Tony Okonkwo,the former Zenith Bank Manager buried his father in grand style today at Amawbia in Anambra State.Relatives,friends and well wishers gathered today at Tony Okonkwo company at Umunzeafia Kindred of Adebebe Village ,Amawbia to witness the final journey of Late Mr Benjamin Okoye Okonkwo to the bosom of our Lord.
Late Mr Benjamin Okoye Okonkwo was survived by:
Mrs Josephine Okonkwo -Wife
Mr Tony Okonkwo -Son
Mrs Ebele Mbakwe -Daughter
Mr Chinedu Okonkwo- Son
Mrs Chioma Aku-Daughter
Mrs Ifunanya Ezeani-Daughter
Miss Anulika Okonkwo-Daughter
Mrs Chinelo Iloduba-Daughter
Mrs Ngozika Okonkwo-Daughter -in – law among many other relatives
Late Ben Okoye Okonkwo will be remembered for his good family life,his love for fellow being and his preaching for peaceful co-existence of God creatures.
BVI Channel 1 online was at the burial ground to keep you updated as Mr Tony Okonkwo buried his beloved father.
Gov Obiano may have taken a tough decision to replicate Mallam Nasir El- Rufai Abuja feat in Anambra State.The decision to cleanse Anambra State of shanties and illegal structures is expected to come with a stubborn resistance from the affected populace. Gov Obiano is prepared for this onerous task before him. Firstly, he will not be presenting himself for re-election and secondly, he does not belong to any known cabal in the state. He once told his mammoth supporters that his second tenure in the office would not be business as usual and that he would go for the jugular .Many did not take his warnings serious and as usual went about their business the same old way until the demolition bulldozers kissed the road at wee hours of the night!
This reporter can confirm that there were mixed reactions that greeted the demolition exercise. While many cried that the demolition of illegal structures was targeted at the very poor masses on the street who overwhelmingly voted for APGA Government and that the State Government did not make an alternate arrangement for the stranded masses whose shops were affected. There were others who believed that Gov Obiano has been appointed by God to rescue the State from the evil hands of ‘Areaboys’.
However,the illegal structures which are found at many corners in the State are usually built on gutters ,thereby blocking the drainage systems with most of them known to be criminal hideouts and places where prostitutes and other miscreants engage in nefarious activities.
Picture 1: Bulldozer at work in Anambra State
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security- Chikodi Anara has this to say ‘the demolition exercise will be conducted throughout the State. Every structure on the waterways, shops on drainage systems, shanties and any form of illegal structure in Anambra State will be demolished without fear or favour.
The real test before Gov Obiano
What happens to the civil and public servants that approved those illegal structures? Many of these illegal structures got approval from the ministries and government agencies. Would these people be allowed to work the street free while the ordinary people cry wolf? This Reporter thinks that the demolition team should visit Abakiliki Road , Awka.It is illegal for road to be constructed under a high voltage power line .
Picture 2: Abakiliki Road,Awka
Our working Governor should visit that high voltage power line along Abakiliki road,Awka to see the impending danger facing road users on daily basis . It has been reported how high voltage power lines collapsed in Portharcourt, Uyo etc and electrocuted many Road Users.The question everybody is asking including insiders in Governor Obiano Administration: Is Government road supposed to be built under a high voltage power line? Who authorized the construction? What of houses?
Governor Obiano should also review the activities of Anambra Housing Development Corporation. This Reporter is in receipt of letters written to his Excellency on how former Management of Anambra Housing Corporation connived with land speculators to sell land(s) on the waterways. Part of the letter reads ‘ Removal of water installations on Road 10, Ngozika Housing Estate and Encroachment on the Water Channels in and Around the Estate.We wish to alert Your Excellency on the incessant encroachment on the water channels in the Estate.
Picture 3: Encroachment on Water Channels
Most of the water Channels at different points are being blocked by those who engage in illegal annexure of the plots near the water channels.This is capable of increasing the rate of flooding in the already flooded Estate’ The Letter concluded. As at the time of this report, no tangible action has been taken. In the same Estate , there are other instances where the former management connived with land speculators to legalize an illegality. Several petitions have been sent to the new management of the housing Corporation headed by Prof Asika. One of such petitions was on a plot illegally created by the former Management led by Chief Patrick Obianwu, specifically on road 14 plot 22A almost on the stream with total disregard to the estate original master plan.
The major challenge before Governor Obiano very good intention to keep Anambra State clean of shanties and illegal structure is the courage to confront the powerful cabal, official corruption in approving illegal structures and monitoring the implementation of his directives. Many on the street are crying and lamenting that the Governor’s men on the demolition job are selective and partial in carrying out the ‘annointed ‘ job.
We will keep you updated while the demolition exercise in Anambra continues. You can send your case to bvichannel1@gmail.com for publication.
OURMUMUDONDO MOVEMENT has announced a new campaign mantra- NAWEBEGOVERNMENT.In announcing the campaign before news men in Abuja yesterday,the Movement noted that the gravest challenge of entrenching democracy in Nigeria is the lack of effective engagement of the citizens in political governance. This lack of engagement results in lack of real accountability, corruption, poor governance and the general failure of political leadership.
The movement also recognizes the expediency of salvaging Nigeria from these intractable challenges and decades of oppression and executive misrule in governance. Noting that it is shameful enough that after fifty-eight years of independence from the British colonial masters, Nigeria is still struggling to establish basic social amenities for the common people.
The Movement noted that the future of Nigeria is presently hanging in the balance owing to the many years of misrule in the country. In the Statement released to BVI Channel 1 online,the National Secretary of the Movement -Comrade Adebayo Raphael stated ‘The collective wealth of the people has been greedily characterized by the oppressive few, and corruption in governance has been normalized to become something cool. Without any iota of doubt, we are living in a malfunctioning society”
”In a malfunctioning society or system, there is a widespread disconnection between the people and the leadership, and pervasive absence of good and accountable governance, which is contrary to the will of the common man. What’s more, corruption thrives, and poverty is endemic in a society where there is no mutually beneficial interface, contract or agreement between the people and the political class for tracking the performances of those in leadership positions.
It is in view of the foregoing and in the group’s vehement interest in bringing about a social change that benefits the common man that we have decided to commence a national reawakening project called; The Nigerian Social Contract Initiative (NSCI).
The NSCI project is fundamentally premised on the socio-political urgency to scale up citizens engagement in governance as well as create a viable tool to demand an in-corrupt, pro-people, transparent, and accountable democracy. The Social Contract gives greater latitude for a preventive approach to fighting corruption especially when the people are actively involved at the national and sub-national levels of government, before, during and after elections. The social contract provides a tool for holding government accountable and a framework for the common people and the leaders of the state to negotiate for social change and political stability.
The purpose of this project, the first of its kind in our great country, is for the common man to first understand the concept and basis for a social contract as a necessary pact between the people and the political class, to demand a greater access to government through transparent and accountable leadership, prevent and curb corruption by getting involved, and participate by performing his or her civic duties.
This intervention will establish a give-and-take practice that will promote open government and bring value and satisfaction to both the electorates and those seeking to get their votes, before, during and after elections.
Through this campaign, the OurMumuDonDo Movement seeks to ramp up citizens engagement in the democratic process and also discourage the shameful and unenviable tradition of politics as a pecuniary transaction, where the electorates are induced by the political class.
Ultimately, this intervention will focus on inclusive participation in democratic governance, returning power to the rightful owners (the people), discouraging the trading of votes during elections, scaling up citizens performance of civic duties and encouraging the culture of asking questions and holding leaders accountable” The Statement concluded.The Statement was personally signed by Charles Oputa ,Chairman/Convener –NAWEBEGOVERNMENT Campaign and OurMumuDondo Movement
Igbo indigenes living in Taraba State have appealed to the Igbo apex organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo and South East governors to save them from alleged Hausa-Fulani attacks.
They also called on the duo to urge the Taraba State Governor, Dairus Ishiaku, to ensure the security of their life and property in the state.
The people, through one of their leaders, Eze Igbo Dan-Anicha in Gassol Local Government Area, Chief Ozor Joseph Ezeh, had addressed Ohaneze on their ordeal in Taraba State, alleging periodic attacks on them by the Fulani.
They said all the attacks on them have been unprovoked and targeted at looting of their property and, in most cases, burning down their shops, in the presence of security operatives, without any caution or arrest. They also accused the state government of allegedly feeling unconcerned about their plight.
Ezeh said: “On Sunday, June 3, 2018, the Fulani went to Dinya community and attacked the people there, who are Tivs, but, during a gun battle that ensured, the Tivs had upper hands and they retreated. On Monday, they entered another community, Dan-Anicha and regrouped with the Hausa there and started rioting around 6:00a.m. till about 5:00p.m. when the situation became uncontrollable. At this point, they began to break into shops owned by Igbo indigenes and were carting away their goods.
“What surprised everyone was that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) people came fully armed, the mobile and conventional police came there fully armed, and the army also came fully armed, but, they did not make any attempt to stop the people from looting the property of the Igbo. They just parked themselves at one side and were watching the attackers breaking into the shops and looting our people’s properties without making any arrest. The worse is that these people carried the properties they were looting and crossed before the security operatives who were just there as if they came to give them coverage to carry out the looting operation.
“All the shops inside Dan-Anicha park belonging to Igbo indigenes were looted and majority of the shops burnt. Along Bornu Kurukuru road, all the shops belonging to Igbo indigenes were looted and burnt, and the security operatives were watching them do all that without taking any action.
“The attack on Ndigbo started by 6:00a.m. on Monday and ended 6:00a.m. on Tuesday without any interruption by the security operatives. This is not the first time this kind of thing is happening. On October 13, 2001, they carried out similar attack on Igbo, and on November 20, 2017, the same Fulani people had problem with Tiv people and they (Fulani and Hausa) pounced on the shops of Igbo people and looted them without any interruption by the security operatives. On that day, they attacked me physically, gave me machete cuts and turned my house upside-down and burnt down all my shops and ruined my business.
The family of the late Gani Fawehinmi has welcomed the honour bestowed on the late iconic rights activist President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Wednesday that Mr Fawehinmi would be posthumously conferred with the Grand Commander of Nigeria (GCON) at a colourful ceremony in Abuja on June 12.
Mohammed, eldest son of the late activist said in a statement that the family would accept the GCON because it truly honoured the memory of the late legal icon and rights activist.
Fawehinmi, senior advocate, died in September 2009 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer at the age of 71.
Fawehinmi said the association of late winner of the June 12 poll with the latest offer made it difficult to reject like the previous ones.
“Accepting the award is a fuller affirmation of the commitment.
“The award is coming at the same time as the recognition of Abiola as the winner of the June 12 election.
“This would have been my father’s happiest moment, because what he had canvassed for is the now being done,” Fawehinmi said.
Nigeria is on the road to Babylon: a place of confusion. Three years ago, the people were convinced that they had found a messiah who will lead them to the Promised Land, and meet all their expectations.
Today, everyone is speaking in different tongues; “turning and turning in the widening gyre…the falcon cannot hear the falconer… things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world/The blood-doomed tide is loosed, and everywhere/the ceremony of innocence is drowned…surely, some revelation is at hand…” But just may be, there is still, no cause for despair.
The good thing about democracy is that it teaches people lessons – ask them in Malaysia and the United States – and even when the people refuse stubbornly to learn – ask them in Syria, Venezuela, and Libya – the lessons exist nonetheless. But it is a very bad thing not just for democracy but the entire society when the leadership elite ignores apparent lessons and fails the people.
About 23 years ago, we did a series of editorials titled “To save Nigeria.” As our country continues on a journey towards Babylon, such editorials may again be necessary. The pity is that those who are in charge at the centre do not seem to understand this. I once wrote that persons who wield power like a whip – a dated military strategy – that is completely out of place today in a democracy, have surrounded and “captured” President Muhammadu Buhari. But as we can see, their strategy of alienation has failed.
This is the biggest challenge facing this government. Each time their strategy fails them; their standard response is to say that the President is not “aware” of whatever transpired. They have been so adept in selling this line to the boss, that the President himself once declared publicly that he was not aware that his Inspector-General of Police ignored, perhaps modified, or changed his instructions and went on a frolic of his own.
Things have not only gotten worse since then, the entire country is in a state of shock, and I won’t be surprised if a funny character shows up before this week runs out to tell us, again, that President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, the Chairman of the 8th Assembly has been summoned to appear before the Nigeria Police under the authority of the same Inspector-General of Police who has been having a running battle with the National Assembly and its members – first Senator Isa Misau, then Senator Dino Melaye and now Senator Bukola Saraki.
It doesn’t take much intelligence to figure out the script: what has happened between the Senate and the office of the Inspector General of Police is much less about the personalities involved but a lot more about the intra-governmental and intra-party crisis that continues to pose a threat to the Buhari government.
No other government in recent times has been this divided and suicidal. I won’t be surprised anyway if some vocal, genetic trouble-makers on social media (specially made in Nigeria since 2015) argue otherwise but let the point be made that President Buhari’s problems have all been self-inflicted, and his loss of favour within and outside government and the party have been due largely to the saboteurs within.
And if indeed President Buhari is not suffering from what Nigerians call “home trouble”, let someone explain to me why the EFCC is fighting the Department of State Security and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, why the woman who sees the President first thing in the morning and last minute at night inside “the other room” is fighting a so-called cabal and has had cause to chide her husband publicly, why the legislative arm of government has been systematically sabotaging the Executive arm of government and vice versa, why the security agencies have been busy making enemies for President Buhari, and why the judiciary behaves like a frustrated arm of government, and civil servants have had to condemn the government they should serve as obedient servants. I believe that the chickens have now come home to roost with the latest attack on Senate President Bukola Saraki. The drama has reached its climax.
The Inspector-General of Police has summoned Saraki. It is pubic knowledge that this same public officer, Ibrahim Idris, publicly shunned the Senate when he was asked to appear before it.
Now, exploiting the powers of his office as the country’s chief police officer, he has declared that Bukola Saraki has a case to answer at the police station in a typical my-Mercedes-is-bigger-than-yours fashion, or for the benefit of those who will remember, if you Tarka-me-I-will-Daboh-you. Senate President Bukola Saraki has been called a thief by this administration.
He is now being indicted as the Godfather of Offa Armed Robbers. When a government advertises its No. 3 citizen as a thief and an armed robber, whatever happens, it is the country that loses at the end of the day.
It is good news that Saraki has agreed to appear before the police to clear his name. It is also good news – coming in as I write – that someone with some grey matter has quickly intervened and introduced a face-saving measure to wit: Saraki no longer has to go the police, instead, the police will go to him and take his statement.
Before that spoilsport intervention, I was already imagining very ugly optics. Imagine: Saraki would have gone to the Police in Abuja with about two-thirds of the National Assembly of Nigeria in tow. Dino Melaye would have led the pack and organize placards. He and the dancing Senator Adeleke could have added a special dance and song to create colour and tragic melodrama.
Without knowing it, the Inspector-General of Police would have created a popularity contest between Saraki and Buhari and between the Executive and Legislative arms of the Nigerian government. In the eyes of the world, that will amount to a serious crisis in Nigeria. So, how does the public disgrace of Senator Saraki help us as a country, or Buhari as President?
Somehow, despite the last minute adjustments, President Buhari’s managers have turned almost the entire National Assembly against him. The Speaker of the House of Representatives who has been so far supportive has also been alienated. The days ahead will not only be very interesting with the do-me-I-do-you tango that has been initiated at the highest levels of this government, the developments will have serious implications for the politics of the 2019 elections.
The Executive arm of government, for sure, has alienated the Federal legislature; it has similarly done the same to the judiciary. The humiliation of judges and lawyers was meant to be part of the war against corruption by the Buhari administration but the selective nature of that assault on the judiciary, and the brazen disregard for the rule of law, has left the entire establishment bruised. Not even under the military were the Bar and the Bench so badly treated. It is obvious that the judiciary is beginning to take its pound of flesh especially at the appellate courts. What kind of government would go out of its way to alienate other arms of government?
The media is the fourth estate of the realm. It has not been spared either. In three years, the Buhari government has managed to intimidate, harass and frustrate the Nigerian media, including freedom of expression on the social media. The relationship between this strategic institution and the government of the day has been propelled more by fear and caution rather than respect. Those media houses that used to be very aggressive under the previous administration have gone into a sit down and look mode. I can reveal for free that although a few sections of the Nigerian media are beginning to crawl out of their shells, the prevailing attitude is rooted in the belief that the media will always have the last say, and what we have is a media establishment that is waiting for the right time to take its own pound of flesh. Obviously, nobody is thinking of President Buhari’s legacy and how it will be remembered. “Making Enemies for the President: How President Buhari Won and Wasted the Presidency” would probably be an appropriate title for a future book.
Just imagine the number of enemies that have been made, and how the number increases almost weekly. Do these guys really want a second term? In 2015, the likes of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who had contested against President Buhari during the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ate the humble pie and supported him. Today, Atiku has left the APC. He is a leading critic of the same government and party that he helped to create and bring to power. Kwankwaso has been declared a persona non grata in the same state of Kano that he delivered to Buhari during the 2015 elections.
In 2015, President and elder statesman Olusegun Obasanjo wanted President Goodluck Jonathan out of Aso Rock by every means possible. He wrote letters, de-marketed the man locally and internationally and he told the whole world: anyone else but Jonathan. Three years later, Obasanjo is an unwanted guest at Aso Rock.
The man he helped to bring to power has publicly dissed him. He has himself had cause to offer Buhari a compulsory reading lesson by referring him to a trilogy: My Watch written by him. Buhari’s attack dogs have warned Obasanjo to keep quiet or he would be dealt with. That is like asking for “double wahala” because Obasanjo is also obviously ready for a show-down. He is leading a Nigerian coalition whose ambition is to do in Nigeria what Mahathir Mohamad has done in Malaysia and if he succeeds, he has enough clout to do far more damage with his pen and mouth, than the entire Nigerian media.
So, who is left with President Buhari? Definitely not President Goodluck Jonathan the man who lost power to him in 2015, and who quietly and dutifully handed over, only to be harassed and hounded later. Not the army of Nigerian youths either who supported Buhari and the APC in the 2015 elections only to be dismissed as an idle and opportunistic lot. Definitely not the social media crowd that carried Buhari on its head as if he was a crate of eggs. Many are those who have since apologized openly to Jonathan and Nigerians for allowing themselves to be misled. And certainly not Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man who corralled the entire South West into the APC alliance in 2015, and who has been rewarded with ingratitude, insults and marginalization.
His relevance in his own immediate political constituency has just been queried with the rejection of the results of the recent APC party congress in Lagos State on wait for it – constitutional grounds. The APC National Working Committee has the guts to tell Tinubu that he is a law-breaker, and if he is not careful, he too will get the Saraki treatment? Really? The same man who risked everything to make the APC possible? But he knows what is good for him though; he has been wisely quiet. The South East has since turned its back on the Buhari government. Rochas Okorocha, the pro-Buhari governor of Imo state has been shown the handwriting on the wall. Other Igbos having seen how their region was turned into a battle-field are quietly waiting for 2019, to use their voters cards in a more informed manner than they did in 2015.
So, really who is left with the Buhari government? Bukola Saraki, with all the humiliation he has received would have to be an “ogbologbo omo ale” (let some twitter trolls translate that for me), to deploy his political structures in support of Buhari in 2019. He won’t anyway. Already, his political group in the APC alliance- the nPDP has declared that it is no longer interested in any further dialogue with the APC Federal Government. They have opted out. As for Tinubu, he would have to be really naive to go before the Yoruba people in 2019 to ask that they should vote for Buhari again. Rotimi Amaechi who was a leading gladiator in 2015 is still hanging in there, but it would be most strange if he were to be seen acting as he did in 2015. Even up North, the APC is in deep crisis in Benue, Kogi, Bauchi, Kano, Adamawa, Kaduna, Taraba, Sokoto, Kebbi and elsewhere. Last week, in Oyo State, the APC lost the bye-election in Ibarapa East and the ones gloating are not PDP members but factional members of the APC! Where the APC and the Buhari government are right now is not a good place to be in the people’s reckoning.
One Jonathanian phoned me the other day and said this is the God of Jonathan at work! I told him: “I won’t talk like that, I mean: #se-o-mo-age-mi-ni”. But I made this point: that it is the dew that will certainly destroy a house made of spittle; as a man sows so he reaps, the laws of nature are constant and immutable and the ways of God are forever mysterious. Nobody is shaking the Buhari-APC table. They are the ones who have on their own removed the legs from their own table. I have said my own. If some herdsmen are looking for me, tell them I am currently in Abeokuta enjoying Iya Sunday’s amala and ogufe! But also tell them that some of the boys at this table are very angry that Buhari has increased the cost of beer, water, and “smoke”.
Online Media Practitioner Association of Nigeria (OMPAN) meets with Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on the 6th of June, 2018 towards the forthcoming Rivers State election.
The Chairman of RSIEC, Hon Justice Chukwunenye Uriri (Rtd) who was represented by Prof James Jaja, Chairman Political Parties Monitory, stated this while having a meeting with Rivers State chapter of OMPAN. Other executives with Prof James Jaja were Dr Anthony Nwiaudo ( Commissioner In Charge of Works And Field Service), Reginald Amadi (C.I of Transport and Sports) and also Prof Ekpette Uzioma.
The chairman of OMPAN Rivers State Chapter, Comrade Flamboyant Chidiebele Okoye thanked and congratulated the newly appointed excos of RSIEC and also looked forward to a working relationship with the body especially during and after the June 16th election in Rivers State.
Prof James Jaja in his statement stated that the roles of the media are quite enormous and the RSIEC Chairman is determined to make sure the forth coming election is a success as all parties will be well carried along and the security of the adhoc staff will be the body’s primary obligations.
” OMPAN is very important in this coming local Government election and the association should educate, sensitize and prepare the masses towards the forth coming election.” -Prof Jones Jaja added.
Prof James Jaja also thanked the Rivers State Chapter of OMPAN for recognizing them and looked forward for a more working relationship and also urge OMPAN to help in informing the masses about their roles in casting and participating actively in the election.
He also stated that OMPAN should endeavor to practice developmental journalism.
Today, 7th of June 2018, The Supreme Court struck out GTBank’s motion for stay of execution of the Enugu Court of Appeal Division’s order that GTBank pays over N6 Billion into an interest yielding account at the Court of Appeal. Innoson’s legal team which was led by Prof McCarthy Mbadugha ESQ told the Supreme Court that the Judgment debt which arose from excess and unlawful charges which GTB took from Innoson’s account now stood at over N14billion.
The Supreme Court decision follows GTBanks motion for stay of execution at the Supreme Court when the Court of Appeal Enugu Division ruled on 9th Dec, 2014 that the appellant (GTB) is hereby ordered to pay the sum of Five Billion, Nine Hundred and thirty Six Million, One Hundred and Twenty Six Thousand, Two Hundred and Nineteen Naira, One Kobo (N5,936,126,219.01k) to the Deputy Chief Register of the Court within 14 days from the date of ruling and which the Deputy Chief Register shall pay same into an interest yielding account in a reputable bank other than Diamond Bank or Mainstreet Bank Plc pending the determination of this appeal. The money together with whatever accrues thereon shall be paid to the party who wins the appeal.
GTBank not satisfied with the decision of the ruling of Court of Appeal, filled a motion for stay of execution at the Supreme Court, however Supreme Court today struck out GTB motion for stay of execution and maintained that it will not hear GTBank’s motion for stay of execution until it obeys the ruling of Court of Appeal to pay the said money into an interest yielding account.
By Supreme Court decision today, GTB is expected within 14 days to pay the sum of over N14Billion judgment debt to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal Enugu Division and which will now be paid into an interest yielding account in a reputable bank. The money together with whatever interest accrues thereon shall be paid to the party who wins the appeal.
1. The River Niger Bridge at Onitsha was constructed between 1964 and 1965 by Dumez- a French construction company and cost £5 million.
2. Patience Jonathan is one of Nigeria’s most-educated First Ladies, with an NCE, a B.Ed, and a PhD from University of Port-Harcourt.
3. The highest peak in Nigeria is located in Taraba and is called Chappal Waddi which means “The Mountain of Death”.
4. There are 196 countries in the world and at least one Igbo person from Nigeria lives in every one of them.
5. The Pidgin word ‘Sabi’ came from ‘Saber’, Portuguese and Spanish for ‘to know’. Both country’s ships traded slaves from the Bight of Benin.
6. Katsina College (now Barewa College in Zaria) has produced 5 Nigerian Presidents/Heads of State since it was founded in 1921 in Katsina.
7. Ojukwu taught Murtala Mohammed and Ben Adekunle at Regular Officers Special Training School, Ghana. Both ‘fought’ their teacher during the civil war
8. At Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there were 41 Secondary Schools in the North and 842 Secondary Schools in the South.
9. In 1983, Senator Arthur Nzeribe spent $16.5 million to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu (in Imo State).
10. In 1973, the Federal Government of Nigeria considered officially changing the name of “Lagos” to “Eko”. Regarding “Lagos” as a colonial name.
11. The geographical area now referred to as Nigeria was once referred to as ‘Soudan’ and ‘Nigiritia’.
12. Offences punishable by death sentence after the 1966 coup included embezzlement, rape and homosexuality.
13. MKO Abiola was named Kashimawo (Let us wait and see) by his parents. He was his father’s twenty-third child, but the first to survive infancy.
14. Jaja Wachucku was the first person to refer to Lagos as a “no-man’s land” in 1947, provoking a national controversy.
15. Jollof rice, chicken breast, serve of ice cream, tea, coffee or Bournvita, with full cream milk and sugar: Meal Cost = 50Kobo- Unilag in the late 1970s
16. At the point death in 1989, Sam Okwaraji was a PhD candidate and qualified lawyer with an LL.M in International Law (University of Rome)
17. When British Bank of West Africa (now First Bank) opened a branch in Kano in 1929, Alhassan Dantata (Dangote’s Grandfather) opened an account depositing 20 camel-loads of silver coins.
18. Jaja Wachuku is reputed to have owned the biggest one-man library in West Africa. Balewa sometimes referred to him as “Most Bookish Minister
19. The colonization of Nigeria took more than 40 years to achieve and the territories were integrated by the use of force.
20. Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language the Santeria cult in Carribean and South-Central America.
21. Slavery existed in the Nigerian territory before the 15th century and was abolished in the 19th century- 1807 by the British.
22. At least 55 women were killed in South-East Nigeria, in 1929 when the women forced the Umuahia warrant chiefs to submit to their rule.
23. The coinage ‘Supreme Court’ was first used in 1863 by the colonial administration through the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance No. II.
24. MKO Abiola died suddenly on July 7, 1998, exactly one month after General Sani Abacha died mysteriously on June 8, 1998.
25. Agbani Darego was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the Miss Universe contest in 2001.
26. The ‘Ankara’ material is not indigenous to Nigeria. Our indigenous textiles include the Akwete, Ukara, Aso-Oke and Adire.
27. Aloma Mukhtar is the first female lawyer from the North and went on to become the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria.
28. The area known as Makoko town in Lagos was first a swamp, later sand-filled by the colonial government and served as the first bridge to the Island.
29. Esie Museum is Nigeria’s first museum, established in 1945. Once reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world.
30. Aminu Kano formed the Northern Teachers’ Association (NTA) in 1948, the first successful regional organization in the history of the North.
31. George Goldie, who played a major role in founding Nigeria, placed a curse on anyone who attempts to write his biography.
32. In 1996, John Ogbu, a Nigerian Anthropologist firmly advocated for the use of African-American Vernacular to teach in the U.S
33. Hausa Language indigenous to Northern Nigeria is spoken in 11 African States. Germany, French, U.S., and British International radio stations broadcast in Hausa.
34. The surgeon who ‘killed’ Stella Obasanjo was sentenced to 1 year in prison, disqualified for 3 years and fined €120,000.
35. The word ‘asiri’ means ‘secret’ in Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe and Igarra. It also means ‘gossip’ in Igbo.
36. Igbo-Ora in Oyo State, Kodinji in India and Candido Godoi in Brazil are the towns that produce the highest number of twin births in the world.
37. Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, in 1857 produced a reading book for the Igbo Language and a full grammar and vocabulary of NUPE in 1864.
38. The first TV broadcast in Nigeria and Tropical Africa was on October 31, 1959.
39. In 1978, a 50Kobo increase (from #1.50 to #2) in the cost of University Students’ meal per day caused the ‘Ali Must Go’ protests.
40. Albert E. Kitson discovered coal in Enugu in 1909. This discovery led to the building of Port-Harcourt town in 1912.
41. Today, only Nigeria has a larger black population than Brazil. More than 3.5 million Africans were captured, enslaved and transported to Brazil.
42. Groundnut pyramids were the invention of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata to stack bags before export.
43. In 1967, old traditional ruler, Oba Akran and A. Ademiluyi were jailed for 14 years (7 each) for stealing £504,750 (#2.5b).
44. Since 1960, Nigeria has been either ruled by an ex-lecturer/ex-teacher or military man. The only exceptions are Azikiwe and Shonekan.
45. If you visited Lagos in 1975, you could spend a day at the Presidential Suite of Federal Palace Hotel for #100, single room for #19.
46. The first aircraft to land in Nigeria landed in Kano in July 1925. A British fighter jet flew from Khartoum (present day Sudan).
47. In 1895, Koko of Nembe (now in Bayelsa) took 60 white men hostage. When the British refused his demands, more than 40 of those men were eaten.
48. The ‘Naira’ was coined by Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was serving as the Federal Commissioner of Finance.
49. Koma Hill (settlement in Adamawa where people lived and practised the killing of twins) was discovered in 1986 by a NYSC corps member.
50. The pilot (Francis Osakwe) that flew Ojukwu away from Biafra (1970) was the same pilot that flew Gowon to Uganda (last flight as Head of State).
51. In 1986, Shehu Shagari was banned from participation in politics for life. The ban has still not been lifted.
52. As the wife of the deputy Head of State (Vice President of Nigeria) in 1984, Biodun Idiagbon personally ran a small ice cream shop in Ilorin..
53. Koma Hills (Adamawa State) inhabitants when discovered were observed to engage in the practise of borrowing wives among themselves.
54. Juju, Dashiki, Yam and Okra are words in the English dictionary that originated from ethnic groups located in present day Nigeria.
55. Nigeria has more English speakers than England, and more Muslims than Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) has sent a letter of congratulation to the Coordinator of ADF Legal Bureau-Barr Maxwell Ozoaka on the passage of the Anti-Open Grazing Bill by the Abia State House of Assembly.The letter was signed by the ADF President -Prof Uzodinma Nwala and The Secretary- PROF NATH ANIEKWU.The Letter reads ‘On behalf of the ADF Working Committee, we write to congratulate you, the entire members of the ADF Legal Bureau, the ADF Secretariat and all those who have helped to motivate the formulation and transmission of the ADF Draft of the Anti-Open Grazing Bill which has just been passed by the Abia State House of Assembly.We have no doubt that the Governor of Abia State, His Excellency Chief Okezie Ikpeazu, shall sooner than later give his assent to the Bill and thereby making it a subsisting law of Abia State.Only a strategic and patriotic mind can appreciate the magnitude of the implications of the Law on Anti-Open Grazing on the protection of the lives and property of our people in Abia State, their ancestral homes, the honour and sanctity of their wives and daughters as well as their fundamental rights of freedom of movement and pursuit of their daily bread.We also hereby register our ‘big thank you’ to the leadership and members of the Abia State House of Assembly. By this singular act they have registered their names in the history of not only Abia State but also of the entire Igbo race as leaders with enough courage and patriotic spirit to rise in defense of their people at a most critical period in their history.It is important, however to note, that the passage of the Bill is one thing, the implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing Law is another. With the passage of the Law, we expect the State Government shall provide the citizens the legal modalities to enable them work with other statutory institutions that may be required for the implementation the Law to defend both the law, on the one hand, and the lives, property, ancestral homes, agricultural and other economic resources of the people, as well as the lives and sanctity of their wives and daughters.It is at this point that ADF appeals to the Churches, the traditional institutions, the Town Unions, Youth, student and women organizations to rise and help to ensure the full implementation of the Law.
ADF calls on the remaining States in the Igbo-Speaking areas of Nigeria to follow suit and pass the Bill whose Draft was sent to them by ADF since February 2018.We appeal to all the Governments in Alaigbo, all socio-cultural organizations in Alaigbo, especially Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other pan-Igbo organizations to rise as one united people to defend this Law and thereby protect our people and their property and ancestral homes as well as the sanctity of their wives and daughters. We appeal especially to the youth organizations including the pro-Biafra and other patriotic self-determination organizations in Alaigbo to commit themselves to the defense of the law prohibiting Anti-Open Grazing in the Region’ The letter concluded.
