₦airaland Forum

Leadership by example

The joke is on you because you are not fit to even lace his shoes.

Photos; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN receives in audience the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, Chief Dr. Jewel Howard - Taylor in the State House, Abuja. 28th May, 2021.

‘Friends of Osinbajo’ Sponsor Free Eye Surgeries in Ogun State, to Conduct 6000 Across Nigeria


- 500 Nigerians in Ogun state have benefitted from free eye surgeries and corrective interventions - The initiative which sparked an outpouring of joyous emotions among the beneficiaries, is the brainchild of a group known as 'Friends of Osinbajo' - There are also plans by the group to conduct 6000 eye surgeries in six geo-political zones of the country within six weeks.


Associates of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN under the auspices of 'Friends of Osinbajo' have assisted 500 Nigerians in Ikenne, Ogun state in conducting free eye surgeries and corrective interventions within 48 hours. The initiative which sparked an outpouring of joyous emotions among the beneficiaries is also expected to move round the country. In a statement sent to Legit.ng on Wednesday, May 26, organisers of the initiative stated that 6000 eye surgeries will be conducted in six geo-political zones of the country within six weeks.


Legit.ng gathered that many Nigerians have continued to receive free consultations, screening, and other corrective eye care interventions in Ikenne community and beyond, courtesy of the medical outreach. The March 8 Initiative kick-started as a mark of honour for Osinbajo on his birthday and it has been sustained by the associates of the vice president since the, Osinbajo had asked his friends not to spend money on gifts or public congratulatory messages in the media for his birthday but rather use such funds to touch the lives of ordinary Nigerians. Having impacted the lives of many Nigerians over the years through various initiatives, the March 8th initiative, on Monday, May 24 flagged off a nationwide medical outreach focusing on eye surgeries, general eye treatment, giving out free eyeglasses. The outreach scheduled for locations across the country kicked off at the General Hospital Ikenne, and was formally flagged off by Ogun state commissioner of health, Dr Tomi Coker.

Many beneficiaries who regained their sights after the free eye surgery expressed gratitude to the organizers and thanked the vice president and his friends, noting that the impact of the initiative on Ikenne community and in their individual lives cannot be quantified. According to the organisers, the aim is to conduct 6000 eye surgeries within the 6-week period of the medical outreach to be held in phases across the 6 geo-political zones. The organisers also disclosed that the second phase of the exercise has been scheduled to hold between Wednesday, June 30 and Friday, June 2 at the General Hospital Idi Iroko, while the last phase of the outreach in the state will hold on Monday, June 7 and end on Wednesday, June 9 same month at the General hospital, Owode Egba. The Ogun medical outreach is organized in collaboration with the state government and the National Eye Center.

The medical outreach would be flagged off on Thursday, May 27 in Sokoto state and will be held in other parts of the country in the coming days. Recall that about 50 small-scale business owners in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital on Monday, March 8 got a one-off cash grant of N100,000 each to support their businesses courtesy of ‘Friends of Osibanjo.’ The gesture of the group was part of the activities it lined up to celebrate the 64th birthday VP Osinbajo. Meanwhile, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, on Wednesday, March 3, conferred on VP Osinbajo, a special award of the ‘Defender of Faith’. The award was conferred on VP Osinbajo at the 16th Biennial Delegate Conference of the PFN held at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu state.

https://www.legit.ng/1417611-friends-osinbajo-sponsor-free-eye-surgeries-ogun-state-conduct-6000-across-nigeria.html

*Summary*

The "Friends of Prof' conceptualized 'The March 8th Initiative" to inspire and promote communal, entrepreneurial and public-spirited endeavours within Nigeria in honour of the birthday of His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON.

*2020*

The March 8th Initiative was launched in 2020 in honour of Prof. Osinbajo, in a bid to support and further fuel the entrepreneurship industry in the country. The initiative keyed into the Vice President’s passion for MSMEs to commemorate his birthday in 2020 with a competition that offers one-off business grants to young Nigerians between 18 and 35 years seeking opportunities to start or expand on their innovative business ideas.

As part of the events lined up for Prof. Osinbajo's birthday last year, 100 young entrepreneurs received business-defining grants of 1 Million Naira each that helped grow and advance their businesses, among other incubator support services from close friends and associates of 'Prof' as he is fondly called under the auspices of 'The March 8th Initiative".

*2021*

Building on the success recorded last year, “Friends of Prof”, a group of friends and associates of the Vice President has announced the commencement of the 2021 edition of its empowerment programme with an expansion in the scope of the programme in honour of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s 64th birthday.

According to the statement, “The March 8th Initiative” is expanding its reach and scope with a view to impacting a broader spectrum of Nigerians in 2021.
It said, “First, the Annual Entrepreneurship Development Programme has been reorganised into 4 categories providing more opportunities for young Nigerians between 18 and 35 years old, giving one-off business grants, ranging from N100,000 to N1,000,000 to small businesses in Nigeria.

“The four categories cover varying stages of small business growth as follows: Big Idea Business Challenge, Business Support Challenge, Catalyst Support Challenge and the Bold Innovation Challenge,” the statement quoted the organizers of the scheme as saying.

Continuing, it said “in addition to the Entrepreneurship Development Programme, the March 8th Initiative will recognise health workers nationwide who, in the face of a global pandemic, demonstrated exemplary courage, compassion, diligence, hard work and professionalism in carrying out their duties.

“Individuals are requested to nominate any health worker who has shown these qualities for a reward of N1 Million under a Health Grant Reward Category that acknowledges their invaluable service to our communities.

“Additionally, the “March 8th Initiative” is undertaking a nationwide Ophthalmological intervention to provide succour in the form of surgeries and other therapeutic care for cataract and other eye defects.”

Entries were open at 12.00am on Monday, the 8th of March, 2021 and closed at 11:59pm on Sunday, the 14th of March, 2021. All entries except those for "My Big Idea Business Challenge" were submitted at _www.march8th.ng_

*2021 Health outreach*

This Intervention kicks off with the Southwest and North west geopolitical zones on the 24th and 27th of May 2021 respectively.

Residents of Gauraka community in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State have blocked the Abuja-Kaduna highway to protest the incessant cases of kidnapping in the community.

The protesters burnt tyres and halted vehicular movement on the highway.

They demanded that the state and Federal Government boost security in the area and end the incessant attacks.

This comes after kidnappers stormed the area on Saturday and Sunday kidnapping at least fifteen persons from the community and killing three others.

There have been speculations about Boko Haram terrorists infiltrating Gauraka community after Governor Abubakar Bello announced that terrorists have hoisted their flags in some communities in Niger State in April.

Gauraka community is about five kilometres away from Nigeria’s seat of power, Abuja.

Residents lament that they have long lost sleep due to the activities of kidnappers who have continued to terrorise the community.

They explained that more than thirty people have been abducted from January to date.

Niger State has come under serious banditry attacks which have left hundreds of people killed, including security personnel, and more than fifteen thousand people displaced who are now taking shelter in temporary camps provided by the state government.

He is on routine check. I love Osinbajo for his humbleness. He doesn’t need to fly to India or UK even when he has the means.

STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE

*DEATH IN SERVICE OF ARMY CHIEF, ATTAHIRU, OTHERS REFLECTS DEPTH OF SACRIFICE, SAYS OSINBAJO*

Adds: _"Their gallantry would always be remembered"_

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, received the news of the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers in an air crash yesterday with great sadness.

According to Prof Osinbajo _"their death while in active service in the defense of our country reflects the depth of sacrifice our military officers, men and women of the other ranks are often prepared to make."_

*Below is the full statement of the Vice President:*

_"I received with great sadness the news of an air crash involving the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, and other officers of the Nigerian military yesterday._

_"Their death while in active service in the defense of our country reflects the depth of sacrifice our military officers, men and women of the other ranks are often prepared to make. We honour the service of the Army Chief and all those involved in this unfortunate accident even as we continue to demonstrate our profound appreciation to all in our military services and in harm's way. The gallantry of this heroes would always be remembered._

_"I join the President and Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to commiserate with families, friends and colleagues of these gallant officers and men who died in the crash. I pray that God grants them the fortitude to bear the loss. May the memories of the departed remain ever blessed."_

*Laolu Akande,*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,*
*Office of the Vice President.*
22 May 2021.

Osinbajo was so empathic that some clowns labelled him 'Condolence Minister'. He didn't attend COAS funeral because his boss delegated others and these same clowns come for him.

Ko s'ogbon to le da, ko si wa to le wu
Ko si ona ti o le mo to le fi t'aye lorun o...��������

The nation is mourning but some children of ha*te needs their brains to be corrected and few questions begging for answers...

Why was GEJ as Ag. President not present at the burial of late President Yaradau, his immediate Boss?

Why did Pres. Buhari not attend the funeral of his late best friend and Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari who was buried in Abuja too?

Why was Pres. Buhari not at the burial of Isa Funtua?

Should the Vice President attend if he was not delegated by the President? Mind you, presidency is a single body led by the President himself.

It is simple, these men were buried immediately according to Islamic tradition and for the President of Nigeria to be at any ceremony, there must have been at least 48hrs security report/update or he sends delegate, which Mr. President did by sending his Minister for defence.

May soul of our gallant men rest in peace. If you cannot atleast respect their memory, don't be unfortunate to play politics with their burial.

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has recorded N25.08 billion Gross Written Premiums, in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021, up 19 percent from N21.09 billion in March 2020.

According to the company, Net Premium Income of N8.34bn, up 2 per cent from N8.21billion in the same year. Investment and Other Income of N1.64 billion, down 32 per cent from2.39 billion; Operating Expenses of N2.52bn, up 23% N2.05bn in March 2020, while profit before Tax of N2.92bn, up36% from N2.14bn recorded in March 2020 and profit after tax of N2.63 billion, up 34 percent from N1.96bn in March 2020.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Ngozi Ola-Israel, said. "Our start to the year demonstrates the continued drive to deliver strong and sustainable results. We delivered 34 per cent growth in PAT and 90 per cent improvement in underwriting performance despite the uncertainties in the current business environment. We remain optimistic that the continued support from shareholders, customers, and the member of staff will continue to spur excellent underwriting, investment, and operating performance as we continue to give utmost priority to providing value to our esteemed customers.

Speaking also on the financials at the end of the first quarter of 2021, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance, Kunle Ahmed, said“Although the world is still battling with the pandemic and its effects on various economies, many businesses are cautiously optimistic for a more stable environment.

Thankfully, at AXA Mansard, despite the challenging economic terrain, we were able to grow our premium incomes and recorded strong profitability growth in the first quarter of the year. This profitability cuts across P & C, Life, and Health portfolios. We remain committed to supporting our customers with the right risk management solutions to ensure that their businesses are well protected during and beyond this unstable period."

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

A NEW NIGERIA IS EMERGING FROM THE CLOUDS, & THE ALMIGHTY WILL TAKE THE GLORY - OSINBAJO
REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST EVENT THEMED: THE BIRTH OF A NEW NATION, AT NAF CONFERENCE CENTRE, KADO, ABUJA, ON THE 21ST OF MAY, 2021

PROTOCOLS

I bless the name of the Lord for this prayer breakfast meeting dedicated to the prophetic birthing of a new nation. And I thank the organizers the Coalition of Intercessors, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, and in particular, our leader and father of the Nigerian Prays Movement, General Yakubu Gowon, for the kind invitation and for his continuous commitment and dedication to this nation from his youth, when he was Head of State when he led the fight to keep Nigeria one, to his later years as an elder statesman where his well-seasoned words uttered in Godly wisdom have counseled our nation’s leaders for decades.

The theme of this prayer breakfast “The Birth of a New Nation”, is an important one. It comes at a time of great travail and tribulation for the nation. In the throes of a pandemic for well over a year, leading to a severe economic downturn, loss of jobs and livelihoods, and as we climbed out of the recession, we have been faced with an unprecedented scale of insecurity, in different zones of the nation. But for us who are gathered here today, children of God, we see the invisible we know that every time that a nation where the children of God live is challenged, it is God’s call to His people to take action, it is an opportunity for God to demonstrate that He is God over the Nations, that He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, that He knows the beginning from the end.

But God also wants us to know that He has ordained us to speak concerning the things that we want to see. Most of us are familiar with the scripture in Jeremiah 1:9-10:

“9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

Everywhere you look in scripture, the destiny of nations is in the hands of his children from Zerubbabel to Nehemiah, we see ordinary men and women building nations at the direction of God and by prophetic action.

Permit me to ground my remarks in a particular story in 2 Kings 2:19-22:
“19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” 20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So, they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness” 22. So, the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”

So, scripture has consistently shown us that children of God are central to the birth of a new nation, the rebirth of Nations. They must desire the change, they must cry to God, be ready to make the sacrifice of repentance

In this story, the men of the city told the prophet of God Elisha - see this our city is a nice, pleasant prosperous place, but we cannot enjoy this our community because the water is bad, life is unsafe, and the ground is barren. They did not go to an expert on environmental disasters or politicians, they went to God. God directed His prophet who asked for a fresh, new bowl, put salt in it and went to the source of the water, the root of the problem, and poured in the salt, and God spoke. I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness, and so it shall be for our nation in Jesus’ name.

Let us unpack some aspects of the story, salt is crucial to the birth of a new nation. Matthew 5:13 - “You are the salt of the earth.” So, the salt is actually the children of God. As far as God is concerned, the responsibility for birthing the nation belongs to those who are called by His name which is why He said in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

The word of God does not agree with logic or with our thinking. God is saying here that it is not the nation that repents. It is His own people who are called upon to repent and turn from their evil ways.

As we are the salt, we are also the light. The light ends the darkness, it marks the end of the night of weeping and marks the glorious sunlight of the morning of joy.

The pouring of the salt into the source of the water, the source of the problem is the prophetic act we perform today. We the salt are also poured today by prayer and prophecy into the source of our nation’s problems.

As we pray and prophecy, a new nation will be birthed, one where like the city to which Elisha went, the land was healed, the people prospered and peace and joy prevailed.

I speak these words also to our nation, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it, there shall be no more death or barrenness.’

And after the healing of the land, we are told in verse 22, that the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. We say the same words for our nation as well that there is a birthing of a new nation, and the nation has already been birthed. There is no question about it.

The way God reveals things depending on who it is can be in pictures, forms or visions. From my bedroom, I can see Aso Rock clearly, but there are times when it is completely covered by clouds, such that if I open my window, I cannot see it at all. As a matter of fact, if I had come into that room on a day when I didn’t know that the rock was there, I would have assumed that there was no rock, big as the rock is.

That metaphor is the same for our nation; the new nation is birthed already but covered by a cloud, but the cloud will clear and God Almighty will take all of the glory for the birthing of this nation.

Thank you very much, God bless you.

Released by:
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
21st May, 2021

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN attends the afternoon of tributes dedicated to media moguls at The Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos. 21st May, 2021. Photos; Tolani Alli

The Clouds Will Give Way To A New Nigeria, Says Osinbajo At National Prayer Breakfast

*VP joins Gen. Gowon, CAN President, others in Abuja to speak life to the nation

A new Nigeria is in the making, but it is currently covered by the clouds and travails which will certainly give way to a glorious and bright new morn of a new nation, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

He spoke this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, which held at the NAF Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja.

According to Prof. Osinbajo, “the new nation is birthing already. It is covered by a cloud, but the cloud will pass, and God Almighty will take all of the glory for the birthing of a new nation.”

While he noted that the theme of the Prayer breakfast, the “Birth of a New Nation”, was significant, especially in these times, the Vice President emphasized the need for collective prayers, faith, hope, and action, adding that Nigeria would prevail over the challenges of today.

He said today’s National Prayer Breakfast “comes at a time of great travail and tribulation for the nation: in the throes of a pandemic for well over a year, leading to a severe economic downturn, loss of jobs and livelihoods; and as we climbed out of the recession, we have been faced with an unprecedented scale of insecurity, in different zones of the nation.

“But we know that every time that a nation where the lives of the children of God is challenged, it is God’s call to His people to take action. It is an opportunity for God to demonstrate that He is God over the nations, that He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, that He knows the beginning from the end. But God also wants us to know that He has ordained us to speak to life.”

Referencing the Holy Book, Prof. Osinbajo recalled the work and prophetic actions of men and women of faith who played vital roles in nation-building during biblical times.

“So, the Scripture has consistently shown us that children of God are central to the birth of a new nation, the rebirth of nations. They must desire the change, cry to God, be ready to make the sacrifice of repentance,” he said.

Describing the people of God as the salt of the earth, the Vice President said, “As we are the salt, we are also the light, the light ends the darkness; it marks the end of the night of weeping and marks the glorious sunlight of the morning of joy. So, the pouring of the salt into the source of the water, the source of the problem, is the prophetic act we perform today,

He referenced 2 Kings 2:19-22, and said, “we, the salt, are also poured today by prayer and prophecy, to the source of our nation’s problems. And as we pray and prophesy, a new nation will be birthed; one where, like the city to which Elisha went, the land was healed, the people prospered and peace and joy prevailed.”

Prof. Osinbajo thanked the organizers, as well as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) whom he described as the “father of the Nigerian Prays movement.”

In the same vein, the Vice President commended Gen. Gowon “for his commitment and dedication to this nation from his youth, when he was Head of State when he led the fight to keep Nigeria one, to his later years as an elder statesman where his well-seasoned words uttered in Godly wisdom have counseled our nation’s leaders for decades.”

The Vice President joined Gen. Gowon; CAN President, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, among other dignitaries who attended the meeting.

https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/the-clouds-will-give-way-to-a-new-nigeria-says-osinbajo-at-national-prayer-breakfast/

God bless our darling Daddy President Muhammadu Buhari and his amiable Vice president Prof Yemi Osinbajo for all they are doing to make this once battered, raped and looted nation work again.

Haters and enemies of the state call him many different names,
but not even their fathers dare call him a thief!

#INTEGRITY to badt!
a man after God's heart ❤
they want to bury Baba,
they don't know he is a seed!

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE*

*NIGERIA WILL CONTINUE PROMOTING AFRICAN BROTHERHOOD, SAYS OSINBAJO*

*VP receives The Gambian President’s Special Envoy*

*We thank Nigeria for all the support – President Barrow’s Envoy*

Nigeria will continue to support the aspirations and activities of the government and people of The Gambia especially in ways that promote African brotherhood, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this today when he received, at the Presidential Villa, the Special Envoy of President Adama Barrow of The Gambia, Hon. Mamadou Tangara who is also the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad.

The Special Envoy came to personally deliver a message from The Gambian President to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We strongly remain in support of all of the activities of the government and people of The Gambia and stand with you in all ways,” the Vice President said while receiving the message on behalf of the President.

“The Nigerian government remains committed to its relationship with The Gambia. It is a long-standing relationship of brothers of so many years, and we consider it an important relationship not just within the ECOWAS sub-region but also we consider that as African brothers, we owe a responsibility to ourselves and to the world, to work together for the best purposes and for the best objectives that we have set for ourselves as a people.”

Extending Mr President warm regards to his The Gambian counterpart, Prof. Osinbajo assured that President Buhari will treat President Barrow’s request with “all the urgency it deserves”.

Speaking shortly after presenting President Barrow’s special message, Mr Tangara said he is in Abuja to solicit Nigeria’s support for his country’s quest to produce the next President of the ECOWAS Commission.

The Special Envoy said Nigeria’s support will be instrumental in actualizing his country’s ambition, and noted that The Gambia is committed to serving the commission with dedication and in accordance with the ideals advocated by Nigeria, especially in repositioning the commission for better results.

Appreciating Nigeria’s contributions to the prosperity and progress of The Gambia, Mr Tangara said his country owed much of its growth in the different sectors to the immense assistance provided by Nigeria.

He noted Nigeria’s support to The Gambia in the areas of the judiciary, military, and education, among others, stating that if Nigeria was to withdraw its technical support, for instance, “The Gambia’s judiciary will crumble and be in total chaos… We thank Nigeria for all the support.”

Other members of The Gambian delegation included the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Mohamadou Musa Njie, while the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda led other officials from the ministry to the meeting.

*Laolu Akande*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity*
*Office of the Vice President*
*19th May 2021*

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, a member of the AXA group, a global leader in insurance and asset management has won the PEOPLE FIRST ORGANISATION AWARD and the PEOPLE FIRST CEO AWARD, organized by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), the apex regulatory body for Human Resource Management practice in Nigeria.

This Award was run in collaboration with CIPMs global partner the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), a Chartered Body for Safety and Health Professionals worldwide. The Company competed with 30 other Companies operating in different sectors of the economy and was recognized for putting Employees first in the year 2020 even amidst the global pandemic.

The Company was represented at the Award Ceremony which took place in Abuja by the General Counsel & Human Resources Director Mrs. Omowunmi Adewusi and the Head of Rewards and Performance Management Mr. Adeyemi Aiyeola.

Speaking on the award, General Counsel & Human Resources Director Mrs. Omowunmi Adewusi said. At AXA Mansard, we consider our people our most valuable resource. Their comfort and wellbeing is therefore at the heart of everything we do.

This award belongs to each and every staff of AXA Mansard for the support demonstrated to one another, our partners and the thousands of customers we served at the heat of the pandemic last year. It was only natural for us as a Company to make the extra effort and go the extra mile to ensure our staff were safe and well catered for.”

Worthy to note that during the pandemic, the Company introduced several people-centered policies and initiatives such as Telemedicine Services and delivery of medications at homes of employees and Mental Health awareness and support programme. We also launched remote working pre-Covid, provided resource for free testing and treatment of Covid19 for staff and increased 13th Month pay out to all staff as a palliative amongst others.

Further commenting on the awards, Mrs Adewusi said, our driving force behind people-centricity is our purpose which is to Act for human progress by protecting what matters. At AXA Mansard, we constantly put ourselves in the shoes of our employees and this enables us to listen, think and innovate. We will continue to improve our policies and refine our service delivery to ensure we continuously meet the needs of our valued staff.

These Awards reaffirm AXA Mansards commitment to the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of her staff her number one asset! Undoubtedly, AXA Mansard remains a great place to work.

By FEJIRO JOHNSON 
On May 17, 2021
As an avowed Christian that he claims he is, Tunde Odesola would be quite familiar with the timeless biblical story Jesus Christ told of the wise and foolish builders. 

Just to reference a point, the foolish man built his house on the sand and when the rains came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

According to Odesola, in his piece titled Osinbajo: Law professor in bed with lawlessness, which was published on Monday, May 17, 2021, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo should not have led a government delegation to Uganda for a sixth term presidential inauguration of Yoweri Museveni.

For starters, not only is Odesola’s headline jaundiced, the entirety of his vituperations on Osinbajo’s trip to Uganda was built on the sands of ignorance and the rabid lack of understanding of foreign policy or diplomatic relations.
Just to remind the author that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was one among the several Heads of State and democratically elected Heads of Government that attended the Ugandan President’s inauguration.

It is on record that Museveni was democratically re-elected to a sixth term of office by Ugandans. And whatever the grouse there is against his credibility or age to run for Uganda’s highest office, the East African country’s courts of law and electoral commission are already there to address such concerns.

The author should also know that with Nigeria’s respected role as a big brother on the continent, it equally shares good diplomatic relationships with its African countries, as well as others around the world.

Just like with other African countries, Nigeria shares historical antecedents and has enjoyed longstanding good diplomatic relationships with Uganda. For instance, both countries have signed Bilateral Agreements on Technical Aid Corps, Trade, and on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. Also, Nigeria, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has continued to support Uganda’s democratic and development processes.

As Harold Nicolson stated in his book, Diplomacy, “Diplomacy is neither the invention nor the pastime of some particular political system, but is an essential element in any reasonable relation between man and man and between nation and nation.”

In another way, one can say that diplomatic ties among/between countries should supercede their current political leaders and perceived perceptions.  In bilateral relations, presidents and heads of government of countries will come and go, but their diplomatic relations tend to stretch beyond just one particular leader.

Thus, the essence of good diplomatic ties between countries means that one country should not interfere with the internal affairs of another.  Would the author prefer that Nigeria, against all diplomatic goodwill, interfere in the matters that pertains to the democratic institutions, territorial integrity and constitution of a foreign country?

That the Vice President attended the Ugandan president’s inauguration does not mean the VP condones whatever allegations have been raised against Museveni, who was democratically elected by the people of Uganda. Attending the inauguration of the President of a friendly country is not necessarily a sign of validation of any perceived inconsistent or undemocratic conduct.

To paraphrase Ambasador Allen Holmes, a former career diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Portugal, withholding relations to any nation for a political reason or to correct an undesirable behaviour may handicap a nation’s foreign policy.

According to Holmes, “Having no relations, and the resulting prolonged absence of a diplomatic presence in a country, seriously handicaps America’s ability to achieve major foreign policy and national security goals. Diplomatic relations should therefore always be maintained, unless security requires closing the embassy.

“Those who argue that withholding relations can be used to correct a nation’s undesirable behaviour do so under the belief that the boost in image and standing that comes from relations with the United States will lead the targeted nation to make the necessary sacrifices to regain recognition by the U. S. government. The problem with this line of thinking is that it usually doesn’t work.” Does Odesola even know what Nigeria’s foreign policy is?

Again, the author’s claim that Osinbajo applauded Museveni is hogwash. Attending his inauguration does not mean an applause. The author may have cooked that one up from his Lalaland kitchen.

It is interesting that the author also talks about truth when his diatribe is built largely on falsehood and assumptions. Osinbajo is not blinded by the grandeur of political office and chained by untruth. Rather he is driven by unbridled patriotism, passion, dedication to public service, social good, national development and altruism that is uncommon to many politicians of time past.

That VP Osinbajo is a pastor does not take away the sanctity of his decision to accept the second highest political office in the land. Osinbajo did not seek to become Vice President. Yes, he was nominated by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to become President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in 2015, but the good book and history has taught us that generational leaders do not just happen, they are placed at particular times in their nation’s history to drive change and transformation.

That a Pastor, Professor, lawyer, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a man who has continued to defy critics by his integrity and dedication to national duty, is Vice President at this time of our nationhood, is not happenstance. Despite the argument of any critic, it is clear to Nigerians that Osinbajo is driving significant and needed changes in government and Nigeria’s political terrain.

The author has the right as a citizen to criticize the Buhari government for what he believes it has not done right. But it goes without saying the at least, he would be running away from the naked truth to deny that this government has gotten some things right. Nigeria may not be where it is supposed to be, but it sure is on a destination to even better things.

Osinbajo remains a champion and strong advocate for the rule of law, justice and good governance. He has shown that consistency throughout his career and now, as Vice President.

FEJIRO JOHNSON is a public affairs analyst and social commentator, based in Abuja, Nigeria


https://tribuneonlineng.com/odesolas-knee-jerk-reaction-to-osinbajos-uganda-trip/

In today’s world, fake news, misinformation and disinformation appear to be the order of the day and platforms, especially the media, that are supposed to protect and share the truth, have become the purveyors of fake news. The Punch media outfit is a classic example.
The latest offering on the platform of Punch Newspaper comes from a certain Tunde Odesola whose attempt to put his murky thoughts into words makes for a torturous read. But this is what is expected of bloggers, most of whom lack the basic ethics of journalism. Even Odesola, who used to be a reporter has certainly forgotten that facts are sacred. Or did he just chose to lie?
Not only did this Odesola fellow fail to convey his thoughts but he also used the opportunity to beat around the bush including apologising profusely to Pastor E.A. Adeboye and his family on behalf of Sunday Ighobo. But again, show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.


But more importantly was that Odesola showed how callow and sparse his knowledge of government, even worse was his lacklustre position on foreign policy and relations.
A student or Elementary Government in the Junior Secondary School level will exude more understanding of this subject matter.
For the sake of continental and global readers, it is expedient that I spell out the difference between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s profession as a lawyer, and his role as the Vice President.
For starters, the Vice President never applauded President Museveni, this was made up due to Odesola’s desperation to tell lies. If this is not true, Odesola should provide proof of where the VP said anything like that.
This lie defines him as a political hack pretending to be an independent, even, constructive critic, an impression he labored rather desperately to create but failed sumptuously at it.
The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has often represented Nigeria at the inauguration of continental leaders. He represented Nigeria in Liberia for the inauguration ceremony of George Weah; In South Africa for the inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa; in Gambia for the inauguration of Adama Barrow and very recently he represented Nigeria at Sierra Leone’s 60th anniversary, to mention but a few, all in his capacity as Vice President and not as a law lecturer or Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Secondly, Uganda is a sovereign state and the elections that gave President Yoweri Museveni his fifth-term as President was not conducted by Nigeria or the Independent National Electoral Commission, so in what capacity should the Vice President have acted differently?
Attending an inauguration of a friendly country is not necessarily a sign of validation of any perceived inconsistent or undemocratic conduct, there is a good age-long relationship between Nigeria and Uganda that overrides current political leaders and their perceived impishness.
As a student of history, may I point out to Odesola that it was Ugandan legislators who voted to amend the country’s constitution to allow 73-year-old leader Yoweri Museveni to extend his rule, potentially guaranteeing him a life-time presidency the same way Russia passed a referendum allowing Vladimir Putin to remain in office until 2036 after serving for more than two decades, we also have some African leaders who served for more than three decades, the likes of Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea who is referred to as the longest serving president having served for 41 years, President Sassou Nguesso of Congo who spent 36 years in office.
I don’t understand why Odesola is fuming about why Osinbajo attended Uganda inauguration which he attended on the directive of his boss and as a result of the diplomatic relationship that exists between both countries and not their leaders.

At this point, I find it humanitarian to educate the writer; Prof. Osinbajo is currently the Vice President of Nigeria. He is not a law or election analyst and it is not in his functions that he should comment on the election of other countries.
We have had Vice Presidents in the past and they all had careers before they became Vice President but no one ever asked why they did not speak or act based on their profession.
The main contender of the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was a former senior Customs Officer but hacks like Odesola never thought it opinion-worthy to ask him why he never condemned the Customs when he was Vice President for eight years.
What about Goodluck Jonathan who is an academic or Namadi Sambo who is an architect? The question is simple, where is the ignorance coming from and why is Punch newspaper the vehicle? Or is this a deliberate attempt by half-baked bloggers to tarnish the reputation of a good man?
Any in any case if Odesola feels Osinbajo has let him down, let him look beyond his nose and discover that over 500,000 Npower beneficiaries in this country, millions more who were blessed by the Social Investment programmes of this government and the hundreds of thousands of MSMES thank God for the VP’S role in the government. Let us also remind Odesola, the once upon a time reporter that Osinbajo stood firmly on the Rule of Law when he condemned police brutality even as number 2 way ahead of EndSars. Pray we ask him what was Osinbajo doing when he ensured that judicial panels are sitting all over this country on the matter of EndSars and redressing other forms of human rights violations against Nigerians.
Nigerians must be wary of wolves in sheep clothing who will not only sell their souls but are willing to drag others on their way down.
Mr Olatunji, a political commentator writes from Abuja.
https://www.chronicle.ng/2021/05/the-political-hack-tunde-odesola-osinbajo/

Odesola’s illiterate reading of Osinbajo’s Ugandan trip

By Segun Orimogunje

I have always argued that mere mastery of literary devices is not to be conflated with intellectual depth or scholarly fecundity. I feel vindicated yet again after reading the latest article by Tunde Odesola, a columnist with Punch, with the title “Osinbajo: Law Professor in bed with lawlessness” published in the Monday edition (May 17, 2021) of the Lagos-based newspaper.
Any regular reader of Punch newspaper on Mondays and inescapably follower of Odesola’s musings will attest his exquisite use of assorted poetic idioms. Well, with the liberalization of the media space in the contemporary age, we are left with little or no choice but to endure the avalanche of pseudo commentators and analysts, most of whom only end up assaulting public sensibilities with their sheer illiteracy worsened by foul verbiage. (But that is not to deny those who make sense, thereby helping to enrich the national conversation.)
Hard as he always tries weekly to punch above his weight, Odesola’s own shallow thinking - this abject squalor of intellection - is laid bare in the next breath after every frenzy of misapplied metaphors. Yet, Charles Pierre Peguy had graciously forewarned on the perils of ill-conceived peroration. It is better to keep silent and leave folks wondering, according to the thoughtful French bard, than open your mouth and remove all doubts about your idiocy.
Apparently, such sagely counsel from an illustrious ancestor in the literary community meant nothing to upstarts like Odesola. Or how else can we contemplate or situate the idiocy of the columnist’s virulent attack on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over the latter’s official trip to Uganda last week to represent President Muhammadu Buhari at the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni.
Throwing common decency to the winds, Odesola went petty, vicious against the Vice President, mocking his political judgment, impugning his professorial pedigree, and questioning his Christian faith. Haba! As we say in Yoruba, “Kila gbe, kile ju” (an attack is grossly disproportionate to the offence).
(Well, I believe the like-able Vice President, the erudite Professor of law has able publicists who can wrestle fawning Odesola down by, if need be, recalling their principal’s sterling accomplishments whether in the academia or legal practice or Christian evangelism or family institution, to right-thinking members of the public already sold undoubtedly on Osinbajo’s high personal integrity and exemplary commitment to the common good amply demonstrated in the last six years.)
However, my own intervention is intended to fumigate the public space against the toxic fumes so flippantly disgorged by Odesola’s uneducated reading of Osinbajo’s outing in Uganda. It bears restating that that state event is unlike a typical raucous village meeting where Odesola can pick and choose who to share palm-wine with or where the sitting order is dictated by the seething bitterness of ancestral feuds by contending partisans.
First, Odesola ought to know that the Vice President didn’t gatecrash the occasion; he was so directed by his boss, President Buhari. By whipping sentiments on the propriety or otherwise of Nigeria’s attending Museveni’s commencement of the sixth term of office, the columnist clearly betrayed a laughable ignorance of the custom and tradition that undergirds international law.
Of course, there is the principle of non-interference in internal affairs among nations that constitute the international community. It is premised on the respect for states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity in conformity with the letters of the spirit of the UN Charter.
This arrangement is, in turn, based on the doctrine of equality of states irrespective of size or power and therefore have the same juridical capacities and functions. As expressly stated in the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law, a nation is obliged to respect the personality of other states among other provisions.
Without referring to it in the said miserable article of Monday (May 17), one can wager that Odesola’s poor understanding would also have led him into taking umbrage at the spectacle of President Muhammadu Buhari rolling out the red carpet to receive the new Chadian leader, Lt. General Mahamat Idriss Deby, and later running amok over the newspaper picture of the Nigerian leader standing by while the visitor (a thirty-something) sat down magisterially while signing the visitor’s register. After all, he would likely say, the Chadian leader is young enough to be our president’s grandson. Such village mentality!
While firing from all his antiquated cylinders, as usual, it would not occur to Odesola that on display was the principle of equality of state, regardless of whether the man representing Chad is a pigmy or an albino. Of course, enlightened self-interest would dictate that Nigeria plays a good host. For, the exigencies of the ongoing national war against Boko Haram and marauding insurgents put us at the mercy of neighbours like Chad to help us push back.
Now, back to the Kampala event, Odesola could only make a point if Museveni’s inauguration lacked the backing of Uganda’s municipal law. It must be understood that whatever argument is made against Uganda’s leader seeking a sixth term of office can only be sustained in a moral court; not in the eye of international law. So, it can be seen that Odesola’s vitriol against Osinbajo’s presence in Kampala is baseless and malicious.
There is even a subjective argument to further back Nigeria’s presence at Museveni’s inauguration last week. Those who think otherwise could only be classified as outliers in international politics and diplomacy. The truth of the matter is that morality is secondary when your national or regional interests are involved. Contrarians like Odesola could not be said to have learned any lesson from the carnage Libya now poses to sub-Saharan Africa and, by extension, the international community.
The point to be made actually is the primacy of regional stability. Once upon a time, some uninformed commentators, obviously brainwashed by relentless propaganda by the west, also railed against Moemer Gadaffi of Libya. They conveniently turned a blind eye to the good the Libyan strongman for doing for his people and the stability he was helping to foster for sub-Saharan Africa. Rather, negative stories, mostly orchestrated by neocolonial interests in the west, were regurgitated and played up in Africa’s discourses.
The common talk then was that Gadaffi was a sit-right tyrant. Of course, the Arab Spring which erupted in 2010 later provided a perfect alibi for regime change in Libya in 2011, tele-guided by the same western powers who had hunted for Gadaffi’s scalp for ages. Whereas it could be said that those imperialist forces eventually had the last laugh, it surely has been unending grief for Africa since the brutal dispatch of the Libyan strongman. While he reigned, Gadaffi was able to police the Libyan corridors against the infiltration of Islamist extremists and jihadists to the rest of West Africa. Without Gadaffi, Libya has since become a no man’s land, with different warlords controlling sections of the country, and illegal arms flowing easily down through the entire Sahel.
Today, Nigeria is paying a heavy price prosecuting an asymmetrical war in the Northeast, substantially fueled by the instability in Libya. I am sure ignoramuses like Odesola must have also joined the orchestra of Gadaffi-must-go years back.
So, when those who have the privilege of access to newspaper space choose to dabble in public issues, we expect them to bring to bear deep knowledge reflecting the nuances from both regional and continental perspectives; not the sort of provincial illiteracy Odesola blissfully advertised in Punch of Monday (May 17).

* Dr. Segun Orimogunje, an expert in International Law, wrote Lekki, Lagos.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

2023 PERMUTATIONS A DISTRACTION, OSINBAJO HAS NOT DECLARED INTEREST IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

The attention of the Office of the Vice President has been drawn to a website:supportosinbajo.ng that is calling on Nigerians to join a volunteer group mobilizing support for Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Details of this website and the solicitation of the group are currently trending on WhatsApp with a suggestion that Prof. Osinbajo has "quietly" declared interest in the 2023 election.

The Office of the Vice President is not in any way connected to this website or the group behind it and considers such an enterprise an unnecessary distraction. Prof. Osinbajo has not declared any interest whatsoever in the 2023 election, but he is rather focused on working in his capacity as Vice President in the current administration to address all the compelling issues in the country and concerns of Nigerians, including finding effective and lasting solutions to the security challenges.

Therefore, we ask that people desist from such unhelpful permutations while we all deal together with the challenges confronting us as Nigerians, and resolve them for the benefit of our people, peace and prosperity in the land.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
17th May 2021

With insecurity pervading almost all parts of the country, heightened by atrocities of Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, kidnappings, banditry and other crimes in other regions, these certainly are worrying times for Nigerians at home and abroad. Police stations, which used to be safe havens, have become the subject to attacks with police officers scampering for safety.
 
Abductions and killings of school children have risen beyond comprehension. Boko Haram has become more vicious and daring. Terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, maiming, looting and raping have taken a turn for the worse. This is just as clashes between herders and farmers in some communities are taking new dimensions.


Amid these, calls for secession and self-determination persist in some sections of the country, posing challenges to Nigeria’s democratic rule and unity. And having made a minimal success of dousing the tension across the nation, it naturally ought to be a herculean task for anyone in government to speak or appeal to the citizen on insecurity. Yet, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has remained optimistic about the country emerging from its current challenges ‘a greater and more united Nigeria,’ adding that, ‘God’s promise of greatness for the country will certainly come to fruition.’ 
Osinbajo has not just been speaking out with firm, but assuring messages of hope and assurance of government’s unrelenting efforts to tackle the security challenges, he has also held Security Council meetings with Service Chiefs and chaired a National Economic Council meeting with all governors in attendance where he urged them to immediately commence widespread dialogue and consultations to ensure resolution of the crisis in their domains.
 
The Vice President has repeatedly called for the implementation of state and community policing across the country if Nigeria is to achieve effective policing. He remains resolute about the nation getting over the myriad of challenges confronting it and optimistic it will rise above its trials and come out stronger.


To douse tension, Osinbajo has been taking the message of hope to the most troubled areas in the country, especially the southeast where some unidentified persons, suspected herders and secessionists have repeatedly been killing scores of people, attacking police stations and other public buildings, including correctional homes where hundreds of inmates were set free in Imo State. He has appealed to separatists in the southwest, where agitation for the Yoruba nation is gathering momentum to have a rethink, just as he has called on the people of the north to remain united in the fight against insurgency.
 
With the activities he is championing, many Nigerians have come to see Osinbajo as the face of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, especially with the impact he has to continue to make nationwide and beyond, in the discharge of his duties. Over time, not only does it seem that Nigerians have come to see him as the go-to leader, he seems to be brought into the spotlight whenever issues – good or bad – arise with the performance of the Buhari-led government. 
 
President Buhari also seems to have placed so much faith in Osinbajo, much so that many achievements and significant milestones recorded under his administration have come from programmes and policies championed or driven by the Vice President. These include the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) before they were domiciled in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.


In 2020, the VP was saddled with the responsibility of chairing the Economic Sustainability Committee, which eventually drafted the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) of the government to mitigate the socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic on Nigerians. Since then, the ESP has helped to save millions of jobs and hundreds of thousands of businesses while providing a boost to the economy.
 
The impact of ESP goes beyond the economy to security, in the sense of securing livelihoods of Nigerians, even as it helped to stem likely uprisings that may have emanated from Nigerians who may have faced even more adverse effects from the fallout of the pandemic if not for the Sustainability Plan. Interestingly, ESP was credited as one of the major reasons Nigeria exited recession faster than other countries at the height of the pandemic.
 
Speaking at the 108th annual convention of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Prof. Osinbajo reiterated his optimism that ‘Nigeria will become an oasis of peace, security and prosperity in Africa and beyond, despite its current challenges.”


According to the VP, the nation might be currently going through storms and adversity, but it will ‘overcome its challenges and realise its aspirations because of the promises of God regarding the outstanding greatness ahead…’ 
 
The VP, who spoke on the theme: “Moving Forward: Finishing the Race with Joy,” said: “This nation will be the epicentre of the astounding economic and scientific developments of the 21st century. We will create here in Nigeria, an oasis of peace, security and prosperity such as has never been seen before on this continent and beyond. 
 
“Today, the clouds are overcast, the promise seems impossible as it was with the children of Israel after leaving Egypt to the promised land … but I am completely convinced that nobody, no group, no ideology, can defeat the promise of God for the greatness of Nigeria. I can see it clearly; I know it like my own face.” 


Expressing optimism in the nation’s greatness, the VP, however, appealed to Nigerians to avoid allowing the current situation to shape their utterances or perception. 
 
Also speaking with the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders from the Southeast, particularly chieftains and members of Anambra State, he said Nigeria cannot afford a war and that elites in the country should rise and speak the truth against the forces of division to preserve the nation’s unity.
 
According to him, “we cannot afford a war in this country… it is the political elite that will determine what will take place. If we keep quiet, if we say nothing and hope that things will just normalise, we may be wrong. And we may find ourselves heading for something worse than we are seeing today.
 
“If the political elite does not speak up, if we allow it to continue to slide, we will endanger ourselves and endanger the future of our country. I know that every conflict is a result of elite’s failure to speak up and tell the truth to their communities; that is the cause of every civil conflict.”


Prof. Osinbajo recalled a personal experience he observed in Somalia in the 90s when he went there to work with the United Nations. He said, he saw a Supreme Court Justice whom he had known before queuing up for food in the aftermath of civil conflicts in the country.
 
He added: “Everyone who thinks they can go and hide somewhere; you won’t even find a place. In the end, everyone will suffer. Parents, children, young people and old people will suffer.”

Osinbajo’s approaches and interventions in national issues have interestingly been drawing plaudits, especially from youths on social media.
 
A Twitter user, identified as @ekpesfrancis retweeting what President George Weah of Liberia said of Osinbajo said: “You kept your country together in peace, while President Muhammadu Buhari was away. That is a good model for other Vice Presidents to follow.”


Also reacting to Osinbajo’s stance on national development, another youth identified as @PhilipsJames15 said: “Osinbajo’s ideas and initiatives have had impacts on the lives of many Nigerians.” 
 
On his part, another user, @SugarG22, said: “What I like most among the many roles of the VP is that His Excellency, Yemi Osinbajo, knows how to address, intervene and successfully resolve volatile issues in a peaceful way in which all parties involved are happy.”

PhilipsJames15, said: “Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is the best VP ever. And his ideas have had great impacts such as the ESP that helped us out of recession.”
 
@KObambon: “Vice President #YemiOsinbajo is the only force sustaining Nigeria’s unity. Underrating him is like trying to break the last straw of Nigeria’s nationhood.”


Vice President Osinbajo knows how to walk the talk; undoubtedly his impact in the Buhari-led administration has been far-reaching. Despite the challenges in some areas, only a few Nigerians would doubt that Osinbajo keeps on delivering in his capacity as Vice President, all for the benefit of Nigerians and the country.
 
“We believe that we now have an opportunity to increase the numbers of new tribes of Nigerians; a tribe of men and women of all faiths, committed to a country run on high values, integrity, hard work, justice and love,” Osinbajo said at the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium recently.
 
Many analysts believe that the hope personified and expressed on different occasions about the great future of the country by the Vice President is one of the major things Nigeria needs, especially at a time like this when some say the country may be teetering at a fragile point of nationhood.


https://m.guardian.ng/politics/why-osinbajo-sings-hope-despite-insecurity-economic-hardship/amp/

THE ILORIN "CULINARY STREET"

By Aliyu Olatunji Ajanaku

13th May 2021

It was never officially named Unilorin Road, but that name sticks well to it than any other. It's also called Tanke Road. Officially it's Tunde Idiagbon road by the Town Planning Authority but it's hardly applied by office and home owners on this street. I would like to rename it as CULINARY STREET. "Street awon Olowo Sibi". I doubt it if there is any other street in Ilorin that parades more eating outlets than this road.

Facing this road is Charcoal. Owned by a lawyer, the old Mr Biggs was bought over, knocked down and Charcoal emerged from its ruins. It boasts of the conventional eatery, a bakery that's still in embryonic stage, a booming sharwama joint outside and playground for children. Right beside it however is a joint that is going head to head with Charcoal. It sells all sorts of food, mostly local with continental touch. The big boys, bachelors or married men who enjoy dining out patronise them. They can sell till midnight. Their veggies is something else. If you have digestion issues, just buy their vegetables, your bowel would move easily the next day and you would be relieved. Of course I am talking from experience.

As if they knew you may have visited Charcoal, "FROOTIFY" is there to give you dessert the moment you enter Culinary street, just after the junction to Station road. You can buy your assorted fruits and smoothie from Frootify. But should you decide not to do business with Charcoal and Frootify, just move down about one and half kilometers and you would see palatial YAKOOYO, still on your right. This building took years to complete. They took their time, ensured everything was in place, including borehole and all before they opened. I understand YAKOOYO started this food business in Abuja. It's local food with modern touch. I hear you would have to have a fat wallet but your palate and belly would thank you for it.

The SA to the Governor of Kwara state on Community Development, Comrade Kayode Oyin Zubair, recently represented the Governor to commission REO CAKES. They are located almost diagonally to YAKOOYO on the opposite side. Culinary street welcomed this culinary giant a few months back to add to the line up. They specialize in pastries as well as regular meals. One peculiar thing about YAKOOYO and REO CAKES is that they don't have adequate parking space in front of their outlets.

After the old sawmill garage are the two lions of the jungle. Two competitors who can be said to own culinary street. I don't know who came first but a source told me T and K FOODS came before IYA YUSUF. That IYA YUSUF used to operate in Gaa Akanbi before she moved to culinary street, just before FAAB Petroleum. One thing I however know is that they have become household names on culinary street. The competition is something else. While T and K used to be on the left side of the street with massive advantage of parking space, IYA YUSUF is on the right. Both are selling Mama Put. Iya Yusuf more popular than T and K when it comes to Amala, while T and K is better when it comes to light food, with side dressings to complement it. They both sell the same things but one is known more for a particular speciality than the other. Recently however, IYA YUSUF carved out a Tuwo corner in her outfit. Unilorin students, civil servants, businessmen, toasters, dates etc would rather go to Iya Yusuf or T and K than any other joint on culinary street.

Modernisation came in and there is always the need to be more innovative. Modernized Mama Put operators are business giants in Ilorin these days. No longer would you have to eat in a smoke filled environment. IYA YUSUF would renovate her shop during each ramadan, ditto for T and K whever opportunity presented. While T and K could afford more elaborate renovations in their former place on the left side of culinary street, close to ABULENLA, the challenge they had was that the shop was rented. It was under a one story building with that ubiquitous RANTI CHEMIST in that premises. There was limit to what she could do there. Then she bought a piece of land and moved to the right hand side of the street, partly because she needed more space and then also to face the competition headlong. She came out with a classy outfit with a very enticing environment. They had guards who controlled traffic and the whole scene was pleasing to an incoming customer. This must have jolted IYA YUSUF who I hear bought her premises outright and knocked it down completely. Some architects went to work and came out with a beautiful design for her. Not to be outdone, T and K did likewise and went straight for a storey building which as I write is still under construction. Lobatan.

Who is paying for all of these? The customers of course. I don't think it necessarily changes the taste of their food anyway, but it increases the cost per meal. Almost all prices have gone up, including the price of ponmo. I must add that their fans are not complaining anyway.

In between these two giants is IYA ALFA NLA. It's a small place that's not so loud but you need to taste that woman's food to know that she can compete favorably with the giants.

Leave these competitors, leave FABB Petroleum and see a special moin moin and ewa agonyin spot at Tipper garage, Tanke. It's not a joint per se but their signboard is prominent. They can be said to be squatters anyway because before 7pm their loud signboards are gone but reappears again the next day. Their spot faces Tanke ile iwe junction. Also at Tipper garage, two fried and jollof rice specialists present their own packages in the evenings. For bachelors, bachelorettes, single mothers, married but single etc, these guys are there to help them. Instead of going home and thinking of the agony of what to eat, they can just buy from them. Most times, they sell with fried chicken. The fresh vegetable spot as well and meat stalls are here. Unfortunately, they complicate the traffic logjam at Tipper garage. Man must wack sha.

When you leave Tipper garage, you get to Peace Hotel and pick suya, ice cream, pop corn and all but you could also move further ahead and you would be standing in front of another show stopper on culinary street which is ITEM 7 GO.

This chain of drive-by eatery is a concept designed and run by a former student of Unilorin whose course of study had nothing to do with eatery. He was a member of the SUG Exco. Information at hand says, while in Unilorin, the guy reportedly understudied a restaurant operator on the campus. He then set up his own on thereafter. There was an abandoned PEPSI container from which he started his business in Unilorin. It was an instant hit with the students. This was followed by a tiny kiosk in Tanke Oke Odo. Tanke Oke Odo is an area with huge population of students. ITEM 7's speciality is what he calls Party Rice. He makes it tasty and simplified the packaging. While you would spend between N1000 to N1,200 at Tantalizer and Chicken Republic, he started his own with a price tag of just N400. You would get chicken but it won't be a whole lap or perhaps the broilers used are relatively young, though tasty. It's satisfying to the palate while not injuring the pocket. The trademark of ITEM 7 now is queues. Wherever they are located in Ilorin now, you must have long queues. This is a business model that's hugely successful. One lady passing in front of their Taiwo road outlet one evening saw a very long queue and remarked in Yoruba "Won fi ITEM 7 s'epe fun yin ni"? (Dem take ITEM 7 swear for una?".

They have small delivery buses that deliver their unique "party rice" at their different outlets. The outlets now number up to 7 and counting. They have also added ice creams and other confectioneries. Kudos to this innovation. On culinary street alone, ITEM 7 is at Candidate Hotel and Oke Odo. There's another outlet located off SANRAB petroleum junction at Bubu village. The price per plate is now N800, I am told and the beat goes on.

As if that's not enough, a brand new eatery outlet has just opened at Oke Odo, off culinary street. It's called CLAY POT. The building is huge and would definitely give ITEM 7 some competition.

After Candidate Hotel is another joint at ASMAU PLAZA. Colorfully decorated and specialize in solids.

There are some smaller ones too, like one cute stall that sells only beans and bread. Just imagine that. They are located in front of one events hall just before Bekind Petroleum. Of course, there are still old Mama Put joints with smoky rooms on culinary street. I expect that competition would drive them to modernity too.

One thing I noticed is that while the old warhorses like IYA YUSUF and T and K are doing their own things, younger generation of entrepreneurs are busy at theirs too. Tanke is a huge Community on its own and the catalyst is Unilorin. The multiplication of business outlets, food inclusive, benefited immensely from the policy of consistent academic activity whose foundation was laid by former Vice Chancellor, Professor Oba AbdulRahim. The former VC's policy was to discourage ASUU strikes that creates a situation where a student would never know when he would graduate because their lecturers could down tool at anytime for all kinds of reasons. This policy earned the school the tag, BETTER BY FAR. Unilorin became the University of choice for students and of course their parents. Student population boomed, private hostels multiplied on every corner in Tanke and of course, these students must eat.

The twin effects of covid19 and ASUU strike, which Unilorin has now joined anyway, really affected many of these businesses but they are bouncing back. YAKOOYO was opened after covid but I am sure they were ready to roll out before this pandemic put spanner in their works. Reo cakes came alive last month. Ditto for CLAY POT.

While most of them don't have adequate parking space for their customers, IYA YUSUF, CLAY POT and T and K have an edge as far as this matter of space is concerned. I want to believe that by the time T and K finish their construction, more room would be provided for parking.

The can do spirits of these young entrepreneurs must be commended. They know that the jobs are not there but with their creativity, they are identifying needs and filling the gaps. Kudos to the management of the Better By Far University. In the environment of Culinary street, there are online companies that do home delivery of soup. I just learnt about that.

I can bet that Kwara Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) would be in love with this street. I won't say more than that (giggles). Also officials of KWEPA should watch these outlets and ensure that disposal of food wastes is done properly. The open drainages should not serve for disposal of food wastes.

These entrepreneurs should try and give back to their community. I noticed that at some point ITEM 7 was fixing potholes with concrete around Candidate Hotel. Commendable but they can do more.

If you are a visitor in Ilorin and you need somewhere to eat good meals, come to the culinary street. You can thank me later.

©Ajax

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

*NIGERIA'S MANIFEST DESTINY AS AFRICA'S ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE CAN'T BE ABORTED, SAYS OSINBAJO*

*VP tours world-class smart card facility in Lagos

*Says FG is democratizing broadband connectivity


It's the first in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the three such cutting-edge facilities on the continent, with top prime global certifications for smart card manufacturing and it is based in Lagos, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, relished yesterday afternoon while touring SecureID company's premises, and affirmed Nigeria's extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges.

According to him, "the economic future of our nation is extremely bright. Yes, we have challenges today and they may look daunting. But let me assure you that these issues will be resolved. The march of this nation to its manifest destiny as Africa’s leading economic power will not be aborted. We are more than able to overcome."

An impressed Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari Administration in "following the recommendation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, has determined that manufacturing will be our main focus in bringing about dynamic growth, jobs and exports. This will mean retooling our business environment for greater competitiveness, especially with the take off of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

"We are rethinking our tax regimes, sorting out external and internal trade issues, getting our regulatory authorities; SON, NAFDAC, and even Customs, to see their roles more as business facilitators rather than policemen or revenue generators. Our environment must be friendly for local businesses first, foreign investments will follow enthusiastically."

Commenting on the efforts of the administration to position the country as a leading economic beacon on the continent, the VP also stated that the Buhari administration was ramping up efforts in improving the country’s infrastructure and digital space.

He said, “aside from the work we are doing with other infrastructure such as rail, roads and power we are committed to a plan of democratizing broad band connectivity. Our programme, which we have reiterated in our Economic Sustainability Plan, is broadband connectivity for all by 2023.

“The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy launched the National Broadband Plan which is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum 25mbps in urban areas and 10mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population at affordable prices by the target date. Broadband connectivity is as important as electricity in the digital age unlike electricity we do not have to make several mistakes before getting it right."

While commending the efforts of the founder and Managing Director of SecureID, Mrs Kofo Akinkugbe, Prof. Osinbajo described SecureID facility as a place of history, innovation and creativity.

He said, “This world-class manufacturing facility is reputed to be the first certified smartcard manufacturing plant in sub-Saharan Africa, the only smart card production and personalization plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent and one of only 80 in the world.

"The facility serves 21 countries across Africa and is fully certified by major commercial card companies - VISA, Verve and MasterCard. SecureID has shown that this country can be at the cutting edge of development in technology and digital enterprises. The world in which companies like SecureID operates, providing comprehensive end-to-end payment, identity management and digital security solutions is one that thrives on innovation.

Continuing, the VP said, "the company has in these few years of her existence provided notable innovative offerings to the financial services sector, telecommunications, government, education, healthcare and private enterprises. Equally remarkable is the fact that with this facility, the company can produce all the payment cards, SIM cards, loyalty cards and the various identity management cards (residency cards, voter registration cards, drivers’ license and national identity cards) required here in Nigeria, with capacity to spare.”

"Congratulations also for your successes in getting the certifications that will help to meet the demands of customers, such as Global System of Mobile Applications (GSMA), Visa International, MasterCard Incorporated, Verve, Card Quality Management (CQM), and ISO 9001/2015 for Smart Card Manufacturing and Personalization of credit and debit cards.

"In particular, we must also congratulate SecureID for earning the GSMA certificate last year; this is a world class security requirement for SIM card manufacturing and personalization. Your rapid expansion is also worthy of commendation, especially as you have added a number of subsidiaries, one of which is the digital arm of the business: SID Digital, while the other is involved in transport payment infrastructure. This has put the company in good stead to provide services ranging from identity management to tax collection, school management systems, health management systems, digital cards for the banks and, of course, e-ticketing for all forms of transportation, including road, rail and water."

Speaking earlier at the event, the founder of SecureID, Mrs. Kofo Akinkugbe, highlighted the significance of the Vice President's visit, noting that the VP has come to see some of the much-touted potential being realized. She added that SecureID was a good entrepreneurial story of an abiding faith in God and the nation, proving the viability of investing and staying in the course.

Akinkugbe commended the federal government for establishing institutions and agencies to support and encouraged start-ups, MSMEs and other enterprises that had offered assistance to the company.

In his remarks, the representative of the Bank of Industry said he was excited to partner with SecureID, being a pioneer of world-class status in the industry, as well as making world class products, while generating foreign exchange earnings and creating jobs.

Others who spoke at the event were the Corps Marshall, Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi; Deputy Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Osoba.

Accompanying the Vice President were the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Ade Ipaye; Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada; representative of the Governor of Lagos State, His Lordship, the Anglican Bishop of Lagos State, Bishop Humphrey Olumakaiye and other government functionaries.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
12th May, 2021

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

ESP UPDATE:
OVER 2,000 HECTARES READY IN 24 STATES FOR FG’S SOCIAL HOUSING SCHEME AS 17 STATES SHOW INTEREST IN SOLAR POWER NAIJA PROGRAMME

*VP: We'll continue creating more jobs, improving access to power & affordable housing for Nigerians

*After Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Kano to pilot next phase of solar power initiative

*Titled documents secured for building of first set of 65,000 homes across Nigeria, very discounted cement prices set


Over two thousand hectares of land with titled documents have been given by 24 States for the Buhari administration’s Social Housing programme, while 17 States have indicated interest to participate in the Solar Power programme, both important elements of the ongoing Economic Sustainability Plan.

Equally agreement has now been reached with at least one major cement manufacturer in the country to sell at significantly discounted prices as low as N2600 per bag of cement for the social housing projects. This was after a meeting the Vice President held with three major cement manufacturers in the country namely Dangote Cement, Bua Cement and Lafarge Cement manufacturers.

These were some of the highlights emerging from a review meeting on the Economic Sustainability Plan implementation presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, at the Presidential Villa over the weekend.

Commenting on the implementation of components of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), Prof Osinbajo said the Buhari administration will continue to focus on creating more jobs, while improving access to power and affordable housing for majority of Nigerians.

Highlighting the progress so far, the Vice President assured that the Federal Government will ramp up efforts to so more Nigerians have access to electricity and affordable housing.

According to the presentation made by the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Alhaji Ahmad Salihijo, the Solar Power Naija team has had engagements with the 6 states who have identified private sector developers. The team has also selected Akwa Ibom, Ekiti and Kano as pilot states for the state-guarantee transaction model for the solar power programme.

He explained that REA is currently tracking transactions worth N55 billion potentially contributing the first two million connections in Nigeria and providing thousands of jobs

For instance, the programme is currently tracking four transactions in the commercial bank upstream channel contributing 3,500 jobs and 100,000 connections.

The MD added that 9 participants have submitted applications for over N4 billion of the N20 billion allocated with three companies close to receiving disbursements.

According to the MD, “Bleu Camel Energy with a loan amount of N3 billion is targeting to create 600 jobs; Sunking, another investor with a loan amount of N3 billion will create 1,500 jobs; Auxno Solar with N300 million loan amount targets 100 jobs while Emerald Industrial Co. is seeking N3 billion funding to manufacture 100,000 Solar Home Systems and smart meters.

On the other hand but in the same vein, the Managing Director/CEO of the Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL) - the implementing agency for the Social Housing scheme, Mr. Femi Adewole, stated that 17,584 units across 16 locations are now on the pipeline.

“We are having a successful push in assembling land to feed the housing construction. So far about 2156.4ha have been assembled ready for development. This has the capacity to accommodate about 65,000 homes,” he said.

Adewole further said that under the ESP Social Housing programme, Nigerians would be given at least a 15-year period with a monthly payment at six per cent interest rate to pay for each housing units.

While the rates are significantly low, the MD noted that this period can also be extended through refinancing.

“This will help to improve access to housing for low income people in the informal sector who-(otherwise) will not have an opportunity to access a mortgage,” he stated.

He further said that in addition to the typical 2, 3 and 4 bedroom housing units, the FHFL was considering a “Students and Young People’s Housing – to address the needs of young people.”

An  agreement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has now been finalized and signed by Family Homes Funds, he disclosed while drawdown is subject to a guarantee from the Ministry of Finance.

It would be recalled that the CBN had committed to a N200B facility with a guarantee by the FG via the Finance Ministry for the Social Housing scheme

Speaking further, the FHFL MD noted the agency has struck partnerships with Dangote Cement for the provision of cement at subsidized rates to construct the ESP homes, adding that “we expect to reach a similar agreement with the other two majors shortly.”

He added that the FHFL has signed an MoU with the ESP Solar Power project including 3 suppliers to provide low-cost solar panels to the homes.

Adewole stated that the delivery of the units would be through SME Delivery Partners – who are being encouraged to register on the Housing Portal.

He said, “So far about 7,333 SME groups and individuals are registered on the online portal. Up to 2,000 of these will be involved in current projects.

“We will be drawing from ongoing experience on our project in Yola where the construction of 3,600 homes are ongoing and a partnership between FHFL and the Ministry of Housing is implementing a large-scale youth employment scheme currently employing 1350 young people. The young people are manufacturing interlocking tiles, paving, screeding etc.

For the ESP Social Housing Adewole said “about 228 Manufacturers of Building Components have expressed interest in supplying inputs including doors, glazing, paint, roofing sheet etc. We are now engaging with these to secure bulk supply of key materials which in turn will provide opportunity to grow their production capacity.”

Already sites for early start projects have been identified in all the 6 geo-political zones in addition to the FCT. The sites include those in Ekiti and Ogun in the Southwest, Enugu, and Abia in the Southeast, Delta, and Edo in the South-south, Yobe, and Bauchi in the Northeast, Kaduna and Katsina in the Northwest and Nasarawa and Plateau in the North-central. Sites have also been identified in Abuja including at Dei Dei where the VP earlier visited to see the sample designs of the Social Housing homes.

Speaking specifically on the mass housing scheme, Prof. Osinbajo emphasized that the focus must be on providing affordable housing for the masses.

According to him, “if the Federal Government is going to intervene in housing, most of it should be social housing. Everybody else, including the private sector can build N9.6 million worth houses, but nobody else will do social housing.

“All over the world, when government intervenes, it is social housing...those who cannot afford housing are the ones we must focus attention on.

“I think that we have enough problems with finding homes for the vast majority of Nigerians who cannot find a home. The people who are poorest who have no houses, are the people we should target because that is what government should do. Let’s focus on this social housing.”

The Vice President added that the Federal Government will continue to collaborate with States to ensure more Nigerians benefit from the Social Housing scheme.

Under the Social Housing Programme, the Federal Government plans to support 1.5 million Nigerians to acquire low-cost houses through a mortgage options and also Rent to Own option. The scheme is expected to also generate 1.8 million jobs and deliver houses to about 1.5 million Nigerian families. The houses are to be priced around and about N2m and N4m each putting it within the reach of the low income earners, depending on the number of rooms. There are one, two and three bedrooms options.


Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President

9th May 2021

Reno has been in exile since 2015 due to his dirty past. He has every reason to be mad at Buhari.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

(UPDATED) IMPROVED COLLABORATION BETWEEN FG & STATE GOVTS, THE WAY TO GO, SAYS OSINBAJO

*VP lauds Delta Gov, commissions FRSC training school in Owa-Alero donated by State Govt

*Gov Okowa: Osinbajo is a completely detribalized Nigerian, true patriot

Effective collaboration between the Federal Government through its agencies and State Governments will bring about more dividends and improved service delivery for Nigerians, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this Thursday at the inauguration of the Federal Road Safety Corps Marshal Inspector Training School in Owa-Alero, Delta State. The Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration in the State built and furnished the school and donated it to the Federal Government.

According to the Vice President, the contribution “is an excellent exemplar of the benefits of collaboration between State Governments and Federal Government agencies. And as it should be, the ultimate beneficiaries are the good people of Delta State and the Country at large.”

He praised Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for the construction of the modern, fully furnished buildings and noted that this "far-sighted and thoughtful contribution of the State Government is worthy of commendation.

“I am persuaded to encourage all levels of government to emulate Delta, Enugu, Plateau, and Oyo States which have exemplified this spirit of cooperation for development by their tremendous support for the Road Safety institutions within their jurisdictions.”

The Vice President also commended the cordial relationship between the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and the FRSC which according to him “has led to the establishment of two additional training institutions in the last one year.”

Lauding the efforts of the FRSC management over the years, Prof. Osinbajo said “indeed the choice of Nigeria as one of the Centers of Excellence for road safety in Africa by the Africa Development Bank is a clear acknowledgment of the considerable contributions of the FRSC to the development of road safety in the region.”

“The Corps has continued to show appreciable determination to build staff capacity as a major requirement for the understanding of road traffic matters as well as tackling the associated challenges.

“These laudable efforts of the Corps are in alignment with the Policy thrust of the Present Administration in its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). Part of the critical focus of the ERGP is capacity building and skill acquisition interventions,” Prof. Osinbajo explained.


Prof. Osinbajo noted that “the Federal Government will continue to support organizations that demonstrate commitment to their statutory duties”, and appreciated the government and people of Delta State for the huge financial resources dedicated to the project.

“It is certainly an investment with long-term returns to the immediate community, the State, and the country in general. I wish to charge personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps to put this institution to the best of use”.

Earlier in his remarks, the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa thanked the Vice President for taking a keen interest in the progress and development of Delta State.

His words: “Delta State is the VP’s adopted home. Since the inception of our administration in 2015, the Vice President has taken more than a keen interest in our progress and development as a State. He has made it his priority time and time again, to be part of what is going on here in our dear State.”

“Your Excellency, we greatly value your support, friendship, and partnership. You have shown yourself to be a true patriot, a completely detribalized Nigerian with abiding faith in the unity and progress of a country where justice, equity, and fairness reigns

“This project that is about to be commissioned is a good example of what can happen where there is understanding, cooperation, and synergy between the national and sub-national governments irrespective of political affiliations,” Governor Okowa noted.

Besides Governor Ifeanyi and the FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, other dignitaries at the event included Minister of State for Labour and Employment Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN who accompanied the Vice President, the Obi of Owa-Alero, His Royal Majesty Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor II, who is also the Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council, among other top federal and state government officials.

Before commissioning the school, the VP paid a courtesy call on the Obi of Owa-Alero, where the traditional ruler commended the Vice President for his progressive politics that he observed transcends partisanship. He added that the people of Delta State "will work for the unity of this country."


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
6th May 2021

henrysam:
Abi this man dey craze ni.

Na your papa dey craze

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, celebrated the Nigerian internet sensation Ikorodu Bois, stating that their exploits are impressive.

The comic group made up of Muiz Sanni (15), Malik Sanni (10) and Fawas (13) are known for recreating and mimicking multi-million-dollar music videos, Hollywood film trailers and epic pictures with household items.

Recall that in April 2021, Netflix announced plans to feature the group of brothers in its Oscar Weekend Film Brand Campaign. According to Netflix, the campaign is targeted at celebrating fans for the important role they play — for watching, loving, discussing, and even recreating Netflix movies.

VP Osinbajo, shared a clip on his Instagram page, with the caption “The exploits of the @Ikorodu_Bois are impressive, especially for two reasons. The first, is the joy of watching them achieve such global acclaim with consistent effort from their humble corner in Ikorodu. The second however, is the urgency, an urgency that stems from the immediate need to keep up with our efforts to efficiently secure our kids, and ensure the opportunities for them not only to thrive tapping their talents, but to have the basic chance to get educated for starters, without risk nor distraction. I celebrate them,” he said.


https://www.instagram.com/tv/COhkVNLgD5o/?igshid=1ekzaljq5q9n0

Osinbajo has clear grasp of Nigeria’s challenges — Gbenga Daniel


A former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has a clear understanding of Nigeria’s challenges.


Daniel, who recently defected to APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said that there was need for all to join hands with the Federal Government in finding solutions to the nation’s challenges.

“You must be aware that I and a number of my colleagues recently joined the party; and part of what we have decided to do was to go round; we have seen the party, President and quite a number of the leaders.

“It is also incumbent; in fact, we were to see the vice president after the president; but we didn’t have the opportunity up until now; so, it is purely a courtesy call.

`Of course, we seized the opportunity to interrogate some of the challenges we have in the nation.

“We are quite excited that from what the vice president said, he has a clear grasp of the challenges and we are persuaded that efforts are being put in place.

“It is a very difficult period in the history of our nation and all hands must be deck.’’

The former governor said that part of the reasons he decided to move to APC was to join forces with people who were in power to see how things could be done in a better way.

Daniel said he defected with friends, colleagues, people who believed in the leadership and those who were excited about the move.

He also proffered solutions to Nigeria’s security challenges.

“There are various angels to it; but ordinarily, the only way to tackle security challenges is to tackle poverty and to create employment.

“When a large section of the populace is gainfully employed, you now will be able to isolate people who are sabotaging and who have other sinister motives.

“But to the extent that we have not successfully been able to tackle unemployment, is for the main preoccupation of any administration,’’ he said.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/osinbajo-has-clear-grasp-of-nigerias-challenges-gbenga-daniel/

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE.*

*_WORKING TOGETHER, NIGERIA WILL REALIZE ITS TRUE POTENTIALS_* — *OSINBAJO.*

*Former Ogun Gov Daniel tells VP:* _We know your job is not easy, but we are proud of you._

Though Nigeria is facing diverse challenges, it will overcome the problems and realize its potentials especially if people who share progressive views continue to work together in the interest of the country, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this Wednesday when he received on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, members of a SouthWest Think-Tank known as IMODOYE led by former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. (Imodoye means knowledge is valuable)

According to the Vice President, “I am very hopeful that this country will truly realize its potentials and I believe that all of us working together can make that happen. If the progressive ideas are put forward and we focus, then this country indeed will work.

“The country is ours, we should make it happen, there will be many challenges but I think that we must be prepared to face it until progressive views of improved welfare for the citizens that we represent, eventually prevail.”

Speaking on the efforts of the Buhari administration to address some of the challenges confronting Nigerians, the Vice President noted that “the best way out of where we are today is to have a massive plan for investment because that is really how to create opportunities for jobs, which is what we are hoping to achieve with the Economic Sustainability Plan, creating opportunities through the solar investments with 5 million connections, the Farms for Jobs Project and the Social Housing Scheme.”

The Vice President then reiterated that the welfare of the people and the progress of the country has always been and will remain the priority of the APC and the Buhari administration.

Earlier in his remark, former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, said the visit was to identify with and support the cause of Prof. Osinbajo whom he described as “intelligent, hardworking, articulate” and a very proud son of the Southwest region.

His words: “we want to let you know that you are appreciated, we are proud of you and the work that you are doing, we know it is not an easy job. We also want to let you know that we want to join you in nation-building, if there is anything, any assignment you want us to undertake, we are at your service, that is why we are here.”

Former Governor Daniel who is now an APC member led the Imodoye delegation which included some other new entrants into the party.
He said having joined the party he has visited the President, Governors, and other leaders including Chief Bisi Akande.

With him yesterday at the VP's office were Mr Dare Babarinsa, a veteran journalist; and Otunba Opeyemi Agbaje, a policy analyst. Others were, Mr Ayodele Olaoye, Mr Kole Omololu, Mr. Kole Abe, Mr Deola Sosanwo, Mr Steve Oliyide, Mr John Obafemi and Mr Demola Folarin.

*Laolu Akande,*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,*
*Office of the Vice President.*
6th May 2021.

A former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has a clear understanding of Nigeria’s challenges.


Daniel, who recently defected to APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said that there was need for all to join hands with the Federal Government in finding solutions to the nation’s challenges.

“You must be aware that I and a number of my colleagues recently joined the party; and part of what we have decided to do was to go round; we have seen the party, President and quite a number of the leaders.

“It is also incumbent; in fact, we were to see the vice president after the president; but we didn’t have the opportunity up until now; so, it is purely a courtesy call.

`Of course, we seized the opportunity to interrogate some of the challenges we have in the nation.

“We are quite excited that from what the vice president said, he has a clear grasp of the challenges and we are persuaded that efforts are being put in place.

“It is a very difficult period in the history of our nation and all hands must be deck.’’

The former governor said that part of the reasons he decided to move to APC was to join forces with people who were in power to see how things could be done in a better way.

Daniel said he defected with friends, colleagues, people who believed in the leadership and those who were excited about the move.

He also proffered solutions to Nigeria’s security challenges.

“There are various angels to it; but ordinarily, the only way to tackle security challenges is to tackle poverty and to create employment.

“When a large section of the populace is gainfully employed, you now will be able to isolate people who are sabotaging and who have other sinister motives.

“But to the extent that we have not successfully been able to tackle unemployment, is for the main preoccupation of any administration,’’ he said.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/osinbajo-has-clear-grasp-of-nigerias-challenges-gbenga-daniel/