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Tag: Traditional

  • Minister: emulate traditional healers

    Minister: emulate traditional healers

    There is the need for orthodox medicine practitioners to borrow a leaf from traditional medicine practitioners.

    This view was expressed  by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, when he briefed Health Editors in Lagos to mark one year in office, saying  traditional healers show empathy to their clients and their services are accessible and affordable.

    Adewole said there were many things Nigerians  could benefit from traditional medicine. Some of them, according to him, are bone setting and healing with herbal plants, saying that his ministry will explore how to assist herbal healers on how to improve their practice, especially in standardising their products.

    ‘’That will help us as a country to export them, instead of the plethora of foreign herbal products that have taken over the market. We have a lot to learn from China and even Ghana, but gradually we are getting there. The way traditional medicine is now can’t be compared with what obtained some centuries ago,” Adewole said.

    He said Nigeria was in the forefront of research and development of herbal plants. “A quick search into NIPRID shows how indigenous herbal-plants have been researched, developed and packaged into life-saving products, so we have a lot to boast of in that sector. We only need to hone the skill of the practitioners,” he said.

    According to World Health Organisation (WHO),  traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not. It is used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

    “To ensure that this sector is regulated, WHO came up with the International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH). It has 33 member states. Nigeria is not inclusive.

    “International Regulatory Co-operation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) is a global network of regulatory authorities responsible for regulation of herbal medicines, established in 2006. Its mission is to protect and promote public health and safety through improved regulation for herbal medicines.

    “Membership is open to any national regulatory authority responsible for the regulation of herbal medicines and regional/sub-regional bodies responsible for the regulation of herbal medicines.”

    It is on record that Nigeria was aware of the first WHO Congress on traditional medicine, otherwise called “Beijing Declaration”. The Beijing Declaration serves to promote the safe and effective use of traditional medicine, and called on WHO member states and other stakeholders to take steps to integrate TM/CAM into national health systems.

    It required that member states should share national experiences and information in five areas, which would aid countries in taking further action in the future in: National Policy on TM/CAM; National Regulation of Traditional and Herbal Medicines; TM in Primary Health Care; National Regulation of TM/CAM Practice and Research on TM/CAM.

  • Benin traditional council suspends Chief Isekhure

    The Benin Traditional Council has suspended Chief Nosakhare Isekhure from performing the duties of the Isekhure title.

    Isekhure of Benin is a member of the Ihogbe Palace Society under the leadership of Ihama of Benin Kingdom.

    The present responsibilities of the Isekhure were part of the traditional duties of the Ihama.

    Announcing the suspension of Chief Nosakhare, Chief Sam Igbe, the Iyase of Benin, said the title of Isekhure has been desecrated.

    Chief Igbe said Chief Nosakhare pronounced himself Head of the Royal Family and designated his residence as a palace where cases already dealt with in the Oba’s Palace are reviewed.

    He stated that Chief Nosakhare also boasted that neither the Emwinekhua (funeral rites of Oba Erediuawa) and consequent coronation would not hold without him.

    According to him, “During Emwinekhua, he neglected and deliberately refused to perform his traditional duties before, during and after the event. He has since remain unrepentant.”

    “We cannot believe that anyone, any Benin individual who knows what the motivating Benin cultures and tradition are and have worn the toga of a Benin Chief could do what Isekhure did in these past two years.

    “The disconnect has become actual and natural. Those duties of Isekhure will now be reverted to the Ihama N’ Ihogbe.”

  • ‘Traditional medicine can be practised to international standard’

    ‘Traditional medicine can be practised to international standard’

    The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Diafra Ayodele Herbals, Lagos, Dr Isaac Ayodele, a researcher who has digitalised herbal medicine practice and written some e-books on it, gives an insight in how to step up its practice and modernise it.

    I am 53 years old with over 20 years of managing Diafra Ayodele Herbals that is touching lives positively. And, indeed, in this perspective, I can say the outfit has come a long way.

    At the take-off of Diafra Ayodele Herbals in 1996, it was a sin to talk about herbal or traditional medicine. It was then regarded by the elite as medicine for the pagans. Herbal medicine in syrups was referred to as concoctions. Those in powdered form were called agunmu in Yoruba language. Those in the form of injections were called gbere (incision). Indeed, herbal medicine was castigated as voodoo (juju) medicine. The practitioners were called Babalawo and servants of satan. Church leaders told their members to keep off herbal medicine. In fact, one risks being excommunicated in some churches if one dares to take what they referred to as concoction. That was the same time some churches were terrorised for watching television.

    It was in one of those churches that I wedded in 1990. On the wedding day our chief bridesmaid was disqualified because she flew down from London the previous day for the ceremony. Our video man was told to stop shooting the video and the photographer was not allowed to take any photograph. Our reception, which held at the Shell Club, Port-Harcourt, was also disqualified. All these were referred to as sins, which God would not forgive.

    As a result, the pastor of the church did not want to wed sinners. So, he told a member of the church to wed us. That was not all; the pastor rained curses on our marriage because we were sinners. Yet, we courted for five years without making love to one another. In fact, my wife was a virgin. But we were the greatest sinners because of video, television and photographs.

    So it was then with herbal and traditional medicine. This situation made us to know that we were in for a serious work to uplift herbal medicine and make it acceptable to the elite.  To start with, we embarked on a new information order. We had to appeal to the media to give herbal medicine a pride of place. We told them not to call it concoction, but call it syrup. So, at Diafra Ayodele Herbals, we brought in the gelatin to capsulate our powder to capsules, and packaged the syrup. We developed tablets, blisters and cream.

    Even at that, the elite still felt that herbal medicine was still satanic/diabolical until the revolution that took place with the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which made herbal medicine to be considered as medicine that elite could take. There was product analysis, and toxicology was thoroughly examined in standard laboratories to assure the people that herbal medicine was not an agent of death contrary to what most people believed.

    Also some media houses like The Guardian (on Thursdays) and Comet newspaper, which later metamorphosed into The Nation, took the bull by the horn to promote herbal medicine. Tell magazine followed in its letter pages. And so, continued the growth of herbal medicine.  More and more news media followed. Though some newspapers are still wary of herbal medicine, it is, however, heartwarming that we are growing.

    To tackle the misconception and myth, Diafra Ayodele Herbals had to digitalise herbal medicine. Diafra Ayodele Herbals was the first organisation to introduce health by mail. With that, we can attend to peoples’ health needs wherever they are, by just signing agreements with courier companies to deliver our products within two to 48 hours, depending on location. We also have a world class complex, and packages fashioned to international standard.

    I can take the writer to on-sight inspection because in the last few months, Diafra Ayodele Herbals has embarked on the re-engineering of its production line. Its factory is better structured. It is into organic farming from where the raw materials are derived for the production of our products.

    The enquirer can also visit Diafra Ayodele Herbals website: www.ayodeleherbals. com. It is one in town and the best herbal medicine website in Africa. It is an interactive e-commerce website. The enquirer can make enquiries on it. It allows for e-booking or appointments and has online consultations.

    Diafra Ayodele Herbals blog is also very rich with lots of health tips. In fact, in just three months, it had more than 20,000 fans, who love the website, and the number is growing rapidly at the speed of light. It is very untraditional for herbal medicine to have a mobile app, but Diafra Ayodele Herbals does have Ayodele Herbal mobile APP, which anyone can download from Google play.

    In addition to all these, determination enabled me to have e-Books, which one can read to be well or healthy without using drugs.  One of them is Seventeen medicinal power of music. Music, yes music, what you call ordinary music is not just music, it is medicine. In fact, in some new generation hospitals there is a unit created for music to expedite the healing process of the mentally, physically and otherwise ill of acute or chronic ailments. The enquirer can be mentored on how to write e-books as well.

    In over 20 years of meeting thousands of clients of Ayodele Herbals, numerous people, who suffered cognitive intelligence problems, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, among others, have been healed by music. Indeed, music plays a great role in optimum health.

    In this book, I have given out 17 secrets of how ancient and modern people have used music to cure themselves of acute and chronic diseases, when the doctor was in sight and out of sight. This book is being bought by orthodox doctors, other medical personnel and patients to equip themselves with how to get well and treat patients, using music.

    Another very great book is ‘Eight Proven Miracle Foods in Your Kitchen’. Do you know that there are many health products in the kitchen, which can heal you of unimagined ailments? The foods in your kitchen and water that gushes out from the tap or dispenser are all medicine.

    My experience spanning over two decades in herbal medicine, both as a registered practitioner of herbal medicine and a doctor of public health, has exposed me to the miracle foods in your kitchen.

    In this book, I have condensed over 50 foods into eight miracle foods, which can heal as well as proffer solutions to health crises that engulf the world due to environmental or physical and self inflicted health hazards that make life short and miserable. You may be surprised what the ordinary chicken fats can do for you when you bleed. You can absolutely rely in your kitchen to get rid of diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and deadly diseases of our time.

    Also very good is the book on 15 ways to get rid of bloated stomach. You see as we imbibe a denatured lifestyle, eating lots of pastries and gulping sugar and sodium in addition to an alcoholic lifestyle, we are constantly beset with a load of numerous health crises that send us to an early grave. Obesity, hypertension, fibroids, infertility and low blood and sperm count, insomnia and cancer have become the order of the day.

    One serious problem that we often overlook and has remained the bane of our multifarious medical afflictions is stomach bloating as a result of gas and the inability of our body to digest and break down food. When gas does not leave the body through burping or flatulence, it builds up in the digestive tract and leads to bloating. Sometimes it results in pot belly, chest pain as well as heart related problems. In this book, I gave 15 most effective ways to get rid of stomach bloating. For now, I have made this book a free gift to all my fans.

    Apart from the eBooks, we do cash on delivery. You can also use your ATM cards to pay online through our secured portal.

    We have webinar where we can reach out to millions of people online all over the world one on one. I’ll be talking to them every Saturday and Sunday at 5 pm daily.

    The enquirer will be encouraged on research, as I embark on vigorous researches, which are producing results. We have also completed a product to resolve some cardiovascular ailments in addition to a product that will treat diabetes from the root. This is because high blood sugar is only a symptom. It is not a disease. What triggers the high sugar level is part of the remedies we want to resolve very soon.

    It has been a wonderful 20 years spent.

  • Minister: emulate traditional healers

    There is the need for orthodox medicine practitioners to borrow a leaf from traditional medicine practitioners.

    According to the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, who briefed Health Editors in Lagos to mark one year in office, traditional healers show empathy to their clients and their services are accessible and affordable.

    Adewole said there were many areas of traditional medicine that more Nigerians could benefit from. Some of them, according to him, are bone setting and healing with herbal plants, saying that his ministry will explore how to assist herbal healers on how to improve their practice, especially in standardising their products.

    ‘That will help us as a country to export them, instead of the plethora of foreign herbal products that have taken over the market. We have a lot to learn from China and even Ghana, but gradually we are getting there. The way traditional medicine is now can’t be compared with what obtained some centuries ago,” Adewole said.

    He said Nigeria was in the forefront of research and development of herbal plants. “A quick search into NIPRID shows how indigenous herbal-plants have been researched, developed and packaged into life saving products, so we have a lot to boast off in that sector. We only need to hone the skill of the practitioners,” he said.

    According to World Health Organisation (WHO),  traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not. It is used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

    “To ensure that this sector is regulated, WHO came up with the International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH). It has 33 member states. Nigeria is not inclusive.

    “International Regulatory Co-operation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) is a global network of regulatory authorities responsible for regulation of herbal medicines, established in 2006. Its mission is to protect and promote public health and safety through improved regulation for herbal medicines.

    “Membership is open to any national regulatory authority responsible for the regulation of herbal medicines and regional/sub-regional bodies responsible for the regulation of herbal medicines.”

    It is on record that Nigeria was aware of the first WHO Congress on traditional medicine, otherwise called “Beijing Declaration”. The Beijing Declaration serves to promote the safe and effective use of traditional medicine, and call on WHO member states and other stakeholders to take steps to integrate TM/CAM into national health systems.

    It required that member states shared national experiences and information in five areas, which would aid countries in taking further action in the future: National Policy on TM/CAM; National Regulation of Traditional and Herbal Medicines; TM in Primary Health Care; National Regulation of TM/CAM Practice and Research on TM/CAM.

  • ‘Traditional institution can curb insecurity’

    ‘Traditional institution can curb insecurity’

    Newly appointed Head of Civil Service in Gombe State Dr. Daniel Musa has made a case for traditional administrators, saying they can help curb insecurity if strengthened by constitutional provision.

    He said, “From what we’ve seen so far, it is important that the traditional institution should be given a responsibility, a non-political responsibility because they are for everybody and are not supposed to take sides in political matters.

    “In issues that pertain to security, I think the traditional institution should be given a constitutional responsibility. It is good that who is coming into our domain at any particular time is known; where he is coming from, what brought him to the town, who is he associating with, how long he would be staying, and so on and so forth, as was the case in days past when the institution was stronger.

    “These days, people come in and go out at will without even the ‘Mai Anguar’ (Ward Head) knowing, not to talk of the Emir. I think if we are able to do that, we will be able to curb some of these insurgent behaviours that we’ve been having: kidnappings and the Boko Haram insurgency that we’ve been suffering from. I believe if the traditional institution is strengthened by way of constitutional provisions, they will play a great role in curbing some of these vices that are bedeviling our society.”

    Dr. Musa spoke at Deba, headquarters of Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area of the state, after he was turbaned as the Kaigama, Deba Emirate – the Chief Adviser to the Emirate

    Speaking at the occasion, the Emir of Deba, Retired Lt.-Col. Abubakar Waziri Mahdi said the bearer of the title ‘Kaigama’ would play an advisory role in the Emirate.

    He said Dr. Musa was chosen for the role because of his wealth of experience, intelligence and knowledge, urging him to bring these qualities to bear in assisting the Emirate with progressive ideas and advice.

    The royal father informed the newly installed chief that the responsibilities of the traditional council were 24 hours service and there are no weeks or days off.

    A close associate of the Head of Service, Habu Zarma Hinna, an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner who doubles as the Zarman of both Hinna and Yamaltu from Yamaltu Emirate, thanked the Emir of Deba for the honour bestowed on his friend.

    He said, “It is something of pride that people like the Kaigama and many other illustrious sons of the land are taking pride in accepting responsibilities within our communities to uphold our tradition and to assist in the smooth administration of our land. I want to say congratulations to the new Kaigama of Deba. He has been tested and found worthy that he can do even better than we deem fit in this capacity as the Kaigaman, Deba.

    “I know he will be a good councillor to the Emir and of good assistance to the entire people of Deba Emirate, Yamaltu Emirate and the state at large.”

    The new title bearer was thankful to God for the gift of life and the opportunity, as well as the people of Deba and all those that came to felicitate with me

    He appreciated the Emir of Deba, of whom he said: “I don’t know what to tell him. Actually he took me by surprise. He has given me a very big responsibility and I want to thank him for the confidence he had in me to have given me such responsibility.

    “It is a responsibility that entails you looking far and wide and see that whatever is good for the people of Deba, you work out how you can bring it so that they can benefit from it. And I promise that I will do my best to discharge the responsibility to the best of my ability and in the interest of the people of Deba and the state at large.

    “It is indeed surprising to me but I have accepted it because God has designed that it is going to be so and I thank God for everything,” he said.

    Born to the late Reverend Musa in 1958, the Kaigaman Deba who was also appointed the Head of Gombe State Civil Service a few months ago, has promised to use both offices in promoting the ideals and interests of both the emirate as well as the people of the state and the state at large.

    “As Kaigama, I am to advise His Royal Highness the Emir; and from time to time, he will be giving me assignments to carry out for him; and whatever assignment he gives, I’m expected to put in my best in the interest of the Emirate and state.

     

  • Traditional ways to keep off rats

    Traditional ways to keep off rats

    Before the intervention of orthodox ways of ridding the environment of rats responsible for Lassa fever, there were long-established ways of doing it, writes OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTRAPHA.

    How you we get rid of rodents in our environment naturally? There is no one- way answer. Our forefathers ensured that cracks and holes at home that could allow rodents in were sealed.

    According to a traditional practitioner, Mr  Segun Fahuwa, a.k.a Mister Guarantee, our forefathers equally removed food sources that might attract rodents, such as trash, pet food or fallen fruit from trees, and stored them properly. Housecats are nature’s mouse predator. “Just don’t let them outside, because they also kill birds, and never use mouse poison because your cat could easily ingest it along with the rodent,” he stated.

    Dr Fahuwa said one could also capture rodents with live traps and move them far from the home. “Use snap traps with sensitive triggers that are more likely to kill quickly. Use as many as 10 traps near any known rodent hole, and position them about two feet apart along walls, with the bait-end against the wall. It is also good to put on hand gloves or else your scent on the traps may make them ineffective, because rodents can pick up human body aura,” he stated.

    He added that the modern use of glue traps are unlikely to kill mice quickly, but can be effective. “Keep them in place for at least five days so rodents become accustomed to them. People of old also used sound to drive away rodents. These improvised repellent sound devices may or may not work, but are designed to annoy rodents with a high-frequency sound that humans can’t hear.

    “Poison bait boxes can be used as a last resort. Look for tamper- and weather-proof boxes that use first-generation (multiple-dose) anticoagulants. Place them only in areas that are inaccessible to pets and children,” he advised.

    In addition, a site www.pestkill.org explained that rodents appear in the places where they feel comfortable. Appearances of rodents prove that the inhabitants didn’t pay much attention to hygiene and sanitation. So, the only way out is to keep your rooms and environment in order. It takes you a weekend to put to right these places, but you will be saved from rodents for a long month and years. Check all rooms including the kitchen for the presence of holes and cracks. Look for any damage, because small mouse can penetrate through a hole sized of a small coin. If you have found some holes, close them up with steel wool. Then apply sealant or cement. Put the mousetraps around the house. As bait it is better to use a slice of fried edibles or peanut paste. Do not provoke mice to come back. Pack products carefully and close them tightly. Keep a bin clean. In such a way you will be saved not only from rodents but from insects as well.

  • Traditional practitioners seek credible leadership

    Traditional practitioners seek credible leadership

    The Chairman, Electoral Committee, National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP), Dr Idowu Ogunkoya, has called upon members to get set and vote in credible executives in the forthcoming election of the association. He gave the admonition at an exclusive interview at Idiaraba in Lagos.

    Dr Ogunkoya said the available posts  to be contested for are:  Presidency, Deputy President, and Vice President for each geographical zones, Secretary, Treasurer, Financial secretary, P.R.O, Auditor and others according to the constitution of the association.

    He said the tenure of the former administration has elapsed which necessitated the Board of Trustees, chaired by Archbishop Adeyemi  Atilade, to dissolve it, and urgean an electoral committee  to conduct an election before the end of a  year of dissolution of the  previous executive.

    Describing the qualities being expected of  a potential candidate, Dr Ogunkoya said: “We are looking for a candidate that will uplift the standard of NANTMP. Right now, the association does not have a national office, even the website- http://nantmp.org.ng/  is not functioning. We also do not have a traditional medicine college in Nigeria; all these are available in a sister country, Ghana. The association was founded by the Obasanjo administration in 2007 and till date no outstanding feat has been achieved. That is why we are sacrificing our time and money to get a credible candidate to lead NANTMP this time. We seek someone who is able and capable to perform as arrow head.”

    Expressing his views on the previous administrations, Dr Ogunkoya said he found out from the past administrations that most of the officers did not really hold the office. “I found out that the President was doing the work of the treasurer, secretary and others. In such  a set up, there can never be any progress. Now, we want a proactive executive whereby all of them would perform their legitimate functions so that things will go on well.  It was also found that there was dispute between the national executives on supremacy. This actually went down to the states because in each state we have a minimum of three chairmen. Due to this, the board dissolved everybody. The Board was confused on who to communicate with.

    “For instance, in the Southwest, I held a meeting with the leaders. It came to a point, I told them to go and solve their disputes so that when they come back they can speak with one voice. They came back after one hour to tell me that they could not resolve their disputes and started quarrelling all over again, in my presence. I do not understand what they are fighting for. I was left with no choice than to dissolve that particular executive and that is how it happened in almost all the geographical zones. That is how the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) dissolved everything. Once the national executive is inaugurated, it will go to states to reform the chapter associations and conduct elections for them.”

    Dr Ogunkoya further set agenda for the in-coming executive, “The thrust of the new EXCO in the era of change is that we really want NANTMP to get involved in the credible treatment of our citizens, through members that know their onions in this period of Change. We want an executive that would get there, work, get the money budgeted for and improve the standard of traditional medicine in Nigeria. They should be able to get into governance sway interested parties to regulate traditional medicine.

  • Traditional teaching hinders early child education objectives

    Traditional teaching hinders early child education objectives

    The failure of teachers and schools to follow the Early Child Care and Primary Education (ECCE) curriculum designed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) would continue to affect its objectives which are contained in the National Policy on Education (2004).

    The traditional approach is still prevalent because it fits into teachers’ memory on one hand, and aligns with the cultural view of what a school is, says Ademuyiwa Ashimolowo of the School of ECCE Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Oto/Ijanikin, Lagos.

    Ashimolowo said this while delivering the second annual departmental lecture of the ECCE Department, College of Education Agbor, Delta State.

    Speaking on the theme, ‘Early childhood care and education: Perceptions and realities,’ Ashimolowo said of the eight objectives, “teaching the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes, forms etc through play” appears to be most emphasised by teachers, while the others, including “effecting a smooth transition from the home to school; preparing the child for the primary level of education; inculcating social norms; and developing a sense of cooperation and team spirit,” are neglected.

    “The reality today is that if objectives 1-7 are not achieved in the pre-school classes, it might be difficult to achieve them in future,” said Ashimolowo.

    Aligning with NPE recommendations, the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), Ashimolowo explained, has patterned the curriculum to address all the objectives.

    However, Ashimolowo lamented that only a few schools either have or use the curriculum while others apply curriculums of their choices which often emphasise learning of alphabets and memorising of multiplication table. To further compound the problem, parents also use this to appraise their wards’ effectiveness.

    “Coming from the parental perception of quality, the school owners have no choice than to abandon NERDC curriculum which is all encompassing, to place emphasis on learning by memorisation since that is what parents perceived as quality.

    “The reality of this is clear: the school is transmitting set of content that can always be learnt later and not teaching those content and life wide and lifelong skills that may be very difficult to learn later.  Addition, subtraction, reading, writing and counting can be learned any time but tolerance, cooperation, spirit of inquiry, turn taking etc, may be difficult to learn after the pre-school window closes,” he added.

    Even if it is to limit it to the eight objectives of NPE, Ashimolowo said this mode of teaching (play) is not evident in most pre-school classes. He said most teachers are not qualified to master the play method as they do not have specilaisation in ECCE even if they have NCE certificates.

    “Lecturers in colleges of education rarely teach with instructional materials and the major method of teaching at that level is the lecture method. A pre-service teacher caregiver that has never been taught through the use of play-way method might find it difficult teaching children with the same method upon graduation.

    “Toys are also an integral part of the play-way approach but schools provide toys for children for recreation and not for instructional purposes. The mother tongue and language of immediate environment is another method recommended by NPE but the reality is that, parents prefer their children to acquire the official language or L2 early. Parents perceive this early learning of English language through phonics as giving their children a head start,” Ashimolowo said.

     

  • Traditional ruler marks 10th anniversary

    Traditional ruler marks 10th anniversary

    Dignitaries have converged on Idi-Ape area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Alhaji Aremu Zubair’s reign as the Mogaji Aare of Ilorin. Special prayers were offered at the event.

    The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari bestowed the title on the ruler whose progenitors were some of the earlier settlers at Idi-Ape in the metropolis.

    Some dignitaries at the event include doyen of senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in the state, Alhaji Alarape Salman, former secretaries to the state government (SSGs), Alhaji Shehu Gafar, Alhaji Saka Isau (SAN), Mudi Gold, Architect Mahmud J. Faworaja and Chairman, Ilorin West local government, Alhaji Sulu Oloje.

    Others are Aremo of Idi-Ape, Saadu Suleiman, Kwara state Surveyor-General, Musa Eletu, Secretary, the state Ministry of Lands, Tunde Suleiman, a controller at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FGBN), Wale Abatan etc.

    Alhaji Zubair while speaking with The Nation hailed the Emir of Ilorin for counting him worth of the chieftaincy title.

    He lamented the high rate of youth joblessness in his domain, adding that fixing jobless youths in his domain had been his greatest challenge since he assumed the stool of his forefather a decade ago.

    He, however, said that despite the challenge and with the cooperation of the community, youth restiveness has been curtailed in his domain.

    He hailed the state government for creating jobs for the people of the state but stressed that government alone cannot do it.

    “The challenges are many but as a human being one has to absorbed it, one of them is how do you place your people, how do you cater for them more so those who have not gotten employment, particularly the youth ,how do you cater for them. I thanked God one by one God is helping .Sometimes the civil service in the state is also helping, I thank God. But my main problem is how do I get job for this boys,” the Magaji Aare said.

    The traditional ruler however expressed delight that despite the challenge, youth restiveness in the area has been curbed through the cooperation of members of the community.

    Aremu charged members of the community particularly the youths to cooperate with the government.

    “They should not emulate the roughness that some of the youth in other areas are doing, they want to work with the government and we want the government to assist us and we want the governor to know that we are not violent”, he said.

    In his lecture,a renowned Islamic cleric, Sheik Sulyman Faruk Onikijipa said the reign of the Magaji Aare has been peaceful.

    The cleric said the Magaji Aare had achieved a feat that no one thought was achievable in the community.

    Also in his lecture, Sheik Buhari Musa said the Idi-Ape community had carved a niche for itself that the history of Ilorin can never be complete without a mentioning of the area.

    He admonished those in position of authorities to be sensitive to the plight of the masses and always have their interests at heart.

  • Ex-editor to be crowned traditional ruler

    Ex-editor to be crowned traditional ruler

    The kingdom of Ossomala, Ogbaru Local Government of Anambra State, is counting down to December 28 when Mr Victor Chukwuemeka Awogu is scheduled to be crowned king.

    Atamanya Awogu has been presented with a Certificate of Recognition and other paraphernalia of office ahead of the coronation.

    HRH Awogu is a veteran journalist and former Senior Editor of The African Independent Television (AIT) Abuja.

    As traditional ruler, he will oversee the affairs of nine villages which make up the ancient kingdom of Ossomala.

    Already, a committee of friends has been put in place to ensure a successful event at which dignitaries will honour Awogu.

    On the committee are Chief Segun Runsewe, former Director General of the NTDC (chairman), Mr. Tony Akiotu GMD AIT (vice chairman), Mr. Imoni Amarere, Managing Director, News, AIT; Sir Odafe Othihiwa, former General Manager, AIT/Daily Times; Mr. Kelly Elisha (secretary); Mr. Gbenga Aruleba; Mr. Ide Eguabor; Mr. Bayo Bodunrin; Mr. Sola Aiyebola; Mr. Ohiria Agbonsuremi; Mr. Nkem Agetua; Mr. Mani Onumonu; Mr. Johnson Onime; Mr. Odion Bello, and Mrs. Uju Tonia Ejeye and Head of Business, Mr. Emmanuel Ohienohai.

    Atamanya Awogu, was Executive Director of The Daily Times and member of the prestigious Ikoyi Club, Lagos. He served as Managing Editor of the New Nigeria Newspapers (Southern Edition) and was General Manager of a number of companies. He is married to his sweetheart Patricia and they are blessed with children.