Oduduwa News

ODUDUWA NEWS has just gathered that some gunmen on Monday kidnapped two people at a quarry site in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

This report was confirmed to newsmen today by State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Gbenga Fadeyi.

According to the report, the gunmen stormed the quarry site located along Ijebu-Ode / Ibadan Road and kidnapped one Mr. Popoola Isaac, a staff of RCC and Mr. Ismail Adeoye, a staff of Polaris Bank.
The incident was said to have occurred at Dalli Village (Binu Quarry), along Ibadan – Ijebu-Ode Road.

The PPRO while speaking to newsmen said his men had swung into action to ensure that the abductees regain their freedom as soon as possible.

In view of the importance of parking spaces in the cities, the Oyo State House of Assembly has urged the State Government to explore the possibility of using Public Private Partnership, PPP arrangement for the construction of parking lots in public places across the State.

The appeal was contained in a report presented by the House Committee on Investment Monitoring and State Economic Planning after interfacing with officials of Oyo State Investment and Public Private Partnership Agency on the provision of parking lots in public places on PPP initiative.

The report read by the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Hon Ademola Popoola Ibadan South East 2, appealed to the Oyo State Government to come up with an arrangement that will enable individuals and corporate bodies to invest in the construction of parking lots in public places in the State.

According to the report, lack of parking lots in most public places is responsible for the heavy traffic usually experienced in those areas.

It also recommended that the State House of Assembly should constitute a Joint Committee which will work with the Oyo State Investment and Public Private Partnership Agency and other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies with a view to designing a plan of action on the provision of public parking lots through PPP.

The House after accepting the report, assured that further deliberations would be done on the recommendations.

Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Monday, donated an operational fire-truck to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), for the use of Ibadan Airport.
The governor, who was represented at the brief handover event at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, by the Commissioner for Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport, Prof Daud Kehinde Sangodoyin, said the government decided to make the donation to enhance efficient service delivery and maximum security at the Ibadan Airport.
While presenting the truck to the management of FAAN, the governor stated that the present administration in Oyo State is insistent on expanding the state’s economy through transport, adding that air transportation is an integral part of the transport system.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, further quoted the governor as saying that the vehicle presentation was a gesture by his administration to support the management of the FAAN in its bid to make the airport conducive for the passengers.
He said: “We are happy to donate this fire-truck simply because we want to drive our economy through transport, and one of the modes of transportation is the air transport; and our wish is to make Ibadan Airport an international airport.
“So, to do that, all the equipment that is necessary for the operations must be in place. We are happy to be partners in progress with the FAAN.”
He admonished the airport authority to maintain the equipment because, according to him, there would be checks on its facilities almost every quarter.
He said: “We also want to admonish the management to have a culture of maintaining all the equipment because almost every quarter, there will be a check within the airport for the airlines to be able to cope with the services.
“I also want to state that they should not shy away from where they expect the government to assist them.”
In her response, Airport Manager, Ibadan Airport, Mrs. Ayenuro Tega, on behalf of the management of the airport, appreciated the state government for the donation, which she said will enhance operations in the airport and its environs.
“I am short of words; elated and grateful to the governor for this donation because it is a boost to FAAN and the country. Having this fire-truck will enhance operations in the airport. So, we are very grateful.”
The presentation was witnessed by Oyo State government functionaries and management of FAAN.

Following the controversies and unsubstantiated information about the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from some quarters, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday reassured Lagosians that the vaccine is safe.

The Governor stated that he did not feel any side effects as claimed by some persons.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who received the AstraZeneca vaccine alongside his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, health practitioners, frontline workers and journalists, among others last Friday at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Yaba, said he felt no symptom after taking the vaccine.

He said: “I didn’t feel any side effects after taking the shot”.

Speaking to journalists at the Lagos House, Ikeja on Monday, Governor Sanwo-Olu said there is nothing to worry about the vaccine. He therefore encouraged Lagosians, especially those on the frontlines to come forward and get vaccinated.

He said: “It has been three days since I was vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine and the deputy governor too has had his own shot. I can confirm to you that I felt no after effect at all. I didn’t have any headache, malaria or any symptom whatsoever. It was well received.

“Like I mentioned on Friday, I think all of the speculation that is going round is really unfounded. I have taken the vaccine and we have seen that Lagos has continued to vaccinate the frontline health workers. And so, let us use this medium again to inform our citizens well that the vaccines; the one we have, AstraZeneca, is safe and is of no negative consequence. And I for one do not have any. I have also asked around.

“So, there is nothing for us to get worried about. It is just to take it easy and let us encourage others that are on the frontlines to come forward and get vaccinated.”

Also speaking to journalists to corroborate Governor Sanwo-Olu’s position on the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Hamzat said he felt no symptom after he received the shot last Friday. “No symptom at all. Nothing,” he said.

It would be recalled that the first jab of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was administered in Lagos State last week. Prof. Abayomi kicked off the vaccine rollout programme after he got the first jab of the serum supplied by the Federal Government.

Government of the state of Osun on Sunday condemned in totality the killings of 6 family members at Wasinmi, in Irewole Local Government area of the state by unknown gunmen.

The state Deputy Governor, Mr Benedict Alabi, who paid a condolence visit to the bereaved family on Sunday morning described the killings as disheartening and unfortunate.

Alabi, who was received by scores of family members of the deceased and some leaders in the community described the incident as a case of brutal assassination, adding that the perpetrators would be brought to book in no distant time.

He, added that the state government has ordered the security agencies in the state to fish out the evil doers and bring them before the law.RELATED POSTS

The erstwhile governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proffered solutions to FG on how to solver farmer-herder crisis.

This was contained in a statement personally signed by him and released to the PRESS yesterday which reads in part:

“The herder-farmer dispute has taken on acute and violent dimensions. It has cost too many innocent lives while destroying the property and livelihoods of many others. It has also aggravated ethnic sentiment and political tension. Despite the efforts of some of those in positions of high responsibility and public trust, the crisis has not significantly abated. Sadly, others who should know better have incited matters by tossing about hate-tainted statements that fall dangerously short of the leadership these people claim to provide. We all must get hold of our better selves to treat this matter with the sobriety it requires.

“Because of the violence that has ensued and the fretful consequences of such violence if left unabated, we must move in unison but decisively to end the spiral of death and destruction. Only when the violence and the illogic of it are halted can logic and reason prevail. Until the violence is rolled back, we cannot resolve the deep problems that underlie this conflict. We will neither be able to uplift the farmer from his impoverished toil nor move the herder toward the historic transformation which he must make.

Yet, as vital as security is to the resolution of this matter, we must realize security measures alone will not suffice. Enhanced security may be the necessary first step, but it cannot be the only step. Nor do we resolve this by hitching ourselves to emotional, one-dimensional answers. More to the point, those who cast this as exclusively a matter of ethnic confrontation are mistaken. This is no time for reckless chauvinism of any kind, on either side of this dispute. This matter is not ethnic in factual origin or actual causation although in the minds and hearts of too many it has become ethnic in recrimination and impulsive action.

“There have been sporadic disputes in the past but this one is more severe. The reasons for the greater violence of this current dispute are myriad. Economic hardship and its resultant dislocation, proliferation of weapons, generalized increase in criminality, and weakening of social institutions all play a role. Desertification, increased severity and length of the dry season, diminution of water resources, impairment of land fertility and population growth also contribute in no small measure. Thus, any durable solution must get at most, if not all, of these issues.

“Farmers have a right to farm their land unmolested. Herders have a right to raise their livestock without undue interference. However, when conflict between these groups arises to such an extent, we must set forth clear principles and policies to remove the tension, in order to allow both to proceed toward their stated goals and to live in harmony and according to their respective rights. Just as I cannot go into your house and take your shirt because I do not have one of like colour, no one can destroy the crops of a farmer or seize the cattle of a herder simply because such destruction sates their anger or their selfish, short-term interests. If such a condition were to hold, then all would turn into chaos; all would be in jeopardy of being lost. To destroy the crops or seize the property of the innocent farmer or herder is nothing if not an act of criminality.

Here, I must state two fundamental realities. One has been previously mentioned by me and others as part of the solution. The other reality is hardly discussed.
First, the situation of the herder is becoming untenable. Their nomadic ways fall increasingly in conflict with the dictates of modern society. This way of life is centuries old and steeped in tradition. We can never condone or accept violence as a valid response to any hardship. However, we all must recognize and understand the sense of dislocation caused by the sudden passing of such a longstanding social institution.

“I mention their dislocation not to excuse violence and other excesses. I raise it to underscore that we must realize the true complexity of this crisis. What is happening has been terrible, but it is not due to any intrinsic evil in either the herder or the farmer. The calamity now being faced is borne of situational exigencies. It is but the tragic outcome when often desperate, alienated people are left too long unattended and when their understanding of the modern socio-economic and environmental forces affecting the very terms of their existence is incomplete. An ethnically fuelled response will be to vociferously defend the nomadic way believing this tack will somehow protect the herder and cast the speaker as an ethnic champion. However, careless words cannot shield the herder from relentless reality. Such talk will only delude him into believing that he can somehow escape the inevitable. We do both herder and farmer grave injustice by allowing the herder to continue as he is – fighting a losing battle against modernity and climate change. In that fight, desperation causes him to flail and fight the farmer, who too is a victim of these impersonal forces.

“Second, to help the herder and leave the farmer unattended is unfair and will only trigger a resentment that tracks already heated ethnic fault lines. The times have also been perilous for the hardscrabble farmer. He needs help to survive and to be more productive in ways that increases national food security. Farm productivity and incomes must be enhanced. Soil enrichment, better irrigation and water retention as well as provision of better rural roads, equipment and access to modern machinery are required to lift him above bare subsistence.

Both innocent and law-abiding farmer and herder need to be recompensed for the losses they have suffered. Both need further assistance to break the current cycle of violence and poverty. In short, the continued progressive reform of many of our rural socio-economic relationships is called for.

Based on these strategic observations, I recommend the federal government convene a meeting of state governors, senior security officials, herder and farmer representatives, along with traditional rulers and religious leaders. The purpose of this meeting would be to hammer out a set of working principles to resolve the crisis.

“After this meeting, governors of each state should convene follow-up meetings in their states to refine and add flesh to the universal principles by adjusting them to the particular circumstances of their states. In addition to religious and traditional leaders and local farmer and herder representatives, these meetings shall include the state’s best security minds along with experts in agriculture (livestock and farming), land use and water management to draw specific plans for their states.

To accomplish this goal, wise policy must include the following elements:

1. Maintain reasonable and effective law enforcement presence in affected areas. The proposed reform of the Nigerian law enforcement apparatus towards state and community policing can help in this regard. The legislative and administrative measures required to make this a reality should be expedited. In addition to alleviating the present farmer-herder crisis, this reform will also bolster efforts against the banditry, kidnapping and robbery plaguing communities across the country. Governments need to employ new technology and equipment to enhance the information gathering/surveillance and response capabilities of law enforcement.
2. Help the herders’ transition to more sedentary but more profitable methods of cattle-rearing. Unoccupied public land can be fenced into grazing areas or ranches and leased to herders on a very low-cost, nominal basis. The leasing is not intended to penalize herders. Rather, the nominal fee is intended to ensure the herders are invested in the project and incentivized (by reason of their investment) to use the land provided. This aspect will also mitigate any resentment over herders being given land for free. Government, in turn, being a responsible lessor, must help with supplemental feed and water in these areas. This will enable herders to better maintain and care for their livestock thus enhancing their incomes. Herders can augment income by becoming suppliers to the leather goods industry. Additionally, herders can also develop a more symbiotic relationship with farmers by, for example, trading animal compost to the farmer in exchange for animal feed.
3. Assist farmers increase productivity by supporting or providing subvention for their acquisition of fertilizer, equipment and machinery and, also, by establishing commodity boards to guarantee minimum prices for important crops. In the medium to long term, resources must be dedicated to establishing better irrigation and water catchment systems to further improve farm productivity and mitigate the dire impact of flood and drought cycles brought about by extreme climatic conditions.
4. Establish a permanent panel in each state as a forum for farmers, herders, security officials and senior state officials to discuss their concerns, mitigate contention and identify trouble and douse it before it erupts.

“We are a populous nation of diverse ethnic groups. We are a people of potential richness, yet to escape present poverty. We have resources but not wealth. Often, our words speak of hope and fear in the same breath. While we all hope and strive for the best, many fear that there is not enough of what is needed to go around and that they will be left out. In such a situation, harsh competition and contest are fated to occur. In the unfolding of this social dynamic, one group of actors has been pitted against another over dwindling water and fertile ground. The confrontation has resulted in the needless loss of life and destruction of property. If left to itself, this situation may spread and threaten the progress of the nation. It could call into proximate question the utility of the social compact that holds government and governed in positive bond, one to the other. We have a decision to make. Do we attempt the hard things that decency requires of us to right the situation? Or do we allow ourselves to be slave to short term motives that appeal to base instinct that run afoul of the democratic principles upon which this republic is founded and for which so many have already sacrificed so much? In the question itself, lies the answer”.

The Lagos State Government has concluded plans to partner with local and international stakeholders in ensuring food security for residents of the State.

The State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, made the disclosure during his appearance on the TVC News Business Nigeria programme tagged ‘Evaluating Effect of State Government and COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Recovery’, with his counterpart in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ms. Bisola Olusanya.

Egube said the State is partnering with local stakeholders to ensure that all Agricultural produce coming into the State are standard and high quality, emphasising the need for proper packaging of farm produce in order to maintain hygiene, avoid loss of produce, as well as ensure that prices are affordable for average Lagosians.

He also spoke on the partnership with the Republic of The Netherlands on mechanised farming, pointing out that Netherlands is the second-largest food-producing country in the world.

The Commissioner, therefore, urged the youths to embrace the Agricultural policies of the State government meant to create gainful employment and improve food security in Lagos.

On her part, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Bisola Olusanya decried the fall in Agricultural production in the State, stressing that the present administration is working to increase its food production level from 20% to 40% in the next couple of years.

She said the State arable land can grow tomatoes, vegetables and other farm produce, adding that in an effort to improve food production, the State has plans to help farmers in Epe, Ikorodu and Badagry divisions of the State with clearing tractors as well as other farms inputs as government incentives.

Olusanya also emphasised the need for Greenhouse farming in managing temperature and improving farm yields, noting that Greenhouse Farm Estate will generate more than 250 jobs for Lagos residents.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Office on Friday, March 12, 2021 arrested fifty seven suspected internet fraudsters at their hotel hideouts and recovered two pump action rifles.

The suspects were arrested in Yewa Frontier Hotel & Resort, Ellysam Hotel & Suits, April Suits and IBD International Hotels, all in Ilaro, Ogun State. The operation followed actionable intelligence linking them to alleged fraudulent activities, ranging from love scam on numerous dating sites, obtaining money by false pretenses and other cybercrimes.

Four exotic cars, mobile phones, laptops, two rifles and several incriminating documents were recovered from the suspects.

No fewer than five people were reportedly killed on Thursday night when a group of youths attacked a dreaded Ibadan masquerader, popularly called Oloolu while he was performing his annual ritual in the metropolis.

ODUDUWA NEWS learnt that several others were reportedly injured.

The hoodlums, who allegedly attacked the masquerader at the Oje area of Ibadan, were said to be many.

According to a source, the irate youths who were armed with machetes, clubs, and cutlasses waylaid the masquerade when his rites had almost been completed.

When contacted, the National President of Soludero Hunters Association, Oba Wahab Ajijola Anabi, confirmed the incident to newsmen.

“Yes, I was part of the entourage of Oloolu when the ritual was being performed by Oloolu. It is an annual ritual Oloolu performs around the city to ensure peace reigns in the state.

“He started the rituals in the morning and was about to round off in the evening at Oje when some youths, without any provocation, swooped on him and his followers.

“They were many, about 80 of them. They killed no fewer than five people. One of the attackers was a popular hoodlum called ‘Star boy’, who is known to be very deadly. The youths were armed with cutlasses, guns, and other dangerous weapons.

“Four boys were injured during the attack and are being moved from one place to another for treatment.

“We want Governor Seyi Makinde to empower local security outfits like Agbekoya so that the hoodlums will be arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.”

The Iyaloja of Oje Market, Alhaja Oluwakemi Laaro Akala, who confirmed the incident said the youths threatened to burn her shop.

“The government should please help us to check the excesses of these hoodlums,” she said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Gbenga Fadeyi, said he had not yet been briefed.