Organised Labour last night suspended its planned nationwide strike for one month following an agreement with the Federal Government. Though details of the Memorandum of Understanding suspending the strike, were sketchy at the time of this report, the agreement, Vanguard gathered, was reached very late at night.

The meeting was reconvened yesterday for both government and labour to find common ground and avert the planned strike by organized labour to force the government to address the suffering and pains of Nigerians, occasioned by the petrol subsidy removal.

Earlier yesterday, the National Executive Council, NEC, of NLC and its TUC’s counterpart, had met separately to review Sunday’s meeting with the Federal Government’s offers.

Vanguard gathered that at the end of the separate NEC meeting, leaders of NLC and TUC set up a committee to harmonise their resolutions to arrive at common ground.

According to the sources, the joint resolution of NLC and TUC was presented to the government team around 5 pm.

But the meeting did not reconvene until 8.15 pm when the government team returned to the chagrin of labour leaders who Vanguard gathered, almost left the venue in anger. Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on Sunday evening succumbed to the N35,000, provisional wage award demanded by labour after his initial N25,000 for the average low-grade worker to run for six months was rejected.

Instead, labour insisted that the wage award should be across the board and run till a new minimum wage expected to be negotiated next year is put in place.

A statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris explained that some of the resolutions reached at the Sunday meeting were that, “the issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are at work and not when they are on strike.

“Labour unions argued for higher wage awards and the Federal Government Team promised to present Labour’s request to President Bola Tinubu for further consideration.

“A sub-committee to be constituted to work out the details of the implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

“The lingering matter of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos State needs to be addressed urgently and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who participated virtually, pledged to resolve the matter.

“NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government with a view to suspending the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above”, the statement said.

Members of the organized labour team present are, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, the NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugbaja, the TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro among others.

On the government team are the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejecha.

Last Thursday, I was invited to review a book on Odia Ofeimun, one of Africa’s leading poets and public intellectuals, a committed, “empathetic scholar” as Professor Tunji Olaopa describes him elsewhere. Our own Odia is not a man to be disappointed, he is our “Baba”, our ‘Owalen” as many of his brothers from his Iruekpen clan or Esan West kingdom of Edo State call him. But Lagos, the subject of Ofeimun’s anthology: “Lagos Of the Poets” can be often multi-dimensionally treacherous, the product of the chaos that is built into its structure, sustained by the inability to transform the city to serve the purpose of those who live therein on a sustainable basis. Professor Wumi Raji and Kunle Ajibade had been on my matter, in literal “Yorubanglish.” I promised them I would be there and indeed immediately I stepped off the set of The Morning Show on Arise TV, I started heading out towards Rights Hall, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja, Head Office of the CDHR, the venue of the event. The car was properly fuelled and that is a statement not to be taken lightly in Tinubu’s Nigeria. 

But the road laid in wait, not for a sacrifice, but in mischief. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had served notice that it would embark on “a total and indefinite strike” on Tuesday October 3 in protest over the decision of the Tinubu administration to remove fuel subsidy, which resulted in the pump price of fuel jumping up by over 300%. Organized Labour raised its objections and at negotiation meetings presented a set of demands before the Federal Government. The same Federal Government set up a Presidential Steering Committee and sub-committees but this yielded no results as government officials abandoned the negotiating table, and resorted to appeals to Labour to be patient and understanding. Understand what? Labour issued a 21-day warning notice. The government kept begging. 

The NLC later embarked on a two-day warning strike on September 5 and 6.  Government officials including the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Vice President at the last meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) continued to preach without addressing the issues. By that Thursday when I set out for Ikeja, the entire stretch of Awolowo Road was blocked by queues at petrol stations. People had embarked on panic buying of petrol, ahead of the announced Labour strike, with NUPENG having declared that all petrol stations would be shut down. I had to struggle through the traffic, endure the terrible potholes on the Third Mainland Bridge, which had been shut down on many occasions in the recent past for repairs, but where shortly after the repairs, the same potholes would return, putting motorists on that bridge in a state of prayer with fervent hope that the day would not come when those potholes would become craters and vehicles on that bridge would begin to drop into the ocean below. An imaginable calamity! 

I finally made it to Ikeja to meet even more difficult traffic hold-ups. I was lucky it wasn’t one of those days when the rains fell. When it rains in Lagos, it could be practically impossible to travel from one side of the city to the other. By the time I reached Rights House, the book presentation ceremony had begun. It was well attended: Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, Chair of the occasion, Professor Kayode Soremekun, former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Femi Falana SAN, Professor Mike Ikhariale, my former teacher at the Lagos State University (LASU), Professor Akin Onigbinde, my former colleague at Ogun State University (now OOU), Senator Yunus Akintunde representing Oyo Central, Molara Wood, writer and editor; Managing Director of The Guardian, Martins Oloja, Kabiru Aregbesola, representing his father Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, former Minister of the Interior, who later joined us straight from the airport. Editors. Reporters. Poets. Novelists. Word merchants. I met all the Mainland people already seated. The city of Lagos inflicts psychological terror on residents with its structural divisiveness. I know people who live and work on the Island who will never cross the bridge to the Mainland and vice versa. I was not even allowed to take a glass of water before Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine, the compere, announced that it was good I had arrived “in time” or “on time” – I arrived late anyway- and I should immediately present my review. It was an assignment I was glad to take seriously.     

One of Odia Ofeimun’s famous books, the product of a 2003 lecture at the University of Ibadan, is a collection of essays titled “Taking Nigeria Seriously” in which he reflects on issues about the making and the unmaking of Nigeria, the contradictions that have turned an otherwise promising country, of enormous potentials, into the very opposite of its original value, or perhaps something dangerously close to that due to the absence of enabling leadership opportunities, and an inevitable descent into the lower depths.  Those who know Odia, the title of the third part of the book under review: “The Odia We Know”, know him to be a man who takes everything that he does seriously. It is this single-minded devotion to his craft, and to his environment, to society that has been a defining characteristic of his polyvalent genius, encountered in virtually every facet of his persona as a poet, writer, polemicist, journalist, dramatist, producer, essayist, publisher, literary critic and entrepreneur. The last definition may seem odd to many but it is true, for as Chairman and Founder of the Hornbill House of the Arts, Odia has had a long experience running an enterprise, even if the main substance of that enterprise is literature and ideas, not money. Hornbill House has nonetheless produced profit in that regard: it published Tade Ipadeola’s The Sahara Testaments, winner of the NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2013. It is also the publisher of Obari Ogomba’s Grit, a play that has been shortlisted for the 2023 NLNG Literature Prize, both a firm confirmation of how Odia Ofeimun takes literature seriously too, not just as creator but also as promoter of the genres. 

While Odia Ofeimun takes what he does seriously, it is noteworthy that the publication under review is an affirmation of the man himself being taken seriously. Essentially, the book – Odia Ofeimun: In Search of a Common Morality – Essays, Tributes and Conversations (Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 307 pp.)  is the product of a conference in honour of the subject, on March 16, 2020, on the occasion of his 70^th birthday, held at the University of Lagos. Three years later, the presentations at that conference and other materials have now been put together for posterity in a book form by a troika of editors and scholars: Wumi Raji, Sylvester Odion-Akhaine and Akin Adesokan. The editors have done a praiseworthy and remarkable job of putting a fence around that year 2000 septuagenarian celebration, and whereas they claim that “the readers will be encountering for the first time what represents more or less a sustained critical engagement with Ofeimun’s writings”, I doubt if indeed this is the first effort of its kind. I refer the editors to an earlier book: Vicky Mnguember Sylvester (ed.) Critical Perspectives on Odia Ofeimun (Lagos, Ibadan: Malthouse Press, 2012, 271pp) with contributors including Kole Omotoso, Onookome Okome, Tanure Ojaide and Effiok Uwatt. But whereas this earlier book focused mainly on Odia Ofeimun’s texts, what can be seen at first glance in the latest appraisal is the extensive scope of the content, the depth of the analysis, the array of scholars and friends taking Odia Ofeimun seriously, and the focus on not just the literature, but also informed portraits of the man and his life and times, that is a near-balanced coverage of the literary and the biographical.

It is not difficult to see why this is so. Odia Ofeimun is one of the most impactful, productive, influential public intellectuals that Nigeria has produced in the past four decades, with his contributions to poetry, journalism, literary criticism, public affairs and stage presentations forming a formidable part of the canon. His influence is cross-disciplinary, multi-dimensional – politics, literature, drama, activism, journalism, culture, and as a person, he remains one of the most actively engaged citizens of our time. What further stands him out is his courage, his conviction and the sheer daredevilry with which he reinvents himself. Long before the Labour Party became such a movement in contemporary Nigerian politics, Odia Ofeimun had made an attempt to become a state Governor on the platform of the same party in pursuit of his oft-stated optimism that Nigeria can be rescued and saved through direct involvement of the “right persons” in the governance process. 

The book is divided into four parts, with a total of 18 chapters. The reference in the title to common morality is extracted from Akin Adesokan’s “The Fragmented Poetics of a Common Morality” in Part I titled “Critical Essays” – seven in total in this section. It would appear however that the common morality that is referred to is the humanistic temper that underlines Odia Ofeimun’s writings: his deep interrogation of what makes us human, what makes us less human and what could make us more human, across all the spectrums of human experience. These seven critical essays examine Odia’s writings, not the entire oeuvre but his essays, his poetry infused by what Idaevor Bello and Lizzy Onyeiwu call “the tradition of resistance writing”: “The Poet Lied”, “A Handle for the Flutist”, “Under African Skies”, “London Letter,” “Go Tell the Generals”, “I will ask questions with stones if they take my voice.” The city is a central symbol and referent in Odia Ofeimun’s writings. In “A Melting Pot: Representations of the Lagos Imaginary”, Professor Wumi Raji examines Ofeimun’s book of selected poetry, “Lagos of the Poets” (2010).

The discursive, research-oriented tone of the critical essays is sustained further in Professor G.G. Darah’s “Odia Ofeimun and the Dialectics of Nigeria’s Long Revolution” and Sylvester Odion-Akhaine’s review of “the Politics of Odia Ofeimun” both drawing attention to and exploring his interventions with regards to issues of nation-building, federalism, national conference and the centrifugal tensions in the Nigerian process. It may be said that this first part of the book for deliberate, obvious reasons is the more rigorous part given the academic, research-based flavour of the contributions. Two poems follow - by Professor Niyi Osundare and Okinba Launko – Professor Femi Osofisan’s nom de plume.  The editors describe this section of the book “as an interlude”. Osundare and Okinba Launko are Ofeimun’s contemporaries, members together, with Kole Omotoso, Bode Sowande, Tanure Ojaide, Funso Aiyejina, Abubakar Gimba, Festus Iyayi, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Tunde Fatunde, Zaynab Alkali, Buchi Emecheta…of the second generation of writers who helped to shape the ideological character of what came later.  

A much easier offering is Chapter III of the book titled: “The Odia We Know”, a collection of friendly, appreciative tributes to the subject by Owei  Lakemfa, Rauf Aregbesola, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Yewande Omotoso, Omowunmi Segun, Chris Dunton, Ogaga Ifowodo – presented in form of personal encounters and relationships with the poet, revealing how in the course of his career within the community, Odia as he is fondly called, or Uncle Odia as Yewande Omotoso and Chris Dunton refer to him, has been a source of inspiration and a mentor to many not just through his craft but also his example and generosity of spirit.

In Chapter 5, Professor Biodun Jeyifo’s keynote address during Odia’s 70^th birthday is reproduced, an even-handed, first-hand portrait of the subject by a fellow-traveller through the decades titled “When Poverty is Wealth – in Connection with the Word (for Odia Ofeimun at 70).” Chapter IV is titled “Conversations” and here in three Chapters: 16-18, we hear directly from the celebrant himself in three major interviews: his romance with the word, his life, literature and struggles – a more directly biographical section of the book which lends it a fresh momentum and appeal through story-telling and the vehicle of reminiscences.

There is no doubt that apart from documenting an important milestone in the life of Odia Ofeimun, a poet and writer of the first rank whose love for literature and language is in a class of its own, this book will generate further discussions about his art and thoughts as well as interest in his entire oeuvre. Few writers have been as prodigious and as compelling. It is important that the essays in the book do not convey any hint of hagiography or undeserved praise - for although it was Ofeimun’s 70^th birthday, the commentators and critics know him well enough to understand that he could not be swayed by any form of flattery. Ogaga Ifowodo tells him to write the long-awaited, long-promised book on Awo, otherwise “Nigeria would not forgive him.” Omowunmi Segun’s portraiture of Ofeimun at poetry reading sessions in a critical but humorous tone, is right on point, a well-pointed jab below the belt, but it speaks more to the man’s passion for the word, written or spoken.    

Adesokan, one of the editors, tells us that Odia Ofeimun is a writer that we will continue to encounter deep into the future. He is right. Ofeimun’s place in the world of letters is more than assured. After more than 40 books of essays, poetry, criticism and public affairs analysis, we can only look forward to a feast and a harvest of more words from his fecund imagination. The present book does not in any way, comprehensive as it may seem, exhaust the many possibilities for analysis that Odia Ofeimun’s work offers: his unionism for example as Secretary General and later President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), and the many battles he had to fight; his journalism before and after the military era as columnist/member of the editorial board of The Guardian and later as Chairman of The News Newspaper, and of course his practical involvement in politics either as Private Secretary to Chief Obafemi Awolwo, or as a Labour Party Gubernatorial aspirant who had progressive ideas about how society could be organized for growth and development but was limited by his own idealism in a political environment where commerce and vainglory prevail. 

As we look forward to Odia Ofeimun’s continued service in the literary vineyard, the editors have enriched our libraries and the growing bibliography on Odia Ofeimun’s writings by publishing this book that should be of interest to students and teachers of literature, culture and politics alike. People like Odia are hardly ever remembered when national honours and other diadems are given out, mostly to the undeserved, but it is his kind who speak and write truth to power who represent the vanishing oases of sanity and humanity in this land where the people’s hope for a better tomorrow is stained by the blood of the innocent and the wickedness of persons in high places. It is about time Nigeria and Nigerians began to take themselves seriously. 

Whereas, certain matters of trifling value render it impractical to subject the parties involved to the extensive and formal litigation process; this is most frequently encountered in the recovery of debts of an amount lesser than the cost of a full-scale legal proceeding. Consequently, an aggrieved party, wronged but without recourse, often resorts to divine intervention, for those who hold faith, seeking retribution. In some cases, frustrated parties have resorted to unconventional means to recover their owed sums, occasionally leading to the commission of offences.

To address this matter, certain states in Nigeria, with the Federal Capital Territory being the most recent, have established a Small Claims Court, where non-declarative, non-possessory, and relief claims based on promises or tortious actions can not be pursued.^[1] The jurisdiction of this court is restricted to claims for liquidated sums not exceeding NGN 4,000,000:00 (excluding interest and cost),^[2] and, where permitted, not exceeding NGN 7,000,000:00.^[3] Claims sum can be broken down multiple claims to accommodate the financial jurisdiction of the court.^[4]

On July 6th, 2023, the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, exercising constitutional authority, issued the Small Claims Court Procedure Directive of 2022 to facilitate access for disputing parties to an informal, expeditious, and cost-effective debt recovery process. The court ensures that cases are resolved within 60 days of filing, and appeals, directed to the Fast-Track Registry of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, are concluded within 30 days.^[5]

For a claim to qualify for consideration by this court, the following conditions must be met:^[6]

1. The debt must be a liquidated monetary demand not exceeding four million naira. Liquidated monetary demand is defined as a debt or specific sum of money typically due or payable, with an ascertainable amount, determined arithmetically without further investigation, as established by the Court of Appeal in the case of Micmerah International Agency Ltd. v A-Z Pet. Products Ltd.^[1] Such a liquidated sum may arise from a promise to provide compensation or a gift that has not been redeemed or paid, and the promisor acknowledges the debt, as seen in Joseph Uzor v. Daewoo Nigeria Limited.^[2]

2. The cause of action must have arisen within the Federal Capital Territory.

3. Either of the parties involved in the dispute must reside or conduct business in the Federal Capital Territory.

4. A demand letter must have been initially served on the debtor.

When these criteria are met, the claimant will be issued with Form SCA 2, where claim particulars will be submitted. If the claimant believes the defendant lacks a good defence, they may attach Form SCA 3 A and B, which include an application for the undefended list and an affidavit attesting to the grounds for their belief that the defendant lacks a good defence.

Upon assessment and payment of fees, a summons is issued, and the claim is filed by the Registrar of the Small Claims Court or the officer in charge. The case is then transferred to the administrative District Court Judge, who assigns it to any district court judge presiding over the Small Claims Court. This assignment must be completed within 2 days of filing. Fresh cases, unless approved by the Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory or the Director of Magistrates, will not be assigned to judges handling more than five part-heard cases that have extended beyond 60 days.^[3]

The court bailiff or officer is responsible for serving the summons and other related documents on the defendant within 7 days of filing and filing Form SCA within 2 days of service. The defendant has 7 days to file a response, counterclaim, or admissions using Form SCA 5. In the case of a counterclaim, the defendant must attach Form SCA 5A to their process, and the claimant may file a further affidavit within 5 days to respond to the counterclaim.

In instances where the bailiff is unable to effect service within the specified timeframe, Form SCA 6 is to be filed, and the claimant may subsequently file Form SCA 7, which is an application for substituted means of service. This application must include an affidavit providing the physical, postal, or electronic mailing address of the defendant and evidence of correspondence between the parties.

Hearings must be conducted within 30 days from the initial hearing date.^[1] This period may begin with 7 days set aside for private amicable settlements, which, when reached, are reported to the court and entered as consent judgments. In the event of failure to reach an amicable settlement, the court proceeds to hearing and takes oral and documentary evidence, focusing on justice rather than technicalities due to the informal nature of the court. Rules of evidence are relaxed, allowing the judge to ask questions and request document production to clarify ambiguous evidence. Hearing continues daily, with each party entitled to only one adjournment, until the hearing is concluded.

Upon the conclusion of the hearing, which must be completed by the 30th day or earlier, the court has 14 days to deliver its judgement and cause copies of the judgement to be issued to parties not later than 7 days after the delivery of the judgement. Failure to comply with this 14-day deadline does not invalidate the judgement delivered outside this timeline. However, when neither party appears in court at the commencement of the hearing, and there is no justifiable reason for an adjournment, the claim is struck out, and no relisting is allowed.

Judgments issued by the court are enforced as judgments of the District Court. Appeals against judgments of this court goes to the High Court of the FCT (Fast-Track Registry) and are initiated through a Notice of Appeal in Form SCA 8 within 14 days from the date of judgement delivery and records of appeal are to be transmitted to the appellate court within 14 days.

These 17 articles of Practice Directions conclude with a provision that makes other applicable court rules within the Federal Capital Territory relevant to matters not covered by these Practice Directions.

President Bola Tinubu has expressed shock and deep sadness over the passing into glory of a foremost Nigerian educationist and one of the pioneer medical doctors from Northern Nigeria, Emeritus Professor Umaru Shehu, CFR, on Monday.

Born in 1930 in Maiduguri, Borno State, the Nonagenarian was 92 when he passed away.

President Tinubu described Emeritus Professor Shehu's death as a big blow to the country, saying that his death had closed a glorious chapter of illustrious service to Nigeria, Nigerians, and humanity as a whole.

"Emeritus Professor Shehu was a giant, even among that legendary generation of pioneering indigenous professionals in our country, and the story of his life is saturated with many first, golden steps across the realms of medical practice, school administration, and humanitarian services.

"The renowned Professor of Medicine has always served Nigeria meritoriously and bestowed on all Nigerians a sense of pride with his indelible breakthroughs and innovative approaches to the administration of health and medical education around the world. Nigeria was indeed blessed to have him as both a patriotic son and as a worthy global representative in his fields of endeavour," the President gratefully stated.

Trained at the defunct University College-Ibadan, the University of Liverpool and the University of London, among others, Emeritus Professor Shehu spent a lifetime straddling Nigeria's medical and higher education institutions, in addition to several remarkable engagements on the global stage.

The legendary academician served variously as a Deputy Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Sole Administrator of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and the University of Maiduguri, respectively. He successfully taught and mentored generations of medical practitioners, both in Nigeria and in the United Kingdom, and served at different times as the Country Coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria and Ethiopia.

President Tinubu shared his profound condolences with the people and Government of Borno State, the deceased statesman's family, the Nigerian medical community, and so many others who are grieving around the world over the colossal loss of this Nigerian icon, mentor, father, son, and dedicated professional.

The President also prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased academician and statesman.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

The Governorship election petition tribunal has nullified the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state, declaring PDP’s David Ombugadu as the winner.

Delivering the judgment virtually, the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi declared Emmanuel Ombugadu of the PDP as the lawfully elected governor of Nasarawa State.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has lamented the ‘dollarisation’ of the Nigerian economy.

Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Monday on the state of the country, Peter Obi stated that the Naira should have been devalued.

He added that the use of the dollar in the country has led to unproductivity.

Obi said: “Dollar has become the underground currency of our economy; it shouldn’t be. We have a currency called the naira.

“All the things people use dollars to do that are not productive should be removed.

“I can assure you that when you remove it, it can strengthen the currency. Today, even when you want to do party primaries, people share dollars. That is not our currency.

“There should be a stiff penalty in dealing with the issue. If people earn dollars legitimately, let them spend it the way they want.

“However, it has now become a means of corruption and criminality in our system.”

Peter Obi further stated that the country should work more on exports to strengthen the currency.

The United Kingdom (UK) has released new travel requirements for people wishing to come to the country.

The UK stated that Nigerians and other citizens wishing to enter the country must apply for Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).

British and Irish nationals are, however, exempted from the new requirements.

The new rule comes into effect from November 15, 2023, and applies to everyone, including children.

The new travel rule states that all visa applicants wishing to travel to the UK need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) card before they enter or transit through the country.

The UK Home Office said persons who need the travel permit are those who were previously eligible to visit the UK without a visa and not already legally resident in the UK.

Also listed for ETA are those on visits shorter than six months, business people, tourism, and those visiting family and friends. Applicants are required to apply online before booking any travel to the UK. Once granted, it will be valid for multiple journeys over two years or until the passport one is applying with expires.

The UK Home Office, in a statement, further said travellers with valid visas may not be allowed to board without a valid ETA, as the ETA is digitally linked to travellers’ passports.

The statement reads: “The UK travel requirements are changing. Except for British and Irish citizens, everyone, including children who enter or transit through the UK, will soon require permission before they travel.

“This means that if you were previously eligible to visit the UK without a visa and not already legally resident in the UK, you will need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), your stay must be shorter than six months and could include tourism or visiting family and friends, transit, business, and short term study.

“You do not need to show a paper copy, but it may be helpful to prove the confirmation email for your own records while an ETA grants you permission to travel to the UK, it does not grant you entry. So, you would still need to go through passport control at the border to enter the UK.

“Make sure you show the same passport you used to apply for your ETA and that your passport is valid for the whole of your stay.”

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma defended himself against accusations of contributing to the state’s escalating insecurity, urging those blaming him to clarify their stance. He emphasized his reliance on divine grace, pledging unwavering service to God and humanity.

Uzodimma made these statements during the dedication of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church Parish in his hometown, Ozuh Omuma, Oru East local government area.

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, Most Rev Dr. Augustine Ukwuoma, underscored the dedication’s role in fostering peace and curbing violence in the region and other parts of the state.

After the service, Uzodimma expressed gratitude to attendees and maintained that neither he nor his government played a role in the killings in Imo.

Katsina varsity undergraduates murder 21-year-old colleague over female student
He described the insinuation as “evil, devilish and an attempt to smear his image and blackmail” his government.

Uzodimma reiterated that as a governor he needs peace to serve the people and urged those behind the insecurity in the state to have a rethink or be ready to face the wrath of God.

The governor said despite all the accusations and blackmail against his person and his administration, God has proven to be with him because power belongs to God.

In his homily, Bishop Ukwuoma congratulated the governor for building and donating a magnificent worship place of God to the Catholic Church.

The cleric, who said with the dedication of the church it has now become the property of the diocese and the universal church, warned against any infractions in the church.

He appealed to the leaders to lead the people well “because there is a lot of hardship in the country.”

The bishop appealed to the leaders to do everything within their power to prevent the looming strike by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) because it would not benefit the ordinary citizens but create more problems for them.

Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said the independence of the United States of America judiciary led to President Bola Tinubu’s ultimate defeat at the Northern District of Illinois court.

Shaibu stated this while reacting to the order by Justice Nancy Maldonado for the Chicago State University to release all of Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku.

Shaibu opined that Tinubu has been trying to evade justice since 1999 when the legendary human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), first blew the lid on his certificates scam.

He lamented that rather than deliver justice on the case’s merits, judges had continued to give Tinubu victory based on technicalities, claiming the development had led to over 20 dubious victories.

Shaibu said it was unfortunate that the Nigerian judiciary had failed to live up to expectations as the last hope of the common man.

He said, “Justice Maldonado, who has spent less than one year on the bench and who sat on this case for barely a month, has been able to do what the Nigerian judiciary could not do for 23 years.

“This explains why the Nigerian society is on the brink of slipping into the state of nature, which Thomas Hobbes described as short, brutish, and nasty.”

Garba Shehu, spokesman to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has insisted that his principal brought Nigeria’s economy out of crisis.

Shehu made the remark while dismissing claims that Buhari’s administration threw Nigeria into myriads of problems leading to the current hardship in the country.

In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Shehu said no past administration found itself in economic hardship like Buhari’s.

He noted that no government in the world can solve all the problems a nation faces.

According to Shehu: “If there were hardships or problems, these should be looked into, to know how they came about.

“No administration in this country found itself in economic issues like Buhari’s because of our dependence on oil and prices, which went down.

“We also had the Coronavirus pandemic. Nations shut their doors, and the economy plummeted. But, Alhamdulillah, Buhari brought the Nigerian economy out of that crisis.”

This came after the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, noted that President Bola Tinubu inherited a damaged economy from Buhari.

She made the remarks in Abuja while speaking at the interdenominational church service to mark Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Anniversary, tagged, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

She said the Tinubu administration inherited the situation on the ground but is willing to fix things without putting blame on any administration.

“All we inherited are things that had happened many years ago; we are not here to put blame on any administration but to fix what has been damaged.

“My husband is not a magician; he is going to work and I believe and hope that we will have peace in this country; the best is yet to come to us,” she said.