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WHERE ARE THE FRIENDS OF NIGERIA? THE FIVE RICHEST PASTORS IN NIGERIA SEPARATE OR JOINT ACCOUNTS? THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA New Ambassador Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu www.africaworldnewspaper.com “Nigerians in Ireland Will Be Protected” Page 1 AUG 15 - 31 VOL 001 N- 63 FREE From left to right: Abdul Yusuf, Amb. Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu and Koketso Mohotloane. Page
Transcript
Page 1: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

WHERE ARE THE FRIENDS OF NIGERIA?

THE FIVE RICHEST PASTORS IN NIGERIA

SEPARATE OR JOINT ACCOUNTS?

THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA

New Ambassador Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

“Nigerians in Ireland Will Be Protected”

Page 1

AUG 15 - 31 VOL 001 N- 63 FREE

From left to right: Abdul Yusuf, Amb. Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu and Koketso Mohotloane. Page

Page 2: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

EBOLA OUTBREAK SHOULD INSPIRE ME-DICAL DEPARTMENTS IN AFRICAN UNIVER-

SITIES

An early Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak was recorded to have started in Guinea in December 2013. Due to negli-gence, it is leading to an epi-demic in parts of West Africa. The outbreak was not detected until March 2014 after which it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Africa’s most po-pulous country Nigeria. The outbreak is caused by the Zai-re ebolavirus, known simply as the Ebola virus (EBOV). Statistics show that the current impasse is the most severe outbreak of Ebola in terms of the number of human cases and fatalities since the dis-covery of the virus in 1976.

However, this epidemic has shown that governments in developing countries, particu-larly West African sub-region, are not serious about gover-nance. When I say governance, I mean the protection of their people from epidemics which can lead to pandemics. Why are governments collecting ta-xes? Why do we have univer-sities and centres of research?

It is disheartening that deaths and possibly more will occur out of gross negligence of tho-se who call themselves leaders.

This Ebola crisis should ser-ve as a clarion call for Afri-can leaders to look inward for home-grown remedies and possibly be on red alert for outbreaks. The scourge of HIV is still there, let alone falling vulnerable to a more deadlier Ebola. To be fo-rewarned is to be forearmed.

Come inside,

Uka

EDITOR IN CHIEFUkachukwu Okorie

DIRECTORAbdul Yusuf

DIRECTORDr. Prosper Obioha

AFRICA WORLD TVDIRECTOR

Koketso Mohotloane

VIDEO EDITORYongmin Kim

ART DIRECTORCristina Casabón

Published by:Nguma Worldwide Ltd46 Parnell Square (West),

3rd. floorDublin 1

Republic of Ireland

editorial

Page 2

COLUMNIST Lisa Bamks

Page 3: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

By Uche Wisdom Durueke

The Ebola virus crisis should be an eye opener to our coun-try, Nigeria that we are not get-ting it right in issues of develo-pment and foreign policy. The present situation is an ugly re-minder of the devastating con-sequences of any developing nation, like us, abandoning local or indigenous expertise.

The present situation is an ugly reminder of the devastating consequen-

ces of any developing nation

As the giant of Africa, it would have been a thing of pride for us if there is an ex-perimental drug in any of the laboratories in our numerous universities and research ins-titutes. This is not possible because of our crude politics. Truly, politics has become a hindering demon in Nigeria. Unless, we get it right, our de-velopment is still far. Critical issues, like ASUU demands for research grants and equi-pping the laboratories and libraries of our univetsities, are politicized, and discussed in terms of Naira and Kobo.

The result is that as a coun-try, we have neglected or abandoned the development of local or indigenous ex-pertise and scientific break-throughs for foreign experti-se and the finished products of Europe and America. Today, we are standing naked

WHERE ARE THE FRIENDS OF NIGERIA?

in the cold. We are begging for drugs from unwilling nations! GOD Almighty will help us, no doubt, but we must bring the needed materials that will cause the manifes-tation of HIS divine help.This brings me to the issue of the need for our National Centre for Disease Control acting proactively. Also, the issue that the Centre should not be ran like a small office under the Ministry of Heal-th but should be made to run professionally and indepen-dent. It should not be handed over to mediocres and corrupt persons based on ethno-poli-tical affiliations and conside-rations. The Centre is critical for a national heath revolution.

It is interesting that the Fe-deral Government has relea-sed nearly Two Billion Naira as intervention fund for the Ebola virus crisis. Dangote has donated about One Fifty Million Naira. I expect that the State Governments and all mega companies in the country, especially those that are exploiting our natural re-sources like Shell, Chevron, TotalFina etc are officially ca-lled upon to donate to this na-tional emergency intervention fund. They are still in Nigeria and making billions of dollars from our natural resources, so they owe us the donation as their corporate social res-ponsibility. We need money from them for research, not tons of condoms, which they supply in HIV/AIDS situa-tion. Nigerians can undertake Ebola virus researches here.

Many of us have read that there is a yet to be concluded research by Prof. Maurice Iwu on a possible Ebola virus

drug or vaccine

Many of us have read that there is a yet to be concluded research by Prof. Maurice Iwu on a possible Ebola virus drug or vaccine. I was expecting that the Federal Government would have, for instance, re-quested Prof. Maurice Iwu to get back to his research and if possible fast-track it.

They should have also made some fund available for this. You can never say, the breakthrough can come from here. Also, I had expected that the Federal Govern-ment would have assembled a team of Nigerian experts, in the relevant areas, to get to work on a possible drug or vaccine. This is important.

I consider it a national emba-rrassment that ‘Nanosilver’ which our Federal Ministry of Health announced as a po-tential drug for treating Ebola patients in Nigeria is labelled pesticide by the US Food and Drugs Agency. Some don’t believe the US FDA.

They think that the label is another conspiracy theory. Who knows? In all, however, there is need for informed cau-tion on the matter. The Lagos State Government has rejec-ted the drug: ‘Nanosilver’. It is insisting on ZMapp, but the American company has said that it would take months

to produce some more doses and there is no promise that Nigeria would receive the do-ses. The remaining ‘two doses’ have been sent to Liberia, a former colony of America after a dose was sent to Spain. What do we do now as a country?

The Canadian Government has sent One Thousand doses of experimental Ebola drug, there is none for Nigeria. Some doses of another experimental drug ‘Tekemira’ will be sent to West Africa? The question is: will Nigeria receive some do-ses for her infected citizens? I have some worries on the si-tuation. The first worry is: why are they dribbling Nigeria? May be we are being mocked and subtly being told: go and take care of yourself, Nigeria.

They know that our country is rich and endowed with vast human resources, but under-mined by corruption and blind leadership over the years. My other worry is: does our coun-try, Nigeria, have friends? Otherwise, why are we being shabbily treated now? The si-tuation, to my mind, calls for a critical review and re-posi-tioning of our foreign policy.

In conclusion, I must state that it is in critical moments like this that any right thin-king nation discovers itself.

The situation should be taken as a wake-up call for us. The huge question is: is this possi-ble with our country, Nigeria? I amm in tears for Nigeria.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

opinion

Page 3

Page 4: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

Ambassador Dr. Bolere Eliza-beth Ketebu is a vocal, coura-geous and hard working com-munity physician, who has served the Nigerian nation and humanity in various volun-tary, governmental, academic and political capacities. She is a motivator of team members with a deep sense of respon-sibility to serve in humility.

She began her career as a me-dical doctor in the Rivers State Ministry of Health, from there she proceeded to the Univer-sity Of Port Harcourt, Colle-ge Of Health Sciences where she rose to become honorary consultant before her resig-nation to veer into politics.

In 1992, she contested and won a seat in the National Assembly representing Ye-nagoa constituency as an Honourable Member of the House of Representatives. In the assembly she served as Vice Chairman, House Committee on Environment.

Her passion for ensuring that gender roles in Nigeria, and Africa are improved, found her serving as both the First Vice and National President of National Council of Wo-men Societies Nigeria where she initiated and executed a micro-credit scheme for Ni-gerian rural women and the

building of a women’s pri-son in Abia state, Nigeria.

She also in this time, served on the board of the Internatio-nal Council of Women, and as Advisor, Habitat. She was also the Chairman, United Nations Status of Women ‘Project Five O’ On Girl Child Education.

She has held various political offices to include Secretary To Bayelsa State Government, National Organising Secretary, National Centre Party of Ni-geria (NCPN), Member, Pre-sidential Inauguration Com-mittee, Member, Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Council, Member, Presiden-tial Committee on United Nations Reforms, Member, Prisons Reform Committee, Member, Governing Board Niger Delta University, Mem-ber, NYSC Review Commit-tee, Member, National Pro-gramme on Immunisation, Member, National Council of Intergovernmental Relations.

Before her appointment as Ni-geria’s ambassador to Ireland, she served as a Member on the Governing Council of the Uni-versity of Lagos, Founder, Wo-men, Peace and Development Initiatives (WPDI), Internatio-nal Coordinator, African Wo-men Network for Peace and Development (AWNPD) and International President, Wet-

lands Environmental Pro-tection Initiative (WEPI).

INTRODUCTION

AfricaWorld: Your exce-llency, welcome to Ireland. We are here to pay a courtesy call to you as you embark on your duties and also to rea-ffirm AfricaWorld News faith and commitment in Nigerian Embassy. We want to use this opportunity to ask for your utmost support and coope-ration throughout the dura-tion of your term in Ireland.

Our great online news and news-reel, which is widely acclaimed as one of the best in Ireland and other African countries, and Afri-caWorld is the also one of the media company that has been growing in leaps and bounds in Ireland and the world in general. AfricaWorld Newspaper is an equal opportunity company and also a multicultural newspaper that is not aligned to any specific interests. It is a newspaper that is owned by a Nigerian and the company appointed different staff from different countries and ethnic backgrounds. AfricaWorld is very proud of her heritage and will ne-ver betray the trust that the majo-rity of her members repose to her.

The courtesy call took place on 05 August, 2014 and the meeting commenced with a formal intro-duction of the invited news crew which were in the person of Ab-dul Yusuf, Koketso Mohotloane, Nosa Joel from ‘Busy Brains Aca-demy’ and during the process of the introduction, an apology was sincerely tendered on behalf of the Editor, Ukachuckwu Okorie who was absent at the time as he went on an official duty to Nigeria. She gave the crew her brief bio and work profile. Without much ado, the interview progressed and be-low are the following excerpts:

INTERVIEW EXCERPTS

AfricaWorld (AW): Your Exce-llency, what kind of a diplomat are you? A career diplomat or a political diplomat in profession?

Ambassador (A): I am a political Diplomat, medical doctor, former honorary consultant and Secretary to Beyalsa State Government. I was also a honourable member of the House of Reps, served as a Vice Chairman, House Committee on Environment. I am a serving member of both the First Vice and National President of Natio-nal Council of Women Societies in Nigeria. I served on the Board of the International Council of Women, and as Advisor, Habitat. I am also the Chairman, United Nations Status of Women ‘Project Five O’ On Girl Child Education.

AW: Your Excellency, do you have any portfolio that you brou-ght along as you embark on your official duties? Your Excellency, If so, can you please briefly explain what portfolio you have on board?

A: “I have just told you the whole portfolio that I have or brought with me.”

The atmosphere later became hilarious when Nosa Joel from ‘Busy Brains Academy’ was as-ked of his origin and he men-tioned that he was original from Edo State but born in Ondo State and the Ambassador was quick to chip-in to ask this... “after Edo State, you’re an Irish citizen. The fact remains that you’re a Nige-ria. When you are asked where do you come from?... It is whe-re your parents originated and it is not where you live or born. My parents... my father was Ijaw and mother was Benin but they gave birth to us in Igboland and I don’t have much business with Igbo. That’s how we are and it is only Nigeria that attach ethnicity to their place of birth or origin. I have not met any group of people like us. You are Edo and you are Edo and you can say now if you have Irish citizenship, you can now say where you come from.

“Nigerians in Ireland Will Be Protected” New Ambassador Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu tells Africa Woild Newspaper

From left to right: Abdul Yusuf, Amb. Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu and Koketso Mohotloane.

Page 4 www.africaworldnewspaper.com

Page 5: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

AW: About a year ago, Afri-caWorld conducted a public inter-view with the Nigerian communi-ty in Ireland in order to give the community a chance to air their views on what they feel about the High Commission in Ireland.

Your Excellency, 85% of the community complained about the Nigeria High Commission in Ire-land disappointments to many of their citizens in Ireland. Most of the complainants maintained that they are not those citizens who seem to spend all their time wai-ting for something to complain about their Mission or looking for the next issue or personality to be negative about. However even as they have much to query about the smooth-running of the Ni-gerian Embassy in Ireland, there has been a combination of a lack of planning, lack of thinking and just simply lack of quality ideas, and this has reduced them to be-ing totally underwhelmed about the administration and whatever plan the Nigerian High Commis-sion has in mind towards them. Few of them also complained about the state of the sitting arran-gement or reception at the visa/consul section in the building. The reception is becoming de-plorable. A great number of tho-se interviewed suggested that the flooring of the visa section should be refurbished and either chan-ged to wooden flooring or some other form of flooring that can be easily maintained. Using rugs for flooring such a premises that is being used by many is outdated.

A: “I am aware of the condition of the visa reception area and will definitely look into that. Even those seats were not the seats that were suppose to be there.

AW: Another of the most serious problems that plagued Nigerians living in Ireland as a people is the inability for the Nigerian High Commissioner to give support and to protect her citizens. The-re has previously been a spate of mass deportation of Nigerians from various parts of Ireland plan-ned jointly between the British

and Irish authorities. Following a number of successful anti-depor-tation campaigns, the Irish and British governments are increa-sing resorting to the use of charter flights to deport Nigerians refu-sed asylum, carefully shielding their actions from the public gaze.

A: “Chartered flight? Char-tered flights to deport Ni-gerians? Plane load!?”

AW: It has always been mainly Nigerians that were being tar-geted for deportation over the past. There was a case of when the same chartered flight once deported few citizens from Gha-na, the Ghanaian Government rejected them and they were subsequently returned back.

A: “Nigeria will always accept their citizens and when you as a country reject your citizen, it does not tells well on you diplomatica-lly. Your citizen is your citizen. If other people reject your citizen, it is your duty to accept them. The issue is for any host country to deport a citizen from Ireland, the Nigerian Embassy will have to give their consent. If they do not have the embassy’s consent, they cannot deport and if the deportees reach Nigeria soil, the country owes her citizens the responsi-bility to accept them. I don’t see how we will receive a notice for deportation of a plane load of Nigerians and we are giving that kind of consent. I reiterate that they need the embassy’s consent and if the Embassy refused to is-sue temporary travel certificates, deportation would be impossible. The consent is in issuing tempo-rary travel certificate (TC) to ena-ble them send them home. Since I came over to assume office, I have not seen who came to claim temporary travel certs. There is an officer whose responsibility it is to carry out interview of indi-vidual deportee to justify the fact that they are being sent home. As a norm, the Dept of Justice, Equa-lity and Law Reform (DJLR) will write an official letter indicating the name, age etc and requests for a representative from the Embassy for a joint interview. There senior official, the Minister for Consular

Services whose responsibility it is to speak to me to confirm.” I promise that Nigerians in Ireland will be protected if the need arise.

AW: What about paying regu-lar visitation to Nigerian citi-zens that are still languishing behind bars across the country?

A: “Yes, there is an outreach in place and I have already wri-tten for permission to do that. The time I wrote for the permis-sion to do that was the time the former Justice Minister Alan Shatter vacated his position.”

AW: What plans have you for the Nigerian or African Youths in general in Ireland?

A: “On my arrival in Ireland, I can see that most of the youths here were born in Ireland. I am plan-ning to organise a National Day Celebration for African youths and and to involve them in a pro-gramme of writing competition. I want to know what they know and what are their expectations? I am going to focus from the age of 5 to 10 and 11 to 16years. The African women that I approached disputed the 5years start age be-cause they felt that 5years will be too young to start with. When you read a story written by an African child of about 5years that is born and raised in Africa cannot be compared with the same a 10year old that is born and raised abroad, one will be shocked of what they know and the kind of information they have access to because of the social media network etc. A group in Ireland wrote to me about Afri-can Heritage. I said to them that I want a programme specifically on heritage exhibition and inte-raction. They brought brought an interesting proposal and I picked one out of it and what is it? - ‘Pho-to Exhibition’. Photo exhibition by the youths in which partici-pating youths will bring photos depicting their cultural heritage or region where they come from. For now, I don’t want to focus on specific educational programmes. The gap I see in their lives is their socio-cultural heritage. As Afri-caWorld previously reiterated that “we have to tell our story”. I said

to myself I want to see more Ni-gerian youths schooling here, ex-change programmes, cultures and having summer schools etc. The youth platform forum will trans-form into a kind of Bazaar and this is the kind of youth platform that I am looking forward to achieve.”

AW: Koketso Mohotloane sealed the interview when she suggested to the Ambassador that being that she came into Ireland when she was a child and she also spent most of her youth outside, it would be brilliant if AfricaWorld in con-junction with her office could set aside dates in doing certain exams for youths in general and her offi-ce can both reconnect with other embassies in Ireland to drive the programme through. “If you fur-ther need any of our assistance in whatever youth platform or forum you so wish to embark on, please feel very free to approach us and not only in your capacity as the Nigerian Ambassador but also as an African Ambassador respectively”, she concluded.

AfricaWorld Final State-ment and Recommondation...It has become a norm that most countries on the weight of the economic recession are working hard to rid mostly Nigerians from their country. Nigerians are worst hit in the wake of Ireland’s recession. Deportations are the most brutal form of state racism. Dreams are destroyed and often, families are separated. Nigerians as a people should not be blamed for Ireland’s economic woes.

It would sure be in the best inte-rest of the Nigerian Embassy and the community they serve for the High Commission to stand up to their responsibilities for their mutual benefit. There is so much more to be done, the Nigerian community in Ireland deserve more and Nigeria deserves better. And even if Nigerians don’t want to, Nigerians owe it to the world to introduce them to Nigeria.One Nigeria makes a meaningless Nigeria. Remember that in every national fora Nigerians always ple-dge to serve Nigeria with all their strength and uphold her honour and glory and to defend its unity.

“Nigerians in Ireland Will Be Protected” New Ambassador Dr. Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu tells Africa Woild Newspaper

Page 5www.africaworldnewspaper.com

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South-East’s TAN Endorses Nigeria President Jonathan For 2015The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) in the south-east has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as a candidate they will support in the 2015 presidential election, asking him to declare his interest to run.At a rally of the group held on Saturday in Awka, the capital of Anambra State, Senators, ministers, governors and other top government officials from the south-east states and the Federal Government gave their support to the President.Addressing the crowd at the rally, the Minister of Power, Pro-fessor Chinedu Nebo, listed the achievements of the Presi-dent and said he deserved to be given the chance to continue his transformation agenda.

Ebola outbreak could take six months to controlThe Ebola epidemic is moving faster than the authorities can handle and could take six months to bring under control, ac-cordion to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières. The warning came a day after the World Health Organization said the scale of the epidemic had been vastly underestimated and that “extraordinary measures” were needed to contain the ki-ller disease.The UN health agency said the death toll from the worst out-break of Ebola in four decades had now climbed to 1,145 in the four afflicted West African countries — Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

US-Africa Relations: Nigeria Is Looking At Other Areas Of ExportsThe United States has been a major trading partner of Nigeria, and was the leading importer of Nigeria’s crude oil for several years. Nigeria for a long time had the balance of payments in its favour when dealing with America, because of the outflow of exports, but with the decline in US oil imports from Nigeria given the continuous rise in the price of crude oil that balance has changed

NEWS

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

now. Nigeria and America are conscious of that, and on both sides are pushing to see that this change in the dynamics does not imperil their long-lasting trade relationship. Sam Ohuabunwa, National President of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) says that “this is an opportunity for Nigeria to revamp the [access] offered by the US through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to take advantage of that that preferential opportunity to export agriculture-related products: leather, garments, textile products.“

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NEWS

Africa boycott the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) ‘Africa is not embracing the EPAs because of fears that bigger EU companies could flood the continent with cheaper pro-ducts, destroying nascent local industries’ Although the leaders from African and European countries converged last March in Brussels to discuss mutual relations, democracy, regional integration, immigration, and develop-ment assistance, the elephant in the room was the flagging tra-de relations between Africa and Europe.After the meeting, African ministers of trade and experts in trade and regional integration met in a special session on 27th April, in Addis Abeba, and agreed to boycott the EPA.

Chadian soldiers ‘rescue 85 Nigerians from Boko Haram’Reports are emerging of the rescue by Chadian troops of some 85 Nigerian villagers abducted earlier this week by suspected Boko Haram militants.A Nigerian security official told AFP that they had intercepted a convoy of buses transporting gunmen and the villagers in a routine security check.Neither the Nigerian or Chadian militaries have confirmed the reports.Boko Haram is accused of kidnapping hundreds of people in the north-east of Nigeria, and neighbouring Cameroon.

Food Security Alarm for East, Central AfricaSome 20 million people are facing acute food insecurity in eas-tern and central Africa, with most of them being at “crisis” and “emergency” levels, according to aid agencies. This figure com-pares unfavorably with 15.8 million people in July 2013.The affected countries include Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.The overall nutrition situation in the region has deteriorated precipitously and, according to survey results, the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) levels are higher than 20 percent, excee-ding the emergency threshold of 15 percent, especially in parts of South Sudan, CAR, Somalia and northern Kenya

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Experts are predicting a famine in South Sudan.At the beginning of this year, NGOs began to caution that South Sudan faced a famine. Fears became more substantial in May, when local farmers were forced to flee their homes due to fighting between Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups at a time when they would usually have tilled their fields. At the beginning of August, the United Nations Security Council expressed “grave concern” about the situation and described it as “currently ... the worst [food insecurity situation] in the world.” Some 50,000 children could die, the U.N. warned, and more than one third of South Sudan’s population is dange-rously threatened.

Gambia Women Demand Seat At Political TableThe countdown to the Gambia’s 2016 general elections has begun with a rare move to bring together female politicians from across the divided political spectrum to ensure increa-sed female representation.

This week, local women’s rights NGO Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (Gamcotrap) launched a campaign calling for poli-tical reforms to ensure the effective participation of women in all positions of political leadership.

US-Africa Summit: ‘It’s Up To You African Leaders’The recent summit at which African leaders engaged Ame-rica in charting a way forward for the continent provided a great opportunity for President Barack Obama to demonstra-te that he shares the positive yearnings and aspirations of the African people for better life. His message at the summit has gone down as probably the frankest admonition to African leaders from a sitting American president. Away from unc-tuous diplomatese, Obama admonished them to do the right thing at home if they wanted the limited help from abroad to achieve the desired impact. He said foreign aid had made some impact in the past but has now reached its limits.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

NEWS

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The Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (WVEF) is the flagship event of the Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors

The International Trade Centre and partners are delighted to announce that the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2014 (WVEF 2014) will take place 16-17 September in Kigali Rwan-da in parallel with ITC’s World Export Development Forum (WEDF). This year the event will feature two sectors; coffee and services.Rwanda, an excellent gateway for doing business in the East African region and beyond, is an emerging services and out-sourcing hub. It has been ranked by the World Economic Forum Global Competitive Index Report 2013/2014 as the most com-petitive country in East Africa.

South Africa: Mining Sector in Crisis The mining sector needs to acknowledge it has a crisis on its hands, Chamber of Mines state intervention in the minerals sector (Sims) committee chairman Andile Sangqu said on Wednesday.“The tensions in mining right now means the stakes are high and the need for resolution is urgent,” he said at the mining lekgotla in Midrand. “This quite frankly is very serious.”the industry needed to get serious about revitalising the exis-ting engagement structures and secondly, not to shy away from discussing economic growth and developing practical steps.

Freedom of Expression Under Siege in SwazilandA new piece of research by a Masters student at the University of Pretoria says Swazi “citizens cannot freely express themsel-ves on issues involving the government and the monarchy be-cause of fear of being harassed by the authorities”.Kudzani Ndlovu, who is studying at the University’s centre for human rights, completed the study after months of research, including ‘on the ground’ interviews in Swaziland.His report, titled ‘Freedom of expression under siege: an inves-tigation into the state of freedom of expression in Swaziland’, concludes that the “clampdown on the media is a clear indica-tion authorities are unwilling to tolerate dissent”.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

NEWS

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God is good, espe-cially if you’re a Ni-gerian pastor with some business savy.

These days, millions of souls, desperate for financial break-throughs, miracles and healing, all rush to the church for redemption.

And while the bible expressly states that salvation is free, at times it comes with a cost: offerings,ti-thes, gifts to spiri-tual leaders, and a directive to buy li-terature and other products created by men of God.

Pastors are no lon-ger solely interested in getting people to Heaven; they’ve devised intelligent ways to make good money while rea-ching out to souls.

Chris Oyakhilome

He is the founder and lead pastor of the Christ Embassy, a thriving con-gregation with branches in Nigeria, South Africa, London, Canada and the United States. His pu-blishing company, Lo-veworld Publications, publishes ‘Rhapsody of Realities,’ a monthly de-votional he co-authors with his wife. It sells over two million copies every month at $1 apiece. He also owns television sta-tions, newspapers, maga-zines, a hotel, a fast-food chain, and more.Sometime ago,the prea-cher was at center of a $35 million money launde-ring case in which he was accused of siphoning funds from his church to foreign banks. Pastor Chris pleaded no wrong-doing and the case was eventually dismissed.

Bishop David Oyedep

David Oyedepo is Nige-ria’s wealthiest preacher. Ever since he founded the Living Faith World Outreach Ministry in 1981, it has grown to become one of Africa’s largest congregations. The Faith Tabernacle, where he hosts three services every Sunday, is Africa’s largest wor-ship center, with a sea-ting capacity of 50,000. Oyedepo owns four pri-vate jets and homes in London and the United States. He also owns Do-minion Publishing Hou-se, a thriving publishing company that publishes all his books (which are often centered on pros-perity). He founded and owns Covenant Univer-sity, one of Nigeria’s lea-ding tertiary institutions, and Faith Academy, an elite high school.

Temitope Joshua

Nigeria’s most contro-versial clergyman is also one of its richest and most philanthropic. T.B Joshua heads the Syna-gogue Church of all Na-tions (SCOAN), a con-gregation he founded in 1987, which accommo-dates over 15,000 wor-shippers on Sundays. The Pastor has remained controversial for several years for his inexplicable powers to heal all sorts of incurable diseases, inclu-ding HIV/AIDS, cancer and paralysis. For mira-cle-craving worshippers, it’s the perfect seduction. The church currently has branches in Ghana, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Greece. In the past three years, he has given over $20 million to causes in education, healthcare and rehabilita-tion programs for former Niger Delta militants.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

business

Page10

The Five Richest Pastors In Nigeria

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The Five Richest Pastors In NigeriaMatthew Ashimolowo

In 1992, Foursquare Gos-pel Church, a Nigerian church, sent Ashimolowo to open a satellite branch in London. But Pastor Matthew had other ideas and decided to set up his own church instead. To-day, his Kingsway Inter-national Christian Center is reportedly the largest Pentecostal church in the United Kingdom. In 2009, the church posted profits of close to $10 mi-llion and assets worth $40 million. He earns an an-nual salary of $200,000, but his real wealth comes from varied business inte-rests including his media company, Matthew As-himolowo media, which churns out Christian lite-rature and documentaries.

Chris Okotie

Pastor Okotie made his first success as a popu-lar pop musician in the 80s. He found the light, embraced the bible and set up the Household of God Church, one of Nigeria’s most flambo-yant congregations. His 5,000 member church consists predominantly of Nollywood celebrities, musicians, and socie-ty people. He contested and lost Nigerian presi-dential elections for the third time this year under the Fresh Party, a politi-cal party he founded and funds. An automobile lo-ver, he owns a Mercedes S600, Hummer and Pors-che among several others.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

business

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hould couples have joint or separate bank accounts? This is a

question I get asked of-ten. I know some cou-ples who operate joint bank accounts smoo-thly and they seem to have mastered the act.

I do not have joint ac-counts with my wife, although we have ac-cess to each other’s money, including ATM and debit cards.

Even though I believe fir-

mly that “you are no lon-ger two but one”, I feel that couples have specific needs and require some breathing space to ope-rate. Separate accounts (without prejudice to joint accounts) give them the much needed space.

Also spouses come from varying backgrounds with peculiar needs and they should, if they agree to, be able to sort out their extended families without necessarily involving their spouses, provided it is not to the detriment of their immediate families.

Ability to handle tensions that ari-se from financial issues vary from one couple to the other and newly-weds should know their abi-lity before de-ciding the ac-count type they want to operate.

What I consider most important in family finan-ces is coopera-tion, openness and sincerity. Once these ele-ments are pre-sent, account type becomes s u p e r f l u o u s .

But this openness I am championing here is like common sense that is not really common.

There is a multinatio-nal company where the members of staff are told, unofficially, not to disclose to their spouses (next of kin) how much they stand to get should they die in service.Why? The amount is mind-boggling and their spouses might be temp-ted to eliminate them.

In another company,

recently, the husband went to demand the wi-fe’s entitlements while she was still alive thou-gh in a critical condi-tion. She eventually died. Was he responsi-ble for the wife’s death?

I do not know. I also have a friend who keeps sealed lips when he “hammers” (makes a lot of money). “My wife can go through a ton of dollars in a twinkle of an eye”, he says. So, if you are in the shoes of all the above, what will you do? Will you be open? My final take here is that couples should do what suits their circumstances, but their actions should be devoid of malice and selfishness.

Newly-weds should, of necessity, designate a next of kin in impor-tant financial transac-tions and investments. Unless circumstances necessitate otherwi-se, one’s next of kin should be one’s spouse.

The financial power of newly-weds

increases when they pull resources together as against when it was just the

guy or the lady

By ABDUL YUSUF

s

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business

Page 12

Separate or Joint Accounts?

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Delaying Gratification: All things being equal, the financial power of newly-weds increases when they pull resources together as against when it was just the guy or the lady. So what do you do with this your new-found financial strength?

You might decide to up-grade your accommoda-tion, means of transpor-tation, go on vacations, habitually eat out in expensive restaurants or generally embrace a hedonistic lifestyle.

This is called instant gra-tification. On the other hand, you can main-tain the status quo and use your new financial strength to lay a foun-dation for the future.

This can be in the form of investments in pro-perty, money market instruments, expanding your existing business or going into new busi-nesses. It is called you delayed gratification. Remember marriage is a marathon, not a sprint.

It is an open secret that every rich man watches his expen-

diture

Watch your expenditure: It is an open secret that every rich man watches his expenditure, no mat-ter how much he spends. Otherwise, he will go bankrupt no matter how rich he is. Newly-weds, too, must watch their ex-penditure. Here are some of the ways you can do it.

You should plan and have a budget— weekly, monthly or yearly- whatever is convenient for you

Having a budget is not enough, you should work with it. That is fis-cal discipline and inclu-des avoiding impulse buying; that is, buying without prior planning.

I often advise my marria-ge class participants that the only impulse buying they should engage in are low-involvement items like sweets, small packs of biscuits, razor blades and others that cost less than N50. These will not do damage to any good economy, especially if it is not habitual. Once items come in thousands of naira or more, plan and put them in a budget.

Also become a bargain hunter. It does not hurt.

Rather you save loads of cash on the long run. In addition, do not fritter your money away. I am not suggesting you be-come a slave to money, but learn to value money.

If you are the type who always carries only N1000 or N500 denomi-nations, chances are you frittering away money, because when you pur-chase items you really need and the seller has no change, you will forgo the balance of your money.

Some people mistake such frittering away of money for charity. Cha-rity is planned, systema-tic giving and it is good; frittering is wasteful, pur-poseless and dangerous when it becomes habitual.

Newly-weds need to get their priorities right. The-re is no sense in spen-ding tons of money on your child’s first birthday when the child does not have a children’s bank account or an educatio-nal endowment insuran-ce policy. These should come first and all the cash the baby got at birth should go into his bank account or insurance poli-cy as premium payments.

Also, be wary of buying on credit. Whether you are

paying in August or September, the bot-tom line is that you

will pay someday

In secondary school, we studied about “needs” and “wants” in econo-mics; stick to your needs. Be fashionable, but also be wary of fashion trends, because they can dig a big hole in your pocket. Also, be wary of bu-ying on credit. Whe-ther you are paying in August or September, the bottom line is that you will pay someday.

Finally, do not develop habits you cannot sus-tain financially. Some-times, we get a windfa-ll and “levels” change.

We conveniently forget that windfalls are not re-gular income but occa-sional occurrences. Your regular income, not win-dfalls, should determine your “levels”. Finan-cial matters have ruined many marriages; handle your finances with care.

Separate or Joint Accounts?

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business

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By Chido Onumah

igeria’s celebrated no-velist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is an interviewer’sdelight,

whether she is talking about Nigeria, novels, feminism or hair. A few weeks ago, she was a guest of Stephen Sa-ckur’s HARDtalk on BBC where shetalked about Biafra, ethnicity in Nigeria, the Nige-ria-Biafra Civil War and the censorship of the movie ver-sion ofher novel about the ci-vil war, Half of a Yellow Sun.

“Nigeria as a country has never really engaged with

Biafra,”

“Nigeria as a country has never really engaged with Biafra,” Ms Adichie said in response to Stephen Sackur’s question about whether to-day’s Nigerians had learned enough about the important lessons of the war. “There is a lot that is unresolved about that period of our history”.

I agree with Ms. Adichie. Ni-geria has not engaged with Biafra and there is a lot that is still unresolved about the civil war. But it’s not just Biafra and that tumultuous period of our history. There is a lot that is unresolved about Nigeria as a whole and many aspects of our existence as a country.

Nigeria has not engaged with June 12, just as we have not engaged with Boko Haram, to mention only two of the more recent episodic convul-sions that threaten the very foundation of the country.

In a sense, the Biafra expe-rience could be a metaphor for

the many unresolved problems that confront us as a country, whether we are talking about agitations by minority ethnic nationalities, the upsurge in militancy across the country, the quest for the balkaniza-tion of the country by fringe groups that go by all sorts of absurd names or the infer-nal resolve of a group to im-pose a religious code on an otherwise secular country.

“How should we make sen-se of Nigeria’s 21st century identity?”. Stephen Sackur-had asked in the introduc-tion to his programme. In-terestingly, around the time of that interview, there were rallies, amongst other trou-bling occurrences in Nige-ria,in London and a few cities around the world in support of the Biafra renaissance.

A week earlier, some Biafra protagonists were arrested after a failed attempt to take over a radio station in the eas-tern city of Enugu and declare, or perhaps revive, the Repu-blic of Biafra. It was in the same city that pro-Biafra “for-ces” were arrestedfor a daring attempt to take over the Enu-gu State Government House. Enugu was the first and one of the three capitals of Bia-fra while the secession lasted.

How do we make sense of all this? There are those who think that what we are witnes-sing is anecessary and passing phase in the attempt to build a nation. It may well be! But, it may also spell doom for a country that has had more than five decades to forge a “perfect union”, but hass-quandered each opportunity.

Clearly, as a country, we ha-ven’t learned anything about

the regrettable civil war of 1967-1970 or the other tragic events that occurred before that war. We have also not lear-ned from the dreadful uphea-vals that have taken place af-ter the war; events that have shaken the very foundation of our existence as a country.

Nigeria will disintegra-te unless we collectively do something about it

Nations are not built on mere wishful thinking. No country that is run the way Nigeria is being run survives for too long. The hard truth is that the-re is nothing sacrosanct about Nigeria. A nation is neitheran eternal nor a divinely ordained construct as is often delusi-vely proclaimed, in the case of Nigeria, by our exceptiona-lly depraved ruling class and their sympathisers.It comes into being at a historical junc-ture – through a combination of factors and forces – and can cease to be by the same logic.

Nigeria was an arbitrary crea-tion of British colonialists who coupled disparate ethnic nationalities for economic and other reasons. Of course, many countries around the world were created through the same process and for the same rea-sons. The problem in the case of Nigeria, however, was that there were no attempts, at in-dependence and subsequently, by Nigerians, the new inheri-tors of the contraption the Bri-tish left behind, to remake the country in the image of a peo-ple who had broken the shac-kles of colonialism and had to build an egalitarian society; a nation of equity, social justice, the rule of law and all the fun-damentals of a modern state.

How then do we move forward

from the boiling cauldron – the outcome of aforced and dubious amalgam of different ethnicities, religions and cul-tural beliefs –to a nation of equal opportunity, shared vi-sion and common future when we fail to learn from our his-tory and allow primordial in-terests and short-term gains to stand in the way of a collecti-ve need for national survival?

Just as the colonialists inten-

ded, we have managed ne-ver to miss an opportunity to highlight the fault lines that

have kept us perpetually at war with one another. And just like the colonialists, our rapacious and thieving ruling class, military and civilian, from across the country – em-phasizing our fault lines– have succeeded in not only misru-ling us but also dividing us.

Take the simple and harmless matter of honouring the win-ner of the June 12, 1993,pre-sidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, by the ongoing Na-tional Conference. That elec-tion was annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, colluding with some of the vile creatu-

Biafra, June 12, Boko Haram and the future of Nigeria

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opinion

N

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Girls who escaped from their Boko Haram captors arrive at the presidential villa in Abuja. / Reuters

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Biafra, June 12, Boko Haram and the future of Nigeria res who today are the drivers of our so-called democracy. Babangida and company have yet to explain the reason for that criminal complicity.That election showed that Nigerians could rise above ethnic and religious divisions given a purposeful and selfless leadership. Of course, it also showed that Nigeria’s ruling elite are not interested in the unity of this country beyond what they can get from it; ne-

ver mind that they are always proclaiming that “The unity of Nigeria is not negotiable”.

June 12, 2014, marked the 21st anniversary of that elec-tion. Sadly, when a motion, seeking to pay tribute and give national recognition to Chief Abiola and hundreds of Ni-gerians who died protesting the annulment, was moved at the National Conference by Orok Duke from Cross River State, delegates were repor-tedly “divided along regional lines as those from southern Nigeria favoured the motion while those from the North rejected it”. And this fierce rejection of a legitimate quest for justice is recorded in a 21st century Nigeria; ironically,

in a gathering consecrated to banish inequity and injus-tice and the multiple hand-maids of Nigeria’s stillbirth.This was an election in which the masses of the “North” en-sured that Chief Abiola from Ogun State in “southern Ni-geria” beat his opponent, Al-haji Bashir Tofa from Kano State in “northern Nigeria”; an election in which Abiola and his running mate, Ba-bagana Kingibe, both Mus-lims, won across the length and breadth of the country.

It is heartbreaking that a re-presentative of civil society at the National Conference that aims to address the many flashpoints of our distorted nationhood, Mallam Nasir Kura, from Kano State, was reported to have led the chorus of voices from the “North” that opposed any attempt to remember June 12, Abiola and Nigerians from all walks of life who paid the supreme sacrifice during that uphea-val. For Kura and company, June 12, like its unfortunate victims, is “dead and buried”.

For a people in search of a meaningful national iden-tity, I worry when we miss any opportunity to solidi-fy the bonds of nationhood

Make no mistake, while that rowdy session over honou-ring Abiola which attracted the attention of security ope-ratives and was going to turn the confab into a WWE arena may have looked like an at-tempt to promote an “ethnic agenda”, accusing people of being ethnic jingoists for that action does not tell the whole story. Afterall, Oluse-gun Obasanjo, former presi-dent, chief beneficiary of the

June 12 debacle and Abiola’s kinsman was – until his re-cent conversion, like Paul on his way to Damascus – one of the most trenchant tradu-cers of Abiola and June 12.

I feel personally disappointed by the role of my long-time comrade and friend, Nasir Kura, but I do not despair. Clearly, those who have appropriated political power as well as those who have had the privilege of overseeing the affairs of the country have been our greatest undoing.Some of us held out hope – the visible shortcomings notwithstanding– that the National Conference would offer an opportunity to focus on the fundamental defects of Nigeria. That optimism was based on the belief that if we took away the other options – descent into anar-chy and perhaps another civil war or a revolutionary uphea-val – a “peaceful” national dialogue was the way to go.

As it turns out, we may have to look beyond the current National Conference. Clearly, the conference has lost focus, relegating its fundamental task which is to define (indeed, re-define is the word) the terms of our corporate existence – ter-ms that would then be passed to Nigerians to finally decide on. Once there is collective understanding and agreement on what our co-existence entails (the structure of the country, including what the federating units should be, the structure of governance and power as well as fiscal rela-tions between the units) other things– health and educatio-nal structure, corruption, rule of law, etc –can then follow.

Why is it that we are unwi-

lling to address the fundamen-tal question of our existen-ce as a country, considering our history and the seeming lack of agreement on what the future should look like? It seems, for us in Nigeria, that we want tomake ome-lette without breaking eggs.

If we can’t agree on how to co-exist pea-cefully, then we must find an amicable way to “dissolve” this union.

Truth is that if we don’t, and allow these crises to fester, Nigeria will sooner or later dissolve like sugar in a tea cup and the consequences will be grave for all parties.

There have been many flas-hpoints in the turbulent history of Nigeria. I think, however, that three issues – without at-tempting to downplay others like the Tiv Riots of 1960 and 1964, the 12-Day Revolution of Isaac Adaka Boro in 1966, the murder of the Ogoni 9 by the Nigerian state in 1995– stand out: the civil war, the June 12 crisis and the current on slaught by Boko Haram. And each time we think we have laid the threat to rest, it rears its ugly head. Yet, we hide our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, hoping against hope that somehow our fault linesand the tension they generate will vanish overnight.

There were reasons for Biafra, even if there are disagreements about what precipitated the internecine civil war that fo-llowed and how the crisis and its aftermath were managed. There were reasons for the annulment of the presidential election of June 12, 1993, no matter how unconscionable we

Girls who escaped from their Boko Haram captors arrive at the presidential villa in Abuja. / Reuters

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opinion

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Nobody could have put this dilemma better than the for-mer attorney-general of the fe-deration, late Chief Bola Ige, who noted in his 1998 speech titled Towards the Beckoning Gloryof the 21st Century that “There are two basic ques-tions that must be answered by all of us Nigerians.One, do we want to remain as one country? Two, if the answer is yes, under what conditions?”.There is no need for equivo-cation. Like Chief Ige, I be-lieve strongly that we have to answer these questions.

Except that for me, in the 21 century, after 100 years of amalgamation and 54 years of independence, the “we” do not necessarily have to be the “we” that existed before 1914, but the “we” that have called Nigeria the Motherland in the last 100 years. I have argued repeatedly that we can build ci-vic nationalities where ethnic nationalities currently exist.

All it takes is sacrifice and willingness to make it work.There are those who assume, wrongly, that the first part of the question is taken for

granted; that after 100 years of marriage and 54 years of raising a family there is no need to question the sancti-ty of a marriage whether it is working for the partners or not. Unfortunately, while we can make the analogy, we must face the reality thatthe amalgamation of Nigeria is different in many ways from a marriage between two lovers.

In the case of Nigeria, it was a forced marriage as is the prac-tice amongst some families in the country; the lovers had no say or the opportunity to un-derstand each other, much less appreciate and love each other.

While it works in some ca-ses, in our own case, it hasn’t worked and like manyforced marriages, the parents (the colonialists) got their desire while the couples (Nigerians) are left with the hope that their problems and disagreements will sort themselves out.

Perhaps, if the citizens of the different federating units in 1914 were involved in the creation of Nigeria, they would have decided the terms of

think the annulment was. The-re are reasons for the actions of Boko Haram, even if we find its activities loath some.

Part of the narrative of the Ni-gerian tragedy is economic.The near collapse of the Ni-gerian state and its structures, particularly security and law enforcement – a phenome-non rooted in many years of bad leadership and corruption – has not only bred poverty, alienation and disillusion-ment of the masses across the country, it has turned the country into a carcass and a veritable meal for vultures of every hue. And each day, there are new vultures re-ady to feast on this carcass.

But, if we focus on the pre-ceding, we miss the big pic-ture. For me, the underlying reason for the flashpoints in Nigeria is that we have not come to a collective agree-ment about what Nigeria is or what it should be. And until we do, we will not be able to make progress as a country.

The underlying reason for the flashpoints in

Nigeria is that we have not come to a collective agreement about what

Nigeria is or what it should be. And until we do, we will not be able to make progress as a

country

Nigerians did not create Ni-geria. So, if we want to make it work, if we want to counter the different centrifugal for-ces that seek to rip it at the seams, we must go back to fundamentals. We were han-ded an unjust and skewed state. Our first task ought to be how to fix the distortion.

their co-existence and would have long gotten used to their obligations in the union. The fallouts of this seeming lack of accountability are Biafra, June 12 and Boko Haram,a-mongst others; each event leading to further disaffectio-nand division in the country.

Like Chief Ige, “I do not be-long to the group of Nige-rians deluding themselves that we can keep Nigeria fo-rever as it is.”If we can’t and do not want to live together as a people, we should be open and honest enough to sit at a table for an open dis-cussion on the way forward.

I don’t wish for a national conference that is convoked – usually by a foreign power or “the international com-munity”– when parties to a conflict have exhausted every bloody option, but that is the road Nigeria is travelling currently; a road of “mu-tually assured destruction”.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

opinion

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WAJE – ONYE ft. TIWA SAVAGE We start with a video that is pretty fun: Onye. This is a collaboration between two great Nigerian artists, Waje and Tiwa Savage. The first name is an acronym formed from the initials of Words Aren´t Just Enough and for a long time she collaborated with P-Square, which helped to launch her career. Tiwa released her first album in 2013 and since then her success has been spectacular.

FUSE ODG - DANGEROUS LOVEFuse ODG is a Ghanaian singer and composer, resident in the UK and pioneer of Azonto, a dance and music gen-re originating from Ghana. In this new single, Dange-rous Love, he collaborates with the Jamaican artist Sean Paul. Dangerous love has had great expectations befo-re its launch and we believe that the wait was worth it.

TOUR 2 GARDE - MAKASSATour 2 Garde, a great duo from Ivory Coast compo-sed by Thura and Jimmy James. Although their real names are Arthur Koya and Koné Adama Diarra. Ori-ginally, the group also had the assistance of a third member, Kilheur, who decided to leave. They come from Koumassi. These rap artists have been perfor-ming for a long time and now they have released a new single titled Makassa which is an invitation to dance.

IYANYA - UR WAIST Iyanya is a Nigerian recording artist. His second al-bum, Iyanya vs. Desire, contains the single “Ur Waist”, which featured Triple MG’s first lady, Emma Nyra.Iyanya was nominated for “Best International Performan-ce” at the 2013 Soul Train Music Awards for “Ur Waist”

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MUSIC

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Page 18: AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 August 2014

OWERRI PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION IRELAND ENJOYS A PICNIC

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PEOPLE

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A CANADIAN ABROAD

Hello and welcome,

I’m Lisa Banks, a young, adventurous Canadian currently li-ving in lovely Ireland and excited to be wor-king with Africa World.

My heart has always been set on travelling and living abroad, and once I had completed my University studies I knew that the time was right and I purchased a one-way ticket to Dublin.

Although I’ve been sett-led here for a year now, it wasn’t always easy and still comes with its challenges. In the first weeks of arrival I used the luck of the Irish to land myself a full-time bartending job. Although it has nothing to do with my future career goals, the job has funded some

European holidays, given me access to a network of friends, and most impor-tantly paid the bills so I can continue to live here.

It was certainly a shift in perspec-tive to suddenly

find fascination in the difference in

culture and things that one may find mundane at home

While I did move from one English speaking country to another, it was certainly a shift in perspective to sudden-ly find fascination in the difference in culture and things that one may find mundane at home.

For example, a trip to the supermarket became an hour of discovery rather than the boring chore it

usually is. For now it was, why is everyone so ob-sessed with blackcurrant? Who puts sweet corn on their pizza? And why can I never seem to find any cookie dough in the fri-dge and freezer section?

I also find myself choo-sing synonyms for words in my day to day talk to suit the environment I’m in. ‘Grocery store’ is now ‘supermarket’; ‘gas’ has become ‘petrol’; and I still get grief for calling it the ‘sidewalk’ ra-ther than the ‘footpath.’

Perhaps though, the bi-ggest observation is that Ireland is a nation of great social relationships and interaction. Now don’t get me wrong, Ca-nada is known for being one of the friendliest countries going, but the-re are some fundamental differences in customs.

In Canada, a wed-ding is a mid-after-noon-evening affair, but in Ireland the party can go on all weekend.

I find the placement of the washing machine in the kitchen odd as well. While I am used to it having its own small room in the house, sud-denly I find myself ha-ving a chat to the person cooking dinner while I’m doing my washing.

Even the Irish cities su-ggest that life is more about the people. As a major city, Dublin houses no skyscrapers or ten-la-ne motorways in and out of the centre, which is a norm is most North Ame-rican metropolises. The streets are also narrower which means like it or not, I’m in a much closer proximity with everyone else than I would be in ci-ties with larger open spa-ces and walking paths.

I look forward to learning and wri-ting more about my discoveries,

local events, and Dublin and Irish

life

As time has gone on though, these differen-ces as well as others have become much less noticeable, and just part of my life in Dublin.

Unfortunately, no mat-ter how far away from home you move, even-tually you settle into your new city and it too becomes routine.

I look forward to learning and writing more about my discoveries, local events, and Dublin and Irish life in Africa World.

www.africaworldnewspaper.com

COLUMN

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