By Oluwakemi Ishola 

In a rare display of love and care for the most vulnerable persons affected by the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic, members of the foremost Osogbo professional group, Osogbo Affairs Forum (OSAF), distributed relief packages of food items to over 600 households, thereby, directly impacting at least 3000 less privileged and vulnerable persons across the seven major communities in Osogbo.
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OSAF, is a Non-Governmental body, comprising of Osogbo-born professionals spread all over Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

In a statement issued in Osogbo on Sunday and made available to the media, Rasheed Bolarinwa, Chairman of the OSAF COVID-19 Relief Committee, while giving an insight into what informed the decision of OSAF to assist the vulnerable said::

“As concerned professionals, we felt the need to collectively reach out to the vulnerable and impact our immediate communities, where many have suffered untold hardship due to the earlier COVID-19 lockdown as ordered by the state government as part of measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

“It is our utmost joy that we had the opportunity to intervene in our immediate communities, Osogbo when they needed us most and we are of the belief that when the COVID-19 storm is finally over, God willing, history will be kind to us that when it mattered most, Osogbo-born professionals under the umbrella of OSAF stood to be counted and reached out to those in dire need in our ancestral home” he added.

The group adopted a community-based and direct distribution system which leveraged on the existing zoning of the town into seven different communities comprising of Ita-Olokan, Owo Ope, Ayegun-Gbonmi, Oke Baale, Isale Agbe, Isale Osun and Oke Popo. This allowed for the bulk food items made up of bags of rice, beans and semovita to first be distributed to the community heads who in turn packaged and delivered the food packs to the vulnerable and the poorest of the poor in their communities under the supervision of the OSAF COVID-19 Relief Committee.

The distribution system which was done in two phases in May and concluded in June, according to one of the committee members, Dr. Mujidat Salawu, an Academic, was to enable the package get to the targeted members of the communities as the heads of these zones were in the best position to identify the poorest among them.

The second phase of the distribution of the palliative which was concluded a fortnight ago was done via a direct distribution system wherein the Committee members dedicated two days between Friday and Saturday to directly give out the food packs to widows, the infirm, the aged and vulnerable – 30 each across the 7 communities that make up Osogbo. We adopted this approach to reach more people and address shortfalls we noticed in the distribution of the first phase through the community leaders”, Mr. Bosun Oode, another member of the Committee disclosed.

The beneficiaries were full of joy and commended OSAF for its philanthropic gesture at this time when all economic activities were more or less yet to pick up as a result of the long lockdown occasioned by the pandemic. One of the community heads, Chief Aliu Sonibare prayed for the group and the committee Relief members for their efforts at easing the economic burden of the people in this trying time.

In his own remarks, the Ajagunna of Osogboland, High Chief Gabriel Oparanti, who also doubles as the community leader of Isale Agbe zone, express profound appreciation on behalf of his community for the OSAF relief food items. In his own words, “Our community really appreciate this kind gesture from Osogbo Affairs. We are happy that successful sons and daughters of the landf spread across the globe are giving back to their ancestral home at this time when the people have need of it the most. We pray that God almighty will continue to replenish the purse of everyone who contributed to make this possible.”

In summary, the OSAF COVID-19 palliative and relief items were distributed to over 600 Compounds (Agbooles) across the seven zones in Osogbo with each pack comprising rice, beans and 500kg Semovita enough to feed five persons in each household. Approximately therefore, over 3000 mouths were fed by OSAF which significantly eases the impact of the over two months COVID-19 lockdown as experienced in Osun.

The Nine-Member OSAF COVID-19 Relief Committee set up by the Steering Committee of the Forum had the following professionals as members: Rasheed Bolarinwa, Chairman; Bosun Oode, Secretary; Olalekan Rasidi Musefiu; Obafemi Kolade; Dr. Mujidat Salawu; Wale Adediran; Dele Ajibade; Adebiyi Rasheed and Philips Omodeni.

By Oluwakemi Ishola 

The Area commander of the Oyo State Police Command, Iyaganku Area Command, ACP Sunday Oke on Monday waded into the non-handling over Union’s properties in custody of immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Adewumi Faniran especially the account cheque books domiciled in three banks in the State.

The current executive led by Ademola Babalola had last Thursday raised the alarm over the suffering of some lecturers at the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), Ibadan campus who were been deprived of their salaries since January this year by Faniran who refused the change of signatory form, to allow the incumbent sign allowances of the affected tutors.

The tutors at IIJ mostly veteran journalists had vide a letter dated July 9th, 2020 to Babalola and the Area Commander wrote on behalf of the resource persons at IIJ on prolonged delay in payment of their salaries by former NUJ chairman, Adewumi Faniran.

The letter signed by the duo of Mr. Ganiyu Waheed (for and on behalf of lecturers) and Mrs. Olawumi Adenubi, the Administrative Officer  said, “seven months ago, the NUJ elected Mr. Ademola Babalola Ismail as the new Chairman to run the NUJ affairs for another three years.

“Unfortunately, his predecessor, Mr. Adewumi Faniran has since then, refused to sign off as a signatory to the IIJ, Ibadan account, to pave way for the new Chairman, Ademola Babalola Ismail to sign the IIJ cheque.

“We are elderly retired journalists serving as lecturers to keep our bodies and souls together and impacting knowledge to upcoming journalists.

“Since the beginning of this year, we are faced with the agony of hunger and starvation. We shall therefore be grateful if you can use your good offices to appeal to Mr. Faniran to sign off for the new Chairman so that we can be paid. We pray we will not starve to death,” they appealed.

In addressing both Babalola and Faniran at the Command’s office Iyaganku, the Area commander said he could not force Faniran to release all the documents because of the court papers and hordes of lawyers who accompanied him.

Oke however cautioned Faniran to be mindful of posterity and be gentlemen enough to toe the path of honour by handing over all Union properties in his custody in the interest of peace and to avoid embarrassment.

Turning in Babalola’s direction, Oke admonished him and the executive to issue a disclaimer on the former chairman if he was not ready to heed his counsel,  because the police would not take kindly to any breach of the peace.

It will be recalled that the current executive led by Babalola reported the former chairman to the police to retrieve the documents of the council which include and not limited to the cheque books of the union, key to the chairman’s office, and other valuables.

Babalola said though his executive was not distracted by the shenanigans attitude of the former council chairman, but there was a need to pay the veterans who are teaching at the IIJ whom Faniran has been holding into ransome since January this year.

The police chief said the case referring to by the former chairman of the council did not restrain the national secretariat to conduct the December 18, 2019 election which produced Babalola and his executive.

He further advised the new executive to freeze the union bank accounts domiciled in three different bank namely, UBA, Access and FCMB, adding that there must not be vacuum in the union for the time the case is still pending in the court.

The police boss said; “there is no impediment against the election in this paper. The court did not give an injunction to restrain the election from.holding on December 18th.

“And even when it does, it would be so clear, unambiguous, concise, precise and straight to the point, but I have bot seen that in the papers you (Faniran) brought before me,” the police boss said.

Earlier, Faniran had told the police boss that he refused to release the documents in his care because he had initiated a case in the court by proxy and being the chairman of the union at that time, he would not drop the documents.

 By Oluwakemi Ishola

The Federal Government is in the advanced stages of finalising a contractual agreement with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) to build the Ibadan Dry Port at the sum of N43.24 billion after over two decades of foot dragging.

In 2006, the Federal Government, granted approval for the establishment of six inland container depots and container freight stations across the country. The ICD project was conceived by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as a solution to the problem of port congestion.

Having noticed the uninspiring approach of Federal Ministry of Transportation on the projects, Senator Folarin as Senate Leader, in 2007, moved a motion urging the FG to sign all papers and ensured the realization of the projects at the earliest time possible.

According to the federal lawmaker, the establishment of inland dry ports would not only bring shipping to the door step of the importing public but also lead to economic development of Oyo State and Nigeria. “The Ibadan inland container depot has capacity for 50,000 containers. Erunmu dry port will undoubtedly create thousands of jobs to our skilled and unskilled unemployed youths in Oyo State” Folarin said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said in a statement on Saturday in Lagos that the 80,000 TEU capacity dry port would be built on the basis of Public Private Partnership.

Mrs Rakiya Zubairu, NSC Head of Public Relations, said in the statement that CRCC was the preferred bidder for the facility aimed at addressing congestion and gridlocks in Apapa ports.

Zubairu noted that the NSC would be the guarantor to the concession of the project.

She added that the facility would be designated as port of destination where cargo would be consolidated for import and export, especially in the South-Western part of Nigeria.

“Among other uses, the dry port will provide a competitive cargo sorting centre, bulk breaking as well as cargo-tracking and truck management services. The Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway currently under construction is aligned to the proposed dry port, making it easy to convey cargo from the seaports in Lagos and to all destinations along the route.

“The negotiations emphasised the utilisation of local content at each stage of development and operation of the facility,” she said.

According to Zubairu, an updated Full Business Case Compliance report’’ will be produced at the end of the ongoing negotiations.

Afterwards, a draft agreement would be presented to the Federal Ministry of Justice and sent to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, (ICRC) for vetting, after which the Minister of Transportation would present the agreement to the Federal Executive Council.

She said that the concessionaire would then be taken to the site for sod-turning and immediate commencement of construction with a completion timeline of 12 months.

“The negotiation was moderated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation led by the acting Permanent Secretary and the Director, Maritime Services, Auwalu Suleiman.

“The Director-General of ICRC, Mr Chidi Izuwa. Amb. Jummai Katagum, who represented the Federal Ministry of Finance was also part of the 4-day negotiation.

“Also present, was Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, Secretary to Government of Oyo State and the preferred bidder CRCC was led by Deputy Managing Director, Jacques Liao,” Zubairu added.

She said that NSC Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, expressed satisfaction with the proceedings as all parties expressed firm commitment to the actualisation of the project.

According to the NSC Spokesperson, facilitation of the meeting was enabled by the transaction advisors, Aminu Dikko and Mohammed Kumalia, adding that the negotiations would be concluded soon.

Recall that the 7 approved locations for Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Container Freight Stations (CFSs) were concessioned to private sector operators by the ICD Implementation Committee of the Federal Ministry of Transportation as follows: “IsialaNgwa, Aba – East gate Inland Container Terminal Ltd.; Erunmu, Ibadan – Catamaran Logistics Ltd.; Heipang-Jos – Duncan Maritime Ltd.; Zawachi-Kano – Dala Inland Dry Port.; Zamfarawa- Funtua – Equatorial Marine Ltd.; Jauri-Maiduguri – Migfor Nigeria Ltd.; ICNL-Kaduna – Commissioned.

By Oluwakemi Ishola 

The Federal government has announced that it has received 22 stranded Nigerians from Lebanon.

The Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe revealed this today at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

Also, on the repatriation flight was Peace Busari, a Nigerian lady put up for sale by her Lebanese boss, Wael Jerro, and Temitope Ariwolo, the lady wrongfully accused of murder in Lebanon.

She noted that among the evacuees were Nine indigenes of Oyo State, among whom were two pregnant women, four Ondo State indigenes, one Ekiti State indigene. Others are from Ebonyi, Osun, Cross River, Benin, Delta, and Ogun States.

Hon. Akande-Sadipe said, “22 passengers just returned from Lebanon. Among them is Temitope, who was left behind last time and accused of murder. Peace Busari, the girl who was put on sale on Facebook and rescued by the Nigerian Mission is also here.”

The Lawmaker said Busari was with the Nigerian Mission in Beirut, Lebanon after she was rescued from her employer.

Hon. Akande-Sadipe, said that the returnees are doing well and have all settled down in hotels for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

She said, “We received 22 evacuees stranded in Lebanon today. The Lebanon Government transported them to Abuja. A large number are Oyo State indigenes and they are all comfortably settled in hotels under the mandatory 14 days quarantine.”

Untold Story of Her Sack as NDDC MD

On January 30, 2020, a civil society organization, “Anti-Corruption and Accountability Coalition Against Corruption fired a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari accusing the then Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Ms Joi Nunieh of certificate forgery.

According to the petition, “Your Excellency Sir, it is now a clear fact that Joi Nunieh did not participate in the mandatory one year national youth service, as we have gathered from reliable sources that she has been parading forged credentials including her NYSC discharged certificate hence she failed to produce same, rather running to bribe her way through to shield her from security operatives.

“Your Excellency Sir, we know that you are a man of integrity and by virtue of direct, we wish to state in clear terms that Joi Nunieh is not worthy of your appointment of any kind as she lacks the moral and legal locus to do so. In view of the above, we urge you to withdraw the aforesaid appointment of Joi Nunieh and relieve her of her duty due to forgery as Managing Director of NDDC for the interest of the Niger Delta people and society at large,” the petition stated.

We gathered that it was based on this that President Buhari ordered an investigation by Security Agencies into the allegation of certificate forgery by Ms Nunieh. And what the found out was startling.

To cover up her track, Ms Nunieh had gone to Nigerian Law School Police Station to obtain a Police extract about loss of her documents to enable her to go to any court of law and swear to an affidavit. According to the affidavit which she had sworn to, “Upon the death of my sister Bar. Mrs. Ledee Ndorbu- Ebenezer who died on the 19th April, 2002 at her residence at doctor’s Qtrs Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

“Her husband Dr Zacheus Ndorbu Ebenezer refused to grant me access to her safe and refused to hand over all my Educational documents including my call to bar certificate, NYSC call up letter and certificates, University Certificates and other valid documents which were in custody of my late sister Bar. Mrs. Ledee Ndorbu-Ebenezer and effort made to recover documents listed above proved abortive till this day.”

A letter from the Council of Legal Education claimed that Ms Nunieh was mobilized for the National Youth service Corps programme for 1989/1990 service year. However, a letter by the National Youth Service Corps signed by Okonofua, K. N (Mrs) Director of Corps Certification for the Director General stated, “However, no record exists either in NYSC Kwara State or NYSC National Directorate Headquarters to evidence her participation in the Scheme.” In essence Ms Nunieh had all along been parading forged and fake NYSC call up letter and discharge certificate as she claimed in her affidavit.

We gathered that upon her appointment as the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC whenever the issue of her certificates came up she became evasive and attempted to bribe security agents who carried out the investigations. However, when the report got to the President that she was parading forged certificates, she was immediately relieved of her appointment.

Ever since she was sacked, Ms Nunieh has become very frustrated and in a typical “I-will-not-go-down-alone” syndrome has been making wild and unsubstantiated allegations those she perceived may have been responsible for her downfall.