The Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, herein referred to as FIIRO, is Nigeria’s foremost and indigenous Research Institute.

Established in the year 1956, the early leadership of the institute was provided by the then colonial masters before formally handing over power to Nigeria.

The Federal Character Act No 34 of 1996 prescribes fairness and equity in the distribution of public posts and socio-economic infrastructures among the various federating units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Act states that, “Each State of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory shall be equitably represented in all national institutions and in public enterprises organizations.”

But since the formal take over of the FIIRO, the Federal Character Act cannot be said to have come to play. The first indigenous Director of the FIIRO was Dr. Akinreola from the South-West. He was succeeded by Dr. Koleosho also from the South-West region.

Dr. Koleosho was succeeded by Professor S.A Odunfa who handed over to Dr Olatunji, both from the South West region, Igbere TV reports.

Dr Olatunji at the expiration of his two tenures as Director-General handed over to Dr. Mrs. S.O. Akinola who later after a few months handed over to the immediate past DG, Professor (Mrs) G.N. Elemo who though not of South-West extraction but is married to a man man of South-West extraction. Her appointment was initially resisted by the Yoruba community in the institute but was however, reluctantly accepted because of her marriage to a Yoruba man.

It is possible that the fact that all the past indigenous DGs of this great institute were of Yoruba extraction and could have been accidental. It should however, be noted that inadvertently, an erroneous belief that the leadership position of the institute (a Federal Government Establishment) is the exclusive right of the people of South-West appears to have been laid. This could explain why the first appointment of Professor Elemo was initially resisted.

One may be persuaded to belief that it was by accident that all the past DGs of FIIRO have been from a particular region of the country, it is however, very difficult to accept that the current composition of the management of the institute is by accident and not by design. It is therefore, apparent that the current travails of the Acting DG of the institute is a grand design of a group of people who feel that he (the Acting DG) is not from the chosen tribe and geopolitical region and therefore should be stopped by all means.

Current management structure of FIIRO

FIIRO currently runs an organizational structure that constitutes eleven (11) Departments/Directorates with each Department or Directorate being headed by a Director.
The Departments and their Directors are as listed in the table below;

Name of Dept. Director (Year of appointment)
Ethnic extraction

Chemical, Fibre, and environmental Technology

Dr Chima Igwe (2010)
South East

Food technology
Dr. Mrs. O.B. Oluwole (2015)
South West

Biotechnology
DR A.K. Lawal 2019)
Yoruba

Production, Analytical & Lab.Management
Dr.Mrs A.E. Asagbra (2015)
South West

Human Resources Management
Mrs O.A Akinfere (2019)
South West

Finance and supply
Mr J.O Oderinde (2015)
South West

Planning, technology transfer and information management
DR (Mrs) B.O Oyedoyin (2019)
South West

Project development department
Engr. Dr. W.B Asiru (2019)
South West

Procurement department
Mr Segun Omotade (2019)
South West

Extension and linkage
Mr Dele Oyeku (2015)
South West

Directorate, Special Duties Abuja
Mrs O.O Layode (2019)
South West

A casual look at the above information reveals that only one out of the eleven directors so far is non-Yoruba. There is apparently an obvious violation of the Federal Character policy of the federal government in the constitution of the current FIIRO management.

This is, therefore, an open call on the relevant authorities to take immediate steps to correct this anomaly.

Trial of the Current Acting DG: Its Genesis

The trials of the current Acting DG (Dr Chima Igwe) is a calculated attempt to destroy his image and reputation so as to, not only deny him the opportunity of aspiring to serve as FIIRO DG, but to ultimately forcefully exit him from service and complete the all-South-West Management structure agenda.

Dr. Igwe’s trials started towards the end of tenure of the immediate-past DG, Professor G.N Elemo.
Existing government regulation states that at the point of exiting of CEO of any Government Agency/Parastatal, if there is no substantive appointee to take over, the headship of the agency should be given to the most senior Director on acting capacity. As the immediate past DG was about to exit, realizing that the most senior Director in the institute is Dr. Igwe (the most senior and only non-South West Director in FIIRO Management) who will therefore assume the headship of the institute albeit on acting capacity, a group of staff of South-West extraction with alleged implicit support of the immediate past DG embarked on campaign of calumny and character assassination of the person of Dr. Chima Igwe.

The first issue raised by the group against Dr Igwe was that the university that he got his PhD is not recognised by Nigerian government. It should be noted that in the referred issue raised by the group, that Dr Igwe has a PhD certificate was not in in doubt to them at this point. Their contention was that the issuing institution is not recognized by the Nigerian government. The matter was referred to Nigerian Universities Commission who replied that the school is recognised by Nigeria.

The first attack having failed, the second issue raised by the same group was that the letter of attestation submitted by Dr Igwe was forged. It should be noted again that the group acknowledged that the attestation letter submitted by Dr Igwe conveyed the information about his acquiring his PhD. The bone of contention was that it was forged and not that the fact the information contained therein does not convey the fact that he has a PhD. Letters were written to the Nigerian Embassy in Benin Republic and to the school for authentication of the document. Replies came from both sources authenticating the document.

Thirdly, having failed in their last two attempts, the current issue of not completing the PhD programme is raised. The question now is, how come they doubt a PhD certificate they acknowledged he has in their first allegation. The attestation letter acknowledged by them as in content, a certification of his PhD degree in the second accusation, suddenly lost its contextual meaning. The information contained therein in the same attestation letter, no longer convey the fact that has a PhD degree.
The issue is not about Igwe’s PhD certificate; the real issue is that Igwe will not be DG FIIRO because of where he comes from. If one may ask, where has FIIRO management been since 2001 when he submitted the now contentious letter and has used same to rise to the position of a Director? If Igwe is not aspiring to become the DG of FIIRO today, will this issue of fake PhD certificate have been raised? It is most unlikely
The Man - Dr Chima Igwe that we know is an erudite scientist of local and international repute. He graduated from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1988 with first class honours degre.

He obtained his master degree in from the University of Lagos in 1990 with a Cummulative Grade Point Average of 3.46. Dr Igwe obtained his PhD in 2001 from the university of Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic.

He is a well published scientist with over a 100 publications in Peer Reviewed Journals, monographs, Scientific magazines, Books, book cntributions, etc. He has to his credit nine (9) numbers of patents.

He belongs to so many professional bodies, most of which he is a Fellow.

It, therefore, beats anyone’s imagination how a man of such academic pedigree could be said by any sane person to be incapable of commencing and completing a PhD programme.

The House of Representatives has felicitated with men and women of the Nigerian Armed Forces on the occasion of the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

Igbere TV reports that January 15 is set aside annually to honour members of the military who fought and are still fighting in various theatres of conflict within Nigeria and across the world.

The day also celebrates the living among the Armed Forces who have suffered some form of deprivation, owing to their experience while on the battlefront.

It also marks the surrender of Biafra troops to the Federal troops which signalled the end of the Nigerian civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970.

In a statement sent to Igbere TV signed by Hon. Benjamin Kalu, House spokesman, he said the green chamber will continue to ensure a better welfare for veterans and families of fallen heroes.

The statement reads,

“On this 2020 Armed Force Remembrance Day, the 9th House of Representatives celebrates our men and women of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Every moment of peace, every giant stride in our democracy and every liberty we enjoy as Nigerians each day is indubitably a result of your bravery and valiant sacrifice in service of the fatherland.

“The 9th House of Representatives will continue to utilize all constitutional powers to ensure a better welfare for veterans and for the families of our fallen heroes.

“We thank you for your selfless service and are reminded today, as every other day, to execute our responsibilities with such diligence that your labour shall not be in vain.

“You are warriors, you are defenders, you are heroes and you are legends in our time and generations to come.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come clean on revelations that the N40 billion taxpayers’ money allegedly siphoned from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was used to finance its 2019 campaigns.

The party in a statement sent to Igbere TV on Monday, said the revelation, which has reportedly unsettled certain persons in the Presidency, “has further exposed the APC as a decadent lot; a gathering of treasury looters who thrive in cheating, deceit and pretences at very high levels.”

According to the PDP, “The development has further vindicated our stand that the APC is an extremely callous and hypocritical party, which has no iota of conscience but takes delight in depriving our citizens and pillaging resources meant for the wellbeing of our people.

“It is shameful that instead of being remorseful, agents of the APC are reportedly engaging in dirty infighting over how the money was “shared”, with certain top leaders of the APC allegedly getting up to N3 billion each.”

The PDP cautioned the APC not to take Nigerians for a ride with its “usual diversionary empty denials”, finger pointing, hauling of insults and spurious accusations against the opposition party, “as the public already has reports of how very top leaders of the APC, including those operating at the Presidency, were used to conduit the money from the FIRS.”

“The PDP holds that in a nation battling the scourge of corruption, misrule, huge unemployment, unprecedented infrastructural decay, insecurity, hunger and untold hardship, such a humongous allegation must not be allowed to go under the usual APC carpet

“Our party submits that since the APC has been overtly indicted, it should come clean by refunding the N40 billion to the public coffers from where it should be channeled to job creation projects without further delay.

“The PDP invites Nigerians to note how the APC and its Federal Government have failed to account for various pillaging of public funds under the Buhari administration, including the N14 trillion stolen through various phony contracts in the NNPC as well as direct drawings from other government agencies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“The PDP notes that if the trillions of naira stolen and stashed away in private purses of APC leaders are recovered and directed to development projects, our nation will not be in its present sorry state under the Buhari administration.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 presided over the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, in Abuja.

This comes as President Muhammadu Buhari is away from the country, attending the ongoing Russia-Africa Economic Summit in Sochi, Russia.

Igbere TV gathers that the meeting with some state governors and ministers in attendance, took place at the Council Chambers of the presidential villa, Abuja.

Others in attendance include the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari; and acting Head of Civil Service, Dr (Mrs) Folashade Yemi-Esan.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will on Friday, October 25, 2019 arraign Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team.

Maina will be arraigned before Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, in Abuja.

A statement obtained by Igbere TV on Tuesday said the ex-PRTT boss will be arraigned on 12-count charges bothering on money laundering, operating fictitious bank accounts and fraud.

The statement signed by Wilson Uwujaren, Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, said also to be arraigned same day, in same court on a separate but similar charge is his son, Faisal.

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has authorized the federal government to take over 23 properties belonging to Maina.

Igbere TV reports that Justice Folashade Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja gave the authorization on Tuesday, October 22, 2019.

The order was sequel to the exparte motion filled by EFCC, seeking Maina’s interim forfeiture of the properties to the Nigerian Government pending the completion of its investigations.

The affected properties are located in Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja; Kaduna, Sokoto, and Borno states.

The EFCC application also sought an order of the court to publish a newspaper advertisement on the properties, to enable anyone who has any reason why they should not be forfeited to federal government to indicate with prove of non-forfeiture application.

The EFCC motion was supported by a 30-paragraph affidavit, which it brought pursuant to Section 17, of Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Some eyewitnesses have faulted a statement credited to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Edo State Government (EDSG) regarding Saturday’s accident.

CAMPUS GIST had reported that seven people were killed in an accident involving the advance team of Governor Godwin Obaseki, along Benin-Auchi expressway.

They were said to be on their way to Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, ahead of the Governor’s visit to the school for the 22nd convocation ceremony.

Those killed were the occupants of an Audi car, which was reported to have had a head-on collision with a Toyota Hilux van drove by the Governor’s advance team.

Sector commander of FRSC in Edo, Anthony Oko, had attributed the cause of the accident to loss of control by the Audi driver, accusing him of ramming into the Hilux.

Similarly, the Edo state government in a condolence message to the victims and their families, blamed the accident on the Audi driver who lost his life in the unfortunate incident.

“From our findings, the Audi vehicle lost its tyre and ran into a pothole, before colliding with the Hilux vehicle, which was conveying protocol officers from Edo State Government House”, an aide on media to the Governor had said.

But an eyewitness and a member of the ruling party, Adawatu Ilallah, in a chat with CAMPUS GIST, Sunday afternoon, blamed the accident on the Governor’s advance team.

“I am really disappointed at this government. I was there live and direct, we were held up for 3 hours in that place. What the government officials did was very bad and inhumane.

“I am a full member of APC but this news got me really sad, it was the Hilux that killed and destroyed the Audi, now just look at what the government is saying”, he lamented.

A road user (names withheld) who happened to be the good Samaritan that rescued some of the victims to the hospital, while still alive, collaborated Ilallah’s statement.

He said four had died at the scene of the accident, alleging that the Governor’s aides attempted a cover up by threatening him and even absconded from the scene.

“Sadly, it was 4 that died [at the scene] not 7. The only survivor right now is the mother of two kids who died on the way to the hospital. She is now recuperating at central hospital.

“I personally brought them from the accident scene to the hospital. The Governor’s entourage tried all possible means to cover this incident and even threatened me.

“I personally used my private Hilux to convey the accident victims to the hospital when the occupants of the Governor’s Hilux bluntly refused to help and even absconded”, he said.

On how the accident occurred, the road user said the Governor’s Hilux had attempted to avoid a pothole while on top speed, before ramming into the Audi car head-on.

A popular market in Benin City, Edo State, Santana market, is currently on fire.

Santana market is located in Sapele road area of the state, reports Igbere TV.

Cause of the incident which began midnight Saturday could not be immediately ascertained.

Efforts to reach the Edo State Fire Service were unsuccessful, as their known phone lines refused to connect.

As at the time of filing this report, residents of the area have besieged the market watching helplessly.

We have now been furnished with photos of the seven victims of today's accident involving the convoy of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

CAMPUS GIST had reported that the accident involving the advance team of the Governor, occurred today along Benin-Auchi expressway.

They were said to be on their way to Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, ahead of Mr Obaseki’s visit for the school's 22nd convocation ceremony.

Continue reading here https://www.nairaland.com/5481682/governor-obasekis-convoy-accident-7 if you missed the story.

Photos from the scene below...

Report says a middle-aged housewife, Mrs Dorcas Daniyan was allegedly set ablaze by her husband at Shagari village area of Akure, the Ondo state capital during the week.

Igbere TV learned that Dorcas gave up the ghost as a result of the injury sustained from the incident, after three days of agony on the hospital bed.

The woman who had five children, died at an undisclosed hospital in Akure after she couldn’t recover from the unfortunate incident.

An eyewitness who is a neighbour of the deceased woman confirmed that people forced the door of the woman’s room open but she had already been burnt beyond recognition before she was taken to the hospital.

It was gathered that her husband ran away from home when the incident occurred but returned three days after she died.

It was reported that the couple had been at loggerheads as a result of alleged Dorcas’ decision to buy a piece of land without adding her husband’s name as co-owner.

Confirming the incident, the deceased younger sister, Bosede Richards said her sister had once discussed the issue of the land to her.

The spokesperson to the Ondo state police command, Femi Joseph said that the suspect had been arrested for interrogation.

According to him, the suspect is claiming to be innocent of the allegations.

Joseph however said that his daughter had made some statements that linked him to the crime.

Igbere TV learned that the deceased has since been buried but the family is calling for justice and the police had promised to prosecute the perpetrator.

Nigerian music star, Davido has announced dropping a new song with American R&B singer and actor, Chris Brown next week.

The music star announced the release of his second song with Chris Brown on Sept. 26 to be produced by kiddominant.

The music star made this announcement in a post sighted by Igbere TV on his Twitter handle @iam_Davido.

“New @ChrisBrown x OBO next week!!!! KIDDO KIDDO @KIDDOMINANT!!” he tweeted.

Once released, the song would be the second major song collaboration between Davido and Chris Brown.