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Tag: Nigerians

  • Obi calls for genuine spirituality among Nigerians

    Obi calls for genuine spirituality among Nigerians

    Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has called for genuine spirituality among Nigerians.

    Obi spoke yesterday at the Vatican City in Italy after the canonisation of Mother Theresa.

    The former governor noted that the life of St. Theresa of Calcutta, India, was an illumination of service to God by serving His people.

    Urging Nigerian churches to emulate St. Theresa’s heroic virtues, Obi decried those who used the church to deceive the people.

    The former governor said God would pay people according to the merits or demerits of their deeds.

    He renewed his call for close collaboration between the church and state to serve the people well.

    According to him, the lives of people, like St. Theresa of Calcutta, inspired him.

    Obi said: “People like St. Theresa of Calcutta strengthened my resolve to render certain services to our people through the church, such as the return of school to them and the collaboration with them on health.”

    Mother Theresa of Calcutta was canonised yesterday by Pope Francis XVI at St. Peter’s Basillica in Rome.

  • ‘Only 10m Nigerians pay tax’

    The National Tax Policy (NTP) Document Review Committee has said only 10 million out of 160 million population of Nigeria currently pay tax.

    This neglible number of tax payers, the committee lamented was depriving the country of huge revenue.

    Its Chairman, Prof. Abiola Sanni who spoke while addressing stakeholders at the maiden stakeholders engagement in Abuja yesterday called for the institutionalisation of tax matter by compelling political parties and politicians to mandatorily state their tax plans if elected.

    To achieve this, Prof Sanni advocated for an “institutionalised statutory regulation compelling political parties and elected public office seekers to categorically declare the tax measures to be adopted and strategies towards shoring up the nation’s revenues, especially Internally Generated Revenues (IGR).”

    Implementation of tax laws, he said requires political will at the highest level of government. He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to mandate political parties to articulate their fiscal policy in their manifestoes while the National Assembly should give tax matters priority attention.

  • Wabba to Nigerians: don’t succumb to forces of disintegration

    Wabba to Nigerians: don’t succumb to forces of disintegration

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba has urged Nigerians not to succumb to efforts to break up the country.

    Wabba, who made the appeal while fielding questions at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja yesterday, said Nigeria’s size, population and natural endowment were assets many  nations were envious of.

    He said the security challenges and agitation, which, according to him, were fuelled and funded by forces determined to undermine Nigeria, were surmountable.

    “Our position is that we will not canvass the issue of “cannibalising” Nigeria into segments for any reason or any consideration.

    “It is in unity that our strength lies as a country. We are today the giant of Africa; most countries are not happy with that.

    “They will do anything to undermine our national interest and work towards the disintegration of Nigeria.

    “That is a fact, and we see that as we travel around the world; even within the committee of unions; people are envious of Nigeria.”

    He recalled the prediction made in some quarters that Nigeria would break up in 2015, adding that those forces were still working on their agenda.

    “We must not forget how people said Nigeria was going to break by 2015 and you must not forget that they are still working on that.

    “They are still funding all manner of things and trying to see that Nigeria does not actually have peace; it is deliberate.

    “There is no resource today in the world that we do not have; they see us as a country that is blessed without measure,” he said.

    The NLC president noted that some African countries were concerned that if anything happened to Nigeria, their fate were uncertain.

    According to him, most of these conflicts are instigated, citing the situation in Syria and other parts of the Middle East as an example.

    “Therefore, it is in our collective interest as Nigerians, because we do not have any other country, to continue to show the light and perspective for others to see,” Wabba added.

    He called for a review of the employment policy to make it all-inclusive, in view of the unemployment rate in the country.

    Wabba stressed the need to review the educational curriculum and inject in it a technical component.

    “If you look at the challenge in our system, especially unemployment, it has assumed a frightening dimension where youths, able and well educated, have not been able to find something doing.

    “ I think there has been a convergence of ideas that there is a need to review our employment policy that will be inclusive; that will also be able to create jobs and those jobs can be sustainable.

    “So, I quite I agree that we have a lot to do in respect of reviewing our policy on employment to try to make it all-inclusive.”

    “It doesn’t have to be white collar jobs; I think we can also look inwards to try other avenues.

    “I am happy that the new policy on agriculture which the Federal Government is driving encourage our youths to go into agriculture; may be something that can be considered.”

  • Better days ahead, Catholic bishop tells Nigerians

    Despite the hard times the nation is facing, the Catholic Archbishop of Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Reverend Adewale Martins, said there are better days ahead.

    He urged Nigerians to keep faith in God and offer prayers for the government to surmount the current challenges.

    The archbishop yesterday spoke at the solemn admission of about 1,000 faithful into Association of Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

    The event was held at St. Luke’s Military Catholic Church in 174 Battalion Army Barracks, Odogunyan, Ikorodu.

    Rev. Martins said there is no problem too big for God to solve, noting that the current challenges facing the nation were a reminder for people to move closer to God and seek divine intervention in solving the challenges. The Catholic bishop told leaders not to overstretch the people’s patience, saying they needed to seek divine guidance in their efforts to bring lasting solution to the current challenges.

    Justice and fairness, he said, must be the government’s guiding principle to lead the country out of hardship.

    He said: “We should hope for the better in face of present challenges. I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel in. But, we need to be patient and remain in prayers for the country. Our leaders should not take our patience for granted. Governments at all level need to listen to all complaints from the people and address them.

    “The people need to have assurance that something is being done to solve the challenges we face in our economy, with the falling of Naira and key infrastructure. Our leaders should seek divine intervention in taking the country out of its challenges and they must be guided by principle of fairness and justice.”

    Admonishing the inductees on selfless service, Rev. Martins urged members of the association to imbibe the exemplary values of Jesus Christ, saying their admission into the association was a call to selflessness and godliness.

    The national president of the association, Group Captain John Ebiye (rtd), said the significance of the event was rooted in manner of birth of Jesus. He said members must engage in activities that would promote happiness and peace among people of all faiths.

    The president of the Lagos council, Cyprian Arinze, said the association was dedicated to the teachings and values of Jesus Christ. He advised the new members to emulate the teachings and propagate Christ’s message of love among people.

  • Change for good takes time, Bakare pleads with Nigerians

    Change for good takes time, Bakare pleads with Nigerians

    ….Urges Nigerians to be patient with Buhari

    The General Overseer of the Later Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare on Friday urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari as he steers the ship of state.

    According to him, any change for good normally takes time.

    Bakare, who was the running mate to Buhari during the 2011 Presidential Election under the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), spoke with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He met behind closed doors with President Buhari for about fourty five minutes.

    Bakare said: “I will like to appeal to all Nigerians that we should just excise a bit of patience. This change will not become chain that will tie all of us down. Change for good takes time and we should just exercise a little bit more of patience.

    “We trust that government is listening and the leaders are listening too and they will respond to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.” He added

    Speaking further on the change agenda of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bakare said: “When you are driving on a wrong direction, for example, you are going to Ibadan and you face Badagry and you get to Cotonu and you realize you have gone in the wrong direction for too long a time, then you turn back and make a U-turn, there will be some suffering you have to go through.

    “Pain is part of gain. No pain, no gain. The years of wastage and all that we have done wrong has finally caught up with us. All we are praying for is wisdom for this government to do things right and to do the right things. So that gradually, we can begin to come out of the woods,” he said.

    He said that it is too early to begin to judge the performance of the administration.

    “If there is anything I know about Mr. President, it is that he has a good heart. He loves this country and he wants the country to run well. But it takes time. I know we are all impatient and in a hurry and I trust we will come out of the woods.” He added

    Bakare declined to speak on the Budget padding controversy at the National Assembly, stressing that he is still studying the allegations.

    “I just return to the country last Friday. I am reading about it. I will make my decision when I have checked both sides. And I will definitely speak on that,” he said.

    When asked if the time has not come for the President to carry out cabinet reshufflement,  he said that it is left for the President to take the decision anytime he wants.

    “He knows what he has given them. For example, I have not given any appointment to anyone so I can’t judge their performance. But if there are yardsticks and standards given to them and if they have performed below par, definitely, the president would not mind at the right time to do those things.”

    On why he visited the Villa, he said: “I came to see the President and he is doing very well health wise. That’s all I came to do.”

  • ‘Five million Nigerians have diabetes’

    ‘Five million Nigerians have diabetes’

    Dr Mohammed Alkali is the Chief Medical Director, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), and the National President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN). In this interview, he tells OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA the state of diabetes in the country and possible way out. Excerpts.

    As the president of Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN) what kind of policy are you advocating?

    Diabetes Association of Nigeria is an umbrella body of all the diabetic activities in Nigeria and it is affiliated to the International Diabetic Association. The main issues that we are dealing with as an association is to promote the socio-economic well being of the diabetics patient and to disseminate any useful information about diabetes and to improve diabetes care in Nigeria.

    As at the end of 2015, a total of about 5million were said to be people living with diabetes, out of which 1.56million were new cases diagnosed last year alone. That means we have lots of undiagnosed diabetes in Nigeria. Should more people be screened, new cases will still be discovered.

    We also have diabetes in young people which is also a major threat called juvenile diabetes, which is an emerging disease in Nigeria now. We see people less than 17 years being diagnosed with diabetes. Another major threat is that we have had children diagnosed at infancy with diabetes and the issue of diabetes is that it is not only a disease that is composed of sugar, sugar is all over the body, but the implications of diabetes are the issues. We have issues which affect the eyes, kidneys, heart; we have issues of diabetes causing hypertension, food disease. When thinking about issues relating to diabetes, we think about issues relating to the whole body. Most of these patients have Type 11 diabetes.

    Do shed light on this.

    The Type 11 diabetes is all about lifestyle modification, people don’t exercise any more. World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended that adults above 18 years are required to have at least one hour of active exercise within the day, may not be continuous but can be spread within the day. These days most of our foods are refined, sugars are becoming a part of our diet. The food and drug organisation of Nigeria has now classified sugar as the major culprit in diseases not just diabetes alone or cholesterol.

    What do you see as the way out?

    As a policy, diabetic drugs are very expensive, manufacturers and the government needs to subsidise, not only subsidizing drugs but we also have to look at an alternative source of funding health insurance scheme. The country’s policy is not conducive for diabetic patients. In diabetes treatment only few drugs are covered. The current scheme only covers 14 days of hospital admission. So if someone spends three months in the hospital and requires insulin, how much insulin does he get from the health insurance scheme? So the whole issue of the health insurance policy has to change in terms of increasing the coverage. The government has to look at other sources of subsidising drugs, what do we do about import duties on diabetic drugs, why can’t we borrow from other countries while we give incentive to indigenous companies producing drugs that will become widely available?

    The Federal Government has to look at the issue of diabetes beyond hospitals, diabetes is all about education, we have to have a robust education for patients where necessary stake holders have to be involved and not only health workers, the people in the public, the family needs to be educated so we need to review all policy and come up with the general policy in respect of diabetes by the government.

    You said about five million Nigerians are living with diabetes and even so many are living with foot ulcers and that is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity. At what stage does it get to that, and could that be due to lack of education?

    You see, one of the things that challenge our research is that we don’t have much of much research. It is difficult to give the figure of people living but you can talk of percentages, there are some studies like I mentioned the Lagos studies, they found out about the diabetic patient and that 9.5 percent of them have diabetic ulcers. Diabetic ulcers is the extreme end of diabetic food disease, before it reaches ulcer it passes through a stage maybe in the previous two to three years, so if you conduct a research to cover those early stages you would be checking about beyond that 9.5 it may even be reaching 20 or beyond that percentage and if you multiply that percentage with the population of infected people you would be talking about a large number but I think our researchers need to do a lot of research to come up with the figure but whatever it is you see it has lot of multiply effect with diabetic ulcers, the truth of the matter is that if we are doing a lot in training people to start the care even from the primary level of care that is when you prevent the ulcers from developing and that why we are talking about having a large number of diabetic educators, having a national policy and diabetic food care, and that would require and enabling loan that would start maybe from the Federal Ministry of Health but one thing that we are not good at in Nigeria and we have to start doing is that is not only the executive that can sponsor a loan, pressure groups can identify an area and sponsor a lot. I think that what we are going to mobilise for people to really work towards doing that.

    So what should we wrap up with?

    The take home message is that diabetic foot disease is a leading cause of death among diabetic Nigerians and is a major challenge in health care in this country and what needs to be done is that we need to have a National Policy on diabetic food care and there have to be an enabling environment that would support this type of activities.

  • I was motivated by need to promote unity between Nigerians and their hosts abroad —Dublin-based Nigerian banker behind Miss Africa Ireland pageant

    WHILE the Nigerian government labours to enhance the image of the country at home and abroad, one Nigerian is making success of representing the country in far-away Dublin, Ireland.

    Realising that culture remains one of the greatest assets of the black race and the vision for a multicultural society, investment banker, Tina Akinola-Junaid, started a project aimed at promoting cordial relationship between Africans and their hosts abroad.

    Tina doubles as the chairperson of Miss Africa Ireland, a pageant that has grown into a household name in the European country and one aimed at uniting Nigerians in the Diaspora. “My passion for African culture and my vision for a multicultural Ireland informed the Miss Africa Ireland beauty and fashion show in the year 2000,” she said in response to an online question.

    Sixteen years down the line, Tina’s ambition of creating a platform for Nigerians, nay Africans resident in Ireland, to help showcase their rich culture while maintaining a peaceful relationship with their hosts has largely been achieved.

    “The aim is to interweave the two cultures and promote integration by portraying Africa in a positive and beautiful way. And to a very large extent, this has been achieved. Nigerians and Africans generally live in peace with the Irish without any fear or suspicion. I think that is a good way of selling our country to the rest of the world.”

    The only girl in a family of eight, Tina grew up understanding the feelings of the opposite sex and how to deal with them. In spite of her glamorous life as a banker and showbiz personality, Tina disclosed that she has no problem dealing with male admirers. “I am an only girl in a family of eight, so I relate to the opposite sex with ease. Therefore, I really have no problem dealing with my many male admirers. You’ll agree with me that growing up among men should be enough to teach any female how to deal with men.”

    Though Tina works as a successful banker in a foreign land, the foundation was laid in Nigeria where she grew up and started her education. “I grew up in Nigeria. I went to the Federal Government College Ilorin, Kwara State. I later proceeded to Kwara Polytechnic for my A Levels and then to the University of Benin where I bagged my degree in Economics and Statistics. I did my youth service programme with the World Bank-assisted Agricultural Development Projects in Lagos State. The experience I garnered during the period has been very valuable for me.”

    Tina moved to Ireland in 1997 permanently in search of the proverbial green pasture. Almost two decades after the move, she says that she can look back with a smile. However, whatever success she may have achieved was not without some challenges.

    According to her, the basic challenges that confront young people seeking better life in foreign countries include cultural differences, beliefs and adaption, among several others.

    “There are different kinds of challenges that young Africans encounter in foreign lands. But the most challenging ones include missing your loved ones back home. This one is usually very tough and not easy to deal with. Of course, there is also the problem of racism and difference in culture. Our beliefs and integration are also another form of challenge. But perhaps the toughest are adaptation and acceptance. If you are not able to adapt, then there is nothing that anybody can do to help. Aside from that, your host must also accept you.”

    Between 2004 when she started work in Dublin, Ireland, Tina has worked with the State Street International bank; Bank of Ireland Securities Services and Northern Trust. She recently moved to a new bank, which she is holding close to her chest.

    On what it takes to practice as a successful banker in a foreign land, Tina listed hard work and commitment. “Making success of a professional career, especially for a foreigner, takes a lot of hard work and commitments. But the main thing is that you need to study here at any level. And doing that will make it easier to get into the system. This is one thing that most of our people need to know about the system here,” she said.

    For long now, the media has been awash with the sad tales of young Nigerians easily lured into a life of servitude and prostitution in Europe. Speaking on the plight of young Nigerian girls in Europe, Tina warned the girls. “If something is too good to be true, it’s probably isn’t,” she said. “My advice to the young girls is that they should be focused and that they should pursue a career path that is attainable to them given the resources available to them.”

    For her efforts towards the promotion of Nigerian culture, Tina was rewarded with a chieftaincy title in Araland. Her love for culture and fashion, she said, was to make a statement.

    “I love good taste in fashion, innovation and making statements with everything I wear. I cut my head gear in a certain way, because that’s my logo. I am the Yeye Ogee of Araland in Ife Kingdom. And I believe you know that the title is only bestowed on those who are thought to merit it.”

    In furtherance of that effort, she started the Ankara Carnival in Ireland in 2007. “This is an annual event where all attendees are urged to wear Ankara to promote our culture and the African fabric. All are encouraged to be creative with the fabric and the best creative design wins a cash prize,” she explained.

    Asked if she would accept a bank job in Nigeria, having lived the better part of her life in Ireland, Tina said yes, but added that she would only accept the job if the conditions are right. For her, the conditions include a job in the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Stock Exchange.

    “Well, I would accept a banking job in Nigeria if the terms are right. But I will be more interested in the central bank or stock exchange, where I would be able to bring my experience on board.”

    Despite her long stay in Ireland, Tina said she has never suffered any form of culture shock. She, however, explained that she was spared of any ugly experience because she had visited the country several times before she finally decided to settle down there.

    “I didn’t really have any form of culture shock. Long before I decided to settle down here, I had been travelling on holidays. I was familiar with most things. So, I was already at home with the country and its people.”

    Would she be willing to come back home? Tina was affirmative in her response. “Definitely, I am looking at coming back home in the nearest future.”

    Describing herself, she said: “I am a freelance journalist, TV presenter/producer of the Tritees Show and a compere extraordinaire.”

  • Two Nigerians killed in South Africa

    The President, Nigeria Union in South Africa, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, has confirmed the killing of two Nigerians in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa.

    Anyene reportedly told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Port Harcourt in a telephone interview from Pretoria that the two men were killed on July 29 at different areas in Johannesburg.

    According to him, the first victim, Gideon Ogalaonye, an indigene of Onitsha, Anambra, was allegedly shot dead at 7pm on the way to his daughters residence.

    He said that the second victim, Nnamdi Michael, an indigene of Enugu State, was allegedly stabbed to death by a suspected Zimbabwean national at Yeoville at 8pm on the same day.

  • Nigerians must unite for national integration -Buhari

    Nigerians must unite for national integration -Buhari

    •We have not done enough to realise national integration -Atiku

    President Muhammadu Buhari  yesterday reiterated the imperative for national integration for a sustained growth and development of the nation when he stressed that every well-meaning citizen must ensure unity that will guarantee the achievement of national integration.

    This is just as he urged all to make use of the 1999 Constitution to fight for their rights, instead of toeing the line of illegality to agitate for their rights.

    But former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, agreed that as a country, we have mightily struggled to live up to this ideal, averred that, “we have not done enough to realise national integration and the survival of democracy.”

    According to Atiku, “Sometimes we implement contradictory policies that weaken national integration. An example is the requirement of state and local government of origin rather than residency for access to government services and jobs. That alone restricts people’s mobility and infuses in them a sense of rejection by the very country that wants them to feel welcome and proud.”

    President Buhari spoke as special guest of honour at the memorial conference in honour of former military Governor of Northern Region, the late General Hassan Usman Katsina.

    “We must unite as a nation to for national integration, emulate virtues of the late General Hassan Usman Katsina.”

    He stressed further that the constitution contains all necessary portions from page one to the end that guarantee the rights the people should enjoy.

    Buhari who was represented by the minister of interior, Lieutenant General Abdulraman Danbazau (retd) added that Nigerians, particularly northerners, should emulate the virtues of General Katsina.

    Atiku who presented a paper titled on “Restructuring Nigeria for greater national integration and democratic stability’ at the memorial conference further posited that “since the various amalgamations that created the entity that we now call Nigeria, different segments of Nigeria’s population have, at different times and sometimes at the same time, expressed feelings of marginalisation, of being short-changed, dominated, oppressed, threatened or even targeted for elimination.”

    President Buhari, however, said, “Nigeria has come a long way as a democratic nation. So the rights of all Nigerians is in the 1999 constitution, they must abide by the constitution to achieve whatever goals.

    “I call on all elected persons to give good governance to the people, Nigerians deserve good governance.

    “My leadership is improving on security, fighting corruption,  Boko Haram insurgency has been brought under control,” he stated.

    Atiku said, “I am not trying to be a messenger of doom but to alert us to the serious challenges ahead if we do not take immediate corrective actions both in our economic and our politics.”

    He said that devolution of more powers and responsibilities to the federating units with the resources expended on them will be helpful to the economic and socio-political recovery as well as development of the North in particular and Nigeria at large.

    He advocated for a revisit of the current geopolitical zones becoming the federating units to stop the clamour for creation of states as the federating units can decide to have as many local authorities as it deems.

     

  • Drug trafficking: three Nigerians executed in Indonesia

    Drug trafficking: three Nigerians executed in Indonesia

    Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers, including three Nigerians, early on Friday as it pushed ahead with its “war against drugs”, although another 10 scheduled executions were delayed.

    As many as 14 people were originally set to face the firing squad together on Friday, but officials decided a “comprehensive review” was needed to “avoid any mistake” in the 10 cases, Attorney General H. Muhammad Prasetyo said.

    The date for the next round of executions has not been set, Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta.

    At least two prisoners among that group of 10, a Pakistani national and an Indonesian woman have applied for presidential clemency, their representatives said.

    They said legal proceedings could take a long time.

    Those executed – three Nigerians and an Indonesian man – were shot during a thunderstorm shortly after midnight on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java.

    The government ignored international calls for clemency and pushed ahead with its drive against narcotics.

    “Our battle against drug crimes is not over and it will continue. We will maintain our commitment, our firmness and our consistency,” Prasetyo said.

    Indonesia has become a “business field” for the production, distribution, import and export of drugs, Prasetyo said.

    Indonesia executed 14 prisoners, mostly foreign drugs offenders, just over a year ago, causing diplomatic outrage.

    Rights activists and governments have again called on Indonesia to abolish the death penalty.

    Those calls have gone unheeded and President Joko Widodo has said drugs pose as serious a threat as terrorism in what is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest markets for narcotics.

    The president’s office often cites figures that drugs are killing at least 40 people a day, but several international experts have questioned the methodology used to arrive at those statistics.

    The death penalty is widely accepted by the Indonesian public, but police had to break up a protest outside the prison on Thursday by members of a migrant workers group who called for mercy for the Indonesian woman who was scheduled to be executed.

    Amnesty International called the latest executions “a deplorable act that violates international and Indonesian law” and pleaded that the other death sentences not be carried out.

    Around 152 people remain on death row in Indonesia, including convicted drug traffickers from the Philippines, France and Britain, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

    Authorities plan to execute 16 prisoners this year and more than double that number in 2017.