Ojemba Magazine

08/02/2024

FAITH. FOCUS. PERSISTENCE.

What these cannot achieve does not exist.

19/01/2024

PRESS RELEASE BY NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALISTS, ABIA STATE COUNCIL

Date: 17/01/2024

INVASION OF ABN TV OFFICE, TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR

The Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) is in receipt of a complaint relating to the primitive invasion of All Breaking News (ABN) TV headquarters on Azikiwe Road, Umuahia, by operatives of Abia State Police Command, in a calculated move to nab a guest who came to participate in a live programme in the station.

This invasion leaves a sour taste in the mouth and should be condemned by well-meaning Nigerians, given that the Police operatives knew where they ought to hunt for their suspect given that the petition against him must have contained his address.

It is pertinent to recall that few years back, the Police in Abia, in a similar gestapo fashion, invaded Flo FM, Umuahia, also to arrest a guest invited to a live programme.
In September 2017, military personnel invaded the NUJ Press Centre in Umuahia and not only assaulted journalists but equally destroyed their tools of trade.

These attacks refuse to take into account, the roboust relationship the media in Abia has fostered with security agencies in the state over the years.

We want to state categorically that these attackss are in bad taste, designed to harm the media industry as they have the propensity to make media houses endangered zones for guests invited to live programmes and muzzle plurality of opinions which oil democracy.

In an era when live programming has become the fashion in broadcasting, arresting guests who honour invitations to live programmes translates to a systematic but crude means of putting the media out of business occasioned by resultant damages to costly, senstive equipment and scaring people away.

We call on the Police hierarchy in the state to reign in their men and put a stop to such ill-motivated attacks.
The Council alligns with the management of ABN TV in their demand for unreserved apology from and replacement of damaged equipment by the Police.

Both the Police and the Media are working for the good of society and it does not make for good synergy for the Police, and any other security agencies for that matter, to unduly put the media at a disadvantage.

Signed:
Comrade Victor Ndukwe
Chairman NUJ Abia State Council

Comrade Adaeze Ralph Igbokwe
Secretary.

08/01/2024

Emeka Ike Vs Wife/Son: Matters Arising

A Man of honour is never a Man who defends himself, but a Man who defends the ideologies and the institution he stands for; a Man whose values are beyond personalities or recognitions from Men.

I watched a Television interview granted by Emeka Ike, I watched the interview granted by the Ex-Wife and the son; I also read the post-Emeka's brother made and the question that came to heart was very simple.

If Emeka Ike was a Bad Man and a brutal husband and father as the Ex-wife and the son presented him to be...

a. how come, Emeka Ike picked her and married her without educational qualifications of any kind?

A Man who doesn't love you will never marry you if your standards of life and education are lower than his.

b. how come, Emeka Ike sent her to the University when he only attended Yaba College of Technology?

A Man that doesn't love you will never give you the right or permission to be greater than him.

c. how come Emeka Ike established businesses and put her in charge of running those businesses?

Only a Man who loves you and trusts you can entrust you with his source of income. Men usually don't allow their wives to be part of their business.

d. how come Emeka Ike made her a signatory to his account?

Men are usually in the habit of keeping their money away from their Wives. But he gave the Wife access to his money so that she could withdraw any amount of money she so wished.

Now, before our Social Media sisters-in-law, judges and lawyers will begin to cast stones; ask yourself if your husband or husband-to-be can do this or is doing this. If he's not, then you should give credit to those that did.

The Ex-Wife came on television to claim that Emeka Ike was in the habit of beating her. But she never told us that she was the one who first slapped him because the husband was trying to correct her for not taking proper care of their daughter.

The light was shunned on this truth when Emeka Ike's former Personal Assistant came out to tell the whole world what led to that.

I'm not in support of a Man beating his wife or the Wife beating the husband and I will never be part of that. But please, be honest, how many of you dare to sell your husband's businesses and run away because of his beating?

I used to know a Deacon in RCCG who used to beat the Wife and leave her in her pool of blood. Twice this Man beat the Wife to the point of coma. It took me a whole year to pray her out of that marriage. Because of the money the husband was donating to the church, their Pastor kept telling her to endure, God hates divorce. She never for one day sold or took anything that belonged to her husband.

She left the marriage with honour and integrity.

Despite selling all the husband had then, Emeka Ike's Ex-Wife still cannot train or give quality education to the children.

She took the son away from the school the father put him in Abuja to further his education and never put the boy in any school but was quick to get the boy a job in a restaurant. I'm so sorry to say, I do not consider such a person as a life-giver. She is a life killer. Destiny Destroyer Pro Max.

If you think or believe that what Emeka Ike's Ex-Wife did to him was right, then I pray that the Lord God of heaven will give your son/sons such a Lady for a Wife so that you can see and feel how painful it is.

Emeka Ike is a bad husband and yet you had two children for him before you asked him to pay your Bride Price which he did without hesitation and you still have another child for him after the Wedding and yet you claimed he is a bad person.

If your claim is true, why did you ask him to pay for your Bride Price? Why did you have children for him? I'm sure no person in her right mind will get pregnant by a bad person unless the person herself is bad.

In one of her statements, she said that she married Emeka Ike because she wanted to be a model and she thought Emeka could be of help to her to be a successful model. But unfortunately, she never shares her dream of becoming a model with him.

This also means that she did not marry him because she loved him, but because she wanted to use him to build her career as a model and probably dump him once she became successful as a model.

So many Ladies do this. They pretended to love a man because they needed a place to stay, someone to take care of them, someone to have a child or two with and ended the marriage. Before you comment on this, check your heart, do you marry the Man in your love because you love him or because you are using him to meet a need in your life?

According to him, if his broke then, he probably has Fifteen Million Naira in his account. Do you know what that means? By now, he was supposed to be a billionaire but his Ex-wife destroyed all that because of her greed, lack of foresight and evil-mindedness.

As far as I can tell, there is more to Emeka Ike's Ex-Wife's personality and criminal act. What she did is a criminal offence with serious consequences that is if Emeka Ike chose to seek justice.

What exactly did she do with all the money she made from selling her husband's businesses and properties? She should be made to account for it.

Friends, be careful when you are choosing a life partner. He or she will either make you or Mar you.

Sam Adeoye

26/12/2023

Once in a generation, Nature blesses humanity with few persons like this legend...

Chief Okey Ahiwe

A symbol of the tremendous power of humility

You are more than what people think you are

Happy birthday, Boss!

25/12/2023

Resuscitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery: The First Time in a While in Nigeria - By Uzoma Ihuka

Like I have stated before now that Nigeria has not been governed for a while now. Nigeria has been on autopilot with powerful political forces and actors influencing the better part of the presidential decisions.

However, in the past six months, Nigeria has witnessed maximum governance with decisive futuristic approaches towards making Nigeria an economically viable and self-reliant nation.

Meanwhile, the resuscitation of Port Harcourt Refinery is another testament of purposeful leadership and selfless governance. This transgenerational feat holds a lot in stock for Nigeria.

Henceforth, the prices of fuel will no longer be determined by how much naira exchanges with dollar at the forex market nor by the international price of crude oil in dollars.

Henceforth, we can now be proud to call ourselves an oil producing nation with the potentials to meeting our energy needs.

However, while I commend you, sir, I have some humble pleas to make. Firstly, I urge you to keep soldiering on to complete the resuscitation of the Warri, Eleme and Kaduna refineries. That way, we can buy our locally refined petroleum products at an average price of #350 per litre without our economy stolen dry in the name of fuel subsidy. Again more, formal and informal jobs will be created and sustained for our energetic young men and women.

Morever, the foreign exchange will receive a boost from the exportation of our local crude without using the proceeds to pay for subsidy thereby stabilising our currency as well as our economy.

Secondly, Mr President, it is my special request that we implement the Naira and Chinese Yuan exchange policy. Once we are able to do this, I can bet anybody that our economy will be the fastest growing economy in Africa.

Thank you, Mr President.

Thank you, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for renewing our hope.

Indeed, you are a beacon of hope.

NB: Chief Uzoma Ihuka, a businessman, writes from Isiala-Ngwa, Abia State

A Nigerian based Pan-African magazine fostering social values through public interest journalism.

04/08/2023

EXCLUSIVE: CORRUPTION DESTROYED THE NIGERIA OF MY DREAMS – DR. RICHARD OFURU

Richard Okachuku Ofuru is a phenomenal personality that has contributed his quota in shaping the course of human history, painstakingly beating the odds over the years and rising consistently to become a model of role models. A veteran educationist and former Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Education, he was born in Omorihuru, Elele Alimini in Ikwere LGA, Rivers State, Nigeria. The erudite Chemist studied in Government Secondary School, Owerri; Okrika Grammar School; Rivers State College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt; University of Benin; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Commonwealth University Belize, Institute of Arts and Science.

He has to his credit many years of distinguished service as a lecturer, education administrator and member of governing councils of reputable institutions of higher learning. He is also a member of the Chemical Society of Nigeria and the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria among others. Dr. Richard Ofuru has been honoured on merit with many outstanding awards, including the National Merit Award, Old Boys Association, Government Secondary School Owerri; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management and Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International. He is highly venerated for his effective leadership of frontline organizations, including the Old Boys Association, Government Secondary School, Owerri of which he has served as National President.

Not known to grant interviews quite often, Dr. Ofuru who recently spoke to Ojemba Magazine in Port Harcourt, advocated for a reawakening of Nigeria’s national conscience, top priority attention on the education sector, balanced national economic development agenda and pragmatic youth orientation and empowerment programmes. Here is the full text of the interview:

Q: What was your motivation to pursue a career as an educationist when you had opportunities to work in the booming oil and gas industry?

A: I graduated from the university in 1979 and prior to my admission, I already had a passion to study chemistry and the desire to teach the subject grew through my years in the university. Besides, the oil industry had not become as attractive as it became in the later days. The government offered good incentives to those willing to work in civil service establishments, more than the oil companies including Shell, could offer. So when I got a job as a lecturer in the then Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Port Harcourt in 1980, it was in line with my career aspirations and it has been a most rewarding experience.

Q: A lot of concerns have been expressed by stakeholders across the country about the declining quality of education at all levels. Do you share this concern? What is your position in this regard?

A: I completely agree that the quality of education is declining. Part of the reason is that people no longer study education courses as a matter of choice, but because they failed to be admitted for their first or second choices of course of study. During our days, when someone studied education chemistry, it was based on passion for the course, and the person would come out to teach with same passion, transmitting the best standards of knowledge. These days, most of those who study education courses come out parading certificates of ignorance, and since you cannot give what you don’t have, they end up contributing to the decline in quality of education. Again, there is an urgent need for governments at all levels to upscale the quality assurance mechanism in the education sector, and enforce regulations in both public and private schools. These days I wonder to what extent private schools in particular are regulated, because each is competing to showcase his school as the best, resulting in all forms of malpractice. They have turned primary schools to what they now call ‘basic schools’ which is against government regulation. They have little or no consideration for employment of qualified teachers. At the end, it is the country that would pay the price because when young people are not equipped with sound knowledge, they’ll be unemployable and the few that get employed would only continue to sustain the cycle of mediocrity. This is something everyone should be concerned about.

Q: What about curriculum content, sir? Do you see the need for review of curriculum in addressing the issue of quality decline?

A: Sincerely I have no issues with curriculum. Review of curriculum is periodical and there are rules guiding it. I think the focus should be on quality assurance, teacher welfare, provision of equipment, research incentives and appropriate teaching and learning environment.

Q: What is your view on the issue of take-over of schools by government, as against the management of schools by religious bodies? Has that affected the quality of education in some ways?

A: Yes, of course. Government take-over of schools became predominant after the civil war because most churches could no longer fund the schools. But government over-stretched its resources by establishing many other schools that were equally not adequately funded or equipped. Also, the establishment of too many schools by churches is not healthy. Before now, only three churches – the Anglican, Catholic and Methodist were involved in running of schools. Today, we have nearly as many schools as there are churches! That is not good at all because we are invariably cheating our own future as a country when we do not give quality education to our children. There should be a reasonable balance. Government should ensure that only few churches with proven capacity to run schools, would be licensed to do so. And there must be strict adherence to regulatory provisions.

Q: Let’s look at the issue of leadership and development. New governments are settling down across the country following the 2023 general elections. In Rivers State, it is widely believed that former Governor Wike left very big shoes for his successor, Governor Fubara. How do you think Governor Fubara can sustain the tempo of development set by former Governor Wike?

A: There are different yardsticks to judge the success of a government. Quite frankly I do acknowledge and appreciate the pace of physical development in Rivers State under the immediate past administration. But there is something we must ponder over. Julius Berger has constructed the roads and fly-overs or interchange. But after Julius Berger, what efforts are we making to ensure that in the future, our own citizens would have the capacity to do what Julius Berger can do? You see, governments across Africa, not just in Nigeria, must take the issue of education and human capital development as top priority for the sake of the future. We must strike a balance between physical and human development. I expect the Fubara administration not just to sustain the tempo of development established by the immediate past government, but to do even better especially by paying serious attention to the education sector. We are making progress but the gaps between us and the Julius Bergers in every sector are really wide, if we must say the truth. We must begin to make conscious efforts to bridge these gaps.

Q: At the national level, do you think we have made laudable progress in terms of leadership and development?

A: No, no, no! We are neither balanced nor consistent. Leadership is no longer selfless. At some point in history, before the civil war, we could boast of selfless service at various levels of government. But the military came in and messed up the culture of selflessness. In terms of a balanced approach to leadership and development, I think we should borrow a model from the old Eastern Region under Dr. Michael Okpara as Premier. Okpara did not leave any part of Eastern Region undeveloped. For instance, we have the Hotel Presidential in Enugu and one in Port Harcourt. We have the Obudu Cattle Ranch near Calabar and the Oguta Lake Resorts now in Imo State. We have the Golden Guinea Breweries in Umuahia and the glass industries in Aba and Port Harcourt. We have Trans-Ekulu in Enugu and Trans-Amadi in Port Harcourt. We also had the cement factory at Nkalagu. Eastern Region had more government colleges than all mother Regions – Umuahia, Owerri, Afikpo, Queens School, Enugu and Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borokiri, Port Harcourt. Okpara did not concentrate development projects in Umuahia just because he was from there. He showed proper leadership. Umuahia as a city existed since 1929 and Okpara raised its status in terms of urban renewal. But the military, when they came, they speedily pursued their selfish interests, not knowing when the next coup would take place. So they bequeathed a culture of massive corruption and selfishness that the country is yet to pull away from.

Q: In other words, coming from your childhood days, it is right to say that you haven’t yet seen the Nigeria of your dreams?

A: I saw it as a child. Most of my age mates and I, saw Nigeria as the hope and pride of the Black Race. And we gave our all towards actualizing that vision. Unfortunately, corruption destroyed the Nigeria of my dreams, especially with military intrusions in politics. Then came the civil war, leading to creation of States, neutralizing the little we had as regional autonomy and killing what we experienced as healthy competition in terms of development. State creation killed Nigerian nationalism and gave rise to unnecessary ethnic bigotry. Let me use my experience as example. I travelled all over the Eastern Region and saw everyone as my brothers and sisters. But suddenly, lines of division sprang up everywhere as new States were created. A Rivers man started to see himself as different from an Imo man. An Imo man saw an Abia man as stranger. Even between Rivers and Bayelsa, unnecessary divisions arose between kinsmen who shared everything in common prior to 1996 when Bayelsa State was created. Honestly, Nigeria has failed to become the country I had envisioned as a young man.

Q: Still on the issue of divisions and ethnic cleavages, there is a popular belief that the Igbo and Ikwerre people share a common ancestry. Yet, they seem to experience sharp socio-political dichotomies in the larger Nigerian context. As a senior citizen of Ikwerre Land and one who has mingled with Igbos from Childhood, how do you think Igbo and Ikwerre people can pursue a future of common interests?

A: There are prevalent geo-political realities and divisions created by the civil war, the military, greed and corruption, which cannot be ignored in efforts at forging common fronts. These divisions have become quite deep. As a little boy, I grew up in Mbawsi, now in Abia State where I lived with my Aunt. We had people from various parts of Nigeria, especially the Eastern Region living together peacefully in Mbawsi. We had the Abiriba quarters, Opobo and Nnewi quarters. We worshipped together in the Anglican or Catholic Churches. During harvest celebrations, we held combined Church services. We had three major schools – St. Georges, an Anglican School; St. Johns, a Catholic School, and the Faith Tabernacle school. We attended these schools and there was no discrimination or ethnic profiling. As a matter of fact, I see ethnic profiling as an expression of inferiority by anyone or group indulging in it. At Government College, Owerri, where you came from was never a basis for what you got. You got what was due to you purely on merit. The post-civil war era has also deepened these artificial lines of division affecting our unity as one people. For instance, in 1971, after the civil war when I went to Okrika Grammar School, I was discriminated against in the appointment of the Senior Prefect. They jettisoned academic excellence and said an Okrika person must be the Prefect. I was the best student. But they had their way. Unfortunately for them, when the results of school certificate exams came out in 1972, I was the only one who made a Grade One. The Senior Prefect failed, and the Principal, Mr. C. E. Abraham remarked that in the history of Okrika Grammar School, such a thing had never happened – for the Senior Prefect to fail. But that is what discrimination could cause. So when people emphasize on what they see as differences between the Ikwerre and Igbo man, I tell them that I see no such difference. If we sincerely interrogate the origins of our so-called lines of division, we would discover that they are essentially artificial. We have intermarried. We do business together. Ikwerre land has been home to people from Arochukwu and other parts of Igbo land for several decades – in Aluu, Rumukwurushe, Rumuobiakani, and we live in peace. It may interest you to know that Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, one of our highly respected Old Boys, speaks Ikwerre language more than myself. He was born and raised in Rumuobiakani. They have a family house in Rumuobiakani which is still there. As an Ikwerre man who schooled in Government Secondary, Owerri, when I was due to become the National President of our Old Boys Association, nobody discriminated against me. I did not even campaign. The emphasis was on merit. When I served out my tenure, some Old Boys wanted me to continue but I told them it would amount to a breach of the Constitution. So, the Igbo man and the Ikwerre man are one and we could strengthen our unity in future if we give our youths proper orientation to eliminate the artificial lines of division and respect our peculiar areas of natural diversity.

Q: You’ve been very active over the years in the administration of your Old Boys Association. You’ve served the Association in various capacities, including serving as National President. What is secret behind your passion for the Association?

A: The Old Boys Association is an extension of the strong family spirit and values we cultivated during our school days at Owerri. Government Secondary School Owerri built our character and consolidated the training we got from our parents. We imbibed the values of hard work, forbearance, discipline and a sense of justice built on the message of our school anthem – ‘to do or to die for the right’. We were taught to build our future on the foundations of honesty, excellence, merit, humility, self-discipline and mutual respect. Nothing more! During my days, there were no day students. Everyone lived in the boarding house and we were fewer in number than what obtained in the later days. So the bonding among class mates and school mates was very strong. The school exposed us to practical principles of human relations that have stayed with us and helped us navigate our ways through life. We socialized freely and expressed our innocence and fantasies without compromising the principles our school was known for. Respect for seniors was sacrosanct. So I have always seen the Old Boys Association as a platform to sustain those sterling principles, promote them in the larger society, network among ourselves and recreate fond memories, give back to the school and help the younger Old Boys to stand on their feet. These are the basis for my passion. The Old Boys Association is a very unique family and no one ever gets tired of being active in his family. Here, in the Port Harcourt branch, I encourage the younger Old Boys to attend our monthly meetings because there’s a lot they could learn during the meetings – such as commitment to a cause, responsive leadership and respect for seniors.

Q: What specific roles can Old Students Associations play in education development? And how can they collaborate with government?

A: Old Students Associations could either be pressure groups or support groups, or both depending on the issues at stake. As pressure groups, they can influence public policy directions in favour of their schools and also intervene on issues of facility upgrade or students welfare. As support groups, they can throw their weight behind good policies and programmes of government and their schools. They may also pursue initiatives in collaboration with their schools. Those who can pull strings can get corporate organizations to support their schools. No passionate old boy is happy when the name of his school is going down. But whatever they do must be from the standpoint of humanitarian service. They cannot take over the administration of schools or interfere unduly in the internal affairs of schools. They must also embrace changes to a reasonable extent, including the challenges of population explosion. Classes one to upper-six were just about 350 students during our days. Today, one class set alone surpasses that number. You may now imagine the total population of the school and the pressure it brings on facilities and administration.

Q: From your experience as an education administrator and leader of your Old Boys Association, has there been active collaborations between Old Students Associations and Parent-Teacher Associations to upscale education development?

A: No, no, no! Most PTAs have constituted serious problems to schools over time, so much that, as Perm Sec of the Ministry of Education, I considered placing a ban on PTAs across the State because many persons saw PTAs as their farm. They were not after the welfare of schools but the financial benefits of heading PTAs. Some members of PTAs had no students or wards in schools and I wondered how such persons became members of PTAs. Again, some of them were fighting with school principals over PTA funds. So there could not have been any collaboration between them and Old Students Associations. I think that Old Students Associations should approach government to explore ways of properly streamlining the activities of PTAs, but not to have clashes with them because that would bring more problems to schools.

Q: What is your message to the younger Old Boys of Government College, Owerri and to the students who may soon become Old Boys?

A: They should work hard and uphold the values and traditions for which the school has been respected since its inception in 1935. They must bear in mind that personal integrity is a fundamental asset that everyone should cultivate and sustain. They should be committed to the activities of the Old Boys Association and show capacity to serve the Association at various levels. We have a culture of reciprocal commitment. If you are committed to your Association, your Association would be committed to you. In a nutshell, they should be good ambassadors of our alma mater. I have consistently advocated that we should gradually hand over the leadership of our great Association to younger Old Boys, to ensure sustainability of our heritage. At the last national reunion, those who attended would recall that the oldest Old Boys present were of the 1963 class, and they were just one or two. In the past we had people of the class of 1950s attending reunions. This shows that some of us, the older ones would soon retire from active participation and if we don’t encourage the younger ones to step into leadership positions, a vacuum may be created resulting in the gradual dissolution of the Association. I am happy that class sets are doing well. But we must put measures in place towards ensuring that the umbrella Association continues to grow as a dynamic family.

Thank you so much for your time, sir.

Thank you too.

26/04/2023

Goodwill Message Of The DG, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) Dr. John O. Asein, On The World Intellectual Property Day, April 26, 2023

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 declared April 26 every year as the World Intellectual Property Day to raise awareness about intellectual property (IP) and promote its use as a tool for growing innovation and creativity.

The theme for this year’s celebration, “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”, draws attention to the role that women play in innovation and creativity, their achievements, the challenges they face and how society can harness their talents to accelerate growth. Nigeria has its own array of women innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs in diverse fields who are making remarkable impact in society. We celebrate them.

Women make up almost half of the human population and although they have contributed immensely to scientific breakthroughs, new creative trends, businesses and the transformation of our world, they still face the challenges of stereotypes and other biases that hinder their effective use of the IP system. We therefore acknowledge the need to encourage more women to use IP to enhance, promote and protect their works. By providing the enabling environment for them to flourish, society benefits as they are encouraged to innovate and create more.

In line with this year’s theme and in order to institutionalise and find an enduring national response to upscale the IP knowledge of women, the Nigerian Copyright Commission is today launching the Women Empowering Women in Intellectual Property (We Win IP) campaign. The initiative is to carefully nurture more women IP experts who will in turn empower other women through training, capacity building, mentoring and other informal knowledge transfer protocols. According to the slogan for the WeWin IP campaign: Together, we win! We will encourage women to stand with other women so that working together, we can win on all fronts through the better use of the IP system.

I am pleased to note that under the We Win IP project, the Commission has already trained twenty-six (26) women business owners/CEOs, on the rudiments of copyright and the opportunities available to them in the digital environment. Also, over fifty (50) women have been encouraged to undertake the WIPO Distance Learning (DL) General Course on Intellectual Property, while about One hundred and twenty (120) young lawyers are being mentored in the use of IP. In the coming weeks, the Commission will be recognizing some successful women as IP champions, experts and mentors to empower young and upcoming female entrepreneurs and SMEs in the use of the IP system.

We will be training more clusters of women SMEs, creators and innovators across the country to build capacity, skills and knowledge. Already, with the support of WIPO, a pilot project for SMEs has commenced in the fashion, raffia and leather craft industries to enhance their trade and contribution to national development.

As we celebrate this year’s World IP Day, I specially commend all Nigerian creatives, past and present and reaffirm that their labours shall never be in vain. The recent winning of the Grammy award by our own Temilade Openiyi (Tems) has again shown that this generation of Nigerian women creatives will break more ceilings if only we give them the enabling environment to pursue their passions in the different genres of creativity. On its part, the Commission will continue to strengthen the copyright system and make it more efficient and fit for purpose to support the realization of their creative goals.

Long before the World IP Day was launched in 2000, Nigeria, in 1995, had designated September 14 (the day Nigeria joined the Berne Convention) as the country’s National Creativity Day. The Commission will work with other relevant stakeholders, Ministries, Departments and Agencies to resuscitate the celebration of that Day and give recognition to the best of our creative talents to raise awareness about the importance of copyright and creativity.

Once again, we salute the “can do” spirit of our women creatives and renew our commitment to ensuring that everyone in the creative industries enjoy the full benefits of the new Copyright regime in Nigeria.

Congratulations, as we wish you happy celebrations. Together, we win!

Dr. John O. Asein
Director-General