News From Nigeria
Niger Delta leaders task Buhari, Umana on NDDC Board
Notable leaders in the Niger Delta on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept the need for a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
‘’The board is needed to assure the nine states interests in the region’s development process’’
The leaders in a statement in Port Harcourt urged the president not to dally with the Niger Delta problem.
‘’Fundamental to the forensic audit report is the question of implementation. The evidence so far is that the Federal Government is not rising to the occasion admirably’’
The statement signed by the Chairman of Niger Delta Front (NDF), Chief John Harry, suggested that if Buhari cared so much about developing the region and making the government wide-ranging, he should quickly constitute a new board for the commission.
‘’The Niger Delta people have suffered in silence from the hardship deriving from the advice of interim committee promoters’’
The leaders commended the Federal Government for the forensic audit, the advantage being that the people of the region has been galvanised into lending full support to President Buhari in his campaign to curtail corruption in the region’s development agency.
‘’Three issues likely to have negative effects on government plans for the region are the personnel audit, delay in constituting a new board and moves to put in place another interim committee to run the commission’’
They described the ploy to constitute another interim committee as impractical and unnecessary.
‘’It is a matter of sorrow and regret to see a man or woman betray his region and people. The proposed interim committee will not only make NDDC a weak but scrappy agency’’
Specifically, the leaders referred disdainfully to individuals and groups urging Buhari not to constitute the commission’s board.
‘’In order to avoid a repetition of our recent past experience whereby government engaged in all sorts of interim strategies, the commission’s board should be constituted’’
The leaders expressively proclaimed sympathy for the workers, describing the proposed personnel audit as a moment of total aberration.
‘’For purposes of implementing the personnel audit, the agenda will present enormous problems’’
The statement called for rapid departure from past concepts.
The leaders commended the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana for his largeness of vision.
They also applauded NDDC Sole Administrator, Mr Effiong Akwa for playing his part creditably.
The statement underscored the people’s unexpected qualities of endurance, the fear of dismissal and Umana’s energy, knowledge and dedication to public service.
‘’We must act, and act quickly. We have to plan our way out from this mud hole and that must be done by the Commission’s board’’ the men and women of intellectual and financial abilities said.
Notable leaders in the Niger Delta on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept the need for a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
‘’The board is needed to assure the nine states interests in the region’s development process’’
The leaders in a statement in Port Harcourt urged the president not to dally with the Niger Delta problem.
‘’Fundamental to the forensic audit report is the question of implementation. The evidence so far is that the Federal Government is not rising to the occasion admirably’’
The statement signed by the Chairman of Niger Delta Front (NDF), Chief John Harry, suggested that if Buhari cared so much about developing the region and making the government wide-ranging, he should quickly constitute a new board for the commission.
‘’The Niger Delta people have suffered in silence from the hardship deriving from the advice of interim committee promoters’’
The leaders commended the Federal Government for the forensic audit, the advantage being that the people of the region has been galvanised into lending full support to President Buhari in his campaign to curtail corruption in the region’s development agency.
‘’Three issues likely to have negative effects on government plans for the region are the personnel audit, delay in constituting a new board and moves to put in place another interim committee to run the commission’’
They described the ploy to constitute another interim committee as impractical and unnecessary.
‘’It is a matter of sorrow and regret to see a man or woman betray his region and people. The proposed interim committee will not only make NDDC a weak but scrappy agency’’
Specifically, the leaders referred disdainfully to individuals and groups urging Buhari not to constitute the commission’s board.
‘’In order to avoid a repetition of our recent past experience whereby government engaged in all sorts of interim strategies, the commission’s board should be constituted’’
The leaders expressively proclaimed sympathy for the workers, describing the proposed personnel audit as a moment of total aberration.
‘’For purposes of implementing the personnel audit, the agenda will present enormous problems’’
The statement called for rapid departure from past concepts.
The leaders commended the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana for his largeness of vision.
They also applauded NDDC Sole Administrator, Mr Effiong Akwa for playing his part creditably.
The statement underscored the people’s unexpected qualities of endurance, the fear of dismissal and Umana’s energy, knowledge and dedication to public service.
‘’We must act, and act quickly. We have to plan our way out from this mud hole and that must be done by the Commission’s board’’ the men and women of intellectual and financial abilities said.
Stakeholders in the politics of the South-West geo-political zone on Monday were full of praises for the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Iyorchia Ayu.
They lauded Ayu’s role in the fight for true federalism, ideals of democracy and enthronement of the rule of law in Nigeria.
The notable PDP leaders, who met in Akure, applauded Ayu for leading by the strength of his ideas.
They also commended him for protecting the integrity of the party,
enhancing the cause of democracy and consolidating the strength and mass appeal of the leading opposition party in the country.
“PDP is enjoying a sense of harmony,” they said.
The respected leaders distanced from the calls on Ayu to resign and lashed at those obfuscating issues and polarizing the leading opposition party.
Meeting under the auspices of the South-West Unity Forum (SWUF), the leaders said Ayu deserved commendation for advancing the course of the party.
In a statement after the meeting titled, “South-West has spoken”, the leaders praised Ayu for sorting out certain fundamental issues germane to the victory of the party in 2023.
The statement was signed by the Chairman of South-West Unity Forum (SWUF), Chief Ajani Bankole.
The statement emphasized Ayu’s extraordinary commitment to reconciliation, the scale of courage, human warmth and the pressing sense of work to be done ahead of the 2023 elections.
The leaders commended Ayu for contributing immensely to PDP’s victory in Osun State.
Stakeholders in the politics of the South-West geo-political zone on Monday were full of praises for the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Iyorchia Ayu.
They lauded Ayu’s role in the fight for true federalism, ideals of democracy and enthronement of the rule of law in Nigeria.
The notable PDP leaders, who met in Akure, applauded Ayu for leading by the strength of his ideas.
They also commended him for protecting the integrity of the party,
enhancing the cause of democracy and consolidating the strength and mass appeal of the leading opposition party in the country.
“PDP is enjoying a sense of harmony,” they said.
The respected leaders distanced from the calls on Ayu to resign and lashed at those obfuscating issues and polarizing the leading opposition party.
Meeting under the auspices of the South-West Unity Forum (SWUF), the leaders said Ayu deserved commendation for advancing the course of the party.
In a statement after the meeting titled, “South-West has spoken”, the leaders praised Ayu for sorting out certain fundamental issues germane to the victory of the party in 2023.
The statement was signed by the Chairman of South-West Unity Forum (SWUF), Chief Ajani Bankole.
The statement emphasized Ayu’s extraordinary commitment to reconciliation, the scale of courage, human warmth and the pressing sense of work to be done ahead of the 2023 elections.
The leaders commended Ayu for contributing immensely to PDP’s victory in Osun State.
2023: WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE DISTRACTED BY THE BUSINESS OF RELIGION- GOV AKEREDOLU
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has condemned the incursion of religion into the political arena of the country, adding that it portends danger for the polity ahead of the 2023 general election.
Governor Akeredolu, who stressed that the solution to the challenges faced in the country will not be found in the faiths of individuals, noted that a person’s religious persuasion is based on personal conviction.
The Governor spoke on Wednesday at the 1st year Monograph of Memorial Lecture and Celebration of Life of Professor Bankole Olusiji Oke, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Arakunrin Akeredolu delivered the Lecture titled “Nigeria: The Politics Of Religion In A Transitional Society.”
While pointing out that the public space must remain secular, the Governor noted that the current agitations for a faith-based political representation are anchored on certain misapprehension of the requirements for leadership in a multi-ethnic state such as Nigeria.
He stressed that the incursion of religious agitation is driven by mischief to set the people against themselves to attain political power, adding that any religious leader who ignores knowledge and competence as necessary criteria for measuring leadership capacity is an apostate.
The Governor, who warned that the earlier the people stop the dangerous and divisive faith-based campaign the better for country, added that any war fought to establish the supremacy of a faith over others can only end in tears.
“The manipulative skills of politicians as being currently put to use will aggravate an alrea
dy bad situation.” He said.
Governor Akeredolu explained that the clamour for the restructuring of the polity and agitation for power shift must gain prominence over the debate on representation based on religion.
“The military handed over power, eventually, in 1999 and there has been civil rule since that time. Nigerians celebrate the fact that the democratic experience remains unbroken ever since. There appears to be an understanding that power must rotate between the North and the South.
“This understanding witnessed the contest of two candidates from the Southwest for the Presidency. It was part of the unwritten agreement that the power equation must be balanced to allay the fear of domination harboured by the people of the South.
“There is a conscious attempt not to disrupt the extant agreement. There has been a seamless transition from one civilian regime to another since 1999, the longest in the political history of the country.
“The current political permutations raise strong suspicions about an undeclared motive to thwart the arrangement that has been working for the country. The rotation of the office of the President has always been between the North and the South since the inception of the Fourth Republic.
“The attempt to disrupt the process of democratic transition using all manner of subterfuge heralds forebodings of unpleasant consequences.
“But beyond the agitation for power shift is the quest for economic independence of the states under the current political arrangement. The clamour for the restructuring of the polity should gain currency more than the unprofitable noises made for representation based on religion.
“Those who overheat the polity for personal aggrandizement should lend their voices to the issue of resource generation and control by the federating units.
“As the country prepares for another transition in 2023, it is only reasonable to expect that the arrangement, which has engendered peace for almost two decades, subsists for the benefit of all. Any attempt to change this design to assuage personal ambition can only worsen the already bad situation.
“Our people must reject any overweening cravings which may impact negatively on the polity. The current noises made on the need to have people occupy offices on the basis of religion is not only dangerous, but, annoyingly, does not portray politicians as those who are interested in public good.
“Religion has always been a weapon of manipulation in a transitional society. Religious leaders rely on the gullibility of their followers to participate, actively, in politics, while presenting a façade of spirituality. A country in the process of evolution cannot afford to be distracted by the business of religion.
“Granted that it is expected of political gladiators to magnify even the most irrelevant of issues to score cheap political points, it is profitable for the leaders of thought, especially religious leaders, to act decently. The contestation for a political office and fight for relevance must not be used as an excuse to mislead the people.
“Most reasonable people will question the economic logic which propels a country, purportedly practicing Federalism, to run a monolithic economy. Let all those who agitate for representation do so on the basis of economic participation first. This should be the fundamental consideration.
“The warped mentality which predisposes the elites, both the clergy and political, to always indulge in permutation on the expectation of largesse sharing is deplorable.”He said.
The Governor also described the controversy trailing the recent choice of the presidential candidate of the ruling APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim, to pick Senator Kashim Ibrahim Shettima, another Muslim, as his Vice-Presidential candidate, as most regrettable.
“This choice has generated needless controversies. Those who spearhead this apparent mischief either ignore or are oblivious of the fact that the position of the Vice President, as provided in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is innocuous. The occupier of that office can only act as directed by the President who wields the real executive power.
“It appears that these protests are symptomatic of the level of distrust among the members of the political class who will do anything to grab power. The brazen incursion of religion into the political arena portends danger for the polity. Quality representation had absolutely nothing to do with the belief of a political office holder.
“The leadership of the two popular religions, Christianity and Islam, must avoid making inflammatory statements capable of causing chaos in the polity. This is the time all patriotic citizens must speak with one voice on the need for economic emancipation of the regions. We must begin to seek ways to remove the odious shackles of dependence which has almost run the whole country aground.
“We should all condemn and seek to end a system which promotes indolence. We must encourage all parts of the country to contribute to the economic development. We should all tap into our respective areas of comparative advantage as it was in the First Republic.
“And, consequently, we cannot afford to make the mistake of electing our leaders on mendacious and sentimental premises. Just as no reasonable person will choose to be driven by a driver on account of ethnicity and religion, only the competent aspirants with manifest capacity should be considered.
“A heterogenous society must have its affairs controlled by knowledgeable leaders with proven records of public service. Motivational speeches and copious quotes from the Holy writs can only inspire. The job of the President of a country in distress requires capacity, forthrightness and courage.” He concluded.
Richard Olatunde
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.
August 10, 2022.
PRESIDENT BUHARI CELEBRATES CHIEF AKINTOLA WILLIAMS AT 103
President Muhammadu Buhari joins family and friends of renowned accountant, Chief Akintola Williams, to celebrate his 103rd birthday, appreciating God for grace of long life, strength and impact, particularly in service to the country.
President Buhari felicitates with Chief Williams for scoring many firsts, which brought the spotlight to Nigeria and Africa, being the first Nigerian to qualify as a chartered accountant in England in 1949, and starting the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa in 1952.
The President notes other historic achievements of the chartered accountant in establishing Association of Accountants in Nigeria in 1960 with the goal of training accountants, being a founding member and first President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and full involvement in setting up the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
On his 103rd birthday, President Buhari acknowledges the many recognitions and awards he has received, including appointment as Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1997.
The President continues to rejoice with the chartered accountant, and prays for his wellbeing.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
August 10, 2022
PRESS STATEMENT
Akeredolu Clears Air On Arrest Of Kuje Prison Escapee, Idris Ojo
The attention of Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has been drawn to the announcement of Idris Ojo as one of the attackers of St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, arrested by the security agencies.
Governor Akeredolu acknowledged the confusion the statement has created in the public space, considering that the ugly event of June 5 attack in Owo preceded the unfortunate incident on Kuje prison.
The Governor said there was a mix up in the announcement by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.
Governor Akeredolu explained that Idris Ojo, who is number 14 on the wanted list of Kuje Prison Escapees was arrested in his brother’s house in Akure.
“The announcement of the arrest of Idris Ojo as one of the perpetrators of the June 5 attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo was a mix up from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.
“Idris Ojo, who is number 14 on the wanted list of the Kuje Prison Escapees was arrested in his brother’s house in Akure. His brother, Jimoh Rasheed Ibrahim, received and accommodated him after his escape from Kuje prison.
“He was thereafter moved and kept in the custody of the security operatives at the same time the attackers of Owo Catholic Church were arrested and brought into custody. Hence, the mix up.” The Governor said.
Governor Akeredolu urged members of the public to remain vigilant and give necessary supports to the security agencies in the State.
Signed:
Richard Olatunde
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.
August 10, 2022.
PRESIDENT BUHARI MOURNS JOHN CHIAHEMEN, VETERAN JOURNALIST
President Muhammadu Buhari is saddened to learn of the death of John Chiahemen, a former Reuters Bureau Chief for Nigeria, extending deep condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, including everyone in the various media organizations where he worked.
The President recalls that as a veteran newsman with the reputable international news agency and Editor of Reuters Africa, Chiahemen was respected for his brilliant contributions and editorial role of covering news about Africa from a business and development perspective, beyond the narrow stereotypes of disaster and poverty.
The President believes that the remarkable legacies left behind by one of Nigeria’s most accomplished journalists will continue to inspire current and upcoming members of the fourth estate of the realm.
President Buhari prays for the peaceful repose of the soul of the deceased and comfort for those who mourn.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
August 10, 2022
PRESIDENCY SEEKS MORE MEDIA PARTNERSHIP IN NATION BUILDING
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has solicited for continued partnership with the media in order to help the government and citizens realise the Nigeria of their dream.
Mr Adesina said this Tuesday at State House, Abuja, when he received the Ace Leadership Award presented to him by the management of Love FM 104.5 Abuja as part of its Merit Awards 2022. The Award ceremony proper had earlier taken place in June.
While expressing his appreciation to the organisation for considering him worthy of the award, Adesina said:
“The media should partner with the government instead of being adversaries. What you find in the media at times is that they are so adversarial to government, which does not have to be. This is our country and we don’t have any other one.
“If they send the country into a tailspin through too much criticism, even the media won’t even be able to do its work. So, we should always bear in mind that it is our country and whatever we make of it is what we get.”
Presenting the award, the representative of Love FM, Ewuzie Anele Lilian, expressed the organisation’s pride in the work of Mr Adesina as a journalist, having got to the peak of his career through dint of hard work:
“We are happy to identify with you because we know how you started. You rose through the ladder and here you are, still doing the media work. We know it is not everybody that will accept what you are doing.”
She assured the spokesman of the support of Love FM despite some reports that suggest otherwise. “Sometimes we criticise you, we learnt that from you anyway. Before you got here, you were criticising others. We have come to say congratulations despite all that has happened. We are proud at the level you have reached and pray that God will sustain you and give you more wisdom to deal with the challenges associated with the job,” she added.
Abiodun Oladunjoye
Director (Information)
August 10, 2022
WE’II CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN PEACE IN ONDO-GOV AKEREDOLU
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, has assured that his administration will continue to maintain peace in the State,stressing that it is the responsibility of government.
The Governor commended the security agencies over the arrest of terrorists involved in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo.
Governor Akeredolu spoke in his office on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to his office by officers of the Federal Fire Service, led by the South West Zone L, Commander and Assistant Comptroller of Fire Service, James Olatunji.
The Zone comprises Ondo, Osun and Ekiti States.
While thanking the Almighty God for the arrest of the perpetrators, the Governor noted that the blood of the innocent worshipers spilled in a sacred place of worship and the fervent prayers of the people also contributed to their arrest.
Arakunrin Akeredolu, who reiterated his administration commitment to protecting the people and their property, reemphasised that the recent shooting in Owo had nothing to do with the June 5 attack.
He said:”We knew about this about a week ago. Arrest has been made over a week ago. I know there was ongoing investigation and because of that, there was no need for us to make it public so that the security agencies, especially DSS, who were majorly involved are not compromised.
“The arrest were made about last week, we were briefed, but we had a pact with them not to go public and as at this morning two other people were arrested.
“We know that now that it has been made public, the security work may be difficult. We must thank Almighty God that this arrest has been made. Where they attacked was a sacred place and the prayers of the people have been answered.
“The blood of the innocent people they killed are crying. What happened in Owo thereafter, the recent shooting, was not to maim or kill. By the grace of God, we will continue to find a way to maintain peace in this state. That is what we owe our people.”
The Governor while stressing the importance of the fire service, said if not for their timely interventions at different occasions, properties worth several billions of naira would have been lost to various fire incidents in different parts of the state
Earlier, the Zonal Commander, James Olatunji, appreciated Governor Akeredolu for the harmonious relationship among the State government, the Federal and State Fire Services as well as all the security agencies in the state, adding that Governor Akeredolu has consistently supported the Federal Fire Service in the state with logistics and other important needs to boost their activities.
He also applauded the Governor for making the state safe and habitable for the citizenry by improving on the security architecture across the state, just as he expressed the readiness of his team to key into the security architecture of the state to further secure the lives and property of the poeple.
Olatunji revealed that between January 1 and August 9, 2022, the Service saved five lives while one life was lost during fire incidents. He added that property worth N3.139bn were saved just as the state lost property worth N164.2m.
According to him, the properties included houses, shops, market, event centres, fuel tankers, trucks and others.
He said a total of 46 cases were recorded during the period under review.
He added that just last Friday afternoon, he personally led a crew of fire service to Sijuwade area where properties worth N50m were saved.
He also gave the Toll Free emergency number as 112 and Ondo State Federal Fire Service emergency number 08133006400, in case of fire outbreak.
Richard Olatunde
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.
August 10, 2022.
LAGOS TASKFORCE CLAMPS DOWN ON OKADA OPERATORS PLYING BANNED ROUTES
… Says Okada Passengers Risk Three Months Jail Term
The Lagos State Taskforce has continued its enforcement of the ban on commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada, that ply restricted highways, particularly in the six Local Governments Areas and nine Local Council Development Areas across the State.
Speaking on the exercise which took place in Agege/Fagba, Apapa and Ajah, the Chairman of the Agency, CSP Shola Jejeloye, described the activities of the recalcitrant okada operators as rebellious and vowed to ensure those who continue to disregard the ban would have their bikes confiscated and crushed by the State Government.
Jejeloye further stated that 322 bikes have been seized since the commencement of the week-long raid in the aforementioned areas of the State, assuring citizens that more will be done until the State’s vision of maintaining safety and sanity on Lagos roads is actualised.
“We intend to continue embarking on raids across the State towards ensuring a total clampdown on bike operators violating the ban on plying major highways in the six Local Governments Areas and nine Local Council Development Areas till total compliance is attained”, he stated.
While warning Lagosians who patronise recalcitrant okada operators to desist, CSP Jejeloye declared that passengers would henceforth be arrested and prosecuted with the okada operators.
His words: “Both passengers and riders are culpable if found operating on routes banned by the State Government and both will face a penalty of either three months jail term or N50,000 fine, or both as pronounced by the courts”.
The Chairman, therefore, enjoined Lagos residents to embrace alternative means of transportation which are safer and in line with the State’s inter-modal transportation vision.
Mr. Peter Obi, call your supporters to order, falsehood and disinformation will not win election
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has appealed to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi to call his supporters to order and to allow this election circle to be about issues that will advance the growth, progress and stability of Nigeria.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the TCO admonished the Labour Party presidential candidate to get his supporters to desist from spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
TCO further states that Nigeria will be better for it and the electoral process will be enriched if the 2023 presidential campaign sticks to issues of good governance that will lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty rather than being dominated by the ravings of guttersnipes, who do not wish the country well.
Mr. Onanuga noted that the Tinubu Campaign Organisation saw the need to appeal to Mr. Obi to rein in his supporters after investigating the origin of the fake report claiming that the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo wrote a letter to the All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asking him to support Peter Obi and take care of his health.
President of Ghana via his official Twitter account has vehemently debunked the fake news as a product of deliberate mischief with the intent to deceive the public.
“I have written no such letter to the APC leader, and it will not occur to me to do so. Ghana and Nigeria boast of decades of cordial, strong and brotherly relations, and I am not going to be the one to interfere in the internal affairs and politics of Nigeria,” said President of Ghana via Twitter.
“We have found that the fake news about Akufo-Addo’s letter was first published on June 22 by a rogue platform, whose url reads as worlsnews.space (sic) and site identity as World of News.
“A content analysis of the site clearly showed that it is a Biafra news platform. The fake news was reposted on Facebook by Peter Obi Support Group, same day – a clear proof that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.
“Both the Facebook account and the website are replete with fake stories about Bola Tinubu, including a fake story credited to former governor Akinwunmi Ambode, alleging that Tinubu demanded N50billion monthly payment from him. The spuriousness of the statement is in the evidence that Lagos did not begin to clock N50billion revenue until after Ambode left office. Tinubu could not have demanded N50billion monthly payment from Ambode when the state government didn’t make such in a month throughout the tenure of Mr. Ambode.
“The pirate website, which the Facebook account feeds on also parades malicious fake news and headlines such as “ I am old, but my blood is young, please vote for me – Tinubu begs youth” .
“There is also the most wicked of all headlines: When I became president, I will Build more prison (sic) for Igbo’s and IPOB members – Tinubu”.
“The big surprise in all of these is that all the headlines have no supporting stories, and clicking them may bring virus to your computer.
“We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell Mr. Obi to show leadership and disavow his supporters who are employing fake news and disinformation as deliberate tools to deceive and poison the minds of unsuspecting Nigerians,” Mr. Onanuga reiterated.
Bayo Onanuga
Director, Media & Communications
Tinubu Campaign Organisation
PRESS RELEASE
LAGOS’LL STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIP WITH U.S. ON SECURITY, TECHNOLOGY, GOOD GOVERNANCE, SAYS SANWO-OLU
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday said the State Government will strengthen its partnership with the United States and work closely to deepen a mutually beneficial relationship on security, business, entertainment, technology and good governance, among others, to better the lives of the citizens.
Governor Sanwo-Olu made the statement on Wednesday while receiving the new United States Consul General, Mr. Williams Stevens, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Marina.
The Governor said Lagos State Government is looking forward to using the opportunities and mutually beneficial partnerships between the State and the United States to better the lives of residents and create an atmosphere where businesses can thrive.
He said: “We know too well that you will do bigger and greater things with the government and the people of Lagos. The relationship that the government has with your office is great; it is phenomenal but beyond that, it is really about our people. It is about ensuring that we can use our opportunity to better the lives of our citizens and businesses both in institutions and the country.
“Over the last couple of months in Lagos State, we have seen direct investments from big American companies that have seen the need for them not to just verbalise that the future is in Africa but the future is actually in Lagos and we need to take those steps.
“We know that indeed this is where the huge number of youth population; the opportunity is here in tech, financial services, entertainment and tourism. This is where everything comes together. So, I am excited. We believe working closely with your office, we will be creating success on both sides and we will be building a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Security is paramount for you, myself and for our citizens. We will be taking that forward. I am sure over the period we will deepen the relationship further and build a visible clear vision for our cities.”
In his remarks, the United States Consul General, Williams Stevens said his country was poised to improve the economic relationships, bilateral trade and work together to combat crime while partnering to prioritise education, cultural engagement and entertainment, among other initiatives that would lead to investments in the state.
Stevens, who described the economic relationship as the foundation of any partnership as well as security, promised that the United States will partner with Lagos State and the Federal Government in combating trans-national crimes and ensure the security of lives and properties of residents, which according to him is key to creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
He said: “We are focused on security. We are focused on ensuring that we are working together with Nigerian organisations and law enforcement to combat international crime and help the people here safer and more secure, which actually directly connects to trade investment.
“We are also focusing on the human concept on regulations, health, partnership, democracy, governance, preparation for the upcoming elections; everything we can do to ensure that people who are here in Lagos State and around Nigeria can have the opportunity to live healthy and safer.”
Stevens, who described Nigerian entertainers as global stars, said there is a partnership between Americans and Nigerians both in films and music in the classic entertainment industries.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
10 AUGUST 2022
PRESS RELEASE
SANWO-OLU RECEIVES HOMECOMING TREATMENT, AS GOVERNOR INSPECTS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS ON LAGOS ISLAND
…Residents hail Governor on the progress of 10-storey New Massey Hospital, Adeniji Adele Road projects
An exercise for an extensive inspection of the ongoing infrastructural upgrade in Lagos Island, on Wednesday, turned to a homecoming event for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as a tumultuous crowd of residents trooped out to welcome the Governor back to his home base.
Sanwo-Olu, who hails from Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area, was in the community to inspect the progress of the ongoing construction of Tapa-Okepopo streets, Adeniji Adele Road and construction of new 10-storey Massey Children Hospital.
The exercise literally turned into a rally when the residents, in showing their appreciation for the projects, joined the Governor on a walk from Adeniji Adele Road into adjoining streets.
Sanwo-Olu was in company of members of the State cabinet and top Government functionaries.
Inspecting the road projects, Sanwo-Olu expressed satisfaction on the pace of work, but urged the contractor to take the advantage of the good weather to scale up construction activities and deliver the projects at the end of the year.
Adeniji Adele Road, before its expansion and dualisation, used to be a single lane. The condition of the road deteriorated due to perennial flooding. The upgrade project, which is at 65 percent completion, now has interlocked bricks with lidded and channelised drainage to address water overflow.
At the new Massey Children Hospital, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, conducted the Governor round the site, where the 547 piling caps required to fully raise hospital structure had been completed.
Sanwo-Olu also observed the civil work on the multi-level car park for the hospital.
He said: “Today, we are here for the on-the-spot assessment of the ongoing reconstruction of Tapa-Okepopo streets and Adeniji Adele Road on Lagos Island. Messrs Julius Berger, the contractor, had informed us that the entire project is at 65 per cent; it shows that we are on track and we can complete the project before the end of the year. Interlocking bricks have been laid; the drainages have been largely completed and the whole area looks new.
“We also inspected the construction of the new Massey Children Hospital, where we noticed the two buildings that are supposed to be coming up on the site. The nine-storey car park, which is currently at the third floor and the 10-storey children hospital. All the 547 piling caps required to fully raise structure on the hospital site have been completed. The contractor has been working double hard on the terms of the project.”
Sanwo-Olu led the team to Ilubirin where a flood protection channel is being built by the Office of Drainages in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources to address water back flow to low plain areas in the city.
The Governor said a temporary wall had been erected across the water pumping channel to prevent back flow of water from the Lagos lagoon to Lagos Island environ.
Without the barricade, Sanwo-Olu said water would naturally be flowing back from the lagoon whenever there are high tides.
He said: “Significant part of Lagos is below sea level. When water rises from the lagoon, it can flow back to the city. The main observation today is that we are constructing a new 1-kilometre diversion channel from Ilubirin Estate that will take water unto the Lagos lagoon. We are also expecting three high-capacity pumps that are arriving next month. When this is done, issues around flooding on Lagos Island could have been significantly solved.”
The flood prevention effort, the Governor said, would be shifted to Ojo-Giwa collector and Thomas collector on Lagos Island for permanent solution.
Sanwo-Olu’s final stop was at the Lagos Island General Hospital in Aidan, Marina, where the State Government has carried out extensive rehabilitation of outdated facilities in phases.
In the first phase of the work, the Sanwo-Olu fully redesigned and upgraded the hospital’s Accident and Emergency section, Surgical Emergency wards, and training rooms.
The second phase of the project had the Pharmacy department and catering section rehabilitated. Eye Clinic, Administrative Building, Ambulance Bay, Relative Waiting Area and Children’s Surgical Wards were fully renovated in the third phase of the work.
The final phase, Sanwo-Olu said, will ensure full upgrade of the Pathology Department and construction of new wards to accommodate more patients on referral.
“In the new hospitals we are building, we have included the construction of Doctors’ Quarters just as we have in Lagos Island General Hospital. We are currently building quarters for doctors in Gbagada General Hospital and another one on General Hospital, Isolo. This is to improve the condition of service for our doctors and other health professionals supporting them,” the Governor said.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
10 AUGUST 2022
Osun State INEC and PDP Trying to Compromise Electoral Documents*
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State Chapter, has received an authentic information about the activities of certain individuals in the Osun State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and some unscrupulous elements in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in attempts to compromise the contents of the electoral results of Forms EC8A and EC8B vis-à-vis the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) reports which contain the records of the actual number of persons accredited to vote in each polling unit.
Having read the Petition filed by our candidate, Alhaji Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola and our party, the APC, the PDP (PDP) and their collaborators in the INEC, Osogbo office, have entered the panic mode and have been making frantic efforts to manipulate the electoral results and other documents.
Everyone can recall that the Petition we presented to the Electoral Tribunal on Friday, the 5th day of August, 2022 made detailed and undeniable allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 with established vagaries and inconsistencies between the numbers of persons accredited by BVAS and the actual numbers of persons that voted in each polling unit.
By the above, we were able to establish over-voting in 749 polling units across ten local government areas of Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, Ejigbo, Ila, Ilesha West, Irepodun, Obokun, Olorunda and Osogbo Local Government Council Areas.
We got it from a reliable and an authoritative source that the INEC officials in Osogbo, working for PDP and its candidate, Ademola Adeleke, have embarked on an urgent process of manipulating the contents of the BVAS report in order to defeat the unassailable allegations and evidence at our disposal.
It is on record that the certified true copies of most documents are with us and any attempt to doctor, manipulate, tamper with or utter such documents in the custody of INEC shall be resisted strongly.
We use this medium to call on all lovers of democracy and electoral justice to prevail on INEC and PDP to allow a peaceful determination of the electoral dispute as submitted to the Electoral Tribunal sitting in Osogbo.
Furthermore, we consider it pertinent to warn all officials of INEC office, Osogbo and their PDP collaborators to desist from any criminal activity capable of compromising a fair determination of our Petition.
If the PDP and the INEC know that they won the election fair and square without any malpractice or corrupt practice, they should come and defend our allegations without deceiving the public or making electoral justice impossible.
We shall not hesitate to put in motion criminal prosecution against any attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
Thank you.
*Prince Gboyega Famoodun,*
Chairman, All Progressives Congress,
Osun State Chapter.
JANUARY 1, 2022
*Dear Fellow Members of the Okpe Union,*
Few hours ago, we bided farewell to 2021, a year that brought us several challenges in our stewardship of the Okpe Union. We had the challenge of organising national elections in circumstances of an international plague in the form of COVID 19 as well as the unfortunate disagreement between the Okpe Union and HRM, Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe surrounding an attempt to take over the administration of the Union which all branches rejected in the General Assembly of the Union. I strongly commend your resolve as individuals and collective for remaining steadfast and committed to the ideals of the Okpe Union bequeathed to us by our forefathers.
Unfortunately, we lost some prominent members of the Okpe Union, like Mr. Chadrick Idjeneba of Lagos Regional headquarters, Mr. Johnson Usieta of Jos Branch, and close family members, including Mrs. Delphina Akpederin, the mother of our indomitable General Secretary who schooled him and a number of other Okpe nationals in the virtues of Okpe Identity. Many of you represented Okpe Union in giving all of them a glorious and befitting funeral, respectively. We thank you all and pray for their souls to rest in perfect peace. On their behalf and on behalf of all departed family members and leaders of the Okpe Union, we dedicate our activities to the rebuilding of Okpe Union.
The success of the national elections of the Union was a welcome relief. It was peaceful and the outcome was without any protest despite the fact that some offices were keenly contested. We charge the leaders of the different regions and branches of the Union to focus on rebuilding the branches now to ensure that more Okpe nationals in various towns and cities of the country and the globe are attracted to join the body.
As we take our first steps into 2022, I invite all members to sharpen our awareness and consciousness in developing a strong and united Okpe Union. We must be aware that, no matter how genuine our objectives are, there will also be some elements hostile to Okpe Union. Our weapon is to continue with our task of promoting, defending and protecting the interests of the Okpe Nation on the constructs of Okpe Identity. We shall continue to rely on superior argument and logic in doing so, as we deepen democratic principles of leadership in all structures of Okpe Union.
We shall embark on a series of sensitization campaigns focusing on Okpe Identity in all branches of the Okpe Union. We shall institute a series of entrepreneurship workshops to assist our youths and women in acquiring needed skills to sustain themselves. We shall also launch a mentorship programme to assist our youths and women. All these initiatives shall employ the now well established women and youths wings of the Union as well as the National Association of Okpe Students (NAOS) .
We recognize the youths’ and students’ categories as the future leaders of the Okpe Union. In this regard, we shall continue the support we began last year 2021 to the campus chapters of NAOS to enable them organise their various Okpe Cultural Day events in the campuses that they are active.
We recognize that the path to achieving these programmes will not be smooth. It will be filled with potholes, curves, hidden valleys and road blocks. With FAITH in our belief and God’s continued guidance and blessings we shall succeed in our mission and mandate to transform Okpe Union into a formidable institution to build a prosperous Okpe Nation.
We shall achieve this noble historical mission by collaborating with all institutions in Okpe Nation, including the Udogun Okpe, political leaders and civil societies in Okpeland.
We shall also build on our close relationships with other ethnic organizations in Delta State and across Nigeria in a united endeavour to construct a strong Federal Republic of Nigeria on the basis of equity, equality and justice; a strong Federal Republic of Nigeria where the democratic rights of all ethnic nationalities, irrespective of their sizes, are recognized and upheld. Our success in this undertaking depends on our collective efforts at solidifying the various organs of the Okpe Union, from the branches to the National Executive Council, the National Congress, the Board of Trustees and finally, the General Assembly which is the highest organ of the Okpe Union.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I welcome you all to the year 2022. May God grant us the wisdom and guidance to serve our Okpe Nation selflessly.
God Bless the Okpe Union!
God Bless the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom!
God Bless the Okpe Nation!
*Prof. Igho Natufe*,
*President General*
RE PROF. IDOLOR’S ILLEGAL INTERIM NEW YEAR MESSAGE; HOW COULD HE SPIT ON HIS FATHER’S GRAVE?
It is difficult to understand how Professor Emurobome Idolor could describe the Okpe Union as having been moribund for over eighty years. The status of the Okpe Union with the CAC began to have issues with the CAC after the death of Chief P.A. EWETUYA the former President General and last trustee of the Union. He transited on the 1st of March, 2014.
How could the Okpe Union which mobilised the Okpe people to resuscitate the Orodje stool in 1945 with the coronation of Esezi II; brought stability to the Okpe Nation with the coronation of Orhoro I in 1972 and also played a notable role in preventing crises in the Okpe Kingdom by the coronation of Orhue I be said to have been “moribund for over 80 years by Prof. Emurobome Idolor? People need to be made to understand that the relocation of the CAC Headquarters from Lagos to Abuja and subsequent conversion of operations to online that made some old organisations to have several issues with their documents with the CAC. This is in addition to the nonchalance of the subsequent leadership of the Union in ensuring update with the CAC. Several other ethnic unions have same issues with the CAC. The Okpe Union current elected leadership is currently on top of regularising the status of the Union with the CAC. Suffice to state that the law and CAC regulations provide for the entire procedure for replacement of trustees and the issue ought not generate any furor but the sworn poise of some persons to distabilise the Okpe Union.
It is worth informing Okpe people that Prof. Emurobome Idolor joined the Okpe Union in 2009 for the first time when the National Headquarters of the Okpe Union in Lagos inaugurated the Sapele LGA Branch of the Union and he became the first chairman of that Sapele LGA Branch that year. The question to Prof. Idolor is if the Okpe Union he joined in 2009 (twelve years ago) and became a new branch chairman is the same Okpe Union that he describes in his new year message as purported illegal Interim PG as moribund for over eighty years?
This action by Prof. Idolor can be likened to a boy who was convinced by enemies of his family to spit on and desecrate his father’s grave and do several other sacrilegious commands against his family in exchange for some promise of bread or other immediate need. May God help the Okpe Nation.
Signed:
Akpederin K.E. Esq., General Secretary.
3rd January, 2022.
THE BATTLE OF IDEAS IN OKPE NATION: PART 1 By Prof. O. Igho Natufe, President General, OKPE UNION
January 19, 2022
*_INTRODUCTION_*
Let us forget, for a moment, that Nigeria is a Republic where it is incongruous to have monarchies in any part of the country. Let us pretend, for a moment, that Nigeria is *_“a parliamentary monarchy”_*, like the United Kingdom is. In this pretentious situation a Monarch, like the Orodje of Okpe, is to *_reign_* but not to *_rule_*, just like the Queen (or King) is in the United Kingdom. The various levels of parliaments rule/govern by enacting laws for the administration of the federal, state and local governments, respectively.
As is well known, it is contradictory for a *_monarchy_* to coexist with a *_republican system_* in the bowel of the same polity. This contradiction is exacerbated when a monarch attempts to *_rule_* a polity in which he possesses no defined constitutional authority to *_rule._* When Nigeria became a Republic on October 1, 1963 it retained a House of Chiefs in each of the then four federating regions, in an attempt to replicate the British House of Lords, as the upper house in each of the regions. This gave the chiefs who were traditional rulers in their respective domains, a constitutional role as parliamentarians. Thus, they saw themselves as both parliamentarians in the House of Chiefs and as monarchs in their respective kingdoms. This admixture was a conceptual blunder infused into the political system by the Nigerian political leaders in 1963. This blunder has been aggravated by the continuous failures of succeeding political leaders to resolve the contradiction resolutely by deciding on this crucial issue: Remain a *_Federal Republic of Nigeria_* and abolish traditional rulership *_OR_* declare the country a *_United Kingdoms of Nigeria._* In the former, traditional rulers will be extinguished as their existence contravenes the diktat of a Republic, while the latter recognizes their constitutional role as heads of states of their respective kingdoms.
Even as a head of state of a given kingdom, if we were in a *_United Kingdoms of Nigeria,_* the role of a Monarch, like the Orodje of Okpe, will be defined by whether the system is a *_constitutional monarchy_* (like the United Kingdom) or an *_absolute monarchy_* (like Saudi Arabia). If Okpe Nation were a *_constitutional monarchy_* the Orodje will *_reign_* but cannot *_rule._* Conversely, if Okpe Nation were an *_absolute monarchy_* the Orodje will possess and exercise an unquestioned political and legislative power and authority to *_reign_* and *_rule_* as he pleases in accordance to the mediaeval concept of the “divine right of kings”, whose pronouncements are considered law, final and binding on all citizens.
Constitutionally speaking, Nigeria is not a monarchy. Therefore, it is severely injurious to the political system to speak of monarchies in the polity. This injury is exemplified by the way several political leaders have used and abused traditional rulers across the country since 1960. The intent of this piece is to provoke a scholarly debate based on reason and logic on how to get out of this quagmire.
*_GOVERNANCE AND THE ORODJESHIP_*
A monarch is the symbol of a given nation under a monarchical regime. This is equally true of the Okpe monarchy as it is a symbol of the Okpe Nation that unifies the Okpe people. The concept of democratization of a system implies some inadequacies or absence of democratic norms in the given system. Some might ask: why democratize the Okpe monarchy?
In the preceding section we agonized over the contradictory construct of the Nigerian polity where a *_republican_* political system is forced to share the same space with an assemblage of *_monarchies._* Instead of rectifying this blunder that defies reason and logic, we are being urged to democratize the incongruity. Since the collapse of the First Republic, monarchy (or traditional rulership) has been a non-recognized element in the governance of Nigeria by its absence in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). However, at every election circle politicians of all political stripes promise a role for traditional rulers in the constitution, if elected. They have failed repeatedly. This failure leaves traditional rulers in a limbo.
The purported dissolution of the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union, by HRM Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe on October 3, 2020, has introduced a divide in Okpe Nation. Note that the Orodje’s purported dissolution took place 42 days before the scheduled Annual General Assembly/Meeting of the Okpe Union to elect a new NEC. It was a stratagem to convert Okpe Union to an administrative arm of the Palace under the Orodje’s control. This became evident in August 2021 when the head of the interim regime he imposed decline to participate in a mediation process on the ground that he would only participate if instructed by the Orodje.
The Orodje’s purported dissolution is challenged by the Okpe Union as an illegal action that violates the Constitution of the Okpe Union, while a group of fellow Okpe endorsed the Orodje’s action, arguing that the Orodje must be obeyed and that his word was final. They compared the Orodje of Okpe to the Oba of Benin whose decrees are alleged as final by the Binis. The comparison is based on false historical premises. Let us consider the following: –
Thus, the action of the Orodje on October 3, 2020 is akin to the action of an *_absolute monarch._*
Unfortunately, very unfortunately, the first Orodje of Okpe, Esezi l abandoned the democratic structure and embraced *_absolute monarchy,_* an action which led to his demise and ushered in a period of almost 200 years interregnum of the Okpe monarchy.
HRM, Orhue l’s action of October 3, 2020 is a throw-back to the medieval concept of the “divine right of kings” which challenges the fundamental thrust of democratic practice in Nigeria. It also ridicules the basis of the democratic election process that the Orodje cultivated during his campaign for the Orodjeship in 2004-2006.
This prompted a prominent Okpe Scholar/Journalist to lament:
“I worry for Africa and Nigerians. More for the Okpe who are still buried in the womb of medieval mentality.” (An Okpe Scholar/Journalist, January 15, 2022.)
The Orodje’s purported dissolution of NEC of the Okpe Union in October 2020, and the banning of its leaders from contesting future elections has created a huge schism in Okpe Nation. While the Orodje’s action is challenged by a group of *_pro-democracy_* Okpe nationals, a *_pro-absolute monarchy_* group is propagating the deceased medieval concept of the “divine right of kings.” This division caused by the Orodje’s unprecedented intrusion into the administration of the Okpe Union has facilitated an inimical atmosphere injurious to peace, law and order in Okpe Nation. Several Okpe belonging to the *_pro-democracy group_* are being harassed and intimidated by some members of the *_pro-absolute monarchy group_* whose source of authority is left to conjecture. This is reminiscence of events in the (then) Soviet Union when scores of Soviet citizens, at the minutest of criticism framed in Marxist-Leninist prism, were labeled “dissidents and revisionists”, arrested and incarcerated in the infamous gulag system of imprisonment scattered across the Soviet Union. Interestingly, the Udogun Okpe has categorized the Okpe Union as “mischievous” and “dissidents” for speaking truth to power.
*_IN LIEU OF A CONCLUSION_*
Traditional rulership is part of the poor governance crisis that has bedeviled the development of Nigeria for decades. Writing in 1947, Obafemi Awolowo recognized this conundrum when he stated:
“There is a mutual distrust verging on antagonism between the educated few and the Chiefs in Nigeria. The latter fear that the former are out to oust them from their privileged positions.” (Obafemi Awolowo, Path to Nigerian Freedom, London, 1947, p.32.)
Unfortunately, Nigerian governments have not been able to resolve this problem since independence. All they have done so far is to employ traditional rulers as mere tools in their respective competing policies, similar to the role traditional rulers played under the colonial regime.
A vexing phenomenon is the proliferation of traditional rulers by political leaders across the country since 1960. Recently, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi lll condemned this senseless proliferation of traditional rulers, who are glorified bales or village chiefs, a phenomenon which has corrupted the value of traditional rulers. (*_A CONVERSATION WITH THE ALAAFIN OF OYO, OBA LAMIDI ADEYEMI lll,_* Sunday, October 24, 2021. 5:00 PM Nigeria. ZOOM Platform. 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi lll.)
Prof. Tony Afejuku aptly captured this troubling trend when he wrote:
“Our high chiefs who are out of wisdom are the wisest animals in their heights of folly. This makes them the most dangerous animals in our every land and every kingdom. They are more dangerous than the serpent in each and every one of us. How do we rightly dub them?”
He continued:
“Our chiefs and high chiefs, the majority of them, are a pack of foxhounds. They know that our politics, like our local culture, currently is run by those riding to hounds.” (Tony Afejuku, “Of chiefs and high chiefs,” The Guardian, Lagos, Nigeria, January 14, 2022.
How do we make sense out of this incongruous contraption? It is instructive to note that, the only serious attempts made by any Nigerian government to grapple with this issue occurred under the military regimes of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1984 and General Ibrahim Babangida in 1986, respectively. In 1984 General Buhari’s government sponsored a national conference on the theme “THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN THE GOVERNANCE OF NIGERIA” which was organized by the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan in September 1984, while General Babangida established a Political Bureau to, inter alia, “review Nigeria’s political history and identify the basic problems which have led to our failure in the past and suggest ways of resolving and coping with these problems.” (Federal Republic of Nigeria, Government’s Views and Comments on the Findings and Recommendations of the Political Bureau, Lagos, 1987, p.3. (Hereinafter referred to as the Political Bureau).
The Political Bureau, chaired by S. J. Cookey, comprised of some prominent academics as members. Concerning tradition rulers, the Political Bureau recognized the significant role of traditional rulership in Nigeria’s political system, a view which was accepted by the Ibrahim Babangida military Government (The Political Bureau, p.4.), but recommended contending options vis-à-vis traditional rulership that the Babangida regime and subsequent Nigerian governments have failed to address. The Political Bureau submitted the following options: –
The Political Bureau made the following assertions on traditional rulers:
Therefore, the Political Bureau argued that, it
Even though the Political Bureau recommended that “traditional rulers should have no specific role to play in government beyond the local government level, where they have relevance”, the concluding section of its recommendations is more telling when it declared:
“They possess no special qualities to enable them to be used in enriching the political system or instilling moral rectitude in public life.”
As reasoned by the Political Bureau, traditional rulers are of no use to contemporary *_federal republican political system._*
The failure of Nigerian governments, including the Babangida regime, to implement the recommendations of the Political Bureau has significantly worsened the relationships between traditional rulers and political leaders. The political leaders are aware of the incongruity of having traditional rulers in a *_republican polity,_* but it serves their contending interests to disregard the anomaly. It benefits political leaders to opt for a “maintenance of status quo” where traditional rulers are treated as their vassals to be exiled and punished as they deem fit, while no politician is advocating for an “outright abolition of the institution.” On the other hand, the option of “co-optation in government” will formally convert traditional rulers to agents or warrant chiefs of the government as in the colonial era. Since the 1979 elections several traditional rulers have expressed their preferences for contending candidates, thus positioning themselves as partisan politicians. Is it wise for traditional rulers to inject themselves in partisan politics? What impact would this have on their constituencies if their preferred candidates are defeated? These are some of the troubling questions that must be grappled with by the traditional rulers and the political elites.
The recommendations of the Political Bureau that are of interest to us are: *_“democratisation to conform with process of modern government”_* and *_“the determination of their relevance and future by the people.”_* Regarding the Okpe Nation, how do we “democratise” the Orodjeship to “conform with the process of modern government?” How do we determine the “relevance and future” of the Orodjeship? These are vital questions which Okpe nationals of all political and ideological persuasions are invited to wrestle with.
These are tough questions to grapple with under the framework of a Republic. But since there seems to be no appetite to rename Nigeria as the *_United Kingdoms of Nigeria,_* or to abolish traditional rulership as one of the recommended options of the Political Bureau, then we have to accommodate traditional rulership in the *_Federal Republic of Nigeria_* under the guise of a *_constitutional monarchy._* Under this pretentious framework, the Orodje will *_reign_* but not *_rule_* in Okpe Nation. Like the Queen of the United Kingdom, the Orodje is a ceremonial head of the Okpe Nation, while the two local government councils, currently in Okpe Nation, are to *_rule_* without any interference from the Orodje and/or the Udogun Okpe. This applies to all civil societies and Okpe organizations, including the Okpe Union. As Nigeria is a federation, implying that each federating unit is free to develop at its own pace, including the establishment of traditional rulership, it is reasonable to postulate that each federating unit and components thereof are to determine the utility and stipend of their respective traditional rulers.
[06/08, 11:01] Ebireri Ovie Henry: CUTTING THE NOSE TO SPITE THE OKPE FACE
All real men should accept responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions and positions. The Asagba of Asaba could not have be been more correct in his position that he did need to consult further than he had done in the matter of the proposed summit of Delta State Traditional Rulers on the rotation of the Governorship seat of Delta State. His consultation was based on ethnic groups. He had consulted with the head of Urhobo Traditional Rulers who happens to be the Ohworode of Olomu who heads the group that the Orodje has agreed to be a member. Can we approbate and reprobate at the same time?
I once asked the immediate past leadership of the Okpe Youths Council who were confused about the urgency of achieving Okpe identity at that time if the OYC would be invited by the Governor if he wants to meet with the leaders of youths organisations of all ethnic nationalities in Delta State, if Okpe is considered as Urhobo? They could not respond as the answer was not only obvious but ignominious. Indeed this played out when the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo held a consultation visit to Delta State at the PTI Conference center a couple of years back. The Presidents General of all ethnic groups spoke on behalf of their people and only Okpe was excluded as the Urhobo Progress Union President General was there.
The repercussions the naive and self denigrating denial of Okpe distinct ethnic identity by the forces within the Okpe Nation have led to so much real poverty and underdevelopment of the Okpe Nation. The projects in Okpeland from both NDDC and DESOPADEC are a tiny fraction of the projects in similar or smaller territories than Okpe because of the consideration of of Okpe as an appendage of Urhobo. It does not even favour the Urhobos too except the feeding of the subjugation ego of some of them. Till tomorrow, Okpe Students do not get their bursary allocation from DESOPADEC like Itsekiri, Isoko, Ika, Ukuani and Ijaw who get 1500 slots each but must scramble from the Urhobo slots. The last time less than 200 Okpe students got. This is because Okpe is not recognised as an ethnic nationality in our own DESOPADEC. A recognised ethnic nationality in DESOPADEC immediately gives you an exclusive Commissioner, an Executive Director and an exclusive budget head.
The list of the consequences of this self inflicted malady is endless. Without the recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, Chairmanship of Delta State Traditional Rulers’ Council gives the Okpe Nation nothing. If Urhobo Traditional Rulers visit Buhari today, it is the Ohworode of Olomu and his EXCO that would be in front. During the last visit, our revered Orodje was at the back and was hardly seen. If the ethnic configuration of Delta State remains, what the Asagba of Asaba said that he needn’t consult with the Orodje would play out and continue to hurt the Okpe Nation. It is not he who pointed out that an illness would kill a patient that killed him if he eventually dies.
Mortgaging Okpe ethnic identity for any office or temporary benefit amounts to spiting the Okpe face. We pray the series of such acts or inactions of recent do not constitute total damage that the next generation cannot recover from. Let us use our tongue to count our teeth.
Okpe wadooo!
Akpederin Kingsley Ehensiri Esq.
CUTTING THE NOSE TO SPITE THE OKPE FACE (A REJOINDER TO THE CLAIMS OF THE ASAGBA OF ASABA)
All real men should accept responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions and positions. The Asagba of Asaba could not have be been more correct in his position that he did not need to consult further than he had done in the matter of the proposed summit of Delta State Traditional Rulers on the rotation of the Governorship seat of Delta State(reported on the Vanguard Newspapers issue of March 20th, 2022). His consultation was based on ethnic groups. He had consulted with the head of Urhobo Traditional Rulers who happens to be the Ohworode of Olomu who heads the group that the Orodje has agreed to be a member despite the position of Okpe historically as a distinct ethnic nationality which has always been maintained by the Okpe Union. Can we approbate and reprobate at the same time?
I once asked the immediate past leadership of the Okpe Youths Council, who were confused about the urgency of achieving Okpe identity at that time, if the OYC would be invited by the Governor if he wants to meet with the leaders of youths organisations of all ethnic nationalities in Delta State, if Okpe is considered as Urhobo? They could not respond as the answer was not only obvious but ignominious. Indeed this played out when the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo held a consultation visit to Delta State at the PTI Conference center a couple of years back. The Presidents General of all ethnic groups spoke on behalf of their people and only Okpe was excluded as the Urhobo Progress Union President General was there.
The repercussions the naive and self denigrating denial of Okpe distinct ethnic identity by the forces within the Okpe Nation have led to so much real poverty and underdevelopment of the Okpe Nation. The projects in Okpeland from both NDDC and DESOPADEC are a tiny fraction of the projects in similar or smaller territories than Okpe because of the consideration of of Okpe as an appendage of Urhobo. It does not even favour the Urhobos too except the feeding of the subjugation ego of some of them. Till tomorrow, Okpe Students do not get their bursary allocation from DESOPADEC like Itsekiri, Isoko, Ika, Ukuani and Ijaw who get 1500 slots each but must scramble from the Urhobo slots. The last time less than 200 Okpe students got. This is because Okpe is not recognised as an ethnic nationality in our own DESOPADEC. A recognised ethnic nationality in DESOPADEC immediately gives you an exclusive Commissioner, an Executive Director and an exclusive budget head. Okpe Nation oil wells are currently grouped into Urhobo Nation oil wells.
The list of the consequences of this self inflicted malady is endless. Without the recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, Chairmanship of Delta State Traditional Rulers’ Council gives the Okpe Nation nothing. If Urhobo Traditional Rulers visit Buhari today, it is the Ohworode of Olomu and his EXCO that would be in front. During the last visit, our revered Orodje was at the back and was hardly seen. If the ethnic configuration of Delta State remains, what the Asagba of Asaba said that he needn’t consult with the Orodje, even though the Orodje is the Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers’ Council, would play out and continue to hurt the Okpe Nation and people. It is not he who pointed out that an illness would kill a patient that killed him if he eventually dies.
Mortgaging Okpe ethnic identity for any office or temporary benefit amounts to spiting the Okpe face. How can a people have a distinct migration history, a distinct language, one traditional ruler whose jurisdiction covers two exclusive Local Government Areas and beyond, have the largest kingdom of Delta State and yet still hesitate to claim a status that is rightly hers? We pray the series of such acts or inactions of recent do not constitute total damage that the next generation cannot recover from. Let us use our tongue to count our teeth.
Okpe wadooo!
Akpederin Kingsley Ehensiri Esq.
OKPE UNION AT 92: AN ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS BY PROF. O. IGHO NATUFE, PRESIDENT GENERAL, OKPE UNION ON MAY 16, 2022
Exactly 92 years ago on this day, May 16, 1930, a group of young Okpe nationals residing in Lagos established the Okpe Union, the oldest registered ethnic nationality organization in Nigeria. It was registered under the Land (Perpetual Succession) Ordinance of 1924, on the 13th of December, 1934. As descendants of these Okpe nationals, we are gathered today in all branches across Nigeria and in the Diaspora to commemorate their vision and patriotism in paving the path for the building of a strong Okpe Nation anchored on Okpe Identity. We salute them and revere the legacies they bequeathed us.
As the umbrella organization of the Okpe people, Okpe Union is primarily concerned about the growth and development of the Okpe Nation and the enhancement of Okpe in the comity of ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and in Delta State. It was on the basis of this fundamental that the Okpe Union successfully agitated for the resuscitation of the Okpe Monarchy in 1945 when HRM Esezi ll was crowned as the Orodje of Okpe (1945-1966). This followed an interregnum of almost 200 years. Esezi ll was succeeded by HRM Orhorho l (1972-2004), who was succeeded by HRM Orhue l (2006 till date). Thus, the modern Okpe monarchy was birthed by the Okpe Union.
Since its foundation, the Okpe Union has played and continues to play vital role in the development of the Okpe Nation. A critical challenge confronting the Okpe Nation is the restoration of the independence of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, a status which was illegally extinguished by the British Government and subsequent governments in Nigeria. The unjust classification of Okpe as a sub-unit/clan of another ethnic nationality contradicts the fact that Okpe Kingdom was never established as a sub-unit or clan of any other ethnic nationality. The Okpe Union has since the colonial times always represented to various governments that Okpe is a distinct ethnicity.
The current status ridicules the historical and linguistic facts that Okpe is the most populous monolithic nationality in Delta State. I am pleased to inform you that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union is working assiduously with internal (traditional and political leadership) and external stakeholders in Delta State for the recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality. This is our sacred historical responsibility to restore Okpe to its legitimate position in Delta State. The benefits of this recognition include the following: –
As we gather today to celebrate our Founder’s Day, I want to assure you that your NEC is working very hard to ensure that the above objectives are realized in due course. Your continued support and steadfastness in the defence and promotion of Okpe Identity is required.
In February 2023, state and federal elections shall be held to elect new political leaders for Delta State and Nigeria. We are closely monitoring the campaigns of all Delta State aspirants vying for elective positions as Delta State Governor, and for members of the Delta State House of Assembly, with special interests on their respective positions on Okpe Identity, which will guide the stance of the Okpe Union. The NEC considers this an existential matter for the growth and development of the Okpe Nation, a historical feat in memory of our forefathers and founders of the Okpe Union.
On behalf of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union, I wish you a successful celebration of the 92nd Anniversary of the founding of the Okpe Union.
*God Bless the Okpe Union!*
*God Bless Orodje of Okpe Kingdom!*
*God Bless the Okpe Nation!*
26th May, 2022.
*THE OKPE UNION FELICITATION MESSAGE TO RT (HON.) SHERIFF FRANCIS O. OBOREVWORI AS DELTA STATE PDP FLAG BEARER.*
The Okpe Union, the umbrella socio cultural organisation of the Okpe people, hereby sends her congratulations and best wishes to Rt. (Hon.) Sheriff Francis O. Oborevwori on his election as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 gubernatorial election for Delta State.
As the Okpe Union joins other Deltans to wish you well in the coming general election, we also seize this opportunity to thank Deltans of the People’s Democratic Party represented by the delegates for considering our son worthy for a shot at this all important office of huge responsibility.
The Okpe Nation has always been known to be a people desirous of promoting peace, unity and fairness to all people around them. The choice of Rt. (Hon.) Oborevwori will therefore ensure an opportunity for Deltans to be so united for the overall development of the state.
The Okpe Union and indeed all Okpe people pray for a smooth and hitch free campaign as you, Okakuro Rt. (Hon.) Sheriff Francis Orohwedor Oborevwori, the Ukodo of Okpe Kingdom, and your team, criss cross the length and breath of Delta State in your continuing consultations and campaign for the governorship seat of our dear Delta State.
Congratulations once more and congratulations to all Deltans.
*Signed:*
*Prof. Igho Natufe,*
President General
*Barr. Kingsley E. Akpederin,*
General Secretary
*Mrs. Atarhe Abuh,*
National Publicity Secretary.
*PROFILING OF OKPES, REAL DANGER FOR SHERIFF OBOREVWORI’S CHANCES FROM HIS HOME FRONT*
One Okpe chief of recent told me that if Sheriff Oborevwori becomes governor, he cannot appoint or give anything to any Okpe person not approved by the Orodje no matter how the person labours to support him in his governorship bid. This obviously underscores why Okpe has been where it is as the least developed area of Delta State and the Niger Delta for some time now.
During a recent recruitment by Seplat Petroleum, another Okpe chief saw the application of a very qualified Okpe and declared “enemy of the Orodje can never get a job in Okpeland…”. He made the remark in reference to the applicant as one of those who opposed the attempt by the Palace to undemocratically take over the administration of the Okpe Union which has had a democratic transition for over ninety two years, and founded long before the restoration of the modern Okpe monarchy.
Though I personally do not believe that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori believes in such dark and evil profiling of fellow Okpes along the line of being pro or anti Orodje or the current strange classification of some patriotic Okpes as “dissidents” it nevertheless casts a very dark and unfortunate shadow on the quest for Okpe governorship. Indeed if the long practice since 2006 of some freeborn Okpe being asked rhetorically “who is your father…” as they are turned away from the Palace which Okpe people collectively built, is extended to political patronage, it would be difficult to salvage the Okpe Nation.
The likes of Esezi II, Orhoro I, the Late Chief Ewetuya (who served the Okpe Union as Secretary General and President General for over forty years) and the several heroes of the Okpe Union who ensured the taxing of Okpe Union members and branches throughout the world to build the all Okpe Orodje Palace would all be turning in their graves today when they see what the Okpe Nation which they laboured for is turning to.
It is not late for Okpe leaders to embrace love and unity. If this heinous and self depraving profiling of some freeborn Okpes just because they stood for the truth that the Okpe Union, being a registered organisation with its constitution should determine its leadership instead of a one man imposed leadership, is permitted to continue, then Okpe is being pushed to a precipice difficult to step back from. Those responsible for this are said to be so vile that they have threatened to go to the extreme position the worst for those they have now declared the enemies of Okpe and the Orodje.
We call on the Governor of Delta State to step in and the Speaker of the state and candidate of the state ruling party to disassociate himself from the evil position. All Okpes are freeborn; being descendants of one of the four “gates” of Okpe. Slavery must not be permitted in a kingdom in which any male child can aspire to be an Orodje (Okpe King). May the Okpe Nation escape any self inflicted affliction. Amen!
*Akpederin Kingsley Ehensiri Esq., General Secretary, the Okpe Union,*
Sapele,
3rd August, 2022
*OKPE UNION IS DISTINCT FROM OKPE KINGDOM AND IS INDEPENDENT OF THE ORODJE OF OKPE*
Let me even ask those who criticise the stance of the elected Okpe Union National Executive Council in protecting the autonomy of the Okpe Union, if they know that the Okpe Union is a registered organisation with a legal personality separate from Okpe Kingdom and with registered members who pay monthly dues and that only members of the Okpe Union in a General Meeting can decide on its leadership? If we all know this but the traditional ruler goes against the law by claiming to have power to dissolve the elected leadership of the Okpe Union and impose non members as its leadership and members of the Union point it out to him severally, does that amount to insult?
Does it mean that if our King puts on an apparel that reveals his nakedness, we should all keep quiet and not let him know so that the throne would not experience disgrace?
All Okpe people must understand and act as a people in the modern era. The Okpe Nation is in a global community and must therefore operate with a mindset of civilised norms and best practices. Elected officials of registered organisations take oaths of office to abide by and defend the constitution of the organisation. The elected National Executive Council of the Okpe Union cannot do the opposite of that. Every responsible loving father would advise his children to observe the letters and spirit of the constitution of the organisations they are elected to serve. In the Holy Bible, the book of Luke (11: 11) says: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?” Indeed the Okpe Union and its elected National Executive Council hold the ancient throne of the Orodje of Okpe in highest esteem and would do everything to promote it. It is prayers and advice that the Union demands for and expects from the monarchy.
Lastly, it needs to be emphasised, in addition to the above, that to be a member of the Okpe Union, a person must be an Okpe and take steps to join a branch of the Union and periodically pay his or her monthly dues and other obligations. It is not every Okpe person that is a member of the Okpe Union. No non member of the Okpe Union can be an official of the Union. By the provisions of the Okpe Union Constitution, only dues paying members can hold any office. In conclusion, it is the constitution of the Okpe Union that governs its administration and transition from one leadership to another. It has been so for over ninety years. Woe betides any official of the Union that betrays this sacred history, norm and convention of the Okpe Union.
May God open our eyes and our hearts to realise that those who point out these real issues and speak truth to power are the real patriots of the Okpe Nation. May God give us and the leaders of the Okpe Nation courage to design a pragmatic pathway to ensure love, unity and advancement of the Okpe Nation.
Okpe oo! Agbamua-eni!
*Akpederin Kingsley Ehensiri Esq., General Secretary, the Okpe Union.*
5th August, 2022.
*FOR THOSE WHO THINK THE OKPE UNION ARE UNNECESSARILY EXPOSING THE OKPE THRONE TO RIDICULE*
For eighteen months now we have been doing so much to resolve the issues behind the scenes. There has been four Reconciliation Initiatives in all now. The most robust one was headed by Rev. Dr Charles Osume and Secretary was the late Prof. Idamoyibo. Chief Moses Asini(an Udogun Okpe member), Prof. Hope Eghagha, Mr. Philip Mebradu, and Madam Dora Omuvwie were also of that Reconciliation Committee. After submitting their recommendations which the Okpe Union accepted and started implementing, the Orodje received it and said he would get back to them. One month’ later, he wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), that his Prof. Idolor imposed group is the authentically elected leadership of the Okpe Union. The CAC invited us to react after they received our objections.
We pray there is more intervention to nip this embarrassing crises in the bud. None of us is paid in what we do. It is selfless service that we spend our personal resources on. However, there is
nobody or group of persons that would keep quiet when unjustly demonised. Okpe Union National Leadership cannot be different.
Akpederin K.E. Esq.,General Secretary, the Okpe Union.
If there are any words which capture the necessity and the reality that beckons for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, those words are best represented by Repositioning and Performance.
They underly the rationale for setting up the bank many years ago, which is to provide service to Nigerians.
Undeniably, the quantity and the need of those Nigerians has not remained the same since the creation of the bank, decades ago.
This is why I am enthused by the theme of the management retreat which is: “STRATEGY REPOSITIONING FOR OPTIMIZED PERFORMANCE,” with sub themes of culture change and informal sector integration; and delighted to be the Keynote speaker.
Since the inception of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2015, the bank has a positive story of service delivery to tell in the number of mortgages issued, housing schemes funded and completed; changes in eligibility conditions to improve access to funding to mention a few.
But this positive story is only a small part of what is possible if the bank imagines and reinvent itself.
As the promoter of the bank, the Federal Government has infused the board and management with a sense of how it should be repositioned by constituting a more representative board that is reflective of our national diversity of gender, religion, ethnicity, and this has been achieved whilst increasing the number of banking professionals in the management and board.
The intention is to ensure optimum service to the real owners of the bank – The Nigerian public and contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF).
This is a type of repositioning the government envisions and welcomes; one that emphasizes the banking identity of the institution.
After all, it is called a bank, it collects people’s money and gives out loans therefore it must be a bank and is expected to act like one.
Government has therefore supported the acquisition by the bank of core banking applications and software that reflects the reality of its environment today as distinct from many decades ago.
In addition, and consistent with our current thinking, the National Council on Housing and Lands has adopted the recommendation for the bank to seek NDIC’s insurance of its contributors’ funds just as is done for depositors in other banks.
These are some of the actions and events of strategy repositioning, intended to deliver optimized performance.
It is not my intention to steal the thunder of the board and the management as they will reveal to you the granular details of steps and processes being undertaken at various stages to invigorate the bank; including the sustenance of the initiative by previous board and management to embrace the informal sector.
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the obstacles to access to housing that we must remove is the one that impedes access to finance.
There are various factors that constitute this impediment but it is clear to us that the FMBN must not be one of those factors or the causative agent of those factors.
That would defeat the essence of the vision of the founders of the bank.
I know that the Bank is issuing mortgages, Home Refurbishment Loans and has started a Rent-to-Own initiative.
But is that all that the bank can do?
What can the bank do for contributors who need to pay 2 to 3 years rent in advance for monthly salary received in Arrears?
I must therefore commend board and management for the vision and the action behind the conception and the undertaking of this retreat.
It offers an opportunity for honest self-review and introspection, as it does for teambuilding and strategy planning.
My Keynote message as you deliberate on all options is to ask yourselves these questions: –
Have we fulfilled the vision of the founders?
How can we serve the owners better?
I urge all present to optimize the opportunities the retreat offers by participating maximally.
I wish you very fruitful and successful deliberations.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honourable Minister for Works and Housing
Monday 1st August 2022
PRESS RELEASE.
PDP BEHIND C.A.N STANDOFF AGAINST APC.
For the past few days, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has been upbeat over the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress- APC-. Taking an interrogative assessment of their activities, one would think they are altruistic in their demand for the number 2 position, but latest findings by me, have revealed that CAN is actually being sponsored by the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party -PDP- to whip up undue sentiments against the candidature of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima and indeed, the APC. It started from former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, who has never won in his polling unit, Hong Local Government, Adamawa state, to other CAN leaders who have never deemed it fit to cede the presidency of the association to a core Northern Christian. In the over 46 years of CAN, the closest was Cardinal John Onaiyekan, from Kaba, in Kogi state as president of CAN. All other Presidents have been of Southern extraction; yet, they desire to have a weak candidate from the North to strengthen PDP in the election.
Let me state categorically and without any iota of doubt that CAN as a body is working for the Peoples’ Democratic Party. They are being sponsored to sustain a political awareness that cannot pass any true test of ecclesiastical emanation. The PDP had earlier set up a committee to sustain these sentiments in the realisation that it will weaken the APC and force it to rescind its well thought-out decision to choose a Northern Muslim as the Party’s Vice Presidential Candidate. They are being funded covertly by PDP elements and my very reliable source confirmed a meeting held in Asokoro at the home of a media mogul, few days ago, where a decision was taken to sustain the umbrage. I will mention names very soon if they refuse to desist from such satanic plots just to score cheap political point.
It is one thing to be a Christian, and another, to be a member of CAN. In 2015, the Catholic body had accused the CAN under Pastor Oritsejafor of politicising the body instead of concentrating on serious issues that could advance the collective aspirations of the people. The Catholic body had suspended its participation in CAN activities as a direct response to such politicisation. CAN has just entered another phase of such politicisation again by its standoffish posturing in the name of muslim-muslim ticket of the APC. Bishop Matthew Kukah has given very informed perspectives on the muslim-muslim ticket, saying it only presents the voters with options and choices. Those who are fanning the embers of disunity and religious intolerance are located within the vineyard of the PDP. Rather than face their campaign with a candidate that is contesting against the run of play, they are already asking the APC candidate to withdraw from the race.
The PDP chieftains were the ones who went to hire some persons, decorated them with robes to assume the role of Bishops and Reverend Fathers, just to embarrass the APC candidate; whom they dread so much. I have insiders in PDP who are giving me blow by blow accounts of what transpires. Please PDP, get serious and stop trivialising serious issues with mundane scripting of nebulous plots in the name of politics. PDP is very desperate to make inroads into political camps that would help it pursue its political aspirations. C.A.N is being sponsored by the PDP, and the PDP works for C.A.N. Rather than devote time, energy and attention to articulate solutions to our existential problems, CAN leaderships are busy raising dust where there is none. Our problem is not religion. Our emphasis should be how to find solutions to our problems and not dig into our religious differences.
PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA.
FORMER MEMBER, PDP.
FORMER COMMISSIONER OF INFORMATION, EDO STATE.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE 2022 INAUGURAL RETREAT OF THE FEDERAL MORTGAGE BANK OF NIGERIA HELD AT TRANSCORP HILTON HOTEL ON MONDAY 1ST AUGUST 2022
If there are any words which capture the necessity and the reality that beckons for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, those words are best represented by Repositioningand Performance.
They underly the rationale for setting up the bank many years ago, which is to provide service to Nigerians.
Undeniably, the quantity and the need of those Nigerians has not remained the same since the creation of the bank, decades ago.
This is why I am enthused by the theme of the management retreat which is: “STRATEGY REPOSITIONING FOR OPTIMIZED PERFORMANCE,” with sub themes of culture change and informal sector integration; and delighted to be the Keynote speaker.
Since the inception of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2015, the bank has a positive story of service delivery to tell in the number of mortgages issued, housing schemes funded and completed; changes in eligibility conditions to improve access to funding to mention a few.
But this positive story is only a small part of what is possible if the bank imagines and reinvent itself.
As the promoter of the bank, the Federal Government has infused the board and management with a sense of how it should be repositioned by constituting a more representative board that is reflective of our national diversity of gender, religion, ethnicity, and this has been achieved whilst increasing the number of banking professionals in the management and board.
The intention is to ensure optimum service to the real owners of the bank – The Nigerian public and contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF).
This is a type of repositioning the government envisions and welcomes; one that emphasizes the banking identity of the institution.
After all, it is called a bank, it collects people’s money and gives out loans therefore it must be a bank and is expected to act like one.
Government has therefore supported the acquisition by the bank of core banking applications and software that reflects the reality of its environment today as distinct from many decades ago.
In addition, and consistent with our current thinking, the National Council on Housing and Lands has adopted the recommendation for the bank to seek NDIC’s insurance of its contributors’ funds just as is done for depositors in other banks.
These are some of the actions and events of strategy repositioning, intended to deliver optimized performance.
It is not my intention to steal the thunder of the board and the management as they will reveal to you the granular details of steps and processes being undertaken at various stages to invigorate the bank; including the sustenance of the initiative by previous board and management to embrace the informal sector.
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the obstacles to access to housing that we must remove is the one that impedes access to finance.
There are various factors that constitute this impediment but it is clear to us that the FMBN must not be one of those factors or the causative agent of those factors.
That would defeat the essence of the vision of the founders of the bank.
I know that the Bank is issuing mortgages, Home Refurbishment Loans and has started a Rent-to-Own initiative.
But is that all that the bank can do?
What can the bank do for contributors who need to pay 2 to 3 years rent in advance for monthly salary received in Arrears?
I must therefore commend board and management for the vision and the action behind the conception and the undertaking of this retreat.
It offers an opportunity for honest self-review and introspection, as it does for teambuilding and strategy planning.
My Keynote message as you deliberate on all options is to ask yourselves these questions: –
Have we fulfilled the vision of the founders?
How can we serve the owners better?
I urge all present to optimize the opportunities the retreat offers by participating maximally.
I wish you very fruitful and successful deliberations.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honourable Minister for Works and Housing
Monday 1st August 2022
Press Statement
CDWR CONDEMNS ONDO GOVERNMENT’S PLANNED EVICTION OF 10,000 IDANRE FARMERS
THE PLANNED HANDOVER OF 50,000 HECTARES OF FARMLAND TO 3 PRIVATE PROFITEERS IS STEALING
AFFECTED FARMERS SHOULD ORGANIZE MASS RESISTANCE
It is shocking to know that the Ondo State Government led by Rotimi Akeredolu is hell-bent on forcefully evicting over 10,000 Idanre forest reserve farmers in Ondo State and handing over of the 50,000 hectares of land to 3 private profiteer companies who are linked to top members of the state government. These farmers have been cultivating cocoa and other crops on the land for more than 2 decades.
Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) condemns this planned eviction. It is a clear case of stealing farmland from the farmers to satisfy the profit needs of a tiny few. This action of the government will create more socio-economic problems and hundreds of thousands of people will be adversely affected. We call on the government to end this land-grabbing activity
The Akeredolu-led government has concluded plans to displace over 10,000 farmers and give 37,226 hectares of farmland to REX Forest Ltd, 10,000 hectares to SAO Agro Allied Services Ltd and 2,236 hectares to BLUE SKY Agro-Allied. This is a clear case of robbery. For instance, REX Forest Ltd was incorporated just 13 months ago (June 23, 2021) and with a share capital of about 12 million Naira. It is obvious that these companies were merely set up as vehicles to steal farmlands from the farmers with the backing of the government and therefore have no verifiable history, expertise experience and capacity for largescale farming. There are private agricultural companies that get support from the federal government and state governments only for most of food crops to be exported abroad for the purpose of earning more profit while the Nigerian populace cannot afford the price.
We would have expected the government (Ondo State and the federal government) to address the rising cost of food and agricultural produce by supporting farming communities through the provision of basic amenities (roads, schools, hospitals etc), training of farmers through better-equipped research institutes, provision of largescale farming equipment and machinery (tractors, plough, fertilizer spreaders, seeders, cultivators, harrows, storage facilities etc) for hire at cheaper rates, organizing the farmers into cooperatives and giving out cheap loans to farmers. These measures will go a long way to help improve farming, increase food production and ultimately bring down the cost of food.
The only acquisition of land that is sensible is such that take over uncultivated forest and unutilized farmlands. Such farmlands taken over by the government will form part of the state-owned farm estate and plantations under democratic control and management of farm workers.
We also condemn the use of excessive force to intimidate the farmers and the people of Idanre. On Sunday, July 17, 2022, the Ondo State Government moved in bulldozers, backed by armed Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps) and Police, into the farmlands in readiness to destroy crops and take over. The government also invaded the Ofosu as a means to intimidate the people.
We salute the resistance of the farmers and Idanre community people. We call on the people to sustain the legal and political battle. We call on NLC, TUC, NBA, pro-labour groups etc to actively solidarise with the beleaguered farmers and communities. The farmers and community people should organize mass protests and sensitization rallies as part of the resistance activities.
SIGNED
Comrade Rufus Olusesan Comrade Chinedu Bosah
National Chairperson National Publicity Secretary
Okowa congratulates Diete-Spiff at 80
Delta Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, has congratulated the Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, on his 80th birth anniversary.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, in Asaba, Okowa stated that the monarch, a distinguished soldier and administrator, had since ascending the throne, 44 years ago, provided purposeful leadership for his people and the Niger Delta.
He remarked that King Diete-Spiff had continued to use his good office as Chairman, Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, to support the growth and development of the state through peaceful and meaningful engagements with government and other stakeholders.
According to the governor, King Diete-Spiff contributed immensely to the development of Rivers and Bayelsa states when he was military governor of the old Rivers State.
He said that the Twon-Brass monarch truly deserved to be celebrated for attaining 80 years, and in good health, noting that he would continue to be remembered for the landmark projects he executed as military governor.
He joined the royal family and entire people of Twon-Brass at home and in the diaspora in celebrating the octogenarian monarch on the landmark in his journey of life, and affirmed that the Amanyanabo was a soldier and gentleman, elder statesman and bridge-builder.
Okowa prayed that God would continue to bless the renowned traditional ruler with great wisdom, good health and strength to continue to lead the people of his kingdom.
“On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I warmly celebrate with His Royal Majesty, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, the Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass, on the occasion of his 80th birth anniversary.
“We pray that the Almighty God will continue to grant you more wisdom and divine health to continue serving mankind,” he stated.
GOV AKEREDOLU, OTHER OLD STUDENTS OF 68/72 SET DONATE BUILDING TO LOYOLA COLLEGE
Old students of Loyola College, Ibadan, 1968/1972 set, on Saturday handed over an expansive and magnificent hall to the school management for the use of the college and the Old Boys Association.
Loyola College, Ibadan, is Governor Akeredolu alma-mater.
The Governor and his former School mates of 1968/1972 set donated the hall to the college to mark their 50 years of leaving the school and as part of their resolve to give back to their alma mater.
The magnificent Hall, named after Governor Akeredolu, was commissioned by the Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi.
The Set, known as VERITA “6872”, also remodeled the frontal school fence which was commissioned by the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde.
Wife of the Governor, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, graced the event as well as family and friends of the Governor.
The edifice was blessed and unveiled by His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Abegunrin, the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Diocese.
Speaking at the event, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who appreciated his school mates for the honour done him, equally called on the association to sustain the good work and fellowship.
“This is my alma-mater, the school that moulded me, the school that I have all the pride in. Loyola College is everything to me. My mates and all of us sat together and decided to build this hall. And in their own wisdom, they chose to name it after me. I felt honoured. They have done so well for me and I thank them. So, today is my happiest day and I’m so happy about it,” Governor Akeredolu said.
He said without the college he would not have been something in life, describing Loyola as the best in nurturing future leaders.
The Governor also challenged students of the college to be ready to do better than the Old students.
In his welcome address, the President, Loyola College Old Boys Association (LOCOBA) 68/72 Set, Dr. Segun Oshin, said the school has produced accomplished and successful individuals across professions.
He added that the project was part of their contributions to their Alma mater and the development of education in the state.
He advised the school authority to put the edifice to good use to serve its purpose.
The President also called on the Oyo State Government to return the College to the original owners.
He added that management committee will be put in place for effective and sustainable management of the new facility.
In their separate goodwill messages, Dr Fayemi and Engr. Makinde expressed delight over the kind gesture of the Old Boys, adding that they have helped the school, the Catholic Church and the people of Oyo State at large.
Governor Fayemi appreciated the Old Boys, particularly Governor Akeredolu, for giving back to their Alma mater, urging others to emulate the gesture and play critical role in the development of education in the country.
On his part, Governor Makinde, who noted that Loyola College has always been there for him, appreciated the 68/72 Set for donating the edifice, even as he called for more assistance from old students, philanthropists and other organizations or associations to develop education.
On the return of the College to the original owners, Governor Makinde encouraged LOCOBA and the state Commissioner for Education to start the process, promising his government would do the needful.
He equally promised to fix the entrance road to the college to improve the infrastructure in the school.
The Nation President, Loyola College Old Boys’ Association, Prof Femi Ogunbiyi; the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Diocese, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Abegunrin, and other speakers lauded the school for its giant strides.
Richard Olatunde
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.
July 30, 2022.
DETERMINED TO BE IN THE HEADLINES, PDP SENATORS ARE DIVIDED, CONFUSED
The performative and babyish antics of those senators staging a walk out notwithstanding, Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s refusal on Wednesday to entertain the ridiculous motion to impeach our President was quite appropriate and correct.
Rather than making a mockery out of voters by trying to imitate what they see in America, the opposition would be well advised that their time would be better spent tackling the pressing issues Nigerians face, such as the current global cost of living crisis.
Their continued failure to do so goes some way to explaining why they remain in opposition.
In contrast, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is committed to finding lasting solutions to the emerging security threats, including those left behind by the PDP in the South-South, the Northeast and throughout the federation. In the last 24 hours, two more Chibok girls were freed, in addition to the three brought home last week.
These kinds of headline grabbing stunts for which the opposition is now well known serve no one, least of all their constituents. We would respectfully remind them that it is those same constituents that they were elected to serve, and are paid to do so with public money.
We would welcome their collaboration in our efforts to solve the problems Nigerians face on a daily basis. No one is asking them to waste their time attempting to impeach a democratically elected President at the end of his second term – certainly not their constituents.
They should ask themselves: do they want to be in government or do they want to be in the headlines? If they want to be in government they should start acting like it and stop undermining Nigerian voters.
Garba Shehu
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 27, 2022
PRESIDENT BUHARI CELEBRATES 165 YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY IN IGBO LAND, CMS ANNIVERSARY
President Muhammadu Buhari joins members of the Anglican Communion in Igbo land and around the world in celebrating the 165th anniversary of the coming of Christianity in the Eastern part of Nigeria on July 27, 1857.
The Rev Samuel Ajayi Crowther, who later became the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa, had led the Church Missionary Society (CMS) team, including Rev. John Christopher Taylor, Catechist Simon Jonas and Augustus Armadillo and others in the 1857 Niger expedition.
President Buhari urges the Christian faithful celebrating CMS anniversary to uphold the values of love, compassion, sacrifice, forgiveness and selflessness in a diverse country like Nigeria, in recognition of what the true Christian faith teaches and recommends to all adherents.
He says that this celebration of faith, hope and victory is an opportunity for reverent worship to God and prayers for the unity, stability and prosperity of the country, at a time like this.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 27, 2022
PRESIDENT BUHARI GREETS CHIEF AUDU OGBEH AT 75
President Muhammadu Buhari joins leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in celebrating with former Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on his 75th birthday, July 28, 2022, hailing the political leader, whose profile reflects his dedication to nation building.
The President notes the wisdom, courage and visionary leadership of Chief Ogbeh, who started out in the Second Republic as a legislator and was later appointed Federal Minister of Communication, and has consistently remained in the frontline of political developments and governance in the country.
As the former Minister of Agriculture clocks 75, President Buhari salutes his passion for farming and knowledge of the local and international value chains, which contributed significantly in laying a foundation and framework that triggered a revolution, leading to the realisation of self-sufficiency in food production.
The President congratulates Chief Ogbeh on many political, literary and business achievements, and his willingness to always provide leadership and share his experience.
President Buhari rejoices with family members, friends and associates of the political leader, praying that the Almighty God will grant him longer life, good health and strength to keep serving the nation.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 27, 2022
URGENT PUBLIC NOTICE
The approval of four work-free days (26th, 27th, 28th and 29th July 2022) to enable Lagos State Civil Servants obtain their Permanent Voters’ Cards has been largely misconstrued. It has therefore become necessary to set the records straight and put the approval granted by Mr. Governor in proper context.
Gbenga Omotoso
Hon. Commissioner for Information & Strategy
REJOINDER: “LAGOS DEPUTY GOVERNOR, OTHERS BEATEN UP IN FREE FOR ALL FIGHT AT THE APC SECRETARIAT”
Our attention has been drawn to a viral online story on social media platforms with the headline: “Lagos Deputy Governor, Others Beaten up in Free for All Fight at the APC Secretariat”.
According to the news item, the Deputy Governor and some senior members of the Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were reported to have been beaten up by aggrieved political miscreants during a reconciliation meeting at the Party’s Secretariat in Ogba.
The Office of the Deputy Governor, however, wishes to state in unequivocal terms and for the information of millions of readers that the report is untrue, mischievous, fake and unfounded.
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Monrovia, Liberia called on leaders in West Africa to do all within their powers to ensure that elections are conducted in their countries in an atmosphere of trust, freedom and transparency as this is the only way the sub-region can be insulated from the scourge of unconstitutional take overs that reared its head in three countries recently.
President Buhari made this call this in a goodwill message to the Government and people of Liberia as he joined other world leaders on the occasion of the 175th Independence Anniversary of the West African nation.
According to the President, democracy and good governance must take its roots on the African continent to sustain peace, stability and development while leaders must redouble their efforts to guarantee the irreversibility of democracy.
“I would like to use the opportunity of this event to address an important issue affecting three countries in the ECOWAS region; Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
“All the three nations have National Elections in 2023. In Nigeria, we are working towards a free, fair, transparent, credible and acceptable outcome of elections and their results, it is important and necessary for all our countries to key into these resolves as they are indispensable to peace and stability in our countries and sub-region.
“The deepening of democracy and good governance are essential antidotes to check-mate unconstitutional change of governments as we sadly witnessed within the last three years in three countries within our sub-region. We must strengthen our efforts to guarantee the irreversibility of democracy in our sub-region and Africa,” he said.
President Buhari used the opportunity to recall Nigeria’s leading roles that pulled the country back from its fratricidal insurrection in the 90s, adding that his presence at the celebrations underscores his strong belief in cementing existing bilateral ties:
“Nigeria’s contributions to the survival and safety of Liberia are well known. The dark period of your country’s civil war from 1989 to 1997, was a period that Nigeria invested hugely for peace in Liberia and indeed stability in the rest of the ECOWAS sub-region. May those dark days never re-surface in our countries and sub-region.”
The Nigerian leader commended his Liberian counterpart, Dr. George Manneh Weah, for his demonstration of love for the country and the pursuance of peace, unity and progress, as evidenced by people-oriented projects executed with the sole purpose of taking the country to greater heights within the limited resources available. While urging the Liberian leader to do more, he assured him of Nigeria’s continued support in this regard:
“Your Excellency’s policy of development launched in 2018 as well as the recently launched youth empowerment program, targeted at comprehensively addressing the problems of youth restiveness in Liberia and equally aimed at rescuing the disadvantaged youths (ZOGOS in local parlance) from drug addictions and other forms of social vices and transforming them into useful members of the Liberian society, are clearly very appropriate policies to lift up the most vulnerable.
“Permit me to assure you and all Liberians that Nigeria, as a good partner and a dependable ally, would continue to support you in these efforts, within the limit of our resources. This brings to the fore, the need for strengthening and broadening the levels of collaboration and cooperation between our two countries, both bilaterally and multilaterally, within the ECOWAS, AU and the UN, in order to adequately tackle the common national, sub-regional and global challenges.”
The President of Liberia, Dr. George Weah, thanked President Buhari and other West African leaders for their attendance and to our President in particular, “thank you Mr. President and the good people of Nigeria. Without your support we would not have had peace.”
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 26, 2022