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I am a committed tourist. I rarely shop when I travel to foreign locations. I mostly focus on sightseeing because I absolutely love historic buildings and distinguished cultural institutions; and it had always been my intention to one day visit the world-famous Harvard University campus in the United States.

The perfect opportunity to tick this item on my wish-list arose earlier on this year, when I got wind of the fact that an illustrious Nigerian mover and shaker – Babs Omotowa – had been invited to address a Harvard gathering.

Figuring that there could be no better time to finally provide myself with the experience of strolling through Harvard’s hallowed halls, I raided my piggy bank, purchased an airline ticket and hopped on a Boston-bound plane.

The trip was worth every penny.

The atmosphere was sublime. The architecture was beautiful. The libraries were enviable. The Harvard denizens (students as well as academics) I encountered were friendly, informative and impressively intelligent. And – the icing on an already delicious cake – Mr Omotowa’s presentation, titled “Nigeria: In Need Of Dreamers Of A Certain Kind,” was truly inspiring.

Babs Omotowa, who hails from Kogi State and studied at the universities of Ilorin and Leicester (in the UK), has a first degree in Industrial Chemistry and two postgraduate Masters of Business Administration qualifications that enabled him to specialise in Operations Research and Supply Chain Management.

He started his career as a teacher (at Bishop Smith College in Ilorin) and joined Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 1993 as a management trainee and quickly, through hard work and cleverness, earned the confidence of his new bosses.

A rapid rise through the ranks followed; and after completing several senior-level assignments for Shell, both at home and abroad (Britain, Holland and Norway), he eventually became a Director and Vice-President.

Omotowa has now worked in the oil/ gas industry for over 20 years and is currently the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG)…and the Vice President of Bonny Gas Transport Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary that handles NLNG’s shipping requirements).

NLNG has four shareholders – one indigenous, 3 foreign: The Federal Government via NNPC (49%), Shell (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Ltd (15%) and Eni (10.4%).

It was incorporated as a limited liability company on May 17th 1989 and is therefore celebrating its 25th anniversary as a company this month and its 15th anniversary of from first production.

And what a stellar two-and-a-half decades it has been!

NLNG, which was founded to harness our vast gas reserves and produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for the export market, is also celebrating Nigeria’s 3000th LNG export cargo in 2014.

It has progressed from being a smallish two-train plant to being a substantial six-train industrial complex…and was one of the fastest growing LNG projects on the planet and is the largest industrial complex in sub-Saharan Africa.

The combined annual output of its 6 trains is 22 million metric tonnes of LNG, which amounts to roughly 7% of the world’s LNG supply.

It has acquired a 23-vessel fleet that transports its products across the globe, to various countries, including America, Spain, France, Japan, South Korea, Portugal and Turkey (which gets nearly 25% of its LNG imports from NLNG).

NLNG’s management team is 100% Nigerian and it employs thousands of people (95% of whom are Nigerian) and has delivered cumulative revenues of $80 billion since 1999 and contributes about 4% of our Gross Domestic Product and has eliminated 40% of the environmental evil that is gas-flaring (four trillion cubic feet of Associated Natural Gas has been captured)…

…and pays more company income tax – a whopping N220 billion per annum – than any other African commercial entity south of the Mahgreb region.

Wow! Not bad at all for a Naija-run company that was launched with a Nigerian contribution of only $2.5 billion initial capital and is hidden away on a little island in Rivers State!

Mr Omotowa, his management team and their predecessors have shown us what Nigerian professionals and workers can achieve when they put their minds to it and embrace integrity, diligence and international standards.

Frankly, I’m surprised that President Goodluck Jonathan has not made more noise about NLNG’s considerable triumphs, especially in this very special Centenary year, because the Government he heads is the biggest single NLNG partner; and NLNG is one of his – and this country’s – major success stories.

Omotowa himself acknowledges the support he has received from the Government, so the Government is entitled to claim some of the credit.

Modesty is an attractive trait, but there are times when it is not called for! If I were in Mr President’s shoes, I would blow the NLNG trumpet very loudly indeed, if only to drown out the voices that keep describing Nigeria as a totally failed state and insisting that nothing positive is happening within our shores.

Which brings me back to Omotowa’s eloquent and thought-provoking Harvard lecture, in which he reminded his audience of Nigerian victories – establishing the first African TV station and producing the first African Nobel Laureate, for example – and waxed lyrical and patriotic about our enormous potential.

Unfortunately, there is insufficient space to publish everything he said on that occasion, so I’ll settle for quoting the most poignant and uplifting excerpts:-

“…Every country has self-serving (or self-destructive) myths…For the United States, it is American exceptionalism…a myth that iconic historian, Richard Hofstadter, celebrated when he wrote that America is the only nation in history that believes it was born perfect and strives for improvement…

…“The American, you could say, is a dreamer who holds steadfastly to a myth that has not only made America the richest nation in the world, but has also sired other myths [such as] American perfectionism at home and exceptionalism in the world. Good myths beget good destiny…”

“…[In Nigeria], we have some pernicious myths that even our people have elevated to orthodoxies. The prime one is that Nigeria was a ‘mistake -, a mere geographical expression’ [that was forced on us by colonialists]…

“…[Other myths include the beliefs] that nothing works in Nigeria, that we make great plans, but always have problems with execution…that we’re individually brilliant but unable to produce good leaders…”

“….Nigeria has had a chequered history, but which country hasn’t?..[Besides] defiance and resilience are also hallmarks of our history…and Nigeria with its can-do spirit and specialness is waiting for the right environment to flower…”

“[All we need to excel] is dreamers of a certain type and quality: nation-builders who will respond to the yearnings of the citizenry for a platform to make a mark on the world…leaders willing to put national aspirations above personal, religious or tribal interests…men and women who believe in Nigeria’s specialness, if only because Nigeria is the biggest black nation on earth…”

“[and as we contemplate the future with cautious optimism, we earnestly pray that] one day all its controversies, all its contradictions and all its contrarian impulses will resolve nicely, even if miraculously, and that [Nigeria] will rise like the mythical phoenix and take its rightful place in the comity of nations…”

I was deeply moved, emotionally – and psychologically energised – by Omotowa’s cheerful outlook and dogged faith in the Nigerian project, which often comes across as depressingly doomed.

I’m also unapologetically wedded to the capitalist idea that societies need entrepreneurial personalities like Omotowa to push them forwards.

But it has to be said that not everyone shares my view…and that Omotowa (despite his blue-chip CV) and NLNG (despite its income generation talents) have attracted strongly-worded criticisms – from Bonny natives, for example.

Since I am a journalist, it is my duty to be objective; and I felt obliged to corner Omotowa after his Harvard outing, to direct some awkward questions at him. I asked him why a significant number of Bonny residents routinely accuse NLNG of adopting an arrogant approach towards community relations issues.

He answered thus:

“The relationship between us and Bonny has been one of partnership. We have done fairly well during the time we’ve been here and have the zeal to do more. Only recently the King of Bonny visited the President with his Council of Chiefs and spoke glowing of the support the community has received from NLNG.

“At the beginning of the partnership in the 1990s, we and other development partners signed an MOU with the community to deliver power, water and roads to the Bonny Kingdom. It is worthy of note that the promise has been kept, and that all the agreed projects have either been delivered or are nearing completion.

“Last year, led by the King, a Sustainable Development Conference was convened with the community and NLNG support and facilitation, to launch a post-MOU era with a refreshed Bonny Master Plan that would enable the Kingdom – quite rightly – to take the lead and claim ownership of future projects and business initiatives for reasons of sustainability…These MOUs and the Sustainability Conference show clearly that we listen respectfully to our host communities.

“Maybe we have not satisfied individual interests, but I would like to clarify that we have focused on meeting communal needs and provided roads, hospitals, vocational learning centres, round-the-clock electricity, pipe-borne water, micro-credits, scholarships and many other benefits to 250,000 Bonny inhabitants.”

Many Nigerians are intensely suspicious of the international oil companies (IOCs) that adopted Omotowa and own the lion’s share of NLNG.

There is a widespread view, particularly within Niger Delta host communities, that IOCs do not have Nigeria’s best interests at heart; and I sought Omotowa’s reaction to this constantly simmering tension and lack of trust.

“These assertions are simply untrue…Let me use Shell as an example. I am not aware of any other company in Nigeria that has spent as much money to train Nigerians locally and expose them worldwide to the latest technologies…

…Such exposure and transfer of technology is now enabling several new indigenous oil companies to becoming oil producers. Also, even before the Nigeria Content Act was enacted, Shell in Nigeria had a local content policy and was at the forefront of developing local contractors…

“The IOCs have stayed with us through thick and thin, at times when many foreign companies abandoned Nigeria. They held onto the Nigeria relationship during the civil war, when oil prices dived, during the Niger Delta militancy crisis, etc…

…“And I don’t know of any other company in Nigeria that genuinely cares as much as Shell does. Mistakes have been made because nobody is perfect. But whenever there is any complaint relating to ethical, environmental, human rights or other societal issues, attention is paid to resolving and preventing conflicts, both in Shell’s head office in the Hague and in local offices in Nigeria…

Recently, particularly during  the ongoing discussions about the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), there has been a lot of hostile media coverage around IOC earnings. But Nigeria gets over 85% of upstream Joint Venture proceeds and more than 60%, of offshore proceeds. And IOCs are not even arguing against Nigeria increasing its take, but have cautioned against increasing it to the point where investing in Nigeria will become so unprofitable that Nigeria will suffer…”

Finally, I asked Omotowa about the greatest challenge he had faced. His response should send a shiver down the spine of every law-abiding Nigerian.

“An incident that occurred in 2013 made me sad. A government agency – NIMASA (Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency) – blocked our operations for several days, despite a court injunction. This action led to financial losses ($1billion across the value chain) and undermined NLNG’s reputation with international customers and financial institutions…

“Worst of all was the fact that Nigeria incurred 70% of the financial losses during a period of high unemployment when funds were needed for infrastructural development and poverty alleviation and efforts were being made to promote the country as a good foreign direct investment destination.” Thankfully, NLNG was not subjected to disruptive piracy for long; and Omotowa, who doesn’t know the meaning of complacency and has no intention of resting on his laurels, is concentrating on moving onwards, soaring upwards and taking the organization he regards as a mission as far as it can go. For him, the sky is the limit. For Nigeria, his presence is a huge bonus.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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The activities of Boko Haram and the abduction of over 200 school girls  in Chibok, Borno State should not stop the celebration of Children’s Day,  the founder of a non-governmental organisation, NGO, Yellow Jerry Can Foundation (YJCF) Adaora Onyechere, has said.

Onyechere  yesterday in Abuja said Boko Haram has launched an attack on the psychology of Nigerians and should not be allowed to win the war.
According to her, the Children’s Day celebration should be an opportunity for Nigeria to further focus global attention on the situation of Nigerian children and the need for strategic security arrangement for them.

Towards this end, the children advocacy organization is organizing an event to mark the day with them on the 23rd of the month, Onyechere said.
The event  is supported by the National Assembly, DAAR Communications  PLC, the Department of State Security (DSS), CNN Freedom Project, UBEB and Nigerian Children Ambassador under the theme: “For Love Sake and In Remembrance”.

She said: “Children are tools for national development and that is why the sad situation of the missing 200 girls should not be about them alone, it’s about the security of the children children.

“Their abduction and other attacks carried out by the insurgent group were meant to keep us in perpetual fear.
“We can not pretend that if this and other insurgent groups were not stopped in their dastardly activities, then the whole of human is threatened.
“Nigeria should not waste the opportunity of this year’s Children’s Day celebration go by without ensuring that the plight of the Nigerian children become a priority for the Federal government, as well as State and Local governments”.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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EVANGELIST Matthew Owojaiye, penultimate week, released  a list of 180 girls among those taken away by Boko Haram from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on April 14.

The radical preacher was in Lagos where he spoke to journalists on the controversy that trailed the list of the  180 students, and how he came about it when the Federal Government is asking the affected parents to assist security operatives with the pictures of their missing children.

In the interview, Owojaiye urged Nigerians not to politicise the issue, because the story is true. “You can imagine if your daughter disappeared for more than one week, no trace, and some people were even thinking the story was made up”,  he said, adding that there were more girls in captivity but he was only able to get the names of the ones  from Chibok.

So the 180 are from Chibok local government area
Yes. They knew that Chibok local government area is 90 per cent Christians. Why didn’t they attack other girls’ schools? The people knew that the terrorists were coming, according to what we are hearing now.

Which people? The leadership of the school?
The locals; it’s in the papers that they knew some people were coming. They didn’t know it was the girls they were coming for. People cannot move in large numbers without people knowing. Are they goats? Can you carry more than 200 human beings away without the DPO of the town knowing? They could not send signals around?

Within 24 hours, government could surround and cut them off before the girls could be taken outside the country? We are treating the whole abduction issue with levity as if the girls are not important. It’s a tragedy.

How did you come about the names?
I’m a northerner. I attended Government College, Keffi. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua was two years my junior in Keffi. There’s no part of Nigeria I don’t know. So if they say my information is wrong, that’s where there will be questions. But I will not give the source of my information. As a former Chairman of Northern Christian Elders Forum, NOSCEF, I have a large network over the years from where I am able to gather information at all times.

When you got the names, why didn’t you take the list to relevant government authorities? Why did you decide to make the list public?
You don’t report such a thing to a police man because you don’t know whether he is a member of Boko Haram. If you don’t want anybody to kill your information, you bring it out. The kidnapped girls are your children. Whether they are Muslims or Christians, I’m a father, I’m an elder.

People are imputing religious motive to what you did. For example, in your statement, you said the town is dominated by 90% Christians, and they are asking, what if those girls were not Christians?
Well, we would still have screamed. But let me tell you, we are marginalized, we have been persecuted, we have been deliberately undeveloped; all Christian areas in the North. So we know what we are suffering. But when I was asking for compensation, did I say they should give Christians alone?

How much compensation did you ask for?
I asked for N50 million. There’s what we call punitive judgment. Did you expect me to ask for N5? If you ask for N50 million, at the end, they may say 10 or 20 million. But if you ask for N10 million, at the end, they give you N2 million, they will now say are you not the one that asked? Am I going to get one naira out of it?

People are just wondering why you asked for compensation considering the fact that the girls have not even been rescued…
To make the parents happy that somebody is fighting on their behalf. When a man is in trauma, you get confused, and you feel abandoned by everybody. When people rise up at your back, you feel some sort of relief. It’s for the parents, not for me.

Have you visited Chibok since the incident?
No, I will not, because they will recognise me.

Who?
What are you talking? Even our people can’t give information to anybody, because they will kill you. I can’t sneak in there and spend one day without them knowing. Do you know they kill any Muslims that talk against them? So when you are gathering information, you send people.

You gather information from your people that cannot be known. You don’t send a known person. You won’t get the information and you will die. That’s double tragedy.

So how are the locals in Chibok feeling about this attack?
They are happy that I shouted. They are sending me texts thanking me. They were feeling helpless, but when they saw the whole world making noise on their behalf, it gave them relief that they are not abandoned after all. Even America says they are going to help the Nigerian government. So there’s a feeling of great joy. But before, they felt abandoned.

What’s the guarantee that if they rescue these girls, other girls will not be abducted?
This is what we are saying. If you read my paper, it says we should move them temporarily to other parts that are safer. The students that were abducted should be taken abroad, but others in SS1 to SS2 should be moved because they are still vulnerable. It is impossible to deploy soldiers to all schools in the country.

How many soldiers do we have? So moving them away from dangerous areas should be the first step. Because now we are even hearing rumors that they want to take more. By the time they start kidnapping more, what I have said now will become clear.

People are questioning the authenticity of the entire episode. Some people in Abuja said maybe this was even stage managed from the word go….
That’s why I’m boiling. If your daughter is missing and somebody says it was stage managed, doesn’t it cause you more pain? While you are crying and can’t see your daughter, someone is saying stage manage!

Have you had cause to speak with some of the parents of the abducted girls?
My people reported back to me, so it is not a lie. You mean you can fool the whole world? What do we gain if we stage manage the issue? What do we gain if it’s a lie?

Since the publication of the list, how many people in government have reached out to you?
None.

Why?
Because they know it’s true. Let me tell you; if these children were writing their SSCE, are you telling me that WAEC doesn’t have their names and photographs? The people in the North know me very well, all the people in government, and nobody has said it’s a lie. Those in Abuja cannot even tell me it’s a lie.

Even within the security circle, nobody has reached out to you to ask  how you got the names?
They don’t need to, they know me before. I carry integrity. I preach on television every week and I’ve handled national issues, I’m an activist, fighting for the truth. The Muslims like me in the North, they say I preach the truth and rebuke whoever is wrong, be he Muslim or Christian.

Are you planning to relocate?
Why should I relocate? The people know I’m saying the truth. I walk on the streets, I can take motor cycle around, and I can go to the market and trek round. I’m not afraid. The people love me.

Now that you have the list of some of the girls, because we don’t even know the number of the girls that were captured, do you have any plan to go to government to present the list or negotiate?
No need to. I told you government already has the pictures. Didn’t WAEC collect information from the girls? Do you mean FG doesn’t have the list from WAEC with the pictures? If they don’t have it, then it’s a terrible thing.

The President in his recent media chat urged affected parents to help them with photographs……
Couldn’t he collect such pictures from WAEC? The truth is that the parents are afraid. If they speak, their lives would be in danger.  In such a situation, let the government go to WAEC. The principal of the school, wouldn’t he have the pictures of the girls? If they burnt the school, did they burn the ones with WAEC too?

Are you angry that this whole situation has been politicized?
God will judge whoever is playing politics with it. A nation that doesn’t care for its youths, a nation that does not respect lives; if we do that, we are in trouble. So nobody should turn it to politics.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Prince Edun Akenzua is the younger brother of the Oba of Benin and the Enogie of Obazuwa. In this interview, he bares  his mind on the ongoing battle against  Boko Haram, accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of being sluggish in taking decisive actions.

He faulted the recent resignation of some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State from the party, insisting that no matter their allegations against Governor Adams Oshiomhole, he  remains “ God sent to Edo State”.

He also spoke on the expected return of stolen Benin bronze works by the British in June.
Excerpts:
As somebody from the traditional institution, how do you feel over the recent abduction of school children in Borno State by members of Boko Haram?
Kidnapping those children in that circumstance is bad enough. Unfortunately in our country, we don’t appear to care about human life. It is a  pathetic situation that  more than 200 students sleeping in their dormitory were abducted by terrorists. But what  is worse  is that after that our leaders began to talk rubbish. Some were even talking as if it did not happen and no body made any move to do anything until the Americans and others came.

I understand that the parents of those children even went to the  forest in search of the children; so one is wondering, if those women could do that, why was it too much for our military to accompany them? The women were not even armed, they came back after they were advised that it was not safe. But what did our own leaders do to help them? Nothing. The Federal Government is supposed to be the chief security officer of  Nigerians, so if they cannot protect 200 of our children in school, then what are we talking about?

The Boko Haram insurgency is an embarrassment to the country. It is nice that the Americans came to help but we also know that some of these people causing  problems in the world like bin Laden, even the Taliban were trained by America even though the people later turned around to fight America. When Boko Haram came here, we all thought it was a joke.

They are killing people, saying they are against Western education but they are using western arms and western communication gadgets to wreak  havoc. I heard some people saying  Nigeria wants to negotiate with them, that is a new concept. We have not seen the end of Boko Haram yet, only God  can help us.

Jonathan’s request for extension of emergency rule in three states
It seems to me that our President boxed  himself to a corner; so he has no choice now than to accept the intervention of the international community. If he decides to extend the state of emergency in that area and the emergency has been there in the past six months, it will make no sense because we have not achieved anything. So why extend the emergency rule? Our military are the same people who have gone to ECOMOG and they performed well, you want to tell me they won’t be able to quell Boko Haram if they are allowed to? Those advising Jonathan, I don’t think they gave him professional advice on the matter.

Do you thing we can still go on with 2015 general elections amidst this insurgency?
If you take all the variables together, one will have that fear, there is reason for concern. But one needs a Nostradamus to say what will happen in 2015. A lot could happen in one year. I cannot say whether we can go on with the 2015 elections or not, but the way things are going, many believe they are a prelude to the prediction of Americans that we will have problem in 2015.

When that news came, our political class said  the country won’t break up, but no one is doing anything to ensure that the country does not break up. Everything they are doing is wrong. They only came up with the confab idea recently. And  the people of the Niger Delta are still suffering despite their oil and that is why I get angry when people quarrel with  them anytime  the issue of derivation is discussed. We still have a lot of problems in the system and only God can help us as a nation.

Some  APC leaders in Edo have resigned from the party and set to join the PDP. How do you react to the political situation in the state?
It is all about personal interest and ambition which  should not bother the governor. Up to this very moment, I  give Governor Oshiomhole  pass mark; I think he has done very well. Those who are moving from APC to PDP or PDP to APC the are typical Nigerians. I am not surprised. I don’t know how they will feel comfortable with such moves. And when you watch the group of people moving, they are the ones  going forward and backward which shows that whatever they are looking for is their personal interest; so  if they cannot get it there, may be they will get it here.

Now those moving from APC to PDP claimed there is no internal democracy in the party but that brings us to the question, what type of party members are  they? Are they loyal? Your house is burning and you ran out of it to some body’s else house;  if you believe in your house and you are quite comfortable with it initially, then you go to the  fire brigade to stop the fire. For them to leave a party after they said some body was a tyrant, suppose they move to another party and they meet the same problem, what will they do?

Most of them have said that was what drove them away initially from the PDP; so what has changed in the PDP? Those who left APC for PDP now, I believe the welcome the PDP leaders are telling them is just to get them to come to destabilize the other party, but I don’t think they will be trusted in PDP. If you could leave the way you left and haven left you said so much bad things about them when you were away and suddenly you come now that they should accept you back, you are not coming like a prodigal son, no body knows how you are coming. If you now don’t get what you want in the PDP, how will you now feel.

Besides, they met people in PDP, if all those people had left the party the way you left, who will you be meeting now in that party? But my joy is that they are not leaving because Oshiomhole is not performing; what they are saying is the conduct of the congresses. If the congresses were not properly done, rather than issuing Oshiomhole  seven day ultimatum, they should have taken the matter to the national leadership to hear the matter.

If there is anyone who wants  to be governor and left APC thinking he will get it in PDP it is a tall dream because people have been in PDP and keeping the party going. It will be difficult for us to trust these  people who decamp from one party to the other in Edo state. You need stability in every system. You would have thought that Mrs Clinton will leave the Democratic Party when she lost to Obama, but she stayed.

And at the end of the elections, she was appointed by Obama as the Secretary of State. The truth of the matter is that those who are leaving from one party to the other are not serving the interest of Edo State.
Oshiomhole has done his best for Edo people, he has built roads in Benin, done several other projects.

But  the greatest thing Oshiomhole has done in Edo State is to improve our psyche. Never again will anybody come to this state who will say it can never be done because there is no money. People are going to ask how Oshiomhole did it. He has lifted our realization, our consciousness, Oshiomhole has now shown that we have a right to ask questions

Recovering missing Benin  artefacts
Each time I  travelled out, I  interact with people and each opportunity I have, I  always talked about these looted artefacts. But  in October last year, I spoke on TV over there on the  issue. Some  weeks after my TV interview,  our President announced that they were going to do the centenary of the amalgamation of the North and the South. So that one too was in the papers everywhere.

Then somebody in the UK, who was aware of the way we feel about these things, who also knew where some of these things were,  now went on TV and gave an interview where he said they have some of those things; his great grandfather was a soldier who  fought in Benin in 1897, and he has some of those things in his house. My daughter in London watched  that TV interview  and contacted me.

I told her  to go and meet with the television house, and find out if they could get the contact of that person. Eventually they established  contact and they invited the man who had spoken on TV to a meeting. We got a  Benin group in London to meet with him, I also got the High Commissioner in London involved. And when they met, he told them that his  great grandfather had those two images in his house.

Apparently the man told them that he wanted those two images returned to Benin Kingdom. So we did a letter to the Nigerian High Commission in London requesting that the British man be given visa to visit Nigeria.  Our High Commissioner did better than that; apart from giving  him visa, he offered to give  him  ticket to fly to Nigeria.

And  he assured me that he knows some families in the UK, descendants of the troops  who  came to fight in Benin, that after the war the soldiers were allowed to take whatever they wanted. He said  he knows families in the UK that have those artefacts in their homes; he said he  will talk to them to assist  in  returning them. We are expecting the artefacts  in June, initially I chose March so that it will coincide with the coronation anniversary but when we missed that date, I thought we should make it June to coincide with the Oba’s birthday.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Charity Uzoechima, the 26-year-old girl  who  converted to Islam and kept in the palace of Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, for “safety” for three months, is in the news again.

Her  fate and  whereabouts since July last year when she was brought to Government House, Minna, Niger State for reconciliation with her parents  had not been known until days ago when she was said to be prepared and almost given out in marriage to a Muslim lawyer without the consent of her parents.

Charity’s parents

The last time she was brought to public glare was July  3,2013 in Government House, Minna.

She was not alone on that day. Her parents, Pastor and Mrs. Raymond Uzoechima; their lawyer, Femi Ikotun; the National Secretary of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Musa Atake; CAN Chairman, Niger State, Rev. Musa Dada; and immediate past governor of the state, Engr, Abdulkadir Kure; among  other stake holders, were at the peace meeting held at Government House, Minna on that  day with the deputy governor, Alhaji Musa Ibeto, presiding.

The purpose was to reconcile Charity with her family. But the reconcilation  failed due to a pending court case that compelled Charity to remain in Etsu Nupe’s palace until the case was discontinued.
The deputy governor said  after the meeting that the issue at hand was not religion but how to settle the case out of court amicably.

“We believe that the issue at hand is not the religion Charity should practice but how the case should be settled out of court amicably and get the girl reconciled with her parents,” Ibeto  remarked.  Charity’s father, Uzoechima, had filed a case on July 15, 2013, praying the court to bar the Sharia Court from entertaining a  suit filed by his daughter  on the grounds that the  court lacked  competence and jurisdiction to hear the suit.

Charity, now Aisha, had dragged her father to Sharia court, Bida, seeking its protection from the father over her conversion from Christianity to Islam in order to exercise her new faith without  hindrance.
Meanwhile, the lady was  withdrawn from the Etsu Nupe’s palace and kept in the deputy governor’s house where she was said to have been residing.

Charity (backing camera) with dad and a relation

However, arrangements were said to have been made  to give Charity out in marriage according to Islamic injunctions to a Muslim brother, said to be a lawyer.
The secret plan was allegedly  halted only hours to the wedding when a letter was written by the National body of CAN to its Niger State wing to investigate the matter and make its findings available to  appropriate quaters.

Niger State CAN Chairman, Dada, was said to have alerted the state Commissioner for Religious Affairs and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice on the development, seeking  to know what led to the Charity’s proposed  wedding especially without the consent of the stakeholders especially the parents of the lady.

The Commissioners,  it was gathered, could not give satisfactory answer and the matter was taken before the deputy governor, Ibeto, for intervention.

The stage was allegedly set for the wedding on a Friday with Imams and other Muslim clerics in attendance when Governor. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, after being consulted about the development ordered that the wedding should be aborted.

The aborted marriage has generated questions from  different stake holders. What is the fate of Charity? For  how long would she remain in “custody”? would have collected her dowry and on whose permission would have the marriage been contracted?

Charity was admitted to Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State in 2012 to read public administration but converted to Islam along the line and could not accomplish her academic pursuit.

In an exclusive telephone conversation with her last year on the issue, the lady  called on Nigerians to leave her alone to practice the religion of her choice, pointing out that nobody forced her into the religion and she should be left to carry her cross alone.

“I did it on my own. Nobody forced me into it. Am I the first to convert to Muslim in Nigeria?
I know it is people that are pushing my father and I am praying for him and other members of my family to know that this is the right religion,” she remarked.

On whether she would like to follow her father back home if the matter was amicably settled, Charity insisted that she  was afraid going back with the parents for fear of being killed.
“I am not going back to my father because of his actions. He had been threatening me. But at   my age, I am free to practice any religion of my choice and so, I should be left to decide,” Charity   declared.

Efforts to get in touch with her parents on the latest development proved abortive.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that the state government may be forced to contract the wedding between Charity and her groom  with or without the consent of her parents and family members.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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