The Benin Girl and Benin Mama

Written by Patrick Dele Cole - Nigeria

ESOSA Susan is 5ft. 7 inches tall. Excellently proportioned; today she is wearing a designer dress she bought in Paris, at the Etienne Hugo. The dress fits perfectly and stops demurely at her knees. She is wearing a 7-inch Jimmy Choo heels killer sexy heels any other woman would die for. Her handbag is a small affair from Prada. The hair, the latest hair attachment - is full and luxurious looking as if she has just stepped out of a salon. Where others make or do their hair with three bunches, she did five, which is styled by a professional hair stylist. The total effect is stunning - get people - men and women - gapping at this apparition of beauty stepping down the road. Heads turn as she passes. She is a Benin girl whose name is Esosa Susan.

Her swagger is different from that of every other girl.

You cannot intimidate her; she has a peculiar life view - that life is for the present to be enjoyed in full. She speaks with a low voice but with a tilt that emphasizes the peculiar Pidgin English that is entirely unique to Benin in the same way as you can tell when a "Warri boy" or "Port Harcourt boy" speaks pidgin. But that voice can rise with particular venom when she is angry or distressed. All the sophistication of Esosan is skin deep. She is not beyond descending to the language of a gutter snip or fighting. Hers is a tough world and only the tough survive.

Furthermore, the Benin girl is a special phenomenon. It is unique - why? She is part of an industry - with world-wide implications and connections - it is the employment of young women who are upwardly mobile, beautiful, well "educated", trained in the sexual arts, able to make a lot of money through gifts from men: the closest comparable relationship is that of geisha girls in Japan (without the overt sexuality). She is obviously intelligent - street wise - but can fit in a sophisticated setting.

Benin is a centre, a confluence of several cultures - Edo, Ibo, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ishan, Estshako, Isoko, Kwale, Agbor, Ubulu Uku, Isele Uke, Asaba, etc.

The early historical influence of Benin Empire went as far as present day Benin Republic, Lagos, Warri, Ife, Ishan etc. Moreover, there is a long historical connection with Benin Empire: today Benin is a confluence of beauty, brain, money, power and influence. Benin was the epicenter of the 419 scam until recently when it moved to Asia.

How to make it BIG in Nigeria

As a writer and a student of business literature, any time I come across a Nigerian entrepreneur sharing his thoughts and life experiences in the form of a book which others can read and be inspired by, I feel so fulfilled. The real heroes of Nigeria, to me, are not our politicians who make their easy money running into millions and billions bleeding our coffers. The real heroes of Nigeria are people like Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Cletus Ibeto and every entrepreneur, big or small-people who started from nothing to create a business which grows from small to mighty. People who waded though all kinds of obstacles but never gave up until they scored their goals. People who create businesses that employ many in this country of ours bedeviled by the big, ravaging monster, the time bomb called unemployment.

Poly I. Emenike, chairman and founder of Neros Pharmaceuticals, an entrepreneur par excellence whose book,ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRITS: Through the Seventeen Success Principles of Napoleon Hill is to be presented at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Wednesday is a Nigerian hero whose story is the type that movies are made of. He belongs to the generation of Igbo who came out of the Nigerian Civil War with nothing-no education, no money, no connections, no strong foundation upon which to build their future success. But still, they made it, guided by the hand of God who blesses those who use their brains to create wealth.

After the civil war, Emenike came to Lagos trading in bathroom slippers. He bought his goods from one Alhaji Kadiri who was Emenike's hero and role model on the grounds that he owned a Volvo car. When he suddenly bought two brand new ones, Emenike was filled with awe and admiration. He started praying, dreaming and hoping that one day, he too would work hard and own a Volvo like Alhaji Kadiri. But as he examined and frankly assessed his life and the way he was going, he knew that merely selling bathroom slippers would not take him anywhere in life, let alone buy a brand new Volvo. He knew he had to drastically change his line of business and move into something more lucrative, if he wanted to go far in life.

For Nigerian traders in Ghana, it's still no respite in sight

AJAYI OLUWAPELUMI in Ghana writes about the frustration of the affected Nigerians.

Nigerian traders in Ghana have been under pressure to move out by the local authorities at the instance of their Ghanaian counterparts. 

The year 2014 has no doubt being  one of turbulence and instability for Nigerian traders in 10 regions of Ghana, as the Ghana Ministry of Trade and Industry threatened to implement the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, 2013 (Act 865) which prohibits foreign traders from trading in its 48 markets across the country.

Nigeria and other ECOWAS member countries are recognised by Ghana constitution as foreign.

In June this year, it was reported that thousands of members of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), both in the capital city of Accra and Ashanti region of Kumasi, turned up the pressure being mounted on the foreign traders, mostly Nigerians by locking up their shops.

The situation was, however, checked through the intervention of Ghana police, which saw the foreign traders return to their shops without hindrance.

However respite for the traders seemed short-lived as the ministry that has the power to eject the traders, in September, issued a 30-day ultimatum for all foreign traders to quit the local markets or else face eviction and be prosecuted in a court that will be set up to prosecute foreign retail traders.

Ebola as grand conspiracy against Africa

Written By Josef Omorotionmwan - Nigeria

A picture taken in Oshodi Heritage park in Lagos on October 20, 2014 shows an electronic information board on Ebola reading in pidgin English “No Shaking ! We go Chase Ebola Comot” which means “No cause for worry, we will chase Ebola away”. Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria was on Monday declared officially Ebola free but warned that it remained vulnerable as long as the virus was raging elsewhere in west Africa. The country representative of the World Health Organization, Rui Gama Vaz, said 42 days — or two incubation periods of 21 days — had elapsed without any new confirmed cases of the deadly virus.

Dangerous ignorance is more dangerous than dangerous knowledge. As his eyes open up, the African is bound to be enraged. Has anyone ever stopped to think of the agony of a people who are victimized in every sphere of life; a people who are dying daily out of no fault of theirs?

Listen to the people who distrust their hospitals; these are otherwise very loving people who can no longer shake hands with, and hug, their relatives and friends; and people who suddenly must resort to hosting members of their elite clubs with stock-fish or "eja shokotoyokoto" (iced fish) instead of the delicacies of antelope and porcupine meat, which they once enjoyed, all for fear of Ebola!

Listen to people whose rights of passage to foreign lands must be totally abridged and if they must pass, they must be thoroughly screened, sometimes beyond their under-pants, before being thrown into quarantine without any explanation - with the accompanying life stigma - all because of their skin pigmentation or the accident of geography!

Suppose in this state of melancholy, you are told that the so-called Ebola virus is man-induced? And suddenly signs begin to emerge that the most- dreaded viruses in the world today - Ebola and HIV/AIDS - may be another grand conspiracy against the Black race. Recently, the Liberian Daily Observer, the largest newspaper in Liberia, featured an eye opener in its front page in an article titled "Ebola, AIDS Manufactured by Western Pharmaceuticals, US DOD?"

The article accused the Western world of manufacturing the Ebola outbreak in a scheme to use Africa as a testing ground for bio-weapons.

Scientists agree essentially that deadly diseases like Ebola and HIV/AIDS are bio-weapons that are being tested on Africans and also being used as a check on Africa's population. Incidentally, Liberia currently has the continent's fastest growing population.

Admittedly, to be opposed to technology in today's world would tantamount to self-hatred. But the White man's inhumanity to the Black is also not an act of God.

The Liberian Observer points out that Ebola has long been recognized as a Genetically Modified Organism, GMO. In his work, Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola - Nature, Accident or Intentional, Horowitz (1998) was most unambiguous: "The discussion in the early 1970s made it obvious that the war was between countries that hosted the KGB and the CIA, and the manufacture of AIDS-like viruses was clearly directed at the other... He had confirmed the existence of an American-Medical-Industry that conducts biological weapons tests under the guise of administering vaccinations to control diseases and improve the health of Black Africans overseas".

Ebola has a terrible history and testing has been secretly taking place in Africa. Dr. Horowitz confirms further: "The pathological description of what was found in animals killed by the Ebola virus is what the virus has been doing to citizens of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in its most recent outbreak: Ebola virus destroys peoples' internal organs and the body deteriorates rapidly after death. It softens and the tissues turn into jelly, even if it is refrigerated to keep it cold. Spontaneous liquefaction is what happens to the body of people killed by the Ebola virus! The 1976 Ebola incident in Zaire, during President Mobutu Sese Seko, was the introduction of the GMO to Africa".

The evil of Nollywood

Written by Biodun Ogungbo - Nigeria

One story

Dr. Biodun Ogungbo

There is a story/video reported on the Internet. The title of the video, “Flying bird turns into old woman in Oshodi,” doesn’t appear to explain the disturbing scene, but its description and a local news article combine to create an unusual narrative.

In the film, an angry mob and a policewoman can just be made out, gathered in a circle on the dusty ground. As the camera finds its focus, the grim reality becomes clear. In the middle of the circle sits a woman, almost naked, her body bloodied and burnt.

Eyewitnesses quoted by a newspaper said a black bird had been flying in the sky over Oshodi, in Lagos, before striking an electrical cable, falling to the earth and transforming into a woman. The same eyewitnesses said she confessed to being a witch.

Banke Idowu was one of those who filmed the woman. She told BBC Trending that as she arrived, she was told about the metamorphosis by others in the crowd. She herself believes the explanation of witchcraft. “I’ve never seen it in real life, but I’ve heard about it and seen it in films. So when they said it happened, I believed it.”

Another story

A friend was at a discussion forum where a taxi driver claimed in broad daylight that he hit a cat on the road and after the impact, the dead cat turned into a dead woman. The police were called, they bought the taxi driver's story and took the corpse away. He got away with manslaughter! Sadly, many on the forum also believed his story.

Marked for life? Are your tribal marks attractive or repulsive?

Written by CHIOMA GABRIEL - Nigeria

As incredible as it may seem, many people find tribal marks repulsive.

The first time Akinwunmi travelled to the United kingdom several years ago, he recalled how a little white girl approached him where he was seated at the airport and studied his face. Akinwunmi had four long horizontal lines deeply etched on his two cheeks.

The girl was aged about six. Akinwunmi was initially embarrassed at the way the girl stared at him. Her parents were seated a few yards away and not knowing how to send her away, he decided to engage her in a conversation.

Then, the girl came clean to ask about the marks on his face and he told her he fought and killed a lion. Impressed, she ran back to her parents shouting on top of her voice that she wanted her doll and a biro. She was shouting that she had just met a brave man who had killed a lion.

The little girl drew the attention of many who shifted their gaze to Akinwunmi's direction and wondered at him. Some of the men even nodded in admiration at his bravery and the little white girl returned, holding her doll and a biro. She lovingly caressed Akinwunmi's face and the marks on his face before giving him her doll for his autograph.

Now visibly embarrassed, Akinwunmi held her hand and told her he didn't fight or kill a lion but that the marks on his face were tribal marks he got as a child. On hearing that, the little girl shifted away and screamed in horror, shouting that he was a savage. Her scream attracted airport officials who came to her rescue and found her pointing at Akinwunmi's tribal marks as the face of a savage.

That was over thirty years ago.

Now, Akinwunmi is 57 years and happily married. He has five kids. None of whom has tribal marks.

" I cannot subject my children to the embarrassment I suffered over the marks I have on my face. Even in my school days in Nigeria, they called me all sorts of names because of the severe tribal marks my grand parents put on my face. As a young man, I remained a virgin for a long time because the kind of ladies I wanted to date rejected me due to the marks on my face. The greatest thing that happened to me was getting educated and qualifying to be a doctor otherwise it would have been disastrous for me.

Ebola: Nigerians go comical?

...culled from Nigerian Tribune

THE scourge of the Ebola virus in Nigeria has thrown up a lot of issues. Aside government's spirited efforts to contain the spread of the virus, there have been a rise in weird and comical angles to it on the social media. DAMOLA ADEOYE picks up some of them.

WITH the death of Liberian diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, and the subsequent death of a Nigerian nurse who cared for him, Nigerian authorities and, indeed, all Nigerians may have been alerted to the grim realities of the dreaded Ebola virus. Though the disease has been ravaging Liberia, Guinea and Sierra-Leone with their governments already declaring an emergency in the health sector, the reactions of Nigerians to the appearance of the virus in the country have grown from a stupefied one to one, somewhat weird and downright comical. 

New Ebola greeting styles

With medical experts advising against shaking hands and/or avoiding physical contact with people, Nigerians have found a way to create comic skits out of the situation.

On facebook, several pictures depicting ways of greeting each other are now trending. The pictures show people bent on avoiding the traditional handshake, now greeting each other with their backsides touching one another. Others stand far apart, one hand waving, another covering their nose.

Ikeja beauty parlours: Home of deadly glamour

Written by Anna Okon - Punch, Nigeria.

From the dingy shops and dubious tools of self-acclaimed hairdressers under the Ikeja Bridge, Lagos, come a most unexpected service: breast enhancement.

The Lagos traffic snakes along the main road from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, crawling sluggishly towards the bridge which leads to the Oba Akran Road. A similar scenario plays out under the bridge where rows of shops line both sides of the road. Smartly dressed young men and women are everywhere, clustering around these shops, while some are by the road side calling on pedestrians, trying to entice them for patronage.

This place is known as Ikeja Under Bridge. It is an area that has always been home to both male and female artisans in the beauty business.

Recently, however, men appear to have upstaged women in the business. It is now a common sight to see young men hovering along the fringes of the roundabout linking Obafemi Awolowo Way and Oba Akran Avenue, soliciting customers and taking them to nearby shops.

One of these shops is owned by Linus Solanke (not real names), a hairdresser. He is one of those who make extra money by renting out their shops on a short-time basis to other hairdressers who need space for a few hours to attend to their customers.

Solanke's salon, a makeshift space, is equipped with a wall mirror and a few straight-backed chairs and it has become a haven for other young men who do hair braiding, pedicure and manicure body piercing, tattoos, permanent eye lashes/brows, permanent lip colour and other services. For each client attended to in his shop, Solanke charges between N300 and N400.

While in their salons, one easily understands why men are taking over the business. Unlike their female counterparts, the young men take their time to do their work and their charges are very flexible. Whereas the women charge between N2, 500 and N3, 000 for hair 'fixing,' the men take as low as N1,000 or less and they hardly leave a client unattended to.

Six lies Nigerian wives tell their husbands

Knowing what to saw and when to say it is part of being a woman. Sometimes, total honesty puts a woman in a bad light or endangers her matrimonial integrity. That's why wives have to pad the truth or tell their hubbies what they want to hear once in a while. It doesn't make them liars really, just wise wives. Check out these ones and what your wife truly means when she uses them.

1. Your mother is my mother

Ah, in your dreams. In her dreams, she probably has killed your mother many times. You don't even want to know how the number of times she has bought rat poison to serve along with mama's des­sert. Why do you think the air conditioner in mama's room is the coldest in the house? It's just her upbringing and what the pastor would say that is keeping her from becoming a murderer. For as long as mama continues to check her pot of soup and act the self-appointed BoT Chairman of your marriage, I cannot guarantee her safety.

2. I love you just the way you are

Lose that beer gut and stop snoring and we can review that statement. Compare your flat tummy and taut muscles when you got married to that 25kg belly you are lugging around. Yeah, you have made money and so call all the shots in your home, your extra luggage is only being tolerated. And it is your snoring that she is talking about when you hear her pray against 'noisome pestilence' during morning devotion. Then, when she caresses your ever growing midriff, don't smile, she is just checking to see if there has been a reduction since the last time she checked. As we speak, she is doing research on WebMD for tips on 'how to deliver your pregnant husband' and ' herbal remedies for snoring.'

3. It's okay if you don't want any more children

Whaaat? She most likely had her IUCD removed yesterday and consider­ing you do not use umbrella or raincoat, it will soon be raining twins in your home . Unless and until you have nicely and totally convinced your wife that Junior and Mimi are all the kids you need, do not take anything for granted. Only an un­wise man believes he can order a woman to stop making babies. Very laughable. Imagine this: darling, I do not want any more children and I hereby forbid you to get pregnant. If you dare me, you will be sorry. Ah, I'm laughing again. To­tally unsmart. See, when you vigorously and religiously drop your seeds in her incubator and she receives them with a smile, there is bound to be consequences and repercussion . Simple logic. And when she gets pregnant, the only person who will be sorry is you, trust me, because you cannot use a pestle to remove the seed you sowed with such dutiful effectiveness. In other words, you cannot hang your boots without your wife's consent.

Nigeria as the world capital of skin bleaching

Written by Jide Ojo - Nigeria

"Say it loud - I'm black and I'm proud"

- R&B legend, James Brown in his 1968 album.

Jide Ojo

Can you believe that the World Health Organisation has adjudged Nigeria as the country with the highest number of women who use skin-lightening products in the world? In a recent skin bleaching snap survey conducted by NOI Polls from February 3 - 5, and published on March 18, 2014 in Abuja, the polling agency said the assessment result confirms the submission of WHO on the endemic nature of skin bleaching among Nigerian women.

Recall that a report in The Vanguard newspaper of June 3, 2013 had said the WHO had indicated that 77 per cent of women in Nigeria use skin-bleaching products being the highest in the world. The figure compares with 59 per cent in Togo, and 27 per cent in Senegal. Asians are facing a similar trend as 4 out of 10 women in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan use a skin-whitening cream.

The NOI Polls report reads, "Latest snap poll results released by NOI Polls have revealed that 64 per cent of Nigerians are of the opinion that skin bleaching has become highly predominant in the country, especially amongst Nigerian females (97 per cent). This finding supports the claim by the World Health Organisation that Nigeria has the highest number of women that use skin-lightening products in the world. The poll further revealed that despite the negative effects of skin bleaching affirmed by 83 per cent of respondents; the top reasons why people still engage in the practice of skin bleaching are the need to "look beautiful" (35 per cent ) and to "look attractive to the opposite sex" (32 per cent). Skin bleaching was also reported as being mostly predominant amongst Nigerians within the age groups of 18-25 years (48 per cent) and 26-40 years (43 per cent). In addition, respondents identified some of the negative effects associated with skin bleaching to include "skin cancer" (35 per cent) and "skin damage" (25 per cent)".

Nigerians in America: How (NOT) to raise our children

Written by Abiodun Ladepo

Ladepo, a resident of Los Angeles, California, USA.

Email: oluyole2@yahoo.com

It begins with the language spoken in the home. It is often the case that parents who share the same Nigerian language speak English to their children at home even when the children are just babies and toddlers. This is a waste of the child's wide repertoire for learning new things, including new languages. 

Various psychologists and socio-linguists opine that every child is imbued with an innate ability to acquire a language. What parents need to do is place that child in close proximity to the language and the child would pick it up effortlessly. Parents unwittingly underestimate the child's capacity to learn the parents' native language, internalise it as perfectly as the parents do and use it as appropriately as the parents do. By not speaking their native language to their children, parents deny their children the three theories of language acquisition: Imitation, reinforcement and active construction of grammar.

Also, by speaking our adulterated, impure American English to the children, parents unwittingly impede or, in fact, destroy the children's ability to learn American English in its purest form. Most of us who arrived in the US after 12 years of age or after puberty (according to socio-linguists) have forever lost the capacity to learn American English like a native speaker. We come from Nigeria with our breathy alphabets, twisted consonants, misplaced stresses, wrong diction, abbreviated vocabulary, and we unknowingly impose these habits on our children. Our imperfect American English is what we expose our children to, and through the three theories of language acquisition mentioned above, our children acquire our poor English. We do not recognise the fact just as our parents did not sit us down to teach us our native Nigerian languages, that our children would naturally and effortlessly learn from their friends at the nursery, higher schools and playgrounds.

It then goes on into subordinating or completely surrendering our entire mores to the American environment in which we live. Our children wake up and walk past us in the house without rendering the greeting of the day. Forget about girls kneeling down and boys prostrating. The children outright do not even utter the greeting of the day before asking us for whatever they want! A Nigerian man walked into his house with his friend in tow. He found his two teenage boys playing video games in the living room. Rather than greet their father and the guest, the children unplugged their video player and relocated into their room. When the father went to them and chastised them for not having the decency to greet his friend, the boys told him the guest was the father's, not theirs! They didn't think they had the obligation to greet their parents' friends. Some, in fact, call their parents' friends by their first names! Forget "Uncle" or "Auntie."

How good are Nigerian women in bed?

Written by Dr. Biodun Ogungbo  

It has been said that the most important things to the Nigerian man are sex, food and defecation. But, not necessarily in this order. They also say that the way to the heart of a man is through his stomach. Feed him and you can have your way with him. Perhaps this explains the big stomachs seen in many of our men, especially those in the corridors of power. They are being fed to death! I wonder why the women then complain; after feeding the man too much, he cannot do much more than snore.

Anyway, it is also said that an emotional connection, and perhaps good sex, leads to the heart of women. This of course, is not necessarily the same for the Nigerian woman. Pray then, what is the way to the heart of a Nigerian woman? Is it a blackberry smart phone, trip to Dubai or a day out shopping at Garki market in Abuja? Further, is the expense worth it?

I wrote earlier that perhaps the lack of good sex was driving the Nigerian woman to fat. Being fat and immovable in bed reduces 'bedmatic' exercises and prevents many men from actually getting to the 'Promise Land'. After the huge reception to the erstwhile article, `How good are Nigerian men in bed', it seems worthwhile and adventurous to ask a similar question regarding women. So here for your pleasure or perversion is the article.

How good are Nigerian women in bed?

Cinderella

The most exciting time to toast a Nigerian woman is at the numerous 'owanmbe' parties: weddings, birthdays and funerals. Fully made up and resplendent in wonderful attires, the women look like a million dollars. Whether they deliver up to a million Naira later, the day after, may be a Cinderella story. Beauty will definitely be in the eye of the beholder.

Bus sex: Night travel's fringe benefit

Written by Ademola Olonilua - Nigeria Night travel may be fraught with a lot of dangers in Nigeria where highways are not in the best condition and robbers use the state of the roads as an opportunity to ambush interstate commercial vehicles. But in spite of these inherent dangers, there seems to be no reduction in the number of people who choose to go on journeys in the night. Investigation showed that the attraction of some of the passengers to the night travel was more bizarre as much as it was almost unbelievable. At some parks investigated, passengers preferred night travels for different reasons. At Jibowu, an area of Lagos where luxury buses load passengers to the Eastern part of the country, Chidioke Ekezie, a motorboy attached to a bus of one of the popular transport operators in Lagos, gave an insight into life on night buses, which he explained could be very vibrant and "interesting" as a result of the duration of the journeys. "There has never been a time that those taking night journey reduced. The thing is that a lot of people just like travelling at that time simply because it is traffic-free," Ekezie said. Asked to elaborate on the "interesting" part of the journey, which he had earlier mentioned, the motorboy said, "A lot of people make new friends and many young people who board the buses as strangers become couples during the journey." When asked whether there is any sexual activity during these journeys, Ekezie smiled mischievously and said, "It is a known fact that it happens. Some people are just quite stupid. Most couples wait till we get to our designated bus stops to have sex. "For instance, on a journey from Onitsha to Lagos, the bus sometimes leaves at about 10pm and later stops at Benin so that the passengers can stretch their legs, buy refreshments and ease themselves. This takes a long time. "I have seen a lot of passengers get down and go around a corner to have sex. It happens. I have also seen some passengers have sex in the bus while others are off the bus. When this happens, it is a problem for the man and woman involved. We don't condone such acts in the bus. "We could decide to drop the involved passengers there and leave because it is very silly for people to have sex in the bus." A 23-year-old student, who preferred to give just his first name, Chukwueloka, was booked on one of the luxury buses to his home state of Imo, when our correspondent visited the park. He said he always took night buses anytime he went home. "Night buses are interesting. A lot of things happen there," he declared, when our correspondent had a chat with him on why he favoured night travel that much. A lot of things like what? He went into a narration. "There was a time I went to Yenagoa (Bayelsa State capital) in 2005. I boarded the bus at Mazamaza and got a seat beside a fair lady who was also going to Bayelsa. The journey was at least seven hours and we took off around 6pm. "I had been chatting with the lady since we left Lagos. About four hours into the journey, she yawned and said she was sleepy. She rested her head on my shoulder and there was no way she could be comfortable if my arm did not go around her shoulders. "My arm brushed her breast mistakenly and she did nothing. It turned out that by her body language as the journey went on, she wanted something. I had heard about such things happening on buses but I did not immediately understand her intention. "She later made it clear when her hand went to my zippers." Chukwueloka laughed as he narrated this unusual escapade. He said he would never forget it for the rest of his life. "I just wanted to experience it. She sat on my lap and other passengers were asleep in the bus. It was also dark," he said.

One man's shit, another man's treasure

Written by by Jayne Augoye - Punch, Nigeria

Once denied and despised by society, sewage and waste water evacuators now live their lives to the fullest, Jayne Augoye writes

THIRTY-TWO years ago, when Gilbert Quansah had just ventured into sewage and waste waters disposal business, he was very shrewd in the way he managed information about the 'profession.' He was conscious of the fact that it was generally despised in the society, to the extent that the practitioners were popularly called 'agbepo' or shit bowl carrier.

One of the things he did was to keep the move secret from his family and in-laws in his home country, Ghana. It was when things began to look up for him and he had something to show for the dirt he carried that he showed his true colour at home.

He recalls, "I was too scared to tell my wife. Even when some members of my family discovered, they were mad at me. But when my wife came to join me in Nigeria and saw that I was living fine, she immediately embraced my job. Today, my in-laws are very proud of me."

He adds that in Ghana, the business is more lucrative because it is still considered to be a dirty one and that way, the operators charge more. But here in Nigeria, because there are more trucks and more operators, competition is stiffer.

Yet, Quansah says he rakes in more money than he ever dreamt of, evacuating human waste and sewage from toilets and septic tanks. So engrossed has he become in the job that he does not find it difficult to evacuate sewage with his bare hands.

Today, Quansah is fulfilled. He is the chairman, National Union of Sewage and Waste Waters Disposal Association, Ojota - New-Garage, Odo Iya Alaro discharging unit in Lagos. He is a proud owner of three sewage evacuation trucks in Nigeria and Ghana. He has also built a home in Ghana and in a Lagos surburb. In addition, all his children are graduates from Ghanaian universities.

The 63-year-old, who only recently acquired a tipper truck, confidently brought out his business card and gave to our correspondent during their first meeting, while leaning slightly on his Mitsubishi Montero Sport SUV.

Boldly inscribed on the rather colourful and well printed card is the inscription, 'Your Mess is our Job'.

His first truck

Quansah started out accompanying sewage trucks owned by a popular business merchant in Oshodi at the time. He gave the man's name simply as Dosummu.

He recalls his journey with a feeling of nostalgia, "After learning on the job for six months, I was able to buy my own truck for N900, 000 after winning N500,000 in the National Lottery in 1980. That was the same year I moved to Nigeria. I added the little savings I had made to the money."

Quansah says that because of his nationality, he was not allowed to drive the truck then. He would sit in the vehicle with the driver most of the time. As a 'first timer' in Lagos, he was afraid the driver could run away with the truck. Three decades after, the truck still stands and it is a constant reminder of how far he has come in the business. He attributes this to proper maintenance and love for a job that has accorded him the good things of life.

But Quansah's story is just one of out of many others told by hard working men who evacuate sewage from countless households and offices around the country. Although they have chosen to dabble into a business that many consider only fit for the never-do-well in the society, they continue to make cool cash.

...the story of a young boy whose parents were murdered during 2002 riots in Kaduna.

YOU WILL SHED TEARS AFTER READING THIS STORY:
By : The Nigeria Voice

This is the story of a young boy whose parents were murdered during 2002 riots in Kaduna.

He was aged 11 yrs at the time this sad incident took place. His parents, Mr Austine and Mrs Josephine Moses, were missionaries until they met their untimely death, what a sad end. The boy left his house to play football but returned home to see that all his parents had laboured for had been razed down and he would never see his mother and father again.

Accra, over and over...Similarities, incongruities between life in Ghana and Nigeria

By MAURICE ARCHIBONG, who was in Ghana

mauricearchibongtravels@gmail.com

The Ghanaian capital city, Accra, boasts numerous reasons for its magnetic pull on me; and, I guess, countless other non-Ghanaians across the world. As a result, I have visited Accra so many times, I've lost count. For me, one of Accra's attractions is that Ghanaians and Nigerians share so many things in common.

This explains why there is always something to write about no matter how many times you have toured any destination over and over. Historians, Alan Burns and Elisabeth Isichei, authors of various titles on the peoples of West Africa, teach us that the Ga, aborigines of Accra, are probably of Yoruba ancestry and migrated all the way from Ile-Ife.

At the didactic level, every time I visit Accra's James Town neighbourhoods, I'm at home. It's like being among our Ijaw (Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo, Rivers etc) or Ilaje (Ondo State) kith and kin. And, going by the plenitude of Ijaw and Ilaje people along Nigeria's Atlantic coastline, and all the way through Bakassi into Equitorial Guinea, it is highly likely some of their ancestors may have sailed westward as far as Ghana.

As in the south, so it is to the north, where, in Nigeria as in Ghana, Hausa language is commonly spoken. Never mind that Nigerian Hausawa call mixed rice and bean porridge wake (wah-kay), while in the Ghanaian dialect of the same tongue, this food is pronounced wache (wah-chay). But, take out the phonetics and accents and many would certainly be hard-put to distinguish between a Ghanaian and a Nigerian, in terms of physique.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria

The Nigerian flag

 

The Nigerian Flag:
The green stripes represent Nigeria's agriculture industry and its lush vegetation. The white stripe represents the desire for peace and unity within the country.

Nigerian Flag History:
The Nigerian flag was adopted the same day Nigeria gained independence from Britain on October 1, 1960. A competition was held to choose a new national flag to represent an independent Nigeria. A design by a Nigerian student named Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi was chosen in 1959 from almost 3,000 entries.

Interesting Nigerian Flag Facts:
When the Nigerian flag is flying, no other flag, emblem or insignia should be placed above the flag. Old or worn out Nigerian flags should never be displayed. When a Nigerian flag becomes soiled, old, torn or mutilated it should be destroyed by burning or any other method of respect.

The flamboyant 9ja colors at the 2012 London Olympics - Team Nigeria

Nigerian law deems it an offense for the Nigerian Flag to be improperly used or displayed. Law states that: "Any person who flies or exhibits the National Flag in a defaced or bad condition shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance."

Map of Nigeria, showing the states and Abuja

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religion. Until 1991, the capital was the largest city, Lagos, on the southwestern coast; at that time, the new city of Abuja, in the country’s interior, became capital. Nigeria has a federal form of government and is divided into 36 states and a federal capital territory. 

The country’s official name is the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Coat of Arms

The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BCE and the 2nd millennium.

The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.