Nigerian refineries currently get crude oil supply through marine vessels as opposed to the use of pipelines, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has revealed.
According to the corporation, the refineries had to change tactics as a result of the incessant attacks on crude oil and gas pipelines by vandals.
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, who disclosed this at the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State, noted that the scheme had made three refineries as well as the corporation’s strategic business units to transit from cost centres to profit-making ventures.
Yakubu, in a statement issued by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, disclosed that the supply of crude oil to refineries using marine vessels was developed as a result of the constant attacks on the crude supply pipelines which over the years had created serious challenges for the refineries.
On the long-term solution to the problem of pipeline vandalism, the GMD explained that plans were underway to deploy the horizontal directional drilling technology in all the corporation’s pipelines.
This, he said, would reduce the incessant attacks on the pipelines that had become a huge drag on the operations of the corporation as well as a drain on the national economy.
Yakubu said for NNPC to live up to its full potential, it must adopt a radical change in its operational attitude, adding that the present management was willing to support any SBU with innovative ideas on how to operate more efficiently and grow profit.
The Managing Director, PHRC, Mr. Bafred Enjugu, lauded the approval for crude supply to the refinery through marine vessels, and stated that the initiative had improved the company’s profit margin considerably.
He explained that the PHRC had commenced a piecemeal intervention in the plant through the replacement of components procured for Turn Around Maintenance using in-house resources and local contractors.
campusflava
Monday, July 28, 2014
West African Postal Conference begins operation
The West African Postal Conference, an alliance of postal administration in the West African sub-region, has commenced operation with its headquarters in Abuja, the Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, has said.
Johnson said this at the signing of an agreement for the building of the headquarters of the organisation in Abuja.
She said the main objectives of setting up WAPCO were to put in place a modern, efficient and viable postal service.
She added that the role of NIPOST would help to integrate the postal services within the region.
The decision to site the headquarters of WAPCO in the city of Abuja was approved during the conference of ministers in charge of postal services of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States held in Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire, in April 2012.
Johnson said the council approved, among others, the creation of WAPCO as a regional and inter-governmental organisation to be registered in the class of specialised institutions of the ECOWAS and the establishment of a secretariat for the body in Abuja, Nigeria with an interim executive secretary.
She said, “Sequel to the decision to locate the headquarters of WAPCO in the city of Abuja, Nigeria took the responsibility for the provision of both office accommodation and executive secretary’s residence and other logistics as pledged.
The minister said the steps were taken to ensure that the body takes off in earnest to achieve the laudable objectives of the organisation within the shortest period. The efforts of Nigeria, according to her, were highly appreciated by member countries during the Extra-Ordinary Session of the Board of Directors of WAPCO.
“It is my pleasure to inform you that today, WAPCO secretariat has been established and has come to stay. It was inaugurated by the council of ministers during the last Extra-Ordinary Session of the ministerial conference in Abuja.”
The minister added, “This historic signing of the WAPCO headquarters agreement and issuance of diplomatic privileges to the executive secretary are, undoubtedly, great achievements to the West African Postal Administration.
“This will assist the secretariat to settle down and perform its statutory responsibilities that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our postal services in the West African sub-region. Furthermore, the agreement will also accord a diplomatic status to the WAPCO Secretariat.”
The Ivorian Post and ICT Minister, and the Chairman of WAPCO Ministerial Conference, Mr. Bruno Kone, expressed appreciation to President Goodluck Jonathan for taking the responsibility of providing office accommodation, executive secretary’s residence and other logistics.
In his welcome address, the ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of ICT Dr. Isaias da Rosa, thanked the Federal Government on behalf of ECOWAS for accepting to host the WAPCO headquarters.
Johnson said this at the signing of an agreement for the building of the headquarters of the organisation in Abuja.
She said the main objectives of setting up WAPCO were to put in place a modern, efficient and viable postal service.
She added that the role of NIPOST would help to integrate the postal services within the region.
The decision to site the headquarters of WAPCO in the city of Abuja was approved during the conference of ministers in charge of postal services of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States held in Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire, in April 2012.
Johnson said the council approved, among others, the creation of WAPCO as a regional and inter-governmental organisation to be registered in the class of specialised institutions of the ECOWAS and the establishment of a secretariat for the body in Abuja, Nigeria with an interim executive secretary.
She said, “Sequel to the decision to locate the headquarters of WAPCO in the city of Abuja, Nigeria took the responsibility for the provision of both office accommodation and executive secretary’s residence and other logistics as pledged.
The minister said the steps were taken to ensure that the body takes off in earnest to achieve the laudable objectives of the organisation within the shortest period. The efforts of Nigeria, according to her, were highly appreciated by member countries during the Extra-Ordinary Session of the Board of Directors of WAPCO.
“It is my pleasure to inform you that today, WAPCO secretariat has been established and has come to stay. It was inaugurated by the council of ministers during the last Extra-Ordinary Session of the ministerial conference in Abuja.”
The minister added, “This historic signing of the WAPCO headquarters agreement and issuance of diplomatic privileges to the executive secretary are, undoubtedly, great achievements to the West African Postal Administration.
“This will assist the secretariat to settle down and perform its statutory responsibilities that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our postal services in the West African sub-region. Furthermore, the agreement will also accord a diplomatic status to the WAPCO Secretariat.”
The Ivorian Post and ICT Minister, and the Chairman of WAPCO Ministerial Conference, Mr. Bruno Kone, expressed appreciation to President Goodluck Jonathan for taking the responsibility of providing office accommodation, executive secretary’s residence and other logistics.
In his welcome address, the ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of ICT Dr. Isaias da Rosa, thanked the Federal Government on behalf of ECOWAS for accepting to host the WAPCO headquarters.
193,000 subscribers change networks
A total of 193,000 subscribers have switched to new service providers since the introduction of the Mobile Number Portability in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission has said.
The Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said this at a ceremony to award prizes to three students that won essay competition on ‘the effect of MNP on telecoms service and usage in Nigeria,’ organised by the NCC.
Mobile Number Portability was introduced by the regulatory agency on April 22, 2013 to enable subscribers to retain their numbers while switching to other preferred service providers.
Ojobo said, “Since inception, 193,000 subscribers have successfully ported across the various telecoms networks.
“The introduction of the MNP was aimed at enabling telecom subscribers to exercise the power of choosing the network that will provide them with the desired services.
“As is the case in most countries where it has been introduced, its launch in Nigeria led to better customer care services, deepened competition, innovative services, wider coverage for all the networks and above all enthronement of the consumer as the king in the market place.”
Executive Vice Chairman at NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said one of the reasons the commission introduced MNP was to democratise choice and the movement of subscribers across the networks using the same number while stimulating subtle competition among operators.
He pledged the readiness of the regulatory agency to do all within its powers to enable subscribers to enjoy value for their money.
Juwah said, “We shall always discharge our regulatory responsibility with maximum sincerity, firmness and fairness with the intent that the industry becomes much better for the various stakeholders.”
The first prize of the essay went to Dasaolu Johnson, a law student at the University of Lagos. The second prize went to Kadri Olamide, a veterinary medicine student at the University of Ibadan while the third prize went to Nicholas Okpala, a civil engineering student at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
The three students expressed appreciation to NCC for offering them the opportunity to do research and learn more on a subject outside their curricula in school.
The Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said this at a ceremony to award prizes to three students that won essay competition on ‘the effect of MNP on telecoms service and usage in Nigeria,’ organised by the NCC.
Mobile Number Portability was introduced by the regulatory agency on April 22, 2013 to enable subscribers to retain their numbers while switching to other preferred service providers.
Ojobo said, “Since inception, 193,000 subscribers have successfully ported across the various telecoms networks.
“The introduction of the MNP was aimed at enabling telecom subscribers to exercise the power of choosing the network that will provide them with the desired services.
“As is the case in most countries where it has been introduced, its launch in Nigeria led to better customer care services, deepened competition, innovative services, wider coverage for all the networks and above all enthronement of the consumer as the king in the market place.”
Executive Vice Chairman at NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said one of the reasons the commission introduced MNP was to democratise choice and the movement of subscribers across the networks using the same number while stimulating subtle competition among operators.
He pledged the readiness of the regulatory agency to do all within its powers to enable subscribers to enjoy value for their money.
Juwah said, “We shall always discharge our regulatory responsibility with maximum sincerity, firmness and fairness with the intent that the industry becomes much better for the various stakeholders.”
The first prize of the essay went to Dasaolu Johnson, a law student at the University of Lagos. The second prize went to Kadri Olamide, a veterinary medicine student at the University of Ibadan while the third prize went to Nicholas Okpala, a civil engineering student at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
The three students expressed appreciation to NCC for offering them the opportunity to do research and learn more on a subject outside their curricula in school.
Simplifying business in Nigeria
Whenever I have to talk about Nigeria’s economic ‘potential’, I refer to two key features. One is the intimidatingly tangible fact of our population, the largest in Africa, seventh-largest in the world (on course to being third by 2050); offering a ready market for anything and everything. The other is a rather abstract quality: Nigerian ‘hustle’ – the never-say-never attitude that manifests in various incarnations, not the least of which are the instincts for deploying car horns in stand-still traffic, and for being unduly unruly in airports at home and abroad.
Today’s piece seeks to focus on a positive manifestation of that hustle – entrepreneurial energy. Two years ago, the Federal Government released data that revealed that 99 per cent of the more than 17 million SMEs in Nigeria are actually micro-businesses – i.e. employing fewer than 10 persons, and worth less than N5m in value.
In his authoritative study of Nigerian Capitalism, published in 1977, American Professor of Economics, Sayre Schatz, wrote: “[Nigerian entrepreneurs] tend to possess in high degree the pure personal qualities of entrepreneurship. They tend to be highly responsive to the possibility of gain, to pursue economic advantage vigorously and strenuously. They are flexible and venturesome, are willing to seek far and wide and to take risks in the quest for profit. Any venture that has the remotest prospects of success attracts them.”
I will like to make the point that we need to focus removing the biggest obstacles facing these millions of businesses. And what are those obstacles? You might say capital. No doubt capital is critical for the success of small and big business. But is capital really the most intimidating issue Nigerian businesses face?
It seems to me that in our obsession with “Capital” we are missing out on the real devils. Earlier this year, I met a Nollywood filmmaker who said the industry didn’t need grants and loans as much as it needed electricity. Film sets often have to depend on, and budget for, generators, in the absence of guaranteed public supply. That’s apart from the fact that in choosing locations they have to factor in the availability of soundproof generators – no one wants a film ruined by roaring generators.
Last week, at an event at the Nollywood Studies Centre of the Pan Atlantic University, actor Kanayo O. Kanayo echoed those views, saying: “What we want is a fair Nollywood industry, not a welfare industry.” His point was that all those mouth-watering government grants mean little if for example bank collateral policies do not change. He explained that his not owning a house in Lagos means that he can’t provide the collateral most desired by Nigerian banks – real estate in a prime location – regardless of his commercial potential as an actor or producer. “We have to look at alternative forms of collateralisation,” he said.
Also last week, I met an entrepreneur who produces powdered versions of Nigerian delicacies – pepper soup spices, crayfish, melon seed, ogbono, etc. The biggest challenge the business – launched a year ago – is currently facing, is getting her products registered inexpensively in Nigeria. Now, the irony is this: She says she is registered to sell in the United States, because the Food and Drug Administration (the American equivalent of NAFDAC) streamlines registration for her basket of products; making it much easier and less expensive to market in the US than at home in Nigeria. I shared this story on my Twitter feed and was overwhelmed by the outpouring of reaction. NAFDAC seemed to evoke a great deal of frustration from the small-business persons who responded.
The Nigeria Customs Service is another master in the frustration-generation business. Last year, a friend of mine who was moving back home from Europe had a terrible experience in their hands. To start with, the website offered no useful guidance or advice as to the end-to-end process, and fees. And that’s the first means by which Nigerian bureaucracy conspires against you: By withholding information, it creates conditions that allow them to introduce all sorts of invisible and/or unexpected obstacles. The overriding idea is to frustrate you to a point where you will seek a shortcut – at a premium of course. It’s a really simple idea that plays out with devastating impact.
Sometimes, the failings are inadvertent, but of course, no less crippling. The analogy I like to use – and I have used it before on this page – is the Mr. Biggs scenario. When last did you enter a Mr. Biggs outlet and see anything that looked like a queue? What you tend to see is a crowd of people at the counter, all jostling for attention. You look at such a scenario and say: ‘Bloody Nigerians!’ And then you leave that place and step into a bank. Same Nigerians, but you notice the retractable queue belts – and the queues! The only difference between those two scenarios is the queue belts; the presence of which instantly imposes a sense of order on instinctive disorderliness.
Now extrapolate that to dealing with the bureaucracy on anything, whether it’s registering a food product, or land title, or collecting a new passport or driving licence. The difference between efficiency and a lack of it is often to be found in very simple things. Then, it occurs to you that Nigeria’s real problem is not so much that we don’t know what to do, but that we just won’t do it, mainly because doing it will threaten a lucrative status quo.
I’ve got a few suggestions regarding remedying this anti-business state of affairs. First, I think that the President and his ministers should make it compulsory for all government agencies to make available, on the Internet, comprehensive information – including fees and charges – on all their processes and procedures. Any government agency with a website that provides incomplete, inaccurate, outdated or misleading information should be publicly penalised.
Second, we need the President and his cabinet – the policymakers – to be more hands-on in their work, and ensure that proclamations and announcements are followed through to implementation. Every day, we hear rousing news of yet another landmark government policy. Business registration in 24 hours; Customs clearing in 72 hours; etc. In most cases, that’s all there is to it: the pronouncement. Business goes on as usual, because the President and his ministers have moved on to the next headline-hugging pronouncement. They need to set up channels that allow ordinary Nigerians to provide direct feedback to their offices on policies announced by the government.
The President certainly has the biggest role to play in helping smash the bureaucratic conspiracy against business in Nigeria, for this one reason: tackling many of the obstacles requires active collaboration across multiple agencies, and the only person with the authority to ensure that this coordination happens, and that the silo-mentality and turf-wars common amidst government bodies are promptly dealt with, is the President. I will never get tired of stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan needs to develop a hands-on approach to managing these issues. This should of course not be confused with micro-managing.
Third, I wish the First Lady would devote her considerable influence towards advocacy on behalf of small businesses, a great deal of which are run by, and employ, women and youths. Some of that energy deployed last year towards allegedly fanning disaffection and acrimony in Rivers State would go a long way in the service of small-scale entrepreneurs. Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign is a great example of how a First Lady can make herself truly useful to the people who elected her husband. ‘Let’s Trade!’ by Patience Jonathan, anyone?
Today’s piece seeks to focus on a positive manifestation of that hustle – entrepreneurial energy. Two years ago, the Federal Government released data that revealed that 99 per cent of the more than 17 million SMEs in Nigeria are actually micro-businesses – i.e. employing fewer than 10 persons, and worth less than N5m in value.
In his authoritative study of Nigerian Capitalism, published in 1977, American Professor of Economics, Sayre Schatz, wrote: “[Nigerian entrepreneurs] tend to possess in high degree the pure personal qualities of entrepreneurship. They tend to be highly responsive to the possibility of gain, to pursue economic advantage vigorously and strenuously. They are flexible and venturesome, are willing to seek far and wide and to take risks in the quest for profit. Any venture that has the remotest prospects of success attracts them.”
I will like to make the point that we need to focus removing the biggest obstacles facing these millions of businesses. And what are those obstacles? You might say capital. No doubt capital is critical for the success of small and big business. But is capital really the most intimidating issue Nigerian businesses face?
It seems to me that in our obsession with “Capital” we are missing out on the real devils. Earlier this year, I met a Nollywood filmmaker who said the industry didn’t need grants and loans as much as it needed electricity. Film sets often have to depend on, and budget for, generators, in the absence of guaranteed public supply. That’s apart from the fact that in choosing locations they have to factor in the availability of soundproof generators – no one wants a film ruined by roaring generators.
Last week, at an event at the Nollywood Studies Centre of the Pan Atlantic University, actor Kanayo O. Kanayo echoed those views, saying: “What we want is a fair Nollywood industry, not a welfare industry.” His point was that all those mouth-watering government grants mean little if for example bank collateral policies do not change. He explained that his not owning a house in Lagos means that he can’t provide the collateral most desired by Nigerian banks – real estate in a prime location – regardless of his commercial potential as an actor or producer. “We have to look at alternative forms of collateralisation,” he said.
Also last week, I met an entrepreneur who produces powdered versions of Nigerian delicacies – pepper soup spices, crayfish, melon seed, ogbono, etc. The biggest challenge the business – launched a year ago – is currently facing, is getting her products registered inexpensively in Nigeria. Now, the irony is this: She says she is registered to sell in the United States, because the Food and Drug Administration (the American equivalent of NAFDAC) streamlines registration for her basket of products; making it much easier and less expensive to market in the US than at home in Nigeria. I shared this story on my Twitter feed and was overwhelmed by the outpouring of reaction. NAFDAC seemed to evoke a great deal of frustration from the small-business persons who responded.
The Nigeria Customs Service is another master in the frustration-generation business. Last year, a friend of mine who was moving back home from Europe had a terrible experience in their hands. To start with, the website offered no useful guidance or advice as to the end-to-end process, and fees. And that’s the first means by which Nigerian bureaucracy conspires against you: By withholding information, it creates conditions that allow them to introduce all sorts of invisible and/or unexpected obstacles. The overriding idea is to frustrate you to a point where you will seek a shortcut – at a premium of course. It’s a really simple idea that plays out with devastating impact.
Sometimes, the failings are inadvertent, but of course, no less crippling. The analogy I like to use – and I have used it before on this page – is the Mr. Biggs scenario. When last did you enter a Mr. Biggs outlet and see anything that looked like a queue? What you tend to see is a crowd of people at the counter, all jostling for attention. You look at such a scenario and say: ‘Bloody Nigerians!’ And then you leave that place and step into a bank. Same Nigerians, but you notice the retractable queue belts – and the queues! The only difference between those two scenarios is the queue belts; the presence of which instantly imposes a sense of order on instinctive disorderliness.
Now extrapolate that to dealing with the bureaucracy on anything, whether it’s registering a food product, or land title, or collecting a new passport or driving licence. The difference between efficiency and a lack of it is often to be found in very simple things. Then, it occurs to you that Nigeria’s real problem is not so much that we don’t know what to do, but that we just won’t do it, mainly because doing it will threaten a lucrative status quo.
I’ve got a few suggestions regarding remedying this anti-business state of affairs. First, I think that the President and his ministers should make it compulsory for all government agencies to make available, on the Internet, comprehensive information – including fees and charges – on all their processes and procedures. Any government agency with a website that provides incomplete, inaccurate, outdated or misleading information should be publicly penalised.
Second, we need the President and his cabinet – the policymakers – to be more hands-on in their work, and ensure that proclamations and announcements are followed through to implementation. Every day, we hear rousing news of yet another landmark government policy. Business registration in 24 hours; Customs clearing in 72 hours; etc. In most cases, that’s all there is to it: the pronouncement. Business goes on as usual, because the President and his ministers have moved on to the next headline-hugging pronouncement. They need to set up channels that allow ordinary Nigerians to provide direct feedback to their offices on policies announced by the government.
The President certainly has the biggest role to play in helping smash the bureaucratic conspiracy against business in Nigeria, for this one reason: tackling many of the obstacles requires active collaboration across multiple agencies, and the only person with the authority to ensure that this coordination happens, and that the silo-mentality and turf-wars common amidst government bodies are promptly dealt with, is the President. I will never get tired of stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan needs to develop a hands-on approach to managing these issues. This should of course not be confused with micro-managing.
Third, I wish the First Lady would devote her considerable influence towards advocacy on behalf of small businesses, a great deal of which are run by, and employ, women and youths. Some of that energy deployed last year towards allegedly fanning disaffection and acrimony in Rivers State would go a long way in the service of small-scale entrepreneurs. Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign is a great example of how a First Lady can make herself truly useful to the people who elected her husband. ‘Let’s Trade!’ by Patience Jonathan, anyone?
Challenges before Chidoka
Perhaps, if there is any sector of the Nigerian economy that requires urgent attention, the aviation industry should top the list even though there is hardly any facet of our national life that is not in comatose and critically distressed. This is the burden the new helmsman in the Aviation Ministry, Mr. Osita Chidoka, should be ready to bear. The former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Chidoka could offer Nigerians a good opportunity to save its aviation industry, if he decides to entrench his name in the sands of time. He, though may not have had much experience in the industry, would indeed have to learn fast and take firm decisions that would bail out the sinking sector.
It is sad that despite the enormous available opportunities, the industry’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product is still very insignificant. Hence, there are a number of issues that should be addressed in the frantic bid to revamp this sector without further delay. While all the challenges facing the sector cannot be discussed on this piece, we should nonetheless realise that it is high time we overhauled this diseased area of our national life, to cut down on crashes and avoidable deaths that have been the lot of our airspace in recent years. To restore the confidence of air travellers, the government should wholistically enforce the existing regulations and adopt stricter global standards. Efforts should be made to ensure the welfare of the pilots, engineers and crew in the industry, is enhanced. Also, an arrangement whereby the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria monopolises over 20 airport management in the country is not only wrong but counterproductive. For now, our airports lack basic and functional facilities, which are taken for granted by even smaller nations. Aviation regulation is still highly unregulated and corrupt. Unlike the former Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah, who was accused of usurping the powers of the agencies under her ministry, the new helmsman should toe a different path by ensuring that they are truly independent and allowed to focus on their statutory duties. He should work assiduously to ensure that substantive heads are appointed without further delay.
There is the need to remove partisan politics from pure technical and strategic matters that touch on the safety of the people. The aviation industry under Chidoka should behave more responsibly by separating politicking from the operations of our airspace. It will be difficult to forget many of such ugly cases. For example, the messy encounter in which the Bombardier Global Express aircraft that was billed to convey the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, from the Akure Airport from a trip to Ekiti State, but was unceremoniously stopped by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority without any justifiable reason. This unethical practice should not be allowed to repeat itself in any part of the country.
There is an urgent need for infrastructural upgrade. Paramount among infrastructure deficit is the dearth of functional search and rescue equipment. Among other facility problems is the current state of navigational lightnings at the many unutilised airports inspite of the high maintenance costs being gulped while the ministry’s accumulated indebtedness of N153bn is worrisome. Aside from this, many airports still lack perimeter fencing. The fallout of this deficiency and porous nature of our airports once caused Air France A-330 aircraft to run into a herd of cattle in Port Harcourt. Similarly, at another time, a mentally deranged man was found sleeping in one of the aircraft while boy Daniel Oikhena too cleverly hid himself in the wheel of an Arik Air plane’s dangerous flight from Benin to Lagos. Apart from the archaic, embarrassing and cumbersome security checks that are still being deployed in our airports, the cooling systems are completely broken down. Local flights are rescheduled and cancelled at will. It is in our country that airport officials would resort to cutting of jerrycans to trap water leaking from the roof of terminal buildings where rain-dredged passengers themselves scampered through pools of water and bumped against one another during torrential rains. It is a common feature to see touts move freely without any official control whatsoever.
Another area requiring serious attention is the need to put a stop to very old planes from flying our airspace. It is incontestable that many planes operating in Nigeria are not less than 25 years old and ordinarily should not be allowed to fly again. This crisis is not unconnected with the proliferation of small airlines that rely on refurbished, old and secondhand aircraft, many of which do not meet current international safety standards. Even though it has been argued that age does not really matter, it is commonsensical that the cost of maintaining a new aircraft will surely be less than that of overhauling old ones. Again, the proliferation of private jets is another source of concern. It is estimated that private aircraft have grown exponentially from about 20 in 2000 to close to 200 now, which are either leased or operated by Nigerians. To hide the identities of owners, such aircraft are registered in other jurisdictions. This largely account for why a sizeable number of private jets in the country carry foreign registration numbers. Hence, for security reasons and to ensure that only authorised business entities or persons operate private aircraft, real owners of private jets should be encouraged to come forward.
Another policy worth reviewing is the revised National Civil Aviation Policy 2013. This policy had barred private jet owners from flying friends and associates on their aircraft, while companies with private jets are permitted to carry only employees or members of the boards of directors. Under this discriminatory provision, passengers on board will be subjected to an Air Traffic Control clearance while operators will be made to declare the identities of all passengers on non-revenue charter. Then, we would need to ask the aviation authorities these questions: What does a ‘family member’ mean? At what point does one distinguish between a ‘family member’ and a ‘friend?’ And who determines what? This is nothing but a confusing policy that should be discarded. The problems of the industry are more or less structural and managerial in which only a thorough overhaul and robust public-private partnership initiatives could remedy. In many progressive nations of the world, airports are either concessioned or privatised outright to experienced and capable private operators.
Therefore, what the industry needs desperately is a generous liberalisation of the regulatory agencies to make them more efficient, professional and functional, akin to the optimism given by the United States Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, when he stated that, “Nigeria has a robust aviation reform agenda; one of the best and promising in the world”.
Finally, Chidoka should revisit the reports of past aircrashes that have gathered dust over the years. I’m sure there are lessons that could be learnt from such experiences that had been tapped from committed and experienced operators. He should not be afraid to do the right thing. That is what good leadership demands.
Kupoluyi wrote in from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, via adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk, Twitter, @AdewaleKupoluyi
It is sad that despite the enormous available opportunities, the industry’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product is still very insignificant. Hence, there are a number of issues that should be addressed in the frantic bid to revamp this sector without further delay. While all the challenges facing the sector cannot be discussed on this piece, we should nonetheless realise that it is high time we overhauled this diseased area of our national life, to cut down on crashes and avoidable deaths that have been the lot of our airspace in recent years. To restore the confidence of air travellers, the government should wholistically enforce the existing regulations and adopt stricter global standards. Efforts should be made to ensure the welfare of the pilots, engineers and crew in the industry, is enhanced. Also, an arrangement whereby the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria monopolises over 20 airport management in the country is not only wrong but counterproductive. For now, our airports lack basic and functional facilities, which are taken for granted by even smaller nations. Aviation regulation is still highly unregulated and corrupt. Unlike the former Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah, who was accused of usurping the powers of the agencies under her ministry, the new helmsman should toe a different path by ensuring that they are truly independent and allowed to focus on their statutory duties. He should work assiduously to ensure that substantive heads are appointed without further delay.
There is the need to remove partisan politics from pure technical and strategic matters that touch on the safety of the people. The aviation industry under Chidoka should behave more responsibly by separating politicking from the operations of our airspace. It will be difficult to forget many of such ugly cases. For example, the messy encounter in which the Bombardier Global Express aircraft that was billed to convey the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, from the Akure Airport from a trip to Ekiti State, but was unceremoniously stopped by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority without any justifiable reason. This unethical practice should not be allowed to repeat itself in any part of the country.
There is an urgent need for infrastructural upgrade. Paramount among infrastructure deficit is the dearth of functional search and rescue equipment. Among other facility problems is the current state of navigational lightnings at the many unutilised airports inspite of the high maintenance costs being gulped while the ministry’s accumulated indebtedness of N153bn is worrisome. Aside from this, many airports still lack perimeter fencing. The fallout of this deficiency and porous nature of our airports once caused Air France A-330 aircraft to run into a herd of cattle in Port Harcourt. Similarly, at another time, a mentally deranged man was found sleeping in one of the aircraft while boy Daniel Oikhena too cleverly hid himself in the wheel of an Arik Air plane’s dangerous flight from Benin to Lagos. Apart from the archaic, embarrassing and cumbersome security checks that are still being deployed in our airports, the cooling systems are completely broken down. Local flights are rescheduled and cancelled at will. It is in our country that airport officials would resort to cutting of jerrycans to trap water leaking from the roof of terminal buildings where rain-dredged passengers themselves scampered through pools of water and bumped against one another during torrential rains. It is a common feature to see touts move freely without any official control whatsoever.
Another area requiring serious attention is the need to put a stop to very old planes from flying our airspace. It is incontestable that many planes operating in Nigeria are not less than 25 years old and ordinarily should not be allowed to fly again. This crisis is not unconnected with the proliferation of small airlines that rely on refurbished, old and secondhand aircraft, many of which do not meet current international safety standards. Even though it has been argued that age does not really matter, it is commonsensical that the cost of maintaining a new aircraft will surely be less than that of overhauling old ones. Again, the proliferation of private jets is another source of concern. It is estimated that private aircraft have grown exponentially from about 20 in 2000 to close to 200 now, which are either leased or operated by Nigerians. To hide the identities of owners, such aircraft are registered in other jurisdictions. This largely account for why a sizeable number of private jets in the country carry foreign registration numbers. Hence, for security reasons and to ensure that only authorised business entities or persons operate private aircraft, real owners of private jets should be encouraged to come forward.
Another policy worth reviewing is the revised National Civil Aviation Policy 2013. This policy had barred private jet owners from flying friends and associates on their aircraft, while companies with private jets are permitted to carry only employees or members of the boards of directors. Under this discriminatory provision, passengers on board will be subjected to an Air Traffic Control clearance while operators will be made to declare the identities of all passengers on non-revenue charter. Then, we would need to ask the aviation authorities these questions: What does a ‘family member’ mean? At what point does one distinguish between a ‘family member’ and a ‘friend?’ And who determines what? This is nothing but a confusing policy that should be discarded. The problems of the industry are more or less structural and managerial in which only a thorough overhaul and robust public-private partnership initiatives could remedy. In many progressive nations of the world, airports are either concessioned or privatised outright to experienced and capable private operators.
Therefore, what the industry needs desperately is a generous liberalisation of the regulatory agencies to make them more efficient, professional and functional, akin to the optimism given by the United States Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, when he stated that, “Nigeria has a robust aviation reform agenda; one of the best and promising in the world”.
Finally, Chidoka should revisit the reports of past aircrashes that have gathered dust over the years. I’m sure there are lessons that could be learnt from such experiences that had been tapped from committed and experienced operators. He should not be afraid to do the right thing. That is what good leadership demands.
Kupoluyi wrote in from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, via adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk, Twitter, @AdewaleKupoluyi
Containing spread of Ebola virus
Nigeria, being the economic hub of the West African sub-region, attracts the highest movement of people, goods and services within the region and this portends great danger for the country as the Ebola Virus is highly infectious and can be transmitted through bodily fluids, skin and other organs or through indirect contact with environments contaminated by the disease. High population densities in the affected West African cities and the difficulty in regulating the movement of people across the region further compound the problem and raise the high possibility of this disease spreading further in Nigeria following Sawyer’s death.
In a country where management of emergencies and disasters is lethargic, a nation where health care facilities and personnel are grossly inadequate and doctors’ strike incessant, coping with the outbreak of Ebola Virus will, no doubt, be a very difficult national yoke. Nigeria remains one of five countries in the world still grappling with the eradication of polio even with readily available vaccination. In a country where strive is rife, the burden of curtailing the outbreak of another disease with no available vaccination will no doubt be a weighty crisis. This is why the authorities must act fast to secure the nation’s borders and contain spread of the deadly virus.
The Ebola virus was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 and gets its name from the Ebola River, which is situated near the village where it was discovered.
According to the WHO, Ebola is a “zoonotic” disease, meaning that the virus can spread easily between animals and humans. Scientists believe it was initially present in wild animals living in tropical rainforests in equatorial Africa. Fruit bats have also been identified as one of the main hosts as they can transmit the disease while remaining unaffected by it. The disease spreads to humans when they come into contact with blood or other body fluids from infected animals, usually through hunting.
Ebola is highly infectious. It can be transmitted through bodily fluids, skin and other organs or through indirect contact with environments contaminated by the disease. The disease can also have a long incubation period, lasting up to three weeks, which allows it to spread rapidly before diagnosis and quarantine can take place. Men who have been infected with the disease and recovered can still pass it on through sexual contact for up to seven weeks.
In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death. Besides clinical management, the WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health and other partners should implement measures to respond to outbreak, contact tracing, disease surveillance, laboratory work, logistics, information-sharing and communication for effective response.
The Federal Ministry of Health must also step up its public enlightenment campaigns to further create awareness on how to prevent further infection and spread from the deadly virus, and in case of infection, how to identify the early symptoms characterised by sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, sore throat and death. There is the need for aggressive production and distribution of Information, Education and Communication Materials on prevention and management of Ebola Virus. Slots for jingles on radio must be increased and made to have widest coverage.
All border states, because of their proximity to the reported countries of outbreak, particularly to the west of Nigeria should emulate Lagos and other states that have issued warning alerts to their residents on the risk of Ebola Virus outbreak. Lagos State, in particular, had advised the residents on precautionary measures to prevent infections. These include washing of hands often with soap and water, avoiding close contact with people who are sick and ensuring that objects used by the sick are decontaminated and properly disposed. The Disease Control Units of all the Ministry of Health in the vulnerable states must also synergise in creating a coordinated surveillance system around the border posts to identify possible carriers.
One risk factor for the infection of Ebola Virus that may be overlooked in Nigeria is the consumption of ‘bush meat’. The consumption of ‘bush meat’ is a significant contributing factor in West Africa where it is regarded as a delicacy. ‘Bush meat’ is often sold by the roadside grills, and despite being banned in Ivory Coast for instance, in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease, people continue to sell and consume it. This is no different in Nigeria. It is a fact that some of these ‘bush meats’ may be harbingers of the deadly Ebola Virus. The concerned authorities must therefore, immediately, ban the sale and consumption of bush meat. The people must be enlightened on the dangers inherent in the consumption of such meat.
We must be proactive in our attitude towards the prevention of disease outbreaks; our responses to catastrophes in this clime are usually reactive. In this instance, our fire-brigade approach of rushing out to quench fire all the time, rather than figure out how to put in place measures to prevent fire outbreaks must be jettisoned. Our nationalistic tendencies for lack of prescience must not prevail in protecting ourselves against the further spread of the deadly Ebola Virus. A stitch in time saves nine.
Ogunmosunle is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
Costa scores on Chelsea debut
The Spain international, a new arrival from Atletico Madrid after a prolific season in La Liga, got his Chelsea career off to a flying start with a well-taken goal in the second half in Slovenia .
A disjointed Chelsea had fallen behind in the first half after Nik Kapun had lashed a finish beyond young goalkeeper Matej Delac, but Costa had his say soon after the break.
Kurt Zouma then struck the winner for the Premier League outfit, converting from close range after Fernando Torres had seen his shot palmed back into the mass of bodies in the middle of the box.
The hosts hit the front five minutes before the interval, Kapun smashing high into the net after Darijan Matic’s chested lay-off on the edge of the area.
Chelsea were level in the 56th minute, though, as Costa ran on to a pass from another new signing – Cesc Fabregas – and thumped a finish high into the net.
And Mourinho’s team were in front shortly after, Zouma stabbing the ball home after Seliga had parried Torres’ shot back out into the danger area.
There was a moment of controversy in the 66th minute as Chelsea thought they had extended their advantage.
Seliga did brilliantly to tip Zouma’s header onto the bar, with Branislav Ivanovic scuffing the rebound goalwards.
The ball appeared to have crossed the line, with the help of John Terry, but the referee ruled the goal out, seemingly for what he felt was a foul by Chelsea ‘s captain on the home goalkeeper.
The Premier League club continue their pre-season preparations against Vitesse on Wednesday.
Afolabi stops Smith in third round
Smith (15-4,10) was a late replacement for Poland ’s Pawel Kolodziej, who withdrew from the fight.
Afolabi (21-3-4, 10 KOs) wasted no time in showing Smith who the tougher fighter was as he repeatedly landed vicious hooks and right uppercuts to American’s head and body.
Afolabi hurt Smith in the second round and knocked him down twice in the third.
By the midway point of the second round, Smith’s face was reddened by the number of punches that landed and he had a cut over his left eye. It got worse for Smith as midway through the third round, he was dropped by a left hook to the head.
To his credit, Smith fought back, but the rally was short-lived as he was knocked down again, courtesy of a left-right combination to the head. After the bell sounded, the ringside physician told referee Steve Smoger to stop the bout to prevent Smith from receiving further punishment.
Jelks, Okagbare shine for Nigeria
Reigning Nigeria champion Mark Jelks in Heat 3 in 10.28 seconds to qualify for the semi-finals which hold on Monday.
Jelks went into the competition with a personal best of 9.99 seconds and a season best of 10.13 seconds.
Warren Fraser of the Bahamas picked the second qualifying ticket from Heat 3 in 10.31 seconds.
In Heat 6, Mozavous Edwards qualified for the semi-finals after finishing second in 10.40 seconds behind England’s Adam Gemili who won in 10.15 seconds.
Former Nigeria champion, Ogho-Oghene Egwero, got his semi-finals ticket following a photo-finish with third-placed Aaron Brown of Canada. Egwero beat Brown to the second place with a hundredth of a second (10.38 seconds) behind South Africa ’s Akani Simbine who won the race in 10.32 seconds.
Stephen Mozia failed to advance from the group stage in the men’s shot put after recording 17.76 metres to finish 14th overall.
In the women’s 100 metres events, Gloria Asumnu finished second in 11.43 seconds behind Jamaica ’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, who won Heat 1 in 11.29 seconds. Jade Bailey of Barbados finished third in 11.64 seconds to also qualify for the semi-finals.
Justina Sule crashed in Heat 4 after finishing sixth in 12.00 seconds.
Africa’s fastest woman, Blessing Okagbare, expectedly won Heat 5 in 11.50 seconds ahead of England’s Asha Philip (11.47) and Cyprus’ Anna Papaioannou (11.67).
Regina George took things easy on her way to picking her ticket for the women’s 400 metres semi-finals, finishing second in 53.92 seconds behind Sri Lanka ’s Chandrika Mudiyans, who won in 53.75 seconds.
In Heat 5, Folashade Abugan also finished second in 52.84 seconds behind Botswana ’s Amantle Montsho (51.88) to qualify for the semi-finals.
Omolara Omotosho made her way into the semi-finals with her 53.02 seconds effort, finishing second behind Jamaica ’s Stephanie McPherson (52.25).
Boko Haram seizes Cameroon’s vice PM’s wife
The wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali was kidnapped and at least three people killed in attacks by Boko Haram militants on the northern town of Kolofata on Sunday, Cameroon officials said.
The incident occurred just as gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Catholic Church in Kano, killing a soldier, a toddler and three other worshippers.
Improvised Explosive Devices concealed in a refgrigator by a cart pusher had gone off in a motor park in the city on Thursday, killing five people and injuring many.
The Lamido (religious leader) of the area, Seini Boukar Lamine, according to a news agency, Reuters, was kidnapped in a second attack in Kolofata.
“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone.
“They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the Lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, confirming that at least three people were killed in the attack.
A Cameroon military commander in the region said the Vice PM, who was at home to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan with his family, was taken to a neighbouring town by security officials.
“The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers,” said Col. Felix Nji Formekong, the second commander of Cameroon’s third inter-army military region, based in the regional headquarters, Maroua.
The Sunday attacks are the third by Boko Haram in Cameroon since Friday. At least four soldiers were killed in the previous attacks.
Reuters added that 22 suspected Boko Haram militants, who had been held in Maroua since March, were on Friday sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.
In Kano, a soldier and four worshipers died when gunmen threw IEDs at the Saint Charles Catholic Church along the Zungeru Road, Kano.
The incident which occurred when worshipers were trooping out of the church after a mass, caused pandemonium in the neighbourhood.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba and the Kano State Commissioner of police, Mr. Adelenre Shinaba, confirmed the death of five people in the Kano blast.
Before the church incident in which eight others were injured, an attempt to attack the Isyaku Rabiu Mosque in Kano was averted by the Police.
Mba said, “As part of the ongoing investigations into the various terror-related incidents that occurred in Kano, Police operatives have arrested five male suspects for their complicity in the attack and botched attack.
“Two were arrested in connection with the foiled attack on Isyaku Rabiu Mosque while three were arrested in connection with the attack on St. Charles Church.
“All the suspects are currently undergoing interrogation at different police facilities.”
Shinaba said the impact of the IEDs thrown at the church from the opposite direction killed one of the soldiers on duty and the four worshippers, comprising a toddler, two women and a man.
He disclosed that three suspects were arrested at the scene of the church blast.
The police commissioner also revealed that a 15- year- old female suicide bomber blew up herself up at a police checkpoint and injured five of her team members.
He expressed gratitude that an injured policemen had been treated and discharged from a hospital in the city.
Earlier, Shinaba told journalists that a bomb-laden vehicle strategically parked at the praying ground was found at the Isyaku Rabiu Mosque praying ground.
The Isyaku Rabiu mosque which serves as an Eid-praying ground is the second largest of such grounds in the city.
The police commissioner said, “The proactive steps initiated by the police in ensuring a hitch-free Sallah celebration paid off when a good Samaritan alerted us of the development.
“We moved into the mosque premises around 1am, dominated the environment and ferried the automobile away for controlled detonation.
“The high calibre IEDs were primed in apparent sinister plot that targeted hundreds of Muslim worshippers at the praying ground”.
He added that the controlled detonation left collateral damage on a Peugeot 406, pointing out that “the essence was to blow up as many worshippers within a range.
“We are grateful that our proactive strategy had saved life, and this would have caused collateral damage to innocent worshippers,” the Police boss added.
Shinaba urged members of the public to be extra vigilant, pointing out that the war on terror required their cooperation .
In a related development, the Kano Emirate Council has announced the suspension of traditional festivities associated with Eid celebration due to security concerns.
Briefing journalists on the development, the District Head of Dale, Alhaji Aminu Bayero, called on residents to intensify prayers for divine intervention.
In his traditional Sallah message, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, called on Muslims to seek true knowledge to assist them in practising their religion as enshrined in the Sharia.
The incident occurred just as gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Catholic Church in Kano, killing a soldier, a toddler and three other worshippers.
Improvised Explosive Devices concealed in a refgrigator by a cart pusher had gone off in a motor park in the city on Thursday, killing five people and injuring many.
The Lamido (religious leader) of the area, Seini Boukar Lamine, according to a news agency, Reuters, was kidnapped in a second attack in Kolofata.
“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone.
“They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the Lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, confirming that at least three people were killed in the attack.
A Cameroon military commander in the region said the Vice PM, who was at home to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan with his family, was taken to a neighbouring town by security officials.
“The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers,” said Col. Felix Nji Formekong, the second commander of Cameroon’s third inter-army military region, based in the regional headquarters, Maroua.
The Sunday attacks are the third by Boko Haram in Cameroon since Friday. At least four soldiers were killed in the previous attacks.
Reuters added that 22 suspected Boko Haram militants, who had been held in Maroua since March, were on Friday sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.
In Kano, a soldier and four worshipers died when gunmen threw IEDs at the Saint Charles Catholic Church along the Zungeru Road, Kano.
The incident which occurred when worshipers were trooping out of the church after a mass, caused pandemonium in the neighbourhood.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba and the Kano State Commissioner of police, Mr. Adelenre Shinaba, confirmed the death of five people in the Kano blast.
Before the church incident in which eight others were injured, an attempt to attack the Isyaku Rabiu Mosque in Kano was averted by the Police.
Mba said, “As part of the ongoing investigations into the various terror-related incidents that occurred in Kano, Police operatives have arrested five male suspects for their complicity in the attack and botched attack.
“Two were arrested in connection with the foiled attack on Isyaku Rabiu Mosque while three were arrested in connection with the attack on St. Charles Church.
“All the suspects are currently undergoing interrogation at different police facilities.”
Shinaba said the impact of the IEDs thrown at the church from the opposite direction killed one of the soldiers on duty and the four worshippers, comprising a toddler, two women and a man.
He disclosed that three suspects were arrested at the scene of the church blast.
The police commissioner also revealed that a 15- year- old female suicide bomber blew up herself up at a police checkpoint and injured five of her team members.
He expressed gratitude that an injured policemen had been treated and discharged from a hospital in the city.
Earlier, Shinaba told journalists that a bomb-laden vehicle strategically parked at the praying ground was found at the Isyaku Rabiu Mosque praying ground.
The Isyaku Rabiu mosque which serves as an Eid-praying ground is the second largest of such grounds in the city.
The police commissioner said, “The proactive steps initiated by the police in ensuring a hitch-free Sallah celebration paid off when a good Samaritan alerted us of the development.
“We moved into the mosque premises around 1am, dominated the environment and ferried the automobile away for controlled detonation.
“The high calibre IEDs were primed in apparent sinister plot that targeted hundreds of Muslim worshippers at the praying ground”.
He added that the controlled detonation left collateral damage on a Peugeot 406, pointing out that “the essence was to blow up as many worshippers within a range.
“We are grateful that our proactive strategy had saved life, and this would have caused collateral damage to innocent worshippers,” the Police boss added.
Shinaba urged members of the public to be extra vigilant, pointing out that the war on terror required their cooperation .
In a related development, the Kano Emirate Council has announced the suspension of traditional festivities associated with Eid celebration due to security concerns.
Briefing journalists on the development, the District Head of Dale, Alhaji Aminu Bayero, called on residents to intensify prayers for divine intervention.
In his traditional Sallah message, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, called on Muslims to seek true knowledge to assist them in practising their religion as enshrined in the Sharia.
There would’ve been crisis if Buhari was killed
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday admitted that Nigeria would have erupted in turmoil, if a former Head of State, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, had died during separate attacks on them in Kaduna on Wednesday.
He said Nigerians would not have celebrated the Eid-el-Fitri because a major calamity would have befallen the country if they had died.
The President said these just as the opposition All Progressives Congress called for an international inquiry into the attack on Buhari by a lone bomber.
Jonathan spoke when Vice-President Namadi Sambo led members of the Muslim community in the Federal Capital Territory to pay the traditional sallah homage to him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President described those responsible for the attacks as sons of the devil.
He said, “Not too long ago, we had these dastardly attacks in Kano and Kaduna. We stand to condemn these acts of terror on our people and we extend our condolence and sympathy to the bereaved and those who were injured.
“Look at the recent attacks in Kaduna, especially where Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi was a target and Gen. Buhari was also a target. You can imagine if these two people had died in those attacks.
“Sheikh Bauchi is one of our top Islamic preachers. He has millions of followers, Buhari, a former Head of State and a leading political figure, has massive supporters.
“On the same day, people wanted to kill them. Those who planned the attacks are clearly sons of the devil because if they had killed these two people, we wouldn’t have been here today.
“This country would have been in turmoil. We couldn’t have gathered here to celebrate. We thank Allah for saving their lives and preventing a major calamity that would have befallen our country.”
Jonathan also pleaded with clerics across the country to shun the gospel of hate and preach messages of peace and unity.
He reminded them that the country could not be developed in an atmosphere devoid of peace.
The President said, “Let me plead with my brothers, especially the clerics, when they are sending their messages out to their followers to preach peace and unity, not the gospel of hate.
“This is because without peace and unity, we cannot develop this country. In a conflict situation people move away from such zones and we cannot develop our communities, our local governments, states and our country in a conflict situation.”
Jonathan also called on all Nigerians to work with the Federal Government to ensure that they collectively brought the excesses of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups to an end.
He reiterated that his administration would do everything humanly possible to end the insurgency.
Jonathan added that government was also looking at ways of raising funds to help those widowed or orphaned by insurgency as well as those whose business premises or places of worship were vandalised.
He said the Victims Support Fund through which money would be raised from the private sector and others would be launched on Thursday.
He said government alone could not do it because a huge sum of money was needed for the task.
Jonathan expressed the hope that a substantial amount of money would be raised during the launching.
The President said the fund raising would be a continuous exercise until the government was able to cushion the effect of the insurgency.
Besides, Jonathan said the government was strengthening its security services so that they would be able to confront the menace.
Sambo had earlier congratulated the President for participating actively in the Ramadan fast despite the fact that he is not a Muslim.
The Vice-President prayed to God to continue to guide the President and give him good health and wisdom to lead the country.
He also prayed that God grants the nation peace and end the evil activities of Boko Haram.
Sambo said, “We pray that Allah will continue to guide you, to give you good health and wisdom to lead this country.
“We pray for peace and pray that all the evils including Boko Haram, the security challenge and other vices, that Allah will grant us the fortitude to remove these evils in this country and to make Nigerians, all of us our brothers’ keepers and to allow peace, tranquility and progress in Nigeria and for the achievement of our transformation agenda.”
Sambo later led the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Muhammed, and the Minister of State, FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, to present giant greeting cards to the President.
Dignitaries who were part of the delegation were the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke; the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Nureni Muhammed; a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore; and a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ahmadu Ali. Some members of the National Assembly, Chief Imam of the National Mosque, Ustaz Isa Muhammed; and some former ministers were also in the delegation.
The APC, which called for an international inquiry into the attack on Buhari, said such would unravel the perpetrators and motive of the dastardly act.
The party, in a statement in Benin, Edo State by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, also said the country would have been plunged into turmoil if Buhari had been killed.
The APC said that it did not have the confidence that the Nigerian security agencies would carry out an impartial investigation.
According to the opposition party, security agencies work for the government, instead of the nation.
It also commented on the arrest of an alleged mastermind of the assassination attempt Buhari.
According the APC, the agents of the Federal Government had started muddling the waters with their “sickening” statements and actions on the attack.
It asked, ‘’How does one explain a situation in which a man who is nothing but a pervert is now being paraded as the suspected ‘mastermind’ of the attack on Gen. Buhari?
“At what point was this man, who perhaps is nothing but a transvestite plying his trade, arrested? Is it not clear, from the statement released by Gen. Buhari himself after the attack, that it was clearly the handiwork of a suicide bomber?
“Could the person, who drove the vehicle that was rammed into the general’s convoy, have survived the explosion that was triggered by that action? Could the innocent passers-by who died in the blast not have been arrested and paraded as the ‘suspected masterminds’ if they had survived the blast? Clearly, the arrest of the pervert and his sickening description as a ‘suspected mastermind’ have kick-started the process of muddling the waters, as is usually the case with such high-profile cases.
“This is why an urgent international inquiry into the attack is desirable and imperative, and anyone who is committed to an impartial probe of the attack on the opposition leader should embrace our call.
The party added that the insurgency in the country and its spin-offs were now clearly beyond the capability of the Federal Government.
The party also said its call for an international inquiry had been further justified by the statements and insinuations emanating from the Peoples Democratic Party and the Presidency.
He said Nigerians would not have celebrated the Eid-el-Fitri because a major calamity would have befallen the country if they had died.
The President said these just as the opposition All Progressives Congress called for an international inquiry into the attack on Buhari by a lone bomber.
Jonathan spoke when Vice-President Namadi Sambo led members of the Muslim community in the Federal Capital Territory to pay the traditional sallah homage to him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President described those responsible for the attacks as sons of the devil.
He said, “Not too long ago, we had these dastardly attacks in Kano and Kaduna. We stand to condemn these acts of terror on our people and we extend our condolence and sympathy to the bereaved and those who were injured.
“Look at the recent attacks in Kaduna, especially where Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi was a target and Gen. Buhari was also a target. You can imagine if these two people had died in those attacks.
“Sheikh Bauchi is one of our top Islamic preachers. He has millions of followers, Buhari, a former Head of State and a leading political figure, has massive supporters.
“On the same day, people wanted to kill them. Those who planned the attacks are clearly sons of the devil because if they had killed these two people, we wouldn’t have been here today.
“This country would have been in turmoil. We couldn’t have gathered here to celebrate. We thank Allah for saving their lives and preventing a major calamity that would have befallen our country.”
Jonathan also pleaded with clerics across the country to shun the gospel of hate and preach messages of peace and unity.
He reminded them that the country could not be developed in an atmosphere devoid of peace.
The President said, “Let me plead with my brothers, especially the clerics, when they are sending their messages out to their followers to preach peace and unity, not the gospel of hate.
“This is because without peace and unity, we cannot develop this country. In a conflict situation people move away from such zones and we cannot develop our communities, our local governments, states and our country in a conflict situation.”
Jonathan also called on all Nigerians to work with the Federal Government to ensure that they collectively brought the excesses of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups to an end.
He reiterated that his administration would do everything humanly possible to end the insurgency.
Jonathan added that government was also looking at ways of raising funds to help those widowed or orphaned by insurgency as well as those whose business premises or places of worship were vandalised.
He said the Victims Support Fund through which money would be raised from the private sector and others would be launched on Thursday.
He said government alone could not do it because a huge sum of money was needed for the task.
Jonathan expressed the hope that a substantial amount of money would be raised during the launching.
The President said the fund raising would be a continuous exercise until the government was able to cushion the effect of the insurgency.
Besides, Jonathan said the government was strengthening its security services so that they would be able to confront the menace.
Sambo had earlier congratulated the President for participating actively in the Ramadan fast despite the fact that he is not a Muslim.
The Vice-President prayed to God to continue to guide the President and give him good health and wisdom to lead the country.
He also prayed that God grants the nation peace and end the evil activities of Boko Haram.
Sambo said, “We pray that Allah will continue to guide you, to give you good health and wisdom to lead this country.
“We pray for peace and pray that all the evils including Boko Haram, the security challenge and other vices, that Allah will grant us the fortitude to remove these evils in this country and to make Nigerians, all of us our brothers’ keepers and to allow peace, tranquility and progress in Nigeria and for the achievement of our transformation agenda.”
Sambo later led the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Muhammed, and the Minister of State, FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, to present giant greeting cards to the President.
Dignitaries who were part of the delegation were the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke; the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Nureni Muhammed; a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore; and a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ahmadu Ali. Some members of the National Assembly, Chief Imam of the National Mosque, Ustaz Isa Muhammed; and some former ministers were also in the delegation.
The APC, which called for an international inquiry into the attack on Buhari, said such would unravel the perpetrators and motive of the dastardly act.
The party, in a statement in Benin, Edo State by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, also said the country would have been plunged into turmoil if Buhari had been killed.
The APC said that it did not have the confidence that the Nigerian security agencies would carry out an impartial investigation.
According to the opposition party, security agencies work for the government, instead of the nation.
It also commented on the arrest of an alleged mastermind of the assassination attempt Buhari.
According the APC, the agents of the Federal Government had started muddling the waters with their “sickening” statements and actions on the attack.
It asked, ‘’How does one explain a situation in which a man who is nothing but a pervert is now being paraded as the suspected ‘mastermind’ of the attack on Gen. Buhari?
“At what point was this man, who perhaps is nothing but a transvestite plying his trade, arrested? Is it not clear, from the statement released by Gen. Buhari himself after the attack, that it was clearly the handiwork of a suicide bomber?
“Could the person, who drove the vehicle that was rammed into the general’s convoy, have survived the explosion that was triggered by that action? Could the innocent passers-by who died in the blast not have been arrested and paraded as the ‘suspected masterminds’ if they had survived the blast? Clearly, the arrest of the pervert and his sickening description as a ‘suspected mastermind’ have kick-started the process of muddling the waters, as is usually the case with such high-profile cases.
“This is why an urgent international inquiry into the attack is desirable and imperative, and anyone who is committed to an impartial probe of the attack on the opposition leader should embrace our call.
The party added that the insurgency in the country and its spin-offs were now clearly beyond the capability of the Federal Government.
The party also said its call for an international inquiry had been further justified by the statements and insinuations emanating from the Peoples Democratic Party and the Presidency.
Bakare says attack on Buhari meant to split Nigeria
The Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday said Nigerians should be grateful that the attempt on the life of a former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muahammadu Buhari, (retd.), was unsuccessful, as it would have led to a crisis of unprecedented destruction and loss of lives.
Bakare, who was Buhari’s running mate on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change during the 2011 Presidential elections, said Buhari had millions of supporters in the North who might have taken the law into their own hands.
He said the crisis would have spread to the South, where more reprisals would occur.
Bakare said this while preaching in his church in Lagos on Sunday.
He said, “But for what could only have been an act of God, this past week might have marked the beginning of the end for our nation. For if the attack targeted at Buhari and his entourage on Wednesday had succeeded, the hatchers of the Nigerian disintegration agenda would have been smiling home to the bank by now.
“The enormous goodwill and massive following enjoyed by the General among the tens of millions of disadvantaged northern youths for whom he has become a messianic symbol, would have transmogrified into the unguided and uncontrollable fury of a vengeful army, whose target would not be without political and ethnic colouration.
“Invariably, this would have sparked up a corresponding reaction of violence from an equally militant antagonistic young population from across the Niger. One needs not be a political analyst to see that such a scenario might have culminated in the demise of our nation.”
Bakare said according to available statistics, between April 2010 and June 2014, terrorism had been the cause of about 6,000 deaths in the country while this year alone, a conservative figure of over 2,500 were reported to have been killed by the activities of Boko Haram.
He warned that it would be naïve for anyone to think that terrorism was purely a northern problem since 486 terror suspects had been arrested in Abia State while Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the attacks in Apapa, Lagos after an attempt by the government to dub them mere “explosions.”
Bakare said the reasons terrorism thrived in Nigeria were because of the failure of intelligence which resorted to tracking the opposition rather than criminals and the enemies of the state.
He gave other reasons as governmental incompetence, a weakening armed forces, internal and international conspiracy; and opportunism.
He added that the attack should have made it clear to all that Buhari was not a Boko Haram sympathiser.
Bakare noted that the military at present could not adequately combat terrorism, noting that soldiers confront members of the Boko Haram with “inferior weapons.”
He criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for seeking $1bn foreign loan to fight terrorism, saying “the last time the military was equipped was in the 1980s and there have been budgetary allocations every year.
“The senate say they want to reconvene to consider the request and nobody is asking what happened to the amount budgeted for security this year.”
The cleric noted that the reign of terror should not be ascribed to religion but “sheer psychosis.”
He warned that traditional Islam and radical Islam must not be grouped together, saying that radical Islam, alongside zoning deprivation, oppression and injustice, were the cause of terrorism.
“To win this war, we must embark forthwith on accurate diagnosis. There is a fundamental difference between traditional Islam and the radical Islam of our day. To lump them together would be a tragic mistake. It would only produce error, which would lead to attendant terror.
“I only hope that this is a wake-up call to our government and we must now rise up so that together we can deploy all our resources to stop the terrorists dead in their tracks,” he said.
Bakare, who was Buhari’s running mate on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change during the 2011 Presidential elections, said Buhari had millions of supporters in the North who might have taken the law into their own hands.
He said the crisis would have spread to the South, where more reprisals would occur.
Bakare said this while preaching in his church in Lagos on Sunday.
He said, “But for what could only have been an act of God, this past week might have marked the beginning of the end for our nation. For if the attack targeted at Buhari and his entourage on Wednesday had succeeded, the hatchers of the Nigerian disintegration agenda would have been smiling home to the bank by now.
“The enormous goodwill and massive following enjoyed by the General among the tens of millions of disadvantaged northern youths for whom he has become a messianic symbol, would have transmogrified into the unguided and uncontrollable fury of a vengeful army, whose target would not be without political and ethnic colouration.
“Invariably, this would have sparked up a corresponding reaction of violence from an equally militant antagonistic young population from across the Niger. One needs not be a political analyst to see that such a scenario might have culminated in the demise of our nation.”
Bakare said according to available statistics, between April 2010 and June 2014, terrorism had been the cause of about 6,000 deaths in the country while this year alone, a conservative figure of over 2,500 were reported to have been killed by the activities of Boko Haram.
He warned that it would be naïve for anyone to think that terrorism was purely a northern problem since 486 terror suspects had been arrested in Abia State while Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the attacks in Apapa, Lagos after an attempt by the government to dub them mere “explosions.”
Bakare said the reasons terrorism thrived in Nigeria were because of the failure of intelligence which resorted to tracking the opposition rather than criminals and the enemies of the state.
He gave other reasons as governmental incompetence, a weakening armed forces, internal and international conspiracy; and opportunism.
He added that the attack should have made it clear to all that Buhari was not a Boko Haram sympathiser.
Bakare noted that the military at present could not adequately combat terrorism, noting that soldiers confront members of the Boko Haram with “inferior weapons.”
He criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for seeking $1bn foreign loan to fight terrorism, saying “the last time the military was equipped was in the 1980s and there have been budgetary allocations every year.
“The senate say they want to reconvene to consider the request and nobody is asking what happened to the amount budgeted for security this year.”
The cleric noted that the reign of terror should not be ascribed to religion but “sheer psychosis.”
He warned that traditional Islam and radical Islam must not be grouped together, saying that radical Islam, alongside zoning deprivation, oppression and injustice, were the cause of terrorism.
“To win this war, we must embark forthwith on accurate diagnosis. There is a fundamental difference between traditional Islam and the radical Islam of our day. To lump them together would be a tragic mistake. It would only produce error, which would lead to attendant terror.
“I only hope that this is a wake-up call to our government and we must now rise up so that together we can deploy all our resources to stop the terrorists dead in their tracks,” he said.
How to keep a woman in your bed
I wrote an article about how to get a woman into bed. A friend of mine wrote the rejoinder, published today. I feel it is worth publishing and may be even be more important. Perhaps next week, we will write an article on ‘How to keep a man in your bed.’ Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Heads or tails
The man is the head and, more often than not, the breadwinner for the family. This confers some modicum of respect and privilege on the man. On the other hand, the woman is supposed to be submissive and obedient to her man as described in most religions. Morally, though right, the sanctity of marriage means that the delicate balance should not be destroyed. Even when a woman is the breadwinner, respect for the man is important and for the same reason, the man should not take things for granted.
There is an age-long adage that a woman is to be seen not heard. It is not so again because these days, our women are being seen and heard. Many women are in positions of power and fairly well off. It takes a strong man who is sure of himself to manage such women. Women are now go-getters and pace-setters in many endeavours of life and so demand some respect and mutual understanding to get the best out of them. They do not want to be looked down on by men; and understandably so. If you need a door mat, then perhaps an uneducated girl, who may become a drain on your resources, is your best bet.
Men should be passionate enough with their women and not trample on their emotions so that they can enjoy them. Show them love, be part of their everyday activity, appreciate their opinion, respect and trust them, above all, compliment their beauty, hard-work and handiwork as these will boost their morale. Take time off to spoil them a little and they will in turn spoil you rotten. You should always treat your woman as if each day is the last day on earth.
Come with clean hands
Be honest with your partner and share your emotions. Discuss your fears and insecurities and listen to her fears. Many women are innately jealous and insecure, especially about other women. Do not give room for jealousy to manifest in your relationship. Put your woman on a pedestal and worship her. The truth is that others will treat her the way you treat her.
Shun infidelity
Infidelity seems to have become fashionable. A lot of people have thrown caution to the wind. Some even feel that what a man can do, a woman can do better. This is deceptive and eroding the very fabric of the society. Remember, this is life, real life and your life to be built or destroyed as you see fit.
Indeed, eighty per cent of those in relationships appear to have a hidden agenda. For the Nigerian men, they believe the women are only interested in their money. But this is perhaps only a minority of women who trade sexual favour for money. Such women target men with money and power.
In order to keep a woman in your bed:
Know her hormonal responses: When it comes to female behaviour, hormones often get the lion’s share of the blame (or credit, depending). Hormones are why men are supposed to know to bring her flowers and chocolate during “that time of the month.” They’re why women need to be romanced in order to feel like getting romantic.
•When you start dating and get close enough to discuss intimate details with a woman, you’ll eventually learn specific things about her that are related to her hormones, such as how her menstrual cycle influences her behaviour and mood. Don’t assume that you know everything about her hormones just because you’ve been in a previous relationship!
•Premenstrual syndrome is experienced by three out of every four women. Nobody knows exactly what causes PMS, other than the fluctuations of hormones and chemical changes in the brain.Recognizing what constitutes normal PMS symptoms in the woman in your life can help everyone manage a potentially difficult time.
Pregnancy is wacky: You thought that hormones went crazy during puberty — or during “that time of the month” — but everything changes when a woman gets pregnant. Pregnancy is an amazing feat of the female body, but be forewarned: The hormones involved can really wreak havoc during this time.
Understand menopause: At its most basic, menopause just means that a woman stops being fertile. You may not realise that menopause is actually a gradual transition — it’s not like turning off a switch. It also varies greatly depending on the woman, like everything else.
Sexual dysfunction: Sexual dysfunction in women can also be linked to a lack of intimacy, depression or body image issues. However, it’s also perfectly normal for a woman’s libido to change over the course of her lifetime. When hormones are surging during adolescence, both men and women have higher libidos. As those hormone levels stabilise, a woman’s libido is more likely to do the same. Then it could decrease as she matures and adds in environmental factors like birth control and job stress.
The bottom line: Women aren’t slaves to their hormones any more than men are (that, after all, would imply that all they do is think about sex). Knowing more about the complexities of women’s hormones, however, can only help men better understand the opposite sex.
Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/
Heads or tails
The man is the head and, more often than not, the breadwinner for the family. This confers some modicum of respect and privilege on the man. On the other hand, the woman is supposed to be submissive and obedient to her man as described in most religions. Morally, though right, the sanctity of marriage means that the delicate balance should not be destroyed. Even when a woman is the breadwinner, respect for the man is important and for the same reason, the man should not take things for granted.
There is an age-long adage that a woman is to be seen not heard. It is not so again because these days, our women are being seen and heard. Many women are in positions of power and fairly well off. It takes a strong man who is sure of himself to manage such women. Women are now go-getters and pace-setters in many endeavours of life and so demand some respect and mutual understanding to get the best out of them. They do not want to be looked down on by men; and understandably so. If you need a door mat, then perhaps an uneducated girl, who may become a drain on your resources, is your best bet.
Men should be passionate enough with their women and not trample on their emotions so that they can enjoy them. Show them love, be part of their everyday activity, appreciate their opinion, respect and trust them, above all, compliment their beauty, hard-work and handiwork as these will boost their morale. Take time off to spoil them a little and they will in turn spoil you rotten. You should always treat your woman as if each day is the last day on earth.
Come with clean hands
Be honest with your partner and share your emotions. Discuss your fears and insecurities and listen to her fears. Many women are innately jealous and insecure, especially about other women. Do not give room for jealousy to manifest in your relationship. Put your woman on a pedestal and worship her. The truth is that others will treat her the way you treat her.
Shun infidelity
Infidelity seems to have become fashionable. A lot of people have thrown caution to the wind. Some even feel that what a man can do, a woman can do better. This is deceptive and eroding the very fabric of the society. Remember, this is life, real life and your life to be built or destroyed as you see fit.
Indeed, eighty per cent of those in relationships appear to have a hidden agenda. For the Nigerian men, they believe the women are only interested in their money. But this is perhaps only a minority of women who trade sexual favour for money. Such women target men with money and power.
In order to keep a woman in your bed:
Know her hormonal responses: When it comes to female behaviour, hormones often get the lion’s share of the blame (or credit, depending). Hormones are why men are supposed to know to bring her flowers and chocolate during “that time of the month.” They’re why women need to be romanced in order to feel like getting romantic.
•When you start dating and get close enough to discuss intimate details with a woman, you’ll eventually learn specific things about her that are related to her hormones, such as how her menstrual cycle influences her behaviour and mood. Don’t assume that you know everything about her hormones just because you’ve been in a previous relationship!
•Premenstrual syndrome is experienced by three out of every four women. Nobody knows exactly what causes PMS, other than the fluctuations of hormones and chemical changes in the brain.Recognizing what constitutes normal PMS symptoms in the woman in your life can help everyone manage a potentially difficult time.
Pregnancy is wacky: You thought that hormones went crazy during puberty — or during “that time of the month” — but everything changes when a woman gets pregnant. Pregnancy is an amazing feat of the female body, but be forewarned: The hormones involved can really wreak havoc during this time.
Understand menopause: At its most basic, menopause just means that a woman stops being fertile. You may not realise that menopause is actually a gradual transition — it’s not like turning off a switch. It also varies greatly depending on the woman, like everything else.
Sexual dysfunction: Sexual dysfunction in women can also be linked to a lack of intimacy, depression or body image issues. However, it’s also perfectly normal for a woman’s libido to change over the course of her lifetime. When hormones are surging during adolescence, both men and women have higher libidos. As those hormone levels stabilise, a woman’s libido is more likely to do the same. Then it could decrease as she matures and adds in environmental factors like birth control and job stress.
The bottom line: Women aren’t slaves to their hormones any more than men are (that, after all, would imply that all they do is think about sex). Knowing more about the complexities of women’s hormones, however, can only help men better understand the opposite sex.
Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/
Election not a do-or-die affair
The Labour Party candidate in the August 9 Osun State governorship election, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, has urged politicians to work for the progress of the country and eschew violence before, during and after elections.
In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, the LP candidate said election should not be seen as a do-or-die affair, adding that the electorate should be allowed to choose their leaders without any form of coercion.
He noted that this could only be achieved if the import of the lessons inherent in the fasting exercise during Ramadan were adhered to.
Akinbade, who said peace was important for any society to move forward, added that electoral violence was pointless, since it is only God that had the power to install and remove rulers.
He said, “While felicitating with our Muslims brothers on the completion of yet another successful month of holy Ramadan, I want to passionately appeal to politicians and stakeholders to always work for the progress of the country.
“The violence that normally accompany the quest for power acquisition, should be done away with. If truly we believe in God, then we must know that it is Him alone that can install or remove a ruler.”
The LP candidate advised his fellow contenders in the forthcoming Osun State governorship election not to force themselves on the electorate at all cost.
“We cannot force ourselves on the people. Their right to choose whoever they prefer, should be respected without any form of coercion. If this is allowed, then our democracy will be firmly rooted,” he said.
Akinbade sued for peace and appealed to supporters of parties vying for the coveted seat to refrain from violence before, during and after the August 9 governorship poll.
In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, the LP candidate said election should not be seen as a do-or-die affair, adding that the electorate should be allowed to choose their leaders without any form of coercion.
He noted that this could only be achieved if the import of the lessons inherent in the fasting exercise during Ramadan were adhered to.
Akinbade, who said peace was important for any society to move forward, added that electoral violence was pointless, since it is only God that had the power to install and remove rulers.
He said, “While felicitating with our Muslims brothers on the completion of yet another successful month of holy Ramadan, I want to passionately appeal to politicians and stakeholders to always work for the progress of the country.
“The violence that normally accompany the quest for power acquisition, should be done away with. If truly we believe in God, then we must know that it is Him alone that can install or remove a ruler.”
The LP candidate advised his fellow contenders in the forthcoming Osun State governorship election not to force themselves on the electorate at all cost.
“We cannot force ourselves on the people. Their right to choose whoever they prefer, should be respected without any form of coercion. If this is allowed, then our democracy will be firmly rooted,” he said.
Akinbade sued for peace and appealed to supporters of parties vying for the coveted seat to refrain from violence before, during and after the August 9 governorship poll.
FG moves to privatise hospitals
The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria on Monday raised the alarm over plans by the Presidency to clampdown on the Nigerian Medical Association and privatise all hospitals owned by the Federal Government.
Doctors in Government hospitals under the aegis of NMA have been on nationwide strike for the past one month over alleged breach of agreement reached by both parties.
The association said information reaching its secretariat revealed that if the proposal sails through, soldiers would be drafted to secure all the medical institutions while para-military medical professionals would be deployed to perform the role of Doctors.
The President of MDCAN, Dr. Steve Oluwole, in a statement obtained by THE PUNCH in Abuja wondered whether the replacements would be better alternatives to roles performed by Doctors.
He said, “In the event that the Federal Government tows this course of action, the military will be deployed to guard the medical institutions with military and para-military medical professionals rendering services in the mean time.
“All public health institutions will be privatised. Then, the ‘no work no pay’ principle will be enforced; Doctors who are interested will be protected to resume duties while new ones will be employed to take their place.”
Several calls and text messages by to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, for response on the issues were not replied.
Doctors in Government hospitals under the aegis of NMA have been on nationwide strike for the past one month over alleged breach of agreement reached by both parties.
The association said information reaching its secretariat revealed that if the proposal sails through, soldiers would be drafted to secure all the medical institutions while para-military medical professionals would be deployed to perform the role of Doctors.
The President of MDCAN, Dr. Steve Oluwole, in a statement obtained by THE PUNCH in Abuja wondered whether the replacements would be better alternatives to roles performed by Doctors.
He said, “In the event that the Federal Government tows this course of action, the military will be deployed to guard the medical institutions with military and para-military medical professionals rendering services in the mean time.
“All public health institutions will be privatised. Then, the ‘no work no pay’ principle will be enforced; Doctors who are interested will be protected to resume duties while new ones will be employed to take their place.”
Several calls and text messages by to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, for response on the issues were not replied.
Iheanacho scores again in 5-1 win over Milan
Nigerian football youngster, Kelechi Iheanacho, scored in his second successive Manchester City game, as the Premier League side crushed AC Milan 5-1 in their International Champions Cup opener.
The 17-year-old toe-poked the ball from outside the area, to give City a 4-0 lead shortly before the break.
Stefan Jovetic and Scott Sinclair had opened scoring for the English champions with two early strikes, before Jesus Navas saw his acrobatic effort deflected past Michael Agazzi in the Milan goal.
Sulley Muntari pulled one back for Fillipo Inzaghi’s men, but Jovetic scored again 12 minutes after the break after Navas sent him free.
The loss is Milan’s second in the International Champions Cup, while Italian clubs have only won one game.
The 17-year-old toe-poked the ball from outside the area, to give City a 4-0 lead shortly before the break.
Stefan Jovetic and Scott Sinclair had opened scoring for the English champions with two early strikes, before Jesus Navas saw his acrobatic effort deflected past Michael Agazzi in the Milan goal.
Sulley Muntari pulled one back for Fillipo Inzaghi’s men, but Jovetic scored again 12 minutes after the break after Navas sent him free.
The loss is Milan’s second in the International Champions Cup, while Italian clubs have only won one game.
Ebola: Monrovia, Banjul passengers stranded in Nigeria
Due to the suspension of flights to Liberia by a major airline in Nigeria, some passengers to Monrovia and Banjul are now stranded in some parts of the country, including Lagos.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, on Monday, our correspondent observed that some stranded passengers were trying to make alternative plans to travel to Monrovia.
Interestingly, some of them were Nigerians and they wondered why there was such a drastic measure to cut off some countries on the continent because of the deadly Ebola Virus.
Some airlines had announced the suspension of flights from Nigeria to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia, a move taken to curb the spread of the virus.
A major Nigerian airline had also announced the suspension of flights to Monrovia and Banjul as from Monday.
Only one airline in Nigeria operates commercial flights to international destinations.
It was learnt that some of the stranded passengers had opted to fly to Ghana or Benin Republic first, before connecting another flight to their destinations.
A Liberian, Mr. Michael Nelson, told our correspondent that he had been coming to Nigeria on a regular basis in the past five years without any problem until now.
“I come to Lagos regularly because of the nature of my job in Monrovia. I still believe there are ways of checking any form of virus without a total blanket on flight operations. This is so sad. I am trying to get a Ghana or Togo flight now and from there, I will connect to Liberia,” Nelson said.
A Nigerian, Charles Okoye, who has also been affected by the turn of event, was furious, lamenting that the development had affected his appointment in The Gambia.
An official of one of the airlines, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, described the development as a short-term measure.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, on Monday, our correspondent observed that some stranded passengers were trying to make alternative plans to travel to Monrovia.
Interestingly, some of them were Nigerians and they wondered why there was such a drastic measure to cut off some countries on the continent because of the deadly Ebola Virus.
Some airlines had announced the suspension of flights from Nigeria to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia, a move taken to curb the spread of the virus.
A major Nigerian airline had also announced the suspension of flights to Monrovia and Banjul as from Monday.
Only one airline in Nigeria operates commercial flights to international destinations.
It was learnt that some of the stranded passengers had opted to fly to Ghana or Benin Republic first, before connecting another flight to their destinations.
A Liberian, Mr. Michael Nelson, told our correspondent that he had been coming to Nigeria on a regular basis in the past five years without any problem until now.
“I come to Lagos regularly because of the nature of my job in Monrovia. I still believe there are ways of checking any form of virus without a total blanket on flight operations. This is so sad. I am trying to get a Ghana or Togo flight now and from there, I will connect to Liberia,” Nelson said.
A Nigerian, Charles Okoye, who has also been affected by the turn of event, was furious, lamenting that the development had affected his appointment in The Gambia.
An official of one of the airlines, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, described the development as a short-term measure.
Gunmen kill four soldiers, 46 others in Adamawa
Over 50 people, including four soldiers, have died in two separate attacks in Adamawa State.
The soldiers and over 40 civilians died in a raid by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect in three local government areas in the state.
The soldiers died in a gun battle on Sunday with the sect members in Garkida community in Gombi Local Government Area.
Garkida is the border town between Adamawa and Borno States and its south of the Sambisa forest, which is believed to be the hiding place of the sect.
Residents of Garkida community told Channels Television that the insurgents, who stormed the town around 5:00pm local time on Sunday, overpowered the military stationed in the town and laid siege to the community.
Hours after the attack residents of the community are still in their hideouts for fears of continuous attack by the dreaded sect, Boko Haram.
There is no official confirmation of the attack but eyewitnesses say that several residents of the community were killed in the attack.
Aside the military base, the group attacked two churches and destroyed several houses in the community.
Also, in Madagali Local Government Area, six persons were killed as suspected members of the group carted away food items.
The group also killed many people in three communities in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The affected villages in Hong Local Government are Zar, Lube, Mubeng.
An eyewitness said that the village head of Zar community, retired Wing Commander Dauda Daniel was declared missing after the attack.
Meanwhile, the Acting Governor of the State, Honourable Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has commiserated with the families of the victims in the affected local government areas.
In a statement signed by the governor’s spokesman, Mr Solomon Kumanga, the governor said the government was collaborating with other security agencies to end the activities of the group.
The acting spokesman of the Adamawa State Police Command, Mr Haa Micheal, could not confirm the attack as at the time of this report.
He, however, confirmed that he heard of a rumoured attack in the affected communities.
The soldiers and over 40 civilians died in a raid by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect in three local government areas in the state.
The soldiers died in a gun battle on Sunday with the sect members in Garkida community in Gombi Local Government Area.
Garkida is the border town between Adamawa and Borno States and its south of the Sambisa forest, which is believed to be the hiding place of the sect.
Residents of Garkida community told Channels Television that the insurgents, who stormed the town around 5:00pm local time on Sunday, overpowered the military stationed in the town and laid siege to the community.
Hours after the attack residents of the community are still in their hideouts for fears of continuous attack by the dreaded sect, Boko Haram.
There is no official confirmation of the attack but eyewitnesses say that several residents of the community were killed in the attack.
Aside the military base, the group attacked two churches and destroyed several houses in the community.
Also, in Madagali Local Government Area, six persons were killed as suspected members of the group carted away food items.
The group also killed many people in three communities in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The affected villages in Hong Local Government are Zar, Lube, Mubeng.
An eyewitness said that the village head of Zar community, retired Wing Commander Dauda Daniel was declared missing after the attack.
Meanwhile, the Acting Governor of the State, Honourable Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has commiserated with the families of the victims in the affected local government areas.
In a statement signed by the governor’s spokesman, Mr Solomon Kumanga, the governor said the government was collaborating with other security agencies to end the activities of the group.
The acting spokesman of the Adamawa State Police Command, Mr Haa Micheal, could not confirm the attack as at the time of this report.
He, however, confirmed that he heard of a rumoured attack in the affected communities.
Firm kicks as Plateau demolishes inland container depot
The implementation of the Jos Inland Container Depot has come under threat following the demolition of the structures by the Plateau State Government.
The ICD is located in Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.
The Group General Manager, Duncan Group of Companies, Dr. Godfrey Shitgurum, said on Monday that despite the Federal High Court Jos injunction restraining Governor Jonah Jang and the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, the government demolished structures at the site of Jos Inland Container Depot.
According to him, the injunction was served and received by JMDB and the Plateau State Ministry of Justice on Monday last week, by one Christiana Bot of JMDB and Huwa Samuel of the State ministry of Justice.
Addressing newsmen in Jos on Monday, Shitgurum expressed regret that the state government, which had supported the project, turned round to reject it.
He said among items destroyed were the gate of the complex, which was 86 per cent completed and the administrative block, over 26,000 blocks, timber and several items, which could have been used for the ongoing project.
He said, “It has become imperative for us at Duncan Maritime Ventures Limited to state our position, following the destruction of our facilities at the Jos Inland Container Depot, Heipang, by the Plateau State Government through its agency, the Jos Metropolitan Development Board with the view to putting the record straight and disabuse certain misconceptions.”
The GGM pointed out that since the inception of the Jos ICD project, transactions had been between DMVL and the Federal Government through the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Transport.
He explained that the firm had not had any direct contact with the Plateau State Government, adding that they were surprised that without any information from either the Ministry of Transport or the NSC, the JMDB moved into their site at the ICD Heipang.
According to him, the Federal Government sets up ICDs to bring the facilities closer the majority of Nigerians in the hinterland as well as reduce the cost of clearing goods, lower the prices of commodities, reduce unemployment rate, facilitate additional development in the benefiting states among others.
The ICD is located in Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.
The Group General Manager, Duncan Group of Companies, Dr. Godfrey Shitgurum, said on Monday that despite the Federal High Court Jos injunction restraining Governor Jonah Jang and the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, the government demolished structures at the site of Jos Inland Container Depot.
According to him, the injunction was served and received by JMDB and the Plateau State Ministry of Justice on Monday last week, by one Christiana Bot of JMDB and Huwa Samuel of the State ministry of Justice.
Addressing newsmen in Jos on Monday, Shitgurum expressed regret that the state government, which had supported the project, turned round to reject it.
He said among items destroyed were the gate of the complex, which was 86 per cent completed and the administrative block, over 26,000 blocks, timber and several items, which could have been used for the ongoing project.
He said, “It has become imperative for us at Duncan Maritime Ventures Limited to state our position, following the destruction of our facilities at the Jos Inland Container Depot, Heipang, by the Plateau State Government through its agency, the Jos Metropolitan Development Board with the view to putting the record straight and disabuse certain misconceptions.”
The GGM pointed out that since the inception of the Jos ICD project, transactions had been between DMVL and the Federal Government through the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Transport.
He explained that the firm had not had any direct contact with the Plateau State Government, adding that they were surprised that without any information from either the Ministry of Transport or the NSC, the JMDB moved into their site at the ICD Heipang.
According to him, the Federal Government sets up ICDs to bring the facilities closer the majority of Nigerians in the hinterland as well as reduce the cost of clearing goods, lower the prices of commodities, reduce unemployment rate, facilitate additional development in the benefiting states among others.
58 persons had contacts with dead Liberian
The Lagos State Government said on Monday that it had identified no fewer than 59 people who had contacts with the Liberian who died of Ebola Virus in the state, Mr Patrick Sawyer.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said at a news conference in Ikeja that the contact tracing became imperative to ascertain any possible transmission of the virus by the victim.
Idris said the identified contacts comprised 44 hospital and 15 airport contacts, including the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia.
He said 20 of the contacts had been screened and that none of them had so far been found to be infected with the virus.
He, however, said the contacts did not include those he might have been with on his flight to Nigeria on July 20, as the airline had yet to release the passenger manifest for investigation.
He said, “The airline manifest has not been provided by the airline as at the time of this report and therefore, the precise number of passenger contacts is yet to be ascertained, especially as two flights were involved (Monrovia-Lome and Lome-Lagos).”
He urged Nigerians not to entertain fears about Sawyer’s case as the state and Federal Governments were doing everything possible to prevent any outbreak in the country.
Idris said the deceased’s body had been decontaminated, using 10 per cent sodium hypochlorite and cremated with the permission of the Government of Liberia.
He said, “A cremation urn has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle containing the remains have also been decontaminated while the hospital in which he died on July 25 has been demobilised .”
Idris said the state Ministry of Health had designated an isolation ward at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, for case management, adding three other centres were under way.
The commissioner urged residents to report people with abnormal cases of bleeding and fever to the appropriate authorities for intervention, as high fever with bleeding from all body openings were symptoms of the disease.
Idris also urged residents to always keep their environments clean and maintain good personal hygiene as Ebola virus spreads easily in dirty environments.
Also speaking, the Director, National Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdul-Salami Nasidi, warned against the consumption of bats and monkeys as these animals had been established to be the original sources of Ebola.
He said, “This is time for those bat-eating and monkey-eating communities to be careful now. Ebola started from the eating of chimpanzees. How the virus got to the monkey, nobody knows yet.
“But this is the time to be careful about the eating of monkeys and bats. The Ebola threat is high in West Africa and people should start taking precautions.”
President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, also warned Nigerians against the unsupervised burial of people who died from suspected Ebola case.
He said 40 per cent of cases in high risk countries were transmitted from victims bodies, stressing that an Ebola corpse was deadlier than the patient.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Mrs Yewande Adeshina, urged traditional healers to collaborate with the government in checking Ebola threats by reporting suspicious cases for the right intervention.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said at a news conference in Ikeja that the contact tracing became imperative to ascertain any possible transmission of the virus by the victim.
Idris said the identified contacts comprised 44 hospital and 15 airport contacts, including the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia.
He said 20 of the contacts had been screened and that none of them had so far been found to be infected with the virus.
He, however, said the contacts did not include those he might have been with on his flight to Nigeria on July 20, as the airline had yet to release the passenger manifest for investigation.
He said, “The airline manifest has not been provided by the airline as at the time of this report and therefore, the precise number of passenger contacts is yet to be ascertained, especially as two flights were involved (Monrovia-Lome and Lome-Lagos).”
He urged Nigerians not to entertain fears about Sawyer’s case as the state and Federal Governments were doing everything possible to prevent any outbreak in the country.
Idris said the deceased’s body had been decontaminated, using 10 per cent sodium hypochlorite and cremated with the permission of the Government of Liberia.
He said, “A cremation urn has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle containing the remains have also been decontaminated while the hospital in which he died on July 25 has been demobilised .”
Idris said the state Ministry of Health had designated an isolation ward at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, for case management, adding three other centres were under way.
The commissioner urged residents to report people with abnormal cases of bleeding and fever to the appropriate authorities for intervention, as high fever with bleeding from all body openings were symptoms of the disease.
Idris also urged residents to always keep their environments clean and maintain good personal hygiene as Ebola virus spreads easily in dirty environments.
Also speaking, the Director, National Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdul-Salami Nasidi, warned against the consumption of bats and monkeys as these animals had been established to be the original sources of Ebola.
He said, “This is time for those bat-eating and monkey-eating communities to be careful now. Ebola started from the eating of chimpanzees. How the virus got to the monkey, nobody knows yet.
“But this is the time to be careful about the eating of monkeys and bats. The Ebola threat is high in West Africa and people should start taking precautions.”
President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, also warned Nigerians against the unsupervised burial of people who died from suspected Ebola case.
He said 40 per cent of cases in high risk countries were transmitted from victims bodies, stressing that an Ebola corpse was deadlier than the patient.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Mrs Yewande Adeshina, urged traditional healers to collaborate with the government in checking Ebola threats by reporting suspicious cases for the right intervention.
Accord not party to Ajimobi’s planned impeachment
A former Oyo State Governor and National Leader of Accord Party, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, said members of his party in the Oyo State House of Assembly will not join those reportedly planning to impeach the state Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
Ladoja announced that he would contest the governorship of the state in 2015 while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday.
Ladoja, who was impeached as the governor in 2006 before he was later returned by the court the following year, said there was no political justification for removing Ajimobi with a few months to the end of his tenure.
He added that such move could result in social and political unrest in the state.
The former governor said, “I cannot understand the basis for anybody in the House suddenly waking up to nurse any impeachment move against Governor Ajimobi. In any case Accord is not a party to it.
“I cannot understand why they will wake up and say there is gross misconduct against a governor, who is on his way out. Let them publish it for people to see but as far as I am concerned, our party is not part of any purported plan to impeach governor Ajimobi.
“We have told Accord members in the House that we are not party to it and that they must distance themselves from it.
“As a matter of principle and reason, how many months does the governor have left in office? How many months do we have to the general elections? Anybody planning impeachment plan to cause insecurity and distract the governor.”
Ladoja announced that he would contest the governorship of the state in 2015 while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday.
Ladoja, who was impeached as the governor in 2006 before he was later returned by the court the following year, said there was no political justification for removing Ajimobi with a few months to the end of his tenure.
He added that such move could result in social and political unrest in the state.
The former governor said, “I cannot understand the basis for anybody in the House suddenly waking up to nurse any impeachment move against Governor Ajimobi. In any case Accord is not a party to it.
“I cannot understand why they will wake up and say there is gross misconduct against a governor, who is on his way out. Let them publish it for people to see but as far as I am concerned, our party is not part of any purported plan to impeach governor Ajimobi.
“We have told Accord members in the House that we are not party to it and that they must distance themselves from it.
“As a matter of principle and reason, how many months does the governor have left in office? How many months do we have to the general elections? Anybody planning impeachment plan to cause insecurity and distract the governor.”
My lawyers will defend me
The embattled Governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, has expressed confidence that whether or not he appears before the panel set up by the state Chief Judge, Justice Umaru Dikko, his seven- team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, is capable of defending him.
The state chief judge, had on Friday last week set up a seven-man panel to probe the governor over the allegations leveled against him of gross misconduct of finical impropriety and breached of oath of office by the state House of Assembly.
The Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Abdulhamid Kwarra said, “The governor will certainly appear before them (the panel) and after that we will go to the press and address them.”
When asked whether he knows the full names of members of the legal team that would defend the governor,, he said he did not know their names.
He said the venue and when the panel would seat had yet to be made known to the governor.
“The lawyers are capable of defending Governor Al-Makura on the allegations leveled against him by the lawmakers,” said SSA.
When asked whether the seven-man panel would sit during the public holidays he said he did not know.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Mohammed Okpede (Doma North) commented on a statement by the governor’s aide that the lawmakers would fail in their bid to impeach the governor.
He said: “As far as we are concerned, we are working with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are on our way to reach there.”
On the earlier claim by the governor that he was not given the impeachment notice, he asked, “What made him to employ the service of SANs to defend him before the seven-man panel?”
Okpede denied that the lawmakers had been bribed by the governor to stop down their plan to impeach him.
He also said that the lawmakers did not meet President Goodluck Jonathan on the impeachment move against the governor.
Okpede further said that if the President waded into the matter, the lawmakers would tell him that it was a purely constitutional matter.
He added that if the President insisted on intervening, they (the lawmakers) would simply tell him that he was encouraging corruption.
The state chief judge, had on Friday last week set up a seven-man panel to probe the governor over the allegations leveled against him of gross misconduct of finical impropriety and breached of oath of office by the state House of Assembly.
The Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Abdulhamid Kwarra said, “The governor will certainly appear before them (the panel) and after that we will go to the press and address them.”
When asked whether he knows the full names of members of the legal team that would defend the governor,, he said he did not know their names.
He said the venue and when the panel would seat had yet to be made known to the governor.
“The lawyers are capable of defending Governor Al-Makura on the allegations leveled against him by the lawmakers,” said SSA.
When asked whether the seven-man panel would sit during the public holidays he said he did not know.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Mohammed Okpede (Doma North) commented on a statement by the governor’s aide that the lawmakers would fail in their bid to impeach the governor.
He said: “As far as we are concerned, we are working with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are on our way to reach there.”
On the earlier claim by the governor that he was not given the impeachment notice, he asked, “What made him to employ the service of SANs to defend him before the seven-man panel?”
Okpede denied that the lawmakers had been bribed by the governor to stop down their plan to impeach him.
He also said that the lawmakers did not meet President Goodluck Jonathan on the impeachment move against the governor.
Okpede further said that if the President waded into the matter, the lawmakers would tell him that it was a purely constitutional matter.
He added that if the President insisted on intervening, they (the lawmakers) would simply tell him that he was encouraging corruption.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
"I never predicted Kefee's Death"-Ara
A few days after Kefee passed on, renowned talking drummer,Ara was quoted to have said she warned Kefee and predicted her death(Here)..Now she set the record straight to the Sun
"May Kefee’s soul rest in peace. I want to clear this issue once and for all. I never predicted Kefee’s death. All those reports are not true.I had a dream though and I called her up and told her what I saw in my dream. I told her to pray very hard and she said, ‘sister, I don’t hear,thank you’ and that was all. Before I knew it there were reports all over that I predicted Kefee’s death.I can’t talk about it; I don’t want to talk about it. Whether she took my advice or not I will never know but I never predicted her death; that’s all I can say.“I have a gift and every one in my family knows about it. People who are very close to me also know about it. If I call you and say I had a dream and I saw this and that, you had better do something about it! I would never share what I told her with anybody and if I must, it would be with her husband and no one else.”
Husband batters wife's face over piece of fish in Lagos
The victim is first of three wives of Alhaji Kamoru, at residing at Hasan Close, Alasia, Ijanikin in Lagos State. The bruising attack happened on the 16th of July, when the third wife reported to their husband that their senior wife took fish from the soup to break her fast. The husband, according to witnesses, did not listen to her excuse before attacking her.
Rita Dominic looking fab
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Rita Dominic never gets it wrong when it comes to fashion..Short hair suits her too...You like?
"If Money Didn't Seperate Us, No Women Can"-Bracket
(Laughs) Money has not separated us; so, women won’t do that to us. We had a little issue about money in the past and we settled it. So, when it comes to women or when Smash sees me with people who will not add value to my life, he warns me. And when I don’t listen, he will let me be. Then, when it all goes wrong, he is still the same person I come back to. I don’t think women or money can be a problem between us at this stage.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Muma Gee & Hubby Prince Eke in new photos
The proud parents of twins stepped out for a friend's wedding today..Beautiful
Years of rape by my uncle turned me into a sex addict
“The cool morning summer breeze slapped my silky window curtains. I lay in bed, naked and wondering if it was time to get up and begin another hustle in the city. The children had dressed themselves and taken the school bus that snaked into our subdivision earlier. Bored and undecided about how to chase the new day, I engaged my imaginations with my life as a single mother in these times… It’s been a hard living, an extreme challenge. How I make it this far remained a mystery to me. I had seen fire, rain and sometimes, days that won’t end faster. It’s been intriguing, exciting and doomed moments, especially for a beautiful Black country girl, living in southern United States. Despite these torments and tortures, I still retained my external beauty. People see the smiles beam all over my pretty face. What they don’t know is what lies beneath my adoring smiles. I wondered through my love life and pains: the first time I experienced first love and thereafter. Did I ever feel loved with what I had been through? To understand, you have to be led through the thorny roads of my life: the first time I felt “love,” I didn’t realise what it was. It felt strange, wet and cold. It was the first sexual love. It made my heart beat so fast I couldn’t breathe: a treacherous love that I could not look in the face because this love was in control. I hated to remember these times of my life. But I just can’t ignore the everlasting scars this love left me with.
“My first love was a sick obsession. He was a part of me: my family. He was my uncle. My mother entrusted me in his care while she worked third shift job at nights. This love would wait till my mother went to work, then crept into my bedroom at the wee hours of the morning; cover my mouth with his heavy and long palms so no one would hear my innocent and hurtful scary cries. He would then slowly rape me, abuse my childhood, scar my womanhood, dignity and pride. He stole my virginity. This love was my father’s brother! I remembered being wet all over, smeared in his semen and marinated in his sweat, a gift from a horrible midnight with him; my family member that my mother trusted to care for and protect me while she was working the night shifts. He would wipe me clean at sunrise, take me to McDonald’s and buy me a “happy meal” breakfast just to make the mind of an eight year old he sexually assaulted, forget the sad ordeal and abuse of the previous night. He would sit across the table from me. I was scared to swallow my happy meal. I was young, confused, angry, helpless and alone. To this day, I still feel something hard pressed against my vagina. I could still smell his breathe and gasps of his sexual assaults on my eight year soul.
“Years later, my first ‘love’ died and I cried at his funeral. I cried not for his death but because I felt he didn’t pay for all the love he stole from me. He bruised and scarred my life at a tender age of eight. My uncle through the years thronged his penis into my vagina, stealing my precious blessings from God and brutalising my virginity. I could never forgive him. I tried to move on, carrying with me the pains of these sadistic acts by him, silently dealing with that trauma through the years. The memories affected my relationships and my love life:
“At fourteen, I met my second love. He was also a teenager, endowed with a universal gift of brilliance, beauty and laughter. He had a crystal smile, playful spirit, and appeared to be kind. I would see him when my grandmother visited his mother. And sometimes we met at the church premises. We were young and innocent, at least, he was. He would bless me with kind words, flirtatious praises of my beauty and physical amazement. He said these with intoxicating smiles. He was beautiful in his smiles and handsome with his words. One night, he called me over to his mother’s home and made love to me. It was the first time that I experienced the beauty, the comfort and the calmness of being wanted, being romanced, of being lubricated and penetrated. It felt warm, smooth, sensual and beloved. Oh gush. That night, he completed me!
“This love was surreal and special because when a girl is giving away her natural beauty willingly, it is immaculate. Despite the spectacular feelings, I still felt really bad and painful from years of molestation by my uncle. But this charming and enchanting young man naturally broke me and I was willingly submitting to his benevolence. I considered myself a virgin because I never gave my uncle permission to continuously rape me.
“Jebose, after several sexual escapades with my second attempt at love, this restless teenager changed. His smiles disappeared whenever he saw me. I no longer felt special before him. That crazy attention he lavished on me expired. He was silent and cold afterwards. I had matured so fast to learn when to walk away from love. His signs of the times said a lot about how he felt for me. He walked round the neighbourhood as a conqueror: he disvirgined a neighbourhood girl!. He wore the pride of a cupid of love and he allowed that to melt his bright soul, replacing it with arrogance and an anointed ego! I got mad at love after this and said that I would never think about or fall in love again.
“By the time I turned 18, I had forgotten about my promise to myself. It wasn’t long before another love was blazing and melting my heart. He came like a thief in the night, banging on my door and loaded with beautiful nonsense that I could not resist. He was saying the things I wanted to hear from a handsome stud! I didn’t pay attention to his lullabies because I was dealing with the past: the horrors and thoughts of love from my past constantly troubled me. I prayed that this would be the real thing. My aching young heart needed to heal and feel this experience. I wanted love. I was ready to move on from the past passionate pains, from a stolen innocence, from a shredded young yesterday filled with naivety, betrayal and sadness. I said this love got to be best. I deserved the best. So I opened the door to my heart for him to enter. He was the first love that promised to stay. We lit up like a candle in the dark. Every day we shared, we became very attached to each other. Separation from each other was sickness. It was crazy, yet healthy: the beginning of a sizzling love.
“We glowed, gloated and loved carelessly. It was the kind of love that I felt. He was a handsome high school senior heartthrob, getting ready to be enlisted into the United States Navy. He promised me marriage after enlisting. He said he would celebrate me and tell the world about me. He would travel the world with me. But Jebose, his spoken words were lies. This love was as brief as a candle light. As soon as he left for the Navy, he turned his back on me. The next news I got from him was a postcard telling me of his marriage to someone else. Weeks of tears followed the sudden loss and mourning of a promise unfulfilled! Another great expectation that never came through. I was left with an aching disappointed heart. I didn’t know what love was supposed to feel like. During my experiences I felt scared, had pains, confusion, violation and betrayals. Were these what real love was supposed to feel like?
“I decided to focus on my adolescence and growth after this young navy took me on a voyage of disappointments. I was 18 and really needed to set goals for my life. So I got busy for the next four years, seeking a roadmap to a successful life. By the time I turned 22, I had grown into a beautiful mature woman. I was ready for the world and hoped the world was ready for me. I left my little country home and relocated to the city where I met my city love. And boy, it was different. Here was a country girl, meeting for the first time a new wild experience. For a country girl, love is very simple, it doesn’t ask too much of you and doesn’t take too long to please. A city love takes you to new heights, different elements. It takes you out of your normal surroundings to places you had never seen before. City love brings imaginations to reality. I never experienced the things this love would introduce me to. This city love dug deep and brought out kinky things such as oral and anal sex, sex in public places and dressing up in all kinds of costumes to satisfy his fetish desires. After meeting and experiencing the city love, it changed me in ways I never knew and had no idea what was about to come next; from being molested, raped at childhood to losing my virginity and not having family to care or support me.
“This city love turned my world upside down. It was too steamy, sassy, hardcore and erotic. It was too real for a native girl. I began to spiral out of control. The more I had new experience, the hungrier I was. I became a sex addict, willing and able to sleep with several men a day. I was sexually insatiable. There were times when I didn’t want men to touch me too many times because I couldn’t get enough of them. I lost myself because I didn’t know I was worthy. I allowed men and the love they claimed to have for me control who I was: a ravaged sex addict, silently crying for help. The things I did were sometimes horrible. I let love do whatever it pleased to me. I found myself on one night stands, exchanging sex for gifts and cash. And at sunset, some of these men who claimed they loved me bought me nice things because I was satisfying their sexual desires.
“Through these confusions and confrontations in my life, I again, found someone that said he truly loved me. You probably are guessing; finally this woman finds true love. But because of all the turmoil and past shenanigans I went through and experienced, when “real love” came, I did not know how to accept that. I abused this love; I didn’t take him seriously. That was the only love that lasted 10 years. Instead of nurturing that love, I did to that love what love in the past did to me: I used that love as my anger, my pains, my violations and frustrations. I didn’t care much for him. He believed in me, tolerated my behaviours. He wanted to love and help me recover. He was a victim of my transferred aggression. He wanted to share and show me true love. He was genuine. But I never gave him a chance. One day, I came home from work, and this love was gone. I was so caught up in anger and mistrust that I didn’t even see love walk away and found someone else to love. It was too late when I realised what happened. Today, I suffer all kinds of anguish from losing him. I am still in search of true love. I don’t know if I would find it in my life time. But what is true love? Does it make you smile or does it strip you of every piece of self dignity? Does true love define who you are as a person? Does it have an effect on the directions of your life? What are the real concepts of love?
“Love has beaten the hell out of me. Yet, I am on this quest to find love. I was never true to what I thought might have been real love. I never committed myself to him. He stayed briefly and tolerated my struggles with my past pain, betrayals and hurt. I didn’t respect his commitment and devotion to me. While he stuck with me, I misused him, cheated on him, and cared less about his feelings. I even married another man while I was with him. I gave this love psychotic behaviour that I didn’t realise I had from what happened to me…I gave this love my ass to kiss: had wild orgies with other men while he lived with me and continuously pledged his love for me. I got pregnant from secret affairs I had with another man; he still accepted and cared for me and the child even though it was an embarrassment to his family. He loved me. But I was never there for him. Then he walked away! I wish I had been more prudent. I wish I had given him that chance he so much begged for. Jebose, I wish!!!!!”
I love men who wear white sneakers –Toyin Lawani
I won’t say that I discovered a passion for fashion. I have always been a fashionable person since I was young, so fashion to me comes naturally. But it got to a point where I realised that I don’t want to be miserable doing what I don’t love doing for a living, so logically, the first option for me was to find solace in what I loved doing, and fashion was there for me. That is why there is no aspect of fashion I have not dived into, from retailing to styling to beauty and even wellbeing. I have always wanted to be a fashion entrepreneur.
Why did you choose to go into fashion designing?
I did not want to become one of those miserable people doing what they don’t love doing for a living, hence I opted for what I loved doing. More so, I didn’t want my talent to waste. I wanted people to benefit from my ideas and expertise. That is one of the reasons I set up my fashion academy. I have plans to do more with the talent God has given me. I went fully professional when I felt I was ready to start making money.
How often do you wear your own creations?
I wear them from time to time. This is my career and I am supposed to make money from it. How will I get clients if I don’t wear what I create? People have to see that you believe in the dream before they start to believe in you or start patronising you. I also love my creations. I only wear what I love. Right now, that is what I am wearing.
Would you say there is a clear-cut difference between being a fashion designer and a tailor?
It is a tricky question. To me, a designer is someone who creates while a tailor is someone who helps them bring their vision to life. One person can also be both. Not all designers know how to sew, but some tailors have grown to become designers.
What makes you different from any other fashion designer?
I design all my pieces from scratch to go in line with whatever the client wants, be it video or red carpet appearances, weddings, etc
How much did you sell the first cloth you made?
That was when I was 16 and it was N5000. I sold the cloth to a fellow student.
What is the most expensive item you have sold and how much did it cost?
I sold an item for N1m and it was a celebrity that bought it. My business is very lucrative, I must say.
Do you think Nigerians prefer to patronise foreign designers or Nigerian designers?
Nigerians prefer foreign designers, I noticed this very early and because my designs have the foreign feel, they love it. I don’t patronise Nigerian designers often because I even wear my own designs.
Do you have a fashion weakness?
I just love everything about fashion. I love the shoes, the bags, the clothes and even the accessories. I just love fashion. I love wearing dresses that I would feel free and I also love wearing trainers.
What is that fashion item you cannot leave home without?
I must go out with my glasses, no matter what. I don’t think I can leave home without it.
What is the most memorable fashion gift you have been given?
A fashion card and diamonds.
What are the common fashion errors Nigerians make?
Nigerians don’t pay attention to details. That is just the major fashion error we make here.
What’s your favourite hairstyle?
I don’t have a favourite in particular. I wear anything that fits me. My schedule might be tight but since I have my own salon, I do my hair every week.
What is your take on ladies exposing their cleavage and wearing skimpy dresses?
One at a time. You can’t expose both. In any case, just go for what suits you.
When stepping out for an event, what are the things you consider?
I always consider the kind of event and I consider if the dress is appropriate for the event, then I am good to go.
How much of make-up do you like?
I hate heavy makeup so I go all day without make-up except when I have to attend events.
What fashion item do you admire on a man?
I love men who wear white sneakers and expensive wrist watches
What are some fashion mistakes Nigerians make especially celebrities that irk you?
I won’t call it a fashion mistake, but I hate to see lace wig. It is nothing personal.
What are the basic fashion rules people should be aware of especially while stepping out for an event?
They should just stand out. That is all that matters.
How do you come up with your design ideas?
I am a deep thinker, I also like to think outside the box. If you have seen my designs, there is something you go back home with, it is unique.
How has it been combining work with being a mother?
It has not been easy being a mum and combining all my businesses but when you have the support of the family, it’s all good.
Would you allow your child do the kind of business you are doing?
Oh yes. I would like to keep the legacy. All parents want the best for their kids, and if this is what makes any of them happy, why not?
How would you describe the Nigerian fashion industry, has it reached its full potential?
Not yet but we are growing gradually. We will get there one day.
In your line of business, you must have been well travelled, how would you rate Nigerians in terms of fashion, how fashionable are Nigerians?
We are actually very fashionable; the good thing is that we are fearless.
You are engaged to a younger man, is there any reason you agreed to be with a younger person?
It is the will of God.
There has been criticism about your relationship with a younger man. Do such talks bother you?
No, it doesn’t really bother me.
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