Oduduwa News

ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that a 20-year-old man, identified as Ridwan, has been arrested for murdering his father for ritual purposes in Ogun State.

The suspect was arrested by personnel of the So Safe Corps on Thursday, 31st August, 2023, at Oshoku Village in Ijebu North Local Government Area.

The officers were on routine patrol when they heard a strange noise from a building.

They entered the building to confirm what was happening and found the lifeless body of the man with some body parts missing, while the suspect had fled the scene.

Details later.

Two persons were confirmed dead, while five others were injured in an accident at the Olokuta area on the Akure-Ondo Road in Ondo State.

Confirming the incident on Saturday, September 2, 2023, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ondo State, Ezekiel SonAllah, disclosed that the accident occurred at about 5:48 p.m. on Friday.

The sector commander attributed the cause of the crash, which involved one commercial vehicle and a Honda Accord car, to speeding.

He said: “On Friday at about 5:48 p.m. at the Olokuta Correctional Centre area along Akure-Ondo Road, a Nissan Primera commercial vehicle marked FGB-96XA and a Honda Accord car marked MUS-834 AL were involved in an accident.

“Two male adults died on the spot, while four male adults and one female adult were injured.

“The deceased have been deposited at the Ondo State Specialist Hospital morgue in Akure, while the vehicles have been handed over to the police.”

SonAllah admonished motorists to always abide by the traffic rules and regulations, saying any violator would be arrested and prosecuted.

Suspended chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo has been arrested by the Department of State Services after accusing Governor Dapo Abiodun of diverting councils’ allocations. 

Recall that Adedayo had accused the governor of withholding local government funds in the last two years.

Daily Trust reported that Adedayo who was at the DSS office on Thursday, August 31, over the incident, was detained on Friday, September 1. 

His aide said; 

“We got here together and I took his phone and stood outside, since then he has not been allowed to come out.

“After he got into the place, the governor also came into the DSS office and left after over 30 minutes. Only God knows what is happening to my boss right now, please help us. This is 8:34 pm and he has still not been allowed to come out.”

By Muiz Olasubomi

A good leader is the one who listens. A listening leader is able to see the world through the eyes, thoughts, suggestions and ideas of others. This is one of the great leadership attributes that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu possesses. This can only explain why he is promptly heeding the clarion call on the need to strengthen the country’s creative industry.

Recall that prior to the inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there have been clamours by some individuals for the government to tap into the great potentials of the creative industry which contributes significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Occupying a prominent place on the list of the notable personalities that have been at the forefront of the campaign for a more productive creative sector is the former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Shina Peller, who represented Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency at the ninth National Assembly.

Indeed, Honourable Peller’s last motion as a lawmaker at the ninth Assembly was – THE NEED TO STRENGTHEN THE NIGERIAN CREATIVE INDUSTRY – where he stressed that the creative industry is a veritable incremental source of employment, revenue and economic growth that the government can strengthen as it seeks to diversify the economy from dependency on oil revenue.

In the motion, the former lawmaker had prayed that the House urged the federal government to create and execute policies to strengthen the creative industry. He also prayed that for optimal performance of the creative industry, the House should implore the federal government to increase the budgetary allocation of the then Ministry of Infomation and Culture which was overseeing the industry at the time. Commendably, the House, under the leadership of the present Chief of Staff to the president, Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, unanimously adopted the motion.

Also in his congratulatory message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his formal inauguration, Honourable Peller who is the Ayedero of Yorubaland, re-emphasized the need for the new president to prioritize strengthening the country’s creative industry among numerous policies that his government would be making to enhance Nigeria’s economic growth.

Today, it is gladdening to note that President Tinubu is not just honouring the call to strengthen the creative industry, but has even gone a step ahead by purposely elevating the industry to a sector with a ministry of its own – Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy. This is quite commendable; it shows that the president is a listening leader who understands that welcoming different kinds of great opinions and suggestions will bring about desirable results.

Similarly, the advent of the Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy shows that Mr. President means well for the creative industry which will be beneficial to the teeming youth population and is ready to tap into its great economic value by creating coherent policies that establish clear objective and strategies for it to thrive.

Now that President Tinubu has created a platform for the creative sector to thrive, functional minds will definitely be looking forward to a desirable effect it will have on Nigeria’s economy as a whole. This is where the creativity, thoughtfulness, initiative and leadership quality of the minister, Hannatu Musawa, will come into play.

Hopefully, with her impressive educational background and exposure Hannatu Musawa, who is a lawyer, writer and poet, will ensure that the purpose the ministry is meant for is fulfilled. As she champions a dynamic renaissance for the creative domain as spelt out in her blueprint dubbed Destination 2030, Nigerians, particularly the major stakeholders, should cooperate with her bearing in mind that the creative economy is now one of the largest consumers of digital services.

While there is no single definition of the creative economy, the United Nations Committee on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that it is the intersection of human creativity and technology or products that have economic value, including everything from content creation and art to architecture, research and manufacturing.

With the minister’s recently-released blueprint, it is believed that that she is aware that Nigeria’s creative sector is a thriving industry driven by young and talented individuals. From film to music and fashion, the country’s creative sector holds significant global influence and has the potential to become a prominent exporter of Nigerian culture.

Creative industry include and not limited to advertising, architecture (interior decor, landscaping etc.) arts and crafts, fashion and design, home video(film) television and radio, music, performing arts (carnivals, dance, drama, festivals, stand-up comedy) publishing (book fairs, e-resources, literature etc) tourism and hospitality (cuisine, museums and monuments, night clubs and event management etc).

Moreover, with our impressive cultural values and heritage as a country , culture is another vital tool that we can leverage to boost our economy. Nigeria is a multi-cultural nation with almost four hundred diverse ethnic groups and over five hundred different native languages.

Our cultural strength as a country lies in our diversity and we must make it count positively. As a matter of fact, our culture should be seen as a catalyst for creativity and desired transformative change.

Finally, if the purpose of the advent of the Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy is fulfilled, history will be kind to President Tinubu’s administration for this commendable move, Honourable Shina Peller for his motion and advocacy, as well as to numerous others who contributed in one way or another to making it happen.

Muiz writes from Ikeja, Lagos State.

The Oyo State Government has cleared all the non-statutory deductions of civil servants in the state.

This is in fulfilment of Governor Seyi Makinde’s promise that their deduction arrears will be paid along with their August salaries.

In a Release issued from the state Ministry of Information and Orientation and signed by the commissioner Prince Dotun Oyelade, the pledge by governor Seyi Makinde in a state broadcast in the wake of the week-long protest by the state NLC, government released over 1.3bn as deductions and salaries for June, July and August.

With this development, workers who choose to continue making cooperative contributions will have to work with their unions as the state government will no longer be making any deductions from source.

The commissioner recalled that to date, many states have not complied with the minimum wage and still owe civil servants many months backlog of statutory deductions while oyo state had complied with minimum wage payment three years ago and has now cleared it’s deductions.

The commissioner said that Governor Seyi Makinde enjoys the support of the over 71,000 Oyo state civil servants because of his genuine love for their welfare.

Actor Bolanle Ninalowo marriage hits the rock again for the second time just few years after they reunited from their long term separation.

In a lengthy post shared on his IG page today, September 1, Actor Bolanle said he is heartbroken but not shattered to announce that himself and his wife are going their seperate ways and headed for an ‘irreconcilable marriage dissolution “

Details later.

Respite is on the way for commuters plying the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway as the Federal Government on Thursday proposed to jointly rehabilitate the road with the Ogun State government.
The proposal was made by the Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, during a courtesy call on Governor Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The minister was on a tour of federal roads in the Gateway State, along with officials of the ministry.

Umahi, while replying to Governor Abiodun on the frustration experienced by Ogun and Lagos states during the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to get the road done, disclosed that the period of bureaucracy in road construction in the country was over.

Umahi noted that if the Federal Government is looking for corporate organisations to get involved in road construction and management, state governments should not be denied the same opportunity.

He said: “Let me say something about the frustration you had while you and the Lagos State government wrote to take over the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road. Let me announce to you that it falls under our new program, HDMI, which is the High Way Development Management Initiative. It is a public-private partnership programme.

“People should begin to look at a state as a corporate entity. If you are looking for investors to come and invest on our roads; to construct, to own, to maintain and toll, why shouldn’t a state do that?

“So, on this Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, I want us to work together, we’ve done 30% of the work. You can own 60%, we own 40% and you can do your portion of the 60%. You can give it to a contractor of your choice.

“I don’t believe in bureaucracy; we cannot reset the economy with the type of bureaucracy we have.

“If I get your request on this by WhatsApp, I will respond to you immediately. We will handle it under our HDMI.”

The minister spoke on some other federal roads in the state, with some of them under reconstruction. According to him, the Ikorodu-Sagamu remains about 8 kilometres to be completed, with the deadline for its completion set for November.

Other roads are the Abeokuta-Ajebo road at 21% completed, the overlay of the Ore-Sagamu portion of the Sagamu-Ore-Benin carriageway and the Papalanto to the Benin Republic border, being done by Dangote through the Tax Credit Scheme.

The Minister who also noted that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is open to any state willing to have a Public Private Partnership programme (PPP) with them, said that the Federal Government is also planning to bring new security initiatives on the highways.

Umahi expressed appreciation to the Ogun State for its commitment to repairing roads in its domain, whether state or federal.

“In Ogun State, nobody is saying this is federal roads, this is state roads. When people are suffering, they don’t understand which one is which. Fix the roads and we can talk about who owns it. Anyone that is shouting and complaining is playing politics,” he said.

Addressing the entourage, Prince Abiodun recalled what he and his colleague in Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu went through getting the Federal Government’s permission to take over the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway.

He regretted that despite meeting some of the requirements by the Federal Government, the two states were frustrated, leading to further deterioration of the road.

He said: “I would like to highlight the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, Ota is a city that has earned us the prestigious title of being the industrial capital of Nigeria. It is a city where we share boundaries with Lagos State and you can hardly tell the difference between Ota and Lagos State.

“That road, I think the contract must have been awarded maybe in 2012 or 2010 under the administration of President Obasanjo. Since then, the contract has been subjected to so many reviews.

“When I assumed office, Governor Sanwo-Olu and I went to see President Buhari and we wrote one letter on a joint letterhead requesting for that road to be transferred to us.

“We brought a letter from our bankers. At that point in time, it was probably about N70 billion, saying that this N70 billion that we want to put into the reconstruction of the road.

“Then, there was no Minister. We were told that because the road is under contract, what they would like to do is to partner with the states and we said okay, let us sit down, and discuss on the basis of the partnership.

“That road is about 77 kilometres, let us discuss the basis of that partnership, Your Excellency, we made no progress.”

The governor commended the Federal Government for bringing a new lease of life into the way and manner that approvals are given for road construction.

Abiodun expressed the hope that the Federal Government would help to fast-track the reconstruction of the Sagamu end of the Sagamu-Ore road.

“I am hoping that you will be able to help us fast track the construction of Sagamu-Ore road because we as a state government have continued to maintain that road, I am hoping you could use your good office to assist us in ensuring that the road is funded,” he said.