₦airaland Forum

hmohammed:
In the Bible, the age of marriage for women varied, and some notable women did get married before the age of 18. Here are a few examples:

1. Rebekah: Married Isaac at a young age, possibly around 10-12 years old (Genesis 24:15-67).
2. Rachel: Married Jacob at around 14-15 years old (Genesis 29:1-30).
3. Leah: Married Jacob at around 14-15 years old, possibly even younger than Rachel (Genesis 29:1-30).
4. Mary (Mother of Jesus): Estimated to be around 12-14 years old when she became engaged to Joseph and conceived Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).
5. Esther: Possibly around 14-15 years old when she was taken into the king's harem and eventually became queen (Esther 2:1-18).

I wonder why people condemn early marriages by Muslims in the North.

Orch1981:
With Niger delta oil money some of you Nigerians no just get sense sha but your type na for nairaland you end you no fit talk for Facebook

strangest:
Akpabio is a big fool... His previous utterances has shown him as a man with some mental stupidity installed in his brain.... Even without knowing what happened, it's obvious he is the real issue....

Dogalmighty17:
I can understand why Yahaya Bello excavated the road to her senatorial zone now. He wanted to save Nigerians from the unfortunate antics of this woman.

That doesn't take away the fact that Akpabio is as useless as the k in his name. This senate has no legacies.

Obrigardo:
Now the rapist is deporting nigerians.
Harris wouldn't have gone this far

DAILY POST reports that the singer, who is currently at large was arraigned by the Ogun State government alongside his nine associates for assaulting officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

The Magistrate Justice O.M. Somefun in her ruling on Thursday, granted Portable’s associates N5 million bail each, with sureties who are licensed bond agents registered with the state government. And adjourned the case till March 17 for hearing.

Speaking from his hide-out, Portable denied the allegations, and pleaded for his associates’ release from detention.

Reacting to the development, the singer’s eldest sister, Gbemisola claimed that Portable is acting under the spiritual spell of one of their uncles.

However, Portable in a news video on social media on Tuesday, urged president Tinubu to help him talk to governor Dapo Abiodun to forgive him.

While begging for forgiveness, the singer described himself as government liability, noting that he is a government child.

“President Tinubu, may you not cry over your children. Please help me beg Dapo Abiodun to forgive. Federal government liability is a government child. I be government pikin, please help me beg the governor to consider me as one of his children.”

Previous Threads:
Ogun State Government Frowns At Portable’s Rascality
https://www.nairaland.com/8337766/ogun-state-government-frowns-portables

Portable Under A Family Member’s Spell – Elder Sister
https://www.nairaland.com/8338545/portable-under-family-members-spell

Governor Fubara made the remark on Tuesday while receiving a delegation of traditional rulers and leaders from the three Local Government Areas that make up the Kalabari Ethnic Nationality in Rivers State.

The delegation endorsed the governor for re-election, praising his leadership qualities and dedication to infrastructural development, particularly the ₦200 billion Trans-Kalabari Road Project, which is currently under construction.

In response, Governor Fubara reiterated that his administration remains committed to delivering tangible progress for the people of Rivers State, emphasizing that impact and service matter more than the length of time spent in office.

Electorate:
The earlier you people realize Nnamdi Kanu will spend the rest of his life in detention the better for your mental health. Kanu's case is against the Nigerian state and not against anyone, if easy going Buhari cannot release Nnamdi Kanu is it a brutal Tinubu that will now release him?

Nobody, not even a sitting President can release Nnamdi Kanu, you guys should stop wasting your time begging for his release...even if Nnamdi Kanu dies in detention he won't be the first nor last freedom terrorist that died in detention and absolutely nothing will happen...kiss the truth.

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, following the Supreme Court dismissal of the appeal filed by the governor.

“When an appeal is dismissed not on merit but on the basis of withdrawal by the appellant, the question of celebration doesn’t arise. What happened in this case is that the governor of Rivers State instructed his lawyers to withdraw the appeal on the grounds that it has become an academic exercise.

“I other words, the issues are no longer alive and therefore, why do you want to waste the time of the court? It wasn’t contrary to what a colleague was saying, the court did not determine who is a speaker or who is not a speaker, no, it didn’t come up,” Falana said.

He said that what was decided at the Federal High Court that led to the appeal was the 2024 budget proposal which the governor said has already been passed into law and that there was no need to continue litigation.

A five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji had dismissed the appeal against Amaewhule-led group hinging it on the withdrawal of the suit by Fubara’s counsel, Yusuf Ali.

‘Three members can carry out legislative functions’

The Rivers Assembly has been embroiled in a protracted crisis since 2023 when over 25 lawmakers loyal to former governor Nyesom Wike dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The leadership of the House by Amaewhule was then contested by lawmakers in a rival group led by Victor Oko-Jumbo known to be loyal to Fubara.

Fubara has since transacted business of the state with the Oko-Jumbo group while he ignored the Amaewhule faction.

Falana maintained that three members of the state House of Assembly can carry out legislative functions except when it has to do with impeachment of the governor.

He insisted that by decamping from the PDP to the APC, the other 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly lost their seats since the seats were declared vacant.

Trump and Pretoria are locked in a diplomatic row over a land expropriation act that Washington says will lead to the takeover of white-owned farms.

Trump, whose tycoon ally Elon Musk was born in South Africa, said on Friday the law signed in January would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”.

It allows the government, as a matter of public interest, to decide on expropriations without compensation — but only in exceptional circumstances.

The Afrikaners are descendants of European colonists, mainly of Dutch extraction, and are mainly engaged in farming in South Africa.

English and Afrikaner colonists ruled South Africa until 1994 under a brutal system in which the black majority were deprived of political and economic rights.

“Our email server crashed over the weekend just due to the sheer volume of inquiries we have received,” Neil Diamond, head of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US (SACCUSA) told AFP in an email.

“Given the scale of interest, SACCUSA estimates that this figure could represent over 50,000 individuals looking to leave South Africa and seek resettlement in the United States,” he said.

Trump order ‘flawed’
Diamond warned that this could lead to a skills shortage in South Africa that would impact agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

“If we look at the EB-5, which is an investor visa, you need roughly about 15 to 20 million South African Rand ($800,000 to $1 million) to be able to immigrate… What is alarming to us is the large volume of people that is interested in taking up this opportunity,” he said.

South Africa’s foreign ministry has said Trump’s order “lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.

“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,” it added.

Trump has asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

There were no details of how the plan would be enacted as Trump halted refugee arrivals immediately after taking office.

Land ownership remains a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid.

However, some Afrikaner farmers say the new land laws could lead to the confiscation of white-owned farms as carried out in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

The second largest party in South Africa’s national unity government, the Democratic Alliance, on Monday launched a court bid to annul the land law.

The AfDB boss affirmed he is available for national service after his tenure at the bank concludes, specifically stating, “he will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including his own country, Nigeria.”

Adesina, also a former Minister of Agriculture during Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, made this known in an interview with Arise Television’s news host, Rufai Oseni.

DAILY POST recalls that Adesina was first elected in 2015 to lead the continental funding institution, which was founded in 1964, and was re-elected President of the AfDB for a second term in 2020.

Adesina stated that the only thing that gives him satisfaction and happiness is seeing the lives of people transform and change.

When asked what’s next for him and whether he would run for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Adesina answered:

“You know, one of the things that I’m grateful for as a Nigerian: many, many years ago, when I was in graduate school in Nigeria, even after that, I had an opportunity to obtain a US visa. I was given a great visa, and I could have obtained US citizenship.

“And I say, I didn’t want it, not because I don’t like America. My kids are Americans, and they were born there, but I remember telling a colleague of mine that this passport is a Nigerian passport, a green passport.

“I cannot and will never trade it for anything. It gives me a lot of grief wherever I go. You know, with family, my kids are probably asked to go right through, and I’m asked to stay behind. They ask you all kinds of funny questions, where were you born, when do you hope to die? Or any kind of question, just to make sure that you don’t get it.

“But I told this friend of mine that this part—God did not make a mistake in making me a Nigerian. He didn’t make a mistake in making me an African. I will live as a Nigerian, and I will walk by the special grace of God. But that passport, that green passport, will be respected just like everybody else in the world, right?

“You don’t beg for respect. You earn respect. So, when you’re talking about, what will I do after, you know, I started listening to you by telling you that I always believe in the providence of God, the grace of God. I don’t see myself as more than just an instrument in the hands of God to help people.

“Look, the only thing that makes me happy is nothing else than seeing the lives of people transform and change—that’s what gives me satisfaction. And so, as a result of that, you know, I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.

“Yeah, you know, I remember one of those songs that I actually like in Nigeria is by my great singer, pop artist, Davido. And I think that song was, ‘I’m unavailable, dem no dey see me. I am unavailable.’

“So, but in the case where it comes to service of any kind, I would ask Davido to change that song—’I am available, they will see me.’

“I will. I’ll be available to serve in God’s hands for anything that God has in store for my life.”

The party chairman in the state, Mr Basil Ejidike while speaking at the weekend said the dominance of Soludo in affairs that concern Anambra even at the federal level has become a challenge to the state chapter of the APC.

He said all appointments coming to Anambra from the Federal Government had nominees from APGA, while even rice distributed to all states to cushion the effect of hardship had Anambra’s share rebagged with the picture of the governor and distributed to only APGA members last Christmas.

Appealing to Tinubu, Ejidike said: “Sir, may I seize this opportunity to draw your attention to some challenges confronting the APC in Anambra State, that require your kind intervention.

“The issue of appointments made by the Federal government without recourse to the party is inimical to the growth and success of the party in our state, as these appointees do not reckon with the party at the state level.

“Whereby, most of those who have made and are still making heavy sacrifices for the party have not been adequately rewarded and appreciated, many of those who have gotten juicy Federal Government appointments in the past were mainly non-party members, drawn especially from our rival All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).”

He said the trend has not served as a source of inspiration or motivation to party members, and is threatening its strength and enthusiasm of emerging victorious in the Anambra 2025 project.

“At the ward, local government and state levels, our members are being discriminated against, as APGA does not recognize or reckon with those who are not their members in the distribution and allocation of government appointments and incentives.

“More worrisome is the fact that what we as a state get from the federal government as incentives and palliatives are usually sent through the state government.

“Sequel to the above, non-APGA members are denied access to them. It is on record that bags of rice sent as palliatives by the federal government were repackaged, and Governor Soludo’s pictures and APGA logo embossed on those bags, thereby giving the impression that they were provided by the governor.

“This arrangement has continued to diminish our party’s influence and reach within the state, and we are terrified to say the least.

“APC in Anambra have come with a passionate appeal, asking that you (Ganduje) intervene and save our members in Anambra from neglect.

“Your kind intervention, Sir, will bolster the morale of our committed party men and women towards the task ahead,” he added.

According to him, the establishment of Sharia panels, which are essentially committees of Islamic scholars set up to settle marriage and inheritance disputes, will foster sustainable peace in the zone.

Oloyede, who is also the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), was a guest on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

He said Nigerian “leaders should have a rethink. For sustainable peace, there is nothing bad in Muslims having” Sharia courts in the South-West.

Of late, the proposed establishment of Sharia panels in states like Ogun, Oyo, and others in the South-West has triggered disquiet in the zone with traditional institutions and the Christian community rejecting the move while state governments in Ogun and Oyo have also ruled out the idea. But despite the pushbacks, the Muslim community in Nigeria and the NSCIA led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, have stressed the importance of the panels as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism for Muslims.

Oloyede said, “I believe that Nigeria is great and Nigeria will continue to be great but it requires a lot of rethinking. Recently, people are talking about Sharia Panels in South-West and I was just smiling; I was smiling that I had never seen that level of ignorance being displayed. Sharia Panel in Oyo State, somebody did a PhD thesis on it in 2007 which means it had been there before 2007. The person who wrote on that appraisal is a professor today in Ibadan. He is Prof Makinde, and the governor coincidentally is Makinde. I don’t know whether they are related.”

The former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin said the matter is something so trivial, and warned against building unnecessary tension around it, especially in the South-West where Muslims, Christians and traditional institutions have co-existed peacefully for ages.

He, however, said the Muslims in the South-West are paying psychologically for the harmony enjoyed in the zone.

Oloyede said, “When you have such a situation (of religious tolerance) and you do not continue to monitor what you are doing, you will be living in the past. I’m a Muslim from the South-West. The Muslims from the South-West pay psychologically for the peace and harmony that we are talking about.

“The churches are licensed by the government to conduct marriages that are statutory and if you have any dispute within your marriage, you go to government-funded high courts for dispute resolution.

“If there is a dispute in my marriage, where do I go? I don’t have the opportunity because I married according to Islamic rites, I will have to go to customary court where the customary judge knows next to nothing about my faith, about the laws on the basis on which we got married. He would now use customary law to determine Islamic marriage and the Constitution of Nigeria allows it to say where the state of assembly allows it, there should be Sharia Courts of Appeal.

“There have been Sharia Court of Appeal in different parts of the country, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. When we say there is harmony, it means somebody is suffering in silence but when the person speaks, they say: ‘Why are you making noise?’”

He faulted those criticizing the Sultan of Sokoto for speaking up, saying that Muslims in Nigeria practice the same Islam. “I think we should be able to tolerate one another,” he said.

“Our army is small. We need to have an army of at least 500,000 personnel,” the retired general said on the Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

The Nigerian military has about 230,000 personnel, according to the ranking platform, Global Fire Power. Maj-Gen Akem-Vingir said much of the successes of the military in the theatre of war in Nigeria’s North-East zone have been lost because of the lack of manpower to hold the ground after clearance operations.

He said until there is sufficient manpower to secure territories after terrorist dislodgement, the blood-thirsty marauders would continue to regain those places.

He said, “When you are fighting insurgency, you must capture ground and hold it. It takes troops to do that. When you capture ground, then you build and hold so that people can resume their lives and there will be security but if you are clearing areas and you are not holding, then they (terrorists) will come back.”

The retired general also said the government should not recognise the newly formed terror group Lakurawa wreaking havoc in the North-West geopolitical zone of the country.

Maj-Gen Akem-Vingir described the Lakurawa group as “one small tiny group” seeking attention.

He said, “We shouldn’t recognise them, we shouldn’t even discuss them because they will think they are being noticed now and want to do more.

“They are one small tiny group that shouldn’t even get out attention; that should be swatted away – that shouldn’t be given any energy to feed upon. They are seeking attention.”

He urged the government to empower the military with the right equipment, training, and the “full authority” to crush the enemies of the state.

The former army provost said, “The president needs to give the instruction to security agencies in the open where Nigerians will hear it.

“When he does that openly, and tell them I want to see your needs on my table in two weeks because, without security, you can’t be talking about governance.”

Gbemisola made this claim following the singer’s ongoing legal battle with the Ogun state government.

DAILY POST reports that the Ogun state government on Thursday arraigned Portable who is currently at large for assaulting the officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

He was arraigned with nine of his associates before Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court by the state police command.

However, speaking from his hide-out, the singer pleaded with the government to release his associates from detention, stating that he is being “set-up by some certain individuals”.

Why challenging the officers to provide video evidence of the alleged assault, Portable further warned that he might take his own life following the overwhelming frustration caused by the situation.

Reacting to the development in a viral video circulating on X, Portable’s sister apologised for his controversial actions, alleging that a family member is spiritually influencing the singer.

“People of Nigeria, I greet you all. I’m Portable’s eldest sister, the first child of his mother. We are just three that our mother gave birth to.

“Portable has never steal before. I have never come out like this to speak, and he hasn’t even posted me despite being his sister. But he is the only one taking care of the family. If not for him, I would have died during my sickness.

“One of our family members, Akeem is the one casting spell on Portable, he is the one spiritually influencing Portable to misbehave and offend Nigerians.”

Previous Thread: https://www.nairaland.com/8337766/ogun-state-government-frowns-portables

Some of the sources who spoke to this newspaper pointed at the location of the VP’s newly built official residence, which they said is not ideal for occupancy by a high profile national public officer like the No.2 citizen of Nigeria.