The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Magazine

  • Our survival battles, by female plastic scavengers

    Our survival battles, by female plastic scavengers

    • Say we work under severe conditions for plastic action but we’re not appreciated’

    ASSISTANT EDITOR TAIWO ALIMI captures the heart-rending tales of Nigerian women in the forefront of plastic pollution battle, who unfortunately find themselves in dire conditions of work characterized by disdain, neglect and inhumane treatment. Government and Financial institution, which are critical to the growth and sustenance of the industry, have not been left out in the discrimination.

    She had no intention of being involved with old plastic, let alone falling in love with it.  Nasirat Onaselu, a 2005 graduate of Marketing, was a fabrics seller in Ketu Market, Lagos State until 2021 when she began to experience a decrease in patronage and income.

    She sought advice from her younger brother, “and my brother advised me to look in the direction of recycling. He told me ‘it’s a dirty job, but if you go into it, you won’t regret it.’”

    Taking his advice seriously, she left the comfort of a grand shop in the heart of Lagos Mainland for the filthy and rural Ibafo, an Ogun community on the Lagos Expressway, to learn the ropes of recycling.

    Known as “Mama Haliyah”, the 40-year-old wife and mother left behind her diploma from The Polytechnic Ibadan to become an apprentice under experienced but unlettered masters.

    However, she did not start her venture with plastics. “When I began, I did not know anything about plastics recycling. I contacted a woman who specialised in paper and cardboard recycling, and she took me under her wing to learn the trade.”

    After some time, Onaselu realised that the business was going out of fashion. Despite looking everywhere, she could barely find any paper to buy. In three months, she only managed to get one large chunk, and the profit was not much.

    Next, she tried her hands on CD plate recycling, but to her disappointment, the business also did not yield good profits. But while looking for CD plates, she stumbled on the Kara Ibafo Recycling Centre – a hub for waste recycling in Ogun State. The centre is frequented by scavengers from Lagos and its environs, and Onaselu hoped that she would find lots of CD plates to buy from there. But instead, she discovered that it was plastic waste that was in high demand.

    “Every day, scavengers and ordinary people bring mammoth heaps of plastics of different dimensions and sizes to be weighed and sold to middlemen in recycling business,” she said.

    This realization led Onaselu to venture into the business of plastic waste.

    “People from Northern Nigeria dominate the Kara Market, and for a start, language was a barrier. Even so, they refused to yield to my requests for business direction,” she said.

    Onaselu was again left with no choice but to become a learner.

    “For one year, I learned the ins and outs of the business,” she said.

    Onaselu started from the lowest rung of the value chain; from waste-picking, to sorting, washing, labeling and delivery to the recycling company.

    Initial challenge

    As soon as she got her business off the ground, her hosts became hostile. “Sometimes, they will use their local dialect to instruct customers not to sell goods to me,” she said.

    The problem, she noted, is that the male-dominated marketplace is not used to a woman calling the shot. Women are kept at the base of the business life cycle. They are pickers, sorters, and washers. No woman had aspired to become a buyer and supplier within the market. They are men’s domain. 

    Yet the challenge was the adrenalin she needed to  propel her vision; the tonic to mount the next level. So, she put her body and soul into finding a solution.

    Read Also: Five Northern monarchs deposed in Nigeria

    “I knew my time at Ibafo was over. I had to look for a new location to expand my business,” she said.

    Not long after, she found the right place.

    Said she: “There is a mechanic village in Magboro, about 15 kilometres from Ibafo, where I fix my car, and they are friendly people.

    “I told their leader, Gafar Adeniyi my plight and he took pity on me. He allocated a space for me where I could keep my goods, and since then, business has been good.

    “The thing about washed-out plastic is that the market is inexhaustible. No matter how much plastic you have, there are always recycling companies willing to purchase it. Once you deliver your plastic, it is weighed and you are paid instantly.”

    From scavenging to collecting

    Yet she said it is not as easy as it might sound.

    “I started my journey into plastic waste collection by picking up disused plastics around my neighbourhood, which was my comfort zone.

    “To expand my reach, I began encouraging my friends and family members to save their plastic waste for me, which I would then purchase from them.

    “From there, I began to assemble my team. Now, I have people working for me, including a good number of women.”

    “There are more than 20 women on my payroll. Many of them are cleaners in establishments, and I have trained them on how to gather and keep used plastics. They bring their hoards regularly and I pay them appropriately.

    “As soon as I have enough merchandise, I will deliver it to the recycle company and collect my money.” 

    Onaselu said proceeds are impressive and she’s earning well to sustain her family, and at the same time help other women to sustain theirs.

    “Business is good. But what makes me happy the most is that I am helping other women like me to boost their income and put food on their tables.

    “Last week, I paid a woman N48, 000 for wasted plastic generated. Another got N17,000, and yet another I paid N5,000. Whenever I give them money I’m happy and they are happy too. 

    “There are women who are not doing any meaningful work. Plastic scavenging is an ideal business for them. And they don’t have to look far; plastic wastes are everywhere.”

    Like Onaselu, Mrs. Kemi Ayandade also supplies damaged plastics directly to the company. The 48-year-old had dropped teaching and catering to embrace the plastics business.

    “I’ve been doing it for two years. It is tedious but lucrative,” she said.         

    Women scavengers

    Laide Bakare is one of Onaselu’s regular suppliers. She works as a cleaner in a popular faith-based establishment located in Magboro but says she earns more from the plastics hustle than her normal job.

    She said: “I’ve been bringing plastic waste to her for more than six months. I used to throw away the plastics until I learned I could make a steady income selling them. With the earnings, I can buy things in my home.”

    Laide has gone beyond picking used plastic bottles around her workplace and now goes out to fetch them.

    “On my way home, I pick worn plastics wherever I find them. It is no longer a thing of shame because I know that I’m making money from it. In a month, I earn an average of N30,000 from disused plastics to augment my income,  because as a cleaner, I earn just N25,000.

    Adedayo, a road cleaner working for a contractor with the Lagos State Government, narrated how she became a champion of worn out plastics.

    “As a road cleaner, I earn very little and work so hard. Sometimes, I have to beg passers-by for money just to transport and feed myself,” she said, adding that she had stopped begging for money since she started collecting and selling old plastics.

    “As a road cleaner, I come across plastic bottles every day, which were previously just gathered into a corner for the truck to take away. But now, I’ve become a plastic collector and takes the plastic to Mama Haliyah in exchange for money.”

    She said her income from this side hustle is more than her salary.”

    Bigger stake

    For Ibrahim Usman, 19, the stake is even higher. A professional waste collector, he is also one of Mama Haliyah’s regular plastic depositors.

    Born in Borno State, he had migrated to the Ogun State town of Mowe in 2020 and first worked with a refuse collection company before starting his own collection business. All he needed to stay in business was a locally made iron cart used to gather waste.

    Speaking in Pidgin English, Usman said he goes from house to house putting out their waste bins for money.

    Watching Usman at work is quite an extraordinary sight. His expert hands work like a machine: quick and intentional. He would sort the unwanted from the wanted with deft touches at the same time picking the wanted pieces out and apart.

    Due to the extra money he earns from collecting disused plastics, his primary target is plastics of different kinds, sizes and shapes. Sometimes, he feels the plastic before his eyes could even sight them.

    Usman does not wear gloves or any form of protection, whether on his hands or on his face. Ferociously working with his bare hands, he fishes out plastics from dustbins, gutters, bushes or anywhere he can.

    “I make more money from old plastics than other wastes,” he said.

    Whenever Usman enters a street, he looks out for concealed areas and bushes harboring human waste and goes to work. He gets occupied fishing out tatty plastics that have been carelessly disposed on the road, bushes, and gutters.

    Usman no longer cares about what he gets on waste from individual homes. His priority is plastic waste.

    On a particular day after taking out a house waste, Usman spent extra time combing the small bush near the house. He was rewarded handsomely with over 100 empty plastic bottles which he packed in a special net and delivered to Mama Haliyah.

    Sometimes, I make up to N10,000 from a single delivery. The amount I get depends on the weight of the plastics, but it always comes without delay.

    Plastic Menace

    Like Onaselu and Adedayo, scores of other women who have keyed into plastic action are helping the environment by saving the country from the menace of plastic pollution.

    Although Mama Haliyah’s initial motive was profit, she knew she was also saving humanity by saving the earth with every plastic salvaged and recycled.

    “I’m aware of climate change and know that the work we are doing is beneficial to the community and the world at large.

    “Aside from making a living from plastic picking, we are also helping the earth to breathe well and protect the ocean and fishes. In the long run, we are helping ourselves because we bear the brunt of climate change. I’m happy that I can do something to make my world better,”she said smiling.

    Facts and Figures

    It is estimated that Nigeria generates about 2.5 million tons of plastic waste annually, and plastics account for 15% of the total waste generated in Lagos State-Nigeria’s economic hub and most populated city. Of that, over 130,000 tons of plastics make their way into water bodies, putting the country among the top 20 contributors to marine debris globally.

    Olumide Idowu, Executive Director for International Climate Change Initiative, said there is no exact data on their number or capacity to handle large volumes of waste sufficiently. So, waste has visibly caused blocked drainage and pollution.

    Climate change-induced floods have also become a recurring decimal in more than 20 states of Nigeria, washing away humans, crops, animals, houses, and properties.

    Walking through the streets of most Nigerian urban and rural communities, the sights are not comforting. Plastic wastes are everywhere, and they find their ways into rivers, lakes and oceans.

    The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) predicted that production and incineration of plastics would add 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere – equivalent to 189 coal-fired power plants. By 2050 this could rise to 2.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year – or 615 coal plants’ worth.

    CIEL contended that if the trend continues, plastics will account for 20% of oil consumption by 2050.

    Llorenç Milà i Canals, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) Life Cycle Initiative, said the impact of plastic in the world is catastrophic. “Many people aren’t aware that a material that is embedded in our daily life can have significant impacts not just on wildlife but on the climate and human health,” Canals said.

    To find an enduring solution, in 2022, UN member states agreed on a resolution to end plastic pollution. The plan is to focus on measures to alleviate plastic pollution throughout the entire life cycle of plastics; from extraction and product design to production to waste management.

    Meanwhile, while Nigeria government is yet to find a practical and enduring solution to plastic menace, Onaselu  and company (other Nigerian women) have taken the bull by the horn. They are at the forefront of Nigeria’s plastic action without support from government, agencies, and corporate bodies.

    Logistics

    Onaselu said a major challenge they are facing is the logistics of moving their product.

    Plastics are cumbersome product, and to move tons of it around without a functional and spacious vehicle can be burdensome. But for her courage and perseverance, she said she would have quit.

    “I don’t just sit on my ass waiting for plastics to drop from the sky. Many of my clients don’t have the resources to bring their waste to where I am, so I have to go to them. To accomplish this task I need a good truck, which I don’t have and cannot afford now.”

    So, how does she get the job done?

    Onaselu is not only industrious, she is also brave. To get her goods to the company at least once every week, she put her only car, a Toyota Camry, to work.

    Although the car is not designed to carry such heavy loads, she fills every available space from the front and back seats to the trunk and top of the vehicle with old plastics. The only space spared is the driver’s seat.

    To secure her goods, she ties them with lose ropes to every part of the car. That done, Onaselu’s fragile frame drives up to 70 kilometres on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    It is quite a sight to behold as the size of the loads dwarfs the lightweight car.

    She said: “I cannot afford cargo bus. It will eat into my profit and send me out of business. If I use my car I will make more money to reinvest into the business.”

    Has she encountered difficult road enforcers in her voyage?

    “I do all the time,” she answered. “They flag me down all the time, and once they look at me, they just burst into laughter.

    “They know I’m doing this to put food on the table and fend for my family. We are all hustlers, aren’t we?”

    Has she ever been fined? She answered in the negative: “They all know me now and don’t disturb me.”

    Sadly, she is not alone in this quagmire. The situation is the same with Mrs Adedayo. “I have a Toyota Camry which I use to run the business. I will keep using it to carry used plastics until I save enough money to buy a truck,” she said.

    Onaselu added: “Many of us use our cars to deliver goods. We are driving ourselves too hard. If we get help from government, bank or agency, life will be easier for us.

    Once in a while, I hire a truck to take the goods. But it is only when it is more than my car can take. I simply don’t have the kind of money that would buy a truck.

    “It is dangerous business using a car to transport plastic wastes on the highway. If I get help, I will buy an articulated truck. It is more comfortable and convenient.”

    Asked if she would engage a driver, she waved the suggestion aside,  saying “I will drive it myself until I have grown the business.”

    Onaselu’s car is dirty, weather-beaten, and falling apart.

    But for how long will they be neglected? In 2023, the Nigerian government commissioned researchers, Priscilla Achakpa and Katherine Gilchrist, through the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), to conduct a national analysis of plastic pollution in Nigeria with a focus on gender, equity and inclusion. Their findings confirmed Onaselu’s complaint of neglect.

    According to the researchers, Nigerian women who lead plastic action initiatives are often not acknowledged; they are stigmatised, and have to work under strenuous conditions. This is similar to the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg but is not recognised for its valuable contribution.

    According to their report based on consultations in communities of five states from North to South, women have historically not been included in the management of household waste at the policy level. Despite the fact that women are responsible for the majority of generation, storage, and collection of household waste (81%, 96%, and 91%, respectively), they have not been integrated into waste management policy-making.

    “Itinerant waste pickers of whom 78% are internally displaced persons, mostly women and teenage boys who fled Boko Haram and settled in informal settlements and slums, do the everyday job of picking up discarded plastics on the roadside and dump sites and washing and sorting each piece of broken and discarded plastic. They have been doing this, often stigmatized and dangerous work, without recognition, decent pay, or security for generations.

    “They face harassment, lack social security and other protections, and rarely receive support related to childcare and unpaid domestic work.”

    “Their lived experiences uncovered the need to treat the plastic crisis as a human one, considering the experiences, needs, and obstacles faced by the most affected communities.”

    Harsh conditions of work

    The place Onaselu refers to as a workplace is nothing more than dirty, barren land. She is at the mercy of sun and rain and her goods are not spared too. When there is a rainstorm, her plastics are washed away.

    For instance, there is no kind of facility to aid their work situation. There is no form of electricity,  pipe borne water or decent work room. There are no restrooms: toilet and bathroom and the surroundings are smelly.

    She said: “We don’t work in a clean environment. It is dirty and I don’t have a roof over my head. It is a physical job, sorting, watching, and putting dirty plastics together.

    “It is not a work for a woman. We are praying for the government to recognise us and the work we do so as to lighten our yoke.”

    Access to loan

    Access to loan facility is a mirage to these superwomen. And Onaselu is not happy that she is not getting help from the bank.

    “I have the desire to grow my business. I’m not lazy and I can say the same for all women in this business. What is lacking is financial assistance.”

    Mrs Ayandade said she had been to the bank to seek business loan and was turned back.

    “The financial institutions are not helping us, and they and the government are the ones that can give us the kind of money to expand,” she said.

    Financial institutions not kind to women

    She said there is a disparity in how financial institutions treat women entrepreneurs seeking loans to grow their businesses.

    Obi Charles Nnanna, founder of Kaltani, a big player in Nigeria’s plastic industry, can’t agree more.

    He said: “I think that the Nigerian government needs to make policies that will support women driving plastic initiatives in the country.”

    He noted that the plastic industry has not even scratched the surface yet.

    “The market for plastic recycling in Nigeria is worth $10 billion, and it has the potential to create a significant number of employment opportunities.

    “The sector is currently dominated by informal businesses that cater to many Nigerians across the country.

    “The federal government must recognise the sector’s potential and develop policies to support its growth.

    “Additionally, the government should invest in the core group of women who are driving the sector forward and provide them with the necessary resources to continue their work.”

    Battle with stigma

    Rather than getting recognition, plastic superwomen are stigmatised. They are looked down upon and face harassment in the course of their work.

    “Before I left Kara Plastic Market, I was discriminated against because I’m a woman among men. Because I have ambition,” Onaselu said.

    Family, friends and the society at large are also not kind to these heroines of plastic action.

    She refused this reporter permission to use her face in the report due to the perception of friends and family.

    “I don’t know how my family, children, and siblings will react to it,” she said.

    Laide said whenever she is out picking plastics people look down on her as if “I’m less than human.”

    Instead, Nnanna said, they should be treated as champions of plastic action.

    “Nigerian women are building a sustainable plastic economy and improving waste management systems in Nigeria. They are heroines of the land,” he added.

  • Delta killings: Fleeing Okuama indigenes return home two months after, count losses

    Delta killings: Fleeing Okuama indigenes return home two months after, count losses

    Okuama is no more! Its rich history is perpetually entombed in its ruins following the punitive expedition of March 14 by Nigerian Army over the killing of seventeen soldiers and officers on a peace mission to the riverine community.

    The community denied involvement in the violent clash that claimed the lives of 17 soldiers. Its Chairman, Ukuama Warri Branch, Mr. Okrika Emmanuel, said Okuama lacks the technical capacity to orchestrate such an attack on trained soldiers, adding that the whole world knows who the real militants are in the Niger-Delta.

    In the aftermath of the invasion, the troubled community (sans the Anglican Church and a ramshackle structure by the jetty) was reduced to rubble of bricks, concrete, charred roofing sheets, burnt wooden beams, and rusty, mangled steel rod that stuck out of the ruins like crooked fingers.

    In the intervening two months of military occupation, many places which used to be homesteads in the community had turned into thick, luxurious undergrowth of greenery, threatening to overwhelm the ruins that lay beneath.

    Read Also:Five Northern monarchs deposed in Nigeria

    Although the St Peter’s Anglican Church built about 121 years ago survived the onslaught, the community’s only public primary school, Aderha Primary School, was utterly destroyed.

    Scores of panels and poles of solar streetlights were felled and vandalized while the electricity transformer that served the community was carted away.

    Gone are Okuama Secondary School, Okuama Primary Health Centre, the “Oguan” or community town hall, the famous Okuama fish market and many homes, hotels, shops and churches in this thriving Urhobo enclave.

    Also, the home of no less a personality than Bishop Agori Iwe, an Okuama indigene and first Bishop of Benin Diocese of the Anglican Church appointed in 1962, was not spared.

    For context, Bishop Agori Iwe was a foremost catechist and teacher, who contributed immensely to the spread of western education in Ewu- Urhobo Kingdom since 1934 when he established a primary school in Okuama.

    A major concern for the refugees in Okuama is starvation and insecurity. With refugees emerging from nearby bushes to find their homes flattened and life savings gone, they have had to depend on charity to survive.

    To provide their daily protein needs, a group of men is assigned the responsibility of fishing in the slow moving freshwater of Ewu River. The catch is usually made available to the women folks, who prepare food for everyone.

    Many Okuama indigenes who spoke to The Nation lamented their personal losses. Mrs Juliet Okah, a 65 year old grandmother, who spoke in Pidgin English, said: “My son, we suffered lot inside the forest. There was no food to eat. We started hunting in ponds inside the bush in order to catch fish to feed our children.

    “As we came back after soldiers had left, we met some Ijaw people stealing our property destroyed by soldiers. All my money, house and even clothes were burnt by the soldiers.

    “Okoloba peope had started uprooting our cassava because soldiers drove us out of our village.”

    Fifty-eight-year-old Mrs Eseteru Vote, who broke down in tears as she spoke, lamented that she could not find two of her children. She said she lost all her belongings and home to the military invasion.

    Mr Emmanuel Okrika, a retiree who appeared crestfallen, described his situation as hopeless after the house he built in Okuama was destroyed.

    His words: “I am a retiree. I retired in February 2023 from the Hospital Management Board after 35 years of service.

    “This building is mine. All I suffered for 35 years is gone. They destroyed everything.

    “In this other compound, I had a hotel with 10 rooms. All my investments are gone.

    “That is the Professor’s house over there (pointing), it is also in ruins. My wife’s house was also destroyed.

    “It has been very terrible for me. The Delta State Government has not paid my retirement benefits. It is becoming difficult for me to feed my family.

    “The hotel was the only hope I had, but you can see it has been destroyed.

    “I have nine children. Three have graduated from the university but I have others in primary and secondary schools.

    “I plead with Governor Oborevwori to direct that my pension be paid. I want to use this medium to beg the state governor to consider me because it is very terrible for me.

    “As of last week when I returned, my blood pressure had risen to 190/100. I nearly collapsed here. So things are very terrible for me. One of my children who attends Otefe Polytechnic is asking for N80,000 school fees. I have told him to wait.

    “We would prefer that the internally displaced persons’ camp which they have established in Ewu-Urhobo is relocated here. There is enough land here. I don’t see any reason why the Delta State Government cannot build the camp here.

    Mr Ohwotake Otiera, a 65-year-old father of 15 who hails from Odokpokpo Quarters, said: “I live behind the Anglican Church. I am very surprised to be like a refugee, sleeping in the jungle for close to two months.

    Whenever it rains, we are drenched. My children are weeping because of the terrible conditions. The soldiers arrested my 23-year-old son, ‘Difference’, whose picture went viral on social media. He was tied with ropes and taken away by the soldiers.

    “During the commotion he ran in a different direction and so I cannot say what happened to him.

    ‘I want to thank Governor Sheriff for working hard for the soldiers to leave. But I want the government to rebuild our community.

    “In the jungle, we survived eating edible worms from palm trees, wild mangoes and guavas. We built huts in separate locations in the forest and allocated same to different people.

    “The situation was bad when we returned. We saw many skeletons of Okuama residents that we had to rebury.”

    Continuing, Otiera said: “All my children’s certificates, including my permanent voter cards have been destroyed. I appeal to the government to reissue a new one to me.

    “Okuama people are peaceful. We don’t want any trouble. We know who trouble makers are.”

    The case of 80 year old Mary Macaulay, who was left to die because she was accused of witchcraft by her children and community, has left many Deltans bewildered. She was left uncared for in the two months following the military invasion and occupation, in both rain and sunshine, and without food or water.

    She was an inch from death, when help came. A delegation of community leaders who discovered her under the ruins of a house near the market, appealed for medical assistance for her.

    A public spirited man, Mr Michael Egi, who lives in the U.S, sent a donation of N225,000 for her medical needs after appeals on social media went viral.

    The Nation spoke with Dr Kewve Amanasi of the Ewu General Hospital, Otor Ewu about Madam Macaulay’s condition, and she said: “When she came, I saw an elderly woman that was chronically ill with…. peri orbital sunkenness, leg swellings, bony prominences all over.

    “I made a diagnosis of protein energy malnutrition and severe anemia. Thus far, we have transfused four pints of blood with PCV of 8%. Gradually, she is picking up. She has hermitiasis. Over 15 worms came out from her mouth and markedly dehydrated.”

    Dr Amanasi, however, expressed optimism that the sick woman will make it.

    The plight of the refugees attracted the attention of Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) USA, with a donation of relief materials to assuage their suffering. The relief materials include basic food items, cooking utensils, cutleries, toiletries and clothes.

    Its President, Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro, who presented the items at the Iwhre-Okpe Waterside recently, noted that the choice of items delivered was based on the feedback from the people.

    Dr. Oyiborhoro said: “The story of Okuama is known to the world. No need to retell it here. With their homes completely wiped out, the community made a wasteland, the feedback we got meant the UHS had to buy items as basic as cutleries, toothbrushes, paste, cooking pots, plates, clothing, toiletries added to the rice, beans, garri, salt and sundry basic food items.

    “The case of Okuama people is the clear definition of starting from the scratch with not even a piece to pick up from in the task of rehabilitation and resettlement.

    “That is why this little effort by the UHS is not to prove any point, but to tell the whole world Okuama needs a great deal of help.

    “We call on individuals and organisations to join the Okuama people and government to assist in rebuilding their lives. Okuama cannot go into extinction.

    “From our assessment of their plight, the people also need security as they are so vulnerable at the moment, bearing in mind the experience on their first day of return home.

    “Hopefully, they will gradually find their feet again.”

    Despite the extreme deprivation, Okuama indigenes vowed to defend their ancestral land from the Ijaws of Okoloba whom they accuse of looting their homes and harvesting crops in their farms.

    At the jetty, a gang of unarmed youths rotate sentry duties among themselves. They sit around burning logs of wood to keep warm and ward off mosquitoes, especially at night, their main objective being to protect the community from external aggression.

    Another group of youths and men is positioned at the rear of the village.

    With the influx of refugees, mainly women and children, into Okuama, there is anxiety over their safety, forcing the Anglican Church to convert its hall to serve as shelter for displaced persons.

    Treated mosquito nets hung over dozens of dirty looking mattresses scattered on the floor around the commodious hall of St Peter’s Anglican Church.

    Some of the returnees who spoke to The Nation said less than 24 hours after the military pulled out of their community, they returned to find youths from neighbouring Okoloba looting their destroyed homes.

    They said Okoloba youths fled when they were accosted by their youths who emerged from nearby bushes.

    The Vicar, St Peter’s Anglican Church, Okuama, Venerable Abraham Agberen, who returned to the community for the first time, said: “I feel so bad. But we know that any misfortune that befalls a man, he is equal to it.

    “For instance, I had 15 bags of garri and 10 gallons of palm oil but they have been looted.

    “When you saw me stand on the rubble of the vicarage a while ago, I was looking for our iron box where we keep money. Even my robes were looted by our neighbours in a few hours after the soldiers pulled out.”

    Continuing, he said: “The community has been providing food donated by groups and individuals, but we have not received anything from the Delta State Government. Feeding is done communally as foodstuffs received are cooked for all returnees.”

    He described the actions of the soldiers as “deadly and wicked”, saying, “If your children are having problems, you don’t take sides with one against the other. You bring the two together and settle their dispute amicably. But in this case, we were made the scapegoats.”

    In a bid to get justice, the Okuama community hired a team of lawyers to prosecute their case against the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army at the Federal High Court sitting in Warri.

    On May 2, the court, after a mention of the case before the presiding judge, Justice Sani, adjourned till June 4, 2024 for hearing.

    The suits included the following: FHC/WR/CS/41/2024 and FHC/WR/CS/42/2024 and another filed by a non-governmental organisation.

    Suit FHC/WR/CS/41/2024 had Victor Akemor and 16 others as Applicants with the Nigerian Army as the respondent.

    Suit FHC/WR/CS/42/2024 had Professor Arthur Ekpekpo, Mr Bernard Esegba and Mr James Oghohoko as applicants, with the Federal Government, the Chief of Defence Staff and others as respondents.

    In Suit FHC/WR/CS/41/2024, the applicants, through their lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo in their application, sought the order of the court for 15 prayers which include “an award of one billion naira against the respondent as “exemplary damage” in favour of the Okuama community.

    The internally displaced persons (IDP) camp which was established upland in Ewu-Urhobo is generating controversy among Okuama indigenes and Delta government. While government wants Okuama indigenes to enroll into camp, Okuama people want the IDP camp relocated to Okuama.

    There was a deadlock at a meeting of May 18 between Okuama indigenes and Abraham Ogbodo led IDP camp management committee.

    The IDP camp has been largely ignored by Okuama indigenes, who prefer that the camp is relocated to Okuama rather than Otor Ewu.

    Secretary General of Okuama community, Mr Bernard Esegba, said the opinions of his people were not sought or that any of his kinsmen were appointed members the IDP committee.

    He expressed concern that their Ijaw neighbours were desperate to take over their ancestral land after the looting of their community and farms.

    His words: “Not up to 48 hours after the military vacated Okuama, Okoloba youths invaded our community, looting burglary proofs, beds, doors and other valuables

    “None of Okuama indigenes was included among the management committee for IDP. We sent a petition to the government expressing our ideas, but we were ignored.”

    He expressed doubt that Okuama indigenes who had large tracts of cassava farms under cultivation would abandon their farms for the IDP camp, urging the government to relocate the camp to Okuama.

    He said with the imminent heavy flooding of their farmlands, Okuama indigenes want to quickly harvest their crops before the rains set in.

    Chairman, Okuama IDP Management Committee, Abraham Ogbodo, urged them to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them to enroll in the camp for the next six months while plans to rebuild their community are kick started.

    He assured that Okuama lands alleged to have been taken over by Okoloba would be returned and Okuama would be protected.

    He said: “Your fear that your community land will be taken over is legitimate, but your stay in Okuama believing that you can defend it is not entirely true.

    “I know protecting your ancestral homestead is a priority, but I advocate negotiated peace and not forced peace. I can assure you that your welfare is the utmost priority of the government.”

    Acting Chairman, Ughelli South LGA, Chief Austin Emaduku, said the lingering security situation has constrained government’s decision to site the IDP camp in Ewu- Urhobo and appealed to the refugees to come to camp.

    While the stalemate between Delta government and Okuama community lingers, the scale of human suffering at Okuama is dire and there is a compelling need for urgent action.

  • Victim’s family kicks over students allegedly killed by generator fumes in Bayelsa

    Victim’s family kicks over students allegedly killed by generator fumes in Bayelsa

    On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, a tragic incident occurred on Ebis Mechanic Road, Amarata, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State where seven individuals including four siblings lost their lives due to exposure to toxic generator fumes.

    The victims were using a generator for power supply during a power outage which has become synonymous with Yenagoa, the state capital, and other parts of the state, and the improper ventilation led to the accumulation of carbon monoxide, resulting in fatalities.

    The deceased, most of whom were said to be students of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma, were said to have worked late into Monday night in a music studio owned by one of them, and fell asleep in the locked studio with the generator still running.

    The young men, who were in the music recording business to support their education, were suspected to have suffocated from the carbon monoxide emissions of the generator.

    The police spokesman in the state, Musa Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, said police had begun investigation.

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    “Investigations are being carried out, but based on what we have seen, carbon monoxide poisoning due to generator fumes is a possible cause,” Mohammed had stated.

    Residents, eyewitnesses speak

    Some residents of Ebis Mechanic Road who spoke on the incident said they had raised the alarm when they peeped through the window of the studio and saw the lifeless bodies of the young men sprawling on the floor.

    Yet some eyewitnesses in the area disagreed that it was only generator fumes that choked them to death, claiming that the young men might have taken some hard drugs and other narcotic substances that contributed to their demise.

    A bread distributor, who described one of the (unnamed) victims as his husband’s nephew, said the deceased was the only child of his mother.

    The woman, who craved anonymity, but chose to be called ‘Mama Bread’, said the husband’s nephew was a student at NDU but was doing music on part-time basis to support his education since his mother, who is the breadwinner of the family, is struggling to survive.

    She described the deceased as a hard working boy in his mid-20s whom the family had always looked up to bring succour to them when he rounded of his education and began to excel in his music career.

    Mama Bread stated: “The boy’s death is devastating. He was just hard working an easygoing young man full of promises and now death has snatched him away from us. 

    “I just wonder how his immediate family, particularly his mother, will be able to cope with his passing. His death has dealt a devastating blow to the family.

    “My husband has not been himself since the incident occurred. We pray for the repose of his soul.”

    One of the victims’ sisters, who preferred to be anonymous, said that her brother’s death was curious and doubted the narrative that he was killed by generator fumes.

    “My brother went to the studio early hours of the morning and I do not believe that the generator fumes could have killed him. I do not accept that story that he died as a result of generator fumes,” she stated.

    Also, Mr. Damion Asamonye, a resident, heaped blame on the state and federal governments as well as Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) for the death of the seven persons, lamenting that if there was adequate power supply, there would not have been any need for them to use generator throughout the night that resulted in their inhaling carbon monoxides from it, leading to their untimely death.

    He decried the epileptic power situation in the state whereby the distribution company only brings light whenever they want to collect electricity bills and disconnect light shortly after customers have paid their bills for the month.

    Asamonye said: “Both the federal and state governments have failed us. If there was public power supply, may be these people would not have lost their lives in that callous manner.

    “It is sad and painful. Seven promising men just died like that because they were trying to eke out a living for themselves. Seven able-bodied young men just died in such a manner because of the failure of government.

    “The most annoying thing is that next, the PHED personnel will come with their ladders to disconnect light that they are not supplying.

    “How can people be spending their humongous money on paying for darkness and fueling generators despite the current hardship in Nigeria, even after paying for light bills?

    Another resident, Mrs Joy Reuben, who neighbours woke up in the wee hours of Tuesday to witness the tragic incident, called on the government to ensure that there is adequate power supply in the state, so that citizens would not be allowed to die in such unthinkable circumstances.

    Also, a resident who gave his name only as David blamed the incident on the poor power supply situation in Bayelsa State, arguing that if power supply was regular, those young vibrant youths would not have died untimely.

    He equally called on the police to conduct thorough investigation into the incident to unravel any other possible cause of the fatalities.

    Negligence by medics

    One of the young men, Mr. Akpos Barakubo a.k.a. Slim Kelz, was rushed to the hospital unconscious but was neglected by medical personnel, citing the need for parents or relatives to be present before treatment.

    The young man eventually succumbed to his injuries and died.

    Kelz was a music producer and mixer while other boys were undergraduates from Niger Delta University (NDU), who went to the studio for music recording.

    Hard drugs dimension of incident

    The initial investigation revealed that the cause of the tragic incident that occurred at DMP Music Recording Studio on Ebis Mechanic Street, Amarata, Yenagoa, where seven young men lost their lives was primarily due to generator fumes.

    However, further information from autopsy results indicated that the young men had also consumed hard drugs, which might have complicated their medical condition.

    The autopsy results indicate a combination of generator fumes and drug consumption as contributing factors to the fatalities.

    Experts advisory

    Generator fumes, which contain carbon monoxide, can be extremely dangerous if proper precautions are not taken. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that can cause illness and even death when inhaled in high concentrations.

    According to experts, the tragic incident at Ebis Mechanic Street resulting in the deaths of seven young men highlights the importance of prompt and effective emergency response, as well as the risks associated with generator fumes and drug abuse.

    They contend that the negligence by medical personnel is deeply concerning and requires further investigation to prevent such occurrences in the future.

    They recommend that the relevant authorities should raise awareness about the dangers of generator fumes and drug abuse among the youth as well as review and reinforce protocols for emergency medical treatment to prevent similar incidents in the future.

    They contend that the loss of lives due to generator fumes is a tragic reminder of the importance of safety measures when using generators, noting that it is crucial to raise awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and to take necessary precautions to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.

  • How Thailand community in Nigeria celebrated Songkran 2568

    How Thailand community in Nigeria celebrated Songkran 2568

    • Remi Agbowu, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Madam Tukie graced the occasion

    By Bola Ojo

    From April 13th- 15th each year, Thais all over the world commemorate the end of one year and the beginning of another. The Thai community in Nigeria has joined in this celebration going on in their home country. This year’s celebration is the fourth time the Thai community in Nigeria would be joining their families, nationals from across the world, friends and loved ones in Nigeria to share the joy of the season. Esther Oluku writes that this celebration marks the beginning of the year 2568 for Thais all over the world.

    That afternoon, it seemed like the suffocating heat had given way to a cool almost gaiety atmosphere on Gafaru Animashaun street of Victoria Island, Lagos. A peep into the street was greeted by an array of bright colours of red, blue, green, yellow, pink, lemon amongst other colours of mini flags hanging from ropes hung across the street. There were large parasols of lemon, yellow, white, pink and purple colours, garlands with beads hanging on a pole for participants with floating lights hanging on the veranda of Orchid House Thai Restaurant from where the celebration poured into the street. The event which sparked such festivity is the Songkran festival translated in English as the Thailand new year festival.

    Dozens of water drums lined a part of the street on one side and an array of dishes lined the street on the other side. Our cheerful Thai hostess, Madam Tukie, was seen handing water guns to participants in preparation for the commencement of the event and placing beaded garlands on the necks of participants.

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    Among the dignitaries were construction magnate, Mrs. Remi Agbowu, Senator Daisy Danjuma and others too numerous to mention

    The Songkran is the biggest celebration of the year in Thailand and although immigrants in Nigeria, Thais trooped in in their numbers. They seemed not to have lost touch with home as each one was seen greeting the other in the traditional way of clasping of the hands in a prayer-like demeanor with head slightly bowed.

    The Songkran in Thailand

    Traditionally, the Songkran festivities lasts for a three day period and is a celebration of religious ritual and cultural heritage of the Thailand people.

    The first day of the ritual, April 13th, is used to pay obeisance to Buddha Statues the founder of Buddhism and the religion of the Thailand people, for the blessing of seeing the final moments of the old year. In Thailand, this day is spent in visits to the temple to worship.

    The second day of the Songkran, April 14th, is the eve of the new year and is devoted to honouring the aged. The activity which marks this event is the gentle pouring of water over the hands of older people who then go on to bless the younger generation.

    On the third day of the event, which marks the beginning of the new year, is marked by participants blessing each other exemplified by pouring water gently on people as a sign of cleansing from the troubles and challenges of the previous year in the hope of beginning the new year afresh and free from the challenges of the previous year.

    In recent times however, the water pouring ritual has been modernised into a water fight which brings out the fun and playful aspect of humans forcing participants to relax, enjoy the ‘water fight’ and be happy.

    The new year is also marked with the coming together of Thai families to bond, partying to folk music, singing, dancing, sharing of art, food and oral tradition. Tourists from around the world visit Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, each year to witness the event for themselves.

    For the immigrant Thailand community in Nigeria, all the celebrations were held on April 13th which marked the beginning of the Songkran festivities.

    Colours and Symbols as a Celebration of Thailand Cultural Heritage

    Colours and Symbols play an important aspect in the Songkran celebration. Unlike nations who use several methods of aggregating the passage of time, the Songkran celebration is linked to the passage of the movement of the sun to the Aries which in the Zodiac is the beginning of the spherical movement of the sun round the earth.

    This alignment with the Solar system through the adoption of the Lunisolar Buddhist calendar is a symbolic alignment to a higher wisdom in directing the path of the Thailand nation.

    Also, Thai participants at the event wore floral print clothes symbolic of spring and the coming of the rainy seasons after the almost unbearable heat of the hottest season and end of the year 2567.

    The water, which is a major feature of the event, is symbolic of the washing away of everything unclean and unwanted and a purification for the new season.

    The bright colours of the parasols, the flags and the floating lights are also motifs of the expectations of resplendent goodwill which the participants hope to enter into in the new year.

    Other aspects of the Songkran festival such as the dancers, the song and the food represent a celebration of the rich depths of Thailand culture and is a means of both folk learning and cultural exchange and deepening of Thailand’s cultural heritage.

    UNESCO View of Songkran as a means of deepening Thailand cultural heritage.

    The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) has recognised the Songkran as a cultural way by which the Thailand nation celebrates the transition into a new year and recognises the celebration as a way of deepening cultural awareness in the younger generation and inspiring cultural preservation.

    Thai Community in Nigeria Collaborates with Orchid House Thai Restaurant CEO

    The event was put together by a collaboration between the Thai Community in Nigeria and the Chief Executive Officer, Orchid House Thai Restaurant, Ms. Nattanee Booncharoen, popularly known as Madam Tukie.

    This event is commemorated by Thai nationals all over the world through the convergence of Thai families to bond, share companionship, food, music and culminates in a water fight. This Songkran would usher the Thai nation into the year 2568.

    According to a member of the Thailand Community in Nigeria Coordinating Committee, Mr. Nawapad Wichitchan, the Thailand nation utilises the Buddhist Era calendar in calculating the year and the Songkran is an avenue for Thai families to bond and build stronger family ties.

    “The Songkran, Thai new year, is marked by the coming together of Thai families to celebrate the new year. This is the hottest day in the year in Thailand so the water fight while cooling the temperature signifies the passing of the hot season and the transition to the rainy season.”

    Another member of the Coordinating Committee, Ms. Nayufa Dangprasittiforn, explained that as immigrants in Nigeria, the festival is an opportunity for cultural exchange. She added that yearly, invitations are thrown open to other nationals to participate.

    “It is an event in Thailand and UNESCO recognises it as an avenue for cultural exchange. It is important for Thai nationals to celebrate this even if they are far from home and we have a big Thai community in Lagos. People from other nations can participate, enjoy the food, the water fight and give a blessing to each other.”

    She said that while the most exciting part of the Songkran is the water fight which has been modernised from its original state, the significance of the ritual as an avenue for blessing loved ones remains.

    “Originally we just pour the water on the of older people softly to give a wish or a blessing. That is the traditional way but it has been developed into a water fight,” she said.

    On her part, Ms. Nattanee Booncharoen, expressed optimism for future events and stated that in the coming years, she hopes the celebration is bigger and better.

    “In the future, we want to turn this street to these colours (Thai colours) with every restaurant attracted here to join us to make it bigger in the future, coming up maybe next year or two years, all this street will be full with people. That is what we are planning. This year, we want to make people see what we are doing and what we can do.

    Giving more insight into the significance of the water fight, she said: “The water washes away the bad luck for last year and makes you come free for the new year. It is like a culture where you pour water on your people with similar meaning like that. But this one we’ve done for long, long years back in Thailand.”

    She added that the committee also hopes that the festival achieves its purpose of not just being an annual event, but becomes an avenue for cultural exchange for Nigerians and people from other nationalities.

    “What we want to do is to hold Songkran Water Festival in Nigeria also but, when the people we have invited come, we will showcase the food to let them taste our original Thai food on ground here in Nigeria.

    “We will be there to make fun and in-between the events we have our traditional people come to attend and mix together. That is why Songkran is really beautiful.”

    Speaking with Nigerian participant at the event, Mr. James Emoka, he stated that the festival is an opportunity to take a break from life’s realities.

    “I love to play with water guns. I’m a kid at heart. Though I’ve known about the Songkran, it’s my first time actually coming. It’s exciting, mind rejuvenating and quite refreshing. It’s very good to just help you forget what you are going through in life, you know how sometimes life can be rocky.”

  • An innovative strategy to transform waste into wealth

    An innovative strategy to transform waste into wealth

    The consequences of neglecting proper waste disposal extend beyond cluttered streets to environmental pollution, diminishing property values and health hazards. Despite the daunting challenges posed by waste materials, an environmental expert, Dr. Chizoba Obele, offers a glimmer of hope by mapping out innovative waste-to-wealth initiatives. She elucidates how research and innovation can transform waste items, such as plastics, into valuable resources, with her pioneering work in recycling waste plastics into functional products exemplifying the potential of waste-to-wealth endeavours to mitigate environmental degradation and foster economic growth. NWANOSIKE ONU, Southeast Bureau Chief, reports

    Every day, waste materials accumulate in our surroundings, posing a significant environmental threat. According to the 2024 World Bank report, the average person generates between 0.11 to 4.5 kg of waste daily, amounting to substantial kilograms per household depending on its size. Efficient waste collection and disposal are imperative functions of any government, with poor neighbourhoods often grappling with filth while affluent areas boast streamlined waste management systems.

    Beyond cluttering our streets, waste pollution infiltrates our environment, diminishing property values and inviting pests and diseases. Land pollution can seep into waterways through flood currents or deliberate dumping, endangering aquatic ecosystems. As waste continues to mount, urgent action is needed to safeguard our communities and ecosystems from its far-reaching impacts.

    Environmental expert and waste-to-wealth advocate, Engr. Dr. Chizoba Obele, emphasised the grave risks posed by waste materials, stating, “Waste threatens life on land and also threatens the sustainability of the ecosystem, either on land or below water. This explains why some of the most important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have targets which are devoted to waste management and environmental sustainability. SDG No 12, for example, has developed certain specific targets incorporating approaches for reducing pollution and recycling and reusing waste items via environmentally sound management practices,” she told The Nation.

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    However, waste materials are not always totally useless. The value of waste items including human faeces and animal dung in composting and manure production was long recognised.  Throughout civilization, humans have continually designed new uses for different waste materials, and this has led to the idea of waste recycling and waste-to-wealth initiatives. Continuing, Dr. Obele, who is an Associate Professor of Polymer Engineering and leading figure in waste-to-wealth and environmental sustainability research in Nigeria, said, “Research is an important approach to wealth creation from waste materials, and waste-to-wealth research is gaining increasing relevance in our society. Actually, there is a nexus between environmentally sound waste management and environmental regeneration and sustainability.  Toxic wastes pose a threat to all life, whether on land or in the water. In Nigeria today, oil residues and oil spills pose great threats to the ecosystem of the Niger Delta, also threatening the livelihoods of local farmers and fisher men. Nigeria must invest in remediation of such wastes and in converting solid wastes occurring on land to other uses.”

    The environmentalist added, “The definition of waste is already changing and will change completely in the immediate future, as new uses are discovered or designed for items previously regarded as waste. Refuse dumps will gradually reduce in size. Research has the capacity to increase the value of waste items and to turn waste into wealth, and this is my area of research interest.”

    Dr. Obele used one popular economic endeavour to buttress her position – the recycling of plastics. According to her, “About two decades ago, plastics constituted a huge fraction of waste materials littering walkways and waterways. However, research has led to new innovative ways of recovering and recycling such plastics, and recycled plastics are now serving new uses in homes and industries. Even though plastic wastes still abound in our environment, the advances recorded in waste-to-wealth research have been commendable, and there is hope that mankind will always be on top of the threats posed by waste materials in our environment.”

    According to findings by The Nation, recycling of waste materials is already serving as a veritable source of income for many households in Nigeria. In almost every refuse dump, scavengers can be spotted rummaging through the dumped materials in the hope of finding some valuable items, such as plastics and metals. The World Bank estimates that about 1% of the urban population in developing economies – up to 15 million people – are involved in scavenging for recyclables for a living. Some of the scavengers are children of school age, who depend on picking out recyclable waste items from such dump sites in order to support themselves or their families. But that is just the first step in the long process of recovering and recycling the waste materials. In order to understand the subsequent steps and how Nigeria can make it more economically viable. What does it portend? The Nation, asked Dr.Obele.

    “Plastics are prepared from several classes of polymers. These polymers, each possesses unique properties, making them suitable for different uses ranging from packaging food items and general goods, to more sensitive uses such as the packaging and delivering injectable products, such as medicines and blood. Many of such plastics are capable of being remolded, or re-processed into new items, first by cleaning and decontamination, followed by the application of heat or other stresses. This is the traditional concept of plastic recycling.

    “But it is not every time that the recycled plastics are re-presented as solid plastic objects for use in homes or offices. For example, I have pioneered an innovative process for converting waste polystyrene into a binder which could be used as a printing ink component as well as in the development of wood adhesive. Polystyrene is a plastic which is commonly used in packaging of household electronic items like television sets, where they serve as anti-shock/cushioning components.  This research, which won the best research prize of the Polymer Institute of Nigeria (PIN), with a cash prize of N500,000, has attracted the attention of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, which wants to sponsor the next phase of it, that is, its translation from bench to the market. So, it is one research that I am hoping will progress all the way to a tangible product having commercial use in Nigeria.

    “I am particularly pleased with this research because of two related reasons. Firstly, polystyrene which can be found in the inner packs of many household electronic gadgets is not associated with any known further use after the electronic object has been successfully delivered. It simply litters our refuse dumps; so this is a typical example of waste-to-wealth research.  But my other fascination with this research is that beyond creating wealth, this kind of research can help Nigeria cut down on its import dependence. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on the importation of different raw materials, many of which are plastics or their starting materials, called monomers. The recycling of waste plastic materials and their re-purposing for other applications can save Nigeria a lot of money that would have gone into the importation of these polymers overall.  This can help ease the pressure on the naira-dollar exchange rate,” she said.

    She explains further, “Environmental sustainability goes beyond waste removal and recycling on land, which is the focus of SDG No 15, and extends all the way to addressing climate change and remedying the pollution of water ways, which is the focus of SDG No 14. One of the things we must do is the continued recycling of paper, plastics, glass, metals and electronics. The other is the use of composting to reduce climate impacts while also recycling nutrients. I am now calling on the Federal Government, specifically TETFund, to assist my university in establishing a Centre of Excellence in Environmental Sustainability and Waste Recycling, to enable us scale up our research and also collaborate better with industry partners and other stakeholders, including international partners.”

    Dr. Obele elaborated on the idea of Nanoplastics and the dangers they pose to aquatic life and humans. “As polymer scientist, I am drawing the attention of the people to the idea of microplastics in water bodies, and nanoplastics in bottled water. According to data released by the National Institutes of Health in its January 2024 report, about a litre of bottled water contains up to 240,000 tiny pieces of plastics, mainly nanoplastics, because they typically occur in the nano range of dimension. This is a huge concern, primarily because the effects of these nanoplastics on the body are currently poorly understood.”

    With the situation of things, Nigeria needs to invest more in educating the population of the dangers posed by different wastes, especially waste plastics, which today are some of the most common items found littering the environment. Their contributions in polluting the environment must be recognised by all, and there is need to invest in studies seeking to come up with new ways to convert waste plastics into useful environmentally benign items.

  • Gunmen kidnap expectant mother, three others in Abuja

    Gunmen kidnap expectant mother, three others in Abuja

    Gunmen numbering 10 abducted the family of a senior customs officer on Sunday.

    According to eyewitnesses, the bandits arrived at the residence of the Customs officer in Shagari Quarters, Dei-Dei, about 11:30am. 

    They abducted the officer’s wife, who is pregnant, three of his children, and a younger brother.

    The officer, who was not at home during the attack, had worked with the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and had enjoyed police protection of tion.

    However, the protection was withdrawn after his deployment to Lagos, leaving his family vulnerable to the attack.

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    Sources claimed the bandits spent over two hours in the premises before proceeding to the neighboring Dakwa community, where they attempted to attack some houses but were repelled by security operatives.

    The gunmen later released the pregnant woman, but took the children and the younger brother with them.

    However, in a contradictory statement, the FCT Police Command claimed that the kidnapping was foiled.

    But sources close to the family revealed that, in reality, the children and the younger brother are still in captivity.

    Despite this discrepancy, the police maintained their stance, with the FCT Police Command Spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, issuing a statement on Monday that read in part: “In an immediate and strategic response to a distress call on the attack by unknown gunmen in Dawaki on May 19, 2024, at around 11:30am, the operatives of the FCT police command led by the Commissioner of Police, CP Benneth C. Igweh, himself, swiftly mobilised to the scene.

    “Displaying remarkable bravery and coordination, the police, in synergy with local hunters, advanced on the assailants, tactically ambushing them at Ushafa Hill via Bwari and Shishipe Hills via Mpape. This led to a fierce gun duel as the hoodlums were overwhelmed by the firepower of the operatives, forcing them to scamper to safety with various degrees of bullet injuries, and the victims were rescued.

    “While one of the rescued victims is still in the hospital receiving medical attention, the commissioner of police, FCT, CP Benneth C. Igweh, reaffirms the command’s steadfast dedication to maintaining peace and security in the Territory, as search operations are ongoing to rescue other hostages who fled the scene during the shootout.”

    The attack has raised concerns about the security situation in the FCT, particularly in the Dei-Dei area, which has witnessed several kidnappings in recent times. Residents have called on the government to take urgent action to address the security challenges in the area.

    The traditional ruler of Dakwa, Dr. Alhassan Musa Babachukuri, lamented the activities of the bandits, who he said have created a base behind the Zuma Rock in Chachi community near Dakwa in neighboring Niger State.

    He called on the government to take serious action against the bandits before they escalate their activities.

    The police have launched an investigation into the incident and have assured residents of their commitment to ensuring their safety and security.

    Residents of the area are still apprehensive over the incident.

  • Two soldiers feared dead after gunmen attack Abia outpost

    Two soldiers feared dead after gunmen attack Abia outpost

    Two soldiers attached to the 14 Brigade Headquarters of the Nigerian Army have reportedly died after yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked an army outpost located at Park Road by Milverton in Aba, Abia State.

    The attack on the army outpost is coming months after a military outpost at Ngwa Road by No.1 Port Harcourt Road was attacked, but with no life lost as the soldiers on guard, repelled the gunmen and gave them a good chase, leaving them with severe gunshot injuries.

    The incident, our correspondent gathered, happened Friday night at about 8 pm.

    It was gathered that other soldiers at the outpost repelled the attackers. But it was not clear if the gang made away with the weapons of the deceased soldiers.

    Several reports have it that, while one of the deceased soldiers died on the spot, his colleague was not so lucky as he was declared dead at the hospital where he was rushed for medical attention.

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    The attack, sources within the security agencies say, took the soldiers by surprise.

    According to the sources, the hoodlums could have monitored the soldiers before they attacked at a time they thought was convenient for them to strike the army outpost.

    A source disclosed that the aim of the attackers might be to dislodge the soldiers and take their guns. The presence of the soldiers in the area has reduced the preponderance of crime within the Milverton axis which serves as a melting point for transport companies operating within the commercial nerve of the state.

    The sources disclosed that, before the incident, there were cases of robbery of Point of Sale (POS) operators in the area by some group of armed hoodlums using commercial tricycles.

    According to them, only discreet investigation would disclose the identity of those behind the attack.

    It was gathered that the situation caused pandemonium around the busy area, forcing businesses to quickly shut down.

    Our correspondent gathered that the incident forced military reinforcement from the 144 Battalion camp, as soldiers took over the area.

    Sources within the Milverton area disclosed that no male child resident of Aba is allowed to pass through the area, except females who were asked to raise their hands while they move.

    Transporter companies operating near the area of the incident have lamented the effect of the incident, adding that they could not load passengers going to Lagos and other parts of the country as they were not allowed to work by the soldiers.

    Further checks have it that the movement of vehicles was restricted between the park and Bata Junction where there is another military checkpoint, forcing road users to abandon the Bata to Park axis of Aba-Owerri road, to use other alternative routes to other parts of the city.

    A resident of St. Michael’s Road, Mrs. Gilbert Orakwe told our correspondent that soldiers went on a rampage Friday night, arresting any male resident in sight.

    The Army Public Relations Officer (APRO) of 14 Brigade Army Headquarters, Ohafia, Lt. Omale Innocent, until the time of filing the report hadn’t responded to messages sent to him on his WhatsApp account.

    Some officials of the Abia State government who spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to speak on the matter assured that the state government was doing all that it could to restore calm in the area. This is even as they condemned the attack and killing of the soldiers.

    Some security analysts, including Mr. Cyprian Chukwuma called on soldiers in Aba to be more vigilant, stressing that if the soldiers on duty at the Milverton area were vigilant enough, they should have detected the hoodlums and struck before they were attacked.

  • Ekiti high chief Atere: I walk erect, read without glasses at 100 

    Ekiti high chief Atere: I walk erect, read without glasses at 100 

    • Says I’m as healthy as most young men today
    • He’s the Supreme Court when there’s an argument about events and dates – Protégé

    Chief Atere Dada Timothy is a high chief of Isalu quarters of Omuooke Ekiti, and one of the oldest in the kingdom. He recently hit the century mark, yet he remains physically and mentally fit: he walks unaided and has a vision so good he reads without glasses. His memory and remarkably accurate recollection of past events have earned him the moniker ‘Mobile Calendar’. Amidst the pomp and ceremony surrounding his 100th birthday celebration, he had a chat with South-South Regional Manager, SHOLA O’NEIL.

    The peaceful rustic agrarian community of Omuooke, Ekiti State stood still for a revered centenarian on the beautiful morning of Sunday, May 5. As the celebrant, Chief Atere Dada Timothy, the Elerinsalu of Isalu Quarters, Omuooke Ekiti, took to the floor of St. Silas Anglican Church that morning, his gait and graceful mien as he glided through the weathered floor of the holy assembly, defied his 100-year existence. Erect, spry and as fit as a fiddle, he could easily pass for a 70-year-old.

    The cane in the firm grip of his right arm was a matching part of his agbada, buba and sokoto traditional outfit; not to provide any lumber support or correction of his walking asymmetry. The golden wand barely touched the floor as he ‘ko mole’ (bent down) to the rhythm of the drums heralding him to the rostrum.

    He was nimble and agile as he swayed to the rhythmic drums and sound of the trumpets and acoustic instruments. Guests who didn’t know him well were in awe of how he carried and comported himself; while others wondered if Elerinsalu was indeed 100 years old.

    Born on March 24, 1924, the Elerinsalu’s journey reads like a fairy tale.

    Reminiscing on his long and fruitful journey through life, he said his triumphs in the face of awing odds owed to determination and hard work. He said beyond earthly wealth, it was the legacy he aimed to pass to his children and lineage.

    Fatherless before even fully knowing his father – he was three years old when his father died – he had no formal elemen tary education because he had to start catering for himself at a tender age. Yet he refused to give up on his dreams. He vowed to ensure that all his children went to school and achieved the highest standard in their educational pursuits.

    He rose to become a responsible and prominent member of his clan, who raised and trained his children (biological and adopted) through various levels of education – tertiary and beyond- through hard work and determination. Amidst all that, he enrolled into adult school, where he took lessons and learnt to read and write, thereby fulfilling one of his lifelong ambitions.

    Like most people blessed with longevity, he is also contending with losing loved ones and most of his age mates. A notable polygamist like most men of his generation, Pa Atere had two wives, whom he had to bury – the first, Rachel Talabi in 1991, and the second, Ajekingbe, just a couple of years ago.

    He told our reporter that he was shaken by those and other tragic incidents, but he didn’t let them define him. “Anybody who wants to succeed must learn to face challenges of life and not use them as excuses for failure,” he declared.

    “I am blessed to still be able to walk erect without aid, even after falling off the palm tree I had climbed to get my usual palm wine. Every morning, I exercise by walking to visit my friends and relatives in nearby quarters.”

    “Walking is an everyday exercise for me. Even when I broke my arm and limbs, I didn’t let it stop me. I continued to farm and do all that I love doing.

    “There is the saying that if you want to succeed you will find a reason, but if you don’t want to succeed you will find an excuse.”

    “I still read without glasses. My age has failed to slow me down. I am as healthy as most young men of today. The only thing I would say I am losing is my appetite for food, but not my love for life.

    “I eat miserly because life has taught me that too much of everything, including food, is bad and unhealthy.”

    ‘Losing my father at age 3 made me strong, independent’

    Weaving his thoughts effortlessly between English and Yoruba languages, the centenarian attributed his agility at the ‘young age’ of 100 to personal discipline and the hand of faith. He recalled how having to take responsibility at a young age prepared him for the life he lived.

    “My father died when I was just three and a half years old. Life is hard, especially for a child growing up without his father’s support and guidance.

    “I took to farming at an early age, because I was taught that a dry and hungry mouth awaits a man whose hands cannot work and fend for himself.”

    The agility of the centenarian transcends his physique; residents of his quarters and other parts of Omuooke said his recollection of decades-old occurrences earned him the sobriquet ‘Mobile Calendar’.

    One of his younger protégés, Mr Ajibola Akinyemi, told our reporter that despite being the oldest in the clan, “he is a “Think Tank” and the “Mobile Calendar” in his neighbourhood, with his retentive memory and vivid recollection of events and dates with unimpeachable accuracy.

    “When there is an argument about events and dates, Baba is the Supreme Court.

    “He is a forthright, disciplined and strident individual who always wants the best for his children, the people around him and his community in general.

    “Hence he is always ready and determined to fight for and defend anything that would promote the advancement of his ecosystem,” Akinyemi, who is popularly called Admiral, said.

    Recalling his early years as the eldest child of Chief Atere, Pastor Adebayo, a Delta State-based pastor and businessman, recalled how his father taught him to take responsibility for the family as the eldest son.

    “It was one of the few times I saw him incapacitated. He had fallen from a palm tree where he was collecting palm wine. He was on his sickbed, and I was preparing for my promotion examination.

    “He drew me near and whispered: ‘No matter what profession you choose in life, you must learn a trade – that is how to be the master of your destiny.’

    “He urged me to ensure peace and harmony among my siblings. That was many decades ago, and I am happy he made it out alive. What he told me that day became a guide to whatever I do,” Adebayo said.

    Lawrence ‘Femi Atere, a US-based chemical engineer, and son of the Elerinsalu, said: “Honesty and integrity are the hallmarks of my father’s existence. He takes them seriously and does not compromise. His admonition is to fail honourably with your head high rather than to succeed by cutting corners, fraud, and shortchanging others.”

    “He is a father like no other,” enthused Abiodun Atere, another of his sons. “I call him the Arekemase (the forthright one) of Omuooke, because he is never involved in eke (dubious or ignominious acts).

    “He always tells us ‘All that glitters is not gold’, and I am happy he is my father.”

    Olanrewaju, Baba’s Tamworth, UK-based son, who spoke via the telephone with our reporter, described his father’s honesty, morals and insistence on the dignity of labour goes with him wherever he goes.

     “I learnt from him that I can be a strong personality and yet be humble, considerate of others and diligent in what I do. 

    “He is a disciplinarian and no-nonsense father, who tells it as it is; a caring heart and principled figure.”

    Mrs. Dorcas Mosunmola Kayode, one of his daughters, said “Baba is a hardworking and generous father, whose “generosity attracts children from far and within to his compound.”

     Advice to younger people who wish for fulfilled life Basking in his deserved moment of honour, the Elerinsalu told our reporter: “Whatever kindness a man shows to others, especially to children, finds its way back to him,” adding that a man who is kind to his fellow beings and treats them as himself sleeps better and have more reward than the one that is wealthy and unkind.

    On keeping fit, he said: “Exercise is the key. Every morning, I walk to see my friends and have small chats with them. I am sure that this is what has kept my legs strong.

    Read Also: CNA confirms attack on staff by DSS operatives, appeals for calm

    “We also need the Grace of God, because without it, a man will always labour in vain; this is biblical and empirical. I am nothing without the special love of God.”

    He lamented the growing lack of humanity in the world, saying: “In our time, there was also moral decay, but the difference is that the community shuns them and does not glory and worship people with questionable wealth and lifestyles. They were seen as an aberration. But today, we see parents encouraging their children to do whatever it takes to be financially successful, even if they have to steal.”

    Preaching a healthy lifestyle as a means to enhancing the quality of life, he recalled: “I picked up some habits too, but when I saw that they were not good for me I dropped them. For instance, I smoked and drank. I was lucky to discover early that they were not good for me.  They were reducing my strength, so I refrained. That is probably why I am here today,” he added.

    He urged Nigerians to go back to local and natural foods instead of imported and refined ones. “I stopped drinking alcoholic drinks while sticking to a measured intake of natural palm wine, which is the reason for the strength of my eyes and great eyesight. The natural yeast in palm wine is good for the eyes

    “No matter what science produces, they cannot replace the good of natural herbs and God-made roots. Apart from palm wine, I chew on a special root regularly to clean my teeth and help my teeth to remain strong.

    “I eat sparingly. Even my favourite food – yam and garden egg sauce – is taken in measured quantities. Eating too much is not a sign of wealth but of gluttony.”

    Beyond what men eat or drink, the Elerinsalu admonished that without morals, honesty and contentment, all the steps he enumerated above would be fruitless.

    “Even if you stay away from cigarettes, alcohol and other harmful habits, you still might not end well if you are not morally strong. Discipline is the yardstick for measuring success.”

    “I do not covet others’ properties, and I am careful about what I need and what I eat. Why take more than you need when it will come back to haunt you?

    “This is what is wrong with our society today: one man wants to acquire what is enough to sustain the entire society.

    “Ijekuje (gluttony) is the first sign of a failed man and a child who lacks a proper upbringing. Take what is enough for you and let the community be at peace.”

    “All of my life, I have always stood for the truth no matter what it costs. I can assure you that the joy of doing the right thing and defending the truth is much more refreshing than the gains or illicit benefits.

    “But my greatest joy is that I have eight graduate children and all of them are doing well, disciplined, have good names and are not bringing my name to disrepute. That is a thing of joy.”

    Earlier during the service, the presiding Bishop, Reverend Ajao Mathew Ayotunde, and other members of the congregation commended the centenarian’s dedication to the things of God.

    Some of those who spoke remarked on his regular attendance and participation in the church’s activities.

    “He is very involved in church’s activities. His active role and forthrightness were recognised with an ‘Elders’ Devotee’ award from the Anglican Church in 2022.”

  • I’m amused seeing those who said Asiwaju had no chance now gallivanting around him – Gbenga Daniel

    I’m amused seeing those who said Asiwaju had no chance now gallivanting around him – Gbenga Daniel

    • Says President moving Nigeria in right direction
    • Why I haven’t commented on rift with Dapo Abiodun

    For the Senator Representing Ogun East, Gbenga Daniel, there exists a world of difference between how governance issues are handled at the legislative level compared to the executive arm. However, the two-time governor of Ogun State said he is fast learning the ropes and fast adapting to the dynamics and intrigues as they relate to the politics of the hallowed chambers. In this interview with Deputy Editor, YOMI ODUNUGA, and the National Assembly Correspondent, SANNI ONOGU, he speaks on sundry issues including his alleged sore relationship with President Bola Tinubu and the controversies surrounding the establishment of Compass newspaper; why he worked for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition and his alleged frosty relationship with  his predecessor in office. Excerpts:

    In a few weeks, the present administration will be marking its first year in office and you will be one year in the Senate soon too.We’ll like to have your impression as someone who once wielded executive power and now a legislator. What is the experience like in the few months that you have spent?

    First, let me congratulate all of us as Nigerians because, one year ago, hope was nearly lost in the outgoing administration. Security was at its lowest ebb. The economy was virtually comatose. There was a high degree of uncertainty in the air and then, of course, the election went fortuitously I will say.Luckily for our country, Bola Tinubu won that election. We were also quite concerned as to how he could turn around what one can consider the battered economy. We are told that a lot of our resources have been traded in advance.  A large amount of the quota of the main source of revenue, that is oil, had been traded. A large amount of loans,unprecedented in the country’s history, have been incurred. At a stage it looked like whatever accruing revenue had to be used to service the existing loan. So it was a period of despair. But thank God, Bola Tinubu became president and pronto, he went into action. Of course, to make omelette we have to break eggs as our people usually say. Some of his immediate actions, which we all considered necessary, have created some difficulties and challenges, especially to the economy. But we thank God that things have started easing off and confidence is being built back into the economy by the investing world and we have very strong belief that it can only get better. The security situation has started abating; matters of kidnapping for ransom appear to have been reduced. I think to a large extent, security challenges like the Boko Haram phenomenon appear to be under control. And so, I have no doubt in my mind that as we celebrate one year of this civilian administration, we look forward to a much better country. We have a good team in place. A large number of the ministers are quite knowledgeable and efficient and the economy appears to be in capable hands. We have, in my own opinion, a good economic team. We have also a dynamic minister, for instance, who is running the Works Ministry, a hands-on person and capable engineer. Quite a number of the cabinet members have given a good account of themselves. So clearly, I think we are in good stead. That’s my evaluation of where we are. That is not to say however that we do not have challenges. Of course, it’s part of life. Then coming up to the senate, for me, it’s a different kind of experience, coming from executive to the legislature. What we have found is that increasingly the people at home, I don’t know how to describe it, seem to believe that whatever the executive are doing, the legislature should be doing. So, it is indeed a challenge that whatever is referred to as constituency projects can definitely not resolve the expectation of our people. So as far as they are concerned, if the executive is constructing 10 roads, you should be constructing two to complement. So it’s something that we need to revisit and re-educate our people. I know it has to do with the level of poverty in the land. But definitely there is a lot of tremendous pressure at the National Assembly in terms of getting projects. Of course the reason for that is not too far-fetched because I think that the masses seem to have better access to members of the National Assembly than they have to the executive team. So usually, all the woes are heaped on members of the National Assembly. So I think we just must appreciate that it’s a different phase in the evolution of our democracy that will continue to improve. Those are my immediate comments.

    Since the fuel subsidy was removed on May 29th, there has been general hardship in the country. Recently, the Federal Government announced electricity tariff increase for Band-A customers. As a lawmaker representing Nigerians, what is your reaction to the present hardship and what do you think should be done to reduce the burden on the populace?

    First, if you look at the issue of  subsidy removal, without any doubt, I even remember that virtually everybody who campaigned agreed that the subsidy must go. So there was a consensus. And if I remember, even the outgoing government had virtually removed the subsidy, saying it would  go from the 1st of June, 2023. I don’t want to say that deliberately, that pronouncement was more or less a fait accompli because once a decision has been taken; it was just a question of the time such a decision can take effect. And I think that rather than begin to waste time, the president just felt that, okay, there is no time. So let us just start it in earnest and begin to wade through it, which is what he has done. People have said that  he should have prepared and all of that. Fact of the case is that there is no time that we will not have to face these challenges. The fact of the case is that we, as a people, must appreciate that for things to get better, there must be a period of hardship, which is what I think Nigerians are not ready for. I quite sympathize with the low income people because genuinely, without any doubt, they are the hardest hit. But regrettably, it’s what it is and once we go through it, things will begin to get better. I have a different idea to what we need to do as a country. I am an apostle of local consumption being the only way to improve local production in all ramifications. This is without prejudice to international treaties to free trade. Without any doubt, I think this madness started with the Udoji Award when all of a sudden, the consumption pattern of all of us as Nigerians went above the roof. The fact is that we produce nothing, but we consume  everything. At a stage and I still think up till now, Nigerians are still importing toothpicks. We are importing plastic combs. We are importing safety pins. We are importing buttons. Now, we have a petrochemical industry. Why should we be importing buttons and combs, things that are by-products of that industry? So the Nigerian taste has gone to the high heavens and I’m not excusing myself. You know the kind of houses we built – this is not the way it was. In fact, once upon a time, air conditioning was not part of furniture in Nigeria. When you build houses, people will talk of cross-ventilation. So you open the window, fresh air will come in and all of that. So air conditioning was not part of it and our fathers lived a good life and they lived long. Now every property has to be air conditioned. We were not used to having multiple sitting  rooms. Our fathers built a room and a parlour; two rooms and a parlour; and it was in that parlour that the family would  sit and watch the only TV. But now, we have multiple lounges. This madness that we all got involved with cannot be sustained. And if it’s going to be sustained, let it be sustained based on local consumption. I keep referring to my tenure as governor when, as a matter of deliberate policy in all of eight years, we did not award any contract to any foreign company. A country deserves the government it gets. In the same way, a country decides the job it can do. And if we don’t learn from mistakes, we will never grow. When we were doing our roads, you remember the Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency (OGROMA) that we set up and they were doing the roads. Some of the roads are still there today. And then, what is in a road now. As an engineer, they are aggregates. What are aggregates? They are rocks and other materials. Look at everywhere in Nigeria. Where don’t we have rocks that can be blasted? We have sand aplenty. Cement is there. I think we have the largest reserve of limestone all over the world. We can produce enough cement in Nigeria to serve the world. We refuse to explore our bitumen and we continue to import asphalt with huge sums of foreign exchange to build our roads. God has given us everything.

    So, if I were to decide, I would  decide on a few things and you would  be shocked. I will say, for instance, those of you who are doing construction, you have five years after which importation of bitumen is banned. So all of you who have money, who say you want to invest, go and do bitumen exploration because in five years we will not import bitumen again. This has gone very well for cement luckily. And ditto for all those things that we can produce here. Ditto for furniture. Let our carpenters produce what they can and we patronise them. So whatever foreign exchange we now have, can now be left for things that we cannot produce for starters. And there has to be a plan to say, this is the plan of action, this is what we will look at. Once upon a time, there was Remo Carpet. There were all sorts of carpet companies. It’s made from yarn and cotton which we have. There is no shortcut to all of this, but for us to get there; we have to appreciate that we can survive with what we can produce. That means all of us will have to adjust our expectations and go through a brief period of inconvenience and then our country has capacity to be one of the most prosperous nations in the world.

    How about electricity tariff? Besides, is it not strange that, after all these years, Nigeria is yet to solve its power problem?

    It is the same problem. For me, it is the same problem of management. Just like the problem we have with so many other sectors. It is management and lack of patriotism. For instance, at the beginning of this civil administration, electricity generation was removed from the exclusive preserve of government and I remember that one of the administrations that made the first attempt was this same Bola Tinubu’s administration in Lagos with the ENRON power  project. We did not get the support we should get at that time. I’m just being mild in the way I am describing what happened. So it is management. It is lack of patriotism. All over the world, nobody centralizes electricity generation and distribution because it doesn’t work. Let everybody generate their own electricity in their own way and that is the way to go. Once the private sector is allowed to do whatever they want to do, government can now subsidize for the low income earners. When we were building the Olorunsogo and Omotosho power stations, part of what we insisted on was  that 10% of the power that is generated, both from Olorunsogo and Omotoso, must be given to the local environment within 20 kilometers radius of that plant. By the time we commissioned the Olorunsogo power plant, a large number of estates, both residential and commercial, started developing around that power station. Because they were sure that they were going to get power. But again, that was not sustained. So it is this inconsistency in policy and poor management and the opaque way of doing things without transparency. Those are the challenges that have crippled the sector. Now, when the privatisation was going on and the DisCos were being privatized I’m not so sure that people with capacity won the bids. There is financial capacity and there is also technical ability. In some instances, it does appear that the only thing they were looking at was the financial capability but then the shock that has enveloped the country is that many of those people did not invest as expected and the ones who invested more or less took money from banks with the cut throat interest rates. The business of power is not a business that is like direct importation where you get immediate returns. It is a long-term investment. To build an average generating plant can be anything between a minimum of five years. After you have all your money to put all the equipment in place, it’s minimum five years. So if you want to take some cut throat interest rates by way of a loan to do a business like that, within five years you’re already bankrupt. So those are the challenges. So most of them therefore did not do what was  expected of them. They were waiting that government would  still support them. So that was a misstep. Going forward, it is clear to me that there are certain things that you cannot completely say, government will not subsidize. If you remove subsidy on petrol, you must put subsidy in power, because, all over the world, there are ways and means in which public goods are subsidized. Let’s look at the Chinese model.When the Chinese finally decided to open up and all these companies flooded Africa, what many people don’t know is that even those companies that claimed to be privately owned, there is virtually none of them that is not government that has majority shares. They let them do the business but government is the owner of majority shares. I’m not so sure anyone is running without the government having about 51% shares. So, they opened up but it is guided economic diplomacy and they are there to help those companies. That is why it’s not difficult for many of those companies to enter into  market that  otherwise belonged to Western Europe and the US because of that support.

    So what are you proposing?

    In fact, what I said when I was Governor was that yes, government has no business in business, but government has a responsibility to support business because, if you ask government parastatals and agencies to run businesses, they just don’t know how to run them. So they have no business in running business, but government has a responsibility to support and facilitate business. Part of what I’m going to do, and I’m happy that I’m already seeing that the administration is looking at the tax regime, part of what is killing the private sector is the multiple tax situation. I am particularly happy that that is also being harmonised. Those are the ways in which we can help the private sector. Not to try to do the business for them. Let us say, okay, what can we do by way of tax relief, tax holiday and an organized taxation system? Not what hitherto was going on, where everybody was just under the assumption that companies are making money. Companies are operating in a very, very hostile environment: no power, no security. So an average company must organise its own power, its own security, its own waterworks, its own access roads in some instances. So it’s already quite a hostile location for them to operate. Then, when you now think that this is a company and you begin to tax them, indiscriminately, it’s a disincentive. So you are saying you want investors to come in but you are overtaxing them because you think they are making money. So I’m happy that government is looking at that. Without any doubt, we know the sectors that are making money are not many in this country, we know them. And they are not really productive sectors. I can explain this to you. What is the production in the banking system? So they are making money. What’s the production in  telecoms? It is the air that transmits and as the air is transmitting, they are charging. So they are making money. They use artificial intelligence and stuff like that. Proprietary right is what we are paying for. No production because production is the most difficult thing to do. But there is virtually no company in production in Nigeria today that is making money. For the first time in recent years, Nestle, declared a loss. Nigerian Breweries and major industries are now merely struggling to  breathe. So what’s happening to the productive capacity? So who is producing anything that’s making money? So the few production companies you now begin to over tax them. So everybody will leave production. I was watching a  programme recently where somebody said, oh, we are investing. What are we investing? We are investing in stocks and then we are making money. So those are the challenges. But the summary is that we have in this administration somebody who knows where the shoe pinches, somebody who has a background of the private sector and experience in the public sector, and somebody who also has gone through the mills and the grills. Late Tai Solarin said ‘may your road be rough’ I think that when you look at the trajectory of our president, he has gone through everything. So he knows what to do, and when you have somebody like that at the helm of affairs, he cannot afford to fail and I don’t see how he’s going to fail. So I have absolute confidence that this administration will continue to turn around the fortunes of our country and I know that at the end of the day, our country will be better for it. 

    During the election of the leadership of the Senate in June last year, there were insinuations in some quarters that you did not support the candidate of the party, that is Godswill Akpabio. Tell us what happened. Are the allegations true?

    No, there is nothing like that. You know  this politics that we play. Some people believe that the only way they can make progress is to begin to fabricate lies against innocent people. It’s an unfortunate part of our politics. Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, is somebody that I have known and have a first class relationship  with dating decades . In fact, he was here in my house and we had discussed and of course he had 100% of my support. But I think the mistake people are making is that my own politics is a bit different and I don’t grandstand maybe because I’ve seen it all. People think that, oh, because you are supporting somebody, you cannot talk to somebody else. I don’t think that’s the way it should be. All the people who wanted to be Senate president were my colleagues in a way. Some of them were governors. Orji Kalu was governor and an ally.  I think between 2007 and 2011, we sat at the cabinet together. The other main contestant Senator Abdulaziz Yari from Zamfara, was at some point a Governor. I happened  to be the Deputy Chairman of the former Governor’s Forum. So, when people like that come looking for me, people may say, ah, we saw this man going there, therefore… They don’t even know whether what I was telling them was  let us support Akpabio (laughs). So it is part of the bad politics that our people play. There was absolutely nothing like that.

    But you were in the opposition party at a time which could trigger suspicions about your loyalty or support for the President. Isn’t that possible?

    Yes, the fact of the case is that at some point in time when I was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I ran the Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign. But I’ve also told people who cared to listen that when I was running an Atiku campaign, Bola Tinubu was not contesting. Two Fulani men were in the race as leading candidates and I happened  to be in PDP and so I took control of the Atiku campaign, not against Bola Tinubu. But I’ve told people that once Bola Tinubu is on the ballot, it’s a completely different ball game. And the funny thing is that the people in the PDP also know that I can’t do any other thing. So they know. So the funny thing is that people in the PDP know that, ah, OGD, that’s a Jagaban’s person, whatever you do. So once Jagaban was coming in, in fact, people do not know that a few of us came together and we were going round the entire Southwest and beyond trying to dissuade all the people who wanted to run to forget it. We formed a committee and Bola Tinubu did not send us.  We felt that of all of them, he was the most experienced, he was the most qualified, and he was the most senior. It’s not as if some people didn’t also come to me and say, look OGD it is you we want to use. And I said, ah, no, no, no. Tinubu is running o! (Laughs) No, forget it! But some of us fell into that kind of temptation. There’s none of them I didn’t go to see. We went to Ekiti, we saw Kayode Fayemi. I went and saw Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. I said ‘Ogbeni what’s wrong with you? Ah! Kilo nsele? Look at me; we both know how…What’s going on? Don’t allow yourself to be used’ and all of that. So we did what we had to do without any prompting or grandstanding from any quarters. We went to Aketi (late former Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu), may God bless his soul. We said, look, you are the chairman of the Southwest Governor’s Forum. What has to be done has to be done. We went round. We went to Baba Akande in Ila and I said Baba, you can’t be passive. You are probably the oldest former governor in the South West and you are very close to Asiwaju. So you cannot but be active. We went round. Even though we were not putting loudspeakers in what we were doing. We went round quietly. We went round and we spoke to all the self-determination groups. I said, no, it’s a different ball game.  I am usually amused when I see people who told us Asiwaju had no chance and we should stop wasting time now gallivanting around the President. I guess that is Politics Nigeriana.  So we thank God that all is well that ended well. But having said that, it is part of the politics that we people talk about. They insinuate and we live with it. 

    At a point in your political career, and that was even when you were governor in Ogun State, there was this seeming Cold War between you and Asiwaju Tinubu at that time. There were rumblings here and there but nobody spoke about it and it was everywhere…

     (Cuts in) Accentuated by you, the media people…(laughs)

    Was there a rift between you and Tinubu?

    There was none…

    But there was a serious political disagreement…

    No, there was no disagreement. Now let me tell you what happened. I can say this to you today. You know, I have had a first-hand relationship with President Tinubu. But when I wanted to run, don’t forget that I was the Chairman of the infrastructure committee when Tinubu became the governor in Lagos. Part of my responsibility was to look after water challenges in Lagos, power challenges in Lagos, and the road challenges. All of those three items were under the Infrastructure Committee, which I chaired as part of the Transition Committee. And everybody felt very excited and Lagos started kicking but along the line when I decided to run for governor in Ogun State, I was a private sector person and we approached the leaders, and the leaders felt that no, Otunba, it is not your turn. We will not support you. 

    That’s at the level of AD then?

    Yes, at the level of AD (Alliance for Democracy). They said we will not support you. You are doing well. We like you. You supported NADECO, you have done well, you have done a lot for the structure, but we cannot support you. Go and wait. But on the other hand, a large number of the masses of our people were craving for a change in the state and one thing led to the other, we went into ‘Whispering Palms’, we had a session, a retreat of some sort and we came to a conclusion that to respond to the yearnings of these people, we might need to change party. And of course, the problem was  how could  I do that with the kind of relationship I had with Asiwaju? Let me say, to the glory of God, I went to him and I said, this is the situation and I am considering changing my party. He sat with me and did the analysis and said, well, Gbenga, if you really must run, I can’t stop you. And that was how I then went into the PDP. As God would have it, I won the election despite the opposition by Knucklehead (laughs) and his friends. Because he felt it was a taboo. I mean, why should one unknown Otunba try to rock the boat against established tradition? So we won the election. Of course, my first official visit was to go and pay my respect to Governor Tinubu and everybody knew that while I was governor in Ogun State, the programmes that I was running, even though under the PDP banner, were not different from the programmes that Tinubu was running in Lagos. Let me give you a few examples. For starters, the Attorney General that I picked (Akin Osinbajo) was a younger  brother to Prof Yemi Osinbajo, (immediate past Vice President) who was his Attorney General in Lagos at that time. He was my Attorney General for all of eight years. I couldn’t do that without some kind of consultations and you know how these things come about. So all the programmes I implemented – law reforms, judicial reform and establishment of the Public Defender Office, were what we replicated. Now, I remember that while in Lagos, in terms of security, RRS (Rapid Response Squad) was started. In Ogun State, I also did GRS, Gateway Response Squad. If you remember well, you will remember that Bola Tinubu tried to return schools to missionaries. It was Dr. Idowu Sobowale who chaired that reform in Lagos. When I got to Ogun State, it was the same Dr. Idowu Sobowale that I invited and said look, I don’t want to begin to reinvent the wheel, since you did this successfully in Lagos, we also want to return schools to the missionaries both Christian and Muslim schools. It was the same Dr. Idowu Sobowale that we invited to come and chair the Committee. So that was what happened. I don’t know where it came from, from the angle that, what’s going on? Is this person trying to compete, or what is he trying to do? I think that’s where the insinuation started. But I can tell you, up until now, up until this minute, I and the President have not sat down to discuss it. I heard that all sorts of rumours were going on. 

    Maybe the rumour was inflamed by the fact that you established your own newspaper.

    Well, yes…

     Tell us about the establishment of the newspaper, The Compass. Was it set up to fight the Tinubu?

    No, no, no, no! First things first, you must remember that I took over from a newspaper mogul, Chief Olusegun Osoba,  and I was not expected to get good press, because this is one person who has either been chairman of Guild of Editors, and the sympathy was really not with me, it was with my predecessor. And people were actually thinking that I was going to crash within a few weeks. Ah, no, this one doesn’t know, where is he coming from? So I had what you can call a very bad press, and there was indeed a need for me to find a solution. Unfortunately, we did  not have the level of social media that we have today. If that existed, nobody would need the traditional media. But you know, you people at that time, once you blocked us, you blocked us here, you blocked us there, I was  finished (laughs). If we were working 24-7, nobody would see this. They would  say you are not working because you people have blocked everybody. So that was what happened. I’m not a newspaper person. But, at that stage, we needed to have a platform to also record what we were doing. We did a lot of work that people still do not know. For instance, we are thanking our current governor for now working on the airport. But this was part of our master plan, which we decided, we did everything we needed to do, we got all the approvals before we left. But you people (press) will not report it. Many people don’t know that while I was governor, we secured three free trade zones in Ogun state. One is the one we had with Ondo State which we call Olokola Free Trade Zone. That’s where Dangote Refinery was  supposed to be but because you people did what you had to do, we lost that one to Lagos. But I said to people, well, Lagos is still the same. If it’s lost to Lagos, it’s fine. In any case, where we wanted to put it is inside Ijebuland. All these places where they are in Lekki is still part of Ijebuland, under Lagos. So we’ve not lost anything. We’ve done the Kajola Transportation Free Trade Zones, where what we wanted to do at that time, we persuaded the presidency that Iddo Terminus was finished. There is no reason going to take stuff coming from the hinterland to Iddo market to add to the congestion and we said we wanted to bring it to Kajola. And then we created the free trade zone around Kajola. It’s called Kajola transportation free trade zone. That is why we’re now having dry port as it is. It was  our initiative. We’ve done the Ogun-Gwandong Free Trade Zone. The Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone is what we did when China decided that they wanted to do three free trade zones in Africa. It was Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa that contested for it. We in Ogun State still contested for the one in Nigeria and we got it. (That was commissioned during our tenure) So in each of the three Senatorial Districts, we have one free trade zone and virtually functional. In fact, the biggest one would have been Olokola if not for a lot of other things that happened, the OKLNG and all of that. So we did a lot of work which were not reported. You’ll be shocked if I tell you that in the course of our administration, we established probably about seven tertiary institutions and campuses. I can count for you. We established Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu-Igbo. We established the Gateway Polytechnic in Sapade. We established  another one in Igbesa and another one in Itori. We established the Tai Solarin University of Education. We established the School of Nursing in Ilaro. We took the old  Tai Solarin College of Education to Omu. It’s now known as Sikiru Adetona College of Education in Omu. We established Gateway Industrial & Petrochemical Institute  (GIPI) in Oni. What didn’t we do? But you people didn’t report it. We also did a lot in terms of industrialization. You know that, once upon a time, the Sagamu Interchange was just a bare land where people threw all sorts of tyres. That axis now is probably the biggest industrial zone in the country. We named it Flower Gate Industrial Estate. That is when companies like Nestle, Coleman Cables, CTK, the biggest international breweries, and all the big names now in industry came there. That is the fastest growing industrial arena in the entire country as we speak today. So there’s a whole lot that you people refused to report for us (laughs).

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    Towards the end of last year, during the yuletide, there were reports that the presidency shipped trailer loads of rice to  House of Representatives members and senators as palliatives to be given to their constituents. Unfortunately, some lawmakers denied receiving the items while others said they were supplied. Did you receive rice from the President?

    No, that was not what happened. To the best of my knowledge, probably it is part of the provision for constituency support. I am aware that a vote was announced that  would  be available for each of the senators. Basically, it wasn’t even as if they said it must be used for A, B, or C, but in this period of challenges for everybody to go and do something at home, that happened. And this was in December and early January. But the process of, let’s say, the bureaucracy, I’m aware that this is May but some people have still not got. We got something about two weeks ago. But we have been doing our own palliatives. We’ve done in December, in January.Every month we go and do massive palliatives. So we’re not waiting for it. But if and when it comes, okay, there’s no problem. But definitely it’s not as if trailer loads of rice were distributed among lawmakers, no, no, no, no. What it was, was that finally it was supposed to be worked out with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and I think that some people got consignment from the ministry, others got their own independently. But yes, and in truth, there was a commendable effort to encourage lawmakers to go and do something to add value to what is going on in their various constituencies. That’s the way I’m going to put it.

    Let’s go back to Ogun State politics. So, ordinarily, you being in APC and the present governor is in APC, nobody would have imagined that there would come a time when there would  be a situation where the governor would say, no, Otunba Gbenga Daniel worked against me when I wanted to run for second tenure and then somehow, maybe through court processes, they went to Ijebu-Ode to demolish the property that you spent millions of naira on. Can you tell us what really happened? Where did the rift start from?

    Well, you know, after I left as governor, Ibikunle Amosun became Governor. For eight years, he was there and finally Dapo Abiodun is governor. So which means that I had been Governor eight clear years before Dapo became governor. So I think I can describe myself as an elder statesman and that is why I have not passed any comment and I am still not going to pass any comment. All I know is that part of what has destroyed our polity is when people personalise issues. If you look at my trajectory, I have never spoken about personal issues because I think that there are bigger problems that need to be resolved and the expectations of the society, when they put us there, are more than talking about personal issues. It is unfortunate that the plaza that was destroyed belongs to my wife and a number of us felt that even if there are disagreements, we should not extend it to our children or our family, because at the end of the day, it’s a tenured position and people who find themselves in different angles may reunite tomorrow. I have had this personal experience in my political life and like people say, when you want to dig a pit for a political enemy, don’t dig it too deep because you may be the one who will finally fall into it. (Laughs). I think the way I normally describe when all this shenanigans go on is what we read in the Bible: Father forgive them for they know not what they do. That really is my summary.

    Is there still a plot against Akpabio to maybe disparage him and kick him out of the Senate President’s position?

    No. no, no. Let me make it clear to you, there was really never a time that Akpabio’s tenure was threatened. In the course of the election, yes, it was a keenly fought battle. But immediately after the election, all the people who didn’t support him openly declared their support for him, including Senator Abdulaziz Yari, all of them. Everybody declared their support and since then I have not seen any issue. But what people forget is that on the floor of the Senate everybody who is there are potential national leaders. So when you want to run the  Senate, you are just first among equals and because it is the floor of the Senate, it also gives you what you can call immunity over  what you can say. People do say that it’s the floor of the National Assembly and that I can say anything and get away with it. There is some kind of immunity in what you can say there and when you look at the calibre and personalities of people that are there, former governors…, I know somebody who has been in that Senate since 1999. So who is going to be the Senate President that such a Senator cannot talk to? So you begin to see things like that. Or you know, in that Senate, we also have people who are classmates of the President in the Senate because when the President was governor, they were also governors. The President was our own senior but there are people in that senate that belong to the class of 1999. So those are the calibre of people. So if somebody is Senate President, you cannot say that you will not experience this sort of situation but the beautiful thing is that at the end of the day, this Senate is one and I particularly feel quite excited in the way the Senate President has handled even very serious issues. He is a human being, he is bound to make some mistakes, but by and large, he even has a way of, how do I put it, reducing temperature in the chamber. He is a jovial person, he is serious and he is cracks jokes. So things that ordinarily would have heated the place up, we resolve them. The Senate is a vibrant place. The Senate is a very vibrant place where there is freedom of speech and it is said that people have a right to shout. Emotions can be expressed. So when you see emotions rising, you will think that the whole place is coming down but after all of those emotions, you just find all of them shaking hands. There is stability in the Senate. 

    Two of your bills, the one for South West Development Commission and another for the establishment of aviation college in Ogun State, how far have they gone?

    We are moving and we are quite satisfied. The aviation school that we conceptualised has been part of our master plan for the airport project and in the course of our campaign; we were waylaid by students of that school. It is a technical college. They waylaid and said look, OGD you are passing by here but in this place there is nothing going on. As God will have it, the runway terminates around Akaka. We then said this is the aviation school that we’ve been thinking of, this is it. We tap into that because we also know that there are challenges with money and budgets. So in that location there is already infrastructure. There are buildings, very few students, underutilized facilities and here we are, we now have an airport which by the special grace of God, the new governor appears to have gone very far with the completion. So pronto, we can’t have it better. We need to train people about aviation in all ramifications. What we have done, many people did not know, the airport that we planned is not just an airport, it’s a big city. We call it Aerotropolis. An Aerotropolis is a city which contains facilities for everything – hangar construction, warehouses, all sorts of things – and all of that. But when we were conceptualising it, we actually called it an agrocargo airport and that’s what actually decided the location, that that location is equidistant to Lagos,Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and Ibadan. We had planned that, from that location, people will bring their agricultural products there and it can be an export zone. So that was what we planned. So all of those things that have not happened, it’s just part of our master plan and God has just given us the grace. By the grace of God, last two weeks it was gazetted. That is the second reading and we think that with that one, the next thing is now for it to be subject to a public hearing.  By the grace of God that is one bill that there was no need for any serious take-off.grant. Unlike some of the other bills, people are proposing things that are completely new, green field, they have to propose a lot of money. That is just a low-hanging fruit and we’re happy that, by the grace of God, that will come true. There are quite a number of things we are also doing. The Southwest Development Commission Bill, of course, is not a new bill per se. It had been initiated in the past, but due to one thing or the other, it didn’t go   beyond the second reading but this time around, we are determined, and I think everybody has agreed that there is indeed a need for that commission. All the other commissions are also coming up. They are just economic units. When you also look at all the people who have been talking of restructuring, something has happened which the past military government has done, which we have not taken note of. It is the creation of six zones. Six administrative zones are recognised in the constitution and all the commissions that are going on now appear to be following the pattern of the zones. People from each of the zones with common destiny, common economic boundaries, common electoral affinities, common industrial or commercial activities, should be able to come together and look at things that are important to them, to be able to develop those peculiar things that’s common to them, and get the federal government to support it. So it’s probably still along those six zonal structures that we are going. We are hoping that we can achieve it by the grace of God. 

    On a lighter note, people wonder why, at your age, you still look agile and athletic. How do you relax and what form of exercise do you engage in if any. Again, what is your philosophy of life?

    Well, first of all, there are quite a number of aspects to my life. I’m a lover of church music. Probably you would have heard about, for instance, the choir festival that I’m promoting. The next one is coming on the 16th of June. I’m the Asiwaju of Remo Christians and I’m trying to promote church music. The reason is very, very simple. We found out that, whether we like it or not, there are good aspects of religion, both Christian and Islamic religions. It tends to preach morals. In a morally decadent society that we have, where value system has completely collapsed, we are left with getting things that can improve that from the churches and from the mosques. I also discovered along the line that, if we are not careful, the orthodox way of preaching is becoming boring, especially for the younger people. There must be other ways and I find that music is indeed something that gets people sober, think, ruminate, observe quiet time and all of that. What I found out is that the way church music was going on was becoming uninteresting. When we were young, sometimes it was  because of the choir that we went  to church. Ah, the choir is going to render a special rendition today! So we would go and sit down to enjoy it. I sang Soprano when I was younger. I played the piano and all of that. So, I’m passionate and I am working very hard. I’m hoping that we can use that to also develop the younger people. We’re also hoping that, apart from the value system, it can also be, what I call, the building blocks for future stars. You know, so, as part of our little contribution to improving the society. Nigeria is evolving. All of a sudden, we seem to have taken over from the United States in terms of music. We are scrolling up with Hollywood and Nollywood in terms of artwork. So it’s also part of that. You’ll be shocked that I play table tennis. But not just that I play, I’m the champion in my house. (Laughs) I am the champion in my house. I have played table tennis since I was a young man and I still play. So every morning I play table tennis and I still don’t have anybody who is beating me. All my drivers are playing with me, everybody is playing with me in the morning, 7 o’clock we are playing. But not only that, I read a lot and I watch TV. I listen to current affairs. When I was in school, I was representing the school in quiz competitions. What we were told in quiz is that all knowledge is  relevant because in a quiz competition, my quiz teacher used to tell me that we can ask a question from the stars to the surface of the earth and to beneath the earth. Any and every question is relevant in a quiz competition and because of that  we have to be interested in everything. So I’m a voracious reader and I watch what is going on, that is current affairs all over the world.

  • How family associates celebrated late Alhaji Jimoh, Alhaja Azeezat Gbadamosi

    How family associates celebrated late Alhaji Jimoh, Alhaja Azeezat Gbadamosi

    • Flood of encomiums at one year, 10th year anniversaries
    • By Bola Ojo

    The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others” – Mahatma Gandhi and “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’-Winston Churchhill.

    All these inspirational quotes by these renowned leaders suit the renowned educationist, the Late Alhaji Jimoh Adisa Gbadamosi, who died a year ago, because he was indeed a leader, who ticked all the boxes in his humanitarian trajectories. So was his wife, Alhaja Azeezat Adebisi Gbadamosi, who had passed away 10 years before him.

    Alhaji Gbadamosi was referred to as an icon, a quintessential paragon of human virtues. As an educationist, he led an indelible mark on the sands of time. As family and friends remember this remarkable man on his one-year anniversary and 10 years anniversary of his wife, the late Alhaja Azeezat Adebisi Gbadamosi, a parent’s light may dim, but their impact never fades.

    As a man of wisdom, whose knowledge and exposure transcend the ordinary, the sweet memory of Alhaji Gbadamosi  remains uneasy to be wished away in a hurry despite being a year now that he breathed his last, precisely on Monday May 15, 2023. This is as his children, associates and the Nigerian communities still feel like they have just lost one of the best Nigerians that Nigeria has ever produced. But before he made his last ‘submission’ to the final arbiter, he had already been ‘discharged’ and ‘acquitted’ as one that lived life to the fullest. He gave his all. He achieved the best.

    The renowned educationist shone as one of the brightest of his generation. His intellectual prowess in his field of profession was equal to none. Teaching was his life: he breathed it, he lived it and he ate it. The late Alhaji Gbadamosi made a success out of teaching, impacting knowledge and nurturing talents.

    Born  March 18, 1927 in Lagos Island to parents who were traders, he began his early education at Holy Cross Primary School, Lagos Island in the mid-30s and St. Gregory College, Obalende, Lagos for his post-primary education. He later proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Geography Education. His quest for further education to equip himself for his future career took him to Oxford University where he bagged a Master’s degree also in Geography Education.

    A brilliant and exceptional man, the late educationist started his career as a pioneer principal of the then Ahmaddiyah High School, Eleyele, Ibadan in the then Western Region. In 1957, he moved to Lagos as principal of Anwar-Ul Islam, Agege (formerly Ahmaddiyah College, Agege) from there he went to Jubril Martins Secondary School where he served until his voluntary retirement in 1977 at the early age of 50.

    Over the past 46 years on earth,  Gbadamosi was involved in various activities both in sports and education at both state and national levels. He was Chairman, Lagos State Scholarship Board, Chairman, Lagos Amateur Football Association, Member, National Judo Association and Chairman, Principals’ Cup Committee. He also served as Commissioner, Lagos State Local Government Commission, Chairman, Anwar-Ul Islam Movement. His selfless service in his field at both state and national levels had npt gone unnoticed. On December 13, 2002, the Federal  Government conferred on him the National Honour of Order of the Niger (OON).

    An event organised to mark the one year and 10 years  remembrance of both educational icons was held at the Eko Club, Surulere, Lagos on Wednesday May 15, 2024.

    The event, which also witnessed reading of the whole Qur’an, special prayers for deceased, offering of special tributes and lecture, was attended by eminent Nigerians who were mostly his students including Chairman of Caverton Offshore Support Group PLC, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola accompanied by his wife, Mrs Yoyinsola Makanjuola and sons, Olabode , Niyi, Rotimi and their spouses.

    The late educationists offspring were also in attendance: Mr. Biodun, Gbadamosi, Mrs. Bimbola Adedun and Kunle Gbadamosi.

    Other eminent persons present included former Minister of Communications and General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Armoured Division Nigerian Army, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (RTD); for me Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; among several others some of who poured encomiums on the late educational hero and his wife, who had preceeded him in the journey of no return.

    Delivering his lecture at the memorial, the lecturer whose paper prepared in English was circulated at the event, Associate Professor Noah Lawal Jinadu of the Foreign Languages Department, Arabic Unit, Lagos State University, said the lecture in its intent and purpose was a reflection of what Alhaji Jimoh Adisa Gbadamosi and his wife Alhaja Azeezat Adebisi Gbadamosi stood for and expended their entire quality lives upon.

    The university don said, “They lived a fulfilled life, full of great, laudable and outstanding achievements, exemplary for a would-be parents, a young father or mother who is having some challenges in rearing his (or her) ogoweere.

    “Anyone who has the opportunity to look into their wonderful biographies, or listen to narratives on their life styles and parenting methodology would certainly view today’s lecture as a mere theoretical construct and subtle addendum.

    “I have read their biographies and had the rare opportunity of listening to detailed narrations on their life styles, I have come to the conclusion that they were a paragon of adminirabke qualities/virtues, an epitome of erudition, and of course, an embodiment of good parenting,” the lecturer said.

    Jinadu, speaking on the lecture titled ‘Role of Young Muslim Parenrs in Early Chid Upbringing and Its Challenges in Modern Society’, looked at the serving children and said, “Today’s programme which is organised by you (the pious children) in cof our late commemoration of our late father and mother is a clear indication and a proof of positive parenting.”

    Associate Professor Lawal Jinadu added that, “They both raised you well and inculcated in you tge religious values of Islam, and today they are now reaping tge fruits of their labour as you gather people to join you in this special memorial prayer,” he said.

    “And if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”- John Quincy Adams.

    This applies to one of his students and Caverton boss, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola. Until his final appearance in the court of life, Makanjuola was a living witness to Alhaji Gbadamosi’s good and benevolent life. He didn’t only mentor Makanjuola, he also became a father figure to him.

    Makanjuola had an encounter with the late renowned educationist as a teenager in 1962 at age 13. This later resulted in a robust father-and-son relationship. He remained a father figure and a reliable confidant to the successful businessman until he died last year, 2023.

    Talking glowingly about him Makanjuola said, “Alhaji Gbadamosi had a relationship with my father and my path crossed with him in 1962 when I wanted to enter  secondary school and my father sent me to his household. I became one of his own. Him and his  late wife were both  two inseparable duo who embraced  and impacted education not for  their children but for other people’s children. And they were both principal of schools. The husband was teaching at Ahmadiyya College Agege,  and the wife was at the  Ahmadiyya Girls’ High School. He later moved to Jubril Martins when it started.

    “They  both really dedicated their lives to educating people.  And all the people they have  helped to educate have become greater people in the country and doing very well.”

    That Makanjuola blossomed under their tutelage would be an understatement: “They took me as their child and proudly call me their first son to anybody that cares to know. And I always live to that expectation for them. And they have been very nice, decent and all of that to me.”

    The impact of the Gbadamosi on the Caverton boss was enormous. From his secondary school days to his foray in England, they were there all the way.

    “After my studies in England, I came back to Nigeria they already had a place for me in their house with my wife and first born Bode. And then when I started work, Alhaji Gbadamosi was one of those who influenced my getting work at Backlays Bank. They were always with me all the time. Whatever I did, they were there. Whatever they did, I was there. And I ensured that I treated their children as my junior brothers and sister.”

    It has been one year since his demise, Makanjuola said he missed his counsel. “Papa was a man of wisdom. I go to his house every Sunday. He would tell me his life history all over and all over again. He would tell me about Lagos. He would tell me about what he had done. His wife was also a very pleasant lady. She took care of the husband when he was sick. They were always  together.

    “The late Alhaji Gbadamosi  was an awesome person, who believed in giving. A detribalized Nigerian who would teach you and monitor your progress. Even if your parents didn’t have money to send you to university, he would look for scholarships for you. He was a great person and everybody that met him knew that they met somebody along with his wife.

    “I pray to Almighty Allah to forgive him his sins and give him a pleasant abode in Al Janna, and also for us to keep on remembering him, possibly doing a foundation, naming of streets after him, and maybe very soon collating and writing a book about his life so that people will know better.”

    Corroborating her husband, Mrs. Yoyinsola Makanjuola said the late Alhaji Jimoh and Alhaja Gbadamosi fondly called ‘Mummy and Daddy’ were epitome of great morals and finesse. They lived a life full of great achievement in nurturing all students that passed through their tutelage as principal of Muslim colleges.

    “They were pillars of success to all the students that they taught including my Husband. He reminisced so many good things they did in his life along with so many other students which now yielded great successes in their lives. Mummy and Daddy can never be forgotten as the saying goes: ‘To live in the heart of those you love is not to Die’.

    “They took over my husband as their biological child with total care and love which smoothly extended to me and our children. We owe them everlasting gratitude for being there always to see that all is well. Daddy till he passed on always looked out for us, making sure we were comfortable and he spoilt us rotten with gifts,” Mrs Makanjuola said.

    In his tribute, General Olanrewaju said, “As distinguished educators and well-known elders in the Lagis community, they understood the transformative power of learning for young people, recognising how education could serve as the cornerstone upon which their careers could be built to enhance their futures,” said the former Minister. Reminiscing on his life and time, a retired jurist, Justice  Isola Adekunle Olorunnibe also praised Alhaji Gbadamosi, whose life resonates with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy that says: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

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    According to the 94-year-old judiciary icon, his path crossed with him in 1948 when Ahmadiyya High School was established. “He was one of our teachers and I was one of his early students. We maintained a cordial relationship because of the conduct of Papa Alhaji Jimoh Gbadamosi, OON. All of us were tiny young boys then. Then we left school in 1952. But before we left, he  had gone to Trinity College in Dublin, Republic of Ireland for further studies. By the time he returned I was already a lawyer.

    “He stuck to the ethics of his profession as a teacher. He later proceeded abroad for post graduate in Oxford University. He maintained an excellent relationship with all his students. Both the new ones and old ones. We kept on going to him for advice.”

    Commenting on his influence in his life, Justice Olorunnibe said it was enormous. “Late Pa Gbadamosi was an epitome of integrity; he was very accommodating and a man full of wisdom. I think he was ordained to be a teacher.

    “I miss him. I have missed his Friday lectures, but you can call it sermon. On Fridays, he would tell me the history of Lagos, prominent personalities and he would tell me how to behave. So I miss his prayers. He would pray for me, my family and all our friends who are his former pupils. Mama was a wonderful mother. She too was a teacher. She  would listen to you carefully. We miss her motherly care. As we celebrate these wonderful people, my wish for the children is that they should keep up the tradition of Papa and Mama’s legacies of togetherness and friendship.”

    In her words, Mrs. Oyinda Aiyepola, a younger sister to the late Alhaja Azeezat Gbadamosi, said the wonderful couple were like her biological parents. She called the sister her ‘younger mother’

    “It was a wonderful experience passing through the tutelage of this amazing couple. My sister, Alhaja Azeezat Gbadamosi, was 10 years older than me. Although I lived with them, I am literally their first daughter while Remi (the Caverton boss) is referred to the first son. I learned a lot from her. She taught me about life, and home management.  I didn’t usually go out. We had a time that we usually returned home when we went out. She also taught me that promptness. Cleanliness is part of us. We used to do gardening, she taught me so much about gardening which I am still doing up till now.

    “I lived with them when I was very young until I got married.  I went to England and came back in 1968.  I still stayed with them because my husband was still abroad.

    “They were very kind. Both of them were special people created by God for manifestation. But then they have something for mankind, maybe because they were teachers. They accommodated everybody.  They were both disciplinarians who did not spare the rod that when you have passed the age of being caned, they will speak with or scold you with words. So, they had a way of giving you a wisdom or teaching about wisdom.

    “Grandpa liked jazz music and we usually listened to music together both with granny. God will grant them Al Janna and we will keep their legacies of togetherness.”