Former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode who recently found love again has labeled controversial Nigerian journalist, Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, the best in the field of journalism.
Fani-Kayode who is currently in court with his immediate estranged wife and mother of his 4 sons, Precious Chikwendu over their children’s custody, showered praises on Kemi for honoring the birthday of his sons on May 25.
Sharing a video of himself and Kemi hugging and exchanging pleasantries, FFK wrote, “It was an honor and a pleasure to receive my sister and friend Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo and her son KJ in my Abuja home on May 25th for the birthday celebration of my sons Ragnar, Aiden and Liam. We had not seen each other in 38 years and it was a wonderful reunion.
Kemi is one of the most courageous, incisive, and cerebral investigative journalists in Nigeria and she has become a household name in our country. She seeks the truth and speaks it boldly and she has no fear of anything or anyone.”
The politician added, “Not many people could have endured what this extraordinary lady has suffered and endured over the years all because she has spoken truth to power and against evil in a society that thrives on lies, deceit, slander, gossip, false accusations, injustice, the worship of money and the deification of the rich.
How I wish we had more journalists with Kemi’s integrity, courage and strength in our country. If we did Nigeria would be a better place. Simply put she is formidable and utterly irrepressible.
I am proud to be considered worthy of being her friend. Thanks for coming sister. The Fani-Kayode love you and we always will. Shalom.”
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has expressed confidence that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will in 2023 bring about the desired change Nigerians are yearning for.
Diri also advocated the strengthening of the party at all levels in order to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre in the 2023 general elections.
In a statement on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the governor noted that the PDP was the only reliable alternative party that could provide purposeful leadership at this point in time.
He said, “Nigeria is ripe enough for change. We have experienced the change that the APC brought and now it is time to change the change.
“PDP is the only veritable and reliable alternative party for now. So, you and I have been given the mandate to rescue this nation. We have the best times to bounce back to the national scene.
“Our appeal is that the APC should allow the people to determine who becomes their president in 2023. We don’t want Nigeria to go down,” he said.
Diri also cautioned that the party and country’s interests should be placed above personal considerations in the choice of a presidential candidate, noting that political power should be utilised to positively impact lives as it was ephemeral.
Nollywood actor, Yomi Fabiyi has published a statement vindicating his embattled colleague and friend, Baba Ijesha, who is currently undergoing trial for reportedly defiling a 14-year-old minor, the ward of comedienne-Actress, Princess.
Recall the alleged pedophile, Baba Ijesha, real name Olanrewaju Omiyinka was denied bail by a magistrate court on Wednesday, June 16.
In a post shared on his IG page after the arraignment of Baba Ijesha on Wednesday, Yomi said the Nigerian police has no evidence against Baba Ijesha because according to him, the victim insists that at no time did the actor defile her.
He also continued his call for the prosecution of the adults who arranged for the actor to be caught on camera allegedly defiling the 14-year-old girl.
Here is what he published on Instagram on Wednesday night.
The Nollywood actor recently published a video on his Instagram page demanding the court to be unbiased.
His post reads;
”Part of my concerns and why the law must act unbiased. Fighting for the rights of the child means getting justice against all abuses and assaults done against her innocence and her wish.
“Have you ask yourself, what if in the process of the set up there was violence, door locked behind and aside been raped, the girl was killed, will ALL THE ADULTS INVOLVED be let go.
“How can the law be BLIND to that and set a horrible antecedent for several innocent children in our society?
“Where are the SOCIAL SERVICES in the state, why is the DPP advice silent on all the crimes involved in the entire episodes and all that done against the child, why the silence on all that?”
A 54-year old jilted lover, Christopher Akpan, who lured his lover and Civil Defence Officer, Josephine Cynthia Oche, 45, to Obi Local Government and killed her with his alleged accomplice, a 47-year old native doctor, Rafiu Afolabi, has been arrested.
Akpan and his accomplice, Afolabi, were on Wednesday paraded by CP Frank Mba, the Force Spokesman and Commissioner of Police, at the STS/IRT Premises along Guzape Road, Abuja, with 34 other suspected criminals.
CP Mba said all the 36 suspects, allmalesandafemalewere clearly and evidentially linked withvariouscasesranging from criminalconspiracy, kidnapping, armedrobbery, homiciderelated cases, rape, unlawful possession of prohibited fire arms, cattle rustling, receiving of stolen property to car theft.
“In the course of this investigation, a total of 12 assorted weapons made up of eight AK 49 rifles, three AK 47 rifles, and one locally made weapon were recovered.
“Also recovered from these suspectsare20AK47magazines, 346 rounds of AK 47 ammunition, 24 rounds of live cartridges, a cash sum of N1.4 million recoveredfromsomekidnapped suspects as well as six stolen but recovered cars retrieved from some of the car thieves, among other exhibits,” he said.
On the case involving the brutal and murder of the Civil Defence officer, Josephine Cynthia Oche, a Benue born Civil Defence personnel who was in a relationship with one Christopher Akpan, Mba revealed that Christopher Akpan had earlier engaged Josephine having proffered love and having promised to marry her.
In the course of the relationship, he narrated that a lot of financial deals and transactions took place and it was believed that Josephine had handed over some huge sum of money amounting to N14 million to Christopher Akpan.
“Between 19th and 20th of December, 2019, she had visited Christopher who eventually lured her into the house of a native doctor, one Rafiu Afolabi who originally hails from Shaki in Edo State but resident in Ado in Obi Local Government Area of Benue State.
“It was in the house of this native doctor that Josephine was eventually murdered and her body taken to a forest in the sameareawhereshewasburied in a shallow grave.
“It took intense efforts massive follow up investigations by operatives of IRT before this crime was eventuallyuncovered and the decomposed body had since be exhumed. We intend to carry out further confirmatory test on her,” Mba said.
While narrating the story to newsmen, thenativedoctorsaid, he is a native doctor and farmer. Accordingtohim, hewasarrestedforparticipatinginthekilling of the officer.
He revealed that Akpan met him and told him that someone isowing himmoneyandtheperson is very wicked. And that he wanted to treat the person badly.
“He promised to give me give me N5 million, if I kill the women. When the woman came to my placeafter twodays, theman came and told the woman, I am going to do something for her to make her pregnant as soon as they get married. So he told the woman we were going to bath her.
“So, I took the bucket for them and we were going inside the bush. The man shot the woman from behind and asked me to burn her which I refused but he took her and buried her in the forest. He gave me N50 thousand from the woman’ spurse and told me he was coming back which he never did,” the native doctor said.
A 500-level student of the Faculty of Law, Olasubomi Olopade, on Wednesday became the vice Chancellor of Bowen University.
Olopade’s tenure would last for just one day for which he would be paid..
Olopade, who ran the affairs of the university on Wednesday, emerged the winner of a competition, One Day VC,’ which involved a series of screening, essay competition and manifesto presentation.
The students who came second and third, Ibunkunoluwa Areo, a 400-level student of Economics Department; and James Joshua, a 400-level student of Statistics Department, assisted Olopade as the deputy vice chancellors Academics, and Research and Outreach respectively.
The one-day VC, in an interview after a church service held in his honour, said he contested in the first edition, but could not make it beyond the best five contestants. He said he applied again this year and eventually became the winner.
Olopade said, “This is an opportunity to serve my colleagues and display the leadership skills I have imbibed.
“Our politicians usually tell us that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and that is when they a begging for votes but after that, it ends.
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But the truth is the youth should be partners with the leaders now. I am.not calling for eradication of the elders but the youth should be given opportunities to showcase their talents.”
A 400-level student of Medicine and Surgery, Mayomikun Olawale, won the 2020 contest at the maiden edition.
The substantive VC, Prof Joshua Ogunwole, had told our correspondent that he introduced the concept of one-day VC to give students practical exposure to leadership.
Unknown gunmen have kidnapped a Nigerian football coach, Stanley Eguma.
Subsequently, the police commissioner in Enugu, Mohammed Aliyu, has ordered the rescue of Mr Eguma.
Mr Eguma is the coach of Rivers United FC, Port Harcourt. He was reportedly abducted along the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway on Tuesday.
Mr Aliyu gave the order in a statement issued by the police spokesman ASP Daniel Ndukwe, on Wednesday, in Enugu.
The statement disclosed that Mr Eguma was abducted by gunmen on June 15, at about 4:00 p.m. on the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.
“The order is sequel to a complaint made to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command, the same date as the incident at about 5:05 p.m., by two other persons travelling with the victim.
“His co-travellers alleged that the unidentified gunmen, operating in a white-coloured Hilux van, trailed and forced the black-coloured Hilux van conveying them from Gombe to Port-Harcourt, to stop.
“They further alleged that the assailants pushed the two of them out and made away with the vehicle, abducting the victim in the process,’’ the police statement explained.
The police added that the commissioner was urging the public to provide useful information that will assist the command in its ongoing investigation.
“Informants can call the command’s hotlines: 08032003702, 08075390883, 08086671202 or 08098880172 or by sending an email to: contact042ppro@gmail.com. The command is assuring the confidentiality of the informants’ identities,’’ the statement added.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has successfully trained over 200,000 entrepreneurs in core business management skills as part of its 2021 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
The Business Management training was conducted exclusively on TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform that provides capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over 1 Million Africans and counting.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Business Management Training equips entrepreneurs with critical skills required to launch and run their businesses at the early growth stage. With a unique curriculum that encompasses topics on Starting Your Business, Business Management & Fundamentals, Leadership & Business Growth, Selecting and Building a Team, amongst others, entrepreneurs are effectively armed to achieve business growth, profitability, and sustained success.
Entrepreneurs were hosted to weekly information sessions, as part of the training, to address relevant concerns and share vital programme updates. All entrepreneurs received active support from coaches and mentors who provided technical guidance, counsel and one-one interaction throughout the duration of the training programme.
The training, which is one element of the 7 pillars of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, was carried out in the official African languages including English, French, Portuguese and Arabic, and over 40 percent of trained participants were women.
Commenting on this milestone, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, said “Every year, our commitment to transform Africa is further strengthened with the passion, resilience and talent of the high-calibre entrepreneurs who onboard our flagship programme. Our curricular provides a holistic opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn, grow and contribute to the development of their communities.”
The Chief Executive Officer added: “Furthermore, it is a testament to the eagerness and readiness of African entrepreneurs across all of Africa to make themselves available to transform the continent for good. I would like to commend these entrepreneurs for their discipline, dedication and hard work throughout the training and look forward to the immense impact of their businesses across diverse sectors in Africa. We remain committed to empowering African entrepreneurs with the required resources and support that will ensure that their businesses can scale and drive sustainable change on the continent”.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Training is immediately followed by a Business Plan review process for each entrepreneur. The top-performing entrepreneurs subsequently participate in the Pitching phase of the Programme after which successful entrepreneurs receive a non-returnable seed capital of US$5000 each.
The leading African philanthropy also hopes to train and empower thousands more across the African continent as part of its commitment to catalyze economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation.
In 2020, the Tony Elumelu Foundation marked ten years of impact, having empowered and funded nearly 10,000 African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries as part of its US$100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. The Tony Elumelu Foundation is inspired by Tony Elumelu’s economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the long-term social and economic development of the African continent.
To learn more about the Tony Elumelu Foundation, please visit TonyElumeluFoundation.org; and to receive the Foundation’s free business training, please visit TEFConnect.com.
Tragedy struck again at Iwo Road area of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital city on Wednesday, two people were confirmed killed when men of the Oyo State Park Management System under the leadership of Mr Mukaila Lamidi (also known as Auxiliary) allegedly attacked some shop owners in Iwo Road area of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital city on Wednesday.
According to a report by The Nation Newspaper, the attack on the shop owners was said to be in continuation of an earlier attack and a counter attack between the Auxilliary PMS boys and members of the proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Tuesday.
Two persons were said to have died from the PMS and banned NURTW camps on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the suspected PMS boys stormed the Baba Onilu area of Iwo Road, attacking the shops where phones were being sold.
They were said to have unleashed terror on the phone sellers and shop owners destroying kiosk, show glasses and items.
One member of the NURTW was said to have been killed in the process while many others suffered varying degrees of injuries.
A son of one of the shop owners, simply identified as Ahmed, was said to have been killed in an effort to identify those fomenting trouble in the property.
Twenty-five years after the current Polling Units were created in 1996, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has created new 56,872 Polling Units, bringing the number to a total number of 176,846 from the existing 119,974 Polling Units. These will come into effect starting from the Anambra State Governorship election holding on November 6.
The last elections to be conducted using the previous number of polling units are the four pending bye-elections in Kaduna, Jigawa and Plateau states. “Two of these elections,” according to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu will hold this weekend, “in Sabon Gari State Constituency in Kaduna State and Gwaram Federal Constituency in Jigawa State, while the Commission awaits the formal declaration of vacancies by the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives in respect of Lere Federal Constituency of Kaduna State and Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency of Plateau State.”
The Commission has also approved that the Ekiti State Governorship election will hold on Saturday, June 18, 2022 while the Osun State Governorship election will hold one month later on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
Under the newly announced Polling Units, Lagos has the highest number of 13,325 Polling Units, followed by Kano State with 11, 222 Polling Units. Bayelsa State recorded the least number of Polling Units with 2,244 Polling Units followed by Ekiti State with 2,415 Polling Units.
Yakubu disclosed this at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the INEC headquarters in Abuja Wednesday. He said the additional 56,872 Voting Points and Voting Point Settlements were converted to fully developed Polling Units following wide ranging consultations with stakeholders and fieldwork by its officials.
Despite increased number of voters, previous attempts to increase the number of Polling Units nationwide, which is one of the reasons identified for voter apathy, were unsuccessful. In response to the pressure, INEC established Voting Points and Voting Point Settlements across the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a pragmatic response to necessity.
Yakubu also intimated the RECs that “the Commission has successfully removed 749 Polling Units from inappropriate locations to appropriate public facilities or open spaces in line with our policy to guarantee unencumbered access to Polling Units for all voters. Of this figure, 232 were removed from private properties, 145 royal palaces, six Mosques, 21 Churches and nine Shrines. The remaining 336 Polling Units were relocated for various reasons which include distance, difficult terrain, congestion, communal conflict, new settlements and general insecurity.”
Embattled promising gospel minister, Adeyinka Alaseyori, has finally responded to the crisis that rocked social media over the criticism over her hit song entitled “Oniduro Mi” by a popular gospel artiste, Tope Alabi.
Alaseyori during her birthday praise concert, on Tuesday night, appealed to fans to allow peace reign, just as she described the senior gospel musician, Tope Alabi as a mother in the industry.
“I am delighted to worship and praise God. I want everyone all over the world to join me and I will like to say this. Please, let peace reign. Mummy Tope Alabi is our mother. Let us embrace peace and be happy in God,” she added.
The duo has been in the news since Saturday following the public criticism of Tope Alabi at a music ministration condemning the hit track of Adeyinka Alaseyori, saying it lacks spirituality.
The statement eventually became the talk of the town as Tope Alabi was widely condemned by many over her position on the song.
However, the tension, especially in social media could be dowsed as Alaseyori had eventually displayed maturity to calm her fans, admonishing them to embrace peace and show love to Tope Alabi.
