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Nigeria loses Bakassi to Cameroun
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30 minutes from now, at exactly 11am, August 13, 2008, a major section of Bakkasi will become a part of Cameroun.

It is a painful process for Nigerians, especially the Bakassi people, who have lived, earned livelihood, spent Nigerian currency, has a local government of their own which is recognised and enshrined in the 1999 constitution, to now officially have their land and some of their people (if they choose to) to be ceded to Cameroun.

The road to this process has been a long and complex one. We went all the way to the international court where we lost the case. Nigeria gave her commitment to honour the court verdict by further signing a Greentree agreement at the United Nations several months ago.

No matter what happens, i salute the courage of our leaders for choosing peace instead of war in settling what could have turned into a diplomatic mess.

Bakkassi belonging to cameroun or not, its all about people. We need to ensure that the people who have lived in that region or their lives are comfortably resettled back in Nigeria, with little or no fuss at all.

On a lighter mood, i look forward to seeing what the new nigerian map would look like without bakassi, the shape of the map i learnt in my primary school is forever shaped in my memory.

August 13, 2008 | 5:33 AM Comments  0 comments



A campaign of shaming Heroes
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I read newspaper reports yesterday of the demotion of a number of police officers within the rank and file of the Nigerian Police Force.

I was shocked, and also sad, about these development, an attempt to hide the real motive behind these demotions fell like a pack of cards, no one, even the press, could not be fooled, the demotion was targeted at Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria's foremost anti-corruption Czar, whom elements within this government want to reduce to a mere rubble. Ribadu alongised hundred of officers, including the gallantry Haz Iwendi, was demoted from AIG to a deputy commissioner of police.

Apart from the headaches of solving the administrative blunder that will arise from this decision (Ribadu is currently attending a course at the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategi Studies because of his title as an AIG), the now bold attempt to rubbish and heap embarrasment and disgrace on a set of people who have defied all odds, swam against the tides to work for the betterment of this country is very discouraging and confusing.

Ribadu's crime: Daring to arrest and prosecute, the class of untouchable Nigerian.

Apart from Ribadu; Soludo's wrinkles have deepened since the advent of this administration; his attempt to introduce a Naira redenomination policy mid-last year was crushed with a sledge hammer because, as we were told, he did not follow due process.

His attempt to build Africa Finance Corporation into a world class institution that will mobilise funds specifically for infrastructure projects in Nigeria and several other African countries has now been dragged in the mud: Why? Because he did not follow due process.

If it is to sack Ribadu or send him on an exilic course in Kuru, the due process code that is very active in arriving at many decision suddenly goes on hibernation.

The lists are endless, Ribadu, Soludo, Okonjo Iweala, El-Rufai: we know! They have toiled endlessly in the last couple of years to turn round the fortunes of this country; however, they have been replaced by a group of Ministers who for lack of what to do, have turned round to ridicule the work of their predecessors.

Caution: We, as a country, need to be mindful of what we preach, who we reward, who we criticise. The lesson out there is simple: Steal enough money, Government might ask you to return some, you will still have enough for you and your 4 generations. Fight too much for your country and step on big toes, we will spear no expense to bring you down.

This lesson is very dangerous especially for young people, we better start changing it now!

August 7, 2008 | 1:07 PM Comments  0 comments

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Chris Gardner storms Nigeria
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If you have watched 'in pursuit of happyness' staring Will Smith: then the man whose life story the film is based on, chris gardner, is coming to nigeria courtesy of MTN, the giant telecoms comapny.

You have the opportunity to listen to him talk for free by visiting www.chrisgardnernigeria.com

July 29, 2008 | 3:44 PM Comments  0 comments

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Nigeria's ivory tower produces gold
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Accolades upon accolades poured in on Dr. E.A. Meshida, winner of the Nigerian prize for science, 2008 as he was honoured yesterday at a public presentation organized by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and the Nigerian Academy of Science at the University of Lagos.
Clad in a black suit, spotting some grey hair, Dr. Meshida stood tall as he shared with the rest of Nigeria and the world, his ground breaking work on the invention of “lateralite”, a stabilizing flux for fine grained lateritic soils which could potentially be a solution to road pavement destabilization.
According to Dr. Meshida, laboratory and field tests have shown that when the flux is mixed at a ratio of 1:10 by volume with compacted clayey lateritic soils, the soils are no longer soluble in water but maintain their compacted strength. What this all means is that the adoption of the flux for the treatment of problematic sub-grade or base course in road construction should eliminate the development of pot-holes and wavy wearing course, as excess moisture would no longer be a major factor causing pavement destabilization, leading to longer lasting highways in Nigeria.
The road to Dr. Meshida’s award winning research started in 1975 as a research student in the department of Geology, University of Ife. He chose the problem of water dissolution of base course lateritic soils as his self designed research problem. This was based on his experience as an engineering geologist in 1972 while working for Messrs Nigeria soil Engineering Company at Ikeja, in Lagos. He had to intensify his knowledge of Geo-chemistry and mineralogy towards finding the solution. After several attempts, he achieved success in 2001, 26 years after he commenced his research. The rest is now history.
Dr. Meshida is a home-grown egg head. He had the major part of his primary education in Ado-Ekiti from where he went to Akure for secondary education. After school, he went to Christ School in Ado-Ekiti for his Higher School Certificate (HSC), before proceeding to the University of Ibadan. He graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and went back shortly after for a Bachelor of Science in Geology, graduating in 1971. Meshida holds a PhD in geology (Geotechnics) which he obtained in 1985 from the Obafemi Awolowo University.
Several of Nigeria’s finest academicians joined Dr. Meshida on stage at the University of Lagos main auditorium as he was publicly presented as the winner of the 2008 NLNG Nigerian prize for science which comes with a cash award of $50,000 making it the most prestigious prize for science on the continent. Among them is Emeritus Professor David Okali, President of the Nigerian Academy of science who lamented on the dearth of entries for the awards. According to him, of the more than 40 entries, Meshida’s work stood tall and it was easy for the selection committee to pick him as the winner. He would have expected a scenario where two to three entries will jostle for the final selection and the committee will have a problem selecting a winner, which was not the case.
In his welcome address at the occasion, the deputy managing director of Nigeria LNG Limited, Engr. Faithful Abbi AbbiyeSuku described the Nigerian prize for science as the product of partnerships between the NLNG and the Nigerian Academy of Science. The NLNG, he said, embarked on the project as a firm conviction that greater recognition for science will provide leaders with answers to crucial national issues and bring about improvement in living standards. The award amongst many things is also expected to make the youth crave to be scientists, to put scientists in the list of the nation’s role models by elevating Nigerian scientists to ‘rock-star status’ having same face and name recognition as Nollywood stars.
Meshida’s work has turned into a beacon of light in Nigeria’s ivory towers. What with coping with obsolete and non-existence laboratories and equipments, lack of research grants and an uncooperative and unconcerned Government. There is at present little interaction between university based research results and their industry application in Nigeria. The parallelism of efforts in this area has to be arrested for good says Meshida.
Fortunately for Meshida and unfortunately for Nigeria, the invention of lateralite has caught the attention of a Chinese firm operating in Nigeria who has requested for the purchase of a manufacturing formula and the franchise to market the flux. Should Meshida accede to the request, the flux automatically becomes a foreign product like many other Nigerian inventions, a reason why many of Nigeria’s best brains leave the country in droves for greener pastures.
If the NLNG and the Nigerian Academy of Science dream of turning scientist into rock-star status will be achieved, winners of the Nigerian prize for Science must be taken round various higher institutions to deliver lectures and act as role-models to students so as to ensure that scientists have equal chance with the Nigerian music and video stars as role models for the Nigerian youth.