Nigeria News
BIMBO DARAMOLA: A Legislator delivering on his mandate
Donated items
By Jide Aluko
To my reader who lives in an SMS age – very short message devoid of any historical details – I’m starting this piece with apologies. Apologies hereby tendered because I will first go down the history lane to paint. Here I go!
Prior to 2003, all my interest in Ekiti’s political firmament was just to know who was at the helm of affairs for mere academic reasons. What I knew about the state was a few stretches away from what I knew about any of the other 35 states. Throw up the name of any state; like an average student of Social Studies, I’d throw up the name of its capital and governor. #Thatsall!
Anyways, who needed my ‘outsider’ opinions when an average Ekiti man is politically conscious and interested in how he is governed. It is not out of cerebral flippancy that Ekiti has been labelled “the state with the highest number of professors in Nigeria” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekiti_State). We are exceptionally swift at taking up pens (not arms) and write petitions after petitions when the socio-political atmosphere becomes stifling and inclement (from our point of view). I was once privy to a conversation between late Peter Ajayi and my dad, when the former held sway as Managing Editor, and later Managing Director of now defunct Sketch Newspaper. I heard late Ajayi say that Sketch received its highest number of reader’s reactions, views and complaints from Ekiti indigenes. The incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi alluded to the political sophistication of an average Ekiti man in a recent interview. So, what weight would I have pulled if I had poked my nose in ‘erudite adult political affairs?’ Confessedly, I was more interested in the politics of my immediate environment (Lagos) and Nigeria in general. Moreover, Lagos politics has always had enough intrigues woven around it to engage the attention of most Lagosians like me. We all own Lagos jare, irrespective of what Femi Fani-Kayode and Uzor Kalu might have traded in words.
I started taking more than passive interests in the politics of my state (Ekiti) when former Governor Ayo Fayose came out from the blues to wrestle power from Adeniyi Adebayo, the first civilian governor of the state, in 2003 against all political punditry. Like all other states in the South West (with Lagos as an exception), which former President Obasanjo oversaw their “capture” even before he inserted the “do or die” eruption into Nigeria’s political lexicon, Ekiti was scooped away from the grip of Alliance for Democracy (AD). It never crossed anyone’s crystal ball Fayose would garner as ‘much’ as he did to upturn the incumbent governor with massive state fund under his control, and a political platform which only needed to proclaim ‘Awoism’ as a trump card for electoral triumph. Fayose thrust the hitherto sleepy Ekiti into a national conversation with many of his controversies. To some people, he was enfant terrible of the Nigerian politics; to others, he was the “Architect of Modern Ekiti” (apologies to Chief Fola Alade). Fayose might be found wanting in some ways, he scored ‘A’ in drawing national attention to Ekiti State with his brash approach to governance. And so, this ‘born-again’ active citizen started giving Ekiti politics the attention it deserved. Digression enough!
In my quest to add ocular evidence to what I have read and heard about Honourable Bimbo Daramola, the House of Representatives’ member representing my constituency, Oye-Ikole Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1, I took a trip to Irepodun-Ifelodun Pry. School in Ikole Ekiti on Saturday, August 18, 2013, the venue of his stewardship-rendering event tagged “ABOMIRE 2.” I had read about the second edition of the then upcoming event on Bimbo Daramola’s Facebook page, and so I told myself, “I will be there.”
I left Lagos wearing the toga of a neutral observer but I armed myself with my midget recorder and camera, with a mindset to scoop any newsworthy item when Daramola starts detailing his constituents with the number of passed bills drafted by him, number of motions moved by him and ratified by HoRs, his contributions to debates in the House of Representatives and other legislative responsibilities well carried out. Should one-on-one opportunity present itself, I had stuffed a page of my writing pad with scribbled questions bordering on his legislative activism and advocacy for probity and accountability as depicted in some of his motions like:
- The Urgent Need to Investigate the Use of Public Funds by the Bank of Industry Under the Power and Airlines Intervention Fund
- Investigation of Final Settlement of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and Forte Oil Plc. outstanding debts of N140, 999, 620, 395.80 owed Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON
- Emerging Threats to Nigeria’s Internal Security and the Need for the Establishment of Department of Homeland Security
- Counting the cost of the ban on use of vehicles with tinted glass
Having just been inaugurated three weeks ago as Chairman, Ad hoc Committee to Probe the Allocation of Plots of Land to Companies and Individuals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Possible Cases of Fraud in the Process from 2010 till date, I had resolved to remind him on the possibility of slipping on the famed banana peel associated with chairmen of HoRs’ probe panels. I had told myself I would tell him to come out clean because doing otherwise would have more destructive consequences for him than it had for the likes of Farouk Lawan and Herma Hembe. I would not be shy to tell him that he comes from the very politically active Ekiti North and that there were many Femi Otedolas and Aruma Otehs willingly ready to bait, trace, tame and tape him for Youtube uploads, and consequent public opprobrium. I would remind him that he contributed to Senator Ayo Arise’s biting the dust in 2011 and ouster from the political scene; and as such, Senator Arise, and his loyalists would go for the jugular if he (Daramola) got exposed. So I left Lagos with my expectations.
I had expected an interactive town hall-like event but I saw a sea of heads stretching from one end of what looks like a football field to the other. At the centre of the field were displayed the following:
- 2 Luxurious buses
- 15 Cars
- 40 Plasma TV
- 24 Ceiling Fans
- 12 Grinding Machine
- 20 Generator Sets
- 6 Vulcanizing Machines
- 10 Sewing Machine
- 6 Dryers
- 10 Hair Clippers
- 24 Farm Sprayer
- 10 Deep Freezer
- 10 Motorcycle
I would have thought I ‘missed road’ but for the NITORI OJO OLA WA inscriptions on all these stuffs. Then I went back to the gate to see if I had to buy a ticket to qualify to win any of these; I was wrong. They were meant to be distributed to Bimbo Daramola’s constituents as a way of empowering them. Minutes after regaling the crowd with many of his legislative activities in the House of Representatives for this past one year, scores of his constituents with verifiable means of identification were called out to receive these gifts on display. Former Governor of Ondo State, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, traditional rulers and other prominent Ekiti indigenes were on hand to deliver the gifts to the constituents. Honourable Daramola also donated N25, 000 each to 48 men and women, old and young, to empower them for small scale businesses. An insider told me right there that Daramola earmarked N50 million for all I was seeing. I had intended to take up Sola Salako on the cost of the souvenirs as I saw her supervise their distribution; she was so exhausted I had to allow her to be driven away to catch serious rest. She was visibly worn-out.
Done with giving his stewardship and implementing the empowerment programme, it was time for the Press to inundate him with questions after questions. I had seen Bimbo taken up by the trio of Sunrise Daily anchors on Channels Television when hostilities of Boko Haram were defiant of all solutions proffered by the Federal Government. I knew (and still know) that Daramola is an interviewer’s delight any day; so I had thought the press crew would pose serious questions. To my chagrin, just two lame questions were asked by two journalists. So soft were these questions that Daramola had to ask “was that all” after answering them. I quickly interjected with my “Banana Peel” question. He called out his name, integrity, faith and grace as the foundation upon which he would hinge his handling of the probe of FCT Land Allocation since 2010. I called him later to notify him of my intention to engage him one-on-one journalistically when the time permits. He told me he would be available for my interview this week in Lagos. I will take him up on real issues about his legislative responsibilities, bogus allowances for National Assembly members, Ekiti 2014 Gubernatorial Elections, Millennium Development Goals, Security, Civil Society and Donor Agencies, Diaspora, Banking, all of which Daramola is either a Vice-Chairman or member. You will read from me and hear from him in days.
My Ekiti trip would not have been complete without a visit to my ancestral home, Ire-Ekiti, where Daramola was reported by Thisday to have started building a 38-bed hospital. I saw the massive building at its almost finishing stage. My next post will be accompanied by pictorial evidence of all I saw.
Jide Aluko is a Digital Content Strategist, Researcher, Freelance Writer, Wikipedia Editor
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Twitter Handle: @JideAluko
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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