Question of the day

As shared by Sound Sultan via Instagram. Who will die first - A or B? Lol

We will stop cooperating with the APC-led Federal Government- PDP Senate caucus says

PDP senators have said they will cease to cooperate with the APC -led Federal government. At a press briefing at the National Assembly today June 22nd, the PDP senators listed the alleged continuous victimization of its members by anti-graft agency, proposed trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu for alleged forgery of senate standing rule as part of the reasons for their cease, as part of their grievance against the APC-led government. 

Welcome To Project Fame West Africa 9.0

MTN Project Fame West Africa seeks to discover raw talented musical hopefuls who are groomed for success in an intense Academy. The contestants receive the very best professional training - from voice and movement to performance and songwriting.

Lol ..see what a lawmaker wore to the National Assembly (photos)

Honorable Omoregie Ogbeide -Ihama who represents Oredo federal constituency turned out in his full traditional attire to the House of Representatives on Tuesday May 3rd. He dressed this way because he had to inform the house of the passing of the Oba of Benin, Omo N'Oba N'Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa.

lagos africa big apple

Charly Boy: Jiggy with Suicide

With the seemingly growing number of Nigerians suffering from depression, Charly Boy touches on a very relevant topic in his new article.

***
It was like any other day.

I was in the studio listening to the sound I tried to put together the previous night. The security personnel came to announce the arrival of my cousin Jimmy (not his real name).
Jimmy was one bubbly guy who was always ready to have a party. Always fun to be with; but on this very day, something was seriously amiss.

There was this faraway look in his eyes, obviously troubled by something. I instructed my studio engineer to excuse us so I could have a one on one with Jimmy. No sooner had he left, Jimmy turned to me and said, “Charly, tonight am ending it all, I can’t go on like this, am going to kill myself.”

Abegi stop talking nonsense, was all I could utter. I decided to probe further to figure out what was really troubling Jimmy.
He had lost a lot of money in the various business ventures he got involved with, his woman had left him and that really devastated him; but in my head that wasn’t enough justification for anybody to want to kill himself! Of course, I didn’t take him serious, I just tried to talk to him sharing my own problems with him in the hope of calming him down.

Three days later, I received the sad news that Jimmy had hung himself from his ceiling fan in his sitting room.

My heart was broken with the news, above all I felt so very guilty for a long long time. Perhaps I should have spent more time listening to him that day, who knows I might have been able to get him to see things differently.

Since then I’ve learnt to listen a lot more and counsel with a lot more sensitivity.

No one can ever truly phantom what goes on in one’s mind that will lead them to activate their own death.
Recently on the Internet, I came across the trending news about a 31 year old Danielle Saul who committed suicide because all her friends were married and she wasn’t.

The increasing wave of suicide cases in the country is taking a fearsome proportion and to say the least worryingly disturbing especially when you consider the age bracket.

People commit suicide for various reasons. Stress factors, like how they deal with their relationship issues, or how broken their spirit feels, poverty, even their mental state are the things that trigger suicide for some of us who can’t deal with the reality of living. As a result, in an attempt to desperately escape suffering or a troubling situation, they commit suicide.

Suicide is a growing trend in our country but hardly anybody seems to be paying attention, perhaps because of the stigma the society attaches to the challenge, largely associated with mental health.” Suicide didn’t just start to happen today but it is often considered a taboo for anyone to broadcast information about it. The implication of this is that it is under-reported and even the police do not get to hear about it because of the stigma attached to it.”

We all go through varying degrees of pain, of stress, disappointment, especially with the prevalent economic situation in the country; how on earth do we survive such situations?
Sometimes I wonder how much despair one needs to feel to get to that state of mind.

Therefore before we start to get judgmental, to say that people who go that route are cowards, let’s know that we all don’t have the same kind of strength or the same inbuilt shock absorber to deal with everyday issues that trouble us.

Let’s remember that some of us are dying in silence, depressed, perhaps already contemplating suicide.

Above all, let love lead in the way we interact with other people in their time of despair, let us be more concerned about the wellbeing of the next person. My advice however is that no matter whatever you are going through, there is always a rainbow after the storms. It will get better just as long as you hold on and believe. I am a living testimony to that. Your life is too precious! Na so I see de matter.

You Nko?

Senate moves to amend CCB Act to remove Office from the SGF

A Bill to amend the Act establishing the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) passed the first reading at the Senate on Tuesday as the National Assembly resumed plenary after the Easter recess.

The senate also passed for the first reading, seven other bills, including a bill seeking to amend the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) which was passed by the 7th National Assembly.

Speaking to newsmen after plenary, sponsor of the CCB Act amendment Bill, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North, PDP) said that it had become necessary to amend the Act establishing the CCB and its Tribunal.

He said that the main aim of the amendment was to move the bureau and the tribunal away from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

“The Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Code of Conduct Bureau now are under the office of the Secretary to the Government (SGF).

The secretary to the government is a politician and can use it against political opponents or perceived political opponents. He oversees the CCB and the CCT; they report to his office.

Since the Supreme Court in their judgment has said that they are a court of some sort, they must be seen to be neutral in nature and not to report to a politician.

We want to make it completely neutral, either move it to the judiciary or move it to the National Assembly that has the power to remove the chairman and members of the tribunal.

Otherwise, one day like we are seeing now, if you are an enemy to the SGF, he will use the CCB to put you into trouble, charge you there like we are seeing now.

The intent is not because of what is happening; you cannot put a quasi judicial arm under the control of the SGF who is a politician, appointed by the President,” he said.

The senator added that the amendment to the Act would include stipulating a time line within which the bureau should investigate assets declared by a political office holder.

He said that it was out of place for the CCB to prescribe that a political office holder should declare assets at the beginning and end of his tenure “while the bureau decides when to investigate.”

“Within the time you came to office and the time you are leaving office they must have investigated your assets; what is left is to investigate the assets declared when leaving office.

You do not just leave it for so many years, and then all of a sudden, someone wakes up and says `56 years ago you did not declare your asset’; that should not be so.

You have been given a time frame to declare at the beginning and at the end, but within the four years, the CCB does not conduct its investigations immediately.

Who says that someone cannot stand up tomorrow when President Buhari leaves office and says that he did not declare his asset at a particular time?

The court has said that it made a mistake in Tinubu’s case which means another political party can come up tomorrow and pick up Tinubu.

There should be a time frame, not when you wake up any day you just slam anybody, and do you now see the patriotism in what I am doing?” he said.

On the perception that the Bill was informed because of the current trial of President of the Senate by the CCB, Nwaoboshi said that perception would not deter him.

He said that he would not shy away from doing something that was right and patriotic because of what Nigerians would say.

“My duty is to the Nigerian people; we should not leave a sensitive organ like that under the whims and caprices of a politician who is the SGF. It should be left in the hands of the judiciary or the legislature,” he said.

The other bills passed for first reading were In-Vitro Fertilisation Bill 2016, Criminal Injuries Compensation Bill and National Sports Commission Establishment Bill.

Others included Nigeria Football Federation Establishment Bill and Environmental Health Officers Registration Amendment Bill.