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Tag: time

  • Time to tackle teenage abuse

    Time to tackle teenage abuse

    Udemma Chukwuma captures some of the high points at this year’s Diamonds in the Sky mentorship programme for teenage girls organised by Temilolu Okeowo’s Girls Club of Nigeria.

    Naomi was nine years old when she visited her grandparents during the summer break. But it was one visit that has stood out like a sore thumb. Her grandfather defiled her and life has since never been the same.

    13-year-old Joy on the other hand was constantly abused sexually by her brother and father under the same roof. The shameful act became a public secrete when she became pregnant. One cannot but wonder where her mother was while all this abuse was going on.

    Even boys are victims of the act. The list is endless. While this happens relatively every day, some of the victims keep to themselves and those who speak out are called all sorts of names. Some are even questioned and blamed for what happened to them. Meanwhile some families of the victims don’t talk about it; they are too embarrassed and thus refuse to seek help or report the case to the authorities.

    But as the victims endure, the menace continues, gaining upper hand in the process.

    How this can be curbed and prevented were some of the things discussed at the last edition of Diamonds in the Sky, a mentorship programme for teenage girls; held at the Jesus Evangelical Assembly Church, Lagos. The programme was organised by the Girls Club of Nigeria.

    Temilolu Okeowo, founder of the club and the Girls Apostolic Ministry of All Nations, during her remark said parents have a lot do to curb the menace. She said they should take engaging their children in conversation seriously, as this will give the children confidence to confide in them.

    Okeowo said it is heart breaking when “you hear the girls talk about what they are going through and their parents are too busy to notice what is going on.”

    She advised the girls and boys, as well as the ladies in their 20s and 30s at the event to be chaste, as “it is a well known fact that this generation has lost it sense to ungodly sex.”

    To her, the television and the social media have contributed to this, as nudity has become the order of the day, especially in the musical videos and movies that are being released every day.

    She informed them on why it is important to keep their virginity till their wedding night. “Girls, no gift from any man can match what God has prepared for you,” her voice echoed in the vast church auditorium.

    “Millions of stars which were created to be weapon in the hands of God have been shut down and a lot of female never discovered their purpose in life till they die.

    “If Mary could be trusted by the God to bring His son Jesus into the world and has since effortlessly remain the most celebrated woman of all time because of her purity and superb privilege, what can’t God do for you if you remain chaste till your wedding night?

    “Girls, once you get deflowered, life is never the same again. There are too many dire consequences you can’t handle. Wait till your weeding night,” she advised.

    Okeowo nonetheless agreed that being a virgin till the wedding night is not a guaranty to a happy marriage but being prayerful and putting God first.

    Funke Felix-Adejumo while addressing the girls said parents are carried away by the daily activities, thus having little time for their children. She said this has led to all manner of abuses.

    Bolu Adeleke, who won the first prize of the day, said it was her first time of attending the event and she had learnt a lot. She thanked her father for bringing her to the event.

    “I have learnt today that staying pure is the most beautiful thing in the world. A guy takes away your virtue when you let him sleep with you.

    “The Girls Club of Nigeria is very good for teenagers, I believe every girl in the world should follow it and they will be blessed.”

    Okeowo said since the Girls Club of Nigeria was founded in 2007, she receives calls even in the middle of the night from girls who are going through different challenges.

    She is a lawyer, author and entrepreneur. She wrote her debut book The Beauty of Life (a guide for teenage girls) as a teenager and has other unpublished works. The book discusses the trials and triumphs of the girl-child in a morally decadent society, with a godly undertone, proffering solutions. In her passion to influence a positive change in the female folk, made possible by her personal triumphs in a male-dominated society, she birthed the Girls Club of Nigeria.

    “The Purpose of Girls Club of Nigeria is to help teach girls across the federation how to become good citizens, skilled homemakers and good mothers. It is also to promote and enhance the development of girls by instilling a sense of self-worth, competence, usefulness, belonging and influence in them. It also involves various programmes that address today’s most pressing youth issues and teaching them the skills they need to succeed in life while restoring traditional moral values. And lastly, to bring out the very best in them and help them realise their dreams and fantasies in spite of many seeming odds.”

     

     

     

     

  • TIME denies naming Trump Man of the Year

    President Donald Trump at the weekend said he turned down being named Time’s “Person of the Year” after the magazine asked him for an interview and photo shoot but did not confirm he would be chosen.

    The American president on his tweeter handle had said, “Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot.

    “I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”

    However, Time responded on its own Twitter account: “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.”

    Former editor Richard Stengel went further, retweeting Trump’s tweet with the comment: “Hate to tell you but that PROBABLY means you’re NOT Person of the Year.

    “They just wanted a photo shoot. But I’m sure you still have that fake TIME cover somewhere in storage.”

    The magazine confers the distinction on the person who “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year.”

    Trump was named the magazine’s 2016 “Person of the Year” following his election, in an edition which carried the title “President of the Divided States of America.”

    The former real estate tycoon keeps a close eye on the award, and complained on Twitter in 2012, 2014 and 2015 about not being picked.

    In June, The Washington Post revealed several of his golf clubs prominently display a framed copy of a fake Time cover featuring several positive headlines and Trump as its cover.

    Since announcing his presidential run, Trump has had an antagonistic relationship with much of the US media, accusing critical outlets of peddling “fake news

     

  • Time to halt the Trans-Saharan migration

    Time to halt the Trans-Saharan migration

    The world was treated to a rude shock recently when the news of the deaths of 26 Nigerian women was broken. The women, in their teens, were reportedly murdered in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean. The reports further suggested that the women, whose bodies were recovered at the sea, may have been sexually abused.

    The bodies of the   women, aged between 14-18 were reportedly kept in a refrigerated section of a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which was also carrying other 375 migrants among whom were Sub- Saharan Africans from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, The Gambia and Sudan. Among them were 90 women – eight of them pregnant – and 52 children.

    The above incident is a microcosm of the ordeals Sub- Saharan Africans undergo in their quest to migrate to Italy and other European countries from the Trans- Saharan route in search of greener pasture. The ugly stories of the migrants are laced with violence, including torture and sexual abuse, by the gangs.

    Migration through the Sub- Saharan routes blossomed in the early 1990s and was triggered by some pressures occasioned by famines, wars, ethnic strife, economic hardship, corruption, civil unrest, among others in some parts of the world. Migrants from these countries saw this is an opportunity to escape difficult situations in their home countries.

    This adventure has proven to be a suicide mission. Just recently, 40 West Africans mainly from Ghana and Nigeria were buried along the Sahara. Every now and then, hundreds of Nigerians are brought back to this country after failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

    There is an urgent need to address some of the factors that have been identified to trigger this mass migration. One pertinent question that borders the mind is why would one spend between $4,000 to $6,000 in order to migrate to Europe when such money if exchanged for naira can establish a small business?

    The African Union and Economic Community of West African States should not be mere observers in this issue. They should toe the path of the European Union (EU) in checking irregular migration. The EU has adopted four pillars to address this issue. They include reducing the incentives for irregular migration, improving border control, developing a common EU asylum policy and strengthening legal migration.

    The EU also set up the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to address the root causes of migration, finance projects that create employment opportunities, support basic services for local populations and support improvements in overall governance, as well as projects that improve migration management. addition, the EU created the European External Investment Plan ‘to promote sustainable investment in Africa and the neighbourhood and tackle some of the root causes of migration.

     

    • Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu,

    keshiafrica@gmail.com.

  • Anambra: Time to protect APGA

    If recent developments in All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are anything to go by, then, some of my fears are fast becoming real.

    “The coming into being of APGA in the first place as a political party did not go down well with those who thought the Igbo had finished as far as having a party the people could look up to in the entity called Nigeria was concerned.

    “The notion was, and still is, that the Igbo lack the capacity to organise themselves into one common umbrella for the purpose of furthering their interest…

    “Whatever dimension the plots against APGA may be…. no effort will be spared to stop anybody from using or destroying APGA for ….selfish interest. As long as God lives, the sins of all those who have constituted themselves into Judas Iscariot in APGA will find them out.”

    The above excerpt written by yours sincerely five years ago (August 2012), entitled: APGA: How will posterity judge Obi?, is still relevant in today’s political calculation with regard to the coming Anambra State governorship contest.

    The final battle for who becomes the governor of Anambra State is barely three weeks away. November 18, the day for the election is almost here.

    The flag-off of the campaigns and the electioneering proper have seen all the candidates, both the pretenders and the serious ones traversing the nooks and crannies of the 21 local government areas that make up Anambra.

    A look at the candidates will reveal a pack of highly qualified contenders, but in politics, qualification is not always taken into consideration. And that is part of the reasons for this intervention.

    For those who do not know, Anambra means a lot to the South-East zone in particular and in general, to Nigeria. Whatever happens in Anambra, positively or negatively, reverberates in other parts of the South-East.

    Also, because of the itinerant nature of the Igbo due to their industry and commercial mindedness, any positive or negative event that happens in Anambra would automatically be felt in other parts of the country.

    Suffice to say that one state that nobody can afford to toy with in Nigeria because of the high level of political awareness of the indigenes, their educational prowess, their international exposure to business (trade and commerce), as well as their depth of knowledge in socio-cultural and religious matters, is Anambra.

    Since Nigeria’s return to civil rule in 1999, Anambra has remained one of the few states in the country that you can be sure has not got it wrong in terms of who governs the people.

    In fact, to be qualified to run the state you must have made your mark in your chosen area of competence.

    This narrative is significant for us to appreciate the calibre of candidates that are lining up to be made governor on November 18 by Ndi Anambra.

    But the history of modern Anambra political journey will not be complete if we fail to capture the role played by late Nigerian statesman and Biafra warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu, who, through the instrumentality of APGA, envisioned the Anambra of tomorrow.

    Ojukwu thought of a party that would capture the real essence of the Igbo in the Project Nigeria without necessarily braking away from the union. He saw in APGA a strong negotiation tool and mouth piece for Ndi-Igbo and had wanted the people to congregate around the party to pursue their destiny in Nigeria.

    Fast forward to the eight years of former Governor Peter Obi under whose tenure APGA was first tested; you will appreciate while the governor is either wasting his time in PDP or would soon get frustrated and exit himself.

    APGA’s journey over the years has no doubt, been tortuous. Even while Ojukwu was still alive and politically active, APGA’s journey was with issues like what anyone can see in other political parties. During the tenure of the Pioneer Chairman of the party, Chief Chekwas Okorie, there were issues that tended to tear the party apart, but reason prevailed that made it possible for APGA to be retrieved from the jaws of those who were out to tear it apart.

    That is why the coming election in November 18 is for Obiano to lose. The contest is between Obiano and the rest and all the contenders know that as fact. Call it incumbency factor, but it goes beyond that because the election is between APGA that has done so much for Ndi Anambra in the past 12 years and the other parties.

    Former Governor Peter Obi, no doubt, is one of the greatest beneficiaries of what APGA stands for. His rise to political limelight is linked more to his membership of APGA than his so-called current appellation of political sagacity and sense of prudence in management of state resources.

    Yes, he did his best for Anambra as governor under APGA, but that he wants the party dead by all means tells a lot about his politics. Granted, he handed over to Obiano who has just done four years, but should Obiano, whose second term will also come and go, be the issue or the party that fielded Obiano, which will remain forever if properly managed?

    If Obi does not know, the body language of most eligible Anambra electorate is that his preferred candidate, Oseloka Obaze of the PDP will be rejected on November 18, not because Ndi Anambra hate him, but because the masquerade behind him is seen as a betrayer of APGA course of which he was a huge beneficiary.

    The insinuations that other parties are thinking of going into unholy alliance just to stop Obiano won’t even fly. Why? That alliance, if it takes place, will go a long way in exposing to the people of Anambra who their real enemies and agents of darkness are.

    My take is that the Anambra electorate must be vigilant by resisting every attempt to compromise the election. They must also keep keen eye on the officials of the INEC most of who are experts in result manipulation.

    The APGA leadership and particularly the Willie Obiano Election Committee had done well to sensitise Ndi Anambra on the need for continuity for Obiano. All their efforts must not be allowed to be truncated by a gang of politicians, no matter how highly placed, operating within Anambra and from Abuja who will feel good if the joy APGA has brought to Ndi Anambra in the past 12 years and still ready to sustain, is terminated. APGA has been awake in Anambra since the days of Ikemba Nnewi. The time for it to sleep cannot be now. Never!
    •Ubochi, a political analyst wrote from Owerri

  • Time to skin the cats ensemble

    Reggae group, UB40 pushed out a sensational hit, about fixing the rat in the kitchen.  On the surface, it sounded ludicrous, if not outright senseless.  But on deep reflection, it made a lot of sense — the rat as metaphor for shifty characters, gnawing away and troubling the pantry!

    The mercurial Prof. Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) , has echoed such rats, located as fat cats, in the public space, burying their heads in the public barn.

    The other day, at a public lecture in Lagos, Prof. Sagay railed at some bank cats, colluding with looters to hide stolen funds.  Those greedy and sleazy bank chiefs, he assured, would be brought to justice.

    Before he was done with the lecture, however, he had identified an ensemble of fat cats, across Nigeria’s crucial sectors of Banking, the Bar and the Bench — the B raised to power three and evil trinity for graft, determined to thwart any effort to stamp out corruption in Nigerian public life.

    That is a pity.  But it is such of a tragic hue, for this evil trinity shows an unflattering face of the Nigerian contemporary elite, so used to sleaze it would pull all stops to maintain its ruinous ways.

    Sagay charged: senior lawyers and some hostile and powerful judges are proudly enlisted in this anti-social army, such that “there is a gang-up of the powerful political, business and banking elite that is determined to frustrate the anti-corruption struggle.”

    Pray, if the political and business and banking and judicial elites’ jaw are tightly set against fighting corruption, who then is left?

    Yet, that is the grim reality — an elite too far gone, in its old rapacious ways, to realize its true enlightened self-interest.  It is the open sore of a country indeed, where the commanding heights do not seem to see that winning the corruption war as the ultimate liberating force, to set the country on the road to development and ultimate prosperity, en route to fulfilling its manifest destiny.

    Still, it’s no time to fold arms and moan.  Rather, it is time to seize the season, pick the gauntlet and wrestle — to the death, if necessary — this parasitic minority, strongly determined to ensure the majority perishes, just for this few to indulge themselves.

    That is why Hardball fully backs Prof. Sagay’s campaign.  The government should not tarry to dock such colluding bank chiefs.  To start with, banking is the very epitome of trust.  Allowing somebody to keep your hard earned trove, with little fear that it would vanish, is nothing but near-absolute trust.  That modern banking procedures have been so routinized, that it now appears common place, doesn’t  take anything away from that pristine trust.

    Yet, it is this same trust these bank cats are abusing by colluding with looters to salt away public funds for a fee.  That must be condemned by every right-thinking Nigerian.

    As for corrupt lawyers, judges and politicians, the system cannot be harsh enough.  As they plot their path of perdition, that would put the innocent majority in jeopardy, we should also plot our own counter-plot of redemption, that would put these greedy character in the can where they belong.

    Folks, let’s go skin these fat cats!

  • CCC: ‘Time to rebuild and restore’

    Mother Celestial Victoria Olusola George was the cynosure of all eyes at the 66th Adult Harvest Thanksgiving Service held at the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Makoko, Yaba, Lagos, on August 6. The church at Makoko is the “National Headquarters – The Cradle of Celestial Church of Christ in Nigeria and Overseas.”

    She was celebrated in the event programme under this attention-grabbing heading:  “One of the Miracles performed by Jesus Christ through Rev. S. B.J. Oshoffa – Extract from C.C.C. Constitution Sections 53 – 57.”  Her picture had an equally attention-grabbing caption: “Mother Celestial Victoria Olusola George – Raised from the dead after the third day by Jesus Christ through Rev. Pastor S.B.J. Oshoffa. She is still alive and with us in this Harvest Thanksgiving Service.”

    These striking documented details provided elaboration:

    1. “The miracles performed by our Lord Jesus Christ through me were numerous. I shall now make particular reference to that of the young woman named OLUSOLA who died and whom Jesus raised from the dead after the third day.
    2. “A young member of the Church who was fond of saying ‘Please say Halleluyah with me’ and who, for short, was nicknamed ‘Halleluyah’ came one Sunday morning and reported the death of a woman at 3.00 p.m. the previous day (a Saturday) in a house which belonged to him. He said that in view of the many miracles performed by Jesus through me right there in Makoko, particularly those of IIUNSU and THERESA, he felt sure that OLUSOLA could be raised from the dead. He first spoke to me at ten o’ clock on the Sunday morning as service was about to start. Service finished at three o’clock in the afternoon and he kept on worrying me but I still did not answer him. Owing to his persistence, however, at 4 o’clock that afternoon, I sent Evangelist BADA (then a LEADER) with one of my robes to follow the man called ‘Halleluyah’ to the house and put the robe on the dead body and tell the relatives that if and when the body moved, it should be brought to the Church. On the way there, ‘Halleluyah’ was to go in front and Evangelist to follow behind.
    3. “Evangelist returned and reported that he had carried out my instructions. At about five thirty that afternoon, they brought the dead body in a car because they were amazed to see the body actually turn over although it was still lifeless. I asked that the body be placed in the Church vestry for women.
    4. “Now there was a young man from Ondo who came with them. He belonged to one of the other spiritual Churches, but I do not know which. When he saw that we left OLUSOLA’s dead body in the vestry for hours without bothering to pray or go near it but that we went on talking generally, he came to me and counselled that instead of doing nothing we should pray for the dead body as it was already stinking. I replied that I was not the one going to bring OLUSOLA back to life and that he should be very careful and not go near the dead body. I told him that if he did, he would have to accept responsibility for whatever happened to him. But he would not listen. He continued to pace up and down. Finally at about twelve midnight, he suddenly went to have a look at the dead body. He ran back to me startled, and reported that he had seen a man clad in white with his hair parted into two standing at the head of the corpse. I retorted to him that I had warned him not to go near the dead body. He ran away and I went to bed. OLUSOLA’s mother also went to bed. I did not bother about the dead body. These miracles are not done with my own power I am no more than a servant for HIM that sent me. There was therefore no need for me to go into a bout of prayer or staying up all night or fasting or such flagellation.
    5. “In the morning of the third day of OLUSOLA’s death, her mother, watching the hours go by, became restless. At nine o’clock in the morning she came to me and said in despair that as the body of OLUSOLA was still as dead, stinking and lifeless as ever, and already covered with ants, she should be allowed to take the body home for burial. As she said this her loin cloth fell off her. This aroused my sympathy and I got up and followed her to where the dead body lay. I asked her the name of her daughter and she replied that her name was OLUSOLA. I struck the body and called ‘OLUSOLA’ and the dead girl replied ‘SIR’. I struck her again and said: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk’. She immediately got up and walked. She is still here with you, you all know her. Her younger sister is Sister IPADEOLA-”

    It is interesting that the Celestial Church of Christ, founded by Rev. Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa on September 29, 1947, will celebrate its 70th anniversary next month. It is said that Nigeria is the country where the church enjoys the highest popularity.  The journey to this milestone has been eventful, and it is worth celebrating as the church marches on.

    After S. B. J. Oshoffa’s death in 1985, at the age of 76, the church faced a succession crisis that tested its resilience. Today, under the leadership of Rev. Emmanuel Mobiyina Friday Oshoffa,   there is the calm after a storm. The 68-year-old Pastor is recognised by many members of the church as its Spiritual Head.  He got a master’s degree from the University of Biological Science, Nancy, France, in 1977.

    It is a historic occasion in the history of the church, and a historic stage in the priestly progress of E.M.F. Oshoffa. It is significant that the theme of the celebration of the church’s 70th anniversary is: “Time to Rebuild and Restore.” It is also time to focus on the future, and this requires all hands on deck.

  • ASUU: Time for truce

    SIR: Last week, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, embarked on an indefinite strike action.ASUU President, BiodunOgunyemi, said all means of negotiation had been exploited before the decision on indefinite strike action was reached.

    The grouse of the university teachers include,inability of the federal government to implement some of the issues contained in a 2009 agreement it had with ASUU as well as payments of earned allowances.

    The lecturers also complained of poor funding of universities, part-payment of salaries of lecturers and the kidnap of two lecturers of the University of Maiduguri by the Boko Haram.

    For the umpteenth time, our education sector has been thrown into another avoidable industrial action. Of course, Nigerians have condemned the levity with which federal government handled the numerous agreements reached with the union. This has engendered a lack of trust and confidence of the scholars in the government. This latest strike action hasonce again, disrupted the academic calendar of public universities.

    With thestrike, final year students who are supposed to graduate this year may not be able to do so. The ripple effect of this is that with delayed graduation, medical students who should go for their housemanship; law students who should go for their law school programme and the generality of other students who should be mobilised for their mandatory one-year national service scheme would also have theirs postponed.In the long run, it is the students’ destinies that are generally being manipulated with these endless industrial actions.

    Many of these students would now have time to fully engage in social vices such as prostitution, cultism, kidnapping, armed robbery, fraud and many other vices to while away time as well as make illicit money.The disruption of studies will also have negative psychological impact on them. By the time the strike is over, many of the students would most likely have forgotten what they were taught before the unwarranted break.

    Is this how we want to continue to treat the future leaders?

    My appeal to federal government is to implement the 2009 agreement. Government should also quickly consider the issues of poor funding of universities, part-payment of salaries of lecturers and move swiftly to rescue the kidnapped lecturers of the University of Maiduguri by the Boko Haram. Nigeria’s education sector needs to be properly funded given the primacy of the sector in human capital development.

    May I alsoappeal to members of ASUU to soft pedal on their demands, particularly the issue of earned allowances. Asking for the payments during recession does not seem right.The union should give the government more time, and the benefit of the doubt by going back to work in the interest of their suffering students. Let’s save our tottering education sector from the total collapse.

     

    • Gbenga Odunsi,

    Adeboyeolugbenga70@gmail.com,

  • A ticking time bomb

    Nine years ago, I read a report about Swedish parliamentarians debating the expansion of pedestrian tracks and increasing the number of paid government supported professionals providing homework support for school children in their homes! For someone living in Nigeria, a country where the states of most roads are nothing to write home about, discussing pedestrian tracks seemed ‘trivial.’ For the records, Sweden is a developed country with one of the best welfare system in the world.

    Last month, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs released “The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. The document is quite instructive, especially for Nigeria because it provides a comprehensive review of global demographic trends and prospects for the future. It is also expected to serve as an essential guide to policies aimed at achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Recollect that Nigeria did not meet most of the goals of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

    Why should we be concerned about this report? “Among the ten largest countries worldwide, Nigeria is growing the most rapidly. Consequently, the population of Nigeria, currently the world’s 7th largest, is projected to surpass that of the United States and become the third largest country in the world shortly before 2050.”

    For a country that hardly plans, this should worry us more than anything; but of course, that’s not our “problem” right now when there are more “serious” problems of politics and “it’s our turn” to produce the president about to begin. Is it a surprise that over three decades after the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway we are still battling to fix or “reconstruct” that all important road? As with that road so it is with other critical infrastructure.

    The population issue is a ticking time bomb the country has to start thinking about seriously because of the problem of unemployment – which itself is ‘patiently’ waiting for a spark to ignite it. Last month, two revolutionaries – Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) – spoke. When such individuals speak, it pays to listen. What they spoke about is directly connected to the issue of population explosion.

    Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, who built billion-dollar technology companies in two very different areas, see more seismic problems ahead. At his recent Harvard University commencement speech, Zuckerberg said: “Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks. When our parents graduated, purpose reliably came from your job, your church, your community. But today, technology and automation are eliminating many jobs. Membership in communities is declining. Many people feel disconnected and depressed, and are trying to fill a void.”

    For us, that “void” has manifested in the increasing cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultist activities, ritual killing, excessive gambling and a plethora of societal problems.

    Gates, on the other hand, said: “I just want to say one word to you. That word would likely be robots.” His point? Robots are already taking jobs meant for humans. It won’t be an overstatement to assert that we’re already feeling the pangs of unemployment.

    We should all be concerned because population explosion may be considered positive hindrance in the way of economic development of a country because of the pressures it put on infrastructure and other facilities. In a ‘capital poor’ and technologically backward country like Nigeria, growth of population reduces output by lowering the per capita availability of capital.

    Due to higher birth rate and low expectation, the percentage of dependents is very high. A large part of the population is in the non-productive group which simply consumes and does not produce anything. The rapid growth of population thus diminishes the availability of capital per head which reduces the productivity of the labour force. Income is reduced because it caters for the “consumers” thereby curtailing the capacity to save which, in turn, adversely affects capital formation.

    A rapidly growing population increases the requirements of demographic investment which at the same time reduces the capacity of the people to save. Beyond corruption, our investment requirements are going beyond our investing capacity. I visited a teaching hospital recently and I was silently weeping. I couldn’t believe what I saw; this use to be a centre of excellence in the past but is now a “mere consulting clinic,” (apologies to Gen. Joshua Dogonyaro).

    This creates a serious imbalance between investment requirements and the availability of investible funds. Mismanagement aside, the volume of investment is determined by the rate of population growth in an economy. Visit a normal maternity clinic in any of our general hospitals and you’d be amazed by what you’ll see – doctors and facilities are stretched beyond breaking point.

    What about per capita availability of capital. It is apparent that the large size of population also reduces per capita availability of capital. This is true in respect of underdeveloped countries where capital is scarce and its supply is inelastic. A rapidly growing population leads to a progressive decline in the availability of capital per worker. This further leads to lower productivity while diminishing returns set in.

    Rapid growth of population directly effects per capita income in an economy. Up to ‘income optimizing level’, the growth of population increases per capita income; but beyond that it necessarily lowers the same. In a sense, so long as the rate of population growth is lower than the per capita income, rate of economic growth will rise but if population growth exceeds the rate of economic growth, usually found in the case of Nigeria, per capita income must fall.

    Right from the 1980s when the Shagari administration introduced “austerity measures” to present day, the issue has remained the same. Our rapid growth in population means the economy cannot provide employment for majority of citizens. In fact, the number of job seekers is expanding so fast that despite all efforts towards planned development, it has not been possible to provide employment to all. Unemployment, underemployment and disguised employment are common features. The rapidly rising population makes it almost impossible to solve their problem of unemployment.

    Beyond mere numbers, increased population means more mouths to feed which, in turn, creates pressure upon available stock of food. This is the reason countries in this bracket are generally faced with a problem of food shortage – except for countries like The US which has successfully used technology to solve its food problem.

    Food scarcity effects economic development in two respects. Firstly, inadequate supply of food leads to undernourishment of the people which lowers their productivity. It further reduces the production capacity of the workers, Secondly; the deficiency of food compels to import food which places as unnecessarily strain on foreign exchange resources. No doubt, we are all familiar with this.

    The growth of population is relatively very high in rural areas and it has disturbed the land/man ratio. Further it has increased the problem of disguised unemployment and reduced per capita farm product. More people mean more houses; more houses mean more land, more land for houses shrinks farming land. Added to this deadly mix is the issue of herdsmen. Thousands of people have been killed as a result of clashes between farmers and herdsmen. The reality on ground is that states are enacting anti grazing bills to compel herdsmen to ranch their cattle.

    If the country cannot get a handle on the farmers/herdsmen clashes, the result would manifest in low farm productivity which will itself reduce the propensity to save and invest. This is largely responsible for the perpetuation of vicious circle of poverty in the country. On account of rapid growth of population people are required to spend a major part of their income on feeding their children. With little improvement in agricultural and industrial technology, shortage of essential commodities, low standard of living, mass unemployment etc, the vicious circle of poverty will continue.

    Finally, rapid population growth leads to the environmental change. Due to this, a large number of people may be pushed to ecologically sensitive areas such as hill sides and tropical forests. It leads to the cutting of forests for cultivation leading to several environmental changes. This results in polluted air, water, noise and population in big cities and towns.

     

     

  • Time to Count Our Blessings

    May is a significant month in the Nigerian political calendar. It is the anniversary of the birthday of Nigeria’s present and longest lasting experiment in democratic governance. It will turn 18 years on May 28 and activities that will mark the event are now the preoccupation of the Federal and state governments throughout the country.

    In Taraba State, the event is particularly significant. It is the second anniversary of the most visionary and pragmatic government the state has had since the birth of this democratic dispensation in 1999 – the administration of Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku. It is therefore time to count our blessing and it is expected that the government will roll out the drums for a deserved celebration on May 29. The atmosphere in the state is already filled with excitement as the sate prepares for that great day.

    The Ishaku administration is widely perceived in the state as highly motivated, very hard working and highly productive, in fact, the only one in many years that came in with a determination to work and with a clear and articulate blueprint of what is to be done and how it could be done.  It came into office in 2015 nursing a hunger to fulfil long delayed or denied expectations of the people. The second anniversary celebration provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of those two action-packed years of the Rescue Agenda of Governor Ishaku.

    Those two years represented a period of regular payment of salaries, of revival of dead or dying industries and infrastructure and a period of immense achievement in poverty alleviation through empowerment of youths, women, farmers and many others who hitherto were idle and poor. Already a central planning committee under the chairmanship of Mr Anthony Jelason, Secretary to the Government of Taraba State, is working assiduously to ensure a very successful outing for the government on May 29. This column will bring you very juicy stories about the events as they unfold in Taraba State. Keep a date with us.

    While the preparations were going on for Democracy Day were going on, members of the Governing Council of the Kwararafa University, Wukari, came into Government House on a “Thank You” visit to Governor Ishaku. The University held its maiden convocation ceremony in March this year and the state government played a key role in ensuring the success of the event. Governor Ishaku, accompanied by many of his colleague governors from other states attended the ceremony. The University’s visiting team to Government House, Jalingo on Wednesday May 10, was led by the Council’s newly appointed chairman, Dr. Julius Bala who was a primary school classmate of Governor Ishaku. The visit provided the opportunity for reliving memories of their days in school. But beyond that, they also exchanged ideas on what could be done from both ends to help the university.

    Dr Bala described the achievement of Governor Ishaku in the two years he has been in the saddle as amazing. He said he just had the privilege of driving round Jalingo a couple of weeks ago and he could not belief it was the same Jalingo that he had known before. The city, he said, now has an unbelievably high number of tarred roads with many and unique water tanks dotting everywhere. “I’m also told that that these changes are not limited to Jalingo, that they are everywhere in the state. If all these have been achieved in just two years by one man, wouldn’t it be wise for the people to retain this same man for more years”, he asked rhetorically.”

    Dr Bala thanked Governor Ishaku on behalf of the Council for all he had done to help the university in the past without which, he said, the university would have been unable to achieve one hundred percent accreditation of its programmes and made a success of its convocation. He said the institution still needed help to become financially stable and sought the assistance of the Governor to convince General T.Y Danjuma to invest in the institution.

    Governor Ishaku used the occasion to again talk about his passion for education. He said his administration was investing heavily in education because education is the bedrock of development and noted that whatever assistance his administration was offering towards the development of education was an investment which will forever impact positively on the future development of the society. He promised that his administration would continue to do whatever was required to reposition education for greater achievement.

    Ishaku promised to assist the university in developing its housing project, an issue which also featured on the “shopping list” presented to him by the Council’s chairman. He directed the state Commissioner for Housing to go take a look at the University’s housing project to ascertain in which ways the state government could help. But Ishaku gave the University’s management a hint on how it could drive the institution towards self-sustenance. He called for the establishment of a consultancy unit in the university which he said was the secret of financial stability achieved in most of Nigeria’s first and second generation universities.

    The Governor also used the occasion to talk about the achievements of his administration. Apparently reacting to Dr Bala’s comments on the immense contribution the renovated Jalingo Airport is contributing to tourism in the state, Ishaku said the government was planning a terminal’s building which will also be one of the best in the country. He said the Green House, a unique agricultural project of his administration, has been completed and plans were on for the project to be commissioned by the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in the nearest future.

    His administration has also successfully reactivated five out of 25 industries he met on their “death beds” when he became governor in 2015 and all the five of them are now making profit. But he expressed worry about lack of continuity of government programmes and projects by succeeding administrations, a trend he said, was the reason for the slow pace of development in the country. “I have noticed that one government will spend time and funds building an institution but a destroyer will later come in the form of a new government and everything achieved will be destroyed. I’m greatly worried by this trend”, he said. He expressed the hope that some of the legacies his administration was sacrificing for today would be allowed to serve the needs of the people for a long time.

  • A time for caution

    A friend told me the story of how one of his relatives survived one of the numerous ethnic/religious crises that engulfed Kaduna in the past. The relative was chased by a mob wielding machetes; spears, poisoned arrows and other dangerous weapons. Having nowhere else to run to he jumped into a well and that saved his life. His pursuers didn’t stop there as they contemplated what next to do. Since it would be a “waste” to throw their machete and spears into the well, they ended shooting as many poisoned arrows as possible into the well so as to “finish the job.”

    For some inexplicable reason, it turned out the well was one of those interlocking wells linking two wells, so staying in the middle was what saved his life. He couldn’t explain how he was able to stay in the well for over an hour. In the end, he came out alive! This is one of numerous stories I have heard about people fleeing ethnic/religious conflicts in the country. Last week I wrote about the Ile-Ife clash and will like to remain there because of new developments that I believe call for utmost caution.

    Opinions are divided on how to classify what happened at Ife. The Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd) said: “It is very clear that this issue is not about crisis between the Hausa community and Yoruba community in Ile-Ife. The Hausa community has been living in Ile-Ife for close to 200 years. I understand the first settlers arrived there in 1820. This is about the fourth or fifth generation of the community and they have never experienced this kind of thing until now.

    “So, it is not about ethnic issue. It is about a couple or bunch of people who constitute themselves to a nuisance to carry out this dastardly act and quite a number of them escaped from the community.”

    In the same vein, a group; the Foundation for Peace Professionals said through its President, Ambassador Abdulrazaq O. Hamzat that the public should disregard the ethnic colouration to the crisis. What happened, according to them, was a minor disagreement which was mismanaged, adding it was never a clash between Hausa and Yoruba. The group said any attempt to give it ethnic colouration would be to unnecessarily exaggerate the crisis. It also said none of the accounts in the media was correct.

    Last Monday, the Nigerian Police paraded twenty suspects arrested in connection with the clash in Abuja. The parade however succeeded in raising issues about our delicate fault lines and calls for utmost caution, especially in the delicate period we’re in right now where everything is viewed with ethnic and religious lenses.

    Prior to the parade, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), have come hard against what they call one-sided arrest of some Ile Ife residents by security operatives.

    In a statement entitled: ‘Ife Crisis: The Hounding After and Yoruba Stand’, Afenifere said: “We are  miffed that security operatives sectionally mobilized have moved to Ife after the incident to carry out one-sided mass arrests of Yoruba people who are mostly notables and could never have participated in any riot. As at the time of making this statement, all of those so indiscriminately arrested have either been taken to either the state police command in Osogbo or Force Headquarters in Abuja.”

    On its part, National Coordinator of the OPC, Otunba Gani Adams called for caution. In a statement by the Publicity Secretary Mr. Yinka Oguntimehin OPC said: “We will not want this hospitality to be mistaken for cowardice. The Yoruba race is not and will never submit to being a conquered nation. We say no, to any treatment that will restrict us to being slaves on our own land. We say no to any measure skewed to favour only a side in a crisis of this nature. We call for the release of all the arrested Ife indigenes while a better amicable way is proffered to settle frayed nerves and settle the crisis permanently.”

    It is not surprising why these two groups issued the statements – all the twenty suspects are Yoruba; again exposing our delicate fault lines. Did someone not foresee the implication of arresting only one group in a clash involving two groups? Even in instances where they’re “guilty” insinuations would continue that one side is favoured above the other. Is it possible that in a conflict involving two communities, no arrest is made in one of the communities? These are salient questions being raised.

    Expectedly, questions are being raised about the number of herdsmen arrested following numerous killings across the country. Questions are also raised about the prompt way in which suspects were apprehended in Ife and none apprehended in a state like Benue that is witnessing these strange killings. I advise those in authority to tread with utmost caution when dealing with issues of this nature. No ethnic group should be seen and treated as a special breed. In this period of economic challenge when peoples’ tolerance levels are stretched beyond limits, there’s need for leaders and security agencies to imbibe added skills on how to manage situation.

    The Nigerian state is culpable because it has failed to address our delicate ethnicity issues. I do not believe that concerted efforts have been made to exploit our ethnic diversity into the advantage it really is. Canada and the United States of America are classic examples of how diversity can be used as a stepping stone toward development

    But here in Nigeria, the state has systematically accentuated the ethnic divide by its policies of divide and rule – mainly for political purposes. It has treated equals unequally and unequal’s equally, thereby perpetrating injustice, creating dissatisfaction and promoting anger among the ethnic groups. The sad part for me is that the citizens can’t see beyond the subterfuges of our so called leaders.

    A colleague told me about how they put a legislator from his area” in his place” recently. The only time they see him is a year before election or when he has personal political challenges where he oftentimes drag the community into. Whenever such happens, he would say: “you see what they’re doing to us?” But with time, the people saw through him and they ensured he never made it back to the parliament. Such leaders are everywhere and they are the real enemies of the people and not their neighbours. They are the ones whipping up ethnic tensions to further their political careers.

    The probe panel setup by the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Idris, to investigate the communal clash should do a thorough job because of the larger implication to our fault lines. The Nigerian state has allowed her citizens killed for many decades by their fellow citizens without taking any concrete action to punish offenders and make it clear that such will not be condoned. So, whenever the least misunderstanding arises between the ethnic groups, especially between the north and the south, each side is eager to unleash bottled-up emotions on the other. This shouldn’t be the case.

    We should go to Rwanda and understudy how a country that had closed to a million of its citizens murdered in cold blood by fellow citizens was able to bounce back. The Rwanda genocide is a classic case of the dangers of ethnic clashes.

    Paul Kagame – who became the president after leading a successful rebel movement – knew that the first step toward recovery is to de-emphasise the word “tribe” and downplay ethnic sentiments. He placed emphasis on “Rwandans” against “Hutu” or “Tutsi,” the country’s two ethnic groups. He was smart enough to know that the utmost goal of citizens of any nation is peace and prosperity; if these are guaranteed friction would be less likely. He was also smart to know that if the economy of any nation is robust citizens’ care less about which leader or political party is in power.

    Above all, education was effectively used to create positive national awareness. Today, Rwanda is one of the preferred tourist destinations in Africa.