The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government to meet its pending demands as contained in the agreements between both parties or risk facing a fresh strike action.

ASUU, in a statement on Wednesday by its president, Professor Emmanuel Osodoke, accused the federal government of not showing commitment to executing the agreements with the union, some of which date as far back as 2009.

It urged the government to pay the withheld salaries due to the 2022 strike action and stop exhibiting delay tactics.

The University academic union is also seeking the conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021.

ASUU, in its statement on Wednesday, said if its demands are not satisfactorily met in two weeks time, its members will embark on strike, which would cripple academic activities in the nation’s public universities.

“In view of the foregoing, ASUU resolves to give the Nigerian Government another 14 days, in addition to the earlier 21 days, beginning from Monday, September 23, 2024, during which all the lingering issues must have been concretely addressed to the satisfaction of the membership of the union.

“The union should not be held responsible for any industrial disharmony that arises from the government’s failure to seize the new opportunity offered by ASUU to nip the looming crisis in the bud,” ASUU said

ASUU is also demanding the release of unpaid salaries for staff on sabbatical, part-time, and adjunct appointments affected by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), and the payment of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions.

Its demands also include funding for the revitalization of public universities, partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget, and the payment of Earned Academic Allowances partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget.

Other grievances of ASUU are the proliferation of universities by Federal and State Governments, the implementation of the reports of visitation panels to universities, the reversal of the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils, and the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as a replacement for IPPIS.

[NaijaNews]

In Nigeria, politics has unfortunately become synonymous with power grabs, grandstanding, and empty promises. Our politicians, both elected and appointed, seem more interested in wielding the title of “leader” than embodying the essence of true leadership. While the facade of leadership is worn as a badge of honor, the practical results of governance are often lacking, leaving millions of Nigerians disillusioned. This begs the question: “when will Nigerian politicians stop acting like leaders and start governing as true ones?”

Throughout Nigeria, from the bustling streets of Lagos to the quiet villages that are located across the 774 local governments, political leaders abound, by title. We have governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and local government chairmen. On the surface, the architecture of leadership appears formidable, but scratch deeper, and the substance is missing. Leadership is not about the title one holds or the office they occupy. It is about the capacity to make tough decisions, the will to deliver results, and the commitment to prioritizing the needs of the people over personal gain. Unfortunately, many Nigerian politicians fall woefully short in these areas.

A leader is defined by their actions, not by their speeches or the size of their motorcade. Yet, we have witnessed countless politicians who deliver eloquent speeches, promising the moon, only to retreat into the comfort of luxury living once elected. The gap between their words and their deeds is glaring. They come across as leaders in their rhetoric, but in practice, they are missing in action where it matters most, delivering good governance.

One of the core problems with Nigerian politicians is the perversion of leadership from service to self-interest. Instead of focusing on solving the critical issues plaguing Nigeria, such as poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and corruption, many politicians are obsessed with consolidating power and amassing wealth. The offices they occupy are seen as stepping stones to personal enrichment, and the welfare of the people takes a backseat.

True leadership is about service. It requires empathy, sacrifice, and a deep understanding of the people you are elected to serve. Unfortunately, many of our politicians view public office as an opportunity to enrich themselves, their families, and their cronies. This is why political offices in Nigeria are so fiercely contested. When you observe the lengths to which politicians go to secure a position, it becomes clear that the motivation is not to serve the public but to protect their own interests. Leadership in Nigeria has become a means to an end rather than an opportunity to improve the lives of citizens.

Nigerians are no strangers to empty promises. During every election cycle, politicians inundate the public with pledges to fix roads, build hospitals, provide jobs, and eradicate poverty. They plaster their smiling faces on campaign posters, attend town hall meetings, and go on television to assure voters of the bright future ahead. But once the elections are over, those promises vanish into thin air.

Take, for example, the much-heralded promises of infrastructure development. Many Nigerian cities are littered with unfinished or poorly executed projects, roads that lead to nowhere, abandoned hospital buildings, and non-functional schools. Politicians cut ribbons and pose for photos at ground-breaking ceremonies, but when it comes to completing these projects, they are nowhere to be found. Leadership is not about starting things; it is about seeing them through to completion.

Another glaring example is the issue of job creation. Politicians regularly boast about creating millions of jobs, yet the unemployment rate continues to soar. Youth unemployment, in particular, has reached alarming levels, leaving millions of young Nigerians frustrated and hopeless. A true leader would prioritize the creation of sustainable economic opportunities, but many politicians are more interested in short-term solutions that serve their political expediency rather than long-term economic growth.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Nigeria’s political class is their detachment from the realities facing the average Nigerian. While many Nigerians struggle to make ends meet in the face of rising inflation, insecurity, and a weak economy, our politicians live in a parallel universe of opulence and privilege. They are often chauffeured around in luxury cars, live in mansions, and receive salaries and allowances that are disproportionate to the economic realities of the country.

This disconnect breeds resentment. When politicians flaunt their wealth and live extravagantly, they alienate themselves from the people they claim to serve. How can a leader who has no idea what it means to queue for fuel, or experience power outages, or struggle to afford basic food items, truly understand the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians? True leadership demands that politicians get in touch with the struggles of the people and work relentlessly to alleviate them. It is not enough to speak about the challenges of the masses from a distance; politicians must feel their pain and reflect it in their policies and actions.

There is a saying that “actions speak louder than words,” and nowhere is this truer than in leadership. Nigerian politicians need to lead by example. It is not enough to simply make promises; they must be willing to make the tough choices that result in tangible progress. This may involve cutting down on government waste, ensuring accountability in public office, and instituting policies that prioritize the welfare of the people over personal gain.

Furthermore, true leadership requires humility. Politicians must be willing to admit when they are wrong and make necessary adjustments to their policies. They must be open to feedback from the people and surround themselves with competent advisers who will help them make informed decisions.

If Nigerian politicians are serious about being true leaders, several things need to change. First, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the mindset of politicians. Leadership is not a title; it is a responsibility. Politicians must begin to see their role as servants of the people, not overlords. They must prioritize the needs of the public over their personal ambitions.

Second, transparency and accountability must be at the forefront of governance. Politicians should be held accountable for their actions and inactions. It is time to move away from the culture of impunity where politicians can make promises with no intention of fulfilling them.

In fact, there must be a genuine commitment to improving the lives of ordinary Nigerians. Politicians should focus on creating sustainable solutions to the country’s problems rather than temporary fixes that serve only to boost their popularity.

Finally, Nigerian politicians need to stop coming across as leaders and start practicing true leadership. The time for empty rhetoric and symbolic gestures is over. Nigerians are tired of the charade. What the country needs now are leaders who are willing to roll up their sleeves, make the tough decisions, and deliver real, tangible results that improve the lives of the people. Leadership is not about holding a position; it is about action, integrity, and service. It is time for Nigerian politicians to rise to the occasion and be the leaders they claim to be.

Disasters could be man-made like civil unrest, wars, pollution or natural like floods, erosions, landslides and earthquakes. The recent flood disaster in Maiduguri ravished the city and caused monumental damage. Many lives and property were lost, with many people are yet to find their loved ones. There are also fears of a major disease outbreak. The flood highlights the need for Nigeria to shift to a more proactive emergency management system which involves paying more attention to the mitigation, and preparedness. Effective emergency management goes beyond just announcing the possibility of a disaster occurring and distributing reliefs when they occur.

Mitigation aims to reduce the likelihood or impact of disasters . It involves measures such as having early warning system in place restricting development in high-risk areas, promoting proper waste disposal to prevent blockages in drainage systems, ensuring people don’t build on water ways, fortifying infrastructure like dams, reinforcing critical structures, preventing deforestation to curb erosion, gathering intelligence to identify and address underlying grievances that may lead to civil conflicts. Preparedness involves having comprehensive response plans, training personnel, and having all the resources in place to respond to emergencies. It requires agility. For example, since there were warning signals about the flood in Maiduguri, plan should have been in place to evacuate people living in high risk areas to safe camps.

Better funding, coordination, collaboration and information exchange among key stakeholders, including the National Emergency Management Agency, State Emergency Management Agencies, local authorities, Fire Services, NIMET, and Security Agencies, are essential for a more proactive effective management system in Nigeria. It is imperative to involve Professional Project Managers to ensure objectives are met.

There is need for robust data gathering and analysis to enable effective identification of vulnerabilities. risk assessment and streamlining mitigation and response strategies. Nigeria should embrace the use of more technology in emergency management as the use of advanced tools like Geographical Information Systems, remote sensing, predictive modelling improve hazard monitoring and early warning capabilities.

The flood in Maiduguri has highlighted the need to rejig Nigeria's emergency management system to be more proactive and agile in order to significantly reduce the risk of occurrence and impact of disasters. It involves a holistic approach, by ensuring proper town planning, carrying out integrity test on critical infrastructures like dams and fortifying when necessary, having early warning signal and evacuation plans, etc. Enough of the avoidable loss of lives and properties in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again raised the benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point to 27.25 percent, marking the fifth consecutive rise despite slowing inflation.

The CBN has so far raised the monetary policy rate – a rate set by policymakers to control money supply in the economy – by a combined 850 basis points from 18.75 percent last July, reaching the highest ever recorded in the country.

The continued rise in the interest rate, though aimed to combat inflationary pressures and stabilise the economy, has far-reaching consequences on businesses with households grappling with its passthrough effect.

Babatunde Adesanya, an economist with the University of Abuja said raising the lending rates is geared towards slowing rising inflation “going by conventional belief”.

“But the challenge of inflation in Nigeria is not just a monetary problem. Other problems such as corruption and mismanagement in fiscal sector are also causing inflation in Nigeria,” he said.

Raising MPR halts soaring inflation

Africa’s biggest economy has been struggling with rising prices for the past 19 months which has led to widespread discontent before beginning to decelerate in July from almost 40 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics report shows that Nigeria’s headline inflation eases to a six month low of 33.59 percent in August, marking the second consecutive decline in nearly two years.

But with a hike in MPR, the CBN is maintaining a stricter monetary control to rein in the stubbornly high inflation.

Marvelous Ige, a financial analyst at Lagos-based investment firm, Commercio Partners, explained that since inflation is defined as “too much money pursuing few goods”, the goal of high interest rates is to reduce the money in circulation in order to control inflation.

“The CBN raises interest rates to tackle inflation, hence lessening cost of living crisis. The approach also reduces frivolous spending and protect or restore purchasing power,” said Samson G Simon, chief economist at ARKK Economics and Data Limited.

For many analysts, the recent drop in Nigeria’s consumer prices is largely attributed to the decline in food inflation, supported by the ongoing harvest season on food supply and not by monetary tightening.

Reduction in business expansion and loss of jobs

While raising benchmark interest rates helps in slowing inflation and reigniting purchasing power, it could also hamper business growth.

Nigeria is a country where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 96 percent of its business activities and provide more than 80 percent employment opportunities.

But with a tightening monetary conditions, credit will be accessed at higher rates, discouraging business expansion and fueling the already high unemployment rate.

“By hiking inflation rates, credits are discouraged since they are now more costly to obtain. However, what really happens is that certain manufacturers go on with obtaining credits/loans at high costs.

“The increased cost of borrowing will be passed down to final consumers in form of higher prices,” Ige said

“For consumers, higher costs of borrowing means reduced access to finance to fund their personal demands/projects.” the finance expert added.

According to Simon, cited earlier, the 50 basis points hike in lending rates will lead to higher cost of credit resulting in less business expansion for a country where small businesses contribute almost 50 percent to its GDP.

“It will result in contraction or slowing down economic growth and higher unemployment,” the economist added.

Echoing same sentiment, Adedotun Adesile, a US-based finance analyst said high lending rates may lead to slower economic growth as it reduces business investment and expansion.

“This will invariably lead to increased unemployment as businesses cut costs due to higher borrowing expenses,” he added.

Increased FX inflows and stable naira

A higher interest rate environment is expected to drive in dollar liquidity as investors will be in search for a market that gives higher returns on investment.

This inflows is will ensure the stability of the naira and improves consumers’ spending power.

Nigeria’s naira has suffered a 70 percent devaluation since it was allowed to trade freely and made its value to be determined by market forces last June.

The naira, though predicted to appreciate to between 1,350/1,450 per US dollar before the year runs out, is for the past weeks trading above N1,500 at the official market and N1,600 at the parallel market.

“The continuous hike in MPR should increase FX inflows from foreign investments and improve the value of the naira or at least stabilise its value,” Simon said.

He however added that with an increased monetary rate environment, cases of non-performing loans and payment defaults become higher.

High interest rates gives higher returns

In a high-interest rate environment, individuals with excess funds in savings accounts, fixed deposits, or other interest-earning financial instruments benefit from higher returns.

This means they earn more interest income on their savings, making it more attractive to save rather than spend. However, this can also mean higher borrowing costs for loans and mortgages.

Adesile explained that a high interest rates environment gives higher returns on deposits as savings accounts and fixed deposits earn more interest.

“Bonds, debentures, and other fixed-income securities become more appealing,” the financial analysts said.

“It’s not all bad news, a high interest rate environment means higher interest income for individuals with excess funds. They can fix their monies in financial instruments and earn higher interest income,” Ige, earlier cited said.

[BusinessDay]

Fresh queues have surfaced in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), leaving motorists spending hours to buy Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), aka petrol.

This followed the closure of many filling stations operated by independent marketers.

Findings by Daily Trust on Tuesday evening, showed that many filling stations in Abuja did not open, while there were long queues at the few stations that dispensed the product, particularly those operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and some major oil marketers.

Outlets such as the NNPC mega station on the Katampe axis of the Zuba-Kubwa Expressway, AP station along Aguiyi Ironsi Street in the city centre, and NIPCO filling station also along the Zuba-Kubwa expressway, among others, had massive queues.

The situation left scores of residents stranded at various bus stops.

It has also created a lucrative environment for black marketers, exploiting the situation to make exorbitant profits.

Quoting sources, PUNCH reported that members of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) had lifted over 50 million litres of PMS from the Dangote Refinery in the past week.

Speaking during a webinar on Tuesday, Huub Stokman, Chairman of MEMAN, confirmed that major marketers have started loading the product from the refinery.

However, Stokman did not reveal whether or not the marketers were buying directly from Dangote or from the product bought by the NNPCL.

“I can tell you that we have started loading PMS from Dangote refinery. Our members have lifted millions of litres from Dangote,” he said.

[DailyTrust]

Maverick singer, Seun Kuti has revealed the role he played in the ongoing saga between controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, and popular influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan.

Recall that VDM, on Tuesday night, released a voice recording allegedly by Bobrisky claiming he bribed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with N15m to drop the money laundering charge against him.

In the recording, Bobrisky also claimed that he never spent a day in prison after he was convicted and sentenced to a six-month imprisonment, stressing that his godfather arranged for him to serve his term in a lodge instead of a jail.

However, Bobrisky debunked the claims on Wednesday morning, saying that the viral recording was fake because he served his term in prison.

Reacting, Seun Kuti revealed that he was the one who urged VeryDarkMan to expose Bobrisky after he informed him about the existence of the recording.

Speaking during an Instagram live session, Kuti said, “You people are late to the party, I was the first person VeryDarkMan informed about the story. I gave him the go-ahead to expose Bobrisky.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC has summoned Bobrisky and VeryDarkMan over the N15 million bribery allegation against its personnel.

The duo were invited to the EFCC’s Lagos State office to provide information and assist with the ongoing investigation.

[DailyPost]

Renowned comedian Atunyota Akpobome, aka Ali Baba, has opened up about welcoming triplets at 59. 

In a recent conversation on the Leadership Podcast, Ali Baba said he and his wife, Mary, initially planned to have one more son, driven by Mary’s desire for another child after their kids left for abroad to study.

The couple considered adoption but opted for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) instead, intending to fertilise two eggs. 

However, fate had other plans as one egg split into two, resulting in triplets.

Recounting Mary’s persuasive argument that influenced his decision, Ali Baba said: “Madam had always wanted to have a son. She had two daughters and we talked about it.

“So, I told her I didn’t want to be having school runs, joining Wizkid and attending PTA meetings. One truth is the nest becomes empty when all the children have to go abroad to study and the discussion comes up again.

“By the way, she had wanted to adopt two or three children to take care of them. One day, she then said instead of adopting, let’s just have our own. I was like, OK, but the way the economy is and she replied, ‘you said the economy is bad,’ I said yes and she said, have you stopped paying house rent for people? I said no. She asked again, “Have you stopped paying school fees?” and I said no.

“We have a foundation, the Purple Girl Foundation, taking care of over 120 people in schools from primary to university. Beyond that foundation, we have people we are paying school fees for and people we are sending to law school. So, she said all those people you are helping, do you remember the economy?

“She said if you think about it, the reason why God put you in this position might be more than taking care of yourself. So I said okay, let’s do one and she now said if we do one you know that IVFD fails so let’s do two.

“So, I said, let’s do two and then one of the eggs split into two and that was how it became three. When it became three she and the doctor knew that it had become three but they didn’t want to tell me. So they they were like sometimes when we ask God for one million, he gives you two million. When God want to bless you you don’t know how he wants to bless you, he will just do.

“So, I was like where is this going? She said the eggs split into two and I said it was two we were looking for and she said it is now three. Then we have three boys.”

The fact that the price of petrol can drop if the value of the Naira appreciates should not surprise an accountant like President Bola Tinubu.  The inverse relationship of the value of the Naira and the price of petrol happens because, petroleum, described as an “international citizen,” is largely traded with the American dollar.

You may have observed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited took pains to convert the price of the first consignment of petrol it bought from Dangote Refinery from Naira to the American dollar, the current store of the value of practically all currencies of the nations of the world.

The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria recognised this obvious relationship, and suggested that local refiners, like Dangote Refineries, can bring the price of petrol down to N550 if the Central Bank of Nigeria pegs the exchange rate to N1000 to the American dollar.

Therefore, the quartet of President Tinubu, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and Yemi Cardoso, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, must find a way to strengthen the Naira.

Obviously, an increased inflow of the dollar, that the sale of petroleum should bring to Nigeria, will provide foreign exchange to service Nigeria’s foreign loans, as well as pay for the importation of petroleum products that fuel the transportation system and power Nigeria’s economy.

But one must admit there is a challenge to trying to strengthen the Naira, because Nigeria is essentially an import-oriented economy that has little or no control over the mechanisms used for tweaking currency exchange.

The odds are stacked against Nigeria’s quest to strengthen the Naira. But if the Naira is not strengthened, the price of petroleum products will continue to rise through the roof. And that has significant negative impact on headline inflation and purchasing power of Nigerians.

China, Japan, Russia and many of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries led by America and Britain, produce most of what they consume. Bar members, in Central and Eastern Europe, OECD countries also have the technological, financial and managerial capacity to manufacture machineries and

Of course, they import exotic foreign consumer goods too. But they have enough to spend on those luxury items, and the net effect of the volume of such imports make no significant impact on their currency’s exchange rate. They have positive net trade balance.

In fact, countries like America and China deliberately devalue their currencies, so that the excess they produce for export can be considered relatively cheap and affordable by consumers in other countries that import from them.

That is the model prescribed by Adam Smith in his seminal book, “The Wealth of Nations,” published in 1776, which, incidentally, was the same year that America’s revolutionary Declaration of Independence was written.

But one must point out that, by consigning Third World countries, like Nigeria, into the role of net exporters of primary agricultural and mineral commodities, and net importers of consumer produce, the metropolitan economies have permanently institutionalised trade imbalance against poor Third World countries.

This is how this evil plan works: By importing cheap unprocessed agricultural and mineral commodities from Third World countries, and exporting more expensive processed products to them, the metropolitan economies always have surplus from the transactions. Processed products sell higher than unprocessed primary commodities.

Nigeria earns less by sending crude petroleum to foreign refineries, and pays more for refined petroleum products. To the cost of processing in metropolitan economies that have high cost of living, you must add the accompanying landing costs –of shipment in and out of Nigeria– of the petroleum products.

These are some of the issues that Governor Cardoso of CBN must contend with, especially in a situation where, over the years, the fiscal and macroeconomic policies were either unavailable, inappropriate or ineffectual. Even now, the economic team is still grappling with deciphering the magnitude of Nigeria’s economic quagmire.

Indeed, the team is desperately trying to articulate appropriate policy solutions to combat the degradation of the economy. To borrow a phrase, from the streets, to describe the overwhelming nature of the situation, “Water don pass gari.”

The CBN must firmly resist giving Ways and Means loans to the government, and hold Minister Edun to his word that the Federal Government has “exited Ways and Means” loans template. This should appreciably help CBN’s efforts to curb headline inflation that directly affects cost of living. By the way, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics recently reported that headline inflation dropped two months in a row.

It is a good thing that the CBN is encouraging the Federal Government to repay the accumulated Ways and Means loan, even if it is in piecemeal tranches. It reduces government loan servicing encumbrances and frees government revenues for infrastructural, other developmental and social service purposes.

But the Minister of Finance must play a more strategic role in the quest to raise the value of the Naira: He should prepare an annuity plan so that a portion of government’s loan principals is paid, in piecemeal, alongside the loan servicing payments, to Nigeria’s foreign lenders especially.

He should then talk to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, one of his illustrious predecessors, to explore possibilities of approaching the foreign creditors to consider forgiving Nigeria’s debt after paying an agreed portion.

The first plan should convince the creditors that Nigeria is willing to service its debt and also end the binge. Also, they would thus be willing to forgive a portion of the loan. After all, payments made toward servicing the debts must have exceeded the loan principals.

Recently, The Punch Newspaper reported the cheery news that the World Bank acknowledges that Nigeria is prompt in servicing as many as 69 loans it had gotten from the beginning of this Fourth Republic.

Standard & Poor’s rating for Nigeria’s debt, currently a positive B- outlook, should improve. While Moody’s has rated Nigeria a Caa1, with a positive outlook, Fitch Ratings also assigned Nigeria a B rating with a stable outlook. This suggests that Nigeria is in a good stead, if the denizens of International Monopoly Capital do not throw another devilish spanner in the works.

When Nigeria has very little foreign debt portfolio, the need to scramble for the dollar, or any other convertible currency, to service its loan, is eliminated or considerably reduced. This takes away the immense pressure on the Naira and thus shore up its value.

The Minster of Petroleum Resources, who is also the President, and his Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, must initiate credible strategies to curb oil bunkering and increase Nigeria’s petroleum production to somewhere north of the promised 2 million barrels per day.

Dangote Refinery and other local refineries should be encouraged to earn more foreign exchange by selling their products across the West and Central African regions, but at the price it is sold in the country with the lowest price.

The economic management team must take unusual corrective steps to revive Nigeria’s economy. After all, he that is down needs fear no fall. The government that adopted the unusual policy of selling petroleum to (at least) domestic refineries for Naira must not hesitate to adopt other innovative policies.

France World Cup winner Raphael Varane on Tuesday announced his retirement from football at the age of 31.

Former Real Madrid and Manchester United center-back Varane had joined Italian club Como for this season but was then excluded from their Serie A squad having suffered a knee injury in August.

“A new life begins off the pitch,” Varane said on social media.

“I will remain with Como. Just without using my boots and shin pads.

“Something I am looking forward to sharing more about soon,” the four-time Champions League winner added.

AFP

A former female soldier, Private Ruth Ogunleye, has asked the Nigerian Army to publish the outcome of its investigation on alleged sexual harassment.

Ruth Ogunleye had accused a senior officer, Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, of sexual harassment.

In January 2024, Ruth Ogunleye via her TikTok page, @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, Ogunleye alleged that Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, Colonel G.S. Ogor, and Brigadier General I.B. Solebo had made her life unbearable.

She specifically accused Abdulkareem of making repeated attempts to assault her, administering injections against her will, forcibly removing her from her residence, and confining her to a psychiatric hospital for several months after she rejected his sexual advances.

Reacting to her claims on Tuesday, the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a press conference, noted that the outcome of the investigation has invalidated Ruth Ogunleye’s claims.

Nwachukwu said that after an exhaustive review of the facts, testimonies, and evidence presented, it was determined that Abdulkareem did not commit the offences alleged by Ogunleye, noting that medical reports following an evaluation at the National Hospital in Abuja indicated that Ogunleye was suffering from a condition that rendered her medically vulnerable.

But reacting to the above claims Ogunleye via her TikTok account urged the Nigerian army to publish the outcome of the investigation.

In her words: “I want to say a big thank you to the Nigerian Army and its spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu. It is no longer news that I was discharged from the service on June 15, 2024. I humbly request that the Nigerian Army publish the outcome of the investigation that led to my discharge.

“On January 9, 2024, I came on social media to complain about how I was harassed by Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, Colonel G.S. Ogor, and Brigadier General I.B. Solebo. I beg the Nigerian Army to post the outcome of the investigation on its social media platforms so that the whole world will know what truly transpired and what led to my discharge. I will be very grateful if my request is considered.

Urges Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy to intervene

“I’m calling out the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy. You’re not just a mother, you’re a woman everybody respects so much. Please come out and say things as they are. Ma, you requested me to leave the job, and I submitted my handwritten voluntary resignation letter to you, which you gave to the Army, and requested that they release me to your office. The psychiatric doctors were there when you intervened.

“Come out and tell the truth, ma. Thereafter, the Chief of Army Staff called me on July 1, where he told me he converted my voluntary discharge to a medical discharge because you wanted me to benefit from pension and other entitlements. How was I boarded out, and where is this mental illness coming from?”

[Vanguard]