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Sermon: Harvest of Shame 2

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By Babatunde Jose

Thanks to corruption, poor management, sponsored sabotage and fake news / barriers created by competitors/importers afraid of competition, professional litigants, many Nigeria’s industrial initiatives have either collapsed or were abandoned. – Frederick Owonka

There is no doubt, things could move in the right direction with dedicated leadership that provides enabling environment for entrepreneurship to strive: A  leadership with clear vision and national mission capable of acting as the vanguard of the people’s yearning for self sustained development and offering hope for a  farewell to poverty and want. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with us. Nigerians are fond of saying that God is a Nigerian because He made our land so beautiful and endowed this nation with unimaginable provisions to the envy of other nations; to even the score however, God populated the land with a race of evil men, corruption, ethnic jingoists, religious fanatics, and worst of all a visionless leadership incapable of harnessing all the good things God hath given us. Today, unbelievable and unthinkable things happen in this clime; for the past 25 years, a major exporter of oil, continues to  import refined petroleum and diesel; a country with one of the largest gas reserves in the world, importing domestic cooking gas and gas cylinders. In the process, aggravating and exacerbating our ‘harvest of shame’.

In 2018, Nigeria made $41.8 Million from rubber export; however, European companies process this rubber and make twice that amount. Last year a Nigerian farm invested a huge amount of funds into rubber processing and it is hoped that many others would do the same to wipe away our shame. Rubber processing firms abound in Delta State and in the past their owners reaped bountiful harvests with which their children and wards were educated in UK and America. Where are these firms today? What became of the rubber plantation the Western Region government set up in Remo between Ikenne and Ayepe sixty years ago?  The fact remains that the total land space available for rubber plantation that attracted Firestone to Liberia is small compared to what we have here; if only we have the will.

The same could be said of the land space for the cultivation of cocoa and other products. Nigeria was once a major producer of cotton; a fact which dictated the proliferation of textiles mills in the country which today have become moribund. There was a time Afprint in Isolo was reputed to be the biggest textile factory in West Africa; today its frontage is a glorified car showroom. Western Textiles on Gbagada Expressway used to be a major player in the textile industry, but today it is home of car importers. Our investors are preoccupied with chasing the dollar! I should know because I used to print some of their ‘annual reports’.

Nigeria  is  home to the largest natural gas reserves in Africa and the ninth largest in the world; according to the National Bureau of Statistics 47 per cent (146.14 million liters’) of the LPG supply in the country in the first quarter of this year was imported while 53 per cent (164.71 million liters’) was produced locally.

But there is hope; Matrix Energy has invested in Nigeria’s cooking gas plant and has begun operations to cut down imports.

It is shameful that with just N7Billion a Modular refinery can be built that would produce 271 million Liters annually, thereby cutting our fuel imports. One Abdulrazak Isa did just that and is today moving towards completion of his refinery capable of meeting the needs of Imo and Anambra States.

Triton Fish/Chicken farm in Oyo State is a project financed by Heritage Bank backed by the CBN, since the ban on importation of frozen chicken; this company has been exporting to Poland, Romania, Egypt, Liberia and Ivory Coast. We need more of these ventures to turn our economy around.

Nigeria possesses the second largest Bitumen deposit in the world, yet we spend billions annually importing bitumen/asphalt for road construction. South Korea with less Bitumen deposit than Ondo State makes $3Billion from it annually: Another harvest of Shame.

It is on record that the Federal Government rolled out loans in Kebbi State that empowered 78,000 poor rice farmers in late 2015; today about half of them are said to have become prosperous as an hectare of land gives 90 bags of rice, most of which they sell to Lagos State as Lake Rice. Why, we ask can this not be replicated in Sokoto, Gombe and other states in the north or in Ogun, Osun and Ekiti States? Rather, our people are still fixated on smuggling rice though our wayward neighbor. When will this stop?

Another example of our harvest of shame is the N9.2B we sunk into the importation of 750,000 gas cylinders from a company in South Africa in 2014. Yet, with just a fraction of that money, Nigeria Gas Cylinders located in Ibadan could have been revived to go back into production.

Recently Mahindra Limited in Kaduna set up a Tractor Assembly Plant to produce tractors; with an outlay of $200M. However, what happened to the tractor plant in Bauchi? In 2005 BPE sold Steyr under the privatization craze of the time to Kaura Motors for $700Million. Whatever became of this factory that was set up by the Federal Government is today open to conjecture. Another Harvest of Shame!

Ayo Akindiji, an Engineer was the last farm manager of Oodua farms cattle ranch (formerly western livestock’s) at Akunu Akoko and Auga. The land is still there: Facilities abandoned. The existence of the ranches was confirmed by the Ondo State Governor during the week. According to him, the farms can accommodate 5000 cattle.  Also in Oyo state, we have over 16,000 hectares of land for cattle ranch solely owned by Oodua Investment. Part of it was seeded for Ikere gorge (2000 hectares). These farms ARE TODAY MORIBUND. If only Oodua Investments can resuscitate them it would go a long way in wiping away our shame. The Southwest governments, owners of Oodua Investments can give them to genuine investors for resuscitation. These farms are also found in Imeko Ogun State, Oke-Ako via Ayedun Ekiti.

A report published by Food Business Africa on Jan. 9 bemoaned the amount spent by Nigeria on imports of grains in 2018. “The country spent $1.1 billion to import 5.5 million tonnes of wheat in the period as production remained static at 60,000 tonnes, which constituted 99% of wheat consumed.” “Rice imports amounted to 3 million tonnes, equivalent to 44% of rice consumed in the country valued at $1.2 billion, while domestic production rose to 4.78 million tonnes in 2018.” This shows that we are winning the ‘rice war’.

Allah said in the Quran: O mankind! Do your duty to your Lord, and fear (the coming of) a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. Verily,

the promise of Allah is true: Let not then this present life deceive you, nor let the Chief Deceiver deceive you about Allah. (Quran 31:33)

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

 

Babatunde Jose
 +2348033110822
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Food for Living: Who’s Your Source?

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

What would be your answer if the question, ‘who is your source’ is thrown at you? Tough, right?

Let’s begin from the beginning. Source may mean different things to different people. For a spiritually minded person, source may mean divinity while for those in the academia, it is where they get their research information from. Again, in courtroom settings, opposing counsels are noted to verify evidence to ascertain their origin. Even judges sometimes insists on for the authenticity of documents before admitting them as evidence. Even a child looks upon his/her parents as their source. Source therefore, can refer to the origin, or emanating point of a particular thing, action or activity. It can be that quality, trait or character that sets one apart and draws other things his way.

Somebody’s source can be his money, charming smiles, lovely voice, or even their access. The source varies depending on the aisle one belongs.

It must be said however, that the fastest way to destroy someone is to silence their source. For instance, the earning power of a man is seen as his bargaining power. So, if someone wants to frustrate him, they can tackle his business or job. Just like if someone wants to frustrate a child, the target will be the child’s parents because they know if the parents are down, it might affect the child.

As humans, sometimes we depend on our parents, mentors, friends, boss, husband, wife, children, siblings, leaders, benefactors, lecturers or men of God for support. Don’t get me wrong, all these are great support, but they are not the main support we need as human beings to go to the next level of life. They are all relative support one needs to thrive.

Source is like a trade secret. Nobody tells anyone what their secret is. Those, who have distinguished themselves in their particular fields might refer to God as their strength, but would surely remain silent as to the extra work they put in to get to where they are.

Let me give you a practical example; as a published author I can authoritatively tell you that God has been extremely kind to me. My books have opened doors for me, they has connected me to lots of resourceful people in addition to providing opportunities for which has brought value to my business. An ordinary man on the street will think I have been favored specially; some might even say I’m lucky or I’m a blessed man. But the truth is that I did my part. So, despite all my attributed and perceived success, I will tell you God did it for me. Again, remember, if I had not taken the time to write the manuscripts and have them published, networked with the right people, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunities I have received in recent times.

The moral is that everyone has a source, but not everyone is bold enough to tell you their source, but I can boldly tell you my source is God.

There was an interesting story I recently watched on social media where Pastor Mildred Okonkwo shared a true-life story about her marital life. According to her, despite Pastor Kingsley always being on television preaching and receiving ovations, she and her husband (Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo) were living in poverty to the extent that sometimes, they don’t have food to eat.

Sometimes, they had to manage to squeeze the tube together to get paste to brush their teeth and when that wasn’t enough, she had to use her kitchen skills to cut the container to scoop paste. She further stated that the situation degenerated to the extent they had to join crumbs of soaps together before they could get a decent bath. That was how bad it was.

This is where it gets interesting; she stated that she came from a family of those, who marry broke men. The situation was literally depressing. It made her take a deep breath to ascertain if that was going be her new reality. Her pensive mood was activated, and she asked herself for how long she would continue to live like this. Many thoughts were running through her mind. During one of her meditative moments, she got a revelation, she would be putting too much pressure on her husband, and it wouldn’t save the situation because her husband is not her source. God is her source.

When she came to that realization, she began to seek the face of God for blessings upon their family. It was at that moment she realized, as human beings we carry the blessings. This is the reality of most women. Most times in marriage, people put the burden and enrichment of their life on their husband instead of looking up to God, and within themselves. Who told you, you can’t make money as a person? The man you are looking up to doesn’t have two heads, four legs nor does he have four eyes, four hands, or fours ears.

It’s sad to note that sometimes most women think a man will take care of them; this mindset limits their creative abilities and possibilities because they think their is limited or may never come if a man doesn’t marry them.

It’s instructive to note that men and money don’t make people rich, rather it is the blessings of men and money that make us rich. Just like your salary doesn’t make you rich, rather the blessing on your salary makes you rich. One maybe wondering how this works; when one receives blessings from their parents, mentors, benefactors, boss, or even strangers who are beneficiary of their good deeds, that blessings have a way of positively affecting their lives in such a way that whatever the person lays his hands on will be fruitful. This is a typical example of how source works because the original blessing has manifested.

In conclusion, I will ask you, what’s your source? Take time to ask yourself, what am I you working on? Who can assist me to get to the next level? What is the requirement(s)? When these are figured out, take time to nourish and preserve them because one’s source is his power.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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After Kebbi School Attack, Gunmen Invade Catholic School in Niger, Abduct Many Students

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Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped students from a Catholic school in the early hours of Friday, in the latest attack after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action over the treatment of Christians in the West African country.
Police and local government in Niger state, where the attack happened, confirmed that students had been abducted from St. Mary’s School, but they did not say how many.
TV station Arise News reported that 52 students had been kidnapped.
Nigeria’s security situation has been under heightened scrutiny since Trump threatened “fast” military action if the country fails to crack down on the killing of Christians.
Its government says Trump’s claims that Christians face persecution in Nigeria are a misrepresentation.
Police said security agencies were on the scene of Friday’s attack on the Catholic school, combing nearby forests to try to rescue those abducted.
The Niger state government said the school had ignored an instruction that boarding schools should be closed because of intelligence indicating a high chance of attacks.
Other attacks this week include the kidnapping on Monday of 25 schoolgirls from a boarding school in Kebbi state and an attack on a church in Kwara state, in which a church official told Reuters that 38 worshippers were taken by gunmen.
Source: Reuters
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Omotosho Orders Removal of Nnamdi Kanu from Courtroom, Says IPOB Leader Was ‘Unruly’

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Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday began delivering judgment in the long-running terrorism trial of Indigenous People of Biafra leader Nnamdi Kanu in the defendant’s absence.

The judge ordered that the proceedings continue without Kanu after describing his behaviour in court as unruly.

The decision followed the dismissal of three fresh motions filed by the IPOB leader, which the court deemed unmeritorious.

Kanu had interjected during the ruling, insisting that the court could not proceed as he had not filed his final written address.

He raised his voice in court, demanding, “‘Which law states that you can charge me on an unwritten law? Show me. Omotosho, where is the law? Any judgment declared in this Court is a complete rubbish.”

He accused Justice Omotosho of bias and claimed that the judge lacked understanding of the law.

After a brief recess, the prosecution, led by Adegboyega Awomolo, urged the court to continue the trial without Kanu, citing his disruptive conduct.

Justice Omotosho stated that while a defendant has a constitutional right to be present during trial, repeated misconduct can allow proceedings to continue in their absence.

“If a defendant misconducts himself or acts in an unruly manner during the course of his trial, his trial can be conducted in his absence,” he said.

He added that the Court of Justice is a temple of God.

He noted that Kanu’s unruly attitude was not new, as he had previously exhibited similar behaviour several times in the past.

The judge added that Kanu had indicated he would not present a defence, and that Thursday’s session was for judgment and possible sentencing.

Following the order, Kanu was removed from the courtroom, and the judge proceeded with delivering the ruling.

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