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Tag: Fayemi

  • Fayemi to deliver Atta Mills’ lecture

    Fayemi to deliver Atta Mills’ lecture

    FORMER Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi is expected to be the Speaker at this year’s President John Evans Atta Mills’ Memorial Lecture in Accra, Ghana tomorrow.

    Dr. Fayemi will be speaking on the topic: “Intellectuals in Politics and Governance in Africa: The Legacies of John Atta Mills”, at the yearly national event dedicated to the memory of the late President of the Republic of Ghana, who died in July 24, 2012.

    A letter from the office of the president notifying Fayemi of the lecture reads: “Your impressive credentials as an academic, journalist and researcher on peace and security in Africa makes you a worthy choice for the occasion. Your presence and participation in this national event will further enhance the historical bonds of friendship and solidarity between Ghana and Nigeria”.

    The letter was signed by Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff to President John Dramani Mahama on behalf of the planning committee.

    This is the first lecture, in the series, to be delivered by a non-Ghanaian.

    This year’s lecture coincides with the 71st post-humous  birthday of late Atta Mills, who was born on July 21, 1944.

  • APC denies N4b ‘fraud’ allegation against Fayemi

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has denied that former Governor Kayode Fayemi diverted N4 billion state funds.

    It described the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  as laughable and an attempt to divert attention from alleged reports that Fayose took N720 million as salary and allowances for his unfinished first term.

    The PDP had, on Sunday, alleged that Fayemi diverted over N4 billion raised from workers’ deductions “for sharing from time to time in the APC secretariat in the four years that his administration lasted”.

    The umbrella party also claimed that the ‘deal’ was exposed during the workers’ verification exercise, claiming that it obtained the information from those ‘involved’.

    The APC said the PDP allegation was an afterthought and wondered why it took the ruling party eight months to come out with its story.

    It noted that Fayemi had challenged Fayose to probe him, if he (Fayose) had any  evidence against him (Fayemi).

    The party said Fayose and PDP’s resort to the “old practice of falsehood and blackmail” to divert Ekiti people’s attention from proven cases of sharp practices in governance won’t succeed.

    The APC challenged the governor to explain the N720 million salary bazaar and N650 million deducted monthly into the purse of an “election contractor”.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the party said the latest allegation from the ruling party came because it (APC) had put the Fayose-led government on the spot on the governor’s temerity to award himself N720 million  from his unfinished first term.

    He challenged Fayose to provide evidence by approaching anti-graft agencies or shut up and stop insulting the sensibilities of Ekiti people with banal and unsubstantiated allegations.

    Olatubosun said: “It is laughable that as much as N4billion was diverted and or embezzled by the Fayemi administration and Fayose is just knowing eight months after assumption of office, pretending that a kangaroo verification exercise had revealed this. This is better told to the marines!

    “Fayemi had earlier offered his administration for probe when Fayose started a similar campaign of calumny to cover up his tracks in financial mismanagement but the governor had no courage for such exercise because there was nothing to probe.

    “Fayose is at it again in his usual funny game to divert Ekiti people’s attention from his sharp practices in governance. This is an afterthought that exposes his ignorance and confusion. If Fayose  is sure of his facts, he should not waste time in taking his case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    “There is no deduction anywhere. It is not possible. Even during the two years that federal allocations dwindled to N500 million, Fayemi was still paying salaries with governor-elect wrote to banks to stop it. So how was any deduction and diversion possible under that situation?

    “The biometric system was so transparent such that it did not allow ghost workers but since the PDP is now saying its government had detected 1,000 ghost workers, we are interested in unmasking the ghosts and we demand that the names of these ghosts be published,” he added.

    The APC spokesman said the governor and his party should approach the EFCC with their claim, including the list of workers used to siphon funds.

    He said Fayemi would be willing to defend his financial transactions.

    The APC spokesman urged the governor to show his development blueprint and achievements eight months in the saddle instead of engaging in lies, mindless private comfort and encouraging indolence and crimes among youths.

  • APC absolves Fayemi of N4b fraud allegation

    APC absolves Fayemi of N4b fraud allegation

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has risen in stout defence of former Governor Kayode Fayemi over the Peoples Democratic Party’s claim that he diverted about N4 billion state funds to the party.

    The APC described the PDP allegation as laughable and an attempt to divert the attention of the people of Ekiti from the allegation that Governor Ayodele Fayose allegedly paid himself N720 million as salaries and allowances for his unfinished first term.

    The APC which also described the PDP allegation as an afterthought wondered why it took the ruling party eight months to come out with the allegation, noting that Fayemi had times without number challenged Fayose to proceed to anti-corruption agencies if the governor has any concrete evidence against him (Fayemi).

    While insisting that Fayose and PDP’s resort to “old practice of falsehood and blackmail” to divert Ekiti people’s attention from proven cases of sharp practices in governance won’t succeed, the APC challenged the governor to offer explanation on the N720 million salary bazaar and N650 million deducted monthly into the purse of an “election contractor.”

    The PDP had on Sunday alleged that Fayemi diverted over N4 billion raised from workers’ deductions “for sharing from time to time in the APC secretariat in the four years that his administration lasted.”

    The umbrella party also claimed that the ‘deal’ was exposed during the workers’ verification exercise, claiming that it obtained the information from some workers “involved.”

    The APC in a statement issud on Monday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said the latest allegation from the ruling party came because it (APC) has put the Fayose-led government on the spot on the governor’s temerity to award himself N720 million financial entitlements from his unfinished first term at a period he couldn’t pay workers’ salaries.

    He challenged Fayose to provide evidence to the whole world by approaching the statutory agencies charged with responsibilities of fighting graft or shut up and stop insulting the sensibilities of Ekiti people with banal and unsubstantiated allegations.

  • Fayemi: Let charity begin at home

    It is not by sheer accident of event but by deliberate self-design that wherever the All Progressives Party (APC) president-elect, Mohammadu Buhari finds himself, there is always Dr Kayode Fayemi, the self-acclaimed doctorate degree holder in War Studies with supposed specialization in Civil-Military Relations. Yet, in Ekiti State, where he last governed as governor, kidnapping, sectarian fighting and general insecurity has been on the increase in recent time without a single word of concern from this so-called expert in war studies.

    While Ekiti continues to boil without any iota of interests from Fayemi, he enjoys being in the news and being referred to as the head of the outdated Policy, Research and Strategy directorate of APC Campaign Council that invited former British Premier, Tony Blair, to deliver its keynote address on the implementation of the Agenda for Change at the party’s two-day policy dialogue in Abuja recently.

    What is quite objectionable is the fact that Blair diminished the significance of the lecture, probably because of his ratings of the organizers when he deemed it unnecessary to attend but send Peter Benjamin Mandelson, who was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in his administration to deliver the keynote lecture on his behalf. For whatever it’s worth, it is an indubitable fact that the campaign council has compulsorily finished its duty immediately after the general elections and all other party duties revert to the appropriate organs set up by the party hierarchy to discharge such; hence, the latest one performed by the Policy, Research and Strategy directorate under Fayemi is no exception in this regard.

    This writer doubts whether the rightful party organ saddled with the responsibility of performing the function of organising such forum for the president-elect’s policy discourse would not have deliberated extensively amongst the topmost hierarchy of the party and even amongst a broad spectrum of the party’s intelligentsia before determining who to invite for such an important party forum; and this is with the mindset that such could go a long way in establishing the in-coming administration’s seriousness about tackling the myriads of problems facing the country.

    The gaffe that Fayemi, in his dictatorial fashion, and his committee that he largely controls, was unambiguously exposed in Olatunji Dare, Professor Emeritus’ recent column in this newspaper titled: An unwelcome visitor in which he, in his usual frank nature, highlighted the posturing of Blair while serving as British Premier against especially Iraq and in other places and his subsequent deployment of such exalted position, after leaving office, to pursue mercantilist neo-colonial inclination among less powerful countries of the world. This globally revered journalism teacher and internationally respected columnist also in that piece exposed the disdain of most Europeans and the British people for their former premier.

    And unfortunately for the incoming Buhari administration, this is the inglorious character that Fayemi beckoned on at a huge price that would one day be released for public consumption, to grace such an epochal occasion of the APC and its president-elect, to deliver a keynote lecture. This is a reflection of the neo-colonial mindset of Fayemi and how far he has lost touch with the needs of not only Ekiti people but that of the entire people of this country. It is a pity if Buhari thinks this kind of person has anything to offer his administration other than to further alienate it from the people, and in no time rubbish the acclaim that is about to usher Buhari to power on May 29.

    Here is how Professor Dare described Blair, Fayemi’s bosom friend and policy discussant in his recent piece: ‘It was entirely in character that Blair should have presumed at every stop to speak for the “international community,” though he holds no public office and is in fact a hugely discredited politician who, in a just world, should be in prison serving time for war crimes.’’ He  continued: ‘So unpopular and discredited had he become at the end of his record tenure as prime minister that he could not embark on a farewell tour of Britain, where he was sure to be greeted with shouts of “Liar, Liar” and pelted with tomatoes and eggs. They even re-christened him Bliar. And so, he travelled instead to bid farewell to British troops in Basra, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan. Blair’s quest to become president of the European Council ended in humiliation. The British government withdrew its backing when it became clear that member countries wanted nothing to do with him…The last time Blair went to testify before a parliamentary committee looking into how the UK entered the unholy alliance that invaded, occupied and destroyed Iraq, he had to be smuggled into the committee room through a back door, to save him from the wrath of protesters.’’ At another instance, he stated: ‘This was not the way the script was supposed to end for the youngest prime minister…But hubris and delusion soon set in, and glory turned to ashes.’’

    Blair that Fayemi allegedly got appearance funds to sponsor from a mushroom international organisation, sadly through a proxy ,to deliver that APC keynote policy address would not be globally forgotten for his infamous role in the crime against humanity in Iraq just to send only Saddam Hussein, its leader packing from office. Professor Dare gave a picture of how it happened when he wrote that Blair ‘published a dossier on what he said was Iraq’s weapons-of-mass-production programme.  It was a “dodgy” document, copied in part from a sophomoric doctoral dissertation that an American university had rejected. Next, he put it out that Iraq had sought to buy uranium cake from Niger Republic.  The document detailing the alleged transaction was a transparent forgery. The minister who purportedly signed on behalf of the Niger government had left office at least eight years earlier.’’ What then informed the invitation of a forger to such an important APC policy discourse?    The problems of Nigeria are not the organisation of policy discourses as such were had in abundance in the past. What Nigeria wants is how the current power problem could be resolved permanently; how fuel would return to the filling stations at a cheap price per litre with a permanent end to its scarcity; how insecurity will disappear from this clime; how gainful employment will be available to millions seeking for it; how the economy and the naira will stabilise and how infrastructure and institutions of state would be rebuilt and restored for good. Discredited leaders that tickle the fancy of Fayemi like Blair cannot make that happen.

    In retrospect, Fayemi as chairman of the APC National convention committee that organized the party’s primaries worked against Buhari’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate and the way he now niftily pushes the man in the wrong direction, since after the election could alienate the new helmsman from the people that voted for him, like he sadly did in Ekiti as governor for himself. This nefarious move makes one doubt whether Fayemi really wants the president-elect to succeed. To Fayemi, it does not seem that charity begins at home; otherwise, he should by now be seen to be working in Ekiti to see how to put APC in the right footings, again.

     

    • Dr. Adamolekun, an educationist wrote in from Ado-Ekiti.

  • Negative image affecting Ekiti, says Fayemi

    Negative image affecting Ekiti, says Fayemi

    Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said all the negative news from the state was affecting its economy.

    The former governor spoke yesterday when he visited the Hausa community to show his sympathy over the losses it  incurred in the violence that rocked Ado-Ekiti last week.

    Fayemi, who visited the Hausa at Shasha, on the outskirts of Ikere-Ekiti, where they had been relocated, promised that the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration would assist them.

    The ex-governor  inspected the burnt Erekesan Market.

    He visited the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, to commiserate with him.

    The former governor, who was accompanied by some officials of his administration, said his visit was to identify with the people during these trying times.

    He urged all Ekiti people to unite and fight against kidnapping and other  crimes for the state to witness peace and development.

    Fayemi said kidnapping is unacceptable and must not to be allowed to fester for the state to be investors’ haven.

    He said the negative image Ekiti has acquired in recent times is affecting  its economy.

    Fayemi said: “Some of my colleagues and friends would have accompanied me to Ekiti but many of them declined the invitation as result of the spate of violence and kidnapping.

    “I don’t think Ekiti deserves this negative label, which is why I am calling on well meaning indigenes to join hands with those who are willing to return peace to the state.”

    Fayemi expressed sadness that the good relationship that existed between indigenes and Hausa settlers had become strained.

    He called on stakeholders to join hands to end the twin-monsters, “which is strange  to the culture of the land”.

    Oba Adejugbe thanked Fayemi for his visit, urging the former governor not to rest on his oars in ensuring that peace reigns in the state.

    The monarch said a committee had been set up  to take an inventory of the property damaged during the clash.

  • Fayemi and ghost of Judas

    Honestly, as a proud Ekiti man, I had watched with embarrassment what, for want of better expression, can be summarized as hustling for photo-ops by Dr. Kayode Fayemi whenever and wherever General Muhammadu Buhari appeared since emerging President-elect on March 28. Whether receiving visitors or seeing them off, the immediate past Ekiti governor would always be seen sticking behind the General as if he were the ADC.

    I always thought this was a bit self-demeaning for a man who, until recently, was a governor and, what’s more, a custodian of a doctorate degree. Here was a man who spent the better part of his four-year tenure in Ekiti sloganeering that Ekiti, the acclaimed “fountain of knowledge”, is a land of “Uyi” (honour). But what could be more dishonourable than this open grovelling before the new man of power in full native regalia: over-starched clothes and Awo cap. Certainly, this  conduct does not speak well of our great state, the land of great men like Aare Afe Babalola, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, Prof Niyi Osundare, Prof Akin Oyebode, and Femi Falana, SAN.

    I am sure General Buhari himself would be embarrassed by the fawning, the kind exhibited by Area Boys (Almajiris) at the sight of a VIP at a public gathering in anticipation of some form of “stomach infrastructure” (edible or monetary gift). While it is true that it is season of scrambling for the spoils of the electoral victory of March 28, but Fayemi honestly didn’t have to do this to be noticed by GMB as nothing can change whatever appointment God has destined him to get in the new dispensation.

    I thought I was alone in this observation until I read a brilliant article widely published in the Nigerian media and online written by one Hakeem Adisa where the writer made some startling revelations which appear to confirm that there is more to Dr. Fayemi’s theatrics lately in Abuja. Adisa’s piece was entitled, “What does Kayode Fayemi want?” Predictably, the former governor’s media bodyguard named Olayinka Oyebode rose stoutly to the occasion by defending his principal in a rejoinder published in Daily Sun of May 12 as a man of sterling academic credentials who, according to him, left indelible footprints in Ekiti. More illuminations were brought to the debate by yet another article written by The Nation’s engaging columnist, Segun Ayobolu, in a back-page article on Saturday May 16, with the provocative title, “Ekiti: Who is to blame?”

    In his own submission, Oyebode would have us believe that Adisa’s article is a hatchet job sponsored by those uncomfortable with Fayemi’s rising profile. Hear him: “Needless to say that Fayemi’s achievements in the four years he served as governor of Ekiti State are well documented in the hearts of the people and have become a standard through which the incumbent administration and future administrations would be measured.”

    Really? I thought that was very, very cheap. That is the hallmark of intellectual feather-weights who will not address issues raised but quickly resort to name-calling to divert attention. When Oyebode boasted that Fayemi’s legacy in Ekiti is imperishable, one is left wondering if he was referring to the N60m-worth “water bed” his principal procured for the new N3.5b Government House which he rushed to build towards the end of his first term in the delusion that he would get a second term to luxuriate in. What a classic case of misplaced priority in a largely agrarian state where poverty stares you on the street. Thank God, Ekiti people denied him that carnal desire by voting him out in the governorship polls last year. Let Fayemi be content with sleeping in the “water bed” in his personal house in Isan.

    Again, it is also intellectually fraudulent for Oyebode to suggest that Fayemi’s trouncing by “Oshoko” (Governor Ayo Fayose) was a fluke or something aided by the use of  the military by PDP last year in the June 2014 governorship election. If that was the real reason, how come Fayemi also could not deliver Ekiti for APC in the March 28 and April 11 elections? The truth of the matter is that he is a political disaster with no electoral value whatsoever.

    I had expected Oyebode to knock off the bottom of the charge of treacherous hypocrisy against his boss by categorically denying the talk-of-the-town today that Fayemi actually worked against the emergence of Chief Odigie-Oyegun as APC national chair at the Abuja convention last year. Just as I expected him to also deny the strong rumour that the bulk of  Ekiti delegates loyal to Fayemi voted for another candidate (from the North-east) in the presidential primaries of last November in the laughable expectation that he would be made the running-mate. I, therefore, consider Oyebode’s recourse to sophistry instead of answering these weighty allegations directly as most ungodly and totally bereft of Fayemi’s much-trumpeted “Uyi” (honour). You don’t work clandestinely against a man yesterday and today pretend to be his fiercest advocate. That exactly is what Judas did to Jesus Christ in the biblical times. So, GMB should beware.

    Another point I consider distasteful in Oyebode’s article is his attempt to present his principal in shoes that were clearly bigger than him. While not denying Fayemi was engaged with the African Leadership Forum owned by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, this amateur media spin-doctor spoilt matters by saying the relationship flowed from a partnership between his boss and the then sitting president. With regards to the Oputa Panel, Fayemi was falsely presented as the “technical consultant” to the commission. This is quite belittling of far more accomplished intellectuals and moral titans like now late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa and Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah (MHK) who most Nigerians saw as the heart and soul of the commission. I guess Oyebode had to inflate the profile of his boss to make him look like a big player even before becoming governor. Haba! Could this also be part of “Uyi” his boss spent all his tenure romanticizing?

    It is for this reason I totally align myself with the submission of Segun Ayobolu that Fayemi’s political incompetence and lust for luxurious lifestyle in office ought to be isolated from the deeply progressive philosophy APC professes.

    As far as proud Ekiti sons like me are concerned, the Ekiti vote of June 21, March 28 and April 11 was not necessarily an endorsement of the “Jankara” politics of Fayose or thumb-up for the so-called “stomach infrastructure”. Rather, it was an emphatic denunciation of Fayemi’s politics of “N60m water bed”, elitism, treachery, betrayal, empty arrogance and over-ambition. If APC would recover the lost “fountain of knowledge”, it is high time its leadership learnt to relegate characters like Fayemi to the back seat and shop for new faces to play up. That is the bitter truth.

    Talking about betrayal, I think Hakeem Adisa was too charitable by only saying Fayemi betrayed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who brought him from nowhere, empowered him and smoothed his way to Ekiti Government House in 2014. We were told of how a “powerful commissioner in Lagos” mobilized the seed money with which Fayemi began his journey to power in 2005. We have been told how he double-crossed Fayose who had joined forces with him to rout PDP in the titanic battle of Ido-Osi in 2009 under the gentleman’s agreement that “Oshoko” would be given the senatorial ticket in 2011. But, as the story goes, once a wily Fayemi was ensconced in Ekiti Government House, he stopped picking phone calls from Fayose.

    What had not been fully told is the story of how Honorable Opeyemi Bamidele was similarly stabbed in the back by the relatively younger Fayemi. His sophistry notwithstanding, Oyebode could not deny that it was Hon Bamidele who introduced his principal to Asiwaju in 2005. Then, the incumbent Reps member was a commissioner in Lagos. With his fake smile and contrived diffident airs, Fayemi not only got all he wanted from the Jagaban but also had Bamidele at his corner throughout the dirty battle to oust PDP from Ekiti between 2006 and 2010. But once Fayemi became governor, one of the earliest decisions he took was to remove Bamidele’s father as unit leader of ACN! So much for the treachery and perfidy of a “technocratic politician”.

    I only hope Buhari or anyone who truly loves him and APC would read this article and learn one or two lessons.

     

    • Architect Adedeji wrote from Ikole-Ekiti.

     

  • Ekiti CNPP condemns media attacks on Fayemi, others

    Ekiti CNPP condemns media attacks on Fayemi, others

    The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in Ekiti State has condemned what it called “series of coordinated media attacks” targeted at former Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi and his predecessors, Chief Segun Oni and Otunba Niyi Adebayo.

    The body said the “coordinated media campaign of calumny” was aimed at painting the former governors in bad light to undermine their political standings and demean their achievements.

    In a statement yesterday by its Chairman, Tunji Ogunlola and Public Relations Officer Ayo Adelabu, the body said it was unfair to blame the collapse of democratic structures in the state on the former governors.

    The Ekiti CNPP said the trio deserve to be commended for the achievements they recorded in office and the dignity with which they conducted themselves while in power.

    The CNPP said: “The most virulent of these attacks in form of hate write-ups have been directed more on Fayemi.

    “We noticed that the frequency of media attacks  on Fayemi increased after he appeared in a media picture with the President-elect,  Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President-elect,  Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Mr. Garba Shehu while Buhari was receiving former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Defence House.”

    The CNPP said it was appalled by the “pull him down tactics” that characterised these media attacks.

    “Contrary to their callous denigration of Dr Fayemi, sincere Nigerians appreciate that ordinary Ekiti man on the street fared better during his time when they benefited from empowerment programmes, such as the social security for the elderly, job volunteer’s scheme, conditional cash transfer, youths in commercial agriculture and many more.

    “Apart from these, workers’ salaries were paid as at when due. Unfortunately, all these life-supporting schemes have been scrapped but our hate campaigners are not saying anything about it.

     

  • ‘Fayemi didn’t discuss incoming govt’s policy’

    ‘Fayemi didn’t discuss incoming govt’s policy’

    Former Governor of Eki State, Dr Kayode Fayemi has debunked reports of him saying President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari would end fuel subsidy and rationalise MDAs.

    A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, urged the people to disbelieve the report as it was false and misleading.

    “The attention of Dr kayode Fayemi has been drawn to a fabricated and misleading report published in the April 15 edition of Thisday Newspaper, with the headline: “Buhari to End Fuel Subsidy, Rationalise MDAs.

    “Kindly note that the report is a distortion of Dr. Fayemi’s presentation at the Lagos Business School (LBS) breakfast meeting on April 8.

    “While it is true that Dr Fayemi was Guest Speaker at the LBS Breakfast meeting, he was neither there a representative of the President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, nor was he introduced as such.

    “Aside this, the various ‘policies’ of the incoming administration, purported to have been disclosed by Dr Fayemi, were mere fabrications, as the thrust of discussion was essentially on the campaign manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and how it was successfully marketed to the electorate, culminating in the party’s victory.

    “Aside the embarrassment which the misleading report has caused the person of Dr Fayemi, there has been an avalanche of calls and emails by newspaper organisations to do a follow up on the story having considered it a “missed story”.

    “We therefore considered it important to debunk the fabricated report.

    “Certainly you have not missed any story as what is in circulation is mere fabrication. Please kindly disregard it in its entirety,” Oyebode said.

  • Two killed in Fulani, natives clash in Kwara

    Two killed in Fulani, natives clash in Kwara

    Bloody clash between natives of Oro-Ago, Ifelodun local government area and Fulani (Bororo) settlers has allegedly claimed two lives.

    The clash which occurred on Monday, led to the destruction of property worth millions of naira in the sleepy community.

    At least about 10 motorcycles and five vehicles belonging to some Fulani people were reportedly burnt by irate youth.

    Also in the process, four people sustained varying degrees of wounds and injuries.

    It was gathered that the fracas was allegedly triggered by Fulani (Bororo) settlers’ refusal to obey already laid down rules disallowing them from bringing arms, ammunition or fighting sticks from their settlements to town on Oro Ago market days.

    It was gathered that the Fulani traders entered the market with arms on the fateful day and the men of the local vigilance team and hunters accosted them, seized the weapons and kept it at a place in Oro Ago town.

    To the chagrin of men of the local vigilance team, the seized weapons were allegedly stealthily taken from where they were kept  by the Serikin Fulani (leader of the Fulani) and given back to his people.

    Attempt by the locals to retrieve the weapons from the Fulani was stoutly resisted, thus snowballing into a bloody clash.

    One of the youth of the area, Sogo Babarinde, who repaired phones in the market, was reportedly killed by some Fulani people.

    Another version of the report said that youth in the area also killed one of the Fulani people, before they were chased away from the community.

    Already security operatives comprising military and policemen had been drafted to the community to restore normalcy.

    Men of the local vigilance team are a also providing assistance for the security personnel.

    Spokespersons of the state police command, Ajayi Okasanmi said that only two persons were killed and not seven as being speculated, adding that men and officers of the command had been able to restore normalcy in the area after the clash.

    He also said that the Ifelodun local government authorities had constituted a committee, comprising the natives and Fulani people to resolve the matter, and prevent future reoccurrence.

  • Help on the way for girls, says Fayemi

    Help on the way for girls, says Fayemi

    Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday lamented the inability of the federal government to free the 219 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram more than one year ago.

    Fayemi, who described the callous act of the insurgents as highly ignoble, said the experience of the pupils, their parents and family members is saddening and  traumatising, made worse by the failure of the government to properly coordinate its effort at getting the girls back.

    In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olayinka Oyebode, Fayemi urged the incoming administration of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to make the rescue of the Chibok girls a top priority.

    “As a father, I can imagine the level of pains, trauma and devastation being experienced by the families of the abducted girls, unfortunately, the government’s attitude to the rescue has been at best uncoordinated, dismissive and lackadaisical “, said Fayemi, adding that the lives and future of the abducted girls are as important as the lives of every Nigerian citizens and should be treated as such.”

    Fayemi, who headed the directorate of Policy, Research and Strategy of the General Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, said the current air of hopelessness surrounding the girls’ whereabouts and the pall of silence from the government would soon give way when the Buhari government injects life into the efforts at rescuing them.

    He urged the parents and families of the abducted girls not to lose hope, but continue to pray for their successful release, assuring them of divine intervention as well as a strategic intervention by the incoming administration.

    “And to you our girls, be assured help is on the way. Remain strong and hopeful. I am convinced you will all live to tell the story of your release. I am convinced that as the whole world mark the first anniversary of your abduction by Boko Haram, soon the whole world would rise to celebrate your release from captivity”. He added.