President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met with Ghanian President, His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo at the State House, Abuja.
This was disclosed in a Tweet by Bashir Ahmad, the personal assistant to the president (Buhari) on media.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari this afternoon received in a courtesy call Ghanian President, His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo at the State House, Abuja.”
Former Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode’s official photographer Ope Adeniyi, in this interview with KUNLE AKINRINADE, speaks on his life and works, among others.
Five years ago when he walked into the campaign office of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at Gbagada, Lagos, he had no inkling that he would become his official photographer.
But today, Opeoluwa Adeniyi, a freelance photographer at wedding parties and other social gatherings, has reason to smile, when he recalls the miraculous way God turned his life around.
“It’s been four years since I started working with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as his official photographer. I did not know him from Adam, but I came in contact with him five years ago through his campaign office at Gbagada, a stone throw from my home then.
“At the start of the governorship campaigns in 2015, I approached the office as a volunteer photographer. I was employed without salary. Up till the time they embarked on local government campaigns, I was part of the team. One of his personal assistants was magnanimous enough to give me some money, having seen my dedication to duty.”
Adeniyi recalled that he was earlier introduced to Ambode, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), but that he became the official photographer to the governor by providence, two months after Ambode assumed office.
“I met one Alhaji Anifowoshe, a chieftain of APC, who was the chairman of the chairmen of APC local government chapters in Lagos State at a function organised by the governor in his hometown, Epe. Alhaji Anifowoshe introduced me to Governor Ambode as a graduate photographer and asked that the governor should help me. Governor Ambode replied him that there was no problem and that once he won the election, he would surely look into my case, joking: “Ah, koni ya photo mo niyen (If he’s a graduate, that means he would no longer be taking photographs). I was happy on hearing his response because I was not the only photographer on his team. There was a photographer from the United Kingdom who was also part of the team.
“We were taking photographs and putting them on the social media space. After he was sworn in as governor, I was not appointed his official photographer. There was a man working with him until he left because of an unresolved misunderstanding and I was asked to replace him in July 2015. It was actually one of his aides who reminded him that I had worked with his campaign team without collecting pay, hence, he asked that I should be called to replace the other photographer who had just left.
“My job entailed the documentation of his official engagements. When I took the photographs of his official engagements, they were posted on his social media accounts, including Twitter, and Facebook. I also archived the photographs for him to see.”
How his job affected
his family life
The father of two recalled how the job affected his family life, noting that despite being arduous, it was rewarding.
“Life as the governor’s photographer was tough. It involved working round the clock. My wife and my children, though, understood the nature of my job. It affected my health as I took ill on many occasions.
“There was a day we returned from an official engagement at about 4 am and by 7 am, we were up again. At a point, I had to take injections on the job because I was ill, but could not stay in the hospital. But I could not quit because I was enjoying the job. It was not that I was not used to working long hours as a freelance photographer, but you know that parties are held mainly at weekends. We rested during the week, unlike my work with the governor where you could not rest until he said so. But Governor Ambode is a very generous man. He rewards hard work and has done a lot for me in terms of rewarding my service to him.”
Asked what encouraged him to work in the campaign team of a man he did not know, he said: “Aside the monetary gain, I had been a wedding and freelance photographer, but I was looking for an opportunity to earn better appreciation for my work and I felt that that could be achieved by documenting a public figure like him, and that it would give me the opportunity to do more work. You know, as wedding photographer, there were times that you might not have work to do during the year, especially during the rainy season until October and the Yuletide. But as the governor’s photographer, there won’t be a day without assignments to cover and that was what encouraged me to volunteer to work for him.”
His perception of his principal
Adeniyi described Ambode as an achiever, whose giant strides would speak for him.
“What I noticed about Gov Ambode was his peculiar lifestyle. He had a way of bringing his lifestyle to bear on his work. He’s a workaholic. He believes his work would speak for him, rather than flashing his achievements to people all the time. He is a silent achiever. He has done so much, but only about 60 per cent of what he has done is in the public domain. I believe that people would get to know more of what he had been able to do or achieve as governor after leaving office.
“Gov Ambode believes that when you work hard, you will be rewarded. I learnt that from him and that has made me to be very hard working. He’s a wonderful person and despite what happened to him politically, we all are not perfect. Gov Ambode told us his aides that whatever we did would speak for us.Whenever we wanted to post the pictures of his achievements on the social media, he would stop us and say that his works should speak for him. He said those plying the roads he built would pray for him, knowing full well that he built the roads for them.
“I remember that during the inauguration of the Abule Egba flyover, Gov Ambode overheard a man in the crowd shouting: ‘’My tax is working’. He said he didn’t need to go to the media to make a noise about his achievements and asked us to interview the man who made the remarks.
“The governor appreciates good work. There was a particular photograph of a steel bridge at Ojota, which I took at nightfall. The governor saw it on the government’s website when we were in Abuja for official engagement. He liked it. So, he sent for me and applauded my artistry. He ordered that the photograph be framed and used to decorate offices. Another one was that of a picture he took with visiting French President. He also commended it.
“If God gives him another opportunity to serve again, I wouldn’t mind working for him. He was the one who made me train in videography, so I could transmit events he attends outside Lagos directly and live.”
His love for photography
He said he took to photography shortly after he left secondary school, through a family friend. Adeniyi recalled how the job sustained his studies at the University of Lagos, where he studied Educational Psychology.
“I studied Educational Psychology at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and graduated in 2008. It was my older brother, Femi Adeniyi, who made me fall in love with photography in 1999, shortly after I completed my secondary school education. He had a friend who was living in our house. The man later got employment with Fototeck, a photo processing company with headquarters in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos. He was a manager of one of the company’s outlets in Surulere. My brother asked him to get a job for me in his office. He replied that I could only be trained as a photographer.
“At first, I declined the offer because I felt that I should not be subjected to apprentice-ship, which I considered belittling. But I accepted the offer and mastered the art two years later. I was transferred to Opebi, from where the manager of the Bayelsa State branch spotted a photograph I took and asked the General Manager to transfer me to Bayelsa State. In Bayelsa, I wrote the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), scored 256 and got admission into UNILAG. While I was in school, I worked as papapa (quick) photographer at parties in Lagos metropolis to sustain myself in school.”
Life after serving Ambode
On his life after office, Adeniyi said he would be executing a lot of projects, including establishing a studio, training young photographers and holding an exhibition of his works based on the achievements of his principal.
“In a couple of months, I will be opening my studio. I will train young photographers. I will showcase some of former governor Ambode’s achievements in form of an exhibition. Then, I will move on,” he said.
When the ninth National Assembly is inaugurated this month, some of its longest-serving members are expected to return to the hallowed chambers and play crucial roles in the next legislative session. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at some of the antecedents of affected lawmakers and the parts they would play in the assembly.
ALL over the world, lawmaking is regarded as one of democracy’s worthiest pursuits. Like old wine, legislators mature the longer they serve. While new legislators bring fresh ideas, experience matters when it comes to crafting legislative proposals. Frequent kicking out of popular and competent lawmakers ultimately results in a bad return on the investment of time spent learning and mastering the ins and outs of policymaking at that level.
But, in Nigeria, an opportunity to serve at the National Assembly is often regarded as a way of rewarding committed party stalwarts or political protégées. As a result, politicians often frown at the idea of lawmakers serving multiple terms, because a chance to serve is widely seen as a form of empowerment. So, frequent change of candidates by ruling parties would make the largesse go round.
Nevertheless, Nigeria has a crop of long-serving legislators that have been at the National Assembly since the country returned to civil rule in 1999. One of such, Senator David Mark, has just retired from active politics to become a peace ambassador for Benue State and the country. With his retirement, the ninth National Assembly has been robbed one of the longest serving legislators.
The retirement of the former Senate President was perhaps facilitated by the loss of power of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) four years ago. Indeed, Mark who represented Benue South senatorial district from 1999 to 2019 did not contribute much to debates on the floor of the Red Chamber in his last tenure from 2015 to 2019 and he was not a member of any standing committee.
Others in Mark’s category that would play key roles in the ninth National Assembly include Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North), Senator Ike Ekweremadu (Enugu West), Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South), Senator James Manager (Delta South), Senator John Owan Enoh (Cross River Central) and Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda (FCT). The list also includes the following members of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Ebomo Mutu (Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency, Delta State), Femi Gbajabiamila (Surulere Federal Constituency 1, Lagos State), Leo Ogor (Isoko Federal Constituency, Delta State), Yakubu Barde (Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, Kaduna State), Kabiru Marafa Achida (Wurno/Rabbah Federal Constituency, Sokoto State) and Adams Jagaba (Kachia/Kagarko, Federal Constituency, Kaduna State).
Lawan
Lawan, who represents Yobe North in the Senate, is one of the most experienced lawmakers in the National Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He came to the National Assembly in 1999, as a member of the House of Representatives, on the platform of All Peoples Party (APP), which transformed into the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and later merged with two other parties to form the ruling APC in 2014.
Thus, Lawan, 60, is one of the few lawmakers that have been part of the National Assembly since the return to civil rule in 1999. Today, he is the Majority Leader of the outgoing eighth Assembly and is poised to become the Senate President, after the inauguration of the ninth Assembly next month. He appears to have the backing of the APC national leadership, including President Muhammadu Buhari.
The teacher-turned politician has a doctorate degree in Remote Sensing. His knowledge of the workings of the legislature is superb.
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Capital market operators on Wednesday called for urgent intervention of the Federal Government in the conflict between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Oando Plc.
They made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
They reacted to the outcome of a forensic audit on Oando released by SEC on May 31, as well as a court injunction restraining SEC from sacking Oando’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mr. Adewale Tinubu, and his deputy.
The operators applauded the courage of SEC’s Acting Director-General, Ms. Mary Uduk, in releasing the outcome of the forensic audit.
Recall that following the outcome of the forensic audit, SEC on June 2 constituted an interim management team to be headed by Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu for Oando Plc.
It said in a statement that Sunmonu would oversee the affairs the company and conduct an Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on or before July 1, to appoint new board of directors.
The commission said that the new board of directors would subsequently select a management team for Oando Plc.
However, a Federal High Court in Lagos on June 3, granted an interim injunction restraining SEC from executing the interim management in Oando.
The court injunction followed an application filed by Tinubu and his deputy, Mr. Omamofe Boyo.
Tinubu and Boyo applied for the enforcement of their fundamental rights.
The court also restrained SEC from imposing a fine of N91.13 million on Tinubu, and barring him and Boyo from being directors of public companies for five years.
Mr. Ambrose Omorodion, the Chief Operating Officer, Invest Data Ltd., said that the Federal Government would need to intervene in the matter to safeguard investors’ confidence.
Omorodion said that the unfolding events between Oando and SEC could dampen investors’ confidence and tamper with Nigeria’s integrity.
He said that the international investment community was watching to see the manner the Oando issue would be handled.
“The way SEC and government will handle this issue will go a long way to determine the success of the nation’s drive for financial inclusion and attraction of new retail investors and foreign investors returning to the market,” Omorodion said.
He also urged the government to strengthen the commission by ensuring appointment of its board members soon.
Omorodion expressed disappointment that SEC had been operating without board for about four years and had been with an acting director-general for over a year.
Mr. Moses Igbrude, Publicity Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, alleged that shareholders had suffered enough loss in Oando with no dividend and poor market pricing.
Igbrude said that court injunction could lead to long legal battles which could further affect the company’s shares price on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
He urged the exchange to place the share price on technical suspension to protect investors from further loss.
The shareholder activist said that SEC should not allow its authority to be undermined if the outcome of the forensic audit was true.
“I will appeal to whoever that is affected to obey the directives from SEC for the sake of our investments.
“Oando as a company has suffered enough of reputational risk, adding that shareholders, for a long time, have not been paid dividend,” Igbrude said.
Mr. Boniface Okezie, National Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), said “The grass suffers when two elephants fight.”
Okezie said that SEC and Oando must maintain the peace in the interest of all stakeholders, especially retail investors.
The PSAN boss, who commended the commission for protecting investors, said that SEC should also beam searchlight on other oil companies quoted on the exchange.
Mr Shehu Mikail, National President, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said that Oando saga needed a holistic approach to restore confidence.
“Oando saga is a big issue in the Nigerian capital market that needs a holistic approach if really we are going to adhere to the truth of corporate governance,” Mikali said.
He said that the action of SEC was in the right direction and aimed at protecting the interest of Oando shareholders.
“Foreign investors are watching the drama and local shareholders and stakeholders are also awaiting.
“The outcome of the saga would determine the direction of the capital market,” Mikali added.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has not published the national and general minimum cut-off marks for placement of candidates into the nation’s tertiary institutions as being speculated in some quarters.
The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to him, there is no truth behind such speculations, adding that some persons, whom he described as fraudulent elements were behind the development with a ploy to defraud innocent Nigerians especially the candidates.
Benjamin said the cut-off marks could only be arrived at with the inputs of critical stakeholders in the education sector sheduled for days ahead.
“We want to seize this opportunity to caution the public especially candidates, not to allow themselves to be swindled by these desperate individuals that are peddling this rumour.
“The board is yet to come up with any cut-off mark for placements into the various tertiary institutions across the country.
“The cut-off marks cannot be decided upon without the input of critical stakeholders of the education sector at an elaborate policy meeting,” he said.
Benjamin explained that the next policy meeting would be holding on Tuesday, June 11, at Gbongan in Osun.
The spokesman noted that already, preparations for the meeting had been concluded, adding that officials of the Ministry of Education were expected to attend.
According to him, other key stakeholders were also expected to grace the occasion, to determine the national cut-off mark.
He said that it was only after this had been achieved that the candidates would be availed of the cut-off marks of the various tertiary institutions across the country.
“The cut-off marks are the minimum expectation for every institution and that does not mean by attaining such cut-off mark, it therefore means an automatic placement into schools of first choice.
“We therefore want to appeal to the general public, especially the candidates not to fall prey to fraudsters.
“The board will continue to provide information to the public on its processes and activities at every stage,” Benjamin assured.
NAN reports that over 1.8 million candidates had registered for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)
Gianni Infantino was re-elected FIFA president unopposed at the congress of world football’s governing body in Paris on Wednesday.
His re-election was marked by a round of applause from the congress after the statutes were changed earlier in the day to no longer require a vote if there was only one candidate for the position.
The 49-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer now has a four year mandate to try and accomplish his grandiose plans for football, which were partly frustrated in his first term.
Infantino, however, claimed to have turned the organisation from being “toxic and almost criminal” back to its core value.
He has been in charge of FIFA since February 2016, after succeeding Sepp Blatter in the wake of a damaging corruption scandal that Infantino claimed the body had now shaken off.
“Nobody talks about crisis at FIFA any more. or rebuilding it from scratch. Nobody talks about scandals or corruption; we talk about football.
” We can say that we’ve turned the situation around,” he told the congress in a lengthy speech at Paris Expo.
“This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be — an organisation that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity.
“Today everything is open and transparent. It is not possible at FIFA to make hidden payments or do anything unethical with our money.
“There is no more place for corruption,” he claimed.
Infantino said FIFA’s previously precarious financial situation was now looking rosy, with the organisation’s budget increased from $5 billion to $6.4bn and reserves up from $1bn to $2.75bn.
This was despite increased spending on development projects in FIFA’s 211 member associations.
FIFA spent $1.1bn in the period 2015-18, and will increase the sum to $1.75bn from 2019-2022, he added.
Infantino claimed 11 areas of progress during his tenure, from financial health, women’s development, the fight against racism and a scandal-free 2026 World Cup bidding process.
However, he said the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system had been his major triumph.
“It’s the biggest success story. It has become an integral part of football inside one year.
“It doesn’t change the game, but it helps and cleans the game; it brings justice to the game.
“It’s not perfect but it’s very close to perfection,” he said.
Infantino also used the opportunity to promote the new-look 24-team Club World Cup, which starts in two years’ time.
Though the idea is under threat of a boycott from Europe’s top clubs due to concerns over fixture congestion.
“We know that clubs are the heartbeat of the game, they train the players.
“We need to offer clubs a chance to shine on a world stage, and to challenge for a World Cup,” he added.
Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen says he is ready to leave Tottenham Hotspur to take on a new challenge at another club ahead of next season.
Eriksen, who arrived at Spurs from Ajax Amsterdam in August 2013, has been a pivotal figure in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad which finished runners-up to Liverpool in the Champions League.
The midfielder also helped the side to a fourth-place finish in the English Premier League (EPL).
“I feel that I am at a stage of my career where I would like to try something new,” the 27-year-old Eriksen told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
“I have the deepest respect for everything that is happening at Tottenham and it would not be something negative to stay. But I have also said that I would like to try something new.
“I hope that something will be decided this summer. That is the plan. In football you never know when there could be a decision like that. It could be at any point.”
Eriksen has one year left on his Spurs contract and Spanish media reports have linked him with a move to Real Madrid, who are looking to revamp the squad under Zinedine Zidane.
This is after a disappointing season in which they finished third in the league.
“Real Madrid is a step up but then it would take Real Madrid picking up the phone and making contact with Tottenham and say that they want Christian. They haven’t done as far as I know.
“It all depends on (Spurs chairman) Daniel Levy and there has to be another club too. Or I will sit down myself at the table and negotiate a new contract.”
The news of Eriksen considering his future will come as a blow to Spurs, who were looking to use their emphatic run to the Champions League final as a springboard for next season.
The club have not made a signing since Lucas Moura arrived in January 2018 and Pochettino would hope to keep hold of his experienced players to challenge the likes of Liverpool and champions Manchester City in the EPL.
Majority Leader Hon Femi Gbajabiamila was never convicted anywhere in Nigeria or overseas, his campaign organisation has declared.
In an ongoing media briefing in Abuja to dispel notions that Gbajabiamila has criminal charges hanging on his head, the Campaign Organisation led by Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, said attempts to smear the character of the leading Speakership candidate “has failed woefully.”
Jibrin said there was no reason under the heaven why Gbajabiamila should not contest or lead the House of Representatives.
According to him: ” He was eligible to contest for the four previous elections he won, including becoming the Majority Leader.
“He has never served any notice or notified by the Clerk of the National Assembly. It is a campaign of calumny to smear our leader, which has failed woefully.”
Details shortly…
When a relationship is doing more harm to you than good, it’s time to quit it. Here are four signs to help you determine when a relationship is doing more harm to you than good.
Abuse
Be it physical or emotional abuse, any type of abuse is a glaring sign that you should quit the relationship. Please don’t be lenient with abuse or make excuses for it; simply let go and move on because abuse is one of the clearest ways to communicate a lack of care, love and respect for someone. Abuse does not go hand in hand with love, if anything they are polar opposites.
Although, one thing to note here is that emotional abuse is more relative than physical abuse. For instance, there is arguably a degree of emotional abuse in every relationship. When you try to control your partner or influence them emotionally to act or behave in a certain way, by ignoring them (ignoring their calls, messages etc), refusing to talk to them (the silent treatment), being provocative with the other sex (trying to make them jealous) and so on, to a degree that’s emotional abuse. These are all elements of emotional abuse that are born from the very fair fact that we are human. But when emotional abuse becomes dangerous, is when you begin to lose your confidence and live in fear of what your partner is going to do to you next emotionally.
Lies
If anyone you are in a relationship with, be it a romantic relationship or a friendship, constantly lies to you or finds it difficult to tell you the truth, it communicates a lack of trust and a lack of respect for you. If you can’t trust the person(s) you are in a relationship with, things remain unsettled. Such lack of trust can lead to paranoia (an intense feeling of anxiety, fear and unrest) for you, which is very unhealthy. Without trust, there is no point remaining in the relationship and continuing to torture yourself emotionally.
They never admit their faults
This is one thing most people ignore as a red flag in a relationship, probably because they don’t understand just how important it is.
When someone finds it difficult to admit they are wrong, the next thing they do is pass the blame. Now when you are constantly at the receiving end of the blame, even if you are fine with constantly saying you are sorry, you allow what is called a “cognitive dissonance” to be formed in your mind. This means that as you continuously act in a way that contradicts your beliefs, eventually your beliefs will change to align with your actions. In other words, after a while you will begin to believe you are the one who is always wrong and start to doubt your ability to perceive what’s right and wrong. Eventually, it ends up affecting your ability to make decisions and be assertive as individual, and you end up constantly feeling confused, having lost confidence in yourself and abilities. It’s truly a terrible place to be, so please don’t let any relationship take you there.
Constant feeling of being overwhelmed
When you constantly feel overwhelmed by your relationship, almost like you can’t get a break; when you look back and can’t remember any significantly joyful memory in your relationship, you should acknowledge that it is abnormal.
As much as a relationship can at times bring you sadness, it should also bring you joy. If all you can remember when you think back on you relationship, is a long thick dark tiring stretch of fights, pain and sadness, with little or no joy, that’s not appropriate. Relationships may not generally be very easy but they should not suck the life out of you, leaving you miserable and unhappy.
The eighth House of Representatives will on Thursday round off its activities with a special valedictory session, in the House Chamber.
This was made known on Wednesday in a statement by the Acting Clerk of the House of Representatives, Patrick Giwa in Abuja.
The program is slated to commence at 11: 00 am.
Details soon…