Idimogu extols Iri ji, says it is symbol of unity

Ohamara Obiageri:

From left, Hon. Chief (Sir) Jude Chukwuemeka Idimogu; Solomon Ogbonna, Mrs Cecilia Dada; Eze Nwachukwu; and others during the Iriji ceremony.

Hon Jude Idimogu Lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 02 at the Lagos State House of Assembly & Chairman, House Committee on Commerce, Industry and Cooperative, has extolled the Iri ji ceremony by the Igbo people.

Idimogu spoke to Journalists during the 2018 Cultural Festival cum Iri Ji which held at the Lagos State Igbo Community Centre, Okota, Lagos. The event was hosted by Eze (Dr.) Christian Uchechukwu Nwachukwu, Eze Ndigbo on Sunday.

The lawmaker spoke on how the festival has affected the lives of the Igbos in Lagos, saying the Igbos are known for their culture and tradition. “The reason for the celebration is to remember the tradition which our forefathers handed over to us, as we are here it is also reminding us on the need to sustain the culture for future generation that iriji is the tradition that should be upheld and cherished as an Igbo man or woman.”

On unity he said events such as the iriji has the capacity to unite the Igbos, “As you can see the Ezes are here. Today Eze Nwachukwu is marking the iri ji, tomorrow it may be that of another eze, and we all go there, and it brings us together as a people, it brings harmony, peace and understanding. In Lagos it is difficult to visit one another due to traffic, but with an event like this, it becomes easier to see your brothers, sisters, associates, friend and well-wishers. So it is a nice one as it fosters peace and unity amongst Igbo people,” Idimogu said.

On his plans to woo the Igbos to support his political aspiration as the candidate of APC in the race for Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 02 in the Lagos House of Assembly he said gathering such as the iriji is an opportunity for him to see his people, adding that “There is no partisanship at a ceremony like this, but we see ourselves as Igbo. Whether APC, PDP, APGA we do not talk about party lines, we talk about Indigbo. However what they do is to look at their sons and daughters who are in politics and give their support to must qualified.

“For me, it is an indirect campaign to see my people and appreciate them, and they see me, those that are angry with me, I explain things to them; it is also a form of reconciliation.

“It must be stressed that Igbos love themselves wherever they are. We see ourselves as people in diaspora, and we gather together for the interest of our people.”

Chairman of the occasion was Prof. Nnabuihe Chigozie Bright of the Department of Linguistics, African and Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos.

Highlight of the event include award of honour to Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, the plaque who received by Mrs, Cecilia O. Dada on behalf of the Governor; there were different dancing group and masquerades from Igboland.

Countdown begins for ‘unusual praise’ 2018

Success Damian:

The countdown is on for Unusual Praise 2018, an annual Catholic gospel concert widely regarded as the biggest and most anticipated praise concert in Nigeria, with attendance drawn from near and far including worshippers from other denominations, faiths and countries.  

Unusual Praise 2018 the 8^th edition - is set to take place on Friday, November 30th 2018 at the Catholic Church of Divine Mercy, Lekki from 4pm till dawn.

A night of soul-lifting worship and unusual praise, attendees will be treated to an unforgettable experience marked by spiritual connection, glorious ambience and a spirit-filled atmosphere of blessings.

With an amazing line-up of heavyweight Gospel ministers featuring including 12-time Grammy Award-winning singer Cece Winans, Tim Godfrey, Mahalia Buchanan, Chioma Jesus, Bukola Bekes, Panam Percy Paul, Midnight Crew, Frank Edwards, Mercy Chinwo, Preye Odede and a host of other anointed ministers, the countdown is on for yet another incredible night of praise and worship. 

Unusual Praise has quickly grown to become the biggest of its kind within the Catholic Community in Africa - with explosive and spirit-filled performances by mega star acts such as Sinach, Nicole C Mullen, Don Moen, Olumide Dada, Frank Edwards, Sr. Agatha Ozah, Steve Crown and a plethora of globally recognized gospel stars in previous years.

This year’s edition promises to take things to another level with masterful worship, quality content and most importantly, a refreshing and uplifting experience in the presence of God. 

Ohanaeze leadership came with good vision, says Chief Nwobodo

Chief Sunday Nwobodo, Chairman, New Planet Resorts Limited, a hospitality group, stood tall among his peers at the 2018 Igbo Day organized by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos Chapter, which held at the National Stadium, Surulere recently. Speaking to the media he said ‘Solomon Ogbonna came with good vision for Ohanaeze’ OHAMARA OBIAGERI reports.

The 2018 Igbo Day celebration was a gathering of crème da la crème of Igbo land including traditional rulers, commercial and industry giants both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

Biggest Masquerades among them was the beautiful ijele and such other spirit beings from Igbo land, which carried with them nuances of Igbo tradition and culture, And of course, they were good sights to behold as they danced and thrilled both the guests, hosts and onlookers.

Chief Sunday Nwobodo who doubles as the Akaepuchionwa 1 of Enugu and Lagos states respectively, commended the initiative of an Igbo Day celebration saying it has engendered unity among the Igbos.

“What is happening today is wonderful, I am overwhelmed because coming together in this way means Ndigbo are united and it gives me Joy seeing the Igbos together.

“I am satisfied with all that is happening here today. If you look around you will see different masquerades everywhere, I am happy, every Igbo man that is present here is happy and it gives all Igbos joy. People eat together, dance together, it shows that every Igbo son or daughter here is happy with what we are doing. Igbo day is what gladdens the heart of every Igbo person.”

On the leadership of Chief Dr. Solomon Ogbonna, President of Ohanaeze, Lagos Chapter, he said “Solomon came with good vision for Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos. Remember, immediately he assumed office, the first thing he did was to get an office and decorated it for Ohanaeze so that Ohanaeze can have an address. First in history. If you look around everyone is happy. This year’s Igbo Day is unique in so many ways as you can see.”

Speaking also on what the leadership of Ohanaeze would do to further enhance performance he said “Another thing I want Solomon to do is to get a land for Ohanaeze Lagos Branch, since we now have an office, let him try and get a piece of land where Ndigbo can construct a Civic Center, such structure can be rented for weddings and other functions that have to do with the Igbos.”

Nwobodo assured Ohanaeze of maximum support if the construction of a Civic Centre was initiated, adding that he cherishes good things.

For Eze Dr. Christian Nwachukwu, Eze Ndigbo of Lagos & Chairman, Council of Ndieze in Lagos said the Igbo Day offered an opportunity to thank God for his protection in 2018.

He said “The occasion is for the promotion of interaction and peace among all our citizenry, and to bring all Igbos, men and women in Lagos together. It is also an opportunity to wish all of us happy Christmas celebration. So for us in Lagos, it is good for all of us to interact and celebrate.

Commenting on the leadership of Ohanaeze Lagos, he said “This is the only time Ohanaeze has gotten a leadership that is upright. They do things differently from previous leaders that have led Ohanaeze Lagos State. The leadership is special in that they brought Ndigbo in Lagos together, they believe in unity and peace, they believe in togetherness, and they have really achieved that which is why all of us are here.”

SAHCO records 100% growth in revenue, total assets

Success Damian:

Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO) has disclosed over 100% growth in revenue and total assets since privatization of the company.

Chairman of SAHCO Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, made the disclosure at the Initial Public Offering by way of an offer for sale of 406,074,000 Ordinary Shares which took place at Southern Sun Hotel Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday.

According to him “Since privatisation and following a number of turn around initiatives post-privatisation, SAHCO has built strong competence as one of the leading aviation ground handling service providers in Nigeria growing its market share from 21% in 2009 to over 40% today with over 100% growth in revenue and total assets”

The Initial Public Offering was by way of an offer for sale of 406,074,000 Ordinary Shares for N50K each at N4.65 per share.

Afolabi added that “Skyway Aviation Handling Company PLC is an aviation ground handling services provider and a member of the Sifax Group of Companies (“Sifax Group”).”

He said today, SAHCO is an ISAGO (IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operation) and RA3 (European Union) certified Ground Handling Company, active in all commercially operated airports in Nigeria, with significant investments in state-of-the-art aviation ground handling apparatus, manpower trainings and excellent customer services with recently completed ultra-modern cargo import and export warehouses.

On the Initial offering he said “Based on the terms of the executed Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) in respect of the privatisation of the erstwhile Skypower, the shareholders of the Company are obligated to divest 49% equity stake in SAHCO to the investing Nigerian public, with 10% of the shares to be divested, sold to the staff of the Company.”

Afolabi further stated that the company sought and obtained the approval of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for a phased divestment in view of current market conditions. Thus, the Offer was being undertaken to enable the current shareholders divest 406,074,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each representing 30% of the entire issued and fully paid up Ordinary Shares of SAHCO in partial compliance with the terms of the SSPA with plans to divest the balance of 19% equity stake at a future date.

He said ‘10% of the Ordinary Shares being offered for sale will be reserved for staff of SAHCO (in accordance with section 4.2 of the SSPA and section 5 (3) of the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act No. 28 of 1999) under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to be set up and administered by a Trustee,” .Afolabi said

Speaking further, Aforlabi said SAHCO’s impact in the Nigerian aviation ground handling sector is evidenced by its array of awards and recognitions received from 2009 till date, in recognition of the Company’s strides and innovation in building a brand in line with global standards, some of which include Most efficient ground handling company of the year, 2018, by Association of Foreign Airlines & Representatives in Nigeria, African Best Passenger Handling services provider for the year 2016 - Institute of brand management of Nigeria, Most Turnaround Aviation Cargo Handling Concessionaire by Transport Development Excellence Awards (2015) among other enviable awards.

Addressing the press on SAHCO’s future strategies he said “SAHCO’s future strategy is to create long term shareholder value through the profitable operation and expansion of its business beyond Nigeria and into other West African markets with a vision to become the leading provider of passenger, ramp and cargo handling services in the West Africa sub-region.”

 

MNCH Documentary highlights needless death of Nigerian mothers, Devcoms

Development Communications Network recently organized a documentary screening on maternal and child health. The gathering which was an interactive session between the media and key civil society organisations in Lagos State aimed at previewing an innovative approach to public education on the needless deaths of women in pregnancy and childbirth. Success Damian reports.

Previewing Maternal Newborn Child Health (MNCH) documentary which held at Devcoms office in Surulere, Lagos was an eye opener for the public to be aware of the numerous challenges militating against adequate healthcare for pregnant mothers in Nigeria.

Bolaji Adepegba, a Consultant to Devecoms on Training and Communication, said that the documentary screened was about the needless death of pregnant women in Nigeria.

Put together by some civil society organisations in Nigeria, the campaign against maternal and child death was done through Not Again Campaign.

Adepegba stated that “The essence of the campaign was to step up the advocacy against the death of mothers in Nigeria titled Not Again because Nigeria is posting a very high statistics as far as the death of pregnant mothers  are concerned, so we want to highlight some of the issues involved. It exposes some of the lapses, lapses on the side of the population, especially our health seeking habits, lapses on the side of the system which has to do with how much resources is deployed.”

He said part of the challenges discovered during the documentary include Poverty which makes it difficult for people to access health facilities. He also said Ignorance also make people not to know what they are supposed to do, “We also have bad governance, and that is why we had to bring the experiences of women who had near fatal experiences, so that they could tell the world about their experiences,” Adepegba stated.

“So from what they are saying you could see where they themselves went wrong and where the system went wrong, so it helps everybody to know the way to go so that our women need not to die needlessly.

Speaking on the way forward, Adepegba reiterated that “The way forward is for the Population to know what to do, go seek help as early as possible, and for the government to fashion ways through which people can access some of this facilities, at minimum cost and you could see that we highlighted the issue of health insurance. The whole process of health insurance is that we will not all be seek at the same time, but we will all be paying periodically our premiums, so there is so there is going to be a pool of resources, to help those that fall sick at intervals and when it is my turn to fall sick, other people will take care of my health bills. And I don’t see this as rocket science, it can be as everybody paying as little as N100 every month depending on the level of care that you hope to seek.

“On every body’s part we all have a role to play either as health seekers, health care providers, and that is the reason we put together this documentary,” Adepegba said.

Akiloluwa Akinpelumi, Head of programmes, Development Communications Network said the video for not again campaign against the death of women and children, is to show the reality of what an everyday woman faces when it comes to child bearing, and their experiences when they go for antenatal cares. “And also to show to us that our public hospitals, a lot of times you find out that facilities are not available.

He said with the documentary, as stakeholders, individuals, organisations, need to continue to push for the end to the endless death of women and children, because whether we like it or not these are leaders who are going to take over from whoever is the leader right now, because they are also a generation to be reckoned with and so, if we preserve their lives, we never can tell this is the next set of generation that will turn the nation for good.”

Feed the Future Today introduces Financial Literacy to public schools

Ohamara Obiageri:

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Feed the Future Today, has introduced Financial Literacy to pupils of selected public schools in Lagos, even as it donated rain coats to save the children from rain.

Founder & President of the group, Adetola Okanlawon spoke to the media at Ogba Public Primary School on Thursday during this year’s Feed the Children ‘Rain Coat Drive’

He said the NGO which is in its 10^th year that was upgraded to a Foundation two years ago, adding that the project for this year was introduction of financial literacy and rain coats to three school which include Ogba Public Primary School, Opebi Primary School and Bola Memorial.

In his word “This year marks the 10th year of existence of the NGO, but it was registered as a foundation in 2016,” Okanlawon stated.

Speaking on the core focus of the group he said “The Foundation is basically focused on introducing financial literacy to public schools, and we collaborated with Sterling Bank and other companies like Bakers World, Zinox and others.

“We also use this opportunity to protect the children, from the season, it is rainy season, so we are introducing financial literacy and we are protecting the children,” said Okanlawon.

Okanlawon put the total cost of the rain coat giving out this year at N2.5 million “In total we are giving out over 1500, Ogba Public Primary School we gave them 700; Opebi Primary School 400 plus, and Bola Memorial is about 300 plus. We have over 2500 raincoats and a raincoat, so we are talking of over N2.5m.”

The Founder disclosed that the organization is partnering with Government, “Because we always get approval from the government before we can do such things.”

On the challenges facing the group, Okanlawon said “The challenges the Foundation was facing include finance, Finance is pretty stiff; we constantly need the people to be supportive of anything that we do, so we are giving school bags, uniforms and things like that. We cannot do it alone, Okanlawon said.

He also hinted of introducing scholarship programme in the future, saying “We have not started a scholarship programme, but may in the future.”

Jonathan Alaba a pupil of Ogba Public Primary School who received a book and rain coat expressed his joy saying, “I won a raincoat and a book from sterling bank. I feel happy. Thank you Sterling for giving me a raincoat and a book, God bless you, I am going to work to make my parents happy.”

Time for unity is now, Ozonweke urges Ndigbo as Igbo Day 2018 holds

Ohamara Obiageri:

Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State Chapter, Chief Everest Ozonweke, has urged the Igbos to live as one at this critical period in the life of the nation.

Ozonweke was speaking to Journalists at the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Secretariat in Surulere, Lagos while announcing preparation for the 2018 Igbo Day/Cultural Festival scheduled for November 3, 2018 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

He said that this year's Igbo Day/Cultural Festival with the theme ‘Progress of the Igbo Nation (Oganiru Ndigbo)’ would among other issues showcase the rich Igbo cultural heritage which as passed unto present generation of Igbos by their forefathers.

According to Ozonweke, also known as Onowo of Badagry, “Igbo Day and Cultural Festival is a Thanksgiving day for the Igbo all over the world and a celebration for surviving the civil war, having been marked for extinction.”

Speaking further, Ozonweke, stated that “If there's a time for Ndigbo to be united and co-exist in harmony, it's now; if there is a time for Ndigbo to speak with one voice, that time is now, and we must do everything possible to make sure that the achievements made so far by the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos, Chief Solomon Ogbonna and his executive, are sustained and improved upon.”

The Chairman Standing Committee of Culture Event, His Royal Highness Ubochi C. Ubochi said that the 2018 Igbo Day and Cultural Festival is a must attend to every son and daughter of Ndigbo in Lagos.

He also urge the friends of Ndigbo and various host communities in Lagos State to be part of the auspicious event.

Joan Agha Foundation empowers women, youths with technology, grants

Ohamara Obiageri:

Joan Agha Foundation (JAF) has restated commitment to empower women with cheap and affordable technologies for small scale entrepreneurship with ultimate aim of industrializing the nation.

This was the revelation at Joan Agha Foundation 6^th Annual Lecture for Women Entrepreneurs themed ‘Women Entrepreneurs: Catalyst for Development’ which was held at Oriental Hotel in Lagos recently.

Joan Agha, the Founder and President the Foundation who stated that the motive behind the Foundation was to impact lives especially women and the youyh, added that the foundation has granted scholarships to 39 brilliant indigent students from primary to tertiary institutions, having also empowered 64 women with loans without interests.

“Three years ago we gave out grants of N100,000 each to four youth entrepreneurs, last year we gave a million and this year we have done N1.1million,” Agha disclose.

Agha relying on National Bureau of Statistics, said Nigerian women constitute 70% of the informal economy, and one-third of Nigeria’s formal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). She added that despite the influx of women entrepreneurs, not much has been recorded due to limited access to finance, markets and entrepreneurial skills.

She said the essence of the annual lecture was to continually create a platform and unique opportunity for women entrepreneurs, to ensure that they are equipped to conceptualize, initial and operate successful enterprises which will develop into future big businesses.

Professor Gloria Elemo, Director General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) who was the keynote Speaker stated that the challenge for the women was on how to start their own businesses.

While decrying the issue of recession and unemployment, Elemo said women have the key to industrialization of the nation, adding that FIIRO on their part have introduced simple technologies that have very high potentials of growth which will help to economically empower the women and families. “Women you know actually serve as stronghold and background of any family structure, so they need to be empowered, they need to be informed."

Speaking on how women could solve the problem of funding their businesses Elemo said, “There are many programs of Government that can give you quick access to funds. You have the bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, special program by CBN, Microfinance Houses, so when you come, our success is that you are able to establish, so we try as much as possible to link you to the relevant institutions,” Elemo said.

Among other speakers at the event were Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni, Director General, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACIMA); Mrs Ojini Olaghere, Managing Consultant, Rickela Consulting Limited, Guest Speaker; and Peter Bankole, Pioneer the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan-Atlantic University, Guest Speaker.