Category: South West

The Chairperson of Lawrence Grace Foundation, Mrs. Oluyinka Adewoye, has appealed to government at all levels to enact laws that will eradicate sharp practices against widows. Adewoye made the appeal at the Foundation’s fourth year anniversary dinner and award ceremony, held at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos.

According to her, widows, indigent school children and the less privileged have special needs that could not be attended to by the government alone, hence the need for organizations Lawrence Grace Foundation.

“We are not remembered by how much material things we possess, but by the number of lives we touch and be a blessing to. Lawrence Grace Foundation remarkably has empowered over 1,000 widows in the last two years with outreaches in over eight locations in and outside Lagos with free medical consultation, free drugs, free empowerment programmes, free food items and household needs to all the beneficiaries,” she added. The event witnessed the presentation of awards of recognition to people who have supported the cause of the foundation over the years.

The awardees include wife of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Mr Abiodun Olatunji, (SAN), Mr. Adedoyin Adesina, Mr. Frank Okosun, among others.

 

While the awardees expressed appreciation for the recognition given them by the foundation and promised to do more in support of humanity, Adewoye expressed her optimism that the honour done the awardees would spur them to give back to the society the more.

 

Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede,  Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University has  announced  the formal Launch of Obafemi Awolowo University Advancement Foundation scheduled to hold on 4th December 2021.

According to Professor Charles Ukeje, the Chairman  of the Great Ife 60th Anniversary Planning Committee who represented  the VC  at the event informed that: “ We decided to put our Alumni at the centre of the celebrations and from different  parts of the world they are celebrating the university.”

Ukeje added that: “As we glance into the rear-view mirror, it is delightful to acknowledge how far we have come and how many giant strides we have made as a leading institution of higher learning, research and training in Africa”.

Ukeje goes on  to share the good news of the impending inauguration of the Obafemi Awolowo University Advancement Foundation.

“I am much happier today that the proposed inauguration, to be held on 4th December 2021 at the Marriott Hotels Ikeja, is happening under my watch as the 11th Vice Chancellor of our prestigious University- Great Ife. Therefore, I owe God a great debt of gratitude for bringing this timely initiative to fruition”.

He goes on to explain the reason for the Foundation  l this way.” All over the world, the continued existence, success and overall development of any institution of higher learning depends largely on the financial and material benevolence of her alumni community as well as those of friends, benefactors and other stakeholders”.

The institution, he further said was also using the opportunity of the formal launch of the foundation to recognize and celebrate 60 distinguished individuals to make the  anniversary memorable.

 

No fewer than 13 children and three women with serious ailments have been rescued from a fake non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Lagos.

The unregistered NGO, which did not have a name, allegedly takes sick people from their homes in the guise of helping them get medical help, but deployed them as beggars on the streets of Lagos.

The scam was uncovered by another NGO, Supreme Family Entertainment International Initiative (SFEII), whose Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mrs. Hemni Joyce Andrew, informed the police.

Mrs Andrew said the victims were rescued at a hotel called Amazen Grace in the Akowonjo Egbeda area of the state.

She said one of the victims, a 35-year-old albino woman called Mary Donald, was begging on the street when she overheard someone speaking her Tiv language.

She beckoned on the person and revealed her situation.

“The information we got from Mary was that they were planning to take them to an unknown destination; that was when we rushed to rescue them because we didn’t know where they were taking them to.

“This little boy was brought here when he was one year old to beg in Lagos. We don’t know who sold this one out. He doesn’t know where his village is. I and some of my colleagues left home at 10pm and came back at 6:30am. We were on the street trying to rescue them at Amazen Grace Hotel at Egbeda,” she said.

Speaking to newsmen at SEFII office at Ararangun area of Badagry, Lagos, Andrew said she was able to rescue them with the help of the Police at Gowon Station.

“Immediately I got the information on Wednesday, I couldn’t ignore it, I called Gowon Police Station and the DPO there helped us with a van that was used by the victims as well as to arrest the perpetrators, eight of them.

“We were at Area M Division around 2am. The perpetrators claimed that their organisation was registered but couldn’t mention the name. I wonder how they were registered; the government needs to look into it.

“They even have a manager that the victims remit money to. They are using them for business. The day they don’t make enough money, they will not eat. They are being given N1,000 daily for feeding each day they went out to beg. Where is the justice there? “They claimed that they helped some of them through surgery, but they are still very sick. They are here with me in my house where I stay. I have been trying to give them medical attention, feeding, and clothing them. We had to buy them some clothes when they came,” she said.

Narrating an incident during the night of the rescue, Andrew said that a woman simply identified as Faith boasted that there was nothing Lagos State could do to her.

“The woman called Faith who brought them from Benue State bragged on the phone through Mary that there was nothing Lagos State would do to her or to them. That since they had been rescued, she would go back to Benue State to bring more sick people to Lagos again.”

Andrew, who said she couldn’t cater for all their needs alone, urged well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the children and women because of their critical conditions.

“When we rescued them, we took them to Igando General Hospital with a police report but they couldn’t admit them because, according to them, they don’t have a specialist that could handle their cases. One of them was a woman with a heavy and big protruding stomach which was discharging water and blood from her private parts.”

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Some of the victims, who could express themselves in the English Language, all explained that they were brought to Lagos on the promises of being treated freely by rich Lagosians.

Mattew Godwin, a six-year-old boy from Benue State with a cancerous tumour on his tummy, said, “They have operated on me twice, and one more to go. We are begging for the third operation. I have been begging for money for long.”

A 20-year-old woman named Esther with Elephantiasis said, “I have had this sickness for four years. The person that brought me to Lagos, I don’t know his name. They told my parents that I would be treated in Lagos. I came to Lagos early this month and all I do is join others to beg every morning. They used to buy me food two times a day.”

Mary Donald, who had what appeared to have cancerous skin on her face, said she was brought to Lagos with her two children.

She drove away flies trying to perch on her face with her wrapper as she spoke.

Donald said: “I have had this cancer for two years. I was brought to Lagos on the promise that I will be treated but since July I arrived in Lagos, all they make me do is go out to beg for alms every day. They give me N1500 sometimes N2000 for food for me and my two children. They have not taken me to any hospital, they only buy me pain tablets when I feel terrible pain.

“We go out around 5am to beg and close at 3pm but because of my condition as an albino with skin cancer, I told them that I can no longer stay under the sun so I close at 12am.

 

The National Association of Old Students of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido Ekiti (EPCOSA) has elected Mr. Dotun Adekanmbi, a public relations practitioner and former Editor of Business Times, as its new President.

Also elected to the Association’s Executive Council are High Chief Abiodun Olayokun (Vice-President), Mrs. Titilayo Oyeniran (General Secretary), Dr. Olu Adeleye (Treasurer) and Mr. Sunday Aina (Auditor). Others are Engr. Deji Afolabi (Public Relations Officer), Engr. Abayomi Okelola (Assistant Secretary) and the immediate past President of the Association, Mr.Ayorinde Ogunruku (Ex-Officio).

Speaking after his election at the Reunion/Annual General Meeting of the Association on Saturday, Adekanmbi said the Association’s new Executive Council would work hard at building a strong network of old Students of Ekiti Parapo College, which is the second oldest secondary school in Ekitiland.

“We owe it a primary responsibility to our alma mater to build a very strong, dynamic and highly networked old students Association to contribute to rebuilding the institution in keeping with the dreams of its founders.”

He noted that while the College, like most public schools nationwide, had suffered noticeable neglect, old students owed the College a revival in the spirit of giving back to their alma mater, which significantly contributed to the successful take-off of their careers.

While congratulating the newly elected officers, the immediate past President, Mr. Ayorinde Ogunruku, charged his successors to strive to surpass the tempo of achievements of past national officers. He enjoined members to proudly support the new national executive council.

Also speaking at the event, the Principal of the College, Mr. O. J. Ilesanmi, acknowledged the support of the Old Students Association toward the growth of the College.

Over 80 persons in Lagos State have been convicted for breaching environmental laws, Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) Ibrahim Odumboni said yesterday.

He spoke at a seminar organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, for market leaders in Badagry Division of the state.

Odumboni also read the riot act to market operators on violation of environmental protection laws, with emphasis on punishment for anyone caught breaching the process. He also condemned the attack on the agency’s officials at Agboju Market which led to death of one of its personnel.

Wife of the governor Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu admonished market leaders to ensure proper sanitation and security of their markets.

The seminar, the fourth in the series, is part of efforts to prioritise the welfare, safety and security of traders.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by wife of the deputy governor, Mrs. Olurremi Hamzat, said it was common knowledge that health and environment had been listed as the second pillar of the administration’s THEMES agenda for sustainable environment.

He said: “Security in the marketplace is paramount and there must be proper identification of all traders in the markets. As traders, you must take ownership of security in your markets; you must speak up, out loud and clear when you suspect any suspicious movement or activity around you, especially the issue of strangers staying overnight in the market.”

Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs Wale Ahmed expressed gratitude for the peaceful co-existence in markets which has ensured smooth business flow and improved the people’s economic well-being.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tunji Bello, represented by the Permanent Secretary (Office of Environmental Services), Mrs. Belinda Odeneye, harped on the need for traders to always use the double dino bins for proper disposal of their waste.

Stakeholders within the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State have endorsed the former Minister of Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye for the June 16,  2022 governorship election in the state.

The stakeholders, under the auspices of Ekiti APC stakeholders Forum, said they decided to back the National Chairman of Southwest Agenda 2023 (SWAGA) for Tinubu for the exalted position because of his exemplary leadership style and  competence.

The forum took the decision in Ado Ekiti, on Friday after three days of all-inclusive  consultations and rational search for a good successor.

The group, in a statement by Secretary, Femi Adeleye, described Adeyeye as possessing  superlative administrative acumen and politically savvy to handle a sophisticated state like Ekiti, which they said also qualified him to be apt and dependable would-be successor to Governor Kayode Fayemi.

A 59-year-old, Ayo Samuel, has confessed to being part of the kidnapping gang that abducted a Deeper Life pastor, Otamayomi Ogedengbe.

Ogedengbe was abducted in May this year and spent some days before he was rescued after paying a ransom.

Ayo who spoke in a viral video while being interrogated by policemen revealed that a member of the church, Dayo Titus, was the mastermind of Ogedengbe’s abduction.

He said Dayo informed them that Ogedengbe had money.

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Ayo confessed that he and four others were involved in the deal and that they took their victim to Ekiti State where they kept him until the ransom was paid.

”I don’t know the name of the street but I know the house. It belongs to Bunmi’s father. It was Samuel that collected the ransom. My duty was to watch over the victim.

”I was given N1m. I bought a motorcycle but it was stolen after one month. I used the money judiciously.”

 

 

The 1997 set of Abusi Odumare Academy Alumni Association, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, has renovated some buildings in the school during the 50th anniversary of the school which was held recently.

The set changed all the louver windows of the Junior Secondary School block that consists of 18 classrooms to aluminium windows. The project, according to the set chairman, Toyin Balogun, cost about N2 million.

The alumni class also gave cash prizes to students and staff of the school during the 2021 Prize Giving Day, during which the sum of N125, 000 was shared.

The set appealed to all members to come forward and be part of its activities in preparation for the celebration of members’ 25 years of leaving the school. The moderator, Akeem Adekoya, urged members to be prepared to share good moments together during the anniversary.

An Ogun monarch, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi has urged popular music artiste, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido to also focus his philanthropy on out-of-school children in the country.

Oba Akinyemi, who is the Eselu of Iseluland in the Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State made the remarks in an open letter addressed to the singer and other philanthropists urging them to work in concert and help out-of-school children get back to schools.

The monarch’s appeal followed Davido’s announcement that he would be disbursing the sum of N250 million he recently largely raised by public contributions for his birthday to orphanage homes across the country.

According to Oba Akinyemi, returning out-of-school children to school will directly help strengthen the security architecture of the country.

The letter reads in part: “It is now a public discussion that Davido raised some millions of naira from his fans a few days ago, added his personal millions of naira, and decided to donate everything to the orphanages in Nigeria in commemoration of his 2021 birthday celebration.

“Few years before the demise of your friend, Habeeb Uthman (a.k.a Habeeb 44), I met you and I noted from then that you passionately love the less priviledged in our society. Without mincing words, the step you have taken has really elevated the traditional families in the Southwestern part of Nigeria because a Prince from Osun State (Davido) came up with an unprecedented initiative to better the lives of the downtrodden in our society.

“I also want to thank all the philanthropists who donated millions of naira to Davido to support him in the execution of his good plan of helping the less privileged in Nigeria. Specifically, I want to appreciate the donors like Oba Saheed Elegushi, Chief Femi Otedola, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Mike Adenuga, Obi Cubana, Hon. Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende, E-money and a host of others. God will continue to bless all of you for the kindest donations to Davido.”