Category: Politics

Sunday Igboho, the Yoruba Nation agitator, has told his supporters to embrace peace and jettison any protest now.

The operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) had on July 1, raided Igboho’s house in Ibadan, Oyo state Igboho’s counsel, Yomi Aliyu, made this known on Thursday, September 16, in a statement sent to the media from Benin Republic –

The embattled Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has advised his supporters against staging demonstrations in his name “for the time being.” The Nation reports that the 48-year-old agitator is currently at Prison Civile de Cotonou — Cotonou Civil Prison. Sunday Igboho has warned his supporters against holding any protest, rally in my name now.

ODUDUWA NEWS gathered that Igboho’s counsel, Yomi Aliyu, claimed in a statement on Thursday, September 16, said Igboho also asked his supporters to ignore any message to the contrary.

He said: “There is time for everything. Chief Sunday Adeyemo, a.k.a Igboho Oosa, is desirous of respecting those murdered in his house on that black 1st July, 2021.

“In that wise, he has advised against staging any demonstration or rally in his name for the time being. He will also like people to respect his family by not calling his mum out for anything public. Igboho for now has no authentic mouthpiece anywhere.

“In that wise, people are advised to take anything said by anybody claiming to be from him with a pinch of salt. The exception is the statement by his lead counsel. Igboho asked his supporters to respect the dead, saying that on no account should anybody attack any public place or security personnel on the pretence of agitating for the Yoruba nation.

Governors of the 17 States in the southern part of Nigeria today met in Enugu where they unanimously endorsed the recent Federal High Court judgment that empowers states to collect the Value Added Tax (VAT).

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu in a statement, said the meeting was a follow up to the last one held in Lagos, adding they reviewed progress already made on the passage of the law against open grazing and encouraged southern states yet to pass the law to do so.

“The Southern Governors also restated their commitment to pursue fiscal federalism by working with our National Assembly members to ensure inclusion in the constitution through the ongoing constitutional amendment process.

“In the same vein, we unanimously endorsed the recent Federal High Court judgment that empowers the states to collect VAT.

“Finally, the Governors renewed earlier call that the next President of our country should come from the Southern part for fairness, equity and justice,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Today’s meeting of Southern Governors Forum was hosted by Enugu State Governor, Mr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Yoruba Nation agitators and other self-determination groups have asked the Nigerian government not to tag their protest at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as an event organised by the Indigenous People of Biafra.

The Chairman of NINAS, Prof Banji Akintoye, declared that a Million-Man Freedom March would hold opposite the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the United States of America from September 14 to 24, 2021 and it has nothing to do with IPOB.

He however implored the Agitators not be distracted by divisionary tactics employed by Federal Government and its agents

The former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has joined All Progressives Congress APC. This was made known today by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina where he disclosed that erstwhile Aviation Minister was received today by the President at the State House in Abuja.

Details later.

Members of the Southern Governors’ Forum are currently meeting in Enugu, just about two months after they converged in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos State.

Governors who have arrived at the meeting include Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos; Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State; Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; and Bayelsa’s Douye Diri.

They were received at the Government House, Enugu, by the host, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

While there is no officially published agenda for the meeting, the governors are expected to deliberate on the ongoing Value Added Tax (VAT) battle between states and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), open grazing and security issues.

Thursday’s meeting is coming just over two months after the governors met in Lagos State where they made a series of decisions including banning open grazing.

The governors had set September 5 as the deadline for states in southern Nigeria to promulgate the anti-open grazing law.

Although only seven states – Ebonyi, Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo – beat the deadline, more states have enacted the law banning open grazing.

Enugu, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom were the latest states to enact the law against open grazing.

Aside from issues around open grazing, the governors also agreed that Nigeria’s next president [in 2023] should be from the southern part of the country.

They equally affirmed their commitment to Nigeria’s unity, restating calls for state policing among other issues.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has said members of the Indigenous People of Biafra are not different from Boko-Haram and ISWAP.

Mr Gbajabiamila who referred to separatist movement members as ‘miscreants’ said they have a low tolerance for dissenting opinions or views, thereby, making them similar to the bloodthirsty groups in the northeast.

He stated that government must add all separatists in the South to the list of concerns.

According to the Speaker, “In the South of Nigeria, East and West, miscreants and criminals masquerading as separationist activists have emerged to wreak havoc, take lives and commit economic sabotage against fellow Nigerians and against the state.”

Adding that, “their refusal to engage in debate, or to consider the possibility of dissenting opinions and alternative viewpoints, are no different from Boko Haram and ISWAP.”

He noted that Nigeria will deploy all available resources to end the insecurity in the country.

Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State and frontline aspirant in the forthcoming governorship election under the platform of the PDP in the state, Professor Olusola Eleka, has urged the youths to submit themselves to purposeful and wholesome leadership, to avoid being used and dumped by greedy politicians.

He also stated that the youths must be useful to themselves to put them in a good place to become useful to the nation.

Eleka, who gave this admonition in Ekiti while speaking with selected journalists over the weekend, emphasised that the youths are the soul of the nation and should, therefore, understand what they want in life, rather than being used by greedy leadership as a tool of disturbance.

He said: “I have come to discover that the soul of this nation is in their hands. First of all, before you can become useful to the nation, you have to be useful to yourself. Our youths must be useful to themselves in the first place. I started mentoring youths even as a youth. I started lecturing at the age of 22, in 1990 by the grace of God, as a graduate assistant and I rose from there to become a professor October 1, 2012 effectively.

“I have seen a lot. If as a young man or woman, if you are not useful to yourself, you can never be useful to your nation. Many of them don’t understand what they want and that is why you see them being used and dumped.

“I can’t imagine somebody coming to me when I was young to do those things that I know would not be beneficial to me, to my community and society. I will never be part of such. First of all, I have learnt to be at the place of service. So, they have to be useful to themselves.

“Also, they must also understand what they want in life. otherwise, they will always accept what is thrown at them. When the greedy politicians come and throw thuggery at them, they will grab it. That’s why they say they have been used and dumped. Yes, they allowed it.”

Speaking further, Eleka explained that the conversation and narrative surrounding leadership should change.

He pointed out that there should be a paradigm shift in the manner the youths opt for who becomes their leaders, saying that they must wary of those who are just willing to occupy positions instead of those ready to serve purposefully.

“We should be able to have the right conversation about who and who should be our governor; who and who should be our president. The Bible says the glory of the youths is their strength

“If you look around me today, most of the people working with me are youths. The Head of my media team is a youth and virtually all of them. And if you see the things these guys do, they are so amazing. They have good initiatives and innovative ideas and the energy is still there.

“But if they can submit themselves to purposeful and wholesome leadership, it is the best way to go and they must look out for these qualities so that they can be guided to the right place of leadership in the future.

“But they should not submit themselves to greedy leadership so that they would not be used and dumped. That is why they need to shine their eyes to know who and who to follow.

“I have said many times that I don’t believe in godfatherism but proper mentoring. Sincerely, our youths need to be properly mentored. They should open their two eyes to know who and who to submit to so that they can begin to act right towards politics,” Eleka stated.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila says he has no plan to unseat Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as he is doing well and deserved a second term ticket.

In an interview aired on Channels TV on Tuesday, Gbajabiamila said Sanwo-Olu has been doing “good job” in governing Lagos, stressing that the Governor must not be distracted on the assignment.

The lawmaker representing Surulere 1 Federal Constituency in the green chamber of the National Assembly mulled the idea that Sanwo-Olu be allowed to renew his mandate in the next general election, pointing that the Governor’s performance in the last two years has surpassed expectations.

Gbajabiamila said: “The present Governor of Lagos State (Sanwo-Olu) is doing a good job. The fact that we had a one-term Governor at one time doesn’t mean it is going to be the same forever. This Governor is doing a good job under the current circumstances. It’s been a difficult time in his last two years and he has come out well. So, why should anyone upset the apple cart? I think he (Sanwo-Olu) is doing a good job.”

The Speaker also cleared the air on his rumoured ambition to contest for the Lagos’ governorship seat in 2023, saying he had “no immediate plan” to contest. He said the task before him as Number 4 citizen in the country was enormous and tough enough for him to be distracted by the rumour.

Asked if he is nursing a governorship ambition, Gbajabiamila said: “That (question) provokes a smile. No, I don’t have any such plan and I don’t have immediate plan. I have a job I am doing right now; it’s a very tough job. Sometimes, it’s the most difficult job and I say it to people in the world. People don’t understand that, but this is not a forum I’m going to break it down.

“I don’t want distractions. I am working as a Speaker of the House of Representatives with a lot of responsibilities on my shoulder right now. Any other thing would be a distraction. As for Lagos State Governorship? I have not even thought about it. Why? Because, the present Governor is doing a good job.”