Mountain Top VC counsels students against vices

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The Vice Chancellor, Mountain Top University (MTU), Prof. Elijah Ayolabi, has called on students in different institutions across the country to shun vices and stop engaging in activities that do not bring glory to God and even their family.

Ayolabi made the call at the maiden edition of a variety night programme tagged, ‘Abundant Grace 2.1’, held at the institution’s chapel.

The programme featured musical performances from different gospel groups including, The Asaph Choir, Goshen voices, Divine Symphony Orchestra, Guitar Choir, Holy Flame Dance group, MTU Choir among others.

Speaking on the variety night concept, Ayolabi explained that it was one of the ways the school can reach out to the students, engage their senses and faculties, aside academic activities.

“People expect everything in the university to be about academics, but at the same time, there should be time for students to relax, to unwind and there should be opportunities for them to actually re-energise and be prepared for things ahead,” he said.

Ayolabi urged the students to be focused and committed to their studies, so that at the end of the day, they can look back and say ‘thank you God, we passed through this system.’

He noted that as a faith-based institution that combines academic training with the spiritual disciline, they are meant to properly groom their products to tackle problems and proffer solutions.

The VC disclosed that the event is going to be a yearly programme.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mEH3Xs

Finland partners firm to train pupils on coding

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PHOTO: TWITTER

At least one hundred and sixty secondary school pupils drawn across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja have been trained in computer coding technique by Finland government in partnership with Ventures platform, a Nigerian technology innovation company.

The project, sponsored by Finnish global telecoms company, Nokia, in association with Aalto University is designed to produce a new generation of technologists especially with more female participation in technology driven inventions.

Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Pirjo Suomela Chowdhury who hosted the students after the training stressed the importance of technology in future development adding that the world needs increased participation of women in technology alongside the men folk.

The Finland ambassador explained that the training is part of activities lined up to commemorate the 100 years anniversary of Finland while pointing out that various training events would hold in other African countries over the next 100 days under a program titled ‘Code Bus Africa’.

She noted that participating students have shown enthusiasm and willingness to further learn more about coding.

“Code Bus Africa is organized in Nigeria by the Embassy of Finland, in partnership with the Finnish Aalto University and an Abuja based innovation hub ventures platform. We are pleased with the readiness of the students invited to learn more about coding. Its very encouraging.

“The project focuses primarily on young people. This innovative activity consists of creating coding training through a workshop where students pair up to learn coding and to produce their own song with free source platform Sonic Pi. And the program has been designed in such a way that half of the participants in the workshops were female. The aim is to boost grassroots level teaching of computer programming, and to contribute to long-term efforts to promote quality technology driven education for male and female students with global skills” she said.

In her remarks, Obioha Mimshach, one of the facilitators of the event from Ventures Platform, said the local company involved in global standard technology business was selected to provide content and logistics for the training as well as liaise with government authorities for selection of participating schools.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lu2GVc

Monarch lauds Akeredolu’s plan on bitumen exploration (Read full details)

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Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Frederick Obateru Akinruntan

The Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Frederick Obateru Akinruntan, has commended Ondo State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), for promising to ensure exploration of bitumen, which he noted, the state has in abundance.

Akinruntan, who commended the governor’s determination to develop natural resources in the state, wondered why the exploration of bitumen had been neglected by past administrations in the state.

The paramount ruler of Ilaje kingdom spoke when some youth organisations and village heads paid him courtesy visit at his palace in Ugbo, Ilaje Local Council of Ondo State.

He said: “I have to thank the new governor for starting very well. I am particularly happy when I heard him expressing his determination to ensure exploration of bitumen in the state. Ondo State has the largest deposit of bitumen in the country but one wonders why it has not been explored despite the fact that its exploration can provide thousands of jobs for our teeming unemployed youths and earn good revenue for the state.”

Akinruntan also charged the politicians in the state to put the state first in their decisions and support the governor.

According to him: “There is need for all of us to support this administration to deliver on his campaign promises. He is not a typical politician but a refined gentleman who joined politics to serve humanity. But we must all support him.”

He also urged Christians in the state to use the Lenten period to pray for the success of the new administration and President Muhammadu Buhari who is on medical vacation.

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The Nigerian state and U.S. strategic interests

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Nigerian ambassador to U.S<br />Adebowale Adefuye

I have a long connection to Nigeria. Not only was I Ambassador there, I have travelled to and from Nigeria for a number of years and have a deep and abiding vital emotional attachment to the Nigerian people, their magnificence, their courage, artistic brilliance, their irony, sense of humour in the face of challenges etc.

And I hope that we keep that in mind when I say some things that I think are counter to what we normally say about Nigeria. And I say that with all due respect to Eric Silla who is doing a magnificent work at State Department and to our good friend from the legislature, because I have a feeling that we both Nigerians and Americans may be doing Nigeria and Nigerians no favour by stressing Nigeria’s strategic importance.

I know all the arguments: It is a major oil producer, it is the most populous country in Africa, it has made major contributions to Africa in peacekeeping, and of course negatively if Nigeria were to fall apart the ripple effects would be tremendous, etc. But I wonder if all this emphasis on Nigeria’s importance creates a tendency to inflate Nigeria’s opinion of its own invulnerability.

Among much of the elite today, I have the feeling that there is a belief that Nigeria is too big to fail, too important to be ignored, and that Nigerians can go on ignoring some of the most fundamental challenges they have many of which we have talked about: disgraceful lack of infrastructure, the growing problems of unemployment, the failure to deal with the underlying problems in the Niger-Delta, the failure to consolidate democracy and somehow feel will remain important to everybody because of all those reasons that are strategically important.

And I am not sure that that is helpful.Let me sort of deconstruct those elements of Nigeria’s importance, and ask whether they are as relevant as they have been.

We often hear that one in five Africans is a Nigerian. What does it mean? Do we ever say one in five Asians is a Chinese? Chinese power comes not just for the fact that it has a lot of people but it has harnessed the entrepreneurial talent and economic capacity and all the other talents of China to make her a major economic force and political force.

What does it mean that one in five Africans is Nigeria? It does not mean anything to a Namibian or a South African. It is a kind of conceit. What makes it important is what is happening to the people of Nigerian. Are their talents being tapped? Are they becoming an economic force? Is all that potential being used? And the answer is “Not really.”

And oil, yes, Nigeria is a major oil producer, but Brazil is now launching a 10-year programme that is going to make it one of the major oil producers in the world. And every other country in Africa is now beginning to produce oil.

And Angola is rivalling Nigeria in oil production, and the United States has just discovered a huge gas reserve which is going to replace some of our dependence on imported energy.

So if you look ahead 10 years, is Nigeria really going to be that relevant as a major oil producer, or just another of the many oil producers while the world moves on to alternative sources of energy and other sources of supply.

And what about its influence, its contributions to the continent? As our representative from the parliament talked about, there is a great history of those contributions. But that is history.

Is Nigeria really playing a major role today in the crisis in Niger on its border, or in Guinea, or in Darfur, or after many promises making any contributions to Somalia?
The answer is no, Nigeria is today NOT making a major impact on its region, or on the African Union or on the big problems of Africa that it was making before.

What about its economic influence?
Well, as we have talked about earlier, there is a de-industrialisation going on in Nigeria, a lack of infrastructure, a lack of power means that with imported goods under globalisation, Nigerian factories are closing, more and more people are becoming unemployed and Nigeria is becoming a kind of society that imports and exports and lives off the oil, which does not make it a significant economic entity.

Now, of course, on the negative side, the collapse of Nigeria would be enormous, but is that a point to make Nigeria strategically important?
Years ago, I worked for an Assistant Secretary of State who had the longest tenure in that job in the 1980s and I remember in one meeting a minister from a country not very friendly to the United States came in and was berating the Assistant Secretary on all the evils of the United States and all its dire plots and in things in Africa and was going on and on and finally the Assistant Secretary cut him off and said: “You know, the biggest danger for your relationship with the United States is not our opposition but that we will find you irrelevant.”

The point is that Nigeria can become much less relevant to the United States. We have already seen evidence of it. When President Obama went to Ghana and not to Nigeria, he was sending a message, that Ghana symbolised more of the significant trends, issues and importance that one wants to put on Africa than Nigeria.

And when I was asked by journalists why President Obama did not go to Nigeria, I said “what would he gain from going? Would Nigeria be a good model for democracy, would it be a model for good governance, would he obtain new commitments on Darfur or Somalia or strengthen the African Union or in Niger or elsewhere?” No he would not, so he did not go.

And when Secretary Clinton did go, indeed but she also went to Angola and who would have thought years ago that Angola would be the most stable country in the Gulf of Guinea and establish a bi-national commission in Angola.

So the handwriting may already be on the wall, and that is a sad commentary.Because what it means is that Nigeria’s most important strategic importance in the end could be that it has failed.

And that is a sad conclusion. It does not have to happen, but I think that we ought to stop talking about what a great country it is, and how terribly important it is to us and talk about what it would take for Nigeria to be that important and great.

And that takes an enormous amount of commitment. And you don’t need saints, you don’t need leaders like Nelson Mandela in every state, because you are not going to get them.

I served in South Korea in the middle of the 1960s and it was time when South Korea was poor and considered hopeless, but it was becoming to turn around, later to become to every person’s amazement then the eleventh largest economy in the world. And I remember the economist in my mission saying, you know it did not bother him that the leading elites in the government of South Korea were taking 15 – 20 percent off the top of every project, as long as every project was a good one, and that was the difference. The leadership at the time was determined to solve the fundamental economic issues of South Korea economy and turn its economy around.

It has not happened in Nigeria today. You don’t need saints. It needs leaders who say, “You know we could be becoming irrelevant, and we got to do something about it.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lU8FEY

Nigeria hosts Africa as AAMA beckons

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Dakuku Peterside

In a bid to continue to improve on its role as a global player in the comity of maritime nations, Nigeria would be hosting the 3rd Conference of the Association of Heads of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA Conference) in Abuja, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, from 19th -21st of April, 2017.

The meeting, which will be hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)  in conjunction with International Maritime Organization (IMO) according to the Director General NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, will bring together all the major maritime administrators and leading stakeholders in Africa to discuss various issues and ways of improving the maritime sector in the continent.

About 32 countries from all parts of Africa are expected to participate at the continental conference and a number of maritime stakeholder organizations around the world. The IMO delegation of five will be led by Mr. Kitack Lim, the Secretary General of IMO which is a United Nations specialized agency that regulates shipping globally.

The Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) was formed following the signing of the African Transport and Maritime Charter in 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the aim of the association is to promote the Development of Africa’s maritime regulatory and maritime environment.

Dr. Peterside disclosed that “the hosting of this conference in Nigeria is in line with the economic diversification agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, and the repositioning agenda of the present Management to make Nigerian maritime industry a leading light in Africa and the global maritime sector”. He noted that it will open a new vista of opportunities to the teeming unemployed youths, as well as unlock the potentials inherent in the maritime sector. This is just as the conference could serve as a platform towards Nigeria’s re-election into the IMO Council seat later in November this year.
 
AAMA, which brings together all players in the African maritime sector, is also an umbrella body of five African Maritime Stakeholders’ groups namely: Association of Maritime Administrations of Africa, Africa’s Ship Registry Forum, African Ship Owners Association as well as Africa Shippers’ Council and Seafarers’ Forum.

The NIMASA Director General stated further that “the benefits of hosting the conference cannot be over emphasized, it will equally avail stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry an opportunity to rub minds with their counterparts across Africa and the globe, and further chart a way forward for the African maritime sector. It will effectively signal the arrival of the country in the global maritime arena as a respectable global voice”. 

This would be the 3rd AAMA Conference as the inaugural and the second conferences were held in Mombasa, Kenya in 2012 and South-Africa in 2013 respectively. It should be noted that the 3rd edition which Nigeria is now hosting was earlier scheduled to hold in the country in 2014 but was called off.
 

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l9F79c

College former bursar murdered during evening walk in Benue

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• Workers receive threat massages to pay ransom in advance or be kidnapped
All is not well with the College of Education, Katsina-Ala, in Benue State, as another senior worker of the institution and former bursar of the college, Mr. Godwin Yanbee Bosua, was on Saturday night murdered by unknown assassins.

The cloud of uncertainty is thickening by the day as more senior employees of the institution continue to receive threat messages from unidentified persons, instructing them to pay certain ransom ranging in millions of naira or they and their family members risk being kidnapped.

The Guardian gathered that the victim, who took a stroll out of his house on Saturday evening, did not return home, only for his body to be discovered yesterday morning in an orchard belonging to his primary school, close to the College of Education.

This is happening two days after gunmen invaded the residence of the college’s Assistant Registrar, Tersoo Akagbue, and shot him in the presence of his wife and children.

However, a confidant of Bosua said when his body was recovered, no bullet wound was found on him except some bruises on his body indicating severe beating or torture. The body has been deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Katsina-Ala.

Irked by the sudden killings and threats to the college management workers, a group under the aegis of ‘Peace Initiative’ has called on the Inspector General of Police to step in quickly and arrest the situation.

President of the group, Mr. Jonah Ugeha, in a statement made available to journalists, expressed worry over the continuous threat to the lives of members of the college community, whom he said have deserted their duties for safety of their lives.

He further urged the state governor, Samuel Ortom, to investigate the crisis rocking the college and put in place security measures in the Sankera axis of the state to safeguard lives and property of citizens.

All efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Mr. Moses Yamu, to ascertain the development failed as he said he had not been briefed about the incident when The Guardian called.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mkEQQK

HURIWA flays high taxation on essential drugs

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drugs

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly criticized the recent directive by the Ministry of Finance to hike duties and taxation on essential drugs being imported into the country.

It lamented that the high taxation on pharmaceutical importers of essential medications into Nigeria will result in the death of poor and sick Nigerians who cannot afford the high costs of the drugs.

The group said in a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, that the absence of an effective and efficient national health insurance policy in Nigeria has made healthcare very expensive and out of reach of the common man.

It, therefore, charged government to fulfill the social order, which provides in section 17 (3) (d) that Nigerian government must ensure that there are adequate medical and health facilities for all.

“We have been receiving several complaints from the struggling masses across the country that the costs of essential drugs have shot up beyond their reach.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kA1Rdf

The power of counsel

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Yemi Davids

Welcome to another super week! May your steps be ordered aright this week and beyond!History repeats itself because people don’t learn from it. There is nothing new under the sun and there is no line of achievement you are seeking that someone else has not attained. Good counsel helps you avoid the mistakes of those who have gone before you.

Counsel provides safety
As a first year student in the University many years ago, I made it a point to ask those in the second year about their first year academic work. They revealed helpful tips about lecturers, courses, departments and even the best ways to study for certain courses. I was better equipped to handle my first year (by the counsel received) and make the right decisions about my education.

It’s possible to work hard and still not produce commensurate results, so good counsel is a necessity. Jesus said, “Seek, and you will find…” If you don’t seek counsel, you won’t get it and you may end up repeating past mistakes. Regardless of your line of business, career, education and your quest for greatness, there’s someone who has already gone ahead and achieved the things you desire.

Solomon said, “Every purpose is established in the multitude of counsel.” We must take note of that word “multitude.” If you must access information that would transform your destiny, you must keep seeking counsel till you have sufficient information.

How do we get counsel?
One channel of receiving counsel is through the written materials of those that have gone ahead in the area of our quest — this would open you up to what they have done and enlighten you on the best way to handle your project. As an engineer, caterer, lawyer, or a professional in whichever discipline you have chosen, you will find that as you read up, you will produce better results.

With the fresh information, your thinking pattern changes and your output is enhanced. “As a man thinketh in his heart so he will become.” Proverbs 23:7
If you must move with speed, you will need to build on the works of other people that have gone ahead.

Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen any further, it is by standing on the shoulders of those that have gone ahead.” Every professor builds on the works of other professors.

Mentoring is another channel of counsel. It is said that your mentor is the prophecy of your future. The Bible feeds us with several examples of people who were mentored. These people eventually produced results after the kind of their mentors. For instance, Moses mentored Joshua; Elijah mentored Elisha; Jesus mentored His disciples. If you submit to quality mentoring, you will produce fruits after your mentor. So, choose your mentors wisely.

We need financial mentors; we need family mentors; we need spiritual mentors; we need ministry mentors. If you are privileged to have access to good mentors, do all you can to guard your relationship with them. Respect the time spent with your mentor and learn to ask them quality questions anytime you meet them. Observe how they do things and honour them (learn to give them gifts, etc.).

I pray that God will connect you with quality mentors that will show you the better way to achieve your dreams; men that will impact your life and help you achieve uncommon result, so that the better days ahead of you will come with speed in Jesus name. Amen.

I would love to hear from you; @yemidavids,pastoryemi@globalimpactng.org or visit www, globalimpactng.org or The Goodland, Ifako Bus Stop along Ogudu-Oworo Expressway, Lagos. @Globalimpactng. See you next week!

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kFFM0b

This generation eats the next

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The Editor of the Guardian, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo

I shall begin with what I know. In Urhobo cosmology, emphasis is almost always on tomorrow; not yesterday or even today, much as the events of the past are allowed to shape future calculations among the people. An Urhobo man aspires to greatness within his natural and social circumferences. If, however, greatness fails to come in spite of genuine efforts, he removes hope from himself and places it on his children. He then prays for his children to take life a notch higher than he has done.

And so, among the Urhobos, ‘may you live a better life than your father’ is a standard prayer to an aspiring young man. It is accepted that the totality of a man’s life must come across as an improvement on the life that his father lived. By that rating, the opposite is somehow adjudged less than a fulfilled life. On the social scale, greater honour tends to go in the direction of he who improves on his father life than he who stands tall in the shadow of his father. I must add, however, that this does not replace the responsibility of the passing generation. If anything, the performance of the succeeding generation is a direct consequence of what the preceding generation did with its time. And this is the kernel of my outing today.

In Nigeria, the subsisting generation operates as if time will end with it. We so recklessly draw on the savings accounts of our children to service the greed of the moment. That is the reason the contractor feels no shame colluding with officials to circumvent the building of a classroom block for which money had been released to him. When this happens across board, a situation arises where children attend worse schools than their parents in spite of the relative expansion in time, space and all other indices of human progression. The fad today is for some delinquent adults, including persons who had and still have opportunity to make a difference, to congregate under old students associations and pontificate about fallen standards in the school system.

I ask; who caused the standards to fall? Is it the helpless children who were born into it and have been forced to swallow what is available or parents who decided to live better lives than their children? There was a time when universities in this country were among the best in the Common Wealth. In fact, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, was rated the 7th best health facility in the Common Wealth, which included Britain, Canada, Australia and India. What then happened that, today, no Nigerian university is among Africa’s top 10, how much more the Commonwealth?

I return to the Urhobo cosmology. The land tenure system is a highly entrenched practice of inheritance among the people, such that the available land and its ownership structure is a product of systematic transmission of inheritance rights across generations. This, I hope is largely the practice everywhere in Africa. For instance, what I call my ancestral land in Oghara Agbarha-Otor is traceable to Odje Imoniekpo, the starting point of the Odje genealogy. I am fifth along the genealogy, yet my tiny place is assured because the generations ahead of me did nothing to obliterate the transmission of inheritance rights to the generations behind.

Even so, the conditions are fast changing and I cannot say for sure if the transmission shall continue for too long, as kindred detach from communal into self-feudalism. In other words, as excessive individualism erases every sense of common good, the tradition of ‘from father to son’ is dissolving even in traditional societies. We attack exhaustible resources as if they are renewable and in so doing we eat up the unborn generations. Today, there is a new occupation called sand dredging in the Niger Delta. Every person of average resources fabricates a dredger dumps into a stream to mine sand. Everywhere is a sand beach.

It is good business and government is turning a blind eye after collecting rent from operators. These people carry on as if they also have capacity to regenerate the environment and bring the intriguing network of flowing streams and rivulets to baseline conditions. The environment is under massive abusive and coupled with wide-spread seismic activities in the area, I fear what will be left of the Niger Delta in another 50 years.
There is simply no control on consumption. We chop and quench literally and then hope for some miraculous recovery of what has been eaten when tomorrow comes. Better tomorrow is not a guess work or some scene in Arabian movie that gets established by mere wish. It is a product of rational thinking and decision. It follows the same principle of investment which, simply put, is denial of consumption for the moment to create activities for bigger and more sustainable yield in the future.

Last week, youths came out protesting the current hardship in the country. They said the old generation should be blamed because mainly old people including the President have been in the commanding heights of the political economy. They spoke with statistics. Persons who built the Nigerian State and whom we address as founding fathers were in their 20s and 30s when they founded Nigeria. They actually wanted to know the task of nation building would get to them. No child revolts if he is well represented by the father. The impending youth revolt is a clear ‘no confidence vote’ on the old men and women that have been harvesting and do not have planting season in their farming calendar.

The story of Nigeria is also the story of unceasing conspiracies of an elite class to serve its purpose alone. They destroyed the rail so that their haulage business can thrive. They destroyed public electricity so that diesel and generator importation can continue. They truncated the refineries so that fuel importation and arising benefits of subsidy payments can go on. They destroyed tertiary education so that they can become successful proprietors of private universities. And they will foist on the nation a morbid political leadership so that they can be protected.

No investment is ever made for tomorrow. That is why our yesterday tends to be always better than our today just as our today, by the same measurement, will be better than our tomorrow. In other words, we are permanently on a retrogression mode. To me, the problem is more spiritual than otherwise. The starting point in Nigeria is to tell every man and woman that has opportunity to operate in the public space that a life lived to the benefit of others is much more fulfilling and meaningful than a life lived to the benefit of oneself.

I was in Starvanga, Norway in 2014 for the Offshore North Sea (ONS) oil conference. The Norwegian State oil company called Statoil (equivalent of our own NNPC) is a major operator in the North Sea. The other is the Anglo-Dutch oil company, Shell. A high ranking official of the Norwegian government said they, in Norway, understand that oil is a finite resource and as such proceeds from its exploitation are invested for the future generation and that the governing law allows the subsisting generation to spend on itself only 4% of the returns on investment. More or less, everything about the oil economy in Norway is saved for the future. The country has about $900 billion in Sovereign Wealth Fund even as fishing remains the prime occupation and foreign exchange earner.

Back home, we have nothing to give our children because the subsisting generation eats the next and it has been consistently so. Let politicians, civil servants, business people, militants and terrorists agree that life will continue after their activities. If we love and genuinely wish our children to live better than we are living, we should as a matter of duty cut down on our current obscene consumption and invest in our tomorrow. The Good Old Days! The unborn days could be better!

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kiXras

Because we can’t

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<img src="http://ift.tt/2kiS3Eo&quot; alt="" width="1280" height="720" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-136095" srcset="http://ift.tt/2kiS3Eo 1280w,http://ift.tt/2l6i5Pe 640w,http://ift.tt/2kiQiqH 1062w,http://ift.tt/2l6nfe9 320w,http://ift.tt/2kiTvq2 531w,http://ift.tt/2l6kUQh 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px"https://cdn.gdn.ng/) we can’t b) we can’t and c) we can’t.We might as well accept General Collin Powel’s diagnosis that corruption is wired into our DNA. Our daily newspapers bear witness to this unsettling fact and to the grim tale of a country obsessed with wrestling corruption to the ground but finds itself grimly flailing grimly in defeat.

This country has been more obsessed with fighting corruption than any other country in the world; yet daily, we see a parade of our public officers and others statutorily entrusted with the safe keeping of our common wealth freely, arrogantly and with impunity steal the country blind.

The executive thief stands up with supreme confidence to be seen and talked about. It is difficult to say which is worse: the conscienceless raid on our public treasuries or the celebration of the raiders?

I am sure that if the British police watched the video of the heroic welcome given to the former guest of Her Majesty, Chief James Ibori, last week, they would rue the day they thought they had a moral duty to lend our country a helping hand in apprehending and punishing public officers who abuse our trust.

But to be fair to him, Ibori was not the first of such men and women to be so lavishly celebrated by their own people. After all, corrupt men and women are smart men and women. They may not necessarily act for their tribes in their mindless greed in amassing wealth at our expense, but their tribes recognise them as their heroic sons. They will defend their soiled names. Once you touch them, you bring the wrath of the tribes on your head.

This is what happens when a people loses it sense of shame. This is what happens when family honour counts for nothing. This is what happens when personal honour and integrity count for nothing. This is what happens when tribes believe that those of their members who are caught with their fingers in the public till are victims of tribal jealousy.

It has come to that.
Last week the police displayed 111 million Naira recovered from 13 INEC officials whose hands were generously greased in the Rivers State re-run election. I do not think this came as a shock to other Nigerians. There is no one of voting age in the country who does not know that INEC field officials are on the take. The police wanted to use the money as evidence that in the Rivers re-run election the politicians bought votes and victory. We knew all along that in every election in our country, the Naira invariably determines winners and losers. We hanker after free and fair elections but forget the capacity of the Naira to bend facts to suit those who have more of the precious stuff in their pockets.

I am willing to bet that the police officers deployed to the state and whose duty was to protect the sanctity of the ballot box returned home with their pockets bulging with money given to them to look the other way. If the INEC officials who did not spend their loot before the police got them were allowed to speak, they would tell us the role Naira played in the police watch over the election.

It has come to that.
The court is where those who cheat the public get their comeuppance in the hands of judges who, supposedly, are intolerant of those who seem clever by half. But see just how pathetic our situation is: Some of our judges are before other judges facing charges of mind-boggling corruption. It is not, I would imagine, such a pleasant thing for a judge to be judged. Jesus was right: judge not that ye may not be judged.

The anti-graft war is a total mess because of our apparent ambivalence. We profess our collective hatred for corruption but we tolerate corruption and celebrate the corrupt. It makes the war messy and difficult to win.

I have asked this question before. I ask it again: To whom do we turn for salvation in a confused system that breeds corruption? Not the court, certainly, because we have judges who are tolerant of corruption and the corrupt; not, of course, the so-called men and women of God who exploit the fear of their congregations to fleece them and live in wealth and luxury while those who support their lavish lifestyles live in deprivation and poverty because their pastors promise them mansions in heaven.

Without prejudice to the gallant efforts of the EFCC in battling corruption and the corrupt, I think the battle is lost. When a war lasts this long and the little pockets of success are crowded out by the larger facts of failure, it would seem rather generous on our part to hope for a country in which corruption is no longer a way of life and the corrupt are shamed by their action and the tribes do not defend their corrupt sons and daughters. Can we have a clean Nigeria? No, because a) we can’t b) we can’t and c) we can’t. I rest my case.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kFGcU8

Final with Venus ‘ll be a great moment — Serena (Read full details)

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All eyes will be on the Williams sisters today as they battle for Australian Open crown in Melbourne

Serena Williams says facing elder sister Venus in today’s Australian Open final will be a great occasion.Serena, 35, is bidding for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam, while Venus, 36, is targeting her eighth major, and first since Wimbledon in 2008.

“This probably is the moment of our careers so far,” said Serena, who has beaten Venus in six of their eight Grand Slam finals.

“I never lost hope of us being able to play each other in a final.”Today will be their first Grand Slam final against each other since Wimbledon 2009, when Serena won in straight sets, and their 28th meeting in total.

“Nothing can break our family,” added Serena. “If anything, this will definitely bring us closer together, knowing that I want to see her do the best that she can possibly do.

“I know that she definitely wants to see me do the best that I can do. This is a story. This is something that I couldn’t write a better ending for. This is a great opportunity for us to start our new beginning.

“It’s the one time that I really genuinely feel like no matter what happens, I can’t lose, she can’t lose. It’s going to be a great situation.” Serena drew level with Germany’s Steffi Graff on 22 Grand Slams when she claimed her seventh Wimbledon title last year, but lost in the US Open semi-finals to Czech Karolina Pliskova.

A seventh title at Melbourne Park would add further credit to her claim as the greatest of all time, despite being one short of Australia’s Margaret Court, whose 24 major titles were split between the amateur and professional eras.

Venus failed to reach a single Grand Slam quarter-final between 2011 and 2014 as she battled injuries and Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.Now, however, Venus is enjoying a late resurgence, backing up her run to the last four at Wimbledon six months ago by going one step further here.

Final with Venus ‘ll be a great moment — Serena

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Fragrant frangipani (Read full details)

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Frangipanis are spectacular flowers with strong fragrance that decorates any garden, footpaths, and parks.
Frangipanis have a delicious fragrance with overtones of peaches, jasmine, honeysuckle, and apricot that cast a spell of tropical paradise over any style of garden. An icon of the dry Harmattan season, once you are seduced by the sweet scent of the frangipani you’ll fall in love with their grace, splendor and simplicity. Frangipani is an easy flower to grow. Frangipanis thrive with little maintenance. They have been known to withstand drought and neglect, once established. You can create your personal dream garden by growing frangipanis. You need to plant frangipanis somewhere you can fully appreciate its flowers and fragrance.

A plant as deliciously fragrant as this, is always welcome planted near windows; outside a bedroom window is a great choice, for the scent as you fall asleep, or near a lounge where you sit for long periods of time. Plant one at the front gate to welcome you home each day or beside a quiet pool to create a relaxed scene. Take advantage of its wide umbrella shape under which you can throw down a mat below its boughs for lazy days in the shade, from the hot sweltering weather. They grow well in pots and planted in containers on terraces, roof gardens, patios and balconies. For containers, choose low-care dwarf frangipanis, they grow well in pots. Choose a quality potting mix and a wide, shallow pot and away you’ll go.

What frangipanis to grow?
The classic white-flowering frangipanis remain a favorite for many. But don’t be surprised they come in all the colors of the rainbow. There are over thousands varieties within the frangipani family-genus Plumeria and different flower colors from pale pinks to butter lemon to vibrant shades of orange, red, peach, mango, lipstick pink even Lilac.

They also come in bi-colors, tri-colors with striped petals. Petal shapes also vary from thick over-lapping scalloped petals to elegant elongated petals. Choose wisely as frangipanis last forever. New colors have new fragrances too and it is interesting to discern vanilla, coconut, apricot and jasmine scents in some varieties. There are at least 8 to 9 different fragrances.

Propagating Frangipani
Frangipanis can be propagated by seed but are usually grown from cuttings, which is easier, and can be taken from several parts of the tree including herbaceous stems, woody stems, softwood, semi-hardwood and hardwood. Once you have taken the cutting, allow it dry out for a week or so before planting. This gives time for the cut ends to heal over or form a callous. Leave the cuttings exposed to air, but out of direct sun, to aid the process, which is called “hardening off” and must be done with any succulent-type plant. Make sure that the cuttings stay dry: keep them away from any possibility of rain.

Planting
Frangipani cuttings can be planted directly in the ground or in pots. Use a coarse well-draining pot mix; cactus or sand and perlite should be fine.

What Frangipanis need to grow?
Frangipanis thrive in well-drained soil, plenty of sun and warmth. They love growing by the beach in sandy soils and are one of the best trees for tolerating salty air along the coast. They will struggle in clay soils, where it is difficult for water to drain away. In this case it is best to keep growing them in large containers or pots. Just ensure the potting medium you use has good drainage and won’t retain too much water. In this regard, avoid using a normal potting mix for frangipani cuttings because they will rot if the mixture stays too moist. Use a fast draining propagating mix. Water sparingly.

The frangipani cuttings should be placed fairly deep in the container. Pack the soil firmly around the cutting, so it can stand on it’s own. Then water the frangipanis cutting and pack the soil around the plant if it has loosened. Continue to water the container every 3 to 4 days, until the roots have started to establish themselves. Place your container in an area that gets full to partial sun. Being quite drought tolerant, mature frangipanis will be able to withstand it if the soil is dry for days even weeks. However, young plant requires watering weekly in dry weather until they are established. If you decide to transplant the cutting, be wary as the roots are brittle. Gently remove from the pot and transplant into well-drained soil and place in a sunny spot.

Watering
Water only during dry months sparingly and hold off completely during the wet season.

Fertilizing
You’ll be pleased to know that frangipani rarely need feeding, although they will flower bigger and better than ever if you spread some fertilizer around the drip line (under the branches) Fertilize with a high-potassium fertilizer, phosphate(phosphorus) fertilizer like 10-30-10, giving too much nitrogen will only result in more foliage growth and less flowering.

Pruning
Mature frangipanis can grow 6m high and 5m wide, although older trees can grow taller. They grow slowly only about 20cm per year. This along with their small root ball, makes them ideal for planting around pools, in planter beds, containers and beside walls, as there is no fear the roots will harm any structures. If they become top heavy they can be pruned without fear of failure. Trees around pools can be trained from an early age giving the impression the tree is leaning over and hugging the pool. If you are a gardener restricted to containers choose a quality fast draining potting mix and a wide shallow pot.

Problems with Frangipanis?
During wet, cool weather frangipanis can be susceptible to root, branch and tip rot, which is caused by a fungus, you will know plants are affected when you notice the stems becoming soft. To check on your plants health, squeeze the stems-firm stems indicate healthy tree. To reduce the risks, avoid over watering and watering during the rainy season. Also if stems become wrinkled; the tree is not well-cease watering and spray leaves with AntiRot. If you notice spongy stems, remove the stem completely to the junction with a main branch. Thinning out 15 to 20 percent of the canopy of your mature frangipani is something good to do every few years; it opens up the branches, allows light in and reduces stem rot.

Warning
Frangipanis do have a milky sap that can be irritating on some people’s skin, causing rashes and blistering in extreme cases. If ingested, the sap can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Be careful wear gloves and do not rub your eyes, wash your hands well after cutting and planting.

Tip
Put stems of flower in a bowl of water to make petals and fragrance of cut flowers last a few days. Stop the flowers from falling in the water by poking their stems in the water through a plastic PVC gutter guard or plastic mesh over the top of the bowl.

Frangipani flowers are looking nice this time of the year. Have you noticed them in your area? I love all the different colors and particularly deciduous (leafless-+) trees with all the branches covered with flowers. And the fresh soft scents that fills the air. You can grow your own frangipani from cuttings and you too can enjoy the beautiful flowers and the fragrant perfume of frangipanis in your garden.

Fragrant frangipani

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Journey to the east: My food discovery in Igbo land (Read full details)

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For the first 20 years of my life, as a semi-typical naïve Yoruba young lady, my experience with the Igbo food culture was limited to a one-time sample of yellow eba (garri mixed with palm oil) and okro soup from my neighbor’s plate. I remember thinking it was not bad at all, but my mother made better okro. And that was how I dismissed the entire Igbo food culture just from that one taste. Boy was I wrong.

Seven years ago, my friends and I went to Yellow Chili in Victoria Island and I decided to give Igbo food a chance again by ordering a plate of pounded yam with oha soup. It tasted really good but three hours later, my body fought a terrible battle against the contents in my stomach and that got me turned off a bit by the idea of Igbo food. I got sick from the food, so I figured that Igbo food spices do not work so well with my body. I was wrong again.

Fast forward to last year, I had the opportunities to visit Enugu, Abia, and Anambra at different points during the year. Enugu and Abia opened my eyes a whole lot to the rich and amazing flavors of Igbo food. The sauces, most of all have so many layers of flavor and my limited ability in waxing poetry cannot do it any justice. We had just about 24hrs to spend in Enugu and Abia, so I did my best in trying as much food as humanly possible.

My food discovery in Igbo land started with whetting my appetite with a plate of Abacha (a cassava rich dish with palm oil, also referred to as African salad), and a side dish of Ukwa (African breadfruit) with fried cow meat in Abia for lunch. For dinner, we went to a popular local outdoor joint in Enugu (Veronica suites), and luckily, I was with a group of eight other people, so the ability to try so many varieties of Igbo food was spread out amongst us and it became an adventure of food discovery for most of us.

I decided to tempt fate again by ordering Oha soup with wheat; luckily, there was no misadventure this time around, thank goodness! The other highlights were, Isi Ewu (saucy goat head innards), and Nkwobi (uber tender stewed cow foot).

While the Isi Ewu was a bit ‘yucky’ to contemplate eating, the challenge of finally trying out the famous Igbo delicacy charged me on and I was amazed by the surprising burst of flavors from the sauce used to cook it. With a flash of phone light over the mystery goat innards that I was consuming, I noticed the goat eyeballs and tongue challenging me to try them too. Challenge accepted.

Chewing on a goat’s eyeball was not bad at all. It was really tender, and the eyeball had sucked a good amount of juice from the sauce, so every bite brought on more of the great flavor from the sauce it was cooked in. Chewing on the tongue, however, was a different ball game for me. I ate a few bites of it, and despite how tender and tasty it was, I found the texture a bit too odd for me to fully enjoy. I will definitely eat Isi Ewu again.

Nkwobi, stewed cow’s foot, is not foreign dish to me. We Yoruba’s simply cook it with different spices and it is often found in our meat sauces. Nevertheless, it was nice to experience a different way of making something I already love to eat.

In December, I continued on with my haunt for more Igbo food when a friend invited me on a road trip to Anambra. The immediate thought of eating more Igbo food had me accepting the offer gratefully.

My foray into eating more Igbo food started with a bowl of Ofe Nsala (Igbo white soup) with pounded yam, catfish and chicken. And for the first time ever, I also got to see the preparation that goes into creating a typical Igbo food. My hosts used mortar and pestle to pound the vegetables into mush for the sauce, and then I watched them pound yam like pros. When the prepared food came to our table, I was already in awe of the time and effort it took for them to make it for us, and I was even more blown away when I had my first taste of it. I do not know how I managed it, but I ended up eating seconds…twice! I guess the good food inspired my tummy to quickly create some extra space.

My food adventure in Anambra got me to try out more local food like Ofe Akwu, to Nnewi’s version of Abacha, to an Igbo style of making Egusi soup, and finally, eggplant with peanut sauce. Of course, fresh palm wine was very involved in these adventures. I also tried out a local way of drinking it; palm wine mixed with stout; it was surprisingly good. Want to see the video of my Anambra experience? Click here for it and let me know what your favorite Igbo food is!

Journey to the east: My food discovery in Igbo land

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Crescent varsity awards scholarships to 30 students (Read full details)

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The founder/proprietor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Justice Bola Ajibola, has awarded scholarships to 30 new students to study any course of their choice beginning from 2016/2017 academic session.

The former Judge of the International Court of Justice at the Hague, unveiled this at the school’s 12th matriculation ceremony that saw 454 students matriculated from Colleges of Law, Information and Communication Technology, Social and Management Sciences, Natural and Applied Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Post-graduate Studies.

Speaking at the event the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibraheem Gbajabiamila noted that it is the school’s esteemed resolve to train and produce men and women of strong character and integrity who can stand the test of time, build a virile and just society as encapsulated in the mission and vision of the university.

Reminding students of their primary assignment, Prof. Gbajabiamila urged them not to allow peer group influence to distract them from their studies, adding that their commitment to academic work would determine their performance in all examinations.

He admonished the students to shun all forms of anti-social behaviours such as cultism, drug abuse, violence and examination malpractice, as any of these could send them away from the university.

Crescent varsity awards scholarships to 30 students

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