Famous Nollywood actress Ada Ameh is dead.

The Benue State-born actress died on Sunday in Warri, Delta State.

Ada Ameh had on June 15 opened up on her battle with mental illness.
The 48-year-old actress had revealed that she was given a job which she failed to deliver because she was battling mental illness.
According to her, the company did not understand what she was going through and, as such, filed a lawsuit against her.
Ameh claimed the company was suing her for a staggering amount, which she seemed unable to afford.
The actress started her career 27 years ago and admitted that the lawsuit had taken a toll on her, but she wouldn’t allow it to weigh her down or kill her.
Ameh, who lost her only daughter in October 2020, stated, “It is taking my life.”

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There is tension presently in Kuchibuyi community, Kubwa town, in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, after gunmen suspected to be terrorists kidnapped the traditional ruler.

 

SaharaReporters learnt that the ruler, identified as Sarki Kuchibuyi, Chief Isiaka, was picked up by the gunmen on Sunday morning from his palace in the presence of his family members.

 

Eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters that the traditional ruler was whisked away by the gunmen and fear had since heightened in the area as the attackers had yet to contact the family members for ransom.

 

“The gunmen invaded the community around 1 am on Sunday, and started shooting sporadically. They picked up our Sarki, Isiaka and went away. They did not touch any other family member,” one of the witnesses said.

 

“Most times, the chief usually slept in a hotel because he might have got some intelligence that the bandits were looking for him. But till recently when he thought he was secure, he returned to his palace but behold, he was attacked and kidnapped,” another source said.

 

SaharaReporters learnt that Nigerian Army personnel and some police operatives from the Kubwa Area Command visited the community on Sunday with an Armoured Personnel Carrier and evaluated the crime scene but no one was arrested as the gunmen had already fled with the ruler.

 

“There is panic presently in our community. We don’t have a police station. We don’t have a security presence. We are vulnerable. If the bandits could pick up our traditional ruler, who then is safe? Recently, the terrorists also picked up a traditional ruler in Kuchiko, a neighbouring area and he was later released after payment of ransom,” a resident identified as Adamu Baba said.

 

The FCT Police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, when contacted by SaharaReporters, said she was attending a management meeting and would get back with reactions. She, however, had yet to do so at the time of filing this report.

 

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday sacked his chief prosecutor and the head of the country's security agency in the largest government shakeup since the start of Russia's invasion nearly five months ago.

 

Zelensky said he was firing Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and security chief Ivan Bakanov amid a high number of cases of suspected treason by Ukrainian law enforcement officials.

Citing many cases of treason in the two powerful organisations, he said more than 60 former employees were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied areas, BBC News reports.

 

"Today, I made the decision of relieving of their duties the prosecutor general and the head of Ukraine's security service," Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation."

 

Zelensky said over 650 cases of suspected treason and aiding and abetting Russia by Ukrainian security officials are currently being investigated, including 60 cases of officials who have remained in territories occupied by Russia and are working against Ukraine.

 

"Such a great number of crimes against the foundations of national security and the connections established between Ukrainian law enforcement officials and Russian special services pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders," Zelensky said.

 

"Each such question will be answered."

 

Venediktova had led Ukraine's investigation into alleged atrocities committed by invading Russian forces in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, which caused international outrage.

 

The sacked officials, Ivan Bakanov and Iryna Venediktova, have not commented.

 

In a video address late on Sunday, Mr Zelensky said: "Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state... pose very serious questions to the relevant heads [of the two organisations]."

 

"Each of these questions will receive a proper answer," the Ukrainian president added.

 

The sacking of SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Mr Zelensky, follows the high-profile arrest of a former SBU regional head in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Oleh Kulinych is suspected of treason.

 

"Everyone who together with him was part of a criminal group that worked in the interests of the Russian Federation will also be held accountable," Mr Zelensky said. "It is about the transfer of secret information to the enemy and other facts of co-operation with the Russian special services."

 

Senior intelligence officials based in Kherson have also been charged and Mr Zelensky suggested that further action would be taken against other SBU officers.

 

It has long been assumed Ukraine had a problem with Russian infiltration of its security services and in his speech Mr Zelensky sought to lay out the impact of repeated security breaches.

 

There have been reports for several weeks that Mr Zelensky wanted to replace Mr Bakanov after coming to blame him for failures in stopping the Russian advance in February.

 

The 47-year-old was picked to head the intelligence agency in 2019 after managing Mr Zelensky's insurgent campaign for the presidency. Opposition figures criticised the appointment, arguing that the former TV producer was unqualified to lead the SBU.

 

Ms Venediktova will be succeeded by her deputy, Oleksiy Symonenko, Mr Zelensky said. She took office in 2020 as Ukraine's first female law enforcement chief after Mr Zelensky fired her predecessor, accusing him of not producing results.

 

But he warned at the time that someone else would be hired if she could not produce results.

 

Earlier this month she told the BBC that her office was investigating some 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russia since the start of its invasion.

 

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A Muslim rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has knocked Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, a Nigerian lawyer who appeared in courts like a 'Juju' priest.

Omirhobo had said dressing in that manner was not a protest against the Supreme Court Judgement which allows the use of Hijab in schools and public places.

MURIC, which was reacting to a picture of Omirhobo and its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said the photograph was which Omirhobo was displaying as proof of having intimacy with Akintola, was taken within the premises of the Lagos High Court, Ikoyi, during the hearing of the case filed by Omirhobo against the use of Arabic language on naira notes.

MURIC claimed that its members were present in court as joiners and the picture was taken by those who attended the sitting.

Omirhobo has declared that he does not hate Islam and that he is not a religious bigot. Omirhobo was reacting to the allegation made in this regard by MURIC.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday, by the director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

The statement reads, “Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, the lawyer who recently dressed like a juju priest with a lawyer’s robe, has declared that he does not hate Islam and that he is not a religious bigot

“It will be recalled that MURIC in an earlier statement accused Omirhobo of hating Islam after appearing in a juju priest’s garb at the Supreme Court barely one week after the highest court in the land ruled in favour of hijab. Omirhobo later claimed that he does not hate Islam.

“Omirhobo can say that to the marines. They may believe him. We don’t. No serious-minded Nigerian will believe him either. Omirhobo is grasping at straws after boxing himself to a corner.

“You claim that you don’t hate Muslims or Islam but you filed three cases against the interest of Islam and Nigerian Muslims within a period of two years. You claim that you are not a religious bigot but as a non-Muslim, you are championing hate-inspired cases.

“You also dressed like a lawyer cum juju priest ostensibly to protest against a pronouncement of respected honourable justices of the Supreme Court thereby subjecting the highest court in the land to ridicule and infamy when, as a lawyer, you are in the best position to know that a pronouncement of the Supreme Court can never be per in curiam (i.e. reached in manifest error).

“This man filed a suit against the Central Bank of Nigeria demanding the removal of Arabic from the naira. He also filed another suit against the Nigerian Army demanding the removal of Arabic from the logo of the Nigerian Army. Still not satisfied, he instituted another matter against the Nigerian Police over the approval of hijab for female Muslim policewomen.

“The last nail in the coffin was his appearance in a lawyer cum juju priest garments in the hallowed grounds of the Supreme Court apparently to cast aspersion on the latter’s pronouncement on hijab. MURIC has merely used expressions, idiomatic and otherwise, figurative and literal, that matched the actions of Omirhobo.

“It was Ian Flemming, the famous author of the James Bond series who said, ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence. The third time is enemy action.’ Omirhobo publicly manifested open animosity towards Nigerian Muslims, not once, not twice, not even three times but four times. He should tell Nigerians the price tag on hatred as displayed in his private supermarket.

“If it is true that action speaks louder than voice, how can Omirhobo, in good conscience, take these four Islamophobic actions and still claim that he doesn’t hate Muslims and Islam? He has been ill-advised. The best option for him is to withdraw all three cases filed by him against the interest of Islam and in open opposition to the enjoyment of Allah-given fundamental human rights by Muslims.

“The picture of himself and the director of MURIC which he now brandishes publicly as evidence of his love for Muslims cannot exonerate him. Neither can it extenuate the allegation made by MURIC against him. Pictures are not enough evidence of friendship or love. We have seen avowed enemies sitting side by side in pictures.

“It should be noted that this particular picture which Omirhobo is displaying all over the world was taken within the premises of the Lagos High Court, Ikoyi, during the hearing of the case filed by Omirhobo against Arabic on naira. MURIC members were present in court as joiners and the picture was taken by those who attended the sitting following gestures that we should take pictures together.

“This was done on the spur of the moment as a mark of free-mindedness. If Omirhobo wants to prove that he is a friend of the director of MURIC, he should provide other pictures taken with the director in other places and wearing other dresses apart from the ones taken on court premises. Not only that, he should provide evidence of a single phone call, a single text message or a single WhatsApp chat between him and the director of MURIC.

“Omirhobo is grandstanding. He could not challenge any of the points raised by MURIC against him. For instance, he cannot deny that he has three anti-Arabic and anti-hijab cases in court. These are established facts and the records are there. Omirhobo cannot lead us by the nose.”

 

The group further noted that Omirhobo “challenged Arabic writing on the naira, he challenged the right of female Muslims and Muslim policewomen to use hijab. Also, he audaciously went ahead to make a caricature of the Supreme Court pronouncement on hijab. So, MURIC has only stated the obvious”.

 

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The Zamfara State Government has suspended the Emir of Sabon Birnin Yandoto of Tsafe local government area of the state, Aliyu Garba Marafa, for turbaning a notorious repentant bandit leader, Adamu Aliero, as Sarkin Fulani (leader of Fulani).

 

Secretary to the State Government, Kabiru Sardauna, announced the suspension in a statement on Sunday.

The statement reads, “This is to inform the general public that the Zamfara State Government has dissociated itself from the alleged turbaning of a Sarkin Fulani by the Emir of Birnin ‘Yandoto of Tsafe Local Government Area.

 

“In this regard, the State Executive Governor, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, MON (Shattiman Sokoto) has directed for suspension of the Emir with immediate effect.

 

“Accordingly, the Executive Governor has approved the appointment of a committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the action of the Emir.

 

“In the meantime, Alh. Mahe Garba Marafa, who is the District Head of ‘Yandoto is hereby assigned to take charge of the affairs of the Emirate.”

 

SaharaReporters had reported that the Emir conferred the traditional title of Sarkin Fulani on Aliero in a colourful ceremony that took place last Saturday.

 

The event was attended by the Zamfara State Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Rtd DIG Mamman Tsafe who was the Chief Guest.

 

Tsafe Local Government Area Sole Administrator, Alhaji Aminu Mudi was also present at the coronation ceremony.

 

Several bandit group leaders and lieutenants arrived at the venue of the occasion on several motorbikes to celebrate with Aleru during his event.

 

SaharaReporters further learnt that the decision to give the terrorist a chieftaincy title was aimed at finding lasting peace in the crisis-ravaged Tsafe and Yandoton Daji emirates and other areas of Zamfara and Katsina states, which are regularly attacked by Aleru and his subordinates.

 

“The denial of Zamfara State Governor to the turbaning of Ado Alieru is shady; in the picture is the Tsafe Local government sole administrator, Alh. Aminu Mudi, who was the special guest of honour at the coronation ceremony, while presenting his speech at the event.

 

“Also, in the picture is the Zamfara State Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Rtd DIG Mamman Tsafe seated at the coronation ceremony as a chief guest. Therefore, Zamfara State Governor was aware of this coronation,” a security analyst said.

 

Yandoton Daji is one of the two new emirates created by the Zamfara government in May. It was carved out from the Tsafe Emirate.

 

The bandit leader was the arrowhead of a deadly raid on Kadisau, a community in the Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, where about 52 people were killed.

 

He was declared wanted by the Katsina Police Command in 2019 with a bounty of N5 million on his head.

 

Deadly attacks have raged across Zamfara state where bandits have thrived.

 

Agrarian communities in the state have long been terrorised by gangs who raid villages, steal cattle and kidnap residents for ransom.

 

In 2019, the state government signed a peace agreement with the gunmen.

About 15 brand new Hilux vehicles and cash gifts were also given to leaders of different 'repentant' gangs of bandits by the governor in 2020.

 

But despite all these, communities in the state are still being attacked and residents kidnapped and/or killed.

 

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About four travellers were reported to have been abducted by suspected gunmen in Anambra State on Sunday.

The Anambra State Police Command has confirmed that its personnel had been deployed to find the kidnappers and rescue the abducted persons.

SaharaReporters learnt that the hoodlums first burnt the victims’ Hilux vehicle and took them away in their SUV.

The incident happened around 3 pm on Sunday at Nise market in the Awka South local government area, a few kilometres from the Governor’s Lodge at Amawbia.

 

The suspects were said to have stopped at the arena, and robbed some persons before making away with the SUV.

 

The operation by the hoodlums, according to a source, lasted for about 30mins.

 

When contacted, Anambra Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ikenga Tochukwu, confirmed the incident.

 

According to him, security operatives are already trailing the hoodlums.

 

Tochukwu said upon receiving information about the incident, the police commissioner, Echeng Echeng immediately deployed a tactical team to trail the hoodlums.

 

He said, “We’ve not got the details of the incident in full, but our men have been deployed to the area.”

 

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At least three people were fatally shot and two were injured Sunday evening at an Indiana mall in the United States of America after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court and an armed civilian shot and killed him.

According to Associated Press, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison said the man entered the Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court.

A 22-year-old from nearby Bartholomew County who was legally carrying a firearm at the mall shot and killed the gunman, Ison said at a news conference.

Four of those hit by gunfire were females and one was a male, Ison said. He didn’t immediately know the specific gender or age of those who were killed.

He said a 12-year-old girl was among the two injured, both of whom are in stable condition.

Police confiscated a suspicious backpack that was in a bathroom near the food court, Ison said.

Officers went to the mall at about 6 p.m. for reports of the shooting.

“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began,” Ison said.

The mass shooting was just the latest to unnerve Americans in 2022. Schools, churches, grocery stores and a July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Illinois, have all become killing grounds in recent months. Still, the reality of America’s staggering murder rate can often be seen more clearly in individual deaths that rarely make the news.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and multiple other agencies are assisting in the investigation.

 

“We are sickened by yet another type of incident like this in our country,” Indianapolis Assistant Chief of Police Chris Bailey said.

 

There was no threat to the area Sunday night, authorities said.

 

Greenwood is a south suburb of Indianapolis with a population of about 60,000. Mayor Mark Myers asked for “prayers to the victims and our first responders.”

 

“This tragedy hits at the core of our community,” Myers said in a statement.

 

Authorities said they would provide more details Monday.

 

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Human Augmentation projects the capacitation of human beings beyond their natural abilities and limitations. It is a basic aspiration of human beings and has been going on since the emergence of humans. Human enhancement is both physical and cognitive and promises to cure and overcome diseases and disabilities that encumber and debilitate human existence. Interestingly, human augmentation is one of the themes of this year's University of Cape and Geneva Science Diplomacy Accelerator (GESDA) Youth Anticipation Initiative.

This initiative aims to use the science of the future to shape the present. More importantly, it tries to mainstream African youth participation, making sure that the voice of African youths is heard in this important conversation. The Youth Anticipation Initiative is a thoughtful and commendable program given the fact that the future belongs to the youths.

To situate the link between human augmentation and African youths, I would like to recount a recent incident.

 It happened in my community in southern Nigeria. On Monday, July 11, 2022, I got a call that people in my village woke up early in the morning to discover that someone had poured some white sand across the major footpaths. It was a strange sight that evoked fear and panic among the population. Community leaders quickly summoned an emergency meeting to unravel what happened. Their inquiry traced the incident to a young man in his late 30s who was visiting. This gentleman lives in a city about 110 kilometres from his hometown. He works as a school teacher and also a part-time pastor at a popular Pentecostal church in Port Harcourt.

 

According to family sources, some weeks ago the mother informed him that the aging father, over 80 years, was ill. Some years ago, two of his brothers took ill and died under what some within the family deemed "mysterious circumstances". Before traveling to see the father, this young man went and consulted, not a medical doctor, but a senior pastor in his church. The pastor told him to go and conduct a liberation prayer with some white sand and olive oil so that his aging and ailing father would recover. The ritual would supposedly neutralize any other malicious forces linked to the father's sickness and other misfortunes in the family and community. On Sunday night while the villagers were asleep, he went and poured some white sand and olive oil across the footpaths in the community as part of this prayer of liberation, and obviously, efforts to get his father healed.

 

The community leaders were angry and sanctioned him for conducting this ritual without their consent and permission. They asked him to pay some penalty, to give the community some kola nuts, a goat, a jar of palm wine, and five thousand naira to appease the gods of the land. But the young man objected to paying the penalty, and later went back to the city. This young man indulged in this ritual exercise to increase the father's and by extension other community members' health and lifespan. It was an exercise to tackle existential challenges. While this incident is not representative of what all Nigerian or African youths do or would do when confronted with illness and aging, it is indicative of a potent and pervasive mindset in the region. In the absence of technoscientific goods, African people deploy mythical formations and rituals in their efforts to cure diseases, defy death, and augment life. They resort to using traditional, Christian and Islamic charms and accessories. Unfortunately, the mythical habit hampers the ability of Africans to use the science of the future to build the present, and increase health and lifespan. It stymies the possibilities of human augmentation and the potential of Africans to leverage other new science and technology advances. But the situation is much more complicated.

Existing techno-politics has orchestrated a gap between Africa and the rest of the world. This gap has made technologies inaccessible and unaffordable for many people. If urgent measures are not taken to rectify the technological disconnect of Africa from the rest of the world, the gap would persist in the anticipated augmented future. If Africa does not witness some radical shifts in policy, orientation, and mindset associated injustices and inequities would even worsen. Although human augmentation and other emerging technological schemes point to much better, healthier and happier futures, risks and dangers abound.

While Africans must be optimistic about the prospects of human augmentation and other emerging technological programs, there is a need to exercise caution, and temper optimism with realism. The technological differential has created a situation whereby these goods and benefits have largely been elusive, unharnessed, and underutilized. African countries have become a dumping ground of outdated and sometimes harmful technologies. Africans have been unable to access or optimally deployed existing technologies to tackle their everyday needs and challenges. Many Africans travel to Europe, America, India and the Middle east to access medical care at exorbitant costs. And this trend is not changing for now.  If these gaps are not narrowed or closed, Africa could be left further behind in the race for human augmentation and other futurist schemes.

 

In addition, existing technologies have yielded a situation where African countries are described as developing, less developed, or underdeveloped. If the gap is not rectified, augmentation could become an identity political issue. Augmentation could become a way of defining and identifying humans. Africans might end up being designated as a continent of unaugmented, under-augmented, or less augmented humans as opposed to augmented humans in the west and the rest of the world.

 

 

Human augmentation is a welcome development. Highlighting the risks and dangers associated with human augmentation should not be misinterpreted. It should not be seen as an exercise in despair, or an attempt to stop or oppose the process of human capacitation. Rather, noting these concerns is a way to ensure that necessary measures are taken to mitigate envisaged risks; that promises and possibilities of this exciting project are harnessed as anticipated for Africa and the rest of the world.

 

 

Leo Igwe is the author of a paper titled 'Transhumanism and Emerging Technologies: Exploring Ethics and Human Enhancement in Africa'

 

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Former “President Trump is a 76-year-old man; he is not an impressionable child," came as the stinging words from the special January 6 Congressional committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming.  "Just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices." 
The influential daughter of the former vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, drew a line that the committee will not hesitate to hold Mr. Trump responsible for his actions regarding the planned actions of the political mob and troublemakers who invaded the U.S Capitol January 6, last year.
She insists that Mr. Trump had access to the most comprehensive and factual information regarding the outcome of the elections but decided to inflame and incite mayhem at the legislative building across the White House.
 
"No rational or sane man in his position could disregard that information and reach the opposite conclusion” Ms. Cheney noted.
Cheney and the committee reported 3 days ago on July 12, 2022 that Trump attempted to phone call a witness in the Jan. 6 investigation following the explosive hearing on June 28 with former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.
The committee passed along the information to the Justice Department. She warned “We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously".
Stripped all the legalese, Trump is potentially going to be charged with witness tampering! 
 
As if the actual offenses and emerging problems for the former President Trump were not enough, a revealing text message from his former campaign manager Brad Parscale as his analysis and response to Trump’s incendiary speech at the rally preceding the Jan. 6 insurrection is jaw-dropping:
“This is about Trump pushing for uncertainty in our country, a sitting President asking for civil war”, Parscale wrote to Trump’s former campaign adviser, liar and distorter extraordinaire Katrina Pierson. 
The texts were shown at the hearing Tuesday.

He said he felt guilty for helping Trump. 
 
It was not over. No!
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (Democrat of Florida) said Trump’s lies in that January 6 speech were inflammatory lies for his supporters.
“He lied to his supporters that the election was stolen. He stoked their anger…. He called for them to fight for him. He directed them to the U.S. Capitol. He told them he would join them, and his supporters believed him….. And many headed towards the Capitol. As a result, people died, people were injured. Many of his supporters’ lives will never be the same.” 
In fact, America has not been the same ever since!
 
I remember that on January 6, 2021, alone, four Americans died — from conflict and commotion following his noon-time marching orders, specifically:
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. Let the weak ones get out….  This is a time for strength.”
Before that event, there’s this incitement from the early morning hours of December 19, 2020. Mr. Trump put out a tweet inviting his supporters to come to Washington DC in about 3 weeks: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Be there, will be wild!” 
And, it became very wild. It all seemed like a gathering of nativists, some retired members of the armed forces, nationalists, xenophobes, neo-Nazis, skinheads, and certified racists such as the so-called ‘Proud Boys.’   
 
This special committee the United States Congress has exposed some of the hidden and behind the scenes manipulations and lies by the Trump presidency. 
We’ve all seen that Mr. Trump started his embattled presidency with an overdose of racially polarizing agenda. Trump and his enablers decided from the beginning that they will force-feed Americans and the world a sweetened but toxic porridge of bold and bald lies as daily requirements and operational instruments for governance. It has been almost Orwellian — where bronze is gold, bad is good and lie is truth.
Consequently, history will, again, denote him as the only man who had the rare privilege of serving as the president of the United States but chose, willfully and giddily, to pursue violent and unlawful assault at the System of responsible governance and democracy. The Trumpians and the Trump presidency ended with terrible, nightmarish acts of brazen violence and killings of law abiding Americans. Threats and intimidation of local election officials…
There are two, key questions remaining. 
First, will Mr. Trump face the legal implications of his actions especially instigations leading up to and on the day of January 6, 2021? 
Second, who else will be held responsible for the deaths of several police officers and public servants on that Trump day of infamy and Trumpian brigandage?

*Dr. Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming 2022 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity, serves as Founder & Publisher of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston. He has appeared as an analyst on CNN, SKYnews, VOA, BET news, SABC, and served as an adviser on Africa business to Houston’s former Mayor Lee Brown. Follow him @Chido247

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The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr Omoyele Sowore has mocked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi for visiting former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former dictator, Ibrahim Babangida to seek their support.

Sowore posted two photographs – one showing Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed standing on either side of Obasanjo, to support the aged former President.

A second photograph shows Obi seated beside Babangida.

The AAC presidential candidate criticised Obi’s visits to the two former leaders, tweeting, "Our quest for a new and radical leadership is rooted in a total rejection of the old crooked & criminal order! #WeCantContinueLikeThis.”

Last week, Sowore also criticised Obi for visiting Babangida a former dictator and military the former dictator who is notorious for annulling the June 12, 1993 election – which was popularly won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.

Babangida, known as the "evil genius" was the head of the Nigerian military government from 1985 to1993.

“Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Gusau, Abubakar Abdusalam and Ango Abdullahi are Mr. Peter Obi’s “God fathers” the people that ruined Nigeria are the ones fronting for him. May it never happen that we will work with these criminals! #WeCantContinueLikeThis,” Sowore had captioned the picture shared last week.

 

 

 

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Shehu Sani

A former senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Assembly, Shehu Sani, has mocked those still doubting the outcome of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.

 

Senator Sani, who contested for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship ticket in Kaduna State but lost to a former House of Representatives member, Hon. Isah Mohammed Ashiru, said those who are still studying the results of the election are doing that in preparation for their PhD programme.

Shehu Sani

The former lawmaker made the statement on his verified Twitter page on Sunday where he said, “Those still studying the Osun result may be doing so for PhD theses.”

 

Sani was reacting to a statement by Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary to Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, that the governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were still studying the election results.

 

Omipidan, who repeated the statement during the Channels TV ‘Politics Today’ monitored by SaharaReporters said the APC had taken record of the results of the election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Sunday.

 

Omipidan said the party and its incumbent governor would respond to the outcome of the election after studying the results appropriately and consulting with critical stakeholders.

 

Similarly, the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, earlier on Sunday morning said he was not yet aware of the official declaration of the results of the election.

 

Adamu noted this while featuring on Arise TV Morning Show programme which started at 8:00 am, a few hours after INEC declared Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the winner and governor-elect in the election.

 

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Kennedy Emetulu

O se 'kini, o lu'le!

O se 'keji, o lu'le!

O se 'keta, o lu'le!

O se 'kerin, won gbe si posi lo si Iragbiji!

O de su’kun lori telfison!

 

 

This is not a biography of the man we know as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but a small observation about certain aspects of his life. This fellow reputed to have been a ‘houseboy’ to the famous matriarch of the Tinubu family of Lagos rose to be a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a two-time Governor of Lagos State. Today, he wants to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

 

This would have been a most inspirational story for these times, except that the man behind the story is a shady leech who cannot rise above his original lowly mental station, despite all the wealth of Croesus, albeit acquired crookedly. Only a man with a psychological baggage from a dark childhood would, in the name of political campaign, curse followers of another party to labour fruitlessly “till death” just because they are members of the Labour Party. But if you have a history of want, a history of greed, a history of graft, those who believe in hard work will always be threats.

Kennedy Emetulu

His name, Bola Tinubu is reputed to be the name of a niece of his borrowed mother, which he adopted upon using her name to get to the US on a forged passport. He claims to have attended a primary school that never existed and a secondary school whose authorities and old boys disown him because he was never there. He lied about his work as an accountant and how much he was paid, just so he could ‘launder’ money that he actually got from drug dealing into public consciousness. He was in cahoots with Sani Abacha and the Chagoury clan as he pretended to be on MKO Abiola’s side during the struggle for the restoration of the June 12 mandate. He rode on the back of his lies to the Lagos State Government House and then sold the Afenifere, his political base, down the river, while he used Lagos taxpayers’ money to build a self-serving political structure that put Lagos in bondage and which he thereafter used to buy thrones for political minions all over the South-West and momentarily in Edo State. He fortified his rise to power with boulders of lies to the extent that he couldn’t publicly attend his real mother’s funeral in Iragbiji, Osun State just so he could continue the façade of being the son of the Tinubu matriarch of Lagos.

 

In 2018, he criminally seized Osun State for his nephew, Adegboyega Oyetola to govern as governor as Nigerians watched in disbelief. He thereafter launched bullion-van attacks on the consciousness of Nigerians as he moved heaven and earth to return Muhammadu Buhari to Aso Rock preparatory to him succeeding Buhari in 2023. When the battle for the 2023 presidential ticket of his party reached the business end, he, the sickly presence on the floor of the convention, bought fellow contestants and delegates wholesale and clinched the ticket. At that point, his reputation as a legendary political strategist was sealed.

 

Then Sir Isaac Newton heard and said to the forces of nature: “Hold my beer!”, but Ekiti gubernatorial election came and Tinubu’s candidate won. Wow! A man so strong as to defeat gravity must be a god! His minions all bowed again to Bola Parkinson. He was on a roll. 

 

But he can’t dance. That’s his real problem. In Osun, what was on show was a dancing contest and all Tinubu has is stolen money. He spent it, sprayed everywhere and everyone, but he still can’t dance. Then Ademola Jackson Adeleke danced! He danced from Apomu to Ipetu-Ijesha, from Ejigbo to Igomina and from Ila-Orangun to Ifetedo and Osun people marvelled at the dexterity of his footwork and rewarded him with victory. To the chagrin of the man from Iragbiji, Adeleke is today the Governor-Elect. The hapless Oyetola has gone for a full body massage somewhere. It was a gruelling battle.

 

Now, Nigeria stares Mr Iragbiji in the face. He has borrowed Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral status in the North and garbed his own supposed status in the South-West – the honour-worshipping South-West he believes he has cowed with thugs and money. He’s prancing around, pounding his cute chest, like Pa Ikhide, and shouting: “E gbe kini yi wa! E mi lo kan!” But in seven months, this bat will be roasted on a live NEPA wire and no one will see its remains. That is the warning. But like a dog that has since become deaf to the hunter’s whistle, Amoda Lamidi Sangodele is too far gone to retreat. He is going to huddle together with his spin-doctors and bagmen and distribute more money to near and far-flung places where the din of sycophancy would once more buoy his confidence as he marches resolutely to his tragic political end.

 

Hey! You heard it here first. This is a Greek tragedy in slow motion. You don’t need a ringside seat to watch it live. Just sit in front of your television when he bleeds his tears. Not long again, not long….

 

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Kennedy Emetulu Disable advertisements : 

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (ASUU UDUS) Branch has lambasted the Nigerian Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige for claiming the university college of health science has abandoned the five months old strike embarked upon by public university lecturers nationwide.

The striking lecturers accused Ngige of misleading the public about the true issues regarding the lingering strike.

In a statement jointly signed by the chapter’s chairperson, M. N. Almustapha and the secretary, S. A. Sadiku, appealed to the Nigerian Government to take necessary action and caution Ngige before his misrepresentation of issues further plunge the country into a serious crisis.

The statement reads: "The attention of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (ASUU UDUS) Branch has been drawn to an interview granted to Arise TV by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige on the 14th of July, 2022.

“In the said interview, he characteristically (as always) misinformed and disinformed Nigerians about the actual state of the ASUU-FGN reconciliation efforts. In part of his remarks, Dr. Ngige pitiably and shamefully stated, in quote ‘Medical lecturers are at work, they are teaching. Sokoto has graduated their medical students, they are reasonable people, they have tested the strike, and saw that it produces no result, yes they did it the last time. So, today, they have written, their Vice Chancellor has approved that they are at work. The labour Controllers in those states have also confirmed that they are at work and I have advised the Finance Minister and they are processing their payments’.

"This is to categorically and unequivocally inform the public and those concerned that these are all in the imagination of the Minister. This intentional misinformation and treachery, against the sensibility of Nigerians is already known to many as the characteristics of Dr. Ngige. His manner of narrative during the interview depicts his inhumane nature and wanton disregard for truth, honesty and integrity, a character unbefitting of a Federal Minister.

"How could a Senior Minister of the Federal Republic, who is supposed to be an elder statesman, continue to dish out such disinformation to over 200 million Nigerians, knowing fully well that he was not saying the truth.

"The question at this juncture is, how many of such untrue statements has he told the President about the negotiations and how will he continue to tell such fabricated stories before Nigerians? What would be the magnitude of damage he has caused the education system of this Nation by such unstatesmanly comments? Is Dr. Ngige not aware that it does not add up that the said lecturers have done their job, yet they have not been paid their salaries for such a job, or is he cunningly portraying his Government as an unfair one?

“To put the record straight: The entire members of ASUU-UDUS Branch, including the College of Health Sciences, are fully on a total and comprehensive strike which commenced on the 14th of February, 2022 and have never had the intention of calling it off until the Federal Government wakes up to its responsibilities.

“Contrary to the claims of Dr. Ngige, there is no letter written by the Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto or any of his representatives or any Union officials, depicting that the Medical Lecturers are not on strike to any agency of government from UDUS.

“The University has not graduated any student since the commencement of the strike action in February 2022. The Union challenges the self-acclaimed ‘Conciliator’ Dr. Ngige, to produce any factual evidence to back his crooked claims.

It should, however, be on record that such dangerous precedence of falsehood without emotion, typical of ‘Conciliator’ Dr. Ngige has made him the worst Minister of Labour ever in the history of Nigerian labour relations. His antics, biasness and wickedness have earned him the highest number of strike actions during his tenure and have surpassed his predecessors with the highest number of unresolved disputes and conflicts.

“Dr Ngige, by attitude, succeeded in misleading all the critical stakeholders in the current struggle into believing that the issue at stake is unsolvable. He has also succeeded in degrading his professional status and the position he occupies, while his colleagues in the medical profession are doing wonderfully well, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

"It is well known globally that medical professionals are always upright and straightforward because of their noble background, but the present character of Dr. Ngige depicts a person with moral deficit, who is unfit for any reasonable or sensitive leadership position.

"His quest for now is to divide the Union through creating an unsavoury relationship between the medical lecturers and other members of the Union. This is after several unsuccessful attempts to divide the Union through the sponsorship of selected academics to form a parallel union.

"Sorry to disappoint him. We know better. This treacherous anti-intellectual posture of ‘Conciliator’ Dr. Ngige has always been the bane of the current ASUU FGN crisis.”

"We, therefore, call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to as a matter of urgency, take necessary action and call Ngige to order before his lies further plunge this nation into serious crisis.

"The struggle continues!" the statement added.

 

 

Education News AddThis :  Original Author :  saharareporters, new york Disable advertisements : 

The General Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly called The Latter Rain Assembly), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has expressed his approval of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.

 

The former APC presidential aspirant who had zero votes at the party’s primary election in May on Sunday while reacting to the party’s choice of a Muslim running mate for Tinubu, who is also a Muslim, said Christians in Nigeria are only paying for decades of erroneous teaching.

neThe cleric said that APC is only bearing a message of New Nigeria where every Nigerian will be judged, not by their ethnicity, political and regional affiliation or religious persuasion, but by the content of their character.

 

Bakare, who urged Nigerians to prioritise nation-building ahead of ethnic or religious sentiment, charged Christian leaders to approach the Muslim-Muslim ticket issue and other issues about 2023 elections with civility, clarity and with continued hope in the possibilities of a united Nigeria.

 

According to Bakare, this is the time to show maturity in decision-making and to give every Nigerian a sense of belonging.

 

A report by Vanguard quoted the cleric who had boasted that he would succeed President Muhammadu Buhari as the 16th president of Nigeria said, “As standard-bearers of the message of the New Nigeria, we dream of a nation in which every Nigerian will be judged, not by their ethnicity, political leaning, regional affiliation or religious persuasion, but by the content of their character, as Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. once proclaimed in respect of his nation, the United States of America.

 

“We dream of a Nigeria where there will no longer be indigene or settler but only a Nigerian citizen. We dream of a Nigeria where state of residence will replace state of origin in our official forms and where zoning or Federal Character will become archival aspects of our journey into political maturity.

 

“We dream of a Nigeria in which every woman as well as every man will be able to aspire to any political office at any time without playing the ethnic card and without recourse to ‘it’s our turn’ or ‘it’s their turn.’”

 

Bakare said that he has chosen to be a bridge between Nigeria’s past, present and future, adding, “We choose to do this because we believe that building the New Nigeria is the calling upon every Nigerian worthy of the name.”

 

The popular pastor noted that the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, often described as the pillar of Northern Nigerian politics, recognised the moral obligation to ensure that due consideration is given to diversity of persuasions in public policy.

 

The cleric said, “As a result, Northern Nigeria had its political foundation built on the principles of inclusion and religious harmony. This value system of religious neutrality and inclusion played out when military forces from Northern Nigeria took over power in the 1966 counter-coup. The military had the confidence to leave the nation in the custody of a Christian from a minority ethnic group in the North. General Yakubu Gowon would go on to govern Nigeria for nine years keeping Nigeria one amidst a Civil War.

 

“So this moment calls for every Nigerian, from the North, South, East and West, to renew our commitment to nationhood, building upon what worked in the time of our founding fathers, while learning from their mistakes and imperfections as we build a more perfect union.

 

“What we need is a New Nigeria that works for every Nigerian, Christian as well as Muslim. Nationhood, rather than divisiveness, must be the objective of every engagement.

 

“As Christian leaders, we must also realise that the church in Nigeria is today paying for decades of erroneous teaching that posited that Christians have no business in politics. What is happening today is the price we have to pay for the years of failure of the church to strategically participate in the political process.

 

“The antagonism that was meted to some of us who have ventured from the pulpit to the podium, even from amongst our fellow Christian leaders, was always a pointer that a day would come when the church would face a rude awakening of the consequence of passivity, apathy, non-participation and an anachronistic adherence to the Aaronic priesthood, especially long after the author and finisher of our faith had moved on to the Melchizedek priesthood. Failure to admit this would amount to hypocrisy.

 

“Going forward, ahead of 2023, we must learn from our mistakes. Christian leaders must, at this point, bring the candidates and their running mates to the negotiation table doing so with an open mind and based on a clearly articulated charter for nation-building and national development.

 

“Christian leaders must, at this point, convene a strategic concourse to define the minimum standards across sectors of governance below which no Nigerian, Christian or Muslim, must be subjected. The SNG Charter and the Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and Reintegration which was unanimously adopted by the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, can be a springboard for such sector-by-sector deliberations. This must be done between now and September when the campaigns will officially commence. The Charter may be launched in Abuja and may be termed The Abuja Declaration for Nationhood.

 

“Thereafter, Christian leaders must then carefully engage each presidential candidate and running mate based on that Charter and provide a unified direction to the body of Christ in Nigeria having assessed each presidential/vice-presidential ticket based on key performance indicators around the Charter. This would be a more mature, structured and strategic way to respond to the situation as against the emotional reactions that have dominated the polity since the choice of a running mate was made by the APC presidential candidate.

 

“For the Christians in Northern Nigeria who feel marginalised by the choice of a Northern Muslim as running mate, the time has come to upgrade the conversation from politics to governance. The time has come to interrogate the impact of politics on development.”

 

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  saharareporters, new york Disable advertisements : 

Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has mocked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the outcome of the Osun governorship election.

 

Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 403,371 votes to defeat Governor Gboyega Oyetola and candidate of the APC, who secured 375,027 votes.

Wole Soyinka DW

The PDP candidate won 17 local government areas while the incumbent governor secured victory in the remaining 13 LGAs.

 

In April 2022, Soyinka faulted the election of Iyiola Omisore as the National Secretary of the ruling APC.

 

He described Omisore as “one of the prime suspects” in the murder of Bola Ige, a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

 

Soyinka said President Muhammadu Buhari’s acceptance of Omisore as APC National Secretary raises questions about his pledge to reopen the probe.

 

“With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the Ruling Party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

 

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, page of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping,” Soyinka had said.

 

Prior to the assassination, Ige and Omisore had been at loggerheads over a political crisis in Osun.

Ige died on December 23, 2001, following his assassination by yet-to-be-identified killers in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. The gruesome murder also led to the sudden death of Atinuke, his wife; and destabilised his family.

Ige’s assassination was believed to have started with an altercation that happened at the palace of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade during the conferment of chieftaincy title on some individuals. Ige was mobbed by an angry crowd as they stripped him of his necklace and cap, and destroyed his glasses.

 

The group was led by a certain ‘Fryo’, a known political thug loyal and devoted to Omisore. It was an obvious breach of his security and generally believed to be an attempt to eliminate him openly. A day after the assault, Omisore reportedly granted an interview to Tempo magazine that was published the following week.

 

In the interview, he said "...Bola Ige came on (the) radio here to insult me and my family. That is his last one. He was beaten yesterday; the people of Ife beat him up and he was crying like a baby as they removed his cap and his glasses."

 

A week after the attack on Bola Ige at Ooni’s palace, he was killed in his home in Ibadan. In December 2002, the APC National Secretary was impeached as the deputy governor of Osun over a breach of oath of office and other offences.

After his impeachment, Omisore alongside others were arrested and arraigned before an Oyo State High Court as the suspected killers of the former Attorney General of the Federation but were later released for lack of evidence. He has repeatedly denied having any involvement in Ige’s death.

 

In a statement released a few hours after the announcement of the result of the 2022 Osun governorship election, in which Omisore played a futile role to ensure Oyetola would return for a second term, the Nobel Laureate said Ige's voice has resounded from beyond the grave to disgrace those who allegedly conspired to catapult his destroyers to unmerited national prominence.

 

“The voice of Ajibola Ige, slain Minister of Justice, resounds from beyond the grave. Those who conspired to catapult his destroyers to unmerited national prominence, to insult the memories of the living, and jettison basic ethical constraints, have been justly served. It is a lesson that speaks to other zones of rightful public expectations, equity, and just entitlements,” he said.

 

“One despairs but continues to hope that there are still receptive minds in which such lessons will germinate. If we may adapt a wise saying from the ancients: the beast of burden, nicknamed Equity, ambles its mined course to destination but, sooner or later, that donkey arrives.”

 

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, new York Disable advertisements : 

Kennedy Emetulu

O se 'kini, o lu'le!

O se 'keji, o lu'le!

O se 'keta, o lu'le!

O se 'kerin, won gbe si posi lo si Iragbiji!

O de su’kun lori telfison!

 

 

This is not a biography of the man we know as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but a small observation about certain aspects of his life. This fellow reputed to have been a ‘houseboy’ to the famous matriarch of the Tinubu family of Lagos rose to be a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a two-time Governor of Lagos State. Today, he wants to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

 

This would have been a most inspirational story for these times, except that the man behind the story is a shady leech who cannot rise above his original lowly mental station, despite all the wealth of Croesus, albeit acquired crookedly. Only a man with a psychological baggage from a dark childhood would, in the name of political campaign, curse followers of another party to labour fruitlessly “till death” just because they are members of the Labour Party. But if you have a history of want, a history of greed, a history of graft, those who believe in hard work will always be threats.

Kennedy Emetulu

His name, Bola Tinubu is reputed to be the name of a niece of his borrowed mother, which he adopted upon using her name to get to the US on a forged passport. He claims to have attended a primary school that never existed and a secondary school whose authorities and old boys disown him because he was never there. He lied about his work as an accountant and how much he was paid, just so he could ‘launder’ money that he actually got from drug dealing into public consciousness. He was in cahoots with Sani Abacha and the Chagoury clan as he pretended to be on MKO Abiola’s side during the struggle for the restoration of the June 12 mandate. He rode on the back of his lies to the Lagos State Government House and then sold the Afenifere, his political base, down the river, while he used Lagos taxpayers’ money to build a self-serving political structure that put Lagos in bondage and which he thereafter used to buy thrones for political minions all over the South-West and momentarily in Edo State. He fortified his rise to power with boulders of lies to the extent that he couldn’t publicly attend his real mother’s funeral in Iragbiji, Osun State just so he could continue the façade of being the son of the Tinubu matriarch of Lagos.

 

In 2018, he criminally seized Osun State for his nephew, Adegboyega Oyetola to govern as governor as Nigerians watched in disbelief. He thereafter launched bullion-van attacks on the consciousness of Nigerians as he moved heaven and earth to return Muhammadu Buhari to Aso Rock preparatory to him succeeding Buhari in 2023. When the battle for the 2023 presidential ticket of his party reached the business end, he, the sickly presence on the floor of the convention, bought fellow contestants and delegates wholesale and clinched the ticket. At that point, his reputation as a legendary political strategist was sealed.

 

Then Sir Isaac Newton heard and said to the forces of nature: “Hold my beer!”, but Ekiti gubernatorial election came and Tinubu’s candidate won. Wow! A man so strong as to defeat gravity must be a god! His minions all bowed again to Bola Parkinson. He was on a roll. 

 

But he can’t dance. That’s his real problem. In Osun, what was on show was a dancing contest and all Tinubu has is stolen money. He spent it, sprayed everywhere and everyone, but he still can’t dance. Then Ademola Jackson Adeleke danced! He danced from Apomu to Ipetu-Ijesha, from Ejigbo to Igomina and from Ila-Orangun to Ifetedo and Osun people marvelled at the dexterity of his footwork and rewarded him with victory. To the chagrin of the man from Iragbiji, Adeleke is today the Governor-Elect. The hapless Oyetola has gone for a full body massage somewhere. It was a gruelling battle.

 

Now, Nigeria stares Mr Iragbiji in the face. He has borrowed Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral status in the North and garbed his own supposed status in the South-West – the honour-worshipping South-West he believes he has cowed with thugs and money. He’s prancing around, pounding his cute chest, like Pa Ikhide, and shouting: “E gbe kini yi wa! E mi lo kan!” But in seven months, this bat will be roasted on a live NEPA wire and no one will see its remains. That is the warning. But like a dog that has since become deaf to the hunter’s whistle, Amoda Lamidi Sangodele is too far gone to retreat. He is going to huddle together with his spin-doctors and bagmen and distribute more money to near and far-flung places where the din of sycophancy would once more buoy his confidence as he marches resolutely to his tragic political end.

 

Hey! You heard it here first. This is a Greek tragedy in slow motion. You don’t need a ringside seat to watch it live. Just sit in front of your television when he bleeds his tears. Not long again, not long….

 

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Kennedy Emetulu Disable advertisements : 

Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has mocked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the outcome of the Osun governorship election.

 

Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 403,371 votes to defeat Governor Gboyega Oyetola and candidate of the APC, who secured 375,027 votes.

Wole Soyinka DW

The PDP candidate won 17 local government areas while the incumbent governor secured victory in the remaining 13 LGAs.

 

In April 2022, Soyinka faulted the election of Iyiola Omisore as the National Secretary of the ruling APC.

 

He described Omisore as “one of the prime suspects” in the murder of Bola Ige, a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

 

Soyinka said President Muhammadu Buhari’s acceptance of Omisore as APC National Secretary raises questions about his pledge to reopen the probe.

 

“With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the Ruling Party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering?

 

“That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, page of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping,” Soyinka had said.

 

Prior to the assassination, Ige and Omisore had been at loggerheads over a political crisis in Osun.

Ige died on December 23, 2001, following his assassination by yet-to-be-identified killers in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. The gruesome murder also led to the sudden death of Atinuke, his wife; and destabilised his family.

Ige’s assassination was believed to have started with an altercation that happened at the palace of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade during the conferment of chieftaincy title on some individuals. Ige was mobbed by an angry crowd as they stripped him of his necklace and cap, and destroyed his glasses.

 

The group was led by a certain ‘Fryo’, a known political thug loyal and devoted to Omisore. It was an obvious breach of his security and generally believed to be an attempt to eliminate him openly. A day after the assault, Omisore reportedly granted an interview to Tempo magazine that was published the following week.

 

In the interview, he said "...Bola Ige came on (the) radio here to insult me and my family. That is his last one. He was beaten yesterday; the people of Ife beat him up and he was crying like a baby as they removed his cap and his glasses."

 

A week after the attack on Bola Ige at Ooni’s palace, he was killed in his home in Ibadan. In December 2002, the APC National Secretary was impeached as the deputy governor of Osun over a breach of oath of office and other offences.

After his impeachment, Omisore alongside others were arrested and arraigned before an Oyo State High Court as the suspected killers of the former Attorney General of the Federation but were later released for lack of evidence. He has repeatedly denied having any involvement in Ige’s death.

 

In a statement released a few hours after the announcement of the result of the 2022 Osun governorship election, in which Omisore played a futile role to ensure Oyetola would return for a second term, the Nobel Laureate said Ige's voice has resounded from beyond the grave to disgrace those who allegedly conspired to catapult his destroyers to unmerited national prominence.

 

“The voice of Ajibola Ige, slain Minister of Justice, resounds from beyond the grave. Those who conspired to catapult his destroyers to unmerited national prominence, to insult the memories of the living, and jettison basic ethical constraints, have been justly served. It is a lesson that speaks to other zones of rightful public expectations, equity, and just entitlements,” he said.

 

“One despairs but continues to hope that there are still receptive minds in which such lessons will germinate. If we may adapt a wise saying from the ancients: the beast of burden, nicknamed Equity, ambles its mined course to destination but, sooner or later, that donkey arrives.”

 

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, new York Disable advertisements : 

 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, John Mayaki, says President Muhammadu Buhari is responsible for the defeat of the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, in Saturday’s governorship poll.

 

Mayaki, who chaired the Media Council of the Edo APC in the 2020 governorship election, accused Buhari of negligence in the party's management which he described as ‘suicidal’ tolerance of anti-party activities within the ranks, The PUNCH reported.

While commending the President’s non-interference through the infamous ‘federal might’, he said his abandonment of obligations as the leader of the party who ought to be spearheading efforts to unite the ranks, enforce loyalty and expand political control, had brought the party to the point of losing an election where its candidate was the incumbent.

 

He warned that unless the President changed his approach to party issues, it may complicate the party’s chances in the 2023 elections.

 

He said, “The anti-party activities of top ranking APC members, governors and ministers under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is to blame for the electoral misfortune of the party in Edo and Osun states.

 

“Poor reward system of the party and that of the president, if not checked, could impact negatively on the party just as the ‘I don’t care attitude’ of Mr. President as a party man. The president is the leader of the party and he doesn’t appear concerned if the party collapses under his watch.

 

“In Edo State, we have a deformed Assembly lacking the inclusion of the majority because duly elected members are yet to be inaugurated. Mr. President has shown no serious concern about this dangerous development, despite the fact that the affected people are all members of the party he leads.

 

“Under President Buhari, the APC governors worked against the party in Edo State similar to how figures in his cabinet have been fingered in the loss of Osun State. But Mr. President won’t lift a finger to either reprimand these party saboteurs, instead, he signals tolerance that further emboldens them.”

 

Mayaki slammed President Buhari’s refusal to sack non-performing members of his cabinets and government who, according to him, had shown themselves incapable of bringing an end to the insecurity that plagued the country.

 

He urged the President to learn party leadership from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

 

He called on party members in Osun State to learn the necessary lessons from the defeat and work harder toward delivering Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in 2023.

 

He also warned the PDP not to “delude themselves into believing that taking Osun means winning the presidency as it is a different ball game entirely.”

 

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  saharareporters, new york Disable advertisements : 

Deve Bossua Salem, the widow of the late Vanguard Newspapers reporter, Tordue Salem, has instituted a rights enforcement suit against the Federal Government of Nigeria at the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

 

The suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/32/22, dated July 7, 2022, was filed on behalf of Mrs Salem (Plaintiff), by Chief Sebastine Hon, SAN.

The suit is seeking redress over the violation of the plaintiff's late husband's right to life as enshrined in Articles 4, 5, 6 and 23(1) of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights.

 

Plaintiff wants an order for the Nigerian Government to pay the sum of $2 million as compensation, being the sum the late Tordue Salem would have if alive till exhaustion of his life expectancy as a Christian, given to Plaintiff for her maintenance and the maintenance of their little daughter, Avanna Salem.

 

Salem also prayed for an order that Defendant should pay her the sum of $10 million compensatory damages for the mental and psychological anguish caused her, together with the permanent deprivation of her right to enjoy the love of her life, owing to the unlawful and unconstitutional murder of her husband, Tordue Salem.

 

"An order that the Defendant should pay to the Plaintiff the sum of 5 million US Dollars aggravated damages for the illegal detention, torture and the premeditated murder of the late Mr. Tordue Salem by officers of the Nigerian police, who acted in a most reprehensible and unlawful manner/for willful negligence on the part of the police, who refused, failed or neglected to intervene swiftly to save the life of the deceased.

 

"Interest at the rate of 25% (twenty-five per centum) per annum on any sum/all sums of money awarded by this Honourable Court as monetary judgment, calculated from the date of judgment till the judgment sum is fully liquidated," the court document read in part.

 

The Plaintiff equally wants a declaration that the Nigerian Government, through its police officers, acted in breach of the provisions of the African Charter when it arrested, detained and tortured Tordue Salem to death; and thereafter falsely claimed, with the active support/conspiracy of the staff/employees of Wuse General Hospital, Abuja (a government-owned hospital), that the deceased was/had been knocked down by a motor vehicle driven by a hit-and-run driver, one Clement Itoro.

 

It further read, "A declaration that the Defendant’s police officers were willfully negligent, in that they failed to proactively take steps to secure the life of Mr. Tordue Salem (deceased), when one Mr. Clement Itoro reported to them at a police checkpoint which was not far from the scene of a motor accident, about hitting the deceased with his car, which resulted in his death, which death could possibly have been averted had the police acted with official dispatch and or acted swiftly.

 

"Even though the Department of State Services acknowledged receipt of a petition written to them concerning the disappearance of Late Tordue Salem, it never formally communicated with the family of the deceased.

 

"Rather, one of its operatives, Mamman Nasir, provided his GSM number to the family of the deceased, to be reached at any time; but on each occasion he was called, he would say this was a possible kidnap case; hence the family should exercise some patience."

 

The Plaintiff further stated that a Chief Superintendent of Police, Bimbo Oyewole, from Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, who led a team of investigators to unravel the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the late Tordue on November 5, 2021, called members of the family to his office, where they were informed that the police were still checking some mortuaries in the FCT Abuja to see if they could find the corpse of Tordue Salem.

 

"One week to a press briefing organized by the Police, CSP Oyewole informed the family of the deceased that, following a lead, the police had arrested one Mr Clement Itoro, who had killed the late Henry Tordue Salem in a motor car hit-and-run manner. This was clearly shocking to the family, but they decided to watch on," the plaintiff told the court.

 

As evidenced by court papers, on November 11, 2021, the police Intelligence Response Team, Abuja called the family and informed them through their Commander that the police had confirmed the hit-and-run incident to have happened on October 13, 2021, which led to Tordue Salem's death.

 

In view of the complicity in the investigation of Salem's death, the family said it observed "inescapable facts".

 

"The Plaintiff, from facts (Facts at/concerning the Mortuary, and Autopsy Report), strongly believes that her husband was not killed by a hit-and-run driver as claimed by the Nigerian police but was murdered by the police.

 

"In the alternative, the Plaintiff maintains that her husband had died as a result of the willful negligence of the said police, when they refused, failed or neglected to either apprehend Mr Clement Itoro, the so-called hit-and-run driver or compel him to take them to the scene of the accident, with a view to making efforts to save the life of the deceased," the plaintiff said.

 

The late Tordue was last seen alive by relatives on the morning of October 13, 2021, when he left his Godab Estate residence, Life Camp, Abuja for work.

 

Plaintiff's lawyer, Chief Hon said he would rely on documentary and oral evidence to argue his case.

 

In addition to possible oral evidence, the following documents were attached: "Letter to the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja Command, dated 19/10/2021.

 

Letter to the Director-General of the Department of State Security Services, also dated 19/10/2021.

 

Letter to the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), dated 26/10/2021.

 

Letter to the Commandant General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), dated 3/11/2021.

 

Letter to the Editor of the Vanguard Newspaper, dated 26/10/2021.

 

Letter to the Governor of Benue State, dated 26/10/2021. Autopsy Report signed by Dr. P.G. Jubrin, dated 25/11/2021.

 

Two DVDs/VCDs of TVC Television news aired on 12/11/2021.

 

A DVD/VCD of the news briefing by Frank Mba aired on 25/10/2021 -TVC Television news.

 

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Aggrieved foreign medical students from Ukraine have vowed to stage protests at the National Assembly Complex and the headquarters of the Medical and Dentistry Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Abuja over the discrimination and rejection of their medical and dentistry degree certificates obtained from Ukrainian universities.

 

The students also said they had concluded arrangements to file a petition before the British Parliament and United States Congress, calling for the sanction of the leadership of MDCN.

The affected students disclosed this in exclusive interviews with SaharaReporters at the weekend.

 

The students described as absurd, ridiculous and demeaning the action and statements credited to MDCN in which it referred to the affected Nigerian medical students with Ukrainian certificates as "half-baked doctors”.

The group under the auspices of the Nigerian Ukraine Parents and Students Forum described the recommendation by the council for the graduating Ukrainian medical students to enrol for at least six months of remediation programme before they can take pre-registration examination as victimisation and an attempt to truncate their academic careers.

The council had also asked the students currently studying medicine or dentistry in Ukrainian medical schools to seek transfer to accredited medical schools in other countries for the completion of their programmes.

The aggrieved students said they should be given the chance to prove that they were trained and educated just like everyone else, adding that denying them the right to take the examination on the ground that they took some classes on differential diagnosis online, would have a devastating impact and adverse effects on the health sector which is currently short-staffed.

 

According to a medical practitioner, Dr. Muhammad Okaba, academic activities in Ukrainian medical schools were offline. He said the only time classes were conducted online was during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Ukrainian government initiated having online classes.

 

Okaba said that online classes were also held when the war was declared on Ukraine in February 2022.

 

While reacting to the claim by the regulatory body that the students were using mannequins for practical work, Okaba explained that medical students from 200 level to 600 level were given unfettered access to live patients in the clinic.

He said, "All over the world there are some medical procedures that cannot be conducted on the human body. For example, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure globally you can't teach students with a live patient.

“Aside from that, every other procedure we did it on the patients and we have all the videos and pictures of Nigerian students in Ukraine conducting experiments on live patients.

"We have the Ukrainian Ambassador who is willing to appear on live television and tell the whole world how the system of education works in Ukraine, specifically medical education.

"So, the claim by the MDCN registrar is a lie and there is no iota of truth in it.  It is meant to mislead Nigerians.”

He also faulted the Council for preventing medical graduating students from participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) unless they have a medical degree.

 

He slammed the regulatory council for not taking into consideration whether the students have the financial capability to pay for the licence or if they want to practise medicine.

 

Another Doctor of Medicine, Dr. Abugu Nnadozie Levinus, said the Nigerian government should allow finalyear students who had two or three months left before they were evacuated because of the ongoing Russian Vs Ukraine war should be allowed to complete their studies in Nigerian universities.

 

He said, "Someone who is heading a regulatory body who is supposed to unite the people has now become a point of reference of division.

"Those that have completed their years of studies who are in 400 or 500 levels can go to other university and complete their studies; nobody has a problem with that. But we are talking about is that those who have completed their studies and just have two to three months left should be allowed to complete their programmes in the country."

Mrs. Bolanle Alowonle Labake, who is a parent, expressed her displeasure with the Nigerian government and MDCN for the “disdain treatment meted out to the final-year medical students from Ukraine”.

 

She called on the Nigerian government through the ministry of foreign affairs to swing into action and relocate the students to neighbouring European countries to enable them complete their education.

 

She made reference to the Ghanaian government which awarded scholarships to their returning students to complete their studies in Europe.

 

"We are appealing to the Nigerian government to help our children to relocate to neighbouring countries in Europe.  Let them continue their education there. If they cannot sponsor them, why are they coming out now to jeopardise our efforts," Labake added.

One of the affected graduating students Fariha Hafiz Miko described the situation as ridiculous and uncalled for, just as she appealed to the relevant government authorities to review its position and honour their certificates.

 

"They are saying they will not honour the 2022 certificates of medical students from Ukraine because we finished online which is very ridiculous because many others have graduated and perfectly working in the Nigerian system before now.

 

"So, we see this as injustice especially considering the fact that we are a product of war.

 

"So many countries have taken their students, integrating them into the system and they were given all the care and support but this is what MDCN is doing to us," Fariha said.

 

They called on the Nigerian government to set up a different body to conduct license examinations, adding that MDCN should focus on its statutory mandate of regulating medical practice, issuing and renewal of medical licences and not be the one to conduct medical licence examinations.

 

The students also asked the council to post on their website their curriculum, a clear syllabus, the exam marking scheme, the exam cut-off point and each exam component the pass mark should be known to all students. And after the exam, each candidate’s result should be fully published and let everyone knows why they pass and why they failed.

According to them, "a resit should also be organised after each exam the same way nursing students and pharmacy students get resit after their medical council exam".

 "Many people are tired of writing the exam because the council deliberately failed people year-in, year-out just to get more customers each year so people are tired of the exam and don’t even have money anymore to pay for the exam.

 

"People have right to NYSC with or without a medical licence. No law of Nigeria says you must practise what you study and no law in NYSC Act says a medical graduate must have a licence before he or she can be mobilised.

 

"Not everyone wants to work in a hospital. We should be allowed to go for NYSC and during mobilization, NYSC should post those without licences to primary or secondary schools and those with licenses should be posted to hospitals but to say you can’t go to NYSC without licences; that’s a clear case of human rights violations," they noted.

 

But despite the intervention and directive by the National Assembly on the matter, the regulatory body has refused to yield to the demands of the students which has now compelled them to draw a battle line with the Council.

 

The House of Representatives a few weeks ago called on the Medical and Dentistry Council of Nigeria to allow the returning students from Ukraine over the war between the Eastern European country and Russia to complete their studies in Nigerian universities.

 

The House particularly called on the Council to “allow students in the 6th and final year of their programmes, who have completed their final exams, to register for the MDCN in Nigeria and allow them to prove themselves”.

 

The House also urged the MDCN to allow students in the 5th year of their medical programmes in Ukraine to be absorbed into medical schools in Nigerian universities to complete their 6th year.

 

The lawmakers also directed the Nigerian government, through relevant ministries, departments and agencies, to discuss with Ukrainian authorities how to facilitate the release of the transcripts of years of school completed by Nigerian students willing to transfer to medical schools in Nigeria or other nations.

 

MDCN, a body that regulates the medical profession in Nigeria, had through a statement on its Twitter handle declared that medical and dentistry degree certificates obtained from Ukrainian universities from 2020 by Nigerians would not be honoured by the Council until when normal academic activities resume.

 

According to him, the MDCN in the same statement resolved not to recognise any online medical training, no matter how short, received by Nigerian youths in Ukraine and any part of the world.

 

He said some of the students have completed or are still on the mandatory clinic attachment which commenced in April 2022.

 

But contrary to the impression created by MDCN, the vast majority of the students in Years 3 to 6 only did online study/training for a few months in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which spread all over the world, and in the past three months as a result of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

 

The fear among thousands of Nigerian youths studying Medicine and related courses in Ukrainian universities who, by the MDCN regulation, would not only be affected but their academic pursuits are also threatened.

 

The affected students are at serious risk of not only losing these years of rigorous training but huge financial losses that their parents have invested.

 

The students were of the opinion that the policy intends to truncate and undermine their academic dreams and professional ambitions.

 

Other participants who also shared their experiences during the interview include Fariha Hafiz Miko, Khadija Usman Adamu, Dr Fabunmi, and Dr. Mathew.

 

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