Parents and relations of students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko have besieged the institution in search of their children and wards following a fatal accident on Saturday.
As at last count, 16 persons were reported dead as they were crushed, some beyond recognition, by an articulated vehicle belonging to a cement company.
Apart from last rush visits to the university community, phone calls were put accross to enable relations confirm state of health of their families.
Various eye witness accounts confirmed that the articulated vehicle lost control due to break failure and rammed into shops very close to the university gate where people, mainly students converged for relaxation and weekend shoppings.
AAUA students resumed just last week Monday after Christmas and new year break, while their examination was due to start on Monday.
The examination, according to report will have to be put on hold as a result of the incident as students are said to be among the casualties.
In a statement at the weekend, the management of the institution stated that it “has received with great shock the news of an accident involving a Dangote trailer in which some of our students sadly lost their lives.
“The institution commiserated with the families, University community in particular and the Akungba community in general on the sad incident.”
Acting Registrar of the institution, Opeoluwa Akinfemiwa, pointed out that the institution has informed Government about this unfortunate incident .
“The statement noted that the institution is working with Government to prevent a reoccurrence.
“Meanwhile, as a temporary measure, Management has directed that the main gate should be closed with immediate effect.
“Staff and students are therefore requested to make use of the following: Sports Center gate, Guest House gate and Eastern gate.
“The two small gates i.e the one leading to the Works & Services Department and the one leading to the Student Union building.
“As a mark of respect for our departed students, the examinations scheduled to start on Monday, 24th January, 2021, is hereby postponed till further notice.
“The institution appealed to students to remain calm, as it mourns those that lost their lives in this unfortunate incident.”
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose’s influence and popularity in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, fold, seems to be diminishing.
Few days ago, the Lagos State Chapter of the PDP, announced their unflinching support for Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde as the recognised and accepted Leader of the PDP South-West Zone, denouncing Fayose.
Days down the line, a Group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South West Youth Alliance, has slammed the erstwhile governor of Ekiti State for what they called hid inconsistency and misinformation on the leadership of the party in the South West zone.
The Group said that the former Chairman of PDP Governor’s Forum is “actually not in his right frame of mind.”
A Statement jointly signed by the coordinators of the group in the six South-west States, namely; Olayemi Irewolemi, Ondo State, Akinbon Tayo Ekiti State, Mayowa Bada Wasiu, Osun State, Adediran Johnson Adeniyi, Oyo State Tayo Ashiru,Ogun State and
Nurudeen Okunuga, Lagos State condemned the actions and inactions of the former Ekiti state governo. They accused him of causing unrest in the South-West zone of the party.
They said, Fayose in a recent video clip he made, admitted that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State remains the leader of the party in the South West by virtue of being the lone Governor of the party in the South West, just like he was during his second term as Governor of Ekiti State.
The group also noted that, Fayose admitted to being fully in charge then in the affairs of the party throughout his tenure, but doesn’t want the incumbent leader to go beyond his own State in administering the affairs of the party.
In the video, the group said Fayose, also, admitted to supporting factional groups in all the states of the South West just as he did throughout his tenure as the leader of the party in the region.
They said, Fayose also threatens any leader that picks people or supports them in any factional tendencies in his state and vowed in the video to face them.
The Group indicted Fayose for playing double standard, citing instances of his supporting opposition candidates some elections in the region.
They cited, Fayose supporting candidate of Alliance for Democracy candidate, Olusola Oke as against the party’s candidate Eyitayo Jegede in Ondo state election in 2016 .
The group also alleged Fayose of supporting Adeleke dynasty as against the wish of the people and court of law in Osun State in the case of party Chairman, Hon. Soji Adagunodo despite the fact that, Adagunodo has been his aged long friend.
They, however, warned the formal Governor not to continue disrupting the peace within PDP in the South West, saying his actions as enumerated by him in the latest video again shows that Fayose is an indecent political extremist. “His activities must be curtailed, to forestall his present gang up against the party’s constituted authorities in the South West”.
A Pan Yoruba Summit conveyed under the aegis of Yoruba Patriots Movement, YPM, held a Summit at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday, January 21, 2021. Tha attendance was not as solid as expected, as a number of people felt it was meant to whip-up support for the Presidential interest of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Even though Tinubu has not officially proclaimed his interest in the Presidency, his foot soldiers have been at work, with a couple of groups rooting for him. And so have a number of high profile Yoruba Traditional Rulers, including the Ooni of Ife.
The Ibadan meeting was attended by traditional leaders, political functionaries and actors, eminent personalities as well as a cross section of stakeholders from the Southwest States, and representatives of Yoruba people in Kogi, Kwara, Edo and Delta States.
The Summit with the theme: “Yoruba Nation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” became imperative against the backdrop of prevailing situations in the country and the need to foster mutual understanding amongst critical stakeholders for a united voice that speaks genuinely to the collective interest and aspirations of Yoruba people in a peaceful, stable and united Nigeria.
The Summit received goodwill messages from Royal Majesties and Highnesses in Yorubaland who are custodians of Yoruba traditions and culture. An array of the hierarchies of Socio-political Groups, leaders from across political divides, political actors were at the Summit.
Representatives of women and youth groups as well as academic and professionals including Yoruba people in the Diaspora were also in attendance. Attendance at the Summit was enhanced by virtual participation and social media streaming through which wide-spectrum of stakeholders within and outside the country contributed and enriched deliberation.
The enormous challenges confronting the Nigerian State; particularly the worsening security situation, the growing frustration foisted by obvious inadequacies of current federal structure and the glaring unsuitability of the system to deliver on the aspiration of Yoruba people are highpoints of issues that necessitated the Summit.
The Summit, therefore, deliberated on the gravity of these challenges; the agonizing clamour for solutions and the available options towards reinventing and galvanizing the collective passion that will bring about the realization of the cherished vision of progressive ideals and shared-prosperity for which Yoruba leadership and followership of the Southwest are historically reputed as dependable champions and partners in Nigeria and globally. The Summit therefore exhaustively deliberated on wide ranging concerns of the generality of Yoruba people which continue to manifest as miseries of dwindling livelihoods and abysmal living conditions of over 90% of the population as well as uncertainties of insecurity which imperil lives and properties on a daily basis.
In a keynote address, Professor Adegbenga Onabamiro of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode Ogun State, alluded to the patriotic zeal of revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo which registered Yoruba nation into global reckoning within a very short space of time. He reiterated the imperative of unity as a vehicle for mobilizing the full potentials of the people. The keynote address reiterated the importance of unity amongst critical stakeholders in moving Yoruba society forward. Professor Onabamiro stressed the importance of value orientation and therefore urged the Yoruba nation to reignite the spirit of value-based politics, unity and love through which the populace could be mobilized into great force of followership to deepen democracy and demand justice. Other speakers also emphasized the need for unity in the desire to move Yoruba nation forward. Participants at the Summit expressed the hope that the Yoruba will mobilize and unite to push the ideal
The following observations, however, emanated from the Summit:
It was observed at the Summit that in spite of threats and insidious signals constituted by obvious imbalances in the current federal system, there has been conscious attempts at denying the reality; and by so doing frustrate demands for restructuring as panacea for rescuing Nigerian project from precipice.
The Summit also decried the prevailing worrisome status of Nigerian State and insidious politics of denials amidst heightened unwarranted attacks by armed bandits and kidnappers now on the prowl on daily basis across the country.
It was observed that gross inadequacy of security personnel and opposition to restructure the security system to allow the operation of state police are the major incentive for the grinding insecurity in the country.
And again, the ugly trend of kidnapping and unprovoked attacks on indigenous people of the Southwest by armed men who harass, maim and kill farmers and landowners across neighborhoods communities.
It condemned the encroachment of community lands and forests reserves as well as destruction of livelihoods of indigenous people of the Southwest by any individuals or groups in the guise of exercising freedom of Nigerian citizenship.
The rancorous politicking amongst actors who are expected to be working in harmony to demand responsible leadership and good governance in meeting the aspiration of the people; particularly considering the mounting challenges in the country.
It regretted the violence and destruction that attended the #EndSars protests and cautioned against the repeat of such incident that led to monumental devastation in Lagos State and other States of the Southwest
Summit observed the need for political leadership across the divides to raise the bar of governance by committing themselves to probity, transparency and democratic accountability.
After hours of deliberation, there were series of resolutions on Politics, Security, Governance and Welfare of the Yoruba Race in the quest to pursue the cause of fairness, equity, security and restoration of faith in the Nigerian project:
Ahead of 2023 general election, the summit resolved to rally around genuine political aspirations of individuals from the Southwest with demonstrated pedigree of commitment to the ideals of quality leadership and welfarist program of the leading light of Yoruba political leadership.
It, therefore, resolved to work in collaboration with stakeholders across political camps for the realization of objective of supporting ambition of politicians from the Southwest to offer genuine leadership to Nigerians at the federal level, and also resolved to undertake continuous engagement with political leadership in the Southwest towards the security and welfare of the people.
Consequently, the Summit resolved to support the presidential ambition of His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Insecurity has been a menace in our society, it was resolved to support the Governors of the Southwest in the desire to improve the security of the region as a follow-up to the establishment of AMOTEKUN security corps.
The prioritization of funding for the South West Security Outfit, AMOTEKUN as well as proper monitoring of the activities of the corps across the Southwest to ensure the protection of the neighborhoods, hinterlands, farms and forests.
YPM also expressed its support for Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, (SAN) in his bold; patriotic efforts to curb kidnapping and all forms of insecurity in Ondo State. Summit therefore called on other governors to take decisive steps to reassure the people of safety in their homelands.
It also reiterated the position of Ondo State Government that forests across the Southwest should not be turned into grazing zones. Summit encourage of groups or individuals interested in cattle business to undergo legitimate processes of acquiring lands for ranching to be operated under relevant laws and regulations as may be deemed necessary by the respective State.
As regards Governance, it was resolved at the Summit that all Governors of the Southwest States to strengthen the Development Network of Western Nigeria (DAWN) with the view to enhancing.
Summit demanded for new constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to reflect the demands for a restructured federalism which guarantees accountable governance, security and welfare of the generality of the people as well as to enhance accelerated development across Nigeria.
The prioritization of skill acquisition, capacity development and entrepreneurship support for youths and women in the southwest to address the growing rate of joblessness and poverty.
The Summit expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Summit Participants expressed the hope that Yoruba political leadership across board will remain united and committed around issues of mutual benefits with the view to advancing the collective interests of the Yoruba within a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.
The Summit commended the Yoruba Patriotic Movement (YPM) for organizing the Summit to promote common goals that speak to the collective interest of Yoruba people. Summit therefore advocated commitment amongst political actors across divides towards pursuing a common agenda ahead of 2023 general election.
Globally rated agency Fitch Ratings has slammed the federal government for borrowing recklessly from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. The renowned agency noted that the systemic borrowing from the apex bank has increased astronomically in the last three years.
The President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has abused the CBN Ways and Money Means, WMF facility, borrowing so much without paying back as required by the law, the agency said in its report titled ‘Nigeria’s Deficit Monetisation May Raise Macro. Stability Risks’.
The enabling CBN Acts allows the government to borrow from the apex bank to finance fiscal deficit, but the agency said the Federal government has violated the law by borrowing as much as 80 per cent of the total budget estimates within the period, above the CBN threshold of five per cent.
From the over N5trillion borrowed to finance the 2018 budget, the figure rose to over N9 trillion in the 2019 and has been on the steady rise, the agency said.
Ahmed: FG Will Borrow More From CBN
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said the government will still borrow more, adding however, that the debt to CBN will now be converted to tradable commodities.
According to the agency “We estimate that the balance of the government’s WMF with the CBN was around NGN9.8 trillion (6.7% of GDP) at end-2019, up from NGN5.4 trillion (4.2% of GDP) at end-2018. Unlike the government, we include this balance in our metrics for Nigeria’s government debt. Borrowing from the facility accounted for 30% of the FGN’s debt at end-2019, on our estimates.
“Repeated central bank financing of government budgets could raise risks to macro-stability in the context of weak institutional safeguards that preserve the credibility of policymaking and the ability of the central bank to control inflation.
“The CBN’s guidelines limit the amount available to the government under its WMF to 5% of the previous year’s fiscal revenues. However, the FGN’s new borrowing from the CBN has repeatedly exceeded that limit in recent years, and reached around 80% of the FGN’s 2019 revenues in 2020.
“The CBN’s guidelines require borrowing under the WMF to be repaid in the year in which it was granted. The government has stated its intention to securitise balances borrowed under the facility, but published statistics indicate that the amounts borrowed have been rolled over repeatedly in recent years.”
“Data published by the government indicate that the treasury paid NGN912.6 billion on the facility in 2020, equivalent to 9% only of the outstanding balance at end-2019. The government has opted to use this source of financing, despite ample liquidity on its domestic debt markets, as illustrated by negative real yields.
“Our understanding is that its ability to borrow from domestic debt markets is constrained by the authorisation granted by parliament in the budget law. The repeated resort to CBN thus reflects higher-than-expected deficits, pointing to entrenched weaknesses in public finance management,” Fitch said.
Whether Jean-Jacques Rousseau mis-credited the words to Marie-Antionette in Confessions or not, Nigeria is happy to supply a modern-day princess who has earned the title of Her Royal Spite-tress without controversy.
And unlike Antionette reputed to have tossed the infamous pate, “Let them eat cake”, out her window when the mass of ordinary people in France were dying for bread crumbs, her Nigerian cousin travelled thousands of miles to find her groove.
Ebele Obiano is the wife of Willie, Governor of one of Nigeria’s five South Eastern States, with a long list of grievances against the Federal Government.
Let’s be clear. Anambra is not one of the basket cases in the south east, even though it has a wretched reputation for nasty politics. In the last seven years, Governor Willie Obiano, building on the solid work of his predecessor, the legendarily stingy Peter Obi, has managed to raise the performance of the state in competitive public examination and agriculture.
But in less than two years, a second episode of extravagant indiscretion by the Governor’s wife now casts a long shadow over the legacy of the state’s first family.
The commissioned and published video of the governor’s wife sitting in the “owner’s corner” of her jeep and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the US while coronavirus-related deaths are spiking back home makes Antionette look like a saint.
Ebele Obiano took care to ensure her jab was not just medical tourism at its ludicrous best. It was also a calculated fashion statement. There, she was, ensconced in her 4X4, in brown pants and a black-sequins blouse, with a reporter on the deck to capture the historic event for posterity. It was a Nollywood moment.
As the tape was rolling in faraway Houston, Texas, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was reporting more COVID-19 infections back home and the number of the dead was climbing. You would think that the wife of a public official who truly has the interest of her people at heart but could do nothing to improve their safety, would, at least, do nothing to compound their misery.
It’s hardly so with Government officials and their families. It’s a global plague, but somehow, Nigerian officials always manage to squeeze themselves into notoriety’s reserved list.
In October, thousands of angry mobs broke into warehouses across the country to help themselves to large amounts of foodstuff and staple which could have been distributed at the height of the government-imposed lockdown but were left to rot, while huge supplies were diverted or weaponised for politics.
Anambra, where Ebele Obiano’s husband is Governor, was one of the worst hit states by the “palliatives riots”. Protesters estimated at 2,000 broke into a warehouse in the state capital and, in a moment of genius lacking in the French Revolution, helped themselves to bread, noodles, grains and whatever else they could find.
If there was a vaccine strongroom anywhere in the country today, after watching the video of Ebele Obiano’s designer vaccination, distraught citizens might be obliged to ask themselves why they shouldn’t breach the storage.
Ebele Obiano is not a stranger to controversy. She once spotted a pair of crystal-studded Gucci glasses estimated by some to be worth only $2,755 or the equivalent, at current prices, of three years’ minimum wage in the country.
To be fair, the governor’s wife was wearing something much plainer than Gucci – and perhaps cheaper – on the day she took vaccination in Houston. But Gucci or fluffy, it’s difficult for her to see, from her high horse, what the people who elected her husband to office are seeing. It’s difficult for her to see that they need clean water (unavailable to the majority) to sanitise; that they need clear safety guidelines, and possibly face mask mandates; that they need more testing and information about signs to look out for in case of infection; and that they need where to find help, when necessary.
Ebere Obiano
It’s stunning beyond belief that for all her elegance and the trouble of traveling over 10,000miles to be on record as the first publicly advertised wife of a public officer in the world to be vaccinated against COVID-19, she still couldn’t make out the type of vaccine she was getting, whether it was “Moderna,” or “Madonna” as she called it.
It’s not funny.
And as the tape rolled and she fielded questions from the one-man interviewing crew, she wore her heart on sleeve, saying, “When there’s a war, you do not because of bullets catching you stop…or refuse to go to war. You have to go, you have to fight, you have to survive…”
That’s so easy to say, especially when you’re fighting the war thousands of miles away from home turf, in a place where you can have the best of what money can buy and at the expense of the public treasury. But she was not done yet.
She invoked God’s name half a dozen times for the protection of citizens back home, but knowing the length she travelled to get the jab, it was obvious that she did not believe in God deep enough to protect her from catching the virus back home.
In the legend of that old trade, snake oil was always good enough for the buyer, but never so effective for the seller.
Ebele Obiano might reply that it’s not her job to provide more testing kits, mandate face masks, or provide vaccines. If the Nigerian government ever so famous for putting the cart before the horse is already talking about “ramping up oxygen production centres” when it is not even sure how many people are being tested daily, much less how many are infected or dying, why should the wife of a provincial governor be excoriated for looking after herself?
Nigeria does not know whether it is losing or winning the war on COVID-19. It’s a game of convenient guestimates. Yet, poorly collated infection figures are turning into names and names into friends and relatives dying or struggling with their lives.
The NCDC which showed so much promise early on is, almost, now overwhelmed by poor execution and a lack of staying power – that ancient Nigerian disease.
The governor’s wife may have arranged a designer COVID-19 vaccination – even hinting in the video that her husband could be next on the Houston vax train – but she’s not the only public figure who has provided this shameless public entertainment.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, one of the most present faces in the presidential campaign circuit, also took his jab in Dubai. The man who was just a heartbeat away from the Presidency lavishly distributed photos of himself taking the jab long before Ebele Obiano boarded the flight to Houston.
Abubakar may argue that he is now a private citizen and can, therefore, spend his money the way he likes. That’s true. But if his roadmap to make Nigeria great again includes a prominent chapter on how to perpetuate medical tourism, then we’re back to square one.
I’m sure there are hundreds of people – including public and private citizens – all over the world paying to get the jab and getting it quietly through different means, because they can afford it and cannot wait in line.
As vaccines rollout, the difference between rich and poor countries are showing, just as the distinction between rich and poor citizens of the same country is in stark evidence. Perhaps that’s inevitable. But to make that distinction the new face of medical tourism and to share the videos of such designer encounters to a desperate, hurting world is insensitive. Period.
I understand Ebele Obiano said she did it to dispel the prevalent notion in some circles back home that vaccination is evil. Well, except if she is taking the jab for the six million people in her state, the effect of her good intention is to say to the public, “Let them eat faith”.
Ishiekwene is the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview
Foremost Yoruba Traditional Ruler, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has said there is urgent need for President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive and immediate steps to re-establish the confidence of the people and demonstrate the capacity of the state to protect all legitimate interests.
Oba Adeyemi, in a lengthy letter addressed to President Buhari pointed out that “insecurity is posing a direct threat and imminent danger to living in Nigeria,” stressing that it is capable of de-robing the country in the comity of nations and passing it off as uncivilized and barbaric.
“As more and more countries issue travel restrictions to Nigeria and parts thereof, it is just a matter of time for Nigeria to lose whatever gains it has made in repositioning itself for more decisive participation in the international system.
“What we are witnessing in Nigeria is an anomaly because it is inconceivable that in the 21st century, when the whole world is making appreciable progress in providing enhanced standard of living, Nigerians will be living under the fear of banditry, brigandage, rape, kidnapping and terrorism.
“This is a serious national emergency, when Fulani herdsmen are engaged in criminality all over the country and the sitting federal government seems helpless and generally unperturbed by what is going on in the security organizations.
“There is no doubt that some leaders of these security organizations are either incompetent or bankrupt of ideas. Some are even compromised to take any decisive actions against criminals.
“It is trite saying that a stitch in time saves nine. For me, and relying on ancient wisdom, the dilemma of a possible breakdown of state authority and power could still be managed and the slide to anarchy arrested.
“I have held series of consultations with opinion moulders and eminent Yoruba leaders across board about the menace of these cattle herdsmen with such assault like raping of our women and in some occasions, in the presence of their husbands. That is apart from massive destruction of our agricultural lands; which ultimately points to imminent starvation.
“On top of it all is the menace of professional kidnappers, usually in military uniforms. What is more worrisome about the kidnapping notoriety is what looks like impunity which these kidnappers enjoy their nefarious activities.
“After due consultations with Yoruba leaders and as the pre-colonial head of the Yoruba nation, we are worried by the audacity of these lawless people in effecting their illegal acts in broad daylight on our usually bushy highways without any arm of security being able to do anything.
“Worse still is the confidence with which they demand ransoms and collect such illegal levies at designated spots without any arm of security being able to lay siege on them as it was the practice in the recent past.”
Oba Adeyemi called for urgent action to arrest the security drift saying that this is necessary in order that the people would not resort to alternative measures to safeguard their lives and property.
A suspected kidnapper, rapist, serving soldier and a Police new recruit are among suspects paraded on Thursday in Akure by the Ondo State Police Command for various crimes.
The police recruit, Constable, David Friday, attached to Olofin Police Station in Idanre Local Government Area, was nabbed for armed robbery.
Also arrested with David was a soldier attached to the 32 Artillery Brigade, Nigeria Army, Owena Cantonment, Innocent Victor.
They were reportedly armed with a jack knife and other dangerous weapons at a junction in Idanre, where they attacked and robbed some people.
Items they reportedly stole were N6000, one Itel phone valued at N8500, 30 litres of petrol and N125,000.
Ondo Police Commissioner, Bolaji Salami, who paraded the suspects, said David earlier stole an exhibit motor cycle at his duty post.
“He was being tried for that motorcycle theft when he was caught conspiring with a soldier to rob some people with a dagger. We paraded them and the victims identified them. Other victims came and identified them. When we are done with our investigation, we will charge them to court.”
However, the soldier denied his involvement in the crime saying he stepped back at the scene of the incident.
He said he was being held for illegal duty.
David also denied robbing anybody.
The suspected rapist, Wasiu Lateef who allegedly defiled a teenager in an uncompleted building in Lapanu village and a suspected teenage kidnapper, Bello Ali, who could not explain what he was doing in a forest between Uso and Ogbese.
A fake soldier, Desmond Ikechukwu, who impersonate the Army to intimidate members of the public was also paraded.
Desmond who confessed that he was not a soldier said he wore the uniform to a bar when he was arrested.
Salami, however, said one of the kidnap victim identified Bello as one of his abductors.
Pastor John Abiodun of a new generation Church in Ondo State will spend the next two years in prison, courtesy of an Akure High Court.
He was jailed by Justice Bode Adegbehingbe for telling lies, and publishing false allegation against a Church founder .
A lecturer at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Prof Lanre Olu- Adeyemi was, however, lucky as he was let off the hook by the court.
Abiodun was arrested in 2019 for lying against the founder of a Church, the Promiseland Prophetic Ministry, Akure, Pastor Gbenga Akinbiyi, that seven placentas were planted on the Church’s altar. The Church was located at Shasha Area of Akure.
The convict, who was a former Pastor of the Church , was said to have sworn an affidavit before the Commissioner for Oaths, on the matter.
Abiodun and a lecturer of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Prof Lanre Olu-Adeyemi were, thereafter, arraigned on eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, publications of false information, perjury, impersonation, threatening violence amongst others.
The second defendant, Prof. Olu-Adeyemi, was the Admin of the WhatsApp group, through which the false publication and accusation was published.
During the series of Court proceedings on the matter, various witnesses were called by the Court on the sides of both prosecutors and defendants.
Delivering the judgment, the trial judge, Justice Adegbehingbe found the first defendant, Abiodun, guilty on count five of the charge for contradicting himself while giving evidence in the allegation against him which included using different Church WhatsApp platforms and other social media to malign, carry out false publication and wrongly accuse the founder of the church.
The Court said Abiodun was found guilty of committing perjury, which is punishable under section 118 of criminal code, laws of Ondo state.
The Judge also held that, in law, anybody found guilty of perjury was liable to life or 14 years imprisonment but due to the plea by the defence counsel, Mr Olanrewaju Adesanmi, the jail term was reduced to two years .
“The first defendant is hereby sentenced to two years imprisonment,” the Judge ruled.
The second defendant was discharged and acquited as the court said the investigation conducted by the police on his involvement in the matter was shoddy.
Former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has thrown more light on why he convened the 2014 National Conference, stressing that it was meant to address the issues of divisive politics and growing agitation for structural reforms.
The former President who stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the 18th Daily Trust Dialogue, which focused on restructuring, also noted that mutual suspicion, absence of trust, and lack of patriotism were fundamental issues that needed to be addressed to make the nation greater.
Dr. Jonathan charged leaders at different levels to “encourage a healthy conversation on restructuring and reforms that stir national pride and love and faith of our citizens in our beloved country.”
He stated further that the call for restructuring would make better meaning if Nigerians prioritised “love of country, national unity, unifying leadership and building of strong institutions and values.”
On why he convened the 2014 national Conference, Dr. Jonathan said: “My administration elected six years ago to convene the 2014 National Conference, which I inaugurated on March 17, 2014 in Abuja for the specific purpose of addressing some of the issues that have been agitating the minds of Nigerians.”
The former President also made a case for the restructuring of the minds of Nigerians, adding that some of the challenging issues at the national level still exist at the state and local levels.
He said: “For instance, in some states, it is not easy for some persons to win an election because of the area they come from, the language they speak, or their religious belief.
“Take a look at how Local Government elections are conducted at the state level. Why is it very difficult for an opposition party to win a chairmanship or councillorship seat in a state, despite the fact that the same party probably secured seats in the State Assembly and National Assembly elections, organized by a federal election management body?”
He said further: “Like every other nation, Nigeria is a project in progress and should confidently discuss her experiences and fashion out solutions to improve on her performance and the well being of all citizens. We should all do our little best in our little corners to overcome the challenges we face, and work hard to reposition our country for a greater and more prosperous tomorrow for our children.
“This cannot be achieved without deliberate effort to promote national unity and love of country by all our leaders and citizens. We owe ourselves and the coming generations a duty to reduce the bile and embrace one another so that restructuring for a better and greater Nigeria can be meaningful and guarantee the nation’s economic development and citizen’s welfare.
“We should never lose hope in our nation for the future is bright. With the robust character of our people and the unbeatable resilience of our spirit, I have no doubt that our country will become greater.”
Many well meaning Nigerians had, at one time or the other, asked the President Muhammadu Buhari Government to dust up the report of the 2014 Confab, and implement it in order to take care of a number of problems besieging the country.
Ondo state House of Assembly has backed the seven-day ultimatum issued to herdsmen to quit the state’s Forests by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
According to the Lawmakers, the decision is a good intention meant to secure the lives and property of the people.
The Lawmakers, while reacting to various positions by interest groups on the vacation order, posited that the Herdsmen had done a lot of damage to the people.
Following incessant cases of kidnapping, and other criminal activities traceable to rogue herders in the state forest reserves, Governor Akeredolu, at a meeting with the leadership of Fulani herdsmen, ordered unregistered members of the Cattle Rearers Association to vacate the forests within seven days.
In a press statement, signed by the Chairman House Committee on Information Youth and Sports Development, Mr Olugbenga Omole, the Lawmakers lamented the loss of lives and property attributed to the nefarious activities of herders in Ondo State.
“The mindless killing of the daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, the gruesome murder of the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Adewusi, the recent killing of the Deputy Registrar of the Federal University of Technology Akure among others are still very fresh in our memory”
While commending Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for his courage in issuing the vacation order, the Lawmakers condemned the statement credited to the Presidential spokesperson Shehu Garba criticising the stance of the Governor.
They noted that residents of the State have gone through a lot of trauma in the hands of these criminal minded individuals, adding that it is the responsibility of government to protect the lives and property of the citizenry.
While pledging their support for the quit notice, the Lawmakers stated that they may have to cut short their recess to attend to this burning issue while urging registered herders to go about their legitimate duties without fear.
