Christian Purefoy reports on the new frontier for the Catholic church in Nigeria. Africa has become the fastest growing region in the world for the catholic church.
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Legendary football "The Ball", presently on world tour will be a special guest of the Special Olympics Nigeria (SONigeria) from April 8-14 as part of the activities put in place to enrich the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa.
Special Olympics Nigeria (SONigeria) Chairman, Victor Gbolade Osibodu, who disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing the media on SONigeria activities lined up for the 2010-11 said "The Ball" will be received on April 10 at the Astro-Turf 2000, Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to him, a novelty unified 5-aside soccer match featuring athletes with and without intellectual disability will be played in the spirit of the game to help create communities of tolerance and inclusion in Nigeria. The novelty 5-aside match will feature SONigeria athletes and COPA Coca-Cola players playing as a team.
On April 12, a street soccer match will feature Search & Groom team against Special Olympics Nigeria athletes.
While in Nigeria "The Ball" will visit some corporate organisations who have partnered with SONigeria over the years.
Speaking further on the event, Osibodu, called on members of the public to be part of the events and join SONigeria in hosting the World Cup Ball's journey to South Africa as tickets have already been made available free.
He commended Guaranty Trust Bank, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Publicis, Soulcomm, Astro Turf 2000 and Search & Groom for supporting the hosting of "The World Cup Ball" Every four years, a legendary football "The Ball" makes a journey from Battersea Park, London (where the very first FA rules football match was played) to the opening ceremony of the football world cup
In January "The Ball" left Battersea Park to make a 10,000 mile pilgrimage to South Africa through west and east Africa. In Africa "The Ball" will travel through morocco, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa in June 2010 for the world cup.
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Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have apprehended a 46-year-old man, Jimoh Oladega Bashir, his wife, Jimoh Mulikat Adebukola and six-year-old twins for trafficking 4.050 kg of cocaine.
According to a statement signed by Ofoyeju Mitchell, head, Public Affairs of NDLEA, and made available to Saturday Champion, the family of four was to board an Arik flight to London Heathrow airport on Sunday, March 28, 2010, when they were found with the illicit white powdery substance.
Though the man had no drugs on him, the wife concealed 3.350kg in almost every part of her body. She had some on her breast and under-wear. The innocent six-year old twins were also used in packing 700 grammes of the illicit drugs.
With a supermarket at Ajah, Lagos-to earn a living, they still engaged in the illicit act. Their reason was that they were duped the sum of N2.2 million and needed to smuggle the drugs to enable them pay the school fees of their children.
According to Jimoh, "we were to be paid 3,000 pounds while some quantity of the drugs would have been given to us. Initially, I rejected the suggestion but they convinced my wife who persuaded me to do it. My son is at Fountain University, Osogbo, and I need to pay school fees."
The wife also blamed their involvement on school fees and other family financial responsibility. In her words: "I have problem of my children's school fees. I have six children and I intend to give them good education. I also have younger ones and aged parents to take care of. They asked me to swallow the drugs but I was afraid that was why I packed them on my body," she stated.
Jimoh, the NDLEA's spokesperson further disclosed, hails from Oko town in Kwara State, adding that the children have been released to the family members. The couple, he added, will soon be charged to court.
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Two brothers have been charged in connection with the death of 15-year-old Nigerian, Toyosi Shittabey, in West Dublin, Northern Ireland on Friday night.
The teenager was found lying on the street and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. Paul Barry (aged 38) with an address in Pearse Street in Dublin 2 is charged with the manslaughter of the young Nigerian in an altercation in the West Dublin suburb of Tyrrellstown.
His brother and co-accused, 23-year-old Michael Barry, with an address in Ringsend in Dublin 4 is charged with being in possession under Section 11 of the Firearm and Offensive Weapons Act.
The two unemployed men declined to say anything at the Dublin District Court at 4 pm yesterday when they were charged. They spoke only through their lawyers.Paul has been remanded in custody in Clover Hill prison until Tuesday while Michael, who recently returned to the country from Canada, has been granted bail on the condition that he surrenders his passport.
Shittabey moved from Nigeria to the Irish Republic with his family 11 years ago and was said to be a promising footballer for Shelburne under 15's. About 300 people attended a memorial service in Tyrrellstown for the deceased yesterday.
The Irish Minister of State for Equality and Integration Mary White has, however, expressed profound sadness at the fatal stabbing of Shittabey.
White said: "I sincerely regret this attack on a member of one of our new communities and wish to extend my deepest sympathies to the Shittabey family.
"I hope that Toyosi's assailants swiftly face the justice they deserve and I call on anybody that may be able to help the Gardaí's investigation to do so without delay."
People with vital information on the teenager's murder have been urged to contact the Irish police.
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Anyone who has experienced the "molues" and "danfoes" - the notorious buses and minibuses of Lagos - will understand the word anarchy. They carry huge numbers of people round the African mega-city but they respect no traffic lanes, bus-stops or policemen, many are falling apart and they belch some of the the dirtiest smoke in Africa.
But Britain is hoping to bring some order to the city of legendary traffic jams and road rage by trying to rationalise its public transport system. Over the next few years it will invest more than £30m increasing the number of bus routes, bringing in bigger buses and helping to build two new train lines to go through some of the most densely populated areas of Lagos.
Lagos has a population of 16 million but the Nigerian government expects this to grow to over 25m in the next 20 years, leaving the city authorities unable to provide clean water and electricity, or to keep pace with the growth of slums. Unless investments are urgently made in the infrastructure, says the UK's Department for International Development, the situation will become critical. It now plans to invest in improving slum areas in other African cities.
The switch to investing in the urban environment rather than rural areas marks a significant shift in approach to combating poverty. Until very recently most aid has been directed at rural areas to try and stem the flow of people to cities and boost agriculture. But there is a new understanding that hunger in large cities and poverty is now as bad in cities as in rural areas.
"Investing in urban areas is a different set of challenges," said international development minister Gareth Thomas. "We have watched the rise of the mega-city, especially in Africa. Places like like Addis Ababa, Cairo and Johannesburg will all see massive expansion over the next 20-30 years. Unless we act now people will only live in slums.
"People find it difficult to access work outside their own impoverished areas due to lack of transport and potential industry around the slums is hampered by unreliable electricity sources," he said.
UN predictions show that, by 2030, 700 million people will live in towns or cities in Africa and of them, 70% will live in slums.
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