UNN gives admission to 2,691 first degree candidates

Our Reporter August 31, 2013 1 Comment »

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has offered provisional admission to 2,691 UTME candidates who made the institution their first choice in the last Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.
The UNN Registrar, A.I. Okonta who released the result at the weekend said the successful candidates will pursue various first degree programmes in the 15 faculties of the university for the 2013/2014 academic session.
He advised the successful candidates to visit the university website at www.unn.edu.ng or its portal, www.portal.unn.edu.ng to confirm their acceptance of the provisional admission.
Okonta also advised interested 2013/2014 UTME candidates who have not been offered admission but had a UTME score of 180 or above and the UNN P-UTME score of 180 or above to apply for the institution’s advertised courses.

ASUU strike: Jonathan approves N400bn lifeline –SSANU

Our Reporter August 19, 2013 11 Comments »

By BIMBOLA OYESOLA
The end to the present strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be in sight as President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N400 billion for the infrastructural development of Nigerian universities.
The document to this effect is expected to be made available today at the meeting of the presidential committee on implementation of the NEEDS assessment in the universities with the leaders of the four university-based unions – the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The President of SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, made the revelation while addressing his union members at the SSANU National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the weekend at the University of Abuja.
Ugwoke, briefing the SSANU members on the activities of the NEEDS assesment implementation committee, led by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam. He noted that the fund was different from the N100 billion Governor Suswam had raised from donor agencies and big companies to tackle the problems of Nigerian universities in 2013.
The labour leader said: “Let me give you a tip on what the NEEDS assessment committee is doing. The president has approved that within the next four years; N400 billion would be expended in infrastructural development of Nigerian universities, to transform the universities to international standard.
“N100 billion has already been raised by Suswam committee out of which 61 universities have been pencilled down, as contained in the NEEDS assessement committee. The N100 billion is expected to address needs of the universities in the areas which include re-furbishing and renovation of lecture theatres and lecture halls, re-furbishing and renovation of laboratories/libraries and the renovation of hostels.
“The second category is building of new hostels of international standard, self-contained rooms, the latest model in the world. That is the standard to be built in every university, and also the state-of-the-art laboratories as well as classrooms, lecture theatres and the halls.”
Ugwoke pointed out that the money had been shared and out of the N100 billion, N96 billion had been sent to universities.
He added: “The committee is meeting again on Monday, and by Monday (today), the document will be out. This time around, it is not only by giving university money, but it will be monitored to ensure that the money is used to transform the universities, to bail universities out of the present situation and developed to an international recognized university standard.”

3 footballers lured to death

Our Reporter August 19, 2013 7 Comments »

 Travelled to Cotonou to meet foreign agent, die in mysterious circumstance

By Alvan Ewuzie and Sunday AniThese are not the best of times for Mr. Martin Iheanacho, a native of Afugiri in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State. He was forlorn and downcast, as he cried blue murder over the gruesome killing of his son, David Nnabuihe Iheanacho, who was a rising star in the field of soccer, alongside three of his colleagues. Iheanacho alleges that his son, the only son, and three of his friends, were murdered by people, who  worked as their manager and coach. The 19-year old young man, said to be a part-time student at the Lagos State University,  and his friends met their untimely end   on July 11, 2013. Mr. Iheanacho alleged  that the  team manager, one Emeka (surname withheld by us), had a hand in the unsavoury incident, allegeing that he and the coach must have negotiated and collected money from foriegn agents, who allegedly lured the footballers to Cotonou, Benin Republic. Iheanacho, a construction site foreman, said he found it strange that the players had to go to Benin Republic to see the agents. He said Emeka earned a living by hunting for young football talents, developing them and selling them to foreign football clubs in Europe where they play professional football.  He has a football club where he hones his players’ talents. But Emeka told Daily Sun that David and his friends drowned in a River in Cotonou when they went to see a friend.
David and his colleagues joined the club with high prospects of playing in big European clubs some day. But they never lived to actualise their dreams, as the man, who promised to make their dreams come through, allegedly cut short their lives because of money. The young men, according to Mr. Ihenacho, had been playing around African clubs before their manager, Emeka, came up with the idea of moving them to Europe for greener pasture.
Speaking about his son’s exploits in the field of soccer, he said: “He has been to Ethiopia, Congo and Senegal to play. During his last tournament in Ethiopia, he even won a medal for his performance. The medal is still with me in my house.”
Having played in Emeka’s club for some time and having been discovered to be very good, he was chosen alongside two others to be sent to Denmark to continue their football career. “So, his manager  came to me to say my son was doing very well, he would want to assist my son to get a club to play abroad. He specifically mentioned Denmark. He told me that he was one of the few chosen by a club in  Europe. He told me that they had gone to Ibadan, Ogun and Lagos to play and now the club was ready to send them to Europe,” he said.
Though Mr. Iheanacho was elated to hear that his son would be travelling to Denmark as a professional footballer, he was a bit uncomfortable when he was told him  the white men, who would take the boys to the club in Denmark would receive them in Cotonou, Benin Republic instead of here in Nigeria. He didn’t just keep quiet at this strange development, even though he never anticipated that the plan was to murder his son. He was told the men opted to meet the players in Cotonou on account of the fragile security situation in Nigeria. “But he said they would go to Cotonou to meet with the white men that had come for them. I asked him: Why Cotonou? And he told me that the white men preferred Cotonou because of the security situation in Nigeria. He said from there, they would either move straight to Denmark or they would collect their clearance to come back to Abuja to get their visa,” he explained.
When David bade goodbye to his father, as they left Lagos for Cotonou, he never knew he and his colleagues were embarking on the journey of no return. Emeka and the team coach, one Emmanuel, allegedly took the boys to Cotonou and organised the assassins, who killed them in cold blood, having collected handsome amount of foreign currencies as sign-on fees on them. It was alleged that they told the white men from Denmark that the boys were involved in an auto crash, which claimed their lives, as their vehicle plunged into a river and they were drowned. “They organised the men that killed the boys in Cotonou. And somebody, who saw them, shouted and that attracted the attention of the Beninoise Police, who quickly came and rescued the bodies otherwise; they would have dumped the bodies inside the water to buttress their claim that their vehicle plunged into a river and they all got drowned,” he said.
After the boys were killed and their death announced in Cotonou, the coach and manager came back to Nigeria and kept the ugly incident to themselves.  But the wind had blown and the fowl’s rump had been exposed; the bean was spilled.
David had earlier called his father when they were on their way to Cotonou to send him a recharge card, so that he could call back in case they would not return that day. His father had sent him a recharge card of N800 but when nobody heard anything from him after one week, his father became apprehensive and started making efforts, which eventually unravelled the dastardly act .
“I called his phone number but it was switched off. I became worried and I asked my last daughter, Nkiru, what we should do and she suggested going to Cotonou with one of her friends, who knows the route and who equally understands French language very well.
“So,  my daughter and her friend left for Cotonou and when they got there, they were lucky to have met the dead bodies in their fresh state, so she took photographs. She was told that  four assassins  attacked my son and his colleagues but unfortunately for them, while the roughnecks were carrying out their dastardly act, somebody saw them and raised the alarm but then, it was too late. My son and his colleagues had been murdered in cold blood. The coach and manager escaped before the crowd could gather but the boy, who raised the alarm had seen him. When policemen arrived, they took the bodies to a hospital in Cotonou where they were deposited in the mortuary,” he narrated.
When Mr. Iheanacho’s daughter and her friend came back with the sad news,  he was benumbed.  So, he quickly went to the Benin Republic embassy in Lagos to report the matter but he was told it was the Federal Government of Nigeria that should report to them and not him. “I then went to Alagbon to report the matter officially to the Interpol. Police said if I could get the picture  of the suspects displayed when they announced the boys’ death, it would help. So, one of my elder brothers went to Cotonou and he was able to get the picture. I have even shown the picture to the police at Alagbon and they have promised to do something about it. But the police told me to be patient because they must get signal from Abuja before they can embark on such international investigative trip,” he said.
Explaining that their action was premeditated and well planned, Mr. Iheanacho alleged that when  the suspects found out that their evil act had been exposed and that he was already in Cotonou, they arranged to take the bodies away from the hospital. They were alleged to have buried them somewhere 20 kilometres away from the main town of Cotonou. The bodies, according to the distraught father, are still where they were buried in Cotonou because there has been no move by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
When he called the Club owner on phone, he referred to  the coach. When  was contacted,  the coach pleaded with Mr. Iheanacho not to expose him.
Expressing his anger on the attitude of   the club owner he said: “Meanwhile, these suspects are here in Nigeria. They never bothered to inform us about what has befallen our children as they claimed. When I called the club owner and confronted him with the news of my son’s death, he told me that it was not his business as my son and his friends went to Cotonou on their own. I said but when you came to me to take him from my house; was that what you told me? He asked me to see the coach. So, when I first called the coach, his phone was switched off but when we tried his line again at Alagbon, he answered and warned me not expose him and since then his phone has been switched off.”

Manager reacts
When the Manager  was contacted on phone he denied the allegation. He said he didn’t take anybody to Cotonou, rather David and his friends went to the place, called Lakosa in Cotonou on their own. He said David had been going there to play for the past four years and that during their last trip; he didn’t even inform the coach.
“The truth is that I was not the person, who took them there. David has been going there for the past four years to play tournament for them. I have never been to Lakosa and I don’t even know how the place looks like. They were four but I know three of them who were our players; the fourth person, I don’t know. They didn’t even tell the coach that they were going there. How can I be the one that took them there when I am in Lagos? Is it possible?” he questioned.
Asked what killed the boys, he said: “I was not there but according to what we were told they entered a canoe that was being paddled by a young boy of 16 years old. And as the boy was paddling the canoe, something like a big fish jumped up and one of them stood up and because he was sitting at the edge of the canoe, the canoe lost balance and capsized. That is what we were told.” When asked where they were going when they boarded the canoe, he also said: “I don’t know where they were going. We were only told that they were crossing but I don’t know where they were crossing to.”
But on the allegation that he  went to the mortuary to remove the corpses and buried 20 kilometres away from the town, he said: “No, that’s not true; it is not me that went to bury them. The families were there. The other two families decided that there was no need bringing the corpses to Nigeria. It was only Olu’s family that was not there. David’s sister, Nkiru, was there. She represented her family, which is Iheanacho’s family. When the team wanted to pay condolence to David’s father, Martin, he said he didn’t want to see anybody.”
He also said he was the one who informed the families about the incident when somebody called him to inform about it. Reacting to Martin’s allegation that his son and his colleagues were murdered, he said: “If they were murdered, the other families wouldn’t have accepted to bury their children just like that. Everybody saw the corpses before they were buried; even Nkiru his daughter who represented the family was there. We couldn’t have given money to the other families to shut up.”

Coach  reacts
Also reacting to the allegation, the coach of the team where the boys played,  denied knowledge of any trip. He said he knew about what happened from the manager,  who also got a call to that effect. He was very angry that David’s father could lay such accusation on them.
Speaking bitterly about the incident, he said: “I don’t know anything about their trip to Cotonou. I am the team’s coach and they didn’t inform me. They are four  but only three are my boys, the fourth was their friend. They are: Olu, John and David; the fourth person Nnamdi was their friend. Olu even told some of his friends that he was going to see his mother in Kwara, not knowing that he and his friends had planned to travel to Cotonou. When I got the information about what happened, I was very angry because they didn’t inform me before they embarked on such journey but because they were our boys, we had to go there.”
Also speaking about the burial, he said: “Their families were there. I represented Olu’s family because I am like a father to him. His mother is a widow in far away Kwara State and his sister, who also lives in Kwara, is heavily pregnant. So, they asked me to go and represent their family at the burial. Other families were also represented. Nkiru represented Mr Martin’s family.
He also said they were not murdered, as the father alleged. He corroborated the manager’s views that they were drowned in a canoe.

Olu’s sister, Kemi reacts
When Olu’s sister, Kemi Adeoye, was contacted on phone, she narrated what she knew about his brother’s death. Although, she has resigned everything to fate, she still could not understand the whole thing, as, according to her, she was in  Kwara State and so, there was little she could do. She said: “Actually, Olufemi Adeoye is my elder brother. He actually called my mother to inform her that he would be travelling to Togo to play football match and that they would come back in two weeks time. He even promised to visit us in Kwara when he comes back. He asked my mother to send him a recharge to enable him to communicate with us when he gets there. My mother actually sent the recharge card to but when she later called to confirm whether he got the card, his number didn’t go through. From that day, we didn’t hear anything from him. We got worried to the extent that I had to go on the facebook to see if I can communicate with him but all proved abortive. It was while I was on facebook that one of his friends posted the news that he and his friends were involved in an accident and they were dead. I wanted to chat with his friend but as soon as he found out that I have not heard, he signed out. I immediately called him on phone and he told me what happened.”
On whether, she and her mother were aware of his brother’s burial in Cotonou, she said: “Yes, we are aware. When the coach called me to inform me about my brother’s death, I informed my uncle. My uncle said if actually they died inside the water, tradition demanded that they be buried beside the water and so, based on that, we asked the coach to represent us at the burial of my brother. I don’t know about the other people.”

David’s sister reacts
When David’s sister, Nkiru, was contacted on phone, she said her brother, David, informed her of their intention to travel to Cotonou for a soccer tournament on July 14. According to Nkiru, he also told her that his coach was aware of the trip.
But on her brother’s death, she said it was an unknown person, who called to inform her. “It was somebody I don’t know who called me to inform me that my brother and his colleagues were dead. The person said it was the coach and manager  that brought the news that my brother and his colleagues drowned in the water in Cotonou. This information came to me on Sunday, July 14. I quickly called the manager, who confirmed the incident but assured me that they were responding to treatment in hospital there. So, the next day, Monday, July 15, I met one of my friends, who accompanied me to Cotonou,” she said.
“When we got there,” she continued, “The people there told us that they drowned inside the water but from what I saw of their bodies, I didn’t believe them. One of them had a deep cut at the back of his head; the other one had bruises on his hands as if it was a cutlass-inflicted injury and my brother also had deep cuts on both sides of his face. Their bodies were not swollen and the colour of their skin did not change and they all had swollen eyes. So, I became suspicious of the cause of their death. When I asked them how they sustained all those injuries if actually they were drowned in the water, they told me that it was when they were searching for their bodies.”
On whether, she witnessed their burial in Cotonou and why the decision to bury them there, she said: “I was there when they were buried. They were buried there because according to the club owner, the bodies had been handed over to the government of Benin Republic because we didn’t arrive there on time and the government had directed that since they were drowned in the water, they should be buried by the river side there. That was what he told me as reason for burying them there. I was also informed when I got there that the coach and manager had earlier visited the place before my friend and I arrived but when we asked them, they said they never went there. So, I am not convinced that my brother and his friends were drowned inside the water.

Obasanjo’s pontifical charges

Our Reporter August 18, 2013 4 Comments »

In his characteristic manner, former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, berated some former political office holders in the country for their alleged poor performance and lack of integrity while in office. Those Obasanjo carpeted at the 4th Annual Ibadan Sustainable Development Summit held at the University of Ibadan include his former deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former governors, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Lucky Igbinedion of Lagos, Bayelsa and Edo states respectively, and former Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari.
The former leader lampooned the younger generation of leaders in the country and stressed that they failed the citizenry. Obasanjo was quoted as saying that the performance of the younger generation of leaders has not been impressive, particularly in terms of integrity.
There is no doubt that there is some element of truth in what Obasanjo said. Perhaps, the essence of his pontifical charge is that it touches on the recurring leadership miasma in the country since independence. Apart from the achievements recorded in the First Republic by our founding fathers and some political office holders of that golden era of Nigerian politics, subsequent Nigerian leaders, including Obasanjo, performed well below expectation.
Since Obasanjo was in charge when most of the politicians that he is now questioning their integrity were in office, what did he do to ensure that such tendencies are totally eradicated from the country?  We ask this question bearing in mind that discipline should flow from the top and not from the bottom.
Obasanjo, for many Nigerians, does not represent the best example in leadership.
Being lucky to have ruled Nigeria for the longest period in the nation’s history – a total of 11 years – Obasanjo had ample time and opportunity to make a huge difference in the governance of the country.
He should have taken the country out of the era of unbridled corruption and political ineptitude to one of moral unction and economic prosperity. He also had a second chance in power to put things right in the country, but he squandered it.
The inability of the Obasanjo regime to fix the power sector despite the billions of naira pumped into its resuscitation, and the failure of the regime to upgrade most of the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure, particularly the roads, railways, schools and hospitals, are clear pointers that even Obasanjo was not the exemplary leader he holds himself out to be.
He is as guilty as those he is busy castigating, especially when some of his initiatives, such as the Obasanjo Presidential Library that was largely funded by public officers and institutions, are taken into consideration.  This holier than thou attitude that Obasanjo has become known for cannot take the nation anywhere.
We decry this attitude of the kettle calling the pot black that is common in our polity.
Those who come to equity must come with clean hands.
While it cannot be argued that many of the present crop of Nigerian leaders are guilty as charged by Obasanjo, it is worth pointing out that the seed of underdevelopment and corruption that has characterised our politics was sown and sustained by past leaders, including the numerous military dictators the country has had and the civilian presidents that succeeded them.
It is no credit to Obasanjo that his regime, like most of the others that we have had, recorded many instances of impunity. During his eight-year rule, the Senate had five senate presidents. His was an era of rash impeachment of governors and removal of legislators.
The period also witnessed lack of internal democracy in the ruling party as candidates were imposed at will. The height of such impunity was Obasanjo’s attempt to extend his rule via the infamous and rejected third term agenda.
His anti-corruption war was mostly regarded as selective and targeted at political opponents of his administration. This, probably, accounted for its failure to achieve the desired results.
The issues raised by the former leader are pertinent but the paradox is that the older generation, which he represents, has not been a good example to the new generation of leaders.
As Chief Obasanjo blames others, let him be modest and acknowledge that he, too, contributed to the rot in the country. He lacks the moral high ground to point fingers at others.

Defective federalism

Our Reporter May 7, 2013 3 Comments »

Somewhere in the Bible, the Psalmist lamented, “If the foundation be destroyed, what will the righteous do?”
History after all is man’s eternal quest for his foundation. The quest is to discover or reconstruct the broken pieces until we strike a narrative chord that tells the story of our past. Our successes and failures.
Applied to Nigeria, that quest often leads us to broken shards. It was colonial Britain’s idea that the hodge-podge of national entities should be forged into a single entity called Nigeria. Flora Shaw, Lord Luggard’s mistress, in her moment of poetic Eureka, decided that the disparate entities should be called Nigeria—a blend of Niger and River.
So ingenious, the two lovers must have felt. I guess they were.
But not surprisingly for anything forged out of romantic clouds rather than hard-headed realism, not enough thought was spared for the fundamental rubrics of making a national entity from so many divergent roots. Our nation then was hewn from a foundation of colonial convenience rather than our synergy of interests where everyone brings something to the table.
From this perspective, Nigeria then had remained a misnomer to many. But only a misnomer—fortunately—not incurably so.  There is strength and power in numbers as illustrated by China and India. In the wisdom of our founding fathers, the best way to extract our nationhood from the grips of imperial Britannia, despite our apparent fissiparous tendencies—cultural, religious, economic, political, social and otherwise—was to have a strong federalism.
At the beginning, such federalism was based on strong regional pillars. At least in those days, the regions were comparatively strong centres of power and development with a high degree of autonomy that enabled each of the major federating entities to develop at their own pace. Of course, it was not perfect and could never have been since it was to all intents and purposes, a learning process for all the operators at that point. The pioneers made pardonable errors.
But the impatient military incursion not only stalled that learning process, the famous Unification Decree 34 of 1966 imposed a unitary system on the country. At that time, it was forced by a national exigency. But this was a recipe for disaster in the years ahead.
Command and control works in a military culture—an environment with many zombies, according to Fela—but in a dynamic civilian setting, it is disastrously fraught with a lot of pitfalls. Command and control as have been demonstrated in Communist jurisdictions around the world, was and is a fertile ground for corruption, dictatorships, under-development, vast abuses of power and human rights, among others. From the collapse of Communism, fall of Berlin Wall, China’s resurgence  as an economic power arising from free enterprise to the Arab Spring hurricane, there are no shortage of living examples of what happens when the true aspiration of the people are suppressed by any sort of political hegemony.
Nigeria is certainly not an exception to these rules. The point of those who agitate for a Sovereign National Conference or a semblance of it has been that unless you redress the basis of our co-existence as a political entity or create a system that guarantees true federalism, you fertilize the ground for potential implosion. The symptoms of such implosion are already noticeable in the swathes of bloody ethnic and religious killings, especially the terroristic mayhem of the Boko Haram sects to whom the federal government now waves the white flag of surrender.
A ‘Somaliasation’ begins when a federal government whose first duty as a sovereign state is to protect lives and property now outsources that responsibility to ethnic militants as exemplified by the award of multi-billion contracts to some leaders of the Niger Delta militants and OPC to protect pipeline vandalisation. As an aside, one must wonder why such “chop, chop” as President Obasanjo described such contracts, is not yet extended to the leader of MASSOB, Ralph Uwazurike. Or are there no pipeline vandals in the Southeast or any federal facilities?
Back to our story, despite all the democratic pretensions to the contrary, it seems that successive civilian governments at the federal level had remained so enamoured of our warped version of federalism that allocates so much power to the centre as to make the states ineffectual vassals of an imperial federal power. In other words, our so-called federalism wears a unitary uniform!
I will illustrate this argument with two recent developments. The first, is a lecture by the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola at Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkin University, Washington, USA. He had pointed out the fact that whereas the federal government takes 52% of the federal allocation, all the 36 states take only 26% while the 774 local governments share only 20.2%. Using Lagos State as an example, he contrasted this lopsided revenue sharing formula with responsibility of each strata of the federation.
In Lagos State, he noted, the local governments have 6,415 roads; the state government has 3,028 roads while there are only 117 federal roads in Lagos State, a state which probably has so many federal roads in the first place only because Lagos used to be the federal capital. Yet, the federal government keeps 52% of the national revenue!
Such surplus fund translates into enormous powers. It has been said that the Nigerian president is probably the most powerful democratic leader in the whole world. It is because of this surplus fund at the disposal of the federal authorities that fuel so much corruption at the centre. Governance has become a big racket at the expense of the people.
Fashola raised other absurdities in our federation: “Although we have a ‘Federal Government’ the constitution was written by the military. So we have state courts where judges are picked by the Federal Government. We have state legislators but no state police to enforce the laws they make. There are no state prisons so we rely on Federal officers to police our states and keep convicted persons away from law abiding citizens.
“We have Federal Traffic Safety Officers to issue Driver’s Licences to drivers in the state and also seek to regulate municipal traffic inside the states. Many states cannot control the sources of their finance such as local taxes on consumption, lotteries and hotels. (City state taxes for drinks in New York).”
With so much power and resources to play with without commensurate responsibilities, the federal authority can afford to dispense with multi-billion patronages as in the example of pipeline monitoring contracts to ethnic militants which is probably a grand euphemism for bribery. We’ve become more creative in inventing new sources of corruption rather than services to the people.
With so much power at the centre, the federal government, often perversely translated as the president in power, can afford to abuse the power and get away with it. It is such power that creates the ground for the second example—the manipulation of the power of impeachment. Under the mercurial era of President Obasanjo, state legislators were compelled under duress to summarily impeach state governors who fell into Obasanjo’s bad books. Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha, Joshua Dariye, Ayo Fayose, Rasheed Ladoja, Peter Obi, were thus sacked, despite the screaming public’s displeasure at the abuse of process. The end justifies the means.
The only reason the Governor of River State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, is in the danger of impeachment today, despite being one of the most successful governors in the country, is because the federal government has unlimited powers. In nursing alleged ambition to run for vice presidency pairing with some other candidates, he had made himself obnoxious to the president—enough grounds for impeachment under the cover of a federal might!
Amaechi might do well to read Dr. Peter Odili, his predecessor’s memoir, Conscience and History: My Story, for no sooner had Odili withdrawn from the presidential race than Obasanjo order the release of all Odili’s commissioners in the EFCC’s net. It’s then a question of whether Amaechi can stand the heat or wish to exit from the kitchen so soon.
President Jonathan had been guilty of many shapes and forms of non-performance, but nobody until now ever accused him of abuse of power. Such a meek and mild gentleman who does not even inspire fear in criminals. That such a man seems to be resorting to Obasanjo’s discredited methods to push his political objectives for 2015 says something about the desperation that is setting in the president’s camp. But when the chips are down, history would record such desperation as sign of weakness rather than strength.

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I became comfortably rich in my early 30s —Bode Adediji

Our Reporter August 19, 2013 No Comments »

By PETER ANOSIKE
Making money can be very easy for some and difficult for others. For Bode Adediji, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bode Adediji and Partners, who became a millionaire in his thirties, he came into money through dint of hard work, doing the right things and being focused on what he was doing. A real estate guru, Adediji’s firm, no doubt, ranks among the first five in the country. Apart from this, he pioneered the first multi-disciplinary real estate firm in the country.
However, it was not as if everything was strewn together for him to succeed. He came from a very humble background but waded his way through the murky waters of life to the top.

Early beginning
I don’t think that majority of Nigerians who are within my age bracket can say they were born with anything near  silver spoon. As far as my humble self is concerned, I came from the humblest of humble background. I was born in Ada in Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State about 20 kilometers away from Osogbo, the state capital. At that point in time, there was no electricity, no water and no hospital, only one or two primary schools. My mother was a farmer and a trader, while my father was a saw miller or timber merchant. I attended primary school in the village secondary school in my village and as luck would have it, I also attended the University of Ife(now Obafemi Awolowo Universty), which happened to be a stone throw from my village, so all my upbringing centered around village life.

When I made my first one million
I became comfortably rich in my early 30s but if you want to use the word millionaire, you can go ahead. Money on its own is a meaningless asset. You find out that you don’t have to go religious to understand some of the comments sages had made about money. One of the wise sayings is that money is a means to an end but never an end in itself. Money is a good servant but a very bad master
On how I felt making my first million, it was a long time ago, but one thing that I can remember vividly was that there was not much difference in my feeling when I was an ordinary worker and when I became financially comfortable. The reason is because my access to millions early in life did not expose me to any luxury life style of any kind, in the sense that any commodity that does not offer any practical and tangible benefit to me in terms of utility is of no consequence whether I have millions to buy it or not. One important thing which we have lost in this country and which was not like before is that whether in the church, mosques and weddings, Nigerians seem to give undue reverence to people whom they know have money without regard to how they made the money.
Journey of life
If a boy did not begin to think of manhood when he was still a boy, when he gets to be a man, that era would pass and he would be nobody. My own journey to manhood began when I was a boy. I was taught early in life that hard work, education, obedience to constituted authority and a structured pattern of life are paramount to whoever wants to succeed in life. I knew from day one that if I did not struggle and compete, there is no way I could make  good results in school. Through that philosophy, I spent only three years in the secondary school against the standard five-year period that most students spend because I was getting double promotion. Secondly, I went to the University of Ife without passing through the normal Higher School then and I topped my class in the final year by becoming the best over all student in the department of Estate Management. Through the grace of God and through my endorsement of hard work as the cardinal principle of any modicum of success anybody can achieve in life. A man will not succeed in this world if his planning is not backed by discipline. If there is anything that I want Nigerians to know today, it is that majority of our youths have ambition to become rich, to become popular but this ambition is not underpinned by passion for excellence, passion for planning and passion for hard work. You can see in the majority of them, they want the shortcut to everything. That is why, in majority of cases, they end up as failures. If a man can look at life as fundamentally programmed. I want to say that the life of everybody is based on fundamental programming. If you don’t programme your life positively, you would end up a disaster. If you programme your life very well and you pray for it and work towards it, challenges can come but you will end up becoming a successful human being wherever you find yourself.

What success means 
Success to me is the ability at every point in time to impact positively on your fellow human being, on the society or your environment. Mind you, in my definition of success, I have not made any reference to any politician, billionaire or to any poor man. I believe that God created man to be able to lend helping hand to every other man whether he is big or small. Inherent to my submission,for every human being to be able to accomplish that central goal of making an impact, God has endowed all of us with one talent or another.The unfortunate thing about Nigeria and Nigerians is, we fail to recognize the talent that God has given to us as individuals. On the other side, we always try to envy somebody who is good in one line and try to copy him. So whoever at every moment is able to impact positively on the life of others, if he falls dead tomorrow, he must have accomplished the goal for which he was created.

Pioneering the first multidisciplinary estate firm in the country
The vision came to me when I was pursuing my masters programme in Estate Management at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. It dawned on me that at any professional firm, if any consultant wants to add value from a strategic perspective, he or she needs to have a good bias for a consortium approach to service delivery. So, I asked myself, what are the basic things that defined estate assets? They include conceptualization, design, construction and project management and then property management. This hovers around engineering, architecture, quantity surveying, estate surveying and town planning. So, what I then did was to assemble all these people, bring all of them under one roof and through that approach you can synergize and today we are able to leap in the fore-front of estate consultancy through the multi-disciplinary approach to service delivery system, and since then no looking back.

Management Style
Right now, we are passing through a period of management transition where we have to ensure that whatever we want to do within the short and long term, everybody keys into it. We are into critical arrears like successor plan, advancement plan,diversification plan and, of course, the one that is of very importance to me which I keep on emphasizing but which we have adequately deployed is the nature of our social responsibility because waking up every time or every year and saying that you are giving this or that to the handicap is not sufficient.

Challenges
If you look at the challenges in the village, many have always struggled to put food on the table. However, I happened not to be among those who don’t know where the next meal would come from, but beside the basic needs of food and clothing, there was nothing luxurious about my family set up. On health issue, I could remember when I was about seven or eight years old, epidemic of cholera struck in my village and within a couple of days, hundreds of people had died. That was when public health became a pillar in my heart because in a village where there is no sensitizing and infrastructure to provide for the villagers, a little disease can always turn into an epidemic and before you know it, the entire village could be wiped off.

Aspiring professionals
As a professional, every step of my life is characterized by certain peculiar challenge or another, and I want all professional men and women to bear that in mind. If you want to be a successful professional anywhere in the world, you have to reconcile yourself with the fact that at every given time, certain challenges would characterize your development. Specifically , as a youth corps member and after youth service, the challenge that I had was to imbibe as much training as I could. That would make you to become a servant to all your seniors, send you to all the places without you blinking an eyelid or expressing any fatigue or disappointment. Having learnt that, the next is that as a professional, issues of integrity, hard work, excellence, are the ingredients that clients look forward in individuals. But unfortunately in Nigeria, only a small percentage of aspiring professionals adhere to that. If you are able to relate yourself to what I have always canvassed, that when you see Nigerians moving en masse towards one direction and you are not sure of that direction, go the opposite direction and you would not fail. If you see people who migrate here and there without making conscious effort to ask what are the basis for this mass movement, just go to the other direction and you would succeed.
The other challenge that we have, of course, is that certain trade requires capital and if your line of business requires capital, you have to focus your mind on the most ethical way of getting the capital without which you cannot do anything. The last but not the least is that you should not end up becoming a jack of all trade and master of none. In Nigeria, I can categorically state that many doctors, architects, engineers who would have succeeded, fail half way in their journey because of lack of focus. They make some money in the early days of their careers and they would want to go into politics, chieftaincy title taking or other frivolities. I am not casting any aspersion on anyone but for the younger ones, a focused life is a template for success and an unfocussed life is a recipe for failure. So, if you are an engineer, focus on your engineering field and whatever capital you generate, you can diversify. But for you to be a medical doctor and at the same time a contractor, a politician and at the same time a globe trotter, that is a recipe for failure and this is common with Nigerian professionals.

Advice to the youths
My advice to Nigerian youths is that they should believe in God and believe in themselves and also believe in the country. Whatever challenges you may be passing through as an individual, whatever challenges your country may be passing through, indeed, whatever challenges the world may be passing through, all would come to pass. But where a young person has no vision for himself, has no vision for his country, then he cannot aspire to be anything. For those who may have contrary view, I want to re-assert one position, Nigeria is one of the potentially greatest countries in the universe. Whatever may be our present challenges shall come to pass. The youths should struggle, they should pray, learn, plan, compete and remain visionary.

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Rethinking job creation strategies

Our Reporter August 19, 2013 No Comments »

The Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Mr. Christopher Kolade, recently underscored  the seriousness of the nation’s employment crisis when he put the number  of unemployed Nigerians at about 40 million. Kolade, who was represented by the Assistant Director and Head of Services of  SURE-P, Mr. Anthony  Kalu, at a sensitisation programme organised by the agency in llorin, the Kwara State capital, bemoaned the fact that the  Nigerian economy could not absorb the nearly 300,000 graduates being produced by  Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions in the country every year.
Attempting to explain the disinterest of firms in employing fresh Nigerian graduates, he said the potential employers  complain about their lack of experience, the high cost of maintaining a large workforce and the need to maintain profits.
In addition, he said the firms did not want to commit a lot of money into training of fresh graduates who may not fit into their systems eventually.He further disclosed that the SURE – P Graduate  Internship Scheme (GIS) provides a solution to the problem of inexperienced graduates by developing a skill base that firms can benefit from among the graduates at a minimal cost.
The scheme provides young graduates with temporary work placement in participating firms for a period of 12 months to enhance their employability and provide a livelihood for them for the period.
Fifty thousand Nigerians across the nation’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Terrority are to be engaged in the scheme to improve their skill base. He added that 96,000 graduates  are already registered on the portal of the scheme, while 2000 firms have indicated interest in participating in the initiative through their registration. Only 35 per cent of these firms, however,  met the Federal Government’s requirements for participation.
We welcome the effort by SURE-P to refocus attention on the employment challenge in Nigeria. It is good that the problem has not only been widely recognised as a ticking time bomb, efforts are now on to sensitize the people to the need to improve the employability skills of Nigerian graduates.
We, however, advise that the scope of this scheme should be expanded. The report in Ilorin that only 21 out of 3,290 graduates who registered for the scheme in Kwara State have been matched with firms, with only three of them eventually hired, is not encouraging. If this parlous figure is extrapolated to the whole country, it could suggest that the scheme cannot scratch even the surface of the employment problem in the country. Arrangements should be made to bring more graduates and firms on board.
In addition, with the endless search of graduates for jobs in the country, we believe it is time for a shift  from the era of  reliance on the government for jobs.
It is certain that the government cannot employ all the graduates produced annually in the country. Even the private sector cannot absorb them all as many of the nation’s industries are operating below their installed capacity on account of various challenges such as power supply shortages and the decline in the purchasing power of the people.
The time has come for Nigerian youths to orientate their minds towards towards entrepreneurship. It is, therefore, necessary for all graduates to increase their skills and plan for self-employment. They also need to be guided to look inwards and convert their innate gifts to job-creation. Nigeria’s educational authorities and tertiary  institutions should also place more emphasis on technical courses.
Educational curricula at all levels of education should be redesigned to place more emphasis on entrepreneurial competence. The government, on its part, must do everything within its authority to stabilise power supply and provide the  much-needed  environment for businesses to thrive in the country. Unemployment is at the root of many of the ills, such as insecurity, plaguing the country today. We must design fresh strategies to tackle it frontally.

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EXCLUSIVE: As Benin Republic clocks 53: Over 6m Nigerians live in former Dahomey, 200 in jails but Amb Obisakin says ‘Nigeria is a power here, there’s no doubt about it’

Our Reporter August 1, 2013 No Comments »

Maurice Archibong, 3-time winner, travel & tourism reporter of the year
mauricearchibongtravels @gmail.com
+2347030786447
Prologue
Although we had planned to launch Decade Two of Travels in Daily Sun with the premiere of a groundbreaking 10-part series on foods and eateries, in commemoration of 10 years of Travels, this week; that debut was postponed because today, August 1, coincides with Benin Republic’s National Day.
So, what’s our business with that? Only one way to find out: by perusing today’s Travels, dear reader. Moreover, we were also swayed by the enquiries from numerous readers, following my special report on Nigerian students studying abroad.
Aside from a lengthy post on www.mauricearchibongtravels.blogspot.com, that special study was serialised in three editions of the Sun Education Review, and the ever-rising number of visits to this site because of that report is proof of the relevance of the subject covered. One of these reactions, boxed as sidebar, should clue one in as to the urgent need of an expose such as we have here, today.
While looking forward to having you with us next week, here is wishing you, Happy reading…
On this day, August 1, 53 years ago; then Dahomey, today’s Republique du Benin (Republic of Benin) attained independence from France. At the political level, Benin has recorded enviable strides; for, it was one of the first post-colonial African nations to jettison military dictatorship/autocracy for democratic rule.
Moreover, Benin Republic must be an icon of pride for the entire black race because an African traditional religion, Vothoun aka Voodoo, is State Religion in this country of barely 10 million inhabitants. Interestingly, January 10 is an annual National Holiday in honour of Vothoun in these climes.
On this public holiday, countless foreign tourists could be seen savouring the charms of Vodounsi as well as the sights and sounds of Vodouno (adherents) on street procession in many a local settlement. Wow! You should come to Ouidah or Cotonou next January 10! Believe it or not, when it comes to commonsense, size counts for little. Welcome to the small, yet great nation called Benin.
6.5m Nigerians in Benin
Did you know that Nigerians and people of Nigerian ancestry account for more than 6 million, of the barely 10 million population of Benin Republic? According to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s envoy to Cotonou, Ambassador Lawrence Olufemi Obisakin, this revelation came from no-less a personality than President of Benin Republic, Dr Thomas Boni Yayi.
Speaking during an exclusive chat with Travels at the Residence of the Nigerian Ambassador in Cotonou, Amb Obisakin, further revealed that about 200 Nigerians were in different prisons across that neighbouring country. Although some of these inmates are convicts, many others are in detention awaiting trial.
Painfully, akin to the situation in Nigeria, many of those undergoing trial have been in detention for a long, long time. Expatiating, the Nigerian ambassador added that, officials of his mission had toured some of the jailhouses and he was also planning to personally visit these inmates to see things for himself.
“Some of them may have issues that need looking into and a few days ago, we facilitated the release of a Nigerian woman that had been in incarceration for some time. We don’t just want to see the inmates, we have made requests for a list of all Nigerians in prison in this country, their personal data and the offences they allegedly commited. With that, it would be easier to tell, whose case needs to be reviewed. Thus far, we are yet to be furnished with this list. However, we are not giving up on this issue”, Amb Obisakin stressed.
One of the 16 countries of West Africa, Benin is a strategic gateway to the sub-region and is important, among others, because countless Nigerians daily commute between their country’s western frontiers and places as far away as Senegal. Benin is also an important trading partner of Nigeria, even though the bulk of the commercial activities is informal and, therefore, goes largely undocumented.
Porous border and national security
Porous border and improper documentation of business transactions between Beninese and Nigerian merchants could be exploitated by money launderers as well as drug and weapons traffickers, with consequent unpalatable impact on the security of either nation. What is Obisakin’s take on this? “You may not be wrong. It’s one of the challenges and it is being tackled. But, it is principally a political issue. And, the border is important here.
“Proper management of the border is crucial, especially Seme Border. Once the construction is completed and the people supposed to be there, are there; then we would begin to address the security issue. There are two major groups you need at the border: Immigration and Customs. These are the people we really need. The others could be in the background. And, I’m glad to hear that the Minister Cordinating the Economy, Prof. Ngozi-Iweala, has said that she has started implementing that at Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
“As Pareto would say, ‘Once you resolve 20 per cent of the major problems, then 80 per cent of the minor ones could be considered solved. So, the 20-80 principle will apply, here”, Obisakin mused.
The equivalent of billions of dollars exchange hands annually through Nigerian importers and other merchants that use Cotonou’s Port Autonome. The bulk of goods imported through Port of Cotonou includes cars and edibles, such as rice, wines, spirits, poultry and vegetable oil. Other items are engine oil and used clothing alias okrika, like footwear, shirts, trousers, skirts, blouses and even underwear.
As a result, Cotonou Port has morphed into one of the busiest wharves in West Africa. As artery in and out of Nigeria, Benin Republic is also a factor in our nation’s security. Over the last three decades, Benin Republic has been attracting countless Nigerian merchants who flock the neighbouring country either as importers, clearing agents, traders or smugglers.
Cotonou, now academic Mecca for Nigerians
In the last 10 years, however, Benin has also evolved into an academic haven for thousands of Nigerian youngsters desparate for university admission. Such is the influx of our compatriots in Benin Republic that during a lecture on Conflict Management at Houdegbe North American University Benin (HNAUB), one of the many private universities in Cotonou, all the 28 students in that class were Nigerians!
This is no exaggeration. The lecturer happened to be the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Dr Obisakin. Obisakin, who holds a PhD in Conflict Management, taught gratis for one semester at HNAUB. That stint, which had the blessing of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was practical demonstration of Obisakin’s desire to impart knowledge.
The top-flight diplomat also disclosed that some 8,000 Nigerians are currently enrolled at HNAUB. About 5,000 of these students are on-campus, while the remaining 3,000 are distant learners. “In fact, we believe that as many as 90 per cent of students at Houdegbe University could be Nigerians”, Amb Obisakin declared.
With over 20 private universities in Cotonou, the plenitude of Nigerians studying at HNAUB alone offers an insight into the plethora of Nigerian youngsters in Benin. But, there are worries: Are they enrolled at approved schools, and do the universities have accreditation for the courses they run?
As regards revelations that a number of Nigerians had actually spent tons of money and years of studying at Beninese universities only to discover on returning home after graduation that their degree was worthless; Obisakin revealed that,  finally; his mission has successfully drawn up a list of approved universities in Benin Republic.
There are 21 universities in that neighbouring country, where Nigerians seeking admission could apply, he said. The list was arrived at after meticulous study by Nigerian Embassy in Cotonou working in collaboration with Beninese Ministry of Tertiary Education, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, we gathered.
Nigeria is a power here
Although he arrived in Benin Republic’s economic capital, Cotonou, on July 9, 2012; to assume duty as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s envoy to that country, Amb Obisakin got official endorsement of the host head of state about a month later.
Interestingly, even when he had not yet sealed protocol formalities by August 1, 2012; Obisakin was invited to the Beninese State House to partake in the celebration of that country’s 62nd independence anniversary. He put his invitation down to the special relationship between Benin Republic and Nigeria. “O, They were very kind to me”, he enthused.
According to Obisakin, the special ties between the two West African neighbours explains why the protocol of not having yet presented his Letter of Credence was waived as regards his invitation to Benin State House for the August 1, 2012 national day felicitations.
Twelves months ago, on August 6, 2012; Obisakin was at the Beninese State House, where he presented his Letter of Credence to President Boni Yayi. Therefore, in less than a week; on August 6, 2013, to be precise; Obisakin will clock a year as Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic.
“A lot has been achieved in the last one year. But, first of all; I must thank you Maurice Archibong for your keen interest in our work”, Amb Obisakin remarked. Back to what has been achieved over the last 12 months, Obisakin continued: “If you ask any Nigerian living in Benin Republic, they will tell you that they are seeing a better life. In fact, the watershed was in February, this year. On February 19, 2013; we were at Benin State House from 9am till 5pm in a meeting with His Excellency, President Thomas Boni Yayi”.
Obisakin recalled that the Beninese president had “summoned all his Service Chiefs, including Chief of the Forest Department, to that meeting with me. At the meeting, HE Dr Thomas Boni Yayi gave them (Benin Service Chiefs) some orders. One, that nobody must maltreat any Nigerian on this territory, any more.
“Number two: President Boni Yayi also directed that, if the most respected citizens were the French and the Americans, all citizens of Benin should give double the respect that they grant to the Americans and the French to Nigerian citizens. And, he gave reasons …
“Number one: Nigeria is the biggest partner of Benin Republic. Number two: we are one actually. We share seven common indigenous languages with them. We share 778km border with them. We have been one from pre-colonial times. Don’t forget that the Oyo Empire was here and that the Borgu Empire also was here. So, Nigeria was a power here in the past. And, we are still a power, commercially”.
Obisakin added that another achievement of his administration as Nigerian Ambassador to Cotonou could be found in the existence of a new international market at Seme-Krake. At some point, Nigerian traders were going to have problems but we were there for them. We stood by them and now, the market near Seme-Krake border is running. Seme-Krake border is the busiest of all the land borders in Nigeria. It is also the land border that yields the greatest revenue.
“Apart from that, Nigeria is clearly visible now across Benin although I would have loved to have some concrete architectural edifice here because we have more competitors now. No doubt. China is here … and that is the reality. We are immediate neighbours: that is what is special about Nigeria and Benin Republic”.
When taken up on his idea of a Nigerian architectural icon in Benin, this is what Amb Obisakin had to say: “I have always had this dream. There should be a Nigerian Cultural Centre here. We are a power, here. There’s no doubt about it”. When we put it to His Excellency that, given his vantage position to start the process of establishing a Nigerian Cultural Centre in Benin Republic, what has he done about it; Amb Obisakin replied: “Well, we are starting. But, you will agree that some of these things cannot be achieved over-night. We are just praying that it will be accepted by the leadership and relevant authorities. But, I know that with time, this will surely come.
“That’s my dream: for Nigeria to have an educational-cum-research centre, here. There’s yearning for it. The people need it. We have initiated the process by putting in some memos and NOUN (National Open University of Nigeria) is coming. People are yearning for education, here. Don’t forget, this is where you have the highest concentration of Nigerians outside home. There are 6.5 million Nigerians here”!
As to how he came by such a staggering figure, Amb Obisakin’s response was: “The President of Benin Republic, HE Dr Thomas Boni Yayi, said so. He said that about 65 per cent of the inhabitants of Benin Republic are Nigerians or Nigerian-related”.
The enviable affinity between Benin and Nigeria, Amb Obisakin intoned, has fostered formalisation of virtually all types of useful bilateral ties, one could think of. Obisakin again: “Remember, we’ve been together long before we got independence. But, let me use my own experience as an example. Nigeria and Benin have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the exchange of teachers and lecturers”.
With regard to the year that pact was entered into, Obisakin said it was a long time ago. This ambassador, who was admitted to University of Ife in 1975, was beneficiary of this academic exchange treaty. That is how Obisakin came to have a Beninese, Prof Ige Akanni Mahmoud, among his lecturers at Ife, those days. Evidently, that MoU, he noted must have been signed more than 35 years, ago.
Nonetheless, it must be pointed out, that the much-vaunted bond between Benin and Nigeria is not bereft of challenges. We also took Nigeria’s Number One citizen in Benin on this point. “The only challenge we have, and thank God it is being resolved by our President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, who is interested in the very good and warm relation we have with this country, is that; in 2009, a meeting of the Benin-Nigeria Joint Commission had to end abruptly as a result of some border and boundary issues. But, now; we are meeting again.
“Remember, that our presidents have been meeting. The President of Benin, Dr Boni Yayi, is about the only foreign president that spends his vacation in Nigeria. In September, last year; he was in Nigeria for one week; from the 19th to the 26th on national vacation”.
Rules must be obeyed, nobody should leave Nigeria without travel papers
Obisakin however warned that the propinquity between Benin and Nigeria is not an excuse for anyone to disobey necessary rules. “Nigerians”, he stressed, “must realise that, though Benin may be close and they may share the same language with some Beninese, Benin Republic is, albeit, another country. Only yesterday (July 27, 2013), some people came; about 20, and they had not a single passport on them. Yet, they want to cross the border. And, not only that; they planned to go farther beyond Benin.
“I want Nigerians to know that, it is true that ECOWAS links us and there’s free movement of persons, goods and services; but, you must have a valid Nigerian passport to cross the Nigerian border. Nobody should leave his country into another without necessary documents. Nigerians need to know this because it will save us a lot of distraction. We have so much to do.
“There are many opportunities that we need to explore. For example, can you believe that people here have links with Belgium? Can’t we have a facility here to airlift such tourists to Obudu in Nigeria by helicopter, when they are through with their visit here? So, we don’t want distraction because every time you send an officer out, to go and bail someone, another duty suffers”, Obisakin stressed.
Nigerians crossing the border with firearms is another source of worry for Ambassador Obisakin. “You can’t do that … You are indirectly declaring war, the moment you cross into another man’s land with firearms without approval”, he charged.
Have we had such incidents? “O, I thank God that one of the things we have succeeded in drumming into Nigerians is that those that have authority to bear arms, now know that; that authorisation only covers Nigerian territory. It does not cover another person’s territory”, Obisakin remarked.
The weal outweighs the woes
In spite of all the challenges thrown at the Amb Obisakin-led Nigerian Embassy in Cotonou, the envoy reasoned: “Yes, there are challenges. But, considering the large body of Nigerians in this country, things could have been worse. In other words, out of every twelve, there must be a Judas. Even Jesus Christ had a Judas. So, a very tiny fraction of our population here present challenges and I have to thank God for the people I have here.
“Apart from the capable hands at the mission, there are a lot of Nigerian personalities in Benin. Most Nigerians in this country are noted for doing their duty well. For example, those in Kandi: During my visit there, the Mayor told me he thanks God for having Nigerians in their midst. Not only do Nigerians living in Kandi pay their taxes promptly, they sometimes pay ahead of time. I’m proud of Nigerians and I can tell you that others are proud of us, too”; Obisakin concluded.

‘My life at 40’

Our Reporter August 17, 2013 No Comments »

Alhaji Sulaimon Alao Adekunle aka Malaika is no doubt one of the hottest faces in  fujidom. This is as far as the younger generation of fuji artiste is concerned. Malaika, who has over 30 albums to his credit, began his music career in 1983. He recently turned 40 and painted London red when friends and family hosted him to a lavish birthday party. In this interview with The Entertainer, Malaika talks to Tony Ogaga Erhariefe about his love and respect for the man who modernised fuji music, Alhaji Ayinde Barrister, his career and plans for the future including his single with Olamide and what it feels like turning 40.
Excerpts: 
You turned 40 a while ago. What has changed about you?
(Laughs) Nothing really has changed. I am still the same old me. Age is just a number. Life goes on. At 40, I am just having fun.
Forty years after, what would you say was your greatest achievement?
I thank God for bringing me this far musically. I have achieved a lot musically and the records are there. However, I don’t like blowing my trumpet. But my dream now is to consolidate my career and reach out to the younger generation of artistes. There is no straight road without twists and turns; that’s the way I see life. There have been a lot of positives and negatives but the positives far outweigh the negatives. I thank God for my life generally.
Career wise, what’s your next move?
I want to reach out to the younger generation of artistes though I have been supporting them all along. The record label thing we have in hip hop does not work exactly that way in fuji. When you sign on an artiste, before you know it, he would start demanding for what you don’t have. A lot of these youngsters don’t know what Malaika has gone through before getting to this level. However, I thought about the record label thing for a lot of years and I discovered the best thing I could do was to either help them or introduce them to record labels.

Your 40th birthday has been a rollercoaster. You held a party in London and then you had another one in Benin Republic and we hear you are planning another one for South Africa. How true is this?
(Laughter) I would have done another one in United States but my schedule was really tight. I can confirm that there is a date for South Africa already. We will be lighting up Pretoria and Johannesburg with fuji vibes. Then, I might consider a birthday gig in the U S A.
When you started out, your stage name was Tekoye. But now you’re Malaika. Why did you change your name?
I answered the name, Tekoye because I got it from my late brother. He was a musician too. His name was Wasiu Tekoye. My late brother was my adviser and mentor; just like King Ayinde Marshal but I could not just bear to answer Talazo. While growing up I loved the name. However, I realized that I might not sing fuji music forever so I changed the name. The rationale was that if my name remained Tekoye, it would be very difficult for me. You see, whatever one wants to do in life, one needs to think about the future. So that was the reason I changed my name to Malaika.
We understand that recently, when OJB went to town with his SOS call for assistance, you were one of those that assisted him. Could you give us an idea of how much you gave?
That’s between me and OJB. It wouldn’t be right for me to disclose such on the pages of newspapers. You see, I am a very private person and I am surprised that word got out that I reached out to OJB. He is my very good friend though.

You recently featured Olamide in a hot new track. Could you tell us about it?
It is entitled Bo Se Njo, (The Way You Dance). I have done collaborations with a lot of hip hop artistes. But this is the first time I am doing one with Olamide and the track has been receiving rave reviews.

Do you see yourself doing collaborations with other hip-hop acts like Wande Coal and Wizkid?
Yes, I could. I am a simple person. Anytime they call on me I will honour them.

What’s your current project?
We have lots of things on ground. I released my musical video, Special Day, a while ago. At the moment, we have started working on my new album. And then there is the collabo with Olamide, the popular fuji pop rapper. The song is on caller tunes as we speak. My fans could start using it as their ring back tones.
While growing up, did you ever believe you could become this big in fuji?
No, I never did. If any artiste tells you that he knew right from the beginning that they would be successful, he would be lying. However, I was determined to give my best. The only person that discussed about taking me to studio was Alhaji  Saliu Akamu Adetunji. He is my record label owner today. He was the person that approached me.  I was so amazed! We met at a naming ceremony in 1992. He sent for me after my performance. That was how we started. Later, a lot of recording companies started romancing me, they wanted to take me from him but they failed. As I said earlier, there is no straight road without twists and turns but I thank God for where I am today.

How were you able to stick with only one label for over 20 years?
(laughter) Sometimes, we disagree to agree. Money has always been the major issue. At the end of the day, we find a way forward. Even, if I did any album for another recording company, there was always a clause that stated categorically that I couldn’t sign under any other label. To be realistic, Babalaje (Alhaji Adetunji) made me. When I was nobody, he saw me. He wasn’t event thinking of make money then. That’s the reason I respect him so much; he made me who I am today. We are like a family. We are so close and he understands me so much. I thank Alhaji Saliu for the opportunity he gave me. We have been working together since 1992.

How do you get inspiration for your songs?
I get inspiration from what is happening in the society and my fans also give me inspiration.

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Okagbare wins bronze in 200m

Our Reporter August 17, 2013 No Comments »

Mosco 2013 World Athletics Championship

By EMMA NJOKU

Nigeria, yesterday, won bronze in the Women’s 200m event at the ongoing World Athletics Championship in Mosco, Russia through Blessing Okagbare. Okagbare who had earlier won a silver medal in the Women’s long jump at the championship crossed the finish line in 22.32seconds but lost the silver medal to Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure who finished in same time but with quicker reaction time of 0.180 as against Okagbare’s 0.154.
The Team Nigeria’s captain had made up for her trade mark slow start in the last 50metres lap running shoulder-to-shoulder with Ahoure for the second position behind Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Okagbare, however, slowed down when she approached the finish line, allowing the Ivorian to react faster across the finish line to beat her to the silver. Ahoure also won silver in the Women’s 100m.
Expectedly, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the Women’s 200m gold medal in 22.17seconds. The Jamaican had earlier won gold in the Women’s 100m decided early in week.
With yesterday’s bronze, Nigeria is now placed 21st on the medal table, above Italy (23rd), Australia (29th) and Japan (29th).

Anambra Guber crisis: PDP walking the familiar terrain

Our Reporter August 17, 2013 No Comments »

As it was in 2010, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is again treading the same path that cost it the Anambra State governorship seat.
Last weekend, the Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio as the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum spoke to newsmen in Abuja after the Jonah Jang faction of NGF meeting on the challenge before PDP in winning back Anambra State.
He expressed optimism that the party will coast home to victory at the November 16 gubernatorial election in the south east state. Judging by the reality on ground, such optimism expressed by Governor Akpabio, which is also in line with the leadership of the party may be difficult to come true.
For the PDP chieftains, the ego of the party has been deflated by its persistent electoral failure to get back the state.
As a demonstration of its readiness to win back the state, the party at a meeting presided by the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur released its timetable in Abuja. It announced that the sale and return of the Expression of Interest (EoI) Form would take place between August 1 and 5. The price is N10 million each. Then, the state congress to pick the party’s candidate will hold on August 24. The submission of the candidate’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is on Friday, August 30.
Over 20 people have indicated interests to contest on PDP platform.
The intractable crisis that has bedeviled the party in the last ten years reared its head again last Monday during wards congresses of the party, which are prelude to the gubernatorial primaries, where the standard flag bearer would emerge.
Confusion and controversies trailed the wards congresses as two factions – Chief Ken Emeakayi and Chief Ejike Oguebego claiming leadership of the party held parallel elections.
This time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is pitched against PDP.
While INEC is recognising Chief Oguebego as the state chairman of the party, PDP does not want to hear of this and is dealing with Chief Emeakayi as its chairman.
All seemed to be going on well until August 11, 2013 when INEC wrote Alhaji Tukur, rejecting Emeakayi as the Anambra chairman of the party.
According to a letter signed by Mr. U.F. Usman on behalf of INEC Secretary, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu, to PDP national chairman, dated August 11, 2013; the Commission said it  “did not monitor the processes that brought Emeakayi to power.”
The letter says,  “The Commission found that whereas it monitored the state congress of the PDP in Anambra State in 2010 at which Chief Emma Nweze emerged as the state chairman of the party, it has no record of how Emeakayi suddenly became the chairman of the party in the state.”
The Commission having considered all the cases on the Anambra PDP crises, said it was not bound by the judgment of the FCT High Court, which nullified the congress at which Ogbuebego was elected.
The Commission stated that in March 2012, the PDP conducted another congress in Anambra State in which Ogbuebego was elected the state chairman, adding that both INEC and PDP had recognised Ogbuebego as chairman, until the Commission received a letter on July 31, 2013.
It was the same factionalization of the party and various contending interest groups that held the party by its jugular that led it to loose the governorship seat that was at its finger tip.
A former leader of the party surreptitiously working for one of the gubernatorial aspirants told Saturday Sun over the phone that the fate of the party in Anambra hangs on cliff. According to him, the same contending forces that led the party to loose the 2010 gubernatorial election are at play again.
He noted that, these people are more ferocious than they were four years ago and this portends grave danger and the party is already bidding goodbye to victory.
In 2010, it started with controversies at wards congresses, which trailed the party to the primaries, with parallel primaries conducted.
The aspirants included, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, who had the backing of the presidency; Senator Annie Okonkwo, who was declared winner by the Joseph Waku led PDP organising committee; Dr Andy Uba, Nicholas Ukachukwu and others.
At the end of the day, Soludo was picked as the party standard  bearer for the election.
From there, things fell apart for the party in the state as the other aspirants declared war against the party and the candidate. Some of them declared openly that they were going to play spoilers roles by contesting on the platforms of other parties knowing that they were far from winning the election. Their grouse was the manner the candidate emerged as they said they were not given level playing field.
While Okonkwo went to Accord Party (AP) and easily picked the party’s ticket, Uba went to Labour Party (LP) and did the same. Ukachuwku went to another party and equally picked its ticket. By all standards, these three aspirants who declared war on the PDP candidate were no pushovers. They had the financial muscles to prosecute their cases and large clout and followership in the state.
As a result, Governor Peter Obi of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) was able to win the election.
Soludo came second in the election, while former governor Chris Ngige of Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN) came third, with Uba, Okonkwo and Ukachukwu following.
Without the crisis, the combined votes of Soludo and any of the three breakaway aspirants could have swayed the tide in favour of PDP.
It seems PDP does not have sense of history as it takes on the same path that has made the governorship seat of Anambra very elusive to it.
While it had only APGA as the main contender, this time around, there are many contenders to the seat.
APGA is there, having navigated through its own internal crisis and putting its house in order for the battle. There is also All Progressives Congress (APC), a party that was given berth last month, following the merging of major opposition parties.
Labour Party, which has already settled with billionaire oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah is already unsettling other parties in the contest.
While Uba and Ukachukwu retuned, Okonkwo pitched his tent with APGA and later APC.
A PDP chieftain in the state, Chief Nnamdi Ubabuko told Saturday Sun that what they have on their hands are more than they could chew. He expressed cautious optimism on their winning the election.
According to him, the leadership of the party had thought the outrageous N10 million for the expression of interest form would scare many but they were proved wrong. Last four years, it was about N250, 000.
“If we are going to make  any headway and avoid what happened in 2010, it is high time the leadership of the party at Abuja and other stakeholders nipped in the bud the impending doom by bringing together all these contending forces and make them realise that the party is supreme and greater than any of them.
“ After they truncated the victory of the party in 2010 by jumping to other parties they all returned to the same party and were accepted. Because the party didn’t wield the big stick that is why the same scenario is going to play out again if care is not taken. This time, the party had to quickly deal with the situation, once they discover that some people were bent on causing mischief”, he stated.
The die is cast, the Oguebego faction held its congresses at wards on Monday with INEC officials as observers, while the Emeakayi with officials of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) postponing the exercise to a later date.
If the ruling party again fails to put its house in order, the Anambra Government House will also elude it on November 16.