Everyone thought I’ll fail – Udeme Ufot, SO&U boss

BY FEYI BANKOLE
Remember that popular Guinness TV commercial “My friend Udeme is a
great man”? Until I spent over an hour with this innovative middle-aged
man who actually produced that ad, I couldn’t grasp why he had to
adjudge ‘Udeme’ great. Mr.Udeme Ufot is the Group Managing Director
of SO&U, one of Nigeria’s most influential advertising agencies, affiliated
to Saatchi & Saatchi, a global advertising agency. ‘A great seat!’, you
might exclaim, but believe me, that isn’t the reason our friend Udeme is
a “great man”. In 1990, Udeme Ufot had resigned his rewarding
employment with a foremost advertising firm, Insight Communications,
and had ventured into private practice relying solely on his creativity and
dynamism, knowing well that the field was highly manipulated by the
“bigger and older practitioners”. He seemed too brave and almost
everyone thought it won’t be long before he crumbled, but it’s over 23
years on and Udeme Ufot is still making great strides in the world of
advertising, even to the extent of winning the Fate Model Entrepreneur
Award 2012. We had an inspiring session with him in Lagos.
Courageous beginning
When 23 years ago he became restless about venturing into private
practice, Udeme Ufot did not have the ideal prerequisites for setting up
an advertising firm. But today, Udeme is a great man. He had studied
industrial design and specialised in graphic design at the Ahmadu Bello
University where he graduated and then worked for several years with
Insight Communications as a creative artist. That knowledge was of
course not enough to run a successful advertising business considering
the presence of people who had perhaps studied advertising and
managed frontline seats in the industry. “What a disadvantage!, one
would ordinarily think. But Udeme was smart and decided to rely on the
main substance visible in advertising- creativity, and within 18 months,
the agency was named the most creative in the country.
Naïve team
“Getting started was not easy. We had a bunch of very green, naïve
young people. SO&U is an acronym for Gbemi Sajay, Julia Oko and Ufot.
We used to be among the backroom guys who get things done in the
advertising industry. I have a creative background, Sagay was an art
director and Oko was a copywriter. So, in the first instance, setting out
to establish such business was an anomaly in the industry. This made
people laugh at us. But what have seen us through are resilience,
determination and focus. We said to ourselves that we’ll go by a very
simple strategy- nobody can deny seeing a good thing when he or she
has seen it. What was important to us was to ensure that we very
quickly make a mark in our calling”, Udeme reveals.
“Therefore, we agreed that any work we found to do, we must do it
differently and well. We rendered outstanding services above what we
were paid for! We put our people through intensive training, and we
virtually turned the agency into a school. We gradually turned our entire
agency into an environment for continuous improvement and learning”.
*Udeme Ufot
Gift of creativity
Udeme didn’t just stumble into the creative world of advertising- he had
dreamed of it as a teenager! He co-incidentally discovered he had the
skills and made conscious efforts towards improvement. Being the son
of the Registrar of the University of Calabar at that time, he had access
to the university library and read voraciously. While studying a journal
on advertising and marketing one day though he had wanted to be a
political scientist, he came across an illustration of an impressive
looking fellow, and the caption under that illustration read: “A Trendy Art
Director”. Immediately, Udeme fell in love with the art director and his
work and began dreaming and working towards becoming one someday.
That was between 1975 and 76.
He adds: “What helped me was that I was talented creatively. Right from
my primary school, I could draw very well, I could act in plays and I was
very good in literature. In fact, when I sat back and analysed myself, I
saw that I had the relevant skills. That’s why I always tell people that it
is easier to succeed when you’re doing what you enjoy doing”.
Between passion and success
To Udeme, the relevance of passion to success was invaluable. Having
been in business for 23 years, and with a clientele comprising
conglomerates and the banking sector, you cannot but wonder how he
became one of the few doyens of the industry. “Passion makes the
difference! It drives everything. It’s one thing to have the talent and
resources, but you must have the drive, and that drive comes from the
passion to succeed. Because we had nothing when we set up SO&U,
everyone told me and my team we’ll fail.
For the first six months, we couldn’t afford a telephone in the agency,
not even curtains. The first furniture we had was my dining table in my
own house. We all sat round that table to do our work! The first furniture
in my office as MD was a sofa I brought from my house. I didn’t have a
worktable, so, I would write my notes on my thighs. Of course, these
lacks aren’t the things that will make one fail, unlike what many think. I
believe it’s about knowing what you lack and being able to improvise.
But when you have the passion and drive to succeed, nothing can stop
you. That passion drove us and every income we made, we invested in
ourselves to acquire knowledge and upgrade our skills. We invested in
our business too to furnish the office, buy computers and make
ourselves more efficient because we had the vision of where we were
taking our agency. If you lack passion, you’ll sit back and lament about
what you don’t have: ‘I don’t have a godfather, I don’t have money, I
can’t find clients because I’ve not worked with clients before…’, but
when you’re being fired up by passion, nothing will stop you”.
Financial barrier
True to his word, not even financial constraints could make him jettison
his aspiration of going into private practice 23 years ago. “This company
was started with N60,000 of my life savings in 1990”, Udeme was quick
to add. He had started the business in the guestroom of his house, and
when in the third month he found an office in Apapa that would cost
him a hundred thousand naira rent, not even his age-long bank was
willing to loan him N60,000 to augment what he had. A childhood friend
came to his rescue and in less than two years after SO&U took off,
because he had become influential in the industry, a delegation from the
same bank came to woo him to bank with them!

National Honours Award: Time to redefine the criteria

President Goodluck Jonathan will confer the 2013/2014 National
Honours on 305 “Nigerians and friends of Nigeria” today. The
award ceremony, which will hold at the International Conference
Centre, Abuja, is a public recognition of those who have
distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavour, and
whose lives have positively affected their fellow citizens and
humanity in general. Awardees are believed to be persons who
have been found worthy in both character and individual accom­
plishments to deserve the honour.
A major distinguishing feature of this year’s award is that for the
first time in two years, there is no recipient for the award of the
Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON). However, according to the
approval contained in the honours’ list, 24 people are to be
honoured in the prestigious category of Commander of the
Federal Republic (CFR). Among those to be honoured in this
category are the four service chiefs: Air Marshal Alex Badeh
(Chief of Defence Staff); Lt.Gen. Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army
Staff); Rear Admiral Usman Jubrin (Chief of Naval Staff) and Air
Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu (Chief of Air Staff). Also to be
honoured with the award of CFR are the Acting Inspector General
of Police, Suleiman Abba, and the National Security Adviser
(NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.)
A breakdown of other categories shows that 59 people, including
the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress
(APC),Chief John Odigie Oyegun; Governor of Ondo State, Dr.
Olusegun Mimiko; the defeated governorship candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recent Osun gubernatorial
election, Senator Iyiola Omisore; eight serving ministers and
seven state Chief Judges are recipients of the Commander of the
Niger (CON).
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA) Chief Victor Umeh; MD/CEO of Diamond Bank, Alex Otti;
the Secretary of the 2014 National Conference,Valerie Azinge and
the Comptroller General of the Immigration Service, David
Parradang, bagged the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR)
Award. Also, 53 other persons are to be honoured in the category
of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR). They include the
publisher of The Guardian, Mrs. Maiden Alex-Ibru, a veteran
journalist, Mrs.Moji Makanjuola and the National President of the
National Council of Women Societies, Nkechi Mba. The list of 55
people to receive the Member of the Niger (MON) award is domi­
nated by sportsmen and women. Prominent among them are
Blessing Okagbare, a gold medalist at this year’s Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Most Valuable Player (MVP)
of the National U-17 football team, Asisat Oshoala. A traffic
warden, Corporal Solomon Dauda and two presidential stewards,
Michael Onuh and Oba Michael Adesina, also made the list.
While we heartily congratulate all the recipients on the honour
being bestowed on them today, it is necessary to remind them
that this public recognition of their good works should be
reciprocated with exemplary lives that are worthy of emulation.
They also should be mindful of the fact that should any of them
be found wanting in their conduct in future, the awards that they
are receiving today may be withdrawn. It is on record that the fed­
eral government has had reasonable cause in the past to
withdraw national honours that had been conferred on some
people.
We must say without equivocation that as in recent years, some
of the names on this year’s honours list are not worthy of the
recognition. The criteria that qualified them for the honour are
clearly lost on many Nigerians. It is regrettable that in spite of
complaints by well meaning Nigerians who urged the government
to carefully vet the prospective names for the National Honours,
and despite the president’s assurances last year to redefine the
criteria used in selecting the awardees, this year’s event has
again come short of expectation. The conferment of the awards,
in some respects, will not be the inspiring national ceremony that
it ought to be. In short, we find the conferment of national
honours on some of the awardees simply distasteful.
While some of the recipients richly deserve the honour and the
accolades that normally attend it, that cannot be said of many
others who are public cynosures of vices, and not virtues. For
instance, there are some politicians and judges of questionable
character, who have graft and other grievous criminal allegations
against them, on this list.
It needs repeating that National Honours award is a significant
and profound event that should take into due cognizance the
character, commitment and antecedents of every potential
awardee, and the impact that such public recognition would have
on public morality and humanity in general. National honours
should be given to people with specific ennobling acts of honour,
sacrifice or uncommon courage that are capable of inspiring the
citizenry to greater heights.
It is, therefore, time to redefine and reassess the criteria. We
maintain that the only way the National Honours can remain
relevant, respectable, dignified and credible is to award them on
merit. It should not be based on political, ethnic or religious
considerations. That is the only way that the awards can serve
the desired purpose of pointing out outstanding Nigerians that
are worthy of emulation in the country. It is only when it is such
deserving persons that are honoured that Nigeria can make
sustained progress as a nation as other Nigerians aspire to copy
their worthy examples.

Four Nigerians get double honours, three receive houses

Jonathan places national flag designer on salary of
presidential aide for life
• Maiden Alex-Ibru dedicates award to her late
husband, staff, readers
FOR their diligence, dedication to duty and honesty,
four Nigerians received double honours at
yesterday’s conferment of national awards on
distinguished Nigerians and foreigners.
The event was part of the activities for the 54th
independence anniversary.
The special awardees included Mr. Imeh Usuah, the
taxi driver, who in 2007 returned N18 million left in
his cab by a foreigner who hired him from the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja; Mr.
Onuh Isaac Michael, the Chief Steward of the
Presidential Villa, Abuja, who served nine Presidents
and Heads of State right from the Second Republic,
Corporal Solomon Dauda, a traffic warden stationed
at a strategic location in the Federal Capital Territory
and Mr. Taiwo Akinkunmi, the 77-year-old designer
of the national flag.
The Publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-
Ibru, who received the MFR alongside others, said
that the award would inspire her to attain greater
heights. She dedicated the award to her late
husband, the staff of The Guardian and the reading
public.
She said she received the award with mixed
feelings, noting, “whatever your president decides to
offer you, you must accept it graciously, so I’m
actually thankful. This is the first time I’m attending
even as a guest.”
Mrs. Alex-Ibru said she was not expecting the
award, disclosing that she was at a meeting when
her son received a text message congratulating him
on this award.
She said the event meant that there was hope for
Nigeria, noting that “all we need to do is to put our
house in order because the country is such a
blessed country, with human resources, natural
resources. But you can’t do these things if there is
no stability, no peace, if the country doesn’t feel
secure and the threat we are experiencing is not
coming from outside, it is coming from within and
so it is really quite bad. And I just hope that God
will intervene very soon so that the country can
continue to enjoy some peace and we can all get on
with the business of the day.”
On her advice for other Nigerians, she said:
“Everybody should try to put in their best in
whatever they do.” Citing the case of the taxi driver,
the publisher said he returned the money seven
years ago, “but you can see that honesty pays. It
has been not just an honour but also he is going
home with a three-bedroom flat and I’m genuinely
happy for him.”
Besides the various categories of national awards,
the three recipients got three-bedroom flats in the
FCT, while Akinkunmi is to receive the salary of a
special assistant to the president for life.
Akinkunmi was awarded the Officer of the Order of
the Federal Republic (OFR); Usuah got the Member
of the Order of Federal Republic ( MFR); while Onuh
and Dauda received the Member of the Order of the
Niger ( MON).
The president directed the Minister of the FCT, Bala
Mohammed, to immediately make available the
houses to the trio whom he specially called to the
podium. The president further directed the Secretary
to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius
Anyim, to place septuagenarian Akinkunmi on a
lifetime salary of a special assistant to the president.
The two other beneficiaries of the house largesse
were Usuah and Dauda. Dauda was recognised for
his exceptional dedication to duty at his post in
Abuja.
Jonathan expressed the hope that the recognition
accorded all the recipients would inspire other
Nigerians to rededicate themselves to rendering
services to the country and humanity.
He underscored the essence of the awards,
pointing out that “no great nation toys with honours
that constitute its national code of ethics.” The
president said a national honour must never be seen
as a piece of paper or garland that could be obtained
by persons of questionable character.
He therefore urged Nigerians to actively participate
in the nomination process whenever it is advertised
in the media, and noted that the broader spectrum
exhibited in this year’s award was an indication of a
wide search conducted by the Honours Committee.
Jonathan lamented that much of society had lost
respect for noble professions and vocations, adding
that there was a time when people feared to tread
near places of worship whereas religious houses had
now become targets of bombings and vandalism.
“A nation is void and soulless if she does not have
those sacred values it holds dear and individuals
who project them. It is in such men and women that
you find the authentic inheritance of the generations
and their nurturing. That is why a nation is poor that
is not rich in people who carry noble values that are
transferred from generation to generation.
“No great nation will toy with honours that
constitute her trans-generational character code.
This was why I insisted last year that our national
honour must never be seen as a piece of paper or
garland round the neck which individuals not worthy
of honour can pick up and continue to project wrong
values that diminish our heritage.
“I also directed the National Honours Committee to
always cast their net wide to ensure that all strata of
our society where honourable Nigerians are excelling
should be brought into the honours’ fold.”
The president urged all Nigerians to participate in
the selection of those they thought deserved the
awards, saying that was the only way Nigerians
could claim the ownership of the exercise even as
he urged Nigerians in all their professional callings
to strive to give their best, saying recognition could
come through such efforts.
The president recalled that in the past, honesty and
dedication were prominent virtues, saying the
decadence the country was experiencing was as a
result of the loss of these virtues.
He said: “I believe one of the reasons why our
society is not at ease is because we have neglected
our ennobling traditional value system. There was a
time in our country that when you were honoured
with traditional or religious titles in any community,
you were deemed to personify the highest ethos of
that community.
“It was a period when a teacher was the hallmark of
the most honourable values in a settlement. The
bank manager in any community was a man of high
probity in whose care people trusted their money and
were rest assured.
“It was a period when people kept quiet and walked
gently when they approached a place of worship for
the fear of God in their heart, not now that people
throw explosives in places of worship.
“We must get back those time-honoured values
that shaped us for good so that we can live right.
This is what the National Honour in its truest
essence seeks to do. To identify and celebrate men
and women whose lives depict the very essence of
societal existence. Therefore, at all times, our
honourees must be sincere men and women who
point society in the right direction and mirror the
possibilities of greatness unlimited.”
He congratulated all the awardees and enjoined
them all to realise that the honours their country
bestowed on them was an additional responsibility
to continue to demonstrate the strength of character
that had brought them to the hall of fame. He
insisted that their lifestyles must be exemplary and
reflect those of truly honourable men or women.
“To all our country men and women, my challenge
to you is to strive to do the best in whatever
endeavour you are in, that would recommend you for
the recognition of your nation. It really does not
matter what you do”, he said.
Jonathan said: “Let me specially appreciate these
people, the taxi driver, Imeh Usuah, corporal
Solomon Dauda, presidential steward, Mr. Isaac
Michael Onuh. Those who take to criminality
because of poverty are not quite right because
myself and some of you here knew where we are
coming from. We passed through stress but we
didn’t take to criminality. For these gentlemen, we
appreciate you. FCT minister give one flat each to
the three of them.”
On the presidential steward, he said: “A very
dedicated steward who has served every head of
state loyally since President Shehu Shagari. From
Shagari till today, to have survived about nine
presidents and nine first ladies, you must be a great
man.”
On the reward to the national flag designer, he said:
“As someone who contributed so much to the
history of this country, the person who designed the
Nigerian flag, Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, who was
also honoured here, you have to place him on a
salary of special assistant to the president forever.”
According to him, the Act empowered the president
to confer national honours on deserving Nigerians
and friends of Nigeria who have distinguished
themselves by their various contributions to the
peace, growth, development and well-being of the
country.
He noted that the annual award which was
suspended during the military rule was restored
following the restoration of democratic rule in the
country.
The highest honour for this year - Commander of
the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) went to Air
Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Lt-General Kenneth
Minimah, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, Air Marshal
Adesola Amosun, Acting Inspector General of Police
Suleiman Abbah, Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin,
Justice Chukwuma Eneh, National Security Adviser
(NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki ( rtd) and Alhaji Bukar
Goni Aj, immediate past Head of Civil Service of the
Federation, among others.
The President of the Court of Appeal, Zainab
Bulkachuwa (CFR) on behalf of the recipients, said
the honour would serve to ginger the awardees to do
more for the nation.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Anyim Pius Anyim, recalled that the annual awards
were instituted by the Order of Dignity Act of 1963.
The ceremony was, however, suspended during a
greater part of military rule in the country, and it
didn’t take place last year, thus making this year’s
event a combination of 2013 and 2014 award
ceremonies.
“That is why the Golden Eaglets who lifted the FIFA
Under-17 World Cup last year, have now been
formally honoured with Member of the Order of the
Niger (MON)”, Anyim explained.
The Chairman of the Honours Award Committee and
former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore, said a
rigorous screening process was used to select
persons of honour and impeccable character
deserving of the awards.
A total of 4,737 persons have received all
categories of the national honours from 1963 to date,
disclosed Belgore as he declared that the number
(313) honoured for 2014 indicated the stability of
the polity.
Belgore noted that the recipients were carefully
selected for the award for the recognition of their
invaluable contributions towards the actualisation of
the success of the nation.
He said: “The scheme is designed as a catalyst for
development of the spirit of nationalism, selfless
service to humanity and as an instrument of reward
for those identified to have made meaningful
contributions towards the nation’s greatness and
achievement.
“The National Honours Award recipients emerged
through a very rigorous and painstaking selection by
a screening process which was carried out by the
National Honours Award committee set up by the
president.
“The process was carefully designed to ensure that
only credible individuals, men and women of
impeccable characters and those who have
contributed positively towards our continued efforts
at attaining greatness as a nation were being
considered for the prestigious National Honours
Award.”
He said since the inception of the scheme in 1963,
more than 4500 Nigerians and friends of Nigerians
had been honoured with a breakdown as follows: 15
persons have received the award of the Grand
Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic
( GCFR); 35 persons have so far been conferred with
the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger
( GCON); 283 persons have so far been conferred
with the Commander of the Federal Republic ( CFR)
and 508 persons have been awarded the Commander
of the Order of the Niger (CON).
He said 889 persons had been conferred with the
Officer of the Federal Republic ( OFR) award; 1,218
have been conferred with the Officer of the Order of
the Niger ( OON); 871 persons have been conferred
with the Member of the Federal Republic award,
while 708 persons have received the Member of the
Order of the Niger ( MON); 140 persons got the
Federal Republic Merit ( FRM)1 and 72 persons have
received the Federal Republic Medal ( FRM) 11.
In attendance were Senate President, David Mark,
Ike Ekweremadu, Emeka Ihedioha, Alooma Mukhtar,
Adamu Muazu, Tony Anenih, governors, ministers,
and family members of awardees.

Firm unveils Lightwave Charcoal microwave oven

LG Electronics, a leader in Home Appliances, has
introduced lightwave Charcoal Microwave oven into
Nigerian market.
With capabilities such as Charcoal Lighting Heater,
Grill Temp Control and Multifunctional cooking, LG
Lightwave Oven is revolutionary.
The charcoal lighting heater enables users cook
with a revolutionary charcoal filament for tastier, all
natural, deep even cooking in a shorter time.
Charcoal heating is a world’s 1st heating grill that
enhances water heat absorption, cooking more
naturally and efficiently compared to conventional
sheath, like real charcoal grilling.
Speaking on the new product, General Manager,
Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics West
Africa operations, Mr. Hyunwoo Jung, said: “On first
glance, it may appear to resemble a microwave oven,
but it outperforms both microwave and convectional
ovens through its advanced technology. Thanks to
LG Charcoal Lightwave oven, meals can now be
prepared in a third of the time of a traditional
convection oven. This ground-breaking appliance
takes cooking to the next level of innovation, with a
range of unique features to complement any cooking
experience.”
LG’s Lightwave Charcoal Oven enable users enjoy
the speed (and energy-saving) offering of a
microwave, without forfeiting the taste, texture and
flavor of traditional cooking in convection ovens.
Thanks to its world-first Active Convections, tasty
and even cooking is ensured, brought about by four
strategically located heaters.
Two are placed at the
top of the oven, while a further two heaters are
situated at the rear, creating a powerful and
consistent flow of heat. Energy saving is also
ensured as the speed of the convection fan and heat
of the grills are adjustable, enabling heat to
penetrate food more deep and evenly for better
cooked and deliciously tasting food.
The Charcoal Lighting Heater uses a charcoal
filament to maintain a more even heat-flow that
gives food that healthy, natural flavor. With the
Charcoal Lighting Heater, dishes such as chicken or
lamb become delectably crispy on the outside and
irresistibly juicy on the inside. The Lightwave Oven
also produces meals that are healthier than those
cooked in conventional ovens by allowing food
retain its natural flavors.
LG’s Lightwave Oven is also equipped with the Grill
Temp Control feature. Unlike conventional grill
microwaves that have only full power heating and a
fluctuating temperature that turns on and off, Grill
Temp Control provides multi level temperature
cooking. Through auto cook menus, you are afforded
an increased selection of temperature settings,
making it simpler than ever to create a diverse array
of gourmet meals at home. Also stable temperatures
provide enhanced taste and cooking performance.
In addition to the Grill Temp Control, Easy to use,
gourmet cooking with New Lightwave system
includes 6 unique Cooking Modes which are:
Delicate baking (With low heat and low fan speed for
light baking of delicious desserts), Gentle simmering
(Which keeps all four heaters on low heat to keep
food hot, like its right out of the oven), Moderate
cooking (with medium heat and medium fan speed
for everyday baking and cooking), Even browning
(with only top heaters on medium heat, grills food
for a crispy and delicious taste), Crisp roasting(with
high heat and high fan speed for gourmet oven
cooking and grilling) and Rapid searing (with top
heaters on high heat, provides a golden caramelized
crust for meat, fish, and poultry). The 6 cooking
modes create over 32 menus. LG microwave oven
allows for more without sacrificing your space or
style in the kitchen.
LG Lightwave Charcoal Oven also helps save time
and energy through effortless cleaning. Easy Clean
Coating is a special protective coating that prevents
stains from seeping deep into the interior coating,
making cleaning over 10 times easier compared to
other competitors with no cleaning products needed
for more hygienic usage. The White VFD / Dual White
Display are easy to read and ensure precision
cooking. Its timeless design and reflective pull-down
door add a definite sense of style to any kitchen.
Other benefits of the LG Lightwave Oven are the
Slow Cook function which allows you to cook all
types and quality of meat since they all turn out
tender and full of flavor, the Food Dry function, to dry
fruit, veggies, and beef into healthy and nutritional
snacks and tasty jerky without chemicals and
preservatives, the Proof Function for homemade
yogurt or raising yeast dough, the Keep Warm
function to keep food warm until ready to serve and
the Plate Warming function to warm plates to a hot
and comfortable temperature.
The Charcoal Lighting Heater™, underpinned by
LG’s proprietary Lightwave technology, uses a
charcoal filament to maintain a natural flow of heat
that penetrates deep into dishes, creating the crispy-
on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside results that
make mouths water. Using the Lightwave Oven
reduces unnecessary salt and fat in dishes, while
sealing in vitamin C and other nutrients to create
healthier meals. LG’s Lightwave Oven also helps to
lower energy consumption by making the cooking
process more efficient.
LG Electronics has taken into accounts the health
effects and hassle of conventional microwave
cooking as well as consumers’ lack of time and
energy for gourmet cooking and have provided the
solution in form of the Lightwave Oven which
enables tastier, time and energy saving as well as
convenient cooking. This reaffirms LG’s commitment
to providing consumers with the “Good Life

Ministry projects creation of 25 indigenous software firms by 2017

PLANS are in top gear to ensure that Nigeria
produces about 25 indigenous and sustainable
software firms by 2017.
The modalities for the realization of this agenda
are currently been worked out.
The Minister of Communications Technology, Dr.
Omobola Johnson, who gave this hint in Lagos at
the weekend, noted that the formal launch of the
Nigerian Content Agenda by the ministry will play
huge role in driving this target.
Johnson, who lamented that about 300 Nigerian
firms play at the fringes of the Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) industry despite
its robustness and largeness, noted that the
dominance of the sector is still largely by the
multinationals, “which is actually not bad. But to
further grow the industry, there is need to build
successful local industry.”
The minister observed that Nigerian companies
needed to be more capitalized to be able to compete
favourably well in the global market and rank among
firms including Microsoft; Google; Oracle; SAP and
others.
She explained that the ministry has created
guidelines that will support local companies growth
in the ICT sector including, accelerating the demand
for local ICT products and services; ensuring
procurements through local companies and
partnership with multinational ICT firms.
Painfully, and disturbing to note that currently the
Nigerian software sub-Sector loses about $360
million yearly as capital flight, a fact the minister
recently confirmed in a presentation.
Indeed, various efforts are already being explored
to jumpstart the country’s software and indeed ICT
potential, among which include the National ICT
Incubation Programme taMastgged iDEA (Information
Technology Developers Entrepreneurship
Accelerator). A centre has been put up in Lagos,
while another one is expected to be situated in
Calabar, Cross River State.
The initiative, which was unveiled last year, was
expected to create successful ICT businesses and
catalyse the technology Industry by helping Nigerian
ICT Entrepreneurs create successful businesses.
Johnson at the launch of iDEA last year informed
that the centre will also support the interactions
between software entrepreneurs/start-ups and their
partners, thus developing indigenous skills and
capabilities. It will also act as hubs of innovation
that support the development and maturity of a local
software economy.
The IDEA centre, she added will provide incubates
business and technical training, access to software
development tools at no cost, use of facilities and
computing resources for development purposes,
mentoring, assistance with marketing and promotion
and access to finance.
In addition, the Institute of Software Practitioners
of Nigeria (ISPON) through its yearly software
competition hosted in Tinapa, Calabar also tilted
towards creating software genius in Nigeria.
Only last week, Nigeria presented 14 out of the
about startups for this years DEMO Africa, targeted
also at creating big business out of the country’s ICT
sector.
Meanwhile, the minister has lend her voices to the
calls for more investments in the ICT industry.
Speaking at the ‘Ericsson’s 2015 and Beyond’
forum held in Lagos, stressed that major
investments still required to build out desired
broadband network for Nigeria. She noted that
though the ICT industry has attracted about $32
billion Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) since the
liberalization of the ICT sector, three times more
investments still needed. She called on investors
and telecoms operators to work with government on
the Connect Nigeria initiative.
Johnson, who identified issues of multiple taxation
and levies as impediments to the roll out of
communication infrastructure in Nigeria, stressed
that adequate ICT infrastructure is crucial to good
quality of service and ubiquitous broadband access.
To address the issue of multiple taxes/levies,
impeding infrastructure roll out, she disclosed that
the Ministry unveiled the Smart State initiative
geared at accelerating roll out of critical
communication infrastructure in Nigeria.
The Smart states initiative will also lead to
improved connectivity to un-served and underserved
communities across Nigeria. The expected goal is
for the Smart State initiative to enable roll out of
infrastructure across Nigeria.
Through the Smart State initiative, the Ministry is
in the process of convincing State Governors and the
relevant authorities at the state level to agree to
eliminate multiple-taxation and adopt measures that
will remove arbitrary charges and enhance telecom
service delivery. Other benefits to this agreement
include standardised pricing on right of way, taxes
and levies, thereby increasing the predictability of
cost for infrastructure development in the ICT sector.
The agreement will reduce cost of network
deployment and shorten the period for application
processing.

Juvenile law: Securing justice for the Nigerian child

‘State parties shall take all appropriate legislative,
administrative, social and educational measures to
protect the child from all forms of physical and
mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including
sexual abuse while with parent(s), legal guardian(s)
or any other person who has the care of the child:
(Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of a Child).
THIS write up ‘Juvenile Law; Securing Justice for the
Nigerian Child’ aims at projecting a clear
understanding of the juvenile justice system and
increasing the awareness of the civil society about
the experience and treatment of juvenile offenders in
Nigeria. This piece of work was borne out of the
pains of seeing the Nigeria child and the young
offenders most times being tried and punished
alongside with the adult offenders. The juvenile
courts are not utilized anymore and there seems to
be no justice for the Nigerian Child.
Each day that passes sees an increase in juvenile
delinquency in Nigeria, most of the juveniles and
young offenders are harshly punished for even petty
offences they commit. The situation of these
children and young offenders is appalling; as they
become the victim of circumstance which they have
no control over. It is even more disheartening that
the law of the country operates not to restrain them
but to punish them. It is worthy of note that the
juvenile law in its original form was intended to care,
reform and rehabilitate any minor found involved in a
crime in the society. However this good plans and
intentions are gradually being washed away.
In attempt to give crystal meaning to this write up, it
will be of utmost importance to begin by giving a
working definition of the subject matter.
WHO IS A JUVENILE?
The Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th edition defines a
juvenile to be ‘A person who has not reached the
age (usually 18) at which one can be treated as an
adult by the criminal justice system’ a juvenile is
seen as a minor or a child.
The Children and Young Persons Law (CYPL) sees a
child as a person under the age of 14 years. The OAU
charter on the Rights & Welfare of a Child views a
child as a person under the age of 18 years, also the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of a child
sees a child to be any person or human below the
age of 18 years.
The involvement of these children, minors or young
persons into various anti-social behaviors,
especially behaviors that would be criminally
punished if the act was committed by an adult is the
reason behind this work.
WHAT IS JUVENILE LAW?
Juvenile law, also known as justice for minors, is an
area of law which deals with the actions and well
being of persons who are not yet adults. Juvenile
law tends to protect a minor who is not yet old
enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In
most circumstances the age definitions are
significant because they determine whether a young
person accused of criminal conduct will be charged
with a crime in adult court or will be required to
appear in juvenile court.
In order for the child’s rights to be respected and
protected, such laws must be specially adapted to
their specific needs. Justice for the minors, as the
name implies, is reserved for those who have not yet
attained legal maturity.
JUVENILE DELIQUENCY
Juvenile delinquency can be referred to as anti-
social behaviors by minors or the habitual
committing of criminal acts or offences by a young
person(s) especially one below the age at which
ordinary criminal prosecution is possible. Juvenile
delinquency can also be said to be any act which is
in violation with the criminal law, committed by a
person who can be referred under the law as a
juvenile, such an act if committed by an adult will
be treated as crime or criminal conduct.
Juvenile delinquency in our society today is
spreading like wild fire. The alarming rate of juvenile
delinquency within the Nigerian society calls for
great concern. It has been referred to by many as a
moral decadence, unruly behaviors and total
departure from the norm. Its definitions,
manifestations and controls are influenced by
families, political, social and economic conditions.
Every member of the society, from our leaders to the
followers share in the blame of the high increase in
juvenile delinquency. It may not be far from the truth
that crime, corruption and moral degeneration today
is the resultant effect of the high increase of juvenile
delinquency in our society.
Furthermore, It may interest you to know that these
children were not criminals while in their mothers’
womb neither were they born criminals. The truth
remains that some of the families where these
children come from have morals burning at its
lowest ebb. The environment and society does not
even help matters as it is been infiltrated with moral
debauchery, also the fighting and killings in politics
is seen as a fuel that amplifies delinquency. What
more can we say? Of a truth, juvenile delinquency in
every society can be traced to certain foundational
factors,
Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa JSC once said
‘Nothing will happen in our nation and country
which did not first happen in our minds, if wrong is
rampant, if indiscipline is rife, if corruption is the
order of the day, then let’s search our individual
minds for that is where it all begins’
In the view of my Lord Justice as stated above, our
various minds are the origin of these problems. We
therefore humbly submit to the fact that our minds,
our homes and families are the starting point of
juvenile delinquency in our nation and country. It is
of utmost importance to state that the menace of
juvenile delinquency can only be curbed if we can
start addressing it from the our minds.
JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Juvenile justice system is seen as a track within the
criminal justice system. The juvenile justice system
is guided by a philosophy of concern, care,
reformation and rehabilitation. The young offenders
are often deemed to be immature and should not be
treated as adult offenders. Otherwise juvenile
delinquents should be considered “misguided” and
therefore rescued or subjected to treatment, or
reformation and rehabilitation program within
correctional institution. (Juvenile Justice &
Administration in Nigeria by E.E.O Alemika & I.C.
Chukuma)
These juveniles and young offenders like we earlier
stated were not ‘born criminals’ but are victims of
circumstances beyond their control. Some were
influenced by social or economic conditions which
could have been addressed by the government of the
day. In event where these young offenders are found
guilty of crimes, they should be given opportunity for
correction, reformation, rehabilitation and be restored
back to the society as useful and law abiding
citizens instead of being convicted, sentenced or
punished like the adult.
THE AGE OF A CHILD & CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
Justice for minor as the name implies, is reserved
for those persons who have not attained the age of
maturity or who are below 18 years as the case may
be. Most times it may be very difficult to ascertain
the actual age of an adolescent to be tried or if he or
she has attained the age of criminal responsibility.
The age of criminal responsibility occurs at a certain
age when national law considers a young offender to
have attained adequate emotional, psychological and
intellectual maturity to take responsibility for
committing a crime. It is important to state here that
the justice system must be tailored to the age of the
offender; this will ensure the confirmation whether
such a person is an adult, a criminally responsible
adolescent or a child
TREATMENT OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS
Juvenile crime often represent a significant
proportion of the total criminal activity in a
community. It is usually assumed that adolescents
deserve and require special handling because they
are in a formative period and criminal behavior at
this stage of life may not necessarily be continued
into adulthood. Therefore, rehabilitation has
particular appeal for use with juveniles.
The child is seen as a vulnerable member of the
society deserving special protection. The child by
his physical and mental immaturity needs special
safeguard and care, including appropriate legal
protection from the government. The protection of
the rights of a child and treatment of juvenile
offenders is protected and regulated by several
International Legal Instrument i.e. Conventions and
Charters.
Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of a Child provides thus:
‘State parties shall take all appropriate legislative,
administrative, social and educational measures to
protect the child from all forms of physical and
mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including
sexual abuse while with parent(s), legal guardian(s)
or any other person who has the care of the child’.
Article 37 & 40 of the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of a Child further provides thus:
.No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment
without possibility of release shall be imposed for
offences committed by persons below 18 years of
age.
.No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty
unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or
imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with
the law and shall be used only as a measure of last
resort and for the shortest appropriate period of
time;
.Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall be
treated with humanity and respect for the inherent
dignity of the human person, and in a manner which
takes into account the needs of the persons of their
age. In particular every child deprived of liberty shall
be separated from adults unless it is considered in
the child best interest not to do so and shall have
the right to maintain contact with his or her family
through correspondence and visits, save in
exceptional circumstances;
.Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have
right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate
assistance as well as the right to challenge legality
of deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or
other competent, independent and impartial authority
and to a prompt decision on any such action.
RIGHTS OF A CHILD IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
A child who is involved in the justice system has
many rights.
A child has the right to ask questions about anything
they do not understand. They must know what they
are accused of and have the right to know their
rights. In line with their fundamental human right
and right to defense, these children have the right to
disagree with those who have accused them. These
Children must have access to an informed lawyer
because they are not often knowledgeable about the
law or how justice systems function. Any
conversations they have with the lawyer must be
private and held in the native language or any other
language comprehensible to the child.
These children must be allowed to function in the
justice system without feeling pressure or
intimidation, or fear for their own life or the lives of
their families, especially as witnesses.
The right to compensation can correct wrongs and
help a child to heal whatsoever wrong done to him,
this compensation can come from the one who
committed the crime or even from the government.
These children also have the right to have their
parents or guardian present, these and many more
are the rights of a child in the criminal justice
system.
CONCLUSION
Juvenile law in its original form was built around the
beliefs of care, reform and rehabilitation of any
minor involved in a crime but reverse seems to be
the case today. The enormous task and
responsibility behooves on the government to return
to this good and savoring intentions for juvenile law.
At this juncture, our message is that the securing of
justice for the Nigerian Child should be made a top
priority in our criminal justice system. This suffice
to say that the treatment of the Nigerian Child or
young offenders should be done in conformity with
the law, as a child should not be punished like an
adult.
•Anyalechi is of JURISLAW Associates, Port Harcourt

Simoyan: To produce the great Nigerian leader

“The worth of a nation, in the long run, is the worth
of the individuals composing it.” – John Stuart Mill
TOMORROW is Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day
Anniversary. The primaries in the various political
parties will be taking off soon. And early next year
we will be voting again in the general elections
2015. As we are preparing for the primaries and the
general elections, What kind of leader do we want as
our president? Are we waiting for a great leader to
emerge and save Nigeria from all her many problems
and help us build the Great New Nigeria of our
dreams?
When the student is ready, a teacher walks into his
life. Likewise when we as Nigerian citizens are ready,
a great leader will walk into our lives and take us to
the promised land of greatness! The KEY word is
ready! “Are we ready for a great Nigerian leader?”
What are we doing to get ready? What are you doing
now to create the conditions for that great leader to
emerge? What are you doing now that is making a
difference right where you are? What can you do now
to make a difference in your circle of influence (in
your community, in your mosque, in your church, in
your school, in your place of work etc)? What are
you doing now?
Clayborne Carson edited Dr Martin Luther King’s
autobiography and he said “If we want social change
to take place, rather than waiting for a leader to
emerge, we have to first look in the mirror and see it
as our responsibility to create the conditions for a
leader to emerge. When Rosa Parks was sitting on
that bus and was faced with the choice of whether or
not to give up her seat, she didn’t get on a cell
phone and call Martin Luther King and say ‘What
should I do?’ She did what she had to do, and that
provided a context in which Martin Luther King could
then do what he could do, and the rest is history.”
As Nigerians, many of us complain endlessly about
our leaders; feeling that Nigeria’s bane is bad
leadership. But our leaders are not Chinese, they are
not Japanese, they are not Americans. They are all
full blooded Nigerians. If we have a leadership
problem, we should take a second look at ourselves
as Nigerian citizens because it also means we have
a followership problem! A law of nature (a spiritual
law) says “Everything produces after its own kind”. If
you plant orange seeds you will reap orange fruits, if
you plant apple seeds you will reap apple fruits.
However in Nigeria we want to reap the fruit of good
leadership before we plant the seeds of good
citizenship, it doesn’t work that way! The seeds
called ‘Nigerian citizens’ produce the fruits called
‘Nigerian leaders’, period!
We have sown ‘pepper’ (by commission or
omission) and we are reaping ‘pepper’ and we are
wondering why?
To use the manufacturing process as an analogy for
producing leaders, If a defective bottle of Coca cola
comes off the production line, the manufacturers of
Coke will first check the raw materials for what went
wrong and fix it, then they will check and fix
whatever went wrong with the manufacturing
process. They will then re-start production and will
come up with a good finished product – a good
bottle of Coca cola. Nigerians are the raw materials
that produce the finished product called ‘Nigerian
leaders’.
If you want responsible leaders, you must become a
responsible citizen. If you want accountable leaders,
you must become a citizen that is accountable. If we
want good leaders, we must become good citizens.
Everything produces after its own kind!
Obvious examples of this law in world politics and
history are Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill. They
were both World War 2 leaders. Germans at a point
in time in their history produced a leader like Hitler.
Hitler simply appealed to the German pride and he
consistently talked about their supposed racial
superiority.
Unfortunately, many Germans at the time shared in
Hitler’s vision. What Hitler simply did was to tap into
something that was already there (waiting for
expression) in the hearts of his people. A number of
Germans then believed that they were racially
superior to other races and they produced a leader
that believed in the superior Aryan race. Everything
produces after its own kind!
The support Hitler got from the Germans made his
job so much easier. He used the resources of the
most advanced economy and the second most
populated nation in Europe (i.e. Germany) to pursue
his devious vision. And the outcome of his
leadership was World War 2. The whole world
(especially the Jews) paid dearly for his kind of
leadership. About six million Jews died in that war
and millions of others.
However the British produced a leader like Winston
Churchill during the same period of time in history
that the Germans produced Hitler. “Churchill is
celebrated for his leadership during World War II
(1939-1945). His courage, decisiveness, political
experience, and enormous vitality enabled him to
lead his country through the war, one of the most
desperate struggles in British history.” (Microsoft
Encarta 2009). Great Britain needed to stop Hitler at
all cost. And that’s how the British produced a great
leader in the person of Winston Churchill.
Churchill also tapped into something that was
already in the British people – the British pride of the
British Empire that the sun never sets on. In his own
words “You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in
one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in
spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the
road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Let that be realized; no survival for the British
Empire; no survival for all that the British Empire has
stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the
ages, that mankind will move forward towards its
goal.” (Excerpts from Churchill’s speech: Blood,
Toil, Tears and Sweat)
At the time the British people had an empire
mentality and World War 2 was a great threat to the
British Empire and Britain’s status as a world power.
Inevitably the British people produced a leader with
an empire mentality to protect the British Empire
(and the world) from Hitler.
Rosa Parks had worked on herself before that
eventful day that shot her into limelight of the Civil
Rights movement. She became a new kind of African
American. She became the change she desired to
see. And when the opportunity presented itself what
she had become manifested itself by the decision
she made that day not to give up her seat. She was
also ready to pay the price and go to prison for the
choice she made to be treated right, with dignity and
respect. Rosa Parks and many other new African
Americans (and many other new white Americans)
produced the great leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The New Americans (both black and white) wanted a
great new America where all will be treated with
dignity and respect.
If we as Nigerian want a New Nigeria, we must stop
acting like old Nigerians! If we want New Nigerian
Leaders we must become New Nigerian Citizens! If
we want a Great New Nigerian Leader to emerge we
must become Great New Nigerian Citizens!
Everything produces after its own kind!
• Simoyan wrote from Yaba, Lagos.

Revisiting our education system as platform for national transformation and sustainable development (2)

This paper was written and delivered by Dr. Goke
Adegoroye, then permanent secretary, Federal
Ministry of Education on behalf of President Umaru
Musa Yar’Adua in his capacity as Visitor of Obafemi
Awolowo University.
• Continued from Friday, September 26, 2014
AS a former teacher in a tertiary institution myself, I
know that the academic community is populated
largely by sincere, hardworking, committed and self-
sacrificing people and that the ills of the type that I
highlighted above are perpetrated by a few
individuals. But it takes only one little dash of a
wrong ingredient to spoil a whole pot of soup, or, as
they say, “little foxes spoil the vine.”
Recognising the fact that most undergraduates are
still in their impressionable age, have we wondered
how the ills of these few lecturers have influenced
the attitude and values of the graduates that pass
through them and the consequence on the society?
When at convocations representatives of this group
of lecturers end up on the podium, in their capacity
as deans, and make the usual introductory statement
of presenting students who ‘have been found worthy
in learning and character’, are we being honest to
ourselves and our nation? What character could such
a group of lecturers impart to our students? And if I
may put it more bluntly, when will the certificates
and degrees that universities award on the basis of
“having been found worthy in learning and character”
begin to measure up to the highest level of the
content of their intentions?
Your Excellencies, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor,
Member of the University Senate, Honorary
Graduands, Graduands, Distinguished Guests, Ladies
and Gentlemen; coming to the concluding part of my
address, this is the essence of all that I have tried to
say: The challenges of the 21st century are different
and more complex than what human society has
faced in the entire history of mankind. The results of
the industrial revolution and the pursuit of
abundance from the 18th to the 20th century are
atavistic, manifesting as environmental
consequences and the development challenges that
we currently face. Because they are atavistic we can,
and indeed, we have been able to identify the causes
through accumulated knowledge, and so are able to
fight these challenges.
On the other hand, the challenges of the 21st
Century, which I call the modern evils, do not
present us with easily identifiable enemies to fight,
outside us as individuals. Rather, the consequences
of modern evils lurk behind our intentions or actions,
ready to attack before we notice them. This,
therefore, makes it difficult to fight these ills. For
example, what does society do when someone that
has been trained to fight cyber crime, for one reason
or the other, turns against the system?
This is the nature of the challenges of the 21st
Century, where the legitimacy of human actions are
going to be assessed, not on the basis of
experiences of the past but largely on the basis of
the expected consequences for the future.
Accordingly, a whole range of new integrated
knowledge will be required to address the
sustainability of human society. The time to evolve
this new integrated knowledge is now! This is the
essence of the declaration of 2005-2014 as the
United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development.
The form of education that the world needs in the
21st Century is one that will emphasise the
development of a ‘New Being’ – a whole, total-
packaged human being, whose university training is
based not on discipline alone but on the full
integration and internalisation of human and societal
values and respect for the environment, in a holistic
interface that seeks to achieve justice, equity and
world peace.
For us as a nation, and indeed for Africa, this
truism translates to our ability to recognise our
invaluable cultural heritage as the bedrock of our
education. Judging from the experience of other
stable cultures, I believe that it is in this path that
we can achieve sustainable development in this
increasingly competitive and globalised world. We
must go back to the basics and recognise that our
strength lies in the rich values of our diverse
cultures, which stress the need to take care of the
underprivileged, to respect the elders, shun greed
and promote harmony and peace.
My administration is committed to providing the
necessary support to the academic community to
enable it play its crucial and indispensable role in
this new venture. Only last week the Federal
Executive Council considered that a bill be sent to
the National Assembly (NASS), amending the
Education Trust Fund (ETF) Act, to enable it focus on
tertiary education, with particular emphasis on
universities as originally intended. Now that new
ministers have been sworn-in for the ministry, we
will announce the reconstituted governing councils
for universities and other tertiary institutions of the
Federal Government. Thereafter, I would expect the
universities to swing into action by addressing the
ills that I highlighted earlier. Already, the Minister of
Education has been directed to ensure that the NUC,
supported by the security agencies, fish out and
extricate the bad eggs in our universities.
The next step is to commence an overhaul of our
curriculum to ensure that education is reoriented
towards sustainable development. Even our basic
education policy would have to be revised to
address sustainability through expanded curricula
that include critical thinking skills, skills to organise
and interpret data, ability to analyse issues that
confront communities and ability to make choices
that neither erode the natural resource base nor
impinge on the social equity and justice of
neighbours. There is no doubt that in addition to
improved funding from the government, the
university system still requires considerable
autonomy to enable it take responsibility, not only
for the content and quality of its programmes, but
the mobilisation, channelling and management of the
resources it requires for its growth and development.
This is the only way it can aspire to compete with
world acclaimed universities and be relevant in the
knowledge-driven society of the 21st century.
The Vice-Chancellor, Visiting Vice Chancellors,
Members of the University Senate; as members of
the academic community, to whom the society looks
up for direction, you carry the burden of a moral
responsibility to live by example, in order to be able
to advise the students on the direction of governance
and nation-building. You also have the
responsibility, not only of understanding, but of
putting into practice what you intend to impart into
your students. Sustainable development is anchored
on the principle of societal integration and
acceptance. Esoteric research and paper publication
for the sake of numbers and accelerated promotion
is shallow academic pursuit and runs against the
principles of sustainable development.
I, therefore, charge you to quickly find the missing
link between research publication and societal
development and let your appointments and
promotions committee begin to bridge the gap
between peer review acceptance and societal
relevance and acceptability of the research findings
published in academic journals as basis for the
promotion of your members.
Finally, let the certificates and degrees you award
on the basis of ‘having been found worthy in
learning and character’ live up to the highest level of
the content of their intentions.
We have an urgent task, not only of restoring the
lost glory of our universities, but of overhauling our
entire education system through strategies that will
guarantee our march towards sustainable
development. Arising from the motto, “For Learning
and Culture”, which places on this university a moral
responsibility, and its academic records as one of
the very best in Africa, I am confident that this
university can blaze the trail and mobilise its
counterparts to henceforth produce for our nation,
“Graduates of the 21st Century, the New Beings”, as
true products of an education programmes that are
anchored on learning and character. This is a task for
which we cannot afford to fail.
CONCLUDED
• Culled from Beyond Yours Faithfully by Goke
Adegoroye, Ph.D, 2010.
Comments:
This paper, written and delivered by Dr. Goke
Adegoroye, then Permanent Secretary, Federal
Ministry of Education on behalf of President
Yar’Adua in his capacity as Visitor of the University,
referred to the challenges of the 21st Century as
“modern evils which do not present easily
identifiable enemies to fight but lurk behind
intentions or actions, ready to attack before one
notices, thus making it difficult to fight.”
According to Dr. Adegoroye, “what does society do
when someone that has been trained (with public
funds) to fight cyber crime, for one reason or the
other, turns against the system”?
As for the solution, Dr. Adegoroye said: “The form
of education that the world needs in the 21st
Century is one that will emphasise the development
of a ‘New Being’ – a whole, total-packaged human
being, whose university training is based, not on
discipline alone but, on the full integration and
internalisation of human and societal values and
respect for the environment, in a holistic interface
that seeks to achieve justice, equity and world
peace”.
This address was delivered in 2008, that is: A
whole two years before the first suicide bomb was
exploded on Nigeria during the 2010 Independence
celebrations; four years before Edward Snowden of
the U.S. turned against his country and is now on
‘asylum’ in the custody of the arch rival of his
country; and three years before Boko Haram got out
of control.
Unfortunately, rather than focus on the message,
the nation’s attention was diverted to the needless
controversy of whether or not Adegoroye was
authorised by the President. That Adegoroye was
implementing written directives of the two ministers
who were his direct principal was not enough to
assuage the shadowy adversarial sources of the
controversy. But then, can we now say that, as a
nation, we are addressing the issues of our
education system along the line that Dr. Adegoroye
mapped out in 2008?
Martins Oloja wrote in his Afterword to Beyond
Yours Faithfully, published in 2010:
“…Shadowy adversarial sources were said to be
responsible for the furore that followed the Visitor’s
address he (Dr. Goke Adegoroye) delivered on behalf
of the President at the 36th Obafemi Awolowo
University (OAU) convocation, on 20th December,
2008, which mysteriously snowballed into a national
controversy. What was the issue? Dr. Adegoroye was
‘accused’ of adding value to a colourless annually
recycled address. The 19-page, well-written
president’s address entitled, ‘Revisiting Our
Educational System as a Platform for National
Transformation and Sustainable Development’, would
have been a classical template for a national debate
on how to revive our moribund educational system
here.
I mean in another milieu, the paper would have
attracted a ‘front-page treatment and would have
been adopted as a reform agenda paper. In the same
vein, some others could have adopted it as a
campaign tool to win election. But the chalice was
poisoned for the person who should have been
moved to the State House as a speech writer, I mean
for his erudition, ability to organise quick desk
research and write in Queen’s English, even as a
scientist. IBB, Yes the IBB I used to know as a
reporter, barely two decades ago, would have invited
the drafter of the wonderful speech as a presidential
speech writer and given much more.
It was later learnt that some politicians and
plotters in the service who were bent on discrediting
him (Adegoroye) were largely responsible for the
noise then in the media. Contrary to reports, he was
never queried by the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation, who was reported to have done so.
Nor was he reprimanded. (Adegoroye, of course, had
written directives of his two ministers to represent
the Visitor) But it was later clear that the reports
were orchestrated in the media to portray Dr.
Adegoroye as ‘volatile’ and a loose cannon who
could not be entrusted with the office of Head of
Service, which was going to be vacant in a few
months from then. Behold, events showed later that
the campaigners were quite successful. That is
Nigeria.”

The importance of Being Mrs. Elliot in Lagos

RECENTLY, a large crowd converged on
Saturday at the Silverbird Cinema, Victoria
Island, for the premiere of Omoni Oboli’s first
film as a director, Being Mrs. Elliott . The
event attracted the crème de la crème of the
movie industry including, Desmond Elliott,
Ayo Makun (AY), Mabel Makun, Peggy Ovire,
Linda Ejiofor, Belinda Effah, Seun Akindele,
Daniel k Daniel, O.C. Ukeje, Halima Abubakar,
Susan Peters and Bryce Bassey.
Also in attendance were Toyin Aimahku-
Johnson, Uru Eke, Michelle Dede, Kemi Laja
Akindoju, Emem Isong, Niyi Johnson, Chika
Chukwu, Tosyn Bucknor, Sylvia Oluchy, Kene
Mkparu and Nnamdi Oboli.
Sponsored by MRS, Keystone bank, Access
Bank, ASO savings and Loans, Fayrouz and
Maltina, the movie later opened in cinemas
across the country on September 5.
It had its world premiere at the Nollywood
Week Film Festival, in Paris, France, three
months ago. The movie, which had 11
nominations at the Nollywood and African
Film Critics’ Awards (NAFCA) in California,
USA, was screened at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja, last month.

‘Colleges of education not responsible for falling education standards’

Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE)
Kano, Dr. Rabi Jubirila Muhammed, is the first female
to occupy that office since the college was
established over three decade ago. Mohammed, a
doctor of instructional technology, who was recently
re-appointed for a second term in office, in this
interview with MURTALA MOHAMMED in Kano, spoke
on the school’s bombing by Boko Haram, appraised
the standard of education in Nigeria, teacher training
in colleges of education and the odds against it
among other issues.
HOW did the recent attack by Boko Haram insurgents
in you school happen?
Well, that was the unfortunate incident that befell
our college last Wednesday. Enemies of progress in
their numbers forced their way into our new campus
directly opposite the main campus and went straight
to the lecture theatre, where hundred of innocent
students were receiving lectures. It was so horrible. I
wonder what sort of crime the students committed to
deserve this kind of barbaric treatment.
After bombing the hall, what happened next?
They went on rampage shooting everybody and
from the lecture theatre; the assailants went further
to the faculty where they killed one of our lecturers.
It was a very terrifying experience. We pray Almighty
God continue to protect us in this country. So far, we
have recorded 15 deaths. However, many of the
students that sustained injuries are responding to
treatment at the hospital. For now, the college has
been closed down to reopen on October 8th, and the
Federal Government has taken necessary measures
regarding the issue of security in the school. Of
course, the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim
Shekarau was here and we are very grateful for his
urgent attention. So, we are putting appropriate
measures in place to secure the lives of everybody
in the college, while praying and hoping that God
almighty will bring to an end the issue of insecurity
in our country.
What would you consider as some of the
outstanding achievements you recorded during your
first tenure in office?
Well, as you can, see a lot of improvement was
recorded in the area of academics as well as student
population, which increased significantly. Our
programmes were also improved and transformed in
line with the objective of our institution. Currently,
we are working towards preparing teachers for basic
education, and that is why we have introduced
programmes like Early Childcare, while existing ones
are being upgraded to address current demands. So I
can say a lot of changes have taken place here in
FCE Kano, and they are positive changes.
What is the level of accreditation of programmes in
the college?
Here, we don’t have any programme that has failed
accreditation, which means we are still on course.
We have some courses that have gotten full
accreditation and some are still enjoying interim
accreditation. Normally when programmes are
enjoying interim accreditation, all you need do is to
rectify those minor challenges that were observed
and then represent the programmes for
reaccreditation. But we don’t have any programme
that has failed accreditation. Currently, we have
eight courses that are degree programmes and we
are working towards increasing this number. But we
are more concerned and working towards having
autonomy, as that would be better for us than any
form of affiliation. You know when colleges of
education run degree programmes by autonomy, they
award the degree certificates in their names and not
in the name of the affiliated institution. And if that
happens, we shall only present our programme for
accreditation to the National Universities
Commission (NUC).
But right now, we have to pass through the
institution for affiliation. They come here for pre-
accreditation exercise and it is the same university
of affiliation that would present our programmes for
accreditation to NUC. Of course, there are challenges
in the sense that we have to go through the process
of accreditation at two or three different levels.
Are colleges of education in the country worthy, or
have the capacity to award degrees?
I believe so because many colleges of education in
Nigeria have the capacity and required standards to
be given autonomy to run degree programmes.
These include the four older colleges of education
like FCE Kano, FCE Zaria, Adeyemi College of
Education and Albert Ikoku College of Education. And
in terms of facilities and human resources especially
here in FCE Kano, we have all it takes to award
degrees. Obviously if one is given the opportunity,
there would be an input from the Federal
Government to further upgrade the facility and at the
same time the lack of autonomy can even stop
government from giving the colleges certain resource
to build more on the existing facility. So the moment
we have licence to issue our own certificates,
government will come to our aid in improving our
resources and upgrading our standard.
Does this scenario, in any way account for why
colleges of education lose quite a good number of
their academic staff to other tertiary institutions?
You see everybody wants to progress in life. In FCE
Kano today, we train our staff up to PhD level and
after that, many of them still aspire to advance to the
level of professorship. But since the law establishing
colleges of education does not allow us to grow up
to the level, this obviously becomes a minus.
Again the university is a place where professors are
most needed. So, those of us who cannot continue
to wait endlessly have to move to the university
where we can become professors.
So once we are given the license, our PhD holders
who are now seeking to go would remain here
because there is nothing driving them apart from the
need to move ahead in their careers. That is the
reason why we lost most of our PhD holders and
senior lecturers because when the universities
advertise for employment they don’t even ask for
graduate assistants they ask for higher-level
manpower. And that means that the PhD holders
who find it easier to be considered for the job
obviously will go. But, do you know that despite the
fact that people are leaving while some are coming,
the college still boasts more PhD holders presently
than what we got at a point in the 1980s and 1990s,
when the school could not boast 10 PhD holders as
a whole. Now we have far more than what it used to
be
Many believe that ill-equipped teachers churned out
by colleges of education, are largely responsible for
the very poor performances by students in internal
and external examinations?
Well I wouldn’t want to opine that it is the colleges
of education that created all the problems if the
standard of education is experiencing a slump as
you have observed. In colleges of education, with
what we are doing currently in the areas of
restructuring, improving the entire system and
making it suit our needs and with government
providing funding, I don’t believe the colleges of
education are responsible for producing substandard
teachers. Personally, I would say that the society at
large is responsible for some of the things you are
seeing.
For instance, examination malpractice does not
start from colleges of education. Rather, it starts
right from the basic education level, where children
who wrote common entrance examination are told
how to pass the examination through dubious ways.
And as they move on, they still pass through these
nasty hands that do not help them to work hard and
pass so as to be able to defend their certificates. It
is really an unfortunate situation. At the colleges of
education level, we take in products from certain
levels of education, and these are the ones that we
produce teachers from.
In fact, the maximum period they spend here is five
years. So within this period of time, it is not likely
that a corrupted mind from the lower levels of
education can be improved to a certain level of
excellence that you would wish to see. But to God
be the glory, we are stepping up efforts at making
changes and we are doing our best to make sure all
these are checked and sanitised. We are doing so
much to ensure that examination malpractice does
not creep into our examination halls and we always
remind our teachers to realise that they are role
models before the students and in the society. So,
with all these steps, I think there is still hope for a
better future.
Results of the 2014 West African Examination
Council (WAEC)-organised West African Senior
School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were
considered one of the worst in recent times in
Nigeria. What in your opinion is responsible for this?
In talking about students’ performances in WAEC
examination and their results, there are many factors
we need to look into, as most of them contribute to
the massive failure of our students. In the first
instance, WAEC is a regional body, which
examination is also written by other West African
students. In training candidates for the examination,
you realise that the body that trains the students is
quite different from the body that examines and even
assesses the students’ performances. This is one
factor why the performance may not be as excellent
as one may wish.
In some cases, where you have very few students
being groomed for the examination, they perform
excellently well very well especially in private
schools. But don’t forget that most of our students
are in public schools, where students’ population is
usually very high and the environment almost
always never conducive for learning.
The society itself does not appear to be happy and
willing to train young ones who have enough time to
concentrate on their studies. For a student to study,
understand and perform well, he needs to feed well
and be relatively comfortable with his/her basic
needs. It is sad that most of our children that you
find in public schools don’t even have enough food
to eat. That alone can affect their brain development
and thinking pattern because an uncomfortable
person is trying to solve so many things in his brain
and as such he has little or no time to concentrate
on studies.
In addition there are quite a lot of distractions in
our contemporary society as knowledge is flying all
over and students are caught up in between
knowledge catching and utilisation and trying to
solve problems.
Colleges of education curricula are said to be
obsolete and overloaded. How true is this?
There is knowledge explosion today in our schools
and society. So, when we discover one problem in
the society, government will suggest it should be
added to our curriculum so that our children would
learn about it. That was how General Studies came
about. When political thuggery reared its head, Civic
Education was added and when HIV/AIDS arrived, we
inserted Health Education in the curriculum. Now
that terrorism is the order of the day, only God
knows what would be the next subject to be added.
All these upgrades and what you call overloading the
curriculum are done because a young mind that
is trained early can overcome certain societal
challenges and the curriculum itself would contribute
its quota to solving society’s problems.
One of the major functions that a school plays is to
reshape and gradually transform the society. That is
not effectively achieved in our society because it is
not everybody in the society that is in school.
So, the best we can do is to transform those who
are in school. Unfortunately, when they get to the
wider society, they mingle with others and the
society ends up changing them. That is why it would
be difficult to have total transformation in this
country. But with time, we hope things will change
for good.
Your appointment has just been renewed for a
second and final term in office, what are your plans
for FCE Kano for the next four years?
I sincerely wish that before the end of this second
tenure, FCE, Kano would, God willing, witness a lot of
improvements and all ongoing projects that we
started completed. In our degree programmes, we
hope to secure autonomy so that we can start
issuing our certificates just as we are working hard
to increase the number of the programmes we run
here.
The leadership of the school also intends to
strengthen the existing cordial relationship with
staff, both academic and non-academic. Generally,
we would strive to move the college to the next level
by the grace of God.

Star Focus: Ameera Abraham

TELL us about yourself, growing up, family
background, education and all?
I am Ameera Abraham, I am the CEO and Creative
Director of The Nail Bar (TNB). I am a certified
beautician. I grew up in Kaduna, Lagos and London
respectively and this has really helped shape my
outlook in life.
Why the nail business?
I opened The Nail Bar because firstly I have always
been passionate about beauty and nail care in
particular. Secondly, I found there was no salon or
spa that catered solely to nail care in Abuja so it
was the perfect location and opportunity to build my
dreams.
Please fill us in on your rise to fame and how it all
started?
I’m not sure if I would call it a rise to fame, but
The Nail Bar has had a steady flow of positive
recognition and it keeps getting better on a daily
basis. I started TNB at the age of 22, I was young,
passionate and full of great ideas like many people
my age. Thankfully I had a mother who was very
willing to listen and act on them. I have been
surrounded by the most loving, supportive and
talented people through my journey. Although there
were countless times where I felt like giving up. I
have also learnt that consistency is key and
persistence and endurance pays off! In 2012 and
2013, we were nominated for Beauty Establishment
of the Year at The Abuja Young Entrepreneurs
Awards.We went on to win the award in 2013. It’s
been a constant ascension; we’ve had several
features ranging from BellaNaija, Studio53 Extra,
Good-Morning Africa to TW Magazine and I know it
can only get better by Gods’ grace.
Which of your many jobs excite you the most?
While i love running and micro-managing the actual
business, i’m sure we can all agree that it is not an
easy task and it’s rather stressful. Thankfully being a
qualified beautician, I am also able to offer services
to my clients. This is something I love doing -
particularly facials- as it helps me to unwind and get
to know my clients better.
What other areas of your career are you looking to
explore?
I’m particularly excited about breaking into the
retail market with our range of Nail Care Solutions
and Gel Polish called AMALI COSMETICS. It’s given
me the opportunity to express my creative side and
infuse this with my passion for organic beauty. The
range is innovative and this is reflected particularly
in the one step gel polish.
What has been the high point of your career?
That would have to be being featured as one of the
women of West Africa Entrepreneurs alongside Mo
Abudu and Tori Abiola on the cover of ThisDay Style
early last year. Particularly because I was the
youngest one there and these are women I always
read about and drew inspiration from while growing
up. I felt honored, recognized and driven to keep
working hard.
What has been the lowest so far?
I really don’t remember feeling low at any point of
my career, I mean we all have bad days but nothing
heart wrenching comes to mind. I am a very
optimistic person and so i always see the good in
seemingly bad situations.
What are the plans for the future- short-term goals,
anything new?
The Nail Bar aims to have similar 5 star nail spas
and wellness centres in Lagos and Port Harcourt. We
will also be launching our own range of an
innovative one step gel polish called AMALI
COSMETICS which is set to launch early 2015. We
aim to have global distribution of this brand.
What’s your take on nail fashion and the industry?
I always say you’re never fully dressed without a
good manicure! Nail lacquers have always been a
regular feature at every fashion show and in beauty
magazines. You cannot debut make up or fashion
trends for the season without including nail trends.
They are intertwined and in recent years women and
even men have become more conscious of their
hands and feet, which explains the rapid growth in
the nail care industry.
Do you like fashion at all?
I wouldn’t refer to myself as a fashion enthusiast to
be honest. My approach to fashion is comfort is key,
so as a result you won’t see me following trends.
What’s your style preference?
Classic...it’s always elegant and chic.
Do you have a style icon?
Hmmm I would say Audrey Hepburn.
Are you a trend/designer buff or does anything go
for you?
No to trends, I wear whatever I feel most
comfortable in. I believe in investing in classic and
timeless pieces. So in that regard I would be more
inclined towards designer brands. However that
doesn’t mean I would buy something I consider
awful just because its “designer”.
Have you ever suffered a fashion faux pas, if yes tell
us about it?
No I don’t so you know. That is the thing about
being classic/timeless. You can never get it wrong.
lol.
If you had an opportunity of swapping wardrobes
with anyone, who would that be?
Victoria Beckham. Mainly because in recent times,
she does “classic” so well.
Where is your favorite shopping destination?
Well this is a slightly awkward question because I
dislike shopping. If I had to choose the most
convenient shopping destination however, i would
have to say London.
Are there celebrities male/female you think are
stylish home and abroad?
Yes. Blake Lively, Victoria Beckham and locally I
would say I like Omotola Jalade’s fashion
transformation.
Give us a typical day in your life.
I work 24/7, from the moment I am awake to when i
fall asleep. The one thing at the forefront of my mind
is work. I spend the most part of it at the spa,
putting the workstations in order, doing inventory,
holding staff meetings for our strategy for the day. I
have appointments with my clients- I always look
forward to this - and just ensure everything runs
smoothly. On a typical day I am done by 8/9pm and
on a very busy day I don’t get home till midnight.
Do you support Women’s rights? Tell us your views
on that.
Yes I do, my thesis at Univeristy was actually on
Women’s Rights in West Africa. I personally feel
there are several cultural barriers here in Nigeria that
have inhibited the progress of women. These need to
be re-addressed, we can only truly develop as a
country when we have more women involved in
politics and business. There’s the famous saying
“Educate a woman, Educate a nation”.
What’s your style fetish?
I am a nail polish addict. My friends refer to me as
the nail polish dictionary, I can pretty much tell you
any OPI, ESSIE or JESSICA polish name by simply
looking at it.
How do you keep fit?
I eat clean and do Yoga 2-3 times a week.
Where’s your favorite holiday resort?
Morocco...sunshine, great food and serenity is all I
need to have a fabulous holiday.
What’s your mantra?
Be nice to people on your way up, because you’ll
meet them on your way down.
Send a word of advice to young women starting out?
Believe in yourself 100%. Trust in God and rely on
Him to be your source of help and He will never let
you down. Hold on to your values and moral
principles and you will go far. There is a time for
everything, do not lose yourself or your vision in the
process of trying to compete with others or achieve
things before the due time.