Gunmen on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, abducted Fyneman Wilson, the Special Adviser on Political Matters to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State barely 24 hours after his declaration for second tenure in office as governor.
Daily Independent gathered that Wilson was kidnapped with his personal assistant identified as Fred by a five-man gang at Sagbama Town, headquarters of Sagbama Local Government Council, and taken to an unknown place.
Both Wilson and Dickson are kinsmen of Sagbama Local Government Area.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Wilson and his personal aide even as the Bayelsa State Government had yet to issue any statement on the incident.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Botswat, confirmed the incident.
“The Marine Police, Joint Task Force and the anti-kidnapping unit of the police have been alerted.
“Efforts have been intensified to rescue the victims and arrest the abductors. Investigation is ongoing”, he said.
Meanwhile, two traditional chiefs of Okpoama Kingdom in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, who were kidnapped on August 26, 2015, have been released by their kidnappers.
It was learnt that Blessing Wagio and Isaac Akono-Igolo, an uncle of the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Tarinyo Akono, regained their freedom on Tuesday.
Confirming their release, Akono said that the kidnappers dropped off the chiefs at coastal Southern Ijaw area after they realized that the victims were from Okpoama, their ancestral home, adding that no ransom was paid to secure their release.
A senior employee of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and electoral officer of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Mrs. Chinwe Obi, her husband, and three other women have been found dead in an apartment in Awka, capital of Anambra State.
While Mr. Obi, a businessman died on Friday, September 4, 2015, Chinwe and her three friends whose identity is yet to be ascertained died on Saturday, September 5, 2015, unknown to her neighbours.
Their bodies were evacuated from the apartment on Monday by the police team led by the Commissioner, Hassan Karma.
The incident happened at Olisa Onyeka Crescent, Commissioner’s quarters, Ifite Awka.
Daily Independent learnt that Mr. Obi who was based in Cotonue, Benin Republic, died on Friday when he returned from a business trip.
Then the next day, Saturday, three friends of his wife including a pastor came to sympathise with her wife and to pray with her over her husband’s death, but two days later none of them came out of the apartment thereby raising suspicion among her neighbours who invited the police.
The police on arrival on Monday broke the door into the apartment and found the four women, all clutching their Bibles, dead.
The police also found left-over soup in a soup pot and a generating set along the corridor of the apartment. There was no petrol in the generating set, according to the Commissioner of Police.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ali Okechukwu told Daily Independent: “There was a generating set on the passage of the building but there was no fuel in it.
“There was also left over of soup, so it is either they died of food poisoning or inhalation of carbon monoxide.
“They were all holding their Bibles because the occupant of the apartment, Mrs. Chinwe Obi lost her husband last week.
“It is obvious they were either praying or had prayed shortly before the incident but we have not arrived at any conclusion yet. The police are still investigating the matter.
“All the bodies had been evacuated to Regina Caeli Hospital mortuary in Awka”, Okechukwu concluded.
Also, the land lady of the building, Mrs. Ify Onyebumuo, said that she was contacted on phone by one of the tenants who said they had not seen the deceased since Saturday.
Mrs. Onyebumuo noted that the tenants said that they perceived awful odor from the apartment, adding that Mrs. Obi had not picked her phone since Sunday.
She said that the deceased had lived in the building for 11 months.
Also, the Caretaker of the building, Mr. Machie Ignatius, a lawyer, said that he was contacted on phone by some tenants who told him they suspected some people died in that room.
Machie revealed that Mrs. Obi’s husband had died the previous Friday in the room and was taken to the mortuary.
The Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Petition against Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike ran into troubled waters on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, as the Tribunal Struck out all the core paragraphs alleging electoral violence, snatching of ballot boxes, criminal manipulation of accreditation process and use of security agents and thugs to manipulate the election outcome.
Justice Suleiman Ambrosa, the chairman of the Tribunal, ruled that the paragraphs were incompetent because they contained criminal allegations against security agents and persons not joined in the petition by the Defeated Rivers State APC Governorship candidate, Mr. Dakuku Peterside.
According to the tribunal, such persons ought to have been joined to defend themselves before the court.
The striking out of the paragraphs alleging several criminal actions during the governorship election has weakened the petition of the Rivers State APC Governorship candidate, Mr Dakuku Peterside, as it implies that no irregular actions took place during the April 11, 2015 election as earlier alleged by the APC.
It will be recalled that PDP through its counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition on the ground that it contains incompetent grounds for challenging the victory of Governor Wike or in the alternative strike out all the offending paragraphs that bordered on criminal allegations.
The tribunal opted for striking out the offending paragraphs.
It will therefore expunge from its records all the paragraphs containing criminal allegations. No further arguments will be taken on such paragraphs.
On the eligibility of Dakuku Peterside to contest the election, the Tribunal ruled that it cannot disqualify the petitioner because the respondents ought to have approached a High Court to determine the issue of 21 day notice to INEC.
On the issue of inappropriate service of the respondent outside Abuja without seeking leave of the Tribunal, Justice Ambrosa ruled that Governor Wike waived his right to challenge the illegality by appearing before the Tribunal.
The apex Igbo organisation in the Diaspora, Igbo World Assembly (IWA), has faulted the recent appointment by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government of Nigeria.
The group also called for its reversed to maintain the Federal Character as enshrined in Section 14 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Calling for priority attention on the second Niger Bridge, the President of IWA, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, in his address at the just concluded World Igbo Congress (WIC) 2015 Convention in Los Angeles, California, the United States of America said that the current government appointment has set off a firestorm of condemnation, with critics characterizing the nominations as overwhelmingly lopsided, lacking in gender balance and regional equity.
The apparent lack of regional balance in the appointments, according to IWA, must be reversed for a better Nigeria.
Describing the appointment as violation of federal character law, Anakwenze said that under the provisions of the Constitution, the government must ensure “the principles of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels of government.
“We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to adhere strictly to the demands of our constitution with respect to the Federal Character clause and to the wellbeing of all Nigerians. “President Buhari should be reminded that the change promised should be positive not driven by a pattern of bigotry, religious or ethnic chauvinism. We call on Nigerians to join hands with us in ensuring that all Nigerians are treated as equals and not as vassals to imagined ruling class”, he added.
President Mohamadu Buhari’s previos appointment, he said, were disproportionate for a nation that holds together six geopolitical zones, 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local governments and over 250 different ethnic nationalities, adding that records have shown that only 25 per cent of the president’s appointments were from the South while an overwhelming 75 per cent are the North.
The IWA president, who has been in the vanguard for a better Igbo state, said that Buhari’s appointments so far have not been encouraging to most Nigerians, particularly to those in the South.
“What President Buhari is doing is not new. It is the re-enactment of the Northernization policy of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Premier of Northern Nigeria who canvassed and practiced the Northernization policy where all good positions must be occupied by the Northerners.
“We are of the view that President Muhammadu Buhari is the President of Nigeria including the South-East and South-South, and as such is required by law to adhere to the Federal Character provision mandated by the Nigeria constitution, and such provision must not be taken for granted.
“He has violated the constitution- “Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution” which states that the government must ensure “the principles of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels of government.” Buhari has no reason as the elected president of Nigeria to disregard the oath he swore to uphold the constitution of Nigeria.
“That the lopsided appointments made by President Buhari are not for the overall interest of Nigeria but solely for Northern Nigeria;
“That the control of all the higher echelons of government by the North such as control of the Executive, the control of the Judiciary, control of the Senate, control of the House of Reps, the control of the Civil Services; the control of INEC, the control of all the branches of the Armed Force and Security Service Agencies by Northern Nigeria is reprehensible and unacceptable to the people of Southern Nigerian in general and to the Igbo in particular;
“That denying the South Eastern geo-political zone of Nigeria the position of the Secretary to the Federal Government and other senior positions means that Ndigbo are totally shut out in the upper echelons of the APC government under Buhari.”
The Diaspora group, among other things further demanded that the National Confab decisions must be honoured and implemented, construction of the Federal roads in the South-East and South-South zones to be completed, construction of the Airports and Seaports in the South-East and South-South zones to be completed, among others.
The peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the Akoka main campus of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) until late afternoon yesterday was cut short soon after a Part Three student was struck dead when an overhead electricity cable fell on her.
Students of the institution staged a massive protest within the school premises following the detachment of a high tension electricity cable belonging to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
The victim, Oluchi Anekwe, a 300 level accounting student of the university was reportedly electrocuted at about 6.45 p.m. few metres to her room in Sodeinde Residence, New Hall.
Though she was immediately rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba, she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Deputy Registrar (Information), Mr. Olagoke Oke, who confirmed the incident, told Daily Independent that the cable, from a 33 KVA substation supplies power to Onike community, was subsequently
de-energised by the EKO Disco.
The students, who trooped to the main gate of the university chanting ‘No VC, No Going Back’ demanded for the presence of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Rahman Bello, and insisted they would not return to the campus for studies.
However, a statement signed by the institution’s President of the Students Representative Council, Abiodun Martins, regretted that the death of the student was avoidable and asked the management to avoid a re-occurrence.
The statement read: “Greatest Akokites, the University of Lagos Students’ Union regrets to announce the passing away of one of us, our very own OLUCHI ANEKWE, a 300 level student of the Department of
Accounting. Oluchi, till her death, was a first class student, and a very active student in class. Our condolence goes to her families, relatives and friends.
“The entire University of Lagos Students loved her, but God in His wisdom saw fit to embrace her. We shall surely miss her. Oluchi, GOODNIGHT. Signed: Comrade Abiodun Martins ULSU President,” the
statement said.
However, Eko Disco in a reaction sympathised with the management of the university and the entire student population on the death of the student.
The firm’s Public Relations Officer, Idemudia in a statement said: “A very sad situation. We sincerely sympathise with the family of the deceased and the entire students and authority of University of Lagos.
Meanwhile, our team of engineers is investigating the cause of the accident to avoid such from happening again”.
However, Oke, told Daily Independent in an interview that the university had not been shut, but stated that the university community would for sometime continue to mourn the death of the Oluchi.
Meanwhile, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rahman Bello, has appealed for calm and discouraged the protesting students from taking their protest to the Eko Power Distribution Company, saying the cable had been de-energised immediately.
Meanwhile, academic activities were paralysed on the campus yesterday, and as at the time of filing this report, there were indications that lectures might also not hold today.
Nigeria’s Under-23 team has booked a place in the semi final of the Men’s football of the All Africa Games after beating the Black Meteors of Ghana 2-0 on Wednesday, September 9, 2015.
It was the team’s first match after Egypt withdrew from the tournament and a perfect start for coach Samson Siasia’s wards who showed great composure with the ball.
3SC striker, Junior Ajayi, scored first in the 55th minute through a low cross from Etor Daniel before calmly slotting the ball into the net.
Enyimba’s Kingsley Sokari put the match beyond the reach of the Black Meteors in the 87th minute as he beautifully lobed the ball above Ghana goalkeeper, Richard Ofori, to increase the team tally.
All effort for Ghana to come-back into the match proved abortive as the Nigerian team defended resolutely to qualify for the semi final of the All Africa Games.
Nigeria’s final Group B match would be against Senegal, which drew 0-0 with Ghana on the opening day.
Cultists numbering about 30 have allegedly attacked the chairman of Obosi Land Management Council in Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra State, Ezeugo Ikemu Zion, with a machete with the intention of killing him but ended up only wounding him on the head and injuring four others near his office.
The cultists, some of whom were travelling on motorcycles, pounced on Zion in his office, inflicting a deep cut on his head and injured four others that were with him.
Speaking to newsmen on his hospital bed, Zion said, “Because I was picked as the chairman of Obosi Land Management Council, the cultists, numbering about 30, who have continued to terrorise our community, stormed my office to kill me because I am not their member. They cut my head with a machete.”
He accused a certain community leader of sponsoring the cultists, adding that two of them were arrested with the help of the local vigilance group, led by Arthur Ilongwu, and the Special Anti-cult Squad, and taken to Enugwu-Ukw.
“God was so kind, they could not kill me because my officials were holding those that were butchering me.
“Four of my officials were injured on the process and I managed to call the police,” Zion said.
He also accused a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police from the community and some wealthy people that included a man called “Governor” of being behind the attack.
Also speaking, one of the victims, Chukwudi Ilobi, said, “The cult group members are from 22 Fraternity. They hit me with a club on my mouth when I was defending our chairman.
“What they are planning is to frustrate Ofala festival of His Royal Highness, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, and possibly dethrone him and install their member as Igwe.
“I appeal to Governor Willie Obiano to come to our rescue because they terrorise our community a lot.”
Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, announced the removal of four commissioners in the State Executive Council, with immediate effect.
They are Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Lucky James; Commissioner for Women Affairs, Blessing Maigida; Commissioner for Basic Education, Patrick Aguinede; and Commissioner for Energy and Water Resources, Chris Ebar.
The governor announced the sack in a statement signed by Prince Kassim Afegbua, Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, declaring that the exercise was in line with government’s commitment to strengthen the system for optimal performance.
The statement directed the affected commissioners to hand over all government property in their possession to the permanent secretaries in their respective ministries.
Oshiomhole thanked the former cabinet members for their service to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours.
The Osun State House of Assembly has vowed to key into the anti-corruption crusade of the present All Progressives Congress-led administration.
In line with this, the House has passed the procurement bill into law as part of the measures to entrench the anti-corruption crusade in the state.
A statement issued by Goke Butikakuro, the media aide to the Speaker of the Assembly, said, when the law is signed by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, it would drive the process of contract award, purchasing activities of government and other state transactions.
The House of Assembly said it would assist in the anti-corruption drive with its oversight functions, promising to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks capable of slowing development and reducing institutions to redundancy.
According to the statement, “The state parliament has taken the first leg of its anti-corruption crusade through the passage of procurement bill into law.
“The State Assembly wants to assure that the relief package given to the state would be judiciously administered for the purpose meant for. All genuine workers would soon have their outstanding salaries defrayed, while the work-in-progress public infrastructure would not be left unattended to.
“The parliament would obtain the report of ongoing workers’ audit and frisk it in order to be updated on the actual numerical strength of the workforce of the state, with a view to giving rough tackles to the would-be manipulators of the process.”
Amid pomp and fanfare in Ikoro Ekiti on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, visited the residence of Timothy Iseoluwa, “to come to the aid” of the physically-challenged cobbler.
The governor said he was watching the state-owned television yesterday when a documentary detailing Iseoluwa’s predicament and his urgent need for assistance was aired. He stated that, “I immediately called the commissioner for finance, Toyin Ojo, who incidentally is from Ikoro Ekiti, to furnish me with details of the man’s situation; it was then that I was reminded that I was the one who gave him motorcycle and shoe-making instruments during my first term in office.
“If someone with this type of challenge can manage to eke out a living and not resort to begging, we have to come to the aid of such a person.”
The governor went ahead to present N500,000 cash to Iseoluwa, whose building and work tools were destroyed in a fire a few weeks back.
Fayose also gave him a new motorcycle and directed the local government council boss to place him on a N20,000 monthly salary.
Iseoluwa thanked the governor and prayed for the success of his administration.
In his reaction, the Onikoro of Ikoro Ekiti, Oba Olanrewaju Adewaju, thanked the governor and bestowed on Fayose the title of “Bashorun” of Ikoro-Ekiti.
He also used the opportunity to seek Fayose’s assistance in completing the palace, which has been under construction for the past 24 years.
The governor promised the donation of N1 million naira to see to the completion of the monarch’s palace
The Delta State government has decided to make the accreditation of the Faculty of Engineering, Delta State University (DELSU), Oleh, a priority.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa disclosed this on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, while addressing students of the faculty during a visit to the campus to enable him know how to address the issues militating against the accreditation of the faculty.
“l came to see the situation of things on ground because l know that there are issues that need to be addressed before the faculty will be accredited by National Universities Commission (NUC).
“l am pleased with the level of discipline among you and assure you that we will speed up the process of accreditation by meeting up with the standard given us,” the governor said.
Okowa informed the students that he has directed the contractors handling the projects in the school to return to site and ensure that the structures are completed on time, adding that he has also ordered that the contract file be moved from the Ministry of Infrastructure to the Ministry of Education to ensure proper monitoring of the projects.
In a related development, Okowa inspected on-going construction work at the Sapele Market and assured the traders that the market would be completed in no distant time and the stalls allocated to them.
He directed the local government council chairman to refund the money already collected from the traders for allocation of the stalls saying, “Proper allocation of the over 1,600 market stalls will be done when the market is completed.”
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole on Wednesday announced the termination of the appointment of four commissioners in the State Executive Council.
Those sacked are the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Lucky James; Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Blessing Maigida; Commissioner for Basic Education, Mr. Patrick Aguinede, and Commissioner for Energy and Water Resources, Mr. Chris Ebare.
The governor who announced the sack in a statement signed by Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua, stated that the sack was in line with government’s commitment to strengthen the system towards optimal performance.
The statement directed the affected commissioners to hand over all government property in their possession to the Permanent Secretaries in their respective ministries.
The governor expressed his appreciation to the former commissioners for their services to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours.
The termination is with immediate effect, the statement added.
All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday met behind closed doors for two hours with President Muhammadu Buhari at the President Villa, Abuja.
The visit of Tinubu, who was accompanied by former national chairman of the APC?, Bisi Akande, came two days after the President confirmed that he was set to name his ministerial nominees, which he has so far kept secret and also believed to be causing some disquiet in the party.
Emerging from the meeting, Tinubu was asked by journalists to respond to the perceived struggle between him, Akande and another influential member of the party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He said: “Don’t listen to rumours, there is no struggle. Our party is not even looking at the direction of power struggle or anything of such.
“The structure is to encourage and support the President, to help him institutionalise his goal, principle and vision for a new Nigeria?.”
On Buhari’s delay in appointing ministers, Tinubu said it was better to delay and get it right than laying a bad foundation that would not last in the nation’s interest.
According to him “there is pitfall in rushing, quick fix, depending upon the depth of the rot. And that rush can cascade into mistakes of unimaginable magnitude.
“There is equally glory and recovery in slowness, when you have a slow fix of a bad foundation.
“So, to me, I would rather take the one that will last the country and endeavour for a longer period of time than the rush-hour shopping.”
Tinubu also denied that ?he was at the Villa with his own list of persons he wanted as ministers, stressing that people can speculate and lie but he also has the right to debunk? them.
Tinubu further defended the President against allegations of dictatorship levelled by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I disagree with that. He was elected on a platform of democracy. He has adhered to rule of law so far. What is dictatorship about what he has done?
“He has helped to stimulate the economy in the various states and that is where the people are. So what is dictatorship?
“Institutional paralysis had occurred in the country. It is very important for a steady man like the President to really help the nation recover from the paralysis and that is what he is doing.
“So, I don’t see what is dictatorial about that. If they don’t have anything to say, they should rather be quiet. They created what is wrong here today and we can’t sweep that under the carpet. There must be rule of law”, Tinubu said.
Also, speaking to journalists, Akande said he had come to the Villa to encourage Buhari to clear the rot left behind by the PDP.
His words: “Since Obasanjo’s first term, and I understand that President Buhari inherited piles of rot in the Villa, and I said, let me see him, talk to him and report to my party with a view to knowing how to encourage him to change the rot to good.”
Asked what they had been discussing with the President for the two hours that the meeting lasted, Akande replied: “it is the rot, piles of rot upon rot.”
The Osun Positive Force (OPF), has urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari, since the President never promised to turn around within 100 days what had been spoilt by past administrations.
The state of hopelessness created by the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 16 years could not be fixed in just 100 days, the group said.
Media director of the OPF, Yinka Diamond, stated this in a press release issued at the weekend in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
According to the group, “It is very ludicrous, to say the least, for any reasonable person to evaluate someone with a four-year mandate in 100 days, it is not possible for President Buhari to put things right in one-stop check, considering endemic nature of corruption perpetrated by the successive administrations since 1999.
“The comatose bastardisation of Nigeria’s economy in the hands of few cabals in the Peoples Democratic Party cannot magically be fixed in 100 days, and President Buhari’s steps so far have given majority of Nigerians a rare hope of better tomorrow.
“The documents being paraded as promises made by President Buhari does not emanate from his party, the APC, or the campaign team that handled his electioneering. The two veritable documents, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’ and APC manifestos’ are documents upon which Nigerians should hold him responsible and not the unfounded timeline document flaunted around.”
The group also added that the President has done much, as, “Incontrovertible, in the last three months of the administration, the country has witnessed a significant change in terms of improved security, with relocation of military base to the theater of war in the North-East, which has cumulated into uncoordinated attacks by the insurgents; support by multi-national forces and relationship with Western countries strengthened. The opaque state-owned oil facilities revived, along with clean-up of environmental degradation in the Niger-Delta region, and cancellation of unfavourable oil contracts fictitiously shared among the nation’s economy parasites.
“The debate here should not be what President Buhari has been able to do within this period but how Nigerians’ morale has been boosted to a point that, for the first time in the recent past, they have a leader who feels their pains, ready to work for them and transparently living by example.”
The group admonished Nigerians to cooperate with Buhari as he steadily brings to an end age-long underdevelopment and corruption in the country: “Nigeria has a great destiny ahead of her, requires everyone to stand by the government in achieving its set-out goals.”
If the truth be told, the last edition of the Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture was a thoroughly exciting and euphoric event; not only because it attracted eminent Statesmen and clerics from across Nigeria and beyond but also because it provided a unique opportunity for both young and old to celebrate a legend, the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr. Mike Okonkwo, who recently turned 70.
From left, former Governor of Lagos and the event Guest Speaker, Babatunde Fashola, Bishop Peace Okonkwo, second runner up, Jonathan Iherijika, a student of Kings College, Lagos, the celebrant, Presiding Bishop, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) Dr. Mike Okonkwo, winner of the 2015 Bishop Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition, Chisom Emeto, a student of Port Harcourt International School, Port Harcourt, River State, first runner up, Asuquo Mirabel , a student of Redeemers International Secondary School, Port Harcourt, River State and the event Chairman, Chief George Obiozor at the 16th Bishop Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture to mark the 70th Birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo held at Muson Centre, Lagos last week.
In the words of the chairman of the occasion, Professor George Obiozor, “Bishop Okonkwo is one the most inspiring Nigerians alive. He is a pan-Nigerian, pan-African nationalist, philanthropist, humanist; a role model and emblem of true love, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity.”
There was indeed an outpouring of encomium for the amiable cleric, who for over three decades has distinguished himself as an erudite, consistent and fiery preacher of the word of God.
“Bishop Okonkwo is a man whose heart is in the right place and has proven to be dependable, gracious and purpose-driven”, said the Guest Speaker at the occasion, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Governor of Lagos State.
The event also afforded the Mike Okonkwo Educational Youth Initiative (MOEYI) the opportunity to showcase the top three winners of the 16th edition of the annual essay competition, in which Chisom Emeto of Port Harcourt International School emerged overall winner while Asuquo Mirabel of Redeemer’s International School, Port Harcourt came second while Ihejirika Jonathan came third.
According to the chief examiner, Professor Akachi Ezeigbo, “the competition this year featured a total of two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven essays after the organizers used their internal control mechanism to filter out unsuitable entries.”
Indeed, the topic of this year’s essay competition “The Nigerian Political Class and the Citizen’s Quest for Good Governance” was quite intriguing and intellectually engaging.
In his capacity as Guest Speaker at the occasion, the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola delved extensively on the topic, stressing that the purpose for which government exist is to provide good governance and where they fail, they must be changed through the ballot.
While stressing that “good governance means different things to different people, Fashola emphasized that “the test weight for policies and programs of any government is whether or not they bring the greatest good to the greatest number. What represents common good is not a matter of easy agreement but rather what brings the greatest good to the generality of the people.”
“What is the primary purpose of government?” asked Fashola rhetorically. In answer to this, the legal icon said, “They are elected for the welfare and security of the people. Welfare includes water supply, healthcare, good education, food security, job etc.”
In order to measure good governance, he noted that both government and citizens must focus on the provision of:
•Education- not only formal education but also public enlightenment
•Participation- voting, accountability and taxation
•The rule of law
•The application of science- study of human behavior
“No government can go anywhere far without placing law and order as its guiding principle. Without these, life will be short and brutish” said Fashola, adding that “Citizens have duties, not just rights.”
“We all have responsibilities and must take them serious. All our institutions will be what we make of them. It is not enough to elect a political leader and expect them to do magic. We all have a role to play for us to enjoy good governance.”
While urging every Nigerian to be conversant with the content and application of the Constitution, he said, “Section 24 A-Z captures the essence of good and participatory government. It is a contract; a give and take contract.”
Said he: “We are the government. If more people participate, the burden will be lighter and the slice that each person will enjoy will be healthier. That is your side of the social contract. When you have performed it, then you can ask the government to give account. You cannot benefit from the social contract when you are abridged.”
It was indeed an auspicious event as many at home and abroad sent goodwill messages to express their love and heartfelt appreciation for the man that has impacted their lives, families, congregations and nation in many positive ways.
In his goodwill message, Pastor Mensa Otabil, a Ghanaian theologian, philanthropist, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and founder of International Central Gospel Church, Accra, Ghana described the celebrant as a man with cross-cultural appeal, love and integrity. Corroborating this, Rev. Wilson Badejo described him as a man that is reliable any day or time and one with undeniable landmarks and spotlights of great things done for God and mankind.
Rev. Moses Iloh upholds that Okonkwo is a completely detribalized Nigerian and charges him to see this season of his life as a time to do more for God, even as London-based Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo prayed that the “years coming increase his grace and anointing.”
World-acclaimed Pastor Enoch Adeboye prayed that God would keep the Bishop “safe, secure, alive and well, even as the years ahead bring him greater good.
Even the American Pentecostal evangelist, Morris Cerullo sent a special blessing and everlasting friendship to the amiable and forthright “Big Daddy” of TREM, as he is fondly called.
Showers of encomium from relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbours, co-workers, church members and other invited guests at the public presentation of The Surviving Twins and Tears For Love written by Dr. Sunny Oby Maduka must have proved beyond doubt that the author is indeed a rare enigma.
Author Maduka, (fifth from left); his wife, Priscilia (right); chairman of the day, Ogboku (fourth left) and other guests at the public presentation.
Held at Best Western Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on Saturday August 29, 2015, the unusual Lagos traffic congestion and monthly environmental sanitation could only delay the commencement of the programme till few minutes after 3p.m, an event that was initially billed to hold at 1p.m.
For real, how best could one have described an accountant that has churned out five novels and one film in three years?
Maduka, a man of deep insights and novel ideas on many subjects about life, organisations and environment, he was diplomatically crowned by the guests at the august event as the emperor of multiple talents.
In his opening remark, chairman of the event, Chidi Ogboku said the author is an immutable talent that has influenced virtually every segment he finds himself across the spheres of life.
“Maduka is a man of many parts. He is a marine expert, accountant, playwright, poet to mention but a few. The most important thing about him is that he is very passionate and consuming in whatever he does. The best we can do for our kids is to document our aspirations. Great minds like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and their peers have done their parts. Maduka is gradually stepping into their shoes,” he said.
Joined by consortium of elites and other important dignitaries, including Priscila, the author’s adorable wife, the chairman unveiled the two books and encouraged all and sundry to go home with copies of the publication.
The book reviewer, Engineer Chris Emeka Mba, who saluted the strong courage of the author called on Nigerians, home and abroad, to borrow leaves from Maduka to support in building the nation’s intellectual emporium and the revival of reading culture.
“He has made case for culture and tradition. Having written five books, I cannot but buy into his rare idea as an intellectual builder. Both books are fascinating but similar in many ways. There are two things that are common with the books, love and tradition,” he said.
Mba observed that the love described in the book by the author transients human understanding. “He is indeed a comparative professor as the books talk about atmosphere.”
The spiritual father of the day, Pastor Michael Ogunbayode, said for any written document to earn honour, it would have to carry the presence of God, stressing that the author has enjoyed divine privileges over time.
“We see clearly that there is something living with us. How do you replay the time we were born to our world today? Though several books have been written by several people, but what keeps them is the presence of God. May the book remain a legacy for this and upcoming generation,” he said.
In The Surviving Twins, the abominable twins and their mother were to be killed in Agafe forest. The task of execution was to be shouldered by two noble sons of the soil but instead, they were murdered and the resurgence of the forgotten and supposedly abominable became the turning wheel of Afigbo’s progress.
For Tears For Love, Michael is in love. The trouble is that it’s not with the woman he’s agreed to marry. He’s hopelessly fallen for Phina, after briefly meeting her at an airport. His whole world has turned upside down, but what and how is he going to tell his bride to be, Oluchi? Then there’s the problem of breaking the news to his all-controlling mother. Not to mention the slight problem that Phina has no feelings for Michael, and is barely aware of his existence, except as someone who is destined to marry someone else.
Under pressure from all sides, Michael goes ahead with the marriage, but he can’t forget Phina, and starts on a long, exciting journey to find her and make his feelings known.
Though he said in an interview that his love for nature is germane, Maduka’s educational profile with first degree in Accounting at the prestigious University of Lagos and master’s degrees in both Business Administrationand Transportation have spoken in volume about a diligent servant leader gifted to rare passion for writing.
Maduka, a senior manager, audit, with Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) was born in Umunnekwu Agbo, Isuikwuato LGA, Abia State. His other books include The Whispering Voice, currently being screen played for a Hollywood Movie; My Nation My Agony and Collection of Illuminatory Poems.
His Nollywood Movie, Blood Communion, launched on Monday September 7, has been shelved to produce a television drama series titled The Tenant.
A woman has been charged with concealing a gun in her vagina, police said. Ashley Castaneda, 31, was taken into custody in a suspected drug arrest on Tuesday.
She was in a car with a man that was pulled over for a traffic violation and officers found the drugs inside the vehicle, police said.
On her way to jail, Castaneda told police that she had concealed the handgun in her vagina, making the disclosure out of fear it could go off during the trip. “Officers immediately stopped and a female officer searched Castaneda discovering she had in fact placed a loaded Smith and Wesson pistol inside her body cavity,” police in the central Texas city said in a statement.
“The weapon had a round chambered and a full magazine of bullets,” police said. The suspect had been searched at the scene and the gun was not found because of the way it was hidden, said Waco Police Department spokesman Sergeant Patrick Swanton.
“It is conceivable that the gun could have gone off inside our suspect and that would have been deadly because of the proximity to internal organs,” Swanton said. Castaneda has been charged with violating state concealed firearms laws by hiding the fully loaded, snub-nosed handgun. She was also charged with methamphetamine possession. The man in the car with her in the Monday night incident, Gabriel Garcia, 30, was charged with methamphetamine possession.
Head Graham Daniels, 51, and chemistry teacher Bethan Thomas, 37, face being struck off if found guilty of being overheard from outside closed door. The camera phone’s ‘sex tape’ was then put online by pupils.
A disciplinary hearing was launched into the “moans and panting” from behind the closed door in married Mr Daniel’s office. The 30-second tape was recorded on a camera phone outside the headmaster’s office and posted onto YouTube.
The school received a complaint and the tape was examined by governors and education chiefs. Both Mr Daniels and Miss Thomas resigned from 750-pupil Bryntawe Comprehensive School in Swansea, South Wales, after the tape emerged. Now both could be struck off the teaching register if found guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct” at the Cardiff disciplinary hearing of the Education Workforce Committee.
Louise Price, the presenting officer, told the hearing it was well known in the school prior to the pair’s suspension that they were in some sort of relationship.
She said: “This resulted in sexual acts being recorded on a camera phone by a pupil. This was shared with others. “This clearly unacceptable behaviour between two teaching profession on school property during educational time.” Miss Price told the hearing a girl pupil had heard the two having sex inside Mr Daniels’ office.
A mother purchased 12 bags of cocaine so that her daughter ‘had a good time’ on her 18th birthday, a court heard.
Nicola Austen, 37, also hired a limousine for the birthday bash, but was arrested after police raided her home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in January.
Police discovered 5.65 grams of the Class A drug stashed in her bedroom window – totalling £300.
Austin, who has six previous convictions including drug possession, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and received a nine month prison sentence suspended for a year.
She was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Prosecutor Craig Evans told Maidstone Crown Court: ‘They were going to London in a limousine and she wanted to make sure they had a good time.’
Austen was only spared jail after Danny Moore, defending, claimed that a prison sentence would have an adverse effect on a young boy in the family.
He added that Austen also provided respite and care for her grandmother.
‘It is to her great shame she finds herself in court. She appeared to have left this sort of thing behind.’, he said.
Award-winning Nigerian-born Gloria Maduka is a unique international singer-songwriter. Her music and dance styles are influenced by mainstream pop rock infused with African elements. From a tender age, Maduka was exposed to some of the music industry’s greatest artistes including Bob Marley, Christy Lane, Mary McKee and The Genesis, Jim Reeves, Amy Grant, and Abba. These childhood influences spurred her music interest. As a teenager in Africa, Maduka began to perform in churches to large audiences. The connection she felt with the audiences and several ovations she received led to the creation and direction of her church’s youth choir for three years before departing for the U.S. to further pursue her career in music and college degrees.
Gloria Maduka
Maduka sang and played music at every opportunity. She made the headlines with one publication labeling her as “bringing down the house.”
She hosted her own local TV talk show on campus and was the anchor for the Livingston Community News. Maduka was also frequently invited to perform at a number of sporting events, special events, and pageants.
In the summer of 2002, Maduka was offered an internship on Capitol Hill, Washington DC where she came in contact with a few music industry executives who encouraged her to pursue music as a career.
Maduka has developed a unique trademark which is enhanced by her ability to also write and sing in Yoruba and Spanish.
Her techniques with the conga, bongo, and djembe among other percussion instruments set her apart from other female artistes. In spite of Maduka graduating Magna Cum Laude and being the only Honors student in her graduating class, she gave up law school in pursuit of her music dreams.
A few months later, Maduka was invited to sing her own rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at a Barron’s baseball game. In addition to performing in the U.S., Canada, and Nigeria, she has been showcased on TV and radio stations. She was also one of 40 out of 12,000 contestants in Jacksonville, Florida chosen to audition in front of American Idol judges in 2008. She was featured singing on the show during the 2009 season.
Maduka’s debut album, ‘Of Light and Angels,’ is an eclectic mix of Alternative Rock, Pop, Reggae, and Soul, with her unique style of delivery blending all the tracks on the album together. It is a testimony that anyone can go as far as they can dream. It is a very personal album that speaks about life and love experiences which showcase her from the heart. The assortment of the stories, which are arranged sequentially, contributes to the overall eclectic vibe of the album. The songs have been a work-in-progress for many years as Maduka traveled through her own journey of life to develop an album that her fans would be able to identify with their own experiences.
Aside from her impending EP, album, and single releases, Maduka has performed a special bonus song, ‘Into The Light,’ for the soundtrack of the horror movie Mansion of Blood starring award-winning actors Gary Busey, Robert Picardo and Terry Moore set to be in theaters worldwide.
In September 2011, Maduka was awarded ‘Best New Act’ at the NPA Awards in Atlanta, GA. She also opened the show with a memorable performance.
In November 2011, due to popular demand, Maduka visited her fans in South Africa and made several media appearances. The video for her single, Wandering Away was launched on and has been rotating on airwaves throughout the country. She is currently working on the video for her second single, Crazy 4 U which has also received favorable reviews.
Today Maduka is back in her fatherland, Nigeria and is making a lot of impact. She was once the lead afternoon anchor on the Inspiration FM. She later moved to the Cool family where she has various show both on television and radio. She also has a show called ‘The Legendary Show.’ Her impact has been felt in other levels including giving back to the society. She has hosted big events and has also won awards for her worked in Nigeria. There is still more to be expected from Gloria.
