Author: Lawal AbdulSalam Olawale

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Thursday, said the state ranked first among states in the country in Criminal Justice Reforms by the Abuja-based Centre for Socio-Legal Studies.

 

Governor Oborevwori stated that the state achieved the feat following the passage of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2022, and Administration of Civil Justice Law 2022 by the State House of Assembly under his leadership as speaker.

 

Oborevwori stated this in his remarks during the swearing-in of three newly appointed Commissioners in Asaba, the state capital.

 

The new Commissioners are Mr Ekemejero Ohwovoriole, SAN, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; Dr Ifeanyi Michael Osuoza, Commissioner for Information, and Prince Kelly Kalanama Penawou, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

 

He described the new Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ekemejero Ohwovoriole SAN as a brilliant and capable lawyer schooled in the best traditions of legal practice.

 

“Deep, driven, and devoted to his craft, Mr Ohwovoriole brings to the office almost 30 years of distinguished service at the Bar.

 

He challenged the new Attorney-General to sustain the state’s pace setter role in Criminal Justice Reforms, adding that state’s criminal justice laws are adjudged widely to be 21st century- compliant, especially with recourse to technology.

 

“The transition period of both laws ended on December, 22, 2023. So, both laws are now operational in all courts in Delta State.

 

rigorous and successful implementation of these laws is, therefore, imperative for Delta State to maintain its leadership position.

 

“Only recently, Attorneys-General of the south-east states adopted the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2022 as their model, hailing it as “a unique framework for the administration of criminal justice.”

 

Oborevwori further remarked that the new Commissioner for Information, Dr Ifeanyi Michael Osuoza, is a tested hand and avid communicator in the field of political communication and information management, having served meritoriously as the PDP State Publicity Secretary in the last eight years.

 

“His appointment as Information Commissioner is thoroughly well-deserved. Dr Osuoza, popularly known as Agenda, is a committed PDP member, humble leader, avid communicator, and relentless public commentator.

 

“It is my earnest expectation that he will take the government’s information management machinery to a whole new level. I expect creativity and innovation in government communication in a way that ensures optimal, fact-based projection of the policies, programmes, achievements, and activities of the government.

 

“One major shift I will like to see in the Information Ministry is for it to go beyond the information arena and engage in positive citizen engagement and mobilisation.

 

“It is my considered view that stakeholder perception audits must be integral to the operations of the information ministry.

 

“It should serve in the best traditions as a sensor, gathering intelligence and inputs from the citizenry that would form the basis of the policies and programmes of the government.”

 

Governor Oborevwori stated that the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Kelly Kalanama Penawou is a grassroots politician of immense stature with extensive experience in local government administration.

 

He said he expects nothing but excellence and exemplary performance from him, having served as Special Adviser on Local Government Affairs in the immediate past administration.

said he expects nothing but excellence and exemplary performance from him, having served as Special Adviser on Local Government Affairs in the immediate past administration.

 

He charged the Commissioners to lead by example by being role models in their respective ministries.

 

Oborevwori said: “To the commissioners, I leave you with no charge other than the one I gave to your colleagues, and I quote.

 

“As heads of Ministries, your personal example is the most powerful leadership tool you possess. You must be role models in punctuality, discipline, hard work, excellence, honesty, transparency, and accountability. People will do what they see you do, not what you say. Hence, you must endeavour to match your words with actions.

 

“Let fairness, equity, and justice guide your actions, and you must give every citizen equal opportunity to benefit from our programmes and services. In this regard, you must shun ethnic politics and divisive tendencies. You are to maintain an open door policy in your ministries and be accessible to all and sundry.

 

“I wish to reassure Deltans that with the distraction of the court cases now behind us, this administration is poised to fully focus on the business of advancing Delta State through accelerated infrastructural development, more job opportunities, improved learning climate in our schools, and better working conditions for workers in the public service.

 

“What we have achieved in the last seven months will pale in comparison to what we are set to do in the months and years ahead. Rest assured, we are determined to make life richer, better, and more fulfilling for all Deltans”.

 

He charged all political appointees to roll up their sleeves and redouble their efforts to contribute their quota to the effective and successful implementation of the MORE agenda.

 

“We must reciprocate the massive mandate given to us by the good people of Delta State with sincerity of purpose, empathy with the people, and improved service delivery, in the discharge of our duties.”

 

Responding, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza, expressed appreciation to God and to the Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, for finding them worthy to serve as Commissioners.

 

He assured Deltans of their resolve to put in their best in the service of the state through the MORE agenda.

 

The Deputy Governor of the State, Sir Monday Onyeme, former Deputy Governors of the state, Chief Benjamin Elue and Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, Hon. Nicholas Mutu, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Arthur Akpowowo, State PDP Chairman, Dr Kingsley Esiso, Senator James Manager, Olorogun J. U. Oguma, Chief Chris Agbobu, Dr Gabriel Ogbechie, among others, attended the ceremon

Amid the controversy surrounding the move by the Federal Government to relocate the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN from Abuja to Lagos, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has declared that there is no going back on the decision.

The minister spoke on Wednesday when he appeared on Channels TV programme, Politics Today.

 

DAILY POST recalls that Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South as well as chieftains of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Northern Elders Forum, NEF, and other northern groups had kicked against the moves

.According to them, the relocation of FAAN headquarters and some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to Lagos was an attempt to marginalise the north.

 

But addressing the controversy, Keyamo simply said, “We are going ahead. The directive has been given.”

 

Keyamo said the whole issue was compounded with the fact that FAAN is not yet digitalised and so, in one year, they spend half a billion naira on a flight ticket between Lagos and Abuja alone.

 

You see them flying every day to and fro Abuja to get one file signed. They fly every day, back and forth. In one year, they spent close to half a billion naira on flight tickets. N450 million on flight tickets alone,” he said.

 

 

 

Investigation of False Allegations and Sustained Campaign of Calumny Against my Person by Unknown Element.”

 

In the letter dated 9 January, 2023, Mr Gbajabiamila @femigbaja said: “Over the past six months, unknown individuals or groups have made a sustained effort using social media to spread unfounded allegations of corruption, malfeasance, and abuse of office against my person. This campaign of calumny has gotten progressively more aggressive in tone and content over the last month, thus necessitating this letter.

 

“I have served in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the past two decades, first in the legislature, where I rose to the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and now in the executive as Chief of Staff to the President. In that time, my efforts to ensure probity in the management of public resources are well documented. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, I presided over the national budget for all ministries, departments and agencies for four years without blemish.

 

“While it is my inclination to ignore these attacks as part of the usual mischief of politics, my position as Chief of Staff to the President compels me to act because falsehoods left unchallenged soon take on the toga of truth. Furthermore, the aggressive escalation of these attacks suggests that the perpetrators of these attacks will continue until they are held to account. For these reasons, the stoic silence I have maintained on this matter thus far will no longer suffice.

 

“I am satisfied that I have not acted in any way to warrant or justify these attacks. Therefore, I am requesting your office to investigate the sources and substance of these false allegations. Rather than hide behind the anonymity of the internet, let my accusers be unmasked to substantiate their claims or face the consequences of their libel against me.”

 

The chief of staff to the president, therefore, requested “prompt intervention” of security agencies in the matter.

 

The letter indicated that “a selection of some of the more egregious attacks of the past few months” were attached to aid security agencies in their investigations.

Billionaire businessman and chairman of Geregu Power Plc, Mr Femi Otedola, has emerged as the chairperson of the board of FBN Holdings Plc, whose flagship arm is First Bank.

 

Otedola was passed the baton at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Group in Lagos on Wednesday.

 

6became a non-executive director of FBN Holdings on 14 August 2023, months after he acquired a substantial stake in First Bank.

 

The 61-year-old is the financial institution’s biggest and only substantial shareholder, holding a 5.6 per cent stake.

 

He has had investments in port agency, shipping, storage and insurance brokerage. In 2007, he acquired a controlling interest in African Petroleum, which later metamorphosed into Forte Oil. Forte Oil itself would later be sold and renamed Ardova.

 

Geregu Power, which he took public in October 2022, accounts for about nine per cent of Nigeria’s grid electricity.

 

He has held several board memberships, including President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping and as past Chairman of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

 

He was part of the National Economic Management Team, chaired by former President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015. At the moment, he is a member of the National Peace Committee.

 

A botched move to become the chief shareholder of Transnational Corporation, Nigeria’s biggest conglomerate by market value, in April 2023 saw him sell his stake of 6.3 per cent to rival ony Elumelu.

 

He succeeded Ahmad Abdullahi, a seasoned economist who was appointed chair of the Holdco on 17 December 2021.

 

This January, Otedola acquired a significant stake in Dangote Cement, a company largely owned by his friend, Aliko Dangote. The exact value of his shares remained unknown, but those close to him say his holdings are worth more than N6 billion.

 

Femi Otedola is a dyed-in-wool and visionary entrepreneur whose energy is directed at transforming enterprises and putting them on the path of growth,” First Bank Holding said of the businessman while announcing his appointment as non-executive director in August 2023.

 

“He was thrust into the public’s consciousness with his foray into the downstream sector of the oil industry when he started Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has uncovered a religious sect laundering money for terrorists, its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede has said.

 

Olukoyede, who made the revelation at dialogue on ‘Youth, Religion, and the Fight against Corruption’, on Wednesday in Abuja, also said N7 billion fraud proceeds was traced to another religious organisation.

 

He noted that the EFCC had found religious organisations, institutions, sects and bodies culpable of money laundering in the country

Olukoyede said one of such religious bodies dragged the Commission to court to protect its leader after laundered money was traced to its bank account.

 

The EFCC boss said the religious body got a court injunction restraining the Commission from inviting, arresting or prosecuting its leader.

 

However, Olukoyede did not name the concerned religious organisations

 

We will not give up on recovering the stolen funds,” Olukoyede said.

 

“It is so sad that as I stand before the eminent audience today, that our experience in fighting corruption has to do with the religious leaders and even traditional rulers

.“As I stand before you there is a matter we are handling of over N30 billion fleeced from Nigeria, and we were able to trace N7 billion to a particular religious body.

 

“As we wrote a letter to the leader, the next thing we saw was a restraining order, stopping us from inviting them, stopping us from recovering the money.”

 

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Residents and motorists plying the busy Warri and Effurun roads have expressed joy with the mobilisation to site of Julius Berger to commence the construction of flyover bridges and road expansion works in the twin metropolis of Delta State.

 

The construction giant on Monday mobilised to DSC Roundabout to commence the construction of the three flyovers, cloverleaf, pedestrian bridges and ancillary road expansion projects as part of the plans of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration for the infrastructure development and urban renewal of Warri, Uvwie and environs.

 

A supervising engineer from the State Ministry of Works, Emmanuel Oghorodje who was on ground to ensure the smoothness of the operation informed that the contractor has completed the planning and demarcation of the roads before mobilising to site and expressed confidence that with the commitment of Governor Oborevwori to ensuring the speedy completion of the projects, the company will deliver as scheduled.

 

He assured that measures have been put in place to reduce traffic jam on the road while the construction works are on, and urged road users to follow instructions and obey the traffic officers.

Many of the motorists lauded Governor Oborevwori for the landmark projects and called for its speedy completion, just as many of the traders in the area were full of praises for the Governor, noting that when completed the projects will boost economic activities in the metropolis.

It would be recalled that on October 18, 2023, the Delta Government and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc signed a N78 billion contract for the construction of three flyovers, a cloverleaf, pedestrian bridges and ancillary road expansion projects in the oil-rich Warri and Effurun metropolis, regarded as the economic nerve centre of Delta State.

 

An PDP chieftain, Dr Richard Idowu,shot dead in Ejigbo by hunters during the 50th coronation anniversary of the Ogiyan of Ejibgo, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin in Osun state, south west Nigeria.

 

Investigation commences, Governor Adeleke Orders.

has turned out so far to be the only centenary conference marking the passage of Vladimir Lenin, the first person to lead a socialist revolution. The other activity was in Moscow, where flowers were laid in his mausoleum.

 

In Abuja, Nigeria, over 300 of us from Nigeria, United States, Cuba, Ghana, South Africa, Venezuela, Palestine, Russia and United Kingdom met physically for two days from 22-23 January to mark the centenary of the 21 January, 1924 exit of Lenin. We were joined virtually by people from various countries, especially in Europe.

 

As the Chair of the Conference Coordinating Committee, I stated that the main issue is the examination of Lenin’s ideas, especially within the context of current global challenges, and how they can help extricate humanity from crises.

 

Conference Chairperson, Professor Warisu Alli, a political scientist and international relations expert, said apart from its international dimensions, the conference offers Nigerians an opportunity to review the state of the country, especially its high levels of unemployment, increasing poverty, frightening insecurity, as well as to chart the way forward.

Professor Nuhu Yaqub, former vice chancellor of the University of Abuja, and Sokoto State University, said Lenin was able to mobilise and lead workers, so what we need is leadership of that calibre that can bring about progressive change.

 

Cuban Ambassador, Miriam Morales Palmero, emphasised the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution, adding that Cubans are convinced that socialism is “the only possible solution to the serious problems facing humanity…”

 

Russian Embassy Councellor, Andrey Savushkin, said the ideals of Lenin are still alive in the hearts of Russians, a century after his passage.

 

Palestinian Ambassador, Abdullah Abu Shawesh, argued that the issue in the Palestine is not Israelis versus Palestinians, or about religion. Rather, it is the aim of imperialists to exploit and dominate people. He added that the region should be safe for everyone with justice and freedom for all. The audience rose in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

 

representative of the Socialist Movement of Ghana, Yaw Appiah-Kubi, asserted that Lenin showed humanity that the world is not given and can be recreated for all, irrespective of race, ethnicity and other divides.

 

The International Communist League representative, Raymond Bishop, who flew in from the United States, said the League does not see how any meaningful discussion on human development can hold without tapping into the ideas of Lenin. He added that key problems in the universe, including the underdevelopment of Africa and Latin America, can be defeated with proper programming.

 

President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, said Leninism encourages workers to transcend their immediate economic concerns and recognise their broader class interests, which involves the masses taking control of their country. He added that the new minimum wage, to be negotiated, should not be seen solely as the business of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), but rather, as a collective struggle in which all should join.

 

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, recalled that when in 2018 his party proposed a national minimum wage of N100,000, a workers’ party made fun of his party, claiming that it would cause inflation. He argued that it is not wages that will cause inflation but rather the system being run.

 

Ene Obi, former country representative of ActionAid Nigeria, noted that many of the poor who have gained admission into tertiary institutions have been unable to register as students due to high school fees. She pointed out that if the Nigerian state invests in human capital, it will not be doing anybody a favour, but would instead be addressing the problems associated with the economy.

 

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, posited that the unprecedented looting in the country has become so endemic that it demands peoples’ intervention. Represented by Professor Adelaja Odukoya, dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, the ASUU President added that the crises in Nigerian require that the working people, in line with Lenin’s ideas, go beyond theory to the level of praxis.

 

Twenty six papers were presented and discussed at the conference. Former Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Sarki, gave a presentation on “The Philosophical Foundations of Lenin’s Foreign Policy and its influence on State Relations.” He noted that with the severe and unprecedented sanctions against Russia, the country is employing the same strategies that Lenin adopted after the October 1917 Revolution when it was under siege by imperialist countries. The strategies, he added, include appealing for solidarity from non-Western countries and building closer relations with African, Arab, Latin American and Asian nations. These paid off handsomely.

Papers by the elderly radicals in the country included, “Back to Lenin: A Political Introduction” by mathematician and journalist, Dr Edwin Madunagu. Professor Abubakar Mohammed Sokoto spoke on the “The Relevance of Marxist Theory in the Teaching of Sociology in Academic Institutions.” Jonathan Ihonde, who 61 years ago created the long running satirical drama series, ‘Hotel De Jordan’, wrote on how to “Maxify Lenin In Our Clime.”

 

On the other hand, the papers by the young generation included: “The Dialectics of Terrorism: Exploring the October 20, 2020 Lekki Toll Gate Massacre from a Marxist Lens” by Olusegun Michael Ogundele, and “Students, Youths and the Struggle for Total Liberation” by Juwon Sanyaolu, one of the leaders of the EndSARS (Anti-Police brutality) Movement.

 

South African Lawrence Mmoiloi spoke on: “The Breakdown of US Hegemony and the Struggle for Workers Power.” His comrade, Jesse Altman, presented a paper on “South Africa: In Defence of a Permanent Revolution.” Dew Povey of the Socialist Labour, United Kingdom, spoke on: “Lenin Supported Strikes as Seeds of Working Class Self-Emancipation.”

Two ladies, Comrades Ene Obi and Hauwa Mustapha, the chairperson of the Closing Session, carried out ‘a revolutionary coup’ at the conference when they organised a surprise birthday for former ASUU President, Dr Dipo Fashina, who on 23 January turned 76. Fashina, a philosophy lecturer delivered a paper on: “The Growth and Development of Leninism.” In it, he examined the centrality of Africa in Lenin’s theory of imperialism; his impact on African socialism; and espousal on students, youths and trade unions in revolution.

 

The conference was a beautiful mixture of the old and young, women and men, academics and non-academics, political theorists and political activists. Notably were students, mainly from the Bingham University, Keffi, who displayed a thirst for knowledge, raised critical questions, and demonstrated a grasp for issues.

 

Fittingly for a Lenin programme, it was a conference populated by people who are not afraid of ideas, are willing to discuss and are ready to go wherever ideas lead.

 

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.