Pregnant At 18, Best Graduating Student At 25

Seven years after an unwanted pregnancy forced her to drop out of the University of Ilorin, Aishat Farooq emerges the best graduating student of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State. When Aishat Farooq gained admission into the University of Ilorin at 15, to study Zoology, little did she know that she was not going to be an alumnus of the institution. That was in 2003. Despite the fact that she was a high flyer in her first two years in UNILORIN, the now 25-year-old indigene of Ilorin West-Local Government Area of Kwara State got distracted along the line. She played the campus love game and got a shocking result: she got pregnant. It was in 2006 and in her third year. She was pregnant for a fellow student whom she had been dating. She was disappointed in herself and thought the whole world was crashing on her. Yet, she vowed not to terminate the pregnancy. Although she wanted to continue her studies in the university, she became disillusioned and dropped out at 18. She sought consolation in trading. But her father, Mr. Shehu Farooq, who believed that his daughter’s academic prowess should not be wasted, was determined to get her back on the academic track. Today, Aishat has a different story to tell. On Saturday, she stood tall among her peers at the 5th convocation ceremony of Bells University, Ota, Ogun State, where she emerged the overall best graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.93. “The rebel in me won,” she declared while giving the valedictory address on behalf of the 208 graduating students of the university. “I hope my story will inspire at least one person to change his or her circumstance. I was pregnant at 18 and by 19 I was already a mother. I had disappointed my father who believed so much in me. He had such big dreams for me and feared the dreams would become unfulfilled,” she added. Breaking the news of the pregnancy to her father, who was at the time based in the northern part of the country, was not easy. Aishat’s mother, Fatima, who stayed in Lagos with the family, did not break the “sad news” to the man until the lady was almost due. The mum feared her husband would be too angry. Fatima narrated to our correspondent, “Looking back, we knew her to be very brilliant. But all of a sudden she got pregnant. Though her father and I were always discussing on the telephone, I hid it from him. Whenever he said he would be coming to Lagos to visit us, I would quickly chip it in that I would like to be the one to visit. So, I ensured I was the one always visiting him. “That was how I managed the situation until the pregnancy was eight months. But even when we broke the news to him, he felt really bad. Although there was nothing he could do, he couldn’t go out for three days. ”Aishat studied Business Administration with specialisation in Human Resources Management, and received the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the Overall Best Graduating Student with a cash reward of N50,000 and a plaque. She also won the College of Management Sciences Prize and Department of Business Administration Prize for the Best Graduating Student. Speaking with our correspondent after she received the awards, Aishat, whose face beamed with smiles, expressed gratitude to her dad for not losing hope in her during her trying time. She noted that the popularly-held notion that the child that goes astray belongs to the mother, while the good ones belong to the father, was not applicable in her situation as her father did not give up on her.

Asked why her dad had so much hoped in her, she stated that her history of academic excellence from childhood right to the university was a major driving force. Aishat, who attended Nazareth Nursery and Primary School, Lagos; Penny International College, Lagos and Model Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja, said she bagged several academic awards while growing up and noted that she secured admission to UNILORIN the same year she completed her secondary education. She noted, “I did exceptionally well and bagged awards in the schools I attended. I had the overall best result at the Senior Secondary School Certificate level at Model Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja. In fact in UNILORIN, I was on the first class grade in my first year but in 200 Level, I dropped to second class upper division because I had already started getting distracted by the boys. “It just happened that things turned out the way it did. But here I am, a product of God’s unending mercies, unconditional love and grace – all coupled with the faith my dad had in me and my fierce determination. “I’m a goal getter. I push myself hard. Even here (BELLSTECH) in spite of being a mother, I was pushing for the best despite the challenges. I wanted to make my dad proud again. Once you are determined, nothing is impossible. Nothing can stop you. ”She said her decision to study Business Administration as against the sciences, which she was studying in UNILORIN, was informed by her two-year experience in the world of business after she dropped out of university. She explained that incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, however, informed her decision to attend a private university. “Age was no longer on my side and I wanted to do it fast. And my dad could afford it because he was a businessman,” she added. Asked if she was involved in any relationship at the Bells, she explained that she was a popular “snob” on campus because the majority of male students were younger than her. Besides, she did not want to get distracted or disappoint her parents and herself again. Aishat, who has been posted to Lagos State to observe the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme, said, “If you ask around you will be told that I was a snob. My favourite spot was my room. I rarely went out of the room for social events. I went to mosque. However, when I contested for the president of my departmental association, Business Administration Students Association, the Nigerian system worked against me. “I lost to my male opponent. Although I had plans to take some giant strides if I won, especially in the academic aspect for my fellow students, the fact that I was not the type of person who hangs out worked against me. I didn’t have a social life. ”She said she has no plans for marriage for now. She wants to pursue a master’s degree programme in Human Resources in the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She added that she also plans to work in a corporate environment to garner experience and afterwards go back to the university to teach “as a way of giving back. ”The second child in a family of eight children, Aishat brought her six-year-old son, Damilola, to the convocation. It was, however, learnt that the Edo State-born father of the boy has since got married to another woman. She noted that her major challenge on campus was the randomness of classes which denied her the opportunity of spending quality time with her son while her stay in the university lasted. “We had visiting professors who came into the campus at anytime. Although we had schedules, many of them had a bit of flexible time. Sometimes on Sunday when I took permission to visit my child in Lagos, my classmates would call me up on the phone that there was going to be a class. Because attendance is very important, I had to rush down. This affected me a little,” she added. Aishat’s father advised parents to give their children and wards the best of tutelage and close monitoring. He noted that he least expected the feat achieved by his daughter as he was at a time disturbed that “she could no longer make it. ”Asked if it was lack of adequate monitoring that made Aishat go astray at UNILORIN, he said, “Let’s just say that is how God wants it. You see, 70 per cent of the fault is on us the parents. Parents should give their children good supervision and tutelage. With this, they cannot derail. I thank God for her because it’s is not easy to have raised her from grass to grace. “I screamed on the phone the day I learnt she was pregnant. I started asking questions: When, where and how. I burst into tears. But today, she is a new being. And I know the mistake will not repeat itself. My expectations for her are that she should fly higher and higher. ”Some other graduands who distinguished themselves were also recognised at the convocation ceremony. Kolawole Lawal, who finished from the Department of Economics with a CGPA of 4.73, received the Olusegun Obasanjo’s Prize for being the best graduating student with outstanding academic performance and leadership qualities. Former President Obasanjo who is the Chief Promoter of the university, also attended the event. Francis Sogunle, from the Department of Computer Science, who had a CGPA of 4.74, received the Chancellor’s Prize for excelling in external competitions of academic nature. At the ceremony, 208 students were awarded first degrees with Aishat and 13 others being conferred with first class degrees, while 64 of them got second class upper degrees; 83 bagged second class lower; just as 43 were awarded third class degrees. Meanwhile four of the graduands finished with pass degrees. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Isaac Adeyemi, charged the graduates to be patriotic and dedicated to nation building. “Our beloved country is currently going through a rather stressful period. All hands must be on deck to seek lasting solutions to militancy and insurgencies and disregard for the rule of law. This is the time to prove your worth as you can’t afford to fold your arms or sit on the fence,” he observed.

By: TEMITAYO FAMUTIMI

Sachet (Pure) Water Will Give You Cholera-Pharmacist

Pharmacists yesterday warned people who drink sachet (water) to be mindful of the current spread of cholera, as they say it helps spread the disease.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) at a news conference in Ilorin yesterday blamed the current cholera epidemic in many parts of the country on consumption of sachet (pure) water.
Speaking on the 86th national conference of the PSN, tagged, “Harmony 2013” in Ilorin, Kwara State chairman of the association, Chief Abdulmojeed Oderinde, said consumption of sachet water is unhygienic, and urged government officials to ensure that potable water is available for the people.
Oderinde, who placed access to potable water above food, also identified other causes of cholera as poverty, overpopulation and unhygienic environment.
He further condemned salary disparity among health workers in the state, saying a situation where a medical doctor earns N180, 000 monthly while a pharmacist gets N45,000 is discouraging.
According to him, out of a total 150 pharmacists in the state, only a few are employed in the state’s health sector, stressing that the development had led many qualified pharmacists to practise outside the state. He also said that out of 16,000 pharmacists in the country, 5,000 practise outside Nigeria, adding that there is an average of one pharmacist to about 10,000 people.

PIB: Reps Panel Fails To Produce Report

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill has failed to produce a report on the controversial bill, one year after it was appointed. Findings showed that the pieces of information that the panel gathered remained in scattered form, while panellists were bogged down by arguments over content. The 23-member committee headed by the Chief Whip of the House, Mr. Ishaka Bawa, a People’s Democratic Party lawmaker from Taraba State, was appointed in November 2012. A source told our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, “This committee concluded its public hearing on the PIB since June; that was six months ago. The committee first held zonal hearings in the six geopolitical zones and rounded off with a grand finale in Abuja. “But, here we are; there is no report and there is no concrete explanation on what is holding the panel down on such an important legislation. ”There were indications in July that three factors had tied down the committee’s work. One was the alleged pressure mounted by the oil majors that wanted some provisions of the bill on royalties, taxes and investment costs scaled down. A second factor was said to be the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was said to have moved to block attempts by the lawmakers to whittle down the “awesome powers” the PIB conferred on the minister to decide oil and gas industry matters in a deregulated environment. Information also gathered that the committee lacked adequate funding to hire consultants to interpret the highly technical proposals in the bill.However, Bawa had denied all the allegations in an earlier interview with The PUNCH. He claimed that the committee would never succumb to pressure to do any bidding other than “the interest of the generality of Nigerians. ”Bawa also denied that funding was a problem to the committee, adding that “all we have to do now is to put our findings together and lay the report before the House. ”That was in August; but three months on, there is no report.Our correspondent learnt that members of the panel had been unable to meet regularly to agree on the content of the report. When contacted, a member of the committee, Mr. Bassey Ewa, said the panel was still meeting to fine-tune the findings of the investigation.Ewa, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Gas Resources, stated that he believed the committee would write the report because “the PIB is a very important bill we cannot afford to toy with.”Asked why the report was not ready one year after the inauguration of the committee, he simply replied, “We are still meeting; we met last week and we are meeting this week again.”Ewa said although he was a member of the panel, the buck stopped on the desk of the chairman (Bawa), who must have the final say on any matter relating to the bill.Bawa did not respond to inquiries on the PIB when our correspondent contacted him on Sunday.Unlike in previous encounters when he answered questions via text messages, picked his calls and responded to emails, the chairman has failed to reply to any enquiry through these means in the last two weeks. Our correspondent bumped into him on the corridor of the House of Representatives last week, but Bawa quickly said, “I will talk, I will talk, I saw your mails,” and hurried off. The Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Albert Sam-Tsokwa, confirmed that the report of the panel had not reached his table.

Imagine market With Ritual Items Everywhere!

Relics of normal life in time past are much sought after in sacrificial preparations. Some of these objects and materials, to the uninitiated, are very hard to come by. To the uninitiated, seeing a tortoise could probably be at the zoo, but for those who indulge in sacrificial practices, they know where exactly to go, they know the right market and they know the right people to call on.

The traditional Oliha and Ekiosa markets in Benin City are the right places to go if one needs those rare animals, native chalks, coins and several other materials which have spent over two hundred years. Feathers of rare birds like ostrich, sparrow and even vulture, all of which have different connotations, as investigations revealed, you can get in these markets also.

Things that were hitherto used as means of exchange in the days of old including cowries have now become ingredients of sacrificial preparations. Invariably, earthen pots serve as vessel for the preparations. Earthen pots are still very popular in Benin because they keep food steamy. Local restaurants serve delicacies like black soup, banga soup or even pepper soup in earthen pots. Whereas earthen pots play major role in the preparation of several sacrifices performed by traditionalists, these sacrifices are kept mainly in junctions because they believe that many legs cross such places.

The practice continues among Binis, according to a resident. “The practice is still very relevant here, basically, because we love our tradition which includes sacrifices”, he boasted. There was a time Bishop Margaret Idahosa of Church of God Mission was asked to comment on the proliferation of churches in Benin City, and she said, “Is it not better we have that than the usual sacrifices we see in the streets?”

Investigations revealed some of the reasons people resort to the agelong practice of sacrifice include protection, search for luck, down turn in circumstance. Others do it to seek the face of the gods against conditions such as bareness, stagnation or to even ward off evil or unpalatable situations. On a collective note, individuals or groups gather to make sacrifice like in cases of annual festivals such as the Igue festival in Benin Kingdom or other customary or periodic ones.

Some of these sacrifices are believed to be capable of appeasing the ancestors or the gods of the land. In other instances, sacrifices have been made to bring or stop rain depending on the situation.

Situations have been seen in the past where celebrants who have invested heavily in coming ceremonies including burial, birthday parties, call traditionalists to offer sacrifice to avert rain during the occasions. In such instances, curious observers can see at a corner of a big party or event people making wood fire and pouring palm oil and local gin to seek the face of the gods and avert rain. We have the Osun Oshogbo festival in Osun State, the Olokun festival in the South-west and even in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which all serve as pointer that people are still enmeshed in sacrificial offerings, if not obligations. Elsewhere people sacrifice to deities which they connect to, including Ogun, Olokun,Yemoja, all of which investigations showed still have active priests watching as gatemen in their (the gods) continuous existence.

To further buttress the import of these deities and sacrifices in Benin Kingdom and even other parts of the country, the people of Ikhuenebo in Uhumwonde Local Government Area of Edo State, recently, vowed never to cede any of their shrines to the people of Iguomo. Iguomo had claimed that the land, where over twenty shrines are located in Ikhuenebo community, belongs to them. The chief priest of Ikhuenobo, Chief Enawakponmwhem Aighobahi, who took Sunday Vanguard round the shrines, said they will rather die than give up the shrines.

He narrated, “Our shrines were founded by Oba Ewuare the Great who led Benin Kingdom from 1440-1473. Where I am standing now, Oba Ewuare is the founder of this Okwuainebenaka shrine. This shrine is number two in the hierarchy of all Okwaihe in Ikwe. We have been here since over one thousand years ago, we are not strangers. You can see the structure of the shrine. I am the Ohen; among the top 16 Ohen chief priests, I am the second in hierarchy. The senior one is at Ewiekoyu.

I am a descendant of Ohiobonikwe on that lineage because the title is hereditary. So it came to us as a shock that Iguomo community said that the whole of Ikhuobo land belongs to them”.

One could see that the community had not relented in their efforts to give the gods what belongs to them through daily sacrifices. This observation led Sunday Vanguard to Kemwinkemwin market, as the line where the sacrificial materials is called in Oliha and Ekiosa markets.

The visit was quite revealing. Sunday Vanguard went with a Bini interpreter, Ogieva Oyemwenosa, because those who deal in these materials are elderly women who are traditionalists and don’t speak English. It was learnt that the materials are used for sacrifices both for good and evil, while those who deal in them are also pure traditionalists who worship different gods. Walking round Kémwinkémwin could be scary because you see the skulls of monkey, owl, pigeon, sparrow, hyena, live tortoise and their skulls too. Any customer around the line definitely came to buy one sacrificial object or another. Foreigners also come from Europe and America to purchase these things because Sunday Vanguard was informed that some white people also worship Olokun (river goddess).

At the Kemwinkemwin line of Oliha market, 76-year-old Madam Christianah Oliha explained some of the materials to Sunday Vanguard: “What I am holding now are the Azáolokun, Adá and the Ebèn, used for worshipping Olokun. This one is Uleko, someone that has had his bath with juju is the one that wears it. I have taken that bath, so I am free to wear it.

What about native chalk. What is it used for?
“Native chalk (Orhue) is used for juju dance; it can be ground and eaten. When you grind it, you put it in your hand and use it to praise God. Whether you go to church or you serve juju, when you pour
it out in your hand, you add salt to it and you use it to praise God to guide you and your family.

What about cowries?
“Ikpigho (cowries) are used to worship Olokun. We use them for good things, we don’t throw them away. You can use them for Orunmila (god served with white clothes), you can use it for Sángo, and you can also use it to plant evil.

How long have these things been in existence?

“It has been long, over two hundred years. I grew up to meet them. When I was growing up, Anini (Benin coin used those days for transactions) was used to buy things. Initially, cowries were being used for transaction. From the cowries, we started using Anini. It was the Anini that I grew up to meet. From Anini, we moved to Ekpini. All of them are here. From Ekpini, we started using Kobo. Cowries were used for transaction during the time of my forefathers.

Alligator pepper
“It is used when one wants to perform a juju ceremony. Alligator pepper mixed with Afòr, native chalk (Òrhue) and ash (Emuè) is used to clean abomination. With native pepper, you use it to cleanse yourself before you start the juju ceremony. This is what was applicable in the days of old. You grind the native chalk, put your leg on it and count six, take it round your neck which signifies cleansing before entering inside for the main juju ceremony”.
Asked when she started the business, Madam Oliha explained that she was into yam and goat business before she “entered the juju properties (Kèmwinkèmwin) business and so far it has favoured me and my family”.

She continued: “This business has been good for me. It has improved the life of my children, it has given me all I require in life. People started the business before most of us, our mothers were in this market before they died but today it is our turn. I have spent over 15 years in the business”. Explaining some of the materials in her shop, she said: “This is the head of a goat used for sacrifice. This is the head of a bush meat (Akwághá), it can cure epilepsy. This is called Akwá. This one is medicinal; it can be used to cure people suffering from pile and cough when burnt”. Asked what the clothes in her shop represent, she said: “The red is for worshipping Satan or Olokun. If you want to worship Olokun, it is the dark red that you will use to sew a very big skirt and shirt (Bulukú). For Sango (god of thunder), you take both the red and white. For Ogun, you add the red; black and white together in sewing the skirt and shirt. The broken eggs are used for child bearing while the native pot is used for bathing when performing juju, you can also use it for cooking medicine”.When Sunday Vanguard tried to find out whether she goes to church, she asserted: “I am not a Christian. I am a juju worshipper. Not that I don’t believe in God, I do. A clean mind serves God. My intentions are good toward men and women; I don’t feel hatred for anybody. I will not see a rich man and be angry with him. I feel the pains of others and I will always beg God to assist them. I am not a devil, I worship juju. My mind is even cleaner than the so-called Christians who attend church every Sunday. Juju worshipping is our tradition and you are punished when you do evil to an innocent person”.

At Ekiosa market, Kèmwinkèmwin blossoms too. Madam Rose Omorodion, who declared that she was a juju priestess, started by narrating the history of the market. According to her: “Ekiosa market started with the Jehovah’s Witnesses; this was where they built their church when they came to Benin and that is why it is called Ekiosa meaning God’s market. When they left, we came here and started selling provisions, yam, plantain, beans, rice and this our business also started. The market started like that before government came to build it for us; then it caught fire. We did not know what caused the fire but this is the second time they are building the market. This is the Kémwinkémwin line of Ekiosa market; it is a place where you can find the things of the old including the native pot (Ákhá).

The native pot can be used to worship Olokun which we serve in the river. This one is the statue of the Olokun (displaying it to Sunday Vanguard), called Aza. This one is the white man’s money while the other one is the cowrie used for business transaction in the days of old. After the cowrie, we had the coin. So we said the cowrie cannot be destroyed because of its importance and we decided to keep it. This one is Unién. You can use it to cook and it is also medicinal. This one is the statue of Sángo (Ukiisángo). The other one here is Ekò. It is chewed when a man or woman’s stomach is hot, especially pregnant women. We have the olden days knife used in the shrine of Orumila. We use the tortoise to prepare serious juju medicine”.

Asked why she took to this trade which is against the Christian faith, Madam Omorodion declared she had no apologies being a juju priestess. “I am a real juju woman, a river goddess. So I can be called upon at any time if Sango is troubling someone. I can heal the person. I can also deal with people that are being troubled by the river, I can bath the person and it will stop. Traditional healing of river spirit which is called Ogbanje by others is better than what they do in churches.

If we traditionalists want to bath a child from the river, we fetch some leaves, squeeze them together and use it to bath the child. When I was a child, I used to die every day due to spirit. But when an old man from Kokori was invited, he bathed me and showed me how to deal with the river goddess after he said I am a goddess from the river. I became okay and since that time I have never been sick and I am over 60 years now. I have the powers today and that is why I help people with similar problem. Some people come from abroad for help, I bath them and when they go back they are never sick again.” Asked to react to the comment that the tortoise is a powerful animal for rituals, she stated: “Yes. Even when a person is cursed by Ogun to die, the tortoise can be used to relieve the person from that curse because, since the tortoise is a tricky animal, the curse on that person is averted by the tortoise”.

On her part, Madam Mary Erhese told Sunday Vanguard that that the materials they sell also help in preparing rituals for Benin sons and daughters who travel abroad. Her words: “There are mothers who come to us for help for their children who travelled and have not reached their destination. They will come to us to give them materials and, when we do, before one month, that child will get to where he or she is going”..
Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com