By ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA

The Delta State Deputy Governor, Sir Monday Onyeme, on Wednesday, charged Police Officers to be diligent in their duties.

Onyeme gave the charge after decorating one of the Police Officers attached to his security team, Mr Haruna Barth Katuka. Katuka was promoted from the rank of Sergeant to Inspector.

At a brief, but impressive ceremony held in his office, Onyeme said, “officers should be committed, dedicated to their duties and be ready to make sacrifice at all times.

“Your sacrifice will be rewarded with promotion to your next rank which is a challenge to continue with your good work and even perform better.

“Always try to be honest because there is nothing better than honesty in life.

“Be straightforward in whatever you do, because, God will make you to shine more in your career.”

While praying for more career success for his aides and staff, Onyeme enjoined them to be honest and straightforward in the discharge of their duties, observing, “Katuka is the first officer in the team to bag promotion, so, this is worthy of celebration, that the sky is the limit for anybody that is loyal, committed and hardworking in the performance of his or her duties.”

Speaking after the decoration was performed, the Convoy Escort Commander, ASP Christopher Dedan, described the Deputy Governor as a father to all officers in the Convoy.

He promised that the newly promoted officer would be more committed to his duties to justify his new rank and also add more value to the Police.

In his remarks, the newly promoted Inspector Katuka, thanked God for his elevation saying, “The Deputy Governor is our father, and he took us as his children, so, it is an honour for him to decorate me with my new rank.”

The Deputy Governor was assisted in performing the decoration by the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS), Hon. Christopher Ifeanyi Osakwe and the Convoy Escort Commander, ASP Christopher Dedan.

The immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has congratulated Senator Godswill Akpabio and Rep. Tajudeen Abbas for emerging as the 10th President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively following a keenly contested election on Tuesday.

Gbajabiamila also sent his congratulations to Sen. Jibrin Barau and Rep. Ben Kalu as deputies to the presiding officers.

According to Gbajabiamila, who is set to resume as the Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the emergence of the presiding officers was an affirmation of the cohesive nature of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the triumph of party supremacy.

He said it is instructive and reassuring to note that the outcome of the election of the presiding officers showed that the party and the lawmakers have shown that unity of purpose and focus on the needs of the country are greater than personal interests.

He also congratulated all the members of the 10th National Assembly, including members of the opposition parties that buried their political differences in favour of the national interest to support the candidates of the APC.

Saying that the members should not lose sight of the work ahead, Gbajabiamila however urged them to keep supporting the presiding officers in their bid to succeed in their constitutional duties for the benefit of Nigerians.

While wishing them well in their legislative journey, Gbajabiamila also urged the newly inaugurated National Assembly not to abandon some legislation that the last Assembly could not conclude work on.

The Oyo State Government and Miners whose Cadastral Line encroaches Opara Forest Reserve have agreed on an actual ground rent of Two Thousand Five Hundred Naira per hectare per year with effective date from year 2020.

This was disclosed in a release issued by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources after a meeting the Ministry held with some members of komu Miners Association on 25th May,2023.

The release noted that the meeting which was held in the Conference room of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs M.E Adeleye had in attendance Director of Forestry Department and other relevant officials of the Ministry, Legal Counsel from Ministry of Justice, members of the Komu Miners Association as well as erstwhile Honourable Commissioner of the Ministry.

According to the release, the Miners’ Association in 2018 had resolved for out-of-court settlement when their attempt to seek relief from a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan over the quit notice issued to them by the state government failed.

The release added that due to the commitment of the State government at creating a friendly environment for Miners in the state, the Ministry decided to set up an inter-ministerial committee which is saddled with the responsibility of finding a lasting solution to the lingering issue.

The release further explained that both parties expressed their satisfaction at the resolution reached at the meeting held on 25th May, 2023 while the legal counsels for both parties were mandated to work on the payment schedule.

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, awarded a N20 million fine against Chuks Nwachukwu, a lawyer representing five FCT residents in a suit seeking an order to stop the swearing-in of President Bola Tinubu.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment, struck out the suit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi to institute the matter.

“I make an order striking out this action on grounds of lack of locus standi of the plaintiffs, lack of jurisdiction of the court and failure of the plaintiffs to demonstrate to this court that similar subject is not pending before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which proceedings are on-going,” he declared.

Justice Ekwo consequently ordered the lawyer to pay the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), listed as 1st and 2nd defendants in the case, the sum of N10 million each.

He directed that until Nwachukwu paid off the N20 million fine, no further action should be taken on the matter.

The judge, who condemned Nwachukwu’s comments in the media, said with his interview, if the lawyer was in the courtroom, he would have been barred “from practicing until he appears before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to determine whether he is fit to practice the profession.”

“But since he is not in court, I made an order, directing the registrar to forward all the processes to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to determine whether he is fit to practice the profession,” he declared.

He also directed that the order of the court be served on the chief registrar of the Supreme Court, the AGF and the Nigerian Bar Association.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that five FCT residents: Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Uche, Osang Paul and Chibuike Nwanchukwu, had filed the suit through their lawyer, for an order of the court to stop the inauguration of Tinubu and his vice, Sen. Kassim Shettima, slated for May 29.

The plaintiffs had sued for themselves and on behalf of other residents and registered voters in the FCT.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/578/2023 and filed on April 28, the plaintiffs averred that Tinubu failed to secure at least 25 per cent of votes cast in the FCT.

They, therefore, sought an order of court restraining the CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, and any judicial officer and/or any authority or persons from swearing in any candidate in the Feb. 25 presidential election as president or vice president, among other prayers.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Ekwo said upon reading the affidavit attached to the application, “I can discern that the averments thereof are merely the voice of Esau and the hands of Jacob.

“It means that the said Chucks Nwachukwu of counsel for the plaintiffs instigated this suit and merely got the plaintiffs to stand in as parties while he handles the suit as a lawyer.

“This is an unprofessional conduct on the part of the said Chucks Nwachukwu of counsel of the plaintiffs.

“It is unfortunate that lawyers like Chucks Nwachukwu of counsel to the plaintiffs continue to engage in this sort of activity by procuring innocent citizens to act as fronts in litigations which are actually their personal cases.

“This is done with such impunity and lack of fear of the consequence to the chagrin and ruin of the reputation of the legal system in this country.

“It is so because the learned counsel has made himself to believe that he can flout the Rule of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners without any consequence.

“On the whole I find that this action is premised on recklessness, frivolity and complete lack of knowledge of elementary principle of law as it relates to the Constitution and Electoral Act, 2022,” he said.

According to the judge, in my opinion, this action was willfully initiated to not just circumvent but to overreach the on-going proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

“The aim thereof which cannot be denied, is to plunge this country into unprecedented constitutional anarchy capable of causing bloodshed and genocide.

“The plaintiffs and their lawyer ought to be deprecated in the strongest term for this type of adventure and I so do,” Justice Ekwo declared.

NAN reports that Nwachukwu had granted an interview in the media, accusing the judge of shying away from delivering the judgment in his suit.
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The lawyer, who accused the judge of deliberately abandoning his duty, threatened to sue him up to the Supreme Court.

But Justice Ekwo, before delivering the judgment, said he could not hear the matter on May 26 because he was on official duty.

NAN had earlier reported that the judge had been away for some days due to official engagement.

The development had forced the court to adjourn cases, including high profile and election-related matters, before it.

This was also contrary to the rumour going the round that Justice Ekwo’s absence to hear the suit on May 26 was a ploy to comply with alleged standing order handed down by the FHC Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, to all judges of the court’s divisions across the country, directing them not to entertain cases bothering on presidential election or swearing-in of Tinubu and Shettima.
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NAN reported that a sister court presided over by Justice James Omotosho had, on same May 26, delivered a judgment in another suit filed by three applicants seeking to stop the swearing-in of Tinubu on May 29 as fifth Nigeria’s democratic president.

The judge had awarded a total sum of N17 million against the three applicants: Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac and Dr Anongu Moses, including their lawyer, Daniel Elombah, for filing a suit considered to be “frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court processes.”

For former Big Brother Naija star, Angel Agnes Smith, has said that whatever she does with her boobs is nobody’s business.

Reacting to the question about her most prized possession that she would love to insure, Angel disclosed that she would rather have her eyes insured than her sexy boobs, which she says have attracted more attention to her.

“Honestly, it’s not anybody’s business what I do with my boobs. I will rather insure my eyes because I have an intense eyes alongside my most prized possession which is my mind,” she said.

According to the 21-year-old ( now 23) Akwa Ibom-born writer, who was the first female contestant to enter the BBNaija Season 6 House, she knew she was going to be controversial and people were going to ‘roast’ her for wearing revealing clothes. But then, she cared less because there were so many perspectives to her personality that many people did not know.

“I am not stereotypical. I don’t think the way every other person thinks. I am strategic and smart. My most prized possession is my mind, as it has always put me in many beautiful positions.

“Actually, it has been a blessing because once my mind is active, I go to work. My mind has put me in many beautiful places and not my physical endowment or appearance. It’s my mind that took me to Big Brother and gave me this huge platform that has made so many people now want to listen to me,” she narrated.

While admitting that she has a notorious mood swing, Angel, whom many perceive as flirty, described herself as naturally reclusive.

“I am a hyper-aware character who is always very conscious of her surroundings. I am overtly moved and if anything moves, I’ll move with it. I have social anxiety to the extent that for some days, I may not feel like talking to anybody. What people perceive as me having mood swing; is me just wanting to be in my own space. I genuinely like to be in my own space and I think that’s normal,” she said.

Angel noted that now that she is in the spotlight, nothing significant would change about her personality.

“Before the Big Brother, I was a bit reserved compared to when I was in the house where I had to push my emotions aside just to participate in some of the games, even if I didn’t feel like doing it.

Now outside the house, I am back to my natural self and the way I talk, dress and have fun, which I am not going to tone down, it’s nobody’s business,” she said.

By Ika Mirror

Obi Ikenchuku Road is one of the most popular and oldest roads in the ancient Kingdom of Agbor, Delta State. The naming of the road in 1979 was to immortalize His Royal Majesty Ikenchuku who ruled Agbor Kingdom from 1940-1979. His glorious and successful reign took Agbor Kingdom to a higher height. Therefore, the naming of a popular road stretching from the Orogodo River in Boji-Boji to Obi-Olihe in Ime-Obi, Agbor was completely one of the best ways to keep evergreen the memory of a great king.

It was however a great surprise when the news came that Obi Ikenchuku Road has been annexed with the Old Lagos/Asaba Road and both roads renamed, “Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa Road”.

The decision to name a road after the immediate past governor of Delta State, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa was not a bad one because he has contributed meaningfully to the development of both Ika South and Ika North East Local Government Areas. He performed well as governor, so, he deserves any honour accorded him by his people. However, the renaming of the Old Lagos/Asaba Road and Obi Ikenchuku Road as Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa Road would be a slight to “our revered Obi Ikenchuku of blessed memory”. This article was not aimed to kick against naming of a street or road after Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa but it should not be done at the detriment of anyone.

While I commend the executive Governor of Delta State, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, on the good decision to honour his predecessor, I humbly request that he should use his exalted office to rescind his decision of renaming of Obi Ikenchuku Road.

Our people are peaceful, hospitable, loving and law abiding. Obi Ikenchuku was a great and dear king, cherished and loved by the whole Agbor people. So, renaming the road that was used to immortalize him is an insult to our people, which will not be acceptable in any way.

From Chief Sunday Solomon Ibude,JP.
The Mebuzor Sonme Dein of Agbor Kingdom.

About 150 beneficiaries of National Social Investment Program (N-SIP) have commenced training on fish farming courtesy of the federal government intervention scheme.

Some beneficiaries at the ongoing fish farming training being organized by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in Collaboration with National Social Investment Program (N-SIP) have commended MUNAMAJ SOLUTIONS LIMITED, the consultant handling the training, for its fishery skills training programme in the Region.

Spade Ng News gathered that MUNAMAJ SOLUTIONS LIMITED has initiated a ten days fishery training for over 130 youths which includes men, women and persons living with Special Needs under the National Social Investment Program (N-SIP).

The Chairman of MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited, Hon. Ufuoma Johngold who facilitated the value chain fish farming skill acquisition programme for the South East youths said the exercise, which was designed to expose the youths to fish farming to enable them to become self-reliant would be run for ten days.

Johngold, who stated this at the opening ceremony of the training and flagging-off of the N-Skills Program in South East Nigeria at GRA, Aba, Abia State last week, noted that in order to commence the training of the beneficiaries, the Ministry has selected 130 beneficiaries from the 5 States for the ten days apprenticeship who were carefully selected using NBTE-guided criteria.

The Chairman of MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited reiterates that the world has gone beyond seeking white-collar jobs, therefore, “there’s the need to acquire skills for self-sustenance became imperative.”

According to Ufuoma Johngold “the N-Skills programme provides unique solutions to the two perennial challenges of youth unemployment and low productivity in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector.

“It gives us the opportunity to onboard large numbers of unemployed and marginalized youths in the country and brings them into productive employment and formal education system, in the shortest possible time.” Ufuoma Johngold asserted.

Responding to questions from journalists, Kalu Chukwuemeka, a Director of MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited, the consulting firm handling the training, posited that the trainees by the end of the programme would be able to impact the knowledge to others, provide food for themselves and grow to become big-time fish merchants for local and international trade.

Also speaking, Amadi Obinna, also a Director of MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited, expressed joy that the participants were in high spirits to learn and set up fish farms to better their lives.
Amadi Obinna noted that “since the country is moving into Agro-economy, the participants should key into it and make a good fortune out of the fish farming business.

While as President of the Nigeria Football Federation, successive leaderships of our sports establishment orchestrated multifarious attacks and media propaganda to frustrate and de-market Amaju Melvin Pinnick and had a section of football stakeholders constantly vilifying him.

The attacks ranged from various unfounded allegations, arranged harrassment by several agencies, attempts to frustrate his bid into CAF and FIFA positions, to twice forcefully seizing the NFF secretariat to truncate and usurp his administration.

But, with his characteristic resilience and focus on vision, he kept on his mission of repositioning Nigerian football.

Did he deliver one 100 percent? Not at all. Not with some of the failures of the Super Eagles and other national teams to meet various expectations in a number of international competitions.

Yet, he won some, missed some and, in the process, posted significant achievements and paradigm shift in the management and administration of the federation.

While we rue the failure to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Super Eagles made it to the Russia 2018 World Cup; the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, 2019 and 2023 in a row as well as the 2019 AFCON, in which the Super Eagles finished with a bronze, and the 2021 edition.

The successes of his tenure were as champions of the Chile 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup; bronze medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic football event; champions at the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Women Africa Cup of Nations; the Senegal 2015 U23 and U20 Africa Cup of Nations; the 2018 WAFU U17 Championship; and the Rabat 2019
Women’s African Games football tournament at which the men’s team also had the silver.

There were also silver medals finish at the 2018 African Nations Championship; the 2017 and 2021 WAFU U17 Cup; the 2016 and 2018 Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations; and bronze in men’s football at the 2015 African Games.

Thus, despite the misimpression they sought to create about his person and tenure, through biased criticisms and unrestrained reactions to differences in perspectives or boardroom politics, the government saw through it all, knew better and has now been moved to confer on him the fourth highest national honours, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic.

This was captured in the list of recipients of the 2023 Special National Honours and Awards approved by President Muhammadu Buhari before his handover.

Pinnick’s tenure was not an easy run but the government recognised his efforts in achieving financial self-reliance for the NFF through sponsorship marketing and partnership building with the private sector and brands, from zero to almost 80 percent, as confirmed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global leader in accounting and auditing.

This was most hallmarked not only by Pinnick’s ability to bring back ace kit company, Nike, to the sponsorship of Nigeria football, but the fact that the Super Eagles jersey for the 2018 FIFA World Cup broke world record in global demand and sales, thus putting the Nigerian national team in the hearts of global fans.

As reported then by CNBC, the American world leading cable network in business and market news:

“…you can find soccer fans worldwide proudly displaying their country’s jerseys — but you’d be hard-pressed to find a team kit as in demand as that of Nigeria’s Super Eagles…Prior to its official June 1 release date, Nike had already received 3 million pre-orders for the jersey…That sets a new pre-order record for an African team and even some of the biggest soccer clubs in the world. To put that into perspective, top-three soccer club Manchester United sold the most jerseys globally in 2016, with 2.85 million sales.”

Other partners and sponsors either sustained or sourced at the time include Nigerian Breweries, Air Peace, Cadbury, MTN, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Aiteo, Coca-Cola, Revolution Plus and Premier Lotto.

This foresight, tenacity and achievements in sponsorship marketing relieved the government a great deal in the funding of national teams, especially in the face of challenging foreign exchange scenario.

The government also recognised how he lifted the name of the nation unto the high places of world football and, by extension, the comity of nations, by his doggedness and successes in ascending top positions in the Confederation of Africa Football and ultimately into the FIFA Council.

The benefit was not only to himself but ambssadorially to the nation, seeing how he lifted many other compatriots to various other positions and engagements in CAF and FIFA.

The beneficiaries include
Justice Ayotunde Philips, member FIFA Ethics Adjudicatory Committee;
A.U. Mustapha SAN, President, CAF Appeals Board; Malam Shehu Dikko, member, FIFA Stakeholders Committee/CAF Interclub Committee;
Ibrahim Gusau, CAF Youth Committee and later CHAN Committee;
Chisom Emeoke, member, CAF Women’s Football Committee;
Felix Ayansi, member, CAF Interclub Committee;
Mohammed Sanusi and Babagana Kachalla, CAF/FIFA Match Commissioners.

There are also Alex Mana, CAF Referees Committee;
Samson Adamu, CAF Director of Competitions;
Dr Christain Omeruo, CAF Head of Security, amongst others.

Worthy of mention also was the completion of the Sani Dankaro Football House which stands as a befitting corporate headquarter for Nigeria football, with a FIFA Goals project by its side.

In all these, even though there were provisions for transport and accommodation allowances for attending meetings and events in Abuja, it is on record that for the two tenures he served, he never accessed any of those for once, preferring to spend his own funds. This speaks to selflessness.

It is by this same selflessness that his charity, Brownhill Foundation, has supported and lifted over 1000 youths in education, skills development and empowerment, including its recent construction and donation of volleyball and basketball courts to his Alma Mater, Hussey College, Warri, and sister school, Government College, Ughelli.

The government saw, knew, recognised and has come to appreciate Pinnick and, as the holy books tell us, “those diligent in their works shall stand before kings” and “when men say there is a casting down, there will be a lifting up” for God saves the humble and innocent. So it was that all Haman’s hideous plots resulted in the glorification of Mordecai.

That is the story of Amaju Melvin Pinnick OFR.

Following the reliance on the success and fortunes recorded in exploration activities coupled with the use of efficient international best practices, Nigerians have been reassured of a more promising future for oil exploration activities.

This was the submission of Mazadu Bako; a former Group General Manager of NNPC while delivering a lecture titled Frontier Basin Hydrocarbon Exploration: The Nigerian Experience during a national public service lecture organized by the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA) held at the university campus.

According to Bako, energy transition means a better functioning of the sector, hence commitment to energy transition would put the loopholes in check and ensure a continuous prosperity of the sector.

He added that the government would not be investing so much money on exploration activities if it was not well utilized or yielding.

Speaking on the environmental hazards of exploration activities, he said that there has been tremendous improvement on the environment because there are rules and boundaries now for undertaking any project in the oil industry.

He added that environmental base line studies must be done and analysis conducted using the environmental impact assessment in a bid to know the impact it will have on the host communities.

On the impacts of dependence on other sources of energy like solar, on the prosperity of the hydrocarbon sector, he noted that there would not be any impact on the hydrocarbon exploration because “it is the ways and means where we have to reduce the emissions of the carbon gasses and now if you say you are going to stop because hydrocarbon has some gasses and this, no, you must do this exploration very efficiently using international best practices so that you don’t emit those gasses. That is the essence of that.

“It is a gradual process. If you say you are not going to have hydrocarbons anymore, look at your house, what do you have? The products are from hydrocarbons. The seat I am sitting on, most of it except for the wood is completely hydrocarbon. Some of the dresses we are wearing, if it is not cotton, you see some of its elements are hydrocarbon. So, we cannot say we are going to stop the hydrocarbon but we must explore and refine it with great efficiency.

“When you look at it critically, you cannot do without hydrocarbon because the other sources do not have the byproduct that can stand in. You are not going to get carbon black from them to do your tyres. You are not going to get the polyethylene and the rest of them. You know we use the gas also for fertilizer, so, what do you do? You cannot stop all those but just be efficient. That is the watchword, efficient use of international best practices then you get clean energy.” He posited.

The chairperson of the event; Prof. Charity Ashimem Angya OON; a former Vice Chancellor of Benue State University Makurdi had earlier in her welcome address expressed joy at the consistent efforts of the UIAA in bringing to the public light important topics of national concern which has always been dealt with by outstanding lecturers from all walks of life.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the President of UIAA Worldwide, Prof. Saawua Gabriel Nyityo asserted that the major concern of the world in the 21st century is renewable fuels. There is new thinking in some quarters that renewable fuels such as the sun, water, and so on are cleaner and therefore environmentally friendly. Gas and Petrol is not renewable and tends to destroy the ecosystem.

The lecture had in attendance the Vice Chancellor of UI; Prof. Kayode Adebowale, UIAA former Worldwide President, Chief Dr. Kemi Emina, Dr. Oyinade Olujimi Tomori UIAA Worldwide Treasurer, other executives of the UIAA, President of Nigeria Mining and Geological Society of Nigeria, lecturers and students of the university amongst many others.