An Open Letter To The Ministry Of Information & Media Stakeholders

The eye is the window of the soul and our ears also compliment the eyes which is why whatever gets into our brains ought to be adequately 'filtered' as they possess the capacity of building us up or destroying us.
Taking a close look at the bulk of information Nigerians are exposed to, one gets to wonder less at the increasing rate of unpatriotic attitudes and moral decadence in our society.
The media has been saddled with the responsibility of dispersing information to humanity and they ought to be commended for the good job thus far. However, let truth be told that 'destructive information' and lies have dominated the media, almost eliminating constructive ones.
When was the last time you ever watched the network news and got inspired or even smiled? We mostly encounter stories that make us feel bad about our country, stories we pray against, stories that make us feel weak, stories that render us unproductive. It's only when you are aware of specific information sources that you get to listen to or read exactly what's good for you.
In Nigeria, we complain about so many things (our media is chiefly responsible for this), how President Buhari and his government are deceiving Nigerians, how Dasuki did this and that, how robbers now operate, how people die mysteriously, how we pay tax and see no dividends, how electricity tariffs are so high, how bad our roads are, how this, how that making everyone feel as though Nigeria is a hub of catastrophic quagmires.
Only a microscopic few see this country in a different light. The transformational programs on ground, essay competitions, poetry and art exhibitions, quiz competitions, spelling bees, sporting activities (other than football), NGO/GO health and community programmes, agricultural programmes, youth empowerment programmes, scholarships and grants, technological advancements, etcetera. Such are not properly propagated and ignorant Nigerians would swear blindly that Nigeria does not do this, Nigeria does not do that, and these could be things already in existence for decades!  Worthy feats our media personnel consider uninteresting.
I challenge the ministry of information to look seriously into this issue. The things we hear and read have a compounding effect of either building or destroying an entire generation. Our citizens need to be encouraged and motivated. Lying to citizens in whatever guise is childish and unprofessional.
God Bless Nigeria.

Nigerians and the 'Sharp-Sharp' Mentality

There is nothing as uplifting as a positive mindset just as there is nothing as destructive as a negative one. We are always in a hurry to acquire everything only to miss out on the ultimate.
Imagine being asked to transfer water from a filled drum to an empty one using a tea cup! Of course it's only logical to assume that such a task would take several hours to accomplish, but no; we want it done in ten minutes! The question is: How?
That's the challenge we face in almost every facet of life today. The problem is not that things being done in a better and faster way is condemned, but our ability to figure out what things to be done with speed and those needing time to be nurtured is the issue here. An understanding of Jeff Olsen's slight edge principle can help illumine our minds on the subject matter.
This principle postulates that every result is born out of the accumulation of several little actions over time. It also asserts that each result is directly proportional to the time spent for its actualization. That is the larger a result (goal) the longer the time spent for its realization, and the smaller a goal, the shorter the time required for its realization.
For example, looking at the life of Jesus Christ, he began his public ministry at the age of 30 and died at the age of 33. We may ask, why did he wait until he was 30? What had he been doing with his life all the while? The answer is that he spent those 30 years preparing himself, and we all can testify to the immortal fruitfulness of his 3yr old ministry!
We seem not to be understanding the nothing-good-comes-easy phrase. When you dream of achieving anything momentous, you must have to give it enough time, else you will overburden yourself and risk chickening out too soon.
I did not write this article to address individual needs for humans are quite diverse, but I wrote this to speak on how such issues affect our politics as a nation.
If a Chairman/Governor/President /etc will come out and address the people that he/she wants to transform his/her area of jurisdiction within four to eight years, then he/she plans to grow weeds not trees.
One feasible way of moving a society forward is the development of a sustainable plan/blueprint of such a society to be agreed upon by majority of the relevant stakeholders. Such plans of course would be categorised into several actionable phases and all that would be required of the leaders and their subsequent successors is working on the laid out plans and making adjustments where applicable. Shikena.
I get disturbed when one government promises to work on industrial development, they are yet to complete this, and another opposing government is campaigning to work on electricity. The next one promises education and then another says good roads are a necessity..... No plan. And the end result is a tray filled with half baked bread.
Everyone is eager to do something 'quick' within four years so as to earn security for a second term in office and such quick projects seldom stand the test of time. We now prefer snacks over meals, and when the body accumulates more snacks than 'real food' over time, it begins to feel weak and sick.
This wrong phenomenon is exhibited by both the leaders and the led. President Buhari promised change for Nigeria, and upon assumption into office a few months ago, people are already agitating and shouting "where is the change?"
The truth is that if Nigerians truly understand the magnitude of change this country needs, we would know that it can never be achieved in Buhari's lifetime.
If I were to be the president, I would focus on laying out a road map that Nigeria needs to travel upon to the promised land and educate Nigerians on this blueprint and act on the actionable phases my limited time in office will grant me.
We all ought to support our leaders in the actualization of a better country. Throwing stones and raising dust at our leaders is like tickling the driver of a vehicle in motion. If he loses focus and crashes, you too might not be spared.
God bless Nigeria.  

Palm Oil or Pam Oyel?

I came back home yesterday evening and settled down to 'whack'  my ona g'ishkapa (tuwon shinkafa) with alakpa (gbegiri) meal. On swallowing the first ball, i felt a sharp slap on my jaws, that wrong-palm-oil kind of slap and my evening was ruined. I just had to eat because of the fish, pepper, beans etc plus the time and effort my younger sister Joy had put into the cooking, but I was vexed in spirit.
What heightened my vexation was the fact that this palm oil was bought from our neighbour who came to advertise that she now sells good palm oil. "Mummy I dey sell original palm oil now" she said, but as it turns out, she either knows not what she is selling or she simply is hungry to earn a bad reputation.
Let me iterate the experience of this 'original palm oil' in question.
Upon opening the 5 litre gallon of original palm oil, mum saw that it had congealed which made her to doubt its 'originality' but felt she should give it a try.
Mararaba district in Nasarawa state happens to be quite hot in the afternoons, hot enough to melt an exposed candle stick, but that same afternoon when Joy was preparing the soup, the oil, unlike liquids had taken its own shape inside the gallon. Placing the gallon over raw flame to melt the oil was time wasting since the gallon was filled, so she had to squeeze, shake and hit the gallon held upside down before lumps of palm oil dropped into the steaming pot of soup constituents like animal droppings which still took time and stirring to dissolve completely! Palm oil!
I then inquired on how such a bad product was processed and was alarmed to discover that the ideal palm oil is being mixed with akamu (pap) in order to boost its volume and thickness. Akamu! For some of us who believe we've never taken pap in our lives well..... I believe in miracles.....
Is it that our palm oil producers cannot process enough palm oil to satisfy the customers and hence resort to this 'health threatening' alternative or is it simply an act of greedy wickedness?
The Golden Rule asserts that everyone should be treated in equality and fairness but this rule is being observed mostly by none, myself included. These producers actually produce two brands of Palm oil. The 'family and friends' brand and the market brand. This family and friends brand was what Adam actually named 'palm oil', the market brand can and should be named something else. Like 'pam oyel'
There are certain things that manufacturers ought not to adulterate. I am okay with wristwatches, jewelry, shoes, bags and the likes being adulterated but never what is ingested into the human body. Things like food, drugs and drinks should be off limits inasmuch as adulteration is concerned. Affordability should not even be debated upon here.
As for the consumers of pam oyel, I advice you guys to stop patronizing such products at the detriment of your health. I am not an expert in the palm oil business but I hope those who are would help drop a comment or two. Here are a few tips I would like to share though :

• Never buy palm oil that feels like butter. The cold weather is not responsible but the akamu inside is. 
• Never buy oil from a boiling drum/pot at any distribution/retail outlet. It's not a post manufacturing nor a purification process but rather a technique used in keeping the oil in the second state of matter i.e. liquid. 

Confirm palm oil no dey sleep even for Jos, and the scent alone dey cure some sickness.
Let's work together and get bad palm oil out of our markets. 

God bless Nigeria. 

Kerosene Price Update

About six days ago, Nigerian oil tycoon, Femi Otedola the chairman of Forte Oil company, announced that Forte Oil would commence the sale of kerosene at 50 naira per litre in all her branches nationwide. 

I shared this with a woman who began to exclaim; "praisssssssse the Lord!" This got me scared and I decided to carry out some survey in my locality so as to ascertain the reality of my statement. 

I visited ten filling stations to inquire about the current price since Otedola had challenged his colleagues. Of these ten stations, only two had kerosene, Forte Oil and AYM Shafa (all at Mararaba, Karu LGA Nasarawa State) Forte Oil sold at 110 naira per litre while AYM Shafa sold at 105 naira per litre. For the rest who had no kerosene, i inquired about their normal prices. Oando settled for 125 naira per litre (the branch at Aso) only NNPC stood at 50 naira per litre, although they are ceaselessly out of stock which many perceive as a corrupt gesture. 

During my research, I met an attendant at Total filling station (the one close to the Orange market junction) and asked her ;

"How much una dey sell kerosene for here? "

She replied;

" I no know oo, I no dey there, na gas I dey use". 

As for Otedola, we want to believe that the tankers conveying Kerosene to Forte Oil branches nationwide are en-route. 

Burn The Thief!!!

It's no longer news in this part of the globe whereby jungle justice is being meted out on citizens of the underworld by angry mobs on apprehension.

We were in a discussion in our Church yesterday morning and experiences of this sort were shared due to its prevalence in the community. The topic being "What do you do with a thief if you catch one".  

The officiating priest Rev. Fr. Bitrus Wazamda, admonished his parishioners to frown at taking the law into their hands owing to the fact that human life is sacred and that all of us are guilty of similar sins in the past which never led to us being cremated alive or permanently maimed. After his lengthy advice, many hands were raised in objection after he summarized that thieves should be handed over to the police.  

Some were in support of the nefarious act (jungle justice) owing to the despicable disregard for the law in the country by the very ones who are supposed to uphold it. Someone said "when you take these people to the police, they will put them in the cell, and after one hour, they will be released instead of charging them to court, and you will be in grave danger of the thief's retaliation, so the best thing to do is to kill them so that their colleagues will be scared". 

Another said; "There are different categories of thieves, if it they were just to sneak into your house and carry your belongings, no problem. But someone would come and meet you inside your own house, armed with guns, machetes and all those things with two intentions of robbing and harming you.... Kai Fr". 

Others lamented on the destruction and disruption of families born from the depravity of this wicked sect.... 

One cause of this barbaric phenomenon is lawlessness!!! Integrity and justice has lost its bloom and bounce which has turned many civilians to barbarians. I share my experience:

During my service year in Gombe, seven of us got robbed in our lodge. We were beaten, wounded and our valuables were carted away which when summed up amounted to about five hundred thousand naira (damages inclusive). We managed to run some investigations and reported to the SSS  for assistance, they did nothing. We went to the police who were able to arrest two persons in possession of our stolen items and we began to rejoice that our items would be recovered. Something led to something and these boys were charged to court. After so many idle months and countless series of hearings, these boys were pronounced guilty of a two count charge of six months each which equated to a year jail term and were given an alternative to pay a fine of five thousand naira! To add salt to injury, they were asked to pay us a compensation of fifty thousand naira only! Which they never did. How then do I take someone tomorrow to the police? 

I'm not in any way promoting the evil we do in the name of justice. Killing your fellow human being is wrong, we're not animals. "Thou shall not kill, saith the Lord" and vengeance belongs to Him alone. Burning a thief alive is a worse thing to do than stealing. 

I use this medium to call upon the government to strengthen our judiciary and for our judiciary to uphold her integrity and for the police to give the people hope. 

Posterity will not forgive me if I fail to mention that we ourselves are the architects of our destruction. Why do many young and bright minds resort to violence and crime? God in His wisdom made provision for all, but the injustice of man to man has shut many from the bounty of His creation. One family do not know where to obtain their next meal from, another do not know where next to stash currency. Even if you honestly toiled to earn such money, it still isn't yours to keep for it has been entrusted to you by God for the use of others. (1 Peter 4:10)

How do you feel when your neighbours have light and you don't?  How then do you expect the hungry to feel when they are not invited to a feast hosted by their neighbours? Be your brother's keeper and the nation will be better. 

God bless Nigeria. 

President Buhari Gives 7day Ultimatum For The Payment Of Workers Salaries

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) has directed that all arrears of salaries and allowances of Nigerian workers must be compiled within seven days for them to be paid “immediately”, The Nation reports.

Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) Secretary-General Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, who broke the news in a statement released in Abuja yesterday, praised President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing hope to thousands of public service employees who are being owed arrears of salaries and allowances for years.

The Presidency identified the outstanding benefits as: salary arrears, promotion arrears, 1st 28 days allowance on transfer from post, repatriation allowance, burial expenses, death benefits and mandatory training of OHCSF in 2010.

The Presidency directed the MDAs to ensure that each unpaid entitlement is accurate, verifiable, with the name, designation, status (serving or retired) and amount due to each officer.

“The correct information should reach the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation on or before Monday September 21, 2015,” the circular, dated September 14 stressed.
Source... Metro news

Armed Forces Collision With Traders At Mararaba

It was no nonsense today at Sharp Corner Mararaba  when about fifteen Hilux and some few trucks with cranes manned by soldiers, police, VIO's, civil defense and road safety officers stormed the area and looted the items of traders selling close to the highway.
It can be recalled that about two weeks ago  during the visit of the state governor, Alh. Tanko Almakura, a warning was made to these traders to vacate the said premises of which many of them likened it to mere propaganda until this morning when they were taken aback by the Nigerian military and paramilitary forces.
Although we may miss some of the vendors occupying the region, it reminds Nigerians to learn obedience to authorities.

NCC Warning on Counterfeit Phones

From the info tech column of the Punch newspaper today, the acting executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta said between 15% and 20% of mobile devices in the Nigerian market are fake.
He also went further to iterate on the economic problem that results from our patronage of these devices, the health dangers they pose, their threat on our privacy et cetera.
What the NCC however fail to recognize is the fact that most of us do not really know the differences between fake and genuine electronic products, hence what effect will this warning have on us? I tag it as a mere propaganda.
If the NCC is really out to deal with the so called menace, they should take on proactive and result oriented measures. How do these fake products come into the country? Who certified that so and so product is okay for consumption by Nigerians? Who took the time to educate Nigerians on the dangers associated with using this device or that?
Some of us prefer Nigerians to remain gullible so as to enrich ourselves via their ignorance. If some agency were to deliver such public warning, I want to believe the National Orientation Agency should handle it.
NCC should focus on improving communication services that would better the living standard of Nigerians and not this.
God bless Nigeria.

Refuse Dumps On Highways

This picture above is taken at Mararaba, the most populous district in Nasarawa State bordering the Fct.
About two weeks ago, the state governor Alh. Tanko Almakura, visited this district which many believe was due to the promptings of President Buhari, during which he ordered marketers trading on the road side to evacuate the region as they where a major obstacle to smooth traffic flow.
I now ask this question... Traders and refuse, which one do we prefer to have on our highways?
This particular dump site has been in existence for years and i wonder if this too does not obstruct traffic. All we've witnessed the government do is to evacuate this pollution in bits not whole which poses a serious threat to health as well as reduce patronage to business operations within the vicinity.
Nasarawa State environmental protection board, protect our environment.
God bless Nigeria.

Buhari and his appointments

Following the announcement of the Presidential electoral results in April, many Nigerians sang praises of victory, trekking from one part of the country to another in extolment, throwing parties here and there and killing themselves in jubilation. Few weeks after the president’s inception into office, many were quite satisfied with his methodology of combating corruption, the reawakening of sleeping agencies/parastatals and the likes.
Now, many tongues seem to have gone sour due to the recent appointments of his Excellency; “Federal Character” they scream and I begin to ponder….
This federal character of a thing has been in existence all this while but where is the benefit? What landmark achievement have we obtained from federal character? In my humble opinion, federal character has done and is still doing more harm than good to this nation, a root cause of division and disunity.
Go to our nursery and primary schools and see how the pupils relate. They know no difference between ethnicity or religion, but as they grow up, society/parent tells them “this is where you belong to”, hence the beginning of the problem and we are busy offering lip service in proclaiming ‘One Nigeria’.
What is the primary assignment of these so called offices that we clamour for the even distribution of the officers to the six geo-political zones? Let’s say you own a business and want to employ six staff to run the business. You got ten applicants, four from the north, three from the east, and three from the west and this business has no location/language barrier. If you give these applicants a simple test and all four applicants from the north could barely express themselves unlike their counterparts from the east and west who performed exceptionally brilliant, who are you going to employ to run your business?
Let us be reminded that the fundamental reason for the existence of federal character is for carrying all citizens from every part of the country along in national issues which is why we have the national assembly, the summit of federal character, comprising of both the senate and house of reps which supposedly carries the voice of every Nigerian, but due to her laxity, many Nigerians fail to understand her significance.
What’s our interest as a nation? Results or adherence to ‘federal character’? if the easterners, westerners and southerners feel sidelined, let them wait for the cat to jump out of the bag before firing their arsenal. As far as I’m concerned, we are only showcasing our level of disunity. Where is that solidarity? Where is that unity? If we were to be Americans, Obama would not even dream of serving the nation.
This government is for four years and after that, we have the choice to decide if they are to continue the race or hand over the baton. Even before their tenure elapses, there’s always room for impeachment should we find any fault backed with concrete evidence.
Some persons prefer reading in the library, others prefer their rooms, some their offices, others under a tree. We all have different tastes and our environment sometimes determine the level of our productivity. We should allow Mr President choose whatever environment suits him to work in inasmuch as he delivers the goods. If we are having issues with his appointments, let it not be based on federal character. God bless Nigeria.