US congratulates Nigeria at 56

The statement was issued by John Kerry through President Buhari's special adviser in Abuja on Friday

The United States of America has congratulated Nigeria on its country’s 56th Independence Anniversary which comes up on Saturday.

A statement issued in Abuja on Friday by Mr Femi Adesina, theSpecial Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, said that the goodwill message was signed by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.

Adesina said Kerry acknowledged the ability of Nigerians to address Nigeria’s current national challenges.

Kerry’s statement read: “On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the citizens of Nigeria as you celebrate your Independence Day on Oct. 1.

“I recently returned from my third trip to Nigeria as Secretary, and I came away with a strong sense of the nation’s resolve to build a better future.

“During my trip, I was reminded that many Nigerians are engaged in bringing people together across the divides of culture, religious practices, and ethnicity.’’

According to Kerry, there is still much work to be done to provide economic opportunities for all, end corruption, win the fight against Boko Haram and ensure broad respect for human rights.

Kerry said Nigeria should provide humanitarian relief for millions of displaced people.

“But we know that Nigerians are hard at work to address these challenges. The United States looks forward to deepening our partnership and friendship with Nigerians from all walks of life, so that we may work together for the betterment of Nigeria and all of Africa.

“Best wishes to all of you on this the 56th anniversary of your independence,’’ U.S. secretary said.

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Boko Haram region could become world’s worst crisis – UN

Without more donor support the emergency caused by Boko Haram will become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, a top UN official said Friday, as a massive appeal remained just a quarter funded.

“I have worked in Darfur,” Lanzer told reporters, referring to the war-torn Sudanese region. “The scale and the depth of suffering that I have seen (in Nigeria) is unparalleled in my experience.”

Nigeria-born Islamist group Boko Haram has waged a brutal insurgency in the country’s northeast, with violence spreading more recently to western Cameroon as well as the south of Chad and Niger.

The UN has appealed for a $739 million to cover needs across the entire affected region — known as the Lake Chad Basin — but has received commitments for just $197 million (176 million euros).

“If we don’t engage in a much more comprehensive manner, including scaling up our emergency relief programmes, what awaits us down the line is the biggest crisis facing any of us, anywhere,” Lanzer said.

More than nine million people are in “desperate” need of aid, Lanzer said.

The United Nations had not declared a famine in the Lake Chad Basin, but Lanzer warned that 65,000 people were living in “famine-like conditions”.

The UN has also said that up to 80,000 children in the region could die if they do not get food aid within the next year.

When Boko Haram violence was at its peak through 2013 and 2014, the UN and other aid groups were unaware of the gravity of needs because access to conflict-ridden areas was largely impossible. 

Nigeria’s military has since made gains against the extremists and emergency workers have moved in, unveiling a catastrophe unrivalled “anywhere except that of Syria,” Lanzer said, warning the Lake Chad could overtake Syria in terms of the scale of the needs.

The Boko Haram conflict, which began in northeast Nigeria in 2009, has displaced an estimated 2.6 million people.

At least 20,000 have died in violence blamed on the Islamists, but the numbers killed by causes linked to the conflict are likely much higher.

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Thank God my kids did not witness the robbery –Basketmouth

'Basketmouth'

About two weeks ago, Nigerians woke up to a rude shock when popular comedian, Bovi, posted on his Instagram page that his colleague and friend, Basketmouth, got robbed. Many of his fans were quick to sympathise with him while others were apprehensive as nothing was heard about the humour merchant.

Ever since the incident occurred, the ace comedian had not spoken about the encounter he had with the men of the underworld till Saturday Beats reached out to him. Responding to a mail the comedian thanked Nigerians for their concern but also begged them to put the incident in the past where it belongs.

Like any doting father, he thanked God that his children were unaware of the robbery incident because they were asleep all through the encounter. Basketmouth said, “I will rather not talk about the robbery incident because it is in the past now. I just thank God nobody was hurt. My kids were asleep throughout the incident so that is something to really thank God for as the trauma would have messed them up for a while.”

The comedian who started out as a rap artiste toldSaturday Beats that he has not forgotten his first love, music. He added that he would revisit the studio booth once he has the time.

And just like his colleagues AY, Bovi and Owen G, the dreadlock wearing comic act hinted that he would release a movie soon.

“I have had to put my music career to rest for now as I have a lot of projects before me but soon, I will revisit it. Also, I have been working on a movie for a while now, but due to time constraint, I have not been able to start production but I will do so soon though,” he said.

The actor who turned 38 recently told Saturday Beats that he is thankful to God for everything especially when he looks back at where he is coming from in life.

“I feel blessed because I know that the life we have can be taken for granted sometimes. I always thank God for every second, minute, hour, day, month and year I witness. Turning 38 is amazing and I pray that God will continue to bless me with more years in great health, happiness, favour and more. I thank God for everything especially when I look back to where I am coming from, it is really humbling where God has placed me and where he is taking me to. I am grateful for everything.

“I am good at making low points become high points. In everything that comes my way, I always thank God while believing that there is a reason for it. The ability to embrace everything in good faith and never backing down or getting distracted is one thing I think I am good at,” he said.

When asked what fame has robbed him of the ace comedian simply said it was his privacy but he was quick to add that he would not change anything if given the chance.

“I have been robbed of my privacy and the freedom I had. The fact that I must be very careful with everything I say and do is a bit of a pressure. However, I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything. I won’t change a thing,” Basketmouth said.

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New role model

Handout image supplied by OIS/IOC showing Nigeria’s Lauritta Onye, Gold Medal winner in the Women’s Shot Put – F40 Final in the Olympic Stadium, during the Paralympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 11, 2016. Photo by Thomas Lovelock for OIS/IOC via AFP.

39-year-old Lucy Ejike is wheelchair bound due to childhood polio. She is also the five-time Paralympian and the captain of Team Nigeria, who set a Paralympic and World record by winning the women’s 61kg powerlifting event with 138kg lift at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

32-year-old Lauritta Onye has dwarfism. She is also a world record holder in women’s shot put F40 category. 32-year-old Flora Ugwunwa is a wheelchair user. She also set a world record in the women’s javelin F54 event and clenched another gold for Team Nigeria at Rio 2016 Paralympics.

They are just three of the amazing 23 athletes who represented the country and amongst the women who aced nine medals out of the 12, which made Nigeria the highest ranking African country on the medal table at number 17 at the close of the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Just a month ago Nigeria’s Olympic team of able-bodied athletes came home with a single bronze medal, finishing at 78 on the medals table. For those who think it’s a bad year, Nigerian Paralympians have consistently outperformed the Olympians since they first began competing in Barcelona in 1992.In 2012, Nigeria failed to win a single medal for the first time in Olympic history since 1988, while the Paralympians aced 13 medals.

The Nigerian Paralympians’ success, especially in the light of Olympians’ lacklustre performance at the games, is even more remarkable considering the lack of funds and facilities. Much of the country’s Paralympic infrastructure dates back to 1990 and has seen better days. Add to this the lack of financial support, and the everyday challenges of life in Lagos that would even test the able-bodied, the fact that these athletes can make it to the games in the first place, let alone win medals and break records, is short of a miracle.

There is of course the social discrimination and stigmatisation the disabled often face in Nigeria; all in their thirties, Lucy, Lauritta and Flora are all of a generation not yet completely engaged in positive attitudes and care towards the disabled.

“People expect a disabled person to beg on the streets but they are breaking those stereotypes. Many people forget that some of these guys had a normal life before accidents crippled them,” said Are Feyisetan, Nigeria’s national powerlifting coach, and a former champion, dubbed “king of the physically challenged”, in a recent BBC interview.

Whether their disability is a birth defect or the consequence of illness or accidents later in life, there is no denying that life in Nigeria is not easy for the disabled. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates put the number of people with disability at 19 million of the country’s population, with 3.5 million of these having very significant difficulties in social and physical functioning, with little to no support to aid their day to day lives.

While charities and families try to care for the disabled, support on the whole is limited due the societal stigma attached to disabilities, meaning those suffering from mental or physical incapacity can be neglected, isolated or completely abandoned.

Moreover, in many parts of Nigeria, even in big cities, the disabled often suffer due to public’s prejudice and ignorance, such as the commonly held belief that one with a disability is possessed by evil spirits or serving retribution for offences of their parents or forefathers.

Imagine being held back not only by the limitations of your body and the restrictions poor urban infrastructure places on you (If I struggle to navigate my way up a steep pavement or a manhole in the middle of the road, how can someone with no sight or limited mobility?), but also the limited understanding of the society that insists on confining you to a wheelchair or a walking stick, and fails to see the potential beyond. Imagine living in a world where you are denied basic care, education and transport and at times even your dignity because you are a limb short, lacking your vision, or stuck to a wheelchair?

Then imagine wheeling your chair to practice at 5 in the morning, working in a half-lit gym or ramshackle track day every single day, waiting on unpaid bonuses for months without going to Linda Ikeji…

In the light of the challenges they face almost daily, Lucy, Lauritta, Flora and their teammates are an asset to Nigeria, not only with their incredible success at Rio 2016, but with their determination, tenacity and grace.

In a world of million-dollar endorsements for faltering football stars, inflated egos, 15-minute fame monsters, isn’t it time the government and private sector recognised real talent and tenacity?

Imagine Lucy as the face of a telecoms company calling home from the next games, Lauritta in the ads of a popular beauty brand on set of her next film, Flora as the brand ambassador of a household food brand. It is only then do we create new sponsorship opportunities for the Paralympics but also create a new way of framing disability in a prejudiced society and new hope for disabled kids all over the land that there is a world out there that is ready to see them as more than their disability.

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