes in; and I want to say you can’t be a part of decision if you cannot communicate effectively because clarity of communication is vital in every relationship.
“This lecture will, therefore, go a long way in influencing clarity of communication and ways by which messages are diffused.”
Oyedepo said the likelihood of a language to survive largely depends on how often it is spoken; how proficient are users of the said language as well as efforts made to standardise such language to accommodate audience beyond the immediate speakers.
Awonuga highlighted the ambivalence nature in which personal pronouns, such as ‘mine’, ‘your’, ‘yours’, ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘we’ ‘their” and ‘they’ are used to connote various meanings via a text.
To buttres his points, Awonuga conducted linguistic analyses of some poems and five texts, two of which included former president Goodluck Jonathan’ ‘Declaration Speech’ on September 18, 2010, and former American president Barrack Obama’s ‘State of the union’ speech in February 12, 2013. In the end, Awonuga submitted that both speakers used personal pronouns to balance their relationship with their audiences.
He said: “The reviews and analyses demonstrate that in political rhetoric, the relationships among participants in the discourse situations are mediated by personal pronouns ‘which delineate a social or political ‘space’ in which people and groups have a political ‘position’
“There are two issues to be stressed at this point. The first is that personal pronouns are not the only major linguistic characteristics of language of politics. The others are metaphor, especially metaphors of sport and war.
“The second issue to note here is that English personal pronouns are used in interesting ways not only in politicians’ speeches but also in speeches in general.
In his recommendations, Awonuga sought the stylistic study of poetry and prose frictional texts by students.
“The reason for this is that the study of poetry is not popular with university students in Nigeria and they need to be motivated in this area of academic endeavour,” Awonuga added.
Big Brother Nigeria (#BBNaija) 2017 five top finalists have expressed gratitude to viewers for their votes in the ongoing TV reality show which has entered its final week.
The show which started on January 22, generated 11 million votes from viewers during the April 2 eviction show.
Bisola, Tboss, DebbieRise, Marvis and Efe the last man standing, took turns to bear their minds during their diary sessions on Monday evening with `Biggie’, owner of the house.
DebbieRise said that the last week in the house was different from the others calling it exciting and positive.
She said it was her discipline and compassion that brought her this far adding that she would give her best to ensure she took home the grand prize.
The guitar girl mentioned her friend, Tboss as her main competition, “because she is an amazing, caring, beautiful and homely person and she has everything it takes to win.
Another housemate, Bisola said the mood in the house was calm adding that everyone felt a strong sense of relief and accomplishment after making it to the last week.
She stressed that they (Five finalists) are winners in respective of who emerges the winner on Sunday April 9.
Bisola recounted how she had auctioned for Big Brother countless times and smiled broadly when she was picked to participate in the ongoing series adding, “I don suffer for this life and I really don’t want to go back to that.”
Marvis on the other hand thanked and appreciated Biggie for the experience and that she was going to miss everything.
She said Bisola though a friend, remain her toughest competition; she also said she was grateful for the opportunity to be in the show which according to her has fast track her career in showbiz as an actress.
Tboss on her part said Big Brother had made her a fighter and that she was realising what it takes to be a fighter.
She said Marvis was her biggest threat in the game.
Efe, the only man among four ladies said he had a fighter’s spirit and added that Bisola was his biggest threat.
He also commended her (Bisola) for being a competitive, honest and outspoken person just like he is.
Earlier, the housemate had hosted Nigerian popular song writer, singer and performer, David Adeleke.
He came with ‘sushi’ and champagne in tow to pay the housemates a visit.
The usual tour of the house was done before everyone settled down in the dining area and popped open the bottle of champagne.
Davido discussed the merits of being true to oneself and pointed out that he made more money in mere months than he had made over the years after deciding to go local and champion his course.
He asked the housemates what they planned to do with the N25 million naira after winning.
Bisola said she would like to go to a film school.
While Debie-Rise and Efe said they would want to push their music career to the next level, Tboss revealed that if she won, she would like to have her own talk show.
Marvis who was a protocol officer at an oil and gas company before coming to the house said she would like to open a bar.
After listening to them, the self acclaimed ‘Omo Baba Lowu’ told them that no matter what their dreams were, it was imperative that they make careful choices and not get overwhelmed.
According to him, if overwhelmed they would wake wake up and not realise where the money went.
“You make all these plans and then when the money comes, its different; I spent one million dollars in three months.”
At that point the buzzer sounded and everyone said their goodbyes.
The winner will take home the grand prize of 25 million naira and a Kia Sorrento SUV.
A veteran entertainer, Innocent Onyemuwa popularly known as “Daddy Fresh’’, has called on Nigerians to show love, patience and tolerance towards one another in spite of the economic down-turn in the country.
Onyemuwa who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos against the backdrop of the recent release of his latest single entitled, “I love Ya’’ said the prevailing situation in the nation spurred him to release the song.
He said that his song was appealing to people to unite in love so as to be able to weather the storm of recession and for people to shun vices.
“Since things are not moving as people expected in the country, and the economic recession is hitting hard, we need to preach love and patience for one another through our music”.
“I am expressing how I feel about my lady and the country, I know the country is going through hard times; we can still overcome it and be happy.
“The recession is affecting us, also affecting families too, but with love, we will surpass it and be good and happy,’’ he said.
“With good musical lyrics it can calm the nerves, when listened to, to help lift your morals and emotions.
“Music has to lift up peoples’ spirits and talk to them for inner peace, help them relax, not the ones that make noise in their ears.
“Music should to talk to people ahead of time, because musicians are like philosophers, when music talks to one, the person relaxes,’’ he said.
The musician, however, urged Nigerians to anticipate good things, noting that, the country would be better.
He expressed optimism that “I love Ya’’ will be a massive hit, “I expect it to be better than others I have before’’.
On why he had not been consistent with his works, he told NAN that he was not feeling intimidated by the current developments in the entertainment industry.
“No I am not, because, what obtains now in the industry is what I have been doing back then.
“I was dropping songs that were ahead of time which happens to be now, am not intimidated, rather I am back to set up new standards,’’ he said.
He told NAN that his full music album will be released sometime in June, and it will be a 14 track album.
Some of his songs are “Think About,’’ “Maloro,’’ “Oyoyo,’’ “Syncro Dance,’’ “Onion Lover,’’ “Kole Tan,’’ “Take your Bras Off’’ and “Winchy Winchy’’.
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that the country would participate with an adequately prepared contingent in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Buhari gave the assurance as he received the Queens Baton Relay in Lagos on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, flagged off the Queen’s Baton Relay on March 13 in London which coincided with the Commonwealth Day.
“It’s a great pleasure to receive the Queen’s Baton Relay in Nigeria. The Baton is expected to move round all the Commonwealth nations.
“Next year’s edition, which is the 21st Commonwealth Games, will mark Nigeria’s fifth participation in the Queen’s Relay. The Queen’s Baton Relay is a challenge for us to prepare for the Games.
“We plan to send a ready team of athletes to the Games with the hope of surpassing our past records in terms of medal haul,’’ said Buhari, represented by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung.
“We will not relent in our role of ensuring that athletes are equipped with adequate resources for training and participation in the competition.
“Government must invest and transform training facilities and uplift the technical men. We will continue to pursue this as a noble policy that will take Nigeria forward.’’
He said that Buhari couldn’t come to receive the Queen’s Baton Relay personally and asked him to do that on his behalf and that of the entire sport-loving Nigerians.
Habu Gumel, the President, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), welcoming the Queen’s Baton Relay and the five delegates that accompanied it, said that Nigeria had been a strong force in the Commonwealth sports community.
“Since our debut in the 1950 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, our nation’s profile at the quadrennial Games has been on the rise.
“Nigerian athletes have never failed to prove their mettle in placing our nation on the scoreboard of this global sporting fiesta.
“For our nation to sustain the winning momentum at the Commonwealth level, we will require all the support of both the public and private sector, especially in the area of funding.
“ This will ensure adequate preparation for the participation of our contingent. We therefore, solicit the continuous support of everyone.
“At our level, the Nigerian Commonwealth and the Olympic family through our collaborations with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has continually offered athletes and coaches opportunities for training and personal development through international scholarships and technical courses,’’ he said.
The Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Lehmann, said the Queen’s Baton Relay came with a message of peace and goodwill to all Nigerians.
Lehmann said that Australia was proud to be hosting the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast.
“It is my pleasure to celebrate the stories and successes of Nigerians athletes as the Baton makes its way through the beautiful city Lagos.
“Australia and Nigeria are nations of sport lovers. I believe sports can support the ambitions of all people regardless of age, background, gender or ability.
“The people to people link between Australia and Nigeria grow stronger each year and we look forward to welcoming Nigerian athletes to Australia in 2018,’’ he said.
Lehmann said it’s believed that Australia is far but it’s the distance that makes us closer.
“There are so many tourists sites that Nigerians can visit while in Australia. Our level of hospitality can’t be compared,’’ he said.
He noted that for the first time, the physically challenged will be participating in the Communication Games.
“The physically challenged and the able-bodied athletes will all have the same number if events to participate in,’’ he said.
Among the dignitaries at the event are Hauwa Kulu-Akinyemi, the Chairman Local Organising Committee for Queen’s Baton Relay, the Athletics federation of Nigeria (AFN) President, Solomon Ogba and former NOC President, Sanni Ndanusa.
NAN reports that Olympians and Paralympians were also present and among them were renowned former athletes Yusuf Alli, Falilat Ogunkoya, Chioma Ajunwa and Henry Amike.
Students from the Pacelli School for the Blind, Surulere, Atunda-Olu School for the Physically and Mentally challenged, Surulere, Wesley School for the Hearing Impaired, Surulere and Children Development Center, Surulere attended.
