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Tag: Lekan Alabi

  • Olubadan to promote Lekan Alabi, Fijabi, Folarin, four other senior chiefs Friday

    Olubadan to promote Lekan Alabi, Fijabi, Folarin, four other senior chiefs Friday

    Seven senior chiefs in the Otun Olubadan line would benefit from the promotion exercise slated for Friday, November 21.

    The promotion exercise will be presided over by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, will take place at the Olubadan Palace, Oke Aremo, Ibadan.

    As senior chief Lekan Alabi would be promoted to Abese Olubadan from Maye Olubadan, so also will senior chief Akin Fijabi become Maye Olubadan from Ekefa Olubadan.

    Senior Chief Saka Fola Lapade would become the Ekefa Olubadan, while former Senate Leader, Senior Chief Teslim Folarin, now Aare Alaasa Olubadan, would be promoted to Agbaakin Olubadan.

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    Senior Chief Muibi Adewuyi is expected to become Aare Alasa Olubadan from Ikolaba Olubadan, while Chief Raufu Delesolu will become Ikolaba Olubadan. Chief Hammed Lanihun would become Asaju Olubadan from Ayingun Olubadan.

    It will be recalled that a fortnight ago, the promotion exercise to fill the vacant title created by the emergence of Oba Rashidi Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan began with the promotion of five Olubadan-in-council members from Otun Olubadan down to Ekarun.

    The next fortnight will allow the remaining nine other chiefs to participate in the gale of promotion exercise sweeping through the Otun Olubadan line. 

  • Tinubu celebrates veteran journalist Lekan Alabi at 75

    Tinubu celebrates veteran journalist Lekan Alabi at 75

    • President congratulates ex-minister Edem Duke on 70th birthday

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has extended warm felicitations to veteran journalist and public relations icon, Oloye Lekan Alabi, on the celebration of his 75th birthday today.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described Oloye Alabi as “a consummate professional whose career in journalism and public relations has been defined by integrity, hard work, and service”.

    Oloye Alabi, the Abese-Olubadan of Ibadan land and Cultural Ambassador of the National Museum and Monuments, Ile-Ife, is widely celebrated for his pioneering contributions to media and corporate communication in Nigeria.

    President Tinubu applauded his illustrious career trajectory, beginning at the defunct Sketch newspaper, through the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (later the Nigerian Television Authority, Ibadan), and his later role as Public Relations Manager at Odu’a Investment Company Limited.

    He particularly lauded Oloye Alabi’s exceptional record as the Chief Press Secretary to four successive governors in the old Oyo State — a rare feat that, according to the President, underscores his “professionalism, tenacity, and reliability”.

    President Tinubu also acknowledged Oloye Alabi’s contributions as an author and cultural promoter, referencing the recently launched festschrift in his honour in Ibadan as a testament to his enduring legacy.

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    The President prayed for continued good health, wisdom, and renewed strength for the celebrant, describing him as “one of Nigeria’s finest media ambassadors and a shining example of dedication to public service”.

    Also, President Tinubu has extended warm felicitations to former Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, High Chief Edem Duke, on his 70th birthday.

    A statement yesterday in Abuja by Mr. Onanuga said the President joined Chief Duke’s family, friends, and associates in celebrating a distinguished patriot whose life, he said, has been marked by selfless service, community development, and unwavering promotion of Nigeria’s image.

    President Tinubu praised the former minister’s long years of national service, acknowledging his remarkable contributions during his tenure at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and later in the federal cabinet, where he also served as the Supervising Minister of Information.

    The President also acknowledged Chief Duke’s enduring legacy in the promotion of Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and his efforts in boosting the tourism sector, particularly through initiatives that projected the country’s creative and cultural diversity to the world.

    He applauded Chief Duke’s pioneering role in the conceptualisation and establishment of the Centenary City project in Abuja, describing it as a visionary contribution to Nigeria’s national development and global outlook.

    President Tinubu wished the Cross River-born statesman a joyous 70th birthday celebration and prayed for his continued good health, happiness, and prosperity in the years ahead.

  • Offa robbery: Court invites IGP over governor’s aide’s detention

    A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Friday summoned the Inspector -General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to appear before it to justify the continued detention of Personal Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed,  Lekan Alabi, who was arrested in connection with the April 5 armed robbery in Offa.

    The court ordered the IGP to appear next Wednesday.

    Lead counsel to the Alabi, Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), had lamented the failure of the police to release another suspect, Alhaji Babatunde Abdulwahab, the Chief of Staff to the governor, who has been granted bail by another high court in the state.

    Adelodun, who is leading four other lawyers, told journalists after Friday’s proceeding that the refusal of the police to obey the court’s order on Abdulwahab portends grave danger to democracy and would lead to loss of confidence in the police.

     

     

  • About LEKAN ALABI’s 40th wedding anniversary

    OLOYE ‘Lekan Alabi, the Agba-Akin Olubadan of Ibadanland, is in party mood. The pioneer General Manager, Corporate Affairs of the Odua conglomerate, will be celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary with the wife of his youth.

    The event is billed for August at St. John’s Wood Anglican Church, Hampstead, Great Britain, where the union was consummated 40 years ago.

    This will be followed by their second honeymoon in Madrid, Spain. The Nigeria leg of the appreciation reception will hold in October at Lalupon, Ibadan, Oyo State.  Already, invitation cards for the octane party are in circulation.

  • ‘Adeleke didn’t die from poison’

    ‘Adeleke didn’t die from poison’

    Dr Taiwo Sholaja, the lead pathologist who carried out the autopsy on the body of the late Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, on Wednesday told a coroner inquest that no trace of poison was found in the body system of the deceased when it was examined.

    Sholaja,  while giving evidence before the coroner, Chief  Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara, said the autopsy carried out by him and two other pathologists from Ladoke Akintola University Hospital, Osogbo,  revealed that the late senator died of “aspiration of gastric content due to multiple drug overdose.”

    He said the autopsy carried out by him and his team was performed in the presence of the Police Divisional Officer of  Dugbe Police Station, Osogbo,  SP Ogunkanmi Gbemileke and the two other pathologists from LAUTECH.

    Sholaja also said that before the autopsy, he gathered from a family member, Mrs Modupe Adeleke-Sani that the late politician had complained of pains in the knees, and inability to sleep.

    He added that some drugs were said to have been administered on him.

    Sholaja said after an examination was carried out on Adeleke’s body, it was discovered that the drugs which were administered on him in excess quantity caused his death as his breathing was blocked due to a side effect.

    “Aspiration of the gastric content blocked his airwaves through depriving the body of oxygen which was also evident in the bluish discolouration shown on some parts of the deceased’s body,” he said.

    He said the used containers of the drugs administered on him indicated that a banned drug,  Analgin injection as well as Diazepam injection, pentasozine injection, gentamicin and hydrocortisone drugs were given to him.

    The pathologist said the side effects of most of the drugs given to the deceased included drowsiness, vomiting and cardiovascular collapse which resulted in blockage of his breathing.

    He said though the deceased had a hypertensive heart decease which could have caused sudden death, there was, however, no evidence of this from the result of the autopsy.

    Sholaja also said the police toxicologist report, which was presented to him after samples were taken, showed abnormally high level of alcohol, sedative and Analgin in the blood of the deceased.

    No traces of poison and metal were, however, found.

    Gbemileke, the DPO of Dugbe Police Station and the Officer in charge of Homicide, SP Etetah Moses, both confirmed that the empty bottles and injections of the drugs given to the deceased were in police custody.

    But when Mr c, the nurse that administered  the drugs on Adeleke was called, his counsel, Lekan Alabi,  prayed  the court to allow his client appear on Friday.

    He said the summon was only served on him on Tuesday, adding that his client needed more time to prepare.

    The coroner, however, rejected the plea, saying Alfred must appear before the court on Thursday, the next adjourned date

     

  • Lekan Alabi gears up for 35th wedding anniversary

    The Ikolaba Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oloye ‘Lekan Alabi, and his wife, Chief (Mrs) Adetokunbo Alabi (nee Laditan), are getting ready to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary in Ibadan, Oyo State and London, United Kingdom between August 9 and 12, this year.

    Towards this end, the Ibadan high chief travelled to London last month to hold a meeting with the anniversary’s planning committee members. The celebration will feature a thanksgiving service at the London Central Mosque and Saint John’s Wood Anglican Church, Lords Roundabout, London NW8, where the couple were joined in holy wedlock on Saturday 12 August, 1978.

    A wedding anniversary dinner will hold thereafter at a Bayswater restaurant, London, while the honeymoon will be spent at Lalupon, Ibadan, where the couple were conferred with their first chieftaincy titles of Akogun and Yeyemeso of Lalupon respectively in 1991.

    The officiating minister, who conducted the Alabis’ wedding service in 1978 and their 30th wedding anniversary thanksgiving service in 2008, Rev. John Ranking, is billed to conduct the forthcoming 35th anniversary at the same church in London.