The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, has alleged that owners of private jets in the country are responsible for the high cases of illegal smuggling of gold outside the shores of Nigeria.
Ogah made the disclosure to the Senate on Tuesday in Abuja at an investigative hearing on $9 billion annual loss to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
Uche Ogah
Speaking at the hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Ogah alleged that owners of private jets are masterminds of illegal mining in Nigeria.
Ogar, who lamented the rate of illegal mining in the country, said all efforts to end the menace have failed because according to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), it has no powers to check private jets.
He added that illegal mining in Nigeria started in the early 1980s as a result of the indigenisation policy of the military regime in the late 1970s.
He suggested death penalty as punishment for offenders, saying, “Gold smuggling in Nigeria is often done using private jets, the very reason private jets ownership and operations need to be streamlined in the country.”
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Ogah accused the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria of not contributing to his success as a minister after abandoning the steel and mining sector.
The minister’s attack came following speculations that the Abia State-born politician is one of President Muhammadu Buhari's appointees struggling hard to find their feet in the administration.
He further alleged that nothing is being done by the apex bank to develop the sector, adding that more investment is required in the area of research to develop the sector.
The public hearing was designed to get the inputs of stakeholders on the preparations of four bills and for an investigative motion for the solid minerals sector.
The bills included the Nigerian Minerals Development Corporation Establishment Bill 2021 and Solid Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission Establishment Bill 2021.
Others also were the Institute of Bitumen Management Establishment Bill 2021, Explosive Act 1964 Repeal and Re-enactment Bill 2021 and the urgent need to investigate the loss of 9 billion dollars annually, due to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
He said, “Equally, we need to ask the Ministry of Finance to speed up the export policy on solid minerals because that is the only way to have operators into the sector.”
On the bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Mineral Development Commission (NMDC), Ogah said he would want an enlargement of the minerals listed there.
He said, “Let us not limit ourselves to only seven minerals because we have other minerals that are needed for industrial revolution.
“We must look at how to fast track development of these mineral resources, and so we must look at the relationship between the ministry and the state governments.
“States must be ready to be involved in driving the production of mineral resources, not just talking about the resources been cited in the states. States should work toward getting institutions to help drive the development of solid minerals resources in their states.
“We need to harmonise all the issues, so we could have a clear direction for the growth of the sector.”
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The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, has alleged that owners of private jets in the country are responsible for the high cases of illegal smuggling of gold outside the shores of Nigeria.
Ogah made the disclosure to the Senate on Tuesday in Abuja at an investigative hearing on $9 billion annual loss to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
Uche Ogah
Speaking at the hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Ogah alleged that owners of private jets are masterminds of illegal mining in Nigeria.
Ogar, who lamented the rate of illegal mining in the country, said all efforts to end the menace have failed because according to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), it has no powers to check private jets.
He added that illegal mining in Nigeria started in the early 1980s as a result of the indigenisation policy of the military regime in the late 1970s.
He suggested death penalty as punishment for offenders, saying, “Gold smuggling in Nigeria is often done using private jets, the very reason private jets ownership and operations need to be streamlined in the country.”
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Ogah accused the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria of not contributing to his success as a minister after abandoning the steel and mining sector.
The minister’s attack came following speculations that the Abia State-born politician is one of President Muhammadu Buhari's appointees struggling hard to find their feet in the administration.
He further alleged that nothing is being done by the apex bank to develop the sector, adding that more investment is required in the area of research to develop the sector.
The public hearing was designed to get the inputs of stakeholders on the preparations of four bills and for an investigative motion for the solid minerals sector.
The bills included the Nigerian Minerals Development Corporation Establishment Bill 2021 and Solid Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission Establishment Bill 2021.
Others also were the Institute of Bitumen Management Establishment Bill 2021, Explosive Act 1964 Repeal and Re-enactment Bill 2021 and the urgent need to investigate the loss of 9 billion dollars annually, due to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
He said, “Equally, we need to ask the Ministry of Finance to speed up the export policy on solid minerals because that is the only way to have operators into the sector.”
On the bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Mineral Development Commission (NMDC), Ogah said he would want an enlargement of the minerals listed there.
He said, “Let us not limit ourselves to only seven minerals because we have other minerals that are needed for industrial revolution.
“We must look at how to fast track development of these mineral resources, and so we must look at the relationship between the ministry and the state governments.
“States must be ready to be involved in driving the production of mineral resources, not just talking about the resources been cited in the states. States should work toward getting institutions to help drive the development of solid minerals resources in their states.
“We need to harmonise all the issues, so we could have a clear direction for the growth of the sector.”
PoliticsNewsAddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
https://ift.tt/3kaxPih
The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, has alleged that owners of private jets in the country are responsible for the high cases of illegal smuggling of gold outside the shores of Nigeria.
Ogah made the disclosure to the Senate on Tuesday in Abuja at an investigative hearing on $9 billion annual loss to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
Uche Ogah
Speaking at the hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Ogah alleged that owners of private jets are masterminds of illegal mining in Nigeria.
Ogar, who lamented the rate of illegal mining in the country, said all efforts to end the menace have failed because according to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), it has no powers to check private jets.
He added that illegal mining in Nigeria started in the early 1980s as a result of the indigenisation policy of the military regime in the late 1970s.
He suggested death penalty as punishment for offenders, saying, “Gold smuggling in Nigeria is often done using private jets, the very reason private jets ownership and operations need to be streamlined in the country.”
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Ogah accused the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria of not contributing to his success as a minister after abandoning the steel and mining sector.
The minister’s attack came following speculations that the Abia State-born politician is one of President Muhammadu Buhari's appointees struggling hard to find their feet in the administration.
He further alleged that nothing is being done by the apex bank to develop the sector, adding that more investment is required in the area of research to develop the sector.
The public hearing was designed to get the inputs of stakeholders on the preparations of four bills and for an investigative motion for the solid minerals sector.
The bills included the Nigerian Minerals Development Corporation Establishment Bill 2021 and Solid Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission Establishment Bill 2021.
Others also were the Institute of Bitumen Management Establishment Bill 2021, Explosive Act 1964 Repeal and Re-enactment Bill 2021 and the urgent need to investigate the loss of 9 billion dollars annually, due to illegal mining and smuggling of gold.
He said, “Equally, we need to ask the Ministry of Finance to speed up the export policy on solid minerals because that is the only way to have operators into the sector.”
On the bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Mineral Development Commission (NMDC), Ogah said he would want an enlargement of the minerals listed there.
He said, “Let us not limit ourselves to only seven minerals because we have other minerals that are needed for industrial revolution.
“We must look at how to fast track development of these mineral resources, and so we must look at the relationship between the ministry and the state governments.
“States must be ready to be involved in driving the production of mineral resources, not just talking about the resources been cited in the states. States should work toward getting institutions to help drive the development of solid minerals resources in their states.
“We need to harmonise all the issues, so we could have a clear direction for the growth of the sector.”
PoliticsNewsAddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
https://ift.tt/3kaxPih
Professorship is only attained by active academics who devoted their time for teaching and research in the University. Besides, there are certain steps that are followed before any one in academia is promoted to the rank of Professor. Someone need to pass through the ranks like every other professional cadre.
In the University promotion system, an academic needs to attain the rank of Senior lecturer, Reader and then Professor after having published the required number of scholarly articles in his research area. Time in rank is also important for promotion to the next rank in academia particularly University, it is usually three years between the successive ranks.
Isa Pantami
For anybody to be promoted to the rank of professor, he/she needs at least ten years teaching and research experience in the University. Dr I sa Ali Pantami has not been active in academia for more than six years now.
In order to do justice to Dr Pantami, with regards to the recent rumour of been promoted to the rank of Professor, I run a background check on popular scholar indexed citations website such as Google Scholar and Research Gate to see his recent scholarly contribution on cyber security but found little or insufficient to qualify him to be promoted to the rank of Professor. Dr Pantami as a modern scholar has only Research Gate account with only 23 citations and Research Gate score of 3.66.
Academic publications are entirely different to the other forms of publications public figures such as Hon Minster Dr Isa Ali Pantami presented during meetings or retreats. Articles are accepted as scholarly articles after passing through different vigorous blind reviews by professionals in different acadmic profession before been publiahed. In fact most of the standard journals reject more articles than they are accepted for publications.
I am not in anyway trying to demean Dr Isa Ali Pantami, in fact I am personally his fan, but when it comes to something very critical as this one, we need to ask questions.
My question is that, who promoted Dr Isa Ali Pantami to the rank of Professor?
Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) has said his administration is ready to protect the lives of the people of the state at all cost.
Akeredolu said although some people are not happy with the recently signed anti-open grazing law in the state, he will stand by it and ensure that farmers are saved from losing their farm crops to an outdated open grazing practice.
Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
The governor spoke in his office on Tuesday while receiving the Pastorate of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, led by the State Overseer, Pastor Jacob Asubiojo.
This was disclosed in a statement the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Richard Olatunde posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
According to the statement, Akeredolu noted that the law was not targeted at anyone.
The governor was also said to have noted that the state chapter of the Miyetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria was ready to cooperate with his administration on the open grazing ban.
The governor also announced that the state government is partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to train herders on feedlot (a type of animal feeding operation).
The statement quoted the governor as saying: "I want to urge you to intensify your prayers for us. We need it. You have referred to our efforts in trying to secure this our homeland. We have made efforts, we established Amotekun and banned open grazing.
“It is not what is pleasing to everybody. Some people are not pleased with us. We are ready to stand by it and face whatever it will cost us. Pray for us. Amotekun and the anti-open grazing law are not pleasing to some people and they are gathering together, planning evil. Pray for us. Their evil will not work.
“What we are saying is that your herds can not keep destroying our crops. The FAO has come and we have discussed it. The Miyetti-Allah here in Ondo appears to want to cooperate with us because they know that when their cows destroy crops, we seize their cows and they pay the farmers before they are released.
“The FAO will train them on how to do feedlot. They will be trained to make feed and take it to the cows. We are not discriminating against anybody. We just want to make it clear that you can’t make your own ends meet and destroy other people’s source of livelihood. We know your prayers are very important to us. We need it.”
An Ikeja High Court has ordered Oshodi Local Government Area of Lagos to pay the sum of N1 million as compensation to a motorist, Mr Louis Idahosa for extorting him of N28,000.
Idahosa was extorted of the said amount for allegedly driving against traffic (wrong-way driving), Tribune reports.
File photo used to illustrate story.
Justice Obafemi Adamson said it was not part of the constitutional duties of local governments to impound vehicles and inflict traffic-related penalties on road users.
The judge, therefore, described the action taken by the local council officials as illegal, saying it is contrary to fundamental human rights as contained in Sections 34, 36, 41(1) and 44 of the 1999 Constitution.
Apart from the award of N1 million to the applicant for breach of his right to fair hearing and freedom of movement, the judge ordered the local council to refund N28,000 to Idahosa and also gave an injunction restraining Oshodi Local Government Area from harassing road users.
It also awarded a cost of N100,000 against the counsel for Oshodi local council, Mr L. O. Mazoke.
“An Order is hereby granted directing the respondents (Oshodi LGA) to refund to the applicant (Idahosa) N28,000 which was extorted from him under the guise that he drove one-way without affording him a fair hearing.
“An Order of perpetual injunction is hereby granted restraining the respondent or its agents from harassing, threatening or arresting motorists or road users for traffic offences, imposing fines and impounding vehicles.
“Doing so is ultra vires (beyond legal power or authority) their powers outlined under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” Justice Adamson said.
Idahosa had via his legal counsel, Emmanuel Eze filed a fundamental human rights suit dated September 3, 2019, against the local government.
Eze told the court that Idahosa on August 28, 2019, while being chauffeured in his Toyota Corolla car with registration number KRD551CZ, in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, they were accosted by six men who were not in uniform.
“They stopped and arrested Idahosa and his driver insisted that the driver’s wrong-way driving contravened traffic laws.
They were subsequently taken into the council office.
“Idahosa insisted that if any crime had been committed, he and his driver should be arraigned in court.
“Officials of the respondent did not agree to an arraignment but resorted to harassing, intimidating and threatening them with continuous detention.
“The applicant was forced to pay N28,000 into the respondents’ treasury.
“He however discovered that only N25,000 was written on the receipt issued and upon enquiry, he was informed that the outstanding N3,000 was gate pass fee,” Eze said.
Oshodi local council, in court documents, however, denied ever extorting Idahosa and his chauffeur, claiming the persons who arrested and extorted them were not working for the local government.
LegalNewsAddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
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An Ikeja High Court has ordered Oshodi Local Government Area of Lagos to pay the sum of N1 million as compensation to a motorist, Mr Louis Idahosa for extorting him of N28,000.
Idahosa was extorted of the said amount for allegedly driving against traffic (wrong-way driving), Tribune reports.
File photo used to illustrate story.
Justice Obafemi Adamson said it was not part of the constitutional duties of local governments to impound vehicles and inflict traffic-related penalties on road users.
The judge, therefore, described the action taken by the local council officials as illegal, saying it is contrary to fundamental human rights as contained in Sections 34, 36, 41(1) and 44 of the 1999 Constitution.
Apart from the award of N1 million to the applicant for breach of his right to fair hearing and freedom of movement, the judge ordered the local council to refund N28,000 to Idahosa and also gave an injunction restraining Oshodi Local Government Area from harassing road users.
It also awarded a cost of N100,000 against the counsel for Oshodi local council, Mr L. O. Mazoke.
“An Order is hereby granted directing the respondents (Oshodi LGA) to refund to the applicant (Idahosa) N28,000 which was extorted from him under the guise that he drove one-way without affording him a fair hearing.
“An Order of perpetual injunction is hereby granted restraining the respondent or its agents from harassing, threatening or arresting motorists or road users for traffic offences, imposing fines and impounding vehicles.
“Doing so is ultra vires (beyond legal power or authority) their powers outlined under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” Justice Adamson said.
Idahosa had via his legal counsel, Emmanuel Eze filed a fundamental human rights suit dated September 3, 2019, against the local government.
Eze told the court that Idahosa on August 28, 2019, while being chauffeured in his Toyota Corolla car with registration number KRD551CZ, in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, they were accosted by six men who were not in uniform.
“They stopped and arrested Idahosa and his driver insisted that the driver’s wrong-way driving contravened traffic laws.
They were subsequently taken into the council office.
“Idahosa insisted that if any crime had been committed, he and his driver should be arraigned in court.
“Officials of the respondent did not agree to an arraignment but resorted to harassing, intimidating and threatening them with continuous detention.
“The applicant was forced to pay N28,000 into the respondents’ treasury.
“He however discovered that only N25,000 was written on the receipt issued and upon enquiry, he was informed that the outstanding N3,000 was gate pass fee,” Eze said.
Oshodi local council, in court documents, however, denied ever extorting Idahosa and his chauffeur, claiming the persons who arrested and extorted them were not working for the local government.
LegalNewsAddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
https://ift.tt/3640nlo
He was Nigeria’s closest instance of the Renaissance Man: musician, sculptor, inventor, sportsman, architect, scholar, mythmaker, lay philosopher, folklorist, and culture ambassador/impresario. A true Jack of many trades who strove so hard to be master of all, he was a man of many capabilities , with a voice that was admirably polyphonic. His impulse was both idealistic and relentlessly pragmatic. Endowed with a vision that was acutely focused and seamlessly eclectic, he developed a practice that was proudly traditional and transgressively modern. This plural propensity, this borderless inter-connectedness are the defining characteristics of his vast artistic empire; for the rhyme and reason which power his music are but close cousins of the ones that energize his numerous undertakings, and the tempo of his countless dreams.
Victor Efosa Uwaifo was a doughty dreamer and daring doer whose operational philosophy was: do it different, do it new, do it well…. An artist of boundless curiosity and enormous energy, Uwaifo has blessed our world with works which ply the delicate interface between surrealism and realism, the doable and the done. How can one ever forget that sitting-room in his capacious Benin estate, shaped like a ‘sculpted’ airplane with its small oval windows and imaginary cockpit; or that salon car in his driveway fitted with a plane engine’s rotor blades instead of the usual automobile radiator fan – a feat which evokes telling intimations of the engineering experimentations of Professor Ayodele Awojobi, another Nigerian dreamer and doer?
Niyi Osundare
From music to sculpture to engineering, and back to music again, and then you ask: where does Victor Uwaifo get his magic from? Just what is the secret behind his high-minded aspirations and multifarious achievements? Whence comes his pluck, then his pride? The answer to these questions is as clear as the Benin sky on a cloudless day: exemplary family pedigree coupled with the enabling influence of Benin culture, without doubt, one of the richest, deepest, and most resilient of its kind in the world. On every Uwaifo sculpture are fingerprints of ancient, unforgettable ancestors. In his very voice are tone-marks, reverberations, and echoes of maestros who sang when time was young and silence was golden. In the very air which sustains his being are the intimations and breaths of forebears who left but never departed. Uwaifo’s prodigious creativity had a soil to nurture its roots, a wind to spread its fame, a sky of limitless lore and sympathetic spaces to unfurl its wings. Our maestro never lost sight of his status as a vital link in this long chain of History and Culture, and his role as worthy legatee, inheritor, and propagator.
Siwo siwo siwo
Siwoooooooooooooo
Distinctively hearable in virtually every Uwaifo piece, therefore, is the riveting resonance of the Benin Song, its lungful laughter, its sorrowful tonality, its throbbing, threnodic intensity, its mythic memorability, its sombre reflectivity, the overwhelming force of its sonorous musicality that sometimes brings goose pimples to the listener’s body and/or tears to their eyes, the call-and-response rubric of the song which turns casual listeners into enthusiastic choral participants. As my father, himself an accomplished drummer and singer, used to say, you do not hear a Benin song with your ears; you hear it in your heart and your stomach, on its way to your mind.
The performative power and affective magic of this music genre took the Nigerian music scene by storm in the 1960’s, and many of us who encountered it in our early years have found it difficult to outgrow its stubborn ‘addictiveness’. There is just something in the seductive sonority of Uwaifo’s voice and riveting twang of his guitar that never leave the ears alone. Personally, a day hardly passes without my humming an Uwaifo tune, especially in the showers, or when I am at a knotty juncture in the creative process.
My first experience of Uwaifo’s magic occurred around Christmas in 1965 in that most famous of all cities, Ikere – Ekiti, at a party hosted by a fellow ‘Grammar School’ student, who happened to be a lovely princess of the reigning Oba. The party began on a happy, lively note as we teased the air with tunes by the leading highlife kings of the period: Rex Jim Lawson, Roy Chicago, Victor Olaiya, Eddy Okonta, Dele Ojo, I.K. Dairo. But just as our pleasure was heading towards a premature plateau, in came two colleagues who had just returned from Lagos where they had spent the first half of the Christmas holiday. They didn’t only come with a 45 RPM vinyl copy of a new Uwaifo record; they also came with a new way of dancing to it. As the stylus touched the glistening grooves , our overworked turntable erupted with Do Amen Amen Do. The atmosphere created by the new tune was nothing short of electric. The audience leapt to their feet, and the dance floor was filled to capacity. After three or four encores, the rave shifted to the flip side, and Eralo Gbengigialo took possession of the wind, then, the dancers.
The dance style imported from Lagos by my two colleagues was itself imported into Nigeria from Ghana. Kpanlogo, as it was called, was a drum-driven, gong-accentuated, rhythm-powered dance style thoroughly physical in its energetic joyousness and harmonious deployment of the entire body. Victor Uwaifo’s early music fitted so serendipitously into the kpanlogo dance pattern as if one had been invented for the other. To this day, I have never stopped wondering whether it was Kpanlogo which found Uwaifo, or if it was Uwaifo that went in search of Kpanlogo. But one thing is sure: with its vigorous danceability and rapturous rhythmicality, Uwaifo’s music demonstrates two of those characteristics so indigenous to Benin music in its social and spiritual realms. For over 10 years from the mid-sixties, Kpanlogo and Uwaifo’s music promoted each other in an interesting instance of mutual beneficence. Some of my colleagues still remember that bright afternoon in December 1965 when we encountered the Uwaifo magic for the first time, and how we became his lifelong fans and admirers.
Uwaifo’s music grew and developed over the years as new numbers dropped from his stable with melodious rapidity: Siwo Siwo; Oliha, Ebiss Ebiss, Sesese, Agege Ogigbo. The Maestro went from the fast-paced beats of the early days to the genteel, dancehall-like tempo of the likes of Joromi, the dramatic, myth-making narrativity of Guitar Boy, and the light, many-voiced rally of the Ekassa and Akwete series. The tribe of Uwaifo fans enjoyed an exponential increase. Gold discs (about a dozen of them) poured in as rewards of his genius. The nation welcomed a song type so modern in its traditional virtuosity.
Then, with his music career all set and steady, the man who all along had taught us so much about culture decided to go back to school himself. A fortunate University of Benin threw open its door to the Kingdom’s famous son and one of Nigeria’s most valued culture ambassadors. Student Uwaifo snapped up the B.A. with a dazzling First Class, followed up with an M.A., and topped it all up with a prestigious Ph.D. Thereafter, the University wasted no time in offering him a place as distinguished academic. Thus the life of Victor Uwaifo was a chronicle of aspirations searching, constantly searching, for fulfillment. Ever before his engagements at the University of Benin, our Melody Maestro was already a university person in sense and spirit; and his university was one with its universe securely steady and intact.
I saw Victor Uwaifo many times from a respectful distance, and he and I met only once. That was at the 1994 annual convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) which held at the University of Benin. Facilitated by the scholar-writer Asomwan Adagbonyin, that meeting, short as it was, brought me up close to the wit, charm, and easy manners of Nigeria’s Ultimate Maestro. Surprised and flattered by his open declaration before the ANA audience that he was dedicating his performance that night to me, I couldn’t help the onrush of powerful memories of that bright afternoon in December 1965 when I encountered his music for the first time. When I told him how much I admired the largeness of his soul and immensity of his gifts, his response came sharp and direct: ‘that admiration is mutual’. I was not sure if he ever knew how so deeply touched I was at his generous reply!
Siwo siwo siwo
Siwoooooooooooo
His personality was an example, his life story a parable. Here was a man with an unassailable belief that he could be whatever he chose to be. A practicing musician with a doctorate degree in Visual Arts; a practical philosopher who pondered the relationship between sound and light; a sculptor who conjured lifelike images out of clay and wood and bronze; a thinker who plumbed the deep structure of culture in tandem with its surface realities; a songmaster who deepened the mutual traffic between melody and memory; an archivist who never lost sight of the neglected Muse of the Nigerian museum; a proud man, ebulliently self-assertive, uncontainable by small spaces; a Guitar Boy who saw Mammy Water and never ran away; a Maestro who sang the endless song.
That was/is Victor Efosa Uwaifo: a culture-conscious, legacy- literate creative activist who has contributed so much to the restoration our cultural memory and propagation of our music. We hope Edo State in particular and Nigeria in general will reward his incredibly valuable life of dedication by making sure that his achievements never die, that his legacy endures. Let Nigeria banish her famous addiction to willful amnesia and ensure that the world does not forget the life and accomplishments of this remarkable man
Rest in power, Victorious Uwaifo. Here below, that song which I sang for you many seasons ago when you were here with us on this side of the Great River:
FOR VICTOR UWAIFO
(In the background throughout, a medley of Uwaifo's songs)
Siwo siwo siwo siwo...
Your voice nestles in the eaves of my memory,
Its red-earth vigour tremulous
Between sappy laughter and a silence
Which left its echoes in the larynx
Of throbbing legends
Wafting past the lyrical beauty of painted thresholds,
Through doors which breast the streets
Like defiant sentries, and shrines where once
Gods swayed through the portals of the sky,
Leaving their word and wand behind
Do Amen Amen dooooo
You sing of Dawn and mysty Stars
When Earth was music
And Rivers danced towards the Sea
With a chorus of capering minnows
Your melody came before the rhythm of the First Rain
Oh that haunting sonority,
That mellow magic in the elbow of a voice!
The guitar's wailing incantations,
Rainbow drums which prompt
Every moment into an eternity of motions
Oserie....
So rivetting, the rhythm of your Red-Earth City
Rhythm of Clay, rhythm of Bronze
Rhythm of ancient hands proclaiming
Miracles of mask and meaning
Rhythm of the snail's millennial sigh at Siloko Market
Echoing forests, pulse of the Panther
Skirted undergrowths dense with daring
And when my Hunter-Minstrel charged
His lips with a flute
Trees broke into a dance beyond recounting
Melody Maestro,
The universe glows in the melody of your magic;
Your athletic virtuosity, the prodigy of your gifts
Members of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS), have started the planned protest in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the United States.
Nigerians from the south and middle belt have appeared on the streets of New York with gory photos of Nigerian citizens, whose deaths are attributed to banditry, terrorism and other forms of insecurity in the country.
One of them said, “Divide Nigeria now, all we want is a referendum. Britain colonized us in 1914 amalgamation which expired in 2014. Why are we keeping quiet? Why have people refused to come out? We have a million man match and people have refused to come out. Youth, think about it very well.
“You flock to watch BBNaija but you refused to come out here, those of us here don't want to lose out on payday too. The whites are simply watching because we are blacks and we have refused to fight for our rights, by the time we strive for our freedoms, they will also speak for us. Enough is enough! #DivideNigeriaNow.
“All what we want is Yoruba Nation, now. United Nations, you can hear us. We are protesting and proclaiming human rights. A genocide is going on in Nigeria. All that we want is for you to divide Nigeria, now.”
A female protester noted, “We are asking that Nigeria be divided. Acts of terrorism have been going on for six years under President Muhammadu Buhari and the President is looking the other way, in fact, he is not looking the other way but he is sponsoring them.
“People should not be taken to jail because they have demanded self-determination. How can a president claim he will deal with people in the language they understand, who uses such language on citizens?
“Buhari himself protested self-determination for the Palestinian and now people are asking for same in his country, he is arresting them. No one should be arrested or taken to prison for asking for self-determination."
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that eminent leaders of thought from the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria, under the aegis of Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) asked the United Nations to declare the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association as a terrorist organisation.
Communications Manager to NINAS, Maxwell Adeleye, made this known in a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Monday.
In the statement, the group alleged that the actions or inactions of President Muhammadu Buhari have emboldened Fulani militia and worsened insecurity in the country.
It further described Buhari as a leader who values cows more than his people.
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An Osun State High Court in Osogbo on Tuesday ordered that a masquerade custodian, Chief Kayode Esuleke, his son, Ifasola Esuleke and two others, be remanded.
They were alleged of the murder of a worshipper identified as Moshood Salawudeen in a mosque.
File photo used to illustrate story.
The accused persons, Chief Kayode Esuleke, Ifasola Esuleke, Akeem Idowu, and Kola Adeosun, who pleaded not guilty, were charged on 13 counts bothering on murder, attempted murder, malicious damage, assault, breach of public peace and engaging in a public fight.
Justice Ayo Oyebiyi, therefore, ordered that they should be remanded in Ilesha Correctional Facility and adjourned the matter till September 21st, 2021 for consideration of bail.
On June 27, 2021, some masquerade followers clashed with muslim worshippers at Kamarudeen mosque where one person was killed while many others injured and properties destroyed.
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The University of Benin students on Tuesday shut down academic activities at the university, as they occupied the gate in large number to protest against hike in their tuition fees.
The students, who alleged that the institution’s spokesman told them to go into prostitution to pay their fees, gathered at the school main gate, carrying placards with different inscriptions, such as 'Madam VC wants to milk us dry', 'Salami wants us to do cash out', 'UNIBEN VC Salami is after my sanity as a student', and many more.
UNIBEN had earlier announced that students who did not pay school fees within the stipulated time would have to pay extra charges and might have their studentship withdrawn.
The statement signed by the school public relations officer, Dr. Benedicta Ehanire had noted that “registration by all students closes on 3rd September, 2021; and after such date, students will no longer have access to the school portal.”
PHOTONEWS: University of Benin Students Protest New N20,000 Extra School Fees Charge As School’s Spokesperson Tells Students To ‘Go Into Prostitution To Pay Fees’ pic.twitter.com/Sw5z4Mvqvm
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, Students were seen in hundreds at the school main gate, with a voice underneath singing "Uniben students we are under pressure, Aunty Lilian please pity us."
“The UNIBEN that we have been managing, when it gets to Aunty Lilian's turn, she said it's N20,000. Na Wah oo! We need help.
"Currently happening in Benin, everywhere is filled up with students Protesting for their rights.
"Students of University of Benin are very displeased with the act of their Vice Chancellor," one of the protesters said.
According to a source, the students previously were paying N14,000 as tuition. It was increased in the 2017/2018 academic session by the authorities to N41,400.
The University management led by the Vice-Chancellor, Lilian Salami, increased again at the resumption of the ongoing academic session, the fees from N41,400 to N45,000.
However less than a month later, the fees were again hiked with an increment of N20,000, bringing the total fees to N65,000 for both students in the Art and Sciences.
The newly admitted students are asked to pay N90,000, a sum considered to be outrageous by the students.
"These insensitive hikes are consistent despite the fact that students have several other fees the institution imposes on them. Some of these compulsory fees include: Faculty dues, Department dues, Course registration and many more.
"The management of the institution claims it does not officially sell handouts, its lecturers coerce students to pay for same," the source revealed.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that a group, Movement for a Socialist Alternative, kicked against the University of Benin, Edo State's extra N20,000 charge imposed by the management for the late payment of school fees.
The group, Movement for a Socialist Alternative, disclosed that late payment was not a criminal offence, while they rejected expulsion as punishment for late payment of school fees and N20,000 additional charges.
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Some hoodlums suspected to be supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, have burnt a tricycle and a bus while executing the sit-at-home order of the group in commemoration of the invasion of the home of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in 2017.
The tricycle operator, who was attacked in Awka, the Anambra State capital on Tuesday morning along Arthur Eze Avenue, also reportedly sustained machete cuts on his limbs, and he was dispossessed of his tricycle, which was then set ablaze.
File photo used to illustrate story.
According to Daily Post, the charred tricycle was still at the location where the sad occurrence occurred.
In Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area, also in Anambra, a town service bus, which was said to be transporting passengers from Awka to Ekwulobia, was also attacked by persons alleged to be enforcing the IPOB directive, who set it ablaze.
A source said the passengers, who were being conveyed by the bus were left untouched, as they were made to disembark, before the bus was pushed into a ditch and set ablaze.
The Spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, refused to confirm the incidents when contacted.
He simply stated that men of the command had been at places where some incidents had been registered, and had restored normalcy in such places.
“The command and other security agencies have since intensified patrol and surveillance. Police personnel are on ground and the situation is being monitored. Normalcy has also been restored in some of these areas,” he said.
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The Director-General of the Forestry Research Institute Of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, Oyo State, Prof Adepoju Olusola, begun witch-hunting and victimising some workers following a story by SaharaReporters exposing how he awarded fraudulent contracts without recourse to procedure and due process.
SaharaReporters had exposed how Olusola turned the agency into a personal estate.
Professor Adepoju Olusola
A source had told SaharaReporters that FRIN board members were denied access to all financial and administrative activities of the agency, including records of budgets, expenditures, contracts, appointments, promotions undertaken under the Director-General.
Weeks after the story, it was learnt that Olusola ordered the transfer of those he described as ‘enemies’ from the headquarters of the agency in Ibadan to some Northern and South-Eastern states.
Some workers were also issued query by the Director-General.
“He has been using the management to hunt perceived enemies. The aftermath of that publication by SaharaReporters is victimisation of staff with transfer threat.
“Sadly, the board and management haven’t brought verifiable report of an objective investigation on the alleged issues.
“Also, most of us transferred to other states have not been furnished with any allowances to aid our redeployment. When one of us called their attention to this, they issued him a query.
“The labour union has been divided and bought over on this. The DG has turned himself to God in the institute. Always intimidating and threatening staff with his connection and influence in Abuja.
“Section 130105 of the public service rule maintains that transportation and resettlement allowance be made available before transfer or posting,” a source told SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
SaharaReporters had been briefed in the first by a source which further accused Olusola of illegally promoting staff members without regard for public service rules.
"The Director-General, Professor Adepoju Olusola has been found doing the following; withholding of staff deductions (Contributions of over N50,000,000) to co-operative society for the month of October 2020, as confirmed by IPPIS.
"Illegal removal or deduction from salaries of staff (This is done randomly) with no reason, explanation and move to refund (He does not listen to anyone) for same October, 2020.
“Flouting of civil service rule in relation to promotion of staff. In the year 2020, promotion exercise was conducted, over 30%-40% of staff denied promotion even though they passed the examination, but he claimed there was no vacancy.
“By January 2021, this year, those who got promoted received their letters and were promoted appropriately. To our amazement, by June 2021, part of those promoted and served their letters, were given another promotion. We found out that they are his partners in crime in the institute.
“Imagine, someone got promoted to Grade Level 11 in January 2021 and received another promotion in June 2021 to Grade Level 13, in the space of five months.
“All efforts to have him explain this move proved abortive as he will never give room for questioning. He's above the law and people are afraid to challenge him,” the source had said.
The Director-General of the Forestry Research Institute Of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, Oyo State, Prof Adepoju Olusola, begun witch-hunting and victimising some workers following a story by SaharaReporters exposing how he awarded fraudulent contracts without recourse to procedure and due process.
SaharaReporters had exposed how Olusola turned the agency into a personal estate.
A source had told SaharaReporters that FRIN board members were denied access to all financial and administrative activities of the agency, including records of budgets, expenditures, contracts, appointments, promotions undertaken under the Director-General.
Weeks after the story, it was learnt that Olusola ordered the transfer of those he described as ‘enemies’ from the headquarters of the agency in Ibadan to some Northern and South-Eastern states.
Some workers were also issued query by the Director-General.
“He has been using the management to hunt perceived enemies. The aftermath of that publication by SaharaReporters is victimisation of staff with transfer threat.
“Sadly, the board and management haven’t brought verifiable report of an objective investigation on the alleged issues.
“Also, most of us transferred to other states have not been furnished with any allowances to aid our redeployment. When one of us called their attention to this, they issued him a query.
“The labour union has been divided and bought over on this. The DG has turned himself to God in the institute. Always intimidating and threatening staff with his connection and influence in Abuja.
“Section 130105 of the public service rule maintains that transportation and resettlement allowance be made available before transfer or posting,” a source told SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
SaharaReporters had been briefed in the first by a source which further accused Olusola of illegally promoting staff members without regard for public service rules.
"The Director-General, Professor Adepoju Olusola has been found doing the following; withholding of staff deductions (Contributions of over N50,000,000) to co-operative society for the month of October 2020, as confirmed by IPPIS.
"Illegal removal or deduction from salaries of staff (This is done randomly) with no reason, explanation and move to refund (He does not listen to anyone) for same October, 2020.
“Flouting of civil service rule in relation to promotion of staff. In the year 2020, promotion exercise was conducted, over 30%-40% of staff denied promotion even though they passed the examination, but he claimed there was no vacancy.
“By January 2021, this year, those who got promoted received their letters and were promoted appropriately. To our amazement, by June 2021, part of those promoted and served their letters, were given another promotion. We found out that they are his partners in crime in the institute.
“Imagine, someone got promoted to Grade Level 11 in January 2021 and received another promotion in June 2021 to Grade Level 13, in the space of five months.
“All efforts to have him explain this move proved abortive as he will never give room for questioning. He's above the law and people are afraid to challenge him,” the source had said.
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The Kano State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to remove the Chairman of the State Revenue Board, AbdulRazak Salihi, over his violation of the constitutional provision of the country as well as disrespect to the legislature.
The Chairman was said to have refused to disclose to the house the position of the state revenue collection despite a series of requests by the legislature.
Kano State Governor Ganduje
But at the same time, he wrote and submitted the reports to the government through the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Land.
The House, through the Speaker, Hamisu Chidari, expressed anger at the nonchalant attitude of the chairman who was summoned but lied to them.
The revenue chairman was also accused of conniving with the government without the notice of the House to unilaterally reduce ground tenement rates of the Independent Petroleum Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) from N250 to N100 which the house described as a total violation of the nation’s constitution.
In their separate remarks on the floor of the House, the lawmakers were displeased with what they described as the non-performance of the chairman in revenue collection as well as lack of knowledge of what revenue entailed.
Chidari, however, disclosed that the House agreed to set up an eight-man committee that would investigate the reasons Kano occupied the 10th position from its initial second position after Lagos, in revenue collections.
The eight-man committee to investigate the falling revenue collection in the state and illegal actions of the chairman was headed by the House Finance Chairman, Magaji Dahiru Zarewa.
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