By Morenike Taire
WITH the advanced development of literature in Africa and the award to Wole Soyinka of the Nobel in the 80s, no one might have thought Peace would turn out to be the subject the continent would be most awarded for.

The planet’s most prestigious prize went to two women of West African origin this year. No controversies have been generated whatsoever about ongoing politics in the region, notably in Liberia as the nation staggering on its journey of recovery from civil war goes to the polls once more.  Rather, the focus has been on the accomplishment of the three women, the third an arab.

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” said the citation read by Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister who heads the Oslo-based Nobel committee that chooses the winner of the $1.5 million prize.

In a subsequent interview, he described the prize as “a very important signal to women all over the world.”

Of the Prize’s 110 year history, 15 women have won the prize.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (politician)

RUNNING against Liberian football icon, idol and legend George Weah in the nation’s first post war elections, no one thought she really had a chance. He was a son of the soil; she was properly educated. She represented the mulatto people whose hold on Liberian politics the  people had supposedly been dying to break .

Apparently not, because she did win the presidency- before Hilary Clinton. Her presidency has seen the restore of peace, education and hope to her country, with emphasis on the empowerment of women.

She has still  not lived down t he “ Iron Lady” tag and probably never will. 72 year old Sirleaf grew up in Monrovia, where she studied economics at the College of West Africa, before moving to the US to attend Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government where she gained a Master of Public Administration.

Lehmah  Gbowee (activist)

GBOWEE, 39, led a grassroots movement of women in the early 2000s to protest against the use of rape and child soldiers in Liberia’s 14-year civil war. During the 2003 peace talks she and hundreds of women, dressed in white, surrounded the hall where the discussions were being held, refusing to let delegates leave until they had signed the treaty.

She also led a “sex strike” among the country’s women, encouraging them to withhold sex from their husbands until the men had done all they could to bring about peace. Her campaign was documented in an award-winning 2008 documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

The committee said she had “mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections”.

Totori kolobi features 10 celebrities in 1st quarter

Totori Kolobi means sensational wave, which is pidgin language television entertainment show that is a deviation from the norm.

The pidgin language tv show integrates the experiences of top celebrities with a special message that effects moral norms and changes in the society.

Being the first of its kind,  Totori  Kolobi, entertainment show  which is in pidgin language , has featured  10  different   celebrities in its first quarter.

The one hour  TV show cum youth sensitization initiative is a programme  that closes the gulf of communication barrier for the phonetically speech renditions on our big screens.

Totori  Kolobi  show means sensational wave  and it is segmented into four intriguing plots which involves interview with renowned celebrities.

Onyeka Onwenu, Ras Kimomo, Sunny Neji , Souns Sultan and Edris Abdul Kareem  are among the top celebrities that have been featured the first  quarter of  Totori Kolobi which premiere on Hi Nolly (Hi Tv).

According to initiator Fantula J Fantula: “Tokori Kolobi is a show for Nigerians in Pidgin language. With the trendy twist of the 21st century and the revolving to globalize its outreach for enhancement of trademar image laundry and brand acceptance to the populace we structured out programme to be encompassing.”

Xpressions

After the prosecution and controversial jailing of Big bank boss Cecilia Ibru , nothing has come out of the collaboration between fiery Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The cooperation appears to have come to a sad end with too many cases pending, too few prosecutions effected and too little faith in the crime fighting organization.

The sensational  arrest and subsequent indictment of colourful former speaker of the Federal house Dimeji Bankole has failed to yield any fruit, making it not surprising at all that people have greeted with scorn and scoffing the arrest this week of  three former governors of Oyo, Ogun and  Nasarawa states respectively.

The general perception is of the EFCC not being serious, at best. It is the prevailing notion that such arrests are merely made from time to time to justify the raison d’etre of the organization in the first place, and that there is no sincerity whatsoever from its part.

The EFCC boss on the other hand, has traditionally been perceived to be the bulldog of the government of the day, put in place mainly to deal with real and perceived enemies of the administration.

The truth is, the success of EFCC is not most dependent on the crime fighting body alone, but on the people on whose behalf the crime is being fought. If, for instance, it is in the interest of the shareholders , contractors and redundant staff of Intercontinental Bank to see that justice is done in the case of corruption involving earstwhile Managing Director Erastus Akingbola.

It is also the been accused of stealing them blind. When this does not happen, it is usually because parties which ought to stand as witnesses and provide evidence are themselves guilty of the same offences- to whatever extents.

And it is not at all times that an accusation would translate into a prosecution. Where evidence is inadequate, it is totally reasonable for a prosecution not to be effected. Sometimes, it is even a good thing, evidence that the country’s institutions have respect for due process and the rule of law.

Okereke Onyuike and the Nigerian Corporate Curse

When Ndi Okereke Onyuike reigned supreme at the Nigerian Stock Exchange as Obasanjo’s ultimate blue eyed girl, there was nothing she could not make happen. Like the others (Dora, Obi and Ngozi), she could do no wrong. Her academic record was impeccable, and she, like the others, had international work experience.

Cracks only began to show three years ago when she organized a fundraiser for the Obama presidential campaign. The outrage at home had been nothing compared with that of the Obama campaign team, which had denounced any association with her in severely categorical terms.

The whole affair was taken in her stride, but the impression had been made in the mind of the adoring public of her suffering from the Nigerian political syndrome: rub my back, raise money for my campaign, and I rub your back.

Even then, her records remained impeccable, as an amazon and a brilliant individual. How then did she fall from grace to the extent of being dragged in front of a court of law via EFCC with charges of corruption being levelled against her?

She was not the first, by any means. From the late Rufus Giwa of today’s Unilever to Cadbury’s Bunmi Oni, whose record in both public and private life had been impeccable until the inventory for profit scandal that destroyed both his brilliant career and the once respected multinational he once presided over.

Okereke Onyuike’s travails today were bound to come sooner or later, given the murkiness of the political waters she was swimming in. Most likely, she will get away free, whether or not the allegations against her are true. Yet clearly, there is something about the Nigerian corporate terrain that corrupts even the best. It is a study that ought to be done by our many university business schools.