Category: South West

A former Acting Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Chief Jide Adebayo, is dead.

Adebayo died in a Lagos Hospital on Thursday at the age of 66 during a brief illness.

Retired Maj.-Gen. Lasisi Abidoye, a close friend of Adebayo, also the President of Omu-Aran Development Association (ODA), confirmed this in a statement yesterday  in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government area of Kwara State.

Adebayo, until his death, was the Eesa of Omu-Aran, second-in-command to the traditional ruler of the community, which is equivalent to the position of Prime Minister of Omu-Aran.

He was Executive Director in charge of Marketing, one time Head of Lagos Operations, former Acting Managing Director of NAN and a Commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Kwara State (1999).

Abidoye described Adebayo as “a fine journalist and a community leader per excellence, who will be greatly missed.

“Chief Eesa was a promoter of peace and an unbiased community leader.

“He was an epitome of a good leader, an honest and God fearing fellow.”

Adebayo held many editorial positions as Bureau Chiefs in Ilorin and Minna; Desk Editor (National News), Head of Sports Desk, Director of Marketing, Executive Director of Marketing/Lagos Operations and later Acting Managing Director before his retirement in August 2015, after 35 years in service.

He is survived by his wife, Alice Ifedun , children and grand- children.

The staff of Osun State University(UNIOSUN) on Friday stormed the Administrative Block of the institution to sweep and fry bean cake to celebrate the exit of outgone Vice-Chancellor, Professor Labode Popoola.

The Nation recalls that the tenure of Professor Labode Popoola ended on November 4th, 2021 and the Governing Council through its Chairman, Mallam Yusuf Alli announced Professor Adefemi Bello as the Acting Vice-Chancellor.

The Staff of the institution under the aegis of the Joint Action Committee gathered around 9 AM with brooms, pots, gas cooking, banners and placards.

They swept the administrative building chatting thanksgiving songs with placards.

Meanwhile, the Management through the Public Relations Officer, Mr Ademola Adewale reacting to the incident, said, ”Yesterday when the 3rd substantive VC of the university finishes his tenure, he was celebrated and installed as the pioneer patron of Osun State student union based on all his good deeds and support.

“For the fact that the Joint action committee is just doing this doesn’t really mean that it is the mindset of the whole staff.”

Twenty-five years after the ill-fated ADC Airlines plane crash in Ejirin area of Lagos, families and friends of the 144  passengers on board  are set to hold a memorial service for the  victims that perished.

The ill-fated aircraft : Flight 086 was en route  Lagos airport at flight level (FL) 240 (approximately 24,000 ft (7,300 m) altitude)  when the crash occurred.

The pilot of the Boeing 727 aircraft  on November 7, 1996 lost control after taking evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision.

Investigations by  Accident and Incident Prevention Bureau (AIPB)  attributed the cause of the crash to Air Traffic Controller error.

Air Traffic Controllers at the Lagos Airport  had cleared the crew of Flight 086 to descend, but erroneously thought that he had earlier cleared Flight 086 to descend to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)  below the flight level of another airplane belonging to  Triax Air.

The descent from FL240 caused Flight 086 to conflict with the Triax Air  aircraft.

A statement by some of the family members and friends said the memorial service is scheduled for Sunday November 7,  2021 at the cenotaph by the Itoikin bridge along the Ikorodu -Epe Highway.

According to the statement the cenotaph will  be open from 7am till 5 pm for those who wish  to visit ; have a quiet moment, light a candle, or lay a wreath or flowers.

Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), has announced its 10th edition will open from November 7 to 13 at Filmhouse Cinemas, Landmark Retail Village in Lagos.

The organisers disclosed this recently at a media launch which took place at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

AFRIFF founder and Executive Director, Chioma Ude, said: “I am super excited to announce our 10th anniversary edition, following the global pandemic!

“It is with the greatest pleasure that we once again bring our varied programme of the very best of cinema and film content to the forefront.”

She continued: “We are proud to theme this year’s festival as one dedicated to Africans for Africa, those who enable us to dream and to celebrate storytelling which challenges society.

“I am also very excited to announce that we will dedicate a day to anime and gaming to continue our vibrancy and innovation.

Read Also: AFRIFF founder launches movie streaming app

“We will continue to focus our efforts on training and supporting more filmmakers than ever before, as well as building global bridges, and promoting further cross-cultural exchanges.”

She announced the festival sponsors are Access Bank, US Diplomatic Mission Nigeria, Konga, Afreximbank, Landmark, Pan African Capital, Pernod Ricard and Filmhouse Group.

The festival will open with Michael Pearce’s sci-fi thriller, Encounter which stars Emmy award winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Riz Ahmed and Oscar-Winning actress, Octavia Spencer.

The festival will close with Bolanle Austen-Peters’ Collision, a heart thumping story that explores the seedy underbelly of rogue law enforcement officers and the atrocious results as they collide head on with a frustrated young man and a conflicted member of the police force.

According to the Creative Director of AFRIFF, Jenny Alonzo, the festival received over 4000 submissions from over 100 countries.

Alonzo added it is the highest the festival has received to date and will screen almost 150 projects, including features, shorts, documentaries and much more selected by its team of programmers, who watched over 2000 hours of footage.

Popular rapper Sidney Esiri aka Dr Sid, who is a member of the panel, noted that the film festival would also witness the screening of animations and games contents on November 10.

Nollywood actress, Lala Akindoju called for high turnout as she harped on the importance of film festivals for networking and access to opportunities.

A NEW chapter in the advancement of Yoruba culture, history, tradition and values will open on November 23, as Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will turn the first sod of the Yoruba World Centre situated inside the University of Ibadan (UI).

A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the International Centre for Yoruba Arts And Culture (INCEYAC), Chief Shola Oshunkeye, said Prof. Osinbajo would be joined by the governors of Southwest states, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adéyeyè Enitan Ògúnwùsì (Òjájá II), the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III and others eminent Yoruba leaders.

A brainchild of INCEYAC, the three-in-one occasion will feature the opening of the centre’s temporary abode, the presentation of a full documentary on the Yoruba World Centre and the laying of the first foundation at the permanent site by the Vice-President.

When completed, according to Oshunkeye, the centre will have a standard library; an archive; a museum; a recreation, reconstruction and digital centre; broadcasting and film village; and an artificial forest (Zoo).

Explaining the purpose and significance of the gigantic project, Chief Alao Adedayo, a member of the Board of Trustees of INCEYAC and publisher of Alaroye newspaper, said the centre will serve as a one-stop shop that offers old, new, recreated and reconstructed materials for researchers, lecturers, students, authors, journalists, historians and the public interested in Yoruba history, arts and culture, as tool for nation building, national cohesion and mutual understanding.

He said although the project is an idea whose time has come, he lamented that vibrant and vast as the Yoruba race is, it has “no single institution anywhere in the world where researchers or anyone at all, can stay to conduct and complete works on the history, arts and culture of the Yoruba.

“Being the largest user of Yoruba language (in print) in the world today, and because of our daily interactions with the language, arts, culture and history of the people, through our newspaper, Alaroye, we can confirm that there is no such institution in the entire world. In addition to providing a good ambience for researchers, the Yoruba World Centre, as a knowledge centre, will help Nigeria and Nigerians in the onerous task of nation building.”

Adedayo urged the Yoruba at home and in the diaspora to support the centre.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged the 381 graduating students of Redeemers’ University, Ede, Osun State to promote their talents, instead of complaining.

The cleric, in his address yesterday at the convocation, said: “A lot has been invested in you; first by God and then by your parents, the university and many others. Like the story in Mathew 25:14-30, you must be ready to give a good account of these investments in your lives; the investment of money, time and rigorous training – academically, morally and spiritually.”

Pastor Adeboye, represented by the National Overseer of the church, Pastor Joshua Obayemi, said: “Do not be like the servant who received the talent, rather than trade with it, he gave all manners of excuses. I want you to be like the other two servants, who despite the challenges of their time, just as we have in our nation today, rose and refused to be discouraged. They put in their best and at the end of the day, they had something to show for their efforts.”

Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who was honoured with ‘Doctors of Letters’, promised to continue to support the school.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Anthony Akinlo, said 381 students graduated and 37 got first-class degree.

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), introducing KwaraLEARN, his administration’s flagship public education transformation programme designed to improve learning outcomes for primary school pupils across the state.

He called the initiative a lifetime investments to empower teachers and give public school pupils the best shot at 21st century education with reverberating effects on the future of the state.

“The KwaraLEARN programme will empower our teachers with the right digital tools to be at their best, while providing an electronic platform to make classrooms and schools transparent.

“The technology will monitor attendance and performance of pupils and teachers in all classrooms, offering continual support and feedback,” AbdulRazaq said at the signing of the MoU with the government’s technical partners, New Globe, in Ilorin.”

“This is our flagship education programme. It will transform  government primary schools, using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and ongoing coaching and support for teachers and school leaders.

“Our technical partners — NewGlobe — are trusted to drive this programme to success. They have done it in Edo and Lagos, and we trust them to do a lot more to partner other stakeholders towards returning basic education to the dream of our founding fathers.

“KwaraLEARN represents our vision for a stronger Kwara. It is set to deliver dramatic improvements in learning outcomes for public school children across the state. It will accelerate the numeracy and literacy skills of our pupils, enabling them to compete with their peers anywhere in the world.

“This is because we believe that the path to prosperity is through the education of the Kwara child. Education underpins economic growth, stability, and sustainable development. Kwara Learn will deploy 21st century technology to support teachers and schools. It will enable our children to fulfil their potentials and offer them and the state a brighter future. KwaraLEARN will empower our teachers to become highly skilled through training and motivation to succeed at their job,” the governor said.

The Federal Government has resumed the payment of its Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT) stipends to 10,985 beneficiaries in Lagos State.

This is contained in a statement by the Head of Unit, Lagos State Cash Transfer, Mrs. Lola Orimoogunje, yesterday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT) is managed by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

Orimoogunje said that disbursement of the stipends for May and June was done between October 5 and 15.

She said that the Federal Government had in 2016, established the programme with the aim of reducing poverty, improving household consumption and ensuring that the beneficiaries established a better means of livelihood.

Orimoogunje said that the beneficiaries from 12 local government areas of Lagos were currently benefiting from the bi-monthly stipend of N10,000.

“We have 233 beneficiaries from Agege, 491 from Ajeromi Ifelodun, 908 from Alimosho, 365 from Amuwo-Odofin, 2,308 from Apapa, 1,273 from Badagry and 989 from Epe.

“Also, we have 1,504 from Ibeju-Lekki, 170 from Ifako-Ijaye, 2,196 from Ikorodu, 371 from Lagos Island, 177 from Shomolu, making the total number of the beneficiaries 10,985,” she said.

A philanthropist, Mr. Jide Ogungbadero, yesterday urged Nigerians to impact positively on their alma mater and the society, by helping the poor.

Speaking in Ibadan during the “1st Annual Spelling Bee Competition” held at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State, in commemoration of his 70th birthday, he said Nigerians should go back to their sources and take them out of poverty, which he described as service to humanity.

The celebrant, represented by the Chairman of the Lagos branch of the Ibadan Grammar School Old Boys Association, Mr. Hakeem Suara, said there is a reward in helping people in the society, instead of wasting money on unnecessary things.

The Head Teacher of Ibadan Grammar School (Srn), Mr. Johnson Oladejo, said: “It is good to give back to your alma mater by impacting positively on the pupils’ knowledge, because this will encourage and promote academic excellence and prepare pupils for a greater future.”

The winner of the competition, Oluwasanmi Oluwaseyi, advised pupils to get ready for the challenges ahead, in order to attain greater heights in life.

Activities marking Osi-Ekiti Day, a town in Ido-Osi Local Government of Ekiti State, began with prayers at the Osi-Ekiti Mosque on October 29.

It will climax on Saturday with the installation of the Regent, HRM Aderonke Agunbiade-Akin.

A statement by the President of Osi-Ekiti Progressives Union (OPU), Oludare Fadogba and Chairperson, Organising Committee, Olori Omowunmi Agunbiade, said on October 31, there was visitation to churches for prayers and announcement of highlights on the Osi-Ekiti Day 2021 activities.

The statement said November 2 was devoted to prayers for the regent by chiefs and Osi-Ekiti indigenes at home and in the diaspora, at the Oba’s palace.

It said on November 3, there was township clean-up by OPU Executive Council (Exco) members, age grade groups, clubs, students, youths and pupils of Osi Community High School, beginning at 10am.

Other activities for the week-long festivities included Dayo Ogboja Football Competition at Catholic Primary School, Osi-Ekiti, skill training in ankara crafts, roasted yam entertainment, marathon race and Miss Osi Ekiti pageant.

The statement said the grand finale is the installation of the regent and conferment of chieftaincy titles and awards on eminent indigenes on Saturday.