The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ado-Ekiti

  • Why restructuring is panacea to Nigeria’s problems, by Afe Babalola

    ELDER statesman and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has reiterated that Nigeria may continue to grapple with its prevailing problems of spiral unemployment, insecurity and under-development, unless the country treads the path of restructuring.

    Specifically, Babalola, who received the management team of the Nigerian Tribune in his office in Ado-Ekiti over the weekend, said until Nigeria goes back to implement the blueprint the trio of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the late Sardauna painstakingly fashioned out for 10 years in Lancaster House, England between 1950 and 1960, Nigeria may find it difficult to evolve as a nation.

    His words :”Those who know me would appropriately recall that I have been championing the course of restructuring for some times now. On November 4, 2011, the descendants of His Majesty, King Abbi Amachree IV, the Amanyanbo of Kalabari, gathered together in Port-Harcourt to celebrate the First Memorial Lecture. The Board of Trustees, including the talented Prof. Tam David-West, brought together a large crowd including the Deputy Governor and the Vice President. I was honoured to deliver the 1st Memorial Lecture titled, ‘Nigeria in Search of a Nation’.

    “I was then and I am still an advocate of restructuring Nigeria. In my articles in the Vanguard and Tribune Newspapers on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively, I have published many articles on the restructuring of the country. As a member of Constitutional Conferences, I have also argued in favour of true federal structure. The truth is that today, there is a strong wind of restructuring blowing over the country. It is not just strong a wind, it is a hurricane restructure. The loud voice of those who desire a united and strong country, which would deo volenti metamorphose into a nation is that the country should be restructured.”

    He thanked the management of the Nigerian Tribune, led by the Managing Director, Mr. Edward Dickson, for coming to congratulate him on his announcement as the winner of the much-treasured Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Prize for 2018.

    Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the chairman of the Selection Committee of the Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Award had announced at the 70th Anniversary of the rebranded Nigerian Tribune on January 29, 2019 that Babalola was voted the winner on account of the inherent qualities of political strategy, education, integrity, caring for the welfare of the masses, consistency policies and courage among several others, which constitute a veritable nexus that binds the first Premier of Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Nigeria’s frontline legal icon, educationist and valiant entrepreneur as well as unsparing philanthropist, Aare Babalola, together.

    Anyaoku said Babalola was found worthy of the Prize because of what he described as his “genuine commitment to promoting the cause of humanity, which has marked you out as a philanthropist, whose social consciousness is a source of inspiration to millions of Nigerians”.

    Anyaoku added: “Afe Babalola has distinguished himself in the provision of quality education just like the sage, advocacy for the masses through legal intervention and other means to deserve the award”.

    The Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Award is for individuals, who have demonstrated the attributes of political strategy, education, integrity, caring for the welfare of the masses, consistency policies and courage among several others for which the late Premier of Western Region was well-known.

    Addressing his visitors, Babalola likened the place of the media in any society to what would happen to a blossoming flower in the desert, which will eventually wither away un-noticed and unsung, stressing that for institutions like the Nigerian Tribune and its array of talented editors and reporters, many of the accomplishments of his increasingly famous Afe Babalola University may have gone un-noticed.

    He praised the Awolowo Foundation for finding him worthy as the winner of the coveted Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Prize, which he described as invaluable on account of the achievements of his nine-year-old university, where he has been breeding a new generation of Nigerians and leaders.

    Delving into the accomplishments of ABUAD in its short history of existence, Babalola said: “Here in ABUAD, we have students from all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. And that makes us different. That stands us out. We are building a new generation of leaders that will change the world.

    Speaking on the departed sage in whose memory the Prize was instituted, Babalola hailed Awolowo for his firmness, kindness and fearlessness as a result of which he was able to make the old Western Region the clear leaders and a toast of other regions in those days.

    His words: “Continuity is the essence of government. A good leader must be firm, kind and fearless and we all know that Awo was fearless and we all know what he did as Premier of Western Region. Unfortunately, people conspired to jail him, but he remains a hero for ever.

    “If Chief Awolowo can wake up today, I am sure he will confirm what the Afenifere chieftain, Chief Reuben Fasoranti , said about me on November 12, last year, to wit: ‘Since creation, God has made billions of souls, but you, Aare Afe Babalola, must be in the league of the most caring, the most humble, the most contented, and the most selfless of all souls, (thereby) living true to the calling of selfless to humanity.

    “If it is possible for any mortal to be perfect, you will be my top nominee. Happy birthday to a wonderful and a quintessential human being. You are one in a kind. Enjoy your day to the hilt my Aare. God bless your heart and continually make you a shining star to mankind.”

    Earlier Dickson had congratulated Babalola for emerging the winner of the coveted Prize, thus making him the third African after Nigeria’s Prof. Wole Soyinka and former South Africa’s President, Mr. Thambo Mbeki.

    He stressed that the Prize confirmed Babalola in the mould of the late sage, who was well-known for his interest in education, human capital development and caring for the under-privileged members of the society.

    The Nigerian Tribune chieftain said Babalola’s winning the Prize for 2018 is the more worthy of celebration bearing in mind that the prize has not been won by anyone in the last four years because the meticulous selection committee for the award did not find anyone worthy in those four years to be so awarded.

    In Anyaoku’s words the Prize has not been awarded since Mbeki carted it home in 2014 because “there was no individual in Africa among nominees worthy to be honoured with the award in the last four years because none met the criteria spelt out to justify their candidacy for the honour”.

    According to him, the Obafemi Awolowo for Leadership Award is for individuals, who have demonstrated the attributes of political strategy, education, integrity, caring for the welfare of the masses, consistency policies and courage among several others for which the late Premier of Western Region was well-known, stressing that it was only Babalola, who was found worthy as an individual among the current nominees to receive the award.

    His words: “Afe Babalola has distinguished himself in the provision of quality education just like the sage, advocacy for the masses through legal intervention and other means to deserve the award.”

  • EKSU ALUMNI: Oso pledges timely intervention for development in state’s chapter

    As part of his mandate for a repositioning, the leading aspirant in the forthcoming Ekiti State chapter’s Chairmanship election of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) Alumni, Comrade Adedeji Oso, has reiterated his readiness to revive the home branch with robust policy implementation and inclusive government.
    He has also made a commitment to rejuvenate and reposition the state’s alumni, if elected into power in the June 6, 2019 election.
    In a press release signed by the Head, Media and Publicity, Deji Oso Campaign Organisation (DOCO), Comrade Ayo Alonge, it was opined that the guiding principles and philosophy of Dejavu, as he is fondly called, have been unambiguously embedded in his mission statement.
    Addressing some pressmen in Ado Ekiti, recently, Alonge said that Oso would serve as a true bridge–builder in uniting all Ekiti indigenous graduates of OSUA/UNAD/EKSU, for the progress of the Ekiti State chapter of EKSU Alumni Association, regardless of age, class and political affiliations.
    “With Oso Adedeji taking the centre stage of governance in the alumni, everyone can now heave a sigh of relief, rest assured that a truly tested and trusted person is set to take the alumni to the greater heights we have all longed for. With Dejavu, we may now go to bed and sleep with our two eyes closed, knowing full well that we are in safe hands.”
    “The new face (Oso Adedeji) will solve the problem of lack of identity bedeviling the chapter, and make it one of the best chapters in the country. The chapter will serve as a strong and dependable pillar behind the national body, both politically and socio-economically,” said Alonge.
    Speaking further, he added that the manifestoes conclude but not limited to
    data generation for members through the establishment of LG Alumni structure in Ekiti for membership drive, linkage with other state chapters for diverse opportunities and innovations that can benefit Ekiti students, both at home and in the diaspora.
    He said, “Our policy will be channeled through our national body, scholarship, social welfare support scheme for poor students through PPP, resuscitation of certain structures in the university through PPP to be channeled through the  national body and the reinvention of culture of academic competition among EKSU students across faculties, through the institution’s chapter.”
    Encouraging the teeming graduates of EKSU to keep hope alive, the spokesman said that for Oso to achieve his robust visionary objectives within a specified period, as contained in his strategic plan for bi-annual evaluation and assessment, all hands must be on deck to project the interest of the association.
    “The Oso Adedeji’s administration will be proactive to the aspirations of both graduates and undergraduates students”, he said.
    He concluded that, if elected, the chapter will play a major role in members’ mobilisation, unification of members across board and proffering viable ideas that will put smiles on the faces of students of Ekiti State in general.

  • Police deploy four CPs for elections in Ekiti

    The Ekiti State police command on Friday said three Commissioners of Police have been deployed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu to monitor Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in the State.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, who disclosed in Ado Ekiti on Friday, said the Commissioners, whose names were withheld, would monitor each of the senatorial districts of the state.

    Ikechukwu added that the police have also devised new techniques to checkmate vote buying, revealing that plain-clothed operatives will be deployed to all the 2,195 polling units to arrest the perpetrators.

    “The operatives will mingle with voters and from there have the knowledge of those engaging in this electoral offence”, he said.

    Ikechukwu disclosed that the security details of Very Important personalities, including politicians in the state have been withdrawn, with the exception of that of Governor Kayode Fayemi and his deputy, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi.

    The Command spokesman stated that three security men will be deployed to each of the polling units to secure the staff deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) and both sensitive and insensitive materials to be used for the conduct of the elections.

    Read Also: Ekiti residents protest killing of farmer by suspected herdsman

    “The security arrangements have been made in such a way that there would be no room for security lapses. Three security men comprising police, NSCDC and immigration officers will man each of the polling units.

    “As of now, three police Commissioners are on ground to work with CP Asuquo Amba. Each of them will man the three senatorial districts to enforce compliance to restriction of vehicles, except those on essential services and to make sure that no one circumvents the laws of the land regarding these elections”.

    Ikechuckwu stated that the Special Tactical Unit of the Police Force will be deployed to each of the 16 local government areas of the state to attend to emergency situations that could undermine the conduct of the polls.

    “These are armed unit of the police who will be on standby and they are to tackle cases of violence, attempted ballot snatching and ballot stuffing. They would also help in putting politicians who may want to demonstrate abuses at check”, he said.

    He added that Special Protection Unit of the Command have been deployed to provide protection for international and observers and other groups accredited by INEC to monitor the election.

    He said policemen are already on ground in all the INEC offices across the state, including the headquarters in Ado Ekiti to prevent cases of arson.

    “CP Amba and other top officers will also monitor these elections and our hotlines are on. We are on ground to entertain complaints from the members of the public.

    “We are on ground to ensure that we have credible elections. In having credible election, violence and other infractions that could mar the process must be checkmated and that is what we are here to enforce not to interfere in electoral matters”.

  • Subjects shut Ekiti monarch out of palace

    Residents of Odo Ora in Ido/Osi Local Government Area, Ekiti State have locked their monarch out of palace.

    The aggrieved residents faulted the procedure that produced the monarch, saying he failed to observe traditional rite, an act they claimed was antithetical to the tradition of the town.

    The kingmakers and other community leaders also alleged that the monarch was not formally installed as traditional procession were circumvented.

    One of the community leaders, Prof. Olawumi Ajaja, disclosed Odo Ora indigenes had nothing against the embattled monarch but the process produced him.

    Ajaja, former Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, said the locals still see the monarch as an Oba-elect alleging that traditional rites were yet to be performed.

    The monarch Obalemo of Odo Ora, Oba Samuel Akinola Adeyemo appealed to the State Government to save him from being deposed from the throne.

    The monarch in his Save My Soul (SOS) petition forwarded to the State Government on the crisis told the Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi that he had been locked out of the palace by suspected hoodlums allegedly mobiliSed by some interest groups in the community.

    Egbeyemi, during a peace meeting in his office on Wednesday, condemned the violence that recently rocked the community.

    According to statement by his Special Assistant (Media) to the Deputy Governor, Odunayo Ogunmola, Egbeyemi warned that the full weight of the law would be visited on individuals fomenting trouble in Odo Ora.

    Egbeyemi said government had to summon the peace meeting following intelligence report from security agencies on possible outbreak of violence over the kingship crisis.

    The deputy governor warned stakeholders in Odo Ora to maintain peace stressing that government won’t depose any monarch in the state.

    He advised Odo Ora indigenes aggrieved with the emergence of Oba Adeyemo as the Obalemo to seek redress in the court of law.

    Egbeyemi further stressed that government would not fold its arms and allow the situation to degenerate into anarchy adding that anybody caught fomenting trouble would be arrested and prosecuted.

    The deputy governor urged parties in the crisis to report back in his office on February 21 for a follow-up peace parley to resolve the impasse.

  • Vote wisely, Fayemi tells teachers

    Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi has urged teachers in the state to use their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) positively for the progress and sustainable development of the state.

    Fayemi said the state would benefit more in terms of educational, infrastructural, industrial development with stronger alignment with the Federal Government.

    He added that since he became the governor, development partners and government agencies are already supporting the activities of the state in the education sector due to his alignment with the government at the centre.

    The governor spoke in Ado-Ekiti,the State capital during an interactive session with representatives of teachers across primary and secondary schools at the  Ekiti parapo pavilion.

    He disclosed his administration had paid the SUBEB counterpart fund for 2016, 2017 and 2018 to the tune of N3.3 billion, which is expected to bring N6.6 billion to the state for renovation of some schools, provision of necessary facilities and educational materials in the public schools.

    The governor stated the government is committed to recruitment of teachers in the state, promising the exercise would be devoid of political and community coloration.

    According to him: “We have a golden opportunity in Ekiti. And the opportunity is that we can consolidate better on these positive steps we have taken if we have a government in Ekiti that is in a very strong alignment with the government at the center.

    Read Also: Fayemi sponsors free cataract surgeries

    “I am not a promoter of mainstream politics for its own sake but I want to assure you that Ekiti has an advantage through me this time around.

    “If we have a strong relationship with the Federal Government, it will be difficult for Ekiti people to enjoy the benefits of such a relationship.

    “So, we are in campaign season and I know you have PVCs. For our own sake let’s use it positively so that we can all enjoy the benefits of good governance.

    “I don’t want Ekiti to be retrogressive but rather progressive so that the needs of our younger generation can assured and not compromised.”

  • Ekiti residents protest prolonged power outage

     

    Residents of Ado Ekiti, capital of Ekiti state, on Friday protested prolonged power blackout in some areas of the city which they linked to alleged sabotage.

    The protesters included traders, artisans, students and other electricity consumers living in Similoluwa and Ori Apata areas of the state capital.

    They accused workers of BEDC of removing the cables of the transformers serving their areas to throw them into darkness and subject them to undue extortion.

    Some of their placards read: “Give us our cable wire, we need light” “BEDC stop! Stop!! Marginalisation,” “Return our cable” “It is over a month we have light” among other inscriptions.

    Leader of the protesters, Mr. Tope Ojo, disclosed the only transformer serving the area is old and could no longer dispense electricity to the area as appropriate.

    Ojo lamented the arbitrary service and non-challant attitude of the staff of BEDC in restoring electricity to the area.

    READ ALSO: Robbers kill policeman in Ekiti

    He said the development has paralysed their businesses and thereby brought untold hardship to the residents of the area.

    He explained the removal of the cable from the transformer was responsible for the automatic disengagement of the area from the national grid, thereby, putting the residents of the area into to total blackout.

    Ojo alleged that no individuals could remove the cable, except professionals from the electricity company.

    According to him, the people of the area resulted to protest after BEDC management in Ado Ekiti turned deaf ears to series of complaint to them.

    He claimed the electricity distribution firm deliberately made pre-paid meters unavailable to continue billing residents outrageously without any service to show for it.

    Ojo said: “Our area has been in total blackout for over a month and this was as a result of a cable which was removed from the only transformer serving our area down to Ori Apata.

    “This transformer is even old. It has been there for over 46 years. It lacks the capacity to supply adequate power to our area.

    “We have been to BEDC times without number but they seem not to be coming forth, that was why we decided to come to the deputy governor today, to help us intervene in this matter.”

    In expressing their grievances, the placard-carrying residents stormed the Deputy Governor’s Office, urging the state government to prevail on Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to restore light to their areas.

    The Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, urged the protesting residents to exercise patience while their complaints are being looked into.

     

  • Robbers kill policeman in Ekiti

    A man identified to be policeman was shot dead on Thursday in Ado Ekiti, the State capital, while trailing a gang of robbers.

    The Nation gathered the armed robber had earlier robbed a petrol station along Fajuyi -Secretariat road and were escaping through the old Iyin –Ilawe road when the police officer in a white hilux van sighted them and gave them a hot chase.

    An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the police van had trailed the armed robbers up to NTA junction, where they were said to have waited and blocked the way in readiness for a gun duel.

    “When the hilux chased them up to that point, the armed robbers used their vehicle to block the way and rained bullets on the car.

    “The bullets hit the driver of the vehicle and died on the spot after which the robbers entered their car and sped off.”

    The sound of the assorted rifles brandished by the bandits were said to have caused confusion within that vicinity.

    People coming towards the Ekiti State House of Assembly cimplex and the State Secretariat and motorists going to Ilawe road were said to have scurried to safety to prevent being shot.

    “Some of the motorists had to take a detour and escaped the scene because the sound of the guns caused panic in the area,” he stated.

    Police officers from the State police command later visited the scene of the incident to evacuate the corpse, which they deposited in the morgue of the Ekiti State University Teaching hospital.

    Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti command, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed the incident.

    He said: “The attack on the police officer could have been a reaction of criminal elements to the cleansing operation being carried out by the command.

    “You know that since our new Police Commissioner, Mr. Asuquo Amba came on board, he initiated a Joint Task Force carrying out Operation Make Ekiti Safe and many criminals had either been arrested or killed in the process.

    “The men carrying out the operation were drawn from the Army, Police, Immigration and NSCDC. They were diligent in their duties and this might be one of those ways to frustrate us by criminals.

    “We are assuring our people that we remain focused. We won’t be bogged down by this incident and we shall trail the perpetrators of this crime and make sure they face the full weight of the law.”

  • Removal of EKSU VC illegal, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Ekiti State Univeristy, Ado Ekiti (EKSU) has condemned the removal of the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Samuel Oye Bandele, by Governor Kayode Fayemi, saying the action did not follow due process.

    According to a statement signed in Ado Ekiti on Sunday by ASUU-EKSU Chairman, Prof Olufayo Olu-Olu, “the vice chancellor of EKSU was arbitrarily removed. The removal is hereby condemned in strong terms and in its entirety”.

    Olu-Olu said that ASUU-EKSU Congress had at its meeting on Thursday, January 24 resolved that “in order to prevent unnecessary crisis and administrative problems, due process should be followed in governing of the university”.

    Fayemi had, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, last Tuesday removed EKSU VC alongside the Chief Medical Director of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Kolawole Ogundipe and Provost of College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, Prof Mojisola Oyarekua and announced their replacement in acting capacity.

    The governor’s action was sequel to the report of the visitation panels to the institutions and approval by the State Executive Council of the White Paper on the report.

    But ASUU, which said the governor lacked the powers to remove the VC, clarified that “it is the university Governing Council that has the power to remove the VC after following due process”.

    It said: “The university is an autonomous institution with extant rules and governing regulations and that the appointment and removal of a VC has procedures under the laws of the university. EKSU is not and cannot be an extension of the Ministry of Education

  • Man remanded for defiling 11-year-old girl

    An Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court on has remanded a 49-year-old man, Dele Adeyanju, in prison over allegedly  defiling an 11-year-old girl

    The accused of no fixed address is standing trial on a charge of rape.

    The prosecutor, Insp. Monica Ikebuilo,told the Court that the accused committed the offence on January 14 in Omuo-Ekiti.

    She told the Court that the victim hawked garri and the accused bought N100 garri from her, in the process, he took the girl inside and defiled her.

    Read Also: Teenager charged with impregnating girl, 12

    Ikebuilo said the victim’s parents discovered the next day, when they noticed that she was dull and could not walk properly.

    She said the offence contravened Section 31 of the Child Rights Law of Ekiti State, 2012.

    The prosecutor urged the Court to remand the accused in prison pending legal advice from office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

    The plea of the accused was not taken.

    The Magistrate, Mrs Omolola Akosile, ordered the remand of the accused and adjourned the case until Febtuary15 for mention.

     

  • Man lynched for allegedly consuming human faeces

    A mob has lynched an unknown man, believed to be in his 30s, at Odo Ado area in Ado Ekiti, the state capital for allegedly consuming human faeces.

    The suspect was paraded at different parts of the state capital, including Okeyinmi, Matthew Street, Ijigbo and others before taking him to Odo Ado, where he was lynched.

    A source, who confided in our reporter, claimed that the man was killed allegedly for consuming faeces.

    When the journalist got to the scene of the incident, the victim had been partly burnt, lying dead on the street in a part of Odo Ado called Red Roof Junction.

    Residents claimed the man had earlier been paraded in parts of the state capital, including the palace of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, to report the incident.

    The Nation gathered that the man was sighted by an unidentified elderly woman, who raised the alarm which prompted youths of the area to arrest him.

    They stripped him naked and while beating him, the sources added, the victim sought help by mentioning some clergymen he claimed to know in the town.

    The mob had followed him to a white garment church at the Odo Ado area but when they couldn’t get the clergyman the victim had named at home, he allegedly took to his heels but the pursuing mob caught up with him at the Red Roof Junction.

    The mob pulled down the roof of the church and destroyed its property, including all they found at an adjoining room neighbours had described as “the church office.”

    Read Also: Man escapes lynching over theft of female pants

    None of the witnesses at the neighbourhood could identify the victim.

    The witnesses at the Red Roof had dispersed when newsmen arrived at the area, refusing to speak and claiming they could be victims of police raid when the security agents arrive to investigate the incident.

    All the witnesses could give as reason for the killing was “they said he as gathering faeces into a bag at Matthew area, and they said it was an elderly woman that spotted him and raised the alarm.”

    The witnesses further claimed that the man was stabbed with broken bottle but it didn’t enter but later lynched on the suspicion that he was a member of a ritual gang.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State police command, Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, could not be reached for comments as his mobile was switched off.