Issue 67 - Nigerian Watch

e
e
Yarl’s Wood & letWiN
F
r
Kate osamor Mp makes her debut
as our new regular columnist
Your next
NigeriaN
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available from
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NIGERIAN WATCH
the uK’s leadiNg aFricaN NeWspaper With the largest circulatioN
beFFta coMMuNitY NeWspaper oF the Year
15 - 28 Jan 2016
Issue No 067
fortNIghtly
Made
up
how Madame
Flow became
the toast of
america, from
a garden shed
in essex –
page 2
to Inspire, Inform and Entertain
nigerianwatch.com
craYoNs out
A sensational new
colouring book
celebrates black hair
page 18
hoMe help
The architect making it
possible for women to
own a home in Nigeria
page 6
Meet the MeN aNd WoMeN
celebrated iN the NeW
Year’s hoNours list
– page 4
NEWSWatch
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
2
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how mAdAmE flow bEcAmE
thE toAst of AmErIcA
NIGERIAN
WATCH
commENt
A new chapter is
opening
he influence of the many diaspora communities
in the UK is set to grow over the next 20 years,
according to a ministry of defence forecast
(reported on page 8). That means us, as we are among
the largest.
let’s bear this in mind as we start the year afresh.
This is an invitation to the top table, to raise issues
that concern us.
we must ask ourselves are we organised in the
correct manner to respond positively to this?
Are we on a par with others, such at the Jewish and
Asian diaspora communities? If, as many think, not,
then we should learn from them.
A new chapter is opening; which, incidentally,
should be a clarion call to our young people.
our two central organisations, cANUK and NIdo
have been most effective in recent years, particularly
in fostering cohesion and unity.
This firm foundation must now be built on. That can
only be achieved with a unity of purpose and support
from the community.
As we enter the new year let’s resolve to become
more positively engaged.
we know that when the UK diaspora speaks it is
heard in Nigeria. That should
be the same in westminster.
It is expected of us.
t
For most people, after the festivities,
January can be a bit of a downer. For
retailers this is particularly so. But not
Florence Adepoju, aka Madame Flow,
founder of the cosmetics brand
MDMFlow.
“It’s been insane, it’s been madness,”
she said when we spoke on January 12.
“January is normally a slow time for retail
but the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”
Not since the self-styled entrepreneur,
who runs a cosmetics lab in her parents’
garden shed in Rainham, Essex, became
the toast of America, just before
Christmas. Acclaimed in the New York
Times she found a NBF (new best friend)
in Lena Dunham, the voice of a
generation and star and creator of the
outrageous smash hit HBO series Girls.
On 23 December, the actress and
author wrote about her appreciation for
MDMFlow to her 2.2 million Instagram
followers, saying she was “so inspired” by
Florence after reading the New York
Times article about her.
She wrote: “So inspired by Florence
Adepoju, the woman behind @mdmflow,
in the NY Times today. Thanks for alerting
me @geometricsleep! Reading about
female creators who look around for
maryanne Jemide, md
publisher
tevin Jemide
publisher/Managing director
maryanne Jemide
Managing editor
Jon hughes
art editor
cathy constable
contributors obah Iyamu; harriet ogbeide;
AJ James; Ayo Akinfe; funmi odegbami; samuel Kasumu; Ngozi
mbana; Ekanem robertson, Jessica onah, laura Adenuga; Edel
meremikwu
chief cartoonist
harold ogbeide
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ISSN 2051-4670
what’s lacking in their universe and fill
that void. Seems like the winning
formula.”
And Florence has certainly hit on the
winning formula, in both her singleminded focus to bring her products to
market and the simple brilliance of her
creation, primarily lipsticks for the Hip
Hop generation although she is branching
out into mascara and other make-up.
In between trips to the shed she says,
“Some people are interested in the
entrepreneur side, the creating and
fulfilling your dreams. Others are, oh, my
gosh, the colours are fantastic.”
Florence’s story is so stereotypically
Nigerian she could be the poster girl for
the diaspora. Born to parents from Ekiti
and Ondo states she excelled in school
and particularly in sciences.
“So, of course, being Nigerian, the idea
was to become a doctor,” she says.
But things changed when as a 17 year
old she worked at a Benefit make-up
counter in a London department store.
She found herself often disappointed
when the company released a new
product that didn’t suit her complexion.
It is a common complaint amongst
black women. Rather than accept the fact
that large cosmetics companies work to
economies of scale so only produce
colours with mass appeal the
constant disappointment
fired Florence up.
The idea of creating
alternatives for people like
her remained in her mind
as she headed off to
University
to
study
pharmacy, when she
discovered there was a
degree course in cosmetic
chemistry
at
the
prestigious
London
School of Fashion.
Then she determined
to change course. But
first she had to tell her
parents.
“At
first
they
were
very
apprehensive,” she recalls. “But when I
showed them what the course entailed
and why I wanted to do it they eventually
came round. They reasoned if it didn’t
work out I could always take another
degree!”
There she learnt to make her own
lipsticks and, over the next four years, she
came up with the idea of creating her own
brand. As part of her dissertation,
Florence had to put together a
hypothetical business plan and social
media campaign. “I got a bit carried away
with it,” she admitted.
Her provisional plan turned into
reality when she applied for a business
grant from the university, which she used
to set up a lab – complete with scales and
moulds – in her parents’ garden shed in
Rainham.
It is here that Florence develops her
lipsticks, a process she describes as being
like “baking”, mixing the oils, waxes and
pigments to create her unique brilliant
colours – inspired by the hip-hop scene
of the 90s.
Two years ago MDMFlow was
launched, producing handmade rosescented lipsticks in shades like juicy
orange, emerald green and brilliant blue,
sold in gold-coloured aluminium bullet
casings.
While she set out selling individual
lipsticks via her own website, last year
she approached beauty buyers at
department stores. London’s flagship Top
Shop store in Oxford Circus snapped
them up, as did Colette in Paris and the
Nasty Gal website.
Aged just 25 Florence is now working
overtime to fulfil demand for her
products, helped by three interns she is
supporting from her former course and a
marketing man.
Now she has to make the big leap. “I
think it’s time to move out of the garden
shed,” she says.
As Lena Dunham – who has
subsequently messaged Florence, who
hopes to meet with the US superstar in
America in February – said, ‘what an
inspiration’.
www.mdmflow.com
WE
WERE
REALLY
WASTED.
Sound familiar?
Sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV,
are on the rise in London.
Using condoms and testing
regularly will help protect
you and others.
So the next time you do it,
do it with a condom.
www.doitlondon.org
L O N D O N H I V P R E V E N T I O N P R O G R A M M E : P R O U D LY S U P P O R T E D B Y A L L L O N D O N B O R O U G H S
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CELEBRATING THE CHANGE-MAKERS
Nigerian women’s campaigner and champions of youth among those recognised in
the Queen’s New year’s honours list. AJ James rounds-up the deserving recipients
giving back
to Nigerian
women
saving lives by
taking knives
off the street
Ronke Oke (formally Ige)
will receive a BEM (British
Empire Medal) from the
Queen for her services to
business and charity.
Former metropolitan police
constable Michael Smith has
been awarded an MBE for
services to the Reduction of
Knife and Gun Crime through
his charity Word 4 Weapons,
which he founded in 2007 to
counteract the wave and knife
and gun crime which is
devastating our communities.
When
launched
Word4Weapons offered the
UK’s only weapons exchange
programme; when youths
deposit a weapon in one of
scores of secure bins across
the country they can call a
helpline, to receive support
and a bag containing advice,
details of support agencies, a
bible and assorted free gifts.
To date the organisation
has removed 11,000 weapons
from the streets.
As Mr Smith says, “That’s
11,000 lives saved. Carrying a
knife doesn’t save a life, it
takes a life. Every weapon we
collect shows someone has
changed their mind, had a
change of heart and a change
of lifestyle.”
For more information and
bin locations visit www.
word4weapons.co.uk
And Heather Rabbats, who
was made a Dame for services
to football and equality
The owner of Bread +
Butter and ambassador to the
Prince’s Trust, Ronke has over
17 years of experience as a
communications consultant,
including the ACLT (African
Caribbean Leukaemia Trust).
She is also the founder and
director of the inspirational
Emi & Ben Natural Skincare
range. When Ronke was
pregnant in 2007 her
grandmother sent her some
‘ori’, otherwise known as
Shea butter, from Nigeria.
Ori in its raw condition is
used as a skin moisturiser.
Ronke’s grandmother told her
that when she was growing up
in Nigeria she had used ori to
moisturise Ronke’s skin, as
well as on her brother and
sister. However, Shea butter
wasn’t readily available at that
time in the UK.
So in 2009 Ronke set up
Emi & Ben’s Natural skincare
to remedy that issue.
Even more inspiring is the
fact that she sources her ori
direct from female farmers in
west Africa to allow the local
people to be in control of their
resources as the production of
Shea butter has the potential
to help poor Africans develop
a sustainable income.
The company also gives
10% of their annual profits
back to the producers in west
Africa.
peckham’s
champion
maker
“i want to
empower
women”
Michael Pusey, the founder of
Peckham BMX Club, was also
honoured with an MBE for
services to youth sport –
although
he
originally
thought the notice was about
his taxes.
“I actually thought, oh,
this is from the Cabinet Office,
is it the taxman?” he said. “I
was surprised, and I think a
lot of people are going to be
surprised when they see this
news article that I’ve received
an MBE.”
Michael, known as CK
Flash, spent seven years
fundraising
and
getting
support for the youth facility,
which helps under-privileged
Marie Hanson, 50, a former
beauty
therapist
from
Wandsworth,
south-west
London, has been awarded an
MBE for her work with the
charity she founded, Storm –
Support, Trust, Opportunity,
Rebuilding, Motivation –
which provides support for
people in the area subject to
unemployment and abuse,
particularly women who have
experienced domestic abuse,
or girls caught up in gang
culture.
“I am just honoured and
humbled,” said the mother of
six, who describes herself as a
survivor of domestic abuse.
“Who would have said 12
years ago that I would be
sitting here, when then I was
sitting in my car with
nowhere to go with my
children?” She added, “I want
to empower women. This
award is not about me, it’s
about the women.”
Others recognised for
empowering women include
Wolverhampton
City
Councillor Sandra Samuels, a
long-standing public health
and wellness campaigner,
who has been involved in local
democracy for four decades.
think a lot of things were
stacked against me.”
A pioneer of jungle and
drum and bass, helping to
take it from underground
clubs to mainstream radio
play, he could be called a
Godfather of modern urban
music.
He also introduced many of
his fans to classical music
when he proved a natural
conductor in the BBC TV show
Orchestra.
Meanwhile,
David
Oyelowo and Idris Elba
received OBEs in recognition
of their services to drama.
David said receiving an
OBE for services to drama feels
like a “full-circle moment”
having received a Prince’s
Trust grant of £325 aged 18, so
he could join a youth theatre
production that his parents
could not afford.
Winning
against
the odds
Goldie has been awarded an
MBE for his services to music
and young people.
Born in Walsall and having
grown up in the care system
he said, “We have choices in
life when we’re young and I
kids in Peckham and Brixton
get off the streets and put their
energy towards something
healthy and rewarding.
The uK people
who helped
stop ebola
The individuals who made up the
emergency team that led the UK’s
response to the Ebola Crisis as it
unfolded in west Africa has been
widely recognised in the New
Year’s Honours list.
For services to the Ebola Crisis Response the following received
OBEs: Edward Philip Julian Davis,
Adviser, Department for International Development (DfID); Shaun
Edgerley, Adviser, CHASE Operations Team; Professor William John
Edmunds, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine;
Ms Katherine Foster, Senior Humanitarian Adviser, DfID; Ms Grace
Jackson, Sierra Leone Programme
Manager, DfID; John William Raine,
Head, Port Loko District Ebola Response Centre, Sierra Leone; Ms
Helen Richards, District Adviser,
CHASE Operations Team, Kambia
District Ebola Response Centre,
Sierra Leone; Dr Gillian Margaret
Ring, Ministry of Defence; and
Michael George Robson, District
Adviser, CHASE Operations Team,
Port Loko, Sierra Leone.
Finally, Jonathan Haveloch
Barden received an MBE for Humanitarian services to the Ebola
Crisis Response in West Africa,
through UK-Med.
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setting off from The Port of dover - calais bound. dec 14 2015
After waiting for his visa omo crossed the border into mauritius. dec 23 2015
rabat, morocco, 1 week later. dec 20 2015
omo’s incredible journey
many faces of
the sahara
desert.
dec 27 2015
long way down to lagos from burkina faso by going through Niger republic. Jan 3 2016
Intrepid motorcycle adventurer Omo Alokwe has arrived in Northern
Nigeria on his record breaking 40,000 mile journey from Lands End to
Lagos, on behalf of Medicine San Frontiers.
Having set off from Lands End on December 12, Omo has travelled
through France and Spain, sailed the Mediterranean into Morocco,
crossed the Atlas mountains, adventured off road through the Western
Sahara into Senegal, Mauritania and Mali, onto Burkino Faso, through
Niger and finally into Nigeria, where is pictured at the Royal Palace of the
Emir of Zaira, Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, on January 14.
There he will rest before continuing on his journey around Nigeria in
the hope of setting the world record for the longest motorcycle journey
in one country, which currently stands at 23,761 miles, set in India by
Manigandan Manjunathan..
To support Omo and MSF, donations can be made at www.
justgiving.com/omoalokwe
Arriving at the Ancient city of Zaria,
Northern Nigeria. Jan 14 2016
The royal Palace of the Emir of Zaria
ouagadogou,
burkina faso.
getting closer
to lagos!
Jan 7 2016
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Our routes are: ABUJA, ACCRA, DUBAI, ENUGU, JEDDA, LAGOS, MAIDUGURI, PORT HARCOURT, YOLA
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Pioneering architect out to demolish customary
law that prohibits women from owning homes
Architect Chinwe Ohajuruka has been
named the Cartier Laureate for Sub Sharan
Africa and is to use the prestigious award to
challenge customary laws in many parts of
the country that prohibit women from
owning property or land.
The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards are
an international business plan competition
created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women’s
Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD
business school, to identify, support and
encourage projects by women
entrepreneurs.
Chinwe
proposes
to
revolutionise house building
and home-ownership in the
country. In her business plan
she told the judging plan,
“There are parts of this country
where women cannot own land or property.
We intend to go and build there and we intend
to ensure that at least 50% of our buildings are
owned by women.”
Declared the winner in late November she
immediately set to work. She told Nigerian
Watch, “I have been in tears quite a lot this past
few months, as a result of spending a lot of time
in the slums, largely as a result of the Cartier
Women’s Initiative Awards. It has been such a
struggle to remain professional! Thanks again.
I would not have traded this experience for
anything in the world!
With a growing population of around 175
million inhabitants, Nigeria faces a housing,
energy and water crisis. Most of the population
lives in poor conditions and does not have
access to electricity or sanitation.
“We have a housing deficit of 17 million units
“We intend to ensure that
50% of our buildings are
owned by women”
and only 40% of the population has access to
power”, says Chinwe. Houses usually lack basic
equipment such as lavatories or running water.
“Only 30% of the population has flushable
toilets and about 60% of the population has
access to sanitation.”
In 2011, Chinwe took a leave from her job in
the United States to voluntarily assist with the
‘courageous’ toyin saraki named Ngo
hero for maternal health campaign
The
UK’s
Guardian
newspaper’s
Global
Development Professional
Network has named Toyin
Saraki’s (right) Wellbeing
Foundation Africa (WBFA)
as the NGO Hero 2015.
Making the announcement
on January 3 the newspaper
highlighted Mrs Saraki’s
courageous act of turning her
personal
experience
of
perinatal child loss into the
transformational and lifesaving WBFA, an organisation
committed to reducing and
eliminating
preventable
maternal and child deaths
through
advocacy
and
implementation of innovative
interventions.
Commending WBFA for its
phenomenal work in bringing
best-practice models to
Kwara State, in north-central
Nigeria,
including
the
development and distribution
of client-held personal health
records, and a partnership
with Johnson & Johnson and
the Liverpool School of
Tropical Medicine to deliver
emergency obstetrics and
newborn care ‘skills and
drills’ training which aims to
lower maternal mortality by
up to 20%.
Responding to the award,
Mrs Saraki, who is wife of the
current President of the
Senate Bukola Saraki, said,
“This
nomination
will
primarily serve as a source of
encouragement
towards
increasing our efforts in the
fight to save more lives, and
empower
women
and
adolescent girls through
innovative, tested and proven
solutions and interventions.”
establishment of the Green Council of Nigeria.
This position required significant research on
social, environmental and financial aspects of
the Nigerian economy.
It was then that she became aware of the
housing deficit in the country as well as the
extent of the power, water and sanitation crisis.
“The opportunity came when the African
Diaspora Marketplace organised a business plan
competition for the members of the African
diaspora in the United States to come back to
their home countries and do impactful
developments. When I saw the competition,
the idea crystallised into affordable green
housing in Nigeria.”
She subsequently launched Comprehensive
Design Services to design, engineer and
construct affordable and sustainable housing.
In 2012, three buildings containing Passive
House Prototypes were implemented in Port
Harcourt.
The houses are solar powered, self-cooling
and “source water from right beneath the feet
of the occupants”.
“These prototypes are attractive modular
housing that are re-scalable, replicable and
affordable. Our houses are small but mighty”,
says Chinwe.
Moreover, prototypes were built two feet
above the ground level to prevent them from
flooding. Comprehensive Design Services not
only builds houses but also allows customers to
buy plans.
“We actually produce designs that people
can take and build themselves because 96% of
the houses that are built in Nigeria are selfbuilt.”
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NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
AfrIcA’s lArgEst moNUmENt
to JEsUs UNvEIlEd IN NIgErIA
Double first for
Nigerian law
officers in America
It is often said that where America leads
Britain follows and we must hope that in
this instance it proves correct.
At the turn of the year two historic
appointments were made in the land of the free
with a Nigerian lawyer becoming the first ever
African Judge in the state of New Jersey and a
Nigerian New York City Cop becoming the
force’s first African Inspector - only two grades
away from becoming a chief of police.
Lawyer Jude O Nkama made history on
January 6 as he became the first African to be
appointed as a judge in the 349 year history of
the City and State of New Jersey. Hon Ras
Baraka, Mayor of the City of Newark, NJ, also
appointed Hon Ugochukwu Nwaokoro as
Deputy Mayor and Evans Anyanwu as Chief
Prosecutor of the city.
With the appointments, Newark becomes
the only city in the US with such high level
appointments of Africans. Nkama becomes one
of the only three African-born judges in the
whole of USA.
Meanwhile Olufunmilayo Obe has been
promoted to the post of Inspector by the New
York Police Department. She’s the first ever
African to be promoted to such position in the
history of the NYPD.
Mother of three Ms Obe began her career
with the NYPD in June, 1992 as a Police Cadet
and was sworn in as a New York City police
officer in February 1994. She was promoted to
Sergeant in December 2000, Lieutenant in July
2005, Captain in September 2008, and Deputy
Inspector in June 2012.
She holds a BSc in Computer Science from
the City College of New York and a Master of
Public Administration from Marist College.
She’s also a graduate of the Police Management
Institute at Columbia University.
what is thought to be Africa’s largest
statue of Jesus christ was unveiled in
Nigeria on New year’s day. standing
barefoot with arms outstretched, the
white marble statue called “Jesus de
greatest” weighs in at 40 tonnes.
more than 100 priests and hundreds
of catholic worshippers attended the
nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official
unveiling in the village of Abajah in
southeastern Nigeria. The cost of the
statue has not been revealed.
It was commissioned by obinna onuoha, a local businessman who hired a
chinese company to carve it and placed
it in the grounds of a 2000-capacity
church that he built in 2012.
In his homily at a mass before unveiling the statue, presiding bishop Augustine tochukwu okwuoma said it
would be a “very great symbol of faith”
for catholic worshippers and passersby alike. “It will remind them of the importance of Jesus christ,” said
okwuoma.
The 43-year-old boss of an oil and
gas distribution company timed the
statue’s unveiling to coincide with his
parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
he said the idea of building a giant
statue of Jesus came to him in a dream
nearly 20 years ago.
And when his 68-year-old mother
fell seriously ill a few years ago, she
made him promise that he would build
a church if she survived.
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NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
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Imperial College enlisted to support the roll out of
Nigeria’s new national school feeding programme
sUsPEctEd womAN
trAffIcKEr to bE
ExtrAdItEd to UK
Imperial College London’s Partnership for
Child Development (PCD) has signed an
agreement with the Federal Government of
Nigeria to support the development of the
national
school
feeding
country’s
programme.
Britain has won a court ruling in the Federal High
Court Abuja authorising the Attorney General to
extradite Nigerian Franca Asemota to the UK to
face charges concerning the trafficking of minors.
Ms Asemota, 36, is wanted by the UK government over allegations she is involved in the trafficking of minors to Europe through London. She is
accused of allegedly organising a network that
trafficked young women, mostly teenagers, from
remote Nigerian villages into Europe using
Heathrow Airport as a transit hub.
These girls were
promised education
or jobs, such as hairdressing in countries
including France and
Spain but were
forced into prostitution upon reaching
Europe.
Ms Asemota lives
in Nigeria but the
long arm of the law
caught up with her when she was arrested by the
operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) in March 2015 in Benin, the
Edo State capital, on suspicion of money laundering offences.
Following her arrest, checks on her profile revealed that she was on the wanted list of the
British National Crime Agency (NCA).
Upon being informed of her arrest, Britain subsequently filed an extradition request and at the
final hearing of the case on January 13 Justice
Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court authorised
her deportation.
The programme aims to provide a free
school meal every school day to 24 million
primary school children, making it Africa’s
largest ever school feeding programme.
PCD’s Executive Director, Dr Lesley Drake,
who met with Nigeria’s Vice-President,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo (right) to sign a formal
memorandum of understanding, said, “The
Nigerian School Meals Programme is very
important. With 1 in 4 of school-aged children
in Africa being Nigerian, this programme has
the potential to have a profound positive
impact on the health, education and financial
security of millions of families.”
She continued. “We are honoured to be
invited by the Government of Nigeria to
provide our expertise to help in the scale up of
this ambitious and innovative national
initiative.”
PCD will be working closely with the Vice
President’s office and state representatives to
provide technical assistance to state
governments to help design sustainable school
feeding programmes which procure their food
from local smallholder farmers.
Known as Home Grown School Feeding,
these school feeding programmes provide a
‘win-win’ both to children and the local
agricultural economy alike, with children
enjoying the health and educational benefits
that a nutritionally balanced school meal brings
and the local economy enjoying the increased
levels of income and investment that the school
market provides.
The
agreement
follows
a
recent
announcement of a N500billion (£1.7billion)
budget allocation to fund social investments
such as school feeding, conditional cash
transfers for vulnerable groups and youth
employment schemes.
The national school feeding programme
builds on the success of the support PCD has
been providing since 2013 to the Nigeria’s Osun
State Government’s Home Grown School Meals
Programme. Known locally as O’meals, the
programme provides free school meals to the
State’s 250,000 primary school children using
food procured from local smallholder farmers.
PCD’s expertise in the field of school feeding
is built on its track record in successfully
supporting governments including those from
Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, Tanzania,
Uganda and Madagascar to develop school
feeding programmes.
The roll out of the programme in January
2016 will initially target one state from each of
the country’s 6 geopolitical regions before
expanding out to other interested states.
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UK DIASPORANS SET TO HAVE AN
INCREASING INFLUENCE ON UK
POLICY, SAYS MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
The myriad diasporas in
Britain will be both a
strength and weakness in
and
Nigeria's
2035
influence in the world will
be rising as Britain’s fade, a
strategy document from
the UK Ministry of Defence
forecasts.
Entitled
the
Future
Operating Environment 2035
the report admits that
Britain’s influence in the
world could “decline out to
2035 as we compete within a
larger peer group”.
This is a result of facing
stiffer competition from
emerging powers such as
Nigeria. The report says,
“Other rising powers, such as
Brazil and India, will take a
strategic interest beyond their
own regions in pursuit of
resources,” British analysts
note.
“States
such
as
Australia, Canada, Germany,
Indonesia, Japan, Mexico,
Nigeria, South Africa and
Turkey all look likely to have
increasing
regional
significance.”
While it predominantly
focuses on the UK’s future
military capabilities and
challenges the report also
addresses immigration.
It says the UK's many
diasporas will have an
increased bearing on future
engagements, seeming to be
particularly aware of potential
humanitarian crises arising
out of climate change – which
the study acknowledges is
happening through rising sea
levels.
“Military
operations
overseas may be influenced by
the concerns of UK diaspora
communities, such as the
desire
to
provide
humanitarian assistance to
victims of a natural disaster
from their country of origin,”
says the study.
It also says the UK's
diasporas present many
significant
opportunities.
“While it is possible that UK
society
may
be
less
homogenous as a result of
larger,
better-connected
diasporas (and the potential
security challenges they may
bring), a more globallyengaged population could also
present
significant
opportunities.”
www.gov.uk/government/p
ublications/futureoperating-environment-2035
Nigerian is leader of fashion 2016
Fader magazine – the screen, sound and style bible for
New York’s trendsetters – has tipped British Nigerian
designer Iniye James, aka Tokyo James (above, right),
to be the leader of fashion in 2016. The designer and
creative director was born and raised in London,
although he went to secondary school in Nigeria.
He then returned to London to study, graduating in
mathematics from Queen Mary University. It was while
a student that he began his creative career as a young
fashion stylist, working for various international
publications, as well as directing digital campaigns for
brands such as Brioni, Issey Miyake and Puma Black
Label.
The Tokyo James fashion brand was born in Lagos
when he relocated to the burgeoning African fashion
capital. Garments will be made to measure and
manufactured as ready to wear in Nigeria.
What has excited fashionistas about his first
collection, to be launched later this year, is that despite
Tokyo James' penchant for marrying unusual textiles
and daring silhouettes, his menswear still comes
across as crisp, covetable, and ultimately wearable.
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10
NIGERIAN WATCH
17 Dec 2015 - 15 Jan 2016
Follow us on Twitter
@NigerianWatch
OSAMORWatch
The
Kate OSAMORColumn
Why I sneaked in
to Yarl’s Wood
Since my election in May 2015, I have
been
campaigning
against
the
immigration detention system in the UK,
specifically at Yarl’s Wood. On 6 January
2016, I led my first Westminster Hall
debate on the issue of healthcare in that
institution.
Tucked away in the countryside outside
of Bedford, on the same industrial complex
as a pet crematorium among other things, is
the UK’s only predominantly female detention centre. Yarl’s Wood is out of sight and
out of mind. How many people know that
the UK is the only country in Europe not to
have a time limit on detention? And that the
majority of women in Yarl’s Wood are vic-
tims of sexual violence or persecution in
their home countries? This knowledge
should shame us all.
I went inside Yarl’s Wood last November
and met two women who had been detained. I did so without declaring that I was
an MP, after Catherine West MP was denied
entrance to Yarl’s Wood by the Home Office.
Both the women I met had been trafficked; one was pregnant. One of the
women had been in detention for coming up
to nine months. She told me that it was
worse than prison: instead of counting
down the days, you’re counting up. There is
no certainty of being released in the near future, only waiting and hoping it will come.
BOYEGA IS BRILLIANT, ON AND OFF SCREEN
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
smashed the record for the biggest
box office debut weekend globally,
with ticket sales of $529m
(£355m).
In contrast to previous instalments, and indeed the predominantly white, male culture of sci-fi
and Hollywood more generally, The
Force Awakens has a diverse cast,
in terms of ethnicity and gender.
People of colour and women are
in almost every scene, as well as
being cast in the two new lead
roles. This diversity is empowering.
It provides role models for young
people who look like them, who see
the diversity of our modern, multicultural society reflected on screen.
I have enormous respect for
John Boyega, who responded to
white critics of his casting through
his pride in his identity, stating in
the New York Times, “I’m grounded
in who I am, and I am a confident
black man. A confident, Nigerian,
black, chocolate man. I’m proud of
my heritage, and no man can take
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These women were from Nigeria and India;
neither had any family remaining in their
home countries.
They both told me, unprompted, that the
worst thing about Yarl’s Wood was healthcare. They were exasperated by the healthcare situation. While Detention Centre rules
stipulate that women in detention should
receive the same quality of care as the general public receive from the NHS, this is not
the case. The quality of care has been criticised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, the Care Quality Commission, Women
for Refugee Women, Medical Justice and the
Royal College of Psychiatrists.
This was why I led a debate on healthcare
in Yarl’s Wood: I wanted women currently
and previously detained to have their voice
and concerns heard in parliament. Those
speaking in the debate – Labour, Conservative and SNP – were united on the urgent
need to address the issue of healthcare, and
detention more generally.
Members spoke powerfully about the detention of pregnant women, the number of
male guards, the vulnerability of women in
detention. It was a debate which spoke for
change and was all the more powerful given
the fact that ex-detainees from Yarl’s Wood
were present in the audience watching it
take place.
I stand together with Women for Refugee
Women and urge Nigerian Watch readers in
the UK to get behind their campaign
#SetHerFree which seeks to end the detention of refugee women.
that away from me. I wasn’t raised
to fear people with a difference of
opinion. They are merely victims of
a disease in their mind. To get into a
serious dialogue with people who
judge a person based on the
melanin in their skin? They’re stupid, and I’m not going to lose sleep
over such people.”
Well said John Boyega.
Letwin’s outlook is
before us right now
Oliver
Letwin
MP’s
comments,
revealed
through the National
Archives 30 year rule on
December 30, should
make us think twice about
the
Conservative
government’s legacy. Not
least, because Oliver
Letwin (right) is chief
policy adviser to the prime
minister.
In the memorandum
written after the 1985
riots, Letwin dismissed
to
inject
proposals
funding into the riot torn
areas, to help reduce
poverty and provide
greater opportunities for
local people, stating any
money given to black
businesses would end in
the ‘disco and drug trade.’
People pushed for an
immediate
apology,
which Letwin rightly
gave, although it’s worth
noting his statement said
the memo was ‘badly
worded’
shows
he
apologises
for
the
comments,
but
not
necessarily the decision
not to extend funding.
What I find frustrating
about
this
‘race
revelation’, like any other,
is that it never goes
beyond this. It sits as just
another example of a
white, privileged man
making
ignorant
comments which make
the headlines, but only for
a day, before the world
moves on, Letwin retains
his
position,
the
government
distance
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themselves from said
comments and policy
continues business as
usual.
Yes, these comments
were made 30 years ago.
But the government is
showing signs of repeating
this policy, one of refusing
to invest in our poorest
communities. Indeed, the
last few months have seen
the
Conservative
government embark on
what can only be
described as an attack on
social housing through the
Housing and Planning Bill.
BME people remain more
likely than their white
counterparts
to
be
homeless. This is not the
way to strengthen our
communities and solve
the housing crisis.
The
Conservative
legacy of turning a blind
eye
to
our
social
responsibility to invest in
deprived
communities
lives on. We must fight
against this.
She got
her fees paid.
I got to see the
first lawyer in
our family.
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12
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
Follow us on Twitter
@NigerianWatch
EMBASSYWatch
News from the
NIGERIA HIGH COMMISSIONLondon
Ambassador Bamgbose’s legacy
promises a bright future
It is often said that you don’t
know what you’ve lost until it’s
gone. And that was certainly the
sentiment when the final
goodbyes were said to Nigeria’s
acting High Commissioner to the
UK Olukunle Bamgbose at the
end of year Yuletide Celebration
at the High Commission on
December 19.
As the chairwoman of Nigerians
in Diaspora Organisation Henrietta
Abraham said, rarely has any one
made such a dramatic impact in
such a short time.
Mr Bamgbose came to the UK
around 18 months ago to be Deputy
High Commissioner to the then
Ambassador Dr Dalhatu Sarki
Tafida, OFR, CFR, and he assumed
the
role
of
Acting
High
Commissioner when Dr Tafida was
recalled last August.
“You are a man of substance,”
said Ms Abraham. “You have been
very effective in a short space of
time and have done a lot to foster
cohesion, unity and clarity.”
In reference to his new calling –
Mr Bamgbose is returning to
Nigeria to become Permanent
Secretary in the Political Affairs
office, in the Office of the Secretary
to the Federal Government, where
he will have oversight of foreign
affairs, including the London
Mission – Ms Abraham continued,
“You are a change leader and we
know we will have someone in
government who will develop the
relationship with the diaspora.”
It became apparent from
speaker after speaker that Mr
Bamgbose had been a consensual
leader, who never became ruffled
or stressed by issues arising.
Staff spoke of him being
respectful, a leader who didn’t give
orders but instead gave directions,
and consulted widely. He was a
man who brought stability by
“doing things by the book” and
instilling personal responsibility in
the staff.
He was also praised for taking
the decision to rename the Banking
Hall the Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida
Hall “to acknowledge the success of
the previous seven years and make
the former Ambassador’s name
indelible”. This was seen as a
further sign of his generosity to and
acknowledgement of the success of
others.
At the celebration 31 members of
the mission staff were celebrated
for their contribution to its smooth
operation during the year with Ms
Maria from the immigration
section being named staff of the
year.
thE NEw mAN At thE toP
Adah Simon Ogah, erstwhile Head of the
Information, Culture and Sports Section
at the High Commission, assumed duty
as the Acting High Commissioner on December 21, 2015.
Mr Ogah holds a Masters Degree in
International Law & Diplomacy, obtained from the University of Lagos in
1991, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree, obtained from the University of Jos in 1981.
He joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in August 1982 and has served at
various times in Kampala, Uganda;
Windhoek, Namibia; and Brussels, Belgium.
He attended a Diplomatic Training
Course at the Malaysia Institute of
Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, Kuala
Lumpur in 1999.
Mr Ogah was the Deputy Chief of
Protocol in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2007– 2009. He is a member of the Nigeria Society of
International Law and the Nigeria’s Institute of International Affairs.
Mr Ogah is an avid chess player,
who also enjoys playing Badminton and
watching lawn tennis and documentaries. He is married with three children.
mAKE sUrE yoU NEvEr mIss AN
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Remittances home top $20bn,
including $3.7bn from the UK
The
World
Bank
Migration
and
Remittances Factbook 2016 has revealed
that Nigerians living abroad sent home
$20.8 billion in 2015. The figure, it said, is
by far the largest volume of remittances to
any country in Africa and the sixth largest
in the world.
“The United States is the biggest remittance
sending country to Nigeria, followed by the
United Kingdom. Nigerians received $5.7
billion in remittances sent from friends and
family members in the US and $3.7 billion from
the UK in 2015. Nigeria is also the third largest
destination country for migrants from other
African nations,” it said.
It said a quarter of a billion people around
the world are migrants, and over $600 billion
in remittances are sent annually.
The global lender said international
remittances to developing countries reached
over $441 billion in 2015, more than Foreign
Direct Investment and trice more than official
aid flows, adding that 34 per cent of all
international remittances are sent between
developing countries.
It disclosed that remittances constitute
more than 10 per cent of Gross Domestic
Product for 25 countries, pointing out that
international remittances have been growing
steadily and remain stable even during
episodes of financial volatility.
“In 2015, the number of international
migrants surpassed 250 million, a quarter of a
billion people, globally. International migrants
now represent more than 3.4 per cent of the
world’s population. South-South migration is
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
NEWSWatch
now larger than South-North migration. Over
38 per cent of international migrants have
migrated from developing countries to other
developing countries. 14.4 per cent of
international migrants are refugees,” it said.
Speaking on the development, Senior
Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit, Alix Murphy,
says the World Bank’s latest report shows that
countries have now hit two significant
milestones – quarter of a billion migrants
globally and $600 billion of remittances sent
annually.
“More than ever, we live in a world of
mobile and connected people whose financial
ties extend across the planet. At WorldRemit
we see the technological infrastructure
evolving to meet these changing demands – in
particular the convergence of mobile
connectivity,
instant
messaging
and
international money transfers,” she said.
She believes that despite being the biggest
economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria’s
financial system is still deeply fragmented,
making sending and receiving money very
challenging for ordinary Nigerians. According
to her, 56 per cent of Nigerians are unbanked,
so offering a variety of pay-out options,
including direct to bank account and instant
cash pick-up, is extremely important for
reaching everyone in society.
The report also shows that the cost of
sending money within Africa is the second
most expensive in the world (the most
expensive being the cost of sending money
between Australia to the South Pacific country
of Vanuatu).
13
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PMB declares the war on Boko
Haram ‘technically won’
Nigeria has “technically won the war”
against Islamist Boko Haram militants,
President Muhammadu Buhari has
declared.
Speaking to the BBC on Christmas Eve that
the militant group could no longer mount
“conventional attacks” against security forces
or population centres.
It had been reduced to
fighting with improvised
explosives devices (IED) and
remained a force only in its
heartland of Borno state, he
said.
Critics of the government
argue that it has exaggerated
the scale of its success against
the militants, and that each
time the army claims to have
wiped out Boko Haram, the
militants have quietly rebuilt.
The group’s six-year insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has led to the deaths of some
17,000 people, destroyed more than 1,000
schools and displaced more than 1.5 million
people.
On assuming the Presidency President
Buhari gave the army until the end of this year
to defeat the group - a deadline that is likely to
be extended as Boko Haram is still bombing
some areas despite losing towns under its
control.
But he told the BBC that the jihadists had
been all but driven out from Adamawa and
Yobe states, and their way of operating
curtailed.
“Boko Haram has reverted to using
improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” he said.
“Indoctrinating young guys... they have now
been reduced to that.
“But articulated conventional attacks on
centres of communication and populations..
they are no longer capable of doing that
effectively.
“So I think technically we
have won the war because
people are going back into
their neighbourhoods. Boko
Haram as an organised fighting
force, I assure you, that we
have dealt with them.”
A key priority for the
government now, he said, is to
rebuild infrastructure and help
all displaced people to return
to their homes.
Mr Buhari said that Nigeria
had reorganised and reequipped the military, which had received
training from the British, the Americans and
the French.
On January 7 Nigeria also took delivery of 24
mine-resistant and armour-protected vehicles
from America, in fulfillment of its promise to
assist Nigeria fight the Boko Haram insurgency.
Boko Haram terrorists struck some villages
in Madagali Local Government Area of
Adamawa State on January 12, killing six and
leaving eight others injured.
Forced on the retreat by the Nigerian army
the group is increasingly active along the
Cameroun border and it would seem such
lightening raids might become their modus
operandi for the foreseeable future.
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14
NEWSWatch
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
Follow us on Twitter
@NigerianWatch
PRISONER FACES BEING DEPORTED TO NIGERIA
DESPITE NEVER HAVING BEEN THERE IN HIS LIFE
Britain is set to deport a 22
year old German-born
Nigerian back to Nigeria
despite his claim that he is
British and has never set
foot in Africa.
Junior Bayode (right) has
been informed by the UK
authorities that he will be
deported to Nigeria when he
finishes the sentence he is
currently
serving
for
manslaughter.
Mr Bayode was 19 when he
took part in the mob stabbing
of Sofyen Belamouadden, 15,
and was given 11 years for
manslaughter in 2013.
He is due to be freed in 2019
and the British authorities
plan to deport him as they
claim he is not British, as he
was born in Germany, and his
mother, who is from Nigeria,
brought him to the UK aged
nine months.
Mr Bayode who has never
been to Africa, has blasted jail
chiefs over the decision. He
has already written to
prisoners’ paper Inside Time
from Moorland jail in
Doncaster, pointing out that
he is struggling to understand
why he is being deported.
He wrote, “I may not have
been born here but all I know
is the British way of life. I have
neither travelled nor been to
any other country since I
arrived in the UK over 20
years ago.
“My past, my present and
my future is firmly rooted in
British soil, hence why I am
struggling to understand why
I have been served with a
deportation order to a country
I have never been to, Nigeria.
“I was distraught when I
read on the order that I can
only
appeal
after
my
deportation.”
According to Mr Bayode of
Streatham, South London, the
British Home Office’s deport
first, appeal later, policy was
designed to hit migration
targets regardless of human
rights.
Mr Bayode was
convicted
of
manslaughter in 2013
after Mr Belamouadden
was chased by a gang of
around 20 youths from
a rival school and
stabbed nine times in
just 12 seconds in front
of shocked commuters
in
Victoria
Underground Station,
resulting in five trials at
the Old Bailey and 17
convictions.
Isis exploits 5-year-old Nigerian to threaten war on UK
London-based Nigerian Christian Henry
Dare has identified a five year old child used
in an Isis propaganda video as his grandson
Isa – who was taken to Syria by his
daughter Khadijah, a convert to Islam.
In a chilling propaganda video the young
boy is seen wielding an AK47 Kalashnikov rifle.
According to Mr Dare, Isa is one of the sons of
his daughter Khadijah, who has also been used
as a figurehead by Isis.
Upon identifying Isa, Mr Dare said, “I can’t
disown him as he’s my grandson and I know
him very well. He doesn’t know anything as
he’s a small boy and they are just using him as
a shield.”
In the video, Isa appeared at the end of the
11-minute clip wearing military fatigues and
warned in English: “We are going to go kill the
kafir (non-believers) over there.”
In the gruesome video that was fronted by a
masked man with a British sounding accent,
Isis showed the murder of five men. In a
warning to British Prime Minister David
Cameron, who recently joined the coalition
against Isis, the man threatened attacks in the
UK.
Khadijah Dare, who grew up in Lewisham,
was born to Nigerian Christian parents but
converted to Islam as a teenager before leaving
for Syria. In 2014, she posted a photograph on
her personal Twitter account of her then fouryear-old son Isa, meaning Jesus in Arabic,
smiling with an AK-47 rifle.
Videos in which she talks about her new life
in Syria, practises firing a Kalashnikov or
appears with her young son and jihadi
husband, have been in the frontline of the
propaganda war.
Her account, or those linked to her, are
known for posting pro-Isis messages on
various social media sites encouraging other
young women to make the journey to the war
zone. She is one of the first known western
women to have travelled to Syria.
Mr Dare said he had spoken to his daughter,
who was christened Grace before she
converted to Islam, weeks ago but added that
since then, he ignores her calls because she has
brought shame to the family and herself.
Khadijah Dare comes from a devout Christian
household and in 1987 her family moved to
Britain from Nigeria.
Her mother, Victoria Dare, said that her
daughter was someone who had previously
been zealous in practising her Christian faith.
At college in London, she studied media
studies, film studies, psychology and sociology
and enjoyed watching football on television but
her life turned when one day announced she
had converted to Islam and changed her name
and later, she married a Swedish Muslim who
recruited her to the Isis cause.
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NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
NEWSWatch
15
gumtree killing trial opens
THREE British men have appeared at the Old
Bailey in London charged with the murder of
Nigerian teaching assistant Michael Adegbite
(right), accused of stabbing him in the chest for
failing to hand over his laptop to them.
A university graduate, Mr Adegbite, 28,
known as Bengz, was apparently killed by the
trio on July 19 last year as they tried to steal his
Apple MacBook. He had listed the laptop on
online marketplace Gumtree and agreed to
meet a potential buyer in a street in Enfield,
north London, along with his friend,
Mohammed Umar.
Yesterday, the Old Bailey heard that he was
met by three men who threatened him with a
large knife but left empty-handed when he
refused to hand over the laptop. Mr Adegbite,
who also coached young footballers, was later
stabbed in the heart when he confronted the
gang on a nearby street, it was claimed.
Christopher Nzeh, 18, Montel Ajayi, 19 and
Isaac Owen-Brady, 18, are all accused of
murder but deny the charge. Prosecutor Simon
Mayo told the court that the trio had travelled
to Enfield for the specific purpose of robbing Mr
Adegbite of his Apple computer.
He said the three men were carrying a
folding knife which they used, unopened, to
reinforce the threat that was designed to
persuade Mr Adegbite to hand over the
computer. Jurors heard that Mr Owen-Brady
asked to be passed the knife so that he could use
it as a weapon and tried to get into the car that
Mr Adegbite and Mr Umar were in.
Mr Mayo added, "The planned robbery was
unsuccessful as Mr Adegbite and his friend
stood their ground and resisted the defendant’s
efforts to rob them. Realising that Mr Adegbite
was not going to be a push-over, the
defendants left the scene empty-handed.
“Understandably upset and irritated by
what the defendants had done, Mr Adegbite
and his friends decided to try and follow the
defendants in the hope that they might be
better able to identify them. They called for
assistance and armed themselves before
confronting the three defendants in nearby
Lackmore Road.”
During the confrontation, Mr Mayo said, Mr
Adegbite had a metal bar with him when he got
out of the car to square up to the defendants.
However, he was attacked during the
showdown, stabbed shortly before 7.00pm and
was pronounced dead at 7.31 pm.
“While taking that iron bar with him might
not have been the wisest course of action, it was
perhaps understandable in the light of the fact
that he had been threatened with that rather
nasty looking knife just minutes before. Within
moments the defendant, Christopher Nzeh,
had taken out the knife he was carrying,
opened it to expose the blade and he then
plunged it into Mr Adegbite’s chest,” Mr Mayo
added.
Mr Owen-Brady has pleaded guilty to a
similar robbery in March 21, 2014, pulling out a
knife to rob two men of a games console after
they advertised it for sale on Gumtree.
According to Mr Mayo, the three defendants
are guilty on the basis of joint enterprise, even
though Mr Nzeh is accused of inflicting the fatal
stab wound.
Mr Ajayi, of Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire,
Mr Owen-Brady, of Enfield, and Mr Nzeh, of
Hitchin, Hertfordshire, denied one count of
murder and a second count of having a bladed
article in a public place. They all admitted one
count of conspiracy to commit robbery,
however.
Ghana to get a “sin-free” alternative to Facebook
A Ghanaian Christian
group has launched a
“holy” social network
alternative to Facebook,
which will be free of “unChristian” content.
“Social networks these
days are filled with nude
content and violence,”
the group LoveRealm said
in a statement.
The site, which was
launched on January 9
aims to ensure a holy
social
network
experience by censoring
and removing “unChristian content”, its
CEO Yaw Ansong Jnr said.
Hundreds
of
Christians were invited to
trial the app in a prelaunch event at the
Pentecost
Convention
center in the capital
Accra, to enable the
makers to test its
functionality and iron out
any glitches.
Founders of the site
hope that it will allow
those struggling to keep
the Christian faith to
share weaknesses and
confess their sins to one
another.
16
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
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letters may be edited for publication.
THE ECONOMICS OF REWARDING THE GOLDEN EAGLETS
While I watched the victorious Golden Eaglets
clinch the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile,
a part of me just couldn’t wave the thought
that it was coming at the worst possible time.
Would the government be able to dole out
rewards befitting their record-breaking
exploits, or would it cite ‘harsh times’?
On the day they will be celebrated and
handed their gifts, it is going to go one of
either ways; a session where they get
overdosed on accolades and handed a hefty
bounty, or one where they are told it would
be insulting to attempt to reward such a
phenomenal feat monetarily and handed
‘transport fares’.
Reports have been surfacing over the last
week quoting an unnamed official of the
sports ministry as saying that the Presidency
has rejected a proposal to reward each of the
young lads with the sum of N750,000 and that
a fresh one recommending N150,000 has been
submitted.With due regard to the present
economic state, I still deem the first proposal
ridiculous and the second unthinkable.
The country is facing without a doubt the
hardest time in its history. We are struggling
to shed our old ostentatious lifestyle for a
more prudent one and when I say the victory
came at the wrong time for the Golden
Eaglets, I also take into perspective the man
at the very top.
President Buhari has always been known
to be frugal in nature and wouldn’t
necessarily climb mountains to reward sports
heroes. In retrospect, perhaps the Skype call
to the team before the Final was just to make
them understand how appreciative he and
the nation were of their heroics so they don’t
feel otherwise when it came time to zip open
the goody bag.If at all there is a time to miss
the frivolity and carefree spending of the
previous government, it is now. But that
doesn’t mean the Eaglets should go
unrewarded.
A leader must know how to kill two birds
with one stone. I can’t say Obasanjo is the
best president we have ever had, but he has
my respect.Though he fought his enemies and
whipped his sheep back into line with the
EFCC, he will go down in history as a man
who was tough on corruption. If President
Buhari has good advisers in his camp, they
would tell him, he can kill more than one bird
from this situation.
First, with the attendant accolades that
would accompany publicly urging his
ministers, the representatives and senators to
give up at least N500,000 of their monthly
wages for rewarding our Eaglets. Second, by
reiterating in a subtle manner, the current
state of our finances and what we should
expect next year and then finally, by doing
this, demonstrating just how competent a
leader he is.
It is most insulting to the accomplishment
of these young men to drag our feet over less
than a N1m gift each while our leaders still
pocket their fat wages.The most honourable
thing to do is to part with a little to give honor
to whom its due. Money realised from that
can put N1.5 Million and the keys to a brand
new Peugeot 406 in the hands of every
member of the team and crew. Most of these
‘kids’ won’t be going back to school unless
offered scholarships and there couldn’t be a
better incentive to make the most of their
lives on the path they have chosen.
We have the most genuine footballing
talents in the whole world as our record
number of U-17 World Cup wins have shown.
The talents only start to tail behind others
when we can no longer cheat factors
necessary for a healthy development - tips on
diet and lifestyle, right training, right
facilities, and the requisite coaching
expertise. The least we can do is to encourage
these teens since we don’t have an enabling
environment for their continuos growth and
development.
The corporate bodies haven’t been
forthcoming either. One would have expected
a lot from them considering that they are no
longer in a position to do much promotion as
a result of the cash crunch. An august
opportunity such as this is a marketing
department’s dream; an opportunity to
advertise and do good PR by rewarding our
schoolboy heroes for a lot less than they
would have to cough out from a leaner purse
over time. I expected the phone and
electronic companies to hand out Android
phones, tablets or iPads in exploitation of the
new craze for them. I am not a trained
marketing expert and I would have to talk to
one to find out if the government’s body
language and the reluctance of the companies
to reward the Eaglets are in anyway related.
Ultimately, I don’t think anyone would fault
them but the government cannot wriggle
itself out of this from a holistic point of view.
Yes, these are very bad times for us but if
ever there will be a time to reward World Cup
winners with anything less than N1m, it has
to be when we aren’t paying lawmakers more
than N10m monthly and aren’t maintaining
nine presidential planes.
Umar Sa’ad Hassan, a lawyer based in Kano, via
email
NIGERIA NEEDS A DEPORTATION TASK FORCE
The leadership of Hospital &
Prison Action
Network (HPAN ) – a duly
registered charity in the
United Kingdom and with
offices in Nigeria – are seriously concerned about Nigerians being deported on a
regular basis, especially
those who have been in the
United Kingdom and other
parts of the world for many
years and are unfamiliar
with the mass changes back
in Nigeria.
The leadership of HPAN is
calling on the Commanderin-Chief of the Armed
Forces, President Muhammad Buhari, GCFR, to further demonstrate his
commitment to the Nigerian diaspora constituency by
ensuring that those deported
exercise their rights as Nigerians.
We are calling on the Fed-
eral Government of Nigeria
to establish a ‘Deportees
Task Force’, comprising of
immigration officers, police
officers, customs officers and
some diaspora representatives, to look into the reasons why some people are
deported, and to ensure that
they are really Nigerians.
HPAN is also calling on
the Federal Government to
establish a roadmap to accommodate diaspora returnees so that their skills
would be added value to the
prosperity of Nigeria instead
of them becoming a liability.
HPAN has been operating
in the United Kingdom for
over 10 years and with the
increase in homelessness
and poverty in the diaspora
community due to the economic crisis, the organisation has fed over 36,000
individuals in the last three
years through partnership
with major food chains.
Apart from running a
local free medical surgery
open day in the community,
the organisation also entered
a partnership agreement
with the Nigerian High
Commission in the United
Kingdom, to assist vulnerable Nigerians in immigration, detention or prison.
HPAN is equally concerned about the increase in
political violence across
some pockets of Nigeria
which could increase extremists and radicalisation
with zero strategy to tackle
it in Nigeria’s prisons. HPAN
is currently working on the
establishment of a rehabilitation and resettlement
camp in Nigeria.
Reverend (Dr) Nathaniel
Oyinloye, HPAN Founder & CEO,
via email
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18
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
NEWSWatch
Colouring in has become the adult pastime phenomenon of recent times, since
the stress-busting meditative qualities
of the traditional wet summer holiday
activity for children were recognised
about 18 months ago. There has subsequently been an explosion in publishing intricate
designs targeted at adults. The latest to hit the
bookshops is a glorious celebration of black hair.
I Love My Hair is a hip, gorgeous doodle colouring of braids, coils and doodle dos. The book celebrates, strong confident women and explores how
beautifully diverse, stylish, innovative and fun all
types of hair can be.
The author Andrea
Pippins (right) is
pened because of taking a leap of
faith and says of the book that “it is
not only about fun colouring and
self-love.” The beauty of the pictures and how "colourers" colour
them in is certain to boost the selfesteem of many young Africans bombarded with
western stereotypes of beauty.
Andrea will be attending a book signing event in
London on Saturday January 23 for an afternoon of
colouring and mingling. Attendees will receive a
goody bag including a copy of the book and goodies
from independently owned black businesses.
In the meantime get colouring!
See listings page 20 for details of
how to purchase tickets.
Colouring in
an artist and designer, known for her blog, Fly,
where she is an advocate for social justice and selfempowerment of young girls and women, inspired
by social, political and cultural statements which
can be made with hair.
After resigning from her teaching position at
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, to pursue her dream to work full-time as an artist and illustrator Andrea strongly believes
that I Love My Hair hap-
I LOVE MY HAIR: A Coloring Book of
Braids, Coils, and Doodle Dos
Schwartz & Wade Books
RRP £10.83
Follow us on Twitter
@NigerianWatch
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LEISUREWatch
BY OBAH IYAMU
coloUr-bUrst coAts Outer wear
drama continues to rock and we embrace
the versatile ways to achieve this cool
statement-maker, guaranteed to up the
cool factor of any outfit. From razor sharp
colour blocking to colour improvisations,
take your coatwearing game into
this territory and
put away the old
lazy parkas and rain
proof quilts. you
don’t have to go
shopping with this
trend, either. If you
own a plain coloured coat, team with a contrasting jumper or roll neck and fold the
sleeves over to get a clashing cuff. Draping
your coat shoulders
with a fur collar for that
extra oomph is a street
trait, while furry coats
with patched sections are showing up on the fashion girls. I want one!
whAt to sEE ANd do ovEr thE NExt
14 dAys...
dembe and sam have been seeing each
other for a while, but they're gay and this
is Uganda. The consequences of their
relationship being discovered will be
explosive - especially for dembe, whose
brother goes into the pulpit each week to
denounce the evils of mutual male love.
14 Jan — 20 Feb, Matinees Thurs & Sat
2.30pm, evenings 7.30pm. From £20.
Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street,
Richmond, TW9
www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
thE rollINg stoNE
thEAtrE
snow white & The seven
superheroes
refugee and migrant poets,
inspired by Shakespeare, 30
Jan 5.30-6.30pm.
Ongoing until 30 Jan, 3.30 pm
Sat matinee, 8pm evening
performance. Tickets from
£13.
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin
Street E8
www.arcolatheatre.com
The fairest Urban Street
Dance Pantomime of them
all. Will the Wicked Queen
rule the land…forever? Will
the Superheroes save the
day? Will Snow White be
woken by true love’s kiss?
Ongoing until 17 Jan, 6pm 8.30pm. Tickets £15.75.
Millfield Theatre, Silver Street,
Edmonton N18
www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk
fIlm
soldiers of Peace
Narrated by Hollywood actor
and UN Messenger for Peace
Michael Douglas, Soldiers of
Peace gives us an uplifting
look at the current
geopolitical state of the
world. Contrary to popular
belief, there are actually less
armed conflicts in the world
bIllowy slEEvEs Bell sleeves are on the
fashion forecast for 2016 and they add fun to your
outfit. From teaming with a pair of jeans or pencil
skirt to wearing on a structured dress, this trend is
‘in’ for all. While the fluted short sleeve had its
moment with the off-shoulder trend, we are
now wearing bell sleeves for winter and the boho
vibe is an absolute no- no. This easy to wear
fashion should not be styled to transport us back
to the 70s; a subtle flare is all you need to nail this
feminine look. Wear with metallic accessories for
a classy evening look. My short sleeve coat has
just married this trend.
19
Fortnight
FashionWATCH
while January's scrimpy reputation leaves us
with the challenge of updating our exhausted
closets, it is our responsibility to get you
through the cold, bleak month in the best
fashion-forward way
possible. from colourful
coats to nifty layering
tricks, make this a super
stylish start to 2016
NIGERIAN WATCH
17 Dec 2015 - 15 Jan 2016
Nine lives
Zodwa Nyoni’s play tells the
Institute francais, 17
Queensberry Place, SW7
www.institutfrancais.org.uk
rebecca
Abandoned and lost in the
middle of a deserted road, an
egotistic proper city guy
(Joseph Benjamin) gets a rude
awakening when he begins to
realise that his only
companion, a timid looking
village girl (Yvonne Okoro)
who he had been forced to
marry only a few hours
earlier is anything but
ordinary.
Directed by Shirley
Frimpong-Manso-REBECCA,
who will attend the premiere
alongside the films stars.
22 Jan, 9pm - 12am. FREE
Odeon Cinema, Bugsby Way,
Greenwich SE10
http://sparrowproductions.ne
t/rebecca/
The supreme Price
today and less people dying
of violent deaths than ever
before.
personal story behind asylum
headlines; Ishmael has fled
from his home in Zimbabwe,
where a fresh wave of
homophobia threatens his
life, to Leeds, with the
prospect of sanctuary and of
a life among strangers.
Presented with:
- Platforma Jam, music from
young refugees and migrants
in London, 16 Jan, 5.306.30pm, free.
- Music from Zimbabwe, 23
Jan 5.30-6.30pm, free.
- Bards Without Borders,
rebecca
16 Jan, 7pm - 10pm. Tickets
£10.
Bernie Grant Arts Centre,
Town Hall Approach Road,
Tottenham Green N15
www.iwilltell.com
timbuktu
Kidane lives peacefully in the
dunes with his family and
their 12-year-old shepherd
but the Islamists who have
taken over Timbuktu
gradually make their
presence felt.
21 Jan, 8.40pm. Tickets £8.
Director Joanna Lipper
elegantly explores past and
present as she tells the deeply
moving and intriguing story
of M.K.O Abiola through the
eyes his eldest
daughter, Hafsat Abiola, who
was about to graduate from
Harvard when her mother
was murdered. Her father
died in prison two years later
under mysterious
circumstances.
Screening will be followed by a
Q&A with Joanna Lipper.
26 Jan, 7pm -10pm. FREE.
School of Oriental and African
Studies, Khalili Lecture
Theatre, Thornhaugh Street
WC1H
www.soas.ac.uk
20
NIGERIAN WATCH
17 Dec 2015 - 15 Jan 2016
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LEISUREWatch
Art
Art for all seasons
exhibition
striking impression.
Ongoing until 12 Feb. FREE.
Bernie Grant Arts Centre,
Town Hall Approach Road,
Tottenham Green N15
www.berniegrantcentre.co.uk
thE mIssINg chAPtEr
Autograph ABP presents the
TMC Collective Showcase,
featuring new multi-media
productions, in response to
19th century photography,
by Heather Agyepong,
Yasmine Akim, Lara
Akinnawo, Kariima Ali, Abira
Hussein, Shanice Martin,
Olivia Mathurin
Essandoh, Patricia Ng'ang'a.
15 - 30 Jan, Tues, Wed & Fri:
11am – 6pm, Thurs: 11am –
9pm, Sat: 12 – 6pm. FREE.
Rivington Place EC2A
rivingtonplace.org
le trait
comEdy
Kojo's birthday comedy
Jam
The fresh prince of Hackney
Kojo celebrates his birthday
with a big comedy jam with
special guests on the night.
16 Jan, 8.30pm. Tickets £17.50.
Hackney Empire, 291 Mare
Street E8
www.hackneyempire.co.uk
ty & Ky: going Up on a
tuesday
Following on from their hit
debut TV sketch show on
ITV2, The Ty and Ky Show,
the duo are set to bring their
next instalment of funny to a
live audience.
dANcE
resolution 2016
A new year festival of
short live dance and
performance works by
emerging artists.
Featuring Ransack Dance
by Broken Arrows; In a
multimedia world where
everybody is searching for
something, six performers
push to find the calmness of
love amidst the chaos of life.
21 Jan, 8pm. Tickets £15
Sigh by Kasa; In Kabuki
Wembley Art Society is
presenting an exhibition of
paintings on the theme of
changes in the seasons and
they way these changes are
celebrated in different
cultures.
Ongoing until 28 Jan,
Weekdays 9am - 8pm, Sat Sun 10am - 5pm. FREE
The Library at Willesden
Green, 95 High Road,
Willesden NW10
www.brent.gov.uk
The first London solo
exhibition by celebrated
Senegalese artist Soly Cissé,
“I think and reflect a lot
about humans and their
relationships. Relationships
between humans, the
confrontation between
humans and nature, humans
and religion and then I
challenge myself and
experiment.”
9 - 30 Jan, 12pm - 6pm. FREE.
Sunbury House, 1 Andrews
Road, Guest Projects, E8
www.sulger-buel-lovell.com
food
chuku’s Pop Up lounge
lItErAtUrE
I love my hair
Nigerian Art Exhibition
19 Jan, 8pm. FREE.
35-47 Bethnal Green Rd E1
www.richmix.org.uk
theatre ‘Furitsukeshi’ means
choreographer. This piece
combines the codes of the
Furitsukeshi acting technique
and hip hop.
30 Jan, 8pm. Tickets £15
The Place, 17 Duke's Road
WC1H
www.theplace.org.uk
The Ibibio have their own
music, dance and language,
and Ekong Emmanuel
Ekefrey's paintings reflect
their life as well as that of the
gigantic Lagos metropolis,
where he lives.
He paints with humor
urban masquerades, scenes
from everyday life at the
crossroad of different Human
destinies. His works are a
tangle of forms, figures, lines
and colours that produce a
24 Jan, 12.30pm - 6pm. No
booking necessary.
Grow Hackney, 98C Wallis
Road, Main Yard, Hackney
Wick
www.chukuslondon.co.uk.
Chuku’s, the Nigerianinspired tapas lounge, is back
with their first pop up of the
new year, at a new venue –
Grow, Hackney – with an
exciting new menu, serving
up a unique African food
experience accompanied by
Nigerian chillout beats.
Author and Illustrator,
Andrea Pippins, will be
talking about and signing her
new book, I Love My Hair: A
Colouring book of Braids,
Coils & Doodle Dos, which
celebrates, strong confident
women and explores how
beautifully diverse, stylish,
innovative and fun all types
of hair can be.
23 Jan, 1 - 4pm. Tickets from
£10.
The Jam Tree, 541 Kings Road -
Chelsea
http://andreapippins.com
Afrikult
Running throughout 2016,
Afrikult event focuses on
particular mediums and
traditions of African
literature.
There will be a Publishers’
Market and African Food
Court, with performances
from Belinda Zhawi and Inua
Ellams and a screening of the
first Ethiopian film entry at
the Cannes Film Festival:
Lamb.
23 Jan, 12pm - 9pm. FREE,
(excluding £5 ticket for film
screening)
SOAS, Russell Square: College
Buildings, Room: 4429
http://afrikult.com/
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gnawa blues All stars
Live traditional Moroccan
Gnawa Music (sacred trance
music from Morocco) and
Gnawa Fusion pushing new
boundaries with music from
West Africa, Caribbean, Asia
and South America.
NIGERIAN WATCH
17 Dec 2015 - 15 Jan 2016
LEISUREWatch
AfrIcAN voIcEs
BEHIND
THE SCENES
with Lace Mamen
15 Jan, 7pm – 11pm. FREE.
SOAS University, JCR (Junior
Common Room), WC1H
http://openthegate.org.uk
baaba maal
An electrifying new sound
and exhilarating live
presentation from Baaba
Maal, the Senegalese mastermusician and cultural
warrior.
20 Jan, 7.30pm. Tickets from
£20.
Southbank Centre, Belvedere
Rd SE1
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Ibibio sound machine and
Eardrum
University College London will formally launch its African
Studies Research Centre this month with a series of events.
African Voices will emphasise their goal of co-producing
knowledge about Africa with African colleagues on the
continent and in the diaspora.
Events include;
transport systems and well-being in Nigeria
20 Jan, 12.30 - 2pm.
African ‘Question time’
26 Jan, 6:15 pm - 7:45 pm.
Africa’s urban paradox: mobilities, economies and aspirations
28 Jan, 5.00 - 6.30pm
how African scientists struggle to contribute to innovation in
the global health Arena
29 Jan, 5.00 - 6.30pm
talent show and cultural gala, Ucl African and caribbean
society
Jan 29,7.00-10.30pm
Jan 20 -29. All events are free, see website for details;
University College London, Gower Street WC1
23 Jan, 7.45pm. Tickets from
£18.
Hackney Empire, 291 Mare
Street E8
www.hackneyempire.co.uk
Ibibio Sound Machine are
a clash of African and
electronic elements inspired
by West-African funk & disco
and modern post-punk &
electro.
EarDrum are a very
unique collaboration of
talking drums and their
collective expression.
22 Jan, 7pm-3.30am. £5 before
9pm, £7 before 10pm, £10
after.
Passing Clouds, 1 Richmond
Road E8
www.passingclouds.org
Jonathan mcreynolds
At only 26 Jonathan
McReynolds is one of the
most fascinating gospel /
contemporary Christian
music artists around.
21
tony Allen
Legendary drummer and
godfather of Afrobeat with
support from Blood Sport
and Jimi Tenor.
22 & 23 Jan,8pm. Tickets £18
Cafe Oto, 18-22 Ashwin St E8
www.cafeoto.co.uk
vieux farka touré
The “Hendrix of the Sahara”,
Vieux Farka Touré is one of
the greatest living exponents
of guitar Desert Blues.
27 Jan, 7.30pm. Tickets from
£12.50.
Kings Place, 90 York Way N1
www.kingsplace.co.uk
othEr
Africans for momentum
Networking/fundraising
dinner
Gardens Restaurant, 161
London Road, West Croydon
www.peoplesmomentum.com
shades of beauty
Shadism is rampant amongst
a number of different
communities. Shades of
Beauty aims to challenge
mainstream beauty ideals,
which often treat fair skin as
the only type of skin that is
accepted within our society
and deemed as beautiful.
Speakers include Tele
Ogunyemi, sharing how she
challenged beauty ideals
within the black community.
21 Jan, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm.
FREE. Please confirm your
attendance for admission.
Kings College London, Guys
Campus, New Hunts House,
Lecture Theatre 1
www.facebook.com/groups/k
clbangladeshsociety/
mbtN music & fashion
show
Join Africans for Momentum
(AFM) as we aim to galvanise
Africans who believe in a new
kind of politics and would
like to see Jeremy Corbyn
become Prime Minister in
2020.
16 Jan, 7:00 pm - 9:30
pm. Tickets £18.
Timber
Leading African fashion
designers and performing
artists bring you a first look at
the key trends of the season
on the catwalk.
29 Jan, 6:00 pm - 12:30 am.
FREE
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 92
Southampton Row
www.movebacktonigeria.com
bts boys with miss olanrewaju sunmola, one on one
with buddha - a platform for UK
African talented people
lanre sunmola was born in
southeast london, grew up in
london and went to university in
london. here’s her story in her
own words. “I spent a stop gap
year in lagos Nigeria from 2009
– 2010, this is where I first got
the energy I needed to love and
inspire. I saw so many people
with nothing physically but a
high level of belief that they
could do it. I returned to london
in 2011, graduated Uni in mass
comm and journalism, and then
returned back to Nigeria in 2013
for work experience. whilst in
Nigeria, I worked for radio Nigeria for two months, interacting
with people on air, their stories
and experiences were again
truly inspirational. I realised I
was fortunate in many ways and
wanted to give back to my UK
African brothers and sisters.
“I quickly realised there was
a gap for someone like me in the
UK, so I came back to give that
positive energy to my African
brothers and sisters still unsure
about their dreams or how to
combat the struggles needed to
achieve them. you just have to
believe. I started one on one
with buddha to showcase the
progress of Africans talents in
the UK and to inspire others to
follow their dreams. I promote
anything African and not separated by genre.
one on one with buddha got
signed with circle channel (online youtube) and my first interviews were with a designer,
head wrapper and a writer, anyone positive. Now I interview
artistes and the range has
grown.”
lanre says African talent is a
niche in the UK, it takes time to
grow. “confidence is the key she
says, the truth is most women
are lacking just that element to
make a difference. There are
times when I have struggled because I felt people were not
watching or understanding my
show and I was doing a lot. I
overcame that with my belief in
god and my love to inspire. This
year I am adding a make-up
course to my repetoir and making fashion 101 with son of the
soil. your power of love for
something or someone can
make a change. share love,
make change.”
contact me on timeoutwithbh@blogspot.com
“Use your Power of love in 2016”
bts meets the ladies doing just that to impact our communities
mrs dola Akinola, cEo and founder of street diamonz, an organisation that promotes role models for youths with inner city backgrounds.
mrs Akinola, a legal adviser and city professional, says she grew up the hard way on a south Kilburn
estate. she did not have a fortunate background but her mother ensured that she had a christian
upbringing. she says that it was easier for girls to stay on the straight and narrow as they generally
had to cope with different pressures than boys. young black boys were more likely to experience
discrimination and racism from authorities and these experiences had an adverse effect on their
emotional development. dola explains that as a result of these experiences some of the boys in her
area became caught up by their environment and became involved in various crime activities. In this
state of mind, crime festered, selling drugs and robbing handbags was seen as a job as opposed to a
“wrong”. dola understood the mind-set of these young black men, having grown in similar conditions as them.
street diamonz is a non-profit organisation which was formed in 2009 to mentor young people
from inner city backgrounds and to help promote positive role models, who had similar upbringings.
dola splits her time between being a legal adviser/city worker to running street diamonz. she encourages everyone to take time out and help to mentor someone, whether it’s to help with cv writing, career choices, expressing themselves verbally, understanding various concepts ... Each one
–teach one and we can make the world a better place. Things have changed, things are improving,
and we can do more. music such as grime, UK hiphop
and Afrobeats can make a big difference to inner city
youth as it’s a way for them to express themselves,
create positive role models and encourage the youth to
feel proud about where they are from.
Amongst all the accolades dola has received she
says just hearing a young man in difficulty stand up to
give a testimony that the lovE from street diamonz
helped him get through a very difficult circumstance
and make a change in his life is her greatest achievement. street diamonz represent the power of love for
one another and how that can effect change. Use your
powers in 2016.
for more info, www.streetdiamonz.com
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BOOKS
FUELLING THE DELTA FIRES
Based on the real life
situation in Nigeria's
Niger Delta, Fuelling the
Delta Fires is an expose
and action adventure
novel revealing why
there is turmoil in the
world's sixth largest
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AVAILBLE NOW AT:
amazon.co.uk, chapters.indigo.com, waterstones.com,
authorhouse.co.uk, barnesandnoble.com
whsmiths.co.uk, borders.com
For those in Nigeria
Ring Peter Agbor of walahi.com on (234)805 361 0533
Paperback £9.30 Hardback £13.60 E-book £2.60
HEALTH
Ivorian captain Yaya Toure has
lashed out at the Confederation of
African
football
(Caf)
for
honouring Gabonese striker
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang
with the 2015 African Player of the
Year Award and denying him the
right to win the laurel for a record
fifth time.
At the glitzy Caf/Glo Awards on
January 7, Nigeria's Victor Osimhen
was among the winners on the night,
as was U23 star Oghenekaro Etebo,
being named the Young Player of the
Year and the Most Promising Player
of the Year respectively.
But it was Yaya Toure’s outburst
that stole the headlines. Toure had
won the award for four consecutive
years and had been hoping to win it
for a fifth straight time.
When that didn’t come to pass,
Toure described missing out on a fifth
consecutive African Player of the Year
award as indecent, saying the
decision brought shame on the
continent. He added that he felt he
should have taken the accolade again
after captaining Ivory Coast to the
Africa Cup of Nations title at the start
of 2015.
This is despite the fact that
Aubameyang is arguably the fastest
players in the modern game, having
clocked a time of 3.70 seconds over
30 meters, which is marginally faster
than the time Olympic gold medallist
Usain Bolt recorded in the first 30
meters of his record breaking 100
metres run.
And at the halfway stage of the
Bundesliga season, Aubameyang is
the league's top scorer with 18 goals
from 17 appearances. He is currently
a target for several top European
clubsides, with English Premiership
team Arsenal reported to be willing
to break the bank to acquire his
services.
However, Toure said, “I think
that's what makes it the shame of
Africa as to behave in this way is
indecent but what can we do?
Africans do not show that Africa is
important to us as we give more
priority to what's going on elsewhere
than in our own continent, which is
what is appalling.
“Yaya will look after himself and
let Africa look after itself. Like I'm
often said, you shouldn't worry too
much about Africa because Africa
will be the first to let you down.”
Oghenekaro Etebo receiving his award
TRAVEL
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
23
mArAthoN
From page 24 lead other cities in Nigeria to
follow with their own marathons.
The man credited with resurrecting the Lagos
marathon, President of the Athletics Federation
of Nigeria (AFN) Chief Solomon Ogba, was
overjoyed to see his vision come to reality.
He told the press conference, “Lagos is a
beautiful city, and an international marathon,
beamed live to a global audience, will sell the city
positively to the world.
“Then, the health benefits of running are
immense, studies have shown that regular
exercise prevent cardio related diseases, help in
losing weight and also resolve other health
issues. Also, there is the business side. The
marathon will pump a lot of money into the
economy and help local businesses and tackle
unemployment’’.
The Executive Director at Access Bank, Mr
Victor Etuokwu said, “A marathon brings
people from all walks of life together to a state
and creates a platform on which the city is
showcased. People see the vibrancy and the
friendly nature of the city when they partake in
a marathon.
“While a business conference may bring in
the people, a marathon does more in
showcasing a city. This is why as a bank we have
decided to be part of it,” he said.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos Sports
Commission, Ayo Tinubu said the 42 kilometre
international marathon, will have a grand prize
of $50,000. He added there would also be prizes
for the first 10 marathoners who cross the finish
line. And that the first 20 Nigerians to cross the
finish line will get prizes starting from N1
million.
The marathon is billed to start from the
National Stadium, run through Ojota to link up
with the Third Mainland Bridge, on through
Ikoyi to the Lekki Toll Gate, to link Bonny Camp
and end at the Eko Atlantic City.
Tinubu noted that as the first full marathon
to be run in the country, Access Bank and its
partners are set to make it an international event
by ensuring that every little detail that should be
done is done to make sure that it is the best in
Africa.
“It is going to be a marathon of
international standard and part of what we
have done to make it of international standard
is to ensure that every single runner will have
a tracker that will tell us where they are at
every point in time.”
The Lagos State governor has been very
particular about sports and tourism and this
marathon is a very good opportunity to
showcase the state, he stated.
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24
NIGERIAN WATCH
15 - 28 Jan 2016
Follow us on Twitter
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INsIdE
yaya toure loses
it at cAf awards
SportsWATCH
the MarathoN returNs to
lagos
President of the Athletics
federation of Nigeria
chief solomon ogba
After a 30 year absence Lagos is to host a
marathon next month to rival the blue riband
events staged in London, New York, Dubai and
Beijing.
At the time of going to press 31 elite runners from
eight countries had signed on for what is officially
known as the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon; 24
men and seven women. Of the 24 men marathoners,
11 have IAAF gold label status and eight silver. Among
the women runners two have gold label status and
four silver.
Fun runners from the diaspora are unlikely to make
the cut as the date for applications for the February 6
road race ends on January 28.
The return of the Lagos marathon – which has been
endorsed by the Athletic Federation of Nigeria and the
International Association of Athletics Federation –
was announced shortly before Christmas at the Lagos
HQ of Access Bank.
It is hoped it will become a red letter day on the
international sporting calendar and Turn to page 23
lAgos mArAthoN roUtE
Elite marathon
runners - of which
31 have signed up
to compete.
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