COLLAPSE OF CEASEFIRE: MEND issues two-week ultimatum

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PAGE 28—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 10, 2016 periscope Our Ikorodu massacre story, by monarch, Oba Ajibade Agoro •’Why militants went after Lagos/Ogun border residents’ C M YK The Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Lagos State, Oba Adewale Shotobi, and the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro, on Monday, led other traditional rulers in Ikorodu Division on a sympathy visit to Primero Transport Services, operators of the damaged Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, buses, vandalized by miscreants, at its headquarters, in Ikorodu, following the mayhem that was triggered by the killing of a traffic hawker by a fast moving truck while trying to escape from law enforcement agents. Apparently irked by nefarious activities perpetrated around Ikorodu, Agoro expressed concerns and spoke with Sunday Vanguard on the invasion of Lagos, Ogun border communities around Ikorodu by suspected militants. Reason for incessant attacks It’s not a pleasure to be here because we are here to sympathise with the owners of the damaged BRT buses serving our area. We are concerned as traditional rulers of Ikorodu Division, as people of Ikorodu Division because these buses ply our route. Where this happened, from the reports we gathered, was between Ketu and Maryland, along Ikorodu Road and this is why we are concerned. One can not quantify the loss the owner sustained on the damaged buses. We have inspected the damaged 48 buses. If they want to put them back on the road, it will cost millions and this is why we are concerned. We are only praying God to spare us this type of unbecoming attitude to the economic development of Ikorodu. We know Ikorodu Division is becoming metropolitan, and we are not criminals, but we know that we have many people now who do not belong here but are residents here and there is no way we cannot have this type of situation. We are only appealing to them as much as we want to habour them, they should maintain our long standing good name. Of recent, there was a report about Ikorodu which was disheartening to our people. The report termed us criminals and this stemmed from the vandalisation of oil pipelines. Perpetrrator of armed robbery, The Neigbourhood Watchers, who first responded to the massacre, were over powered. They could not withstand the militants superior fire power kidnapping, ritual killing, among others are not indigenes of Ikorodu. What happened in the case of vandalisation of the buses was because of street trading. I know if our people were involved, they would be a minute percentage. We are not happy making this kind of visit to sympathise with the bus operators. It’s a colossal loss. The buses have ben run aground and if they must return to the road, millions of Naira would be spent and this could have been used to prosecute other profitable ventures. If it’s not for a company with financial muzzle it would be the end of their operation. If they don’t have the financial wherewithal, they would just be run aground and this will be to our disadvantage in Ikorodu Division. Therefore, we are appealing to residents to maintain the peace, we are no criminals; we habour them, we are very accommodating because of our closeness to the city of Lagos. We don’t want to shy away from our responsibilities; so they should think of us for according them warm reception, reciprocate our gesture by not vandalizing our economic mainstay and, thereby, abstaining from giving us a bad name. We only sympathise with the operators of this company that God will replenish their purse so that they can put the buses back on the road within the shortest possible time for the betterment of our people and indeed Lagosians. On the criminalization of Ikorodu people, we want to tell the world that we are no criminals here, but because this happened along Ikorodu Road, there is no way we can remove ourselves from the incident. Law is made to be obeyed; if you go against the law and you are caught, but you don’t blame government. If you don’t trample upon the law, nobody will chase you about. They should obey our laws in Lagos and not turn Lagos into a jungle city where people go about without regulation and no government will tolerate that. The people should think of us the host before committing any crime because the blame will be on us. We only pray God to stop recurrence of all these violence and crimes. On measures in place to stop further violence We have made representation to government and, in this type of situation, there is little or nothing we can do as human beings. What happened in Ogijo, Ishawo, among our other communities, about two weeks ago, there was nothing anybody could have done about it. No one will wake up and dare to face armed men, it is the police who can do that. There is battalion of the Nigeria Army called 24 Motorized Battalion, in Odogunyan; therefore, we are using this opportunity to call on the authorities to come to our aid because we are helpless. Who can go and face men armed with AK-47 rifles because he is a traditional ruler or a chief? We are helpless. We have made representation to government for their intervention. Youths’ engagement Our representatives in government, recently, organized seminars to interact with youths. Hon, Babajimi Benson, representing Ikorodu in the House of Representatives, organized one and S.O.B Agunbiade, Kunle Solaja, representing us in the state House of Assembly did one too. In modern times, there is little or nothing traditional rulers can do because the economic manpower and resources are controlled by government. Therefore, it is the government we will call upon to create more jobs for our youths. On our own part, through our representatives, we are trying for the youths, sponsoring courses, seminars, empowerment among others. These are the little we can do to support government. But bulk of it lies with the government. It has the economic power to do it, it was like those days when kings had the power on economic policies and resources of their communities; it is not so in modern day times. So we are appealing to government to do so, though, they are trying. On militants attack We are collaborating with Ogun and Lagos State governments because the communities affected are on the periphery of Ogun State. These people (attackers) confessed that it was because our people exposed them when they went to vandalized oil pipelines that they started killing them. Meanwhile, to stop the killing, the police authorities have established a special squad to patrol the area and glory be to God the attack has stopped. The Neigbourhood Watchers, who first responded to the massacre, were over powered. They could not withstand the militants superior fire power. Even the police ran away in the first instance; it was when the newly formed squad arrived that the situation was brought under control. Permanent solution to invasion and violence in Ikorodu We will consult our ancestors because it has never been like this. We will consult the ancestors, appease them in order to ward off this type of misfortune. It’s highly necessary to bring back normalcy, peace, love and what have that used to pervade in Ikorodu.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 10, 2016, PAGE 29 Celebrity Couple I TOLD MY WIFE... Get pregnant or forget marriage – Nollywood producer, Fidelis Duker C M YK Nollywood producer and founder of Abuja International Film Festival, Fidelis Duker, is enjoying the benefit of early marriage. He kept his vow when he impregnated his wife,Temitope, at a very young age, and went ahead to marry her despite the odds. Today, the couple are better off for it, as their children are all grown up. Their first daughter will be 20 in another two years when they will be marking their twentieth wedding anniversary. In this encounter, Fidelis recounts some of the challenges he faced with his wife four years into marriage and how they were able to overcome the dark moments. On her part, Temitope says “marrying early was a blessing in disguise.” Ahead of the 20th wedding anniversary Do we really have any plan to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary? I think every year is a passing phase for us. I keep telling people, especially those in the movie industry where you we cases of breaking of marriages after one or two years, that there is no perfect marriage. The first two years after we got married, we had turbulent times. We met in 1995, so between then and now, we have had 21 years of interacting with each other. And we have been married for more than 18 years now. I think celebrating 20 years in marriage is a landmark . But the good thing about celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary will be that my eldest daughter will be 20 years as well, and she will be graduating from the university then. My second daughter will almost clock 19 years . That would be our celebration. It’s not about the number of years we have spent together. We are looking at even spending many more years together. I have always advised young couples that they should look beyond the glamour attached to marriage . You should see your wife as your friend. That’s why if you ask my friends like Fred Amata, Zeb Ejiro and others, they keep saying my wife is my confidant. She’s always among my friends. As a matter of fact, she rarely has her own friends. She’s complaining now that I dragged her into my industry and she has now become friends of my friends as well. I think that’s what has kept us going. We have not kept anything from each other. Growing up with her I met her when she was very young. I grew up with her. And she’s complaining now that she never enjoyed her young age. That’s why she can’t wait to see her children finish their education so that those things she missed as a young girl, she wants to enjoy them now. She never had the opportunity to mingle with people as she went into marriage very early. The only friend my wife knew as a young girl then was me. It is very rare to see somebody who married at a very young age to keep the marriage. Even her friends then were very scared when we first got married. Fear of losing her It wasn’t really the fear of losing her to another man that made me to marry her at that young age. Sincerely, while growing up, I made two vows, one, that I would never live outside the shores of the country no matter the opportunity and, second, any woman that got pregnant for me would automatically become my wife; even if she was not be ready to marry me, I would insist on marrying her. So, we courted for about a year and a half before she took in for me. Most of my friends who were not thinking of going into marriage then thought something was wrong with me. When I made the vow that any woman I would date and later get pregnant for me would become my wife, I didn’t want to break the vow, even though I was dating other girls. At that time, I was a bit comfortable as I had started making films. I felt the only thing left for me was to get married. In fact, it was my car that I used on my wedding day. The economic situation was a bit conducive at that time in 1998. I was less than 30 years and you can imagine the kind of risk I took. But I was ready to go into marriage. I think I became matured very early. When my friends and colleagues in the industry were not ready to go into marriage, I took the bull by the horn. I only worked for somebody in a computer firm for six months in my entire life. Parents support I think my dad was pretending, but my mum supported me. When I told her that my wife was pregnant for me, my mum asked me if I really wanted to marry her? I answered in the affirmative. Unfortunately, my mum died one or two years after our marriage. For my dad, he was indifferent as he never really encouraged me. He wasn’t pleased with my decision even though he didn’t make it known to me. Also, my father in-law never wanted the marriage because my wife is the only child of her parents. And she was still in school then. But like my mum, her mum also stood by her and ensured that she didn’t abort the baby. Challenges of early marriage Our first four years in marriage was one of the toughest part of my entire life. After our wedding, we lost our apartment, and my car was damaged beyond repairs by one of my friends who had an accident I married my friend — Temitope Challenges of early marriage I married my friend in the first place. Of course, early marriage comes with a lot of challenges. But the most important thing is to understand that you are in a relationship with it. My office was the only thing I had left. But the irony of it is that nobody knew what my wife and I were passing. I was practically living in my office with my wife. Early in the morning, we would take our bath before staff would resume duties, and after work, we would stay back. Sometimes, we would stay with my friend who was then living in Yaba. While we were passing through the hard times, my wife didn’t give up on me, neither did my friends know our predicaments. For eight months, we were homeless. Most of my friends will be shocked to hear this for the first time. Finally, we rented an apartment in Ijaye, on the outskirts of Lagos, and moved into the house. But all this while, my wife stood by me and never regretted her decision to marry me. Hurting wife I have done a lot of things that hurt her. Apart from cheating on your wife, there are other things you can do to hurt her. Your wife might expect a gift from you on her birthday, and you forget to buy her a gift year after year. Definitely she will feel hurt. But one thing I like about hurting my wife is that she’s quick to forgive and forget. She’s my best friend and my everything. and you want it to work. And above all, you must love your partner. One of the disadvantages of early marriage is that, while your age mates are enjoying their time, you were already committed. You missed out that youthful exuberance. For example, at the time I got married, I had a lot of friends who were beginning to experience life. But those things I didn’t enjoy due to early marry, God has given me the opportunity to enjoy them now. What I didn’t enjoy as a young girl, life has given back to me now. Ready for marriage I married very early when my age mates were not dreaming of going into marriage. I wasn’t ready at the time I got married. Though we had challenges along the line, we were able to overcome those challenges. On the part of my parents, it was not easy for them to welcome the idea. That is why I ensured that my marriage is a success. Like I used to tell young girls, marriage means commitment. You must love and respect your husband: know what makes him happy and the things he doesn’t like. Other women in his life At the time I met him, I wasn’t aware of any woman in his life. Maybe he was very careful to keep me in the dark about it. But I would have still married him if I knew he had a woman. And if he had been into drinking and smoking, nothing would have made me to marry him. What she doesn’t like That would too personal. But I would like him to work on his temperament.
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COLLAPSE OF CEASEFIRE: MEND issues two-week ultimatum

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