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Written by Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare
Thursday, February 4, 2010

The ongoing divorce suit involving popular Nollywood actress, Eucharia Anunobi Ekwu was stalled before Justice Elfreda Williams-Dawodu at the Probate and Family Division of the Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, on Wednesday, due to her estranged husband's illness.

Counsel for Charles Ekwu, Mr. Anenele Okoh, had told the court that his client was unavoidably absent because he took ill few days ago.

He added that Ekwu had not been aware of the divorce suit against him until recently when he briefed him about it, adding that he was in the country and Eucharia was aware of the fact that he was ill.

However, Eucharia claimed it was a lie because she had not seen, heard or spoken with him in four years.

Eucharia also added that there were some things that she had been keeping from the court all the while that the case had been ongoing.

"Charles has been threatening me that I would never marry another man while he is alive," Eucharia said.

According to her, the text message sent by Charles read: "If you don't marry me, you are not going to marry another man."

Charles Ekwu had, on Wednesday, November 15, 2009, appeared for the first time in the divorce suit instituted by his estranged wife.

Until the surprise appearance of the husband, Eucharia had been scheduled to adopt her final written address without a representation from the husband.

But Charles, through his counsel, had told the court of his readiness to pursue the matter, claiming that he was outside the country, all this while.

Anenele had told the court that his client was ready for divorce but only wanted to clear some issues with the court.

The matter was subsequently adjourned till February 18, for further hearing.

WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela has threatened legal action against acclaimed South African director Darrell Roodt, who plans to make a film about her life.

A letter from her attorneys says Madikizela-Mandela is "extremely concerned" to hear of the planned film about her life "in circumstances in which she has never been approached for consent or at all".

"It is difficult to understand how a production bearing the name of an individual who has not been consulted at all could ever be appropriate or tell the full story of that individual life, as media reports suggest this production is intended to," the letter says.

"This is certainly the case here where our client has not responded to allegations and comment which have been made about her, precisely because she has sought to protect her sphere of personal privacy as best she can in extremely difficult and turbulent times," the attorneys' letter to Andre Pieterse's Ironwood Films reads.

Attorneys met with Roodt and Pieterse on Friday, but failed to reach an agreement with the film-makers.

News of the film, Winnie, hit South Africa late last year when it was revealed that American singer turned actor Jennifer Hudson had been offered the starring role.

The movie, which is set to start filming in May, has taken Roodt more than six years to bring to production and is based on a biography of Madi- kizela-Mandela by Anna-Marie du Preez Bezdrob.

South Africa's most acclaimed actor, John Kani, has voiced discontent at the casting of Hudson.

"From which angle has the movie been written?" Kani asked. "Will she be seen as a villain? If you did a movie of Nelson Mandela in 1967 it would have been that of Osama bin Laden."

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela.

Kani said he fully supported freedom of expression and the right to interpretation, but warned that there were certain "sensitivities that must be considered" when telling the story of the person people consider to be the Mother of the Nation.

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela, but felt producers should first explore the pool of local talent and consult local actors' unions before casting their eyes elsewhere.

"Now it's a free-for-all. Artists come here like they're tourists and end up telling you: 'I'm watching you'," said Kani in reference to the beer ads featuring Louis Gossett Jr.

"Jennifer Hudson is welcome to play Winnie, but what frustrates me is the South African producers' fascination with Hollywood. Yet they are the first persons to talk about 'local is lekker'," said the veteran actor and playwright.

Neither Roodt nor Pieterse was available for comment. Bezdrob, the author of Winnie Mandela, A Life, has said she hoped it would be a balanced movie and has described Madikizela-Mandela as "an incredible person".

In the letter to Ironwood Films, Madikizela-Mandela's attorneys warn the film-makers that she reserves her legal rights in the matter.

"Our client would have expected that the principal concern of the producer of such a film publication would be the need to respect the fundamental rights of those to be depicted particularly where the struggle for fundamental rights is the backdrop to the story itself," the attorneys write.

But a copyright expert believes that, although Madikizela-Mandela may object, she would struggle to win a court battle. "Normally, that would be a breach of a person's right to privacy. But she's a very public figure who's very well-known.

"Generally, there's nothing she can do to stop them from making a movie like that unless it's defamatory," said Spoor and Fisher.

Yar' Adua: Nigeria mocked [lampooned] in South Africa

Obinna Ezeobi and John Alechenu

The refusal of President Umaru Yar'Adua to hand over power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan has turned Nigeria into a laughing stock at an international conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

President Umaru Yar'Adua

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One of the speakers at the Mining Indaba Conference and a global economist, Dr. David Hale, told participants on Tuesday that Yar'Adua was very ill and might pass on within six months.

He was not done with the comment as he went on to add that Nigeria would prepare for another election in six months after the expected passage of the President.

He said, "In Nigeria, the President has been in Saudi Arabia for nearly three months for medical treatment and he refused to hand over to the vice-president, even though the people are calling for it.

"He is suffering from acute heart problems and should be dead in six months. So, in Nigeria, there should be a new election in six months after the death of the President."

The remarks by Hale, who is the Chairman of David Hale Global Economics, surprisingly elicited loud laughter from the participants and protests from members of the Nigerian team at the event.

Delivering the keynote address titled "Global Outlook," Hale also said that Nigeria, which needed at least 20,000 megawatts for stable electricity supply, however, regretted that the nation was only able to generate 2,000MW.

In a country by country analysis, the respected economist said that Nigeria's poor power supply made it a difficult environment to invest in.

Hale, whose clients include investment management firms, major hedge funds and multinational companies, is based in Chicago, United States.

He is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and the New York Society of Security Analysts.

The participants comprised mining executives from across the world, investors, analysts, financiers, journalists, policy makers, etcetera.

Speaking at the Nigerian Day at the Indaba Conference, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Senator George Sekibo, described Hale's comments as unfortunate and highly condemnable.

Sekibo said that Nigeria would make its displeasure on Hale's comments known to the organisers of conference and demand an apology .

According to him, the Nigerian government will be advised to also take up the matter diplomatically when the delegation returns home.

Sekibo said, "It is important for participants at the conference to note that Nigeria has taken giant strides in mining, especially in the last few years; that is in addition to providing the much needed infrastructure for investors' participation.

"We assure you that Nigeria is stable. There is not going to be any war anywhere, there is not going to be any division anywhere.

"Mr. President is not feeling very well now, every person can have such a situation. And I believe he will come out of it. Nigeria will still stand as a very strong country."

Another member of the Nigerian team, Alhalji Suleiman Kassim, also condemned the claim by Hale that Nigeria's total electricity output was only 2000MW.

Kassim, who is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, explained that Nigeria was generating over 3000MW and was hoping to increase it to 6000MW.

He maintained that since Indaba was a professional conference for stakeholders in the mining industry to relate, it should not be exploited by "uninformed political commentators" to deride a sovereign nation.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, is to appear before the Senate on Thursday (today).

The Peoples Democratic Party caucus in the Senate is also scheduled to meet at the official residence of the President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark.

Mark, who announced this during plenary on Wednesday, did not give reasons for Abba-Aji's invitation.

It was, however, gathered that it was a fallout of the closed- door session which the Senate held with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, on January 21, 2010 over the President's health.

Abba-Aji is expected to, among other things, answer questions as to whether or not the President asked him to transmit a letter to the National Assembly on his behalf.

A national newspaper (not THE PUNCH) had reported that the President wrote a letter to the National Assembly in line with the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution before he travelled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper report said the Presidential aide did not transmit the letter for unknown reasons.

Celebrating female virgins in Nigeria

Theo Egwuonwu is a pharmacist, who from his past relationships had never felt ready taking any lady to the altar; not until he met Angela (nee Ejiaka) after she won Miss Virginity 2008.

After six months of courtship, he concluded he had found his missing rib and they got married in 2009.

The Egwuonwus were present at the third edition of the celebration of Nigerian virgin girls who, from various parts of the country, came together over the weekend at Surulere, Lagos State, to publicly proclaim their decision to remain chaste until their wedding day.

At the event organised by Just For You Media, a non-governmental organisation promoting moral values among Nigerian youth, Ikem Augusta, a 20-year-old Delta State indigene beat 45 other females, aged between 16-30, to become Miss Virginity 2010.

“I am glad to have won. My advice to other girls is that it pays to wait because virginity is too special to give to just anybody. As an African woman, I am proud to be a virgin and I have decided not to give up my dignity till I get married,” said Miss Augusta, a 100 level computer science student of the Delta State University.

Another virgin, from Kogi State, 22-year-old Hauwa Ibrahim, a Mass Communications student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, said her Muslim father was surprised when she told him in 2008 that she wanted to join the Nigerian Virgin Girls. She now participates yearly.

“I have a lot of guys as friends so people did not believe I was a virgin, even my father. But after I went in 2008, people now believe and respect me. Of course, there are guys who want more than friendship. But I always tell them my position. Some stay as friends, while some go,” she said.

Prior to the virginity pageantry, the 46 ladies were examined by Dr. Naheem-Deen Ekemode, a gynaecologist with 35 years experience.

“I examined the girls without penetration while a nurse stood by all through. It was a physical examination by observation meaning that only with my eyes do I look to see if the hymen, which is a membrane, is there or if it has been damaged. And all the girls I certified them as virgins,” said Dr. Ekemode.

Addressing the ladies, Dr. Ekemode said medically, a girl who keeps her virginity is saving herself from contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) which could lead to gynaecological complications.

“Complications from STDs like gonorrhea and others can lead to pelvic inflammatory diseases. And this results in the Fallopian tube being blocked and causes so many other prevalent cases of infertility,” declared Dr. Ekemode, whose medical qualifications span across Africa and Europe.

Advising the virgins to marry preferably between the ages of 18- 26, Dr. Ekemode said complications such as fibroid could arise in women who keep their virginity for too long. He also spoke on the fertility period of females.

“Fibroid grows when the womb is too dormant and nothing is happening there. So keep your virginity but don’t keep it for too long. Also, the peak of a woman’s fertility is at 18 years. By 36 years, a woman has lost two-third of her fertility down to about 45 years when she reaches menopause,” Mr. Ekemode added.

The initiator of the Nigerian Virgin Girls and president of Just For You Media, Adunni Adediran, said her mission is to instil good morals in Nigerian girls, for them to keep their dignity and remain virtuous. She said yearly, certified virgins are given certificates of virtue as proof for posterity.

“Too many girls are being used and dumped by men who promise them heaven but give them hell. Many of them have unwanted pregnancies, many STDs, some even HIV/AIDS. Every girl who keeps her virginity till her wedding day is not only a pride to her and her husband,and their families, but also the nation,” said Mrs. Adediran.

Miss Virginity winner for 2009, Titilayo Odekeye, 24, and a graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, said being the immediate past virgin queen has resolved her will to preach the message of virtue even as she awaits her national youth service call-up.

“When I told my parents I wanted to join, they encouraged me. And until I joined, I never believed there are as many virgins like me. Anywhere I go now, I’ll always support this foundation because the foundation needs more sponsorship for the message to spread,” Miss Odekeye affirmed.

Also at the event, were Nigeria’s former ambassador to Ethiopia and Djiboutu, Segun Olusola; the Erelu of Lagos, Abiola Dosunmu; and other dignitaries who praised the virgins for their decision to “live a life of respect and dignity”.

Commenting on the celebration of virgins in a telephone interview, Bunmi Dipo-Salami, the principal consultant of LaRen Consulting, a development and social change organisation focusing on youth empowerment, said such celebrations are gender biased.

“Yes, some aspects of our culture should be preserved but if for a girl to validate herself as a virgin she has to be examined and go through all this while this is not the case with men, then I think it is gender discrimination. And this is a big problem because it is not adding anything to the development of the nation,” said Mrs. Dipo-Salami.

For Mr. Egwuonwu, who now has a three-months-old daughter, marrying a virgin has remained one of the best decisions in his 35 years of life. He said he has never felt as much love and respect for any other woman as he has for his wife.

“My relationship with her was different from previous relationships. And since we got married, there is hardly any friction. It was not hard showing her how some things are done and she has adapted well. Based on my experience, yes, I’ll advice every man to marry a virgin,” Mr. Egwuonwu declared.