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Nigerian Editors need to<br />
revisit their Owerri<br />
conference<br />
The apex Nigerian media<br />
association- the<br />
Nigerian Guild of Editors<br />
scored a point last week when<br />
it provided a formidable<br />
platform to Atiku Abubakar,<br />
the candidate of the Peoples<br />
Democratic Party in the 2023<br />
general elections to answer<br />
perhaps the most pertinent<br />
Nigerian governance issues of<br />
the moment.Nigerians who<br />
were able to access the<br />
platform must have been<br />
pleasantly delighted to hear<br />
Atiku deprecating the current<br />
situation in which virtually all<br />
security agencies in Nigeria<br />
are headed by citizens from<br />
one part of the country. The<br />
former vice president also<br />
promised that if elected the<br />
next Nigerian president, he<br />
would from the very first day<br />
in office begin a restructuring<br />
exercise that would address<br />
the subsisting over<br />
centralization of governance<br />
in the country. These are great<br />
ideas capable of bringing to<br />
an end, a long<br />
standingunwieldy law<br />
enforcement template that<br />
pitches citizens against the<br />
state.<br />
It is obviously unnecessary<br />
to plead with the Guild to<br />
extend same platform to other<br />
candidates so that the nation<br />
can be fully educated on what<br />
each of them intends to do if<br />
elected. First, the Guild is<br />
made up of persons who<br />
belong to a profession that is<br />
By Ezra Ukanwa<br />
THE chief of Kabusa<br />
Community, Samuel<br />
Kpowu has called on the<br />
Federal Government, FG, to,<br />
as a matter of urgency,<br />
provide access to free and<br />
quality basic healthcare<br />
services to citizens in Abuja<br />
suburbs.<br />
He made this call when a<br />
Non Governmental<br />
Organisation, NGO, Zed-<br />
Faith Foundation, in<br />
partnership with Nigeria Red<br />
Cross, FCT, stormed Kabusa<br />
Community, in Abuja<br />
Municipal Area Council,<br />
AMAC, with free medical<br />
interventions, among other<br />
donations.<br />
The free service was offered<br />
in the following areas; free<br />
health check and screening,<br />
free drugs and medical<br />
counseling, free laboratory<br />
test, free health talk, free<br />
hypertension and diabetic<br />
screening to residents in the<br />
community, including<br />
predicated on balance and<br />
objectivity as a cardinal<br />
principle of operation.<br />
Surprisingly attacks on<br />
the press have come<br />
more from the states<br />
than the federal level<br />
with an increased<br />
tempo since 2015<br />
Second, the law governing<br />
elections in Nigeria, the<br />
Electoral Act 2022 directs all<br />
media organs to offer equal<br />
opportunities to all political<br />
parties to explain their<br />
manifestos thereby assisting<br />
voters to make informed<br />
decisions. Even non-media<br />
organs and other interest<br />
groups have also taken steps<br />
to get different candidates to<br />
address all relevant issues to<br />
their satisfaction. That is how<br />
it should be considering our<br />
desire to change the current<br />
political culture in which<br />
elections are decided through<br />
violence, vote-buying and<br />
several other electoral<br />
malpractices.<br />
It is hoped that by its new<br />
posture, the Nigerian Guild of<br />
Editors would be ready to use<br />
its numerous organs to<br />
compel candidates when they<br />
get into office to live up to the<br />
women and children.<br />
The group also donated<br />
materials such as clothings,<br />
footwear, among other things<br />
to the residents of Kabusa<br />
Community.<br />
Reacting to the gesture,<br />
Kpowu advised the<br />
government at all levels to<br />
ensure that communities are<br />
major targets of free medical<br />
interventions.<br />
H said:"These people that<br />
have come with this mission<br />
of health, I really appreciate<br />
them. I am very grateful<br />
because we cannot lay our<br />
hands on the government's<br />
hospitality. Their health care<br />
doesn't reach masses like the<br />
way NGOs normally do,<br />
especially this one that came<br />
to our place..<br />
"My call to the federal<br />
government, state<br />
government and local<br />
government in terms of things<br />
like this, they should reverse<br />
back and do what they were<br />
promises they are making<br />
now. If this is done, the nation<br />
stands the chance of enjoying<br />
its media better than what<br />
has been happening in the<br />
country for some time now.<br />
Unlike what the Nigerian<br />
media was traditionally<br />
known for, such as fighting for<br />
independence, tackling<br />
indigenous leaders of the first<br />
republic for failing to change<br />
the pains of colonialism and<br />
embarking on guerilla<br />
journalism to work against<br />
prolonged military rule, the<br />
media has been intimidated<br />
since 1999 when democracy<br />
was restored in the country.<br />
Surprisingly attacks on the<br />
press have come more from<br />
the states than the federal level<br />
with an increased tempo since<br />
2015.<br />
It is practically impossible<br />
to list the numerous arrests of<br />
journalists in the last few years<br />
in Nigeria without changing<br />
the focus of this piece. To<br />
mention just a few, one cannot<br />
forget the case of Jones Abiri,<br />
Editor of the Weekly Source<br />
Newspapers who was arrested<br />
for certain publications which<br />
security forces imagined<br />
could threaten the nation’s<br />
peace. His Nigerian<br />
colleagues did not even know<br />
of the alleged offence though<br />
he was detained for 157 days.<br />
It was foreign journalists<br />
attending the 2018 annual<br />
World Congress of the<br />
International Press Institute<br />
(IPI) hosted by Nigeria who<br />
raised his case at a session<br />
with President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari. He was released two<br />
months later. Obinna Don<br />
Norman of the Realm News<br />
was detained for allegedly<br />
defaming and embarrassing<br />
Theodore Orji, a senator<br />
representing Abia State.<br />
Another journalist Agba<br />
Jalingo of the Cross River<br />
Watch, who accused<br />
Governor Ben Ayade of<br />
corruption over a micro<br />
Abuja community chief begs FG for free<br />
grassroot medical interventions<br />
doing before. If it is possible,<br />
they should come back to the<br />
roots".<br />
On his part, the country<br />
director, Mr. Chinnaya<br />
Innocent, ZFI, said the free<br />
medical services were part of<br />
their social responsibility<br />
programme and a way of<br />
supplementing the efforts of<br />
FG.<br />
He said the gesture was<br />
aimed at assisting the poor<br />
and needy at the grassroots<br />
levels, adding that the<br />
foundation would extend<br />
such humanitarian<br />
intervention to other parts of<br />
Abuja.<br />
He said: "We're here today<br />
to render a service of free<br />
medical service to the Kabusa<br />
village and this will be going<br />
on to different villages. We're<br />
not being sponsored by the<br />
government, state<br />
government or local<br />
government."<br />
From left: Mr Sam Lori Skinn, Mr Tino Ebgejule, Ogbuefi Sydney Alanah, Mrs Alero<br />
Adebanjo the daughter of the late Mr Emmanuel Amoye, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru,<br />
Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh, former Regent of Warri Kingdom, Prince Shola Emiko<br />
Amoye, Mr Solo Edema and Mr Doyin Iyiola, during the burial reception of the late<br />
Emmanuel Amoye, in Lagos<br />
SUNDAY VANGUARD,NOVEMBER 20, 2022, PAGE 15<br />
finance bank in the state was<br />
held for 30 months not for<br />
defamation but for terrorism<br />
and treason- a new trend by<br />
which state authorities<br />
employ provisions of the<br />
Cybercrimes Act to convert<br />
every media criticism to<br />
sedition.<br />
Remarkably, not much is<br />
heard from the Nigerian<br />
media about the new wave of<br />
clamping down on journalists<br />
who draw attention to<br />
excesses in governance<br />
especially at state level where<br />
there is hardly any opposition.<br />
Against this background, I<br />
had looked forward with<br />
plenty of hope that the<br />
Nigerian Guild of Editors was<br />
set to throw light on the case<br />
of a radio operative in the Imo<br />
Broadcasting Service that<br />
had been accused of<br />
offending governor Hope<br />
Uzodinma. My belief was<br />
that the radio worker’s case<br />
may have been part of what<br />
influenced the choice of<br />
Owerri as the venue for this<br />
year’s 18 th All Nigeria Editors<br />
Conference. But by the time<br />
the conference ended, all I<br />
heard was a collection of<br />
speeches of commendation<br />
for a reported outstanding<br />
performance of the governor.<br />
In fact, anyone could have<br />
agreed with the evaluative<br />
reports because watching<br />
some of the projects displayed,<br />
Owerri was exceedingly<br />
beautiful.<br />
I waited patiently to see if<br />
any areas which the governor<br />
did nothing about would be<br />
pointed out, but none. Of<br />
course, Uzodinma being<br />
human cannot score 100<br />
percent but with no reference<br />
to what he did not do, it would<br />
be wrong for any viewer to<br />
derogate from the score of<br />
eyewitnesses. I reached out to<br />
some old friends in Imo over<br />
the generous score and one<br />
person testified that at the<br />
Gala Nite held at the Banquet<br />
The<br />
German<br />
International<br />
Development Agency (GIZ),<br />
said it has trained about 500<br />
feed millers in Ogun State in<br />
the last two months on how to<br />
combine high quality<br />
cassava peel to animal feed.<br />
A Consultant with GIZ-<br />
SEDIN on Cassava<br />
Processing Waste2Wealth<br />
Programme, Bayo<br />
Solagbade, disclosed this in<br />
Abeokuta, Ogun State capital<br />
at a High Quality Cassava<br />
Peel (HQCP), Market<br />
Linkage Workshop Forum<br />
for feed millers and other<br />
people in cassava value<br />
chain, put together by GIZ-<br />
SEDIN in partnership with<br />
Ogun State government.<br />
Solagbade said, Nigeria is<br />
the largest producer of<br />
cassava in the world, positing<br />
that it grows about 57 million<br />
tonnes annually.<br />
He said, while this rise has<br />
undoubtedly helped to<br />
alleviate hunger in the<br />
country, it creates a mountain<br />
of waste, estimated at 15<br />
million tonnes a year, which<br />
according to him causes<br />
Hall in honour of the visiting<br />
Editors, the governor had<br />
himself said he was willing to<br />
listen to any shortcomings<br />
observed by his guests; again,<br />
none. Quoting some of the<br />
Editors, a report by Thisday<br />
Newspaper said “Uzodinma<br />
was quietly changing the<br />
hitherto infrastructure deficit<br />
associated with Imo State.”<br />
It was my first time of<br />
hearing that Imo was ever so<br />
associated bearing in mind<br />
that some four years earlier,<br />
the state was said to be so<br />
beautiful that it attracted<br />
statutes of international<br />
political icons. Using LED<br />
solar powered streetlights to<br />
bring sparkling illuminations<br />
and shining ambience at<br />
night to Owerri in line with<br />
his‘Rescue Mission<br />
Government’Owelle, Rochas<br />
Okorocha, the then governor<br />
had been described as the best<br />
thing that happened to the<br />
state. The lesson today is that<br />
such descriptions don’t last<br />
because many more enduring<br />
issues are usually left<br />
untreated. For example,<br />
whereas beautiful roads and<br />
buildings are good they can’t<br />
compete with human capital<br />
development. Indeed, the<br />
greatest dividends of<br />
democracy is freedom. This<br />
is why the new wave of using<br />
security operatives to detain<br />
political opponents and<br />
media professionals for their<br />
dissenting opinions or<br />
criticism should worry our<br />
Senior Editors.<br />
The case of Casmir<br />
Uzomah a staff member of the<br />
Orient Radio-Television<br />
Station who was detained for<br />
allegedly playing a song<br />
considered offensive to<br />
governor Uzodinma deserves<br />
some mention. Why would<br />
leaders elected by citizens<br />
allow the breach of the<br />
constitutional injunction<br />
which presumes every such<br />
citizen to be innocent until<br />
proven otherwise? Why do our<br />
leaders deliberately ignore the<br />
constitutional provision<br />
which states that no citizen<br />
should be detained for more<br />
than 48 hours without a court<br />
order? Is detention the<br />
punishment for defamation<br />
and should such punishment<br />
be at the discretion of security<br />
agencies?Last week, President<br />
Akuffo-Addo of Ghana<br />
sacked his finance minister<br />
over corruption allegation<br />
made against him by the<br />
media. Is not intriguing that<br />
if it was Nigeria, the relevant<br />
journalist would have been<br />
accused of treason and<br />
detained by law enforcement<br />
agencies indefinitely?<br />
It is time to worry about the<br />
trend. Who says the allegation<br />
of corruption in the Cross<br />
River Micro Finance Bank<br />
was not true? Why would a<br />
state radio staff play an<br />
offensive music? Who<br />
investigated it and what was<br />
the outcome of such<br />
investigation? What charges<br />
have been brought against the<br />
staff in court and why has it<br />
become a norm to detain<br />
accused persons and send<br />
strong signals to the rest of us<br />
to desist from raising any<br />
observations whatsoever that<br />
may not please any governor?<br />
Why is Nigeria allowing the<br />
type of reported repression of<br />
opponents or journalists in<br />
states such as<br />
Ebonyi?Certainly, journalists<br />
are not above the law, those<br />
who offend should be taken<br />
through the due process of<br />
law. If our Editors who went<br />
to Imo had condemned the<br />
governor for poor work, they<br />
would have been taken up for<br />
not also seeing the good<br />
works. That is how it should<br />
be and we expect the Nigerian<br />
Guild of Editors to review its<br />
Imo visit without taking away<br />
any commendation due to<br />
the governor.<br />
German agency trains 200 on use of cassava peel<br />
for animal feed<br />
By James Ogunnaike<br />
Female innovator fights infant mortality with technology<br />
In a bid to address infant<br />
mortality, Executive<br />
Board Member of Tiny<br />
Hearts Technology,<br />
Ebinepere Orewole, has<br />
introduced a device, Crib<br />
A’glow Device, to reduce infant<br />
mortality rate.<br />
In a chat with Vanguard,<br />
Orewole said she went<br />
against all odds to ensure<br />
sustainable solutions to infant<br />
death with aid of science and<br />
technology.<br />
She said: "I was involved in<br />
strategic decisions. For<br />
instance, at the conceptual<br />
environmental and health<br />
problems.<br />
"This 15 million tonnes of<br />
waste could represent 5<br />
million tonnes of animal feed<br />
and an excellent business<br />
opportunity".<br />
He added that the main<br />
objective of the training was<br />
to train the feed millers how<br />
to convert wet cassava peel<br />
stage of crib aglow, where I<br />
put together a team of<br />
engineers to assess and advise<br />
on product design for the<br />
construction.<br />
“My decision to use my<br />
skills as a business manager/<br />
data analyst, accountant, and<br />
mother to build sustainable<br />
solutions to infant deaths is<br />
the most fulfilling decision I<br />
have made in my life.<br />
“The journey started way<br />
back in 2015 when Tiny<br />
Hearts was founded and the<br />
novel Crib A’glow Device was<br />
designed. Hearing about the<br />
innovation, I volunteered to<br />
into energy-rich, high-quality<br />
animal feed and as well to<br />
convince millers that the<br />
High Quality Cassava Peels<br />
(HQCP), could safely be<br />
included in their feeds.<br />
"Dried fine cassava mash<br />
can be fed to poultry, fish, and<br />
pigs, while the coarser mash<br />
is suitable for cattle, sheep<br />
and goats, and pigs," he said.<br />
From left: Coordinator of the 9 th Foretaste Gospel Concert<br />
Edition, Rotn Otunba Gbemi Oyeneyin; his spouse, Mrs.<br />
Modupe Oyeneyin, (the lead artiste and the concert<br />
sponsor); another artiste, Minister Ejen; her colleague,<br />
Ifeoluwa Akinpelu of the Ife Worships, his colleague, Asatta<br />
Allwell-Brown; and the Media Consultant and Public<br />
Relations Guru, Sir Aramide Tola Noibi at the 9 th Annual of<br />
the Foretaste Gospel Concert Edition held at the Elevation<br />
Church, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos at the weekend<br />
be on the team to support the<br />
innovation with my skills<br />
“ I ensure that the<br />
innovation grew to a<br />
marketable and accessible<br />
product.<br />
“ Protecting our intellectual<br />
property right has over time,<br />
increased the value of the<br />
product and the organisation<br />
even in the global space.<br />
“Driven by my zeal to<br />
improve infant mortality, I<br />
retired from a corporate job<br />
in 2021 so that I can fully<br />
immerse myself in Tiny Heart<br />
activities."