14th November 2015

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Saturday, 14 november, 2015

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Ajimobi closes Agbeni market on pg4 Monday for HID Awolowo’s burial event

Boko Haram spends N2bn yearly —UN

pg4

Senegal arrests 2 with 500m CFA They’ll soon be defeated —Buhari

KSA wins N500m copyright case pg6 Defence minister blasts Army over Buhari’s pg7 certificate crisis

Troops of the Nigerian Army clearing one of the camps of Boko Haram along Gwoza axis in Borno State.

Inset: Some of the 61 women and children rescued during the operation. PHOTOS: Defence Headquarters.

Dasuki: Court says FG

is lawless

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Doctor cuts woman’s intestine, blocks it with towel pg9

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Boko Haram spends N2billion yearly —UN

•Senegal arrests 2 with 500million CFA •They’ll soon be defeated —Buhari •Boko Haram launches fresh attacks James Bwala - Maiduguri with Agency Reports

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MID United Nations’ reports that the annual budget of extremist Boko Haram could be as high as $10million (about N2billion), Senegalese authorities have arrested two suspected Boko Haram female members with 500 million CFA (about N164 million) cash.

Deputy Director of Assessment and Technical Assistance for the UN Counterterrorism Committee, Hassan Baage, told a gathering of West African Security experts in Dakar, Senegal, that the extremist sect’s annual budget was believed to be up to $10 million.

The Associated Press (AP) which covered the Dakar event quoted the UN official as calling for closer scrutiny of the financing of extremist groups, including Boko Haram.

“We must detect the flow of money that finances their activities and measures must be implemented to freeze the funds. According to reports that we’ve consulted, the budget of Boko Haram is around $10 million per year,” Baage said.

Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, a special envoy for the African Union, said at the event that a stronger institution was needed to police and block the financing of extremism.

“The transfer of money through informal circles means huge amounts of money can circulate in these regions uncontrolled,” he said.

Boko Haram’s financing could come from crime cartels, false charity organisations and blackmail, said other experts at the forum on fighting extremism. Other analysts said the militants are known to have been paid millions for hostages, mainly French and Cameroonians taken in Cameroon, though Cameroon’s government denies paying ransoms.

Also, a number of suspects have been reportedly arrested in and around Dakar, the Senegalese capital, in the past two weeks with links to Boko Haram.

Two women, according to Premium Times, an online newspaper, were arrested in Guidiawaye, a suburb of Dakar, on suspicion of links to the group.

Officials say the women popped up on the radar of security agencies and were afterwards placed under surveillance after authorities intercepted their communication with a suspected Boko Haram fighter in Nigeria, who was confirmed to be the husband of one suspect and brother to the other.

Security forces also reported uncovering a consistent number of money transfers between the suspects and their alleged Boko Haram fighter-relative for months.

After their arrest, a search was conducted on their home and a cash of 500 million CFA Francs (about N164 million) was found in their possession, authorities claimed.

“The fact that such an amount was in their possession instead of being in the bank further goes to confirm ties with the alleged Boko Haram fighter,” a security source said.

Also this month, two Imams were arrested outside Dakar.

One of them was arrested in Ziguinchor, the regional headquarters of southern Senegal, an area known for its over 30 years of secessionist wars with the Senegalese government.

In Kaolack, another suburban city, hundreds of kilometres outside Dakar, an Imam was arrested.

The town is popular for being a base of the Tijanniya Brotherhood, and home of the renowned Islamic scholar, Sheik Ablaye Niass.

Authorities say the Imam, Alioune Ndao, had been under security radar for months as a result of his suspected links with Boko Haram.

“His sermons have been strangely inclined towards “instigating” his congregation towards Boko Haram ideologies,” the security source said.

Following his arrest, two satellite phones were found in his possession.

Security insiders said a scrutiny of the call histories of the phones showed consistent communications with suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

In the capital city of Dakar itself, a young man was arrested for alleged links with the terrorist group.

Security operatives say their investigations revealed he was a next of kin to a confirmed Boko Haram

fighter in Nigeria.

“He has also been receiving a lot of money transfers from Nigeria after the death of his brother who was fighting for the group,” one of the security sources said.

The Senegalese President, Macky Sall, told the security conference in Dakar that terrorists should not be allowed to “impose another form of religion” that does not “correspond to our traditions or our conceptions of Islam”.

Mr. Sall told the conference that brought together about 800 security officials and analysts from across the region to the Senegalese capital to develop a coordinated response to mounting jihadist threats facing the country.

He said Senegal must develop “a philosophical and theological discourse, training imams with a sense of a tolerant Islam”.

Boko Haram launches fresh attacks Nigerian troops holding position in Gwoza, the former Boko Haram Caliphate on Friday morning came under an audacious attack

by Boko Haram gunmen

in a fresh bid to retake the strategic town.

The insurgents were, however, repelled by the troops, resulting in the killing of nine Boko Haram fighters, while a soldier was wounded in the two-hour fierce battle to maintain the soldiers’ hold on the town.

Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, said the Army was in pursuit of the Boko Haram militants, who he said, were, on the run back to the Sambisa Forest.

According to him, “Boko Haram terrorists, despite their obvious losses, made a desperate but costly attempt to attack Nigerian Army early this morning in Gwoza, a situation which further resulted in heavy casualty on the side of the insurgents.”

He said the encounter, which started at about 5.00 a.m. on Friday, lasted till 7.00 a.m.

The Army said they recovered several weapons from the militants which included one Toyota Hilux vehicle, one Shilka gun, one rocket launcher, one rocket propelled grenade tube, six hand grenades, rounds

of Shilka gun and general purpose machine gun ammunition.

Colonel Usman said while the Nigerian Air Force was bombarding the Boko Haram locations within the Sambisa Forest, ground troops were mobilised to cover areas to capture the Boko Haram gunmen on the run.

He said the desperate attack on Friday was a failed attempt to project the image of the insurgents, adding that “Boko Haram’s ability as a coherent fighting force has been degraded over time by troops through relentless attacks, patrols and aerial bombardment.”

Meanwhile, around 25 people have been killed in a Boko Haram attack on a village in southern Niger Republic and subsequent clashes between the Islamist militants and the army, two Niger military officials said.

Fighters from the Nigerian militant group killed five civilians in their initial attack on Wednesday on the village located in Niger’s Bosso district. Niger soldiers drove back the mili-

tants, killing around 20 of them, the officers said.

“Reacting quickly, the government’s forces were able to push them back. Most of the Boko Haram elements have been neutralised,” said one of the officers, based in the Diffa border region of the country.

“The situation is under control and we are carrying out clean-up operations,” he added.

A senior government official later denied the reports of the raid on the village and the army’s counter-attack and told Reuters no one was killed.

Boko Haram has ramped up cross-border attacks into Niger, Chad and Cameroon from its strongholds in northeastern Nigeria in recent months.

Almost a third of Diffa’s nearly 600,000 inhabitants have been displaced by the violence.

A long-awaited 8,700-troop-strong regional task force is set to begin joint operations soon against the Islamist fighters when the region’s rainy season ends, a top United Nations official said late last month.

HID Awolowo’s burial: Ajimobi orders closure of market Awo, HID were God’s special gifts to Nigeria —Bode George

By Wale Akinselure and Joseph Ajayi AS part of arrangements for the burial of Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has said that Agbeni market, Ibadan, will be temporarily closed on Monday.

This, he said, was to ensure orderliness as the commendation service for Chief (Mrs) Awolowo is scheduled to hold at Agbeni Methodist Church.

To this end, he said all business activities in Agbeni and its environs will be at low ebb as Ibadan will play host to people from all walks of life.

Ajimobi, who made this known on Friday, also affirmed that security would be tightened for a hitch-free burial programme.

Noting the imperativeness of giving Mama HID Awolowo a befitting burial, he said the state government is actively involved in the burial programme.

Meanwhile, former Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, has described Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo as God’s special gifts to Nigeria.

Chief George, who was at the Ikenne residence of the Awolowos to commiserate with them on the demise of Chief (Mrs) Awolowo, said “Papa Awo made impacts in Nigeria. I was not privileged to meet him when he was alive, but when I was governor of Ondo State, I had the privilege of meeting Mama. If you wanted wisdom, fact, truth, then you had to come and meet Mama. Her knowledge, wisdom, commitment and loyalty cannot be forgotten.

“How many people have been buried on the day they were born? The Awos are anointed people. I happened to meet Papa through his writings. If his style of man and resources management is followed religiously, this country would surpass America.

He believed in democracy and lived democracy. His

debates before decisions were made were novel. I followed his principles as governor of Ondo State and they were great.

Also, Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Honourable Kola Oluwawole, who led a delegation of principal officers of the House to Ikenne, said HID Awolowo was a virtuous woman, a woman of vision and purpose, who has left a legacy of discipline, faithfulness and good character.

Oluwawole urged young Nigerians to copy her character so that the society could be better.

“We are grateful for the legacy Papa and Mama left for the country. The role Papa played as a nationalist in this country and Mama’s support for him cannot be pushed aside. People coming up should emulate the virtues of these rare breeds so that our society can move forward,” the Speaker stated.

Earlier, during a prayer service, Canon Jacob Ogunole described the Awolowos as godsends.

Reading from the Book

of John 17:4, the cleric said: “Mama was a ‘saviour’ to some people. If not for her and Papa, many of us wouldn’t have gone to school. She, like her husband, was sent with a unique message. It would be difficult for any human being to do what they did.

They were special species from God. All politicians of today who tried to emulate them have often failed woefully. They cannot be like the Awolowos.”

While calling on Nigerians, especially politicians, to key into the Awolowos’ visions by making life easy for the poor, the cleric urged the children to protect the heritage of their parents.

The spokesperson for a group, Obafemi Awolowo Free Education Order, from the Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Dr Yetunde Ajibade, said Mama Awolowo would be missed for her love for all and sundry.

Dr Ajibade disclosed that Mama embraced all, irrespective of religion, race or colour.

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Ondo Trauma Centre records 3,000 surgeries, 2,400 dialysis

Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right) presenting a state plaque to the founder, Graca Machel Trust and Inaugural Chancellor, African Leadership University, Mrs. Graca Machel Mandela, during a courtesy visit to the governor, at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Friday.

Dasuki: Court says FG is lawless Sunday Ejike - Abuja

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday accused the Federal Government of lawlessness for flouting its order allowing former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The court has also summoned the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami to give reasons for the siege laid on the residence of the former National Security Adviser in the last two weeks.

The AGF will also explain why a valid order of the court made on November 3, 2015 permitting Dasuki to travel abroad for medical attention was not obeyed.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola issued the summons following complaints by Dasuki’s lawyers, led by Joseph Daudu (SAN) that the order of the court had not been allowed to be implemented by operatives of the Department State Service (DSS).

Dasuki’s lawyer told the court that nine days after the court permitted Dasuki to travel abroad for treatment, the DSS operatives had since November 4 placed him under house arrest after the court order was made.

Counsel for the Federal Government, Shuaibu Labaran who declined to confirm the presence of the security operatives in Dasuki’s house in breach of the court order, however admitted that the former NSA was being investigated in another money laundering matter.

The trial Judge who was not comfortable with the violation of his order told the Federal Government counsel to inform his client to learn how to respect and obey a valid court order.

The judge said he was baf-

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fled with the claim of further investigation of money laundering against Dasuki

by DSS because the same DSS had filed before the court an affidavit evidence that they have completed investigation on Dasuki and ready for his trial.

According to him, even if the DSS had any cause to conduct any further investigation, the lawful thing was to have allowed Dasuki to travel abroad for treatment as ordered by his court, rather than looking for excuses to justify disobedience to the order.

“I have made an order which has to be obeyed and the order is to the effect that the accused be allowed to go abroad as from November 4 to treat his ailment within three weeks and return to the court on November 26 for his trial in the charges brought against him.

“I stand by my order, nobody is saying that the man should not be investigated, but the order must be obeyed and I am not ready to bend on the order.

“I even varied the bail condition to accommodate a surety to ensure that the accused comes back to answer the charges against him.

“I do not want this issue to escalate because it is attracting global attention and I know what that means, so my order must not be flouted.

“If you have any further issue with him, let him go for his medical checkup and come back. It is the duty of all Nigerians to ensure that court orders are obeyed.

“I am not too happy with what is happening. It is an act of lawlessness and I believe it is not too early for the AGF to look into

this mess.

“The AGF has to come to my court immediately. It is in the best interest of the nation, so that the scenario will not continue.

“It is important that the AGF, being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation be present in this court on Monday,” the judge added.

It will be recalled that the former NSA had sued the Federal Government seeking enforcement of his fundamental human rights to dignity and security of his life.

Hearing of the suit has been scheduled for Monday.

Dasuki is asking the court for a mandatory order compelling the Federal Government and its agents, especially DSS operatives to vacate his house located at 13, John Kadija Street, Asokoro, with immediate effect.

HID's biography for presentation Nov 18 ALL plans are now in place for the public presentation of the biography of Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, scheduled as part of activities for her burial programme.

One of the ambitions of the late chairman of the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Chief (Mrs) Awolowo, while alive, was to publish a biography detailing the full history of her life.

Therefore, in her honour, the invited public are, hereby, notified of the official presentation of the book, entitled: “In the Radiance of the Sage: The Life and Times of HID Awolowo,” on November 18.

The presentation will be held at the Awolowos residence, Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, at 10.00 a.m.

An excerpt from the book reads: “Obafemi [Awolowo's] methodical, comprehensive and thoughtful planning and mobilisation of resources blended with

Hannah's calculated, determined, meticulous and patient shaping and projection of social capital in the struggle for influence and prestige.

“She also (had) a matchless capacity for recollection and detail, an intrinsic facility for identifying and understanding the social order of things and a unique aptitude for tracking loyalty and treachery.

“Therefore, within the first five years of their matrimony, it was already evident that theirs was a perfect harmony that blended.

For a few months short of 50 years, they were to enjoy a mutuality that melded so well as to become storied...”

The chief presenter on the occasion is a former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while the book reviewer is Professor Adigun Agbaje, former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan.

The host governors are Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo; Dr Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti; Mr Rauf Aregbesola, Osun; Dr Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo; Mr Akinwumi Ambode, Lagos; Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo, while the chief host is the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

Meanwhile, a newly built press centre constructed to ease job process of journalists covering the final burial ceremony of the chairman of African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of Tribune titles, is ready for use.

The glass-fitted centre is to serve as media joint for journalists covering the event, to ease the process of their job.

Meanwhile, accreditation of journalists for the event is in progress. Over 200 journalists are expected for the event.

The Ondo State government has said about 3,000 surgeries have been carried out in its yet-to-be-commissioned Trauma and Surgical Centre, with 2,400 dialysis done at the kidney Care Centre from March 2014, when the facility became operational till date.

Making the disclosure after a facility tour of the Centre in Ondo on Friday, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, told newsmen that 1,000 new cases have been received with patients coming from about 30 states in the country as well as Ghana and the United States of America.

Reputed as the second largest of its kind in the country, Akinmade said the centre has so far performed 50 spine surgeries, 350 plastic surgeries, over a thousand ophthalmology, 800 ortho, 100 ENT, 100 neuro and over 400 general surgeries, among others, adding that it has also screened over 3,000 indigenes of the state through its Community screening programme.

He said the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration was from inception determined to make Ondo State the best administered state in Nigeria and the cynosure of all eyes, of which its citizens will be proud of and to mobilise the people to harness all her God-given resources, create and use wealth for the ends of individual happiness.

To achieve this, he said, government considered the health of the citizens of the state as a priority since health is wealth.

“The basic health indices of Ondo State were considered the worst in the entire South-West at the outset.

We have since instituted unprecedented, bold and ambitious health care development programmes aimed at reducing the burden of diseases and mortality among the good people of the state,” Akinmade said.

5000 youths stage pro-Biafra protest in Imo Joe Nwachukwu – Owerri IN SPITE of Thursday’s warning by the Nigerian Army against further protests by pro-Biafra agitators, about 5,000 youths believed to be members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), on Friday, stormed Owerri, the Imo State capital, to push for the recognition of the Republic of Biafra.

The protest, which drew participants from Abia, Rivers and Bayelsa states, was also used to call for the unconditional release of a leading advocate for the independence of Biafra nation from Nigeria and director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently being detained.

The protesters marched on the city’s major roads with security operatives comprising soldiers, policemen and members of paramilitary agencies on hand to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

The group of protesters from Abia State, it was learnt, was first stopped by security operatives at Naze, a few kilometres to Owerri, before its members were allowed to enter the city.

It was gathered that those who came from Rivers and Bayelsa states were also halted at Obinze, where 34 Artillery BrigadeCommand is located, before they were allowed to proceed.

Army will not condone agitators in the North —GOC 1 DIV Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna Following the widespread agitation for secession in the South-East, the General Officer Commanding, 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade has warned that, the Army will not condone any treasonable agitation in the North-West.

The GOC, who was re-echoing the Army Headquarters’ warning stated this while addressing journalists at the 1 Division headquarters in Kaduna on Friday.

According to the GOC, any such agitation in the North-West and some of parts of North-Central zones of the country will be treated as treasonable felony.

This is even as he warned soldiers and officers under his command not to take side, should there be such agitation or conflict.

“Under my command, we shall not condone any form of security threat to lives and property.

“Whenever troops are deployed to crisis zone, they are duty-bound to halt breaking down of law and order.

“We are, therefore, warning that any form of agitation in North-West and part of North-Central will be treated as treasonable felony.

“Also, any soldier or officer found in any unprofessional conduct in the event of any agitation would be dealt with according to the military act,” he said.

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Akpabio condemns agitations for Biafra

From left, Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief, African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc , Mr Edward Dickson; Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Sanusi Buba and the Oyo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Leye Oyebade, during the police chiefs’ visit to the Tribune House, Ibadan, on Friday, in preparation for Monday’s funeral events for Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo in Ibadan. Photo: Tommy Adegbite.

Court awards Sunny Ade N500m in copyright suit AyomideOwonibiOdekanyin,Lagos

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Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Thursday awarded the sum of N500 million to King Sunny Ade as damages for infringement on his works with additional cost of N3million for prosecuting the suit.

A contract dispute arose between King Suny Ade and two record companies

in 1975 culminating in a judgement delivered by Justice Dosunmu of a Lagos High Court.

In the said judgement, the court ordered the companies to return the master tapes of the original musical works produced under the label of the two companies by Sunny Ade, but before the master tape could be returned, the chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the two com-

panies, Chief Bolarinwa Abioro died.

Joined as co-defendants are Lati Alagbada Record Manufacturing Nigeria Limited, Ibukunola Printers, Alhaja Awawu Ade Amodu and M.O. Alagbada, who he alleged had been using the master tapes to produce inferior qualities of his musical works and selling them to members of the public thereby depriving him of

IPAC commends Fayose on prudent management of state funds, sustenance of peace The Ekiti State chapter of the Inter Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC) has hailed the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose for his prudent management of the state resources and restoring peace to the state.

IPAC, which is an umbrella body of all registered political parties which participated in the 2015 general election said in a release issued and signed by its chairman, Dr Dele Ekunola and the secretary, Mr Jimoh Saheed, that all residents of the state must join hands with Fayose for the sustenance of the peace being enjoyed in the state.

The council, which also noted the prompt payment of compensation to shop owners and traders affected by the demolition of the Oja Oba Market, Ado-Ekiti, said the peaceful manner that the demolition was done was commendable.

While describing the economic situation of the country as worrisome, IPAC stated that it could only take a prudent resource management by the governor for the state

to have sustained payment of workers salary till now.

“We are happy that Ekiti State is enjoying peace with adequate security of lives and properties.

“We are also happy that

in spite of the economic recession, which the Federal Government itself has admitted, Ekiti State government has been able to sustain payment of workers’ salary.

Communication Minister, Shittu, pledges to enhance telecoms service

By Tunde Ogunesan MINISTER of Communication, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has expressed his readiness to work conscientiously to develop the telecom industry for better services to Nigerians.

Shittu, who gave the assurance during his visit to the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi on Friday, maintained that all efforts would be made to improve services by telecom companies.

The minister remarked that communication is a very sensitive sector which is dynamic. He stated that in line with the change mantra of the current administration, the ministry would come out with several innovation to turn the sector around in order to meet the yearnings of the people. He thanked Governor Ajimobi for his untiring efforts at im-

proving the infrastructural status of the state. The minister maintained that effective service delivery would be his watchword while appealing to the people to continue praying for the success of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

While welcoming Shittu to his office, Governor Ajimobi congratulated him for the appointment and specifically made reference to his performance at the Senate screening which he said was to the admiration of the state.

While commending the minister for his carriage since his nomination by being conscious of the political antics of some people who had wanted to diminish his political stature by tending to describe him as ‘OkeOgun minister’, the governor said Shittu did not allow such people to derail him.

his means of livelihood.

He contended that he was the author, composer, and producer of all the musical works numbering about 22.

He therefore demanded for damages in the sum of N1 billion jointly and severally and prayed the court to order the two companies to return to him his master tapes as well as restraining the defendants from infringing on his musical works.

In a defence and counterclaim filed by the two companies, they claimed that since Sunny Ade had been paid royalties by the companies he could not lay claim to the tapes again.

According to them, the contract he signed with the two companies did not include returning of the master tapes to him. Consequently, they urged the court to award N5million against Suny Ade in their favour.

In his judgement, Justice Tsoho, while dismissing the counterclaim of the two companies for lack of merit, ordered the companies to pay Sunny Ade and his band the sum of N500milion.

The judge also ordered that the master tapes be returned to Sunny Ade since it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is the owner of the copyright.

The claim against other defendants were struck out on the grounds that not enough evidence was adduced against them.

Based on the application made by Barrister Yomi Adeniran from the law firm of Felix Fagbohungbe, asking for a sum of N5million as cost of prosecuting this case as Sunny Ade always came to court whenever the case came up, Justice Tsoho awarded N3million cost against the two companies.

Senate Minority Leader and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio has condemned fresh agitation for the creation of the sovereign state of Biafra, just as he called on parents and community leaders in the South-East and South-South regions of the country to ensure that they caution and educate their wards on the negative implication of their actions.

Akpabio stated this while receiving members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, led by its Speaker, Hon Aniekan Uko, who paid him a courtesy visit in the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday.

According to the Senate Minority Leader, “for those of us who witnessed the civil war, we should not be seen to be supporting this needless struggle because it is an ill wind that will blow no good, no matter your status or political affiliation.”

Akpabio noted that, “no matter the level of disaffection among different groups within the nation, there are better and lawful channels in which any aggrieved group or individuals can explore to get a redress instead of engaging in outright lawlessness. Let us all rise in unison to condemn any group that is bent on destroying the oneness of this country because our strength as a country lies in our unity.”

SDP ward congresses hold today The Social Democratic Party (SDP) ward congresses will take place across the country today, according to the party’s National Executive Council (NEC).

The decision to conduct the ward congresses in all the 774 local governments of the federation was taken after the party’s National Executive Council passed a vote of confidence on the party’s national chairman, Chief Olu Falae, in Abuja, two weeks ago.

Speaking on Friday in Osogbo, Osun State capital, the SDP state chairman, Chief Ademola Ishola, explained that all state executives of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have adequately been briefed about the ward congresses across the federation.

“We need to adhere strictly to the constitution of our party and so all the SDP chairmen all over the country are expected to arrange the smooth conduct of the congresses. As it is, Friday, November 13 was slated for fresh registration of old and new members and by Saturday, our members will file out to elect their executives at the ward level,’’ he stated.

He disclosed that the party’s NEC would soon announce dates for both the state and the local government congresses.

Fayose’s getting better with age —Adekola THE member of the House of Representatives representing Ekiti South Federal Constituency of Ekiti State, Honourable Segun Adekola, has congratulated the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on his 55th birthday, saying the governor‘s wisdom gets better with age.

Adekola said the governor was blessed with Solomon’s wisdom which had been helping him to steer the ship of the state in the right course.

Adekola pointed out that the kind of rapport Governor Fayose had with the people at the grass roots speaks volumes.

The federal lawmaker stated that part of his political sagacity could be seen in his performance in just one year in office, adding that his achievements even in the face of paucity of funds were a testimony to his love for the downtrodden and the entire people of the state.

He called on the people to support him so that Ekiti could take its pride of place in the comity of states in the country.

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Save us from another flood disaster, Ogunpa residents raise the alarm

By Richard Fakunle

From left, deputy governor, Ekiti State, Dr Kolapo Olusola; President, Igbimo Ure Ekiti (IUE), Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose; Sir Remi Omotoso and the Chief of Staff to the Ekiti State Governor, Chief Dipo Anisulowo, during a roundtable meeting between the governor and IUE, held at the Pastoral Centre, Ado Ekiti, last Wednesday.

Defence minister blasts Army over Buhari’s certificate scandal Chris Agbambu – Abuja

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HE new Minister of Defence, Monsur Dan-Ali, on Friday lambasted the immediate past Chief of Army Staff (COAS), LtGeneral Kenneth Minimah (retd) and the Nigerian Army under him for their role in President Muhammadu Buhari’s West African Examination (WEAC) certificate scandal before the 2015 general election.

Dan-Ali, on assumption of duties on Friday at the Ministry of Defence

(MOD), Abuja, condemned what described as lack of respect and integrity on the part of the Minimah-led Nigerian Army with regard to the Buhari certificate issue.

“Where is your integrity when your own Chief of Army Staff stood up and said his Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces had no WAEC certificate.

How? Please let us be sincere with ourselves. Because you should have stood up and said no, because you are there you cannot. If you leave the job, is it the end of your life? If you leave the job

there are other ways, better ways God can bless your life,” he said.

According to the minister, President Buhari is a man of integrity who has clearly and openly shown that he is ready to fight insurgency in Nigeria.

To this end, Dan-Ali has urged the officers and men of the armed forces to imbibe the spirit of integrity, honesty and transperacy in their work, which he noted, is the hallmark of excellent leadership.

Dan-Ali also promised to improve military welfare,

53 UI graduates make first class

By Tunde Ogunesan A total of number of 2, 362 students were on Friday awarded various certificates in diploma and first degree courses by the University of Ibadan, with 53 of them in first class honours roll.

This was disclosed by the outgoing vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Isaac Adewole, who was represented by the acting vice chancellor, Professor Emilolorun Ayelari, during the first day of the convocation ceremony, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan.

On the occasion, the incoming vice chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, whose tenure starts on December 1 was also present.

Professor Ayelari congratulated the new graduates, who according to him “have, like gold, passed the fire test and have invariably been found to be worthy in character and learning” to deserve being part of the ceremony.

According to the vice chancellor, “a total of 2,362 candidates are grad-

uating from Faculties of Arts, Science, Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Dentistry, Public Health and Law made up of 53 First Class Honours, 494 Second Class Honours (Upper Division), 822 Second Class Honours (Lower Division), 185 Third Class Honours, 40 Passes, 177 Unclassified Degrees and 48 Diplomas.”

In his further breakdown of the classification, Pro-

fessor Ayelari stated that “14 out of the 53 First Class graduands, are from Faculty of Arts; 32 are from the Faculty of Science, while one each comes from the Faculties of Clinical Sciences and Public Health.”

He also added that the university provided access to e-education for those who could study at home while on their jobs through the Distance Learning platform.

and as well as resolve the nagging troops rotation problem, especially those involved in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations against the Boko Haram in the North East.

He frowned upon the situation where some officers and men have been deployed to the conflict zones for years without being replaced and directed that no personnel should be allowed to stay more than one year.

“On troops rotation, gentlemen, let’s not take it as a joke, if the Chief of Army Staff is deployed in the front without seeing your family, how would you feel? So also the soldier you are sending there.

Please, for God’s sake, let’s make it maximum, one year. I will ensure that it is my cardinal principle that no soldier… unless, it is not possible, exceeds the maximum of one year,” he said.

In a related development, the minister called for accountability in procurement of arms and as well as cooperation amongst different military services and other security agencies.

Stakeholders call for enforcement of OSH policy

By Blessing Ekum With the increase in economic activity and technology in the workplace and its associated health and safety risks, stakeholders have called for the compliance, monitoring and enforcement of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policy and regulations in the country.

The call was made at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Society of Occupational and Environmental Health Physicians of Nigeria (SOEHPON), held in Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday.

Speaking at the con-

ference with the theme “Promoting Occupational Health in Nigeria through Effective Legislation,” the SOEHPON chairman, Dr Okon Akiba, stated that though OSH policies, Acts and regulations are in place, there is the urgent need for them to be updated and made more comprehensive for effective practice in the country.

“The greatest culprit and hindrance to the promotion of effective occupational health practice and culture in Nigeria is the non-existing compliance monitoring agency and occupational health institu-

tion,” Dr Akiba said.

Others, he said, include lack of government’s commitment, inadequate legislation, inadequate funding, among others.

While stating that occupational health and safety is paramount for every Nigerian worker, he therefore called for an update and revision of OSH Policy and Regulations as well as a setting up of the Occupational Health and Safety Commission/ Council and the National Occupational Health and Safety Institute for compliance monitoring, policy formation and research in OSH in Nigeria.

Residents and traders around Ogunpa river channels have called on relevant authorities to look into the indiscriminate dumping of refuse to avert another flood disaster.

Saturday Tribune recalls that scores of lives were lost with properties destroyed four years ago as a result of flooding of the Ogunpa River by refuse, sewage and municipal wastes.

“We have to stop this,’’ Akinola Agbaje told Saturday Tribune.

“All it needs is another heavy rain for yet another disaster.

The more the channels are being widened, the more the refuse they dump from over the bridge. We shouldn’t forget too soon the disaster of 2011. This could be more serious because we now have a bigger space filled with wastes,’’ added Agbaje.

A shop owner, who gave his name as Ogbemudia Jekwu called on Waste Management Authorities to increase their policing techniques to catch offenders who continually dump refuse inside the Ogunpa River channel.

Nwaka dumps PDP for APC in Delta Alphonsus Agborh - Asaba THE wind of carpet crossing has continued to blow in Delta State as another chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and commissioner for eight years, Dr. Tony Nwaka has declared for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to Dr. Nwaka, he decided to dump the PDP due to his alleged exclusion from the party’s activities immediately after the primaries of December 8, 2014.

“Even after the election which we all fought for, the exclusion continued. Nobody invites me to any party activity and the last one was the visit of the Anioma leaders to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa last week which I read on the pages of newspapers,” Nwaka explained.

The defector who will be formally received by the APC Ward 02 in Ogwuashi-Uku today (Saturday) told reporters on Friday that the politics of the Okowa administration had some question marks.

People with disabilities congratulate Ajimobi

By Saheed Salawu A special committee for people with disabilities in the Oke-Ogun, Oyo and Ogbomoso axis of Oyo State has felicitated with Governor Abiola Ajimobi on his victory at the election petition tribunal.

The committee noted that the verdict confirmed that the governor was popular with the electorate and that his victory at the poll was not a fluke.

In a release signed by Mr Tajudeen Yekeen, the pro tem chairman, the group called on the governor to be magnanimous in victory and embrace opposition members wishing to join the train of progress of the state.

It equally appealed to the opposition to join the governor in his transformation agenda.

The committee implored the governor to see this triumph at the tribunal and the attendant joy as a demonstration of the love of the people for him and their trust in his ability to deliver dividends of democrracy.

Meanwhile, it appealed to Governor Ajimobi to consider the appointment of a special adviser on people with disability from the Oke-Ogun axis

Road accidents going down drastically —Oyo FRSC commander

By Adewale Oshodi THE Oyo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Yusuf Salami, has explained that road accidents in the country, as well as Oyo State, have reduced drastically, and this is as a result the organisation’s awareness creation on positive driving.

Salami stated this during a press briefing to mark the 2015 World Remembrance Day for road accident victims in Ibadan.

“It is good that members of the public are now obeying traffic rules and regulations; although we cannot achieve an accident-free society, we will, continue to bring down the fatality figures,” Salami said.

8

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

9 feature Anthony Ubong - Calabar

L

ike Mrs Stephanie Drake at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in the American medical drama television series, Grey’s Anatomy, Mrs Josephine Uku Oluohu, a real live Nigerian mother of five, had a towel left in her body after a surgical operation.

But unlike the invented Mrs Drake, the real Mrs Oluohu does not live to get an apology from the doctor at the Calabar General Hospital, in Cross River State, whose alleged negligence had first caused her to suffer protracted discomfort. Mrs Oluohu died soon after a corrective, second operation that revealed what is now believed to be the original mistake of a certain doctor (name withheld).

In the TV play, Mrs Drake, diagnosed with emphysema due to her five-pack-aday smoking habit, is admitted to Seattle Grace Hospital under the care of Dr John Davies, an attending cardiothoracic surgeon, and his surgical fellow, Dr Preston Burke. During the operation, Dr Davies performs a lobectomy on Mrs Drake’s lungs and then Dr Burke performs the close. Unfortunately, Dr Burke erroneously leaves a surgical towel within Mrs Drake’s thoracic cavity. The incident goes unreported as Dr Burke fears that it would cause irreparable damage to his surgical career.

Soon after, Mrs Drake overcomes her habit and quits smoking. However, in the next five years, she still suffers discomfort and has to resign from her restaurant job.

Mrs Drake returns to Seattle Grace Hospital five years later to surgically relieve the pressure in her lungs. After a chest x-ray, Mrs Drake is diagnosed with hyper-inflated lungs, caused by what they think is bullae.

During Mrs Drake’s procedure, the Chief of Surgery, Dr Richard Webber and a resident surgeon, Dr Miranda Bailey, discover the surgical towel in an attempt to cut the bullae and immediately convert to an open thoracotomy to extract the towel.

During an unrelated case, Dr Burke admits to his carelessness to Chief Webber and the hospital’s legal counsel and then personally apologises to Mrs Drake.

But doctors at the Calabar General Hospital are currently battling to save their necks over the alleged incompetence that has led to the death of the 40-year-old Mrs Oluohu. The husband of the deceased, Peter Oluohu Aja, who hails from Yala Local Government Area of the state, in a bid to bring the doctors to justice, has petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 6 Headquarters, Calabar, begging the police chief to investigate the matter.

In the petition, a copy of which was made available to Saturday Tribune, Aja alleges that his wife’s death was brought about by negligence and incompetence on the part of doctors at the hospital who performed a caesarean section on her. He told Saturday Tribune that his wife had undergone the necessary examinations before her due date of delivery with no problem detected, but during labour, doctors suspected complications, hence she was subjected to a caesarean section and was delivered of the baby.

A particular doctor (name withheld) was alleged to have been assisted by other resident doctors at the hospital during the operation that later resulted in Mrs Oluohu’s death. According to the petition, the woman could not recover from her ill-health after delivery as she suffered sleepless nights owing to excruciating pains in her belly.

Mr Aja said he took his wife back to the hospital to meet the doctor (Asuquo) who principally performed the surgery but the doctor always gave them medication after

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

‘Doctor cut my wife’s intestine,

used hand towel to block it’

Josephine

Josephine’s lifeless body

medication and his wife’s situation persisted for the next eight months.

“For eight months afterwards, my wife and I visited the hospital and in most cases, we met the same doctor who always alluded to one thing or another and gave us the assurance that she would be well,” the petition stated.

It stated further that the situation degenerated at the time doctors embarked on a nationwide strike. Left with no option, Aja said he took his wife to a private hospital in Ikom Local Government Area of the state, from where they were referred to Asikpo Diagnostic Centre, Calabar, for a CT scan.

The scan, according to the petition, showed complications arising from the previous surgical operation.

“By the time my wife was placed under another doctor’s surgical blade for a second operation, the real cause of her trauma was revealed,” Aja says in the petition.

He alleged that a certain Dr Ayang who performed the second surgery at Ikom discovered that the doctor at the General Hospital, Calabar, who performed the initial operation, had negligently slit the victim’s intestine and caused it to exude excreta and

By the time my wife was placed under another doctor’s surgical blade for a second operation, the real cause of her trauma was revealed... Six days after the operation, my wife writhed in pain until she gave up the ghost. And now I am a widower. the negligent doctor used a piece of towel to block the opening to conceal his mistake.

The doctor was said to have thereafter stitched up the woman and left the cloth in her belly. The towel and other things allegedly left in her belly formed lumps of foreign body which required evacuation.

In an emotion-laden voice, Aja told Saturday Tribune that his wife died soon after the second surgery which lasted for hours before the towel could be removed.

He said the towel had caused so much damage to his wife’s intestine to the extent

that she could not survive. “Six days after the operation, my wife writhed in pain until she gave up the ghost. And now I am a widower,” he sobbed. He said, however, that the baby is alive and well.

Aja is, however, calling on relevant authorities, particularly the police, to commence investigations into the matter to not only get justice, but also to rid the nation’s hospitals of negligent doctors who, he said, are killing patients on a regular basis.

Efforts to get the reactions of doctors at the General Hospital on the matter failed as of press time as none of them was willing to comment on the matter. The superintendent of the hospital, Mr Kuma Parkash, who requested to see a copy of the petition before he would comment on the matter later, declined comment even as Saturday Tribune gave him a copy of the petition from the complainant.

Even Dr Ayang who was said to have performed the second operation, declined comment on the matter when he was contacted through the telephone. “I don’t want to comment on it,” Dr Ayang had stated and switched off his phone.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 6 Headquarters, ASP Barry C. Nwibani, told Saturday Tribune that having only assumed office last week, he was yet to be briefed on the matter by the officer in charge of homicide, who, incidentally, he said, was indisposed and recuperating in a hospital.

10

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

08050498504 toluwaniforever@yahoo.com

W

hat is your background like?

I’ll say that I had it fine and also rough. I was born into a family of four. I grew up in a Christian family of four children, of which I am the last.

My parents were teachers. They taught us the fear of God and good morals. Unfortunately, I lost them at the time I needed them most. I lost my mum as a teenager and my dad few years after my mum’s death.

implies that no matter what you are facing there will always be a way out but people always want the “easiest way” out. I know of a friend who when she collected her salary came to me weeping. I asked her what the matter was and she said she wished she could tell me what she went through before she could get the money and this was a wound in her heart. So no matter what you are passing through you should know that there is an expiry date.

All you need do is be patient.

How did you cope without them?

It was really hard. Then, I had already gained admission into the University of Ilorin to study Sociology, but I had to stay back at home because everybody in the family felt I was too young.

Fortunately, when I wrote the second JAMB examination, I was offered admission again and they had no choice but to let me go. After my first year, I lost my dad and because I could not cope with the financial implication, I sought a transfer to the University of Ibadan. Since I couldn’t afford the accommodation fee I had to go to school from home from my second year to my final year. In fact there were times I would trek from home to the examination hall without food in my stomach. My house to U.I then was about 30 minutes walk.

What spurred your interest in statistics?

My interest is linked to my parents because they were teachers. They employed a Ghanaian teacher to teach my elder brother and sister mathematics so we were always around, sitting with them and that aroused my interest in calculations, although I never planned to study statistics. I had it in mind to change my course but after my first year I found out that I had fallen in love with it.

As a child, who were you closer to between your parents?

My dad. My mum was very strict but I later realised all she did was for our good. If my dad beat you, he would tell you the reason you were beaten and shortly, he would still try to pet you. My mum was the iron lady of the house. I was so close to my dad that there was nothing I could not discuss with him.

What kind of punishment should parents mete out to their children?

I do tell people that when you are punishing a child, you should not use hunger as a form of punishment. It is wrong. You can just deny them some of their privileges. You can use whip or cane.

If a child is denied three square meals, it affects his or her cognitive ability. Even as adult when you do not eat your concentration level is usually low unless you are fasting.

What lessons did you learn from all these experiences?

I learnt that when you have the fear of God it keeps you going.

I love the way my mum trained us. As a teacher she lived within her means. She trained us to be satisfied with whatever they were able to provide us as parents.

Anytime I see my siblings I am always happy because there were some who had their parents but didn’t turn out well. Despite the needs staring us in the face, I did not offer my body to anyone. This

How will you compare students’ attitude to studying in your days with what we have now?

Children nowadays have so many things to contend with. The social media is there and these children are exposed to all of these. But during our days there was nothing like that. Shortly after school hours your lesson teacher was there and when you get back home you would help your parents with the house chores and later watch the news or read your books. But nowadays when teachers give students assignments they tell them to go on the internet. In our days we read both our textbooks and notebooks and also studied in the library. As much as these children exposure to technology broadens their knowledge, it can also be to their detriment.

‘When a man is quiet,

it doesn’t mean he’s a fool’

In what ways did your parents relationship affect your choice of marriage partner?

I cannot really say that it was their relationship that really influenced me. What really guided me is the verse in the Bible that says ‘watch and pray.’ Somehow, my choice was influenced by this common saying that ‘nearest is dearest.’

Who is your spouse?

He is Olufemi Alaba, a lecturer in the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan.

Ask Dr (Mrs) Oluwayemisi Alaba and she will tell you that having had it rough while growing up she came to a quick understanding that life is not a bed of roses. A lecturer in the Department of Statistics, University of Ibadan and the Msc. Coordinator of the department, she speaks with OYEYEMI OKUNLADE on her background, the challenges faced while growing up, her career and marriage.

Can you tell us how you met?

We met in my church then. He is a friend to my eldest sister so he was always coming to our house. There were some things I noticed about him and even before he proposed to me, I had liked him. My parents taught me the fear of the Lord and that in turn led me to that verse which helped me. You can have someone who is okay spiritually but still has some habits you can’t tolerate. Ladies need to watch and pray.

How long have you been married?

Almost eleven years.

What lessons has marriage taught you?

Marriage has taught me many lessons. It has taught me that when you have your friend as your husband, life is much better. Also, I have learnt that if we say we are going to heaven and we cannot manage our home, we are going nowhere. It has taught me to be humble; you can’t lord your decision over a man. Again, I have learnt that when you see a man that doesn’t talk, it does not mean he is stupid. When you make your request known to a man and it is not granted, you have to find a way to represent it. Patience is another important lesson I have learnt. As a married woman, you have to be hardworking because we multitask. Lastly, it has taught me that marriage is a dual concept; whatever you give, you get.

What has changed about you since you got married?

My choice of food has changed.

I’m the type that likes food like fufu, eba and the like, but my husband is from Oke Ogun area in Oyo State, so he prefers amala or pounded yam. Because of that, I have to find a way of balancing what I eat. I have changed in terms of dressing too. Before I got married, I normally used little make-up but my husband doesn’t like it so I stopped when I got married. I love fixing weave-on because it doesn’t take longer time to make, but because my husband likes weaving, I often go for it.

What fashion item(s) do you cherish most?

Wrist watch.

11

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune BLESSING EKUM ekumblessing@gmail.com 08116954639

food&drink Native Soup

Edikangikong

Ofe Owerri

The kings of food across Naija (1) (South South/South East)

Omoebe

Nigeria is blessed with ethnic groups with rich cultures and one area where this is visible is in the vast array of mouth-watering, aromatic cuisines. From the oil-rich Niger-Delta in the South-South through the lush rainforests in the South West, the Savannah belt of the North Central to the arid deserts in the North West and the North East, the assortment of nutritious and delicious foods are sure to awaken the senses and leave you drooling. In this edition, BLESSING EKUM brings the celebrated dishes in some areas of the South East and South-South parts of the country.

O

fe Nsala. In Okija, Anambra State, all other soups bow to ofe nsala. Mrs Gladys Ujumo, Principal, St. Isabel Comprehensive Model College and an indigene of Okija says the best nsala soup is the one made with fresh fish. Besides being a source of protein, fresh fish also thickens the soup.

Ukodo. When you have a bowl of pepper soup with yams, what you get is this titillating dish from Delta State. A lawyer by training but a cook by profession, Mr. Oluwaleke Akan Ojesina, Head, Concept Development at Rice Grill and Co, Lagos State says it’s a dish he can take three times a day.

Umo ebibi. This is popular among the Ora people of Edo State. Mrs Mabel Ubi, who is from Edo State and is an events manager and chef at Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), says there is hardly any home you enter that black soup isn’t served at least once in two weeks.

Izuwo ibiedi.

Among the Isoko of Edo State, this soup, more commonly known as banga soup, is the toast at all parties. Mrs Maureen Joseph whose husband is from Isoko says the soup is such a toast in Isoko that it is served as peace offering after a quarrel.

Ukpoka soup. For those from Agenebode, northern Edo State, nothing beats Ukpoka. Mrs. Angela Shodimu, who is from Edo State, is an adventurous cook and proprietor of Dominion Heritage Group of Schools, Soka area, Ibadan, Oyo State, says it’s a corn-meal that’s gentle on the stomach and tasty.

Omoebe (Black Soup). If you can ignore the name of this soup and give it a try, you’d see why Augusta Eze, a nurse, says this to be the king of all soups in Esan, Edo State. It’s tasty, easy to prepare and medicinal.

Edikangikong. Famous across the country, Edikangikong is a dish popular with the Ibibio and Efik ethnic groups.

Mrs Sarah Bassey, an Akwa-Ibom daughter and businesswoman, swears by the deliciousness of edikangikong. She says it is not only nutritious but very tasty.

Ogwho Ogbono soup served with nni oka.

In Onitsha, Anambra State, this soup is the feather to cap of soups. Mrs Juliet Ogbogu, an Anambra State indigene and the National Secretary, Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria, says to enjoy Anambrastyled Ogbono soup, serve with nni oka in the traditional clay pot and eat with the fingers.

Ofe Achara. From the heart of Abia State in Umuahia, Angela Ogodi, a trained caterer and the coordinator of Outdoor Catering, Orisun Catering Institute, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, says even though it takes about two days to prepare ofe achara, it’s very tasty, rich and both children and adults, the rich and the poor equally enjoy it.

Native soup with onnunu. Blessed with sea food and fish of all kinds, native soup is the toast in Rivers State. Dr. (Mrs) Adefunke Ekine, Programme Director, Youth Care Development and Empowerment Initiative (YCDE) and lecturer at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State, says “even though it’s a dish from my husband’s place, it has become my best food.”

Ofe Owerri. This soup is the favourite in Mbaise, Imo State. Mrs Tina Nnaji, a trained caterer with a love for baking says

Ukang-Ikom it’s such a delicious dish that even when one does not feel like eating, once the aroma is perceived, he/she will not ask for any other food.

Ukang Ukom. This unripe plantain dish is from Calabar, Cross River State. Dr Agona Obembe, a minister with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a senior lecturer and Head of the Department of Physiology, University of Calabar, Calabar, says in recent times, ukang ukom (unripe plantain porridge) with cowtail is the in-thing. She says, “In fact, no occasion is complete without unripe plantain porridge with cowtail. Most people no longer want rice, no matter the variety. This dish is one meal that can be tolerated by all kinds of people, no matter their health challenge. Diabetics, those who can’t tolerate palm oil, those who are watching their weight can also take it and it is great for old people too. It is rich in iron and has little or no starch. It is balanced, filling and also very tasty.”

Afang soup. Though traditionally native to the Efiks, Afang soup is one that is thoroughly enjoyed across Cross River State and can easily pass as the king of soups. Mrs. Iquo Isong, a lawyer, says “the blend of vegetables makes it rich and the aroma is so inviting. It is so delicious.

In fact, I am yet to see any person who doesn’t love this soup. I believe it’s king.”

Ogwho soup. Among the Itsekiri and Urhobo of Delta State, Owgho beats all else. An indigene of Delta State, baker, events decorator and Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Royal Cakes and Decor, Ibadan, Mrs Roli Laura Akinyele, says no Itsekiri party is complete without oghwo soup.

Ofe Akparanta. For Mr. Emmanuel Obi, this soup is not only king in Udi, Enugu but has also been adopted by the Afikpo of Ebonyi State owing to its sheer sumptuousness.

12

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

yemiaofolaji@yahoo.com

08078891815 (sms only)

For Him

Kelvin, single, 5.7 feet tall, businessman, needs a lady aged between 34 and 40 for a relationship. Call 08100009058.

Olanipekun, 44, based in Lagos, needs a woman aged between 29 and 44 for marriage. Call 08120300227.

Bright, from Abia State, Lagos-based businessman, needs a caring, God-fearing, humble lady aged 30 to 40 for a relationship. Call 07034360851.

Abraham, 35, needs a God-fearing lady for marriage.

Call 08032247496.

Ola, 47, businessman, from Ondo State, Ibadanbased, 5.8feet tall, needs a responsible divorce lady aged 36 to 46 for marriage. Call or text 08064056076.

Tosin, 48, civil servant, from Osun State, needs a lady aged between 26 and 48 for a relationship. Call 08142491286.

For Her

Lady, 38, teacher, single parent, from Ikirun, Osun State, needs a God-fearing man based in Osun for marriage. Call 08038609577.

Before I lose my mind!

I

Dear Yemisi, am an 18-year-old girl. I am an undergraduate studying English at the University of Lagos.

I am into a relationship with a guy who I so much love. The guy happens to be my best male friend.

I am so confused now because I don’t know how to tell him how I feel about him.

Help me, before I lose my mind.

Anonymous, Lagos, 07*********.

Dear Anonymous, Why do you have to lose your mind? That you have attained the age of accountability is not a licence to misuse your guarded independence.

There is no harm in expressing one’s feelings for a guy you admire, but you need to exercise some caution so as not to be seen as a wayward girl.

I need to correct your assumption that you are into a relationship with a guy you have not been able to express how you feel about to. You are mixing issues up. Or you are trying to say that you have already proposed to the guy?

In this part of the globe considering our cultural values, I think you will be in a good stead if you allow the guy to make the move instead of selling yourself cheap. Though what you are experiencing is not a new thing at your age. As a teenager, you are bound to experience such as it is a phase you fall in and out of love. Your telling how you feel about him will be an invitation to irresistible pressure from this friend of yours as you have given him a blank cheque. Are you sure that you are prepared for the aches that characterise such an affair?

Weigh your options before you go ahead with expressing your feeling. It is better you allow good reasoning to guide your emotions.

If you ask me, having a serious affair is not a priority for now. Maintain friendship first be-

fore declaring your intention. Starting out as mutual friends is always the best which could graduate to a marriage with time as the two of you grow to appreciate each other.

Fisayo, 29, from Osun State, needs a God-fearing man aged between 34 and 47 for a relationship. Call 08107054353.

Tomilola, 29, graduate, 5.2 feet tall, needs a God-fearing man aged between 35 and 47 for a relationship. Call 08101198059.

I don’t want to regret my choice Dear Yemisi, I am 19 dating a 20-year –old guy. We are both 100 level students and truly in love in the last three years.

The problem now is that the relationship is getting so deep that he wants me to be his life partner, but I am scared of his family set up, because all their men are polygamists, some are not just married to two wives but some even have six wives!

It is equally of note that these men are not given to taking care of their wives and children. But he, sensing that I am scared, has promised that his brothers’ ways of life will never be his lot. The issue has generated a lot of heat between our parents that has occasioned my parents warning that I should stay away from him.

My parents are even alleging that the guy is a thief and all efforts to convince them that he has stopped stealing have proved abortive.

My daddy is a strict man and I am even scared of my future because this guy is so fond of me and I love him too. He keeps crying and pleading with me not to leave him and that I should have faith that all shall be well.

Ma, at the same time I don’t want to regret my choice.

Thywill, 08********9.

Dear Thywill, You must not allow sentiment

to take better part of you so as not to have a riotous future. You have been sincere in the way you have described your boyfriend’s background.

Nobody has forced words out of your mouth and I will want you to exercise caution in the way you carry along with this guy. There is no doubt that your boyfriend is from a family where the men have shown their peculiar stuff. I don’t know how you intend to make a head way in a relationship that has been doomed to fail right from the takeoff. Your parents can never agree with you to marry an alleged thief. Or is that you don’t know the weight of the allegation? There is no amount of persuasion from your end that will convince your parents that your guy has stopped stealing.

What if the vice runs in the family? I will want you to think deeply before you make any lifelong commitment with a guy whose history is nothing to write about. A stitch in time is said to save nine.

Please, listen to your parents and never attempt to incur their wrath. You need their blessings.

As you have expressed your desire not to regret your deci-

sion in making the right choice, please let the guy be.

No amount of crocodile tears will atone for the consequences of your actions later in life.

Don’t forget that your parents have tread this path before.

Thywill, the journey ahead of you is still long and I wouldn’t want you to start to bear unnecessary burden aside your academics for now. The two of you as 100 level undergraduates are still under the authority of your parents who are still struggling to meet your educational needs in all forms.

Your best bet is to avoid any distraction from what you have been sent to school for. If the two of you are destined for a better future, all the crooked paths would be made straight by God who is the author of matrimony who, I am sure, is not an author of confusion. Nothing stops you from remaining friends, but you must be casual as much as possible.

If you really want peace, never go into any form of showing your affection to the guy through sexual relationship, this is very crucial and never go into any covenant with any man.

13

14 November, 2015

intimacy

Saturday Tribune

With Bosede Ola-Samuel 08112658560 bosedeola_samuel@yahoo.com

STRICTLY FOR ADULTS

Four essential things your wife wants from you

N

o doubt, sex plays a great role in the success of a marriage. As I always say, the quality of your sex life will determine the quality of your marriage. You don’t get to see a couple in court seeking divorce who are still enjoying having sex with each other but the moment their sex altar breaks down, the marriage heads for the rock. So, the issue of sex in marriage cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it becomes imperative for a couple who seek to succeed in marriage to pay quality attention to their sex life.

For most men, their wife is the problem. She is the culprit. She is the offender. She is the one that is not cooperating. She is the one that needs to be dealt with.

Though I am a marriage counsellor, I am also a woman.

And as a woman, I know what goes on in the mind of your wife. The issue of sex has caused some rifts in my home too in time past, but the truth is, an average man does not know how to get his wife to want to have sex with him when he wants it. For most men, how ‘tactical’ they are in sex and how satisfied she is this time around should make her to want it the next time he calls on her.

And it becomes worrisome to him when he beckons on her this time around and in spite of all her ‘groaning’ the last time, she seems not interested. He begins to wonder what kind of being she is.

The truth is, when it comes to what makes a woman to want to have sex with her husband, it is an issue most men have no clue about. Every man needs to know that because of the sexual make up of a woman, what puts her in a form whereby she’s able to appreciate her husband’s sexual advances are not sexual, ie they are things that have nothing to do with sex. Rather, they are things that captures a woman’s heart such as communication, spending time with her and making her feel secure. This

short excerpt from Dave Willis’ 4 Things Every Wife Desires From Her Husband will be a blessing to you and give you a hedge in this matter.

1. Open, honest, consistent communication Communication does for a marriage what breathing does for your lungs. Be willing to turn off ESPN and put your iPhone down and engage in meaningful conversation. Never hide anything from her! Build a foundation of trust, honesty and open communication.

Every one of your words and every action is either building more of her trust or eroding her trust in you. Remove distractions and make communication a high priority.

2. Protection (Physical, emotional and financial protection).

You should be the one who wipes away your wife’s tears; not the one who causes them! Develop the discipline to work hard inside and outside the home to make your wife feel like the safest and most secure

The truth is, when it comes to what makes a woman to want to have sex with her husband, it is an issue most men have no clue about.

woman on earth. Have the courage to fight for your family and the faith to recognize that you need a power greater than your own. The Bible challenges us by saying…“Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” (Nehemiah 4:14) 3. Your time. (Both “quality time” and “quantity time”) Time is the “currency” of relationships, so invest as much time as you can into your marriage. You need to make money, but don’t use your career as an excuse to be absent. When you are home, be present, not distracted or glued to a screen. Work hard, but also remember that your family can do with less of almost anything if it means having more of you.

4. Continuous pursuit For most of us, we gave our wives the best we had in the very beginning, but just like a cable TV company that offers their best package, pricing and service at the beginning and then changes all the rules after the “promotional period” expires, many of us have stopped giving our wives the best of ourselves. We’ve allowed romance to fade. Our wives need and deserve our continued adoration, thoughtfulness and love. Give her your very best each an every day!

In my last week article, I talked on the fact that a woman’s number one sex organ is her mind. When your woman if happy with you and she’s made to feel secure, her mind will be open to appreciate a sexual advance you made to her.

14

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

With Aunty Yemi 08056834515 ojeleyeoyeyemi@yahoo.com

Respondents are pupils of Cavegina Primary School, Warri , Delta State.

J

At what age would you like your parents allow you to use communication

Wisdom Omasoguwa, Pry 4 At the age of 25, I would use telephone to send my mother text message in case of something important.

I will use it to watch movies and call my friends.

Spot the ball

Get Inspired

are Teacher: Why Make the best out of everyyou late? of se au ec B thing you do Student: . ad in life because the sign on the ro pe ty t things turn Teacher: Wha out good for of sign? gn people who do Student: The si l oo good. that says, “Sch Ahead, Go Slow.”!

gadgets?

Israel Tunde, Pry 4 At the age of 19, I would want my parents to buy me an android phone, so I can use it to call my mummy and daddy. I also want to use computer to browse.

TONGUE TWISTER A big black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?

Water Favour Ogbonna, Pry. 4.

At the age of 15 ,I would like to use it to communicate with my family members that are far away from me. I would use it to know about my country and other county.

poem

Karo Abeh, Pry 4 At the age of 20, I would like my parents to buy me a phone to call my family members, to play music, read important documents and for watching film.

ke

What is life without water?

Water has no enemy; nobody can do without water Even animals know the usefulness of water Dead trees get inspired when they see water.

Nothing distracts water from flowing Water has no legs or hands but it still moves.

If water has no way of flowing well, it turns to flood Water is important, as such it cannot be done without in a day Water is Life……….

A purse of gold

A

beggar found a leather purse that someone had dropped in the marketplace.

Opening it, he discovered that it contained 100 pieces of gold. Then he heard a merchant shout, “A reward! A reward to the one who finds my leather purse!”

Being an honest man, the beggar came forward and handed the purse to the merchant saying, “Here is your purse. May I have the reward now?”

“Reward?” scoffed the merchant, greedily counting his gold. “The purse I dropped had 200 pieces of gold in it. You’ve already stolen more than the reward! Go away or I’ll tell the police.”

“I’m an honest man,” said the beggar defiantly.

“Let us take this matter to the court.”

In court the judge patiently listened to both sides of the story and said, “I believe you both. Justice is possible! Merchant, you stated that the purse you lost contained 200 pieces of gold.

Well, that’s a considerable cost. But, the purse this beggar found had only 100 pieces of gold. Therefore, it couldn’t be the one you lost.”

And, with that, the judge gave the purse and all the gold to the beggar.

Br a I n T e a s e r

LEDS B M RD JUW O

ble am rds r c Unsse wo the T SLA AoT O MT U RY CR IOI E PPP ER N IOS ON

By Omotayo Fabusua and Opeyemi Oladipupo

15

14 November, 2015

health&fitness

Saturday Tribune Blessing Ekum

ekumblessing@gmail.com 08116954639

That ‘toilet infection’ may be an STD

By Opeyemi Oladipupo

F

or many people, using a toilet outside of their homes can be a terrifying experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s a church, mosque, school, bank, hotel or restaurant or if the toilet actually looks clean.

The fact that the toilet is used by many other people makes them uncomfortable. For these people, in only unavoidable instances do they use their elbows to open the door, crouch over the seats (for females), use their finger tip to flush, use a tissue in opening the faucet and then scurry out when they are done. This behaviour may seem amusing, but the fear of toilet infections is real for many and may be valid considering that the toilet, especially an unhygienic one, can be a breeding ground for all sorts of germs and disease-causing organisms.

Generally, it is assumed that any infection in the reproductive area is as a result of infections from the toilet but experts say this may not be true. While there is indeed something like contracting infection or disease from the toilet (for instance, through improper hygiene like not washing the hands after defecating), medical experts say most people actually mistake Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections for it. Dr Adetoye Adeolu of the Ibadan Central Hospital said, “the term toilet disease is a layman’s term for any infection of the genitalia. However, while most people attribute any infection in the genitals to toilet infection, in reality, it is not so. Most of these infections are actually Sexually Transmitted Diseases like gonorrhoea and Chlamydia. They could also be vaginal infections from poor hygiene. But because the symptoms of infection present in the genitalia, people assume it is caused by a toilet infection. It is not to say that toilet poor hygiene cannot cause disease. For instance, a female cleaning the anus in a back-to-front swiping motion (from the anus to the vaginal opening) can introduce faeces and other microbes that could cause infection. Also, splash back (when faeces hit the bowl and splash water to the genitals during defecation) can introduce germs into the vaginal opening.”

Dr Stephen Adegoke, a medical practitioner, adds: “Before you conclude that you caught an infection from the toilet, you should first check for Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections. It is most likely that a Sexually Transmitted Disease/Infection is the cause and not the toilet.

As the name implies, Sexually Transmitted Diseases/ Infections are contracted through unprotected sex which could be oral or penetrative sex with an infected partner.”

Though Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections are not gender-sensitive, women are more prone to presenting symptoms quickly. Dr Adegoke says, “both men and women can have Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections (which they wrongly term toilet disease). However, women manifest symptoms quicker as men can be carriers for months without symptoms showing. These men then transfer it to women through unprotected sex. The women may assume that they caught the infection from the toilet since their partners are not showing symptoms but it is not so.”

Some of the symptoms that appear when one is infected share similarities with most Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections. Mr Oladipupo Adeola, a trado-medical practitioner says, “the first symptom, especially in women is an itch in the vaginal area. This may progress to smelly vaginal discharges.” Dr Adeolu adds that vaginal discharges, rashes, lower abdominal pain and sometimes bleeding which is not menstrual, may occur.

Contracting a Sexually Transmitted Disease/Infection

is not the end of the world. There are treatments which when used based on prescription by a qualified medical officer, can bring an end to the suffering and discomfort.

However, like other health issues, prevention is always better and experts suggest that responsible sexual behaviour as well as honesty and openness in relationships can help in preventing transmission.

There is also the issue of contracting disease from sitting on the toilet seat. However, experts say that intact skin is an effective germ barrier, and the skin of the buttocks and legs is relatively thick. For infection from toilet seat to occur, they say that the germs would have to get into an open cut or be carried by hand to the mouth, nose or eyes.

Besides infection in the reproductive organs, organisms like the cold virus can be spread through contamination from door knobs, faucet and the toilet flush handle. To reduce such infections, experts say rubbing soapy water all over the hands and fingers for 20 to 30 seconds, including under the fingernails is the way to go. They add that as you create friction by rubbing the hands together, you’ll loosen the disease-causing particles on the hands.

They recommend that after rinsing thoroughly, the process should be repeated.

16

healthandfitness

14 November, 2015

My girlfriend’s stomach ache My girl friend complained that the left side of her stomach is hurting her. Kindly let me know the possible diagnosis.

Sikemi (by SMS) Pain on the left side of the abdomen in a woman can be due to many factors ranging from a muscular pain, stomach ulcer to a kidney infection, among other possibilities. More information regarding the nature of the pain will be required in order to know the actual diagnosis

waleokediran@yahoo.co.uk

No menses after abortion I had an abortion on September 29. After going for three different pregnancy tests, I was told that I am not pregnant, yet I have not seen my period.

Kindly help me.

Moji (by SMS)

and possible treatment. If the pain is acute, a visit to

your doctor will be quite in order.

to the various CSs I had done. He has advised that I should have another operation to correct the problem but I am afraid of another operation.

Kindly advise me.

Sarah (by SMS)

The operation to correct an abdominal weakness when done by competent hands is very safe and effective in correcting your protruding abdomen therefore, you have nothing to worry about.

I am hiv positive, I need a wife I am HIV positive and badly in need of a wife. I want to know if I can get married in my condition?

If so, I will need your kind assistance in linking up with a suitable wife.

Okeke (by E Mail) Yes, you can get married and even have children through a special medical procedure as an HIV positive

Dr. Wale Okediran 08055069356 (sms only)

My bulging abdomen After my last Caesarean Section (CS) w hi ch i s the third one, I noticed that my abdomen is protruding. The doctor I consulted attributed it to a weakness in my abdominal muscle due

Saturday Tribune

person. Regarding the issue of a wife, I will privately send

you a contact who has links with HIV positive people.

Since you have had three pregnancy tests, it will be advisable to have an ultrasound examination.

This will reveal the correct condition of your womb and explain why your menses are yet to show up.

My daughter’s knock knees My three-year-old daughter has knock knees which is making her walk in an awkward manner.

Our family doctor has commenced her on some medications and said she may need an operation if her condition does not improve by age 7. Is this correct? Is 7 years not too late for surgery?

Mrs Adams (by SMS) Knock knees occur when the knees appear to bend toward each other. If a child is knock-kneed, it will be most evident

when he or she is around 3 years of age, and will then gradually become

T

here is no doubt that taking heart friendly diet will reduce the incidences of cardiovascular-related disability and death, but the problem is the choice of appropriate diet. Even with vast knowledge on the right food self-discipline at the sight of food is a major issue.

When we attend functions where buffet is freely served you will understand the dilemma in applying discipline in the choice of and right quantity of heart-friendly food to take.

I believe most of us throw caution to the wind! The fact is whether we deliberately or otherwise eat heart-unfriendly diet; the repercussion is sumptuous as the food itself. This week as we continue the celebration of World Diabetes Day let us remind ourselves of heart friendly diet.

What is Heart healthy diet?

The heart healthy diet is an eating plan that can help keep your blood cholesterol low and decrease your chances of developing heart disease. This form of diet is designed for the whole family, including children from the age of 2-4 onward. Children under 2 years of age should not follow the heart healthy diet - they need more fat to provide enough calories for growth and development. Changing your eating habit can be tough, that is why certain steps shall be discussed using the grouping of food items.

Eat more vegetables and fruits Consumption of fruits and vegetables of three or more servings per day is associated with 27% reduction in cardiovascular diseases. From Christian’s perspective, when God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them every herb bearing seed and trees bearing fruits to serve as their food and meat. It is man that brought in meat and cholesterol later. Pure vegetarians are better protected from cardiovascular diseases than non-vegetarians, although this is not all inclusive.

Vegetables and fruits are good sources of vitamins and minerals; they are low in calories and rich in soluble fibers.

less pronounced. By age 7, these children will have attained the normal adult amount of slight knock knee — 5 to 9 degrees — which they will maintain throughout their lives. Although you may be concerned about the shape of your child’s legs, a slight degree of bowing or knocking is normal.

That said, if your child has severe knock knees or bow legs, it’s a good idea for a paediatricorthopaedist to take a look at about 7 years as your doctor rightly suggested.

Dr. Abiodun Adeoye adeoyemoshood@yahoo.com

08056564360, 08072000017 (sms only)

Heart–friendly diet They help to lower your cholesterol (fat) and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Eating more fruits and vegetables may help you to eat less high fat food such as meat, cheese and snacks food. Vegetables also allow you to pass stool freely thereby reducing the time of contact between your body and bad contents of food like carcinogens that cause cancer.

Vegetable and fruits contain anti-oxidants and potassium that help in controlling hypertension and heart attack. It is cheap and can be cultivated within your compound. If not for infectious diseases that killed in those days, many of our forefathers would have still been alive today by virtue of fresh green leafy vegetables and fruits they were consuming then.

Including vegetables and fruits in your diet may not be as difficult as you might think. Keep carrots, cauliflower and broccoli washed and cut in your refrigerator for quick snacks. Keep apples, bananas, grapes or peaches in a bowl in your kitchen so that you’ll remember to eat them. Don’t smother vegetables in butter, dressings, creamy sauces or other high-fat garnishes. Do not take in excess in order not to increase the glucose in the blood and also go for fruits in seasons.

Avoid plenty coconuts, vegetables with creamy sauces, fried vegetables, and canned fruits packed in heavy syrups Limit unhealthy fats and cholesterol Eating a Western-style diet, foods high in trans-fatty

acids, or foods with a high glucose were shown to raise the risk of heart disease. High consumptions of cholesterol lead to build-up of plaque inside the arteries (arthrosclerosis) in the body, especially the one that supply the heart which if not properly managed can cause heart attack or stroke. Having diet low in bad cholesterol will solve most of the cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, fat makes food tasty and this is one of the reasons why it has been difficult for many to comply with low fat diet. But it is not all about no fat diet but eat right fat which is why American heart association listed the following options. Of the possible changes, limiting how much saturated and trans-fat you eat is the most important step you can take to reduce your blood cholesterol and lower your risk of coronary artery disease.

Limiting the amount of solid fat (butter, margarine and shortening) added to your food when cooking and serving will help reduce cardiovascular risk. Instead you can add low fat yogurt rather than butter or use low-sugar fruit spread on your bread rather than margarine. Most people crave for snacks that are labeled low fat but I want to advise us to be careful because some of them may be made of oils containing trans-fat. Avoid taking much egg, especially the yellow content. Animal skin (ponmo), intestine (‘roundabout’, ‘saki’ and ‘orisirisi’) and ike eran; all contain fats.

Limit the rate at which you consume them.

Till next week , eat a heart healthy diet.

17

14 November, 2015

mediascope

Saturday Tribune With akin adewakun

akadewakun@yahoo.co.uk 08054683584

In this interview, the Managing Director of Neo Media and Marketing, Ehi Braimah shares his experience of the nation’s marketing communications industry, especially public relations and event management and the recurrent challenge of quackery in the sector.

W

hat would you say informed your interest in arts journalism, a genre of journalism where you have made a name today?

Journalism, just like any other profession, is a calling in the sense that you are like a tool that is being used by a force that is stronger and greater than you. It’s almost as if one is possessed because you can not expiate or purge yourself because something is in you, driving you. You are in and in for good. Very many times, the decision to carry on is a very difficult one, but unfortunately that decision is beyond you. You can’t take it because that is where you find the fulfillment. Today, everybody is minded to look at remuneration, which is true. Very many of us have actually suffered in the sense that we are not as materially-realised as some of our colleagues who have gone to excel in other stratums of journalism calling. Journalism itself, until very recently, was a very punitive profession. People would be begging you that you have mouths to feed, you have people in your life to take care of. I confess to you that there are times when one actually wishes that one were more financially fulfilled to be able to help out, because this is Africa, and you can’t be an Island to yourself. Even in the face of all those challenges, it is very difficult to say let me veer off. In that sense, I think it is very obsessive, that is why people say it is a calling. So looking back I do not think I would have chosen a different profession. I do not regret being in the arts. I do not regret being a participator in the arts, because it gets to a point and it is like somebody who is selling drugs, once in a while you are tempted to use it. That is why some of us are going beyond arts reporting, and going into production, which is Arts Media.

Secondly, the realization that you have a role to play in your history is another compelling factor. For example, in this part of the globe, our attitude to documentation is very appalling, archival photography, in particular, which are emblems of our collective memory are so important.

When I was in Daily Times, for example, I campaigned for many years, trying to get the management of the place to digitize the photo library of Daily Times, unfortunately over the years, the entire collection was lost. I was in London Times, I was a visiting editor at the Times Literary Supplement, and if I remember correctly, TLS started in 1917 and Daily Times started in 1926. I think they are contemporaries. I went to a culture where people preserve their own tradition, where collective treasures are actually valued. People defend them and refer to them, but here people are completely oblivious of their very existence.

That was why when I came back to Nigeria in 1997, I just resigned because I couldn’t stand it again.

Can you let us into your journey into publishing, especially why you decided to float Position International Arts Magazine?

When I left Daily Times, I was doing a journal called Glendora Review, I was the editor in chief of the journal and that gave me the opportunity to ventilate what I wanted to do in the area of documentation, talking about arts, reporting the arts. The compelling factor for me is the opportunity to document history.

Fortunately technology is on the side of Africa, digital technology was making many of these platforms affordable. This was what clearly took me into entrepreneurship, I wasn’t just a reporter anymore, I had to set up a mechanism. Almost the same time, I found myself in Channels Television as a consultant producer, with a programme called Art House and another programme, during the News At Ten on Sunday Night called the Arts Review. I didn’t see myself just as a producer, I went there to capture a space, because I didn’t go there just to do something for myself. I was very glad that I assisted Channels to give birth to Arts Review, so that people who operate in Arts and Culture can find an outlet for their expression. Thereafter we had to start Position International Arts Review, which gave me the opportunity to continue what I was trying to do with Glendora Review, though the two journals, Glendora Review and Position are not exactly the same. While Glendora Review focuses on the artists and their arts, but

Journalism must concern itself about survival – Dapo Adeniyi, Publisher, Position International Magazine Position looks at opinions in the arts, theories, views, reviews and interviews, that is what people are saying rather than what people are doing. So they are not really the same. I followed that line because I was hoping Glendora Review would continue, I’m not too surprised that it has not been able to continue because it is not easy to actually operate in arts and culture, anywhere in the world. Even in other parts of the world where they are having a lot of sponsorship, many of them are shrinking because of dwindling national resources, not to talk of Nigeria where public support for arts and culture is almost non-existent.

The unfortunate thing therefore is that some of us we have to now veer into where we will have to do other things, we have to do ‘prostitution’ if you like, we have to do other things that will allow us to do what we actually came to do, by which I mean we have to start to start publishing for people, using our competence and ability to deliver high quality publication.

What is your assessment of journalism then and journalism now, what do you think has changed?

A lot of progress has been made. I’m never entirely on the side of those people who believe the society has been on constant slide. I think a lot of things have improved.

For example in those days, features writings were just general. You didn’t have the specialisation that we have today. I think that compartmentalisation is one of those things that changed. Anybody who is starting any media organisation today is thinking of arts desk. In those days, there was no arts desk, we were just features writers, who would happen on cultural stories and would still go on to write usual news. The problem really is that the owners are meddlesome. Though this is not peculiar to us here, the only difference is that we have more regulations in those societies. Business owners are always meddlesome. Either we like it or not, he represents certain interests, he belongs

I think there has been progress. I think generally the profession has grown, though I do not lose sight of the fact that many people operating as reporters need much better training.

to a shade of opinion and consciously or unconsciously, many times they use media to foster those ideologies. I remember when The Guardian Newspaper started and they had this lofty idea of dealing with one of the malaise plaguing the society with one person having six or seven titles and they felt everybody, except national figures, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. They sustained that for sometime until tbe powers that be began to threaten the business survival of that publication. So journalism belongs to a business vehicle that has to be concerned about its survival. so it is not entirely true that journalism has not done well in the past years, though it could be true that we still have the opportunity to do a lot better. I’ve always been mindful of legacy, that whatever we do, we have to do something better. I think there has been progress. I think generally the profession has grown, though I do not lose sight of the fact that many people operating as reporters need much better training.

How do you see the growing influence of the new media today, will it eclipse the traditional ones, as it is being argued in some quarters?

Let me say here that each medium is worthy of its category and one never threatens the other. When photography started as silent film and then audio came, we had radio then television came that makes us see the picture and hear the voice, has it destroyed the radio? Definitely no. each one is worthy of his category. Each one brings its opportunity, its innovations. Television, we know, is changing, there is what is called virtual reality. Even for film-making, you can see yourself in the middle of the ocean just by wearing this virtual reality gadget. One never threatens the other. I just adapted Wole Soyinka’s book Ake, but that does not mean the film will reproduce the book entirely. It just sends you back to the book. It only re-energises your interest in the book; since it’s an adaptation. So I think one medium comes to support existing medium. We should see them as opportunities, rather being threatened.

What is your take on the proliferation of publications in the country?

You can not proliferate publications. If people are charlatans and they want to go into publishing, let them come and try their luck, they can not survive. If you say because you have a friend in advert agencies and he is ready to give you advets for such works, it won’t last. Check, people who are proliferating publications, how many of them can stand the test of time?

Genuine journals don’t survive. Sometimes people think they can shunt, but it is unlikely that they survive.

18

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

crimeandcourt

Please save me from my wife, she beats me always, husband tells court No, he’s irresponsible, plans to marry another woman —Wife Stories by Oluwole Ige, Ayomide Owonibi, Taibat Alimi and Omotayo fabusua with Agency Reports

A

65-year-old pastor, Kunle Akinseyi, while seeking for the dissolution of his 32-year-old marriage to his wife, Titilope has told an Igando customary court in Lagos State that his wife has turned him into a punching bag.

Akinseyi told the court that his wife, with whom he had six children beats him at the slightest provocation.

“I live every minute of my life in fear; save me from the cruel hands of my wife; I have suffered so much in silence.

“Anytime we have a misunderstanding, she beats the hell out of me.

“Most times, it is our neighbours that always come to rescue me from her hands,” he said, describing his wife as a troublemaker and a fighter.”

“My wife’s hobby is fighting; she fights me and neighbours regularly, and because of her frequent fighting, we are always ejected from any house we rent.”

Akinseyi pleaded with the court to dissolve the union as he was tired and was no longer in love with her.

Responding to her husband’s claim, 56-year-old Titilope denied the allegation, saying she was was beating her husband.

“I have not raised my hands against my husband since the beginning of our marriage,” she said.

The 56-year-old described her husband as an irresponsible father as he has refused to cater for their children.

“When I got pregnant with our sixth child, he denied the pregnancy; he went to my family in the village and told them that I was carrying a bastard child and that they should come and take me.

“He refused to give me money for ante-natal, so, I delivered my baby in the house. It is our first born that has been training the boy till now,” she told the court.

The mother of six, however, alleged that her husband, though a pastor, wanted to divorce her so as to make room for him to marry another woman.

She asked the court not to grant her husband’s wish as she still loves him.

Ruling on the case, president of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, advised the couple to maintain the peace while adjourning the case till November 16.

She poured hot water on me while sleeping —Husband It’s the devil’s work —Wife AN artisan, Mr. Gbenga Afolabi, has dragged his wife, Foluke, before a Grade ‘C’ customary court at Agodi Gate, Ibadan, Oyo State seeking divorce due to what Gbenga describes as uncompromising attitude.

Gbenga, a father of six, also told the court that his wife of 22 years, was troublesome and stubborn.

“She knows quite well that I work in the (religious) ministry yet she said God did not call me that I am the one calling God” “One fateful day, when I was asleep, around 5am, she poured hot water on me. I was taken to two different hospitals for treatment.”

“Although we had conflict earlier that day, it was settled by the landlord. I have brought the picture I took when she poured hot water on me as evidence to the court.”

“I have another woman now who has three kids of her own so I want to divorce Foluke because there is no solution to this crisis at all”.

The defendant, Mrs. Foluke Afolabi, objected to the dissolution because her husband, she claimed, has taken their house appliances and never returned them.

A middle-aged man, Mr. Lolade Oyebode, has asked a Grade ‘C’ customary court sitting in Agodi Gate Ibadan, Oyo State, to dissolve his three-year marriage to his wife, Bukola.

Lolade accused Bukola of being an embarrassment to him with her uncaring attitude.

The plaintiff said his wife is too troublesome and always accuses him of killing his first wife which he was not happy about at all.

“She calls me on phone and talks to me very well but when she sets her eyes on me, she gets irritated.”

“I rented another house with her full consent and she also promised to change for good, but unfortunately she still continues the troublemaking. Whenever we had a fight, she would wear her church’s white garment all through the night.”

“She made all the people around know that she is not the mother of my late wife’s children. Whenever we fight she tells me not to kill her the way I killed my first wife which is so disheartening.”

“On the day of her stepmother’s burial, I got there late and she was so upset till the following morning and did not talk to me or take care of my children.”

“I get scared whenever I am on my way home because she

“I have six sons for him and he does not take care of me and the children. Instead, he prefers to keep concubines.”

“Before I lost my father he beat me that I had to shave my hair. He told me later on that he was getting married to a woman ‘who is also working for God’s ministry’ but early on, he had denied having another woman.”

“The night we had a fight I was told he had taken away the family’s television set the way he had previously taken away the video player without returning it. I later called him and he promised to return the television”.

“He started beating me and almost strangled me when I told the landlady about it but our landlord settled the quarrel eventually.”

“Because he tried to strangle me, I poured hot water on him. I was confused because of the way he was treating me and the concubines he keeps. It the devil’s work”.

The president of the court, Alhaji Amusa Makinde asked both parties to keep calm but told the defendant that she should control her jealousy. He adjourned the case till 24 November.

threatens me. The day she locked my children inside and I told her what she did was wrong, she started to make trouble with me.”

“She uses her hand to point at my nose whenever we fight even when her sister came to settle fight. She lied that the children she bore before I married her are her siblings but I found out the truth recently.”

“I am not interested in her anymore as there is no other solution than for me to divorce her. She is too disgraceful and monitors me around,” Lolade said.

But the respondent, Bukola, told the court that her husband is a drunkard.

“I cautioned him and informed his parents. He makes calls to women in my presence but I do not get angry.”

“The day of my stepmother’s burial, he never told me he would be travelling when he left home in the morning. He did not return home that night, but kept calm to avoid a fight.”

“Whenever we fight he does not leave money for food. He lied when he said I do not take care of the kids.”

“I do not want to divorce him because the kids need care.”

The President of the court, Chief Amusa Makinde, after hearing both parties adjourned the case till November 23 for judgement.

He’s deserted us for more than ten years,woman tells court •His family behind our marital problems —Wife

I’m not interested in divorcing her —Husband the respondent, Nwokonko sent to her.

One of the messages read: “I will destroy you with my mouth, I have seen a man coming out of your house, I have declared war on you and your family, if I see you on the streets I will disgrace you. I am prepared for war, shameless dog.”

The respondent, Mr Kelechi Nwokonko, however, did not deny the allegations of deceit or assault, but told the court that he is not interested in divorcing his wife.

“After consultation with my family and pastors on the implications of divorce and the effect it will have on our child, I no longer want to divorce my wife,” he said.

President of the court, Mr O.T Williams reminded Nwokonko on his insistence of getting a divorce letter as soon as possible when the court last met on the case on 28 October.

However, when the court asked

31

‘She accuses me of killing my first wife’

He lied to me that he is a graduate of Mass communication —Wife

AN Agboyi/Ketu customary court in Lagos State has dissolved the six-year union of a couple citing irreconcilable differences.

The 38-year-old businesswoman, Mrs Nwokonko, had earlier asked the court to dissolve her six years old marriage, citing deceit, assault and threats to life.

Accusing her husband, she said, “he lied to me that he is a graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Lagos and that he is financially buoyant, only for me to discover that he is just a school certificate holder without any true means of income.”

According to the petitioner, her husband, Mr Kelechi Nwokonko did not only lie to her but continuously beats and embarrasses her in the public to the point of her reporting to the police who later gave him restraining order.

“I had to move out of his house to live alone to avoid any form of assault and insult from him and still he finds a way to come to my shop to embarrass me. I can’t take it again that is why I had to come to the court to legally dissolve our marriage.

“Traditionally, my family has returned the bride price to his family,” she said.

On threats to life, Mrs Nwokonko presented as evidence, text and WhatsApp messages

Saturday Tribune

Mrs Nwokonko if she is willing to consider the respondent’s request on not going ahead with the divorce, she opposed vehemently, insisting that she wants the marriage to end for her own peace and happiness.

President of the court, Mr. O.T Williams then dissolved the marriage, saying that there is obviously no more love and that the threats to life accusation has been proven without reasonable doubt.

He also added that the respondent has not been taking care of the wife and the child.

On custody of the child, the court granted the custody of the five-year old son to the petitioner and granted the respondent, Mr Nwokonko visitation with a member of the family and ordered him to give N10,000 monthly for the upkeep of the child in addition to taking care of the child’s general welfare, including school fees, medical bills and vacation.

The court told the respondent to appeal within 30 days if he is not happy with the court’s decision.

A 42-year-old housewife, Mrs Rasheed Taiwo, on Monday asked an Ado-Ekiti customary court to dissolve her 20-year-old marriage to her husband, Tayo.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Taiwo is seeking the dissolution on the grounds of alleged desertion and lack of care for the children.

Taiwo, a resident of Oshodi 1, Elemi Afao road, Ado-Ekiti told the court that her husband had abandoned her and the

He masterminded my abortions, no to divorce —Wife

A bricklayer, Sayo Ajibola has filed a suit at a Grade ‘C’ customary court, Agodi Gate, Ibadan, Oyo State for the dissolution of his two-year marriage to his wife over her not being submissive and troublesome nature.

“She is very jealous. We have fought several times with police interventions and when I could not tolerate her any longer I left the house and secured another apartment.”

“She trailed me around telling me that the house rent was due for payment and wanted to stay with me but I refused.

I then agreed to visit her and I also paid the rent.”

“She requested I stay with her but I disagreed. She attacked me some days later along the road then I injured her.”

“It has been one quarrel after the other, hence this court actions. She vowed that nobody could separate us. There is no solution I want but to divorce her.”

Responding to her husband’s allegations, Rafiat told the court that her husband had helped abort her first pregnancy and since then she had been having miscarriages and does

not want to divorce him.

“He helped me abort a pregnancy that I almost lost my life.

I left him and told him I was not interested but he tricked me back and I got pregnant again after which I had a miscarriage after three months.”

“Since the time he gave me medicine to abort the first pregnancy I have been having miscarriages. He later rented an apartment for me but he refused to stay with me.”

“I told him to meet my parents and his but he insisted I get pregnant before we meet them. He refused to balance the landlord of [the house] where I stay as he is now with his first wife.”

“Though I am no longer interested in him, I do not want to divorce him because he masterminded the abortion which led to my present predicament, he can’t go until he finds a solution to my inability to conceive.”

President of the court, Chief Amusa Makinde, adjourned the case till 25 November for judgement.

children for more than ten years.

The mother of three said the husband did not care about her welfare and the children.

She alleged that before her husband left the house, he was not taking care of her and the children.

Taiwo said she had been the one responsible for the feeding and education of the children.

She said that she was reliably informed that her husband had got married to another woman.

She therefore prayed the court to dissolve the marriage.

Taiwo also prayed the court to grant her the custody of her three children, Rukayat, 19; Barakat, 15 and Yusuf, 10.

President of the Court, Mr Joseph Ogunsemi, said since the respondent failed to come to defend himself against the allegations, they were deemed admitted by him.

Ogunsemi adjourned the case till November 30 for judgement.

With her, I have no rest of mind —Man seeks divorce It is an issue we can handle —Wife AN aged-old man, Emmanuel Alabi, during the week, sought a divorce from his wife, Oluranti Alabi, whom he accused of maltreating her stepson. Emmanuel has taken his complaint to a Grade C customary court, sitting in Agodi Gate, Ibadan, Oyo State.

“We have been married for 20 years and blessed with two children one of whom is dead. I did not pay her bride price when I married her.”

“She does not give me peace of mind. She maltreats her stepson whose mother is late and does disheartening things to me.”

“If there will be a solution, her family has to be there to talk to her.”

The respondent, Oluranti Alabi, however, objected to the dissolution of the marriage She said: “He was 57 years old when I married him. I don’t disturb him at all so I am surprised he is saying all these against me. As old as he is, he still goes out and returns late at night. Whenever I ask him about his lateness, he ignores me. I insist on knowing his movement because if anything happens to him I would be the first person to be questioned

on his whereabouts.”

“I do not ask him for anything as I never married him willingly because my ex-husband, now late, never divorced me but eloped with another woman.”

“He has seven wives, including me. The boy (stepson) he said I maltreated is well taken care of by my children whom I bore for my late husband even more than the one I bore for him.”

“He has torn my clothes on several occasions. Sometimes when we have a misunderstanding, he does not eat at home and, at times, packs his things to his children’s matrimonial home.”

“I did not report this to any of his relatives because the only one I know stays abroad but I report him to his friends and he fights me for reporting to them.”

“There is still solution to this problem. I do not want a divorce, ” said Oluranti.

President of the court, Chief Amusa Makinde counselled both parties, adding that their story is a lesson to the society and adjourned the case till November 18 for both parties to settle amicably.

19

Saturday Tribune

14 November, 2015

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With Kate Ani

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After marriage, would you sustain close relationship with male/female friend?

Some still sustain old-time friendship with the opposite sex, even when they are married. Is there any deal with this?

Could it lead to matrimonial crisis? KATE ANI asks for people’s opinions.

O

LUROTIMI Ajibola That would depend on the boundaries of such relationship.

I don’t have a problem with that but, of course, we do know sometimes it could lead to having sexual activity with the opposite sex.

Olugbenga Jimoh It depends on what the relationship with the opposite sex entails. Being close friend to a member of the opposite sex doesn’t necessarily mean sexual relations because you can have sexual relations with someone and not really be close to the person. That said, if the closeness makes your partner uncomfortable, you have to compromise a bit and apply wisdom for the sake of the marriage.

Adenike Bush Yes, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it but no string must be attached in that kind of relationship.

Bomi Olamijulo Indeed, a married woman should have a male best friend from the day she signed the dotted line and proclaimed “I do”. And that friend should be no other person than her husband. According to the Scriptures; ‘“wo shall become one”.

Kayode Arodunjoye It is not advisable. Remember, an affair needs not be physical, it can be emotional too. So, all you married women with male best friends are in fact committing adultery.

Bridget Owoseeni It is difficult for a man and a woman to maintain a platonic relationship without emotions running deep. I don’t think it’s advisable, if everything is going on well in the marriage, her husband should be her closest friend.

Kehinde Taiwo This all comes down to trust, right? If you are just great friends then what’s the problem? You should be able to spend time together without it automatically leading to a romantic relationship. The main problem here is that others might see this friendship differently, especially the husband of the woman.

Pastor David Emmanuel It is possible for married people to have healthy opposite-sex friendships.

However, special consideration must be given to a number of factors that, if ignored, can potentially threaten your marriage. Is your spouse unaware of your opposite-sex friendship? Would you behave differently around your friend if your spouse were present? Do you and your friend

Adenike Bush

Otunba Kaye Babalola

It is not advisable.

Remember, an affair need not be physical, it can be emotional too. So, all you married women with male best friends are in fact committing adultery. ever exchange details about your private lives or complain about your marriages to each other? If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more of the questions above, your opposite-sex friendship may be a real threat to the quality of your marriage.

Chief Kaye Babalola It depends on how close the relationship is but I wouldn’t encourage such friendship.

Rotimi Ajibola

Bridget Owoseeni

20

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune With Tommy Adegbite 0811 695 4631 tommyabijo@yahoo.com

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6 1. From left, Alhaji Kabiru Yusuf Mohammed, Chief of Staff to Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Mr Munir Abiola, General Manager, Projects, FAAN; Mr Silas Agara, deputy governor of Nasarawa State; Dr Ibrahim Idris, Director, Planning Research and Strategy, FAAN; Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, governor of Nasarawa State; Mr Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director, FAAN and Mr Remi Aromiwura, General Manager, Land, Water and Survey, FAAN, during an inspection tour of Lafia airport project

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3. From left, Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Emeka Mba; Chief Executive Officer, Nollywood Global Media Group, Mr Charles Igwe; Managing Partner, Biola Alabi Media, Ms Biola Alabi; Senior Vice-President, Viacom International (VIMN) Africa, Mr Alex Okosi and the Chief Executive Officer, BSP Media International (UK), Mr Benjamin Pius, during the opening of a three-day international summit on “Broadcasting Content for Children and Young Adults,” in Lagos.

4. Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher (right), presenting a cheque for N5 million to the winner of Etisalat Prize for Innovation 2015, Product Category, Obi Brown. With them are Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Francesco Angelone and the Judge, Etisalat Prize for Innovation, Otuyemi Otule, at the Etisalat Prize for Innovation Awards ceremony, in Lagos.

5. Members of the Audit Department of the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles, with Mr Emmanuel Oyediran (fourth left) and Mr Korede Olaosun (fourth right), both interns, during a send-off for the duo, in Ibadan.

6. Dr (Mrs) Biola Adimula, Principal Partner, Salvation Chambers, presenting her address during the 20th anniversary of the firm, while, from left, the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Professor Biodun Adimula; the Oloota of Odoowa, Oba Oluwatoba Adimula; Justice Oyinloye and Professor Akanbi listen.

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Why I can’t wear bum shorts outside —Mary Etta

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14 November, 2015

T

HE strident noise made of recent by Biafran agitators seems to have jolted the Nigerian state. Ostensibly over the detention of its lead agitator, Mr. Daniel Kanu, by security agencies, a sizeable crowd of protesters gathered in many parts of the east to vilify the Nigerian state and to re-demand a grant of autonomy to their dead Biafra Republic.

After a long absence, this writer was back in the South East last week and coincidentally crept into the Biafran protesters. Between Agbor and Asaba in Delta State, as well as in Awka, Anambra State, the protesters filed out in their hundreds, bodies donned in leaves, faces pampered with camwood and many hanging dangerously on vehicles. They were however non-violent and carried several placards extolling Biafra.

The Biafran protesters have received attacks from even their kith and kin for embarking on a wild goose chase and for rekindling separatist animosities that wasted millions of their productive men and women in a senseless civil war that ended 45 years ago. Peopled mainly by young men and women in their 20s and 30s, very seldom would you find in their assemblage anyone who was old enough between 1967 and 1970, period of the incendiary war.

Dim Eze Gburugburu Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu began the agitation. Oxford-trained historian who later became a colonel in the Nigerian Army, Ojukwu witnessed how illiterate Form Four dropouts were shepherded from Barewa College and propped up to become Generals in the Army. The North was apparently prosecuting its northernization agenda and the rest of the South had become captives of its feudal agenda. Coupled with the 1966 pogrom and the careless unitarism of Aguiyi Ironsi, only a fool would not rise in the defence of its people as Ojukwu did.

Since the war ended and in spite of the dogo turenchi promise of the Three Rs (reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration) made by the Nigerian state to the Igbo, their marginalization at the hands of the Nigerian state has not abated. For daring to take up cudgels against the state, they have suffered the indignities of the rest of Nigeria.

Even though it denies it when confronted with the bare statistics of Igbo abhorrence and dread of a Biafran occupying leadership position in Nigeria, there has been a deliberate policy of excluding Igbo from the core leadership of the country. Only efulefu among them have been spared a peep into

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Biafra: How Igbo underprice Igboland

the confines of power. The only one who managed to sidle into power, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, with due respect to him, was a converse of the highly cerebral and resourceful men and women that make up Igboland.

To that extent, Nnamdi Kanu and his hirelings are right to raise dissention against such a system that has strong disdain for his people. General Muhammadu Buhari openly voiced same in the US a couple of months ago.

But between ourselves, the Igbo has itself to blame for the unabated relegation it has suffered at the hands of the Nigerian state ever since. As an aside, the visit of this writer to the South East again after about six years of absence brought into focus its vicarious fate. The major road that leads into the heart of Igboland – EnuguOnitsha – was in such a horrible state that you hardly find such infrastructural calamity anywhere. It was as if one was driving through Hiroshima and Nagazaki after it suffered that cataclysmic fate of atomic bombing. The Igbo states the writer visited were bare and bereft of major infrastructure that make a people tick in the 21st century. Aside one or two of their state governments that are intervening to uplift the standard of lives of the people, Igbo land is a desert of infrastructure. I give kudos to ex-Governor Peter Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano for how they have turned around the erstwhile decay of Onitsha town, through Ekwulobia, Nteje and down to Awka. Obi in particular gave Onitsha

a world-class highway that can compete with any all over the world, complete with two overhead bridges while Obiano is replicating same in Awka at the moment. It is shocking that here in the South West, we celebrate governors who build bridges a quarter of Obi and Obiano’s. This writer also saw Sullivan Chime’s M9 fortress in a state suffocating under intense squalor and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s gubernatorial groveling by Sullivan’s feet, rather than hitting the ground running developmentally. And, I hope Obiano is ready to pay for plagiarism as he shrouds the whole of Anambra projects he is embarking on with ‘Obiano is Working’, a known coinage of ex-Enugu governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, known for his epithet, ‘Enugu is Working’?

The South East would need to hold an Igbo nation conference to reassess itself on the journey so far. How come the Nigerian state has not forgiven it since the end of the civil war? Is there anything within the Igbo that makes it complicit in this recrudescence of agitations? Are its senses of enterprise, independent-mindedness subject of envy to others? Why is it that the efulefu within it rarely bother about the collective and are always used to subvert the greater good? Why is it that anything dross is traceable to the Igbo… for example, the scam of every Igbo state returning over a million votes to Goodluck Jonathan? Isn’t Buhari’s overt, howbeit misguided, disdain for Igbo a cause of worry for the nation? These are the issues that should agitate Igbo intellectuals and power apparatchik, not an ill-defined Biafran agenda from a band of misguided urchins on a wild goose chase.

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Saturday Tribune

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newsfeature Olayinka

The daring, weird, superstitious life of gamblers People would love to be rich, but they’re looking for the easy way. Who wouldn’t want to hit the jackpot? Here are real life stories of folks who woke up broke but became millionaires by nightfall. Some aren’t that lucky but wouldn’t mind stretching their luck. DIPO OGUNSOLA reports on the extreme extent gamblers can go.

Just to score.

“Hey, good day my friend, Moscow, how are you?” Chudi heartily called out.

“Fine,” replied Moscow “Moscow, will you give me the winning numbers?”

“No, not again,” Roscow retorted.

“Come on Moscow, I will gift you a sumptuous breakfast tomorrow, I promise,” Chudi tried to persuade.

“No, I can’t give you any number,” replied adamant Moscow.

“Why? You’ve always been good to me, what has gone wrong between us?” Chudi asked.

“Nothing. Come over and see,” Moscow said, pointing to his bruised biceps. “Baba Coreo appeared to me yesternight and flogged me unmercifully.”

“Why?” probed Chudi.

“For giving out his numbers.”

“You must be joking, come on, give me [the numbers] very quickly,” Chudi persisted.

“Have pity on me, I won’t give out the numbers, try somebody else,” Moscow said as he turned his back on Chudi.

Moscow is a mentally-challenged person usually seen around Railway Station, Ibadan. Chudi is a die-hard gambler who befriends lunatic Moscow, ostensibly to obtain ‘winning’ numbers.

Baba Coreo, who Moscow alleged beat him, is a pools’ promoter.

Moscow is believed to be endowed with the gift of the third eye and Chudi consults him for sure bankers.

Meanwhile, Oba Morakinyo Omoagba, an Ibadan-based spiritualist, explains that gamblers like Chudi would just be wasting their energy consulting a ‘wrong’ lunatic.

“Insanity has many sources,” Oba Morakinyo told Saturday Tribune.

“Some ran mad after addiction to alcohol, drugs abuse or depression. Any pool ‘staker’ who consults such category of lunatics would never get the correct answer because they have approached the wrong fellow.”

Those who are genuinely insane, according to him, are those whose rituals go awry, those who read certain sensitive parts of the scriptures without caution or guidance, or those who succumbed to demonic forces in a spiritual clash. Such can be consulted for forecasts because they operate in a higher spiritual realm.

Then again, Oba Morankinyo says nothing is cast in stone even with the real lunatic.

“You can’t just approach a lunatic and ask him to write down winning numbers just because you offered him money or food.

He might end up scribbling down rubbish for you. However, there are those who were destined to be rich but whose luck had been impeded by evil forces. Such people may find favour with the spirits who enter a lunatic in order to give out correct numbers to them.”

On Moscow’s claim that he was beaten by Baba Coreo, Oba Morakinyo explained that it was possible.

“It was not Moscow that was beaten. It was the spirit that gave out the numbers that was flogged. Of course, Moscow naturally would bear the bruises because it was through him the numbers were released. In their realms, spirits serve various punishments.

They could be flogged or starved.’’

Oba Morakinyo narrates a story ‘My father indulged in pools betting and on one occasion he was dashed three numbers in his sleep. He quickly wrote the numbers down so that he wouldn’t forget. Twice he was too broke to play the game and the only occasion he had the cash to finance it, he was told the results were already out. That is to show that no matter how many times the numbers were released to him, he would never make it through pools.”

Another traditionalist, Erelu Bojeduro said it would amount to treachery on her part to speak in details about pools betting.

“I don’t play the games and none of my two sons does. Quite a lot of my clients are gamblers so it would be wrong to discuss what we do in private on the pages of newspapers,” said Bojeduro.

“It’s a no-go area,” she insisted.

An anonymous gambler confesses he consults witchdoctors “They ask me to wrap myself in a particular coverlet or ask me to sleep with incense burning close to one of my pillows. In my

They ask me to wrap myself in a particular coverlet or ask me to sleep with incense burning close to one of my pillows. In my dream, the numbers will be revealed to me. dream, the numbers will be revealed to me.’’

He confessed though that it is not all smooth-sailing.

“I lose a lot but I win big. The numbers are revealed to me about four times in a year. Sometimes, I forget the figures before I wake up. Many times I go back to my babalawo to complain that I see nothing in my dream but I am always told to be patient.’’

Steve Olayinka, an expert , describes pools betting as an adventure.

“It is an adventure filled with probabilities, not possibilities,’’ said Olayinka.

To him, gamblers go the extra length to recoup their capital because their investment on the venture is mostly from hardearned money.

“To win, you have to approach professional forecasters or you buy games from those people who know. Another means of playing is to embark on esoteric spiritualism. People embark on astral journeys to get their winnings. From my experience though, I don’t think any Ifa oracle can give out numbers. The only thing I know people do is to take the numbers to the oracle to ascertain their surety. When I was a columnist, I sold three games to a customer and he took the numbers to an oracle in

Oba Morakinyo

his hometown and they were confirmed right. He eventually got his winnings.”

Olayinka recalled a time one of his cousins, who died 30 years ago, appeared to him in his dream and gave him two numbers — 19 and 23. He played the game and won.

“In the dream, I saw the cousin holding out a white piece of paper and inscribing in it three numbers with red pen. I could not see properly one of the three numbers. This had never occurred to me so I had no gut to publish the numbers for the benefit of readers of my column. I napped the two numbers I saw clearly and they played.”

A lottery attendant confessed that couples fresh from Sunday church service, are among his strong list of clientele.

“Some clutch in their armpits, the Holy Bible in daylight after Sunday services while some women in purdah sneak in during the night to try their luck or claim their winnings.”

He also said gambling is not for the lily-livered.

“A customer of mine came for a morning session, played a game with N10,000 and won N240,000. She came for the evening session and again, played with N10,000 and also won N240,000.

Such a person can never make it in gambling,” because, the attendant said, had the lady upped her stake in the second session, she might have won a sum close to N1m.

“Gambling is not for such person who is afraid of trying,” he remarked.

If the encounter between Chudi and Moscow sounds strange, Ojo Jemilehin’s narrative is filled with histrionic drama.

“We sent an osanyin to England to go and bring three numbers for us,” he recalled.

An osanyin is a Yoruba god of wood which talks. It is known for fortune telling, it alerts its custodians or clients to an impending danger and also exposes evildoers, among many other functions.

Jemilehin continued: “Unfortunately for it, he met a bigger spiritual force in the office. The osanyin was to disguise as a man but the oyinbos knew what it was. They arrested and starved it. It returned to Nigeria after seven days and told us that the Europeans only pitied it after considering the distance it covered and gifted him just one game. Shortly after it returned, it fainted due to exhaustion. We sacrificed a cow and offered bottles of gins as sacrifice. When the osanyin came around, he warned that he would never run such errand for us again.”

When asked how they thought about the osanyin, Jemilehin said a friend of his whose father is the custodian of the oracle god, suggested that the osanyin could be of great help in bringing numbers.

Ese Jinadu is not that superstitious but has a super link with international pools betters.

“Only a fool or the miserly loses out,’’ he said.

“For me, the best way to make easy money is through pools betting. What foreign partners require of you is honesty. I need just three winnings in a year to get super-rich,” he stated.

“In your first winning, they expect you to transfer 5,000 pounds to them. If you do this, then they trust you forever and will be happy and ready to release the winning numbers to you.”

Have the foreign partners ever failed Jinadu?

“They hardly fail but there is nothing in life that is 100% accurate,” he replied. “This is a game where you win or lose but I have won more. I live off pools betting, my barbing shop is just an agreeable outing.”

Jinadu recalled a pulsating experience.

“I was given a game four years ago. Within 28 minutes, the away team had scored four goals; so how could this game end in a draw?’’ Puzzled Jinadu made frantic contact with his foreign link who insisted the game would still end in a draw.

Ten minutes to the end of the game, the scores stood at 4-2 and with the last kick of the match, the game was tied on 4-4.

“I can’t explain some winnings to be honest, sometimes it takes an act of grace,” he confessed.

Adedoyin

Still talking about a foreign link, another gambler who gave his name simply as Adeeyo was expected to pay his connectors a sum of N12m after his winnings must have fetched him N14m.

“I used the family land to borrow the sum of N500,000 from a money lender. The term was to pay the lender N1m after winning.”

The games given Adeeyo were an English Premiership game and two games in The English Championship.

Two of the three games went according to plan but the third game had a late kick-off of 6.30 pm Nigerian time.

“I switched off my phone, took sleeping pills and asked my wife to tell whoever came for me that I was ill. Such is the life of a gambler when your three games are not played simultaneously.

The anxiety can kill.’ Forecast went as planned as Adeeyo won N14m, transferred N12m to his foreign link, settled the money lender with N1m and gained N1m in a matter of four days!

Ebuka Anyamfor was an especial pet of one of Nigeria’s first class obi.

He was just one of the obi’s drivers, not even the one who transported the king about, yet he was so beloved by the obi.

“I fronted for him and handled everything he had to do with pools. We won millions of cash but the subjects won’t understand the source of his wealth.”

Ebuka did not believe the obi consulted the oracles for his winnings until an end-of-the-season cracker in which there was a lot at stake.

“The obi had no heart to monitor the matches, I did it on his behalf but on this day we were on the verge of losing a sum of N25m if our permutation hit the rocks! The game was goalless till the 90th minute but during an added time, the referee pointed to the penalty spot following a goalmouth infringement.”

“A Brazilian who won the 2002 World Cup with his country stood behind the ball to take the kick. I quickly rushed into the palace chamber to inform the obi that we were in trouble. He asked me to write out the name of the player and hand it over to him. The obi dashed towards the shrine and remained there until the player shot the ball over the bar from the penalty spot.”

“Emerging from the shrine, the obi told me ‘if the penalty had scored, I could have been struck by stroke.”

Tokunbo Adedoyin is a lottery agent who boasts of overseas clientele.

“I have a lot of clients in the United States, Europe and United Arab Emirates.

“They transfer money to me to invest in games and I transfer their winnings to them. As a show of appreciation, they offered me cash gifts which have been useful to my studies and business.”

For Adedoyin, he has never come across anybody that makes use of spiritual powers to play.

“Gambling is a good source of income but I have never come across anybody who uses juju to win. However, I have seen highly consistent forecasters.’’

He also debunked claims that gambling is an addiction.

“There was a thrift collector who, as a widow, won N4.5m and who has since stopped gambling. Another of my client won N6.5m, built a house and bought a car which he has customised to suit his plumbing business. Having got what he wanted, he has since stopped gambling and he is now living a quiet life.”

Meanwhile, Chudi returned to his friend, Moscow after many months he thought the latter’s bruises must have healed.

“Moscow is no longer the impeccable forecaster,” lamented Chudi.

“Sometimes, his figures do not gel. I guess he is still afraid of Baba Coreo.”

However, Oba Morakinyo has an explanation for this.

“The game is not played to enrich pools betters and run promoters out of business. That understanding is between Moscow and Coreo. Chudi will never know. He doesn’t belong,” said Oba Morakinyo.

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14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

views.com

The travails of Nigeria’s motherless children

By Abiodun Awolaja

i

n Europe and America, many women are now producing children through surrogate mothers. Unlike their predecessors, they are not infertile; they only want to preserve their figure. They love to flaunt their boobs in see-through dresses, and red carpet events provide golden opportunities to look 18 at 45. Those who even bother to carry their own pregnancies give stern warning to doctors not to waste time in performing an op. They want the joys of motherhood but resent birth pains. They are loaded with cash and surgery is painless.

The perfect body is preserved. But what, say, is a perfect body? One immune to disease?

Most do not even bother to get married: they cannot be subject to a man. They rule their world, and politeness has become anathema. If you got up for them on a bus, you are playing the chauvinist card, and woe betide the man who compliments a lady’s looks. Compliments have become a grand tactic in the patriarchal narrative, a means of objectifying women. The roaring, thoroughly brainless Feminazi (feminist fascists) always warm up to their theme, seeking a world ruled entirely by women and using men only for the pleasures of sex, acted out in feminist terms.

In Nigeria, a different demon holds sway. It is the demon of motherlessness. Here, women agree to get married and to carry their own pregnancies and even to go through labour. But that is where it ends. Once the child is born, it is tolerated for two months, then dumped in the lap of proprietors of glorified prison yards called daycare centres. Thus, as early as 60 days, Babies cannot get mother’s milk as they please: mother’s milk is timed for the prostitution of the work place, a workplace which only confirms wretchedness. The excuse is the need to work to

complement the earnings of the man of the home, but it is actually a decoy. Even during their off day, they dump their babies in the day care centres for a generous dose of cholera, and sit idly at home watching African Magic, a genre which exults in bygone ages and purveys pernicious messages anchored on witchcraft.

Many times, the cries of babies abandoned in day care centres reach out to God. The caregivers have many children to attend to, and a Yoruba proverb says another person’s eyes can never replace one’s own. The children, God’s heritage, groan in pain and agony, completely bereft of Mother’s Love. Callously, even on Saturdays, women dump their babies in day care centres, claiming they need to tidy up the house. The children grow up never knowing the affection of old, and most become callous adults, bereft of proper upbringing and dressed exactly like rascals, wearing trousers so thin you would wonder if it would permit proper flow of blood in their bodies.

At home, the indigenous language is jettisoned for an

atrocious form of English. “Fall down and greet Daddy,” “Mummy, they don’t serious o,” and other nonsense. Too early in life, the children get uprooted from their culture and implanted on a No Man’s Land. At age two, an age they should be at home enjoying their mother’s love, they are squeezed through school uniforms and compelled to carry school bags that are sometimes almost their own size. Indeed, at a day care centre, I was recently confronted with a gory spectacle of a young lady teaching two year olds an Ijesa folk song that my mother taught me at around age eight: “Ee s’omi rudu, eja nla n so mi rudu, eja.’’ (The mighty fish shakes the river). Two-year-olds are taught “State and Capital, Abia/Umuahia, Adamawa/ Yola, etc,” even though they are, at that age, incapable of grasping the notion of a state.

With no competence in English or the indigenous language, the children are rushed through school and, at age 14, they write the O-Level examination, often in a climate of examination malpractice. I was shocked to my bone marrow recently when, during a visit to my Ph.D supervisor, I saw him teaching a group of teenage 400 level students. The nation now has baby lawyers, doctors and pharmacists, full of book knowledge but unable to handle life’s situations. Before going to the university at 24, I had faced life’s struggles for nine years, and could handle situations that most of the certificated morons of today cannot. They are motherless children.

Have you ever heard these Feminazi vermin saying they are “wonderfully and fearfully made”? They would not confess to you that that verse was written by King David, a man who was examining the complexity of the human make-up. ‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’ has become a female anthem, yet the children are groaning without mothers. The mothers are hell-bound.

Awolaja is on the staff of Sunday Tribune

Averting economic recession in Nigeria via agriculture

By Dada Ahmed (NAN) Nigeria’s economy has been forecast to be amongst the top 20 largest in the world by 2030, according to a recent report of Bloomberg — one of the world’s leading financial services firms — on the new world economic order.

Nigeria is ranked 19th, just above Netherlands, which is graded 20th in the recent forecast report.

Recent global economy reports have placed Nigeria as one of the fastest growing economies in the world; reports which tallied with 2014 re-based Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures that placed Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, pushing South Africa to the second position.

Cheering as the Bloomberg’s survey may look; leading economic indicators suggest that the Nigerian economy may be heading for an economic recession, unless urgent steps are taken to avert a repeat of the1980 recession.

Economic experts say that an economic recession implies a fall in real GDP, adding that it also connotes a period of negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters in an economy.

They say that economic recession is primarily caused by a fall in aggregate demand — total spending on goods and services — due to several factors such as financial crisis, rise in interest rates or fall in asset prices, among others.

The experts maintain that the main features of a recessive economy include higher interest rates, which reduce borrowing and investment; falling real wages and falling consumer confidence.

In an economic recession, they add, credit crunch provokes a decline in bank lending and, therefore, lowers investment.

It is also a period of deflation with falling prices, which often encourages people to delay spending, while causing deflation to increase the real value of debt; thus, making debtors to be worse off.

Although this development causes appreciation in currency exchange rates, it often makes imports expensive, while reducing demand for exports.

Mr Suleiman Muhammed, a Lokoja-based economic

analyst, said that although the Nigerian economy could not be said to have gone into recession per se, it was very necessary to introduce some proactive measures to forestall the development.

This is not to suggest that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is not mindful of the repercussions of the imminent economic recession, as it is taking the necessary steps to avert it.

For instance, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said that plans were underway to create a 25-billion-dollar fund with public and private financing to modernise the country’s infrastructure and avoid an economic recession.

The situation has provoked the government and enlightened observers to ponder on practical ways of saving the nation from the looming economic recession.

For instance, President Buhari, in his address at the conference of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), called for more private investments in the agricultural sector of the economy.

He said that increased investments in the agricultural sector remained the best way to unlock the country’s economic potential and curb its excessive dependence on oil revenues.

“Growing our own food, processing what we produce, becoming competitive in export markets and creating jobs all across the economy are crucial for our national security,” he said.

Buhari, who noted that the agricultural sector was the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, pledged that his administration planned to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production within the next two years.

The president said that since Nigeria was one of the world’s largest producers of agricultural products like cassava, improved investments in agriculture would boost the country’s exports and lessen its dependence on proceeds from petroleum.

Buhari said that enhanced private-sector investments in agriculture would also facilitate the fulfilment of government’s efforts to diversify the economy, adding that Nigeria had immense agricultural potential.

His words: “Nigeria has huge agricultural potential with

over 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only 40 per cent is currently cultivated. The country also has some of the richest natural resources for agricultural production in the world.

“The urgency of unlocking our agricultural potential is even more pertinent because Africa spends about 35billion U.S. dollars annually on food imports. Agriculture should no longer be treated as a development programme; agriculture must henceforth be treated as a business.’’

However, Dr Tunde Arosanyin, the National Technical Adviser, All Farmers Association (AFAN), underscored the need for increased investments in the agricultural sector, saying that Nigeria was facing several economic challenges which included decline in oil prices and over-dependence on imports.

He said that the other challenges were poor infrastructural facilities such as electricity, roads and water, which inhibited secondary production and industrial growth, as well as corruption and insecurity.

He stressed the wisdom in addressing the challenges pragmatically, insisting that at the moment; Nigeria ought not to be importing products like textiles, biscuits, fruit juice, rice and sugar.

Arosanyin added that considering the vast agricultural potential of the country, it should be able to produce these products, among others, locally.

“It is unfortunate that the Nigerian economy is driven by proceeds from crude oil in the last 40 years.

“The way forward is for the present administration in the country to tackle the problems head-on by focusing its attention on the structured development of agriculture, solid minerals and tourism sectors.

“In driving this policy, the Federal Government should invite technocrats and tested professionals with proven track record to generate a blueprint on how to develop and diversify the economy,’’ he said.

Arosanyin, however, emphasised that the government’s agricultural policy include immediate, medium-term and long-term actions and programmes.

He said that if agriculture sector was well-funded and properly developed, the government’s efforts to avert any economic recession would be fruitful.

24

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

style

Perfect the perforated trend in these chick picks

Saturday Tribune

With Kate Ani 08071080888 anikate92@yahoo.com

The ‘big booty’ trend:

Are men to blame for it?

These days, there is a huge obsession with having a big backside. This trend has led some ladies to go as far as stuffing removable silicon butt pads into their spandex before wearing a clothe over it.

Clinging ensembles that emphasises the rear is the ‘it’ dress on every red carpet event as celebs would turn around in 360 degrees so that camera could capture every angle, especially the round behind.

But are the men to blame for this big butt craze? Investigation has revealed that some men are no longer attracted to skinny ladies, but to those with big behinds with curves in the right places.

A 29-year-old insurance broker, who didn’t want his name in print, said ladies with big rears get more attention from men than those who don’t.

“Ladies don’t mind flaunting it and we don’t mind staring,” he said.

Y

ou often hear people say that the beauty of something lies in the details. When it comes to today’s topic perforated trend, we couldn’t agree more! This punctured detailing is unexpectedly sexy, exceptionally cool, and visually intriguing.

Although some celebrities often wear perforated tops with no lining, just bra, it is ideal that you wear a nude coloured camisole underneath.

With the Nigerian weather skyrocketing to several degrees centigrade, this outfit will give you a light, airy feel.

25

Tinuola Ayanniyi tayanniyi@yahoo.com 08055069379

Criss-cross bead

bracelets

26

14 November, 2015

outofthisworld

Saturday Tribune With femi osinusi

osfem2@yahoo.com 08055069292

Companies now build houses to look like their products

S

ome companies in some parts of the world are no longer doing their businesses as usual. They are adding innovation to their businesses by designing their buildings to look like what they sell or the

services they render.

Below are are some companies with their unusual buildings as captured by odddee.com.

Benewah Milk Bottle Shop, Washington, United States The Benewah Milk Bottle is one of two milk bottle buildings in the city—one is on Garland Avenue (built in 1934), and another on Cedar Street (the Benewah Milk Bottle, pictured above, was built in 1935).

The Milk Bottle was the home of the Benewah Creamery Company. The owner initially planned to build six of these iconic outlets but only completed the two stores that exist today.

Although the store was badly damaged in a fire in 2011, it has subsequently been restored, and the Benewah Milk Bottle is still in great shape after almost 80 years.

Benewah Milk Bottle Shop, Washington, United States Mammy’s was built by Henry Gaude. He already had a filling station and wanted a roadhouse that would capitalise on the then craze for take away food.

It was nearly bulldozed in 1979 but was saved at the 11th-hour. It was purchased in 1994 by Doris Kemp, who introduced a menu of Mammy-cooked, Southern-style meals. Lorna Martin, Mammy’s current owner, has wisely kept the menu unchanged and tourists still flock there to fill their stomachs.

Tea Mureum, China Meitan County in the Guizhou province of China is known for being the main producer of green tea in the region.

So it is not surprising that a building in the shape of a gigantic tea pot, with an added tea cup next to it, would be constructed as a commemoration to that industry.

Inside you will find a museum dedicated to all things tea related, as well as a hotel where tourists can imbibe a steaming hot cup. Nearly 245 feet tall, this building has set the record for the largest tea pot in the world.

The Coffee Pot, Pennsylvania, United States The Coffee Pot, also known as the Koontz Coffee Pot, was built by David Berton Koontz to attract more customers to his service station. It was originally a small luncheonette connected to the Koontz Garage, right next to Lincoln Highway/U.S. Route 30 in Bedford, Pennsylvania.

The massive pot is made of brick and stands 18 feet tall and 22 feet wide. According to Roger Young of American Motorcyclist, in its prime, “the building was originally covered in sheet metal to more closely resemble its namesake kitchen appliance. The two-story structure had a ground floor restaurant where Koontz served coffee, ice cream, and light lunches, and a small apartment above.”

Bulldozer Building, California, United States The Big Pineapple, South Africa In a village called Bathurst in South Africa is a very ambitious building. Standing nearly 55feet tall and located on the Summerhill Estate pineapple plantation, this building has three floors which hold a 60-seat auditorium, a gift shop selling pineapple products, a museum dedicated to the cloying citrus, and a 360-degree observation deck. Built between 19901992, it is made from steel and concrete with a fiberglass outer skin. Tourists on the deck usually gaze at the panoramic view of the pineapple plantation below from the building.

This bulldozer-shaped office building in Turlock, California is owned by United Equipment, a company that specialiSes in construction machinery. This office looks

exactly like a massive CAT D5 bulldozer and is two stories tall and 66 feet long.

Although it looks ready to move mountains, its offices inside are actually quite normal and sedate.

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14 November, 2015

businessextra

Saturday Tribune

Edited by Sulaimon Olanrewaju

lanresulaimon123@gmail.com 08055001708

Hawking inside Lagos’ mass transit trains

Despite incessant raids by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to keep them away from the trains, hawkers have thrived on board the Lagos Mass Transit trains, writes TOLA ADENUBI.

E

VER since the Lagos Mass Transit trains commenced full commercial operations in 2011, the train has been synonymous with the movement of passengers from the Lagos terminus of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) located at Iddo to Ijoko town in Ogun State. The trains, which operate 16 trains per day, ferry an average of 16,000 passengers per day. These passengers have become the target of hawkers, thereby establishing a kind of market on board the Lagos trains.

The hawkers trade in anything that can be appealing to the eyes. From sachet of drinkable water to kitchen utensils and clothing items, many of the hawkers have adopted the train coaches as a permanent place of trade, even though the NRC occasionally carries out raids to deter them from selling on-board the moving trains.

On the wall of the coaches inside the trains, one can see warnings boldly written by the NRC management, prohibiting trading activities on board the Lagos Mass Transit trains. But this has not deterred the hawkers who, findings reveal, depend on the trade on board the locomotive coaches for survival.

Many of the hawkers are juveniles who sell sachet water and snacks, while the few adults deal in clothing materials, insecticides, video CDs and recharge cards. Many of these hawkers see the locomotive coaches as a means to their livelihood and are fast establishing business chains along the railway line.

Emergence of business chains Some of the few successful hawkers who hitherto used to sell on board the Lagos trains now have shops located along the railway line, recruiting young hawkers who help them to sell their wares on board the trains.

This set of hawkers has over the years become successful in hawking food items on board the trains, but now has graduated into sitting back in shops located along the railway lines and depending on young juveniles to help sell the food items on board the trains.

Indirectly, they could be labelled employers of labour, but the age bracket of many of their recruits flouts labour rules. Many of the recruits are juveniles who are either school drop-outs or financially incapable youths who need the stipends paid as salaries to survive.

These former hawkers-turned shop owners depend on the train movement to and fro Lagos to Ogun State for

survival. Many of these shops remain closed on days the trains observe public holidays, an action that indicates their target audience.

Therefore, most of the few hawkers-turned shop owners fight for space along the rail lines. Their shops face the rail tracks, so that passengers on board the trains can easily buy their products when the train stops at major stations.

One noticeable trend about the shops is the placement of shops at major train stations. This, findings revealed, is because the Lagos Mass Transit trains stops at all the stations en route Ijoko or Lagos once it embarks on its journey. The fight for space at major train stations between hawkers-turned shop owners is always intense and fierce.

For the unlucky ones that cannot get shops at major train stations, they depend solely on what their recruits sell on board the trains because they are cut out from the patronage of passengers alighting or waiting for the trains at these major train stations.

Petty traders Some who are not financially buoyant enough to rent or own shops along the rail lines, permanently remain inside the train locomotive coaches. This set of hawkers wakes up very early in the morning and moves with the train to and fro its destination all through the day.

They change trains as the day wears on, joining other scheduled trains as the trains pass by each other. Therefore, it is not surprising to see this set of hawkers resume in the morning in a scheduled train service and close in the evening in another scheduled train service. They mostly deal in items that will not get spoilt easily like recharge cards, bottle water or carbonated drinks, canned food

Many of these hawkers have over the years studied the trend on board the Lagos Mass Transit trains to know when to come on board to sell their wares.

items, etc.

Because this set of hawkers stays longer in different scheduled trains, it often establishes relationships with workers of the NRC, who in turn allow them to display their wares on board the trains.

Marketing strategy Many of these hawkers have over the years studied the trend on board the Lagos Mass Transit trains to know when to come on board to sell their wares. For the early morning trains, what is mostly sold are food items, bottled drinks and sachet water.

This is due to the fact that it is expected that people that leave home very early in the morning would need to fill their stomachs ahead of the day’s activities. That is why, mostly on the morning trains, food vendors and sachet water sellers thrive more.

In the afternoon trains, food vendors are not seen in the same manner that they flood the early morning trains.

The afternoon trains are dominated by the clothing item sellers. Some of these inlcude briefs, singlet, handkerchief and face towel.

Only sellers of CD’s, DVD’s and recharge cards are not restricted to any time of trading activities on board the Lagos Mass Transit trains.

Defying the odds The NRC management has been firm in its stance on trading inside the Lagos Mass Transit trains. Many of the traders have had their goods confiscated or seized when apprehended on board the trains. However, most of the traders have deployed means of weathering the storm by avoiding period when there are occasional raids by the NRC Special Task Force team.

Many of these traders have established relationship over the years with some of the workers of the NRC. These friendly workers in turn serve as informants for the traders on when the MRC intends to carry out raids on board the trains.

Through this arrangement, hawkers on board the train evade arrest by Special Task force constituted by the NRC to rid the trains of hawking activities. However, despite the fact that some evade arrest, not all of them are that lucky as some unlucky hawkers have been arrested and their goods confiscated, although released on bail after parting with some amount of money.

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14 November, 2015

ntertainment News

Society Gist

Saturday Tribune

J

with oan

Omionawele

jistwtjoan@yahoo.com Twitter:@joanbajojo 08054682201

Newton-Ray Ukwuoma

newtray2002@yahoo.com 08052271251

Celebrity Interviews

Steph-Nora Okereke resurfaces —P32

Don Jazzy, Mavin crew set for Xmas concert —P32

I am obsessed with

looking good —Dabota Lawson

30

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

klieglight I don’t bite more than I can chew —Rose Odika

Rose Odika is a Nollywood actress who has carved a niche in the Yoruba movie industry. In this interview with JOAN OMIONAWELE, she talks about salient industry issues.

T

here’s this disparity between English Nollywood and Yoruba Nollywood, where do you stand on this?

The press is not helping out by terming us English actors and Yoruba actors; an actor is an actor.

The Yoruba film started before the English version came up, so if some people want to claim seniority, the Yoruba industry was there before the English came up, there shouldn’t be any clash between us. Why don’t we have one body like we have the Nigerian Society of Engineers? As a professional body, we should look for a name, a sort of an umbrella to cover us, under which we can be having a yearly conference. So whatever your association is, we still need to have a body that controls all these associations and we will have a better industry I don’t believe in all this seniority [issue] in Nollywood, what, even, is Nollywood?

This industry started over 20 years ago, so, these are the things we should correct and put all this egoism aside and face the serious business of the industry.

What project are you currently involved in?

It’s an event called Ewa Asa, which is to showcase the beauty of African culture, it is to appreciate the diverse cultures in the African setting, especially promoting the values of the Yoruba culture. It’s a competitive event whereby people pick up forms for N5000. It is not a beauty pageant, but an event which is in two phases. First, you pick a topic and speak undiluted Yoruba for 10 minutes without interference or break, the second phase talks about picking from aspects of incantations in Nigeria, for instance, ekun iyawo, Ifa kiki. The first prize winner goes home with N50,000, the second prize is N30,000 while the third prize is N20,000. That is my little way of giving back to the society.

You have managed to remain scandal free despite your long stay in the industry, how have you been able to maintain your career and private life?

Number one is God’s glory, number two, my father taught me well, may his soul rest in peace. My father would always tell me, ‘remember whose child you are.’ I always remember where I’m coming from so I don’t take the wrong steps. My father built a solid reputation for the family and I won’t stoop to destroy the name. Two, I don’t bite more than I can chew and I take things the way they come .

You still have beautiful looks, what’s the secret?

I think I am enjoying divine grace, I take care of my social life and my health. If you don’t have any ailment you will look good, if your social life is not too rough, you will look good. So apart from God giving me good health, I have been able to maintain my social life, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t overdo men. I am into skin care but I don’t mix harsh creams. I know what will be good for my skin and what will not be good, so that has helped me in taking care of my skin. Also, genetically from my family, we have youthful looks, you know, so it’s all about that.

You were reported to be planning to remarry, after 10 years why is it taking you so long to remarry?

Speculations that I am planning to remarry is not true, please. I drove down to a journalist’s office to showcase

least 90% truthful. I want a man that will not lie, but tell me the way it is. So those are the qualities I look for in a man.

We expect that the money set aside for us should not be paid back, we have worked for this country by projecting the image of this country. my new programme. They started interviewing me and one of the questions they asked me was why I had not remarried after 10 years. I only jokingly said ‘of course I will remarry soon. Don’t you pray for me to be married some day?’ It was just a joke that spread like rumour. I like talking positively about myself and before you know it, instead of them to promote my programme and say my project Ewa Asa is in the making, or write a headline like ‘ Rose Odika hosts Ewa Asa, they speculated ‘Rose Odika is about to wed’ and I’m still saying it here that yes, I am about to wed.

But then, what are the qualities you look out for before you can put your trust in a man?

Number one, a man that can attract me must be calm in nature, the man must be very patient because I am hottempered and the man must be more mature than me. He must overlook things and the man must fear God and be at

In the next few years what are your dreams for the film industry?

That’s a good question, in the next few years, I want the government to please set aside some funds for film for the actors to access.

But there was a fund given to Nollywood by the Federal Government…

Yes, but it didn’t go round, let’s thank our former president, Goodluck Jonathan, for the initiative, but we want more of it. That one didn’t circulate. For the authorities to demand collateral from us before accessing the fund is not the way we want. Some money has been set aside for the underprivileged, some for security and some for the entertainment industry. We expect that the money set aside for us should not be paid back, we have worked for this country by projecting the image of this country, so if you say ‘producer, we are giving you this to support what you are producing,’ it is better, if you can put down money for security, you can also put down money in image making for Nigeria. Also, they should help us to get a good film village so that we won’t go about disturbing people in their respective homes. If we can be building shopping malls, a film village should be built because the entertainment industry is one of the largest employers of labour and we don’t need a certificate to be there, we only need talent.

32 entertainment

14 November, 2015

Steph-Nora Okereke resurfaces

Saturday Tribune

Stories By Joan Omionawele

F

or ardent Nollywood fans who have been wondering where one of their favourite Nollywood actresses, Steph-Nora Okereke, has been hibernating, she is still hale and hearty in Lagos.

The actress stepped out during the week and she glowed in the black, sequined Dolce & Gabanna shirt which she wore to the ‘Bank of Industry meets Nollywood’ session of the Africa International Film Festival (Afriff), in Lagos.

The actress who was beaming with smiles as she exchanged pleasantries with her colleagues quietly sat and listened patiently to the session and left thereafter almost unnoticed.

AFRIFF holds African Cinema Business symposium with Nollywood stars The fifth edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), has gained a significant stand on the grounds of Nigerian entertainment at its grand opening held at Eko Hotel and Suite with a flood of Nollywood celebrities, filmmakers, film directors and stakeholders in the entertainment industry from all over Africa in attendance.

Nollywood celebrities, as well as their counterparts were feted to sessions to make their work better.

One of the sessions was held by Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi of the University of Ibadan, who talked about strategic thinking for developing values of African cinema as well as the issue of copyright, stating that the documentary film must earn value and earn value immediately.

Filmmakers and actors were further exposed to the intricacies of filmmaking in Nigeria. According to Ekwuazi, the culture of the African society is significant, and burdened with poor production, distribution, poor performance, thus a content must be creative and proactive, “a successful filmmaker must do an audience analysis, environmental scan, theoretical framework, SWOT analysis of the organisations and environment one wants to work with,” he said.

According to Mamood Alli Balogun, Chairman, Audio-visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS),

who was the chairman of the panel, Africans need to come together to make the Nigerian movie industry

work.

He said “America, Italy and France did a lot to boost their industry. Nollywood grew

Don Jazzy and Mavin crew to host debut Xmas concert Popular Nigerian music group, Mavin is set to hold its first Christmas concert this year, at the Eko Atlantic in Lagos.

The announcement was made by Mavin boss, Don Jazzy, who stated that Mavin records had been working on the concert for the past three years. He added that the crew has decided to appreciate its fans by giving them a festival-like carnival .

Don Jazzy further revealed that the students were required to pay N499 and his music label will be working closely with Access Bank, which will connect with the youth using an Access Bank application.

Also speaking, the Executive Director, (Personal Banking), Access Bank, Victor Etuokwu stated that the bank decided to identify with the Mavins because they are a group which connects with millions of youths in Nigeria.

“We have a young and vibrant population which is a plus, thus, Access Bank has decided to form a strong bond with the youth of this country and there is no way to do this other than to collaborate with a team that has the highest followership and we are proud and honoured to work with them,” Etuokwu said.

“Thus we want a concert that will be a permanent feature every last month of the year around the Christmas period. We would appeal to students to download the app in order to have access to the concert.”

When asked why the fees for the concert have been kept low, Don Jazzy said “it is because we want to have a carnival, it would have been free if I had my way because it’s not about money but all for my fans. We have arranged for security and parking at Eko Atlantic, because it’s a beautiful place with a capacity which can take over 10,000 people comfortably.”

The Mavin boss further said: “I know there are lots of concerts this year, but we plan to introduce new ways for our fans to connect with us, although, this is our first time, there will be mistakes, so for this year, we have made provision for emergencies, parking spaces, security and other logistics.”

One of the musicians signed to Don Jazzy, Afrodija speaking on the concert said, “it’s about the love we have for the Mavin fans and I will feel blessed to mingle with our fans that day, while another musician, Reekado Banks revealed that the concert is basically for entertainment, which would be “worth the while for our fans.”

from nothing despite all that the Federal Government has done for the sector.’’

Nollywood to get N1bn film fund from Bank of Industry, Access Bank As one of their numerous benefits from the recently concluded prestigious festival, Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Nollywood stars have been given an opportunity for growth and business in their respected fields.

In an interactive session with one of the directors of Bank of Industry, Mr Babatunde Joseph revealed that a N1billion Nollyfund loan has been created through AFRIFF to give opportunity to Nollywood stars and fillmakers to make films, tell their stories and also make their profit, while helping them with various distributions in Nigeria and Africa.

Notable Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan who was a panel member, stressed that Nollywood celebrities needed to be business-oriented to understand the art of filmmaking and stressed that they needed to make a checklist of documents required in support of the loan application.

Also, Bolarinwa Animasahun, Zonal Head, Business Banking Division, Access Bank, stated that Access Bank was ready to partner Nollywood by assisting them with a N1billion loan fund through effective management, to create more revenue. According to him “we are ready to work with you, we are ready to promote one billion naira into the business.”

Joke Silva, who was also a member of the panel, thanked Bank of Industry and Access Bank for the innovation and asked for the interest rate so that Nollywood stars will get to work immediately.

Afrinolly to solve piracy with new security App Nollywood celebrities, filmmakers as well as distributors may finally heave a sigh of relief as a solution to the piracy issue which has eaten deep into the fabrics of the movie industry may come to a final halt with the latest application, Afrinolly.

The application which was officially launched at the Africa International Film Festival, was said to have gulped a huge sum of N200million by the founder of Afrinolly, Chike Maduegbuna.

Afrinolly is an application which signifies an e-market place where African movies, short films, series, movie trailers, music videos can be downloaded.

One of the special features which interested the aggrieved Nollywood celebrities and filmmakers was the

anti piracy and anti-sharing feature which stops the hacker or downloader from sharing the film to another smartphone user or hacker.

Filmmakers were further enlightened as it was revealed to them that upon signing up to Afrinolly, they will have the opportunity to view a dashboard which would show statistics based on activity in the publishers account.

According to Maduegbuna, Afrinolly is also set to use mobile platforms in movie distribution, as the Nigerian movie industry is worth more than $4billion, “so we need to combat piracy using some formats such as these. We have spent over N200 million and have taken care of loose ends by equally providing bandwidth for people who cannot afford it.”

33 entertainment

14 November, 2015

most is the end result. When you have a vision and a goal you just keep looking at the end result. Every time you conquer a challenge, everytime you get to the next level, it feels good and you have more hope that you are getting closer to your ultimate dream. So that’s really it. We face challenges definitely with the assurance of victory.

Dabota Lawson is a Nigerian actress, model, and currently the CEO of Dabota Cosmetics. Born in Port Harcourt, River State, Dabota spent most of her teenage life in the United Kingdom, where she came to limelight after winning Miss Nigeria UK in 2010.

She has also starred in notable Nollywood movies after her return to Nigeria in 2012. In this interview, she tells Newton-Ray Ukwuoma about her journey into business, among other things.

Was there anything in your growing up that prepared you for this career?

Yes. I grew up in Port Harcourt, but schooled in the U.K. My parents are hardworking individuals, and so I come from a background of hardworking people. We have a family history of hard working people. And everyone expects me to work hard as well. Second, I have been obsessed with looking good, make-up since I was a little girl. I love the outcome when I do make-up on a daily basis. I grew up loving to look good and beautiful. It has been a repressed part of me to do what I am doing today. So, to answer you directly, I would say that the sum of my experience and background is what you have as Dabota Cosmetics.

W

e haven’t seen you on the screen this year, what is hapening?

Yes. I haven’t been in front of the camera for about a year now. I have been trying to build my business.It is a lot of work. However, my fans see that regularly. Some of them are abreast with my new line of business.

Why did you decide to go into business?

I realised one day that I needed to combine my experience with my passion. I’ve always liked everything that has to do with beauty and lifestyle. I like the fun of make-up. I love the outcome of my make-up. So, one day, I said to myself, “Why not just go into this business and build an empire from it?” I already have a background experience in the business. I decided to learn more about make-up, where I understood that make-up is more than just about putting products on your face.So, I decided to start Dabota Cosmetics to express a deep seated passion of mine.

You have been linked with liposuctions and other cosmetic adventures in the past, are you trying to make a statement with Dabota Cosmetics?

Not really. All that has nothing to do with anything I’m doing now. That was in the past and it’s gone.

What is Dabota Cosmetics about?

Dabota Cosmetics is a fast rising beauty company. We have a wide range of skin care and my make-up products.

We have some cosmetic accessories as well. The makeup line is made with the best and safest ingredients. The focus is to make sure that it’s suitable for women of colour; in terms of the shades of the products, longevity and durability. We also make sure it’s long lasting in terms of the content. We do not use harsh chemicals in making our products. It’s perfect for sensitive skin – allergy tested. It is not tested on animals because we are against animal cruelty. It is paraben-free.

Anybody can use Dabota Cosmetics and feel good. It’s long-lasting. When it comes to the skin care, most of our skin care products are botanical. We try not to use any harsh chemicals, because I have very sensitive skin. So, I always consider other women like me. Any product that is suitable for sensible skin is suitable for everybody.

Are your products made in Nigeria?

No. We have an international partner.

What do you hope to achieve in five years’ time?

We want to be able to deliver best cosmetic products throughout Africa such that every woman of colour all over the world can identify with Dabota Cosmetics.

Do you have challenges?

Definitely.

Every business does. I think what matters

Saturday Tribune

I am obsessed with looking good —Dabota Lawson

How do combine being a CEO and acting?

I have always been a CEO – just not an established one. I have always been in business. I have always had a regular job at the same time. That I am acting this weekend does not mean on Monday I wouldn’t be going to work. Now, I am working, I am acting, I am modelling and I am doing my business all in one. Juggling all of these works has been difficult but fulfilling. Like I said when you are doing something you are passionate about, most challenges don’t count. In life everybody should find their purpose.When you find your purpose just work towards it. You won’t remember the stress or how you look. You won’t think of where you are, where you come from, or how much you have in your account. Once you know what God has created you to do, you just keep going with it, and as long as you’re working with that mindset doors will keep opening for you.

You will face challenges, but the door will keep opening and that’s what is happening to me right now.

You sound very spiritual.

Yes. I come from a Christian background. As the bible says, train up a child in the way that he should go. It didn’t matter how distracted I got at some point. I came back to realise that He has a purpose for me. As an adult you serve God with sense and maturity. You can’t continue to be a child in your service of Him. And when you want something big you need to seek a higher power; you have to make sacrifices. You can’t seek a higher power with a mediocre service. This is because the power is higher than you, you need to rise to its standards. So, when you want to serve God you serve Him truthfully. You serve with all your heart. You put your all in all in it. If my spirit leads me to lie down here on the floor and pray, I will do it because nothing here is bigger than my God. That’s how I see life and that is the humility God has put in my heart for Him and the love hence the blessings that you see today.

How would you classify your relationship with God and your kind of job?

It is a personal relationship. It is not religion. It’s a personal relationship.

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14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

with Tunde Ayanda ayandaayotunde@yahoo.com 08034649018

Tara Durotoye expands business frontiers

F

oremost makeup and beauty expert, Tara Durotoye, known for setting up the first make-up studio and establishing Nigeria’s

first make-up school, has reached another milestone in her career with the opening of a new corporate head office of the TARA brand in Lekki, Lagos.

Charles Otudor returns!

Principal consultant at Adstrat Brand Management, Charles Otudor, has resurfaced on the social radar.

The man, whose company handled different accounts across various sectors and who was at a point the envy of many others in his business line, has for long been absent from the social circle and had even relocated from Lagos to Cross Rivers.

Those in the know said his decision to leave Lagos was not unconnected with a political dream that did not fly.

Otudor, for sometime was said to have gone private and only

dispensed his Brand Management experience to close friends and the government of Cross Rivers State.

Recently, he was spotted at a function in Lagos lending credence to the tale that he has already perfected a move to return to the city, which once served as his comfort zone.

A close friend of the Brand expert claimed that his reason for coming back to Lagos came from an invitation of a friend who was recently appointed to the cabinet of Governor Akinwumi Ambode and has assured Charles of support in all of his projects.

The building was designed by Jumoke Adenowo’s company, AD Logistics, while the grand opening had the likes of Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Fela Durotoye, Sekou Coulibaly, Mai Atafo, Funke Bucknor, Zainab Balogun, Sarah Hamman and Joke Bakare in attendance as special guests who had in one way or the other contributed to the growth of the business.

The Commercial Director of House of Tara, Ada Iwugo, stated that the opening is a symbol of a journey which Tara Durotoye started in 1993 and which has grown from a company with only one entrepreneur to a company of 165 employees, two directorates and four major departments.

Chima Anyaso savours fatherhood Ceecon Oil boss, Chima Anyaso, is proud of his new status as a father and is doing everything possible to draw attention to that.

The handsome man, whose wife Adanna delivered their first child recently in the United States of America posted pictures of his visit to his wife and child on social media with a tag ‘Nursing Dad’ which attracted comments and mentions from many of his friends and admirers.

Anyaso was said to have gone for three weeks to the United States where he was assisting his wife to take care of the new arrival.

Some friends of the oil merchant disclosed that he is planning a big celebration for his child’s dedication as soon as his wife and daughter are both fit to travel back to Nigeria.

Wife throws surprise 50th birthday party for Reuben Abati Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesperson, Reuben Abati, clocked 50 years a few days ago and was treated to a surprise dinner by his wife, Lara.

The birthday boy was tricked to the Jevnik Centre in Lagos by his wife who had already invited his close friends and associates to be part of the surprise and he walked into the venue where a special birthday song was

composed for him.

Verdant Zeal’s Tunji Olugbodi, Kayode Ajala, Kayode Akintemi, Titi Morgan and Yinka Odumakin were among the people that attended the birthday party.

It was an evening of music and wine with guests having a lot to share as tributes in honour of the media guru.

Wedding in the air for Tosin Bucknor, Seyi Tinubu On-Air personalty, Tosin Bucknor will soon bid farewell to spinsterhood.

There are indications that the radio presenter, who is a sibling of event planner, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, is about signing the dotted line with her French lover, Aurelien Boyer, whom she got engaged to recently while on vacation in France.

The news shot up excitement within the circle of friends of the presenter who look forward to a big society event judging from Tosin’s popularity and her sister’s status as the biggest event planner in the country.

Also caught in the web of matrimony is Seyi, the son of Lagos politician, Senator Bola Tinubu.

The young lawyer was said to have proposed to his fiancee at a private dinner in Aburi, Ghana.

35

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

With Ronke Sanya & Oyeyemi Okunlade 07036050161\ 08056834515 sanyaaderonke@gmail.com ojeleyeoyeyemi@yahoo.com

achievers Put it on, I got big shoulders

— Kimberly Anyadike, Nigerian girl who piloted a plane cross-country Flying over Texas was the most fun because there were a lot of summer rainstorms.

I wasn’t scared—I’m never scared.

Kimberly Anyadike is a little girl with big, huge and high dreams. At 15, she is literally high up, living her dreams. RONKE SANYA brings excerpts from the jawdropping story of the teenage Nigerian girl who has already flown a plane cross-country.

“

I told her it was going to be a daunting task, but she just said, ‘Put it on. I got big shoulders,’” That was the statement of the Robert Petgrave, founder of Compton-based Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, where Nigerian-born teenage girl, Kimberly Anyadike learned how to fly a plane.

The dream of flying a plane can be said to be daring for a 12-year-old girl, and going ahead to fly the plane at the age of 15 is more daring. Born in 1994, Anyadike nursed the dream of flying a plane as a young girl, held the dream so close to her heart and took the bold step to enrol at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum at age 12. Three years after the teenage girl emerged the youngest African-American to pilot a plane cross-country.

Anyadike, like every child, had heroes who were superheroes. She admired Super man and Ben 10. “I’d see Superman or Wonder Woman flying on television and think, ‘that’s so cool!’ My brother and sister and I would tie towels around our necks for capes and run around the house jumping off the couches and banisters. Every year I would ask Santa for a jet pack.”

Standing in front of her single-engine Cessna plane before her historic cross-country flight, Anyadike narrated

her source of inspiration and what she aimed to achieve by going ahead to fly a plane as a young girl.

Inspired by the Tuskeegee Airmen, she flew a single-engine Cessna cross-country from her hometown of Compton, California to Newport.

Narrating her experience, she

said, “Flying over Texas was the most fun because there were a lot of summer rainstorms. I wasn’t scared—I’m never scared. I just focus, and before every flight, I pray.”

“Anyadike came up with the idea for the trip on her own,” excited and fulfilled Robert Petgrave told

the Times. According to Los Angeles Times, Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, where she was trained, offers aviation lessons in an after-school program for disadvantaged youths. It was their plane that she flew on her cross-country trip.

During the historic ride, Anyadike was aided by an adult safety pilot and 87-yearold Levi Thornhill, one of the Tuskeegee Airmen during World War II and about 50 Tuskeegee Airmen autographed the young pilot’s plane during her journey, the Times reported.

“They left such a great legacy,” Anyadike said of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ all-black combat unit, adding that, “I had big shoes to fill. All they wanted to do was to be patriots for this country. They were told no, that they were stupid, that they didn’t have cognitive development to fly planes. They didn’t listen. They just did what they wanted to do.”

Anyadike plans to become a cardiovascular surgeon after college, but for now, her big goal is earning a couple of licenses this summer—pilot’s and driver’s. “When I’m flying, I’m in control. I trust myself. The sound of the engine, the movement of the propeller—it’s like gravity gets suspended.

It’s as if you’re closer to heaven.”

When asked the reason behind her bold action, proudly said, “I wanted to inspire other kids to really believe in themselves.”

36

14 November, 2015

weekend cartoons

Saturday Tribune

Adeeko Olusegun adeeko.olusegun@yahoo.com 0811 695 4638

Just a Laffing Mata P ON MO TI AS IS

FUNOLOGY

POLITICO

Segeluulu’s father discovers that his child, Segeluulu is seriously ill with one of his legs swollen. He then decides to take him to the hospital for treatment.

Father: Good morning, doctor.

Doctor: Morning. How can I help you?

Father: I want you to help check my son’s leg.

Doctor: (After examining the leg) Oh, your son is suffering from elephantiasis.

Father: Doctor, you must be out of your mind. I never gave my child elephant meat before. It is ponmo that we always eat in our house. So, it must be ponmotiasis and not elephantiasis!

Let’s push the plane A man who lived in the village once had an opportunity to visit his son in London. He packed his bag and baggage and headed for airport.

Unfortunately, the car in which he was going had a fault on the way and he then called some boys within and pushed the car to work. After the usual procedures at the airport, he entered the plane and while they were flying to London, the plane developed a fault. The pilot quickly informed them that they should prepare to take their exit, using the lifejackets as the plane had run into trouble. Everyone was crying and in panic, praying. The village man, who was all the while asleep, suddenly woke up and was surprised to see people crying. When he enquired about the problem, they told him that the plane was in trouble and that it might crash anytime soon. He then called on men around him to let them go out and push the plane, boasting that he did the same thing to the car that took him to the airport.

TOPE ALABI, AYUBA, K1, KSA, OBEY to send HID Awolowo home

37 interview

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

Food crisis imminent in Nigeria unless...

—Prof Akinyemiju

Oluyemisi Akinyemiju, professor of Wheat Science Agriculture, is a teacher at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State since 1981. He speaks with DAPO FALADE on problems facing agricultural development and the bane of quality education in the country, declaring that food crisis is imminent, unless something drastic is done.

YOU have been a university lecturer since 1981 after completing your education in the US, what has been the experience over the past 34 years?

It has been fine; I have enjoyed the grace of God for giving me good health all the way from 1981 when I joined the staff of OAU, having trained in the US from 1976, through 1980 after which I came back to join the university. I have enjoyed good health and therefore, I have been able to discharge my responsibilities to the best of my ability. Here we are today, I am still doing the same thing: research, public service and teaching.

How far can you say you have been able to impact on your immediate society, namely, the academic and the Nigerian State?

Well, I have trained about 16 postgraduate students; 11 of them having Master’s degrees, both MPhil and Msc and I have trained five PhDs, some of whom are already professors in their right, working in the US and here in Nigeria, including one traditional ruler in the South-West. So, as for teaching and impacting knowledge, I think I have done fairly well. In addition to postgraduate teaching, I have also been heavily involved in undergraduate teaching and, over the years, we have graduated so many students, agriculture being a five-year programme.

In terms of research, I have done quite a bit. When I got into agriculture, the first responsibility I had was to design wheat control in arable crops. After a while, the water hyacinth invasion came into Nigeria and, along with some other colleagues, we tackled it. In recent times, I am into biotechnology, trying to see how we can improve the agronomy qualities of some crops and we are there.

In the area of public service, apart from committees in the university, I also had the privilege of being an adviser on agriculture to one of the state governments, specifically to a former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, between 2003 and 2007. So I have done my bit and I am satisfied that I have contributed modestly to the development of the country.

One major criticism against the ivory tower in contemporary times is that they are not churning out good research works that can fast-track development in the country, what is your view on this?

That is a very good question but it is unfortunate that, that question arises. We in the university are aware, I am personally aware that, that is an accusation but it is a false accusation. I want to tell you that Nigerians, especially in the field that I know very well, are comparable to their counterparts in other developed countries in terms of research output and solving contemporary problems in agriculture pertaining to Nigeria.

Unfortunately, the system we run; the structure of the research system does not allow enough opportunity for people outside to know what the system is doing. That is what we call the Extension System. It has not projected enough, not even a quarter of the volume of works and the implications of work on agriculture. I tell you, today, my department is in the forefront of breeding maize in this country; the African Maize Programme. I am aware they are developing even protein-enriched maize; some special quality maize that are being produced in that department.

Until recently, we were the one dealing with tomato; we call it Tomato Plum 1, Plum 2. The tomato that is being brought now from the far North to the South-West were bred at OAU, Faculty of Agriculture. You also must remember the Ife Brown that we talk about today are a product of Ife; that is why we call it the Ife Brown. That is the brown bean that is so sought after in the North and they are brought to the South. In addition to that, we have worked through how to control weeds in most of our arable crops but it would be sad today to find that the farmers still use cutlass and hoe because they have no access to the scientific innovations that have been developed in the system. This is the same thing in the Animal Science.

So the country has a lot of the work that has be done but they are there on the shelves. They have not been put out sufficiently, first, for the public to appreciate that those people that the public paid for really did their job; and secondly, to translate the agricultural sector into what it

The tomato that is being brought now from the far North to the South-West were bred at OAU, Faculty of Agriculture. You also must remember the Ife Brown that we talk about today are a product of Ife; that is why we call it the Ife Brown.

That is the brown bean that is so sought after in the North. should be. For example, today, maize production is still about one to 1.5 tonnes per hectare whereas, US produces between seven to eight tonnes per hectare, where all those scientific technologies are put into use and which have been similarly developed here. Today, the Nigerian farmer cultivates only two to 2.5 hectares of land, while a farmer in the US cultivates about 150 hectares by himself. What is the reason? It is simply because the Nigerian farmer uses cutlass and hoe, whereas his American counterpart uses tractors and the like.

That brings us to the issue of policy formulation and implementation. With people like you who have served as advisers to governments at various levels, how far did you go to ensure that most of these policies were realisable?

Well, to begin with, we were talking earlier about research in the university and now, you are asking about policy; these are two different issues. Research policies in the university is very straight forward; they have problems and they want to solve them. The point I am saying is that a lot of the problems the Nigerian farmers face have been solved in the university.

Now coming to policy, the Nigerian policy has not been totally right; it has not been totally geared towards solving the peculiar agricultural problem in Nigeria.

For one, most of the post-independent ministers of agriculture have been economists or extension persons. There had been no production person, that is, somebody who is an agronomist or who is in plant science. So, what you find, a lot of time, is marketing in the sense that, ‘yes, if you produce one tonne of a commodity, you can sell it and get this or if you cultivate 1,000 stands of plantain this year, it will be 1,000 plus 10 next years. With fanciful graphs but that is missing the point. The point is, policy must address the farmer; the farmer must be at the centre of a national policy on agriculture. That has not been the case all these while and that is what has led to failure of agriculture to meet the expected contribution to the national basket. I will give you specific examples.

I was just telling you earlier that a farmer in Nigeria produces about one to 1.5 tonnes per hectare because he is cultivating 2.5 hectares and 1,000 farmers in the country share one tractor. The issue here is that, if the farmer is the centerpiece of the policy, there are three things that the Nigerian policy on agriculture must address: one is the issue of training the farmer. If the farmer is the centre of your policy, then you must know his weakness. The weakness of the farmer today is his inability to innovate and use those innovations that are on shelve in research institutes and universities all over the country.

The Nigerian farmer does not know how to use pesticides; he does not know how to use herbicides correctly. So, he does not know when to weed his farm; what chemical to use to weed his farm and the time to use that chemical to weed his farm.

So, he goes there with his cutlass and hoe, which is obsolete; that limits his capacity. Whereas, if he is using modern technology, he has a chance to cultivate 50, 100 hectares like his counterparts in other countries.

Also, agronomy production itself that people take for granted, that technology that the farmer does not know, that is, he does not know and does not practise to have optimal plant population. For instance, maize is 50-55 plants per hectare, but most of our farmers will plant 20,000 or less.

How do we then achieve optimally when you are planting so low, even when talking about cropping?

Pest management is a continuous thing. If today, you employed the best agronomy practice, even with the available varieties of crop, you would double crop production in this country. Just implement available agronomy practices, that is, prepare your land very well, manage your fertiliser and soil well, control your weeds at the right time and any variety of your crop, you will double the production in this country today. But they are not doing so because they don’t know.

So, the first issue is that the farmer must be at the centre of your policy. The second one is that, most of the time, at the time of the planting season, farmers usually don’t have money in their hands. So, you must introduce micro credit for them. If you train the farmer, through the extension system and you give him the necessary fund that he needs at that point, you are going to expect that there will be an increase in agricultural production, whether it is food, fibre or whatever.

Now, you need to do something about production, otherwise you will incur artificial glut and therefore the farmer will sell much less than he desires to sell and cheaper too. That is the third issue; you must encourage agro industry, may be a Private Public Partnership (PPP) platform. You must do that because if you don’t and you increase production, then there will be glut which normally happens at harvest time.

Given the picture you just painted, do you foresee the possibility of food crisis in this country?

Yes, it is imminent and it is coming. This is because the policy of government, over the years has been encouraging Continues pg39

38

politics&policy

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune With Saheed Salawu

0811 695 4643

yinkadejavu@yahoo.com

Governance has to do with divine wisdom —Oyo Speaker, Hon. Adeyemo Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Honourable Michael Adeyemo, speaks with SAHEED SALAWU on sundry issues. Excerpts:

W

hat is the atmosphere of the state House of Assembly currently?

A good atmosphere, indeed. First and foremost, we have to thank God for helping us so far. We are blessed with a crop of honourable members who really want to serve the state. If you followed our activities in the House, you would see that we are doing wonderfully. We cannot assess ourselves and neither can we praise ourselves, but going by the feedback we are getting from members of the public, we are doing well.

We work as a team, as officers of the state. We work as honourable members of the state House of Assembly, not as honourable members of a political party, and that helps us a lot. We have a vision and that is to do our legislative work ethically, as required by the constitution. Although there are challenges, we put those challenges aside and do the work. We have done well within a short space of time.

You are generally perceived as quiet and not radicalised and this perception has given rise to the notion that as the Speaker, you are liable to dance to the tune of the governor in all matters...

I will answer that question with this Yoruba adage that ogbon ju agbara lo (wisdom is greater than might). We use wisdom, knowledge and intelligence, not confrontation, to address issues. We address issues constructively. Governance is about intelligence rather than noisemaking and bullying. Governance has to do with the wisdom of God. Even at the level of the individual, you need wisdom as to how you approach issues. A sane person tends to approach issues from a logical point of view rather than fighting or making noise. Those who observe me from a distance may take the position that I am a quiet person, yes, but I am also principled and that is where my strength lies.

You achieve nothing by exchanging words and fighting.

You only make noise and then the people suffer. But when you listen to each other, you are able to resolve issues meaningfully. This is my second term in the House. We know how we handle issues, especially controversial ones involving the executive. Our democratic development should not be about confrontation anymore. We should find constructive means of engaging each other, that is, the executive and the legislative arms of government. First and foremost, you must know your constitutional responsibilities and you must know your limits. You must know your power but you should not abuse it. You use power sparingly. It doesn’t benefit the people anytime the executive and legislative arms of government are in confrontation.

People take delight in sensationalisation of issues but that is not part of governance.

Legislators embark on projects, drilling boreholes and buying okada for people instead of making laws that have far-reaching effects on the society. Shouldn’t governance have gone past this kind of cosmetic approach?

Everybody — the followers and the people in government — must be educated on the constitutional responsibilities of legislators. If you believe my job is to make laws that will impact your life, then the way you measure my performance is by the motions I move and my other activities in the House. But that is not the case when people judge you as a legislator. They always judge you based on the concrete things you are able to give them. How many people are interested in the motions you move, your contributions in the House, your activities at the committee level, the bills you initiated? That is why we have a high turnover in the legislature and that will not help our democracy, because the legislative arm of government is very critical. You need experienced people in the legislative house. We must do away with the impression that a legislator must drill a borehole in our constituency. It is an executive’s duty. The people would never see you as a performer if you fail to provide those things for them. To them, you are a failure. It shows that we have a long way to go. I don’t have money or a budget, so, why do you ask me to execute projects? Where do you expect me to get such money? You are encouraging corruption. Let the local government, which is the closest

If a person contesting to be a lawmaker is not ignorant of what his roles will be, he would not be talking of constructing or rehabilitating a road in the first instance. As lawmakers, we can only facilitate the provision of these social amenities.

to the people, provide those amenities.

Unfortunately, politicians share in the blame because during campaigns, out of desperation, they make empty promises. If a person contesting to be a lawmaker is not ignorant of what his roles will be, he would not be talking of constructing or rehabilitating a road in the first instance.

As lawmakers, we can only facilitate the provision of these social amenities. People should stop demanding for things that ordinarily, constitutionally, lawmakers are not expected to provide. This is a situation me must all address if we really want serious governance.

As a lawyer, how is your profession assisting you as the head of the House of Assembly?

It is helping me a lot. As lawyers, we know the law because it is our tool and we are always objective. The knowledge of the law helps you to address constitutional issues when they are raised, instead of embarking on a voyage of discovery.

You will never promote illegality. You will never promote lawlessness. You will work within the ambit of the law. And because you belong to that noble profession, you will not do anything that will smear the image of the profession.

With the election petition tribunals in Rivers and Taraba states nullifying the elections of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, a section of the society believes that the ruling All Progressives

Congress (APC) is on a vindictive mission...

This is ignorance of the highest order. First and foremost, the facts of the cases are different. Rivers State’s facts are different from those of Taraba State. We should not be condemning judgements of the courts because it amounts to rubbishing the judiciary, and we say it [judiciary] is the last hope of the common man. It is like destroying the edifice that we seek protection with. We shouldn’t do that.

A judgement is a judgement, no matter how unreasonable it may seem. How many people have laid their hands on the full judgements to know the reasoning behind those decisions? You were not there when evidence was being taken and facts were being presented before the courts.

And the constitution is clear: if you are dissatisfied, go to the higher courts, the appellate court and the Supreme Court. It sounds embarrassing and ridiculous for public office holders to be maligning the integrity of the judiciary.

It shows a high level of indiscipline. Politicians should always explore the machinery of the law if a judgement is not in their favour.

Have you said this because you are a lawyer?

Some lawyers also make uncomplimentary statements against judgements of the courts and that is unprofessional.

How is the financial situation in the state affecting the workings of House?

It is affecting us greatly but we can’t close the House because we don’t have the finances to go on. That would be irresponsible. We work with what is available. We have not been well treated when it comes to finances. We have suffered greatly but we must continue to do the job. It is a sacrifice we have to make. If you check the records, you will see that we have done a lot and a lot is still going to be done. We have our sittings regularly and timeously. The committees have been doing their work in spite of lack of funds. We will continue to do our job. We know that things will improve.

There have not been democratically elected persons to man local governments in the state for some time now, what is your view on the situation?

What we are facing now is a problem of the past. If we have been following the law and doing things in accordance with rules and regulations, we would not be where we are.

The constitution is clear about the administration of local governments by democratically elected chairmen, but the system had been manipulated along the line.

39 interview

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

‘There’s no rational planning in Nigeria’s education system’ Continued from p37

medium and large-scale farming and it cannot work. This is because 60 per cent of our population are engaged directly in agriculture. The GDP of agriculture-related is 20 per cent of our GDP. So, if you can increase what I am talking about on agriculture and you are able to boost production, you will improve the well-being of our people; you will alleviate poverty. But if you don’t, remember, our population is growing at about 3.6 per cent per annum and I just told you that the number of people going into farming is decreasing by -.34 every year. The expected medium and large-scale producers are not producing; it is not working. How many large-scale farmers do we have in this country? When there was backward integration, so many people went to the farm. But five years after, they all went back because the environment is not as conducive. We have to start agriculture from the peasant farmer. In spite of this condition of peasant farmer that I have given, they are still the ones feeding this country today. We don’t have much from those medium or large-scale farmers. How many of them? May be 100 or less.

How will you relate this disconnect in agriculture to the education sector as we have it in the country today?

Well, they are different kettles of fish. Some of us feel very sad because, as I said, I have spent about 40 years in this system. When I came back, after my training in the US, I came back very happy, hoping that I would make contributions to the country. But unfortunately, things have not been working, either because successive governments choose the wrong people to run our programme or they simply do not understand the dynamics of what is going on.

Now, I have painted the picture of agriculture. It can be remedied but the right person has to be there and the policy has to be right. We have been talking about micro and macro policies. Those are fine language issues; the key thing is that you must make the farmer the centerpiece, you must train him and provide micro credit at low income rate and

you must also be ready to start industrialisation with agro industry.

I also see the education sector as pitiable. We in the university have been doing the best we can but it is like the computer — garbage in, garbage out. When graduates of universities were of high value, it was because the inputs were very good; our secondary school was good and the system was good. Unfortunately also, somewhere along the road, we missed some steps. That I can tell you because some of us have given this a lot of thoughts because of our age in the system, our experience and the years we have spent in the system.

If you take, for instance, Nigeria and Ghana which run the same system; 6-3-3-4. It is fine on paper but the implementation has been very unsatisfactory and that is what has led to the poor quality of the product of that system.

There is nothing wrong with the system.

But how do you explain this, given the fact that the system has been on for almost 30 years and we are yet to get it right?

What amazes me is that the so-called technocrats and the political class have failed to see the lacuna in that system that makes it difficult for them to get the product that they desired. I just said that between us and Ghana, we run the same system but today, many Nigerians take their children to Ghana. Why, if we have the same policy printout on education? You press people should have asked, why is that the Nigerian elite would take their children to Ghana?

The reason is this and some of us have had this interaction; we have given it a lot of thoughts. One, let us start with 100 students from Primary One. One hundred pupils from Primary One in Ghana and 100 pupils from Primary One in Nigeria. By the time the 100 pupils spend the first six years in Ghana, then they will write a public examination to go to secondary school. But in Nigeria, most of the states make it automatic while in Ghana, it is not. By the time they sit for the public examination, discount 20 per cent that will not go to secondary school. So, when you start with 100 pupils, you will now have 80 in Ghana but you will still have your

100 or thereabout in Nigeria because there is no structured public examination.

But we used to have common entrance examination into secondary schools...

Yes but it is not functioning; for one political reason or the other, they have pushed it back. I don’t have any explanation for that. Now, they go to JSS 1 to JSS 3, remember you now have 80 pupils in Ghana going to JSS 3. By JSS 3, they will write another public examination to go to SSS 1. Discount another 20, now they are left with 60. But in Nigeria, it is still free and automatic; there is no public examination between JSS 3 and SSS 1 and so you will have maybe between 90 and 95 students. But in Ghana, they have just 60 that are now going to SSS 1. In Ghana, at the end of the three years, at SSS 3, they will sit another public examination which is WAEC, but they also sit for examination to go to the university, which is called JAMB here.

In Ghana, at that stage, you will still discount another 20 per cent and you are now left with 40 students out of the 100 pupils you started with. So 40 per cent of those who started from Primary One will go to the university. Can you see the difference?

What then happens to the remaining 60 per cent that fell by the wayside?

I will explain. The fallout from Primary Six in Ghana will be taken to different levels of technical schools or sit down to repeat. But most of the time, 90 per cent of them will go to those technical schools. That is why, when you go to homes in Nigeria today, you will see tiles very well laid. Ask who the nationalities are: they are Ghanaians. Go to check POP ceilings and ask who are behind the best ones, they are mostly Ghanaians. So, they take them to technical colleges and technician schools and they train them very seriously because that is part of the 6-33-4 system that they should run technical equipment in these schools so that they will be properly trained. But we have not done enough of that. Then, to compound our issue, we push all of them from Primary One until they get to SSS 3 when they are ready to go to the university. The quality control is not there.

My mission is to take care of the stomach in Edo —Gov aspirant A lawyer and rights activist, Mr Casely Omo-Iraboh, is aspiring to represent the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s governorship election in Edo State. He speaks with journalists on a number of issues, including his plans. EBENEZER ADUROKIYA presents excerpts from the interview.

I am going to work. I will create industries that will engage over 2,000 unemployed Edo State youths. Edo is the highest timber-producing state. Why can’t we produce tables and chairs from it? We have engineers who are seeking employment daily when we can produce things and engage our youths here. We are too lazy because we have oil in this country. I am not going to be a lazy governor waiting for state allocation from Abuja.

Why did you defect from the Citizens Popular Party (CPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the latter won election at the centre?

I joined the APC the day the election result was released.

I did not join the party because Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election. In fact, I joined the APC without knowing that Buhari was going to win the election, especially when there was the belief that it was difficult to defeat an incumbent in an election. And I must tell you that I didn’t join the APC from the top; I joined from the grassroots, in Ward 10, at my place. Right now, I am vying for governorship and I am the most qualified in the state for the job.

How are you going to tackle insecurity, especially cultism and youth restiveness in Edo State?

How do you expect the youth not to be restive and not join cults when the leaders have mismanaged the wealth of the state? A professor is there without a good pair of shoes and somebody who never went to school is receiving fat salaries, cruising in expensive jeeps around town. Apart from that, go and see how they spend lavishly on women and lodge in expensive hotels and you say the youth should not be restive? During elections, they give guns to young men to rig elections and when they win, they abandon them with the guns. The youth should direct their energies to the kidnapping of the man who put guns in their hands, not the innocent man. If that begins to happen, then, we will know that it is a revolution. I want to redirect their orientation. And we are going to demonetise governance.

There are other political parties, why the choice of APC? It is an all progressives’ congress and you will give it to me that I am a progressive. I was one of the forerunners in [National Democratic Coalition] NADECO. I am a human rights activist. Nobody can be more progressive than me. The only thing is that some people joined the APC just to grab power and that is why we are where we are in Nigeria today. I joined the APC because I want to rebuild Edo State.

Why do you want the governor position?

God asked me to contest for the position of the governor. I am a Catholic and I attend The Synagogue Church of All Nations at least once in a month. Once, I heard a voice asking me to go into politics. That was why I went into the senatorial election, but right now, I am vying for governorship.

The moment you are declared governor, everybody would begin to run to you begging for money and food and other things, causing you embarrassment. In this 21st century, you still see people who would tell you ‘tomorrow na my birthday, you go come?’ We have gone past the stage of sharing food and money. Our people are enlightened. I am not going to share money or food. As I said before, God told me to go into politics and I am obeying him.

Do you subscribe to the idea of politicians sponsoring your election and what are your plans for

Edo State?

We are all going to work together. Nobody should expect me to be a superman. Let nobody sponsor me because I would become a stooge, a surrogate, and that I cannot be. I don’t expect anybody to sponsor my election. So, if you are sponsoring me, you are sponsoring the state.

My plan for Edo State is to take care of the stomach. When you have not eaten, you cannot talk of clothes or school.

Do not give me fish, teach me how to fish. That is what I want to do.

What is your relationship with Governor Oshiomhole?

No bickering, no enmity, but I am not used to bootlicking or running after somebody because I need something. And I don’t believe in a government of probe. If you continue to probe past governments, you will be distracted. Let us change the orientation.

What is your advice for the electorate?

Stop taking money from politicians and vote with your conscience. The leader is not different from you. It is just opportunity and time. You are capable of being anything, depending on how you want to live your life. A priest could have been an armed robber and an armed robber could have been a bishop or a professor. I wasn’t born a lawyer. I came from the slum. Be independent-minded and shun bribery.

40

feature

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

How poor sewage management exposes Lagos residents to health risks

The more the Lagos state government clears the stench, the more some citizens pile up the faeces. CHUKWUMA OKPARAOCHA examines the issue which is turning Nigeria’s ‘Centre of Excellence’ into an odorous megacity.

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he Lagos State government has for long been engaged in the ageless battle of ridding the state of unhealthy disposal of sewage and other firms of waste water.

Saturday Tribune recalls that months ago, a Lagos court sentenced 10 people to a week of community service after they were found guilty of unlawfully disposing sewage into a canal.

For ages Lagos residents are known to have cultivated different ways of getting rid of the human waste they generate. While many households, particularly those living in the slums, hardly have toilets, and hence ‘shot-put’ their faecal waste into canals, others who have toilets, according to reports, are known to engage the services of truck-driving sewage ‘managers.’

While a large number of those who make use of the services of this group of sewage ‘managers’ do not really know how and where such wastes are discarded, a few others are of the opinion that the lagoon and numerous canals and open waterways that litter the landscape of Lagos provide ready ‘homes’ for the sewage.

Recent reports indicate that this may not be far from the truth as places such as the Iddo Jetty in Apapa, Maza-Maza Jetty in Mile 2 and the environs of the National Theatre, Iganmu, are reputed to be at the receiving end of the act.

A recent survey made by Saturday Tribune to Iganmu and Ijora areas of Lagos showed a large blackish substance suspected to be human waste which had virtually taken over a section of the lagoon.

According to reports, such wastes are usually discarded at night when the entire neighbourhood would have been deserted.

A cross section of residents of Ijora who spoke with Saturday Tribune denied having any knowledge of how the sewage wastes they generate are disposed of.

One of the residents of Ijora, a landlord who was identified as Iwalaya David, remarked that oftentimes, when he engaged the services of truck-driving sewage managers, he had never bothered to find out the destination of the waste.

“The usual practice is that I contact them (sewage managers) whenever our septic tank is filled up.

When their job is done I pay them off, and I don’t get to worry where they discard the waste,” he said.

While many of those that Saturday Tribune spoke

with showed ignorance of where their sewage wastes are dumped, a few indicated that this might just be the lagoon.

Tony Samuel who lives at Maza Maza area of the state discloses to Saturday Tribune that the lagoon often provided an “easy way out” for the disposal of different kinds of wastes, including sewage, in Lagos State.

“Some years back I saw a sewage truck discarding its content into the lagoon. I knew this wasn’t right, but I eventually came to terms with the fact that here in Lagos, the lagoon is the final dumping place of wastes,” said Tony.

Also in her comments, another resident who lives at Iyana Oworo, Mrs Aisha Tinuade, pointed out that in other states she had lived, the usual practice was for a large pit to be dug while the sewage would them be buried.

“I have lived in quite a number of states where the usual practice is for sewage to be buried, but since I moved to Lagos a few years back, I have never seen this. I think one of the reasons for this is because open land is very scarce in Lagos, and as a result, houses are built in such a way that there is little space between two houses,” she explained.

However, a sewage management operator, Prince Habeeb Dosunmu, recently said the Lagos State government had made some pits available where a fee would be paid by each operator to discard the content of his truck.

“Dumping of human wastes into the lagoon is an old

Some years back I saw a sewage truck discarding its content into the lagoon. I knew this wasn’t right, but I eventually came to terms with the fact that here in Lagos, the lagoon is the final dumping place of wastes.

system, though we are still on it, the Lagos State government has provided some pits at Alausa, Abesan, and Mile 2, where we pay N2,200 before discharging. These pits are designed with processing facilities that help extract fertilisers from the wastes. Later, government ordered us to stop discharging at Alausa and referred us to under the bridge somewhere at Ojota.”

But the Lagos State government, through the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC), has stated its commitment to effective sewage management in the state in line with best practices worldwide.

The Executive Secretary/CEO of LSWRC, Mrs Tanwa Koya, noted that given the huge population of Lagos State, there was the need for all stakeholders, including the government to put adequate measures in place that would ensure that waste water is well disposed of without contaminating other water sources.

According her, it is time all relevant stakeholders took a significant step to enlighten relevant members of the public on “ the safety of reuse,” while also adding that other parts of the world had successfully devised means of managing their own waste water. When commenting recently about the dangers embedded in poor sewage disposal methods, especially dumping of refuse into canals and the lagoon, Professor Osaretin Ebuehi of BioChemistry Department, University of Lagos, pointed out that unsanitary disposal of untreated faecal matter into the lagoon and other waterways had “negative impacts on the lagoon ecosystem.”

He therefore suggested that the government should undertake a well-organised sewage management system to forestall future environmental disaster associated with water contamination.

“Dumping of human and animal wastes into the lagoon causes water-borne diseases, including dysentery, typhoid and several air diseases and infections that are associated with enteric organisms such as Klebsiella spp. Enterobacter spp. and E. Coli. These are dangerous to human health.

Apart from the dump that goes directly into the lagoon, a good number of human and aquatic populations directly or indirectly become victim of water pollution,” he disclosed.

According to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report, over four million infants and adults die every year from diarrhoea diseases, largely as a result of contaminated food or water.

41

feature

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

Top 10 social-media-friendly universities In Nigeria

Naza Okoli - Lagos

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here are 1.96 billion people around the world currently subscribed to the various social media platforms, according to a US-based journal, Statista. This figure, the source predicts, will rise to 2.13 billion in 2016, “up from 1.4 billion in 2012.”

Even though little is documented about the number of social media users in Nigeria, several sources indicate that the country very likely has the largest number of active users in Africa. For example, according to figures recently released by Facebook (the world’s most popular social network) at least 7.1 million people use Facebook on a daily basis in Nigeria, ahead of other African countries.

Apart from Facebook, other platforms that enjoy wide patronage in Nigeria are Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn. Although one of the earliest uses of these platforms was for interaction among friends, reports collated over the years show that their use is just as prevalent among corporate establishments. It would seem that in this category, institutions of higher learning stand out. The reason is not difficult to see: young people of campus age make up the highest number of social media users globally.

In spite of the benefits of these platforms, most tertiary institutions in Nigeria have kept their distance. This report is a selection of the few public and private universities in the country that are visible and dominant in the vast space that is the social media.

1. Covenant University, Ota Leading the pack is Covenant University, Ota. Its Facebook page is rich: apart from updates on the activities of the management and students, posted regularly, there are tons of photographs and videos on the timeline. The page is liked by 48, 614 Facebook users. Its Twitter account (with the handle @CUHEBRON) is “verified”. With 1, 685 tweets as of Thursday, it is updated almost hourly. So far, it has 3, 259 followers. On Youtube, the university has 133 videos. Its Google+ account has 115 followers and has been viewed by 11, 508 people. All these accounts are actively linked to the university’s website.

2. American University Of Nigeria, Yola (Aun) In the second place is another private university – American University of Nigeria, Yola. It is present on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. Updated once or more times daily, its Facebook page is endorsed by 10, 175 users. On Twitter, the school has 5, 923 followers, and has published 1,638 tweets. It has 88 videos on YouTube and 175 followers on Instagram. Like Covenant, AUN has active icons on its websites that take a visitor directly to these accounts.

3. University Of Ibadan (UI) The University of Ibadan occupies the third position.

Even though the website contains icons for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, the links are inactive. However, the university has a massive presence on Facebook with 48,288 “likes”, though it was last updated on 27 November 2014. Another page with the name “University of Ibadan News Update” with 9,690 “likes” appears to have replaced it. It was last updated on 24 October 2015. The university which tweets with @UniIbadan has 4, 650 followers and 253 tweets on Twitter.

4. University Of Ilorin (UNILORIN) In the fourth place is the university that is known by the slogan “better by far”. With 27, 402 “likes” on Facebook, Ilorin is very active on the platform. In fact, it currently enjoys a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on 44 reviews posted by Facebook users. On Twitter where it uses the handle @unilorinnews, the school is followed by 2, 792 people. The tweets are regularly updated; at the last count, there were 713 tweets.

5. Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja (NTNU) “Guess who is coming to play soccer with us on our university’s football pitch tomorrow between 7 and 9 pm?” – that was the last tweet on the school’s Twitter page, on Thursday. It was posted a couple of days before.

In the fifth place, Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, has 812 followers on Twitter and 425 tweets. On Facebook, with 238 “likes”, updates are provided almost on an hourly basis – sometimes more frequently. Its Google+ account, with 12 followers, has been viewed by 7, 189 people. All of these accounts are actively linked to the school’s website.

6. University Of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) University of Nigeria, Nsukka, tweets with the handle @ UNNPride which has 2, 985 followers, and has tweeted 448 times. It was last updated on 19 October 2015. On 19 August, it shared 2195 photos on Flickr through Twitter.

According to Kaplan, Inc, a corporation that provides higher education preparation, in 2012, 27 % of admissions officers used Google to learn more about an applicant, with 26% checking Facebook.

Last updated on 4 November 2015, the university’s Facebook page is liked by 26, 707 people.

7. University Of Benin (UNIBEN) The University of Benin comes seventh. With 105 tweets (last updated October 8), @UNIBEN has 2,177 followers.

Even though its last update on Facebook occurred on 17 April 2015, the page is is liked by an impressively large number of users – 46, 087!

8. Babcock University, Ilishan Remo (BU) Babcock’s Facebook page is colourful. One of the most recent posts is a picture of the letters “BU” formed by radiantly dressed students standing in line. “What does this picture represent?” reads the rider. “Are you there?”

Expectedly, this generated a number of responses. The updates are frequent. Indeed, a notice below the Profile Section says: “Message now: typically responds within an hour.” At the last count, the page had 8, 484 “likes”. The school is active as well on Twitter. On Thursday, there were 85 tweets and 85 followers; the last tweet appeared a couple of days before.

9. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, AWKA (UNIZIK) Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, is active on Facebook and Twitter, both of which are updated quite regularly, and are actively linked to the school’s website. The Facebook page is endorsed by 3, 675 people. The Twitter, @unizikofficial, had 763 followers and 65 tweets on Thursday.

10. University Of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) The University of Port Harcourt has 42, 019 likes on Facebook. It is a “verified” account, regularly updated with pictures, announcements, videos, motivational quotes.

However, its Twitter account, with the handle “@uniport”, was last updated on 19 March 2013. With only 9 tweets, it still followed by 2,804 people.

Doing more with social media The social media forms a large part the personal schedule of most students – and prospective students. According to Wikipedia, admissions officers in US universities sometimes attempt to find out more about their applicants by visiting their social media pages: “Before social media,” the report says, “admissions officials in the United States used SAT scores, extra-curricular activities, letters of recommendation and high school GPAs to determine whether to accept or deny an applicant. According to Kaplan, Inc, a corporation that provides higher education preparation, in 2012, 27 % of admissions officers used Google to learn more about an applicant, with 26% checking Facebook.”

Already, in Nigeria, there is growing mistrust and dissatisfaction at the quality of most of the qualifying examinations for admission into tertiary institutions. Perhaps it is time to look beyond WAEC, NECO and UTME.

42

14 November, 2015

motoring

Saturday Tribune With Seyi Gesinde seyigesinde@yahoo.com 08116954632

Automakers eliminate spare tyres to reduce car weight Automakers are shedding weight from vehicles any way they can in their attempts to meet stricter fuel-economy requirements. But by eliminating spare tyres, they are causing problems for motorists, as many with punctured or burst are left

stranded.

More than a third of new cars currently being sold don’t contain one, and the lack of spares is leaving motorists in a lurch, says American Automobile Association (AAA). On Tuesday, the United States largest motor-

Land Rover unveils world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible Land Rover has unveiled the world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible.

The company, according to Press and Journal, UK, said the Range Rover Evoque Convertible combines the bold design and refinement of Evoque with comprehensive specification and a sophisticated folding roof to create a no compromise, all-season convertible.

The fully-automated roof stows in 18 seconds, and can be raised in 21 seconds, at speeds up to 30mph.

In addition, the position of the roof doesn’t affect loadspace, with a generous 251-litre boot offering unrivalled practicality for a convertible.

At the heart of the highclass cabin is an all-new, high-resolution 10.2in touchscreen with Jaguar Land Rover’s next-generation infotainment system, InControl Touch Pro, which debuts in a Land Rover.

Land Rover’s full suite of lightweight, all-aluminium four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines is available with the potent 237bhp Si4 petrol providing outstanding levels of performance and refinement.

Diesel power comes from Land Rover’s 2.0-litre Ingenium engines which provide highly efficient and refined performance with fuel economy up to 55mpg

and CO2 emissions as low as 149g/km.

The new Range Rover Evoque Convertible goes on sale across from Spring 2016 in more than 170 markets worldwide.

BMW expands range with 3 new plug-in hybrids

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he BMW has expanded it range of plug-in hybrid cars positioned for launch next year, as the 225xe, 330e and 740e.

They will join the X5 xDrive40e and sleek i8 to provide BMW with a fivestrong range of plug-in hybrids.

The 225xe Active Tourer, according to Auto Car report, draws on the plug-in hybrid technology developed for the i8 sports car to offer the choice between front, rear or four-wheel drive, depending on the driving conditions.

A 134bhp front-mounted turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine sends power to the front wheels via a sixspeed automatic gearbox.

The combustion engine is supported by an 88bhp electric motor mounted within the rear axle, driving the rear wheels via a fixed-ratio gearbox.

The 225xe can travel up to 25 miles on electric power alone. At a constant

cruise over longer distances, it is programmed to run in front-wheel drive, with power provided exclusively by the petrol engine at speeds of up to 126mph in order to preserve the energy reserves of its 7.7kWh lithium ion battery.

Under acceleration, the combustion and electric motor pool their resourc-

es to provide a combined system output of 221bhp and 284lb ft, as well as four-wheel drive, in hybrid mode. A 0-62mph time of 6.7sec is claimed, along with CO2 emissions of 46g/km and fuel consumption of up to 141.2mpg.

Further along the model line-up, the larger rearwheel drive 330e saloon relies on a detuned version

of the plug-in petrol-electric driveline used by the X5 xDrive40e.

It uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and an electric motor mounted within the gearbox to provide combined outputs of 248bhp and 310lb ft along with 148.7mpg claimed combined economy and 44g/km of CO2 emissions.

ing organisation called on automakers to halt the elimination of spare tires to better protect stranded motorists.

“Flat tyres are not a disappearing problem, but spare tires are,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of automotive engineering and repair.

He said the organization responds to more than 4 million calls for flat-tire assistance every year. “... Advances in automotive engineering allow for weight to be reduced in ways that don’t leave motorists stranded at the roadside.”

The decline in spare tires has been striking. A decade ago, five percent of cars sold lacked a spare tire. Today, AAA says 36 percent don’t contain a spare. That number is only expected to rise as carmakers chase Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates of 54.5 miles per gallon by model year 2025, and reducing weight is one of the key ways to reach the target.

In many cases, carmakers still offer a spare as optional equipment. When that’s not chosen, manufacturers have replaced spares with tire-inflator kits. Each four-pound kit eliminates about 30 pounds of weight. But these kits aren’t a comparable substitute, says AAA, which says they can cost up to 10 times more than a tire repair and have a shelf life of only four to eight years. Most importantly, they only are effective for a limited number of problems.

AAA evaluated the most common inflator kits on the market and found they work well in some scenarios. If an object that caused a puncture is no longer in the tire, a sidewall is damaged or a blowout occurs, a tire-inflator kit couldn’t fix those problems.

“Consumers may mistakenly believe that inflator kits are a one-sizefits-all alternative to installing a spare tire,” Nielsen said.

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14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

sport NSC offers retired athletes opportunity to learn vocational skills 44

Muhammad Sabiu- Kaduna

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thletes representing Nigeria in various sports are to benefit from vocational trainings in order to prepare them for life after re-

14 November, 2015

tirement.

This was disclosed by the Director General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Alhassan Yakmut during the opening ceremony of the First Nigerian Open handball championship or-

ganised by Mega Veterans in Kaduna.

Yakmut said NSC intends to avoid the situation where exinternational players live like beggars in abject poverty after their active sporting years.

He added that the voca-

Ibadan Polo Club introduces Ajimobi Cup As President’s Cup tourney begins today

By Nurudeen Alimi IBADAN Polo Club has concluded arrangements to introduce Ajimobi Cup as this year’s President Cup begins today at the club’s ground, Eleyele road, Ibadan.

Also, the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi will be presented with an award at the closing ceremonies of this year’s President Cup, where Ajimobi Cup will also be formally launched.

According to a statement made available to Tribunesport by the 2015 President’s Cup organising committee and signed by the committee chairman, Mr Dare Adeleke, the award is in recognition of Ajimobi’s financial and moral support to Ibadan Polo Club over the years.

Adeleke, also informed that a trophy named Ajimobi Cup will be launched and subsequently be competed for during competitions at the club level.

The tournament which begins today will feature players in the -2 and +3 handicap and will be rounded off tomorrow with presentation of prizes and awards to participants.

Also, the club’s new trustees, Professor Jide Owoeye, the chairman governing council, Lead City University, Chief Babajide Agbeja, Mr Bankole Oyeniyi and General Oluwole Rotimi (rtd), the IPC’s grand patron will also be presented with awards and certificates of office.

Lagos Polo Club is expected to present two teams while the host, Ibadan Polo Club will parade two teams making the total of four teams

that will partake in the competition that would be played in a round robin format.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division Nigerian Army, Major General LC Ilo is expected to grace the event as the special guest, at the tournament sponsored by Engneer Seyi Makinde, Princeton Health Ltd, Jogor Centre Ibadan and DJ Semite.

tional training will enable the athletes to start a new life after retirement from sports, while providing players who may suffer career-ending injuries a veritable alternative to sports.

Yakmut, who was accompanied by the Director Grassroots Sports Development, Dr Ademola Are and Zonal Coordinator NSC North-west Zone, Alhaji Ali Durotoye, said the recent victory of Jaghere Wellington as world scrabble champion has again proved that Nigeria has potential in several sports.

He said plans are underway to sustain the scrabble victory and ensure that such success spread to other sports with good planning and support for the athletes.

He commended the organ-

isers for remembering to put back into the game that they played to very high level and give back to the society.

“By mustering the resources to organise such a national competition, noting that there is need for the likes of Mega Veterans in all sports to ensure that the potentials in other sports are unveiled and promoted to stardom.

“Every institution that want to promote sports now, we will carry along vocational training to ensure that athletes do not become dregs of the society when they cease

Saturday Tribune

to be athletes.

“We are collaborating with all tiers of government to ensure that athletes are given the opportunity to show their talents from school age.

“That has shown in the recent victories recorded

by Nigeria in Australia and Chile, we want to do that in all sports. Nigeria has the capacity to excel in all sports all they need is to get equal support. We are more than a football country, we are a multi-sport country and soon the world will be behind us in all sports.”

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14 November, 2015

CHIEF (MRS) HID AWOLOWO (1915 - 2015)

Saturday Tribune PHOTOS: D’TOYIN

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(1) Cross section of ministers of God with Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran and Ambassador Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu.

(5) The principal officers of Ekiti State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Honourable Kola Oluwawole, in a group photograph with Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran and Ambassador Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu.

(2) Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran (second right); Ambassador Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu (left) and Chief Olabode George.

(6) Cross-section of Obafemi Awolowo Free Education Order of the Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, with Funke Awolowo (middle).

(3) Chief Olabode George (left) and Pastor Tunde Bakare.

(7) Members of the National Association of Proprietors of Private School, Sagamu chapter, with Funke Awolowo.

(4) Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran (middle); Ambassador Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu (second right); Dr Adio Moses, his wife, Aderemi and Mr Ariyo Okusanya.

(8) Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran (right); Ambassador Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu (left) and Mrs Alake Sobo.

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14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

NFF will retain Amuneke as Eaglets coach —Akinwunmi THE first vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, has confirmed that head coach of the victorious Golden Eaglets, Emmanuel Amuneke, will continue in his position.

Amuneke led the Golden Eaglets to win the just-ended FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Chile for a record fifth time with a 2-0 defeat of the Les Aiglonnets of Mali in the final played in the early hours of Monday.

“NFF has agreed that Amuneke will remain to nurture the next Golden Eaglets, which will start preparing for the 2017 African and world championships by next year,” Akinwunmi said at a dinner organised in honour of the players and officials on arrival in Abuja on Wednesday afternoon.

Akinwunmi stated that the measure was to allow each coach at every level work well with each other and form a systematic transition from one level to the next.

“What we have tried to do is to encourage the growth of youth football. There is nothing stopping the Eaglets from aspiring and working very hard to participate in the Super Eagles cadre,” Akinwunmi who is also the chairman of Lagos State Football Association added.

U-17 World Cup:

Eaglet gets N.3m from Gov Ortom

APFON set to honour Adebutu, Ganduje, others THE Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria (APFON), has concluded arrangements to present awards to certain individuals, clubs and corporate organisations that have contributed to the promotion and development of football especially grassroots football in Nigeria.

According to a statement by the secretary general of APFON, Comrade Austin Popo, the presentation of the awards will hold during the National Football Seminar on Community Football Development Initiative, scheduled to hold on November 26 to 27 at the planet One Hotel, Lagos.

Those to be honoured by the players Union are Chief Adebutu Kessington and Stanley Okafor, for their individual contributions to grassroots football development, as well as governor

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State and the proprietors of Giwa FC and Ifeanyi Ubah FC as the two private Clubs in the 2014/2015 Glo Premier League season.

Sunshine Stars FC will be honoured as the best premier league club investing in grassroots football development considering the large number of players who graduated from the club academy to the senior team in the 2014/2015 season.

Also, Enyimba FC will be honoured for emerging the 2014/2015 Globacom Premier League champions.

The statement stated that MFM FC, Ikorodu United FC, Niger Tornadoes and Plateau United FC, will also be honoured for gaining promotion to the premier league from the Nigeria National League at the just-concluded season.

Kingsley Michael

Leon Usigbe - Abuja

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member of the world-conquering Golden Eaglets, Kingsley Michael is N300,000 richer following a meeting with Governor Sam Ortom of Benue state in Abuja at the weekend.

Michael, an attacking midfielder who wore number 6 shirt for the Eaglets, scored the second goal in the 30th minute against Brazil in the quarter final match played on November 1, 2015 in Chile with tournament top scorer, Victor Osimhen and Udochukwu Anumudu netting the other goals in the 3 - 0 rout of the Brazillans.

From left, President International Tobacco Company (ITC) Club, Mr Tunde Omosola; the national president, Darts Federation of Nigeria (DFN) Chief Abubakar Gaiya Haruna; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Kwara State, Mrs Rhoda Ajiboye and the MD of ITC Club/life patron, Chief Isaac Mowo, during the opening ceremony of the sixth men and ladies national darts championship in Ilorin. PHOTO: KAYODE OKUNOLA.

The Benue state-born Michael, was at the Benue state Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro Abuja alongside his parents to present to the governor his gold medal from the World Cup tournament.

Impressed by the feat from the 16-year old Benue Indigene, Governor Ortom made a personal gift of

N300,000 to the Eaglet and additional N50,000 to the parents.

He promised that the state government will host Michael and David Enogela, another member of the team who is also from the state, to an official reception in Makurdi at a date to be announced.

Okowa hails world scrabble king, Jighere, Eaglets Alphonsus Agborh -Asaba DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has congratulated Nigeria’s and Delta Stateborn Wellington Jighere for emerging the world scrabble champion.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, Okowa noted that Jighere’s feat was a great honour to Africa at large.

“I congratulate you on this great honour that you have brought to Nigeria and Africa. We are proud of you and the wonderful achievement of Team Nigeria in emerging the best team of the tournament,” he said.

Okowa, has also congratulated Nigeria on the back-to-back victory of the Golden Eaglets in the just-ended FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.

He commended the doggedness of the Emmanuel Amunike-piloted team, for its unanimity of purpose and team spirit; which ensured that the highly motivated Malian side, did not deny us the trophy, that could safely be described as ‘the Nigerian franchise’.

El-Amin wins Georgian Cup at Kaduna 2015 polo tourney Muhammad Sabiu -Kaduna KADUNA El Amin polo team won their 12th Georgian Cup title and third successive Argentine Ambassador Cup, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, after riding roughshod over Kaduna Keffi Ponies 12- 4 at the just-ended 2015 tournament.

The defending champions, had earlier defeated rivals Abuja Guards Brigade Rubicon 9 -7 to set up a final with Keffi Ponies at the Kaduna polo ground at Murtala Square, Kaduna.

El-Amin, who featured Nigerian number one polo star, Bello Buba, swashbuckling midfield player, Ibrahim Mohammed, +7 Argentine hired assassin, Santiago Cernedas, hard hitting back man, founder

and patron of the team, Mohammed Babangida and substitute Bashir Musa, with this victory have dominated Africa’s most prestigious polo trophy made of Georgian silver in 1785 in the last two decades.

The Kaduna El-Amin polo team however failed to retain the Sardauna Cup as they lost to the 2015 selected side on handicap after drawing the match 3-3.

Meanwhile, Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa state has expressed readiness of his administration to support and encourage sports development in the state to ensure development and creation of job opportunities for the teeming youth in the state.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2015 Ka-

duna International Polo Tournament at the weekend, where he presented Northern Governors’ Unity Cup to the Kaduna Polo Club to be contested annually in the tournament, Governor Bindow said that, as a youth, he knows the importance of sports in youth development and he would employ that to create job opportunities for the teeming youth in the state.

“The Kaduna polo club officials came to Adamawa to invite me to this tournament that is why I’m here.

I’m happy to be here.

Polo is everybody’s game, now I’m ready to be part of the game and I want to call on youth to participate in the game and in sports generally, as a means of keeping themselves fit and engaged.”

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sport

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HAT do you think the government can do to encourage corporate bodies to support or sponsor sporting activities?

First of all, I think the structure at all levels should be in place, at the local, state and federal level. What do I mean by the structure is what will encourage private organisation and individuals support in the country. So at a point in time when I was at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, the spirit of the stadium was so appealing that I just felt that, this is where Nigerian youths should be, the training facility is a pride for the state, it was once the venue where you will be proud of but now everything is an eyesore and I think if government can identify all these sporting arena all around the country and put them into proper shape so that people can utilize these equipments and I believe corperate organisations will support their efforts but when you feel like leaving everything for corporate organisations to run or to assist, I don’t think it can work. If it doesn’t follow the right platform and have the right structures in place it will be difficult for people to render assistances.

Private organisations has done well, at least we see them support some of our sporting associations in the country. But again we must have clear roadmap, I know the main thing we want is achievement, the sporting plan for the country, how do we see ourselves in the next five years, in terms of football, swimming, long jump, volleyball etc and we need to analise all our sporting activities. I remember growing up in Lagos , we used to go to Rowe Park then , we have the opportunity of playing hand balls, hockey, volleyball, with all these interest we developed ourselves. Even the local government have to know and develop their potentials, to organise how their various talent should meet for competitions. Also what is the state government doing to support the local government and what is the federal government doing to support the state government, all these things are interwoven. They must work together to have the right structure in place, without this I don’t think we can have a sustainable sporting development plan, that’s the key point.

Government should sit down and plan on how to work together with the stakeholders.

We need to develop ourselves, you see how people support all these European clubs like Man-U, Liverpool, Arsenal etc it is because they carry everybody that is involved along . Whoever is coming in as an administrator must have a roadmap and create good impact, that is the only way we can get things sustainable.

Can we say that is the reason your company is supporting golf?

We are not supporting golf alone, what we do is in line with our Community Social Responsibility platform, we are to help sports, environment and involve in any form of human endeavours. We are looking at another platform of reaching out to the golf community because it is assumed it is the sport for the high and mighty, those who play golf have businesses, companies and things they invested in by partnering with them was deliberate and strategic because once they come on board obviously because of the networking platform they will provide, we develop a very good relationship. So isn’t because we just want to sponsor golf, no it is a deliberate attempt to introduce our product to the sporting world just as we did with Nollywood industry is just to extend awareness to the people to know how useful insurance is to their daily life, all connective platform to connect with people and introduce our business so we can spread the gospel of insurance, through the competition you always find the dominion effect we have golfers from various

14 November, 2015

Saturday Tribune

Nigeria should go back to school sport —Bankole Segun Bankole is the Head, Corporate Communications and Brand Management of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc whose love for golf cannot be quantified. The member, Ikoyi 1937 golf section spoke with Deputy Editor, Sports, NIYI ALEBIOSU on the state of sport, the way forward for sport development in the country and the involvement of his company in the sponsorship of sport, especially golf. Excerpts: because those that are doing it are not getting younger so if we don’t have sustainable plans we will always have disappointment and it won’t develop the country. My advice is that all sports administrators is to look inward and determine something positive.

We should cultivate in things that will take sports to another level, look at the English Premier League how it has been able to develop t and generate interest for people.

Sitting down and been sincere with ourselves and have a good roadmap will takes sports in Nigeria to higher level. Some Nigerian athletes represent another country because they believe they can’t get what they want. Remember inter house sport during our days .who is doing it again and these is where we develop talent, identify and take them to sports academy. Look at our National stadium ,it has turn to burial ground, even the Abuja Stadium which was once the bride and one of the best on the continent has lost its glory,so things are just going wrong but I pray for a better days to return to Nigerian sports.

Bankole

places like Ogbomoso, Osogbo, Ada, Abeokuta, we have golfers all over the country to participate in the tournament and we have some very mutual beneficiary relationship between Ibadan Golf Club and the club has provided the platform for us to connect our brand and I believe it will extend to other associations in the country, we sponsor some Nigerians to watch Nations Cup that was held in Ghana, we have people from Ondo, the East and so on. We use such platform to educate them about insurance and advertise it to their people. What we are doing is in line with our strategies and objectives in terms of developing sport in the country, we endeavour in swimming at a point in time with Sam Ebozee swimming foundation, we partner with Lagos state government when they organised a marathon race recently, also a national tour that took them to South Africa and we will continue to look at some other proposals, we help various academies, so isn’t all about golf alone, it is about sports development. Insurance company needs to have strong ground in Nigeria so we have to do positive things. We are not doing it for fun but to spread insurance to sporting world.

What are your expectations in the next edition of the Sovereign Trust Insurance Open Golf tournament to be hosted by Ibadan Golf Club?

We expect another good turnout, the participants will perform well because this will be the 4th edition of the tournament, I believe they will fully understand the fact that we are partner in progress and translate some of these relationship to business opportunity. We expect the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), executives to take part in the competition, to make it fun to all sports fellow.

How do we encourage other sports in the country?

We don’t have a sustainable strategy in place and that is why sports isn’t going on smoothly and again when we are saying sport, is not about football alone. What is government doing to develop people who’s talent are different from football?. In Ikoyi Club, I see better swimmers there, I do not see the government planning to develop this talents. Let us develop new sets in volleyball, basketball, swimming, athletes etc

Olympics is around the corner now, how do you think we can prepare?

Well from information available at my disposal and having followed the National Sports Commission for some time now,I think they are trying because some of the federations are still participating in trials while some have qualified for the gamesbut by and large I think we need early preparations for us to excel at the events the country is participaiting in. Olympics is every four years, so we ought to have started early and need not to wait for when it is competition time before we start preparing. Even I will suggest that our athletes are taking on training tour of Europe and other suitable places, this will enable our athletes to be more exposed to better training ahead of the games How would you describe the performance of the Team Nigeria to the just-ended 11th All Africa Games held in Congo Brazaville?

Well as you can see the team did well at the games and I will describe it as one of the best things to have happened to the country in recent years and this is simply because the Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC) Mallam Alhassan Yakmut a former national volleyball player said before the games that the Team Nigeria will not disappoint and this came to pass. He ensured that the welfare of the athletes are paramount which gave the athletes the zeal and determination to excel at the games.

The country placed second behind Egypt and am sure if we had participated in some events we can still do better. But by and large, the performance will spur our athletes to do well at the forthcoming Rio Olympics even though we are not participating in all events but the few ones we are taking part in, am sure our athletes will do well.

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Eaglet gets N.3m from Gov Ortom >>P46

Fallout of U-17 World Cup:

Amuneke blows hot

2018 World Cup qualifier:

Eagles survive in Swaziland

By Ahmed Pele NIGERIA’S Super Eagles on Friday night settled for a goalless draw against Shilangu Semnikati of Swaziland in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba.

Manchester City starlet, Kelechi Iheanacho made his senior international debut when he came on to replace Rabiu Ibrahim in the 65th minute.

Also, Seattle Sounders striker, Obafemi Martins made a comeback into the senior national team as he came on to replace Chelsea star, John Mikel Obi in the 70th minute of the game.

Goalkeeper Carl Ikeme made his third straight appearance for the Eagles after his debut last month in an international friendly against DR Congo.

The star-studded Eagles captained by Ahmed Musa failed to fly this time as they wasted a couple of scoring chances that came their way especially in the second half.

Ogenyi Onazi almost got the curtain raiser in the 27th minute through a free-kick which the Swaziland goalkeeper, Nhlanhla Gwebu parried away while the robound by Sylvester Igbonu was equally wasted.

Also, there was a blunder from Godfrey Oboabona in the 42nd minute but a Swaziland player wasted the chance.

Oboabona later bagged the first yellow card of the match over his rough tackle with an opponent.

Lazio of Italy player, Onazi’s free kick in the 58th minute from 25 yards came off the upright to the relief of Swaziland.

Watford striker, Odion Ighalo before half time had a penalty appeal but it was ignored by the centre referee.

However, Rabiu Ibrahim who came on to replace Sylvester Igbonu in the second half was later substituted for Iheanacho owing to his poor form.

The reverse fixture holds next Tuesday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.

By Ganiyu Salman

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Amuneke

OACH of the Golden Eaglets which won the just-ended FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, Emmanuel Amuneke has defended the allegation of age discrepancy that his wards were overage for the cadet world championship.

Amuneke, while speaking on a local television programme on Friday said the critics of the Eaglets were unfair.

“I am surprised that people alleged that, those who are saying we paraded overage players are not fair, they are not realistic at all. Those who have doubts I think should make their complaints to FIFA and may be FIFA will provide them the information.

“In fact, we conducted the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests for about six times before we came up with this team. These are not all the boys who started the team about two years ago. This is the first time since 2012 Nigeria has the most correct U-17 team. All these boys play in soccer academies and not professional teams and that tells you that the future is bright for football in Nigeria and we will continue to do what is right,” said the Imo Stateborn tactician.

The 1994 African Footballer of the Year however, noted that the progression of cadet players into the senior teams in Nigeria has been difficult over times due to the authorities’ inability to invest.

“Let us be honest with ourselves, this issue of why Nigeria is not making much impact at the

senior level even came up while the tournament in Chile was going on and to me, it is simple, we are not investing.

“We don’t invest in these youthful players, we only believed they are talented but there is no platform for them to transform their talents into higher levels. Football has gone beyond talents alone, you have to prepare the players to combine the theoritical knowledge with the practical aspect of the game adequately. They must be tactically sound.

“When the players understand the theoritical aspect of the game, it will be easier for them to apply it in form of practical and the progression we are talking about would be easily achieved. Our players will always be making mistakes when they don’t have the opportunity to be taken through the normal process. The Argentines, the Brazilians are always made to pass through this system and that is why they always excel at the senior level. Look at the Spanish team which played in Nigeria at the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup, some of their players graduated to the senior team and even won the World Cup in 2010, (Charles) Puyol was one them. At the end of they (Spain) invested in their team and they won the World Cup in South Africa, but in Nigeria we are not telling ourselves the truth.

“We have people (football administrators) who are only interested in what will come to their pockets and not thinking of how the game will grow and make Nigerians happy. If we don’t spend money to prepare our players, there is no way we can compete well at the senior level,” said the Atlanta ’96 Olympics gold medallist.

Mourinho could succeed Benitez at Real —Calderon A return to Real Madrid is a possibility for Jose Mourinho, according to former Los Blancos president, Ramon Calderon, who suggests the under-fire Chelsea boss could replace Rafael Benitez.

Mourinho’s job has become the subject of immense speculation after a disastrous start to the season, with his side suffering seven defeats in their opening 12 Premier League matches.

However, the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, is prepared to be patient with the coach despite reports of unrest in the dressing room.

Although his three-year spell at Madrid was plagued by his disputes with Iker Casil-

las and a number of other players, he guided the team to a league title and three Champions League semi-finals, and Calderon believes he would be welcome back to the Santiago Bernabeu.

“It’s not a secret that the current Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, has backed Mourinho many times,” Calderon told Talksport.

“He likes him a lot and you can’t rule out seeing him again on the bench at the Bernabeu.

“I know it seems strange, but if Benitez doesn’t have a good season and Mourinho gets sacked by Chelsea, I insist you can’t rule out seeing him here again.

Mourinho

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. Telephone: 08165728976; 08073598322. E mail: saturdaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON EDITOR: LASISI OLAGUNJU. All Correspondence to P. O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 14/11/2015.