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Tag: poverty

Why poverty persists in Nigeria,by Archbishop

The Archbishop of the Ondo Ecclesiastical Province, Church of Nigeria (Anglican) Communion, Most. Rev. Gabriel Latunji Lasebikan, has attributed the prevailing poverty in Nigeria to the inability of the country’s leadership to effectively harness its abundant human and natural resources for the overall benefit of the citizens.

Rev. Lasebikan made the observation in during his sermon at St. Stephen’s Cathedral Ondo as part of the activities marking the installation of Chief Johnson Adeduro as the Sasere of Ondo Kingdom by the Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo.

The cleric, who expressed serious concern on the state of the country’s economy and rising trend of insecurity, criminal activities, as well as high rate of unemployment, noted that except necessary steps were taken by government to address the challenges, the country may be heading towards doom.

He identified some of the causes of the problem as insincerity, lack of patriotism, greed, selfishness, craze for material wealth and fall in societal norms and values.

The religious leader, however, called for a change in peoples’ orientation on wealth accumulation, stressing that government should be more interested in improving the welfare of the less-privileged in the society by using the resources placed at its disposal judiciously instead of diverting them into private pockets.

He said: “Look at Nigeria and the way people steal money they do not spend. It is very sad to see that our people are made to experience poverty in the midst of plenty.

“Our youths have no jobs while government always says that people should go and create jobs for themselves. This, perhaps, may be the reason we now have increasing cases of kidnapping, robbery and other social vices.

“That is our problem in Nigeria. However, I want to advise those who are lavishing the wealth of the country to have a change of attitude because failing to do so could have adverse effects on generations to come, as they may not have anything left for them to inherit.”

Rev. Lasebikan, therefore, urged Nigerians, irrespective of social status and religious affiliations, to seek the face of God constantly and embrace right attitudes in their different homes and places of work.

He congratulated the new Ondo Senior Chief and admonished him to use his new status for the benefit of the people and his community.

The cleric, who cited various portions of the Bible advised High Chief Adeduro to always be conscious of his position as a leader, adding that his emergence from the list of other contestants was made possible by God.

He advised him to avoid mistakes and pitfalls which could affect his reputation and that of the Church. He urged him to remain good ambassador of Christ and a shining light among his contemporaries.

The ceremony was attended by eminent personalities from all walks of life including the Provost of Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, Prof. Adeyemi Idowu who was accompanied to the occasion by other principal officers of the college; former Minister of Information and one-time Chairman National Sports Commission, Chief Alex Akinyele; a chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Segun Adegoke, traditional rulers and other top government officials.

November 22, 2013
How foundation is fighting poverty in Niger Delta

The Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta, as its name implies, is foundation with a development template that emphasises supporting socio-economic growth through partnership with stakeholders and donor agencies. It is a future-looking partnership with the US-based Chevron-sponsored NDPI.

PIND recently organised a four-day workshop and field trip to show case its achievement in the past two years. The workshop was aptly tagged ‘Towards the Promotion of Proven Development Models for Pro-poor Socio-economic Development in the Niger Delta’.

Project Director, Mr Sylvestor Okoh, said it was necessary for development agents to critically look at the areas they plan to affect before plunging in.”For you to do development work and get it to succeed and affect the people positively, you have to first of all go down to the root cause of the problem. Most times development intervention coming from anybody will be addressing the symptoms and not the root cause.”

Using the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the country to make his point, Okoh, an ex-staff of Shell Petroleum Development Company, said agencies should not start treating the symptoms without first identifying and tackling factors that gave rise to it. He said identifying the source first was the only way to ensure that the epidemic does not resurfaced after being treated.

He said PIND was set up by Chevron to provide support for socio-economic programme in the region. He was it was focused on achieving the set objective of ensuring sustainable growth by bringing in resources, building human capacity and collaboration and coordination of public, private and civil society organisations within and outside the region.

To do this, the PIND activities are separated into four different programmes, which although work separately, is aimed at the same objective of assisting the poor and helping them development after identifying the root of the problem.

One of the main focus is the Economic Development Programme strategy, which is geared towards facilitating opportunities for the poor. The so-called pro-poor approach targets poor and less privileged people in rural and urban areas, particularly women and youths, identify and support their strength and help them overcome areas of weakness.

Already, PIND has identified three agriculture value chains namely aquaculture, cassava and palm oil and has fashioned out ways to help farmers. Okoh said the foundation’s intervention in the areas include market analysis focussed on addressing constraint faced by operators using market analysis and research studies (14 in 2012).

Thereafter, PIND carries out pilot (demo) projects to show its target beneficiaries how it is done and upon successful completion of that phase, it scales up and increase production, but not after first identifying markets and demand.

“The strategy is backward integration scheme; we don’t go into production until we identify a market. We don’t increase production we also build capacity,” Mr Olufemi Ojo, a staff of USAID, one of PIND’s international partners said.

Ufuoma United Fish Farmers Association in Ekpan, Delta State is a case where PIND’s value chain project has succeeded in creating economic opportunity for large numbers of farmers and increasing incomes of households in the area. With over 500 members farming on about 2,000 ponds, the foundation has imparted best practices in fish farming and help boost members’ feed selection, pond preparation, how they stock with fingerlings and how to management the quality of water to ensure best yield etc.

As a result, the quality and quantity of fish produced from the area has increased since 2012. The chairman of the UUFFA, Mr Fischer Ogugu, and other members of the union told newsmen that their incomes have increased since the partnership with PIND. They were also given training to boost their capacity, proper record keeping etc.

Similarly, through the Cassava Value Chain Pilot Project, the foundation research revealed factors militating against farmers in the essential cash crop farming. Some of the factors include lack of adequate information, wastage of harvest; insufficient input supply, weak farm extension service, lack of access to credit to enable them expand and others. It is now assisting them to overcome these barriers.

One of the greatest beneficiaries of the cassava initiative is the Edo State Cooperative Farmers Agency, which President, Mr Nosa Amayo said members have benefited from training and linkage to market, particularly the Thai Farms, to which it has made three shipments of cassava so far.

Under the partnership facilitated by PIND and USAID, Amayo and other members have been trained and turned into trainers. “We now try to add value; we are not just farmers but we are now agro businessmen,” he said.

Amayo said the training have also helped in reversing ugly trend where youths sell land for temporary gain. He said they now cultivate their lands and make more than they could have made from the sale of the lands within a short period.

Speaking on USAID’s involvement in the project, Olufemi Ojo of the agency’s market 2 initiative, revealed that 3,000 hectares of land were being opened up in Ekpoma, Sobe and Uhumwonde area of the state.

At the time of our visit last Thursday, it was learnt that bulldozer were set to start opening up the land for the project, which is being executed in partnership with the federal and state governments.

Farmers will be provided with high quality cassava stems to be supplied from Thai Farms, while USAID and PIND will provide training for the beneficiaries of the project.

The farmers are only expected to supervise and ensure that the farm is prepared and planted properly, apply fertilisers and chemical etc. At the end of the harvest, output will be sold to the ready market provided by Thai Farms. The farmers will get the profit after the cost of production is deducted.

He particularly noted that the local method of slash and burn hamper production, stressing that it was difficult for the farmers to break even, even though they sold at higher price to local market.

Meanwhile, the foundation is enthusiastic about the prospect because of the huge market for cassava. Thai Farms, located in Ogun State, has a demand for 300tons daily and also has promised to bring in a partner from abroad. The partnership is extended to see demand hitting 150metric tons per annum.

In the area of funding, PIND is working with LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative, from which farmers have benefited from training and a unique funding strategy, which ensure that farmers get access to fund for expansion without receiving loans in cash.

In the area of palm oil, it is working with the Nigerian Institute for Palm Oil Research (NIFOR) in Evboneka, Edo State to train local fabricators on new equipment for processing palm oil.

Dr. C. E. Ikuenobe, NIFOR Director in charge of partnership with the foundation, revealed that it recently trained five fabricators from Imo state. He said the training was a form of technology transfer, which ensure that quality of oil from local producers is increased so that they stop losing money.

“The fabricator trained at our expense fabricated a set of mill that is installed around Oguta, Imo state. PIND is set to commission that mill very soon,” Dr. Ikuenobe added.

It may yet be too early to fathom the full benefits of these partnerships on farmers in the nine states, 185 local government areas of region, but officials of the foundation are full of confidence that it would open up vistas of opportunity and provide access to assistance and partnership that would be far more rewarding for people of the region.

In fact, it was gathered that the success of the 3,000-hectare project might have given birth to a far bigger partnership with USAID for the cultivation of 50 hectares of cassava farm in every local government area of Edo State.

November 15, 2013
‘Why we chose agriculture to curb poverty’

Sylvester Okoh is the Project Manager of PIND Foundation. He spoke with reporters on the foundation’s strategies. Shola O’Neil was there.

What informed PIND’s choice on projects?

Well, there may be a couple of factors but what I can clearly tell you is that, for you to do development work and get it to succeed and affect the people positively, you have to first of all go down to the root cause of the problem. Most times development intervention coming from anybody will be addressing the symptoms and not the root cause.

PIND’s intervention strategy is first look at the sector we want to intervene in. what are the things making things not to work well? We look at the market issues and the factors that are making markets not to work. These markets we refer to is not just the market for selling and buying but market for services. Why is stem not available for the farmer when he wants it? Why is the farmer not having access to fertiliser? Why is there a problem for him to get loans to expand his farm? Why is it that when he smokes his fish he does not get a place to sell it?

So, it is when you look at all these issues and you begin to address them one by one that you can have a very smooth flow and the chain will move in a very orderly manner. If you take one of them and deal with it; ‘oh, the people need money’ and you give them money. You forget if the stem is available even if they have the money. The fish feeds they want to buy is not available. So the money becomes almost useless.

It is that whole thing we are looking at when we talk of sector study, when we talk of how to intervene. You first of all find out what the issues are and then you agree on what is going to happen and who is going to do what. So when you begin to address these sectors one after the other, then you begin to talk about how to do development work.

Why agriculture as the focus of intervention?

Somebody told us the other day that if you really want to be a multi-billionaire, you cannot do it earning salaries. Dangote is not paid by anybody. Otedola is not paid by anybody; they work for themselves. And in this region there are so many persons that are working hard in spite of the situation we find ourselves. We think that if we encourage young people in activities that will give them money, to take up activities that are very productive, those services that are required by even the oil companies, they will do much better. It is better to be in the agricultural sector because the potentials are there. The market is there too. So do not forget that the oil sector is employing few persons but the agricultural sector is going to provide a lot of opportunities and our strategies is pro-poor. So if you are talking of how many persons your intervention can pull at the same time; agriculture is just there for it.

Tell us about your interventions in the various communities

We are working in nine states of the Niger Delta and we did sector studies and thorough analysis and we have very good reasons for starting from certain places. For example, in Delta State, just like in Bayelsa, predominantly people are into fishing. So, the fish farm we have in Ekpan is informed by that. In Edo state the people are good farmers. They have land and their land is very fertile. So if we are doing cassava there you can understand why. So, we take decisions as to locations of projects based on available statistics. When you talk of oil palm production in Nigeria you talk of Imo and Rivers states. Our first intervention in oil palm is in Oguta area and if you go there the predominant occupation is palm oil processing and that is why we are there. And it is logical to be there because if we get it right there we will be affecting so many people at the same time.

Challenges since 2010 when PIND started

The challenges have been quite a number. Getting stakeholders to pay attention to developmental strategies is one. In the last couple of years, several development agencies did not want to come here, for obvious reasons and getting them back here is a challenge. We are making progress in that direction. At least at the moment we have several agencies working with us in this region.

And for the specific value-chain you have in cassava, we have quite a large market. But the challenge has been how to cultivate large portions of land. And the reason for that challenge is because the cost of land preparation is very high and it is difficult to do that for commercial basis without government intervention. That is another challenge.

For aquaculture, we are working seriously with several organizations, consultants, the feed companies and sometimes trying to inculcate in the farmers the culture of how to do it well and how to reduce their cost of production. That is working out very well.

But then going forward, even if you achieve high rate of production at very lower cost so that you can compete in the market, there will be a time where there will be a gloat. So what we are trying to do now is looking at the market. How can we add value to the fish such that they can go to packaging and go to export?

November 15, 2013
‘Aquaculture can reduce poverty’

•Group to hold awards

Fisheries expert, Prof Olajide Ayinla has said more than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s fish could come from aquaculture, making it a crucial method for reducing poverty and combating food insecurity. Aquaculture, involves cultivating fish under controlled conditions as opposed to catching fish in the wild.

Referred to as the Blue Revolution, aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world. It has significant job-creation potential and, as a key export-orientated sector that could net the country considerable gains.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Ayinla said given more private sector involvement, the sector could reach a yearly production of two million metric tonnes from its current 250,000 tonnes.

With stagnating capture fishery production and an increasing population, Ayinla, who is the immediate past Executive Director, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, said aquaculture has the greatest potential to produce more fish in the future to meet the growing demand for safe and quality aquatic food.

The aquaculture industry, though still in its infancy, has been identified by the government as a key priority sector because of its potential to supplement dwindling wild-caught fish stocks with cultured fish products.

According to him, aquaculture could play an important role in meeting the nation’s food needs, but it has not grown tremendously because of insufficient level of private sector participation.

In view of the development, there are marked differences in production levels and types of production.

Ayinla also a Director of SUFOS Awards for Sustainable Food Security, urged the private sector to invest in aquaculture so that the economy can continue to enjoy its benefits.

According to him, achieving aquaculture sector’s long-term goal of economic sustainability depends on continued commitments to provide and support a good framework for the sector.

He said continuing indiscriminate use of antibiotics in aquaculture is a cause for concern, especially as an increasing number of antibiotic-linked health cases among consumers are being reported.

He emphasised on the rational use of antibiotics among aquaculture farmers.

He reiterated the need for a drug prescription policy on antibiotics for fish farmers,saying antibiotics are used to promote the growth and weight of livestock.

Ayinla maintained, however, that antibiotics can help save fishes, adding that it must be used properly.

The National Director, SUFOS Awards for Sustainable Food Security, Mr Patrick Imo, told reporters that the inaugural award for individuals and organisations by his firm will be announced at a conference and exhibitions on sustainable food security billed for December 11 and 12 at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State.

He said the awards celebrate the people and organisations in the food industry.

November 15, 2013
Pleading poverty

•Government’s claim of scarce funds to meet ASUU’s demands is not tenable

It is often said that true intentions can only be revealed in times of crisis. Faced with the five week-old strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Federal Government at last revealed itself after weeks of temporising.

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister for Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last week came up with the argument that government simply could not afford the estimated N92 billion that would be required to meet the union’s demands. The minister claimed that the amount was not compatible with the Jonathan administration’s desire to reduce the overwhelming proportion of recurrent expenditure in the national budget.

While the virtues of budget-adjustment are indubitable, it is disheartening that a person of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s calibre could resort to such disingenuous reasoning. A recurrent budget expenditure of N2.386 trillion in the N4.987 trillion 2013 national budget has not stopped the Federal Government from meeting all the expenses of the Executive and the Legislature. The Presidential Fleet is the largest in Africa, and has continued to acquire top-of-the line aircraft. Each member of the Nigerian Senate is better-paid than America’s President Barack Obama. In his extensive trips abroad, President Goodluck Jonathan has travelled with a full complement of aides and politicians, all of whom receive dollar-denominated per diem expenses.

The Jonathan administration did not plead poverty when it set up nine new federal universities. It did not claim penury when it entered into a host of dubious financial arrangements with well-connected individuals, such as the so-called pipeline security contracts which made several ex-militants enormously wealthy. Indeed, the Federal Government appears to have so much money that it did not even mind paying trillions of naira to fuel-importers without ascertaining whether they had actually imported petroleum products.

Given government’s unstinting generosity when it is spending money on itself and its cronies, it is surprising that the finance minister can now plead poverty when it comes to meeting its legitimate financial obligations to others. It must be remembered that ASUU’s demands are not arbitrary: they are the outcome of exhaustive negotiations with the Federal Government, concluded in 2009, and assented to by all parties. It is not a cash-and-carry arrangement, either: the agreement outlines a comprehensive spending plan aimed at the full rehabilitation of the nation’s dilapidated federal universities to enable them contribute effectively to the production of the skilled manpower the nation so badly needs.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala appears to be utilising the tried-and-tested strategy of pleading fiscal constraints as an excuse for inaction. This was what she did during the oil subsidy “debate” when she quoted all sorts of statistics to buttress her belief that the subsidy should be ended. As it turned out, nobody in government could definitively state how much Nigeria paid in subsidies, or even how many tonnes of petroleum products the country imports annually. How can she expect anyone to take her seriously now?

A speedy resolution of the lingering ASUU strike is in the national interest. Federal and state universities account for the largest proportion of university students, and their closure amounts to a colossal waste of time, energy and resources. Thousands of students are loitering in the streets and at home when they should be in school; their idle hands and fertile minds have palpable implications for the already-precarious security situation in the country. In any case, the resuscitation of Nigeria’s decrepit tertiary education sector is long overdue.

As the strike continues and the suffering deepens, government will find itself in a very difficult position, particularly given the fact that many of the offspring of government officials are known to attend universities abroad. Instead of proffering untenable excuses, the Jonathan administration should work to implement the agreement reached with ASUU. Or at least get the union to buy into whatever alternative it may want to proffer.

August 20, 2013
I’ve tasted poverty before in Ajegunle—Limpopo King, KCEE

If you haven’t heard about the song Limpopo, it’s either of two things; you’re not a music lover and have allowed the rave song pass you by or you are not a fan of Kcee and so don’t care whatever comes from this young man. But whichever side of the divide you fall into, the Limpopo King, as he prefers to be called sure deserves all the attention he is getting right now. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, Kingsley Chinweike Okonkwo, better known as Kcee, opens up on his ‘hustle’. He’s not ashamed to say his success didn’t come easy, much hard work has earned him a place in the map of music titans in the industry.

WHAT is it with KCee and white trousers?

It means nothing but fashion to me, just a clean boy.

How many of those white pants do you have?

Too many, that I have lost count. I can’t deceive you.

Honestly, you look rich from your head to your toe. How rich are you?

Haaa, I wouldn’t want to say that. The truth is I’m a very simple young man. I work hard, trust me. I don’t like settling for less. And I don’t want to beg. Everyday of my life I work towards being successful. I don’t even have time to rest. I work so that I don’t get to beg because I have suffered. I have tasted both worlds. I have tasted poverty when I was in Ajegunle and right now, I’m out of poverty. I am where I am right now and I don’t want to go back down there. So every day of my life I work hard and I strategise to keep moving higher.

It’s almost unbelievable that a clean boy like you has tasted poverty…

I was born in Ajegunle. I was in Ajegunle when I won Star Quest. I left Ajegunle like twelve years ago. I grew up in AJ.

What was it like growing up in AJ?

In Ajegunle there is hustle. You need to fight for yourself. In the ghetto you need to hustle for yourself. My parents tried training me in school, but of course it was beyond that. I saw other young people hustling and I had to join the trend. It is either you hustle or you die in the ghetto and like I said I didn’t want to beg, so I had to hustle for myself and today it’s paying off.

You sound like you were driven more by comfort than passion?

Of course, it’s passion, that’s why I had to fight. And of course getting to where I am today, I don’t want to go back to where I’m coming from. If you ask me, what is your phobia? Or, what do you fear? I fear poverty. I have phobia for poverty. And what I do is what I do and I don’t want to take it for granted. In the cause of not taking it for granted, I’m making the best out of it. And I’m trying to do the best that I can do.

If you were to choose between your years of being a group act and years of being a solo act, which is better?

Honestly, if you ask me, I wouldn’t say my years of being a solo act pays better. I wouldn’t say that. If I say so it’s not going to be too fair because as a group we won Star Quest which took me out of AJ. As a group we made several hits. We made Siopon, Segemende, we made so much money. We made so much fame. We travelled far and wide. But I’m excited because I’ve been able to prove to Nigerians that I can stand as an individual. I’m excited. Each time I remember my journey, it gives me joy.

Was it your desire to prove to your fans that you could stand alone that made you split with your half?

Not really. It just happened. We never saw it coming and when it happened, the only thing you had to do was to fight and make sure you get your own ground.

It was a major split in the industry. Did you take your fans into consideration at all before you decided to split?

Yes, our fans may have liked us as a group but they didn’t know what God has in store for us. We all are young and God has plans for everybody. He has time and season. This season, we never saw it coming. Each time when they interviewed us we said we were going to be together forever. We said our children are going to take over from us but we never say it coming. One thing people should know, life is not about you, God has a plan for everybody and I think His plan is what has happened.

So it is a blessing in disguise?

Yes, it is a blessing in disguise. I wish and I pray for my partner too that he gets his feet back.

But how do you feel that you are the one being ‘heard’ right now?

Me, I can’t be comfortable if I’m not making my own impact. I can’t be comfortable. And for the records, my success today didn’t come easy. I dropped eight singles before Limpopo. Limpopo was the number eight and it was the sixth video I did. Some came out and some didn’t come out. I’ve been hustling. I’ve been working. At a point I had to go look for fund. I ran out of funds. I wasn’t comfortable. I needed a breakthrough. Sometimes, it is about the individual, it is about your hustle, your dedication, your passion. So for me, this is my life. This is what I love to do. This is what I pray to do every other day. So my success story is about dedication, passion and commitment.

Did you ever envisage Limpopo was going to be the ‘highpoint’?

No, but like I said I have been working. One thing about Limpopo is, it’s a sweet music. When I recorded Limpopo, it took me less than 40minutes.When we were done with the beat and the song, I started partying in the studio with my crew. We popped champagne. I gave everybody food and all.

You said you didn’t know it was going to be a hit, so why were you merrying after you did the song?

As an individual I felt the song. It sounded different and immediately I finished it I travelled. I sent the song to my brother, E-money, who is the president of Five Star Music. When he heard the song he was like hmm, we need to start travelling to shoot the video. We went to SA and we shot the video. In less than four days we came back and we released the song. The song blew up like two days after the release and before we knew what was happening, it became an anthem.

Tell us about the gains of Limpopo

Limpopo has proved itself as a good song and for me Kcee, one thing I know is Limpopo is one of those successful songs because I remember I’ve performed in the Villa like four times. And I will be performing in the Villa on Thursday for the President and the First Lady. I’ve done wedding for about four governors’ children, I’ve done big events in and out of the country. It’s amazing. It shows the song is good, people love the song. I did a show on Saturday in Port-Harcourt, a very big one with some Makossa troupes that came in from different parts of Africa. I did Limpopo twice, everybody was on their feet. They didn’t want me to leave. I did it over and over with my band, it was massive. Even the Makossa troupe, they were all like who are you? They even know the song. When we boarded the flight to Port-Harcourt, they were singing Limpopo and these are people who don’t speak English. And I was like wow! This song has travelled far and wide. When I got on stage, it was a ‘statement’. Every show I do right now the love is massive. They want me to do Limpopo over and over and I give praise to God.

What inspired the song? And what is the meaning of Limpopo?

It is divine. I say that everywhere; I can’t explain it. I just say it means ‘let’s have fun’ because that was what I meant when I was singing the song, “baby make we go Limpopo”, “let’s go have fun”. It’s about fun, let’s have fun. But away from the fun thing, when that word dropped into my heart, when it came in, I was recording in the studio, it just came, it sounded very nice. I put it on the song and that was just it and the title of the song became a hook.

Most of your titles are very unique and different. Is it deliberate?

Yes, it is deliberate. That is the way I want people to perceive me, the way I want people to see me. I love my culture, I love Africa, I don’t want to be like every other person. Most titles here are mostly English and that is not me. More is definitely coming after Limpopo. Already there is Okoso which I dropped last week.

Tell us about Okoso

Yeah, that’s the single I dropped last week. Okoso is what we played with then, if you remember. It is about winding and dancing.

So, what is it about you and winding your waist?

I’m doing what I know how to do.

How do you handle your female admirers?

Well, I’ve been able to handle it. I’ve been handling it for so many years, I’m still handling it the way I can. But the truth is this people show you love. They get excited when they see you, so the least I can do is to show them love and make sure they are happy anyway I can.

Now that the love is massive, what more can you ask from God?

What else can I ask for? I’m just praying for long life, prosperity and more songs to come that will make people dance. I just pray that God gives me more inspiration that will take me to a higher level. As far as I’m concerned I’m just starting and I will never relent. I will never stop playing good music by the grace of God. I just pray that God should just take me from one level to another.

How is the home front?

Yeah well, most times I like to keep the home front away from business because they are two different things. I’m exposed already, so I need my privacy.

Do you believe in the maxim ’till death do us part’?

Of course I do, and having a partner is important. You need to share your life with someone and share ideas together and grow together. It is important.

When was the first time you fell in love?

Haa, e don tey. I remember then when I fell in love I used to buy a lot of short bread. I tried to make sure she was happy. You know, it feels good to be in love. Everybody knows when you are in love. It feels good. Sometimes some people don’t know when they are in love. Some people don’t know who loves them. Some people take love for granted. Some people love you deeply but you don’t know because you are carried away and that is because you have specie of the kind of girl or guy you want. You need a guy with big car that has all the money and you forget that that guy can cheat on you, do anything to you and get married to ten other women. But there is the other guy who loves you, maybe he doesn’t have that big car but he can give you happiness for the rest of your life and you guys can be happy together. Sometimes people misunderstand love for lust. They don’t know their left from their right.

August 18, 2013
‘APC positioned to banish poverty in Nigeria’

Foremost commentator, Chief Deji Fasuan, has said All Progressives Congress (APC) has “every opportunity to bring the long-needed changes to the country.”

Chief Fasuan said: “The APC should commit itself to arresting the present drift. This is the immediate task it must confront. There is too much poverty in the land. The IMF is reported somewhere to have said that one per cent of the population of Nigerians has taken over 75 percent of the resources of the country while less than ten per cent of about half a million graduates roaming the streets of Nigeria can never hope to get employment and tragically most of them have not been trained to be self employed.”

He spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of the state.

He added: “The industries that relocated to other countries in West Africa in the last 15 years would have to be encouraged back through necessary infrastructural development especially power. Industries like Dunlop, Michelin, textiles, relocated outsider Nigeria because of power.

“The restoration of power to industries should be a priority for employment generation. This should be the immediate focus of the party when it assumes leadership of the country come 2015”, Fasuan said,

According to him, members of the new party should also eschew personal interests for the larger interests of the party. According to him, this is the “only way the party can make appreciable headways in securing much-needed victory in the elections.”

Chief Fasuan, a retired permanent secretary in the Old Ondo state noted that there would be challenges to comfort the party.

He said: “The registration of a new party throws a big challenge to the political leadership of the opposition. The old idea that I must be this or that in a party or government should now be a thing of the past. Political leaders should accept leadership position voluntarily given to them by the people.

“Nobody in this country should assert to himself willy nilly certain political offices. There should be other considerations, for example, general acceptability, track record and other things that are relevant to good governance.

“The main thing here is that personal ambition should be subject to national interest. In the context of today, a joint ticket of the north and the south is certainly desirable. Of course this has always been the case”, Fasuan said.

August 2, 2013
‘Skills acquisition will eliminate poverty’

A non-governmental for organisation (NGO), Social Change in Africa (VOFCA), has said skills acquisition would eliminate poverty and inequality.

Its Executive Director, Dr Eugene Nweke, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki,the Ebonyi State capital, that skills acquisition was the most effective tool for eliminating poverty and youth unemployment.

He advised government at all levels to brace up to the challenges of mass youth unemployment and restiveness and also fine tune strategies to end the malaise.

According to him, the fight against economic marginalisation of rural youths will not be meaningful if youths are without some basic skills.

Nweke said no nation could attain real economic and political development if the potential of its active population were not adequately harnessed.

He said sustainable self-reliance strategies were grossly absent in most government plans, adding that the government should come up with a well coordinated youth empowerment programmes.

Nweke urged the government at all levels to collaborate with grassroots-based NGOs in providing training to youths and women at the community levels.

He said a large population of the poor and unemployed youths were in rural communities and that remedial initiatives should begin from there.

Nweke said youth empowerment programmes of successive administrations had not yielded the required results because of poor implementation.

“Available statistics indicate that most of the poor and unemployed youths and women reside in our rural communities and any empowerment programme has to target rural areas.

“Therefore, we advocate for the establishment of skills acquisition centres in each community to make them accessible to the target group.

“Again, the government should liaise with NGOs that provide skills acquisition, philanthropic individuals and the communities to guarantee its success and sustenance,” Nweke said.

According to him, engaging the youths in productive ventures will eliminate restiveness, armed insurgency and kidnapping, among other poverty induced vices.

Nweke told NAN that the community-based NGO had trained 70 youths in skills acquisition programmes.

July 11, 2013
Aregbesola fights poverty with O’Meal

There were grim statistics for Nigeria from the recently released “State of School Feeding Worldwide Report”, compiled by the World Food Programme (WFP).

The report, launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York, indicated that only one out of five school children get a healthy school meal in developing countries. The report also presented a gloomy picture of Nigeria’s school feeding programme highlighting that less than 500,000 school children get a decent meal in school. In that report, Nigeria and Cameroon shared the ignoble position of coming last.

In 2004, Nigeria began a pilot project of Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP) which was part of the Universal Basic Education Programme. It was designed to feed pupils in elementary public schools. But out of the 13 states that participated in the programme, only one state remained committed to the continued implementation and improvement of the project: The state is Osun.

The state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been developing a simple theory with his re-organised school feeding programme in the state. For him, providing nutritious and healthy meals in schools has a direct link to mental development and the eradication of poverty.

Therefore when in April 2012, he decided to review the school feeding programme with a bigger and better menu, he targeted not just the children but also the farmers in the state. The Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’Meals), which was the result of the new thinking in the state has since surpassed most of its main objectives.

One of the cardinal points of O’Meals is to increase enrollment and retention of school children in state primary schools. Within four weeks of the commencement of the programme however, school enrollment has jumped about 25 per cent in government primary schools. By June 30, 2012, enrollment increased from 155,318,000 to 194,253 from primaries 1-3.

Basking in the euphoria of this success, the state government promptly widened the scope and included primary 4 in the scheme. The state now feeds a total of 252,793,000 students daily at the annual cost of N3billion. From the report of the WFP, Osun State accounts for more than half of the total number of children getting healthy and nutritious school meals in Nigeria.

The operation officer of O’meal, Mrs. Bunmi Ayoola, said the programme has achieved and surpassed its objectives of increasing school enrollment in the state. She said the government also ensures that the food is prepared in a healthy and neat environment.

“Balanced diet helps in developing the brain’s capacity as well as cognitive response index of each child and it plays a major role in ensuring that children assimilate learning instructions fast and well,’’ she said.

Fighting poverty and increasing enterprise

But increased enrollment was not the only intention of the Osun State government; reduction of poverty and boosting small and medium scale enterprise were also key points in the school feeding programme. According to the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, the rebirth of the school feeding programme has had a positive impact on farmers.

“As part of six points integral action plan of the state government to banish hunger, create employment and education for all; the school feeding programme has increased the enrollment of the pupils by 25 per cent within the two weeks of re-introduction, allowed farmers to engage in massive food production and encouraged learning in primary schools. Let me tell you that 80 per cent of food production by the farmers in the State will be used for feeding of our kids in the programme”.

The deputy governor revealed that over 900 cocoyam farmers have been empowered by the government.

“In order to ensure that the programme is sustained, we have encouraged our farmers to go into massive production of fish and chicken with which to feed the pupils. We have also directed our farmers to go into massive production of plantain, banana and very soon we are thinking on the possibility of going into massive production of rice and establish rice mills across the state to encourage our farmers,” she said.

More than 3,000 women in the state have also been empowered to serve as the food vendors. The vendors are well kitted with modern cooking utensils and bowls at the cost of N152 million to the state government. One of the vendors, Mrs. Esther Ogundipe said the programme has empowered her family. “Aregbesola has added value to my life; I am no more a housewife,’’ she said.

Today, according to the state government, 15,000 whole chickens are sourced weekly from local poultry farmers; 254,000 eggs sourced weekly; 35 heads of cattle purchased weekly from local cattle farmers and 400 tonnes of catfish purchased weekly from local fish farmers.

Even though some have criticised the enormous cost of the programme, the WFP said even in developed country, the amount spent by government on school meals is a worthy investment for the future.

June 26, 2013
Aregbesola fights poverty with O’Meal

There were grim statistics for Nigeria from the recently released “State of School Feeding Worldwide Report”, compiled by the World Food Programme (WFP).

The report, launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York, indicated that only one out of five school children get a healthy school meal in developing countries. The report also presented a gloomy picture of Nigeria’s school feeding programme highlighting that less than 500,000 school children get a decent meal in school. In that report, Nigeria and Cameroon shared the ignoble position of coming last.

In 2004, Nigeria began a pilot project of Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSFHP) which was part of the Universal Basic Education Programme. It was designed to feed pupils in elementary public schools. But out of the 13 states that participated in the programme, only one state remained committed to the continued implementation and improvement of the project: The state is Osun.

The state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has been developing a simple theory with his re-organised school feeding programme in the state. For him, providing nutritious and healthy meals in schools has a direct link to mental development and the eradication of poverty.

Therefore when in April 2012, he decided to review the school feeding programme with a bigger and better menu, he targeted not just the children but also the farmers in the state. The Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’Meals), which was the result of the new thinking in the state has since surpassed most of its main objectives.

One of the cardinal points of O’Meals is to increase enrollment and retention of school children in state primary schools. Within four weeks of the commencement of the programme however, school enrollment has jumped about 25 per cent in government primary schools. By June 30, 2012, enrollment increased from 155,318,000 to 194,253 from primaries 1-3.

Basking in the euphoria of this success, the state government promptly widened the scope and included primary 4 in the scheme. The state now feeds a total of 252,793,000 students daily at the annual cost of N3billion. From the report of the WFP, Osun State accounts for more than half of the total number of children getting healthy and nutritious school meals in Nigeria.

The operation officer of O’meal, Mrs. Bunmi Ayoola, said the programme has achieved and surpassed its objectives of increasing school enrollment in the state. She said the government also ensures that the food is prepared in a healthy and neat environment.

“Balanced diet helps in developing the brain’s capacity as well as cognitive response index of each child and it plays a major role in ensuring that children assimilate learning instructions fast and well,’’ she said.

Fighting poverty and increasing enterprise

But increased enrollment was not the only intention of the Osun State government; reduction of poverty and boosting small and medium scale enterprise were also key points in the school feeding programme. According to the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, the rebirth of the school feeding programme has had a positive impact on farmers.

“As part of six points integral action plan of the state government to banish hunger, create employment and education for all; the school feeding programme has increased the enrollment of the pupils by 25 per cent within the two weeks of re-introduction, allowed farmers to engage in massive food production and encouraged learning in primary schools. Let me tell you that 80 per cent of food production by the farmers in the State will be used for feeding of our kids in the programme”.

The deputy governor revealed that over 900 cocoyam farmers have been empowered by the government.

“In order to ensure that the programme is sustained, we have encouraged our farmers to go into massive production of fish and chicken with which to feed the pupils. We have also directed our farmers to go into massive production of plantain, banana and very soon we are thinking on the possibility of going into massive production of rice and establish rice mills across the state to encourage our farmers,” she said.

More than 3,000 women in the state have also been empowered to serve as the food vendors. The vendors are well kitted with modern cooking utensils and bowls at the cost of N152 million to the state government. One of the vendors, Mrs. Esther Ogundipe said the programme has empowered her family. “Aregbesola has added value to my life; I am no more a housewife,’’ she said.

Today, according to the state government, 15,000 whole chickens are sourced weekly from local poultry farmers; 254,000 eggs sourced weekly; 35 heads of cattle purchased weekly from local cattle farmers and 400 tonnes of catfish purchased weekly from local fish farmers.

Even though some have criticised the enormous cost of the programme, the WFP said even in developed country, the amount spent by government on school meals is a worthy investment for the future.

“This will help raise healthy adults for the future, it is a worthy investment by any government,” the world body said.

At mid-day on any school day, the bell rang; food vendors immaculately dressed began to make preparations for the feeding of their wards. All across the state, the same process is repeated at every primary school. Meals like Yam Porridge, bread soaked in a steaming red stew with chicken to garnish, beans porridge and vegetables, all complemented with fruits were handed over to 250,000 children. In Osun schools, time for break means time for “Ounje Aregbe.”

June 21, 2013