Cloned Nigerian Anchor

Author: Chike Ozohili

  • Access Road: AMAC Chairman Assures Kafe District of a Facelift

    Access Road: AMAC Chairman Assures Kafe District of a Facelift

    Residents of Kafe District in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) may soon heave a sigh of relief as the deplorable access road to that part of town may soon get a facelift.

     

    AMAC Chairman, Hon. Christopher Maikalangu who made the promise yesterday, September 14, said however, that he shall convey the appeal of the residents for a complete revamp of the road to his boss, the Honorable Minister Nyesom Wike.

    He made the pledge during an inspection visit to the neighbourhood at the weekend, following earlier  appeals by the residents to the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory for some attention to be given to the only access road to the area.

     

    After touring the road that proceeds from the Junction of the MFCT Minister’s residence, Life camp, through the Magistrate Court till the end, serving about 48 Mass Housing Estates, Mr. Maikalangu expressed sympathy for the plight of the residents.

     

    While assuring that AMAC shall make arrangements to fix the widening potholes early next year, he promised to “report to his boss,” the Honorable Minister, who he said, shall be in the best position to construct an enduring carriage way.

     

    Earlier, Chief Uche Okereke, Chairman of Kafe District Stakeholders’ Forum (KDSF), while conducting the Chairman on the tour, hinted that the current stretch of road, complete with the solar street lights and other accessories were the private efforts of the Stakeholders.

     

    He explained that as a result of the numerous potholes and some failed portions of the road, residents have to endure commuting through traffic gridlocks, daily to work and return.

     

    The Chairman was accompanied on the visit by Amb. Alewa Akawu Nasiru, the AMAC Technical Consultant on Tenement Rate Administration.

     

    Amb. Nasiru enjoined the residents to ensure full compliance in the payment of their tenement rates and other levies to complement the gesture of the Chairman who has shown himself to be a listening leader.

     

    Expressing confidence in the likelihood of the current spate of development getting to Kafe, Amb. Nasiru said, “there is real presence of government in all nook and cranny of the FCT.

     

    The current minister, whom I call talk-and-do minister, is doing a great work in the delivery of democracy dividends. In no more than three months, we are sure that the FCT will become a brand new version of its old self.”

     

     

     

     

  • PDP Suspends Dino Melaye

    PDP Suspends Dino Melaye

    While it looked away when the second runner up in the last presidential primary, Mr. Nyesom wike brook every rule in the books, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kogi State chapter has suspended former Senator Dino Melaye, a close ally of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

     

    The suspension was announced by the Ward executive committee of Ayetoro Gbede, Ward 1, following Melaye’s refusal to honour a summon.

     

    Melaye was suspended for engaging in anti-party activities and alleged misconduct, which is said to have brought embarrassment and disrepute to the party.

     

    The Ward exco took the decision during a meeting on Friday, where they reviewed the report of the disciplinary committee set up to investigate Melaye’s activities.

     

    The resolution, signed by Ward Chairman Abayomi Osamika and Secretary Yodson Dayo, stated that Melaye’s continued membership in the party is no longer tenable.

     

    “The suspension is in line with provisions of Article 59 (1) of the PDP constitution which empowers the Ward party excos to take disciplinary actions against erring members,” it reads in part.

     

    The suspension is effective immediately.

     

  • Food Security: Ogun bans levies in markets, to introduce price control

    Food Security: Ogun bans levies in markets, to introduce price control

    Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed plans by his administration to introduce a price control mechanism in the state.
    Governor Abiodun also disclosed that henceforth, all forms of market levies have been suspended, noting that only development and environmental levies will be allowed, as they are meant for the development of markets in the state.
    The governor disclosed these during a meeting with market leaders led by the Iyaloja General, Chief (Mrs.) Yemisi Abass, at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
    Abiodun said as part of measures to control the uptick in the prices of food items, the state government will soon commence the operation of its Bulk Purchasing Company, which has now been rebranded as Gateway Trading Company, to ensure that the cost of food items is much more affordable for the people.
    Governor Abiodun also noted that the Gateway Trading Company would, in the first instance, begin operations in the four zones of the state.
    “We’ve also resolved that we will begin the implementation of bulk purchase and selling in the state. To that extent, the state government has rebranded our bulk purchase company. It is now called Gateway Trading Board.
    “Gateway Trading will now assist in bringing food items to our teeming public at prices that will be significantly below what they can obtain when they go to the market themselves.
    “So, we are going to aggressively implement our Gateway Trading objectives. They will first start in the four zones; they will buy in bulk and resell at prices that will be more affordable to our people,” he said.
    Governor Abiodun also announced the ban on all forms of levies in the markets in the state.
  • ECOWAS Departure: Burkina Faso launches biometric passport

    ECOWAS Departure: Burkina Faso launches biometric passport

    In a move that indicates further severance of relations with the regional body, the government of Burkina Faso has unveiled a new generation biometric instead of the old generation ECOWAS passport.

    This moves puts pay to any likelihood of the French speaking West African country rejoining the ECOWAS fold despite appeals by regional authorities for a change of stand.

    The new passport, unlike the one of the old generation, doesn’t carry the ECOWAS Logo or any related inscriptions on its cover page.

    The new passport is produced by Emptech a Chinese biometrics technology company.

    Following harsh sanctions due to military coups, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—three West African nations currently under military rule—announced in January that they would be leaving the 15-member ECOWAS bloc.

    Burkina Faso-Emptech Biometric Passport Launch

    Reuters quotes the country’s Security Minister Mahamaou Sana as affirming that “on this passport, there’s no ECOWAS logo, and no mention of ECOWAS either.”

    The government official adds that “since January, Burkina Faso has decided to withdraw from this body, and this is just a realisation of the action already taken by Burkina Faso.”

    The ECOWAS bloc has a policy on visa-free movement for nationals of member states using either the ECOWAS passport or the regional biometric ID implemented under the World Bank-supported (West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion  (WURI) program. Burkina Faso and Niger were among the first six ECOWAS countries to benefit from the WURI initiative.

    President Bola Tinubu, ECOWAS Chairman

    When the countries announced their departure from ECOWAS early in the year, regional officials raised concerns that citizens of the three countries will no longer be able to use the regional passport and ID card.

    According to Burkina 24 TV, Arzouma Daouda Parfait Louré, the director general of the National Identification Agency, stated at the passport’s launch early this month that the accomplishment is the result of a procedure that began in 2022. He said that the outdated passport production system, in use since 2018, had undergone a comprehensive diagnosis.

    The new passports will be produced with technology of the latest generation and in line with security standards for travel documents prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the official explained.

    The head of the ID agency announced that one of the latest developments is that people can now apply online for passports using an easily customizable and streamlined data collection method. The passport application process may be tracked by applicants, and passports can be issued in as little as 24 hours, regardless of where the applicant is located in the world.

    It is speculated that funding for this project may have come the $150 million World Bank’s International Development Association approved funding for Burkina Faso earlier this year to enable the West African country to its digital public infrastructure.

  • Kamala Harris trumps Donald Trump in first presidential debate

    Kamala Harris trumps Donald Trump in first presidential debate

    The much anticipated and most contentious US Presidential debate took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Nigerian time, as televised live on the Cable News Network (CNN).
    Living up to its hype, the debate was a fiery fireworks of some sort where the incumbent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is the Democrat Presidential ticket bearer, shone like an incandescent firework in a dark Christmas night.

    Expected to be a critical decider that would enable many electorates across a spectrum of demographics to chose their candidate, the presidential debate did the job by sieving the chaff from the grains.

    From the beginning when the Vice president stormed into the venue and went straight to stretch out her hands to shake and introduce herself to the former president, to when she reminded him that she is Kamala Harris, not President Joe Biden,  the US Vice President out-debated former President Donald Trump.
    Even in terms of their body language, Trump looked curmudgeonly and predatory most times while Harris appeared presidential, comported, caring and fearless like a commander in chief.

    On all occasions, Harris successfully baited Trump in this contentious first debate and he failed on all counts as she goes on to flat him out completely by defining for his lies, racism, narcissism  and emotional instability. For instance, it was revealed by the fact checker that D9nald Trump lied 33 times during the debate, compared with a single falsehood by his opponent.

    Her pedigree as a successful prosecutor was deftly deployed to portray him as a felon  for all his lying and bullying.

    In terms of specific plans, she laid out her plans on the economy, homeland security, international relations diplomacy and race relations.

    And the endorsements started pouring in…

    As soon as the debates ended, reports filtered on to break the news about a mega endorsement by pop star, Taylor Swift.
    Posting on her Instagram, Ms. Taylor Swift,  posted a picture of herself holding a cat denounce JD Vance, Trump’s running mate who called Kamala Harris a childless cat.
  • AFCON 2025 Qualifiers: Group D leaders, Nigeria held to a goalless draw

    AFCON 2025 Qualifiers: Group D leaders, Nigeria held to a goalless draw

    Group D leader in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier Nigeria, was held to a goalless draw in Kigali on Tuesday, by Rwanda.

     

    The Super Eagles, however, will feel vindictive because in the first half, what appeared to be a real goal was disallowed after Ademola Lookman scored a Victor Boniface’s header, which the referee dismissed.

     

    Both teams’ goalkeepers produced excellent saves to keep the score at zero.

     

    Rwanda is in second place with two points, and Nigeria is leading Group D with four points.

  • 2027 Election: Labour Party and Others self-destruct

    2027 Election: Labour Party and Others self-destruct

    Apart from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, other leading players at the last election except the ruling All People’s Congress seem to be imploding, all as a result of frenzied moves ahead of the 2027 general elections.

     

    For instance, both the PDP and the Labour Party, the first and second runners up at the 2023 presidential election have been neck deep in internal wranglings for no specific reasons other than the machinations of greedy party members to self destruct in favour of an individual’s ambition to conquere power in 2027.

     

    In an apparent redundant move the Labour Party has revoked the automatic tickets previously reserved for its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, for the 2027 election.

     

    The decision was made during the party’s National Executive Council meeting held on Monday, September 9, in Abuja.

     

    Following the meeting, the party’s National Working Committee, led by Julius Abure, announced that all party tickets, from the presidency to the House of Assemblies, would now be open to all qualified Nigerians.

     

    In a communique signed by the National Chairman of the party, Abure, and National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim, the NEC nullified the decision taken at the stakeholders meeting convened by Otti.

     

    The NEC insisted that there was no vacuum in the leadership of the party after “conducting its National Convention in line with its constitution, the Electoral Act and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on March 27, 2024.”

     

  • For Ajuri, like Betta, Greed goes before fall

    For Ajuri, like Betta, Greed goes before fall

    The real reason Ajuri Ngelale resigned from his plum job as President Tinubu’s spokesperson yesterday is that he was about to be sacked.

     

    Ajuri, the 37 year old newsman, like Betta Edu, the former minister of Humanitarian Affairs, simply ate more than he could chew. But unlike his other youngster peer, Ajuri realised he had fallen out of favour of friends and foe alike and he took his own poison.

    Betta Edu, former Humanitarian Affairs Minister: Suspended for stealing allegations

    Facts emerging from the Villa indicate that it was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. George Akume that pressed the button that ignited the storm against Mr. Ngelale.

    It all started when Ajuri began to create offices and making himself the head like: Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, Nigeria’s first green industrial zone, as well as  Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic solutions, which is chaired by President Tinubu.

    George Akume, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) Complained about Mr. Ngelale’s power grabbing tendencies

    This move, apart from the SGF, angered many others, especially technocrats in the climate change movement who felt that Ajuri did not have what it takes to productively steer these engagements.

     

    This turned out to be Mr. Ngelale’s second major and last battle after the first, when he leveraged on his chubby relations with Deji Tinubu, the son of the president and Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu to clinch the job of Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, initially penciled down for Mr. Dele Alake.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    From the above incidents it can be said that, amongst other factors, two elements that hastened Mr. Ngelale’s fall from power were inexperience and greed. Upon ascendancy, Ngelale was found not to be a whiz kid in information management after all.

     

    Some examples include when, in September 2023, he made an incorrect announcement, claiming that Tinubu was the first African president to ring the Nasdaq closing bell.

     

    Another instance was when he declared, rather prematurely that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government had decided to remove Nigeria’s prohibition on visas. The outcry from the media each time was especially embarrassing for the government.

     

    Ajuri simply didn’t fit the part as a topnotch professional to occupy the coveted office. As someone remarked, “Some of his press statements were simply childish,” referring to Ngelale’s social media post in which he claimed to have shattered the State House record for the most statements made in a single day. This happened on July 13, 2024.

     

    The end for Mr.Ajuri Ngelale, presidency revealed, came recently when he was asked to chose between special adviser to the president on media and publicity and special presidential envoy on climate action/ chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

     

    Expectedly, he chose the former. This was however, declined as he was told that if he must continue function in that role then he must work under guidance of an experienced media master.

     

    From thence, Mr. Ngelale knew that the die had been caste and his job had gone. He had to resign.

    The lesson for Mr. Ngelale and others in powerful positions is to be mindful of the toes they step on. When you step on too many toes or ‘certain’ toes, you may loose your balance and fall.

  • ICPC denies arresting, merely invited Chris Ngige for questioning

    ICPC denies arresting, merely invited Chris Ngige for questioning

    Hibernating, but not forgotten, former Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige has fallen into the dragnet of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
    But Mr. Ademola Bakare, the spokesperson of the commission insists
    Ngige was merely invited for questioning concerning certain activities that took place during his tenure as minister.
    In a telephone call to Africa Independent Television, Bakare explained that the former Labour minister was not detained but was questioned and subsequently allowed to leave.
    He added that Ngige was instructed to return on a specified date for further interrogation.
    “The former Labour minister, Chris Ngige, was not arrested. He was invited for questioning related to his previous ministry’s activities. After the questioning, he was permitted to leave and asked to report back for further investigation,” Bakare stated.
    The ICPC spokesperson urged the public to disregard the social media reports suggesting an arrest.
    He also advised journalists to verify their information before publishing to avoid contributing to the spread of false information.
    Bakare’s comments come amid a flurry of social media activity, with some users suggesting that Ngige’s purported arrest was linked to ongoing investigations into corruption.
  • Peter Obi Doubles Down on Condemnation of ethnic and religiously profiling

    Peter Obi Doubles Down on Condemnation of ethnic and religiously profiling

    Leading opposition figure and Labour Party candidate at Nigeria’s last presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi has doubled down on his condemnation of what he called the “distasteful comments” of a Nigerian woman living in Canada.

    Posting on his confirmed X handle this afternoon, Mr. Obi insisted that he would not pander to the wish of the others who argue that Mrs. Sennberger was merely reacting to those who had sustained their negative ethnic profiling of South Easterners.

    “While condemning such a level of tribal and religious division, I have received a barrage of reactions from people, many of who tried to justify their actions.

    Some explained that her comments were in reaction to earlier hateful comments made by another Nigerian and reportedly directed at other Nigerians of the Igbo ethnicity which I also now condemn in the strongest terms,” he insisted.

    READ ALSO:

    Nigerian-Canadian arrested over call for mass killing of Nigerians

     

    The former Anambra state Governor states, “As I mentioned then, and still maintain now, tribal tension and religious division must not be allowed to grow among us.”

    “Such divisive and hateful comments and behaviours against one another should have no place among us,” he admonished.

    It would be recalled that the last national election was marred by a lot of ethnic attacks and profiling was directed at the Igbo, Mr. Obi’s ethnicity, especially in Lagos state.

    Unlike his opponent, Mr. Bola Tinubu who was a direct beneficiary of such tribal attacks, Mr. Obi vehemently opposed the divisive acts during electioneering and and now.

    “We must remain one united nation, focused on solving the myriads of challenges facing us as a nation.”

    We must unite against further polarisation of our nation along tribal, religious and political lines, and focus on finding lasting solutions to the challenges of high insecurity, unbearable high cost of living and leadership failure that has continued to weigh us down,” he concluded.