Yar Adua is sick – I listened to some people talking at a bus stop

I remembered my Yar Adua is sick post this morning as I stood by a newspaper stand at a bus stop. While some of us were more concerned about getting to our places of work early, others were busy arguing about President Yar Adua’s state of Health – besides that he just jetted out of the country 2–days ago, for a health checkup.

Of all the men standing by the newspaper-vendor’s stand, only one person did not agree that Yar Adua is sick. According to him, its the pressure of the work: – the work of leading a nation like Nigeria. Below is Mr. President’s picture on todays edition of the Nigerian Punch newspaper – which was the main cause of arguement.

I heard a lot of things, part of which are the following: M for Male:

M1: pointing with his fore-finger to the newspaper’s pic, this man is sick, lets face the fact. Just look at him. Anyone who says this man isnt sick doesnt like him.

M2:  wetin do am sef, sey na cancer, or na wetin

M3: I read the news in the paper sometimes ago, I forgot wetin dem call the name of his sickness, maybe na liver problem, ahhhhh, I’ve forgotten o. If this guy is not careful, he go die in Aso rock, and he will have himself to blame.

M4: ehn, at least if he’s dead, we will know hes dead. This one wey we no know whether he don die or he dey alive nko?

M5 see, you guys don’t understand. He is an old man. How can you see someone like this and you say this is sickness. This one no be sickness, I’m very sure, this guy don pass 70–years old.

M6: 70–kini? Yar Adua 70–years old? 70? The guy na 57 years old. The guy never nak. 60. I’m sure of that. The guy never nak 60.

M4: If Yar Adua na 70, who old pass: Obasanjo or Yar Adua?

M5: how can you say this man is 57 years old. Look at his throat. Look at his forehead, see all these heavy heavy wrinkles: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Maybe the guy don do afidavit before he entered politics jare. 57 ko, 57 ni.

M6: nooooo, noooo, see. Yar Adua is a young man. He is just 57. I use to know him when he was doing youth service. There is this em……..this school where he did his youth service….em, em, em.’man scratches his head, trying to remember the info’…….ooooo, I cant remember the name, but I knew him since 1974, he was around 22 then as a youth corper.

M5: see, my brothers. What we should pray for is that God should not allow us to see sickness. Even if you dont have money to eat, just pray that God will keep you health. 57 or no 57, I believe this man don pass 70. Pray that you never fall sick o, the kin sickness wey fit add like 10years wrinkle to your face in a matter of weeks.

M7: abeg, make you no talk go that side. Let me tell you the truth. Obasanjo old pass this guy well well. Obasanjo don pass 70 oh, and even if Yar adua is 70, Obasanjo still fine pass this guy, today, today, he still fine pass. See, let me be on the safe side eh, Obasanjo take at least 10years from this guy. Im very sure of that one.

M3: that one na true o. I know someone who feel sick for like a couple of weeks, sometime early this year. When dem discharge the guy for hospital, the children no recognize am o.. me sef, I tire wen I see am.

M7: sebi dem talk say he don go Saudi, wishing him well sha. How many Naija Presidents sef don die for office? He might be the first? sey we get president wey don die for office?

M5: another thing is this: do you know the pressures associated with being Mr. President? the guy fit no dey get 5–hours of sleep everyday, and he has to attend this meeting and that meeting. Even if he’s 57, or 70, or even 32, by the time someone undergoes such a pressure for like 1–month, things will change o. Politics no be enjoyment o, coz even if you wan do something good, and you call 10 of your advisers, you no go fit just dey take action because the 10 of them agree on a point – you have to think through yourself.

M4: sir, that one na theory o. Politics is Politics. Like me now, if dem talk say make I come dom politics, I go tell them say I no get stamina. Before anyone say I wan go do politics, he suppose check himself first, abi? Pressure or no pressure, who get pressure pass. Sey yar adua get pressure pass George Bush; sey he get pressure pass Obama. See fine boy Obama dey remove his shirt everyday, dey take picture for paparazzi. His wife sef get time to wear sleeveless. If Yar Adua pressure pass that of Obama, Nigeria for don better, abi. No be the same pressure all former Nigerian president get? Obasanjo get pressure, he dey wear fine agbada everyday. The only pressure wey dey for Naija politics na the pressure to chop money.

‘people burst into a laugh’

M8: see, na covetousness dey worry the man. You see, this politics thing, its not just a physical issue. Its a spiritual matter. The thing go dey push am, push am, say, stay there, stay there, until the guy quench, he no go know. Why can’t he resign and let Jonathan continue, ehn, why?

M1: Jona-wetin. Jonathan? Who is Jonathan? Its like you dont know that Yar Adua is a Hausa man.

M8: ehn, so what happened, whats the problem if hes a Hausa man.

M1: you dont know Hausa men? see, in the Nigeria of today, if you are not Yoruba, if you are not Ibo, If you are not Hausa, you cannot be President, you have no voice in Nigerian politics, you cannot rule this country. Besides, see, if you know Hausa men very well, their mind set is somehow. They dont recognize anyone except Ibos and Yoruba. Until this Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo thing be erased from this country, we cannot move forward. There must come a time when everyone, regardless of whether you are Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba or wherever – will be considered a Nigerian.

M4: thats why PDP was talking about Turai. When husband leave the place, wife go take over. Nigeria don become family buisness be that ehn. ‘people break into a laugh’.

M1: see, this guy go prefer die there, or however he fit wangle wangle, make Turai become President, but not Jonathan. See, Hausa men are not open minded people. You know how many people dey push am? This is politics o, no be dem talk say na do or die affair. See, if na normal person wey dey work for his own buisness / for company, if such a person fall sick, sey he no go siddown for house take medicine, take care of himself. He know say if he die there, dem go employ anoda person shap shap.

M8: how can you say Hausa men are not open minded? abeg careful o, mallam dey nearby o.

M1: ok, im sorry about that, but its the truth. You hardly find very well educated Hausas. Being open minded is a result of education, if one is not educated, what can we expect. Im not saying Hausa’s are totally uneducated o, but they have just a handful.

M3: my own be say, the guy dey seriously sick, and he for leave this Presidency thing, besides, he is not performing. He should just go find somewhere sit down, rest and enjoy the rest of his life. See, let me ask me ask you all one thing: When Obasanjo was President, regardless of all the problems in the country, didn’t he look better than this ‘pointing to Yar Adua’s picture’?

M2: ‘laughing’ – my broda, you know say Baba Obasanjo na Military civilian. The guy know how to chop better food.

– Oga wey say Hausa men are not open minded, you right small o, its because of education.

M3: you mean to say, na hunger dey worry Yar Adua? he no get wife? sey stove no dey for Aso rock? sey, na the way NEPA dey take light for your house dem dey take light for Aso rock? this one no be food. See, the way Yar Adua looks today is the way Obasanjo looked when he was released from Prison years ago.

hahaha – laughter from left and right 

M2: bros, your own too much o, how you fit say that kin thing.

M3: see, no be say anything personal dey here. Na truth. See, Nigerians wey dey for Prison abroad, dem no fine pass this? My own be say make the guy commot, make someone else take over – at least,  let us move forward as a Nation.

my bus arrived after the above, i couldn’t continue taking notes.

Its noteworthy that Nigerians are more concerned about Mr. President’s well being than about his impact as Mr. President. The stunner however is: the way Yar Adua looks today is the way Obasanjo looked when he was released from Prison years ago.

May God have mercy!

Womens rights: Sexual Exploitation at Skye Bank Plc

Sexual Exploitation at Skye Bank Plc: Speaking of Women’s rights – by Ike Apia

If Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu failed in her duties as a Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, it was not for lack of effort. But if anything, she indeed succeeded in her new found role of hell-raiser with a sexual harassment and exploitation lawsuit against her former employers that have been giving the management of Skye Bank Plc white nights, as they grapple with damage control over what now seems to be a public relations disaster for the bank.  

Love or hate her, there is no denying that her story exposes the hellacious ordeal of several Nigerian women who are coerced into engaging in shameful dehumanizing sexual escapades in a desperate effort to break the glass ceiling to meet unrealistic goals and expectations set for them by heartless mean-spirited men without any moral scruples.  

The facts of her story as contained in her lawsuit against Skye bank Plc make for interesting reading, but she is not alone. Mrs. Akabogu is amongst the hundreds of thousands of Nigerian women who face workplace discrimination and harassment simply because they refuse to put their bodies at the disposal of their employers.   
 

Imagine hiring someone simply because you intend to exploit her physical attributes in your unbridled quest for financial gain. If this sounds familiar, then consider a married woman, who is being pressured to employ her “bottom power” to rein in big clients like contractors and politicians for Skye Bank Plc. She is seeking N1 billion in general and punitive damages from Skye bank and some of its top executives who are named as co-defendants in the suit. 

The end justifies the means, some might say, but not when an institution like a bank; in this case Skye Bank is so desperate to build its market share, to the extent that it should be indulging in such unorthodox and perverted practices.Upon being hired as Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, in May 2009, Mrs. Akabogu was posted to the Enugu branch, ostensibly on a six-month internship.

Because the terms of her job description were vague and ambiguous, the bank sought to use her as a sex bait for its potential high value clients like local PDP bigwig, Chief Christian Uba, who was on the bank’s radar screens as a potential target. It did not help that Mrs. Akabogu had a personal relationship with the said Chief Uba which Skye Bank attempted to exploit in their grand scheme of “capturing” the man at all cost, including forcing Mrs. Akabogu into bed with him, in a quid pro quo arrangement involving sexual patronage by Mrs. Akabogu that will open the door for Chief Uba to become a Skye Bank client. 

The Skye bank retaliation was predictable when Mrs. Akabogu rejected the indecent proposal by her boss. She was relegated to a more inconsequential position within the bank, where she was maligned and sidelined and treated with scorn and subjected to all kinds of humiliation from her superiors and co-workers, simply because she stuck her guns and upheld her dignity.  

Even though she had succeeded in bringing in sixteen new genuine clients worth an estimated N6 million, management of these accounts were assigned to other colleagues and she was given no credit for her efforts. As if that was not enough, she was denied even the basic requisite facilities to effectively carry out her duties – no office; no work station; no computer; no vehicle and was permanently under stress and pressure, as he bosses missed no opportunity to remind her that she was an under-achiever, who was virtually on her way out of the job for failing to do what is expected of her. 

According to Skye Bank policy, Mrs. Akabogu’s refusal to exchange sexual favors to meet the bank’s target client benchmarks was seen as an act of betrayal by Mrs. Akabogu, whose decision to uphold her matrimonial vows was viewed as an act of  disloyalty by the Skye bank hierarchy. The message Skye bank was sending to Mrs. Akabogu as clear: he who pays the piper calls the tune and if you want to work here, better play by our rules or quit. Otherwise stated, her loyalty should be with Skye bank, and not her husband.

She was subsequently assigned to manage a new campaign of proximity banking; taking the services to the customers wherever they may be found. To which end, she was urged to go to certain local hotels frequented by the rich and wealthy, where Skye bank hoped, she would entice some of the men with he beauty. Mrs. Akabogu, according to the lawsuit, was directed by her boss to wear expensive perfumes, short skirts and other sexually inviting outfits to arrest public attention. To crown it all, she was given an open check to use the Zodiac hotel, as part of contingency arrangements, should the need arise.

The pressure to deliver and the stressful nature of her work environment had a huge impact on her health, which began to degenerate, until she suffered a nervous break down and passed out on two occasions and was rushed to the hospital. But Skye bank officials were heartless and refused to acknowledge that her blackouts were the result of stress, arising from emotional devastation and the psychologically traumatizing pressure deadline driven assignments she was being forced to undertake, against her own valuesb.

When she eventually returned to work from the hospital, it appears, Skye bank officials had come to the conclusion that they hired the wrong horse for the job and decided to force her to quit. It was therefore a contrived policy by Skye bank to make her working conditions so unbearable; she was the target of all kinds of unrestrained vituperations and snide remarks and when matters came to a head with an ultimatum that she opens ten new accounts every week, Mrs. Akabogu was forced to resign her job.

She has proceeded to file a lawsuit No. E/386/09 in the High Court of Enugu State of Nigeria between (Plaintiff) Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu vs, (Defendents) Skye Bank Plc, Nkolika Okoli, Chinedu Oguejiofor, Donatus Ugwuoke, Dr. Charles Udeogo, Maureen Okoye. Mrs. Ababogu seeks N1 billion in damages from Skye bank.

She has also petitioned the Nigerian Human Rights Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asking for an independent investigation into the practice by banks and other service industry institutions wherein women are being forced into involuntary prostitution as a condition sine qua non to keep their jobs. It is a shame.   

Speaking about human rights, for Mrs. Akabogu, it has been hell on two legs. She was taken on a jolly ride to the realm of moral degeneracy by unscrupulous Skye bank bosses who suffer from incurable money-mindedness and will stop at nothing in their quest for personal gain. Fortunately, she will get her day in court where Skye Bank Plc will be made to face their own music.

source: click here

When a married woman is pressured to defile her marriage bed because of bank work, the situation is critical.

re – FG to make Ph.D minimum qualification for academic staff

FG to make Ph.D minimum qualification for academic staff
Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City – 23.11.2009

THE Federal Government has said plans are underway to make doctorate degree the minimum qualification for any academic staff in tertiary institutions in the country.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, made this known at the 17th convocation ceremony of the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, on Saturday, adding that technical education would be required to provide technical manpower to drive the process.

He said part of efforts to achieve the goal was an agreement the Federal Government, through the Education Trust Fund (ETF), entered with the International Science Fund for the provision of laboratories and technical equipment in tertiary institutions in the country.

Egwu, who was represented by a permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, said the education sector was undergoing repositioning to enable it to meet its roles in the country, adding that one of the steps taken to realise the repositioning was the adoption of a road map for the education sector.

“We are embarking on a critical staff upgrade to ensure that academic staff in our tertiary institutions have a minimum of doctorate degree,” the minister said.

Besides, Dr. Egwu spoke of the need for all tutors in tertiary institutions to be computer literate, adding that “as it stands today, no staff of a tertiary institution will be relevant in future if such is not computer literate.

“The Federal Ministry of Education is, in fact, considering putting a deadline by which all staff of tertiary institutions must show ability to use the computer.”

He lamented that substantial amount of money voted for research annually by the ministry was not being accessed for undisclosed reasons and directed that such annual grants be brought to the attention of relevant staff.

Dr. Egwu promised that the government would implement all agreements reached with the unions.

source: click here

 

The news article above is really an interesting news. The first feel is: finally, the Nigerian educational sector will be revamped, and finally, our students will start learning something in school. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride, I’ve come to summarize the pronouncements of our leaders in government to be worse than bluffs. 

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I remember a lecturer friend of mine. I met him on a trip to the UNILAG sometime 2005. I went there to enquire about UNILAG, the possibility of enrolling for a post-graduate course etc. I went back a couple of times later and we became friends. On one of our meetings we had a long talk – I mean long talk, I laughed so hard, tears came out of my eyes, and I had to apologize that I didn’t mean to be funny – as he opened up, telling me about his studies at the UNILAG. Heres a short snip: he gave me himself as an example. He had been enrolled as a PhD student on UNILAG scholarship in engineering for past 10years(95–2005) and yet he was no where near graduation.

The main reasons:

Politics: Existing professors usually made students pass through the needles eye unnecessarily, and even to the extreme(he had become the personal driver for his professor’s kids to/fro school everyday, even in his own personal car). I actually thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. He informed me that a student he had lectured in a Masters degree class had transferred to the UK to finish his PhD degree, had returned and was now lecturing in another department, was now his senior as far as qualifications are concerned – yet, he(Mr. Lecturer) was still a PhD student. I was like wow!

Between research and relevant research: I laughed as I asked if his research topic 10–years ago was still relevant 10–years after. I rummaged my mind for the number of keyboards I’ve used in the past 10years. According to my-guy, it wasn’t a matter of being relevant, it was just finishing the degree, having the paali(paper). I asked why he didn’t just drop the UNILAG like a hot cake and go the the UK / somewhere else to complete his own studies. He informed me that he lacked sponsorship, besides he had been teaching at the UNILAG for quite a while, so he was considering his accrued benefits. As I spoke to him, I wondered how funny his CV would look like: PhD (1995–present) in 2005.

Professor Jack of all trades: another low down he gave me was the difficulty of finding professors who were extra-sound when it comes to the technicalities or R&D about a subject matter. According to him, there was the option in the Nigerian University system, that if there was no professor who could serve as adviser in your enrolled institution-A (for example), you could do have a remote advisor in institution-B. So if UNILAG was institution-A, and the UI / UNIBEN / UNIPORT was insitution-B, you as the student has to figure out how to shuttle from one to the other maybe weekly/monthly just to give 30–minute updates(for example) to your adviser. And he added “when you get there, you’ll discover he just travelled”, coz Prof is also hustling – teaching at another University / engaged in another sideline buisness, just to make two ends meet – and yet Prof gave you the assurance he will be around when you arrive.

Emails: so I’m like, ‘can’t you be communicating on email’? My-guy went: “emails ke? the person you cannot meet in his office / see with your two eyes, is he the one who will answer your emails”? Does he even have time to check his emails?”.

I remember feeling as if I should cry for my-guy.

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Presently wonder if the above developments, supposing it becomes a reality will make any difference.