O'tega "The Tiger" Ogra is currently the Senior Special Assistant to the Nigerian President on Digital Strategy, Engagement and Communications.
O'tega Ogra @otegaogra
Without mincing words, it is regrettable that a former presidential candidate and ex-governor, PGO, whose own so-called ‘leadership’ record is permanently stained by one of Nigeria’s darkest chapters of police brutality under the disbanded Akwuzu SARS - a police unit that killed on sight in Anambra under the guise of Mr Obi’s infamous pronouncement. A man who presided over the systematic suppression and marginalisation of minorities be they political, religious, and/or ethnic; and who once aligned with those who sought to undermine Nigeria’s democracydring the dark military years. This same individual now seeks to lecture others on leadership and politicise a tragedy. Shame.
The tragedy in Benue (another one in a long list of decades-long skirmishes that continue to burden that region) is deeply painful and saddens all genuine Nigerians and Mr President is giving it all the attention and seriousness it deserves.
As we speak, the Chief of Army Staff has relocated to the affected zone on the directive of his commander-in-chief. Internal security apparatus and intelligence agencies have been fully activated and deployed. Mr President has given marching orders to his NATSEC apparatus, and he has also advised the Chief Executive of the State on what to do.
President Bola Tinubu visited Benue on Wednesday, and has remained in constant briefings and debriefings with security chiefs, the Governor of Benue, and other critical stakeholders.
As a former chief executive of a state, sir, you should know that security incidents differ in context, complexity, and causes. Each is, and must always be addressed with the urgency and discretion it deserves.
As President @officialABAT said, ‘Enough is now enough’. We cannot continue to politicise human suffering or perform grief for applause. What happened in Benue is a national tragedy. Lives were lost. President Tinubu is fully committed to ensuring accountability, justice, and a long-term resolution to the root causes of violence in that region, God-willing.
In cases like this, it would be wise to be more circumspect, empathise with the victims of the tragedy, or, better still, heed the counsel of sages across history that, “you do not preach in white nor play politics with the tragedy and pain of others especially your record is written in lies and blood.”
Please show leadership in your conduct, sir.
P.s: A couple of years ago, President Tinubu famously advised then President Jonathan that the ‘bulk’ (not ‘buck’ in this instance but ‘bulk’ as in most of the work) stops on his table with respect to National Security. That opinion has not changed hence his application of all necessary means from intelligence to internal security, stakeholder engagement amongst others in finding a solution to this perennial crisis
Nigeria will succeed.
Otega ‘The Tiger’ Ogra
P.s: All views expressed above are personal and entirely mine and do not reflect an official position of government.
The National Opposition Coalition Group, has formally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the registration of a new political party, the All Democratic Alliance, ADA.
Breaking: New coalition political front emerges; All Democratic Alliance , ADA with David Mark, Rotimi Amaechi, Ardo leading the force. Group seeks registration ahead of elections
All Democratic Alliance, ADA: Anti-Tinubu coalition writes INEC for registration of new party
By John Alechenu, Abuja
After weeks of deliberations, the Nigeria National Coalition Group, NNCG, has formally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, seeking for the registration of a new political party with the name All Democratic Alliance, ADA.
The application letter, dated 19th June, 2025, was stamped received by INEC on 20 June, 2025.
A copy of the letter, which was signed by the association’s Protem National Chairman, Chief Akin A. Rickets, was sighted by Vanguard in Abuja on Friday.
The letter read in part: “Application For Registration As A Political Party.
“We respectfully write to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, requesting the registration of our association, the All Democratic Alliance, ADA, as a political party.
“This is sequel to the decision taken by the Nigerian National Coalition Group to sponsor our association for full registration.
“The name of the party shall be All Democratic Alliance with ADA as our acronym and ‘Justice for All’ as our slogan.
“The National Secretariat of the party is as stated at the bottom of the association’s letterhead used in this application.
“We have also herewith attached our logo describing in details the symbolism of our party colours and the their configuration and the corn (Maize).
“We have further attached our manifesto encompassing details of our party ideology, and our constitution providing the legal framework that defines our identity, structures and organization, regulates our affairs and guides our actions in alignment with Section 40 and 222 of the Constitution, Section 75 of the Electoral Act (2022) and global democratic principles and objectives.
“Please find attached the following documents: our party flag depicting our name, acronym and slogan, manifesto, constitution and minutes of meeting.
“While we eagerly await further action from the commission on the next step forward towards attaining our desired goal, please accept the consideration of our highest respect. Thank you yours most sincerely; Chief Akin A. Rickets, Protem National Chairman.”
Members
Members of the anti-Tinubu coalition include: Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; ex-Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi; his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El-Rufai; the convener of the League of Northern Democrats, Dr. Umar Ardo, and a host of others.
The group had considered joining an existing political party which saw the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, jostling to out do each other to be considered.
However, several members of the coalition expressed concerns over the internal wrangling within existing parties, which in some cases had led to litigations.
The coalition subsequently set up a committee to also consider the option of registering a completely new platform where all members will start on equal footing in terms of membership.
The committee, which was headed by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi submitted its report about a week ago with a recommendation in favour of registering a new party.
naptu2: I am not responding to posts on this thread because I believe that most of those people are simply trolling. They are not being serious and they are simply pretending for whatever reason.
However, for those that truly do not know, I am going to reproduce an old post from memory.
Types of stadiums in Nigeria.
Anybody that has lived in Nigeria automatically knows the various types of stadiums in Nigeria (that's why I said that those people are not being serious). In this post I will limit myself to the relevant types.
A) Sports cities: There are many stadiums in Nigeria that are what I call sports cities. They have a main bowl that consists of a football pitch and an athletics track and they also have other sports facilities, most notably a sports hall that is used for basketball and other indoor sports and an aquatic centre.
Some people complain about these sports cities because they do not understand why there's a track around the football pitch. They watch the English Premier League and other European football competitions and they don't see athletics tracks around the pitches and so they wonder why there are tracks around the pitches at these sports cities.
This issue isn't new to me, but I assumed that everybody understood it, however, I discovered on Nairaland in the early 2010s that not everybody understands the issue.
The answer is very simple. These sports cities were built by government. Governments want to develop multiple sports in order to improve the chances of their citizens winning medals at multi-sports events. They need to have the facilities in which to train these athletes. Some governments also hope to host events like the Nations Sports Festival, the National School Sports Festival, Youth Games, All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, etc. It is more cost effective and efficient to build a sports city than to build separate football stadiums and athletics stadiums. This is the reason that governments build the sports cities. Track and Field Athletics was once Nigeria's second sport, it is the one sport that every school takes part in and there must be facilities to host such competitions.
The football stadiums that you see being used in the English Premiership and similar competitions are owned by wealthy football clubs. They have no responsibility to develop track and field athletics and they want to ensure that their fans can get very close to the action by having the seats/stands very close to the pitch.
Examples of sports cities include the National Stadium Lagos, the National Stadium Abuja, Liberty Stadium Ibadan, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu and the Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna.
B) Single use stadiums: There are also single use stadiums in Nigeria. When I say "single use" I mean that the stadium comprises just a football pitch, although that same pitch can be used for association football, rugby and American football.
Most of the single use stadiums are the older stadiums like the Onikan Stadium in Lagos, Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt and the Kano Pillars Stadium. Most of these stadia are associated with a particular football club and it is not the club's responsibility to develop other sports like track and field athletics or swimming. Besides, most of these older stadia are smaller than the sports cities and there's no space to put an athletics track.
C) Mini stadiums: Mini stadiums are very small stadiums that are designed to be used by a community. Most of these stadiums are not used by any professional sports team, rather they are used by the youths in the area.
Mini stadiums are built to provide an outlet for youths in the area, so that they can hone their skills, to provide them with something to do and keep them away from crimes and other vices.
Mini stadiums also serve as a community centre. They are a place where schools can hold their inter-house sports competitions, nearby companies can have bonding sessions, etc.
A great example of a mini stadium is the Campos Square Mini Stadium. It was basically just a playground once upon a time. There were no stands and there was no grass (it was just sand). People played football there, it was used as a prayerground during Eid and some people had parties there. In 1987 a part of the square was partitioned off and converted into a school.
However, Governor Babatunde Fashola converted it into a mini stadium with stands, an electronic scoreboard and an outdoor basketball court.
Nowadays there are activities at the stadium every day. It is used by the Lagos State Government to train primary and secondary school students, teams of youths rent the stadium for their football matches and it was the site of the Channels Television primary school football competition.
D) Playgrounds: What I call playgrounds are community sports facilities that have no stands, in some cases they have no grass, but they are used by youths in the area to play football in the evenings and at weekends. They are also used for social occasions like parties and for political gatherings. A good example of a playground is the old Campos Square.
lovewins: Folashade is the girl that graduated from Oshoala's academy if I remember correctly. Looking forward to seeing her justify her inclusion ahead of a Monday Gift.
Konquest: It's risky though. These guys charging forward to supposedly meet any President could be suicide bombers or assassins. The former Japanese PM Abe who got shot by a Japanese who was in the crowd as he have his political speech comes to mind.
There was once a terror attack via a timed roadside bomb blast on Buhari's convoy before he became the President by BH elements which could have led to Buhari's death if his Jeep wasn't armored.
Yeah, that's why security agents tackled the attacker, but after investigation it was discovered that he was a fan. He later had a press conference with the minister of information in which he said that he wasn't attacking the president (initial viral posts claimed that he wanted to attack the president), but that he just wanted a picture with him. He was allowed to take a picture with the president days later.
ProudlyLagos: the likes of Uba Sani can’t deliver Tinubu, yet you are the one having headache over that isn’t amazing how emergency political analysts have turned spokes person for the north why not worry about who and who will deliver for your agulu packaged fraud? Yeye Dey smell
That person is a supporter or Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. He is not a supporter of Mr Peter Obi.
Something similar happened to President Buhari. A fan rushed at him before security could intervene.
The fan later said that he was excited to see Buhari and that's why he rushed at him. He was later given an opportunity to shake hands with the president.
This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.
The Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked federal agents from entering their stadium on Thursday, as protests against immigration enforcement continue in the city.
In a post on social media, the baseball team said "ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots", and were subsequently turned away.
Los Angeles is among the cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have ramped up raids to find and deport undocumented migrants.
ICE responded to the Dodgers statement on X: "False. We were never there."
The Department of Homeland Security too issued a statement saying the agents' presence at the stadium "had nothing to do with the Dodgers".
"CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement," DHS said. It is unclear why the officials were at the stadium.
This comes as Dodgers are expected to announce that they will assist immigrants who have been impacted by the raids in the city, US media report.
No details have been disclosed, but it would be the team's first official response to the raids.
Dodgers player Kiké Hernández took to Instagram to voice his criticism of the raids on Los Angeles, saying he is "saddened and infuriated by what's happening in our country and our city".
"This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart," he said.
The crackdown in Los Angeles is part of President Donald Trump's policy to be tougher on immigration.
The raids in America's second-biggest city are unfolding against the backdrop of an aggressive push to raise arrest and deportation numbers, as the administration has been disappointed with its current pace.
Meanwhile, White House border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the Trump administration will resume immigration raids at worksites.
"The message is clear: we're going to continue conducting worksite enforcement operations, including on farms and in hotels, but on a prioritised basis. Criminals come first," Homan told reporters.
The statement comes days after DHS announced reversing recent guidance that called for a pause on operations at those places.
Kimo21: Good afternoon…kindly don’t try be a woman wrapper. I believe you have been here long enough to know jeon Saphire….siofra and the likes with certain mods siding them and when guys retaliate they get banned. The abuse went both ways but at least it’s better now.
This is the best thing that has happened on Nairaland since Nairaland 2 in 2011.
There's no longer any need to make lots of reports to the moderators. The bot has taken care of the toxic posts.
It seemed like trolls were trying to discourage people from using the forum. The level of misogyny was unbelieveable. The trolls would ignore the topic of a thread and concentrate on attacking people. Now a user can simply block anybody that is toxic and he can continue to block trolls who open many accounts to harass people.
Users can now focus on issues instead of the constant wars between people.
Women can breathe a sigh of relief, because they don't have to bear the constant abuse.
The 40 character limit is a minor inconvenience in the battle against spammers.
Basically you've done a very good job with these updates.
Politics › Not Every Tragedy Must Be Exploited For Political Gain - O'tega Ogra by naptu2(op): 4:19am On Jun 21, 2025
the likes of Uba Sani can’t deliver Tinubu, yet you are the one having headache over that 