NIGERIA: NECO releases NOV-DEC 2012 results

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Read Time:2 Minute, 31 Second

National Examination Council, (NECO) has released 2012 November/December  Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination with an improvement over the past three years results.

A total of 83,755 candidates registered for the examinations out of which 75,623 actually sat for the examinations.

Registrar/Chief Executive of the Council, Professor Promise Okpala while formerly releasing the results  in Minna Thursday said  a total of 21,274 malpractice cases were recorded across the country during the examinations.

A breakdown of the results shows that 83,755 candidates registered for English out of which 75,623 sat for it while 25,620 or 33.89% got credit 15,268 or 20.18%  passed while 32,425 or 42,87% failed.

In Mathematics 83,560 registered out of which 75,245  sat for the exams while 41,228 or 54,79% had credit while 8,034 or 10,67% passed and 23,962 or 31.84% failed.

Results of some of the core subject also show that out of 80,829 that registered for the paper, 72,887 sat for it while 16,650 or 22.84% had credit while 12,768 or 17.51% passed and 41,352 or 56,73% failed.

In Chemistry 38,123 registered for it while 35,194 actually sat with 10,620 or 30.17% having credit 4,501 or 12.178% having pass while 18,974 or 53.91 % failed.

Other core subjects like physics had 38,039 registered with 35,057 while 94 or 0.26% had credit, 8.74 or 2.49% having pass while  33,000 or 94.13% failed.

Further mathematics had 3,564 registered with 2,310 setting, 352 or 15. 23% coming out with credit while 208 or 9.00% had pass with 40,501 or 71.92% failing the paper.

Professor Okpala said the Council will continue to ensure appropriate standard and excellence before, during and after the examinations pointing out that with the effort put in the past years, the results being release and those to be release  in future will be reliable valid and credible.

A comparative analysis of the results by subject depicts the improvement over the 3yrs. Period from 4.7% (2010) through 10.0% (2011) to 33.9% 2012 in English language and from 19.4% (2010) through 44.7% (2011) to 54.8% (2012) in mathematics.

Chairman governing Board of the Council Dr. Paddy Njoku who was present at the official release of the results said analysis has shown that the past examinations was devoid of leakage and thus making a distinctive progress or the integrity of NECO Certificate.

‘’Because of the high standard of NECO Certificate now, people tend to acquire the certificate by all means and just as people tend to fake the dollars more than other currencies because of its acceptability so is also NECO Certificate but we will continue to fight those involved in trying to fake our Certificate” the Board chairman assured.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Jonathan rejects amnesty calls for Boko Haram

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Read Time:2 Minute, 40 Second

President Goodluck Jonathan visiting the region at the heart of an Islamist insurgency for the first time since he was elected in 2011, on Thursday rebuffed calls for an amnesty deal for the extremists.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit came amid mounting political pressure for him to travel to the region and followed calls this week from Nigeria’s top Islamic figure for an amnesty deal for insurgents.

Jonathan landed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and considered the home base of Islamist extremists Boko Haram, and travelled by helicopter to neighbouring Yobe state, also hit by repeated attacks blamed on the group.

Security was tight, with soldiers stationed along roads and movement restricted. He is due to return to Maiduguri later Thursday for a visit that will extend into Friday.

The president said he could not rule out an amnesty deal in the future, but said that it was impossible to negotiate an agreement with Boko Haram because their identities and demands remained unclear.

“You cannot declare amnesty for ghosts,” Jonathan told an audience of politicians and dignitaries in the Yobe state capital Damaturu, broadcast live on national television.

Jonathan made reference to a 2009 amnesty deal for militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where the president is from.

The deal has been credited with greatly reducing unrest in the Niger Delta, but criminality has since flourished, including the theft of crude oil on a massive scale, costing Nigeria an estimated $6 billion per year.

“In the Niger Delta, if you call them, they come and they will tell you their grievances,” he said. “But Boko Haram, I don’t see anybody who says they are Boko Haram.”

The visit came with Jonathan facing political pressure to visit the northeast, wracked by scores of bombings and shootings blamed on Boko Haram. The military has been accused of major abuses in response to the insurgency.

It is also the region where seven members of a French family were believed taken after being kidnapped on February 19 just over the border in Cameroon. They remain held by the abductors and their whereabouts are unknown.

There have been growing calls for Jonathan to visit the area. A group of opposition state governors visited Maiduguri last week, drawing further attention to Jonathan’s absence there.

Jonathan earlier in the day held talks with Yobe governor Ibrahim Geidam and was due to help commission a number of government projects.

Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has left some 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

The group has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.

It is believed to include various factions with differing aims, in addition to imitators and criminal gangs who carry out violence under the guise of the group.

Nigeria’s 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. Jonathan, a southern Christian, has been accused by his opponents of neglecting the northeast.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: CAF election politics worries Minister

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Read Time:1 Minute, 37 Second

Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Wednesday expressed concern over the type of politics that is being introduced into the forthcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Council seat election.

Abdullahi in Abuja said that the place of origin of an intending candidate should not be made a major condition for the election.

He said that such a development could thwart the emergence of the right candidate for the post.

Aminu Maigari, the Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), has offered himself for election into the available seat in the West Africa Zone B.

The election is scheduled to take place in Marrakesh, Morocco, on March 10.

Maigari is expected to contest the election with  Anjorin Moucharaf of Republic of Benin and Hima Souley from Niger Republic.
“What I know is that there are different interests across the Africa zones and there are also issues of Francophone and Anglophone but it is my hope that we will surmount this.

“For us, the important thing is that we want to have a seat in the CAF Executive Committee. We will do our best to get it but that is not going to stop anything.

“Nigeria stands to benefit a lot if we are able to get the seat,’’ Abdullahi said.

The minister said the Federal Government had thrown its weight behind Maigari to signify the importance of the seat to the country.

“We are giving him absolute support. Personally, I have visited the CAF president and I told him clearly that this is the candidate for Nigeria.

“The CAF president assured me that Nigeria is very important to him; but added that he cannot pitch his tent with a particular candidate but will be fair to all..

“As you know in every election, you have to campaign and mobilise people. We have been meeting almost everyday to strategise on these issues,’’ Abdullahi added.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Super Eagles take on Mexico in friendly match

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The Super Eagles will play a high profile international friendly match with Mexico’s national team in Houston, Texas, U.S. on May 31, a statement said.

The Eagles are the current champions of Africa while the Mexican team are the champions of North and Central America.

Ademola Olajire, Assistant Director, Media, Nigerian Football Association, announced the plan in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

It said the match was to prepare the Eagles for their World Cup qualifier with  Harambee Stars of Kenya in Nairobi on June 8 before travelling to the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Borno govt declares Friday holiday for Jonathan’s visit

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Borno State government has declared Friday, as work free day to enable civil servants welcome President Goodluck Jonathan who would be in the state on a two-day working visit.

The state Police Command has also denied the killing of a Divisional Police Officer, DPO, and his deputy in the suspected Boko Haram attack on Monday evening.

Some terrorists laid ambush for some policemen in Gwoza Local Government Area of the state barely 17 hours after killing a Police Mobile Force Training Camp Commandant in Maiduguri, “leading to the killing of seven people,’’ just as ‘’a bank and a police station were also torched during the attack.”

But reacting to the issue yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Gideon Jubrin stated that “at about 2100 hours (9 p.m.) of Monday evening, some suspected terrorists laid ambush at Gwoza Council Area of Borno State,’’ adding that only one policeman was killed and not the DPO or his deputy, while another one sustained injuries.

According to Jibrin seven civilians were also killed during the attack. The police further said that the security agencies in repelling the attack succeeded in killing two of the suspected terrorists. He also urged media practitioners to verify their stories before publishing.

Jibrin stressed that the doors of the Borno State Police Command were open for  practising journalist to verity their facts to avoid publishing false information.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Federal Government ’s Anti-Gold Policy

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Read Time:2 Minute, 19 Second

WHAT does the Federal Government have against mining of gold and other solid minerals?

We are wondering again because there are at least two major reasons that should elicit government’s interest in these minerals that have illegally been plundered for decades – they are great sources of income; their illegal mining annually leads to deaths of hundreds of children, over 400 in Zamfara alone since 2010.

The disclosure by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus Awute, that Nigeria lost $50 billion (N8 trillion) through illegal mining and exportation of unprocessed gold, in the last two years, should be of great concern to Nigerians.

“What the country loses to illegal mining is tremendous. But the truth is that the amount of gold that left this country because of the illegal mining activities is more than $50 billion in the last two years. The amount of unprocessed gold that has left this country through the neighbouring countries, Ghana in particular, and being processes in Ashanti gold is enormous,” Awute said at the Nigerian-Brazil Investment forum in Abuja.

Awute, an erudite civil servant, appointed a federal permanent secretary in 2008, and who had served in that capacity in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Health before his current posting, is not a frivolous man.

The annual federal budget in the last two years was about N8 trillion, meaning that the budgets could have been funded solely from gold stolen from Nigerian soil. There are fears that the figures understate the plundering that has been ignored for years.

Government’s proposed expenditure in 2013 is N4.92 trillion, it was N4.77 trillion in 2012, the lost gold resources could have funded these budgets that are often unacc0mplished because of poor implementation capacities and lack of funds.

Other solid minerals like iron ore abound in Konkosso, and feldspar (for glass making) in Borgu, both in NigerState. Tantalite, an element for mobile phone technology is in Hayin Kanwa, near Zaria, KadunaState, and tourmaline, used in making jewellery is mined in Olode, OyoState.
The country’s gold belt spreads through different parts of the country, and its illegal mining accounts for the lead poisoning that has killed more than 400 children in Zamfara State since 2010.

Nigeria, once the world’s largest exporter of Columbite and the world’s 6th  largest producer of tin ore has abandoned solid minerals to illegal miners, estimated at more than 10,000 in Zamfara alone, who ruin the environment, plunder the nation’s wealth  and cause the death of many.

It is time the authorities halted illegal mining, stopped the deaths and harnessed the resources for national development.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: The Closure of Ladipo Market …beyond the fiction

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Read Time:4 Minute, 42 Second

Since the closure of Ladipo Market about nine days ago, a lot have been said on why that market was shut down on the orders of the Lagos State government. Using environmental sanitation as a plank, the Lagos State government pulled the wool over the eyes of Lagosians many of whom are unaware of the issues behind the façade of environmental concerns. Worryingly, the government went to town with photographs of some young men it alleged were ‘Bakasi’ boys terrorizing traders in the market. But it failed to inform the public that those same people, inhumanely paraded as criminals and locked up at Badagry prisons were staff of a duly registered security outfit that provides security for the market and that the Ladipo Main Market Traders Association (LMMA), the Mushin Local Government and even the Police are aware of their activities. The government is aware that before they were contracted, there were widespread insecurity in the market, theft of goods were very common and harassment of customers the order of the day. But why did the government and its agencies turn around to take some of the unfortunate actions they took at Ladipo Market?

Let us put the issues in perspective. The Lagos State government leased the land for the market to Mushin Local Government because according to it, the land is unfit for the purpose it want to use it for. This is contained in the agreement papers signed between the LASG and Mushin Local Government. And it is renewable after 25 years. As at that time, the Local Government could not develop the market thus in an agreement dated 13th February 2002, between Mushin Local Government and Paramo Development Ventures Limited, Plots 7, 8 and Block E, Oshodi Industrial Estate, Akinwunmi Street off Ladipo were sub leased to Paramo Development Ventures who invited the traders to develop the market themselves after paying the first mandatory N150,000 to Paramo.

According to documents at my disposal, Alhaji Hassan Olajoku chairman of Paramo was the one who sub-letted the land to the traders. In the agreement Paramo allotted the parcels of land to the traders through the Ladipo Main Market Traders Association (LMMTA), and the shops must be an accordance with designs and specifications approved by Lagos State Town Planning Authority and construction was also under the supervision of the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Housing as well as the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning. Moreso, the traders were arm-twisted to purchase all building materials from the same Paramo in the guise said to ensure it meets safety standards stipulated by the State Government. Even the traders were made to enter an undertaking to support the political aspiration of Alhaji Olajoku, the chairman of Paramo Ventures. All has been going well until the death by assassination of Alhaji Olajuko in Osun State and the takeover of the company by one of his wives. As they say, a Pharaoh that knows not Moses has ascended the throne.

At the death of Alh Olajoku, one of his wives, Mrs Sherifat Disu, a Commissioner of Police in a bid to control the market allegedly met with officials of Mushin Local Government with aim to impose a new set of market leaders. She got the support of Mushin Local Government which felt that the N100, 000 monthly per shop it is getting could be raised under a new leadership. Failing to achieve this, she employed all forms of tactics from the use of government agencies (KAI) to the use of thugs and Police harassment and intimidation. Several attempts were made on the lives of the leadership of Aguiyi Ironsi Market and several petitions were written to the Inspector General of Police in this regard. There have been several instances of in the last two years where thugs invaded the market with dangerous weapons shooting traders; they equally destroyed the union office of the traders carting away valuables inflicting injuries on many of the traders. Still the government looked the other way.

Aside the quest to control the leadership of the market, the current management of Paramo Ventures in concert with Mushin and Lagos State government have a more sinister plan to push out the traders and take over the shops without recourse to the terms of the agreement. Moreso, the Lagos State Government through its agents have shown a cross disregard for the law boasting to the traders that they can go to all the courts in the state and nothing will come out of it because they control the courts. A look at the inhumane bail conditions of the traders will confirm this. Paramo overstepped its bound by raising a parallel leadership that is not signatories to the original agreement sub leasing the plots of land to the traders which the traders rejected. The failure of this led to the invitation of thugs and criminals to cause mayhem in the market as pretext to shut it down.

The question Lagos State government should answer is why shut down the entire market if you have issues with only Aguiyi Ironsi Trade Complex. Secondly, why are you interested in controlling the leadership of the market? Third, why use environmental concerns as excuse when the same government is aware of this environmental challenge which was why it abandoned its earlier plan to make use of that space in the first place?

Moreso, there are recorded (video) evidence of allegedly sponsored attacks on the traders by thugs contracted by Paramo and Mushin Local Government while the LASG task force watch in delight.

Ndi Igbo cheenu uche, taa bu gbo!

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: I won’t retire from music until…, says Sunny Ade

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Read Time:1 Minute, 16 Second

JUJU music maestro, Mr. Sunday Adeniyi, aka King Sunny Ade, has said he would not quit music until he wins the prestigious American prize, Grammy Award.

KSA, as he is popularly called said this, yesterday, at a roundtable organised by the League of Veteran Journalists, OyoState branch. The musician had been nominated twice for the award.

King Sunny Ade who agreed with Professor Olawale Albert, Director,  Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan that if Nigerians wanted him to win the award, it would not be difficult, said  “a prophet is without honour in his own country”.

He said: “It is for everyone of you to assist Nigerian musicians. I will continue to work hard. If I don’t get it, I won’t leave music. That is why I am trying to train my children. If I don’t get it, my children will get it. Nigerian musicians would get it”.

Contrary to expectations of some people that there was rivalry between him and his Juju counterpart, Chief Ebenezer Obey, he explained there was no rivalry of any sort, adding that it only existed in public perception.

According to him, he and Obey arranged that for good 30 years, they never met in the same outing.

On the proliferation of obscene and immoral music, he noted that it should be blamed on the public that promotes such music.

Sunny Ade commended Nigerian media for the enviable heights he attained in the music industry.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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God is not modern, and must be worshipped the ancient style’ -highpriest of Igbo

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Read Time:11 Minute, 14 Second

The origins of the Igbo people have been a most controversial subject right from the cradle. While some argue that Igbos are Jews who migrated away from Israel a long time ago, there are those who argue that Igbos are in fact, an autochthonous people. Their argument is that Igbos are the children of the earth, Ani, having sprung right from there. This class argues that all civilization, which has been proven to emanate from Africa, started with the people of the forest areas around the Niger, the Igbo. The word Igbo also means ‘Forest’, indicating that these people actually are forest people. One of such people is Okonkwo, the high priest of Igbo, the unknown God whom he claims created all things. According to him, Igbo lives in the deep recesses of the forests, called Offia-Adu, or the ‘Forest of Adu’. This forest, according to the high priest, is the missing ‘Garden of Eden’, where man was created. As he put it, the forest, and the entire Igboland are full of oracles dedicated to deities whom he stated were the original dwellers of Offia Adu when the world was created. They were with Adunnayi, the supreme God, when he created mankind: “Adu-nna ayi is who Jews mispronounce His name when they say ‘Adonai’. He is Igbo, and the sacred worship of Igbo has been copied by several different peoples all over the world to establish religions. The one true worship is that of Igbo. The Igbo people are the original children of the Most High, not the cult called Judaism, he argues. Okonkwo Ozurumba is an Eze Ani and Ozo, a title which means a highpriest and knight of Igbo Order, which he says is not even a title, ‘because it is the gods that chooses one, you don’t just desire to become a priest and become it. You can desire to become an ozo and the title will be given to you. I was chosen by the gods’, he stated. He also explained that Igbo means ‘forest’, and that it was God’s name which the forest bears, which the Igbo people, who lived with God started bearing as their name.

Ozor Okonkwo, Eze Ani and high priest of Igbo, the Forest God would have passed for an ordinary young man in the streets, had it not been for his traditional attire, which stands him out in the crowd. He is dressed in an ishi agu top, an okpu agu- Igbo traditional shirt and cap, as well as a walking stick, apart from carrying a dark brown bag made entirely from real crocodile skin, with menacing teeth. He would not disclose his identity, or the reason for his outstanding outfit to the curious reporter. However, he agreed to speak ‘when the time is ripe’, after disclosing that he is the high priest of Igbo, which he said is the supreme God. ‘Igbo created the whole universe, and Igbo people are the real people of God, not those Jews who claim what they are not,’ he retorts.
The Garden of Eden
Then one day, he invites Daily Newswatch to his hometown, all the way away in Agbaja-Umumba-Ndiuno, Enugu State. It was a thick forest, housing hundreds of shrines, which in times past used to be temples. These shrines are dedicated to several different deities, associates of Adu, the God. On the lengthy way leading to Adu’s own shrine, the priest, who was accompanied by a very old man, later identified as Mbadugha Eme gave the reporter the story of the forest, which he described as Offia Adu, or the forest of Adu. “This is the place of creation, and because it looks too ordinary, people find it hard to identify. They expect to see a different kind of place. But it was right here in this forest that man was made to come into being. This is the Forest of Eden”. “There is the shrine of Nwangele, and then, the one you look at here is Nono, the wife of Adu, who is the queen. She is the first ‘nono’, and that is the right pronunciation for the word ‘loolo’, which queens bear”, and so, he kept on, pointing out the several different gods and goddesses which he explained, have been abandoned by the Igbo people who are supposed to serve them. She is the queen whose Mother Image has been replicated for hundreds of thousands of years, from Greece to Egypt. Over 50 deities have shrines in the forest. “Igbo people are suffering today, and are always in servitude because they abandoned their father and God, Igbo. They threw away their Ikenga, and they must suffer for that. My only annoyance is that the people of Igbo do not know who they actually are. Igbo is the son of Adu. So whether you see Igbo as a place, or a people, the basic thing about Igbo is that He is the son of Adu, and Adu is the universal deity. He is the God that came and planted himself as seed yam on earth, the Creator. That is what Adu is. It is from this Adu that humanity and all things came into existence. A lot of stories have been told on how humanity came to be, but I want you to know that they are all the story of Adu and Igbo that people are telling because of their personal interests and the gains they want by telling the story to suit them. But all the stories you have been hearing from Christianity, to Hinduism, to Judaism, to Islam, are all the stories of Igbo”.
There was a circular mound raised around an area, with an entrance which is without a gate. Within here, there is a collection of several stones raised as an altar. The stone altar reminds one of the stones which the Israelites used as a memoriam to god after their passage through River Jordan. The highpriest explained that the stones actually are a memoriam, nothing more. Although this is supposed to be the Holy of Holies, there is no image of any deity. All around the area, there are large and small trees, and in several places are earthen pots submerged into the ground. Each contain water. Close to the stones, is the holy presence of Adu, where Okonkwo performs a solemn ceremony of food offering.
Worshipping at the ‘Holy of Holies’
He pulls out the horn of a deer, (mpi-atu) and uses it to touch all the sacred areas in the grove, and all the stones. Then he does a sign of the cross, which is a little different from what we know. “You must have noticed that I perform ceremonies similar to what Christians do in church. All the modes of worship of Christianity and other religions are just offshoots of the worship of Adu, who is Chukwu Abiama. After doing the so-called sign of the cross-the forehead, two shoulders, heart area, didn’t you see me touching my knees and feet? That is to tell you that this is the original. It has been like this before the advent of the early missionaries in Igboland. You saw what I used-it’s not a cross, but the mpi atu. What that mpi atu means is that whenever I am performing any holy ritual, I use the mpi atu to purify the environment by touching ever corner of the shrine, then I purify myself by doing what you saw.”
He offers nine yams to the deity, from which a piece is cut, and roasted. A cock too is offered, and its throat is slashed, while the blood is spilled to the ground. Kola nuts are also presented at the altar, and palm wine too. “The yams are offered because yam is God. God offered himself in the form of yam to man. Then the kolanut is the food of the holy communion between humans and God. We eat kola and palmwine to renew our relationship with him all the time. It was a routine ceremony of paying obeisance to the deities and the ancestors, and communing with them. Contrary to what we have been taught, God dwells in the earth, not in the sky. That is why, when an Igbo man is doing ofo, if he doesn’t want to talk much, he says, ‘Aja Ana’. Aja Ana represents everything, because whatever you do, you do it on the earth”, he stated.
When Daily Newswatch enquired why the priest stuck to the ancient methods of worship instead of modifying to suit the times, he stated that God cannot be modified, neither are his ways: “You mean I should adopt the Christian method of igo ofo (prayers), when I have come to restore what was suppressed? Let me ask you; is God, Chukwu Abiama modern? Modern things mean things invented by man. How could you leave what God has made to be for what God has created himself? To go modern is impossible, it’s defying the orders of Chukwu Abiama to follow man for personal gains. So, the process is thus-the white chalk, called nzu represents peace, the brightness of the day. When you are using nzu for ofo, you are letting the Gods know that you have come to them in peace. Someone who is not a man of peace that touches nzu has invoked trouble upon himself. So evil people do not use nzu during igo ofo. on the other hand, the reddish one is called odo. It is also for peace. It is meant to cool whatever is hot. So whatever we do in culture, we always ensure everybody is at peace with his God. No priest will use anything that is negative to offer ofo prayers. If you use it, you have dug your own grave yourself. The issue of the kolanuts is, you finish offering the nzu and odo, then you pray with the kola. Then you break and offer a lobe or two to the deity, indicating that you are eating together, that you are having a continuous communion with God.”
Adonai, Charles Darwin and creation of man
Ozo Okonkwo however, was skeptical about telling the history of the creation, according to the adherents of Igbo. He however gave a brief, revealing that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was almost right, in the sense that God made man from monkeys and Himself. He stated: Even though I may not say much now, I will explain some things to you. The Almighty God Himself is Adu. It is this same Adu that the Jews adopted His name as Adonai. He is the same whom the Muslims adopted as Allah. When Adu planted Himself as seed yam, a lot of things were happening. The yam is God but people do not know. The theory of evolution according to Charles Darwin is the story of Adu and Igbo.
In ancient times, right here in the forest of the gods, where the seat of Adu is placed, during those days, there were several species of monkeys who lived here. Whatever feast the community people hold, these monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas will participate. It is these monkeys who metamorphosed into humans. You must have seen the whitish skin I used when praying at the oracle. It is the skin of the monkey specie. Before I was able to establish myself as the high priest of Igbo in Adu, I had to wear the old body of man, which is the body of a monkey. I used that skin to purify myself, and that was when my old personality returned, giving me the eligibility to take up the position of the high priestship of Adu.
It is a mystery. When you ask questions in culture and other religions, it is Adu and Igbo you are talking about. The gorillas were in fact the people who can be said to be the Adam living in the Garden of Eden, although the story in the Bible is quite different. But this forest is the forest of creation, where God made man. The Christian Bible stated that God said ‘let us make man in our own image’. It was the almighty Chukwu Abiama who came and planted Himself as Adu. He talking to Adu and the gorillas. You can see how the gorilla looks. Man has the physique of gorilla. People have been telling this story without understanding. So, ‘let us create man in our own image’, it was Chukwu Abiama, Adu and the gorilla who got together to do this. So Chukwu Abiama has His image is in Adu, and Adu has His image in gorilla. That is why they said, ‘let us create man in our own image, and in creating man, that man became ‘madu’- ‘maa-du’, meaning, ‘there is divinity’, that divinity in man. It is the same word that the English mispronounces as ‘man’. Man is an Igbo word which they have shortened and robbed of its true meaning. It is a Divine Word.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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My experience in Nigeria – Onyema Uche

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Read Time:4 Minute, 55 Second

Let me start by stating that prior to my brief visit, I have been very doubtful with the possibility of Nigeria becoming better in the future. Each time cynicism gets a better part of me, my friend Okafor C. Udoka would always say something that would keep the light of hope burning though very deem. Now I know for sure that Nigeria will not be good not to talk of better in this generation nor in the next 100 years. Now before you crucify me read this and see if in your patriotism you have been a victim of exploitation all your life in Nigeria.

1. Impression is everything.

On arrival at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, I was shocked to my marrows and that shock dampened my emotions and I never recovered from it till now. If you travel you would agree with me that every nation brings out their best at the airports. Impression is everything because through the first people you saw on arrival you begin to imagine how nice the people in the city would be. You see curvy ladies, smiling faces of young men well dressed and welcoming with a smile. Clean and beautiful women, always smiling showing you their willingness to assist you should you need help.
I was shocked to see first the heat at the airport arrival part. No air-condition-the heat that greeted you first is a minus. Then the first group of Nigerians you would see are people looking like kwashiokor survors. Ugly, malnutrition, dirty with parched trousers and dress. Some looking like baby lizards, baby monkeys, sickly no smiles and no friendliness in their faces. I perceived the image of a dirty, poor stricken, and hungry people. My expectations dropped to zero. Unfortunately I saw every Nigeria lady on the streets as dirty, and unkempt. I know I might be wrong but that is how the images I saw at the airport affected me. I tried very hard to overcome this perception but I could not. It is very bad that at our airports our best are touts, beggars, loafers, baby lizards, and those who have never smiled before and never have reason to be happy or express happiness.
As I was cleared to enter my country, while waiting for my luggage to arrive, I went to get a trolley. I wanted a big one that would carry all my bags. I was told the big trolley is 2,500 naira, and the small ones was 250 naira. That was the first trouble. The second after that I was so pissed. On my way out I met about four ugly looking ladies dressed in customs uniform. They stopped me. The leader asked to search my bags. I said go ahead and opened the bags for her. As she was flipping through my stuff, I said to her, ”ma’m can I ask you a question?, “Sure ask” she said. Then I asked, ”are you a thief’? ”No o. shebi I’m doing my job”, her hands in the air. I asked her, and what the hell is your job? To violate my privacy and flipping through my personal stuff? IS THAT YOUR JOB? Now all of them had become angry. I continued, I have passed through all security, certified to go and here you are searching me again and throwing my stuff. I said you have no right to do this and I believe you are a thief. This how people get robbed at the airport. You are searching people to see who has what so you can send your men to check me out. At this point my voice was loud and people had gathered. Other visitors were in support of me and they too started complaining swearing and cursing. I told the woman to bring her boss, the person she is working for. Her boss came and denied sending anybody to search people. He apologized and promised to handle the situation. I planned to spend 2days in Lagos, but the experience made everything repulsive to me.

2. NIGERIANS EXPLOITATED PEOPLE.
In Abuja and even in my 12hours stay in Lagos, you can perceive the exploitation of the people by organizations. The PHCN, NEPA, forcing citizens to pay for services they did not receive. It does not matter whether you had electricity or not, you must pay your bill. There is no government agent to complain to. Your government does not care about you. The telephone companies are there robbing everybody through poor services. No one to complain to. No government to protect the people from exploitations. Are you using public transport to work? Your government has no plans for you. You are not considered when the roads were constructed, so no pedestrian crossing. You are at the mercy of drivers. Bus drivers are free to pack you like the slave ship five in a seat meant for three. You can’t complain. Every car, keke napep or motorcycle that passes you blows the horn into your ears. Every minute it’s all pee peem peeeee peem peem pee pee pee. Haba, are passengers that daft?

Where and how would Nigeria change? I doubt and I sympathize with those who hope. There is no order or organization. Everybody is robbing everybody. The government is even robbing her citizens. I weep for the country called Nigeria. The worst of it all are the drivers. They are thoughtless and selfish. They have no respect for pedestrians. You make me the president today, the first thing I would do is seize the licenses of all Nigerians and no one gets it back till they go for a 4days driving school and passed it. It is horrible. Where do we start to make it better? Nowhere!

Onyema Uche writes from the United States.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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