Tuesday 31 May 2016

President Obama Awards Highest Research Honor To A Nigerian Scientist

Prof. Deji Akinwande

Precisely on February the 18th 2016, Nigeria's Prof. Deji Akinwande was named alongside 105 others as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

These early-career scientists are deemed to be leading the way in efforts to confront and understand challenges from climate change to health and wellness.

Prof Deji Akinwande received a PHD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in December 2009. Previously, he graduated with a B.S/M.S. combined degree in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University.


His PHD thesis focused on the physics, chemistry, materials and electronic properties of carbon materials.


He gained industry experience designing and testing analog circuits from MHz to 110 GHz for network analyzer and signal generator instruments at Agilent Technologies in California.

He subsequently worked at XtremeSpectrum, Freescale and Motorola on the modeling, design and testing of the first commercial 100 Mb/s ultra-wideband receiver chip.

He is a member of IEEE, APS, ACS, and MRS societies.


On 5th of May 2016, Prof Akinwande along with 105 researchers officially received his award from President Obama at the white house.

The award was originally established by President Clinton in 1996, and is been coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President.



Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.


President Barack Obama joins recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for a group photo in the East Room of the White House, May 5, 2016.

Nigeria Remains An Important Investment And Export Destination - Tony Elumelu



Chairman United Bank for Africa  Plc, and Founder - Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr Tony Elumelu,  was a keynote speaker in France on the 27th of May, 2016 at the 1st ‘Colloque Nigeria,’ a colloquium on doing business and investment in Nigeria, which was organised by the French Senate at the Palais de Luxembourg in Paris, France .

Tony Elumelu focused on promoting Nigeria as a top destination for investment to French investors and businesses.

According to him “Nigeria remains a very viable, attractive and important investment and export destination for French companies. As a matter of fact, I would argue that now is a good time to come and invest in Nigeria, because it is an investor’s market. The fundamentals of the Nigerian economy remain strong.”

“Nigeria has always been a unique country. We are not only the most populous country on the continent of Africa, we are amongst the best educated and most-travelled people in Africa. We Nigerians are well known for our positive outlook and can-do spirit. Even more importantly, we have a strong culture and spirit of entrepreneurship. The smart investor, knows that this is the time to enter our market because the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy remain strong, and where others perceive risk and challenge, the glass is actually half full rather than half empty.”

PHOTO NEWS : SCORECARD OF GOVERNOR WIKE IN RIVERS STATE


Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has assured the people of the state that his administration will maintain the tempo of projects delivery after the celebration of his first year in office.

Addressing journalists recently, he said: "When the people are happy that we are working non stop, that makes me happy. We are fulfilling the campaign promises we made to the people. Ours is to continue to do what we are supposed to do, irrespective of the economic downturn''.

"I am happy that after one year we have worthy projects to show to our people. We shall not slow down. We will start to renovate selected secondary schools and general hospitals. We shall also flag off the construction of an amusement park for children in the state."

He said that his administration will continue to be accountable to the people at all times.


PHOTOS 
























We Are Delivering On Our Promises - Malam Nasir El Rufai



Text of State Broadcast by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, on the occasion of his first year in office; Kaduna, 30 May 2016

My dear people of Kaduna,

All praise to the Almighty for the grace He continues to bestow upon us, for preserving our lives and for the great gift of service He commanded, and for which we are but willing agents.

I address you today with all humility, with gratitude for the electoral mandate you gave us to serve you. I want to thank you for your support over the past year, and to assure you that we have used every day in office to do what we pledged to do to make Kaduna great again, to remake our state by enabling its government to do its primary duty of serving the people and improving their lives. It is a responsibility we willingly sought, and a mission we are solemnly pursuing.

In the last 12 months, we have kept faith with the commitments detailed in the Restoration Programme, the document in which we outlined our governance agenda. We promised to reform the very way in which governance is practiced and delivered. This would lay the basis for acquiring and deploying state revenues to delivering sustainable services for the people. As we have explained during our town hall meetings, these are tough times, with severe revenue challenges placing obstacles to the government’s ability to meet the many legitimate needs of the people. But as we showed during those meetings, your government has been active, doing its best to make our state better.

Your government has done a lot in this first year. We have set a new tone and style for governance. Not for us ostentation or flamboyance. From little steps such as our short convoys obeying traffic lights, and the Deputy-Governor and I donating 50% of our salary and allowances to the state, we have taken bigger steps to cut costs, shrink the size of government and began to position the government machinery to deliver real service as befits the substantive meaning of public service. We have stopped distributing state resources to a vocal minority and have chosen to redirect them to social spending that will benefit the silent majority – our youths, women, small business persons and the ordinary talakawa that had lost faith in government.

We acted quickly to reduce our ministries to 13, from 19, and we have appointed only 13 commissioners. The government is battling to remove ghost workers and pensioners so that legitimate workers and the treasury are saved from these cheats. The imperative of sacrifice stems from the urgent need to devote revenues to making schools better, modernizing our hospitals, supporting farmers, building roads and creating jobs.

That is the thrust of our N172bn 2016 Budget that we designed to provide the services that our mainly poor citizens need. At least 62% of this budget is capital, meant for Education, Health, Infrastructure, Agriculture, and Jobs. Those are things we pledged to do. And these are the things we are doing.

As you are aware, your government is feeding 1.5m primary school pupils every school day. We are repairing their classrooms, building more where necessary and providing water and toilets. Basic education is now truly free. Our children can get the first nine years of schooling without parents paying any charges to the schools. Furniture is being provided to reverse the sorry legacy of neglect that left at least 50% of school children without furniture. We are feeding our boarders better, having raised their daily meal allowance from N33 to N180 per student daily. We have recruited over 2,200 secondary school teachers, and will support those in service to improve their skills.

The health care system is being rejuvenated. Our health workers have admirably won prizes and donor support for this state. This augurs well for our programme to modernize 255 Primary Health Centres, one in each ward, and 23 secondary health centres, one in each local government. GE, our partner in this project, are importing the required equipment while the hospitals to be equipped are being readied, some with the solar power on which they will run. We need more doctors, nurses and midwives in our state. Therefore, we have sent 30 young girls to study medicine in Uganda. Our state university has now received accreditation in Human Medicine, so we will train even more doctors here. Our two nursing and midwifery colleges are being equipped to graduate more of our young men and women to work for a better healthcare system in our state.

Your government is accelerating the completion of the Zaria Water project. We have cleared the payment arrears in excess of N3billion that we inherited from the former administration, and all the components being financed by Islamic Development Bank and Africa Development Bank are on course for completion within two years in sha Allah. We are also rehabilitating 12 water works across the state to improve water supply. Residents of Kaduna are already enjoying solar street lights installed on some roads, while the repair of township roads has started. Our mass housing scheme has taken off, with the first 2000 units now under construction in Kaduna. We are now going to replicate these initiatives in our other urban centers and rural communities in the coming months and years by God’s Grace.

In agriculture, we have eliminated the fraud that fertilizer subsidy encouraged. We have replaced that with a system that gives our farmers affordable fertilizer, without subsidy or even a kobo of government money. What we have done is to pull the weight of the government to negotiate a fair price on behalf of our farmers. We have attracted big companies to invest in the farming sector here. From tomatoes to maize, rice, wheat and soyabeans, commercial farming projects, with outgrowers’ schemes for our farmers, are being launched. The first of this is the Olam poultry and feed mill project. Many more will be actualized in the next few months.

We are tackling the question of jobs on many fronts. The government is creating direct jobs where it can. We have hired 2,500 young people to bring order and sanity to our roads and environment under KASTELEA. Our youths, 6,500 of them are engaged in waste collection; 85,000 women make school feeding happen. Thousands more have gotten jobs sewing uniforms for secondary school students or working on the road projects or school rehabilitation contracts.

But we need more than these direct jobs. That is why we are working with the federal and other state governments to revive cotton production, textiles and garmenting that Kaduna used to be famous for. We travelled to France to persuade Peugeot PSA to come back strongly to Kaduna, and have submitted a joint bid with other public and private partners to acquire majority shares in Peugeot Automobile Nigeria. We are also concentrating on bringing more investors to establish businesses in Kaduna and employ more of our young people. May I at this point thank you all for the excellent support you provided for the maiden Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest). Our guests were impressed with Kaduna, and your conduct disproved all the negative headlines. The fruits of that summit will show in the many investments in the pipeline, mainly in agriculture, solid minerals and retail.

We are supporting our young entrepreneurs through KADSTEP, so that they can sharpen their business skills and get funding from investors, including our intervention funds with the Bank of Industry. Every effort to create jobs will be made; every step required to persuade a business to set up shop in Kaduna will be taken. We have similar funds with the Bank of Agriculture, and are active participants of the CBN and NIRSAL anchor borrowers’ programme for the benefit of our farmers.

We have created the policy and legal environment to support business. Our new Tax Code creates certainty and removes multiple taxation. With KADGIS, we are computerizing the land registry and making it easier to acquire title and to check the validity of titles to land. With KADIPA, we have set up a one-stop shop to champion investments and help every investor to settle down in Kaduna. With our new Contributory Pension Law, we have removed the fiscal peril that unfunded pensions represent, while providing greater certainty for pensioners.

I wish to commend our communities for keeping the peace. We have been pleased with the seriousness with which you have treated security alerts. Security has improved across the state, but we cannot relax. Incidents of kidnapping, cattle rustling, car snatching and robbery still afflict us like many other states in Nigeria. We will continue to support the security agencies with logistics and tools to apprehend criminals. We will continue to count on your support. Let us all remain vigilant.

Fellow citizens, it is important to acknowledge the partnership between the three branches of government in Kaduna State. Without this spirit of cooperation between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial arms of the government to advance the interest of our people, our progress would have been stymied.

Our courts have been rated highly for enforcing contracts. The Judiciary is helping to strengthen this capacity by creating an Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre for expeditious resolution of commercial disputes, and shortening the time it takes to decide cases by digitalizing court recording systems. Our Chief Judge and his colleagues have also been active in reducing prison congestion in our state.

The honorable members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly have in 12 months passed 17 bills, helping us to establish a legislative framework that will change Kaduna for the better. Five other bills are in various stages of passage. Members of the KDHA have also tabled 46 motions, and passed six resolutions. The House has been diligent in its oversight functions, with our legislators visiting all our 13 ministries and their parastatals to monitor budget implementation. We thank our Judges and Lawmakers for their hard work, and the vigilance they are exercising on behalf of the public through the timely discharge of their constitutional duties.

In the remaining three years of the mandate that you gave us, we will certainly make Kaduna Great Again. We intend to transform government into a public service machinery that is efficient and understands that government resources must be spent on the people. Each of the sectors outlined in the Restoration Programme are being improved. We will make better the schools and hospitals, build better roads, deliver potable water and revive agriculture.

I wish to urge every resident of Kaduna State never to let the fire of hope die. Our country is facing serious revenue challenges, and this is mandating adjustments by government and the private sector. There is a committed government at the federal level that is using these tough times to create the basis for better times. The Kaduna State government stands solidly behind the Federal Government in this effort to rid Nigeria of oil addiction, import dependence and food insecurity. Let us march ahead knowing that tomorrow will be better than today. Let us reject ethnic and religious divisions. Let us stay together as one family, and work together to make Kaduna great again.

God bless Nigeria
God bless Kaduna State.









Jamaican woman becomes Queen in Nigeria



For scholars of African history and, indeed, the wider society, 2016 may go down as a significant year as far as Rastafarianism and the ‘Back to Africa’ movement are concerned.

Decades after Rastafarians in Jamaica began to espouse a return to the motherland of Africa, from where their ancestors were shipped to the Caribbean during the slave trade era, from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th, the seed of a Rastafarian brethren has returned to the motherland in a royal capacity.

Chanel Chin, daughter of Rastafarian reggae artiste Ludlow Chin better known as Bobo Zaro, and Marion Morgan, is now queen of the Iwo Kingdom after her marriage to King Adbul Rasheed Adewale Akanbi earlier this year.

King Abdul Rasheed, now known as the Imperial Oluwo of the Iwo Kingdom in Nigeria, after his ascendancy on November 10, 2015, had met the 32-year-old woman in Canada, where he resided before his ascension.

Bobo Zaro is known for songs such as the hit single Pain, a collaboration with Contractor and Capleton, the video of which has been seen by millions of viewers in Africa via Channel O in South Africa and the Sporah TV show via SkyTV.

Queen Chanel says she is very honoured to represent Jamaica in such abig way.

She said: “My ancestors were taken away as slaves, but I have returned to Africa as a queen. One’s destiny cannot be altered. As a young child, I always wanted to come to Africa, but didn’t know how. I feel this is a great opportunity for black people worldwide to return to their home.”

Indeed, in a Facebook post, Emmanuel Mathias, in support of the queen, declared: “Destiny is powerful, her ancestor was taken away as slave, but she return back home as queen. Let us embrace her and tell her you are welcome back home. This is one giant steptowards bringing back home our descendants that great fathers and mothers were casted away.”

The queen added: “Our forefathers and ancestral mothers were cast away as slaves to never return, but I want Jamaicans everywhere to know that Africa is so nice. The culture and traditions are so rich and lovely. It’s truly something every black person should come and experience.”

Chanel explained that as queen of Iwo land, her responsibility is to always set a proper example for young girls and women in the community.

Giving an insight into traditions and customs, she said her dressing and outfits are to always be conservative and respectful.

“No matter what I wear, my shoulders and full legs must be covered at all times. All of my clothes are custom made to match these requirements. Also, as queen, the king and I like to regularly visit the local schools in the community to remind the children of the importance of education and excelling in all areas of their school work and examinations.”

The queen said her husband is the first king to actually take the time to visit the children.

“We believe they are the future,” she remarked.

In her esteemed position as a Nigerian queen, she said she faces only minor challenges one of which is her being not fluent in the native language which is Yoruba.

“I know some words. Everyday, I am still learning.

The two met in Canada long before the Imperial Oluwo became king.




Source: 3Jamaica

Herbert Macaulay - Our Hero Past




Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, engineer, architect, journalist, and musician and is considered by many Nigerians as the founder of Nigerian nationalism.

Olayinka Macaulay Badmus was born in Lagos on 14 November 1864 to Thomas Babington Macaulay and Abigail Crowther, children of people captured from what is now present day Nigeria, resettled in Sierra Leone by the British West Africa Squadron, and eventual returnees to present day Nigeria.

Thomas Babington Macaulay was one of the sons of Ojo Oriare while Abigail Crowther was the daughter of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a descendant of King Abiodun. Thomas Babington Macaulay was the founder of the first secondary school in Nigeria, the CMS Grammar School, Lagos. After going to a Christian missionary school, he took a job as a clerk at the Lagos Department of Public Works.

From 1891 to 1894 he studied civil engineering in Plymouth, England. On his return, he worked for the Crown as a land inspector. He left his position in 1898 due to growing distaste for the British rule over the Lagos Colony and the position of Yorubaland and the Niger Coast Protectorate as British colonies in all but name.

Herbert Macaulay was an unlikely champion of the masses. A grandson of Ajayi Crowther, the first African bishop of the Niger Territory, he was born into a Lagos that was divided politically into groups arranged in a convenient pecking order – the British rulers who lived in the posh Marina district, the Saros and other slave descendants who lived to the west, and the Brazilians who lived behind the whites in the Portuguese Town.

Behind all three lived the real Lagosians, the masses of indigenous Yoruba people, disliked and generally ignored by their privileged neighbours. It was not until Macaulay’s generation that the Saros and Brazilians even began to contemplate making common cause with the masses.

Macaulay was one of the first Nigerian nationalists and for most of his life a strong opponent of British rule in Nigeria. As a reaction to claims by the British that they were governing with "the true interests of the natives at heart", he wrote: "The dimensions of "the true interests of the natives at heart" are algebraically equal to the length, breadth and depth of the whiteman's pocket."

In 1908 he exposed European corruption in the handling of railway finances and in 1919 he argued successfully for the chiefs whose land had been taken by the British in front of the Privy Council in London. As a result, the colonial government was forced to pay compensation to the chiefs. In retaliation for this and other activities of his, Macaulay was jailed twice by the British.

Macaulay became very popular and on 24 June 1923 he founded the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), the first Nigerian political party. The party won all the seats in the elections of 1923, 1928 and 1933.

In 1931 relations between Macaulay and the British began to improve up to the point that the governor even held conferences with Macaulay. In October 1938 the more radical Nigerian Youth Movement fought and won elections for the Lagos Town Council, ending the dominance of Macaulay and his National Democratic Party.

In 1944 Macaulay co-founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) together with Nnamdi Azikiwe and became its president. The NCNC was a patriotic organization designed to bring together Nigerians of all stripes to demand independence. In 1946 Macaulay fell ill in Kano and later died in Lagos. The leadership of the NCNC went to Azikiwe, who later became the first president of Nigeria. Macaulay was buried at Ikoyi Cemetery in Lagos on 11 May 1946.

His image adorned the N1 note and later the N1 coin.

YORUBA PEOPLE IN DIASPORA



Yorubas have become truly global: in terms of their locations in different parts of the world; the representations of various aspects of their culture (including religion, art, music, dress, and cuisine), in these locations; the emergence of distinctive Yoruba Orisa traditions in the Americas; the physical presence, in various parts of the world, of the descendants of Yoruba people taken as slaves and now as voluntary migrants in the contemporary era; and the integration of Yoruba in African studies, Diaspora Studies, the Black Atlantic, and Atlantic history.


The geographic location of this lecture is the Atlantic, a site that unites the Yoruba in Nigeria with the coastal areas of West Africa, with Europe, and the Americas. Within this Atlantic unit, the Yoruba are located far and wide, not just along the coastlines but in the hinterland as well. The Yoruba in diaspora reveal to us profound imaginations of diasporic movements and connections, the process and outcome of cultural hybridization and identity formation, and the strategies of adaptation and social integration in diverse locations in different historical formations.

The massive expansion of the Yoruba occurred in the context of the four continents united by the Atlantic Ocean. The Yoruba were among the African slaves drawn from Central and West Africa and tragically relocated to the Americas. As the enslaved, they were funneled to the Atlantic. After the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, secondary migrations occurred as freed slaves returned to West Africa, and thousands migrated within various countries in the Atlantic World.


The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World, the contributors have examined the history of the Yoruba in different countries. The slave trade violently took the Yoruba to several places in the Americas: Brazil, Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, Haiti, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. There are characteristics and patterns. The breakdown reflects the following: first is location, a) in an extensive land mass from Rio de la Plata in South America to the Chesapeake Bay in North America, and small islands in the West Indies; b) in North America, areas of concentrations were in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina; c) in Central America, the Yoruba were taken to Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua; d) in South America, the Yoruba were found in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuala; and e) in the West Indies, they were taken to Cuba, St. Lucia, Saint-Domingo (Haiti), Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago. A second relevant aspect is concentration: in sizeable numbers in relation to the totality of African slaves, the Yoruba were concentrated in three places—Bahia in Brazil, Cuba, and Saint-Domingue. In these places, their value was mainly in their labor, working on plantations and processing firms that produced sugarcane, sugar, tobacco, cotton and other profitable crops; in mines, as domestic servants; and in such other economic sectors as ports and commerce.

While the Yoruba cultural influences were the strongest in Cuba, Bahia, and Saint-Domingue, they equally established a noticeable impact in other places where their numbers were smaller. Some impacts were Yoruba-based, that is, based on elements that we can define primarily as Yoruba. Other newer influences were part of the creolization of cultures as the Yoruba interacted with slaves from other African ethnicities and with European-derived cultures and institutions such as the church and family.

Presence is one thing, impact is another. Be it in Brazil or the United States, the diversity of those countries, even when not recognized, is grounded in the multiple histories and experiences of different groups and ethnicities from various countries. Among the citizens in these places are people with Yoruba roots. Where the roots are denied or unappreciated, or simply not known, alienation develops. This consciousness has been expressed time and again in various poems, essays, and texts to underscore how diaspora groups seek recognition, self-depiction, collective affirmation, and cultural authenticity.

Where the demographic presence made it possible, the Yoruba formed communities, and reinvented a new “nation” with its own king, chiefs, and rules. They formed an identity that others recognized, defined as Yoruba, which meant that they were able to transfer and negotiate an identity for themselves. In Brazil, the Nago, and in Cuba, the Lucumi established considerable impact on religion, orality, families and social institutions. The Nago built various communities linked by elements of Yoruba culture—language, facial marks, celebrations, names, origin mythologies, drums, songs, music, and more. The Yoruba gods and goddesses became defined as pan-Yoruba and migrated into an overarching religion of Candomblé, which in turn was used to reinforce Yoruba ethnicity.

Whether by orality or literacy, the Yoruba have contributed to developments and discussions of religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, and other issues that define migrations, globalization, and multiculturalism. These discussions foreground the reality of culture as a mosaic. Thus, on the one hand, they adopted cultural elements from their hosts and demonstrated the dictum, “when-in-Rome-behave-as-Romans” formula. By so doing, they respected other peoples and their cultures and knew what to take from them. There was no desire to pursue a project of ethnic absolutism. On the other hand, they sought to promote and protect what they regarded as the core values of their cultures. In combining those two options—borrowing and maintaining—the Yoruba affirmed the principles of assimilation and cultural retention, of creolization.

Within the duel framework of assimilation and retention, came the seeds for nationalist resistance. Countless Yoruba women and men of courage engaged in processes of cultural rebirth and collective affirmation. As stifling and crippling as the plantation systems were, there were a number of Yoruba people who demonstrated enormous courage in rebelling against enslavement and domination. The condition of slavery gave birth to cultural expressions that tapped into Yoruba ideas, practices and history, making language and religious practices resilient in the face of powerful attacks. These expressions were in turn nurtured by a sense of nostalgia, the search for liberation. Even to worship a Yoruba god was interpreted by those in power as a militant expression. Mythologies became very powerful devices of remembering, of re-enacting aspects of the past, of formulating practices for the future, of aesthetic imagination. Mythologies supplied the basis for creating ideologies of acculturation to Yoruba identity outside of the Yoruba homeland.

Enslaved communities, as with colonized subjects, are ridiculed by those in power. To fight back, the Yoruba turned to their mythologies to indict slave masters and colonizers, and to ridicule the culture imposed on them. In turning to Yoruba gods, they subverted repressive forces and actors. In creating hybrid religious forms, they borrowed clandestinely to accept a culture and then strategically reinvent it. Turning Yoruba gods into the equivalences of Catholic saints was not in any way an affirmation of the inferiority of their own heritage nor dependency on a borrowed one, but a recognition of their own in a way that relocate them to the center of worship. They were not making a plea for Sango or Yemoja to be recognized by repressive forces but that such forces were powerless to destroy their own heritage. By turning to their own history and drawing from it to construct a cultural presence, they created the legitimacy for Yoruba practices to spread globally. Indeed, the Yoruba were critical of themselves as they sought new ways to practice culture, debating issues around authenticity and orthodoxy, but in the process they legitimized their presence and successfully reproduced their culture for over five hundred years. Outsiders to the cultures ultimately accepted Yoruba practices, and by the twentieth century they became part of legitimate academic fields.

Cultural manifestations translated into a myriad of concrete actions, most notably of slave revolts. The Yoruba were among those agile and free blacks who played leadership roles in a number of revolutionary actions in and around the Americas. Violent insurrections involved the ability of the leaders to mobilize other slaves and to build alliances with free people of color. Jane Landers described these revolutionaries as “Atlantic creoles,” and provided evidence for the 18th century of how, among others, Yoruba royalists, maroons, and counter-revolutionaries fought against the slave system, gained freedom, and even established autonomy for themselves. Among them were José Antonio Aponte, a famous Yoruba who led the 1812 revolt against slavery in Havana Cuba, and Juan Nepomeceno Prieto, the well-known leader of a Yoruba brotherhood called the Lucumi, also in Cuba.

A linkage has been established between conflicts in Africa, enslavement and migration patterns. A link has also been established between the military and cultural background of slaves and major slave revolts, as in the 1739 Stono Revolt in South Carolina, the Haitian Revolution of 1804, the Aponte rebellion in Cuba in 1812, and the 1835 Malé revolt in Brazil. We can see the role of the Yoruba in some of these. The 1812 rebellion in Cuba was connected to the Yoruba. During the 18th century, the Oyo Empire made thousands captives who were then sold as slaves in the Atlantic slave trade. Slaves were also sold in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, captives from the wars that led to the fall of Oyo and the struggles by its successor states, notably Ibadan and Ijaye, for dominance. Many of these slaves made it to Cuba.

In moments of protest and violence, the consequences were drastic, but they ended more in the display of courage and resoluteness. In the Aponte rebellion, the authorities executed the twelve leaders, whipped many insurgents, and threw them into prison. The aspirations for freedom and justice were not killed whether in Cuba, Brazil, or the United States. To make a point, the authorities executed thirty-four protesters and publicly humiliated seventy-eight of them by whipping, and putting one hundred and seventy in prison. Loyal slaves were also rewarded with freedom, although their masters had to be paid by the colonial authorities, judicial officials, and some citizens who donated money. However, the rewards did not stop the acts of resistance. In 1835, the Yoruba again revolted in Havana to seek an end to slavery and overthrow the government. Fearful of more uprisings, some slave masters began to call on Spain to end slavery while others called for greater vigilance.

Many Yoruba also used legal and political means to protest slavery, and to fight for abolition, as in the case of the Afro-Brazilian Luiz Goma, a politician, lawyer and writer who died in 1882, six years before the proclamation of abolition. The activities of Goma have even been compared with those of Frederick Douglass in the United States.

Furthermore, radical politics continued in the post-slavery years, expressed in various forms during the twentieth century. The expression of “Africanity” has generated both political and cultural movements in all countries where the Yoruba can be found.

Forced relocation brought about by the Atlantic slave trade and the colonial subjugation by European powers imposed a certain kind of history on slaves and colonial subjects. It is a history of domination, one that attempts to erase the history of slaves and subjects, destroying their archives, and trivializing their subjectivity as agents of change.

Exploited and dominated people were presented as primitive, foolish, lazy, and incompetent, creating a damaged image as a justification for domination and exploitation. Irrespective of where they came from in Africa, the generic name of “black” was imposed on them, a way of asking them to forget where they came from and to accept a homogenous debased identity. In rejecting a blanket racial category, the Yoruba opted for a “nation” instead, in which they defined themselves in specific terms, and were accepted as such by slaves from other African groups. In this definition, history and memory played a significant role: they had a sense of geographical place of origin, the breakdown of their specific culture, and of course the use of language. Even with the minimal material objects they carried with them in support of their religions and worldview, they had memory to support their belief system: the memories of their practices, rites and rituals, myths, tales and proverbs; lyrics and rhythms; architecture and sculptures; and other vectors of religious philosophy.

Regenerative projects are the conquest of humiliation and tragic histories, displaying how the Yoruba who survived the trauma of the Atlantic slave trade and the racism that followed have become triumphant. Enslaved subjects in the Americas saw in Yoruba mythologies and religions resources to escape degeneration. To escape, they needed to preserve Yoruba inheritances, using various elements as combative instruments.

Regeneration is not just about affirming past heritage, but also about new inventions and creativities. The Yoruba in the diapora have redefined and expanded the boundaries of Yorubaness. In taking Sango and Ogun abroad, they globalized the gods. They are no longer gods localized in fixed towns of Oyo and Ire as mythical origins but redefined in regionalist and Atlantic terms as religions of the Yoruba in Havana and Miami. The cults of Osun and Yemonja have also traveled far and wide doubling as part of the Orisa, and also as the radical politics of using gendered religion to advance feminist and liberational politics.

The reimagining of the gods and goddesses outside of the Yoruba homeland creates many new practices for worshiping, making sacrifices, and communicating with the spiritual world. What the gods and goddesses can do for devotees has become endless, adjusted to meet the demands of the contemporary moment. As enunciated by various Yoruba religious leaders, the Yoruba believe, among others, in the orisa, divination, magic, the use of herbs, a supreme being, ritual songs and dance, and the power of the ancestors. In Brazil, Candomblé reflects elements of Yoruba religion, expressed in divination, healing, music, spirit possession, and sacrifice.

The Yoruba are outsiders within various other cultures in different parts of the world. The narratives of existence have become so diverse, so complex, that mythologies that sustain the Yoruba as insiders within cultures such as the Oduduwa origin story may not be sufficient or always useful with the Yoruba who are outsiders within cultures where they live in multiracial, multiethnic, and transnational spaces where an individual can proclaim that other civilizations are of me and mine.

The historical layers, as the older diaspora has demonstrated, are many. The new Yoruba in the West are recent immigrants, mainly in their first generation. They are transnationalists who talk about their Yoruba homeland and their new adopted homeland. Some present narratives that tend to imply that they carry multiple personalities of transnationalism in one body. The reconciliation of the multiple personalities entails a host of different strategies by various individuals, although globalization has provided limitless opportunities to recreate “home” in multiple locations.

Today, the Yoruba world is dominated by the young, our future. But the young are decreasingly active in Yoruba culture, far more exposed to Western culture, disconnecting their intellectual interest from indigenous ideas. Yoruba history and culture must be integrated into major studies irrespective of the future careers of students. The process of cultural immersion advances the project of cultural reproduction, enabling critical engagement with stories, legends, mythologies, proverbs, and rituals to affirm the value of the past and to minimize the burden of modernity. Expressions of cultural identity cannot be neutral in the context of globalization and Western cultural hegemony. Neither can they be neutral in the context of a growing generation of parents in cities who are disconnected from reproducing the Yoruba language and its values. Cultural competitions can close the gap between generations (as youth engage with adults as audience) and also between creativity, thought, and fragmented human lives. They can bring back forgotten voices of the past, thereby raising consciousness about the past and the present. We will certainly discover excellence in youth and creativity in ways that will advance our lives and thoughts.

We have to culturalize ourselves before we can culturalize others. The past must always have a useful function. Places that the Yoruba call “home” have expanded far beyond the geographic space of southwestern Nigeria. Those within the original homeland who invented the Isese (original traditions) have to find lasting values in them. Those “abroad” have to find value in their hybridity, combining Yoruba with elements of the culture where they live. All have to find values in continuity and change, developing the techniques to accept contradictions and ambiguities in the evolution of new cultures, popular cultures, and youth behavior. Changes will come, but locality remains as well. Modernist theories that older traditions and religions will just fade away have been proven wrong by the resilience of culture. Globalization theories that predicted the disappearance of the local are not correct either. Cultures and ethnicities remain powerful. Nationalism has been formulated around the two of them. It is how people understand themselves and their heritage that shapes how they understand others.

Our vision of modernity, as Yoruba, must remain expansive, accommodating, receptive to change, and progressive. As those at home and abroad see themselves in the framework of a “nation,” they should continue to learn from one another, interact on the basis of common interest, share ideas to promote development and innovations, and minimize divisive conflicts, while promoting competition. The Yoruba live within national, regional, continental, and global universes, as members of diverse spaces: trans-ethnic, trans-national, trans-cultural, even trans-racial. All these spaces have to be managed, but they also have to be crossed to benefit one another, to promote peace, and to minimize conflicts. We must rework the relationships between the Yoruba insiders within culture and the Yoruba outsiders within cultures so that we can merge our interests in all the locations, all the centers, and all the margins in order to create a genuine dialogue in the promotion of Yoruba humanity and progress.






Acknowledgment : Yoruba People in Diaspora

Monday 30 May 2016

4th African fashion show opens in Geneva


No fewer than six African designers converged in Geneva on Saturday night to showcase the continent's fashion style in colour display of ethnic fabrics.

The event which was held under the platform of the 4th African Fashion Show Geneva (AFSG), saw presentations from Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Others are: Zimbabwe and South Africa with guest appearances from non-Africa nations of Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and France.

In an interview with the Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Founder of the AFSG, Mrs Temitayo Omotola said that the show was aimed at correcting the stereotypes about Africa.

She said the correction was being done by telling the story of the continent's rich culture to the global community.

''Africa is a beautiful, vibrant and dynamic continent with brilliant and creative minds. It goes beyond the usual stereotypes of conflict, diseases, hunger and poverty often recorded in the media,'' she said.

According to her, the AFSG is rooted in celebrating the continent's diversity through music, fashion, dance and Fine Arts- thereby bringing visibility to the diverse talents from designers to artists.

Omotola also explained the inclusion of some non African designers in the show, saying that it was necessitated by the growing economic partnership with Africa with some BRICS nations.

She expressed the hope that subsequent editions of the show would be for charity in order to support causes such as refugees and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa.

Also, the Tanzanian designer, Bijoux Pwatne, said she was motivated by the styles and colourful prints of African wrappers which her mother wore daily and also designed for friends and family.

Pwatne, who resides in Norway, said African fashion continued to receive global response as it had gone beyond a seasonal style mostly associated with spring and summer seasons.

''The global response is amazing, African styles through ethnic prints are no longer the next big thing in fashion but the in thing in fashion,'' she said.

Pwatne stressed the need for more support from governments to fund young talents in the industry.

Other designers who spoke to NAN were unanimous in their call for support from governments, and the African Union as well as regional bodies like ECOWAS.

They all opined that such support would create wealth and employment and also lead to revenue generation for the nations.

The highlight of the show was the live ''on stage'' painting of an African landscape which was immediately auctioned for CH 350 (Swiss Francs) an equivalent of 400 U.S. dollars.

The event which attracted audience from the diplomatic core and African communities in Switzerland was sponsored by the Nigerian Bank of Industry and Brussels Airlines, among others.







Sunday 29 May 2016

My Governorship, An Assignment From God – Governor Akinwunmi Ambode


Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Sunday said his ascension into office one year ago as the 14th Governor of the State was an assignment from God, just as he vowed to continue to serve humanity selflessly throughout his tenure and lifetime.

Governor Ambode, who spoke at a thanksgiving service held at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Ikeja in commemoration of his first year anniversary, said his election despite many challenges, was a clear indication that God was involved right from the beginning and as such he would continue to draw strength and inspiration from the Almighty.

He said: “Exactly a year ago today, I stood before a larger congregation trying to commit myself to the opportunity that you gave me to serve you and I have tried as much as possible not to misplace that opportunity.

“I just want to thank everybody for believing in me. When I became a politician, I used to call myself a techno-politician, that is a technocrat and a politician. I never believed that I could ever survive up till this moment if not for the grace of God.

“I believe so much that this is an assignment from God and that is why I am doing it with all my totality and give back to humanity. God has been too kind to me and for that reason, I have decided that I will serve the people selflessly to the will of God,” the Governor said.

Governor Ambode, who thanked all those that stood by him, specifically appreciated his mother, family and his wife, Bolanle, who he described as a prayer warrior standing in the gap of prayer for him.

The Governor also thanked the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of the State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Oba of Lagos, HRM Oba Rilwan Akiolu for believing in him and supporting him.

He said: “I want to openly thank God for using them (Tinubu and Akiolu) and believing in me as well as supporting me and giving me to Lagos State. I want to thank all our party members and leaders led by the State Chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale. As much I was new, I was the new face of Lagos and they supported me.”

He thanked members of the State Executive Council, civil servants, religious leaders, the Judiciary and the Legislature, saying the three arms of government in the State have worked greatly together in the last one year, which was why the State is progressing.

In his sermon, Presiding Chaplain of the Chapel, Ven. Femi Taiwo commended Governor Ambode for his sterling performance in the last one year, saying it was audible and visible for everyone to hear and see.

The clergyman, who said he was not given to praising people especially when not necessary, said the administration of Governor Ambode was a regime of noiseless transformation and alluded to the various road projects, educational transformation, street light project, massive investment in security, among others.

Earlier, Governor Ambode in his Democracy Day Broadcast Message to Lagosians, which he titled, “Daring to Dream and Ready to Actualise”, said that despite the fact that the global economy is in turmoil and the Nigerian economy is facing huge challenges, Lagos has continued to march on with confidence and a clear vision.

Highlighting some of his plans for the next one year, Governor Ambode said that plans are underway to install a fiber optic network around the State to boost broadband access to our homes and offices, improve the transportation system as well as continue the massive infrastructural development ongoing across the metropolis.

“We shall build and rehabilitate more roads; we shall ignite our Tourism and Entertainment potentials by approving a new International conference center and entertainment and theatre district; our television and radio stations will be fully overhauled to make them first class.

“We shall automate our bus system and introduce new buses; we shall overhaul our garbage collection system to make it more efficient; we shall build and refurbish more schools; we shall commence disbursement of loans to entrepreneurs and our youth under our Employment Trust Fund; establish a Rent-To-Own housing scheme and many more initiatives.

The Governor said that more importantly, greater attention would be paid issues involving the elderly, the youth and the people living with disabilities in the coming year, while schools and hospitals will receive special attention comprehensively.

“Fellow Lagosians, I renew my oath and pledge to serve you diligently, with passion, love and perseverance. I have always wanted to serve and I just ask that you continue to give me the cooperation to serve you and together, we will all realise the Lagos of our dreams where we thrive and not just survive.

“I also ask you to dream along with me as we actualize a vision of a vibrant, non-discriminatory, clean, prosperous, safe Lagos that we can all be proud of and God will help us all achieve our dreams,” Governor Ambode said.








LAGOS at 50


Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday officially launched the one year long activities to mark the 50 years anniversary of the State which will climax on May 28, 2017, just as he said the activities lined up would showcase to the world the unique achievements, culture, heritage and the tourism potentials of the State.

Governor Ambode, who spoke at a special children programme tagged "Vision of the Child" to officially kick start the one year long activities for the Golden Jubilee of the State, said the celebration was put together to provide historical opportunity to propel the State into unimaginable greatness as well as put it on highest pedestal in the league of world megacity states.

The Governor, who assured that the events would be the biggest celebration in the 50 years history of the State, added that Lagosians should expect nothing short of world class events.

He said: "This golden jubilee celebration will show Lagos for what it is - a home for all and a land of opportunities where dreams are made and fulfilled.

"This celebration will be all inclusive and in furtherance to this, each of the five administrative divisions of the State will have one month to showcase their culture and landmass. In this way, we will expose to the world the uniqueness and diversity of our culture and tradition as well as our great tourism potentials."

Speaking on the vision of the child initiative, the Governor who said the State had consistently supported the initiative explained that it was aimed at promoting creative thinking, literary arts and painting skills.

Besides, Governor Ambode commended the Lagos At 50 Committee headed by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, and expressed optimism in their ability to showcase the State to the world and organize memorable events.

The Governor also solicited the support of individuals and corporate organizations toward the successful hosting of the celebration.

In his remarks, Soyinka clarified that the idea of the one year long celebration was just to create consciousness of the celebration in the minds of the people, and not that events would be organized every day.

He said for instance, a month of solidarity would be dedicated to victims of Boko Haram, while the people would equally be given the opportunity to know more about Lagos.

Soyinka also used the opportunity of the occasion to fault those against his appointment by Governor Ambode as co-chair of the Committee, saying they were only exhibiting ignorance.

While stating that he would not join issue with such people, Soyinka said his family was a pioneer in the development of the State, and that it was unfortunate that the so-called Lagosians were denying themselves the opportunity of knowing Lagos which his Committee would offer.


We Will Continue to Strengthen Nigeria’s Democracy Through Quality Legislation – House of Reps Speaker, Dogara



Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has congratulated Nigerians as the country marks its Democracy Day on May 29th.

A statement issued on Saturday by Dogara’s spokesman, Turaki Hassan, said that Nigeria’s democracy has come of age since 17 years of uninterrupted constitutional democratic rule.

According to the statement, this milestone event calls for sober reflection on achievements and failures as a democratic nation.

“As a major symbol of democracy, the House of Representatives promise to continue to strengthen our democratic growth and development through legislation for the needs and aspirations of Nigerians.

The 2015 general elections that brought the opposition party headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to power shows that our democracy has matured and come of age.

As Nigeria faces serious economic challenges as a result of dwindling oil revenues and mismanagement of our resources, Nigerians should trust the capacity of the current government to confront these problems and provide lasting solutions.

Indeed, we should patiently await the results of the current policies and actions of government which we believe will soon begin to yield positive results.

It is not an easy task and we are not yet there.

But with hard work, commitment, dedication and patriotic zeal on the part of all Nigerians and corrupt- free government, our democracy will soon deliver on its promise of good life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the statement said.

Source: NAN

Democracy Day Speech (2016) by President Buhari


My compatriots, It is one year today since our administration came into office. It has been a year of triumph, consolidation, pains and achievements. By age, instinct and experience, my preference is to look forward, to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead and rededicate the administration to the task of fixing Nigeria.

But i believe we can also learn from the obstacles we have overcome and the progress we made thus far, to help strengthen the plans that we have in place to put Nigeria back on the path of progress.

We affirm our belief in democracy as the form of government that best assures the active participation and actual benefit of the people. Despite the many years of hardship and disappointment the people of this nation have proved inherently good, industrious tolerant, patient and generous.

The past years have witnessed huge flows of oil revenues. From 2010 average oil prices were $100 per barrel. But economic and security conditions were deteriorating. We campaigned and won the election on the platform of restoring security, tackling corruption and restructuring the economy. On our arrival, the oil price had collapsed to as low as $30 per barrel and we found nothing had been kept for the rainy day. Oil prices have been declining since 2014 but due to the neglect of the past, the country was not equipped to halt the economy from declining.

The infrastructure, notably rail, power, roads were in a decrepit state. All the four refineries were in a state of disrepair, the pipelines and depots neglected.

Huge debts owed to contractors and suppliers had accumulated. Twenty-seven states could not pay salaries for months. In the north-east, boko haram had captured 14 local governments, driven the local authorities out, hoisted their flags. Elsewhere, insecurity was palpable; corruption and impunity were the order of the day. In short, we inherited a state near collapse.

On the economic front, all oil dependent countries, Nigeria included, have been struggling since the drop in prices. Many oil rich states have had to take tough decisions similar to what we are doing. The world, Nigeria included has been dealing with the effects of three significant and simultaneous global shocks starting in 2014:

a 70% drop in oil prices.
Global growth slowdown.
Normalization of monetary policy by the united states federal reserve.

Our problems as a government are like that of a farmer who in a good season harvests ten bags of produce. The proceeds enable him to get by for rest of the year. However, this year he could only manage 3 bags from his farm. He must now think of other ways to make ends meet.

From day one, we purposely set out to correct our condition, to change Nigeria. We reinforced and galvanized our armed forces with new leadership and resources. We marshaled our neighbors in a joint task force to tackle and defeat boko haram. By the end of December 2015, all but pockets and remnants had been routed by our gallant armed forces. Our immediate focus is for a gradual and safe return of internally displaced persons in safety and dignity and for the resumption of normalcy in the lives of people living in these areas.

EFCC was given the freedom to pursue corrupt officials and the judiciary was alerted on what Nigerians expect of them in the fight against corruption. 

On the economy, in particular foreign exchange and fuel shortages, our plan is to save foreign exchange by fast tracking repair of the refineries and producing most of our fuel requirements at home. And by growing more food in Nigeria, mainly rice, wheat and sugar we will save billions of dollars in foreign exchange and drastically reduce our food import bill.

We resolved to keep the Naira steady, as in the past, devaluation had done dreadful harm to the Nigerian economy. Furthermore, i support the monetary authority’s decision to ensure alignment between monetary policy and fiscal policy. We shall keep a close look on how the recent measures affect the Naira and the economy. But we cannot get away from the fact that a strong currency is predicated on a strong economy. And a strong economy pre-supposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. The measures we must take, may lead to hardships. 

The problems Nigerians have faced over the last year have been many and varied. But the real challenge for this government has been reconstructing the spine of the Nigerian state. The last twelve months have been spent collaborating with all arms of government to revive our institutions so that they are more efficient and fit for purpose: 

That means a bureaucracy better able to develop and deliver policy;
That means an independent judiciary, above suspicion and able to defend citizen’s rights and dispense justice equitably;
That means a legislature that actually legislates effectively and
above all; 

That means political parties and politicians committed to serving the Nigerian people rather than themselves.

These are the pillars of the state on which democracy can take root and thrive. But only if they are strong and incorruptible. 

Accordingly, we are working very hard to introduce some vital structural reforms in the way we conduct government business and lay a solid foundation on which we can build enduring change.

An important first step has been to get our housekeeping right. So we have reduced the extravagant spending of the past. We started boldly with the treasury single account, stopping the leakages in public expenditure.

We then identified forty-three thousand ghost workers through the integrated payroll and personal information system. That represents pay packets totaling n4.2 billion stolen every month. In addition, we will save twenty-three billion per annum from official travelling and sitting allowances alone.

Furthermore, the efficiency unit will cut costs and eliminate duplication in ministries and departments. Every little saving helps. The reduction in the number of ministries and work on restructuring and rationalization of the MDA's is well underway. When this work is complete we will have a leaner, more efficient public service that is fit for the purpose of changing Nigeria for the good and for good.

As well as making savings, we have changed the way public money is spent. In all my years as a public servant, i have never come across the practice of padding budgets. I am glad to tell you now we not only have a budget, but more importantly, we have a budget process that is more transparent, more inclusive and more closely tied to our development priorities than in the recent past. 30% of the expenditure in this budget is devoted to capital items.

Furthermore, we are projecting non-oil revenues to surpass proceeds from oil. Some critics have described the budget exercise as clumsy. Perhaps. But it was an example of consensus building, which is integral to democratic government. In the end we resolved our differences.

We have, therefore, delivered significant milestones on security, corruption and the economy. In respect of the economy, i would like to directly address you on the very painful but inevitable decisions we had to make in the last few weeks specifically on the pump price of fuel and the more flexible exchange rate policy announced by the central bank. It is even more painful for me that a major producer of crude oil with four refineries that once exported refined products is today having to import all of its domestic needs.

This is what corruption and mismanagement has done to us and that is why we must fight these ills.

As part of the foundation of the new economy we have had to reform how fuel prices had traditionally been fixed. This step was taken only after protracted consideration of its pros and cons. After comprehensive investigation my advisers and i concluded that the mechanism was unsustainable.

We are also engaged in making recoveries of stolen assets some of which are in different jurisdictions. The processes of recovery can be tedious and time consuming, but today i can confirm that thus far: significant amount of assets have been recovered. 
A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery. Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the ministry of information and updated periodically. 

When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed.

On the Niger Delta, we are committed to implementing the united nations environment programme report and are advancing clean-up operations. I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the delta communities. 

Re-engineering the amnesty programmes is an example of this. The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger delta problems. If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice.

The policy measures and actions taken so far are not to be seen as some experiment in governance. We are fully aware that those vested interests who have held Nigeria back for so long will not give up without a fight. They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos rather than relinquish the vice-like grip they have held on Nigeria.

The economic misfortune we are experiencing in the shape of very low oil prices has provided us with an opportunity to restructure our economy and diversify. We are in the process of promoting agriculture, livestock, exploiting our solid mineral resources and expanding our industrial and manufacturing base. That way, we will import less and make the social investments necessary to allow us to produce a large and skilled workforce.

Central bank of Nigeria will offer more fiscal incentives for business that prove capable of manufacturing products that are internationally competitive. We remain committed to reforming the regulatory framework, for investors by improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the first steps along the path of self-sufficiency in rice, wheat and sugar – big users of our scarce foreign exchange – have been taken. The labour intensive farming enterprise (life), will boost the economy and ensure inclusive growth in long neglected communities. Special intervention funds through the bank of agriculture will provide targeted support. Concerns remain about rising cost of foods such as maize, rice, millet, beans and gari. Farmers tell me that they are worried about the cost of fertilizers, pesticides and the absence of extension services. The federal and state governments are on the same page in tackling these hurdles in our efforts at increased food production and ultimately food security.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the increasing role that our women are playing in revitalizing the agricultural sector. Modern farming is still hard and heavy work and i salute our Nigerian women in sharing this burden. In this respect i am very pleased to announce that the government will shortly be launching the national women’s empowerment fund, which i have approved to provide n1.6 billion in micro-finance loans to women across the nation to assist in rehabilitating the economies of rural communities, particularly those impacted by the insurgency and conflict.

With respect to solid minerals, the minister has produced a road-map where we will work closely with the world bank and major international investors to ensure through best practices and due diligence that we choose the right partners. Illegal mining remains a problem and we have set up a special security team to protect our assets. Special measures will be in place to protect miners in their work environment.

For too long, ours has been a society that neglects the poor and victimizes the weak. A society that promotes profit and growth over development and freedom. A society that fails to recognize that, to quote the distinguished economist amartya sen “ poverty is not just lack of money. It is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being.”

So, today, i am happy to formally launch, by far the most ambitious social protection programme in our history. A programme that both seeks to start the process of lifting many from poverty, while at the same time creating the opportunity for people to fend for themselves. 

In this regard, five hundred billion Naira has been appropriated in the 2016 budget for social intervention programmes in five key areas. We are committed to providing job creation opportunities for five hundred thousand teachers and one hundred thousand artisans across the nation. 5.5 million children are to be provided with nutritious meals through our school feeding programme to improve learning outcomes, as well as enrollment and completion rates. 

The conditional cash transfer scheme will provide financial support for up to 1 million vulnerable beneficiaries, and complement the enterprise programme – which will target up to 1 million market women; four hundred and sixty thousand artisans; and two hundred thousand agricultural workers, nationwide. Finally, through the education grant scheme, we will encourage students studying sciences, technology, engineering and maths, and lay a foundation for human capital development for the next generation

I would like to pay a special tribute to our gallant men and women of the armed forces who are in harm’s way so that the rest of us can live and go about our business in safety. Their work is almost done. The nation owes them a debt of gratitude.

Abroad, we want to assure our neighbors, friends and development partners that Nigeria is firmly committed to democratic principles. We are ready partners in combating terrorism, cyber crimes, control of communicable diseases and protection of the environment. Following on the Paris agreement, cop 21, we are fully committed to halting and reversing desertification. Elsewhere, we will intensify efforts to tackle erosion, ocean surge, flooding and oil spillage which i referred to earlier by implementing the united nations environment programme (UNEP) report.

We are grateful to the international community notably France, the US, UK and China for their quick response in helping to tackle the recent Ebola outbreak in our sub-region. We also acknowledge the humanity shown by the Italian and German governments in the treatment of boat people, many fleeing from our sub-region because of lack of economic opportunity. We thank all our partners especially several countries in the EU.

We appreciate the valuable work that the UN agencies, particularly UNICEF, ICRC, the world food program have been doing. We must also appreciate the world bank, the gates foundation, the global fund and educate a child of Qatar are for the excellent work in our health, education and other sectors.

Fellow citizens let me end on a happy note. To the delight of all, two of the abducted Chibok girls have regained their freedom.
 
During the last one year, not a single day passed without my agonizing about these girls. Our efforts have centred around negotiations to free them safely from their, mindless, captors. We are still pursuing that course. Their safety is of paramount concern to me and i am sure to most Nigerians. I am very worried about the conditions those still captured might be in. Today i re-affirm our commitment to rescuing our girls. We will never stop until we bring them home safely. As i said before, no girl should be put through the brutality of forced marriage and every Nigerian girl has the right to an education and a life choice.

I thank you and appeal to you to continue supporting the government’s efforts to fix Nigeria.