Category: South East

The family of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu Campus, Prof. Edith Ogonnaya Nwosu, has announced a N1 million academic excellence endowment fund for the best graduating students in Company Law in the Faculty of Law.

They said the endowment prize, which would run for the next 10 years, was instituted in honour of their mother, Prof. Nwosu, who delivered the 172nd Inaugural Lecture of the university titled: “Gridlock and Goodluck in quadi-corporate marriages in Nigeria”.

Presenting a cheque of N1,000,000. 00 to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Charles Igwe, on behalf of his siblings, one of the sons of Prof. Nwosu, Tochukwu, said the money would cover a 10-year period in the name of Prof. Edith Ogonnaya Nwosu Prize for Best Graduating Student in Company Law.

He added that from the fund, a best graduating student in Company Law would be endowed with N100,000 at the end of every session.

Tochukwu said this became necessary to encourage Law undergraduates to follow the footsteps of his mother, who is a professor of Corporate Law in the university.

He added that the gesture was to appreciate the university for giving their mother the opportunity to excel in her chosen profession and be a role model to thousands of people in the legal and academic profession.

Receiving the cheque, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Igwe, thanked the family for the gesture, saying the current Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nwosu, is a role model to be celebrated.

The former chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Simon Okeke, has described as genuine and timely, increasing demand for president from the Igbo extraction, ahead of the 2023 general election.

He said the continued deprivation of the region the opportunity to produce the president would amount to sheer injustice, lack of equity and fairness.

Addressing reporters in his country home, Amichi, in Nnewi South Local Government of Anambra State, Okeke said anyone from the Southeast that held contrary view should have his Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) investigated.

He said: “I believe there’s a genuine demand for president by the Igbo. The six geopolitical zones have produced president except the Southeast. Anyone that says it’s not the height of marginalisation is not facing the reality.

“If a Southwesterner will canvass that, anyone from the Southeast who says anything to the contrary, we will have to investigate his DNA.”

“I don’t also buy the idea of substituting Igbo president for restructuring. What is good is good. I’m glad that even among the Yoruba, the leader of Afenifere, Ayo Adebanjo, has been consistent in advocating an Igbo president.”

Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom in Warri Southwest Local Government of Delta State has accused the state government of choosing “to play politics” with the boundary dispute between it and Aladja community in Udu Council, which recently claimed a life.

The victim, the pastor of a Redeemed Christian Church of God parish in Ogbe-Ijoh, Sylvester Yerinbide, was allegedly tortured by youths of Aladja community while heading for a vigil, which resulted in his death on October 30.

The Nation learnt that the deceased’s widow is due for delivery of their first child soon.

Ogbe-Ijoh Warri indigenes made the allegation at a news briefing at the community’s town hall.

They urged the state government and security agencies to fish out the culprits.

In a statement by the Chairman, Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom Governing Council, Roland Takembo; the Secretary, Peter London; the Youth Council President, James Etimadimene; the Chairman, Elders Council, Samuel Igbomene, among others, the people said they would not accept any ploy to frustrate investigation.

They decried the continuous attacks and killings of their kinsmen, recounting similar incidents on October 15, 2019 (Taylor Ogofuwa was shot dead); October 10, 2018 (Mr. Wilson Oborogha was almost killed) and another incident in November 2017 (Samson Bebebo was beheaded at a fish pond).

The people said the state government and security agencies were aware of the attacks against them, despite a “conditional peace” treaty by the Aladja/Ogbe-Ijoh Peace Vanguard dated June 10, 2019.

Wondering why the government was finding it difficult to demarcate the disputed boundary, Ogbe-Ijoh indigenes said this was responsible for the attacks and killings by “Aladja assailants”

They urged the government, especially the commandant, Nigeria Army, Effurun Barracks, who called for security meetings of parties with a view to preventing reprisal; to fish out the culprits, “as we will not accept any attempt to frustrate investigation like the previous cases.”

The traditional ruler of Umuneke-Nna, Ugiri, in Isiala Mbano Local Government of Imo State, Eze Jude Onyenagbaru, has petitioned Police Commissioner Rabiu Hussani on how he allegedly escaped gunmen attack.

The gunmen, the monarch said in the petition, allegedly ambushed him at his construction site, Umuanu Amauku Obollo in Isiala Mbano, after which one of the labourers was kidnapped.

The Nation learnt that one of the labourers was allegedly kidnapped and was later was released at 9:15 pm, after spending hours in an unknown destination.

This was after they reportedly shot in the area.

After the incident, a delegation of monarchs met the police commissioner and reported the threat to life of their colleague.

They said the visit was to seek intervention by the police, to forestall tragedy.

When contacted, Police Commissioner Hussani said he was at a meeting. A text message was sent to his phone, but he did not respond at press time.

A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Authority (NIMASA), Dr. George Eneh, has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State.

He was received by the Chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah, and other leaders of the party.

Eneh said having served out his time at NIMASA, which was apolitical; he decided to join politics through the party because of the need to break the ongoing political monopoly in the state.

He said it was time for the APC to take over the reins of power in Enugu State, to deliver true democracy dividends to the people.

Eneh said: “I believe in the leadership ability of the Chairman, Chief Agballah, to turn things around for the APC in Enugu. He is a man with track record. This is why I have come to join the party. Together, it is hoped that we will turn things around for the party.

“I encourage other top ranking professionals to come forward. Developing Nigeria cannot be left for President Muhammadu Buhari alone. We are gathered to work for APC and Nigeria. Therefore, I formally declare for APC.”

Agballah said that the coming of Eneh would increase the fortunes of the party in the state and the Southeast.

“This is a great moment for the party, as Dr. Eneh and other sons and daughters of the state are coming into the party to deliver Enugu and bring the Southeast closer to the centre,” he said.

Agballah added that with the likes of Eneh in the party, APC was prepared to take over power in the 2023 general election and subsequent elections in the state.

“We want to end the culture of political monopoly in Enugu State. This is why we have kept open our doors to receive statesmen, who will draw their followers into our party,” he said.

Earlier at the state secretariat of the APC, Agballah welcomed members, who rejoined the party after aligning with the faction of the party led by its former caretaker chairman, Ben Nwoye, during the state congress.

They included the former legal adviser of the party under Nwoye, B. N. Nebe; ex-chairman of the party in Oji River Local Government, Chief Benson Eze; former chairman of the party in Enugu North Council, Chief Sunday Eshiokwu and about 200 key members of the APC in the state, who formerly belonged to the camp of the ex-chairman of the party, Nwoye.

Leaders and elders of ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta yesterday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, protested alleged marginalisation of the region by the Federal Government.

The peaceful protesters, under the auspices of Presidents-General of Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities (CPG-NDEN), marched to the Bayelsa State Government House gate to ventilate their grievances over what they described as the Federal Government’s insensitivity and marginalisation of the region.

Leaders of the ethnic nationalities in the region comprising the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Isoko Progressive Union (IPU), Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Itsekiri Leaders of Thoughts (ILT), Ndokwa Progressive Union, Ibibio Union, Ikwere Ethnic Group, among others, were represented during the protest.

They were received at the Government House gate by Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Konbowei Benson and members of the state executive council.

The President, CPG-NDEN, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, who led other leaders during the march, alleged that Federal Government’s policies and programmes were against the people of the Niger Delta.

Okaba, who appreciated the governors of the states in the region on their stance on anti-open grazing policy, reiterated that cattle rearing was an individual business and must not be done at the expense of other people’s livelihood.

He supported the governors in their demand for a minimum of 50 per cent as derivation, wondering why the derivation that was 100 per cent in 1946 and 50 per cent in 1960 was brought down to 13 per cent because it was oil revenue.

Okaba, who is also the president, INC, said: “As a people, we have watched over the years how the Nigerian state has maltreated us to the extent of making poverty part of our lifestyles. We produce the oil and gas that sustain this country. Since 1958, oil and gas produced in our communities has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, yet we are underdeveloped.

“Paradoxically, we are visited with anger, hunger, frustration, disillusionment and marginalisation. In fact, we are the negative end of what we produce in this nation. We have met several groups, we have written petitions, we have read out communiqués, but it is like all of these are falling on deaf ears.

Said he: “In fact, we were all witnesses to the drama in the Senate whereby huge amount of money was spent during the COVID-19 era, where people fainted, not able to defend the budget and there was a drama of ‘off the mic’.

“Government’s excuse was that there was a forensic audit. The audit report was presented four months ago. We are telling the government that they have spent public resources to undertake the audit, let us see the result of the exercise, let us know the persons that spent the N6 trillion, let us know the faces behind the over 3,000 abandoned projects.

“They said the NDDC was bedevilled by corruption; now that they have taken the responsibility of unveiling the corruption, let us know the people that were involved. We are demanding the constitution of the board. The board must be put in place without further delay!

“We say no to the NNPC road projects. Everything about NNPC is about oil and gas and we produce the oil and gas. We cannot therefore accept the Federal Government awarding over a thousand kilometres of roads and a paltry 81 kilometres is allocated to the Southsouth.

“NNPC is awarding roads, none to Bayelsa, none to Rivers, none to Delta, none to Edo State, none to Akwa Ibom, it is unacceptable. You cannot use our oil and build roads elsewhere. We are already angry that our resources are used to build railways to Niger Republic, we are already angry that our resources are used to put up heavy structures elsewhere, to build refineries elsewhere, while the refineries within our land are not working. Enough is enough!

“We consider this as an abomination. The iniquities of the Federal Government against the Niger Delta is getting too much. The time has come for us to move beyond rhetoric, the time has come for us to take action and we are taking this protest as a note of warning to the Federal Government that enough is enough. What we are demanding is our right, what we are demanding is what is due us. We cannot have the places by God and be suffered by men.”

He said the protest march was starting in Bayelsa and would be taken to all the Niger Delta states.

Receiving the protest letter from Okaba, Bayelsa State Secretary to Government (SSG) Konbowei Benson promised the protesters that the government would do justice and due diligence to what they had presented.