There is a Chinua Achebe International Airport in Anambra State.

It was a spectacular masterstroke from Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo when he renamed the Anambra Airport at Umueri after Chinua Achebe.

The ovation that Soludo got when he made the announcement in his speech at the 63rd Nigerian Independence Anniversary which took place at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, on October 1 was thunderous and long-lasting.

There is no doubt whatsoever that naming the airport after Chinua Achebe will spike up tourism to the state from across the globe.

When Bard College in New York built the Achebe House in the university, for instance, the place instantly turned into a tourist attraction.

In the ennobling words of Governor Soludo, “Chinua Achebe is an African and global hero, Anambra’s greatest gift to the literary world.”

Achebe’s uncommon integrity makes him the archetypal depiction of the title of his fourth novel, “A Man of the People”, in total contradistinction with the politician hero of the novel, Chief MA Nanga.

Chinua Achebe seized the human race by the jugular when he published his first novel Things Fall Apart in 1958.

The novel has never ever gone out of print since its first publication, and has been translated into more than 60 languages.

Things Fall Apart reportedly accounted for more than 80 percent of the sales of Heinemann’s African Writers Series (AWS) which Achebe served as an unpaid Editorial Adviser.

It’s remarkable that Governor Soludo who named the airport after the legendary writer was a young student in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka when Achebe founded the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) on the grounds of the esteemed institution.

Achebe happened not to be the typical reclusive writer because his activities in the wider society during his lifetime were equally redoubtable.

He was political in his lifetime in the truest sense of the dictum from Aristotle as per “man is by nature a political animal.”

Achebe was the Vice-Chairman of Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the Second Republic.

He never at any time sat on the fence over national issues, for instance, unapologetically pitching his tent with Biafra when his people faced flagitious pogrom and genocide.

Achebe was a man of many anchors, adeptly combining the roles of critic, activist, organizer, publisher, politician, and served as the President-General (PG) of his native town union in Ogidi, Anambra State.

When he rejected the award of the high national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in October, 2004, from then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Achebe wrote: “I write this letter with a very heavy heart. For some time now, I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connection in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency.”

True to his unwavering principle, Achebe also rejected the award when it was re-offered by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

Achebe’s word would have resounded if he were to be alive today, seeing the dire circumstances of the country.

A man who always spoke truth to power, Achebe wrote in his 1983 book The Trouble with Nigeria: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”

According to Achebe, “Nigeria is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be.”

Chinua Achebe left behind an everlasting body of work: Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, Anthills of the Savannah, Girls at War and Other Stories, Beware Soul Brother, Morning Yet on Creation Day, The Trouble with Nigeria, Chike and the River, Home and Exile, Hopes and Impediments, The Education of a British-Protected Child, There Was A Country etc.

It was one death that shook the world when Chinua Achebe died at exactly 11:51pm (US time), that is 4.51am (Nigerian time), on Thursday, March 21 at the Harvard University Teaching Hospital, Massachusetts, USA, aged 82.

Tributes poured in from all over the world such as the iconic Kenyan novelist, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who wrote: “Achebe bestrides generations and geographies. Every country in Africa claims him as their own.”

Achebe’s legacy was lauded by the then US President Barrack Obama thus: “A revolutionary author, educator, and cultural ambassador, Chinua shattered the conventions of literature and shaped the collective identity of Nigerians throughout the world. With a dream of taking on misperceptions of his homeland, he gave voice to perspectives that cultivated understanding and drew our world closer together. His legacy will endure in the hearts of all whose lives he touched with the everlasting power of his art.”

Now that there is a Chinua Achebe International Airport in Anambra State, the whole wide world is welcome!

Qatari Billionaire, Sheikh Jassim has withdrawn from the race to buy Manchester United from the Glazers family.

The Qatari businessman has been competing with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe to buy United after the Glazers put the club up for sale last November but new reports say the Glazers took United off the market last month after realising that neither interested party would meet their £10 billion valuation.

Sheikh Jassim had a £5bn offer for a complete takeover of United rejected earlier this year, while Ratcliffe, the petrochemicals billionaire, had considered buying a minority stake.

Both Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe had retained their interest, despite the Glazers’ high valuation, but the Qatari billionaire has now pulled out of the race.

‘Sheikh Jassim has had further discussions with Glazers family to buy 100 per cent of Manchester United,’ transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said on his YouTube channel on Saturday, October 14.

‘Sheikh Jassim’s bid proposition has been rejected again by Glazers family. As a result, Sheikh Jassim informed Glazers that he’s ready to withdraw from the process.

‘Sheikh Jassim has presented fully cash bid, clearing all old debt, with zero new debt, for 100% of the club.

‘Sheikh Jassim’s team decline to comment on this news citing ‘confidentiality restrictions’, but have confirmed they’ve withdrawn from the process.’

She made incisions on her private part, just at the entrance of the honey well. She said she was desperate to have him forever or at least for as long as she could, but he was not interested in making an honest woman of her.
‘I was tired of being a good girl and a spare tire and he just was not talking about marriage at all.’

So she sought help and got it from a powerful ‘babalawo’ in one of the Southwest Sates. She was told to wait seven days before giving him access to the ‘newly renovated’ space. On the eight day, Laja visited Bimpe for the weekend as usual, not suspecting a thing! Bimpe gave him unfettered access to her upgraded inner sanctuary and that was it. Laja had his fill, swam until he was panting. Bimpe was holding the hook firmly and Laja’s mouth was wide open. She reeled him for good. That same weekend, Laja proposed marriage. What nice food, great sex, expensive gifts and ‘motivational talk’ could not achieve in five years, our ancestor’s blade and powder swung in one weekend.

The wedding was swift and quiet. By the time Laja’s eyes cleared, Bimpe was pregnant with their second child. Laja’s first wife was shocked to her bone marrows. She wept, wailed, threatened, wept some more until she became hypertensive. They already had four children, boys and girls. They were happy. So why did her husband bring in a new wife? Well, Laja didn’t actually want a second wife. He just enjoyed playing the field. He had done it for many years, broken many hearts until this last hook got him. He’s like many men who like to vigorously hunt games they don’t want to take home. Yes, like you, and you, my guy. You are reading this and planning to tell another girl she’s special and string her along for years.
‘You make me soo happy.’
‘You cook like my mother.’
‘I just can’t get enough of you.’
‘Anytime I am with you, I feel like I’m in Paradise.’
‘You are my place of comfort.’

Yet, you have no intention of marrying her. Four years and she’s still cooking and cleaning and hoping. You dismiss her efforts and faithfulness over plates of ‘isi-ewu’ and chilled beer with your friends. You think you are having the time of your life, right? I pity you. Your mouth is wide open, trust me and you run the risk of being reeled in with a firm hook. Or you think your side-chick wants to remain outside or on the side forever? You think you are smart, smarter than who? If nobody taught or told you how ‘persuasive’ our ancestors' blade and powder can be, now you know. Those sacred things are real, potent and do not need your faith to do what they are told to do. Men who think they are smarter than women are slow and shallow, easy to catch. A girl does not have to fish all night to catch them. If you have been taking women for granted for years, today is the day to stop.
Who made DNA tests popular? Is it not women? Who made many men toil and raise children that were not from their loins? Indeed, many men are depressed and at death’s door because of what the women in their lives have and are putting them through. What kind of a woman has four children for her husband only for DNA to prove that three of those kids are for another man? I still cannot understand it. Was she targeting her ovulation days to sleep with another man without protection each time she weaned a baby? You’d think a smart cheating wife would eat and clean her mouth, leaving no trace. A wife who cheats on her husband, has sex without condom during her ovulation and pins the baby on her husband not once but three times for the same lover is deliberately mean, totally evil. Just imagine this. She watches the man rush up and down, sweating, anxious as she goes into labour. How does she feel watching him pray, harass nurses and doctors and then after delivery celebrates? Those kinds of women, where did they come from? If you no longer love your husband, leave him before you kill him. Don’t kill him. Don’t shatter his heart. Just move on with your babies’ daddy.

I’m sure you have heard the story of the Ibadan woman who confessed that out of her six children, only one is for her husband, four are for her pastor and one for a meat seller. Tell me, is there a worse way to kill a man than that confession? Can you imagine the condition of that man after hearing that demonic confession? I can’t. All the children he had naming ceremonies for, paid school fees for, children whose PTAs he attended are ‘suddenly’ no longer his children. Are women mean or what?

‘They’ say that women are mean when their men are down and broke. They say we unleash the full length of our caustic tongues on men that are already flat on their backs and down on their luck. Are ‘they’ lying, taking our names in vain? No they are not. In my feeble response, let me quickly counter by saying that men who are broke are difficult, if not impossible, to live with. They act like a dog with sores on its head, touchy and irritable with a short fuse that is a constant electrical shock risk. But not all broke men are difficult, the same way it’s not all wives of broke men that are mean. However, since this piece is about women’s meanness, I’ll own up on behalf of my gender that we can be really deadly with men that we perceive as lazy, lacking in ambition and broke. Women have been known to send their husbands to early graves for being broke and poor. Many men became drunks and junkies because drugs, beer bottles and sachets of gin were the only friends they could count on when they lost their jobs or their ‘containers’ got lost at sea.

For me, the deep end of women’s meanness surface when a prosperous man’s prosperity is brought to its knees by a vengeful wife or lover. Did you ask how that works? Here’s how. A wife whose philandering husband had caused untold distress and stress decided she’d had enough when he finally brought home a second wife. In her evil wisdom, she decided that the real problem was the extra cash her husband had. Once he was broke and in the poorhouse, the women flocking around him would fly somewhere else and she would have her husband to herself, broke. Incredible and irrational conclusion? Well, a wickedly jealous woman is not a rational woman. In her utter sadistic state, she forgets that when her husband’s prosperity disappears, she is the worst hit, the prime sufferer. She’d become the bread-winner by force. She’d be stuck with a depressed dog with flies chasing its sores. Why would a woman want to upturn her husband’s fortune just so she can make the man unattractive to other women? What if by some unusual stroke of luck another woman, a wealthy one, picks him up from his wife’s gutter and builds him a palace? What then would be the summary of the life and machinations the demonically jealous wife?

Women, why do we do those terrible things we actually do? Why do we inflict the pains we do not want other women to inflict on our brothers, sons? Madam, how exactly will you feel if you wake up at 80 to find that your grandchildren are not your grandchildren because your daughter-in-law outsourced her ovulation periods? How will you feel if one slip of a girl jazzes up your only son and whisks him away from his wife and even you, his mother? Oh, you think it can never happen to you? It can, trust me. Karma is a bitch like that and then there is the law of harvest.

So, before you decide to deploy jazz to ruin your husband just to keep him where you want him, under your thumb, in control of his dick, pockets and life, think again because there is a day called tomorrow.
In all, are women meaner than men or men are the meanest? What do you think?

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has vowed to return to the octagon after announcing that he is taking a break from the UFC.

Israel Adesanya decided to embark on the break about a month after he lost his Middleweight belt to an underdog, Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia.

His defeat to the 32-year-old American mixed martial artist is said to be the biggest upset in MMA history.

The 34-year-old Nigerian-born Australian fighter said his break from UFC is to help him refocus, change his way of life, and prepare for the future after suffering his third competitive loss in the UFC.

“I’m not making any excuses. Strickland got me on the night because he was the better fighter on the night, and he did his work well. He had a good team behind him. Now I’m going to take time to look after myself. I’m not going to fight for a long time. I’m definitely not going to retire, because that’s not me,” Adesanya told The Rock FM.

“But if I did, I’m fine. I don’t need to prove anything else. But I know what I can do, and I know what I can change in my lifestyle to make my body adapt to where I need to be. I’m going to heal myself up, you won’t see me fight for a long time.”

He added, “Four fights in the last 14 months, takes a toll on your body.

“I’m just going to take my time to heal, and then when I come back, f**king run for the hills”.

Israel Adesanya revealed that Khamzat Chimaev could have been his opponent at UFC 294, but his team declined the opportunity due to his sabbatical.

On Saturday, October 21, the unbeaten Chimaev will face fellow Nigerian fighter Kamaru Usman instead.

Meanwhile, Adesanya admitted guilty to charges of drunk driving in New Zealand and now faces a sentence of up to $2,680 in fines or three months in jail.

On August 19, Adesanya was stopped, and it was found that he had a blood alcohol level of 87 milligrams per 100 milliliters. The legal limit in New Zealand is 50 milligrams.

He will go back to court on January 10 to receive his punishment.

[NaijaNews]

Let’s begin with a discussion on the homily of Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. A tireless advocate for justice, democracy and human development. Bishop Kukah had posited: “We pray too much in Nigeria. It’s time to embrace science and technology. After independence, in order to build a great nation, each country went to work. But in Nigeria, after independence, our people went to pray and fast. So, while we were praying, Malaysia came here and took our palm seedlings and build a great factory of it. 

“While we were praying, India went into ICT. While we were praying, China went to massive industrialization. 

“While we were shouting Allah Akbau! UAE went into massive infrastructural development. While we were binding and casting Lucifer, Japan went into technological development. While we were speaking in tongues, Denmark went into education of her citizens. While we were mounting big speakers in our places of worship, USA was mounting man on the moon.”

Suffice to say that Nigerians are a bundle of contradictions as they displayed external religiosity without the fear of God.

Consequently, Nigeria has been ranked second most prayerful, but worst corrupt country. Most prayerful and one of the poorest on earth – prayers without innovation, I presume. I believe in prayer, but I also believe prayer without the use of knowledge and proper leadership in place in a country like ours is effort in futility. Our prayers must be planned and purpose-driven. Therefore, it is imperative that any system built upon that type of structure that nobody has a deep sense of belonging or patriotism to say ‘this is our own,’ is not going to last.

Let us digress a little, the puzzle that remains unresolved is Nigeria’s status as an oil producing nation with an enormous revenue generation capacity from other non-oil exports, woefully contrasts with the extreme poverty of her citizens and her decaying infrastructural and institutional development. Incidentally, it is within this state of affairs that our leaders have found prayer as the solution to the problems. This contribution contends that prayer, whether in the Christian, Muslim and African Traditional forms, is essential for human activities and existence. On the other hand, it argues that for the receipts of God’s blessings, Nigeria must at least ensure that she makes deliberate effort to do God’s will by judiciously using his gift for the good of all.

Nigeria and Afghanistan are like siamese twins in terms of praying – they can pray salt into a soup without buying any ingredients for the soup. They’re that good. Nowadays, it feels romantic to think of the banishment of religion. However, without religion, morality has no firm foundation, no supernatural content and context and can most likely produce mischief-making egomaniacs. New report ranks Nigerians second most prayerful people on earth according to a research by the Pew Research Centre, Nigeria took the second position with 95 percent prayer rate. 

The Pew Research Centre is a non-partisan American think-tank based in Washington, D.C. Find below a list of the most prayerful countries on earth.

1. Afghanistan: 96%

2. Nigeria: 95%

3. Algeria: 88%

4. Senegal: 88%

5. Djibouti: 87%

6. Iran: 87%

7. Iraq: 87%

8. Niger: 87%

9. Indonesia: 84%

Meanwhile, the likes of China (1%), UK (6%), Switzerland (8%), Austria (8%), Czechoslovakia (9%), Germany (9%), Estonia (9%) France (10%) and Denmark (10%) are the least prayerful. Find below the lists of the less prayerful countries on earth.

1. China: 1%

2. UK: 6%

3. Switzerland: 8%

4. Austria: 8%

5. Czechia: 9%

6. Germany: 9%

7. Estonia: 9%

8. France: 10%

9 . Denmark: 10%.

For the records, Nigerians are known for endless prayers with less commitment. This is an issue of serious concerns about prayers without commitment.

The seeming opposition by many Nigerians to president Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal has no doubt been generally misunderstood. Of course, it is an open secret that the subsidy regime had been more of a cause than a blessing to the people. But no one is convinced that fuel subsidy removal can be done without dialogue and more importantly without a clearly well-thought-out statement on how to manage its devastating consequences.

Even the International Monetary Fund which is a pro-subsidy removal body has admitted that in addition to the decision to remove fuel subsidy, Nigeria must make efforts to protect poor citizens from the high cost of living crisis. Last week at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco, the IMF told Nigeria to complement the fuel subsidy removal with a set of policies that could help lower inflation and protect the most vulnerable citizens.

In many other countries, the percentage of the society that is described as vulnerable can be quite insignificant but not so in Nigeria where everybody except the political class has been impoverished. What this suggests is that Nigeria needs to put a halt to practices that exacerbate poverty across board in the land. If it is hard to stop the private sector from profiteering, it is certainly irrational for government itself to frequently act as an inflation catalyst.

Quite often, we hear sermons to ordinary entrepreneurs to come down on their prices which are much higher than what informed the increases. If so, how do we explain unjustifiable increases in public services that are initiated by government and its agencies? Put differently, why do government agencies introduce at will so many procedures and processes whose implementation automatically increase the cost of a service to the citizenry beyond its normal cost if such procedures were abridged?

There are so many examples of government’s insensitivity which encourage everyone to increase the cost of their goods and services. Let’s begin with the posture of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).    Several years ago, the service suddenly decided to equate the cost of renewing an international passport with the cost of getting an initial/fresh passport.  

Added to this, is a set of what to do as well as when and where to do it which immigration personnel exploit to create long queues so as to extort money from applicants. Commendably, when a digitally proactive Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo assumed office as Nigeria’s new interior minister, the NIS got a marching order to clear the backlog of over two hundred thousand passports that had been outstanding for production. Tunji-Ojo also vowed that with his new reform measure in place, never again will there be any backlog of passports in Nigeria.

 The minister did not stop there. Since his appointment, he has left no one in doubt that the old order in which service delivery is handled like rocket science is over. All agencies in the interior sector are now forced to be on their toes because unlike his predecessors Tunji-Ojo does not believe that an interior minister should operate as one idler whose main job is to announce public holidays. The man has already alerted all those concerned that service delivery in the interior sector during his tenure would be premised on management by intellect.

To start with, he is insisting that no one would get promoted simply on the basis of longevity of service. Instead, several other factors would be added to the passing of promotional examinations. One of such measures is the requirement for all officers in the sector to upgrade themselves academically. For this reason, the minister has set up a ‘Paramilitary Brain Trust’ framework for continuous professional development programmes. So, it is time to warmly commend Minister Tunji Ojo while expecting more from him.  

In other climes, where governments work for the welfare and security of citizens, the activities for which this piece picks up Tunji-Ojo and Festus Keyamo are taken for granted but not so in Nigeria where from the colonial era, citizens are treated as objects rather than the subject of democracy. In the aviation sector for example, government was the first to display a love for inflation in its reaction to the fuel subsidy removal.

As soon as the popular ‘subsidy is gone’ statement was made, an increased payment schedule was introduced at our airport toll gates. The only consequence of that unnecessary increase was the awareness it created for everyone to increase prices. It would not have been too bad if the increases improved service delivery, but till today many facilities be it screening machines, loud speakers, lifts on stairs etc. malfunction in all our airports. It is against this background that a loud applause welcomed the admonition of minister Festus Keyamo for all actors in the sector to be mindful of the untold hardships which their incompetent services impose on Nigerians.

 Our airlines operate as if they have no official regulator. (Do they really have?) Before the era of insecurity that scared away many people from the highways, even the rich preferred road transportation because the waiting hours at our airports were usually longer than the long hours of road journeys. No one has since then stopped the airlines from lateness and inhumane delays. Now that Keyamo has harshly criticised them, is there any hope that some relief would come the way of passengers, who are unable to travel seamlessly from one place to the other as is done in other parts of the world?

Apart from visible collusion by the regulator, many of the airlines have become attuned to the old culture of African time. We can quickly recall the interesting story of one air hostess who apologised for late departure on the only day her airline was on time. In other words, with apology as a routine part of work ethics in our aviation industry, not much change can happen to lateness except Keyamo compels the regulator to act.

 Perhaps the main reason Keyamo is commended today is his courage in cancelling the Nigeria/Ethiopia 419 airline arrangement. It was a great leadership initiative to save Nigeria from further international embarrassment. As the Airline Operators of Nigeria AON put it the Nigeria Air project under the immediate past administration was not only an idea that was poorly thought-out, it in addition ‘lacked any modicum of transparency.’ In fact, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation which investigated the process and purported launch of Nigeria Air described it as a fraud.

Throwing the project out promptly suggests that Keyamo is set to give Nigeria, the type of Aviation system she desires. There are many little things that can make the difference if well tackled. For how long for instance should Nigeria parade airports that cannot provide night services? Why can’t we have intercity flights in Nigeria instead of all flights heading first to Lagos or Abuja? When can we have flights from Kano to Kaduna or Benin to Asaba or Ibadan to Akure?    To raise these old posers in 2023, underscores Nigeria’s stunted growth.

 So much is expected from all our ministers. First, they need to justify their large numerical strength. Second, they must strive to stop all insider abuses that contribute largely to our dilemma. Each time we hear of demolition of illegal structures, the first thought is usually that of crass indiscipline among our people who experiment with every rule or regulation. But that is not always the case; there are many cases where the so called illegal structures were approved in exchange for gifts. Here, we call in particular on Minister Nyesom Wike who is anxious to build a better FCT to please publicise sanctions meted to corrupt officials who initially encouraged the distortion to Abuja’s master plan.

 In education, we ought to easily look forward to the possibility of restive academic sessions in our tertiary institutions now that we have Tahir Mamman – astute educational administrator, former Director General of the Nigerian Law School and also former University Vice Chancellor as Minister of Education. Beyond education, Nigeria’s development should no longer be a narrative; what we need now is not frequent announcements of plans, efforts, strategies and challenges. Rather, let’s hear more of achievements in critical areas such as road construction projects which in the past were announced but never executed.

Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a non-profit organization with a 22-year track record of inspiring and advocating for women in leadership positions, held its Maiden London Conference, “Limitless: Embrace the Infinite,” on October 5th, 2023. The Conference took place under the vibrant Hilton London Kensington and was eagerly anticipated by attendees.

The day commenced at 8:30 AM, with the venue buzzing with activity as participants gathered for what promised to be an exceptional event. Registration began with a palpable sense of anticipation.

The Conference opened with a warm welcome address by Kemi Adewole, the London Conference Planning Group Chair. She urged attendees to embrace their limitless potential, challenge boundaries, and dare to dream boldly. She emphasized the importance of resilience and determination in overcoming obstacles and highlighted WIMBIZ’s global perspective in empowering women beyond Nigeria in its 22nd year.

Bisi Adeyemi, Chairman, Board of Trustees, WIMBIZ, welcomed everyone to the Conference and spoke on the importance of the WIMBIZ Conference. She said, “We have consistently hosted the WIMBIZ Annual Conference for 21 years. Our Conference has attracted different speakers from different sectors.” The Conference has undoubtedly become a platform that brings together professionals from various sectors. 

Ibukun Awosika, Co-Founder of WIMBIZ, delivered a powerful speech on the importance of having excellence and building strong values to achieve unlimited potential. She emphasized that it is the daily efforts and actions that lead to limitless outcomes.

Dignitaries, including the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, emphasized the importance of clear-cut objectives and their need to be attainable, precise, and time bound.

Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman, Senior Adviser, Special Project & Strategic Relations to the Group President, Dangote Industries Limited, discussed the significance of networking, especially for women aspiring to grow in their careers or businesses. She praised WIMBIZ as a global hub for networking and encouraged women to continue networking.

His Excellency, the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, ably represented by Hon. Damilola Yusuf, Commissioner for Business, Innovation & Technology, Kwara state, reaffirmed WIMBIZ’s commitment to women’s empowerment, highlighting Kwara state’s achievements in achieving 52% political representation and promoting female education.

The Conference featured three plenary sessions:

• “LIMITLESS COLLABORATIONS: BORDERLESS NETWORK”:Panelists discussed working together toward a common goal, being open to suggestions, and its significance in outstanding leadership and followership. 
• “LIMITLESS VENTURES: SOARING OVER SETBACKS”:This session explored overcoming setbacks and how they can propel individuals in the right direction when handled correctly. Panelists shared insights and personal stories of resilience. 
• “HEALTH & WELLNESS SESSION”:The panelists emphasized the importance of a sound mind and health by prioritizing health and regular doctor appointments. 

Hansatu Adegbite, Executive Director of WIMBIZ, expressed gratitude to the speakers, delegates, panelists, guests, vendors, partners, and sponsors - Cuppy Foundation, MTN Foundation, Wakanow, Firstbank, ABS Foundation, Alpha Childcare, Lifecard, Eduspace, Stability & Sustenance, Brains & Butter, Lara Cameron-Cole and our Media Partners, for making the Conference a resounding success. She urged participants to prepare for the WIMBIZ Annual Conference in Lagos, Nigeria.

The event concluded with an unforgettable after-party featuring DJ Cuppy (Florence Otedola), who encouraged everyone to embrace their uniqueness and leverage creativity as a superpower.

About WIMBIZ:

Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) is a non-profit organisation that has, over the last 22 years, implemented programs that inspire, empower and advocate for a greater representation of women in leadership positions in the public and private sectors.  

Contact:

WIMBIZ Communications Team

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

+234 810 639 6789

https://wimbiz.org/

Let’s talk governance. There’s something to cheer for a change: Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo had promised to clear the backlog of 204,332 passports outstanding at the corruption-ridden Nigerian Immigration Service within two weeks. The goal was achieved in three weeks. By Nigerian standards, that achievement is a cause for celebration.

We all remember all the novel measures introduced to facilitate passport issuance during the Obasanjo administration (1999-2007). As soon as a new administration came in, immigration officials rolled back the changes and reverted to their default setting designed to make the process of obtaining the Nigerian passport an ordeal that could only be mitigated by paying bribes.

It is difficult to fully appreciate the level of degeneracy in the passport issuance system if you had never been on the receiving end. In the past, a visit to any passport office showed how little respect the government had for its citizens. Like most public service outlets, citizens were dehumanised and fleeced at random. Little wonder that foreign embassies and consular offices took a cue and treated Nigerian applicants for visa like sub-humans.

Woeful Past

Stories of woe abound aplenty. There was the story of a lady working with a multinational firm who needed to attend a conference and sought the renewal of her passport. When she showed up to have her photograph taken, the officers on duty advised her to pay for ‘fast-tracking’ if she wanted to receive her passport in time. She paid the bribe, but the bribe-takers did not perform as promised. By the time she laid her hands on the passport, the conference had come and gone. She missed the conference.

An online medium, PRNigeria, recently told the story of Eklou Joseph, an Indonesia-bound student, whose narration gave a graphic picture of how the wheel of corruption in the passport issuance process rolled:

He said: “When my friend made his online payment, they frustrated him because they assumed he was trying to be clever by first registering online, instead of physically seeking their help for the registration…

“I didn’t bother to pay online, I came here directly and paid N150,000 for a 64-page passport with ten-years validity (which normally cost N70,000). The N80,000 I added to the N70,000 for my passport is for ‘fast tracking’. Meaning, the NIS officials will fast-track the processing of my passport, and ensure that I get it in a week, after completing my registration”.

He was subjected to a ‘Nigerian roulette’ for months thereafter before his passport was produced. He said he felt ashamed for his country.

Frustration Abroad

As to be expected, the passport mess has also been exported abroad. There was the case of a student in the UK who had wasted precious time attempting to follow due process by applying online for her passport. When nothing seemed to be working, she spoke to fellow Nigerian students who advised her to stop wasting time and reach out to a particular middle man known as a reliable facilitator. Rather than do that and pay the required bribe, she called her parents in Nigeria who spoke to somebody who knew somebody — and, pronto! The lady was given the name and number of an officer within the embassy with instructions that her call was being expected.

After making the phone call, she was requested to come the following day. By the time she was leaving the embassy several hours later, she had her brand new passport in her hands!

Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo revealed that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) had to work on three shifts per day, including weekends and public holidays, to achieve delivery within the deadline. He saluted the ‘heroic’ efforts of immigration officers and called on applicants to come and collect their passports.

The minister’s achievement within such a short time showed that it is possible to fix the incongruities in Nigeria if there is political will. The minister didn’t import immigration officers from Pluto or Neptune. He used the same personnel who were lounging on the rot before his arrival in the Interior Ministry. Many analysts, however, disagree with the minister’s characterisation of the officials as ‘heroes’. What heroism is in doing a job for which you are paid?

All the same, I am not unhappy to re-echo the rambunctious celebration of my barber who is hoping that his son will someday benefit from the new ‘quick passport’ spirit blowing through the NIS and join the Japa golden fleece train. Barber Adio thinks Minister Tunji-Ojo is a magician deserving of celebration. “Tiri gbosa for di minista!”, he roared.

Umahi’s Concrete Advocacy

Works Minister Dave Umahi is an engineer who, so far, seems to be engineering well (apologies, Jerry Gana). Since he took office, he has made it known to whom it may concern that he will not be a rubber stamp minister who’s only interested in kickbacks at the expense of the country. “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face”, wrote Shakespeare; so, this is not about judging a book by its cover. What catches my attention is that for once, we have a minister who asks questions and is ready to do things differently.

Against the traditional practice of constructing major highways with Asphalt surfacing, he has, against the run of play, been advocating the use of concrete. He is convinced that our environment is more hostile to asphalt roads than those made of concrete and that the latter would be both cheaper and more durable. What excites me is that general science seems to bear Umahi out.

Experts in the field of engineering posit that asphalt has its own merits. It is petroleum-based (a mixture of aggregates such as sand, gravel, crushed stone and a petroleum-based binder). It is flexible, can withstand extreme temperatures and is also easier and cheaper to repair than concrete. By comparison,  concrete (a mixture of cement, water, and aggregates), is more environmentally friendly and can last up to 30 years with proper maintenance.

Festac Example

Our experience in Nigeria is that many major highways constructed with trillions of Naira begin to fail even before the full completion of the whole stretch. Sometimes, the problem may not be due to bad workmanship but wrong choice of materials. A verifiable example known to this writer is the highway from Amuwo-Odofin to Festac Town through the famous Apple Junction. Contractors used to pay an annual pilgrimage to that road unfailingly because the asphalt coat never lasted more than eight months. That was until the then Governor Fashola put a stop to the scam by ordering a fresh soil test which indicated that interlocking concrete tiles would be the best option. The road has remained in pristine condition since then.

If that is the spirit Dave Umahi is bringing to his assignment at the Works Ministry, I have no doubt that he will find ready allies in the common people who, over the years, have borne the brunt of government’s incompetence and corruption. It is better to have safe, well paved highways with toll gates than to have free, sprawling death traps which only serve to depopulate the country.