A 34-year-old dismissed soldier, Anthony Emmanuel has been arrested after several robberies of residents of Esa-Oke community in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State.
The Nation learned that Emmanuel perpetrated the crime alongside three others who were also dismissed soldiers.
Parading the suspects at the Osun State Police Command, the Police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola disclosed that Emmanuel alongside others took their victims into a bush and forced them to transfer N3 million to their account before they were released.
“They also robbed one Olawumi Oluwaseun and Ishola of their iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 respectively, valued at N1.25 million before they were also freed. They carried out their operations in military uniform.”
She noted that the Anti- Kidnapping Squad of Command led the operation and Emmanuel was arrested and discovered that one David Agbebaku who they carried out the operation together had been arrested in Oyo State for another offence.
Speaking with the suspect, he explained, “I and David, another dismissed soldier, kidnapped a young man who transferred money into an account. David later transferred N2million to my account.
“The victim didn’t transfer money to me. The military paraphernalia is all mine, I bought the rank and put it on. David brought me for the operation from Ibadan to Esa-Oke. I served in the Nigerian Army for fourteen years and nine months. I went on a foreign mission with the United Nations in 2014 under the 35 192 battalion and went for a mission in the North East.
“I was court-martialed for misconduct to the service, indiscipline, insubordination, and desert. I was dismissed as a corporal in January. I know I have committed an offence against the Military and Nigeria and I hope I can be forgiven. This will not repeat itself.”
Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have successfully rescued a 14-month-old baby, Grace Osamagbe, who was abducted by her nanny, Rejoice Chukwu, in April.
Commissioner of Police Umoru Ozigi told newsmen on Saturday in Benin that the Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit arrested Chukwu, 24, and her boyfriend, Destiny Uchechukwu, 28, in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.
According to Ozigi, the suspects abducted the child in Benin and collected a ransom of N160,000.
“In spite of receiving the ransom, the suspects allegedly sold the baby for N500,000 to Doris Chiwendu in Owerri, Imo State.
“Following intense interrogation, police tracked down Chiwendu and another suspect, Jane Amaigbo, in Ubomiri, Imo State, and rescued the baby on November 9.”
The police commissioner explained that the suspects would soon be charged to court.
The Kaduna State Police Command, through its Operation Fushin Kada, has arrested six kidnappers, a cattle rustler and five suspects involved in vandalism.
The operations also led to the recovery of a locally made firearm and charms.
A statement issued by the Command’s PPRO, ASP Mansir Hassan, said on November 12, 2024, four members of a kidnapping syndicate were apprehended in Rahama and Dutsen Wai village, and nearby areas.
“The suspects, Yahaya Abdullahi, Shamsu Ibrahim, Linus Obasi and Hauwa Mohammed, all from Dutsen Wai Village in Kubau LGA, were arrested.
“Abdullahi confessed to conspiring with Ibrahim to kidnap a woman from Rahama Village, who was held in Obasi’s brothel under Mohammed’s watch until a ₦3 million ransom was paid for her release,” the PPRO added.
The police spokesman also stated that in a separate operation on November 6, 2024, officers in Ikara LGA arrested two members of a gang that had been terrorising residents.
According to him, “the suspects, Surajo Hassan and Abdulhadir Usman, admitted to multiple kidnappings and robberies, including one case where a victim was held for 60 days before an ₦8 million ransom was paid.
“Both suspects disclosed receiving ₦1 million each as their share.
“On November 13, 2024, officers arrested a 27-year-old cattle rustler, Audu Abdullahi, in Kujama.
“He confessed to belonging to a syndicate operating with AK-47 rifles and other weapons.
“A search in a nearby bush led to the recovery of a locally made firearm and charms.
“Meanwhile, officers responding to a distress call from the Kaduna State Vigilance Service at the Trade Fair Complex arrested three suspects—Salisu Mohammed, Mohammed Abubakar, and Aliyu Isah—caught vandalising armored cable wires.
“They confessed to the crime and named Abubakar Garba and Isiaku Abdullahi, who were also arrested, as receivers.”
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday handed over 58 people rescued during joint security operations to the Kaduna State Government.
The victims were presented by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, to the Kaduna State Chief of Staff, Sani Limankila, who represented the state governor during the ceremony.
Gen. Musa emphasised that no ransom was paid for their release.
“This rescue was achieved through the combined efforts of the military and other security agencies,” Musa said, adding that “the operation utilised both kinetic and non-kinetic methods, underscoring the need for collective effort; not just military actions.”
He highlighted the importance of collaboration at all levels, from the presidency and the Office of the National Security Adviser to the Ministry of Defence and the Kaduna State Government.
According to him, it was such synergy that enabled the successful rescue of the victims.
Musa reiterated that every Nigerian has a role to play in ensuring security, saying “if we do not work together, it will be extremely difficult to succeed. It’s a whole-of-society approach.”
He also warned against sabotage by individuals attempting to undermine government efforts, stressing that security agencies are working tirelessly to ensure the safety of all Nigerians.
“Many of us have sacrificed weekends and holidays, working day and night to achieve these successes.
“We assure Nigerians that we will continue until every captive is freed and every Nigerian can move freely across the country,” Musa said.
The CDS noted that some individuals involved in banditry were forced into it, but the military remains determined to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
The National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, provided details about the victims.
He said they were kidnapped from Gayam, Sabon Layi, and Kwaga villages in Dan Musa council area of Katsina State.
Laka revealed that the joint operation, conducted by troops of 1 Division on November 14, led to their rescue.
The victims included 35 males and 23 females.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that they were kidnapped by armed bandits under the command of a notorious criminal known as Janbros.
“The victims were forced to trek hundreds of kilometers through the Birnin Gwari forest”, Laka said.
He added that following their rescue, the victims received medical care and necessary assistance to stabilise them, explaining that six victims who required hospitalization had now recovered and were reunited with the others for the handover.
Award-winning folk singer, chanter, and actor Deborah ‘Debbie’ Ohiri, has her imprint on many ground-breaking film and theatre productions including the globally acclaimed stage play, ‘Hear Word’. The daughter of guitar maestro, Bob Ohiri, Debbie has been curating folk music workshops at the Lagos Fringe Festival. In this interview with OLAITAN GANIU, she talks about her inspirations, harnessing her talents across many art disciplines and sundry issues.
Asides from being inspired by your dad, what else propelled you into the arts?
Apart from my dad, God would be my inspiration because like you rightly said being in the arts and doing what I’m doing is not by my own choosing. It’s just how destiny has chosen me. The arts is not just a performance for me, it is a calling.
So God is my inspiration. However, when we talk about the physical realm, apart from my dad, I have quite a number of people who inspire me and this inspiration changes with each level and each phase I get to unlock in this journey that I’m seeking.
Your vocal abilities are prominent in movies on stage and in some songs. Should we expect you to put out your music?
I released a single last year. It’s called ‘Iba’, like paying homage, paying obeisance. It’s on my YouTube channel and on all digital streaming platforms. By the first quarter of next year, 2025, I will drop in another single, I don’t know but I might have a surprise for you to feature one artist, but I’m definitely sure of releasing a single.
You have been with the ‘Hear Word’ Troupe for 10 years. How has it been touring the world and addressing gender-based issues on stage?
Touring with ‘Hear Word’ Amazons, we don’t call ourselves Troupe. We are Amazons, ‘Hear Word’ Warriors, or ‘Hear Word’ Women. For the past 10 years, talking about gender-based issues using our art form has been nothing but a blessing. It’s very significant to note that these are universal issues. Everybody is fighting the same fight, the same struggle. As an artist, I have grown over the years. Even in my personal life, being a part of this very incredible, intelligently put-together play has also helped me with decision-making, unlearning some traits, embracing new traits, and seeing the world from a worldview, not from a single-eye view.
Before ‘Hear Word’, what were you up to?
Before ‘Hear Word’, I was working and honing my skill with one project at a time in theatre, Event and music gigs.I’d worked with notable Theatre Directors like Ben Tomoloju , Segun Adefila, Kenneth Uphopho, Femi Elufowoju jnr, In fact I am a pioneer member of the Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions when she started with ‘Saro’ in 2013, I was there on that project as lead singer and also a member of the cast. I was already directing music.
I used to go to the University of Lagos at that time to teach the students folk songs for their end-of-the-session projects. That was where I met a lot of friends who are now like family to me. I met Omowumi Dada, Wole Ojo, Segun Ajayi, Helen Paul, a lot of them. I used to go to the department to teach them folk music, you see.
You have graced other stages besides ‘Hear Word’, but some may say you are not prominent on our TV screens.
I’ve been on TV and i’ve done quite a number of projects with EbonyLife Productions. I was on ‘Elesin Oba’ directed by the late Biyi Bandele. I was on ‘Castle and Castle’. It’s a series on Netflix. I was also on an ‘Itura’ by James Omokwe. It’s an African Magic Original Production.My debut film on Netflix as an original music composer ‘The Groit’ by Adeolu “Degzy Owu I was also featured on Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Anikulapo’ movie I did the chant on the soundtrack with Kent Edunjobi. So yes, I’ve been fortunate and blessed to be able to explore as many parts of the arts that I find myself to express, I’ve been blessed.
Would it be right to say that you have a bias for theatre above movies?
I don’t have a bias. As far as I’m available for each project at a particular season that I’m being called for, why not? It’s my calling and I cannot say no. Yes, theatre is my first love, but it does not mean that, when a movie calls, I will not do it.
Tell us about your folk music workshops and what you intend to achieve with it.
I’ve been doing folk music workshops since forever but I sort of made it now very official about six, seven years ago, at the Lagos Fringe Festival. The Lagos Fringe Festival is an open-access, multi-disciplinary festival of arts, you know, and I’m grateful for that platform because it’s been able to help me to sort of put a structure to how I’m trying to present the identity of folk music, and what I intend to do with all my workshops is first to empower the next generation, and even my generation because you’d be shocked that a lot of people don’t even know anything about their culture. The next is also to preserve that art form because a people without a culture don’t have any identity. And I feel like it’s a mantle that has been passed on to me, and a responsibility for me to preserve our culture. There’s nothing evil about our culture. There’s nothing fetish, in the Oyibo man’s language, about our culture. This is who we are, we are black, we are proud, and we uphold it just the way the ones before us have. This is just me adding my own quota to the universe, to Nigeria, to inspire.
How do you stay inspired to explore multiple forms of artistic expression?
Nigeria is a really tough place, tough terrain to fully express yourself as an artist. But again, it is what it is. This is where we are, we have to do the work that we’ve got to do. I think it will be God, and of course, the love and passion I have for this calling.
As I said, I think I would have sounded this a lot to you in this interview that this for me is a calling. It is a responsibility, and yes, there are down moments, there are times that you feel like I’m not doing right or things are not moving the way they are supposed to move, but the universe just somehow does something and just aligns everything and you even forget your down moments are you excited and hopeful for the good times that are here.
Which of these forms of the arts is closest to your heart?
If I have a favourite one, it’s definitely singing. I feel like singing encompasses every form of art. With folk music or singing, you have to act. You have to tune into emotions. No matter how weak or tired you are, as long as you’re healthy and can talk, your voice will live for as long as you live. But with some other forms of art, especially if it’s physical like acting, painting, or sculpting, age will fail you. But there’s no how your voice will fail you. So singing is really close to my heart and I’m grateful to be a chosen vessel to be able to make beautiful songs.
What was the first moment in your career when you realized that your work was resonating on an international level?
Maybe because I’m Bob Ohiri’s daughter,there is a knowing that when I do the work and I get on the right project, the lights will definitely shine on everything I do, and I think it just happened. Around 2011, I got my first international gig with Ntorodo odido that’s Micheal Ejinkeonye. We took the project ‘Ajigbe: The Face Behind The Mask’ on the Southern Bavarian tour of Germany. That was my first breakout. It felt good having done all the work it was supposed to do here in Nigeria and getting to take it abroad. It was really good. I remember feeling really happy and proud of myself. At that time, I had lost my dad, so I just felt like my dad was smiling at me from heaven. I guess that was it. Before that, I had already been on musical TV reality shows like Project Fame West Africa and others.
How does your creative process evolve especially when working across various disciplines?
The most constant thing in life is change, and I just try to read as much as possible. Thank God we are in a digital age, so finding information is not so hard. I try to do research as much as I can and follow the rules and guidelines of the different disciplines where I work, and the different terrain where I work just as a guiding principle for me. Now with AI and all these things happening, I just try to keep myself abreast of the latest information and technology for my space. This work is not the industry for lazy people, you have to be up and running, you have to be smart, you have to be intelligent, and you have to do the work, and I’m grateful to God that I have been allowed to do this.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the course of your artistic journey?
One of the challenges I have faced in this journey is that people have a problem with my audacity and authenticity. To the glory of God, this is my 18th year in this industry, and I would say that my hard work, smart work, discipline and the grace of God brought me thus far People don’t understand the audacity, they can’t deal with it, they just feel like, oh, is she the only one there? Why is she that she’s the only one getting the jobs? Why is it that anytime she comes into a space, she takes over the space, and you see these things, I don’t even do it intentionally. It is God. I think it’s like the umpteenth time I’m telling you that doing what I’m doing is not by my choosing, it is what my Ori has chosen for me, and I’m going to live it unapologetically I’ve grown a thick skin, so I really don’t care anymore. I just do me and the world adjusts and aligns.
“My hope, my life are all gone.” Those were the sorrowful words that flowed from 68-year-old Ayiki Sunday who lost the breadwinner of his family in last Saturday’s tin mining tragedy in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. KOLADE ADEYEMI reports on how 13 villagers were trapped in the act and buried alive in a mining pit.
His son, Akubaka Sunday, a 27-year-old final year student of Civil Engineering from University of Jos, was brought home lifeless from the mining pit that consumed them last Saturday. It was the scene where the bid for survival turned into tragedy as a group of youths went out as usual to extract tin (solid mineral) from a mining site located somewhere in the bush within their community.
Artisanal (tin) mining is still trending in Plateau State, particularly in Plateau North Senatorial District comprising Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Bassa, Jos South, Jos North and Jos East local government areas. The local mining is an exercise most of the youths in the area engage in, in their struggle to earn a living and sustain themselves financially.
The case of this promising young engineering student was therefore not different from those of other youths in the state. For them, engaging in local tin mining activities is the only assured means of having access to cash to make ends meet, especially for students whose parents are too poor to sustain their academic programmes in the university.
The strong desire for artisanal mining in local communities in Plateau State is made more inevitable by the prevailing economic situation in the country where families have to go the extra mile to secure money for foods and other basic necessities of life.
The strong desire for artisanal mining in local communities in Plateau state in inevitable and unavoidable, especially at the prevailing difficult economic situations of the country where families had to go extra miles to get money for foods and basic necessities of life
So, when the undergraduate informed his father, Ayiki Sunday, that he was proceeding to the bush on that ill-fated day, the latter had no reason to stop him. Of course, there was no premonition that anything negative would happen to his son in the bush.
He said: “I was lucky to be at home to see my son before he headed to the bush. His mother was not at home to see him, so he just left a message for the mother that his friends were already waiting for him to join them at the mining site. He assured that he would meet his mother when he returned.”
That however turned out to be the last contact Ayiki had with Akubaka before the civil engineering student made the journey of no return into the bush to mine the precious metal. The day faded into night, midnight and dawn without Akubaka returning from the mining site.
By Saturday morning, there was still no premonition that anything odd had happened to their son. In his narration, the distraught father said: “On Saturday morning, just about the same time my son came from school the previous day, I was just relaxing in my house when I saw people approaching my house with what looked like a dead body.
“While I was watching, the people carrying the body came straight into my compound and dropped the body. I shouted at them, why are you bringing dead body to my house?
“They asked me to take a closer look at the body, and when I did, I clearly identified that the lifeless body was my son’s. I was told in clear terms that the body was that of my son; that he died in the mining pit in the bush shortly after he joined them the previous day.
“The news came as a shock and it actually broke me down.
“Initially, I refused to believe the news of my son’s death. But when my wife went close to see that the body they brought to my house was our son, she fainted. It took other women in the neighborhood to revive her.
“By the time I recovered from the shock, I was left with the reality of the accident. I was left with the reality that my son is no more. I am now living with the reality that all my hope is gone, Indeed, my life is gone.”
Akubaka was, indeed, the only hope of his parents, given that the family had only two children including his younger sister. The parents laboured to sponsor him through the university as the only man in the family of two.
Narrating his ordeal further to The Nation, Ayiki said: “Sunday (Akubaka) was my last hope, and my last hope is gone.”
The first son of the family had struggled through life using mining and farming to uplift his parents his younger sister and as well fund his educational career as he dreamt of becoming an engineer.
Another victim of the mining site tragedy was a 28-year-old youth corps member, Danjuma Azis. Azis, also a native of Bassa, was doing his NYSC programme in Gombe State.
Like other Plateau youths from the mining zone, Azis had taken advantage of the solid mineral to sponsor his academic career until graduation. Having adopted mining as his occupation, he travelled all the way from Gombe to his village in Jos and eventually found himself among the 13 miners who got trapped and died in the pit.
When our correspondent visited the family house in Nyakala village yesterday, the atmosphere was tense and cold. Mr Azis Ataki, father to the deceased youth corps member, said: “Danjuma was my first son in my family. He was a hard working son who helped the family in so many ways.
“He was the bread winner of the family. He fed us, clothed us and supplied all our needs with what he earned from mining. And now that he is gone, I don’t how my family is going to survive without him.
“I can’t just think of it”
Sunday and Danjuma are not the only victims of the tragic incident. There were 13 of them altogether.
Confirming the sad development, the Executive Chairman of Bassa Local Government Council, Dr. Joshua Riti, reckoned that the incident claimed the lives of 13 youths.
He said: “I was shocked to receive the news of the collapsed mining site at Mai Agwa-gwa mining camp between Jos South, Bassa and Jos North local government areas, which claimed the lives of 13 people in the early hours of Saturday, November 9, 2024.
“These victims simply went as usual to source for tin and to earn money from it. This is the first of its kind in the entire community. It is strange and mysterious.”
In his statement, Dr Riti gave the names of the victims as Shedrack Sunday (18), lrimiya Inakoro (35y), Akubaka Sunday (27) and Adukumben Sunday (18). Others are Danjuma Azis (28) and a serving corps member in Gombe State.
Those who were rescued alive from the mining pit are Daddy (Showky) and Francis Azango (26).
In an irony of faith, however, a 38-year-old father of four, Amahang Gambo Awanye, who escaped death in the incident by a whisker, told The Nation: “We went to a mining site in a village called Mai Agwagwah on Saturday morning and I went there with my brother. We ate together and I just left to buy mineral.
“When I came back, I found that my brother had already gone inside the hole. So I went down to join them in the pit.
“But while we were digging down, we saw that water just burst from the middle of the deep pit and was pouring directly into the pit.
“The pit was dud and dark; we were only using torch light to see what we were doing.
“So when the water was gushing out, we tried to see if we could block it, but the water was so much that we could not block it.
“In a few minutes, the water was already swallowing us. It was now left for everyone to find a way to escape.
“I can’t explain how I escaped. I only found myself outside the pit. And by the time I recovered, majority of us were drowned in the water. They could not escape it.
“We had to run back to the village to mobilise people to come to rescue those already drowned. The disaster happened late into the night.
“Initially when I was screaming water, water, water, some of our colleagues thought that we were trying to deceive or fool them, so that we would make more money and take advantage of them. Then they just told us that if you people are not going to work, you should let us to come in and work.
“Before the water burst, there were about 12 of us inside. So it was only about four or six that luckily survived.
“As everybody was struggling to come out, I just felt that something touched me on my forehead and I held it. I discovered it was a rope and I held the rope.
The person that held the rope said he was shaking the rope so that I would understand that there was someone that held the rope. He was trying to put the rope down.
“Then I just forgot about the rope, trying to find my way. As the water’s pressure increased, I was trying to find my way. Then I felt that someone was holding my leg.
“I struggled to draw the person that held my leg, so that we could come out together as I too was holding another person’s leg.
“After some time, I just freed the other man that I was holding his leg, to let him go so that all of us would not just die like that.
“After a short time, the person that was holding my leg was also freeing my leg. That was how I survived.”
Tin mining in Plateau State is the only venture lucrative enough for majority of youths to engage in apart from farming. And to access the mining substance, you have to dig deep, and the deeper you go, the closer the danger.
Tin mining has taken a lot of families out of poverty and at the same time has consumed lives of members of families. And with the obvious advantages in the solid mineral and the risk involved, it is pretty impossible to avoid mining in the state.
While the victims are being buried, the living ones are on their ways to dig the soil in search of the precious stone. The business is too juicy to ignore.
Create jobs for our youths, PIDAN begs govt
Plateau Initiative for Advancement and Development of the Natives (PIDAN) in a statement said it received with great shock the death of 13 young people in Kiche land, Bassa LGA of Plateau State.
The statement said “PIDAN is saddened that young promising people have continued to be victims of such untimely deaths in the state as a result of trying to look for means of survival through legitimate mining activities.”
The Secretary General of PIDAN, Ambassador Danjuma Auta, stated that “as a people, we want to console our brothers, and the Bache nation over this loss of lives and pray that God will comfort us all.
“We want to call on our people to exercise more restraint in trying to look for means of survival and to be cautious of such activities by ensuring that safety measures are strictly adhered to.
“I want to also call on the government to provide more job opportunities for the youth to be engaged in.”
Between 2015 and 2023, former governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, lived more of a regimented lifestyle because his movement and that of his family in and outside the state depended on the intelligence reports at his disposal.
Ikpeazu, though sociable, could not have access to a good number of his friends throughout his eight years reign because of the protocol procedure that such friends had to undergo before seeing him.
After handing over power to his successor, Dr. Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP), the 2023 Abia South Senatorial candidate of the PDP has avoided making public appearances and on the occasions that he appeared, he chose not to make a public statement.
However, that was not the case when the former governor met with our correspondent, SUNNY NWANKWO, at his country home in Umuobiakwa after he marked his 60th birthday, as he took the latter through what he (Ikpeazu) has learnt about life at 60.
You clocked 60 yesterday, October 18. How did you feel about it?
I didn’t feel any way special. I am strong by the special grace of God. I still engage in my routine physical activities, I am not impeding in any way. But it is also nice to age gracefully. Very soon, I will be addressed as an elder statesman. It is nice and exciting. Honestly, I still feel strong enough to read, study, learn and serve when the opportunity comes.
At 60, what would you say makes life exciting?
I think that what makes life exciting is the anxiety that comes with breaking new grounds and conquering new frontiers. Any day that you stop aspiring, trying or setting goals and agenda for yourself, you will begin to truly die spiritually because age is a number, but you have to keep your spiritual growth and physiological development under your control. And part of what keeps your interest and intellect sharp to remain in this part of the divide is to have goals that you set for yourself. So, I still have one or two things that I would want to do in my life, though naturally, I am slowing down, because whether I like it or not, there is time for every thing.
Your parents named you Victor. Could it be that the name paved the way for you?
Certainly. I am an African. There is everything in a name. We bear names that have significance and tell on our trajectory in life. I want to quote Nelson Mandela of South Africa who believes that he never fails. It is either he wins or he learns.
Every birth is by accident. Nobody determines where he/she will go. I had no hand in determining where I would come from, but from hindsight, I think that my parents did an amazing job. In the first place, they had just three of us. If we were more, it would have been difficult, because we saw a little bit of the civil war. But because we were just three, my mother was a nurse, my father was a teacher, the little that they were able to make on a monthly basis was more than enough for us to grow up in comfort.
I was able to get a straight PhD without working because my father had the resources as it were and also was tenacious about making sure that I achieved that milestone. So every birth is circumstantial.
I have achieved quite a lot. I have had my ups and downs and my challenges, but incidentally, I see challenges as exciting. I see them as turning the bend or a learning curve. I have never been daunted; I hardly get disappointed because I expect everything but hope for the best all the time. So, I have won more times than I have lost. I think that overall, I am in this world and I am happy… laughs.
Many people have described you in various ways. From your own point of view, who is Okezie Victor Ikpeazu?
I am humble, unassuming, but very tenacious; a goal getter and an inquisitive man. I am somebody who tries to be fair and just, though it is also a burden because you can’t be fair or just to everybody. An attempt to be that kind of person leaves you in a quandary more often than not, but I strive to be fair to as many people as I can. I believe in good logic and conversation, but I don’t run away from war. But if I can talk sense, I will rather avoid war, but if they come to me, I will fight. So, that is me.
Tell us what your childhood experience was, because those who knew you said that you were a playful boy.
I do not know what a playful boy means, but I was a very restless person and little did I know that God was preparing me for the assignments I was later to take up in life. But in all of these, all those who met me growing up, even when they want to describe me as a very active, inquisitive and restless young man, they will also tell you that I don’t flunk my exams. Some of them were still laughing at the jokes that I made when I rode to do my PhD. We were still laughing at the jokes that I made in secondary school until I graduated with a doctorate degree in Biochemistry at 29. So, those who do not take him repeatedly do that at their peril because beneath and impeded within my jokes or playful demeanor is a very serious minded person that looks at all shades of an event.
I will also without sounding immodest say that I am a very strategic person and I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe that we can work out the outcomes that we desire.
Did you have it in mind that you would one day become a lecturer or get to the positions that you have occupied?
Immediately you take your first degree and go on to take the second degree and go ahead without working to take up the ultimate degree, you have made yourself a merchant of knowledge. Whether you like it or not, you have enlisted yourself as an academic, especially in my area where you have to be up and doing in terms of research and in writing papers; trying to respond to many questions that life throw at us and at the same time trying to solve many of our day problems in a scientific manner.
So, I knew from the outset that teaching was good for me, and when I started teaching, the feedback that I got from my students was that I was good in my subjects and I became very encouraged. Even when I was the governor, I was teaching. At the last count, I had over 80 academic publications in Biochemistry. Some of those papers were actually published while I was governor because I was leading research groups both in Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU), Umudike and I think that teaching is my second nature.
I will be lying if I said that I was preparing myself to be the governor of the state. But the truth is that, I was preparing myself for leadership because I studied under the best brains as it were in those days and I was very serious and tenacious about my duty and my assignments. I knew that leadership would beckon on me one day.
And that is my advice to some of these young ones going forward. You have to prepare yourself for whatever role that nature will place on your shoulders. So, primarily, I enjoyed myself as a lecturer and when I became a governor, I enjoyed myself too.
Some people have doubted your true identity. Abians would want to know your true identity. Are you from Akwa Ibom State or Umuobiakwa?
I am from Umuobiakwa (aughs). I do not know where that is coming from. In coming from Umuobiakwa, not only that I am from Umuobikwa, my fore-parents were the initial settlers in thie place. So, if God ordains, I can be the custodian of the “ofor” (mantle of authority) of this land because our people were the first settlers in the place like I had said;. They named this place (Umuobiakwa). So, I don’t know where the controversy is coming from l(aughs). If anybody feels that I am from any other place, the person should volunteer and trace the place and tell me.
What has life taught you at 60?
Life has taught me to be prepared for anything, but always hope for the best. Life in itself is a great teacher and that all things work for good for those who love God. Life will throw all kinds of things at you. So, when the times are good, remember that there is a valley before or after a hill. I am not one of those who pray for a smooth road all the time. I am one of those who pray for resilience and tenacity to bear the vicissitudes of life as they come because life must happen to you.
Again, life has taught me that the greatest treasure anyone has is his health. After his health, his friends. That is what life has taught me.
In all these, what makes you happy?
Well, what makes me happy is to be among those who love me. What makes me sad is to be in the midst of hypocrites. Once I can find my way into the midst of those who love me, I am a happy man. So, I am propelled by the presence of people around me and the ability to help. Once I can be of value to a fellow human being, my day is made. I spare a thought everyday to think about those who perhaps may not be as privileged as I am, but they may be more important before God. Whatever I can do to make life better for people gives me more pleasure.
Many people said that Biochemistry wasn’t your first choice of course. What informed your decision to study Biochemistry?
You can go and verify as our brother, Peter Obi , wiould say. In the form that I filled, it was Biochemistry. But because a few people think that I am somewhat versatile, some of them thought that I should have been a lawyer. Others thought that I should have been a medical practitioner, but I chose Biochemistry over Medicine because I always like to tell myself the truth. I may not have the discipline of a medical doctor and I don’t want to be a hypocrite in the profession of Medicine.
If you are a medical doctor, you have to be there for your patients; it doesn’t matter what time. So, no medical doctor has time for himself. If you are in the aircraft and they ask if there is any medical doctor in the aircraft, what they are saying is that it is possible to call you to duty.
As a Biochemist, I knew that I could go out and spend time with my friends. I could also spend as much time as I want in my lab when I want to go to my lab to do my research. But nothing on my conscience as it could have compelled me as a medical doctor to stay in one place and it will be a great disservice if I enlist as a medical doctor and somebody calls me that I am on call and then I will tell a lie or I won’t be available. That will be a sin against God and humanity.
I was sixteen years old when I made the decision and I knew that the sixteen year old gadfly would not be able to cope with the discipline of remaining in one place and waiting for a patient to live or die.
You always pride yourself as an Aba brought up. Why this sense of pride of being an Aba Boy?
Recently, I attended the induction ceremony of the last batch of the Medical Students in Babcok University because my daughter was part of that event. The guest lecturer, a renowned Public Health Medical practitioner; a professor of Medicine, who came all the way from England , said with pride that she was an Aba brought up.
Aba boy connotes the can-do spirit, never say never, resilience, doggedness, hard work, boldness, courage, etc. All of these make the Aba person different from others. When everybody would have given up, the Aba spirit in you will keep pushing you, and that is why we take up that appellation with pride. It is a spirit that keeps pushing you, wherever that you may find yourself. You will know an Aba brought up whenever you see one.
What was your experience in the first two weeks of being the governor of the state?
My team, as it were then, saw the work that was there to be done. At that point, there was no in-road into Aba. You could not have access into Aba from any of the roads linking the city with other neighbouring states. Aba was a sinking town. Trade and commerce was at its lowest ebb. Security was also an issue.
Mine was a deep sense of responsibility and sobriety because I was like he to whom nothing has been given but expected to achieve so much, because my first allocation was just about N3 billion with a salary bill of N2.7 billion in the first month. What it means is that, after paying salary, I would have been left with slightly more than N300 million, and at that time also, I needed to open up Aba-Owerri Road. I needed to do Ukaegbu, Umuola and Ehere roads, and I thank God that all the roads are standing.
I can’t ask people from Rivers State to come back, but the low hanging fruit for me was to attempt bringing people from Akwa Ibom State. So, I needed to speak to Ukaegbu, Umuola and Ehere roads at once. There was no road to Ariaria International Market, Eziukwu and Ngwa road markets, meaning that all the traders there were playing games waiting for God to send manners from Heaven. So, we had to place our hands on the plough.
So, there was no sense of jubilation. There was nothing to celebrate; there was no time for all those kinds of things. It was how do we open up and ventilate the city? But I thank God that nine years down the line, those roads are still standing.
How did you meet your wife?
I am a strong believer in what I call the biological clock. The only person that controls the biological clock is God. I can adjust my time piece to read 6pm now because I bought it with my money, but the biological clock cannot be adjusted by anybody except God.
What I did was first of all, go to school. And I was a little bit selfish about it because my father told me that if he gave me one naira to go to school, I should take it and I shouldn’t ask him for more. He said that it is my name that would be written on the certificate and not his.
He said if I didn’t go to school, I wiould be the one they would call illiterate and not him. It sunk. I never rejected any amount of money that my father gave to me. Like he said, he didn’t live long enough to see me become a governor. My father didn’t live long enough to benefit anything from me. So, all he did was to see me through the 10 years that it took me to go to school. Assuming that I was failing my exams or that I didn’t take my studies seriously or place myself in a position that they have to beg me to help myself, that would have been a great disservice to myself.
So, that is why I said that I decided to be selfish about it. I knew that once I go to school properly, once I built capacity, the next thing was to pick up a job and then live a little bit like a bachelor or have the privilege of looking at who would become my wife. Unfortunately for me, my father died just as I was defending my PhD thesis.
One year after my father died, my mother came to me on a Friday and demanded that I must present my wife to her on Sunday (laughs). I didn’t know how serious that assignment was until Saturday. And when my mother speaks to you, she speaks softly, but it is a directive. So, by Sunday, I said that I already had somebody in my life who had been my friend and I had seen everything good in her.
Her greatest quality was that she accepts me the way I am. So, I now told my mother on that Sunday that I have only brought one girl to you in this house, that I am not looking any further and that is the girl that I am going to marry. She asked if I was sure, I said yes, and that was how we set out for the processes and procedures for getting a wife, and that was it. That was how I lost my bachelorhood at 30, and that was how my two boys also lost their bachelorhood at 30 years.
With the level of brilliance that you have, ladies would always flock around you. Did you by any chance have any other woman in your life aside your wife?
She was the person in my life, but I was also a boy at that time. I had a very vibrant youth and that is why I had at every stage of my life, I can’t look back and say that there was something left. I can’t look back and say that I wish that I am 30 now because I checked all the boxes. When it was time to go to the university, I checked all the boxes. If I look back now, I am not missing anything.
What is the difference between when you were the governor and now?
The major difference is that I am no longer under pressure. I nearly lost my life doing that job as governor. It is a thankless job. You were cut off from family, friends and even the work of God and then you live your life in the public glare.
A governor is not even supposed to fall asleep. At times, you have to drink coffee or take a lot of kolanut to stay alert and you are clutching the red pen. Anything that you signed with the red pen as at that time becomes law.
So, you must be at your best to read through every document that is brought before you, if not you sign away the life of your mother out of exuberance. I knew quite frankly that there is so much power vested on the office of the governor and it is both a physical and spiritual trap. Some of the powers vested on the office of a governor are like the power of God.
You have to exercise utmost discretion and care about the decisions that you take regarding the life of other people, especially the people that are helpless as it were, because the power you clutch in your feast is to do good or bad, and the choice is yours.
Bible recorded some bad kings and some good kings, but ultimately whenever somebody is vested with such power, it calls for emotional discipline, empathy, and the best of humanness you can muster, so that at times, when you are not in the right frame of mind, you withhold assent to certain things until you calm down and rationalise it.
But now I drive my car if I want to. I can walk into a shop if I want to get into the shop. I can decide to sleep at 6pm and wake up by 12 mid-day. All these privileges I couldn’t enjoy them as a governor.
When I was a governor, if you were not inviting people to meetings, meetings would invite you to it. So, I have more or less rediscovered and captured myself back and I am enjoying it going forward.
But it was nice that once in my lifetime I had the opportunity and the privilege of saying let there be flyover at Osisioma and a flyover would appear. Let there be Government House in Umuahia and Government House wiould appear. Let there be the multi-specialist hospital in general hospital area and that one would appear. Let there be Faulks Road and Faulks Road wiould appear. Not many people in their lifetime will have such a privilege.
No leader can do everything. That is why government is a continuum. You do a little bit or more and the next person continues from where you stopped.
If you weren’t a lecturer and a public servant, what else would you have loved to do?
Sincerely, I love medicine, because two of my daughters are medical doctors, my mother was a nurse, my father and mother-in-law nurses and my younger sister is a super nurse in America. So, maybe it could have been medicine because I love to care. I love to get into things that will add value.
How do you relax when you are not busy with office work as the governor?
I love books and intellectual conversations. I am an outdoor person and also cherish my friends. I love the company of my friends.
Are you worried that none of your children is toeiing your path academically?
I am not giving up on them in that regard, because I have a lot of mates, none of them got married, gave birth or took a PhD before me, and I will retire before all of them also because I know what I will do at 70. Once it is 70, I know the nozzles that I will close and the ones that I will open. You won’t see me playing outside with children or carrying my CV looking for appointment.
So, my two boys are engineers and they hold masters degrees in engineering. But my focus for them is that I want them to see if they can build some business, because that is where I am deficient; I don’t have a company. I would want my children to go into entrepreneurship because it is my pet project. Perhaps, I should have given myself a second option; if I didn’t become a medical doctor, I would have become a manufacturer because I love to turn raw materials into products. That is also what teaching is all about: turning people with raw intellect into active creative people.
My children, those with masters, may eventually go ahead to take after me. But my advice to them is that they should try and build some businesses so that they can create wealth and also be useful to themselves and be happy.
My first daughter, who can hold her grounds very well, if it is her calling, may also end up teaching medicine in some medical schools. Teaching is in our DNA. I don’t take it off the table. But let us see what God has prepared for them.
How were you able to balance your life as a governor with helping them make the choice of their life partners?
In the first place, it is not my job to help them choose who to live with for life, because that is a very important and critical decision that only you can take. However, you can set some ground rules; you can say the things that you don’t want. You can say this is the type of family that I want or that I don’t want. So, the ultimate choice is theirs to make. But like every Christian, I approach those critical decisions in life prayerfully and I am happy that what God has done in the lives of those that are married now is amazing and marvelous in our eyes, and I am happy and satisfied.
What would you like to be remembered for having marked your 60th birthday?
I have learnt to remember that somebody who has a lot of love and empathy for the common people of Abia State. I want to be remembered as someone who is completely detribalized, but also focused on whatever it will take to emancipate my people and give them a voice. I like to be remembered as somebody who likes to fight for justice and equity.
Why did you decide to build a memorial library in honour of your late father?
The only thing that I inherited from my father was books. I needed a place to keep those books for posterity and for grandchildren and members of the public to read. Again, I am a strong believer of a new paradigm in leadership; of scientific leadership. Scientific leadership compels you to start leadership from why. Why was it that most of the roads done in Aba before 2015 failed? So the center for scientific leadership seeks to groom leaders that tack their leadership experience by asking why.
We have developed a curriculum and we have sourced experts from across the globe who will teach young people to start leadership by asking why. Perhaps we may be able to solve most of our leadership problems.
I needed to put something in the name of my father, who was a great teacher; a man that taught me how to draw the map of Africa by remembering that Africa is just like a mango. He said that if I can draw a mango, I have drawn the map of Africa.
How do you relax now that you are no longer under any pressure from any political office?
I am very intentional about my health now. So, I must do my work out every morning. I do between 2 to 2 ½ ihours in the gym every morning. If I am at home, I play soccer. I will attend to my mails and reply them and open my phone for calls. If I have an appointment, I will keep it, otherwise, I will start writing.
I am also calibrating my next moves now. Part of me says to me, with 80 scientific publications, you will just go and become a professor. Maybe, who knows, I will take that decision by December this year. There are a lot of things that I have to do with my time. Luckily, I am strong and healthy.
The other one that I like is to talk to my children and give them the attention that I never gave them while I was a governor. I make sure that I know what they are doing because it is important that they learn from my mistakes and correct themselves, even as they keep their own identity. So, that is pretty well how I spend my time.
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the Police Service Commission (PSC) to probe officers of the Yobe Police Command.
CISLAC in a petition to the PSC made available to The Nation yesterday alleged that the officers acted in contempt of court on October 29, when they allegedly invaded a Magistrate’s Court, disrupted proceedings, created fear and forcibly removed two convicted individuals, Abdulahi Aji Bulama and Mr. Kabir (A.T.O.), despite a lawful court order for their detention.
The petition signed by the Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), specifically accused the Potiskum Area Commander and the Yobe Commissioner of Police of alleged misconduct, breach of conduct, and contempt of court.
According to the organisation, the actions of the officers disregarded judicial authority and violated the Police Act, which mandates officers to uphold integrity, respect for the rule of law, and judicial processes.
It said the officers’ interference in the judicial process undermined public trust in the police.
The petition detailed a history of alleged non-compliance with court orders by the Potiskum Area Command, which failed to serve summons and ignored arrest warrants issued by the court.
Musa said: “Despite multiple hearings and court orders, the suspects failed to attend hearings, leading to the issuance of an arrest warrant. On October 29, the suspects were finally brought to court but were removed by police officers shortly after being sentenced, in defiance of the court’s authority. CISLAC’s petition highlights several violations, including contempt of court, breach of the Nigeria Police Code of Conduct, and disregard for both national and international legal standards. The petition calls for a public condemnation of the officers’ actions, a thorough investigation, and disciplinary action in accordance with the Police Act.
“Additionally, CISLAC recommends mandatory training on legal and ethical compliance for police officers to prevent future misconduct. By bringing these concerns to the Police Service Commission, CISLAC aims to restore public confidence in the police force, reinforce judicial independence, and uphold the principles of justice and accountability.”
The inability to secure legal representation by the 109 foreigners charged cybercrime stalled their planned arraignment yesterday before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The foreigners, who are said to be citizens of China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia and Myanmar, were recently arrested by the police in their residence at plot 1906, Cadestral Zone 807, Katampe District of Abuja, where they were said to be engaging in cybercrime by allegedly promoting “a fraudulent and unregistered gaming platform.
In a six-count charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/599/2024 filed in the name of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the foreigners were charged with cybercrime, money laundering and unlawfully residing in Nigeria.
When they were brought to court, the prosecution indicated its readiness for the arraignment of the defendants.
Justice Ekerete Akpan noted that the defendants were not represented by any lawyer, a development that promoted the judge to reschedule the arraignment for November 22 to enable the foreigners secure the services of lawyers.
It was alleged in one of the counts that they did aid, abet, conspire among themselves “to commit an offence, to wit; cybercrime and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 27 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024).”
They were also alleged to have “knowingly access a computer and network and input, alter, delete of suppress data resulting in inauthentic data with the intention that such inauthentic data will be considered or acted upon as If they were authentic or genuine and you thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under section 13 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024).”
In another count, the 109 defendants alleged to have, “knowingly and without authority caused loss of property to persons in Nigeria and outside Nigeria when you caused the inputting and suppression of data by deceiving people to believe that the unregistered and gambling platforms they were marketing were authentic “for the purpose of conferring economic benefit on yourselves and you thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under section 14 (1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024)”
They were said to have, with intent to defraud, “did promote via electronic Messages on the internet, a fraudulent and unregistered gambling platform, materially misrepresenting facts about the said fraudulent gambling platform upon which reliance, persons in Nigeria and outside Nigeria suffered enormous economic losses and you thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under section 14 (2) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024).”
They were alleged to have removed “from Nigeria proceeds generated from operating a fraudulent and unregistered gambling platforms, namely: 9f.com, c2.top, 8pg.top and you thereby commit Money Laundering, contrary to and punishable under section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
The defendants were also accused of entering “the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a business permit of 30 days duration and failed, or neglected to leave the Nigerian territory at the expiration of the said permit and remained in Nigeria without a valid resident permit or appropriate valid visa and you thereby contrary to section 4 (2) and punishable under section 44 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 2015.”
She said: “After cautioning my classmates over the noise, he asked me to follow him to his office. When we got to his office, our director locked his office and he grabbed me firmly, pressing his body against mine. I tried running away from his, but the door was locked. He used the opportunity to remove my knicker. The only thing that I remembered was that he removed my knicker. The next time I became conscious was when I saw him cleaning up my body with tissue.
“The tissue he had was stained with blood. I snatched the tissue and ran outside. I went to one of my teachers to show the teacher the tissue.
“I asked him what the meaning of the blood on the tissue is; the teacher said it could be my flow. But I told the teacher, that it is not. It was at that point that I narrated what happened to the teacher. It was the teacher who gave me money to go to our first campus to go and narrate what happened to the director’s wife.
“While I was going, I noticed that the director was chasing after me with his bicycle. I had to run into a nearby compound and narrated what happened to them.
“The people were the ones that gave me phone to call my parents who later came and took me home, after reporting the matter to the police station.”
The father of the victim, Mr. Luke who corroborated the daughter’s account of the incident, said he reported the case at the Eastern Ngwa Police Divisional Headquarters under whose jurisdiction the incident happened to bring the proprietor, who had been at large since last Wednesday, the incident happened to book.
He said that he was at the market when he got a distress call from his daughter over the incident.
Inquiry by our correspondent revealed that the matter has been transferred to the Aba Area Command, where the accused have been given 48hrs to report or risk being declared wanted.
When contacted, on a telephone interview, the said school proprietor denied having canal knowledge of the student.
Meanwhile, youths Ohuru have barricaded the school gate with palm fronds since the incident happened.
Unconfirmed reports have it that, the 14-year-old isn’t the first victim of the “randy” school director, which the father of the victim also disclosed that youths in the community had informed him that his daughter wasn’t the first rape victim of the school director.
A source at the Aba Area Command confirmed that the case has been transferred to them, adding that the complainant and accused would be visiting the command today, (yesterday) for interviews.
Even for Lagos, which many Nigerians admit progresses better than all other sister states, inclusive transportation has remained an illusion. For three days, transportation experts and policymakers converged in Eko Hotel to brainstorm on the fundamentals that must change if states want to build safe, inclusive, and climate-resilient urban transport that could make citizens opt for public transport. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE was there and reports.
None of the experts who gathered at the Lantana Hall of the Eko Hotels, Lagos, could fault Emmanuel John when he posited that for any state to be described as one with a functional transport system, it must be one that not only has a functional air, and water modes, but one in which its roads use are properly shared by vehicular traffic, trains, coaches, with cycling and pedestrian walkways, that encourages all classes of the vulnerable groups–aged, people living with disabilities, women and children–to have unhindered access to the road.That was the reality at the maiden three-day National Conference on sustainable urban mobility organised by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), to call the attention of all policymakers at the state levels to the need to develop their capacity to the demands of modern transportation systems that will be in line with global best practices.
John, an engineer and Chief Executive Director of Ochenuel Mobility, a leading consultant in urban intermodal mobility, argued that transportation will continue to have issues, resulting in unending traffic congestion, poor capacity optimisation and stunted economic growth, where transport development is skewed.
The grim fact is that even the host state, arguably the best in class, in terms of visible strides in the deployment of all multi-modes transportation is far from the goal. But the government insisted that it remains committed to the provision of basic transportation infrastructure that will be friendlier to the vulnerable groups–women, children, the aged and people living with disabilities.
While flagging off the conference on behalf of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat said: “The theme “Implementing Safe, Inclusive, and Climate-resilient Urban Transport in a Digital Age for Sustainable Development” reflects the complexity and urgency of the work ahead. It challenges us to confront the intertwined crises of climate change, urbanisation and social inequality while embracing the opportunities presented by digital innovation.”
Hamzat said population growth, rapid urbanisation and economic development have continued to place increasing strain on existing infrastructure, often leading to gridlock, environmental degradation and social inequities.
Admitting that transportation is central to sustainable development as it connects people to jobs, commercial activities, education and other essential services which enhance economic growth and livability index, Hamzat argued that this reality presents policymakers with the challenge to rethink how best to design, build and operate our transport systems.
“In Lagos, we have made this a top priority by managing and modernising transport infrastructure. The Lagos State Government through LAMATA and Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) are implementing the sustainable Multimodal Transport system that will incorporate cleaner energy intra-city buses, light rail transit, modern inland waterway coaches and non-motorised transportation options, which include cycling and walking,” he said.
Hamzat said the Sanwo-Olu administration was deploying clean urban transportation solutions that included hydroelectricity, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), biomass, geo-thermal and solar energy.
He added that LAMATA was implementing pilot phases of the two clean energy transitions through CNG buses and electric buses that when deployed, would reduce emission and create a cleaner, quieter and less encumbered environment.
The deputy governor said the government was aware that sustainability was not about deploying cleaner energy buses, but ensuring the facilities were available to citizens, irrespective of class and status.
He, therefore, challenged the participants who are made up of transport commissioners or their representatives and private sector operators and subject matter experts, to come up with recommendations to promote inclusivity of sustainable transportation and its implementation strategies.
“It is good to get cleaner higher grade buses, but another thing is to ensure that everyone, including the aged, the vulnerable such as people living with disabilities and children are able to assess them,” he said.
While praising LAMATA for leading yet another conversation on how states can increase their investment in sustainable climate-resilient and inclusive transportation, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said vehicular emission has emerged as a critical global challenge. In 2021, transportation accounted for the largest share of greenhouse gas emission, contributing 28 per cent of the total GHG emission.
“These emissions primarily from burning fossil fuels in our vehicles, ships, trains, and planes, adversely impact people and the environment through air and noise pollution, as well as carbon monoxide emissions, which have both direct and indirect harmful effects,” he said.
He said Lagos is deliberate in the implementation of crucial policies such as the deployment of electrification of transport, which promotes Electric Vehicles (EVs) and deployment of Blue light train, promotion of multimodal transport system which encourages the use of diverse transport modes such as buses, trains, bicycles and walking, thereby reducing dependence on private vehicles.
Others are the designing and building of roads and other infrastructure that are adaptable and durable, leveraging on technology to leapfrog developments such as smart traffic management systems, and policy innovations which support sustainable transportation, such as the promotion of the adoption of CNG and EV and massive investments in public transportation.
LAMATA’s Managing Director, Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo, said the conference was aimed at creating a platform where stakeholders in the transportation industry would be able to deepen sustainable and inclusive urban mobility.
Akinajo, an engineer, said the conference would help in developing capacity on urban mobility to spotlight critical issues in the sector with respect to climate change, inclusiveness and technology.
Other objectives, she said, include lowering the contributions of transportation to environmental degradation, examining the financial complexities in building and maintaining sustainable public transport infrastructure, creating a networking for key stakeholders in the urban transport development, by providing a platform to showcase the success stories of the Lagos urban mobility in order to inspire other states to do same.
By institutionalising the LAMATA National Conference SUM, the agency hopes to lead the pack in building “the transformative capacity of other states and building experience in sustainable urban mobility.”
Case studies of some states at the conference were taken for peer review which aimed at further deepening conversations that would catalyse the interest of other sister-states to return to the drawing board on achieving a sustainable transportation system.
Kano State shocked many when it revealed that it has unveiled a transport policy with which it hopes to transform transportation development in the state. The Permanent Secretary of Kano State Ministry of Transportation, Adamu Bala Mohammed, said the initiative is called the “Green Paper”, adding that, like Lagos, Kano, in recent times, is taking steps to transform its transportation system.
Kaduna State, according to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure, Inuwa Ibrahim, has rolled out a number of initiatives among which are; Kaduna State Roads Authority (KADRA) and the Kaduna State Transport Authority (KADTA) and the Kaduna State Power Supply Company (KPSC) and the Kaduna Urban Renewal Project (KURP).
For him, the state, since 2017, has a 50-year strategic transportation and infrastructure master plan. He said Kaduna is almost concluding the reintroduction of its metro-train–the Kaduna-Kafanchan-Zaria line, while the contract for a new line from Kawo to Command Junction has just been signed with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
For Anambra, represented by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Transport, Michael Obiekwe, the Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has commenced road constructions that are taking cognisance of promoting other modes of transportation such as cycling and walking.
He equally said the government is proud of the strides Innoson Motors, a leading motor manufacturing company based in the state, which has started the mass production of CNG vehicles as well as EVs, which are already being used by the state government.
He said Anambra State would not be left behind in the quest for a sustainable urban mobility as achieving the same is akin to promoting well-being and the preservation of the earth.
Ogun, whose Commissioner of Transportation, Gbenga Dairo, is the Chairman of the Nigeria Transportation Commissioners’ Forum (NTCF) also said it has delivered a transport policy, which a leading transport consultant, Dr. George Banjo, and a team of experts put together.
Fortunate to be a state contiguous to Lagos, Dairo, who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, said many of its initiatives on Bus Rapid Transit and rail are going to be extensions of the Lagos initiatives.
He said the state, in agreement with Lagos has agreed to extend the Blue Line from Okokomaiko to Agbara, a major industrial hub in the state, the Red Line, which is already at Agbado, an Ogun State suburb driven further inwards, the Green Line which ought to stop at the Lekki FTZ to be pushed to Olokola Deep Seaport in Ogun State, Purple Line from Ojo to Mowe to be further driven down to the Ogun aerotropolis, while the Yellow Line would be taken to Sango-Otta.
Dairo said the state will soon commence commercial operation of its cargo airport at Remo, massively invest in a port at Olokola Deep Sea Port, which, according to him, has the deepest draft in Nigeria; thus having a huge opportunity to attract bigger vessels.
He further said that a number of road constructions are ongoing simultaneously in the state to change the narrative as a state with the poorest road networks. He added that the state started the CNG conversion ahead of the Federal Government and has introduced CNG motorcycles in addition to the buses it had earlier introduced on dedicated corridors as pilot phase of the CNG initiative.
Dairo noted that the CNG and EVs are being deployed in the state in Governor Dapo Abiodun’s commitment to the reduction of GHG as a result of carbon emission from motor vehicles as part of the administration’s commitment to sustainable urban mobility.
Presenting the Lagos Transport Policy, Olasunkanmi Ojoowuro said the policy unveiled in May this year is all-embracing as it is a document that addresses the fear of inclusiveness of the many vulnerable groups and the sustainability of the environment through a number of initiatives such as the promotion of non-motorised initiatives, cycle lanes, promotion of pedestrian walkways to promote walking and the deployment of light trains with the third Green colour-coded train already in the works.
The deployment of technology in the area of traffic enforcement, smart traffic management as well as cashless payment of transport fares across all available modes of waterways, buses and trains, according to him, has revolutionised how citizens perceive public transportation.
On the state’s Bus Industry Transition Programme (BITP), Dr. Kemi Amure said getting the informal transport sector to key into the refleeting initiative driven by LAMATA on behalf of the state government has remained herculean.
Mrs. Amure, who is the Head of Bus Service at LAMATA, said the initiative has remained almost stagnated because operators are skeptical of being on-boarded.
However, the Omi Eko initiative, the public-private initiative driven by Caverton Marine, with LASWA representing the Lagos State Government, has redefined waterway travels since May when it commenced commercial operation, according to the General Manager of LASWA, Mr. Oluwadamilola Emmanuel.
Mr. Emmanuel said Omi Eko has added value to the state government as its water buses are modern, with facilities such as WiFi and charging ports where travellers are able to charge their hand-held devices. He said LASWA has continued to introduce a number of initiatives on the waterways which have improved water transit.
Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd) argued that, unlike many of its colleagues, a thriving state such as Lagos needs its own metropolitan airport. He said citing the Lagos Metropolitan Airport around Lekki is a masterstroke as it would hugely contribute to the development of the new economic hub and reduce the potential traffic gridlock envisaged along that corridor as a result of the huge commercial and economic activities that are already springing up along the corridor.
For Emmanuel John, beyond gigantic projects envisioned by state governments, recovering public spaces for walkways and cycling in all the urban centres remain the focal point for sustainable urban mobility.
He urged government planners and engineers to prioritise construction of low-speed transit corridors, or the government should dedicate some corridors, or certain kilometres of roads in the heart of cities, states-wide, as car-free zones. He said in countries where this is practised, the initiative has led to improved condition of living, massive economic transformation and development and improved well-being of citizens.
The Director of Library Services, Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NIIT), Dr. Felicia Nwanosike, argued that women must be encouraged to take up roles in the transportation sector and given a chance in the male-dominated industry.
Her views were further amplified by the Director of SLR Consulting, UK International Development, Paul Curtis, in his virtual presentation of SHE CAN Tool who urged decision makers in the transport system to tackle sexual harassment.
He noted that harassment of the female folk could either be verbal, (threats, sexual comments) or visual (leering, photography), physical (groping) or psychological (stalking).
He listed poor lighting conditions, lack of surveillance by police or other security agencies, long waiting on deserted stations, both overcrowded or under-crowded areas, or travelling through high crime rate neighbourhoods, late evenings/night and absence of emergency numbers, among others as predisposing factors leading to gender violence.
Curtis, who admitted that sexual harassment is an international problem, canvassed Sexual Harassment Engagements (SHE) CAN, as part of the tools to promote gender-informed mobility and inclusion policies that could be promoted by African cities to make the transportation systems safer for all.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Research) of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Babajide Alo, canvassed that the way to preserve the earth is to ensure the transition to cleaner and safer energy modes that could power transportation, especially in developing countries.
He praised the Federal Government for adjusting upwards the price of petrol, which he said has led to a massive reduction in the number of vehicles on the road, even as he advocated for a more inclusive and intermodal system that would promote intermodal transit which would reduce the rate of carbon emission across board.
Among other speakers at the three-day event were the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Dr. Tunde Ajayi, Group Lead, Air Quality Monitoring Research Group (AQMRG), University of Lagos, Dr. Rose Alani, Prof. Taibat Lawanson, of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Lagos, Christopher Kost, the Director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Nairobi, Kenya, and Ms Anabelle Dicarlo, Global Director CPCS-Transcom.
Others were Mr. Timothy Durant, Associate Professor, Transport and Mobility Planning, UK International Development, Mr. Ibiayo Araromi, CEO Chorus Technology, Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, Synergy Infrastructure and Investments, Ms Garima Taheja, of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA, Dr. Paul Njogu, senior Researcher, Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Dr Betrand Tchanche, an Assistant Professor of Classical and Quantum Physics, Alioune Diop University, Senegal, and Mr Amos Kamau, Emission Inventory Developer, Transport Sector, JKUAT, Kenya.
