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The regeneration of Ibadan
The regeneration of Ibadan
Over the past few
days remarks made by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of EFCC
during his lecture at the late Bola Ige birthday event have earned a
caustic response from the Oyo State government through Chief Gbade
Ishola.
I think it is a
welcome thing that regeneration of Ibadan has become a topical issue.
It is however an issue that requires a different discourse than that of
a partisan political nature. I will avoid choosing sides because what
is at stake is far more significant than who is right or wrong nor is
it about the coming election.
The city of Ibadan
represents a totally unique space in the history and potential future
of the nation. It has been the largest indigenous city of its kind in
Africa but also the intellectual cradle of the Nigerian state. If we
valued anything in our current transactional mindset it would be this
city that evolved through a unique, meritocracy into a warrior republic
using a constitutional experiment that remains largely intact today.
She carries three
powerful dimensions for our future; a habit of cultural innovation that
includes the first television station; a platform for intellectual
curiosity and academic expression that spawned the first university; a
network of informal commerce that is translated into scores of open air
markets including the largest market for indigenous textiles in Oje. To
say that Ibadan has regressed is not to focus blame on any one party in
what should be a partnership to preserve her legacy and generate a
vision to renew her.
Ibadan is perhaps
the only city in Africa that is bucking the trend in urbanisation
especially in the number of young people she has lost. The downward
trend for the city started with the much vaunted Structural Adjustment
Programme of the Babangida regime in the mid 1980s.
This policy that
decimated the Nigerian middle classes destroyed the vibrancy of Ibadan
which was the most middle class of all cities in Nigeria.
The disdain in
which the universities, research institutes and that almost uniquely
local focus – publishing- was treated, wiped out the intellectual
values, skills and industries. The lack of priority for education also
destroyed the place as an education destination for the country.
The middle class
values of community, perseverance and long term effort were killed and
replaced with neo liberal individualism leading to the triumph of the
hustler class. Shame died and became replaced with wanton materialism.
Ibadan has never recovered.
Subsequent
governments, local and national have neither had the desire nor have
had the resources to prioritise Ibadan above other things they feel
necessary. It does not start with the present government in Oyo State.
There is of course the inevitable structural problem of a potential
world centre in a largely rural, agricultural state.
Maybe the challenge
of renewing Ibadan might be a drain to development in other parts of
the state? The false divisions amongst the citizens of our metropolis
have not helped these challenges. The identification of indigene versus
resident is a very poor choice. The founders of our great city came
from all over Yoruba land to find fortune through valour and might
rather than from birthright and bloodline. Nowhere was merit more
forcefully enforced as the standard of excellence than in the ancient
home of Oluyole.
We as citizens have
also failed our city in not creating a large enough umbrella as is our
tradition. We failed to make talent, excellence and love for the
betterment of our land as the only standard for determining whether one
qualifies as Ibadan
or otherwise. No great city is a creation of government alone, but a
result of the collective vision and contribution of her people,
businesses, civic organisations and government in partnership.
Even if the Oyo
State government believes it has done some things, the honest truth is
that there is a lot more to do. Our city now has a shop front in every
house; our roads struggle to absorb traffic because of the number of
cars struggling for space. Nowhere are there more research institutes
than in Ibadan but they are not connected by the highway of this
century in fibre optic broadband.
The publishing
industry on Magazine Road is a very pale shadow of the capital of West
Africa that it was. I know from Mallam Ribadus comments that he cares
and I know from my limited interaction with Chief Gbade Ishola that he
is passionate about Ibadan. We can have a civil dialogue about the best
way ahead.
Last year we started this process with the Mesiogo initiative (outside of government and
politics) to work
across stakeholders for long term regeneration for our city. Lets
continue this dialogue and effort without succumbing to self-serving
partisanship. No one has a monopoly of ideas or responsibility as we
strive to continuously evolve Ibadan not just to the greatness of her
pioneering past but also to the possibilities of prosperity for many
more generations to come.
Adewale Ajadi is a social entrepreneur and Ibadan is his hometown.
Housewife vies for Adamawa Assembly seat
Housewife vies for Adamawa Assembly seat
Hajiya Maryam Babangida, a housewife, on Thursday, announced that
she will contest for a seat in the Adamawa State House of Assembly in
the 2011 elections.
Mrs Babangida told the News Agency of Nigeria, in Mubi, Adamawa,
that she would be proactive as a lawmaker, if elected. The aspirant,
who wants to represent Mubi-North State Constituency on the PDP
platform, promised to give special attention to the problems of
maternal mortality and youth unemployment through legislation.
“It
is time to effectively address the nagging problems of family health
and unemployment among the youth through legislation,” she said.
Mrs Babangida also pledged to collaborate with like-minded
colleagues in the House to enact gender-sensitive laws as part of the
process of improving the socio-economic status of women. She said such
laws would go a long way in addressing the problems of domestic
violence, juvenile delinquency, street begging and other forms of
violation against women and children.
“We need to develop a mechanism to ensure proper implementation of
poverty eradication among the youth and women,” she said. “I will
initiate economic empowerment programmes at the grass roots to uplift
the standard of living of women and youths.”
She also urged women to join politics and vie for elective positions
so as to ensure quality and proactive representation at all levels of
government. “It is desirable to evolve mechanisms to deal with issues
militating against effective women’s participation in politics,” she
said. “Nigeria is blessed with abundant talented women, but our
greatest setback is the lack of wisdom to support them and recognise
their contribution to national development.”
Imo cracks down on bush burning
Imo cracks down on bush burning
The Imo State House of Assembly, on Wednesday, passed the amended Bill on Bush Burning Prohibition.
The Speaker of the House, Goodluck Opiah said in Owerri that having met the necessary legislative requirements, the bill will now be sent to the Governor, Ikedi Ohakim, for assent.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the bill, which seeks to curb environmental degradation through bush burning, was sponsored by Chukwuemeka Egbuchulam, the Majority Leader of the House.
Ilaje women shut down Chevron headquarters
Ilaje women shut down Chevron headquarters
Business activities were on Wednesday paralysed for the second day running at the Chevron’s corporate headquarters in Lagos as it workers stayed off duty.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some women from Ilaje area of Ondo State had on Tuesday besieged the company’s head office protesting alleged neglect. Subsequently, the management of the oil giant directed the workers to stay off duty pending when the issues that led to the women’s protest would be resolved.
The protesting women, who vowed never to vacate the company’s premises, accused management of the company of neglecting the host communities in Ilaje area. NAN gathered that the women also complained that the multi-national company had reneged on its promises to improve the welfare of the people in the host communities. They also demanded for better treatment from the company in the area of employment for the indigenes, good roads and portable water among others.
A staff of the company, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that the workers could not come to work on Wednesday because the management directed them to stay off from duty.
Folorunso Oginni, the Lagos Zonal Chairman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, also confirmed that the workers were directed to stay off from duty. He said that the decision was taken to avoid possible attack of the workers by the protesting women.
Efforts to reach Femi Odumabo, the company’s General Manager, Government and Public Affairs, were unsuccessful as calls and text messages sent to his mobile phone were unanswered.
Call FIFA’s bluff, Ositelu advises Jonathan
Call FIFA’s bluff, Ositelu advises Jonathan
Ayo Ositelu, one of
Nigeria’s most experienced journalists has advised President Goodluck
Jonathan to call the bluff of world football governing body, FIFA over
its decision to ban Nigeria from all its global football competitions.
Ositelu, former
Sports Editor of The Punch Group of Newspapers, said by banning Nigeria
the way it has done FIFA has shown disrespect to a sovereign nation.
“It is about time
Nigeria called the bluff of the arrogant dictators or self-styled
overlords who delight in issuing threats and terrorising mostly
developing countries on the flimsiest of excuses. I really do not know
how the self-serving opportunists who found themselves running world
football got the idea that the Nigerian government decides what goes on
in the courts of law,” Ositelu said.
“Where was FIFA
when government gave Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) N900 million for
the South Africa World Cup? Where was FIFA when government was
financing all NFF programmes? And where will NFF be without government?
Does FIFA know that corporate bodies do not support sports or football
in Nigeria? It is the government that fund the sport.
“Everybody knows
who is behind all these problems, the same person who has controlled
sports for 20 years with little to show for the government’s massive
investment in sports,
particularly
football. I’m sure the government knows what to do before one man
single-handedly destroys what Nigeria has built for more than seven
decades.”
Fishing out culprits
He said FIFA ought to show Nigeria more respect.
“What is the
problem of FIFA if government say they want to increase the number of
club in the league? If FIFA can do without Nigeria, they should go
ahead so that the country could organise its football,” Ositelu said.
“On June 6, 2006,
when FIFA ordered England, Spain, Italy and Germany to reduce the
number of the teams in their leagues so that players play less matches,
these nations told FIFA to go to hell and why is FIFA concerning itself
with unimportant issues instead of focusing on important issue like
goal-line technology. The tenure of Sepp Blatter as FIFA boss is the
most corrupt in the history of FIFA.”
Ositelu also called for an investigation to expose those behind the nation’s recent predicaments.
“The person or
persons must be brought to book. After all, no person (not even
President Jonathan) is bigger than Nigeria. The sports minister is not
minister of football but of sports, I think the FIFA ban will help us
to focus on other sports… money spent on football should be diverted
to other sports in Nigeria”.
NPL responsible
In a related
development, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has said it is not to
blame for the enlargement of the Nigeria Premier League to 24 teams
from its original 20. Olukayode Thomas, Special Assistant to the Sports
minister, Ibrahim Bio, said neither Bio nor Patrick Ekeji unilaterally
increased the number of teams in the premier league “On the issue of
the league, the decision not to relegate any team was taken by the NPL,
NFF and the club owners, who met in Abuja to resolve the dispute
between Baribote and the NPL. So what is the ministry’s role in that
case?” Thomas asked.
Westwood refocuses after Ryder Cup as top ranking looms
Westwood refocuses after Ryder Cup as top ranking looms
Lee Westwood will
try to put the Ryder Cup out of his mind and will not be distracted by
the prospect of becoming world number one when he tees off in this
week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The Briton, a key
member of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team, will knock Tiger Woods
off the top of the rankings if he finishes first or second in a
tournament he won in 2003.
“The thing this
week to do is to concentrate on the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
as it’s easy to get distracted and not be able to refocus after last
week,” Westwood told reporters on Wednesday.
“Going to number two on Monday and having a chance to go to number one, I could get drawn towards that as well.
“But obviously if I
take care of business on the golf course this week at the Dunhill Links
then the world No. 1 ranking takes care of itself.”
Great performance
Westwood arrived in
Scotland on Tuesday evening after celebrating well into the morning
following Europe’s stunning one-point victory over the U.S. at Celtic
Manor.
“Everybody was obviously very happy on Monday evening and why not?,” he said.
“It was an incredible Ryder Cup, just about everything and the result in the end showed how close the two teams were.
“The weather almost
added to the drama. Fortunately the result turned out in our favour
through some gritty play. I suppose G-Mac (Graeme McDowell) is the one
that’s been highlighted the most with it being the winning putt, but I
thought it was a great team performance overall.”
The Ryder Cup
finished on a Monday for the first time due to bad weather in Wales and
Westwood said consideration should be given to staging the 2014 event
at Gleneagles, Scotland in September.
“The Ryder Cup is so prestigious and such a big event now that priority should be given to it with regards to dates,” he said.
“Common sense has
to be used somewhere along the line. You can’t know how unreliable the
weather is. Just any help would be good I think. Shift it forward a
couple of weeks. I think September is generally a good month.”
Westwood, 37, is bidding to become the third British player to get
to the top of the world rankings, after Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.
Nigerian boxers bruised in Delhi
Nigerian boxers bruised in Delhi
Nigeria’s hopes of
finishing as the best African team at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in
New Delhi India is gradually fading as the country’s athletes continue
to falter in their respective events.
Yesterday, the
country’s boxers were outclassed by their opponents as they tried to
advance at the Commonwealth Games, which enters its fourth day today.
Competing in the
60kg lightweight division, Sogbamu Waheed was pummelled in the
preliminary round of the boxing event as he lost 11-1 to his Pakistani
opponent, Khan Nawaz.
It was the same for
his compatriot Ademuyi Kehinde who lost 7-2 to his opponent in the 69kg
category. Both boxers had earlier been tipped to win medals before
departing for the games.
Their performance
came a day after their counterpart, Ganiu Muyideen, lost to his
opponent and blamed his coach for failing to give him the right
instructions.
Also in the team
event for table tennis, the country’s female team made up of Atinuke
Olaide, Edem Offiong, Effiom Janet and Ogundele Ganiat was ousted by
Singapore; losing 3-0 in the quarter finals of the event.
The woes continued
in the weightlifting event as Eze Ndidi failed to replicate the feat of
her other colleagues, who had won a gold and silver medal, as she
finished bottom of the pack in the women’s 58kg finals. The category
was won by Renu Yumnam of India.
Belly trouble
Meanwhile, two of
England’s top women swimmers on Wednesday complained of stomach
problems, while Australia’s Andrew Lauterstein was forced to pull out
of the men’s 50m butterfly final due to a stomach complaint.
Rebecca Adlington
and Fran Halsall both wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter that
they were suffering from “Delhi belly”, which was affecting their
performances.
“Delhi belly please
go away,” wrote double Olympic champion and 800m freestyle world record
holder Adlington on Wednesday morning.
She later won
bronze in the women’s 4x200m freestyle, her second medal of the Games
after a third-place finish in the 200m freestyle.
But the strain was clearly taking its toll as she prepared for the 800m free final on Thursday.
Also in swimming,
Australia’s Matthew Cowdrey broke his own 50 metres world record with a
winning time of 25.33 which beat his 2008 mark of 25.34, set at the
Beijing Paralympics, by the slimmest of margins.
He also smashed his Games record of 25.66 set during qualifying this year.
England’s Simon Miller finished second in 26.70, while India’s Prasanta Karmakar took third in 27.48.
In women’s hockey,
India’s miserable run continued on Wednesday, with the team losing 2-1
to defending champions Australia at the Major Dhyan Chand National
Stadium.
After splitting
points with Scotland in their opening Pool A match on Monday, much was
expected from India, silver medalists at the last Games, against the
young Australian side, but they failed to live up to expectations
before a moderate crowd.
The defeat put India in a tight position for a semi final berth.
They now need to win their remaining matches against Trinidad and
Tobago and South Africa by big margins to stay in contention.
Don’t write off Federer yet warns Nadal
Don’t write off Federer yet warns Nadal
World number one
Rafa Nadal insists his great rival Roger Federer is no spent force and
on Wednesday backed him to add to his record haul of 16 grand slam
titles.
“He won at the
Australian Open and won in Cincinnati (Federer’s 17th Masters 1000
title), got to the final in Madrid and Toronto … so it’s a good year
for him,” Nadal told reporters at this week’s Japan Open.
“It’s very
difficult to always be 100 percent and what Federer did the last seven
or eight years is almost impossible to repeat. It’s unbelievable.”
Nadal matched Federer in winning all four grand slam crowns by winning
last month’s U.S. Open to move to nine overall and add to the Wimbledon
and French Open crowns he won earlier in the year.
But the Spaniard
warned that it was far too early to write off Federer, who has won 63
career titles but has slipped to third in the world rankings.
“Of course he is
going to challenge to win the big tournaments,” said Nadal, who is
making his first appearance in Japan this week. “He is still – what?
–number two or three in the world and his game is still at a very high
level.”
Nadal and Federer are two of only seven men to have won all four majors and the Spaniard paid credit to the Swiss maestro.
“It’s very difficult to always be at the top,” said Nadal, who is gunning for his seventh title of the year this week.
“What he did is very, very difficult.”
‘Obudu good enough to host world championships’
‘Obudu good enough to host world championships’
Bruno Gozzelino,
the president of the World Mountain Running Association has said
Nigeria is likely to host one of the biggest outdoor running event in
the next few years.
Gozzelino said this
in Calabar at the weekend. According to him, the Obudu Ranch Resort,
venue of the annual Obudu International Mountain Race, is good enough
to host the federation’s flagship event – the World Mountain Running
Championships.
Conditions
Gozzelino believes
the organisers of the race in Nigeria have also shown a mastery of the
sport and only a few things need to be improved upon.
“I strongly believe
that the Obudu Ranch Resort has a good chance of staging the biggest
competition in our calendar, the World Mountain Running Championships,”
said the Italian.
“In my opinion only
two areas need to be adjusted for the competition to come to Nigeria
and they are the travel arrangements for participants and the terrain
of the Ranch.
“In terms of
travel, I think the Local Organising Committee for the international
mountain race has been doing a perfect job. What the WMRA will only
require is a guarantee and days for accommodation increased to at least
five days.
“As you all know, a
world championships involves a minimum of 500 people around the world
and that is only speaking about athletes and coaches. We still have the
fans, the media and the invited guests.
“So the LOC only
needs to increase the number of rooms and make arrangements for easy
transfer from Lagos to Calabar before the road trip to Obudu.”
Obudu race
The Obudu
Iinternational Mountain Race is organised by the Cross River State
Government, in conjunction with the Athletic Federation of Nigeria.
It enjoys
tremendous support from the African Athletics Confederation(CAA), the
WMRA and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The race covers a
distance of 11 kilometres uphill to an altitude of 1,575 metres above
sea level, taking athletes to one of the finest tourist destinations in
the world, the Obudu Mountain Resort.
This year’s race,
which has been confirmed for the last week of November, will feature
aside the main race such activities as a Doping in Sports Seminar, the
Media Race, Children’s Race, and a Gala Night/Fireworks.
The main race will flag-off alongside the African Championship at 8.00 a.m on Saturday, November 27.
