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By Edward Jaleyemi Organizers of Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, AMVCAs, M-net in association with MultiChoice Africa have just named Kenya’s leading film maker and script writer, Njoki Muhoho as the head judge for the 2016 edition of the prestigious award. Names of other judges are being expected. Regional Director for M-Net (West), Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Njoki addressing the press in Kenya Speaking at a press conference that is currently going on, at the ball room of Sarova Stanley hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, Regional Director for M-Net (West), Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said, Muhoho was chosen to head the panel of judges because of her vast experience in film making and as a respected practitioner who has been on the panel before as a regular judge. She was Kenya ‘s National winner in the MNET New Directions Africa talent search in 1999. Throwing more light on the AMVCA 2016, Uzoukwu said, the organizers have added new categories this year such as regional category to boost the e...

By Edward Jaleyemi Recently, the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator Bukola Saraki officially inaugurated Senator Babajide Omoworare representing Osun East Senatorial District at the Upper Chambers of the National Assembly as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, one of the most powerful committees of the legislature as its responsibilities being the ‘engine room’ or ‘power house’ of the Senate involves the scheduling of the day to day order of motions, bills and other matters of/for legislative deliberations and debate on the floor. Without any doubt, this as well as other committee appointments made by the Senate President since his assumption of office seem to be a case of precisely round pegs in round holes. Visibly, the choice of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as head of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges and Senator Ibrahim Gobir as chairman of the Committee on Senate Services are pointers. They are indeed without the least pol...

By Edward Jaleyemi The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin has urged Nigerians to be security conscious towards averting suicide bombing on soft target by Boko Haram terrorists. The CDS gave the advice even as he challenged the research departments of the armed forces and other security agencies in the country to come up with viable and up to date technology in terms of equipment and platforms to help curtail insurgency and other crimes in the country. Speaking at the 2015‎ Nigerian Navy Research and development seminar, with the theme; ‘Innovation and Research and Development (R&D): Turning Bright Ideas to Operational Solutions’ in Abuja, Olonisakin attributed the high rate of soft target bombings by the Boko Haram insurgents being witnessed in the past couple of months, to the increase pressure on the insurgents in the North-eastern part of the country. According to him: “The issue of suicide bombings that we have been witnessing is as a result of the p...

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has charged troops in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation to brace up their efforts to defeat terrorism in line with the presidential directive. This is contained in a statement issued by the acting Army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. The statement said the coming days would be crucial to the operation aimed at eliminating insurgency from parts of the country. “The next few days will be crucial to `Operation Lafiya Dole’ and it is also crucial to our country Nigeria. “Our sovereignty as a nation is threatened, the Nigerian Army and indeed the military as the symbol of our nationhood is being challenged. “Our ability to stand and defeat the Boko Haram terrorists in the next few weeks will determine the future of our country,’’ it said. The statement said the military could not afford to lose the fight against insurgency as it was better trained and...

I have tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan. I had hoped that our dear father, E.K. Clark, would issue a counter statement and say the usual things politicians say: “they quoted me out of context!” “Jonathan is my son”. That has not happened; rather, some other Ijaw voices, including one Joseph Evah, have come to the defence of the old man, to join hands in rubbishing a man they once defended to the hilt and used as a bargaining chip for the Ijaw interest in the larger Nigerian geo-politics. File Photo, L-R: Former PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Former President Goodluck Jonathan GCFR,(center) Chief Edwin Clark, and his Wife during the formal Launch of the Edwin Kiagbodo Clark Foundation and University of Technology, in Abuja. If President Jonathan had returned to power on May 29, 2015, these same persons would have remain...

BY Edward Jaleyemi ABUJA – The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta, yesterday, categorically noted that the country could only develop evenly, if the local government council as a third tier of government is accorded its place in governance and officials are thoroughly equipped with sound managerial acumen. Nta said that local government in Nigeria had the least developed institutional processes in the country. To this end, he said the commission had taken it upon itself to still integrity in the process of governance by educating local government officials on the corruption-prone processes, to improve good governance at the local level. Nta was speaking at the Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Integrity Training in Local Government Administration for Chairmen, Auditor-Generals and Secretaries Local Government Service Commissions in 36 States and the FCT, organized by Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), in Ab...

By Edward Jaleyemi O SOGBO —The Ooni of Ife’s  second-in-command and the leader of Ile-Ife traditional kingmakers, the Obalufe (Orunto)  of Iremo quarters, Oba Solomon Omisakin is dead, aged 85. His death may have compounded the  uncertainty surrounding the selection process of the new Ooni of Ife which has resulted in litigations. However informed sources told  Vanguard  yesterday that; ‘’He had concluded the process of selection of the new Ooni before he died.’’ Oba Omisakin’s death is coming barely three months after the death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade in a London hospital. The Obalufe is also the prime minister of Ife and oversees affairs in the town in the absence of an Ooni. Vanguard  gathered that Oba Omisakin’s death occurred at about 10 am yesterday   at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital OAUTH, Ile Ife. Though the circumstance surrounding the death of the 85-year-old Obalufe was still sketchy at the time of fi...