9 things I hate about Nigerian and Ghanaian movies.

Are you a fan?  Check out these landmines and suggestions on how to prevent loss of limbs and yes, lives.

            Sorry to disappoint you. 

I'm not going to bad-mouth blood or rituals in Nigerian and Ghanaian movies.

       I think blood is cool. Rituals too.

Have you watched 'Eyes Wide Shut'?

Not too long ago, I wished I could grow spiky canines every half-moon ready to quench my thirst with something a little bit thicker than water, a little bit salty and rich in iron.

 Another wish is to have a blond in the house flaunting her tender neck and blue arteries. Then when the wolves do their thing and the bats lodged in the attic get excited, that will be my cue to dig in. 

                  Gone with the wind.

But beyond the bloodletting, blood-sucking, and blood on the dance floor after several rounds of Bloody Mary, let's sober up and take a look at the knock-knees of Nigerian and Ghanaian movies.

                        So, yes. 

Let's skip blood, shall we? 

And please don't flash data at me. 

The industry is growing. I hear that all the time. Yes. It's growing.  Growing like 

an economic tree or cancer?

" People create stories create people, or rather stories create people create stories."

Chinua Achebe.

I think Nigerian movie producers and their Ghanaian counterparts should hang this Chinua Achebe quote in their offices. 

             They really should. 

The rickets of Nigerian and Ghanaian movies is the dangerous reputation it has of misinforming gullible youths.

And the outcome is the horror more frightening than severing the head of a live chicken.

                 ' to appease the gods '. 

I see it In the drowned dreams and bodies of young Africans floating or in plastic bags choked trying to cross a perilous ocean into Europe. 

                     Regularly. 

The rising cases of rape, 

drug addiction, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, crime, 

dressing that shows more than it conceals, 

 seeing nothing to respect in gray hairs and electronic fraud may well be added to the list. 

After reading to this point, and you still believe I am exaggerating or poke nosing, then heed my warning. Don't be an ill-advised one whose smelly feet are being carefully chewed by the mischief of mice and he/she mistakes their activity for the caress of a lover. Wait until they draw blood.

       Damn It, I have mentioned blood again.

Behold the avoidable, landmines In Nigerian and Ghanaian movies:

1. Back from USA/ Europe Equals- getting stinking rich.

Remember that never-dying scene of a character coming back from Europe/America and the fellow is suddenly shitting Dollars, Euros, and Pounds?

The message it sends out to every young man /woman in sub-Saharan Africa is that the only way to be wealthy, Is to travel to the USA or Europe.

                    RESULT : 

More and more floating dead dreams in the waters of 'stories' - bad 'stories'.

I have read about the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote. There's nowhere that indicated that he lived as an immigrant in Europe or the USA  before he became rich? 

                      Nope.

What's wrong with a story about people like that? 

What is wrong with a narrative showing how one can make it anywhere in the world just by taking advantage of opportunities?

2. The glorification of rural to urban migration.

 

Viewers have been forced to drink the palm- wine of falsehood which says the people in villages are losers.

Why are villages pictured as abandoned, lying waste, poverty-stricken, and populated by drunks, gossips, and dependents waiting for handouts? While the cities are

bustling and prosperous, full of opportunities?

 

                       Wait! 

Opportunities? Okay, If you mean full-blown commercial sex work, I would agree.☑️If you mean opportunities to belong to Cults and Gangs, I will agree ☑️ If you mean a lifetime of pimping I will agree☑️

Opportunities to be jobless and homeless and find accommodation under bridges? I agree ☑️

Several years ago, the Nigerian Television Authority, created a drama serial known as the 'Cock Crow At Dawn.' It was a simple story of a man who relocated to the village to start a farming business. 

And millions of Nigerians loved it while it lasted. I wonder why Nigerian and Ghanaian movie Producers don't see this as a low-hanging fruit?

 There are many low-hanging fruits.

"Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform."

Chinua Achebe.

I can't help quoting the Master again. Sorry.

 

3. Brazilian hair. 

It is shameful that the rich history of African feminine beauty, and grace, that is displayed by the likes of Queen Sheba, Queen Amina, the Amazons of Dahomey, and Funmilayo Ransom Kuti. Stop here! You get my drift. 

That Cache of feminine beauty to tap from has been used to wipe someone's ass and flushed down the drain.

Nigerian and Ghanaian Producers have replaced that with Brazilian hair. A poor village damsel must braid her hair. That same girl goes to the city and comes back to the village looking like a cheap whore with a tight dress and oh my god, Brazilian hair. When will these producers get over this cow dung?

 Come on, come on guys. Is that beauty? What happened to our braids? What happened to all those different styles that African entrepreneurial women have exported to boutiques in the USA and Europe? Come on!

4. The Sex Scene.

Yeah, I know they say sex sells. I hope it still does. Sex scenes should only add to 

the story you are telling it shouldn't be the 'it'. Unless you're producing a porn movie. Some hack producers think the formula is to bring a few popular faces and several neophytes and show them hanging on a loose story and essentially making out for half of the movie.

                      No!   No!     No!

5. Post-production.

I wonder if some Nigerian and Ghanaian producers have ever heard of the term ' the devil is in the detail.'?Post-production is as important as the other stages of production.

                           Yes, fella.

I have seen many Nigerian and Ghanaian movies with sloppy credits. Hey, how come your location manager has only a first name? Is he a bastard or is it just you Producer? 

               The Devil is in the detail!

  The ones produced in indigenous languages are more annoying than mosquitoes hovering over lovers trying to enjoy a romantic evening. Misleading subtitles laced with bad English will sting you repeatedly.

        Viewer discretion is advised.

6. The car scene.

Like the sex scenes, I find myself often wondering how the car driving scene helps the story. For one, a lot of time is wasted driving these cars inside the house. I have seen a movie. Where a 'rich' man was trying to negotiate his Jeep out of his house. You could see how he was carefully trying to 

drive that car without brushing the car against the gate or something. 

                    Fake! Fake! Fake!

      You wouldn't drive your car that way.

7. Trash dressing.

Decency was born in Africa. Where is the trash dressing in these movies coming from? What value does it add? To the girls and women in the industry, you must insist on dressing right. Learn from the many 'conscious' African sisters in the homeland and the Diaspora who have made it in Science, ICT, Politics and the list goes on, who never dress like trash, never expose cleavages. Talent can't be traded for a boob or a bum.

                          No, Ma'am.

8. Location not habitation.

I am tired of seeing a duplex shown as a  palace. A palace is a palace! A magnificent building. Mr. Producer, please get a Palace and all its paraphernalia if you want to shoot a palace scene. 

9. Originality.

I am equally miffed that some producers of Nigerian and Ghanaian movies just can't seem to outgrow the degrading urge to produce their imitation of 'Coming to America'.

                            Shame.

 Let me end this wailing and laments with another great quotation from the Master:

"When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth."

Chinua Achebe.

You could be the next number one selling Artiste. Get the magical recording studio you can pocket. Record when inspired

  

Have you ever felt that your musical talent is yet to be harnessed? Worse still, is the possibility that your innate musical genius might die with you a fear you bear within you for God knows how long? Let’s go a notch further if you will, do songs, tunes or beats come to you just like that and fizzle into thin air before you settle down to make something out of it? If you fit in this picture then how sad and misunderstood you must feel. However, the sad reality is that your worst fears might come true unless and until you decide to do something about it today, now, this year.

Someone somewhere is living in penury while bestselling number one songs are conceived and aborted every other day within his innards. Someone somewhere is ashamed of his/her God-given talent or afraid of starting and failing so those songs that can truly give joy, happiness and heal the world are confined to the shower or some closest where some selfish musical genius is hiding them. There are no palliatives here, my words are meant to embarrass and spur one to action today.

Okay let’s take it that you are working nine to five and don’t ever get the spare time, or you are afraid to take the plunge into the uncertain ocean of music and songwriters as the case may be, or maybe you are just too shy to showcase that talent that every cell in you attests that you have, what do you do? Pray to stumble into some clairvoyant music producer that will take you under his/her wing? Well, as desirable as that may be, the chances of that happening is as remote as discovering a diamond piece while taking a walk in your neighborhood on a Sunday evening.

The truth is very few musical talents get to meet the right agent or music producer ever and many musical geniuses might never get to meet them in their lifetime ever. But you can get a Music Memos. What the hell is that? I hear someone say? Well, it is an App that allows you to record those inspired beats or songs straight into that iPhone. Man, I tell you it’s too good to be true, Music Memos is your recording studio in the palm of your hands. This magical musical App comes with a backup band for you.

Great composers and Musicians long gone must be envious of our generation. Can you believe this App is tweaked and optimized to back your song up with the right drum, bass, and guitar at the tempo you are singing in? Is that great or what? Plus you can with simple taps make adjustments to the recording as many times as you desire and most importantly, send the recording straight to the world through YouTube, Sound Cloud or APPLE Music Connect...Even if the song is not done yet, I mean you might have the intro or the verse or just the beat; you can record those, arrange them and be able to access them whenever you are ready to take your music to birth.

There is, therefore, no excuse anymore if you are that person I am talking to right now with songs imprisoned in your belly for so long and your unhappy continence is yearning for the day you will finally get the courage to actually do the things you enjoy doing, not just playing along trying to be the ‘ideal’ someone that someone ignorantly wants you to be; this is your chance to get yourself a Music Memos App on your iPhone and be happy with yourself for once.

                                                                                                                                   

Game Changer In The Forth - Coming Election In Your Area

If you are a  politician and you are reading this via your desktop, laptop or better still, your phone, then you are the type of Politician the world needs today; yes the world desperately needs tech-savvy leaders who believe in the immense potentials of ICT. The last thing any country needs is leaders who need to be convinced about the fact I just stated.

Secondly, it will be the dumbest move today for the average politician and by extension, the myriad of political parties the world is burdened with, to ignore the mass millions of young phone, laptop, and iPod, users that depend on these gadgets for entertainment, news and communication and this is not forgetting the more traditional desktop users too.

One, therefore, does not have to be a soothsayer to predict that the likely winner of the forthcoming election, is the candidate and by extension, the party that leverages on these inalienable facts to coast home with the price. This is no vote buying or selling proposition by any means. I am talking about a means to achieve a clear majority if not landslide win in the forthcoming elections.

Let’s not complicate matters; voters want to be happy again. The long faces in the streets, in market places, schools, offices, and hospitals is evidence pointing to this fact and the candidate and party that can convey that message promising to bring smiles to replace the long faces will as sure as the sun rises at dawn and set at dusk, win the votes of the people. The question is how can this be done quickly and with the least cost to the candidate and the party?

Well, technology has done it in America, the oldest democracy in the world why not elsewhere? This is introducing a tool that can be used on any website; be it a political campaign website or a party website to sell a candidate, enable new members to register and even interface with the candidate in real time, download short prepackaged videos and audio speeches of the candidate and so on, the possibilities are limitless.

And that is not the fun part of it, the real deal about this tool is the fact that the administrators of the website can see the impact of their online campaign in real time. The advantage, of course, is the ability to quickly appraise what tactic is making the most impact thus the advantage of course, of an informed line of action. Imagine being able to know how many people registered every day and how many people are on the site doing whatever you ask them to do in real time?

I see this tool as the game changer in the forthcoming elections in Nigeria and the stunning thing is relatively new parties that quickly embrace this technology will spring earth-shattering surprises to the older parties and political pundits who fail to realize the immense potential in this game-changing tool. I invite you to click the link below and find out for yourself.

https://proof.grsm.io/FrancisMaikarfi

EQUITIES: LANGUAGE OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE MARKET

In order to appreciate the huge potential and opportunity in the stock exchange market, one needs to really understand the language of the stock exchange market.

Just like I stated in my previous post titled 'NASDAQ FOR THE MAN WHO DOESN'T GIVE A......!' Many people get confused and lose interest in the stock exchange market when certain words or terms are thrown at them, one of them is certainly the word Equities.

The word is a  ' must understand' if one really wants to play with the big boys in the stock exchange market and come out smiling because Equities determines the attraction of investors to certain companies trading on the stock exchange.

My own simple definition of equities is  ' the real worth of a company owned by someone or some people after the costs of owning that company is subtracted.

Hang on there, I don't want to lose you, maybe this simple example will help explain.
Let's say I want to invest in a big seafood company based in Abuja- Nigeria. As a wise investor, I should be interested in the companies staff strength, profitability and how much the company spends on salaries and allowances, then I should want to know how much the company spends on power, for instance, the cost of powering her cold rooms.
I should want to know the cost of purchase and transportation of the seafood and from the port to the consumer's hinterland let's say every year, how much tax the company pays, ground rent? And if she is servicing a bank loan and so on.

Now all these listed areas of concern and others not mentioned, are what I as an interested investor should subtract from what the owners or owner of the company say the company is worth to arrive at the real worth or value of the seafood company.

That worth after all the liabilities, debts and other costs are subtracted; is what is called the equities of the company.

A Company could claim to be worth a handsome amount but the wise investor checks its equities to know if she is ' healthy' or desperately  ' sick' investment wise.

Thank God companies listed in the stock exchange save would be investors the trouble of investigation, they have their equities regularly posted in their quarterly, biannual or annual financial reports or prospectus for the general public to examine.

TIME FOR BIOTECH COMPANIES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD TO LEVERAGE ON OPPORTUNITIES IN NASDAQ.

Sherin Mathews: A budding flower trodden underfoot. Time to review the law and practice of international and domestic adoption!

Don't take advantage of each other, but fear God'
Leviticus

  Sherin a three year old girl brought to
Texas USA from an  Indian orphanage legally adopted by the Mathews a family that had assured Indian and  US authorities that little Sherin who aside the stigma of being an Orphan had developmental  problems, will  get the best parental love and  bid poverty bye - bye.
The stats show that little Sherin like most internationally adopted kids will be the envy of most children from her country of origin. A 2007 study of adopted children by HHS revealed that adopted kids are more likely to do well in life at least much better than children who grow up in poverty and squalor, the report identifies   a correlation between poverty and mistreatment of children.

There you heard it Sherin Mathews is lucky - well not as lucky as the child Angelina Joli adopted from Cambodia or the kid Madonna adopted from Malawi you might argue but nonetheless lucky  right? Unfortunately NO! is the right answer.
After reporting to the  Police that Sherin had gone missing on the 7th October 2017, Wesley Mathews, her adoptive father explained that he had 'made' her to stand under a tree that fateful night about a hundred feet from the house as a punitive measure because she would not drink her milk and as he himself added , coyotes had been seen in the area.
The Police dutifully began a weeklong search for Sherin. Meanwhile the biological daughter of the Mathews a four year old was taken from the Mathews home under protective custody.
Finally the search for missing Sherin Mathews paid off when the poor child was found dead in a culvert under a road in the neighborhood.
The story took a fresh twist when Wesley Mathews accompanied by his attorney reported to the Police on Monday 23 October 2017 with a second account of what happened. According to Wesley, on the fateful night he asked her to drink her milk in the garage but she refused later she began to drink and strangely he began to physically assist her to  drink eventually she began to choke, cough and her breathing slowed he no longer felt her pulse and concluded that she was dead.
Wesley admitted that he took her body away from the house. He has since been arrested and charged with injury to a child a first degree felony.
This latest case of the mistreatment of a minor brings to the fore the glaring loopholes in the laws and buerocracy of international and domestic adoption. For one the lack of surveillance of the adopted child by the bodies concerned after a court has okayed the adoption to the adoptive parents , leaves much to be desired.
Apart from the usual background checks a Shrink should be enlisted to check the psychological worthiness of potential adoptive parents.- the truth is not everyone can be a good parent as we have seen in the cases of abusive parents globally.
The Russian government banned the adoption of Russian children into the U SA as far back as 2013  as a result of the death of 19 adopted children from Russia to the USA between 1991-2013.
Adoption as a policy is good and benefits the adoptive parents as well as the adopted child and if the child turns out to be another Steve Jobs the whole world benefits. However the system should block leackages that can hand future Sherins into the hands of the Wesley Mathews of this world.

Interview with Arch Bishop Emeritus Peter Yariyork Jatau.

ARCH BISHOP (EMERITUS) PETER YARIYOK JATAU.

 INTERVIEW WITH THE FIRST NORTHERN NIGERIAN CATHOLIC ARCH BISHOP.

His retirement home is a duplex. Apart from a few domestic staff,nothing will give a first time visitor an inkling that the resident of the building located a few meters from st Anns nursery,primary and secondary school  Kakuri, Kaduna south local government of Kaduna state is such a great and distinguished Nigerian.

Though retired, the Arch Bishop is of sound mind and body .One is left to wonder why governments past and present seem to leave untapped the wisdom and experience of individuals like the Arch Bishop emeritus. 'This treasure trove should not be confined to his retirement home' will definitely be your conclusion after enjoying this interview.

Q: Tell us about your childhood-where were you born?

Ans: I was born in a village called Marsa in the present Marsa district of Zangon Kataf local government of Kaduna state. Roughly, my birth took place... (Because there were no recording of birth and death and so on... But looking back at events that took place around the time of my birth and people born around the same time, I will say it will be around 1932.

Q: How many siblings did you have and what were the names of your father and mother?

Ans: My father was called Jatau and my mother was called Brenke. That time you know polygamy was in vogue and the more women one had, the more the kind of leadership was given to him in the community and of course ,if you had many women, the chances are that you will have many children and that will make you a great farmer when you have many to work on the farm with you. So that was what was happening in those days, like I said, my father was called Jatau and my mother was called Brenke and that time there was nothing like Christianity in the area.

Q: Can you remember the kind of man your father was-his personality and also that of your mother?

Ans: My father was a great farmer He was a person that was respected in the community because of his hardwork and even when we were growing up at home, he was somebody that was very peaceful in nature, he loved peace and wanted people to be in peace. My mother also was a very quite type of woman a good house wife I will say, as I said it was polygamy-meaning my father had many wives and at a time I remember there were about four of them and they were living very peacefully. There was no fighting and so on and that was a very good way of teaching and instructing their children. So life at that time was very comfortable.

Q: From your mother's side how many children did she give birth to?

Ans:We were altogether six. She gave birth to more but many died shortly after birth, we would have been up to ten or even more but those of us that survived were about six. Some have died now-in fact from my mothers side we are only two left now; myself and a junior sister of mine.

Q:At that time western education was not common. How did you manage to get western education?

Ans: At that time there was no western education at all-there were no schools around but when the missionaries came, it was then that we heard about some thing called  Western education,because when they came, they wanted us to know the catchism: In the Catholic Church, the catchism contains in a nutshell, the teaching of Christ as handed down to the Apostles and to the present day Church leaders. So one was in a better condition if you are able to read and write so that when you are taught something in the classroom, you can come back home and read through the catchism and see what you were taught.

That also applied to many other subjects, it was not only religious knowledge but any other thing that we were taught in the primary school. So I will say, as far as I am aware now, Western education started around 1942 in my village through the instrumentality of what we used to call catechists. The catechists prepare people that were well trained in religion in the Catholic faith and they used to help the missionary Priest to prepare those who were ready to receive baptism because you don't become a Catholic without being baptised, you can be in the Church for donkey years but if  you are not baptised you are not a Christian-you are not a Catholic .So the job of those catechist was to prepare candidates for baptism and when the candidates were ready to be baptized then the Missionary Priest will come there and baptize them.

Q:Can you remember the names of some of the Catchists or Missionaries that impacted your life positively at that time?

Ans: Very well- let me start with the Missionaries: The very first Missionary that came to my village was called Father Gernon, an Irish Priest. He was in the military. He served in the first and second world wars. He was a Chaplain in the military. When the war was over, he came and was stationed in Kafanchan and from Kafanchan he worked through many villages up to my village. So he was the first Missionary Priest that I met.

Then after him came Father Peter Bennet also another Irish Priest; infact all the Priests in the north at that time were Irish-most of them, a few from other places- so Father Peter Bennett was in Kafanchan around 1942.In 1943  I started going to school . In those days I was preparing for baptism,he was the one that examined us and when we were ready to be baptised, he was the one that baptised me in December 1943.

Then there were other priests that came after him; Father Oliver Smith who was instrumental to my going to the Seminary to become a Catholic Priest. There are so many of them but these are the few I can recall.

Q: At that time what was the reaction to the coming of the Missionaries in Marsa and environes?

Ans: They were very much welcomed. Infact before the coming of the Catholic Missionaries, the SIM( Sudan interior mission) Missionaries where there at least ten years in my village before the coming of the Catholic Missionaries. When the Catholic Missionaries came they were very much welcomed especially when children will go to play with them and they will teach them a few words of English. That was very enticing to parents and parents were happy to see the missionaries.

Q: Your grace, when you enrolled into the Catechism class did you envisage your being a Priest in future?

Ans: There was no thought of me becoming even a teacher not to talk of being a Priest because at that time we did not know that a black man could be a Priest. It was Missionaries we saw going around the area trying to get people to embrace the Catholic faith. So there was no question of me thinking I will become a Priest.

I became aware of becoming a Priest much much later, infact toward the end of my primary school.education-that will be around 1948/49.

Q:What made you decide to pursue that line-Priesthood?

Ans:When I was in the primary school, first of all I started in Hausa, because at that time the Colonial powers did not want northerners to know much about education. They wanted northerners to know how to read and write a bit, maybe a bit of English so that they can interpret for the Colonial D.O s as they used to call them but then, when I started going to school where English was the medium of instruction, I was the only northerner in the class from when I started in standard 3 up to standard 6.

Now I became a mission boy. That means I lived with the missionaries, helping in their houses, cleaning their rooms,making their beds and any other sort of work they wanted me to do and at the same time, I was going to school.

Those of us who used to serve mass- man servants.I was the only non Igbo amongst my fellow manservants then. So when the Priest that was in charge of us; teaching us English language and Christian religious knowledge, saw that we were about to finish our primary school education, he asked us a year before then what we would like to do when we finish our primary education? Now the Igbo boys that were with me said they will like to be Priests and... Since we were the same, I also said that I wanted to be a Priest.

Q: What was the reaction of your family?

Ans: They didn't know what being a Priest really means, they didn't know but even when they realised that I will be a Catholic Priest like the priests they see ,they didn't bother because my father was just happy that his son was getting higher and higher in the area of education and of course since it was polygamy and I had many brothers,it didn't bother him that I will not marry. Neither did it bother my mother.

Q: How will you compare the standard of education then and now?

Ans: The standard of education then was very high. It is nothing compared to what is obtainable now. I remember the kind of English we were able to speak or write even under graduates in their 1st and 2nd year in University wouldn't know that kind of English and that will apply also to arithmetic.

In the primary school we didn't do what we call Maths today because Maths included arithmetic, geography, and algebra, so it was only arithmetic. The truth is that the standard then was very high compared to what you see today. At that time, by the time you reach standard  4,5,and 6,one will speak good English and write good English and correct grammar correct spelling and so on but that is not obtainable now even with students who are in their first or second year in University from my communication with such students and letters I receive from them.

Q:Let's look at your journey into Priesthood, where there times when you felt like retracing your steps?

Ans:It was not smooth, in the sense that by the time I went to the minor seminary, there was not a single seminary in the north so we had to go to Ibadan  and travelling from Kafanchan to Ibadan is a very long journey by train. But what I am sure of is that when God wants you to do something, he will give you all the qualities that are required to make you succeed if you cooperate.

So it was not easy in the sense that as a young boy, you leave an area where you are comfortable and used to, the kind of food you eat, the people you meet? To go to another place altogether and meet other people that you didn't know? So it wasn't easy from that point of view, and then in the minor seminary there were rules to be obeyed. If you do not observe the rules,you will be asked to leave the seminary but as I said, if God wants somebody to be something he gives you all the necessary means to achieve his objective.

So I will think that, because of that, even though things were difficult,one was able to bear with the difficulties we went through and thanks to God, one succeeded  in becoming a Priest. Along the line, there were so many we started with, they didn't succeed in becoming Priests for one reason or the other some because they didn't obey the rules or some because they didn't do well in their studies and some decided -no this kind of life, I can not go into this kind of life, so they left on their own.

Q:Being the only Northerner at the minor seminary did you suffer from things like tribalism?

Ans:There was actually one northerner who went there many years before me-from Jos, a Berom man. But he didn't stay long, he left, when he left I think I was the next person to go from the north, yes I was certainly the next person to go. My classmates were Igbos, yorubas, people from the present Delta and Edo States and so on but we got mixed together and because of the kind of training we got, we regarded ourselves as brothers there was no question of tribalism whatsoever-in fact it was not there.

Q: Am I right to say you are the first northern Nigerian Arch Bishop of the Catholic church?

Ans:let me first say,I am the first Nigerian north of the rivers Niger and Benue to be a Catholic Priest. I am also  the first Northerner to be an Arch Bishop.

Q: How does that make you feel today knowing that you are the one who opened the flood gates for many others?

Ans: It is Gods calling, if God calls you he wants you to do something for him. So it was God that called me and gave me the strength and wisdom and means to be able to do what I was able to do from the time I was ordained a Priest to the time I became an Arch Bishop and retired in 2007.So all the achievements actually is not due to me the credit goes to God.

God uses human beings as instruments just as you use a knife to cut something, the knife on its own can not cut a thing but you use your hand to cut what you want to cut .In the same way, God can use any human being to do what he wants to be done and that is what happened in my case.

Q: Before you retired in 2007 there were many communal clashes that took place in Kaduna State,what role did you play in ensuring peace prevails at that time?

Ans: It is true that there were many clashes between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna State while I was Arch Bishop. The first clash was in1987.That was when there was a misunderstanding between Christian and Muslim Students in the College of Education Kafanchan. That was the first crisis.

When it started I was attending a meeting with fellow Bishops in Lagos. While I was having the meeting, a policeman came and told me that somebody wanted to see me outside, so I went out to see the person and I was told that the Inspector General of Police wanted to see me. So I followed them. The I.G. told me that there was trouble in Kaduna and that the Governor of the State wanted to see me. So we came with a police helicopter to Kaduna. As soon as we arrived we went straight to the Government House and I met the late Grand Khadi of Kaduna State Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi and two of us went to the radio house to make  an announcement. We stated that this thing is not a fight between Christians and Muslims and that it was just a misunderstanding and therefore people should not try to fight each other and see it as some sort of war. I think that the announcement we made and people seeing us together, a Christian leader and a Muslim leader talking together helped to some extent to minimise what would have been a much worse situation.

Q: What is your advice to our current leaders today on how to create harmony and prevent further clashes?

Ans:I just mentioned the first crisis many others followed that led to many Christians leaving places like Rigasa and Tudun wada in particular down to areas in the southern part of the metropolis. Muslims also moved. That was a terrible thing that happened. Well we did what we could especially when Makarfi ,Armed Makarfi became Governor of Kaduna State. He was a good friend of mine.He used to come to me and I used to go to him.Before him the same happened with Jaafaru Isa;our last military administrator. He was a good friend of mine too. At that time he used to come with Makarfi but Makarfi will wait in the car, he alone would come into my sitting room and go back. So when Makarfi became Governor, the friendship continued

I think because of that, it was easy to discuss with him and find ways in which both Christians and Muslims could cooperate and live together.

As far as I am aware and know, Christians will never be the first to throw a stone. But there came a time when they said enough is enough because when you push a dog or an animal and its finding a way to escape, it could turn back on you. So the Christians said no we are not going to sit down or run so they fought back. The unfortunate result of that was the almost total separation of Christians from muslims.

A lot of Muslims have come to me especially from tudunwada to express sadness about what happened- I had a Cousin that used to live there that I often visit sometimes late in the night and there was no fear.

What I am saying is, to live in peace, we have to respect one another.Christians have to respect the Muslims, the Muslims have to respect the Christians. There should not be Muslims forcing Christians to be Muslims or Christians forcing Muslims to be Christians. Religion is a free thing. So everyone should be free to chose the religion of their choice.So if there is this kind of respect there will be peace.

But some people look at themselves as if they were placed in a certain position by God to keep on ruling it is not possible, that kind of mentality should not exist any longer because with education we have rights. We are running the Democratic government now and people are educated. When you are educated you know your rights, you know how to pursue your rights, and so if we respect one another's rights,you respect my rights, I respect your rights, there will be proper mutual understanding that will make for mutual peace and cooperation.

Q: Many educational institutions in the past owned by the Catholic church were taken over by government. Looking at the falling standard of education that you mentioned earlier would you say it was a good decision?

Ans: It was not at all a good decision and if the government will be truthful, they will know that it was a bad decision. I am sure it was a really bad decision. What happened was that... Asika...I think he was known as Asika. He was in charge of eastern Nigeria, at that time, the northern ers were very afraid that Christianity was progressing and spreading because of our educational system. Which is true because I remember when we went to school, we were baptised, meaning that we were not Christians but eventually we became baptised. So practically, most of the children that went to Catholic schools ended up being Catholics like in our case through Catholic schools so the Catholic schools were very important and the standard as I said,was very high.. But they realised then that we especially in Southern Kaduna were becoming very educated and I think they were frightened and they thought that a way of making that not to continue was to take over the schools and then they can do what ever they want, so I think that made them to deceive Gowon who was then the Head of State to say okay any state that was willing to take over the schools, they were free to do so.

When that happened, Asika in the Eastern region was the first to take over the Catholic schools. He was himself a Christian- an Anglican I think. The next State to follow was the north central state; that is present day Kaduna and katsina States and then the rest of the northern States took over both secondary and primary. They didn't mean well. I think they thought that by taking over and mixing children; they might be able to get Christians to convert to Islam... That didn't happen. What really happened was that they bastardized the standard because at the time we were running the schools our boys and girls in our secondary schools can't be seen going out without permission from the principal or one of the teachers in charge-you wont see them day or night. And so with lack of discipline, standards were bound to fall .

Q:Would you advocate for these schools to be returned?

Ans: Certainly! Actually we have been asking, even before I retired, there was no Governor Military or Civilian that I didn't ask for our schools to be returned to us. Unfortunately I didn't get the cooperation of others like ECWA and Anglican; these are the two main Christian bodies that owned primary and secondary schools.

The only state in the north that did not take over our schools was Kano state.Audu Bako, who was the first military Governor of Kano state ;when I visited him after my ordination as Arch Bishop in December 1972- I went to pay him a courtesy call ,we were sitting in the evening, we were chatting, he brought beer we were drinking and we chatted, he was telling me how he went through a Catholic school and then along the line he said as long as he remained the governor of Kano state, nobody will touch our schools and  he kept his word and infact uptill today those schools; St Louis for girls and St Thomas for Boys are still owned by the Catholic church, .although a few things happened afterwards.

Q:What advice would you want to give the Buhari administration?

Ans:I used to say when Buhari was military Head of State with Idiagbon, if he had been allowed to remain in power as a military leader for about three years he would have changed Nigeria because of the way things were going although some people were saying that he was too harsh and they had some things against him and so on. Talking about corruption, discipline, and security, I will say if they had remained in power for three years he would have changed Nigeria.

Now he is a civilian President. You see we have the executive, the judiciary and the legislature- he does not control everything so things are not the same. Now he has to do things in consultation with the National assembly he can not do things as he did as a military leader.

There are two areas he is doing well; curbing insecurity-you know Boko haram and so on. As I see it ours as Church leaders is to pray.

Our leaders should ensure that in appointments, distribution of amenities, they don't exclude any particular part of  the country be fair to all that is why I used to say Makarfi was fair to us in Kaduna state- both north and south. For we in the south look at the roads he constructed, Chieftaincies he created and so on. He was fair-see any leader who is fair is sure to do well though not everybody will accept him. So that is what we expect from Buhari.

Q:How will you assess Governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai Governor of Kaduna State.

Ans: I am not too sure. You people are outside so you know what he has achieved. If you let me know what he has done, then I will say he is doing well but I know that something like the question of feeding children in the school? That is not the right thing, the schools are dilapidated, the floors,the doors in most of the schools are battered so it is best to put those things in order and equip them properly.

That is the difference between what the government is doing and what we the Church are doing, our schools were properly equipped.

What we put in our schools, especially the primary schools will make the pupils excited and eager to learn, like we used to have practising schools go there you'd see different paintings, animals and so on, that will excite Children and make them ask what is this, what is that? That is the way they learn.

So the priority for me is to repair the schools both primary and secondary schools, secondly, put qualified teachers. If you put unqualified teachers, they can not teach. The blind can not lead the blind. There are so many boys and girls that have finished our Colleges of education, these are the ones supposed to teach in primary schools but if you go to some of our primary schools you see ordinary school leavers teaching as it were, the blind leading the blind so what do you expect from that?

Q:Thank you your grace.

Ans: You are welcome.