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Tag: elders

  • Christian elders flay NSCIA over stance on Sukkuk Bond

    Christian elders flay NSCIA over stance on Sukkuk Bond

    The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) yesterday criticised the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs’s statement (NSCIA) that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)was suspicious of Islam for kicking against Sukkuk Bond.

    CAN had last week frowned against what it described as “unrelenting plan” by the Federal Government to introduce Islamic financing into a secular state.

    NSCIA then issued a statement that while the council is tolerating Christianisation, CAN was suspicious of Islam.

    Insisting that Sukkuk was covert Jihad contrary to Sections 1 and 10 of the Nigerian Constitution, a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by NCEF Chairman Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) said: “The allegation that CAN is Islamophobic is untenable and purely mischievous.”

    NCEF said if leaders of Islam in Nigeria have “demonstrated inability to call Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen to order” after the alleged atrocities both committed against Christians, churches, businesses and Christian communities, it would be unfair and unjust for the same Islamic leaders to turn around and accuse Christians of Islamophobia.

    “It is akin to slapping a man and yet complaining that the man screamed. Do leaders of Islam expect Christians to keep mute while violent Jihad (Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen) and stealth Jihad also known as stealth jihad with money (Sukkuk) are all used to negate Section 38 (1) of the Constitution and destroy the secularity of the Nigerian State?” the statement queried.

  • Of hate speech, elders and leaders

    Of hate speech, elders and leaders

    In those days when they were venerated as custodians of wisdom, elders dutifully rebuked children for insulting those older than them. Foul language attracted a frown. When the matter was thought to be serious, the cane surfaced with a whack on the head.

    Not anymore.

    Respect and moderation have lost their meanings. Public discourse has taken on the colour of abuse. Politics has become toxic; a do-or-die affair.

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s warning that hate speech will be treated as terrorism has somehow dampened the vociferous push for the dismemberment of Nigeria. The argument has been downgraded to restructuring. The debates are exciting.

    But what is hate speech? Is there really a clear correlation between hate speech and terrorism?

    The Arewa youths who issued the Igbo an October deadline to quit the North have since withdrawn their threat. Our hearts were pounding. It was like awaiting the arrival of some hurricane. But Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu keeps opening his mouth wide.

    We need to draw the line between hate speech and all that blabbing and babbling by our politicians. Besides, we should do nothing to endanger freedom of speech, which is a fundamental pillar of democracy.

    Consider Senator  Isa Misau (APC, Bauchi), whom the police have been seeking to take in since he levelled some allegations against the leadership. He said officers paid as much as N2.5m for special promotion through the Police Service Commission (PSC). Furious, the police went after the retired officer and accused him of deserting the Force.

    The lawmaker went ballistic. He hurled more allegations at the police and threatened to report the matter to the Senate.

    Who will investigate the police? All we hear are threats against Misau, who has been accused of everything, including forgery, defamation and perjury. None of these charges has been proven.  I suspect the police may one day slam the gentleman with a charge for making hate speeches against their revered leadership.

    The Senate will respond by summoning the police chief, who must come in uniform, to explain why he allowed his good offices to be used in fractions aimed at lowering  the esteem of a distinguished senator.

    A bill that will hold the record of being the fastest to be passed into law seems to be on the way to the Senate. The hate speech bill has won the heart of the much respected Senate. Renowned law teacher Prof Itse Sagay had accused the lawmakers of fleecing the treasury by taking home huge salaries and allowances, which remain secret to the taxpayer. Instead of denying this with facts and figures, senators tore at him with invectives.

    Unrepentant, the professor challenged the lawmakers to come clean on the allegations. They refused and accused him of making hate speeches against the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We all know that the Senate harbours our distinguished men and women of whom we are so proud. Hate speeches against them will not be allowed to gain credibility and thereby bring the lawmakers ridicule, odium and scorn from right thinking Nigerians.

    Nevertheless, it won’t  be out of place to ask: when will the Senate bring down the gavel on this allegation of jumbo salaries and allowances by baring it all? Are senators afraid of the public backlash if their pay is found to be indeed outrageous? Or is it a matter of mere pride – that the salary and allowances are private and personal?  But the cash comes from the public purse, doesn’t it?

    Will Sagay now be seized and hurled before the senators for alleged terrorism to test the law?

    Just as Misau has stood by his allegations against the police, Senator Aisha “Mama Taraba”Alhassan has remained unshaken in her resolve to dump President Muhammadu Buhari for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar should the latter choose to run for president in 2019. She said so on a visit to Atiku and sealed it all with an interview on the BBC Hausa Service.

    Some patriots, including those who call themselves Buharists (I still don’t get what that means) , among them Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, are falling over one another to defend the President. They are calling for Alhassan’s head, accusing her of disloyalty and of making hate speeches against Buhari, who has so far demonstrated the wisdom of a clever old man in this matter. Mama Taraba remains the minister of Women Affairs. Sycophancy, indeed, has its limits.

    Alhassan’s courage and sincerity in a society that lacks bold men and women and hacks down its brave ones have been praised. Hers is surely no hate speech. But many have descended on El-Rufai for showing his hand in the matter. They have gone into the archives to dig out what his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said of him in reply to what El-Rufai wrote about him in his book, “The accidental public servant”, which many have predicted to be the forerunner of a more current volume to be titled, “The accidental governor”.

    Of El-Rufai, Obasanjo wrote: ” Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological…I recognised his weaknesses, the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai… My vivid recollection of him is penchant for lying, for unfair embellishment of stories and his inability to sustain loyalty for long…”

    A memo El-Rufai wrote to President Buhari in which he declared the APC a failure has bobbed up from  nowhere. All this in an attempt to expound the view that of the governor, it cannot be said “he is as straight as a gun”.

    So long for a Buharist and his ilk.

    Just after the Mama Taraba bombshell, Atiku stoked up a fresh argument, saying he had been abandoned by the APC, which he claimed to have helped to win the 2015 election. Besides, he was obviously saying that he had been tarred – wrongly, he insists – with the brush of corruption. He challenged anybody with proof of his alleged corruption to bring it up or keep quiet forever.

    Poor Atiku. So discomfited was he  that he told his traducers to purge themselves of the wrong feeling that every rich man must have made it not by  dint of hard work but by some undue advantage – fraud, to be precise.

    He said he did not become the vice-president in 1999 as a pauper because he had been a successful investor after his retirement from the Customs Service. “If Atiku is a thief merely because of his resourcefulness and successful investments, my political enemies should tell Nigerians the source of their stupendous wealth,” Atiku said. He did not name his political enemies. Was the Turaki Adamawa afraid of being charged with making hate speeches?

    There is no need to get emotional over these matters, Your Excellency. The hate speech law will soon be here to put the purveyors of these allegations against you in their place. You are not the only one being maligned.

    The other day a friend sent me a photograph of the devastation of the hurricane that has ravaged parts of the United States with the caption: “Florida. We thank God that our own disaster is politicians defrauding us, not nature.”

    Now a note of caution to all those who -without proof – accuse the Senate of harbouring criminals, liars, pedophiles, forgers and drug pushers:  Watch out. The hate speech law will soon be activated and you may face terrorism charges.

     

    Biafra: Time to roll back the tanks

    The crisis in some parts of the Southeast should not be allowed to escalate. The separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is on bail, but he keeps rocking the boat through his speeches, in violation of his  bail terms. He appears to have successfully rallied behind his cause a large army of youths, some of who have sworn to go the whole hog with him.

    The military has launched “Operation Python Dance” to rein in criminals in the Southeast. It has said that the action is not targeted at the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB).

    A group of soldiers passing through Kanu’s home have clashed with the activists. IPOB said somebody died. The military claimed nobody died. Soldiers stormed the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) office in Umuahia, smashing work tools.

    A policeman was killed yesterday in Port Harcourt.

    The Igbo man is naturally endowed with skills to excel in a united Nigeria. What he should push for is an environment where he can use his God-given talents without any hinderance, and a fair share of the national patrimony. Not secession.

    Boko Haram is still on the rampage. Kidnappers are on the loose. Armed robbers remain in business and poverty is rumbling through the land.  This is not the time for another national upheaval.

    Let’s muffle the drums of war. Let’s roll back the tanks.

  • Where are the elders?

    SIR: There appear to be many quixotic ideas being dished around by elders.

    Just take a gander: you will see elders warring everywhere in Nigeria. Whilst some call for restructuring, some harp on the fact that Nigeria’s unity is negotiable, others suggest new ways to select presidential candidates; again some want a regional breakaway etc.

    What is sad is that the elders in Nigeria aren’t submitting efforts to fight militancy, kidnapping, cannibalism, ritual killings and the free-booting of the treasury being reported every day.

    A country needs very strong laws and a body of strong elders for the stability of the state and to protect it from men of straw keen on the destruction of the state.

    I can’t reconcile the statements of some elders giving authority to agitation even where some of the jags around agitation have polarized ideologies not easily discernible by the man on the street. Hardly do they campaign for the respect of laws of the country. They are united in confusion. The seeming beef between northern and southern elders is tearing the country apart. Both go off at a tangent tearing each region apart ensconced and frescoed in their regions seeking regional relevance.

    This country needs men of will in government to shape this country. Ideas do not change a country, but the will of leaders and those of the people. We have seen too many idealists without will for anything and those classes of people are to be feared because they distract government from following a just course with their hidden agenda.

    Nigeria cannot be great only by the rankling of ideas but by strong laws and authority supervised by tough men. Elders must be clear and didactic to campaign against wicked criminality in Nigeria. And because they shape the social process, they need to be careful about what they say in tempestuous times. They may be misread by people who love conflict, for division.

    A country cannot grow without political stability. The bid for peace must not be misconstrued as an armistice and detente by bad people.

    Elders must be strong-willed, just and avuncularly kind.

    Elders would be respected if they supported tranquillity and not chaotic disorder.

    A tiny segment of the population enjoy this country not the under 40 percent of the population. The elders in Nigeria need challenge that tiny segment to provide the environment to make life bearable for all. I hardly see them do this.

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Where are the elders?

    In traditional African setting, elders held a prime position. They were the conscience of their society and whatever they said was law. It will be an understatement to say that they were revered. They were next to the traditional ruler, who relied on their wisdom in running his domain. When the monarch held court, he was surrounded by elders who constituted members of his cabinet. It was a pride to be an elder then because of the respect for such people.

    It is still a pride to be an elder even in the kind of rotten society we are today. When elders are around, things are not supposed to go wrong. Their presence is expected to reassure the people that yes, no matter what, we have men and women that will set us on the right path. To become an elder is not a day’s job. One attains that status with age and with age is expected to come wisdom with which to guide the youths. Mind you, it is the child of today that becomes the elder of tomorrow. So, every elder today was a youth yesterday.

    So, what excites  the youth of today should not be new to an elder, who must have gone through such in the past. What a youth considers an adventure cannot be strange or new to an elder, who is more experienced about life. Of course, a youth can have many clothes, but he cannot have more rags than an elder whose eyes have sunk in because of the vicissitudes of life. An elder having seen a lot in his lifetime is expected to help the youth to avoid the mistakes he made while young. Thus, an elder who has witnessed war is expected to call the youth to order when walking that path.

    In the past few weeks, our country has been under tension because of the  threats by some Northern and South East youths. It all started with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) calling for a sit-at-home last May 30 to mark the 50th anniversary of the defunct Biafra Republic. Before then, IPOB, the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), among others, had been in the forefront of groups seeking to resuscitate Biafra. The Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB has taken its campaign worldwide, setting up Radio Biafra in London to propagate its cause. The group led the observation of last month’s sit-at-home, which paralysed activities in the east.

    In response to its order, the Coalition of National Youths (CNY) aka Arewa youths gave the Igbo in the north up till October 1 to leave. The threats of secession and the ultimatum are one and the same thing – agitations to break up the country. No matter how you look at it, there is no way the threat to expel the Igbo from the east if they do not leave by October 1 will not cause chaos and there is also no way that the country will remain intact if IPOB should get the east to secede. Unfortunately, all this is happening right under the nose of Northern and South East leaders. If youths are behaving like youths, elders are not expected to behave as such. Being elders, they should know the implication of what these youths are doing and promptly step in to stop them from playing with fire.

    Yes, these boys are toying with fire and painfully, many elders who witnessed the civil war (1967 – 1970) are keeping quiet. We cannot afford to go to war over any mundane issue. Whatever it is that IPOB, MASSOB, BIM and all other groups agitating for Biafra want can be ironed out at a round table. What is more, they have people in the Senate and the House of Representatives who can take up their cause. There is no issue too big that cannot be discussed. Even wars are settled at round-table talks. We must condemn all these actions aimed at setting us back several years before they blow out of proportion and this is where the elders come in.

    Through their criminal silence, our elders have tacitly supported the actions of these youths. It is morally wrong. What kind of leadership are they providing if they cannot call these guys to order? Or are they afraid of them? An elder worth the name will not sit back and allow things go awry in the twilight of his life. What memory will he go to his grave with? That of a disintegrated Nigeria? God forbid. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo put the blame where it belonged when he met with some South East elders at the Villa last Wednesday. The elders, he noted, have been too quiet over this matter. I concur, sir. Some of them, to the shock of many, even came out to support what these boys are doing.

    To these elders, I say, what is bad is bad and we should collectively say so, so that these boys do not plunge us into another bitter war. What do they even know about war? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The elders should educate them that war is a bitter enterprise which beginning we know but which end is beyond anybody’s comprehension. As the Acting President told his guests in Abuja, elders should always speak out against what is wrong because “violence pays no one.

    “Violence and war are not going to do anyone any good. Wars today hardly end. No one who has seen the face of wars even on television will wish it for anyone. We shouldn’t tolerate hate speeches or divisive comments.” These are immortal words and they will keep ringing in our ears.

  • Obasanjo to youths: Don’t wish us dead, you still need our mentoring

    Obasanjo to youths: Don’t wish us dead, you still need our mentoring

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday pleaded with the nation’s youth not to wish elders in the country “dead”, saying they need them as “mentors” and “advisers” in their journey of life.

    Obasanjo who stated that his “greatest fear about Nigeria” today remained the “anger and frustration of the youths,” said if not managed, it could lead to “youth explosion.”

    He lamented that Nigerian youths are not getting help either from the government or anybody.

    The Ebora Owu who spoke during the Youth Governance Dialogue organized by the Youth Development Centre arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said while his generation had “limitless opportunities but no facilities” in their time, the youth of today have facilities but little or no opportunities.

    He cited the insurgency in the North East, the separatist agitators in the South East and militancy in the Niger Delta region as manifestations of anger and frustrations from disillusioned youths, warning that should youth explosion erupts, there may be no limit to the extent it can spread.

    He appealed to them to work hard to help themselves and be ready to pay the price for the right cause they believe, saying in spite of all odds, the youth still remained his greatest hope for Nigeria.

    Obasanjo noted that when he left secondary school, he received letters of appointments from five establishments and wondered whether any Nigerian university graduate could have such opportunities today.

    “Don’t wish us dead, don’t wish us to disappear because you will need us. You need us mentors and advisers to mentor and prepare you for the future. You need our experience and assistance of some of us to guide you through life.

    “You should not lose hope, you should not feel frustrated. Whenever I go, they always ask me what is my fear about Nigeria and Africa. And I said my greatest fear is youth anger, frustrations and youth explosion which have no bound.

    “We have the Boko haram in the north, the MASSOB and IPOB in the South East, the militants in the Niger Delta and the Oodua Peoples Congress in the Southwest. All of these are expression of anger and frustrations.

    “We have what it takes to be great as a nation and we can’t transform this country without the youths. My greatest hope in this country is also the youth. You the youth should work to help yourselves. You must be ready to pay the price for what you stand for,” Obasanjo said.

    The lead speaker at the occasion and former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka while speaking on the theme “Towards a Guiding Political Philosophy for a Democratic Nigeria,” advised that the nation’s leaders should build a society that harness human and material resources effectively, provide equal opportunities and develop capacity for innovation.

    Chidoka also proposed a new Charter for the country, saying the Charter should contain reasons for the country’s unity, and which guarantees the basic rights, privileges and obligations of citizens.

    “Our national aspirations should inspire the next generation and provide them with the existential meaning of Nigeria. A meaning that transcends geography, natural resources and ethnicity.

    “Our political parties can then build their ideologies around the strategies for the achieving our national goals,” he said.

    Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal also attended the conference.

  • Untreated dementia in our elders

    SIR: Just recently a picture of a half-naked elderly woman surrounded by a lynch mob appeared online in one of the many blogs under the caption:” Bird falls from sky and transforms into woman”.

    The poor old woman, and many others like her, is probably suffering from dementia.  Dementia is a mental disorder that affects older people. A person suffering from dementia will start to go mad, see things that aren’t there, talk to themselves whilst at the same time suffer memory loss and lose the ability to function normally on a day-to-day basis. It’s worth noting at this point that there is no need to cart off a dementia sufferer to the nearest church for ‘spiritual healing’. There are no demons to cast out and any pastor will only make the problem worse.

    There is no known cure for dementia, just like with Alzheimer’s disease, even though a healthy diet, being physically active all the time and counselling can help to minimize the condition.

    Dementia is not just a ‘White mans’ disease, it can happen to anyone over the age of 65. Instead of stigmatizing the person or alienating them or locking them up at home (- or dumping them on the street to fend for themselves!) every help should be given.  People who have advanced stages of the disease will need to be put under 24-hour supervision so that they do not wander off (and risk being accused of being ‘witches’!) or harm themselves. Remember with their brain cells dying, their reasoning diminishes making them regress back to acting like children, forgetting things and getting up to general mischief.

    So next time you see an old woman being accused of witchcraft by a lynch mob, she might just be suffering from dementia and abandoned by her family. As we are respectful of our elders the same should be accorded to someone who has dementia.

     

    • Tony Ogunlowo,

    <archangel641@gmail.com>

  • Elders’ Forum to honour late Orlando Owoh

    Elders’ Forum to honour late Orlando Owoh

    Nine years after the demise of music maestro Dr. Orlando Owoh, Elders’ Forum, jointly organized by O’jez Entertainment Group and Evergreen Musical Company Limited, will be celebrating the musical legacy of the man, popularly called the African Kenery.

    Scheduled to hold on Sunday, April 30, the event will evaluate and honour the deceased’s immeasurable contributions to the growth, development and promotion of heritage Nigerian and African music, at home and in the Diaspora.

    The show is expected to relive the memories of the legendary Owoh with the hosting of delightful performances by one of his most profound successors in the person of his son, Chief Daisi Orlando Owoh.

    According to the organisers, the Elders Forum scheduled to hold at the O’jez celebrity restaurant, will afford the teeming fans of the African Kenery Sound an opportunity to savour those nostalgic songs from one of its most prolific ambassadors.

    To be honoured at the event is the oldest surviving member of the original Dr. Orlando Owoh’s band in the person of Mr. Tosin Akilapa.

    Also, a major highlight of this month’s event will be the presentation of a post-humous “Lifetime Achievements” award to the late Orlando Owoh.

    Owoh passed on in November 2008. The music legend had over 45 albums to his credit.

  • Ijaw elders intervene to resolve crisis in IYC

    •245 delegates to elect new president

    Ijaw elders in the Niger Delta region have decried crisis in the vibrant Ijaw youth group, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide.

    The youth wing presided over by Mr. Udengs Eradiri, has been enmeshed in transition crisis leading contending forces to hold parallel conventions.

    While Eradiri inaugurated a nine-member electoral committee at one of the conventions in Okirika, Rivers State, another electoral committee, consisting of seven persons, was inaugurated at a separate convention in Toru-Ebeni, Bayelsa State.

    The electoral committee inaugurated by Eradiri to midwife a new executive committee of IYC is chaired by Mr. Oscar Isu.

    But Jeremaiah Owoupele heads the seven-member committee inaugurated by aggrieved members at Toru-Ebeni.

    The Chairman of one of the electoral committees, Mr. Oscar Isu, confirmed yesterday that key Ijaw stakeholders were working to resolve differences in the body.

    Isu said his committee was ready to conduct a free and fair election into the 11 positions in the executive committee.

    He said the process of electing the delegates had started, adding that 245 delegates from various clans would elect a new president.

    He said 18 forms had been collected by aspirants, noting that the submission of forms had been shifted to Tuesday.

    He said all aspirants for various positions would be screened in Port Harcourt, from March 2, adding that the elections would hold on March 11 at Burutu, Delta State.

  • Ogbe-Ijoh elders, monarch to UPU: call Aladja to order

    The Governing Council of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Clan in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State has urged the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) as well as Urhobo monarchs to resolve the recent crisis between Ijaw communities and Aladja in Udu Local Government Area.

    In a statement yesterday by its chairman, Alex Akemetubo, the governing council alluded to recent reports tagging Isaba as a sub-community in Ogbe-Ijoh Clan and Ayama as sub-community in Aladja community.

    The statement said: “The Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Clan Governing Council has just read the report in The Nation of Friday, November 11, where the paper reported an alleged clash between youths of Isaba, which they referred to as a sub-community in Ogbe-Ijoh Clan and Ayama, a sub-community in Aladja community. The impression created by the report was that the inter-communal clash between Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja led to the crisis and the loss of life.

    “In order to set the records straight, we wish to state as follows: Isaba is not a community under Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom. Isaba is a separate and distinct Ijaw Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State with a gazzetted and recognised traditional ruler, the Pere of Isaba Kingdom, Pere Donokoromor.

    “Ayama, as the name implies, is a community under Isaba Kingdom and not Aladja Community.

    The Isaba and Aladja people have also had historical land disputes. The disputes have been in court for decades and Isaba people won the case at the High Court and Court of Appeal; now, the matter is at the Supreme Court.

    “The impression being created by Aladja people that Isaba is a sub-community in Ogbe-Ijoh is a deliberate attempt to seek sympathy from other Urhobo to set the machineries for an inter-ethnic clash between the Ijaw and the Urhobo. Aladja indigenes have been looking for an opportunity to extend the land dispute between Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja to a crisis between Ijaw and Urhobo.”

    It urged UPU and Urhobo Traditional Rulers to call Aladja residents to order, adding that there was need for ethnic nationalities to work together to develop the state.

    The statement added: “We call on the leadership of the Urhobo nation, especially the UPU and the Urhobo Traditional Rulers, led by the Orodje of Okpe, to call Aladja people to order. What is required in Delta State and all over Niger Delta is for the different ethnic groups to work together towards the development of the communities, states and the region.”

  • NDDC: Ilaje elders seek new nomination

    NDDC: Ilaje elders seek new nomination

    The Niger Delta Christian Leaders Forum (NDCLF) in Ondo State at the weekend urged President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the nomination of another substitute as the state’s representative on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    Tokunbo, son of the state’s first Governor,  Adekunle Ajasin, was initially nominated for the position.

    But it generated ripples as the people of Ilaje rejected Ajasin’s nomination.

    Consequently, the Senate committee dropped Ajasin.

    A statement by the Forum’s Chairman, Rev. B.S Obakolujo, Secretary E.A Ajiboyode and Chairman, Elders Forum, Rev. S O Ayodele lamented that Ondo State was lagging behind in the affairs of the NDDC.

    The group noted that the situation had affected the state’s development.

    The Niger Delta leaders said since establishment of the commission, Ondo has been marginalised in the appointment of principal positions.

    The group urged President Buhari to appoint an Ilaje indigene as the NDDC’s Ondo representative.