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Cardinal Arinze Tasks Nation On Corruption
FROM CHUKS COLLINS, AWKA
FRANCIS Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect emeritus for the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican City, has expressed deep concern about the level of corruption in Nigeria, warning that it could lead to the collapse of governance, if it was not tackled immediately.
Arinze made the observation during the weekend, at a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Holy Family Youth Village in Awka, established by the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke.
The Cardinal stressed the need for people with good characters to be at the helm of affairs, pointing out that there is too much cheating, deceit and manipulation of processes.
"When one thinks of the challenges facing Nigeria, the prominent ones are honesty and reliability. One question that comes to mind is what is really the attitude of Nigerians towards money? We know money is good, but it is bad when pursued in a wrong way.
In Nigeria, a few people are super rich. Another question is where did the money come from?"
He observed that no investment in education was too much, advising that it should be the concern of both parents and governments to ensure that the right type of education was given to the youth, whom he described as future leaders.
Archbishop Okeke said the reason for establishing the village was to provide students with a suitable environment for learning, adding that he owed gratitude to God for making this vision a reality.
Source: The Guardian, 15th August 2010.
Arinze: Corruption May Lead to Collapse of Governance
From Charles Onyekamuo in Onitsha
The prefect of Emeritus of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican City, Nigeria's Francis Cardinal Arinze, has expressed worry over the level of corruption in the country, saying it may lead to the collapse of real governance if something urgent was not done to ameliorate the situation.
The Cardinal made the observation at a homily he delivered at a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Holy Family Youth Village in Awka, Anambra State.
The Youth Village was established by the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Reverend Valeria Okeke. Cardinal Arinze said there is need for people with impeccable character who can live above board to be at the helm of governmental affairs in the country because there is too much of cheating, deceit and with people trying to cut corners to earn unmerited rewards.
"When one thinks of the challenges facing Nigeria, the prominent ones are honesty and reliability. One question that comes to mind is what is really the attitude of Nigerians towards money? We know money is good, but it is bad when pursued in a wrong way.In Nigeria, a few people are super rich. Another question is, where did the money come from‚" he asked.
He also identified ethnicity as another canker worm that has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation and counseled religious leaders to help direct the minds of Nigerians positively.
He said no investment made in education is ever a waste and enjoined parents and governments at all levels to ensure that the right type of education is impacted on the youths as leaders of tomorrow.
Source: This Day, 10th August 2010.
Scientists Find Secret of Living Beyond 100 Years
UNITED States (U.S.) scientists have developed a model for predicting how likely a person is to live beyond the age of 100.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the breakthrough, described in the journal Science, is based on 150 genetic 'signposts' found in exceptionally long-lived people.
The Boston team created a mathematical model, which takes information from these signposts to work out a person's chance of reaching 100.
It is based on the largest study of centenarians in the world.
This is a rare trait – only one in 6,000 people in industrialised countries reaches such a ripe old age. And 90 per cent of them are still disability-free by the age of 93.
The researchers now think they have cracked the genetic secret of this longevity.
The team originally embarked on their study in 1995. Since then, they have scanned the genomes of 1,000 centenarians.
They identified genetic markers that are "most different" between centenarians and randomly selected individuals.
The research was led by Paola Sebastiani, a professor of biostatistics at Boston University, and Thomas Perls, associate professor of medicine at the same institution.
"We tested our model in an independent set of centenarians and achieved an accuracy of 77 per cent," explained Prof. Sebastiani.
"So out of 100 centenarians we could correctly predict the outcome of 77."
She said that the "23 per cent error rate" indicated that, although "genetics is fundamental in exceptional longevity it's not the only thing."
"So there may be other factors like environment or other lifestyles that may help people live longer and healthier lives."
Prof. Perls explained that a previous study had looked at longevity in a group of people belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
"Those individuals have probably among the highest average life expectancy that we know of in the U.S. at 88 years," he said.
"They get there by virtue of the fact that they have a religion that asks them to be vegetarian, they regularly exercise, they don't drink alcohol, they tend to manage their stress well through religion and time with family and they don't smoke.
"To live the additional 10-15 years beyond the age of 88, our paper is indicating that genetics are playing an increasingly important role."
The scientists said that, when it came to genes associated with a predisposition to age-related diseases, centenarians and non-centenarians did not really differ.
"This is very surprising," said Sebastiani. "It suggests that what makes these people live a very long life is not a lack of genetic predisposition to diseases, but rather an enrichment of longevity."
Perls said it was feasible that a simple test could be developed to screen people's chances of being so long-lived.
"I think that that's a possibility down the road," he said. "It brings up this whole field of personal medicine and being able to use genetic information in the future to help guide therapy."
But he added that there should be "a great deal of caution in thinking about what people might actually do with the information."
"Will that stop companies from going ahead and developing some kind of chip-based test? Probably not," he said.
"But we think it's really important to understand what people end up doing with this information, including thinking about social entitlements – that merits a lot more discussion."
Sebastiani added: "We have a long list of things to do here.... in order to understand the real biology behind what we have found."
One of the co-authors of the Science paper is already building a free-to use website where people will be able to use the mathematical model.
On that site, which could be up and running within a week, people who know their genetic code could work out their predisposition to exceptional longevity.
"The site would provide some description of how to interpret the results in the right context," Sebastiani explained.
Dr. Jeffrey Barrett, a geneticist from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, cautioned however, that "subtle biases could make the test seem more accurate than it really is."
"Some of the genetic variants in this study are claimed to have much, much stronger effects on longevity than we've seen in similar studies of diabetes, heart disease and cancer," he told British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News.
"Evaluation of the test by an independent laboratory will be the ultimate test of its accuracy."
Perls summed up the findings as "a very optimistic message."
"Exceptional longevity is not this vacuous entity that no one can figure out.
"I think we've made quite some inroads here in terms of demonstrating a pretty important genetic component to this wonderful trait, and this really opens the door to future research," he said.
Source: The Guardian, 5th July 2010.
Jonathan Presidency Not An Ijaw Agenda Alone – Gov Sylva
Written by Osa Okhomina, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva has cautioned Ijaw leaders against pronouncement that would weaken the
rising support for President Goodluck Jonathan to retain the Presidency in 2011, saying the Ijaw ethnic nationality alone could not actualize the dream in 2011.
Governor Timipre Sylva said the consultations between the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ohaneze Ndigbo over the needed support for President Goodluck Jonathan if he decided to contest for the 2011 elections was a commendable one and the right step in the right direction.
In a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Dofie Ola, on the joint courtesy visit by the INC and the Ohaneze Ndigbo on Governor Timipre Sylva at the Government House, the governor expressed satisfaction with the commitment shown by both ethno-cultural groups in ensuring that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan becomes President of the country come 2011.
According to the statement, Governor Sylva expressed the belief that though the President was yet to declare his intention to contest the 2011 presidential elections, the will of God and that of the people will prevail on him to contest," whenever God wants to salvage a people from hardship, He chooses people from unexpected quarters to carry out his mission."
The governor noted that Saul in the Bible whom God chose to be the first King of Israel was from Benjamin, the smallest tribe of Israel," as a matter of significance, that Saul had a son called Jonathan."
Sylva described as timely the decision of the Igbos to join hands with their Ijaw neighbours to salvage this country from the problems militating against its development, adding that the co-operation of the two groups dates back in history to when the Eastern Union Mandate was formed.
The governor promised to seek the co-operation of other groups in the country towards ensuring that Dr. Jonathan emerges President of the nation in 2011, stressing that the Ijaws cannot actualise this mission alone.
In his remarks, the INC President, Dr. Atuboyedia Obianime, said that members of the Ohaneze Ndigbo were in the state to consult with the INC with the aim of forging a common front towards the 2011 elections.
The President-General of the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, said the visit of his group to the state was to reciprocate the gesture of the INC, noting that their conduct reflects the quality and rectitude of the Izon people.
Uwechue, who noted that the turbulent times being experienced in the country was normal in the process of nation-building, stressed the need for both the Ijaws and the Igbos to join hands towards entrenching a solid foundation for national development.
He expressed the belief that God has placed the Ijaws and the Igbos as neighbours for a purpose and gave an assurance that the Igbos would co-operate with the Ijaws in the interest of national development.
Source: Leadership, 12th July 2010.
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Governance: Our Men Have Failed, Let's Try the Women – Princess Odife
By INNOCENT OKONKWO
Princess (Mrs.) Stella Odife, a lawyer and former deputy governor of Anambra State, is a philanthropist and
human rights activist whose organization, Women Organization for Gender Issues (WOGI) has empowered no fewer than 3,775 Nigerians in the last five years. It has also handled more than 40 cases involving women whose rights have been trampled upon in line with its determination to defend women in Nigeria This charismatic Amazon speaks about her passion in this chat with INNOCENT OKONKWO in Lagos. Below are the excerpts…
How do you feel about what (workshop/empowerment of women) we have just witnessed here today?
I am very excited, you know this is a period of political activities heralding the election year. As you can see, the topics are very well selected. They are apt and practical. I am convinced that anyone who attended this event today (recently) is going home with one thing or the other and it is going to stimulate a lot of them into participating in the electoral process, it is not just vying into elective position but to participate by voting.
My plan at the moment is to get more women interested in voting, we want more participation. They say 'my vote does not count' but we are saying that it is going to count. Even if it doesn't count, we will keep on trying because somehow, some day it will count and it will be wrong to begin to develop apathy on account that your vote will not count, you will not know when it starts counting. We want to force them to allow our votes to count because we want a change from people being selected to people being elected in a democratic setting.
So what we are doing this year is that we recognize the fact that this is an election year and we are moving from one state to the other, preaching the same message: 'come out and participate fully in the forthcoming elections in Nigeria.'
The mood here suggests that you are against the men. The lectures and contributions seem that you want to incite the women against the men.
I cannot be against the men because I have a wonderful man as a husband, an honest man and a role model to many people in the society, a man with integrity. I am not against the men.
The problem is that we have over 360 members in the National House of Assembly but the women there are not more than 30. So, when we are talking about corruption and things not going on well in the House, who are we referring to? The men, of course, because they make up the majority.
If you go to the Senate, it is the same thing, the overall leadership is men; ministerial appointments are mainly men. Governance is not going on well and those holding it are men. Should I be talking about women when they are not in position? That is the issue, the men are the ones in the corridors of power and they have not coordinated things well.
That is why we must continue to emphasize that they are not doing well and this is not incitement but we are telling the women to get up because they have watched these men parade themselves as our leaders without achieving anything. It is now time to take over the mantle of leadership. When the children are suffering in the house who suffers most? It's the mother.
I believe that if we have more women in positions, things will change for better. We are not talking for talking sake, we believe that the men have not done well so far so why don't they give this group a chance to go in and see whether we will have a balanced equation?
How do you see the chances of women during the forth coming elections, do you see them making considerable impact during the contest?
Actually, we will see more women participation in the general elections next year but we are also preaching that whether we participate and win or not, we are asking for 50 per cent appointive position in government, whether we are elected or not because the ministerial positions are appointed and not elected, they are not elected but how many ministers do we have, how many portfolios? Let us have the same number of men to women. Why are we asking for this? The power of politics is money and if we do not have the money, we are not going to participate.
Most of these women you are seeing are interested in participating in the election but if they don't have the fund, they are not going to come up but if you have more women in position and they make money, even if they themselves do not want to run for election, they may be able to become godmothers to support somebody to run for a political position.
Women can run for positions if they have the money and the needed support but when they don't have the money, your own is to vote for that person you like, whether he is winning or not; just satisfy your conscience so that if something is going wrong with the person that has been selected or appointed, you feel satisfied that you didn't vote for such person you know from day one that he was not going to be effective.
Looking back since its inception, what can you say that WOGI has done over the years in empowering Nigerian women?
I am not bragging but I can say that WOGI has been more effective in poverty alleviation than National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), yet we do not have government funding. With the little resources that we have, we have been able to empower more than 3000 people over the years and I am saying it because I know that those beneficiaries are today doing one thing or the other; some are trading, others are into catering services and so many other things. I am very proud of our progress so far and we believe that the future holds more for us because we intend to do more in the upcoming years.
In the absence of governments' support, how do you handle the task of funding?
In most cases it is an in-house funding. Members contribute whenever we have a workshop. They make a lot of sacrifices, they put in their time, energy and resources, and they also participate as resource persons without being paid. Moreover, my husband has an endowment fund for his father and every year he makes sure that we get a reasonable allocation to run the programme for widows. Stat Oil on the other hand, has been so supportive.
It has supported us so much and I don't know how far we would have gone without Stat Oil. We thank them a lot. Once in a while we do get some foreign funding but it is not an everyday thing. Other non governmental organizations (NGOs) may have a way of sourcing funds but we have not been so lucky with foreign donors but we keep moving on because the satisfaction we get in doing what we are doing serves as a motivation in itself.
When you are involved in doing these things by pitching yourself to do it, you get more satisfaction than receiving money. We look for funds to reach out to more people but when it doesn't come, we do the best we can within ourselves.
Why did you change your mode of disbursement of grants, in the past, the resources were given directly to the beneficiaries but in today's (recently) ceremony, the beneficiaries were grouped together?
Firstly, in the cities, it is very difficult to identify the beneficiaries after they are gone, to see them and know how well they are doing, so to monitor them was a problem because they were from diverse backgrounds and communities.
We don't know those that we empower, what we do is to tell religious bodies, market women and organizations to send us people that are in need and as soon as they finish, they go away, with the exception of few of them that are so proud of us that come back to tell us what they have done. But most of the time we lose track of them but by bringing in fund now to give them collectively, we hold unto one person from whom we will like to know how well they did with the funding and with that we have a better way of reporting how they are doing.
That is the essence of this economic empowerment programme. Our calculation is that by now, WOGI would have had microfinance bank for women but with the limited funding, we couldn't do it.
Again, I was a little bit distracted when I joined politics but that is not to say that if I am not there in the future that there are no capable hands that will run the organization; there are good hands that can continue with WOGI.
We are changing our strategy because we don't want women to go back to the level that they were before. For example, these women that collected the funds, by next year, when we ask them, they will be able to tell us what they do, who and who did well and why others didn't do well and so on, that is what motivates and encourages us to do more. It will be more effective than when we give them the equipment and individual funding only for them to just disappear.
Why have you not included men in your poverty alleviation programme since we also have poor men in the society, some of them widowers?
I am very happy that you said we have poor men. We have poor men who have wives. So, if a man is poor, imagine the wife who is underneath such a man. That poor man you are seeing has a woman and such woman's position is poorer than the poor that is why we put that phrase "women are poorer than the poor". That is why you don't hear us referring to poor men. Poor men are there but every poor man has a woman under him.
The poor men should be attacking the men in government who mismanage the resources but they all seem to relax. If they confront those that mismanage the economy and fight them one on one…you saw what happened in the House, they were ready to box each other because it was man to man. But the question is who is poor? The man is poor and that poor man has a woman under him so she is poorer than the poor; that is the history of our story and why we are talking about women.
One would have expected the screening committee of the organization to look at individuals based on their needs, is it everybody that comes for help that receives your attention?
Well, we don't care about screening, screening for what? What we are looking for are the poor and the widows. When we write to churches or market women and the leaders of such groups decide to give us a sister to fund with his conscience, then we have done what we think that we are supposed to do, looking out for the poor ones.
As far as the person they are bringing is poor, we don't care so far I don't just go and be saying give me my town people and my own relations. No! Give us your own, we don't want to know them but we want to be sure that we are helping the poor. So, the screening will bring another dimension because the people screening are human beings and they are Nigerians. If you don't trust the people that they are likely to give you, how are you sure that the people that will make up the screening committee will not screen out the poor ones and give you their own relations?
You have shown much concern about poverty situation in Nigeria, how do you think problem of poverty can be tackled in our society?
Poverty at this level we are in now is totally unnecessary for a country as rich as Nigeria. The major problem is that the resources are not being applied correctly, individuals are just acquiring money and they are not investing it in things that will yield more resources; that can create opportunities for Nigerians. For instance, why is NEPA or Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) not working? The person you will give a grinder to grind things will need power (NEPA) to work in order to earn good money to feed the family. She does not need to go and be buying diesel any time that she is grinding, the same thing affects the factories.
The factories are down today because most of them cannot operate on generators and still make profit and when they are closed down, people are thrown out of jobs and more people go into poverty level again. The factories are not working, they are not employing and more graduates are coming out, it is a vicious circle. I do not see any reason why a country as rich as ours should have this level of poverty we have in the system.
Look at NAPEP that I have talked about, I am so sorry but I am concerned about NAPEP because it was built and put in place for poverty eradication. For goodness sake, if there is no strategy to reach the poor, then they might as well close down that institution. I believe if they put a woman there, the impact will be felt more.
In the past, I told some of these women that gather for our workshops to form themselves into cooperatives and we applied to NAPEP for funding, I knew what we went through but none of them got that funding. Who are they giving the money? It is not the question of not having the resources because we knew that billions of naira is being pumped into that place but the problem is that it doesn't get to the people who are poor in the society.
Really, I cannot understand what is happening. Take for example, one person alone at the National Assembly earns so much and they are there almost on a part-time basis; for goodness sake, the constituency allowance should be cut off, find another way of using it because they are not using it and we know that they are not using it. There are better ways of using that money. Leadership is the problem, in all strata of the society today, there is a problem.
What plans do you have for 2011, are you vying for any elective position?
I want to encourage more people to run and anything that I can do to get more people into positions, I will do it. Unfortunately, I come from an area that has exhibited a lot of negative sentiment towards women running for positions. I know how to battle them, I am not going to run but I am going to ensure that we put people who will be more useful to the society.
This agitation is coming because the men have failed but if we have more credible people who will work for the betterment of the society, then there won't be any basis for the fight for leadership.
I will run in the election but not so much running for position, I am supporting people. My husband is running and I want to support him because I know that he is a good candidate. He supported me and he also wants me to support him since he is going to actualize my dream.
Again, I believe that I have grown big enough for government to give me my position; I am waiting for an appointment and not election.
Source: Daily Champion, 10th July 2010.
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Mitee Hinges Peace in N'Delta On Job Creation
FROM KELVIN EBIRI, PORT HARCOURT
FOR the chairman of the Technical Committee on the Niger Delta, Ledum Mitee, unless the on-going rehabilitation of ex-militants is geared at job creation, the region might still be plunged into deeper conflicts.
Similarly, the chairman subcommittee on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation (DDR) Anyakwee Nsirimovu has urged the government to engage the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in dialogue through a third party in order to recover arms not yet surrendered.
Mitee told The Guardian yesterday that for the post amnesty phase to be successful, the government must base the rehabilitation of the ex-militants on the report of the technical committee which recommended the creation of at least 2000 jobs in each council areas of the Niger Delta.
He added: "Our suggestion is focus more on sustainable issue of youth engagement. Nowhere in the world that you leave youths unemployed, many who have graduated five years ago without jobs and you think you will not get some crisis of threat to peace, especially when it is within an environment where there are genuine agitations against injustice."
"By creating 2000 jobs per local government, you are creating jobs that will not be for those who are ex-militants alone, but also for youths who did not use arms for their agitation," he added. So, you are absolving not only ex-militants, but those who potentially could be swayed to armed militancy if they feel that only those who carried guns are being favoured."
Mitee urged the government to institutionalise the whole DDR process, by involving the state and local councils as well as the communities where the conflict took place in the region. He warned against the process being deemed solely Federal Government and the ex-militants affair.
Mitee who is also the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) reiterated the call for government to resume dialogue with MEND in order to ascertain the reason why they rejected the amnesty offer.
"That a party does not agree in the morning does not mean that they will not agree in the evening," he argued. Instead of leaving them, it is important that we continue to dialogue. I believe in the non-violent struggle. I believe that dialogue is ultimately the preferred option. Even when you fight, it usually ends up with talks. So, why don't we talk before we fight?"
Also, Nsirimovu said the recent disturbance at the rehabilitation camp and then subsequently Abuja are clear indicators that the post amnesty process was not working very well.
He explained that there are so many light weapons in the Niger Delta and there is a need to retrieve them through dialogue with agitated groups like MEND.
Source: The Guardian, 10th July 2010.
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Abroad And Angry
BY ARTHUR OBAYUWANA
The sad story of compatriots who would love to make things better at home but have been frustrated out of their fatherland by a most insensitive political class and a system that has failed to plan for its future generations.
Today, there are many young men and women who could have been in Nigeria, developing themselves and their country but who have had to seek greener pastures in other lands where they are now helping to develop.
Indeed, in the past 40 years, especially in the past 20 years, more and more Nigerians have been forced by harsh economic climate at home, insecurity and dwindling opportunities to relocate abroad. During the Sani Abacha years, for instance, political asylum became the order of the day.
Apart from the inordinately ambitious Nigerians who have become addicted to irregular migration borne out of the false assumption that there are greener pastures everywhere except home, there are many skilled, citizens who have opted or have been forced out of Nigeria to realize their dreams of the good life elsewhere. You meet them every now and then in different climes. These Nigerians are angry at their fatherland!
One such Nigerian is Jackson Ogbonna, an online journalist who is also a health revenue records worker in Bronx, New York. He had practiced as a general beat reporter in the Abuja office of the defunct Post Express, a rested Lagos-based newspaper, before he was forced out of the country following an offensive publication against the Abacha regime. Threatened and cajoled by the power elite, Ogbonna had no other option than to flee the country. Accosted not too long ago in Bronx, where he has since discovered a new life, he told The Guardian that the only business that would ever bring him back to Nigeria is project-change-the-system!
The Problem With Nigeria
How does citizen Jackson feel when he thinks about his country Nigeria from time to time?
"I always feel very bad when I think about Nigeria," he declares. "I just feel very sad because my generation has no place in Nigeria. I am still in my 30's and it is very, very unfortunate that even people who are far older than my generation, people in their 40's and 50's, do not have a place in Nigeria. Worse still, people in their late 20's who should be groomed into leadership positions, don't also have a say or place in Nigeria. Those who have remained in government since the 60s but have refused to leave because of what they benefit from government have stolen our future."
"I feel so sad because people like me cannot see myself making any impact when people who are there are still there," Ogbonna laments. "And these people won't leave because they are making so much out of the system that there is no incentive for them to go out and look for any other job outside of government."
Stolen Opportunities, A Generation
Deprived, Denied.
As is to be expected, Jackson is angry with the Nigerian political class. "They have no other job because that's where they eat from," he reiterates. "But the difference here is that those of us who live abroad do not see government as an opportunity to go and loot; we see governance as a selfless service, to help your people, to serve, not to take away. But right now, the crop of leaders we have just takes and takes away from us the younger ones. They are not giving us the opportunity to learn how to lead the nation so that when they die, we can lead satisfactorily."
According to Ogbonna, it is this kind of dilemma that makes his generation ask a lot of questions. "And so, every so often you ask yourself: at what point would our generation get involved?" he quips. "If we are waiting for these people to die, then it means that by the time they die, we too will be too old to start doing the fixing. So, when are you and I who are in our 30's and 40's going to lead? When are we going to get involved and do it the 21st Century way, especially as we do not even have the money?"
How To Get Patriotic Citizens
Ogbonna is grateful that the U.S gave him a shoulder to lean on at a very testy period in his life.
"It will be stupid of me not to love this country (U.S)," he says. "For the six years I have lived here, America has given me what Nigeria, my fatherland never gave me for the 27 years I lived there. I could not get anything. I could not go to better schools, not because I did not have the credentials but because my parents could not afford it. But, I came to this country under the circumstances that I did, and went to the university free. I did not pay a dime and at the end of the day, I still got $1,200 every semester to put in my pocket. How many Nigerian students can boast of collecting money from government as subsidy or as stipends for you to survive, live and buy your books and buy the little things you need to study with? No one. Schools are being shut down every day in Nigeria.
"It is not like that here. I went to school with no forced break and yet I got a better education. I was taken care of; the US government made sure that I went to school, graduated and came out to enjoy the fruits. Even before graduation I already got a job. So, if you ask me as a Nigerian who lives abroad what this country is doing for me, I'll tell you this country has done mighty things for me. I can die for the United States of America. But if you ask the average Nigerian 'can you die for Nigeria?' the answer would be obvious: not many Nigerians would stand up and declare their readiness to die for Nigeria. It is what their country does for them that makes Americans patriotic
On the other hand, the only people in Nigeria today who are 'patriotic' are those who are on the corridors of power, those who have cornered all the money or can steal as much as they like. These are the 'patriotic' people! If today the US government decides to give visa wavers to Nigerians, I am telling you that the only people who would remain would be those who have stolen enough money to survive!
Thieving Political Elite, The Curse of Nigeria
Ogbonna explains what everyone including the army of the aggrieved can do to bring about a change in Nigeria
"It is a simple thing," he says. "There are people we no longer need in Nigeria, who are still hanging on, claiming to be leaders. These people know themselves. The world has gone Y2k compliant in both leadership and every other aspect of life. Nigeria is still living in the 50's. Leaders are still living and thinking in the 50's. And we are saying that these people need to be behind bars. Their services are no longer needed. Leadership is no longer 'I chop, you chop.' It has gone beyond that level. So, for Nigeria to move on and be at par with the other civilized nations, we need to axe the current political class and allow people with fresh ideas, ideas that are in tune with the reality of today's world, to take up leadership."
"If you go to Wall street, you will find Nigerians excelling everywhere, if you go to the Department of State, you will also find Nigerians excelling at top leadership positions," Ogbonna emphasizes. "If you go to NASA, if you go to the US military, you will find Nigerians. Nigerians are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigerians are everywhere you have a US mission. They are everywhere in the US excelling. You know why they cannot come back home? Because the system still embraces this caliber of people that have outlived their usefulness.
"So, when these people leave, you will find Nigerians abroad going back home to contribute. Because you cannot live in the US for let's say 10 years and go back home the same. The kind of leadership that we see here is the kind that is selfless. People have learnt not to attach any personal interest. What we see here is service. So until these people go, Nigeria will never change. Therefore, it is time for our generation to wake up and take our destiny in our hands."
Source: The Guardian, 10th July 2010.
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Snail Salad Served With Palm Wine
BY CHINELO NWAGBO
SNAIL salad otherwise known as Congo meat salad is a very nutritious and healthy dish. This dish is a delicacy in
Nigeria that can be prepared at home or served in big hotels and restaurants as well as joints patronised by middle to high-level people.
Some people due to cultural practices and belief do not take snail. Yet it is highly nutritious meat. Snail salad has snail, ugba (sliced fermented oil beans seed) and utazi leaves (green leafy vegetable) as the base ingredient and also contains other ingredients like pepper and onion. The ingredients used in preparing this dish are mainly vegetables.
Therapeutic properties / health benefits of snail salad
Protects against cancer
Snail salad is rich in antioxidant vitamins (A, C, E) from the vegetables that are used in its preparation. These vitamins have anti-cancer property, which prevents the formation of tumors (cancer). Also high fibre was found to be significantly associated with decreased breast cancer incidence.
Prevents obesity and diabetes mellitus
The low carbohydrate or calories and high fibre content of this dish make it an ideal for preventing obesity and also a recommended diet for diabetics.?
Helps maintain a healthy skin and prevents premature aging:
This healing power is due to high vitamin, a content of this dish. This vitamin is essential for maintaining healthy skin. Also snail salad is rich in antioxidant vitamins that neutralise free radical, which causes premature aging and wrinkle skin.
Prevents constipation
Snail salad is rich in vegetable fibre, which helps to increase stool bulk, regulate bowel movement and prevent constipation.
Recommendation
Snail salad is recommended for those that want to live a healthy live and people that want to prevent some health problems like cancer, obesity, constipation and premature aging.
Ingredients Quantities
Snail 4 medium size
Ugba 3 wraps
Potash 1 small piece
Palm oil 1˝ cooking spoon
Dried pepper 1 teaspoon
Sweet Fresh pepper 1 medium size
Onion 1 medium bulb
Utazi leaves 1 small bunch
Maggi cube 1
Salt To taste
Water 3 tablespoons
Method of preparation
Clean and wash the snails.
Fry in one cooking spoon of heated palm oil for about 10 minutes.
Melt the potash in three tablespoons of warm water.
Add the remaining oil and stir.
Add the ugba and fried snails.
Stir.
Add the maggi cube, dried pepper and salt to taste.
Garnish with chopped sweet pepper, sliced onions and shredded utazi leaves.
Serve with palm wine.
Palm wine ??
Palm wine is a traditional wine extracted from palm tree. People like to take this wine is taken when taking some foods like snail salad and goat meat pepper soup. Palm wine is consumed because of its nutritional value. The settling of this wine is rich in probiotic bacteria and yeasts which is beneficial to the body especially the eyes to help enhance the sight for good vision. Some people condemn consumption of palm wine but it is not totally bad to drink palm wine provided you are not drinking the "chemicalised" type that is, palm wine whose taste has been enhanced with artificial sweeteners like saccharine. It is better to take fresh palm wine than the fermented palm wine because the high quantity of alcohol in fermented palm wine is injurious to organs of the body like liver, kidney and eyes.??
Recommendation
Palm wine is highly recommended for those that want healthy eyes.
E-mail: chineloeby@yahoo.com
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