Ambassador Raph Uwechue

Raphael Chukwu Uwechue was born in 1935.

He was former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Envoy on Conflict Resolution in Africa from 1999 to 2007, one out of a few who were there from the beginning of OBJ’s Administration to the end. Also, He was Special Representative of ECOWAS Executive Secretary in Cote d'Ivoire from 2002 to 2007.

Raph is a man who has devoted his life to conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. He’s been through the length and Breadth of Africa from Sudan to Angola, to Burundi, etc.

A major feat was the peace brokering between the warring factions in Sierra Leone in 2001. This largely unsung hero restored peace to that country.

He is an indigene of present Day Delta State.

He had his primary school in Sokoto and his secondary school education was at St. John’s College Kaduna,alma mater the likes of Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and Air Vice-Marshal Abdullahi Dominic Bello.

He proceeded to the university College of Ibadan where he took an honours degree in modern history.

Thereafter, He travelled to Switzerland to study French and international law at the Geneva Africa Institute.

Ambassador Raph Uwechue joined the Nigerian Foreign service at its inception in 1960.

He served in a number of countries including France, Camerooon, Pakistan and Mali.

He holds the honor of being Nigeria’s first diplomatic envoy to France, where he opened the Nigerian Embassy in Paris in 1966.

He later switched his allegiance to the Biafran Republic.

He had the following to say in His Book: Reflections on the Nıgerian Civil War, Facing the Future

"The principal point at issue on which I disagreed with the Federal Government (of Nigeria) was its inability.

(a) to provide effective protection for Ibo civilians during the gruesome massacres of 1966 and, (b) the unsatisfactory handling of the question of compensation and rehabilitation of the families and dependents of the victims of those unfortunate events.

"My opposition to the Federal Government.was not based on any sudden realisation that the Nigerian peoples who had lived together in one country and in that sense as one community, in considerable harmony for over half a century, have become such inveterate incompatibles that they must now be separated in order to be saved...

"Until we become a truly integrated nation - only time, tolerance and patience will make this possible - it is unrealistic to adopt a constitution which presupposes the existence of an already integrated society.The answer lies in 'modulated' decentralisation within the framework of a federation in which minority elements are effectively insulated from the threat of domination by any of the preponderant tribes, Hausa-Fulani, Ibo and Yoruba."

Back in 2003, when I became confused about the happenings in Nigeria, Raph Uwechue was an example of how things could still go right in Nigeria.

His book rated the most impassioned account of the Nıgerian Civil War, dwelt extensively on the remote and immediate causes of the war. He didn’t stop at that, He also proffered credible solutions that would have stood the test of time if they had been implemented.

Ambassador Raph Uwechue, Mr. Africa has traversed the length and breadth of Africa in search of Peace for a Troubled Continent.

In these days and times, when Political Mentors are fast disappearing on the Nigerian Political Landscape, Ambassador Raph Uwechue’s life, ideas and stand is one which progressive Youths can tune into in our quest for a new Africa.

UK embassy denies Lagos lawmakers visa

What message were they trying to pass across?

I think the British High Commission needs to tell us the details of what actually led to the refusal of Entry Clearances for our esteemed lawmakers to attend a one-week workshop aimed at sharpening their legislative skills and oversight responsibilities [Ki la won na n wa kiri?].

If our lawmakers[public officers, who have been trusted to create laws to maintain peace and order are not spared the the indignity of being refused entry clearances, what hope do ordinary mortals like us have at the hands of the Entry Clearance Officer?

Is it a form of protesting against the high cost of diesel fuel used to generate power in the absence of regular power supply for their operations or the fact that their members of staff cannot go round Lagos safely or any of the Niger Delta States without fear of abduction?

Is their action precipated on the fact that we are still a long way off from being the Giant of Africa, an ordinary title we tag ourselves with to suit our ego without a value in terms of economic might, continental influence, etc.

The sins of their slave-fathers should not in anyway be visited on their sons and daughters.

It hasn’t been proved that it was solely the sweat of my slave ancestors that developed the infrastructural Development the UK is enjoying today.

A vast majority of Nigerians speak English, live English and are English-oriented.

Our way of life is indirectly influenced by the English Culture because we speak the language. Studies abound which shows that a language and its culture go hand-in-hand.

However, we have allowed ourselves to be tagged 419’ers[advanced fee fraudsters].

Our young men and women have not helped matters having bought into the ‘yahoozze’ culture which has been a proven and tested way of making money.

Applying for a visa to enter any country under any guise subtly points to the imbalance of this world in terms of Racial Perception and Economic strength despite claims by modern day economists that the world is now a Global Village with a level Playing Ground for each and every citizen of this world.

What can be further from the truth?

The world that I know as of today is a cruel one, which reduces the value of a man into U.S. Dollars/the Pounds Sterling and the worth and ideals of a woman into the partition between her thighs.

I refuse to hold any white man or woman responsible for the plight of the African Continent.

Though they contributed largely to its origin, the resources at the disposal of the Continent plus the gains from trade which have been squandered or embezzelled outrightly have been more than enough to right the wrongs of the 19th/20th Century.

Back to the main discource of this writing, I think the British High Commission should have explored other options to correct the anomalies that might have trailed the application of our lawmakers instead of subjecting them to the riducule of the denial of Entry Clearances.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200806261495545

*Ki la won na n wa kiri?: What is it they[lawmakers] are looking for?

finally...I get to update...

a>

rite nw...I dont even know where to start from...start somewhere...yeah, rite.

All school children have been told at one time or the other to always revise whatever they have been taught in class and not wait until the exam period before picking up their books...
Alas! I didnt pick up my books to study on time, flunked my middterms not because I liked the failure staring at me in the face but because I had devoted my time to something I considered very important: the welfare of my fellow Nigerians and image of my country, Nigeria.

The Kibris Police is in everyway like the Nigerian Police Force...unprofessional, uncouth and operating with impunity.

They were the genesis of my problems this past semester.

From the onset, I planned to have a semester where things that should go right would go right, delegating authority to people like Felicia, Tunde, James, Harun, etc. who were capable of carrying out assigned tasks and using their own initiative to do what they know is right...

I laid back to enjoy the free time I started getting for myself...

An attack on an Iranian girl on the unlit way to the girls dormitory caused the police to go and arrest close to 40people...still can't figure out why they could blantantly show their hatred for black people openly like that...

Anyway, things shouldn't get out of hand...whiltst having meetings with the top echelon of the university, the international students Union Stakeholders and the Nigerian students...my studies suffered and the only thing that kept me going was the sense of belonging everybody showed in the Association and the greater good being achieved.

Needless to say again, I flunked my middterms asides DBM II where I scored 90%[Residual knowledge from the previous semester]...I went to the exam hall 10mins late cos I knew I wasn't ready to take on the exam just yet...

To cut the long story short, the NSA Presidential Elections were just around the corner and unlike the sham of the Presidential elections in Nigeria last year, I had to work to surpass the transparency of the Elections that brought me into power last year.

The elections were almost marred by the Graduate students claiming not to have any representative on the Election Organising Committe...my bad, as I thought I had set up an all-encompassing Committe to take charge of the Elections...

1. James Agbabune [Chairman]
2. Henry Anarodo
3. Peace Chibogu
4. Moses Jiya
5. Rhoda Olaoye

I would like to reiterate the appreciation of the entire Nigerian Student Body to the five afore-mentioned people for conducting a free, fair and credible election.

O my God! Final exams were days away...I haven't studied anything at all but I must pass.....Thus began the sleepless nights to try to cover up and post a good enough result that will not make mama cross with me, and still keep alive the hope of getting High Honors...
I pitied myself after a while...I became scarce on campus, I cut my sleeping hrs from 5hrs to 2hrs and underwent some stress I wouldn't wish to go through again...

To God be the Glory...I posted a good enough result that still placed me at the 'bebe' of a High Honors and still one of the best in my class...

My H.O.D, Terrin Adali who has the reputation of being a B... awarded me two straight A's[beat that!] in the two courses I took with her...

I got my result and I literally flew out of the Admin Building cos It was much more than what I was expecting...

The 'many many waka' and the stress finally paid off glowinly in the academics as well...

...nd finally...the finals r here

I've been on AWOL for a while...Not to worry, I'm going to finish my finals in like a week and then I'll update...lutfen...bear with me...

...rather a Blast! contd

In the early hours of Thursday, 28th February, 2008 around 1am, a friend of mine from the dormitory, Shuaib Adebayo came down to my house to tell me that all the Nigerian boys resident in the the Univer-City Complex(Male Dormitory) have been arrested by the Police. I told him that it was too late in the day for a joke like that but he told me He was being serious and that he was only one of two that escaped from the lot.
On getting to the Police Station around 1:30am in the morning, I met about 34Nigerian Boys, One Cameroonian and One Ivorien lined up in front of the office of the Case Officer.

I sought audience with the case officer who told me that my fellow students were not arrested as they claim. So, what are they being held for? Most of them have classes in the morning by 9:00am and they don’t know what they are being held for at close to 2am in the morning.
I told him that if I am not told why they are being held, I’ll give an order to the Nigerian boys to march out in ten minutes.
Five minutes later, a police officer came to me and took me to a side room and told me that an Iranian girl was assaulted and that they suspect a Nigerian of committing that atrocious act and that they have a suspect in particular, Francis Nnadi. I told him that is still not enough justification for arresting the Nigerian boys’ resident in the school dormitory.

What I still can’t fathom is that the supposed assault was carried out on the unlit way to the female dormitory and then based on the flimsy suspicion of a Nigerian, the police went to the boys dormitory which was about 2 to 3kilometres away from the supposed crime scene to arrest all the Nigerian Boys. They didn’t stop at that. They barged into their rooms which was being pointed out to them by a dormitory official by, slapped them and demanded for their passports. Those who dared to raise their voices or showed some form of resistance received blows and then they all were hauled to the Police station.
At about 3:30 am when I finally secured the release of the Boys, there was no single dormitory official in sight into whose care their various Parents/Guardians have committed their wards.
Later in the morning at around 10:15am, I was summoned to the Rectors Office. A while later, the General Secretary of the school joined us. He explained that the Police behaved in an unprofessional manner and that there was no concrete evidence that it was a Nigerian who committed the supposed crime. He said the police had wrongly based their suspicion on the fact that the girl or a witness had said the supposed assailant was an “Arab” which loosely translates into a black man in the Turkish language and that the supposed person was indeed referring to someone of Middle East Origin.

The school tendered apologies on behalf of itself and on behalf of the Police and said it was imperative to maintain the peace on campus. I reasoned along that there was no need letting the tempers fly so high about what has happened and I talked to most of the boys and they agreed with me.
However, Francis Nnadi was arrested later in the morning of the same day, taken to court the next day[Friday] and was held on the orders of the court over the weekend pending the outcome of the Police Investigation.

He was released about a week later when Police investigation showed that Francis was nowhere near the supposed crime scene.

As a result of the lukewarmness of the School Authority in dealing with the aforementioned issues decisively, the ISU President, Mr. Atif Hafeez resigned from his post.

Though, the matter has been largely forgotten now and frayed nerves calmed, I cannot think about this singular event which almost caused a free for all fight between my Nigerian boys and the Police when I got into a scuffle with one of them for assaulting Francis Nnamdi when they raided the boys dorm.
I wont ever forget the solid cooperation and courage that was shown by the boys in the face of Police Oppression and Brutality. Thank you guys...

In exacly one week from now, elections would be held to determine a new leader for the Nigerian Community.

A lot of things have happened over the past one year that I have learnt from, the memories of which will linger on forever in my mind...Thank you to everybody who believed in me and voted for me on the 4th of May, 2007.
As we march look forward to another round of elections in a week's time, It is time to reflect on what still needs to be done to place the Nigerian Student Body on a very sure footing within the ambit of the University.

Behold! the New Nigerian Foreign Minister...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQK5h22_Y5A

Without taking anything away from Chief Ojo Maduekwe, I think this Indian Dude is doing a far better job of projecting Nigeria's Image positively...I can't but agree with you, my Indian friend...Thank you for standing up for us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQK5h22_Y5A

ME, MY DESERT & I

I had gone to the the Library as it was my usual practice back then in 2005 when I was outta school for a while.
After going through the back cover, I became interested enough to read through the book.
Over time, I have learnt that The Great men in history always, have had to do something that was extra-ordinary.
Isaac Jibunoh is one of such men.

Isaac's soul was along the line yearning to be great...to do something different...

He gave a good account of his journey therein...cant remember most of the details right now...but I do remember that he said his car was impounded at an entry point into Nigeria. He came across to the immigration men as a weird one. Instead of being carried shoulder-high as soon as He was sighted, He was being asked series of questions and made to go to Lagos to obtain clearance before he was allowed to drive his car into Nigeria...(I can't remember the details, go read the book)...

Isaac mentioned in his book that his wife was apprehensive of the fact that the Desert was silently calling to him once again...He finally heeded the call and he documented his experiences alongside the account of his first journey...

I got the impression that sir Isaac was done with Desert Exploration but then I read a couple of days ago that the Desert call was too strong to ignore for the Great one again...

I wish him success in his endeavor to make something out of something that is seemingly worthless...