‘WHY WE’RE YET TO PAY OUR FEES

• Wike blames Amaechi for unpaid debt, promises to pay up

• Osun, Imo, Rivers on debtors’ list as Ogun makes payment

As controversy continues to trail the non-payment of registration fees of candidates sponsored by some states in the May/June West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) examinations, Rivers and Osun state governments have advanced reasons why they did not meet up with their financial obligations.

This is just as Delta and Akwa Ibom governments kept mum when their reactions were sought on the debt put at over N4 billion by the examination body last week Monday. Also, the Imo State government said it was not sure of its status and insisted that WAEC had not approached it on the debt. On its part, the Rivers State government has promised to offset its debt.

Mr. Opunabo Inko-Tariah, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Governor Nyesom Wike, said that the debt was part of the debt left behind by former Governor Chiibuike Rotimi Amaechi. He said that the Wike administration was committed to human capacity development, as well as the overall development of the state, noting that it could not achieve that without paying serious attention to education.

Inko-Tariah said that the governor had demonstrated his commitment to education by releasing funds for the state’s stranded students on scholarship abroad. He said: “This was caused by former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. That was how students on scholarship abroad suffered until Governor Nyesom Wike paid. The debt owed WAEC was inherited from the Amaechi administration, but it will be sorted out.”

Also, the Osun State government has admitted that it owes WAEC but said it will soon offset the debt. Speaking through the Director, Beareu of Communication, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the government attributed nonpayment of its registration fees to the dwindling monthly allocation from the federal government. Okanlawon who affirmed that the state would not be among those whose students’ results would be withheld by WAEC, said every necessary arrangement was being made to meet WAEC’s request on the matter. When contacted, officials of the Akwa Ibom state government refused to comment on the matter, an indication that the state may be one of the debtors.

The state Commissioner for Education, Mr Aniekan Akpan, neither answered the many calls to his mobile phone nor responded to the text messages. In his reaction, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has said he is not aware whether the state is among the debtors or not. Okorocha, who spoke with reporters at the Government House, Owerri, said he, “We have not received any letter to that effect and I am not sure we owe WAEC but in the event that the council writes us to that effect, we will pay because education is the biggest industry in Imo State and happens to be one of the focal points of my administration.

“I can tell you that no letter from WAEC has come to my attention and if they write that we owe them, then we shall do the needful.” Although in Niger State there was no official confirmation, a source said the state is among the debtors as the immediate past administration of Muazu Babangida Aliyu did not pay the money in full before the students sat for the examinations. Efforts to find out the status of the state from the Niger State office of WAEC proved abortive as an official, Mr. Gershon Dandak, declined to make comment.

But the Public Affairs Officer of WAEC in the state, Mr. Yusuf Ari, said the examination body might release the names of the states involved soon. Although he acknowledged that some of the states had started responding, he said: “We want to give them a little more time and we want to believe they will respect our patience. I can assure you that by the time we release the results, any state that is still owing will be made public.” Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has exonerated itself from the debtor states.

The state government in records of activities exclusively obtained by Saturday Telegraph, said that it paid N535,047,000 million for the examination and administrative fees of 42,995 SSIII students, who sat for the West African School Certificate Examination, WASSCE in the state. According to the report, the state government said in addition to prompt payment of the fees annually, it had been meeting with the WAEC officers and principals of Public Senior Secondary Schools, saying the meeting had served as a forum for education of the principals on their roles in the security and proper conduct of the WASSC examinations. On its part, the Kaduna State government said it only paid for students who want to sit for NECO exams.

Speaking to our correspondent on Thursday, the immediate past Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Ali, said that the state usually pays NECO and not WAEC registration fees for its students. According to him, not every final year secondary school student is eligible to enjoy the privilege. The former commissioner said that only those that get five credits during the qualifying exams for SS2 students benefit from the government’s kind gesture. Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said he has offset the debt owed the WAEC by the state-sponsored candidates. Amosun, who spoke in Abeokuta during the week, disclosed that he had approved the payment of a sum of N496 million owed the regional examination body.

The examination body is due to release the results of the May/June 2015 WASSCE in two weeks time. But speaking at the Oba’s complex, Governor’s Office, Abeokuta during the inauguration of new transition committee chairmen for the 20 local government areas, Amosun said the state was no longer among the WAEC club of debtors.

According to him, he has on Tuesday signed the cheque for payment of N496million being the outstanding registration fees for the state candidates. Also, Ekiti State is not among the states owing the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) fees for the participation of final year students in public secondary schools in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination conducted by the body.

Sailing body to test for viruses in Rio Olympic venue

The governing body of world sailing says it will start doing its own independent testing for viruses in Rio’s Olympic waters after an Associated Press investigation showed a serious health risk to athletes competing in venues rife with raw sewage. “We’re going to find someone who can do the testing for us that can safely cover what we need to know from a virus perspective as well as the bacteria perspective,” Peter Sowrey, chief executive of the International Sailing Federation, said.

“That’s my plan.” Sowrey said the AP investigation of water pollution in the Olympic city helped “wake us up again and put this back on the agenda.” The sailing venue in Rio’s Guanabara Bay is badly polluted, as is a separate venue for rowing and canoeing — the Rodrigo de Freitas lake — in central Rio. The AP investigation also showed venues for triathlon and open-water swimming off Copacabana Beach had high virus levels that pose a threat to athletes and tourists. Sowrey, who spoke from IOC meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, took over a month ago as CEO of the Britain-based International Sailing Federation.

His wife Alesandra is a native of Rio de Janeiro, and he has a nine-year-old daughter Marie. “I’m a father myself,” Sowrey said. “I want to make sure that everyone who goes out in the water is as safe as possible and is given the right guidance and right security.”

The Associated Press analysis of water quality showed dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from sewage in venues where about 1,400 athletes will compete in water sports at the Rio Games, which open in a year — August 5, 2016. Olympic organizers and the Brazilian government have tested only for bacteria to decide if the water is safe. But many experts say viruses are a far bigger problem and need to be monitored.

In Rio, much of the waste and sewage goes untreated and runs down hillside ditches and streams into Olympic water venues that are littered with floating rubbish, household waste and even dead animals. In a statement to the AP, the World Health Organization said it has suggested the International Olympic Committee start monitoring for viruses at the Rio venues.

“WHO has also advised the IOC to widen the scientific base of indicators to include viruses,” the statement said. “The risk assessment should be revised accordingly, pending the results of further analysis.” At the world swimming championships in Kazan, Russia, swimmers said they are worried about the situation in Rio. “The athletes and the athletes’ commission have expressed their concern at the current problems with the quality of water, the cleanliness of the water,” Vladimir Salnikov, a former Olympic gold-medal winner, said.

“That will be put into a recommendation and people will pay attention to that. However, they can’t influence things any other way.” Shin Otsuka, an executive board member of the International Triathlon Union, said Friday his body was considering testing for viruses. Costa Rican triathlete Leonardo Chacon said he knows the risks, but will take them. “We know we are exposed to viruses, maybe to a health problem later,” he said Friday in Rio.

“But in my case, I have invested so much to prepare myself for this and I want this to happen because I can’t recuperate this investment any other way other than competing and winning the points that I need to win.”

A triathlon test event was scheduled on Saturday despite the government’s own report earlier in the week showing parts of Copacabana Beach were unfit for swimming. When Rio was awarded the Olympics in 2009, it promised cleaning its waters would be an Olympic legacy. But Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes has repeatedly acknowledged this will not be done, calling it a “lost opportunity.”

Sowrey said the ISAF would start doing its own water testing in Rio this month, no longer relying solely on Brazil’s government analysis. “We want to make sure we keep pressure on the organizing committee and the Brazilians to make sure they put some energy into cleaning up the bay,” Sowrey said.

“My job it to make sure something actually happens and it’s not just talk, and someone is actually walking the walk.” Sowrey said he received a call the other day from a woman whose child was participating in an Olympic sailing test event later this month in Rio’s Guanabara Bay. “She wanted to be able to reassure her child that we’re giving the right guidance,” Sowrey said. Sowrey said a “backup plan” included sailing all the events outside Guanabara Bay in the open Atlantic.

The ISAF has three courses there, and three inside the bay. He said it would be “‘heartbreaking” to sail outside the bay and lose the postcard backdrop of Sugarloaf Mountain, which will be a focus of television coverage.

In most Olympics, sailing is contested far from the main Olympic venues. In Rio, the sailors and rowers and canoeists get center stage — a chance to win fans and valuable sponsors. “We’re not going to sacrifice health for the sake of good pictures and good TV,” he said. “But I think the backdrop of Rio is an amazing backdrop and will do something for the sport of sailing.”

Liverpool face tough start to new season

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers could find himself under pressure sooner than expected with a host of new signings to bed in and a devilish run of fixtures to kick off the new Premier League campaign.

There were rumblings of discontent among supporters after the club finished last season in abject fashion with an embarrassing 6-1 defeat at Stoke City to end a dismal streak that dropped them out of Champions League contention.

Rodgers came under heavy fire from a disgruntled fanbase, who questioned his credentials following a third trophyless season at the helm, but he lived to fight another day after an end-of-season review by the club’s American owners.

Doubts about his position, however, could resurface if Liverpool endure the sort of miserable start to the season they had last year.

There has already been significant change on and off the pitch at Anfield.

None more so than the departure of long-serving captain Steven Gerrard, who left the Premier League for a swansong at American side LA Galaxy.

Yet he was not the only high-profile exit as Liverpool’s standout performer from last season, Raheem Sterling, engineered an acrimonious departure to Manchester City.

In terms of new arrivals, however, there is evidence to suggest Rodgers has been trusted to bring in his preferred choices this time rather than having his will bent to that of the club’s much-discussed transfer committee.

Christian Benteke, a bullish and highly mobile targetman, has been poached from Aston Villa to add some brawn to a Liverpool squad that at times looked lightweight by comparison to their rivals last year.

Brazil forward Roberto Firmino was recruited for a substantial fee from Hoffenheim and comes with lots of promise, while James Milner adds mobility and experience to the midfield and Nathaniel Clyne fills a vacancy at right back.

There has also been substantial change amongst Rodgers’ coaching ranks with former right-hand man Colin Pascoe dismissed as assistant manager along with first-team coach Mike Marsh, reports Reuters.

Sean O’Driscoll, who enjoyed mixed fortunes in managerial stints at Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City, has come in as Rodgers’s new assistant with former Liverpool midfielder Gary McAllister taking up a coaching role.

The new arrivals will have to bed in quickly as the fixture computer has not been kind, even if it has shown a comedic bent by sending Liverpool back to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke in their opener on August 9.

Then it all gets rather unpleasant as Liverpool face all of last season’s top five away before the end of November.

Should they be struggling in the Autumn, there may be one more significant change on the horizon.

Italian police seize $.5m from Snoop Dogg

Rapper Snoop Dogg has had his second brush with the law in a week, this time for trying to board a plane with almost half a million dollars in cash. Snoop was stopped by customs at Italy’s Lamezia Terme airport in Calabria carrying $422,000 (£270,000), well over the legal limit. Travellers are allowed to carry up to €10,000, (roughly £7,000), in undeclared cash across European Union borders. It is thought the 43-year-old was on his way to the UK.

The rapper, who played in Calabria on Friday night, is scheduled to perform at the Kendal Calling Festival in the Lake District on Sunday. Italian Police have confirmed that half of the cash was seized under Italian anti-money laundering codes.  The money is usually returned, minus a fine set by magistrates, reports Sky News. Last weekend Snoop was questioned and tested in Sweden on suspicion of drug use.  Authorities said test results won’t be available for some time.

Fear grips candidates over WAEC’s threat to withhold results

…NUT, PTA, ASUU, others express disappointment, blame governors

• Parents, students in anxious wait

Some of the candidates of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in the last West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) whose state governments are indebted to the examination body have expressed their fear over the body’s threat to withhold their results. WAEC has threatened not to release the results of states that are indebted to it except they pay up within the next few days before the announcement of the general results of the other candidates.

This is even as major stakeholders in the nation’s education sector including the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT); Parents’ Teachers’ Association (PTA); the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and non-governmental organisations such as the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) and Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiative (LYLI), have accused the affected state governors of misplacing their priorities.

The groups have also challenged the states’ commitment towards building a sound future for their youths. Kolade Abobarin, a student from Ogbaagba in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area of Osun State, is among those currently blaming his parents for withdrawing him from a private school to be enrolled in a public secondary school in the state. Kolade, 17, whose father lectures at the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, was in 2012 withdrawn from Funmilayo Ige Baderinwa School, Obaagun, Ifelodun Lacal Government Area of the state, and taken to Ataoja School of Science in Osogbo to continue his education from Senior School (SS1).

The attraction, according to the father, Mr. Wale Abobarin, was the free distribution of iPads or “tablet of knowledge” (Opon Imo) to senior school students and the payment of WASSCE fees by Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led administration. Today, the pupil, who wrote the last WASSCE, is busy preparing for the post- Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination screening of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, where he hopes to study civil engineering, having scaled the first huddle of the UTME by scoring above the 200 cut-off mark.

However, the young Kolade is afraid that WAEC may not release his WASSCE result, which is a major requirement for admission if the state does not pay the money it owes the examination body before the release of the results. Speaking with Saturday Telegraph, Kolade’s father said though, his son is currently in OAU preparing for the test, he is already disturbed by WAEC’s verdict, which may affect the outcome of his screening. He said: “I don’t want to say I am regretting my action for withdrawing him from a private school but it is frustrating. “We only pray the unexpected does not happen and are appealing to the state to fulfill the pledge for the sake of the future of these children.”

Similarly, Oyebamiji Ajara of Bashorun Grammar School in Ibadan, Oyo State, is presently not comfortable with the development. Her fear is that the situation may frustrate her future ambition. The situation is the same for Boladale Yisau (not real name) of Iganmode Grammar School, Ota, Ogun State, whose parents have been mounting pressure on the school management since Monday, to know what fate awaits their son. On Monday, WAEC had threatened to withhold the results some of its candidates in 19 states who participated in the May/June 2015 WASSCE over non-payment of their registration fees by their state governments.

The head of WAEC’s National Office, Mr. Charles Eguridu, while addressing the media on the development in its Yaba office in Lagos had urged the affected states to off-set their debts as soon as possible. He insisted that the Council cannot guarantee that the results of their candidates will be released alongside others. Eguridu, who said the examination body already owed its supervisors as a result of the development, also added that the many contractors of WAEC are currently being owed lots of money.

According to him, a total of 19 states in the country owe the Council, having not paid the entry fees for states government-sponsored candidates for the May/June 2015 WASSCE. “Sadly, the states have been nonchalant towards the payment of the debt, which amount to well over N4 billion. “As I speak to you now, we are cashstrapped as a result of the delay in offsetting the registration fees owed the Council by some states.

“As a result, we are finding it difficult to meet our financial obligations, particularly to our supervisors, examiners and service providers. “We have written to the affected state governments without any response. The poor response is threatening the smooth operations of the Council,” Eguridu said. But in his reaction to the development, the immediate past Chairman of NUT in Lagos State, Mr. Thomson Idowu, accused the concerned state governments of misdirecting their energies and resources Idowu noted that the states concern never had good intention for the children of the poor and that their decision to pay WASSCE fee lacked noble intention but was mere political posturing.

According to him, the innocent children if allowed to experience the psychological trauma associated with withholding of results may not forgive the system for as long as they lived, “because they never solicited for this gesture from the governors in the first instance.” He said: “The danger in their inability to pay will constitute to the life of the affected candidates will be unquantifiable, and the indelible mark will stay longer on their minds that it will be so difficult to erase.” Idowu berated the chairman of the Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazeez Yari, who was reported to have said that the inability of the states to pay up the debt was as a result of mix-ups in identifying the details of the monies owed.

He said Yari’s reason was very unreasonable, insisting that the governor was only justifying the people’s allegation that the whole idea of sponsorship was just an avenue for the governors to loot the treasury. “How can a governor say such a thing? Was he saying there was no verification before the registration? “Was he saying the government never knew the budget before giving approval? Does it mean the Ministries of Education and Finance never harmonised before deciding to take up the burden? “Was that the first time they would be sponsoring? The reason is dirty and the governor deserves knocks for coming to the public to say that,” Idowu stated. Similarly, the NUT chairman in Osun State, Mr. Saka Adesiyan, said the damage will be too great if WAEC’s decision was allowed to come to pass.

Adesiyan, who blamed the governors for paying lip service to the education sector, said if the state could no longer fulfill their obligation to the education sector, the foundation for national development was already in ruin. Also speaking with Saturday Telegraph, the Southwest coordinator of the PTA, Deacon Olusoji Adams, said the governors were not being realistic if they claim they do not have enough resources to pay the fees. According to Adams, it is only the children of the poor who attend public schools and their parents were those put under the sun and in the rain to monitor the governors’ votes at the risk of their lives.

He pleaded with the federal government to quickly intervene and command the defaulting states to fulfill their obligations, saying the nation will be sitting on a keg of gunpowder if the “innocent children were made to suffer the punishment for crime they never committed.” Also pleading for the federal government’s intervention on the matter was the chairman of the Lagos Zone of ASUU, Dr. Sola Nasir, who blamed the governors for what he termed “misplacement of priority”.

According to Nasir, while it is not arguable that physical infrastructure should be invested on by the state, the real bedrock for national development are both education and health sectors. He insisted that if quality education is not given to the people they would come back to vandalise the infrastructure built by the state no matter how beautiful. Nasir, therefore, appealled to both WAEC and concerned states, to resolve the issue within the window period before the release of results. The executive director of LYLI, Mr. Lekan Oladapo, criticised the affected state governors for what he termed failure to secure their various states.

According to Oladapo, the security votes being approved for the governors was not just for providing physical security for themselves and their families “as they currently do” but to secure the state by providing essential things that will make insecurity difficult in the states. He said one of such was to ensure that qualitative education is provided for the youth so that they do not become weapons of crime for the states. In a similar vein, the secretary of Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Mr. Michael Ogundele, said the new development is just one of those contradictions of a capitalist system.

“The working class people are usually at the receiving end of the state’s bad policies,” he stated. Ogundele, who said the rot in Nigeria’s education, was allowed to set in because the governors and the elite class do not have their children in public schools. He called on the affected candidates, their parents and members of the civil societies to organise a mass movement against the governors of the affected states. Meanwhile, investigations by Saturday Telegraph have revealed that some of the states have been rushing to pay the fees to avoid the impending public embarrassment.

The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, for instance, has revealed that he had on Tuesday signed the cheque for N496 million for the payment of the fee. Amosun, who did not give specific reason for the delay, hinted that the state’s wage bill had jumped to about N9 billion monthly.

Report: Bayern joins race to sign Otamendi

ayern Munich have joined the race to sign unsettled Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi, reports ‘Superdeporte’. Otamendi’s agent Eugenio Lopez revealed back in May that the Argentina international wants out of the Mestalla, but the player returned to club duty earlier this week with his future still unresolved.

Lopez and super-agent Jorge Mendes have been working to try to find a new club for the 27-year-old, and they may be boosted by the fact that Bayern are now interested in the defender. According to ‘Superdeporte’, Bayern officials have only contacted Otamendi’s representative, not Valencia.

Firefighter killed, hundreds flee as California burns

Blazes raging in forests and woodlands across California have taken the life of a firefighter and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes as an army of firefighters continue to battle them from the air and the ground.

Twenty-three large fires, many sparked by lightning strikes, were burning across Northern California on Saturday, said state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant. Some 8,000 firefighters were attempting to subdue them, something made incredibly difficult by several years of drought that have dried out California.

“The conditions and fire behavior we’re seeing at 10 in the morning is typically what we’d see in late afternoon in late August and September,” said Nick Schuler, a division chief with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “But because of the dry conditions, because of the drought-stricken vegetation accompanied by the steep terrain and winds, we’re seeing fire activity that’s abnormal for this time of year.”

In the Modoc National Forest, about a hundred miles south of Oregon, David Ruhl, an engine captain from South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest, was killed fighting a fast-moving blaze. He had vanished Thursday while fighting the 800-acre fire and his body wasn’t recovered until Friday.

The biggest fire was in the Lower Lake area north of San Francisco where firefighters had to wade through thick smoke and flying embers to turn loose horses, goats and other livestock in rural neighborhoods as their owners fled to safety. The fast-moving fire had burned three homes by Friday and was threatening 450 other structures. Only 5 percent contained, it had spread across 28 square miles and was growing quickly.

The fires prompted Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for California on Friday. As part of the order, he activated the California National Guard to help with disaster recovery.

Berlant said firefighters were hoping cooler weather might help them this weekend, but there was also the threat that lingering thunderstorms could bring more lightning strikes like those that ignited several of the fires, reports The Associated Press.

Predictable Premier League excitement begins

England’s Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most exciting in world football but as it embarks on its 24th season on August 8 is it also becoming one of the most predictable?

Last term only Newcastle United and Everton, both of whom dropped down the table, moved more than four places either way, while two of the three promoted clubs went straight back down.

Clubs outside the top six will aim to avoid relegation which will be more important than ever with a lucrative three-year domestic television deal, worth over five billion pounds ($7.77 billion), starting in 12 months’ time.

Overseas TV rights will add half as much again, making the struggle to stay up intense.

While the usual suspects are expected to contest the title, however, none of them have managed to win it for two years in a row since Manchester United completed a hat-trick in 2009 under Alex Ferguson.

Since the Scot retired in 2013, the Old Trafford club have not been in serious contention to add to their record 20 championships, finishing seventh and fourth.

They have spent vast amounts of money in that time, with only mixed success, and during the close season Louis Van Gaal has continued to revamp his squad.

Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich and Southampton’s Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin will improve the midfield options and allow the Dutchman to use Wayne Rooney in his best position, further forward.

By the end of the season Rooney should have overtaken Bobby Charlton’s records as record scorer for England and United.

He will be more interested in whether United have regained the title from Chelsea, who led the table from the third match of last season and finished eight points clear of the previous season’s champions Manchester City.

On the day in May that Jose Mourinho’s side made sure they could not be caught, television pundit and former United defender Gary Neville told viewers, “the rest are absolutely miles behind this Chelsea team”.

United, City, Arsenal and Liverpool will all believe they have reduced the gap after a transfer window in which the champions have so far been comparatively quiet.

Other than bringing in Asmir Begovic from Stoke to replace Petr Cech as second-choice goalkeeper, Mourinho’s only notable signing has been Colombia striker Radamel Falcao, who failed to live up to his reputation at United last season.

He impressed Chelsea’s captain John Terry when scoring a hat-trick against the London club for Atletico Madrid in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup final and, like United, they have now taken him on loan from Monaco, while hoping for a better return, reports Reuters.

City scored 10 goals more than Chelsea last season and hope to outscore them again after paying a fee that could rise to 49 million pounds ($76.16 million) for England’s Raheem Sterling.

Their total of 83 goals was 31 more than Liverpool, which explains why Brendan Rodgers made forwards his priority and signed Christian Benteke from Aston Villa, Hoffenheim’s Brazil striker Roberto Firmino and Danny Ings from relegated Burnley.

Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger has felt less need to strengthen a squad that retained the FA Cup and returned to the top three, although experienced former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech will doubtless save them plenty of points.

Newcomers Watford, Bournemouth and Norwich City will inevitably be tipped as relegation fodder but Villa, Sunderland and Leicester City, all heavily involved in the scrap to avoid the drop last term, cannot expect much more than mere survival

My late husband’s best friend asked for sex to help me -Iya Rainbow

Madam Idowu Phillips popularly known as Iya Rainbow ranks as one of the best to cast in Yoruba movies to play the role, ‘mother’. She turned 70 years recently and had spent the better part of her life acting. With outings in over 500 movies, Iya Rainbow is still a delight to watch. She shares her career, family and romance tales in this interview with DGossip247.

You look too young to be 70, what is the secret?

Well, I don’t eat much of heavy food, I exercise once in a while, I take lots of fruits and vegetables and I rest well.

How does it feel turning 70?

I feel honoured and as well great to have witnessed a day like my 70th birthday on earth because so many people clamoured and wished they could stay long like that, but in all I give God almighty the glory for sparing my life up to that very moment. Attaining 70 is not easy, but I pray to see many more years on earth.

Why did you decide to go into acting?

I started out as a stage actress in my late husband’s Osumare theatre group. Even while I was working as a nurse, I still found time to go on location to shoot films. At 45 in 1986, I retired from nursing on the advice of the late Chief Hubert Ogunde. He (Ogunde) reasoned that since my husband died in 1984, there was the need for me to continue with the family legacy. So, I went into acting full time. It was not easy at first, because I was formerly a salary earner.

In fact, the first set of movies I acted in were: Aje ni Iya mi and Eru. My late husband’s group was called Osumare Theatre Group, meaning Rainbow theatre group. One day, I went to act with some white men and in the course of acting, someone asked for the meaning of Osumare and I replied- “rainbow.” Then he said I should henceforth be called Iya Rainbow and that was it. I have produced lots of movies like; Alamu S’eniyan, Alepo Rebi, Anikulapo, Modupe Oluwa, Orisa rebi, among others, but I have acted in over 500 movies.

Is it true that your father was a prophet?

Yes he was. My father was Prophet Jacob Adebanjo Ifemade. My late mother was also a captain of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. I hail from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State and I have been a member of the C&S since1969. I attended African Methodist School and Anglican Modern School for my primary and modern schools respectively. Later, I was admitted to a nursing school and upon graduation, I worked for 20 years as a nurse before quitting for acting.

So, you just quit your nursing career for acting?

Like I said earlier, I stopped my professional job where I had worked for 20 years all because I wanted to continue the family legacy which is acting done by my late husband. Prior to my quitting, the late Chief Hubert Ogunde had advised and I have no regrets heeding that counsel.

When was the last time you produced a movie?

It was about five years ago. Marketers no longer patronise people like me: and my son, who used to write those scripts is abroad now. When he is back, we will go back to business.

Do you do any other thing aside acting?

I anchor engagement/wedding ceremonies. It was even one of the people whose engagement I anchored for that paid for the tiling of this floor (pointing to the floor of her room). When he came to thank me, he was surprised to find out that I had not tiled the floor, so he offered to do it at no cost.

What would like to change in your industry if you have a chance?

It is the issue of privacy and marketers. Some marketers are not sincere. Often times, they pay you in bits and pieces, not minding how you sourced the money to produce the film. But when I was still active as a producer, my marketer, Corporate Pictures, was faithful to me.

In fact, he bought my car for me. But since he stopped doing business with me, God has not abandoned me. He never cheated me. But I think since he realised that producers seldom feature me, he seems to have changed. So, now, when I visit him, he may welcome me or instruct his family to tell me that he is not available. Before now, he would make me most welcome in his house, but suddenly, he changed. I don’t even know why and I don’t want to bother myself about that. Though it pains but God knows best.

Since you joined the movie industry,what were the challenges?

There were a lot of challenges that I faced and other people in the industry also face these challenges. Let me tell you some of the challenges. The issue of transportation to location was a difficult one for me. I have had to transport myself going and coming back, at the end of the day, they would give me peanuts as my pay. Most times, they will tell you they would pay later and I would not get to see the money.

For each of the movies, I was paid N25, 000. Imagine a widow with five children surviving on such a meagre fee? It got to a point that I wanted to go back to nursing. A lot of people advised me against it. They thought my husband would be forgotten, but I must keep on struggling.

What’s your experience as a single mother?

When I lost my husband, a long time ago, that was in 1984, I thought the world would come to an end. It was difficult for me to cope as a woman, especially with the financial aspect. I had to continue from where my husband stopped and there was no money in theatre then. I had to meet one of my late husband’s friends, who said that I would have to sleep with him before I could get the money. I was shocked, because this was someone we all called father and a very close ally of my late hubby.

Why didn’t you remarry?

My marriage was a challenge because of my husband’s early death. I did not enjoy my marriage because my husband died a long time ago and since then, I decided not to re-marry. I have five children and they have all made me proud. God has been my pillar of support. My late mother was also a great helper; she took care of my children whenever I went on location.

But I usually made it a point of duty to go to their schools whenever I was around to supervise their education. What I missed most about my mother is that I no longer have a bed partner. Ever since the death of my late husband, we had always slept together and now she is gone. Then whenever I went to locations, she was always there for me. Above all, my mother loved me so much, she had six of us and I was her only female child.

There is the issue of grammatical and spelling errors in the subtitle of most Yoruba movies; what’s your take on that?

We correct them every time, there is nothing we can do than to correct them. I didn’t go to school of language, they did and at least they should be the one to correct these errors. We are Yorubas; we don’t speak English, and we do that for our fans, because we found out that non-Yorubas also watch our movies.

Can you tell us about some of your major achievements?

I must confess that theatre has paid off for me because I have now built my house, bought a car, and three out of my five children are graduates. One of my sons is a very popular writer.

You & I with Monalisa

Nollywood star actress, producer and entrepreneur, Monalisa Chinda has added another feather to her cap as she has concluded production of her innovative talk-show titled, “You and I with Monalisa”

‘You and I with Monalisa’ is an intimate and interactive show that uses the vehicle of drama to address pressing and trending social issues with the most refreshing perspectives.’

“It’s great to be challenged again at this exciting phase of my career with the privilege to present something fresh and original,” Monalisa said of the state-of-the-art talk show.

“We’re dealing with everything engaging, enriching and life-changing including some of the pitfalls we get into as a people, and ultimately finding our way out of them”.

Proudly supported by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), ‘You and I with Monalisa’ is scheduled to air on AIT, TV Continental and other Television platforms this August.

The Talk-show teaser..