₦airaland Forum

Promises to Launch the African Ijele state and cosmopolitan business hub in Anambra state.



To run the most effective campaign code named Operation Akanchawa for All & African Ijele hub. To Kickstart with townhall conversions immediately.



Names Comrade Onyeagba, Hon Eminent and Engr Tony Uche Governorship search team.



From the Office of the national Chairman.



This is our time, Creating the African Ijele & A Cosmopolitan Business Hub, A Vision Developed in conversation with the Youth and Women; a release by National Chairman ADC Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu.



All protocol.



For many months a select committee of ADC South East leaders have been in conversation with Anambra youths and women mainly and a myriad of other stakeholders. We have weaved their thoughts and aspirations into an endearing fine web signposting a clear vision of the new Anambra state. Our party ADC believes in the uniqueness of each of the states and LGAs in Nigeria, and dig down the SWOTs to create that vision that privileges the people and resonates with ADC global vision of Nigeria, the Super Power economy. Therefore ADC is happy to say we have the Big Anambra vision for a great new state, the African Ijele and Cosmopolitan Business hub. This shall be formally launched when the campaign officially begins.



As we prepare to foist a New and great Anambra state, our party, the African Democratic Congress ADC has zoned the 2021 Governorship candidature to Anambra South Senatorial Area of the state. As you are aware, ADC stands for equity and justice. Our HANDSHAKE symbol represents inclusion and commitment to deep diversity values. The Anambra North Senatorial area produced the incumbent governor who will be rounding up his second term in office by February 2022. The central Senatorial was in office for eight years before him.



The NWC of our great party has designed the DNA that guides our party and shapes our conscience. In as much as most of the current Aspirants from Anambra South contested the elections within the last 16years with Aspirants and candidates of the Central and North Senatorial zones, ADC is a disciplined and Responsible organization governed by principles of equity and natural justice. The decision to zone the Governor to Anambra South Senatorial is of the disciplines inherent in our DNA.



The African Democratic Congress in the South East zone has been strategizing for this election, as well as the national body. I can say with confidence that this is our election to win and Anambra government house Awka, will be a HANDSHAKE state. The party will present a youthful multi-talented, dexterous, service-driven, disciplined servant leader to occupy Agu-Awka house.

For us, it is no longer time for opportunistic maniacal money-bags politics and propaganda syndrome of the incorrigibles. The people have become more aware and ready to chart a new path. ADC party has designed the pathway to prosperity, security and to creating the African Ijele in Anambra state within the next few years. Akanchawa for all means prosperity for all, not only the for a few. Our vision of a cosmopolitan hub of tech-preneurs, education, trade, distribution, art and entertainment, science and healing hub is clear and well aligned with the mission to create 100billion dollar economy and 2million new jobs are well thought out. In the spirit of ADC, the young men and women will arise and shine while allowing no one to intimidate them or anyone in the state ever again.

The era of whining, ruing and complaining in Anambra and all over Nigeria is over so long as the people align with us to usher in the orchestra that showcases the Super Power economy and development that we in ADC have envisioned of Nigeria.

We shall Kickstart the triumphant Anambra election, and creation of the African Ijele with series of the town hall meetings starting from the first week of February.

With ADC, Anambra will put an immediate end to the rancorous propaganda regimes and hypocritical one-man-show and husband and wife martial government in the state for a more egalitarian people centered model.



ADC government will conduct the first free and fair local government LGA elections in Nigeria and will ensure those local councils are given the freedom and latitude to play their roles as the government closest to the grassroots and the people. The state Assembly will become more robust and Anambra will become a flagship state where democracy and government work well and in alignment to deliver for the people.



Ralphs Okey Nwosu

National Chairman ADC.

The family of Edo born business mogul and philantropist, Capt Well Idahosa Okunbo, yesterday described as malicious and wicked rumour that Capt Hosa has passed on.



The Chairman, Ocean Marine Solutions Limited who had travelled to the United Kingdom on his routine medical checkup.



According to a statement signed by Dr Tinyan Okunbo, on behalf of the Okunbo's family said their son, father and benefactor shall live beyond the rumor and warned rumor mongers to desist or face the wrath of God's almighty.



The statement reads: " Our attention has been drawn to the malicious and malevolent rumour making the rounds that our son, brother, father, grandfather and benefactor has gone to be with Lord.



"We hereby rebuke this rumour that originated from the pit of hell, and hereby state unequivocally, that Capt Idahosa Wells Okunbo is well, hale and hearty"



"Our brother, son and father will surely live beyond the rumour and God will judge those who delight in peddling fatal wishes on the innocent".



"We take solace in the fact that similar rumors in the past have been said of great men who had always proved the evil intentions of these wicked hearts wrong, and invariably lived beyond their expectations".



"For instance, Nigerians have not forgotten the case of Namadi Azikwe from whose case, we now draw inspiration that our brother, son, grandfather and benefactor will live to the fullness of his age and beyond in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. He is already testifying to The glory of God in his life and only God and God alone will take the glory in Jesus mighty name Amen and Amen".

The movement for the materialization of the Electronic Voting System in Nigeria appears to be gaining nationwide commendation and increasing endorsement by the general public.



The administrative structure of the movement has thus been unveiled as follows:



The Administrative Structure:



(1) Founder, National Coordinator: Ibibi Tienabeso Esq.



(2) Brainstorming Team.



(3) Action Plan Implementation Team.



(4) Legal Team.



(5) Funding, Support and Sponsorship Team.



(6) Media and Publicity Department.



(7) Experts and Specialist Department.



( Nigerian Celebrities For E- Voting Drive Partnership Unit.



(9) Local Councils and Community Mobilization Unit.



In a statement made available to the Press, Ibibi Tienabeso declared that the drive for the implementation of the electronic voting system in Nigeria is indeed a patriotic mission. It is a vision that requires the input and commitment of all Nigerians. “I therefore ask and appeal to all Nigerians to support the movement and crusade for the actualization of the electronic voting system in Nigeria. I especially urge our legislators not to relent in their efforts to make the Electronic Voting Bill a law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Live transmission of the results electronically must of necessity be a part of the law”.



“I also wish to use this opportunity to invite all Nigerians that feel they can play any role in the realization of the electronic voting system in Nigeria, to look at the structures as unveiled and indicate where they can fit in, to help and be a part of this history making patriotic mission”.



The Numbers to call for enquires are 0705 679 0400 and 0814 003 7167.



“All Nigerians are invited to join this noble campaign for the electronic voting system in Nigeria”, Ibibi Tienabeso Esq. stated.

City People Magazine, Nigeria’s leading celebrity journal has announced plans to commemorate its 25th year anniversary this year with various programs and activities. Citypeople which is the oldest surviving celebrity magazine in Nigeria was founded in November 1996 by a veteran Journalist, Seye Kehinde, who rose to become the Editor of Tempo Magazine in his early 30s.

Citypeople which was established 25 years ago to mirror the lifestyles of Celebrities in Nigeria has over the years grown to become the undisputed leader in the soft-sell sector.

In a statement recently released to in Lagos signed by the Publisher, Dr Seye Kehinde, and the Company said, “In the spirit of our Silver Jubilee anniversary, CityPeople has lined up special programmes that will run from January to December 2021 to commemorate a major milestone.

“The programmes, which will run across all media platforms, aims to celebrate the enduring City People brand as well as icons and personalities who have made a monumental mark in various industries from Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Society, and corporate leaders.

“We shall be looking back on our editions in the past 25 years to celebrate men and women of substance who have also remained relevant and in the spotlight for the last 25 years and still counting.

“We shall be producing 25 Special pull-outs to be spread over the next 12 months for our teeming readers.”

The statement adds that the vision for the establishment of the company was to be the largest circulating celebrity magazine in Nigeria that will provide useful information that will touch the lives of its readers positively and it has kept faith on that.

Kehinde noted that with the unrelenting mission to enthrone a people-centred reporting of events, City People has remained the pride of celebrity journalism published under the company name, Media Techniques Ltd, as the magazine is the only soft-sell journal in Nigeria with offices and correspondents in major geopolitical zones of the country including Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Benin, Kaduna, Kano, Abeokuta, and Port-Harcourt.

“Citypeople has stayed true to the vision of its founder over the years not only through its soft-driven style but also by keeping the people properly informed about social activities within and outside the country.

“City people put the conventional daily newspapers on their toes, projecting the areas of journalism that reflect the lifestyle of people who are making the headlines, the publisher maintained.

He concluded: “The weekly magazine has done so well in the last 25 years and has remained on the vendors stand every week without fail. Citypeople has also survived the challenges that hit the print media in the wake of social media in the last 10 years.”

When conducting a study, it is important to have a sufficient sample size in order to conclude a valid research result. The larger the sample, the more precise your results will be. If your sample size is too small, it will be difficult to identify significant relationships from the data.

Normally, statistical tests require a larger sample size to ensure that the sample is considered representative of a population and that the statistical result can be generalized to a larger population. It is a good idea to understand how to choose an appropriate sample size before you conduct your research by using scientific calculation tools.

Twitter user, Bolanle Cole with use id @TD Cole Esq. has posted a long thread on how a the current MD of First City Monument Bank, Adam Nuru, had two kids with a female staff of the bank, who was married to another man named Tunde Thomas, a innocent husband who had believed the two kids were his.



In a long thread on Twitter, Cole narrated how Moyo Thomas was having sexual relationship with her boss, and having babies, but deceiving her husband to be the father of the kids until she flew abroad, only to shock the man that the kids were not his, a sad information that eventually to Mr Tunde’s life before Christmas of 2020.. Read details as posted by @TD Cole Esq

Tunde Thomas (alias Tunde Gentle), 45, died about two weeks ago from heartbreak. The two kids from his marriage were indeed fathered by a man without scruples or conscience, the current MD of FCMB, Adam Nuru who was his wife’s boss (MD) in FCMB. Tunde’s wife, Moyo Thomas.



(Nee Ojo), a useless an unconscionable adulterer was engaged in an office romance with her MD, a relationship that was well known throughout the organization as the lack of shame and decorum in both lovebirds made them to get carried away and to throw caution to the wind.



FCMB, an organization without proper rules or governance looked the other way while the open and unprofessional romance was going on between the MD and a subordinate staff of the same organization, a married woman.



Governance Officer and Chief Image Maker of FCMB spared no thought for the husband of this lady who was bringing up his (Nuru’s) two children while thinking they were his. He also did not think of the organization he was leading while engaging in this foul conduct, the scandal with which no ethical organization would want to be associated.



Tunde was so in love with & attached to his wife & children that he spent most of his resources on them. He took them to London & Dubai on holidays. He also spared no penny in putting them in the best schools.



At the height of the shameful relationship and when the older child was about eight ( years old, the lady suddenly resigned from FCMB and travelled to the US with the two children, ostensibly on holiday. It was when the school session started in Nigeria and the children were not returned that Tunde started asking questions and the lady finally summoned the shameless courage to tell him the children were not his own.



She then went to the extent of filing for asylum in the US on the ground of marital violence in Nigeria, against a man known to all men by his gentle and easygoing disposition. Her aim was to get the Green Card and to also get Tunde to be barred from entering the US, so she would not have to confront him to look him in the eye and tell him to his face the evil that she had done to him.



Within a few months of hearing this news, Tunde suffered a stroke at about the age of 42. He recovered from the stroke but became a shadow of his former self. He would often shed tears from the blues.



Recently, he tried to pick up the pieces of his life and started another relationship with a lawyer lady. Tunde had invited some friends to accompany him to visit the lady’s parents on 26th December. They were planning the materials to take along for the visit but alas, it was not to be. Tunde got home from work in the night of 15th December only to collapse by his staircase and die immediately. Autopsy report puts the cause of death as heart failure.



The wicked souls, Adam Nuru and Moyo Ojo (later Moyo Thomas) have done their worst, the death of an innocent man, and their hands are dripping with his blood.





God will demand it of them.



In the meantime, the family and friends of Tunde Thomas (alias Tunde Gentle) hereby wish to bring this shameful conduct to the knowledge of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the board and management of FCMB and to members of the public.

We use this medium to call on FCMB to separate and detach its brand from this evil man, Adam Nuru, immediately. If this notice is ignored and Adam Nuru is at his desk in another two weeks from 30th December 2020, we will be left with no option than to vehemently call the attention of the public to the abysmal lack of ethics in the organization and to advise the members of the public to withdraw their funds and banking business from FCMB.

A word is enough for the wise.



N:B Tunde Gentle was buried 30th December 2020.

He had worked in Oceanic Bank back in the days. He was one of the most gentle and yet, most friendly of all individuals, as many would testify of him.



He died as an Executive Director in an asset management company, GDL Asset Management Company Ltd.

TD Cole Esq. ⚖Flag of Nigeria

He was survived by an aged mother and siblings.



May his truly gentle soul rest in perfect peace.



Credit Rita Ebiuwa

The senator representing Lagos East senatorial district, Sen. Tokunbo Abiru, Thursday, canvassed support for the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), noting that 2021 would be the beginning of economic recovery and transformation.



Abiru, a former Executive Director, First Bank and the immediate past Chief Executive Officer, Polaris Bank, disclosed the plan to inaugurate an endowment fund in the first quarter to complement the efforts of the federal and state governments in skill acquisition and capacity development.



He disclosed the plan in a two-page message, ‘Welcome to Year 2021’ he sent to his constituents to mark the advent of 2021, thanking God that they “are alive, hale and healthy to witness the New Year amid hope and optimism.”



Abiru, specifically, acknowledged the effort of the federal government to implement its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) valued at N2.3 trillion and the Government of Lagos State for rolling out different initiatives to improve the quality of life in the state.

He, therefore, promised that he would always join hands with his colleagues in the Senate “to provide necessary legislative support required towards repositioning our economy in the New Year.”



Before the end of the first quarter, the lawmaker disclosed that he “will formally inaugurate an Endowment Fund, a personal empowerment initiative set up for the indigent brilliant students, the aged, the youths and the vulnerable, including persons with special needs.



“The Fund will complement the efforts of the federal and state governments in the areas of skill acquisition and capacity development,” Abiru promised his constituents a new dawn in legislative representation in the district.



He, however, noted that 2020 was possibly the most challenging year in the recent times, citing the outbreak of COVID-19 that plunged the economy into a recession and the eruption of EndSARS protests that called for a more accountable, transparent and citizen-focused policing structure.







The lawmaker also noted that the year would remain unforgettable for the people of Lagos East, first due to the passage od Sen. Adebayo Osinowo, Chief Lanre Rasaq and Hon. Tunde Braimoh at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.



He prayed that God Almighty “will continue to comfort and uphold the families of the deceased.”



Abiru recounted that the year would remain unforgettable citing a 87.19% landslide recorded in the senatorial contest and 82.61% in the state legislative race with the support of his constituents across Lagos East.



Despite all its low moments, the lawmaker observed that there “are causes to appreciate God for all the events of Year 2020. We are alive, hale and healthy to witness the New Year amid hope and optimism.



“For this reason alone, I rejoice with you all, believing that Year 2021 will, by the grace of God be the beginning of our economic recovery and transformation.

“As we step into the New Year amid great expectations, let me first assure that I shall, by God’s grace keep and fulfill the promises made during our electioneering campaigns.



“As a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I have the onus of making laws, exercising legislative oversight and quality representation for my constituents for the purpose of good governance, a duty I pledged to discharge to the best of my ability,” he assured his constituents.

Senator Tokunbo Abiru representing Lagos East at the red chamber, on Saturday, 26 December 2020 expressed grief over the death of Revd Timothy Oyasodun popularly known as Iyo, Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos State, and said he was an accomplished man of God and leader per excellence.



Abiru in a condolence message, titled Oyadosun A Committed Progressive, to family and friends of the deceased, said death is an inevitable end but quickly reminded the bereaved family to take solace in the fact that the departed gentleman lived a selfless life

He wrote:

This morning, I woke up to learn about the sad and sudden passage of Revd Timothy Oyasodun popularly known as Iyo, Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos State.



This sad news was a rude shock, not just to me, but also to all progressives in Lagos East considering the role the late reverend played in the just concluded senatorial bye-election and series of discussion we held on how to move Lagos East APC forward after the bye-election.



Revd Oyasodun’s death, no doubt, is a great loss to the entire progressive family in Lagos State, especially in Bariga LCDA and Somolu Local Government Area (LGA). But we all submit to the decision of God our Creator to call him home at the early hour of December 26, 2020.



On behalf of Lagos East APC, therefore, I condole with the entire family of late Oyadosun, Chairman of Bariga LCDA, Hon. Kolade Alabi; Chairman of Lagos APC, Prince Babatunde Balogun, all members State Executive Committee (SEC) and State Working Committee (SWC).



While still alive, Revd Oyasodun devoted his life to serving God, humanity and Lagos APC at large. Before he emerged Chairman of Bariga APC, Revd Oyasodun had served as Secretary-General of SDP in Somolu and Kosofe LGAs.



Revd Oyadosun had also served as Secretary-General of UNCP in Somolu LGA; Secretary General of Apex Leaders, Somolu/Bariga Alliance for Democracy and Secretary-General of Apex Leaders, Somolu/Bariga APC.

May Almighty Allah repose his soul and grant his immediate and political family the fortitude to bear the loss.



Senator Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru, FCA.

(“Tokunbo Abiru”)

Senator, Lagos East,

Federal Republic of Nigeria

December 26, 2020

The Iru Progressive Vanguard, IPV, has reacted to the news going round, about popular Lagos businessman and respected prince, Aremo Adesegun Oniru, alleging that he was blocked by a number of folks who identified themselves as family members, as an attempt to undermine his popularity and acceptability that he enjoys among the people Iruland, describing the news as laughable and petty.

In a statement released on Wednesday, December 22, 2020, the group’s secretary, Olamide Adedoyin, described the story as petty and laughable, lacking substance worthy of promulgation, adding that it shows the current leadership in Iru has no meaningful purpose and direction for the people of Iru, aside to sit and monitor the esteemed Aremo Adesegun Oniru and his family.

“We are still trying to process the idea of a king, having absolutely no ambition, aside from his desperation to stain the reputation, integrity and legacy of the immediate past Oniru and his family.

It is important to state that we are not in any way surprised by the disastrous direction of Gbolahan, and we do not expect any good to come out of a man who claimed to be king but goes about posting and pouting on Social media with his directionless friends who also claims to be "royal fathers"

"These are the same so-called kings who could not mute a sentence to address the rampage that greeted the historic #EndSars protest by the youths, or even come in defense when their patron-client fathers were in the eye of the storm.
“A man who thrives on falsehood and reeks of sulfur is not fit to be a king. Gbolahan is morally bankrupt.

“Gbolahan is the least honest, least humble, and least qualify for the stool, he occupies, little wonder why he’s been overwhelmed by the demands of royalty, as his evident high-handedness and inability to unite families and communities within Iru.

“His camp has continued to concoct lies so often that anything they said in defense of Gbolahan and his regime are greeted with derision and laughter. They constantly lie and every true-born son of Iru can see through their lies, especially when their version of events and statements are contravened by Gbolahan.

"This report has confirmed that Gbolahan is slowly becoming a monster in Iruland.
In their desperation to publish the lies, the promulgators failed to state the facts that the Aremo only went to the palace to retrieve his staff that was violently abducted by Gbolahan’s thugs and taken to his palace
“It is laughable that despite occupying the stool illegitimately, these traducers still find it difficult to sleep at night. They still keep vigil over Aremo's matter. They want to know where he’s been, what he ate, whom he visited. They are Aremo-phobist apologist.

“Aside from the evident revelation that the pseudo-royal junkie is a thug, which he has shown on several occasions, he lies, punts, and disgraces himself and degrades the highly revered Iru stool every time he talks.

His priority is to leave a legacy of sorrow, tears, and blood like Oyenusi, Shina Rambo, Anini, and Evans the kidnapper.
Every discerning mind will wonder why Gbolahan has never granted an interview to speak extensively about Iruland or how he’s related to that land. How does he rule a community he knows nothing about her history and core value?

“Unlike Gbolahan, Aremo will not get in the mud with the pigs, he has royal blood flowing through his veins, and he will not dignify them with a response or engage in the same degrading mentality. Aremo has maintained his silence for six months since Gbolahan hijacked the throne, and not a fang from him will move Aremo. Adesegun is a phenomenal leader.

“Aremo Adesegun is well-bred, learned, and sophisticated. Prince and his siblings have no reason to jump into the mud to fight but to objectively lay matters bare.

The group called on the people of Iruland to be vigilant, watchful, and be wary of the enemy within, who has lobbied himself to become an unpopular king and encourage them to join hands and resist Gbolahan's draconian reign of terror.

How Foreign Airlines Staff Treat Black Women Should Be Addressed - Edun

Mrs. Iyiola Olatokunbo Edun is the administrator of a foremost citadel of learning in Lagos State, Grace Schools. A seasoned administrator, she has been working at the school for over 35 years. She has battled all odds to take up the responsibility in 1984 and take Grace Schools to the next level.
Edun, in this interview with Adelowo Adebumiti spoke extensively about the condescending gesture towards black women and the gap that reflects the intersectional reality of their daily lives.

How Airline Staff treats black Women
All over the world, as a black woman, you are seen as uneducated, poor, even if you have the means. I travel business class. Whenever they announce that business class should begin boarding, even the airline staff will ask me if I was traveling business class. I will respond, "do you have any problem with that?" I entered a plane some time ago, and I put down my bag in the overhead bin. I asked the air hostess where the toilet was. She immediately pointed to the back, and I wondered if the front restroom is only for the pilot? So I went to the rear restroom at the back of the plane. A minute later, I wanted to go back to my seat, and she was shocked that I was heading for the business class. Then she apologized, "I'm sorry, I thought you are going economy." It happens to me all over the world. One day in Amsterdam en route to Atlanta, I can also remember the priority line and economy line. I went to the priority line. Suddenly one of the KLM Airline Staff, a man, pointed at me and shouted at the top of his voice that I should go back and line up the passengers on the economy line. I felt confused, embarrassed, and saddened.
I went back and queued in the economy line. I walked up to him at the front of the line. I told him that if you know that everybody will line up together, why were you saying one is a priority and the other economy? He had assumed that I was traveling economy because of my simple clothes and the fact that I was a black woman. But that's what I face a majority of the time. It happens because you are black, you are a woman, and they don't expect that you even have the money to travel business class. Even when you enter the plane, sometimes people sitting in the business class will wonder, "they will soon send her back", "maybe she made a mistake." So that's an experience as an African, a black, and a woman. We are not rated highly. We are at the bottom of the food chain! I am so happy for Kamala Harris because we black women are always looked down on most of the time. Ms. Harris has been able to prove herself that despite all the odds stacked up against her as a woman of colour, she has been able to hold her own! Emerging as the Vice President of the United States of America is not a mean feat! Kamala Harris' achievements are highly commendable.


Being a Black Woman Puts You At Disadvantage

Let me share another experience with you in Genoa, Italy. We were sitting down, and there was the announcement that the people on the priority line should stand up, and I did. There was a white lady who walked up to me. She probably thought she was trying to help by telling me that the announcement was meant for those in the priority category, so I should not stand up to queue. She assumed that I was going economy! I replied to her that "I know." So you are already at a disadvantage if you are black and a woman.
You don't usually have such issues in Nigeria. However, it is when you get to Europe or America that you encounter such problems. I also encountered a similar situation in Canada where the KLM airline staff at the business class counter instructed me to go and check-in at the economy counter as I tried to make my way to check-in at the business class counter. They did not even bother to speak to me or see my traveling documents!


How To Change The Perception


I'm very assertive. Whenever anyone asks me, "are you sure you are flying business class," I always reply, "Do you have a problem with that?" Sometime in March, when I was traveling at Atlanta airport, my son and I went to the airport and were in the priority queue. Again, an airline staff pointed at us, trying to inquire if we missed our way. I told him, "yes, we are on the priority queue, so what? So, I asked him why he did not ask the white lady in-front Of me why she was queuing up in the priority line?



Making a Case For The Girl Child

Our young girls need to be more assertive. They should not feel that they are second class citizens. I don't feel like a second class person even if some people try to make me think so! I believe that women should be able to speak up to defend their space in society. Nobody will do it for them.


The role of the school


Yes, when I attended university in the U.K., one of the lecturers referred to me as "that black girl." He talked about how I used to walk tall and talk boldly. The lecturer felt this way because of my carriage and confidence in all that I do. Sometimes, the family you come from has a high impact on how you see yourself.
My mother didn't make me feel as if I am second class to my brothers. I think she had more confidence in me. So, I got my confidence from early childhood and my father's family. They had influential women and held their own in society.




Can you tell us a bit about your background?
My father Olorunmo Oshinowo, was a pharmacist. My mother, Grace Bisola was an Educator.
I can trace back four generations on both sides of my paternal and maternal family.


My Paternal Grandmother Moriamo Ibidere Oshinowo was a big-time textile merchant. She was an itinerant trader who traveled around Yoruba land to display and sell her goods on designated market days. Market days varied from one part of Yorubaland to the other. She had three daughters and two sons. Her daughters also helped her with her business. Her days active trading days were in the 1920s- the 1950s. I never met her because she died many years before I was born. You know this Yoruba belief about re-incarnation. My aunties believed that I was their mother, who came back and never Could call me by my name. Anytime they saw me, they used my grandmother's Oriki (panegyrics) to address me. They said, I'm like her; she was tall, kind, quiet and unassuming, and would not take rubbish from anyone trying to push her around.
My father's family was very tolerant when it came to religious practices. My Grandmother Moriamo was the High priestess of the Etunweren Shrine in Ikorodu. Her husband Sanni, was an Imam. Her three daughters were Muslims, and her two sons were Christians. They all lived in harmony; no one tried to impose their religious beliefs on one other! It was a case of live and let live! I suppose I am also very tolerant of other religions. I believe people should be allowed to worship God in whatever way they feel comfortable. That was why I never had qualms about praying and lighting incense in a Buddhist Temple in China Or turning prayer wheels at a Hindu Temple in Nepal!

Before my grandmother died, she divided her textile business into three and shared it amongst her daughters.

The middle daughter Sinotu Oshinowo, diversified her textile business and started the famous Oshinowo Transport Service. She was very successful at it, and she had a long-standing business relationship with Leyland Motors in the U.K. They were the makers of a majority of the buses she used for her business. Part of my Master's thesis centered on the life of Sinotu Oshinowo. My Master's thesis talked about the Yoruba market women and colonialism's impact. So I had to look at traditional pre-colonial society and why women were the traders in the colonial society. And why was it that women sell certain things that men could not sell?
You can never see a man in the market sell pepper; neither can you see a woman sell beef or any other type of meat. However, women could sell the intestines of animals. The men would catch the fish, but it's a woman that will sell it. In Yoruba markets, all the people who sold the same thing always sat together. You will see oil stalls, pepper stalls, or garri stalls. So, that was what my Master's thesis was focused on, and also how colonialism has affected women. As a result of colonialism, Yoruba men have gone into trading, which was the exclusive preserve of women in pre-colonial society.
In pre-colonial times, the Yoruba men were predominantly farmers, hunters, Iron smiths, Ifa priests, etc.





Your upbringing reflected in your confidence as a woman. What role do you think schools can play in building up the girl-child?
Schools should encourage the girl child. They must be enabled to be assertive and hold their heads up high. They should also be tutored to be independent, well behaved, and respectful.


We have introduced etiquette lessons here at Grace Schools for more than 20 years now. It is not in the Nigerian curriculum. But we introduced it. I always tell the girls that there are so many things you can't cover up with lipstick and powder, like destructive behaviour, all other vices.


Many big names finished from Grace school, such as the Ekiti State first lady, Bisi Fayemi, Bollywood star, Funke Akindele, and head of DSTV, Chief Dewunmi Ogunsanya. How do you feel when you see these people doing exploits?


I feel delighted seeing these people as alumni. When I started, I didn't begin at the top; rather, I started as a nursery assistant. I taught Year 2, Year 3, and Year 6. These were called Primary classes at that time. Some of the children I taught, their children are here now. So whenever we have a PTA meeting and I see some of them, I feel so happy. So I'm pleased about seeing their children here.


How has COVID-19 affected the education sector, particularly the payment of school fees?



COVID-19 affected everybody; now people have clarity because they realised that they attached importance to useless things. During the pandemic, I notice that most of the time, you can't even tell when it is evening or day because there's nowhere to go. You sit in front of the television, watching News. You hear reports about hundreds of people in Spain, Italy, the U.S., and the U.K., dying daily due to Coronavirus.
So life is vanity. Most people, even women, who couldn't do without going to the hairdressers, can't go to the salon or do their nails. They could not wear fancy clothes and Jewellery. A lot of business suffered losses, but the only profits that most companies have made or we made is to stay alive during the crisis. The most significant gain is that you are alive. We thank God we didn't have it as bad as it happened in Europe and other places. Although they were not expecting that, they were expecting thousands dying on the streets, but we thank God we didn't have such things. Then, we had to go on lockdown in March, and the last fees that came in were in January, and we had to pay the staff salaries from March to September. Even when we were going in March, not all the students had paid their fees, because we were just about to start the exams. So, it was tough.


In several places, there is tension about the second wave of COVID-19. Should Nigerians be concerned?



Yes, it is happening in Europe. I hope it does not happen here. Our people are becoming complacent. Many people have stopped wearing their facial masks on the streets!



To what extent do you think the pandemic has helped Nigeria to embrace digital alternatives?





Actually, before the lockdown in March, we had an excellent system here. We were already used to the online course, so it didn't come to us as a shock. We could cope because all the things were already in place. But the only thing was that, because we had to do the online school, the teachers couldn't come here, so we had to pay for data. Sometimes, data is about N600,000 or N700,000 per month. That is how we were able to cope. And the parents didn't understand it at the beginning. They were complaining that they couldn't hear what the teachers were saying during the online lessons. The choppy communication was not our fault. It was due to network problems. In the end, the parents and children were able to get used to online schooling's intricacies. Many people now realized what teachers go through teaching children because some had to supervise their children, so they won't end up visiting other websites. Also, it made the students more academically independent. Some of the children started doing interviews. Can you imagine they have their own YouTube channels? It was awe-inspiring; it made them more independent.


Grace school has a strong alumni base. How supportive are they?



Well, not as much as I would have loved, but we are moving. When we celebrated the 50th-anniversary, Chief Dewunmi Ogunsanya, the head of Multichoice, was here. He supported the school in a big way. We have a few of them who support once in a while.




What should Nigerians be expecting from Grace School in the coming years? They should expect intelligent, confident, well-rounded children who can hold their own anywhere in the world.
They should also expect children who are multi-lingual, fluent in English, French, Mandarin, and some of our Nigerian Languages.




Grace School sometimes ago partnered with an institution in Canada?


Yes, with a Canadian school. We should have started in September, but we were slowed down by the COVID-19 effect. By God's grace, the announcement for admission will start by May 2021.



Can you take us through the process?



Ok, it's a diploma program. You'll do the first year here and then go to Canada to conclude the rest. We have built a separate wing for the diploma school from scratch.


When you look back on your journey so far, is there anything you'd wish you did differently?





Initially, I didn't want to be here. Well, I have always wanted to be a professor, because I like to read. I have always wanted to be like Prof. Bolanle Awe, a professor of history. I suppose now, it's not too bad, in the sense that I'm able to influence more people, children, and more young adults that I wouldn't have if I were a professor.



Let talk about your love for Ankara.
I have always loved Ankara. I love our local fabrics. Even in my A level days and university days in the U.K., I wore Ankara a lot.
Now I wear Ankara, even to work!
People in Francophone West African countries wear Ankara almost all the time. Some sew them into western-style and wear those styles to work. The men wear Ankara shirts on top of their jeans or regular trousers. The women wear theirs as Skirts and blouses.



In Paris, I noticed that a majority of the Immigrant African women were all wearing Ankara. They looked very dignified in it. In Paris, I first saw African women on France's street, selling Roasted corn on the pavement by the roadside as they do in Africa. They usually wrap the roasted corn in a newspaper.

In General what inspires you when you see children?


I love kids. You can judge a person from how they treat the weakest people in society, especially children, women, and senior citizens because they are the most disadvantaged.


Grace school as an educational institution, do you have any sustaining program?


Yes, we do a lot of charity work that we don't amplify.
For years we have given scholarships to scores of children from indigent families.





What is your philosophy of life?





I think you should be nice to everybody. Don't look down on anybody. Treat everybody with respect. We are all equal before God, so that's how I deal with people. I treat everybody with respect. Whether young or old, male or female, black, white, or whatever color.

Senator representing Lagos East at the 9th senate, Tokunbo Abiru has congratulated Senator Oluremi Tinubu on her recent conferment of Honourary Doctorate Degree in Public Administration by the prestigious Lagos State University.

In a statement released on Friday, December 18, 2020, Senator Abiru said that the conferment is an affirmation of her motherly role in Lagos, and it will serve as a reminder of the confidence of Lagosians in her capacity to continue to lead her constituent towards its manifest destiny of greatness.

He wrote:

I rejoice with Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (OON) on the conferment of Honourary Doctorate Degree in Public Administration on you by Lagos State University ,Ojoo.

This is one of the several honours you have received in recognition of- related issues, which have been central to your political advocacy.

You are an astute administrator and a major voice for the vulnerable members of our society. In demonstration of your commitment to this cause , you established the New Era Foundation (NEF) in Year 2000, a social development vehicle that empowers women; develops youths; funds education of vulnerable children; and also redirects their focus to the path of greatness.

This latest honour attests to your commitment and passion to human capital development and emancipation of the vulnerable.



On this note, Her Excellency,I congratulate you on behalf of the people of Lagos East, and pray Almighty God will continue to give you the grace and wisdom to impact on society.

Congratulations once again on this laudable achievement.

Sen.Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru, FCA,

(Tokunbo Abiru) Senator, Lagos East,

Federal Republic of Nigeria

December 18, 2020.

By Kay Aderibigbe.
The recent spring of protests that took place in various parts of Nigeria in October this year showed that the Nigerian people, when pushed to the wall, are not that docile as being repeatedly painted by the media and even some NGOs. Lagos state, being the epicenter of the protests witnessed a ghastly massacre of some youths who were legitimately at the forefront of the protest. Despite being bunches of spontaneous groups, the protesters, though, encountered stiff oppositions from both government-hired thugs and law enforcement agents at different locations but they remained resilient, organized, resolute, and focused on their sole purpose of ensuring that Federal government bring those bad eggs in the police to book and also reform the police force.
The government did not want the protest in the first place, as such, it became utterly expedient to secretly buy off the agitators. When all efforts to bribe the arrowheads of the protests and few notable ones among them proved abortive the government immediately blocked the bank account that was being operated with fiat money for the purpose of financing the protest but the youths forged ahead and prevailed in sourcing finance through digital currency.
From the viewpoint of the civil liberty movement or theories of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to political authority, one will realize that the youths reasonably conducted themselves. Probably this was due albeit, to some factors such as: the evident 'unity of the elites' despite the regression of Nigeria as a country, absolute poverty that ravaged the land, the continuous defense of the police force and crude deception being perpetrated by its hierarchy; and also, the need to make a statement by the Nigerian youths that religion or ethnicity could be sidelined for the purpose of a collective political struggle. The aforementioned reasons could be said to have motivated the psyche of the protesters.
Initially, police brutality, impunity and the overbearing influence of police officers over the common man was identified as the bases for the protest. Instead of the government to reckon with the yearnings of the people, it was the usual absolute silence that ensued from the government. To add insult to injury, the police authority also remained adamantly deceptive and apparently unwilling to sincerely effect changes despite the hue and cries of the protesters.
Consequently, the protest got needlessly prolonged and it was eventually hijacked by hoodlums who took to the streets on the premise that 'if government forces could kill armless protesters in cold blood then it sounds justifiable to vandalize police stations and loot private property in order to get even with an almighty Nigerian government that doesn't seem bothered by virtually anything'. I became sad and had to posit that . .."this development on its own is an alarming negative social logic which requires oriental societal discursive differentiation in order to positively drill the minds of our people".
The very crisis that erupted after the Lekki shooting revealed the volatility of our social formation and the precarity of the Nigerian state - as it is evident in the porousness of our security architecture, the depth of poverty, social degradation and above all, the non-identity of the teeming foot soldiers that could be deployed to wreak havoc at any time. It is axiomatic that the unrest which followed the Lekki masacre necessitated the national broadcast reluctantly delivered by Mr President. One of the psychological implications of such a presidential broadcast on the mentality of an average Nigerian is that the government doesn't care about or entertain legitimate political advocacy.
What then is the link between the cruel quell of the October protest and the future of legitimate advocacy or civil society/liberty movement in Nigeria?. How does it relate to insurgency?. Well, a short delve into agitations that turned to militancy between 1999 and now should suffice in this regard.
For instance, the Niger/Delta militant groups started as peaceful protesters on the streets of riverine area of Southern Nigeria in the year 2000; but they were molested, imprisoned and killed until they metamorphosed to deadly gang of kidnappers and terror-unleashing armed groups who could snap or cut short the lifeline of the Nigerian economy at any slight provocation.
The same dreaded Boko Haram group started as an islamist fundamental social group, until their leader Muhammed Yusuf, was killed and his farm destroyed by the government forces in 2009. In fact, the Nigerian government dishonored ICJ's ruling on compensating Yusuf's family and they also failed to disintegrate his followers by engaging them through productive activities.
Groups of disjointed bandits that are terrorising most parts of Northern Nigeria in the recent time were once laymen, farmers and herders. But they got frustrated out of failed secret promises by the political elites who created and used them as instruments of destabilization. As such, they became monsters and chose to wield the arms they got from politicians for kidnapping and reckless killings.
Since 1999, the Nigerian government has been offering amnesty to militant groups; talking about cease fire; paying ransom; rehabilitating and promoting welfare packages for terrorists. All these were even institutionalized through the establishment of agencies such as the NDDC- Niger Delta Development Commission, NEDC- North East Development Commission and even ministries.
It seems that Nigerian government prefers a situation where the state assumes a 'caretaker role of terrorists' instead of addressing the reason(s) for which the group sprouted in the first place. If not so, how come the government makes use of iron hands against political agitators and eventually turn around to be welfaristic towards the same agitators when they have already become public enemies?.
A critical appraisal of government performance in handling the problem of insurgency since 1999 could lend credence to what has been described by some analysts as 'a systematic encouragement of militancy activities by the government of Nigeria in order that government officials could make more money through huge budgetary allocations for insecurity being a national problem'. A comparison of military rule to the era after 1999 will substantiate this claim. The military, despite its command nature and autocratic model of governance still, to a reasonable extent, listened to civil society groups. Though it wasn't a norm for people to take up arms against the military during its heyday, it is also a truism that the military did not in any way encourage militancy or insurgency, either for political gains or financial rewards.
We have realized that the Nigerian state in all ramifications is such a typical example of the Marxian instrument of oppression and a kind of overarching agency that was put in place in order to ensure the continuous domination of the society by some notorious selected few. In fact, the Gaetano Mosca's elitist theory is the best description that captures the Nigerian political narrative since the return of democracy in1999 because power has resided with a clique of privileged classified few while majority wallow in abject government-policy-induced penury.
The very act of suffocating the masses by the government/elites through re-engineering of the socio-economic systems (social inequality and oppression) is directly proportional to all public agitations. It then becomes intrinsic that people ask fundamental questions as to why, what, when and how would they fare. When the state forcefully gag and hunt down agitators as it is seen in the case of #ENDSARS promoters hence, the need to seek options for the sustenance of such political struggle; which invariably could be pivotal to the transformation of legitimate advocacy to militancy or insurgency.
An enigmatic dilemma is in the making in Nigeria but we are not taking it seriously. Why did I say so? Religion and ethnicity does not matter to these protesters. They are in fact, acephalous in nature - no leader. They have a common enemy - bad governance. They speak the same language - change of situation. They use the same weapon - technology. They have the same history - things will get better. Their primary aim is not political power. They are not afraid of death because the economy itself is killing their morale daily. They don't take bribes. Above all, they are capable of transmogrifying to an anonymous enemy of a bad government that can carry out asymmetric warfare in the name of the course they believe in.
It will be in the best interest of the country and the political elites to reasonably adjust the blade of the guillotine they normally use in beheading non-state actors and those with dissenting thoughts. If the government of Nigeria did not desist from using force in quelling political advocacy the masses will be forced to speak in the language the government understands. If the government, through blatant intolerance and suppression of fundamental human rights eventually creates monsters out of the volatile hordes of Nigerian youths, then, we should all be ready to witness the birth of a new pariah state.
The truth is, there is no way the Nigerian army can cope with a generation of tech-savvy militants that might likely emerge from the ongoing behavioural class war. Most importantly, we should also bear in mind that every group, either real or imagined, always has some leftists elements!

There are certain works that draw universal acclaim, with a combination of cinematography techniques, communication skills, and willingness to push limits with experimentation that make for a great leading movie director.
These attributes define Tosin Igho, a young man who has employed a unique blend of collaboration and leadership to make blockbusters.

Igho is currently one of the leading movie directors in Nigeria’s movie industry. He’s at the top of his game and has been for over 10 years. Respect for the story drives his style in every film.

The composition of his shots is visually stunning in every one of the films in a body of work that transcends genre, style, and theme. He remains at the top of any list of the best cinematographers.

Though he has nothing left to prove as a craftsman, Igho continues to up the game in Nollywood and beyond.

Tosin took over from his father, Peter Igho, as an executive producer. He succeeded in the show business and now at about the same age, has a solid number of credits under his belt.

At the AMVCA Awards in 2020, Igho picked up an award for Best Picture Editor for his work ‘Seven’, which stars Efa Iwara, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sadiq Daba, Patrick Diabuah, Daddy Showkey, and a few others. On the same day, his father also bagged the highly revered Industry Merit Award.

The duo made AMVCA history as the first father and son to win the AMVCAs on the same night.

Tosin Igho has a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Effects from the prestigious AFDA in Cape Town, South Africa. He would go on to bag another degree in Cinematography and Film Production. He is the chief executive officer of a popular film company, IGHO Films and managing director of Remote Pictures.

Some of Igho’s major television content includes 'Once Upon A Time', 'The Eve', 'Seven', 'Judging Matters' and 'Love Come Back'. He is currently working on 'Nneka The Pretty Serpent', which is set to hit the cinema on December 18.

His technical adaptability from project-to-project and strong communication with directors define his work.

One of his most recent films, Seven, confirms that Tosin Igho is one of the best movie directors out of Nigeria and Africa by extension.
He has also graced a variety of films with his bold, dark-chiseled signature.

Group Managing Director of Suru Group, Edward Akinlade has called on Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to address the issue of traffic gridlock in the state. In a statement released and made available to the media on Monday, December 14, 2020, the real estate player, shared his frustrating experience on Lagos road after spending about 4 hours on Third Mainland Bridge, against the regular 7 minutes. He submitted some workable recommendations that can save Lagosians from needless traffic.

He wrote:

10th December 2020

The Executive Governor of Lagos State,

Lagos State House,

Alausa Ikeja,

Lagos.

Your Excellency,

INCESSANT TRAFFIC AND CONGESTION ON LAGOS STATE ROADS AND WAY FORWARD

Your Excellency, My name is Edward Akinlade the Group Managing Director of Suru Group Limited. This is to bring to your attention that as a concerned citizen and indigene of Lagos State, I am starting a one man protest against traffic and congestion on Lagos road . It is no longer news that several business and contract opportunities has been lost as a result of the congestion and traffic on Lagos Roads which has a negative impact on the business economy of the state and if this is not addressed it has the possibility of affecting the revenue of the state .

Your Excellency, I am aware of the ongoing road projects in different parts of the state, under your leadership this may not necessarily reduce the gridlock in the state. On this note I hereby recommend that the State Government should introduce congestion charges as being operational in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Wales where I come. This congestion charges will be applicable to motorist, and enforceable from Monday to Friday, this will thereby reduce the influx of road users who have little or nothing to do on the road. The motorists should be compelled to pay the sum of N1,000 per trip which can be activated with car registration numbers with payment done via designated Bank in Nigeria. If N1,000 charge does not reduce the influx of road users the State can increase to N5,000 /N10,000 or as the State deems fit.



Your Excellency, I strongly believe that the traffic will drastically reduce to a barest minimum.

Your Excellency, I have vowed that unless the above suggestion is acceded to I will continue on this protest which has brought me to your doorstep as every time I am held up in traffic it removes a day from my life span. It is high time we consider a different method in reducing Lagos gridlock which has now become a logo which Lagos State is known for.




Thanks in anticipation of your cooperation and approval of my request.

Yours faithfully,

MR EDWARD AKINLADE

08028788888

Says Our Government Already Sold Nigerians to second slavery.

The highly revered international cultural icon, who is the traditional title holder of EreluvOodua of Aye kingdom and Irawo Oni of Yoruba land, HRH Erelu Tinuade Mabel Onaneye has on Tuesday 8th of December, 2020 berated the Nigerian Government at all levels and traditional rulers for the system failure and all the ugly incidents happening in Nigeria. Safety, security, hunger, starvation, and diseases.

The renowned social crusader, Erelu Tinuade made the declaration from her base in Texas, United States through a release she signed and made available to the press and general public via her media aide, Saint-Olawale Jimoh on the beautiful Tuesday morning at about 9 am. Erelu condemned the unbearable shapes that events are taking back home and wonder if one can still call Nigeria a home country.

'No right-thinking Nigerian anywhere in the world will be comfortable hearing those horrible stories and happening from Nigeria. For instance, take a look at the recent massacre of about 110 rice farmers in Borno or the never-ending killings of innocent Nigerians in Southern Kaduna. The economy is collapsing and we are sliding back into recession for the second time. A Dollar now goes for about N510 judging by the current exchange rate. What about the outrageous amount of money being bandied about and stolen from the Niger Delta Development Commission? In the midst of all these, kidnapping and rapping haven't stopped yet we have a government at all levels.'She lamented.
'Regrettably, our traditional rulers who are supposed to call these politicians and government to order are shying away from the truth because of what they will eat. Today they're all equally bearing the brunt of their inaction and negligence. In Odigbo, the Olori and the two grown-up daughters of the king were abducted and abuse by herdsmen. Around the same time, another highly respected monarch, the Olufon of Ifon in Ondo state was brutally shot and killed by those suspected to be hoodlums or kidnappers. The citizens are no safer, All these calls for sobber reflection.' She continued.

Erelu Tinuade didn't fail to also mention the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria. She challenged all the 36 State Governors to publicly declare how many jobs they created since assuming office saying all they do is paying lips service to employment generation. She opined there no more office job for graduates except factory works owned by the wicked Chinese and Indian employers who enslave our youths for peanuts they call salaries and you dare not challenge them because they have the support of our government, another second slavery.

Erelu Tinuade concluded by calling on all Nigerians back at home to get ready for another national protest to reclaim our land and hold our leaders accountable for all the negligence and recklessness as she believes it's the only way to restore sanity into the country and our economy.

As the euphoria generated by the peaceful conduct and the unassailable victory of the ruling All Progressives Congress,APC, in the recent by-elections in the Lagos East Senatorial District and Kosofe 2 of the Lagos State House of Assembly, continues to reverberate throughout the nation, the eloquent message therein should not be lost on all and sundry.

Since the inception of the Sanwo-olu administration, the Lagos state government has hit the ground running in a dogged determination to fulfill its part of the social contract.

It came up up with the ingenious THEMES agenda which encapsulate the essence of the desires and expectations of Lagosians. The THEMES agenda which is an acronym for Transportation and traffic management, Health and Enviroment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st century economy, Entertainment and Tourism, Security and good governance, remain the guiding principles of the Sanwo-olu government.

The commitment to complete all inherited projects has been upheld in the successful completion of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport road and the near completion of the Agege Pen cinema fly-over.

The commissioning of 37 newly constructed roads and 500 others rehabilitated by the Public Works bureau are also note-worthy.

The procurement of 8 boats for water transportation and the recruitment , training and deployment of 1000 officers were geared towards the improvement of public transportation.

The commitment to construct the 4th mainland bridge which is making remarkable progress with the shortlisting of 8 of the 30 firms that expressed interest, will no doubt be the legacy project of the present administration. As characteristic of the present government, the community engagement to seek support and cooperation has commenced in earnest.

The various interventions by the state government in the health sector by providing various diverse free treatment for thousands of beneficiaries and free surgeries in pediatric, eyes, orthopedic , nose and dental ailments were most impactful.

The construction of the mother and child hospitals at Igando and Eto-osa also boosted the health sector.

Undoubtedly, our enviroment has improved as a result of the re-organization of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency and the operations of the Private Sector Participation in waste management. The Olusosun landfill site was expanded to 42 acre for ease of waste disposal.

The education sector has received the deserved attention with recruitment and training of 3,000 teachers, construction of new classrooms and the provision of furniture and free meals for pupils.

The signing of agreements with private investors to construct 8272 units of hostel will enhance the status of the Lagos State University as the leading state owned tertiary institution.

The administration also set up the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) with the start-up fund of $687,000 to drive the investment in research and tech-focused solutions across the six pillars of the administration’s THEMES agenda.

The various empowerment and poverty alleviation programs were geared towards addressing the peculiar challenges of the moment.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought out the inherent leadership qualities of Mr Governor who acted as the Incident Commander in words and indeed.

The provision of the requisite medical needs- isolation centers, laboratories and other incentives to set the ideal standard for government response.

The various provisions of far reaching palliatives to cushion the effect of the lock-down occasioned by the pandemic, despite the fruitfulless efforts to politicize it, showed the human face of our government.

The endsars protest , which started as a legitimate demonstration of democratic rights, but ended with orchestrated violence on public and private properties, afforded the governor an opportunity to keep faith with the people.

He identified with the protesters and couriered their demands to Abuja.

The Lagos State government was also the first to set a judicial panel of enquiry to put together the pieces of the unrest for posterity and seek justice for the victims .

The sponsored attacks of the government in the traditional and social media as a result of the protest has called to question the intentions of some faceless activists.

However, the response of the Lagos State government to re-focus by having an inventory of the losses, providing support for the victims and quickly set in motion the machinery to rebuild is a lesson in commitment, passion and never say die spirit.

The Lagos East Senatorial and Kosofe 2 House of Assembly

by- elections presented an opportunity to access the performance of the present administration and most especially its response to the unexpected challenges.

While our opponents focused on unimpressive rhetorics which failed to impress the electorates, we presented candidates with impeccable pedigree who will undoubtedly compliment the progressive governance in the state. The failure of the the campaign of calumny, once again , demonstrated the political sophistication of Lagosians who saw through the facade of deliberate misinformation, deceit and propaganda.

Through their votes, the electorates in the Lagos East Senatorial district acknowledged and appreciated the various developmental projects in their part of the state. The Dangote refinery, the Eleko to Epe round about , the Ikorodu road reconstruction and the Lekki deep sea port etc are projects that provided employment opportunities for the people and will most certainly change their socio-economic landscape when completed.

We appreciate the tremendous support of all the electorates who gave us the unprecedented 89% of the total votes cast.

We wish to assure you of our renewed commitment to good governance that will be impactful on all and sundry.

Perhaps, we should also commend our opponents whose sheer falsehood and desperation served as additional impetus to work diligently for the victory.

Our government is mindful of the need to redouble our efforts to address the various areas of challenge as an appreciation of the renewed confidence.

While we acknowledge the right of the opposition to lament and sulk, it should be noted that consistent reality check is a recipe for political progress.

Seye Oladejo

Lagos State APC Spokesman.

· Adjourns hearing till January



A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi has ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu to prosecute the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the December 5 bye-election in Lagos East, Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi for alleged forgery and perjury.



The presiding judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke gave the order on Tuesday following a motion filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State, asking the court to compel the IG to investigate and prosecute Gbadamosi.



Before the order was granted on Tuesday, counsel to the APC, Mr. Olukayode Enitan (SAN) told the court that he had filled motion exparte, affidavit in support, statement in support, verifying affidavit and written address as part of conditions to grant his application.



In addition to these court processes, the counsel added that he had equally filed exhibits in support of the affidavit and further affidavit already filed before the court



The counsel, also, argued that all the conditions necessary for the grant of the application had been fulfilled, thereby requesting the court to grant the motion.



After listening to the argument of the counsel, the presiding judge agreed with learned Silk and consequently granted the application while he adjourned hearing of the originating summons for Mandamus till January 28.



In Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1661/2020, the APC had applied for the issuance of a prerogative Writ of Mandamus to compel the IG to discharge his public duty to investigate the PDP candidate for allegations of forgery, perjury, fraud and failure to participate in the mandatory national youth service.

Pursuant to Order 34 Rules 1 and 3 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedures) Rules, 2019, the APC had, through its counsel, filed an application asking the court to investigate and prosecute Gbadamosi.



It had argued that the allegations “are offences under the provisions of Sections 465, 467 and 117 of the Criminal Code Act, 2004 and the National Youth Service Corps (Amendment) Act, which according to the party, placed duty upon the IG to investigate and prosecute the PDP candidate.”



Consistent with the Criminal Code Act and NYSC Act, the APC had contended that the IG “is under a duty to investigate and prosecute Gbadamosi for the offences of forgery, perjury, fraud and failure to participate in the National Youth Service as contained in Form EC9 and CF001 he submitted to INEC.”



The party had justified its claims on the ground that the PDP candidate had committed several offences bothering on forgery, fraud and perjury, for which the IG ought to investigate and prosecute him.



It had averred that the IG “is by virtue of the Police Act duty bound to investigate complaints and petitions lodged at his office. The petition was received and duly acknowledged November 11, 2020.



“Despite being in receipt of the petition, the inspector-general has failed, neglected and or refused to commence investigation of the PDP candidate as requested.”



On these grounds, the APC said it was aggrieved; now seeking to compel the inspector-general “to perform its statutory duties under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Police Act.”



In another litigation with Suit NO: FHC/L/CS/1659/2020, the APC sued Gbadamosi and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for allegations of forgery, perjury, fraud and failure to participate in the one-year mandatory national youth service.



The party had, in its writs of summons, claimed that it discovered certain discrepancies in the certificates, which according to the APC, were indicative of the fact that the WAEC certificate Gbadamosi submitted to the INEC might have been falsified.



It had claimed that some of the discrepancies observed in Gbadamosi’s WAEC certificate include the number of subjects the PDP candidate allegedly sat for “is different from the number of subjects he sat for as contained on the website of WAEC.



“Also, the grades he claims to have received via the certificate is different from that contained on the official website of WAEC,” the APC declared in its writs of summon.”

The All Progressive Congress, APC has reacted to the purported allegation raised by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, after losing out the just concluded bye-elections for Lagos East Senatorial seat.
According to the results announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abiru polled a total of 89,204 votes while Babatunde Gbadamosi, his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, secured 11,257 votes.
The PDP in reaction to the result, described the Election State as a charade, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of allocating votes to the APC.
The APC in response to the allegation wrote:
The reaction of the Lagos State chairman of PDP to the humiliating defeat of his party to the recently held Lagos East Senatorial and Kosofe 2 Lagos State House of Assembly elections can best be described as a comic relief from the recent pressure and challenges.
It was a referendum on the spineless and ineffectual opposition that the PDP has been providing in Lagos State for over two decades.
The age-long disharmony and lack of coordination in the PDP effectively laid the foundation for the permanent trouncing of the opposition party in Lagos state.
The impressive performance of the ruling party , APC, in the determined implementation of its progressive policies has made PDP a taboo in Lagos state.
It’s a big surprise that the state chairman could complain about the results of the elections that he was too busy to campaign for his candidates.
While they were busy conducting fake personal opinion polls, the ruling APC was reaching out to the voters with life changing programs, manifestos and policies that are relevant to the challenges of the day.
However, we emphatize with Engr Doherty who must still be dazed by the total annihilation.
The bye-election will go down in history as one of the best in terms of conduct by INEC, the professionalism of the security agents and the fact that the results truly reflected the popular will.

Seye Oladejo
Lagos State APC Spokesman.

Distasteful reports coming from our once cherished Iruland hold that the defacto-king by circumstance, Gbolahan Lawal has turned into a pseudo-monarch monster and he’s hell-bent on destroying all the value that is left of Iru’s heritage and historical pastime.

Reports reveal that the Oniru, ordered his thugs to take to the streets to intimidate and suppress anyone who challenge his excesses and recklessness in Iruland.

Video shows how some men were attacked by Gbolahan’s thug on Saturday, December 5, 2020, at a family shrine, where many people were severely injured and the 200 years old shrine was reduced to nothing.

An eyewitness who is currently undergoing traditional treatment after suffering convulsion due to the fetish charms used against him recounted that the thugs declared that anyone who is not in support of Oba Oniru (Gbolahan) will die untimely.

“Unfortunately, the new Oniru's reign within a year is already replete with examples of less than stellar leadership.

“Gbolahan's penchant for violence, murder, genocidal tendencies, and/or other deviancies is unquantifiable.

“Even when you know that the plot and conspiracy that brought you to royalty was riddled with lies, you don’t have to see others as enemies of the community.
“The deafening silence of Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, and other stakeholders on this matter is also worrisome.
“Recall there was also a report of Prince Tijani Oniru, one of the sons of Oba Abiodun Idowu Oniru, the late Oniru of Iruland who died in 2019, attacked by Oba Gbolahan’s thug in July 2020, and up till date, nothing was done to address the situation.

“This is what conspiracy and imposed leadership have brought upon us in Iruland. We hope that the government will treat our situation as a matter of urgency, as his paranoia destroy us as a community,” he said.
watch video https://fb.watch/2cIHoie7wl/

Victory Speech by the Senator-elect for Lagos East Senatorial District on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just-concluded bye-election

Mr. Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru (Tokunbo Abiru) on December 6, 2020.

Protocols

If there are people out there, who still doubt the popularity of our great party; who do not reckon with our leadership in this political landscape and who still dispute our progressive approach to governance, our comfortable victory in the just concluded bye-election readily offers them an infallible answer.

It is the answer the people of Lagos East generously delivered at the conclusion of last Saturday’s bye-election. It is the answer that resonates in their popular decision to give us their mandate. It is the answer that our unrepentant critics cannot contest, even in their wildest dream, given the credibility of the process that gave us the mandate. This answer did not in any way come by accident or chance. It came by dint of the hard work our party and campaign council invested in the electioneering. It also came through the selfless service of all members of our Campaign Council and Local Organising Committees (LOCs) that canvassed support for our party even during sometimes difficult circumstances.

On this note, I wish to commend and appreciate our party leadership from the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman of Lagos APC, Prince Babatunde Balogun; all our leaders in the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) and all members of the State Executive Council (SEC) and State Working Committee (SWC) for putting up a formidable structure that again earned us the people’s mandate. Honestly our Campaign Council and all its Directorates have done a great job with the deft approaches they adopted to prosecute our campaign from the level of local councils and development areas to community engagements, street-to-street campaigns and house-to-house mobilisation, setting up meetings upon meetings with different groups of stakeholders in the five Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 11 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in our senatorial district.

The creativity, energy and passion with which the Chairman of our Campaign Council, Otunba Kaoli Olusanya prosecuted our campaign was amazing. Otunba Kaoli worked tirelessly and seamlessly with the Vice Chairman of the Campaign Council, Alhaji Bode Oyedele and all heads of our Campaign Directorates to secure our party’s mandate. Across the senatorial district, there are other people and groups, who passionately believe in the ideals of our party; who stood by us when those on the other sides were maligning our hard-earned reputation; who shared the burden of governing Lagos State and worked day and night with us. In this category are the Obas and Chiefs, the youth; women; non-indigenes and also indigenous people of Lagos East, among others. They all stood with and still stand by our party. I also recognize and applaud our friends and professional and business colleagues in the private sector who supported this noble endeavour financially and otherwise and demonstrated their understanding of the need for more professionals to enter the public space.

With the support of our formidable team, we campaigned relentlessly from local council to local council, community to community and indeed from house to house. We shared our mission and vision with the people of Lagos East across all social strata with confidence and conviction that the future of our children, youths, women and our people at large is safer and more secure with the progressives. As a political party, we reeled out our performance index, pointing out what we had done differently in government and what we are capable of doing now. As a party candidate, I presented my sterling career success, enviable records of service and robust pedigree as testimonials to my capacity, commitment and competence to represent the people fairly and bring them expected ends.

And our records abundantly spoke for us at the poll. Our people – whether in Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikorodu, Kosofe and Somolu – believed in the evidence of our previous stewardship rather than in the concocted accounts of our traditional opposition. Our people believed in the ideals of our party rather than in the fabricated reports those who could not play by the rules resorted to in a failed attempt to discredit us politically or the fictitious opinion poll they dished out to score cheap political points. In spite of the campaign of anger and frustration they prosecuted, the people of Lagos East generously gave us their mandate. This is perhaps the smoothest victory our party has secured in its recent history. We polled 89,204 votes, while our closest rival scored 11,251 votes. This outcome is no doubt, a reaffirmation of our expanding political support base, not just in Lagos East, but also in Lagos State at large. It is without doubt a proof of the degree of public trust we have earned in our party’s two decades or more in governance in Lagos State.

The election has been held and we have won with a landslide. Now that we have secured this Senatorial mandate; we cannot afford to fail our people. We cannot afford to fail those who voted for us; those who chose not to vote for us for whatever reasons and those who did not vote at all. We cannot afford to betray the invaluable trust our people reposed in us as a political party and as their representatives in government. Now is the time to translate all the promises we made into positive and tangible outcomes our people are expecting us to bring about. Now is the time to take our people from the realm of expectations to the limelight of fulfilment.

I commit myself irrevocably to the agenda I laid out before the electorate-offering people-focused quality representation; ensuring welfare of my constituents; working with my colleagues in the National Assembly to ensure special status for Lagos; promoting policies to improve national economic performance and financial sector development; implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); facilitating completion of all federal and state road projects in Lagos East; promoting ease of doing business; supporting the 5 for 5 agenda for police reform; supporting fiscal federalism and joining forces with colleagues in the Senate and members of the House of Representatives to ensure devolution of powers to the sub-national governments.

Within the limits of our statutory mandate, this is the time to make the aged smile; empower our jobless youths; minister to the vulnerable; secure the future of brilliant indigent children and support the implementation of the ideals of our party. To achieve these enviable goals, we are already in the process of establishing an Endowment and Empowerment Fund to actualize my private philanthropy. The Fund will implement different interventions we are coming up with in line with my agenda and the ideals of our party. Already, our team is perfecting the modalities for the implementation of all these intervention programmes. By the middle of January, we will unveil these programmes in full and begin implementation immediately.

I thank our people for this mandate and promise to live up to your expectations.



Thank you and God bless.



Mr. Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru, FCA.

(Tokunbo Abiru)

Senator-Elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

December 6, 2020

Iyiola Olatokunbo Edun is an educationist and a leader in the basic and secondary education space. She is the Executive Director of Grace Schools, a leading academic institution located in the heart of Gbagada, Lagos

She also works with CEOs and senior-level executives, facilitating transformational change in the academic field.

As a go-getting influencer, Ma, as she is fondly called, loves nothing more than inspiring positive change on a global scale. She has partnered with several of the largest academic institutions across the world to amplify the need for global-compliant classrooms for early learners.









Mrs. Iyiola Olatokunbo Edun is the administrator of a foremost citadel of learning in Lagos State, Grace Schools. A seasoned administrator, she has been working at the school for 35 years. She rose through the ranks even though she is a daughter of the founder, Mrs. Grace Abisola Osinowo of blessed memory. At a time when private schools were not easy to establish, she battled all odds to take up the responsibility in 1984 and take Grace Schools to the next level.

Edun in this interview with Adelowo Adebumiti spoke extensively about the place of women in the society, challenges they faced and what every parent must do to shore up the girl-child to withstand and triumph over oppression.









Recently Kamala Harris, emerged as the Vice President-Elect of the United States, do you think Nigeria is also doing enough in the area of inclusion to promote gender equality?







Okay, let me say something about the black woman. All over the world as a black woman, you are seen as uneducated, poor, even if you have the means. I will give an example. I travel business class. Whenever they announce that business class should stand up, and I stand up, even some of the airline staff will ask me, are you sure you are travelling business class and I will respond, do you have any problem with that? I entered a plane some time ago, I put down my bag then I asked the air hostess where the toilet was and immediately she just pointed to the back and I thought so this front toilet is just for the pilot? So I went to the back. A minute later, I wanted to go back to my seat and she was shocked that I was heading for the business class. Then she apologized, “I’m so sorry, I thought you are going economy." It happens to me all over the world. I can remember also, one day in Amsterdam on route to Atlanta, there is this priority line and economy line and I went to the priority line. Suddenly one of the Airline Staff, a man pointed at me and shouted that I should go back and line up the passengers on the economy line.

I felt like "really", this is strange, but I went back and queued in the economy line. When I got to him at the front, I told him, if you know that everybody is going to line up together, why were you saying one is a priority and the other economy? I was so upset, but that's what I face all the time. It happens because you are black, you are a woman and they don't expect that you even have the money to travel business class. Even when you enter the plane, sometimes people sitting in the business class will wonder, "they will soon send her back”, “maybe she made a mistake”. Then after all said, they would be shocked. So that's an experience as an African, a black, and a woman. We are not rated highly. I am so happy for Kampala Harris because we black women are always looked down on a majority of the time.







Do you think this is attributive to some misplaced sense of superiority for some men and whites as well?





Yes being black puts you at a disadvantage. And being a woman is another disadvantage. It happened to me in Spain. We were sitting down, and they said the people on the priority line should stand up, and I did. There was this white lady who walked up to me, she probably thought she was trying to help by telling me that the announcement was meant for those on the priority category, so I should not stand up to queue. She assumed wrongly that I was going economy! I replied to her that "I know"!. So you are already at a disadvantage if you are black and a woman. So, I'm so happy for Kamala Harris.







Is it the same thing in Nigeria?





Going from Lagos, well, it is not a problem for me, but it is when you enter Europe or America that you encounter such a problem. I also have had a problem in Canada where the airline staff at the business class counter, pointed to me to go and check-in at the economy counter as I tried to make my way to check-in at the business class counter. They did not even bother to speak to me or see my travelling documents!







Does it also affect the way men in Africa look at women when they consider opportunities in government and politics?





Like I said, being a woman puts you at disadvantage, even in your own country. In Nigeria, you are already a second-class citizen and if you are a woman and financially independent and comfortable, nobody will think that you made the money by yourself, they believe you have a rich husband, that's it or she must have slept with somebody to get to that level. So you are already at the disadvantage all over the world as black women.







What do you think can change this perception?





I'm very assertive. Whenever anyone asks me, "are you sure you are flying business class," I always reply to them, "Do you have a problem with that?" Sometime in March, when I was traveling also at Atlanta airport, my son and I went to the airport and we were in the priority queue. Again, there was an airline staff who pointed at us, trying to inquire if we missed our way. I told him "yes we are on the priority queue, so what? So, for me, it's a constant thing. Anytime I have this issue and a white woman is standing there, I'll ask, why don't you ask her why she's in priority? Why is she there? Why are you pointing, is it because I'm black and African or because I wear Ankara?







How can we build up the girl child to face these reductionists' challenge and overcome them?





They should be more assertive. They should not feel that they are second class citizens. I don't feel like a second class citizen abroad, with the elite, or with the government. I think they should be able to speak up to defend their space in society. Nobody will do it for them.





Do the schools still have a role to play in this regard?







Yes, I remember at the university, one of the lecturers used to refer to me as "that black girl", he talked about how I used to walk tall and talk boldly. This is because of my carriage and confidence in all that I do. Sometimes, the family you come from has a high impact on how you see yourself.

My mum didn't make me feel as if I am second class to my brothers. I think she had more confidence in me because for over 30 years before her death, I was co-signatory to her business accounts. . So, I got confidence from early childhood and also my father's family they have very powerful women and they held their own in society.





Can you tell us a bit about your background?







My Grandmother Moriamo Ibidere Oshinowo was a big-time textile merchant. She had 3 daughters. . They used to go from one market to the other those days, I remember I used to hear her story. I never met her because she died many years before I was born. You know this Yoruba belief in re-incarnation... They believed that I was their mother, who came back and they never call me by name. Anytime they saw me, they used my grandmother's Oriki (panegyrics) to call me. They said, I'm like her, she was tall and all that. I never met her. But before she died, she divided her trade into three.



The middle daughter Sinatu Oshinowo, of the famous Oshinowo Transport Service, married Abudu Benson, who also ran the Benson Transport buses. Part of my Master's thesis was based on Sinotu Oshinowo. This because my master thesis was on the Yoruba market women and the impact of colonialism on them. So I had to look at traditional pre-colonial society and why it was women who are the traders in the colonial society. And why was it that women sell certain things that men could not sell?

You can never see a man in the market sell pepper, neither can you see a woman sell beef, the men would catch the fish, but it's a woman that will sell it. In Yoruba markets, all the people who sold the same thing always sat together. You will see oil stalls, pepper stalls, or garri stalls. So, that was what my master's thesis was focused on, and also how colonialism has affected women. As a result of colonialism, Yoruba men went into trading which was the exclusive preserve of women in pre-colonial society.

In pre-colonial times, the Yoruba men were predominantly farmers, hunters, Iron smiths etc, but in traditional society, the men were farmers, hunters most times in a field, but it was always a woman that sold such things.



Your upbringing to an extent reflected in your confidence as a woman, what role do you think schools can play in building up the girl-child?





We have introduced etiquette lessons here at Grace Schools for more than 20 years now. It’s not in the curriculum, but we introduced it. I always tell the girls that there are so many things you can't cover up with lipstick and powder, like bad behaviour, all other vices. You can't cover that up with lipstick and powder.





Many big names finished from Grace school such as the Ekiti State first lady, Bisi Fayemi, Bollywood star, Funke Akindele and head of DSTV, Dewunmi Ogunsanya. How do you feel when you see these people doing exploit?





I feel very happy seeing these people as alumni. When I started, I didn't begin at the top, rather, I started as a nursery assistant. I taught Year 2, Year 3 and Year 6. These were called Primary classes at that time. Some of the children I taught, their children are here now. So whenever we have a PTA meeting and I see some of them, I feel so happy. So I'm very happy about seeing their children here.



How has COVID-19 affected the education sector, particularly the payment of school fees?



COVID-19 affected everybody, now people have some level of clarity because many realised They attached importance to useless things. During the pandemic, I notice that most of the time you can’t even tell when it is evening or day, because there's nowhere to go. You sit in front of the television, watching CNN and you hear reports about 900 people in Spain, Italy etc dying daily as a result of Coronavirus.

So life is vanity. Most of the people even women, who couldn’t do without going to the hairdressers, can’t go to the salon or do their nails. A lot of business suffered losses, but the only profits that most businesses have made or we made is to stay alive during the crisis. The biggest profit is that you are alive. We thank God we didn’t have it as bad as it happened in Europe and other places. Although they were not expecting that, they were expecting thousands dying on the streets, but we thank God we didn't have such things. Then, we had to go on lockdown in March and the last fees that came in were in January and we had to pay the staff. Even when we were going in March, not all the students had paid their fees, because we were just about to start the exams. So, it was tough.





In several places, there is tension about the second wave of COVID-19, should Nigerians be concerned?



Yes, it is happening in Europe. I hope it does not happen here. Our people are becoming complacent. A lot of people have stopped wearing their facial masks on the streets!



To what extent do you think the pandemic has helped Nigeria to embrace digital alternative?





Actually, before the lockdown in March, we have a very good system here. We were already used to the online system, so it didn't come to us as a shock. We could cope because all the things were already in place. But the only thing was that, because we had to do the online school, the teachers couldn't come here, so we had to pay for data and sometimes, data is about N600,000 or N700,000 per month because they are in their various houses. So, that's how we were able to cope. And the parents didn't understand it at the beginning. They couldn't hear what they were saying during classes.

But that wasn't our fault, it was the network problem. In the end, many people now realised what teachers go through teaching children, because some had to supervise their children, so they won't end up visiting other websites. Also, it made the students more academically independent. Some of the children started doing interviews. Can you imagine they have their own YouTube channels? It was really impressive, it made them more independent.



Grace school has a strong alumni base, how supportive are they?





Well, not as much as I would have loved, but we are moving. When we celebrated the 50th-anniversary, Dewunmi Ogunsanya, the head of Multichoice, was here and he supported the school. We have an ample lot of them who support once in a while.



What should Nigerians be expecting from Grace School in the coming years?









I think we are more technically savvy now.







Grace School sometimes ago partnered with an institution in Canada?





Yes, with a Canadian school. We should have started in September, but we were slowed down by the COVID-19 effect. By God's grace, the announcement for admission will start by May 2021.



Can you take us through the process?



Ok, it's a diploma programme. You'll do the first year here and then go to Canada to conclude the rest. We have built the school premise from the scratch. You know, there is another acre of land, just at the back of the premises.





When you look back on your journey so far, is there anything you’d wish you did differently?



Initially, I didn’t want to be here. Well, I have always wanted to be a professor, because I like to read. I have always wanted to be like Prof. Bolanle Awe, a professor of history. I used part of her works for my Master’s thesis. I suppose now, it’s not too bad, in the sense that I'm able to influence more people, children and more young adults that I wouldn't have if I was a professor.







Let talk about your love for Ankara?





When I was doing my A-levels, I used to wear Ankara. One day I went into a shop somewhere in Victoria Island and I ask how is much this? And one of the girls didn't even answer me, but the other one answered. Then the other one that answered, later on, came towards me and said, guess what? That when I initially walked into their shop, the other girl that did not acknowledge my presence had said, “This one in Ankara, what can she afford? So, even here when you wear Ankara they look down on you and the person who doubted what I can buy, couldn't even afford anything in that shop.





But white people prefer Ankara?







What I notice in Paris is that all the women love wearing Ankara. It was in France that I first saw women on the street selling corns as they do in Africa, in some parts of Paris they will wrap it a newspaper. A lot of African women in Paris wear Ankara. And you would even think this is Africa. So most of the women, almost all of the women are wearing Ankara. Even in Cotonou, you will see the men wearing Ankara on jeans and they are okay.



In General what inspires you when you see children?





I love kids. You can judge a person from the way they treat the weakest people in society, especially, children, women and the old people. Because they are the most disadvantaged.





Grace school as an educational institution, do you have any sustaining programme?





Yes, we do a lot of charity work that we don’t amplify.







What is your philosophy of life?



I think you should be nice to everybody. Don’t look down on anybody, treat everybody with respect. Something I have noticed about Nigerians if you go to a party, they will say some people are special and should be served as regulars. Never in my party, if you arrived on time or late, eat what's available. I don't reserve things for special categories of people, I don't like that. Everybody is equal before God, so that's how I deal with people. Treat everybody with respect.

Lagos State chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC has uncovered plot by the opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to disrupt the forthcoming senatorial election billed for Saturday, November 5, 2020.



In a statement released by the party Spokesperson, Hon. Seye Oladejo, the PDP has reportedly mobilised hoodlums to take position is some vulnerable areas of Lagos state where the elections is billed to hold, and where they perceived the opposition will not get reasonable vote.



The party however called on security forces to wade into the matter and ensure that every sinister motive by any party will not work.



Read full statement below



Our attention has been drawn to certain developments that are capable of disrupting the by-elections for Lagos East Senatorial district and the Lagos State House of Assembly for Kosofe 2 slated for this Saturday.



The members of APC in the areas where the elections will be conducted have observed the unusual mobilization of hoodlums and miscreants from within and outside the state to disrupt the electoral process in polling areas where the PDP will likely return poor results.



Similarly, arrangements have been concluded to buy votes which negates the provision of the electoral laws.



Our intelligence revealed the conclusion to pay the sum of N5,000 per vote to undermine the process.



Therefore, we are calling on the security agents to be vigilant to arrest any situation that is capable of disrupting the electoral process and INEC to remain impartial and deliver on their responsibility to the nation.



Our members and supporters are hereby enjoined to protect their votes in the best interest of our nascent democracy.



Seye Oladejo



Lagos APC Spokesman.

Residents of Lagos East Senatorial District have alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has perfected plan to buy a vote with N5, 000 in the senatorial bye-election scheduled to hold tomorrow.


The residents, thus, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria Police and other security agencies to be at alert, warning that they would resist any plot to undermine the process.


In separate statements on Thursday, the residents alleged that their findings showed that the PDP and its senatorial candidate for Lagos East bye-election, Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi had set machinery to spend huge amount of money to buy votes and cause confusion.



Specifically, Mr. Mansur Akoni alleged that he was aware of the PDP’s plan to buy a vote with N5, 000 to win the bye-election at all cost, which according to him, would be resisted and frustrated.



Akoni, an Ikorodu resident, warned against any attempt by the main opposition party “to buy votes on the day of the bye-election. We are waiting for them. We will resist any plot to manipulate the outcome of the bye-election.”



He, therefore, asked the Nigeria Police to investigate allegation that the PDP was allegedly planning to pay each eligible voter N5, 000 to gain advantage in the Lagos East bye-election already rescheduled for tomorrow.



In his own statement, an Epe resident, Mr. Olatunde Giwa alleged that most agents of the PDP had been harassing peace-loving people, which he argued, could lead to violence and hijacking of ballot boxes on the day of the bye-election.



Giwa, also, alleged that the PDP agents “have been wooing unsuspecting voters, even going as far as collecting their permanent voters cards (PVCs) with a promise to give each of them N5, 000.



“The INEC should take necessary measures to frustrate their plot. The security operatives should be at alert to protect the decision of the people. On our part, we are ready to resist all agents of electoral malpractices. We are peaceful people, but will not allow anti-democratic forces to steal the mandate of the people,” he said.

The much-anticipated launch of JMSlide is set to break the internet on Friday, December 13th, 2020, for all exclusive indigenous videos for optimal entertainment like never before.


JMSlide is owned by Jonliz LLC, a leading entertainment, and eCommerce company that that deals with indigenous content.


JMSlide offers hundreds of titles, including classics and original shows in every genre. The website rotates its offerings, so there’s always something new to watch.


It is a new indigenous movie streaming site that is gaining popularity across Africa and beyond, for his digital innovation that discourages piracy, and makes movie streaming as affordable as N25.00 (Twenty Five Naira) despite its tons of high-quality exclusive home videos. It also allows users to sign-in to receive updates of new movies and more. JMSlide provides a wide range of subscription and pay-per-view movies and TV shows, Video can be streamed in up to 1080p, so quality isn’t an issue.



To register as a user doesn’t more than a minute, and you only need to provide a name, email address, and password.



The content is well organized, and the well-designed search function allows you to search by several different criteria. You can also find great classic indigenous movies as well as entertaining hits on the platform.



The homepage is extremely simple to navigate with only a search bar and Category options listed. After you choose your film, just click the play button and begin your journey to 100% entertainment.


Aside from the affordable cost per view, JMSlide also ensures that its contents are secured beyond the interface of its website.

JMSlide is also available as an application for installation on Google Playstore.

Ahead of the forthcoming Lagos-East Senatorial election on Saturday, December 5, 2020, Lagosians and well-meaning observers are raising salient concerns that seem to question the integrity and reliability of the candidate presented by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi as he goes shoulder to shoulder with the All Progressive Congress, APC’s candidate, Tokunbo Abiru.

Gbadamosi, in the face of media, is, quite an assertive crusader, who is quick to jumps to this Twitter handle to condemn projects, policies, and proposals of serving government at every level and Lagosians are questioning his capacity to operate at any, considering the avalanche of court cases hanging in his neck.

In all his postings, it is shocking that BOG, as he’s fondly called, has not addressed any of the fraud cases filed against Lagos Court. He is yet to defend the allegations of educational certificate forgery and perjury against him before the court of public opinion.

It is recalled that a legal suit has been filed to compel the IGP to investigate and prosecute BOG for offenses bordering on giving false information on oath in his Form EC9 submitted to INEC and absconding mandatory National Youth Service.

The action enables the police to invite, investigate, and prosecute BOG before or after the elections. Thus the holding of the elections does not affect the substance of the suit

BOG had reportedly presented to INEC, a WAEC certificate which is materially different from that contained on the official website of WAEC contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.

Whilst in the result presented to INEC BOG is said to have sat for 5 subjects and obtained 4 credits, in the result online, he is said to have sat for 8 subjects and failed 3 including Mathematics and Bible Knowledge. It is believed by APC that the result submitted to INEC does not contain the accurate result obtained and hence same may have been falsified.

Furthermore, the suit questions how BOG would gain admission into LASU having not sat for the minimum number of subjects required by WAEC.

If found guilty, BOG may have all his votes, however much to be nullified or quashed by the court.

For a Gbadamosi that we know, he would have stormed his social media handle to defend himself on matters that has little or no connection to him, how come he has not addressed this fraud allegations or simply take a photo of his certificates and defend himself before the court of public opinion while we await the judgment from the court of law.

The Gbadamosi that we know will not leave his Twitter handle until all his credentials are sufficiently displayed for his 50 thousand followers to download. His reluctance to come out publicly to defend himself puts a question mark on the genuineness of his ambition.

A popular media association of independent online media publishers also raised issues concerning his political inconsistencies. The association secretary, Owodunni Lateef added that BOG has not only be jumping from one party to the other and contesting at different political capacities.

Gbadamosi had contested as a governor under ADP and now has run to PDP to contests for senate. Should he lose in this bid as he lost to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, there is the possibility that he may also want to contest for the Local Government Chairman elections. Is that the kind of person Lagosians want to trust?” he queried.

The association P.R.O added that the opposition party has over the years lack the political tack to field credible candidates against the ruling APC in Lagos.

There are also indications that the PDP senatorial candidate, Gbadamosi did not participate in the one year mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC) as claimed.

He filled Form EC9 that he attended the Lagos State University after obtaining his WAEC certificate in 1985, with results that evidently did not meet requirements for admission in the university. Gbadamosi whose Wikipedia page shows that he attended the university failed to indicate the course of study. Sources who attended the same University also claimed not to be familiar with the name either back in school or on the University’s Alumni handbook.

He has been challenged to produce all his credentials to disclaim all these damning allegations of forgery, but all efforts to reach him on phone and in-person proved abortive.

He has refused to openly address all these inconsistencies and irregularities that question his self-acclaimed credibility and transparency. It is however important that Lagosians look critically into these salient issues before they cast their votes at the poll come December 5, 2020.

Fast rising actor cum cinematography Ashimi Azeez is one of the young cinematographers in the movie industry, having spent close to 2 decades in the industry he has worked with almost all the A list stars and directors in the industry though he started up as an actor but was advised to concentrate on cinematography which he loves so much.



He learned so much from the veteran actor Babasuwe and Kunle Adegbite and during his learning process he made contacts with lots of directors in the industry and Babasuwe's name paved way for him in the industry, this explains why he's very busy shuttling from one movie location to another and has worked with stars like Funke Akindele, Miss Martins, Afeez Abiodun, Kenny George, and a host of others.

In this exclusive interview with city people's senior showbiz reporter Biodun Alao he talked about his journey into the movie industry and his greatest dreams in life.



Can you take us through your journey into the movie industry?



My name is Ashimi Azeez Babatunde, I started learning acting from Babasuwe in 1999 I later went to my brother Kunle Adegbite to learn about the camera.



What is your experience like learning under Babasuwe?



When I was with him it was all just about the camera because as at then he bought different cameras so I had the opportunity to see more cameras and even know about them, he employed I and Blessing Adejumo as camera assistant we were asked to take cameras to every location and that was how I started learning more about and in the process of learning and handling cameras I even got the nickname Azeez Babasuwe.



How did learning under Babasuwe impacted your career?

Yes, it did help my career because Babasuwe is a veteran and highly respected in the industry and also Kunle Adegbite the DOP who taught me how to operate cameras then, so it really made me come in contact with almost all the big directors in the industry and everything I gained from them plus everything I learned it is currently helping me in my career.



Do you combine acting with cinematography?

Am currently concentrating more in cinematography, back then when Odufuye Niyi popularly known as Aare the producer of Gbomogbomo a popular TV series on Africa magic Yoruba took me to Tajudeen Gbadamosi I concluded on my own that it's better I concentrate on acting but these two great people advise me and insisted that I should learn cinematography so I only today I only get to feature in minor roles in movies. I eventually made up my mind and decided to dedicate more of my time to cinematography and I thank God for that decision, I enjoy what am doing.



Can you talk about the movies you have worked on?



Hmm I have worked on countless number of movies but I am the DOP of Kenny George,Afeez Abiodun,Mide FM Abiodun,Yomi Fabiyi, Funke Akindele amongst others. I have worked on movies such as Jenifa Diary, Aiyetoro town, Mejimeji, Adun, Oriki meji, Eje Aburo, Agbofinro, 77 Bullets, Four couples, Diary of Hamzat, Kogbagidi and so many others.



Which has been the most challenging movie for you and why?



The most challenging project I have worked on is Chronicles which was my third cinema work produced by Frank and it was challenging because we had weather crisis from Oyo state, the rain was much that we had to wait for the rain but unfortunately everything we shot there was deleted all because the foreign crew members didn't get what they want in terms of locations so we then moved from Oyo state to Ibese town in the east, that was the first time I worked with that director Uzar so on getting to that town we had to reshoot everything again from the beginning so that's my most challenging project.



How did you get your stage name "Cisse cam"?



I was formerly known as Azeez Babasuwe all because of Babasuwe, then later when I became a dop, I changed my name to Az then at that time, we were two in the industry bearing the same name and there was always a mix up so I decided to change it to Cisse Cam which I got from my name and it stuck immediately and people started calling that to date.

How long have you been in the industry?

Since 1999.



What is your greatest dream in life?



My greatest dream is to become very great in life, learn more about cinematography and start shooting movies in Hollywood and Bollywood standards and also work with both A-list local and international stars.



Who do you look up to in the industry?

I look up to the very best in the industry Uncle Tunde Kelani.

It’s a known fact that Oloruntimilehin Bukola popularly known as kiitan's profile is rising drastically in the movie industry in the last few months she has achieved so much than what most of her contemporaries can only wish for. She has been nominated in over 15 categories of different awards despite the long break in the movie industry due to the pandemic.
Besides featuring in movies back to back she just acquired a beautiful house as if that was not enough she was among the stars that featured in the award-winning movie Citation by the multi-talented filmmaker Kunle Afolayan where she played a student in Moremi(Temi Otedola) department.

The movie canters on social decadence in the educational sector its a college drama about a post graduate who has to find a way of dealing with sexual harassment from a lecturer and the movie was shot in Nigeria, Senegal and Cape Verde. Kiitan joined the movie industry in 2010 where she had her first role before traveling out of the country to concentrate on her studies she has produced movies such as Iwalade,

Iku ile, kiitan which shot her to limelight and currently working on another movie titled Right time, she is also a successful business woman she is the CEO of kiitan Visuals,kiitanb supermarket and a baker

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC has cleared the air, following the news making round that Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has condescended the place of past Lagos governors by deliberately repealing their pensions.

In a statement made available to newsmen by Hon Seye Oladejo, the APC Publicity Secretary, the governor’s bold step is only a pointer to the conscious sacrifice and backing that the party stakeholders and statesmen have embraced to rejuvenate the economy in the path of recovery.

The statement reads;

Our attention has been drawn to the widely circulated falsehood about the purported truth behind the proposed repeal of the pension laws in Lagos State as they affect the past governors and their deputies.

The governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while dropping the hint about the repeal made it explicitly clear that it was a move to cut the cost of governance and show sincere the political will to re-order the priorities of the government in the face of current realities.

The move which has been widely applauded by a cross section of well-meaning people actually jolted the enemies of progress.

The after-thought response would not have been dignified with a rejoinder if not for the deliberate misinformation and falsehood tainted with bitter politics.

While the state government acknowledges and appreciates the tremendous goodwill its efforts to immediately kickstart the rebuilding process necessitated by the mayhem, it is mindful of its role to lead from the front while totally upholding the public trust.

The governor, typical of his administration, consulted far and wide before arriving at the decision to repeal the public officers’ pension law for our collective good.

We commend his exemplary courage which has added to his lofty credentials.



Since its inception, the Sanwo-Olu administration has focused on cost saving measures to make funds available for important projects.

The deliberate refusal of the governor to acquire official vehicles and the low-priced brands allocated to high ranking state officials were moves in the right direction.



The claim that “Lagos State intends to borrow additional huge sums of money from the Capital Market again, but it must cancel the illegal payments to Governors/Deputies by revoking Ex Governors Pension Law in order for PENCOM to qualify it's new borrowing for PFAs' investments” is completely false.



While we encourage opposition as part of the development of our democratic culture, deliberate falsehood and outright lies do not represent the quality of minds that our people deserve and is not the kind of culture we want our children to imbibe.



Lagosians are indeed glad and appreciative of the steps taken by Mr Governor to signal selflessness and personal sacrifice in governance and public service. If this is a good step for the people of Lagos, only someone who do not wish Lagos well will disparage it; especially using lies and falsehood.



It is expedient to state that the circular issued by Nigeria Pension Commission in Jan 2020 to Lagos was basically on queries relating to operational differences between the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and the Lagos State Pension Reform Law 2007. It had nothing to do with pensions to Governor’s or their deputies.



Pencom being a very professional organization and regulator will not raise a valid point and make a u-turn on it, without a resolution of those points. They issued a letter of no objection being satisfied of the resolutions of all the points raised.



Mr Governor is focused on

Infrastructural projects like the Regional roads, the Lekki Express way rigid pavement , three lane dual highway from Eleko junction to Epe, the urban roads , regeneration projects in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Ikeja and Kosofe. He is focused on the Red line rail project amongst many others in Alimoso, Agege, Somolu, Ikorodu.

While the Lagos State government is not in need of praise singing from any quarters, it remains a disservice to deliberately feed the unsuspecting public with falsehood at a time like this.

Seye Oladejo

Lagos APC Spokesman.

…Calls For Investigation

A Yet to be identified Policeman Attached to Ipaja Alagolo Police Division has threatened to kill popular Urban Express-News Publisher, Olusegun Ariyo in a location not far from Jakande Estate within ipaja metropolis at the point of making a u-turn within a conflict-point

Narrating what transpired, Mr Olusegun Ariyo, the publisher of the popular newspaper Urban Express, said it all started when some fierce-looking policemen were Jogging from the opposite direction of ipaja Ayobo road signifying their origin, stopped moving vehicles that are within the point of making a U-turn from the other side of the road, given that they were coming in numbers inside a sienna vehicle with purple colour identification, with an inscription of “Nigeria Police” Lagos state Command.
“As we were ask to wait, while it took about twenty minutes of waiting, decided to sign at the policeman that it was an emergency situation and that he should allow me to pass, what followed was, you are stupid, pointed firearm toward my direction and threaten to kill me”, he narrated.

“I will wipe-out you and your generation, who are you to say you want to go? The policeman asked me.

Continuing Olusegun Ariyo said he was shivering, he added “my daughter was excruciating pains with malaria symptom and all efforts to make him see reasons fell on his deaf ears.

“While waiting endlessly for their vehicle to pass from a long-distance stretch, just because they wanted to manoeuvre there way from traffic a bottle-neck, we waited for over twenty minutes, as they eventually came through with the said sienna space buss and passed; the said policeman walked sluggishly, entered their vehicle as he continues with using inflammatory words coming with a threat”.

“This is a policeman that is supposed to protect people’s lives and property, is the same individual using Gun bought with taxpayers money to point at a Nigerian and at the same time threatening to kill with it, not minding the facts that there was an emergency at hand but the fact that he’s wearing that uniform, it becomes a certificate to oppress up to the level of wanting to shot”.


Ariyo wondered while with all that transpired that led to the protest against police brutality, some those bad eggs still persist even with all the said rolled-out training

“The command once said in a statement that it is embarking on training to give them a new leaf, but judging from the action of this said policeman today, it seems there’s still a longer walk to freedom.

He said at the conflict-point where he wanted to make a u-turn, there has been an issue of non-traffic officer’s presence after the EndSARS protest, adding that this has been the norm for those on that routine duty not to come to take up their bit instead to watch and look away as if it’s not part of their responsibility.

“Let me call on the Lagos State commissioner of police, CP Hakeem Odumosu to investigate a case of threat to my life as such words are too weighty to be thrown inside the trash”.


His word: “ the Lagos state commissioner of police, CP Hakeem Odumosu should endeavor to investigate these matter before the threat is carryout as one need not wait for such threat to life is carried out especially coming from a uniform man that have access to fire-arm at all times

The visibly disappointed editor told this writer that he knew one of the policemen specifically the one driving the vehicle, saying there’s the need to put inside their ongoing curriculum “ Behavior Pattern and Management as it is observed that the said policeman lacks such, he said

The All Progressive Party, Lagos has advised the opposition party, PDP not to mock the sensibility of the state of Lagos after going through a troubled period for the past one week.

In a statement released by the part publicity secretary, Hon Seye Oladejo, it will be a gross insensitivity for any one or party to gloat over the huge loss and damage that the state had suffered following the looting and vandalization of public utility that greeted the peaceful protest aftermath.

The statement reads;

Our attention has been drawn to the uninformed and blind challenge of the opposition PDP in Lagos State of the estimated #1tr to restore the massive destruction of public properties, utilities and investments unleashed on Lagos State during the recent mayhem.

For starters, this remains an inappropriate and insensitive time to play idle politics with an incident that has thrown the entire state into mourning as a result of avoidable loss of lives and properties.

We, as a responsible and responsive party , commiserate with the good people and government of our state.

While not preempting the findings of the commission of enquiry already set up, we condemn all acts of omission or commission that might have directly or indirectly contributed to this national tragedy.

We acknowledge the characteristic swift and decisive response of Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu who continues to stand firm in the face of tremendous pressure to uphold his oath of office to protect the lives and property of all Lagosians.

The visits to the injured victims in various hospitals and the state wide tour to pacify the citizenry and access the extent of damage were, without any doubt, moves in the right direction.

The statewide tour enabled the state government to have an inventory of the monumental destruction which set our state back by decades.

The long list of destroyed public and private property in Lagos state , to list a few, include Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government secretariat; Palace of the Oba of Lagos; Lagos High Court, Igbosere; Oyingbo BRT terminus; Ojodu Berger BRT terminus; Vehicle Inspection Office, Ojodu Berger; Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Ojodu Berger; Lagos City Hall and Circle Mall, Lekki; numerous luxury shops in Surulere, The Nation Newspaper, TVC and Shoprite Lekki.





The transport sector lost 27 of the BRT vehicles that cost $200,000 each, while 57 of them cost $100,000 each, all totalling about N3.9 billion.



According to the police, the 25 stations burnt in Lagos were Orile, Amukoko, Layeni, Ilasamaja, Ikotun, Ajah, Igando, Elemoro, Makinde, Onipanu, Ebute Ero, Pen-Cinema, Isokoko, Alade, Cele, Igbo Elerin, Shibiri, Gbagada, Onilekere, Makoko, Daleko, Asahun, Makinyo, Amuwo-Odofin, Anti-Kidnapping, Surulere. Other police stations that were vandalised but not burnt were Ojo, Ojodu, Mowo, PPL and Morogbo.









This is apart from personal losses incurred by innocent members of the public.

We opine that the estimate could at the end of the day be found to be hasty and conservative with a careful consideration of the present cost of reconstruction, revamping and regeneration of these public utilities.

We find it distasteful that the opposition PDP would rather mindlessly condemn and contest a mere estimate to restore our state as soon as possible.

PDP in Lagos state, after two decades in opposition, ought to have developed a template for responsible opposition. It’s also germane to gauge the mood of the people before mocking the dead and the wanton losses. Our people deserve emphathy and understanding from all and sundry.

We wish to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to come to the aid of Lagos state at a trying time like this to successfully re-build and restore our dear state in a record time.

We also want to join our voice to the call by other well-meaning Nigerians on the need for state police to forestall such incidents in the future.

We wish to urge all Lagosians to rally round our government, embrace unconditional peace and commence the process of far-reaching healing.



Seye Oladejo

Lagos State APC Spokesman.