The Alaafin-elect, Prince Akeem Owoade, on Tuesday released his official title.

The palace made this known in a statement.

It noted that the Alaafin wants to be addressed as His Imperial Majesty, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, Alaafin of Oyo

“This is to inform the general public that the proper manner of addressing the Alaafin for all activities and in the media is EXACTLY as follows: His Imperial Majesty Iku Baba Yeye Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, Alaafin of Oyo.

“The number after OWOADE is the Roman Numeral One (I), not the English Number One (1),” the statement reads in part.

This follows the commencement of a 21-day traditional rites popularly known as “Oro Opebi”.

On March 7, the Chief of Staff to the monarch, Rotimi Osuntola, in Ibadan, announced that the traditional rites would end on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

[DailyPost]

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revoked the land allocation for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national secretariat in Abuja.

The decision was conveyed in a letter dated March 13, 2025, titled “Notice of Right of Occupancy with File No: MISC 81346 in Respect of Plot No: 243 within Central Area District, Abuja.”

Signed by the Director of Land Administration (FCT), Chijioke Nwankwoeze, the letter cited the PDP’s failure to pay annual ground rents from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025, as the reason for the revocation.

The letter read, “I have been directed to refer to the above Right of Occupancy granted to PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT and inform you that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory has in the exercise of powers conferred on him under the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, revoked your rights, interests and privileges over Plot No. 243 within Central Area, Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja.

“The revocation is in view of your continued contravention of the terms and conditions of grant of the Right of Occupancy by failing to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from Ist of January 2006 to 1st of January 2025. This is despite the many publications made by the FCT Administration since 2023 in several national dailies and on electronic media requesting all allottees of plots in the Federal Capital Territory to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on their property.

“You would please note that the said breaches by PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (MISC 81346) run contrary to the provisions of Section 28, Subsection 5 (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.”

Details shortly…

[TheNation]

The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to probe allegations about Standard Organisation of Nigeria’s reversal of its decision to shut down 18 companies found wanting in the production and distribution of substandard building materials, especially manufacturers of iron rods.

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Edo lawmaker, Mr Billy Osawaru.

Osawaru, a member of the All Progressives Congress urged the House to ask SON to do everything possible to eliminate fake products particularly building materials from the Nigerian market and ensure only quality products find their way to markets nationwide.

Osawaru had expressed concern about the incessant occurrence of building collapse in Nigeria, a development he attributed to the use of substandard products, poor regulatory practices and poor construction processes.

Quoting statistics from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Osawaru said that Nigeria recorded 47 building collapses across 14 states in 2024, with Lagos State accounting for about 56 per cent of them through 13 incidents, followed by Abuja with 4.37 per cent having recorded six collapse incidents.

He lamented that the use of substandard materials has sent numerous lives to their early grave, adding that at least, three buildings have collapsed in different states since January 2025, leading to several deaths and casualties.

“This is a clear indication that the Standard Organization of Nigeria has not done enough to prevent further occurrences.

“Study has revealed that poor quality of materials and cheap labour contributed about 53 per cent of building collapse in Nigeria with most of them being private residential buildings executed by indigenous companies and locals.

“SON allegedly reversed its decision to shut down 18 companies implicated in the production and distribution of substandard building materials, particularly iron rod manufacturers.

“The reversal, reportedly influenced by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has sparked criticism from different quarters, raising concern over the government’s commitment to enforcing quality standards in the construction industry.

“The alleged defaulted companies responsible for production of substandard building materials especially irons hides under the weak enforcement mechanisms in Nigeria to flood the Nigerian market with inferior products while exporting products of high quality to countries where substandard materials are not tolerated,” he said.

Following the adoption of the motion, the House resolved to investigate the organisation and make useful recommendations on how to tackle the scourge of substandard building materials in the country.

AMIDST the heightening tension in Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting behind closed doors with the Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Also present at the meeting are the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele.

Besides, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon.Tajudeen Abbas, and the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, were also spotted at the Presidential Villa.

It is unclear if the presiding officers of the National Assembly are part of the meeting with security chiefs.

Those in attendance are the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the Directors General of the Department of State Service, DSS, Mr Adeola Ajayi and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Mohammed Mohammed.

Although the agenda of the meeting is not made public at the time of filing this report, it may not be unconnected with the security situation in the country.

Besides, the meeting is coming on the heels of is an explosion that rocked a section of the Trans Niger Pipeline in Bodo Community in Gonna Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The explosion occurred late on Monday night near the Bodo-Bonny Road under construction.

Recall that the youth wing of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, had given the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike a 48-hour to apologize to the Ijaw nation over his recent utterances on the political crisis in Rivers State.

The ultimatum issued to the minister to apologize over his alleged attack on PANDEF and South-South leaders expired on Monday.

Vanguard News Nigeria

• Lagos Gov receives Silverbird Governor of Year Award

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has promised to continue to deliver good governance and dividends of democracy to Lagos residents, saying the Silverbird Governor of the Year Award bestowed on him will motivate him to do more for the people.

Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke on Sunday night after receiving the Silverbird Governor of the Year Award at a ceremony held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island. He received the Award in the company of members of the Lagos State Executive Council and some top government officials.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who dedicated the Award to the people of Lagos State, vowed to redouble his efforts and continue to deliver good governance and dividends of democracy to the people of Lagos State.

The Governor also praised President Bola Tinubu, saying the visionary leadership and innovative policies by the first Lagos State Governor in the Fourth Republic laid the groundwork for Lagos to become a vibrant and dynamic city.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also described President Tinubu's Renewed Hope agenda as the panacea for the country’s economic recovery.

He said: "This award is a tribute to the hard-working and resilient people of Lagos State who have supported our vision and initiatives. Your unwavering belief is what fuels our commitment to excellence.

"I am grateful to His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor and visionary architect of modern Lagos. His leadership and innovative policies laid the groundwork for our vibrant, dynamic city.

"I remain committed to ensuring that good governance is at the forefront of our administration and delivering the dividends of democracy you deserve.

"Together, we have made significant strides; let us continue to work hand in hand to create a brighter future for every Lagosian."

Governor Sanwo-Olu also appreciated the Silverbird Group for the Governor of the Year Award.

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

SPECIAL ADVISER - MEDIA AND PUBLICITY

In this piece, I want to pay critical attention to the reform significance of the relationship between what has been called the “cult of the generalists,” on the one hand, and the necessity for more of a cadre of specialist or professionals given the imperative demand of the knowledge age, on the other. This discourse might appear academic at first glance. However, we immediately grasp its significance when we understand that a civil service system that must anticipate the challenges of the future needs to adequately articulate a governance, strategic and operational managerial framework that has the capability of preparing the civil service for such a future. How does this distinction affect the way we think about development on the continent? It does because it is intimately connected with the evolving nature of work, and how work mediate the significance and urgency of national productivity. The nature of work in the twenty-first century has changed drastically. Work is no longer place-based and full-time/lifetime vocation. It is now more remote-based, and attended by all sorts of dynamics. 

This therefore brings to the fore the imperative of connecting this changing workplace with the traditional understanding of the public service in public administration studies. How a public service performs, therefore, has a lot to do with how the business model of the public service is organized and connected with the developmental framework of the state. When the Northcote-Trevelyan Report of 1854 was submitted, as part of the reform effort to transform the operational basis of the British Civil Service, it was founded on one of four significant premises:

• “Entrants should not be recruited for life into a specific department but would enter a Home Civil Service that would facilitate inter-departmental staff transfers. Civil servants, therefore, would need to have had a general education and to be generalist rather than specialist in their knowledge and experience.

One critical implication of this development is the emergence of the cadre system which served as the basis for the establishment of a generalist class—administrative, executive and clerical—as the top administrative echelon of the civil service system in a descending hierarchical order of responsibilities and qualifications. This elite administrative echelon was solely responsible for policy initiation and implementation. 

In its Nigerian incarnation, the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) offers three streams of general management courses, for professionals and administrators, that appeals to the lower, middle and top management cadres. These courses are “general” in the sense that they have nothing to do with the specialized training that participants and officers have as professionals before attending. The assumption behind the general management courses is that while an officer could remain a specialist until she gets to GL 14, advancing to the top management position requires taking on more general management responsibilities that demands more multidimensional financial, human and managerial imperatives. Thus, whether a generalist-administrator or core professional, becoming a top management officer is a status that leans more to general management, and is preparatory to becoming a permanent secretary—a position that makes the officer simultaneously a chief administrative officer, chief policy adviser and chief accounting officer. 

The relationship between the cult of generalists that the Nigerian civil service system inherited from the British and the necessity of specialized and professional competence is one significant tension that the system has to contend with in terms of institutional reform. The colonial structure of the civil service was first addressed by the Gorsuch Commission of 1956 which recommended the creation of a cadre division of civil service personnel corresponding to general education standard of the period. The four divisions were: sub-clerical and sub-technical; clerical and technical; executive and higher technical; and administrative and professional. Each of these divisions was further divided into cadres. The professional class contained cadres like engineering, education, law, accountants, medical, etc. On the other hand, the contribution of the 1959 Newns Commission was the introduction of a Westminster organizational model which is more compatible with a ministerial framework. The Newns Commission recommended the grafting of the ministerial structures on the colonial departmental structure. This new arrangement, for instance, created the position of the permanent secretary on whom the Minister could depend on all decisional and administrative matters, especially those bothering on specific technical needs that require liaising with the professional heads of department. 

Unfortunately, however, this wholesale transplantation of the Westminster model—the most significant underlying structural arrangement of the Nigerian civil service system till date—has constantly frustrated almost all reform intentions and implementation because it failed to take the peculiarity of the Nigerian context into consideration. The cadre system created a subsisting conflict between the generalists and the specialists, and this inevitably led to the tension that subverted service delivery efficiency in the departments. Within this system, key operational tasks are undertaken by generalist officers who have no expertise in the area. And this leaves the system weakened in terms of the urgent need for a specialist section with requisite professional qualification that matches competence with specific job and task. To cite a rather critical example, a very large proportion of the workforce at the Federal Civil Service Commission is made up of pool of generalist-officers who are without sufficient knowledge and expertise that could enable them deploy fundamental concepts and models in the field of HRM and public administration to bring professionalism to bear on their job. And this leaves a significant gap in terms of professionally trained and certified HR practitioners that are trained to take on specialized functions and tasks. Working under the influence of the Fulton Report of 1968, the Udoji Commission report made a valiant effort to dislodge the cult of generalists by recommending—under the burden of performance management, central to the managerial revolution sweeping public administration—the infusion of the public service with new professionals and specialists whose competences can be contracted to specific performance task within a result-oriented management system. The fundamental dimensions of the Udoji Report dealing with managerial dynamics were not implemented, unfortunately.

The generalist-specialist controversy is not unique to public administration. It pervades the entirety of the managerial structure of both the public and private management, as well as executive government. And this is because it impinges on workplace efficiency and performance management. Within public administration, government organizations possess a strong preference for recruiting public officers with broad-based and multidisciplinary knowledge over those public officers—the specialists—with professional expertise and competences in specific fields and areas. This “cult of generalists” derives from a general belief in management and administration that a generalist approach is superior for managing complex policy issues and navigating diverse government functions, even when highly technical knowledge might be required. In the private sector, the concern is not different. The workplace of the twenty-first century is leaning more in the direction of multidimensional expertise—a sort of Jack-of-all-trade. Indeed, there is the argument that generalists provide “marginal value”—the extra value that people are willing to pay, far above the value that specialist create. And this is because generalist appeal more to the general population, and specifically the general managerial requirement of any institution or organization. In both the public and the private sectors, the general manager is denoted by six fundamental tasks: (a) shaping and reshaping the workplace and its many environments, like dictating the performance standard, business concepts and personnel values; (b) designing strategic vision and mission; (c) strategically putting the available resources together; (d) attracting and harnessing the high performing managers and staff; (e) dealing with structural, institutional and organizational dynamics, decisions, and problems that anticipate future challenges; (f) supervising day-to-day operations and implementation of organizational decisions. 

I suspect, however, that no matter the acclamation for a generalist orientation in the public and private sectors, or even the argument for the specialists in government, arguing for either of them is in bad taste. Every organization or institution requires both. It is as simple as that. The reality of effective managerial presence in the public service requires that the generalist and the specialist possess a bit of competences required in the other’s domain, and this involve a range of subsidiary skills, for instance in policy analysis and project management. For instance, there is no generalist that would have any justifiable excuse not to have some significant and specialist expertise aside the general management skills. This is the core reason why core bureaucratic skills that were the competences of generalist administrators are now actively being professionalized. These include  economists, planners, procurement, records management, financial management and accounting systems, Human Resources, organization, operations and management research and management research, knowledge and talent management, training administration, HR information system, ICT, policy research and analysis, statistics and data management, decision science, investment planning and promotion, project management, negotiation, crisis and conflict resolution, strategic planning, pension management, PPPs, and so on. 

And on the other hand, to be an efficient professional public manager and administrator demands some significant generalist competences not only in people management but also some core establishment issues, especially in the management of the policy process and strategic planning. Such a specialist public administrator must have significant experience and expertise in the management of the five Ms of management: men (HR), money (finance), methods (management techniques), machine (technology), and materials (inventory, stocks and procurement). 

To offset the low efficiency and performance quotient of the system as well as the diminished managerial creativity of public officers, we need to insist, as a matter of regulatory gatekeeping, that every officer aspiring to top leadership positions in the civil service must acquire core specialist and generalist competency, and the system must see to it that officers are sufficiently rounded in these skills as part of professional development and leadership pipelining to top administrative level positions. This is a recognition of the fact that on the one hand, the civil service is not just an academic/intellectual space where candidates dazzle with erudition and breathe of intellectual rather than getting things done which is the core of bureaucratic professionalism. And on the other hand, running the business of government demands a whole multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary cocktail menu of a mix of strategic, tactical and operational skills.

⁠The reform program and strategy that must undermine the fundamental structural bases of administrative and managerial operation in the Nigerian civil service system must factor this understanding of the generalist-specialist dynamics and relationship into consideration. Taking them as adversarial opposites will not work for reform.   

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has distanced himself from the protest held against the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Maurice Ikpembese, for relocating the Benue Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal from Benue to Abuja.

Hundreds of demonstrators from Benue State took to the streets of Abuja on Monday, for a peaceful protest from the National Assembly to the Supreme Court to express their outrage over the Benue CJ’s decision.

Justice  Ikpembese had on March 5 ordered the relocation of the  Benue Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal from Benue to Abuja, citing safety concerns.

The tribunal is currently handling disputes arising from the Benue State Local Government elections conducted on October 5, 2024.

The Benue State Government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Mr. Fidelis Mnyim, had questioned the CJ’s unilateral decision, noting that neither the governor nor his office had been formally notified.

But in an interview with The PUNCH on Monday,  Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, distanced his principal from the protest against the CJ.

Tersoo said, “How can the government sponsor a protest when people listen to the news and read papers and they are enlightened and might have seen how court cases turned political?

“The government stands to gain nothing in sponsoring a protest; rather it is focused on channeling resources to infrastructural development in the state.

“It’s unfortunate that the state Chief Judge has to go public, that he selected tough people to sit on election petition tribunal.”

Also speaking with The PUNCH, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Makurdi branch, Terna Yaji, lamented how the tribunal case had been politicised.

Yaji decried the conflicting orders by the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi and the High Court in Abuja stating that such orders had created uncertainty.

“The Federal High Court in Makurdi and High Court in Abuja judicial division are giving conflicting orders, and in this cas,e there is uncertainty. But the latest order should take pre-eminence.

“It is unfortunate that the court case has become a political case and this is what we have been saying that we should not allow politicians to interfere in court cases.”

The political tension comes in the wake of an earlier attempt by the Benue State Government to remove the CJ over allegations of misconduct and corruption.

The Benue State House of Assembly, acting on a petition from Governor Alia, had recommended Justice Ikpembese’s removal, a move that was resisted by the National Judicial Council and the NBA.

On Monday,  scores of placard-bearing protesters, condemned the CJ’s action, relocating the tribunal from Benue to the NBA secretariat in Abuja.

Addressing journalists during the protest, the convener of the group, Igwe Ude-Umanta, faulted the Benue CJ for unilaterally granting a waiver to petitioners of the Local Government Election Tribunal, violating the constitutional requirement for a security deposit.

Ude-Umanta also blamed Justice M.M. Adamu of the FCT High Court 34 for issuing an order compelling the tribunal to sit in Abuja, despite a previous court order restraining the tribunal from sitting outside Benue State.

The protesters called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to intervene urgently in the crisis and expunge corrupt judges from the Nigerian judiciary.

They also urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action to address the crisis and ensure that justice is served.

“Today, we are here as concerned Nigerians who believe in the rule of law. Our democracy is in clear danger, and the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, must save it.

“We are here today to submit a petition against Justice Maurice Ikpembese and Justice M. M. Adamu, who, by their actions, have converted the title of Justice to injustice. It behooves the Chief Justice of Nigeria to expunge corrupt judges from the judiciary to restore its integrity.

“We also call on President Bola Tinubu not to fold his arm and watch the judiciary go down. The Benue situation is the worst at the moment because the petitioners did not even participate in any of the process of the election.”

Recall that the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpembese, had earlier ordered the relocation of the tribunal from Makurdi to Nigeria Bar Association House, Abuja due to insecurity.

But the sitting of the panel, which should have started in Abuja on March 10, was put on hold due to a restraining order by a Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi.

The court directed that the election petition tribunal should hold in Benue State, against Justice Ikpembese’s ruling.

However, the ruling All Progressives Congress approached the FCT High Court in Abuja with a prayer that the panel be relocated to Abuja as earlier ordered by the Benue Chief Judge.

Granting the prayer on Friday, Justice Adamu directed the tribunal to continue to conduct its sitting at the NBA House in Abuja.

The court also restrained the tribunal from sitting in Benue State.

[Punch]