STEPHEN BIKO: TRIBUTE TO SA’S BLACK LIBERATION MARTYR No. 44
International N 500 8 3 GHc 6 201201
SHIPPING AMAZON PAULINE EHIMUAN CELEBRATES GOLDEN AGE IN STYLE
AFRICAN WEALTH:
Dangote Is King NIGERIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CLERK, ALHAJI SALISU ABUBAKAR MAIKASWA TURBANNED CIROMAN KEFFI WHEN MBIERI STOOD STILL IN HONOUR OF PRINCE EZEAKONOBI MADUMERE ALSO INSIDE: XCEL FASHION SPLENDOR
PORT HARCOURT CITY COUNCIL PAYS LAST RESPECT TO EZE WOLUCHEM XI
International M A G A Z I N E
DOZEN Y E A R S I N 2 0 1 2
Even in our SILENCE, we are LOUD ENOUGH to take you there
...celebrating People. Events & Places
Number 44
International
Special Edition Africa’s 40 Richest
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Milestone
MRS. PAULINE EHIMUAN: Fifty Hearty Cheers For A Golden Lady At Fifty
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Honours 33
MAIKASUWA Answers Royal Call, Becomes CIROMAN KEFFI 33 Festivities As Mbieri Stood Still In Honour Of Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s Chief Of Staff PRINCE EZEAKONOBI MADUMERE 52
Fashion & Style The Ever In-form Jean Wears
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Society
The WINE SHOW PORT HARCOURT Debuts In Grand Style 37 ROSETONY Scholarship Foundation Harvest 1st 41 Batch of Graduates Baby DAMIETE SIBO-BRIGGS Goes to Church
Fashion Counsel Weather Friendly Outfits
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For Men Only
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HON. INNOCENT AGONSI Returns Gratitude To God For Abundant Blessings 62
Passage Mayor of Port Harcourt Hon. Akarolo Chimbiko Leads Council to Pay Last Respect to LATE EZE 58 EPARA REBISI XI
Trousers for your Body Type
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The Beauty Files
The Significance of Sunglass 78
Departments 6 XCEL People:
Remembering Stephen Biko
10 Broda Akpojiomie: Letter To My Beloved President 12 Health Matters:
Combating the Lassa Fever Outbreak
18 Business & Money: Reviving Nigeria's Automobile Industry
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14 36 Feminine Talk:
The Complete Woman
40 Moving Up The Ladder: Go For Real Success
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50 Career Wise:
Dealing with Annoying Co-Worker Habits
66 Parenting:
What Christian Parents Need to Know...
70 Thinking Cap:
Because The Future Of 30 Million Children Is...
THE PEOPLES’ VOICE The letter by Ann Bolaji from Yenagoa is the Star Letter of this edition and wins our N1,000 prize money. Congratulations. Dear Editor, Let me start by congratulating you for the wonderful job you guys are doing in XCEL. When in you previous edition, I read that we can now read XCEL online, I thought it was one of these sales gimmicks. I must commend you on what I found out. When I logged unto your website, it was very interesting as I saw the online edition exactly the way the hard copy is. Congrats and keep it up. We are proud of XCEL. James Ailua Wuse II, Abuja Dear James, We are indeed impressed with your letter and all your kind words. For purpose of emphasis, let us reiterate herein our commitment to delivering a world-class magazine. This is our goal and with you on our side, we will surely get there.
Dear Abraham, It is true that the 10 Most Outstanding Nigerians package is a yearly compilation and you are right that we have not published for 2011. For 2010, we packaged 10 Most Outstanding Nigerians of the Decade (2000-2010). However, we have not been able to make a repeat edition due to some reasons. But we can assure you that we will package the 2012 edition. Thanks for being there for us. Dear Editor, I read your story on the 40 Most Influential Celebrities in Africa. It is very interesting and I think it would be nice if you continue to publish such stories.
Dear Editor,
Oti Adefarati Abeokuta Dear Oti, Thanks for being there for us. We are not able to give you information on the outlets in Abeokuta as we deal through distributors who in turn deal with the vendors. However, we will find out specifically where you can get copies and reach you back on your email. For now, you may want to read the editions you have missed online on our website: www.xcelmediaonline.com. Dear Editor, I have consistently followed your publication. One thing I seriously appreciate is your package on 10 M o s t Outstanding Nigerians which I thought was a yearly compilation. It appears you have not done it in two years running. Have you discontinued it? Or should we expect it in 2012? I will suggest that such packages are retained as it helps us to know who is working hard for our beloved country.
Dear Chika, We share in your worries on the increasing rate of promiscuity and moral dearth in our society owing to a decline in parent's commitment to the astute moral upbringing of their wards. While it is understandable that the excruciating economic situation should majorly be blamed for it, we will keep canvassing and suggesting new methods parents and guardians can employ in the adequate upbringing of the children or wards.
Thanks for your letter commending the package. Be rest assured we will continue to publish such stories that will celebrate the entire continent of Africa, like what we serve you in this edition 40 Richest Africans. Once again, thanks for your interest in XCEL.
Dear Editor, Dear Editor, It pleases me to commend your work on the new department, XCEL Revelation. Indeed, there are so many things around us which have considerable significance, but are not treated as such because of lack of awareness. It will be nice if you keep up with the package and enlighten us more on hitherto mysterious aspects of our society, just as you did for Ogbunabali in Port Harcourt. Aisha Ibrahim, Warri Dear Aisha, Many thanks for the encouraging lines. The truth remains that, at XCEL, we do not just celebrate Africans who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields of endeavor, we are also very concerned about showcasing to the entire world, amazing and enduring facets of the continent's rich cultural heritage. Again, we promise to continue to pursue newer innovations that will enhance our culture of excellence, just for your reading pleasure. Dear Editor,
Ikeja-Lagos
Thanks for your sensible report on Ten Principles of Good Parenting in your last edition. In a constantly
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Awka, Anambra
Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt
Abraham Olisa,
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Buchi Chika,
Rita Akeh
Dear Rita, I am one of your ardent readers and used to access copies in Lagos. However, since I relocated to Abeokuta, I have not been able to continue reading your magazine since I cannot buy here. Please let know where your sales outlet is in Abeokuta so I can continue to buy the magazine. Thank you and please continue the good work.
evolving society as ours where proper grooming of children is on a steady decline as a result of wealth pursuit by parents, a lot has to be done to ensure that the next generation does not constitute majorly of dimwits and riffr a f f s a n d troublemakers. I am thinking that is high time we went back to our traditional communal system where the virtuous upbringing of children does not rest solely on the shoulders of parents but on every kinsman in the clan.
Your story on Chinua Achebe was very well deserved. He remains one of the few established noble Nigerians who have not dragged their hard earned reputation to the murky waters of Nigerian politics of greed, propaganda and embezzlement. Now over 80 years, it is simply amazing that he is still setting worthy example and blueprint for Nigerian youths to follow, just as you mentioned in the 50 Cent debacle. He truly deserves the title you accorded him as, “The Dean of African Literature” because of his numerous valuable literary works. Keep up the good work. Ann Bolaji, Yenagoa, Bayelsa Dear Ann, It is wonderful that you found the work on Chinua Achebe in the last Xcel People page fascinating. Indeed the 82-year old Achebe has done so much in not only projecting Nigerian and African Literature to the entire world; he has also succeeded, over the years, in celebrating the uniqueness of our norms and values which revolves around the pillars of morality and nobility in character. It is our candid hope that many young Africans would take a cue from this literary legend in whatever field of endeavor they chose for themselves. Thanks once again for your support.
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barth@xcelmediaonline.com learn from the experience? Had it become obvious that policies cannot just be taken and forced down the throats of the masses without first putting their welfare into consideration? Maybe yes, a little though. It definitely was not complete.
Corruption, Coups And Africa W
hen one makes peaceful negotiation impossible, he invariably makes violence an inevitable option, the legendary Nelson Mandela of the antiapartheid campaign in the former racist South Africa, would readily assert. Put in another way, the same could be said about the black continent and its leaders who are beginning to learn in a very terrible manner that when they make an average and reasonably acceptable standard of living refutably impossible for their people, then they may have unconsciously opened to their chagrin, a gateway of uprising, rebellion, revolution…and coups which would in turn birth their doom? After the Arab Spring which crisscrossed much of North Africa last year, ushering in a wind of change and respite to territories once governed by the strong-fists of ousted power drunk authoritarians, not forgetting the regrettable magnitude of lives that were lost in the revolution, one had imagined that 2012 would deal the continent some relief, perhaps some period of calm and, for all intents and purposes, economic growth and development. Far from it: the year had hardly settled down from its astronomical journey when extremely disparaging news began to emanate from Nigeria. By 2nd January, the country's citizens were already gearing up for a showdown with their central government over what was seen as an irresponsible removal of the subsidy on petroleum products, a move which would see the already low standard of living of the masses dampen even more, while from the Northern segment of the country, Boko Haram, an Islamist sect responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Nigerians, was issuing an eviction threat to all Southerners resident in the North to leave or face attacks. In the face of the obnoxious reality, the usual Happy New Year greetings had been drained of its excitement as Southerners ran helter-skelter to reach safe havens while the remaining bulk of the masses pummeled the Government in series of street protests and nation-wide industrial action. Tension and uncertainty reigned supreme. How the country eventually swam away from the troubled waters which left many worrying about the continued survival of the nation-state, is an entirely different kettle of fish. An impression had however been made. It is simple: The Government cannot continually push the people to the wall or to their elastic limit without risking a possible rebound or reflection as in the case of light rays. As usual, did other African leaders
While the Nigerian experience lingered, coup plotters, harking back to what we should consider a long gone unlamented era toppled the President Amadou Toumani Touré administration in Mali within weeks of presidential elections. We had barely recovered from the shock of the Military takeover in Mali, when angry soldiers overran the Democratic Government in Guinea-Bissau: a development which has seen the United States based online news giant, GlobalPost describe the period as “West Africa's Season of Coups”. Before we rush right out into condemning the coups which has once again shot Africa to the very wrong side of global media headlines, it is expedient to ask if West Africa breed coups, as many have contended? Not necessarily. There are some signs of strong democracies. Senegal recently steered off the verge of instability when the incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade conceded his defeat at the polls; thus accomplishing a feat which has been so lacking in the continent’s echelons of sit-tight, never backing-out leaders. Ghana held successful elections in 2009, which saw a peaceful change of government. Liberia's recent elections, in which Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won a second term, helped strengthen that country's democratic ascent from civil war. Sierra Leone and Togo are also looking stable. Last year Ivory Coast deteriorated into ethnic division and conflict when President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept his defeat at the polls. But at the last moment the intervention of UN and French forces pulled the country back from full-scale conflict. Also, last year Southern Sudan gained her independence, but today rather than settle down to seek a viable way forward for the new nation, the conflict between her and Sudan is leaving sour and bitter tastes in the mouth of the people. Although Mali and Guinea-Bissau are very close to each other geographically and they had coups within weeks of each other with the truth being that each coup is a product of a particular circumstance, one can however make sweeping generalizations. In the case of Mali, army officers protested the weak support they received in the fight against Tuareg rebels in the northern part of that country from President A m a d o u To u m a n i To u r e ' s government. They complained that money was siphoned off and troops were being sent to the harsh northern
desert without adequate food or equipment with their wives also protesting the same issues. The Guinea-Bissau experience being slightly different as reports suggest that the military officers toppled the civilian administration of interim President Raimundo Pereira because they felt their drug trafficking interests were threatened. When threaded, the noxious reality resonate that corruption, greed in high places and poor leadership remains the bane of the African continent and until African leaders rise up to the challenge of ridding the continent off poverty and tackling the problem of corruption in governance, the truth is that these would be re-occurring. Many weak links still remain in Africa, the largest perhaps being Nigeria, which is threatened by the growth of Islamic extremist violence from Boko Haram and continued corruption. This is why President Jonathan must rise up to its billing and demonstrate in concrete terms his administration’s fight against corruption, especially in the face of several revelations that has found their way to the fore vide the Subsidy probe as well as the Pension Fund probe, to mention just a few. African governments must shift attention to building strong institutions, industries, refrain from the beggarly posture of relying on foreign aids and reducing the cost of government operation. The secret and strength for building our continent lies in us. We must look deep to discover it. Our past yearns for it. Our present demands it. The future seeks for it. *
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Back from that, we have painstakingly packaged this edition to as usual keep you informed and entertained. You will find in it interesting events across the country, from the golden Jubilee celebration of Shipping Amazon, Pauline Ehimuan, through Imo State where the Gov. Rochas Okoracha's Chief of Staff, Prince Ezeakonobi Madumere coasted home in the massive Civil Reception accorded him by his Mbieri people, to up North where the National Assembly Clerk, Alhaji Salisu Maikaswa was conferred Ciroman Keffi in Nasarawa state. These and many more packages you will no doubt find interesting and entertaining. Welcome!
XCEL PEOPLE
Remembering
STEPHEN BIKO
South Africa’s Black Liberation Martyr
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ven though South African history has and continues to recognize and honour the contributions of courageous leaders and black spokesmen like Jabavu, Xuma, Makgatho, Luthuli, Mandela, and Sobukwe who devoted their energies to the liberation of blacks from the oppressive shackles of apartheid and its agents, Stephen Bantu Biko, founder of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) of the 1970s undisputedly secured a special place in the country's echelons of national heroes. Indeed some followers of SA's history might want to argue this, but after Robert Sobukwe, founder of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) and Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the African National Congress (ANC), Nelson Mandela were both imprisoned on Robben Island in Table Bay in 1961 alongside their respective parties, it was a certain young Steve who spearheaded and sustained the black cause as the undisputed articulator of black political aspirations. After the banning of ANC and PAC, there had been a public vacuum in black resistance politics. Although remnants of these groups went underground, the cream of the leadership had been jailed, and public ANC and PAC influence was minimal. Into this vacuum stepped this unusually gifted man, Bantu Stephen Biko, and he filled it to articulate the aim and philosophy of the black struggle as no other black leader had quite been able to do before. He assumed the mantle of leadership unpretentiously and unobtrusively towards the close of the 1960s. Steve's special position in the annals of South Africa was however ultimately sealed not just because of his remarkable qualities, but because he was to become the first of the country's anti-apartheid leaders to die at the hands of the State. Though the young Steve portrayed certain radical panache typical of the aforementioned PAC and ANC frontiers before him, his approach to the black liberation struggle in South Africa however took a different outlook. The idea behind Steve's Black Consciousness was to break away almost entirely from past black attitudes to the liberation struggle and to set a new style of self-reliance and dignity for blacks as a psychological attitude leading to new initiatives. In fact, Barry Burke writes in Biko and informal and community education that
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Steve Biko is remembered for the emphasis he placed on the role played by consciousness and awareness-raising in his work as a black activist. “Steve Biko wanted more than anything, an end to the apartheid regime in S o u t h Africa b u t
he was against a hastily arranged political compromise which was styled as integration. He maintained that only 'once the various groups within a given community have asserted themselves to the point that mutual respect has to be shown then you have the ingredients for a true and meaningful integration'. The main problem, Biko felt, was that 'as long as blacks are suffering from inferiority complex a result of 300 years of deliberate oppression, denigration and derision' this could not be done,” Burke wrote in the article. Biko felt that the logic of white domination in the country meant that blacks had to be prepared for a subservient role. He maintained that what apartheid had produced was 'a kind of black man that is man only in form' a process of dehumanisation had taken place. 'The black man has become a shell, a shadow of man, completely defeated, drowning in his own misery, a slave, an ox bearing the yoke of oppression with sheepish timidity'. 'The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth'. This is what Steve Biko meant by Black Consciousness.
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Biko claimed that African history had been distorted by white historians to ensure that African children learned to hate their heritage which had been disfigured so that African culture became to be seen as akin to barbarism and reduced to tribal battles and internecine wars (A view which he shares with Donald Woods, his journalist friend who would later dedicate a book to his memory after his murder by the system). He made the point that 'a people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine'. Black consciousness, according to Steve Biko, sought 'to show black people the value of their own standards and outlook …to judge themselves according to these standards and not to be fooled by white society who have whitewashed themselves and made white standards the yardstick by which even black people judge each other'. At a student conference held in 1971, Biko made the point that 'the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed'. This was Steve Biko's approach to the Black Liberation struggle in South Africa. Born in Kingwilliamstown, Cape Province, South Africa 1946, as he wrote in his magnum opus, I write what I like; Steve Biko was against a hastily arranged political
compromise which was styled as integration. He maintained that only 'once the various groups within a given community have asserted themselves to the point that mutual respect has to be shown then you have the ingredients for a true and meaningful integration'. The main problem, Biko felt, was that 'as long as blacks are suffering from inferiority complex a result of 300 years of deliberate oppression, denigration and derision' this could not be done”. In a paper produced for a student leadership training course in 1971, Steve Biko spelt out in more detail what he meant by black consciousness. He defined blacks as 'those who are by law or tradition politically, economically and socially discriminated against as a group in South African society and identifying themselves as a unit in the struggle towards the realisation of their aspirations'. This illustrated the point that 'being black is not a matter of pigmentation”. “Being black is a reflection of a mental attitude' he said, adding that 'by describing yourself as black you have started on the road to emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being'.
together roughly 70 different black consciousness groups and associations, such as the South African Student's Movement (SASM), which played a significant role in the 1976 uprisings, the National Association of Youth Organisations, and the Black Workers Project which supported black workers whose unions were not recognized under the Apartheid regime. Elected Honorary President of the BPC in January 1977, he helped set up the Zimele Trust Fund which assisted political prisoners and their families. In spite of the repression of the apartheid government, Biko and the BCM played a significant role in organising the protests which culminated in the Soweto Uprising of 16 June 1976. In the aftermath of the uprising, which was crushed by heavily armed police shooting school children protesting, the authorities began to target Biko further.
The paper continued by emphasising that black consciousness sought 'to infuse the black community with a new-found pride in themselves, their efforts, their value systems, their culture, their religion and their outlook to life … Liberation, therefore, is of paramount importance in the concept of Black consciousness, for we cannot be conscious of ourselves and yet remain in bondage.
Biko was detained and interrogated four times between August 1975 and September 1977 under Apartheid era anti-terrorism legislation. On 21 August 1977 Biko was detained by the Eastern Cape security police and held in Port Elizabeth. From the Walmer police cells he was taken for interrogation at the security police headquarters. On 7 September "Biko sustained a head injury during interrogation, after which he acted strangely and was uncooperative. The doctors who examined him (naked, lying on a mat and manacled to a metal grille) initially disregarded overt signs of neurological injury."
In his evidence at a trial in 1976, he spelt out the kind of role that activists like himself played within the black community: 'We try to get blacks … to grapple realistically with their problems, to attempt to find solutions to their problems, to develop what one might call an awareness, a physical awareness of their situation, to be able to analyse it, and to provide answers for themselves. The purpose behind it really being to provide some kind of hope'.
By 11 September Biko had slipped into a continual, semi-conscious state and the police physician recommended a transfer to hospital. Biko was, however, transported 1,200 km to Pretoria a 12-hour journey which he made lying naked in the back of a Land Rover. A few hours later, on 12 September, alone and still naked, lying on the floor of a cell in the Pretoria Central Prison, Biko died from brain damage at age 31.
He was initially involved with the multiracial National Union of South African Students, but after he became convinced that Black, Indian and Coloured students needed an organization of their own, he helped found the South African Students' Organisation
Then South African Minister of Justice, James (Jimmy) Kruger initially suggested Biko had died of a hunger-strike and said that his death "left him cold". The hunger strike story was dropped after local and international media pressure, especially from Donald Woods, the editor of the East London Daily Dispatch. It was revealed in the inquest that Biko had died of brain damage, but the magistrate failed to find anyone responsible, ruling that Biko had died as a result of i n j u r i e s sustained during a scuffle with security police whilst in detention.
In 1972 Biko was one of the founders of the Black Peoples Convention (BPC) which worked on social upliftment projects around Durban. The BPC effectively brought
The brutal circumstance s of Biko's death caused a worldwide outcry and he became a martyr and symbol of
black resistance to the oppressive Apartheid regime. As a result, the South African government banned a number of individuals (including Donald Woods, a journalist, editor and close friend of Biko's) and organizations, especially those Black Consciousness groups closely associated with Biko. Then journalist and now political leader, Helen Zille, along with Donald Woods, exposed the truth behind Biko's death. Because of his high profile, news of Biko's death spread quickly, opening many eyes around the world to the brutality of the apartheid regime. His funeral was attended by over 20000 people, including numerous ambassadors and other diplomats from the United States and Western Europe. Biko has been the subject of many tributes in many different genres of music, including rap, hip hop, jazz, reggae and rock. In 1978, for instance, Peter Hammill on his album The future Now in the song "A motor bike in Afrika" was the first to mention Biko (after his death) in England. Apart from Donald Woods' book called Biko, his name has been honoured at several universities. Locally, the main Student Union buildings of the University of Cape Town are named in his honour and each year a commemorative Steve Biko lecture, open to all students, is delivered on the anniversary of his death. Internationally, the University of Manchester's student union, the Steve Biko Building, on the Oxford road campus, is named in his honour. Ruskin College, Oxford has a Biko House student accommodation. The bar at the University of Bradford was named after Biko until its closure in 2005. Numerous other venues in Students Unions around the United Kingdom also bear his name. While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan "black is beautiful", which he described as meaning: "man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being". Biko married Ntsiki Mashalaba in 1970. They had two children together: Nkosinathi, born in 1971, and Samora. He also had two children with Dr Mamphela Ramphele (a prominent activist within the BCM): a daughter, Lerato, born in 1974, who died of pneumonia when she was only two months old, and a son, Hlumelo, who was born in 1978, after Biko's death. Biko also had a daughter with Lorraine Tabane, named Motlatsi, born in May 1977. Biko may have brutally died more than 30years ago, but the zest and intellectual driven plane of his activism still holds a lot of lessons for the 21st century Blackman: The Blackman who would do everything within his power to dress western, and of course the black woman who would go out of her way to bleach just to change her skin pigment to look foreign. We at XCEL join Biko to say to you, “man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being”. For his unique and significant contributions towards the liberation of Blacks in South Africa vis-a-vis Blacks all over the world, we at XCEL consider him a worthy African icon, and posthumously decorate the late Stephen Biko with the XCEL SEAL OF EXCELLENCE.
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AFRICA PERISCOPE
Nigerian Communities raise alarm over Total gas leak
T
he people of Ogbogu, Egita, Obiyebe and Obite in Ogba/Ndoni/Egbema Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eastern Nigeria, have raised alarm over the impact of a gas leak from a Total E&P Nigeria Limited, TEPNG, facility on their communities. Total, meanwhile, said it had shut production at its Obite gas plant due to a technical fault on its facility in the area that resulted in a gas eruption. President General, Egi Peoples Assembly, EPA, Chief Oris Onyiri, who raised alarm over the impact of the gas eruption on their communities, said: “Ogbogu, Egita, Obiyebe and Obite communities were
seriously affected by the eruption. “The gas eruption has devastated farmlands, forests, wetlands and other vital economic and environmental resources of the communities in the area. There is palpable fear of contamination of the air and underground water in the affected area. “This has thrown the entire Egi communities into trauma, fear and anxiety. There is also a threat to the biodiversity of the area on which the livelihood of the communities depends.” TEPNG, in a statement, however, said a special task force had been constituted and would work with well control experts to find
Latest Coup Another Setback For Guinea-bissau
New Malawi President Joyce Banda is Africa's 2nd Female President
D
evelopment, democracy and stability gains in Guinea-Bissau have suffered a major setback following the military takeover in Guinea-Bissau on 12 April. The UN Security Council has threatened sanctions; and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLC) has proposed sending “peacekeepers” to the country. On 12 April military leaders detained Prime Minister and presidential candidate Carols Gomes Jr (known as Cadogo) and interim President Raimundo Pereira, going on to appoint failed presidential candidate Manuel Serifo Nhamajo as president of a proposed two-year transitional government in a move which the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deemed “illegal” and which has also been strongly condemned by the UN Security Council, European Union, African Union and CPLC. Since 1994 no elected president in Guinea-Bissau has finished his mandate. The UN Security Council on 21 April threatened to impose sanctions against coup-leaders. Following this announcement, the Junta allegedly shifted its hardline stance, telling a reporter the twoyear transition government was just a proposal, according to one international press report. ECOWAS communications director, Sonny Ugoh announced on 19 April that it was “completely taken aback” by the transition proposal. The CPLC has taken a more hardline approach from the start, pushing for a peacekeeping intervention force. Several Bissau residents welcomed the notion of foreign intervention. Deolinda Tavares, a 65-year-old market-seller, told IRIN: “We have tarnished our image and our credibility is forever lost to the world.” Alimatou Touré, a 50-year-old housewife is outraged and fed up. "This is not a normal situation in which we live... Democracy is the only way that people can follow to be free and sovereign.” However, Guinea-Bissau expert Vincent Foucher of the International Crisis
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Malawi's Vice-President, Joyce Banda, has been sworn in as president following the death of Bingu wa Mutharika. She becomes southern Africa's first female head of state after taking the oath before parliament in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe. Ms Banda, who had been vicepresident since 2009, was cheered and applauded before, during and after the ceremony. Mr Mutharika, 78, went into cardiac arrest on Thursday, April 5, 2012, although his death was not confirmed until
Group, fears an international intervention against the junta, which has no consent from the army, could lead to bloodshed in a situation which has thus far been death-free; and could radicalize, criminalize, and factionalize the military junta leaders. “In this case, while it is essential to have it in the toolkit to demonstrate that the international community means business, it is far too early to use it - negotiation is what is needed now,” he told IRIN. Since winning independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has struggled through a dictatorship, three coups and a president's assassination three years ago. The country also is a known a conduit for Latin American drug traffickers shipping cocaine and other drugs to Europe, reported Reuters.
technical solution to the problem created by the gas resurge on the facility. The company claimed that there had been no injury as a result of the incident.
Saturday, April 7 2012. The delay in announcing his death had prompted fears of a power struggle. There had been speculation that the late president's inner circle was trying to circumvent Malawi's constitution to prevent Ms Banda from taking over and instead install his brother, Foreign Minister Peter Mutharika. Ms Banda had fallen out with Mr Mutharika in 2010 and became one of his fiercest critics. She was expelled from the ruling Democratic People's Party and formed the People's Party. She was elected as vicepresident in 2009 and Mr Mutharika had failed in his attempts to have her removed from h e r p o s t . In taking the oath of office, Ms Banda pledged to "defend and preserve the constitution" and to do right to all manner of people, according to l a w . She then asked parliament to stand for two minutes' silence as a tribute to Mr Mutharika. Asking Malawians to "focus on mourning our father," Ms Banda added: "It is with a great sense of humility and honour that I accept the huge responsibility of that the people of Malawi have entrusted me with.” Mr. Mutharika governed Malawi for eight years, but was recently accused of mismanaging the economy and becoming increasingly autocratic. He fell out last year with Britain, the former colonial power, which withdrew its direct aid, accusing the Malawian government of mishandling the economy and of failing to u p h o l d h u m a n r i g h t s . Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated 75% of the population living on less than $1 (60p) a day. The country has suffered shortages of fuel and foreign currency since the UK and other donors cancelled aid.
Libya: UN Mission Voices Concern over Renewed Violence
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t least 14 people were killed in two days, April in renewed clashes between rival armed groups in the city of Zuwara in the west. The United Nations mission in Libya expressed deep concern over the recent intensification of violence in three towns in the north-west and deplored reports of a growing number of casualties.
and restore calm.
of the public, the UNSMIL statement said.
"The Libyan people sacrificed their lives to secure their freedom for a new, democratic Libya for all its citizens," said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNSMIL, Ian Martin, in a press release. "I call on all parties to recall this sacrifice and resolve their differences without resort to the use of force."
The mission added that the clashes were a legacy of four decades of autocratic rule, stressing the need for all members of the Libyan society to recognize the need to work towards reconciliation.
The UN Support Mission for Libya (UNSMIL) urged parties involved in the fighting around the towns of Zuwara, al-Jumail and Regdalin to immediately cease hostilities while talks continue, and welcomed efforts by authorities and local leaders to broker a ceasefire
The latest clashes around Zuwara, coming on the heels of fighting in the south, underline the need for the authorities to accelerate efforts to build strong security institutions, including the integration of revolutionary fighters and the collection of heavy weapons from members
Elderly Kenyans threaten UK colonial abuse lawsuit
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housands of elderly Kenyans are preparing to sue the British government over abuses including torture, illegal detentions and rape its forces allegedly committed during its suppression of a 1950s anti-colonial rebellion, a lawyer representing the group said.
- South Sudan President
outh Sudan's President said its northern neighbor has "declared war" on the world's newest nation, just hours after Sudanese jets dropped eight bombs on his country. President Salva Kiir's comments, made during a trip to China, signal a rise in rhetoric between the rival nations, who spent decades at war with each other. Neither side has officially declared war. Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent times over the unresolved issues of oil revenues and their disputed border. The violence has drawn alarm and condemnation from the international community, including from US President Barack Obama.
The British government had tried to have the case by the four thrown out, saying it could not be held legally responsible for the longago abuses. It argues that all the powers and liabilities of the colonial administration passed to the Kenyan government on independence in 1963.
South Sudan won independence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people. The UN Security Council was briefed on the situation and members demanded "an immediate halt to aerial bombardments by the Sudanese armed forces and urged an immediate cease-fire and return to the negotiating table," Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations and the current council president, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
Rabala said his firm, with the help of a U.K. law firm, is collecting more statements from Kenyans allegedly held by the British in detention camps after a 1952 uprising led by a militia group known as the Mau Mau. Britain imposed a state of emergency that lasted until 1959. "The victims know some of the names of those who raped them, tortured them. They have scars and some have documents showing when they were incarcerated and where," Rabala said. He said he expects the British government to settle the case out of court because if it goes to trial it will consume a lot of time and taxpayer money. During the uprising in 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent British soldiers to help colonial administrators capture the Mau Mau fighters and send them to detention camps. African soldiers under the King's African Rifles regiment also took part in the assault on the Mau Mau and their supporters. President Barack Obama's grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was one of thousands of Kenyans detained. Obama's grandfather died in 1979. "It is right that those who feel they have a case are free to take it to the courts. We understand the pain and grievance felt by those, on all sides, who were involved in the divisive and bloody events of the emergency period in Kenya," a spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office said on condition of anonymity in line with policy. "Our relationship with Kenya and its people has moved on since the emergency period. We are now partners and the U.K. is one of the largest bilateral donors in Kenya.” Among the 6,000 planning to sue is the wife of Dedan Kimathi, one of Mau Mau's most revered, Rabala said. British fighters arrested
S o u t h Sudan's military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonov warplanes dropped eight bombs overnight in Panakuac, where he said there was ground fighting. Aguer said he did not know how many people were killed in the attack because of poor communication links with the remote area.
Sudan has ‘declared War’ S
The group of Kenyans is motivated by the progress of a case by four other elderly Kenyans, who were given the go-ahead by a British court last year to sue the U.K. government for alleged abuses during its colonial occupation of Kenya, said lawyer Donald Rabala.
Rabala said his firm has taken statements from more than 6,000 people who claim to have either been tortured, detained illegally, raped, forcefully displaced from their land, among other abuses.
Briefing the Security Council in January, Mr. Martin said security remains a major concern in Libya. Clashes in different parts of the country highlighted the risks associated with the abundance of weapons and the diverse armed "brigades" operating with unclear lines of command and control.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gave a fiery speech in which he said there will be no negotiations with the "poisonous insects" who are challenging Sudan's claim to disputed territory near the border. Kiir, the southern president, arrived in China for a five-day visit to lobby for economic and diplomatic support. China's energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans. Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the conflict, given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan's government in the north. Kiir told Chinese President Hu Jintao the visit comes at a "a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war on the Republic of South Sudan."
and hanged Kimathi. He has since been honored by the Kenyan government as a national hero. His widow, Mukami Kimathi, was incarcerated by the British, according to Rabala, though he declined to go into the details of what she experienced during her detention. The new potential cases were inspired by a ruling by British High Court Judge Richard McCombe, who last July found that the four Kenyans "have arguable cases in law," and their suits can go ahead. Britain's Africa Minister Henry Bellingham said at the time, that the government would continue to fight the claim, "given the length of time elapsed and the complex legal and constitutional questions the case raises.” He said Britain understood "the pain and grievance felt by those, on all sides, who were involved in the divisive and bloody events of the Emergency period in Kenya.”
Sudanese warplanes were said to have bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people, after Sudanese ground forces reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery. The UN Mission in South Sudan confirmed that at least 16 civilians in South Sudan were killed and 34 injured in bombings by Sudanese aircraft in Unity State, ambassador Rice told reporters. She said the mission reported that the bombings also caused significant damage to infrastructure. Talks over oil revenue and the border issues broke down April, after violence flared. South Sudan invaded the oil-rich border town of Heglig, which Sudan claims it controls. Following international pressure, South Sudan announced that it withdrew all its soldiers from Heglig. Sudan claimed its troops forced them out. Rice said the Security Council welcomed the withdrawal of South Sudan's forces from Heglig. She said many of the 15 council nations expressed concern about reports of extensive damage to oil infrastructure in Heglig. Al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, has vowed to press ahead with his military campaign until all southern troops or affiliated forces are chased out of territory Sudan claims. He also said he would never allow South Sudanese oil to pass through Sudan "even if they give us half the proceeds." Landlocked South Sudan stopped pumping oil through Sudan in January, accusing the government in Khartoum of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of oil revenue. Sudan responded by bombing the South's oil fields. In Khartoum, the pro-government Sudanese Media Center said that two of Sudan's Darfur states began implementing a ban on shipping to South Sudan. The ban was imposed by Sudan's parliament. Officials in the Darfur states said they warned merchants that "stern measures will be taken against any person found to be smuggling food supplies and other commodities into South Sudan," the SMC reported. Sudanese officials said the measures were imposed in response to the invasion of Heglig. South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said earlier this month that Chinese and American investors want to build oil refineries in the South in the next six to seven months. Benjamin said the refineries will help South Sudan process fuel for local consumption. South Sudan will also build a pipeline to the Kenyan coast and another to Djibouti through Ethiopia to be able to export its oil, he said. He said both projects were meant to make South Sudan independent of Sudan's fuel infrastructure and processing plants. XL
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Message to My
BRODA
M Akpojiomie Akpojiomie
y beloved President, Alua O!
I bring you greetings from my loving wife and children. How is life at Aso Rock and our Auntie Pee? After sending my last letter, I realised that I forgot to tell you that I am now a grandfather. Do you remember your favourite of my daughters Kpeseme, who will always be on your feet whenever you visited in the good old days? She put to bed a bouncing baby boy, and since then i have gladly ascended the status of a grand-daddy. Yabeh! But for the events of the last national strive in which your name really suffered untold insults and humiliation, I would have named my grandson Goodluck. Brother, there are very pressing issues on my mind. My heart is, in fact, heavy with the unfortunate issues that have ravaged our once peaceful country since my last letter to you. Bros J, it is so disheartening that after my last letter in which I advised on how I think you should prepare toward your then proposed subsidy removal, virtually no measures were put in place as panacea to help ameliorate the attendant suffering that would greet the masses. I had suggested that you should put in place a well articulated mass transit scheme that was supposed to attend to the problem of transport hike. Even the other palliatives I suggested you never did. Yabeh! You didn't need to wait for the people of Nigeria to start insulting you before hurriedly and haphazardly introducing a mass transit scheme. I felt bad for you when the Labour Unions and those so called civil rights activists with loud speakers, took to the streets of major cities in the country to protest against the unanticipated and sudden withdrawal of the subsidy on petrol January 1. One thing that pains me is that by rushing to withdraw the subsidy without any palliative measure on ground and hastily and partially reneging on the decision when it was obvious that it was ill timed; you unconsciously pencilled your name on the long list of Nigerian leaders who often than not force down very obnoxious and unworkable policies down the aching throats of poor masses without thinking them through. Too bad, on the conscious plane, you equally gained an unusual reputation as, so far, the most abused Nigerian President, living or dead. One can only now remember with disgust the gory sight of some of those comical illustrations, depicting you and some members of the so called subsidy withdrawal engine room while the entire conflagration lasted. The Nigerian President reduced to an object of comical display on the pages of newspapers and soft-sale magazines? Oh no, that was just so unbearable and unacceptable. Bros, the truth is that I wept uncontrollably at the sight of some of those abusive illustrations and rallies on TV. While I would take solace on the truism that one need not rabble rouse over spilled milk non end, I am hopeful that you learnt a lot of lessons from the entire crisis. One thing has become increasingly clear, and that is the fact that Nigerians are becoming an increasingly aware people indeed desirous of the rapid transformation of their country, but would not fall cheaply for mere promises especially when obvious facts on ground appear to suggest otherwise. Nigerians would no longer be cowed by anybody. And of all people, I make bold to say you will be one of the last persons to ever imagine such for our fellow countrymen. My beloved President, the entire subsidy withdrawal gridlock was undeniably a troubling debacle and I don't want to spend the whole time writing you about it. However, it must have donned on you that the entire big-big names and professors you have around you are so disconnected from the people and so do not know the reality of the situation on ground. If not so, how can you justify the fact that not even one member of your executive council could remember that there is need to put palliative measures in place before withdrawing subsidy.
Beloved President
for now, but don't f o r g e t t h a t Nigerians watched, like a reality TV Show the public hearing on the administration of the subsidy funds. Nigerians saw the open shame which emanated from the hearing, session after session. They heard how 3million litres supplied metamorphosed to 13million litres on paper, and all sorts of anomalies. These same Nigerians are waiting patiently to see what will come out of all of these. Bros, you may not wait for Nigerians to rise up again before you begin to fish out those to be punished for the corruption that defaced the oil sector. Again, Bros the SURE agenda and several other matters attached to it, is another matter Nigerians are waiting for. You did promise that in six months the impact of subsidy removal will be felt by the people. Today, it is almost three months down the road and the expected quick-impact projects or programmes do not seem to have hit the road. Bros, you must ensure that those responsible for this promise are made to work assiduously hard to ensure that the benefits begin to roll in, before the people begin to lose their patience.
But because of the limited time we have to ourselves, I must quickly mention the alltoo-recent diplomatic face-off with our African brothers across the Atlantic, there in South Africa and the strained relationship between Britain and Italy over the killing of its national in a botched rescue mission orchestrated by the British Government. Bros J, it has now become a recurring decimal for other countries, even microbe ones in our impoverished continent to treat anything that has to do with us with so much disdain and impunity. Nigeria and her nationals in the Diaspora have become an object of derision and mockery. A few years ago, while rampage South African youths slaughtered our helpless countrymen in their numbers, the explanation we received for the dastardly act is that it was fuelled by Xenophobia, whatever that means. Either because we refused to act appropriately or more decisively it was only a matter of time before the badbeller people would attack our Embassy there in South Africa, destroying properties worth a lot of fortune. Down in 2012, has the situation changed, has the average Nigerian regained his respect in the eyes of the despising South African? It was saddening to hear of the deportation of over 125 of our countrymen from South Africa, that country we stood by to make sure that the imposers of white domination were chased out of power to leave but live. Now this is how we get paid. Insulted, prejudiced broad-day beaten for the entire world to see us weep, cry like new born babies looking up to his
Bros, whereas, that subsidy issue may seem to have died down
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mother for breast milk. Now what was our fault? Yabeh! We were told that our nationals did not have yellow cards, meaning that they were not immunized against the ailment and probably would spread it if allowed into their country. But come to think of it bros, how else does a country which pays very little premium on its citizens expect other countries to treat its nationals. Of course with impunity, disgust and make a public shame of them like they have done with the unfortunate 125. I hear a serving senator was involved in the debacle. Too bad. This is funny , a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria deported from the Airport for lack of yellow card. Abomination! Bros J, even with that experience, I can assure you that virtually all 125 of the deportees including our dearly beloved senator would rush right back once cleared to make a return. Our country is being increasingly bereft of patriotic and nationalistic citizens. Everyone including even our senators would rather flee to South Africa to escape systemic failure, epileptic power supply, death trap roads, crumbling and corruption ravaged educational and financial institutions and numerous other problems. Life is purely based on principles, a country that cannot provide even the basic necessities of life for its citizens to gain their loyalty and respect should not expect others to do the same. We have to earn our respect by improving our infrastructure and get the country working and comfortable for the people so as to reduce the rate of emigration of Nigerians to foetus countries. Needless to stay on the British-ItalianNigerian brawl following the killing of their nationals by Boko Haram. But there are a few lessons to learn from it, my beloved President. I was very happy when I read the reaction of the Italian President on the killing of their national by a rescue mission that was spearheaded by the British without the due consultation of the Italians. I was specially thrilled by the diplomatic roar that set in by that singular flaw on the part of the British. Bros J that is an example of a country that takes the welfare and security of its citizens very seriously. Could the same be said of the worth of a Nigerian life? My beloved President, I beg to stop here to allow you attend to your very demanding schedule. Until next time when I would have this opportunity again to write to you, please extend my regards to our mother and once again your brother in Abuja Namadi. I pray that the good Lord will continue to guide you all. Your Kinsman, Akpos
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L
assa fever is an acute viral illness that occurs in West Africa. The illness was discovered in 1969 when two missionary nurses died in Nigeria, West Africa. The cause of the illness was found to be Lassa virus, named after the town in Nigeria where the first cases originated. The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, is a single-stranded RNA virus and is zoonotic, or animal-borne. In areas of Africa where the disease is endemic (that is, constantly present), Lassa fever is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. While Lassa fever is mild or has no observable symptoms in about 80% of people infected with the virus, the remaining 20% have a severe multisystem disease. Lassa fever is also associated with occasional epidemics, during which the case-fatality rate can reach 50%. Lassa fever is an endemic disease in portions of West Africa. It is recognized in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, as well as Nigeria. However, because the rodent species which carry the virus are found throughout West Africa, the actual geographic range of the disease may extend to other countries in the region. The number of Lassa virus infections per year in West Africa is estimated at 300,000 to half a million with approximately 5,000 deaths. Unfortunately, such estimates are crude, because surveillance for cases of the disease is not uniformly performed. In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is known that 10%-16% of people admitted to hospitals have Lassa fever, which indicates the serious impact of the disease on the population of this region. Lassa virus is zoonotic (transmitted from animals), in that it spreads to man from rodents, specifically multi-mammate rats (Mastomys natalensis). It is not certain which species of Mastomys are associated with Lassa; however, at least two species carry the virus in Sierra Leone. Mastomys rodents breed very frequently, produce large numbers of offspring, and are numerous in the savannas and forests of West, Central, and East Africa. In addition, Mastomys generally readily colonize human homes. All these factors together contribute to the relatively efficient spread of Lassa virus from infected rodents to humans. There are a number of ways in which the virus may be transmitted, or spread, to humans. The Mastomys rodents shed the virus in urine and droppings. Therefore, the virus can be transmitted through direct contact with these materials, through touching objects or eating food contaminated with these materials, or through cuts or sores. Because Mastomys rodents often live in and around homes and scavenge on human food remains or poorly stored food, transmission of this sort is common. Contact with the virus also may occur when a person inhales tiny particles in the air contaminated with rodent excretions. This is called aerosol or airborne transmission. Finally, because Mastomys rodents are sometimes consumed as a food source, infection may occur via direct contact when they are caught and
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prepared for food. Lassa fever may also spread through person-toperson contact. This type of transmission occurs when a person comes into contact with virus in the blood, tissue, secretions, or excretions of an individual infected with the Lassa virus. The virus cannot be spread through casual contact (including skin-to-skin contact without exchange of body fluids). Person-to-person transmission is common in both village and health care settings, where, along with the above-mentioned modes of transmission, the virus also may be spread in contaminated medical equipment, such as reused needles (this is called nosocomial transmission). Signs and symptoms of Lassa fever typically occur 1-3 weeks after the patient comes into contact with the virus. These i n c l u d e f e v e r, retrosternal pain (pain behi
Approximately 15%-20% of patients hospitalized for Lassa fever die from the illness. However, overall only about 1% of infections with Lassa virus result in death. The death rates are particularly high for women in the third trimester of pregnancy, and for fetuses, about 95% of which die in the uterus of infected pregnant mothers. Ribavirin, an antiviral drug, has been used with success in Lassa fever patients. It has been shown to be most effective when given early in the course of the illness. Patients should also receive supportive care consisting of maintenance of appropriate fluid and electrolyte balance, oxygenation and blood pressure, as well as treatment of any other complicating infections. Individuals at risk are those who live or visit areas with a high population of Mastomys rodents infected with Lassa virus or are exposed to infected humans. Hospital staff are not at great risk for infection as long as protective measures are taken. Primary transmission of the Lassa virus from its host to humans can be prevented by avoiding contact with Mastomys rodents, especially in the geographic regions where outbreaks occur. Putting food away in rodent-proof containers and keeping the home clean help to discourage rodents from entering homes. Using these rodents as a food source is not recommended. Trapping in and around homes can help reduce rodent populations. However, the wide distribution of Mastomys in Africa makes complete control of this rodent reservoir impractical.
nd the chest wall), sore throat, back pain, cough, abdominal p a i n , vomiting, diarrhe a , conjunct ivitis, facial swelling, proteinuria (protein in the urine), and mucosal bleeding. Neurological problems have also been described, including hearing loss, tremors, and encephalitis. Because the symptoms of Lassa fever are so varied and nonspecific, clinical diagnosis is often difficult.
When caring for patients with Lassa fever, further transmission of the disease through person-to-person contact or nosocomial routes can be avoided by taking preventive precautions against contact with patient secretions (together called VHF isolation precautions or barrier nursing methods). Such precautions include wearing protective clothing, such as masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles; using infection control measures, such as complete equipment sterilization; and isolating infected patients from contact with unprotected persons until the disease has run its course.
Lassa fever is most often diagnosed by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assays (ELISA), which detect IgM and IgG antibodies as well as Lassa antigen. The virus itself may be cultured in 7 to 10 days. Immunohistochemistry performed on tissue specimens can be used to make a post-mortem diagnosis. The virus can also be detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); however, this method is primarily a research tool.
Prevention of Lassa fever in the community centers on promoting good “community hygiene� to discourage rodents from entering homes. Effective measures include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and keeping cats. Because mastomys are so abundant in endemic areas, it is not possible to completely eliminate them from the environment.
The most common complication of Lassa fever is deafness. Various degrees of deafness occur in approximately one-third of cases, and in many cases hearing loss is permanent. As far as is known, severity of the disease does not affect this complication: deafness may develop in mild as well as in severe cases. Spontaneous abortion is another serious complication.
There is need to further educate people in highrisk areas about ways to decrease rodent populations in their homes will aid in the control and prevention of Lassa fever. Other challenges include developing more rapid diagnostic tests and increasing the availability of the only known drug treatment, ribavirin. Research is presently under way to develop a vaccine for Lassa fever.
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SPECIAL REPORT
Africa’s 40 Richest F orbes’ inaugural list of the 40 Richest People in Africa is a testament to the growing global importance of the continent. Fortunes are being created everywhere from South Africa clear north to Morocco and Egypt in a diverse array of industries, by companies that cater to local tastes or worldwide needs. The combined wealth of the 40 richest is $64.9 billion – more than Thailand’s 40 richest (at $45 billion) but less than Taiwan’s (at $92.7 billion).
See complete coverage and the full list of Africa’s 40 Richest here. The richest among them is Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, with a $10.1 billion fortune based on his stake in publiclytraded Dangote Cement –which has operations across Africa as well as his interests in flour milling, sugar refining and salt processing. Behind him at number two is South African diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer, with a $6.5 billion fortune. Oppenheimer decided in early November to sell the family’s remaining stake in diamond miner DeBeers to mining behemoth Anglo American, ending more than 80 years of family ownership. In a small world twist, Anglo
American was founded by Nicky’s grandfather in 1917, making for very deep ties between the companies.
Dangote and Oppenheimer are two of 16 billionaires among Africa’s 40 richest. Egypt boasts the largest number of billionaires in Africa, with 7 (primarily from two families—the Sawiris and Mansours). South Africa, the African country with the biggest gross domestic product (an estimated $357 billion in 2010), is second with 4 ten-figure fortunes but it has bragging rights as home to the most list members—15. Egypt comes in second with 9 list members while Nigeria has 8 and Morocco has 5. Altogether six African countries are represented in the list–the other two countries are Kenya and Zimbabwe. Notable for their absence from the list: women. All 40 members are men. Their average age: 61. One-quarter of the 40 have diversified fortunes, either through outright ownership of a conglomerate (like Egypt’s Mansour family) or via ownership of assets in diverse realms, such as Nigerian Mike Adenuga, whose fortune comes from his telecom company Globacom and his oil producer Conoil. The second biggest industry is finance, accounting f o r t h e fortunes of 8 l i s t members, with a heavy
representation from South Africa. Six made their fortunes in retailing.
Resource-hungry China directly boosted the fortune of just one list member –Theophilus Danjuma, who in 2006 sold a 45% interest in an oil block to CNOOC, China’s overseas oil company, for $1.7 billion. The list focused on citizens of African countries –thereby excluding potential members like Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who’s a U.K. citizen; South African-born Ivan Glasenberg (the CEO of commodities trader Glencore, who is an Australian citizen) and former South African billionaire Donald Gordon (who has become a British citizen and lives in the U.K.). We calculated the fortunes using stock prices and currency exchange rates from close of business Wed. November 2. To value privately-held businesses we couple estimates of revenues or profits with prevailing price-to-sales or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. We have purposely excluded dispersed family fortunes such as the Chandaria family of Kenya and the Madhvanis of Uganda, because the wealth is believed to be held by dozens of family members. We do include wealth belonging to a member’s immediate relatives if the wealth can be traced to one living individual; in that case, you’ll see “& family” on our list as an indication.
ALIKO DANGOTE
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Nigerian commodities titan Aliko Dangote is also Africa's cement king. In February 2011, Dangote announced the opening of a new $1 billion Nigerian cement plant, which is expected to increase his company's production volume by 40% in that country. Dangote Cement's capacity is so great that the company has implored the Nigerian government to increase infrastructure investment in time to absorb what they're calling a "cement surplus." In late 2010, Dangote listed the company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, integrating his cement investments across Africa. It's now the largest company on the Nigerian exchange. He also invested $4 billion to build a new cement facility in the Ivory Coast and is building a $115 million cement plant in Cameroon, plus owns plants in Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. Dangote started trading commodities more than three decades ago after receiving a business loan from his uncle. He then built the Dangote Group, which in addition to cement owns sugar refineries, flour milling and salt processing facilities. Venerable philanthropist has given away millions to education, health and social causes, not least among them being a gift of more than $600 to each person displaced by the violence following Nigeria's elections.
Credits: Forbes
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NICKY OPPENHEIMER
NASSEF SAWIRIS
JOHANN RUPERT & FAMILY
Africa's diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer made a momentous decision in early November to sell his family's 40% stake in De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer, to mining behemoth Anglo American for $5.1 billion. (Anglo American already owns 45% of DeBeers.) The all-cash deal will mark the end of the Oppenheimers' control of De Beers, a relationship that began when Nicky's grandfather, Ernest Oppenheimer, took over the firm in 1927. After struggling through the recession as demand for luxury goods sagged, De Beers appears to have righted the ship. Revenues surged 53% to nearly $5.9 billion in 2010 vs. 2009. Such impressive performance has led some analysts to assert that the offer from Anglo American, a firm that was founded by Nicky's grandfather in 1917, undervalues De Beers. However, says Nicky, "Anglo American is the natural home for our stake." Oppenheimer's passions include flying helicopters, cricket, and conservation. He owns the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the largest private game reserve in South Africa.
Nassef Sawiris runs Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt's most valuable publiclytraded company, which was founded by father Onsi. This past December, the company announced plans to split its construction and fertilizer businesses into two publicly traded companies in the first quarter of 2012. In the U.S., Sawiris increased his stake in struggling cement producer Texas Industries last December, after the company ended an agreement that prevented Sawiris from acquiring more than 20% of TI. In October, Sawiris hooked up with Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista's EBX Group to develop a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Brazil.
Johann Rupert is South Africa's luxury goods billionaire. He serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Richemont, a Swiss holding company that controls brands such as Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, Alfred Dunhill, Montblanc and Chloé. In 2010 Richemont acquired online fashion portal Net-a-Porter for $343 million. Sales at the Richemont group have grown more than 30% since earlier this year, driven largely by economic resurgence off of recession lows and increased demand for luxury goods in Asia. Rupert also chairs South Africa-based Remgro Ltd and Reinet Investments Manager. The latter was created in 2009 as a home for Remgro's stake in British American Tobacco after the firm went public. While British American Tobacco still accounts for nearly 85% of Reinet's net asset value, the firm is taking steps to diversify by investing British American dividend payments across several industries. An avid golfer, Rupert had only played 21 times this year through midOctober due to his busy work schedule. He recently made headlines due to his opposition to Royal Dutch Shell's planned hydraulic fracturing operations in the Karoo region of South Africa, where he owns extensive conservation land.
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MIKE ADENUGA A reclusive tycoon, Mike Adenuga runs Conoil Producing, the first Nigerian company to strike oil in commercial quantities in the early 1990s. Today Conoil Producing is Nigeria's largest oil exploration company, producing an estimated 100,000 barrels per day. The "Guru" also owns Globacom, Nigeria's 2nd largest mobile telecom operator. He made his first million at the age of 26 selling lace and distributing soft drinks, but hit it big through the benefaction of Nigeria's former military president, Ibrahim Babangida. During Babangida's regime, Adenuga cornered lucrative contracts to build military barracks and was awarded an oil prospecting license. Notoriously private and extremely security conscious, Adenuga moves with a retinue of bodyguards and gets chauffeured only in bulletproof cars. In Nigeria he is widely believed to be a proxy for the financial interests of former president Babangida.
Miloud Chaabi got his start in 1948 developing housing, then expanded through Ynna Holding into hotels, supermarkets, and renewable energy. Chaabi was a member of Parliament, where he was dubbed the "red capitalist," when he allied himself with the socialist party. He doesn't shy away from lashing out in the press at competitors and corrupt practices. In the wake of the Tunisian uprising, Chaabi said that Morocco had its own Trabelsis (the deposed Tunisian dictator's in-laws who allegedly enriched themselves). He railed at billionaires "born overnight...who treat themselves with land they obtain at symbolic prices." In February, he marched to Parliament with protesters demanding an end to political and business corruptionand distributed his own bottled water at the demonstration
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NAGUIB SAWIRIS Naguib Sawiris, the eldest son of Egyptian billionaire Onsi Sawiris, built Orascom Telecom, then sold the family's stake to Russian and emerging market telecom giant VimpelCom in April for $6.5 billion in shares and cash, becoming one of VimpelCom's largest shareholders in the process. He's looking to invest in telecom again. He also delved into Egyptian politics, forming the Free Egyptians party in April to promote free markets and a secular platform. His illadvised tweet in June picturing a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled Minnie earned him death threats from Muslim extremists.
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CRISTOFFEL WIESE South Africa's Christoffel Wiese, known as Christo, is the chairman and the largest single shareholder of the continent's biggest retailer, low-price supermarket chain Shoprite. He also owns 44% of discount clothes, shoes and textiles chain Pepkor (slogan: "Making the desirable affordable"), where he sits on the board. In March, he bought several hundred million dollars of shares in private equity investor Brait. Other interests: Wiese restored a South African farm estate and remodeled it into a five-star hotel, Lanzerac Manor & Winery. He replanted the vineyards around it, created a modern cellar and has been making wine. Also owns wine producer Lourensford Estate and a private game reserve in the Kalahari.
AFRICA
ONSI SAWIRIS
PATRICE MOTSEPE
Onsi Sawiris is the patriarch of Egypt's wealthiest family. The Egyptian government nationalized his first construction business in 1971. Undeterred, he rebuilt what became Orascom Construction Industries. His son Nassef took over in 1995. Another son, Naguib, built a separate telecom company, while son Samih went into hotels and real estate. Onsi Sawiris now owns shares in Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, following its acquisition of the family stake in Orascom Telecom in April 2011. All three Sawiris sons appear on the Forbes Richest Africans list; Nassef and Naguib are billionaires
Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe is South Africa's first and only black billionaire. He built a $1.8 billion (sales) publicly traded mining conglomerate, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), with interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold. The share price of ARM has dropped more than 20% since mid-February, shaving $800 million from Motsepe's net worth on the 2011 Forbes World's Billionaires list. Born in the sprawling black township of Soweto and then trained as a lawyer, he became the first black partner at Bowman Gilfillan law firm in Johannesburg, and then started a contracting business doing mine scut work. He bought lowproducing gold mine shafts in 1994 and turned them profitable using lean management style. He benefited from South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, which mandate that companies be at least 26% black-owned in order to get a government mining license. Motsepe also holds a stake in Sanlam, a publicly traded financial services company outside Cape Town; he sits on the board.
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OTHMAN BENJELLOUN Othman Benjelloun's father was a large shareholder in a small Moroccan insurance company. Benjelloun took over in 1988, and built it into RMA Watanya, a leading insurance company. He then used it to expand into banking. His publicly traded BMCE Bank is present in more than a dozen African countries (due to an acquisition of Bank of Africa), and has a market capitalization of $4 billion. His holding company Groupe FinanceCom has also interests in telecom, airlines, and information technology. Son Kamal, a clean tech enthusiast, is heir apparent
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ANAS SEFRIOUI Moroccan entrepreneur Anas Sefrioui formed a real estate development group in 1988, but his big break came nearly ten years later when he won a contract to build a chunk of government-subsidized housing under the patronage of Morocco's late King Hassan II. He won another $1 billion state contract in 2005 to build more housing units. Sefrioui's Douja Promotion Groupe Addoha went public the following year; he owns nearly 62%
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MOHAMED MANSOUR YASSEEN MANSOUR Yasseen Mansour, the youngest of Egypt's three Mansour brothers, was put on the Interpol list on fraud charges in June, but was removed after being cleared of corruption charges this past summer over the misappropriation of state land for Palm Hills Developments. Yasseen, his brothers and cousin, the former housing minister who was also accused, but cleared on Palm Hills, are the largest shareholders in the companyEgypt's second-biggest real estate developer. Yasseen resigned as CEO in June, but remains chairman. The majority of his fortune is tied up in the family business; it is the largest seller of GM vehicles in the world.
Mohamed Mansour and his brothers are the biggest sellers of GM vehicles in the world. Strong sales in their Caterpillar business throughout Africa, Russia and Iraq are making up for a slump in Egypt. Their shares in the country's second biggest real estate developer, Palm Hills, plunged following accusations of state land misappropriation in Marchbut the charges have since been cleared. Other interests include the largest supermarket chain in Egypt, and the Philip Morris franchise which is experiencing a big jump in sales of Marlboro cigarettes to stressed-out Egyptians.
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YOUSSEF MANSOUR
MOHAMED AL FAYED
JIM OVIA
Youssef Mansour, the older brother of Egyptian billionaire businessmen Mohamed and Yasseen, keeps a low profile. His assets, especially in publicly traded real estate development company Palm Hills Developments, took a hit with the Egyptian uprising early in 2011. Youssef is responsible for building Egypt's largest supermarket chain, Metro, but now devotes time to the family foundation which targets illiteracy and education. The bulk of his fortune comes from the family's business as the largest seller of GM vehicles in the world, and strong sales of Caterpillar machines.
Mohamed Al Fayed sold the famed Harrod's department store in London to Qatar Holding in 2010 for a reported $2.4 billion. He's since shifted his attention to online retail, buying U.K.-based discount fashion website Cocosa in July. He bought for daughter Camilla a controlling stake in Princess Kate Middleton's favorite designer brand, Issa. A fan of James Bond, Al Fayed bid in April for Pinewood Studios, home to Bond movies, but lost. He's the owner of the Hotel Ritz in Paris, the Fulham football club, and a castle in Scotland. The flamboyant London-based Egyptian still courts controversy. He financed a documentary alleging that the royal family was out to kill Princess Diana and his son Dodi when their car crashed in Paris.
Jim Ovia, the godfather of Nigerian banking, founded Zenith Bank Group in 1990, which grew into West Africa's largest financial services provider by market capitalization and assets. He stepped down as CEO in 2009 after close to two decades at the helm, but is still the bank's largest individual shareholder. In 2007, Ovia founded Visafone, a Nigerian mobile and fixed telecommunications provider that now has more than 1 million subscribers; he owns 100% and runs the company. In addition, Ovia has prime real estate in Victoria Island and Ikoyi, some of Nigeria's priciest neighborhoods. Also owns and runs Quantum, a private equity firm.
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LAURIE DIPPENAAR Laurie Dippenaar is the non-executive chairman of FirstRand, one of the four South African high street banks. He is the workaholic among the trio of South Africans who in 1977 cofounded FirstRand's predecessor, Rand Consolidated Investingwhich later joined Johann Rupert's Rand Merchant Bank. Rand Merchant Bank acquired insurer Momentum Life in 1992 and later merged with First National Bank to form First Rand Group, which has operations in South Africa, five neighboring countries and India, and more than $80 billion in assets. He has endowed the Laurie Dippenaar scholarship offering to pay $44,000 a year towards a South African with leadership potential for a postgraduate degree. His hobbies: cycling, canoeing and watching rugby.
SHAFIK GABR
STEPHEN SAAD
Egyptian businessman Shafik Gabr built ARTOC, a conglomerate with interests in steel fabrication, prefabricated factories, and logistical services for oil and gas companies. Turmoil in Egypt has hurt business, but he says "the future is positive as long as stability returns to the region. I believe in Egypt. " He is now eyeing the automotive business in Tunisia which was dominated by the deposed dictator's family, as well as infrastructure projects and the car business in Libya. Gabr has amassed one of the largest private collections of Orientalist paintings, and has bought new residences in Washington D.C. and London to display themthough the primary collection resides at his palatial home in Cairo. Says Gabr: "As I collect Orientalist pictures, I'm always reminded to take the long view of our region."
Stephen Saad cofounded Aspen Pharmacare in 1997 with $6.3 million; it's now the largest publicly-traded drug manufacturer on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with revenues expected to reach US$2 billion this year. He became a millionaire at age 29 after he sold his share in the drug business Covan Zurich for $3 million. Last year Aspen purchased the global rights to manufacture some of GlaxoSmithKline's smaller brands. Saad spends free time at Exeter, his private game reserve at Sabi Sands, adjacent to Kruger National Park, the largest national park in South Africa.
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Theophilus Danjuma, a former Nigerian defense minister, is chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO), a Nigerian oil exploration company. In 2006, Danjuma sold an oil block he was given by the regime of former Nigerian President Sani Abacha to a
consortium of Chinese investors for $1.7 billion. Nigeria's biggest philanthropist, he has endowed his private charity, the TY Danjuma foundation, with $100 million. He currently advises Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on matters of state.
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Reviving Nigeria's Automobile Industry
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s Nigeria continues to spend 400 billion Naira annually on the importation of vehicles, the current move of the government to revamp the automobile sector with N500 billion will no doubt help reduce vehicle importation into the country. Over the past two decades, the automobile industry has been active in the importation of vehicles that Aminu Jalal, director-general of the National Automotive Council, recently said costs Nigeria N400 billion annually. This is no surprise as Nigeria has become a one-stop dumping ground for virtually all kinds of vehicles, especially tokunbo cars, buses and trucks, some of which are over a decade old. Besides, some of these tokunbo vehicles cost a fortune to repair shortly after they are purchased.
the poor state of the industrial sector. Manufacturers have cried out that poor power supply, low-tax levied on imported vehicles, low patronage of locally made goods and lack of support from the government largely contribute to the snail-paced growth of manufacturing, which is a major parameter in measuring a country's development. Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show that 20 percent of Nigerians are unemployed. The number of jobs that the automotive industry would have created, if fully active, is enormous. Aminu Jalal shared that if the automotive industry is functioning at full capacity, it is
Before the late 80s, Nigeria did not have to spend hundreds of billions to import vehicles from developed and developing countries; car manufacturing and assembly parts were fully operational. The likes of Volkswagen of Nigeria and Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria produced hundreds of affordable cars daily. At the time, people did not have to save for years to buy cars they could barely afford, neither did they have to replace their car engines shortly after purchase because most of the cars were what is colloquially referred to as 'tear rubber' (straight from factories). Some of the popular brands then, like Peugeot 504 and 505 could be seen everywhere; Volkswagen beetle was also another small and affordable delight on Nigerian roads. Mercedes Benz trucks were also assembled by Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO). Tyre manufacturing industries like Dunlop and Michelin were on ground to provide motorists affordable, quality, durable and tyres. People did not have to buy used tyres that could very well be the death of them. Like automobile industries, though, those factories no longer exist. The Ajaokuta Steel plant provided steel plates for the vehicle plants, but today, Ajaokuta is moribund. Massive importation of cars began when local manufacturing plants could not bear the high cost of production in Nigeria. Production capacity reduced, and manufacturers could not meet up with local demand. Production capacity did not just reduce, tens of thousands jobs were lost. The importation of fully built vehicles started en masse. The industrial sector contributes 4 percent to the national GDP. But experts have said that over-dependence on the oil sector, which stands at 80 percent, is largely responsible for
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because the transport system in this country is fifty years behind. We want to be like developed countries? Why not do some things the way these countries do their? We do not have a rail system; we do not utilise our water ways; the public transport system is a mess; the roads are bad; vehicles are hardly ever taxed; why won't the country spend so much to import cars? In developed nations, people do not rely so much on their cars to move around in comfort; they use trains to move around. “The transport system is so organised that a person is not pressured to buy a car. But in Nigeria, the poor condition of commercial buses, coupled with the recklessness and indiscipline of bus drivers would want to make the average Nigerian save up his last money to buy a used car. If there is an enabling environment, the present automobile industries would stop importing fully built vehicles, and start manufacturing and assembling them, just like the way it used to be,” Folarion stated. Echoing the sentiments of Folarin, Joseph Okoh, a vehicle owner, disclosed that it is obvious that the government is contented in importing everything it needs, especially industrial products. Okoh noted that there was a time in Nigeria when Toyota, Honda and Hyundai cars could hardly be seen on Nigerian roads. He however stated that this was because the likes of Volkswagen, Peugeot, and Mercedes, were produced and had assembling parts in Nigeria.
capable of creating about 70,000 skilled and semi-skilled jobs, and about 210,000 indirect jobs. Seyi Deinde, an industrial analyst, is of the opinion that the reason why N400 billion annually only on vehicle importation alone is because adequate structures are not in place: “A major reason why Nigeria does not have a vibrant industrial sector is because the government relies so much on income accrued from the petroleum sector. Not much has been done to diversify the economy. Vision 2020 will remain a pipe dream unless the more or less dormant active industrial sector is boosted. Nigeria cannot become one of the 20 developed nations in the world with the kind of industrial sector that is on ground. “Look at manufacturing, how many industries are still in operation? How many of the industrial goods we use in the country are manufactured here? How much of our industrial goods do we export? The industrial sector cannot function if measures are not put in place for it to function: provide social amenities, provide roads; increase the tax on imported vehicles, provide electricity, and make the industrial sector attractive for both Nigerian and foreign investors to establish car manufacturing factories in Nigeria.” For James Folarin, an auto dealer, “Nigerians spend billion of Naira to import vehicles
According to Okoh “The government established the Nigerian Automotive Council (NAC) to develop our the production of madein-Nigeria cars, but NAC has not done much in that regard, even with the 2 percent duty it collects from every car imported into Nigeria. Local manufacturing should be encouraged. The few Nigerians that have developed models for their cars are nowhere to be found. Innosun manufactures cars in Eastern Nigeria; providing goods and jobs for Nigerians, but how many Nigerians even know him?” “The government can help reduce importation of cars if, if, among other things, they stop wasting scarce resources in buying posh cars. For instance, why would members of the House of Representatives buy the official cars they used during their tenure? Shouldn't the cars be made available for the next set of law makers? The government really needs to stop talking and start taking proactive measures that will develop our local industry,” Joseph Okoh. With the federal government promise to pump N500 billion into the nation's auto industry, it is hoped that the government lives up to its promise, as this will not only reduce billions of Naira spent by Nigerians on vehicle importation but create an avenue by which money can be used to create jobs and improve the economy.
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Pix by: Eke Okoro
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verything was perfect, February 25, 2012 when Mrs. Pauline Ehimuan, Port Harcourt city's golden lady and wife of late versatile businessman and shipping magnet, Dr. Joe Ehimuan, attired in a golden and splendid dress, gathered friends and associates to celebrate her iconic and golden 50th Birthday on a day which in itself appeared golden. Originally born 8 February, 1962, Lady Ehimuan settled for the perfect 25th evening to thrill family friends and business associates to the pleasures of the Ehimuan opulence and lavishness in an event which held in an ambient environment under wonderfully decorated golden tents in Port Harcourt. From about 7p.m February 25, an impressive array of guests criss-crossing Government, Business and Academic cycles assembled to cheer the elegant Ehimuan and were treated to exquisite varieties of entertainment ranging from awe-inspiring music to rib cracking jokes and an effusive array of dishes and drinks as aristocratic debonair raved the air. Two of her five children, Itua and Oziegbe who assisted in cutting her lofty 50th Birthday cake, were equally full of encomiums for her, attributing their individual successes to her goodwill and guidance. As the event turned out, it was not an all-one-way flow traffic where the celebrant kept releasing to her guests, as the adorable Lady Ehimuan, who have diligently managed the business empire of her late shipping magnate husband, also received glowing accolades from the crème de la crème who converged at the event for her dexterity, hard work and foresightedness which has ensured that the company remains a major player in the industry even after Dr. Joe Ehimuan's demise in 2005. While the duo of Barr. Kenedy Amos and Ify Aggrey-Fynn Compered the event, Lady IB and the Turning Point Band supplied old skool vibes reminiscence of the 80's and 90's and got guests rocking on their feet.
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Cutting the Birthday Cake with Itua (left) & Oziegbe (right) XL
Mrs. Pauline Ehimuan ravishingly beautiful at 50 This was however only a part of the celebration which soon blossomed into a funfair as fussy and extremely hilarious comedian, Gordons ensured that guests remained merry and cheery with terrific performances throughout the duration of the event. There was no dull moment.
Mrs. Ehimuan & son Itua
Mr. Oziegbe Joseph Ehimuan (1st son)
Mrs. Ehimuan & Miss Chidumga Okoro
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Prof. Otaigbe & wife with the Ehimuans
Oziegbe Ehimuan & Chidumga Okoro
HE, Chief Rufus Ada George, Mrs. Ehimuan & Admiral O.P. Fingesi
Mrs. Ehimuan with O.C.J. Okocha (SAN) & wife, Ify
Mrs Ehimuan with Arc. & Mrs Harcourt Adukeh
Mrs. Ehimuan with Prof. & Mrs. Afolabi
Celebrant with Justice Sotonye Denton-West Mrs. Ehimuan with Mr. Pat Sule Ugboma Celebrant with Rev. Eben Spiff
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Mrs. Ehimuan with members of ANCLA & others
Celebrant & friends
Mrs. Amina, DCP Harrison, Celebrant, Dr. (Mrs) Otaigbe & Mrs. Agbochini
Celebrant with Engr. Mimi Odiliobi
Lizzy, Guest, Betty, Telema,Pauline, Franca, Lola & Tola
Augusta Okhai, Tina Ojeme, Celebrant, Nonye Nwora & Lizzy Iyoha
Mrs. Odii Otti, Pauline Ehimuan & Mrs. Ezeoke
Celebrant (Centre) with Mr. & Mrs. Ikiodah
Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs. Ikwenobe with Baby Jason & Nkechi
Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs.Bright Efekoro
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Mrs. Ehimuan with Sir. & Lady Daniel
Mrs. Odii Otti, Mrs Ezeoke, Group Captain & Mrs. Henry Unueze with Celebrant
Celebrant with Mrs. Stella Olotu, Mrs. Ada Ekezie & Mrs. Odii Otti
Celebrant, Ogbueshi & Mrs. Victor Wosa with Adlene Aluge
Celebrant (3rd left) with Mrs. Glory-Joe (left), Mrs. Akinyanbola (right)
Iyke, Greg Usiabulu, celebrant & Onyeka
Mrs. Amina Egbudin proposing the Toast
Celebrant with friends: Molly, Ijeoma, Wale, Rose, Ada & Chinwe
Mr. Tayo Adenaike & friends with Celebrant
Dr. & Dr. (Mrs) Peter Okoh, Samson,Celebrant, William & Mrs Olanrewaju (sitting)
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Mrs.Celine Maduabuchi, Celebrant & Mrs. Emeh
Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs. Felix Awolaja
Solly Idehen, Celebrant & Charlie Dim
Celebrant with Mrs. Kumbi Amachree (right) & friend
Celebrant with Mr. Eyo (left) & Comptroller Dan Ugo (right)
Nneka Bissong, Celebrant & Lizzy Fynecountry
Mrs. Amaka Ogbonna & celebrant
Celebrant & Mrs. Olo Okaisabor
Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs. Tony Egbe
Celebrant with Prince & Mrs. Okojie XL
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Celebrant (center) & Mabel Okemini (right)
Col. Kelvin Aligbe with celebrant
Prince Chizzy Jumbo, Celebrant & Mustapha Abubakar
Mr. & Mrs Charles Ngoka with Celebrant
Ann Kio-Briggs with Celebrant
Celebrant with Ada Ugoji
Mrs. Funke Akinyera with Celebrant
Celebrant with Mrs. Attah Halliday
Itua showers encomium on Mom
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...with Ahmed Abolade & Mrs. Theresa Evulocha
Mr. Mark Oruche Barr. Kenedy Amos (MC)
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Mrs. Bose Ogulu, Celebrant & Mrs. Ebun Malumi
Mrs. Mary Alec-Musa, Celebrant & Mrs. Florence Dan-Orbih
Miss Tosin Samuel, Celebrant & Mrs. Tola Samuel
AIG Abbah, Celebrant, DCP Habila & a guest
Mr. Charlton Okonkwo, Celebrant, Mr. Victor Diji & Barr. Reuben Ngbodi
Mrs. Edo-Osagie, Celebrant, Dr. (Mrs.) Okoh & Dr. (Mrs.) Otaigbe
Chinwe, Celebrant, Mrs. Jerry Alagboso & friend
Celebrant & Sisters
Celebrant & Staff
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Timi, Celebrant & Mike XL
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Mrs. Nkechi Ntia-James, Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Iribhogbe
Celebrant with Mr. & Mrs. Osa Cookey & friend
Celebrant, Mr. & Mrs. Solomon Aluge & Gill Aluge
Mrs. Cheye Akinyabola, Celebrant, Mr. Idara & Mrs. Ugochukwu
Celebrant with Mrs. Franca Agbochini
Lieutenant Commander & Mrs. Collins Ehimeaghe
Samson (Regional Manager, Silverbird) & Barth (Publisher, XCEL Magazine)
Mr. Joe Alagoa & Larry Okojie
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Aimufia
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Mrs. Bridget Dania & Mrs. Lola Afolabi
Okey Nzenwa & Mr. Basil Usiabulu
Mrs. Ibitimi Sam-Yudo, Mr. Iyke Azubogu & Emenike Okeudo
Barr. Chris Ezem & Arc. Richard Kpeh
Engr. & Mrs. Patrick Ibhawu with Daughter
Nkiru, Betty & Friend
Mr. & Mrs. Asuquo
Engr. Gideon Ikhine & Mrs. Dora Odia
Mr. & Mrs. Abubokhai
Prof. & Dr. (Mrs) Ikhimalo, Mr. Barth, Dr. Shola & Mr. Mark
Hon. Vivian Braide, Mrs. Odii Otti & Mrs. Aku Odimkemelu XL
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Mr. & Mrs. Steve Iyoha
Pastor & Engr. (Mrs) Sly Ikhalo
Mr. Nnwama & DCG Kpagi
DC & Dr. (Mrs) Onyesor
Iro Ogbeifun & friend
Isobo Jack (Centre) & friends
Mrs. Ada Lawson & Lolo Rose Chukwu
Mr. & Mrs Austen Obigwe
Engr. & Mrs. Greg Ogbeifun
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Christopher, Goddy, Gordons & Uche
Mr. & Mrs. Williams with Mrs. Lara
Mr. & Mrs Omisore
Dr. & Mrs Olarenwaju with Mrs. Wumi Aloega
Mrs. Ezeoku Ebuka & Mrs. Ody Okoro
Mrs. Gloria Ita-Ikpeme (right) & friend
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Usifoh
Dr. & Mrs. Olanrewaju with Prof. & Dr. (Mrs) Ikimalo
Dr. & Mrs. Tom Agbugui
Ace Comedian, Gordons
Ify Aggrey-Fynn (MC) Lady IB and her Band entertains
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Alh. Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa Ciroman Keffi
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n behalf of myself, family and the entire people of Kuje Area Council Abuja, I write to Congratulate the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alh. Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa on your conferment as Ciroman Keffi by His Royal Highness Dr. Alh. Muhamadu Chindo Yamusa II, Emir of Keffi. It is no doubt a well deserved honour and we are indeed very happy to be associated with your successes. You are really an exceptional leader chosen by God Almighty. Once more congratulations
Hon. (Dr) Danladi Etsu Zhin (Garkuwan Kuje & Sardaunan Rabachi)
Executive Chairman, Kuje Area Council ALGON Chairman, FCT