Ekweremadu: A champion of rural transformation

By MAZI BISMARCK OJI

My heart lights up each time I recall the events of that bright Tuesday, November 26, 2012, afternoon at Ugwu Tank, Okpome, Agbada and Nenwe in Enugu State. It was the day Ekwerema­du flagged-off the construction of the N12 Billion Nenwe-Odume-Uburu federal road project. The ecstasy of the jubilant mammoth crowd demonstrated that something out of the ordinary; something they had given up hope on, was happening in their lives.
Oduma in Enugu and Uburu in Ebonyi State are two great agrarian communities, which seemed to have been cut off from civilization owing to the menace of impassable roads. Before the advent of colonialism, these towns were renowned as home to men of valour and long distance traders. In fact, historical trade routes passed through these towns to Bende and Arochukwu in Abia State, Itu in present day Akwa Ibom State, and thence to Calabar, Cross River State.
The Oduma and Uburu towns have since had the misfortune of isolation from the centres of development. As such, successive govern­ments, both federal and state had hitherto over­looked the construction of this vital road that would traverse Nenwe in order to link the two towns up with the Enugu-Port Harcourt Ex­pressway and thence to the outside world.

Nigeria’s cash-for-arms nightmares

Twice, in less than a month, Nigeria has been at the centre of embarrassing cash-for-arms deals in South Africa, raising tough questions and intense controversies that have strained relations between the two leading African nations. On September 5, the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa seized $9.3 million cash flown into the country from Nigeria in a private jet.
The cash that was reportedly meant for arms purchase was allegedly transported into South Africa by two Nigerian officials and an Israeli national. But, while the dust raised by the transaction was yet to settle, news broke of yet another seizure of $5.7m (about N952m) belonging to Nigeria, by South African authorities. The government of South Africa has said that the two transactions are illegal, and the relevant authorities in the country have since obtained a court order to seize the monies involved in the two unrelated incidents. South Africa has also initiated criminal investigations into the two transactions.

My father’s political associates drafted me into politics –Adefulire, Lagos Deputy governor

Lagos state Deputy governor, Princess, (Mrs.) Adejoke Orelope, Adefulire speaks on her entry into politics, the advice and support of her father, the dream that catapulted her to the exalted position she now occupies, as well as the value and importance of godfathers in the political process.
She also x-rays the Lagos of our dreams, female presidency and the inexorable march of her political party, the all Progressives Con­gress, APC to power in 2015, amongst other issues, in this commemorative 55th birthday interview.

In Ekiti community, mum’s refusal to have her 5-year-old daughter circumcised tears families apart

■ I don’t want my daughter to suffer the consequences of circumcision like I did –Mum
■ Her circumcision is a must as tradition demands –Dad’s family
Against the back­ground of a child Rights Law that guides against harmful cultural practices on children in Ekiti State, two families: the royal family of Olaoye in Ushi-Ekiti and the Oyenekan family are at loggerheads over the circum­cision of a 5-year-old girl. The once rosy relationship between both families has now turned sour following a disagreement over the circumcision of their 5-year-old daughter, (name of baby withheld).
Miss Olufunke Oyenekan, mother of the 5-year old girl and fiancee to Mr. Emmanuel Olaoye, son of the Olaoyes, a royal family in Ushi-Ekiti, Ekiti State, had disagreed with the Olaoyes over their decision to perform the traditional circumcision rites on her daughter. The woman, sensing that her husband’s family wanted to perform the rites by all means, fled with her child from the Olaoye’s family house in Ushi Ekiti in 2012 and her whereabouts has since remain unknown.
Recently, the Olaoye family again raised the alarm through a representative, identified as Chief Olu Olaoye over the sudden disappear­ance of Olufunke and her daughter. The family said that their son’s fiancee did not mean well for the family by preventing them from per­forming the circumcision rites on the child. Their explana­tion is that it is a mandatory cultural practice to have all their children circumcised, moreso that theirs is a royal family whose duty it is to preserve the cultural heritage of the people of Ushi Ekiti in order to set an example for the people.

Tension brews as plot to impeach Ekiti Speaker thickens

Tension is brewing in Ekiti State House of Assembly over a plot by the state law­makers to impeach the Speaker, Hon Adewale Omirin.
Sunday Sun gathered that other officers of the State House of Assembly battling to save their positions are the Deputy Speaker, Hon Taiwo Orisalade, Majority Leader, Hon Churchill Adedipe, Chief Whip, Hon Ade Ajayi and other principal officers of the House.
Twenty five out of the 26 members of the House are members of the All Progres­sives Congress, with only one, Hon Oyedele Ajibola belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party sequel to the defection of Hon. Bunmi Oriniowo to APC prior to the June 21 governorship elec­tion in the state.

Buhari, Tinubu, Oyegun storm Imo for Okorocha’s wedding

Owerri, the Imo State capital yesterday, stood still with major roads, streets and avenues closed to traffic for the holy matrimony between Dr. Uzoma Anwuka and Uju Okorocha- son of the Secretary to the Imo State Government – Professor Anthony Anwuka and daughter of Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The young couple was joined in the holy matrimony by the Catholic Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Solomon Amatu at St Joseph’s Catholic chaplain of Imo State University,Owerri during which the Bishop charged the couple to preserve the sanctity and holiness of the marriage institution by loving one another and living Christ-like life.

Kirikiri Prison riot: 1 inmate dead, 6 injured

An inmate of Kirikiri Medium Prison in Lagos died yes­terday following the riot which broke out at the facility last Friday.
A statement issued by the Prisons Public Re­lations Officer (PRO), Ope Fatinikun said the deceased inmate was among the four rushed to various hospitals after the riot on Friday.