Issue 44 - Nigerian Watch

Transcription

E
E
GEJ VS BUHARI
F
R
Study predicts no outright winner
in February – special report p7-10
Your next
NIGERIAN
WATCH
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9 - 22 Jan 2015
Issue No 044
FORTNIGHTLY To Inspire, Inform and Entertain
nigerianwatch.com
‘A SUPERB LEADER
and example to
every Nigerian
and millions of
others, including
Brits’
Baroness Linda
Chalker’s verdict
on our
Ambassador
as diaspora
embraces
“Tafidaism”
NEW YEAR’S
HONOURS
Queen recognises
diaspora champions
Pages 4&5
ARE YOU READY
FOR 2015?
It’s going to be an
historic year, says
Samuel Kasumu
Page 6
PECKHAM PLAYWRIGHT’S
LIBERIA PLAY STORMS
LONDON STAGE – p14
2
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
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@NigerianWatch
NEWSWATCH
Who wants to be President?
NIGERIAN WATCH
Publisher
Tevin Jemide
Publisher/Managing Director
Maryanne Jemide
Managing Editor
Jon Hughes
Art Editor
Cathy Constable
Contributors Obah Iyamu; Harriet Ogbeide; AJ James;
Ayo Akinfe; Funmi Odegbami; Samuel Kasumu;
Ngozi Mbana; Ekanem Robertson, Jessica Onah,
Laura Adenuga; Edel Meremikwu
Chief Cartoonist
Harold Ogbeide
Office address
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Fax: 020 7160 5232
Nigerian Watch is a monthly newspaper owned by
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Views expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily
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ISSN 2051-4670
An audacious and timely new board game has
been launched in Lagos entitled “Who Wants
To Be President?”
During the game players go through all
the processes aspiring political leaders go
through with
ultimate
the
aim of winning
“elections.” The
steps include
seeking party
nominations,
campaigning in
the 36 states of
Nigeria,
for
cajoling
votes,
negotiating for
the best deals,
strategising,
disrupting the plans of the opposition,
countering their moves and so on.
The game ends when one of the players
presents the card calling for “Instant
Elections” or one of the players reaches the
end. Only players who have won votes in 21
states would be eligible to have his “votes”
counted. The player with the most “votes”
win and is declared president.
The game was developed by Charles
Igwe (left), the widower of the late producer
and writer Amaka Igwe. He said the game
was created primarily as a form of family
entertainment and to educate as many
Nigerians as possible on the intrigues,
strategies and politics of running for and
winning elections.
“I wanted to bring back the good old
days when families would sit around
together and have fun playing a board
game,” Mr Igwe said. “The game mimics all
the drama and backdoor deals that go on in
the political space and by seeing them
through this game, I hope Nigerians will be
better informed about their country and
about the politics that surrounds them.”
LEEDS’ NIGERIANS APPEAL FOR HELP
The National Association of Nigerian Communities in the UK has issued an appeal for
anyone who may have known a Mr Olabode Obadina to contact them immediately.
The Leeds branch of the organisation are sad to announce the passing away of Mr
Obadina, aged 74, who lived at the Woodhouse in the Headingly area of Leeds.
Mr Samuel Afolabi told Nigerian Watch, “The challenge is that we need to find his
family or anyone who knows him. His burial will be taken care of but we need to know
who he is and what faith he was, Muslim or Christian, so we know what kind of ceremony to do.”
If anyone has any information they should contact either Mr Afolabi, Welfare Officer
of NANC Leeds, on 07915604995 or Sam Leigh on 07939564998.
MARCH FOR PEACE
IN EAST LONDON
TOMORROW
Nigerian community leaders will stage a
march for peace in east London
tomorrow (January 10) to call for more
action on knife crime following the
murders of two Nigerians towards the
end of 2014.
The latest victim was 15-year-old Joel
Adesina, a promising footballer who was
stabbed to death on Friday December 6. In what appeared to be a totally
unprovoked attack, Joel was knifed in the
stomach following an altercation with a
gang of other youths. He collapsed in
Bethnal Green and was taken to hospital
but died three hours later. His death was the second recent
murder of a Nigerian in London. On
Tuesday October 14, 25-year old Olamide
Fasina was chased by a gang of armed
men into an alleyway in Thamesmead
and stabbed. Following the October murder, a
group of Nigerians formed Oh! Mother
to campaign against knife crime and is
organising the march. Bridgette Peters, the coordinator of
Oh! Mother, said, “We’ll be meeting at
Shacklewell Street [E2 7EG] at 2pm near
where the attack took place. May God use
us to stop all this killing, enough is
enough.” l A 20-year-old man has been arrested in
connection with Joel's murder.
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NEWSWATCH
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
3
SIMPLY THE BEST
Baroness Linda Chalker’s accolade to Nigeria’s Ambassador to
the UK at the launch of a book celebrating “Tafidaism”
L-R: Dr Nkem Ezeilo, Baroness
Chalker, Dr Tafida, Mohammed
Lere (SA to the Kaduna State
governor on trade and investment)
“A superb leader”, head and
shoulders above the rest, is
how long-time friend and
champion
of
Africa
Baroness Linda Chalker
described
Nigeria’s
ambassador to the UK Dr
Dalhatu Sarki Tafida OFR,
CFR, at a glittering party to
mark the launch of the first
book in a series to celebrate
Nigeria’s heroes.
In Dr Tafida Nigerians are
blessed to have such an
inspirational man at the helm
she declared to the hundreds of
Nigerian community leaders
and members of the diplomatic
community who gathered at the
Millennium Gloucester Hotel
in Kensington for the event held
shortly before Christmas.
The Baroness told the
gathering that “it is a very great
honour for an English lady to
pay tribute to someone I admire
so much. I have known a
number of Nigerian High
Commissioners and many more
High Commissioners since
entering parliament over 40
years ago. But I have to say I
don’t think that I’ve ever come
across somebody who has so
taken the hearts and minds not
only of his staff and the
Nigerian community but of
almost everyone he meets.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard
a bad word said about Dr
Tafida because there are no bad
words to say about him.”
She said he was respected
and revered among British
parliamentarians and the
diplomatic community for the
job he has done since assuming
the role of High Commissioner
seven years ago.
“It’s very hard when you’ve
had a very notable career such
as he has to end up doing one
of the busiest jobs on behalf of
the President in a country that I
think is very important to the
great majority of Nigerians.”
She continued, “Since 1966,
when I first came to Nigeria I
have watched the country grow.
Of course, like every developing
country it has had its stresses
and strains but by golly the
ingenuity and work I see going
on is impressive and that comes
through leadership.
“Leadership is a word I use
quite sparingly these days,” she
added, “But not tonight,
because this man is an example
to every Nigerian and to
millions of others, including
Brits. To do a job thoroughly, to
do it with understanding and
compassion and always to have
his community first.”
Addressing Dr Tafida
directly from the stage she
concluded, “And that, you, my
dear friend, have done every
day of every year you have been
with us here in London. I didn’t
know you years ago, I wish I
had, but I know many
Nigerians who have known you
for a long time. You have not
changed, wherever you have
gone, wherever you are, you
have given us leadership. Thank
you Dr Tafida for being a
superb leader.”
With such a glowing
testimony from someone who
herself is highly respected
among parliamentary and
diplomatic circles around the
world it is clear why Dr Tafida
was chosen as the subject of the
first book to be launched in
what is intended to be a series
celebrating the lives and times
of great Nigerians, as an
inspiration and example for
others to follow.
Entitled The Legacy of Dr
Dalhatu Sarki Tafida OFR,
CFR: A Time Conscious
Disciplinarian, the book is not
only an honour to the longserving diplomat but also
designed to discourage the
Nigerian habit of late-coming
and the African Time
syndrome.
The publications are the
brainchild of Bimbo Afolayan
Roberts, the chairman of the
Central
Association
of
Nigerians in the UK and the
annual Nigerian Diaspora
Direct Investment Summit.
He told the gathering, “Dr
Tafida, elder statesman, is an
example of best practice to us
all. We felt the need to celebrate
his legacy as an inspiration for
the next generations.”
He marvelled at how the
High Commissioner combined
the two attributes of being “a
very strict disciplinarian and
very good guy”.
“One of the major issues we
have as a community is time
management,” he said. But
good time management is a prerequisite of the business of
developing
Nigeria’s
full
potential. “What we have learnt
from Dr Tafida should rightly
be passed on to future
generations.”
And then he declared this
the dawn of a new era of
Tafidaism, adding, “Tafidaism
is time consciousness.”
Dr Tafida responded by
saying he was overwhelmed by
all the love and affection shown
to him by the Nigerian
community in the UK and was
humbled by the fact that such
an event was organised in his
honour. With typical humility
he said the transformation of
the Mission was not his
achievement alone but owed
much to the help of his staff.
“We will continue to do our
best and even better for the
people,” he said.
The biography of Dr Tafida
was written by Dr Nkem Ezeilo,
who spoke to several people
close to the high commissioner,
including his wife and staff. It is
the first in a series and over time
more will be published,
highlighting the need to address
other serious issues.
Dr Ezeilo added that
punctuality was a good one to
start with as it has become a
characteristic of Nigerians in
the UK, who regularly show up
late for events.
See comment, page 11
4
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
@NigerianWatch
HONOURSWATCH
A host of Africans and friends of Africa were recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours
Missionary receives award in DRC outpost
Veteran missionary Maud
Kells discovered she was to
deep in a remote patch of
central Africa.
be honoured with an OBE
while checking her emails
The award recognises 75year-old Maud’s lifetime of
work at a medical centre in the
impoverished and war-ravaged
Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC).
Ms Kells, from Cookstown,
Northern Ireland, is still currently in Mulita in the east of
the country, due to return in
March, and cannot be reached
directly. However, her sister
Margaret Keane, 77, spoke of
breaking the news to her after
finding the letter at Maud’s
bungalow.
“She is absolutely de-
lighted,” Margaret told the local
newspaper the News Letter.
“She said: ‘I’m not getting that!
They couldn’t honour me like
that!’ She could not believe it.”
Ms Kells it materialises only
turns on her solar-powered laptop once a week to check
emails. Margaret said the machine did not have enough
power to let her download the
Cabinet Office forms which are
needed to accept the award, so
she had to fill them in for her.
Ms Kells has worked in the
DRC since 1968 for the charity
WEC International, and its Ireland director Norman Cuthbert
said, “She works on her own
and has done for many, many
years. She studied nursing here
and then one day as a Christian
she felt God was calling her to
go overseas.
“She’s a tough lady. I think
the last time she was out there
she got sick for a while, but
seems just to get back on her
feet again. We’re sometimes a
bit concerned because we’re so
cut off from any news.”
The DRC has been the scene
of a long-running and extremely bloody conflict for
decades, and Mr Cuthbert believes she even had to be airlifted out once due to rebel
activity.
CAMPAIGNERS AND COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS WIN AWARDS
Brendon
Batson, the
former
West Brom
defender
who was
one of the
pioneers for
black footballers in the
1970s, has been awarded an
OBE for services to football. Mr Batson, previously an
MBE, worked for the Professional Footballers' Association and more recently has
been an adviser to The Football Association on equality
and football development. Batson said, “When we
look at the way things have
evolved over the years as a
whole I am very pleased with
the development of black
players but there is still a
long way to go to address
the lack of representation in
coaching, management and
governance.” Meanwhile, Linvoy
Primus, the former
Portsmouth defender, receives an MBE for services to
football and charity.
Mrs Lou Lockhart-Mummery, founder member of
the Independent Monitoring
Board at Heathrow Airport
was awarded an MBE for
services to prisoners and detainees. Independent Monitoring Boards work inside
every prison, immigration removal centre and some short
term holding facilities at air-
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Sheffield community stalwart Alva Guy Lambert, 70,
received an MBE for almost
40 years of distinguished
service to the AfroCaribbean community in
Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Mr Lambert joined the
West Indian Association in
1974 and went on to establish Sheffield’s first credit
union. He has held the roles
of treasurer, manager and
chairman of the association,
and in 1994 was appointed
as director of the new South
Yorkshire Afro-Caribbean
centre on The Wicker.
An MBE was awarded to
Uduak Archibong PhD, Professor of Diversity at
the University of Bradford, UK,
where she
directs the
Centre for
Inclusion
and Diversity and provides
strategic oversight for equal-
ity and diversity across the
institution.
A long-standing race campaigner, the honour was
given in recognition of her
services to higher education
and equality. She is also Visiting Professor at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal South
Africa, Visiting Professor at
the Central University College in Ghana, Fellow of the
West African College of
Nursing and Fellow of the
Royal College of Nursing.
MBEs also went to Ms
Jane Caroline Miller, Senior
Health Adviser at the Department for International
Development for services to
Development in Africa, particularly towards ending Female Genital Mutilation; Ms
Claire Louise Gott Design
Package Manager, WSP UK
for services to Civil Engineering and charitable services in
Cameroon; and Anthony
Olusola Ademola Ageh, Controller of Archive Development BBC, for services to
Digital Media.
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ASWAD STAR ADDS BIG GONG
TO STELLAR CAREER
Brinsley Forde, founding
member of reggae band
Aswad, has been made a MBE
for services to the arts.
The 61-year-old first found
fame as a child actor in the
BBC children’s comedy series
Here Come The Double Deckers – first screened in 1970.
A former student of John
Kelly Boys’ School in Crest
Road, Neasden, (now Crest
Academy), he also made appearances as a pupil in the ITV
sitcom Please Sir, and the
James Bond film Diamonds
Are Forever.
Aswad, which formed in
the mid 1970s had been the
backing band for Jamaican
star Burning Spear. After their
formation Forde played a key
part in the film Babylon,
about the disillusionment of
black communities in south
HONOUR FOR ROYAL GARDEN
PARTY ‘HOUSE BAND’ LEADER
The founder and leader of the Melodians Steel Orchestra UK
Terry Noel received an MBE in the New Year Honours for his
services to music.
Mr Noel formed the Melodians in October 1987 and has been
the band leader ever since. The Melodians is a ‘not for profit’ organisation and became a registered charity in 1994. The Melodians currently has 34 members, aged from 11 to over 70.
The achievements of the Melodians in the past 27 years have
been numerous and diverse including playing at eight successive
Commonwealth Day services in Westminster Abbey, 14 concerts
at the Royal Albert Hall, numerous Royal Garden Parties including the Queen’s Golden
to £150
Jubilee at Windsor Castle and
the 55th Venice Biennial among
countless other credits.
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London in 1980, with his band
featuring on the soundtrack.
The band became one of
the UK’s leading reggae acts
and scored a number one hit
with Don’t Turn Around in
1988.
In recent years Mr Forde
has carved out a successful career as a broadcaster after becoming one of the first DJs on
BBC digital station 6 Music
with his Lively Up Yourself
programme.
He has also presented radio
documentaries and the VH1
programme Soul Vibrations
and collaborated with acts
such as Dizzee Rascal.
Speaking about his honour
he said, “I’m really proud. The
important thing is that someone thinks you are worthy of
nominating and has appreciated what you have done.”
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9 - 22 Jan 2015
HONOURSWATCH
5
list. AJ James rounds up the notable community heroes to have made their mark on society
Volunteer maths teacher awarded
MBE for services to education
A man who runs free maths
classes for primary age
children
has
been
recognised in the New Year
Honours list with an MBE.
Nigerian Gbolahan Bright
has been running the Bright
Academy maths clubs for primary age children in London
and Essex for the past 20
years.
“I have gained a lot from
this society. I have been
blessed and it would have been
ungrateful of me if I did not
give back,” he said.
Mr Bright’s honour is for
services to education in East
London.
It was his wife, Afolasade’s
involvement in local politics,
first with Hackney council
and later with Barking and
Dagenham, that saw him start
on the idea.
“Being a Christian I am
not one to sit on the fence. I
wanted to give all it takes to
make it work,” he says. “I feel
so humble to be recognised at
this level.”
The couple arrived in the
UK from Nigeria in 1990. Mr
Bright is a
chemistry
graduate and
has been a
teacher for 36
years. “That is
my life. I have a
passion
for
teaching.”
He
now
works
parttime as a mathe m a t i c s
lecturer
at
Barking and
Dagenham college and was
ordained as a
pastor in 2012.
Together with his wife, he
now runs four free maths
clubs, taking children from the
age of seven - though they will
sometimes include six-yearolds with older siblings already in the class.
The couple say the aim of
the clubs is to encourage children to aim to be the best.
“If the foundation is strong
then you can build a good
structure, therefore the focus is
at primary level,” he explains.
The couple’s own three
children all gained GCSE
maths while in primary
school.
The eldest, Joshua, 22,
went on to gain a bachelor’s
degree from Queen Mary University London at 17, a masters at 18 and now works for a
global investment bank.
Mrs Bright says having a
mathematician for a husband
was a big advantage.
“He believes that you have
to catch children while they
are young. He knows that
without maths you can’t really
do much. You can’t really get
anywhere in life without it.”
The couple realised other
parents might struggle to help
their children with maths
problems, so they set up their
first club to help other families.
“We are very child-centred.
We help them regardless of
their background, social or religious. We create an atmosphere of fun. It’s not just
about learning. We do debates,
develop their presentation
skills. A lot of them have been
successful in a variety of
fields,” says Mrs Bright.
“We view every child as
gifted. It is our job to motivate
them”, her husband adds.
“It is not just about mathematics. The aim is to encourage the children to aim to be
the best. We want to get them
away from things that distract
them and give them a positive
influence instead.
“We want to have an impact irrespective of a child’s
background. It is beyond
mathematics. The aim is to
bring the best out of each
child. It gives us joy.”
HONOUR FOR GRANDMA NOMINATED BY KICC
Dr Pamela Oriri Scholastica
Ayewoh-Bernard, 59, from
Bedford, received an MBE for
services to the African and
Caribbean community in the
town. Dr Ayewoh-Bernard,
who has five children and
qualified
as
a
coagulation scientist
at
Cranfield University, has given
18 years voluntary service to
creating opportunities for
young people from the African
and Caribbean community in
Bedford. She became involved with
Youths in Focus, established to
give Bedford’s young Black
community a better chance in
life by providing free extra
tuition to those studying for
their GCSE and A-Level
exams. She initiated a self-help and
support service to bridge gaps
identified in mental health
service provision for African,
Caribbean and mixed-heritage
sections in Bedford an in 2010
she helped re-activate the
Bedford
African
and
Caribbean Forum (BACF). She became executive
manager and successfully
secured £95,000 for BACF
projects in 2011-2012 and was
also behind a project to put
together a charity cookbook of
cultural dishes from Africa and
the Caribbean Islands.
She ensured that 50 per cent
of the first year sales profit was
donated to BACF and is
currently working with 10
senior Africans and Caribbeans
living in Bedford to get their
real life stories and their
reasons for coming to the UK.
The grandmother said of
her honour, “When I received
the letter about the MBE it was
very emotional, I was so
pleased but just didn’t know
how it had happened. The first
thing I did was ring one of my
children.
“Later I found out it was
because I had been nominated
by the community at the KICC
Church in Kempston.
“My late husband and I
started the BACF in 1994 and
it became a registered charity in
2004. Originally I was working
as a volunteer but in 2008 the
administrator passed away and
there was no-one to help them
get the funding so I retired early
and started work on a full time
basis for the charity.
“I want to encourage the
Black children in Bedford to
aim for the sky and let them
know anything they set their
mind to they can achieve. I
want them to have role models
in the community.”
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NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
KASUMUWATCH
@NigerianWatch
The SAMUEL KASUMU Column
One year, two elections – it’s going
to be historic and explosive
If there was ever a year on the
political landscape that will go
down in history then 2015 will
certainly be it.
Not only will we have a General
Election here in the home of
democracy, and a national election in
the largest country in Africa; but we
will also see the candidates for both
the London Mayoral elections and
the United States Presidency raise
their heads above the parapet in
preparation for 2016.
This year will be a year like no
other, a clash of the titans, and the
world will be watching. What makes
this year even more exciting is the
unpredictability with regards to
results.
In the United Kingdom this will
be the most open election in decades.
The pollsters are all very
apprehensive about predicting which
way things will go as the two major
parties battle it out.
No one in Westminster foresaw
the rise of the UK Independence
Party (Ukip) when I
spent 2011 and 2012
working with the
Conservatives
to
broaden their appeal.
It was something that
only became apparent
towards the latter
part of my time with
them, but even more
surprising in recent
times is the fact that Ukip seem to be
taking away votes from Labour in
Northern constituencies.
In Nigeria this will be the first
time where there is a single clear
opposition party to take on the
incumbent PDP.
The APC have been impressive in
their candidate selection process and
have also been able to avoid any
major early divisions.
In General Buhari the APC has a
leader that has run the country, has
“This year will be a year
like no other, a clash of
the titans, and the world
will be watching”
a military background that gives him
the experience to overcome the
Islamic insurgents, and of course
benefits from the experience of many
electoral defeats in the past.
He is quite old for a potential new
head of state at 72, but the question
put to Nigerians will be whether they
are happy with the progress of the
country on the balance of things or
if they think it is time for something
new.
One thing is for sure, Nigeria will
never be seen as a one party state
with a fragmented opposition ever
again. We can only wonder why it
took so long for people to figure out
this was the best way forward.
This year’s elections will also be
very special because it will be the first
time that technology and social
media forms the backbone of
elections in both Nigeria and the
UK.
Of course, social media was an
effective tool in the past, but over the
last four to five years we have seen
the use of social media grow
significantly.
The need to adapt to this change
has led to both Labour and
Conservatives
employing
professionals from the Obama
election campaign.
Voting is the beginning not the end of our role
When it’s all said and done, when the people have
decided who they will elect, and when those who
are defeated move on, we should all be aware
that those who govern will need the support of a
nation if they are to truly do a good job.
Far too often we simply disengage from politics
as soon as we have cast our vote at the ballot box,
leaving people that are human like ourselves to
govern with limited accountability.
This year’s elections should be an opportunity
for us to say that things will be different.
We must not hold people to account once
every four or five years. It must be a daily,
weekly, and monthly activity.
I will be hitting the campaign trail
myself because it would be hypocritical
not to show my support for a government
that I believe has achieved a lot in the last
five years.
The Conservatives have introduced
the Help to Buy scheme, allowing many
first time buyers to enter the housing
market. They have of course launched
the Start-Up Loans initiative, helping 10,000s to
access finance to set up and grow their own
business.
They have begun to reform a failing education
system, allowing parents to set up and run their
own schools, and continue to ensure that Britain
plays its part on the international stage. I can go on
and on about the achievements of this government,
especially when reflecting on how the economy has
turned around.
The country must be reminded of the challenges
that were left behind by Labour. We must remember
that when we vote we are not only making a
decision about a government for today, but we are
thinking about the country that we want our
children’s children to grow up in.
This must be what governs our decision come
election day in May.
Christmas chaos
has taught me
valuable lesson
My wife and I live in a relatively secluded area just outside of London.
The Christmas just past was the first
time since we married that we had
both our families with us and I must
say that it wasn’t what I had prepared for.
Our house was full for a whole
week and with a quick return to
work, it has meant that we haven’t
actually had a real break. When you
are used to having just you and one
other person in your house things
can get very overwhelming as the
numbers increase.
At first this new experience left
me rather offended. I wanted to use
the holidays as an opportunity to
rest and reflect with a busy start to
the year ahead. My plans were not
centred on the idea of entertaining
people for a sustained period of
time.
But by the time we finally got to
the point where it was just my wife
and I (just a day before returning to
work) I felt like the experience was
actually a blessing in disguise.
It reminded us that family is
something important. You do not
choose your family and ultimately
they don’t choose you. But they are
the people that love you unconditionally, are there for you when others won’t be, and in the case of
mothers, their love for you is beyond
something that can be described.
My Christmas on deeper reflection
wasn’t just the most expensive, but
was also the best.
It was an opportunity to once
again understand that anyone with a
family that is alive and healthy has
something that so many people
would give so much to have… even
if sometimes family equals a noisy
house.
To advertise
call 0208
588 9640
or email
sales@nige-
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NEWSWATCH
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
7
PRESIDENTIAL
NIGERIA 2015 ELECTION SPECIAL
GENERAL
BUHARI
PRESIDENT
GOODLUCK
JONATHAN
ARE WE HEADING FOR A RUN-OFF
ON VALENTINE’S DAY?
Oxford University academics Zainab Usman and Oliver Owen have produced daring projections for Nigeria’s
forthcoming elections. While all such predictions need to be handled with caution their analysis provides a fascinating
guide to the contests ahead, for both the state governorships and presidency. Their conclusions were premised on the
belief that the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan would be challenged by a northern Muslim, which he is in General
Muhammadu Buhari. And their data crunching has revealed the very real possibility that for the first time in Nigeria’s
history the Presidential election might well be a dead heat and require a run-off. Their report entitled Incumbency and
Opportunity: Forecasting Nigeria’s 2015 Elections made the following headline findings…
l In order to win the Presidency in 2015, the
successful party will have to control the majority
of Nigeria’s 36 state Governorships.
l This numerical analysis indicates both the
PDP and APC could each secure 17 states in
Governorship elections.
l In the 2015 elections half of the State
Governors will have completed their maximum
two terms, so state-level elections are likely to
be extremely competitive across the country.
l To win, a Presidential candidate needs an
overall majority and at least 25% of the votes in
two-thirds of the states (24 states). On current
indications, if President Goodluck Jonathan
runs as PDP candidate he is likely to get an
overall majority. However, he may not
automatically get the necessary one-quarter of
the vote in two-thirds of states and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).
l Of the 28 governorship elections taking place,
18 states (or two-thirds) will have vacant seats.
10 of these 18 states have 40.9% of all registered
voters.
l Therefore if voting patterns are similar to
2011 a run-off election situation would be likely.
This would be a historic first under Nigeria’s
present electoral system.
l However, this run-off outcome is likely to be
determined by the choice of candidates put up by
the main APC opposition party and the issue of
North-South ‘zoning’.
l It is difficult to predict the outcome of this
run-off. If it does not favour an outright win for
the PDP, it may further weaken its chances at
the subsequent gubernatorial elections given
that half of the seats are vacant.
l 2011’s results are only a useful guide to 2015 if
conditions stay the same, including INEC’s
conduct in voter registration and election
management.
l Therefore, with high incentives for many
actors to rig, it will be important for
stakeholders in democratic consolidation to
focus on issues such as registration and
collation, which are likely to be hot in all states.
Full report, turn to page 8
8
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
@NigerianWatch
NEWSWATCH
Continued from page 7
THE RATIONALE
A
s the 2015 elections inch nearer, the spaces of Nigerian public
discourse are beginning to fill with speculation as to the
chances of various contenders, the possible alignments of
political forces, and likely outcomes.
Yet most of this discussion is conjectural and instinctive rather
than analytical. Here, we attempt instead to make some projections
about 2015’s elections by generating conclusions from 2011’s
election results, turnouts and voter numbers.
Our central assumption is that since 1999, the parties which have
controlled Nigeria’s 36 state Governorships have been able to
strongly influence the result of Presidential elections in each state.
In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan won the election with
22,495,187 total votes across the country, winning not only states
where the ruling PDP governed, but also all states in the SouthWest apart from Osun, thanks to an electoral pact between the PDP
and the now-defunct ACN which ran most South-Western states.
Although President Jonathan did not win in 12 Northern states
(including nine which returned PDP Governors but where a
majority voted for Muhammadu Buhari of the now-defunct CPC
for President), he was able to get over the 25% of votes threshold
in all but four (all Northern) states; of which only two were PDP.
This indicates that local voter appeal can be an important modifier
of the power of incumbency.
But in 2015, the landscape appears very different. As control of
the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) is key to how
national elections are won, we must first examine the state-level
elections. In 2011, one of the authors analysed gubernatorial
election results (as posted by Nigeria Elections Coalition).
Some interesting findings emerged:
1 Nigeria’s elections conform to a rule of thumb, (as propounded
by political scientists such as Nic Cheeseman) about elections in
Africa and more widely: when incumbents run for re-election, they
win over 85% of the time and typically with over 60% of the vote
– in 2011, 17 of Nigeria’s 20 then-incumbent State Governors were
re-elected – exactly 85%, with an average winning vote of 69%.
2 Although based on a small sample, this margin of victory was
similar whether the winning Governor was from the national
ruling PDP or another party, suggesting that state-level
incumbency might be more important than being part of a
national ruling party.
3 Any candidate contesting for a ‘vacant’ Governorship is more
likely to win, and by a larger margin, if they are from the same
party as the previous incumbent. (See calculations below).
As well as pointing to the importance of incumbency, and the role
of constitutional mechanisms such as term limits in maintaining
democracy, these results also offer a way to predicting possible
outcomes the 2015 polls. In what follows, we explore what the
figures may tell us.
We are aware of two weaknesses in our methodology. One is the
small size of the data sample – drawn from just one previous
national election under the same conditions. The other is our
assumptions – for 2011’s data to have predictive value, a number
of conditions must remain the same; we debate whether or not they
are likely to in the section on ‘assumptions’.
THE POLITICAL
LANDSCAPE IN
THE RUN-UP TO
2015
T
he first thing to note is that the
alignment of political forces today
is very different to 2011. Whereas
the PDP went into the 2011 elections
controlling 27 state governments,
currently it controls 20 and can rely on
the likely support of two more
Governors, from Ondo (Labour) and
Anambra (APGA), making 22 in total.
The APC opposition meanwhile
controls 14 states, as illustrated right.
This is a rapidly changing dynamic,
however, as alliances continue to be
built and reconfigured.
Secondly, 20 Governors entered the
2011 elections in the strong position of
first-term incumbents looking to come
back; but in 2015, only 10 of 28
Gubernatorial incumbents will be recontesting – 7 for APC and 3 for PDP.
The other 18 races will be ‘open’ with
no incumbent, while 8 states where
elections are held at different times will
not be holding Governorship polls.
This means more elections will be
competitive, with fewer places where
an incumbent Governor can be sure to
‘deliver’ a state’s vote for their
Presidential candidate. This makes
results even less predictable, but as
2011 shows – even outgoing parties
without an incumbent re-contesting
retain a marginal advantage. We can
therefore assume that states which
have been run by a particular party
will still be more likely to support that
party’s Presidential candidate.
ASSUMPTIONS
T
he usefulness of 2011’s figures in
predicting outcomes of 2015 rests
on seven assumptions. We note
that all of these are open to debate:
1 There will be elections in 2015: We
work on the assumption that any
attempt to delay these could lead to a
major constitutional crisis and
radically alter political alignments. It
is possible that the Independent
National Electoral Commission
(INEC) could choose not to hold
elections in states where the security
situation prevents it; they are legally
entitled to do so. Currently, three
states (Borno, Yobe and Adamawa) in
the North-East are under State of
Emergency,
although
Yobe’s
successful by-elections show that
elections are not necessarily impossible
under such conditions. Still, if
elections were not held, it would not
alter the conditions which we note as
likely to lead to a Presidential run-off.
2 INEC’s commitment to running free
and fair elections will remain the
same, although the electoral
commission remains restricted in some
aspects of capacity and control, and
local-level implementation varies.
Recent trends such as decisions not to
use electronic voting machines in Ekiti
and Osun elections may cast doubt on
this. Overall, INEC’s management of
state elections has improved since
Anambra in December 2013, but it
remains to be seen if INEC can scale
up the achievement to a national
exercise.
3 Improvements made in 2011 will
remain and restrict rigging to the postcollation process: Whereas 2007’s
poorly-run election allowed votes to
be completely fabricated, registration
and accreditation has since been
tightened, so that the main avenues for
rigging are more restricted to the use
of actual voters, or at least their cards.
This might mean renewed attempts to
register voters fraudulently in order to
increase numbers, but the only other
avenue for outright rigging would be
post-poll collation at local levels,
which should therefore be a focus for
observer groups.
4 2015 will be an overwhelmingly twoparty race between the PDP and the
APC in the Presidential elections: this
currently seems self-evident, and the
APGA and Labour parties are likely
to support PDP.
5 Presidential polls will take place
before Governorship elections: as on
previous occasions, this means that
incumbent governors are influential in
controlling the presidential vote. If the
order were reversed, the rule may not
hold true.
6 Election security management will
reflect that of 2011, in which security
agencies were widely acknowledged to
have improved their practices: Many
new security challenges have evolved
since 2011 but if the agencies can stick
to their record of improvement, the
environment may remain predictable.
If not, or if attempted disruptions
overwhelm them, the outcomes will be
much less clear.
UNKNOWN
FACTORS
T
urnouts are crucial but hard to
predict. If a voter register is
realistic, party mobilisation and
levels of public interest in the
candidates dictate the turnout.
Anambra’s 2013 election, with a 25%
voter turnout, offers a stark indicator
of what happens when they are
disinterested. Reports by civil society
observers were that large numbers of
residents stayed at home, or even sold
their voter cards before election.
Such low turnouts can favour
riggers, as they allow lots of unused
votes to be creatively redistributed, in
front of a largely apathetic public
which may not enthusiastically defend
its mandate. And, as we have seen,
incumbents have a greater ability to rig
due to their control of resources and
the environment.
As PDP are incumbent in more
states, this might at first glance seem to
favour that party more, but as there
are a number of states in which the
party may struggle to clear the 25%
margin, low turnouts are a big risk for
PDP too.
Money is hugely important in
politics, but is of limited use without
genuine support. Paid-for support is
expensive and unreliable, while
dedicated support is more consistent
(and cheaper). While incumbents may
have more to spend, they may not
necessarily have more to offer in
mobilising voter enthusiasm.
Historically, parties’ appeal to
voters has been based on ethnoregional or faith identities, although
the 1999 and 2007 elections broke a
mould with three major parties (the
PDP, ANPP and AD/ACN) all
picking Southern Christian and later,
Northern
Muslim
Presidential
candidates respectively.
For 2015, parties have so far made
little effort to formulate policy
messages, and membership structures
vary from very weak to strong between
parties across the country. While the
PDP has struggled to convince the
electorate of its ability to deliver on
key issues such as poverty reduction,
security or combatting corruption, the
APC’s positioning as a more
progressive party has been watereddown by the large number of
floor-crossers
the
party
has
incorporated and its tactic of negative
campaigning has also alienated some
potential supporters.
It will be interesting to see to what
extent both parties are willing or able
to mobilise voters with policy
messages rather than simply appeal to
identity politics.
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NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
NEWSWATCH
9
THE NUMBERS
T
he current political alignment of
state government is as follows.
Note that APGA and Labour
Party states have tended to ally with
the ruling PDP party.
• People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – 20
• All Progressives Congress (APC) – 14
• All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA) – 1
• Labour Party (LP) – 1
2011 RESULTS ANALYSIS
In May 2011, gubernatorial polls took
place and results were announced in 25
states, excluding the Imo (re-run) and
9 others which were not due for reelection. 20 states had one-term sitting
governors running for re-election, and
5 states had vacant seats after
Governors had completed two terms.
Their average share of the votes looked
like this:
8
54.08%
3
47.3%
5
58.16%
3
62.7%
2
51.15%
15
68.22%
2
74.95%
Based on this we can see that in 2011
elections being an incumbent governor
typically gives an advantage of 15%
when seeking re-election (69.01 – 54.08
= 14.93%).
The marginal advantage of being
an incumbent party contesting a
‘vacant’ seat – i.e. where a governor has
completed two terms and is not
coming back – is calculated by
subtracting the average vote-share of
winning non-incumbents from the
average vote share of those who won
seats just vacated by the same party:
11.2% (62.7% – 51.5%)
SOME OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
• If you’re contesting for an ‘empty’
seat, you’re likely to win by a larger
share of the vote (62%) if you’re from
the party which was just in power than
if you’re from an opposition party
(51%).
• Anyone not in power at the start of
STATE GOVERNORSHIPS
There are 28 gubernatorial seats up for
election in 2015:
10 incumbents are contesting for a
second term
• Three are in PDP-controlled states
• Seven are in APC-controlled states.
18 vacant seats
• Fourteen are in PDP-controlled
states
• Four are in APC-controlled states
PROJECTIONS
OF STATE GOVERNORSHIPS TO
BE WON 2015
69.01%
Using the trends in the 2011 elections,
if other conditions remain equal,
based on the current landscape, we
make the following preliminary
projections.
CURRENT NO. OF
STATE
GOVERNORSHIPS
17
2015 ELECTION
PROJECTIONS
CATEGORY
Sitting Governor
gets second term
2. Non-incumbent
candidate wins
2a. Where opponent beats
one-term sitting
governor who is
running for re-election
2b. Where candidate wins
‘empty’ seat where
there is no first-term
governor running
for re-election
2b.1 Of which candidate
from immediate
previously ruling
party wins ‘empty’ seat
2b.2 Of which candidate
from party previously
in opposition wins ‘
empty’ seat
3. Average winning share
of PDP sitting
Governors
4. Average winning share
of non-PDP sitting
Governors
AVERAGE
WINNING
SHARE OF
VOTE
1.
NUMBER
OF STATES
CATEGORY
the race (whether national opposition
or ruling party, whether running
against a sitting governor or an empty
seat) typically gets a lower margin of
victory (47%) than incumbents
running for re-election (69%).
• The advantage of being an
incumbent
first-term
governor
running for re-election is not larger for
PDP Governors. In fact, non-PDP
incumbents won with average 75%
share of the votes, whereas PDP
incumbents won an average of 68%. It
thus seems that being in power locally
matters more than being allied with
the national ruling party, although
more research and larger samples
would be needed to prove this.
Incumbents: Based on 85% Rule
APC
7
6 in APC states
=6
PDP
3
3 in PDP states
1 in APC states
=4
Seats to be vacant: Based on winning vote
share in 2011 gubernatorial elections: 6040%
APC
4
2 in APC states
6 in PDP states
=8
PDP
14
8 in PDP states
2 in APC states
= 10
Assumed to be incumbent in states with no
election in February 2015
APC
3
3
PDP
3
3
APGA
1
1
LABOUR
1
1
TOTAL
APC
PDP
APGA
LABOUR
14
20
1
1
17
17
1
1
PROJECTIONS:
• If the rule that incumbents win
85% of the time with a 60% share of
votes holds, for the 10 states with
incumbents running for re-election in
the governorship elections, a likely
outcome is that the APC wins 6 seats
REPORT AUTHORS: Oliver Owen and Zainab Usman
while the PDP wins 4.
• There are 18 vacant seats which
will have no incumbent contesting. In
2011, the PDP won 60% of such seats
while opposition parties (although
before uniting as the APC) collectively
won 40%. Working with this
admittedly crude assumption (based
on just five vacant seats contested in
2011), the PDP is therefore likely to
win 10 governorship states while the
APC gets 8 states.
• Therefore in states holding
elections in 2015, it is likely that the
PDP ends up with 14 states and the
APC with 14. If these figures are
added to the other states without
governorship elections, the tally is:
PDP: 14 states + 3 non-participating
states = 17
APC: 14 states + 3 non-participating
states = 17
APGA = 1 non-participating state
Labour = 1 non-participating state
Total 36 states
This could mean that PDP and allied
parties will control 19 states, fewer
than the 22 it currently does. However,
these are broad generalisations and it
is difficult to identify the specific states
in question.
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
PROJECTIONS
G
oing by the initial rule we
applied, if the PDP candidate is
incumbent President Goodluck
Jonathan, he might seem to have an
85% chance of winning with about
60% of the votes. However, given
Nigeria’s Federal system, the
proportion of vacant governorship
seats and the rapidly changing
alliances in the political landscape,
other variables may come into play.
We can assume that states largely
support the same party for Presidential
elections as they do for Governorship
elections (although in 2011 a number
of mainly northern states, as well as
ACN states in in an electoral pact with
PDP in the South-West, bucked the
trend).
Going by the 85% assumption, if
local incumbency is the prime factor,
since 22 of the states are currently
PDP or allied parties in the current
dispensation, the PDP
may
win
the
Presidential vote in 21
states (19 PDP states
and 2 APC states), and
the APC meanwhile
would win Presidential
votes in 15 states (12
currently APC and 3
PDP states). This is
likely to be enough for a simple
majority.[1]
If however, we go by the projected
trends in the governorship elections as
useful pointers, we end up with a
different result, with both parties
winning in 17 states each.
The absolute numbers of voters
cannot be predicted but it may be
significant that the APC goes into the
election controlling two states with the
largest number of registered voters,
Lagos (6.1 million registered voters in
2011) and Kano (5 million).
Also remember that section 134 (1)
of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution lays
down two conditions for a victory; one
is a majority of votes cast, but the
other is a minimum of 25% of
registered voters in two-thirds of
Nigeria’s states (i.e. 24 states).
Currently, with support of Labour
and APGA, the PDP controls enough
states to ensure that. However, in 2011
Bauchi state did not reach the needed
minimum even when controlled by
PDP, delivering only 16.05% of the
vote for the party’s candidate, while
Katsina, also PDP, only just scraped
over the minimum with 26.1%. So it is
reasonable to assume that if support
or turnout is low in PDP-ruled
northern states, not all may deliver the
25% minimum needed to secure a win
for the party’s candidate.
In such a circumstance, the
Constitution states that candidates
would be forced into a second-round
run-off election. Such a situation has
not previously occurred under
Nigeria’s present electoral system.
Therefore, of three possible
outcomes – outright PDP win,
outright APC win, or a run-off
election – the most likely outcome
based on our projections from current
data is that neither party would
“These were not young
people that had come
back to make a difference”
manage both factors for an outright
victory so there would need to be an
additional run-off election.
Neither is it clear which party that
situation would favour. On one hand a
nationally incumbent party may retain
more resources to continue mobilising,
but on the other, both the voting
public and important political
intermediaries
may
perceive
momentum in the opposition which
galvanises support for their popularity.
If the presidential election does not
favour an outright win for the PDP, it
may also further weaken the PDP’s
chances
at
the
subsequent
gubernatorial level given the
proportion of vacant seats (18) to
incumbent re-elections (10). The
deciding states for the presidential
election and the overall fortune of the
two parties will be those 18 vacant
seats, which also happen to have 54.4%
(40.03 million) of 2011’s registered
voters, including 10 of the 14 states
with the largest number of registered
voters, underlining just how open this
race really is.
[1] However, remember that five of
those Jonathan-supporting states in
2011 were ACN states voting according
to a cross-party pact, and this may
have dampened voter enthusiasm –
despite the pact in Lagos, only
1,281,688 of the 6,108,069 registered
voters actually contributed to
Jonathan’s win, so we must allow the
possibility that greater numbers might
turn out for an incumbent party’s own
candidate.
Turn to page 10
10
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
@NigerianWatch
NEWSWATCH
Continued from page 9
SOME CAVEATS
I
ncumbency advantages are very
dependent on specific local factors,
such as candidates, coalitions, party
machinery, electorate sophistication,
local issues and more; therefore it is hard
to make a solid prediction on the
outcomes. Importantly, the 2015
elections appear as if they will be a twoparty race in all states, although this may
also change if heavyweights in the two
major parties who lose primaries decide
to leave them.
In such a situation, the advantages of
incumbency calculated from the 2011
multi-party elections may have less
predictive value at the gubernatorial
elections because the APC is a merger of
three parties with varying strengths; the
ACN, CPC and ANPP. This is
additionally complex in states (such as
Kano, Imo and Kwara) where PDP
governors crossed over to the APC.
In that case, the advantage of
incumbency would go beyond 11%
because we would need to consider what
proportion of the 2011 vote for other
parties in the merger (i.e. CPC and
ANPP) will be scooped up by APC.
Additionally, in most of the states where
the governor crossed over from the
national ruling PDP with some or all of
his supporters, the PDP still has a solid
state structure.
While we are able to make some
plausible projections where incumbents
are re-contesting in 2015, it is difficult to
do so for the 18 vacant seats because the
parameters so far cannot test the
strength of the opposition merger. What
we can say however is that these seats will
be hotly-contested.
Since presidential elections occur
before governorship elections, it is
possible these projections may have little
predictive value on the outcome of the
presidential elections because the
patterns of voting for the governorship
and
presidential
elections
are
considerably different.[2]
Moreover, there is no clear pattern –
beyond an assumed incumbency
advantage – by which states vote for a
presidential candidate. Several factors
come into play such as the interaction of
local
and
national
coalitions,
incumbency, popularity of presidential
candidates, local actors – governorship
candidates and power brokers, relative
party strength and structure, type of
identity allegiances, and historical
political behaviour of states.
The large number of vacant seats (18
of 28 up for election) will test the
cohesion and organisation of the parties.
One possibility is that the incentive for
an outgoing or ‘lame duck’ Governor in
a state with strong presence of an
opposition party to ‘deliver’ that state to
their presidential candidate is highly
variable.
[2] Five ACN states in the South-West
voted PDP in the presidential elections
while nine PDP states voted CPC in the
presidential elections in 2011.
Zainab Usman is a DPhil Candidate at
the University of Oxford. Oliver Owen is
Junior Research Fellow in International
Development at the Oxford Department
‘The most important office is not that
of the President but that of the citizen’
Speaking at the recent TedX Euston Nigeria’s hottest media mogul Chude
Jideonwo explained his infamous “Sani Abacha is Satan” tweet
On the 8th of June last year the
managing partner of
the
pioneering Red Media Africa
group
and
award-winning
journalist Chude Jideonwo woke
up and noticed something “truly
disturbing” was happening on his
Facebook (FB) timeline.
June 8 is a red-letter day in
Nigeria as it is the anniversary of the
death of the notorious dictator Sani
Abacha. Mr Jideonwo was shocked
by the content of what he read.
“People were talking with nostalgia,
saying stuff like ‘Abacha wasn’t so
bad’, or, ‘He was bad but things are
even worse now. Because, you know,
he made people lose a few thousand
jobs, killed a few hundred business
leaders, killed ten or 20, nothing too
serious’. So my inner-man told me
you have to join this conversation. So
I twittered this statement from the
bottom of my heart; Sani Abacha is
Satan.”
The feedback on FB was swift, he
reported. “I was told I shouldn’t take
sides, that you are a young leader, we
expected more from you, and my
favourite, from the Christian
brethren, thou shall not judge.”
After giving it a lot of thought Mr
Jideonwo sent a second tweet,
“General Sani Abacha is Satan.”
The audience roared with laughter
at the anecdote but Mr Jideonwo
signalled its serious intent when he
said, “Here it gets a laugh but for me
it’s more than just a wisecrack. For
me it is my life’s truth.”
He detailed his life. “I was born in
1985 when Babaginga took over
Nigeria and I grew up under the
ruthless, decadent administration of
Abacha. God forbid those days
should ever return.
“Corrupt leaders are not just bad
because of what we can see they do,
they are vile because of the things we
cannot see, the traumatised hearts
and powerless minds.”
He continued, “I grew up in a
country where children would say I
want to be President so I can chop
money. A country where young
people’s ambitions were shackled
beneath a certain level, you were not
permitted to create, to innovate, to
think, to dream or believe.
“I lived in a country where
everything got worse every year.
Every year Xmas got more boring,
uninteresting.
Things
would
disappear from the table, milk would
disappear, sugar would disappear…..
“People would lose their jobs and
move to one room slums, like my
father, who lost his job under
Babaginga’s structural adjustment,
and soon the gorgeous beetle car that
had so defined us was gone.
“And soon the monthly visits to
the Principal’s office began because I
couldn’t pay my fees.
“I can almost now smell the fear.
People would tell you if you said the
wrong thing you would be killed.
Imagine being in High School and
fearing if you said the wrong thing
you would be killed?
“I grew up thinking of this world
as this dark, ugly place where
everything was impossible. This dark
place where citizens have no power to
act for themselves. I didn’t ever think
it would be different. How can people
forget? How dare you forget.
“And so my life’s work is to ensure
my generation never forgets and to
ensure those dark days never return.”
In 2002 Mr Jideonwo embarked
on a career as a journalist for the
Temple, which had survived the
Abacha regime, despite being
intensely critical of it. In 2002 he then
joined the New Dawn movement
where he was the right hand man to
the TV show’s host Funmi Iyanda.
Mr Jideonwo recalled that she
“acutely understood the significance
of the democracy just won. She knew
this wasn’t a time for pointless TV
but in a time of big change we had a
duty to help people find their voices.
“I became infected with this sense
of purpose that the media is this
incredibly powerful tool with the
highest capacity to transform people
and society.”
So the foundations for Red Media
Africa, of which he is a managing
partner and produces such things as
the digital websites Y! Africa, YNaija
and The Future Project was born, to
inspire and galvanise a generation of
young Africans, using what he calls
“the limitless power of the media”.
The group’s flagship brand is the
Future Awards, which grew from the
answer to the question “how do we
sell hope to young people? How do
we remind them that all the things we
take for granted didn’t exist for
Nigerians a few years ago? How do
we show them role models that
remind them how powerful they
actually are?”
He continued, “In our continent
70 million young people are out of
work, a quarter of countries are still
under dictatorships, there is insurgency across the Sahara, and now we
have Ebola. The media cannot afford
to be a bystander. The media in
Africa needs to go beyond telling
stories, it needs to programme big
ideas, take big risks. The media has
the duty and capacity to do more.”
Red Media came into being in
2010 during the period when the then
President Yaràradua had been
missing for months. In Jos people
were being slaughtered. Power supply
was at its lowest.
Amid the confusion, Chude and
his friends formed a coalition
demanding answers, using social
media and old fashioned protest – the
youths were famously pictured
pushing back against armed troops,
fearful that the void would lead to a
return to the bad old ways.
It marked the first protest
movement in Nigeria to adopt social
media to such devastating effect,
making the protests the first to go
viral, using live streaming. “This was
not the most important first,
however,” said Mr Jideonwo. “It was
the first time in a generation the
nation’s youth had taken charge of
the conversation.”
He said it had subsequently
changed the way young people see
their role in nation building and the
way they engage government for ever.
“For Africa to keep the sexy
hashtag ‘Africa rising’ we need young
people who are gainfully employed,
who can demand better government
or solve their own problems,” he said.
Putting his money where his
mouth is he announced that this year
Red Media will launch citizenship
schools [for 200,000 young people
over next two years] on how to
influence their communities to
demand better from their local and
state governments and solve their
own problems in spite of their
leaders.
“In a democracy the most
important office is not the office of
the president but the office of the
citizen,” Mr Jideonwo said. “This rot
and decay that we met was not
caused by us, I was born into it. But
it is my problem to solve.”
Along the way he has been told
that criticising the government is no
way to run a business. But that is by
“the people who want to protect their
interests and investments, by people
who want to maintain the status quo,
add a couple of zeros to their bank
balance”.
He had no truck with such people.
“That is the Nigeria that got us
Abacha. And by God I refuse to go
back there”.
Mr Jideonwo concluded with a
clarion call, “You and I cannot leave
activism to activists. We have to make
change wherever we are, wherever we
can, with whatever we have. Because
in a democracy the most important
office is not the office of the president
but the office of the citizen.
“Why do you think Obama and
Cameron give ‘yes you can’ speeches?
Why do you think Hong Kong and
China are having a conversation
about voting? Why do you think
Burkino Faso finally got rid of its 27
year old disease?
“It’s a simple social phenomena;
when citizens show that they have
finally had enough governments
decide that enough is enough.”
He continued, “I am not an
entrepreneur. I am not an activist. I
am a citizen of the republic of
Nigeria – and wherever I am, I will
do whatever I need to solve the
problems. We have so many
problems, people out of school, out
of jobs, infant mortality, maternal
mortality, terrorism – we should all
be mad. Everybody should be an
active citizen because Africa won’t
maintain its rise if African citizens
don’t speak forth.
“Yes, we need strong patriotic
visionary
leaders
but
more
importantly we need strong patriotic
visionary citizens who will tell them
what to do, who will get them to do
it or shove them aside and show them
how it’s done.
“Whatever you do, we need to see
change as a lifestyle and as a culture.
We cannot choose between minding
our business and minding our
country. Africa needs its citizens,
desperately, today, tomorrow and
every single day.”
The audience roared its approval
as Mr Jideonwo left the stage.
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NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
YOURWATCH
Letters to the Editor
NW COMMENT
Let us know what you think. Put pen to paper and send your letters to: The Editor, Nigerian Watch, Chartwell
House, 292 Hale Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 8NP, or email us at: [email protected]
Letters to be included in the next issue must be received by no later than January 18, 2014. Anonymous
letters will not be published. Please include your full name, postal address and contact telephone number.
Names and addresses can be withheld, if preferred.
Letters may be edited for publication.
INEC and post-election violence
I write to use your pages to take issue with the
former Minister of Foreign Affairs and elder
statesman, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, who recently called on both Presidential candidates
to sign a post-election no violence pact.
First, I wish to correct Professor Akinyemi.
His appeal for free, fair and violence-free elections should have been directed to the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to perform creditably, because the
11
eyes of Nigerians and indeed the world are on
them.
Being the largest black Nation on Earth,
Nigeria's performance will be seen as a reflection on the black race, ie that they are not capable to govern themselves.
Inec must live up to the people’s expectation as an impartial referee. If it does this,
there will be no aftermath disturbances as
widely predicted.
Contrary to what Professor Akinyemi believes, party leaders
cannot guarantee
the actions of their
supporters.
It is common
sense that if people’s votes are falsified or ballots
rigged and wrong
results declared
that trouble will
likely follow.
Nigeria's judicial system cannot
immediately correct
the wrong, until
after a long judicial
process.
Yet the people
will be immediately
aware of electoral
issues as they happen thanks to social
media in all its
forms.
I am indeed sick
of the debate on
TV and Nigerian
Newspapers about
aftermath trouble
after the elections.
lnec must do an
honest job to avoid
the predicted
calamity.
Call for Audience Members
The BBC’s flagship ethical and moral debate
programme The Big Questions will be
broadcasting from Peckham, London, this
Sunday (January 11) and we we would like
to invite Nigerian Watch readers to be part
of the audience.
There will be two shows filmed on this
day - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The Big Questions is hosted by the experienced television and radio presenter Nicky
Campbell, and airs on Sunday mornings
from 10-11am from locations all around the
country.
The show addresses tricky moral questions facing the nation today, consulting
front row experts and a select studio audience. Beliefs, informed opinions and personal
stories are all aired during three lively debates.
As an audience member, you may even get
the chance to contribute to the discussions
yourself, although due to the number of people in the audience we can’t guarantee this.
If you’d like a seat in either of the audiences, please get in touch with Phoebe or
Leona, making sure to leave a contact phone
number at the following:
[email protected]
0141 611 9624 and 0141 611 9638
I
n the world of celebrity the highest measure of
popularity and influence is to become known
by your first name, think Robbie (as in Williams)
and Kylie (as in Minogue). In the worlds of politics
and diplomacy the same has only been clearly
achieved when your name becomes an “active
verb”.
Nigeria’s ambassador to the UK for the past
seven years Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, OFR, CFR, has
achieved that status. Hence 2015 dawns as the era
of Tafidaism.
So what is Tafidaism? Essentially it boils down
to time consciousness, an end to Africa time.
Not simply because arriving late is tedious for
all involved but because it shows a disregard for
international standards, playing by the rules and
respect for others. This bad habit also raises
doubts over our ability as a people to organise
and deliver.
By example, that has won him world renown,
Dr Tafida has led the way. Few today are prepared
to risk the wrath of being late for an event at
which he is present. Those that are can expect a
public rebuke and rightly so, whether His
Excellency is hosting or a guest.
We should all resolve this year to follow his
great example. Let’s make putting an end to
Africa time our community’s New Year’s
resolution. With that I
wish all our readers a
happy and prosperous
New Year.
Maryanne Jemide, MD
Victor Osubu, via
email
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12
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
@NigerianWatch
EMBASSYWATCH
NEWS FROM THE NIGERIA
HIGH COMMISSION, LONDON
End of year party bids fond farewell
to Sam Adelemi…
Kindred spirits:
Minister Adelemi
and Dr Tafida
The traditional end of year party
for staff at the Nigeria High
Commission was tinged with
sadness this year as Nigeria’s High
Commissioner Dr Dalhatu Sarki
Tafida, OFR, CFR, reluctantly bid
a fond farewell to one of his most
trusted lieutenants Minister for
Trade and Investment Sam
Adelemi.
Only tinged, mind you. Rarely can
someone have left an organisation for
pastures new with such goodwill from
his colleagues.
Dr Tafida delivered the most telling
testimony to Mr Adelemi when he
said, “Honestly, I did not want you to
go back. But it is part of the life of a
diplomat that when called upon you
must go.
“In your time with us you have
added value to the section of trade and
investment and the Mission. You are
one of the few. Your work has been
consistently fantastic and you have
made our work here very easy. I know
there is a great reception awaiting you
in Nigeria.”
As Mr Adelemi had been recalled
home there was much speculation
about him becoming a minister, with
many of his colleagues politely
reminding him not to forget them
should that come to pass.
For over an hour colleagues and
community leaders queued up to pay
tribute to Mr Adelemi and a picture
emerged of a dedicated officer and
inspirational man, manager and
section leader who made his staff feel
valued and an integral part of the
team.
A humble man who was always
ready to praise and encourage not only
his own staff but all staff.
One of the mission’s drivers spoke
movingly of how Mr Adelemi had
invited him into his home for
refreshments and a conversation and
when he expressed his surprise at the
honour Mr Adelemi had told him,
‘We’re all human, we’re all equals”.
In that sense Mr Adelemi is cut
from the same cloth as the High
Commissioner himself and clearly
underscores why Dr Tafida tried to
resist the calls from Nigeria for Mr
Adelemi to return home.
In his thank you address Mr
Adelemi accentuated how much he
and Dr Tafida are kindred spirits.
He said the success of his
department was down to the team
ethic and hard work of his staff but
overall it was down to the enabling
environment created in the Mission by
Dr Tafida. “I was good before when I
was in Nigeria,” he told the gathering.
“I became better when I got here under
the tutelage of Dr Tafida. If what
today you have been saying about me
is genuine it is down to His Excellency.
“The way he received me a little
over three years ago was exemplary.
The way he talked and advised me,
having watched him since, I have
gained so much from him. If we had
10 people like Dr Tafida we could
move Nigeria forward very rapidly.
What I have achieved here is because
of the enabling environment His
Excellency created.
Addressing Dr Tafida directly, he
said, “I thank you so much. You will
never leave my mind or heart wherever
I am.”
… and celebrates a year of many successes
Aside from bidding farewell to Minister
Adelemi, the end of year party celebrated
the many great successes it scored in 2014
and the often unsung heroes among the
back room staff who make it all possible.
L-R: Henrietta Abraham; Chief Oladimeji; Deputy High Commissioner Olukunle Akindele Bamgbose; HE
Dr Tafida; General Ogide; Bimbo Afolayan Roberts and (standing) the award winners (named below)
GYRATION AS FATALISM
All set arranged on gyres
Immutable and in seeming gyration
Moving in circles like the moon
With the capacity and predilection to mourn.
It’s all about hide and seek with fate
Always losing but feeling safe
Pulling through in perilous safety
Mother and child in filial love
A love for sure to wither.
When the sibling becomes a prey
It isn’t neurosis but normal
Decreed and reeled out as heavenly norm
Pure hide and seek with fate.
Ahmed Inusa
STAFF OF THE YEAR AWARD
Mr Layo Akinfala
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Mr John C Nwokeoha; Mrs Deborah
Macaulay; Mr Shabazz Abdulrahaman;
Mr Ahmed Rufai; Mr Ugochukwu Ikebata
LETTER OF COMMENDATION
Ms Mariya A T Yusuf; Mr Timothy B Banjifetugas; Mr Christopher B Whyte; Miss
Onyekachi Duroha; Mrs Henrietta
Onuche
LONG MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
Mr Sunny U Kpohraror; Mrs Jenny Okany;
Mrs Monica Shaahu; Mr Ananth N Satchi;
Mrs Dorothy Barber; Ms Felicia
Ekechukwu; Ms Rakiya L Ibrahim; Mr
Moses Bakare; Mr Sule B Mohammad
Orchestrating the ceremony was head of
chancery Minister Ahmed Inusa who told the
gathering that 2014 had been another year of
“successful Tafidaisation” at the Mission,
recognising the excellent leadership of the High
Commissioner Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, OFR,
CFR.
Among a host of high-level dignitaries to
visit the mission, Mr Inusa noted President
Jonathan had visited twice and the first lady
Dame Patience several times, adding, “She was
so satisfied with the reception she received and
dedication of our staff Mrs Vera Enubuje that
she took her away to be her staff.”
Over the year bi-lateral relations with the
UK had grown from strength to strength,
particularly in regard to the Boko Haram
insurgency, and the volume of trade between
the two countries had nearly doubled from £4bn
to £7.2bn, which of course owes much to the
outgoing Mr Adelemi.
One of the great initiatives to be introduced
in 2014 was the tour of Nigerian communities
across the UK, which has been an
unprecedented success in building bridges and
strengthening community cohesion while
boosting business (see page 13).
Another major highlight for all Nigerians
was the national conversation in Nigeria. Dr
Tafida had played a pivotal role in ensuring the
diaspora not only in the UK but also Europe
had a voice at the table. Subsequently Chief
Adebayo Oladimeji and Christian Udechukwu
represented the diaspora.
Finally a minute’s silence was observed for
colleagues who had sadly passed away during
the year. Minister Inusa said, “In the course of
the year we lost our beloved Foreign Minister
Ambassador
Olugbenga
Ashiru,
our
indefatigable finance attaché Mr Abdullahi
Lukman Mohammed and also the father of
Mrs Folake Abdulrazaaq, pa Hezekiah Olufela
Davies.”
The mission’s resident poet, Minister Inusa
read a poem he had written on life and death in
their remembrance (see left).
It was then time to reward the Mission staff
whose dedication and excellence had shone
throughout the year (see panel).
Finally, it was the turn of His Excellency to
give his end of year address. He told the
gathering that the mission would not rest on its
laurels. “The end of year is a time when we look
at what we have achieved and whether there is
room for improvement. There is not one
organisation in the world that doesn’t require
improvement.”
In order to continue improving he implored
the audience to “tell us what we are doing well,
what we are not doing so well, or indeed not at
all, and we will listen and act accordingly.”
A hallmark of Dr Tafida’s tenure in office
has been openness and a determination to listen
to the people he and the Mission serve.
He thanked the Mission staff for their
support and dedication and for doing their jobs
to the best of their ability.
“All the efforts of the past year have been
geared to bringing us closer to our compatriots
in this country, to serve them better.”
And he thanked community leaders Chief
Bimbo Afolayan Roberts (CANUK) and
Henrietta Abrahams (NIDO South) for their
sterling efforts on behalf of Nigeria and
Nigerians.
“You make our work here so much easier,”
Dr Tafida said.
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NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
EMBASSYWATCH
13
Building bridges and boosting business in Belfast
The Central Association of Nigerians in the UK
(CANUK) and Nigeria High Commission
completed the third visit of their community
Town Hall outreach initiative over the weekend
of December 19, with Belfast, Northern Ireland,
playing the perfect host to the delegation from
London and other major UK cities. The trip
follows on from previous visits to Manchester
and Glasgow, writes Lagun Akinloye.
The ‘Town Hall Meeting’ initiative aims to
build greater understanding between the various
Nigerian communities within the UK while
bringing them closer to the internal mechanisms
of CANUK and Nigeria High Commission.
The delegation was received by Sebastian
Adegboyega Aluko-James, the Chairman of the
Nigerian Community in Northern Ireland,
alongside many other Nigerians residing in
Belfast and surrounding cities. The arrival of
Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK Dr
Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, OFR, CFR, was marked
with pomp and pageantry with Nigerians
waving flags and cheering aloud.
The first port of call was the beautiful offices
of Invest in Northern Ireland (INI), the
regional business development agency. There a
high-level meeting was held under the
chairmanship of INI’s Regional Director for
India, Middle East and Africa Barry Clarke.
The very great potential business and
partnership opportunities between Nigerian
and Northern Ireland were discussed.
Following speeches by Dr Tafida and the
Minister of Trade Sam Adelemi, follow up
meetings were promised and a strong
L-R: At Belfast Town Hall with the Mayor; the welcome party at the airport; and meeting Mr Aluko-James
commitment to growing social and economic
ties between the two countries were agreed upon.
The next stop was a visit to the Bryson
Charity Group, one of the UK's oldest
registered charities, which has been helping
disadvantaged people in Northern Ireland since
1906. The luncheon was attended by staff and
board members from Bryson Intercultural and
was aimed at recognising the contribution of
Nigerian citizens living in Northern Ireland
while also sensitising the delegation on the good
work Bryson undertakes in the local
community.
The day ended with a tour of the exquisitely
built Belfast City Council offices where the
delegation met the Lord Mayor of Belfast
Councillor Nichola Mallon. Tea, coffee and
biscuits were served in the inner chambers of the
council as the Lord Mayor spoke of the role
Nigerians play in the everyday life of Northern
Ireland and how important they are to its growth.
The following day the eagerly-anticipated
Town Hall Meeting was held at the Wellington
Park Hotel. An African themed band played
rhythmic beats as the invited guests streamed in
with the High Commissioner and the Chairman
of CANUK arriving alongside other dignitaries.
The welcome remarks were given by the
Chairman of the Nigerian Community in
Belfast, Mr Adegboyega Aluko-James followed
by an address from CANUK Chairman, Bimbo
Afolayan. Both went into painstaking detail
about their respective organisations, their
objectives and the impact they are having on
their communities.
In his keynote address Dr Tafida focused on
the need for increased unity between Nigerian
communities throughout the UK and the wish
for Nigerians in Northern Ireland to continue
positively contributing to whichever fields they
are in engaged in.
The High Commissioner further remarked
on the many issues faced by Nigerians in the
Northern Ireland, which included visa
requirements, the halting of asylum seekers
from Nigeria and those who have fallen foul of
the law. He thanked the Nigerian community
in Ireland for their efforts in projecting
Nigerians in a positive light and opened the
floor for questions and answers.
Questions revolved around the need for a
greater participation of the High Commission
and CANUK in the daily lives of Nigerians in
Northern Ireland and the desire to be
recognised on a greater level when creating ideas
and putting proposals forward to the benefit of
Nigeria on the whole. The event ended with a
dinner celebration.
Future trips to Cardiff, Liverpool and
various other cities in the UK which host
Nigerian communities are in the planning stage
as CANUK and the High Commission work
tirelessly to build bridges and create
partnerships with Nigerian communities
around the UK to the benefit of all.
Lagun Akinloye is Assistant Public Relations
Officer at CANUK
Winter specials
London Heathrow
to Lagos
From
£530
economy class
£1635
business class
Return fares, including taxes and charges.
To book visit arikair.com/special-offers
fly world class
Fares are subject to availability, exchange rate variation and conditions apply.
a r i k a i r. c o m
14
NIGERIAN WATCH
9 - 22 Jan 2015
@NigerianWatch
LEISUREWATCH
The Fortnight
NOW BOOKING: BLACK PLAYS at the National Theatre
Every morning from Saturday Jan 24 to Saturday Feb 29 a fascinating series of talks will take place to explore a diverse collection of
plays from dramatists of African and Caribbean heritage. Combining performances, clips of past productions and lively discussion,
each session will examine a topic, from decolonisation to sexuality, protest theatre to cosmopolitanism. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
What to see and do over the next 14 days...
In Black and White – Prints
from Africa and the Diaspora
LIBERIAN GIRL BY
DIANA NNEKA ATUONA
“War is not the answer.
Peace is the answer. On
the other hand…”
Between 1989 and
2003 the Civil War in
Liberia saw over 200,000
people killed, a million
others displaced into
refugee camps, and over
15,000 children recruited
into ‘Small Boys Units’.
First-time writer Diana
Nneka Atuona‘s Alfred
Fagon award-winning
play tells one teenage
girl’s story of survival in
this intimate and immersive production.
Diana Nneka Atuona
attended the Royal
Court’s Peckham Writers
Group as part of Theatre
Local – the Royal Court’s
project to take plays to
alternative spaces, sponsored by Bloomberg.
Liberian Girl was also
performed as a staged
presentation at the
Global Summit to End
Sexual Violence in Conflict, chaired by William
Hague and Angelina
Jolie, at the Excel Centre,
late last year.
After its run at the
Royal Court Theatre,
Liberian Girl will transfer
to the CLF Art Café at the
Bussey Building in Peckham for one week and
the Bernie Grant Arts
DANCE
London Tales
The International London
Mime Festival
In this fast-paced physical
piece you are invited to reflect
on who we were, what we have
become and where we are
going...
Over 8 million people share
our city – a blur of lives we’ll
never know. We rush past each
other on the street, queue
together in the supermarket
and sit side by side on the tube.
We may never have exchanged
a word before, but now we are
all here, waiting to tell you our
stories. Told by a diverse cast
including; Anita-Joy Uwajeh,
Gabriel Akamo and Tomide
Omoyele. Each story, from the
moving to the bizarre or
comical is inextricably linked.
13th - 17th Jan 7.30pm. Tickets: £12
LOST Theatre, 208 Wandsworth
Road, SW8
www.losttheatre.co.uk
Join this lunchtime lecture
which looks at a variety of
powerful graphic images from
the 1960s to the present –
prints, posters, books and
ephemera – by notable artists
as well as anonymous activists.
Centre in Tottenham.
Liberian Girl is part of
the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights
programme, which aims
to discover and support
the next generation of
world class playwrights,
supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
Until Jan 31. Matinee and
evening performances, times
vary.
Tickets: £20 (Mondays all
seats £10). This is an immersive, standing production. Age
guidance 15+
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs,
Sloane Square, SW1W
www.royalcourttheatre.com
THEATRE
The Southbank Centre
presents award-winning work
from across the globe as part
of the annual London
International Mime Festival.
Performances include;
Stateless, Joli Vyann’s new
show combining theatre, dance
and circus to explore the
subject of refugees, portraying
the upheaval and the fates of
people crossing borders, with
acrobatics.
10th – 25th Jan
Various venues.
For performance times, venues and
prices visit; www.mimelondon.com/
FILM
Percy Julian: Forgotten
Genius
Percy Julian became one of the
great scientists of the 20th cen-
Cirque Berserk
Combining contemporary “cirque” style skills with off-thescale thrilling stunt action, Cirque Berserk is a danger-filled
spectacle that will amaze audiences of all ages. Presenting the
world’s most dangerous circus act, the legendary Globe of
Death, with 3 motorcyclists speeding at over 60mph inside a
unique steel cage, and a troupe of over thirty jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, and musicians.
16th - 17th Jan. From £10. Hackney Empire, 291, Mare St, E8
www.hackneyempire.co.uk
tury. The grandson of Alabama slaves, he fought through
every possible barrier in a
deeply segregated America to
find freedom in the laboratory.
He became a world-class scientist, a self-made millionaire,
and a civil-rights pioneer.
Jan 12 6;30pm
Tickets £5 on the door. Under 16’s
FREE
PCS Headquarters, 160 Falcon
Road, Clapham Junction, SW11
www.blackhistorystudies.com
Holy Hustlers
Founded in 1955 at a remote
northern village in Botswana,
the Eloyi Church is
commanded by controversial
prophets – streetwise,
unemployed young men.
Portraying the tension between
holiness and hustling by
showing how, in a time of
crisis, city prophets assert
themselves because they are
both ‘holy’ and ‘hustlers’.
Followed by a discussion
with filmmaker Richard
Werbner.
15th Jan, 7:00pm. FREE
Email: [email protected] to book.
Djam Lecture Theatre, Russell
Square: College Buildings WC1H
www.soas.ac.uk
7 A.M: A Documentary
Directed by Jason Black (The
Black Authority), 7 A.M. is
the first in-depth documentary
Juju! Ebola Task-Force
Fundraiser Ft. Abdul Tee-Jay
+ More!
14th Jan, 1pm. FREE
The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture
Theatre, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7
www.vam.ac.uk
BUSINESS
Africa-UK Connections in
practice – New Approaches
for 2015
focusing on black
socioeconomics and why our
lack of business ownership is
at the root of our state of
poverty and political
alienation. Offering a critical
insight into why
entrepreneurship is the only
thing that will solve our crisis
the documentary features
contributions from Dr Claud
Anderson, Dr Umar Johnson,
Shalamar Blakely, A’Leila
Bundles, Morris Levine, Brett
Pulley and Don Peebles.
Jan 17th, 6:00pm
Tickets £10.90. Pre-booking advised
Platanos College, Clapham Road,
London, SW9
www.blackhistorystudies.com
ART
Virginia Chihota, A Thorn in
my Flesh (munzwa munyama yangu)
Over recent years, artist
Chihota has examined her life,
including her experience of
marriage and motherhood,
and has transformed her
Many of the things we do are
changing because of the
disruptive impact of the
Internet, mobile phones and
other kinds of Information
and Communication
Technology. This is
particularly evident in the way
UK-Africa relationships are
changing.
John Dada and Pamela
McLean will discuss these
changes through their ten-year
collaboration between rural
Nigeria and London, enabled
by the Internet.
10th Jan, 10:30 am - 3:30 pm.
From £7.
Impact Hub Westminster
80 Haymarket SW1Y
http://westminster.impacthub.net
MUSIC
With Sticks and Things at
Upstairs At The Ritzy
Rebecca Katsaris and Dave De
Rose return to present the
fourth instalment of With
Sticks And Things in
Brixton – an evening of
world music and dancing.
10th Jan, 8pm. From £5.00
Upstairs at the Ritzy,
Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane,
Brixton, SW2
www.picturehouses.co.uk
Afro Palace, Volta 45, Yaaba,
Abdul Tee-Jay, Rokoto, DJ
BlondeZilla and Kalinka all
perform and spin their brands
of African-influenced sounds
in order to raise money to go
towards fighting the Ebola
crisis.
17th Jan, 8pm.
Advance Tickets £6.00
Upstairs at the Ritzy, Brixton Oval,
Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW2
www.picturehouses.co.uk
Orlando Julius And The
Heliocentrics
Nigerian music legend,
saxophonist, songwriter and
master of the simple, stomping
riff, few artists have been more
crucial to the invention,
development and
popularisation of Afro-pop
than Orlando. The
Heliocentrics
straddle hip-hop,
funk, modern
creative jazz,
and world
music.
Their
collaborative
sound is a meaty,
high-energy gumbo
that is compulsively
danceable.
22nd Jan, 7.30pm
Advance tickets £15.00
229 Great Portland Street,
W1W
www.229thevenue.com
The Afro American
Project
thoughts into a body of prints
and drawings of striking
symbolic resonance, rife with
allusions to everyday life, and
religious and folkloric
symbolism.
9th Jan - 7th Feb. 11:00am - 6:00pm
FREE
Tiwani Contemporary, 16 Little
Portland Street, W1W.
www.tiwani.co.uk
Fiesta-style concert of
upbeat rhythms led by
master percussionist
Wilmer Sifontes and his
Afro-American project. The
band explores Venezuela’s
rich legacy of African and
African-Caribbean roots
music.
9th Jan, 5:30pm. FREE
The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre,
Belvedere Road, SE1
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
BUSINESS DIRECTORY
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We are in :40 EAST STREET MARKET LONDON SE172DN.
SUPER Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama has been voted
the best goalkeeper in the
French premier league Ligue
One during the course of
2014 by prestigious French
newspaper L’Equipe. By far the best African
goalkeeper anywhere in the
world, Enyeama has had a
brilliant spell in France with
his club Lille and last season
kept 21 clean sheets during
the season for the club.
He has now been voted as
the league’s best goalkeeper
during the course of 2014 despite Lille’s stuttering start to
the 2014/15 season that sees it
languishing in 13th place in
the 20-team table. Enyeama has played in
every minute of Lille’s 56
league matches since he returned from his loan spell at
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv
in 2013.
This is the second successive year that Enyeama has
been selected as Ligue One’s
most outstanding goalkeeping talent by L’Equipe. Akwa
Ibom-born
Enyeama, 32, has already been
shortlisted for the 2014
African Footballer of the Year
award which is set to be announced next Thursday in
Lagos.
Other players shortlisted
for the award include incumbent holder Yaya Touré and
Borrussia Dortmund and
Gabonese international PierreEmerick Aubameyang. Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu said he
is not surprised by Enyeama’s
emergence as the best goal
tender in France.
Now the Super Eagles
team coach, Shorunmu said
he recognised Enyeama's potential a long time ago.
“From the first day I saw Vincent I knew he was a star.
Having worked with him, I
can say for a fact that he’s the
best in Africa and one of the
best in the world.”
SPORTWATCH RETURNS
IN FULL NEXT ISSUE
DATING
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fuelling the
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Based on the real life
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For those in nigeria
Ring Peter Agbor of walahi.com on
(234)805 361 0533
Paperback £9.30 Hardback £13.60
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Issue 44 - Nigerian Watch

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