The Nation March 31, 2013

SURE-P largesse tears Lagos PDP apart –Page 4

P-SQUARE

Easter Tragedy: 12 killed in crash on Makurdi-Enugu highway –Page 4

The truth about our private jet Pages 34 & 39

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2447

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

N200.00

MARCH 31, 2013

BOKO HARAM

Disquiet in Presidency as North backs Sultan over amnesty – Page 2

Niger Delta leaders oppose proposal, blast Kwankwaso, others NSA opens talks with Algeria, Mauritania, over insurgency

At 103, griot says

‘I need a wife’ –Page 53

L-R: Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and wife, Bunmi; former Lagos State Gov., Bola Tinubu; Anambra State Gov. Peter Obi and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu after the thanksgiving service in honour of Anyaoku who turned 80 at St. Andrew Anglican Church, Obosi, yesterday.

Plateaukillings:Deathtollhits50 Two die in Gombe night attack

– Page 4

“It is clear that Chinua Achebe was haunted by a transcendental homelessness in which exile became a type of home and home became a place of exiles.”

SNOOPING AROUND Page 5

NEWS I

N spite of the position of the Presidency, Northern leaders are supporting the recommendation of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad for granting amnesty to leaders of Islamist Boko Haram sect.

The support is causing anxiety in government following fears that Northern leaders might not be keen in collaborating with the administration in tackling the insurgent menace.

It was also gathered that the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) had just returned from Algeria as part of steps to seek the support of neighbouring countries where Boko Haram leaders have purportedly relocated to.

But a former Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, yesterday raised it alarm that the insurgency was is getting out of hand.

Musa said the insurgency has reached a level that it would amount to a waste of time for President Goodluck Jonathan to be waiting for the leaders of the group to come out before he grants them amnesty.

Investigations show that Northern governors, Emirs, opinion and political leaders are backing the Sultan’s call for amnesty.

It was gathered that the Northern leaders were unhappy that the government did not take time to debrief the Sultan on the evidence at his disposal before rejecting his suggestion.

There were indications that the Sultan might have privileged information on the way out of the Boko Haram menace.

A top source who is in support of the Sultan’s call said: “The truth is that since the Sultan demanded amnesty for Boko Haram leaders, many Northern governors, leaders and Emirs have been backing him.

“Already, some Northern leaders have been angry that Sultan’s recommendation was just dismissed with a wave of hand by the President.

“They think the government needs to take a second look at Sultan’s suggestion or else it might end up not enjoying the support of the North in addressing the menace.

“Yet, there is no way the government can solve the Boko Haram challenge without the involvement of Northerners.”

But it was learnt that the National Security Adviser had been trying to persuade Northern leaders to appreciate that the President is not opposed to dialogue with the sect leaders.

Another source said: “The NSA has been making them to realize that the President is only after a well-tailored amnesty programme not just mere mouthing of such option.

“Dasuki said these Northern leaders should take cognizance of the fact that the government opted for dialogue option when he came on board and that was why he embarked on shuttles to all the troubled spots in the North and key opinion lead-

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Boko Haram: Disquiet in Presidency as North backs Sultan over amnesty • South-South leaders oppose proposal • NSA opens talks with Algeria, Mauritania, others FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Sunday Oguntola (Lagos) and Shola O’Neil (Warri) ers.”

As at press time, it was gathered that Dasuki had just returned from a trip to Algeria to plead for collaboration against Boko Haram following intelligence report that most of the wanted leaders of the sect are holed up in the desert nation.

A reliable security chief added: “In the last few weeks, Nigeria has been trying to open up talks with strategic neighbours. Besides leading a team to France, the NSA had collaborative talks with Algeria, Mauritania, Chad and Niger Republic.

“The exchange with neighbouring countries was necessitated by intelligence reports that both Boko Haram and Ansaru leaders are now operating outside Nigeria.”

But speaking with our correspondent yesterday, Musa, a former Kaduna State governor, asked Jonathan to have a rethink and declare amnesty for Boko Haram leaders.

He said: “The security situation is getting out of hand; it seems to be slipping off the control of security agencies. The Sultan is talking for Nigeria, not the North. President Goodluck Jonathan should give amnesty a deep thought. “ If this Boko Haram crisis is not solved, it will spread to all parts of the country. Let me remind you of the Nigerian civil war in the late 60s.

At a point, the late Biafran leader, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu took control of the South-East and the SouthSouth. When he was almost seizing the Mid-West in order to march to the SouthWest, all Nigerians knew that there was a major challenge at hand.

“The situation has reached such a level that asking the Boko Haram leaders to come out as the President had done is a waste of time.”

He asked, “How can he (president) say that these sect leaders are faceless when he is the chief security officer of the country, when he has so many of them in detention, and when the nation spends a quarter of its budget on security and defence?

“Secondly, Boko Haram leaders are already in detention. By now they should know those behind the sect.

•Pope Francis (C) leads the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday at the St Peter's basilica yesterday at the Vatican. Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil is a service held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. PHOTO: AFP

The President is not a market leader and he has to be in charge. He said in his own words that Boko Haram members are in his government. If he is unable to dialogue with them, then it is his fault.

“Those who are calling for dialogue are actually saving his government. Let him use those in detention to identify the leaders of Boko Haram and open dialogue with them.

When Yar’Adua realized the Niger Delta crisis was getting out of hand he did not wait for a long time to declare amnesty. And more militants came out to embrace amnesty than it was initially imagined.

Why can’t he do the same thing unless some forces in government are behind Boko Haram.”

Despite what appears to be growing Northern consensus, leading Niger-Delta leaders are rising against the amnesty calls.

President of Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of the Niger Delta, Prof Kimse Okoko, has kicked against it.

According to him, the sect had wasted too many lives and shown no remorse or commitment to dialogue.

“Boko Haram is an insurgency that I find difficult to reconcile with the calls for amnesty. It is an ongoing insurgency and these people have not laid down their arms so how can we even consider dialogue, let alone amnesty?’’

He argued that advocates of amnesty should remember members of the sect have not embraced dialogue or negotiation under any guise.

The former President of Ijaw National Congress (INC) also punctured claims by

Northerners that the Niger Delta region is deriving too much from the federation.

He stated that compared with the environmental degradation and massive fund contributions to the federation account, what the Niger Delta region receives as allocations is grossly inadequate.

Okoko said: “People should not be making these unscientific statements. If you look at the deprivations in our region and what we contribute to the nation, you discover we really do not get much.

“The only road linking the region, the East-West road has not been constructed after several decades. We have not been compensated for all that we are suffering and there is no commensurable returns for what we contribute.’’

He said such arguments would have been needless if Nigeria were practising true federalism.

“These people talking are politicians who do not have a clear idea of what is at stake.

We are talking development while they are politicking. Let’s control our resources and then we see who is really who.’’

Other prominent leaders from the Niger Delta region have faulted Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over his perceived justification of Boko Haram violence and his call for amnesty for members of the Islamic sect.

Ms. Ann Kio Briggs of the Ijaw Republican Assembly, former MEND leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, the Izon-Ebe Oil Producing Communities Forum (IOPCF) and pioneer Chair-

man of Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria, (TROMPCON) Pere Charles Ayemi Botu, yesterday reacted angrily to statements credited to the governor.

IOPCF President, Mr. Edougha Moses, accused the governor and other prominent northern politicians of hiding under the violence of Boko Haram to unleash mayhem on hapless Nigerians in order to score cheap political points.

He said, "The North should also know that using religion as a cover up to cause destruction of lives and properties with the ill motive of distracting President Goodluck Jonathan can no longer be acceptable to the oil and gas producing communities. The insecurity in the nation is hatched by evil machinations of those who wish (for) Nigeria's disintegration."

Ayemi-Botu said Kwankwaso's statement is in tandem with his "anti-Niger Delta antecedents." While noting that the Kano State Governor has a history of being against the people of the oil bearing communities, said the statement was also an eyeopener on the sponsors of the violence bedevilling the country.

He said northern politicians are behind the plot to make the country ungovernable having lost power.

"Kwankwaso could be one those sponsoring Boko Haram. It is an irony of fate that somebody of his status could open his mouth to incite a section of the country against the other. Is it because they think Niger Delta is getting too much that they want

to use Boko Haram to tear the country apart?"

He cautioned that the magnanimity of the Niger Delta people should not be taking for granted.

Media aide to Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), Paul Bebenimibo, decried the statement by the governor, describing it as careless and capable of plunging the country into another civil war.

He said: "It is unfortunate that Kwankwaso has a history of making very careless statement. It was he who recently advised Ibos to leave Kano State because government could no longer protect them."

Ms Ann KioBriggs also lambasted Kwankwaso for making statements unbecoming of his position and status, stressing that his utterance seems to justify violence as a means of objecting to perceived injustice.

She noted "Is he (Kwankwaso) saying that it is also not unjust that we suffer environmental degradation from oil exploration, that it is unfair that Bayelsa, which produce oil, has only eight local government areas while Kano has 44?

"I want to tell him it is not fair that Kano has 44 local government areas while Bayelsa which produces the money he is using to develop Kano and running of the 44 LGAs, has only eight. I want to tell him that that is not fair."

She said the position of Kwankwaso suggests that that Igbo, Yoruba and other ethnic groups should take up arms and hack hapless Nigerians to untimely death whenever they are displeased with government's policies.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

SURE-P Plateau killings: Death toll hits 50 • Two die in Gombe night attack largesse T tears PDP apart

By Remi Adelowo

A

FRESH round of crisis is brewing in the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the distribution of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds allocated to the state.

In a statement issued by a group in the party which calls itself ‘Concerned PDP Stakeholders, Lagos State’, they accused the coordinator of SUREP in the state, Chief Bode Oyedele, and another chieftain of the party, Chief Olabode George, of allegedly diverting the funds and also favouring their cronies and supporters as beneficiaries of the programme.

The statement, which was signed by Dr. Olusegun Oluwole, the coordinator of the group, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack Oyedele without further delay.

Describing Oyedele as lacking grassroots influence to mobilise support for the PDP in the 2015 general elections, the ‘concerned stakeholders’ called for the immediate dissolution of the Lagos State executive of the party, which it said its members were allegedly imposed by George.

While calling on Jonathan not to rely on some chieftains of the party, the group posited these individuals, including George and the chairman of the party in the state, Chief Tunji Shelle, do not command the followership of a majority of members of the party in the state.

But in his reaction to this allegation, Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Taofik Gani, denied the existence of the group.

He said, “We (PDP) don’t have anybody that bears that name (Oluwole) in our party.

The truth is, we are prepared for more of this blackmail. The strategy is to distract us but we won’t be distracted.”

On the alleged misappropriation of the SUREP funds, Taofik explained: “There is no money that has been given to Chief Bode Oyedele. As a matter of fact, the man (Oyedele) is not happy that he was saddled with this responsibility without being backed with funds. This allegation is all about the 2015 election, but all I can say is that we are prepared and we would not be deterred by such frivolous allegations.”

HE death toll in the week-long orgy of killings by unknown gunmen in several villages around Jos, Plateau State has risen to 50.

This figure was confirmed by officials of the Special Task Force (STF) yesterday, as authorities pleaded for peace over the Easter holiday. The attacks came as a string of unsolved killings continue to plague the region that has seen thousands killed in massacres in recent years. While a combined police and military presence still patrols Jos and other parts of Plateau State, many of the villages attacked sit in remote, rural corners of the state.

The most recent killings

happened on Friday night in the Barkin Ladi area, according to STF spokesman, Navy Lt. Jude Akpa. Attackers raided Bokkos town and killed nine people, fleeing before soldiers arrived, Akpa said. Emmanuel Lohman, a government official, said gunmen armed with assault rifles struck a village called Ratas and opened fire in the night while many there were sleeping.

Witnesses said the shooting lasted for almost two hours before the attackers fled. The villagers blamed nomadic Hausa-Fulani cattle herdsmen for the attack.

Muhammadu Nura, the state secretary of the cattle

breeders association, said Hausa-Fulani people had been killed in “reprisals” but denied herders were involved the attacks.

The figure of 50 people said to have been killed in attacks, includes an assault on Wednesday on a village in the Riyom local government area that killed 28 people and an attack on Thursday in the Bokkos local government area that killed 18 civilians.

The military said it killed six while trying to repel attackers during the assault.

Meanwhile, the management committee chairman of Barkin Ladi local government area of Plateau State, Emmanuel Lohman, has

commended the personnel of the Special Task Force on Jos crisis saying but for their constant patrols around the villages in the area there would have been another bloody night yesterday.

Loman who spoke in Jos yesterday while giving an update on the renewed killing of people by suspected hired Fulani gunmen said STF personnel prevented another round of bloody killings because of their constant patrol of the area.

The council chairman commended the STF personnel for their professional conduct, noting that the council will support them in the bid to rid the area of the killers.

Meanwhile, the Police in

Gombe State have confirmed the killing of two people when gunmen attacked Kumo Police Division in Akko Local Government Area on Friday night.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Mohammed Sule, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe that the dead were among the attackers.

He said the police recovered one AK 47 rifle and two motorcycles from the attackers.

“As far as I am concerned, none of my men was killed.

What I know is that two of the attackers were killed and we recovered one AK 47 rifle and two motorcycles,” he said.

Sule, however, said he was expecting details of the incident since it occurred in the night.

He decried the lack of information from the public to enable the police to prevent such attacks.

Some residents of Kumo town told NAN on telephone that they heard sounds of gunshots when the attackers came in the night.

They said they could not sleep in the night because of the exchange of fire between the police and the attackers.

Easter tragedy: 12 killed in Benue From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

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•President Goodluck Jonathan with Chief Hannah Awolowo during the visit yesterday

Jonathan condoles with Awolowo family

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MID heavy security within and the outside the Ikenne home of the pantheon of Yoruba politics, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday paid a condolence visit to the matriarch of Awo’s family, Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo, over the death of Chief Oluwole Awolowo.

Jonathan who was ushered into the sprawling Awolowo’s compound by the Ogun State Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun, where he met Mama HID, assured the family that his administration would render necessary support to the children of the deceased.

The late Awolowo, until his death last Wednesday at Wellington Hospital, St. Johnswood, London, was Mama and the late Papa Awo’s only surviving son and Publisher/ Vice Chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, (publishers of Tribune titles). He was aged 70.

The former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, and the family members were on ground to receive the President.

Earlier before his arrival around 2: 55p.m in a military chopper marked NAF 571, heavy security - undercover

• Says death painful but God knows why it happened Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta agents, operatives of the State Security Service(SSS), the Nigerian Army, the Police and the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were sighted keeping vigil at strategic locations in Awo’s home and streets leading to it.

Visitors and vehicles in the area were frisked and asked to keep moving.

Jonathan who sounded philosophical over the death of Oluwole said it was painful but added that only God knows why it happened at the time it did.

He condoled with Mama, the family and prayed that God grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

He said:”Mama accept our condolence. It’s a period that we lack words even though as a teacher and politician in some cases though I’m generally somebody of very few words. But in some situations, even the very few words disappear.

“So we really lack words to express our feelings. Ordinarily at 70, which is why I have said that from Biblical injunction, three scores and ten, is an age where you thank God to attain, especially in a country where the average life

span is quite below 50.

“But under the circumstances, his death is painful to all of us. To me, I’ve seen the way the Awolowo family has taken me as their own and I would have loved to be here almost every day.

“Gbenga Daniel can attest

to that. You have taken me as your own; this is not the period to say it and I have the opportunity to say that and the whole world can know. I remain grateful to you for integrating me into the great Awolowo family.

WELVE persons were killed in a ghastly motor accident on Makurdi-Enugu federal highway on Easter Friday.

An eyewitness told The Nation that the accident occurred when an 18-seater Volkswagen conveying passenger in an attempt to overtake a stationary lorry had a head on collision with a Toyota Corolla which was coming from the opposite direction.

Ten passengers died in the bus while two died in the Corolla which was burnt to ashes.

Eye witnesses linked the high casualty to the fire which prevented rescuers from going near the vehicles.

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

The Census of Ghosts U

NHOLY ghosts!!! It is profoundly ironic that on the same day that Jesus Christ resurrected, Nigeria should be dealing with so many ghosts. Without any doubt, the Boko Haram sect has become the greatest threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria since the Civil War. The organization, as expected of all guerrilla outfits, is shadowy and shrouded in mystery. Whatever its provenance, whether secular or theocratic in inspiration, no insurgent group worth its salt goes about brandishing the names of its core leadership.

The government has repeatedly made it known that it does not negotiate with ghosts. Since ghosts are hardly visible entities, this is an eminently sensible position to take. You cannot sit down to talk or negotiate

I

T is the post-colonial condition, stupid. For the past one week, Africa, Nigeria and the Igbo people have been mourning the exit of one of their most illustrious sons ever.

Chinua Achebe has joined the galaxy of illustrious and distinguished patriots haunting the nation from inner and outer space. These distinguished avatars, men and women alike, will not rest in peace until Nigeria gets it right, or until the old colonial Ajele returns to disband the costly charade and chicanery.

For a man who had a supreme and acute sense of beginnings, the great author also had a magnificent sense of an ending. It was a grand departure, exquisitely and exactingly timed to provoke maximum anguish and anxiety. When Achebe released his controversial war memoirs titled There Was A Country, snooper had a premonition that this was the old man’s parting shot at his crass compatriots.

It was a grand Philippic and Parthian all rolled into one, dripping with fire, venom and thunder.

Achebe has repudiated the nation as it is for the nation as it was or as it ought to be. It was an epic rejection of form and content. Achebe, the former Biafran oligarch, almost came close to declaring himself a former Nigerian.

But if there was a country, there is also a country, despite its grave imperfections. There is no point in dwelling on the more unfortunate aspects of Achebe’s war memoirs. It was an angry and robust putdown, a savage indictment if you like. The adversarial posture ought to serve as a warning and timely reminder to intellectual and political elites who push and proxy their people into needless bloodbath. There are war criminals and there are war criminals.

For a person like Snooper who grew up in a political household where the late Zik was adored, and where the great man once sat in the early fifties speaking perfect and flawless Yoruba, it was a moment of excruciating agony. In the end, it is clear that Chinua Achebe was haunted by a transcendental homelessness in which exile became a type of home and home became a place of exiles, strange otherworldly characters and their putrid posturing. The home of the homeless is homelessness. We might as well add hopelessness.

The post-colonial condition is particularly hard and harsh on the great and gifted writers. It turns them into political hermits and mental recluses. In its worst manifestation, it turns them into psychological wreckages, leading to permanent exile or internal self-deportation without parole or the possibility of exit mercy visa. This is because as artists—and adult enfant terrible—they are at the frontiers of the psychic unease and the great psycho-social dramas of their society. It is a situation that does not lend itself to equivocations or evasion of the truth

(An Easter Combo)

with an unperson, somebody who is simply not there. Yet at the last count, these ghosts have killed almost half a million Nigerians in the last three years and still counting.

The trauma of a ghost country is compounded by its inability to trace or account for its own ghosts. Something will have to be done to bring the government of ghosts and the ghost of government together before we all become ghosts.

The entire country is swamped by ghosts. Ghosts have laid a siege to the country. At the moment, four principal types of ghosts can be identified. There are arms-bearing ghosts, otherwise known as the Boko Haram insurgents. These are the ghosts that

have been killing other people. They have struck fear and trepidation into the heart of the people. The entire land is flowing with blood and tears.

The second group of ghosts are the economic ghosts. These are the ghost workers who cost government billions every month. Among the ghost workers are the miracle workers of the temporal ministries who facilitate the ghost workers. There are also the ghost barons who help with phantom subsidies and of course the pension thieves who vanish into thin air like ghosts.

The third group are the political ghosts. These are the ghosts of pensioners who have died waiting for their pensions and politicians who

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu have been killed in strange and suspicious circumstances. The particular group of ghosts are notorious for not resting in peace or allowing others to rest in peace. Then there are the holy ghosts and spiritual merchants who spiritually launder the loot.

The last group are the ghostwriters. These are the literary ghosts, writers, journalists, historians and columnists, who help others to prepare or settle accounts, particularly where and when disputes arise in the other

groups over the allocation of resources, or the allocation of economic, military and political casualties. A columnist who chooses to wear the cloak of anonymity is for example a ghost writer In view of this plethora of ghosts in the land, snooper brings to you this morning a short excerpt from the novel, Bulletin From the Land of Living Ghosts published eleven years ago in 2002. It shows once again how fiction can anticipate reality.

Now, the ghost of Chinua Achebe

• Achebe

as they see it. They do not come to praise Caesar but to bury him.

Whenever Achebe’s name and memory are recalled, what will come to mind is his adamantine personal and professional integrity. It was an implacable integrity, remorseless and unyielding in its obsessions and towering moral rage and revulsion. Ultimately, it was a disruptive integrity, as disruptive of the status quo in pre and post-Biafran Nigeria as it was of delicate nation-building in a crippled country..

We cannot grudge such a great man his choices. There were a few great German writers and philosophers who did not deem it fit to explain to their compatriots what they were doing with NAZISM. They went to their grave in stony silence. Knut Hamsun, the Norwegian literary ava-

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HAT was the beginning of the journey of the general, or to put it more accurately, the beginning of the journey of his coffin, to the Cemetery of Patriots. Certain journeys are reversible, and certain journeys are irreversible. Certain destinations are returnable, and certain destinations are irreturnable.

Whatever the nature of the general’s journey and destination, it was to be a harbinger of greater stress and crisis for the country. Whether there was any connection between the two events could not be ascertained as at the time this chronicle of the travails of the people of Muleria was put together. What could be ascertained was that shortly after the night of horror at the Cemetery of Patriots, that was a few months shy of twenty-one years after the great warlord disappeared, the entire nation became a ghost country.

tar, simply froze in arctic dumbness.

Neither did Ezra Pound deem it fit to divulge the reason behind his Anglo-American baiting. They were all Hitler’s willing literary executioners. Had he been apprehended during the civil war, Chinua Achebe would have maintained the same impassive silence if not an outburst of angry contempt.

There is a sense in which it can be argued that Chinua Achebe took his integrity from the cultural matrix of his Igbo people. Given what many see as the faithlessness and opportunistic chicanery of the dominant faction of contemporary Igbo elite in post-Biafran Nigeria, this might sound like a cruel joke. But there is no doubt that before colonial Nigeria, the Igbo society was arguably the most radical and revolutionary.

It was, and is, a society in which everybody is a monarch and a monad. The energies released by this fiercely republican ethos would have served as a durable building block for a novel and thoroughly revolutionary society in which man was the measure of all things. It takes considerable personal integrity and some strength of character to sustain this streak of volcanic independence.

But in a larger conglomeration of mutually contradictory nationalities, it can lead to a more severe ethical disorientation, particularly if it comes into conflict and collision with empire builders who rely more on communal strength rather than the valour of the exceptional individual. It is better to bond and bind together in an iron colonial cage where everybody is clawing at everybody to death. Even the solitary lion is vulnerable to a pack of adamant wolves.

Significantly, Arrow of God opens on a blood-splattered canvas. The normal thing is for gods to kill off humans, like flies to wanton boys, to echo Shakespeare. But here we find humans killing off gods when they could no longer pass muster and after they have outlived their usefulness. Viewing this revolutionary anthropomorphism with unease and considerable apprehension, Wole Soyinka described the novel as a “dogged secularization of the profoundly mystical.”

But it is obvious that Soyinka was viewing things from the cultural matrix of his Yoruba people, a people with a thousand virile gods who cannot and must not be disturbed in their lordly repose. After the Fulani jihadists overran their old empire, the Yoruba acquiesced in the formation of a new Oyo to replace the old Oyo. They knew in their heart that the old empire was gone, but they also knew that they needed a new mystical rallying point to preserve the sa-

The land of ghosts It was not just the odd sighting of the old general, or the customary reports of some ghosts in the city and the country side. Things soon assumed an epidemic proportion. There was a plague of ghosts. Ghosts were sighted everywhere: in homes, schools, churches, mosques, buses, courtrooms, barracks, campuses, offices, banks, hospitals and everywhere two or three people were likely to gather.

The entire nation was bursting with wraiths and apparitions. The problem was that there was no hiding place. Unlike a war with well-defined zones and sectors, these were hostilities without bounds or boundaries. It was as if the dead had decided to return en masse. The stress and strain began to take its toll on a nor-

mally cheerful and ebullient people.

And it was not ghosts alone. There were other spirits, too: fairies, daemons, goblins, gremlins, gnomes, sprites, imps and all manner of supraterrestrial terrorists. From being haunted by the ghost of mismanagement, the government found itself confronted by the mismanagement of ghosts. And it succumbed to both.

First it warned about rumourmongering and threatened to deal ruthlessly with anybody peddling ghost stories. Then after its own deliberations about ghosts were reportedly abridged by ghosts, it confessed that there were indeed ghosts everywhere but that it had awarded contracts to ward off the invasion.

Certain national landmarks were

cred notions of the nationality. If the new hegemon punches above his real weight, the maverick and royalty devouring Ibadan Army was there to put him in his real place. This was the brilliant political motif of an endangered people that Obafemi Awolowo brought to bear on the formation of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa..

The question to ask is whether people and nations need a dash and good dosage of mystery or a splash of political sorcery to preserve their sacred self-notion and to serve as a rallying symbol of unity. The British know that their royal rulers are of German extraction, but they have held on to this noble fable to serve as the ultimate national symbol and talisman. The only special request the Japanese demanded from their American conquerors was to allow them to retain their royalty.

Until the Nigerian political elite sit down to understand and appreciate the strengths and constraints of the diverse cultures that make up the nation and then find the way and will to turn these into resources of redemptive nation building, it will continue to be a dialogue of the deaf in a dying nation. The various pre-independent colonial conferences could not have done this. They were merely pre-tournament briefings before the gladiators were unleashed on themselves in a duel unto death. What a Homeric mayhem it has been!

On a personal note, snooper has very warm and fond memories of Chinua Achebe. He was the first person to publish an academic paper by the columnist. This was in Okike, way back in 1981. He was the very epitome of kindness and courtesy There was a touching correspondence which continued even after snooper relocated to the University of Sheffield in Britain. Thereafter, the post-colonial condition intervened. May the soul of the great man rest in peace. designated as Places of Burnt Offerings from Offending Children of Muleria to Their Offended Gods. A million doves were buried alive.

Spiritual contractors, merchants of mayhem and other profiteers and parasites of popular misfortune smiled to the bank. There was an astronomical rise in the sale of frankincense, olibanum, absinthe and other incenses from the middle-east, Arabia, Persia and India.

No household was complete without ethereal smoke wafting from the roof and the entire nation was soon engulfed in a cloud of fragrant vapour. Smart-alecs set up corner shops selling ghost charms, ghost amulets and, failing that, wands that could turn people into ghosts. It became customary to ask strangers: “Are you sure you are not a ghost?”Invariably, only the bravest of souls waited for the answer.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

EASTER GREETINGS Emulate Christ, Yero, ACF tell Christians From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

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ADUNA State Governor, Mukthar Ramalan Yero and the pan northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday asked Christians to use the period of the Easter celebration to lay more emphasis on peaceful coexistence and tolerance.

In their separate Easter messages to Christians, Governor Yero and the ACF said that the teachings of Jesus Christ lay emphasis on peace, adding that it is necessary for Christians to emulate Jesus Christ as the epitome of humility, tolerance, love, patience and forgiveness.

A message by the director general, Media and Publicity Ahmed Maiyaki, to the governor said “He (the governor) particularly urged them to adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ which places great emphasis on peace, love and tolerance to all.

He therefore called on Christians to emulate Jesus Christ as the epitome of humility, tolerance, love, patience and forgiveness.”

In its own message by its National publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, the ACF said “Arewa Consultative Forum wishes to commemorate with Christians over the crucifixion and the subsequent resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the express purpose of reconciling humanity to God through grace and love. And that is why we are now one, and no more divided into Gentiles and Chosen ones.”

He called on all to live as brothers and sisters.

‘Opportunity for better service to mankind’

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KITI State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has urged Christians to see Easter as an opportunity to offer a better service to God and mankind.

In his Easter message by his chief press secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, the governor said Jesus Christ who died for the sins of mankind had paid the supreme price for the salvation of man.

He charged Christians to emulate the sacrificial nature of Jesus Christ by committing themselves to serve their Creator and fellow human beings better by exhibiting piety and love.

He also congratulated them for the successful completion of the Lent, which culminated in the Easter celebration.

Let’s keep hope alive, says Okonkwo

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HE Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr Mike Okonkwo, has urged Nigerians to remain hopeful despite the many challenges facing them.

He said the nation would experience a turnaround if citizens dare to believe and work towards it.

Okonkwo, in his Easter message, said: “As we commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have an assurance that whatever is dead can come alive if handed over to the Almighty God.” He challenged Christians to emulate the sterling qualities of Christ and continue to live above rancour, bickering and violence.

Jonathan sues for peace, oneness

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves to living in peace and oneness with members of their communities no matter their ethnicity, religious beliefs or places of origin.

The president made the plea in his Easter message released by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity,

Dr Reuben Abati.

The president said, “I greet and felicitate with you all as we celebrate Easter, which commemorates the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, after his redemptive self-sacrifice for the eternal salvation of mankind.

“By now, it ought to be an accepted fact amongst us that our immense potential

for greatness in the comity of nations derives in the main from our collective strength as a country of close to 170 million people and the acclaimed richness of our diverse human resources and natural endowments.”

President Jonathan said the people must also continue to effectively resist the evil machinations of global terrorists and their mis-

guided domestic accomplices, “who seek to provoke turmoil, hatred and harmful divisions among us.”

He said that the security agencies, armed forces and the administration would continue to discharge their constitutional responsibilities to protect the unity and territorial integrity of the country with all the powers and forces at their disposal.

Amaechi seeks for prayers, forgiveness

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IVERS State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has enjoined Christians to pray fervently for the nation and its leaders and take advantage of the Easter period to show love and forgiveness.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, said the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was a clear indication of the love of God for mankind and urged Christians to always emulate Jesus Christ and imbibe the virtues of love and forgiveness.

“Let me call on Christians to always pray for the growth of Nigeria. We should also remember that it was out of love that Christ died and forgave us of our sins, so we should also learn to love and forgive one another. That’s a sure path to building a better nation,” Amaechi said.

Strive for unity, Akpabio appeals

C •From left: Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli, First lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola; CEO, Founder of Awesome Treasures, Mrs Jumoke Adenowo and CEO, Tara Fela-Durotoye during the 2013 Women’s Prayer Summit (NWPS) at the MUSON Centre, Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: NNEKA NWANERI

Ajimobi felicitates with Christians

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S Christians all over the world mark this year’s Easter celebrations, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has called on all to imbibe the spirit of love, togetherness and renewed commitment to Nigeria’s unity and peaceful co-existence.

The governor, in his message by his special adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said that it was only in the atmosphere of peace and tranquillity that the country could witness an all-round development.

He urged Nigerians to emulate Jesus Christ who offered himself as a living sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. According to him, “Easter is not about wining and dining. Rather, it is an oc-

casion to realise that we need to love one another as exhibited by God who, out of his love for mankind, offered Jesus Christ to die for our sins and to give life more abundantly.”

He also lauded Christians,

Kumuyi urges Christians to emulate Christ

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HE General Superintendent, Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William F. Kumuyi, yesterday urged Christians expecting God’s reward to emulate Jesus and live as he did.

In a sermon delivered at

the Church’s ongoing National Easter Retreat in Lagos, he said, only Christians who sacrificed and suffer the way Christ did that should expect to be crowned by God. He said, “A life that has been saved from damnation

Show love, make sacrifice, Fashola appeals

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AGOS State Governor, Babatunde Fashola has called on residents to use the opportunity that Easter provided to show love to one another and make sacrifices for the overall good of the society.

In a message by his Special adviser on media, Mr Hakeem Bello, the governor said it was through love and sacrifice that they could uphold Christ‘s legacy of service to humanity.

He said the season should

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compel them to review and reflect on their roles in promoting and sustaining that foundation of love and peace that Christ laid and added that it was also a time to show more commitment to the development of the society.

“Therefore, as we celebrate the Easter in sober recollection of Christ’s crucifixion, let us think about how we can each help to steer our nation back on the road to peace, by working in the spirit of oneness,“ he added.

through faith by Christ must be lived for the glory of Christ and not in pursuit of earthly things that are temporary. The glories of the earth pass away but the people who do the will of God will live forever.”

According to Kumuyi, identification with Christ and His death on the cross must bring changes in character, in thought and in the expressions of Christians who expect a reward of eternal life with crowns in heaven.

He called on Christians to be obedient to the commandments of God.

Oshiomhole preaches sacrifice, righteousness

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OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says Nigeria will attain her full potentials when citizens resolve to live a life of sacrifice and righteousness.

In his Easter message by his chief press secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, Oshiomhole

media aide, Akume said, “I want all of us to see this Easter not as a festival of foods and wines only but as a solemn opportunity for Nigerians to take stock and reflect deeply over our actions and inactions as well as commune with the Almighty in appreciation

for sending His son to die for our salvation and also to implore Him to give us the much needed peace and a better future as a nation. It is also a time when we, like our Lord, should begin to imbibe the virtue of selfsacrifice for the ultimate good of all.”

From, Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

Akume greets Christians

HE Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, has urged Christians to see the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as an assurance of “overcoming the difficulties that have blighted our nation in recent times.”

In a message by his

Muslims and other religious adherents in the state for their peaceful co-existence, urging them to continue in their prayers for his administration so that the state could be taken to greater height.

said: “As we commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who gave his life as a sacrifice for mankind, I enjoin the Christian faithful to toe the footsteps of their progenitor and emulate his spirit of peace, love, sacrifice and righteousness.

“The Bible teaches that ‘righteousness exalts a nation’.

We must therefore be ready to wear the garment of righteousness in our dealings with one another; we must imbibe the spirit of love for one another and forgiveness to heal the wounds of the nation.”

HIEF Godswill Akpabio, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State has described Easter as the most important event in the Christian calendar, and called on all not to lose the meaning of the season.

He urged Christians in the state to learn a lesson from Christ’s sacrificial death, and be more committed to service to humanity, even as they deepen their aspirations for a greater Akwa Ibom State.

He expressed happiness that through righteousness and truth, as espoused in the teachings of Jesus Christ, the state today stands in the midst of what it and our country celebrate as “uncommon transformation.”

Akpabio reiterated that his administration shall continue to raise the bar of governance, and make all Akwa Ibom people proud in all aspects of human endeavours.

Mark emphasises peace, forgiveness From Onyedi Ojiabor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

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RESIDENT of the Senate, David Mark, yesterday urged Christians and all Nigerians to continue to live in peace and harmony with one another as demonstrated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He stated this in his Easter message, noting that Christ died on the cross of Calvary as a sacrificial lamb and for the forgiveness of sins of mankind.

He further urged Nigerians to use the season of Easter as a period of reconciliation with each other exhibited by Christ in his death. In a statement by his special adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, Mark said: “There are lessons we must learn from the sacrifice Jesus made the cross of Calvary.”

The Senate president also called on the Boko Haram sect and other warring groups across the country to “sheathe their swords and embrace peace and forgiveness as one people and nation with a common destiny.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

Ekweremadu bemoans weak regulatory agencies

‘98 percent sugar imported’ From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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HE Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike E k w e r e m a d u , yesterday criticised regulatory and enforcement agencies in the country for performing below expectations.

Ekweremadu, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Director General (DG) of National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Peter Igho, accused government of appointments of leaders of government agencies and parastatals.

He said: "There are so many sectors in Nigeria with potentials which if you put the right people there, they will make a difference.

"We need more of regulatory and enforcement agencies in order to get our people do the right thing.

Ekweremadu said despite the media background of the DG, Igho brought significant development to the lottery sector, created employment and generated revenue for the government.

According to him, the commission was able to sanitise the society through lottery and re-orientate the public on the misconception of lottery as gambling.

He called for more enlightenment on the operations of the commission.

Igho said since his assumption, the commission has saved over N3billion with additional over N20 billion won by beneficiaries.

He added that staff strength also grew from 11 to over 1, 000.

Northern govs mourn Awolowo From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

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HE Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has described the death of the publisher of Tribune Newspapers, Mr. Oluwole Awolowo, as a great loss to journalism and humanity.

Chairman of the Forum and governor of Niger State, Dr Mu'azu Aliyu, said the contributions of the late Awolowo as a publisher will remain evergreen.

A statement signed by Aliyu's chief Press secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, said: ''Thanks to the vision, commitment and hard work of the late publisher and the hordes of journalists and others who have worked or are still working at The Tribune, the paper has become a leading light in our country's media industry."

The governors expressed hope that the generation of journalists who benefited from the immense knowledge and managerial acumen of the late publisher will keep the flag flying by protecting his legacies.

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• Madumere taking the Oath of Office during his swearing-in ceremony... yesterday

I was very fond of Agbaso, says Okorocha …as new deputy takes oath of office

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MO State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, yesterday bemoaned the impeachment of his former deputy, Jude Agbaso He said: "It is unfortunate that Agbaso left office under the circumstance he did."

Okorocha described the impeached deputy governor as a young man he was very fond of stating: "I cherish the Agbaso's family but government has to move on".

Speaking during the swearing-in- ceremony of the new deputy governor, Prince Eze Madumere, at the Sam Mbakwe expanded Exco Chamber, Okorocha noted providence brought Madumere to office.

Facing Madumere, he said: "responsibility has fallen on your shoulders.

You must remain committed to delivering the rescue mission agenda, and to succeed in the job of delivering the dividends of democracy to the people, there must be sacrifice.

"To succeed, you must not think of the next election, but how to improve the lot of the people."

Shortly after taking the oath of office administered by the state chief judge, Benjamin Njemanze, the new deputy governor stated: "I never dreamt of becoming the deputy governor of Imo State. Circumstances have made me the deputy governor."

He added: "Although the circumstances that removed Agbaso from office were not pleasant, I still wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Restating his commitment to the rescue mission agenda of the government,

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

Madumere, assured "as an Apostle of the rescue mission, I will remain committed to the actualisation of the vision of the state gov-

ernment."

Madumere, until his emergence after Agbaso was impeached by the Imo State House of Assembly, was the chief of staff to Governor Okorocha, a po-

sition he held for about two years Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, yesterday bemoaned the impeachment of his former deputy, Jude Agbaso.

Aregbesola warns against religious violence in Osun

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SUN State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has warned fundamentalists against using religion to cause confusion and destabilise the state.

Speaking at the swearing-in of the executive secretaries of the 30 local government areas and one area office in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, he said religion is too sensitive an instrument to use for sectarian violence.

He said the Yoruba people respect all religions and do not fight over religious affiliations.

Aregbesola noted that disgruntled elements are sponsoring crisis as well as

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

promoting hatred and division among the people.

The governor said: "We don't fight over religion in Yoruba land. Religion is a very sensitive instrument which must not be used to cause chaos and disharmony.

"Yoruba people respect all religions. They have not and will never fight over religion. Our people will never be influenced by their dastardly act.

"In all the religions, salvation is personal. It is not collective. Those who want to use religion to destabilise the state will meet their

waterloo."

Aregbesola pointed out Osun people have seen the difference between the former administration and the current government, which is focused primarily on welfare of citizens.

He commended the local government secretaries for their performance, organisation and clear thinking.

He stated that the renewal of the local government bosses' mandate was informed by the initiation of an unprecedented rural and community developments in collaborations with the councils about eight weeks ago.

IGERIA imports 98 percent of its sugar consumption, the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has said.

The minister also decried the nation's $1 billion annual import of fruit juice and citrus concentrates into the country.

Adesina said though the nation is blessed with potentials of producing sugar, citrus and other farm commodities, it lacks the capacity to maximise them.

He spoke while receiving delegates from Coca-Cola led by the firm's president, Central, East and West Africa, Mr. Kelvin Balogun, at the weekend in Abuja.

Adesina said: "As you look at the sugar market today, we have a situation where Nigeria itself is importing 98 percent of its sugar and only has 2 percent selfsufficiency in sugar production."

The minister identified needs for the firm to partner the ministry and reduce huge importation of the commodities.

Ukaeje dies at 75

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UNIVERSITY scholar, Prof. Inno Ukaeje is dead.

Aged 75, he passed away at a private hospital in Dakar, Senegal from complications arising from stroke.

The professor of Political Science with specialisation in International Relations and Political Economy lectured in several American universities before returning in 1979 to Nigeria.

He was at the University of Lagos (1979 – 1981); University of Calabar (19811990) and University of Abuja (1990 -2006) before retirement.

He was survived by a wife, six children, grand children and other relations.

OOU to recall sacked lecturers, others HOUSANDS of graduates of Olabisi Onbanjo University (OOU), Ago - Iwoye, who left the institution since 2005 without certificates following tardy procedures can now heave a sigh of relief.

The acting Vice - chancellor, Prof. Sabur Adesanya, said no fewer than 6, 403 of them would be conferred with degrees, higher degrees and diplomas of the university and they will soon get their certificates.

Adesanya made this known to reporters ahead of the institution's 22nd convocation slated for Tuesday.

He assured other

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•Certificates ready for 6,403 graduands From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta categories of graduands particularly the none regulars (part- timers) whose names may not reflect in the current convocation and said they should not entertain any worry.

According to him, the matters affecting their academic records are being sorted out with dispatch to ensure that they collect their certificates soonest with others.

He said the school was already upgrading its transcript process to enable graduates pursue further

education in other universities.

To achieve this, the vice chancellor disclosed that the university had started the computerisation process so that graduates could easily access their transcript via internet.

Adesanya said the school's management, in conjunction with the Senate had approved results from the 2004/2005 academic session till 2012/2013 academic session.

The acting VC also pledged that about 2,000 students would be provided with hostel accommodation on or before December.

This, he said, is part of

measures towards gradually phasing out of off - campus policy.

Adesanya revealed that the institution currently enjoys full accreditation of all its 56 academic programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

He, however, lamented that the school was still facing the challenge of staff, adding that some lecturers disengaged by the university authorities would soon be recalled.

He said: "We have challenges right now about staffing and we, in the next few months or days, will be recalling some of our staffs that were disengaged sometimes ago." back to work.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

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We shall support Orji’s candidate, says Ngwa politicians From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

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GROUP of Ngwa politicians, led by Rt. Hon. Christopher Enweremadu, has thrown their weight behind an Ukwa-Ngwa gubernatorial candidate nominated by Governor Theodore Orji as his successor come 2015 general election.

The group made their position known in Aba after a courtesy visit to the Oha Ngwa Traditional Rulers Council (an umbrella body of traditional rulers in Ngwaland).

According to Enweremadu, “Today, we took advantage of the periodic meeting of traditional rulers in Ngwaland under the auspices of Oha Ngwa Traditional Rulers Council, to update them on the current political developments in our area as it affects some of us.

“One being that we see the need for the Ngwa man to continue to support the present administration in the state, led

by Theodore Orji. We see that as a way to pay back for so many good things he has done in this state. It is only a man that is alive that can begin to enjoy the pleasures of life. The numerous achievements of this state under Orji cannot be overemphasised. And we are also grateful that we are not the only ones that have acknowledged the importance of security in the state.”

Orient Oil: Tension in Anambra as armed men invade Aguleri-Otu

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GULERI-OTU people in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State on Friday fled their homes following invasion by the people of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The Echonwa and Odeke war mongers allegedly burnt more than 200 houses and other properties worth millions of naira, even as three people were reportedly kidnapped.

President General of Mkpunando comprising all the arms that made up AguleriOtu, Reverend Edwin Chukwuemeka, confirmed the fresh attacks to The Nation in a telephone interview.

He said more rampaging youths from Kogi State invaded them, forcing their youths, who were looking for

• 400 houses burnt, three people missing From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

peace, to avoid blood bath but appealed to the federal government to intervene before his people resort to self defense.

He said Kogi State people from Ibaji cannot win a war with them but they would not want to fight Kogi people sequel to negative publicity they have incurred from previous wars they had with some of their neigbours.

The Echonwa and Odeke people had invaded the Okpali and Okpeze Aguleri-Otu, Anambra East local government.

The Transition Committee Chairman of Anambra East Local Government Area, Comrade Chiedu Obidigwe,

confirmed the attack on Aguleri-Otu people. He, however, described the attack as unprovoked invasion on his people as they are not ready for war. He accused the Kogi State Government and Ibaji Local Government of fuelling the war.

Obidigwe said, “I am personally accusing the Kogi State government and the chairman of Ibaji local government area of inciting their people against our people as they have not done anything tangible to contain the excesses of their people. ‘’The chairman of Ibaji LGA has done nothing to stop his people from invading us but I have day in day out reached out to our people not to take

up arms to avoid outright war with the people of Ibaji and Kogi at large.

“We are not interested in fighting the Echonwa and Odeke from Kogi State. They have invaded us and as I speak to you, our people have been invaded at Okpali Aguleri-Otu, and Okpeze Aguleri by the Kogi people. They are burning houses and chasing our people away from their ancestral homes and land in an unprovoked attack.

“Two of our people got bullet wounds, two motorcycles were burnt with properties worth several millions of naira. As at now, nobody was killed and two people were arrested and taken to the police station.

Public debate: ACN welcomes Amaechi’s challenge From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rivers State chapter, has described as a welcome development, the public debate challenge by Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

The ACN in Rivers, through its Publicity Secretary, Jerry Needam, yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, stated that the debate should be anchored by either the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) or the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Rivers, main opposition party said: “We feel delighted that the Rivers State governor has at last accepted to be joined in a public debate, a forum we have over the years advocated.

“We commend the governor for taking, even though that long, the bold step in offering himself for the public debate, but we wonder why officials of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shy away from engaging in such forum, giving the impression that there are skeletons in their cupboards.

“The beauty of democracy is about the availability of the leaders to the people and the people always having access to their leaders and resources in terms of knowledge and making decision on the utilisation of the resources.

“The leaders function as custodians and managers of the peoples’ resources and are bound to at all times report and give explanations of their activities to the people.”

•L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr. kayode Fayemi; President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwahed Omar; and Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaiye, during the conferment of Otunba Atayeshe on the NLC President by the Oluyin in IyinEkiti…yesterday

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NE life has been lost to the renewed Lassa fever outbreak in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

A 33-year-old trader in building materials has been reportedly killed by the fever in Port Harcourt.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, disclosed this in a statewide broadcast to the people of the state yesterday. He said the victim died at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

Parker regretted the loss and appealed to residents to report early to hospital when presented with serious fever.

He said the state has made adequate preparations to ensure no further lives are lost.

The health commissioner described the disease as a fast killer, saying that it is highly communicable.

He, however, assured that it could be treated if reported early.

Parker said a special ward has been prepared for adequate and efficient treatment of anyone found with the disease.

This is the second time the state is being hit by the infection within one year interval.

It was among the 11 states of the country where the disease was reported last year.

Some lives, including that of a hospital nurse and a youth

Lassa fever kills one in Rivers From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt

corps member posted to the state, were lost at last year’s attack.

The commissioner said the germ is found in rodents, especially the multi-mammal rats; and could be contacted by direct contact with the rat droppings (faeces, and urine).

“Lassa Fever is a viral dis-

ease of animals which infects man through rodents.

“It is spread by direct contact with infected feaces/urine of rats and inhalation of their infected aerosols. Persons to person contact through infected urine blood, semen and aerosols of the infected individuals is also well documented.

“The common symptoms

which manifest after about 621 days incubation period include fever, rigor, cough, muscle pain, sore, throat, facial swelling, weakness, diarrhea, constipation, seizures, deafness and unexpected bleeding.

When identified early in the symptomatic state, individuals chances of recovery with antiviral treatment are very high.”

‘INEC, under legal duty to register APC’

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S the intrigues surrounding the registration of the mega party, All Progressives Congress (APC), continue, a legal expert, Dr Sonny Ajala, has warned that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is under legal duty to register the party as quickly as possible.

Ajala gave the advise even as a member of the Board of Trustees of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Dr. Francis Egu, said there are no obstacles on the way of APC. Assessing the issues that have manifested in the registration saga in an interview with The Nation, Ajala said, “The tussle to appropriate the acronym APC is consistent with the nature, antics and intrigues of the inherent strug-

By Sam Egburonu

gle in politics to control, dominate and perhaps undermine the efforts of the opponent.

For INEC as a statutory body, they have the enviable option to isolate the politics of name/ acronym appropriation from clear legal requirement for registration of a political association. Once INEC discharges that statutory duty, which I have no doubt they will do creditably, the intrigues and subterfuge to appropriate the acronym ‘APC’ will be laid to rest.

“In other words, INEC is under a legal duty to register the political association that first satisfies the requirements of the extant Electoral Act for the registration of a political association.”

Reacting to the registration saga, Dr Egu, told The Nation that currently, the progressives have no reason to fear that the merger party, APC, would not be registered.

“There is no obstacle on our way. We have no reason to panic because we have satisfied all the requirements. That being the case, INEC can not deny us registration.”

Asked if the mega party has any alternative arrangement if INEC eventually insists on change of name, Egu, who refused to spell out the alternative option open to the party, said, “Of course, there is always a plan B in any reasonable plan. But in this case, and for now, we are certain to be registered because we have satisfied the requirements.”

LG Election: We are set for victory- ACN From, Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

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S political activities heighten among contesting parties in the April 14th 2013 election into local government areas of Edo State, the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, at the weekend vowed to defeat the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as it urged it members to massively turn out on election day.

Leader of the party in Etsako Central Local Government Area and a lawmaker in the state House of Assembly, Hon Johnson Oghuma, gave this assurance during the official flag-off campaign of the chairmanship candidate, Hon Emmanuel Momoh, at Oghomere Primary School Ekperi.

While addressing large supporters of the party that gathered, Oghuma expressed confidence that the party’s achievement under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole will guarantee victory for the party as demonstrated in the 2012 governorship election in the state.

When asked in an interview if he was not afraid of PDP heavyweights in the local government area, he retorted, “Were they not there in 2007, were they not there in 2012, were there not there in the last election? There is no PDP in this local government; this local government belongs to the Action Congress of Nigeria. Whether you are a chief of staff to the president or not, we are not afraid.

We will meet in the field and we will always defeat the PDP in this local government.”

Police to impound unregistered cars in Edo From, Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

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ORRIED by the spate of car thefts and general insecurity across the country, Motor Dealers Association in Edo State has asked the Nigeria Police to apprehend drivers and impound any vehicle plying the roads that does not have a dealer’s number.

Chief Andy Omokaro, chairman of the association, gave this indication yesterday at a press conference in Benin City, where he exonerated registered car dealers of complicity in the general insecurity in the state He said, “We have just written the FRSC, Motor Licensing Office, Commissioner of Police and the Directorate of State Security Services (SSS) asking them to arrest persons who drive unnumbered vehicles without dealers number.

Such vehicle must be impounded because they may have been stolen to be used for criminal activities.

The Chief Executive of Andy Motors also said motor dealers task force has the duty of visiting motor shops across the state once in a week and keeps a record of the history of the vehicles sold in a dealer’s shop.

NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

•Some of the refugees on matresses provided by Bakassi council

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HEY did not envisage sleeping on the cold, hard floors of a primary school classrooms exposed to the elements as refugees in their own country. Unfortunately, that is the dilemma that they are faced with at the moment.

Their misery it was learnt began with the alleged invasion of their community in the ceded peninsula by Cameroon gendarmes about three weeks ago, precisely on March 7, 2013.

According to the refugees, the gendarmes attacked them accusing them of being militants and forcing them to leave. Their houses were burnt and their people killed, they lamented.

So they took to their heels and sought refuge at the Primary School, Akwa Ikot Edem in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, where they have been living at the benevolence of their hosts.

For those who survived the alleged onslaught, they mostly arrived from Efut Obot Ikot by six -hour canoe trip to Ifiang community in Akpabuyo from where they embarked on another twohour trek through the bushes to the primary school at night.

Apart from a few mattresses and some food stuff provided by the Bakassi Local Government Council on Wednesday and the hospitality of the Akwa Ikot Edem community, the refugees have been left to their own fate since they arrived.

At the camp, the refugees were huddled up in classrooms, most of them ill, especially the little children suffering from cold and catarrh, due to sleeping on the floor in the open air for the past three weeks. They lacked access to potable water and toilet facilities.

Also the lives of two babies delivered in the camps are in danger as their mothers complained that the children were very ill and could not have access to desired healthcare.

According to a Nigerian Red Cross official detailed to work in the camp, there were about 1200 adults and 600 children in the camp.

Village head of Efut Obot Ikot, Chief Asuquo Etim, said they decided to remain in Cameroon because they had

Bakassi: Agony for Nigerians evicted

by Cameroon For some Nigerians who were living at Efut Obot Ikot community in the ceded Bakassi Peninsula, this is not the happiest of Easters.

Nicholas Kalu takes a look at how they are surviving as well as the challenges that they are faced with at the moment. nowhere else to go. His words: "I am a son of Bakassi living at Efut Obot Ikot at the Bakassi Peninsula. I am a fisherman. We lived there because that is our land. When we grew up I saw my father and my mother, all of them were there and that is where we know."

Sadly, he told his story: "The Cameroonian gendarmes attacked our community on March 7. They said we are militants and kidnappers. We told them we are farmers and fishermen.

We showed them our tools of trade.

They said we don't belong to them. We saw them with their uniforms. They shot. and killed five of our people and I saw it with my eyes. This was around 2pm. I was actually at sea to catch fish when someone in a speedboat came and told me what was happening and I had to rush back to see it. They drove everybody away and everything we had was destroyed. As I speak with you, they have captured over 60 of our people and we don't know what has happened to them."

He continued: "Now we are asking the government to give us a place to

live because we cannot go there again.

Even if the matter is resolved we are not going back there. Please, government should help us. We need a new place to live."

Mrs. Bassey Sunday who gave birth to a baby boy at the camp lamented, "We have suffered. We are still suffering, especially the little children.

We don't have food. We don't have water. Cameroon has pursued us before and we went to Ikang. Then later we went back because we had to fend for ourselves. This time it was even worse, because they killed our people there. We don't have clothes. We came in a canoe. The new born is sick with cold and catarrh. There is nowhere to hide ourselves from cold in this school that we are living in now. The children here are all suffering. We don't have money to take them to the hospital."

She added that one out of four children drowned during their escape and her husband was still missing. "My husband is still missing. I don't know if he died in the water or if he was killed or captured by the gendarmes. I

have not seen him since then. I have four children, but one of them drowned in the water on our way here. This new baby would have made it five children but now I still have four. We are suffering seriously. We are begging government to please help us."

Mrs. Atim Effiong Okon who also gave birth to a baby girl said she has not seen her husband since March 7.

Her words: "They just came and pursued us and we left everything we had and came here. Our main problem is the children here. They are sick. My husband is still missing. I don't know whether he is alive or not. This new baby makes it four children for me now. I was a small trader over there and all the money I had I left there and ran away with my children. I am in pains and some of the money belonged to people. Now I don't even know what to do. The children are all sick and we are not happy. Let the government come and help. No bed.

Nowhere to sleep. Everywhere is just open. The only place that has doors is

locked. The teachers locked them, saying that their documents are there.

We are sleeping in the open. We have lost a lot there. I cannot go back there again. Even if everyone goes there, I will not go. They should give us a new place and help us. Please and help us."

Like Okon, Efiom Ekpo recounts the pain and agony that they are going through this way: "We have been paying tax there and have been living there without any problem, but on March 7, they came and harassed us saying we should leave because we are militants. We told them we are not, that we have stayed with them for many years. Then they started to burn our houses and they shot at us, killed our animals and some of our people."

Ekpo added: "We are not happy.

We have been in this place for about three weeks now and we don't have a dime. It is just the mercy of the people in this environment that we are surviving. The villagers have been helping and the chairman of Bakassi came and gave us some things."

Glory Hilary Etim narrated, "On March 7, I was in the house drying fish as my husband is a fisherman. Those people came suddenly, they beat us and drove us away. They told us to leave their land because we are kidnappers and militants. We were just by the river crying when one man who had a boat came and carried us and took us to Ifiang. We did not even know where we were going to, and then one man came and picked us there. We trekked through the bush to this place."

Chairman of Bakassi, Dr Ekpo Ekpo Bassey, who made donations to the displaced persons, said the local government was disturbed by the development as it shares a common boundary with Cameroon to its west.

He said such cases and other security challenges were rampant in the area.

According to the chairman, the action of the Cameroonian authorities was a violation of the Green Tree Agreement which guarantees sovereignty for Nigerians wishing to remain in the peninsular, and the rights to their sources of livelihood.

•Contd. on page 12

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NKorea says it is in a 'state of war' with SKorea

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

News Review/World

ORTH Korea warned Seoul yesterday that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war" and threatened to shut down a border factory complex that's the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

Analysts say a full-scale conflict is extremely unlikely, noting that the Korean Peninsula has remained in a technical state of war for 60 years. But the North's continued threats toward Seoul and Washington, including a vow to launch a nuclear strike, have raised worries that a misjudgment between the sides could lead to a clash.

North Korea's threats are seen as efforts to provoke the new government in Seoul, led by President Park Geun-hye, to change its policies toward Pyongyang, and to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get it more aid. North Korea's moves are also seen as ways to build domestic unity as young leader Kim Jong Un strengthens his military credentials.

On Thursday, U.S. military officials revealed that two B-2 stealth bombers dropped dummy munitions on an uninhabited South Korean island as part of annual defense drills that Pyongyang sees as rehearsals for invasion. Hours later, Kim ordered his generals to put rockets on standby and threatened to strike American targets if provoked.

North Korea said in a statement yesterday that it would deal with South Korea according to "wartime regulations" and would retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without notice.

Kenya Supreme Court upholds K

ENYA's Supreme Court yesterday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence.

Yesterday's verdict - following a drawn-out court case that raised tensions across the nation - means that Kenyatta will be sworn in as president early next month. He will become the second sitting president in Africa to face charges at the International

electionresult

Criminal Court. Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect William Ruto both face charges that they helped orchestrate the 2007-08 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people died. Both deny the charges. Ruto's trial is set to begin in late May; Kenyatta's is to start in July.

Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague.

Lawyers for challenger Raila Odinga had argued before the Supreme Court that the election was marred by irregularities and that Kenyatta did not win enough votes to avoid a runoff election.

According to official results, Kenyatta won 50.07 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff election

against Odinga, who said his case before the Supreme Court would put Kenya's democracy on trial.

But the Supreme Court's unanimous verdict, read out by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, said the election was "conducted in compliance with the constitution and the law" and that Kenyatta was "validly elected."

Odinga said he would respect the court's decision whether it favoured him or not.

Mandela better from pneumonia

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•New Central African Republic leader Michel Djotodia (C) arrives on Republic Plaza in Bangui yesterday . The Central African Republic's new strongman Michel Djotodia vowed Saturday not to contest 2016 polls and hand over power at the end of the three-year transition he declared after his coup a week ago.

AFP PHOTO

ELSON Mandela is breathing "without difficulty" after having a procedure to clear fluid in his lung area that was caused by pneumonia, the spokesman for South Africa's president said yesterday.

Mandela, the 94-year-old former president and anti-apartheid leader, had a recurrence of pneumonia, said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj Mandela's medical team reported that the increasingly frail ex-leader "had developed a pleural effusion which was tapped," the office of President Jacob Zuma said in a statement. "This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty. He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable."

Pleural effusion is a buildup of fluid around the lung that can make it harder to breath. Doctors usually drain it with a tube.

The president's office thanked all who have prayed for Mandela and his family and have sent messages of support.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

ds T

HIS piece returns to the American scene because it is important for Africa to understand the dynamics of America's political economy. It is insufficient to imbibe the myths hoisted on you. If you accept them, you would believe America invented the words "democracy, justice and right." Further, you would believe America's actions are always and everywhere defined by these notions. To accept this perspective is to align on the wrong side of a grave deception. America occupies the pinnacle of military and economic power; possession of such might gives the nation an ability to broadcast its favored version of history and events with a force none can match. This dominance of the portals of information reshapes the minds of others. The frequency with which the fables are told becomes seen by the innocent and unaware as indicative of the accuracy of the message. That you regularly publish something does not make it true. It just makes the average nation and person think it's true.

America has always been an imperfect nation that engaged in many ignoble things along the road of national evolution. Slavery, the nearly total eclipse of Native American populations, and the strong-armed theft of the southwestern United States from an unfairly beaten and supine Mexican nation scar the nation's path to greatness. American would rather you discount these things as mistakes from a dead past. But the past never fully dies; it exists in the present it helped create. These benighted events are as integral to American history as the march toward democracy, economic development and human rights. One set is the full counterpoise of the other. Those who say America is God's country belittle God, reducing Him to a mortal who respects might and money more than compassion and goodness. America is not God's nation; it is a man's nation, save that man is stronger than any other at the moment.

Like other nations, America is a mixture of good and bad, of noble and base, and of those who love democracy and those who so despise it that they would turn it into something different if given a chance at a chance. American democracy is not a monolith nor is it an altar at which all Americans worship. It is a composite human organism suffering a terrible affliction within. Some of its parts want no part of it. Ironically, the relatively smooth yet elitist operation of the system has provided those who would undermine democracy the money and power to do so.

As such, America is a great republic turning small. Today's America represents a textbook on how to lose democracy not strengthen it. For African nations like Nigeria, there is no lesson more poignant.

You will learn much about how to grow your democracy by understanding how America is forfeiting hers. By learning how America bankrupts its democracy, you just might discover how to keep your own.

Thus, this column frequently returns to the American scene not because America is a positive lesson. We examine America because too many of you perceive it as the pinnacle, when it is not. Once it was; now it is not. However, perception commonly trails reality. This err can be fatal to Africa. Thus we must cure it before it leads Africa backwards.

Last week, the American government criticized the pardon granted former Bayelsa Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha.

Local media was alive with this story.

However, something was missing in much of the analysis of this bilateral spat.

Reasonable people may differ about the merits of the action so there is little profit in trampling this worn ground. Suffice it to say the act was legal. There also is little utility in arguing that America's statement represented an unwarranted interference in Nigeria's internal affairs as America is the supreme global interloper. The American government sees it as its divine right to tell others what to do. This is what America does. What most of the media commentary failed to address was the American government's obvious hypocrisy in criticizing another nation of corruption when America could not handle what it had in hand.

While fustigating the pardon came, this same Administration recently found one, possibly two, banks willfully guilty of laundering drug money, with each institution washing nearly one billion dollars in dirty money. This was criminal action performed by senior bank officials.

Yet, no criminal charges were had. The

News Review/World

America: Where did your dream go! •The people must protect democracy for democracy to protect the people.

•Madoff

•Alamieyeseigha

BRIAN BROWNE

excuse was that invoking criminal sanctions would harm the banks. Because the banks were so large and important, such action would damage the economy.

Put another way, the law cannot touch them because the officials hold important positions handling other people's money.

This begs a question: What do you call a banker who will not be charged for misappropriating other people's funds?

He is no longer a fiduciary custodian of the funds: he has become a thief in the making.

Rarely has such a feckless excuse been given by law enforcement officials unwilling to enforce the law. In effect, the Justice Department lent its good offices to injustice. Eschewing the constitution and the laws they swore to uphold, administration officials revealed that Money Power trumped justice in their universe.

No one was asking the government to set torch to the banks. Certain bank employees were guilty. Punishing them would not crash the banks or ruin the economy. We would have survived just as we make do when a bank official expires or falls ill. These people should have been sanctioned as severely as any drug pusher. Without willing bankers, the drug industry would not be as big, violent and lucrative as it is. It would not menace society as it does. Yet, the bankers were given a free pass. All the banks did was to pay a civil fine. The fine represents noting more than a "tax" on criminal behavior. Justice may be blind but she evidently has acquired a great deference to money.

Worse, the same Justice Department declared it will not investigate, let alone, prosecute any of the misconduct that precipitated the 2008 global financial meltdown and concomitant recession.

This mocks justice. Again the excuse was a spineless wonder. Officials rationalized the financial wrongdoing was too complicated and too massive to prosecute.

What! Every major financial crisis is built

on a mountain of crimes. The 2008 decline was no exception. Systematic accounting fraud by senior officials in the largest financial institutions reduced the world economy to its knees. Over 20 trillion dollars in nominal wealth was destroyed.

Millions lost jobs they shall never regain.

Lives becoming synonymous with poverty and unable to bear the weight of their decline, hundreds took their own lives. Meanwhile, the incomes of bank officials responsible for the morass grew, as if they fed off the misery of the economy.

Authorities pursued wildcat criminals like Bernie Madoff whose oneman pyramid scheme inevitably collapsed. However, Madoff and those like him were fringe players in a larger drama. By foregoing any attempt to prosecute the wrongdoings leading to the financial crisis, the American justice system gave blanket pardon to the perpetrators of a trillion dollar criminal undertaking. In one swoop, the justice system immunized an entire class of professional wrongdoers. It was as if the Administration said, "You stole so much in such an arcane way, we'd rather you keep the loot!" Senior officials in the large financial houses are now above the law.

As long as theft is not blatant and is aptly buried in the balance sheet, banker criminals will not be sanctioned and can remain among the most powerful and respected members of society.

Not only does this pardon shield past wrongs it gives a green light to future sinister conduct. By its permissiveness toward financial wrong, government has approbated the resumption of the hircine behavior that produced the 2008 crisis.

This means another financial crisis is inevitable. Shorn of its nigh unintelligible legal jargon, the government's position is that sophisticated financial crimes which profit large banks are no longer illegal. A nation has reached the height of financialism when criminal justice officials, in contravention of Congress's

legislative prerogative to define crime, unilaterally deem legal financial conduct every sentient person knows is illegal.

Sadly, the height point of financialism is a low form of corruption, as barren as the public office corruption bedeviling Africa.

However, because people have been indoctrinated to see America as the exemplar of good governance, we don't see its corruption for what it is.

America's big financial institutions are rife with crime but rifer with money able to fuel political campaigns.

Consequently, financial firms have disproportionate sway over politicians, including the occupant of the White House. Yet, many firms are populated with senior officials who should be indicted. Instead, they deploy profits improperly acquired to buy undue influence in government. Because of this undue weight, government looks at the financial sector as sacrosanct to the extent that government has decreed that no serious crime can be committed therein.

Wall Street is now America's Vatican and Washington is but government for hire.

In comparison, Nigeria's prosecution of a handful of banking officials, while far from exemplary, still exceeds the American government's performance in similar circumstance.

In all, the reasons given by the American government for effectively pardoning the entire class of people who crashed the global economy are not as colorable as the reasons given for the Alamieyeseigha pardon. There may be people with cause to question that pardon.

The American government is not one of them. Washington should first remove the forest from its eye before shouting to everyone to come view the speck in Abuja's. At bottom, America's grouse is not against corruption. In its hubris, America believes it should define those forms of corruption other nations should commit and those they should not.

Meanwhile, people who celebrated Obama's reelection, believing it would free him to become his truer self have gotten their wish. They now wish they hadn't. The first months of Obama's second term have been as pleasant as a rotting fish in one's bed. This column has repeatedly declared Obama a consummate manipulator prone to do the opposite of what he says. For years, I have labeled him a Rockefeller Republican.

That description has proven too ebullient.

Although he continues to deceive people with his winsome personality, the man has become Nixonian in action.

During the campaign, he pledged allegiance to the middle class, vowing not

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to balance the budget on their backs. Yet, outside the glare of the media, his Administration recently sent tens of thousands of government workers on unpaid furlough. Many will be permanently dismissed, never again to find work. By and large, these workers voted for him, hoping against hope that he would bring the change he promised.

What they got in return for their trust in this man is change that will impoverish them. They have learned the bitter lesson too late. To lean on Obama is to lean on a mirage. You will fall.

Obama also claimed he would not undermine Social Security and public health care benefits. However, he joined the Republican congressional leadership in temporizing as the deadline for comprehensive government budget cuts expired. Unable to hide delight as his boss's political legerdemain, Obama's chief economic advisor let the rat out of the trap. The advisor revealed the president's public opposition to the cuts was political theatre. Obama actually wanted the reductions. The cuts would allow Obama to achieve the social service reductions he wanted yet allow him to escape blame for the austere measures.

Obama could claim the Republicans forced him into cuts that, in reality, he wanted all along. In other words, He conspired with his Republican interlocutors to confound the electorate and as well as members of his own party who did not expect this level of fiscal austerity from him. That they did not know better was because they did not want to know their president. They would rather believe him than to know him. This may prove a costly preference.

From the onset of his presidency, Obama set his heart on dismantling the social safety architecture constructed by Franklin Roosevelt, the Democratic Party's greatest president. Though waving a liberal banner, Obama seeks the conservative Holy Grail: to shrink and privatize social security and public health.

That Obama does these things although contrary to the interests of the people who voted for him does not make him evil. Like most American politicians, he is more hired hand than elected official.

In America, elections mean less than the money that funds them. Without funds, there is no campaign, thus no victory. It is a myth that Obama's campaign was dependent on no one because it was fueled by millions of small donors. Without the vast sums given him by Wall Street interests, Obama would not have made it. His election was purchased by the few.

To the few, he owes his loyalty. This is the way of modern American governance.

Elections keep it democratic in form.

However, the system has been distorted to where all major candidates are simply indebted to different members of the same class of deep-pocketed donors. Thus, Republicans are now extreme conservatives and the Democratic Party has become moderately conservative on economic matters. In substance, American government is no longer democratic in terms of abiding the will of the electorate.

It is democratic only in the venal sense that it is now open for purchase to the highest bidder.

In the end, democracy is a rather odd species of governance. While other forms of governance leap at self-perpetuation, democracy recoils from longevity. Its core theme is the fundamental equality of man.

Yet, not all people believe it. However, democracy does not penalize those who despise it. It allows them the freedom to amass the economic and political power to deracinate the very mode of government that provided them the space and freedom to prosper. A sad trait of human nature is the nearly universal and uncanny ability of elites to come to the wrong conclusion regarding the relationship between their personal attainment and the governing system in which they operate. The wealthier people become, the more they believe their fortune is unilaterally derived. They believe they achieved it despite the system.

As such, the system becomes the enemy to their continued advance and fulfillment.

They buy and bend the system to fit their purpose. The more it fits them, the less it accords with the majority of society. This is how democracy is placed on the auction block. This is the current state of American governance. It is nothing to celebrate.

Emulate it at your peril for you will progress no further than you already have.

08060340825 (sms only)

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (6)

‘Haha, Prof, Where Is Your Car?’ – A Lay, Secular Sermon In A Light Mood

BY BIODUN JEYIFO A nrin nile, inu n b’elesin [We have nowhere else on which to walk, still the men on horseback resent our right to a little patch of the earth] A Yoruba proverb whose origin lies in the emergence of mounted nobles as a distinct social group in West Africa.

A

LAY, secular sermon? Yes. After all, this column appears on Sundays, the day on which Christians normally expect either verbal or written sermons to be delivered. This is why, dear readers, this “sermon” comes to you today. As a matter of fact, I wish to seize the occasion of this first “sermon” to now inform readers of this column that from time to time, I shall devote the column to this special genre of the secular sermon that takes its name, its expressive identity from the fact that I am neither a priest nor a religionist in the conventional sense of the term. This in effect means that a secular sermon is addressed not to a select band of the faithful, but to the considerably wide and non-exclusionary community of the intellectually curious, the imaginatively adventurous and the truly democracy inclined. This is what today and from time to time I shall serve as a discursive “dish”, a “stew” for the imaginative palate of readers of this column.

On that note, let us move to the theme for this first ‘sermon’ which, quite simply, is this: Walk, compatriots, walk. Walk even if you belong to the tiny group of super-rich Nigerians and own more than three, four or five cars; walk as often as is practicable and convenient; walk whenever and wherever you can; it is good for your health and even better for your soul. Walk, compatriot, walk.

I admit it: this theme was prompted by the question that serves as the first part of the title of this essay: “Haha, Prof, where is your car?” I have now lost count of the number of times that my neighbours at OkeBola, Ibadan, have asked me that question when they have seen me in any part of the city walking. No matter how far from or conversely, how close I am to my house that is located at the “Seventh-Day” area of OkeBola, I am confronted by my neighbours, this question is always automatically posed to me: “Haha, Prof, where is your car?” Of course, the question is usually posed with far greater incredulity when I am as far from my house as Mokola or even Adamasingba as when I am seen walking closer to home, say at Dugbe or Gbagi. The presumption at the back of this question is of course unmistakable and it is this: As a “Prof”, as a member of the tiny elite in the neighborhood with a house of my own and a car, why am I without my car and out walking as ordinary, non-elite Nigerians do as a routine part of their daily life, their normal existence?

Now before I address the reasoning, the mesh of presuppositions and assumptions, behind this question as the main body of this “sermon”, let me first of all say that my injunction to the readers of this column to walk whenever and wherever practicable or convenient has little or nothing to do with the fact that in the rich countries of the world, walking has become a faddish thing that the wealthy, the powerful and the famous do as part of their daily or weekly social or interactional rituals. Jogging or “workingout” in the gym are related or ancillary practices, but walking is the primary or the most telling indication of the abandonment of cars in order to take up other means of either necessary or voluntary physical exercise. Beside this, walking is also the ultimate mark of being health-conscious and/or being motivated by the do-gooder highmindedness of raising money for noble and

•A vote for walking

charitable causes through the so-called “walkathons”.

Of course, I am not indifferent to the fact that this particular fad around walking in the rich countries of the world has very sound justification in the proven health benefits that come from or with walking as a daily exercise. And to be completely honest about this matter, I have myself sometimes participated in “walkathons” in which thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people walk tens or scores of kilometers to raise funds for charitable causes. No, compatriots, I am not opposed to these faddish or charitable reasons for walking as a worthwhile practice, mostly in the rich countries.

But these are not the reasons why, in a poorincome country like Nigeria, I am in this “sermon” asking you, my dear readers, to walk, especially those of you with one, two, three or four cars. [Some economists and sociologists swear that ours is now a middle-income economy. I disagree. But that is another matter entirely] Now, to get back to the question itself that prompted the theme of this “sermon”, “Haha, Prof, where is your car?”, we must of course recognize that the fundamental assumption behind the question is that walking in our cities is - or has become - so unappealing, so soul-wearying that those who can afford not to walk are considered downright crazy if they choose to walk, I mean actually walk. One sure proof of this assertion is that I am yet to meet any neighbour of mine who has seemed satisfied with the answer I give anytime the question is put to me: I walk because I like walking, because once a while and if the distance is not too great, I like to abandon my car and, yes, walk. I really and truly am yet to meet any neighbour who has accepted this answer, at least on face value.

Well, who can blame my neighbours for this skepticism? Is it not an open secret that the streets of virtually all our towns and cities belong almost exclusively to the masses of ordinary Nigerians for the simple reason that, by overwhelming numbers, our elites simply never walk unless they absolutely have to and even then for only very short distances? And is it not well-known that walking in the streets of our towns and cities is often a very unpleasant experience as there are virtually no pavements to walk on, and even no unpaved but cleared dirt patches for pedestrians to walk in safe margins from the paved swathes of asphalt meant exclusively

for the cars and other vehicular machines?

[Some optimistic activists say that the day is almost upon us when a “Pedestrians’ Freedom Charter” will be drafted and universally proclaimed to bring these matters to the forefront of prospects for progress in our country.

I wish this were true, but I don’t think so. But that is another matter entirely] It is hard not to draw the appropriate conclusions from realities and conditions that are as palpably Nigerian as these: Just as we do not have patient-friendly hospitals and clinics, so also do we not have walker- or pedestrian-friendly towns and cities. I give the personal testimony of my own experience here with regard to the many, many times in which I have just barely escaped being knocked down and badly injured or even killed by the cars and vehicular contraptions that are the kings of the streets of our towns and cities all of which are forever struggling amongst themselves for vastly cramped and inadequate spaces. One could say that the danfos, the okadas and the maruwas are the worst offenders, but if the truth and nothing but the whole truth must be told, then it must be admitted that the glitzy cars of the elites are as well highly culpable for making walking in our cities and towns so unsafe, so dire. At any rate, I believe this is the ultimate basis of my neighbours’ skepticism anytime I tell them that my passion for walking is the only reason why I leave my car at home and take to the streets on my own God-given “footwagen”, this hugely significant fact that our cities and towns are so dangerously and even destructively pedestrian-unfriendly that it seems to defy logic - and the simple laws of self-preservation – that anyone who does not have to, anyone who has a choice in the matter will actually abandon his or her car and – walk.

I swear that as far as I am aware of my own conscious acts and subconscious impulses and drives, I have neither a death-wish nor a masochistic streak. In other words, I leave my car at home and often walk the streets of the most traffic-congested parts of the city of Ibadan neither because I wish to make a virtue of self-mortification nor because I wish to make or prove a point. If there is any compulsive behaviour at all on my part in this matter, it is this: All my life I have passionately loved walking and find that I cannot or will not give it up now that I have a car and can afford to keep its fuel tank full as constantly as I wish. And there is a quite rational, quite calculated factor as well: over the years

and decades, as the streets of Ibadan and other Nigerian cities have become more and more pedestrian-unfriendly, I have learnt to devise strategies and tactics of maximizing my safety on the road while walking. For instance, for the most part, I try to keep as clear of the edge of the paved part of the road as possible. This greatly reduces the number of errant okadas and danfos that could plow into me and knock me down. There is also this: Unless it is extremely arduous and really unhelpful, I generally walk against the flow of oncoming traffic so that I can quite clearly see what I am walking against and what is hurtling towards me. [Many vehicular contraptions plying our roads also engage in this defensive countermove of driving against the flow of traffic. I doubt that they do this for the same reason that I walk against the flow of traffic.

But that also is another matter entirely] In the same manner in which our elites in recent years have more and more taken to air travel and abandoned the country’s inter-city and inter-state roads and highways for the great danger that they pose to all travelers regardless of class, our elites also more and more do not walk in our towns and cities because it is arduous, unappealing and dangerous. However, this does not mean that those of us who belong to this class who still walk are heroes; we are just diehard romantics who will try to keep walking for as long as we live above the earth before are eventually buried in it. This is why the theme of this ‘sermon’ is walk, compatriot, walk. The right and the need to walk as much as one can and wishes is a right that has been lost, won back and lost again over the ages from the time when horses and horse-drawn carriages began to crowd out human feet from the streets and roads of the world. This is what is captured in the epigraph to this essay: “We have nowhere else on which to walk, still the men on horseback resent our right to a little patch of the earth”. Horses and horse-drawn carriages have been completely replaced by automobiles and still those who have or wish to walk, simply walk, have a hard time in our cities and towns.

Thus, the struggle continues. Walk, compatriot, walk. [This may open out to and connect with the great struggles for justice, equality and dignity for all in our country. I hope so, but do not know for sure. But that is another matter entirely] Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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Festus Eriye efestus2003@yahoo.com

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Comment & Analysis

HE latest episode of the long-running Arunma Oteh versus House of Representatives soap opera ought to be subtitled: Episode 10 – Bad laws and Blackmail.

At this point the lady would be wishing she had devoted more time to studying the fine art of diplomacy and ego massage, before dumping her cushy job as Vice President for Corporate Development at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in order to become an Abuja powerhouse as Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Given that early in her tenure she set out an agenda for cleaning out the capital market and taking on entrenched interests, it was inevitable that she would get into pretty serious fights. Some of those slugfests have been brutal affairs – with little or no provision for civility.

Remember the clash of the amazons? In the red corner brimming with reformist zeal was Oteh; in the blue corner was the hulking presence of the longstanding boss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.

Despite the bruising nature of that engagement, it is not the reason that the SEC DG’s tumultuous reign now faces the very real threat of an abrupt and ignominious termination.

Credit for that must go to the infamous clash last year at a public hearing on the collapse of the Nigerian capital market called by the House Committee on Capital Markets and other Financial Institutions.

Most readers will recall the heated exchanges between Oteh and committee chairman, Herman Hembe, and the lurid tales of bribes solicited and given on both sides. The grubby exchange led to the fall of the chairman and the dissolution of his committee.

Oteh only fared slightly better. She was asked to proceed on compulsory leave by the SEC board, pending an independent investiga-

Oteh vs the House: Bad laws and blackmail tion into the management of Project 50, a programme put together by her to commemorate 50 years of the capital market in Nigeria. Although the board-ordered probe by PricewaterhouseCoopers will clear her of any financial impropriety – opening the way for her return to office, the definitive battle of her tenure was just beginning to take shape.

If Oteh’s interaction with the Hembe committee was prickly, it was not much better with the successor committee. Offended legislators bided their time – waiting to exact their pound of flesh.

In short order they came up with a report that was anything but laudatory for the SEC boss. One of the most contentious conclusions reached was that Oteh was not qualified to head the commission because she did not possess the requisite professional qualification prescribed in the Securities and Exchange Commission Act for appointment to the office of Director-General.

Flowing from this, the House issued the non-negotiable decree that President Goodluck Jonathan fired the lady. Aso Rock’s understanding of the position of the legislators was that their resolution was advisory and not binding on the president.

In order to make it clear that this was not friendly advice but an order, the legislators have turned the screws tighter by making no provision whatsoever for SEC in the 2013 budget.

They have even gone a step further by warning the president not to think of funding commission – even from private sources.

Let’s explain this by saying that the commission has not been scrapped; but it will only receive funding again after the DG had been kicked out of office.

First, what we have here is a shameful instance of a law being tailor-made to target an individual. Secondly, we are confronted not by the regular saber-rattling of legislators, but an

unapologetic attempt to blackmail the president to do their bidding. I wish there was a more elegant way to put it, but blackmail has an unmistakable smell to it.

If the House had stopped by publishing the report of its committee indicting Oteh, and left Jonathan to deal with the moral burden of leaving in office an individual whose reputation had been damaged by the legislators’ findings, most people would have backed them.

Unfortunately, in this case as in many others, we see lawmakers engaging in overreach.

The legislators of the Fourth Republic are particularly guilty of this tendency. They are not the sort of lawmakers Nigerians knew in the First, Second or Third Republics, but a hybrid variety that see themselves straddling legislative and executive roles.

This crisis of identity, and confusion over what their true role should be, comes across even in the language of their engagement with agents of the executive branch. And so from day to day we’re regaled with reports of the “summons” issued to one minister, or the latest threat to arrest the head of some government parastatal for tardiness in responding to legislative invitations.

In 1999, the first class of Fourth Republic legislators prepared the foundation for the crisis we see today, by manipulating the budget to introduce what they called “community projects.”

These were not altruistic or well-thought out development projects, but rather showy, populist undertakings to create the impression that the lawmakers had “done something” for their people during their tenure. The injection of these extraneous items altered the shape of the federal budgets designed by the executive, and provided the ground for the earliest fights between then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the lawmakers.

Unfortunately for our democracy, the class

“He doesn’t have the bloody-mindedness of an Obasanjo who will sometimes dare his interlocutors to tip the whole democratic project into the ravine, rather than succumb to blatant blackmail. And that is bad news for Oteh”

of 1999 successfully blackmailed the executive, and every president ever since has had to live with the nightmare of legislators who do not know where their territory begins and ends.

Elsewhere what happens is that legislators lobby the executive branch to site choice projects in their constituencies in exchange for support for the administration’s legislative agenda. The lawmaker then gets credit for attracting such a project to his constituency. It is what the Americans refer to as “pork barrel” bills.

Returning to Oteh, the demands of the House actually put the National Assembly as an institution in an awkward position. Let’s not forget that the Senate cleared her in 2010 and declared she was fit for the role. So if anyone deserves flak for her appointment it is the senators who approved her appointment three years ago.

The lawmakers who are always quick to assert their independence, should accord that same right to the executive. Oteh is an appointee of the president and it is only fair and proper that he be allowed to determine whether she is up to the demands of her office. The sort of bald-faced pressure being put on Jonathan to sack the lady is an unseemly abuse of legislative power.

What they are doing may not be the best for separation of powers in our democracy, yet the legislators may just get their way. The president has displayed over time, a tendency to buckle in the face of the least pressure from ornery lawmakers.

He doesn’t have the bloody-mindedness of an Obasanjo who will sometimes dare his interlocutors to tip the whole democratic project into the ravine, rather than succumb to blatant blackmail. And that is bad news for Oteh.

At a time when she thinks its peace and safety, he will dump her to appease the gods of Apo, just as he did with Dr. Harold Demuren, the erstwhile Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Following the Dana Air crash last year, the legislators demanded his head on a platter. In due season, Jonathan duly obliged.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Comment & Analysis

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Nollywood at 20 Despite obvious drawbacks, a cultural phenomenon slowly comes of age

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S the burgeoning Nigerian film industry christened “Nollywood” attains its twentieth year, there can be no doubt that it has many achievements that it can look back on with justified pride. Building on the pre-existing 35mm movie tradition in the country but adopting a business model and production techniques radically different from it, Nollywood has attained global renown and cultural significance. It has resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs, spawned international superstars, and endowed the country’s often-quarrelsome ethnic groups with a unifying reference point.

Perhaps more than any other cultural artefact, the Nollywood phenomenon represents Nigeria’s most determined attempt to engage its bewildering contemporary reality. The stories crafted by its writers, organised by its directors and given life by its actors are characteristically Nigerian: the triumph of good over evil, the overcoming of cruelty by kindness, the vanquishing of despair by hope. Nollywood does not have time for the sophisticated meaninglessness of many European art films, nor does it glory in the pyrotechnic shallowness of some American blockbusters. What it seeks to do is to tell the Nigerian story in a manner reflective of its peoples’ distinctive view of the world, and it can generally be agreed that it has done this quite successfully.

In spite of a less-than-ideal operating environment characterised by institutional indifference, the paucity of finance, the inadequacy of working tools and the shortage of technical expertise, Nollywood has been able to demonstrate the enormous potential waiting to be unleashed if its basic shortcomings are put right.

Those shortcomings are simply too formidable to be ignored, and have clearly prevented Nollywood from attaining its true heights. The industry’s humble beginnings in value-added video cassettes have resulted in a stubbornly materialistic mindset that afflicts many producers who often take decisions that negatively impact the creative input of writers, directors and actors. The incredibly short production times of many Nollywood films have led to ludicrous errors which do

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HE recent bomb blast in which scores of people died and were injured in a motor park in Sabon Gari, Kano, has again left many Nigerians in a stupor of surprise and pangs of anger and righteous indignation. These frequent bombings have not only dented but denigrated the image of our beloved country nationally and internationally. Furthermore, the blast is a serious national and international embarrassment. In addition, it is quite obvious that the incidence have raised fundamental issues about national security as well as Nigeria’s corporate existence.

In view of all the bombings taking place in various places in the country with loss of lives and properties and trying to make the country ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan and his team, I think it is absolutely necessary and should be handled as a matter of urgency to seek for external assistance in order to find out the bombers and their sponsors. It is flabbergasting that security agencies have not been able to help matters in this regard. At times, we arrest and the suspects will escape either from cell or while police men were on patrol with them. This is ridiculous!

Whatever the case may be

little to enhance the credibility of an industry that needs to be taken more seriously by the rest of the world. Plotting, characterisation and the interpretation of roles are uneven, and can range from very good to extremely poor.

Films are produced on an industrial scale, flooding the market and defying all attempts at quality control. There is a worrying tendency to go for stories which pander to the basest instincts of the audience: ritualistic obsessions, violent melodramas, viciously amoral thrillers.

These challenges conspire to taint Nollywood’s reputation and hinder attempts to make the industry betterknown beyond its acknowledged African and blackdiaspora audiences. Poor sub-titling makes it difficult for indigenous-language and Anglophone films to be properly understood; the reluctance to explore new cinematic techniques and film genres makes it easy to pigeonhole many films and dismiss them as lazy, unflattering imitations of one another; there has been a surprising absence of co-production, both within and outside the industry.

In spite of these difficulties, Nollywood’s roaring popularity across a wide range of cultures, preferences and attitudes is a simultaneous testimony to what it has achieved and the heights it is capable of attaining.

Thanks to the hard work, dedication and commitment of those who pioneered it, as well as the talent and selfbelief of those who came after them, Nollywood has become a genuine national brand, encapsulating much that is good about the Nigerian character: dogged persistence, creativity, innovation, optimism.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye •Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile •Associate Editors Taiwo Ogundipe Sam Egburonu

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi

If the Nigerian film industry is to move to the next level, it will require a comprehensive programme of assistance designed to leverage its strengths and minimise its weaknesses. Institutional support is perhaps the most pressing need. Governments and financial institutions will have to develop innovative ways of providing film-makers with the funds that they must have if they are to climb to greater heights of technical and artistic sophistication. It is not simply a question of throwing money at the industry: the failure of similar attempts in the past has shown that it is not a viable strategy. Producers will have to make themselves more open to financing options that allow outside financing to have greater control over how money is spent. Film distribution systems will have to become more efficient.

An increased emphasis on professionalism will make it easier for the industry to attract talented and ambitious individuals whose efforts will in turn raise standards.

Relevant government ministries and parastatals like the ministries of information, youth, sports and culture, as well as the National Orientation Agency must engage Nollywood in a more considered way than has hitherto been displayed. It is not enough to praise the film industry’s achievements as a national imagemaker; there must be an attempt to see how the interests of these bodies and those of Nollywood coincide, and what can be done to ensure that their activities complement one another.

Like all truly great art forms, Nollywood is the joint creation of several distinguished Nigerians whose contributions should never be forgotten: Zack and Fred Amata, Zeb and Chico Ejiro, Kenneth Nnebue, Amaka Igwe, Tunde Kelani, Tunji Bamishigbin, Richard MofeDamijo, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Olu Jacobs, Jim Iyke, Emeka Ike, Joke Sylva, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola JoladeEkeinde are just a few of the more prominent names.

The massive outpouring of sympathy which greeted the deaths of Sam-Loco Efe, Enebeli Elebuwa and Justus Esiri is a confirmation of the deep affection in which the industry is held. May it witness many more fruitful years of creativity.

LETTERS

Still on Kano bomb blast and to all intents and purposes, there is the need for all Nigerians to always be religiously and jealously guided by the words of an elder statesman, octogenarian and first President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a professional teacher and career politician when he said: “The moment in our history demands of all of us the spirit of cooperation rather than the things that divide us; we would have succeeded in bequeathing a fit-

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HROUGH careful planning and determination, the Delta State government has provided both big and small buses in some towns like Warri, Effurun, Sapele among others to assist commuters in both ‘’inter and intra’’ movement to drastically reduce poverty, encourage empowerment and ameliorate sufferings.

It is disappointing and indeed distressing to say that these buses are doing more harm than good because they are not safety conscious thereby putting

ting legacy to the coming generation.”

The federal government should endeavour as much as practicable to rise to the challenge of unmasking those behind the cowardly and dastardly act no matter how highly or lowly placed in the society and crush them in a most exemplary manner to serve as deterrent to others who would ever think of engaging on the destructive act. The bombing in a motor park is as con-

demnable as it is despicable and regrettable.

However, let this be a time of sober reflection for us all.

As Nigerians and the international community condemned the wicked act, let everybody look inward and reappraise what happened.

Injustice and oppression cannot but ultimately produce a desire for revenge and or rebellion. Let our deep sympathy go to all who lost their lives, persons, properties and sense of security. Nigeria

needs to be made safe for all, and the federal government should lead and show the way to this purposefully and decisively.

In my opinion, all progressive and articulate Nigerians irrespective of religion and tribe must dislodge the idea of being agents of darkness and destruction. In this connection therefore, it is absolutely necessary with due respect, humility, and sense of responsibility to appeal to all Nigerians no matter the

Delta transport system good but... commuters, lives in a state of peril due to lack of designated bus stops for them as it is done in other states that have such facilities where passengers can board and alight.

As a result, these buses stop indiscriminately or screech to a halt in places including centre of roads, thereby causing incessant traffic congestions especially in Effurun, PTI Road, Jakpa Junction, Airport Road Junction, and

Warri main market, among other places. The buses are therefore causing nuisance on our roads.

Stopping at any point incessantly for commuters to either alight or board these buses is a display of irresponsibility on the part of the drivers and it is against safety of commuters. At the end, the purpose of providing these buses is automatically defeated.

In order to avoid all these, I wish to passionately appeal

to the state government to provide as a matter of urgency designated stops for these buses in order to help drivers of such buses and commuters avoid traffic congestions in major towns.

Any driver that refuses to comply should be sanctioned appropriately no matter his political connection.

Charles Ikedikwa Soeze, Effurun, Delta State.

status to remain steadfast, focused on the part of truth, honour, fairness, and justice so that Nigeria can make meaningful progress economically and politically.

With this recent bomb blast in a motor park at Sabon Gari, Kano, one may boldly say that the Nigerian democracy is therefore dangerous if not properly investigated.

The way some saw the blast, it might lead to an extent that the falcon can no longer hear the falconer and that things will fall apart. This is not the best for Nigeria’s democratic structure. In the words of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, “Justice must be done to the poor and the oppressed and if the present system does not serve the purpose, the public conscience must be roused to demand another.”

It appears that some of those engaged in the dastardly act must be under sponsorship but God or Allah knows whom or group. Like the immediate past Pope, Benedict XVI, while appealing for peace in a message to commemorate the 2007 World Peace Day (WPD) said, “Those with greater political, technical or economic power must not use the power to violate the rights of others who are less fortunate.”

Charles Ikedikwa Soeze, Effurun, Delta State.

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Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

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N the last two weeks, one of Nigeria's foremost literary and cultural critics, Biodun Jeyifo currently of Harvard University, drew the nation's attention to the imperative of active intragenerational and inter-generational dialogue. Almost unanticipated by Jeyifo, his call for constant sharing of ideas and values across age groups became two weeks after his essays in The Nation, the central theme in the festival of ideas that marked this year's birthday anniversary of one of the country's most daring politicians, Bola Tinubu, graphically titled: "Beyond Mergers: A National Movement for Change-A New Generation Speaks.

The purpose of today's column is not to celebrate or critique either Jeyifo's insights or the conceptual energy of the young people that tried to create paradigm shifts for Nigeria's politics at the birthday colloquium in honour of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu last Thursday.

The purpose of today's essay is to move the discourse of the imperative of dialogue across generational divides to the popular medium, with the hope of mobilising senior and junior citizens

Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Comment & Analysis

T is not for nothing that the recently departed Professor Chinua Achebe situated the problem of Nigeria squarely on a failure of leadership. This has again been poignantly certified true as the chicken has come home to roost.

Boko Haram, it was discovered this past week, is already knocking on the doors of metropolitan Lagos and it took no less than 100 security operatives to put a Boko Haram cell therein to sleep. In the meantime, we do not know how many more are in the city, being primed for an opportunity to cause maximum damage.

For most Nigerians then, Biafra was in faraway Afghanistan until that solitary plane flew into Lagos.

With the Badiya, Ijora discovery, many eyes will now open to the fact that Boko Haram is no tea party.

It is no use telling them that a single suicide bomb attack in Lagos will be the very beginning of Nigeria's unravelling since disintegration is what they want.

A lot of commendation has been showered on South-West governors because of the relative peace in the region, but a single Boko Haram strike in Lagos can shred all that.

That exactly is how dangerous the security situation in the country has become and why all Lagos residents must sign on to this war. We must all become the ears and eyes of the security agencies which, in turn, must immediately advertise telephone numbers through which residents can pass information to them. I once gloated on this page that were the North attacks happening in the South, everybody here would have

Generation of change: young and old people in culture 1 to participate actively in how their lives are shaped by those who happen to win elections and thus have the chance to rule over the lives of our people across generational and ethnic spectrum.

Before I am accused of plagiarism, I acknowledge that my title is an adaptation of the 2008 Report of the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) titled: Generation of Change: Young People and Culture. Unlike the focus of UNFPA's report, the focus in my series is not on the interplay between culture and subculture. It is on the belief in several African communities from time immemorial that continuity and change come from unfettered collaboration between old and young persons in any society that sets out to survive.

In other words, change is created by individuals who understand their culture and appreciate the need to modify or transform it, without necessarily having to lose it altogether.

In Yoruba society, there are sayings that repeat the importance of perpetual dialogue across generational lines. Omodegbonagbagbon ni a fi da ile ife (It is through the wisdom of the old and the young that Ife civilization was created). Omodewo, agbawo, ohunti a bajijowogigunniigun (It is the inte-

Continuity and change come from collaboration between old and young persons in any society. gration of the perspectives of the old and the young that engenders excellence or balance).Owoomodeko to pepe, tiagbalagbakowoakengbe (the skills of the old and the young differ, for the reason that different problems can be solved by both groups for the sake of all.

Since we are in the season of celebrating the life of one of the world's best minds, Chinua Achebe, let us borrow some elements of his discourse of change in this first piece. Achebe, before he left us, created many memorable characters and scenarios that illustrate the inevitability of change and the fact that both old and young people have to serve as instruments of change, in their own common interest. For every rigid character of the status-quo, Achebe created a literary foil that exudes flexibility and embodies the realization that reality is forever dynamic. It is the same Umuofia of Things Fall Apart that produced Okonkwo, the over masculine symbol of power that also produced Obierika, a critical thinker and an intellectual that is given to weighing the pros and

cons of what is on the ground and what can be on the ground.Obierika was in Umuofia almost a proto-typical embodiment of what we call Futures study today. The same milieu also createdUchendu,Okonkwo's maternal uncle in Mbanta, his mother's village in which he was in punitive exile for seven years.

When Okonkwo relished calling Nwoye effeminate for joining the new religious movement imported by the white man, Uchendu saved the boy from being choked by Okonkwo, and thus gave Nwoye the opportunity to move from a pre-literate to literate milieu, the beginning of a new world for people of an old world.It is instructive that the burden or trauma of change affected both Okonkwo and Nwoye, but in different ways as Achebe wanted his readers to experience.

Similarly, it is the same Umuaro of Arrow of God that produced Ezeulu, the man with monastic attachment to rituals and Akuebue, Ezeulu's confidant that always reminded him of the need to acknowledge the inevitability of viewing life or the world as a mas-

querade dance, which irresistibly requires those that want to avoid becoming a dinosaur to be prepared at all times to move or change.It was Akuebue that counseled Ezeulu against being one-dimensional, especially in the latter's assessment of his favourite son, Obika, whose death caused Ezeulu's insanity at the end of the novel.

Furthermore, it is the same culture that created Chief Nanga that also createdMr. Odili in A Man of the People.Odili is privileged in this novel to witness the transitioning of Nanga, a former youthful school teacher of his into a corrupt politician without qualms. Odili tries in the world of this novel to see his youthfulness as the basis of the difference between him and Nanga ideologically. Regretfully, Odili is made to realise that the right vision and values for society has nothing to do with age, when he comes to learn of Josiah's stealing of the walking stick of a blind man in the village in which Odili teaches, for the purpose of using the stick to turn his customers into blind buyers.

To be continued

Boko Haram: A multi-level failure of leadership become a vigilante in his neighbourhood. To be effective,the security agencies need the full support of the local communities, even though I remain skeptical about the efficacy of this shooting war against a very mobile enemy.

Without a scintilla of doubt, Boko Haram is the result of a multilevel failure of leadership and leading the pack in this, as the causative factor, must be the cultural practice that permits a rich individual to treat thousands of his compatriots like mere serfs who, upon being fed and given handouts, must begin to 'rankadede' them like they have no lives of their own. These powerful men do not appreciate what psychological problem they inflict on society thereby; since they think only of themselves. Indeed, their own children also graduate to become a burden on the poor like their fathers. Not unexpectedly, people so malignantly treated readily constitute a fertile recruiting ground for the likes of Boko Haram.

Another major plank in leadership failure was the introduction of political Sharia.

Seeing how rapidly it evaporated, though not its huge army of armed enforcers, I am not sure how its originator, now Senator, Ahmad Sanni Yerima , his brother copy-cat governors, and then president Obasanjo who, completely out of character, treated it with kid gloves, must be feeling today. It is common knowledge that Boko Haram was a peaceful organisation at inception.

Without a doubt, the fact of many of its members subsequently joining the Sharia enforcers must have toughened and prepared them for today's war against society. This must have made its members attractive to those politicians who later

Boko Haram is the result of a multilevel failure of leadership adopted them as a necessary wing of their campaigns. The fact that then President Obasanjo saw nothing wrong in the introduction of Sharia, in a non-Muslim country, did a lot to embolden both the politicians as well as their armed gangs who were mostly members of Boko Haram. These days, I laugh when Obasanjo puts Jonathan on the surgical table, viscerally putting him under the scalpel; when he points a finger at Jonathan, I can't fathom where he thinks the remaining four are pointing.

But much worse must be how northern leaders ensured that their people, especially children of school age, were educationally malnourished, preferring to turn them into Almajeris. Consequently, at the prime of their lives, rootless, uneducated and unemployed, if not unemployable, except as lowly menial workers, they become ready hands for the likes of Boko Haram. Unfortunately, when they commit crimes, like hacking down defenceless Youth Corps members or security men in the course of duty, they are assured, apriori, that they are beyond any punishment.

Now the chicken has come home to roost.

It is interesting that it was in Borno State, now hardest hit by Boko Haram, that a one-time state governor, reputed to be probably richer than the state, once gloated that newspapers could criticise him all they want, since only a negligible fraction of his people are literate enough to read newspapers.

Rather than build schools or establish industries to which the energies of these young men could have been properly directed, what we see in the long years of northern political/military domination are Sheik-like houses built by individuals like they were intended to house entire towns. This is why I do not subscribe to all these theories about poverty being the reason for Boko Haram. At the very best, it would only be a self-inflicted poverty; inflicted by leaders who should have been concerned with helping the under class but chose to turn a blind eye.

But if leaders in the north are guilty, the President, on whose table the buck stops, must carry the can. Although Obasanjo had been grossly unkind the way he prescribes contradictory solutions, President Jonathan has shown a vacuity that can only be astounding given his education and long years in the corridors of power. I am at a loss as to how the President will today differentiate between Afghanistan, Iraq and the country over which he presides. After he had been staggered into visiting the North-East, he got there and demonstrated a gripping unpreparedness; failing, unbelievably, to proffer a single productive way by which to end the Boko Haram insurgency. All we saw was some kind of sabre rattling, threatening elders he will, willy nilly, have to partner with on the long run.

Let me conclude this article by offering Mr President an advice.

What Nigeria needs, Mr President,

is structural re-engineering which a compatriot, Wale Adeoye, recently put as follows: 'To get out of this unending human carnage, this is the time to enter into genuine, constructive dialogue with Boko Haram. This must involve giving concessions for the right of the group to participate in democratic elections. This may sound awkward, but an Islamic Party controlling a part of the country should not be seen as antithetical to democracy, if the party enjoys the support of the majority.The siege mentality that defines our national politics in a plural society must vanish. Ethnic groups, environmentalists, and other groups that seek political power, driven by particular interests, either ethnic or religious, must be allowed to register their political parties and contest in their own area of cultural jurisdiction.’ The Afenifere Renewal Group was saying the same thing when it advised as follows at a recent press conference: 'It is our view that there is no better time than now to convene a national conference that would finally resolve the Nationality question that constantly and continuously pushes this country to the precipice.’ This, Mr President, is restructuring by another name. You need not be unduly overwhelmed by considerations for 2015. If this country unravels, there will be no 2015 for you or anybody else.

Be a statesman; convoke a national conference by whatever name, and save Nigeria.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Tunji

Adegboyega tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

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ANY students of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, taught by Prof Ralph Akinfeleye would remember the book, Essentials of Modern African Journalism: a Premier, authored by the lecturer. In it, Prof Akinfeleye talked about different kinds of journalism. Akinfeleye talked, for instance, of 'Journalism of Next-of-Kin', 'Cocktail Journalism', 'Journalism of' Gin and Lime' and Journalism of the General Order'. All, I guess, are self-explanatory. To these four, however, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has added a fifth: dem say, dem say journalism. I must confess it is after this 'invention' that I am beginning to be convinced that the Bayelsa State governor is highly resourceful. Even Prof Akinfeleye must be wondering why in all his decades of teaching and talking mass communication, it never occurred to him that such journalism should be listed in his book, in spite of its prevalence in our clime.

Your Excellency, I doff my hat!

As a matter of fact, doffing my hat can never be enough in this situation, because, as a Bayelsan, the governor himself has all kinds of hats and he must have seen many people doff all manner of hats for him. What, in my view should be adequate compensation for this erudition on the part of His Excellency is for Prof Akinfeleye to return, as a matter of urgency, to his publishers for a more recent edition of the book, to accommodate the all-important addition by the governor, while readers must be ready to grab

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

Oyinkan Medubi 07057012862 (SMS only) puchuckles7@gmail.com

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KNOW, I know, you wish me a happy Easter, right? Believe me, I would wish you a happier one but for these very unhappy times we are living in. Before you can recover from one piece of bad news, another one has taken its place, and before you can recover from even that, a worse one is already unfolding so much so people's heads are turning of their own accord in every direction preening for where next the fly will enter the ointment from: north, south, east or west. Seriously, what bothers me about these happenings is the fact that we Nigerians are getting more and more used to living with death or kidnapping or embezzling or bad governance all around the place so much so that life is beginning not to mean anything again.

That means we are getting desensitised to what exactly we call badness because we are not given enough time to recover from the last one and raise up our defences.

Too many bad things are happening too rapidly, and nearly all are man-made. This is why a notion is going around that badness belongs to the black man. Now, where on earth could that idea have come

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The dem say, dem say governor Bayelsa governor has added something new to media lexicon their copies, NOW! Indeed, those of us who graduated based on only what Prof Akinfeleye wrote in his book should be recalled and made to 'repeat' the course, to see if we have taken note of Governor Dickson's contribution. Journalism scholars and students alike worldwide owe His Excellency a world of gratitude for this creativity. Imagine what we have been missing until now that the governor woke us from our academic slumber to this 'local content', a thing we have been trying to achieve in all spheres of life without success. This is such a serious matter that I would have loved to prevail on the University of Lagos (my alma mater) to endow a chair in the great university on his behalf, if such an important discovery had come from Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, so that it could at least benefit from the Akwa Ibom governor's uncommon generosity.

But Bayelsa State is fast becoming a recurring decimal in the news of late, and particularly since President Jonathan assumed office.

Things have been happening in that state at the speed of light that it is almost difficult to chronicle them in a single piece. Not to worry; we shall try to mention a few, of which dem say, dem say journalism is just the latest. There is also this unusual

hospitality, at least by and to 'their ogas at the very top'. They hardly repay good with evil. President Jonathan demonstrated this attribute in his recent pardon granted his former boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was convicted for fraud. The President saw nothing wrong or unusual in that action; in fact, he was shocked that the rest of us were shocked by it when we should be praising him.

He was not alone; indeed, many people in Bayelsa openly jubilated over the presidential pardon. Obviously, the people were not on the same page with the rest of us, or vice versa. I was sad over that pardon because the President forgot to admonish his former boss to 'steal no more'. After all, Jesus Christ who pardoned the woman 'charged' with adultery (as if she could have done it all with herself) added that proviso: 'go but sin no more'. Since there was no such condition or conditionality in the presidential pardon for Alamieyeseigha, the man appears to have a blanket cheque, meaning that he can do it again and again and expect to be pardoned all the time, at least for as long as ‘their son’ is in power!

Governor Seriake too did what many of us regarded as unthinkable when in July last year he appointed Patience Jonathan, the

“Since the demise of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu (remember him?)who said he was entitled to a liberal slice of Oyo State government largesse), we have missed some of these hilarious actions. But it appears all hope is not lost, with Governors Okorocha and Dickson struggling to fill the vacuum left by some of these comedians of old. “

President's wife, as permanent Secretary in the state civil service. Recall also that the other day, President Jonathan expressed surprise as regards how Channels Television 'penetrated' the police college to expose the rot there when he should have thanked the television station for a job well done. In like manner, Governor Dickson too did not appear concerned about what could be the fertiliser for dem say, dem say journalism. All that matters to him is the proscription of this aspect of journalism. It did not strike him that dem say, dem say journalism thrives when information is not readily available.

In spite of whatever misgivings we might have about some of these somewhat unsavoury developments, however, I am glad to announce that they still have a redeeming feature. At least they offer some comic relief that is good for our health as Nigerians who are daily being bombarded with news from high places that can only further reduce life expectancy in the country. The fact is that the polity has been too hard and dry, and we can only imagine what damage this can do to our health. People like Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Dickson may not know it; they are somewhat helping in their own little ways to reduce stress in the land.

Imagine how Okorocha's twoweeklong holiday to the Igbo people in his state last December made many of us to roar with laughter not just for its novelty but more for its 'creativeness'. And the other day when Dickson too laboured in vain to justify the appointment of Mrs Jonathan as permanent secretary, many of us nearly rolled on the floor over the absurdity of the excuse

given. Yes, we may say that the kind of comic relief we are getting from our politicians these days is not as imaginative as the ones we got from, say Hon. Adegoke Adelabu, the inventor of the word 'penkelemeesi' (peculiar mess) in the First Republic; or the Late Barkin Zuwo, former Governor of Kano State in the Second Republic who asked soldiers that found millions of naira in his house what was funny in finding government money at the Government House.

The fact is, since the demise of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu (remember him?)who said he was entitled to a liberal slice of Oyo State government largesse), we have missed some of these hilarious actions. But it appears all hope is not lost, with Governors Okorocha and Dickson struggling to fill the vacuum left by some of these comedians of old.

If there is a decline in the level of their performance compared to the great ones that are now departed, it is just a reflection of the country where the only things on the rise are the parochial, the bad and the ugly. Standards in every good area have been on the decline. So, we can still make do with the substandard comic relief; after all, half comic relief is better than none.

From my email Just read your column of Sunday March 24, Tunji. Metaphorically speaking, full deregulation of the oil industry is the President's haughty but subtle way of telling Nigerians that after all the oil comes from Ijaw land, so he can decide what to do with it. But until he foolishly completes the deregulation, neither he nor his advisers can imagine how suffering Nigerians will react. Please hide my identity. Happy Sunday.

And a happy Easter to you too...

Really! Can a people hate their own country so much? have from?

The other day, someone was telling me how he longed to have a conversation with God. He said if he got the chance, he would ask the almighty only one question: what does He have against the black race?

Why cannot a black nation, any at all, manage its own affairs successfully? When I asked why, he looked at me and answered me with another question, you know, the way you do when you are asking your brain to think, and all it is doing is jiggling around on a spot like a key hooked in its lock. It won't unlock the door as you want it to, and it won't come out of the blessed lock.

So, he asked me why I, of all people, was asking him that question. I asked him in return how many black nations he knew could not get their affairs right? I think the questions were going too frequently to and fro, so someone had to end it.

None, he said. I informed him that there are many other nations in the world run by white people which had bad governments too. He challenged me to name one black country in the world running a good government right now, and don't bother naming South Africa, he told me; we all know why there is some modicum of organisation there. Finally for answer, I did not answer.

Seriously, the question needs to be asked, is there something wrong with the brain of the black man that makes him so incapable of thinking things through? Why does it appear as if the black man has given

over the efforts of thinking, and has thrown all his efforts behind taking as much money as possible out of any position he gets into, without bothering about the future of that place? Why, eh, why? Why can't he, for instance, even think of maybe getting someone to sweep the room or clean the chair he sits on for a change? Worse still, much of what is stolen from our impoverished black countries end up in the pockets of white people's banks which use them to develop their own countries so that black people can continue to hanker after the comforts provided by those white people's countries so that they (the blacks, not the whites) can steal more of their countries' funds and continue to pour them down the pockets of those (the white people's) banks so that ... and on and on and on. Wow, that was quite tiring.

Listen, I am at my wit's end trying to understand this problem.

Whenever I have heard that someone had, well, helped himself to a lot more than his salary allowed from the funds entrusted into his/ her care and stowed it away somewhere in the Cayman Islands or Swiss banks or American banks where the supposed investigative moths of the government cannot reach, I have often wondered what it is all about. Soon, you see, that bad news would invariably be followed by another piece that says that the said stower or stowee has

been struck down by one illness or gun or bomb or the other, which cannot be undone for all the money in the Cayman Islands. Worse, these monies have a nasty habit of never coming back home, meaning that those in the Cayman Islands and co. get to live the good life on our money while we the deprived get to bite our nails. Really! Can a people hate their own country so much?

This is where we can draw many lessons from this Easter celebration.

First we should remember that our Lord Jesus Christ never ran any bank account, whether in Israel or in the Cayman Islands, and yet, he never lacked. Indeed, he is said to have lived the most fulfilled, successful and triumphant life known to man.

His main focus was not acquiring wealth, but in living for others and doing the will of the one that sent him. Above all, rather than profit from the misfortunes of others, Christ is known to have sacrificed his life for mankind. In choosing to lose his life then, he gained much more. This is the person we are celebrating today.

We too can live very successful lives if we will just let our focus shift a little bit from contemplating ourselves in the mirror every morning and asking: mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest, greatest, sharpest highway man of all time, and concentrate rather on making the next person's life a little bit more tolerable for him/her. Then we would have lifted our names from

the Honour's Roll of Common Brigands to the greater and more genuine roll: of those who have lived successfully, for others.

Right now, the guns and bombs and kidnappings are going off every which way in the country, people are being killed or widowed, homes are being wrecked, children are being orphaned ... its chaos all the way, and no one is sorry. Yet, someone or some ones are behind these killings: sponsoring, procuring, planning, urging, recruiting, training, etc. And all for money or politics, cause I don't believe for one moment that the Boko Haram for instance have any religious or altruistic reasons for their mayhem. I just keep wondering: what will these people do when they do get their wish or choice positions? Help themselves to more money? Talk of blood money!

This Easter season, let us contemplate on our deeds and misdeeds and align them with acceptable ideals that can help to lift not just the society but individuals around us to more altruistic heights of development. An individual who misuses the funds in his charge for his own personal use cannot be enriched but is really poor indeed. Someone once said that the man who seeks to make only him/herself rich cannot be, because those ones will soon pull him/her right down again. A truly happy and successful person is the altruistic one. From this Easter, aim to be.

18

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Comment & Analysis

The American Supreme Court and same sex marriage B

Y the time this essay is published the Supreme Court of the United States of America would have heard all the arguements and counterarguements about the legality and desireability of same sex marriages. President Barak Obama has openly endorsed such marriages just as the former American Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton and her husband, President Bill Clinton. According to a CNN poll, no less than 58 per cent of the American people support same sex marriages too and another poll suggests that 80 per cent of Americans that are under the age of 30 also support it. And such support is not limited to those that are supporters or members of the American Democratic Party. Even the more liberal elements in the Republican Party, which is a party after my heart and which is the traditional bastion of conservative Christian and American values, seem to have warmed to the idea. This is simply because that is what the majority of the American people want and any political party that continues to resist it may pay a heavy price at the polls.

It is clear that the world is changing and that America, under Obama, has redefined her moral and religious values dramatically. I saw this coming and that is precisely why I have never been a great fan of Barrak Obama and that, much to the chagrin of my fellow Africans and men and women of colour from all over the world, I openly opposed his re-election last year and wrote a highly celebrated essay titled ‘’Can Barak Obama Be Trusted’’ which created quite a stir and which was widely published. The truth is that President Obama’a latest endorsement of and his stand on same sex marriage utterly appalls me.

What is the world coming to? How come we suddenly find it so easy to turn our backs on the word of God which specifically defines marriage as a holy union between a man and a woman which was designed primarily for the purpose of procreation? Not only does Obama and 58 per cent of the American people believe in same sex marriage but they also believe in same sex couples adopting and raising children. Is this not a tragedy of monuemental proportions? This is a country whose founding father’s, known as the ‘’pilgrim fathers’’, founded and established it on God and on His Holy Word.

President George Washington, the greatest American patriot and father of American independence, once proclaimed that ‘’you cannot rule without God and the bible’’. Have the American people forgotten that? Has America turned it’s back on the Living God? Have they forgotten the fact that God made them what they are today? Hve they rejected God and now espoused the spirit and luciferean principles of humanism? Is it not pertinent to note the fact that not one of the three great monotheic faiths on our planet, whether it be Christianity, Islam or Judaism, supports same sex marriage? As a matter of fact, they all specifically forbid it and describe it as a perversion and an abomination. All the polytheic faiths, including the hindus, the sikhs, the buddhists, the shinto worshippers, the traditionalists and even the atheists and agnostics do the same and condemn same sex marriage in the strongest terms.

I have nothing against gays and lesbians. I believe that a person’s sexual preferences or sexuality are entirely their own business. I also accept the fact that gays should not be in any way discriminated against or subjected to hate speech.

Your sexuality is a matter of choice and no one has the right to deny you the right to make that choice. This much I conceede and accept. However, I draw the line when it comes to the issue of redefining the traditional definition of marriage and allowing gay couples to enter such a union. This

Lekan Otufodunrin Otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net 08050498530 (SMS only)

Sacrifice of love

T • US Supreme Court judges

By Femi Fani-Kayode

is because the institution and its definition was established by Almighty God Himself and it is not for man to alter or amend. Attempting to do so is tantamount to man trying to play God. It is not right, it is morally indefensible and it is a violent and unprecedented attack on the institution of marriage and our traditional family values.

Yet America is not alone in its madness. Europe has gone crazy too. In France, the U.K, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and various other European countries, legislation to pave the way for same sex marriage has already been introduced and in some of those countries it is already lawful. The same thing is happening in Argentina, where gays are now allowed to marry, and I gather that Brazil is treading the same path. What is the world coming to? Will we ever see gay marriages in Africa and in Nigeria? I have little doubt that South Africa, the traditional bastion of liberalism in Africa, will be the first to permit it if they havn’t done so already. Should we allow Nigeria to climb this slippery slope as well? I sincerely hope not. Meanwhile, let us wait to see whether the American Supreme Court will do the right thing and shoot this abominable and morally repugnant concept down or whether they will affirm it.

For the sake of God and humanity I sincerely hope that they choose the former course.

I pray that I have not hurt anyone’s feelings by expressing these views on same sex marriage because the last thing that I would want is for anyone to describe me as a raging and ranting homophobe. I am far from that. As a matter of fact I think that it is a mark of a truly civilised society when people can tolerate and treat with love those that are ‘’different’’ from them whether it be as a consequence of their faith, culture, colour or sexuality. The call for the enforcement of the rights of ethnic or sexual minorities, including the

“Your sexuality is a matter of choice and no one has the right to deny you the right to make that choice. This much I conceede and accept.

However, I draw the line when it comes to the issue of redefining the traditional definition of marriage and allowing gay couples to enter such a union.”

rights of homosexuals and lesbians, is an ethos and philosophy that I wholly subscribe to. In any plural, multi-religious and multi-cultural society it is incumbent upon us all to be as tolerant and accomodating as posssible about the peculiarities and preferences of one another. I am proud to say that some of my closest friends are gay and as a matter of fact many of the young men that I went to British public school with many years ago openly experimented with gay sex and gay love only for most to later discover that it wasn’t for them. I see or feel no shame in that because for many it was simply a beautiful journey of selfdiscovery and love. As far as I am concerned it is each to his own but that should not stretch into marriage or the right of same sex couples to adopt and raise children.

Our country Nigeria, as in most of Africa, is a land that is plagued with ignorance and intolerance when it comes to the issue of sexuality and gays. We are wholly intorent and we are totally insensitive when it comes to the feelings of those in our community that are gay. Gay-hunting, gay-bashing, gay beating, gayhating and even gay-killing are favourite past time of ours and as far as I am concerened this is totally unacceptable.

We have forgotten that our God is a God of love and mercy and not a God of hate and condemnation. Yet we are so quick and eager to judge others. For example how can we have laws in our land that send a man or woman to jail or to his or her death simply because he or she has different sexual preferences to the rest of us? As long as the two parties that are involved are consenting adults, what they do in the privacy of their homes or hotel rooms is surely no one else’s business. I may not approve of it simply because it offends my values as a believer and because I cannot understand what promotes or motivates it but what gives me the right to describe such people as ‘’sick deviants’’ that are ’’destined to go to hell’’.? It really is just a matter of choice. We cannot regulate people’s sexual habits or preferences but at the same time we have a duty to protect the institution of marriage as it is described and defined in the Holy Bible, the Holy Koran, the Torah and all the other divinely-inspired holy books. My position is therefore clear and it is as follows: I say ’’yes’’ to a tolerant and open society that allows individuals, if they so choose, to be gay, to explore their sexuality and to indulge in their sexual preferences without any legal sanction, prosecution or persecution.

At the same time I say ‘’no’’ to same sex marriages which I believe are a step too far and a direct attack on the family and God’s purpose for a holy union that is designed and meant to lead to the procreation of children. The line is thin but the difference is clear. May God continue to guide us all in these matters.

HE E a s t e r p e r i o d m e a n s different things to different people. For non-Christians, the Easter period is just another of our numerous holidays to rest and do some of the things they have not attended to due to their normal work day hectic schedule.

But for Bible-believing Christians, Easter is the core of Christianity. It is about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a reminder of when the only begotten son of God that had no sin was offered to die for the redemption of the sin of man.

It is a practical demonstration of unconditional love of God towards a sinful world when in his infinite mercies. He gave his son as a sacrifice.

Jesus was crucified on what has come to be known as Good Friday and he rose from death like no other has on Easter Sunday. As we mark the Easter, the real reason for the season must not be lost on us all irrespective of whatever faith we profess.

Some churches usually reenact Jesus, journey to Golgoltha when he carried his cross and was subjected to all manner of beatings and humiliation. I hope those involved in the drama and others who watch don’t only enjoy the fun of the reenactment but are sobered by the sacrifice Jesus made for our sake .Watching Passion of the Christ film, which some argue is an overdramatisation of what Jesus experienced, for me really drives home the severity of the sacrifice. I fought back tears like many others who watched it experienced the same feeling.

However, and the question to ask is that if Jesus suffered that much to erase the sins of especially those of us who claim to be Christians why do we keep indulging in sins? Being a Christian is to be Christ-like but not many are. Not many Christians live as if they have ever read the ten commandments.

Although claiming to be a born again Christian has become fashionable and Churches are springing daily across the country, there is not enough evidence that Jesus, death means anything to many who say they are his followers.

If it does, and Easter is not just another holiday, as it is for others, many Christians will not indulge in sinful acts as they do nowadays. It used to be that when people claimed to be Christians that they could be trusted to be above board but that is no longer the case.

So many occupying top political and corporate positions who claim to be Christians have been found guilty of all kinds of corrupt practices that no one is impressed by such claims.

This Easter should be another opportunity for all followers of Christ to truly be like him not only in words but in deed.

I have been impressed by Pope Francis who has demonstrated what it is to really be a humble servant of God and hope that other Church leaders who live large at the expense of their followers will learn from his example.

Easter is a lesson in sacrifice of love through giving. Are you giving enough to the needy around you ? Do you love your neighbour as much as yourself?

POLITICS

19

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Imo: How Agbaso’s exit will affect 2015 calculations As Prince Eze Madumere replaces Sir Jude Agbaso as Imo State Deputy Governor, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, recalls the intrigues that led to Agbaso’s impeachment and attempts a preview of the implications of the development to the politics of the state

W

HEN 23 out of 27 members of Imo State House of Assembly finally put their seal of approval for the impeachment of former Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, last Thursday, March 28, 2013, some close observers of the politics of the state sensed a new beginning in the intricate schemings ahead 2015 governorship race in the state.

The battle for Agboso’s impeachment has been intriguingly hot, as the embattled former governor, who rejected accusations of bribery and corruption leveled against him, rather claimed victimisation.

As a result, Agbaso had ran to courts in a bid to frustrate both the investigations of a panel instituted by the Chief Justice and the actual impeachment at the House.

But as it turned out that Thursday morning, he failed in both instances as the lawmakers finally ruled in favour of his impeachment.

It would be recalled that the impeachment saga peaked the previous weekend when the state Chief Judge, Justice Benjamin Ahanonu Njemanze, constituted a sevenmember investigative panel to probe the allegations of misconduct attached to the Notice of Impeachment served Agbaso by the Imo State House of Assembly.

In a statement announcing the constitution of the panel, Justice Njemanze had said his action was in “pursuant to Section 188 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( as amended) and other laws enabling me in that behalf.”

He also said it was at the request of the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ben Uwajumogu, contained in a letter of reference number IHA/SP.5H3A/ 23/15 of 13th March, 2013.

The panel was empowered to investigate the allegations as contained in the articles of Misconduct attached to the Notice

• Madumere

of Impeachment annexed to a letter from the Speaker.

The five allegations leveled against Agbaso include: that with intent to deceive the committee and mislead the House, Agbaso denied, before the committee that he ever had any dealings or telephone conversations with Mr. Joseph Dina of JPROS International Nigeria Ltd, in February June 2012, “which facts were false and intended to cover your private/underground dealings with Mr. Joseph Dina;” that “with intent to enrich yourself, did cause Mr. Joseph Dina of JPROS International Nig. Ltd, to transfer the sum of four hundred and fifty million Naira only in two installments to two different bank accounts on your instruction and directive on the promise of award of 2 numbers of 15 kilometer of roads.”

He was also accused of receiving a special drink “Blue Label ( Porsche Design) from the same company among others accusations of causing the state to lose funds.

Members of panel included, Hon Justice G. C. Ihekire, chairman, Vin Onyeka, Egonu Mere, Humphrey Ajaelu, Mrs. Cecelia Chinyere Oladimeji, James Gozie Nze, and Okparaku Nwarie as members.

Rejecting these allegations Agbaso alleged political reasons for his travails. He said it was a plot to get him out of office ahead of the 2015 governorship election.

“The truth is that I am a victim of power play between two powerful political figures. I heard that there was an agreement reached between my elder brother, Chief Martin Agbaso that the governor should be in office for one tenure only and give way for him to contest in 2015.

“I am not the governor and do not award contracts and there is no way bribe

for contract award should be channeled to me. The facts are there to exonerate me of any charges being brought up now.”

Between politics and misconduct Though Agbaso alleged political reasons for his impeachment, the question that is still being asked by some concerned observers and indigenes is if he has satisfactorily disproved allegations of misconduct and bribery leveled against him?

Pa Onyegbula Nwulu, an Imo elder in Lagos told The Nation that “while some political schemings may not be completely ruled out in the impeachment saga, it would be wrong for anybody to attempt to undermine the major issue, which is that an official in the position of a deputy governor was accused of bribery and gross misconduct.”

Nwulu confirmed that most Imo citizens are aware of agitations of Owerri zone to produce the next governor but argued that this should not be a justification to condone official misconduct. “I don’t see the logic in Agbaso’s argument. It is not enough to allege political motives, it would have been better to painstakingly disproof the allegations, which in my opinion are grievous,” he said.

Recently, at the onset of the impeachment saga, some leaders of Owerri zone, under the platform of the Owerri Zone Political Leaders Forum (OZOPOLF), reportedly said it is the turn of the zone to produce the next governor of the state, insisting that they want that slot in 2015. Some analysts have traced that agitation to the alleged agreement between Chief Martins Agbaso, elder brother to Sir Jude Agbaso and Governor Rochas Okorocha. The allegation was that the earstwhile political as-

sociates agreed that Okorocha will serve only one term in office and allow Owerri zone to produce the governor in 2015.

But the governor’s camp has repeatedly denied any one term pact between Okorocha and any individual or group.

Okey Ofulue, a chieftain of the governor’s Agenda Group, was recently quoted asa saying “the pact only exists as a figment of the imagination of some drowning politicians who are bent on holding on to even straws in their struggle for political relevance.”

The face off however assumed deeper political dimension when All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) publicly accused the deputy governor and his elder brother of being part of an alleged plot by the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sack Okorocha from office and distort the activities of the Imo State House of Assembly.

In a statement signed by Prince Marshal Okafor Anyanwu, state chairman of the party said: “This ill-conceived move is not unconnected with the ongoing investigation by the state legislature over allegation of financial gratification leveled against the Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, by one of the major contractors handling the state government road projects. “ Okorocha, a few days suspended his oversee trip to intervene, when events as regards to this subject matter almost assumed a negative direction. We are, therefore, surprised with the way and manner the Presidency and national leadership of the PDP unexpectedly showed interest on the matter and subsequently declared support for the Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, who is not a member of the PDP. “However, we gathered that the 12 PDP lawmakers in the state legislature summoned to Abuja a few days ago, met with the National Chairman of the party and its Board of Trustee Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and Chief Tony Anenih at Nicon Hilton, where the lawmakers were told in clear terms not to participate in the ongoing investigation on corrupt allegation against the deputy governor. According to our source, this position was an aftermath of Chief Martin Agbaso’s recent deal with the PDP.” The party alleged that the senior Agbaso “has promised them to remain in APGA as against his earlier intention to join the All Progressive Congress (APC).

He also pledged to work for the PDP presidential candidate in 2015, which President Goodluck is favored to pick,” APGA alleged.

Madumere, the new deputy governor Prince Ezeakonobi Madumere was born forty eight years ago on the 4th day of July 1964 to the Royal family of HRH Eze Henry Anorue Madumere and Ugoeze Malinda Madumere of Achi Mbieri, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

He attended Primary and Secondary Education in Owerri and Lagos state respectively after which he travelled to the United States of America for further studies. He had his first degree, B.sc in Business Administration from San-Jacinto College, University of Houston Texas.

While in the United States of America, he worked as an Area Manager of Channel Development in the KFC with PepsiCo Inc. for thirteen years.

He is a knight of Saint Christopher and at present the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Imo state, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha OON. Prince Ezeakonobi Madumere MFR is a media Strategist, an astute Administrator as well as Management Guru, a team player and an overall strategist per excellence.

How Madumere’s entrance will affect 2015 calculation Our findings show that Madumere has been working closely with Okorocha long before Okorocha’s emergence as governor.

This closeness, it is believed will lead to a more harmonous administration in Imo.

20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Politics

•Wike

•Amaechi

A

FEW weeks ago, the Rivers State House of Assembly passed a vote of confidence on the state governor, Chibuike Amaechi. It was a preemptive decision taken against the background of unconfirmed reports that forces within and outside the state had perfected the plot to impeach Amaechi for his alleged antagonistic posture towards President Goodluck Jonathan The motion raised by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Chidi Julius Lloyd, enjoyed the overwhelming support of the lawmakers except five who voted against it. For Bapakaye Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo constituency; Micheal Chinda of Obio/ Akpor II constituency; Victor Ihunwo representing Port Harcourt III constituency; Kelechi Nwogu (Omuma) and Martins Chikeb Amaewhule, representing Obio/Akpor I, their opposition to the motion was least expected.

As members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the five dissenting lawmakers were expected to toe the same line taken by their colleagues who voted in support of the motion. Their action, according to sources, stunned many in the state who were of the belief that the governor’s support base in the House of Assembly was impregnable.

In some newspaper advertorials placed by a group which calls itself the ‘Rivers State PDP Grassroots’, the five ‘rebel’ lawmakers were hailed for voting against the motion, which the group noted “was indirectly sponsored by Governor Amaechi through Hon. Chidi Llyod.”

Sources in the state are presently pointing fingers at the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyisom Wike, as the brain behind the sponsorship of the advertorial, signed by one Comrade Victor Mazi and Kingsley Okoro, the chairman and secretary respectively.

Beyond this, Wike is also alleged to be the major backer of the five lawmakers who opposed the vote-of-confidence motion. “The lawmakers would not have dared to do what they did without the

Why Gov Amaechi, Wike parted ways over Jonathan The long years of close friendship between Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi and Minister of State for Education, Nyisom Wike, may have gone frosty if feelers circulating within the political circles are anything to go by, Remi Adelowo reports backing of some powerful forces in Abuja,” said a former federal lawmaker in the state.

Between Amaechi and Wike Until recently, the governor and the minister enjoyed a nearperfect relationship. From 1999 till a few months ago, the relationship, according to sources, transcended personal and political spectres.

While Amaechi served as the speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, Wike was a commissioner in the Dr. Peter Odili-led administration.

The gruelling legal battle which culminated in the inauguration of Amaechi as governor in 2007 with Wike reportedly providing the needed support further cemented the relationship between the two men. The reward of Wike’s loyalty necessitated his appointment by Amaechi as the Chief of Staff in 2007, a position he held until his appointment as a minister in 2011. That also did not happen without some intrigues that played out at the seat of power.

As the story goes, the president, desirous of appointing tested technocrats as ministers, had initially pencilled down Mr. Tonye Cole, the architect son of former Ambassador, Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, as the ministerial nominee from Rivers State.

No sooner had the ministerial list made public that some governors, including Amaechi, alleg-

edly prevailed on the president to drop some ministerial nominees. Cole, who is the Group CEO, Sahara Energy, an indigenous oil conglomerate, was one of them. After intense pressure and lobbying, Jonathan finally deferred to Amaechi, sacrificing Cole in the process. The lucky beneficiary was Wike, Amaechi’s preferred choice to represent Rivers State as minister.

So close were these two politicians that in time past, Wike was alleged to be Amaechi’s anointed candidate for Rivers State governorship seat in 2015.

How things fell apart Signs that the governor’s relationship with the minister was heading for the rocks began to emerge when the governor was perceived in the presidency as disloyal to President Jonathan.

From the disagreement between the presidency and the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) headed by Amaechi over the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF); sharing of the excess crude funds; controversy over the ceding of some oil wells from Rivers to Bayelsa State and the alleged ambition of the governor to pair with the Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, for the 2015 PDP presidential ticket, the governor’s relationship with the president has thawed in recent months.

A credible source revealed that Wike, uncomfortable with Amaechi’s recurring clashes

with the Presidency, held several private discussions with the governor on the need to make peace with the president.

But the governor, it was learnt, made it clear to the minister that there was nothing personal in his disagreement with the president, and that all his actions and utterances were in the interest of his state. On the SWF and Excess Crude Account controversies, the governor said his position was the collective decisions of all the state governors.

The Nation gathered that when the opposition of Amaechi and some PDP governors to the rumoured second term ambition of the president became more pronounced, a few members of the president’s kitchen cabinet allegedly prevailed on him to relieve some ministers nominated by these governors and other stakeholders opposed to the president of their duties.

If this suggestion had been accepted by the president, Wike, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, both of whom were allegedly nominated by ex-President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, would have been fired from the cabinet.

But a superior argument that sacking these ministers largely perceived as the star performers in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) would not do the Jonathan administration any good soon prevailed.

A counter strategy In a desperate move to cut alleged ‘recalcitrant’ governors to size, the president’s kitchen cabinet came up with a strategy to empower ministers who are known to be politically experienced to build a counter power base within the states controlled by these governors.

The objective of this strategy is to whittle down the enormous influence of the governors in their states, which will be achieved by infiltrating the key structures, including the Houses of Assembly and the levers of powers in the party hierarchy from the ward to the state level.

Wike, it was gathered, was one of the ministers that quickly keyed into this plot, a development that allegedly rattled Amaechi.

Not ready to take chances, the Rivers State governor, according to a source, has become more alert watching closely developments in his immediate base.

“The vote-of-confidence motion by the House of Assembly was not by happenstance. It was a clear message to the governor’s adversaries that he remains in firm control of the state,” said an aide of the governor.

But while the crisis of confidence between the president and Amaechi still persists, it remains to be seen how the battle for the soul of Rivers State politics will play out in the next couple of months.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Politics

‘Anambra Child Rights Act takes cognisance of our culture’ Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Lady Azuka Henrietta Agbata, was before her appointment the chairperson for South-East West African College of Nursing and Coordinator of Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in the Diaspora, Anambra State. In this interview with Odogwu Emeka Odogwu in Nnewi, Lady Agbata speaks on a wide range of issues including how she met her husband. Excerpts:

B

EFORE you joined the ministry and the government of Mr Peter Obi, were you into politics or any other organisations?

Yes. I was working for my village and community. Though, I am still working for them. Also, before joining the government I was actively involved in the Church. I am the President of Anglican Women Association in Awka; Coordinator of Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in the Diaspora Anambra State; Chairman, Editorial Committee of the Christian Family Magazine, Diocese of Awka.

Apart from these, I was also involved in politics. As I said earlier, I went to work from village, that is, my community. So in my ward, I was taking part in the political activities. Sometime, they made me the woman leader in Anambra State when Dr Aneze Chinwuba was vying for the governor of the state; that was in the 90s. I was the state woman leader that represented Anambra State at the Alex Ekwueme Campaign Organisation when he was vying for the presidency in Nigeria.

I was also the state woman leader for United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP); so I just did those things as a hobby and they did not stop me from my job because I was serving the nation, that is how I got involved in politics. Later on, I joined APGA. I was an APGA stalwart in my ward; then I vied for the House of Assembly in 2011 in APGA which I guess has made it possible for me to be in the office that I am today.

Do you have any regrets at all being in this office now?

I don’t have any regrets whatso-

ever. I was working and had a hobby which I was enjoying.

What are the challenges you have faced so far in the programmes, I mean being your first time away from your normal procedures?

I must say that I have been pleasantly challenged. As you can see, with my background, I am used to having programmes. I was even the chairperson for South-East State, West African College of Nursing because Nursing is my profession. I am a fellow of West African College of Nursing. When it was the turn of Anambra to host the South-East Zone, for two years, I was the chairman and I hosted them in those two years.

This present office has a lot to do

Political

ripples Why Tony Nwoye is yet to be inaugurated

F

OR over one year, Tony Nwoye, a former Na tional President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has been in and out of court to get justice in his quest to be a member of the House of Representatives.

A few weeks ago, Nwoye was declared by the Appeal Court as the duly nominated PDP candidate of his federal constituency.

Curiously, however, the man, despite several attempts to take his seat at the National Assembly, has not succeeded, with sources alleging that Speaker Aminu Tambuwwal is under pressure from some powerful forces not to inaugurate •Nwoye Nwoye.

with mobilisation, hosting women, children, the handicapped, etc. It is not new to what I was used to do and that is why I said that I have been pleasantly challenged.

The Child Rights Bill which protects the rights of the child has been passed in Anambra State.

How workable is this bill?

Yes, I must say that we are grateful to the Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Umeadi, for seeing that this law is actualised in Anambra State.

What we really want to do is to meet the press, discuss it on air so that people will be aware of the latest trend. There are terminologies that have been changed and the public needs to be aware of them.

Until we make it known to the masses, that is, the Child Rights Act, we will not implement it and will not be as forceful as we may end up being.

The fact that you mentioned it means that you will write about it and that is part of getting it across to the people and then we will have a time to talk to the press, it will be on the TV, radio and the papers because we tend to take a lot for granted as far as Child Rights •Continued on Page 26

Who is after Mafe?

A

SIWAJU Yinka Mafe is the Chairman, House Committe on Education, Science and Technology in the Ogun State House of Assembly. The Sagamu-born lawmaker is never weary of telling those who care to listen how much joy he derives from having the opportunity to give back to his constituency through adequate representation.

But it seems that, currently, Mafe is •Mafe not a very happy man. His unhappy state is as a result of the worrisome negative publicity dogging his footsteps for a while now.

First it was an allegation that he got convicted in absentia by a court in the United Kingdom. The lawmaker was busy trying to set the records straight concerning that allegation when it went viral on social media that he was accused of rape by an erstwhile female friend. The rape allegation was soon found out to be false and the alleged victim a faceless pseudo name on Facebook. Although some people are still insisting he has some clarifications to make, the question on most lips now is who is after Hon. Yinka Mafe?

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Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Salute to our elephant, Asiwaju

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HEN Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu turned 60 last year, I refused to join the legion of writers and commentators who competed for space to shower encomiums on him.

But, now that he is 61, I believe that the moment is not only auspicious, but sober enough to pour out my heart on what I consider the standing of the great man and challenge him on the way forward.

By dint of hard work, Tinubu is today the foremost political figure in Yorubaland. From Bourdillon, he decides what happens on the political scene in all the six states of the South West zone.

His astuteness was demonstrated beyond all shadows of doubt in 2003. While his colleagues, governors elected on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, fell to Obasanjo’s tricks, Asiwaju saw through the ploy to displace the party in the zone in a bid to create a natural constituency for a President who, in the Peoples Democratic Party, was regarded as an orphan, having failed to contribute to the commonwealth.

One major quality that a politician must have is foresight. It is no use having so much hindsight, Asiwaju has shown that he has insight and foresight they have served him well. If others had been as perceptive as he, the progressive movement in the South West would not have gone through the grim battle that led to 2009 when Osun and Ekiti were reclaimed, and 2011 when Oyo and Ogun came back to the fold.

Today, apart from being the political wizard of Yorubaland, he is an acknowledged pan-Nigeria politican master tactician. To the PDP, the fear of Tinubu is the beginning of wisdom. He is also seen by many as the hand behind the ingenious plan to lead opposition parties to stand up to the ruling party in 2015 through a united front. They know what Tinubu is capable of doing and would not want to taste defeat in the hands of the man who learnt at the feet of the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

His hold on the South West is significant. The zone has a special place in the political history of Nigeria. Each time it resolutely stood against the powers of the moment, the country quaked. Politicians of the First Republic had dismissed Chief Obafemi Awolowo as an ant and conspired to do him in when it was obvious that he lived in the hearts of his people. He was arrested, persecuted, prosecuted and thrown to jail. But, what happened, the people rose in his defence and Nigeria nearly disintegrated in the wake of Awolowo’s travails. Awolowo was then the Asiwaju of Yorubaland.

In the Second Republic, many Yoruba believed, rightly or wrongly, that the 1979 presidential election was rigged for the National Party of Nigeria. Awo went to court, but lost. Yet, the people fought a psychological and sophisticated war throughout the Second Republic. Four years after the 1979 polls, the NPN chose to bare its fangs in the most bizarre and illogical manner. It turned a hurricane that swept away almost everything in sight. In the governorship and House of Assembly elections, it discarded with the will of the people of Oyo and, initially, Ondo States.

It dealt a blow at the soul and pride of Zik by taking over Anambra State and decimated the Great Nigeria Peoples Party and Peoples Redemption Party in the North. Nigeria was on the way to becoming a one-party state. But, the people in the South West, in solidarity with Awo, rose and fought. First, the NPN’s Pyrrhic victory in Ondo was upturned. And for the three short months that Dr. Omololu Olunloyo pretended to be running affairs from the Agodi Government House, Ibadan, the people showed he was walking alone.

The Third Republic, if it can be called a Republic, apparently collapsed because the Yoruba felt cheated. Having produced a President in Chief Moshood Abiola, they were shocked when the military frustrated the bid and rather prolonged fascist hold on power. It was the first time that a non-Hausa-Fulani would emerge an elected Chief Executive. He did it in style, garnering votes from all parts of the country. Yet, the result was annulled. The Yoruba would not take it and they resisted as years under the legendary Awolowo had taught them to. By the time the military had to roll away the tanks, it was obvious that the zone could not be left out of the calculation.

However, it must be pointed out that Asiwaju Tinubu is human after all. He is not invincible and, if anyone thought he was, the result of the last governorship election in Ondo State must have brought the reality home. His party lost the poll, just as Awo also lost elections in the old West. It took the travails of the immediate post-independence years to bring the best out of Awo. It is expected that the trial of Tinubu at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and current shenanigans of the ruling party would further cement his hold on his region and sufficiently catch the attention of others.

How the merger attempt turns out may define his place in history. Nigerian political history has demonstrated beyond doubt that the peoples will not tolerate any attempt to turn the country into a one-party state. It is also obvious that, at least at the national level, parties with narrow political platforms would not receive the broad support needed to have a strong showing in presidential elections. This is the moment to move strategically. The merger offers a rare window to push for power in 2015. The North West and South West are apparently disenchanted now.

Asiwaju owes the people of Nigeria a duty to lead them out of the bondage of ages. Can he? Would he? Happy birthday, the current champion.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Politics

HOSE who are uncomfortable with Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola are at war with again over his education reform policy project.

There are three components in this project which have become controversial and have generated some inclement comments from political opponents and rabid critics.

These components are: merger of schools; Opon Imo (the computer tablets); and Hijab.

So controversial is the last component that the matter has become a court case in Osogbo, the state capital. At issue is a bogus conception that Ogbeni Aregbesola, as part of a phantom Islamisation agenda has introduced the wearing of hijab - a covering for a moslem woman’s hair and neck) - into public schools in the state. At the forefront of the campaign against Ogbeni-led government is the Osun chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN that went to town recently with a statement practically accusing the governor of stoking religious crisis by allowing the use of the hijab in publuc schools.

But almost simultaneously as CAN was peotesting in the press, the moslems went to court seeking an order to compell Ogbeni to allow them the use of the hijab in public schools, embarrassing CAN, which had already alleged that the governor had given to moslems what they were seeking in court. The whole thing became a theatre of the absurd when the same CAN jumped into court asking to be joined with Aregbesola’s government as co defendant in the moslem suit seeking affirmationof its women’s right to wear the hijab in public schools!!!

CAN simply looked desperate about nothing.

If CAN had been properly advised, it would possibly have waited for the court’s interpretation of Section 38 sub-section 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Ni-

T

Ogbeni’s critics again

•Aregbesola

By Waheed Alao geria which states inter-alia that: ‘No person attending any place of education shall be required to take religious instruction or take part in or attend any religious ceremony, observance if such instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own, or a religion not approved by his parent or guardian’, before it went to town with its allegations against the governor.

However, the sub-theme of CAN’s criticism bears both political and religious incitement, the latter of which cannot succeed in Yorubaland. So why this level of intolerance? Well, there are sugges-

tions that the Osun CAN may have been politically motivated by ACN’s principal opponent in the state, but this is not substantiated. The question to ask is, what is CAN’s interest in public schools run by government, which is supposed to be neutral on religion?

Why is the christian body making itself look like an ally of the PDP in the State of Osun by repeating verbatim that party’s discredited allegations against Ogbeni which were outright lies contrived to score silly political points. We may never get to the bottom of this, but it is a very sad development which questions the integrity of those behind Osun CAN’s latest outbursts.

On the question of merger of schools. Some of the criticisms don’t make sense at all. In particular, the one that says Ogbeni should have renovated old schools rather than build new ones is fundamentally dumb. We are talking here about renewal of a totally broken down infrastructure in the educational sectorin such a way as to maximize available resources in creating a new, modern school infrastructure that would make both citizens and students proud. Whoever has been to Osun and seen some of these new schools would wonder what kind of mentality is behind all the criticisms against Ogbeni’s educational reform

project.

On the questions raised about different communities’ schools that were merged, as well as the issue of new ‘hardships’ created by distance and commuting to and from the schools’ location; it should be admitted that painful as these challenges may be to a few, the benefit to the entire communities involved outweighs the objections and criticisms to the project’s execution.

Perhaps we may remind the critics that change (especially the type of revolutionary changes being introduced by Ogbeni in the State) cannot occur without some pain. That is the opportunity cost every backward society would have to pay to move forward in the modern world otherwise the hardship which will attend stagnation in backwardness would be worse than the pains that you experience in the transformation to a better and.progressive circumstance.

It is only from this point of view that intelligent people would have to assess Ogbeni Aregbesola’s reformation project in the education sector.

With regard to the ‘Opon Imo’ (the computer tablet) which is designed to help students improve on their performance in WAEC and NECO school-leaving certificate examinations, the critics are pathetically uninformed. The unintelligent attempt by PDP and its minions to discredit the project on account of alleged ‘inappropriate’ disbursement of funds on two aspects of thr components of the project is in very bad taste.

We had explained this before that a key aspect of Ogbeni’s six-point integrated transformation agenda is education, and because of its importance, the operation is domiciled in

the Governor’s office. So if the governor signed two or three documents authorising disbursement of fund to execute done deals on the same day, what’s the big deal about that? Would these rabid critics please supply evidence that those disbursements were fraudulent!! The stolen documents that they published didn’t prove fraud. So what’s the big deal?

The PDP inspired critics have still not learnt that they have an incorruptible politician in the person of Ogbeni to deal with. And the more they look at him from the prism of their own fraudulent philosophy of governance, the more they will be deceiving themselves on the purpose of this man in government. PDP is a ‘come and chop’ party.

That mentality appears to have crippled their intelligence so much so that they only can perceive every monetary transaction of Ogbeni from that prism of graft, fraud and squandermania that motivate their own participation in government, and characterized their disasterous 90 months in office between 2003 and 2010 in Osogbo.

Keep in mind the fact that the infamous statement, ‘we invited you to the PDP government to come and chop’, originated from one of the most prominent PDP members in the South West during the Obasanjo presidency. That had been and continues to be PDP’s philosophy of governance, it is the reason Nigeria is collapsing into a failed state. So you don’t expect such people’s ethos to be framed outside fraud. That’s all they can see in, and know about governance. But unfortunately for them, Ogbeni Aregbesola operates from a commanding height of public interest, morality and integrity. Try as hard as they may, PDP cannot fault Aregbesola on these high ethical values.

Waheed works in the Directorate of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Osun.

Ndigbo and leadership question: The Orji Uzor Kalu alternative F

EW issues concerning the Igbo nation have provoked profound debate and lengthy discussions than the vexed question of leadership. There is this otiose conception among our people that the Igbo have no ‘eze’. I think this is a wrong assumption. The Igbo have ‘eze’, perhaps not in the sense other cultures, like the Yoruba or the Hausa/Fulani, express and institutionalise their own kingship patterns. Unfortunately, most of our people have bought into this rheumy impression upon which basis they impugn their very best and ridicule them before the public.

The present travail of Orji Uzor Kalu, the former governor of Abia State, is a case in point. The man who succeeded him and who incidentally was installed by him has made a past time in rubbishing Orji Uzor Kalu. He has gone to extreme lengths to cast Kalu in the mould of a pariah; a cheat and corrupt man.

This is most regrettable. I have never met Kalu in person but I have followed his activities like all other Igbo titans and I do not think he deserves the raw deal he is getting today. The latest of the travesty against Kalu is the purported cancellation of his degree certificate by the Abia State University, Uturu.

According to reports, the certificate was cancelled because Orji Uzor Kalu allegedly did not complete his course. This allegation is not only frivolous but underscores pettiness to drag Uzor Kalu to the mud. Incidentally, Orji Uzor Kalu has maintained a dignified and respectful silence in the face of this executive cannibalisation of his persona and integrity. This is commendable essentially because the

By Ochie Malachy Chuma Igbo man has this belief that if you are taking your bathe by the riverside and a mad man comes along to take your clothes, you will be regarded as another mad person if you run after him naked.

That Orji Uzor Kalu is a towering leader is not in doubt. That he was a successful business man and philanthropist ever before he ventured into politics is also not in doubt. That he was not lifted like a cripple and put on the executive seat of Abia State is also evident. That he has defended the Igbo interest even at the risk of personal safety is equally not debatable- a struggle that has brought great admirers and vicious enemies within and outside; a struggle that has threatened to scuttle his business empire.

In this struggle to defend and protect his people, Orji Uzor Kalu has had security operatives unleashed on him; his home and offices turned inside out by these security operatives like maggots rummaging the inner anatomy of a putrefying carcass. He has been cursed and discussed. The battle rages on and that is just the way he loves it.

For any person to think that this man of destiny and history would be thrown into the dust bin of history in the form of a footnote is not only a crass permutation but also supine intellectual and ethereal assumption.

Men of destiny, irrespective of their backgrounds have always had to strive hard to arrive at the top, and such struggles to be the best in whatever they do have always quickened their inventiveness and inspired their resolution.

My assignment in this paper is fairly simple. That assignment is to focus attention on the one issue, which every shade of opinion in this country has come to appreciate as a fundamental problem and challenge to the Igbo nation. That singular issue is the question of credible leadership.

Today, I have no doubt in my mind that Ndigbo in Nigeria are standing at a crossroads; the type that Bennet Lerone Jr., would describe as critical in the evolution of any society. in his epic work captioned “The Road not Taken” I cannot but agree totally with Professor Chinua Achebe when he insists that good leadership, like good money, is difficult to come by. In the Igbo context, this is absolutely true.

Today, as we get set to chart a new course for our people, I want to say that we are at the threshold of history.

I have always asked the question: what has this kind of politics done for us? We do not have to look far to see the fruits: a 30-month old civil war that was fought with every ounce of vengeance, bitterness and viciousness; a Niger-Delta brimming with youth militancy and youth restiveness; a thoroughly corrupt public service; a lame duck judiciary that has taken justice far away from the common man; cities littered with the corpses of victims of religious and ethnic crisis with their blood crying out for reparation from a country that held out so much hope but gave so much pain and frustration; and so on and so forth. For how long must we continue to dance this dance of the spirit; this surugede dance of death?

As we proceed with the task of rebuilding Nigeria, we cannot avoid taking stock of our past- a past that has done very little to make the present meaningful; a past that has seen brothers take up arms against their brothers in several moments of indiscretions.

Our generation is determined to locate our mission as a people and fulfill it. We can no longer keep quiet and wring our fingers in despair and anguish while our homesteads are being consumed by a raging inferno.

Orji Uzor Kalu has pointed the way forward in this connection.

The determined strides of Orji Uzor Kalu since he emerged as an Igbo political leader are very refreshing and enervating, for it shows that even in the midst of our confusion, there are still God-fearing man with conviction and commitment to credible leadership.

The Orji Uzor Kalu alternative There is no gainsaying the fact that the issue on the front burner and for which Governor Theodore Orji is hypertensive is whether it is right or appropriate for Orji Uzor Kalu to come back to the PDP, which incidentally he was a founding member. All those who frown at his coming back into the PDP fold brandish the so-called formation of a rival political party to PDP as their only reason. Incidentally, none of them in Abia has acknowledged the fact that it was on the platform of the so-called rival political party that they all assumed political power. They all went back into the PDP. Incidentally nobody has come out to say that Orji Uzor Kalu should not rejoin the PDP because

•Uzor Kalu he is not so-qualified or because he is such a poor leader.

Leadership inertia or ineptitude has very often been fingered as one of the major factors militating against our development as a people. This, to me, is simply hitting the nail on the head. Leadership is the soul of society and governance.

In the presence of credible leadership, hitherto dormant possibilities, which have been slumbering, will gradually begin to uncoil and inch towards the collective goal.

This is a critical factor in societal evolution. Has it not been said that a society is like its leader. The leader sets the agenda.

- Chuma, a senior research consultant and public affairs analyst, wrote in from Enugu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

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THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

The Chinua Achebe I knew

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How did you meet Chinua Achebe?

I got to know Achebe in 1948 at Government College, Umuahia when we were both students. We were not only in the same school we were in the same house – Niger House. At one point we were in fact in the same dormitory and he was the prefect. He was three years ahead of me.

He was soft-spoken, diligent, and hardworking and like most boys from that school, reliable and honest.

Even in those days one habit of his became noticeable – he always carried a book. Even when he was marking out portions for our grass-cutting chores on Saturdays, he would have a machete in his right hand and a book in his left, with his forefinger buried in it to mark Humorously where he had stopped. This picture is particularly vivid he said he had in my mind. After school convened the days, we went our different ways, but whenever we met, meeting not the passage of time will make no difference. We would re- necessarily to call incidents during our form an school days and laugh endlessly. He had an honest and association rather infectious kind of but for us to laughter.

When he convened a debate meeting of authors at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for whether the formation of the Associawriters who tion of Nigeria Authors, Chinua was his usual are known to humble and unassuming self. be half-mad Humorously he said he had convened the meeting not and necessarily to form an association but for us to debate individualistic whether writers who are could in fact known to be half-mad and individualistic could in fact come together come together to form an asto form an sociation. His humble and relaxed approach fired our reassociation. solve to form an association, His humble and ANA was born.

In 1954, Ekwensi puband relaxed lished People of the City. I was approach thrilled that a Nigerian could write a novel. Then in 1958 fired our came Achebe’s Things Fall Apart which received instant resolve to global acclaim. A novel writform an ten by my own schoolmate and friend! Wow! I rushed association, for a copy and did not put it down until I finished it. I have and ANA was no doubt at all that I drew born. much of my inspiration to write from Ekwensi and Achebe.

Some critics refer to writ-

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ers who published novels after Things Fall Apart as “Achebe’s children”. Well, Yes and No. Yes, in the sense that I and some others drew inspiration and the courage to write from him. No, in the sense that while there may be common features like proverbs for instance in his work and mine, my style and orientation are quite different. There are no white men in my books, and gods and the supernatural play a more powerful role than in Achebe’s books. Again, while Achebe deeply explores colonial politics, I am preoccupied with the intricacies of our people’s culture. As the general editor of the African Writers Series, Achebe described The Concubine when it was published as ‘an unusually successful first novel’. I could not have had a better encouragement than that.

I believe the Civil War affected Achebe very deeply and probably robbed him of the Nobel Prize. Between A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), Achebe’s creativity had a lull of twenty years which dealt a fatal blow to any Nobel Prize ambitions.

But that apart, I am convinced that Achebe deserved the prize for his enormous impact on African Literature. When I met Chinua in January 1989, he gave me a copy of Anthills of the Savannah in which he wrote: ‘To Elechi with admiration, Chinua’. This book is one of my treasured possessions. This great literary icon admired my writings, so critics beware! I will always remember Chinua as a giant in African Literature, a literary role model, a consummate craftsman and above all, a friend.

Why is it that when people die, even those who disagree with their ideas and ideologies while alive would express appreciation and honour to them?

Well, that is because people don’t want to speak ill about the dead. When they know you are dead even your enemy will try to speak good about you. I will miss him, his death reminds me of the good days in Government Collage, Umuahia, but he is gone and his work will immortalise him. That is one joy of a writer.

When you no longer exist, your work exists and speaks volume of you, but only when your work is good which can be determined by the readers.

The Concubine is more than 40 years yet There are no people still ask for it, means the work white men in my which is good. Generation regeneration, but books, and gods places Achebe will not be reand the placed by any one, but can have people supernatural play a we who want to be like more powerful role him and people who good in doing what than in Achebe’s are he was doing but no books. Again replacement.

As a two-time comwhile Achebe missioner and now Rivers State deeply explores Chairman, Scholarship Board, you colonial politics, I have no mansions, no cars. You am preoccupied expensive even deny yourself of with the intricacies lavish life style. Are hiding your money of our people’s you somewhere?

(Prolong laughter) culture. As the No, no, that is how I general editor of choose to live my life; was the kind of life I the African Writers itwas brought up with Series when I was in Government College, Umuahia. It is part of me and I cannot change it. There is nothing in this life that could make me live extravagant life. What makes people live above their means is that they want to have everything in the world which is still impossible. Before now I only have one Volkswagen car, but one day during the meeting of elder statesmen, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi decided to give each of us a gift of Jeep. That is the jeep I am using today.

Even when it was given to me I did not make use of it for a long time until my driver and family started complaining that I should make use of it. In my philosophy you can’t live in two houses or sleep in two beds at the same time. All one needs in life is to live a simple life. Nigeria is not progressing because one man has decided to accumulate the resource that could change the lives of ten communities while pretending to be serving the people. But philosophically when I analyse life, I thought it is a waste of time being busy •Continued on Page 25

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Captain Elechi Amadi is the author of the widely acclaimed The Concubine among other literary works, a former Commissioner for Land and Housing, former Commissioner for Education and currently Chairman, Rivers State Scholarship Board. In this interview with Precious Dikewoha in his home at Aluu community in Ikwerre Local Government of Rivers State, he says Achebe can never be replaced. He also speaks about his school days with Achebe, his experience in the den of kidnappers, and a host of other issues.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

25

•Amadi taking what does not belong to you. Why not use that time to do other things that could benefit society? I mean the time you want to spend thinking on how to get 40 houses in Nigeria and abroad, use that time to think on how to create a positive impact on your environment and society at large, especially in touching lives of the less privileged.

You love your village so much and prefer going to work in Port Harcourt from your village. What is your relationship with your people?

It gives me joy that I can live among my people; it would have been something else if I was living in the town then sneaking to the village every month or once a year. I wouldn’t have been comfortable because it is like living in exile. Why should you be running away from your people? Don’t forget I was brought up from the village and I enjoy walking in the forest. I like the atmosphere of the environment. For more than twelve years I stayed in the village, I know my people and they know me. Each morning I will open my gate for free movement. I have no security or body guard. Before now I don’t have wall in my compound. It was when I was kidnapped that my friends said no you must fence your compound. That was how I fenced it.

If not, I prefer the type that my neighbour can walk into my house from any corner to see me.

Look, your best protection is the good will of your people and not just arming yourself. It is very difficult for anybody to hurt you when you are good with your people. Your people are your best protection. I enjoy the village so much, though there is this challenge that the villagers believe because I am working with the government there is enough money in my house. So, every day you will see some school children coming to my house, asking for help. Some of the requests by the children are minor and I try by the grace of God to attend to their needs. And every market day, the widows will come knocking asking for money to buy fish and I also attend to them. Maybe because I attend to them that is why they feel I am harmless, of course I am, (laughter).

Wouldn’t you consider that it is because of lack of security around you that made the kidnapers to abduct you; could you tell us your experience when you were kidnapped?

No, it was not because I had no body guard or se-

curity apparatus that made the boys to kidnap me, because even those who surrounded themselves with military armour are being kidnapped. The fact is that the people who did this to me were small boys from my community who went to hire gunmen to kidnap me.

They are three in number and none of them is finding peace because the community did not support them.

One of them is dead, the other one jumped bail and the last The kidnappers one has been running from place to the other. The were not ready one parents came begging me to with the police to forto harm me but plead get about the case. But I said only interested no if I didn’t prosecute intelI may end up encourthat I should tell ligently aging kidnapping in the government to community. But that did not me because as I earlier bring money. scare said, I am a village man. I was When they brought up in the village and love the village. If not my exasked for ran- Iperience as a village man I have suffered so much som I told them would finding my way out from the that I don’t have forest when I was released by money and they my abductors.

I was kidnapped at 8pm said they know I and blindfolded to unknown within the comdon’t have destination munity, as they drove me to forest I didn’t know when money but I the it was morning. Even when should tell the they bought fast food and for me I did not know. government to water It was later when I requested bring money, for water that they gave me I could not eat the food bethough at the but cause I did not know what end I was al- they gave me. Though the I drank helped me a lot, lowed to go. water it gave me the strength to walk for two hours in the forest to get to the village. The kidnappers were not ready to harm me but only interested that I

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•Continued from Page 24

should tell government to bring money. When they asked for ransom I told them that I don’t have money and they said they know I don’t have money but I should tell the government to bring money, though at the end I was allowed to go. But what I am trying to say is that if I was not brought up in the village it would have been hell for me to direct my steps out of the forest.

As scholarship board chairman, how do you cope with desperate politicians and individuals who want the names of their children to appear on the scholarship list?

Everybody knows I am methodical. I don’t give scholarship. I am only the board chairman. What we do is that when we receive allocation, we advertise and people will apply, those who applied will be handed over to a competent examination body. It is the body that examines candidates and submmit the list of successful ones to us. Some times people will come to my office pleading for assistance to ensure that the names of their children came out but I always tell them that it is unethical to change somebody’s name for someone else’s name. If your child did not make it this year let he or she wait for another opportunity. The process of application is transparent. For now, we don’t have money to send people for study. We have 154 overseas scholarships but they have since been reduced because some are graduating. Three hundred local scholarship beneficiaries receive N250,000 annually while their counterparts abroad receive N5m due to the courses they are studying over there. By the grace of God some of the students will be graduating late this year and by 2014 more will also graduate.

How do you cope with your wives and children, managing to maintain peace among them?

I have three wives and they are all doing well. I try as much I can to look after them. Things I can do I tell them, the ones I cannot do I also tell them. Yes, I have more than one wife but they are living in peace with one another and the secret is that I am honest and open to them. What I give to one I try as much as possible to give it to the other. I have also made them comfortable in a way that they could take care of themselves and their children. All I need is to relax and they pass food for me to eat.

Are we expecting any literary work soon?

Yes, very soon it will be unveiled to the public. It is a collection of science fiction titled: When God Came and the Song of the Vanquished.

26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Politics

Chris Uba battles four Anambra PDP lawmakers

The recent sacking of a federal lawmaker in Anambra State, Chriscarto Ameke, from the House of Representatives, has brought to the fore controversies over an alleged pact between Chief Chris Uba and four other PDP lawmakers in the state, reports Remi Adelowo

F

OR the four members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, these are indeed not the best of times.

In the last few weeks, these parliamentarians namely, Mrs. Eucharia Azodo, representing Aguata federal constituency; Hon. Chriscarto Ameke, representing Anambra East/West constituency; Hon. Ben Nwankwo of Orumba North/South; Fort Dike representing Ihiala federal constituency and Hon. Obidigbe (Ayamelum constituency), have been running from pillar to post to placate the erstwhile godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba, over an alleged unfulfilled political obligation.

Genesis of the crisis The ruling of the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu, which sacked Chriscarto Ameke from his seat at the Lower House of the National Assembly allegedly blew the crisis in the open.

A few weeks ago, the court had ruled that a former National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr. Tony Nwoye, and not Ameke, was the duly nominated candidate of PDP for Anambra East/West federal constituency in the 2011 general elections.

Nwoye had been in and out of court for about two years battling to retrieve his mandate from Ameke until the appellate court ruled in his favour recently. Armed with the court judgment, Nwoye had approached the leadership of the House of Representatives seeking to be inaugurated as a member

of the Green Chamber.

However, the Speaker, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has been allegedly foot dragging on the issue on the premise that Ameke had secured a stay of execution from the Supreme Court over the judgment sacking him from his seat.

Sources revealed that beyond this excuse, it was the South-East caucus in the House, headed by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, which impressed it on the Speaker to stay action on the inauguration of Nwoye pending the final decision of the Supreme Court.

How Chris Uba came into the picture The position of the South-East caucus, it was gathered, was largely due to pressures from Chris Uba, who allegedly facilitated the nomination and also bankrolled the election of Ameke and the other four PDP federal lawmakers in Anambra State.

Uba’s action was not due to any altruistic reasons. Sources revealed that the businessman was worried that with Ameke shown the exit door at the Lower House, it will become practically unlikely for the lawmaker to honour an alleged agreement he (Uba) had with him before his election in 2011.

Uba, according to sources, allegedly struck an understanding with the lawmakers, whose fulfillment would be difficult under the current development.

All the lawmakers, it was gathered, have allegedly breached that ‘unwritten agreement’ with Uba almost two years into their tenure in the House of Representatives, a

development the younger brother of former presidential aide and now senator, Dr. Andy Uba, is not finding funny.

Uba would not let things lying low. He was reported to have filed a suit at an Enugu High Court, asking it to compel the lawmakers to honour their agreement with him.

Wary that the matter could degenerate further if not carefully handled, the lawmakers, sometime in January this year, were alleged to have entered into a consent judgment with the court, whereby they allegedly confirmed their agreement with Uba, while also promising that they will start to fulfill their obligation to Uba starting from that month. “But up till now, no such thing has been done,” said a source.

Within the Anambra PDP, there are fears of what Uba’s next line of action would be in view of the antecedents of the young businessman, who allegedly masterminded the abduction of the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige (then a sitting governor) in 2005.

Uba’s grouse against Ngige, who is now a senator representing Anambra Central, was the latter’s refusal to honour an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO), an alleged agreement reached with Ngige, which mandated the state government to pay a huge sum of money for a contract awarded to Uba’s company by the state government.

Division in South-East caucus A new twist has been added to the unfolding controversy, with sources claiming that members of the South-East caucus are sharply

•Tambuwal

•Uba

divided over the fate of Nwoye, who has received the backing of NANS, which a few days ago threatened to stage a protest at the National Assembly to demand the unconditional swearing-in of Nwoye.

While some members are believed to support the immediate inauguration of Nwoye based on the Appeal Court ruling, those on the opposing side predicated their po-

sition on the need for Ameke to explore all legal options before a final decision is taken by the House.

This stance seems to enjoy the tacit endorsement of the speaker, a source told The Nation last week.

A few days ago, spokesperson of the House, Zakari Mohammed, disclosed that it will not be stampeded to swearin Nwoye until Ameke’s appeal at the apex court is decided.

Anambra Child Rights Act takes cognizance of our culture •Continued from Page 21 is concerned in our culture.

We believe that the child must always be told what to do, pushed around and all that.

Adults don’t even think that children should be allowed to grow up in their own little ways but some changes have been made and we have planned for it so that implementation will be successful.

It was announced last year that by January 2013, all the Day Care Centres will be registered, please comment on that.

The management of the Day Care Centers is one of the things we took up on resumption to this office. I sent people to the three senatorial zones in Anambra State in order to assess what is happening there and the reports they brought was not very commendable, so as a result, we had

resource persons and we invited all the proprietors of the Day Care Centers to a seminar and had to talk to them on how to run Day Care Centres and how to manage emergencies in these centres.

I urged the proprietors that came to make sure that they disseminate the information in their meetings and associations. Having done that now, we will go round and those Day Care Centres that are not registered with the government will be closed; those of them that are poorly managed will also be closed. We have a programme, such that anyone who wants to run a Day Care Centre in Anambra State will come for proper orientation; after which the ministry will now go and inspect the place where the Day Care Centre is situated and if it is not registerable, we will not register it and if a person starts a Day Care Centre without registration,

the person stands to be prosecuted.

What do you have to say about reports on sale of babies and the management of motherless babies home?

When you say “sale of babies,” I don’t even want to talk about it because babies are not sold. It is inhuman to sell a baby. Babies are not chickens and goats that are sold. We understand that sometimes, a child may be born out of wed luck and the mother is not able to take care of this child, we always advise the mother to take the child to orphanages where the child will be kept legally.

It will go through the normal legal process; the police will be aware, the social worker will also be aware to know that the mother does not intend to keep the child, then the government will accept the child. We also know that there are couples that are looking for

babies; for one reason or the other, they were not able to have a baby of their own and these couples are always joyous to be trusted with children to look after; they also go through the normal adoption process.

So, please, don’t talk of sale of babies, we shouldn’t go back to what happened years ago during the slave trade.

Recently, the world celebrated “Migrants Day”, a day created to sensitize people on the dangers of illegal migration. We have come to realise that most youths especially ladies are promised of better opportunities and jobs outside the country, but unfortunately when they arrive at these countries, they are turned into prostitutes. What is your office doing to curb this menace?

First of all, we have to educate our people, the adults and par-

ents to properly raise their children; don’t sell the idea that it is better outside Nigeria. When children grow up with such impression, any little offer with a lucrative base from a person they don’t even know, they will be always jumped at. They will follow the person.

That you are going to “so so” places “ka ejee gbuo ozu” there is nothing like that; just like the trends with special education centres. There is nothing like special education centre. It is either you bend down and read and pass or you don’t pass. Whoever that does not pass has stopped himself/herself from moving forward. There is nothing hard or special about education; one just has to burn the midnight candle.

Young people, especially children and youths, think that the world is a bed of roses, it is not.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

E R A U P-SQ The truth about our private jet Pages 34 & 39

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

Kehinde Oluleye Tel: 08023689894 (sms)

E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

•Straw hat

•Ene Lawani

attack •Becky Enyioma

•Uche Jombo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

29

Olanike Akinrimisi

UMPSUITS come in a lot of different colours, styles, and lengths; so, it is important that you can get one that will make you feel comfortable. Of course, before you opt for a jumpsuit, keep in mind some styling tips so that the result is perfect and very flattering.

According to your height, waist monkey will impact one way or another. Also, avoid tightness at the waist, with pleats at the belly if you want to neutralise the stomach area.

Opt for a V-neckline to enhance the bust and prevent strapless model if you have little bulky chest or front. Remember that if the pants are straight, it will bring slenderness. Be mindful of the three ways to wear a jumpsuit according to time, place and situation.

For official setting, do it with style and good taste.

The monkey can be an alternative to the classic trouser clip. Pair it with a high heel and a handbag briefcase.

For an afternoon stroll, you could combine it with accessories and lesssophisticated accessories.

The last combo is designed for a night out. A terrace, a cocktail which every occasion that requires elegance and attention to give an exclusive look.

Or, probably, if you are a jumpsuit virgin, wearing a jacket on top makes the look more subtle. A jumpsuit is a style that pretty much anyone can get right, but there are some rules you need to follow when thinking about getting a jumpsuit.

Shapes and sizes: If you are of the big size or have bigger legs, then the jumpsuit you should look into is a baggy or loose-fitting style. This is due to the jumpsuit clinging to your natural body shape. For skinnier women, you can pull off any of the shapes and sizes, whether you want to go loose or you want a tighter jumpsuit.

Colours: When you are picking a jumpsuit, you should put into consideration the colours that you are best in.

Most jumpsuits look better when they are in the lighter colours and natural tones rather than the dark tones. If you are unsure of what colour to buy, try a lavender colour or a light pink colour.

They also have a lot of very pretty jumpsuits in black, gray, and green colours which can be very attractive if you want to go with something more daring.

Belt: This is almost a must for wearing a jumpsuit because it gives the look more of a casual fashion. You can get a loose belt or a tighter belt depending on the style of the jumpsuit and your overall shape. Most jumpsuits look good if you are wearing a white or black belt loosely fastened in the middle of the jumpsuit.

Foot wears: The jumpsuit look is almost like a dressy look for a lot of people, so you want your shoes to show that casual but yet dressy appearance.

Getting shoes that accentuate the colours of the jumpsuit or your belt are also something you need to consider. Your shoes are going to accentuate the look of your jumpsuit so you might want to make the shoes a plain colour like black or white.

Jumpsuit

is it!

•Ophilia Ibekwe

•Ifeoma Odogwu

J

30

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

Let your wrist speak volume

By Olanike Akinrimisi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

31

Get a g n i w o l g skin D

O you care for a smooth, luscious and vibrant skin? Then, honey comes to the rescue. For centuries, honey has been used for skin rejuvenation and to treat all sorts of ailments. It can be applied topically to heal wounds and rashes, or it can be taken internally to treat infections and address other health concerns.

Raw honey is also an effective treatment for acne. A small amount placed on blemishes and acne nightly will often clear the skin in a short period of time. Washing your face with honey will also leave you with sparkling, clean, soft skin.

From moisturiser to antiseptic, honey has a wide range of uses for your skin.

Honey is considered to be one of the greatest gifts that nature has bestowed on man. It is not only healthy when consumed, but also very beneficial to your skin.

Really, there may be no simpler way to bring a smooth glow to your skin than with these Do-It-Yourself (DIY) honey beauty recipes. Honey's ability to absorb and retain moisture makes it an ideal ingredient in a lot of cosmetics as it helps keep skin hydrated and fresh and prevents drying. It is known that ancient beauties regularly applied a mixture of honey and milk to the face to keep the skin younglooking, radiant, and smooth.

Below are some do-ityourself, self-help, extremely easy to follow

By Adedayo Lawal

recipes to enjoy the benefits of honey in skin care.

•Cucumber-honey toner Grind 1 cucumber in a blender, drain and collect the juice. Add 2 teaspoons of honey into

the juice and mix. Pour the mixture into a bottle. Apply on the face and neck area with a cotton pad in the morning and at night. Air dry it and rinse clean. Store the bottle covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

•Honey-apple toner In a blender or food processor, combine 1 peeled, cored apple with a tablespoon of honey and pulse until smooth. Apply mixture to face and allow it to stay for 15 minutes, then rinse.

•Honey-oats face scrub Combine 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon finely-ground almonds, 2 tablespoons dry oatmeal, and some lemon juice or yogurt to a luxurious and exfoliating facial scrub. Massage mixture gently onto face, then rinse with warm water.

This blend gives a deeply emollient cleansing to the pores of your face.

•Gentle honey cleanser Mix 1⁄4 cup honey, 1 tablespoon liquid soap and 1⁄2 cup glycerin (found in standard pharmaceutical stores). Apply gently on to face using a face sponge. Rinse with warm water and pat face dry.

•Hot honey bath For the easiest natural skin care recipe using honey. Add 1/4 cup of honey to your hot bath water for silky and luscious skin. This is especially good for dry skin.

•Honey olive hair conditioner For lustrous, silky, healthy hair and scalp, simply combine 1/2 cup honey and 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil.

Massage scalp with this conditioner, then put on a shower cap for 30 minutes. Shampoo and rinse with water.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

THANDIE NEWTON

For Thandie giving birth at home with no pain relief was empowering and she relishes every moment of motherhood. “My children are amazing. All children are just blinking gorgeous and we are so lucky to participate in their life every day. I resent school because it takes up too much of their time,” she says.

When I compliment her on the gold 'Mummy' chain round her neck she raises her arm to touch it, revealing a perfectly drawn Yin/Yang symbol just below her elbow.

'Nico drew this a couple of nights ago with a Sharpie. She said, “Hold still, Mummy,” and when I saw what she had drawn I loved it. I don't want to wash it off,' she says.

Thandie has an extensive knowledge of the rights and wrongs of parenting (acquired through her own therapy and by reading books and studying research into child development) and has concluded that what children fear most in life is disappointing their parents.

“I try to make sure that I apologise to them recently in a CNN broadcast she gave to support One Billion Rising (the campaign to if I have snapped at them and explain to them raise awareness of violence against women) that my being in a bad mood had nothing to when a director subjected her to a degrading do with them. The worrying thing is that screen test; she later discovered he replayed sometimes your children can think they have disappointed you even when you have done it to other showbusiness figures. nothing to create that feeling.”

It is brave of Thandie to talk about the way Does she worry, I ask, that having to live she was 'objectified' during her teenage years (she believes that 'empowering up to such a beautiful, successful and brilwomen is what I am here to do') and it is liant mother might create that feeling in her impossible not to admire the way she daughters when they are older? “No, because emerged from that period as a victor rather I am also the person to whom my kids already say, “Mum, you are so annoying,”' than a victim. she says with a grin.

In her early 20s she not only established But then Thandie seems almost oblivious herself as a serious actress, but also gained a degree in social anthropology at Cambridge. to her own beauty (which might explain her teenage vulnerability) and displays no signs 'But I still feel a need to communicate to of vanity. other young women what happened to me.

She enjoys the creative process of makingBecause I really do believe that negative and dressing-up for photographs or the red experiences can very often be the absolute revelation in your life. Sometimes our carpet, but she hates shopping and is 'low instincts attract us to the wrong people maintenance. My beauty routine has to be sometimes to someone who is abusive and simple, speedy and effective. Which is why I who will make us feel bad about ourselves love the new Olay Total Effects Moisturiser + because our subconscious is telling us that is Serum Duo because it contains everything I what we are looking for. Sometimes an abu- need to keep my skin looking and feeling sive relationship can lead you to unwrap good. I can apply it in seconds on the busiest your pain because you are left so low you days when I am doing the school run or have have to look into the core of who you are and an early morning meeting and I am done! that will lead you back to the cause of your Perfect.”

We talk about the pressure put on girls at issues and help you change,' she says.

For Thandie, that change occurred in 1997 ever younger ages to care more about how when she was starring in the BBC drama In they look than what they can achieve and Your Dreams and fell 'madly in love' with Ol how to counteract the influence of their peer grou p.

Parker, who had written the screenplay.

“Ol and I have always talked When she talks about Ol, about our girls' strengths, not who she married in their beauty. And anyway I don't July 1998 (she was 25; buy into the idea of stereotypes he was three years of what is “beautiful”. Nico is older), her entire blonde and Ripley has darker demeanour becomes hair and skin tone and in one softer and warmer. 'Evcountry it will be, “Nico, look ery relationship I have at her” and then we go to had has been my jouranother country as hapney to Ol. pened recently in Nigeria My husband is my where I was working on Half best friend and he is the of a Yellow Sun and Nico is closest thing to a saint ignored and Rip is the focus that I can think of I don't of attention: ‘Oh, she is so mean that he is a martyr, beautiful.’ It's all about perbut he has this ability to ceptions,” she says. rise to any difficulty and an Thandie retains a close openness to becoming a relationship with her parbetter person all the time.' ents who now live 'round Their love and support for the corner' and are each other is inspiring; proactive grandparents.

Thandie praises Ol not just as She has, she says, inhera husband and father, but also ited her love of practias a writer describing his •Thandie and cal jokes from her screenplay for The Best Exotic husband, Ol Parker father (her serious side, Marigold Hotel as 'profound she says, often masks the fact that and beautiful' and passionshe is 'the silliest person alive') and she is ately supporting Now is Good, 'very different' from, but very close to, her a recent film (starring Dakota Fanning and mother. Her brother Jamie, who has just had Jeremy Irvine). He directed and wrote the a baby with his 'beautiful fiancé Freda', is her screenplay for. Meanwhile, on Twitter Ol hero (”I love him”). reveals how proud he is of Thandie's starMaintaining a balance between the work ring role in major new US TV series Rogue, and recently posted a picture of her with the that fulfils her and the family she adores is her main priority. TV, she believes, is now the caption 'My f****** cool wife'. most challenging medium for actors and she Family life with their two daughters is excited by the predicted success of the tenRipley, 12 (named after the lead character in part thriller Rogue in which she plays the cenAlien), and Nico, eight (named after the late tral character of Grace, an undercover detecGerman actress and one-time singer with tive which premieres in the US next month, 60s band the Velvet Underground), comes and will almost certainly go on to a second first for both of them. Thandie tries to bal- series. 'The characters are so strong and the ance her career with that of her husband so writing so good that it could run for season that one parent is always present in their after season.

North London home and whenever possible “But we shoot in Vancouver during the during school holidays the children will summer when the girls are on holiday so it accompany her when she is working (most recently travelling to Nigeria to shoot Half of doesn't involve long separations,' she says, a Yellow Sun, based on Chimamanda Ngozi pausing for a second before adding, “so famAdichie's cult novel, which is due for release ily can still come first.” later this year).

My battles with

bulimia

and exploitation you communicate feelings if your face doesn't move?

The actresses who are my icons have expressive faces that are ageing beautifully: Isabelle Huppert, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith,' she responds.

But while Thandie rejects the idea of surgical work she is a passionate advocate of a more cerebral variety.

From her 20s she has used therapy to help her overcome the difficulties of an unusual and isolating childhood and the exploitation she was subjected to as a naive teenager she won her first role at 16 in the film industry.

Born in London to her Zimbabwean mother Nyasha and her British father Nick, she spent her first three years in Zambia before the family (she has a younger brother, Jamie, now a TV producer) moved to Cornwall.

As protected as Thandie and her brother were by their parents her mother was a healthcare worker and her father a lab technician turned artist. They were the only black family in the area and from an early age The British actress Thandie Newton is an A-list she felt she was 'an superstar with similar drawing power as some anomaly'. of Hollywood's best. As a teenager, she battled ’Moving bulimia and exploitation, but now combines f r o m Zambia to domestic bliss with superstardom. She tells Cornwall in the 1970s JANE GORDON how she changed her life (and w a s a n how she still looks so good, sans surgery). e x t r a o r d inary experience. It was T’S rather reassuring to discover that the 'face' of Olay Total Effects actually a mad contrast. The story of living in Penzance as the only black family would moves.

Unlike so many other static, artificially make a fabulous sitcom if there had been a litenhanced celebrity 'faces', there is absolutely tle more humour,' she says with a slightly no doubt that 40-year-old Thandie (the 'h' is rueful smile.

Thandie's escape from being 'the black, silent) Newton's youthful beauty is rather like the organic but hearty food she is eating atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school' during our lunchtime meeting 100 per cent she attended in Cornwall came when she was 11 via a scholarship to study dance as a natural.

In fact, it has to be said that the stunning boarder at the Tring Park School for the face of the British actress (with roles in Performing Arts.

Beloved, Mission: Impossible II, The Pursuit But at 16 her ambitions to become a dancer of Happyness, W and Crash, for which she were crushed by a back injury and, 'by fluke', won a Bafta) not only moves, it is in almost after her GCSEs she won a role in Flirting perpetual motion. alongside Nicole Kidman (who remains a As she talks (and she talks a lot), she uses great friend) and Naomi Watts. her expressions as part of her punctuation An Innocent Abroad (the film was shot in (along with hand-waving and twisting her Australia), she was, she has said, 'coerced' shiny dark hair in and out of a ponytail). into an 'unhealthy' relationship with the When I say how refreshing it is to encoun- film's director John Duigan, 23 years her ter an actress who hasn't had 'work' and senior. The affair went on for six years durwhat a brilliant advertisement she is for Olay ing which, she has said, she suffered from Total Effects (she has had a lifelong loyalty to bulimia and intense feelings of shame. the brand, inherited from her mother), she Thandie has talked in the past (although nods her head in agreement.

'People's faces are meant to move it's the she is anxious to talk about the future today) way we express our emotions. I am 40 and in of other instances in which she was sexually the film industry, so of course I am aware of objectified as a naive teenager.

They include a humiliating photo session why some actresses might choose to have surgery and I am not judgmental but I and an incident when she was 18 revealed to would never consider it because how can a journalist a while ago, but revisited

I

Courtesy: Daily Mail

THEATRE

With VICTOR AKANDE

Adeoye Keme Arubayi

T

HE Miss Nigeria Florida cultural pageant team is in Nigeria. The group arrived late last week on a two-week promotional visit, meant to create awareness for the empowerment of the Nigerian-American women in Florida.

One of the first set of activities, reports say, will be to support the efforts of Mrs. Patience Ozokwor, aka Mama G, and her orphanage in Enugu. Miss Nigeria Florida, Ayoyemi Ajimatanrareje, who was crowned in 2012 and Mr. Murphy Folorunsho, the pageant's founder and director, made the transcontinental trip to broaden the impact while providing support to 'Mama G', who was the celebrity guest at the 2012 pageant.

While in Lagos, the present cultural queen relayed and compared her experience in Nigeria as a child before and how staying abroad changed her life. She also noted the struggle she had to go through in order to maintain the Nigerian culture. “Nigeria has a lot to offer both abroad and in the country, and this is an opportunity for those who happen to be far from home to show that they still identify with Nigeria and its culture. I represent Nigerian culture completely, so with this opportunity my reach has been widened because now people will not only hear of Nigeria but also see what we are made of,” Ajimatanrareje explained.

The Miss Nigeria Pageant has grown from a small event to one that continues to celebrate the beauty of the Nigerian culture and women. The 2012 event attracted numerous attendees and allowed Nigerians living in Florida the opportunity to celebrate their rich culture while abroad.

According to Murphy Folorunsho, founder and director of the Miss Nigeria Florida Pageant: “This is a cultural pageant that seeks to maintain the beautiful Nigerian culture. It was founded in 2009 and my vision for creating the pageant is to restore and retain the African culture abroad, mostly through the Nigerian fabric.

Last year, we had the opportunity to invite Patience Ozokwor, aka Mama G, and this thrilled the audience, Africans and Americans alike, with colourful display of the Nigerian print. The current cultural queen, Ayoyemi Ajimatanrareje, also impressed the judges with her presentation of the Nigerian culture at its best which greatly influenced her winning.”

SOUND TRACK

OMIC act and lecturer of the arts Afeez Oyetoro recently emerged the Best Actor in a Comedy at the recently held AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Award but the thespian says the whole notion about comedy has been misconstrued.

At a prize presentation ceremony held recently at the Eko Hotel by the organisers of the awards, the lecturer in Saka, as the actor is popularly known, came to bear.

The artiste appeared pained that a whole lot of movie lovers do not know the real tenets of what comedy stands for. “I think we should not misconceive the idea of comedy. It is not when you make people laugh alone that you think you are creating comedy. People may not laugh. It is the value that you add to the society in a pleasant way that determines if you are creating comedy,” he opined.

Saka explained further: “When you discuss serious matter in a very light way, it is comedy.” Amidst applause, the actor concluded with the famous quote of Horace Walpole which states that “life is comedy to those who think and tragedy to those who feel.”

Managing Director of Mnet Africa, Biola Alabi, at the presentation ceremony said that credit goes to the team at AfricaMagic and Mnet for working so hard day and night to make the awards a success. “I think the biggest thing for us is that it has been an amazing experience, it has been a learning experience. We have learnt a lot and I think we can say that we can make it a bigger event next year,” she said.

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Miss Nigeria Florida visits home

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BIGSCREEN

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

Saka talks value of comedy Present at the ceremony were OC Ukeje, costume designer, Ngozi Obasi; Managing Director Multichoice Nigeria, John Ugbe; Brand Manager Amstel Malta, Abayomi Abidakun and a host of others.

Jim Iyke’s new project OLLYWOOD 'Bad Boy' Jim Iyke is leaving no stone unturned with his reality TV show, “Untamed Reality TV”, which is set to hit the airwaves soon. The dude we learnt used a stone to kill two birds recently when he used the opportunity of being at the wedding of 2Face Idibia and Annie Macaulay to shoot some episodes of his reality TV show in Dubai.

Report has it that the shoot has seen him take shots from some locations in Nigeria, US, Ghana and recently in Dubai.

We gathered that the actor flew some of his crew to Dubai to shoot some scenes for reality TV show.

The reality show which he started shooting in 2012 is said to highlight some personal lifestyles of the actor.

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Dengit House Production premiers The Courier

•Jim Iyke

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Entertainment

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OW do you feel that your latest single, Alingo, has been banned?

I heard of the ban, but, honestly, reasons for the ban were not specified. But what we have noticed and they haven't is that when you ban a song you only make it popular. Banning a song on Nigerian channels doesn't mean much because the major international channels still play the videos.

What really was the reason behind the video?

For a few years now P-square haven't made a dance video and our fans have been anticipating, so we just decided to give them that. Alingo was a freestyle that we did even before the Invasion album; we never took it serious until it leaked, and we got good responses. Thus, we decided to shoot a video for it.

Did you have to take the recording abroad again like most of your works?

Surprisingly, no! The scenes were created and shot in an abandoned warehouse close to our home in Nigeria. It took a lot of time and energy though, because it has been five years since we did a dance video, the last which was Roll It. How far have you gone with foreign collaborations, considering that it's the fastest way to hit the European and American markets?

Let's look at it this way. We have known Akon for over six years, but we didn't have talks for collaboration, till he came to our concert in London and witnessed the reception. He was trying to open Kon Life in Africa and was looking for people to help him run it, so we teamed up in what we call a joint venture. We are establishing an office in Nigeria called Kon Life, because we are here representing him while he is out in the states representing us. So, all I can say is that the process is on. Just watch out.

Which country would you say is your biggest market in Africa?

East Africa is the biggest encouragement, a certain place to run to at any time. Southern Africa is a potential market; that is, it is still in the works because we have been working there for over a year. But a profitable market is based on an entertainer's personal effort, because an area can't remain hot for us every time, so we are exploring new grounds.

You are always on the road, how much time do you have for yourselves?

We try as much as possible, but we don't get as much time as we would want. But we took the whole of January this year to rest, because last year was a very busy year for us. However, we are back on the road again. It is the nature of the business, and we are hoping for a 2013 that will be better than last year, because this year we are including the tour of United States in our schedule.

What is this rumour about you guys acquiring a private jet; can you confirm it?

It's not true my brother. We had a deal with a private jet company, which provides that whenever we are going to a specific place, we

Only our late mum had the power to make us split and she wouldn't have done that. So, if there is to be a split, it will not be as a result of quarrel, but on

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

t u o b a h The trut , t e j e t a our priv e r a u q s

by P

Shuga Band gets award!

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HUGA Entertainment is in a state of euphoria at the moment. The owners of popular band, Shuga Band, was voted the band of the year in the competitive category that featured bands like Shuga Band, Top Band, Ebony Band, Sharp Band, Faith Band and Estimable Band at the just concluded WED Expo.

Speaking on the award, Akinloye Tofowomo, Shuga Band CEO, who chose to share the feat with his fans and team, said “On behalf of Shuga Entertainment Nigeria limited, owners of Shuga Band, we want to say a big thank you to the organisers, our fans and clients for their patronage over the years.

Also to all band members, technical crew and admin staff through their relentless and collaborative effort to ensure every event is delivered with its unique touch and

around the t ic s u m ir e th , taking pular ac y o s p u t b s o r e m v e e e th r They a are arguably alf of the energetic y e th e r e h w -h continent r Okoye, one s, P-Square, spoke to te e P . ia r e ig from N twin singer nt Editor, recently. d n a s r e h p a r rtainme choreog te n E , E D N A VICTOR AK would be provided a jet. That way, they always gave us their private jets to travel with.

This makes our trips easier. On the other hand, we are close to the presidents of most African countries, so when they hear that we are coming to their country, they usually send their private jets to pick us wherever we are.

But that is not to say we can't acquire our own jet. As a matter of fact, we are planning to get ours.

How have you been able to live above the scourge of piracy, which most artistes say is the reason they have

not been able to make headway?

Piracy affects all of us, but still P-square as a brand has managed to strive and be successful.

The truth is that we know how to make money even from the pirates. Some of the marketers are the pirates that we are talking about, as a result, fighting piracy starts with them. We know our worth, so before a marketer buys our album, we make him provide the cost of production and profit margin. Our last album took the joint effort of three different marketers to buy.

Despite being blood brothers, are you (P-Square) likely to go your separate ways someday?

Peter and Paul are not perfect; we quarrel like normal siblings do, but we don't let it affect our business.

Even with Jude our brother, in business, he is our manager and he respects us as the artistes he manages, but when it comes to family matters, he is our elder brother and we give him that respect.

Only our late mum had the power to make us split and she wouldn't have done that. So, if there is to be a split, it will not be as a result of quarrel, but on mutual ground. Group splits are not out of place, but our blood ties keep us strong and our background won't even allow us split. We understand each other very well.

Talking about your background, how was growing up with Paul like?

(Smiles)I was very stubborn as a child, but Paul ended up paying for my atrocities, as people often mistook him for me. We grew up doing things together and we still do. We have our mum to thank for this. I try to like what he likes and he does same, but in a situation whereby he feels differently, I just let go. We have been united from birth and we still are.

How has life been without your mother?

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professionalism. To my family, I say a big thank you for your support,” he concluded.

Shuga Band has always been a front liner when it comes to providing music and entertainment with the touch of class that separates it from other bands, and this has made the band the first band of choice among corporate Nigeria for corporate gigs, weddings and other social events.

Shuga Band has performed at several highoctane events from the wedding of Bella Adenuga, the daughter of billionaire, Mike Adenuga Jnr. to Afromedia 50th anniversary and other A-list ceremonies across the country. The band was a regular caller at Aso Rock in the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo and it also played at the fundraising for Jonathan. Its resume of governors' client keeps increasing by the day.

Heartstrings excites TV watchers

•Alex Usifo

I was very stubborn as a child, but Paul ended up paying for my atrocities, as people often mistook him for me It's been hectic. We haven't sat down to do an album because she was usually there with us in the studio. As a pastor that she was, she used to pray on everything we do and even pray on our album a week before it was released. We don't know how we will do it this time, but we hope for the best.

After doing the same thing over a long period, do you ever feel like exploring other avenues?

For P-square, music has become a part of us, but since we understand the pattern and are used to it we have started looking into other means of making money. But we also understand that making so much money and storing it is not wise, we have decided to go into various businesses; one of which is real estate business. This, we have been doing for a long time. We do businesses that we can get people to run for us without fear. We are also

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about to enter into oil and gas business.

They say you guys are arrogant…

Paul and I have two different personalities, so you cannot use the attitude of one to judge the group. I don't expect all news about me to be positive. Paul, for example, waits for major events before being in the news, but I am more controversial. Our intimidating nature makes us look arrogant, but it's really not like that.

Your brother, Jude Okoye (Engees), was quoted as saying he won't produce any other artiste but P-Square There was an interview where he was asked that question and I think he said it as a joke.

Apart from that, Jude has a lot of businesses he's into, so signing artistes is not really a priority for him. He keeps his interests on PSquare because outsiders might not understand the way he does his things, so he doesn't want distractions.

Digital and creative industry converge for conference

HE Chevron Club recently played host to scores of knowledge-seeking creative minds who gathered for the Digital/Creative Conference tagged TheNETWORK. The conference was described as an eye-opening gathering that brought egg heads in the creative industry under one roof.

The event, which was the first of its kind, brought graphic designers, animators, VFX/CG artists and brand consultants together to share ideas and interact with one another. Some veterans in the creative and production industry were also on ground to share their experiences and pass on vital tips to participants.

The 3-hour event held at Chevron Club, Gbagada on Sunday March 24, 2013 and was

•Toyosi Akerele.

initiated by James Alabi, CEO, Abinibi Multimedia, and sponsored by DELL. According to James Alabi, the event was staged to give young creative practitioners the opportunity to network and share ideas.

“It's an opportunity to have young and creative practitioners (over 500) from the graphics, animation, advertising, web design, photography and printing sub-industries converge for one event.

“It's a level platform for all creative professionals to exhibit their portfolios, meet and network, with no socio-economic barrier. The platform also provides the pedestal to acquire more knowledge of and to explore existing interrelated industries that share joint demand and supply potentials with the graphics industry,” he added.

Guest speakers at the event were Kelechi Amadi-Obi, CD design veteran, Lemi Ghariokwu, print production expert, Kingsley James, and creative director, Steve Babaeko.

Other speakers were Goke Oludare, CEO Digital Colours, and Youth Advocate, Toyosi Akerele.

TheNETWORK also featured a digital exhibition of works from top professionals in the graphics industry as well as product displays from partners and supporters of the event.

Ace comedian, Senator, compered the event and thrilled participants with warm jokes in between the lectures.

THE NATION SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

BORA’s MEMOIRS My Super Eagles days

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NATION SPORT & STYLE SUNDAY, March 31, 2013

NATION SPORT & STYLE

I'm not

GAY,

West Ham winger Jarvis tells critics

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ARLIER this year Matt Jarvis bared his torso to appear on the front cover of gay magazine Attitude. The reaction that followed offered the West Ham winger a taste of what it might be like were a current footballer to come out.

There was added attention from family friends, the media, and fellow players, and Jarvis, who is happily married to wife Sarah, admits he hadn't anticipated such a level of interest.

But he does not regret the choice. In fact, the episode has given the 26-yearold, capped once by England, a unique insight into the issue of homosexuality in football and he is able to add a confident and considered voice to the debate.

Jarvis can now talk about the training ground banter provoked by his cover shoot, imagine the added pressures of playing with concealed sexuality, and speculate on a time when a Premier League footballer feels secure enough to reveal he is gay.

He was this week doing so with the eyes of parliamentarians from centuries past looking down on him. It is Speaker's House in Westminster and portraits of previous residents adorn the walls. This hub of democracy seems an apt place for such discussion.

The FA are recognising a year of their initiative 'Opening Doors and Joining In' a scheme designed to make football a safe environment for gay players and fans.

'It was a big decision,' Jarvis concedes of the Attitude appearance. 'If I'm completely honest I didn't think it would get as much exposure as it did. But then that just shows the power of football. Looking back, it's good I could help in that scenario.

'It's hard to break down those barriers and if, as a professional footballer, I can help in a slight way then maybe it can help in the long run. Obviously it was out there for me but sometimes you've got to be brave. It was an opportunity I got given and I thought it would be an honour to do it.

'I didn't realise it would be such a big deal. In any other job, any other scenario, why would this be a big deal? But because of football it's magnified.

A lot of people who my wife knew were actually asking her if I was gay. It's like, “Well, we're married. I'm sure she would know!”'

For Jarvis, the barriers to having openly gay footballers lie in the stands more than on the training ground. There was gentle ribbing from team-mates over his magazine interview, but only for the fact he was photographed topless in skimpy blue shorts. He thinks the fear of being targeted by opposition fans keen to seize on any difference is the real prohibitive reason.

Olympian shows off toned legs in BRIDES magazine

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HE may have retired from professional cycling last year but Victoria Pendleton hasn't completely turned her back on her love for bikes.

The Olympic gold medallist has posed on a shiny blue ladies bike for the new issue of BRIDES magazine - in a pair of pants under a sheer skirt. It is certainly a change from her racing lycras.

Pendleton is set to wed her fiancé Scott Gardner in September and to gear up for her own nuptials she has posed for the photo shoot for the wedding themed publication.

The 32-year-old poses in one shot wearing just a pair of sequin pants and a cropped white top.

Looking confident Victoria appears tanned as she happily flaunts her toned cyclists legs and slender physique.

And in another image she gets back on her bike as she practices the bridal look in a white outfit.

Pendleton smiles as she wears a white strapless bodice under a matching white sheer skirt as she rests on the saddle of the baby blue bike.

In the May issue of the magazine Victoria is pictured as part of an exercise special, giving advice to brides-to-be on how to tone up for their big day.

By Morakinyo Abodunrin

A

LMOST two decades after his unceremonious exit as Super Eagles' manager to the France'98 World Cup, Serbian coach, Bora Milutinović, has finally given the reason behind the team's demolition in the hands of Denmark in the second round.

Venerated American football coach, Vince Lombardi, long said that 'obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal' and in his frankest interview since the Super Eagles lost in Toulouse, Mr. Bora has admitted that that his wards suffered due to poor concentration.

“What you just told me was what everybody was saying before we played Denmark, that we were going to win and qualify for quarter finals,” the vastly-travelled Bora, who holds multiple roles as advisor to Aspire Academy as well as goodwill ambassador of Qatar 2022 World Cup, said in a landmark interview with The Nation Sport & Style in Doha. “But football is not like that, it is always important to concentrate on the next game and not the other game.

“It was a good lesson for our players on the need to concentrate on the next game. Maybe if we had concentrated, maybe, just maybe...

“I play Denmark today and my concentration must be on Denmark. I should not think of Brazil but Denmark. I don't like to blame players but this is all about human errors because every human being makes mistake. That is the truth about life, and I don't want to blame anybody,“ noted Bora who along with Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira hold the record of taking five different countries to the FIFA World Cup. Yet the 68-year-old, who since 1983 has remarkably managed eight different national teams from Mexico in 1983 to Iraq in 2009 is not yet done with football. He is one of the brains behind Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, and Mr. Bora, as he's fondly called, is as passionate as a young lover that the oil-rich gulf country will deliver the best event in nine years' time. Excerpts...

Mr. Bora, it is great meeting you again after your coaching career in Nigeria at France'98. Tell us, what are you doing here in Doha, Qatar?

First and foremost, it's nice to see you too and an opportunity for me to remember about my days in Nigeria. For me, it is always a pleasure meeting Nigerian people because it was wonderful for me to work in Nigeria. It was a great opportunity to work with those great Nigerian players. We were at the World Cup together in France, and I have memories of my time with Nigeria.

You said you had memories, are they good or bad?

All my memories with Nigeria were good because we had some wonderful moments together.

We had great players with good mentality though we lost to Denmark in the second round. This to me is the path of life because losing is all part of the game too. Despite the loss to Denmark, everything was great.

So many things happened at the France'98.

Working with the Nigerian team, tell us what happened right before the first game against Spain because not many people believed in your ability...

Yes, there were so many things and not many people trusted we could beat Spain. But the players believed they could do it; there were some who told me they 'are going to play and beat Spain.' Nigerian players have good quality and we went into the game against Spain with great mentality. They believed in themselves. Good players; from Rufai, Oruma, Garba Lawal, Oliseh...we had good players.

And as a coach, you must have a good attitude too to work with these great players. I can't forget Rashid Yekini too, I was so sad when I learnt of his death last year. He was a great player with good attitude and I was lucky to work with all of them.

You just mentioned some of these players, are they the ones that impressed you most with their attitude?

I don't know if it is the right thing to say in the press but I don't want to speak about some particular players because football is a team. Before I took the job with Nigeria, I've long been following the team since we played against them at the 1996 Olympics where they beat my team 2-0. So it was an incredible experience for me working with almost the same set of players at the France'98 World Cup. Maybe we were not as lucky as the Olympic team but it was a good experience for me personally. I learnt so much But some players were not actually fit, why did you take them to the World Cup? We took the best players to the World Cup, good players that were okay. Goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu, my good goalkeeper, was injured in a friendly match against Switzerland and couldn't go to France. There were others too...but it was a nice experience for me.

What was the mentality of the team against Denmark? Everybody thought they would win and play Brazil in the quarter-finals...

What you just told me was what everybody was saying before we played Denmark, that we were going to win and qualify for quarter finals. But football is not like that, it is always important to concentrate on the next game and not the other game. It was a good lesson for our players on the

BORA’S MEMOIRS Why Super Eagles failed at France'98

Bora with Morakinyo Abodunrin in Doha, Qatar

need to concentrate on the next game. Maybe if we had concentrated, maybe, maybe... I play Denmark today and my concentration must be on Denmark. I should not think of Brazil but Denmark.

Are you saying the players made the mistake of not focussing on Denmark?

No, no. I don't like to blame players but this is all about human errors because every human being makes mistake. That is the truth about life, and I don't want to blame anybody.

You left Nigeria immediately and you didn't stay on, what happened?

After the loss, the mission was finished.

Unfortunately in coaching, you don't determine what you do; rather, others decide what you do.

You understand what I mean...

No, I don't, you tell us...

It's all about contract. My contract was finished and I just had to go because nobody asked me to

Nigerian players have good quality and we went into the game against Spain with great mentality.

They believe in themselves.

Good players from Rufai, Oruma, Garba Lawal, Oliseh...we had good players.

Bora(L) with Raul Gonzalez in a function for Aspire

wait.

Will you have loved to wait?

That was no longer important. What was important for me was the gainful experience that I had with Nigeria. It was good for me. I had incredible experience coming to Nigeria and it would be in my autobiography because I learnt so much.

Mr. Bora, you and Brazilian coach Alberto Parreira are the only two persons to have taken five different countries to the World Cup; what is the magic of your success?

There is nothing like magic about it. But you must have vision about what you want to do. You need to respect the people who work for you and the people you work with. You need to have the vision to choose the right players too. By and large, every country has different culture and you need to know the people's culture and respect them. You have to be able to adapt to the culture of the people because you are going to work with human beings. You are in a position to work

with different kinds of people and I enjoy working with all sorts of people because it gives you good experience.

The next World Cup is in Brazil in 2014, but everywhere the talk is about 2022; do you think Qatar will be ready to host the world in 2022?

Do you mean in terms of organisation?

About everything...

In organisation, Qatar is the best in the world. I have no doubt that Qatar will be ready about everything because the people of Qatar have possibilities and good leadership. The team may not be too strong now but I know they will. Qatar 2022 will be the greatest and the best World Cup; that is what I believe.

Many are already complaining about the heat in Qatar particularly in the summer, is it a good thing for football?

In nine years, nobody will be talking about the heat because Qatar will do everything possible to organise the best World Cup. It is a dream and vision that I shared too. Agreed the heat is much in the summer but

the stadia are going to have cooling systems and the surrounding environment too, so it won't be an issue in 2022. The Qatari people are ambitious about this project and they have promised to deliver. We have to respect that because they will do it.

You have travelled all over the world, how strong is the football culture of the Qataris compared to USA and Europe?

I think it is very strong because you must have passion for anything you want to do. Qataris are passionate and you can defeat or put down passionate people. They are passionate about their country; about their soccer and about everything. The willingness is already there and that is why they are investing well in youth development and facilities. What you have in Qatar in terms of sporting facilities cannot be compared with so many countries that claim they have better football culture. Take for example the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence, the best of its kind in the whole world and that is why you see everybody coming to Doha.

Of course, the facilities here at Aspire are great...

Oh! Not great. It is perfect. It is impossible to find this kind of functional facilities in any part of the world. I tell you, nobody can compete with Qatar in terms of facilities and infrastructure. Why? Because Qatar has good leadership and the Aspire dreams should tell you something: If they want to play the World Cup tomorrow, Qatar will be ready.

How is Aspire helping the dreams of Qatar World Cup? Aspire is huge and that is just a small thing about what the people of Qatar with big dreams can do. Aspire is the model for the world to copy from and I think Aspire is so important because it is the basis of everything. In terms of development of the youths, infrastructural development and organisational ability, Aspire is a worthy example.

There are pockets of complaints about the social aspect in Qatar, how will the fans and others coming to Qatar in 2022 have a social life?

We are talking about the World Cup which is a big festival, but we must respect the culture of the host community. I'm not here with my family in Qatar but I'm fine.

Why are you not with your family in Qatar?

Because my children are working and schooling in Mexico but the truth is that I'm not tired to work; to make money because somebody needs to work.

You are close to 70 years of age, tell me what keeps you going and strong...going from one country to another...

I like to know new things and make new friends. I like to know the culture of people because all of these enrich my life. This is part of my mission in life. I like Qatar because it is a great country with unbelievable possibilities. I love Qataris the same way I love everybody I have met in life!

So, tell me what you love about Nigerians...

I didn't stay in Nigeria too long yet I met good people in Abuja and in Laos. I once travelled to other parts of the country and I met good people everywhere. I even made a short video about Nigeria, which was good.

Who were your best friends when you were in Nigeria?

The most important thing is that I respected everybody.

Whether you were in the federation or not, I respect everybody. I had good times with the FA president, the secretary, and my assistant coaches. Everybody was my friend.

There is this story about you back in Nigeria; that you are a smart man because you ensured that the federation paid you six months' salary up-font before going to France'98...how true is that?

What do you mean by up-front?

That you got all your entitlements before the World cup...

Oh! That is not important because I have a contract. The most important thing for me was to be with that group of players. Money is never my problem; it is never an issue everywhere I have worked because I respect the people. I make sure that people respect my contract, so that is never a problem.

Nigeria has just won the Africa Cup of Nations, what can coach Stephen Keshi do to maintain the momentum?

I was so happy to see Amokachi on the bench; he was with me at France'98. It was good to see him and Nigeria winning the Nations Cup in South Africa. I was very happy because injury did not allow him to play well at France'98.

I had problem before our game against Paraguay but it is good for him to be part of the team to win something for Nigeria again. I hope they will be able to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

Keshi has experience because he played for the national team for a long time and I think he can help him. He should mould a team as strong as the 1996 Olympic team.

No country has talents like Nigeria, so he just has to work on the mentality of the players.

Are you happy to see the Nigeria Under-17 team here at Aspire?

I'm so happy that the federation brought your under-17 team to train here at Aspire because it is good for the development of the players.

Why Nigeria was successful in 1994 and 1996 was because a lot of the players were exposed at their young ages. Kanu Nwankwo was at Inter, Taribo West was in France, and Finidi was at Ajax, Ikpeba; and Oliseh all of them were exposed, so it is good that the federation expose these young players.

The best way to learn is to expose these young people to the world, it is important for them to travel and enrich their experience.

Finally, what are your memories about Nigeria and Nigerians?

Very good, as I said earlier. I wish Nigeria all the best.

SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Ahmedu: why I quit Army for Basketball

By Morakinyo Abodunrin

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Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

AMAA hosts Bookfair in Yenagoa

•Corporate Media/Public Relations Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Edem Vindah, Marketing Director, Walter Drenth and the Senior Brand Manager Star, Itah Bassey

NBL out with ‘Star League’ Adeoye Keme Arubayi

•Peace Anyiam-Osagie

Lanre Balogun Yomi Peters set resurfaces in ‘Battered’ to drop album

•Lanre Balogun

•Yomi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Why I’m playing with , u n e w n O a k Onye

by Omawumi journalists Chatting with a group of singer recently, Afro-centric rayed a Omawumi Magbele port ank simple, jocular, but fr ANDE, personality. VICTOR AKports.

Entertainment Editor, re

Entertainment

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I emulate her character and her person. For her to be so graceful at her age and that her music is still somewhat in demand is a line that should be toed.

So, I'm not ashamed of toeing that line

Entertainment

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

NFC issues three publications

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•Afolabi Adesanya

HE Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) presented some of her publications to the public. The publications are: ''Reel Views”, “Behind the Scenes” and ''8 years of Reel Transformation”.

The publications presented on st Thursday 21 , 2013, are a catalogue of NFC's interventions and achievements in the Nigerian film sector, especially within the past eight years.

Speaking at the public presentation, Mr. Afolabi Adesanya, Nigerian Film Corporation's (NFC'S) immediate past Managing Director/Chief Executive, recommended the three publications to stakeholders and members of the public. Adesanya was full of

Lagos State chapter of PMAN inaugurates patrons

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N the 1 of April, the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN, Lagos State will inaugurate Chief Akin Disu, Alhaji Monsuru Abatan, and Chief Iyabo Aileru who doubles as the Yeye Faaji of Dublin as patrons of the association.

The event is expected to have the State Chairman, PMAN, Governor Kareem Olomide Osoba, in attendance.

According to the organisers, PMAN considered it imperative to identify and reward the new patrons for their commitment and

support to the Nigerian music industry especially its Lagos State arm over the years.

One of the prominent personalities expected to grace the event and add colour and prestige to it with her presence is Chief Adunni Bankole.

Osoba explained that the essence of the inauguration is to restore peace to PMAN generally. “The association had wrapped up arrangements to organise series of lectures on different aspects of music as well as map out workable strategies to move the Nigerian music industry forward.”

praises for industry stakeholders who understood the workings of the corporation in her quest to sustainably engage government, domestic and foreign stakeholders to develop the sector. He called for continuous support for, and participation in the corporation's programmes and projects, saying that indeed much more can be, and are being, achieved by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).

The Books, ''Reel Views”, is a collective of essays and reviews on the Nigerian and African film industries. “Behind the Scenes” is a collection of selected speeches and papers by Mr. Afolabi Adesanya on the Nigerian, African and Global film industries during his tenure as the Managing Director/Chief Executive. The third, ''8 Years of Reel Transformation”, catalogues, with pictures, the various transformation at the Nigerian Film Corporation as evidenced in intervention projects, programmes and infrastructural development at her headquarters in Jos, the Plateau State capital, and at the Lagos, Abuja and Kano offices of the corporation within the past eight years.

Venue of the public presentation was the Freedom Park, Broad Street in Lagos, on the plat form of 2013 edition of I-Rep International Documentary Film Festival.

Scores of film makers, film teachers, actors, producers, directors, film students, researchers were among the guests who witnessed the public presentation of the three books.

Scholars, policy makers, stakeholders, film practitioners, journalists and film enthusiasts will find the three publications very useful, the statement added.

Nigerian entertainment conference beckons

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UBLISHERS of Nigerian Entertainment Today, NET Newspapers LTD, have announced the inauguration of an annual umbrella conference for the Nigerian entertainment industry with the theme: 'building the industry of our dreams'.

The conference, which will debut on Friday April 26, 2012, ''is an invaluable initiative needed at this critical time in our industry, to steer the different sectors and associated elements, in the appropriate direction,'' according to NET founder, Ayeni Adekunle.

Nigerian entertainment conference, Ayeni says, will cover all the sectors associated with the entertainment industry. These include Fashion, Music, Movies/Films, and Media. Others are Sports, Arts, IT, Comedy and Events.

“The conversation has been on for years, conversation about the way forward for the art and business of entertainment in Nigeria. And, since NET was established three years ago, we've been at the forefront of efforts to get the conversation going. Now, it's time to bring everyone together so we can begin an active process of re-organisation,” Ayeni added.

Set to hold at the Eko Hotel and Suites, the first-of-its-kind conference, Ayeni says, will feature sessions on Nollywood,

CINEMA GUIDE LAGOS

IDENTITY THIEF Featured: ActorsJason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho Genre: Comedy and Sequel Running Time111min ZAMBEZIA Featured Actors: Leonard Nimoy, Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin Genre: Comedy and Sequel Running Time84min WEEKEND GATEWAY Featured Actors: Geneviev Nnaji, Ramsey noah, Ini Edo, Monalisa Chinda Genre: Romance Running Time120min COURIER

Featured Actors: Ramsey Noah, Joseph Benjamin, Ada Ameh, Saidi GenreDrama Running Time98min CONTRACT Genre: Comedy Running Time120min THE CROODS Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone GenreComedy and Sequel Running Time98min JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (3D) Featured Actors: Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor Genre: Action/Adventure HANSEL&GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS Featured ActorsJeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare GenreAction/Adventure Running Time88min ZERO DARK THIRTY Featured Actors: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt Genre: Suspense/Horror Running Time157min A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD Featured Actors: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch Genre : Action/Adventure Running Time: 97min FLOWER GIRL Featured Actors: Damilola Adegbite, Chris Attoh, Chukwujekwu Chuks, Eku Edewor Genre: Romance Running Time: 115min

PORT HARCOURT WEEKEND GETAWAY GenreAction/Adventure Running Time111 Mins ZAMBEZIA Featured Actors: Leonard Nimoy, Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin GenreAction/Adventure Running Time83 Mins IDENTITY THIEF Featured Actors: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho Genre: Comedy Running Time: 111 Mins THE COURIER Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time145 Mins THE CROODS Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone GenreAction/Adventure Running Time98 Mins 6 BULLETS Featured Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Joe Flanigan, AnnaLouise Plowman GenreAction/Adventure Running Time: 115 Mins MAXIMUM CONVICTION Featured Actors: Steven Seagal, Steve Austin, Michael Paré Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 98 Mins JACK THE GIANT SLAYER Featured Actors: Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 114 Mins

Featured: ActorsDallas Roberts, Jeremy Renner, Ayelet Zurer Genre: Comedy and Sequel Running Time85 Mins Featured Actors: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 88 Mins A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD Featured Actors: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: Flower Girl (Rating: 18) Featured GenreDrama Running Time115 Mins

ABUJA PLAYING SAFE Featured Actors: Jibola Dabo and Ghanaian actress, Martha Ankomah, as well as IK Ogbonna and Johannes Meyer.

GenreAction/Adventure THE COURIER Featured Actors: Ramsey Nouah, Joseph Benjamin, Moradeke Awe, Ada Ameh, and Saidi Balogun.

Genre: Action/Adventure WEEKEND GETAWAY Featured Actors: Genevieve Nnaji, Ramsey Nouah, Ini Edo, Monalisa Chinda, Uti Nwachukwu, Bryan Okwara, Alexx Ekubo, Beverly Naya, and Uru Eke. Imeh Bishop

•Keke Ogungbe

•Ibinabo Fiberesima

Music, Media, and more, as well as the inaugural NET Honours to reward distinguished practitioners.

Confirmed speakers include Kennis founder and CEO, Keke Ogungbe, iconic writer and director Amaka Igwe, GM Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Kola Oyeyemi, and Charterhouse Ghana founder, Iyiola Ayoade; while the likes of star actress Nse Ikpe-Etim, Headies founder, Ayo Animashaun,

filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, comedian Tee A, singer-songwriter Darey, advertising wizkid, Steve Babaeko, recording artiste, Weird MC, the iconic DJ Jimmy Jatt, National Mirror MD, Steve Ayorinde, new media expert, Elo Umeh, writer Tolu Ogunlesi, AGN president, Ibinabo Fiberesima and Chocolate City president, Audu Maikori, will serve on different panels. More speakers and panelists will be announced.

Umoh, Bobby Obodo, and Ini Ikpe Genre: Action/Adventure ZAMBEZIA Featured Actors: Leonard Nimoy, Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 83 min IDENTITY THIEF Featured Actors: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 111min CONTRACT GenreAction/Adventure Featured Actors: Steven Seagal, Steve Austin, Michael Paré Genre:Action/Adventure CROODS Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone Genre: Action/Adventure THE BENEFACTOR GenreDrama Running Time93 mins DJANGO UNCHAINED Additional Info Viewing Time - Monday5:35PM Viewing Time - Tuesday5:35PM Viewing Time Wednesday5:35PM Viewing Time - Thursday5:35PM Viewing Time - Friday5:35PM Viewing Time - Saturday5:35PM Viewing Time - Sunday5:35PM Featured ActorsJamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DICAPRIO GenreAction/Adventure Running Time165 Mins

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

I did what any young babe did, but not to the extreme –Tolani Akintunde Y

OU were based in the UK and are working with Avon, do you still have plan to act again? I won't say I'm based in the UK; I'm just shuttling for now. I do Avon Cosmetics to complement other businesses that l am doing. Yes, I do have plans to act, and even working on a project that has to do with women abuse and violence.

If you look back, what was the Everyday People experience like for you?

Everyday People is still an on-going experience. It's like living my life, except some minor changes. I believe, even though you are acting it, what you say does have an impact on your life. I had done Palace before Everyday People, so the nitty-gritty of the trade started from there.

Would you say being a mother made you shun the klieglights?

No, motherhood didn't stop me at all. Remember l do soaps and we can always work around it if need be. My character in Everyday People left to live abroad so it was not about motherhood at all.

What do you miss about Nigeria?

I miss Nigeria like every other person here, so l try to come around as often as l can. I still do my business in Nigeri a anyway.

Being a Nigerian is always a factor abroad, how were you able to surmount this?

Being a Nigerian is no big deal, we are just part of a multiracial society, especially if you live in the capital. I don't see any factor affecting us. We live as any other minority here.

What has fame robbed you of?

Fame hasn't robbed me of anything. Instead, it added to me. I meet wonderful people everyday and most time they make my day. My daughter that was not born here even boasted to her mates that her mum is famous. It's a plus to me really.

You have remained one of the few scandal-free actresses, how were you able to achieve this?

Scandal? I am primarily a journalist, so l know what can happen if l mess up. Not that I'm a saint, I did what any other young babe did but not to the extreme. I wouldn't want to be a nuisance to myself and my family, so l cautioned myself. The funniest thing is that most of the stories are not true. It's always fantasies mostly.

Share one of your memorable or embarrassing moments with your fans I've got plenty to even remember but every time I cross borders and l explain what l do, there is this respect and that goes a long way to send tingles all over me. Its like Wow, I did this. Also when you get to a place and people treat you as if they've known you all their life, it's a good thing when you live abroad. Embarrassing moments, I've got loads of that as well, especially when l was quite young, but as an adult, it's very rare. Nothing surprises me really. I just take things as they come. I make fun of myself even before anyone makes an issue out of it.

What is your life-guiding philosophy?

He who starts a good thing in my life is able to complete it.

The best fashion advice ever received?

Always use red lipstick.

Glamour

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Nollywood actress, Tolani Akintunde, hugged stardom in the television soap, Everyday People by Tajudeen Adepetu.

Some years later, she relocated abroad to have her baby, and ever since, she has been shuttling between the United Kingdom and Nigeria. She speaks with ADETUTU AUDU on why she is scandal-free and why she can't dump acting, which she says has brought her fame.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

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Social

ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: crownkool@yahoo.com, Tel: 08023849036)

Jide Subair gives marriage another shot

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IDE Subair, who was once married to Sherifat, the daughter of billionaire businessman and politician, Buruju Kashamu, is giving marriage another shot. This time, Jide will be getting married to Lagos big babe, Nike Bush, on Saturday, May 4, 2013, at Haven Events Centre, beside Arch Bishop Vinning Memorial Church, Oba Akinjobi Road, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

The wedding is expected to be attended by who-iswho in the Lagos social and political circuits, owing to the fact that Nike is the daughter of respected Lagos political leader, Alhaji Bushura Alebiosu, and younger sister to Hon. Dayo Bush, a member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Kosofe Federal Constituency. About three months ago, Nike gave birth to a baby boy in Canada for the father of two, and the relationship took a notch higher when they got engaged.

Yewande Zaccheus loses a jewel

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EWANDE Zaccheaus, the youthful woman and one of the most successful entrepreneurs behind Eventful Limited, is bereaved. She lost her father High Chief Ilemobayo Akinnola, the Lisa of Ondo Kingdom. The lawyer-turned ex-banker, who also runs Harbour Point Centre, we gathered, is leaving no stone unturned with her siblings to give the late former Chairman of Larfage/WAPCO befitting rites of passage.

The late industrialist succumbed to death after a brief illness at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos.

Toyin Lawani’s vintage deals

For Ronke Sokefun, it is all work and no play

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ARELY a year after her political appointment as the Special Adviser (Land Matters) to the Ogun State Governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, in 2011, Ronke, who has long given up the glamour of the Lagos social scene, was made the Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture.

Indeed, she has come a long way and not a few who knew her past records applauded this recent rise. Sources close to the former Oando big gal say the demand of her new calling has made her to shun socials.

Ayiri Emami’s payback time

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HAT multiple award-winning music sensation, Tuface Idibia had his wedding in Dubai is no longer news. The multi-million naira wedding, according to whisperings, has a financial backbone who is no other person than entertainment enthusiast and socialite, Ayiri Emami. The Warri-born oil magnate, apart from finance, also ferried his yacht from the US to Dubai for the wedding.

Ayiri Emami came into social reckoning in 2011 when his carnival-like wedding was beamed on Bisi Olatilo Show.

It was widely reported he spent N150 million in which Tuface was one of his groomsmen. The wedding also had on bandstand Tuface, Dbanj, Yinka Ayefele, Psquare and many other notable Nigerian artists. He is reputed to be a big time businessman in Delta State - he owns the 911 Beach & Resort, Ugborodo and A& E Petroleum.

Emami was one of the cabinet members of the Emmanuel Uduaghan administration but he was later dropped.

Now, the rift between Chief Emami Ayiri and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan might be over with his appointment as the boss of the reconstituted Delta Waterways Security Agency.

Chief Ayiri was the head of the security outfit until he fell out with the governor and he was consequently removed and the outfit dissolved. It was reported that Governor Uduaghan observed that the absence of the committee which was dissolved sometime ago had created a vacuum in security information gathering, hence it was reconstituted.

Emami is a phenomenon: his residence and business offices radiate opulence.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

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Yolanda Jones still making waves

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FY Yolanda Jones, remember her? She is the young girl that won the Nigerian Model Awards by Lexy MojoEyes-led Legendary Gold Limited in 2006, and contested for the Ford Super Model of the World competition in New York that same year. Well, since then, Ify has not rested on her oars. She is currently among the top models outside Nigeria making the country proud. She was spotted by the head booker, Whilemina Models, New York, one of the top 10 agencies in the world, at the Arise Fshion Week. She has been signed on by the agency and has worked with Dolce and Gabana, Lacoste, Vena Cava, among other top designers. The international model has joined the league of big fishes as she launched her own customised wig line, WOW.

Chima Anyaso finds love again

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BOUT a year-and-half after ending his marriage to Onyeka Odiegwu, Ceecon Oil and Gas boss Chima Anyaso is engaged again. He proposed to his girlfriend, Adanna Nzeribe Dubai, during her 25th birthday. This will be Chima's third attempt at matrimony in the last five years. He was briefly married to former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu's daughter, Neya Kalu. Neya walked out of the union after a wine-carrying ceremony that held in 2009. Chima then married Onyeka in 2011 but that marriage lasted less than a year. Adanna is the daughter of late music legend, Harry 'Moscoe' Agada but her mum later got married to Arthur Nzeribe.

Storm not over yet for Joyce Udensi

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HEN society watchers thought the storm seemed to be over for Lady Joyce Udensi, the former chairperson of the defunct Citizens Bank, after the stormy water that swallowed her bank, the news making the rounds is that the woman of substance fell on bad times.

She forsook all and recoiled from public glare especially for somebody who appears only at exclusive gigs. Many years later, Joyce is gradually unfurling. Not too long, she improved her game and she is now being seen at some of those places where the adherents seem to recognise her elegant strides. She is gradually putting all the bad tales behind and is moving on with her life, of course with her sanity intact.

Just when we thought all was over, the former bank chief, sources say, is now engulfed in a bitter fight with the family of her late hubby over money said to be budgeted for the burial of the late money man, Lord Dike Udensi. The woman of substance, we gathered, saw the BEMISOLA Wellington is the most mouth-watering amount as another attempt to siphon money from popular among the Wellington sisters on the late Lord Udensi's estate, by the family. account of her high-flying and partying lifestyle. She was the Risk and Fraud Manager, MTN before she resigned many years ago. She was said to have left MTN abruptly and relocated to Abuja. Gbemi succeeded in staying off the party scenes for almost five years. But wait a minute, she has suddenly resurfaced, not only with a baby boy in tow, but as an executive assistant to the CEO at Dunn Loren Merrifield, an investment house with a global focus.

AST week, we served you gist that Nicole Chukwueke, ex model and wife of Rap sensation, Naeto C, was preparing for the birth of her first child to the Chikwe family. Well, the daughter of Chief Chukwueke, owner of auto company -Germaine Auto Centre, has been delivered of a baby boy in the US. ENNIFER Atiku, wife of the former viceThe tiny tot came during the week. president, Atiku Abubakar, is not a happy Naeto C, the son of the former woman at the moment. She has been in a bitter Minister of Aviation, Kema mood for some time now. The reason is not unconChikwe, and Nicole tied the knot nected with the fact that her trusted friends have in July 2012. The couple were been spreading malicious information about her. secondary school lovers at Informed sources said that Jennifer has vowed Atlantic Hall, Epe, Lagos. to sever her ties with most of her friends. MeanNaeto C's wedding was while, the Anambra State-born former journalist undoubtedly the most has been out of circulation since the exit of her husexpensive wedding ever band from politics. While some sources say she shutin the Nigerian music tles between United Arab Emirates and Nigeria, othindustry, and the recepers say she co-runs ABTI, now American University tion met up to this feat of Nigeria, with her husband. with the presence of Jennifer had been in the news for the wrong reacelebrities and assorted sons over alleged money laundering cases in the drinks served.

United States before she was out of circulation.

Gbemi Wellington returns big

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Nicole Chikwe gets baby boy

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Jennifer Atiku dumps friends

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Glamour

‘Nigeria is the future, Britain is the past’ Dotun Adebayo is an accomplished Nigerian media professional who has lived in the United Kingdom for almost fifty years. Honoured by the Queen of England with the prestigious Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award in 2009, Adebayo has published three bestseller novels and has been presenting the award-winning global news magazine programme All Night for BBC Radio 5 Live in the last 12 years and runs his own TV Channel, Colourtelly. In this interview with Editor Online, Lekan Otufodunrin, Adebayo shares his dream to return home to Nigeria

•Adebayo

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FTER living in the United Kingdom for about fifty years, at what point did you start thinking of returning home?

It is incredible to think that I have been living in Britain for 47 years now. It seems like just yesterday that I left the comfort zone of my grandparent's house on Oke-Ado Market Road in Ibadan to face the harsh winters and the frosty welcome of Britain and the British.

I have been thinking of returning home for most of that time. Since the first day I arrived. My father beat the desire out of me at the age of six. And before I know it I was 50 years old and time was slipping.

But when you have family (two daughters in my case) it becomes trickier and trickier to return home. Your desire is further complicated by the passing on of your relatives in Nigeria which makes a homecoming more and more distant, or at least the compulsion to return home becomes less and less imminent.

In short, I have been thinking of coming home for nearly fifty years.

What exactly would you say is your motivation for wanting to return to Nigeria?

My main motivation for returning home is to be part of the explosion of the media and in particular radio and television that is happening in Nigeria. And I want to be part of that. If it continues at this pace, Nigeria could quite easily be the world centre for television, just as we are the most prolific of all film industries, thanks to the enthusiasm and enterprise of our great Nollywood industry.

What is the right offer that will make you pack your bags and head for Nigeria?

The right offer has to match what the BBC is paying me, which is a LOT of money. I would consider several parties coming for me at a lower rate as long as it matches my BBC contract. I know what I'm worth and I am not worth a penny less than the BBC pays me. In fact, I'm worth more.

What have been the reactions to your decision by family, friends and colleagues at work?

My wife understands. My daughters understand. My brothers understand.

No doubt my colleagues will give me their reaction when they read this article.

How much of the Nigerian media landscape do you know and what is your assessment of the organisations?

My father started out as features editor of the Daily Times in the 1950s. Then

he went on to NBC as a broadcaster in the early 1960s. When I returned to Nigeria in 1977 as a teenager, I wrote several plays for Bendel Playhouse which was the Bendelites big drama production on Bendel State TV in those days.

I have freelanced for several Nigerian publications in the past and I keep abreast with particularly the newspapers online and the likes of Arise and BEN Television from the UK side on cable TV. I don't get to hear as much Nigerian radio as I would like to. As far as the newspapers are concerned, Nigeria has one of the most vibrant press cultures in the world. Our columnists are second to none. I can't wait to cross swords with them all.

As far as television presenters are concerned, I'll give them 7/10 - see me after class. They could try harder.

Do you have any particular big new channel in mind?

Yes. I have had a couple of offers.

One serious one with a channel that is due to launch in the summer. But, like I say, I'm open to offers.

What are the advantages of the media explosion Nigeria is experiencing and how best can we maximise it?

The media explosion can only be sustained if the people are lifted up and are able to shore it up with their buying power. The Nigerian explosion has to bypass the politicians and fight for and reflect the aims and aspirations of the Nigerian middle class so that everybody can have a goal to head for.

I don't want to see negativity. We can't afford that. That media explosion can not only make Nigeria great, it can make Nigerians great.

How did you accomplish so much in the print, book and broadcast industry in U.K? I work very hard. I work harder than anyone else. If I see someone working harder than me, I lose sleep to catch up and overtake them.

Is it not arguable that you are the most successful Nigerian broadcaster in U.K? It is without question. Who else would contend with me?

How have you coped with racism and prejudice being of Nigerian decent?

We are born strong. Racism is a weakness. We stand strong and fight it on a daily basis. Institutionalised racism is the trickier

beast. For that we have to build our own infrastructure so that we don't need to rely on anyone else.

Hence my self-sufficiency in publishing - my own publishing house, in media - my own internet television company and so on.

What is your background in terms of your family, education and other things Nigerians need to know about you?

I come from a family of accountants, the exception being my father. My grandparents were very good friends of Fela Kuti's parents. Fela and my dad and my uncle were great friends. I went to school with the children of Tafawa Balewa (the original Corona School on Victoria Island). I am 100% Nigerian and will always be.

What do you mean that Nigeria is the future and Britain is the past?

Britain's time has come and gone.

Nigeria's time is just head of us if we seize the time and make use of it.

Yes, I can see a time in the next fifty years when we are sending aid to Britain.

Supposing you don't get the kind of offer you want, will you still be interested in returning home?

I'm coming home, no matter what. Without that big transfer deal it might take time, but I long for my real pounded yam. I'm tired of the powdered stuff.

M a n y N i g e-

rians will do anything to live in U.K. What is your advice for such people?

Do anything? That's up to you. I have lived there so I won't stop you. But don't kill yourself to get there.

Are you bothered about the negative reports about life in Nigeria?

All I'm worried about is armed robbers. Boko Haram doesn't worry me.

Just armed robbers. The only thing that stops expatriates like myself from returning home is the lack of security which the state is supposed to be providing - not just for itself but for the rest of us.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

47

BANK-BRANDS: Brand building & re-branding

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OST times and inadvertently, people tend to be distant from the fact that banks are brands in a defined market, much as the individual brands in the alcoholic beverage market, for instance, as in other markets. As brands, banks are challenged in every respect, to generate, grow and sustain a positive image for competitive advantages. This is an indirect consequence of the larger-than-life image of bank brands in under-developed and poorly developing economies.

In Nigeria, for instance, banks posture as “the source of money” not as a statement of fact, but as a derivation from institutional role, occasioned by statutory backing based on traditional pattern.

Just like we now see being rejuvenated in the insurance industry, those at the bottom of the pyramid are compelled to use the banks. Research studies have shown that the banks do not have any attraction for those in the low income bracket (in under-developed economies such as ours).

So, because bank-brands are rather compelled, as of essence, over 85% of their customers are forced to depend on them for survival – instead of the banks depending on their customers for market survival.

That brings us to the issue of business systems.

From the perspective of brands management, fundamentally, business system is a procedure, process, method or cause by which certain operation is conducted for specific result. In relating the above definition to structured business, a system is an aggregate of the essentials or basic elements imperative for any given business to operate successfully. A business system will consider elements such as attributes, design, people, operation theory/philosophy, ethical and/or professional standard, quality control, and financial policy, etc. business systems are based on structural and procedural framework within which a given business runs.

As of nature, they differ from industry to industry.

If we place these elements of a business system within the context of a product or service development and offer, they clearly capture those properties underlying market and marketing – concept and practice. Suffice, therefore, that business system, for brands, is instrumental in brand building and brand development/ management. So, what advertising and marketing communication strategists call brandworld peculiarities are otherwise, business systems defined by industry related peculiarities.

These peculiarities are the distinguishing factors

among systems. Functionally, they impact on the brands operative within their related industries/ market segment, fundamentally.

So, while brands in travel and tour will be very careful at structuring brand messages that must of essence help them build profitable customer base, Bank-Brands can only be generous to drive brand management for customer base growth. The degree of competitiveness varies along the line of industry peculiarities and differences.

For the purpose of this paper, we shall concern ourselves with the commercial banks in our local market, as we consider brand building, management and re-branding, in the banking industry. Considering BUSINESS SYSTEM as fundamentals of brand building and management for competitive advantage, in direct relation to Bank-Brands, it is instructive to play up some of those component parts of brand management, especially brand-target market relationship management.

As noted earlier, it is not characteristic of banks’ business system to be truly competitive for competitive marketing advantage in this market. We also did state that bank brands have assumed a larger-than-life image because their essence and offer as businesses and brands are made essential and mandatory for those at the market place. Consequently, they do not, as a matter of fact, take deliberate step towards customer relationship management. Evidently lacking among the banks is innovativeness, strategic marketing communication and compelling brand management thrust.

In addition to the statutory support upon which their operation and survival rest, bankbrands’ predominant offer is commission-based service delivery. Sometime in the early 1990s, some of them attempted what they saw as product development in form of money transfer, but in real sense, those offers were mere repackaging of commission-based offer, with an infusion of marginal technological advancement. The services they offer are essential and compelling for their customers, consequent upon which is the size of patronage and customer base. In some of these banks, they call their sales activities “deposit base drive marketing”, when in actual fact, they are trying to be relevant as brand managers.

Brands/customer relationship is built on contact. Ultimately, the relationship between a brand and its target market is a direct consequence

of the “initial contact”. So, in a truly competitive market, therefore, brands invest time and resources to prepare for this initial contact for a profitable after-effect. Generally, the contacts opportunities open to brands include (but not limited to) product package, logo, shelf presence, price, promise, positioning, quality of representative persons (sales team, for example) and shelf presence (place in market). A purposeful consideration of all of these elements forces the engagement of experts in brands management, marketing and marketing communication, from conception through every point of the Product Life Cycle. Marketing and brands management is a deliberate and consistent investment for brand’s success.

Of the contact opportunities open to a brand as listed above, the only one the bank-brands concern themselves with in this market is identity building- name and logo development and application. In their ignorance, most of these bank-brands pride themselves in spend hundreds of millions creating their brand logo. The craze among them at the introduction of bank mergers, was commissioning logo developers from SouthAfrica. The annoying thing is that those expensive logos are actually empty in brand-specific concept.

Those huge investment in logo generation, were without concern for the task of marketing and customer connect and relationship building, and the brand’s over-all competitive advantage.

The recent re-branding of DIAMOND BANK Plc. has thrown up a lot of reaction from members of the public, drawn concern from professional brand managers and stirred some level of confusion from a cross-section of its customers. An aggregation of the various reactions establishes the question WHY? 75% of respondents to our research on this development do not know what the change of logo and total image of the bank mean. Of this figure, one out every three respondent is gainfully employed. The study covered Lagos Island/Ikoyi/Victoria Island, Ikeja, Suru-lere and Ikorodu. The study was designed to help us track the general public’s reaction to the new image of Diamond Bank Plc., and how the new image impact on their perception of the bank.

From the perspective of a marketing communication/brand management practitioner, what happened to Diamond Bank brand is RE-BRANDING. Therefrom, one tends to not hurry into judgment. At some point in the life of every brand, there comes a need for

review and over-haul. Depending on the extent of brand personality review, a given brand could undergo REBRANDING! It seems DIAMOMOND BANK went through the process of re-branding: new logo design, new brand icon, new personality, and new image and by implication, new positioning. In reaction, the market is broadly divided in reaction to the new Diamond Bank, along the followingquestion lines: 1. Why did the brand owners tamper with the brand at-all?

2. What could be the rationale for this change 3. Is the new image a true representation of the natural diamond 4. What does the Diamond Bank brand stand for, as it is now?

Our concern here is not as much as it relates to the controversy as much as the learning. We know our readers will like to know more about this change, especially from the owners of the brand, as such will open new ideas for the future, good or bad. So, we at MC&A DIGEST have written to the relevant authority on the client’s side for an interview session. We shall publish the conversation on this page, if and when it happens, for the interest of the brand and our readers including students and advertising practitioners. But until that happens, we like the owners and managers of Diamond Bank brand to note the following as immediate fall-out of their re-branding exercise: 1. The old Diamond Bank logo is stronger and more impressive than the new.

2. The old image elicited belief, trust and friendliness from the target audience/ customer, the new one does not 3. The old image built seriousness, sincerity, strength of personality and focus around the brand, the new one took all that away from the brand.

Above all, the ordinary man and woman on the street knows that the diamond in its natural form is colorless, reflective of the color of light that falls on it; diamond does not come in the colors of the new Diamond Bank. But we at MC&A DIGEST knows those behind this change should have a rationale for all that happened to the Diamond Bank brand, and we hope to get that enlightenment through to our readers after meeting with the communication experts and the brand’s owners/managers.

48

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013 living in the hospital. I say living in the hospital because I was shuttling between the home and hospital, so I can understand what it means to live with sickle cell. Some people describe the crisis pain as worse than labour pain, so it is really extreme.

As a result if your health you are yet to get married, has this affected you in any way?

Initially it did. But my take is that marriage is good but if you get into it with someone who cannot handle it and then your partner decides that he did not bargain for it, that can be a problem.

I have been able to deal with that issue because I am so occupied with other things.

We live in a society that believes that if a woman is not married, it is the end of the world. In the more developed societies, it is not a big deal as long as they are happy.

Do you ever hope to find love again?

Yes. Everybody believes in love. It is a Yes! In a way it was because of what I call standard. If it comes, it is good but if it over-protectiveness. I wasn't allowed to do a doesn't, I move on and focus on making an lot of things and my sister would go out and impact in other people's lives.

In spite of this ailment, are you open to have fun.

It was pretty difficult to get them to having children?

In a way, yes. I have even thought about understand that I also had a life to live. But as I grew older and began to assert myself they adopting but I have looked at the prospect of began to understand that all they had to do having children as a big responsibility. was encourage me to be the best I have to be sure that I am able to take I could be. care of myself and the You say you lived in the child because having hospital for most of your children is not the same young life, how did it affect as having a toy. your education?

Was there a point Oh it affected me seriously. that you ever cursed God for having sickle In primary school, I was cell? always coming second or last I asked the question in class. It was not that I 'why me?' but I will not wasn't intelligent but because say I cursed God. I felt trying to catch up with that it did not have to be curriculum was difficult, so I me and I wondered why could not attend any of the it could not have been school events. somebody else.

When I entered secondary But I have realised that school, I did my form 1 and God will not give you at the end of that class I had more than you can bear. a major issue with my legs There is always a good that and I had to stop school will come out of every bad entirely and I did not finish situation planted by the secondary school. It was devil. If I did not have these after many years when experiences, I cannot share friends were already with someone who has it. entering or even finishing They would say that I do not from university that I understand what they are decided that my life could going through. For this not just roll by like that. reason, I easily communicate This spurred my to do with people and they a crash course in JAMB can see me as an and WAEC over a I like the fact that I am a inspiration because I period of two years and I am able to overcome entered Lagos State source of inspiration for it.

University where I had When you see an extra year due to my people. I love the fact that couples who have health but I was able to S genotypes, finish this time. people can see that I have A w o u l d y o u Did being born a gone through so much yet encourage them to sickle cell patient put a get married? damper on your social there is still a zeal and Well, I would not life? force them but I Going out has been passion in my life. would want them to difficult except you have think about it deeply.

I am not negative about money to take cabs all They need to go for over the place. I cannot what I went through, I counselling and if take the bus because of one or any of the my physical challenge. am positive about it couple feels they Sometimes, I may cannot handle it, it is want to do things that I best to break that see other people do and I relationship because if they enter and in the wish I could do it. I loved going to the theatre thick of it, one person decides to get a and attending concerts but that has reduced divorce, the child will have to deal with the drastically over the years. problems of a broken home on top of the There are limited things I can do and as I health problem. have grown older. If I have to walk around, I It is a double-edged sword, which would need to use a small cane because of requires you make wise choices. my knees which have reduced my mobility.

What do you like about your life?

We spend more time staying at home than I like the fact that I am a source of going anywhere and climbing the stairs is an inspiration for people. I love the fact that issue. people can see that I have gone through so I experienced quite a number of this in my much yet there is still a zeal and passion in journey with sickle cell. I had some my life. complications with my legs and I had to be I am not negative about what I went on crutches for a while. I spent many years through, I am positive about it.

‘I asked God why I had sickle cell’ especially when it came to doctors treating us anyhow and I always wondered why he would not just allow them to treat me but with hindsight, I have learnt that it is not everything a doctor says is true. You need to think about the consequence s.

All my Toyin Adesola, an economist and the daughter of the friends were former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, children of Professor Akin Adesola, has lived with a painful blood professors, so it was condition for 48 years. p r e t t y In spite of the many stumbling blocks living with sickle interesting.

He was cell has brought her way, Toyin is a bundle of positive also a man of energy as she chooses to ignore her flesh and focus on integrity. I living life to the fullest. This spurred her to give up her remember w h e n I fifteen-year-old catering business to set up the Sickle wanted to Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative, SAMI. In get into Unilag and this interview with Rita Ohai, she shares her pain and my marks journey to fulfillment. were not h i g h enough, the HAT was it like being the child of a Vice Chancellor knowing that normal thing others would have done is to speak to people there since he was a former they live by very strict standards?

It was interesting. I must say I learnt a lot VC and I would go in, but he said 'no'; he insisted that I go to the nearest one that my from him.

We used to call him 'daddy back-up' marks could take which was LASU. because he always tells us to have a back-up Some people would scream and wonder plan. how he could do that, but it was his way of Although in those days, they did not living. A very principled person and I love know so much about sickle-cell but because him for that. he was in the medical field, he understood Did you ever feel like you were treated what I was going through. differently from your other siblings?

Back then he was very protective,

W

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

New WOMAN

49

with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

In front of a distorted mirror

A

Pamper yourself this Easter

Obama names first woman head of US Secret Service

U

S President Barack Obama The Secret Service investigates has picked the first woman financial crimes and protects the director of the Secret president and his family.

Service.

"Over her 30 years of experience Julia Pierson, formerly Secret with the Secret Service, Julia has Service chief of staff, will succeed consistently exemplified the spirit Mark Sullivan, who announced last and dedication the men and women month that he would retire. of the service demonstrate every The agency was caught up in a day," Mr Obama said in a prostitution scandal last year statement. during a presidential visit to "Julia has had an exemplary Colombia. career and I know these experiences

will guide her as she takes on this new challenge to lead the impressive men and women of this important agency."

Ms Pierson, originally from Florida, joined the Secret Service's Miami Field Office in 1983.

From 1988, she spent four years with the Presidential Protective Division. Ms Pierson's appointment does not require confirmation by Congress.

special Easter dinner, with a special date, sure calls for celebration. For about an hour she tried to package herself for a desired outlook. Now she is set but she needs an approval from the standing mirror in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the mirror is no longer in one piece; there are cracks and she just cannot have a full view of herself. Disappointed! Why do we really need to use this reflective surface with metal amalgam?

Well, People use it basically for different reasons and the common reason is because they want to see the image they are projecting. “Am I looking really good? Can I look better than this or do I like what I am seeing in this mirror?

Unfortunately, if the mirror that should give answers to these questions and many others is distorted, then there is bound to be confusion. With a distorted mirror, you can never get the right answers to your emotional questions.

As a matter of fact, this mirror is going to compound matters and disorganise the whole love equation for you.

Personal grooming, decoration and architecture are some of the uses of the mirror. It can also be used to make your space larger while drivers use the mirror for checks. If you don't use the mirror properly for driving, then it may result in an accident.

Physical cracks and dirts would make it difficult for you to get a clear picture of who you are, who you want to be and someone others would admire and hold in high esteem. You can therefore compare a relationship that is falling apart and going through turmoil as one in front of a distorted mirror.

Here you can see love clearly; you can feel the romantic aroma or appreciate love even when it is beside you. All you are going to hold to would be the pains, the trauma as well as the confusion.

The emotional distortions would definitely make you think that love would always bring you pain and tears. And when you finally find the real thing you may not just be willing to give love a chance. That is exactly the way Matilda is feeling at the moment. Her wrist watch (heart) was faulty and she took it to someone (a new lover boy) for repairs. It was actually a minor thing and all the guy needed to do was to replace the battery and her love time would roll on.

Instead of telling her the truth, he removed other parts of her precious wrist watch and things got complicated. Sadly, he brought more distortions into her heart. How was she going to go into the next phase without doubts? Yours truly tries to console her but it was obvious that this gal was lost emotionally. 'How did I get myself into this mess?� she asked for the umpteenth time.

Of course, nobody can claim to be an emotional genius when it comes to the nitty- gritty of falling in love. No two love stories can ever be the same, the only thing that makes every story similar is the efforts you put in to make it work.

You try, try and try again. If for some reasons, it does not work the way you want, then you come to the realisation that you just must move on. Is your emotional platform about to embark on a major change? Well, before you take the plunge, you need to consider a number of things. First, you need to know that the ability to manage change successfully is a characteristic of how mature you are as well as understanding the personality that you are involved with.

In today's volatile emotional environment, successful change is a process of ongoing adjustment at all levels. This requires lovebirds, whose primary role is to establish context, provide the energy, as well as challenge and encourage innovation and risk-taking.

Communication is a skill that you must appreciate when your love train is about to take off. Make it a duty to carry the other person along so that they really understand when the train is taking off, your love destination and what they are going to benefit in the long run. It is only when you conquer this stage that you can hope to use communication as an effective tool in your relationship.

Most times, an inaccurate assumption by the other person ultimately leads to other problems. There is also the dangerous moment of silence which of course may not be golden at this point. You may also need to avoid nagging or the use of non verbal signals like tones, facial expressions and body language when you are frustrated or angry.

Always remember that for intimacy to thrive, all broken down communications must be restored.

For a lot of people, first impression really counts. In football, when we miss a free kick or a corner kick, we usually get another chance. Unfortunately, there is never a second chance to make a first impression. Most times, people usually form their opinion of us in the first thirty seconds of seeing us by judging our appearances or visual communication and our speech. Then they can then go on to evaluate our inner qualities later.

It's also important to say that we gain credibility and confidence by the way we present ourselves. Although dressing to conform may not always be our preference, it is actually the best way to project the image we want.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

50

With Joe Agbro Jr. 08056745268

Hello children, It’s Easter. I hope you’re all doing great and enjoying your holidays.

As you have fun, remember to be your best and try to do something productive this season

•Victorious students of Red House, celebrating at the Inter-huose sports of Effortswill School, Ejigbo, Lagos

BIRTHDAYS

WORD WHEEL

How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We've found 28, including one nineletter words.

PETS LOGIC PUZZLE Four children have different pets. Find out who had which one.

Bird

Cat

AMY

.

BOB

.

Dog

Fish

.

.

.

.

.

.

. .

CAL

. .

DEB

.

.

.

•Habeeblahi Ogunfodunrin, a Grade •Richard Ebubechukwu Ate was one on March 2

1 pupil of Apata Memorial School, New Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos was 7 on March 22

1. Bob's pet can't fly.

2. Cal's pet has hair, so does Deb's.

3. Deb's pet doesn't bark.

FOR TEENAGERS

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

Hey, it is Easter. And according to Christianity, the festival is to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s death.

As teenagers, there are often times when you might be requested to make a scarifice.

For instance, while preparing for exams or tests, you should be ready to sacrifice by doing more studying, and hence, reduce the time for playing and other activities. Also, should there be difficult times in your family, with your friends, or at school, you should know you might be required to make sacrifices. It’s what make selfless people.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Young Nation

51

COUNTRY FACTS

Pakistan

T

WORD SEARCH

Easter EASTER (also called the Pasch or Pascha) is a Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.

Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded

by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it includes Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper and its preceding foot washing, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

Easter is followed by a 50-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday. Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday Easter is a moveable feast, meaning its date is not fixed on the calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox.

Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper and crucifixion that preceded the resurrection.

To Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Easter is the fundamental and most important festival.

Easter customs vary across

the Christian world, but attending sunrise services, decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are common motifs. Additional customs include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades, which are observed by both Christians and some nonChristians. On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for

young children.

However, some Christian groups continue to reject the celebration of Easter due to perceived pagan roots. Other “Nonconformist” Christian groups that do still celebrate the event prefer to call it “Resurrection Sunday.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses commonly refer to Easter simply as “The Memorial.”

HE name Pakistan is derived from the Urdu words Pak (meaning pure) and stan (meaning country).

Pakistan became a republic on March 23, 1956, with Maj. Gen. Iskander Mirza as the first president. Pakistan is situated in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, with Afghanistan and Iran on the west, India • Former Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf on the east, and the waves after appearing at the Sindh High Court AFP PHOTO Arabian Sea on the in Karachi on March 29. south.

Prime minister: Raja Pervez In the 1990s, Pakistan saw a Ashraf (2012) shaky succession of governments—Benazir Bhutto was prime Population (2010 est.): minister twice and deposed twice 177,276,594 and Nawaz Sharif three times, until he was deposed in a coup on Monetary unit: Pakistan rupee Oct. 12, 1999, by Gen. Pervez Religions: Islam 97% (Sunni Musharraf.

77%, Shiite 20%); Christian, Hindu, and other 3% Close ties with Afghanistan's Taliban government thrust PakiNational Holiday: Republic stan into a difficult position fol- Day, March 23 lowing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And last year, the Talibans, Natural resources: land, extennot wanting formal education, es- sive natural gas reserves, limited pecially for girls carried out an at- petroleum, poor quality coal, iron tack on Malala Yousafzai, a 15 ore, copper, salt, limestone. year girl on October 9, 2012. Her crime was that she was advocatAgriculture: cotton, wheat, rice, ing for the education of girls sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs.

Capital: Islamabad Industries: textiles and apTotal area: 803,940 sq km) parel, food processing, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, President: Asif Ali Zardari paper products, fertilizer, shrimp.

(2008

WORD GAME Fill in the spaces to get the correct word using the clue below

FIND THE BOLD AND UNDERLINED WORRDS IN THE WORD SEARCH

1. -

W

-

K

-

-

O

• Great Nigerian footballer that played in Arsenal FC

2. M -

-

-

Q

-

T

-

•Insect that cause malaria

3. -

A

-

N

-

O

-

•Capital of a Northeast Nigerian state

4. A

-

P

-

-

I

-

•Governor of a South-South State in Nigeria

5. -

-

D

-

R

-

•A hill in Ekiti State

6. A

-

-

U

G

-

-

•A fishing festival in A North-West Nigerian state

7. -

T

-

-

E

-

R

-

• A major ethnic group in Delta State

Write for The Nation!

Do you fancy yourself as a writer someday? Stop dreaming and start writing. A topic will be presented here every week and you’re encouraged to send in entries in not more than 150 words. The best original story will be published from time to time, so get cracking!

Entries should be sent to sundaynation@yahoo.com and should be accompanied by the writer’s name, age, school and class.

This week’s topic is : “How I spent my Easter holiday”

8. O

-

-

W -

-

•The late leader of Republic of Biafra

9. A

-

-

-

S

-

C

-

•A society of people ruled by the upper class

10. -

U

-

-

I

•The largest country in the world

-

-

C -

52

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

Etcetera

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

The wise thread •Or ‘Needlepoint wisdom’

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.

—Dutch Proverb YEAR upon year, the man finds that memories of childhood flood with the rainy season; and time after time, lessons from the season of innocence reinforce belief in the necessity and relevance of informal education in its many forms. For the boy, each episode was part of a whole process to be experienced, from the amusing to the curious and frightening. These days, the man thinks the events worth reliving, especially the ones that left the deepest cut.

One comical episode resonates. The boy, having developed a fondness for the staple food, rice, was inclined to ensure a steady supply of the raw grain by growing some himself following a few occasions of want and consequent craving. Poor boy; he presumed that he could cultivate it like the corn, beans and vegetables he tended at a back garden. But expectations of a bountiful supply of rice never materialised. No plant germinated from the parboiled rice grains he smuggled from the family store and planted. Compelled to seek explanation from more knowledgeable quarters after repeating the task without success, he was embarrassed to find that he erred greatly.

As remarkable was the boy’s first attempt to thread a needle. Even now, the man chuckles at the acute sense of frustration that held the boy’s system hostage for nearly half an hour. Previously, he enjoyed the privilege of an elder relation helping to replace a loose button or two on a shirt but was one day obliged to serve himself as the usual helpers were either preoccupied with one task or the other. Or they intended the neglect to be part of his general education – the boy was now not sure which.

Suffice it to say that he found himself peering intensely at the needle’s eye with all the severity his ten-year old wits could muster and trying to will the thread through without success.

With each futile attempt his exasperation grew until, at last, failure turned into anger and then rebellion. Alone, the boy threw a tantrum that had him rolling on the floor in tearful demonstration after flinging the recalcitrant shirt across the room, but finally, realising that before him and the playground stood the shirt, he calmed down, wiped the tears away and tackled the procedure afresh. Picking up the thread, he steadied the needle and, after two failed attempts, accomplished the task. He laughed then, from relief as well as the grasp of a vital lesson: the virtue of patience.

Readers’ Response Messi or Ronaldo: rivals or equals?

CHEEK BY JOWL

SIR, I would say they are both rivals and equals because both of them are superb, iconic and unique in their own ways.

Feyi Akeeb Kareem +2348096204*** YOU are one of the very few, at least going by the votes of world national coaches and captains who constitute the voting public of FIFA World Player of the Year. Your argument in your piece (Messi or Ronaldo: rivals or equals?) on Sunny Side of The Nation on Sunday of March 24, 2013 seems to suggest that Real Madrid and Portugal do not have good ball passers, because if it were not for Xavi and Iniesta, Messi won’t be the best.

The world has voted him four times in a row. But records show that Messi has created many of his glittering career goals out of nothing. Did Maradona score with his head? It was his sublime control of the ball and ability to dismantle any defence that made him No. 1 during his time; the same with Messi. And by the way, FIFA confirmed it in four consecutive years. Or did Messi bribe them?

Chris +2347060594***

QUOTE Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Jokes Humour Doing the Crocodile A MAN was on holiday in the creeks, where he tried to buy some Crocodile skin shoes.

However he was not prepared to pay the high prices, and after having failed to bring the price down to a reasonable level, ended up shouting with the vendor. “I don’t care about your shoes man, I’ll go and kill my own ‘croc’!”

Said the shopkeeper, “By all means, but just watch out for those two poor boys doing the same.”

So the man went out into the swamp, and after a while saw two men with spears, standing still in the water. “They must be the ‘poor boys’,” he thought. Just then, he noticed a crocodile moving in the water towards one of them. The guy stood completely passive, even as the reptile came ever closer.

Just as the beast opened its jaws to swallow, the boy sank his spear in the animal and wrestled it up onto the beach, where several already lay. Together the two boys threw the crocodile onto its back and examined it. “Darn!” said one. “This

one doesn’t have any shoes either!”

The Choice AN OLD jester made the king the butt of most of his jokes. Consequently, he was loved by the people, but hated by the king.

The king endured the ridicule for months.

One day, after hearing people in the streets repeating some of their favourite quips from the jester, he had had enough.

He had the following statement posted around the royal city: “By royal decree, anyone who tells a pun will be hanged by the neck until he is dead.”

The old jester loved what he did, so he kept telling his jokes, including puns. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged at dawn in a week’s time.

The king’s conscience was pricked. He didn’t want to execute a citizen for merely telling jokes.

So he sent a message to the hangman on the morning of the execution, telling him that the old man was to be given a pardon if he promised never to tell another pun.

The old man couldn’t imagine living in a world where he could not tell a pun. He said, “No noose is good news,” and died gladly.

•Adapted from the Internet

F

—St. Augustine

ICTION Writer ’s Fountain WRITING: Raising the stakes. Most of us want to write is figuring out how to do this. gripping fiction. We want our readers to forego What are stakes? food and drink, to fight off sleep, even to resist Stakes are what may be gained or lost. Your calls of nature in order to keep turning the pages characters have wants, goals, desires, or simply to find out what happens next. One way to increase needs that can be classified as stakes. It should not the tension for your readers is to keep raising the be clear – it really needs to be in some doubt – as stakes for your characters. The challenge, of course, to whether or not your character will achieve these goals. You may argue that the outcome is not in World matter: doubt for all genres. In many romances, the hero •All the moons of the Solar System are and the heroine will, by definition, get together named after Greek and Roman mythology, by the end of the story. Readers of any experience except the moons of Uranus, which are know this. However, even though your readers named after Shakespearean characters. know that hero and heroine are going to •All the world’s main alphabets have miraculously overcome their difficulties and live developed from an alphabet invented 3,600 happily ever after, Hero or Heroine are unaware years ago in the Middle East. It was known of this foregone conclusion. They, stuck inside the as the North Semitic Alphabet. pages, can’t see what’s coming.

•The earth once consisted of one land mass So even if your readers know that all will that geologists today call Pangaea (from the end well, they can identify with your characters, Greek words “all land”) and a huge body of and derive their suspense thus. water called Panthalassa (Greek for “all Examples of stakes: sea”). Between 180 and 200 million years Let’s say that your main character is Jonah. Here ago, Pangaea split into two parts: Laurasia, are a few stakes that could matter to him: which consisted of North America, Europe Whether or not he wins the next election. and Asia; and Gondwanaland, which Whether or not he renovates the Town Hall. consisted of Africa, South America, India, Whether or not the national team wins the Antarctica and Australia.

Nations Cup.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

53

Checking sleep disorders —PAGE 68

At 103, griot says ‘I need a wife’ Adedokun Joseph Aralepo at 103 is widely regarded as a griot in Owo, Ondo State. He has witnessed the reign of six monarchs (1913 to date). He is a mobile encyclopaedia of mores and traditions of his people. When Taiwo Abiodun met him recently in Owo, the griot spoke about the feud between the late Adekunle Ajasin and the late Sir Olateru Olagbegi II among other issues.

I

T was a hot afternoon and sitting on his balcony reading a book is High Chief Adedokun Joseph Aralepo. At 103, he sat there reading the book without the aid of a recommended eye glasses, his eyes are still sharp.

He speaks clearly and does not use hearing aids.

That is not all, his dentition is impressive for a man of his age. And while many in his age group have lost their memories, he has good retentive memory. Events flash through his mind with ease as he reels out dates and personalities.

He is believed to be among the few and the oldest but educated centenarians who have the history of Owo on their finger tips.

On how he knew his age, the old man said with a wry smile, “There was no record of birth then but I was told that I was born three years before Olowo Olagbegi Atanneye came to the throne in 1913. So when I calculated it falls into 1910. I remember I assisted my father to write a petition to Olowo, the Olotu Olagbegi I, when there was a dispute between my father and Elerewe Olakunori in 1920. I remember that day I went with my father and he asked who assisted my father to write the petition and my father pointed at me that it was me. The monarch then gave me two shillings and six pence.”

The reign of six monarchs The griot he knows the history of the ancient town like the palm of his hands. Aralepo had witnessed the reigns of about six monarchs, and could write testimonials of each of the kings and tell their stories and characters without iota of doubt.

According to him, he was very close to all the monarchs that ruled from 1913 to date. “I have witnessed about six obas, the Olowo Olagbegi Atanneye II ,(1913 to1938) , Olowo Ajike Ogunoye (1938 to 1941), Olateru Olagbegi II ,(1941 to 1968) Olowo Adekola Ogunoye II (1969 to 1994): I also witnessed the return of Olateru Olagbegi II, (1993 to 1998) and the reigning Olateru Olagbegi III (1999 to date).”

He continued: “Well, if you are asking of who was the best among them all, I would say Olagbegi II was my friend, Ogunoye was my friend. Olagbegi I was very energetic, same for Ogunoye II, they have equal magical powers.”

Asked to confirm whether Olowo Adekola Ogunoye II was a no nonsense man and whether it was true that if he cursed any person it would come to pass, the old man looked up, then smiled and said, “I was then the Secretary and Adviser to the late Olowo Adekola Ogunoye.

Yes, it is true (his curse), it will take effect.” He cited the example of the monarch’s curses that came to pass. “At a time one man beat his wife at

PHOTOS: TAIWO ABIODUN

•Aralepo Ehin -Ogbe and the wife came to report to the monarch, who invited the husband. When he came he stood at the entrance of the palace and said ‘Yes’ .The Olowo’s errand boys said he should kneel down (in obeisance to the monarch) but he said No, he would not kneel down as his own Oba has not come. Then he (Ogunoye) asked whether he had offended him, and said it was his wife who came to report him and he wanted it settled, but the man said “ No, No, No.” He didn’t respect the Olowo. He then used abusive language on the monarch. The monarch cursed him and said he

would be killed by a buffalo. On the fifth day a buffalo killed him!”

I had my first sex at 35 Asked about the secret of his young and agile looks, he paused to regain his breath, looked at his surrounding and declared that the youth of today abuse their bodies. “I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t womanise. I do everything in moderation. In the evening you will see young men going there (pointing to a drinking joint) to drink all sorts of drinks like sepe (local gin). It weakens the body. I can still sleep with my wife but she has been ill for the past 15 years. Since then nothing between us. I

started having sex at the age of 35 or so .The young stars nowadays , before they grow old, they begin to do it and that shortens their lives.”

According to Aralepo, longevity runs in his family.”My father was old, he lived up to 98 while my mother died in 1941, she lived up to 80 or 86.”

I taught eminent Nigerians “I started teaching on July 5,1937 after which I started taking tuition to pass my Grade Two Teachers’ Certificate. Before then I sat for a post •Continue on Page 54

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Life •Continued from Page 53

in government line, and 35 of us sat for it, I took first position as I scored 85 per cent while the next candidate scored 35 per cent, and the third 20 per cent. Before, I was earning 21pounds per annum in the Voluntary School but when an European tested us and saw what I scored, my salary was increased to 42pounds per annum. From there I finished my Grade Two teachers’ college in 1968 and the government seconded me to School of the Blind. And I went to study Special Education at the University of Ibadan between 1964 and 1965.

I had my practical teaching at Oji River. Later, I was asked where I would like to be posted to and they suggested Lagos, Ijebu Ode, Ibadan, Osogbo but I insisted on coming to Ondo Province; for North, East, West and South, home is the best.”

In his career as a teacher, he said he is proud to have taught many eminent Nigerians such as the present Olowo of Owo, Oba David Victor Folagbade Olateru -Olagbegi III. “I also taught Prof. David Ijalaiye , Chief Michael Adelanke Ajana, and a host of others now in their 80s.”

I never took bribe in my life The High Chief swore that he had never for once took bribe from anybody and that this later helped him in life as his life was spared when hired assassins came to his house to kill him. In 1978 there was a vacant post at the Judiciary in Customary Court, and I was appointed as the President of the Grade I Customary Court. This I did for seven years. One day, 25pounds was offered to me as a bribe for a case in order to favour one of them but I rejected it. Many years later, when Owo was engulfed in crisis and they wanted to assassinate me but one of the assassins sighted me and he spared my life saying, I did not collect bribe from him when I was the President of the Customary Court.”

But he lamented that things have changed.”During the colonial days things were very normal, there was nothing like slavery, kidnapping didn’t exist. Killing of human beings didn’t exist. If anybody committed an offence, he would be punished adequately. But nowadays, everyone is after money.”

Between Ajasin and Olateru Olagbegi According to the centenarian, the two great sons of Owo, the late Sir Olateru Olagbegi II and the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin were good friends before they parted ways. Aralepo who saw it all said “They were very, very, friendly .The (quarrel) was the work of the devil.”

On what caused their sour relationship, the griot said “so many things , and people. They had gone between them to try to disunite them. You

E

LDER Enebedum Ekedife is a native of Nobi, Anambra State, some three hundred kilometres from Calabar in Cross River State. For the past three years he has had problem with his eyes. In fact, in mid 2012, he went completely blind. If he needed to eat someone had to be on hand to help him keep the food close to avoid spilling, even as frustrating as that could be, someone had to lead him by hand and remain close by each time the sixty -three -yearold visits the toilet so he would not soil himself!

Even doing simple chores like putting on his clothes he has to be assisted by his daughter, Jane, who had to run the errands for him, leading the twenty -one -year -old to abandon her studies at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.

However, all that changed when he visited the Mission for Vision Centre in Calabar, where he was operated on both eyes. “Many people who came to see me told me to come to Calabar and my daughter led me here by hand and last week I was operated upon and now I can see very well with both eyes.” He said Jane, who is now ready to return back to her studies in IMT, is ecstatic with her father’s significantly improved vision and is singing songs of praises not only thanking God but also to the Cross River State Government and Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, operators of the free eye surgery programme through which her father regained his lost sight.

As is with Ekedife, so also for Madam Rose Ubani, 58, a retired school teacher from Abia State. While narrating her experience tears of joy flowed down her cheeks as she could not believe she would regain her sight after two years of living in darkness. The fair complexioned woman said her both eyes were covered by cataract for over two years and she thought that her enemies had prevailed over her and rendered her useless. “I went to a traditional doctor who poured some painful substances into my eyes for over three months and nothing improved but rather my children saw a red patch develop in my left eye. It was while my problem was getting worse and I had to return home that one day my son’s friend who came to visit asked why we have not been to Calabar. That was how we came to know that I can be treated in Calabar free and today I can see clearly.”

At 103, griot says ‘I need a wife’ know people, they didn’t want peace. There are very few people who are faithful.Whatever God has planned for one can never be changed. Destiny can never be changed.So it is. So that is why however old one might be on earth, if he has not completed the plan God has for him he will not die. Now I am reading the Bible the second time this year. Bible is my hobby.”

To marry again!

Asked whether he wishes to remarry since he is alone, the old man shrugged and said, “Yes, I need a wife. When King David was old and could not perform, what did they do? They looked for a woman, most beautiful lady just to keep him warm and to feel lively, that is it. To be in solitude condition is not good. I read it in those days that the Hermits used to live in the bush unlike nowadays. I have a wife but she is old and sick. But I need a woman. Who will be going in and out with me, not for sex but a companion who will wake me up at night and say ‘Daddy, Daddy what is it?”

The man, who said if he had not been a teacher he could have ended up as a medical doctor, said “I never thought I would end up as a teacher because I passed the Nursing Entrance Examination in 1940, and we were only two who passed the exam but when my mother died in 1941 I could not go, but if I had known I could have gone, the man that came third then went overseas! Today I take a lot of herbs I prepare by myself. I don’t know when last I visited hospital at all. Herbs is good, read Ezekiel chapter 47 verse 12, read it. God does not forbid it.

I wake up at 4 am and sleep at 10 or 11 pm. If I don’t feel like sleeping I would be reading my Holy Bible or foreign books on herbs.”

On his happy moment Asked what he has left undone, the man said he prayed to launch his book on Owo. “Yes, I have left undone the History of Owo which will be the best history of Owo and none will surpass it. If I finish it. I don’t care what would happen because works and deeds are external life of a man. Ajasin’s performance will never be forgotten so I want to leave that behind.”

At 103 he was asked if he would like to live for more years, he said “If I could live up to 10years more I’m alright. I don’t want to be haggard.”

With a voiced laced with sadness, he added, “my mates have all gone.”

On how he wants to be remembered he said,

•Aralepo “Remember me by the grace of God of my truthfulness, uprightness and neatness.” To tell the reporter the discussion was over, he beckoned

To restore their sight

•Newly operated patients

The testaments of Mr Ekunife and Madam Rose Ubani resonate with those of several thousands of others: young, old, men women, the rich and the poor who have regained their lost or impaired vision through the free eye surgery at the General Hospital Calabar, Mission for Vision partnership between the Cross River State Government and the Tulsi Charai Foundation which provides free eye surgery for eye patients.

Daily, the precincts of the General Hospital Calabar, located along the Mary Slessor Avenue, always witness a deluge of eye patients from places farther afield as Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers,

Bayelsa, Edo, Abia, Benue, Akwa Ibom and Kogi states seeking for free eye surgery effectively turning the place to a “pilgrimage” of sorts.

The free surgery programme, a synergy between the Tulsi Charai Foundation and the Cross River State Government has provided free eye surgery for over 26,000 eye patients since it came into inception in 2003. Surgeries that ordinarily would cost between N75, 000 and N120,000 in private medical facilities and upward of N30,000 to N50,000 in teaching hospitals are done for free in addition to free medication, accommodation and bed accommodation for patients . While the

to a young man nearby and told him to go and buy pap for him, saying, “ I ate pounded yam in the morning, it is heavy. I need to eat light food.”

Cross River State government provides the necessary infrastructure such as surgical equipment, hospital wards, operating theatre , clinic, residence for expatriate doctors and project vehicles , the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation on its part bears the cost of maintaining the expatriate doctors and managers, drugs and consumables, supportive staff, and the day-to-day maintenance of the centre.

“For every patient who steps into this centre, rich or poor, has the same quality of eye surgery and receives free drugs and free post operation checks,” Dr Richard Sylvester, the Project Manager said.

He said to assist the government in locating patients who need the free eye services in the numerous villages, the state government has a brand new bus that provides dedicated services ferreting patients from the eighteen local government areas of the state to the eye centre in Calabar at no cost. “There is a screening centre in each of the eighteen local government areas in the state to identify and bring people who need surgery to Calabar to be attended to and from 2003 to February 2013, we have carried out 26,633 surgeries for people all over the South south and Southeast states geopolitical region.”

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Chris Ita, said. “The programme was meant for people of the state but there is no discriminating where the person comes from as everyone is attended to the same way free.” He said to sustain the scheme, the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation has begun the training of six indigenous ophthalmologists both within and in India to increase and sustain the manpower base of the programme.

The training is to infuse the right techniques and kind of eye surgeries done by the expatriates into the local ophthalmologists to meet the increasing number of patients. The Cross River State Government is through the programme demonstrating its care and commitment to the welfare of the people, the Tulsi Charai Foundation, a vision of the Tulsi Charai family, an Indian family which has been living in Nigeria for over one hundred years and doing textile business, the programme is to sow back to the society from which it has been reaping from these past several decades.

THE ARTS

55

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

•L-R: Onwuchie, Ali-Balogun, Hussein, Kelani, and Opara at the Art Stampede last Sunday

D

ISCUSSING funding of films in Nigeria could be unnerving venture for filmmakers. Hence, when some Nigerian film-makers gathered to discuss funding in the industry, it was with filled emotions that hey spewed out their challenges. And it was to re-evaluate this funding challenge that the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA) dedicates the 100th edition of its regular session, tagged Art Stampede.

The event, which held last Sunday at the Kongi Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos was anchored

by Shuaibu Hussein, a film critic and journalist, and had as discussants film producers such as Francis Onwuchie, Mahmoud Ali-Balogun, Tunde Kelani, Charles Novia and Director of Eko Film Festival, Hope Opara. The Stampede also comprised a motley crowd comprising veterans, participants, and friends of the Nigerian movie industry.

To Hussein, “no developing country can survive without grants.” He continued, saying the Nigerian experience was such that: “There has been a lot of talk but no action.”

However, action came two years ago in the form of a $200m intervention fund to the creative industry by President Goodluck Jonathan. And according to Hussein, recently, President Goodluck Jonathan said that “only about N761m has been accessed.”

At the same forum, Hussein said the president also announced a three billion naira Nollywood Project grant to be managed by the ministry of finance and the ministry of culture. This was good news for the producers.

But the frustration as some of them recalled their experiences was far from pleasant. You could hear a pin dropped in the hall when Producer Tunde Kelani of Mainframe fame recalled how during his early years in film-making, he was bogged on a project with four other producers and needed N85, 000 for the movie. He said it was Rasheed Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State that bailed him out. The film was made but Kelani, whose brand of cinema is largely based on Yoruba culture, said he was only able to return N33, 000. But when he decided he wanted more control, he went back to Ladoja and the

PHOTO: JOE AGBRO JR.

Nollywood: Filmmakers tackle finance woes Film-making takes dreams, hard-work, and perseverance. The filmmaker, most times takes toil, time, and creativity to make a movie.

Joe Agbro Jr. who was at the 100th CORA Art Stampede where film-makers talked about their financial stress and reports former governor agreed to invest in him. However, Kelani says his whatever he is today was a result of selfdenial. “My primary source of funding is the sacrifice to myself because I delayed everything about my life,” he said. “I said, ‘marriage is out. My first daughter came when I was 40.’”

He lived with his wife in the studio for ten years and they agreed that their children would attend public school. Kelani said Ladoja had concluded that he wasn’t going to make money. But today, Kelani ranks high amongst Nigerian film-makers. Few of Kelani’s blockbusters include Ti Oluwa ni Ile, Oleku, Thunderbolt, and Arugba.

Also, speaking on the challenges of funding was Onwuchie, who was able to access funds from the French government. “Getting the fund from Paris,” he said, “was very exciting for me because it allowed for a lot of room to do a lot of things.”

However, Onwuchie sounded a bit disappointed that the only support he has gotten came from outside. He recalled an experience he had in South

Africa. “Prior to that time, I was at a (film) festival in South Africa and I and a fellow producer whom we had a lot of things in common were discussing the film environment in Africa. He was very upset with his organisation because they gave him only about $10, 000 for researching the scripts. He was so furious with the agent and I think a representative of the organisation was telling him that this is to support you to concentrate on this script and research and then you can now come and apply for a grant.”

To Onwuchie, this sounded to true to be real. He recalled thinking that “with this kind of money, I would develop a film that would compete with whatever he did.”

He, however, said things are changing in the Nigerian space. “A few of my colleagues,” he said, “have had cause to enjoy some corporate and government support for local film works. So, it is not 100% correct that government or organisations are not supporting.”

Speaking on whether

“

I don’t understand what they mean when they say it is not a bankable project. But, they do know that it is an industry that generates lots of billions

”

Nollywood was bankable, Charles Novia, the brain behind November films wouldn’t agree. He said, “I don’t understand what they mean when they say it (Nollywood) is not a bankable project. But, they do know that it is an industry that generates lots of billions. It may not be structured, but they know that independent film producers have accounts. What they mean is they use the template of oil and gas industry to assess the film industry and that is very wrong.”

Novia, one of the quartet behind the Project Nollywood, re-enacted what transpired when he was approached

by Ecobank in 2006. After drawing up business plans, he, Fred Amata, Chico Ejiro, and Fidelis Dukker got N50m for which four of them raised N10m equity. The bank also asked for a 25% share in the company. According to Novia, there was a unique model which the bank wanted to employ to make sure the films would be sold. This was using about 10, 000 young Nigerian school leavers to be employed across the country by the bank as Direct Sales Agents (DSAs). The plan was to sell direct to the customer. But the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) rule that banks must not engage in non-banking activities would stifle this arrangement. The number of DSAs was reduced to 1, 000. Again, the bank introduced them to an outsourcing company for which they paid five million naira. It was not factored into the N50m loan. But, as the day of release of the movie approached, the (DSAs) were nowhere to be found.

“Within 48 hours,” Novia said, “we got 60 DSAs of our own, got buses, and entered the streets just to sell the movies.” By the end of the first week, they had raised nearly four million naira.

But, he said the bankers began harassing. According to Novia, the DSA plan was not the only plan but it was a strategic one. However, Novia who captured what happened in his book, a novel approach was that the security the banks requested from them were the master tapes of their films.

For Ali-Balogun, he was only able to get funding for his film, ‘Tango With Me’ after it was finished.

“I took the risk of putting them (companies that would later fund him) in my movie,” he said. “And the first company that saw it said, ‘this is good.’” The company even wanted more corporate presence in the movie and this was extra bargaining chip for Mahmoud.

As the artistes rounded up, the crux of the parley remained that the country’s film industry definitely needs an intervention. And citing the example of the South African Film and Video Foundation, Shaibu said, “the government of that country has recognised film as one weapon that they can use to project South Africa.

And they have provided different levels of funding that film-makers can apply for.” Nigerian film-makers no doubt believe that the Nigerian government can do better for its film-makers.

The Art Stampede is a quarterly CORA-organised event whereby a confrontational style discourse is held on issues bordering on the arts.

The very first Art Stampede was held in Festac Town, Lagos on June 2, 1991 and had as its theme: What is Literature.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Arts/Reviews

Chinua Achebe: A sage of decolonisation W

HEN the Ugandan poet, Okot p’Bitek died in 1982, we seized the opportunity of the gathering writers in Ile-Ife, where he had spent a sabbatical year a few years before, to organise a little programme in his memory. Against the background music provided

by Jimi Solanke, I read a poem titled “He Avenged our Lives”.

As I went back to my seat, I overheard Chinua Achebe’s soft voice saying that Okot would not have liked the sadness my poem evoked. Now, as I try to memorialise the great life Achebe lived, I find myself wondering what emotion he would be comfortable with.

Chinualumogu (let my chi fight for me) Achebe often referred to the saying of Igbo people that when a thing stands, another stands beside it. A conception of human existence in terms of struggle which also makes the Yoruba to once in a while name a child Ijalaiye (life is war!) leads some Igbo to see the human world as controlled by heroes and villains. Heroes, in this view of the world, are unfortunately always in short supply but if a society is lucky, a few great ones can galvanise the people to keep the villains in check so that progress can be made in different spheres of life. I see one Achebe standing tall as a hero in this world because, being in agreement most of the time with each other, he let his chi direct his fights against racism and colonialism. Victories from such fights humbled him and came as a result of profound and visionary writings in novels and essays that in uncluttered crystal clear prose have been

T

HE book entitled: “Poverty Alleviation from Biodiversity Management” is a 431-page treatise which comprises 15 chapters made up of contributions from 18 scientists with expertise in ecology, agronomy, botany, zoology, fisheries, forestry, wildlife and socio-economics.

The main theme of the contributions is the focal attempt to relate the biodiversity content of the various disciplines to poverty alleviation and the development of rural economies.

The book defines poverty as the deprivation of well-being that occurs when people cannot@ satisfy their basic needs. It also defined poverty alleviation as measures that raise, or are intended to raise enabling the poor to create wealth for themselves as a means of ending poverty.

The first three chapters analysed biodiversity from historical United Nations perspectives and the socio-economic values as they are inherently capable of driving poverty alleviation in rural Africa. The causes of the poverty and the prevalence poverty in Nigeria were highlighted while genetic, species and ecosystem diversities were categorised and evaluated with relevant examples and empirical evidence. The need for biodiversity conservation as a tool to enhance poverty alleviation was explicitly narrated.

By Chima Anyadike ranked among the best in the world. I also see another Achebe standing beside the first one – too angry, impatient and bitter about the conduct of the war against self abasement and corrupt leadership in his homeland, that he could not wait for agreement with his chi as he moved into battles. This aspect of the postcolonial hybrid directed the Achebe vision to pass through a tragic lens for the most part, keeping out the comic spirit, great conviviality and necessary self mockery. As with all great heroes, this sometimes constituted a tragic flaw of hubris or overbearing pride when these kinds of battles inspired some writing or in certain pronouncements concerning the resourceful and dynamic Igbo people. This is the aspect that made things weigh too heavily with him.

Achebe’s grandfather and his generation in black Africa woke up one morning to a “strange dawn”. As Cheikh Hamidou Kane described it in his Ambiguous Adventure, a novel which Achebe liked a great deal, “The morning of the Occident in black Africa was spangled over with smiles, with cannon shots, with shining glass beads.

Those who had no history were encountering those who carried the world on their shoulders. It was a morning of accouchement: the known world was enriching itself by a birth that took place in mire and blood...

“Those who had shown fight and those who had surrendered... – they all found themselves, when the day

came, checked by census, divided up, classified, labeled, conscripted, administrated.

For the newcomers did not know only how to fight… If they knew how to kill with effectiveness, they also knew how to cure, with the same art… On the black continent it began to be understood that their true power lay not in the cannons of the first morning, but rather in what followed the cannons.”

That was how the church and the school trained Achebe in his early years at Government College Umuahia to see himself not as an African in the books he read. In his own words, “I took sides with the white men against the savages. The white man was good and reasonable and smart and courageous. The savages arrayed against him were sinister and stupid, never anything higher than cunning.

I hated their guts.” When at the University College Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) he came to the life changing realisation that “these writers have pulled a fast one on me” and that he was not one of those on Marlowe’s boat steaming up the Congo in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, but “one of those unattractive beings jumping up and down on the riverbank, making horrid faces,” the young Achebe and his chi picked up the pen to do battle when it was “morning yet on creation day.” The war against colonisation must be fought and it must be driven by native cultural ideals even if fought with weapons manufactured in Europe. And so came Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease. As the day wore on and the battles

•Late Achebe

raged, Achebe realised more and more how much many natives have become their own enemies. And so, A Man of the People and Anthills of the Savannah followed. He saw hope in the horizon but was well aware of the impediments. A near fatal car crash, which tried to turn exile into home, did not deter him. But he got angrier and more impatient about the troubles with Nigeria, his home country. As midnight approached, he reflected sadly on how in

his mind, there was a country which Okonkwo, Obierika, Ezeulu, Ikem, Beatrice and their counterparts in the world, had loved so much in their different ways.

Now that he has left them to continue the struggle in their different ways, the freedom which Achebe sought for all men may not be in sight in a world where slavery and colonisation have put on more attractive clothes in form of

outsourcing, brain drain, visa lottery and globalisation, presenting in their wake, more meaningful gifts to the “natives”. But thanks to their work, Achebe’s grandchildren, more than his grandparents, have a great legacy with which to evaluate those gifts as they struggle to find their own place in the world.

•Anyadike is an associate professor of Literature in English at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Naijastories needs representatives

Making riches from nature N

Subsequent chapters dealt with the socio-economic dimensions of biodiversity management in the farmhousehold content as they relate to gender roles and gender, differentiated indigenous knowledge as inputs to agricultural production and utilization of plant resources.

Proposals were made for institutional interventions that can promote biodiversity as a catalyst for development.

It was affirmed that “The condition, management and governance of ecosystems in all regions of sub-Saharan Africa is a dominant factor affecting the chance of success in fighting poverty and in furthering human development.”

Contributions from Chapter Six were specific in their biodiversity evaluation and the alleviation of poverty. Using the Cross River National Park as a template, an analysis was made on how the management of national parks can turn adjourning communities into better supporters of biodiversity conservation.

Analysing wildlife management and food security, a case was made for sustainability of bush meat production systems through in-situ and ex-situ management procedures. It was concluded that procurement and

sale of bush meat contribute to food security as well as the potential of the wildlife industry for ecotourism.

Fishes of the Nigerian inland water mass as well as those in agriculture were identified as an important component of freshwater fisheries biodiversity that provide a significant part of our animal protein intake. Details were provided of how to set up and manage aquacultures as going concern for boosting fisheries production.

The medical plants that abound in our forests and ecosystems were identified with strong views expressed on the strategies for sustainable harvesting, since uncontrolled

harvesting impacts negatively on the resources of the ecosystems. A strong case was made for the increased inclusion of traditional medicine in enhances healthcare delivery particularly in the hard-toreach rural communities. Since health is wealth, improved healthcare would alleviate poverty.

Crop production is increasingly dependent on chemical control of pests and diseases for maximum productivity. A case was made for the use of natural pesticides from plants and their products to optimise crop production and productivity. A comprehensive catalogue was provided of work done on pest management with natural pesticides in Nigeria from 1983 to 2011. These included works of the insecticidal, piscicidal, fungicidal, bactericidal and nematicidal activities of plant oils and extracts, citrus fruits, peppers, ground leaves, barks, flowers and seeds. Increased use of natural pesticides would boost sustainable crop production by resource – poor farmers who produce the bulk of the nation’s food, as well as create employment and promote export.

Apart from attempts in Chapter Four to evaluate the

size of market in the various sectors that depend on genetic resources, no serious efforts were made in the various chapters to evaluate the economic benefits of either biodiversity conservation or the inherent economic benefit in poverty alleviation There is no doubt that scientists can provide a great synergy in the dissemination of research efforts if they can address issues from the perspective of a common theme as this book has attempted.

The Millennium Development Goals were agreed upon as a formidable tool in poverty alleviation and human well being. It is clear from various global efforts through conferences and summits that biodiversity conservation is a veritable vehicle for poverty reduction and efforts of the authors in this book must be accorded due recognition in this regard.

This book will serve as a useful resource material for stakeholders in the poverty alleviation, food production and biodiversity management sub-sectors among others.

Reviewed by Prof.

Olurotimi Tayo of the University of Ibadan

AIJA Stories, launched in March 2010 with 20 members is currently the leading website for young Nigerian writers and those who love to read and engage with authentic Nigerian writing and those who produce it.

In a bid to gain more visibility, Naijastories wants to extend its tentacles beyond the blogosphere According to a statement from naijastories; ‘We want to know about the people, places and occurrences that make the news in our members’ daily lives.’

Therefore, it is ‘looking for members and university students across the country who will represent Naija Stories or be Naija Stories online curators in certain subjects. We are ready to offer support to your local literary efforts.’

Those interested should be familiar with the website, www.naijastories.com, passionate about making Nigerians more interested in reading and becoming better writers.

Interested persons should an email to admin@naijastories.com with the title REPRESENTATIVES. This email should also state the applicant’s name, location, and any ideas to build a community.

57

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

'The secrets of marital bliss' Mrs. Ejiro Awobasivwe is the Co-ordinator of the Women with Anointing Ministry, a Port-Harcourt-based non-denominational organisation.

She spoke with Patience Saduwa on marital conflicts, home management and sundry issues. Excerpts:

•Awobasivwe

D

ID you think the ministry would grow up to this level when you started?

We never in our wildest imagination think it would reach this stage.

When we started, we were just 23 women in our first gathering. We just thought it would be a small group of women that would come and be praying. But I think the plan of God was different. When we grew to 120, we decided that we had to get a different meeting place. That's what pushed us to get this hall. The ministry is open to all - both married and single women.

There's no segregation.

What challenges did you have to contend with?

The major challenge we

faced was the issue of offering. The Lord told us not to collect offering; that when we come together, He wants to be the only focal point.

That when we bring in money or business, it would divert people from His attention. But the women were complaining that how can we not bring offering and every time you come you give us refreshment?

They felt I was trying to get all the blessings. But we made it clear that God is raising a generation of cheerful givers, people who understand that you need to give cheerfully not compulsorily. Nobody will compel you to give offering.

We found out that some of these women don't go to church sometimes for wom-

en's programmes because they are ashamed that they don't have any offering to give. N50 can make some of them not to go to church as they feel it's too small. But here no one expects anything from them so they are comfortable.

How would you assess marriages around today?

There's something the Lord told me I will use to answer that question. He told me one day that he doesn't hate divorce as much as He hates couples who live together without any kind of union. He hates a situation where a man and woman live together without any unity. I found out that most Nigerian marriages are like room-mates or flatmates.

There's really no intimacy or relationship between them and in most cases the woman is more or less maligned or oppressed in the home. She's limited in the home. That's what I found out. And the good men always seem to marry very aggressive and troublesome women while the aggressive women marry the quiet type.

There was a case of a sister that we encountered. She was at a stage when the husband was like if you come back, I will kill you. So, we told her not to return home

then. He had battered her; she was bruised and battered. Even when she was in the hospital, he was sending messages to her that he would kill her if she returned to the house. But we let her know that her marriage would not end like that so she should not be afraid.

We worked with her, counselled and encouraged her.

She went to stay with a friend and we continued to pray for her.

But today, they are back together and they are doing very well. I think when things get to this stage it's the frustration of the men to try to force something out of these women. Most of the women are not submissive and are cantankerous. They want to compete with their husbands and the men want to put them in their place. That's what causes the conflict.

What are some other problems facing marriages?

There's the issue of communication but I also believe strongly that many Nigerian marriages are more or less destined to break up. I believe strongly the issue of polygamy is a problem in our marriages today. The generation before us was very polygamous so we find out that the spirit of polygamy is still at work in this generation. Though it

has another form of expression - so we have polygamous men in monogamous relationships; men with one wife but their affections are spread around many women. This is because the spirit of polygamy does not allow a man to be satisfied with the affections of one woman.

Because of the restraints that society has placed on a man, he now marries one wife but simply keeps all sorts of women outside. And when the women come with the issue of infidelity by their husbands, I try to make them see that your husband is not cheating on you because he wants to but he can't help it. So, instead of you fighting him and making your home a battlefront, go on your knees and ask God to break from him the spirit of polygamy and give him the grace to love you and to be monogamous in his relationship. In most cases, they will come out on top when they apply counselling.

There is also spousal abuse. Some women find it so difficult to overcome spousal abuse. There was a woman who came for a programme and the topic was on when there's no intimacy. We didn't know that this woman had not been intimate with her husband

for many years and they were living together under the same roof. Later she came for counselling and as I was talking to her, she was telling me I didn't know what she had gone through.

What she held against her husband was what he did to her when she was pregnant with her first child. I think she lost the pregnancy and she never forgave him for that. They were finally able to resolve what they had been struggling with for years.

We've also had a lot of problems with men who claim to be Christians. It's more painful for the women because when they marry an unbeliever they know they won't expect anything from him.

But we have problems with these so-called Christian men and these men have no culture. They are either very abusive, possessive or just promiscuous. I have a woman whose husband is a worship leader and any female that comes around him, he tries to approach and corrupt.

So, what does she now do? These are some of the problems these women are facing apart from problems like spousal abuse, possessiveness and so on.

up the nation in prayers for divine intervention.

According to him: "I have a strong conviction this nation will be totally delivered from evil

machination of the devil and his human agents.

"We only need to gather men of God to pray and bring down the hands of God."

NEWS

Cleric predicts more troubles for PDP

By Sunday Oguntola

T

•Ituen

HERE are more troubles ahead for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos-based seer, Prophet Ekong Ituen, has warned.

He said the crisis in the party will worsen and affect its fortunes in the 2015 general elections.

Ituen, who is the founder of Christ Deliverance Ministries (CDM) , Lagos, in a chat, said: "PDP will be engulfed with serious crises that will rock the foundation of the party.

"There will be division and disunity among them and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, their National Chairman, will be faced with many challenges.

"Based on what I saw in the spirit, it will become

difficult for PDP to win 2015 presidential polls."

He pointed out the crisis of confidence between some PDP governors and President Goodluck Jonathan is a manifestation of an earlier prophecy, which was not heeded.

The cleric warned: "what is happening now in their midst is a tip of the iceberg compared with what lies ahead against the party."

He tasked the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to pray against the death of another member before the year runs out.

On militancy, Ituen stated the development will deteriorate and lead to the rise of another terrorist organisation in the Niger Delta with more devastating attacks.

He appealed to the federal

government to convene a solemn assembly where credible men of God will lift

Olutola marks 80th birthday

T

•Olutola

HE National President of The Apostolic Church of Nigeria (TACN), Pastor Gabriel Olutola, will mark his 80th birthday on April 6 with a thanksgiving service.

The service holds at the TACN National Temple, along Oworonsoki Expressway, Olorunda, Ketu, Lagos followed by a reception at the same venue.

A statement by the planning committee said Olutola, also the LAWNA Territorial Chairman, will dedicate/ hand over The Apostolic Church Mission House, OkeIbode on April 1.

On April 2 and 3, he will visit the Motherless Baby’s

Home and widows at Oke Ibode, as well as the Ikoyi Prisons.

On April 4, Olutola’s biography and the OladeleOlanrewaju Foundation will be launched.

On April 5, a lecture, to be delivered by former Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), will be delivered at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island by 11 am.

He will speak on the topic: Bridging the gap between our spiritual life and our secular behaviour: A tool for good governance.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Worship FEATURES

EASTER MESSAGES

Makinde preaches love, sacrifice

T

•Adeyemi on stage at the concert

OBA takes gospel music to nightclub

7

PM on a cold Friday night. Bogobiri Hotel Ikoyi was buzzing with activities. Guests threw banters as they walked in and out.

The lively compound was electrifying with soul-stirring songs. Guests sat enraptured by the live concert, sipping soft drinks.

Nothing unusual for a nightclub, except this time it was a gospel artiste on stage.

Bamike Adeyemi, popularly known as OBA, thrilled guests in the relaxed, warm atmosphere with heritage chants, one of her soar-away tracks.

Ever vivacious, Oba kept the connection with her audience alive through intermittent jibes that left everyone smiling.

It was a synergy of sorts as she invited the Infinity music group of the “Olori-oko” fame to the stage.

They performed some of their hit songs like Aye o le, Only God and the 2012 KORA awards-nominated Press On, amongst others.

OBA took the stage once more and led people into a time of worship with her song

By Sunday Oguntola

Ogo. Then came the audience participation session where the fans took their turn on stage to sing along with the band.

It was indeed a fun-filled evening for everyone at the nightclub,which exuded the African culture in more ways than one with indigenous sculpture and paintings.

The choice of the venue, Oba said, was part of the divine agenda to take gospel song to places hitherto unreached.

According to her: “After the release of my album in January 2012, I met someone who wanted to assist with the publicity.

“She said there was a place on the Island where we could do something on regular basis to promote the album. We were at it until around June last year.

“So that was how we started. While we were going for it, we asked, “God is this what you want us to do?

Would people not see it as strange, performing in a nightclub?

“But we aligned because of the mandate that God has given us to go out and declare the gospel of God and that our songs minister to both Christians and non Christians.”

She added: “God is a master planner; He just orchestrated it such that even the choice of venue makes the African statement.”

Shun materialism, cleric charges

F

OUNDER of the Saints Gospel Church of Christ Hand of Fire, Lagos, Pastor Jacob Sodeinde, has advised gospel ministers against inordinate ma-

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terial acquisitions.

He said men of God are called to bless the nation and not plunder the flock.

Sodeinde, who returned from London to establish the church, said: “I am afraid for the men of God who use their positions to amass wealth at the expense of God’s people.

“If this should continue, God cannot be happy with the household of faith because the church should stand for mercy as our Lord Jesus fed the multitude with fishes and loaves of bread.”

He challenged gospel ministers to embrace the oldtime religion that de-emphasised materialism.

“The coming of the Lord is near and this is not the time for ministers to be acquiring private jets and all that. We don’t mean to insult them but to tell them the truth that those things are very wrong.

“We are to use God’s money from God’s people for evangelism and to promote His Kingdom work.”

The cleric denounced putting pressure on members to donate at all costs, warning such practices promote graft and corruption.

“Christianity and the church shouldn’t be a money-making venture. We are to save souls and be compassionate like the life of our Lord Jesus depicts.”

HE Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr Ola Makinde, has lamented the escalating level of poverty and want among Nigerians.

Makinde, in his Easter message, blamed the development on poor leadership.

He said it was regrettable the sacrifices of Christ on the cross are yet to materialise among struggling Nigerians.

The cleric berated political office holders for act-

By Sunday Oguntola

ing contrary to the spirit of love and sacrifice, which Easter signifies.

According to him: "Without His resurrection, Christianity becomes meaningless, baseless and non-existent, hence the reason why this season is so important in the Christian calendar!

"As we celebrate this Easter, let us remember its significance and essence which is sacrifice and love.

"Unfortunately, these two components are the missing link in this troubled world and our country Nigeria.”

He went on: "While the masses of this dear nation continue to sacrifice, those they elected and those who forcefully selected themselves have contin-

ued to mismanage and feed fat on their GOD-given resources and in the process brought perpetual poverty, pain, suffering and untold hardship on the people who are traumatised on a per second basis.

"Hunger, deprivation and unemployment are on the increase and the living conditions continue to worsen.

"Even those who attempted to create employment for themselves especially artisans and skilled workers have become jobless owing to the lack of electricity which has hit an all-time low."

He challenges leaders to exhibit sensitivity to the plights of Nigerians and lessen their burdens.

Nigeria, he assured, will witness massive transformation with attitudinal and moral reorientation.

Let’s seek peace, says Muoka

T

HE General Overseer of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, has tasked Nigerians to seize opportunity of the Easter period to foster peace and love in the nation.

In his Easter message, he said the concept of the occasion is inextricably tied to hope and peace.

He said: “The world’s peace is only a freedom from outward trouble, but Christ’s peace is a deliverance from inward guilt, though it does not give us an exemption from out-

ward trouble, yet it assures us of joy, peace and deliverance.

“To show appreciation of what our Lord Jesus Christ achieved for us and at same time mark the final defeat of our enemy, the devil, we should use the occasion of this Easter to promote peace and love among ourselves.

“We should reflect on the essence of Easter and see if our life style is measured in line with His teaching of peace and love.”

Urging Nigerians to accept the peace offered

by God, Muoka added: “The peace brought to humanity as a result of His suffering, death on the cross, burial and final resurrection is the peace that lasts.

“It is not peace from without, but from within.

It is not such as promised to pacify and quell the persecutors, but a promise of inner calm amidst the storm.

“It is not a stinted measured store such as the world bestows, but a full, free gift from the overflowing bounty of God’s love.”

‘How Nigeria can rise again’

A

LL national institutions and affairs in comatose will receive new vigour provided Nigerians are willing to embrace the essence of Easter, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has assured.

Atilade said the period offers fresh opportunity for Nigerians to embrace love, peace, sacrifice and selflessness for national progress.

The cleric, in his goodwill message, said: “Everything that is down in our lives and nation can rise again just as Jesus arose if we follow the essence of Easter.

“God is still in the business of resurrecting lives and situations that are bought to His saving grace and attention.”

He challenged Nigerians to unite for national development, saying bickering and violence are illwinds that blow no one any

good.

According to him: “We must unite more than ever before and stop playing religious and tribal politics with our lives.

“We should eschew violence at all costs and stop the bloodletting that has daily occurrence in our nation”.

What and where?

T

HE annual international restoration crusade kicks off on April 3 with a partners’ appreciation forum in Ikenne, Ogun State. The forum holds at The Ap-

ostolic Church, Ikenne from 4pm. It coincides with the 50th birthday of convener, Pastor Tosin Onayiga. The crusade is slated for April 23-27.

•L-R: Pastors Yomi Junaid; Adegboyega Talabi from Chicago; general overseer, Samuel Ogunfowokan; Samuel Ojetayo and Samuel Ayodele at the 2013 National Convention of Christ Healing Evangelical Church(CHEC) in Ogun state... recently

Worship

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

59

COLUMNS

The great commission “G

O ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

The great commission is very crucial. The last words of a man before leaving the earth are regarded as sacrosanct. The Lord Jesus Christ when he was leaving the earth uttered what was uppermost in His heart.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark16:15).

All the four accounts of the gospel ended with the account of the great commission (Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21). Even, in the first chapter of the book of Acts of the Apostles, Jesus was still reminding the disciples about the great commission (Acts 1:8). The supreme task of the church is to preach the gospel to every creature. That is the assignment we are given and we are not to fail in it.

The commission is great because of seven vital reasons: •All men are lost (Romans 3:23, Luke 19:10).

•The devil is on rampage (John 10:10a).

•Hell is real (Psalm

Bishop Wale-Oke

DIVINE MESSAGE 9:17, Luke 16:22-23).

•Heaven is real (John 14:1-3, Rev. 21:1).

•Jesus is the ONLY SAVIOUR of mankind (John 14:6, Acts 6; Acts 4:12).

•He died for mankind (Philippians 2:8).

•He gave us the command to do it (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21).

Jesus Christ already paid the price for every soul to be saved. Anybody that is not born again is lost no matter his appearance. So, we must preach the gospel if we don't want people, including our loved ones to go to hell. We must not sit back and allow the devil take what does not belong to him.

Moreover, in witnessing, we are to go out and chase the devil out wher-

ever he has occupied. By virtue of creation, every soul belongs to God and by virtue of redemption every soul belongs to God. The devil has no claim over anybody.

You are to go out and lay hands on the sick and get them healed, you can do it in Jesus' name.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (I John 4:4).

The greater One lives inside of you to do this great task.

I am ready to stretch myself beyond limit to preach the gospel because Jesus has paid the price.

We must not allow the devil to rob us of what Jesus has already paid for. You have been blessed to be a blessing to your generation. You must never be at ease concerning the great commission (Amos 6:1a).

It is time for everyone to arise and get involved in soul winning.

For further information, counseling and prayer, please contact me on telephone number: +234 816 308 7780, +234 816 363 6364 or send an email to bishopwaleoke@sotsm.com. You may also write to P.M.B 60, Agodi Post Office, Ibadan.

ACROSS THE GLOBE

Most Britons believe in power of prayer

B

RITAIN'S churches may be struggling to make converts but a new survey in the run-up to Easter has found no shortage of people believing in prayer.

The new ICM survey offers revealing insights into the issues that are on the hearts of British people and which age groups are praying more than others.

It found that four in five British adults still believe in the power of prayer.

When asked what they would pray for, nearly a third (31%) said world peace, followed by an end to poverty (27%).

One in five (22%) said they would pray for healing for another person while 5% said they did not know what they would pray for. Fourteen per cent said they would never pray.

Other subjects for prayer cited in the survey were: my partner (17%) less stress in my life (16%) a prayer of thankfulness (16%) prosperity (16%) healing for myself (15%) guidance (15%) a friend (13%) marriage or relationship (12%) forgiveness (10%) work (9%) my spiritual life (8%) my church (4%) my studies (3%) something else (6%) Not surprisingly, the over-65s made up the largest proportion of people praying (89%).

This was followed by young people between the ages of 18 and 24 (85%). Less likely to pray were those between the ages of 35 and 40

(75%).

The survey was commissioned by the Church of England and asked the views of more than 2,000 people in England, Wales and Scotland.

The Bishop of St Albans, the Right Reverend Dr Alan Smith, said he had seen an increase in the number of people asking about prayer in light of the difficult economic climate.

"Prayer is one of the most natural and instinctive of human responses, so I am not

surprised to see these findings," he said.

"I come across people on almost daily basis who want to talk about prayer and how to do it. This has been even more evident recently, as many people are facing uncertainty about jobs and finance.

"However, there has also been a desire to pray for trouble spots in the world, not least when we see the appalling photos from Syria on the television."

Only 57 churches left in Iraq

I

RAQ had 300 churches and 1.4 million Christians in 2003. But now only 57 churches and about half a million Christians remain with members of the minority fleeing Islamist attacks, according to local reports.

Patriarch Louis Sako of the Chaldean Church told Mideast Christian News the remaining 57 churches also continue to be targeted.

The number of Christians has fallen from about 1,400,000 in 2003 to nearly half a million now, added William Warda, the head of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organisation.

This means more than two-thirds have emigrated, Warda said.

"The last ten years have been the worst for Iraqi Christians because they bore witness to the biggest exodus and migration in the history of Iraq."

The attack on Our Lady of Deliverance Church by extremists and other attacks in 2010, contributed to Christians fleeing abroad, according to Asharq AlAwsat newspaper.

Iraqi Christians, one of the oldest communities in the world, have faced several bomb attacks, killings, abduction, torture, and forcible conversion to Islam ever since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Around 75 per cent of the Iraqi population is Arab and roughly 15 per cent is Kurd.

Over 95 per cent of all Iraqis are Muslim - 65 per cent Shi'a and 35 per cent Sunni.

Iraq's politics had largely been dominated by the Arab Sunnis until the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, following which the federal government of Iraq was governed by Shi'ite parties led by the Islamic Dawa Party.

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

God’s wisdom works!

T

HE sun has never failed since creation, the moon has never failed, the waters in the sea have never failed and the fountains that spring up the rivers have never dried up since creation. Climatic change or no climatic change, creation remains intact.

Whatever year God did, whatever time He created the world, ever since creation, it has never experienced a breakdown or review. God's wisdom works!

No wonder, God's Word says: The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens (Proverbs 3:19).

Ever since God made man, man has never needed a review or upgrading. So, creation is a validation of the functionality, dynamism, stability and sustainability of divine wisdom (Psalm 104:24). God's wisdom works and will always continue to work.

God's Wisdom Engenders Mighty Works!

God's wisdom is not just wisdom of mighty words; it expresses itself in mighty works. That is why all carriers of this virus are men and women of exploits!

Some carry HIV and malaria fever, but there are carriers of the virus of divine wisdom. Divine wisdom is not found in the land of the living; it is a heavenly virus. But when you are 'infused' with this virus, you will have mighty works for evidence. Isn't that a won-

derful virus?

When that wisdom answered in a man called Solomon, all the kings of the earth came to hear him. Why? Because of the proofs! ...Half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard (1 Kings 10:7). The proofs were heavier than the words.

When a professor gives a lecture and is given a standing ovation, it's as a result of mighty words; but God's wisdom is evidenced by mighty works (Proverbs 3:19.)

There are over 500 galaxies in space. God established the heavens, and they are all circulating where He put them. So, His wisdom is evidenced with mighty works. Therefore, by this vaccination of divine wisdom; you will become a reference in the school of mighty works!

What Is Divine Wisdom Worth?

•It creates solutions and levels out challenges: Job 28:10 says: He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. So, it creates solutions and makes discoveries. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. Divine wisdom has the capacity to level out the challenges of our lives, as if they never existed.

•It is not found in the Land of the living: It is not available anywhere on planet earth. It is not available for purchase (Job 28: 1320), yet its value is inestima-

Tanzania: Prayers after attack on Archbishop’s residence

C

HRISTIANS are calling for prayers and for peace and reconciliation in Tanzania following a horrific attack on the residence of Archbishop Valentino Mokiwa – the Bishop of Dar Es Salaam and Primate of the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

On 2 March a security guard at the residence of the Archbishop was attacked by unknown assailants wielding machetes or ‘panga.’

The guard is recovering and the Archbishop has asked for prayers for healing from the physical and mental scars that such an unprovoked attack has caused.

There is no proof who led the attack but people purporting to be Muslim fundamentalists had threatened the Archbishop and his name was included on a list of ‘most

wanted’ alongside the Archbishops of the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania.

Dar Es Salaam is Arabic for ‘the abode of peace’ and true Islam is known as the way of peace.

The relationship between Christians and Muslims across the country has historically been good.

Provincial Secretary, Canon Dickson Chilongani, said: “For many years we have lived in peace with Muslims and so peace and reconciliation will always be at the forefront.”

The Archbishop said he has only love for those who seek to bring harm and is committed to praying for them and he asks for all Christians and Muslims to join the Anglican Church of Tanzania in praying for peace.

ble.

•It has dominion over destruction and death: Job 28:22 says: Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. Because of these divine wisdom genes in Shedrack, Meshack and Abednego, they could not be burnt with fire. By reason of these genes in Daniel, the lions could not eat him up! Divine wisdom genes make you indestructible (Proverbs 3:12).

•It is also worth your enthronement: It enthrones its carriers. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice (Proverbs 8:15). This wisdom enthroned Joseph and Daniel. It is a virus of enthronement. You emerge tops at your endeavours and in your field.

•It's worth durable riches and righteousness: This means riches that are not affected by economic circumstances. The economy takes cover on, 'all things being equal,' because they know they are never equal. All the laws are laws of probability, but concerning this wisdom, Proverbs 8:17-18 says: I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

I am not talking about temporary appointment as governor, minister or senator. I am talking about durable riches, after the order of Abraham, whose wealth continued to multiply years after his death, and is still multiplying today.

•Divine wisdom is loaded with virtues that enhance human dignity: Divine wisdom creates strange order of solutions. Proverbs 8:12 says: I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. This invention does not connote engineering and technology only; it involves creation of solutions.

•It's the platform upon which we ride the waves of glory: This wisdom of God is our access to realms of His glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-7).

•It guarantees peace: This wisdom guarantees peace and pleasantness. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace (Proverbs 3:17). You are not allowed to be under pressure; it's a tranquilizer!

Friend, the power to enjoy the benefits of divine wisdom is the privilege of children of God. You become a child of God as you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. You can be His child now, if you have not been, by saying this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself.

Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood.

Deliver mefrom sin and Satan, to serve the Living God. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for saving me! Now I know I am born again!

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with us through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

60

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

INSIGHT

• Nigerians registering to vote at the last elections

• Jega

F

REE and fair election is an ideal that has eluded many countries eager to institute genuine democracy. The search for the solution to this problem has therefore led to the implementation of many systems, some of which are ironically blamed for lack of confidence in electoral processes.

Today, one electoral system that is gaining generous endorsement across the world is Biometric Voter Registration (BVR), which experts describe as one of the most potent means of solving the election riddle called rigging.

Our checks show that many countries in Asia, America and Africa, in a bid to either build or sustain a lasting democratic culture, are currently endorsing or perfecting this system.

In Nigeria, observers and some stakeholders have since demanded this option as the needed panacea to the election problems in the country and the general lack of confidence in the democratic system.

Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially declared its desire to implement BVR in order to tackle, once and for all, the problem of election rigging, it has not been able to fully erase fears that it would not dump the idea midway, leading to fears of collaboration with some stakeholders afraid of free and fair elections.

Advocates of BVR who spoke with The Nation during the week say it would, to a very large extent, eliminate registration malpractices, which, according to them, remain part of the primary problems with Nigerian democratic process. They, therefore, call on INEC to ensure the system is in use by 2015 when the next general election would be held.

Dr Francis Egu, Board of Trustees' member of All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), in a telephone chat with The Nation, called on INEC to put its house in order and perfect the use of BVR before 2015 elections.

Lamenting the attitude of the electoral body to the use of the system so far, Egu said, "INEC has not done well on this prolonged issue of Biometric Voter Registration. If you will recall, the commission was given all that it needed to put this in place before the last election, but it failed, not withstanding that we all know the importance of this technique."

The ANPP chieftain, however, expresses confidence that INEC is in a position to put the system in use. "I believe Nigeria can successfully make use of BVR system in 2015 general election if the will is there. Why not? We can do it, given that smaller countries than Nigeria, even in Africa,

2015: Can biometrics frustrate riggers?

As calls for implementation of Biometric Voters Registration (BVR) in Nigeria become more persistent ahead of the 2015 general elections, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu and Kamarudeen Ogundele take a look at the electoral process, the challenges and benefits of its adoption in Nigeria. have demonstrated that it is possible."

On the importance of BVR, Egu is optimistic it would eliminate multiple registration and multiple voting. "Once multiple voting and rigging are taken care of, more Nigerians will have confidence in the electoral process. For our democracy to develop, I have no doubt that we need this kind of system, especially because of peculiar circumstances that are promoting distrust in Nigeria," he said.

Dr. Sonny Ajala, a legal practitioner in Abuja, in a telephone interview with The Nation on the matter, said: "The call for BVR, and by extension e-voting, is a welcome development. Similar calls were made during the build-up to the 2011 elections. As a matter of fact, INEC, if we may recall, attempted the implementation of the biometric innovation but had to suspend the innovation, owing largely to capacity constraints.

"The question that arises is whether INEC has effectively addressed the pervasive constraints pre 2011 elections? Perhaps only INEC can, in specific and categorical terms, answer that question. But on a general note, biometric registration is technology-driven. In other words, the requisite backbone, such as constant and regular electricity and robust ICT environment are irreducible minimum for a successful biometric exercise.

"The question can be stretched thus: Are INEC operations, even at their headquarters at Abuja, ICT-driven?"

Ajala asks further: "How conveniently can information/data be retrieved from INEC system, say the number of lawyers they are owing for legal representations in the 2011 elections till date? Asides the seemingly chaotic power dispensation all over the country, acquisition of robust ICT that will drive efficient and fast biometric operations is capital-intensive. In this instance, INEC claims to be under- funded.

Consequently, the clarion call for biometric

registration/e-voting, particularly by Nigerians in Diaspora, appears a huge pipe dream, at least for now, if the truth must be told."

Tim Ebuka, a former member of Anambra State House of Assembly, in his reaction told The Nation on Friday that one of the major benefits of implementing BVR here in Nigeria is that it will help to establish the number of genuine voters in the country.

"Use of Biometric Voters Registration in Nigeria is a welcome development at this point of our democratic journey. You will agree with me that knowledge of actual number of voters will be the beginning of genuine reformation of the democratic process.

"I think it will help us to verify claims about the actual number of voters that exist in a place since it will require taking finger prints of real human beings. If you consider what the communication companies are doing today, you will understand my position better. The way they are mounting their masts is an indication of what they have found out to be the actual demographic distribution in Nigeria as opposed to political claims. They are mounting these masts where human beings live, not in deserts and bushes.

Find out where more of these masts are mounted east, west, north and south of Nigeria, and you will not need to ask questions where the communication companies are getting their customers from. The same reality will dawn on all of us politically if we adopt the biometric option," he said.

Ebuka also argues that with the system, vote will begin to count, as there would be no duplication. "Let me tell you, if biometric voters' registration is put in place and honestly implemented, more Nigerians will have confidence in the system. They will then believe their votes would count at the end of the day.

This will also reduce pre and post election petitions.

"This means that the system will reduce cost, both for the commission and individual politicians. Do you know how many billions of naira that are wasted in post-election petitions?

We can save all that and save the country's democracy by embracing this simple option, which is today enjoying wide acceptability all over the world," he said.

The former lawmaker also shares the argument that unlike what obtains, where a voter can vote as many times as possible, using different names, BVR's thumb-verification at polling booth on election day will minimise, if not completely exterminate this fraud.

It would be recalled that over the years, allegations of multiple registration, registration of ghost voters and such like have become a recurring decimal after any general election in Nigeria. Even in specific elections, like the last Edo State Governorship Election, Ondo State Governorship Election and local government elections in some states, the allegation has remained recurrent.

Why Nigerians are skeptical Other experts, insiders and ordinary citizens, who commented during the week on the possibility of using the system successfully in 2015 and beyond, believe INEC is not showing enough determination to cleanse the register.

Alhaji Idowu Ayodele, a political scientist by training but now in private business in Lagos, is one of such Nigerians. He alleged that INEC will not complete implementation of BVR before 2015, "as it would, in the interest of some stakeholders, only give technical excuses on why it cannot perfect the system for use in the next general elections."

Ayodele added: "I don't see this INEC making use of BVR in 2015. It is unfortunate but I say so because of signals from the commission's body language so far, but as Nigerians, eager to have free and fair election, I suggest we insist on the use of this option because all over the world, it is becoming the trend."

Madam Aderonke Abiodun, a school proprietress in Lagos, also expressing doubts, alleged that INEC is currently doing the bidding of the ruling party in Abuja. "We have every reason to believe INEC is working for PDP. That being the case, we Nigerians are not surprised that Professor Jega is dragging his feet on the adoption of this system that is capable of eliminating rigging. We are not surprised, but whether they like it or not, the time has come Continued on page 61

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 when we must get rid of election rigging. We can't continue this way."

Other respondents said for the system to work in Nigeria, INEC must clarify to Nigerians the true nature and the gaps inherent in the current registration and voting system. Also, it must explain why this flawed, supposedly electronic system suddenly switches to an even more antiquated manual system at the point of verification and voting?

They also allege that the essence of the data capture and finger printing is for voter verification in order to eliminate multiple voting. "INEC's system negates the full practice of BVR by not having a centralised database and then by supplanting the most critical stage of the process - the actual voting - to a manual process. Why take our fingerprints, capture our data and then refuse to verify the biometric information on voting day. This is but an exercise in imaginary probity but of real fraud," one respondent said off record.

The respondent also insisted INEC's vehemence about using a fully integrated biometric system contravenes what is being practiced in other countries less endowed than Nigeria. "In those nations, the body may not be powerful but the spirit is willing and able to overcome the other obstacles. Here, the body is big and strong but the spirit is weak. INEC must fulfill its mandate from the people and not its hidden mandate to the powers that be. INEC must come clean and begin to walk straight now before it is too late," he warned, adding, "there is intrinsic fraud in this system that gives some people advantage over others. INEC must compare its so-called electronic system which it erroneously calls a biometric system against that of Ghana, Sierra Leone and other African countries. If it does, it will find out that ours is at variance. At best, it is a cheap parody of what our less endowed friends use. While we beat our chest that Nigeria is the giant of Africa, we are no longer the continent's pacesetter. When it comes to the quality of our electoral system, the giant appears to be a Cyclops with the patch of fraud covering its one good eye. We, the people of this nation, need to open our eyes to INEC's blindness and demand BVR reform now to save ourselves from embarrassment before the next elections are upon us."

Reacting to such skepticisms, Mr. Kayode Idowu, spokesman of INEC Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega, told The Nation that the commission is more than ready to achieve a flawless register before 2015.

"Recall in January and February 2011, INEC did a general biometric data. The law provides for continuous voter registration. Very soon INEC will roll out the programme across the country," he said.

Enunciating the commission's preparation, Idowu said INEC will use the Biometric Voter Register in 2015. "Last year, we employed 1,500 Area Registration Officers. They are the officers that will be in charge. As we speak, we have been updating data captured. We have been clearing it out, consolidating the data. By 2015, we are sure of having a near-perfect register," he added.

Expressing confidence in the BVR, Idowu said, "We had wanted to actually do pilot testing of the continuous voter register with the isolated elections that we had in Kogi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo States. We were able to do that in

The ideal Biometric Voters Registration A genuine biometric system should have the following features in order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process from registration to voting: • Biometric registration (fingerprints); • Establishment of central database that captures all the registration information; • Verification of registration and registration lists (this includes automatic elimination of duplicate registrants; • Biometric Voter Authentication through the central database, (This should be done at the point of ballot counting.)

INSIGHT Kogi and Adamawa where we did a voter registration update and consolidated the register.

"We had assumed the tenure of the governors will run a course but the Supreme Court in its judgment said their tenure had ended. So, elections had to be conducted summarily. Because of this abridgment of time, we could not do the continuous voter registration. We had done capturing in Bayelsa, but we could not use the new data captured because the law provides that you have to display the register 30 days before the election. Except we are able to provide that window of 30 days for display, the new registration cannot be used. So, we could not update the register with what was captured in Bayelsa and others. We wanted to do it in Edo but the stakeholders, because of their mutual suspicion, felt somebody will use the opportunity to pile the register with fictitious names. So, there was so much acrimony and mutual distrust in Edo, so we felt well if because the election was so close and you had such level of distrust, let us suspend it. So, we suspended it for Edo and Ondo.

But this year, we will be rolling it out nationally."

Despite such public claims, critics have maintained that INEC is not telling Nigerians

the whole truth because, according to them, the electoral commission does not have a functional biometric central database of all Nigerian registered voters.

In fact, some informed Nigerians, close to insiders and stakeholders, have alleged that "each DDC machine exists essentially as a stand-alone."

This is contrary to the general expectation that INEC should have one integrated system capable of crosschecking data from all the DDC machines across the country.

A source, very close to the system, confirmed this off records, when he said tacitly, "What we have are hundreds or thousands of small, disintegrated systems that cannot check information in one computer against information in any of the others."

This fact, according to our investigation, explains why Nigerians are expressing doubts over INEC's readiness to implement this system as they argue that such a system cannot contain multiple registration as long as different DDC machines are in use. This, they reason, also means that multiple voting remains possible in 2015, except something is done quickly.

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But Idowu, responding to this fear, said the challenges did not go unnoticed in 2011 when INEC conducted the voter registration exercise.

He also maintained that the commission has the technical efficiency to detect and delete multiple registration.

"We have a central data base, but at registration centre it is not possible to detect multiple registration except it is on the same machine," he said, adding, "as far back as 2011, when we did voter registration within three weeks, we were able to detect over 870,000 duplications.

"Since then, we have detected more and eliminated them. You cannot register twice on the same machine because of the software that is built into them. Because the machines were not networked, it was possible to register on one machine and go to another one to register again.

But at the end of everyday at ward level, all the data from the polling units were consolidated and duplicates were eliminated. This is brought to local government, states, and national levels.

So, if you registered in two different states, it would have been eliminated by now," he explained.

Experience from other lands SIERRA LEONE For the 2012 general elections, Sierra Leone's national electoral body commenced a new process when it made use of a biometric system of registration. This BVR exercise in Sierra Leone was carried out over a 15-day period per ward per phase and 4-phases.

During that period, registrants' pictures and thumbprints were taken.

This information was used to ensure against duplicate voting and to safeguard the integrity of the Voter's Register.

The country's electoral body reported later that the "BVR exercise produced a current, comprehensive, and accurate Voter's Register," adding that "only those people on the Voter's Register and in possession of a Voter's Card were able to vote in the 17th November, 2012 Elections."

Reports of election monitors have since confirmed that as a result of the new system, the country captured enough information about voters to enable the register to remain current and accurate.

Reports also said "multiple-registration was reduced to 0.01%."

"Ghost registration was largely eliminated as registrants had to be physically present to participate in the registration process."

As a result of the new system, new electors, according to reports, could be easily added to the register as necessary: "Voters are now able to change their residential details and effect transfer to other electoral areas.

"The register can be easily updated; Also, lost ID Cards can be easily replaced through reference to biometric details in the captured data; and subsequent registration cost will be reduced as some of the equipment will still be available," said the official reports.

KENYA Implementation of Biometric Voter Registration in Kenya can be traced to as far back as November 2012, when Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, officially launched the country's voter registration exercise, by being among the first Kenyans to enlist as a voter ahead of the March 4, 2013 General Election.

Then, it was reported by Kenyan electoral authorities that "the voter registration drive will run for 30 days, closing on December 18, 2012, adding that the register will then be open to public inspection for 15 days."

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) also announced then that it was targeting the enrolment of 18 million Kenyans. IEBC has hired and trained over 30,000 clerks to man 25,000 registration centres across the country.

15,000 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits were also reportedly earmarked to be used to collect biometrics.

Since then, the country has not looked back on the use of the new technology.

Early this week, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Thomas Amolo, highlighted the success of the system in his country during the last election.

Based on the experience of his country, he said, amongst others, that the use of the Biometric system would improve Nigeria's electoral system.

Amolo, represented by the Kenyan Second Chancellor, Michael Mwiti, made the comments at the inaugural conversation series of CODER. He faulted Nigeria's INEC for describing the system as slow and cumbersome, pointing out

•Kenyans queueing to vote during the recent elections that it worked in Kenya. "The Biometric system was used in the registration of voters, casting of votes as well as in the compilation of results. The voters register was widely accepted.

"Kenyans have absolute belief in the system; they believe their leaders must emerge through the ballot box, although there were few hitches and lapses. However, the system worked very well.

"Once people have confidence in the electoral process, they will always accept the result of the election. The system reposes great confidence in the Kenyan electoral body."

Amolo said the election recorded 86 per cent voter turnout.

He added: "There were many independent bodies that were formed for people to have confidence in the governance process. After the political crisis, which took place five years ago, we decided to plant a new tree to usher a new democratic process. The election was significant in two ways. First, our governance system has changed.

"The women representatives represent each of the groups in the country. There are many women activists in Kenya; that informed the participation of women in the election. It was the first time we were using Biometrics in our electoral system.

That was the highest turnout of voters in the political history of Kenya."

The High Commissioner explained that the biometric system of conducting election should be introduced in countries which are yet to adopt them because it improves the credibility of the elections and the electoral process.

"There is nothing wrong in Nigeria and other countries imbibing this system," Amolo advised.

MALAWI In Malawi, use of biometric voter registration system, which was reportedly suspended recently, is still a source of controversy.

On March 24, 2013, for example, the ruling Peoples Party of Malawi, expressed displeasure over the handling of the project so far, when it said the Malawi Electoral Commission was confused over the BVR system The party was quoted as describing Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)) as a "confused lot" for abandoning the proposed BVR system after

claiming it could be implemented in the 2014 tripartite elections.

Spokesperson for the party, Hophmally Makande, reportedly said: "You see... they [MEC) are a confused lot. The way they presented their issues and the way they came up with the statement [on adopting Biometric Voter Registration System made us think] they knew what they were doing," Makande said.

The opposition party, Malawi Congress Party (MCP), however, did not regret the suspension of use of biometric voter registration system in the country. The party's spokesperson, Jolly Kalelo, said, "People could have been punching in a black cock there (voting for MCP) not knowing they were voting for an open lock [PP].

While suspending the implementation of the system, the electoral body explained that it took the decision following advice from various experts and stakeholders.

A statement signed by Chief Elections Officer, Willy Kalonga, read in part: "The Commission has taken into consideration the various concerns, risks and logistical challenges that are inherent in the implementation of the system and has resolved that the implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration System be used in the 2019 elections.

"Consequently, the Commission will, for the purposes of the 2014 Tripartite Elections, use the current paper-based solution of capturing voters in the field."

IN PHILIPPINES BVR IS LAW In Philippines, implementation of BVR process officially commenced early March 2013 as President Benigno Aquino III finally signed a law mandating its application.

Asides signing the law, identified as "Republic Ac No. 10367," it has been said that the electoral commission in the country is already putting its house in order for the exercise and is poised to commence validation exercise by July this year.

Some reports quoted a commission official as saying voters "who do not submit to biometric data validation will not be able to vote in the May 2016 elections, although they may reapply after those elections take place."

Local estimates say about nine million of 52 million registered voters are yet to comply with this new law.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

BUSINESS

We have changed lives with lottery—Peter Igho T

HERE are so many misconceptions about lottery, how is it different from gambling?

Lottery and gambling are two different things even though they are both a game of chance. In gambling only the people who organise it and the players benefit but in lottery the case if different.

Lottery is not just about empowering people, it’s used for the promotion of good causes. Lottery is not just for individual satisfaction, it is also for charity, infrastructural developments and other good causes in the society. All over the world, government has embraced it as a means of driving the development of the society. In some countries lottery is referred to as voluntary tax because people know that even when they don’t win, their money will be used for something positive. In the United Kingdom, 75 percent of the population play lottery because they know that even when they don’t win, the money is used for charity, scholarships and other good causes.

Considering that the winner takes all in lottery and gambling, there isn’t much difference; is there?

That is not true. In lottery the winner doesn’t take all because there are certain ground rules guiding the process. It is just unfortunate that people don’t know these things. In the Lottery Act of 2005, it is stated that 50 percent of the proceeds must go to the people who play. 20 percent must be kept in a trust fund for the promotion of good causes and 30 percent for the organisers. It is that 20 percent component that makes it different from lottery. Without it, it becomes gambling.

That is why I say the essence of lottery is not just to enrich people but also to promote good causes.

What are some of these good causes you are talking about?

Every country determines what a good cause is. In some countries it could be roads, electricity, infrastructure, sports and any other thing that will benefit the people. For instance in China, they built the great walls of China with lottery money. In France, they built the great Academy where the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte attended. In Atlanta, when your child graduates from high school with good grades, he or she is entitled to scholarships from the state’s lottery trust fund. In Niger Republic, they have different types of lotteries. They have one called Lotto Ramadan. During Ramadan (Islamic fasting period), they organise the lotteries and whatever they get from it is used to provide food and other essentials for the less-privileged people all through the period of the fast. They also have the one they call Lotto Hajj where they use lottery trust funds to sponsor people for the hajj in Saudi Arabia. At some points in the United States, the government

Peter Igho was appointed as the Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) four years ago. In this interview with Vincent Nzemeke, he talks about the mandate of his commission and how he has been able to restructure the lottery business in Nigeria

•Igho

INTERVIEW granted people license to run lottery promotions. From it they built lots of churches and Ivy League institutions in the country. The point I am making is that in various parts of the world, lotteries have been used to do so many great things. It is a good way of supporting government endeavours.

If lottery has all these benefits you have listed out, how come many people still see it as something bad?

It is because they don’t know. So many people are ignorant of the fact that lottery is a gold mine that has lots of potentials. That is why my commission is working hard to educate people and change their mind set about lottery.

When I came on board in 2009, I embarked on a mission to enlighten people about lottery. Our lottery operators in Nigeria had succeeded in giving lottery a bad name and that made many Nigerians to lose faith in it. They would announce a promo with lots of prizes but when the time comes for people to redeem the prizes, they would play pranks and disenfranchise lots of people. Where about a thousand people have played, they will put only ten names for the raffle draw. Sometimes you even discover that those ten names are their friends and relatives. All these things tainted the integrity of the lottery business and discouraged many people. The media didn’t help matters too. They will invite journalists to witness lotteries promo only at the final stage. They will take pictures of winners with big cheques and after the event they will call those winners behind and hand them a token. Journalists won’t care to go back and check if the win-

ners actually got their prizes.

So when I came on board in 2009, it was clear to me that we had to educate Nigerians about lottery.

What exactly did you do?

We embarked on a mission to inform Nigerians by highlighting the benefits of lottery. I visited many media houses, held many enlightenment programmes just to make people see that there is nothing evil or immoral about lottery. We also began to check operators and make them adhere to the rules of the business. It was a tough task but we were determined and we achieved it. We had lots of challenges with the operators because they were not used to being regulated. They were used to fleecing Nigerians and they wanted to continue that way. At some point we even had to confront some telecom companies who abandoned their primary business and ventured into lottery. It was a big fight and but we won. We had to make them see that as a commission empowered by an ACT, it was our responsibility to ensure that lottery players and operators obeyed the rules.

Before you came on board, the NLRC was unknown.

What did you do to make it as popular as it has become today?

I didn’t do anything spectacular; I just put in my best like I have always done in all my other endeavours. I have a wonderful team and the government has been very supportive too. We have done a lot in the last four years and that really makes me happy.

When I was appointed, the commission operated from a two-room apartment and had just about 11 staff but today the story is different. We have moved into a bigger office and have branches spread across various parts of the country.

We also have over a thousand

people working in the commission now. When I came in 2009, there was no budget for the commission. It was as if government set up the place to fail. But I was not bothered because I knew the potentials of lottery and I proved that within two months in office as the DG. We moved from that office and began to make moves to be included in the budget. I was able to convince government that lottery was a gold mine. That year alone I was able to raise over 1 billion naira for the lottery trust fund and everybody became aware of the possibilities of lottery. Because of our performance, the commission was included in the budget for the following year.

What were some of the challenges at that time?

There were lots of challenges. As I said earlier, the commission at that time had one office in Abuja and there was no way we were going to regulate all the lottery operators in Nigeria from there. So we had a challenge of setting up office in major parts of the country and recruiting people to work in those offices. Now we have offices in Lagos, Kaduna, Calabar, Jos, Ilorin, Benin, Warri and so many other places. We also had the challenge of logistics. We needed our staff to monitor lottery operators and be sure that winners got their prizes for every lottery promo and required a lot of money. To ensure that lottery operators were not fleecing Nigerians, we had to set up an enforcement and compliance unit to do a double check on lottery winners. As I said before, some lottery operators have a way of picking their relatives as winners and it was our duty as a commission to put a stop to that.

Looking back now, have you been able to overcome these challenges?

Yes we have. As a matter of fact I am very impressed with what we have achieved so far knowing where we started from. We have been able to overcome those earlier challenges and right now everybody is benefitting. I remember a case of a bank that ran a lottery promo with cars.

At the end of the promo, two winners could not be found to pick up their cars and the bank kept quiet about it. We heard about it and my people went out. After some months we were able to trace one of the winners to a convent here in Abuja and the other one to Zamfara State. We have changed lives with lottery.

Everybody including government and the operators themselves are benefitting from what we are doing.

With all these achievements, what is the future of lottery in Nigeria?

The future of lottery in Nigeria is very bright. If we continue at this pace we will achieve more in a short time.

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Beyond Talent

By Adetayo Okusanya Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

Mastering Business Presentations (Part 3 of 3)

H

OW to prepare for, design and deliver like a master presenter.

3. Delivering Your Presentation •Practice!

Anyone who has achieved greatness in any endeavor will tell you”Practice makes perfect”. Create your script and practice it repeatedly until you know your story and can confidently and knowledgeably deliver the presentation materials. The more you practice, the more you shift from cramming to learning the materials.

Practicing your presentation also creates the opportunity to check your timing.

• Check Equipment and Setup Discuss your technology requirements with the organizers of the event days in advance. Arrive early on the day of the presentation to test and familiarize yourself with the equipment. Check amplification of microphones and availability of internet connectivity if required.

Ensure that the room arrangement is adequate. The screen must be visible from all seats in the room and should be located to your left when you are presenting so that it is easier for the audience to shift their gaze, left to right, from you to the screen. Seating arrangement should allow for easy mobility,and access to the exit doors must not be impeded.

Lighting should contrast with your screen and take the time of day and mood of the audience into consideration.

•Make Early Connections There is no rule that says you must wait for the presentation to start before introducing yourself to members of your audience. Approach individuals who arrive early, introduce yourself to them and thank them for coming to the event.

This is more about establishing your humanity, than establishing your credibility. Take a few minutes to find out about them; what they do, why they chose to attend the event and how you can be of service to them. Find and leverage shared views, experiences and relationships to build emotional connections.

•Deliver a Memorable Opening Your opening is a very important part of your presentation. It is a critical moment that can set the tone for the rest of the presentation. Design your opening to grab your audience’s attention and pique their curiosity. Start with something unusual such as a shocking or surprising statement, or dramatic such as a story, or insightful such as a startling statistic or factoid, or funny such as a joke or humorous quotation. Ensure that your opening gambit is appropriate for the circumstance and audience. When you have captured their interest and attention, then establish your credibility, discuss your intentions, clarify why your presentation is relevant to them and let them know what to expect from you.

•Use Appropriate Verbal Skills Be mindful of your words i.e. phraseology, enunciation, pacing, as well as the tone of your voice.

Phraseology is simply the way words and phrases are chosen and organized within a sentence.

Make sure your phrasing is audience centric and avoid using words that are negative or introduce doubt about your competence and credibility.

Enunciate properly by pronouncing your words distinctly.Practice every word and say them clearly. Make each consonant sound audible.

Do not mumble or slur your words or allow them to run into each other. Your vocal quality suffers when your speech is too fast or too slow.

Tone is the use of pitch to distinguish grammatical meaning. Inject warmth, energy, excitement, enthusiasm,friendliness, confidence, etc. into your voice.Speak from your diaphragm and lungs, not your throat. Use a comfortable, natural and conversational tone and vary your pitch to keep your voice from becoming a monotonous drone. Project your voice to reach the farthest part of the room.

• Be Mindful of Your Body Language It is said that our words account for 7% of what we communicate, our tone 38% and our body language, 55%. Maintain the right posture. Stand tall, head high, shoulders squared and hands by your side. Do not slouch, sway, rock or lean.Standing allows you to breath from your diaphragm, and the position of your head affects your vocal quality.

Always maintain good eye contact with your audience. Let your eyes sweep the room. To connect more with your audience and improve eye contact, move around the room. Be mindful of your blind spots, otherwise sections of the audience that only have a visual of your back will feel marginalized and disengage from your presentation.

•Give a Strong Closing Your closing is another important part of your presentation. It is the critical moment when you land your message and tie your key points together in a powerful summary.

Remind your audience of the “journey” you have taken them through and use the opportunity to direct their attention to what they should remember.

Most importantly, it is when you deliver your call to action. Tell your audience what actions you would like them to take and how such actions are to their benefit. Thank them for their time, provide them with details for contacting you in the future and make time to answer their questions. Always remember to follow through on your promises to your audience.

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

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Edo: No compromise on quality work

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH D 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Language legislators’ tiff N ATIONAL MIRROR of March 28 splashed a schoolboy howler on its Education Today Cover Page: “Affected candidates demand for certificates” ‘Demand,’ when used as a verb, does not admit ‘for’—only when employed as a noun.

The Guardian of March 26 nurtured some wrongs right from its front page: “Zambia (Zambian/Zambia’s) expresident, Banda, to appear in court today over Nigeria’s oil deal, others” Yet another headline wrongdoing: “EU suspends sanctions against most Zimbabwe officials” World Report: Zimbabwean officials “Every year since 1999, each of the federal legislators or his or her (their) constituency has been voted millions of naira to execute projects in the said constituency.”

(The Guardian Editorial, March 26) “UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) is a smoke free (smoke-free) environment committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff.” “…immediately available to all airtel pay as you use customers” (Fullpage advertisement in The Guardian under review) Amazing data deal: pay-as-you-use customers THISDAY of March 23 goofed in its FRONT PAGE COMMENT: “The death last Thursday in the United States of Professor Chinua Achebe, 82, has brought a tragic loss to Nigeria.” ‘Last Thursday,’ for a Saturday newspaper, will mean a fortnight ago when the publication should have said ‘on’ or ‘this Thursday.’ It has to be one of this: last/this/next Thursday. You cannot employ ‘last Thursday’ for ‘this Thursday’! May his soul rest in peace (not perfect peace!) as would soon be documented in Nigerian newspapers.

Still on THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER: “…writes about the live (life) and times of one of Nigeria’s poet (poets), writer (writers) and public speaker (speakers)….”

“We are committed to empower (empowering) women build sustainable business” Both sound clumsy! For headline purposes, why not ‘We’re committed to women

empowerment’—let the reader find out the specific area of stakeholder engagement. “…as fresh episodes of the enthralling reality show continues (continue) to end in gripping suspense.”

National Mirror of March 21 played with lexical fire: “Mother, five children die in Kaduna fire outbreak” Just end it at ‘fire’—away with ‘outbreak’ and ‘incident’!

THISDAY of March 22 had a similar headline: “Army: Fire outbreak didn’t occur in Ihejirika’s office” FROM MY INBOX “THERE is no doubt that Baba Bayo Oguntunase is about 35 years ahead of me in knowledge and wisdom.

In his reaction last week to my earlier submission that Nigerian writers should always hyphenate the noun ‘vice-president’, he cited several works to drive home the fact that ‘vice-president’ should not be hyphenated.

Thank God that Baba, in his typical self, was humble enough to accept that even at 75, he could still be taught. It should be noted that all the works cited by Baba are all of (North) American origin. May I refer Baba Oguntunase to page 1656 of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th and latest edition). If that is not enough, Baba should look up ‘vicepresident’ on page 1610 of the Concise English Dictionary. Space will not permit me to cite more. While ‘vice-president’ and ‘vice-presidential’ are hyphenated in these dictionaries, ‘vice chancellor’ and ‘vice admiral’ are not.

Do we now say that these dictionaries are wrong? Nigerian writers should, as a matter of principle, hyphenate ‘vice-president’. I insist!

Members of Wordsworth Fan Club have asked: ‘What is the impartial Ebere Wabara’s position on the Matter?’ Let him be the umpire! I am quick to add here that the inimitable Bayo Oguntunase, and Ebere Wabara, the indefatigable defender of lexical purity, are my role models. They teach me what I teach others. If my insistence that Nigerian writers should stick to British English is a

wrong assertion, they should be held responsible. I rest my case.”

(Stanley Nduagu/ 08062925996) Stanley, the robust debate is still at the high court. When it gets to the apex court, I will intervene!

“MY good brother, thank you for the nice job you have been doing. The problem is that those who commit these blunders do so out of ignorance, not as a mistake. So, even if they see your corrections, they would never understand the reason for the corrections. Please note that the moment you miss the rudiments from primary and secondary schools, you have missed it forever! That is why some professors write and speak very bad English language.

Keep trying. God will help us.” (Ojo Okafor Esq./08055217580) “YOU are doing a great job. Keep it up.

Though ‘nook’ and ‘cranny’ are countable, the approved British English language is ‘(every) nook and cranny’— not nooks and crannies. I know of civil society or civil society groups/ organisations and not civil societies as published in Vanguard last week.

Present-day grammar recognises ‘presently’ as both ‘soon’ and ‘now’— it’s authoritative. Check Dictionary of Contemporary English for instance. The Chambers Dictionary (2004) defines ‘presently’ as: at present; now; before long; in a while; directly; immediately; necessarily; inevitably; for the time being; at once. Equally, BBC English Dictionary, published by Rex Charles & Patrick Ltd., in association with Africana-FEP Publishers Ltd., agrees.

Also note that ‘dual’ (a road) can function as a verb or noun. ‘Parastatal’ (agency) is an adjective and not a noun as Nigerians use it. Finally, Ebere, it may interest you to know full well that, just like Mr. Oguntunase, I also studied Latin.”

(Kola Danisa/ 07068074257 & 08028233277) “MAY God bless you real good for your WORDSWORTH every Sunday in Jesus’ name.

Amen.” (Tony Agbache (retd.)/Deputy Director/ INEC/Asaba/Delta State/08037114150)

ESPITE being in a hurry to deliver dividends of democracy, Edo State Government has promised it would not compromise the quality in the ongoing construction of Airport road.

The Commissioner for Works, Mr. Osarodion Ogie, stated this in Benin City during a joint tour of the road by officials of the ministry and the contractor handling the project.

He said: “I am satisfied with

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

the quality of work so far. The governor, as you all know, is in a hurry to deliver to the people of the state.

“I am also in a hurry too but we will not compromise standard and quality in all our road projects; the designs and quality would compare with international standard.”

He added: “Government will do everything humanly

possible to meet its responsibilities so that you can complete the project in record time.

“The governor is a man of his words and since he has given you his words, you can be sure he will fulfill his part so that you can deliver.”

The project manager, Elias Eljouni, said asphalting of the second lane from Oko junction down to Ogbe zoo has commenced after the first lane.

The project terminates at Ogba River.

Keys to successful marriage, by Uduaghan

D

ELTA State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has identified tolerance, understanding, wisdom and patience as virtues that would determine the success or failure of any marriage.

He spoke yesterday at the wedding ceremony of the son of the Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, in Asaba.

The governor said the longevity of any marriage is dependent on how much the couples are able to understand, tolerate and communicate with one another and the people around them.

While advising the couple, Pastor and Mrs.

Oghenekaro Macaulay, to make the right choices in their marriage, he urged them to learn to accommodate the weaknesses of each other for the marriage to work.

According to him: ‘’The choice to succeed in your marriage is yours alone to make and nothing should be taken for granted.

“Only understanding, maturity, patience can make a marriage work. Even if you have the generational curses, you and you alone will determine whether your marriage will succeed or fail as the choice is yours to make.’’

Uduaghan admonished the couple to be prayerful

and loving in all they do.

While delivering a sermon titled ‘’Understanding God’s plan for marriage’’ Pastor Sam Olasopu of the Living Faith Church Asaba, charged the couple to ensure the success of their marriage.

He stressed spiritual understanding is the major ingredient needed for a successful marriage.

Present at the occasion were the First Lady, Deaconess Roli Uduaghan; Former Governor of Delta State, Captain Ibrahim Kefas (Rtd); Senator James Manager; Peoples’ Democratic Party(PDP) State Chairman Barrister Peter Nwaboshi, among others.

Kogi PDP primaries: Chairmanship aspirant decries imposition

A

CHAIRMANSHIP aspirant for Ofu Local Government in Kogi State, Barrister Unubi Akoh, has accused Governor Idris Wada of imposing the former Liaison officer to the council, Ameh Isah on the people during the March 19 primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

He expressed disappointment with the conduct of the primaries, stating he only joined the race because of the faith he had in Wada.

According to him, the practice of imposing candidates will only destroy the party.

In a petition addressed to the state chairmanship primary election appeal panel, Akoh alleged there was no primary.

He claimed they waited in vain at the venue of the primary without seeing the returning officer and materials for the election.

The aspirant said people were surprised when they heard the former liaison officer, who is a cousin of the governor, has been declared winner of the primary he claimed never held.

According to the petition: “On the election day, at about 2.30pm I made enquiry and discovered that one Joseph Shaibu was the Returning Officer 1 and Abdul Arogba was the Returning Officer II for the primary election.

“I took further steps to call on Joseph Shaibu on his telephone line to find out about the electoral documents.

“Shaibu told me that he

By Oziegbe Okoeki has been reposted to Kotonkarfi as a returning officer and that he did not know who replaced him.

“All efforts to reach Mr. Arogba, the other returning officer, proved abortive.

“Furthermore, I got across to the Ofu PDP Chairman, Mr. Waja Atabor, who

lamented for not seeing or knowing the person that was handling those documents.

“I wish to submit clearly that there was no form of election in Ofu Local Government Area.

“The whole processes were marred with fraud, deception and high level conspiracy.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

MEDUGU

OSUNYEMI

I formerly known and addressed as Dr. David Philip Medugu, now wish to be known as Dr. David King. All former documents remain valid.

Minister of the gospel, Nigerian Immigrtaion Services, Academic Institutions and general public please take note.

IJUWOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ijuwola Ibukunmi Bunmi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Demuyiwa Ibukunmi Bunmi. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

AKINTANDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akintande, Olufunke Esteher, now wish to be known as Mrs. Olawunmi Olufunke Esther. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ZINIYE

I formerly known and addressed as Master Tarila Olauwadamilare Ziniye, now wish to be known as Master Tarila Oluwadamilare Naphtali. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ZINIYE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Dipamo Oluwabukonla Titilayo Ziniye, now wish to be known as Miss Dipamo Oluwabukonla Titilayo Naphtali.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ORUAMA I formerly known and addressed as Robert Ayebatonghayefa Oruama, now wish to be known as Mr. Robert Ayebatari Oriama. All former documents remain valid. NMEC, ICAN, NTI, Riverpoly, FRSC, NIS, WAEC and general public please take note.

ADETOLA I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adetola, Adeola Silifat, now wish to be known as Mrs. Oluwabamise, Adeola Adedayo.

All former documents remain valid.

Ikosi-Ejinrin LCDA, Lagos State Local govt. Service Commission and general public please take note.

DELE-ONI I formerly known and addressed as Dele-Oni Abisola O., now wish to be known as Mrs. Onafuwa Abisola. All former documents remain valid. OOU and general public please take note.

JEJE

I formerly known and addressed as Rev. Pastor Mary Bolatito Jeje, now wish to be known as Rev. Pastor Oyewumi Bola Mary. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Osunyemi, Florence Yemi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adeniji Florence Yemi (Olori). All former documents remain valid.

Lagos State government Ministry of Education District 1V and general public please take note.

ALADESIPE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aladesipe, Mercy Temitope Omodara, now wish to be known as Mrs. Omoyeni Mercy Monisade Aladesipe. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and general public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Mr. Buddy Collins Chukwuma Chukwumauzo Ogugua is the same and one person as Mr. Collins Chukwumauzo Ogugua. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public please take note.

OKOUKONI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoukoni, Augusta Ebosetale, now wish to be known as Mrs. Isaac Osghale Akhimiemele. All former documents remain valid. Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and general public please take note.

AKINWALE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinwale, Fasilat Ayobami, now wish to be known as Mrs. Uthman Fasilat Ayobami. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

CHUKWUDIKE I formerly known and addressed as Chukwudike Peter Obiora, now wish to be known as Eriobu Obiora Peter. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BELLO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Folasade Temiloluwa Bello, now wish to be known as Mrs. Folasade Temhloluwa Fatukasi. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

NWIBANI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Queenette Douglas Nwibani, now wish to be known as Mrs. Queenette Ben-Elebuwe. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

JATO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Jato Florinah, now wish to be known as Mrs. Robinson Florinah.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ENOLONJIE

MAIDODO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Enolonjie Beauty, now wish to be known as Mrs. Beauty Enolonjie Ikhiwu. All former documents remain valid. National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Nonformer education and general public please take note.

AZEEZ

I formerly known and addressed as Adeboye Omolara Raliat, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adekoya Omolara Raliat. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Maidodo Hembafan Kyola, now wish to be known as Mrs. Lawrence-Madaki Kyola Hembafan. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed Miss Azeez Abisola Jelilat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Lamidi Abisola Josephine. All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AWALA I, formerly known and addressed Miss Awala Oluwatosin Omotola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akinkunmi Oluwatosin Omotola.

All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

FALEBITA I, formerly known and addressed Ibukunola Adeyemi Falebita, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ibukunola Adeyemi Oladele.

All documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

BADRU-BANKOLE I, formerly known and addressed Miss Badru-Bankole Ololade Zainab, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniran Ololade Zainab. All documents remain valid. General public please take note.

SOUZA

I, formerly known and addressed Miss Souza Oluwabunmi Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ige, Oluwabunmi Ajoke. All documents remain valid.

Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Skye Bank Plc. and general public please take note.

AKINSOLA

I, formerly known and addressed Miss Akinsola, Olaide Tawakalitu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ahmed-Zakari Olaide Tawa. All documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

AKANDE I, formerly known and addressed Miss Fatimah Abidemi Akande, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Atimah Abidemi Abodunrin.

All documents remain valid. The Polytechnic, Ile-Ife, Osun State and general public please take note.

ADEBOYE

CHANGE OF NAME NWAZOR I,formerly known and addressed as Nwazor Innocent Sunday Chukwudi, now wish to be known and addressed as Nwachukwu Innocent Sunday Chukwudi. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

NDUKA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nduka Mercy, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Theophilus Mercy Nneoma. All former documents remain valid.

Abia State Secondary School Education Managemnt Board Umuahia and general public should please take note.

OKORIE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okorie Ifeoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nwogu Ijeoma. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Police Force and general public should please take note.

NWOKOMA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkechi Nwokoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs, IROKA GIFT NKECHI. All former documents remain valid. General Public please take note.

ADEMESO I, formerly known and addressed as MISS OLATEJU ADEMESO, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. SOLATEJU ADEMESO IBIDOKUN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

IKEJIAKU I, formerly known as Miss Ikejiaku Divine Ogechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okpara Chinedu Ogechi Divine. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

JEGEDE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Jegede Theresa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aiyelawo Theresa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UNITED SISTERS SOCIAL CLUB Formerly known and addressed as United Sisters Social Club, now wish to be known and addressed as Anioma United Social Club. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ELEFONTUYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Elefontuyi Olutayo Morenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Isola Olutayo Morenike. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNNOWO I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunnowo Abimbola Abosede, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunnowo Abimbola Abosede Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OLAGBOYE

IFEBI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olagboye Ruth Omolara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abolarin Ruth Omolara. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MADUAKOR/NWAZOR

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Aribanusi Adejoke Arinola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Iguisi Adejoke Arinola All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Juliet Nneka Ifebi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Juliet Nneka Mathew Chukwudum. All former documents remain valid.

Insourcing Ltd and general public please take note.

This is to certify that the name(s) Maduakor Chinatu Linda, Nwazor Chinatu Favour refer to one and the same person that i now wish to be known and addressed as Nwachukwu Chinatu Favour. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

NWOYE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ogechukwu Excel Nwoye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogechukwu Excel Aguene. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLANIYAN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Olaniyan Mary Oluwabukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onifade Adesola Mary. All former documents remain valid.

LAUTECH & SKYE BANK and general public should please take note.

OJO I formerly known and addressed as MISS OJO MODUPE CHRISTIANAH . Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OGUNDARE MODUPE CHRISTIANAH. All former documents remain valid . Ekiti state teaching service commission and General public should take note.

USMAN I formerly known and addressed as MISS USMAN SAFIAT OMEYI .

Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ALFA SAFIAT OMEYI. All former document remain valid . Wema bank plc and General public should take note.

ARIBANUSI

BENNETH: I, formerly known and address as Miss.

Estherline Nnena Stanley Benneth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Estherline Nnena Marvin Udor. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

ADENIRAN I, formerly known and addressed as Adeniran Wasiu Adeniyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Ayinla Wasiu Alao All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KAFAYAT I, formerly known and addressed as Kafayat Adeniran, now wish to be known and addressed as Olawumi Alao All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500. The payment can be made through - FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name - VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or thenation_advert @yahoo.com. For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, Email- gbengaodejide @yahoo.com or our offices nationwide.

Note this! Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

67

JTF impounds vessel, fishing trawler, crew T HE Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested a sea going vessel.

The vessel was arrested with 12 crew members along the Akassa Water Ways in Bayelsa State.

In a statement in Yenagoa yesterday, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Media Coordinator of Operation Pulo Shield, said the vessel was arrested during its anti-oil theft and pipeline vandalism operations.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nwachukwu said that the operation took place between March 19 and March 29.

He said that the arrested vessel, MV Buyus with fake clearance documents, was secured at the Nigerian Navy Dock Yard in Brass Local Government of Bayelsa.

The suspects, according to the statement, have been handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agencies for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

It added that a fishing trawler christened Bolajoko with five crew members on board was also impounded by troops of the JTF at the NPA Jetty, Bonny in Rivers.

It said that the fishing trawler was impounded, while trans-loading suspected stolen crude into large plastic tanks and drums with the aid of water

CHANGE OF NAME AWOBOTU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Awobotu Oluwatosin Precious, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Orenaike Oluwatosin Precious. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

OKEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Okeh Nkechinyere now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nnolum Nkechinyere Catherine. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

EZE I formerly known and addressed as Dr. Miss Eze Julie Chikerenma now wish to be known and addressed as Dr Mrs. Onyekwere Ogeonye Julie C. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

DURU I, formerly known and addressed MISS. DURU OGECHI DORIS now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ISIOHIA OGECHI DORIS. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

IBOK I, formerly known and addressed MISS. IBOK EKPENYONG MERCY now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AJAYI EKPENYONG MERCY. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

OMEREJI I, formerly known and addressed MISS. OMEREJI GLORIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. GLORIA AMINU-ALLI . All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EFU I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ROSELYN ABU EFU now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ROSELYN NWANKWO THEODORE . All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, MR. CHIMEREEZE BENJAMIN UWAOMA and MR. ONYEONORONTA BENJAMIN UWAOMA are one and the same person, now wish to be known and addressed as MR. CHIMEREEZE BENJAMIN UWAOMA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, MOSES HART is the same person as MOSES JOHN EEDEE. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

pumping machines.

The statement said that the suspects were currently undergoing preliminary investigations at the JTF Sector 2 Headquarters in Port Harcourt.

“Arrested alongside the vessel were 55 assorted boats conveying stolen petroleum product, along Otumara and Araton general area of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta.

“During the operation, five camps, where stolen crude oil was being refined illegally, were discovered and destroyed in Akassa, Sangana, Igbematoru and Ogbia creeks of Bayelsa.

“Also, 59 assorted open boats, 451 drums, 12 illegal oil refinery camps, 88 plastic tanks, six outboard engines and 18 pumping machines were seized.

“They were seized along Elume in Warri North, Escravos , Saghara Creeks in Warri South and Benneth Island in Delta,” Nwachukwu said.

He said that the land patrol squads of the JTF had also intercepted four tanker trucks conveying suspected stolen petroleum products along Enugu–Port Harcourt Express Road.

The drivers and tanker

trucks were arrested when they failed to produce documents certifying them for lifting of the product.

They have been handed over to the Imo Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution.

The JTF, however, urged oil firms operating in the Niger Delta region to collaborate and evacuate the reservoirs used by the oil thieves to deter the oil thieves from returning to the illicit trade.

“This call was necessitated, following the finding that most of the illegal oil refinery camps discovered during the operation had earlier been scuttled by JTF troops.

“But were later resuscitated as the reservoirs were not evacuated from the crime scene,” it said.

Shell Petroleum Development Company had threatened to shut its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft through its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

The Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sumonu, on March 4, urged the JTF to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, currently standing at about 60,000 barrels daily.

… Arrests two robbery suspects in Yobe

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HE Joint Task Force at the weekend arrested two youths suspected to be armed robbers operating in the Fika axis of Yobe State.

The suspected reportedly attempted to rob a trader with fabricated dummy riffles but luck ran out on them.

A statement by JFT’s spokesman, LT. Lazarus Eli, said that the suspects were caught following a distress call from residents around Kukar Gadu community.

It reads: ”At about 8pm Friday 29 March 2013, two suspected armed robbers(names withheld), both residents of Kukar Gadu

From Duku JOEL, Damaturu

community in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe state attempted to rob a trader in the community with fabricated wooden dummy riffles.

“JTF troops responded swiftly to the distress call and conducted a cordon and search operation, which led to the arrest of the suspects and recovery of the dummy riffles.”

The statement added that investigation is ongoing to determine the extent of their operation in the area and apprehend other members of the gang.

‘Embrace National Housing Fund’

N

IGERIANS have been advised to avail themselves of the benefits of the National Housing Fund (NHF).

Chairman, Pentagon Real Estate Investments Limited, Ikota, Lagos, Kennedy Okoruwa, gave the advice at a forum where it allocated title documents to 79 of its subscribers.

He regretted that despite its enormous merits, some Nigerians were yet to know about the scheme let alone take advantage of it.

Okoruwa lamented many private employers were not helping matters by not enrolling their staff in the NHF programme.

Because of the prevailing economic situation in the country, he pointed out it would be difficult for low income earners

By Joseph Eshanokpe

to build a house.

He said it was against this background that the government put in place the NHF to assist them.

Okoruwa wondered how such category of workers could raise N5million to build homes, adding that with the NHF they could do so easily and repay without tears.

He said: “The NHF is for every citizen. The provisions were made for every citizen who has a job or regular income.

“The government made this possible so that those who are working can assess it, provided you can contribute to it.

“There are over 80 PMIs in the country. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is restructuring the sector so that at the end of the exercise, the number may shrink.”

Church holds maiden service

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HE inaugural service of Wisdom Place Church popularly known as The Wisdom Place (TWP) holds today by 4pm.

The event takes place at Bachiever Hotel and Suites, Opposite Savannah Hotel, 6a

Old Aba, Rumuogba, PortHarcourt, Rivers State.

A statement by the Lead Pastor, Osiri Wisdom, said the church is committed to providing practical wisdom for excellence in all facets of life.

68

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

News

FG approves N12 billion macro computer lab for 59 colleges From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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HE Federal Government has approved the construction of macro teaching computer laboratories in fifty-nine colleges of education across the country for N12billion.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruquayyatu Rufa’i made this known at the 15th Combined Convocation Ceremony of the Federal College of Education Technical, Umunze in Anambra State where no fewer than 2,800 students were conferred with Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and Professional Diploma in Education (PDE).

The Minister emphasised government attention to vocational and technical education as well as teacher training in the country.

She commissioned the College E Library and inspected others including the model home residence.

Rufa’i restated the commitment of the Federal Government to advance Technical and Vocational Education to improve skilled manpower to operate, maintain and sustain the nation’s economic activities for rapid socio-economic development.

According to her: “The aspiration of Federal Government is to see better funded, equipped, motivated staff and students in our institutions. ”Two major focal areas of the plan are Teacher Education and Development, Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

Continued from page 72 The leader, despite his having a certain measure of freedom, has inevitably to be governed by the system within which he or she exists. And although men and women make their own history, they clearly do not make it as an act of will, or in their own freely-chosen circumstances, but under the structural constraints of the accumulated past and inherited traditions. This is what The Trouble with Nigeria has missed: Nigerian leaders cannot be the miraculous changed men or women of their country but the changed men and women of their country’s changed circumstances. This is the truth of the time-honoured liberal credo that the educator herself needs educating and that if leaders are educators, who will educate the educators?

From this perspective, Achebe’s conception of leadership may properly be called “voluntarism”, even a form of messianic thinking: on Achebe’s flawed logic, all a leader need do is become, by the force of sheer will power, a morally good person, who has only to lead by example rather than by veritable political principles. Achebe’s is another way of saying that Nigeria needs a strong leader, one who has miraculously escaped all the cultural and historical pressures of his community or country; in effect, a messiah. This dubiously

Jonathan, Tinubu, govs eulogise Anyaoku at 80

F

ORMER Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, walked tall yesterday during the celebration of his 80th birthday.

The event, which held at his country home, Obosi in Idemili North Council Area of Anambra State, also coincided with the golden jubilee of his marriage.

Prominent Nigerians led

by President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, poured encomiums on the celebrator and his wife.

Governors at the dual celebration include Comrade Adams Oshiomole(Edo), Peter Obi (Anambra), Theodore

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

Orji(Abia), Rauf Aregbesola(Osun) and Rochas Okorocha(Osun).

Jonathan, represented by the minister for Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, described Anyaoku as a leader whose commitment to the growth of the country is total.

He called on him to rededicate himself to the service of God and humanity.

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), praised the ace administrator for his service to mankind.

Tinubu described Anyaoku as a great Nigerian who stands for the unity of the country.

The Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglican Church Nigeria, Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, said the celebrator Anyaoku lives

‘’a life full of God’s favour and kindness’’.

He charged him to re-dedicate his remaining life time to the service of the black race.

Okoh urged the Anyaokus to always remember that they were kept together by God for the purpose of protecting the society and the black race.

Nigeria-Canada trade hits N571billion

T

RADE between Nigeria and Canada has risen from $700m in 2007 to about $3billion in 2011.

With this, Nigeria has become Canada’s second largest economic partner in sub-Sahara Africa.

The rise in trade has seen about 100 individuals and companies indicating interest to participate in the NigeriaCanada investment conference slated for May, 2013 in Toronto Canada.

More than 400 participants from the public and private sectors, including government officials of both countries are expected to participate at the conference.

Chairman of Local

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

Organising Committee of the conference, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, who disclosed these at Abuja, also said all hurdles including visa issues have been sorted out with the Canadian government.

He noted that the conference which is in conjunction with Canada’s Corporate Council for Africa, is part of the efforts towards sustaining and expanding the frontiers of economic relations between Nigeria and Canada.

He explained Nigeria’s economy presents new opportunities for Canadian businesses to invest in a wide range of key sectors of the economy.

•Some beneficiaries of a scholarship programme for students in Orhionmwon council of Edo state... yesterday

Firm strengthen ties with Tecno phones

Z

enco Communications Limited has deepened its partnership with global brand, Tecno for product development in Nigeria.

The Managing Director of Zenco Communications Limited, Mr. Cletus Uzoezie Oragwa, gave this hint last week during the commissioning of its state- of theart edifice christened Zenco Plaza in Ikeja Lagos.

Oragwa said the Plaza will serve as a one-stopshop for all phones manufactured by Tecno Telecoms

By Bukola Afolabi

Limited.

According to him: “We are happy to partner with Tecno Telecoms Limited, makers of all range of Tecno phones.

“The company is a global leader in dual SIM manufacturing and we are excited to associate with them and will ensure that Tecno products get to all our customers within the nooks and crannies of Nigeria especially in Lagos.”

The deputy general

manager, Tecno Nigeria, Mr. Chidi Okonkwo, said the partnership was informed by the firm’s readiness to satisfy customer needs.

Okonkwo said: “We are committed to meeting the yearnings of our valued customers across the country so that our products are readily accessible.”

He advised phone users to patronise authorised dealers like Zenco around the county to avoid buying fake products.

Chinua Achebe: A non-romantic view Christian view of leadership is a convenient way of avoiding the complex problem of institutional, cultural, and historical constitution of subjectivity and moral choice in a multi-ethic, multi-religious country, one with a large, primordialist, backwardlooking civil society. Indeed one reason for the failure of Achebe’s little book to capture the scholarly or popular imagination was its threadbare romanticism and an un-modern (a feudal and mystical) vision of political leadership.

Perhaps Achebe’s most disappointing book, or to phrase matters differently, his most inferior work, is There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012).

As a personal testament, the book vindicates the timehonored dictum that “the personal is political”. Perhaps we need not be critical of Achebe’s passionate defence of his ethnic group, or of the short-lived Biafra, and his role in it. Yet there is something distasteful about open myopia of blind ethnic solidarity or communal jingoism. What is striking about the book is its complete lack of a keen political insight, its petty romantic vision of Nigeria’s political history. For example, consider the book’s astonishing claims, namely that the

Igbos wholly deserved their entrenched positions in the military, economic, and bureaucratic structures of pre-civil war Nigeria (“... the Igbos led the nation in virtually every sector— politics, education, commerce, and the arts”, pp.

66-67); that all non-Igbo Nigerians are united by their hatred for the Igbo ethnic group; and that British rule in Nigeria and elsewhere was not, as popularly assumed, an unmitigated disaster. According to Achebe in There was a Country, the British government ruled the Nigerian colony “with considerable care... and competently...

British colonies were more or less expertly run” (p. 43). In the same book, however, Achebe accuses British colonial officials of rigging the election and the population census in favour of conservative elements such as Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto from the “Islamic territories” (p. 46; Achebe does not say that the Igbo were from the “Christian territories”), people who “had played no real part in the struggle for independence” (p. 52). In addition, for Achebe it was the behaviour of the British that sowed the seeds of Nigeria’s eventual descent into civil war. If indeed Achebe has this rosy view of colonial rule, then his entire corpus of anti-colonial polemic and cultural nationalism

has been in vain, or, in a way, a hypocritical effort at self-publicity.

Worse, Achebe argues, in an astonishing moment of historical revisionism, that the originators of the very idea of one-Nigeria were “leaders and intellectuals from the Eastern Region” (p. 52). This may explain why he credits Nnamdi Azikiwe with the enviable position of being “father of African independence” (“There was no question at all about that”, (p. 41). In sum, then, there are many instances of sloppy argument and poor judgment in the book, as, for example, Achebe’s claim that Nigeria failed to develop because the Igbo, despite their “competitive individualism” and a unique “adventurous spirit”, were excluded from Nigerian economic, social, and political life. Examples of Achebe’s unsophisticated political perception of things are, first, his lack of political sensitivity concerning non-Igbo political leaders such as Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The first two are seen by Achebe as ruled by inordinate ambition (“resuscitated ethnic pride”) and conservative traditionalism respectively. The latter Achebe almost casts into the role of a lackey of the Western world, which, he claims, turned (“built

up”) Balewa through flattery into a great statesman (p. 51).

It is thus fair to say that, in There was a Country at least, Achebe is an overwhelmingly “ethnic nationalist”, an “Igbophile” (or a philo-Igbonis, to coin a new term), and a Biafra apologist to boot. He is, in this book at least, a homo duplex, the Double Man, in effect, both Biafran and Nigerian; Igbophile and Nationalist; Anti-colonial Writer and a Postcolonial Apologist of Expert British Rule. This should explain why the book has a schizoid thematic orchestration and its claims pressed within a phlegmatic stylistic mode, which, again and again, has proved incapable of sustained irony. Surely, then, There was a Country is a patchwork of Achebe’s deep, even unconscious, prejudices. In one moment after another, the book fails to offer a finely integrated presentation of a realistic historical, geographical, economic, and culturally diverse, though troubled, country.

So while I pay tribute to this important novelist and essayist, I should remark, at the same time, that we should not, in our romantic rush to venerate our little (culture) heroes, forget earlier illustrious and master English-

speaking storytellers such Amos Tutuola (1920-1997) and Cyprian Odiatu Ekwensi (19212007). Their books, The PalmWine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads’ Town (written 1946 and published in 1952) and People of the City (1954), are two outstanding pieces of literature and narrative self-assertion that blazed the trail in modern, English-speaking African fiction writing. In the same manner, while we pay tribute to Achebe and his literary legacy, let us not also forget great post-colonial African storytellers such as Ayi Kwei Armah, Sambene Ousmane, Ngugi wa Thiog’o, and, not least, the incomparable Kenyan writer, Meja Mwangi, the author, in my opinion, of the finest African novel ever— Going Down River Road (1977).

As for Achebe, I say “goodbye”; for there was indeed a great novelist, but who, tragically, had to write the greatest anti-novel of his career—There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.

• Professor Bello-Kano is of the Department of English and French, Bayero University, Kano.

0 8 0 3 8 6 6 6 7 2 0 , ibrahimbellokano@gmail.com

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CONSUMER WATCH With

JILL OKEKE

jillokeke@yahoo.com, 07069429757

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

Easter eggs and hot cross buns A

NOTHER Easter is here again, and with it, the scramble and hunt for Easter eggs and hot cross buns. In the western world, it is a tradition that has already garnered wide popularity and acceptance among the old and the young but in Africa it is gradually creeping in and getting popular among the children, teenagers and some adults.

Already in major shops in Nigeria, Easter eggs and hot cross buns are beautifully displayed to attract shoppers. In most Shoprite supermarkets across the country, they are attractively displayed at vantage positions. One unique thing about Easter eggs is that they must come in the shape of chicken eggs.

Amongst the most popular brands are the ones from the chocolate giants Cadbury and Nestle International .They are made with different colours of chocolates and come in various sizes of eggs.

A visit to Iponri Market in Surulere, Alade Market, Ikeja, Sandgross Market and popular Apogbon Market Lagos Island revealed that few of the traders had Easter eggs for sale but because of the perishable nature of hot cross buns they were not selling that.

Interviewing Mrs Buchi Ohiweri at shop 11 Iponri Market, she said that she did not stock much of the Easter eggs as demand was not high.

“However, all the ones I stocked in last year's Easter were sold and I hope that I finish my stock this year before the end of Easter holidays.”

But at Shoprite supermarket, Ikeja, the story was different as many of the shoppers were putting Easter eggs and hot cross buns in their shopping baskets. “I am happy that at last I can buy Easter treats in Ikeja. Previously, I had to travel to Lagos Island during Easter period in order to buy Easter eggs and hot cross buns for my family,” enthused Mr. Williams Ojo. Must he buy these things for his Easter celebration to be complete? Mr Ojo, explaining, said he raised his four children up in England and as such they had imbibed the culture of celebrating Easter with those special treats.

Chatting with one of the managers at Shoprite, Ikeja, Mrs Funke O., as she preferred to be referred to, disclosed that Nigerians are gradually embracing the culture of Easter eggs

and hot cross buns, going by the rate of their sales. “Previously, it was not so, but due to the success rate, management has introduced it in virtually all our supermarkets,” she added.

Explaining further, she disclosed that the hot cross buns sold in Shoprite supermarkets were baked in their bakery and as such are always fresh as they should be.

Hot cross buns are baked just like bread though the ingredients vary a little bit, but just like bread, it is flourbased. The difference is that hot cross buns are spiced sweet buns made with currants or raisins marked with a big cross sign on top. The cross sign is achieved with cream embedded on top of the buns. One can only see it in shops during the Easter period. Pack of six small buns in Shoprite cost between N150-N200.

Last week, most schools asked students to come to school with hard boiled chicken eggs so as to have fun painting the eggs for Easter. The egg shells are painted in various colours with edible paint and left to dry.

At Green Springs School, Victoria Island, Lagos, the day pupils were asked to come to school with hard boiled eggs to paint for Easter. At Woodland School, Akowonjo, students were asked to provide two hard boiled eggs for painting. At Grange, Ikeja G.R.A the story was the same.

However, as Easter eggs and hot cross buns gradually become part of our Easter celebration, most people are ignorant of its origin; some of the teachers and pupils interviewed did not know the history except that it is an event and food eaten during the Easter period.

History has it that this egg has existed for a very long period, the culture having been passed down from one generation to another.

In particular, the custom of the Easter egg originated among the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Jesus Christ shed at his crucifixion. The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the egg as a symbol of the resurrection. In A.D. 1610, Pope Paul V proclaimed the following prayer “Bless, O lord! We beseech thee this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a

About Easter leftovers

D

wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the lord.”

Although the tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute boiled chicken eggs with chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionary such as jelly beans in other to give it longer shelf life.

These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning which may be left by the Easter Bunny.

They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straws to resemble a bird's nest.

Research reveals that ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg, thus the egg as a symbol of new life has been around for eons (56.5 to 35.4 million years ago).

The particulars may vary, but most cultures around the world use the egg as a symbol of new life and rebirth. A notation in the household accounts of Edward I of England showed an expenditure of eighteen pence for 450 eggs to be gold leafed and coloured for Easter gifts.

The first book to mention Easter eggs by name was written five hundred years ago. Yet a north African tribe that had become Christian much earlier in time had a custom of colouring eggs at Easter.

In celebrating Easter, the Easter egg does not stand alone. Hot cross buns are also present in the celebration. In many historically Christian countries, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten hot, the evening before Ash Wednesday through Good Friday with the cross standing as a symbol of crucifixion.

There is so much legend and lore behind hot cross buns. English folklore said that hot cross buns baked on Good Friday would never spoil throughout the following year. Some bakers believed that holding on to one hot cross bun and hanging it in the kitchen meant that all yeast products in the coming year would rise successfully.

Consumer Watch wishes you all a memorable Easter holidays as you celebrate and reminisce on the reason for the season.

Additional Reports from Fasasi Omolola

URING festive seasons, we always cook more than the family can finish.

At times we may cook having some visitors in mind who never turn up at all or even when they come, they may not want to eat and by the end of the day, we find out that the food pots are still almost full.

If this happens, do not throw the food away because it can still be useful. In cases of rice dishes, it is advised that it be left in the fridge if there is light. Do not try to eat it the next day (Easter Monday) because you would not find it very appetising. Reason being that, as you had eaten it to your fill today you would not be eager to eat the same food tomorrow again. For such left overs, leave it in the fridge for about two days, by then if you warm it and serve it with different side dishes it would seem like a new dish and everyone would be eager to eat it.

However, if the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) strikes, as is mostly the case, there would not be any option except to warm and serve the food, but you can still make it different by not missing the side dishes for example, fried plantain, vegetable salad, a different sauce to go with the white rice if that was what you had today, etcetra. The same thing can be applied if you have leftover of soups. If it is vegetable soup, it is always better to add a little palm oil to the soup each day it is being warmed. Vegetables decay and lose its taste fast when it is being warmed so if you want the soup to look fresh and retain taste, add a little palm oil, no water, warm the soup.

If you have left over foods like lasagne or shepherd pie, leave in the refrigerator and simply heat in the oven when you are ready for it.

Egg-based foods should be discarded as they can easily be contaminated.

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THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

Green House wins Maryland Convent sports meet

G

REEN House (Infant Jesus) has emerged the champion of the 15th biennial inter house sports of Maryland Convent Private School which took place at the school premises.

The champions won 12 gold, four silver and four bronze medals while Yellow House (St Anthony) garnered six gold, seven silver and four bronze medals.

Blue House (Fr Augustine Planques) placed third with four gold, four silver and eight bronze medals. In fourth place was white (Lady of Apostle) with three gold medals, eight silver and two bronze medals while red house (St Agnes) popped up in the rear with two gold, three silver and eight bronze medals.

Sponsor of the event, Chikki Noodles, said that in addition to increasing the exposure of its products to consumers, the sponsorship of events like this would help the management of the company contribute its quota to the development kids.

It also said that it would also help build a favourable image for the company and bring the awareness of Chikki noodles closer to children who are the main target of the products.

The school head teacher, Rev. Sister Gladys Osagie, said that the competition gave the pupils the opportunity to showcase their talents while also entertaining the parents who came to cheer them to victory.

She stated that the emphasis of the school is to combine sports with education, noting that it has the potential of exposing athletes and bringing them enormous wealth.

"In our school, sport has been given emphasis as one of the three domains recognised by the educational enterprise (Cognitive, Affective and Psycho-motor). The highest function of education is to bring about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole,” she added.

Oba Mekunnu soccer competition hots up

T

HE first Oba Mekunnu Cup soccer competition has entered the knockout stage. The competition, which started at four centres across Lagos about four weeks ago, is sponsored by Barrister Owolabi Salis.

According to Afeez Murtala, spokesperson for Nationwide Grassroots Football Association, organiser of the competition, quarter final matches will commence at the four venues immediately the first round matches are concluded.

Murtala gave the results of the last round of matches played over the weekend as follows: Current FC vs Mandiba FC 1-0; Success FC vs Holy FC 2-0. Current FC and Success FC qualify for the quarter finals from the Gbagada zone.

Lucky Babes FC and Samba FC will go on to play in the quarter-finals from the Evans Square, Ebutte Metta zone, while Divine FC and Alpha FC qualified for the quarter finals from the Bishop Aggey, Mushin zone.

However, the last round of matches to decide the teams that will qualify for the quarter finals from the Ikorodu zone will be played tomorrow, Monday, April 1, 2013 at the Police Playground, Ikorodu.

The competition, according to the organisers, aims to discover kids who are there seeking ways to discover themselves and give them the platform for a better future.

The first place winner will smile home with a prize money of N500, 000, runner-up will earn the sum of N300, 000, while the second and third runners-up will take away the sum of N200, 000 and N100, 000 respectively.

Man Utd on course with Sunderland win

M

ANCHESTER United warmed up for their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Chelsea as a Titus Bramble-own goal earned them a polished 1-0 Premier League win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Martin O'Neill's Sunderland side remain perilously close to the relegation spots after another loss.

They occupy 16th spot in the standings, only four points clear of third-from-bottom Wigan, who host Norwich later in the day.

United need just 10 more points in their remaining eight fixtures to reclaim the title they relinquished to Manchester City at Sunderland on the final day of last season. It is only a matter of time before the Premier League crown returns to Old Trafford. They could afford to win without Wayne Rooney, who was rested with Chelsea in mind.

United - who visit Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup at lunchtime on Monday for their second game in 48 hours - were dominant throughout the match in setting a new Premier League record of 25 wins from their opening 30 league matches.

No team has achieved that sequence of results and United were never overly stretched against a home side who were disappointing with much of their output.

Sunderland were without David Vaughan, but Stephane Sessegnon started. Vaughan returned early from duty with Wales nursing a groin problem, while striker Sessegnon did not even meet up with Benin because of a similar injury.

Defender Carlos Cuellar was ruled out with the ankle problem he suffered in the 1-1 draw with Norwich and joined captain Lee Cattermole (knee surgery) and striker Steven Fletcher (ankle ligament) in watching the match together in the stands.

United received a triple injury boost before the match with Nani (hamstring), Phil Jones (ankle) and Paul Scholes (knee) all recovering from their knocks.

But only Nani was involved on the bench and he remained there as United kept their options open for Monday's match. Javier Hernandez was excused due to lengthy travels during the international break, but Antonio Valencia was handed a starting slot.

...Set for Monday FA Cup clash with Chelsea

Robin van Persie celebrates with Nemanja Vidic and Alex Buttner

Gervinho inspires Arsenal in victory Arsenal kept up the pressure in the race for Champions League qualification with a 4-1 win over Reading at Emirates Stadium, which sent the Royals bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

Cote d'Ivoire international Gervinho set the hosts on their way after 11 minutes.

However, despite dominating possession, it was not until the start of the second half when the crucial breakthrough came again, this time through Santi Cazorla. Olivier Giroud added a third following a quick break by Gervinho.

Hal Robson-Kanu headed in a

C

HELSEA'S top-four ambition suffered a huge setback on Saturday as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Mauricio Pochettino's Southampton side at St Mary's.

Rafa Benitez's side dropped to fourth in the table and hold a precarious two-point advantage over fifth-placed Arsenal, who beat Reading 4-1 at the Emirates, in the race to secure Champions League

Sango FC pips Orile Agege in football event

S

came in to midfield.

Reading - who squandered a 40 lead against Arsenal in their home Capital One Cup tie earlier this season - started positively, as Mikele Leigertwood headed wide from a corner.

On seven minutes, there were chants and applause in memory of former Arsenal and England midfielder, David Rocastle, who 12 years ago tomorrow lost his battle against cancer aged just 33.

The home fans were soon on their feet again on 11 minutes as Gervinho fired them into an early lead.

Chelsea's top-four hopes dealt major blow

ELEDUMARE FESTIVAL

ANGO FC ran away with the football trophy of the 2013 Eledumare Festival, beating Orile Agege FC 1-0 in a thrilling encounter witnessed by the leader of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams.

Watched by a capacity crowd made up of OPC leaders, members Samba and football lovers from and around the environs at the Agege Stadium, Richard Zemude scored Sango FC lone goal in the first half of the breathtaking encounter.

The football competition was part of activities marking the second edition of the Eledumare Festival; a 21-day programme to commemorate the Almighty God, the Supreme Being in Yoruba context.

Sango FC would have won the game with a lot more goals but for poor marksmanship in the second half, while Orile Agege had to rely on fast breaks to rattle the goal line of the boys from Sango in the tension soaked encounter, which gave hundreds of spectators a lot to share.

Chief promoter of the festival, Chief Adams, who later handed the glistering trophy to the skipper of

consolation for Nigel Adkins' men the manager in charge for the first time - but there was to be no recovery as Mikel Arteta's penalty made sure Arsenal closed up on Chelsea in the race for fourth spot and also remained within striking distance of Tottenham, on whom they hold a match in hand.

Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny both had to be content with a place on the bench, while Adkins' made two changes in his first match in charge, as striker Pavel Pogrebnyak returned from suspension and Danny Guthrie also

Sango FC amidst jubilation, expressed his delight at the show of exemplary football from both sides while praising the winners for dominating play.

“I am satisfied with the level of play and happy for the winning side because they played better and deserved to win. Eledumare Festival is not just about football. We have boxing, table tennis and taekwondo.

The festival itself is a 21-day programme and it is everything about the Yoruba culture, music, food, dancing and the final day would be quite grand.”

He added that they have visited orphanages and homes with about 500 widows and over a thousand children benefitting from the 2013 edition of the annual Eledumare Festival.

Adams added: “The festival is a sign of our unity and faith in Eledumare, a sign that we are tracing to find our roots and to revive in us, the belief of our forebears,” Adams added.

The grand finale of the event, which was attended by traditional ruler from within and outside Nigeria, took place on Friday at Ifako-Ijaiye area of Lagos State.

football next season.

Jay Rodriguez put Southampton ahead in the 23rd minute with a cool finish into the far corner before Chelsea captain John Terry brought his side level 10 minutes later after rising highest to head home from

Marko Marin's corner.

But the Saints side responded in style just two minutes later when Rickie Lambert's sublime free-kick from 25 yards sailed into the top corner past the helpless Petr Cech.

Juve extend Inter's troubles

J

UVENTUS extended Inter's domestic woes with a 2-1 win at the San Siro on Saturday afternoon, which saw Fabio Quagliarella grab the lead three minutes in.

With a comfortable nine-point distance between themselves and second-placed Napoli, Juventus' main focus was all about extracting revenge over Inter.

The Nerazzurri ended the Antonio Conte's men's dominance when they easily brushed aside their 49-game undefeated run in a 3-1 win at the Juventus Stadium back in November 2012.

Their ambition was certainly evident from the starting whistle when all it took was three minutes before the Old Lady could get on the score sheet.

Fabio Quagliarella was the surprise starter for the away side and he latched onto a dummy by Alessandro Matri before unleashing an unstoppable strike from 20 yards out, which rattled the top corner.

Inter's response was a positive one in which they pushed Juventus to defend deep, forcing them to attack on the counter, and the Bianconeri needed a miracle save

by Gianluigi Buffon to keep the score line in their favour.

Alvaro Pereira supplied a great cross into the box in which Palacio

headed the ball in towards goal, but the Italian shot-stopper did well to push the ball off the line, 13 minutes in.

Tension was also evident on the field as both sets of teams threw in some hefty challenges between themselves, which surprisingly only saw Walter Gargano get booked by the half hour mark.

In the final ten minutes of the half, Ricky Alvarez tried his luck from the edge of the area but it went wide of goal, while Andrea Pirlo's low range strike forced Samir Handanovic to push it out of danger's way.

Fredy Guarin came on in the first leg and changed the face of the game in favour of Inter, and he was once again shown the same faith by Andrea Stramaccioni when he was brought on at the start of the second half.

EPL RESULTS Sunderland 0 - 1 Man Utd Arsenal 4 - 1 Reading Man City 4 - 0 Newcastle Southampton 2 - 1 Chelsea Swansea 1 - 2 Tottenham West Ham 3 - 1 West Brom Wigan 1 - 0 Norwich

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2013

71

QUOTABLE "We are calling on the Federal Government to consider dialogue as the better option in resolving the crises. To this end, the FG should reconsider its stand and offer amnesty to the insurgents who embrace the path of peace, reformation and reintegration with the larger society. This is the norm the world over and there exists a precedent in Nigeria."

SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2447 Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.

—Wole Soyinka and J. P. Clark. “Chinua Achebe Death: We Have Lost a Brother”. The Guardian (UK), March 22, 2013.

— The Northern Traditional Rulers Council reiterating its call for amnesty for members of the Boko Haram.

Achebe: A nonromantic view

T

HERE is no doubt that Chinua Achebe, who died last week in the United States after a long residence there probably because it was better for him to live there than in Nigeria, was, by many accounts, an outstanding writer. His first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), received wide critical acclaim soon after its publication, which came in the wake of the great wave of decolonization. A year before the publication of the novel, Ghana became the first independent African country, in 1957. Things Fall Apart was published at a time when non-Western but Western educated intellectuals and cultural nationalists were looking around for indigenous cultural documents that could vindicate pre-colonial African cultures, in what the British-Indian writer, Salman Rushdie once called, in memorable phrase, “writing back to the Centre” (the West).

It was arguably in that context, the urgent need, by the African literati, to produce an African narrative that would vindicate indigenous African cultures which were heavily denigrated by centuries of Western writers, priests, and colonial administrators, rather than the novel’s intrinsic literary merits, that brought Things Fall Apart to prominence, at least within the post-nationalistic African intelligentsia. The same may be said of Achebe’s other novels: their timing, 1960-1966, was fortunate because there was, then, a large literate international English-speaking reading public eager to get access to the new African writing, not to speak of publishers such as Heinemann which were looking to cash in on it all. Again, it was in that context that Achebe’s works were appropriated for all kinds of culture wars, especially within the ranks of militant postcolonial intellectuals.

Achebe’s collection of essays on literature, cultural politics, and colonial history, from the early Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975) to the later Hopes and Impediments (1989) and Home and Exile (2000) sealed his reputation as an African or Black cultural critic, activist, and nationalist. His other novels, No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), Man of the People (1966), not to mention short stories and poems such as Girls at War and Other Stories (1972) and Beware, Soul Brother and Other Poems (1971) were widely admired by critics and literary historians for their “realistic” and, some would say, vivid, subtle, and complex portrait of the African, or, at least, “the Nigerian condition”, which, to this day, has persisted in more complicated forms.

Achebe was also the influential editor of the Heinemann African Writers Series, between 1962 and 1972. Under his direction, the series published some of the most canonical of African writers such as Alex La Guma, Taha Hussein, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Doris Lessing, Ayi Kwei Armah, Tayeb Salih, Bessie Head, Cheik Hamidou Kane, Okot p’Bitek, and nationalist intellectuals such as Amilcar Cabral, Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, Jomo Kenyatta, and Kwame Nkrumah.

Chiefly because of his first novel, and his pioneering role as the editor of the African Writers Series, many have considered Achebe as the “father of African fiction” (or the founding father, even the grandfather, of modern African literature), a dubious claim that Achebe himself could not accept, since, as he knew in his lifetime, there were many African writers of fiction and non-fiction that wrote compelling accounts of African cultural and so-

•Achebe

GUEST COLUMN

By Ibrahim Bello-Kano

cial life well before he was born. Claims for Achebe as being the “father of African fiction or literature” are based on a partial and reductive view of Africa’s literary history, or a diminution of African writing to a minor position within the Western literary tradition.

Yet there had been indigenous African writing in native languages. Consider, for example, the case of the Basotho (Lesotho) writer and novelist, Thomas Mopoku Mafolo (1876-1948), the celebrated author of Chaka the Zulu (1912-15?), which many literary historians have called a masterpiece, an epic tragedy, and, in the words of a reviewer, “the earliest major contribution of black Africa to the corpus of modern world literature”. One could cite the example of the celebrated Yoruba writer, D. O. Fagunwa, author of Odo Ninu Igbo Irunmale (1936), or the works of the Arab writer, Naguib Mahfouz, and countless other writers who wrote in Hausa,

Tamashek, Amharic, Wolof, and so on.

Indeed, no one author or person could have begun what we call today “African writing”. The African literary tradition is far older, more enduring, and more complex than the alleged effort of a single author, however gifted. In any case, the idea of Achebe being the “father of African fiction” is not a scholarly argument but a romantic and naïve one because it ignores the major contributions of precolonial African authors and a huge corpus of African writing in Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

But whatever the artistic merit of Achebe’s work, which is considerable to say the least, it is in his novel, Anthills of the Savannah (1988), that his literarystory-telling skills began a terminal decline. Indeed the novel marks a notable decline in his liberal vision and creative acumen. The novel is, by any standard, a trivial thriller and is uneven in linguistic and literary quality. Arguably, large parts of Anthills read like pulp fiction, or a crudely crafted political thriller. The storyline is fragmented; the attempt at covert plotting is unsuccessful; the narrative exposition is slow and cumbrous; the style of representation is too thin and shallow; the plot is threadbare and thin, perhaps even superficial in many instances. The dialogue is unconvincing,

“It is thus fair to say that, in There was a Country at least, Achebe is an overwhelmingly “ethnic nationalist”, an “Igbo-phile” (or a philo-Igbonis, to coin a new term), and a Biafra apologist to boot. He is, in this book at least, a homo duplex, the Double Man, in effect, both Biafran and Nigerian; Igbophile and Nationalist; Anti-colonial Writer and a Post-colonial Apologist of Expert British Rule. This should explain why the book has a schizoid thematic orchestration and its claims pressed within a phlegmatic stylistic mode, which, again and again, has proved incapable of sustained irony”

heavy, and tedious, and the characterization is one-dimensional. For example, neither Ikem, Beatrice, Abdul on the one hand nor Professor Okon, Sam, and Osodi on the other has any emotional and psychological depth. Indeed no character in that novel has convincing uniqueness of character, and none is admirably individuated.

Moreover, the characterization and dialogue are stagey, as can be seen in the first person account of the First Witness, Christopher Oriko (Chapter 1) and the dialogue in the opening section of Chapter 2.

Anthill is also marred by obliquities of narration and an undisciplined, un-integrated multiplicity of viewpoints: the novel’s attempt at an epic-scale representation of a dystopian land and its failure to offer an intensely imagined, superbly coordinated narrative irony are telling. Yet all this may be accounted for by the novel’s melodramatic structure and the poor quality of its speech representation.

Frankly, Anthills of the Savannah is a disappointing work; little wonder it failed to win the 1987 Booker McConnell Prize, Britain’s most prestigious literary award.

For example, the novel combines melodrama with a political roman á clef, as can be seen in the closing section of the narrative, the journey on the “Great North Road” (Chapter 17). Indeed, this chapter presents a veiled dystopian narrativization of northern Nigeria, which is variously called “the scrub-land”, “the scorched landscape”, “another country”, “full of dusty fields [and] bottomed baobab tree[s] so strange in appearance”, etc. In this novel, the rainforest (“the rain country”) of the South is favourably contrasted with the “parkland of grass and stunted trees... of mud walls and reddish earth”, the North. One conclusion, which, of course, may be problematic from a strictly literary-critical perspective, is that unlike the Exceptional Southerners, the Northerners don’t know how to make the North “prosperous” (the roads are full of pot holes) so that all the talented, intelligent, hardworking, economically gifted, and industrially-savvy Southerners could migrate to the North (perhaps in the mode of mission civilatrice), which is, as of now, wallowing in economic and social desperation (see the opening pages of Chapter 17).

The novel has other defects as well: the author’s heavily moralized, didactic view of life repeatedly intrudes in the narrative, and, in particular, in the facile and tired representation of the Military Ruler, the Head of Sate. Ikem and Beatrice’s romanticism, their romantic view of social relations, is clearly the real author’s because the entire drift of the narrative is towards a heavily moralized view of life (Light versus Darkness; Enlightenment versus Ignorance; Diligence versus Parasitism).

Yet it is in Achebe’s essay, The Trouble with Nigeria (1983), that his romanticism comes full circle. In that book, Achebe argues that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership... the unwillingness and inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example” (p. 1). This postulation of Achebe’s ignores the deep structural constraints on human action and psychology. It is pre-critical to ignore the complex ways in which social structures mediate, modify, condition, and constrain human choices. Leadership works within institutional, historical, cultural, and economic contexts which place limits on what human agents can and cannot do. This notion of the structural determination of leadership means that a leader has inevitably to work within, and exist in, a system and a political logic whose proper system, laws, and operation his or her “leadership” cannot, by definition, dominate absolutely.

Continued on page 68

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