Meet Ndubuisi Ekekwe (born 1st July 1975), a world renowned tech guru, who Co-designed iPhone & iPad’s XL Sensor. A first-class graduate of FUTO Owerri. He holds two doctoral and four master’s degrees including PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Founder of First Atlantic Semiconductors &Microelectronics, Africa’s top systems company. A native of Ovim in Abia state.He is a player in the U.S. semiconductor industry where he develops innovative microchip and invented a micro-controller for medical robots. Ndubuisi Ekekwe was named in 2020 by Guardian Newspapers as one of 60 Nigerians In 60 Years Making “Nigerian Lives Matter”.
Ekekwe was born in Ovim, Abia State southeast Nigeria. He is from the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria. He attended the Secondary Technical School where he set a record by obtaining eight distinctions. He then proceeded to the Federal University of Technology, Owerri where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Electrical engineering and graduated as his class’ best student.
Ekekwe is a US semiconductor industry veteran and has served in the United States National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center E&D Committee. Ekekwe is a Co-Chairman of JPL Financial Group, a California-based financial advisory firm which syndicates capital for projects in Africa. As the founder of African Institution of Technology, he facilitates the provision of practical education support, encourages enactment of technology policies and facilitates the bottom-up creativity technology emanating from African economies.
He recently co-founded Atlantic Americas, an engineering firm, handling major operations in most parts of northern Nigeria. He has also worked with Diamond Bank in Nigeria. Ekekwe invented a special method of controlling the dexterity of medical robots used for invasive surgeries. In 2017, the United States Government got assignee rights to the patent.
Ekekwe has written for the Harvard Business Review and was recently made a selection board member of the $100 Million Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme. Ekekwe is also certified in key fields in technology and has to his name high ranking publications and technical papers ranked among the leading journals and conferences about technology. He also has two pending patents on Microelectronics and works as a consultant to universities, tech firms and the World Bank. The African Leadership Network has honoured him as a “New Generation Leader for Africa”.
He is also a TED Fellow. His book ‘Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Global Diffusion, Economics and Policy’ received the IGI Global “Book of the Year” Award in 2010. He was honoured by the World Economic Forum in 2013 as a Young Global Leader for his professional accomplishments and commitment to society.
He has also been honoured for Outstanding Leadership by the National Youth Council Of Nigeria. He is the Lead Faculty in Tekedia Institute’s Mini-MBA, an innovation management four-month program, optimized for business execution and growth, with digital operational overlay.
A resident, who witnessed the kidnapping of 27 students and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, has described how the kidnappers tied their victims in pairs and took them away.
The man, who lives close to the school, confided in The PUNCH on Wednesday that the bandits, who wore military uniform, stormed the school at 2am.
When one of our correspondents got to the school at 2pm on Wednesday, he observed that many buildings including classrooms and hostels were dilapidated.
The source, who described how the incident occurred, disclosed that before moving to the GSS Kagara, the bandits had parked their motorcycles close to Attahiru Secondary School, a distance of one kilometre to the GSS Kagara.
He stated, “When they (the victims) were being taken away, I saw that they were tied in pairs and marched to where the motorcycles were parked from where they were taken into the bush.”
A worker of the school, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The PUNCH that the gunmen entered the school from the rear, where the fence had fallen.
According to him, they headed to the staff quarters, where 15 workers, including teachers, were kidnapped before going to students’ hostel.
According to the source, a senior secondary school 3, Bejamin Abila, who raised the alarm when the bandits were approaching the hostel was shot dead.
They abducted 27 students in the hostel and tied all the abductees in pairs before taking them out of the school,” the source stated.
Another source lamented the dilapidation of the school, saying it was prone to bandits’ attacks.
Khamis Tahir, parent of a worker in the school, in an interview with The PUNCH, said “ I got a call that kidnappers had invaded the Government Science College, Kagara. Immediately after my prayer, I moved down to the school. I realised that my daughter together with some students had been kidnapped. We are here and many security agents have been moving up and down here”, but up till now we have not heard anything.”
The state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, after a security meeting in Minna, the state capital, ordered the immediate closure of boarding schools in four local government areas of the state, which had witnessed increased kidnappings.
The local government areas affected are Rafi, Mariga, Munya and Shiroro.
Bello said the action was necessary to save lives of the students as the areas had already been taken over by bandits.
The governor appealed to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to deploy necessary mechanism in flushing out the bandits.
He ruled out payment of ransom to free the abducted students and workers, saying the state government adopted the policy to discourage the kidnappers from using the proceeds of their crime to purchase more weapons.
Also on Wednesday, the governor met with a Kaduna based cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, at the Government House, Minna.
After the meeting, Gumi told journalists that he would visit Kagara, where the 27 students were kidnapped.
“The governor and I spoke on several ways to deal with insecurity in a holistic manner and find solutions to the insecurity problem in the state,” the cleric stated.
Buhari has dispatched security officials to Niger – Aide
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Wednesday said the President had directed the Armed Forces and Police to ensure immediate and safe return of abducted students.
He said the President had also dispatched to Minna a team of security chiefs to coordinate the rescue operation and meet with state officials and other stakeholders.
Shehu announced this in a statement titled, “President Buhari condemns school abduction in Niger State, dispatches security officials to the state.”
The statement read in part, “President Muhammadu Buhari has received reports of the brazen attack on Government Science College, Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, following which a yet to be ascertained number of staff and students have been abducted by gunmen.
“Following these reports, the President has directed the Armed Forces and Police, to ensure immediate and safe return of all the captives.
“The President has also dispatched to Minna, Niger State a team of security chiefs to coordinate the rescue operation and meet with state officials, community leaders, as well as parents and staff of the College.
“President Buhari has assured all of the support of his administration to the Armed Forces in their brave struggle against terrorism and banditry and urged them to do all that can be done to bring an end to this saga, and avoid such cowardly attacks on schools in the future.”
Shehu also quoted the President as saying that his prayers were with families of the victims of the attack as he condemned “as cowardly the attack on innocent school children.”
Declare emergency on security, Senate tells Buhari
Meanwhile, the Senate on Wednesday asked the President to declare a state of emergency on security without further delay.
The red chamber made the call following a point of order by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), on the abduction of students and teachers of the GSS Kagara.
Musa said the terrorist who whisked their victims away were dressed in military uniforms. The Senator said security agencies had explained that they were on the trail of the criminals.
The Senate demanded the implementation of its ad hoc resolution on security and urged the combined team of military and police to set up an operation to destroy criminal camps across the country.
Senator Sabi Abdullahi, also from Niger State, said the kidnappers and bandits were emboldened by the successes being recorded in the state, in recent times as about 100 people had so far been kidnapped in the state.
He said the forest from the Federal Capital Territory extended to Niger State up to Zamfara State, was being used by the criminals.
He said the fact that the bandits had invaded Niger State was an indication that safety of lives and property of the FCT residents was being threatened.
FG not competent to handle security – Senator
Senator Bima Enagi, also from Niger State, declared that the Buhari regime was incompetent to handle security challenges in the country.
He said, “We need to amend the constitution so that governors should be chief security officers of their states since the government at the centre has failed to protect lives and property of Nigerians.
“ The Federal Government is busy giving palliatives instead of creating employment, thus aggravating insecurity.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, described the kidnap of the students as unfortunate.
He, however, said the security agencies had challenges of personnel and funds.
He said, “Abductions of students from school happen in northern part of Nigeria.
“With incidents like this, parents would be scared to take their wards to school and the efforts of the past and present leaders at providing education would be defeated.
“Service chiefs have to secure the schools and have to carry the states along.”
Musa had in his motion noted that the security agencies had been able to detect the area where the students were taken to, and have started tracing the bandits.
Rise up and repel bandits, kidnappers, FG charges Nigerians
The Federal Government has called Nigerians to defend themselves against bandits, kidnappers and other criminals across the country.
The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd.), stated in an interview with journalists at the House of Representatives, after the screening of the new service chiefs.
He said, “We have demonstrated our ability to take on the challenge. We have done it in Katsina; when children were kidnapped, within two days, we got them back. Hopefully, this time, we will do the same (thing) to get this these captives back. I am sure that before the end of the day, we will be given a full brief on what is going on in Niger State.”
Magashi, while responding to the rising spate of insecurity across the country, urged Nigerians to repel criminals when they attacked them.
The minister asked, “Is it the responsibility of the military alone? It is the responsibility of everybody to be alert and ensure safety when necessary. But we shouldn’t be cowards. At times, the bandits will come with only about three rounds of ammunition and when they fire shots, everybody will run. In our younger days, we stand to fight any aggression coming to us. I don’t know why people are running away from minor, minor aggressions? They should stand and let these people (criminals) know that the people – villagers- have the competence and capability to defend themselves.”
Magashi, however, noted that government would ensure that Nigerians were protected as well as the territorial integrity of the county.
When asked if civilians would be allowed to carry firearms to protect themselves, the minister said, “It is an issue even in the developed countries; they are still debating on it, whether to continue or stop. But I don’t advice Nigerians to use firearms for internal use.”
Freezing weather has interrupted an already-interrupted school year. And few students are in classrooms on the West Coast.
Winter storm challenges learning
For teachers and students, the brutal storm that burst pipes, disabled power grids and left usually temperate cities coated in snow and ice has further derailed an uncertain school year across much of the South and Midwest.
“Our students have now lost an additional three, and it could be five, days of learning,” said Grenita Lathan, the interim superintendent in Houston. “And we were already behind.”
Much of Houston is without power, and many of the district’s 25,000 staff members and 196,000 families cannot log on to remote classrooms. About 44 percent of students had attended in-person school, while the rest were fully remote. Amid blackouts, the district canceled classes until at least Thursday.
“We had to deal with the pandemic,” Lathan said. “Now we’re dealing with a snow and ice storm, but everyone continues to bounce back.”
But a few days of learning loss pales in comparison with concerns about feeding students or keeping them warm, Texas educators said.
“Learning loss is at the very bottom of the list right now,” said Stephanie Elizalde, the Austin superintendent.
She worked with the city, county and the Red Cross to open school gymnasiums as emergency shelters and warming centers. Volunteers poured in, bringing games and food to people in need.
Sara Konkel, a fifth-grade bilingual teacher in Austin started messaging families as soon as she awoke on Tuesday morning. Many of the families are immigrants and refugees.
“Even if it was just emotional support for their students,” Konkel said, “I wanted to make sure they knew that I was there.”
In places where freezing temperatures are common, the cold also derailed plans. Some districts switched to virtual learning.
Others cashed in a snow day, just as they would have in a normal year. But for students in the South, even the discomfort was magical.
“Where I’m from, I have only seen snow around three or four times in my entire life,” said McKenzi Bryce, a 19-year-old student at the University of North Texas. “I actually went sledding for the first time on Sunday, which was the most exciting part of all.”
West Coast school-reopening fights
As more and more cities across the country have returned students to classrooms in recent months, the West Coast has been an outlier.
Los Angeles? Remote. San Francisco? The same.
San Diego? Seattle? Portland? Remote. Remote. Remote.
Across the country, roughly half of students are back in school. But in Washington and Oregon, fewer than a quarter of children are. Almost all of California’s biggest districts are remote.
Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon has pushed districts to reopen, prioritizing teachers over some older adults for the vaccine. But that has not persuaded two of the state’s largest districts to bring students back before April, at the earliest.
“We looked to see: ‘OK, if you do all of that, how far does it move the needle?’” said our colleague Shawn Hubler, who covered the Oregon story. “The answer was: not much.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California also wants schools to reopen. But as coronavirus cases fall across California, it remains unclear when public schools in major cities will reopen, as unions continue to negotiate. (Many private schools are open, even in districts where public schools are closed.)
San Francisco and its teachers reached a tentative deal that schools won’t reopen until cases fall substantially or until all staff members who will be returning have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. In Los Angeles, even though the county recently dropped below the level of cases at which elementary schools are allowed to reopen under state rules, the union argues that teachers should be vaccinated before they return.
“Once you haven’t opened for this long, it gets harder and harder,” said Marguerite Roza, a Georgetown University school finance expert.
The difference between the West Coast and other parts of the country comes down partly to school governance, experts say. Mayors control the school systems in cities like Boston, New York and Chicago. Elected school boards influenced by powerful teachers’ unions usually govern West Coast districts.
Around the country
College update
Boston College may suspend students who do not follow coronavirus protocols.
Republicans in Iowa are working to ban tenure at the state’s three public universities, partly because conservative students said the campus did not welcome their perspectives.
Basketball players at Bluefield College, a small school in southwest Virginia, knelt during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice. In response, the college’s president suspended the team, forcing a forfeit.
An opinion from The Washington Post: In most recessions, college enrollment increases. But the pandemic has caused college completion and new enrollment to plummet. That, Catherine Rampell writes, could have dire consequences for the economy and economic mobility.
A good read from The Times: Our colleague Kurt Streeter spoke with Demi Washington, a basketball player at Vanderbilt University who developed myocarditis, a heart inflammation that can lead to cardiac failure, after she contracted the coronavirus. “I could die,” she realized.
K-12 update
Some districts in Massachusetts may not reopen for in-person learning even after teachers receive vaccines, The Boston Globe reports.
The Los Angeles school board approved a plan to cut the district’s police force by 35 percent, ban the use of pepper spray and divert $25 million to programs supporting students of color.
An opinion from Vox: “As we approach the one-year anniversary of remote education in America, I find that I am losing sympathy for the educators’ position and their myopic vision this far along into the pandemic,” writes Benjamin Linas, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Boston University who has three children in public school.
A good read from The Times: In the months that New York City’s elementary schools have been open, teachers, principals and parents have gained confidence that schools are safe. But they have also had to deal with frequent temporary closures.
And this wild Twitter thread: Mike Piccolo’s 8-year-old niece managed to convince the adults in her life that she had a mysterious Zoom bug that kept her from logging on to class … for almost a month.
A remote learning success story
Angela Penticuff has not met her 27 first graders in person. But at this point, she said, she barely notices.
“I feel like I know them,” she said. “I know the toys they like. I know their pets. I know the clothes they wear. I know how fidgety they are. I know what makes them laugh. It’s almost like the screen’s not there.”
Penticuff, 53, opted to teach remotely last summer. She has significant health issues — an autoimmune disease and asthma — and didn’t want to take any chances. Her principal in Lee’s Summit, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., let her move from the art room to a virtual first grade.
She uses all the same tricks that she would in a real classroom. Her students still have rug time, except now they have to un-mute to share. They celebrated Valentine’s Day with a dance party and goodies, although she drove three hours around town to deliver them. They even have a class pet: an old bunny puppet named “Carrot” that “lives” in her backyard.
“If we’re doing something neat, they ask: ‘Can Carrot watch us do this?’” she said.
First grade is a critical year for literacy, and she focuses on reading and numbers skills. (In math, Carrot features prominently; the kids regularly try to stump him.)
It’s also a big year for social development. Mischief matters now more than ever. Recently, when one student started doodling on his dresser with marker, several of his friends un-muted themselves to warn him: “‘Dude, you’re going to get grounded — you’ve got to stop!’” she recalled.
“I want them to end the year knowing how to read confidently within their own level,” she said, “and just to be good people to each other, and to be kind, and to care about the feelings of others.”
Tragedy struck on Sunday when a 400-level Mathematics student of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, Bashir Abdulalhi, reportedly committed suicide because his girlfriend, one Raf’at, jilted him.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the late student, an indigene of Ungwa Uku Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State, took the action to protest his girlfriend’s decision to leave him on Valentine’s Day.
Our correspondent learnt from campus sources that the victim took his life at his Yalwawa residence, located on the outskirts of the state capital, around 5pm on Monday.
He was reported to have consumed a poisonous substance.
‘’When his friends discovered what happened, they quickly rushed him to the Rasheed Shekoni Teaching Hospital in the state capital, where he was confirmed dead by doctors on arrival.
“On the spot, they promptly contacted the girlfriend, informing her of the death of Abdullahi,” a source said.
It was gathered that the lady denied cheating on him, saying it was the deceased, who actually cheated on her.
A spokesman for the Jigawa State Police Command, DSP Zubairu Ismai, confirmed the incident, adding that the university had commenced investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to it.
The Northern governors have condemned the abduction of students and staff at Government Science School, Kagara in Niger State by suspected bandits, describing it as “a deliberate plot to deprive the region of education”.
In a statement issued in Jos on Wednesday by the Chairman of NGF and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, the Northern governors who expressed sadness over the development, said, “We totally condemn the abduction of the school children who did nothing wrong than go to school to seek education. This is a sad and reprehensible act that must not be tolerated whatever the motive of the criminals.
“It is an act that further compounds the efforts to enroll more children into schools particularly in the Northern region where illiteracy is very high and enrolment is gradually appreciating after sustained efforts by Government and development partners.”
The statement signed by Governor Lalong’s Director of Press and Press Affairs, Makut Macham, said the quick action taken by security forces to ensure the safe return of the abductees is reassuring.
He sympathised with the parents and families of the victims, urging them not to lose hope even as they go through this traumatic period.
He asked Nigerians to rally around the distraught families and support the security forces with useful information that will ensure that those behind this unfortunate development are apprehended and brought to book.
He said the Northern governors will collectively work in solidarity with their colleague Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to not only ensure that this present situation is resolved swiftly but bring to an end this unacceptable spate of banditry and destruction of lives and properties that is affecting the state, other parts of the region and the nation at large.
In Dinka/Jieng system of marriage of Southern Sudan, despite the expensive payment of dowries that range from 100-500cows, women are treated godly. When a man gets married, his wife will not cook or sweep for 4yrs, this period is called Anyuuc( Generous welcoming), it is meant for a new wife to rest, relax and study her husband’s homestead values.
Her husband’s sisters will cook, wash, utensils, collect firewood fetch water and other domestic works till later after 4yrs, her husband decides to arrange a very big party called Thäät(cooking festival), 3cows and 5goats can be slaughtered to initiate a wife into cooking for family.
This is how love is expressed in Dinka society of South Sudan.
PRONUNCIATION:DEEN-kuh
LOCATION:Republic of Sudan
POPULATION:Over 1 million
LANGUAGE:Dinka
RELIGION:Monotheistic worship
1 • INTRODUCTION
The Dinka are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Republic of Sudan. They belong to a group of cultures known as the Nilotic peoples, all of whom live in the southern Sudan.
In 1983, a civil war erupted in the Sudan, pitting the largely Arab and Muslim northern Sudan against the black African peoples of the south. Lasting into the 1990s, the war has had dire consequences for the Dinka and other Nilotic peoples. Tens of thousands of Dinka have died; countless others have become refugees. Rebel groups and international human rights organizations have accused the Sudanese government of attempting genocide against (extermination of) the Dinka.
2 • LOCATION
The Dinka inhabit a vast region in the south of the Sudan that forms a seasonal swampland when the Nile River floods. Due to civil war, large numbers of Dinka have migrated from the southern Sudan to the northern Sudanese capital of Khartoum, as well as to Kenya, Uganda, Europe, and the United States.
3 • LANGUAGE
Linguists classify Dinka as a major language family in the Nilotic category of African languages. The Dinka have a diverse vocabulary with which to describe their world. It is estimated that they have more than 400 to refer to cattle alone—their movements, their diseases, and their variety in color and form.
The Dinka tradition of oral literature is extensive and a considerable amount has been recorded. Two figures stand out prominently, Col Muong and Awiel Longar. Col Muong has an enormous appetite for all things in life. When he is hungry, he is said to eat an entire herd of cattle or an entire field of grain. Stories about him suggest that people should do the best they can with what they have. Awiel Longar figures as the common ancestor of all Dinka peoples.
5 • RELIGION
Dinka religion may be regarded as monotheistic (believing in one deity).Nhialic(creator) is thought to be the source of all life and death. Lesser manifestations of the creator’s power are honored by the Dinka through ritual sacrifices. Rituals are performed at births, deaths, to cure disease, and in times of crisis.
6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS
Celebrations take place in the autumn when the whole tribe is together. To honor their traditional spiritual and political leaders, the Dinka enacted day-long ceremonies marked by large public gatherings and the sacrifice of many cattle.
7 • RITES OF PASSAGE
Birth, marriage, and death are all marked by standardized customs involving public ceremonies. These are typically accompanied by animal sacrifice. In the passage to adult status, young men, rather more than young women, are publicly recognized. Adult males decorate initiates’ heads with a series of deep gashes that form permanent scars.
8 • RELATIONSHIPS
When men become adults, they no longer refer to themselves by their birth names. Instead they adopt “ox-names”—derived from characteristics of their favorite cattle. Thus, a man may be known as Acinbaai(a man who never leaves his herd of cattle). Children’s names often reflect the circumstances of their birth.
9 • LIVING CONDITIONS
Traditionally, the Dinka dwelled in round clay huts with conical thatched roofs. Homesteads were typically surrounded by a garden and separated from each other by an open expanse of grassland forest. Garden soil would typically maintain its fertility for ten to twelve years. Following this, the area would be set afire and a new homestead erected nearby.
10 • FAMILY LIFE
Polygamy (multiple spouses) is common among the Dinka. Men of high social standing may have as many as fifty to one hundred wives. In polygamous marriages, wives cooperate in performing household duties, although each rears her own children. Much of Dinka public life is dominated by men. However, women play a significant and even powerful role in local life.
11 • CLOTHING
The Dinka wear very little clothing and no shoes. Men go naked, and the women may wear goatskin skirts. Both men and women wear strings of beads around their necks. Women also wear bangles on their arms and legs, and they may also wear elaborate jewelry in their ears.
12 • FOOD
Dinka have traditionally produced all the material resources needed to sustain their livelihood via a combination of horticulture (gardening) with pastoralism (nomadic herding), fishing and occasional hunting. Millet is the mainstay of the Dinka diet. Depending on the season, it is supplemented with cow milk, fish, meat, beans, tomatoes, or rice.
13 • EDUCATION
The Dinka lacked any formal system of education until literacy (reading and writing) was introduced via mission schools in the late 1930s. Even today, most Dinka lack the ability to read and write. The educational system has disappeared due to war.
14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE
Song and dance play an important role in Dinka culture. A set of drums is found in every Dinka settlement. Artistic expression is associated with cattle, which they often imitate in songs and dances. There are also battle songs, songs of initiation, and songs celebrating the tribe’s ancestors.
Following is a typical Dinka song:
O Creator
Creator who created me in my mother’s womb
Do not confront me with a bad thing
Show me the place of cattle,
So that I may grow my crops
And keep my herd.
15 • EMPLOYMENT
Tending herds of cattle and growing millet form the basis of the livelihood and economy of the Dinka. Labor is clearly divided along gender lines, with men in their twenties and thirties devoting their time to cattle-herding. Women are responsible for growing crops, although men clear new fields for planting. Women also cook and draw water.
16 • SPORTS
Dinka men engage in mock sparring, using spears or sticks and shields, in order to develop their fighting skills.
17 • RECREATION
There is little time for recreation during the dry season, when much of the Dinka population disperses to follow the herds. Song and dance accompany social events such as marriages, which take place during the rainy season.
18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES
Dinka men make spears and fishing hooks. Women make clay cooking pots using a coiling technique. Besides making pots, which are essential for carrying water, Dinka women also weave baskets and sleeping mats.
19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Since the civil war that began in the 1980s, numerous Dinka villages have been destroyed by burning or bombing. Thousands of Dinka women have been raped and their husbands castrated in their presence. Many Dinka have been abducted and sold as slaves in the northern Sudan. Violence against the Dinka is now on a level that has no precedent in their remembered past.
One day 120 years ago, after the British had conquered the Asante kingdom in Ghana under the command of Robert Baden-Powell, they arrested their top chiefs and their king, Prempeh I, and exiled them to Seychelles.
Now, the once mighty Asante kingdom no longer had a king, hence their holy golden stool meant to be sat on by the king alone was now empty. The golden stool was the symbol of divine authority and strength of the Asante kingdom, it therefore gets hidden whenever a war situation gets critical since no other person can be allowed to sit on it.
The British general Sir Hudgson, after getting permission from his government one morning assembled all the elders of Asante and demanded that they produce the golden stool for him to sit. It was the greatest insult ever, but the Asante could not say anything about it because they already lost the war, their king and many warriors. Hudgson swore to do everything to find the sit and present it to the king of England who he said will be the rightful owner.
When Hudgson couldn’t find the sit, he left and ordered his deputy to go with a search party jnto the forest with some Asante and British soldiers to find it.
Soon as they left, a silence befell all the Asante chiefs, no one had the courage to speak. A 60 year old woman stood up and broke the silence, in that very moment, a new warrior was born, the last warrior king of Asante. Her name, Yaa Asantewaa.
She gave a short speech that went something like this “If it was in the days of our ancient warriors, no man born of woman dare come speak to the Asante like this. I cant even believe we still have men in this kingdom, our king is missing and men are looking at a British officer demand for his stool too. Never! I am going to take the war right back to the British, If you men dont have the balls to fight, then I and my female amazons will do the fight alone. We will fight to the last drop of our blood, we cannot be alive to watch this great kingdom insulted like this.”
When she finished her rallying cry for a war, other men in the gathering rose up and pledged allegiance to the new empress. Within hours, she had a standing army of about 20,000 Asante male warriors a batallion female warriors.
Yaa Asantewaa was the queen mother of Ejisu clan, she was appointed by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Opese, the Edwesuhene, or ruler, of Edwesu.
She turned out to be a super-smart commander, she properly reorganised the Asante army into proper battalions and put the female warriors in their own separate unit. She mounted intelligently designed road blocks to prevent more British soldiers from getting into Kumasi during the ensuing battle.
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Her first draw of blood was to assault the British officer and the batalion trying to retrieve the stool in the bush. The Asanted ambushed the British in a well coordinated pincer attack and almost wiped them off, the only thing that saved them was a violent thunder storm and rain that kicked in. This allowed the British to pull back and withdraw into the British fort at Kumasi where Hudgson was lodged with other British soldiers and allies. Hudson was being protected by 500 Nigerian Hausa soldiers and a batalion of Yoruba soldiers. They had 4 machine guns which was their main saviour because the Asante didnt have it. Because of the superior fire power of the machines guns, the Asante couldn’t take over thr fort, so they laid a seige.
The seige lasted from March till september before the British could arrive with more soldiers and relieve their trapped soldiers. By that time, over 1,000 British soldiers and allies in the fort had died in the battle.
Yaa Asantewaa was captured with her other military generals and exiled to Seychelles for 25 years.
As a result of her actions, the British were never able to retrieve that stool and were careful not to go harass the Asante anyhow. Her dream of an independent Asante kingdom came true in 1957 when the Asante gained independence and got united into one new country called Ghana.
She died in exile at the age of 81 in Seychelles where her king was exiled, King Asantehene Prempeh I Kwaku Dua III. Just like she wished, She died in a land with an Asante King.
A monument stands in Ghana today in commemoration of the legend of Yaa Asantewaa, her gun and the golden stool which she protected.
The Benue State Government, on Monday, shut down a secondary school, the Vaatia College, in Makurdi following the outbreak of a strange disease.
The Vaatia College is a private boarding school located on the George Akume Road in Makurdi.
It was gathered that some students of the school took ill as the strange decease hit the school.
A parent, who claimed to have two children in the school, but did not want to be identified, said the management sent a message to the parents on Sunday to come and pick their children.
As of the time our correspondent visited the school on Monday, parents and guardians were sighted picking up their children and wards.
Efforts to speak to the management of the school were not successful as the security man at the gate told our correspondent that members of the management were in a meeting.
The state Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Joseph Ngbea, who confirmed the closure of the school, said five students were affected by the strange illness.
The commissioner described the strange illness as the Orepa syndrome, adding that that the affected students experienced paresis.
According to him, the school was shut to avoid possible spread of the disease.
Ngbea said, “Five students were affected; three are at the teaching hospital and one of them is doing well, while the two others are at the Madonna Hospital (a private facility).
“You know that Nigeria is in the process of polio free certification and we saw that some students were having paresis instead of paralysis. They are actually doing well.”
“Since there is no paralysis, polio is completely ruled out. So, it is called Orepa syndrome; we are trying to look at that; the victims are being treated for now; there is no diagnosis at the teaching hospital.”
When asked if the disease was contagious, the commissioner said, “It is auto immune. That is why we shut the school; we want to look into the biology of the virus if is contagious, that is why we asked them to close down the school.
“When we look at the biology of the disease, then we will be able to advise the school appropriately. You know that the students are many.”
A 34-year-old graduate of the University of Ilorin, Kelvin Monye, was on Monday sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin for romance scam.
Monye, a graduate of Agricultural Science, was convicted on two counts of cheating by impersonation and portraying himself as a white man to dupe a female of $1,000.
The Economic and Financial Commission, which arraigned Monye, aka Hassan George, said he perpetrated the crime via his email address, kelvinmonye37@gmail.com, to induce one Louise Evan to send $1,000 in gift cards, a representation that he knew to be false.
The offences were said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code, Law of Nigeria.
Monye pleaded guilty to the charges.
Testifying before the court, an EFCC operative, Olasode Olumide, said Monye’s problem started on January 12, 2021 when some concerned residents of Tanke area of Ilorin petitioned the commission over the activities of Internet fraudsters in the neighbourhood.
The witness said investigation into the petition led to the arrest of the convict, adding, “He (Monye) was profiled and in the process, an iPhone 6 and a Sony laptop were recovered from him.”
The witness informed the court that in the course of investigation, Monye brought a draft of N460,000 as restitution of his crime.
In his judgment, Justice Abdulgafar convicted and sentenced Monye to three months’ imprisonment on each of the two counts, adding that the sentences would run concurrently.
The judge also ordered that the iPhone 6 and Sony laptop, which were of the crime, be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as the sum of N460,000, which he paid as restitution.
Abraka is a town in Ethiope East LGA of Delta state, South-South Nigeria.
Abraka is located on Latitude: 5° 44′ 46N · Longitude: 6° 7′ 43E on the equator with a total Population of approximately 80,000 as at 2015 according to JRC (European Commission’s Joint Research Centre) work on the GHS built-up grid.
The distance from Abraka to Asaba, the Delta State capital is approximately 132.1 km via Kwale-Ogwashiku Road, to Sapele about 54km (33miles) via Agbor – Eku Rd and Oviri Eko Road and 49km to Warri via Agbor – Eku Rd.
It is also home to two of the main 24 urhobo kingdoms. It is mostly known as a university town and has the main campus of the Delta State University located there.
Abraka town is a favourite destination for domestic and international tourists. The Abraka beach is famous for its natural flowing spring water, and has sports recreational facilities for outdoor activities like canoeing, fishing, swimming, barbecue and picnicking.
*A tourist delight
The two Kings of Abraka town are H.R.M (A.V.M) Avwaeke I (Ovie Of Umiagwa-Abraka Kingdom) and H.R.M Majoroh, Ojeta II (Ovie Of Oruarive-Abraka Kingdom).
Historically, the name Abraka is anglicised from the name Avwraka. Avwraka (Abraka) is one of the few Urhobo socio-political units whose predecessors did not live elsewhere among non-Urhobo ethnic group before settling in Urhoboland.
The Avwraka story of genealogical link with the royal descent group of Benin is an issue seen by most historians as merely conforming to the ‘hankering after prestige’. Avwraka may actually have been a prince in an Edo-speaking political group which emigrated and settled near other Urhobo people.
The contemporary main version of the historical traditions of Avwraka (Abraka) states that before Avwraka died in Otorho-Avwraka, he had two sons called Aghwa and Ivie. These are the distant ancestors of Umiaghwa and Oruarivie of Avwraka today.
The construction of a link road from Agbor, through Abraka, to Sapele in 1901 increased the commercial activities and population in Abraka. On the 6th of May 1978, the whole of Abraka resolved to constitute themselves into a kingdom like most Urhobo kingdoms. They decided to have Chief David Oghenegueke Dafe as their Ovie (king) and Chief Joseph Ajarho Atagana from Umiaghwa as their Otota (spokesman).
Recent historical development in Avwraka (Abraka) has birthed the need to divide Abraka Kingdom into Umiagwa-Abraka and Oruarive-Abraka Kingdoms.Hence a two separate Avwraka (Abraka) Kingdoms with two Ivie (king), now forms a vital part of the Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State to which the polity has belonged since 1976. The principal inhabitants of the city are the Urhobo people.
Abraka has a tropical wet and dry climate, with a lengthy wet season and relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year. Abraka’s wet season runs from March through October, though August sees somewhat of a lull in precipitation. This lull nearly divides the wet season into two different wet seasons. The remaining months forms the city’s dry season. Like a good portion of West Africa, Abraka experiences the harmattan between the months of November and February.
Abraka is home to the prestigious Delta State University, Abraka. The Delta State University, was established in the year 1992, with its main campus at Abraka and a campus at Anwai, Asaba. With the 1995 Amended Edict, we now have a campus at Oleh. The University runs a multi-campus system with three campuses within a distance of about 200 km apart with a student population of about 36,000 (in the 2007/08 session), the University offers a range of programmes from the full-time certificate, diploma and degree programmes to part-time evening and weekend degree programmes. The University offers post-graduate studies up to a doctoral level. A staff/student counselling centre, an e-learning centre, student accommodation and sporting facilities amidst others are available support services.
Abraka is a favourite destination for domestic and international tourism. It attracts numerous domestic and international tourists. Abraka’s Rivotel is famous for its natural flowing spring water, and has recreational facilities for outdoor activities like canoeing, fishing, swimming, barbecue. Abraka Turf and Country Club nestles at the Delta State University town of Abraka.
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