Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

The allegation of training snipers to assassinate political opponents is particularly incomprehensible to me  – President President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday formally replied the 18-page letter written to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying it was a threat national security. Unlike Obasanjo’s letter which was dated December 2 but leaked to the press on December 11, Jonathan’s letter was made available to journalists by his(Jonathan) Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati in Abuja. In the letter titled “Re: Before It is too Late,” an obviously angry Jonathan said the former President did him grave injustice with the open letter in which he was accused of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills. He gave 10 reasons why he chose to make his own letter public. One of them, according to him, is because  Obasanjo’s  letter is clearly a threat to national security, as it may...

When on December 14, 2013, 18-year-old Ikenna Onyeizu and 21-year-old Moses Aiyenuro, attended a Christmas party at Dele Hotel, Ijora Badia area of Lagos State, little did they know that they would not return home. Residents of the area told PUNCH Metro that the two boys were killed by drunken policemen attached to Ijora Badia Police Station around midnight. Our correspondent also learnt that another youth, Mike Banji, was also shot by the policemen but survived. Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, had told our correspondent last week that the boys were stabbed to death by some hoodlums during a fight that broke out at the hotel. Braide had said when the police arrived at the scene, the boys were rushed to the hospital where they eventually died. “There was a stampede at Dele Hotel where they were holding an end-of-the-year party around 11pm on December 14. Hoodlums engaged in a fight with machetes and bottles. Moses Aiyenuro was slashed on the neck. A team of policemen ...

Mr. Michael Akinola A Prince of Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State, Mr. Michael Akinola, 90, in this interview with AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, talks about his triumphs and struggles. Tell us about your childhood? I was born into the family of Oba Adefolalu Akinola, who reigned between 1929 and 1967. We are of the royal family in Ilawe Ekiti. My mother is Osunmadewe. I was born on November 2, 1923, six years before my father was crowned king in Ilawe Ekiti. I was born a twin. My twin brother died long ago when we were 15 years old. He was sick. I said earlier that I was born six years before my father was crowned king, so I witnessed the transition from low-life as a child of a poor prince to son of a ruling king in my community. It was a great heritage bestowed on me. Though my parents were not rich, royalty earned me a lot of respect as a prince. Everybody respected me and other princes and princesses in the palace. We were a point of attraction because royalty towers riches. All our peers and...

A 23-year-old fashion designer, Olumide Oluniyi, has been remanded in prison by an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stabbing his half brother, Olabode Odumesi, to death with a broken bottle. It was learnt that Oluniyi and Odumesi were brothers from the same mother, but different fathers. They had reportedly gone to the Alamuju Market in Idi-Oro, Mushin area of Lagos on December 3, 2014 to work overnight. When it was around 11pm, the duo was said to have been embroiled in a disagreement which culminated in a fight. In a fit of anger, the Odogbolu, Ogun State indigene was said to have grabbed a broken bottle with which he stabbed 26-year-old Odumesi in the chest. It was learnt that Odumesi bled from the injury, and could not get medical help before giving up the ghost. The investigating police officer, Inspector Emmanuel Mbilla, said although the Oluniyi,  a fashion designer, made confessional statement to the police, there was still need for further investigation. The...

Sani Shehu The National President of Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Shehu on Monday called for the release of N100 billion Solid Mineral Development Fund, to operators in the sector. Shehu told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, that 1.8 per cent had been set aside in the 2013 budget for the development of natural resources such as agriculture and solid minerals. “We are also aware of what is available for the sector from the annual budgetary deductions. “The fund that has been set aside about 1.8 per cent of our annual budget is set aside for the development of natural resources, that is, for agriculture and solid minerals. “The one that is meant for agriculture has been accessed but the one that has been allocated for development of solid minerals we are yet to access it. “If you are talking of that we can say the federal government has made something available but is yet to be accessed. “From what we heard, over N100 billion is there for solid minerals but is ye...

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe The Presidency on Sunday boasted that it was not  perturbed by “the parade of the All Progressives Congress.” It said it  was evident that the party was suffering from a leadership deficiency and  hence its  penchant for   embarking  on   journeys  in search of leaders to give  it direction. The Presidency, through the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, therefore predicted that the APC would soon collapse. Okupe, in an interview with journalists after addressing a press conference on the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, was apparently referring to the visit of the opposition party leaders to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday. The APC leaders had also paid a similar visit to a former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. But the APC, through one its leading members,Rotimi Fashakin, said the...