Letters to the Editor | Catholic Church: Matters arising

I wish to say few things that I have observed in our Catholic church in Imo State. I felt sorry for the woman whose son was stolen in a Catholic Church in Okigwe.  The woman explained that the church was hot and that made the child to cry.  She asked the elder sister to take him out which means that if there was no heat in the church the boy would not have been stolen.  Now in the real sense, who would we blame, the priest of course.  Elsewhere, priests check the fans on Saturdays and anyone that is found faulty repaired.  It seems as if the priests in Imo State do not care.  If…

UNITED IN GOD FOR LIFE

A Declaration issued at the end of the Pro-life Conference/ Rally at the Obiri Odenigbo, Villa Assumpta, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, June 3rd – 4th, 2013. As our society is experiencing the dangerous encroachment of the culture of death from without and within, the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri continues its Pro-life Mission by organizing a two-day Pro-life Conference with the theme: “Protecting Human Life from Conception to Natural Death.” Pro-lifers from Nigeria, Europe and America participated in the Conference and Rally. The predominant evils of same-sex union, pornography, abortion, contraception, euthanasia, baby factory, anti-life bills and laws and the negative influence of social networks were the major concerns of this conference. The destructive effects of…

Letters to the Editor: The plight of Primary School Pensioners in Imo State

The pensioners in Imo State especially the retired Primary School ‘teachers’ and their State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) counterparts are crying to the good Government of Imo State to come to “Macedonia and help them” to alleviate their sufferings, to save them from dying of hunger and sickness.  They are asking government to show appreciation for their long service honestly rendered to the State Government for 35 years by paying them their due gratuity and pensions, which are their hope of living and sustaining themselves and families.  Some of them who retired since 2010 have not received anything called money, why?  Those on the pension pay roll have not been paid for over ten…

ACHEBE AND THE INVENTION OF AFRICAN LITERATURE (1)

came strong on the world stage with the publication of his first novel, Things Fall Apart. It is a work widely considered to have defined African literature and brought balance to world literature. This is despite the fact that there were other pioneering efforts regarding African prose by African indigenous writers. By 1933 Omenụkọ by Pita Nwana had been published, followed by the Onitsha Market Literature through which Cyprian Ekwensi published pamphlet stories like Ikolo the Wrestler and Other Ibo Tales (1947) and When Love Whispers (1948). These were before Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952), which many regard as the pioneer novel form in English language by an indigenous African. However, it is Chinua…

Softly, softly on urbanization: more homes, less houses

Long before Abraham Maslow published his hierarchy of needs in 1943, there has always been some controversy on what truly constitutes basic human needs. The unending, amorphous list of needs (sometimes confused with ‘wants’) range from breathing (air) to self-actualization. In-between these two extremes fall in such other needs as food, safety, belongings and self-esteem. The desire to satisfy this galaxy of needs is the driving passion behind human enterprise and hard-work. It is this passion that has produced our great industrialists- the Aliko Dangotes, the Mike Adenugas, the Tim Ovias, the Paschal Dozies etc. Ironically, it is also this passion that is producing in Nigeria thousands of clever pen-robbers who are bleeding the nation…

Dr Joe Obi-Njoku : Rising from the Grassroots

Imagine him chopping wood with an axe.  Imagine him also shirtless, barefoot, a climbing robe “akpi” on his left shoulder and a machete in his right hand, dividing the bush and heading for the nearest palm tree to cut down the ripe fruits for sale, so he and his family could eat.   Imagine him again taking bamboos from the raffia palm and carefully weaving the traditional bamboo bed – “okpukpo,” (agada in some dialet)  also to make a living. Finally, see him riding an old bicycle from his home at Umueme, Uzagba, in Ikeduru local government, to Mbaise to go to college.   That’s the life of Dr Joe Obi-Njoku, as a young man,…

Auto crash: Why Okorocha was not treated in Government hospital

Insecurity and protracted labour dispute between the State Government and staff of the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), were reasons why Governor Rochas Okorocha was not taken to the hospital for treatments when he was involved in an auto crash recently. Okorocha’s vehicle had head-on collision with another vehicle belonging to one Osita Nnawuihe on Friday, April 19, 2013 at Umuoma, Orlu, while driving himself without the usual outriders and government house ambulance. Daily Sun learnt that the governor was rushed to St. Mary’s Children and Community Hospital, Umuowa where he received first aid, while Nnawuihe was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri for treatment. The State Government and the teaching hospital…

HOME OF A KNIGHT SHOULD BE A MODEL FOR OTHERS – Emeakaraoha, MGK Knights of St. Mulumba

The newly elected Owerri Metropolitan Grand Knight, MGK, Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria, Prince Eugene O.N. Emekaraoha has said that the home of a Catholic Knight must be a model in good character and conduct to others within his environment. In his maiden address to the plenary session of Owerri Metropolitan Council of the Order of St. Mulumba Nigeria, Prince Emekaraoha warned members that anything to the contrary will not be tolerated. He also charged knights and indeed Catholic parents to teach their children Catholic Catechism from nursery stage at home and direct them towards church activities from their primary school age. ‘‘Do this and your harvest would be bountiful’’, he assured. Drawing a correlation…