It was unexpected and dramatic .An unknown Nigerian joined the Super Falcons on the train at Vienna, lashing and abusing them for representing Nigeria.
The yet to be identified young man slammed the players, called them failed and irresponsible youths for representing the President Muhammadu Buhari-led nation.
The nine –time African champions had arrived in the Austrian capital, Vienna, for an 8-day training camp preparatory to the Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tournament.
In a video that went viral, the angry and self acclaimed frustrated man accused the thoroughly frightened abs embarrassed players of representing a ‘terrorist organization’.
He said: “I want to speak to you people please. I am also a Nigerian and live in Vienna. I have lived here for so many years and you people are representing a terrorist organization, a terrorist government. You Nigerian youths should be very ashamed of yourselves, every one of you here.
“This can’t happen in another country where youths are representing a government. There are over 10 million Nigerian youths here and you people that should know are representing a terrorist organization, killing youths, kidnapping. I am calling on you idiots to go back home,” he stated.
However, when some of the players attempted to fight back, he further threatened to invite the police if he was physically attacked by the squad, saying the corruption in Nigeria forced him to leave Julius Berger football club that he once played for in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, as series of questions are being asked about the level of security arranged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the Super Falcons in Austria, the Football Federation yesterday issued a statement saying it has “initiated moves to ensure the unmasking of the self-acclaimed Nigerian who got on the train and made the players uncomfortable with inflammatory political talks.
According to Nigeria’s FIFA Match Agent, Jairo Pachon, the matter has been immediately reported to the Austrian Police and the Embassy of Nigeria.
Pachon told thenff.com, “It is unfortunate. The girls were on the way to the city centre which was just a few minutes from the hotel. They entered this train and the guy got inside and started insulting them. He was bundled out at the next station and we have reported the matter to the Embassy of Nigeria and the Austrian Police. We have never had this kind of case with any of our teams and lessons have been learnt and we will be guided appropriately going forward.
“This incident will not in any way affect the team’s camping programme and they will remain in Austria until Saturday, 24th July as scheduled.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation says it has initiated moves to ensure “the unmasking of the self-acclaimed Nigerian who got on the train with the Super Falcons in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday and made the players uncomfortable with inflammatory political talks.”
NFF president Amaju Pinnick said the NFF would immediately report the matter to world football body FIFA and would pursue the case to its logical conclusion.
“We are infuriated because these are young ladies who are our ambassadors and are there in Austria preparing for major international competitions. That was a dastardly act by that fellow and we are not taking it lightly. The girls simply wanted to go on sightseeing and there is nothing wrong with that. They do not deserve to be subjected to such diatribe by a so-called fellow Nigerian.
“We will unmask the fellow and then take it from there.”
Ignore the news making the rounds on some Social Media platforms.
Sunday Adeyemo, popular as Sunday Igboho, is still held in a detention facility in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
He has not been released. He is not on his way to Germany, or any European country.
Igboho, declared wanted by the Directorate of State Security on July the 1st, after an invasion of his home in Ibadan, during which time he escaped, was arrested Monday night at an airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic. During the raid in his home, two of his associates were killed, and 12 arrested.
Igboho went underground, but was arrested along with his wife,who is a German citizen, Monday night in Cotonou, as they made to leave for Germany.
But within hours, stories emerged that due to pressure exerted on the Government of the Republic of Benin by the Embassies of Germany, USA, Canada, etc, Igboho was released, and was on his way to Germany.
In fact, photographs of a relaxed and laughing Igboho, sitting on board an aircraft were, also, published.
But everything turns out to be fake. His Lawyer in Cotonou confirmed that he was not allowed to see Igboho when he went to visit him. He was asked to come back on Wednesday, 8.00am.
According to Professor Wale Adeniran, a member of the Ilana Omo Odua, the umbrella body of all Yoruba Self Determination Groups, Igboho’s lawyer told him Igboho was still under custody. Professor Adeniran spoke during a zoom interview on Heritage Multimedia TV, and quoted by The Nation.
Adeniran, speaking angrily over the fake news of his release said: “I have just spoken with his lawyer. The lawyer has visited the location where he (Igboho) is being held.
“He was not allowed to see him (Igboho), but they confirmed to him that they are holding him in that location.
“He was asked to come back tomorrow (Wednesday) by 8.00 am to see him.”
Adeniran said that the lawyer assured him that Igboho will not be extradited to Nigeria through the back door as he has already filed an application with the Immigration lawyer.
Recall that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, who like Igboho, has been agitating for the Republic of Biafra, was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, three weeks ago and brought back to Nigeria.
Until last week, I had never heard the name Obi Cubana. All that I knew of Cubana was all that lifestyle magazines say about the Cubana nightclub in Lagos. I had no idea who owned it. And then, Obinna Iyiegbu, aka Obi Cubana, held the funeral of his mother in Oba, Idemili North Local government of Anambra State.
As pictures and videos from the ceremony saturate social media, I placed a call to an Oba friend of mine in Boston. I asked a simple question. “Who is Obi Cubana?”
My friend did not know him. He told me Obi Cubana was a kid when he was at home. He also mentioned that Obi Cubana’s father was the principal of Merchant of Light, Oba, when he was a high school student there.
After high school at Dennis Memorial Grammar School Onitsha and obtaining a degree in Political Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the kid went out of Anambra, to Abuja, Owerri, Enugu, Lagos and did well for himself.
Every town or village in Eastern Nigeria has one or two Obi Cubanas. They are the often-misunderstood children of our wobbling Nigeria. They are kids who, despite the odds, have plowed through the rivers of injustice, the stench of corruption, and the air of insecurity to set up businesses, build networks, and climb to the top of the social strata of Nigeria. They are kids who, even when they are sitting in the deepest valley of despair, say to themselves that the world is theirs. In some weird ways, packed in them are the metaphors of what could have been in Nigeria.
There is one like him in Nnobi called Emeka Agbanari, Ike Nnobi of Seaman Mining and Constructions. Like my friend from Oba, I woke up one day to see pictures from Ike Nnobi’s father’s funeral. And then, videos started to emerge of his compound in Nnobi. And that was when I called my folks and asked, “Who is Ike Nnobi?”
For those from outside Igboland who watched the spectacle from Obi Cubana’s burial of his mother, the sense of confusion must be overwhelming. It is quite understandable. Some people were lost in what they saw as “a show-off” of wealth. The hundreds of cows presented as gifts by friends and associates; the hundreds of millions raised by Committee of Friends; the presence of Nigerian entertainment industry royalties at the funeral; the $100,000 pendant and so many others were all too ostentatious to many. Those lost in this narrative quickly generalised and attributed it to Igbo people’s irredeemable fatal flaw.
Some observers who hail the Dangotes of Nigeria and cheer their climb on Forbes’s list of richest men on earth grumbled about where these ‘kids’ legitimately found this kind of money in a country that has essentially closed down the doors of opportunities in the faces of many of its citizens. They postulated with profound confidence that acts of the Cubanas of Eastern Nigeria instigated Igbo boys to pursue wealth ‘by any means necessary.’ Meanwhile, these modern-day psychologists will fail flat on their faces when challenged to explain why the acts of the Dantatas and Indimis of Northern Nigeria have not inspired the almajiris to pursue success by the proper channels that the Dantatas and the Indimis apparently followed.
Some observers were more circumspect. They wondered about the opportunity cost of the opulence shown at Obi Cubana’s funeral of his mother. Some quickly assumed from afar that the people of Oba had not benefited from Obi Cubana’s wealth only to be assaulted by the “show off” at his mother’s funeral.
Without evidence, they proposed that the “waste” at the funeral could have been used to give scholarships to indigent students, help suffering widows and do some other good for the people of Oba. One group watched videos of the funeral convoy in and around Oba and pointed out the poor roads. They wondered why Cubana did not use his wealth to reconstruct bad roads in Oba as if Abdulsamad Rabiu used his wealth to reconstruct roads in Kano.
I have no idea what Obi Cubana has done for the people of Oba. But I know what Ike Nnobi has done for people in Nnobi. His philanthropic gestures of Ike Nnobi are the reason many sons and daughters of Nnobi who would otherwise not have been able to afford their school fees are in schools today. His goodwill has been a source of comfort for scores of underprivileged men and women. He has been the primary supporter of numerous community projects across Nnobi.
I can report that even before they become Obi Cubana or Ike Nnobi, they have contributed to their communities in small and big ways. Check very well, the fanfare that went on in Oba all week would not have happened if Obi Cubana were not a contributor to the strengthening of the Oba society. We can frown at some excesses of the chieftaincy title structure in Igbo society, but when it works, and in towns that it works, those who receive the honor; those who wear a red cap; are often those who made those villages and towns that you see across the East look better than their contemporaries in other parts of Nigeria.
In fact, every Igbo shop owner in the most remote part of Nigeria is an anchor of many people in his community at home. That some kids go to school in his extended family, despite the same generational poverty seen across Nigeria, is because of him. That some retirees eat three square meals a day, despite lack of reliable pension and social security benefits, is because of him.
That some remote villages in the East have electricity, paved roads, churches, and decent schools, despite the usual government’s neglect, is because of him. We often do not give them enough credit because this has become more like second nature. It is a well-known mantra in the East that before a young man is acknowledged to have made a success of himself, he must have contributed to the welfare of those at home.
And that is why the death of an Igbo shop owner in a religious and ethnic motivated attack anywhere in Nigeria is more than the death of one man. Unknown to those who storm the streets killing and maiming these men trying to eke out a living in a chaotic Nigeria, they were probably killing an Obi Cubana or an Ike Nnobi of tomorrow. Such death often sets families two or three generations behind. No amount of compensation in case of death in the hands of these deadly mobs, as recently proposed by a group in the North, can adequately capture the value added to scores of people in the East by what may look like a mere shop owner in Kafanchan or Yola.
Rarely do you see an Obi Cubana or Ike Nnobi on the national stage when the people of their town have not been giving testimonies to their contributions at home. Can more be done to harness the goodwill and network of these young men? Yes. Can more be done to channel these resources towards establishing long-lasting institutions and foundations that would outlive the founders? Yes.
But that is the job of those who sometimes spend more time criticising and condemning instead of guiding these “kids” and growing what they have achieved. If you check very well, the Fords, the Rockefellers, the Bill and Melinda Gates, and the MacArthurs were not the ones who fashioned the foundations built in their names. Most often, other smart people saw the potential in advancing society by utilising the philanthropic will of these men and women and came in and developed the foundations.
It goes without saying that there are some Igbo men who have amassed wealth and have used such to oppress their own people. They are the kind notorious for land grabbing and instigating discord where they came from. This group often uses connections at the national level to deploy security operatives to pursue their illicit goals. Despite the rut in Igbo society, in the long run, members of this group of wealthy men ultimately meet their waterloo. And their sins are passed on to their children and their grandchildren.
So, while we observe the Obi Cubana and the Ike Nnobi of this world, it is important to put what we see in the proper context. A stable and restructured Nigeria will only produce more of their likes, who build bridges along ethnic and across social-political lines and foster a sense of national unity. There are more things to be harnessed from the optics and the substances of the Cubanas than there are things to be discarded and denounced.
In one weekend outing, Cubana reduced the growing perception that the Southeast was a no-go area littered with unknown gunmen. Obi Cubana probably brought more people for their first visit to Anambra State in one weekend than all the people the NYSC program brings in one year. The money that Anambra gets each month from the federal government allocation is probably less than the money that Obi Cubana’s funeral of his mother brought into Anambra State last week. We cannot underestimate the economic importance of the Oba performance. Somehow, some of those naira and dollars thrown up in the air will end up in the purses and wallets of older men and women in Anambra State.
One can disagree on the proper way to bury the dead. One can wish that Obi Cubana had buried his mother the same way Mike Adenuga buried his in 2005. One can conjure up philosophical musings on youth, exuberance, and abundance mentality. But only the discerning minds can overcome the temptation of mourning the decline of utopian ideals in a country that has failed to launch and see the awesomeness of the arrows of possibilities that the gods still send to us from the heavens.
The sociology of death and funerals is an important aspect of the African cosmogony. Parents pray that their children should outlive them in order to give them a befitting burial. They liken this to the same manner when fire dies out in the hearth, it is replaced by ashes, and when a banana tree withers, a sapling sprouts in its place.
When Africans die, it is believed that they have merely travelled to another realm, and become ancestors, and hence, a funeral ceremony is a send-forth event.
The death of a young person however, is considered a tragedy. This is why such obituaries are prefaced with the solemn declaration that “The wicked have done their worst”, “We love you but the Lord loves you more” or “A Painful Exit.”
The tone of the elegy at a funeral is thus a function of the circumstances of the death, or the religious inclination of the family as in “With Total Submission to the Will of God…”, “Inna Lillahi wa inna Ilayhi Raji’un”.
Age is indeed a factor. If the dead lived up to an old, ripe age, you are likely to see such announcements as “A Glorious Exit”, “With Gratitude for a Life Well Spent” or “Ä Celebration of Life”.
Among the Yoruba of the South West, the death of an old man or woman is described as “oku eba”, that is – a transition that is worth celebrating, with generous dollops of cassava paste. Other groups in the country also have varying patterns of burying their dead.
Among Muslims generally, the burial of the dead is carried out swiftly in line with Islamic injunctions. The simplicity of Muslim burials, the solemnity and dignity of it, is incomparable to anything else I have seen, even if Muslims in the South West of Nigeria, still find an excuse to throw lavish parties that have more to do with the culture of the people, rather than the religion.
One dictionary describes the Yoruba as the “fun-loving people of the South West Nigeria.” But in general, the manner of burials, the scope of the rites, the scale and tone, is a reflection of cultural norms and dominant values, at both community and individual levels across Nigeria.
What is noteworthy is how the loss of a beloved family member could suddenly end up as a celebration, and the explanation for that is as complicated and diverse as the Nigerian society itself.
In this regard, something happened last week, in Oba, Anambra State, Nigeria: the funeral of the mother of a man popularly known as Obi Cubana, which would seem to be a metaphor for the collapse of values in Nigeria generally, the effect of poverty – spiritual, mental and physical – and how that pushes the people to desperate ends.
The burial of Cubana’s mum may be seen as a form of celebration, she died at 75, but it was a lavish send-forth that was terribly obscene. The town of Oba has certainly never witnessed anything like that. Not even in the entire Anambra state has anyone organised anything so loud and extravagant. This was not a celebration of life. It was a celebration of Money.
Obi Cubana
Obi Cubana’s mother died in November 2020. It took him more than seven months to plan the burial and when he decided that it was time for the dead to be sent forth, his obvious intention was to organise the mother of all burials, such that even the living would envy the dead and wish to die. The only problem is that not many Nigerians would rather die knowing that it is not every one that would ever get that kind of burial.
Oba is ordinarily a quiet town of nine villages, located between the commercial town of Onitsha and the industrial town of Nnewi. During the civil war, it was the last frontier of the Biafran Army. But that community will now be remembered for a long time, for the burial of the mother of a certain Obi Cubana.
The role played by the social media, and by Cubana’s friends is remarkable: how a country lost its moral centre and has produced a generation of new Nigerians who worship money, ego, kudi. The excitement generated among young Nigerians who could not make it to Oba but who followed the event on social media and became excited, is a measure of the extent of the crisis that Nigeria faces.
By Friday, the spectacle had begun to unfold. Social media managers of the burial who apparently had been engaged to do so – they are called influencers – told us and showed pictures, about the Obi Cubana Festival of Money. The first of the videos that I saw was that of a young man throwing Naira notes around, on the streets as if he was distributing candies to children. The notes were in packs, crisp new notes, and as each bundle was thrown at the crowd, people fell over themselves and rushed to pick up pieces.
This was like a John the Baptist display. Many of Cubana’s friends and guests would soon arrive, and before they did, many of them posted on Instagram, the stacks of money they were going to spend. Cartons of Naira notes.
In one post, a group of women were shown swimming in a pool, others were hanging around, scantily dressed, all looking like they had adjusted their biological features. That is now standard practice among a category of Nigerian women. They do a breast job, acquire a surgical, traffic-stopping butt, and they all look alike, fully bleached to their knuckles, with fake hair, strange eyelashes that protrude like pins, and of course foreign accents that have a combination of every dialect from Wales to mid-West America.
The boys by the pool threw money into the water and the girls scrambled to grab their share of the offering. This was the pattern throughout the burial. Naira notes, sorry bundles of Naira, were thrown about, sprayed, pasted so recklessly you would think this was a future Olympics Game, in which the athletes were preparing for a Gold Medal.
Obi Cubana himself was at the centre of it all. One lady, simply identified as Livy was shown in one video throwing so many bales of money at Cubana that he exclaimed that he would need a Chest X-Ray!
The way money was being thrown like pieces of cement blocks, I also thought that an ambulance should have been on standby. “Killed by money at Cubana’s mother’s burial” would have been an appropriate headline in the circumstance.
The public was later informed that Obi Cubana got about 300 million Naira as contributions by his friends to bury his mother. He also received over 100 rams, and 400 cows, 46 out of that was supplied by one guy called Cubana Priest who not only announced the donation but also said that was just a tip of the iceberg.
Cubana himself did not disappoint. He wore a diamond pendant that was valued at N50 million. His mother’s casket, specially imported from wherever was said to have been about N40 million.
This celebration of money was so unbelievable, the burial became a matter for social media punditry and the creation of emojis.
Some people said it was certain Obi Cubana’s mother was already in Heaven as a saint, sitting on the right-hand side of the Almighty. Nobody has been to Heaven to confirm that, so we have no proof. Others said with the volume of money spent at the funeral, the Nigerian government should henceforth approach Obi Cubana for a loan and stop disturbing China, IMF and the World Bank. Other observers were worried about the source of the money that was being thrown around like confetti.
Nigerian banks would also readily tell you that they don’t have new notes. They give out dirty notes to their customers. But there were more crisp, mint notes in circulation at Oba over the weekend than in the entire Nigerian banking system. And the notes were abused.
The Central Bank Act of Nigeria – Sections 5, 21 (4-5) prescribe penalties for the abuse of the country ‘s national currency. The law forbids the sale, purchase, and the plunking of the Naira, and prescribes penalties: six months imprisonment or a fine of N50, 000 or both. The penalties are so light, I don’t think they mean anything to Cubana and his friends or their likes. And why should that bother them anyway when the Oba funeral was attended by the same law enforcement officers who should know that it is an offence to abuse the Naira (truth is: policemen joined others to collect the notes that dropped on the floor), and there were lawmakers and prominent politicians in attendance too.
In fact, nobody should be surprised if Cubana ends up as a Governor or Senator tomorrow. He has effectively used his mother’s burial to prove a point: that he has cash and the courage to spend it. Nigerians worship money. And that was why throughout the weekend: the popular saying was: who no dey Oba, na wahala him get?
Women were turned into objects and debased. Whoever had not seen his girlfriend or wife was advised to go to Oba in Anambra State. And there was a particular video of one lady who collected up to three big bags of money, by just picking money from the floor like a mendicant!
Nollywood stars fell over themselves to be seen and heard. One respected actor even got so carried away he began to act like an Area Boy on Instagram. I won’t mention his name because he is a man I like very much.
Money is a Devil in Nigeria. It turns even the most enlightened into clowns.
At Obi Cubana’s mother’s burial, so-called celebrities, some of these characters who describe themselves as brands (whatever that means!) became ushers, bodyguards, “all-right-sirs” and videographers.
Obi Cubana has every right to bury his mother the way he wants. But who is he? How did he make his money? How much tax does he pay to the Nigerian government? The Oba burial is over now, but the only thing anybody will remember is the Bacchanal orgy of money.
I am not sure half of the people at the event even know who Cubana’s mother was. What kind of person was she? How did she relate within the community? Did she even ever see, handle, spend, a bundle of crisp Naira notes in her lifetime? Who are Obi Cubana’s family members? Does he even have siblings or extended family members? They were all blanked out!
Members of the Oba community were advertised as crumb eaters. They struggled to grab the Naira notes that were thrown into the air. They stared at the money-miss-road invaders from a distance. When it was all over and the waka-come-Cubana crowd left, they struggled over the left-over crumbs of cow-meat barbecue. They were effectively reminded of their poverty.
Obi Cubana would probably not visit that community again until he needs to organise another show-off. Would it not have been better if he built a hospital in his mother’s memory? Or a school? Or a Church? And then the people will remember her, and not how her son and his friends put money to shame at her funeral. And who are these friends?
The kind of names that have been mentioned sound unfamiliar to me: E-Money, Internet Money, Pablo Cubana, Escoba, Jowizaza, Livy, Cubana Priest. Is the Nigerian Immigration Service, in charge of aliens and expatriates, the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in charge of National Identity Registration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in charge of Homeland Security, aware of the presence of these people inside Nigeria? Who are they? And why do they spend money like that?
Not even Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet will throw money around like that!
The burial of Otunba Mike Adenuga’s mother in 2005 has been compared to that of Cubana’s mother’s burial, and certainly Otunba Adenuga should feel maligned.
It is an unintelligent comparison. The point that has been made is that when Adenuga was burying his mother he donated a cow to every street in Ijebu-Igbo, his home town. Yeah. But there were no drunkards throwing bales of money on the streets or cleavage-bearing women, bleached from head to toe, with artificial physiognomy and a mass of excessive protoplasm, promenading here and there, with shameless, bedmatic display.
Last weekend, we saw a new definition of womanhood in Oba.
My point is about taste, class and values, not melodrama, or the right of persons to live as they wish.
And here, I also draw attention to the burial about the same time of the mother of the former Managing Director of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, which took place in Lagos at the Tafawa Balewa Square. The contrast is striking but I bring it up because it also says something about Nigeria: the emergence of two polarized publics, both of seemingly strong weight and whose difference lies is the inherited future of our children because of the way Nigerian leaders have failed the people.
The burial of Apostle Mrs Aig Imoukhuede was a dignified, classy event attended by the Nigerian establishment from politics to business and civil society. It was the celebration of a woman who achieved distinction in her own right and whose accomplishments in that regard were properly show-cased.
The funeral was not about her first son, the banker, investor, philanthropist, friend of every important figure. It was, most appropriately, a celebration of her life. Nobody had any need to throw money around. Even if Mrs Imoukhuede was a trader at Oyingbo market, there would have been no need to turn her funeral into a festival of money. And yet the richest and most influential Nigerians with the strongest pedigree were there.
One weekend, two burials, different tales! I leave it to you to stretch the comparison. I have made my point: Nigeria is in trouble.
Young Nigerians, products of a failed leadership, worship money and fakery. The gentrified class train their children in the best schools abroad, but those same children will return to a country that would have been taken over by the Oba crowd who are sadly, the future of Nigeria.
Obi Cubana, and Aig Imoukhuede, our commiserations.
Dr Abati, a Columnist, a Television personality, is a weekly commentator on National and current issues
The Muslim community in Imo State on Monday was put in a Sallah mood ahead of Tuesday when the leadership took delivery of 600 bags of 50kg of rice and five big cows donated to them by Governor Hope Uzodimma to enable the Muslim faithful in the state have a joyous 2021 Eid-El-Kabir celebration.
The Governor’s gifts, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media/ Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, was presented to the Muslim Community in Imo State by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Comas Iwu, in a brief ceremony at the Government House Owerri.
Iwu who commended the cordial relationship between the Muslims and non-Muslims in Imo State said that as a result of their role in helping to maintain peace and tranquility in Imo state, Governor Uzodimma always enjoys fraternizing with them, more so during an ocassion like the Sallah.
Iwu said in order to assist them join their brothers and sisters all over the world to celebrate the feast of sacrifice, the Governor was pleased to donate the 600 bags of 50Kg rice and five cows, noting that “it is just a show of love that Governor Uzodimma has for Muslim faithful in Imo State.”
Iwu added: “Since inception of the Shared Prosperity Government in Imo State, the Governor has demonstrated a lot of love and magnanimity to the Muslim community. This is exemplified in his inclusive governance system that accommodated Muslims in his cabinet, the SSA on Northern Affairs and the SSA on Northern Women Mobilization.”
The SSG advised them to continue in their peaceful disposition and sincere practice of their religion as it proffers peace, harmonious relationship and co-existence of all human beings created by God.
Receiving the gifts, Head of the Muslim community in Imo State, Seriki Hassan Awwal Baba Sule acknowledged the cordial relationship between the government and the people of Imo with Muslim faithful in the State.
He informed that Eid-el-Kabir is a Muslim celebration used to remember the total submission of Abraham to Allah when he answered the call to use his son, Ishmael for sacrifice to God.
On behalf of the Muslim community, he said the gifts presented to them by the governor were a “show of brotherliness, love and care to, not only the Muslims, but all citizens of Imo State.”
He called on all Muslims in the state to ensure that peace, which Imo State is known for, continues to reign.
In an address, the Chairman Muslim Council of Imo State, Prince Basheer Uwakwe expressed their profound gratitude to the Governor for all his love and care since assumption of office in Imo State.
He recalled the support, gifts, encouragement and care that the Governor extends to them from time to time and prayed Almighty Allah “to reward him immensely” and give the Governor peace in his tenure.
The Muslim Council of the State seized the opportunity to call on all Muslims and non Muslims in Imo State to join hands to ensure that there is peace and love among all the different ethnic groups, especially between the Muslims and the Christians. “This will bring progress and development to the benefit of all in Imo State.”
They thanked the Governor for the Sallah gifts and assured they will endeavour to ensure they get to those they are meant for.
Those present at the event were the Chief of Staff Government House, Barr. Nnamdi Anyaehie, the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Irene Chima, the Oba of Yoruba, the Chief Imam of Imo State, Barr. Suleman Njoku, the SSA to the Governor on Northern Women Mobilization, Hajia Fatima Hansan, among others.
Attorneys General and Commissioners for Justice in the South West met in Ado Ekiti Monday and reaffirmed commitment of their States to financial autonomy for the Judiciary.
In their communiqué at the end of the meeting, the Chief Law Officers commended South West Governors Forum for its proactive steps in the resolution of the issue of financial autonomy for the judiciaries in states in the region and adoption of a template for implementation.
It described the passage of the Judicial (Funds Management) Bill, 2021 by the Ondo and Ogun States Houses of Assembly as a welcome development urging others to do same soonest.
It equally noted that Ministries of Justice of Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Oyo States, have proposed Judicial (Funds Management) Bills for the consideration of States Houses of Assembly in those States.
Others agreement include “Resolve to exchange States Judicial (Funds Management) Bills to ensure uniformity of the South West States on the implementation of judicial financial autonomy.
“Implementation of Financial Autonomy for the State Legislature
“Commend South West Governors Forum for its proactive steps in the resolution of the issue of financial autonomy for the legislatures in the South West States of Nigeria and the adoption of a template for implementation.”
On the proposed amendment of the constitution, the commissioners of Justice reiterated the commitment of South West States of Nigeria to key areas of Constitutional Reform.
Those areas include Gender Equity, and increased participation of women in public life; Fiscal Federalism and the need for a holistic review of the Exclusive legislative list in the 1999 Constitution with emphasis on the need to devolve more legislative items to States.
It backed the establishment of State Police Service to serve as a territorial police force to complement the Nigeria Police in law enforcement in each of the South West States.
The commissioners resolved to actively participate in the deliberations of the Joint committee, set up by the governors on the constitution amendment until its final report is presented to the National Assembly.
They further agreed “to work together to ensure that Judgments from High Courts of South West States are collated and published.
“To immediately constitute a working Committee to work on the harmonization of Laws and judgments of the high courts of South West States of Nigeria.
“And frequently exchange Laws and policies that impact on socio-economic and political growth of the South West States.”
It has been confirmed that Sunday Igboho has a German citizen as a wife. She was arrested with him at an airport in Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, Monday night.
Until now, it was not public that he had a German wife. When the Directorate of State Services, DSS, raided his Ibadan home, recently, the story was that Igboho’s wife was among the 12 people arrested. It is, therefore, either that the arrested woman is not Igboho’s wife, or he had more than one wife.
In a statement on Tuesday in which he appealed to the German Government and the International Community to secure Igboho’s release, his Counsel, Yomi Alliyu, SAN, revealed that Igboho was arrested alongside his German wife by the International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL, in Benin Republic, in collaboration with the Nigerian Government.
He said both were arrested while they were trying to fly to a European country.
Part of the statement asked Germany and the International Community to: Rise up and curb the impunity of the Nigerian Government by refusing any application for extradition of our Client who already has application before the International Criminal Court duly acknowledged.”
The Yoruba Nation Global Directorate (YNGD) has said that there is glaring evidence of credibility problem for President Mohamadu Buhari’s administration at the international level due to uncivilized arrest of Nigerians without regard for their rights.
YNGD noted in a statement on Tuesday that it viewed with dismay the kidnap and attempt to bring to Nigeria Chief Sunday Adeyemo, alias Igboho Monday night at Cotonou by the Nigerian Department of Security Service without following internationally laid down procedures.
The statement, signed by its Director, Princess Adeola Atayero Olamijulo condemned the gestapo act of the Nigerian government at the international level which undermines civilised conducts.
‘We understood Chief Sunday Adeyemo Igboho was in Benin Republic on a private visit when the agents of the Buhari government intercepted him with the view to arrest him with the assistance of the interpol in the early hours of 20th July 2021 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
“The YNGD understands that his captors (lnterpol) are refusing to hand him over to the Nigerian DSS authority, who wanted him extradited to Nigeria within the confines of the stipulations of international law and their domestic jurisdiction.
“It will be recalled that the Nigerian government through a detachment of army, police and DSS invaded Chief Adeyemo’s residence in the dead of night, killed two of his aides and abducted 12 others, who are still in DSS custody since July 1,2021.
“They have been kept incommunicado since then. Lawyer to the detained 12 aides of Chief Adeyemo, Ọmọlola Adekunle, filed legal action against the DSS.
“The matter has been assigned to court but yet to be heard. The corpses of the two aides killed in Chief Adeyemo’s residence were taken away by the DSS.”
The YNGD appealed to the Beninose government not to allow the agents of Nigerian government have access to Chief Adeyemo because he has done nothing unlawful.
“Chief Adeyemo is a human rights activist, who Buhari government is after because he has been fighting for the rights of his people who are being killed, raped, maimed and kidnapped daily for ransom by fulani herdsmen who are from Gen. Muhammad Buhari’s tribe.
“President Buhari’s human rights index has dwindled as insecurity has enveloped the country under his administration.
“Gen Buhari and others have been dragged to the International Criminal Court of Justice by the Yọruba nation for acts against humanity.
“The Nigerian government cannot, therefore, violate the rights of Chief Adeyemo,” the statement added.
Finally, the alleged mystical powers of Yoruba secessionist agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popular as Sunday Igboho, has been demystified. His “African Insurance”, much applauded, finally failed him when he needed it most.
Perhaps, it works only in Nigeria. Which must be why it failed in Cotonou, capital of the Republic of Benin.
For, at least, two times in Nigeria, it worked for him, or so it was claimed.
First, the day he was intercepted along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on his way to the house of Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo for a meeting.
Pulling off his shirt, Igboho escaped arrest. The second time was this other day when operatives of the Directorate of State Services, DSS, swooped on his Ibadan home.
While Igboho miraculously escaped, two of his aides were killed, and 12 others, including a woman, alleged to be his wife, were arrested, and taken to Abuja.
After he escaped the raid, the DSS operatives were taunted for allegedly killing pussy cats, and arresting one, thinking Igboho had transformed into a cat.
The DSS had said they raided Igboho’s home over intelligence reports that he was stockpiling arms to wreak havoc on the country.
The Service displayed some weapons recovered, but which Igboho denied ownership, alleging they were planted by the DSS.
Thereafter, he was declared wanted by the DSS on July 1st 2021. But in a published report, Igboho said he was not in hiding, that he was in his Ibadan home. Even though many people disbelieved him, he followed that up by daring the Police to send 1,000 men to arrest him. Out of the number, Igboho boasted, not more than 100 would go back alive. And the 100, he said, would be those with spiritual powers.
On Saturday night in Benin, Igboho’s boasts and mystical powers ended. He was arrested at the Republic of Benin’s International Airport, Cotonou while he was trying to board a flight to Germany where his family, allegedly is.
Two days before his arrest, the DSS had said he was looking for a new International Passport to flee the country.
Many are wondering how he managed to escape Nigeria. Why he was not arrested at the borders. Some say he simply disappeared. Others say he left before he was declared wanted. The question, however: Why did Igboho not hide in the Republic of Benin where he was, and where there is a large number of the community, instead of venturing out? The opinion is that he took things for granted.
His arrest, however, has triggered a storm, and reactions are coming like claps of thunder.
In his reaction to Igboho’s arrest, theeader of the Umbrella Body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, said he has secured the services of legal experts to ensure Igboho’s rights are not trampled upon.
In a statement on Tuesday, Prof Akintoye said that contacts had been established with other Yoruba Patriots and they were currently working to provide assistance for Ighoho to prevent his extradition into Nigeria, saying “Benin Republic is a land that respect the rules of law”.
The statement, signed by him and made available to Reporters by his Communications Manager, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, called on Yorubas within and beyond the shores of Nigeria to ensure that their ancestral land is not defeated by invaders.
“I received last night the troubling information that Chief Sunday Adeyemo fondly called Igboho had been arrested at the Cotonou Airport.
“I and other Yoruba Patriots who are immediately available are now working to provide the assistance necessary to ensure that nobody will be able to do to him anything unlawful or primitive and to prevent him from being extradited into Nigeria which is strongly possible.
“Fortunately, Benin Republic is reliably a land of law where the authorities responsibly obey the law. We have secured the services of a leading and highly respected lawyer whom we can confidently rely on.
“What the situation now calls for is that the Yoruba nation at home and in Diapora must stand strong, resolved that neither Sunday Igboho nor any other person will henceforth be subjected to inhuman or dehumanizing treatment of any kind.
“We, Yoruba nation are, by the grace of God, a very strong nation. We must arise now to show that strength.
“For a start, we must all see to it now that Sunday Ighoho will get his freedom back so as to be able to move and operate as a free person. We all know he has committed no crime.
“We know that some people are trying to suppress or even eliminate him only because he stood up to defend his kinsmen, women and children who are being massively killed and raped in their ancestral home Land; who are having their assets and means of livelihood destroyed, and who are facing ethnic cleansing and even genocide without having the benefit of protection by the rulers of their country.
“We know, furthermore, that for the protection of his people who are being brutalized, he has joined hands with many of his brethren to take the legally-approriate step, namely to seek the intervention of the International Criminal Court.”
From Reno Omokri comes the news that Igboho would get support from groups, and would be defended to the hilt.
And so have several others.
Igboho’s arrest comes about three weeks after the arrest of another secessionist agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra in Kenya. The arrest of the two men confirms President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent promise to go after those agitating for freedom from Nigeria.
Kanu was repatriated from Nairobi, Kenya, and is facing trial at a Federal High Court in Abuja.
In Igboho’s case, there has been opinions that Cotonou is not likely to repatriate him to Nigeria. But many say “Forget it. That Cotonou will not dare challenge Abuja. That both countries are together on this.”
If true, Igboho is likely to be back to Abuja, Nigeria, between Tuesday and Wednesday. What is not known, for now, is which charges he would face if he is eventually arraigned before a Court of Law.
A former governor of Oyo state Senator Rashid Ladoja has joined other Yoruba leaders fighting for Sunday Igboho following his arrest in Benin Republic on Monday.
The Yoruba Nation activist had been on the run for almost a months after the DSS raided his Ibadan, Oyo state home and declared him a fugitive.
Since his arrest by the Beninos authority some prominent south west leaders have moved against his possible extradition by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, who said he has questions to answer.
Prominent traditional rulers from the region, politicians and academic, including Professor Banji Akintoye, a renowned Historian and Second Republic politicians have all risen up for the defence of the activist now being held by the Benin republic government.
Professor Akintoye said efforts are on to frustrate any plan by the federal government to repatriate the activist back to the country to face trial.
Speaking to newsmen in his Ibadan residence on Tuesday the former governor said the federal government should grant amnesty to the activist, noting that Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB have not committed more crimes that Boko Haram, many of who have now been granted amnesty.
The federal government had last week released scores of the Islamists fighters to the Borno state government for rehabilitation.
Ladoja said it would be wrong to prosecute Igboho and Kanu because they are the creation of the Buhari’s government. He said both activists were forced to defend their people after the federal government failed to act against killer herdsmen killing people, raping women and destroying farmlands in the southern part of the country.
He urged the government to thread with serious caution, noting that arresting Kanu and Igboho would not put an end to the agitations across the country.
Ladoja said, “I want to appeal to the federal government to grant Igboho and Kanu amnesty just as some members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were given amnesty. Igboho and Kanu are creations of the federal government. Why? Because whenever they arrested herdsmen who were killing their people, the federal government never acted. That was why those two people came up to defend their people.
“Boko Haram members that were arrested a year ago by the government have been released to the Borno State Government. The Federal Government created Sunday Igboho in the context of Igangan massacre.
“People are agitating for what they believe in; they should be treated with care, and not as criminals. Yoruba leaders including the Alaafin of Oyo have been complaining about atrocities committed by Fulani herdsmen without response from the federal government.
“An order came from above to release them and that is why the people resorted to self-help. It was in the process that Igboho’s agitation was created due to the killings that had been happening in the Ibarapa area and nobody was arrested. Even if they were arrested, they will be released.
“Arrest of Igboho will not change anything if government failed to do the needful, many Igboho will be created. Just like Kanu has become an acclaimed leader, and to some people, Igboho has also become a leader.
“If caution is not taken by the federal government, the issue might boomerang leading to many Igbohos and Kanus.”
Meanwhile, some south west leaders, the magazine learnt has reached out to the Beninos authority not to extradite Igboho. As part of the plan efforts are in top gear to use every legal means to stop the federal government from bringing him back to the country for trial.
