The Underwater Pictures Changing The Face OF Nigeria’s Yankari Games Reserve With Behind The Scenes Video

Flip Schulke’s photograph of boxing legend Muhammad Ali standing in a swimming pool is probably one of the most impressive underwater images ever taken. But, can that iconic photography concept be used to promote the beautiful tourist attraction in Nigeria?

Bauchi State Yankari Games Reserve located in Nigeria, is truly a unique and very beautiful place to visit. The Yankari National Park is the premier game reserve in Nigeria. Yankari Park and Wikki Warm Springs are located around the Gagi River, approximately 1, 1/2 hours by road, southeast of Bauchi Town. The beauty and size of The Yankari Game Reserve make it the most pop­ular reserve in Nigeria.

In a quest to prove a well deserved point the KJV team, an acronym for Kureng the chief photographer, Jaru the Make-Up-Artist supreme and Vera the principal model, got engaged and headed down to the awesome Yankari National Park with other team members such asLee Davou, 98Photography, Akinnawo Blossom, Harris Abraham and Hope Daniels. The main aim or purpose of the photoshoot, was to showcase that the Northern part of Nigeria which is normally not included in so many travel wish list is actually not a war zone.

And being the first underwater project for the team, they sure made it look very easy, I also feel like jumping into a swimming pool with my Canon D1100 and mass producing beautiful pictures like this. Even watching it is hard to believe that it is Nigeria.

Link to short video: http://awomkenneth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/VID-20160922-WA0001.mp4?_=1

MakeUp/Costume – MAKEUPBYJARU
Model – Shima Abraham (Vera)
Photos by KurengWorkx Photography

http://awomkenneth.com/the-underwater-pictures-changing-the-face-of-nigerias-yankari-games-reserve/

Nigeria’s startups get boost from President Buhari, Facebook’s Zuckerberg [video]

Nigeria has a growing technology scene, full of ambitious young entrepreneurs looking for ways to overcome various social challenges.

Thirty of them recently competed for a chance to pitch their business ideas directly to the president of Nigeria. Three of them made the final cut, including a Nigerian American:

Angel Adelaja is the CEO of Fresh Direct Nigeria, which specializes in urban farming to meet the needs of Nigerians who have been dependent on importing food products.

“We take a 20-foot [6.1-meter] container that you would put a car in to ship, and we fit it with hydroponic farming technology and we farm vertically, so we’re using as much space as we can in the system,” she said.

Adelaja is a Nigerian American who recently returned to Nigeria to cater to the expanding class of nutrition-conscious urbanites.

Ifedayo Oladapo is the founder of GRIT Systems Engineering. He is trying to amass data on electricity consumption and production. GRIT Systems manufactures an energy device for users to monitor their various energy sources.

“There’s an incredible amount of waste,” Oladapo said. “We spend $11 billion each year fueling generators. That’s 4 percent of our GDP, and that doesn’t even cover the cost of maintenance.”

Emmanuel Okena is the CEO of Tracology. He and his team created a barcode that will be posted on people’s front gates, so garbagemen know whether a customer has paid for the trash to be picked up.

“Once the utility provider comes to the house, all he has to do is scan this barcode and he knows in real time whether you have paid for that waste or whatever service he wants to offer you,” Okena said.

Meeting some high-powered people

Tracology’s Okena, along with the two others, got the chance to meet President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Okena won a cash prize of more than $8,000 from telecommunications company Airtel, an event sponsor.

“It has been humbling, and we are very grateful,” Okena said. “The president was so impressed that Nigerians are thinking out of the current crisis, economic recession, we have, making sure that we can generate revenue.”

The pitch event kicked off with a lot of fanfare, and with tech celebrity Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

Zuckerberg listened to the winning pitches from the startup owners and said he was reminded of when he first started building Facebook.

“This trip has really blown me away by the talent of the entrepreneurs and developers in this country, and by the focus on building something that is going to make a difference and going to make a change,” Zuckerberg said while on stage at the presidential banquet hall.

“I think if you keep on doing this, you are not only going to change Nigeria or Africa, but the whole world,” Zuckerberg said.

https://share.america.gov/nigerias-startups-get-boost/

Ooni hosts octogenarians in Lagos, unveils Olojo Festival

THE Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, on Thursday, hosted Octogenarians in Lagos, and called on the Yoruba Traditional Institution to celebrate the elderly.

Speaking at the 2016 edition of the ‘Olojo Festival Corporate Forum’, he said it was imperative for Nigerians to regularly celebrate the Octogenarians. The traditional ruler said: “We are yet to celebrate our elders, we must celebrate them, institutions must celebrate them, not just their children. We know God has given them children, it is beyond their children.

We must let people know about our elders, these are powerful elders in Nigeria. We see them as mere elders, they are not. They have shaped this country one way or the other.” Oba Ogunwusi, who said he decided to invite Yoruba elders, promised to replicate it in other zones of the country. “By virtue of the position God has placed on me, we can now use that position and replicate it in all the parts of this country. but charity begins at home, I must start as the Yoruba father,” he said.

In addition, he said: “the powers of this world belong to God, the next in line are the elders. They (elders) have seen it all. When elders sit together and call anybody and they tell the person the truth and you don’t want to listen, it is up to you and God, woe betide such a person.” 

Yoruba leaders present at the event include: former Attorney General and the Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Prince Bola Ajibola; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae; Otunba Subomi Balogun, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, former Minister of Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Afenifere chieftain, Chief Olanihun Ajayi and Chief Ayo Adebanjo, founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr Frederick Fasehun; Amb Omotayo Ogunsulure, Chief Alex Duduyemi. Others are: Chief Idowu Shofola, SAN, Amb Adekuoye Adeugba, Alhaji Lateet Okunnu, Chief Mosa Omisore and a retired Professor of Economics, Prince Adeyemi Adeoye Aderibigbe Ologbenla. 

In his remarks, the guest speaker, who is a Researcher at the Kwara State University, Mr. Oluremi Adebayo, called on people from the South-West not to allow their culture diminish. 

Adebayo, who doubles as the Director of Heritage Sites and Monuments, National Museum and Monuments, said that the cultural heritage of the Yoruba man is festival noting that the country’s culture will never diminish even if its oil diminishes. .

His words: “From time immemorial, our forefathers celebrated festivals and most importantly used it for thanksgiving, they used it to praise God and bring communities together; they cherish the love and unity they have established. 

“Today, we have lost these because of religion, modernisation and whatever we think we are. Nigeria is crying, the oil is diminishing, the oil will diminish but your culture will never diminish. What we have, we must hold. There are so many festivals in Yoruba land that can be turned around within the Yoruba region, within Nigeria to boost the economy.”

“Olojo festival is just one of it. We have heard a lot about the festival and we know the importance of the celebration, but how much of economy have we brought out of our festivals?. We have been shying away from our responsibilities because we felt it must sit at the back. The Yoruba nation must not sit at the back, we must be at the forefront of development and the only thing we have is to use our culture to develop. We must rally round the obas and project our culture to be one”, he said. 

Speaking further, he said, “Nigeria is in distress because everybody is running after oil, oil is in the soil, but culture is on the surface. Whatever is higher will always be higher and whatever is lower will always be lower. If our culture is higher why don’t we project our culture? Every community in Nigeria has its culture, there are so many countries of the world that do not have oil, they rely on their culture to promote tourism. 

“The only way we can promote tourism as a nation is to emphasise our culture, there are more than 200 deities being worshipped in Ile-Ife but how many are left, most of the cultures are deteriorating. We have not been decorating them because of religion and education, we need to look back and see what we have lost, it is what we have lost that will bring back the glory.” 

On the need to see the Olojo festival as an avenue to boost the nation’s economy, he said “We want to tell the world that we are a powerful nation as Yoruba. If we can invite 10 percent of Nigeria population to the Olojo Festival, imagine what investment that would mean to Nigeria. This is the time to work together and time for unity. Let us exploit our culture and bring back the glory of the Yoruba nation, he said.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/ooni-hosts-octogenarians-lagos-unveils-olojo-festival/

Kaduna launches $120m potato farm

The Kaduna State Government on Friday performed the ground breaking for its $120 million Vicampro Potatoes Farm and Processing facility in Manchok, Kaura.

The farm is expected to cover 10,000 hectares of land and generate 30,000 job opportunities. And it plans to be Africa’s biggest.

Performing the ceremony, Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State said the processing facility would earn foreign exchange and reduce over-dependence on oil.

El-Rufa’i said the State government was determined to promote agricultural practices to fast track development, diversify the economy and boost Internally Generated Revenue.

“Today’s event is a product of the Kaduna Economic Summit in April this year, where it showcased the numerous investment potentials in the State,” he said.

El-Rufai also appealed to the host community to support and cooperate with Vicampro to pave way for the attainment of its mission.

Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lamented the drop in oil prices, which he said had drastically affected the Country’s economy. ''There is therefore need for diversification as the only alternative''

Emefiele said there was need for synergy among all stakeholders to actualise the initiative.

He commended the Kaduna State government for supporting the CBN to guarantee stable micro economy.

The CBN Governor assured the people that the bank would collaborate with the State government to translate the idea to reality for the benefit of all.

In a remark, the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Mrs Aisha Abubakar, described the development as a giant stride towards moving the economy forward.

Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of Vicampro company, Michael Agbogbo said the company would produce French fries, Irish flakes and biscuits for local and international consumption.

The Chief of Moro’a, Malam Tagwai Sambo, commended the State government for establishing the facility in Manchok and pledged the cooperation of the community.

NAN

OBAFEMI AWOLOWO'S LETTER FROM PRISON TO MAJOR GENERAL AGUIYI IRONSI PRESSING FOR HIS RELEASE AND THAT OF HIS COLLEAGUES (DATED 28TH MARCH 1966)

CONFIDENTIAL

28th March, 1966

The Supreme Commander and Head of the Federal Military Government, Lagos.

Thro: The Director of Prisons,

Prisons Headquarters Office,

Private Mail Bag 12522,

Lagos.

Sir:

PREROGATIVE OF MERCY: SECTION 101 (1) (a) OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERATION ACT 1963

1. I am writing this petition for FREE PARDON under Section 101 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federation Act 1963, on behalf of myself and some of my colleagues whose names are set out in the Annexe hereto.

2. Before I go further, I would like to stress that the reasons which I advance in support of this petition, in my own behalf, basically hold good for my said colleagues. For they share the same political beliefs with me, and have intense and unquenchable loyalty for the ideals espoused by the Party which I have the honour to lead.

3. There are many grounds which could be submitted for your consideration in support of this petition. But I venture to think that SEVEN of them are enough and it is to these that I confine myself.

(1) In the course of my evidence during my trial, I stated that my Party favoured and was actively working for alliance with the N.C.N.C. as a means, among other things, of solving what I described as ‘the problem of Nigeria’, and strengthening the unity of the Federation. In October 1963 (that is about a month after my conviction and while my appeal to the Supreme Court was still pending), a Peace Committee headed by the Chief Justice of the Federation, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, made overtures to me through my friend Alhaji W. A. Elias to the effect that if I abandoned my intention to enter into alliance with the N.C.N.C. which, according to the Committee, was an Ibo Organisation, and agreed to dissolve the Action Group and, in co-operation with Chief Akintola (now deceased), form an all-embracing Yoruba political party which I would lead and which would go into alliance with the N.P.C., I would be released from prison before the end of that year. I turned down these terms because I was of the considered opinion that their acceptance would further widen and exacerbate inter-tribal differences, and gravely undermine the unity of the Federation.

TODAY, THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT, OF WHICH YOU ARE THE HEAD, LEAVES NO ONE IN ANY DOUBT THAT IT STANDS FOR NIGERIAN UNITY. BUT IT MUST BE EMPHASISED, IN THIS CONNECTION, THAT IF I HAD PRIZED MY PERSONAL FREEDOM ABOVE THE UNITY OF NIGERIA, I WOULD HAVE BEEN SET FREE IN 1963. IN THAT EVENT, THIS PETITION WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NECESSARY, AND THE WORK OF CONSOLIDATING THE UNITY OF THE COUNTRY TO WHICH YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES NOW SET YOUR HANDS MIGHT HAVE BEEN MADE EXTREMELY MORE INTRACTABLE AND IRKSOME.

As recently as 20th December, 1965, identical peace terms (the only variant being that the alliance with the N.C.N.C. which was now a reality should be broken) were made to me here, in Calabar Prison, by a delegation representing another Peace Committee headed by the self-same Chief Justice of the Federation and purporting to have the blessing of the Prime Minister, with the unequivocal promise that if I accepted the terms my release would follow almost immediately. I rejected the terms for the reasons which I have outlined above.

(2) One of the monsters which menaced the public life of this country up to 14th January, this year is OPPORTUNISM with its attendant evils of jobbery, venality, corruption, and unabashed self-interest. From all accounts, you are inflexibly resolved to destroy this monster. That was precisely what my colleagues and I had tried to do before we were rendered hors de combat since 29th May, 1962.

On two different occasions I was offered, first the post of Deputy Prime Minister (before May 1962), and second that of Deputy Governor-General (in August 1962), if I would agree to fold up the Opposition and join in a National Government. I declined the two offers because they were designed exclusively to gratify my self-interest, with no thought of fostering any political moral principle which could benefit the people of Nigeria. The learned Judge who presided over the Treasonable Felony Trial, commented unfavourably on my non-acceptance of one of these posts and held that my action lent weight to the case of the Prosecution against me. I must say, however, that in all conscience, I felt and still feel that a truly public-spirited person should accept public office not for what he can get for himself — such as the profit and glamour of office — but for the opportunity which it offers him of serving his people to the best of his ability, by promoting their welfare and happiness. To me, the two aforementioned posts were sinecures, and were intended to immobilise my talents and stultify the role of watch-dog which the people of Nigeria looked upon me to play on their behalf, at that juncture in our political evolution.

(3) This leads me to the third ground. From newspaper reports, it would appear that you and your colleagues — like all well-meaning Nigerians — are anxious that on the termination of the present military rule, Nigeria should become a flourishing democracy. Now, democracy is a political doctrine which is very intimately dear to my heart. It was to the end that it might be accepted as a way of life in all parts of the Federation that I campaigned most vigorously and relentlessly in the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, from 1957 to 1962, to the implacable annoyance of some of my political adversaries. It was to the end that this doctrine might survive the severe onslaught of opportunist and mercenary politics that I refused to succumb to the temptation of the National Government. Many views — some of them well-considered and respectable — have been expressed about the value or disvalue of opposition as a feature of public life in a newly emergent African State. Speaking for my party, I submit that the Opposition which I led did, to all intents and purposes, justify its existence and was acclaimed by the masses of our people as essential and indispensable to rapid- national growth. This was so, because it was unexceptionably constructive. The abrogation of the Anglo-Nigeria Defence Pact was one of the feathers in its cap. Some of the policies which the Government of the day later adopted — such as the creation of a Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the introduction of drastic measures to correct our balance of payments deficit — were among those persistently and constructively urged by the Opposition inside and outside Parliament.

The point I wish to emphasise here is that it was not out of spite or hatred for any one that I chose to remain in Opposition instead of joining the much-talked-of National Government. I did so in order to serve our people to the best of my ability in the position in which their votes had placed my Party, and to ensure that the young plant of democracy grows into a sturdy flourishing tree in Nigeria.

(4) Since the declaration of emergency in the Western Region on 29th May, 1962, political tension has existed in Western Nigeria. My conviction on 11th September, 1963, together with the surrounding bizarre circumstances, has led not only to the heightening of that tension in Western Nigeria but also to its profuse and irrepressible percolation to the other parts of the Federation. The result is that it can be said, without much fear of contradiction, that today the majority of our people are passionately concerned about and fervently solicitous for the release of myself and my colleagues.

The work of reconstruction on which you and your colleagues have embarked demands that all the citizens of Nigeria in their respective callings should give of their maximum best. A state of psychological tension, however much it may be brought under control or repressed, does not and cannot conduce to maximum efficiency. In spite of themselves, people labouring under emotions which this kind of tension automatically generates are bound to make avoidable mistakes which in their turn have adverse effects on national progress.

It is, therefore, in the national interest that this tension should be relaxed, if possible, without further delay.

(5) A petition of this kind is, by its very nature, bound to be replete with self-adulation. I hope and trust that, in the circumstances, this is excusable. It is in this hope and trust that I assert that my colleagues and I have the qualifications and capacity to render invaluable services to our people and fatherland. 

Every day that we spend in prison, therefore, must be regarded as TWENTY-FOUR UNFORGIVING HOURS OF TRULY VALUABLE SERVICES LOST TO OUR YOUNG COUNTRY. Even my most inveterate enemies have given the following testimony about me: ‘AWOLOWO HAS STILL A GREAT DEAL TO GIVE TO THIS COUNTRY.’

No country however advanced and civilised can afford to waste any of its talents, be they ever so small. Nigeria is too young to bury some of her talents as she was compelled to do under the old regime.

It is within your power to restore my colleagues and me to a position where our fatherland can again rejoice at the contributions which we are capable of making to its progress, welfare and happiness.

(6) Nigeria is now SIXTY-SIX MONTHS old as an independent State. The final phase in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence was initiated by my Party in the historic Self-Government motion moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro and supported by me on 31st March, 1953. IT SHOULD BE REGARDED AS MORE THAN IRONICAL, AND AS PALPABLY TRAGIC, THAT TWO OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THAT INDEPENDENCE AND, INDEED, THE PACE-SETTERS AND ACCELERATORS OF ITS FINAL PHASE SHOULD BE UNFREE IN A FREE NIGERIA.

In precise terms, I have spent FORTY-SIX out of the SIXTY-SIX MONTHS of independence in one form of confinement or another. I happened to know that the leaders of the old civilian regime, in spite of themselves, did not feel quite easy in their conscience about the plight into which they had manoeuvred me in the scheme of things; and I dare to express the hope and belief that you, personally view my present confinement with concern and disapproval.

(7) It is usual — almost invariably the case — on the accession of a revolutionary regime, for political prisoners and, indeed, other prisoners of some note, to be released as a mark of disapproval of some of the doings of the old regime, or in token of the new dawn of freedom which comes in the wake of the new regime.

It would be invidious to quote unspecific instances. But in the case of my colleagues and myself, by courageously and adamantly opposing the evils which your regime now denounces in the former civilian administration, I think we are perfectly justified if we expect you to regard us as being in tune with your yearnings and aspirations for Nigeria, and therefore entitled to our personal freedoms under your dispensation.

4. In view of the foregoing reasons which clearly demonstrate

(i) that I have always and, under trying circumstances, steadfastly and unyieldingly

(a) stood for the UNITY OF NIGERIA,

(b) been opposed to POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM with its attendant evils,

(c) fostered the growth of DEMOCRACY in Nigeria;

(ii) that my incarceration

(a) has led to the heightening of political tension among Nigerians, which tension can only be relaxed by my release,

(b) has deprived our fatherland of invaluable services such as we have rendered before, and can still render now and in future, in greater measure; and

(iii) that the evils which my colleagues and I condemned and valiantly refused to compromise with in the old civilian government are what you now quite rightly denounce, and are taking active steps to remove in order to pave the way for national and beneficial reconstruction,

I most sincerely appeal to you to be good enough to exercise, in favour of myself and my colleagues, the prerogative of mercy vested in you by Section 10 (I) (i) (a) of the Constitution of the Federation Act 1963, by granting me as well as each of my colleagues A FREE PARDON. If you do, your action will be most warmly, heartily, and popularly applauded at home and abroad, and you will go down to history as soldier, statesmen, and humanitarian.

Yours truly,

OBAFEMI AWOLOWO

A. THOSE CONVICTED FOR TREASONABLE FELONY

1. THOSE STILL SERVING THEIR TERMS

1. Chief Obafemi Awolowo

2. Chief Anthony Enahoro

3. Mr. Lateef K. Jakande

4. Mr. Dapo Omisade

5. Mr. S.A. Onitiri

6. Mr. Gabby Sasore

7. Mr. Sunday Ebietoma

8. Mr. U.I. Nwaobiala

2. THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY SERVED THEIR TERMS

1. Mr. S.A. Otubanjo

2. Mr. S.J. Umoren

3. Mr. S. Oyesile

B. THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET BEEN TRIED

1. Mr. S.G. Ikoku

2. Mr. Ayo Adebanjo

3. Mr. James Aluko

Omoni Oboli’s ‘Okafor’s Law’ sold out three halls at TIFF

It’s no longer news that the widely publicized Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has come and gone with Nollywood in the lead, in terms of presence and recognition but what is indeed news was that a Nigerian movie sold out three halls in the city of Toronto. 

Omoni Oboli’s new movie ‘Okafor’s Law’ sold out three halls at the theater where the movie was shown in the city of Toronto so much so that people who came to the theatre few minutes after the viewing time were turned back because there were no longer seats.

The Nollywood actress who could not conceal her joy when the news of the sold out halls got to her quickly shared the news on her social media accounts. 

When asked how she felt when the news of the sold out status of her movie got to her, she said ‘’ ’I did not see this happening in Toronto, maybe in Nigeria but not here. I know Okafor’s Law is a good movie, but did I envisage there would be packed halls here in Canada? The answer is NO! When I was told the halls have been sold out, I was really moved to tears. I just couldn’t believe it!” 

Okafor’s Law featured Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), Ufuoma Mc Dermott, Tina Mba, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Yvonne Jegede, Ken Erics, Gabriel Afolayan, Halima Abubakar, Toyin Aimakhu, Mary Lazarus, Betty Irabor and others. 

Okafor’s Law states that if a man sleeps with a woman once, he can always bed her again irrespective of new developments like marriage, new boyfriend or break up.

http://linkis.com/www.vanguardngr.com/hWP9Z

This Is EthnikCity, The New Site That’s Remixing How You Make Your Clothes

NIGERIAN PRINCE 

You probably hate your tailor. If you don’t, at least you approach him with great trepidation. This is because, most times, he holds your clothes for an eternity. He makes promises he never fulfills. You’ve missed many outings because the gentleman just can’t keep an appointment. But wait, do things have to be this way? No, the guys at EthnikCity don’t think so.

They’d like to get rid of your pain. See, the common tailor tardiness is an “experience that can be mitigated,” says Daniel Emeka, founder of EthnikCity. He’s also the creative director at Surkreo, a Lagos ad agency with lofty dreams for the future of communication. But something shifted inside him after a tailor held on to his fiancee’s fabric for more than 10 days without so much as opening the bag it came in. That’s when he decided to start a site that would simplify the way tailors deal with their customers.

But, beyond solving a problem that was close to his heart, Emeka thought a company like EthnikCity would spur a much needed change in the informal sector of the economy. It will help improve the distribution of opportunity and management as well as wealth creation. As for tailors, it will open a new “channel” for many of them to reach their customers.

The process is quite simple. Users can select or upload a design on the site, input their measurements, and select fabric and style. EthnikCity also accepts orders on social media and, for customers who live within Lagos, the team offers to do home consultation. “That’s the cool thing, we try not to disrupt people’s organic way of sewing,” Emeka says.

Also, EthnikCity will stick to making tribal attires only. According to Emeka, this is how to win. “Africa is great at being African. Nigeria is great at being Nigerian. Once we deviate, we would only be second best,” he says.

However, being an online business will require to live be better than traditional tailors. There’s an additional burden on web based startups to prove their worth again and again. This is why quality control has to be baked into the company’s system.

For Emeka’s company, each leg in the sewing process has to be “micro-managed so that quality is not sacrificed at the alter of speed.

But looking at this startup, you may wonder how come it took so long for someone to bring this obvious solution to market. We may never know but the idea was so popular in the testing stage that it only took about a month from the time the idea hit Emeka to when the company launched in August 2016.

Besides, he likes to move fast. “People waste too much time trying to be perfect,” he says. “Me, I just get going and build as I move. As long as the idea had passed a viability stage, I move on.”

So, quickly, he formed a team with three others who now double as co-founders. Ibukun Sobande – CTO; Olakunbi Adebisi – Fashion Designer; and Osaze Amadasun – Fashion Illustrator/Designer. Also, the company stared with a founder who provided the “setup capital and operational costs”.

As if to validate Emeka’s theory about pace, Nigerians have taken to EthnikCity like ants to sugar. Within the first three weeks, the company reportedly fulfilled 15 orders. Now, for a CEO whose dream is to make good made-to-measure clothes at a pace unmatched in the industry, it’s time to deal with the attendant pressure.

It’s been intense. We are currently short-staffed and we would need to recruit to soak the pressure,” Emeka says. For him, having to combine EthnikCity with advertising, which is his first love, isn’t easy either. But the startup road is a route he’s so deliberately chosen.

“I’ve always loved solving problems, and amongst many that I have given to clients, this is the one I decided to execute myself,” he says. As the pressure mounts every day, he adds, “I just treat EthnikCity as another client.”

The New Nigeria : A Collective Effort

President Buhari  met with the best of Nigerian professionals residing in the US. The meeting was facilitated by his Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters and International Relations, Abike Dabiri.

Among them were top flight aeronautics engineers, physicians, I.T experts, a Judge, a top policewoman, entrepreneurs, an Import Specialist at Customs and Border Protection, professors, two straight A students, and many others.

The parley provided President Buhari opportunity to bring them up to speed on how and why Nigeria got into trouble, with an assurance that with all hands on deck, including the best brains in the Diaspora, the country would bounce back in the shortest possible time.

"I am very pleased with this meeting," President Buhari stated. "Wherever you go in the world, you find highly competent and outstanding Nigerians. They not only make great impact on their host countries and communities, their financial remittances back home also help our economy, particularly at a time like this, when things are down.

"We got into trouble as a country, because we did not save for the rainy day. For example, between 1999 and 2015, when we produced an average of 2.1 million barrels of oil per day, and oil prices stood at an average of $100 per barrel, we did not save, neither did we develop infrastructure. Suddenly, when we came in 2015, oil prices fell to about 30 dollars per barrel.

“I asked; where are the savings? There were none. Where are the railways? The roads? Power? None. I further asked; what did we do with billions of dollars that we made over the years? They said we bought food. Food with billions of dollars? I did not believe, and still do not believe.

“In most parts of Nigeria, we eat what we grow. People in the South eat tubers, those in the North eat grains, which they plant, and those constitute over 60 per cent of what we eat. So, where did the billions of dollars go? We did a lot of damage to ourselves by not developing infrastructure when we had the money.

"Talking of our military, they earned respect serving in places like Burma, Zaire, Sudan, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, and then, suddenly, that same military could no longer secure 14 out of 774 local governments in the country. Insurgents had seized them, calling them some sort of caliphate, and planting their flags there; till we came, and scattered them.

"We raised the morale of our military, changed the leadership, re-equipped and retrained them; USA, Britain, and some other countries helped us, and today, the pride of our military is restored.

"Boko Haram ran riot, killing innocent people in churches, mosques, markets, schools, motor parks, and so on. And they would then shout Allahu Akbar. But if they truly knew Allah, they would not do such evil. Neither Islam, nor any other religion I know of, advocates hurting the innocent. But they shed innocent blood, killed people in their thousands. Now, we have dealt with that insurgency, and subverted their recruitment base.

"Those who stole Nigeria dry are not happy. They recruited the militants against us in the Niger Delta, and began to sabotage oil infrastructure. We lose millions of barrels per day, at a time when every dollar we can earn, counts. It is a disgrace that a minimum of 27 states, out of 36 that we have in Nigeria, can't pay salaries.

"But I prayed so hard for God to make me President. I ran in 2003, 2007, 2011, and in 2015, He did. And see what I met on ground. But I can't complain, since I prayed for the job. In the military, I rose from 2nd Lieutenant to Major-General. I was military governor in 1975 over a state that is now six states. I was head of state, got detained for three years, and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which had N53 billion of that time in Nigerian banks.

“God has been very good to me, so I can't complain. If I feel hurt by anybody, I ask God to help me forgive. He has done so much for me.

"After 16 years of a different party in government, no party will come and have things easy. It's human. We need quality hands to run Nigeria, and we will utilize them. I will like to welcome you home when it's time. But I'll like you to be ready."

All the Nigerian professionals pledged to contribute their quota towards re-launching their fatherland to a new dawn.

BUHARI APPEALS FOR SPEEDY GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN NIGERIA’S NORTH-EAST AND LAKE CHAD BASIN

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the international community not to further delay or downplay the need for humanitarian intervention in Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin.

“It is time for collective global action to invest in the people of Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin region,” the President told the High-Level Event on “The Humanitarian Crisis in the Lake Chad Basin: A Turning Point,” in New York, on the margins of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71).

“We are renewing the call for re-dedicated international action to end the humanitarian needs of victims and address the root causes of terrorism itself,” he said at the event jointly-sponsored by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the African Union, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

President Buhari noted that the “complexities and severity of humanitarian crisis across the world have increased in recent times, resulting in devastating repercussions. Political and socio-economic structures as well as the growth trajectory of many countries have been negatively affected leaving traumatized populations. The dual impact of Climate Change and terrorism cum insurgency has created deeper implications for peace and security, social harmony and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

While commending the Multi-National Joint Task Force for degrading Boko Haram, he said that the Nigerian government has been fully responsive to the urgency to save innocent lives, protect victims of Boko Haram atrocities, guarantee stability and facilitate the resumption of normal social and economic activities in the North-East of the country.

“The Government of Nigeria is not overwhelmed by the enormity of this humanitarian challenge. Rather, we remain resolute in defeating terrorism in all its forms. We have put in place a robust people-driven counter-terrorism strategy built on a combination of revamped security operations and a human rights-based approach to help bring about rehabilitation, reintegration and reconstruction,” the President said.

According to him, “Nigeria has been providing food support, reintegrated healthcare, shelter, psycho-social support and access to water and sanitation amenities for those in need. We are also engaging highly respected community and religious leaders to discourage vulnerable youth from being radicalized.”

President Buhari expressed delight that displaced persons have begun to return to their communities in Konduga, Mafa, Benisheck and Ngala in the North-East.

On the missing Chibok schoolgirls, the President said that the unfortunate incident has remained in “our national consciousness,” adding that the administration “is working hard to ensure the release of all Nigerians held captive by Boko Haram, including the Chibok girls. We are ready to ensure their swift rehabilitation, reintegration and the continuation of their studies once returned to their families.”

On the Lake Chad, President Buhari said the shrinking of the Lake has also like Boko Haram, adversely affected the communities around the Basin by increasing their hardship.

Given the enormous challenge posed by the dwindling waters, the President noted that no single State in the region can independently meet the needs of the victims of the depressing occurrence.

“Nigeria thus, reiterates its call for stronger international action and support for the implementation of the Lake Chad Development Resilience Action Plan,” he said, even as he urged “increased global attention and active engagement than it is currently receiving.”

President Buhari, who did not fail to appreciate the critical support the North-East and Lake Chad Basin have been receiving from the United Nations and development partners, pledged Nigeria’s preparedness to collaborate in order to “find a lasting solution to this human disaster.”

THE ABSU LAW CLINIC

By Noble Chinwendu 

According to the President of NULAI, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), ''The establishment of Law Clinics in Nigeria and Clinical Legal Education program was undertaken by the Network of University Legal Aid Institution (NULAI Nigeria) in realization of the need to provide law students with the requisite practical skills and competences to apply the legal principles learnt from the traditional academic curriculum, correctly and with confidence''. 

In this stead, the AbsuLawClinic was established by the Network of Universities Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) in 2004, as an in-house clinic of the Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria, which provides legal services to members of the public who cannot afford it. 

NATURE OF CLINIC ACTIVITIES 

The student-clinicians usually engage in ‘non for pay’ legal services which involves periodical prison visits to interview indigent pretrial and vulnerable detainees with a view to process their bail application, deserving cases are usually referred to Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, National Bar Association and National Human Rights Commission etc, for purposes of free legal representation afforded by those agencies. 

In addition, the students engage in periodical community campaign against human rights abuses and street law sensitization in selected secondary schools and they equally, share legal pamphlet and materials free of charge. 

The Law Clinic is patterned like a modern day law firm with its formalities but less rigidity as students are allowed free hands to work independently. This also exposes them to the modus of a contemporary law office, the work load of an ever demanding legal practice, the need for team work and to obey chains of command. 

The kind of services the Students usually render are in fact para legal which come in form of consultation/counseling clients, case analysis, legal assistance, research, mediation/conciliation, drafting, report writing, managing client’s files, community/street law sensitization, public speaking in legal workshops etc. 

IMPORTANCE OF LAW CLINIC 

The activity at the AbsuLawClinic is geared towards supplementing the existing legal aid in Nigeria's criminal justice system and through this means, the problem of prisons congestion is a bit resolved and also the problem of putting juveniles in the same prison with adults is something taken very seriously. 

Basically, more manpower is provided and consequently enhances the capacity to attend to more cases deserving immediate attention than regular legal aid schemes. 

Through these activities also, students do learn the practical skills needed to excel in the legal profession as against plain theories taught in classes. 

According to Alex Nwankwo, a student participant in the scheme, who felt so confident about himself that he "…developed advocacy, drafting, research and case analysis skills. I also developed love for human rights during this process, interviewing/counseling, ICT and file management skills''. 

''The clinic constructively transforms the student-clinician into a lawyer gives him the opportunity to act as such before he is called to the Nigerian bar; this makes him fairly as skillful as any practicing lawyer''.  

Also, in the Clinic students learn to be ethically conscious and to imbibe the culture of community service, activism and public service geared towards meeting the prevailing and ever increasing demands and needs of society 

STRUCTURE OF THE ABSULAW CLINIC 

ABSU Law Clinic is manned by 25 law students of 500 Level and 25 law students of 400 Level with a lecturer as a Clinic Coordinator, and other lecturers as staff clinicians. 

The clinic is divided into several departments with a Clinic Head / Deputy and 6 Heads of Departments. 

The departments in the clinic includes; 

• File Management 
• Prison Services (Umuahia and Okigwe)
• Correspondence 
• I.C.T
• Street Law 
• Office Management. 

The clinic official hours feature every week from Monday to Friday within 8am to 4pm.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ABSU LAW CLINIC

The Absu Law Clinic has won several NULAI National competitions and has represented Nigeria thrice at the world stage in Hongkong, Hawai and the Republic of Ireland, respectively. 

Through its prison service department the clinic has achieved the release of a total of 54 pre-trial detainees, and also through its street law sensitization program, the Clinic has successfully organized legal workshops/seminars for rural communities and selected schools. 

“LOW-KEY” ACTIVITIES TO MARK 56 INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY

The Federal government Friday in Abuja unveiled activities lined up for the nation’s 56 independence anniversary on October 1. 

A statement issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and signed by the Director of Press in his office, Bolaji Adebiyi said apart from prayers to be offered in mosques and churches, the climax of the event would be a change of guards by soldiers at the State House. 

“His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the programme of events to commemorate Nigeria’s 56th Independence Anniversary. The details of the programme which is indeed low-key are as follows:Inter-denominational Thanksgiving Church Service, Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 4.00 pm at the National Worship Centre, Abuja. Public Lecture and Jummaat Prayers, Friday, September 30, 2016 at the National Mosque, Abuja”. While the two events above are open to members of the public, the Presidential Change of Guard which is scheduled for Saturday, October 1, 2016 at 3.00 pm at the Forecourt of the Presidential Villa, State House, Abuja is “Strictly by Invitation”.

Report lists US, Germany, France as custodians of stolen money from Nigeria

Today

A report by London-based Public Service International Research Unit (PSIRU) has listed United States, Spain and France as countries that keep illicit funds from Nigeria.

The group, which investigated the impact of privatisation and liberalisation on public services, also named Japan and Germany as the other nations where money stolen from Nigeria is kept.

Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its civil society allies are planning to stage a protest in Switzerland for the repatriation of stolen funds kept in the country’s banks.

Disclosing its plan to stage a protest in Switzerland yesterday at a workshop in Abuja organised by Public Service International (PSI) on tax justice in Africa, President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the congress would also stage similar protests in countries that are believed to be harbouring illicit funds from politically-exposed persons from Nigeria.

Unveiling the details, the PSI Director of Policy and Governance, Daniel Bertossa, said reports indicated that between 1980 and 2009, about $1.4 trillion was lost by Africa from illicit financial flows.

Bertossa, who also quoted from the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) report, added that Nigeria also lost over $3 billion annually to tax incentives and import waivers.

He said while the country loses $2.9 billion to corporate tax incentives, it also loses $327 million annually to import duty exemption.

“Shell is estimated to collect about $149 million in tax incentives. Total, another oil company receives about $43 million in incentives. And if we look at who are the beneficiaries of these incentives, it is the very rich companies.”

Wabba said there is justification for recipient countries to negotiate terms for the release of illicit funds.

The NLC boss said: “Beyond the case in Africa, I think we must also have a way to go and protest at the receiver countries. When I hear that, Switzerland where illicit financial flow from Nigeria has been taken to, is not willing to release the funds, it shocks me. We must go there and protest till they release our money.”

He condemned tax exemptions granted to multinationals and those he described as rich and powerful Nigerians.

Federal Government To Provide Uninterrupted Power Supply For 40 Universities

The Federal Government has taken measures to provide stable power supply for forty Federal Universities.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu and his counterpart in the Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola who stated this at an interactive session with Vice Chancellors and Directors of Physical Planning of the Universities in Abuja, disclosed that the effort is through the utilisation of off-grid Independent Power Projects, IPPs and Public Private Partnership, PPP structures.

Commending the initiative, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, who represents the Minister, said that the Power, Works and Housing Ministry initiated the Energising Education Programme to provide uninterrupted and dedicated power supply to the universities.

The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Baba Shehuri, who represented the Minister, said the project would also promote economic growth and sustainable development in the universities.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Power, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said that the productivity and professionalism of the universities would be boosted in the areas of research, teaching and learning and enhances the quality of graduates from the universities.

Mrs Ogunbiyi said that the plants are environmentally friendly with little or no carbon emission in line with global climate change standard.

Managing one African-American Artist’s Career

The Economist

NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, a young artist based in Los Angeles, is currently the talk of the art world. Dozens of wealthy collectors want to buy her latest works, yet none is for sale—at least, not to private individuals.

Ms Crosby’s first European solo show will open at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London on October 4th, the week that Frieze Art Fair starts. Now 33, she moved from Nigeria to America at the age of 16. Her “Afropolitan” identity has forged a highly distinctive visual style. She works mostly on paper, creating large-scale interiors that combine serene human figures with dense areas of collage and image-transfer that subversively evoke her Nigerian heritage. “Her paintings have a distinct vocabulary,” says Glenn Scott Wright, a director at Victoria Miro, which represents Ms Crosby. “You can go around an art fair with 10,000 works and you would know hers immediately.”

In June, at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland, the gallery sold Ms Crosby’s “Super Blue Omo” (pictured), a painting from 2016. The buyer was the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. Having held the first major museum survey of the artist earlier this year as part of its “Recognition of Art by Women” series, it was at the head of a queue of more than a dozen public institutions waiting to buy Ms Crosby’s painstakingly crafted works. Victoria Miro has pitched the prices at below $100,000, enabling museums to buy with their own funds.

In March at the Armory Show in New York, Victoria Miro offered a self-portrait diptych, showing Ms Crosby seated on a wooden chair, that was bought by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Displayed, at the artist’s request, unframed and suspended from metal clips, it can currently be seen in the museum’s “Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection” exhibition in New York. Other works have been acquired by Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.

“Super Blue Omo” will be one of ten works in Victoria Miro’s Crosby show, “Portals”. About half of these will be new paintings that will be for sale, but only to public museums (private museums also cannot buy her work). “We don’t want her art to become all about money and reselling,” says Mr Scott Wright, who estimates that it will take another two years before Victoria Miro begins to offer the artist’s work to private collectors.

Meanwhile, the waiting list of museums has risen to 18. For all Victoria Miro’s attempts to keep the stopper in, though, the resale market for Ms Crosby’s work may be about to be released from the bottle. On September 29th, at Sotheby’s, a private New York collector is selling “Untitled”, a painting from 2011, at an estimated price of $18,000-$25,000. With its pair of bare feet in front of a mirror, this might not be the most alluring of her compositions. But it is the first to appear at auction. Food for the impatient.