One singer who has kept the flag of Fuji music flying in Ekiti state is no other than Akanmu. He’s also called Chief Banuso of Fuji worldwide.
The Ado-Ekiti based Sensema who was decorated as Eyinju Oganla by the Oganla of Fuji, Pasuma Wonder, is set to release a new album. The new effort is titled, Assignment.
The album which was produced by prolific music producer, Prince Ademola Adelakun, is slated to be launched 6th September at the prestigious Oyebam Hotel in Ado-Ekiti.
Some of the tracks on the highly danceable and philosophical album include, Motide, Ogbon, Education, Okudu 1, among others.
Captain Hosa Wells is a consummate philanthropist and a household word in Edo state, emanating largely from his deep impart on the lives of the common man and corporate institutions in the society. Captain Hosa Okunbo is one exceptional Benin man that has used his God given talents, time and treasury for the emancipation of the common man. He’s the hero of the unsung Nigerian who has no godfather to pillar his desires. He is the quintessential egalitarian who transcended the ropes and is today one of the ‘big boys’ of the evolving Nigeria neo mercantile economy. Captain has a cursory disposition towards humility and one of the most unassuming billionaires the black race has ever produced. Captain is very passionate about his string of business and makes humongous successes of them.
From industrial engineering to high tech farming, through the very highly wired terrain of oil and gas, Marine engineering, Hotels, Logistics and real estate. Recently he resorted to newspaper publications to call the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki to order.
His very detailed and well laid out expose` of the dwindling relationship between him and the governor based largely on an unfounded misconception and fuelled by the reelection ambition of the latter, was so well articulated that the Governor had to beat a retreat and openly apologized for his reticence. Capt. Hosa enjoys
enormous good will in the society and being a ‘son’ of the Palace is an added virtue to his integrity. He’s a great mobilizer of the youths of the society and understands the psychology of hunger and wants.
He creates social structures that endures through jobs and employment generation, provision of very supportive scholarship, and health care support facilities. It is on record that he pioneered private hostel development in tertiary institutions in Edo to address the acute deficit in the accommodation of students. He represents the new face of Edo especially in the quest for growth and development. He’s most deserving of National honours and his untiring efforts in industry development, Marine engineering, direct foreign investment into Nigeria makes him outstanding for praises.
In the desire to halt the many appalling stories of persons caught driving without up-to-date
vehicle permits and licenses especially in a busy city like Lagos, an initiative which becomes operational on the 2nd of September is born.
It comes in the name of Pidgeonhole.
Pidgeonhole is necessitated by the development of an easy to use platform for vehicle documents renewal (vehicle license, hackney permit, road worthiness and vehicle insurance) within 24 hours and physical delivery of the renewed documents within 48 hours after renewal.
Pidgeonhole provides convenience and affordability in one package as all deliveries are pegged at a flat rate of N1, 000 within Lagos.
Pidgeonhole also provides a self-serve instant third party vehicle insurance that is accessible across Nigeria while its full compliment vehicle document renewal service is currently operational only in Lagos State with plans to launch in other states in
top gear.
Its services can be accessed on its website; www.pidgeonholeng.com and it can be reached via its social media handle; pidgeonholeng on facebook, twitter and instagram including WhatsApp on 08033947152.
This initiative is powered by Moore Auto works in collaboration
with vehicle licensing authorities and Law Union and Rock insurance
Amid the din and dingdong of electioneering, the promises and propaganda of a starry-eyed era and the generous exchange of money for prospective votes as September 19 draws closer, the people of Edo State need some reality check – a deliberate and sustained reminder of the head-spinning and harrowing catalogue of cruelties, crises and crimes foisted on them by a self-serving governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
The time cannot be more auspicious for this reminder so that the people are not swayed by money and superfluous promises. They must muster all their votes to reverse the ills of the Obaseki administration by voting him out.
Considering, therefore, that many public affairs analysts, commentators, columnists and bloggers alike have recurrently written and extensively documented Obaseki’s catalogue of sins against the people, this writer would attempt to periscope those malfeasances from the perspective of the Seven Deadly Sins propounded initially by the Roman ascetic and theologian, Evagrius Ponticus, but modified in the Sixth Century by Pope Gregory 1.
Though not biblical, the Seven Deadly Sins are theological and are believed to be the precursors for other sins and further immoral behaviours. The are Pride, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust, and Sloth.
Evagrius describes pride as the father of all sins and it has been deemed the devil’s most prominent trait. From all indications, Obaseki’s pride drives him. Having tasted power, Obaseki’s pride skyrocketed and began to manifest in wanton corruption and whimsical selfishness at the expense of the welfare of the people.
His concatenation of crises has been predicated largely on his self-interest, nothing more, which is why the second term bid for him is a do-or-die affair. He is ready to crush anything in his way. He has been fighting those, who propelled him into power, because he thought he had seen it all and every other person was inconsequential.
It was pride that prompted Obaseki to say on television that he would not only deal with a two-term former governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole but that he would ensure his arrest if he came anywhere near Edo State. Yet, this was the same man that sold Obaseki to the electorate and allowed him to run for office on the strength of his (Oshiomhole’s) achievements.
It was greed writ large, when Obaseki accused some phantom Edo APC leaders of fighting him for access to the state treasury to share Edo money and that he would never do so but defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he was given an automatic ticket to contest after billions of naira allegedly exchanged hands, all in a desperate bid to remain in office.
Like greed, lust is an intense longing for sex but in Obaseki’s case, his lust is for power and money and ego-tripping. And he goes about these like a bull in a China shop. His face-off with the House of Assembly exemplifies this.
In 2019, Obaseki refused to order a proclamation, in line with constitutional provisions and procedure, to clear the way for the inauguration and constitution of the seventh assembly.
His reluctance was predicated on his belief that he did not have enough foot soldiers in the House as against the number loyal to Oshiomhole. He vowed that the doors of the assembly would remain shut for as long as he desired and it has remained so thereby denying the people legislative representation.
Envy is characterised by an insatiable desire – sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. So, fighting a non-partisan, apolitical man like Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, is a clear manifestation of envy.
One of Edo’s most prominent sons and pre-eminent Nigerian, Captain Hosa’s investments in the state are in the region of billions of dollars and he, arguably, employs as many Edo indigenes as does the government. His philanthropy is felt beyond even Edo State. He is what Obaseki and his collaborators aspire to be.
Whilst he never sought anything from the Obaseki administration apart from support it with his resources, a puerile and unfounded rumour that the widely loved Captain was eyeing the governorship seat has unleashed Obaseki’s base animalistic impulses. Obaseki may not have come to the realisation yet, but confronting and impugning on the integrity of a colossus like Captain Hosa is a recipe for political obliteration.
The evidence of Obaseki’s gluttony is an extension of his greed and lust for power: He not only wants power, but he also can’t get enough of it. Like all gluttons, he is leaving a mess in his wake. Instead of discarded bones, there are a ruined economy, unhappy indigenes, insecurity and underdevelopment.
Under Obaseki, the Edo government is drunk for more money, which the people never see its impact whether on infrastructure or the economy or the life of an average indigene. For him, it is just about how to make more revenues even at the detriment of taxpayers while maintaining the second position of the most indebted state in Nigeria.
Wrath is defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage and even hatred often revealing itself in the wish to seek vengeance. Who better epitomises this than Obaseki? His wrath is one of the defining features of his administration. No one is immune to his anger and vengefulness. From Oshiomhole to Captain Hosa, legislators and even the revered Oba of Benin, they have all tasted of it.
How about Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who was mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari to mediate in the face-off between Obaseki and the House of Assembly, when he blatantly refused to inaugurate the House at the appropriate time.
Upon the constitution of a 10-man reconciliatory committee last December to resolve the crises and appease the aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, nationwide, Obaseki accused the senate president and the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, of playing a prominent role in the crisis rocking the party in the state.
He did not rest until Lawan was replaced with Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State. The height of his wrath, perhaps, was the demolition of the hotel of Tony Kabaka Adun, whose only offence was that he is an ally of Oshiomhole. Despite a court order restraining the state government from demolishing the hotel building and appeals from well-meaning indigenes and prominent Nigerians, Obaseki still went ahead to do so citing nebulous excuses.
Sloth, according to its proponent, has different meanings but, in this context, is defined as the absence of interest or habitual disinclination to exertion – a failure to do things that one should do, therefore, allowing evil to reign, because good people failed to act. The dictionary meanings also include laziness and wilful inactivity.
Thus, it is ironic, tragic even that Obaseki has been blaming his failings on the APC on which platform he rode to power in 2016 but which he defected from in June 2020. He has brazenly refused to do the work he was elected for, thereby, taking the state on a retrogressive expedition!
Every human – whether the artist or artisan; cleric or clerisy; the prosperous or proletariat; politician or professional – have their failing. But Obaseki departs from his predecessors and the character components that Edo State requires in a leader and one who can take them out of the doldrums, because he is unable to control his impulses and manage his sins.
So, the likelihood of him repenting or changing is not even remote and, therefore, does not deserve a vote from the people of Edo State!
L-R: Chairman, Kano State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Samuel Adeyemo; Managing Director, PreDiagnosis International, Dr. John Iguve and Regional Manager, North, PreDiagnosis International, Yusuf Salihu during a courtesy visit by PDI officials to the CAN leadership at the CAN Secretariat, Kano
The Kano State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Samuel Adeyemo, has called on philanthropic organisations and governments at all levels in the country to intensify efforts towards providing cheap and practical solutions to the continued inability of poor and vulnerable grassroots dwellers to access basic healthcare to meet common health challenges.
Reverend Adeyemo who is also the General Overseer of the Believers World Baptist Fellowship in Kano made the appeal during a visit by officials of the PreDiagnosis International to the leadership of the Kano State CAN Chapter last week Monday.
While lauding the extension of PreDiagnosis International’s grassroots telehealthcare initiative coverage to Kano State, the CAN leader noted that lack of compassionate interventions by people of means as well as poverty and ignorance among the citizens have worsened the standard of living among grassroots communities across the country.
“The suffering brought to majority of the citizens by lack of access to basic healthcare is really huge. The CAN Leadership in this State is therefore excited by this initiative of PreDiagnosis International to help the masses get basic access to healthcare. This is because access to qualified doctors from the comfort of wherever one can use technology is something every citizen needs in order for many health challenges to be resolved at an early stage”, he stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the Leader of the PDI team, Dr. John Iguve, explained that the coming of the company to Kano and adjoining states in the Northern part of the country was a step further in PDI’s commitment to making affordable healthcare services available at the doorstep of the people especially the poor and the vulnerable across Nigeria.
According to him, PDI’s operational focus was based on the determination to meet the target of delivering efficient and affordable modern healthcare to at least 20 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians between 2020 and 2030.
Dr. Iguve appealed to the CAN Leadership and other cadres of leadership across the State to help in spreading the news among the citizens in order for the benefits of the Initiative to be fully enjoyed by the people.
“We are happy to announce that we are moving a step further in our campaign to make affordable healthcare services available at the doorstep of the people, especially the poor and the vulnerable across Nigeria. We need the community leaders at all levels to help us spread the news among our people so that everyone can benefit.
“As a semi-philanthropic hybrid health service company, PDI is determined, through our bouquet of technology-based and mass-market targeted medical services, to be at the forefront of meaningful efforts to ensure public healthcare delivery to the poor and vulnerable. Our decision to come and establish strong presence in the Northern part of the country and Kano in particular is aimed at further opening up the frontiers to reach, rescue and fortify many more Nigerians through our modern day Ark of telemedicine in the country,” he disclosed.
Polaris Bank has launched an account called ‘Polaris Target Savings Account’ to boost healthy savings culture and build a strong financial base.
The Group Head, Products and Market Development, Mrs Adebimpe Ihekuna, said this in a statement entitled ‘Polaris Bank introduces target savings account’ on Saturday.
Ihekuna said, “The savings culture is gradually going into extinction as people generally spend than save; hence, the launch of the target savings account to help Nigerians save for a better tomorrow.
“We recognise that there is never going to be enough money to save; that is what one must first accept but the need to develop the habit of savings is as important as life in itself.
“A salary increase for most people will not necessarily get them to save more, your children finishing school will not get you to save more, a bigger client for your business will not get you to save more, and getting older will not enable you to save more.”
Ihekuna added, “Paying off your mortgage and other debts will not get you to save more; all these are excuses not to start saving today. If you are not saving with what you have today, chances are you might not save when you have more money.”
She said it was not too late to start saving, adding that Nigerians willing to take up the challenge and begin to save for specific goals for the future could do so with ease, through the Polaris Target Savings account.
Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has made her debut in a movie produced by award-winning, and proudly Nigerian movie producer, Kunle Afolayan. The movie, Citation, is created to correct one of the greatest ills – rape and sexual molestation – which affects the educational system and indeed societies around the world.
Mrs. Awosika plays the role of the dean of a university faculty, overseeing the senate hearing panel of a female postgraduate student (Moremi), played by Temi Otedola, who has been a victim of sexual harassment. The movie was shot to lend a voice to support victims of sexual harassment and rape, beyond the university environment. Ibukun Awosika was chosen due to her leading impact on women advocacy and leadership.
Unveiling Ibukun Awosika, the surprise cast of the movie, Kunle Afolayan posted on his official Instagram handle; “It all began in 2018 with the pre-production of Citation, then the production in January 2020, and now the 30th of August, we officially had the first private screening of Citation at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).
“Why OAU? Well, not only was Citation shot at the University, but our surprise cast is an alumna of the school.”
Expressing her delight on the movie, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, FirstBank said; “the physical and psychological effects of sexual harassment have a considerable toll on individuals and institutions in terms of cost. The effects of can hamper growth and the potentials and can stop the victims from engaging fully in life. We must, therefore, (as stakeholders, governments, institutions of learning; parents; media etc.), collectively rise against this menace and never let the deplorable behaviour of sexual harassment to fester.”
“I remain upbeat about this project – being part of a collective goal to continually keep dreams and hope alive; sacrificing and holding strong to our commitment to reignite the lost values. The casting experience has been very enriching and impactful to me. I am delighted to be amongst the very amazing casts in such an intriguing and brilliantly scripted movie.
Obafemi Awolowo University played host to the movie which was written by Tunde Babalola. Other stars in the movie include; Joke Silver, Jimmy Jean Louis, Sadiq Daba, Gabriel Afolayan and Temi Otedola, amongst others.
As part of its further response to deal with the global economic challenge occasioned by COVID-19, Heritage Bank Plc has reiterated commitment to deepen its support to young entrepreneurs in Nigeria to grow their businesses either as start-ups or prospective business owners. This, the bank said, is in line with its culture as timeless wealth partners, which would impact positively on the nation’s socio-economic development.
The MD/CEO of the bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that Heritage Bank was mindful of the devastating impact of the pandemic to the nation’s economic system, hence as an institution at the forefront of investing in human capital development for critical economy recovery, “we will up our game to empower Nigerian youths who are one of the bedrock of any vibrant economy,” he added.
He disclosed that one of the channels churned out in partnering the youths to leverage their talents and contribute their quota to the growth of the economy, was the use of financial inclusion strategy which would be adopted to boost entrepreneurship development, as this is critical to Heritage Bank’s mission to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
He further explained that Heritage Bank’s various entrepreneur schemes in the support for business had always focused on dependable job-creating sectors, such as agricultural value chain (fish farming, poultry, snail farming), cottage industry, mining and solid minerals, creative industry (tourism, arts and crafts), and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Sekibo restated that the aim of Heritage Bank being at the forefront of youth empowerment is to emancipate the latent entrepreneurial spirit in the teeming youths to unleash their support to the growth of the economy.
His words: “At Heritage, nothing else is more fulfilling than to groom-to-empower young aspiring start-up entrepreneurs, as we mentor them to grow and become large corporates enlisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
“In recent times, we have worked with private and public sectors- The Next Titans, HB Lab, Creative Nigerian Summit, National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), NYSC and the Central Bank of Nigeria to support youths and young entrepreneurs to grow their businesses as a start-up or prospective business owners.
He also reiterated that the bank had continued to make efforts to lead the recovery of the Nigerian economy through championing several empowerment schemes such as the Prime Women Builders Foundation of Nigeria, Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP), Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) on Young Entrepreneurship Business Training Programme (YEBTP), Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) Grant and Nigerian Young Professional Forum (NYPF), amongst others.
AKAD RECORDS is a music discovery company, dedicated to discovering, supporting, and promoting visionary African artists from around the globe.
Its pioneer act, Lil Dee has been signed to the record label while the new company also aims to sign one of the hottest producers around.
CEO of the company, Akinwale Ademokoya offers a sneak peek into what this new record label has to offer; with the release of the hot new single by its artiste Lil Dee titled “OWO” featuring Jaywon.
As a Management Company, Akad Records will make its mark in West, East, and South Africa through their proposed offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and the company’s launching is a boost for the music industry in Africa.
The Group Chief Executive of Akad Records, Akinwale Ademokoya, said this announcement was a watershed in the history of music in Africa. “With the launch of AKAD RECORDS, we are now positioned as a uniquely Pan-African label,” he said. “We will coordinate releases to synchronize in unison from Lagos to Lesotho and from Nairobi to Niamey.”
Adding that he was very excited about the opportunities of a “borderless Africa.”
“I am excited to make a movement that is borderless and that exports Africa’s best talents to the world,” Akinwale said. “The world is about to experience a new superpower.”
Expressing his excitement about the company, Akinwale also said this is a long time dream come through “This is something I have been excited about for a long time,” he said. “We are joining forces with some international players in the industry who are already doing it big and we will keep pushing to make beautiful music.”
“At Akad Records, we believe in dreams, we believe in success, we believe in greatness, together [WE OWN THE CITY]”
Akad Record is ready to begin a new journey by delivering the best of Africa to the rest of the world.
The issues of rape has suddenly become a scourge that needs urgent and swift interference of relevant government agencies, many organisations and individual has been clamoring for different and stiffer punishment rapists. The holy Bible according to Deuteronomy 22 verse 25 put the punishment for rape as death.
The 2008 UN Security Council meeting had also passed Resolution 1820, which states that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes”. Patricia Sellers, a prominent international criminal attorney and special adviser for prosecution strategies to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court further reinforce the fact that the Yugoslavia and Rwanda judgment enforcement has erased the doubt and established rape as a war crime, a crime against humanity and sexualized violence within the meaning of genocide.
It is therefore expected that legislators will take the bold step as making sure that rapists are made to pay the swift maximum punishment for the crime tagged crime against humanity.
However, one thing that come to mind when we are trying to ascertain the guilty or the innocent is what I call the Joseph treatment. Since most of the cases enjoying media mention in Nigeria especially those that has to do with celebrities are issues the accusers always dated to years back with no doctor report to back them up, many are of the thought that the case of biblical Joseph may be the case.
If it could be recollected Joseph was accused by his master’s wife of rape even when the story relays that it is a case of fight back of a scorned woman. Findings shows many men have been punished unjustly for such cases all around the world, this write-up will be mentioning few and the consequence on those that were falsely accused.
The story of Daniel Jones of Queanbeyan City in Australia is one story that stand out, the then 25 years old was accused of rape by his fiancée and he was made to undergo more than six (6) years long persecution that cost his parent their life savings of more than $600,000, it took intervention of a new detective to set him from the false accusation of a lady who is supposed to be his wife.
Though Dan did not spend more than months in the prison but his accusation ended up destroying his parents’ more than 30 years relationship and all their life savings while the lady in question Sarah Jane Parkinson was only sentence to 3 years and 1 month period in prison not for falsely accusing Dan but for misleading investigator with no monetary compensation for the ruined family.
Another like that is the case of two young men in New York, USA, who were accused of rape, Gregory Counts, then 19, and Van Dyke Perry, then 21 in 1991, they were arrested and charged with rape. Despite the fact that investigators had no physical evidence. Semen recovered from the woman did not match the two accused men. The prosecution’s case relied heavily on her testimony, and in 1992, a jury convicted Mr. Counts and Mr. Perry on all counts except for the weapons charges. Mr. Perry ended up serving 11 years in prison while Mr. Counts served 26 years.
It took efforts of the attorneys with the Innocence Project in 2012 to reopen the case and with the help of DNA proved the two men were wrongfully imprisoned, during further investigations and questioning the woman who accused the two admitted that the story was a lie. She told investigators that her boyfriend forced her to make the fake accusations.
Though Perry who was released when he was 32 years after spending 11 years in prison was able to pick-up his life, the case is Counts was released when he was 45 years after spending 26 years behind bars for an offence he did not commit and he will have to start picking his life up from there while the woman who falsely accused them left off the hook.
Here some of the cases that is raising the people’s fear that the campaigners for capital punishment for rapists though on track but a law must also be put in place for those who are falsely accusing people of rape and other sexual related offences to face almost the same punishment as rapists, since the two of them will be altering the lives of those at the receiving end.
It will therefore be right for sexual offence activists to join in their clamour same punishment for both rapist and the Josephs.
