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  • I want to be top scorer – Ahmed Musa

    I want to be top scorer – Ahmed Musa

    Ahmed Musa has told AfricanFootball.com it would be great for him to end the season in Russia as top scorer of the league.

    The Nigeria star is now the joint leading scorer in Russia with three goals after six games, same as Zenit pair of Daniel Alves Gomes and Hulk.

    The 22-year-old forward is now in his fifth season in Russia ansre. If I end the season as top scorer, it will be great, but my main target is to score as many goals as possible to help my team win trophies,” he told AfricanFootball.com

    “We are in the Champions League and competing in the various domestic competitions, I am eager to help us achieve big things this season.”

    His Russian club CSKA Moscow are top of the standings with a perfect record after six rounds of matches.

  • Shipping firm blacklisted by US

    The United States (US) has blacklisted a Singapore-based shipping firm, Senat over allegations that it is supporting illicit arms shipments to North Korea.

    senat is accused of having helped North Korea’s Chong Chon Gang vessel in smuggling arms

    The US Treasury said Senat Shipping was providing “extensive support” to a North Korean company already under sanctions.

    It means that any assets the firm holds in the US are frozen and prohibits US citizens from doing business with it. Senat Shipping has denied the allegations.

    The US Treasury makes it clear that measures against Senat Shipping also extend to the company’s president, Leonard Lai.

    It said Senat Shipping was co-operating with Ocean Maritime Management Company (OMMC), a North Korean firm already under sanctions.  In 2013, a ship operated by OMMC was seized by Panamanian authorities for hiding undeclared military equipment from Cuba under its cargo of sugar.

    According to US authorities, Senat arranged the purchase, repair, certification, and crewing of vessels for OMMC. The ship that docked in Panama in 2013 was found to have military equipment – and was operated by OMCC

    “Arms shipments transported by OMMC serve as a key resource for North Korea’s ongoing proliferation activities,” said a US Treasury press release.

    The United Nations and the US imposed sanctions on OMMC in July 2014 for the attempted arms import into North Korea. Senat Shipping’s statement confirmed that it had chartered OMMC vessels in the past to operate part of its business but says since then it had stopped dealing with all North Korean ship owners.

    The firm denies all of the accusations brought against it by the US.

    Company president Leonard Lai said the US move to put him and his company on the blacklist was “purely based on my historical dealings with OMMC and not based on anything illegal.”

    Under UN sanctions, North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms. There are also separate US sanctions also target Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programme.

  • Confusion in college over strike

    There is confusion in Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo over the indefinite strike embarked upon by workers of the institution last week.

    A faction of the workers said to be loyal to the government and management of the college yesterday called off the strike after an emergency meeting attended by over 150 workers.

    The management directed the workers to return to work and ignore any directive by anybody in the college to continue the strike, saying government has addressed their problems.

    But a statement signed by the Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Comrade Greg Esheya and Secretary, Comrade O. Okoronkwo, said the strike is still on.

    It reads: “A claim that over 150 academic workers attended the meeting where the strike was called off is a figment of the imagination of pitiable fellows, who are on a mission of self-destruct.”

  • North: Muslim; South: Christian; Middle Belt? Take a guess!

    Today, Hardball has a short-and-sharp puzzle: In the North, I am Muslim.  In the South, I am Christian.  In the Middle Belt, what am I?

    This might sound stranger than fiction, but I am  PDP!

    Before official electioneering, Olisa Metuh, chief spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had dubbed the main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), a Muslim party.  The party, through its top hierarchs and own corporate body language — if you believe in corporate metaphysics! — was echoing that allegation; and was salivating on how it would bomb, with that explosive religious blackmail, its chief rival for federal power.

    But Yemi Osinbajo’s emergence as APC vice presidential candidate crumbled all that.  When the professor of Law, and Pentecostal pastor teamed up with Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (PDP’s baleful northern hegemonist and Islamist bigot), that plot collapsed.  Like a bubble, it vanished — like dew before the morning sun!

    Worse: How Buhari’s message of Change resonated all over the country was well and truly scary; Kano, with its intimidating crowd, being a depressing reference point. Might he then have positively benefited from the PDP’s reckless religious baiting, making the northern street voters to bond with him and his party even more?

    Meanwhile, down South, from the crowds at Buhari’s campaign, Christian antipathy, which the hate message in religious guise should have driven, seemed not gathering traction.  Indeed, the more the hate message and scaremongering, the less, it seemed, its impact on Buhari’s street value. Might the APC candidate then be beneficiary of his running mate’s Pentecostal bona fides?

    Nothin’ spoil, the president and his men seemed to decide, as they pounced on a new strategy: not so different from the brazen original, but no less bizarre, sinister and ridiculous.

    So, Mr. President, start a new round of southern churches electioneering blitz.  From Winners Chapel, to the Redeemed Christian Church of God Camp, to the Lord’s Chosen Church vigil, the message was the same.  My people, I have not come to campaign, but to do thanksgiving.  Your president worships in your midst.  Your president wears his humility as a gown.  Surely, that should count for something — in raw votes?  Surely, it makes Christian sense to vote for a Christian brother?   Of course, it needed not be put that way, but the message was crystal clear.

    In the North, however, Vice President Namadi Sambo felt no need for such subtleties. “Buhari ya dauko pastor a matsayin mataimakinsa kunsan coci nawa yake dashi?  Yanada coci 5000, do haka karku zabesu” he told his audience in Hausa, meaning: “Buhari has selected a pastor as his running mate, do you know how many churches he has?  He has 5000 churches, so based on that, don’t vote for them”!

    From Dutse in Jigawa, to Minna in Niger and other northern cities, the message was unchanging on the stumps — the message of redemption, from the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!  How deep into infamy can a high officer of state sink?

    But pray, after a pretence to Christianity in the South and a pretence to Islam in the core North, what will the “largest party in Africa” be in the Middle Belt?

    Good question — and guesses are welcome!

    But if you call this farce the largest unravelling of the largest party in Africa, you may not be wrong.

  • Before the National Theatre becomes a global duty-free shopping complex

    Sometime in 2006, when a hard-working head of a sister parastatal was elevated to the headship of National Theatre in addition to his earlier remit, a Committee of arts enthusiasts and intellectuals to which I am affiliated invited the new helmsman to a parley on his plan for the then seriously-ailing-and now still-tormented National Theatre.

    Because of my well-known views against all attempts to privatise, commercialize or my concession for the Theatre, I was invited to that talk that held inside one of the Theatre’s halls. In the course of our engagement, I took the group and the new boss man through my thesis on the National Theatre’s viability; its ability to generate whatever amount it requires to jump-start its rehabilitation and commence profitable operations. This position had over time locked me into inevitable conflict with some of our respected elders, seniors and teachers who all believed that the Theatre cannot make a meaningful move without a hefty initial capital from the Federal Government for its rehabilitation.

    Conversely, I had always insisted and still insist that what the Theatre needs is not so much the initial fund to repair and refurbish its dilapidated facility but a total re-appraisal of its entire objectives towards fashioning out appropriate business strategies that will reconcile the achievement of those objectives with the imperatives of how to successfully secure the initial capital required from the private sector who will have in return, the rights to use the platforms of the Theatre to accomplish their variegated commercial enterprises.

    At the end of our discussion that afternoon, there was a consensus that my ideas were worth giving a trial and consequently I was invited for an interview with the new Director-General and his team. I was thereafter formally engaged as a consultant to champion the Theatre’s renewal project and given the sum of N100, 000:00 in cash to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the then Honourable Minister of Culture and Tourism.

    The N100, 000:00 was not for my ideas to be packaged but common to all the governmental agencies I had consulted for was their whining about financial constraints and request that since my ideas were income-generating, my earnings must of necessity come from the incomes to be generated. I had spent more than three decades working for different multi-nationals on this same basis.

    Besides, the value-added of my consultancy always, is to bring in new strings of sustainable incomes for my clients from which they will derive my payments and because I always have full confidence in my ability to deliver, I never shied away from having my payments deferred till the incomes I commit to bring in materialized. I prepared my presentation, discussed it with the management of the Theatre and the rest remains for us to meet the Honourable Minister for his approval.

    I had earlier been privileged to see the minutes of His Excellency the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces mandating the management to seek creative ways of getting the Theatre to optimally function again on private funding so I had no reasons to doubt that we would soon embark on the renewal programme based on my business plan but events later proved me wrong.

    First were the intrigues that played out after submission of my business plan and the series of cancellations of my scheduled meetings with the Director-General always at the last minutes. The climax however happened at my fortuitous meeting with the new Honourable Minister of Culture and Tourism in his office at Abuja. A close friend of my daughter and a sister to the Minister arranged for her brother the Minister to see me and despite his tight schedule, I was invited by the Minister at my own costs.

    The Minister initially showed adequate enthusiasm for my efforts to get the Theatre renewed without upfront fund commitment from the Federal Government but after a call to Lagos and being fully “briefed”, he made a u-turn and referred me back to the Theatre’s authorities in Lagos. That more than anything opened my eyes to the so-called Nigerian factor. I then resolved to cut my losses and have been awaiting for the right opportunity to make my contributions on the botched National Theatre renewal project public.

    For an objective and fair assessment of my concepts as a benchmark against the output of the “experts” paid millions of Dollars to produce the now famous Master Plan, I hereby summarize the key points of my business plan for the Theatre to enable all Nigerians and non-Nigerians; artistes and non-artistes, intellectuals and philistines, government officials and general members of the public to draw their conclusions:

    1.)   The National Theatre will remain the property and national patrimony with its maximum capital outlay limited to incidental costs of logistics on the initial activities towards the official launch of the renewal programme that will have the President Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces as the Guest Of Honour to attract the attention and attendance of captains of industry and commerce.

    2.)   The Federal Government-owned NTA is to be co-opted into the project for the provision of the extensive promotions required to successfully sell the project. In return a share of all incomes generated will be paid to NTA as the project broadcasting partner.

    3.)   The project banker is to provide the initial take-off capital then put at N50 million as its rent to be on the premises. Collateral benefits include exclusive banking business originating out of the project. All private entrepreneurs must open account with the banker and all incomes from the project must be domiciled with the bank.

    4.)   The market opportunities in and around the Theatre are to be valued and franchised to corporate bodies and brands willing to pay upfront,  a % of the estimated business they hope to do in the next 5  10 years to the Theatre. In return only such corporate bodies and brands will have the rights of advertising, promoting and or sell their products in the Theatre and its vicinity. This was actually an idea I got from Disneyland both at Orlando and California in the USA. A brand cannot just be allowed to advertise, promote and or sell at a ready and well-developed market without having to invest into that market.

    5.)   The land mass is to be auctioned to different highest bidders able and willing to pay a specified non-refundable deposit to the Theatre for various additional facilities that will make the Theatre a truly Nigeria’s centre for global tourism. Proposed were: 50-room royal suites with private parking spaces on yearly rent. The various rooms will be electronically linked to the main and arts exhibition halls to enable the occupants if they so wish watch the proceedings in the safety and comforts of their rooms. Others are:

    1. Galleries of national cuisines where each of our States and LGAs will promote and sell their local delicacies.

     II.  250 room accommodation to house performing artistes and or where the various movie producers can accommodate their cast and crew.

     III. The swamp around the Theatre to be dredged for boat regatta and toy sub-marines like those in Disneyland as tourists’ attraction for families.

    1. 100 retail shops to exclusively sell Nigerian movies, music, arts and crafts..
    2. Landscape the garden and lawns around the Theatre into Cultural Entertainment Grottos spotting various  huts where the families, particularly children can be indoctrinated into and regularly get entertained on our diverse cultural values.
    3. The roof-top club to be rehabilitated as a 24/7 nite club featuring different performing musicians every day.

    6.)   Lease the Exhibition Hall to interested global bookshop on a condition that a portion will be reserved for a daily Arts Exhibitions.

    7.)   Cinema Halls to be similarly leased out to Fast foods or Hotels on the condition to screen Nigerian movies to their patrons. The payment for the movies will be included in their foods and drinks bills.

    8.)   Corporate Bodies and Brands to rehabilitate the Banquet/Conference Hall with their contributions grouped as Plantinum, Gold and Standard in return for having the place as the venue for their events. I learnt that this was how the Lagos Business School and Muson were built.

    9.)   The main hall has 5, 000 seats so I proposed the application of a strategy for personalized seats for annual subscriptions by the royalties, upper class and affluent. Wimbledon at a time ran along this same line and a personalized seat became an elite cultural status symbol. At N1 million for the first well-positioned 1, 000 seats, a billion will be raised to start its repair. Thereafter incorporate the Main hall as a subsidiary of the Theatre running as a purely commercial venture with its Board, management carrying annual target revenue, profits and Theatre presentations. Incomes from the equity sales will provide the working capital to start a regular weekly theatre by subscription similar to Broadway. This will provide gainful employments for our teeming population of Theatre Arts graduates whose repertoire will dominate the presentations with occasional regional, continental and international interventions. Owners of personalized seats will have them reserved for their personal or proxies attendance.

    –By ‘Yinka Ogundaisi

  • Feb poll: Bamidele pledges support for Buhari

    Feb poll: Bamidele pledges support for Buhari

    Strong indications emerged yesterday that a new deal to secure landslide victory for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, was struck in Lagos yesterday.

     A member of the House of Representatives and leader of the Ekiti Bibire Coalition in Ekiti State, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, agreed to work with the state All Progressives Congress, courtesy of the National Leader and ex-governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Bamidele was said to have consented not only to the idea of deploying his enormous political network in Ekiti State to mobilise supporters for Gen. Buhari  who is due to visit Ekiti State today in furtherance of his electioneering campaign, but to ensure that he clinches majority of the votes during the presidential poll.

     It will be recalled that Bamidele in 2013 formed the Ekiti Bibire Coalition to realise his governorship ambition on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which pitted him against the incumbent governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, forcing him to sever ties with the party and defect to Labour Party to contest the June 21 governorship election.

    In the new political realignment, Bamidele met with  Asiwaju Tinubu where a deal was sealed to coalesce the two structures towards a landslide victory for  Gen Buhari in the February poll.

    Those at the meeting held at the Bourdillon home of the APC leader in Lagos included Chief Diran Adesua; former Commissioner for Works; Chief (Mrs) Yimika Olumilua; wife of former Governor old Ondo State; Bishop Gabriel Oloniyo; Director-General, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition, Hon. Ropo Ige,; Chief Remi Oguntuase, Chairman, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition; Hon. Odunayo Ategbero, former Commissioner for Information;  Akogun Bunmi Ogunleye, former Chairman, House of Assembly Service Commission; Prince Akin Olayisade, former Chairman, SUBEB, Ekiti State and Hon. Adebayo Morakinyo, former member, Ekiti State House of Assembly.

    Before the extended meeting with the Bibire leaders, the Deputy National Chairman of the party and ex-governor of Ekiti State, Engr. Segun Oni, had met with Bamidele and his supporters in Iyin Ekiti last Saturday.

    It was reliably gathered that Bamidele’s group  had a fruitful deliberation with Tinubu and delivering Ekiti for the APC presidential flagbearer  is now the main agenda.

    A source at the meeting disclosed that Tinubu appealed to Bamidele to continue to strive hard  to ensure that APC regains its strength in Ekiti, describing him as a reliable compatriot with the capacity to turn the fortunes of the party around.

    The source said: “Tinubu said he believes that the two sides, both the Bibire Coalition and the APC, can work together, having shared the same political ideology and common agenda.

    “I believe that the APC did not lose the Ekiti election because the Peoples Democratic Party and his candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose, were strong, but because Bamidele and  ex-governor Kayode Fayemi allowed their ranks to be polarised.

    “I still believe that if you return to the party, the PDP will run into trouble in Ekiti. My own concern now is how you can win Ekiti for Gen. Buhari and that task must be achieved through all constitutional means, which is to go home and campaign vigorously,”

    Tinubu was said to have told the members of the coalition  that their experiences and genuity in grassroots mobilization were needed to launch the APC back to reckoning in Ekiti; an idea the members were said to have rejected, saying that defection en-bloc to the APC was not on the card for now.

    A leader of the coalition, who spoke copiously about Tinubu’s generosity and sense of forgiveness, had said the party would only work for the victory of Buhari in the presidential poll, having considered him the best of all the presidential candidates, who can liberate the country from the pangs of Boko Haram  attacks, corruption, unemployment and other social ills that had eaten deep into the nation’s fabrics.

    Knowing that the Bibire leaders were resolute  to remain in their party and fight for the 2015 state and National Assembly elections  where they had fielded candidates, Tinubu was said to have given them the option of being allowed to go home, ruminate over the option and consult widely to know the next line of action.

    Tinubu was said to have told them that another meeting would be held before the February elections to take a final decision on the future of the  APC together.

    “I want you to know that in my mind, I believe that we are all products of the same political family. We share the same background and ideology together. It was only political differences that divided us, but our minds still coincide and that is to ensure that the country is put back on the path of political and economic rebirth in the interest of all of us.

    “The APC should be seen as our baby, and I believe that by the time we hold the next meeting, we will reason together and know exactly where we are going,” Tinubu reportedly added.

  • 2015: Buhari, Okorocha, Atiku, others sign pact

    2015: Buhari, Okorocha, Atiku, others sign pact

    Nigerians got yesterday a piece of advice from the All Progressives Congress (APC) – they should get set to make a choice.

    The party is holding a convention to pick its presidential candidate in Lagos between December 10 and 11.

    All the aspirants have signed an agreement not to leave the party after the primary and to support whoever gots the ticket.

    The winner is to face President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February election.

    Presenting clearance certificates to aspirants who were screened on Tuesday, Committee Chair Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu said the time had come when Nigerians must decide whether to continue with the state of affairs in the country or effect a change for the better.

    He said: “There is a choice before us. Are we going to continue the way we have been going in the past 16 years when our security forces are used to intimidate and harass the very citizens who pay for their maintenance?

    “Are we going to continue a situation where we are the sixth largest exporters of crude oil and yet we import virtually all the petroleum products that we use and, as we do this, we are exporting jobs and rendering our people unemployed. Is this what Nigerians would want to do?

    “Are we going to allow a situation where the rule of law is violated and there is no orderliness whatsoever? This is a choice for Nigerians. The ruling party has had 16 years and so, it is not a question of making promises. We are judging them on their records because they told us that within two years, there will be regular and reliable supply of power 24 hours a day and seven days a week. This is the 16th year and that promise has not been fulfilled.

    “So, Nigerians have a choice to make because when you have two things, you can never know until you try them. So, Nigerians ought to try the APC and give us a chance to show that the problems in the country can be solved.”

    Onu went on: “Today marks the beginning of the important journey the APC is taking to form government at the centre. The APC came into existence on the 31 of July 2013. On that day, a giant was born and the reason for the formation of the APC was to stop the drift which the nation has been passing through in the last 16 years.

    “Yesterday (Tuesday), for several hours, the Presidential Screening Committee met with five very distinguished Nigerians and members of the APC seeking the nomination of the party to contest for the position of President of Nigeria. During that exercise, we found that these men are so distinguished that there is not one of them that will not make a great difference to our nation.

    “The goal of the party is to control, government at the national level so that the problems of our country, those problems that people thought cannot be solved, the APC will show that they can be solved.”

    He desribed the screening as “rigorous”.

    “I want to also tell you that the scores were very narrow and very high, with the least scoring 62 per cent. The highest scored 78 per cent. The second person scored 77 per cent and the third scored 75 per cent. So, you can see how close it was.  I really thank you and congratulate you our aspirants for the quality that is in you.

    “We told you before the screening that we want the aspirants to sign a letter of commitment for the party.

    “I am happy to inform you that all the five aspirants were very happy to sign the letters of commitment and that commitment is principally to assure the party that there is none of them that is running for himself.

    “They are running to offer service and improve on the well-being of our people and being happiness to Nigerians, foster unity and bring peace and secure our country because we cannot be the pride of Africa and be losing our territory to insurgents.

    “If the aim is really service, it means that they understand that only one of them will fly our flag. They have all agreed that whoever flies our flag, the other four will support him. They have also agreed to collapse their structures into the party so that the party will move to this election united because this will offer the party the best chance to win the election”.

    The signed commitment was read out to the hearing of all the aspirants by the Secretary of the Committee, Ambassador Fatima Balla.

    Responding on behalf of the other aspirants, former Head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari expressed appreciation to the leadership of the party for putting together a quality team to carry out the screening.

    Gen. Buhari said: “I am honoured to speak on behalf of the aspirants. We are grateful to our great party for Organising such a competent team to come and interview us. We went through the process yesterday, discussing foreign affairs, security, economy and what our personal decisions are to the polity.

    “It is a very trying time for the five of us, but we are grateful that they have been very generous in their award of marks and that we all made it. The rest of the decision now goes to the public and the delegates.

    “In a week time, we will come together and whoever gets the ticket to run on behalf of the party will emerge. The secretary has read the letter, which we were made to sign yesterday so that the loyalty to the party will be supreme.”

    No fewer than 8,000 delegates will next week in Lagos elect the candidate.

    The National Convention Committee fixed the special event for the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere in the country’s commercial capital between December 10 and 11.

    Committee Chairman and former Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who announced the programme in Abuja, said though some of the aspirants expressed concern about traveling such a long distance for the convention, the committee convinced them on the choice of Lagos.

    The Presidential Screening Committee cleared all the five aspirants to bid for the ticket. They are: Gen. Buhari , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah.

    The aspirants signed an undertaking not to defect from the party after the convention and to support whoever gets the ticket.

    Fayemi said:”This is a very unique committee that has representations not just the people chosen by the leadership of the party, but also representations from the five aspirants that are running for the presidential ticket of our party. This is something that is being done transparently, with the input of their advice and their concerns being looked into.

    “We are not going to a coronation. We are going to an election and that election is going to be done in the full glare of Nigerians.

    “Those who are not opportune to be there as delegates but are interested in rescuing democracy in this country would have opportunity to watch it live on television, listen live on radio and follow us online and also be part of it internationally for those who are not in Nigeria as well as other Nigerians who are interested in seeing Nigeria get through these challenges through a process that is credible, transparent and acceptable to all.

    “All our aspirants have also been briefed on the various steps we have taken. Our committee is holding our last meeting here in Abuja today and we are relocating to the venue of our convention from this moment.”

    In a statement from his media office, Atiku said he was not only delighted that Lagos had been selected to host such an august event, but was confident that the city has all it takes to ensure that the event will be memorable and successful, especially in view of the cosmopolitan nature of the city and the famed easy going nature of its residents.

    The statement said that the former Vice President considered Lagos as a second home, bearing in mind that he spent several years of his public service career there. “I’m not any less Lagosian than anyone is. I have a house in Lagos and a part of my large family lives in Lagos. I visit Lagos regularly, so I’m not a stranger to the cosmopolitan city and what it represents as the melting pot of Nigeria,” he said.

    THE AGREEMENT

    I (name of aspirant) hereby undertake to abide by the rules and regulations contained in the All Progressives Congress APC nomination guideline, APC constitution, the Electoral Act and constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
    “I, on behalf of myself and my primary campaign organisation undertake to accept the outcome of the primaries and actively support whoever emerges as the winner and shall not decamp to any other political party or in anyway obstruct the smooth execution of the presidential campaign;
    “I further affirm that during the campaigns and later in government, I shall be guided strictly by the party manifesto; and in the event of my nomination, my campaign team will immediately be collapsed into the party campaign structure for a properly united and focused presidential campaign”.

  • US varsity honours Nigerian scholar

    The University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire in the United States (US) will on Saturday, October 18, host the celebration of Archival Collection in honour of Prof Tess Onwueme, its eminent professor of Global Letters.

    In a statement by the Office of the Chancellor of the university, the event is in recognition of “her exceptional achievements and contributions to World Literature/Drama, the University of   Wisconsin system, the Africana, and the world at large.

    “To mark this historic event, international scholars, writers and speakers are expected to dialogue and participate in the celebration of the remarkable Archival

    Collection of the literary icon now being acquired by the University of Wisconsin, in addition to showcasing a  production from Onwueme’s award-winning plays during the  event.

    “As you are aware, Dr. Onwueme is the recipient of several prestigious national and international awards, including the Fonlon-Nichols Award, the Phyllis Wheatley/Nwapa Award for outstanding black writers, the Martin Luther King, Jr./Caeser Chavez Distinguished Writers Award, the African  Distinguished Writers Award, and the Association of Nigerian Authors Award (ANA). The Archival Collection, including the author’s original manuscripts, creative life-work and other materials related to her scholarly and professional career are being donated to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation. In turn, these materials will then be given to the Special Collections & Archives Department of the University of Wisconsin Library and become a permanent resource for scholars, students, and teaching faculty across the world.”

  • Nigerian medical student scores 99% in exam

    Nigerian medical student, Hajarat Yomi Adenuga, has made history by scoring 99 per cent in the examination conducted by the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Gambia-based American International University West Africa has said.

    The school said the results it received from the board indicated that Adenuga recorded an astounding 99 per cent.

    A statement by the institute said the performance put Adenuga in top one per cent of the medical students from all over the world.

    The statement reads: “Thirteen students from College of Medicine at American International University West Africa gave the Basic Medical Science test conducted by National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) U.S.A on July 26, 2014. One student had a near perfect score of 750 on NBME equivalent to 281 on United States Medical Licensure Exams (USMLE) scale, placing her in the 99 percentile. Two other students – Michael Chigozie and Linu Rajwani – had high scores too, placing them in 98 percentile. 10 students passed.”

    The statement explained that the NBME develops and manages the USMLE. While the individual licensing boards grant the licence to practise medicine, it said, all medical boards in the U.S accept a passing score on the USMLE as evidence that an applicant demonstrates the core competencies to practise medicine.

    “As a result, healthcare consumers throughout the nation enjoy a high degree of confidence that their doctors have met a common standard. The NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards co-sponsor the USMLE, and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates is the third collaborator in the USMLE programme,” it added.

  • Ogun: From 19th to 21st Century

    Ogun: From 19th to 21st Century

    WHILE the Government of Ogun State is literally forcing water out of the rock to turn the state into the ‘huge construction site’ that it is now, there is a central government that sits over gargantuan resources yet all the federal roads in Ogun are in tatters. I do not speak of individuals here because the problem predates the Jonathan administration. I refer to this Unitary Republic of Nigeria disguised as Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a proper federation, majority of roads lead to the federating states but in Nigeria, all roads lead to the centre – Abuja. Even for you to breathe in the natural air, you have to obtain a licence from Abuja. If you discover gold in your bedroom today, you have to first run to Abuja before you can touch it. A state government tries to ameliorate the hardship of its people on a federal road, the central authorities move in and say, “You can’t touch this, you can’t touch that!” If there is any menace I want to end in Nigeria today, it is the menace called federal road. Here in Ogun, the governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his team are not just sacrificing time and energy, they are equally sacrificing substantial part of their monthly salaries in a bid to take the state from the 19th century status to the 21st century. So much time has been lost, so many opportunities have been missed; it’s time to take the bull by the horns and change the face and status of our state. That’s the preoccupation of the governor and his lieutenants. Prof Dora Akunyili came to Abeokuta recently for the Conference of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and expressed shock at what she saw: “Ogun State has suddenly become a construction site; what a transformation! This is different from the state I saw a couple of years ago.” But it is only those that have equally visited Ogun East and Ogun West senatorial districts that will really appreciate the meaning of a “huge construction site” that Ogun has now become. As we toured the entire state with the traditional rulers, market women, youths, community associations, road transport unions, farmers, professional groups like the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), etc, as part of activities to mark the second year of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration, one thought kept recurring to mind, “If only we could do something about this monstrous 52 per cent of Revenue Allocation that Federal Government sits on every month. If you divide the 26% being currently allocated to states from the Federation Account by 36, you have just 0.7%. What manner of federalism is this?” I imagined what ought to be the situation in a true federalism where the centre only concerns itself with core federal matters such as foreign affairs, currency, maritime shipping, defence and leave the states, which are closer to the people, to become the master of the destiny of their own people. Sure, 25% is just okay for the Federal Government – just one institution. The 36 states could then share 55%. If Amosun could do this much with just 0.7%, imagine if that amount is doubled? But Ogun does not even collect up to 0.7%. When you consider the disparity in the allocation to states, Ogun will probably end up with 0.3% out of the 26%. And here lies the graveyard of the warped argument that the states should first justify what they are doing with the current allocation before asking for more. Such an argument makes me weep because it only makes sense in a unitary state not a federation. It is only in a unitary structure that the centre plays “the Big Brother”, not in a federal state. The Federation Account is for the 36 states and the centre. At any rate, has any central administration ever justified the disproportionate amount being cornered from the Federation Account every month? The accusation can go back and forth. What is important is for the right thing to be done because Nigeria is not a unitary state but a federation. Therefore, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and National Assembly should end the current delay and give the federating states their due. It may interest the reader however that Ogun State is not relying alone on the monthly allocation from the Federation Account. From a paltry sum of N700 million monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) it inherited, the current administration has raised the IGR of Ogun to a record figure of N3billion per month. This is done without putting additional yoke on the people but closing the loop-hopes in the old system, automating revenue collection process, encouraging residents to pay their tax (to Ogun) as prescribed by law and removing bottlenecks in the interface of the public with government officials. The story of the first international standard road, complete with all modern features – the Ibara/Totoro road – has been told. Also told is the first flyover/bridge constructed by any administration in Ogun, which was unveiled on January 24, 2013. What has not been underscored is the statement made byDrAdedotunGbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland, during the inauguration of that bridge. The paramount ruler said, “Today can be likened to the day electricity, pipe borne water and railway first came to Abeokuta. Amosun has changed the city from the status of 19th century to the 21st century.” That remark, for me, captures the essence of Senator Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State. He is the modernizer of our time. Among the construction sites in Ogun is the landmark 107km Ilara-Alagbe-Tombolo-Ijoun-Tata-Egua road, cutting across four local councils in Ogun West senatorial district. That highway will open up the rural areas and increase economic activities in the state. The IloAwela road in Ado-Odo/ Ota local council is already on the world map because of the excruciating agony it inflicted on millions of Nigerians due to its derelict state for lamentable years