Delta State students studying in tertiary institutions across Nigeria, on Wednesday protested against the Managing Director, of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (DESOPADEC), Askia Ogieh, for alleged refusal to pay them their three years’ bursaries.
Ogieh, had in April 2022 resigned his position as Managing Director, of DESOPADEC to contest the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) primaries for the Isoko Federal House of Representatives but he was defeated.

Surprisingly, he got reappointed on Tuesday by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
The students numbering over 5000, brandished placards of different inscriptions such as "Students lives matter", "We need our bursary, education is now expensive". "Askia has used our money to run his PDP House of Representatives primary". "Askia paid each delegates N3 million during the PDP house of representatives primary but denying us our rights" "We need our bursary", DESOPADEC is bleeding because of the looting of our common wealth," and "Delta politicians have finished DESOPADEC."
SaharaReporters reliably gathered that the aggrieved students who stormed the headquarters of the commission in Warri, immediately barricaded the entrance gate of the commission, demanding for their three years bursaries.
The students alleged that the commission's MD had refused to pay them their bursaries for the past three years before he resigned few months ago to contest an election.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, one of the students who simply identified himself as Oghenekevwe, noted that "The essence of this DESOPADEC bursary was to help those Nigerian undergraduate students that come from the Oil Producing Areas in Delta State. But rather than paying us this bursary, politicians at the helm of affairs of the commission, will use our money for their personal gains. The MD, Askia, is just enriching himself in that commission while we students suffer. For three years now, Askia has not paid us our bursary, but he has millions of naira in dollars to buy delegates' votes during the PDP primaries where he contested for the House of Representatives in Isoko federal constituency."
Other students who spoke to SaharaReporters, condemned the non-payment of their bursary for the past three years, an act they described as "wickedness of the highest order", adding that from good authorities, the money for the bursary had been released long ago by the state government and wondered why till date no dime had been given to them.
Addressing the protesting students, Head of Department, (HOD), social services, Harriman Aghogho, appealed to the students to remain calm and law abiding as the process to address their agitation was already on.

 

 

Photos: of the Students' Protest by Sahara Reporters on Scribd

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Residents of Ikem town, the headquarters of the Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State are under the grips of suspected Fulani herdsmen who have turned the area into a kidnapping heaven with security agencies allegedly taking no action.
In less than one week, four indigenes of Ikem Community have been abducted with different sums of ransom paid for their freedom.

File Photo Google
Sources from the community told SaharaReporters on Wednesday that the victims included a Catechist of St. James Catholic Church, Ishioroto-Ikem, Mr Lawrence Ndu.
Others according to the sources are an Italy-based evangelist, Mr. Emeka Odo and his brother Ikechukwu Odo; and the most recent victim, Ejike Agbodo, a bus driver who was kidnapped while on commercial duty along Ikem-Nkwo road.
The Italy-based Evangelist, Emeka Odo who narrated his kidnap incident to SaharaReporters, on Wednesday, said that his abductors were over 10 and were all Fulani, who were wielding AK-47 rifles all through.
According to Odo, he was abducted with his brother along Ikem- Obollo Afor road on June 12, 2022.
Odo, who quickly went back to his base shortly after he regained freedom, narrated that they were flagged down in their car, commandeered into the bush and were taken through bush tracks by the abductors to Eha-Amufu and to the Benue State border.
He said, "Our kidnappers are Fulani and they told us that somebody was guiding them on the route. One of my brothers they kidnapped with me who is hearing Hausa and Fulani language told us that the abductors were from Niger Republic.
"We paid ransom to them before we were released. They are more than 10 in number. They told us that they were distributed across the South-East and are being guided by their people in the military and police in the region."
Odo lamented that no security or government officials at the local government level cared to ask them what happened.
"How did it happen? Where and where were we abducted and released? South-East residents are really in trouble. Most of the terrorists were brought from Niger and Chad to come and overrun this place."
The bus driver who was kidnapped on Tuesday has not been seen as at the time of this report.
Efforts to get reaction of the Enugu Command of Nigeria Police Force were unsuccessful as its spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, could not be reached on telephone.

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A civic group, the Rule of Law and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has said despite the provisions of the Police Act to protect human rights, reports of police brutality have not reduced in Nigeria.
RULAAC said the height of protests against such brutality was the 2020 #EndSARS uprising, adding that both the Police Act 2020 and Police Trust Fund Act 2019 must be understood for proper implementation.

The RULAAC executive director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, stated this in his public presentation and validation of the concise summaries of the Police Act and the Police Trust Fund Act in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He explained that the new Police Act has the objective of providing for a police force that is more responsive to the needs of the public and has its operations entrenched in the values of fairness, justice and partnering with the communities it serves and also to uphold the fundamental rights of citizens.
He said, “Our further advocacy is for the effective implementation of the Act, to achieve its intended purpose of ensuring cooperation and partnership between the police and host communities in maintaining peace, protecting life and property.
"Of course we know that there are gaps and we will continue to work hard to improve on the law through both effective implementation of what we have and further amendment to improve the law.
"Despite the laudable provisions of the Act to promote,  protect and preserve human rights, reports of police brutality have not reduced in Nigeria, with gory cases being unveiled crystallising in the 2020 #EndSARS uprising.  Significantly, the EndSARS protest erupted after the signing into law of the Police Act.
"The Police Trust Fund Act was signed into law by President Buhari in 2019 to address the perennial underfunding of the Police by providing an additional window for police funding. The PTF Act has a 6-year lifespan and has done 3 years already- which is half way.  Its life span will expire in the next 3 years unless renewed by the NASS. 
"The controversies surrounding the management of the funds of the trust fund vindicate civil society’s early intervention to monitor the implementation of the Police Trust Fund Act to ensure transparency and accountability and to achieve the purpose of setting up the Trust Fund. 
"To achieve effective implementation of these two important laws, we believe that it is important to make them accessible in concise, simple and reader friendly versions.  This will not only enhance access but also promote awareness among both police officers and the general public who are the beneficiaries of both laws.  The ultimate goal is to ensure public safety and security.
"So we engaged two experts to simplify the language and reduce the two laws into simple, reader friendly and handy concise summaries to achieve the objective of promoting access and awareness of the provisions of the laws.” 

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No fewer than 10 persons have died in the past few days in Sagamu, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Suspected cultists went on the rampage in the town leading to panic among the residents. 

The killings among rival groups reportedly took place in different parts of the town in the last one week.
Some witnesses told newsmen that they could no longer sleep with their two eyes closed, Daily Post reports.
On Monday night, it was gathered that there were heavy gunshots across the city, creating tension among residents, who feared being hit by stray bullets.
One person was reportedly shot dead on Monday during the clash between rival cult groups.
A source said, “One thing that surprised me most is that most of them are childhood friends, schoolmates, friends and brothers. But suddenly, in the name of cultism, they turned into enemies. Sagamu was a great town before cultism arrived.
“I could remember we used to go from one carnival to another every Sagamu Day celebration and even during December time. Unfortunately, there is nothing like that again.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun while speaking at the thanksgiving service of the 20th coronation anniversary of the Elepe of Epe, Sagamu, Oba Adewale Osiberu, held at St. John’s Anglican Church, Sagamu, admitted that Sagamu had been notorious for cultism.
The governor had called on traditional rulers to help stem the tide of the menace.
“Today, Sagamu has been notorious for cultism in Sagamu, and the Elepe and the Akarigbo have played a major part in helping us in stemming the tide of cultism. These are some of the things that our monarchs continue to do in assisting us in the building of our future together,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he could not say specifically the number of casualties in the renewed cult clashes.
“I don’t know where people got such figure (of casualty) from. I don’t know about the figure of 10 people being killed; but as of this morning, we have in our custody now, the most wanted cultists in Sagamu.
“In fact, they are two and the two of them are currently in our custody,” Oyeyemi stated.

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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has said that the commission has deployed four national commissioners and eight resident electoral commissioners for the election.
Yakubu, who reiterated the commission’s readiness to conduct free and fair election, reassured Nigerians that it is not in the hands of the commission to determine who becomes the next governor of the state, rather, people’s votes would be the determinant.

According to him, 76 percent of the 988,923 registered voters in the state had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) as of Monday, but those who had not collected their PVCs (totalling about 200,000) only have Thursday to do so.
“Let me assure political parties and voters that the task of electing a new governor will be left in the hands of voters.
“We won’t take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any particular party or candidate. We are going to do everything according to the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022,” Yakubu said.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, assured residents and all stakeholders that the Nigerian security agencies had made necessary arrangements to ensure adequate security during and after the governorship election in Ekiti State on Saturday.
The IGP, who gave the assurance on Tuesday explained that different security agencies, including the military, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, amongst others had deployed personnel for the election.
Baba emphasised that the deployed personnel were not to intimidate or molest law-abiding citizens, but to ensure a hitch-free, transparent and peaceful election.
He said that the 177 wards and 2,445 polling units would be manned by appropriate manpower, adding that, “Those who want to constitute clog in the wheel of progress will face the consequences of their actions. National security should be of priority and uppermost in our minds. Let us conduct this election in the most civil manner.”

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The pupils and teachers in Community Primary School, Onugba Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have decried the poor state of the school as snakes constantly threaten their studies.
SaharaReporters observed that the school which has two blocks of six classrooms has only three functional classrooms with over 250 pupils. The rest of the three classrooms are totally dilapidated. It can be best described as a death trap.

SaharaReporters during a visit to the school also saw that one section of a school classroom had big cracks on the walls; the ceilings had collapsed while the floors had also cracked.     
One of the teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SaharaReporters, that apart from the fact that the school did have enough classrooms for study and other social amenities, like toilets and water; snake constantly threatened both teachers and pupils because of the poor environment.
The teacher said: “The problems we are having in this school are very many but the most important one is that the pupils have no environment conducive to learning as they are supposed to have.
“Learning is supposed to be in a conducive and secure environment. There is no classroom, no seat for the teachers and for the pupils. We have three classroom blocks; the floors are completely broken, and beyond that, the classrooms are not ceiled, leaving our pupils to be congested in one class room. 
“In CPS Onugba Nike, five classes were packed in one class – nursery one, two and three; and Primary one and Primary two. They were learning in one class. While primary three and primary four are staying in one class to study. The classes are very congested and secondly there are no teachers. We have only five teachers teaching over 250 pupils, that is 50 pupils for one teacher.”
The teacher however, lamented that one person taught the entire nursery from nursery one to three, while another teacher takes primary one and two with different schemes.
“Even the pupils themselves are complaining. They are asking how come they are staying in the same classroom even after the third term examination when they did not fail. You have gone around, you saw human waste all over because there are no toilet facilities, no water. The teachers have no place to even urinate let alone answer calls of nature. Because there is no security, villagers always come here to defecate,” the teacher lamented. 
SaharaReporters learnt that the State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) gave the school’s headmistress N2million to rehabilitate some classrooms but the money was insufficient because of the magnitude of decay.
“The government approved N2million but only released N1.5 million and that money has finished. The money couldn’t even re-roof the school buildings which are leaking water all over. We are asking the villagers to help us so that the children can stay at least in a manageable place to learn.
"Because of the dilapidated state of the school parents are no longer bringing their children to the school. In short, on several occasions snakes had entered the classroom and chased pupils away. In the headmistress office snakes come there often. Even adults can never go to a place that is not good to study, let alone these little kids that can contract disease because of the poor environment.”
When the State Chairman of ENSUBEB, Chief Ikeji Asogwa, was contacted on telephone, he did not pick his calls as the phone rang out.
Also, efforts to get the reaction of the state Commissioner for Education, Prof Uche Eze were unsuccessful as he could not answer.

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Omoyele Sowore

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has decried the poor electricity generation in Nigeria, adding that the miserable 3000mgw of electricity the Gencos and Discos are currently managing would never engender development for global competition.
Sowore, stated this while featuring on Arise TV programme, The Morning Show, adding that if he was elected as president, he would tackle power generation by unbundling the power sector to allow individuals and companies to generate and sell power.

Omoyele Sowore BBC
"But currently our system has broken down in terms of electricity. There is no way we can continue with miserable 3000mgw of electricity that the Gencos and Discos are managing."
He said that Nigeria needed to elect leadership that would fix the country's numerous problems in 2023; to create jobs for the youths that would turn around the economy.
He said, "There is nine billion cubic feet of gas in Ogoni land alone that can be tapped to also generate electricity. There is also potential for us to generate 4500mw of electricity out of northern Nigeria because of the preponderance of sunshine in that part of the world.
"There is also possibility for us to expand our hydro-electric generation capacity. There's possibility for biogas if we use the droppings of cows; if we go into commercial ranching for instance and we keep all our 20 million cows in ranches across the country. Or not necessarily across the country whatever we can afford to place them.
"The droppings alone can generate over 1000mgw of electricity. We are just thinking progressively. It is not expensive and one other thing we need to do is break down the national grid. It is obsolete; it is no longer working for us and has isolated many grids across the country. So if you are generating from Kano, you supply Kano first and everybody can also get into the business of selling electricity.

It took Egypt less than two and a half years to generate 14,000MW at N500,000 per megawatt of power. It’s the cheapest in the world. Here we can even do it cheaper because we have plenty of cheap labour; I’m not saying we’re going to abuse labour. pic.twitter.com/D35jnKAepg

— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) June 15, 2022
"Electricity that comes from say solar doesn't have to come from the government alone, you can have your roof plastered with solar panels and you can sell to gencos, for example a disco whichever way they are described. But currently our system has broken down in terms of electricity. There is no way we can continue with miserable 3000mgw of electricity that the gencos and discos are managing. And there's no way we can continue with our broken transmission system that is not taking us anywhere.
"So, I don't want to discuss what we have currently, it’s not sufficient, it’s not going to serve the purpose we need and cannot use that to create a new economy that we are talking about that will generate over five million jobs that will bring about prosperity in this country and make us competitive even in the African subregion or sub-saharan African region."
He had earlier tweeted in his Twitter handle @YeleSowore that "it took Egypt less than two and a half years to generate 14,000MW at N500,000 per megawatt of power. It’s the cheapest in the world.
"Here we can even do it cheaper because we have plenty of cheap labour; I’m not saying we’re going to abuse labour.
"And it’s the same Siemens who came to Nigeria to do the same thing and people were asking them for bribes that went to RASCOM, a state-owned power generating company in Egypt to do the same. This is public information. We need leadership; we don’t have it. That’s the problem. We need innovation. Assignment well-done!"

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Monkey Pox

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said 36 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Lagos, Rivers and Abuja among several other parts of the country.
The NCDC disclosed this in its latest monkeypox situation report.

Monkey Pox Discovery Magazine
According to the NCDC, the disease has been confirmed in Lagos (7), Adamawa (5), Delta (3), River (3), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Bayelsa (2), Edo (2), Imo (2), Plateau (2), Nasarawa (1), Niger (1), Oyo (1) and Ondo (1).
The agency noted that from January 1 to June  12, 2022, there had been 141 suspected cases so far.
It said, “There were 31 new suspected cases reported in Epi week 23, 2022 (June 6 to 12, 2022) from 13 states – Lagos (5), Katsina (4), Ondo (4), Bayelsa (4), Nasarawa (3), Ogun (3), Oyo (2), Akwa Ibom (1) Delta (1), Edo (1), Kaduna (1), Kano (1), and Imo (1).
“There were four new positive cases in Epi week 23, 2022 from four states – Lagos (1), Delta (1), Oyo (1), and Nasarawa (1).
“From January 1 to June 12, 2022, there have been 141 suspected cases in total and 36 confirmed cases from 15 states – Lagos (7), Adamawa (5), Delta (3), River (3), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Bayelsa (2), Edo (2), Imo (2), Plateau (2), Nasarawa (1), Niger (1), Oyo (1) and Ondo (1). One death was recorded in a 40-year-old man with co-morbidity that was receiving immunosuppressive drugs.”
According to the NCDC, Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease transmitted from animals to humans that occur sporadically, primarily in remote villages of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
“It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The Orthopoxvirus genus also includes variola virus (the cause of smallpox), vaccinia virus (used in the vaccine for smallpox eradication), and cowpox virus (used in earlier smallpox vaccines). Following the eradication of smallpox, monkeypox virus has emerged as the most important Orthopoxvirus.”

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Prof. Femi Soyinka, a Professor of Dermatology, Venereology and Clinical Immunology, is dead.
He was a younger brother to the renowned playwright and first black African Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.

According to a statement from the Soyinka Family of Ake/Isara, Ogun State, Prof. Femi Soyinka died in the early hours of Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at his home in Kukumada village, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The statement was signed on behalf of his family by his son, Ayodele.
Born in 1937, Prof. Femi Soyinka received a Medical degree in Medicine and Surgery MBChB from the University of Heidelberg, in 1964; and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the same University in 1965. He specialised and practised as a Dermatologist, Venereologist and Allergologist at the University of Giessen, in 1969.
In 1972, he obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Hadassah Medical School, (MPH) Israel.
He worked in the academic field for 30 years, holding various positions from Chief Medical Director to Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Provost of College of Health Sciences of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.  He was also involved in extensive research work on Tropical Skin Diseases and Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in collaboration with the Federal government,  international donor agencies and organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, DFID, the British Council; and the International Development Research Centre, Canada.
He pioneered several types of research in the field of HIV/AIDS and worked as a consultant to various international and local agencies including the World Health Organisation, DFID, UNDP and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health based on his extensive experience in the subject in various parts of the country.
Prof. Femi Soyinka was at the forefront of mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
By translating the outcomes of his research into clinical practice, he impacted significantly not only the lives of numerous individuals and families living with the disease but also the nation as a whole.
He initiated the Ambassador of Hope programme in Nigeria, encouraging people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHAs) to speak up, thereby bringing much-needed public awareness to the disease at a time when knowledge was low and stigma was high.
He also demonstrated technical knowledge and was involved with many other HIV/AIDs-related programs including HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, ARV programs, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and home-based care for PLWHAs in Nigeria.
Subsequently, he contributed significantly to capacity building of indigenous organizations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria through his non-governmental organization – New Initiative for the Enhancement of Life and Health (NELAH) previously known as; Network on Ethics/Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS-Prevention, Support and Care (NELA). He was a past president of the Society for AIDS in Africa and he successfully coordinated the International Conference on AIDS and STIs In Africa (ICASA) in Abuja, Nigeria in the year 2005.
He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The statement added that burial arrangements would be announced by the family later.

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A popular Islamic preacher from the north, Sheikh Yahya Masussuka, has rejected the clamour for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, being canvassed by some stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The cleric declared that those pushing for a Muslim-Muslim ticket are agents of injustice and enemies of peace, as according to him, they are acting at variance with the tenets of Islam.

SaharaReporters had on Tuesday reported that an Islamic preacher from northern Nigeria warned against pairing Tinubu with a Christian from the northern region as his running mate ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The preacher and some others like him had threatened to mobilise Muslims to reject Tinubu and the APC during the forthcoming presidential election.
Similarly, SaharaReporters earlier reported on Tuesday that the ruling APC may force a Muslim-Muslim ticket on Nigerians as Tinubu’s camp narrowed down to Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno, to be his running mate.
Reacting to these developments, Masussuka in a viral video, insisted that competence, justice and physical fitness were the qualities outlined in the Islamic traditions to guide Muslims in choosing a leader.
The Sheikh argued that in Nigeria, going by the demographics of religion it was impossible for either Muslims or Christians to do it alone in the political sphere.
He said, "it is another political season in Nigeria and we have the honour to give guidelines; we are taught by our statutes that justice precedes prayer either in the Islamic or Christian faith.
"I'm sending this sermon to both Muslim and Christian listeners, urging you to avoid either Muslim or Christian clerics who emphasise religion in their divisive sermons for political gains.
"Don't be deceived, in Islam competence and justice form the yardstick and not religious practices. Those advocating Muslim-Muslim ticket for Nigeria's nest presidency are doing a disservice to our religion, because Islam promotes justice and peace.
"I make bold to say this because Nigeria is a heterogeneous country with Muslims and Christians represented in large numbers. It is therefore unthinkable for anyone to contemplate fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket and think he's being Islamic in conduct.
"Nigeria needs competent and just leaders who would do justice to all manner of people regardless of religious considerations", he said.

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Nigeria’s President Buhari

SaharaReporters has obtained a document detailing how President Muhammadu Buhari's government procured 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for officials of Niger Republic with public funds.

This is yet another shocking revelation of the nefarious activities of the insensitive regime of Buhari which has subjected Nigerians to unnecessary hardship. 

Nigeria’s President Buhari

From documents seen by SaharaReporters, the Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, approved N1,145,000,000 for the purchase of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 vehicles, for government officials in the Republic of Niger.

The contract was awarded to one Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited and approved by President Buhari on February 25, 2022. 

According to the document sighted by SaharaReporters, the Nigerian government, in order to cover up its fraud, had obtained Due Process Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to Direct Procurement Method.

The contract was said to be funded from the Ministry of Finance's 2022 Appropriation sum of N282 billion. 

The document is titled, ”Approval For The Award Of Contract For The Procurement Of Vehicles For The Republic Of Niger For Logistic Support".

It reads, “The purpose of this memorandum is to seek Council's ratification of the President's approval for the award of Contract for the Supply and delivery of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 vehicles, for the Republic of Niger, as logistic support, in favour of Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N1,145,000,000.00 inclusive of 7.5% VAT, with a delivery period of one week as indicated in the table below:

“2021 Model, V8 Toyota Land Cruiser: Specification: V8 Engine, Automatic Transmission, Alloy Rims, Power Steering, Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Keyless Entry, Air-Conditioner, Push Start, Airbags, High Mount Stop Light, Radio/MP3.

“Three (3) years or 100,000km Warranty. Delivery to Niger Republic, Flight, Logistic, Insurance & Foreign Customs Duties.

“Unit Price (N) N80,600,000.00
Total Amount (AD) (for 10 units) N806,000,000.00
Delivery to Niger Republic, Flight, Logistics, Insurance and Foreign Customs Duties - Unit Price N33,900,000.00 —(10 units) N339,000,000.00
Grand Total-N1,145,000,000.00.

“The Presidency of the Republic of Niger requested for logistic support from the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vide letter with Ref. 000104/PRN/DIRCAB, dated 20 January, 2022. A copy of the letter is attached to memorandum as Annex I.

“It is noteworthy that Nigeria and Niger have enjoyed close and long-standing diplomatic relations as captured in several Bilateral Trade and Economic Agreements, as well as various memoranda of understandings (MOUS) ranging from migration and human trafficking, to drug trafficking, and infrastructural development in line with integration policies of ECOWAS.

”The rise of insurgency in the shared borders has also led to deeper ties between both countries Presidents' significant and strong role in the promotion of peace in Africa warrant this gesture.

”The request supports bilateral relations between the two countries. The vehicles will be used to assist the country in the transportation and movement of VIPs, high-ranking officials, top government functionaries and visitors scheduled for official visit to Niger at this time of its nascent democracy, with all its attendant consequences on their collective and individual security and safety of lives and property.

”The President on February 25, 2022 gave approval for Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning FMFBNP to urgently procure to Toyota Land Cruise V8 SUVs to support the Republic of Niger by way of logistics. A copy of the President's approval is attached to this memorandum as Annex II.

“Considering the urgency of the request, the Ministry adopted Dire Procurement method in line with section 10 a&b of the Public Procurement act PPA 2007
“In furtherance of the process, the Ministry contacted Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, a reputable and accredited Toyota car dealer with good track record and requisite experience capabilities and capacity to execute the contract within the shortest time frame was requested to submit its profile and quotations. 

“The sum of N1,145,000,000.00 only, which includes the cost of vehicles, delivery, 7.5% VAT was submitted by the company. Copy of the Ministry's request Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited quotation is attached as to memorandum as Annex III.

”Consequently, the Ministry sought and obtained Due Process Comp Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to Direct Procurement Method for the procurement of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for the Republic of Niger as Logistic Support in favour of Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N1,145.000.000.00 inclusive of 7.5%, with a delivery period of one week.

”Copies of BPP Certificate of "No Objection" and Process Review Report are attached to this memorandum as Annex IV.

“The procurement will be funded from the Ministry's 2022 Appropriation, the sum of N282, 548, 005, 655.00 under the code 0220001001-Ministry of Budget and National Planning as a source of fund for the project. Copies of the Ministry's 2022 Appropriation are attached to this memorandum as Annex V." 

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday adjourned the case of criminal defamation and cyberstalking suit filed by acclaimed billionaire and former lawmaker, Ned Nwoko, against human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, and an online newspaper, SaharaReporters to July 12, 2022.
The case which was scheduled for arraignment before Justice Emeka Nwite could not go on following a motion on notice filed by Sowore's lawyer, Barr.Tope Temokun, over improper service of processes of 2nd and 3rd defendants on Sowore who is the 1st defendant in the case.

Temokun objected to the service of processes of 2nd and 3rd defendants on his client saying that it violated the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act  ( ACJA ) 2015 and that Sowore was an individual while SaharaReporters and SaharaReporters Media Group Incorporated were legal entities.
The motion is asking the court to set aside the service of processes meant for 2nd and 3rd defendants who were smuggled to join in the case on Sowore in the dock at the last adjournment.
He told the court that Sowore was not a director of the companies and not in control of the business of the 3rd defendant at the time of service as claimed by the prosecution, adding that he had been confined in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since 2018.
He asked the prosecution counsel, E.A Inegbenoise, to come up with the evidence to support the claim that 1st defendant was a director of SaharaReporters and SaharaReporters Media Group Incorporated.
Meanwhile, the prosecution counsel had earlier denied being served with the “motion on notice” filed by the defendant on June 10, 2022, but the defence counsel insisted that they were served.
The situation forced the judge to direct the court registrar to show the prosecution counsel the court documents showing that he was properly served and acknowledged.
Upon showing him the documents, the police lawyer shamelessly admitted that he was served.
The judge after he had listened to both parties in the case, therefore, adjourned the matter to July 12, 2022, to enable the issue of service which he said was fundamental to be sorted out before proceeding with the matter.
Recall that Sowore, in February 2022, was illegally arrested by the police on the Court of Appeal premises on the alleged orders of Nwoko over some trumped-up allegations.
Upon his release, the activist sued the police and the acclaimed billionaire for violation of his human rights.

In the suit marked, FHC/CS/ABJ/239/2022, Sowore seeks N200million damages and a public apology from the defendants for his alleged unlawful arrest and detention by the police.
The Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) had sued the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, and Nwoko as the first to the fourth defendants, respectively.

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Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday announced the ban of dozens of British journalists, media representatives and defence figures from entering the country.
In a move that Moscow said was a response to Western sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”, 29 journalists and members of British media organisations such as BBC, the broadcaster Sky News and the Guardian and Times newspapers were personally banned.

Another 20 British figures who Moscow said were linked to the defence industry were also banned from entering Russia. The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas, the ministry said.
BBC reports that the list includes high-profile journalists, news anchors, editors and senior managers, including the editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Guardian newspapers.
“The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to the report, among the journalists banned are the Guardian correspondents Shaun Walker, Luke Harding, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont, as well as Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of the Guardian.
British journalists working for the BBC, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Independent, Daily Telegraph, Sky News and a number of other outlets have also been banned. The editors-in-chief of the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent were also listed.
The Guardian also reports that Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on Russian and foreign independent news outlets since its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, as well as on foreign social media networks.
Legislation was introduced soon after the war began to criminalise media outlets that disseminate “false information” about the Russian army.
A number of media groups stopped operating in Russia as a result, with the draconian law in effect threatening to punish independent journalism with prison sentences of up to 15 years. Russia has also blocked access to several foreign news organisations’ websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

Russia warned US news organisations this month they risked being stripped of their accreditation unless the treatment of Russian journalists in the US improved.
“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ will continue,” the statement said.
Among those banned on the second part of the list were the UK minister of state for defence procurement, Jeremy Quin, and Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston.
The full list is:
Shaun Walker, Guardian correspondent; Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph columnist; Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent, Sky News; James Rothwell, Daily Telegraph journalist;
John Witherow, editor-in-chief, the Times; Chris Evans, editor-in-chief, the Daily Telegraph; Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, the Guardian;
Richard Sharp, chair of the BBC board of governors; Timothy Davie, director general of the BBC; Clive Myrie, BBC correspondent and news presenter; Orla Guerin, BBC correspondent; Nick Robinson, BBC presenter; Paul Adams, BBC correspondent; Nick Beake, BBC correspondent; Alexander Thomson, Channel 4 News correspondent and presenter; Dan Rivers, ITV correspondent;
Peter Beaumont, Guardian correspondent; Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian correspondent; Sophy Ridge, journalist and Sky News presenter; Catherine Newman, journalist and host of Channel 4 News; Edward Verity, editor-in-chief, Daily Mail; Christian Broughton, editor-in-chief, the Independent; Larisa Brown, military news editor, the Times; Mark Galeotti, political scientist;
Joseph Barnes, Daily Telegraph correspondent; Gideon Rachman, Financial Times correspondent; Luke Harding, Guardian correspondent; Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times and Daily Mail columnist; Lawrence Freedman, Sunday Times columnist.
Jeremy Quin, minister of state for defence procurement; Leo Docherty, under secretary of defence; Benjamin Key, commander of the Royal Navy, chief of staff of the Royal Navy; Mike Wigston, RAF commander; Robert Magowan, deputy chief, UK strategic command; Charles Stickland, commander, joint operations, UK armed forces;
Roger Martyn Carr, chair of the board of directors, BAE Systems; Charles Woodburn, executive director of the BAE Systems; David Armstrong, managing director of BAE Systems; Glynn Phillips, managing director of BAE Systems; Clifford Robson, managing director of BAE Systems; Alexander Cresswell, chair of the board of directors and CEO of Thales UK; Christopher Shaw, chief operating officer of Thales UK; Paul Gosling, vice-president, Thales UK; Ewen McCrorie, vice-president, Thales UK; Suzanne Stratton, vice-president, Thales UK; Lynne Watson, vice-president, Thales UK; Gregory Campbell, MP; Gavin Robinson, MP; Samuel Wilson, MP.

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The Nigeria Police Force, Federal Capital Territory Command, on Tuesday night said its operatives were working on the abduction of 17 persons including three pregnant women and two little kids in Abuja by gunmen who disguised in police uniforms.
A Twitter user and victim, identified as Ameerah Sufyan, had earlier narrated how she was kidnapped along with 16 others in Abuja by the gunmen on Tuesday.

Ameerah disclosed that the gunmen were six in number – four Yoruba and two Fulani. She said among the abductees were three pregnant women and two children.
She tweeted, "Please whoever has my WhatsApp number; I sent a broadcast message of my location, we were abducted at gunpoint by people with police uniforms and a van from our houses from different parts of Abuja. We’re 17 including three pregnant women and two little kids, they didn’t see my phone.
"They’re 4 Yoruba and two Fulani men. They divided us up an hour ago; we’re 7 here. The other vehicle they said they will reach Ilorin and ours will reach Ibadan or Ikeja as they said."
The FCT Police Command on its Twitter said action had been taken on locating her, noting that investigation was in progress.
The police said, “Investigation is in progress, we thank everyone for the many helpful information coming in from all quarters and urge all to exercise calm and patience as we get to the root of this. Kindly check your DM @Ameerah_sufyan.

Investigation is in progress, We thank everyone for the many helpful information coming in from all quarters and urge all to exercise calm and patience as we get to the root of this. kindly check your DM @Ameerah_sufyan.

— NPF FCT Command (@policeng_fct) June 14, 2022
"Our message might just be reaching the social media space but if a thousand action has been taken on locating her, our last comment on her post would probably be the 999th. While physical action has since been deployed, this is just to assure everyone that we are on it.

Our message might just be reaching the social media space but If a thousand action has been taken on locating her, our last comment on her post would probably be the 999th.
While physical action has since been deployed, this is just to assure everyone that we are on it .

— NPF FCT Command (@policeng_fct) June 14, 2022
"There’s so much information embedded in her ability to access or not to access her DM. So much was said in few lines. So much more than “check your DM”

There’s so much information embedded in her ability to access or not to access her DM. So much was said in few lines. So much more than “check your DM”

— NPF FCT Command (@policeng_fct) June 14, 2022

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The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has warned political parties against presenting a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
This was made known in a statement jointly signed on Tuesday by the Secretary-General of CSN, Very Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi and the Director, Social Communications, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh, and made available to SaharaReporters.

The organisation explained that “with the present glaring crisis and division in the nation, a Muslim-Muslim ticket would be most insensitive and a tacit endorsement of the negative voices of many non-state actors who have been threatening this nation’s unity and peaceful coexistence without an arrest.”
After tough battles that produced their respective flag bearers, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition party,  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been racing against time to pick their presidential running mates ahead of Friday’s deadline handed down by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While Atiku has already constituted a committee to complement his own effort in the search for a running mate, Tinubu is continuing consultations with groups and individuals for advice. Hence, there have been indications that the former Lagos State Governor might settle for a Muslim candidate from the Northern region of the country.
While stating that a single faith ticket is not entirely bad —it is not against democratic principle, the CSN is of the view that such an arrangement may be a disaster for the current situation of the country.
The statement reads in part, "The process for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria has been initiated, and there are some things to be happy about: the passing of the Electoral Act 2022, which allows the use of electronic devices for accreditation and in the capturing and transmission of results; the prompt release of election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the renewed confidence in the electoral process by the electorate, as demonstrated in the massive last minute turn out for voter registration amongst others.
"It is, however, disheartening to observe that the conduct of most of our politicians seems to be going from bad to worse as we witnessed a show of shame and heightened ugly culture of money politics during the recently held primaries.
"While all this is going on, we must not lose sight of the fact that the unity of this country has, over the years, been maintained by a delicate balancing of the religious and the regional.
"Even in the despotic military era, most juntas ensured a balance of the religious architecture in their regimes. For instance, we had Murtala-Obasanjo, Obasanjo-Yar'adua, Babangida-Ebitu Ukiwe, Abacha Diya. This also applied to the heads of the various military formations and the different government parastatals like Customs, Immigrations, Finance, etc.
"Significantly, it was only during the General Muhammadu Buhari era as military Head of State (31 Dec. 1983-27 Aug. 1985) that we had a Muslim-Muslim military dictatorship. 7. Similarly, only once did we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 1993 democratic elections, which featured Abiola-Kingibe ticket and turned out to be one of Nigeria's freest and fairest elections. But that government never took off,
"Fast forward to 2022, 30 years later, some individuals have tried to suggest the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the Presidential election in a country like Nigeria that has unfortunately been badly polarised. Ordinarily, there would have been nothing wrong with a Muslim Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket in a democratic dispensation if there is mutual trust and respect for the human person and where the overriding desire for seeking political office is the fostering of the common good. But one cannot really say so of our country at the moment.
"With the present glaring crisis and division in the nation, a Muslim-Muslim ticket would be most insensitive and a tacit endorsement of the negative voices of many non-state actors who have been threatening this nation's unity and peaceful coexistence without an arrest.
"Going by the Kaduna experience, we can perceive the havoc the Muslim-Muslim ticket has brought upon the predominantly Christian people of Southern Kaduna.
"We, therefore, strongly advise those political parties toying with divisive agenda to have a rethink by presenting a more inclusive ticket, while 2 of 3 on all people of goodwill to resist this budding injustice that may be hatched against a cross section of the people," the group added.

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President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to fill the position of the ministers who resigned to contest the 2023 general elections, about one month after the vacuum was created.
About six to seven ministers in the cabinet of Buhari had resigned to contest the just concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ministers are: Rotimi Amaechi, Transportation (Rivers); Godswill Akpabio, Niger Delta Affairs (Akwa-Ibom); Ogbonnaya Onu, Science, Technology, and Innovation (Abia).
Others are Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, State for Education (Imo); Uche Ogah, State for Mines and Steel Development (Abia) and Tayo Alasoadura, State for Niger Delta Affairs (Ondo).
Buhari had during a Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, asked that the members vying for elective public office resign their positions.
The president’s directive followed the decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing a suit that challenged section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, which prohibits appointees from participating in a convention as a delegate or nominee.
Peoples Gazette gathered on Tuesday that since the resignation of the affected cabinet members and ministers, their portfolios have remained vacant.
Section 147 (3) of the Constitution requires that the President “appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State”.
The country has 36 states and FCT, Abuja; meaning that there should be at least 37 ministerial nominees, who would represent each of the states and the FCT.
It was not immediately clear if Buhari would appoint a replacement for the affected ministries before the 2023 general election.
Two presidential sources said Buhari was not under any pressure to appoint new helmsmen to fill the vacant ministries.
“So, the President is less concerned about that for now and the election is just a few months by the way. We have to prepare,” one of the sources said.
In 2015, when Buhari was first sworn into office, it took him over six months to appoint his ministers. When he eventually did, some dead people made the list of appointees.

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Mrs Mary Ngoshe, who is believed to be one of the kidnapped girls from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok in 2014 has been found, the Nigerian Army has said.
Troops of the 26 Task Force Brigade, on Tuesday while on patrol intercepted Ngoshe with a child believed to be hers, in Borno State.

This was made known on Wednesday in a tweet posted to the Nigerian Army’s verified Twitter handle, @HQNigerianArmy.
“Troops of 26 Task Force Brigade on patrol around Ngoshe in Borno State on 14 June 2022 intercepted one Mrs Mary Ngoshe and her son. She is believed to be one of the abducted girls from GGSS Chibok in 2014. Further exploitation ongoing,” the tweet reads.

Troops of 26 Task Force Brigade on patrol around Ngoshe in Borno State on 14 June 2022 intercepted one Mrs Mary Ngoshe and her son. She is believed to be one of the abducted girls from GGSS Chibok in 2014. Further exploitation ongoing. pic.twitter.com/RqKH0FaqQv

— Nigerian Army (@HQNigerianArmy) June 15, 2022
On the night of April 14, 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.
Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance in order to take final exams in physics.
Also, 57 of the schoolgirls escaped immediately following the incident by jumping from the trucks on which they were being transported, and others have been rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on various occasions.
The Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association (KADA), had in January on behalf of the entire Chibok Community,  indicated that 110 of the 276 girls abducted in April, 2014, are still unaccounted for.

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File photo used to illustrate story.

Dollar exchanged at N603 (average) at Lagos and Abuja parallel markets on Tuesday, indicating a worsening liquidity crisis in the foreign exchange market of Africa’s biggest oil producer, PUNCH reports.
Between June 2021, and June 2022, dollar-to-naira exchange rate has risen from N500 to N603 at the parallel market, signifying the greenback appreciated by 21 per cent within the period.

File photo used to illustrate story.
The margin between the official and the parallel market rates on Tuesday was N187.28, a situation believed to be fuelling arbitrage and worsening an already bad FX supply situation.
At the Importers and Exporters (I&E) widow, a dollar exchanged at N415.72, gaining N5.53 in three days. But year on year, the naira weakened by nearly one per cent in relation to the dollar, rising from N411 to N415.72
One of the Bureau De Change operators at Zone 4, Abuja, which is the hub of the forex sales at the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Isah, gave the price of dollar as N604/$, lamenting that the rate had failed to fall after the primary elections conducted by the People’s Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress due to party delegates’ refusal to sell.
“We expected to see more dollars in the market after the primaries, but nobody is selling. That is why the rate is still the same for more than a week,” he said in pidgin English.
Another BDC operator at Abuja airport, Usman Dantata, who was willing to sell at N603/$, said many individual buyers who wanted more than $5000 on Tuesday were unable to get it due to a worsening scarcity being experienced in the market.
“If you have dollars, bring them, I will buy them at N601 each. One PDP delegate told me that he will keep his dollars till the rate reaches N800,” he said, also in pidgin English.
Another BDC operating at Amuwo Odofin in Lagos, Bala Abdullahi, gave his rate as N602. On average, the dollar closed at N603 at the parallel market and has not fallen below it since May 17 when it hit N600 at the parallel market.
Nigeria is experiencing one of its worst FX crises in history due to demand overshooting supply. Oil price has risen above $110 per barrel in the last two months owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Nigeria has failed to increase its earnings from it due to oil theft, low production and an opaque subsidy regime which will gulp N4 trillion this year.
Nigeria’s crude oil earnings are also blurred by lack of a local refining capacity as much of its FX goes into overseas crude refining.
Nigeria’s crude oil earnings are also blurred by lack of a local refining capacity as much of its FX goes into overseas crude refining.
The country is not earning enough from its non-oil exports either. It earned $45.56 billion in 2021 from crude and non-oil sector within the same period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

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The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has again been given three names as nominations to fill in the vice presidential slot ahead of the 2023 general elections.
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babagana Kingibe, forwarded the names to Tinubu for consideration, Daily Trust gathered.

This is just as groups and religious bodies in the country have insisted that Tinubu must not go for a muslim northerner as present-day Nigeria appears to be more fragile and religiously sensitive.
Kingibe, who was running mate to late MKO Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, was said to have forwarded the names to the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, for onward transmission to Tinubu for consideration.
The list has the names of Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum; the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed and a liaison officer to the National Assembly during Olusegun Obasanjo’s first tenure, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, for consideration.
The trio are Muslims from the North East geopolitical zone. The nomination came amid agitation over the moves by the APC to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
A source close to the presidential candidate said they were shocked when the former SGF forwarded the names.
“It is true that three names have been forwarded by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe to Governor Atiku Bagudu for onward delivery to Tinubu for consideration for the office of the vice president,” he said.
Another source said they were still trying to find out on what grounds Kingibe was nominating anyone.
“Even though he is reportedly part of the cabal, what is in the open is that they have a different candidate for the presidency who did not win… We are therefore appalled that he has nominated some people to Tinubu considering that he is not holding any position. We suspect that he is not alone in the move,” the source said.
Since the conclusion of the APC primary which was held at the Eagle Square in Abuja, attention has since been shifted to the selection of running mates of the two leading political parties in the country – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC.
Analysts say the choice of the running mates will determine the victory or otherwise of the candidates in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed June 17, as the deadline for the submission of candidates for the presidential positions.

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Femi Soyinka, a professor of Dermatology, Venereology and Clinical Immunology, has passed on.

He was 85 years old.

The don died in the early hours of Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at his home in Kukumada Village, Ibadan, Oyo State, a statement signed by Ayodele Soyinka, son of the deceased on behalf of the family, said.

The family said burial arrangements would be announced by the family later.

The Soyinka Family of Ake/Isara, Ogun State, on Tuesday announced the passing of Prof. Soyinka in a statement obtained by SaharaReporters.

His profile obtained by SaharaReporters reads, “Born in 1937, Professor Femi Soyinka received a medical degree in Medicine and Surgery MBchB from University of Heidelberg, 1964; and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the same University in 1965. He specialised and practised as a Dermatologist, Venereologist and Allergologist at the University of Giessen, 1969.

“In 1972, he obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Hadassah Medical School, (MPH) Israel.

“He worked in the academic field for 30 years, holding various positions from Chief Medical Director to Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Provost of College of Health Sciences of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. 

“He was also involved in extensive research work on Tropical Skin Diseases and Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in collaboration with the Federal government, international donor agencies and organisations such as the World Bank, UNDP, DFID, the British Council; and the International Development Research Centre, Canada.

“He pioneered several researches in the field of HIV/AIDS and worked as a consultant to various international and local agencies including the World Health Organization, DFID, UNDP and Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health based on his extensive experience on the subject in various parts of the country.

“Prof. Femi Soyinka was at the forefront of mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. By translating the outcomes of his researches into clinical practice. He impacted significantly not only in the lives of numerous individuals and families living with the disease, but also on the nation as a whole. 

“He initiated the Ambassador of Hope program in Nigeria, encouraging people living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHAs) to speak up, thereby bringing the much-needed public awareness to the disease at a time when knowledge was low and stigma was high.

“He also demonstrated technical knowledge and was involved with many other HIV/AIDs related programs including HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, ARV programs, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and home-based care for PLWHAs in Nigeria.

“Subsequently, he contributed significantly to capacity building of indigenous organizations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria through his non-governmental organization – New Initiative for the Enhancement of Life and Health (NELAH) previously known as; Network on Ethics/Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS-Prevention, Support and Care (NELA). He was a past president of Society for AIDS in Africa and he successfully coordinated the International Conference on AIDS and STIs In Africa (ICASA) in Abuja, Nigeria in the year 2005.

Prof Soyinka is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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