Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE By all standards one of the most eligible bachelors in town, he is not a push-over when it comes to good looks and stylish disposition. These and many more eye-catching qualities he has in abundance. Already, many know that extroverted Olaotan is the son of Lanre Towry-Coker, an accomplished architect, who was the pioneer Commissioner for Housing in Lagos State. He was a member of the Presidential Committee on Housing and Urban Development, inaugurated by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, among other things. This is in addition to his flourishing private practice.

BY FUNMI OJUROYE The Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria, Surdiman Haseng, speaks, in this interview, how his nation is collaborating with his host-country in a mutually benefitting manner. Excerpts: What is the state of relations between Nigeria and Indonesia? Since the diplomatic relations were established in 1965, Nigeria and Indonesia have enjoyed warm relations based on mutual respect and understanding. Both countries are members of multilateral organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement, World Trade Organization (WTO), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Developing 8 Countries. What is the volume of trade between Nigeria and Indonesia? Bilateral trade between the two emerging economies reached US$2.1 billion in 2011and, during the January-October period last year, it totalled $2.7 billion. The trade volume is expected to reach $5 billion by 2015. Both countries would work together to double the trade volume by 2015. Nigeria and Indonesia will come up with...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Evans has trained with Nigerian athletes since 1975. Former Olympic 400m champion and renowned American coach,  Lee Evans , is back in Nigeria and currently running a grassroots programme in conjunction with the Lagos State government  after the huge success achieved in the same project with the Cross Rivers government The 67-year-old coach, who is also a social activist, first came to Nigeria in 1975 and was instrumental to the rise of some of Nigeria greats. In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES in Lagos, Evans slams former Nigerian athletes for not doing enough to help track and field, noting that they are always about money which is not good. PT: Why have you lately stuck to grassroots coaching? If I was trying to coach some elite athletes there might be some problems so I just stay with the grassroots and that’s what I’m happy with. You know I did the same in Calabar for three years and you see Cross Rivers has the best youth tea...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri has accused the United States of "plotting" to overthrow Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. In an audio recording posted to militant Islamist forums, he said the US colluded with the Egyptian military, secularists and Christians to force out Morsi. Zawahiri, himself an Egyptian, said: "Crusaders and secularists and the Americanised army have converged ... with Gulf money and American plotting to topple Mohamed Morsi's government." He accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of supporting the Islamist president's ouster to attain "a Coptic state stripped from Egypt's south". They are the militant leader's first public comments on Morsi's ousting, reports Sky News. The comments came as backers of Morsi staged defiant rallies after the government ordered their protest camps to be broken up. Supporters of Morsi began to march after Friday prayers, p...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE ABUJA  (AFP) – A Lebanese suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah and on trial in Nigeria for terrorism offences told a court on Friday he was aware of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Abuja. The alleged plot, which had not previously been made public, came up during questioning of the defendant during the trial of him and two other Lebanese in high court in the Nigerian capital. The defendant, Talal Ahmad Roda, alleged that another man who is at large was behind a plot to assassinate the ambassador. The man was identifed as Abdulhassan Tahir. Asked by prosecutor Samuel Edege whether he was aware of the alleged plan, he said “yes” but did not know other details. Questioning then moved on to other subjects. It was not clear whether anyone sought to put the alleged plot into action or which Saudi ambassador had been targeted for assassination since a name was not provided. The motive for the alleged plot was also not described. ...

BY FUNMI OJUROYE The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is taking covert steps to monitor specific Nigerian celebrities moving in and out of the country,  Saturday PUNCH  has learnt. Spokesperson for the NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju, who dropped the hint during a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, did not reveal the names of such celebrities. He was reacting to reports that some people in the entertainment industry find it easy to traffic drugs in and out of the country. Ofoyeju said, “We have some people we are working on but it is not for us to say who is under our surveillance. The purpose of the investigation will become defeated. We have some credible leads that we are working on. “This is not to say the NDLEA is relaxing its surveillance on ordinary Nigerians or other categories of travellers to ensure the eradication of drug trafficking in this country. “You need to remember that the agency is an elite organisation that works basicall...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE The Rivers State affair is very unfortunate; it is shameful and it has shown that we have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing and that our politicians can and will do anything and everything to achieve parochial interests. It is a naked display of the might-is-right syndrome in a descending order such that as Amaechi is suppressing the LGs and legislators with contrary spirits, the Abuja forces are unleashing their awesome powers on him. It has also brought glaringly to the public attention again the issues of state police and the precarious position of chief-security governors who do not even have a say in the appointment of their personal security details! All efforts must be made to de-escalate the crisis. The president must act and act fast because even if he is not directly involved, the sordid events are happening in Nigeria, in his party, and in his zone. He was also a governor before and a victim of institutional and political oppression; he knows w...