Nigeria Content Online

Stock market recovers as month ends

Update for September

NSE ASI opened the
month of September on a rather poor note; the bear had 16 of the 20
trading days in the month. The market experienced four black weeks of
the five trading weeks within the month. Month to date the market is
down by 1,217.65 points or 5.02% from 24,268.24 to 23,050.29.

Meanwhile, month to
date is up by 2,223.46 points or 10.68%. Recall that it opened the year
at 20,827.13. Market capitalization ends the week at N5.648 trillion.

The market traded a
total of 5.951 trillion shares within the month and the performance was
top by the banking subsector that moved 3.359 trillion shares. Only 22
equities closed above their month-opening prices and they accounted to
1.086 trillion shares or 18.26% of market volume for September.

85 stocks that lost
moved 4.051 trillion units of share; same as 68% of market volume. 94
stocks wrapped up the month activities on a flat note and they traded
813.03 million shares or 13.66% of market volume.

Afromedia led the
percentage gainers with 37.25%, as it closed at N0.70 from N0.51. Vono
Products gained 34.92% and First Alluminum, Nigerian Wire and Cable,
and Berger Paints followed. AIICO top the percentage losers with 37.74%
drop. Spring Bank shed 34.52% and Unity Bank, Custodian Alliance, and
Academy Press followed with 33.96, 33.73, and 30.83 respectively.

Market report for the week ended 30th September, 2010

The market recorded
a turnover of 1.1 billion shares, valued at N10.50 billion in 21,572
transactions within the week. Meanwhile, the stock market operated for
four trading days within the week, as Friday was declared public
holiday to commemorate the Independence Day.

The banking
subsector was the most active as it moved 673.50 million shares in
12,225 transactions. Performance was boosted by volume on the shares of
Stanbic IBTC, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, and First Bank of
Nigeria Plc. The insurance subsector was enhanced by volumes on the
shares of Guaranty Assurance Plc and Intercontinental Wapic, and it
followed on performance chart with 100.30 million shares in 923 deals.

Skye Bank top the
price percentage gainers with 21.61% gain, from N6.20 to N7.54. Afro
Media gained 18.64%, Diamond Bank was third with 17.78%, while
Starcomms Plc, Costain, and Access Bank followed in that order.
Meanwhile, Custodian & Allied tops percentage losers’ chart with
drop of 26.97%, RT.Briscoe lost 24.79%, and Ashaka Cement, UTC,
Guaranty Trust Ass. and AIICO followed in that order.

Ikeja Hotels

The Q4 scorecard
for the year ended December-2009 of Ikeja Hotels was released to the
market on the first trading day of the week. The company reported a
turnover of N7,169 billion, which was 11.08% over the N6,454 billion
reported in 2008. PBT was up by 30.97%, while PAT and Net Asset were up
by 34.32% and 21.16% respectively.

Earnings/ratios/proposed dividend

Estimates from the
released figures show that the EPS improved by 33.33% from 0.42 of the
previous year to 0.56. The said earnings yielded 42.27%. ROE stood at
0.176% while the profit margin was 16.35%. The management has proposed
a dividend of 10k, which will be paid on the 6th of December, 2010,
after the company would have closed its book between 15th-19th
November, 2010. The AGM has been scheduled to hold on 25th November,
2010, while the venue is yet to be announced.

CHAMS Plc, audited year end – December, 2009

The company reveals
its Q4 2009 results to the market yesterday. The figures revealed
dropped on its top and bottom lines, as the TO dropped by 58.81% and
both PBT and PAT closed low at 394.98% and 1,588.43% respectively. The
company could not reward its investors and all its performance indexes
are negative.

Observations

The company needs
to improve; there is need to strategically position and come in with
profitable investments decisions. The result will not attract traders
in both short and medium term.

Adswitch Plc, year ended 30th April, 2010

The audited report
for the above mentioned year was released to the market today. The
released figures revealed an almost double growth in both top and
bottom line. The turnover was up by 75.37% when put side by side with
the comparable period of 2009. PAT gallop by 84.81% to N10.181 million,
from N5.509 million. And it marginally grows its net asset by 12.21%.

The management has
proposed 2k dividend, which when approved, shall be due for payment on
the 29th November, 2010, to investors in the company’s book by 18th
-22nd October, 2010. Other details on the AGM date and venue are as
stated in the table below.

Ratio analysis

EPS doubled from 4k
of the previous year end to 8k this year and it yielded 4.29%, when
compared to the current market price. It currently controls a good
PE/Ratio within the market average. Comparing the TO and PAT, its
profit margin was fair at 6.85%.

Observations

The result is good
and very impressive, despite the current economic situation. We expect
the company to sustain its current market price.

Custodian & Allied Insurance Plc

Payment of Interim
Dividend – The company notified The Exchange that its board of
directors has approved an interim dividend of N0.06 per share. The
closure of register is October 14, 2010, while the payment date is 20th
October, 2010.

Report on the over-the-counter market for FGN bonds

A turnover of 332.8
million units bonds valued at N317,950.53 million in 2,864 deals was
recorded this week, in contrast to a total of 209.3 million units worth
N195,013 million exchanged in 1,875 deals during the week ended
Thursday, September 23, 2010.

Measured by
turnover/volume, the most active bond was the 10.00% FGN July 2030
series, with a traded volume of 97.12 million units valued at N82.7
billion in 799 deals. This was followed by 5.5% FGN February 2013
series with a traded volume of 54.85 million units, worth N51.98
billion in 443 deals.

Eleven (11) of the
available thirty-seven (37) FGN bonds were traded during the week,
compared with fourteen (14) recorded in the preceding week.

Money

FINANCIAL MATTERS:How dwindling foreign reserves matter

FINANCIAL MATTERS:How dwindling foreign reserves matter

Should we be
concerned that, lately, the stock of the nation’s foreign reserve is
being run down at rates that appear unsustainable even in the
short-term? The apprehension with which the newspapers reported last
week the fact that by Monday, our foreign reserves stood at US$35.66bn,
the lowest level since April 2006, and down from the May 2008 high of
US$62.24bn, seems to suggest that we ought to.

However, before
panic sets in, how do foreign reserves matter to the economy? The
relatively simple nature of our economy, depressed final demand, almost
non-existent local production of anything of value, abysmal levels of
domestic productivity, all these ensure that the quantum of reserves
directly affects the naira’s exchange rate. And in an economy where
everything is “made in China”, a volatile exchange rate could be a
problem indeed.

On the other hand,
our managed exchange rate regime also forces us to include inflation
considerations in the concerns associated with the rate of depletion of
our foreign reserves. Can the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continue to
intervene in support of the national currency, even as its main
ammunition for this is depleted? Or put differently, how soon before we
are called upon to choose between an exchange rate crisis and devaluing
the naira? Most commentators imagine that this scenario would not play
out before the general election is done. Apparently, no central bank
governor would want to act in a way that hands victory to any opponent
of an incumbent president. If after the election, the naira begins to
buy fewer dollars than it was wont to, inflation figures may then trend
up, as the value of our imports rise relative to the value of the naira.

But then, isn’t it
the case that we worry too much. Lamido Sanusi, the central bank
governor, has re-assured to no end, all as might care to attend to him,
that his leadership of the CBN is not minded to devalue the naira.
Besides, apart from the muscle provided by external reserves, within
the context of a managed exchange rate regime, the central bank has a
slew of administrative controls with which it could impose costs on the
demand side of the official foreign exchange market. The tension that
will arise were it to resort to these tools, between appearing to
abandon market-based solutions, and seeming to act in the interest of
the domestic economy, should comfortably be resolved in favour of the
latter. In the end, the fear of the depreciation of the naira in an
import-dependent economy might be overdone. Moreover, the current
levels of the reserves can still support several months of imports.

Thus assured, the
next question is, aside from the sense of the naira’s value as somehow
reflective of the nation’s virility, how harmful is this loss of the
foreign reserve?

We will have to
borrow metaphors here. Recall that it did not matter that the balance
on the excess crude account was run down faster than any of us could
count the cents. Remember also, that nothing happened thereafter. And
although state governors had objected to the sterilisation of
relatively scarce foreign exchange earnings in the “unconstitutional”
excess crude account (at a time of extreme need in their respective
states) salaries are still owed public sector personnel in most states;
and the infrastructure deficit grows dire daily. Inflation,
interestingly, has remained unusually restrained. So once again, we
confront another uniquely Nigerian quandary. Where is the money?
Inflation isn’t up, because the infusion of cash into the economy from
monetising the excess crude account wasn’t expended on anything that
might drive local demand. And the CBN prefers to see a repatriation of
earnings as responsible for the spike in demand for foreign currencies
at the official market, rather than capital flight.

Admitting to the
logic of the central bank, one ought to ask, “how much was earned in
the economy last year?” By whom (it would help the argument if
non-resident economic entities were the most profitable)? And why
should the default response on the part of such economic entities be to
shop all such earnings out, rather than re-invest in an economy healthy
enough to have generated such rich pickings in the first instance?

Strengthened by these perspectives, the economy is clearly immune to economic logic!

Money

PERSONAL FINANCE: Are you an unemployed graduate?

PERSONAL FINANCE: Are you an unemployed graduate?

The graduation ceremony had a touch of solemnity and nostalgia about it; the special day has come and gone. Your precious child has reached the milestone you set them so many years ago; they listened to you and stayed the course. Perhaps you preached that once they had that foundation of a solid education under their belt they could step out into the world and enter the career of their dreams and start to build their own future. That time has now come and they are set to go out on their own, but there is nowhere to go. Every day young, intelligent, articulate graduates, pound the pavements in search of work. This year’s graduates are probably the most unfortunate in decades in terms of finding work. For many of them and indeed their colleagues who graduated up to two to three years ago, having a degree has not translated, as expected into getting a job. With the increased competition for only a few jobs from last year’s graduates who are still unemployed, the job outlook looks grim for scores of graduates. Are you an unemployed graduate? Do you have a child that faces this predicament? Here are some suggestions that might be useful until things improve.

Network, network, network

Does everyone you know realise that you are looking for a job? Use all the contacts and connections that you have, including your parents, aunts and uncles, family friends and so on. Make sure they know what your skills and talents are, so that they keep you in mind when they hear of any openings. Stay in close touch with professional colleagues and actively seek to expand your network. Use the web to search for job opportunities; through company websites you will be able to send out several applications efficiently, but bear in mind that most great job opportunities are not advertised; they are often filled by personal contacts.

Don’t give up

Having your graduate child return home to unemployment is a depressing experience for any parent, but you must continue to motivate and encourage them to keep searching. Naturally it can be very tedious and disconcerting sending out several applications but don’t

focus solely on your area of study, be flexible and broaden your scope. Searching in related fields boosts your chances of finding something that is relevant and that will still utilise your training and abilities and may even give you new skills. Get tips on how to improve the presentation of your CV to make it flawless and perfectly tailored to the positions you are seeking. What qualities do you have that might make you stand out amongst literally thousands of applications and make you more appealing to a potential employer?

Be flexible

If you are broke and are not one of those that are lucky enough to be housed and fed by your parents or relatives for an indefinite period, you cannot afford to sit at home until you find your dream job. If you regard every other position as demeaning and ‘beneath you’ as you are in fact ‘a graduate,’ you could be in for a long wait. In this highly competitive world in recession, it is important that you are humble and accept the fact that you will have to start at the bottom and work your way up. There may be opportunities working at a restaurant, in a shop, baby sitting and lots of other temporary jobs that can keep you busy and give you some badly needed cash until something more in line with your expectations and credentials turns up. Try to avoid having significant gaps of unemployment in your CV to have to explain in interviews. A future employer will be impressed that you did not just sit at home doing nothing but you kept yourself occupied gaining experience and new skills.

Do you have a special skill or tal-ent?

Be creative and identify that special gift or talent that you might have ignored before now. Do people always comment on your painting, photography or writing skills? Are you good at public speaking or organising, web-design or programming? Can you design clothes or model them? If you can play musical instruments to a decent standard, there may be freelance work as a singer, pianist, organist or violinist in churches, clubs, music lounges or private receptions. There may be opportunities to offer tutorial services in a subject that you excelled in, to students in your area. There are endless options and not only will you be earning, but you will also open yourself to opportunities and contacts that may be of help in your job hunt.

Consider working for free

One good way to get your foot in the door with a company or organisation is to demonstrate to them what you can do. By working as an intern or volunteering, you have an opportunity to impress them by showcasing your skills, commitment, and professionalism. This might make them want to hire you. Do not assume that doing volunteer work will translate into a permanent position with an organisation or you might be disappointed. Even if it doesn’t you would have gained valuable experience. Of course if you have no assistance whatsoever from family or friends, it will be difficult to work for free.

Consider setting your business

What is it that you are passionate about and capable of doing relatively easily and well? When you are young and free of significant financial or personal commitments such as a family, a mortgage and other debt, you have a unique opportunity to take some risk and consider establishing your own business if you are so inclined. Do you have what you consider to be a great idea that you are passionate about and doesn’t have huge start up costs? You may be surprised at what you can accomplish.

Consider the fact that there may be comfort in numbers. Perhaps you could partner with a classmate or a friend whose skills complement your own and set up something together.

Improve yourself

Whilst no learning is wasted, avoid fleeing into an expensive and lengthy graduate programme that may not necessarily give you that added advantage, just to postpone the difficult period. As far as possible, seek continue training and experience
that can directly support your chosen career path. Professional qualifications or certifications, or shorter courses to improve your IT and other skills can sometimes be of greater value at this time. The hard reality is that being a graduate never guaranteed anyone immediate employment. As you await the ‘right’ job, open yourself to various opportunities and experiences. Above all, maintain a sense of optimism and keep your spirits and energy levels up through exercise. Despair
and depression will only make you less attractive to a potential employer. It is that strength of character and self-confidence that will make you stand out and help get you through an employer’s door or the door of your own
small enterprise.

Money

‘Only manufacturing can change Nigeria’

‘Only manufacturing can change Nigeria’

Seed fund for research

We are now looking at how we can use our coming together as directors of research institutes to solve the problem of decreased funding for the research sector. That is one area which we now articulating a position paper that can be sent to government. Already, some of us have worked during the crafting of Vision 2020 on how to have what is called the National Science and Technology Fund. In the past, we had this fund which is a quick intervention fund that people in science and technology and related areas can draw from.

It can be called the Foundation for Industrial Development, but we believe there is a need to have a mechanism that will enable research institutes to be able to have the kind of funding they require to be able to do the kind of research that can impact on industries. Almost every developed country has it. Its equivalent in the United States is the National Science Foundation. They use funds from that foundation to solve industrial problems. If problems from industries are given to research institutes, they draw money from that foundation. It can also be used for capacity building, for improving on laboratories so you can have centres of excellence for certain area of science and technology.

Minimum of N500 billion required

If you are an entrepreneur and you are interested in setting up a business based on the result of a new research, you can draw from this fund. Usually funds like this are not given as loans because sometimes people ask: ‘why you don’t go to a commercial bank?’ That kind of work is not something that profit will start coming in a year’s time. So it is something like venture capital. In other words, that fund can be taken to set up an industry using research result from Nigerian scientists and before the industry is developed they can be given five years before they need to start paying back the money. In paying back, it should be at no interest so they can stabilize, but once they start making profit they will be like any other company and begin to pay tax.

Government needs to absorb that gestation period of five or 10 years as a development process, because when you have 1000 of such industries established to utilise research outputs, of course they will start employing our school-leavers and that will solve social problems for government. That is what that kind of fund can do for this country so that any area that is a new venture area, a smart entrepreneur can develop with it. That was how all these countries did it and unless we do it in this country, we will continue to go round and round. Unless we energise the emergence of a critical mass of Nigerians who can produce and manufacture things within Nigeria we are not going anywhere.

We had recommended minimum of N500 billion to start this foundation. We are talking of changing the economy and it will cost a lot.

An example

When Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) was established in Nigeria, the government gave PAN a deadline that after 10 years they must move from completely knocked down parts to actual manufacturing of the parts in Nigeria. PAN was working with their French counterpart at that time. Some scientists were saying that if we give PAN this challenge we must also create an enabling environment within the research communities in Nigeria to be able to create vehicles parts. That didn’t happen here. Although RMRDC gave grants to people to work on auto bodies – that is, doing composites – they came up with a good result of a mixture of metals, plastics and fibre to do auto bodies. They could only make panels, but it showed that it was possible. The challenge we had was who will pick up that and begin to make auto bodies from it. If there was a national science foundation, a businessman can pick up that and begin to do auto bodies.

That didn’t happen, but Peugeot in France was also thinking ahead. We were looking at doing auto bodies within five or ten years in Nigeria, by the time we got to the five or ten year mark, the main manufacturers in France were no longer doing auto bodies with metal. The bodies are now made of fibre-enforced plastics, which is lighter and stronger. If you go to PAN today, they are still bringing in knocked-down parts, but if we had a national science foundation, companies can begin to manufacture even one component of a car using local raw materials. This is important because if you are making it in Nigeria, you can even get orders to supply in plants in Germany. Once you manufacture to standard, you can supply internationally.

Commercialisation will be possible

The other area of focus is on what we have observed in the past. Moving results of research from laboratories to marketplace has been a major challenge in this country. We find a situation where if you go to every research institute you see technologies coming up, research that has been done, gadgets and devices that have been developed are just sitting there. So we want to use this network to see how we can collaborate among ourselves. Working together will enable us to synergise more, work more closely with industries. So our main thrust now is commercialization.

Every year we will target a certain number of research results, whether they are ideas or machines, and apply them directly to industries either to use them to establish new industries or to use those results to solve existing problems in the industries. That means there will more collaboration with organised private-sector groups. So we hope to work more closely with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Association of Small Scale Industrialists and chambers of commerce.

Need to adjust our models

Moving research results from laboratories to the market place also implies looking at the entire model we had adopted. Today, people stay in their laboratories, imagine problems and attempt to solve them and then begin to look at who will adopt the results. But there are two models of development, when you are talking of manufacturing.

The Technology Push model adopted in even world-class institutions is when a researcher sits and thinks about a problem that doesn’t even exist and comes up with a solution. Because the solution exists, the technology for that solution exists, he begins to market it. Nobody may have thought about that problem before but because people are now seeing a solution, they begin to adopt it as long as that is going to make somebody’s work easier. Before the Wright brothers thought about flying, nobody thought about it. In addition to the Technology Push model, there will also be the Demand Pull model.

Money

The dilemma of the Nigerian

The dilemma of the Nigerian

And yet we keep heading out in droves, and wish to head out in droves.

There is a perpetual perplexity to it all, that seems uncrackable.

Why do we Nigerians
almost without exception love our country so very much and yet so very
much want to head away from her if the slightest chance avails itself?

From the least to
the mightiest, opportunities to be away from home either short term or
more often than not, long term are sought with unnerving ferocities or
ingeniously inventive schemes. And yet, chance a contact with any
Nigerian in the diaspora and the distinct love for home and a palpable
sense of homesickness exudes from him with the pounding force of a gush.

It is clear that
the best place to be for a Nigerian is Nigeria and only the
unfavourable net dynamics of push- pull forces lead to emigration or
desire for emigration.

At 50, how can we
get to resolve the push-pull dynamics to the benefit of our country ?
What constitute the push forces from home that trump the pull from her
resulting in net centrifugality of movement?.

There probably
will be as many answers to this seeming connundrum as the number of
Nigerians (and even non Nigerians) who care to answer it. And such will
be understandable given that different things may come to produce a
push for some just as for very different reasons an individual may get
pulled.

Today,
unemployment, underemployment, poor health facilities, poor
infrastructural facilities, particularly stemming from inefficient
energy generation will rank as dominant push factors for more than many
but perhaps for most, it is insecurity; a situation in which both the
average and the not so average live like endangered species unsure
whether the day that started with them will see them through to the
evening , still alive and healthy. At the aetiologic heart of
insecurity is either poverty or greed ; the former induces its victim
to seek amelioration through terrorisation of his neighbour while the
latter, through obsession with plenty, has come to be morbidly desirous
of plentier and must bag its quarry no matter the means to it.

As to pull factors,
it probably is safe to suggest that for most, predominant, is love of
country (subsumed into love of one’s loved ones ) and esteem for self,
and for a few, love of lawlessness , in which, though the books teem
with rules and regulations (and therefore de facto not really lawless)
they are so ignored they have become obscure and through obscurity,
atrophied or become merely toothless. Or sometimes what laws that
remain simply labour in vain unmatched with justice. Today, the country
counts her years for the fiftieth time with some of us left to wonder
whether her glass is half full, dripping down to empty, or empty,
filling up to half full. That at fifty, none sees a glass full or soon
to be full is undeniable.

Today, presents a
unique juncture for us all Nigerians to hold that big glass in our
hands, toast to the health of our country and as we do so, reflect on
what we can do to contribute to that which is in the glass and not
merely sip from it till it is empty and then jettisoned.

For too long, each
of us seemed to have merely looked for how we can come to get a hold on
the wine glass, drink ourselves to an inebriated fullness and the glass
to a sober and derelict emptiness and then wonder why the nation
continues to rock rather than roll. Today, we should look at the giant
cake in front of us not gluttonously,but rather proverbially,and for
every bit we pull away from it , we bring back twice as much; so the
cake grows and continue to do so by our collective efforts.

The dillema of the
Nigerian is how, irrespective of his location, he can get to match that
unmistakable and nationalistic love for his “giant in the sun” of a
country with practical, positive and reasoned contributions that can
aggregate from all to the upliftment of the giant. Only by personal
determination to want to do good for and by ourselves but also for
beyond selves can we resolve the dillema. Through this upliftment, we
can begin to roll back those very forces that push people away from the
motherland even as we strengthen those that pull back and retain.
Through these same contributions, we can begin to pull the rug from
under the feet of the unrepentant unreformed looters. Be they those
that loot their neighbours with their guns or their white collar allies
who do the looting with their pens.

We welcome the
minister and Head of chancery and the team who have found it fit to
travel all the way to this island to join in our celebrations. Your
representation as high table Nigerians to this celebration and the good
will from home you bring to us in the Diaspora in these parts will
remain a continuing source of inspiration to continue to do what little
we can to contribute not to the rocking of our country but her
unstoppable forward roll.

My proud and profuse congratulations to us all, both here and abroad on this fiftieth anniversary of independence .

Jide Basil Fadipe is consultant surgeon, Justin Fadipe Hospital, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies.

Death and independence day

Death and independence day

It was a cold
clear Ontario morning. That special kind of Canadian morning I look
forward to because I can go jogging and breathe in the crisp and
oh-so-fresh air while drinking in the vivid colours of the trees in
late autumn. Although it was October 1st and I was born Nigerian,
independence day was the furthest thing on my mind in the tranquillity
of suburban Canada.

Then the phone
rang at about 7.30am, and a Nigerian phone number flashed on the
display. “Trouble” I thought, but decided to pick it up anyway, bracing
myself for the usual garbage from 419 fraudsters in search of “someone
to cooperate with for the transfer and sharing of millions of dollars”.
This time I was wrong.

I heard a voice
say “hold on please!” and then my mother’s voice, shaky and exhausted
from weeping, informing me that my father had died that morning. It was
a strange conversation, because she kept on saying she was sorry, and I
kept on saying it was OK and everything would be fine, not really
knowing what else to say to someone who had just lost her lifetime
partner. It would be many months after, following lots of activities
around his burial in Nigeria, that it would finally hit me that I had
also lost my father and dear friend that cold October morning.

When I think of my
father, the images that flash past are a kaleidoscope of Nigeria’s rich
history since independence from the British Empire in 1960. Our
affluent life in the early 1960s in Port Harcourt where I was born; the
rude shock of the civil war through which we lived in the East as
Biafrans in the villages and in the bush; the family’s return to “One
Nigeria“ in the slums of Lawanson in Lagos; the brash promise of the
oil boom years when I was at Kings College; the flip flop between
civilian and military rule; the several successive military coups, and
finally pseudo-democracy in the form of civilian rule. He always
commented on these times, reflecting on the role his generation had
played in the evolution of Nigeria as an independent state.

Before illness
robbed him of the ability to speak, we had many conversations on the
subject of Nigeria, with me asking tough and sometimes unfair questions
of him and his generation. Why did you let the civil war happen so soon
after fighting for independence together? What was your generation’s
intellect expended on while the military coups were happening in quick
succession? How could your generation not detribalise Nigeria, given
that neither of your two closest friends (or mine for that matter) is
from the Igbo tribe?

In the end, he
conceded that his generation had indeed failed the nation through
passivity and that Nigeria’s future generations would pay a heavy price
for that failure. I eventually responded to this prediction by moving
to live in Canada as it steadily transformed from prophecy to reality.

Oh Canada! Sane,
serene, civilized Canada, a country much more in line with my education
and upbringing! My father, who was responsible for most of my education
and upbringing, however completely disapproved of my move. He came
around eventually as he saw his grandchildren grow healthy in mind and
spirit, reflecting the goodness of the society in which they were being
raised. Then as his illness progressed he withdrew from the world into
a long silence and eventually succumbed to death. I have felt that his
death was a release for him, not just from the battle with terminal
illness but also from the shackles of the guilt of feeling powerless to
stop his beloved country from sliding into moral, spiritual and
physical decay. Irrationally, I think it is significant that he “broke
free” on Nigeria’s Independence Day.

Generations of
Nigerians are still paying a price today in different forms, and I will
confess to inheriting my father’s guilt as my own generation also
stands by, seemingly powerless to step away from the past and change
Nigeria’s future.

I hope that such guilt will not be the inheritance I pass on to my children.

So Nigeria’s
Independence Day has much more sombre meaning for me. No joyous
celebrations please. Like the proximity of cold death, it is a shrill
wake up call, to jerk me out of my physical and intellectual comfort
zone and remind me of Nigeria’s reality- a deeply troubled nation,
often times appearing to be on the brink of sudden violent death.

For my sake and
hopefully the sake of my children, I am in the process of seriously
re-engaging with Nigeria, going back to the battlefront much wiser
after beating a tactical retreat, as all good fighters must be able to
do in battle.

While I have not
and will not surrender, more tactical retreats are possible in future.
I do not subscribe to the “NO RETREAT! “ doctrine, especially if
faced with formidable odds.

Somehow I think if he were alive today my father would smile at that.

50 events that shaped Nigeria’s history

50 events that shaped Nigeria’s history

October 1, 1960 – Nigeria gains
independence from Britain, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Prime
Minister leading a coalition government of parliamentary system.

October 1, 1963 – Nigeria becomes a republic, breaking away from the British monarchy.

January 15, 1966 – Fall of the First
Republic, as Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa is killed in unsuccessful
coup led by some Majors.

January 16, 1966 – Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi takes over as the nation’s Head of State.

July 29, 1966 – Aguiyi Ironsi killed in
a counter-coup by a group of northern army officers who revolted
against the government, and he is replaced by Yakubu Gowon.

January 5, 1967 – Military leaders and
senior police officials of each region (East, North and South) sign an
accord in Aburi, Ghana and agree on a loose confederation of regions.

May 30, 1967 – Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, the Eastern Region’s military governor, announces the
break-away of the eastern states as the Republic of Biafra, sparking
bloody civil war that led to the deaths over a million people.

January 12, 1970 – Biafran leaders
surrender, as the officer administering the government, Phillip Effiong
calls for a cease-fire. The region was reintegrated into Nigeria.

July 25, 1975 – Yakubu Gowon overthrown in a coup led by Murtala Ramat Mohammed, while attending the OAU summit in Uganda

February 13, 1976 – Murtala Mohammed assassinated in a failed coup attempt. His deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, takes over

September 21, 1978 – A new
constitution, styled on American presidential system, published, and
the ban on political activity lifted.

1979 – Nation heads to the polls for a general election which saw the election of Shehu Shagari as the democratic president.

January 1983 – Government expels more
than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had
overstayed their visas and taking jobs from Nigerians.

August, September 1983 – Shehu Shagari re-elected as the president, amid accusations of irregularities and corruption.

December 31, 1983 – Muhammad Buhari
heads military officers who seize power in bloodless coup, to be become
Commander in Command and Head of State.

August 27, 1985 – Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.

1986 – Babangida launches controversial Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) which shook up the nation’s economy

October 19, 1986 – Foremost journalist, Dele Giwa, assassinated by a parcel bomb which is often blamed on the Babaginda regime

April 22, 1990 – Gideon Orka leads coup to topple Babaginda, but the coup is unsuccessful.

December 12, 1991 – Nigeria’s capital city moved from Lagos to Abuja

June 12, 1993 – Babangida annuls the presidential elections adjudged to have been won by businessman, Moshood Abiola.

August 27 1993 – Babangida transfers
power to Interim National Government led by Ernest Shonekan, following
massive protest against his administration

November 17, 1993 – Sani Abacha seizes power from the Interim National Government and suppresses opposition.

1994 – Acclaimed winner of the June 12 election, MKO Abiola, arrested after proclaiming himself president.

November 10, 1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa,
writer and campaigner against the oil industry damage to his Ogoni
homeland, executed following a hasty trial. In protest, the US and
European Union impose sanctions on Nigeria

June 8, 1998 – Abacha passes away under controversial circumstances and succeeded by Abdulsalami Abubakar.

July 7, 1998 – Abiola dies in custody days after meeting a US delegation

1999 – Parliamentary and presidential elections lead to the election of Olusegun Obasanjo as the nation’s president.

2000 – Adoption of Sharia law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians

2001 – Tribal war in Benue State,
displacing thousands of people, as soldiers sent to quash the fighting
kill more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the
abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.

November 2002 – Many lives lost in four
days of protest stoked by fury from Northern Nigeria over the planned
Miss World beauty pageant in Abuja

July 10, 2003 – Governor of Anambra
State, Chris Ngige, abducted by a team of police officials and forced
to sign his resignation letter, which was upheld by the State’s House
of Assembly but over-turned by the Supreme Court.

September 27, 2003 – Nigeria’s first satellite, NigeriaSat-1 launched via Russian rocket into the space.

May 18, 2004 – State of emergency
declared in Plateau State, after more than 200 people are killed in
Yelwa in what would result in tit-for-tat killings by Muslims and
Christians in the state

January 2005 – Inspector General of
Police, Tafa Balogun, forced to resign from office on corruption
charges and subsequently tried and jailed by a court of law.

July 2005 – Paris Club of rich lenders agrees to write off two-thirds of Nigeria’s $30 billion debt.

January 9, 2006 – Militants in the
Niger Delta commence major attack on pipelines and other oil
facilities, and kidnap foreign oil workers for ransom, as they demand
more control over the region’s oil wealth.

April 2006 – With record oil prices, Nigeria becomes first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders.

May 17, 2006 – Senate rejects proposed
changes to the constitution which would have allowed the President to
stand for a third term in 2007.

August 6, 2006 – Nigeria cedes
sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring
Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice
ruling.

October29, 2006 – Sultan of Sokoto and
tens of others die in a plane crash, the country’s third major civilian
air disaster in the year.

August 14, 2008 – Nigeria finally hands over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, ending a long-standing dispute.

May 2009 – Niger Delta militant group,
MEND, rejects government offer of amnesty and declares offensive
against Nigerian military.

August 2009 – Two-month offer of a
government amnesty for Niger Delta militants comes into force, as
thousands of militants drop their arms.

November 23, 2009 – President Yar’Adua
travels to Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart condition. His
extended absence triggers a constitutional crisis and leads to calls
for him to step down.

February 10, 2010 – National Assembly
votes to transfer power to the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan, until
Mr Yar’Adua is able to resume presidency. Mr Yar’Adua returns to
Nigeria but does not return to work.

May 6, 2010 – Umaru Yar’Adua dies after
a long illness. His vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, already acting
in Yar’Adua’s stead, succeeds him.

Wrong Winner

Wrong Winner

After weeks of competition, Kelsey Martinovich achieved her dream of becoming Australia’s Next Top Model.

All smiles, 19-year-old Kelsey thanked host of the
Foxtel TV series, Sarah Murdoch, who had named her winner, and her
fellow contestants for “keeping me on my toes” before concluding her
acceptance speech with the words “Oh, this is crazy”.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have added that bit because
shortly after, it did turn crazy. And it wasn’t because Kanye West
jumped onto the stage, grabbed the mic and said, “No disrespect, but
Beyonce should have won.”

To the shock of thousands watching the live
finale, Sarah Murdoch stopped the proceedings, apologised profusely,
and named 1st Runner Up, Amanda Ware the true winner.

“I don’t know what to say right now. I’m feeling a bit sick about this,” Murdoch told a 2,000-strong live audience.

“I’m so sorry. Oh my God, I don’t know what to
say. This is what happens when you have live TV folks, this is insane,
insane, insane.”

Foxtel blamed the gaffe on miscommunication, and
in some kind of damage control, Kelsey was compensated for the briefest
of reigns. She will receive about $20,000 cash prize and a trip to New
York as consolation, almost matching Miss Ware’s spoils.

While such compensation may suffice in a competition for models, one
doubts if it will work for politicians. Imagine if the Independent
National Electoral Commission’s chairman, Attahiru Jega, were to make
such a mistake in announcing the winner of next year’s presidential
election! Now, that won’t be funny.

The dillema of the Nigerian

The dillema of the Nigerian

And yet we keep heading out in droves, and wish to head out in droves.

There is a perpetual perplexity to it all, that seems uncrackable.

Why do we Nigerians
almost without exception love our country so very much and yet so very
much want to head away from her if the slightest chance avails itself?

It is clear that
the best place to be for a Nigerian is Nigeria and only the
unfavourable net dynamics of push- pull forces lead to emigration or
desire for emigration.

My proud and profuse congratulations to us all, both here and abroad on this fiftieth anniversary of independence .

Jide Basil Fadipe is consultant surgeon, Justin Fadipe Hospital, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies.

Celebrating what will be, not what is

Celebrating what will be, not what is

It was about 14
months ago today, in the early hours of a Thursday morning when all
normal people were asleep, that I experienced an incident that changed
my life forever. There I was snoozing away after a very long day at
work, hoping that the few hours of sleep I get every day will be
sufficient on this very night; but not this particular day, as I was
awakened by an armed man dressed in black, with a face mask.

I was speechless
and still in sleep mode. All I could hear was: ‘bring the money, where
is the money and soon I received a resounding slap on my face that
brought clarity to my sight and took away the sleep I so desired. I
then realized there were about eight armed men on this operation, each
scrambling through the rooms for what they could lay their hands on.

This was followed
by a greedy attempt by two of the men who figured they might have
enough time to rape us, but this attempt was brought to a quick end
when my house mate shouted ‘Dan Allah’, meaning ‘in the name of God’,
in Hausa. Knowing that she recognized them as Hausa and with all the
rage in his hands, the armed man who was taking her away, punched her
in the face and she started bleeding instantly.

That is all I
remember. They took us back into the room, told us to stay in there and
shortly afterwards, we did not hear any more noise. The next person’s
voice I heard was my friend’s mum who I lived with, asking us all to
come into her room so we could all be together if they came back.
Interestingly, she had heard them trying to get in and called the
estate security who said she should call again if indeed she could
confirm they were thieves. How preposterous.

Anyway, she was
able to make a call before they broke into her bathroom door where she
hid, but obviously no quick action was taken because it was not until
4.30am, about one hour after the armed men had left, that the police
arrived. By this time, our lovely neighbour had been shot dead and a
young beautiful woman had become a widow. It was all like a dream. Like
many people that night, we all went to bed in a beautiful house on the
island where we had a generator running to provide us light, but it did
not shield us from the existing decadence in the society we live in.

After nights
without sleep and suddenly waking up at every sound I hear, I began to
wonder and find answers. My choices were not many, though. Do I hate
all the Hausa people I know because I knew these men were Hausa? Do I
question God knowing that he protects his own and will not let any evil
befall them? What was I to do?

This was not hard
to figure out after a while, when I started thinking about my great
country Nigeria and what it offers its citizens. Thankful to God that I
was still alive and knowing that the real issue was beyond tribe,
ethnicity or religion, I got to the point where I almost justified the
armed robbers’ actions. Crazy, yes of course, but will you blame me?

Why would a man who
had access to the basic human needs like food, water and shelter, leave
his home at 2am and come rob another fellow Nigerian? Well, I do not
have all the answers but what differentiates that man from the one who
holds a political position, sneaks around to have meetings in the dead
of the night to sign deals that translate to millions, sometimes
billions, of naira in his bank account. Which one of them is justified?

Honestly, why do we
get so mad at armed robbers on the street, but put up with the men who
rob us daily of what is due to us and our children? Enough is enough;
we need to make a choice. There is so much poverty in the midst of the
plenty and we are not isolated by a nice house in a nice area with a
nice ride and a heavy bank account. It’s time we begin to care for the
people around us, as we consciously vote to change the people that lead
us.

It is going to be
tough, people, but a New Nigeria is inevitable if we are to bequeath a
better nation to our children, one they can be proud of and not shy
away from or deny. If you can read this message, you are in the
minority in Nigeria, as most people do not have access to the Internet,
neither are they literate enough to read, but they need you and I to
make the right choices to give them a better opportunity.

Use your vote
wisely. Register to vote. It is your right and your responsibility. I
celebrate Nigeria at 50, not because of what is, but because of what I
know will be.

God bless you and God continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.