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Tag: story

  • Nigerian-German writer named regional Commonwealth short story prize winner

    Nigerian-German writer Efua Traoré has been named  the regional winner for Africa of the 2018 Commonwealth Short story prize.

    Traoré won with a first person narrative that sees a 13-year-old boy wrestle with the question of what it means to find True Happiness.

    The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth.

    It is the only prize in the world where entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, English, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, and Tamil.

    The international judging panel, chaired by the novelist and poet Sarah Hall, chose the five regional winners – tackling issues from abortion to transgender identity, from religion to mental illness – from a shortlist of 24, with 5182 stories submitted from 48 Commonwealth countries.

    The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is run by Commonwealth Writers, which develops and connects writers across the world and tackles the challenges they face in different regions.

    Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation.

    Director-General of Commonwealth Foundation, Vijay Krishnarayan, said of this year’s winners: “ These remarkable stories are testament to the vitality and range of writing from around the Commonwealth, to the importance of a truly international prize: one that works across linguistic and cultural boundaries.”

    Sarah Hall said: “Each of the winning regional stories speaks strongly for itself in extraordinary prose, and speaks for and beyond its region, often challenging notions of identity, place and society.”

    “Individually, the stories exhibit marvellous imaginative and stylistic diversity; together, they remind us that our deeper human concerns and conundrums are shared, and that the short story form is uniquely adept at offering the reader a world in which she or he might feel a sense both of belonging and un-belonging, might question his or her understanding of the world.”

    Efua Traoré said: “Africa – and in particular Nigeria – has the most amazing story-tellers. This prize gives me the humbling feeling of being part of something great. I am truly honoured.”

  • The story of Vitamins

    Vitamins are small and mighty nutrients and therefore we have to tell their story.  Like in many stories, we start with the Egyptians.  They are an ancient people.  They also left some lasting documentations.  Wikipedia tells us “The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding liver to a person may help with night blindness, an illness now known to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin.

    Then we talk about the Europeans.  “In 1747, the Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus foods helped prevent scurvy” (Wikipedia).  During long ocean travels, sailors of the Renaissance developed scurvy which was resulting in their deaths. Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy, in 1753.    Lind’s prescription of citrus fruits (lime) was salvific for many and was adopted by the British Royal Navy hence a sailor eating limes became known as a “limey”.

    Then we talk about the first scientific discoveries. Scientific evidence for vitamins may be as far back as the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  Animals were being deprived of foods in order to identify remedies of deficiency states.  Fish oil was used to cure rickets in rats.  The useful fat-soluble nutrient was called “antirachitic A”, which was really the now known Vitamin D.   In 1881, Russian surgeon Nikolai Lunin at the University of Tartu (in Estonia) fed mice with  separated components of milk – proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and salts – and found that only the mice given whole milk survived.  The various components alone were not sufficient for life. His conclusion that natural foods contained small quantities of unknown substances that are essential to life was rejected by his advisor, Gustav von Bunge, even after other students reproduced his results.

    Then we talk about the Asians. Beri beri was an endemic disease amongst East Asians who ate polished white rice as their staple food.  A medical doctor, of the Japanese Navy, Takaki Kanehiro, in 1884 observed that beri beri was endemic amongst low ranking sailors who ate mainly such rice but not amongst high ranking offices who consumed a richer diet. He and the Navy went on to conduct an experiment that in today’s science would not get ethical approval.  They used the crews of two battle ships and fed one with only white rice and the other with a diet of meat, fish, barley, rice, and beans. They recorded 161 members of the white rice group developed beri beri with 25 resulting deaths. The better fed group had 14 cases of beriberi and no deaths. Takaki and the Japanese Navy thought sufficient amounts of protein in the diet could prevent beri beri.

    The real experiment came in 1897 when Christiaan Eijkman, a Dutch physician and professor of physiology discovered that chicken fed unpolished rice did not develop beriberi while chicken fed with polished rice developed beri beri which led to the discovery of antineuritic vitamin (thiamine). In 1898, Sir Frederick Hopkins, an English biochemist,  postulated that some foods contained “accessory factors” — in addition to proteins, carbohydrates, fats etc. — that are necessary for the functions of the human body. Hopkins and Eijkman were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1929 for their discovery of vitamins, even though Kazimierz Funk (in English Casimir Funk), a Polish biochemist, is widely credited with discovering vitamins.

    Funk read an article by Christiaan Eijkman describing how people who ate brown rice were less vulnerable to beri-beri than those who ate polished white rice.  Funk wanted to find the substance in brown rice that was responsible for prevention of beri beri.  He isolated a chemical amine and called it “vitamine” and described it as “anti-beri-beri-factor”. His compound later became known as vitamin B3 (niacin), though Funk thought that it was thiamine (vitamin B1). In 1912 he wrote an article for the Journal of State Medicine, proposing the existence of at least four vitamins: one preventing beriberi (“antiberiberi”); one preventing scurvy (“antiscorbutic”); one preventing pellagra (“antipellagric”); and one preventing rickets (“antirachitic”).  Funk then published a book, The Vitamines, in 1912.

    Then we talk about a sad twist.   Umetaro Suzuki, a Japanese scientist had in 1910 extracted a water-soluble complex of micronutrients from rice bran, the first vitamins to be scientifically isolated, and had named it “aberic acid” (thiamine), because it was preventing beri beri.  Suzuki presented his discovery before the Tokyo Chemical Society in 1910, but as most of the medical community thought beriberi was the result of a microbial infection his findings were ignored. The following year his   Japanese article was published in German but   “…the translation failed to state that it was a newly discovered nutrient, a claim made in the original Japanese article, and hence his discovery failed to gain publicity” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin). In 1912, Funk isolated the same complex of nutrients calling it vitamine.

    Scientists discovering vitamins continued to get the Nobel Prize.  In 1937, Paul Karrer and Norman Haworth  for their investigations on carotenoids, flavins and vitamins A and B2, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1937, Szent-Györgyi, a Hungarian biochemist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of Vitamin C.  In 1943, Edward Adelbert Doisy (American Biochemist) and Henrik Dam (Danish biochemist and physiologist) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of vitamin K and its chemical structure. In 1967, George Wald (American Biologist) (along with Ragnar Granit (Swedish neirophysiologist) and Haldan Keffer Hartline (American physiologist)) was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery that vitamin A could participate directly in a physiological process. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin).

    Then we talk about the business men.  In the mid-1930s, the first commercial yeast-extract vitamin B complex and semi-synthetic vitamin C supplement tablets were sold. In the 21 century, vitamins are widely available as inexpensive over the counter medications, food supplements, and food additives and are a part of big business. The scientific study of vitamins is called vitaminology.

     

    Dr. Theresa Adebola John is a lecturer at Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) and an affiliated researcher at the College of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis. For any comments or questions on this column, please email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 08160944635

  • Deconstructing the debt story

    Deconstructing the debt story

    Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, in this piece, puts the debt question in proper perspective. 

    National debt is an emotive issue as well as an economic one. The thought of saddling future generations with unserviceable debt, is not conscionable and certainly not part of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led-administration’s agenda. It is therefore, worthy of an intervention on my part to explain the history, the short-term strategy and the medium to long term outlook for our economy.

    It bears repeating that anyone who thought that the Nigerian economy we inherited in 2015 was in need of minor adjustment was sadly deluded. Oil prices had plunged from a height of over US$120 to a low of US$28 per barrel yet, the country had foreign exchange reserves of US$28.34 billion (having declined by US$16 billion in the two years to June 2015 from a high of US$44.95 billion). Despite just 10% of the budget allocated to capital expenditure, debt had (in a period of unprecedented oil earnings), inexplicably risen from N7.9 trillion in June 2013 to N12.1 trillion in June 2015. Depending on the candour of the commentator, the outlook was at best, ‘challenging’ and at worst, ‘bleak’.

    However, this administration set to work, with a vision, not just to return Nigeria to a stable economic footing, but to deliver a fundamental structural change to the economy that would reduce our exposure to crude oil. We approached this with a number of binding constraints that must be understood. One of these was that mass public sector retrenchments to create room for capital spending was not an option. Politically, it offended the principles of the All Progressive Congress (“APC”) and economically, it would worsen an already precarious economic situation and cause untold hardship. In light of this, an expansionary fiscal policy was adopted with an enlarged budget which would be funded in the short term, by borrowing.

    As the economy recovered and returned to growth, borrowings would be systematically replaced by revenue, which is the fundamental missing piece in Nigeria’s economic jigsaw. This does not mean that we would ignore waste, which has been a core focus of our efforts. Through the implementation of the Efficiency Unit and enrolment of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (“MDAs”) on Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (“IPPIS”), we have successfully saved N206 billion in payroll costs using technology to drive the cleansing process, with the removal of 54,000 fraudulent or erroneous entries. This was attained without the negative social impact of retrenchment.

    As we put our plans together, our economic modelling team correctly forecast that in the short term, there would be an acceleration in the accumulation of debt and an increase in debt servicing costs. However, this would be ameliorated, by correcting the low tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio through revenue mobilisation, releasing funds to sustain investment in capital and repaying the debt. Mobilising revenue aggressively is not advisable, nor indeed possible, in a recessed economy but as Nigeria now reverts to growth, our revenue strategy will be accelerated.  This is being complimented by a medium-term debt strategy that is focusing more on external borrowings to avoid crowding out the private sector. This would also reduce the cost of debt servicing and shift the balance of our debt portfolio from short term to longer term instruments.

    The subject of inherited debt must also be drawn firmly into the mainstream of this discourse. Analysts will recall that in July 2017, Federal Executive Council (“FEC”), approved that N2.7 trillion of hidden liabilities would need to be addressed. These obligations include salaries, pensions, oil importation, energy bills and contractor payments, some of which date back to 2006.  It is instructive to note that the recent Academic Staff Union of Universities (“ASUU”) strike, that crippled our tertiary institutions, is one of many examples of commitments made by previous administrations that were saddled on this team. ASUU’s dispute relates to an agreement reached with the Federal Government in 2013 (when oil prices fluctuated between US$102 and US$116 per barrel), which was not honoured. On a daily basis, previously undisclosed obligations are uncovered. The most recent of which relates to oil importation in 2014 and is currently being dimensioned – unpaid and secured by a hitherto undisclosed sovereign note. All of this, while declared public debt was increasing by N5 trillion in two years despite records highs in revenues (in relative terms) from oil sales.

    This Administration believes that Nigerians have a right to the truth. The figures recently released by the Debt Management Office (“DMO”) and much debated indicates that while total public debt in Dollar terms has remained relatively stable since 2015, our debt, when denominated in Naira, has increased from N12.1 trillion to N19.6 trillion. However, this belies the impact of the recent devaluation of the Naira on the external obligations we inherited, which accounted for N1.63 trillion of this increase. Also, to be considered, is the effect of the compounding of debt service on the inherited domestic debt, which was largely short dated. The administration has always been transparent and the reward for transparency should not be consternation but rather, patient and informed analysis. Nigeria’s debt to GDP currently stands at 17.76% and compares favourably to all its peers.

    This administration will continue to pursue a prudent debt strategy, tied to gross capital formation.  This will be attained by driving capital expenditure in our ailing infrastructure which will in turn, unlock productivity and create the much-needed jobs. We accept that in the short term, there will be dislocations as our revenue efforts will by definition, lag both our expenditure and debt obligations, creating a fiscal deficit. This will be particularly pronounced in the preliminary years of pursuing this strategy however, the dislocation will be mitigated by the nation’s response to the revenue effort. No economy, anywhere in the world, can deliver sustainable long-term growth, without volatility if tax revenue is at 6% of GDP. This must be addressed. It is not optional and the true risk to future generations of Nigerian’s is that they grow up in an environment where tax avoidance or evasion is viewed as acceptable. We are already seeing some performance improvement in our non-oil revenues. Particularly, year to date performance of Customs Revenue, Value Added Tax (“VAT”) and Companies Income Tax (“CIT”), is 19% (N408.06 from N342.79 billion), 18% (N634.89 from N539.46 billion) and 11% (N838.45 from N757.40 billion)  higher respectively, when compared to the same period in 2016.  This does not mean that we have succeeded. Revenue remains considerably short of our ambitions and must be increased exponentially over the coming years but it is a sign that it can be done.

    It must be recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led-administration has expended more on capital projects than any previous one, despite tight fiscal conditions. Our focus on capital is important as it will underpin our medium and long term needs so the impact may not be immediately felt. But there are early and encouraging signs; major construction will resume on twenty-five roads across the key road networks/sections (A1-A4), which cuts across the 6 geopolitical zones, following the successful raising of over N100bn under the Sukuk debt issuance programme. Our capital releases to Power, Works & Housing in 2016  is estimated to have created 193,469 jobs, with 40,429 being direct jobs and 153,040 indirect jobs. The many thousands of staff of some of our major contractors, who had been furloughed since their last payment receipts in 2014,  will attest to the impact of Government Policy. In agriculture, our policies on rice and fertiliser have seen the resurrection of many rice mills and blending plants and have created a new value chain in industries that were previously import driven with over 300,000 farmers fully engaged.

    It must also be recalled that this administration is working harder on revenue generation than ever before. Blocking leakages, demanding efficiency and even breaching previous ‘no-go’ areas like tax compliance for our higher earners – there are no sacred cows. All these efforts are aimed at ensuring that Nigeria has an economy that distributes wealth and opportunity fairly among her citizens. This commitment to equity should equally provide assurance that we will never burden future generations with the responsibility for paying for past mistakes, rather, we will bequeath a vibrant and reformed economy. We are resolutely convinced, based on empirical data that our collective efforts will deliver a Nigeria that works for all Nigerians and in all global economic conditions.

  • Nwando Achebe: Her story and her glorious professionalism

    In the world of History, there are two kinds of historians: those who narrate history, and those who make history while narrating it! Professor Nwando Achebe is the latter—one of the few daughters of Africa to attain the status of full Professor at a Research 1 University, due to the dint of her hard work and research. By taking the less-travelled road of chronicling the histories of African women to carve the distinct path of her scholarship, she has evolved history into herstory.

    I am endeavouring to talk about one of Africa’s greatest children, who was formally robed on September 22nd with both the vestment and “skin” of academic attainment along with the challenge to do even more. So, how does one begin to talk about the achievements of someone whose contributions to historical scholarship are a work of history in themselves? Indeed, how best can one capture the excellence of the scholarship of Professor Nwando Achebe, a scion of great storytellers of Africa, who has distinguished herself in her own right by forging also her own path of storytelling in the often treacherous terrain that we call academia?

    For those of us who talk for a living, sometimes finding the right words to convey the profundity of a moment such as this can be difficult. It is neither because word has failed us nor just because word can ever fail even us; it is mostly because, at times like this one, language itself teases us. Words challenge us to find enough of its component parts to express the depth of the overwhelming emotion that one senses on a day like this one. Consequently, we search for the right words and, as soon as they are spoken, we realize our feelings are even more intense. Therefore, please forgive me, my colleagues and fellow Africans if, when you read this piece, you sense that my words still do not adequately convey the import of what we are celebrating. What I underscore today can only transport a fraction of the pride and admiration I genuinely feel for Professor Nwando Achebe, a Scholar’s Scholar!  Whatever is deficient about my abilities to fully swoop the magnitude of this moment into a few minutes’ tribute (just as the swift hawk swoops down on a chick for its meal), time and history will make up for it as the academy registers the weight of her contributions to global history and scholarship in the years to come; in the end, history will absorb her.

    The late and legendary Chinua Achebe once said “It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have – otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.” Derek Walcott’s endorsement of this line of thinking is, in fact, very dense: “Time is the metre, memory the only plot.” Since I don’t have the literary license to add an exclamation after Walcott’s “plot,” I won’t do it now! However, the more I ponder on the words of these two great literary giants and intellectuals, the deeper their embedded truth resonates with me. The storyteller defines a culture, people, and their history, while taking liberty with the “metre” of that past and time to generate a series of plots. The storyteller, coupled with the historian, is the one who ensures that the children of the survivors of catastrophic historical events can rise from the rubbles of the past and, like the Biblical Nehemiah, embark on the project of the restoration of the present.

    Dr. Nwando Achebe embodies the political task with which the historian is imbued by the scope of her research in African history. As we all know, her area of specialization is women, gender, and sexuality and, on those scores, she has delivered excellently. In the process, she has deployed her robust intellectual energy to tell the stories of African women that would have otherwise been tucked away in dusty archives and women’s oral history that have declined, according to the order of nature. She has revived the memories of these women of our past and we, the descendants of those women, can walk taller. Prof. Achebe’s scholarship has created a memory for us to know the paths our mothers have once walked. Now we too can forge our own paths with the light the historian has provided, rather than be mere shadows in the light of others. Her work reminds us to honour women.

    Endowed Professor Nwando Achebe’s first book showed women in their multifaceted contours. Entitled Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900-1960, the book confronts the age-long belief that the Igbo had no kings. In a jarring confrontation of this belief, Farmers, Traders, Warriors and Kings, does explore the northern part of Igboland where the idea of Igbo kings was not an aberration, but in fact, they had female kings! Contrary to the stereotypical depiction of African women as passive and eternally dependent on male strength, women in these areas served as warriors and some of them even took on traditionally male roles by marrying other women themselves. This book throws into relief the complexity of socio-political interactions, spiritual principles, local customs, and the gender politics of pre-colonial Igboland. Her study of the triadic phase of African colonial history—pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial—yielded valuable insights into the place of gender in African thought, indeed, in such a way that Western feminist scholarship, which has dominated the field, has not been sufficiently analyzed.

    Her second book, The Female King of Colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe, continued in her activist scholarship of telling women’s own stories. Prof. Achebe excavates the story of a woman, Ahebi Ugbabe, who became a king in colonial Nigeria, not just a Queen by British tradition for the female royalty, a study that provides the fascinating trajectory that led her to the throne. Like the exiling to the Seychelles of the Asante royalty by the British back in the then-named Gold Coast (now called Ghana since 1957), Ugbabe was also exiled from Igboland, to become during her banishment, an adventurer who travelled far across cultures. She took up prostitution and along the way, she learned many languages as well. Ugbabe would eventually become a king with the support of the network of friendship and power she developed along the course of her travels and eventual odyssey. This critical biography shares numerous insights into a female’s route to gendered power and authority in the colonial history of Nigeria, similar to how the lives and times of the Asantehene (or King of Asante in Ghana) has enriched the cultural history of neighbouring Ghana.

    Indeed, in the recognition of the sterling work of scholarship Dr. Achebe invested in this book, she was awarded the 2012 Gita Chaudhuri Prize by The Western Association of Women Historians, the 2012 Barbara “Penny” Kanner Prize (Western Association of Women Historians) Winner, and the 2013 Aidoo-Snyder Book Award of the African Studies Association Women’s Caucus.

    Time and dwindling space will not permit me to continue talking about all of the other excellent published works by Prof. Nwando Achebe; for, she is not only a researcher par excellence, but also a distinguished writer as well, indeed a fine chip from the old block. From the time she completed her Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles, having studied with some of the best historical minds of that institution, she has distinguished herself by showing that a rolling stone gathers no moss, hence staying at MSU this long; she has also shown distinction in the field of African (or Africana) Studies. Our dear Professor Nwando Achebe has written many refereed and popular articles on contemporary issues, particularly about women in Nigeria, with many more works to be published soon. She has also delivered more than a hundred invited and endowed lectures in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, China, and Portugal (where she and her distinguished mother, Professor Christine Achebe, co-presented a recognition to her distinguished father in celebrating 50 years of Things Fall Apart). A public intellectual to be reckoned with, Prof. Achebe also regularly makes contributions in the media via TV, podcasts, newspapers, and high school books. She is currently serving as a member of the African Studies Association’s Board of Directors and is past co-Convenor of the ASA’s Women Caucus. She is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of West African History. Additionally, she has been the recipient of several research grants, including from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Fulbright-Hays Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, amongst others.

    I join in celebrating Prof. Achebe as she is awarded The Jack and Margaret Sweet Endowed Professorship of History at Michigan State University (MSU). We are celebrating a woman whose research embodies one of the most beautiful names we give our children in the south eastern part of Nigeria–Nkolika, the female name that means “remembering is supreme.” Our fathers gave their daughters this name because, just like what the great storyteller (Chinua Achebe, himself) once said about historians, they create the memory that forms the arsenals of those who have survived history. Historians like Prof. Nwando Achebe, often rare breeds, make us remember, and because remembering is supreme, we know the paths we have walked before. We know where we want to go, and how we should remember today for tomorrow. We owe it all to historians, or as in this case, the herstorians, including Professor Nwando Achebe; the women and, indeed, scholars like her, who help us to remember through the histories of the women they narrate. And, above all, in relating this history and the stories of these women, Prof. Nwando Achebe (as the creator) makes her own history in academia and outside of it as well.

    Congratulations, indeed!

    • Prof. Falola of University of Texas at Austin

  • Rat story

    so, rats had a field day while the President was away. “Following the three months period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units,” according to Shehu Garba, the   Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari  on Media and Publicity.

    This is why Buhari, who returned to Nigeria after a 103-day medical vacation, will work from home and not from his office, Garba explained, adding that it was impossible for his boss to use the office in that condition. A report said:  ”He said renovation work was necessary to make the office conducive but that it won’t affect the pace of work because the President has a well-equipped office at home.”

    This rat story not only raises questions; it calls into question the maintenance culture at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, where the residence and office of the President are located. The picture of extensive damage painted by Garba suggests that the President’s office was badly neglected.

    Who is responsible for keeping the President’s office in good condition?  What happened? Why was the place allowed to become a base of rats?  Where did the invaders come from?  What is the rat population at the Aso Villa? How many rats gained access to the President’s office? What attracted them to the office?  Were they aware of the importance of the office? What things did they do in the office?

    Further questions: Why did they destroy “the furniture and the air conditioning units”? Are the destructive rats still around at the Aso Villa?  Where have they moved to, given that the office is no longer available for their use?

    The President is expected to go back to his main office after the ongoing renovation has been completed.  A report said: “It was gathered that the renovation work was being carried out by the construction giant, Julius Berger, and it was uncertain when or how long the renovation would last.”

    The problem is that the damage credited to actual rodents may well be insignificant compared with the damage caused by figurative rodents.  What about the rat race at the Aso Villa? A definition says rat race is “a way of referring to the situation in modern society in which people compete with each other for money and power.”

    The Aso Villa is a fertile place for power competition as well as money competition. This may well explain why the President’s office was left open to invasion by rats. Those who should have ensured that the President’s office was well maintained in Buhari’s absence were perhaps preoccupied with power and money.

  • ‘We have a story to tell’

    We have a story to tell.”  It was a defining statement about the place of Yoruba culture and religion, also known as Orisa tradition, in a global village of multiple cultures and multiple faiths. Prof Wande Abimbola, a retired academic, distinguished Yoruba culture promoter and Ifa priest, proudly promoted the Yoruba essence during an interactive session at the 10th Orisa World Congress held at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, in July 2013.

    It is noteworthy that Yoruba religion is recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which in 2005 added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

    Among the highpoints of the congress was the declaration by the then  Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade,  who was the community’s revered traditional ruler and Grand Patron of the Orisa tradition and religion, that July and August will be celebrated as “Yoruba cultural months” from the following  year. “I implore all descendants of Oduduwa to return home every year during these months to celebrate our culture and religion,” he said, at the opening ceremony of the congress at Oduduwa Hall, OAU.  Oduduwa, regarded as the progenitor of the Yoruba people, is artistically represented by an imposing wooden sculpture carved by Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, which Sijuwade unveiled at the front of the university theatre in 1987.

    Sijuwade, who died in 2015, launched the “Yoruba cultural months,” saying:  ”All my children in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo Republic, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Sudan, invite all lovers of Yoruba culture to the homeland during the months of July and August. Celebrate the values, virtues and treasures of our towns and cities. Hold public events, conventions and activities that showcase the invaluable riches of Yoruba culture and religion. These are the treasures that have made Yoruba culture and religion a global heritage of humanity.”

    It is August. It is time for the Osun-Osogbo Festival, Nigeria’s pre-eminent traditional religious festival, which draws a high number of domestic and foreign tourists. The site of this star tourist attraction, the Osun-Osogbo Grove, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.

    Who was Osun?  This is a picture: “Oral tradition has it that Ore (daughter of one Elekole in Ekiti-land) was the mother of Osun; hence the saying ‘Greetings to Ore, the mother of Osun’. Osun was born at Ijimu, was the youngest of the three wives of Sango-the god of thunder. Oba (from Iwo) and Oya (from Ira) were his other wives. Sango was by this time the Alafin of Oyo. Though Oya was the eldest of the wives, Osun was in fact the real apple of Sango’s eye. As a result of a fight that ensued between Osun and Oba, both wives were divorced. Osun left Oyo only to marry Larooye at Osogbo.

    There are two distinguishing features in the character of Osun as a person. First, her knowledge of the use of herbs was renowned throughout Yoruba land. As a matter of fact, she was the only person in her time that really mastered the systematic manipulations and technical formulations connected with the use of Osanyin (god of knowledge) to achieve her various objectives. This knowledge she used to the best advantages of the people of Osogbo. The banks of the river became her centre of activities as her name became associated with the spirit of the river and its sacred water. Larooye and Osun brought sacrifices to the river and a large fish (Osun’s messenger) appeared and spat some water into Larooye’s hands. This sacred water was said to have healing power including the power of making barren women fertile. Larooye was then given the title ‘Ataoja’ which is a contraction of ‘A tewo gba eja’ (one who stretches his hand to receive fish). His town became known as ‘Osogbo’ (the habitation of wizards), which was a manifestation of the wonderful works of medicine constantly being undertaken by Osun (Larooye’s wife). It is quite a possibility that whenever the river overflowed its banks, Osun usually made sacrifices to appease the goddess of the river. This appeasement, now known as the ‘Osun Festival’ eventually developed into an annual ceremony, which today is observed by sons and daughters of Osogbo during the month of August.” – Tourism in Osun State of Nigeria – (Osun State Tourism Board)

    It is August. It is time for this year’s World Sango Festival at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III. On the final day of the 10-day festival, which is expected to attract tourists, the people will “assemble in Koso and wait eagerly for the arrival of the Elegun-Koso representing the ancestral spirit of Sango.”

    Who was Sango? This is a picture:  ”Sango’s life was so filled with terrible battles and surprising victories that his subjects and enemies alike credited him with supernatural powers. Sango died in the prime of his life. One of the supernatural powers which he claimed himself was the power to make lightning. According to Oyo traditions, while demonstrating this power to his chiefs and courtiers one day, he accidentally burnt down the palace. Either out of embarrassment or out of fear of his subjects, he took his own life. But his people, out of gratitude for all he had done for their kingdom, deified him, giving his name to the god of thunder and lightning and set up shrines and rituals for his worship. The cult of Sango became the special cult of Oyo-Ile kings, unlike in most Yoruba kingdoms where the cult of Ogun (god of iron and war) was the royal cult.” – (A History of the Yoruba People – Adebanji Akintoye)

    As Abimbola observed, “We have a story to tell.”

  • I LIKE TELLING STORY WITH VISUALS –VICTORIA KIMANI

    I LIKE TELLING STORY WITH VISUALS –VICTORIA KIMANI

    MUSIC artiste Victoria Kimani has explained the concept behind the short film on her forthcoming video, ‘Fade Away’, a single, featuring Donald Indenial, from her new album ‘Safari’.

    With a teaser on what to expect of the video, the singer was heard talking about sinning against the society, but in that sin, she also realises perfection, with the power of freedom fighting within her soul.

    The video is set in the Solitary Isolation, Kalulua, Southgate, which is expected to be a changing home for some.

    Speaking on the video, she said, “I like storytelling, especially through visuals,” and on the video of ‘Fade Away,’ she assured that “the music video is dropping soon.”

    Born in Los Angeles, but originally from Kenya, Victoria Kimani is signed to Nigerian-owned Chocolate City record label.

  • Lagos: Secrets of the success story

    “The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams,” 

    The allure of Lagos is real-awesome in its power; seductively magnetic.  Lagos is a place where it is safe to dream, if you are determined to make it real.

    Lagos has variously been described, as: “Land of Promise”,  “Promised Land”, “Home for All”, “Land of Commerce”, “Land of Performance”,  “Land of Aquatic Splendour and Tourism” and “Centre of Learning”.

    Some call it land of peace, of hope, of opportunity, of business, of legacies and of freedom among others. Mere 0.4% of Nigeria’s territorial land mass, Lagos harbours more than 21 million, or 18 per cent of Nigerians of different ethnic and religious groups; it has over 62 per cent of industrial and commercial interest. Lagos’s Internally Generated Revenue of 287 billion in December last year,-about 76 per cent of its total revenue- was more than that of 20 states of the nation’s 36 states.

    The promise of Lagos is alive and well! With over 54 per cent of the country’s manufacturing employment, Lagos is the 2nd largest economy in Nigeria, 3rd in Sub-Saharan Africa and about seven or eight in Africa. It is the 7th fastest growing economy in the World, and even when it is already growing in leaps and bound, Lagos will surely experience a real exponential growth.

    With the recent discovery of crude oil in the state, it is poised for special federal revenue allocation that other oil-producing states enjoy; what will be the largest refinery in Africa, or probably in the World, is projected for completion soon, Lekki Free Trade Zone, massive infrastructural rehabilitation and construction and integrated mass transportation system is going on at frenetic pace.

    With dynamic, dedicated and visionary leadership, Lagos continues to promote and project best practices and reforms to ease administration, business and financial operations. The fact that IGR has increased so dramatically to N436 billion this year, is a pointer to the fact that a sound, sustainable revenue mobilisation measures have taken root.

    On viability of Lagos State, the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said: “…is a land of opportunities, offering all residents the chance to succeed in their vocations and endeavours….a place where you have a chance to make it if you work hard…Lagos provides the cohesion that keeps Nigeria together.”

    In fact, there is a popular maxim among Lagosians that “if you come to Lagos and you are not smart (not able to make headway), you cannot do that anywhere else on the planet, even in America!” Perhaps, the key word is “hard work” and, of course prayer.

    Thus, the dream of most Nigerians is to experience Lagos first, even if they have to travel abroad in quest of more fortune. In fact, virtually all Nigerians who have made it to the top in all areas of life have done so, directly or indirectly, with Lagos connections.

    Lagos as a land of hope and of opportunity, or where in Nigeria could one be hawking bread on the street, in one moment, a nondescript and the next, a celebrity!

    “Lagos a Home for All”, means Nigeria will not break because Lagos is the adhesive holding Nigerians together.

    Certain significant occurrences attest to this assertion. Have we ever pondered why all civilian governors since the First Republic, Lateef Jakande, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Raji Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode- except the short three months period of Michael Otedola in 1983- have always been progressive, visionary, role models, achievers by far margin among their peers?

    This is acclaimed even by their adversaries. Have you examined why virtually all these governors went on to assume greater national responsibilities and influence after their respective tenure?

    Have we explored the reasons why Lagos was never conquered by ruling political party in 1983 and 2003? Recall, the malevolent “landslide” (or was it Moonslide) election of National Party of Nigeria (NPN) at the end of the Second Republic.

    Governor Lateef Jakande of Lagos, and Governor Olabisi Onabanjo of Ogun States survived, “annexation” of the Unity Party states unscratched (of course Chief Obafemi Awolowo was from Ogun State); while Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin of Ondo State had to bitterly fight it to the Supreme Court, to reclaim his mandate from Akin Omoboriowo, of the ruling party, after much bloodletting that culminated into December 1983 coup of General Muhammadu Buhari and Col. Tunde Idiagbon.

    Fast-track to 2003, when the evil tsunami of 2003 election, swallowed all the progressive states, but  was unable to consume Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Lagos, which remained the bulwark and rallying point for the progressives till date.

    True, Jakande put Lagos in the sun, but it was Asiwaju Tinubu that really repaired and strengthened the foundation, deeply eroded since 1983. Governor Fashola constructed solid structure on it, while Governor Ambode propelled construction to astronomical height- IGR was N300 million in 1999; it is N436 billion now.

    When Southern and Northern Protectorates were amalgamated as Nigeria in 1914, Lagos was chosen over Calabar as federal capital. Was it by prayer, pre-destination, pure chance or divine intervention? Lagos is a centre of unity and freedom; maybe the reason that state remains the only one with its boundary intact since 1967.

    Have we pondered why Lagos State has the full mix of variables that cause sustainable development, successions of visionary democratic  leaders who continue to transmit models for good governance, proactive civil service, dynamic and egalitarian population, appropriate climatic and environmental condition and  peace and harmonious co-existence of diverse groups and interests.

    Some would say faith, some would say destiny. But virtually all would agree that prayer and perseverance for excellence by Lagosians-leaders and the led-is key for Lagos State’s successes. The reason for the establishment of Home Affairs Ministry is primarily to take care of the spiritual yearnings of Lagosians, reinforce our faith in the destiny of Lagos, promote this state of concord, care and love, inspire us to work harder without fear and secure our sustainable growth.

  • How The Nation’s story changed girl’s life

    How The Nation’s story changed girl’s life

    Miss Òpémipó Ogunséyé, an orphan who will be 20 on April 12, thought she would never use her legs again.  But a story in this newspaper titled Please, help me to make something out of my life changed all that.

    A Belgian and Managing Director, World Telecom Labs, Mr. Leigh Smith, was in Nigeria when the story was published. Smith, who almost had his leg amputated several years ago, read the story and decided to help.

    All thanks to Smith, Miss Ogunseye now has her legs backs and also has money in an account to fund her education.

    He said: “Whenever I am in Nigeria, I always stayed in the same hotel in Abuja. I liked to swim but the hotel swimming pool was closed off because they were building a new wing on the hotel next door. So, I met with the general manager and explained that I wanted to use the pool to get some exercise. There-and-then, he gave me special permission to use the pool. Everytime I made a booking, the pool would be cleaned and I used it regularly while there.

    “This set up worked well for about seven visits before I read about Òpémipó’s story in The Nation. That November, when I arrived the reception, the officials were happy to see me and promptly, they gave me the key to the swimming pool. Unknown to me, the GM had not seen my request that while at the hotel, I would use the swimming pool. So, he did not instruct for the pool to be cleaned.

    “The next night, I went for a swim. I was already in the water before I realised that it was not cleaned as before. I accidentally had a very small cut on my knee but didn’t know that bacteria entered through this cut into my lower leg. Within the next three days, my left leg had gotten swollen. Fortunately, on the Friday night I had to fly to Cape Town to attend a telecoms conference. I arrived early Saturday morning and went straight to Christian Barnard Hospital next to my hotel for a check up.

    “The doctors immediately explained that the issue with my leg looked serious and that I needed to be checked in. Immediately, they started series of checks and later told me that they found few serious complications as they found Strepicoccous bacteria in my system. Then, they moved me into the intensive care as I had stopped breathing at some point and my kidneys stopped working.

    “By the third day, the medical team thought I was going to die and the next option for them was to amputate my left leg. They were still deliberating on the process of cutting off my leg when fortunately, the antibiotics earlier administered started killing off the bacteria by the fourth day. Eventually, I ended up being in the intensive care for eight days and lasted three whole weeks in hospital. That was how I was saved from losing my leg simply because I swam in dirty swimming pool. I think I might have wanted to end my life. So, when I read Òpémipó’s story in your newspaper, it really touched my heart because what happened to her very, very nearly happened to me.

    “This episode took me about three months before I began walking short distances. Gradually, it improved but the infection and the treatment affected the lymphatic circulation in my leg. Once monthly, I still get some physiotherapy treatment to massage out the swelling. But I am largely fine and my leg is very much okay.”

    Smith, for about two years, ensured that Òpémipó got treated medically at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where she had her crushed leg replaced with Prosthesis, an artificial cast.

    Last week, Smith accompanied by this reporter, Òpémipó’s uncle, Michael, her elder sister, Elizabeth and Miss Ogunseye, was at a Sterling Banks branch on Victoria Island to open an account to fund her education. Smith had made prior arrangements with the bank to open the account.

    Explaining why he opened an account for Òpémipó, the benefactor said: “As a first step to helping her, I wanted to set up a bank account so that if and when I want to I can give her some financial support. I will like to support her to be educated and if she wants to go to university, all well. As you reported in the initial story, she was appealing to someone to help her as she said: ‘I still want to make something out of my life’. Yes, she needed to be on her feet. And now that she is back up, I am also prepared to give her some financial assistance to get a good education to actually make something out of her life. By the way, her Uncle Mike has been kindly supporting her and paying her school fees. In fact, his magnanimity towards his late sister’s two daughters should not go unrecognised. All I am doing is just helping Òpémipó to get started with an opportunity to have a better life, not anything to be sensationalised.”

    An elated Miss Ogunseye told the reporter: “From the beginning, I felt my world had come to a sudden end. I had dreams I was hoping to pursue. In fact, I was about sitting for my WAEC back then. But that was truncated by the accident and the fact that I was seriously in pains and on hospital admission. In short, I went through a lot for my young age. But I thank God and I really want to appreciate my uncle, Mr. Michael and aunty, his wife, Mr. Leigh, my elder sister, Elizabeth and several others I can’t mention here.

    “I am grateful, because they kept me going and that is why I can, and indeed, I am preparing for the upcoming WAEC this year 2017. Ordinarily by now, I should be in about 300 or 400level in the university. But I thank God who allowed the story to be written on me and made Mr. Smith to read and he contacted us.

    “After I was discharged from the hospital, Mr. Smith came over to our place and that was it. Since then, he has been an angel that God sent to my life. He has helped out in so many ways that if I counting, I won’t finish anytime soon.

    “I want to be a journalist. I want to go around the world. I want to be the voice for people who are going through similar situation I had been through. I want people who have given up to see that there will always be a better tomorrow. They just have to be patient and always believe in God.”

  • Sex scandal: My story, by lecturer

    Sex scandal: My story, by lecturer

    Ishaq G. Yusuf, a lecturer at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, accused by a student, Mercy Chidinma Samuel, of sexually harassing her, claims that he is a victim of an orchestrated plan to destroy him. He says he won’t rest until he gets justice.

    All my life, I have always wanted to be a teacher because the teaching profession represents an epitome of integrity. I have always believed that through education, we can contribute to the development of our society.

    So, consciously, I choose to be a teacher. I have struggled all my life to protect my integrity and this is why I have decided to speak out, because silence is tantamount to acceptance.

    My ordeal started when my PhD supervisor (Dr Abaya) who is currently a sabbatical staff in my department asked me to help him administer a 40-minute test of ENG 409, a course Mercy Samuel was writing.

    The class to be used for the test was too small, thereby necessitating the division of the class into two. The rule surrounding the conduct of the test was laid down by the examiner, that a student caught cheating would have his or her script torn.

    Mercy sat behind her classmate, Samuel by name. And when the test was about to round off, Samuel raised his scripts for Mercy to copy. I warned Samuel to desist but he just smiled and carried on. I therefore collected his paper and wrote on it, “cheated”.

    Then, I kept the script on the table waiting for other students to finish. As the test ended, Dr Abaya came in and asked me if there was any problem during the test. I replied “yes”. I showed him Samuel’s paper and explained what happened. The paper was torn.

    The following day, Mercy kept on calling me that she wanted to see me, because Samuel had been disturbing her and she needed me to help them talk to Dr Abaya on behalf of the Samuel. I clearly told her that there was nothing I could do about it. I stayed in my office preparing my handover notes to the next examination officer in my department as I was just recently appointed as the Faculty Examinations Officer. I was also busy preparing materials for the forth coming first semester examination.

    I left my office around 10pm on the fateful day for my house in Lapai town. On my way home, I slowed down near the Master Chef Restaurant, where the portion of road is sandy. I saw Mercy by the side of the road. Before I could fathom what was happening, four boys opened my car, jumped inside and closed the doors. One of them pressed a gun behind my head and ordered me to keep driving until we got to Mercy’s house.

    Then, they forced me into the house and ordered me to lick some oranges but I refused. Subsequently they boys forced me to take some water melon. One of the boys slapped me repeatedly. He said that he failed my GST course for three years and kept on slapping me   with both hands shouting : “Am I dull, am I dull?”

    He kept on beating me, shouting that he was so angry with me. Up till date, I still have problems with my ears as a result of the slapping and beating the boys subjected me to. They threatened to kill me if I did not comply with all their directives.

    Under duress, I was forced to write four undertakings to pass some four students in the exams. They beat and kicked me and I sustained injury in my hand. They asked me to sit and write an essay of 450 words the way I used to ask them to write essay in the class.

    All through these, they were smoking and drinking. Thereafter, I was asked to remove my clothes but I refused. They forcefully stripped me and took some shots of me and their leader identified as SKT. They took my handsets, ATM cards and some cash that I had in my pocket. They soaked my shirt in water. They asked me how much I had in the bank and I told them it was not up to N100,000.

    They kept me hostage throughout the night doing different chores for them, including mopping the floor for Mercy. They humiliated and abused me throughout the night, while Mercy recorded video of me. After several hours I was going through the ordeal, I started experiencing pains in my chest and started bringing out some mucus. I went to the toilet to spit out the mucus and came back to be engaged in another task until one of them observing my condition said they should allow me to go so that I would not die in their hands. Then they called somebody and gave me the phone to talk to him. As they released me, they gave me a phone number which I must call by 10am when I get home.

    After my release, I reported the incident to my Dean. Later that same day, they still came to my office to confront me, locked me inside and demanded to know why I was “following” Mercy. They further demanded that I bring the N2million they asked me for. Even when I went out of my office later, I still saw the people that came to my office in strategic places watching my office.

    I decided that the world must hear my side of the story, which is now being investigated by the law enforcement agents and the university authority. I was kidnapped, assaulted, humiliated, and psychologically traumatised. Yet, they still sent out my unclad pictures and videos doing chores on the Internet. I have been maligned and defamed and I will not rest until I get justice.