What Styles: October 2012

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

10 Ways To Prevent Breast Cancer

New figures show that breast cancer is now the most common form of the disease in Britain.

But statistics also show that nine out of ten of us are willing to make lifestyle changes to reduce our risk of the disease.

The truth is, much research is still needed to understand breast cancer - and its causes - fully. But there are certain steps every woman can take to help reduce their chances of developing the illness.

Here are our top ten tips to help prevent breast cancer.

Be 'breast aware':

More than 90 per cent of breast tumours are detected by women themselves, so keeping an eye on changes to your breasts should be an important part of every woman's health care. Advice on exactly when and how women should examine their breasts has changed in recent years.

Medics no longer advise women to examine their breasts every month in a regimented way as they believe that this may cause them to become over-anxious. Instead, women are now advised to become 'breast aware'. This means getting to know what your breasts look like in front of a mirror, and feel like - perhaps in the shower or lying down - at different times of the month so that if an abnormal change occurs you can spot them at once.

Breast-feed your babies:

Some studies have shown a link between breast-feeding and a lower risk of developing breast cancer, although there is still no clear consensus on this. Researchers who believe there is a link claim the
younger the mother and the longer she breast-feeds her baby the better. The claims are based on the theory that breast cancer is related to the hormone oestrogen. Many researchers believe the more our bodies are exposed to this hormone the greater the risk of the disease. Breast-feeding temporarily reduces a woman's oestrogen levels. It is also thought that breast-feeding causes the breast to go through certain physical changes that protect them against cancer-causing chemicals.

If you find a lump, go to see your doctor as soon as possible

Research shows that many, many women delay going to see a doctor if they find a lump in their breast because they are afraid they have cancer. This is the worst thing you can do. Firstly, nine out of ten breast lumps are not cancer, so visiting your doctor will usually help you put your mind at rest. Secondly, if your lump is cancerous, prompt treatment could save your life.

Find out if you have a family history of breast cancer:

Much research is still needed before scientists fully understand all the causes of breast cancer. But one thing is known for sure: genetic breast cancer accounts for at least ten per cent of all cases of the illness. It is thought that one in five hundred people carry a faulty gene which can make them susceptible to the disease.

Those most likely to have inherited breast cancer are those with many relatives diagnosed with the disease at a young age, women who have had a close relative with breast cancer in both breasts and women whose family has a history of both breast and ovarian cancer. If your mother had breast cancer, however, it does not necessarily mean that you will develop the disease.

If you are concerned that the disease may run in your family visit your GP. If he or she believes there is cause for concern you may be referred for a special test which can identify if you carry the faulty gene linked to the illness.

Watch your alcohol intake:

Alcohol has been linked to breast cancer in a number of studies. Researchers believe this may be due to the fact that alcohol increases oestrogen levels. But experts disagree about how much alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer.
Some say that even moderate amounts are unsafe, while others claim that drinking up to 14 units a week - more than two bottles of wine - might even improve your chances of avoiding the disease. Until more research is done, doctors generally claim that drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week (14 small glasses of wine) over a long period of time can damage your overall health.

Watch your weight:

Obesity appears to increase the risk of breast cancer. Researchers found that women who gained 44 to 55 pounds after the age of 18 had 40 per cent higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who fluctuated by only four or five pounds throughout their adult life. Animal studies have shown that reducing calorie intake by 30 per cent can lead to a 80 - 90 per cent reduction in the risk of breast tumours.

Exercise regularly:

Some studies suggest that exercise can reduce the risk of breast cancer. This is because research indicates that the less you exercise, the higher the levels of oestrogen in the body. Half an hour of exercise three times a week is good for all round health, may decrease your risk of breast cancer and will also help you maintain your weight.

Eat less fat:

There is much debate about the link between breast cancer and diet. But there is evidence that certain western lifestyle factors - particularly our high fat diet - appear to increase the risk of the disease. For example, scientists found that although Japanese women have a much lower risk of developing breast cancer than women in the West, when they moved to the USA the women's risk was almost equal within two generations. Try to eat no more than 70g of fat a day.

If you are over 50 go for regular breast screening:

Although much more research is needed to determine the causes of breast cancer one of the well-established key risk factors is age. Eighty per cent of breast cancer cases occur in women over 50. All women in Britain are entitled to free breast screening - an X ray that can determine lumps in the breast - between the ages of 50 and 64. The scheme is set to be extended to women up to the age of 70 within the next two years.

The Government has published figures that showed the scheme is saving many hundreds of lives. In fact, by 2004 there will be 20 per cent fewer cancer-related deaths among older women because of the screening. Currently women of the target age will receive a letter inviting them to be screened every three years.

Learn to relax:

It's well documented that stress can cause all kinds of health problems. But a British survey in 1995 concluded that women who reported severe stress in the previous five years were 50 per cent more likely to have breast cancer. Although there is still some debate over these findings reducing your stress levels will undoubtedly be beneficial for your overall health.

@TT_SOURCE

Out of Africa: Kunle Afolayan bids to bring Nollywood cinema to the world

Hailed as the 'Martin Scorsese of Lagos', Afolayan is finding new ways to take his films beyond Nigerian borders – screening his latest, Phone Swap, at the Film Africa festival in London.

They're calling you "the Scorsese of Lagos" – no pressure then. That's what the New York Times recently headlined its piece, and Kunle Afolayan's ambitions to shake up the industry now known (more great expectations) as Nollywood. With three films under his belt since he started directing in 2005 – which, by frantic west-African standards, makes him more the Kubrick of Lagos – the 38-year-old has become a byword for elevated quality: shooting on 35mm, releasing in cinemas, trying to improve on horribly stilted Nollywood formulas that seem to place more emphasis on gaudy soft furnishings than on dialogue and camerawork.

Actually, Afolayan would prefer it if you called him the Mel Gibson of Lagos. "I always show Apocalypto to my crew, because of the language thing. I say to them: 'You don't necessarily have to shoot your film in English for it to be good. You can do Swahili, you can do any language, you can even do no language at all.'" Gibson's not an obvious renaissance-man idol – but crossing boundaries, having international aspirations, is the path forward for Afolayan and what is becoming known as the New Nollywood. The old Nollywood had no time for film festivals. When I speak to the director, he's just touched down in Amsterdam for the Africa in the Picture jamboree, where he is shopping his comedy drama Phone Swap. Next up is London, for the Film Africa festival.

"I'm not saying it's the perfect film. I'm not saying it's the best thing that's ever happened to Nollywood. But it's totally different to what everyone else has done," Afolayan says of Phone Swap. It goes without saying that it's shot on film – a must for any hope of international distribution. And it has what sounds like the sort of sparky commercial premise that will give it high-concept traction beyond Nigerian borders: a country girl and a Lagos businessman fall in love in absentia after they pick up each other's BlackBerrys at the airport. Afolayan says he tried to steer clear of the overripe visual humour and slapstick that has dogged traditional Nollywood comedy.

Phone Swap is a departure for Afolayan, as well as the industry. His first two movies, Irapada (Redemption) and Araromire (The Figurine), were self-originated stories rooted in juju, the supernatural folklore tales Naija audiences never tire of. But he had to pitch for Phone Swap at an advertising agency, who were taking proposals on behalf of Samsung, who saw a branded Nigerian feature as a piece of potentially hot marketing in the last half of the noughties, when Nollywood was really hitting the global consciousness. Samsung later dropped out, but Afolayan, who won the pitch, went ahead with other corporate sponsors, most importantly BlackBerry. His various "partners" provided about 40% of the $500,000 budget; the rest came from his bank loans and his own pocket.

Afolayan has few of the artistic hangups about taking corporate money that exist in the west – which isn't surprising when money is so difficult to raise and to recoup. New Nollywood budgets, driven by well-to-do production values, are beginning to creep beyond $500,000, but the lack of cinema screens in Nigeria (there are currently 10 mainstream cinemas) makes good returns far from certain. The Figurine only took about two-thirds of its budget back. Mahmood Ali-Balogun's recent marital drama Tango with Me, also earmarked as a possible international breakout, failed to break even too. In fact, it's rare for any local film to take more than $200,000, according a report compiled for Unesco by Nollywood expert Rob Aft.

There's an ingrained perception in Nigeria that anything other than the traditional Nollywood model – no-frills budgets between $15,000 and $75,000, and a smash-and-grab 14-day distribution window on VCD – is doomed to failure. That conservatism, most entrenched in the producing guilds who form Nollywood's power base, is what Afolayan is aiming to overcome. Ten more cinemas are on the way, and he thinks that will be enough to make New Nollywood-level budgets viable. "I'd say we are pretty close. Even if your budget is $1m, you should be able to recoup it in the country. Because we have a huge market, and they know what they want, and when they see it, they go for it."

He reckons The Figurine – which has some bursts of cinematic flair that suggest its director may indeed have been scrutinising Mel of the Jungle – made other producers take notice. Evidence suggests that Nollywood's turnover has dropped by at least 50% over the last couple of years – perhaps a sign that the days of profligate output are ending. Phone Swap, released in Nigeria in March, has made 80% of its costs back, with DVD and foreign releases still to come; another message to Nollywood that quality pays.

Afolayan's reforms are motivated by childhood memories of a golden age: he is the seventh of the 25 children of Adeyemi "Love" Afolayan, a postwar theatre and cinema impresario who had 10 wives and died in 1996. Afolayan Jr grew up accompanying his father on "carnivalesque" 1970s film shoots that often featured thousands of extras and lasted two or three months. "I grew up seeing how film was properly done," he says. "I had no idea what film-making was all about, but I saw the commitment from actors, I saw the commitment from crew." But the infant Nigerian film industry collapsed due to the lack of a feasible economic model, and didn't recover until the mid-1990s, when cheap video technology gave rise to Nollywood.

The director trained as a banker, but got into the film business in 2005, initially as an actor. Amid the Nollywood mania, resisting the urge to direct wasn't easy. "I wanted to stop complaining about what people did: let me see what I can make out of it. What you can do to start out is to capitalise on what people are not doing right. No matter how little it is, even it's just one step ahead."

Nollywood could be about to take a giant step ahead, thanks to that recollection of the glory days. Afolayan is aiming to shoot October 1st, a serial killer movie set in 1960 against the backdrop of Nigerian independence, in February, but he is trying to secure a foreign co-producer outside the country first, to better his international chances. "It is difficult to get a mainstream distribution deal, no matter how fantastic your film is, because it's a cartel, it's a clique," he says, "If you don't belong, it's tough."

His battle to set an economic precedent for Nollywood phase II could be as important as anything he puts up on the screen itself – and with his background in finance, he's well placed to achieve his goal. Werner Herzog once said that the ecstatic truth – the poet's kind – trumps the accountant's truth. But just try running an industry on ecstasy alone.

• Phone Swap is showing at Film Africa on 10 November.

@TT_SOURCE

Monday, October 29, 2012

NMA (Nigerians Misbehaving Abroad)

So China gets into the news, and it's for Amy Chua and Wendi Deng. Tiger Mom and Tiger Wife respectively. Chua is the Yale Law School professor whose January 2011 memoir, 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother', about "the rewards – and the costs – of raising her children the strict 'Chinese' way" earned her a Time Magazine cover story.

Wendi Deng needs no introduction. It used to be that behind every successful man, was a woman. Deng, Rupert Murdoch's wife cum bodyguard, has upturned that nonsense. Beside the successful mogul, lurks an up-jumping, pie-catching, slap-issuing woman.

The Chinese should be proud. So now, not only does the United States owe them tonnes of money, the Amy Chuas and Wendi Dengs are there to remind the world that no one messes with China.

Nigeria, on the other hand, has had two women in the international news – admittedly not on the same level as the Chinese women, thankfully – in recent weeks. First up is Bimbo Ayelabola, who went (on a visitor's visa) and had quintuplets in London, costing the Brits an estimated £200,000. (She reportedly overdosed on fertility drug Clomid, most likely acquired over-the-counter in Lagos, became pregnant, and then travelled to the UK, ostensibly to visit relatives). Understandably, the British are angry. In an age of cuts and squeezes, an immigrant comes in from Africa and gives birth to not one, not two, but five babies, without paying a cent.

Second Nigerian woman I shall be summoning is Pamela Izevbekhai, who was deported from Ireland last week, after fighting unsuccessfully for years to claim asylum. She claimed her two daughters would be forcefully circumcised in Nigeria, if they returned. Okay, let's face it, circumcision, or female genital mutilation, is a serious problem in many parts of Nigeria. But how much of a problem is it when you're comfortably middle-class (as the European Court of Human Rights discovered regarding the Izevbekhais)? This lady actually claimed that she'd lost her first daughter to female genital mutilation in Lagos, in 1994, only for the court to discover that all the documents she presented as evidence were fake/forged, and that her story would have been more at home in a bestselling novel. So, they have sent her home. But think of the irrevocable damage done to Nigeria's reputation, with all her lying.

Okay, maybe it's neither fair nor sensible for me to juxtapose Ayelabola and Izevbekhai with Chua and Deng. The Chinese must definitely have their own disgraceful versions, just as Nigeria has its high-achieving, no-nonsense women doing us proud abroad. But I am angry, and when I am angry I reserve the right to resort to a melodramatic juxtaposition of situations and events.

Now, the question: How much longer shall we continue to tolerate Nigerians Misbehaving Abroad (NMA)?

Now, you and I know that Nigerians like, no, love, to misbehave. Before you accuse me of generalising, I think I should say that human beings generally will tend to misbehave. It is in the human nature to test boundaries, and seek to discover the limits of acceptable or permissible behaviour. Laws exist, or are supposed to, to counter this tendency. You push yourself against them, they respond, firmly.

But we belong to a country where lawlessness is encouraged. It will get you ahead faster. It will not stand in the way of your progress. And after some time one gets used to it. We misbehave, therefore we are. We turn law-breaking into a national culture. We clone ghost workers with scientific aplomb; forge and alter birth and educational certificates as a rite of passage. It is who we are. The laws that should deter broke down long ago. We live in a jungle.

And we have grown accustomed to it. I'm tempted to say I have no problems with that, since it seems it's the path we have willfully chosen as a nation. What I however do not appreciate, and will not tolerate, is this: trying to export these bad habits. So used to our lawlessness are we that we forget that things are different in many other countries. The laws there may not stop you from misbehaving, but if – more like when – you are caught, you will, as the Yoruba saying goes, eat your pounded yam raw.

It is an ordeal to fly internationally with Nigerians, with our penchant for airport/airplane cabin unruliness – deliberately exceeding luggage limits, speaking rudely to cabin crew, ordering economy class wine with the entitlement mentality of first class passengers. Then Olwaseun Noibi comes along and ups the ante, jetting around the United States on expired boarding passes, none of which belong to him.

Let's not even mention 419 and Nigerian letters. We all know that what annoys the rest of the world the most is probably the fact that Nigeria as a country almost never takes any drastic steps to deter its citizens from criminality. Ask yourself this: compared to the number of culprits, how many people have ever been convicted and jailed for 419 in Nigeria?

To worsen matters, foreigners have realised that they can do in Nigeria stuff they won't dream of doing in their home countries. In April, just outside the Murtala Mohammed Domestic Airport, I watched a white man step out of the front passenger seat of the car behind me (it was about 9pm, and there was a bad traffic jam), stride over to the median, and begin to piss.

My advice is this: let us continue to celebrate the criminals amongst us. Let's shower them with chieftaincy titles, encourage them to pay their tithes, support their ascension to public office. We're Nigerians, after all. But in the name of God, the Almighty God in whose honour we block roads and dress gaily and cause noise pollution, let us refrain from taking our bad habits abroad.

There should be a constitutional amendment automatically withdrawing Nigerian citizenship from anyone caught misbehaving abroad. The Ayelabolas and Izevbekhais and Noibis of Nigeria should henceforth be encouraged to restrict their scheming ways to their motherland. Henceforth, wrongdoing by Nigerians should be tolerated only within the borders of Nigeria.

National Assembly, over to you!

This article was first published on www.234next.com on 27 July, 2011

@TT_SOURCE

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Sad Story: How Nigerian Man used Witchcraft to Terrify & Traffick Teenagers into Sex Slavery in UK

Whenever we hear stories of young girls being forced into sex slavery and prostitution, it always leaves us feeling really sad. The story of a 42 year-old Nigerian man who used witchcraft rituals to force terrified teenagers to work as sex slaves in the UK is no different.

Osezua Osolase was on the surface, a recycling worker living in a terraced house in Gravesend, Kent. But he was in fact the British linchpin of a multi-million pound global child sex trafficking ring that used medieval 'juju' black magic to control its victims.

In 2007, he was deported back to Nigeria after police caught him trying to use stolen credit cards. But he simply married a mysterious German woman and returned to the country the following year with a five-year visa. He used his home as a secret staging post for vulnerable teenage orphans as they were smuggled from Africa to several European countries.

Detectives discovered evidence that at least 28 victims were smuggled in and out of Britain by Osolase over a 14-month period, earning him up to £1.5million.

In a chilling report by Daily Mail UK, the way the young victims aged 14, 16 and 17 were raped, sexually abused and subjected to voodoo-style rituals once in the clutches of the trafficking ring was highlighted.

One was raped and all three endured juju rituals, including one conducted by Osolase himself. One feared she was being taken to another country to be used as a human sacrifice. A jury was told Osolase slashed the chest of his youngest victim with a razor and rubbed black powder into her bleeding wounds. She was ordered to take an oath of loyalty to him and believed that if she broke it she would not have children, go mad and die.

Osolase groomed her after the death of her parents by visiting her village with presents and saying she would go to school in Europe. But he abducted her and said she should prepare for life as a prostitute in Italy where she would be raped by 'white men who smoked drugs'.

The other two girls were terrorised by a local witchdoctor in Nigeria shortly before being flown out of the country with promises of an education and modelling work.

The 16-year-old told police she was taken to a 'place of witchcraft' where she was told to bathe in a 'bloody gunk' and wrap blood-soaked cloth around her. As Osolase watched, a man wearing feathers on his head cut hair from her armpits, cut some of her finger and toenails and took blood from her hand with a syringe. She was told that the body parts taken in the ritual would be used to find and kill her if she tried to run away or failed to repay her captor.

The 17-year-old wept as she described how she was tricked into travelling to Britain with the promise that she would go to school. She was made to drink a potion laced with blood.

At the Canterbury Crown Court, Dr Hermoine Harris, an expert in Nigerian religions, told the jury the juju rituals carried huge weight in Nigerian society. "By taking someone's blood you hold and control somebody's very essence and their power."

Osolase was convicted of five counts of human trafficking, rape and sexual activity with a child and would be sentenced on Monday.

It is such a huge relief that these girls have been released from the clutch of their captor. After their scary experience, we pray they find healing and restoration and we wish them the very best in life.

@TT_SOURCE

Nigerian Stowaway Dies in Arik’s Undercarriage

The dead body of a young Nigerian man was discovered Friday in the wheel well, the undercarriage compartment of an Arik Air aircraft, after it returned from a flight to New York, United States.

One of the airline's officials who spoke to THISDAY said the deceased might have hidden himself in the wheel well for days and was crushed to death while the flight was airborne to the JF Kennedy Airport, New York, from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The official who spoke to THISDAY said the dead body was found during a check on the aircraft panel as it was being prepared for another flight and that the undercarriage compartment of the Airbus A340-500 is big enough to accommodate a person, besides the space for the tyres.

"He probably might have hidden himself there some days and died while the aircraft was on its way to New York. We found him when we were doing checks on the panel; the aircraft probably came back with him dead," the official said.

The source said that it is out of ignorance that people hide in the wheel well and plan to stowaway because "the compartment is not pressurised like the cabin of an aircraft and it is not heated, so survival is rare even if the person is not crushed by the wheels."

Pilots and aeronautical engineers familiar with the wheel well compartment said it is roomy enough to contain a human being, but it is highly unlikely that any one who hid there would come out alive after a flight that took several hours due to lack of oxygen.

The official attributed the incident to porous security at the airport, noting that "if having access to the airside is stringently prohibited, anybody that is not an official of airlines, handling companies and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria would not gain access to the tarmac."

Another source said: "The security at the airport is very bad and that explains why somebody can gain access to the airside and inside the aircraft and no one will know.

Security around the cargo area is even worse and from there anybody can take anything into the tarmac. Now, it is a human being that is smuggled in; one day a dangerous object will be smuggled in."

THISDAY investigations revealed that stowaways connive with ground handling companies to access the airside and the wheel well.

"The handling company workers and the security operatives indulge in a lot of illicit activities at the airport and over the years there have been efforts to put a check on such excesses but every effort has so far failed," said another source.

In March 2010, a Nigerian, Okechukwu Okeke was found dead in the nose wheel compartment of the United States carrier, Delta Airline, Boeing B777 aircraft parked on the tarmac of the Lagos airport.

@TT_SOURCE

Friday, October 26, 2012

House rents, transport fares and the meaning of despairBy: Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai

Just when you think President Goodluck Jonathan should have finished settling his political debts to enable him focus on easing the hardships that most Nigerians face simply to remain alive, the man decides that the welfare of Nigerians and job creation are not his priorities. How else can one explain his plan to spend a staggering N2.4 trillion to run government in 2013? Actually, the question should be: Which government?

Broadly speaking, the major functions of government include protecting the state from external aggression, provision of stable legal and social frameworks, delivery of public goods and services, redistributing incomes where needed and stabilizing the economy. Going by that definition, one can safely conclude that Nigeria has no government, despite planning to spend an outrageous N2.4 trillion – the equivalent of some $15bn on itself next year. This is against the backdrop that this year's budget has barely achieved 30% implementation. In essence, Nigeria is spending 70% of its income on about one million government officials that can only achieve 30% of annually-set budgetary targets.

The absence of social infrastructure is particularly glaring, since this is an aspect that can help create part of the three million new jobs that Nigeria needs annually just to clear the backlog of the rising unemployment. And nowhere is the absence of government more manifest than in the provision of public goods and services, especially in housing and transportation. Thus, even with the new minimum wage, house rents and transportation costs consume about 80 per cent or more of average household incomes in Nigeria.

Across Nigeria, the massive shortage of housing and transport infrastructure mean that in addition to rising food costs (which our government has denied), many Nigerian families spend most of their income on accommodation and transportation. What would be left for other essentials of life? What about healthcare, education, clothing and other basic essentials? It is no wonder that Nigeria remains in the list of top 15 places with the highest incidence of poverty, with over 112 million out of our 162 million people living below the absolute poverty threshold in 2011. It is sad that one of the top crude oil and gas exporters is now ranked the 25th poorest country in the world.

Incidentally, there is nothing new about these figures. What is painfully obvious is that government does not have the right statistics of housing deficits in Nigeria, nor a workable transport sector development strategy under implementation. For example, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, recently said the Federal Government would require more than N56 trillion to provide 16 million housing units to bridge the housing deficit in the country. However, assuming that each household has an average of 6 residents, it means that 96 million Nigerians are homeless. That does not sound intuitively accurate.

Another related agency, the Federal Housing Authority of Nigeria (FHA) which has the statutory responsibility of providing housing for Nigerians has only built about 40, 000 houses nationwide since its inception in 1973. This, according to the FHA, has resulted in a deficit of about 25 million houses in the national housing scheme, suggesting that about 150 million Nigerians out of about 162 million in 2011, are homeless – even more far-fetched!. Which figures do we work with, 16 or 25 million? The figures do not add up!

In order to facilitate the sales of federal government houses in Abuja, we initiated a pilot mortgage which enabled many public servants and other citizens to buy houses. Unfortunately, the plan to mainstream the system nationally was truncated by our successors-in-office. This is why today, the only hope honest Nigerians have of owning homes is through the traditional and tortuous method – self-purchase and direct labour from life savings which is herculean since only a few people can own houses through legitimate sources. Now that this year's flooding has destroyed thousands of homes across Nigeria, more Nigerians have been made homeless.

Apart from the massive housing deficits and the exorbitant rents Nigerians are forced to pay, rising costs of transportation occasioned by abysmal infrastructure in the sector is also consuming significant portion of household and personal incomes in the country.

Transportation is critical for economic growth in every country, but due to our poor transportation infrastructure, logistic costs for our goods and services are now typically more than 20 per cent of sales from the global average of 2 per cent. In Nigeria, transport costs alone can be as high as 15 per cent of the costs of goods or services.
Statistics indicate that for many growing economies, the value added by transportation to the economy accounts for 3 to 8 per cent of GDP while employment in transport sector ranges between 2.5 and 11.5 per cent of total paid employment. But in this year's budget, government earmarked only 6 per cent to the Works, Transport and Aviation ministries combined, without any clear policy to get the private sector incentivized to invest more in the sector. For a struggling economy like Nigeria, intensified investment in transport will not only increase disposable incomes for millions of Nigerians, but also create millions of jobs and stimulate critical sectors of the economy.

In addition, an effective transportation system can have direct and significant effect on the daily lives of our people. Properly targeted and managed investments in transport facilities will mean efficient travel that could save time, fuel and reduce pollution. Lives will be saved and there will be fewer delays and hassles for the average Nigerian.

Efficient highways, rail systems, airlines, airports, harbours, and waterways will not only provide the backbone to grow our economy by moving people and goods around seamlessly, cheaply and safely, it can also employ millions of workers to generate substantial share of economic output in the country. If well exploited, transportation can actually contribute in excess of 10 per cent of our total domestic product annually.

Most Nigerians travel by road because we do not have a functional railway system and air travel is beyond the reach of most (though the fear of our skies has also driven more people back to our death traps on the ground). This has further compounded an already appalling situation. The state of our roads is distressing because of the level of deterioration, volume of traffic and the countless number of fatalities every day. At the moment, only about 15% of our roads are paved and of this, only about 28% can be easily used by motorists.

The excessive number of federal roads which have overstretched available resources and project management capacity of the government are largely responsible for their long construction periods and poor maintenance of existing roads. Yet every Wednesday, the Federal Executive Council awards more roads contracts that cannot be completed, while the legislature introduces more and more federal roads as 'constituency projects'.

There is certainly the compelling need to rehabilitate our road networks and invest in road widening schemes to increase capacity through increased total lane length. Compared to the Republic of South Africa which has a population density of about 40 persons per square kilometre, with a total road network of about 754,000 kilometres that are well maintained, Nigeria with a population density of about 150 per square kilometre has only 108,000 kilometres of poorly maintained roads, most of which are unpaved. This year's flooding has washed away important roads, including major arteries, leaving tens of thousands of travellers stranded and communities disconnected.

Why is it that despite having about 8,600km of waterways, Nigeria has been unable to put them to meaningful use? It is worth stating that effective inland water transportation has the potential to make commerce more competitive and our economy more vibrant.

Well structured, the aviation sector can be a key growth engine for our economy. An efficient and modernized aviation sector, with regulations and incentives for the private sector to thrive can make air travel an essential form of transportation, create jobs and economic growth. Nigeria needs to leverage on transport infrastructure development urgently to eliminate the avoidable logistic costs that are up to 50 per cent higher than what is normal for operations in all spheres of our economy. Such a programme would create millions of jobs and open up the entire country to rapid economic and social development.

Government must live up to its responsibility of developing and implementing policies that would strengthen primary mortgage institutions while simultaneously embarking on social housing projects across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It must also invest heavily in public transportation systems like roads, railways, aviation and inland waterways systems. That way, apart from providing urgently needed social infrastructure, the processes involved would create millions of jobs in Nigeria, promote house ownership for families and facilitate the emergence of a middle class which would in turn form the basis of economic development, security and political stability.

Why is government yet to find creative solutions to develop this vital economic artery? Why can't we find ways to innovatively leverage the three trillion naira pension funds sitting quietly in banks, the sovereign wealth fund and whatever is left of the depleted excess crude account to address these critical infrastructure deficits?.

For now, it remains a tale of despair for majority of Nigerians who go to bed thinking of landlords, estate agents and house rents, with the voice of rickety bus conductors still ringing in their ears, "no change!" Paradoxically, what most Nigerians want and deserve is just that: Change.

@TT_SOURCE

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Stevie Wonder Headlines UN Day Concert

In celebration of the 67th founding of the United Nations, Stevie Wonder will perform and artistically direct this year's United Nations Day Concert. The icon is a member of the UN's Messenger of Peace program and has lent his star power to numerous humanitarian initiatives affecting the lives of individuals around the world.

With songs of love, hope and peace, Wonder will be joined by some of his powerhouse colleagues on stage, including Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole, BeBe Winans, Marvin Winans, Valerie Simpson, Sting and Paul Simon. The concert's theme will be "a message of peace" and will call on others to think about their humanitarian work.

@TT_SOURCE

Dangote, Elumelu nominated for Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2012

Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, and 3 other Africans have been nominated for the 2012 Forbes Africa Person of the Year award. The other three nominees are: Joyce Banda, President of Malawi. Dr. James Mwangi, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Equity Bank Limited, Kenya, and Stephen Saad, Co-founder, Aspen Pharmacare.

Forbes Africa said the Person of the Year award would go to the person who has had the most influence on events in 2012.

@TT_SOURCE

CHELSEA TO EXTEND MIKEL OBI'S STAY

Even though he's scored just one goal throughout his over 250 games for Chelsea, the club is looking to offer Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel a new five-year contract.

It is worthy of note that 25 year-old Mikel who's in the seventh season and final 12 months of his current contract has won trophies including the Premier League, four FA Cups, the League Cup and the Champions League.

While speaking to ESPN, his agent, John Shittu claims he's likely to pen a new contract "Mikel will soon sign a new five-year contract with an improved salary and we are just about finalising the details of it.

Mikel is one of Chelsea's most consistent performers and the club agrees with us he deserves a new and improved contract.

He has a year left and Chelsea have decided to add four more years to it."

@TT_SOURCE

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WE NEED MORE MONEY: Goodluck Jonathan says inadequate finance is impeding Nigeria’s economic growth

Lack of access to finance and inadequate electricity supply are among the major impediments to the country's economic growth, President Goodluck Jonathan has said.

Jonathan said this in a speech at the inauguration of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in Abuja on Tuesday.

Jonathan, who was represented at the event by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, said the Federal Government was not happy that the N30bn security fund for agriculture had not achieved its desired objective.

He said, "This year, government provided security of N30bn to fund farms. That was not achieved. Government will continue to support the Central Bank of Nigeria's decisions that promote sustainable economic development. The private sector will not be able to perform its role if it lacks access to affordable financial services, which is what led to the launch of financial inclusion strategy today.

"Today, Nigeria stands as the least producer per capita and this has to change. The private sector, particularly SMEs, is the engine of economic development. This is why government is focusing on the enabling environment for private enterprises to thrive."

The President said through the financial inclusion programme initiated by the CBN, the government would address the problem of lack of access to finance, while other steps were being taken to address the issue of inadequate power supply.

These include the constructing of 10 new power plants, 90 per cent of which are completed and will add 5,000 megawatts to the national grid.

Jonathan said the Federal Government was constructing about 4,000 kilometres of transmission lines consisting of 330 and 120 lines with associated substations, expanding existing substations and transmission lines, and constructing hundreds of substations in all cities across the country.

The President had similarly said small and medium enterprises remained the major vehicle to create employment in an increasingly industrial world.

Jonathan spoke while receiving the United Nations Special Envoy for Financial Inclusion, Princess Maxima of Netherlands, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said financial inclusion was necessary if all citizens would directly feel the impact of growth in the economy.

via Punch

@TT_SOURCE

Monday, October 22, 2012

How Does a Crashed Airline Win Airline of the Year?? Dana Air and Musings from my Country

Despite a plane crash that claimed the lives of 153 people some months ago and the fact that families of victims of the crash might find it offensive,

Dana Airline has been named the best domestic carrier for 2011 by the

Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN).

Over the weekend, FAAN's Regional General Manager, Mr. Chris Bature, said the airline was awarded the prize for its good customer relations and prompt payment of dues. He also added that the airline was selected because of its outstanding performance.

Reacting to a question on the timing of the award which is coming four months after the June 3rd Dana Air crash, Mr Bature explained that the award would have taken place earlier in the year and that the reward came after the operator's license had been restored.

In all fairness, they did their best and we need to recognize that and encourage them to get back to their feet," he added.

My Take:

I can still remember how I cried with the report of Memunat and her entire family who were aboard the ill fated flight while holidaying in Nigeria from Houston where she was based.

Asides from Memunat, the poor families on the streets that the plane crashed into and murdered... those that lost their homes, their certificates and many more are still countless.

IT IS TOO SOON!! The families and Nigerians still have it fresh in their memory that this airline recently crashed. More importantly, no conclusive investigative reports were submitted to clear more air on the causes of the crash with the aviation minister, Stella Oduah, giving flimsy exucuses like destruction of the information in the black box or something in a much more silly deduction.

The Airline is already planning to resume operations soon and has commenced demonstration flights as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Although this award was presented based on the Airline's performance in 2011, I think this award is insensitive coming at a time when the pain and loss from the crash is still fresh.

Musings from my country Nigeria? I'm definitely not laughing... Maybe the world is at Nigeria's comic and irresponsible government... #sigh

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Nigeria Customs and Airport Bribery

It is illegal to take or pay a bribe under the constitution of Nigeria however no thanks to the Nigerian Customs Service who search through our baggages when enroute our various travel destination, 90 percent of Nigerian travellers on International routes pay a bribe.

"Oga wetin dey dere, shey na dried fish?" the customs guy asks me on a recent trip abroad.. Nigerians love their local meals and they are quite pricey in the African shops in the Houston market or various city centres accross europe so we usually love to buy a reasonable amount and take along when travellig and this man was about to crank my style.

My first trip abroad as a British Council scholar, my dad shoved his hands in my face as the activist in me was about to throw a protest party when they requested "something for them" becauase of this same food issue.

This time, I was going to speak english.. and when I did i saw the way people were discouraged to fight the systen. "Oga, your food has to go through quarantine"... Nice play... I calculated my flight time.. Check in time at tge quarantine zone and saw every move had been perfected to frustrate anyone who tried to fight the system.

After all my grammer "it pained me" that I had to settle with 500 naira.. Albeit palsy sum that the Customs "Oga" had opressed me into paying.

Maybe my love for stock fish and peppered soup, condiments which i had packed in my bags had betrayed my fighting spirit.

Well, he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. C'est la vie! Musings from my country Nigeria.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

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Friday, October 19, 2012

Musings from my country

Madam First Lady of the Fedral Republic of Nigeria is back from Germany where she was said to be undergoing treatment for an unnamed ailment.

I am glad she came back smiling and amidst lots of cheering. The only displeasing resolve is that nothing worthy of report was said to inform the citizenry of what had prompted the First Lady's trip.

The media frenzy allowed for many online speculation and unfounded reports to be released; with many print and online media basically "dashing" our dear Dame about five or more diseases.

My worries are that the First Lady might have been spending public funds unnecessarily on maybe a cosmetic surgery for all I care while the nation was as usual, put in the dark.

You cannot spend public funds on private treatment of the First Lady without informing the stakeholders (in this case, the good people of Nigeria) of the way their hard earned funds are spent to say the least.

Welcome back anyway, but truly Nigeria is full of musings.