Saturday, 11 March 2017
Monday, 6 March 2017
Shiites fault government’s claims on activities similar to Boko Haram
Shiites
Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites have faulted the claim by the Federal Government that its activities are similar to that of Boko Haram insurgents.
The group also condemned the continued detention of its leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, after the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered their release.
IMN in their reaction to a response by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a report by Amnesty International said, “the response signed by the ministry’s spokesperson misfired on several grounds.”
Debunking the submission by the government that Shiites should be equated to Boko Haram, the spokesman of the group, Mallam Ibrahim Musa in a statement yesterday said: “We are particularly concerned with what the ministry said concerning the case of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky that his case is a high and sensitive national security issue.
“It further alleged that the activities of the Sheikh Zakzaky-led movement is reminiscent of Boko Haram, which has become a menace and a source of concern not only to Nigeria, but to the world. This is a wild and baseless allegation by the ministry.”
The Shiites spokesman added: “The ministry further said that the conduct of the movement cannot be tolerated by any progressive democratic government. What is progressive or even democratic about a government that tramples on citizens’ rights with impunity and reckless abandon?
What is democratic about a government that violates the constitution and disregards the rule of law?”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2ly2o4Q
Halogen bridges gap on Abuja Airport closure
Halogen Security Company Ltd<br />
Nigeria foremost security solutions services provider, Halogen Security Company Ltd, has perfected plans to ensure that air travellers to and from Abuja during the six weeks that the Abuja Airport will be closed for maintenance will do so in style, safety and comfort through its Secured Mobility Business.
In conjunction with charter partners, the company will be providing air travel options for intending travellers into Abuja through Minna, while also rendering executive chauffer and escort services from Kaduna Airport to Abuja.
Uche Mojekwu, Associate Director, Brand and Strategic Marketing, Halogen Security Company, said, “we are out to provide individual and corporate bodies with travel security and ‘peace of mind’ during the six-week closure period announced by the Federal Government. Our services will be in three categories of Halo Secured Air Plus, Halo Secured Ground Plus and Halo Secured Ground solutions available in premium, executive and classic.”
She explained that travellers who opt for the Halo Secured Air Plus will be flown in a chartered aircraft and subsequently shuttled to Abuja in a helicopter from Lagos or Port Harcourt, with an option to provide a chauffeur driven vehicle, escort team and other land transportation requirements within Abuja.
Those who flew other airlines may opt for Halo Secured Ground Plus or Halo Secured Ground Solution. The passenger will be offered free on-line personal trackers, chauffeured into Abuja from Kaduna Airport (or vice versa) with options of bullet proof and executive SUVs, buses or saloon cars in a lead and chase escorts formation, under the careful watch of high level security commanders.
“Our solutions provide different options for individual and corporate bodies to take advantage of the charter and helicopter charter services; free personal trackers for passengers, security trained chauffeurs with different options of SUV, salon cars and buses; escort team in a lead and chase formation under the professional watch of our high level commanders,” she said.
These services, according to her, are available on affordable rates and have been carefully designed to provide safe, comfortable and a unique travel experience to our clients during this period.
Abuja currently receives over 12,000 air travellers daily which would require adequate planning and logistics, hence the solution. She enjoined businesses and individuals to enjoy comfort, save both time and money, while also avoiding psychological trauma by taking advantage of the innovative services by Halogen.
Halogen Security Company was established in 1992 specifically to meet increasing challenges in Nigeria’s security industry. The company has grown into a total security solutions powerhouse with bespoke cutting edge security solutions across focused sectors delivered within the spectrum of global best practice with presence in the thirty six states and the Federal Capital Territory. The company operates in association with Bidvest South Africa on the basis of technical expertise and operational efficiency. It is the first indigenous security company to earn the NIS:ISO 9001:2000 certification which has been upgraded to NIS:ISO 9001:2008. Intending travelers who want to take advantage of this service can contact the company on protocol@halogensecurity.com.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lQ6DUD
Oil, the west and the nuclear race – Part 2
Oil
The role of the U.S. in Iraq is rather unedifying. President Bush encouraged Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to attack Iran in a bitter war. He invited hundreds of Iraqi scientists to the U.S. to train and research in nuclear technology.
When Secretary of State, Kerry said, “we can’t let politics and mythology cloud reality,” what did he mean?
Kissinger said that for major oil producer to pursue policy such as trans-nuclear energy was a wasteful use of resources. But was it the place of the U.S. to dictate how a nation runs its economy? The U.S. position, followed slavishly by the west, was a smokescreen. Moreover, these were materials that a decade or generation before were being openly offered in the Middle East.
U.S. actively encouraged these countries, despite the 1968 nuclear nonproliferation treaty, to acquire nuclear power technology. U.S. had a policy named “Atoms for Peace” which allowed its participation in the International Atomic Pool and thus gave friendly governments access to 40,000 kilograms of Uranium – 235 for nonmilitary research.
For 30 years the U.S. and indeed all western countries were sharing nuclear technology, components and materials with countries in the Middle East. It was a centre point in U.S. policy so long as that country, enjoying the nuclear sharing privilege, would oppose USSR. For example, the U.S. supports the Shah of Iran, Rezah Pahlavi, who needed nuclear power.
In 1974, U.S. sold two reactors to Iran. It also sold enriched Uranium to Iran. This agreement was extended in 1975 with a new US$ 15 billion trade deal which included the purchase of eight nuclear reactors for US$ 6.4 billion with a processing facility that would extract plutonium from nuclear reactor fuel, thus enabling Iran to operate a nuclear fuel cycle. From that to nuclear weapons was but a small step.
Both Iraq and Iran had major nuclear programmes. They sent scores of Iranians and Iraqis worldwide for nuclear training!! 1975, work began in Bashihr with the aid of a West German company, Craftwork union AG, to provide internal nuclear fuel load and reloading for 10 years.
Eight more reactors were to be provided by Brown Boveri and Framatome. Contracts were signed for France to undertake and to reprocess Uranium for Iran.
Iraq had a plan to build six nuclear bombs a year and sought co-operation from France, Italy, and Canada. France built the Osiris reactor. All this was done under the watchful eye of the Israeli who had begun to feel that they may be sold out of this race to get nuclear bomb in Iraq. They should know because their own bombs were obtained through clandestine research and help from outside Israel. It became Israeli policy to sabotage nuclear programmes in the rest of the Middle East.
The U.S. tried to dissuade Pakistan from pursuing its own nuclear project by promising Pakistan that it could benefit from the facility being built in Iran under a scheme devised by no other than Dick Cheney, for the plant to serve as hub for energy needs in the area.
In Pakistan’s case, their nuclear activity was built so deep underground in the 1970’s and thus was able, covertly, to test its nuclear programme. Ultimately a successful detonation was carried out. Its programme went unchecked. They built five tunnels each capable of withstanding 20 kethon detonation. The West believed that an under-developed country like Pakistan could never master nuclear bomb technology, and “yet Western countries sold everything to us;” “literally begged us to buy their equipment,” according to Chief Pakistani nuclear sources. Double standards were the name of the game. France, UK and U.S. refused inspection of their facilities by the Atomic Energy Agency. They, however, would insist that other nations be subject to inspection. But the real hypocrisy, in the cold light of day, lay in the enthusiasm with which the developed world rushed to earn hard cash or gain access to cheap oil. In 1976, Kissinger advised Pakistan to wind down its reprocessing project and rely instead on a Dick Cheney-devised U.S. facility in Iran.
Since the Second World War, resources had been poured into Iran and neighbouring countries. Leaders had been courted, indulged and those who would not play, were deposed. Syria and Iraq looked to USSR. The net result of the arms race was that everybody lost, but the Middle East lost most, emerging as an endemically, unstable place.
Nevertheless, India built its own nuclear arsenal. Pakistan turned to the U.S. But as Ayatollah Khomeini put it “All our problems come from America.” The fall of the Shah produced major panic in U.S; and corresponding hope in USSR that they would soon take over influence in Iran.
To balance the influence of the West in the Middle East, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. Under the USSR, Afghanistan was en route to modernity. It expanded education, male and female. New schools, hospitals increase tremendously, so did the literacy level which broke the feudal structure of tribal system, ending ethnic discrimination. Job security, women’s rights were promoted, regardless of the latter-day propaganda epitomised by Miss Malalla. After the ousting of Dawud in 1973 by Taraki who was himself overthrown by Hafianllas Aminu, thought to have been recruited by the CIA, this was the beginning of the widely held belief that Al Qaeda was a CIA creation.
Oil was and is abundant. There was a rising demand between 1940s – 80s ushering in a fundamental rebalancing of power; or at least it ought to. For example, during the Yom Kippur war, Algeria and Libya which provided 30 per cent of Europe’s oil needs suspended shipments to Britain and United States. In 1970, Iraq’s attitude stiffened further to the West, when Prime Minister Qasim was ousted from power and publicly executed on television “for the whole world to see.” The Iraqi war led to a broader struggle to free the Arab nations from the domination of western imperialism and from exploitation by oil monopolists. Khomeini is reported to have said: “The American President is the most repellent member of the human race”. British and American oil men were equated with “blood suckers”. Now, such strong statements were a clear sign that the West had to respond to such rhetoric by the only way they knew how – by regime change.
Is there continuity in West’s Policy in Middle East and Africa? I hope this dive into history emphasizes the theses that the Middle East and Africa are doomed to failure because of the unhinged policy of the U.S. and the West, China and Russia. How about Arab instability? This has been stoked by a continuity of the policy of exploitation – and a result of U.S. policy in 1950s and later. The West has treated Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with Kid cloves. Why is the West not pressing on Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and more Arab nations apart from Jordan to take Arab Immigrants? Is it that they do not want to antagonise Saudi Arabia and Kuwait?
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2ly8JNI
Saturday, 25 February 2017
Akinjide: Working for Buhari by the Yoruba was a big blunder
Akinjide
2019 Is For President Of Igbo extraction
Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the Second Republic, Chief Osuolale Abimbola Richard Akinjide, SAN, told The Guardian that working for the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari, by the Yoruba was a big blunder, and the Yoruba people, who supported him are regretting it now.
How do you view the increasing agitation for Igbo Presidency come 2019?
They are 100 per cent right. I have no doubt that the Igbo have suffered for too long. My view without any doubt is that we can no longer keep the Igbo people out of tphe federation because it is outrageous and it is unthinkable. My categorical view is that time is overdue to make an Igbo man the president of Nigeria.
Definitely, there is no excuse to keep them out any longer. They may have been ministers of finance, or petroleum, but that is not the end of the matter. So, my view is that we have reached a point where we should have an Igbo man as president. I read in the newspapers recently that somebody from the North still wants to be head of the Federal Government. I think that is outrageous and cannot be defended anywhere. Without doubt, we should make an Igbo man the president.
Are you saying that the Igbo are still marginalised under President Muhammadu Buhari?
Without any doubt, they are, and they have endured it for too long, and they should endure it no longer. That is my view.
What in your view accounts for this alleged continuous marginalisation by successive governments?
One, mistake. Two, greed, and third, stupidity.
What do you mean by mistake?
You have third (eleven), fourth (eleven) being made presidents; people, who should in fact, not be there. I am not going to mention names, but we should stop that blunder. Do you know that former American President, Barack Obama, did not visit Nigeria once throughout his eight years in office. This was a deliberate policy because this is a Nigeria that should be playing the role of the first (eleven) playing the role of third (eleven). As a result of that, they want to teach us a lesson in world politics, and in human politics. If it is possible for Obama to visit Ghana and Kenya, why should he not come to Nigeria? It was a message to us, and if you don’t get that message, then there must be something seriously wrong with us.
Could this be part of the reason President Donald Trump, did not invite Buhari, to grace his inauguration?
Before you go to America, you don’t have to be invited, you should invite yourself. Many of the heads of states who went there were not invited, they requested to be there. But what are we doing at our own level? Our president is either sick or is playing the role of third (eleven).
Are you saying that the kind of leadership we have produced in the past has been largely responsible for the marginalisation of the Igbo people?
One hundred per cent very bad leadership. We produce people who should not be there in the first instance. A person who should not be in the first (eleven), we made him to be head of government. That is why the rest of the world is ignoring us, and do not respect us.
Can’t the problem facing the Igbo people be traced to their inability to present a united front when it matters most?
No, I do not blame Igbo people at all. There is nothing the Igbo should do that they have not done. It is our turn to say look, the Igbo should play the role of first (eleven). Look at the minorities in the Niger Delta, they are even now in the forefront of drumming up support for Igbo agitation. The Yoruba too are now supporting that view. And the Igbo people are also saying the same thing. If in the next election, we don’t make an Igbo person the head of our federal government; we must know that we are heading towards disaster.
Becoming Nigeria’s president is a function of drawing support from the various ethnic groups. So why has it been so difficult for the Igbo people to reach out to other ethnic groups?
It has not been difficult, it has been due to selfishness of the other tribes, but I am very happy now to see that everybody in Nigeria is supporting the Igbo agitation, except those who are extremely selfish, who still want to lead the country. We should teach them a lesson that they will never forget.
What kind of lesson should we teach them?
I will not develop that point more than that for now. Becoming Nigeria’s president does not come easy, moreover, many people believe that the Igbo believe in ‘cash and carry politics.’
That is nonsense. There is no part of Nigeria that has not got its own peculiar character. The Yoruba like education a lot, they like sports, the Igbo like business and sports. People in the Niger Delta like fishing; they like to work in the oil and gas sector.
You are so passionate about an Igbo man becoming the next president. What should Igbo people do to earn this?
I think they have done everything possible to earn it, but now Yoruba people should come out and say they support an Igbo man to be head of government. The minorities in the Niger Delta should do the same thing. The northerners too should say the same thing, in other words, we should be unanimous.
Are you saying that Yoruba people should work for the emergence of an Igbo president in 2019, as they did for Buhari in 2015?
Yes. The Yoruba should do that one hundred per cent. Working for Buhari was a big blunder. I would not have supported it, and I said that Yoruba people, who supported him would regret it, and they are regretting it now. You can see that Buhari not only want to stay and finish his first term, but he also wants to have a second term.
So you want the Yoruba and Igbo people to form an alliance and work towards the emergence of an Igbo president?
Not only the Yoruba and the Igbo alone, the whole country should. In fact from what I am seeing now, the Yoruba are already drumming support for an Igbo Presidency, and anybody who is opposing it should be opposed.
All efforts by the Yoruba to form an alliance with the Igbo in the past were not been successful, particularly the one by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. What assurance do we have now that this will succeed?
I have no doubt that it will succeed because I have spoken to a lot people all over the country, and I have no doubt that its going to succeed this time.
Are you also consulting with Igbo leaders over this important matter?
Very well, I am. But I will not develop it more than that for now.
In the Nigerian Constitution, a president has the right to a second term, why are you opposing a second term for Buhari?
For so many reasons, which you know, and which I also know, and I will not like to develop it more than that today.
Are you saying Nigerians are worse off under Buhari? because if a leader rules well, he deserves to come back for a second term?
I will leave that verdict for all Nigerians to pass, and not just me alone.
Why are you heightening the call for Igbo presidency now, and not during the 16 years that your party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power?
I have said it before now, and even made the clamour when a Yoruba man occupied the Presidency … I have not ignored anybody, and I am just saying the right thing. But what I will emphasise is that no section of the country should be extremely selfish, nor extremely stupid, or think they have answers to all our problems. They don’t, and nobody has.
Your party is believed to be zoning the Presidency to the North, so how will this Igbo Presidency emerge?
No, that is not true. Anybody who told you that is being economical with the truth. I happened to have the right contact, with the right people, and I know that the views of many Yoruba people are not far from what I am saying.
So the PDP may not zone presidency to the North come 2019?
I have no doubt about that. I think that will be true.
Is there no merit in the allegation that the Yoruba are pulling out of any plan to help secure a second term for Buhari because they are already working for an Igbo Presidency?
I don’t want to make claims for anybody, whether a group or a section, but I am making claim for what I think is good for the country, whether he is a northerner or from the Niger Delta or a westerner. I am clamouring for the right thing and at the right time.
Will it be okay for the Yoruba to pull out from the Buhari government?
Not now, not immediately. But at the right time. Yes.
Will you say 2019 will be the right time?
I won’t answer that question now. I reserve my answer on that till later.
Do you share the view that the Yoruba are not well treated under President Buhari?
I want you to give answer to that question. And I have no doubt that you will give the right answer.
What is your own right answer?
My answer and your answer are likely to be the same and I leave it to you.
My answer is that President Buhari has not been fair to the Yoruba
If you give that answer, I am sure many others will like to listen to you.
Are you sure your party will still be alive in 2019, going by the wave of defection hitting it?
Solidly. Definitely. The party will be strong, able and will be one of the key players in the games of Nigerian politics in 2019 and beyond.
So, you share Governor Ayodele Fayose’s view that the PDP will come back stronger?
Ayodele Fayose is a very good governor and I support a lot of the things he is doing.
How do you view the level of insecurity in the country vis-a-vis kidnapping, herdsmen killing and militancy?
It is a disaster, very bad. It’s also a symptom of bad governance. There is hunger, lack of money and the people who should play the right game are not playing it.
What should the government do to right these wrongs?
I think all the Yoruba should meet and decide that, and if I am in that meeting, I will give my views.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mqyxYL
Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Marathon Messiah’s Praise set to go…Read full details
PHOTO: mmpraise.org
The sixth edition of the Marathon Messiah’s Praise, the longest annual non-stop gospel musical event is set to place soon. The event that aims at expressing gratitude to God for His mercy upon the life of The General Over seer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E. A Adeboye and Creating a new pattern of Praise in this dispensation will be holding in Eight (8) countries this year, for 75 Hours non-stop across five different continents, including, Nigeria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Dubai, UK, and U.S.A.
Themed The Sovereign God, the theme is borne out of the numerous wonderful and amazing testimonies that perfectly describe the life of Pastor Adeboye as what God alone can do. How a little boy born into abject poverty from a tiny village in the South Western part of Nigeria emerged as one of the world’s 50 most influential people in 2008, according to (Newsweek), and how a hopeless boy from a historically poor background was used by God to take a church with just 40 branches within Nigeria to over 20,000 branches in over 190 countries making the Church one of the fastest growing religious organizations in the world.
An initiative inspired by the Holy Spirit through the National Young Adults and Youth Affairs of RCCG in 2012 and started as 70 Hours Marathon Messiah’s Praise to mark the Pastor Adeboye’s birthday, has grown to 71 Hours, 72 Hours, 73 Hours 74 Hours and this year, 75.
Over one hundred and forty worship leaders will be leading millions of worshippers across the globe through the eight stages in the countries where the programme will be taking place. The main stage will be at the Youth Centre in Redemption Camp, Nigeria while other stages outside Nigeria will be satellite stages. You can visit our website at to view the schedule of ministration for all the countries.
According to the personal assistant to the general Overseer, Oluwagbemileke Adeboye, “Marathon Messiah’s Praise has not been about the story; it has been about the testimony of the Sovereignty of the Sovereign God. With your support in prayers, we are rest assured this year that the Sovereign God will move in a greater dimension to give pleasant surprises to faithful and truthful worshipers across the globe. Don’t be left out.”
The event would commence at on Monday, 27th February, by 12noon and end at 2:00pm on Thursday, 2nd March, 2017. Considering the nature of the programme, officiating would be on a shift basis. As we praise the Sovereign God across the globe, while the stages outside Nigeria will be ministering at their allocated time, there won’t be any activity on the Nigerian stage but the audience in Nigeria will join other worshippers in the other stages virtually as screens will be provided at the Youth Centre to view and join the other stages during their ministrations.
Over 1,800 persons have indicated interest to work as volunteers during programme, and thousands have registered as participants for the forthcoming worship experience. free accommodation and feeding will be provided for both volunteers and participants in Nigeria.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2lEblbq
Monday, 20 February 2017
‘Lack of enabling law bane of waste management in Nigeria’
Ken Edike
Mr. Ken Edike is the Chief Executive Officer of Waste Matters Limited and organisers of African waste management exhibition conference and award, holding in Lagos next month. In this interview with BERTRAM NWANNEKANMA, the retired civil servant, who has worked in many waste management companies in Asia, spoke on the challenges of the business in Nigeria and his plans to revolutionise waste management in the country.
What is your view about waste management in Nigeria?
Waste management in Nigeria is yet to take off in my own view. This is because as a waste management practitioner, I have a very broad knowledge of how waste management is run in other climes. One of the challenges is that we don’t have adequate policy. We don’t even have enabling laws guiding us. We are still relying on laws that were made by sanitation authorities in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The other is lack of proper knowledge of waste management.
What I mean by that is, we don’t have adequate knowledge of modern ways of doing things. Another challenge is infrastructure. Waste management requires infrastructure. We don’t have them. We lacked facilities for waste management because of funds. Lagos State Government for example wanted to tackle the issue of waste management in the state. They created a policy to help drive it because they knew that we don’t have adequate law and the fact that the constitution places the duties of waste management on the local governments. The local governments are not able to even carry themselves let alone the huge sum that is required for planning, training, procurement of waste management facilities and infrastructure.
So the state government took advantage of that shortcoming and decided to create a body to manage their waste and they came up with an agency called Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). The only agency that supposed to do it is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It could have been a different unit under the EPA but politicians have a way of doing things. So when they created LAWMA, they gave it all the powers to procure materials. They tried their best, and then they now decided through counselling to come up with the Private Sector Participation (PSP).
Today the PSP is functioning but it has its shortcomings. They know where the problems are. The only thing they have been able to resolve in waste management is just the collection of waste, which is just the beginning of waste management. We don’t have adequate facilities for disposal.
What roles do you expect government to play towards ensuring effective management of waste in Nigeria?
Government should come up with enabling law that will be acceptable to all stakeholders. Government should not usurp all the powers in waste management. Government should leave waste management to those who can do it. Waste management is a business. It is not something you put under a bureaucratic arrangement. For instance, if we discover that our bins are filled, we should be able to call our operator. We don’t have to wait till the man in the office or in the ministry give instruction for instance that Ogba waste collection will be every Thursday. Once you are not around on Thursday that will be the end. No; it should not be so.
By the time, you have adequate policy that will allow the private sectors operate freely; even the banks will come to give them facilities because they know what they will be earning. So they can have a good cost benefit analysis to create a bankable proposal so that the banks can fund waste management adequately.
Do your company – Waste Matters Limited play any role in this regard?
Tremendous one. Our company came out of deep thought. As at the time we registered it in 1998; waste management was one of the greatest challenges in Nigeria. Everywhere you go, you see heaps of refuse, in Benin, Ibadan, Abuja, and other states capital in Nigeria, it is the same story. People just dump their refuse at the middle of the road and walk away.
We did a survey and found out that waste management is an issue that must be dealt with otherwise, we will end up spending so much on health and we will be losing people daily as result of pollution coming out from all manners of waste being dumped irresponsibly. So we decided that the only thing we could do at that time was the collection of waste and we took them to government approved dumpsites or sewage. That is what we could do but I know we could do more with time, when we are able to establish volume; we can bring facilities like the sewage treatment plants, solid treatment plants, and incinerators.
We can even have different kinds of infrastructure for different kinds of waste. Today, you can see tyres and plastics being recycled; so I thought that if we go into waste management, we are not going to stop at collection of waste alone, but also deal with every facet of it. This means we are going to deal with many issues in waste management. That is the concept of Waste Matters.
Today, there has been an improvement in the processes. How will you assess the present state of waste management in Nigeria?
We have seen a lot of changes. The first thing we thought would posed a problem is awareness. That has been handled. Today, you can hear people talk about waste to wealth everywhere you go. The level of awareness had increased. If you go to almost every home, there is a facility, where people contain their waste. The major thing we need is infrastructure so that people can sort from the beginning what is useful from their waste and earn from it. Aside from oil, waste management is another industry that we can generate funds.
The discussion emanating from the public shows awareness has increased, why are you holding this exhibition?
The exhibition is tailored towards bringing organisations that have quality equipment and techniques as well as infrastructure that are in vogue.
The industry is wide in the sense that everybody is involved in waste management. That is why the law says that anyone who generates waste will take care of his waste. This is not the first waste management exhibition to take place in Africa. We have several of them in South Africa and other parts of the world. I have attended a couple of them and been part of a few. But it is so difficult for our people to attend because of Visa issues and other logistics.
We decided to bring these people here because Nigeria’s population is a huge market for any industry and we have a virgin atmosphere for waste management. It is therefore a better opportunity for anyone that plans to attend, to receive knowledge from those who are coming from other countries. The idea is to create avenue for different segments. This time, we picked only four segments. We are not going to have conventional conference where you have so many people sit down in one hall and one man will deliver one paper and every one will just concur and go. That is not it; we want to have one on one session with the experts. We have already involved some sponsors, who are ready to finance ready prospects to take off in the first instance as pilot base, before the next event.
What other things do stakeholders stand to gain from the exhibition and conference?
Aside the one on one session, they are going to have the opportunity to be exposed to modern methods, equipment and techniques.
Can you throw more light on the four segments you spoke about?
We are thinking about current issues that applied to Nigeria. One of them is energy. We are looking at having a session that will generate alternative source of energy through waste management.
Today we are talking about agriculture; agriculture as it is has a lot of waste. So we have a session that will deal with agricultural waste. That same session will deal with domestic waste. We are going to talk about recycling itself, recovering, recycling and reuse. One session is going to be dedicated to research and policy. The major reasons why things don’t work in Nigeria is that we don’t do research. We rely on old policies that are not working. So we have session that is going to deal with that for consultants only.
What is the level of acceptance from stakeholders?
The willingness to participate is 100 per cent. Everybody is talking about it but the ability is the problem and without the ability we cannot organise the exhibition and conference.
People need to pay for what they want because we are bringing quality service, they need to pay some money even though we tryied as much as possible to bring the cost to the barest minimum. No exhibition of this type will charge the kind of fees we are charging very low.
Who are you expecting to attend?
We are expecting all waste management practitioners from all sphere of life both outside and within the country. Unfortunately, those coming from Nigeria just want to come and learn. The outsiders want to build relationship that could lead to trade now and the near future.
We also want the general public to come. If you look at the current economic situation, a lot of people are confused that they don’t know what to do. They can get inspired by what they see and hear. People who are looking for ideas or what to do can come though they are not into waste management that is how most countries develop, government can not do everything.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l1ZpwW
Creative destruction: In business, death is a part of life
Economic growth is all about businesses increasing productivity, that is, businesses getting better and better at doing things. Be it increasing the yield per hectare in agriculture, or the products created per worker in manufacturing, or even the number of haircuts per hour. Increasing productivity is all about businesses making the right decisions on what to spend on, what to produce, how to produce, how to treat customers, and a whole range of other things.
However, not all businesses are equal. Some businesses do things a certain way, while others act differently. Some businesses decide to treat customers politely while others do not. Some choose to run their services on time, while others do not. Some choose to take unnecessary risks while others do not.Or maybe a business was doing perfectly well until some other business came in with a better product, or better service. For a variety of reasons, some businesses can end up in positions where people don’t want their products or services anymore. Business end up on their death bed.
The question, is what should be done to businesses that are about to die? Creative destruction is the idea that the process of productivity growth involves new businesses and new ideas replacing old businesses and old ideas. It is the idea that if new businesses are to thrive, some old businesses have be destroyed in the process. Attempts to prevent old businesses from dying just lead to a less than best scenario.Take for example, a scenario where a company invents a new technology that implies that people wanting to take photographs no longer require film. Maybe the company invents an all-digital process.
The consequence of this innovation is that companies who previously used to produce cameras that use film will naturally struggle and eventually be on their death bed. Are these companies dying a problem? Of course not. The industry is probably better off with cheaper cameras and more adoption due to the innovation. In that context, keeping the old camera technology companies alive is a waste of resources. They either need to transition to new technology or die.
Or another example, where an airline is so badly run it has a reputation for being perpetually late and therefore unreliable. If the horrible service provision leads to passengers eventually abandoning that airline, should it be kept alive at all costs? On the one hand if the airline shuts down some economic activity and jobs will be lost. On the other hand, the airline leaving the industry will allow other airlines, with better organization expand to fill up the gaps. In the first instance, you end with a better run more reliable aviation industry. In the second you remain stuck with airlines who maintain their unreliable services, to the detriment of the industry.The idea of new businesses replacing old businesses, new technology replacing old technology, and new ideas replacing old ideas is at the core of productivity growth in many developing and developed countries. It is for this reason that many countries have bankruptcy laws for businesses, forcing businesses on their deathbeds to either restructure and re-emerge better, or die and exit without causing any major headaches. Of course, there are instances where rescues are required.
The banking sector, for instance, which runs on trust is prone to periods of panic which can create temporary problems. Failure of some types of businesses can also result in systemic risks for the economy. So there will always be cases where some type of intervention is necessary. For the most parts though, businesses are usually allowed to die.However, in Nigeria, we seem to be opposed to the idea of businesses dying, especially if they are big enough to be noticed. Every other week there is some intervention fund being launched to keep some moribund industries alive. The classic example of this behaviour is in the non-stop intervention for the textile industry. Since at least the 1950s the Nigerian textile industry has been on its deathbed, in need of some form of protection or intervention.
Almost every government since independence has launched some type of special intervention program to revive the textile industries. All the interventions have failed.More recently we have had interventions by AMCON keeping banks and even airlines alive. The story of the banks which were bailed out in 2009 is there for all to read. Most of the distressed banks from that episode have survived in some form, but seem to always be in perpetual danger.Arik air is the latest in a string of businesses taken over, or rescued, by AMCON. Driven again by the idea that businesses can’t be allowed to die.As a wise man once said, “Before you can usher in the new, you first have to get rid of the old”. If we are trying to build an economy that works, that can create jobs, and that can drive Nigeria into the future, we will have to let some old ideas, and some old businesses die.
Nonso Obikili is an economist currently roaming somewhere between Nigeria and South Africa and tweets @nonso2. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect the views of his employers.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lgMt9d
Dalung assures stakeholders of fairplay during federations’ polls
Solomon Dalung
Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, has assured all sports’ stakeholders of a level playing ground place for the forthcoming federations polls to avoid the rancour that trailed the last exercise.
Speaking while defending the ministry’s 2017 budget proposal at the National Assembly yesterday in Abuja, Dalung revealed that a summit of federation presidents would soon be held to drive the sector and redirect energy toward grassroots sports.
He said, “The ministry will be neutral in the forthcoming federations’ election and there will be no federal government nominees. We insist that those with the interest of driving sports without total dependence on government’s funds should go and contest.
“We want to build strong and robust federations and reinvigorate them for better performance. That informed our basis for taking steps to reorganize the federations so that they can be more effective. We admit that we have had challenges with the federations over funding.
“Unless discipline is restored in the Federations, including prudence and effective management of resources, we will continue to have problems. Government alone is unable to fund sports so we need them to augment whatever they will receive from the ministry by raising sponsorship and partnerships with the private sector. If there is no credibility in the federations then the private sector will not invest. That is one of the problems of the federations’ administration.”
Dalung also stated the need to restore confidence in the forthcoming elections starting with an all-inclusive polls.
“We will ensure that there will be a free democratic election for leaders of the federations and that all stakeholders are given a level playing field in March,” he added.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l1MWJF
Saturday, 18 February 2017
How Affordable exposed new art market digits
Child Labour 2, dated 2011 by late Ben Osaghae as the highest sold at Affordable auction
When a third art auction, The Affordable, surfaced on the list of Arthouse Contemporary’s sales last year, the aim was to promote art appreciation of below N500,000 price. But as U.K.-based auctioneer, John Dabney’s hammer started falling on the lots at Kia Motor Showroom, Victoria Island, Lagos, during The Affordable’s second edition, the rising digits seemed unstoppable.
Given the success of the first edition, Arthouse has raised the digits for the 2017 Affordable to sales of works estimated below N1,000,000 (one million naira). From a 1997 seated figure painting, Untitled by Tola Wewe sold for N1,150,000 to Hustle and Bustle, monochromatic painting dated 2012 by Alimi Adewale, for N1,207,500; Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Three Elephant; and the last of the 123 lots, Child Labour 2, dated 2011 by late Ben Osaghae, for N1,610,000, the second edition of Affordable auction exposed an expanding art market, even at a non-premium level.
And at N1, 610, 000 for Osaghae painting, Affordable 2017 – as the first auction since the artist’s death some weeks ago – seemed to have produced a record sale for the subtle minimalist. It is of note that Osaghae (1962 – 2017), had featured constantly at quite a number of Arthouse auctions since 2008.
The sales also produced total sales with N40,526,000, a figure that represents 62% of the lots sold, according to results released by the auction house.
A higher percentage of sale sometimes produce lower total lots sold, while a lower percentage could generate more total sales, so suggests a comparative analysis of the two editions. Does this suggest dynamics or unpredictability of the secondary art market? Surely, bookmakers and analysts of the Nigerian art market have some head-scratching to do on such results. “Last year the lots in the Affordable were up to half a million naira while this year the lots went up to a million naira,” the CEO of Arthouse Contemporary, Mrs. Kavita Chellaram clarified. “That will account for the lower percentage of lots sold but higher total sales.”
Beyond the digits, the auction, perhaps like the maiden edition, gave younger generation of artists and collectors a new space to converge for broader art appreciation across generations and periods. Yes, pieces from the old masters – in miniatures – still found their way into the Affordable sales, but the estimated amount on such works had competitive pricing with the dominating younger masters and emerging artists.
Whoever was interested in old pieces had quite a number of such to pick from even at miniature sizes, for all they were worth. For example, among the oldest pieces on display were Legon, Back To Back, a 1973 print of Ben Enwonwu; Milk Maid, 1986 by Jimoh Buraimoh; a wood, Untitled (1989) by Ndidi Dike; and dele jegede’s Supplication oil on canvas (1991), among quite some attractive lots. And with an auction space filled with more young collectors, on a Saturday evening, moderate collection met future investment and aesthetic value at The Affordble auction.
With about 40 percent lots selling for above N500,000 each, the auction has lifted art market status of quite a number of young artists. However, the result has a double-edge sword: the primary art market may be under pressure of new evaluation for some of these artists who have been chasing higher values.
Beyond the value of digits, the CSR of Arthouse auctions over the years is worth mentioning; The Affordable auction 2017 was not an exception. Paintings such as Circle 001 by Dipo Doherty; Uchay Joel Chima’s oil on board, The Villagers III; Sade Thompson’s acrylic on canvas, Labyrinth; and a mixed media, Conflict Behind the Veil by Olumide Onadipe were sold as charity lots, with total sales of N700,000 for ArtHouse Foundation. “These charity lots will go directly in supporting the programmes of the Arthouse Foundation, including its residencies, workshops, talks and public events,” the parent company, Arhouse contemporary stated ahead of the auction.
The Arthouse Foundation’s residency-based programme for artists, gives platform for participants to “expand their practice and experiment with new art forms and ideas.”
Among its platforms are Workshops, Public Programmes and Exhibitions. Past and current beneficiaries, include Victoria Udondian’s graduate study at Columbia University in New York, residencies for Uchay Joel Chima and Tayo Olayode at the Vermont Studio Center, and Chibuike Uzoma in Vienna, Austria.
The trienniale auctions of Arthouse include each in May and November every year. The last auction in November, which was, expectedly, dominated by premium sales had El Anatsui’s AHE, a 2016 wood panel sold for N18,400,00 million as the highest sale. The Ghanaian master, whose work has attained a high value on the international art market, was followed by his traditional rival, Enwonwu whose 1951 pencil and watercolour on paper, Crowd Scene sold for N14,950,00 million.
“The eighteenth edition of the Arthouse Contemporary auction of Modern and Contemporary Art will take place on May 22, 2017 at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lviGdB
Taking responsibility
Prophet S K Abiara
God is orderly in everything. The proof of this is seen in how He systematically created everything that would make man comfortable in the Garden of Eden. After doing what only He can do, as regards creation, He made man in His image and gave him responsibilities. “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to do work in it and take care of it”- Gen 2:15.
This means wherever you find yourself, there is a purpose, which you should discover and take full responsibility. Have you discovered your purpose where you are presently?
God wants us to make the earth better than we met it. So, there is no excuse for failing to be responsible human beings in all spheres of our lives. God has given to all human beings the basic things to live a fulfilled life. And God made man in his image, in the image of God he made him: male and female he made them And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth. And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed: they will be for your food: And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have given every green plant for food: and it was so. And God saw everything, which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Gen. 1: 27-31.
I have come to discover that for every of God’s will, intention or plan on earth to be established, there is always God’s part and man’s input. God has invested so much into Creation and man that there are actions to be taken per time for God to move in a divine manner. How are you cooperating with God in bringing His will to pass on earth, in your life and other people’s? Primarily, we are created to give God pleasure through our worship, to cherish and nurture His creation.
As I said earlier, it all began in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were human beings. They did not have the capacity to create the heavens and the earth, animals with plants, day and night, etc. God, their Creator knew their ability, He knew they could multiply and make the earth full with their kinds and have dominion over other creatures. It is important to discover your purpose, accept it and take full responsibility to operate in it.
God bless.
• Prophet (Dr.) Abiara is General Evangelist, CAC Worldwide
skabiaraofciem@yahoo.co.uk
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kL5FbO
Adamawa: Government fails in rice farming
The many policies announced by the present administration in Adamawa State in 2016 to boost rice production have remained cosmetic, as there is no sign on ground for dry season farming or rice production to start in the state this year.
A seasoned rice farmer, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano Tafida, told The Guardian that since the Anchor Borrowers’ programme was flagged off last year by Governor Jibrilla Umaru Bindow, there is no sign on ground to prove that the scheme is still alive.
“The implication of this is that rice production in the state has not been given the deserved attention and the price people of the state would pay this year is total famine, as it is been predicted by some reputable international organisations.”
“As a seasoned farmer, especially rice, I feel ashamed that majority of our state governors are not taking food production seriously. Since our governor flagged-off this scheme, there is no practical sign that this programme will become a reality in the state.”
“For this year, it is already late to start dry season farming in Adamawa, there is no chemicals distributed to dry season rice farmers to clear the bushes, if you apply the chemicals, it’ll take you one week to start working on the land. There are no seeds distributed to farmers and this process take three weeks that means February is already finished. It takes 45 days for the rice to mature for transplanting, which means we will be in April. Rain starts in Adamawa in May and you must wait for another 60 days for you to start applying fertilizers, which is not even available to dry season farmers.”
Tafida said the governor sacked the former leadership of the Anchor Borrower’s scheme on ground of poor performance, but pointed that the new leadership headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Bindir Umar, has not changed the fortune of the people.
“When Bindir took over, we expected him to retain the contractors accredited to supply farm inputs, but he sacked them and started a new process that we don’t know when the rice scheme will take off. The truth of the matter is that government needs serious minded farmers and not air-conditioner farmers to head farmers’ programmes, it is a shame that with all the rivers and rich land we have in this country government cannot provide a conducive environment for we farmers to feed the country.
“Since 1980 when the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, started irrigation farming in Yola-North local government, no government improved on that project. That scheme is the best for this country, but today our leaders allow it to rot away. To be sincere, our leaders are yet to show commitment to agriculture,” he stated.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lv8dyM
Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Okpozo for burial February 17
Chief Spanner Francis Okpozo
The late Third Republic Senator, Chief Francis Spanner Okpozo will be buried on Friday, February 17, 2017 in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State.
More eulogies have been pouring in, with his death described as a monumental loss to Nigeria.In Asaba, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Ovwigho Igbuya, who remembered the accomplishments of Okpozo thanked God for the things the late elder statesman did to make Nigeria a better place.
Specifically, Igbuya highlighted the role of Okpozo in the development of the Niger Delta region.In a statement, Igbuya said the late senator was a great man and an amazing leader.
“Nigeria has lost a patriot. Senator Francis Okpozo was more than an illustrious son of Isoko land. He was a politician among politicians. He will be greatly missed,” he said.
Okpozo, one of the most articulate and ebullient politicians to have emerged from Isokoland, was a member of the Third Republic Senate. He represented Delta South Senatorial District on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was deputy speaker of the defunct Bendel State House of Assembly on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
“Senator Francis Okpozo was an outstanding politician and a law-maker per excellence,” the speaker said.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2k5mEVS
Not in God’s name
What looked like a national pastime has been elevated by bigots, of all hues, into a growth industry. I’m referring of course to religious conflict in the country.
In the North, especially in the North, Muslim extremists and their Christian counterparts had spared no efforts in the 70s, 80s and early 90s in sparking off a religious conflagration that threated to spread from Kano to Yola, Maiduguri to Kafanchan to Kastina, going all the way to Bauchi, consuming the lives of innocent people and pulling down, in its wake, churches and mosques. The ebb and flow of religious intolerance was uncontrollable.
The crises didn’t happen once or twice. They became an all-time affair. The frequency became too uncomfortable that the late Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, lacking words to adequately define these episodic occurrences, referred to the North as the “bedrock of disturbances.” I was moved to call it the wild, wild North, convinced beyond any reasonable doubt, that the region had upstaged the west which once enjoyed the distinction of being the wild, wild west. From the days of the Maitasine and the Kafanchan riots, the North, with its unique semblance of a monolithic bloc, had acquired the dubious distinction of a volatile and highly temperamental region where lives of people did not count for anything.
At the drop of a pin in the market, jobless jehus and other pitiable scoundrels who had become victims of remorseless poverty occasioned by the insatiable greed of the rich, were ready to take their lot out of the innocent people in the market. In the twinkle of an eye, their stalls would be set on fire and those of them who did not run fast enough for dear life, would become an unwilling sacrificial lamb.
All these were the forerunners to the Boko Haram insurgency which metamorphosed into a full blown war in which thousands of people have lost their lives. Efforts by various political and religious leaders to stem the tide of these disturbances have yielded very poor results. If the efforts had paid off, the results, in my view, would have been an uninterrupted reign of peace in the North. But after the Kafanchan riots in 1987 and the judicial commission of inquiry that was set up to probe the incident, similar riots erupted in Katsina and Bauchi three years later. The Jos madness which turned the tin city, once a veritable haven of peace and a tourist destination, into a plateau of ethnic chauvinism happened in 2001 during this current democratic dispensation under the careful watch of militarised politicians who were bent on winning elections by all means , fair or foul.
The draconian sentences that followed the Kanfanchan riots, with the Zango Katafs bearing the major brunt, did not serve as deterrents. An so history repeated itself in Katsina, in Bauchi and in Jos. If it served as deterrent, Boko Haram would not have happened. So what is the issue?
Those who put these riots at the doorstep of religion miss the point. And so long as they continue to hold religion, Islam and Christianity, as the culprit, so long will peace continue to elude the North, and by extension, the whole country.
The fault is not with religion but the manipulation of religion. The north still lacks education, and it lags dangerously behind other regions of the country both in the quality and the quantity of education. Arising from inadequate education are the problems of poverty and underdevelopment. It is very easy to persuade the uneducated youths to take up arms against an imaginary enemy and fight, believing that by doing so, they are guaranteed a life of perpetual bliss, in the hereafter, the life that has been denied them here on earthy by bad governments run by corrupt and irresponsible leaders. Adequate education is a potent antidote to the manipulation of religion by the political elite.
It takes education and exposure to know that the issues at stake in today corruption, insecurity, maladministration – have nothing to do with religion. It has everything to do with poor leadership, a completely irresponsible leadership determined to hold society to ransom, claiming to be God-sent.
There is an example in The Gambia of a so-called God-sent leader, Sheikh Yahya Jammeh, the man who proclaimed his country, the Islamic Republic of Gambia, with the Holy Quran in one and the tesbi, the rosary, in the other. For the 22 years that he held his country to ransom, he advertised his holiness in the day time but in the night, he faithfully and dutifully turned to his other gods decked with beads and padlocks and carved objects and goat head with blood draining to the floor of his private shrine.
For the sake of power, he chose to worship God and the mammon in equal measure. Because of his professed religiosity and the contrived hollowness around him, he could have triggered, if he so wished, a religious upheaval if he had told his followers that some Christian opponents were after his life.
Our problem in Nigeria has nothing to do with Islam and Christianity. It has to do with bad adherents who, in God’s name, manipulate their faith for earthly reasons, money, power and politics. The Northern governors have taken the right step forward by meeting to compare notes on the various problems confronting that region. They must worry seriously about the state of insecurity that gives the impression that law and order has irretrievably broken down. And they must also worry about the soulless manipulation of religion to further political interests.
I find it interesting that President Goodluck Jonathan, out of office but not quite in political wilderness, now has the right frame of mind to caution the political leadership of the danger of religious war in Nigeria. Nigerians must listen to him.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kQh8uL
Monday, 6 February 2017
Consequences of ethnicising judiciary, by coalition
Justice Walter Onnoghen
Any attempt by the present leadership to alter the existing tradition of appointing the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and other judicial heads to suit ethnic interest will spell doom for Nigeria, a pro-democracy coalition has warned.
Justice Nkanu Onnoghen was appointed on November 10, 2016 to act as the CJN for a period of three months, and this will elapse on February 10, 2017.
“Fellow Nigerians, under no circumstances must we allow the executive to distabilise the judiciary and jeopardise our future; the consequences of ethnicising and politicising the judiciary will bring down this nation to her knees,” the Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC) said in a statement.
It went on: “President Muhammadu Buhari is still indifferent in forwarding the name of Justice Nkanu Onnoghen to the Senate for confirmation as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), less than one month remaining to serve out in acting capacity.
“This development is unsettling the judiciary and has equally raised serious concern across the country, with some groups and individuals alleging ethnic conspiracy to deny Justice Onnoghen, being the first Southerner in 30 years to merit the CJN position based on established judicial convention.”
The statement by its co-convener, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, tasked Nigerians, especially “the leadership and traditional institutions to prevail on President Buhari to send the name of Justice Onnoghen to the Senate for confirmation as the substantive CJN without further delay.”
It added: “Anybody that has foresight will know that the Supreme Court is the last institution in Nigeria that is standing forthrightly and holding this country together in justice; we therefore warn on the dire consequences of allowing the executive to alter the existing tradition of appointing the CJN.
“The reason why we must act now and defend the judiciary is because this President may not be around when the consequences of undermining the Supreme Court will erupt and consume this nation if Justice Onnoghen is denied to favour ethnic interest.
“Buhari has succeeded in ethnicising the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his own time; you can be rest assured that future Presidents from other parts of Nigeria will follow similar pattern and equally pick an INEC Chairman from their tribes when the time comes.
“We must never allow this circle of impunity into our judicial system. When justice becomes ethnicised at the Supreme Court level to serve executive interest, we can as well kiss this country goodbye.
“Instead of forwarding his name to the Senate for confirmation as the next CJN, being the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, President Buhari elected to appoint Justice Onnoghen in acting capacity.
“He is the first person to be so treated, while his predecessors were all privileged to be directly confirmed without generating this type of ugly development.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jWkywp
Chad president names film-maker culture, tourism minister
Haroun. PHOTO: Shadow and Act
Chad’s President Idriss Deby has named award-winning arthouse movie director Mahamat Saleh Haroun as minister of culture, tourism and crafts as part of a government reshuffle.
The nominations announced by the presidency late Sunday follow the departures of Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahmat, last week elected to head the African Union (AU) commission, and of ex- finance minister Mbogo Ngabo Selil, who was fired.
Haroun made headlines in 2010 when he became the first Chadian to enter and win an award at the Cannes Film Festival’s main competition with “A Screaming Man”.
Chad currently faces severe economic difficulties because of the global drop in oil prices while it has troops active on several fronts in the regional struggle against the Nigerian jihadists of Boko Haram.
Haroun served on the Canne festival’s prestigious jury in 2011 and in 2013 another of his films was nominated for its top Palme d’Or award.
Deby named the country’s ambassador to Paris, Hissein Brahim Taha, as new foreign minister, giving the finance ministry to AU official Christine Georges Diguibaye and the economy portfolio to former IMF official Ngueto Yambaye.
Deby last week announced a further postponement of parliamentary elections initially due in 2015, blaming a lack of funds as the oil-exporter struggles with a drop in oil prices.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kfWS1Q
Death greatly exaggerated
Buhari
We are down in the dumps again, killing on news platforms someone who is still alive, maybe not too well, but still alive. We say that President Muhammadu Buhari who went to London for a vacation has gone west. This graceless burst of bad news is not new. Unfortunately.
On November 4, 1989 several newspapers killed and buried their former President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, on their front pages. The headlines were idiotic, a deprecating endeavour in self-doubt. “Zik is dead?” “Zik is not dead?” The next day they all reversed themselves, looking like miserable journalism sophomores. This was a classic miniaturisation of their profession, reducing it to “Ameboism.”
You would think it would not happen again, that we had learnt our lessons. No. In March 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died without dying. The man went to Germany for treatment for “catarrh” but the story was that he had died there. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had to phone him asking: “Umaru are you dead?” It was a tragically hilarious encounter. The “dead man” responded: “I have a severe dose of catarrh which has made it difficult for me to breathe. It is caused by the strenuous campaign across the country.” Nigerians thought whatever ailment made him abandon the campaign to become the President of Nigeria must be deadly serious, more serious than catarrh; in fact that he was dead. But he wasn’t dead. The following year, there was yet again, a swirling rumour of his death. We had no concrete information from his minders except that he was strong and plays squash. Even though he died eventually, it was not from catarrh or from playing squash or at the time they pronounced him dead. He died of something more serious that his minders thought they could keep away from the public for ever. All those around him knew that he was terminally ill but they chose the path of public deception through information manipulation. They did not reckon with Murphy’s law that “what can go wrong will go wrong.”
Two other Nigerian leaders have been killed by Nigeria’s feisty rumour machine since then: Former President Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s sitting President. Babangida went abroad for treatment for his well-known radiculopathy problem and some Nigerians decided to kill him with their foul tongues. Buhari’s trip in June last year was for a nagging ear problem and the rumour mill started grinding out information about his death. A couple of weeks ago he went for a 10-day vacation and according to the Presidency he would also see his doctor for a routine check-up. The commentators in the social media who have apparently taken Oake’s oath, a sworn testimony not to be taken seriously, took to their platforms in a mood of happy vulgarity to announce Buhari’s death. The nation was turned into one huge rumour mill. Was he dead? Was he alive?
And just a whisper away from us the CBN television in Banjul, Gambia reported, falsely, that Adama Barrow, the President Elect of Gambia had been murdered by unknown assailants who overpowered his security men, killed two other persons and wounded six. And nothing of the sort happened. Mr. Barrow is now sitting pretty in his office as the President of that poor beleaguered country pauperised by his deposed predecessor Yahya Jammeh who is now cooling his huge feet in a miserable exile dungeon in Equatorial Guinea. Is fake leader-killing an African disease, some form of euthanasia otherwise called mercy-killing?
Journalism is not science. It lacks the mathematical specificity of mathematics. But it is not guess-work, not gossip, not voodooism. It is based on facts and facts have no alternatives contrary to the nonsense spewed out by the Trump fraternity in the United States. Facts are just facts. Opinions have alternatives but opinions must be based on correct facts correctly stated. Mainstream journalism is in trouble right now because of the nuisance created by the so-called Citizen Journalism. One person sits on his lap-top computer and churns out nonsense and sends it to the world. The world gulps it down innocently. And the culprit for the dissemination of this falsehood is called media, even if the offence was committed by the social media which are not interested in professionalism or ethics that underpin journalism practice, and do not have the infrastructure for the credible practice of the profession. But we are condemned to live with the social media, warts and all, because it is a movement that has its positives too.
Part of the problem is that many Nigerians have a penchant for short cuts, quick fixes and for taking the path of least resistance. We also have the rare gift of puerile politicisation of every issue. Buhari’s death rumour may have something to do with the 2019 presidential race, specifically whether or not he is fit to have an encore in 2019. His potential opponents may be happy with the doubts that the rumours may create about his eligibility on health grounds for the presidential race in 2019.
Now Buhari is back apparently hale and hearty and not in a coffin. Mark Twain, real name Samuel L. Clemens, was in Buhari’s situation many years ago when a newspaper mistakenly published his obituary. He said wittily: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” President Buhari can say likewise. Afterall there are not many people in the world who are fortunate enough to read their obituaries in the media.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jWkAEa