The Vanishing Nigerian Dailies and Quality News Reporting

The decline and the quality of fine journalism within the Nigerian press continues to amaze me. I have been wondering what happened to the Vanguard Group of Newspapers and its eloquent staff writers and columnists for nearly one week now that the paper has gone offline. The paper has shown no sign of coming back and my guess would be that, somehow, a management staff had forgotten to pay the bills, or maybe the owner(s) may have given up the idea of online publication to reduce cost. I think I really miss reading from the Vanguard, and perhaps that's why I'm perturbed for the fact that I am popping up this very topic twice in just two days. I must be feeling it--the urge to read from a daily I have been hooked up to for a while now.

The past couple of days, I have engaged in a series of discussion on why the Vanguard continues to disappear on the web and why the Guardian Newspapers continues to be offline and off the streets for a strike that could have been avoided if the management took its business seriously. According to the statement by Guardian, which was issued on November 6, 2007, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPPROW) withdrew its services to the company on the ground of not reaching a deal even though the Guardian group came half way to the two unions demand. The Guardian statement reads:

The Management of Guardian Newspapers Limited wishes to inform members of the public that our newspapers have been off the streets and online, following an industrial action called by our workers.

The two unions in our company - Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPPROW) - withdrew their services on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. Their grouse was that our company would not commit to award a 50 per cent raise on their gross pay. Mindful of the prevailing economic situation in the country in general, and the media industry in particular, we offered a more realistic pay increase to the workers. We also held several meetings with the unions, with a view to reaching an agreement on the issue. But the unions rejected our offer outright and stuck to their demand.

We thank our readers and advertisers both in print and online, and the general public for their understanding, and ask that they bear with us over the prevailing situation.

Nowadays that the two major newspapers are offline, I rely on other newslinks and I'm not quite sure if I'm getting the real deal when it comes to quality news reporting. I have tried to avoid all the tabloids, notably the Daily Sun and other sensationalized newslinks that have no clue the importance of keeping up with news in today's journalistic world. The Port Harcourt-based Tide has its news done for four or five days in a week, then remains the same until it pops up the next couple of days with fresh news stories. The Tide Could care less about damage report. It vanishes whenever it feels like and pops up anytime it deems necessary. I'm quite sure not too many read online from this tabloid. I wonder how they are able to stay in business with fierce competition out there. Nevertheless, it hasn't stopped me from doing the news on my blog-related News Desk which is part of keeping up and updating readers who visit and comb my blog.

The Port Harcourt Telegraph is another big joke. Its Garden City and Riverine-related news could be ten days old and nobody cares. Maybe, some oil baron should buy it out, though some of its lousy journalist who have been overstating its circulation may land on their feet and the paper could rejuvenate for fine newspaper reporting, changing the paper's content. In the newspaper business, it takes quality journalism work to thrive, like the Guardian has done over the years. With the Guardian on strike, its quality journalism work is definitely over. Now after a week and no news, who is going to be interested when there are many other news sources that can produce the same quality work the Guardian had been giving us all these years?

From a brief survey that I conducted regarding the Guardian, almost 85 percent of the readers I surveyed were satisfied with the Guardian and its quality work. That number fell dramatically as of yesterday when I carried out the same survey. Guardian just lost it and perhaps that's how it goes in the newspaper business.

The Punch, Daily Champion,, This Day, Daily Trust and Daily Independent tastes the same save for the Nigerian Tribune which is ngbati-ngabti , noise-making in nature as it has been since Obafemi Awolowo set its tone in the 50s for the interest of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, descendants of Oduduwa. By the way, the Daily Independent was gone for a while and it's now back. It has lost its base and Guardian is likely to fall within that category from an avoidable strike nobody wants to reach a deal.

Who knows? The newly Abuja-based Leadership Nigeria Newspaper whose motto states "For God And Country" may take over from the Guardian in quality news reporting. I doubt it. We'll see!

News Desk Sunday, November 11, 2007

Nigeria’s military might a hoax

The self acclaimed su periority of Nigeria’s military in Africa has been described as a hoax by a university don and military strategist, Dr Osisioma Bazil Chinedu Nwolise. Dr. Nwolise, of the Political Science Department, University of Ibadan, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Tribune in Ibadan at the weekend, claimed that Nigeria cannot stand up to countries like France in a serious war for two months without capitulating. MORE>>>

Five ex-governors to return N50bn

Five former governors may have given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission undertakings to return more than N50bn looted public funds within the next two weeks.A top source in the EFCC told our correspondent that they risked arraignment before the courts if they reneged on the mutual agreement or failed to honour it within the stipulated period. It was learnt that the mutual agreement informed the decision of the commission to put on hold its plan to commence the prosecution of two of the former governors last week. MORE>>>

MASSOB: Tension Over Uwazuruike’ Life

The crisis within the ranks of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has heightened, with fears that majority of those occupying Freedom House, the official residence of its founder and leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, were hired to do him in. The MASSOB leader and founder, who arrived Imo State on Tuesday, is said to be studying the situation at his residence in Okwe against the backdrop of information he got while in detention and since his bail two weeks ago. MORE>>>

NUT Tackles Imo Govt Over Sacked Teachers

Imo State government and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) are on collision course over the estimated 3,500 teachers under the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) axed by a government White Paper, which the present administration is bent on implementing. According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chuma Nnaji, the affected teachers are to leave the state’s secondary education system, following an audit report which had been released by the government of Ikedi Ohakim. MORE>>>

PDP: Ali Hands Over to Convention C’ttee Dec 8

With the shift in the date of the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to Jan 5, 2008, the National Working Commit-tee (NWC) headed by Dr. Ahmadu Ali, may hand over to the National Convention Committee to be set up in the next two weeks. The Ali's NWC tenure expires on December 8 after the 60 days notice of resignation it filed on September 8. MORE>>>

CBN To Enact Law Prohibiting Foreigners From Acquiring Local B

In its efforts to secure a firm, sound and sustainable banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN is to enact a law prohibiting foreigners from taking over local banks in Nigeria before the end of the year. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, who stated this during a workshop in Enugu however said the policy does not stop them from participating in banking activities in Nigeria. MORE>>>

AEPB Thugs, Ex-police Officer Manhandle Publisher

In what appeared to be its continued show of notoriety, thugs of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) at the weekend beat up Mr. Inyang Edet, the publisher of National Dictative, on the orders of a former police officer, (Rt) ASP Titus Supro. According to an eye witness, the AEPB staff had arrested a newspaper vendor, and taken him to their office at Area 3. The vendor put a call to his colleagues who then stormed the AEPB office in company of Edet. MORE>>>

Tension as Gov Obi battles Awka elite

Lingering face-off between Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and prominent indigenous union in Awka, the state capital, worsened yesterday, as the governor alleged that the union was planning to carry out another mayhem in the state. Consequently, the police disrupted a scheduled meeting of all the branches of his perceived dread-Awka Development Union (ADU)-thereby throwing panic into the capital city. MORE>>>

Georgian Leader Says Emergency Rule to Last as Needed

TBILISI, Georgia, Nov. 10 — Anticipating demands from a senior American diplomat that he immediately lift a state of emergency, President Mikheil Saakashvili said Saturday that the emergency decree would remain in effect as long as the Georgian government deemed it necessary. MORE>>>

Oil Price Rise Causes Global Shift in Wealth

High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone. The consequences are evident in minds and mortar: anger at Chinese motor-fuel pumps and inflated confidence in the Kremlin; new weapons in Chad and new petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia; no-driving campaigns in South Korea and bigger sales for Toyota hybrid cars; a fiscal burden in Senegal and a bonanza in Brazil. In Burma, recent demonstrations were triggered by a government decision to raise fuel prices. MORE>>>

Ghana to UK: the new trail of misery

With the trial of two British girls accused of smuggling drugs set to resume this week, Dan McDougall in Prampram reveals how cartels move their cocaine to Europe by exploiting the vulnerable and the poor. THE condoms are smeared in margarine or local vegetable oil, 'to help them slip down', says Kawko, holding out the white grains of pure cocaine in his scarred palm. Behind him, on the palm-tree fringed beach of Prampram village, dozens of colourfully painted longboats make land; the bulky wooden vessels heaved and roped out of the roaring West Atlantic by slender teenage boys. MORE>>>

The Slums and Nigeria Oil Money

No question, the entrapment called Nigeria is well known in the oil business it is one of world's biggest supplier of oil. That image of oil has set up a tone that Nigeria is a very rich country bubbling with life portrayed by the haves, even though when one takes a close look at the changing phases and events of the common man, bogus businessmen and government officials to see how oil has controlled and doomed the country in its entirety, the country is nothing but a jungle despite its oil wealth and its enormous human capital.

With all that oil, the nation seems to be underdeveloped and moving backward by the day, with the above picture of Njemanze Waterfront in Port Harcout, the hub of the nation's oil well taken by Candace Feit of New York Times. In President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's presentation of the 2008 budget he projected a total revenue of N1.96 trillion in which eighty percent of that will come from crude oil sales with a "presumed exchange rate of N117 to the US $1."




So, Mr President, how about the slums in the neck of the wood where oil is produced? What are you going to do about it? Would there be another Fela Anikulapo Kuti to tell it in your face that corruption has eaten the entire nation it is now baked in every Nigerian gene? Apparently, the oil boom is not ending anytime soon since war here and there has catapulted oil sales, once again to the top.

Nevertheless, the poisonous substance called oil has created all sorts of characters in Nigeria which is disturbing and bizarre. Nobody wants to get anything done but to engage in mysterious underground economy, using oil as a tool that fuels bitter conflicts often seen in the Niger-Delta crisis which indeed has destroyed any hope of ordinary development. The above picture speaks for itself.

Strikes and the Disappearing Nigerian Daily Newspapers.

Stanley Macebuh, the media guru in newspaper business, started it all. He had helped erect The Post Express, the first daily newspaper to go online in Nigeria. He was the pioneer managing director and editor-in-chief of Post Express before calling it quits to pave way for a younger generation to take over. It didn't take long, Post Express was offline before anyone knew it. Many have come and gone.

Daily Sun, the tabloid, has not been consistent with its online publishing ever since it surfaced in the Second Republic on Orji Kalu's bankroll. Daily Independent plays a cat and mouse game not caring about the people that pays to keep it afloat. It pops up online whenever it feels like and I'm sure by now the hits to the site has gone down the drain.

Probably, the blame should go to web-journalism since it couldn't challenge newspapers on the streets where it's really practical. The Post Express is a perfect example. When Post Express launched its first online version in 1998, it appeared to signal a whole new trend in journalism. However, it turned out to be expensive and paying the dues wasn't easy. Newswatch equally did the same trying a paid subscription model but lost more readers because most readers weren't willing to pay since they could get the same news source elsewhere, free of charge.

The past four days or so, in my routine early morning News Desk publication, I noticed one or two things. In particular, The Vanguard Group of Newspapers have disappeared online without a trace or explanation whatsoever. Visiting the site, it reads "This is the Plesk default page. If you see this page it means: 1) hosting for this domain is not configured or 2) there's no such domain registered in Plesk."

I have been wondering what would amount to an authentic paper in Nigerian standard of web-journalism vanish online just like that. I hope the owner(s) of this unique newspapers that assembled some fine journalist would do something to avoid losing its archive in terms of making references. I have enjoyed reading the Vanguard for quite sometime now.

The Guardian, the best managed paper, in my own humble opinion, is being shut down as I write. Its employees have embarked on a strike the past four days or so, indicating "the management of Guardian Newspapers Limited wishes to inform members of the public that our newspapers have been off the streets and online, following an industrial action called by our workers."

What these guys are demanding is just a pay raise or some kind of benefits. Would that amount to taking a newspaper of Guardian's magnitude off the streets and online? Why not go to the table and negotiate to stay in business? Assuming that Guardian declines to the demands of its employees, my guess is that Guardian will instantly lose its value. The irony is a paper begun well by Macebuh goes offline after all these years of fine journalism.

News Desk Friday, November 9, 2007

LAPD to build data on Muslim areas

An extensive mapping program launched by the LAPD's anti-terrorism bureau to identify Muslim enclaves across the city sparked outrage Thursday from some Islamic groups and civil libertarians, who denounced the effort as an exercise in racial and religious profiling. MORE>>>

Police ring Bhutto home in crackdown

LAHORE, Pakistan — Security forces placed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto under virtual house arrest early today as a crackdown on President Pervez Musharraf's opponents continued, a day after he bowed to enormous political pressure and pledged to hold parliamentary elections by mid-February. MORE>>>

Gangs Terrorize Nigeria’s Vital Oil Region

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — Rosemary Douglas has no connection to the oil business that pumps more than two million barrels of crude a day from beneath the swampy Niger Delta. But the violence surrounding it pierced her home in September anyway, when a bullet shattered her upper left arm as she napped with her 2-year-old daughter. MORE>>>

On Campaign Bus, Obama Opens Up About Challengers

CHARITON, Iowa, Nov. 8 -- Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) took on his two principal rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, arguing that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) cannot appeal to independents and Republicans as effectively as he can and asserting that former senator John Edwards's populist message does not square with his record. MORE>>>

Nigeria sues over child smokers

Nigeria's government says it has begun legal action against three leading international cigarette companies. It is demanding more than $40bn in compensation over their alleged role in promoting underage smoking. MORE>>>

Senegal: Journalist Arrested for Allegedly Offending President

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the government of Senegal to put an end to the "oppression" of journalists after the arrest of an editor this morning. This is the fourth arrest of a reporter or editor in the last month for allegedly offending the President or endangering national security. MORE>>>

The Search For Ozo & The Rest.

I had called Mike Egi, compiler of Flashback 1 & 2 a couple of days ago to see if he made it back from his trip to Naija on an expedition to dig out master tapes of 70s local ensembles that kept body and soul one. Mike had told me his journey was very "disappointing" and somehow was not worth the trip.

He trooped to Pound Road, Aba, and according to him the road was so bad it took more than two hours to drive through a couple of miles. He had gone there to look for original albums of the Wings, The Apostles, Action and many other old-school jams of the day. We talked for nearly two hours on the phone and it was quite engaging. I had written a piece in the past about these old school jams and that's how we hooked up. Mike lives in St. Paul.

For a while now, I have been searching for some of these rare LPs. I have digged every archive but could only be that lucky. Some are there, some not. Mike also noted how bad in shape these 70s musicians were when he ran into them. Drummer Ben Alaka was so bad in shape and could not remember the songs he made in his heydays playing gigs at Lido, in Warri.

I had asked Mike if he was able to find the group Ozo whose 70s "Listen to the Buddha" album was a smash hit. "No where to be found," according to him. Ozo was a group founded by Igbo born Keni Saint George who later went solo and produced Asaba. Just browsing, I stumbled into this rare track here, and in shock I clicked on the album version of the track "Anambra" which echoed taking me aback to the groovy days all compositions and arrangements were original. Not even the all-flavor vintage Paris DJs founded by Djouls and Grant Phabao has it in stock. I give it to them, though. Those kids are doing a hell of a job remixing and digitally waxing all African vintage songs they can lay their hands on.

The album "Listen to the Budhha" was produced by Keni St. George and Vernon Cummings and recorded at DJM Records in 1976. Tracklisting: 1) Listen to the Budhha, 2)You Better Run, 3) Kites, 4) Anambra, 5) Love Me Tomorrow, 6) Who Shot Him Down, 7) Times-A-Changing, 8) Love is Gone, 9) Realms.

Mike's Flashback 3 will be out soon and I hope this time around, the track "Anambra" and "Listen to the Budha" will be included. Listen to the music. There's a message in it.

Hey, Mike, don't forget the liner notes and biographical info.

News Desk Thursday, November 8, 2007

FG Revokes Yar’Adua, Ex-Govs’ Land in FCT

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday revoked titles of plots of land belonging to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, former governors of Kaduna, Zamfara and Plateau states, Mohammed Makarfi, Ahmed Yerima, and Joshua Dariye respectively and other prominent Nigerians. MORE>>>


French Court Jails Etete

A French court yesterday sentenced in absentia former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, to three years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros ($440,000 ) for money laundering. The Paris criminal court also issued an arrest warrant for Etete, who served as Petroleum Minister under Late General Sani Abacha from 1995 to 1998, and is currently living in Britain. MORE>>>

A-G Stops Asuni's Trial Over Espionage

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Michael Kaase Andoakaa (SAN) yesterday ordered the immediate stoppage of the on-going trial of an American cum Nigerian woman, Judith Asuni. Asuni is standing trial before a Federal high court, Abuja for conspiracy and espionage. MORE>>>

N70b Textile Fund - Obasanjo Issued Dud Cheque

The much celebrated N70 billion textile fund, which was initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an emergency fund to rescue the ailing industry, has become a big fraud. MORE>>>

PDP, Kupolokun, Obaseki may appear in US court - Over N750m bribery allegation - FG to probe top officials

TOP functionaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Gaius Obaseki and Mr. Funso Kupolokun, may be subpoenaed as possible accomplices in a $6 million (N750 million) bribery allegation. MORE>>>

News Desk Tuesday, November 6, 2007

I Don't Trust Yar'Adua - Uwazuruike

Leader of MASSOB who just regained temporary freedom from detention, Ralph Nwazuruike, has said he has no confidence in the genuine intention of the Yar'Adua-led administration to resolve the lopsidedness of the Nigerian nation. He made the remark yesterday at a reception organized for him at the residence of Otunba Gani Adams. "If he is serious, why did he release Dokubo and left me? It is maginalisation and insentivity," he alleged. He promised that the struggle for emancipation will continue. arlier, Otunba Adams said only a sovereign national conference can resolved the national question.

Bail Conditions Scandalous - Kutigi

The Chief Justice of Nigeria yesterday took a swipe at judges in the country over what he described as scandalous bail conditions, just as he said the idea of judges granting bail to accused persons and setting down strenuous bail conditions was quite outlandish. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi also expressed dismay over the incessant interference of some state governments with the judicial arm of government by depriving it of the required funds for recurrent and capital expenditure even as some state governors refuse to appoint the next most senior judge in the hierarchy of state High Court. This, he said, is not only "an affront to the 1999 Constitution, but also inimical to administration of justice and the rule of law, which this administration, since inception, has guarded."

UK Admits Pressure from Nigeria to Try Corrupt Officials

The United Kingdom has admitted that its decision to go after corrupt Nigerian public officers who use its country as a safe haven to launder stolen wealth was at the prompting of the Nigerian government. Talking with THISDAY in Washington, D.C., former leader of the House of Lords in the UK, Baroness Valerie Amos, said the British government had to make legislations following pressure mounted by Nigeria and concerns expressed about money laundering through financial institutions in the UK.

I will quit as president if ... - Yar’Adua

IF the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal voids the election of President Umaru Yar’Adua in the April general election, the president may not appeal against the ruling going by feelers on Monday. It was gathered that the president, during his visit to New York, United States, in October, met with top government officials, led by the Secretary of State, Ms. Condoleezza Rice, and told them that he might not appeal if his election were nullified. The presidential election petition tribunal, sitting in Abuja, is currently hearing two petitions against the election of the president.

Espionage: Judith Asuni still in SSS custody

TWO weeks after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted her and her Nigerian employee, Danjuma Saidu, bail, Niger Delta activist, Dr Judith Asuni, who is on trial for alleged espionage, is yet to leave the custody of the State Security Service (SSS). They are said to be finding it difficult to satisfy some of the stringent bail conditions listed by the court. Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court had granted the two of them bail on conditions which included N10 million surety each.

I’ll return to jail in January – Uwazuruike

Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has promised to return to prison on expiration of the three months bail granted him two weeks ago. According to him, "on January 28, 2008, I will return to prison. That is what the law said and I will not hesitate to comply."
He spoke during a visit to the corporate headquarters of The Sun Publishing Limited on Monday, saying, "I will go back to jail on the 28 January, 2008, unless something else happens." Uwazuruike lamented the death of his mother while he was being detained, adding: "The death of my mother, when it was announced, was my saddest moment in prison. There is something I hold in common with my mother. I am the only son. Before I was born, my mother had seven kids who died. So my birth was something special to her. She begged me not to die. We reached an agreement and I promised that I would not die."

Renowned Author, Cyprien Ekwensi, Dies At 86

The Guardian
From Uduma Kalu, Literary Correspondent, Enugu

DARKNESS fell again in the Nigerian literary firmament yesterday when veteran novelist, pharmacist and public commentator, Cyprian Ekwensi passed on. He was 86 years old.

The author of the popular Jaguar Nana series of novels was said to have died at the Niger Foundation in Enugu where he underwent an operation for an undisclosed ailment. It was not clear as at press time yesterday if he died during or after the operation.

Earlier this year, Ekwensi released Cash on Delivery, a collection of short stories, which turned out to be his last book. When he turned 86 last year, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos State chapter and the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), feted him.

Ekwensi was celebrated as the forefather of the city novel.

He is believed to be the author of the earliest published fiction on social life in the Lagos Metropolis. The accomplished novelist is remarkable for his down-to-earth style of writing and his prolific output, with over 20 novels to his credit.

One of his books, Divided We Stand, a lampoon on the Nigerian Civil War, is slated for discussion by experts in a conference on 40 years after the civil war.

"How far so far", is one of the themes for discussion at the ninth edition of the Lagos Book Fair, holding on Friday morning at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

Told of the passing on of Ekwensi, poet and past president of ANA, Odia Ofeimu, was "shocked beyond words" to comment immediately.

To the newly elected Lagos State ANA chairman, Mr. Chike Ofili, it was an unnerving piece of information. He too withheld his comments till later.

News of the death broke as Nigerian authors were rounding off their yearly convention held over the weekend in Owerri, Imo State.

He was a Nigerian writer who stressed description of the locale and whose episodic style was particularly well suited to the short story.

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was born at Minna in Northern Nigeria on September 26, 1921. He later lived in Onitsha in the Eastern area. He was educated at Achimota College in the Gold Coast, and at the Chelsea School of Pharmacy of London University. He lectured in pharmacy at Lagos and was employed as a pharmacist by the Nigerian Medical Corporation.

He married Eunice Anyiwo, and they had five children.

After favorable reception of his early writing, he joined the Nigerian Ministry for Information and had risen to be the director of that agency by the time of the first military coup in 1966. After the continuing disturbances in the Western and Northern regions in the summer of 1966, Ekwensi gave up his position and relocated his family to Enugu. He became chair of the Bureau for External Publicity in Biafra and an adviser to the head of state, Lt.-Col. Chukwemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

Ekwensi began his writing career as a pamphleteer, and this perhaps explains the episodic nature of his novels. This tendency is well illustrated by People of the City (1954), in which Ekwensi gave a vibrant portrait of life in a West African city. It was the first major novel to be published by a Nigerian. Two novellas for children appeared in 1960; both The Drummer Boy and The Passport of Mallam Ilia were exercises in blending traditional themes with undisguised romanticism.

His most widely read novel, Jagua Nana, appeared in 1961. It was a return to the locale of People of the City but boasted a much more cohesive plot centered on the character of Jagua, a courtesan who had a love for the expensive. Even her name was a corruption of the expensive English auto. Her life personalised the conflict between the old traditional and modern urban Africa. Ekwensi published a sequel in 1987 titled Jagua Nana's Daughter.

Burning Grass (1961) is basically a collection of vignettes concerning a Fulani family. Its major contribution is the insight it presents into the life of this pastoral people. Ekwensi based the novel and the characters on a real family with whom he had previously lived. Between 1961 and 1966 Ekwensi published at least one major work every year. The most important of these were the novels, Beautiful Feathers (1963) and Iska (1966), and two collections of short stories, Rainmaker (1965) and Lokotown (1966). He continued to publish beyond the 1960s, and among his later works are the novel Divided We Stand (1980), the novella Motherless Baby (1980), and The Restless City and Christmas Gold (1975), Behind the Convent Wall (1987), and Gone to Mecca (1991).

Ekwensi also published a number of works for children. Under the name C. O. D. Ekwensi, he released Ikolo the Wrestler and Other Ibo Tales (1947) and The Leopard's Claw (1950). In the 1960s, he wrote An African Night's Entertainment (1962), The Great Elephant-Bird (1965), and Trouble in Form Six (1966).

Ekwensi's later works for children include Coal Camp Boy (1971), Samankwe in the Strange Forest (1973), Samankwe and the Highway Robbers (1975), Masquerade Time! (1992), and King Forever! (1992).

In recognition of his skills as a writer, Ekwensi was awarded the Dag Hammarskjold International Prize for Literary Merit in 1969.

Ekwensi, a one-time Commissioner for Information in the old Anambra State, is survived by children and grand children.

News Desk Monday, November 5, 2007

World Bank Lists Country As 'Fragile State'

THREE years after the World Bank characterised and listed Nigeria as a fragile state, the country remains so listed in a 2007 study report alongside Burundi, Cambodia, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Kosovo (territory) and Lao PDR. MORE>>>

Africa: Continent Needs Marshall Plan - Yar'Adua

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday in Eltville, Germany, called for a Marshall Plan for Africa along the lines of the European Recovery Programme employed by the United States of America to rebuild the nations of Europe devastated by the second World War. MORE>>>

PDP Chair: S’East Blocks Nnamani

About one month to the National Convention of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, subterranean moves to draft former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, into the party’s chairmanship race may have run into a hitch. MORE>>>

NNPC’s Oil and Gas Assets Base Hit $56bn

With the six months deadline for the implementation of the recently approved new National Oil and Gas Policy around the corner, the value of insurable assets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NN-PC) has been estimated at about $56 billion. MORE>>>

Obasanjo, Ali not fit for emerging PDP – Col Umar

Former Governor of old Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, says the bugle has sounded for the collapse of the old order in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), predicting that good people will emerge to lead the party to further the interest of democracy in the country. MORE>>>

ICPC quizzes ex-NDLEA boss - Over missing N29m, other exhibits - May declare 9 senior officials wanted

THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) may declare nine senior officers of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) wanted over alleged disappearance of 168,400 euro (about N29 million) and other missing currency exhibits in their custody. MORE>>>

Chief Ralph Uwazuruike's Bail And Igbo Leadership

BY AMBROSE EHIRIM

Leader of the banned Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra Ralph Uwazuruike  arrives at the Federal High Court in Abuja  January 17, 2006. Uwazuruike is standing trials for treasonable felony for spearheading the actualization of the Biafra Republic. Image: Pius Utomi Ekpei/Getty Images



On December 19, 2006, leader of the militant group, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Gani Adams and five others walked out free of charge from a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, strucking out the case on the ground it lacked jurisdiction. Adams, whose faction of the OPC through the course of its demand for self reliance had been backed by notable grassroot Awoists and radical eggheads in Yorubaland, was released not because his case lacked jurisdiction. He was released on many grounds. The Yoruba elite was behind him, and Adams knew he had serious backing by his kith and kin.

Before Adams' unconditional release, Dr Frederick Fasheun who led another faction of OPC was released on health grounds. His release had come about on the advocate of the pan Yoruba group, Afenifere, another stronghold of Obafemi Awolowo's ideals. On the other hand, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and his followers who had been locked up on the same charges and who had lodged complaints of illhealth was denied bail to seek medical attention. The Igbo elite group did not have the guts to follow up his case for whatever reason, but like his counterparts charged for alleged same crime and released unconditionally, Uwazuruike was remanded indefinitely in jail. Sick and desperate for medical attention, he was not a free man until Justice Binta Murtala Nyako, on Friday, October 26, 2007, granted Uwazuruike bail to enable him fulfill the burial rights of his mother.

Also, the Niger Delta militant, Muhajid Asari-Dokubo, who had caused all sorts of havoc, raising arms and annihilating innocent citizens with members of his deadly gang, was granted bail through the legacy of a profound Ijaw leadership.

But Uwazuruike's detention was without Igbo leadership being tight-lipped and doing practically nothing for the release of the MASSOB leader. Upon Uwazuruike's arrest, and on November 28, 2005, the so-called "apex Igbo socio-cultural organization," Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo through its Secretary General, Chief Joe Achuzia, whose war credentials had been questioned, issued a statement denouncing and disowning MASSOB saying it was not backing MASSOB for whatever purpose the non-violent group was agitating for. Achuzia in this interview with Cajetan Mmuta of the Daily Champion issued a statement saying:

Ohanaeze cannot lend support to Uwazuruike other than ask Uwazuruike and his group to recant. They can fight against Igbo marginalization if that is what they are fighting for under a different name, not actualization of sovereign state of Biafra. It is unfortunate that everytime MASSOB is mentioned, everybody looks on the Igbo as if they were the architect and activists of MASSOB. I want to make it abundantly clear that at no time did Ohanaeze or Nd'Igbo in any meeting of any kind sit down to fashion out an organization called MASSOB.

This line of policy abstaining from affairs of the Igbo nation like that of Uwazuruike and MASSOB was typical of a bunch that had no clue what was going on and what the bigot Olusegun Obasanjo who had suddenly become a stateman after his command had committed rape and pillage against the Igbos. This kind of statement obviously fired up Obasanjo's quest in determining how to handle the Igbo nation when it comes to situations like this - the slamming of Uwazuruike and his followers. But Achuzia who thought he was doing his efulefu Igbo bunch a favor in order to pacify Obasanjo, was totally wrong and missed it entirely.

It also made one fear for Igbo unity because when Afenifere and elders of the Yoruba leadership forum are asking that Adams, Fasheun and the rest OPC gang be released without charge, Achuzia and his confused efulefu bunch were busy trying to see what leftovers could reach them in Abuja. It made one fear for Igbo unity because when Adams and Fasheun had had all sorts of backing from every aspect of Yoruba leadership, neverminding the havocs caused by Adams faction of OPC, Achuzia and his inept dovish group were busy keeping funny books in disguise and on the ground they were representing the Igbo nation. It made one fear for Igbo unity because when other militant groups around the nation were fighting for what they figured was a just cause, the do-nothing World Igbo Congress was busy chasing money at Abuja on the pretence it was Igbo umbrella.

However, Uwazuruike would continue to suffer in detention without proper medical attention nearly one year after Adams, Fasheun and Asari-Dokubo had been released and their respective cases struck out for one reason or the other; struck out for lack of jurisdiction in the case of Adams and his colleagues. It took a sound Igbo political leadership of freshman Senator Ikechukwu Obiora (Nnewi Senatorial Zone), Senator Uche Chukwumereije, Eze Nd'Igbo of Abuja, Nwosu Ibe and Eze Nd'Igbo of Lagos, Christian Uchechukwu Nwachukwu whose tallied sureties were required for the MASSOB leader's bail.

Eventually, Uwazuruike got out with his trial scheduled for January 28, 2008. Good job, Obiora, Chukwumereije, Nwosu Ibe and Uchechukwu Nwachukwu.

 I salute your courage and the saga continues!