The Nation Newspaper

Tag: table

  • TWP: Table turns for Kemi Adetiba

    If, like others are saying, she was asking for a ‘whistle blower’s’ kind of share from the proceeds of the Part 1, I agree she may be asking for too much based on the strength of her relative naiveté. After all, a directorial input didn’t sell the movie. If truly the producers were not impressed with her, as the D.O.P was said to have done more of the directing…

    There are several wedding party stories around the place, and comedy has not got those stringent rules that see imperfections with the ‘welder eyeglasses’. ‘The Wedding Party’ is about bits and pieces of happenstances that one can easily relate with and with the kind of actors in the Part 1

    JUST as Kemi Adetiba was about stepping into the euphoria of being the director of the highest Nollywood Box Office earner, ‘The Wedding Party’, the dance rug was pulled from her feet.

    The movie, which is in its second installment, has another director – Niyi Akinmolayan.

    Fans of Adetiba think this is a dangerous thread to bring another director aboard a sequel, who may have to struggle with the fluidity of the story, and I ask; what story? What fluidity?

    There are several wedding party stories around the place, and comedy has not got those stringent rules that see imperfections with the ‘welder eyeglasses’. ‘The Wedding Party’ is about bits and pieces of happenstances that one can easily relate with and with the kind of actors in the Part 1, the actors can jolly well play themselves. If Akinmolayan happens to ‘call’ it like Adetiba, then we may have a repeat of some of the gaffes, because it takes a director who is worth their nerves to ‘cut’ the shot when Ali Baba decides to overstretch his wits.

    God knows that what I saw in ‘The Wedding Party’ was a hazy directorial input by Adetiba who experimented with that film as a first time feature length film director.

    I have heard of warnings against changing a winning formula, but this could apply to the marketing strategy deplored for the film and not of its artistry.

    ‘The Wedding Party’ is our best commercial pride, no doubt, but it remains, in my assessment, a creative opportunity that rode on great business idea.

    However, if the producers decide to take this sequel a notch higher, it won’t remove anything from a great business template. It can only add up. If Adetiba’s shortfall is one of the reasons she is being shortchanged, then, Akinmolayan needs to prove a point. Yes, because even though he has some ‘good’ serious dramas to his credit, this is all about romantic comedy.

    If, like others are saying, she was asking for a ‘whistle blower’s’ kind of share from the proceeds of the Part 1, I agree she may be asking for too much based on the strength of her relative naiveté. After all, a directorial input didn’t sell the movie.

    If truly the producers were not impressed with her, as the D.O.P was said to have done more of the directing, while an EP was said to have directed on the last few days of shoot, why would they want to pay her more?

    Although the issue of contract levity came to mind, this may not be the case, as the director couldn’t have predicted that the movie will turn a hit, and eventually earn a second installment.

    However, because I love gist of this nature, I’ll rather put my speculations on hold, in the hope that very soon, Adetiba would have the courage to tell us the real reason her journey with the series has to end abruptly; especially now that the real marriage between lead actors; Banky W and Adesua Etomi might earn the producers a stocked bullion van.

    She told LIB, “there’s really nothing to it, I’m still very good friends with the house, I speak to them every day. I don’t want to make a statement right now; I’m still very close to Mo Abudu there’s no phony business going on. A statement will be out soon though.”

    While we wait for Adetiba’s reaction, let’s take a look at Akinmolayan, and how he is about to boost his profile with a movie associated with commercial accomplishment.

    Akinmolayan’s directorial debut film, Kajola, an action/sci-fi was a disaster but a very courageous attempt. The director himself recounted how he could have committed suicide from the loss and attendant shame. His ally described his resurrection ordeal, saying, “After Kajola, perhaps Nollywood’s most infamous cinema outing, he came out of a suicidal spell and kept pushing.”

    He has so far done ‘Make That Move’, ‘Falling’, ‘Out Of Luck’ and ‘Arbitration’. But none of them is a hit.

    If you’ve seen all these films, you’d find the guy likes to experiment, as they are not run-of-the-mill.

    For Akinmolayan, it is a career on the move, and one wonders if this new experience won’t change his orientation forever. In the case of ‘The Wedding Party,’ I am looking forward to a romance of art and commercial. He might just be that Midas touch, if words by his promoter are anything to go by.

    He said: “Niyi is such a freaking nerd, soaking in info about every aspect of filmmaking. He’s one of the few filmmakers I’ve heard eloquently talk about story & sound & lights & symbolism, et al because he’s always researching, watching video tutorials & taking courses.”

  • From farmer to table

    Daily images of drought are a stark reminder of the importance of food for human health and prosperity. And while we know that agriculture is the economic backbone of most nations across Africa, food insecurity remains a significant problem. There is an incongruous disconnect between the economic value we place on agriculture compared to food – yet they are different parts of the same whole.

    Take the inefficiency in the food system that is rarely part of the national conversation but responsible for up to half of all crops never making it to market, let alone our plates: post-harvest loss. This is harvested produce lost between farm and table, never to be recovered. It happens when food rots in markets, when it is poorly stored and can no longer be consumed, and when there is insufficient uptake from buyers.

    Looking more closely, we see that almost 30% of the inputs of time, energy, and finances spent to grow, transport, and process foods are ultimately lost – tremendous market inefficiency. In fact, research estimates that post-harvest loss between farm and table totals about 30% of all grains and 50% of all fruits that are harvested. Just imagine how much more food could be on the market if we solved this problem. At a global scale, reduction of post-harvest loss could result in as many as 1.2 billion undernourished people becoming food secure.

    Africa’s population is projected to double in the next 30 years, lending urgency to the need for solutions. The economic imperative to reduce post-harvest loss is clear. Farmers could unlock the full value of their investments, food distributors and processors would gain invaluable produce inputs that could boost their businesses. Consumers too would save money, from not having to pay more due to price inflation that mitigates the cost of food loss that is experienced early on in the food chain.

    Several actors are beginning to recognise the opportunity presented by a focused reduction on post-harvest loss, and that the investments needed to reverse this reality are attainable. Multilateral action through the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12.3) and the Malabo Declaration by the African Union to halve post-harvest losses by the year 2030 and 2025 respectively, has provided global and regional benchmarks to which others are already responding.

    Researchers are developing low-cost innovative solutions for faster food processing, solar drying, active and intelligent packaging, and cold storage units, all to enable small farmers to not only manage their reliance on the market, but also sell their produce at the best price.

    The Rockefeller Foundation is at the forefront of promoting integrated solutions to address post-harvest losses in Africa. Through the YieldWise Initiative, a 7-year $130 million investment targeted at reducing food loss, the Foundation is helping farmers to link up with finance and markets, access technologies, aggregate and receive training, with the overall goal of increasing the quantity and quality of food in Africa.

    In northern Nigeria, for instance, YieldWise has fostered partnerships between local tomato farmers and the Dangote Farms Tomato Processing Plant, enabling the plant to start production for the first time in three years. In Kenya, over 4,000 small-scale mango farmers were linked with new buyers, such as dried fruit processors and traders, resulting in approximately $1.2 million in sales in 2016.

    The security of these buyer agreements allows farmers to invest with confidence, knowing that the market will absorb their harvest. Along with technological innovations that track the food value chain, and the widespread use of mobile money platforms, buyers and farmers can harvest the full financial value of their investments in ways that were impossible in the past.

    Collaboration across these myriad actors and innovations is key for systemic change. After all, many post-harvest loss interventions are already in use for export market producers, but change has been slow to come to domestic food markets. Small holder farmers have not had the type of access to the financing and partners they often need to afford new technology. It is clear that focusing on only one part of the system is an insufficient approach and will remain ineffective in providing long-term and lasting solutions to closing the food value chain gap.

    Systemic change was the focus of the first All-Africa Post-Harvest Loss Congress recently held in Nairobi, with the aim of accelerating connection and collaboration points among a multitude of stakeholders in the value chain. Convened by the University of Nairobi and the World Food Preservation Center and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, the Congress brought together over 600 innovators, researchers, policy makers and government officials to take on the challenge of post-harvest loss. This unprecedented continental effort in the area of reducing post-harvest loss provided an important foundation for how the agricultural sector can transform into a food security sector.

    The gains from closing the post-harvest loss gap are life-changing for thousands of people – those facing food uncertainty as well as the farmers whose livelihoods depend on selling their harvest. Rarely have moral and economic imperatives been so equally aligned – practically everyone has an incentive to act.

    Africa as a continent cannot afford to waste food. With the opportunity before us, and the recipe in our hands, the final ingredient is the will to put collaboration and partnership first, so that we may unlock outsize gains not only for farmers, but for all of us – consumers of food.

     

    • Mamadou Biteye, OBE, is the MD for the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office

  • Now that history is on the table (2)

    It is not accidental that a typical American and British child in elementary/basic school knows a lot about his country. A deliberate effort is made to ensure they know why things are the way they are in present day. It is therefore not surprising that they grow up patriotic. History is compulsory up to the age of 14 in state schools, some have gone ahead to make it compulsory until 18 years for students.

    Now that history will most definitely be on the table in Nigeria, emphasis should now focus on how to teach it. In doing this, teachers have to know history to actually teach it. One of the major reasons why some students find history “boring” and a callous exercise in regurgitation and rote memorisation is the method of approach and the level of comprehension of teachers.

    But as we go farther into the 21st century, there are certainly lots of tools to ensure the subject isn’t “boring.” For deeper insight into the teaching of history, I find Bruce Lesh’s book “Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer?: Teaching Historical Thinking in Grades 7-12″ quite instructive.

    Lesh offers an array of lessons and case studies, like how to introduce historical thinking through Nat Turner’s Rebellion, chronological thinking and causality through the Railroad Strike of 1877, and historical empathy through the Truman-MacArthur Debate. Throughout, Lesh places a premium not on one’s ability to recall cold facts, but on whether students can read critically, reference appropriate sources, and support an argument with evidence. Over the last fifteen years, Lesh has refined a method of teaching history that mirrors the process used by historians, where students are taught to ask questions of evidence and develop historical explanations.

    “I’m not preparing you to go work in the archives,” Lesh wrote, “I’m preparing you to make a presentation to a client as to why your proposal to build their building is the best one. My job is to teach you how to make arguments. Arguments are based on the application of evidence, and evidence is gained through analysis of information. That’s what we do. We look at historical problems. We build arguments about the questions that we created. We teach you ways to use evidence to support your argument.”

    In a 2014 article written for ‘The Atlantic,’ David Cutler said he starts teaching American history breaking down each unit by making obvious the connections to today. He uses present day events to assist students in understanding the past. Some of these experiences even come from movies the students may have watched. This becomes necessary because it may be challenging for some students to remember anything for long that has little to no direct relevance in their daily lives.

    “In my experience, nothing grabs student interest like pointing out not only human folly, but also how, to varying degrees, history repeats itself. For instance, before teaching about European conquistadores like Hernán Cortés, who in the early 1500s conquered Mexico and the Aztec Empire for riches and glory, I play my favorite scene from the 1987 film ‘Wall Street,’ where Gordon Gekko, an inside trader played by Michael Douglas, delivers his iconic “greed is good” monologue. I then assign students to investigate America’s recent financial troubles, and the role greed played in causing the recession.”

    Can you see the connection? A good Nigerian history teacher can also use this method to look at our economic history and draw a strong nexus between our profligate system and the current recession we are passing through.

    Cutler believes “from there on I have most students hooked. They want to learn more about Cortés, and why and how he went to such lengths. And because students want to learn, they care about retaining and building upon their understanding.”

    He also used this same approach while teaching European history to students about the millions of lives lost in the Belgian Congo under King Leopold II. After cataloguing the long list of horrors students wanted to make a difference. To do that, they created websites dedicated to raising awareness of crimes against humanity. By researching and voicing how to stop violence in Darfur, Uganda, Syria, and Venezuela, students took ownership of the learning – and they didn’t learn for the mere sake of learning. They produced something with their newfound knowledge, all while harnessing essential 21st-century communications skills.

    This – to me – should be the new history, the application of hard theory. History should serve as a conduit to teach important modern competencies like writing, critical thinking, reasoning, and technology skills. This makes the content more relatable, useful, and engaging.

    I’m not suggesting this is the only way to teach the subject; in essence, there’s no ‘best’ way to teach history. Researches have suggested that good history teachers know the content, use a variety of approaches, explicitly teach the skills of historical inquiry and analysis, tailor learning opportunities to suit their students’ stage of development, and encourage deep understanding.

    There will always be room for a range of teaching and learning activities in the history classroom: a story well-told by the teacher, a museum display – actual or digital -, model-making, the construction of timelines, comprehension and source analysis activities, oral history, site studies, simulated excavations, problem-solving exercises, role plays and debates. Activities like these can be tailored to suit students’ stage of development.

    A variety of resources should be used in the history classroom, including documents, photographs, artefacts and even people. Historical places make great resources: museums, monuments and heritage sites – actual or virtual,- particularly in the local area. Film, historical fiction, works of art, history textbooks and history websites offer a wonderful range of resources.

    To teach for historical understanding, teachers need to become familiar with the historical content and concepts they need to teach, understand the skills and methods of historical inquiry, be clear about the learning goal – knowledge and understanding and skills, – plan a coherent learning sequence to enable students to achieve the learning goal, include a variety of activities and resources appropriate for the learning goal, learning styles and the stage of development of students.

    Enthusiasm is the first and most important way to bring life to any classroom. The teacher’s enthusiasm for the topic and teaching is the key to success. Teachers need to be inspired and they need to inspire their students. To be inspired, they must love what they teach. They need to know their subject and learn something more about it each day. And they must make what they teach a part of them. When students see and understand these qualities, they should be inspired and enthusiastic about learning Nigerian history.

    We need to stop thinking of history as battles and wars, kings and presidents and start thinking in terms of tribal coexistence, crime, corruption, class, and gender. Today, these things matter very much in our lives. If we are going to teach tolerance, we are going to have to teach respect for different ethnic groups, classes, genders, and even sexualities.

    Teachers should not rigidly rely on too many history textbooks as the sole authority. The textbook should guide the outline for the course, but teachers should rely on other sources, especially primary sources, as well. Secondary sources are critical for contextualizing and making sense of those rich firsthand sources.

    Finally, some historical development may make a lot more sense to a student if he or she can see a local manifestation of it. Teachers would thus have an onerous task of assessing students on what they can do with what they know, rather than how much they know at any given time. This was the mistake of the past that should not be replicated

  • Now that history is on the table

    Last week’s announcement by the Minister of Education,Mallam Adamu Adamu calling for the reintroduction of history as a subject in schools is a welcome development, especially for this writer and those who clamoured relentlessly for its reintroduction. While addressing delegates at the 61st meeting of the National Council on Education Ministerial Session, Adamu called for the disarticulation of Social Studies in the curriculum of basic schools. This, according to him, had become imperative given the critical nature of history to the nation’s socio-political development.

    In 2014, Nigeria celebrated – with pomp and pageantry – its Centenary. But to the surprise of many, the organisers of the jamboree which gulped hundreds of millions of naira did a shoddy job of the historic event thereby compelling some groups and organisations to come up with their own versions of what a centenary celebration of this magnitude ought to have looked like. I will focus on two: the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN) and the Guardian newspaper interventions.

    The Guardian of March 5, 2014 was unique for one obvious reason; it had two covers of the same newspaper. After the centenary fiasco, the editorial team hurriedly put together another cover of 12 pages after the edition of that day had gone to bed titled “The house that Lugard built, 100 years after.”

    In the Editor’s notebook, the cerebral former editor, Martins Oloja wrote: “The so-called grand finale of the year-long centenary celebration, which culminated in last Friday’s award/dinner night in Abuja, was a grandiloquent celebration of mediocrity! As a Nigerian, one had expected to see in the grand finale some historical documents and documentaries on Nigeria in the last 100 years. Was it material poverty or poverty of the mind and ideas that deprived the Centenary Committee from doing and publishing something grand, something historic and historical, something remarkable about Nigeria for the young and old, local and foreign observers to see?”

    Prior to that collector’s edition, the HSN had held a colloquium in Abuja to mark the event. With the theme, “The House that Lugard Built: Perspectives on the Pains, the Gains, and the Agenda for the Future.” According to the distinguished scholars who organised it, was aimed at “setting the record straight” on amalgamation.

    Some of the country’s renowned historians, including Emeritus Professor Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa, Professor of History, University of Ibadan, Professor Obaro Ikime, Professor Monday Y. Mangvwat, former Vice Chancellor University of Jos; Dr. Sati U. Fwatshak also of University of Jos, Professor Siyan Oyeweso, Professor Ibrahim L. Bashir and Dr. C. N. Ogbogbo attended the colloquium. Also in attendance was the former Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

    President, HSN, Professor Olayemi Akinwumi, frowned at the relegation of the society in issues relating to the history of Nigeria including the planning of the centenary celebrations.  Even with its marginalisation, the Society said it came together to give what it described as the academic perspective of the amalgamation for the benefit of Nigerians, especially those who see the unification as a fluke.

    ”This is the first academic society in Nigeria,” he said “but we have realised that in recent times, the society was not contacted in anything that has to do with the history of Nigeria such as the Centenary celebration committee. But we think that such was a mistake and we decided on our own to give the academic side of the amalgamation… I read a poem titled, ‘God Punish Lugard,’ and I felt this is the best time to set the record straight. That is the import of this conference, to see how we have fared in the last 100 years, the gains, the pains and the agenda for the future.”

    Giving an in-depth personal perspective of the amalgamation, Prof Akinwumi said it is a blessing. Aside from increasing the size and population, he pointed out it also brought recognition to the country at regional, continental and global scenes.

    ”Personally, I see the amalgamation as a blessing, without it, this great nation would not be recognised globally the way it is now. It has given us big population and large land area and that is the reason everywhere in the continent today, Nigeria is being mentioned. We know there are challenges here and there, but we will overcome the challenges.

    “Many things have been said about amalgamation, some said it was a mistake of 1914, others said Nigeria is a mere geographical expression. Others believe that there was no need for amalgamation and that Lord Lugard made a mistake by uniting us.

    ”These are the issues we want to set straight. Recently, there was an issue that came up, that there was a clause in the proclamation that after 100 years, any group that is interested to secede should do so, but we are saying that there is nothing like that in the proclamation. These are some of the records we want to set straight.”

    I’ve taken time to quote him because of the import of what he and his colleagues said. As distinguished historians, these gentlemen most definitely would have analysed several documents, within and outside the country, to have arrived at their informed conclusion.

    In May 1999, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo came into office for the second time he was confronted with challenges from key parts of the country. In the east, there was a visible resurgence of the Biafra cause championed by Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). In the West and North, The O’odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) were pushing for an Oduduwa and Arewa republics respectively. There were also agitations for “self-determination” and “resource control” in other parts of the country.

    In his wisdom, one of the most distinguished scholars of our time, late Emeritus Professor of History, Jacob F. Ade Ajayi approached former President Obasanjo and pointed out that Nigerians suffer from lack of historical consciousness which was why the event of that time seemed “strange.” He advised the president to think seriously about reintroducing the teaching of history in primary and secondary schools’ in the country so as to always put things in proper perspective. Obasanjo quickly issued a presidential directive to that effect. But sadly that directive was not been acted upon till he left office.

    In one of his public lectures, Ajayi pointed out that: “The nation suffers with no sense of history. Its values remain superficial and ephemeral unless imbued with a deep sense of continuity and a perception of success and achievement that transcends acquisition of temporary power or transient wealth. Such a nation cannot achieve a sense of purpose or direction or stability, and without them the future is bleak.”

    Trying to find reasons for our misplaced priorities, Prof Akinjide Osuntokun – another distinguished emeritus professor of history – said Ade Ajayi did everything in his power to return the learning of History to schools, unfortunately without success. It is not for lack of trying but perhaps because Nigeria is now dogged with the primitive acquisition of resources by members of the governing elite and their surrogates to the denigration of the larger good of society. He concludes that even where executive orders are given by presidents to return the teaching and learning of history to secondary schools, this has been more honoured in the breach than in the observance.

    Going forward, we must encourage an objective pursuit of historical truth by looking back once in a while, especially when confronted with challenges. The present challenges are good case studies. We should be bold to revisit how we lived in pre/colonial times, for instance. Was there a link between the groups the British eventually brought together to form Nigeria? How were they relating with each other? Do they have things in common? Was there trade and cultural links? Etc.

  • From farm to table

    From farm to table

    The Afe Babalola University through its agro venture is helping the food industry to grow report  DANIEL ESSIET and ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, who visited the facility.

    Ask some locals in a university town what the ivory tower has done for their economy lately, and they might point to a secondary school, a hospital,  or a book shop. But a growing number of universities are working to foster local agro entrepreneurial spirit that will develop the economy and encourage business-savvy students to stick around.

    From community mentoring to innovative technology transfer departments, higher institutions are collaborating with their communities to improve food production.

    For example, the agro venture of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), is a pragmatic green revolution  project, capable of supplying the needs of Nigerians from the farm gate to the table.  Crops and vegetables are grown, harvested and packaged within a farming space that allows students, faculty and staff members to learn about sustainable agriculture.

    Merchants also visit the institution  regularly to collect and deliver huge quantities of mushrooms, moringa, smoked  fish and other food products  for  sale to consumers in Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos states.  The products are packed and branded with Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti.

    For watchers, ABUAD Agro  Venture is an example of an institution  leveraging its knowledge and expertise to help pave the way for better standards of living within its catchment area.

    This  also aligns  with  the dream of  the Founder, Chief Afe Babalola, who desires agricultural practices and new technologies generated by the  university to help create a food system that benefits everyone, from those who work the land, down to the consumer.

    On a large  expanse of land adjacent to the university campus, the university has established an integrated farm holding consisting of livestock, poultry, fishery poultry, pigs, snails, turkeys, guinea fowls, quails and mushrooms, vegetable, several hectares of cassava, maize, soya, groundnuts, all with significant youth participation.

    Babalola told The Nation that the  university has invested more than  N4 billion in its farms, also named Agricultural Enterprise Centre. This consists the land in ABUAD and the one in Ajebandele, including the deposits on the land.

    At Ajebandele, Babalola said the  institution has over 600 fish ponds, each having a minimum of 5,000 fishes, and massive artificial lakes scattered all over the farms. There are over 110,000 mango trees producing several thousands of fruits yearly. Among other  assets are 310,000 gmelina trees. The teek plantation has over 500,000 trees. The university is also home to a greenhouse, which provides ample research opportunities to agric  majors.

    The greenhouse allow for  “highly controlled environments for a diversity of research projects, including food crop breeding, sustainable plant nutrition and development, biological pest control, bioremediation, extensive studies of plant genetic diversity.

    Going by the amount of investment in infrastructure, the  university is set to create an impressive legacy of new crop varieties, cultivation techniques, pest-control practices, harvesting technologies, postharvest handling and storage, and improved animal health and nutrition. Right now, students, faculty and staff members are adding a flavour to the farm-to-table concept. Crops are grown, harvested and packaged under its agriculture project, a hands-on farming space that allows students, faculty and staff members to learn about sustainable agriculture.

    With this development, farmers markets are popping up in some  places near  the  university.  The University has grown into a regular weekend fixture. There are   stallholders selling fresh fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers, as well as rice and a variety of other foodstuffs, most of it grown the university. In economically hard-hit Nigeria, there’s at least one thing going right: the university is pulling no punches in an effort to create and incubate new local business ventures.

    At  the  Moringa Factory which  The Nation visited, an official said several   products, serving nutritional and therapeutic needs, which include  Moringa oil, body cream, soap and other cosmetics contain an anti-ageing compound, zeatin are produced  there.

    Mushrooms is one area attracting attention. Right now, the centre breeds two varieties of oyster mushrooms – white and brown. As an official explained, the mushroom is made from a mixture of farm waste, cotton waste, cassava peels and rice straw which were pasteurised to get bacteria out. The spun seed is then inoculated and kept in a dark room for about four weeks and later taken to fruiting room. Thereafter, they harvest it. To add value, the produce is sent to the processing plant. So far, sales have been impressive with  market  in Ado, Ikere and Ondo State.  The founder said  the  university  has  invested  in a maize plantation.  Part of harvest is ploughed into the feed mill on the farm to produce feeds for livestock, such as pigs, goats, guinea fowls, turkeys, broilers, cockerels, ducks, quails and fishes.

    There is snailery, with more than  500 snails, a piggery with 33 sows (matured female) three boars and 124 piglets; a turkey pen with 30 birds, Guinea fowls – 200 birds and over a thousand quails.

    The university fish section is a thriving one.

    An official said the farm sells harvested fish, pond by pond and restock immediately, so that the first set would be already matured by the time it was their turn to be harvested again. The fishes, mainly catfishes, are sold fresh and the surplus smoked and packaged for sale as dried fish. There is a hatchery and incubator that produces fingerlings with which the ponds are supplied. Besides this, there is a cowpea farm, and honey production unit. Mechanised farming equipment including tractors, plowers, harvesters and trailers are constantly serviced under a shed by technicians and mechanics in the maintenance unit.

    Explaining why he set up the farm, Babalola, said it was to make education relevant by inculcating the values and skills of entrepreneurship in students, most of whom graduate without finding jobs today.

    According  to him,  educating the next generation of farmers and up-skilling the present generation will be critically important to achieve the required transformation in food production. To  this end, he is  using  technology  to   reinvigorate students’ interest in agriculture and related fields.

    Babalola regretted that the oil boom in the country had destroyed the agricultural legacy as a business and foreign exchange earner for the country. He recalled the pre-oil era in Nigeria when there was abundance of food, gainful employment and reduced rate of criminality:

    “In the pre-oil era in Nigeria, there was abundance of food items. No one lacked food. Many people were gainfully employed. But with the advent of oil, which some people cynically dubbed oil doom, scarcity of food, poverty and unemployment as well as inclination towards crime crept into the fabrics of the Nigerian nation to the disadvantage and consternation of all.”

     

  • Mad lust and ‘table manners’

    Few months ago, a colleague of mine told me in a voice laden with a sneer and veiled contempt that, “Nobody reads you guys anymore. Nobody cares what you write as a columnist. You are just wasting your time,” he said. According to him, the best form of social commentary is that which seeks to elevate and shamelessly venerate even the worst of Nigeria’s perverted ruling class. “You have to be smart,” he advised.

    Few months later, another colleague told me in the same tenor that it’s about time I started sucking up to the politicians and industry leaders. “You need them more than you would ever know. You need connections with them and the money they can give you. You can’t keep writing English, you have to be smart,” he said.

    Between the two, an indisputable truth resonates jarringly; it echoes the depth of our descent as men and citizens. Both colleagues of mine, while issuing a subtle mockery of my professional and personal ethics, endeavoured to tell me the truth as they have learnt to see it.

    I agree with them that being close to politicians and sucking up to the latter manifests in almost instant and outrageous wealth for many journalists. Forget journalists, it is a veritable shortcut to instantaneous and sudden wealth for Nigerians of all gender, professional, religious and ethnic divides even as you read. Little wonder it has become trendy for many a Nigerian to virulently lambast the incumbent leadership or opposition until opportunity beckons for them to be co-opted into the special circuit of treasury looters, associate looters or aspiring looters. And this is the point at which they begin to exhibit ‘table manners.’

    According to a famous and now domesticated human rights and political activist, “Table manners demand that when you eat, you don’t talk.” Thus in showing table manners, many Nigerians careen in the perilous swirl of the country’s tragedies, with their mouths stuffed, until the end.

    The end is what should scare us. But nobody cares. Hardly anyone gives a hoot about that imminent epoch when greed, self-pity and deceit will no longer serve us. I speak of that looming epoch when we shall grope through the lattices of personal disaster into the ruins of national disaster; when anarchy and genocide shall find their perch past corruption and greed, in our hearts – even as we burn and blaze in the name of mammon, tribe and tin-gods.

    The language of our madness will not be understood by all even as our madness is patronized and enabled by all. In our madness, our perverted neighbours of the ‘first world’ shall nourish and thrive. Nigeria shall become that perfect prey for the ‘first world’ and all manners of world to rip off.

    It’s not such a long haul to that epoch right now; the tragedies that would ruin us are right at our doorsteps. They are rooted in our hearts and clannish havens of chaos and plunder. They manifest as Boko Haram, falling oil prices, persistent looting of our treasury by the incumbent ruling class and recent devaluation of the Naira. In the wake of these tragic manifestations, not a few people rue President Goodluck Jonathan’s apparent intellectual, psychological and moral handicaps at steering Nigeria off the course of troubled waters and incessant storms.

    But even as we balk and fret over the likelihood of the country’s descent into socioeconomic and political recession, friends like mine and of the ruling class fixate on the next corrupt politician whose deep pocket they could scavenge from. These parasites could be likened to the mythical harpies and servants of the furies. They abide in and currently run amok our socioeconomic and political space doling unequal plaudits to a savage ruling class, for a fee.

    Men like Doyin Okupe to the average scheming, conniving and soulless supporter of the incumbent ruling class serve as perfect epitomes of what the harpies connote. Like the latter, they are fortune hunters and airborne brigands, befouling our corridors of power and society with their droppings. They represent the aspect of bestiality that ravages and kills in order to sate its lusts.

    These mentally and materially-impoverished worshippers cum Mr. President’s media mongrels and attack-dogs, would argue that he is the best President Nigeria ever had. They argue that President Jonathan is the best thing to happen to Nigeria politicizing his “humility” and “love of God” to the fascination and appreciation of Mr. President’s groupies nationwide.

    There is the oft-repeated logic and inclination to blame this persistent and saddening malaise on greed, ‘enlightened self interest’ or capitalism; however, the impulse for giving a monster a mild name, the lust for acquisition, pursuit of gain and money are merely symptoms, like capitalism, of the society’s steady descent the slope of the decadent and grotesque.

    Max Weber, the late German economist and social historian would say it has been common to all sorts and conditions of men at all times and in all cultures of the earth but I would say that the Nigerian malaise is brought about by the absence of an enduring moral code.

    This deficit manifests in deficiencies of personal and societal ethics – the consequence of which is the preponderance and regeneration of eejits, tyrants, greedy-guts, fraudsters, narcissists, murderers and bloodhounds of all kinds and of all nature, across the country’s landscape.

    The trials of Nigerians’ moral degeneration – as exemplified by the citizenry’s inordinate lust for money and the country’s recurrent tragedies– reveal an overarching tendency to savour short-term greed and relief over long-term prosperity.

    Despite a protracted and tumultuous history of impoverishment and bad leadership, Nigerians continue to look for quick fix solutions by casting their votes for the clueless and corrupt at election time, for a fee, thus mortgaging the country’s present and future for short-term benefits.

    Through decades of self-inflicted scourges and disasters, Nigerians continue to bemoan their tragic fate; while many argue that the country ruins because the youth are too weak and too selfish to spill as much blood as is required to rid the nation of every human and institutional affliction, many more contend that the country’s woes will disappear immediately poverty is eradicated by the ruling class.

    We should be inching towards freedom but we aren’t. We should have attained freedom, but we haven’t; makes it a wonder what manner of patriots we have become. Destiny is what you experience by the fabrication of your own hand. It’s about time we desisted from excusing our evilness and stupidity in the name of fate.

    It is our so-called intellectuals, labour leaders, radicals and human rights activists that amaze me; add to the mix every mercantile journalist, ‘columnist of note and substance’ and you have a perfect blend of Nigeria’s worst enemies. It will no longer do to excuse our idiocy and greed as pertinent elements of political and socio-economic expediencies; everybody knows that every one of us is playing his own card.

    We are enjoying a great deal by selling out. It is what the domesticated activist called exhibition of “good table manners.” Funny how every journalist, labour leader, banker, doctor, cleric and activist to mention a few, have developed excellent “table manners.”

  • Lagos State ‘Top 20 Showdown’ Table Tennis Tourney: Azeez, Bose emerge champions

    Lagos State ‘Top 20 Showdown’ Table Tennis Tourney: Azeez, Bose emerge champions

    In its effort to continue the promotion of Table Tennis in Lagos State and to prepare the state’s athletes for the 19th National Sports Festival coming up in Calabar later this year, the Lagos State Table Tennis Association organised a two-day championship tagged “Top 20 Showdown” which saw Ogunlade Azeez and Odusanya Bose winning the male and female categories respectively.

    The competition which took place at the Table Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club 1938, saw Azeez and Bose smiling home with cash prizes of Sixty and Forty Thousand Naira respectively.

    Azeez, who scaled the different stages of the tournament, defeated Anthony Gbenga 4-3 in a thrilling encounter in the finals and expressed joy at winning the maiden edition. He also said he didn’t expect the victory but that he planned to train more in order to repeat his success.

    Speaking with SportingLife, he said: “I am very happy winning this competition. I didn’t plan winning it at all, but I thank God. I played very fine and I intend to train more to be a better player.”

    Odusanya Bose, who thrashed Fatimo Bello 3-1 in the women’s final, said confidence saw her through the female category, as she was determined to defeat Bello who had always outshined her at different competitions.

    ”I am happy I won the game. I had the confidence that I would win the competition and beat my opponent,” Bose told SportingLife.

    The championship was sponsored by the chairman, Lagos State Table Tennis Association, Femi Sokoya, and he said the motive behind the tournament was to ensure that the state surpasses its record at the last sports festival hosted by Lagos State, and also produce future stars who can bring glory to the country.

    “The tournament was like a screening process to see players who are in form, up and coming, to know the direction the association needs to take in preparation for the next National Sports Festival,” Sokoya said.

    “We administrators can only encourage these players to grow, push them. I believe these players can take over from the likes of Segun Toriola and Haruna Quadri,” he added.

  • Off the table

    Off the table

    •Mr Cameron should be told in clear terms that Nigeria won’t go back on same-sex marriage

    We are not averse to foreign countries making inputs on policy matters in Nigeria if they must because no country is an island unto itself. Moreover, the world has become a global village and one in which policies made in one country could have consequences far beyond its borders. To this extent, countries should be amenable to constructive criticisms of their policies and programmes by other countries. But it is something else when such criticisms or suggestions border on meddlesomeness.

    This is exactly our concern about the statement by British Prime Minister David Cameron, that Britain would seek audience with its Nigerian counterpart on the same-sex marriage bill already passed by the National Assembly. The legislators spoke the minds of Nigerians by prescribing 14 years imprisonment for same-sex offenders. All that is required is the president’s assent for the bill to become law.

    Apparently, Mr Cameron has forgotten that Nigeria and Britain have no cultural affinity; otherwise, he would not be recommending that Nigeria toe the line of Britain in matters relating to same-sex marriage. Indeed, his country’s proposed engagement of the Nigerian authorities towards swaying them on the stance of the National Assembly on the matter is taking meddlesomeness too far.

    “With countries like Nigeria, where we have a very good relationship, a very strong relationship, nothing should be off the table”, the prime minister said. He added: “So, when we meet with Nigerian politicians and Nigerian leaders, we should be very clear about those things that we agree about and very clear where we disagree.” Mr Cameron said further that the UK has a “very good record on equal rights for lesbian and gay people”, adding: “we believe that’s right for every country in the world.”

    This is where the British prime minister missed the point. How can he assume that what is good for Britain should be good for Nigeria, or other countries for that matter? If same-sex marriage is food for Britons, it could be poison for Nigerians. As a matter of fact, contrary to Mr Cameron’s belief that “nothing should be off the table”, same-sex marriage is off the table”. And this is the point that Nigerian officials must make clear to him whenever his proposed ‘consultations’ with them take place.

    In Nigeria, nay Africa, we cannot “have proper equality for lesbian and gay people”; it is only in Mr Cameron’s imagination that such rights (that is if at all that is a right) “should apply everywhere in the world.” That is the height of ethnocentrism which Nigeria should not take, whether from Britain or any other country for that matter.

    As we said earlier, there is nothing basically wrong in one country seeking policy change in another country, but it must give convincing reasons to justify its position. Mr Cameron has not told us how Nigeria’s same-sex bill will affect either his country as an entity or its citizens; here we are talking about enlightened self-interest. It is insufficient to hide under a nebulous concept of ‘fundamental right’. Even if Nigeria’s position is going to affect whatever comes to it by way of British aid (because Mr Cameron made a veiled threat when he linked the issue with aids), we have to stick to our position. In any case, it is better to be rid of Mr. Cameron’s aids than to be slapped with the AIDS of sodomy, which the West, the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, now deodorises as “same-sex marriage”. If on that score Britain and its fellow travellers are beyond redemption, Nigeria is not. So, President Goodluck Jonathan must make the point that we cannot trade virtue for money by assenting to the bill, immediately.

    Nigeria is a sovereign nation, and this fact has to be respected by other countries, the same way Nigeria should respect the sovereignty of other countries. To compare sexuality with religion, race or lifestyle, as Mr Cameron has done, is disingenuous. If the British do not care about whether people are gay or straight, we do. And that is also a fundamental right that should be respected.

     

  • Kenya to rival Nigeria

    Kenya to rival Nigeria

    : DR Congo, Liberia, Zambia, Algeria table bids

    Newly crowned African Cup of Nations champons, Nigeria look set to face a stiff competition for the hosting rights of the 2019 edition of the continent’s biggest football fiesta as Kenya has confirmed its intention to bid.

    SportingLife gathered from The BBC that the East Africans – who last qualified for the tournament in 2004 – have never staged the continent’s biggest sporting event and now DR Congo, Liberia, Zambia and Algeria are in the race to host the 2019 finals.

    DR Congo announced its plans to stage the event last week.

    The Kenyans are also bidding to play host to the 2015 African Youth Championships.

    “Kenya stands top in Africa as favourites to win these bids,” Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chairman Sam Nyamweya said.

    “As a federation we are excited with the support of our parent ministry in this ambitious mission.”

    The FKF plans to use two existing stadiums in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and to upgrade venues in the port cities of Mombasa and Kisumu.

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has yet to formally accept bids to host the 2019 finals but is expected to do so later this year.

    The next two Nations Cups’ hosts have already been decided, with Morocco set to stage the 2015 finals and Libya organising the 2017 edition.

    The Libyans had originally been due to host this year’s finals, before it was moved to South Africa following conflict in the North African country.