₦airaland Forum

The family of Lance Corporal Kazeem Aribido, who was attached to the 81 Battalion, 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, has been thrown into mourning after receiving the news of his death in a detention centre in Ibadan, Oyo State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Kazeem’s ordeal started in September 2019 when some military personnel found three bullets in his flat in the Mokola area of Ibadan.

The Ogun State indigene was said to have languished in the military detention centre until his death in August 2021.

His widow, Kafilat, explained that the late Kazeem was released to take care of his health after suffering a series of asthmatic attacks during an operation in Zamfara State.

She noted that her husband had barely got home when some military personnel arrived at their residence for a search.

Kafilat said, “On September 10, 2019, when the military police and some intelligence personnel came to search our flat in the barracks, they instructed me to step outside.

“My husband, who had been handcuffed, was there when they searched the flat till they found three bullets in his backpack and took him away to the guard room in the 2 Division in Odogbo, Ibadan.

“When I went there to see him, he said he was being set up, but expressed confidence that investigation would prove his innocence. His colleagues in Zamfara told me he did nothing wrong as he got approval before returning home.”

The widow said Kazeem was later transferred to the Garrison Guardroom at the Nigerian Military Special Investigation Bureau in Abuja, where he was detained for over 17 months.

She said, “He was dumped in a cell at the SIB, Abuja, without being questioned. I went there because I was scared of his asthmatic condition, but I was chased away. I didn’t hear from my husband for four months until he called in April 2020.

“Sometime in June 2020, I was allowed to see him and he told me what happened was connected to the three bullets recovered from his backpack. He said he was bothered about his health and forgot to officially submit the bullets when he returned from the Zamfara operation.

“He also said the soldiers who searched his flat were trying to frame him up, claiming they discovered magazines in the flat, aside from the three bullets. Several army officers, including Major Idris, Okewunmi, Aliu, Akinyemi were assigned at different times to look into his case.

“They even revisited the 81 Battalion barracks, checked his statements of account in the bank during the investigation and found nothing against him.”

The mother of one stated that at the end of the investigation, he was absolved of blame and ordered to be released.


She noted that on his return to the 2 Division, Ibadan, he was detained.

“When I visited him, I was told to get a lawyer as he would be court-martialed. We got two lawyers. Surprisingly, my husband’s name was not on the list of people to be court-martialed.

“He told his lawyer that Major Akinyemi, who completed the investigation in Abuja, told him he had been freed and no longer had a case with the Army.

“The charges preferred against him were not ready until after a month. At the resumed hearing, the soldiers brought a witness, but the witness surprisingly debunked the claim that weapons were found in his flat.

“My husband’s lawyer asked the court if he could file a no-case submission and the court agreed. The lawyer submitted the letter in August and we were told to come on Monday, August 23, 2021, for the final judgement. But it was the news of his death I received. I want justice because his death is suspicious,” Kafilat added.

A spokesman for the 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Major Iyke Iweha, said he needed time to investigate the case and get back to our correspondent.

He said, “Give me time to come back and respond to you appropriately.”

Yes, the thing don dey ripe now!!! Imagine bandits entering into a military formation.

Ask yourself, Can you buy a second car without test-driving it?

A Nigerian, Adeyemi Opebiyi, has sued the United Kinngdom after he had been granted a visa and had flown from Nigeria to the Manchester Airport.

Opebiyi, who described himself as the Head of Operations, Sabi Micro Finance Bank Ltd, said on arriving at Manchester Airport on March 14, 2021, he was stopped by the UK Immigration official, who insisted that he must be interviewed before he could be allowed into the UK.

He claimed that he was made to wait for eight hours at the immigration desk before he was eventually interviewed by an Immigration officer, who asked him to draw the logo of Sabi Micro Finance Bank Ltd, among other things, as a way of verifying his claim that he works with the financial institution.

Opebiyi alleged that after drawing the logo as best as he could, the Immigration officer told him that the drawing was not good enough and he would be denied entry into the UK on that basis and related reasons.

He claimed that he was subsequently detained for 10 days before he was finally deported to Nigeria on March 24.

He said in response to his request for the review of the decision, he got a letter from the UK Home Office, reading: “You were asked to draw Sabi Micro Finance Bank LTD’s logo: What you drew bore little resemblance to the logos found on all the official paperwork you submitted for your visa application.

“Furthermore, you were initially unable to state the correct names of the current Chairperson and Managing Director of Sabi Micro Finance Bank Ltd. This is something a Head of Operations would know. You were also unable to describe the core values and mission of Sabi Micro Finance Bank Ltd as described on its website.”

In the suit filed on his behalf by UK-based Nigerian lawyer, Mr Femi Aina, a Senior Consultant Solicitor with Martynsrose Solicitors, UK, Opebiyi is demanding damages for what he termed the unlawful and humiliating treatment meted out to him by the UK Immigration officers.

The suit was filed upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum chamber) UK, with the Secretary of State for Home Department (UK) named as the sole respondent to the suit.

In the court papers, copies of which were made available to our correspondent, Opebiyi’s lawyer said, “The applicant spent 16 hours on his flight to London (Lagos-Doha-Manchester). He was held for about eight hours by the respondent for further examination. He was interviewed after eight hours’ waiting and was asked to draw the company logo. Despite the fatigue and the flight stress, he tried his best possible to draw the company’s logo. The respondent’s action is oppressive as it does not have regard for his well-being.

“The applicant showed his ID card, his MD confirmed his employment. The letter dated 9th April, 2018 and the one dated 12 August, 2020 from the CBN relates to his employment. His bank statement shows regular salary payment. All the above are relevant evidence regarding his employment. The respondent’s decision that he was not employed, or that false information was used in obtaining his visa, is wrong.

“By reason of the matters aforesaid, the applicant was unlawfully detained and deprived of his liberty for 10 days at Immigration Detention Centre (Colynbrook) from the date of his arrival, 14th March 2021 up to the date of his removal i.e. 24 March, 2021.

“The respondent has acted in a way that is incompatible with the applicant’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, contrary to Section 6(1) as a public authority carrying out Immigration Control.”

Describing the experience as the worst in his life, Opebiyi, in the court papers, said, “I was humiliated and distressed about the whole matter. A week after returning to Nigeria I could not go to work as I was mentally unstable. I have never stayed in detention in my life. The whole experience is affecting me psychologically till now. Anytime I hear detention or see anything about the UK, I cringe. I lost my savings on a fruitless journey to the UK. I am a victim of injustice.”

The applicant, through his lawyer, said he was entitled to a claim of between £5,000 and £20,000, with interest.

He explained that he lost a total of £1,593.00 from the cost of flight ticket, taxi fare to the airport in Nigeria, Administrative Review fees that he paid in the UK and the legal fees he paid to the lawyer who processed the Administrative Review for him.

“The claimant is entitled to interest pursuant to Section 69 County Courts Act 1984 on any sums due to him at such rate as the court shall think fit,” the lawyer said.

A Kogi State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Lokoja, on Thursday, sentenced a Marketing Officer of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Mr James Olayemi, to six months’ imprisonment for unlawful disconnection of electricity supply to a customer’s house.

Chief Magistrate Tanko Muhammed jailed Olayemi and ordered the immediate reconnection of electricity supply to Mr Dennis Osanwuta’s house.

Osanwuta, a retired top management employee of the National Inland Waterways Authority, had dragged Olayemi and the Regional Manager, AEDC, Lameed Obadaki, to court for the damage to his property and unlawful disconnection of electricity supply to his house even after the payment of N370,000 for February 2020.

The prosecution counsel, O. C. King, who was represented by Emeje Aruwa, said the case was brought pursuant to sections 86, 87, 88, 107 (a), (e), 108(1) (c), 111, 112 and 113 of the Kogi State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2017.

According to him, the defendants had on March 10, 2020, along with others still at large, “maliciously and unlawfully disconnected electricity supply to the electricity meter with account number 715718350 supplying electricity to the building being occupied by the complainant at No. 1 NIWA Quarters, Lokoja, Kogi State.”

Aruwa also submitted that the duo disconnected electricity supply to the premises of the plaintiff in spite of the fact that he did not default in the payment of his bills and described the act as unlawful.

He urged the court to take cognizance of Regulation 10( of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Connection and Disconnection Procedures of Electricity Services, 2007.



However, Ocheja urged the court to determine whether the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the defendants to warrant it to compel them to enter their defence.

Ocheja urged the court to strike out the case over the inability of the prosecution to establish a prima facie case against the defendants by linking them to the alleged offences.

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In his judgment, Tanko absolved Obadaki of any complicity on the two counts of criminal conspiracy and unlawful disconnection of power supply.

He, therefore, discharged and acquitted Obadaki, stressing that from the evidence before him, there was no link between the regional manager and the criminal activities of the marketing officer.

Tanko sentenced Olayemi for acting contrary to sections 5 and 11 of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission Connection and Disconnection Procedures for Electricity Services, 2007, an offence punishable under Section 94 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005.

According to him, the provision of Section 5 states that electricity consumers must be given a maximum of 10 days for the payment of electricity bills and three months before disconnection can be made after the power firm must have formally written to inform the consumers of the impending disconnection.

“In view of the evidence before me, the complainant was not given such an opportunity; therefore, the first defendant is guilty as charged. I hereby sentence him to six months’ imprisonment with an option of N50,000 fine,” the chief magistrate added.

They use sign language.

Yahoo ni Babalawo...Ole ni everybody...Abba Kyari my foot.

If per adventure negative things start to happen in Edo state and the larger society, some religion fanatics would say that the idols they returned are the cause.

Your headline should have been 'TRAIN DERAILED AT IKEJA"

Is Onyenwe no longer an Eastern name? Oponu.

Stupid man he was. He should know that the result of DNA would be either favourable or unfavorable and should have prepared his mind against all odds. If u no say u no get mind, why you go do paternity test.

Annoms:
I'm sure I'll even be the one to pay for her wedding gown and accessories.

Am afraid, this marriage may collapse before it starts. Tread cautiously.

Na your husband beat you or your wife? Idiots

She is a foster child to the woman.

Congratulations. This is an achievement for you in 2021. No dey easy to kill a snake o. O ku orire o.

DUMEZ EDO, Please come and claim your baby ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

I no do well? I don help you call your baby Daddy o.

Stupid and shameless woman.

The Spokesman for pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin, has died of COVID-19, The PUNCH has learnt.

Odumakin, it was learnt, died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital isolation centre.

His wife, Mrs Joe Okei-Odumakin, confirmed this to The PUNCH on Saturday.

Our correspondent was told that a delegation of Yoruba leaders were on their way to the residence of Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo, to break the news to him.

The wife said, “A part of me is gone. A part of me is gone. He fought hard at the intensive care unit. Pray for me to survive this. My love is gone.

“He was OK before. He was recovering yesterday but he died this morning. I am at the intensive care unit. A part of me is gone.”

Former Central Bank Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, is safe, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Monday Kuryas, has said.

Kuryas spoke on Channels Television, after gunmen attacked Soludo on Wednesday and killed three of his police orderlies.

The incident happened in Soludo’s home town in Isiofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Speaking on the television programme monitored by The PUNCH, the police commissioner said though Soludo was safe, the state Commissioner for Public Utilities, Emeka Ezenwanne, was abducted by the gunmen.

Kuryas said, ”The former CBN governor was holding a town hall meeting with the youths of his community called Isuofia in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.

“Suddenly, unknown gunmen attacked my men that were providing security for him. In the exchange of fire, three of my men were killed but the professor is safe.

Culled from The Punch

ChiefSosa:
I'm confused! Thought u were a female or did u mean pussy_ when you typed ****

CLIT

THERE was drama at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, on Sunday morning as a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, and a former chairman of South-East Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, engaged each other in a serious altercation to the surprise of other passengers on board.

Okorocha and Ilomuanya were aboard Air Peace airplane en route Abuja.

Our correspondent gathered that the traditional ruler on sighting Okorocha accused him of being the cause of his present day predicaments, and Okorocha in return told him that he had no regrets removing him as the chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers.

The former governor equally said he would repeat his actions if he was still a governor.

A former commissioner in Okorocha’s administration who was in the air craft told our correspondent that “Eze Ilomuanya started accusing his Excellency of being the cause of all the things he is suffering today and Okorocha replied him immediately by saying that he had no regrets deposing him as a king. Okorocha told him bluntly that he would repeat his actions 10 times if he were still the governor.”

The former aide stated that contrary to speculations in many quarters, the monarch didn’t use his walking stick on Okorocha, who now represents Imo West at the Senate.

But another source said that the traditional ruler attacked Okorocha with his walking stick inside the airplane.

The source said, “Eze Cletus Ilomuanya aboard Air Peace flight to Abuja this morning accosted Senator Rochas Okorocha sitting next to him, exploded with so much rage and royal anger. What started as a mellow drama, all of a sudden snowballed into a full-fledged confrontation inside the aircraft, as the charismatic popular royal father descended on Okorocha with his walking stick.

“If not for the timely intervention of the flight captain, who rushed out when Ilomuanya was hitting Okorocha with his royal walking stick to leave his sight, the story would have been something else.”

But Okorocha in a statement issued by his Spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, shortly after the incident, warned politicians, who he said, were looking for favour from the state government, to stop dropping the name of the former governor.

Culled from The Punch.

A lot of opportunities abound in Lagos. I will advise you to settle for Lagos.

Onyi22:
R u sure he's not the real father?

U don dey craze.

Oga Police, nemesis has finally caught up with you. Only God knows how many innocent people you have sent to prison and souls you have sent to untimely grave. Its now time for you to have a taste of all the bad bad things you have done.

Forty-three-year-old Terhemen Anongo tells JOHN CHARLES how he dropped out as a 500 Level medical student at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State and ended up a porter, pushing a wheelbarrow for a living in Gboko town, Benue State

What is your name?

My name is Terhemen Anongo

How old are you?

I am 43 years old now.

Is it true that you attended University of Ibadan?

Yes, I was admitted into the University of Ibadan in the 1996/97 session (as a medical student) and by 2000 I moved on to the teaching hospital, UCH (University College Hospital) but I dropped out when I was in 500 Level because I was suffering from severe depression, which made me lose interest in medical school. Though at a point I tried to go back, the authorities did not allow me.

Where are you based now and what do you do?

I am based in Gboko, Benue State, where I work as a porter, pushing a wheelbarrow.

READ ALSO: My household avoided me after I tested COVID-19 positive –Obasanjo

Is it true that you recently attempted to castrate yourself?

You know how the issue of sexual urge torments one when you don’t have a wife, coupled with your religious beliefs. I am someone deeply involved in religion and I read about Origen Adamantius, one of the early church leaders from Egypt, who paid to be castrated so that he would not be bothered by sexual urge. It was in an attempt to do the same thing that I removed my right testicle but there was a heavy flow of blood, so I abandoned it (castration) and rushed to hospital.

Why did you carry out the surgical operation on yourself?

I had earlier visited three doctors because I wanted a safe procedure but they declined; so I decided to do it myself.

What gave you the confidence to do it?

It was based on my medical experience in medical school. I got the local equipment to do it with stitches, antibiotics as well as other things. But in the process of removing the testicle, there was too much blood, so I had to terminate the surgery.

How do you feel now?

The wound is healing wonderfully because I was admitted into hospital for two weeks.

When did you start having depression?

First of all, it was never my desire to study Medicine. I graduated from secondary school and had best results. I loved Physics and Mathematics, so I wanted to study Engineering, Petroleum Engineering to be precise. I got the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination form and filled it and took it to my dad who was a Mathematics teacher but my dad said no; he said he had some Indian teachers who told him that the best course for me to study was Medicine. But when I got to medical school, I realised that Medicine is about cramming, memorising terminologies whose origin you don’t know. So, I lost interest in academic work but I still managed to pass and got to the teaching hospital.

The way University of Ibadan is structured, the people there are not friendly, though, it is the best medical school. I remember a girl who came from the United States for a programme in UI; before she left, she told the Head of Department that their approach was too harsh; that the environment was not friendly. If you don’t know something, you are not confident to say you don’t know it. That, coupled with my lack of interest, made me quit.

Why didn’t you switch over to another course in the university?

I tried to actually go back to take another course, at least to change from Medicine to Psychology, but they refused. I tried other universities, including University of Maiduguri and Benue State University, to see if I could switch course, they all refused.

Was that when you started having depression?

Yes, I lost interest in academic work; at a point I thought of suicide; I almost cut off my radial artery, so I could just end it all.

What have you been doing since you quit school?

I told you I am in Gboko, working as a porter, pushing a wheelbarrow. Imagine a medical student who could have graduated doing that. My mates are now consultants, but I am pushing a wheelbarrow, you can imagine the psychological trauma.

Where are your parents now?

My dad is no more alive but my mum is alive. What she is trying to do now is to set up a chemist shop for me; she has got a shop and I am trying to raise money so I can put some drugs in the shop. That is what I am trying to do right now because, the wheelbarrow thing is very stressful.

At what point did you decide to castrate yourself?

Initially, I felt that through fast and prayers I could overcome this libido but it is an ongoing trouble, starving (abstaining from sex) yourself is not easy; you get some energy to overcome and then some women around here (in Gboko) are almost walking naked, you know what I mean. So, I said to myself “Why not take away the ‘petrol tank’?”

Now that you have removed one testicle, has the sexual urge stopped?

No, it has not. Even now that I have removed one testicle, the temptation still goes on (laughs). Now that I have removed one testicle, the sexual urge has escalated (laughs).

Are you not considering getting married?

I am but there is no money. If I have money, I would have married. If I find a woman who is ready (to marry me) despite the loss of one testicle, why not?

READ ALSO: My 2023 presidential ambition mere speculation, says Jonathan

Do you have a girlfriend?

I don’t have a girlfriend because no girl is prepared to date someone who doesn’t have money. But when I was in the University of Ibadan, I had a girlfriend. Even when I came back home, I had a girlfriend but that was many years ago. So, for close to eight years now, I have not had a girlfriend.

What do you intend to do when you get better?

As I said earlier, I am trying to set up a chemist shop. I have rented a shop but drugs are not there yet; so I hope to stock the shop once I have some money. At least, that would help me to put body and soul together.

Some thought you had mental problem when you castrated yourself.

It was not from the perspective of mental problem but to devote myself to Christian values and I am not the first person to do that; that was why I made reference to Origen, the father of theology, the greatest theologian the Church has ever produced. But in the secular world, it is very easy for people to always look at people who do things out of their religious beliefs with suspicion.

What advice do you have for people suffering from depression?

I will tell them to get medical attention but most importantly, to draw closer to God, whether they are Christian or Moslem. Two, they should have people around them to encourage them. I think they should also get married for those who are supposed to be married. Depression is prevalent among unmarried people. They need to get married because they need someone to cheer them up and encourage them with good meals and good love making.

Nothing for Daddy. God go judge.

Veteran Juju singer, Sir Shina Peters, has addressed the viral allegations that the late actress, Funmi Martins, bore him a son, Oluwadamilare, whom he abandoned.

Martins, who passed on in 2002, is also the mother of popular actress, Mide, who is married to her colleague, Afeez Owo.

During the week, a blogger, Gist Lover, alleged that Mide and Peters had abandoned Damilare, who is now 19 years old.

But, in a video the juju musician, who was recently ordained a Bishop of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, stated that he was in talks with Damilare and his guardian, Baba Deji. He, however, did not acknowledge whether he was the father of the boy in question or not.

Peters said, “I would like to thank all Nigerians in the Diaspora. I will be turning 64, so I should know the right thing to do. On the issue of Oluwadamilare, from the beginning, there were a lot of controversies, but as an elderly person, I don’t want to discuss that. I have put it behind me. My concern now is how we are going to take good care of Damilare. In the past, I had sent my driver to Abeokuta Ogun State) several times but they did not allow my driver to see him. When Damilare’s guardian, Baba Deji, called me, I was not in the country. I told him I would call him when I got back. In the process of waiting for me, this story came out.”

Peters also urged his fans and other Nigerians who had initiated plans to crowd-fund for the boy to put a stop to it. He added, “I heard there are plans to raise money for Damilare. I don’t want people to use the poor boy to siphon money. He is not a beggar and I do not want people to make him one. From now, I want to take charge of him. I would be fully responsible for him. Me, Damilare, Baba Deji, and the senior Martins have been speaking on phone. We have fixed a meeting in hopes that everything would be fine. I am a Godly person and I have trained so many children and they are doing very fine, financially.

“I love children and I’m passionate about them. I once sang a song about the essence of children. Now that Damilare knows where to reach me, he can come to me as a father and discuss his problems with me. We can have a proper father and son relationship. Even if he is interested in the entertainment industry, he has to have good education”

Culled from The Punch.

What a Country!!!

History, like Ekiti’s Ikogosi springs of warm and cold fountains, embodies profundities. Either for good or bad reasons, history always cascades down the confluence of discovery, depth and truth, meandering into the past.

Whenever history repeats itself for good, cymbals accompany resounding ovations – like the joy of a football cup game win. But, oftentimes when history catches man on the wrong foot, grief trails destruction – like the outstanding incompetence of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s regime in securing lives and property.

Buhari’s colossal inability to deliver on any of his electoral promises reads like the devil’s scripture.

Eagle-eyed, silent and deadpan, history is the unblinking secret camera watching and recording events, not for God, but for man and the future called posterity, in the global village called humanity.

While unsmart nations writhe in pain as history rewrites unpalatable events, smart nations write in joy, historic accomplishments of epic proportions, on the glorious sands of time.

Giant in size but dwarf in reasoning, the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government, in the first decade of the millennium, yanked History off primary and secondary schools curricula as a core subject even as the Buhari regime that has promised to restore it as a core subject since 2017 has yet to fully do so.

It’s scandalous that multi-billion-dollar security funds could develop wings and disappear while the self-acclaimed ruling Africa’s largest party was unmindful of the wisdom in the saying that a people without history are on the path to extinction.

That the PDP could even toy with the idea of expunging History from school curricula was a corroboration of the fact that successive national governments since 1999 didn’t have an understanding of citizenship rights and education.

If Nigerian leaders made citizens’ welfare the cornerstone of service, they would know that History is yesterday’s searchlight, beamed on today for man to understand the present and prepare for the future.

For the sake of the up-and-coming Nigerian generation which has been denied the knowledge of History by subsequent governments, I shall embark on a journey to Katsina in a history-driven vehicle.

While in Katsina, I shall teleport to the tomb of former Nigerian President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, at the Dan Marina Cemetery, Katsina, to pay obsequies to the memory of a true Nigerian nationalist who wasn’t an emotionless, tight-lipped nepotistic bigot. At the Dan Marina Cemetery, I shall compare and contrast the achievements of Yar’Adua with those of Buhari in order for Nigerians to see who the patriot is among the two Fulani sons.


I will also visit the Ilupeju residence of the first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, who passed on to eternal glory last week at 91, and compare him with the civilian governors that have led the state of aquatic splendor after him.

I decided to embark on this route of historical juxtaposition in order to be fair enough to Buhari, whose awful spokespersons, always make the life patron of Meyeti Allah cattle breeders look like the victim, who’s doing all in his power to make life better for an ungrateful Nigerian nation.

Being a former university lecturer, Yar’Adua appeared more cerebral than Buhari. Yar’Adua addressed journalists freely and neither engaged in characteristic verbal miscues nor relied solely on prepared speech before addressing some local and international audiences.

Yar’Adua was the one and only Nigerian president till date, who publicly declared his nearly N1bn assets and liabilities, completely unlike Buhari, who vowed to publicly declare his assets while campaigning for votes, but reneged when he got to power.

Despite coming from an illustrious family and being younger to Buhari, Yar’Adua didn’t foist his Fulani ethnic nationality over other nationalities even as he granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants, reflecting true nationalism.

Not one to be beclouded by political vindictiveness, Yar’Adua taught former President Olusegun Obasanjo some lesson in leadership fairness when he released the N10bn allocation accruable to Lagos State, but which Obasanjo had seized and refused to release despite a Supreme Court ruling.

Appointments by Yar’Adua into the leaderships of the Armed Forces, executive cabinet and government parastatals weren’t tilted in favour of the North just as he matched his word up with action, implementing the N18,000 minimum wage promised to the electorate.

A Master’s degree holder in Analytical Chemistry from the Ahmadu Bello University, Yar’Adua, who was the Matawalle of Katsina, didn’t open fire on innocent protesters while he was President for three years.

Also, he didn’t turn Aso Rock into a barracks for warring family members, wife, children and security aides.

The Nigerian leader, who died at 58, was in firm control of his household as there was no reported case of infighting among family members, yet he didn’t claim to champion any War Against Indiscipline.

Yar’Adua wasn’t a pretender, who owned choice properties, and yet wanted Nigerians to see him as Spartan and frugal. Also, he didn’t indulge his children by laying at their feet the fleet of presidential jets for running errands and photoshopping trips.

On the watch of the great Katsina General, Nigeria is not Golgotha. It’s an abattoir littered with skulls, limbs and blood of insecurity. It’s the hell where death snacks on the slow-moving chameleon and snaps up the reckless frog jumping about dangerously. It’s the riddle of the caring father that turns the gun on his harmless children who complained at the Lekki tollgate, threatening to squish more children in a promised second-coming blitzkrieg.

On Jakande’s 90th birthday in 2019, I wrote a tribute, “Lateef Jakande and the Lathieves,” in my PUNCH newspaper column on July 29, 2019.

The article reads in part, “Baba Kekere, as he was popularly called, was elected on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria on October 1, 1979 and just five months after his inauguration, he built 11,729 schools, whereas a latter-day democrat cuddled the list of his cabinet members for six months!

“Visionary and incorruptible, Jakande saw tomorrow and was prepared to carry his people along with him into it. Jakande embarked on the construction of a metro line before the mallam led khaki boys to strike and terminate the monumental project. Jakande was subsequently probed and cleared of corruption charges.

“He changed the lives of his people through genuine developmental strides, establishing the Lagos State University, Radio Lagos and Television, Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, numerous housing estates, genuine free education and opening up Ikotun, Ajah and Jakande never named any of his landmark achievements after himself.

“He only wanted to live in the minds of his people forever. His children attended the public schools he built. His wife, Abimbola, neither operated as First Lady nor spent taxpayers’ money on personal whims called pet projects. While in power, LKJ never travelled out for medical check-ups or vacations.

“For him, no state assignment was so urgent to make him fly a helicopter though Lagos was rich enough to buy 10 copters. He never needed to buy bulletproof SUVs nor built a mansion on the island. Jakande lived among the people in Ilepeju with Oshodi as his next-door neighbor.

“Born in the Epetedo area of Lagos State on July 23, 1929 to parents who hailed from Omu Aran in Kwara State, Jakande rose through the dint of discipline, hard work, commitment and perseverance to become the Editor of Tribune newspaper and later founded the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

“He never had a university education but he had the love of his people at his heart.

Since Lagos fell on the laps of self-acclaimed democrats in 1999, all the billions of dollars they expended on infrastructure cannot match the achievements Jakande produced in four years with little resources.

LKJ’s achievements litter the landscape. Where are their achievements? If you ask me, na who I go ask?

Adieu, Baba Kekere!

NwaNimo1:
Leaked photo:

[img]https://media./images/3cb2ab98f51946c4e159f82503f40328/tenor.gif[/img]

But this is Oshiomole nah, this one no be Tinubu.

See the motor don leak engine oil finish. Super clean indeed.

I bought my own naija used 3 days ago for 950k. You will think its tokunbo. Cars are costly now.