There is an urgent need to address the neonatal mortality in Nigeria, the General Manager of External Relations and Sustainable Development, Andy Odeh, has said.

Odeh spoke at the public presentation of the winning work of Prof. Hippolite Amadi to the industry community.

The event was organised by the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited, sponsors of won by Prof. Amadi, in collaboration with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). 

Represented by the Acting Manager of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Yemi Adeyemi, the General Manager noted that Nigeria, as per a 2023 World Health Organisation (WHO) Report, ranks second globally in maternal, neonatal, and child deaths.

According to him, Professor Amadi’s innovations offer a beacon of hope in the face of this alarming statistics.

“The ground-breaking innovations of Professor Amadi, as recognised by The Nigeria Prize for Science, are not merely a step forward for our nation but a beacon of hope for the countless new-born lives that hang in the balance. We cannot afford to let the cries of our newborns fade into the background of our daily lives.

“The urgency to combat neonatal mortality is a solemn duty to safeguard the future of our nation’s children, and we must answer that call with unwavering determination and immediate, decisive measures.

“NLNG is very proud of Professor Amadi’s discoveries through The Nigeria Prize for Science.

“Our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria is the core of the prize, and we believe strongly that the 2023 winning entry speaks in unambiguous terms as one of the ways we can achieve this vision. NLNG remains committed to the prize and will not relent in finding solutions to the nation’s development issues,” Odeh said.

The event not only celebrated Prof. Amadi’s achievements but also served as a platform to encourage collaboration between the researcher and industry investors.

[TheNation]

Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said some officials were conspiring with land grabbers to work against the federal government on the issues of lands allocation in Abuja.

Wike said some of the people calling themselves investors bought hectares of land and start reselling to Abuja residents, with the connivance with legal and land secretariat.

The minister said this during a press briefing with select journalists in his office in Abuja, while reacting to the allegations by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SNECOU Group Limited, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, that he wanted to deal with Igbo people.

Ukachukwu had said FCT minister ordered the demolition of investment on 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Anambra-born businessman accused Wike of ordering the demolition without any court order despite pending valid two court orders from separate courts restraining him and the FCT administration from tampering with the property.

In his media chat with journalists, Wike said such cases on his desk were numerous, and thriving because of the corrupt civil servants aiding and abetting the property investors he called “land grabbers”.

He said they were defrauding people and the government by buying land in large quantities and reselling to residents, after they might have told the government that the lands were for investments.

“They are conniving with the legal secretariat here. Do you know we can sack them? Sack the land administrator? Have you seen the court judgement? Go and read the court judgement and see whether the court says the land is their own?” Wike asked.

“They went to tell the court to say tell FCTA to return our documents they are holding. I met these matters here. They were over 1000 cases on lands. As the court says ‘FCTA release their documents’ , does that show that you’re entitled to the land? There is no way they would go in there. It is our property!”

Speaking about the conspiracy of how they get court judgement, Wike said, “Do you know after they filed a suit against us, they made a deal with the law secretariat. They brought an external lawyer, and the external lawyer will agree with them, and the judgment will be served. I’ve never seen how corrupt human beings can be.

“The point I’m making is that all sentiments that I’m revoking people’s lands (is) by law. Nobody has said you revoked the land because I’m a Yoruba man. Nobody has said you revoke the land because I’m a Hausa man. What has this gotten to do with Igbo? What kind of a crazy, childish sentiment is that? He said.

[DailyTrust]

Real Madrid legend Marcelo has named his all-time best XI players that he has shared the pitch with in his glittering career.

The Brazilian left-back accomplished everything in his career with Real Madrid and the Brazil national team.

Marcelo included current and former football stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Ronaldo Nazario in the list.

He went with Keylor Navas as the goalkeeper and picked Chelsea’s Thiago Silva to partner former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos in the centre-back position.

In the midfield, Marcelo went with the likes of Casemiro and Luka Modric.

Marcelo’s all-time best XI (via Madrid Xtra):

Ronaldo Nazario, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Roberto Carlos, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, Rafinha and Keylor Navas.

[DailyPost]

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Tuesday, said security agencies will go after individuals with fake university certificates in the country.

According to the minister, the individuals will be tracked after the committee set up by the Federal Government to investigate the activities of university certificate racketeers in the country submits its report.

The Federal Government had set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers following an investigative report published by Daily Nigerian which exposed the activities of degree mills in the Benin Republic.

The Daily Nigerian reporter, Umar Audu revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme back in Nigeria.

The investigative report, which exposed the illegalities perpetrated by some tertiary institutions in the West African countries, led to the Nigerian government placing a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.

The committee set up by the Federal Government was also tasked with investigating Nigerian private universities established in the last 15 years.

Recently, the committee invited memoranda from the public. Selected members of the committee also visited institutions in the Benin Republic.

While speaking at the first quarterly citizens engagement in Abuja on Tuesday, the education minister, Mamman, said, “On the issue of the fake degrees, we set up a committee and we expect them to submit their reports soon. Once the report is submitted, I can assure you that individuals with fake certificates will be apprehended. They will be tracked by security agencies.”

Also speaking at the engagement, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu, noted that the quarterly citizenship engagement was aimed at creating awareness of the activities of the ministry.

He noted that the engagement would “ also promote mutual understanding with stakeholders and citizens, build and sustain public trust, and improve transparency and accountability in the sector.”

“Worthy of mention is that this engagement also aims to improve efficiency and streamline government operations by identifying and addressing bottlenecks,” Sununu said.

[Punch]

Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, and retired judges, yesterday said the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, ought to handle investigations into the recent murder of 17 soldiers, and an unconfirmed number of villagers at Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The legal luminaries, who faulted the handing over of the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom, Delta State, HRM Clement Ikolo, one of the eight persons declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, Abuja, over the incident, by the Police to the Army, said it is not the constitutional duty of the Army to investigate the murder.

They advised the Army to return the monarch to the Police for proper inquiries into, and prosecution of the the murder cases.

Among those who spoke to Vanguard were former chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono Obla, SAN, Cosmos Enwelizor, SAN, Chief Magistrate E. O. Eferakoro, retd, former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, a retired President of the Delta State Area Customary Court, Miakpor Emiaso, and Hon. Justice Jonathan.E. Shakarho, retired Judge of the Federal High Court.

Police should handle investigations – Enwelizor, SAN

Cosmos Enwelizor, SAN, who spoke on the phone in Rivers State, said: “My take is that the Army should allow the Police do the investigation and punish whoever is found culpable in the crime committed.

“Every criminal matter should be handled by the police as enshrined in the constitution. Our constitution does not give power to the Army to declare any Nigerian wanted. The constitution does not also empower the Army to arrest and prosecute anybody. It is not their responsibility. It is only in Nigeria that you see the Army doing everything and this is not good for our constitution.

“The Army should refrain from committing a constitutional breach by declaring citizens wanted for criminal offences. It is only the Police that has the constitutional right to arrest, prosecute, and or declare anybody wanted and not the Army. If there is any crisis anywhere, the Police have the power to wade in and arrest the situation, not the Army.

“If you go to other countries, even in Africa, you can never see a soldier on the streets. The role of the Army is to protect the country’s territorial integrity, not to declare citizens wanted. How can the Army invade a community, Okuama, destroy everything, and then declare a king wanted?

“While I sympathize with the families of those 17 soldiers killed by hoodlums, I want to say that the killers of those soldiers might not necessarily be indigenes of the community.”

Army not empowered to probe murder – Obla, SAN

Also reacting yesterday, constitutional lawyer and former aide to ex-President Muhammdu Buhari, Obono Obla, SAN, told Vanguard in Cross River State: “The Army has no scintilla modicum of constitutional or statutory duty to investigate a case of murder.

‘’The constitutional or statutory responsibility of the Army is to defend the country against external aggression or anything that would compromise the country’s territorial integrity.

“The allegation against the suspects is that they murdered 17 soldiers. The army can arrest them. However, after that, they have to hand them over to the Nigeria Police Force which has the constitutional and statutory responsibility to detect and prosecute those who have committed crimes.

“Section 4 of the Nigeria Police Force Act 2020 lists the duties of the Police force to include prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders, and preservation of law and order.

“The Army is part of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Section 3 of the Armed Forces Act 2004. By section 3 (3), the Armed Forces shall be charged with the defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by land, sea, and air and with such other duties as the National Assembly may, from time to time, prescribe or direct by an Act.

Army has no right to declare anybody wanted – Eferakoro, retired judge

Speaking in Delta State, a retired Chief Magistrate E. O. Eferakoro, said it is an aberration for the Army to have declared the king wanted, advising his lawyers to file for fundamental human rights applications.

His words: “The Army does not have the right to declare anybody wanted. It is a function of the Police. Then, the Police in Delta State should not have handed the king over. The best they could have done is to hand him over to the Inspector-General of Police, and not the Army.

“At this stage, the king’s lawyers should go to court and file fundamental human rights applications. Ordinarily, as a citizen, since he heard that they declared him wanted, he did the right thing by submitting himself to the Police in charge of civil authority, not the army.

“I believe the lawyers should go to court. If they can be rehabilitating riff-raff in the north, why will they be declaring our own dead or alive and then putting a bounty on their head?

“Then, what was the Army’s mission to that place? There are conflicting stories. They should investigate these things; the Police should do the investigation. There are allegations by the youths that the Army came for an illegal operation and that some persons were using the Army. I believe they should investigate these issues.”

Army shouldn’t be involved – Emiaso, retired Customary court president

Similarly, a retired President of Delta State Area Customary Court, Miakpor Emiaso, said: “I do not think it is much of a constitutional issue, it is simply what the law is. It is not everything go to the constitution; there are things we do in our common world that are regulated, not necessarily on direct provisions in the constitution.

“We have different sources of law, the constitution is one of them. Of course, we have judicial precedence and then we have statutes.

“We run a country governed by law and the law spells out the limit where each person belongs, where your authority lies, and where it stops. We need to straighten out these things in the country.

“The military getting involved in the Okuama thing is in itself against the cannons of natural justice because here, they are the accusers and the prosecutors and apparently, they are going to be the judges.

“They are aggrieved, they are the ones that have been hurt. It is bad, it is terrible that people should kill our soldiers, persons who are in military uniform, raised hands against them, not just hit them, but kill them, snuff life out of them; it is highly condemnable.

“But we are saying that having happened that way, the military who are aggrieved are the accusers, they are now investigating what has happened, they have taken over the whole scene of the crime in Okuama, not allowing any other person to come into the place, not even the Police. You can, of course, predict the outcome of whatever investigation they are carrying out.

“Their decision eventually would match their preconceived notion of who did what in Okuama. In this situation, an independent neutral body stands some chance of being objective in what they do, and the outcome of what they would do, l align myself with that position. You cannot be a judge in your case.”

What the military is doing is illegal- Justice Shakarho, retd

On his part, Hon. Justice Jonathan. E. Shakarho, a retired Justice of the Federal High Court, said: “It is the Police that have powers to investigate and prosecute, all the Army is doing is illegality from beginning to end. If people come to my house to attack me, then I will bring my family people to fight them.

“You do not do that, you report to the Police, they will investigate, and those found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted. The Army is taking laws into its hands. They have killed civilians in so many states.

“The king did the right by saying, look I am innocent, let me hand myself over to the police, and he did that. Police were wrong to have handed him over to the Army. The Police hierarchy was wrong to allow it; the Inspector-General of Police should stop it. That is anarchy.

“You kill a naval officer, you give him a warrant to go and attack, you kill Air Force personnel, Air Force will go and attack, you kill an Army officer, and Army will go and attack? It is not done like that. Police should retrieve the king and carry out their investigation; they should be the ones to charge the matter to court.

“If they feel it is a murder case, then they will file information through the Ministry of Justice in the necessary High Court, not the Army. The Army has no right to prosecute any matter. Holding the king is illegal, even from the start of destroying Okuama and everything, it is illegal.

“Two wrongs do not make a right. Holding the traditional ruler in Abuja in military custody is an illegality, there is no justification in law.’’

Hand Delta monarch back to police after interrogation –Nwoko, SAN

Also reacting, former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, advised the Nigerian Army to hand the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom back to Delta State Police Command for proper investigation and prosecution.

Nwoko, who admitted that the constitution empowered only the Police to investigate murder cases, noted that the Okuama incident is a little bit complicated because it directly affected the Army, as the Police were not on the ground.

His words: “It is not as simplistic as people would like it to sound. First, they killed soldiers when they went for an operation. Whatever the name of the operation; whatever took them there is another issue, they were soldiers who were murdered.

“Since the soldiers are the direct victims of the attack, and being that they were the security team on the ground, there is nothing wrong with soldiers stepping in to take preliminary steps to apprehend the culprits or persons suspected to be involved.

“After apprehending suspects, they should immediately, after preliminary findings, hand them over to the civil authorities, the police, to now investigate because it is multiple murder cases that are being alleged. It is not within the powers of the Army to investigate murder or punish or prosecute.

“It is within the powers of only the Police to do that. Since the soldiers saw what happened, if they can arrest one or two persons, they should hand them to the police which represents civil authorities for proper investigation and prosecution.
“As of the time that Ewu traditional ruler surrendered himself to the police, do not forget that the army had cordoned off the scene of the crime, they had barricaded the entire community. The police do not know anything that happened there.

“The man that goes out to hand over himself to the police did the right thing. The Police, on the other hand, do not have access to the scene of crime, it is for them to say, soldiers, you were the people on the ground, what happened?

“For soldiers to give a packaged report to the civil authorities that would help in a proper investigation, they should also have the privilege of asking the suspects: who are you? Where do you live?”

Asked if a constitutional aberration is in the making, Nwoko responded: “The only problem we have is that the Army are the direct victims, so, they are the only people that can say this is what transpired.”

“If by tomorrow, that man or any other person arrested in respect of that matter is charged to court, any evidence given by any other person outside the soldiers that were on ground will be hearsay, and not admissible. The police that would prosecute him were not on the ground.

“Formally, since the man has reported himself, the Army should find out who he is and where he was on the day the incident happened, and then, package the report and hand him over to the police.’’

It’s in the army’s interest to hand over to the police- Afolabi, SAN

In Edo State, Olayiwola Afolabi, SAN, said: “The Nigerian Army is the complainant in this matter, so, the Nigerian Army, being the complainant, cannot investigate its case, they are working against themselves, it is wrong and in that way, the case will fail because the constitutional responsibility of investigating a crime is the police’s.

“The case in question is not a coup; it is not a coup plot. If it is a coup, the Nigerian Army has the right to investigate the coup plotters, but in this case, it is a criminal allegation of murder.

“They do not have the right to investigate it because by doing that, they are destroying the case against themselves. The police should investigate, and charge them to the court if found culpable.

“Now, you are the one that is alleging a crime, and you are the one that is investigating the same crime, it is wrong. It will be in their interest to hand over the investigation to the police and any statement they have obtained from those suspects. Constitutionally, it is wrong.

“Police will have to start afresh, there have been similar cases that the courts decided, and once this action by the army is continued, the case will fail from the onset.”

Govt ought to demand monarch’s release – Okpoko, SAN

Also speaking to Vanguard, Chief Thompson J. Onomigbo Okpoko, SAN, said: “The constitutionality of what happened when the police handed over the monarch to the army is neither here nor there. The duty to investigate criminal activities is that of the police, not the army.

“But because the army appears to be the complainant in the matter, the police ought to have been circumspect in handing him over to those who are complaining against the killing.

“The whole nation is complaining about the killing of our soldiers. The killing of the soldiers particularly touches me, if people cannot respect themselves, and do what is right, we should be able to say it.

“The monarch did what was right and surrendered himself to the police. The police ought to keep him and inform the army that the man has surrendered to them.

“Therefore, the police will have custody of the man, but you know the soldiers, they think force can resolve all disputes. If they go to the police and say this man who surrendered to you, we want him; if the police refuse to give him up, it may result in a crisis.

“To save the situation, the police handed him over to the army. The fact that they handed him over to the army is not a license for the army to humiliate the monarch, torture, or detain him beyond the period the constitution prescribes.
“It is a matter of compromise. As I said, the government should demand the release of the monarch and insist on an independent commission of inquiry to find out the truth.’’

Proclaiming monarch, 7 Urhobo natives wanted obnoxious – UPU

Meanwhile, the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, the apex group of the Urhobo ethnic nationality in Delta State, has expressed displeasure with the action of the Nigerian Army in declaring the traditional ruler of Ewu kingdom, HRM Clement Ikolo, and Urhobo natives wanted over the killing of 17 soldiers, recently, in Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government Area.

President General of the group in a statement, Chief Ese Gam, said: “The Urhobo nation condemn in its entirety this unprovoked declaration of eight prominent Urhobo sons and daughter wanted by the Nigeria army .

“First, what is the condition for this unwarranted declaration? Did the police or the army invite them? Did they refuse to come? We should not do things to attract media attention…

“This is a country of laws, if a person is to be declared wanted, it should be seen that there was an invitation and if the invitation is turned down, there should be a repeat invitation, but from nowhere, you say a professor, a lecturer in Delta State University, and the president general of Ewu Kingdom is declared wanted

“The police is the only body in this country that is empowered statutorily to arrest, investigate, and prosecute an alleged crime, here is a king (Ovie of Ewu Urhobo Kingdom) because he knows that his hands are clean, surrendered himself to the police, now, the police on their own handed over our royal majesty to the army.”

[Vanguard]

It was the morning of December 26, 1983 at the shooting of ‘Blues for a Prodigal’, a film by Wole Soyinka. The dry, mild harmattan morning was filled with dust and haze. The location was the Rotunda, a small bar, tidily tucked in at the back corner of the vast Oduduwa Hall complex of the University of Ife (as it was known then). The unique architectural feature of the Rotunda was its round and almost squat-like design with a door and several large, similarly round windows which were almost the size (but not the regular rectangular shape) of french windows. It is a fitting rendezvous between two thugs (emissaries of a highly-placed politician) and an undergraduate who chooses to dine with the devil.

As we sat down waiting that morning, we watched the film's production crew led by ace cinematographer, Bankole Bello, set up their equipment. The late Steve Awana from Lagos was in charge of continuity. Presently, the writer and director of the movie, Professor Wole Soyinka arrived. In tow was his secretary whom we commonly called Francis. He was a wizard with the typewriter and cyclostyling machine. The personal computer was still in its embryo, undergoing pregnancy tests then.

Apart from a few professional actors and technical practitioners from outside Ife with some members of the University Theatre, the rest of us in the Rotunda were students of the Department of Dramatic Arts of which Professor Soyinka was the Head at that time. Somehow someone had spread the word, just before the Christmas break, to many of us students present that morning that Prof would be conducting an audition for a movie. So we did not go home for Christmas and came to the Rotunda with much expectation. We soon learnt that the audition and casting for the movie had been done and the shooting had started a few weeks earlier at locations outside the campus at Ife and even as far as the beautiful and serene Takwa Bay, an islet off the Lagos Harbour.

For this particular scene and a few others at the Rotunda, a few persons were needed as bar-room patrons - a crowd scene kind of. It was not therefore a fresh audition for roles as such. Having learnt this, we still decided to stay back, contented to be part of the bar-room crowd. After all, being a passer-by or waka-pass (as commonly called in Nollywood), in a Soyinka film would be a huge priviledge on its own.

In the bar-room scene, if my memory does not fail me, two political thugs (Prof christened them Enforcers) are billed to have a meeting with a young undergraduate who is paid to carry out an assignment for a politician. The undergraduate seems to be reluctant to do the job.

By mid-morning, Mr. Bello, the director of photography, and his crew were ready. But the rehearsal could not go on. The person playing the undergraduate, the movie's lead role and who was central to the shooting that day, Felix Okolo, was not on set. No one knew where he was. But it appeared he had not returned from the Christmas holiday. The now-ubiquitous mobile phone was still nearly a distant two decades away then. So there was no ready means of calling or knowing where Felix was.

The director paced the floor for a few moments, thinking, and then decided on the next line of action. He asked that a stand-by be found for Felix so the rehearsal could go on while still waiting for Felix's arrival. A quick search round the room for Felix's look-alike... and Prof spotted me. I was handed a copy of the script. Moments later I was sitting directly opposite the much-storied Jimi Solanke (Enforcer 1) and his ally-in-crime, Jimmy Johnson (Enforcer 2) who was at that time a television star in Lagos. I felt small.

Jimi Solanke was already quite known then within and beyond the arts world. By the time we arrived Ife as undergraduates in 1980, he was not there. But his name and fame had travelled well ahead of him. We were regaled with his exploits at Ori Olokun Theatre under Prof. Ola Rotimi. Before then, he had cut his teeth in the early 1960's at the Mbari Club in Ibadan which paraded path-finders like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Demas Nwoko, Chris Okigbo, Mabel Segun, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke and subsequently at Orisun Theatre along with the likes of Segun Olusola, Ralph Opara, Segun Sofowote, Yomi Obileye and Tunji Oyelana. He later went to the School of Drama at the University of Ibadan where he had formal training in acting, music and dance. He joined Ori Olokun Theatre under the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in the early 1970's. The theatre then was in town, off-campus, at Arubiidi in Ile-Ife. There, he worked and got further training under Prof. Ola Rotimi (acting), Prof. Akin Euba (music) and Peggy Harper (dance).

With Ori Olokun, he had many glorious nights when he lit up the stage and the spark in many a heart. One of such was at the command performance of Ola Rotimi's Ovonramwen Nogbaisi in Benin in 1972. The story rang through the campus of how deeply absorbed Jimi Solanke was into the role of Oba Ovonramwen that many in the audience were moved to tears. So enthralled were the guests that the governor of the Mid-Western State, Brigadier-general Samuel Ogbemudia, at the instance of the Oba of Benin, did not allow him to return to Ife with the troupe. By military fiat, he was appointed Senior Cultural Officer in the state's Mid-West Arts' Council where he worked for about four years.

He left for the University of Ibadan in 1976 to join the activities at the opening of the National Theatre in preparations for the 2nd World Black Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC '77). At FESTAC, he played several roles. He acted in Nigeria's main drama feature, Langbodo, Wale Ogunyemi's adaptation of D. O. Fagunwa's epic, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole, playing the lead role, Young Akara-ogun. The play was directed by Dapo Adelugba. He also had solo vocal performances under Akin Euba's direction while he was Assistant Director, Dance to Peggy Harper.

After the festival, he took off to the United States. It was as if he was being awaited. Moments after his arrival in New York, through a phone call, he got his first job. Two days later, he took part in the recording of The Path, a song by Hugh Masekela which also featured Miriam Makeba, Groover Washington and George Benson. It was a big hit which set him on the path of more successful hits. He soon moved to Los Angeles where he started a series of school shows which he called Africa Revue, a feast of songs, story-telling and drama sketches - similar to what he was doing at Orisun in Soyinka's Before the Blackout. This was the precursor of his story-telling and songs programme on several Nigerian television stations.

He returned to Nigeria in 1982 to the University of Ife Theatre at the Institute of African Studies. I recall seeing him in a few plays. He played the lead role in Kole Omotoso's Equitorial Trials in 1982. Early in 1983 he took one of the major characters in the premiere of Wole Soyinka's Requiem for a Futurologist. He also took part in Etika Revo Wetin? - a satirical musical production also by Soyinka on the rather concerning state of things in Nigeria at that time. It was released ahead of the August 1983 General Elections.

On a couple of times in 1982, at the invitation of the director, Iyabo Folayan, Jimi Solanke came to the Pit Theatre to see our rehearsals of Fate of a Cockroach by the Egyptian playwright, Tewfik Al-Hakim. The present writer played the lead role, the King, while Sharon Hamlet (daughter of the Carribean lecturer, Prof. Hamlet of the Literature in English Department) was the Queen, with Joke Muyiwa as Um Attiyah, Okey Okoesime as the Savant and Tunde Oduwole as the Priest. Jimi Solanke offered some vital suggestions for improvement. I benefitted from his advice on voice modulation, enunciation of words as well as the use of appropriate mobile eye and facial movements towards achieving optimal theatrical effect.

Now back to the set of 'Blues...' The rehearsal with Jimi Solanke and Jimmy Johnson went on till break-time, but Felix did not show up. After break, a few short scenes where Felix did not feature were rehearsed and shot. We continued the rehearsal all day without Felix showing up.

The next morning, Prof asked me to see him. He explained that since no one knew when Felix would come and we could not afford to lose any more day because of the cost of production, he had decided to go ahead with the shooting. He had therefore re-written a few new scenes. This was easy, he said, since he was writing daily as the shooting went along. To my utter amazement, the master craftsman had overnight created another character, a younger brother to Felix, and transferred most of the lines I rehearsed the previous day to the new character whom he named Sope. He gave the script which he had typed himself to his secretary, Francis, who quickly had copies ready for cast and crew.

After rehearsing several times, and seeing I had mastered the role and the lines, the director called for a recording:

"Silence! Bar-room noise! Camera rolling, sound, lights..."

Just as we were about to begin shooting the scene, Felix Okolo walked in.

"Cut! Cut! Cut!", the director bawled. You would think this was in itself a scene from a play. And silence reigned all over the Rotunda...

All eyes were on Felix...and then shifted from Felix to Prof and from Prof to Felix... not knowing what next to do... But Prof wasted no time. He said that it would be unfair to ask me to go back and join the bar-room audience after nearly two days of rehearsal. He insisted on the new arrangement: that I would play the new character and he promised to make necessary adjustments in all parts of the script to accommodate the new role. He asked Francis to give Felix a copy of the new script for him to study.

This was how the illustrious professor, for whom the Nobel Prize was still three years away, graciously created a character for little me. He gave me a role in his movie and also ensured I was paid at that time a whooping N250. Before then in all the previous roles I had featured on stage and television, I had never been paid more than N25 for any of the performances. But in the twinkling of an eye, on the set of 'Blues...', I was transported, far beyond my imagination, from the crowd scene to playing a supportive role in the movie. I was on top of the moon. Several years later as I asked him to autograph my copy of his new collection of poems, Samarkand and other markets I have known, at the National Theatre in Lagos, I tried to remind Prof of how he gave me a role in 'Blues...', he looked at me with a blank expression on his face. The Nobel laurate could not remember. For him, what I cherish till this day belongs to a time long gone, a brief but forgotten and faraway scene in one epic drama of several lives rolled into one.

But, Jimi Solanke's bark jerks me back to the moment. All eyes and lights are riveted on us in that corner of the Rotunda. His threatening trademark booming baritone and his bulging eyeballs accentuated by a scar above one of the eyelids fill me with terror. His gaze is terrifying... holding me exactly where the director wants him to. The tormentor-in-chief is barking and asking after my brother. His companion is also not relenting. They are bent on cowering me into revealing my brother's whereabouts.

The effect is almost stupefying. It seems the director and everyone on set are satisfied with the effect and enjoying the moment. I stutter my words nervously... as I am meant to anyway. I am sweating and suffering from the enforcers' threat and the heat of the camera's lights. My assailants are unrelenting until I can bear it no more. The scene ends in a pandemonium with me suddenly rising and turning the table, drinks, ash-tray and all against the two enforcers as I bolt for the door. But Enforcer 2 stands in the way and makes to grab my shirt. I turn and the next moment I fly out the nearby french window, evading my two tormentors. And they come after me...with my footsteps whipping the harmattan dust up their faces.

Later, Felix (I still can't remember his name in the film) with his girlfriend, Rekyia (played by Yinka Adesina) and I appeared in a few more scenes with the enforcers in hot pursuit.

Those were some of my brief but cherished and unforgettable moments with 'Uncle' Jimi Solanke on the set of Soyinka's movie, 'Blues for a Prodigal'.

Much said, it was sheer fun to be on the same set with him. For any fledgling like me, there was usually one thing or another to learn from him. Off-set, when we let our hair down, he carried no airs around him. He was always good company. Tall, slim and dark: you would not, as they say, miss him in a crowd. Try ignoring him, his iconic voice would always rise above the raging din of the market-place, striking and soothing even the most impervious ear. The last time we met, a few years ago at Prof. Tunde Babawale’s birthday at the University of Lagos, he sang and danced as if to bring back the old days. The moments were suffused with old school music and dance and nostalgic recollections of times past.

Doubtless, Solanke's tutelage under Soyinka from 1960 helped to form and shape his professional career. The high point of that career and his working with Soyinka was perhaps the enactment of the role of Elesin Oba in the latter's beautiful play, Death and the King's Horseman. According to Professor James Gibbs, one of the best known authorities on Soyinka's works, in his tribute on Jimi Solanke which was published in The Guardian (Nigeria) of February 18, 2024:

"In 1976, he created the monumental role of Elesin Oba in Death and the King's Horseman. Thanks to Gerald Moore, who reviewed the University of Ife production for West Africa magazine (10th January, 1977), we have a vivid account of Solanke's outstanding portrayal. Moore wrote as follows:

'Fortunately Jimi Solanke, who has to carry the bulk of the play in the role of the Elesin, turned in what must be the performance of his life. His expressive body and eloquent dancing were matched by a voice of great range and flexibility. Not a word was lost, and each word in the right verbal texture of this beautiful play was made to work within our understanding.'

History was made by that production and that performance..." - James Gibbs

And what a production! What a performance!

The ground squirrel, hands in the air, was once quoted to have wryly declared: 'whatever one knows how to do well always effortlessly comes out like magic! Whenever he is going on a farm, he does not know how groundnuts roll into his mouth'.

Those words suit Solanke when he bestrode the stage. But as the years and the nation rolled on like a bolekaja lorry and theatre activities disappointingly dwindled, he devoted more time to music - a love from his younger days.

Born on July 4, 1942 in Lagos, he had started out much early with highlife music. He wrote the lyrics of Roy Chicago's 'Onilegogoro' when he was still in secondary school. He later joined musical bands and sang highlife pieces at night clubs in Lagos and Ibadan. He formed and ran a highlife band with Orlando Julius Ekemode. Thanks to highlife and juju pioneer, I. K. Dairo who bought the duo musical instruments and a vehicle. They toured the towns a bit until they crashed the lorry and, with it, their dream. That was in the 1960's. In-between acting, however, he continued his music. He recorded a few albums here in Nigeria and in the United States. When he returned home, he teamed up with Biddy Wright for musical shows at the National Theatre and elsewhere. They formed the high-flying Wura-Fadaka band which lit up the social circles of the late 1980's and early 1990's with old school music. Biddy Wright would tragically later perish in a domestic fire incident in the mid-90's.

Solanke's music, a kind of afrobeat, is a fusion of highlife, jazz and local rhythms and themes. 'Bare Eni Joye' and 'Ojooje' are some of his popular pieces. His songs are evocative, directed to the soul. They strike and stir the spirit.

Jimi Solanke would be better remembered as the man with the song and the story. He would be remembered as Baba Agba, the aged story-telling grandpa, on several Nigerian television stations. He would be remembered by children who, gripped, gathered round him to listen to his spellbinding stories. Younger generations would see him as the old piper whom they, enchanted, followed out of town even as he too led their path. As Baba Agba, he made the role of the African story-teller most fascinating, transporting his audience, right on and through television, back to the days when there was no television.

Today the arts landscape is considerably diminished by the singular departure on February 5, 2024 of this great actor, singer, folklorist, dancer and visual artist, Jimi Solanke. True, he could so often struggle with himself. Yet, in the end, as a masquerade with cloaks of many colours, he wore many more masks than most. And there was hardly anyone he wore that he did not, in spite of himself, breathe and stamp a unique and captivating presence onto.

'A man is either born to his trade, or he is not.', Soyinka would say in Death and the King's Horseman. Jimi Solanke would in all estimation appear to have been born into his. He was in his elements in leading roles. He could combine easily the majestic movements of the royal with the stately features and gait of the tragic figure. And he could sing to boot! A delight to watch any day, he was always almost sufficient spectacle at any show.

We remember his wife and children at this time. Mrs. Toyin Solanke would appear to be the proverbial woman behind her man. She too was at a time a member of the University of Ife Theatre. Through the uncertainties, the ups and downs, and the ons and offs like 'NEPA' (our national electricity supply), like most marriages, she stands like a pillar... showing that indeed love conquers all.

Baba Agba, these children clambering about your feet ask for but one more song, one more story... Baba Agba, they are here. Baba Agba, they are all ears... Alas, it's all silence as lights dim and curtains close! Ale le, awo mi lo (Night falls, the adept departs). A new song, a new act unfolds only in the horizon. Jimi Solanke takes a bow and exits the stage. A stalwart heads home. He feels for direction. May he find guidance on his path...


(Akin Orebiyii is a farmer in Ogun State, Nigeria)

Ahead of the much-anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President and presidential candidate of the party in 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has returned to Nigeria.

Atiku, who had been out of the country for weeks, returned in the early hours of Tuesday, a source told LEADERSHIP.

The Ambassador Illiya Damagum-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP was pressured into fixing the NEC meeting for April 18, having refused to hold the meeting for over one year. The NEC, the second most influential decision-making organ of the party after the national convention, is expected to meet every quarter as stipulated by the party’s constitution.

The anticipated NEC meeting, according to party sources, is shaping up to be a make or mar one for the party.

Atiku, who is regarded as de facto leader of the party, being the presidential candidate in the last elections, is expected to spearhead other meetings ahead of the NEC meeting.

This comes as agitations have mounted over the poor management of the party against the backdrop of allegations that the party was being controlled by external forces as alleged by former Benue State governor, Senator Gabriel Suswam.

Also, the North Central zone has called for Damagum to relinquish the acting national chairmanship seat and allow the emergence of a substantive national chairman from the region where the party originally zoned the position to in 2021.

Recall that former Senate President, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, from Benue State (North Central) emerged national chairman at the party’s last convention.

But Damagum, deputy national chairman (North), who hails from Yobe State (North East), was made acting national chairman in 2023 after a court order removed Ayu from office.

Although the agenda of the NEC would be defined by the NWC, sources told LEADERSHIP that the NEC meeting might also decide on what actions to take on “party leaders who have continued to undermine the party.”

Recall that some governors and party chieftains openly worked against Atiku as PDP presidential candidate in 2023 and also recently reiterated their resolve to support President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

[Leadership]

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has set a new 2024 base gas price for companies in the power sector and commercial users.

This is contained in a statement signed by Farouk Ahmed, the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

According to the statement, companies in the power sector will pay $2.42 MMBTU for wholesale gas purchases while commercial users will buy natural gas at $2.92 MMBTU.

Furthermore, the NMDPRA referenced provisions of the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as the legal backing for its latest decision.

It stated,

• “The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 assented to by the President on the 16th of August 2021 and gazetted on the 27th of August 2021 provides a clear regulatory framework for the determination of a Market-based pricing regime for the domestic gas market in Nigeria.
• “in line with Section 167, the Third and Fourth Schedule of the PIA 2021, the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is mandated to determine the Domestic Base Price (DBP) and the marketable wholesale price of natural gas supplied to the strategic sectors”
• “Accordingly, after due consultation with key stakeholders and taking into cognisance the provisions of the PIA, as well as the gazetted Gas Pricing and Domestic Demand Regulations, the NMDPRA hereby establishes the Year 2024 Domestic Base Price as USD 2.42 / MMBTU”

Additionally, the NMDPRA set the floor prices for gas-based industries such as producers of ammonia, methanol, low sulphur diesel at $0.90 MMBTU while the ceiling prices is $2.42 MMBTU.

What you should know

• The increase in the base price of domestic gas purchase could likely led to an electricity tariff hike since about 70% of Nigeria’s electricity is generated from natural gas.
• In 2024, the federal government through the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) plans to pay N1.67 trillion to subsidise electricity– a 170% increase compared to the figure paid last year.

 [Nairametrics]

Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has revealed what transpired between him and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SNECOU Group Limited, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, who decried the demolition of his investment on 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district of FCT.

Ukachukwu accused Wike of ordering the demolition without any court order despite pending valid two court orders from separate courts restraining him and the FCT administration from tampering with the property.

Ukachukwu claimed that the property was demolished because it was owned by an Igbo man, and not because the company violated any law.

Claiming that the demolition was done in bad fate, Ukachukwu said: “Wike called for a meeting over the land, we went with our documents after seeing what we had with our lawyer and other company, Sunrise which they gave part of that land. Wike said that there is nothing on this that the court should take its effect.”

Reacting to the allegation in a press briefing, Wike said the land allocated to Ukachukwu did not have the approval of any minister as his predecessor.

The FCT minister said the land-grabbing in Abuja is becoming rampant because some officials in the land department of his ministry have compromised.

Wike said, “I have been doing this before. I will continue to do it. And nothing will happen. Criminals are criminals. They may come in different ways.

“I have never seen people like land-grabbing people in this place. I came in, (I met) so many petitions. One company came with different petitions, with different owners of properties. I summoned all of them. They came with their lawyers, senior advocates.

“And I said look what is this? Companies presented their own cases. Company A presented their own case, company B presented their own, company C, company D, Company E, I said okay, I’m going to seek advice from external solicitors. I’m not going to take from insiders … because the biggest (fraud) is that the Land Department has been compromised. I sought the views of senior lawyers and told them, we need to do things differently…

“This land, by this so-called ethnic jingoist, talked about, was allocated when there was no minister. The minister left on May 29, 2023. By June the land was allocated by the director of lands.

“If I tell you so many things. We all met. Company D this, don’t do anything again until we are able to take a final decision. You know what happened, these guys thought they were too smart and went on.”

The minister said there was a time when he wanted to commission a Water Park, and he was informed he could not, saying, “The Pacco and its allies have gone to court stopping me from commissioning the water park.”

“You see these guys (some officials in FCTA) are colliding with the plaintiff against the FCTA. I’ve never seen people who are so fraudulent like this! What they do here. They sued you, they sued me as FCT minister. They have court judgments in their pocket. I told him you are wasting time. His brother sent me a text message. I have never met his brother but he sent me a message saying, “You told your Ikwerre brothers you will deal with Igbos in FCT’, Imagine such.

“Why do we behave like this in this country? We keep doing the same thing and expect different result. If you transfer a director, he would say, ‘Oh! It’s because I am Hausa! If you transfer another one, he would say, ‘It’s because I am a Muslim’, but why?” he added.

[DailyTrust]