My wife and I vacationed in Jamaica for a week a few weeks ago both to decompress from our busy lives here in the United States and to explore and soak in the gorgeous, pristine beaches and rich, riveting history of Jamaica, the island nation of fewer than 3 million people, which nonetheless has an outsized global cultural influence that belies its modest size and population.

When we landed in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, it felt like I was in Nigeria, which I haven’t visited since June 2016. The sights, sounds, and smells of this brisk, bustling city struck me as distinctly West African, even Nigerian. Everywhere I turned, I saw people who reminded me of the family members, friends, and acquaintances I left in Nigeria.

I shouldn’t be surprised because it’s common knowledge that a little over 90 percent of Jamaicans trace ancestral provenance to West Africa.  The ancestors of most modern Jamaicans were enslaved to the Americas mostly from the Akan and Ashanti people in Ghana and from the Yoruba, Igbo, and Ibibio people of Nigeria. But it’s still astonishing how remarkably West African these people still are after hundreds of years of separation from their origins.

Kingston looks and feels like the stereotypical African city. The hustle and bustle of the city, the open markets, the street food, the ever-present, often needless, honks from the horns of motorists, the haggling over prices of most things, the uneasy co-mixing of spotless prosperity and grubby poverty, etc. remind you of a typical city in West Africa even though Jamaica is just a two-hour flight from Atlanta in the United States.

We went there as tourists, but we were indistinguishable from the locals—until we spoke, that is. I had never felt more at home in a foreign country than I did in Jamaica. It wasn’t only redolent of home, that is, Nigeria, it felt truly like home. Even the flora and fauna of the country evoked memories of my growing up in Nigeria because Jamaica is in the tropics.

 I saw weed, grass, flowers, and fruits that I grew up with in my hometown whose names I don’t know in English and that I have never seen in the United States. In some parts of the country, we encountered savannah vegetation. In other parts, we saw rainforest vegetation—like you would in many West African countries. This redounded to the sensation of familiarity we felt throughout our stay there. 

Afrocentrism is mainstream here. So are Rastafarianism and belief in African spirituality even for people who profess Christianity. For instance, Obiism, which we call juju or jazz in Nigeria, is rife not just in Jamaica but in the entire Caribbean islands. Juju men or medicine men are called “Obeah men.” Scholars have traced the etymology of Obeah to dibia, the Igbo term for medicine man.

 Skin bleaching is negligible. Race pride is sky high. People here embrace their Africanness with fierce pride. When people discovered we were Nigerians their attitudes changed toward us: they became exceptionally friendly and protective without expectation of reward.

For example, when we visited the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, a Kingston neighborhood where Bob Marley grew up and which has the distinction of being the birthplace of reggae music, the head of the place called my wife and I “queen and king” because we said we were from Nigeria.

She was sitting comfortably in her easy chair when we were ushered into her office. She probably first assumed that we were Black Americans. The moment we said we were from Nigeria, she instinctively got off from her seat in a show of reverence that both discomfited and surprised me. She said we were their brother and sister from the motherland, “our queen and our king.” It later occurred to me that it wasn’t us as Maureen and Farooq that she was in awe of; it was what we represented to her. We symbolized her West African ancestors.

She wasn’t alone. Everyone in Trench Town, from the tour guide to random people in the streets who recognized us as Nigerians, treated us with noteworthy kindness and fraternal love. One man whom our tour guide told we were from Nigeria gave us his umbrella for free because it was drizzling as we walked toward a part of the town Bob Marley memorably described as a “concrete jungle” in one of his songs.

 When I asked how he would get his umbrella back, he said we could take it with us. He was overcome with emotions that we were Nigerians who came to visit Jamaica and connect with our long-lost cousins. It almost made me shed a tear. We gave the umbrella back to the tour guide to return it to him. 

It was an inexplicably surreal sensation when we walked the streets that Bob Marley walked as a child and sat on the bed he slept in for years after he left his mother in Delaware in the United States and returned to Jamaica. The room, which is just a few meters away from his guardian’s room in a multi-family, tree-studded compound that is reminiscent of a traditional West African home, inspired the famous “Three Little Birds” song. 

The dingy little room is located in a part of the compound that causes, even forces, you to rise up in the morning “with the risin' sun.” And the verdant, arboreal abundance of the compound invited, still invites, birds to perch on trees and descend on the ground to sing sweet songs. That was the sentiment Marley captured when he sang, “Three little birds/Pitch by my doorstep/Singin' sweet songs/Of melodies pure and true.” 

Our visit to the home Bob Marley built and lived in on 56 Hope Road in Kingston until his death (which has been converted to the Bob Marley Museum) was no less thrilling. In his bedroom, Marley created a special space for gifts he got from different parts of Africa, which is still carefully preserved. 

A major highlight of the tour of the Bob Marley Museum was an interaction with the warm, avuncular, and pleasant Bongo Herman, Bob Marley’s percussionist and contemporary. Herman, who is 79 and was born Herman Davis, spotted me in the crowd of tourists and motioned me to come. He asked if I was African. I answered in the affirmative and added that I was Nigerian. 

He said he suspected I was Nigerian but didn’t want to be wrong by being too specific. It turned out that he had visited Nigeria—and several African countries—many times and collaborated with scores of African, including Nigerian, musicians. I would also mistake him for a Nigerian if I met him anywhere. He looks every bit like an Igbo man from Umuahia!

We also spent some time in Montego Bay, which is the commercial nerve center of Jamaica. It’s saner, gentler, wealthier, and more beautiful than Kingston. Its serenity and marble splendor remind me of Abuja.

But in spite of its many similarities with Nigeria, Jamaica bests Nigeria in the human development index. It’s a higher middle income country. Nigeria is a lower middle income country. The Jamaican dollar is way stronger than the naira. And Jamaica’s infrastructure is more virile than Nigeria’s. Electricity is constant in the cities we visited. Only natural disasters cause power outages, locals told us. Unlike Nigeria, Jamaica has no natural resources. Tourism is its major source of revenue.

Nonetheless, Nigeria’s influence is growing in this island nation. Afrobeats is everywhere and is threatening to upend reggae. Early this year, Jamaican Opposition Leader Mark Golding lamented that "Afrobeats is eating our food," which is a reference to the progressively diminishing influence of Jamaican music as a direct consequence of the rise of Afrobeats.

In spite of this, everyday folks in Jamaica love Nigeria. For some reason, former President Goodluck Jonathan is hugely popular here. Most Jamaicans who discovered that we were Nigerians never failed to ask after Goodluck Jonathan. It was in Montego Bay that a taxi driver told us that Jamaicans love Jonathan because when he visited the country, he offered to sell petrol to the country at cheaper prices than they get from Venezuela but that their leaders spurned the offer.

 They also said he kept his promise to enable direct flights from Nigeria to Jamaica. I haven’t confirmed the accuracy of these claims, but Jonathan is by far the most popular Nigerian leader in Jamaica.

You can’t write about Jamaica without talking about Jamaican Patois, which shares historical and linguistic affinities with West African Pidgin English. I thought because I could make sense of written Jamaican Patois based on my knowledge of Nigerian Pidgin English, I wouldn’t have trouble understanding spoken Jamaican Patois. Wrong.

“Good night” means “good evening.” If you understand “good night” to be the conversational expression of goodbye, there will be a communication breakdown, like there was between my wife and our hotel receptionist. And if you don’t understand anything, just say, “Yah, man!” It’s an all-purpose interjection for almost everything—or so it seems.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has stripped Nigeria of the gold medal won in the women’s 4×100 meters event at Birmingham 2022.

The quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha claimed gold in the 4×100 meters race during last year’s Commonwealth Games (CWG).

Nwokocha, who ran the anchor leg for Nigeria, however, failed a doping test during the competition after ostarine and lingadrol were found in her sample A urine.

Consequently, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) handed her a provisional suspension, banning her from the sport.

“The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) can confirm that the Commonwealth Games Federation Court has issued their decision regarding an in-competition sample provided by Ms Nwokocha, who competed in Athletics at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games,” the statement reads.

The federation added that Nwokocha’s case has been forwarded to AIU for further consequence.

Following the court verdict, England, which initially finished second, will get the gold medal, Jamaica will be upgraded to silver while Australia will have the bronze.

[TheCable]

The deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, has said the N70 billion National Assembly (NASS) Infrastructure was not to be drawn from the N500 billion approved for palliatives by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

Kalu gave this clarification when he led the principal officers of the House to meet journalists on the heels of the passage of a bill, amending the N819 billion 2022 supplementary budget to extract N500 billion for palliatives.

According to the components of the amended appropriation act, N500 billion was for palliatives and other capital expenditure to cushion the effect of recent subsidy removal policy and N185 billion for Ministry of Works and Housing to alleviate the impact of the severe flooding experienced in the country.

Others are N19 billion for Federal Ministry of Agriculture to ameliorate the massive destruction to farmlands across the country during the severe flooding experienced last year, N35 billion to National Judicial Council, N10 billion to Federal Capital Territory Administration for critical projects and N70 billion to National Assembly.

Kalu said, “What we did today was not just for the palliatives so that the narrative that will be out there will not be that we passed palliative bill to take care of the Judicial Commission, to take care of National Assembly.

“It is the National Assembly infrastructure that we are talking about when we mentioned component that has to do with National Assembly for infrastructure. But the major part of the whole bill we passed today was to help Nigerians who due to the removal of subsidy are feeling the impact.

“There are various components of that bill, that bill did not speak about one component. That bill which is about N819 billion was not only for palliatives and so the breakdown was not only for palliatives, discussion was not only about palliatives,” he said.

Nigerian banks are beginning to lift the embargo placed on the use of naira cards for international transactions almost a year after they suspended the service.

Wema Bank on Friday told its customers they can begin to use their naira master cards for international transactions.

“It’s time to enjoy seamless transactions and make purchases internationally. You can now use your Naira cards, including Mastercard, ALAT Mastercard, and Visa, for international spending.,” Wema Bank said in a message to customers.

But the bank maintained a monthly transaction limit of $500.

“You can now use your Naira cards, including Mastercard, ALAT Mastercard, and Visa, for international spending. For your international transactions, you can enjoy up to $500 per month,” Wema said.

Following Nigeria’s foreign exchange crunch that lingered for years, banks began to suspend the use naira card for international transactions.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, had, on September 30, suspended international transactions on its naira Mastercard, citing “current market realities on foreign exchange.”

GTBank suspended online and PoS transactions with naira cards, effective from December 31, 2022.

Standard Chartered Bank suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit card in July 2022.

Zenith Bank Plc informed its customers that it has temporarily suspended the use of Zenith Bank Naira cards for International Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash withdrawals and PoS transactions.

Before the decision, banks had in March 2022 limited monthly card spending limit for web transactions from $100 to $20.

An Igbo interest group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has condemned plans by President Bola Tinubu to pay N8,000 to 12 million households as subsidy palliative.

The N8,000 stipend is to be paid monthly within a duration of six months to homes of low income earners.

Speaking via a press statement signed by its President General, Goodluck Ibem, the group described the plan as a Greek gift.

They insisted that it is impossible for a meagre sum of N8,000 to thoroughly cushion the hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.

The group said: “It is a Greek Gift for President Tinubu to say he wants to pay 12 million Nigerians N8000 a month when he is the same person that makes it impossible to use N8000 just to cook a pot of soup for a family of three, by removing fuel subsidy which has been paid for till July 2023 by the former administration.”

Speaking further, they alleged that Tinubu’s plan was simply to siphon the resources of the nation.

They insisted that it was the same thing ploy the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq did under president Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“This was the same thing the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq did, under President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The said Minister was collecting N500 billion every month from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the same purpose Tinubu wants to start now, but no household was seen benefiting from the said programme. It was just a conduit pipe used to loot the nation’s treasury dry.”

“Nigerians are not finding it easy to feed, pay transport fares and take care of other necessities as the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed because of the increased cost of fuel, diesel and other petroleum products.

“Nigerians are sick and tired of being deceived by those in power.

“We want programmes that will have a direct bearing on the people and not what will lead Nigerians into more suffering and abject poverty as is being experienced today because of the removal of fuel subsidy,” they added.

Prof Magnus Kpakol on Friday expressed support for subsidy on fuel production as opposed to consumption, citing Canada and the United States as economies implementing similar policies.

Kpakol’s remarks came on the heels of the Federal Government’s proposal to transfer N8,000 to 12 million poor households in the country, as part of its efforts to mitigate the economic pains brought on by the removal of fuel subsidy.

The six-month palliative plan was contained in a letter President Bola Tinubu wrote to the House of Representatives regarding an $800 million World Bank loan request of the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the social safety net programme.

This came barely a month after President Bola Tinubu declared in his inaugural speech that “fuel subsidy is gone” which was soon followed by assurances to millions of Nigerians.

Kpakol, who made a virtual appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, acknowledged the Tinubu administration for “trying” to end the subsidy regime, but highlighted the uphill battle.

“I admit we did not need the kind of fuel subsidy that we were getting. Even in Canada, where I am now, over 11 years ago, they made away with their own fuel subsidy programmes, although they still subsidise fossil fuels, but at the production level,” he said.

“So, in many countries, even the United States, there’s a subsidy at the production level, not so much at the consumption level. So, I understand that.

“But it is not easy for the (Tinubu) administration to tackle this problem, and then try to say they’ve left something that they could have done on the table. They are facing a very difficult situation and they’re attempting to try and resolve that by doing what they have done.”

A Reuters report published in March noted that calculating the cost of U.S. subsidies for the fossil fuel industry is complex because the incentives stretch across the U.S. tax code, but it added that estimates range from $10 to $50 billion per year.

In another report Friday, The Canadian Press indicated that Canada is set to fulfil a 14-year-old promise by G20 countries to wean fossil-fuel companies off of government subsidies that encouraged “wasteful” consumption and undermined efforts to slow climate change.

Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault also said new policy guidelines were underway dictating the circumstances under which future federal investments could still flow to Canadian oil and gas firms.

[Channels Tv]

While the federal government is yet to officially announce a policy change, the reality is beginning to dawn on Nigerians that public universities are no longer tuition-free and have not been for some time despite the narrative that they are.

Investigations by LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed that virtually all federal universities charge students a wide range of fees and are, in fact, beginning to raise the different categories of fees by close to 200 percent.

In the Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa, for instance, the charges include Medical examination, Identity card, SUG dues, Students handbook, Caution, Examination library, Sanitation, ICT, Sports/games, Result verification/issuance, Municipal services, and Lab/studio/workshop, Teaching practice/field trip/SIWES/project.

The University of Lagos, which has similar charges, has more than 62,000 students, indicating it generates billions of naira each semester.

While the National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS) has claimed tuition fees have consistently led to a high drop out of students from public universities, there are no verifiable records of the number of students who drop out each year due to the inability to pay the fees.

And in spite of the soaring cost of getting a university education, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has insisted that federal universities remain tuition-free and in what amounts to double speak, says the commission might consider regulating fees in universities.

But it is not only the NUC that is in denial about the existence of a tuition-free tertiary education policy by the federal government; so is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which for their own reasons are holding on to the notion that students don’t pay for their degrees and the university system is solely funded by the government.

In the 2023 budget of the federal government, N1.79 trillion was set aside for the education sector, out of which N470 billion was tied to tertiary institutions. Another N248.3 billion was allocated to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

But through publicly available data, LEADERSHIP Weekend was able to ascertain that the universities themselves raise just as much in revenue, which they rarely account for.

The University of Lagos, for instance, has a total population of 62, 215, according to the 2019/2020 statistics. 35,436 students are undergoing full time undergraduate programs, 57 percent of the total number.

2,532 are in Distance Learning Institute (DLI), 9046 pursuing Post Graduate Degrees, 2,797 students in the Institute of Continuous Education (ICE), and 2,404 in the sub-degree (Pre-degree program) 

UNILAG has 12 faculties, 6 institutes and 26 centers. According to the 2019/2020 Enrollment, the Faculty of Education has the highest number of students, 7,046, while the Faculty of Basic Medical Science (BMS) has the least number, 397 students. 

According to the figure by the bursary department of University of Lagos, new fulltime undergraduate students in both science and non-science faculties pay the same fees, a total of N64,500 for the first semester they are enrolled in.

The breakdown is as follows for the new students: Acceptance fee, N20,000; Registration, N5000; ID Card N1000; Results Verification, N5000; Examination, N5000; Medical Services (including drug test), N5,000; Library Services, N5000; Information Technology, N2500; Endowment fund, N10000; TISHIP, N5000, and Sports, N1000.

Speaking on the possibility of the government ending its funding of public universities, immediate past chairman of ASUU, UNILAG chapter, Dr Dele Ashiru, knocked the federal government over its decision on education loan, charging it not to be passive in educating its citizens. 

Ashiru said the education loan plan is a half-hearted response to tackling the funding challenges of education in Nigeria, just as he tasked the federal government to look at the model of Scandinavian countries who made education free because of its importance and ripple effect.

He said Nigeria has the funds to educate its citizens, adding that members of the legislature are not up to 1000 but “look at the huge funds they consume as salaries and allowances.”

The scholar from the Department of Political Science said the government initiative “is a long attempt in taking education out of the reach of the masses in Nigeria.

“Education is one of the pillars that build society. The government must not take a passive attempt in tackling education issues,” he added.

The government on its part is still saying tertiary education is free. 

In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, the acting director, Directorate of Public Affairs, of the NUC, Mallam Haruna Lawal Ajo said the federal government currently does not charge tuition fees for students.

He, however, said the government may decide to regulate fees in Universities, in consultation with stakeholders if the need arises.

“First, NUC does not regulate fees in Nigerian universities. The federal government could do so after consultations with stakeholders in the prevailing circumstances.

“Secondly, all federal universities remain tuition-free until the government in its wisdom decides to review the policy,” he noted.

Also, a staff in the Federal Ministry of Education, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the federal government does not determine fees in federal universities across the country.

The recent increase in the fees charged by the universities is however what has brought to light the reality that higher education in Nigeria is no longer free.

At the University of Abuja, the management announced an upward increase in the fees. The vice-chancellor, Prof Rasheed Na’Allah, explained that a committee had been working on the fee review for nearly a year, taking into account the rising inflation and comparing fees with other federal universities. 

He said, “Faculty deans and department heads presented their proposals, aiming to provide practical experiences and necessary resources for their academic programmes.”

However, it was gathered that the increased fees at the University of Abuja ranges from N82,000 per year for arts programmes to N225,000 per session for medicine.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for reduction in school fees.

Speaking with our correspondent, the coordinator, NANS North Central zone, Shedrack Anzaku, said the rate of students dropping out is increasing due to school fees’ hike.

He said that the association has already written to the NUC, asking it to prevail on tertiary institutions to reduce school fees.

“What the association expects is school fees reduction and not increment because the rate of dropout is increasing. We frown against all forms of school fees increasing at a time like this when there are numerous hardships across the country,” he stated.

In the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, the increase is taking a toll on the students, as well as parents, with many students withdrawing from school over their inability to bear the cost.

According to a source in the University of Maiduguri, the institution which has about 75,000 students admitted about 11000 students in the last academic year, but with the increment of the tuition fees by 200 percent, the University only admitted 7000 students in the current admission year.

Some students, he said, sought their admission with state universities in Borno and other parts of North East that are fast growing with lesser school fees. 

The current lowest registration fee now at the university is N53,000 while the highest, which is that of the Medical College, is N238,000.

Meanwhile, parents and students have decried the increase in the registration fees and charges for the 2022/2023 academic season by the authorities of the University of Maiduguri.

The university’s governing council recently announced an upward review of fees for the academic season.

Registration fees for undergraduate students in the faculties of Arts and Social Sciences were increased from N25,000 and N28,000 to about N100,000.

For instance, prior to the increment,  students of faculty of Law were paying not more than N35,000 per session,  but with the 200 percent hike,  part 1 and 2 of the faculty of law now cough out over N130,000 while those in 400 and 500 level pay about N103,000 as tuition fees.

Parts 1 and 2 new medical students  (MBBS) in the College of Medical Sciences will now pay N252,500, while returning students in higher classes, will pay N233,000 as against below N100,000 previously charged .

The new fees also require Medical Laboratory Science/Nursing new students to pay N136,500.

Returning students in the same departments will now pay N117,000, while new students in the departments of Anatomy and Physiology are to pay N162,500, and returning students are to pay N143,000.

The Borno Emirate Council and opinion leaders, including parents and students’ body, appealed to the management of the University for a reduction in the fees, but rather than listening to the pleas, students who could not pay the school fees which was later divided into 60/40 percent for first and second semester were forced out of examination halls in the ongoing university examinations.

The president of Students Union Government (SUG ), UNIMAID chapter, Munir Hassan Nababa, who confirmed that a lot of students were barred from writing the ongoing first semester examinations over non-payment of school fees urged the university management to discontinue the action since the students still have years in the institution. 

The SUG president who was recently elected added that the students’ body has spoken to the Dean of Students Affairs of the institution to allow students who have not paid school fees to write the exams but they refused. 

Nababa, a 400 level student of the University in the department of political science, said they are currently paying between N53,000, N78,000 and N98,000 depending on level as against N16,500, N28,000 and N30,000 charged by the University before the increment.

For year 1 students in the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), the notion of paying school fees less than N70,000 became a mirage upon admission.

Acceptance fees starts from about N80,000 depending on the course of study. Other payments include medicals, departmental dues, N5000; SUG dues, N5000, and faculty dues, N3000, while course of study determines school fees.

A year 2 student in Mathematics department pays N52,500 as school fees, while a year 1 student in Cyber security department paid N108,000. 

Truth is even as several students pay from N72,000 as school fees, especially those in Geology considered the highest before the school started medical studies. 

Findings showed that several students pay acceptance fees to be recorded as students. While their parents rally round to raise the school fees, they attend lectures and normally pay before the commencement of examinations. 

However, some students are lucky as their parents can pay all the fees in one fell swoop. 

Several students live within the Ihiagwa environs, either in hostel or off campus, where they pair with others to reduce cost, though some landlords demand not more than two in a room to reduce excrete waste and water consumption. 

The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has reportedly not increased tuition fees presently, as students were expecting tuition fee increment beginning from next session.

Some of the officials contacted were not willing to talk but multiple sources from students revealed that last session, ABU slightly increased its fees from N30,000 to above N50,000 for different courses except tuition fees for medicine that is more expensive than other courses.

They noted that ABU tuition fees vary from one department or facility to another as the fee is not the same.

A student who only identified himself as Sani in the faculty of education said, “My department is Guidance and counseling. Before I was paying like N30,000 but this second semester I paid almost N50,000. We are hearing rumours that the university will increase our tuition fees next academic session.”

A parent who did not disclose his name said his son who is studying Physics paid N34,000 to N35,000 last session, but paid N52,000 as tuition fee in the current session.

“The tuition fee before was N34,000 to N35,000 per session, but in this session, my son paid N52,000,” he noted.

[Leadership]

UK-based Nigerian woman, Ijeoma Ibijoke Jummai McDougall (nee Iheme), has won the prestigious Cheshire Woman Award for her enormous contributions to the lives of the less privileged in Nigeria and the UK. Ijeoma is the Founder of The Kairos Initiative, a charity that is dedicated to helping less privileged people around the world; “returning hope to those who have lost it.”

Through her charity, Ijeoma provides succor to victims of insurgency in the North Eastern region of Nigeria, where she hails from. She provides apprenticeships to young people; helping them to gain valuable skills and experience, equipping them to start their own businesses, and giving them the opportunity to make a real difference.

She has also provided clean drinking water to over ten thousand households, renovated a maternity ward, fed an orphanage, and clothed street kids. Ijeoma has connected Nigerian children in need with families in the UK; who provided them with Christmas gifts. “These are just a few examples of the work she has done for those who are most in need,” the organizers of the Cheshire Award stated.

“I got a letter saying I was a nominee for the Cheshire Woman Award of the Year, I couldn’t believe it because I don’t know who nominated me, I don’t know why they nominated me. If I am honest with you, I thought it was a scam,” Ijeoma told The Guardian.

 “I just decided to go and felt it would be a nice day, I’d get to meet other women who are doing great things. Before I received the letter, I saw a lady on Facebook saying she had received a nomination from Cheshire Woman of the Year and I was so excited for her because she is a scientist who creates all these products that help with pain relief and I thought of course she’s going to win because I couldn’t think of a better person.”

 Ijeoma added, “When they started to read out, they gave two examples of things that I did, they said my name, and I started crying. Everybody who was asking me what I was nominated for, I told them I don’t know because it was obvious to others what they were nominated for.”

“When they started reading the examples it made me emotional because the main thing I was nominated for is the thing that I had forgotten, like a lady that I put on Facebook who’s been in the hospital and didn’t have food for herself and her children, and I just got people on Facebook to donate foods so that we could fill up her cupboard. To me, this is a thing you do to people to have something to eat..It is not something I did myself, I asked for help and people gathered the help. I don’t think I should be getting the credit,” she said.

The Cheshire Woman Award is an annual event that has honored outstanding women for over thirty-seven years. Award nominees are not necessarily women in the limelight, but diverse women who were born, live, or work in Cheshire and have achieved great feats, demonstrated admirable courage, and made an exceptional impact within the community. Over 2,500 women have been nominated for the award since 1985.

[face2faceafrica]

Kenya Morans pipped Nigeria 61-59 in a FIBA AfroCan classification clash at the Pavilhao Multiusos de Luanda arena in Angola on Friday.

The Kenyans who were felled 55-46 by Morocco in their quarter-finals encounter on Thursday, will now take on Tunisia on Saturday for the fifth/sixth slot.

The North Africans managed a 61-56 victory against sad host Angola in another closely contest match-up played before the semi-finals. 

Cliff Owour's charges took off to a good start, leading 20-13 in the first quarter. But the D'Tigers stormed to an 18-13 edge in the second quarter as Kenya hanged on 33-31 at halftime.

After resumption, Kenya were down 13-11 at the end of the third stanza before taking the decisive quarter 17-15 and the game on two foul shots by captain Victor Bosire with 0:14 left to play.

Debutant Bramwell Mwombe was Kenya's toast as he came up with 13 points to lead the tally. Nigeria's Daniel Daramola registered a game-high of 14 points.

Kenya, who won the silver medal in the 2019 championship in Bamako, Mali, suffered a 55-46 defeat at the hands of Morocco.

They are 2-2 in the tournament after beating Ivory Coast 62-52 before going down 66-63 to Gabon in their second group phase game. The 12 teams spectacle comes to an end in the Angolan capital city on Sunday.

[the-star.co.ke]