Amazing world of sand dredgers

SEGUN AJIBOYE

 sharp sand in the local parlance, is mostly used for plastering the walls in the construction of houses.

It is no doubt that when the talk is about job hazards, few jobs can boast of more hazards than diving into the bottom of the deep rivers and lagoon to manually dredge sand from the sea bed. The sand, called

Interestingly, the tools of the trade are not often too rare to come by: They include specially-made buckets used to scoop the sand from the sea bed to the surface, two wooden ladders, placed on both sides of the canoe, with which the divers drop into the sea and also find their ways back into the canoe.  Your ability to swim and be able to hold your breath for a couple of minutes, and of course, the canoe, which often times are rickety and ready to give way with the slightest rock by storm.

While these tools seem very essential for a potential sand excavator, but perhaps the most important tool of the trade is courage and boldness.

David-West: Jonathan A Serial Liar -TheNews

Professor Tam David West

   Professor Tam David-West, a former Petroleum Minister, in this interview with GBENRO 
   ADESINA, speaks on the state of the nation.

Do you consider yourself fulfilled?
I thank God that he gives me life and good health. Personally, I am very fulfilled. For the years I have spent so far, God has really blessed me to occupy different good positions in Nigeria. I was a Commissioner for Education, Rivers State; Minister of Petroleum, under General Muhammadu Buhari; and Minister of Mines, Power and Steel under General Ibrahim Babangida. It is only God that is perfect. I am not perfect but I say it boldly that I am not corrupt and that is why I have ‘No Corruption’ written at the back of my two cars.
I declared my assets on two occasions. Nobody can bribe me. My God created me and sent me to serve my country, not to steal in any form. Even Edwin Clark abused me that I have been a minister of this and that and I don’t have a house and I say that is a compliment. A company once sent me a plan of a house and asked me to tell them where I wanted them to build the house free of charge. I said I didn’t need it. Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has been very appreciative. Out of courtesy, he promised me a lot of things.
All the money in the world cannot bribe me. My interest is to be faithful to my God. I am from a religious family. It is God that we know. My name, Tamunoemi means there is God and that is the strength of my family. So, when I want to do something, I pray to God to guide me. I don’t talk to the press without talking to God to guide me. God should guide me to say only things that will glorify His name. As you were coming, I begged God to guide me to say things that will glorify His name to my friend coming from TheNEWS.

What were the things you declared as your assets?
It is very funny. I had one undeveloped property in Port Harcourt at that time; now it is developed. It is a house which is occupied by tenants. I didn’t have millions at that time. When men of the State Security Service, SSS, arrested me and detained me on the orders of General Ibrahim Babangida, they asked me to declare my assets. They gave me a paper. After writing, they asked me if what I wrote were all the things that I had and I said ‘yes’. They asked about a house in London and my Rolls Royce. I asked them to give me a paper where I would write a directive and sign that the government should take over those things that they said that I had. The SSS was surprised that I didn’t have more than what I declared.
As at that time, I didn’t have N500. Money is not the issue. A good name is better than silver and gold.

Labourers in Lagos queen at home

They are visible in most big markets across Lagos. Clutching the tools of their trade- a large tray, a pair of rain booths and a piece of cloth- the women of varying ages and sizes eke their livings carrying loads for people who buy goods in large quantities.

At the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos, the women, popularly known as Alabo, are unmistakable. Comprising women of different ages, but mostly older women, the Alabo at the market have different tales behind their decisions to make their living carrying loads at the market.

While their tales differ in most cases, the common denominator is poverty. For them, it is more honourable to engage in such seemingly demeaning jobs than begging on the streets or resort to stealing.

With a rare ability to spot a potential customer from the distance, an Alabo would approach the customer with a promise to assist him or her to ferry the goods to where the customer may have parked his or her car.

How much is charged is determined by the size of the load, distance and most times, the magnanimity of the customer to pay ‘good’ money. Interestingly, a large number of the women, who in most cases are the breadwinner of their individual families, come from as far as Oyo and Osun States to ‘come and hustle’ in Lagos.

But while they prefer to carry loads at the market to begging or stealing, most of them, if not all, don’t disclose their profession to their families back home. The little their family members know of them is that they are in Lagos to ‘hustle’.

A source at the market who spoke with The Nation said: “These women don’t disclose their professions to their families back home. All they disclosed would be that they are coming to Lagos to hustle. But the truth is that the women are very hard working. And when they travel home during any festival, you could mistake them for very successful business women in Lagos.”

On this day, amidst the hustling, buying and selling at the Mile 12 market, Madam Asake stood at an isolated spot watching her mates struggle for business. Even if she loved to join in the struggle, her strength would allow her. For her, such scenario has become the regular feature of her life as a load carrier.

‘I want to go home. I want to seeTai’- Sheila Solarin’s last moments, by daughter

11-yr old student regrets not getting her scholarship

SEGUN AJIBOYE

Sheila Solarin, humanist and wife of late educationist, Tai Solarin, knew her time on planet earth was up and prepared for her eventual transition. And shortly before she breathed her last, the few words on her lips were ‘I want to go home. I want to seeTai’.

Sheila, who died on Sunday, October 21, 2012, aged 88, according to her daughter, Corin Solarin, lived for humanity.

“I was with her when she transitioned home. And the last thing Mama said was ‘I want to go home. I want to see Tai. She knew she was going, and she prepared herself.”

Witnessing Mama’s transition has further strengthened Corin’s resolve to live life like her mother and be bold to face her last moments gracefully the way she did.

“We’ll all get old someday. I hope that I can face it with as much courage and grace like she did.”

Indeed, since her passing, her home, located inside the premises of Mayflower Schools, Ikenne, Ogun State, has continued to receive visitors who troop there to pay their respect to a woman, who many have acknowledged, was ‘crazy about education.

I’ve had very glooming days- Iyalode Adunni Bankole

I’ve had very glooming days- Iyalode Adunni Bankole

Chief (Mrs.) Adunni Bankole, the Iyalode of Gbagura land, Ogun State, is a journalist’s delight any day. The step-mother of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.Dimeji Bankole, was at her best as she provided answers to the questions thrown at her. Always an eyeful at any social gathering, Iyalode Bankole denied being an extravagant dresser. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE, the British-trained media practitioner and public relations expert, talked about her life, secrets of her good look and what lessons she picked from dealing with people.
Excerpts:

I was brought up to see life on its simple side. Aside a matter of fact, simplicity rules my life. A lot of people screen their calls, I regard such people as people who believe life is acting. But to me, life is as simple as the daybreak and sunset. There is nothing to life but what you make of it. And if you approach life from the simple side of it, you are likely to understand people and what life is all about, and thereby live a fulfilling life. And you must know that living a fulfilling life is not about being rich or occupying a top position.  It has to do with your personality, what you believe in and what you are. My daily life preaches simplicity, love and accepting others as if they are yours and that the other person is as good as you are. So I have been able to live life without the usual paraphernalia that people believe must come with having a name or being a person of repute. I don’t need a personal assistant, and of course, I am down-to-earth person. If you call me and I don’t feel like talking to you, I may simply tell you ‘please I don’t want to talk now’ and ask you to call another time.

At this point of your life, would you say you are fulfilled?

I love flaunting my good shape- Jennifer Eliogu

For me, a little bit of cleavage every now and then is allowed- Jennifer Eliogu

She is beautiful and well-endowed. With well-toned skin and robust body, actress Jennifer Eliogu is one of the early starters of Nollywood. The Anambra State born actress started about 16 years ago when she made the bold step to pitch her tent with the make-believe industry. Today, the talented actress has earned herself a household name in the industry. Jennifer, who set out to become a singer, found herself stuck with acting, and is gradually setting another pace as a compeer. And for nudity, that is gradually becoming the fad in the industry, Jennifer will not touch it with a 10-meter pole, insisting that she would rather show-off her endowments. “Flaunting is an entirely different thing from nudity. Flaunting I will forever do; nudity, forget it (laughs) - never!” In this interview with Segun Ajiboye, she spoke on her career, life and plans for the future.

Excerpts:

For some time now, you have been on the move traveling from one place to the other. What have you been up to?

 It's been good so far. I've been up to a whole lot really; but, as you know, I am not the type that sings about it until I am sure that I am ready. But what I can tell you is that whatever it is that I am up to is good news.

LIVING ON WATER- Lagos community where women, children hawk, school on water

By SEGUN AJIBOYE and INNOCENT DURU
The setting was Neolithic in nature and the life styles of the inhabitants are reminiscent of tales from moonlight and how people lived in primitive days.

For the residents of Makoko, a riverine slum on the mainland of Lagos State, living has not so much changed from what they inherited from their forefathers even though they are living in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos State.

Few meters away on the mainland, Makoko seems more like a community taken from a storybook with its story set in the Stone Age.

And like the men of the Stone Age, inhabitants of Makoko have confirmed the truism that necessity is indeed the mother of all inventions. Faced with the unique nature of their environment, the people have risen up to the challenge, conquering all the challenges confronting them.

While the children on the mainland go to school in buses fitted with air conditioners, children in Makoko go to school in rickety canoes, popularly called ‘school bus’ in the area. And for them, the cold breeze that hover around the area is better than all the air conditioners in the world put together. While their peers take lectures in neatly built concrete classrooms, Makoko pupils take lectures in a one storey plank building erected on mosquito infested waters.