The scarcity of fuel as a result of hoarding by some owners of filing stations has resulted into fire incident at a shopping complex in Saki, Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.
The fire which engulfed Arolu Shopping Complex at Old-Kara Market, Sanngo, Saki occured in the afternoon today.
Recall that few weeks ago, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria IPMAN and PTD had subjected the Saki community into artificial fuel scarcity which affected a lot of motorists and the entire people of the community.
“Thus, the scarcity has given the entrepreneurs an opportunity to engage in black market and it led to hoarding of fuel which later resulted to this unfortunate incident.
It was learnt that an opportunist, a woman who took the advantage of artificial scarcity embarked on hoarding of PMS, Diesel and engine oil and stored together in the same room for the purpose of resell on black market rate.
It was gathered that the woman could not sell the remaining PMS due to the availability of fuel in almost all the filling stations in Saki.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has said that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, is not an indigene of Lagos State.
George spoke on Tuesday morning on Arise TV’s Morning Show, where he discussed the candidacy of Tinubu as well as the internal crisis within the PDP.
According to him, the APC candidate has yet to prove his Lagos roots beyond a reasonable doubt, having failed to produce any evidence to support his claim.
He said, “Tinubu is not from Lagos State. You can quote me. If he says he grew up in Isale-Eko, which school did you attend? I grew up on Evans Street in Lagos. 35 Evans Street was my grandfather’s house. I went to the community school. I played football at the local stadium at Isale-Eko. That’s how people knew me.”
Asked if the opposition party would be able to resolve its internal crisis before heading to next year’s polls, George said the reconciliation would only happen if the party’s hierarchy “gives unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”
He further stated that since the formation of the party almost 25 years ago, the North-Central, which currently holds the position of the national chairman, had predominantly occupied the position of the party’s leadership.
He added, “It is not a solution that cannot be handled. All we are saying is give what belongs to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Give us what belongs to us. Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited. Take for example, what I am angry about is this, the first chairman was late Papa Solomon from North-Central. The second chairman, North-Central.
The third chairman, Audu Ogbe, North-Central. The fourth chairman, my oga, Dr Amadu Ali, North-Central; Baraje, from Kwara, was also North-Central. Now you have Ayu, also North-Central.
“The South-West has never enjoyed this position since the party started almost 25 years ago. What is our crime? If you are telling us you want to rule this country, you have to weave all the tribes and all the people together. That is the major problem, and unless that is resolved, I will not vote for our own candidate.”
The woman handed over her daughter to her younger brother’s wife, Kehinde Ojo. Ojo, a seamstress, was said to have taken Ajayi to Omolola’s house in the General Gas area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
The policewoman reportedly promised to support the teenager to learn a craft while she worked for her as a housemaid. The child’s mother said she agreed to the arrangement after Omolola also promised to take care of her daughter.
Jimoh, however, said less than 10 months after the 14-year-old left their house alive, her corpse was returned with scars.
She said, “In February 2022, my sister-in-law, Kehinde Ojo, who married my brother, Fatai, came to me that a woman in Ibadan, Omolara, who was working with the police, wanted a girl to take care of her baby and her house too.
“I accepted, but I told her that I did not want payment; all I wanted was that the family should help me to train her either in school or fashion design.
“Ojo called the woman (Omolola) who wanted my girl; we spoke and she agreed to the conditions that I gave her.
“Since February 2022 when my daughter left my house, it was her brutalised corpse that I received last Friday from Omolola, whom I have not met but through my sister-in-law.
“Some days before then, my heart went to my daughter and when I called to speak with her through Ojo, Omolara’s number was either switched off or busy.”
Ojo, who spoke to newsmen, confirmed that she took the victim to the policewoman’s house.
“I then remembered that my sister-in-law was talking about having somebody that could train Tomiwa (Ajayi), her first child, to school or learn handwork. I quickly contacted her and she agreed to allow Tomiwa to work with Omolara.
“I took her to Omolara in February this year and begged her to treat the girl like her child. Anytime Tomiwa’s mother wanted to talk to the girl, it’s through my phone.
“But sometime last week, Tomiwa’s mother was on my neck that she wanted to speak to Omolola, her daughter’s guardian, and Omolara started to evade calls.”
The woman said suddenly, Omolola asked to speak with her in private about the child.
“Omolola asked me if she could talk to me in private and I agreed, only for her to tell me about the death of Tomiwa through a swollen leg injury.
“She asked if it was possible that they could come with the corpse and I said it was alright, but I told my husband about the matter.
“My mother reported the case at the Ilaro Police Station, Ogun State, on Friday. But before then, Omolara sent three old men to calm things down; they said they were from Oke Anglican, Ilaro, Ogun State.
“Meanwhile, as the old men were leaving, I took a bike and followed them. Omolola, who said she was in Ibadan, was with the corpse of the girl when the old men joined her. I accused her of killing the girl. Tomiwa’s body was scarred; I am in distress,” she added.
Efforts to reach the policewoman were abortive as her phone was switched off.
When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, promised to get back to our correspondent on the matter.
He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde, of aiding and abetting the state’s school authorities, who are in the habit of forcing Muslim students and teachers to sing Christmas carol.
The group cited example of St Annes Schools, Molete, Ibadan, whose principals forced Muslim students and Muslim teachers to join in singing Christmas carol on Monday, 12th December, 2022.
MURIC condemned the action as extremist, feudalistic and provocative.
In a statement issued on Monday, 12th December, 2022, the director of MURIC,Professor Ishaq Akintola said:
“Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has emboldened school authorities in Oyo State to force Muslim students and Muslim teachers to sing Christmas carol. This became clear today, Monday, 12th December, 2022 when St. Annes School 1 Senior, St. Annes School 2 and St. Annes Junior School forced Muslim students and Muslim teachers in the schools to join Christians to sing Christmas carol inside a church situated opposite the school.
We hold Seyi Makinde responsible for the repression of Muslim students and Muslim teachers. Those school authorities have taken the cue from the governor.
“Under Seyi Makinde’s watch, Muslim students were herded like sheep to attend the crusade of a German Christian crusader, Evangelist Daniel Kolenda in November 2021. Oyo State public schools were used for the crusade during school hours. Again under Makinde’s watch, Muslim applicants attending a screening exercise for appointment were made to answer questions on the Bible in August 2020. Under Makinde’s watch, Muslim teachers were forced to attend a screening exercise on Salah day in July 2022. Yet these are schools using public funds and Muslims are the majority among tax-payers in the state.
“Makinde has a plethora of anti-Muslim actions for which he has never apologised. We have no doubt that he will continue to condone the persecution of Muslim students and Muslim teachers until he is kicked out of office. We therefore remind Oyo State Muslims to take their destiny in their own hands by using their voting power to send away their traducer.
“Being a Christian governor is no crime as long as the governor is fair to all. But Seyi Makinde has been an unrepentant goader of anti-Muslim antics. He has never taken any action against fanatical school principals and teachers who traumatise Muslim students and teachers. That means he has been goading them, egging them on and aiding and abetting their tyranny.
“We have no doubt that he is going to do nothing about St. Annes school where today’s atrocity was committed against Muslim students and teachers. We have no alternative than to ask Muslims to vote him out. We need a tolerant governor: one who will grant religious freedom to both Christians and Muslims. Seyi Makinde must go.”
The National Convention of Royal Union of Owu People held on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th of December 2022 at Owu Telemu and ended with a glamour.
According to the current youth leader of RUOP, Hon. Prince Adebola Adeleke- Olugbode, the event started on Friday with a Jumat prayer at Telemu.
On Saturday, there was a friendly match between RUOP Youth vs Host Community (Owu Telemu) which ended with a draw as the host community won the competition with a penalty.
According to Prince Adebola Adeleke-Olugbode, the Royal Union of Owu People covers the world of southwest, including Kwara with over 50 kings in the whole of southwestern states.
Dignitaries all over the world were presents on Saturday, 10th of December 2022 to witness the celebration, out of which include; His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, Former President of Nigeria, including other industrious sons and daughters of Owu descendants.
Also, at the event, the leadership of the youth wing under Akeem Yusuf Olanrewaju was dissolved as new excos were sworn in and presented Certificates.
A Nigerian man, Mofesola Babalola, has bagged a first-class degree in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
Babalola, who celebrated his win on social media, revealed that this comes ten years after he graduated with a third-class degree from a Nigerian university.
He has since celebrated the feat after his graduation from UK University with 1st Class. This he disclosed in his tweet.
Meanwhile, some tweeps taking to Twitter have begun knocking Nigerian university lecturers for what students pass through in their hands.
A tweep, @Ayok said, if we analyse this without sentiment. This shows the difficulties students are passing through in Nigeria.
Another tweep, @Bayok said, “students are facing frustration because of intimidation from lecturers. Some are facing financial challenges”.
A tweep, @Busayo said, “our students are not telling us what they are passing through because of fear of victimization.
So many barriers to overcome before you can graduate from our institutions here”.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has honoured some of his palace staff on his seventh coronation anniversary.
In a statement issued by the palace spokesperson, Moses Olafare, on Saturday, the monarch handed out appreciation letters and the sum of N100,000 each to five deserving staff members, three staff members got N200,000 and N250,000 each for two palace aides. One aide got N300,000 while three outstanding staff members got one million naira each. One of them won the star prize; a car worth seven million naira.
Oba Ogunwusi also appreciated his wife, the founder of Hopes Alive Initiative, Olori Temitope Enitan-Ogunwusi, for her continuous efforts in the area of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the less privileged in the society.
The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised to be fair and just to all Nigerians irrespective of race, religion and creed if elected.
He also pledged to retool the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Tinubu gave these commitments on Sunday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital during a town hall engagement with Muslim Leaders from South West.
Addressing Muslim clerics, Tinubu assured Nigerians that he would be “a fair and just leader,” adding, “My pledge for fairness and justice is consistent with the tenets of the Islamic faith.
“A leader in a plural society like ours is enjoined to be a leader of all. If elected, I shall govern honestly and democratically in harmony with our nation’s constitution.”
A statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman in Abuja on Sunday said that the presidential hopeful cited his excellent stewardship as Lagos Governor and promised to use that experience to lead Nigeria in the “same spirit of innovation and pragmatic vision to uplift the nation and renew the hope of Nigerians.”
He described the 2023 general elections as “Nigeria’s momentous encounter with destiny” and urged the Islamic clerics to educate their followers on the importance of exercising their franchise and voting only tested candidates with a track record of excellent public service, “and not falling for the lies and gimmicks of those that have nothing to offer.”
Tinubu, who spoke partly in Yoruba language, said: “This election season has been a hybrid of facts and falsehood, truth and lies. I would like the election to be one based on facts and truth.
“What is a candidate’s record of performance and what are his policies? I ask you to urge your followers to come out and vote and to do so wisely. Vote for a candidate that has a vision for a peaceful, prosperous Nigeria where tolerance and compassion undergird our constitutional and legal rights.”
On security, Tinubu vowed to end the reign of terror, kidnappings and other violent crimes by recruiting more personnel that would be trained and retrained, in addition to providing more security tools and gadgets for an effective fight against criminal elements.
The nation’s economy, according to Tinubu, would be diversified and restructured towards achieving at least 6 per cent growth annually. These goals, he promised would be achieved through the reforms of the country’s industrial policy, infrastructural enhancement, power sector innovation and significant budgetary reforms.
“Regarding the economy, we seek to repair the very structure of the economy. We can no longer flourish as an economy based on natural resource extraction.
“We must become a dynamic, diversified economy where those who want to work can find a good job. But let us also be a society sufficiently compassionate to help those who cannot help themselves.
“We must revive manufacturing and industrial growth to create jobs as well as produce the goods and services that improve the daily lives of the average person.
“We seek a minimum of 6 per cent growth annually through reform of our industrial policy, infrastructural enhancement, power sector innovation and significant budgetary reform,” Tinubu told the Muslim leaders.
On his plan for the agricultural sector, the APC standard bearer promised to guarantee food security through enhanced productivity and improved farm incomes to ensure that no child goes to bed without food to eat.
“In the end, may no Nigerian parent send a child to bed hungry, despairing about what tomorrow might bring. Instead, let all of our children, regarding of their faith or creed, be able to lay their head down believing in a better tomorrow of hope renewed.”
The APC standard bearer then commended religious leaders in the country for their continued prayers and sermons, which he noted, had contributed to unity and peaceful coexistence.
Earlier the National Chief Missioner of Anwar-ur- Deen Movement, Sheikh Ahmad Abdulrahman, said the gathering was not to campaign or endorse Tinubu or any candidate.
“But to seek and to know and to see whether Asíwájú Tinubu can still deliver for the country as he did as governor of Lagos State.”
Tinubu was accompanied to the meeting by Deputy Lagos Governor Dr Femi Hamzat; Oyo APC governorship candidate Senator Teslim Folarin; former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole; Deputy Director-General of his campaign, Hadiza Bala Usman, Senator Fatai Buhari from Oyo and many serving and former members of the National Assembly.
The APC candidate also interfaced with Bishops from Pentecostal Churches in the 19 States of the North and the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) where he delivered a similar message as he did to the Muslim leaders of South West.
He had told the Christian leaders that if elected, he would run an inclusive government that will be blind to ethnicity and religion, but fair and equitable to all Nigerians.
Former Senate President Ken Nnamani has said that Igbo leaders will use their support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s candidacy in 2023 to build bridges across the country.
Nnamani, who spoke at the inauguration of the state and LGA coordinators of Tinubu/Shettima Independent Campaign Council(ICC) in Enugu at the weekend, explained apart from that, the Igbo would support Tinubu because if their belief that he has the capacity to fix the country.
The ex-senate President, who said he was not supporting Tinubu to get ministerial appointment or other pecuniary benefits, stressed that his decision to be with the APC standard bearer was for the overall benefits of the Ndigbo and Southeast region in particular.
“I’m not looking for ministerial position because I have outgrown that. We are doing this in the overall interest of our people.
“Ndigbo are using our support for Tinubu and APC in 2023 to build bridges across the country”, Nnamani said.
He said the Tinubu/Shettima Independent Campaign Council does not take the place of APC in Enugu State, explaining that it is an initiative of the presidential candidate.
He urged the members of the campaign council to remain dedicated in the job of ensuring that the people of Enugu State understand the message and the reason they should cast their votes for Tinubu and APC.
“Don’t join issues with people who are resorting to insults. Just concentrate on the goal because this is a very serious business,” he said.
The state coordinator of the ICC, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke said everything about Tinubu’s presidency in 2023 is in favour of Ndigbo.
He warned that if the people of the Southeast do not line up behind Tinubu in 2023, the APC candidate would win without them.
“Tinubu will win and his opponents know it. If he cannot win, he won’t be receiving these attacks. The only thing they are holding against him is age.
“He will win even without us, but we won’t be left behind. But we’re just complimenting his election.
“He is over prepared for this position If Ken and other leaders can say let’s follow this man, we have to obey”, Gbazuagu said.
He promised to take the campaign to every booth across the state.
Gbazuagu was inaugurated alongside former Attorney General of Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Nwoga, as secretary with the former state chairman of APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye, as director contact and mobilsation among others.
The leadership of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party has approved the appointment the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, as a member of the campaign council.
Recall Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde had in few weeks past rejected his appointment to lead the PDP Presidiential Campaign Council in Southwest over the lingering crisis between the G-5 governors and Atiku Abubakar.
The crisis which erupted after the Presidential primary of the party which produced Atiku as its flagbearer. The fallout between Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and other four governors demanding the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorcha Ayu continues to wax stronger.
Adeleke was appointed as the Chairman of the South-West Coordinating Committee of the campaign council, according to a notice signed by the Director-General of the PDP PCO, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, on Saturday.
Other key PDP members were also appointed to head strategic campaign offices to steer the Atiku Abubakar presidential bid.
“These appointments are with immediate effects,” Tambuwal said.
Zonal Coordinating Committee:
South-East: Senator Theodore Orji (Chairman)
South-South: Senator Duoye Diri (Chairman)
South-West: Senator Ademola Adeleke (Chairman)
North-Central: Senator Gabriel Suswam (Chairman)
North-East: Darius Ishiaku (Chairman)
North-West: Adamu Aliero (Chairman) The campaign council also made appointments of Zonal Liaison Desk Officers.
