₦airaland Forum

LAGOS IN TALKS WITH NATIONAL, BRITISH MUSEUMS TO REVIVE J.K. RANDLE CENTRE - SANWO-OLU

•Governor Appoints Trustees for Yoruba History Centre, Pledges to Restore Lagos Heritage

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, reiterated his resolve to restore the lost glory of the J.K. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, as he inaugurated the Board of Trustees (BoT) for the Centre.

The Governor is the chairman of the seven-member Board set up to revive tourism and engender cultural renaissance in Lagos. The Board comprises four Government officials and three professionals from the private sector.

The BoT members were inaugurated at a ceremony organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and held at the State House, Alausa.

The Centre, originally built in 1928, used to serve as a hub for cultural tourism, recreation and entertainment. Its reconstruction started in 2018.

Sanwo-Olu, as chairman of the Board, pledged to make the Centre a critical reference point for Yoruba culture and arts, stressing that the constitution of the Trustees was imperative, given the near completion of the reconstruction work on the Centre located in Onikan.

The Governor said his administration’s commitment towards bringing the Centre back to life remained unshaken, saying the Government had set the completion deadline for the contractor handling the reconstruction work.

He said: “I take up this opportunity to serve as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the J.K. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History with a sense of responsibility, and I assure stakeholders in the Arts, Culture and Tourism ecosystem that we will do everything to ensure that the Centre becomes a reference point, not only for Yoruba culture and arts, but also brings back the old glory of Lagos culture.

“We are expecting the reconstruction work on the Centre to be completed before the end of the year. That is why it is important to have a Board of Trustees to run the institution and take it to the level where the Centre would be second to none in the documentation of Yoruba history and culture. Our commitment on this project is unshaken and we are monitoring the contractor, which has committed itself to the delivery of the project.”

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the State Government was already in discussion with arts and culture organisations and professionals, including national museum, British Museum, and private Arts collectors on the availability of compendiums and collection of works documenting the rich history of Yoruba and their arts in the Centre.
He said the revival of the Centre would reinvigorate tourism in the State, stressing that the Board had been empowered with administrative authority to engage both local and international players in arts and culture in conversations that would make the Centre realise its mandate.

He said: “We are not leaving anything behind to ensure the J.K. Randle Centre becomes an international destination for local and foreign tourists to learn about old and contemporary cultural heritage of the Yoruba. The Centre is sited on a location that is accessible and it provides the ambience for people to learn.

“The building of the Centre also fits into our overall global objective in Arts, Culture and Tourism. We recently launched our 20-year Arts and Tourism master plan and delivering the Centre would help bring our strategy to making Lagos a tourism destination a reality.”

Sanwo-Olu said the inclusion of private sector players in the Board was to provide a robust platform for engagement that would put the Centre on the world map. He charged members of the Board to bring their wealth of experience to bear as they serve in the capacity.

Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, presented the Board members to the Governor and urged them to justify their appointments.

Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Folashade Jaji is the Vice Chairman of the Board, while the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture,
Mrs. Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi is the Secretary.

Other members are Mrs Olubunmi Osiewu (Treasurer), Mrs. Polly Alakija, Chief Euzebio Babajide Damazio, and Mr. Abdul-Rafiu Babatunde Adewale.

EXCLUSIVE: Magu suppressed cases against Amosun, Kwankwaso, says Salami Panel

by Chinedu Asadu
July 07, 2021. 13:01


Ibrahim Magu, former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), allegedly suppressed corruption cases of a current and three former governors.

The Justice Ayo Salami investigative panel said while overseeing the EFCC, Magu “directed designated operatives not to investigate” the allegations of corruption against the four individuals.

The former governors in question were identified as Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Donald Duke (Cross River) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), who is a current senator.

Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa governor, who had led the state for some months in 2014, was also mentioned among the “prominent politically exposed persons” whom Magu “suppressed” their cases.

Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), who had first recommended Magu’s removal to President Muhammadu Buhari, was asked to direct the investigation and facilitate “possible prosecution” of the former EFCC boss over the alleged sharp practices found by the panel.

Following Malami’s petition to Buhari, Magu was investigated by the panel and eventually replaced as EFCC chairman after being indicted for abuse of office.

The former EFCC boss denied any wrongdoing when he appeared before the investigative panel.

In the report submitted in November 2020, the EFCC, under the former acting chairman’s watch, was accused of “causing the disappearance of evidence, stoppage and suppression of cases under investigation and prosecution, and omitting to arrest suspects”.

The report said the cases involved prominent politicians such as Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president; Haruna Momoh, former managing director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC); Stella Oduah, senator from Anambra state, among others, and including “all US Dollar-related cases reported by ONSA [office of the national security adviser]”.


ON ARMS PROCUREMENTS ‘CONTRACT FRAUD’

The panel recommended the investigation of Magu’s “conduct” in relation to the probe of the “arms procurements contract fraud in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)”.

The committee also directed the EFCC to “immediately resuscitate and conclude investigations into all the abandoned procurement fraud cases” in the NSA office.

Further investigations were also directed to be carried out on Magu and other staff of the EFCC over their “conduct” in an alleged bribery case involving Donald Wokoma, a businessman.


‘COMPROMISE, MISCONDUCT, MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS’

The Salami panel also asked the AGF to direct relevant agencies to investigate Magu “for compromising the investigation of the case against Hima Aboubakar for possible prosecution”.

The EFCC had in 2020 declared Aboubakar wanted over an alleged case of criminal conspiracy, contract scam, misappropriation of public funds, money laundering and fraud to the tune of $394 million, €9.9 million and N369 million.

As the chief executive officer of Societe D`Equipment Internationaux (SEI), he was said to have received the funds for the purchase of equipment for the Nigerian military but “investigations have revealed discrepancies in the supply of the equipment”, according to the commission.

The panel also said Magu should be subjected to investigation and possible prosecution “for failing to account for security/information funds amounting to N431 million”.

The funds were said to have been released to his office between November 2015 and May 2020.

It has been about eight months since the panel submitted its report, but most of its recommendations are yet to be implemented.

Wahab Shittu, Magu’s lawyer, declined comments on the panel’s report when contacted by TheCable on Wednesday.

“We have chosen for now to maintain a dignified silence until there’s an official pronouncement on all of these issues and then we react to it,” he said, adding that, “our client has answers to all these but for now, he wants to maintain a dignified silence as a person who respects due process, rule of law and constituted authorities.”

TheCable had learnt that the former EFCC boss is being considered for promotion to the rank of assistant inspector-general (AIG) by the Police Service Commission (PSC) despite the indictment.

LAWMA TO CARRY OUT MAJOR ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS IN FESTAC

Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) is set to conduct major enforcement operations at FESTAC axis of Lagos over the next few weeks, in a bid to stem the activities of cart-pushers, which has left the environment in a deplorable condition.

According to a release signed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, the activities of the outlawed cart-pushers had increased the level of indiscriminate disposal of waste at unauthorised locations such as in drainage channels, road medians and uncompleted buildings.

He stated that the enforcement exercise would be carried out to restore sanity to the environment and forestall the negative consequences of indiscriminate dumping of refuse, especially during the current rainy season.

Odumboni, therefore, urged residents to shun patronage of cart-pushers, whose activities jeopardise the health and safety of residents, stressing the need to patronise assigned PSP operators and to pay for waste services promptly.

While maintaining that the State government, through LAWMA, has empowered PSP operators, to render quality waste management services across the metropolis, the General Manager enjoined residents to call LAWMA toll-free numbers: 07080601020 and 617 for all waste management related issues.

#LASG
#ForAGreaterLagos

Just received the news the Haitian president of Haiti has been assassinated

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Reportedly Assassinated at His Home

There were mass protests this year in a bitter dispute over Moïse’s legitimacy.


Jamie Ross
News Correspondent
Updated Jul. 07, 2021 6:12AM ET / Published Jul. 07, 2021 6:03AM ET

The president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, has been assassinated at his private residence, according to local reports.

A statement from Haiti’s interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, said the deadly attack took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “A group of individuals who have not been identified, some of whom were speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the President of the Republic and fatally injured the Head of State,” the PM wrote.

Joseph said the first lady was also shot, but has survived the attack.

More to follow...

iwaeda:
You can always modify. Have you watched Escape from Sobibor? Kaduna has the highest military formations in Nigeria, how have they defended or prevented almost daily kidnappings and killings?

iwaeda:
I know about counter terrorism and have watched films on Mossad, KGB, CIA and so on.