The home side took the lead in the 42nd minute when Izuchukwu Chimezie capitalised on a defensive error by Bendel Insurance defender Benjamin Tanimu.

But Deputy Echeta drew Bendel Insurance level in the 80th minute during a goalmouth scrabble in the Group A Match Day 12 fixture.

Head Coach of Bendel Insurance, Monday Odigie, later said his team, which was with the best record so far in the league, learnt from every game.

“This helps us to correct our mistakes and keep fighting,” he said.

Odigie described the encounter as top-class, pointing out that Plateau United recently played in the continent and were still a very good side.

The head coach said that even though his side was new in the NPFL, it was doing everything possible to leave a mark wherever they went.

“For every team we play, we give our best. We are not under any pressure, and we are just doing our thing our own way,” he added.

Plateau United’s Head Coach, Maurice Longmiap, said the result was frustrating for them.

“Having lost away, we came back home with the hope of picking the maximum points, only to now draw with Bendel Insurance.”

Longmiap however said they would go back to the drawing board, reassess themselves and ensure they got it right in the next match.

He described Insurance as a good side with quality attack-minded players.

Source: NAN

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The official activation of the CBHIS and enrolment of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde Adoptees into the Oyo State health insurance scheme was held recently at Community Town Hall, Sepeteri, Saki East Local Government Area.

The Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, Dr. Olusola Akande, said that was in a bid to ensure that every resident had access to quality healthcare services.

He highlighted the essence of community based health insurance and enrolment of Governor Seyi Makinde’s adoptees into the community health insurance scheme and the benefits accruable to community health insurance in Sepeteri under the scheme.

Akande said the scheme would complement the widely accepted OYSHIA scheme that covered some percentage of residents in the state drawn from the formal and non-formal sector of the economy.

READ ALSO: Makinde bows to MURIC’s pressure, removes name from mosque

In her address, the Chairman, Saki East local government area, Ramat Adeniran Mosunmade, enjoined the beneficiaries to make good use of the opportunity they enjoyed from the state government.

The Commissioner for Establishments and Training, Alhaji Siji Lawal urged the people to reciprocate Makinde gestures by supporting his administration for a second term so that they would continue to enjoy more dividends of democracy.

The ceremony which had the Commissioner of Establishments and Training, Siji Lawal; Council of Sepeteri High Chiefs; Ramat Adeniran Mosunmade, and other government functionaries in attendance witnessed the outing.

In a related development, the train of Governor Seyi Makinde’s Adoptees into the State insurance scheme moved to Tede and Oje Owode communities.

The flag off exercise which took off on Tuesday, March 7, witnessed distribution and collection of cards.

In his words of encouragement while hosting dignitaries of Tede and Oje Owode communities, the Executive Secretary OYSHIA, Dr. Olusola Akande, advised the beneficiaries to make good use of opportunity for their own advantage.

The dignitaries in Tede and Oje Owode communities include the chairman, ATISBO local government area, Fatai Fasasi; Deacon Matthew Kolawole Ogunkunle; the Chief Imam of Tede, Alhaji Sheikh Amada Tijani Adedigba; National President, Tede Indigenes, Comrade Layi Michael Ojo; Community Chairman, Oje Owode, Pastor Samson Olonade; CAN Chairman; and the representatives of Oba Adebimpe Adedoyin, the Oni Tede of Tede.

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“He asked me whether I have a house here. I said ‘no’. Even in Nigeria, the only houses I have are those I had before I got into government.

“I’m not very much interested in having assets all over the place. I feel much freer when I have nothing.”

What a man! What a leader! Ascetic. Austere. Abstinent. Where did he come from, in this day and age?

The Scripture that came to mind at the encounter between the two leaders was Luke 12:15, where Jesus said: “Take heed and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Buhari ooooo. What manner of man are you?

This should not be Muhammadu Buhari, a man who had been military Governor of the then North Eastern State, which was made up of present day Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States. Six States, which he could have fleeced and stolen blind!

Then he became Minister of Petroleum for over three years, Head of State for 20 months, Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, where he sat over money in scores of billions, and now elected President for two terms, about concluding his eighth year in office. Yet, he feels freer when he has nothing.

Naturally, such people should not know the number of houses they have in major capitals of the world, the number of accounts they hold in banks, both locally and internationally, women in their harem, and wild oats sown home and abroad. But not Buhari. Where did this man come from, and do they make them like this anymore?

“He asked whether I have a house here. I said ‘no.’ A house? King Charles 111 should have asked of houses. That is what men in Buhari’s position have all over Great Britain, other capitals of the world, and counting.

READ ALSO: The ‘Buhari’ at JAMB, By Femi Adesina

“Even in Nigeria, the only houses I have are those I had before I got into government.” Holy Moses! Didn’t the contractors give him houses as gifts, after smiling to the banks with hefty profits from jobs done, not even to talk of kickbacks from jobs not done but paid for? Buhari. Buhari. Chai, Buhari, where did you come from?

And then the clincher: “I’m not very much interested in having assets all over the place. I FEEL MUCH FREER WHEN I HAVE NOTHING.”

Buhari ooooo. What manner of man are you? “I feel much freer when I have nothing.” Gbam! You now know why we love the man, why we trust him, and why we serve him. Our treasury is safe in his hands. Our commonwealth is kept, preserved, and used for the good of the people.

Look at great infrastructure projects embarked on by Buhari. Roads. Rail. Bridges. Airports. AKK pipelines. Bodo-Bonny project, which will link Bonny Island by road to the outside world for the first time in human history. Such huge projects are never done by a leader who has come to steal, kill and destroy. That is why those projects had only been imagined, and never done by previous administrations. What would they pocket, if they had spent money on such humongous projects? But trust Buhari, the man who feels freer when he has nothing, to have embarked on such projects, many of which are being concluded now.

“I feel much freer, when I have nothing.” Don’t we see the wisdom in this? You live better when your basic needs are met. You sleep better, without worries. You face eternity much more confidently. And you meet your God better prepared.

Am I advocating poverty? By no means. President Buhari is not poor, he’s just contented. He doesn’t have an Octopus complex that gets you grabbing everything in sight, though he has the opportunity. Group CEO of NNPC Limited , Mele Kolo Kyari had told me one day:

“I’ve never seen a leader like President Buhari. Not once has he sent anybody to me, with an instruction, ‘give this person a contract.’ Or, ‘bring this amount of money.’ Never! Not once. He’s an amazing man. That’s why he is the best person to spearhead all the reforms in the oil and gas industry.”

Of course, we knew how leaders treated the NNPC. Even the Central Bank. Customs. Federal Inland Revenue Service. Nigerian Ports Authority. NIMASA. And all the other revenue generating agencies. Like a gravy train, which they dipped their hands into at will. Those places served as sources of free cash for themselves, their families, political parties, and cronies. But not Buhari. The man simply wants nothing. He feels freer when he has nothing.

I remember myself as a simple Nigerian journalist, just enjoying the job, and not having the slightest ambition to ever serve in government. Because I wanted nothing. A friend, who had read me religiously over the years (his name is Japhet Ogunniyi) had visited me one day at The Sun Newspapers. I don’t know what led him to ask whether I could ever serve in government. Without giving it a thought, I said an emphatic NO. What was I going to do in government, with all the tendencies and predilections for filthy lucre? No, I was not wired that way, neither was I so trained by Pa Adesina, that great educationist and disciplinarian.

But Japhet probed further. “You can’t serve even in a Buhari government? But you admire the man so much, and write so fervently about him?”

I paused. Gave the idea a thought. That was at a time when a Buhari presidency seemed so far-fetched and improbable. So, I told my friend: “Well, I can serve a Buhari. Because he’s an honest man, and he will run a honest government.”

There didn’t seem to be chance of such ever happening at that time, but it eventually did. And diffidently, even reluctantly, I left what I was doing to serve a honest man. The morning I was to turn in my letter of resignation as Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Newspapers, I woke by 5 am, and started crying. I did to my heart’s content. When I held the last meeting with the management team in the office later that day, it was a festival of tears all round. Men, women, we were not ashamed. We cried. But I left, to serve a honest man, who feels a lot freer when he has nothing. Wouldn’t you rather serve that kind of person? For me, it was a huge sacrifice, but I’ll do it over and over again. For God, for country, and for a honest man.

Some cynics would definitely say; if Buhari was that clean, why is there still so much corruption in the country? The answer is simple.

In 1994, I became a Buharist, when he was military head of state. I supported him in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019, because he’s an honest man. The Mai Gaskiya. And what can a country do without honest leadership? Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people, says the Good Book. When does another Buhari come this way? They don’t make them like that anymore.

Some cynics would definitely say; if Buhari was that clean, why is there still so much corruption in the country? The answer is simple. Corruption is being vigorously fought, and the statistics are clear in terms of comparative number of convictions between what used to be, and what subsists now. But if a single man remains squeaky clean in a forest of corruption, should he then be guilty by association? Nah. “Let him that is righteous be righteous still. Let him that is filthy be filthy still. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as his work shall be.” That is from the Great Book, the Book of Books. It’s the conclusion of the whole matter.

“I feel much freer when I have nothing.” Very true. When I have nothing, then I have everything. Just like Buhari.

*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

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Electricity workers, through their union, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), among other issues, said that they were protesting a directive by the Board of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) mandating principal managers in acting capacity to appear for promotion interview before they could be promoted to the next grade. Joe Ajaero, Secretary General of NUEE, said that the directive was in contravention of the workers’ conditions of service and career progression paths, adding that “it was unilaterally done without the relevant stakeholders.”

In Nigeria, labour leaders don’t seem to know how to engage those in authorities and resolve their grievances without recourse to strike. Government officials also seem unwilling to listen to union officials until issues involved become intractable.

In a circular with number 012/2020 dated 15-08-2022, Ajaero said: “This directive is in contravention of our conditions of service and career progression paths, and unilaterally done without the relevant stakeholders.” He added that a reason for the industrial action also included stigmatisation and prevention of staff from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation from working in other areas in the power sector and refusal of the market operator to fund the payment of entitlements of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN’s) ex-staff, as agreed in December, 2019.

And for those flimsy reasons, the union decided to shut down power assets which triggered a national electricity grid crash, crumbling power generation from over 4,000MW to 762MW and finally to zero at exactly 3.01p.m. Information from the Independent System Operation (ISO), a section of TCN, shows that power generation on the grid was 4,149.40MW as of 6 a.m. from 21 power plants on Wednesday but drastically dropped to 1,635MW from 17 plants when the protesters started shutting down power generation plants. It deteriorated as of 12 noon, crashing to 1,246.40MW as three power plants went off, and by 1 p.m, the grid dropped to 762.30MW with just 13 plants active before falling to zero.

Under normal clime, the union leaders should be put behind bars but in Nigeria, under President Muhammadu Buhari, they are still flexing their muscles as they know that nothing will happen to them. We have a rudderless government in power to the extent that anything goes in the country now. Our President is either not concerned, not bothered, or he is just tired of the seat and is just marking time till he hands over to the next person. How can labour leaders include as part of their reasons for embarking on strike, a directive for senior managers that may be less than 20 in number to appear before a panel for an oral interview for them to be promoted to the next grade level? What is the big deal in attending a promotion interview? Is Ajaero and his bunch of economic saboteurs aware that in the federal civil service, senior staff due for promotion must sit and pass a written examination and also face another panel for oral interview before they could be promoted to the next grade?

Make no bones about it, what Ajearo and his colleagues did was pure economic sabotage. Their action within the 12 hours that the national action lasted which led to the collapse of the national grid cost the nation over N3 billion. The economic implication of their action alone is enough for them to be tried for sabotage. Aside that, with most private and public sectors reeling due to the high cost of diesel, electricity workers did not even consider the fact that those in the health sector, particularly doctors, may be involved in life-and-death situations, during which electricity may be needed for surgical procedures. Their action could have indirectly led to the death of many innocent Nigerians in hospital beds. But they spared no thought for those considerations, and were more concerned with not sitting for promotion interview. No wonder that we have many deadwoods in the system. While it is a known fact that the power sector was privatized eight years ago, the transmission segment, which wheels electricity from the generation plants to the distribution segment and to various homes and offices is still controlled by government due to its sensitive nature.

Prior to PHCN privatization in 2014, electricity workers were barred by law from embarking on industrial actions, as such an action would have been deemed as economic sabotage punishable by a long prison term. Although, records show that under the defunct NEPA, workers attempted an industrial action in the 1990s and it was met with a brutal response from the Ibrahim Babangida military regime. The ring leaders were not only sacked, they were arrested and detained under Decree 2.

While the labour leaders went overboard with their decision to shut down the country’s electricity grid, it should also be noted that the federal government is not responsive to issues but rather always waiting for the deed to be done before embarking on their usual fire- brigade approach. The latest strike by electricity workers is the clearest manifestation of the administration’s inability to nib a problem in the bud. We have seen many instances in which every single problem grew into a crippling crisis in the last seven years before attempts were made to address them.

READ ALSO: Rescue working masses from exploitation, Olusesan charges Labour

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been on strike for over six months now, yet all serious attempts at resolving the imbroglio have ended in deadlock. The issue has escalated to the point whereby the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has called on students to drag their lecturers to court for wasting their time. The Federal Government has also insisted that it would not pay the lecturers for the period of the strike while ASUU has also vowed not to return to the classrooms until all their outstanding salaries and allowances are paid. The future of our youths is being wasted by both parties and a very abnormal situation is now normal in Nigeria. How can anyone be said to be in charge of Nigeria?

Recently, members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), gave a three-week ultimatum to the federal government to meet their outstanding demands or face their wrath. Their demands, according to the National President of NARD, Aliyu Sokomba, includes for the federal government and the National Assembly to investigate what was responsible for the non-enrollment of health care workers in the group life assurance scheme for medical workers. He also called for the probe of non-payment of death benefits to next of kins of their fallen colleagues, “in spite of claims of payment to insurance companies for the purpose.”

The unionists are also demanding an immediate and unconditional reinstatement of suspended executives of the association at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), led by Solomon Amadi. “NEC notes with dismay, the continued administrative rascality and victimization of its members by the Chief Medical Director of (UPTH), Prof. Henry Ugboma. We frown at the suspension of resident doctors, who also double as the legitimate executive council officers of the Association of Resident Doctors in UPTH. The union also called for immediate removal of Prof Ugboma for alleged fraud, administrative rascality, unnecessary onslaught, victimization and abuse of office. Aside that, the association is demanding payment of COVID-19 hazard allowance to its members. He noted that the association was disappointed that the COVID-19 hazard allowance payment was started only to be abandoned abruptly when NARD suspended its last strike. “NARD demands immediate implementation and funding of the Medical Residency Training Act as agreed.’’ He said the association also noted with dismay, the non-payment of the salary shortfall for 2014 to 2016, in spite of promises by several stakeholders to intervene, which led to the suspension of the strike. “NEC demands immediate payment of the arrears and the consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage owed some doctors. NARD calls on state governments to implement the Medical Residency Training Act and to ensure adequate remuneration of health workers.”

The association gave the federal government till August 17 to address the issues or they would be forced to embark on another round of strike. The union at the weekend, gave another two weeks for the government to respond to their demands after which the health sector may be thrown into another round of strike and confusion. All these flimsy excuses could have been resolved at a round table without members of the public getting to know full details. In Nigeria, labour leaders don’t seem to know how to engage those in authorities and resolve their grievances without recourse to strike. Government officials also seem unwilling to listen to union officials until issues involved become intractable.

The appeal should be to those in positions of authority to set up mechanisms that will create effective channels of communication between the workers and government. We have suffered enough from the tyranny of labour unions.

In Nigeria, the first strike was recorded on June 21, 1945, after failure of protracted presentations to the government for salary increase. Then, about 150,000 clerical and non-clerical workers in the Nigeria civil service came together in a general strike of all government departments. Since then, the incidence of strike in Nigeria has been on the increase and unabated with far-reaching effects on the economy and other critical sectors. Most strikes are undertaken by labour unions when there is a breakdown or deadlock of negotiations or collective bargaining between employees and employers. Strike is usually reserved as the last weapon during negotiations between management and the union, which may occur just before; or immediately after the negotiation fails.

Now, however, a strike is usually the first option to union leaders. The National Assembly may have to make a law that criminalizes an industrial action by certain workers, including electricity workers and those in the health sector just as it is illegal for law enforcement officers to go on strike. In most cases, parties (labour unions and government officials) still have to come to the roundtable to discuss and agree, which means that the strike could have been avoided in the first place. The appeal should be to those in positions of authority to set up mechanisms that will create effective channels of communication between the workers and government. We have suffered enough from the tyranny of labour unions.

See you next week.

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Mr Godfrey Abah, the Chairman, FCT chapter of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, made the announcement in Abuja on  Wednesday.

Abah said that the suspension followed a meeting held with the Ministers of Labour, Mr Chris Ngige;  Mr Abubakar Aliyu, Power,  as well as the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, and the representative of the Head of Service.

Others at the meeting, he said, were the representative of the Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE, and the management of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.

READ ALSO: Electricity: Resist tariff increment, CARE charges Nigerian workers

He said all the issues were presented and a high power delegation was set up to look into the matter and report back within two weeks.

“On that premise, we decided to suspend the strike for two weeks pending when the issues will be resolved, ” he said.

Abah also said that on the issue the union had with the TCN’s board, they had written a letter to schedule a meeting with them to resolve the issue.

NUEE had in a notice signed by its General Secretary, Mr Joe Ajaero, directed its members to stop work effective August 17.

“You are hereby enjoined to mobilise immediately for serious picketing of TCN Headquarters and Stations nationwide over the directive by the TCN Board that all  Principal Managers in acting capacity going to  Assistant General Manager must appear for a promotion interview.

“This directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths and was unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders,” the union said.

The union also decried the failure of the authorities to pay the entitlements of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, since December 2019.

Source: NAN

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The organisation said in a report on Friday that it was part of ongoing efforts to align the names of monkeypox disease, virus and variants or clades with current best practices.

The report said that the experts agreed to name the clades using roman numerals.

“The monkeypox virus was named upon first discovery in 1958, before current best practices in naming diseases and viruses were adopted.

“Similarly for the name of the disease it causes. Major variants were identified by the geographic regions where they were known to circulate,’’ it said.

According to it, current best practise is that newly-identified viruses, related disease, and virus variants should be given names with the aim to avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional.

It said others were professional, or ethnic groups, and minimized any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare.

For disease, it said the assigning new names to existing diseases was the responsibility of WHO under the International Classification of Diseases and the WHO Family of International Health Related Classifications, WHO-FIC.

“WHO is holding an open consultation for a new disease name for monkeypox. Anyone wishing to propose new names can do so here.”

It said that for virus, the naming of virus species was the responsibility of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses, ICTV, which has a process underway for the name of the monkeypox virus.

According to it, for variants and clades, the naming of variants for existing pathogens is normally the result of debate amongst scientists.

“In order to expedite agreement in the context of the current outbreak, WHO convened an ad hoc meeting on August 8 to enable virologists and public health experts to reach consensus on new terminology.

“Experts in pox virology, evolutionary biology and representatives of research institutes from across the globe reviewed the phylogeny and nomenclature of known and new monkeypox virus variants or clades,’’ It said.

The report said they discussed the characteristics and evolution of monkeypox virus variants, their apparent phylogenetic and clinical differences, and potential consequences for public health and future virological and evolutionary research.

It said the group reached consensus on new nomenclature for the virus clades that was in line with best practices.

The report said they agreed on how the virus clades should be recorded and classified on genome sequence repository sites.

“Consensus was reached to now refer to the former Congo Basin (Central African) clade as Clade one (I) and the former West African clade as Clade two (II).

“Additionally, it was agreed that the Clade II consists of two subclades,’’ it said.

It said that the proper naming structure would be represented by a Roman numeral for the clade and a lower-case alphanumeric character for the subclades.

“Thus, the new naming convention comprises Clade I, Clade IIa and Clade IIb, with the latter referring primarily to the group of variants largely circulating in the 2022 global outbreak.

“The naming of lineages will be as proposed by scientists as the outbreak evolves. Experts will be reconvened as needed.

“The new names for the clades should go into effect immediately while work continues on the disease and virus names,’’ the report said.

Source: NAN

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The NAPTIP commander in the state, Mr Musa Aliyu, revealed this while briefing newsmen on Saturday in Katsina to mark World Day against trafficking in persons.

Aliyu said that NAPTIP received the victims in collaboration with stakeholders from the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, the Nigeria Police Force and the Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, operating in the state.

He urged the Nigerian youths not to be deceived with the so-called greener pastures, noting that this year’s theme for the celebration is “Use and Abuse of Technology”.

According to him, the theme focuses on the use of technology as a tool that can enable and impede human trafficking.

The state coordinator of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour, NACTAL, Mr Shola Babadiya, described cyber technology as an avenue used by human traffickers to further their nefarious activities under its power of anonymity.

He pointed out that the traffickers use cyber technology to not only mobilise and recruit their victims but also arrange for their transportation and logistics.

Babadiya called on Nigerians to be on alert and always collaborate with NAPTIP to end the act of human trafficking in the state.

The state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Rabi’ah Muhammad, also urged media practitioners to intensify efforts on anti-human trafficking awareness campaign, “especially among the general public on the ills of human trafficking amid the tactics employed by traffickers in luring their victims into their nets.”

The news conference was organised by the state’s Ministry of Women Affairs, NAPTIP and NACTAL.

Source: NAN

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What a pleasure it was to read about the Federal Capital Territory Minister’s plan to ban the sale of alcohol in gardens in his jurisdiction. Criticisms of Mohammed Bello’s agenda, wrong-headed as they come, plainly ignore the fact that limiting the density of alcohol retail outlets offers enormous benefits to the society.

Off the top of my head, I can list some. One, it will reduce the population of pot-bellied men in Abuja and environs as well as stop a sizable number of boys from growing to become paunch-ridden adults. Many of my friends who went to the FCT as slim men now have the equivalent of five bellies acquired, of course, from those drinking dens.

Too much, I believe, is being made of the abridgement of the inalienable right to drink and possibly get drunk till your shirt is buttoned crooked while slobbering like a Labrador as you struggle to walk a straight line. This is small beer, considering what the minister is trying to save the society from.

Bello, a lovable, public-spirited kinda chap, is aware that when blind drunk, we are notoriously incapable of urinating in a straight line, a state of affairs that leaves the toilet seats and floor splattered with fizzing piss and unfit for use by other drunks who, to be frank, do not care. Bello cares. A lot, too. Liberal booze consumption, the minister is perhaps also concerned, provokes too many impassioned political debates that may entail the scrutiny of his stewardship and that of the government he serves.

Too much, I believe, is being made of the abridgement of the inalienable right to drink and possibly get drunk till your shirt is buttoned crooked while slobbering like a Labrador as you struggle to walk a straight line.

Equally importantly, participants in booze-powered debates tend to wee a lot and when returning from the restroom, may be so self-unaware as to leave their trouser zippers ajar and their equipment hanging like a broken faucet. X-Rated, that. Bello’s agenda, as communicated, was informed by an act of criminality in one of those joints and he wishes to believe the act or similar will be reprised, perhaps on a daily basis, in each and every one of them if they are left standing.

These are things for which he should get help rather than hindrance in the shape of criticism and lawsuits challenging his power to do what he plans. What we must understand is that he is persuaded that he has a divine warrant to go against alcohol. Self-awarded piety, with which he is afflicted, is accompanied by pompous fascism. From my experience, pious and pompous go together, breeding a bizarre mindset that everyone in the world must want basically the same thing as you do.

There can be no prizes for guessing that the clown is driven by religion which, in many, induces a tendency to be sententious and breeds a sense that their belief is the constitution for humanity. It is, however, safe to say that not everyone will grieve when and if Bello’s plan kicks in. Vendors of marijuana, cocaine, mood-altering patent medicines and other dangerous substances must be licking their lips at the prospect of a big boom in sales when those unable to drink freely begin their search for alternatives. The grief will be felt by those whose jobs are directly or indirectly tied to those gardens and of course, tax authorities.

The FCT is not Kandahar or Kunduz.

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Osundeyi who resides in Oke-Ado-Liberty area in Ibadan,  contended that he abandoned his home for his safety.

“Funke’s parents did not take any bride price from me, but her lifestyle since we started living together as husband and wife has been full of horror and unpleasant experiences.

“I’ve caught her red-handed with a man in my bedroom. The man escaped.

“She is into diabolical things,” he said.

Osundeyi said Funke was ill-tempered and engaged in physical fights at the slightest provocation.

Funke, in her defence, denied all allegations levelled against her.

She accused her husband of eloping with his mistress.

“My lord, I have been the sole provider for my family. In fact, Osundeyi beats me,” Funke said.

Delivering judgment, the President of the Court, Mrs S.M. Akintayo held that there was no marital contract between the couple since bride price or dowry which is an essential requirement was not given.

“There is no marriage to be dissolved as a result,” she held.

She, however, ordered Osundeyi to pay N10,000 as the children’s monthly feeding allowance.

She directed the couple to be jointly responsible for the children’s education and restrained Funke from harassing and intimidating Osundeyi.

Source: NAN

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Akintoye said the visit could be meaningful by making sure that he saw the facts on the ground and not fiction as might have allegedly been packaged by the federal government.

In a statement released in Lagos on his behalf by his media and communications adviser, Maxwell Adeleye, the Yoruba leader said Guterres must resist attempts by the Buhari administration to pull the wool over his eyes, sell him dummies and lead him by the nose in the wrong direction.

The statement reads in part: “The Buhari administration has started doing that already by preventing the UN chief from meeting the right people and from going to the right places.

“He is being shielded from the truth and from the reality on the ground.

“He is being deceived not to see the atrocities and deceit of the Buhari administration.

“At the eleventh hour, Guterres’s itinerary has been amended to divert him from the theatres of the atrocious bestiality of killers, murderers, bandits, herders and kidnappers that the Buhari administration has treated with kid gloves.”

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