Enugu Deputy Gov slumps during campaign tour

DEPUTY Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi reportedly slumped
during a campaign tour of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to Nsukka town yesterday and was rushed back to Enugu after he was revived. 

Onyebuchi, according to an official of the party at Nsukka, slumped while
addressing officials of Ogige Main Market Traders Association, OMMATA right
inside their secretariat.
The incident, however, prevented him from participating in the Podium Discussion
organized by the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church,
Nsukka, where he was billed to represent the governor.

Governor Sullivan Chime and his entourage later rushed to Nsukka to participate
in the event but before his arrival most of the participants had left the venue
as the governorship candidates of four political parties including Dr. Dan Shere
of People for Progressive Change, PDC and Chief Okey Ozea of Labour Party,
participated fully in the dialogue.
Vanguard learnt that the deputy governor was on his feet addressing the traders
when midway into his speech, he slumped but his aides immediately rushed in and
took him away in his convoy.
He was said to have been given first aid treatment before he was driven back to
his residence in Enugu where Government House doctors were said to have attended
to him.
But in a swift reaction to the development yesterday, the State Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, said it was not a serious issue, stressing that
as human it was natural for anybody to be exhausted after the long campaigns
that took the governor and his deputy to all local government areas and markets
in the state.
“Having covered all the 17 Local Governments, markets and still continuing with
the campaigns, it is simply human and natural to be exhausted.  It is
insensitive for anybody to allege anything serious or sinister.  As I speak to
you, His Excellency, the Deputy Governor is in his residence hale and hearty,”
Ugwoke said in a text message sent to reporters yesterday.
The commissioner said he was with the Deputy Governor at his residence yesterday
evening and he (Onyebuchi) was in good health.
However, by press time yesterday, Governor Chime was still at St. Theresa
Catholic Church where he addressed leaders of the Catholic Diocese in Nsukka and
solicited their support in the April election.

32 militant leaders embrace amnesty, surrenders 428 arms

Weapons militant leaders who embraced amnesty Monday

BASKET MOUTH’S DOUBLE BLAST

Basketmouth

In 2010, his name went down in history as the second black comedian to perform comedy shows in indigo2 at the prestigious 02 arena in Greenwich London, a 2,500 capacity hall that was filled to the brim. He held another show that was a success as usual at Birdcage, a nightclub located in the heart of the vibrant city of Manchester and now Bright Okpocha the Nigerian world renowned comedian is out to set new records as he unveils plan to host the 1st Nigerian comedy show at the Hammersmith Apollo, a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London.

Basket Mouth will not be gracing the stage of the Hammersmith Apollo hall that seats about 7,000 people and was the same venue Chris Rock an American comedian, actor and television producer, hosted his last show (Kill the Messenger) all by himself, the show billed for the 27th of May 2011 will also feature comedians like Julius Callahan, a renowned British comedian, Kevin J (UK), Gordons and Nkem Owoh.

Also returning in grand style and with bigger and better concepts is Laffs n Jamz, the monthly comedy show run by Basket Mouth at the Fantasyland in Ikoyi that attracted a lot of fun lovers in and around Lagos as well as featured musicians like Asa, sound sultan, 2 face, P Square, Blackface, Djinee, Face and others and comedians like Teju Babyface, Basorge, Okey Bakassi, I go dye, I go save, Gordons and more. Laff n Jamz was also known for the uniqueness of its hosts one of which was Basket Mouth himself for close to 30 editions. Gordons later became the 1st comedian to host the show after Olisa Adibua. A couple of the shows were also hosted by Freeze.

Like it was before, Laffs n Jamz will be held every last Saturday of the month starting from June 2011 and this time around it will periodically feature foreign comedians and musicians.

Speaking on this new oars to his career Basket Mouth said ‘I am extremely dogged when it comes to satisfying the audience, but this does not mean it is easy, but you know one’s dreams has a way of pushing you to achieving the best which basically is the secret behind all I do’.

Already top brand are battling to take up the sponsorship of Laff n Jamz.

No burble burst for Caroline Danjuma

Musa and Caroline Danjuma

In light of the barrage of rumours that Caroline Ekanem Danjuma’s marriage has hit the rock, the mother of two boys has continued to dispel insinuation regarding her marriage and the closing down of her record label saying everything is well with her and that her four-year old marriage with MTN big wig, Musa Danjuma is intact.
Several months after the orchestrated falsehood, she is yet cooling in the burley hands of her hubby in their palatial home, Park-view, Lagos.
Caroline who spoke through her aide to Vanguard said it was nothing but the handiwork of her enemies who wanted to ruin her blissful union with her hubby.  The aide who confirmed to Vanguard said the Geupard record label has been closed down adding that the decision was taken by her husband to take her away from the prying eyes of the public and those who are bent on using that platform to destroy their marriage.  This confirmed Caroline’s earlier position that her that she would be ready to give up even her career for her family, reason she stopped acting and singing.  
All the blabs started when Caroline had a slight argument with his artise, Le soul, and before she could say jack, other artistes; J2D kicked and threw spanner in the relationship.  In quick succession, her bosom friend  who had her innermost secret at her palm gave her deep stab on her back like Brutus did to Caesar.  This supposed close ally reportedly got the ears of Musa Danjuma and told him all sorts of things.  But the gentleman with equanimity decided that if Geupard will constitute a cog in the wheel of their marriage, then he’d better closed the company and have his lovely wife safe in his house, notwithstanding the huge amount of money sunk in the business. For all he cares, Caroline is his treasure. But we can tell you for with a good measure of certainty that Caroline Ekanem is enjoying her marriage with Musa Danjuma.

Atan Cemetery: Dividends of democracy for the dead

Going to a cemetery is not like visiting an outdoor museum, it is full of a creeping sensation, but as a journalist, once it has been assigned to you to report, it is a must do.  A visit to Atan Cemetery in Yaba local council development area of Lagos state says so much about the souls of the departed in that cemetery.  One then wonder whether they are actually resting in peace. 
The cemetery which is one of the Lagos’s oldest cemeteries, established in the early 19th century by the Kingston congregation occupies 20 acres of land in size and located along University road, Yaba, Lagos.
The serenity of the area, notwithstanding, the large sign post indicates that one is at Yaba Vault.  The walls are high and coated with a big gate sharing boundary with residential houses and lock-up shops.
At the entrance of the cemetery is the Christians vaults which covers several plots of land with most part submerged by bush.  Adjacent to it is the private area leased to Ebony Casket Ventures, who in turn sells vault to willing customers as much as N800,000 per vault.  Directly opposite the Christian vault is the Military Vaults which is arranged in plots. The main plot contains the remains of 1939-1945 war victims in Nigeria.  At the far end is where the Muslims lie, but also separated by roads from the two in the foreground, which contain the temporary vault section for both Christian and Muslims. Close to the gate there is an office section of the management committee headed by Hon. Jude Aisuebeogun as Director General.
Despite the large expanse of land the cemetery occupies, with the seeming security in place, there are yet fears that those who are buried there may not be resting in peace as a result of  congestion.
But Aisuebeogun and the secretary to the council, Doyin Rojaiye  who spoke to Saturday Vanguard in separate interviews said it is spurious and unfounded.  They argued that apart from the area already leased to a private company, there are additional unused expanse of land in the cemetery.  Rojaiye boasted that the cemetery cannot be filled even in this generation.
He said:  “Atan cemetery cannot be filled up in this generation adding that there are lots of virgin land there.   It is unfounded and I say that with every sense of responsibility. We have close to 20 acres of land there, part of which have been given to a private company called Ebony Casket Ventures.”  He stressed that there are two types of vaults: Permanent and Temporary vaults.    The former according to him is a permanent arrangement where a vault is bought and after the burial a permanent construction is made on it.  It is a concrete arrangement. The construction may be maintained or renovated as wished by the family from time to time. Families are allowed to visit there at will.   Contrastively,  the latter he said is  “an arrangement where they clear and dig the ground and put the body there for a period of time.  After some time, say about five years when the body must have decayed, the place is dug again to for another temporary user because it was not bought permanently,” he said.  He explained that this is mostly procured by Muslims who want to bury their dead instantly, and in most cases, some may wish for a permanent burial but after the burial they don’t come back again for the construction.  Once you bought a permanent vault, nobody goes there to do anything even after 50 years, it is permanent.  You can buy a one chamber vault, you can buy two-chamber vault or three-chamber vault as the case may be.  The difference is that, the multiple chamber vault are mostly used by families.  Two to three persons can be buried there separately in each chamber for a family.
To get a permanent vault Mr Rojaiye said it cost the sum of N70,000 while a temporary vault goes for N15,000.
As a result, those who cannot afford to get a portion in the permanent vaults section as a result of the huge amount involved would have to succumb to laying their dead in the popular site called temporary vault and probably give up the hope of not seeing the tomb again in the nearest future.  Some have condemned the rationale behind the temporary vault system arguing that the dead in that section may not be resting in peace after all.  "It just kind of gives you a sad flowing feel in that section that after some three to four years, you can’t see the tomb of your deceased", Adisa Matanmi who buried a distant relation there some years ago.  He said the family was not aware of the disparity but argued against the  rationale behind such option.   “Burial in what ever name they call it must be sensible” he said.
Aisuebeogun, reacting to the security in the cemetery said, apart from the police who patrol the area every minute of the night, the  illumination of the cemetery by the council should allay the fears of tampering with bodies.   He challenged the reporter to a walk at night in the cemetery  to  see how the whole area is lit at nights.  He said: “since inception of this administration, no matter like tampering with bodies by criminals has ever been brought to our notice.”  He added that government is constantly reviewing the security measures in the area to ensure that the occupants of the various vaults rest in peace.
Rojaiye maintained that the current administration in the development council area rescued thye cemetery from the state of neglect in the last few years adding that arrangement is in the offing for immortalising some of the dead and also computerising the environment.
“We have rebuilt the fence even made more higher, we have decorated it and illuminated it.  The illumination serves both outside and the inside of the cemetery.  We call it dual solar light. Thirdly, we have reconstructed new roads within the cemetery. We have also have some personnel there who weed the grasses and ensure that the place is well kept always.”  
“Again, we want to immortalise some of those buried there by appealing to their families to come so that we can name streets after their loved ones.  This is part of the proposals we have now to making the cemetery a beautiful abode of the departed.  We also want to extend the dividends of democracy to the dead.” he said.
Just like going to a cemetery is hanged with some feelings, residents in the area differ in their opinions.  Abayomi Fajumobi who resides beside a shopping complex in the area said, “there is nothing strange, I’ve not seen any thing like ghost.  All I know usually is that the whole area is silent.
A petty trader and resident in the area hinged the situation with her belief saying: “I am a child of God, I don’t belief in all that. It is a function of faith and as a person, it is a cock and bull story,” she said.
You will be amazed on the guts of the grave diggers some of who narrated their experiences to Saturday Vanguard: “It is frightening to some people but that’s our job, we have been doing it for quite some time and we are used to it.   No fear, no bad feelings at all,” Personally, have dug over 4000 graves and I have retired from digging.  There is nothing strange about it, it is our job,” a senior grave digger in the cemetery said.

My interest is to inspire the younger ones to greatness — Bode Adediji

Bode Adediji

NAME: Bode Adediji
AGE :  50s
PASSION: Mentoring and inspiring younger ones to achieve their goals.
Bode Adediji is the President, Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. He is reputed to be the pioneer, Multi Disciplinary Professional Estate firm in Nigeria, employing Surveyors and Valuers, Architect, Engineers, Town Planers, Land Surveyors, Quantity Surveyors.  Besides his professional callings, he has dedicated himself to mentoring and delivering lectures to inspire the younger ones to greatness.  He was trained at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and  University of Reading, United Kingdom. He is our role model this week.
What is your concept of an ideal man? Is it by his position or the size of his pocket?
Some years back, I might find that question, tricky. The only template and defining characteristics of an ideal man to me now is he who gives himself for service.  It’s not a man who amasses wealth, but he who develops whatever God has given him for the service of mankind. If you are a journalist, you use your pen and paper to advance the cause of humanity through service.
So, what have you done in that regard?
I have to be humble in this regard. At my age, I haven’t done much. I still aspire to do more.  But right from my secondary school days. I have offered myself for service: I served all my classmates. In the university, I served students and represented some lecturers. When I went abroad for my Masters programme, I was appointed the class leader.  So, the concept of making myself available outside my normal routine has become part and parcel of me.  Right now, I’m probably the only surveyor in this country who has occupied virtually all the positions in Estate Surveyors and Valuers: from publicity secretary, treasurer, vice-president and president.  My passion is to serve in whatever area I find myself.  Even as a Surveyor, my passion is mentoring and giving lectures to people, inspiring them to see life in a positive direction and see success as what is attainable.  Recently I was at the Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, University of Ife to deliver a lecture.  My basic goal is to inspire the younger ones.  I am aware we have leadership problem, things can generally be better than what they are now. Otherwise, there is no reason why we cannot have sufficient housing for the populace. Why do we have dysfunctional roads?  Why do we have poor power supply.  But we have to inspire the younger ones and let them be of good service to their immediate family, constituency and the society at large.
What influenced the choice of your career?
My choice of career was by happenstance. I was admitted to read Economics/Accounting at the University of Ife but I did very well in my first year and the challenge I faced was with this brilliant result: did I still want to pursue accountancy, and the fact that in my village, there were so many Accountants that never went to any university.  But I said no, I wanted a course that was more challenging and not popular and bear in mind that at the University of Ife then, one of the most daunting courses to pursue was Estate Management and because of that, I opted to read Estate Management.  So, those are the two factors.  A course thatwas not popular and a course that was acknowledged to be challenging.
But today, do you have a different view of it?
Looking back today, I should have gone into teaching and be able to make more impact on the wider society than what I am doing now. That is why I have never refused invitation to go and deliver lectures anywhere or go mentoring.  And whenever I go to deliver a lecture, I will make it mandatory for myself to make donations. This is because I know that there is no amount of effort I can put into the academia now that can compensate for what my upbringing in the university has done in my life.
If I have any regret, it was my obstinacy to all entreaties to go back to the university to lecture. I was a national award scholar from the University. I won several awards and became the best graduating student of my set (1979). My professors and lecturers wanted me to remain in the academia. But, the circumstances that surrounded the teaching environment then and the way the freedom of the students and the lecturers were being abridged by the then military government did not let me.
Given the various challenges in the society now, how do you think one can actualise one’s goal?
First, the leaders of this country created problems for the have-nots and the less priviledged and the situation permeates all facets of our lives including education. Until our leaders are refined and reformed, Nigeria will continue to witness a multitude of people who have the brain, capacity and still remain uneducated. Again, when there is will, there is a way. If people think, that because they have no father or parents who can sponsor them to school, and they think that is responsible for their not going to school, that doesn’t explain the story. I believe that any young man or woman who wants to go to school will find people who can assist. Majority of the people on the streets today are people who missed the opportunity of going to school, not that those opportunities were not there.  As a result, it is part of our attitude to see problem building up and continue to pay lip service to such problem, ignoring the army of young people who have nothing but at the same time have the appetite of getting rich quick. Unless you work towards getting the leadership that will address in a revolutionary way our problems, all the talk about NAPEP, free education will not work. We need a leader that can fundamentally re-orientate Nigerian youths with our core values. Nigeria is not the poorest country but when it comes to people not wanting to do anything, but want to ride jeeps, Nigeria tops the list in the world. We need a leader who is ready to say, enough is enough.

I preach a paradigm shift from pay-slip to profit making — Bamidele Alabi

Bamidele Alabi

NAME: Bamidele Olugbenga Omotunde Alabi
AGE:    45
Project: Entrepreneur skills 
SCOPE: Providing inspiration, motivation and guidance for the unemployed to become entrepreneurs.
Bamidele Omotunde Alabi, a chartered accountant, quitted a paid job in the banking sector to become self employed.  Now, as a successful entrepreneur, he is now inspiring  young Nigerians into taking that big leap to shift from pay-slip to profit making.  He holds a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Sociology from the Ondo State University, now University of Ado-Ekiti and a Masters degree (MBA) from the University of Lagos, as well as a Masters degree in Marketing from the same university.  His initiative is to engender entrepreneurial spirit among hordes of Nigerian youths, particularly the unemployed.  He is our role model of the week.
Why he resigned from a banking job?
I retired from banking for a number of reasons. The most important is that I had always purposed in my heart to stop labouring in other peoples' fields, helping them to build their barns from the age of forty. I had resolved to stop working for salary and start aiming for profits from that age. Essentially, I stopped working at the time I did because the words of Zig Zigler which says that "The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for the lifetime for what you want at the moment", began to have real meaning to me. Not only that, I quit my job because I needed to heed the counsel of Dr. Benjamin Carson that "Anyone who refuses to test his limits, anyone unwilling to move out of his/her comfort zone, is destined to live life inside the envelope". Specifically, I knew I had to leave when I did because I had gotten to such point on the job that my morale had dipped so badly that the "the job" became "the task" and I found I was merely labouring to stay on. I found that I was increasingly feeling miserable every day that I stayed longer in employment.  However, the eventual turning point was the day one of my junior colleagues sent me a life changing sms that "Mr. Alabi, why continue to stay on a job you no longer enjoy? You are a bundle of talents, and I know you can excel on your own out there. All you need is a bit of packaging".  That was the day I made up my mind it was over.
His inspiration
The need to rouse the consciousness of people in this generation to entrepreneurship is what inspired me. I have come across many young people who possess massive talents and are highly innovative they have no business being in paid employment. It also beats my imagination that I find people with great skills which they can turn into money making ventures and yet they complain about not being employed. It is the need to transform the tragedy of "civil servant, salary dependent" orientation with which this generation has been imbued, that is my greatest inspiration. Ours is a generation that is not primed for self-determination and the reason is not far fetched. All we are taught is to go to school, get multiple qualifications, and go out looking for where to be employed!  We all go to school to be taught "how" and we do not get curious to find out "why". "We do not realise that, according to Dwight D. Eisenhower, "the person who knows the "how" will always have a job, but the person who knows the "why" will always be his boss".  I am inspired by the desire to provide alternative education unlike the kind of education the system presently offers, which do not teach us to be goal-oriented and self motivated people.   My motivation also stems from my realisation of the fact that the time has come for my generation to shift their paradigm from payslip to profit. The time has come for us to become goal-oriented and self motivated people. The time has come for each of us to take our destiny in our hands and mould it in the way that we desire it.
Challenges
The first kind of challenges came from a lot of the people around me, so many of who thought I was out of my mind to have resigned from my job at the time I did. Only very few gave me the boost that I needed. I got zero support as some of them scorned me, made snide remarks and treated me with disdain. Not many people applauded or encouraged me. Many of them handed me fore-warnings - things to let me know before hand that I would not get their sympathy if anything goes wrong since they expected me to play it safe and I did not".  You know the Nigerian environment and a whole lot of the systemic failures we endure. The system is so not predictable that planning, goals setting and all that are a real challenge for budding entrepreneurs. There was also the challenge of finding good and willing mentors. It was quite difficult as many potential mentors did not care or they honestly did not have the luxury of time to spare for mentoring or were suspicious of ones real motives. Not forgetting the challenge of finances. This, unlike in the more developed climes, is not readily available and accessible to a budding entrepreneur. There was also challenge of patronage. You really always have to know somebody in places before you can get patronages in such places and that should really not be the case. Indeed, the challenges are legion but we do not see them. Instead, we see the opportunities in those challenges. Napoleon Hill did say that "every negative event contains within it the seed of an equal or greater benefit".
How he intends to spread the message
My book “Burst the Myth of Self Employment” is a well researched and insightful prose with a motivational and inspirational theme. Its distinctive message borders on fostering self-employment and entrepreneurial spirit amongst hordes of Nigerian youths, particularly the unemployed. The book is the first in a series, and it attempts at awakening the consciousness of young Nigerians to self-employment and entrepreneurship vide the vehicle of Small and Medium Enterprises, which undoubtedly is the way of the future for Nigeria's Economic growth and development. It is on record that there is an obvious nexus and conjunction between entrepreneurship and the economic growth of many wealthy nations of today. It is more appropriate to say the book attempts to preach paradigm shift-from pay-slip to profit.
I hope to be collaborating with the people-oriented government of my state (Ondo) in a not too distant future in unleashing these initiatives. We hope to work with the government to have entrepreneurial curriculum and training infused in the educational curriculum at all levels, undertake training for different set of people, for instance, civil servants who would ultimately retire and have something they can retire into, we would have made significant impact in spreading and imparting the message.
How to reach ones potentials
There are a number of factors that can help one reach his/her potentials. Though they are not exhaustive, the following will be highly imperative: Constant deep personal reflection; a chronic optimistic attitude; goals setting; self motivation; development of personal Philosophy; assertiveness; objectivity; doggedness; Consistence; Persistence; Perseverance; stoicism etc. However, by far the most important factor is the person aiming at reaching his/her potentials.  This assertion is chiefly underscored by the legendary Henry Ford who once said "Whether you believe you can or you believe you cannot, you are absolutely right". Without a doubt, reaching ones potentials is not such an easy task and one can easily get distracted or discouraged along the way but I have often heard people say that "If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere".
Values for successful entrepreneurs
It doesn't take too much. Nonetheless, anyone wishing to be self-employed will be a spontaneous, and a persistent (calculated) risk-taker who will love challenges and not be afraid to fail.  Such people will possess the will to succeed and be open to different ideas and be comfortable in experimenting with new ways to do things as well as adapting to changing circumstances.  They will be curious and intuitive, always willing to learn something new and explore unfamiliar terrains. They will possess a positive attitude and are able to recover quickly from emotional setbacks particularly when things become challenging. For the successful entrepreneur, going the extra mile at all times should be the core value because not many people ply that route.
What fulfilment means to him
Doing what you love and loving what you do. Warren Buffet was once asked to give his personal definition of success and he said "success is when you don't know if you are working or you are playing".  But the ultimate fulfilment is when what you love to do and do with all your love brings the desired result. In this regard, I will be ultimately fulfilled when the government of this country includes entrepreneurship training in the educational curriculum at all levels such that every graduate that leaves the university is already adequately primed for job creation as against job searching and solicitation. This is one development that will drastically reduce unemployment and under-employment in Nigeria.
What are your philosophies of life and who are your role models?
According to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, "you will always miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take. My philosophies of life are derived from that simple saying. I have a number of people who have impacted my life tremendously-some of them at close range and some from afar. First of these is my father, the Honourable Justice (Rtd) Ade-Alabi. Apart from his highly pristine values, he is the most contented human being I have known all of my life. Pastor Adeboye, not only for the same reason as my father, but also for his humility and spirituality.  Dr. Mike Adenuga, for his business acumen, doggedness and stoicism.  Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase for his trail-blazing initiatives.