Thursday 28 February 2013

Abia politics gets messier as…T.A. Orji moves to revoke Kalu's ABSU degree

Abia State governor, Chief Theodore A. Orji may have taken the fight against his predecessor and benefactor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu to a more desperate level as Daily Sun reliably gathered that he is making subterranean moves to revoke the degree awarded the former governor by the Abia State University (ABSU) in 2002.

Gov. Orji who is invoking his powers as Visitor to the university is said to be behind a move compelling the varsity authorities to consider the recommendations of a kangaroo investigative panel that allegedly looked into a spurious petition lodged against the award of the degree to Kalu by the university several years ago. Kalu who had abandoned his degree programmme at the University of Maiduguri had his transcript records and other details transferred to ABSU while he was serving as governor and eventually completed the programme some eleven years ago.

In fact, photos of the then Governor Kalu sitting among other students to write his semester exams made interesting news for several newspaper houses then, as they lavishly splashed them in their publications. Eleven years down the line, however, Gov. T. A. Orji is said to be desperate to withdraw the degree to score a political point against Kalu whose return to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sent cold shivers down the spine of the governor and his allies.

Daily Sun gathered that the Senate of the University met last Tuesday to consider the report of the investigative panel hurriedly set up to look into the curious petition filed by a yet to be unmasked petitioner. The panel alleged, in an excerpt of its report obtained by Daily Sun, that although there indeed 'was a student by name Kalu, O.U. with Matriculation Number 00/42226, who supposedly transferred to Abia State University,' the process of the transfer and the documentation was incomplete and that 'In effect, the said transfer of Kalu, Orji U. into Abia State University was irregular ab initio.'

The Senate was, however, said to have dismissed the report and recommendations of the panel, saying it was hurriedly put together and did not follow due process. Apart from the fact that the report was hurriedly done, the Senate also noted that the Vice Chancellor as at the time of the report, was never invited to give evidence during the so-called investigation. Similarly, the Senate noted, neither Kalu who is a central figure to the petition nor any other key figure to the matter was invited to testify.

Not satisfied, however, those believed to be bent on scoring cheap political point with the matter are said to have mounted pressure on most members of the Senate to re-visit the matter. Consequently, an emergency meeting at the university Senate has been convened tomorrow with Kalu's degree as the only item on the agenda. A member of the Senate who spoke to Daily Sun last night on the condition of anonymity said the development is dangerous. 'They should not bring politics into academics because it will destroy the institution,' he said.

Confirming that some members of the university Senate have been under pressure since Tuesday, the source said: 'Yes, offers have been made to some members after majority of us rejected the bid on Tuesday. With the way things are now, I doubt whether we will have quorum on Friday.' Reacting to the move yesterday, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu who is abroad said that the Abia State government's latest move has shown the level of desperation of the government. Kalu who spoke through his aide, Kunle Oyewunmi, said that 'it is obvious that this shameless desperation was provoked by my return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

If the governor is popular as he claims, why is he jittery and desperate that one man is re-joining a party he co-founded.' Kalu called on well-meaning Abians and Nigerians to call Gov. T.A. Orji to order, adding that Abians are yearning for dividends of democracy and the governor has the responsibility to provide them. Sounding philosophical, Kalu said that he is confident that this 'move will also come to pass because no human being except God has the power to determine any other person's destiny.' The Sun
The country lost $50bn (N8tn) in the last two years to neighbouring countries as a result of illegal mining and exportation of unprocessed gold.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus Awute, said this on Wednesday during an interview on the sidelines of the Nigerian-Brazil Investment Forum in Abuja.
He described the loss as monumental, adding that the activities of illegal gold miners were far beyond control.
Awute, however, added that the Federal Government had put in place mechanism to address the problem.
He said, “What the country loses to illegal mining is tremendous; but the truth is that the amount of gold that left this country because of the illegal mining activities was more than $50bn in the last two years.
“The amount of unprocessed gold that has left this country through the neighbouring countries, Ghana in particular, and being processed in Ashanti, is enormous.”
Awute, however, said the Federal Government had begun the process of formalising the operations of illegal miners in the country, adding that such a move would help to generate revenue in the form of royalties to the government.
He said, “The solution to informal mining or illegal mining is to get them formalised and that is what we are doing right now. We have over 600 groups that formed themselves into cooperative societies.
“The most exciting thing is that there is tremendous increase in the percentage of accruable royalties to the government through the regularisation of their activities.’’
Awute pointed out that a road map for the development of the mining sector had been produced by the ministry, adding that the framework would help to set out vital programmes to be implemented in the short, medium and long term.
The permanent secretary said a new policy that would help to enhance performance and regulate the sector adequately had been put in place.
He also said the ministry had forwarded a draft Metallurgical Bill to the Ministry of Justice to provide a veritable tool to regulate and monitor activities in the metal sector.
The bill, according to him, will ensure efficient operations in the industry in line with world best practices as well as improve the working conditions of the people.
He said, “If the sector is well developed, it will provide alternative sources of internally generated foreign exchange that can be used to fund critical infrastructure projects.
“It will also aid the creation of economic activities and organised settlements in the rural and semi-urban centres as well as create employment opportunities.’’
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-loses-n8tn-to-illegal-gold-miners/#sthash.6JdtG0wf.dpuf
The protesters ... on Wednesday
Scores of youths in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, rampaged through the town on Wednesday to protest the death of six pupils in a fatal road accident.
The deceased were pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Eket.
Eyewitnesses said the pupils, whose identities could not be ascertained, met their untimely deaths when their school vehicle fell into a ditch on Eket-Ibeno Road, last month.
They said before the school driver lost control of the vehicle, he tried in vain to dodge many bad spots on the road.
The eyewitnesses said apart from those who died on the spot, other undisclosed number of pupils sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
It was learnt that the deaths of the pupils sparked off Wednesday’s protest as youths felt the pupils would have lived if the road was in good order.
One of the protesters, who craved anonymity, said because of the dilapidation of the Eket-Ibeno road, many road mishaps had taken place there.
He said the road had  paved the way for frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, as criminals usually capitalised on the bad road to waylay innocent road users and residents.
He said due to the situation of the road, youths in the area had given the relevant authorities several ultimatums to rehabilitate the road.
He said unfortunately, their appeals and threats to the authorities and major stakeholders had always been ignored.
Youth President, Afaha Eket, Mr. Emmanuel Sakey, lamented the poor state of the road, saying the bad roads claimed the lives of those “innocent” children.
He said the communities had been experiencing accidents on many roads in the areas on a daily basis, saying that many pregnant women had had miscarriages.
“Why we are demonstrating this morning is because of the way government is treating us. If you look between Eket and Ibeno, you will see that we don’t have road here. For a number of years, we have been suffering from this road and many other roads in this area.
“We have lost many school children to accidents apart from the six which happened recently. There have been frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies and more as the hoodlums seize the opportunity to lie in wait for road users.
“We are aware that an oil firm had paid for the construction of the road, but it is still a deathtrap.”
Eket community leader, Mr. Nsini Eduok, said he woke up in the morning to see youths block the road.
He said he did not see anything wrong with the youths’ action, insisting that if the right thing had been done, the accident, which triggered their protests, would not have occurred.
He claimed the community had complained to state government and other bodies about the deplorable state of the road but they had kept adamant.
He said, “I have just been informed that the youths are protesting against the bad roads leading to where the resources of this country come from. The condition of this road is worse than any other roads in the country.
“The rehabilitation of the road was given to FCC Nigeria Limited but we were told the government asked them to stop. Why they did that, we cannot actually say.
“Since then we have not seen any sign that this road is going to be done.
Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom Police Command, Dickson Etim, said it was only one pupil out of eight that were in the school bus that died, against six as given by the protesters.
He added that seven others sustained different degrees of injuries, stressing that the accident occurred when the children were going to school.
 “When I heard of the accident, I called the DPO in the area and he confirmed to me that it was only one person that died against six given by the protesters,” Etim said.
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/death-of-six-pupils-sparks-off-protest-in-akwa-ibom/#sthash.IZLUipyn.dpuf
The protesters ... on Wednesday
Scores of youths in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, rampaged through the town on Wednesday to protest the death of six pupils in a fatal road accident.
The deceased were pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Eket.
Eyewitnesses said the pupils, whose identities could not be ascertained, met their untimely deaths when their school vehicle fell into a ditch on Eket-Ibeno Road, last month.
They said before the school driver lost control of the vehicle, he tried in vain to dodge many bad spots on the road.
The eyewitnesses said apart from those who died on the spot, other undisclosed number of pupils sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
It was learnt that the deaths of the pupils sparked off Wednesday’s protest as youths felt the pupils would have lived if the road was in good order.
One of the protesters, who craved anonymity, said because of the dilapidation of the Eket-Ibeno road, many road mishaps had taken place there.
He said the road had  paved the way for frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, as criminals usually capitalised on the bad road to waylay innocent road users and residents.
He said due to the situation of the road, youths in the area had given the relevant authorities several ultimatums to rehabilitate the road.
He said unfortunately, their appeals and threats to the authorities and major stakeholders had always been ignored.
Youth President, Afaha Eket, Mr. Emmanuel Sakey, lamented the poor state of the road, saying the bad roads claimed the lives of those “innocent” children.
He said the communities had been experiencing accidents on many roads in the areas on a daily basis, saying that many pregnant women had had miscarriages.
“Why we are demonstrating this morning is because of the way government is treating us. If you look between Eket and Ibeno, you will see that we don’t have road here. For a number of years, we have been suffering from this road and many other roads in this area.
“We have lost many school children to accidents apart from the six which happened recently. There have been frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies and more as the hoodlums seize the opportunity to lie in wait for road users.
“We are aware that an oil firm had paid for the construction of the road, but it is still a deathtrap.”
Eket community leader, Mr. Nsini Eduok, said he woke up in the morning to see youths block the road.
He said he did not see anything wrong with the youths’ action, insisting that if the right thing had been done, the accident, which triggered their protests, would not have occurred.
He claimed the community had complained to state government and other bodies about the deplorable state of the road but they had kept adamant.
He said, “I have just been informed that the youths are protesting against the bad roads leading to where the resources of this country come from. The condition of this road is worse than any other roads in the country.
“The rehabilitation of the road was given to FCC Nigeria Limited but we were told the government asked them to stop. Why they did that, we cannot actually say.
“Since then we have not seen any sign that this road is going to be done.
Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom Police Command, Dickson Etim, said it was only one pupil out of eight that were in the school bus that died, against six as given by the protesters.
He added that seven others sustained different degrees of injuries, stressing that the accident occurred when the children were going to school.
 “When I heard of the accident, I called the DPO in the area and he confirmed to me that it was only one person that died against six given by the protesters,” Etim said.
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/death-of-six-pupils-sparks-off-protest-in-akwa-ibom/#sthash.IZLUipyn.dpuf
The protesters ... on Wednesday
Scores of youths in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, rampaged through the town on Wednesday to protest the death of six pupils in a fatal road accident.
The deceased were pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Eket.
Eyewitnesses said the pupils, whose identities could not be ascertained, met their untimely deaths when their school vehicle fell into a ditch on Eket-Ibeno Road, last month.
They said before the school driver lost control of the vehicle, he tried in vain to dodge many bad spots on the road.
The eyewitnesses said apart from those who died on the spot, other undisclosed number of pupils sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
It was learnt that the deaths of the pupils sparked off Wednesday’s protest as youths felt the pupils would have lived if the road was in good order.
One of the protesters, who craved anonymity, said because of the dilapidation of the Eket-Ibeno road, many road mishaps had taken place there.
He said the road had  paved the way for frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, as criminals usually capitalised on the bad road to waylay innocent road users and residents.
He said due to the situation of the road, youths in the area had given the relevant authorities several ultimatums to rehabilitate the road.
He said unfortunately, their appeals and threats to the authorities and major stakeholders had always been ignored.
Youth President, Afaha Eket, Mr. Emmanuel Sakey, lamented the poor state of the road, saying the bad roads claimed the lives of those “innocent” children.
He said the communities had been experiencing accidents on many roads in the areas on a daily basis, saying that many pregnant women had had miscarriages.
“Why we are demonstrating this morning is because of the way government is treating us. If you look between Eket and Ibeno, you will see that we don’t have road here. For a number of years, we have been suffering from this road and many other roads in this area.
“We have lost many school children to accidents apart from the six which happened recently. There have been frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies and more as the hoodlums seize the opportunity to lie in wait for road users.
“We are aware that an oil firm had paid for the construction of the road, but it is still a deathtrap.”
Eket community leader, Mr. Nsini Eduok, said he woke up in the morning to see youths block the road.
He said he did not see anything wrong with the youths’ action, insisting that if the right thing had been done, the accident, which triggered their protests, would not have occurred.
He claimed the community had complained to state government and other bodies about the deplorable state of the road but they had kept adamant.
He said, “I have just been informed that the youths are protesting against the bad roads leading to where the resources of this country come from. The condition of this road is worse than any other roads in the country.
“The rehabilitation of the road was given to FCC Nigeria Limited but we were told the government asked them to stop. Why they did that, we cannot actually say.
“Since then we have not seen any sign that this road is going to be done.
Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom Police Command, Dickson Etim, said it was only one pupil out of eight that were in the school bus that died, against six as given by the protesters.
He added that seven others sustained different degrees of injuries, stressing that the accident occurred when the children were going to school.
 “When I heard of the accident, I called the DPO in the area and he confirmed to me that it was only one person that died against six given by the protesters,” Etim said.
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/death-of-six-pupils-sparks-off-protest-in-akwa-ibom/#sthash.IZLUipyn.dpuf
The protesters ... on Wednesday
Scores of youths in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, rampaged through the town on Wednesday to protest the death of six pupils in a fatal road accident.
The deceased were pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Eket.
Eyewitnesses said the pupils, whose identities could not be ascertained, met their untimely deaths when their school vehicle fell into a ditch on Eket-Ibeno Road, last month.
They said before the school driver lost control of the vehicle, he tried in vain to dodge many bad spots on the road.
The eyewitnesses said apart from those who died on the spot, other undisclosed number of pupils sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
It was learnt that the deaths of the pupils sparked off Wednesday’s protest as youths felt the pupils would have lived if the road was in good order.
One of the protesters, who craved anonymity, said because of the dilapidation of the Eket-Ibeno road, many road mishaps had taken place there.
He said the road had  paved the way for frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, as criminals usually capitalised on the bad road to waylay innocent road users and residents.
He said due to the situation of the road, youths in the area had given the relevant authorities several ultimatums to rehabilitate the road.
He said unfortunately, their appeals and threats to the authorities and major stakeholders had always been ignored.
Youth President, Afaha Eket, Mr. Emmanuel Sakey, lamented the poor state of the road, saying the bad roads claimed the lives of those “innocent” children.
He said the communities had been experiencing accidents on many roads in the areas on a daily basis, saying that many pregnant women had had miscarriages.
“Why we are demonstrating this morning is because of the way government is treating us. If you look between Eket and Ibeno, you will see that we don’t have road here. For a number of years, we have been suffering from this road and many other roads in this area.
“We have lost many school children to accidents apart from the six which happened recently. There have been frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies and more as the hoodlums seize the opportunity to lie in wait for road users.
“We are aware that an oil firm had paid for the construction of the road, but it is still a deathtrap.”
Eket community leader, Mr. Nsini Eduok, said he woke up in the morning to see youths block the road.
He said he did not see anything wrong with the youths’ action, insisting that if the right thing had been done, the accident, which triggered their protests, would not have occurred.
He claimed the community had complained to state government and other bodies about the deplorable state of the road but they had kept adamant.
He said, “I have just been informed that the youths are protesting against the bad roads leading to where the resources of this country come from. The condition of this road is worse than any other roads in the country.
“The rehabilitation of the road was given to FCC Nigeria Limited but we were told the government asked them to stop. Why they did that, we cannot actually say.
“Since then we have not seen any sign that this road is going to be done.
Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom Police Command, Dickson Etim, said it was only one pupil out of eight that were in the school bus that died, against six as given by the protesters.
He added that seven others sustained different degrees of injuries, stressing that the accident occurred when the children were going to school.
 “When I heard of the accident, I called the DPO in the area and he confirmed to me that it was only one person that died against six given by the protesters,” Etim said.
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/death-of-six-pupils-sparks-off-protest-in-akwa-ibom/#sthash.IZLUipyn.dpuf
The protesters ... on Wednesday
Scores of youths in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, rampaged through the town on Wednesday to protest the death of six pupils in a fatal road accident.
The deceased were pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Eket.
Eyewitnesses said the pupils, whose identities could not be ascertained, met their untimely deaths when their school vehicle fell into a ditch on Eket-Ibeno Road, last month.
They said before the school driver lost control of the vehicle, he tried in vain to dodge many bad spots on the road.
The eyewitnesses said apart from those who died on the spot, other undisclosed number of pupils sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
It was learnt that the deaths of the pupils sparked off Wednesday’s protest as youths felt the pupils would have lived if the road was in good order.
One of the protesters, who craved anonymity, said because of the dilapidation of the Eket-Ibeno road, many road mishaps had taken place there.
He said the road had  paved the way for frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, as criminals usually capitalised on the bad road to waylay innocent road users and residents.
He said due to the situation of the road, youths in the area had given the relevant authorities several ultimatums to rehabilitate the road.
He said unfortunately, their appeals and threats to the authorities and major stakeholders had always been ignored.
Youth President, Afaha Eket, Mr. Emmanuel Sakey, lamented the poor state of the road, saying the bad roads claimed the lives of those “innocent” children.
He said the communities had been experiencing accidents on many roads in the areas on a daily basis, saying that many pregnant women had had miscarriages.
“Why we are demonstrating this morning is because of the way government is treating us. If you look between Eket and Ibeno, you will see that we don’t have road here. For a number of years, we have been suffering from this road and many other roads in this area.
“We have lost many school children to accidents apart from the six which happened recently. There have been frequent cases of kidnapping, armed robberies and more as the hoodlums seize the opportunity to lie in wait for road users.
“We are aware that an oil firm had paid for the construction of the road, but it is still a deathtrap.”
Eket community leader, Mr. Nsini Eduok, said he woke up in the morning to see youths block the road.
He said he did not see anything wrong with the youths’ action, insisting that if the right thing had been done, the accident, which triggered their protests, would not have occurred.
He claimed the community had complained to state government and other bodies about the deplorable state of the road but they had kept adamant.
He said, “I have just been informed that the youths are protesting against the bad roads leading to where the resources of this country come from. The condition of this road is worse than any other roads in the country.
“The rehabilitation of the road was given to FCC Nigeria Limited but we were told the government asked them to stop. Why they did that, we cannot actually say.
“Since then we have not seen any sign that this road is going to be done.
Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom Police Command, Dickson Etim, said it was only one pupil out of eight that were in the school bus that died, against six as given by the protesters.
He added that seven others sustained different degrees of injuries, stressing that the accident occurred when the children were going to school.
 “When I heard of the accident, I called the DPO in the area and he confirmed to me that it was only one person that died against six given by the protesters,” Etim said.
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/news/death-of-six-pupils-sparks-off-protest-in-akwa-ibom/#sthash.IZLUipyn.dpuf
What’s your BB pin?”, she asked conceitedly, raising her BlackBerry screen-glazed eyes. Her fake Yankee accent was drowned by rancorous voices and the din of the heavy metal music blaring from the Hi-fi speakers of the high-end nightclub in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos. Even when she was just sitting across the table as we both share a drink, I could barely hear her. Just as I could not make any sense out of our conversation in the entire time we spent together that evening. To add to my misery even now as I reflect on my experience that night, it is difficult to tell if my inability to understand my young female guest was due to her contrived foreign accent or the frequent interruptions from her “pinging” and the instant messages that kept coming into her BlackBerry phone.
Her obsessive romance with her phone, which repeatedly came in the way of our acquaintance, can be likened to having a conversation with the deaf. So, I had proceeded to ignore this new question; one of the many she had asked, while she took intermittent pauses, with the usual vacant look, from her dialogue with her imaginary phone character, intent on ruining my evening. I was going to treat her new enquiry like a rhetorical question; but leaning close to me, she asked the question again, insisting on an answer. Her persistent question about my BlackBerry status threw me off balance for a moment.
But when I recovered, my response was quick and brusque, “I don’t use a BlackBerry” Her reaction was immediate. The shock in her eyes was unmistakable. Her unspoken expression was; how would you not have a BlackBerry in this age and time? Then, she seemed to switch off completely. Her expression became distant.  From that moment, each time we manage to find to something to talk about, she would look past me, as if addressing a phantom.
 I was amused by it all.
I had met the restless 20-something university belle some hours earlier in the company of my young cousin. And because it was a Friday night, we all ended up in one of those nightclubs on Victoria Island where you will have to spend some nervous moments scrutinising the menu.
I was immediately struck by my female guest almost compulsive attraction to her BlackBerry phone. All through our conversation that night, she stayed glued to it. Her fingers tapped furiously at the tiny buttons on the keypad. She was a sight to behold. Her addiction, her obsession, became a spectacle. As she tapped frantically on the tiny keypads, she would pause occasionally, a frown appearing on her brow. At another time, she would laugh out hysterically, rocking back and forth on the chair with a loud yell. People turned to look. She hardly noticed, or did not care.  When the waiter appeared to take our order, she was not listening. She was completely oblivious of the happenings around her.  As soon as she realised I was not a BlackBerry phone user, our conversation seemed to freeze out. I became another statistic, another face in the crowd.
But I had it coming.
Long after the BlackBerry phone made its classy foray into the telephone consciousness of the upwardly mobile, I had been indifferent to its ability to quickly transform one’s status symbol; or doesn’t it? I have never taken myself seriously. For example, many years after Nokia 3310 became embarrassingly outdated, I had carried mine with pomp.
Recently, I walked into one of the mobile telephone shops, just as I had done in the last few years, and each time, I had come out with my wallet intact. I have never been able to justify the reason why I should spend so much money on any hand-held device. Despite the craze that followed the introduction of the BlackBerry and the iPhones, androids and iPads of this world, I have always considered them as passing fads for those who find them as status symbols.
For example, a majority of young Nigerians who carry these phones around hardly maximise the use of the features that come with them. But I guess it is fashionable to be seen with the most expensive phone in town. What, for example, are the unique features of a BB, aside from instant messaging, that make them a-must-have other than the status symbol that goes with logging it around?
Okay, maybe it is useful for folks who have loads of emails to answer per second. Otherwise, what is the point of a young person barely 17, paying monthly surcharges just for chatting, tweeting and Facebooking? Or does it have to do with the good feeling of owning a BB? Ok, you may say it’s cool to tweet, Facebook and ping at the same time. But what makes them desirable apart from these features? Are there no other phones performing the same functions?
My grouse with these new mobile phones is the frequency at which new models of the same phone are released into the mobile telephone market by the manufacturers. As soon as you buy a new phone, at the blink of an eye, another newer model with supposedly superior features is released into the market. In less than a month, your new phone suddenly becomes the older version of the new one. And the cycle continues. What phone fashionistas fail to realise is that although the new model may appear sleekier than the ones they have, in reality, the manufacturers have only added a feature or two to make them the new model of the old one.
One feature of a BlackBerry phone which makes it attractive to users, especially young people, is the instant message feature, popularly known as “pinging”. Now that comes with its own hazard. Recently, careless and indiscriminate pinging has become fatal. Inside a Lagos bus, I sat with a guy who ensured that his BlackBerry was conspicuously angled in a position where everybody could see it. He was barely 16. My young cousin told me that in students’ parties on campus (even secondary schools), you will be “gated” without possessing the most expensive type of BlackBerry!
Now the BlackBerry craze has claimed its first casualty.
 In Ajah, Lagos, a girl chatting passionately while crossing the road was knocked down recently. In Ogun State, it was reported by The PUNCH recently that a youth corps member, one Egbe Ogbu, lost his life while pinging in the middle of the road — I mean the guy simply committed suicide. In the report, a learner driver was said to have knocked down the guy as he crossed the road while pinging. He was chatting on his BB that he did not realise the danger to his life. The statement by the driver was shocking and revealing of the danger this BB crazy posed to users. She said: “Mr. Ogbu was busy pinging on the road; I did not know when he got in front of my car.’’
Now, who do we blame? The corps member or the driver?
- See more at: http://www.punchng.com/opinion/an-encounter-with-a-blackberry-babe/#sthash.ibQvCdf0.dpuf

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