The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Magazine

  • But for our village catechist, I would have ended up as tailor, hunter – UNIOSUN Vice Chancellor Adebooye

    But for our village catechist, I would have ended up as tailor, hunter – UNIOSUN Vice Chancellor Adebooye

    Until he became the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Osun (UNIOSUN), Osun State, Prof. Odunayo Adebooye, was a researcher at a research centre in Germany. A professor of Plant Physiology/Food Chemistry, he has won 25 international research grants and about 100 travel grants. The first Nigerian to win the prestigious Humboldt Alumni Award of the German Government’s Humboldt Foundation, which included a cash reward of US$30,000 speaks with GBENGA ADERANTI about university politics, the prolonged strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and how an encounter with a catechist changed the course of his life, among other issues.

    Politics appears to have crept into the university system. What could have been responsible for that?

    Politics is part of life. Even in the homes, we play politics. Among the father, mother and their children, politics comes into play. It is the same thing in academia with the politics of research. In research itself, there is politics. In funding, there is politics. When you talk about funding the university itself or research funding, there is politics. As it is in the society, so it is in the university system.

    Perhaps, it is worthwhile to mention that politics in the university system is more toxic than politics in the civil society. So politics is part of life and it plays out everywhere.  Even in the church, in the mosque and in the shrines, there is politics.

    Have been able to address some of the issues raised before your emergence as the vice-chancellor?

     What issues?

    The aggrieved party said the criteria set by the university management appeared to have deliberately sidelined candidates from the arts, the humanities and some other faculties.

    In this business, the business of scholarship and academia, it is universal. Universal in the sense that we are subjected to the same gradient of parameters. By gradient of parameters, I mean what are the indices for measuring academic performance or for measuring scholarship? These indices or the gradient of parameters are universal; nobody disputes them anywhere in the world.

    For example, when you look at the capacity of a scholar to profess as a professor, he is rated on the basis of what are those literacies, the measures of global academic performance. If for example you want to recruit me at the University of Washington DC, United States of America, what they would do is to look at my literacies, what I scored in the different grades of parameter, what I call indices of academic performance. I will mention some of them, they may look at your citations, how much of your published works have been cited, not by yourself, because sometimes we scholars, we cite ourselves. They will look at those people that have cited your work. Is your work gaining prominence in the academic landscape globally?

    Two, they would say has he won grants? If he had won grants, how many of them? Who are the agencies that awarded the grants? And after asking that, they would say how much is the grant? You know grants have father and mother. The father of grants runs into millions of dollars. These are some of the parameters.

    There are parameters that measure how much time each of your work has been cited or read. How many times has your work been downloaded? Has he ever attended international conferences? Has he ever held leadership positions in universities? For example, has he been head of department? Has he been dean? Has he been provost or director? Has he been Deputy Vice-Chancellor? They may go further, they may say scholars are truly universal. If they are truly universal, you must have held some international positions. Holding an international position does not mean you should be a director at the United Nations, No! Has he been an editor of an international journal? For example, have you participated in leadership roles in some international organisations?

    So these are some of the measures that we look at in academics. It is not true that some academic disciplines were sidelined. No, the basis for scholarship is excellence. It is so defined and there is no other way to define it other than what I have told you.

    I want you to cast back your mind back to the December 16, 2021 Osogbo High Court judgment that eventually put paid to agitations in certain quarters and your eventual emergence as the Vice-Chancellor. What was going on in your mind before the court pronouncement?

    I was in faraway Germany. I had a big contract with the German research Centre in Germany. That was where I was before the advertisement for this job was placed. Actually, I did not want to apply for the job because the one I was doing in Germany was something that would give me a very big name in the field of science. I was investigating the location of the brains of plants at a German research centre.

    When the advert came out and I applied, I think I submitted my application on the closing date for submission of applications. But before then, I had read a number of articles in the papers by journalists, by aggrieved people who said the criteria set for the appointment were too tough. I sat down and I asked myself a question: is it worth coming down even if I’m appointed, to lead a university here with all these problems circulating at this moment?

    At one point, I decided that I was going to withdraw my application, and I told a few friends. I phoned from Germany to Nigeria asking my friend to help me withdraw my application. Some important people in this state told me that I should not withdraw my application; that it was part of life. What was going on in my mind was if you apply for a job, it is not compulsory that you get the job.

    That is one thing Nigerians should know. If you apply for a job and if you assume that you have a very good CV, you must not bank on it that you are the one that will clinch the job. I’ve never had such a mindset in my life, that whenever I apply for a job, I will get the job. That is my attitude. I just applied like a normal Nigerian. Those were the issues around that time. I wanted to withdraw my application when the roforofo  fight started. I honestly wanted to.

     Do you regret accepting the appointment?

    No, I don’t. I enjoy it because it allows me to bring my best to bear on the institution.

     The issues that were raised, have you been able to tackle any of them?

    Yes. I was appointed at 8.57 pm on January 3rd with the mandate from the government that I should resume the next morning at 8 am. I had less than 12 hours, 11 hours and three minutes, to prepare. There was nothing to prepare over the night, so I assumed duty the next day. The first thing I did was to meet with the various stakeholders. I met all the professors separately; I met all the collegiate separately. I toured all the six campuses within a week. I met all the unions individually and separately. I met the principal officers separately, made them see that there is a provision both in the Bible and Quran and even in the traditional religion, that there can be two kings at a time, only one person will sit on the leadership seat at a time. And there is always tenure. I made them realise that and whatever I have to do to make sure things run here normally, I would do. And since then, I have been doing that.

     How receptive were they to you?

    I must confess that I enjoy close to 100 per cent cooperation in this school, both from principal officers and the staff of the university.

     Talking about the challenges facing multi-campus institutions, how have you been able to manage it here?

    We have designed methods and strategies to tackle challenges associated with multi-campus institutions. If we say that there are no problems in it, we deceive ourselves and truth is not in us. There are problems, but what leaders should enjoy is confronting problems and bringing up solutions. That is what they call leadership.

    The challenges were the elective courses and part of what we have done is to hire what we call adjunct lecturers. Adjunct lecturers are professors in other universities who want to do part- time jobs and whom we pay on the basis of semester performances.

    Students are agitating and parents are frustrated. What is the way out of this strike being embarked upon by university teachers’ union? Should they always go on strike to press home their demands?

    Strike is a universal right of workers. Workers can go on strike and the law is explicitly clear.  I would refer to the Nigerian Trade Dispute Act as well as International Labour Organisation code. They allow strike actions even without notice. But we should ask ourselves, does it appeal to commons sense that a union should embark on a one-year strike or six-month strike. Well, the answer is known to all of us. We would say well, since the workers have the right to go on strike, they should try to moderate how to do it so that the lives of the young ones would not be put in jeopardy, and that is the way I see all those things.

    ASUU is also right in some respects and government is right in some respects.  Where government is right and where ASUU is right should be the meeting point for the two bodies. I will give you examples. I want to say it without any fear of contradiction from anywhere, the salary of a Nigerian professor is too poor, given the present level of inflation. A situation where a professor has been earning the same salary since 2009 is not acceptable.

    Another area in which the ASUU is correct is their complaint about the level of decay in the university system. If you go to some laboratories in the federal universities, you will cry, “Is this where they are teaching students?” Things are dilapidated. Some of the state universities, including UNIOSUN, are far better than several public universities. If you go to the laboratories in UNIOSUN, you would have the wrong impression that Nigerian universities are of high standards.  But if you go to some government universities, you will cry.

    One side the government is right but they are not completely right is Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). In universities, you have granted them autonomy. Having granted them autonomy, allow them to operate.

    While you have a tacit support for the strike by the varsities teachers’ union, I understand your teachers don’t go on strike. How true is this?

    It is true. Universities are funded on three models. I’m not talking about private universities. Public universities are funded on three models. The first model is 100 per cent funding of varsities. The second model is 100 per cent funding of salaries by the university themselves. The third model is shared funding by the university and the state. In universities where 100 per cent of the salary is generated, one of them is in Kwara State. So where a state university exists and all they get from the government is the capital funding and not the personnel, you cannot expect the university to use the funding of students to pay salaries when workers are on strike.

    The universities that are being run on the basis of self-sustenance, catering 100 per cent for their salaries or those that are on shared contributions payment will not feel comfortable to go on strike.

    Students are facing challenges as a result of  lack of accommodation. Are you not considering hostels for students even if it means going into partnership with the private sectors?

    When this university was established in 2006 and it took off in 2007, the brief that established the university stated clearly that this should be a non-residential university. Having said that, some three years ago, this university realised that the rate at which it was going, there was the need to change over and become a residential university. So this university on her own built 104 bed-space hostels across our six campuses and those hostels are named after the monarchs of those communities.

     Are you not acting outside the mandate?

    We are not acting outside the mandate. They are the rules written down, but they could be changed.  We changed the content of the brief. Look down there, you will see 1,500-bed hostels being constructed now by the BOT. The university is already building another 600 bed hostel for students who are coming in October/November. At our College of Health Sciences, we have secured some agreement to build a 500 capacity hostel for our medical students. At Ajegunle, we have a 240-bed hostel for our current medical students. And by the grace of god across our six campuses, we are going to multiply 104 to become 208 hostels in the next one year. We are changing the narratives of the university. We have become a residential university.

     What were your growing up days like?

    It was rough and devastating. I should have been a palm wine tapper now or a very big hunter.

     Why did you say so?

    Before I completed my primary education, when I was in Primary 4 in 1974, my father, who was the only educated person in our family, died. And the moment he died, there was nobody to encourage anybody to go to school. In 1978 when I completed primary school, my mother called me and said, ‘Look, we don’t have money, so how do we do this? I said the best for me was to learn tailoring, fashion designing from one of the local tailors in our village. I started learning tailoring and combined tailoring with hunting and farming. I was planting a whole lot of maize and cassava and I was hunting and killing all sorts of animals. I would go to the expressway and raise the animals up for sale. I was making money on a daily basis.

    But fortune smiled on me in June 1979 when the catechist of my church, St David’s Anglican Church, Akiriboto, Gbongan came to my mother late in the evening and said application for admission into secondary school form was out and that I should try it maybe the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) would win the election as they promised that there would be free education. My mother asked how much was the form and he said it was free, that I should take one.

    You know catechists at that time were very powerful in the Anglican schools. I filled the form and submitted it. Then sometime in August, 1979, the admission letter came and was signed by Mrs Tejumade Alakija, the then permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education in the old Oyo State. That was how I registered in school the second week and they said we should pay school fees. My mother said how are we going to get the money? I said let me go to my fashion designing and hunting. After all, I was getting money every time.

    The following morning, my mother woke up and said some days before you were born, I met a prophet who told me that the child inside my womb was a boy and that he would be a great man and that he would stand on top of people and he would command respect not only in Nigeria but all over the world. And my mother said her father gave her gold when she was getting married. My mother was one of the daughters of  the Ademiluwa Ajagun, the Ooni of Ife before Oba Aderemi. My mother said she could sell some of the gold to give me money to go to school. She sold the gold left for her by her father and that was how I paid my school fees, which was N10.50k. But as soon as I paid the school fees, Bola Ige won the election and declared free education. That was how I went through secondary school. Today, after worshiping God, I declared my loyalty to anything that has to do with the late Bolarinwa Ajibola Ige and late Chief Jeremiah Awolowo. They gave me the chance.

    I’ve read a lot of things about racism in Germany. How were you able to cope, especially working in their research centre?

    I never had any cause to be discriminated against. If anything, the German system had a lot of love for me as a person. Apart from that, the German government calls me to everything they do if it is within the Ministry of Education and one of the foundations. I never experienced it. Racism in Germany,  when they say it, I tell them it is not real, probably because of where I lived in Germany.

    I first studied Engineering in 1985. But one thing happened: the course I was admitted to in Ife was not in line with what I was studying in the polytechnic. I was studying Mechanical Engineering at the polytechnic but I was admitted to study Plant Science in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Ife.

    I went back to my mother when I got the admission letter. I said how would I change from Engineering to Plant Science, and my mother asked me, tell me the meaning. I told her that engineering it has to do with mechanics, electronics and other things while in plant science, I would just be studying plants. She said that is what you should do. She said that the prophet I told you about said this fetus in my womb is a boy. He would be a great person and he would be working with plants and leaves, and that is where he would derive his might in the world. I didn’t think again before I packed my luggage from Iree and I went to University of Ife, which was later changed to Obafemi Awolowo University before I graduated.

    In almost all the universities in Nigeria, you often hear about sexual harassment. How have you been able to manage this in your school, considering the average rate of these girls?

    These girls also harass lecturers. Male lecturers harass female students. Female students harass male lecturers and they equally harass male students. That is the truth of the matter. On this seat of Vice Chancellor, we see a lot of things. But I want to confirm to you with all sense of responsibility that females also harass males.

     Have you had any cause to punish a lecturer here because of that?

    There is what they call sexual harassment code in UNIOSUN. We apply it. We have applied it in several instances that we got to know.

  • ‘My journey from top banker in UK to waste manager in Nigeria’

    ‘My journey from top banker in UK to waste manager in Nigeria’

    Ibrahim Odumboni is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). The consummate banker who worked with leading banks abroad for nearly two decades became the number one bin man in Lagos when he was encouraged by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Babaide Sanwoolu to take up the job in 2020, in the heat of what is now known as the Lagos refuse crisis. He shares his experiences and achievenments with Assistant Editor ‘DARE ODUFOWOKAN.

    You have been managing waste in Lagos for about two years. What is the experience like?

    The last two years have been a wonderful experience for me. If you look at the dynamics of Lagos and you examine the challenges that waste management poses, then you will undertand what ive been doing here. In context, we have over 23 million people in Lagos, and we individually generate minimally about 0.67kg of waste daily, meaning we have about 13,000 metric tones of waste daily in Lagos. And it is the responsibility of my team and I to ensure tomorrow’s waste does not meet today’s waste on the streets, while also mitigating against the numerous risks posed by medical waste, construction waste, market waste, general waste, and so on.

    For me, it is a huge opportunity to provide employment. We have over 40,000 people supporting the waste management sector in Lagos here. We are all working hard to achieve a cleaner Lagos as envisioned by Governor Babajide Sanwoolu. It has been challenging, but with the resources at my disposal, the people I have to work with, the mentorship and support I get from the Commissioner of Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, and the listening ear of the governor, it has been a wonderful experience. Also, the team I have to work with is topnotch. I’ve learnt so much in two years.

    You came at the peak of the refuse crisis in Lagos State. First, what prepared you for that challenge, and how did you rid Lagos of the mountains of refuse back then?

    I was not a waste manager before now. I was a banker. I was taken aback when I had to come here. From banking to waste management? I wondered if it would be an easy switch, but I knew I had enough in me to pull through and, above all, I was ready to learn new things.

    I was mainly inspired and fired up for the job by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because I remember how he called me and I saw that he believed in me more than I believed in myself at that time. So, I was inspired that if he could believe in me that much, I should believe in myself and perform on the task.

    He reminded me that I had done senior management jobs in banks abroad, so this should be a walk in the park for me in his opinion. So he urged me to go do the job, manage the stakeholders well, manage the finances well and then enjoy the job. Those were the basic things he told me and that was what spurred me on till date.

    When I took over, Lagos was ranked 26th in Nigeria in terms of cleanness. At the end of my first year, we were ranked third. Now, ill be shocked if any state is first ahead of Lagos. So, coming from 26th to where we are now took a lot of work across board. For me, l will credit the governor for making it possible. Don’t forget it was an administration that dragged us to 26th before.

    I was Executive Director, Business Development, for LAWMA for nine months before I became the Managing Director. I was focusing on things like recycling. That was my key focus alongside succession planning in LAWMA and local content. It is all these that I am now implementing.

    In those nine months, I worked with people in all the 26 units of LAWMA. I drove the payloader and sat with the security guys at the gate. I went out with the refuse vehicle for days to understand how they work. I didn’t just sit in the office. Now, it is easy to use an helicopter view to manage all these people.

    Moreover, I was in top management in the banking sector in the United Kingdom for over 15 years before coming here. So, people management is one of my core areas. So, here, with over 40,000 people to manage, I’m just prepared for the task. My top management skill, decision making and sustainability are the things helping me.

    So, how did you clear the heaps of refuse all over Lagos when you came on board amidst the public outcry?

    Number one, I decentralised our operations immediately I came on board. That made it easy for decision making. I broke LAWMA into five districts and ensured that all our formations are in five places. That way, decision making and implementation became swift. People don’t have to wait for days for the centre to take decision and then implement.

    Then, we restructured our PSP system. We adjusted the ward allocations that was in practice then and introduced the 25 streets per truck model. And we have grown from 627 truck to over 1,200 trucks in Lagos. We have also grown the number of PSP from 320 to 475. A lot of capital have come into this business from the private sector plus what the government has given us to help with pubic waste on its own. The situation is much better now.

    We are doing more trips per day than we were doing before. We were doing 350 trips per day, now we do 800 trips per day to the dump sites. And now, our trucks are compacting more because we have new trucks that are made in Lagos and working at top capacity. They take three times what the PSP truck will take, unlike the Tokunbo (fairly used) trucks that came into Nigeria after 15 years of use abroad. Their compacting system is already tired.

    When we came, we had to clear the 13, 000 metric tones being generated daily and also clear the abandoned heaps that have been there for years. So, you can see the volume of work that has been done.

    You’ve spoken about some of the innovations you brought about. What is the importance of these and others you introduced?

    We also partnered with access bank for new PSP staff uniform; inherited liability of LAWMA was significantly reduced with the support of the governor through debt re-negotiation exercise, introduction of adaptable austerity measures, and improving the Internally generated revenue. We also introduced the LAWMA Academy. It is the first solid waste management Academy in Africa instituted to foster theoretical and practical understanding of waste management. We partnered with LASUBEB for incorporation of waste and environmental education into school curriculum across the state.

    Don’t forget the Blue Box Initiative and launch of Lagos Recycle aimed at up-scaling recycling activities in the state to enable provision of at least 6, 000 additional jobs with capacity building and support for over 80 recyclers. There is also the use of PAKAM Application to drive recycling, onboarding of waste aggregators, and provision of incentives (monthly reward scheme for 570 Lagosians). We conceived the Adopt-A-Bin programme for residents to have access to quality, durable and smart wheeler bins for waste containment. Over 40,000 bins have been sold to keep Lagos consistently clean and promote waste segregation from households

    We carried out sweeping sanitation reforms. We got insurance for all staff and improved enforcement, prosecuting over 150 waste management offenders so far. We improved on Stakeholders engagement through weekly advocacy and awareness programmes across the state. We constructed three brand new transfer loading stations and designed and assembled 102 made in Lagos brand new waste trucks at Oba Akran, Ikeja. We commenced the local fabrication of medical waste treatment incinerators, extensive rehabilitation of five landfills and decommissioning and closure of Abule Egba landfill.

    We have done a lot in the area of welfare like the furnishing of LAWMA offices (HQ & districts), introduction of female hostels in the districts, collaboration with LSACA on HIV awareness, LAWMA rebranding, empowerment of youths and women with over 40,000 Lagosians working with LAWMA daily. Training/Capacity building for staff at all levels, among many other things.

    You see less plastic around now because we have raised the cost of plastic from N25 per kilogramme to N150 per kilogramme. That is why people collect more plastics off the streets in exchange for money. The cost of collection was also very high. Now we have PAKAM application which is dealing with that very well. PAKAM was born in Lagos, but it is now active in Singapore, Texas and it is now recognized by the United Nations and UNIDO. It is now the only known app, worldwide used for the collection of recycle.

    We have also improved the staffing of the agency. We have employed more graduates.

    Sometime in 2021, we were able to engage about 56 new graduates, first class and 2.1, with the support of Mr. Governor, and that is changing LAWMA for the future.

    I cannot do it all. We need to build structures with young people. A lot of people want to work with LAWMA now because we are doing our work with a lot of swags. We are making parking refuse really enjoyable in Lagos.

    What is the relationship between LAWMA and the PSPs like today?

    It is no longer what it used to be. It has changed compleltey. This is due largely to my decision to engage them more in dialogues and meetings. We do stakeholders meeting regularly. At the end of this interview, I am going to Olusosun for one of such meetings where we discuss all issues bordering on our work and our relationship. Every month, we hold the meeting. All the questions will come, I will answer. All the celebrations will come, we will celebrate together. We raise and resolve all issues at such meetings and it has really helped both parties.

    Pre 2015, there were a lot of policy summersaults. This affected the relationship of LAWMA and the PSPs. There was also a lot of bad blood among the operators themselves. But with the regular forum and the listening abilities of both parties, a lot has changed between us.

    I am paying a lot of attention to attitudinal change for all the stakeholders in the sector. I want us to reach out to the residents to also change their attitudes towards us. Do you have a bin in your house? Do you patronise the PSP? Do you pay your bills? While we work hard to put the right structure in place here, the people too must be told to change their attitude. We will continue our advocacy to achieve this and I am hoping we will get there sooner than I expect.

    I am also hoping to turn recycling into a billion dollar business in Nigerria where a lot of stakeholders can tap from. At the moment, we have about 6,000 people employed in that sector. I know there is an opportunity to have about 12,000 people working there before the end of next year. I also look forward to seeing us use waste to stop our energy problem in Lagos.

    Can we generate 25 kilowatts of energy from our waste in Lagos?

    Yes, we can. With the right proponents in place, we can. We are studying the various proposals and approaches we have to be able to provide at least one power generating facility soon, and that will ease some of the power problems we have in the state. I just want us to ensure that our waste is not seen as just waste but as a resource.

  • I was paid N1,500 to supply human fingers, says teenager

    I was paid N1,500 to supply human fingers, says teenager

    Sixteen-year-old scavenger, Lawali Abubakar, has said that he was promised N5,000 and given a part payment of N1,500 to exhume a corpse from a cemetery in Chachanga, Niger State and supply its fingers.

    Lawali said he went to the cemetery with his friend named Salisu, who is currently at large, to exhume the corpse but luck ran out on them as they were caught by a policeman who was passing by the cemetery on a motorcycle.

    Unable to give an adequate explanation on why they were digging a grave in the cemetery at night, the policeman held the both of them but Salisu managed to escape.

    Lawali admitted that it was not the first time he would engage in such activities as he had previously delivered human parts to the receiver, who he identified as Oga Hamisu.

    Lawali said: “A man sent us to work for him. He said that while we were scavenging, we should should get four fingers from a corpse at the cemetery and he would pay us N5,000.

    “When we got to the cemetery, we got him what he demanded and he gave us the money.

    “He came again and told us that when we got to Tunga Goro, we should go to the cemetery and bring the eyes, private parts and clothes of a dead body.

    “He said that he would give me N1,500 and give Salisu N1,500 also. So we went to the cemetery at Tungan Goro, but a policeman came on a bike and asked us what we were doing there.

    “We told him that we were easing ourselves, but he was not convinced by our explanation. He asked whether we did not know that we were in a cemetery.

    “That was how he held us, but Salisu escaped.”

    Lawali also recalled that they had undertaken a similar mission in Bosso, another community in Niger State. But he said he did not know the residence of Hamisu who they were working for.

    Parading the suspect, the Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said that Lawali confessed to having embarked on the crime because of the N5,000 promised to him and his friend Salisu.

    Wasiu said: “The suspect was arrested at Chanchaga cemetery when he attempted to exhume a corpse from the grave.

    “During interrogation, he confessed to have conspired with one Salisu who is presently at large to get body parts and cloth of a corpse from the cemetery at the rate of N5,000”.

    Wasiu said the case was being investigated while efforts were on to apprehend the other suspects.

    He said the suspect would be prosecuted on conclusion of investigation.

  • Hoodlums attack customs patrol team, injure officer, snatch rifle

    Hoodlums attack customs patrol team, injure officer, snatch rifle

    Hoodlums suspected to be smugglers have attacked a customs patrol team injuring an officer and snatching a rifle reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    OPERATIVES of FOU Zone A, Ikeja, got more than they bargained for on May 12, 2022, when daredevil hoodlums ambushed their patrol team around Ile Epo area of Alimosho, a Lagos suburb.

    The minions were said to have intercepted from smugglers a Ford bus loaded with hundreds of bags of foreign rice around the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State on the said day and were moving the contraband to the operational warehouse of the customs unit in Ikeja when the smugglers mobilised hoodlums to attack the patrol team with cutlass and other dangerous weapons at Ile Epo Bus Stop around 11 pm.

    One of the customs men, Lateef Akinyemi, was attacked with machetes and sustained deep cuts on his head. The officer was said to have been rushed to a military hospital at Yaba for treatment.

    The hoodlums, who succeeded in taking away the Ford bus with the contraband also snatched an AK47 rifle from one of the customs men.

    The rifle, according to impeccable sources, was later recovered after a mobile police officer passing by in the early hours of the next day sighted the gun and reported to the Ile Epo Police Division.

    Men of the police division later visited the spot where the rifle was sighted and recovered it.

    A source said: “The customs patrol team was returning from the Ota area of Ogun State where they had intercepted a Ford bus containing several bags of foreign rice from suspected smugglers.

    “The team was moving the contraband to the federal customs unit at Ikeja and, unknown to operatives attached to the team, the smugglers were trailing them.

    “Around Ile Epo market area, the smugglers who had by then mobilised hoodlums started throwing stones at the customs patrol vehicle to halt its movement. In the process, the hoodlums swooped on the team with machetes and lacerated one of the customs operatives on his head with a machete, while other hoodlums forcibly took away the bus loaded with rice.

    “The hoodlums also took away a rifle belonging to one of the customs officers, which we later learnt was recovered somewhere in the neighbourhood.”

    An impeccable police source confirmed the story, saying: “The incident happened on May 12, 2022, at about 2200 hours. One Lateef Akinyemi, a customs man attached to Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja came to the charge room and reported that at about 11 pm on the same date, while on patrol with his team, they arrested an unregistered Ford bus loaded with smuggled bags of foreign rice. The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) handling the matter is Inspector Felicia Ayodeji.

    “The team was heading to Iyana Ipaja en route Ikeja operational headquarters, when some hoodlums waylaid the team at Ile Epo Bus Stop and attacked the officers in their patrol vehicle with machetes. In the process, Akinyemi sustained deep cuts on his head while the hoodlums succeeded in driving away the Ford bus with its content.

    He added: “The hoodlums were said to have also snatched from one of the customs operatives an AK 47 rifle with breech number 56-2548594 loaded with three rounds of live ammunition.

    “The stolen rifle was later recovered from a spot it was dumped several hours later after it was sighted by a mobile police officer passing by. The mobile police officer reported to the Ile Epo Division which eventually visited the spot and recovered the rifle.”

    “The badly injured customs operative was rushed to a military hospital in Yaba, where he was treated and is currently recuperating.

  • Adeleke: Dancing senator returns as moneybag

    Adeleke: Dancing senator returns as moneybag

    Conceit, peculiar to the individual, is the genre of private experience. But when co-opted with hard currency and wile, and wielded by a politician in his mathematics of social space, it becomes a weapon.

    A weapon to seduce large segments of the electorate. For this purpose, Ademola Adeleke is armed to the teeth. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is poised to buy the votes of the Osun electorate at the forthcoming July 16 gubernatorial elections, boasting that he was loaded with enough money to prosecute the election.

    Adeleke bragged that he was prepared for the contest unlike in 2018 when Governor Adegboyega Oyetola defeated him. In a 55-second video, he told his supporters, in the presence of some party leaders, that he has brought money for the 2022 Osun governorship poll.

    “My fellow Osun residents, you are the one to decide. It is not by force, not by gimmicks, if it is money, I have brought money and not only Naira but dollars, pounds and Euro. This time around, it is fire for fire for Osun governorship election,” said the aspirant, who was recently declared as the PDP candidate for Osun governorship election.

    In a nutshell, Adeleke is planning to buy the votes of residents of Osun state with hard currencies.

    Predictably, the utterance has provoked mixed reactions among the electorate and on social media.

    The campaign Director-General of Adegboyega Oyetola, Senator Ajibola Bashir, in a statement on Monday, chided Adeleke and PDP for planning to buy the votes of Osun electorate.

    He noted that the utterance of the PDP candidate is absurd, describing it as unthinkable and totally unacceptable. According to the statement: “The Campaign Council declared that Osun was not for sale to the highest bidder, the PDP candidate is proving to the Osun electorate that he had nothing to offer.”

    The campaign Director-General of Adegboyega Oyetola, Senator Ajibola Bashir, in a statement on Monday chided Senator Adeleke and PDP for planning to buy residents of Osun state with hard currencies.

    He noted that the utterance of factional candidate of PDP is absurd, describing it as unthinkable and totally unacceptable.

    According to the statement: “The Campaign Council declared that Osun was not for sale to the highest bidder, the PDP candidate is proving to the Osun electorate that he had nothing to offer.

    “Osun people are not gullible. We have left them in no doubt of the quality our party, the APC and our Administration are made of, including the capacity of our candidate to deliver in the past three and half years. We have proved through our inclusive governance strategy that our people are our strength and that we do not take them for granted and we will never take them for granted.

    “This explains why in spite of the way the 2018 election went, our administration began infrastructure intervention from Ede, the hometown of the PDP candidate.

    “Osun people are enlightened, they know that the State and its citizens are not up for sale to the highest bidder. Therefore, the PDP candidate should keep his money. Or better still, he could deploy those resources to establish industries to provide jobs for the people.

    “This way, he will also be supporting the present Administration’s noticeable efforts in the last three and half years to industrialise the state and change its narrative as a Civil Service State, to one bubbling with economic activities.

    “It is on record that the Oyetola-led administration has since inception taken concrete steps to open up the State for investments, and has been able to attract a number of investments into Osun, contributing to the economic growth of the State.

    “We assure the PDP candidate that, as the Administration did to other players in the private sector, we will provide a level playing ground for his business to thrive and ensure Osun and its people derive maximum benefit from the investment.

    “As a responsible party, we urge Senator Adeleke and his party to embrace peaceful conduct and decorum in their political engagements and electioneering. We must avoid any comment or action that can jeopardise the peace and stability of our State.”

    Adeleke’s boast is actually a symptom of a deeper malaise. The governorship aspirant’s outburst assumes a worrisome dimension at the backdrop of his penchant for throwing caution to the winds and dancing in careless abandon at every public function.

    His recent boast depicts an exercise of brawn, not of the psyche. At best, it commands the passing tribute of a sigh. `But what’s Osun to do? What should Nigeria do? The aspirant’s party, friends, associates and aides are apparently in favour of the curious bent of his political strategy.

    But while they commend and stroke his whim, can each man and woman on Adeleke’s team and political platform, suppress the mind’s wars with his horrifying outburst.

    Were he discerning enough, Adeleke would understand that Osun needs something more than politics of the weaponised token.

    Let us also hope, that, his target audience was aware that his boast at the rally reveals resounding rhetoric about his promise as a governorship candidate and capacity to lead Osun State.

    The only conversation that the Osun electorate should be having right now, should be about the qualities, antecedents and capacity of the ideal candidate for the state’s much-coveted governorship office.

    Adeleke’s platitudinous chant seeks to divert attention from the crucial issues that require relentless exercise of the mind.

  • Herbalist impregnates female customer, fights dirty with husband over baby’s paternity

    Herbalist impregnates female customer, fights dirty with husband over baby’s paternity

    A messy paternity row has broken out between a man and a herbalist who confessed to having impregnated the man’s wife said to be his customer in Owode-Obafemi Local Government Area of Ogun State, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    • I impregnated her because she insisted I must sleep with her, says herbalist

    • Woman: I lured him to bed to test my fertility

    In an incident reminiscent of a scene in Nollywood movies, a messy paternity row has broken out between a herbalist and a man whose wife was impregnated by the former.

    The incident occurred at Malaka village in Owode-Obafemi Local Government Area of Ogun State. The distraught husband, Sikiru Olaleye does not now only have to grapple with the fact that his wife and the herbalist cheated on him, he is also at war with  the herbalist, Lamidi Ifaloba, over the  paternity of the  baby boy.

    Olaleye, a 42-year-old native of Igbehin, also in Owode-Obafemi Local Government Area, said he was shocked to learn that the baby he thought was his was actually fathered by the herbalist who lives in the neighbourhood.

    He said: “I had never seen anything like this before except in a movie. It happened that my wife Shadiat and I had a disagreement and she left for her hometown in Iwo, Osun State, with our son.

    “I visited her hometown and tried in vain to persuade her parents to reconcile us. I even gave Shadiat’s parents N12,000 for her transportation back to my house, but she refused.

    “So, I gave up on the possibility of her returning to my home and took solace in the belief that when the time is ripe, my son would come back to me since I had tried my possible best to make her return home.

    “It was a shock when some people in our neighbourhood started mocking me that my son belongs to a herbalist in the nearby village called Malaka.

    “His name is Lamidi Ifaloba, a herbalist whom my wife patronised and he actually made some fertility concoctions for my wife when she could not get pregnant for about six years.

    “Ignorant of what was going on, I even took the baby to him for spiritual guidance on his (baby’s) future; a custom known in Yoruba culture as akosejaye, three days after my wife was delivered of the baby.

    “Ifaloba would later reveal to one of my brothers in the community, Ismaila Jinadu popularly called Erosion, that he is the father of Korede, my three-year-old son.

    “I was shocked and devastated and I could not pull myself together for a long time, especially when I learnt that a lot of people in the community already knew about the matter.

    “I learnt that Ifaloba claimed to have named the boy Junior and even boasted that the matter would unsettle the community.”

    Asked whether there was a between him and his wife on the day she left home, Olaleye said: “We did not have any quarrel on the day she left my house. I only returned from work and found that she had left with all her belongings.

    “Even our neighbours did not know when she moved all her belongings out of our apartment.”

    Olaleye said his wife could not have accused him of being impotent or use that as an excuse to engage in extra-marital affairs with Ifaloba which resulted in the controversial pregnancy and child.

    He said: I have had three children from my previous marriage to another woman and my first child currently attends Abeokuta Grammar School.

    “I am no longer interested in taking back my wife, but I want to have custody of my son, hence I am crying out to the public to dissuade Ifaloba from taking what truly belongs to me after his escapades with my wife. He cannot take my wife and also take my son.”

    Responding, Ifaloba explained that he was lured to bed by Olaleye’s wife on a day her husband chased her out of their apartment during a quarrel and she rushed to his house around 1 am.

    He said: “Actually, his wife ran to my house in the night and accused her husband of beating her over a disagreement.

    “The weather was actually cold that night and I asked her to stay till next morning while I was busy fixing some things. But she told me that she suspected her husband’s sperm was not fertile enough to get her pregnant.

    “As I tried to step out of the room, she pulled me to herself and asked me to make love to her, saying that she wanted to test her fertility.

    “I was shocked and didn’t want to raise the alarm because I didn’t want the neighbours to know about what was going on between us, since I had once been falsely accused by some residents of doing something similar.  So I made love to her that night.

    “She later came back and said the sexual intercourse we had resulted in pregnancy. I told her that I would take custody of the child from the pregnancy.

    “I didn’t see her for some time and I started falling on bad times.  When I consulted Ifa oracle, it was revealed to me that the cause of my problem was the love child that was not in my custody.

    “The oracle said I must take custody of my son for my life to witness a rebound. So, I visited her parents in Iwo, Osun State, and told them all that transpired between me and their daughter.

    “Shadiat actually took me to her parents and they told me to calm down. They said that they were aware that I was the one that impregnated their daughter who had battled childlessness for almost eight years.

    “They assured me that I would have custody of my son before long. I am the real father of the boy.”

    In her response, Shadiat Akeem, a hairdresser, admitted that she deliberately forced Ifaloba to sleep with her on a night her husband chased her out of the house with a machete in order to prove that she had no fertility problem.

    She said: “I didn’t give Olaleye’s son to another man. I was married to him for eight years and he subjected me to constant beating throughout the eight years of our marriage.

    “We were regular guests at the nearby Owode Police Division where I reported him.

    “One night about three years ago, I ran to Ifaloba’s home for refuge after my husband had beaten me mercilessly and chased me out of the house.

    “While I was in Ifaloba’s home that night, I decided to test myself to determine whether I was the one with fertility problem or my husband, because I was childless for years.

    “I forced Ifaloba to make love to me that night and I became pregnant afterward. I confided in one of my sisters, who is now deceased.

    “Ifaloba initially asked me to move over to his house but I urged him to allow me to remain in my husband’s house until I would be ready to grant his request.

    “My husband also made love to me twice and he became suspicious that he might not be responsible for my pregnancy, and that started generating issues between us.

    “His sperm was watery, so I don’t think that the children he claimed to have with another woman before I met him even belong to him.”

    Shadiat, 30, explained further that she decided to remain in her husband’s house until she decided to leave with the baby and gave him to his real father.

    She said: “My husband, Olaleye, paid the hospital bill for my child’s delivery and threw a party to celebrate the baby’s naming and named the boy Kabir Korede.

    “At a point, he questioned the paternity of the child, saying that he was suffering a reversal of fortune in his business because the child was a bastard.

    “In 2021, he brought out a cutlass one night and wanted to hack me. Hence, I ran off to my parents in our hometown in Osun State that night.

    “Ifaloba is the biological father of my son, not Sikiru (Olaleye).”

    Recalling how the matter blew open, Ismaila Jinadu a.k.a. Erosion, whom Ifaloba had told that he was the real father of the controversial boy, said: “Six days before the recent Eid-Maolud festival, Ifaloba came to me and confessed that he was actually the father of Sikiru’s child.

    “Three days later, I called him again and Ifaloba reiterated that he had visited Sikiru’s wife’s parents in Iwo, where he also bought a parcel of land.

    “I subsequently told Sikiru and he was initially angry that I did not inform him early about it. He however confirmed from residents too that Ifaloba claimed he was the real father of Korede.

    “Sikiru is my cousin and I cannot pray that bad things should happen to him, and that is the reason I told him about Ifaloba’s claim on the paternity of his son.

    “I was the one who advised him to cry out to the public through the media so that he would not completely lose out since his wife has been taken by the herbalist.”

  • Why I contemplated suicide, by widow whose husband was killed by herdsmen

    Why I contemplated suicide, by widow whose husband was killed by herdsmen

    The last five years have been traumatic for 51-year-old widow, Abayo Hemku. Barely three years after her husband was killed in an attack by herdsmen, their 27-year-old only son, Matthew, a graduate of Accounting, died from a brief illness. Six months later, Matthew’s widow and her baby died during child birth, leaving Madam Hemku as the clan’s only survivor, Linus Oota reports

     

    Flanked by two women on whose shoulders she leaned, Mama Abayo Hemku (51) trudged to the family’s living room from the bedroom. She sank into a cushion with the bible clutched to her chest.

    Present in the house were friends and relatives. A delegation from Keana Local Government Council, Nasarawa State, led by the Chairman Hon Giza, had visited the bereaved widow to commiserate with her on the death of the pregnant wife of her deceased only son, Mercy Hemku, who died during labour alongside her only baby.

    Mama Abayo, who became a widow after losing her husband to herdsmen attack about five years ago, had only a son, Mathew Hemku, a 27-year-old graduate of Accounting from Nasarawa State University, who also died from a brief illness shortly after he wrote his final examination in October last year.

    The late Mathew had married Mercy (25) in April last year only to die about six months later with Mercy already pregnant with their first baby. Unfortunately, she died during labour at the Dalhatu Arf Specialist Hospital (DASH) Lafia after she was delivered of a still born baby boy.

    Looking frail and fatigued, Mama Abayo betrayed emotions as she spoke with our correspondent on the incident after the local government chief executive who visited her had left. The distraught widow explained that Mercy’s death had left her devastated.

    She said: “My only son died in October last year after losing my husband to herdsmen attack. Now my only sources of consolation, Mercy and her unborn baby are gone.

    “Mercy was the apple of my eyes, particularly because she was carrying my late son’s baby in her womb.

    “I am a farmer as well as a petty trader and devout Catholic. I lost my husband, and my only son also died last year. Now his wife was delivered a baby boy and both of them are gone. I feel like hanging myself to death to join them in the grave. Life, for me, is worthless.

    “I nearly ran mad when the news of their death was broken to me at the hospital. It was the nurses who held me and tried to console me.

    “Mercy was a very friendly young girl who lost her newly married husband and my only son just seven months after their marriage.

    “She was already pregnant and vowed to stay with me forever due to the love she had for her late husband

    “She would hug me each time I returned from the farm or market. She was a good young girl and was very precious to me.”

    The widow had lost her only son, Mathew, in October 2021 at the prime age of 27. He died a day after his final degree examination, leaving behind his pregnant wife. They had got married in April 2021 and the pregnancy was their first.

    Matthew had married early because his mother encouraged it as he was her only son and the father had died. His early marriage with Mercy was therefore impelled by the urge to sustain the clan’s survival.

    She said: “We continued the battle with life in his absence to make sure that the wife delivered successfully.

    “Mercy had no intention of getting married to another man soon, more so because she was carrying a pregnancy for her late husband.

    “She had made up her mind to stay and nurture the unborn baby.

    “She started the day on April 26 without any fear that danger of any sort awaited her, though she was heavily pregnant.

    “She suddenly went into labour and we took her to the hospital. The doctors tried their best but they could not save her life.

    “She went into intense labour and was delivered of a baby boy. Unfortunately, the baby came out dead and few minutes after, Mercy also gave up the ghost.”

    She described Matthew as a decent young man who died in his prime, leaving behind a pregnant wife who has now gone to join him in the grave.

    She said that she had nursed a plan to name the unborn baby after his father if it was a male child. But when the baby finally came on the 26th of April, it was actually a male but a lifeless one.

    “So we lost the baby too. And as for the mother, she fell into a deep sleep and will wake no more until judgment day. The doctors tried their human best but could not save her life.

    “The young girl suffered a great deal. She could not survive the excruciating pains of losing a husband and a son hence she succumbed to death shortly after delivery.”

     

    The Nation gathered that before her departure, the late Mercy had prayed that she would be delivered of a baby boy so she could name him after her late husband. Unfortunately, the baby boy was delivered dead and she too followed.

    A relation of Mama Abayo, who introduced himself simply as John, said he had been the one staying with Mama Abayo and the late Mercy since she lost her husband about five years ago.

    Looking pensive, John moaned bitterly as he shared memories of the late Mercy and her late husband.

    He said: “Mathew died a day after his final examination in the university.

    “As soon as he stepped out of the examination hall, he called his mother on the phone and said, ‘Mummy, I have made it. I’m a full time graduate of Accounting.  Your efforts in sending me to school after Dad’s death will soon bear fruits.’

    “When he got home the next day, his pregnant wife was so happy and it was a massive celebration in the village.

    “He had good plans for his wife and the unborn child, so we all ate and drank together till late night and he went into bed with his wife.

    “Then at about 2 am, he started complaining of headache, and before day break, he gave up the ghost.

    “That was how Mathew left this sinful world and then his wife and boy also left to join him.”

    In an emotion laden voice John said: “God is not fair to the entire family. He has inflicted a permanent wound in Mama Abayo’s life.

    “There is absolutely no point taking the two of them away in their prime within seven months. What was their offence?

    “The worst is that their new born baby also joined them in the grave.

    “The late Mathew had good plans for his late wife and the unborn baby, but God took him away in an unexpected manner. We were yet to get out of it when his wife and the much expected baby left to join him.

    “When the late Mathew left in October last year, we had no inkling that such a thing would happen to us again. We are badly hit by this whole loss. Their untimely exit from this sinful world left us in distraught.

    “God had given the late Mathew an amazing wife who was doing more than she should be doing. We all looked forward to her dreams.

    “She was determined to stay with us and achieve her dream of raising her son when she delivered and she was looking forward to it.

    “She had promised to make us proud and wipe away our tears.

    “She promised to make us not to remember Mathew, but God denied her that opportunity.

    “May her soul find peace.”

     

     

  • From grace to grass… AGF Idris’ alleged N80bn fraud

    From grace to grass… AGF Idris’ alleged N80bn fraud

    Just like the proverbial hunter becoming the bushmeat, the country’s Accountant-General, Ahmed Idris, was arrested during the week over alleged money laundering and diversion of public funds.

    Some of the many duties of the Accountant-General is to detect and deter corruption through a timely audit, and to also carry out external audit functions and scrutiny of public funds, but unfortunately, Idris allegedly failed to uphold these duties.

    On different occasions, he got summoned by the House of Representatives for carrying out some activities ‘without due process.’

    He got caught by the long arm of the law during the week; Idris was intercepted in Kano and was subsequently flown to Abuja.

    The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in a statement explained that Idris allegedly diverted and laundered N80billion – about N78 billion more than convicted former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina diverted from the pension fund.

    Uwujaren disclosed that Idris laundered the money through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja. At least 17 properties were traced to Idris. Uwujaren explained that Idris was arrested after he failed to honour invitations by the EFCC to respond to issues connected to the fraudulent acts.

    All of the preliminary investigations showed that the country’s chief accountant allegedly used proxies to buy some of these properties.

    With all of these controversial allegations, Idris has since been suspended by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

    In a letter dated May 18, 2022, the minister said the suspension “without pay” was to allow for “proper and unhindered investigation” in line with public service rules.

    “Following your recent arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on allegations of diversion of funds and money laundering, I write to convey your suspension from work without pay effective 18th May 2022,” the letter read in part.

    The suspension, Finance Minister said, is in line with Public Service Rules to give room for proper and unhindered investigation.

    The letter, titled, ‘Letter of Suspension’, also bars Idris from visiting his office or contacting any official in his office during his suspension except for disciplinary proceedings that might be initiated against him.

    Prior to his appointment as Accountant-General, Idris had served as Director of Finance and Accounts at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters, Abuja. His rich profile shows he is a chartered accountant with over two decades of working experience.

    He joined the public service as Assistant Director Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in charge of Financial Analysis in 2000. He was at the National Poverty Eradication Programme(NAPEP), Ministry of Police Affairs and Ministry of Interior as Assistant Director Finance. He was Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Interior and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) before his promotion as Director Accounts in OAGF in 2011.

    Idris, born on November 25, 1960, is a 1984 BSc Accounting graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Idris obtained Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Bayero University Kano and Master of International Affairs and Diplomacy (MIAD) from ABU Zaria.

    He was specifically first appointed on June 25, 2015, as the country’s Accountant-General. He was re-appointed on June 25, 2019.

    Idris is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria and Fellow, the Association of Financial Analysts of Nigeria, he is Member of other professional bodies including the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Certified Institute of Cost Management of Nigeria, and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

    Despite all of these enviable antecedents, it is quite ironic that Idris fell for the temptations attached to his office, and now he is left with a stained record.

  • How late Alaafin saved us from herders – Oyo high chief and former Ambassador, Moses Ogunmola

    How late Alaafin saved us from herders – Oyo high chief and former Ambassador, Moses Ogunmola

    Ninety-four-year-old Chief Moses Oyedele Ogunmola is one of the two surviving members of the recently deceased Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi’s inner caucus. Like the late Alaafin, he is reputed for his good memory and deep sense of Yoruba history. Conferred with the enviable title of Asiwaju of Oyo by a former Alaafin, Oba Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II, he was later named the Otun of Oyo by the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi. An alumnus of Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom where he obtained a B.A. combined honours in English and History, Ogunmola was among the first set of chiefs appointed by the late Oba Adeyemi when he assumed the throne about 54 years ago. In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI, the former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi with concurrent accreditation between 1981 and 1984 speaks about his fond memories of the late Oba Adeyemi, why a former minister of education encouraged the government to take over schools from private individuals, his thoughts on the Nigerian economy and why he would have preferred to be a lecturer to being a politician, among other issues.

    HOW would you describe your antecedents?

    I was born on April 1, 1928. I thank God. I had my education in Sierra Leone and at the Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom. I was a Nigerian High Commissioner in Zambia and Malawi. I served as high commissioner with concurrent accreditation.

    You said you have always lived in Oyo. Is that why you were made the Otun of Oyo?

    Yes, it was a factor in making me the Otun of Oyo, because Oba Bello Gbadegesin, who reigned between 1956 and 1968, initially made me the Asiwaju of Oyo but I had not been actually inaugurated before he died. But Alaafin Adeyemi III whose demise was on the 22nd of April 2022, made me the Otun of Oyo. He himself was installed as the Alaafin in 1971, January 14. He spent about 53 years on the throne.

    It might not be the only reason funnily. I want to tell you that I was the proprietor and founder of Ladigbolu Grammar School. I founded the school on Wednesday 28th January, 1965. I ran it for 11 years before the government took it over in 1977. I had 11 graduates. Principally, all the buildings up till today were all erected when the school was under private proprietorship.

    Secondly, I would tell you that I was the second or third graduate in Oyo. Awe had produced graduates, Fiditi had produced many graduates, Ilora had produced many graduates. The first graduate in Oyo was in 1944, who was Godwin Gesinde. He attended Fourah Bay College, University of Durham College, Free Town, and when he arrived, he rode a horse to St Michael Church where he was celebrated as first graduate in Oyo.

    Until I arrived from Manchester in 1960, only somebody from Apaara, Mr. Joseph Okunlola, a Catholic, attended Birmingham University. He got B.Sc in 1960, arrived in the town the same year as myself. I would say two of us were the second Oyo graduates. That might explain a reason, because we were popular, we were celebrated like Godwin Geshinde. Immediately I was made the chairman of 1961 and Vice Principal of Oranmiyan Grammar School that was founded in 1960. I joined the school in 1960 as I arrived.

    Also, when there was a vacancy in Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) in Ibadan, that was the developing board, I was appointed in May 1962. You would see the rush of appointments.

    Talking about Alaafin, you must have been very close to him. Tell me your fond memories of him?

    I knew that would be the question you would want to ask. Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, his royal majesty, was a great man. He was the incarnation of Atiba 1838-1858. He was an icon of history, an icon of tradition, an icon of Yoruba sartorial exhibition and authority. He represented the height, the glory of Oyo traditional institutions. He loved us, we accepted him as our Oba.

    He did so many things that we can never forget.

    If you look at the way he appointed about 15 of us as chiefs in 1975, as a bridge builder, he did not think about how his father was removed from the throne in 1954. He was suspended in 1954 and eventually dethroned in 1956. The late Oba Adeyemi III did not dwell on the rancorous dispensation of the trouble of his father; he forgot about it, drew everybody together, Christians, Muslims and traditionalists, and started building up a formidable personality for harmony, for unity and for development.

    In Oyo, we are latitudinarian; that is you don’t play your Christianity or your Islam or your traditional religion in the extreme. We relate together as brothers and sisters. His contributions allowed for such a dispensation. For some 53 years, we did not hear of any rancor or riot or sort of discontent that could make you say that there was trouble in Oyo.

    You said the school you founded was taken away from you by the government. What was responsible for that?

    It was a general thing, recommended by a professor of Education. I want to tell you, I’m a Christian. The Nigerian government didn’t know his antics. He was an Oyo man to the core. His idea was that the Muslims were not privileged in the educational field and that if he could give them the bait of saying that the government would pay their schools and take over all other schools then they would accept it. But it was an arrest for other private schools and Christian schools. But it came from the professor of education; he was gunning as a Muslim to arrest and delay the faster movement of the Christian education. We saw it and we argued about it, but they took over the schools.

    In Ladigbolu Grammar School, up till today, no other building has been added and the quality of teachers, because as a private school, I was gunning for my name and for the future I saw in Manchester. So, the taking over of schools was an arrest of education that was ill advised, poorly executed and a bad omen for education in Nigeria. It was the beginning of the mess we have in education in Nigeria.

    It is not only in education we have a mess. Our economy is in a shambles. As an economist, is there any hope for our economy?

    I’m not a prophet. But if we work hard, we have great thinkers who could execute and walk their talk. We could overcome these difficulties. After all, we have land. We still have cocoa seedlings. These could still be developed. The oil which was discovered after independence was misused badly. God could still give us another chance. We can go back to the land. For example, people from Malaysia were said to have gotten palm seedlings from Nigeria but now we are importing palm oil from Malaysia. It is a woeful story. We could plant rice, we could plant wheat but we have to go back to land.

    You were in the National Party of Nigeria…

    Shehu Shagari was the one that appointed me as Nigeria High Commissioner to the Republic of Zambia and Malawi in 1984.

    How did your people take your membership of the NPN considering the fact that the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was the popular party in the Southwest then?

    It is not a story that is uniform. In Oyo, we have people in Isale-Oyo, predominantly UPN and part of Oyo West but predominantly Ikoyi and Oyo East, which were NPN. When I contested to enter into the Federal House in 1981, I was defeated by a UPN man, but Olusola Afolabi who contested in Ikoyi and Oyo East was elected into the Federal House. He was a deputy speaker in Lagos in the Federal House, and he was the one who recommended me to Shehu Shagari and I was made an ambassador. It was not a uniform thing. In Ibadan, we had both UPN and NPN; same thing in Lagos until we had Bola Tinubu that made it uniform.

    Except I’m making a mistake, there are still some misgivings between the Alaafin and Isale-Oyo. Alaafin probably married from Isale-Oyo to stop the animosity…

    Alaafin’s mother was from Isale-Oyo. Ibironke, Alaafin’s mother, came from Ikolaba’s house in Isale-Oyo.

    But some of them still have this misgiving against him…

    Politics is not a question of blood all the time. Up till today, the people in Isale-Oyo are pro-UPN. In the West here is mid-way. Oyo East is principally the other party. It is in Isale-Oyo that you can have quite a clear majority UPN.

    As an educationist, what is the best way to improve education in Nigeria?

    The first thing according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in education, you need 15-20 per cent of your budget. Some states are not spending up to 7 per cent of their budget on education. Ab initio, once you cannot spend on education, you have destroyed education. The money on education must not go into the pockets of people who will say in the name of feeding school children they put the money in their pockets. That should be safely guided that the money should go for books, for quality teacher training and appointment. The building should be alright, you cannot study under the three like the olden days. Those days are gone. You need a decent place. This is why you need 15-20 per cent of your budget. If you do quality training for teachers, if teachers are appointed, so that a class at most 35 and in most cases 30, and I think the class should be reduced to 25 as in Government College in those days where the classes were limited to 25, that would improve education.

    Let’s go back to Alaafin. What is that thing you are not likely to forget in a hurry about him? How long will it take to have a monarch like the late Oba Adeyemi III?

    I would not know how long it will take to have another Alaafin like him. But this Alaafin wormed himself to the heart of everybody in Oyo town. The Oyomesi, the Baales, the chiefs and the ordinary people.

    We appreciated him because he himself would see that you were assisted if there was any problem. You would notice that we don’t have problems with herders. It was because of God’s authority and his. He did not allow our farmers to be downtrodden by any herders. He would not allow it. He had his own traditional machinery that would check the herders who would want to override the farmers and destroy their farms.

    What would you be telling the government about the schools that were taken over? Would you be advocating for the return of those schools?

    That opportunity of the schools taken over is already lost. In those days we had our strategy according to the regime of the parents, the populace, the economy, the pupils and the parents. But today, the equation has changed. Look at the rate of inflation. A bag of cement today is about N4,200. When I was building Ladigbolu Grammar School, a bag of cement was 60 kobo. The equation has changed, it is an opportunity lost. What the government should have done to rescind the decision was to allow private schools some 20 years ago, and that has gone.

    They should not over tax these private schools, because they are not enemies; they are helpers in the development of the nation. Private school owners are not shylocks; they are helpers in building the nation. I’m not saying they should not be taxed, I’m saying they should give them appropriate tax, not prohibitive and punitive tax to destroy the schools.

    At 94…

    (Cuts in) Ninety-four, one month and 16 days. I was born April 1, 1928.

    You still remember dates and events very vividly. What is the secret?

    It is the grace of God. One, partly what I inherited from my father and mother. They didn’t attend school. They were knowledgeable individuals and people with common sense in the community. My father was a bricklayer, my mother was a trader.

    If you had something to change about yourself, what would it be?

    Possibly, I would not have wasted my time on politics. I would have proceeded for my PhD in History or English. That was what I would have done instead of merry go rounding about politics. I would have probably gone for academics.

    Does that mean you are regretting not being a university teacher?

    It is not regret; it is a wish.

  • Visually impaired Nigerians relive battles with stigma at Delta programme

    Visually impaired Nigerians relive battles with stigma at Delta programme

    Bespectacled Nkem Ofili walked gingerly into the crowded main hall of Labour House in Asaba, the capital of Delta State last week escorted by a female volunteer in blue jeans. Led into a blue plastic chair in the middle of the hall, he sat in rapt attention as he listened to the visually impaired comedian, who doubled as the compere, thrilling the audience with jokes.

    Ofili oozed confidence and self belief as he sat, calmly soaking up the convivial atmosphere. Across the hall, many other well dressed youths chatted animatedly in clusters while others engaged in quiet conversation with neighbours as they savoured a rare opportunity to socialise.

    Although the occasion was an awareness campaign meant to sensitise the public about the challenges faced by the visually impaired, many other persons living with various forms of deformity (PLWD) were present at the event. Hence the occasion designed to mark the annual national conference of the Delta State chapter of the Nigeria Association of the Blind turned into a carnival of some sort.

    The event themed “Competence the Way Forward and Not Disability” attracted several government functionaries including the Executive Secretary of the Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Mr Sunday Orishedere; the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Dr Mohammed Ali and a host of other dignitaries.

    The group’s coordinator, Joshua Odjovworor, in an address, praised the Delta State Government for supporting PLWDs in the state through its scholarship scheme, adding that enrollment of PLWDs into various skill acquisition schemes by the state government was unprecedented.

    He berated the society for discriminating against PLWDs, noting that the various skills showcased by the visually impaired persons at the conference would help dispel such notion.

    The Commissioner of Police, Dr Mohammed Ali, expressed sadness that many physically challenged individuals in the society have to beg for alms even as he urged public spirited individuals to assist government in creating empowerment schemes for them.

    He also admonished PLWDs against indulging in criminal activities, stressing that the law will take its cause regardless of whether a person is physically challenged or not.

    He assured that the police was committed to protecting their rights and would continue to support their cause.

    Addressing the gathering, an expert, Dr Isioma Edozien, listed the effects of visual impairment to include stigmatization, loss of independence and low productivity. She noted that if a child was born blind, there could be delayed social, emotional and cognitive skills which could lead to low level educational achievements on the part of the child.

    Edozien debunked the notion that visually impaired persons are incompetent, stressing the need for societal support to enable visually impaired persons attain high level of confidence the society would embrace. She said although visual impairment is an obvious disability just like other physical conditions it attracts not only pity but also resentment.

    She said a lot of people evince sentiments of pity or resentment because they are not only misinformed but were beclouded by the myths and lies handed down over the years. She lamented that the Nigerian environment was not friendly to the visual impaired in the society.

    Edozien commended the Delta State Government for setting up five specialised schools with teachers that can handle children with hearing, visual, and other forms of deformity across the state. She stressed the imperatives of investing in modern teaching equipment, as modern teaching aids help in teaching concepts to special needs children.

    She recommended inclusion is an effective strategy in special needs education, stressing that inclusion rather than exclusion was the right model.

    In spite the obvious physical discomfort suffered by the visually impaired, however, Nkem Ofili believes that the greater danger to the well being of PLWDs is stigmatization and rejection.

    Ofili, an Information Officer in the Delta State public service, recalls that he was initially rejected by his mother-in-law when he proposed marriage to his wife, adding that he has many friends who were unable to get wives in spite of their great financial conditions because they are visually impaired.

    He said: “Yes, it is normal in our clime. When you make advances, the society tends to reject you due to discrimination. But we thank God for financial stability.

    “One was able to surmount the challenge, but I am aware that some of my friends have faced greater challenges on this issue.

    “My own case was divinely inspired. When my present wife got to know me, she did not believe that I was blind.

    “At first she was fascinated, and then it grew to another level.

    “When she came to my office, she did not know that I was blind. I led her to an office for more privacy. She had a deep belief in me.

    “When people like my mother-in-law and my wife’s siblings tried to dissuade her from the relationship, my saving grace was my father-in-law who spoke out for me.

    He said his biggest challenge is trying to explain his affliction to his curious four-year-old daughter who often complains that God has failed to answer her prayers to restore his sight despite her constant supplications.

    For Pastor Stanley Omenagbo, a mathematician who runs ex-mural classes in Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area, lack of awareness among opthalmologists was a far greater challenge than winning the love of his wife.

    He recalled that after he was diagnosed with complicated cataract of the eye and dislocated lenses, he realised that doctors were ill equipped to handle rehabilitative therapy.

    He said attending the awareness programme has helped him as he hoped to get more information on his condition.

    Joshua Odjovworo, coordinator of the youth wing of the Nigerian Association of the Blind, Delta State chapter, recalled that he was kept indoors after he went blind because of stigmatization but succeeded by a dint of hard work.

    His words: “It was not easy at the beginning. I was 19 years and was locked indoors because of stigmatization.

    “The stigmatization often starts within the family circle. But God helped me out. I vowed that if I could fight my way out, then I might as well help others.”

    He said he was motivated to lead the advocacy for the visually impaired because of discrimination.

    He said: “Many in the society look down on persons with visual impairment, so I deem it fit that I should work to improve their lives by ensuring they get educated or learn skills so they can contribute to the development of the nation.

    “We want to earn the respect we deserve. Many parents hide their visually impaired children at home, preventing them from interacting with their peers.

    “This advocacy gives the parents hope as the children, through education, become self sufficient.”

    Odjovworo who studies Political Science at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, said the current ASUU strike was a burden for students with disabilities, stressing that funds meant for their upkeep have been exhausted while there is no end in sight for the impasse between federal government and ASUU.

    His words: “It is hitting us badly. If you have a sponsor and you are given money for an academic session, with the prolonged strike, all my money is exhausted. How do I go back to my sponsor to get fresh funds? I am pleading that ASUU and Federal Government find a middle ground on this issue.”

    Azubuike Obah, a 400 level student of the Department of History and Foreign Relations, University of Benin, and captain of the Nigeria Blind Football Team nicknamed “Power Eagles”, said he feels unhappy when people judge him solely by his disability.

    Although Obah’s lectures usually are on the second and third floors in the Faculty of Arts, he says he faces little challenge climbing up and down the flight of stairs, but called for accessible public buildings.

    He said he had no faith in the Disability Law 2019 passed by President Muhammadu Buhari , stressing that even though the law has been passed there is no assurance that its contents will be adhered to or offenders punished.

    “I am expecting feedback from the DPO. I did not forget,” he said.ax