Nigeria Times

By Toby Prince

One of the thriving industries in Nigeria today is hypocrisy, and leaders who walk on that path are seen as heroes. In this clime, refusal to compromise standard and firm embrace of tenets of integrity by being brutal with the truth, firm in honesty and courageous in justice always attract opposition and in some cases violent attack by the ill guided groups and individuals.
Leaders who demonstrate strength of character or refusal to be compromised often run into troubles of different forms, shapes and kinds. A little wonder, many leaders drag foot when it comes to taking drastic actions that will bring about reforms in our institutions and establishments.
Unfortunately, fewer Nigerians take their time study and understand a problem or phenomenon before embarking on agitation or protest against and for. Painfully, unfounded noisemaking has become an entrenched culture for most Nigerians. Majority of Nigerians freely surf trouble for themselves and others for underserved pecuniary benefits.
It is this inclination which compels majority of Nigerians to resist and attack leaders who are innovators, transformers and reformers.
The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Equalization Fund Management Board (PEF-M), Alhaji Ahmed A. Bobboi is in the eyes of storm at the moment essentially because of his uncompromising posture. Bobboi was first appointed PEF-M boss in October 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari. He had served in PEF for over 20 years before his elevation to head the management board.
Bobboi’s first appointment for a tenure of four years understandably attracted loud ovation and commendations because of his vast experience as an insider staff of PEF. Those who trumpeted his competence and knowledge knew he acquired it from the decades of service in PEF. And those who sounded loudest were top players in the oil industry, the organized private sector and other relevant stakeholders intricately linked to the statutory mandate of PEF.
His evidential stewardship records in four years prompted President Buhari’s endorsement of his reappointment for a second term of another four years. The euphoria of a renewed mandate is yet to subside before the charlatans and street activists are up in arms against him with unfounded slights and fictitious tales to destabilize or distract him from the purposeful service he has rendered to Nigerians in PEF.
Being the first Executive Secretary to be appointed within the ranks, Bobboi has over the years, encouraged self development and capacity building for staff towards acquisition of skill, knowledge, discipline, accountability, efficiency and etiquette for improved job performance which has added value to the organisation.
Within this period of his stewardship, apart from ensuring that the entire value chain of operations at PEF(M)B is automated, the Bobboi-led Board has secured approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the procurement of Automated Fuel Management System and Sensor Network Solution to enhance delivery, monitoring, and management of downstream petroleum products nationwide which is geared at ensuring credibility in reporting for the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) by eliminating discrepancies in daily consumption volumes of petroleum products. This will also serve as a data repository for other organisations, national planning and economic development of the nation.
In line with the HMoS’s initiative for deepening gas penetration, domestication, utilisation and consumption, PEFMB under his leadership has commenced the evaluation of the provision of administrative support for infrastructural development in the downstream sector. The Board also advanced progressively in pursuing and implementing programs that align with the focus of the Oil and Gas industry passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) and the deepening of domestic gas utilisation & consumption and overall monetization of the gas resource.
While the Board under his leadership has continued to explore and establish programmes to support the Federal Government’s drive for job creation and establishment of small and medium scale businesses, it has been collaborating with other government agencies such as the National Information Technology Development (NITDA) for required technology standards and regulations, human capital development for Interns/NYSC and National Bureau of Statistics on petroleum products statistics and data management.
Other key achievements under his leadership is the continued mutual and beneficial industrial harmony with all Unions in the industry, improved collection and remittance of outstanding bridging allowances; uninterrupted payment of marketers claims to ensure efficient distribution and availability of petroleum products; uninterrupted operations even with COVID-19 pandemic;
In recognition of his various achievements, Alhaji Ahmed A. Bobboi has won numerous awards to include; Commendable Leadership in the Public Sector in 2018 by Texem-UK, Arewa Journalists Award, Business Day Award for Outstanding Leadership, Sardauna Azikiwe National Unity Award, National Hydrocarbon Award by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Friend of the Union Award by PENGASSAN, NITDA Governmental Digital Service Award: eGov Award, Best MDA (Recognition for compliance to NITDA clearance policy) and many others.
PEF’s Executive Secretary, Ahmed Bobboi has exhibited an exemplary leadership throughout his over 20 years sojourn at the agency. His knack for transparency, accountability and probity in the conduct of the affairs of PEF is legendary. He is a stickler to fairness and equality all these years. It is therefore, absurd reasoning for any group to wake up overnight and attempt to destroy these enviable records by accusing him of largely concocted and unsubstantiated allegations of nepotism.
It is the quality leadership offered by Ahmed Bobboi at PEF which earned him a renewal of mandate by President Buhari.
PEF’s management team and co-workers have attested to Bobboi’s professionalism, tenacity to transparency and fairness on the job. He is overly focused and detribalized. In the workplace, he only befriends dedicated and hardworking staff who have dispensed themselves as planks in achieving the mandate of the agency.
It explains why, quite early in his first tenure, Bobboi enunciated a policy which stipulated that every staff of PEF must have a taste of fieldworks and garner experiences in various internal departments to qualify for elevation to managerial positions. The reform has paid off handsomely with the successes of PEF’s operations and organizational efficiency in managing the diverse challenges of the oil downstream sector. Bobboi supported it with mandatory local and internal staff training and work development skills in strategic areas.
Ahmed Bobboi is a non-conformist and avowed stickler to standards or laid down procedures. Within four years, he has uplifted the agency and entrenched transparency in the activities of PEF-M. The truth remains that Bobboi has manifestly dispensed and demonstrated himself as a round peg in a round hole.
Can Nigerians beat the fact that Bobboi did not only accept, but modified and improved the electronic mechanism in PEF known as “Project Aquila,” which he inherited? It has smoothened the operations of PEF in accordance with the e-governance policy of the FGN.
If today Nigerians are witnessing near zero incidents of diversion of petroleum products, it’s because the modified and strictly implemented the “Project Aquila,” effectively monitors from the boardroom, the movements of petrol from depot to depots, serves as a major instrument of gathering data for business intelligence, processing timely payments, minimization of transactional human errors and elimination of fraudulent claims from operators in the oil industry.
And the PEF management under Bobboi has already activated and completed modalities for more intense deployment of information technology innovations to enhance data processing of petrol movements in the country in Nigeria to filling stations, which are the last designated destinations of the PMS.
And what would finally stamp enduringly, on the operations of PEF management under the chief supervisor, Bobboi is its synergy with the National Information Technology Development Agency, in another innovative super technology called the ‘Downstream Automated Fuel Management Information System’ (DAFMIS). It is a unique Fuel Monitoring System (FMS), which electronically gathers and tracks operational data on ships, tank farms, depots, pipelines, trucks and filling stations.
DAFMIS is meticulously primed among other beneficial advantages to improve efficiency, plug loopholes and effectively checkmate wastes in the petrol distribution chain across the country. There are many other innovations and transformations which Ahmed Bobboi has imposed in PEF to curtail sharp practices and enthrone transparency in the operational processes of the agency.

Prince is a journalist and wrote from Abuja.

By Solomon Audu

It is no longer news that the Boko Haram crisis in North-East Nigeria has devastated economy of the region, and humanitarian crisis is the order of the day. The North East region of Nigeria is made up of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba States. These states are ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009.
In this violent crime against humanity, people in multiples of millions are adversely affected, about over 5 million persons are Internally Displaced (IDPs), including over 100,000 Nigerian Refugees in neighbouring countries. Casualty rates are in thousands while those alive have lost means of livelihood.
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Returning normalcy to the region is one of the topmost priorities of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration. How to end the war, effective handling of the humanitarian crisis and implementation of an effective rehabilitation and resettlement programme, as well as the implementation of a solid peace-building, reconciliation and de-radicalization framework; as well as the effective reconstruction of social and physical infrastructure.
These necessitated the establishment of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC). The objective of the NEDC is to lead the reconstruction and development of the region by consolidating and replacing other initiatives such as the Victims Support Fund (VSF), Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), and Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI).
It is therefore, obvious that the task before NEDC is massive owing to the undeniable wanton destruction. Consequently, load fell on the broad shoulders of Mohammed Alkali.
Before his appointment, Mohammed Alkali was the Executive Director, operations of the Bank of Industry (BoI), he has a first-class honours degree in Accountancy from Bayero University, Kano. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics at the University of London, United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, Harvard University; the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago; and the Columbia Business School at the Columbia University. These are indeed very intimidating credentials.
However, the interesting aspect of Mohammed Alkali is the fact that he has been a silent achiever, delivering on his mandate with human face and milk of human kindness. He is a gentleman per excellence, and is working assiduously to ensure that the people of the region forget the sorrow and the misfortune Boko Haran terrorism forced on them.
Alkali is kind to a fault, a caring leader with the heart of gold and his love for humanity is unquantifiable. Ne has done so well for his people, lifting the downtrodden through his people oriented programmes and activities. In all, has kept low profile as the managing director of the NEDC.
Stating his silent features in the media wouldn’t have been necessary but for the activities of some mischief makers that attempted to drag him to the murky waters of politics by making some wild and unfounded allegations about his stewardship at the NEDC.
This unassuming individual has since his appointment as the managing director of the NEDC done so much I may wish to mention here. Some of the modest achievements of the NEDC under the leadership of Mohammed Alkali which are driven by his love for humanity and kindness among others are:
The NEDC had been implementing impactful and incremental interventions designed to address most of the immediate challenges bedeviling the North-east states. For instance, the NEDC established a six billion naira Education Endowment Fund to resuscitate the regions devastated education sector and rebuild the human capital to provide an avenue for the engagement of over 20,000 beneficiaries annually to enable them have access to academic and professional capacity development opportunities in various fields.
The NEDC is also implementing the rehabilitation of drinking water and sanitation facilities in states in North-East Nigeria. This project is part of the Multispectral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) with the support of the World Bank.
The NEDC is also implementing about 1, 310 Rapid Response Intervention in Projects in all the 112 local governments of the North East Region. This is in addition to the implementation of an Integrated Agriculture Programme involving the provision of agricultural machinery and equipment, seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals and extension service logistics vehicles to enhance the production capacity of smallholder farmers in North East and enable them to regain their lost livelihoods.
In my opinion, Mohammed Goni Alkali understands that every single penny allocated to the agency must be used for the benefit of the people. With him, there is no such thing as contract padding as everything must go through due process and must be accounted for. This much has been said about him by staffers who are never in short supply of praises for his leadership style.
From host communities to stakeholders, the story is the same. The song is constant on how Mohammed Goni Alkali is leading a revolution in rebuilding efforts in North-East Nigeria. For example, The Nigerian Senate Committee on Special Duties recently commended the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) for its “outstanding performance” in the area of humanitarian intervention.
The Chairman of Senate Committee on Special Duties, Sen. Yusuf, gave the commendation when he led a delegation on a three-day oversight function to appraise the Commission‘s one-year performance in Maiduguri. He said, “The NEDC is a baby of the federal government; it is just one year, but it has performed tremendously well in the past year; especially in the area of humanitarian intervention.”.
He is also setting the pace in terms of administration as numerous accounts indicate that the NEDC boss has put in place mechanisms that ensure that the agency‘s staffers deliver best results at every given time. In the NEDC, hard work is considered a norm in such a manner that the work atmosphere is always charged due to the level of activities ongoing simultaneously while making sure everything is in the right position.
And the results have been glaring and as well as impressive. I consequently wish to state that this piece is intended to challenge other public office holders towards the entrenchment of transparency in their operations using the NEDC model.
Mohammed Alkali remains my man any day with his passionate approach in the administration of the NEDC. He might not be that loud as others would want him to given his efforts so far. However, one thing you can‘t take away from him is the fact that he knows his onions, and he is passionate about achieving results.
His penchant for results would ultimately translate to laying a solid foundation for an agency as critical as the NEDC. He is also conscious that how well the NEDC performs in the future regarding fulfilling its mandate would be determined by his performance as the pioneer managing director.
It is indeed understandable if some individuals and groups attempt to rubbish the leadership strides of the managing director because of either mischief or ignorance. But whatever be the case it doesn’t change the fact that the NEDC under Mohammed Alkali has lived up to expectation in ways too numerous to mention.
Alkali is an exceptional breed and one that understands the need to serve humanity in sincerity of heart and purpose, and he has brought this to bear in his service delivery. He is at breast with mandates of the commission that it is first an interventionist agency and secondly the fact that the people of North-East Nigeria have suffered indeed enough of the atrocities of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
It is obvious that his critics are probably sad that for once that an individual heading such a sensitive interventionist agency would stand on the side of the people and not a select few. No doubt, the NEDC looks like a cash cow, but the man at the helm of the affairs is not an everyday politician that wouldn’t carry out his mandate effectively.

Truth be told, it was a bad market for the mischief-makers who wanted to demarket him only succeeded marketing him by bringing his tangible achievements into the public space. This is indeed a blessing in disguise, and a reason why Mohammed Alkali must not lose focus because the hawks waiting to devour him are innumerable.
Mohammed Alkali must match his words with action in ensuring that the reconstruction of communities in North-East Nigeria receives the much-needed
attention in fulfillment of the mandate of the NEDC.
Mohammed Alkali is indeed a patriotic servant and one that is more than committed to the restoration of normalcy in North-East Nigeria in fulfillment of the strategic objective of the current administration in establishing the NEDC. The case of Mohammed Alkali is indeed the footprints of a patriotic servant that lead with spirit of human kindness, love for humanity and human face.

Audu is a public affairs analyst based in Yola.

By Bukola Olasanmi

Notwithstanding heightened division in opinion, orchestrated negative propaganda and the deepening conspiracy theory against COVID19 Vaccine, Nigeria took delivery of 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, 2 March 2021.The delivery marked the first arrival of COVID-19 vaccine in the country and make Nigeria the next West African country to benefit from the COVAX Facility after Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
The arrival of the vaccine enabled the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to commence the vaccination of Nigerians in priority groups, starting with frontline healthcare workers.
According to Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director/ CEO, NPHCDA. “The arrival of this vaccine is the result of the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, the support of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the guidance of the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire,”
“We are fully prepared to receive and deliver the vaccine to eligible Nigerians as we have commenced the training of health workers and ensured that cold chain facilities are ready at all levels. We have a robust cold chain system that can store all types of COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with the required temperature. We are therefore confident that we will have a very effective roll-out of the vaccine, starting with our critical healthcare workers, who are in the frontline in providing the care we all need,” Dr Shuaib added.
The delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches over the next months by the COVAX Facility, as part of an unprecedented global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The COVAX Facility is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), with UNICEF as a key implementing partner.
“The COVAX Facility, has worked exceptionally hard to ensure that Nigeria gets the vaccine as soon as possible so it can start its vaccination programme to the largest population in Africa,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative.
“Vaccines are a critical additional tool in the battle against COVID-19 – until the country achieves high coverage of the vaccination, Nigerians must continue to adhere to the public health and social measures outlined by government to suppress transmission of the virus,” said Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative in Nigeria.
However, there is renewed vigor in the rumour industry by jobless detractors and saboteurs working against the administration of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
The government of president Mohammadu Buhari is hell bent on curbing the spread of the global Coronavirus pandemic; but those who perpetually pray for misfortunes to strike the country had already perfected plans to frustrate the inoculation process. Different creative tales were churned out to incite public rejection of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
There were those contracted to campaign against the vaccine as a killer stuff released to Africa by Western countries to cause mass deaths in the plot to reduce the over bloated population of African continent. Social media activists also aligned it to disease-causing or inducement drug which would permanently keep those who succumbed to its vaccination hospitalized to death.
Others linked the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to some indiscernible prohibitive cultural practices or abominations. In spite of the gang-up to falsely chorus the failure of the Buhari Presidency on public health care delivery, the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine is steadily on course in Nigeria.
The likely set back to the seamless administration of Covid-19 vaccine in Nigeria now is the manufacturing and circulation of fake Coronavirus vaccines by the evildoers. Those who accepted Covid-19 vaccines from the black market have mortgaged their lives to the unconscionable actions of some fraudulent Nigerians.
Recently, Nigeria’s National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC) had to issue a public caution about the disturbing presence of fake Covid-19 vaccines in circulation. NAFDAC was blunt that it has not approved any local Covid-19 vaccine as bandied in public and the varieties of fake Covid-19 vaccines in circulation are responsible for the “Covid-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill” in people who have used it.
That’s why it is advisable to take Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines only in Government designated medical facilities or institutions.
Therefore, the skeptics, cynics and twisters of the reality are eventually finding themselves standing against naked truth with the fleshless propaganda. If there is a conspiracy to kill Africans through the Covid-19 vaccine, it implies that Nigeria is not the only country to fall into the trap in Africa and world over.
African countries like Ghana, Core d’Ivoire and other nations on the continent are massively vaccinating their citizens with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines. WHO alongside with other international health bodies have approved scores of Covid-19 vaccines certified as safe and healthy for global use. But Oxford AstraZeneca which is in use in Nigeria is rated as one of the best from the fleet principally because it has the potency to also boost human immune system.
The British Prime Minister has also been inoculated with the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. In Nigeria, President Buhari; the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and other top Government functionaries have all been inoculated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in turns.
Had the Buhari Presidency failed to acquire the Covid-19 vaccines, there would have been a lot of blackmailing campaigns on his person and Government by the egoistic opposition or some disgruntled elements. Now that the vaccines have been acquired, the campaigns have tilted to dissuading Nigerians from taking the inoculations, basing the arguments on unfounded conspiracy theories.
President Buhari has found reliable allies in the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. They are wonderful Nigerians who are spending sleepless nights in deflating the malicious campaigns against the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and, simultaneously working round the clock in ensuring effective distribution and inoculation of Nigerians against Covid-19 disease. Every member of the team has performed excellently and deserves national recognition and honours for the utmost commitment and hard work.
I want to particularly salute Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director/ CEO, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). He is to me an exceptional character on the team of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. He is a complete craftsman who knows how to execute the briefs of his office faultlessly in times of national public health emergency.
Dr. Shuaib is one individual who has been able to justify the mandate of his office especially in this tough time. Firstly, the choice of AstraZeneca vaccine, with zero medical complications, aside boosting body immunity and protecting the body against other diseases. Dr. shaibu has neutralised the potency of the baseless conspiracy theories concocted against the vaccine from certain quarters.
It is a thing of exceeding joy that for the several weeks Nigerians are being inoculated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, no single incident of post-inoculation health complications to date. It is the worthiest proof of its efficacy and health guarantee. No wonder more volunteers are coming out to mobilize Nigerians for the vaccination.
The NPHCDA boss’s ingenuity is gleaned in the brilliant strategies he adopted to distribute the vaccines and the initial administration of the AstraZeneca on certain categories of Nigerians across the country. Dr. Faisal Shuaib, streamlined the first categories of Nigerians to be immunized to include, strategic leaders, military and paramilitary workers and health personnel whose jobs expose them to frequent contacts with multitudes every day.
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), the apex medical body in the country has also attested to the validity, safety and potency of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccines as its members are massively inoculating themselves against the pandemic. The good news is that some branches of the NMA are now at the forefront, leading public awareness campaigns to dispel the misgivings and urging Nigerians to come out en masses for vaccination.
And most pleasurably, the seamless distribution of the vaccine across the country by the NPHCDA in record time is an apt indication that things can rightly be done in the right manner in Nigeria under the right leadership. Dr. Shuaib has symbolized or perfectly demonstrated and expressed this leadership.
Dr. Faisal Shuaib, unlike other heads of government agencies, is evidently a very brilliant physician who has deployed humility, maturity, clarity of purpose and understanding of the pandemic to convert some naysayers who never gave the NPHCDA a chance to do its job. Today, some of these earlier anti-vaccine activists are singing praises of the NPHCDA. With good leadership, nothing is impossible. Truly, Leadership is what Nigeria need and that is all Nigerians cry for on a daily basis. The Nigerian government plans to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of eligible Nigerians aged 18 years and above in four phases within two years.

Olasanmi wrote this piece from Abuja.

By Femi Oyewale

It’s amazing that some people just don’t know when to give up, there is a Yoruba proverb that says Aja ti ko ba gbo fere olode, ose tan lati parun ni. Maureen Badejo has come again with stories fabricated from hell. Instead of her focusing on the alleged stealing and fake operation of Sunday Ighogho’s fake gofundme account that she set up to DEFRAUD THE MASSES, which has brought her under fire and scrutiny from fellow bloggers and even friends, she is looking to shift attention, by coming with stories that don’t make sense, and better still recycling stories that have been straightened out by the truth. 

THE OBVIOUS

 It’s obvious that her biggest audience has been generated from fabricated lies about MFM and the pastor of the ministry, mind you a judgment has been ruled against Maureen Badejo on this matter, of which she has been ordered to stop peddling malicious and invidious stories about the name MFM and the person of Dr. Olukoya with a 500 million naira defamation claim to her name, and a lot more other lawsuits that are not going well for her, 

A FRAUDULENT, DODGY AND FAULTY CHARACTER 

This lady has been denying that she was never served for the Nigeria court process, and this has been her song for a while, but liars will always leave their trails behind, Maureen Badejo has a history of being very dodgy when it comes to legal matters, the cases below are examples of past lawsuits where she has displayed such characters on different grounds.

The Applicant’s character of dodging court proceedings and getting other people to lie on her behalf was judicially noticed and commented upon by the Court of Appeal (Lagos Division) in the case of Mrs. Adebola Nejo V. Access Bank & Ors (2019) LPELR-47960(CA)

From our investigation on the judgment of the Nigerian court, we discovered that DHL had a time posted proofs of Delivery which clearly show that Maureen Badejo personally signed for and received all the court processes, and Hearing Notices served her without exception. 

Please read, the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division in Suit No. CA/L/923/2013 Debola Nejo (Maureen’s mother) V. 1. Access Bank Plc; 2. Niracon Engineering Nigeria Ltd; 3. Mrs. Maureen Omorinola Badejo; 4. Engr. Niran Badejo (Maureen’s estranged husband) 

this can be found reported on Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report as (2019) LPELR-47960 particularly pages 27 and 28 of the electronic report, and find out the courts’ impression of Maureen as an artful dodger of court proceedings. 

On another occasion where she had a matter, she pretended not to be Maureen when the USA servers approached her; they had to come back on a second day armed with her picture, immediately they identified her and she wanted to escape, they had to throw the papers by her feet on the floor  

She has been a dubious character and a troublemaker for a long time.

HER ADMISSION 

In her folly, Maureen Badejo admitted in one of her shows that she received and is aware of the letters served her. 

For about a year now, Maureen Badejo has been fabricating stories about MFM  ministries and the founder with nothing reasonable, or anything whatsoever to prove her allegations up to date, yet she doesn’t want to give up, she is going round and round with some stories that have no bearing, in the process, displaying her abysmal ignorance, foolishness and lack of intelligence, she came up with charity case and we brought out the true story, In the process correcting her lack of knowledge, that it was a fraud committed against MFM and not the other way round.

MFM UK CLOSURE?

Maureen, have you ever stopped to check yourself and listen deep down to the lies you tell people and to yourself? In one of the recent broadcasts you mentioned that there is a supposed closure of MFM in the UK and I wondered where you got that from, is there any document to prove these stories, or it’s another of your fabrications? Of course, no evidence to substantiate your claim will surface because you have no pedigree for true journalism.

MERGER FOR RESTRUCTURING

Today I will treat the matter on the supposed closure of MFM in the UK, which your informant had no understanding whatsoever before briefing You.

From our findings, we realized that MFM has way more than 14 branches in the UK and none, however, has been closed for any reason, an internal rebranding, restructuring, and expansion exercise is going on with MFM WORLDWIDE, which merges smaller branches with bigger ones to make them mega branches giving way for other branches to open, this as well as to make the branches more effective and productive in their service of Gods work. 

AN ACHIEVER AND A PATRON 

You alleged that Dr. Olukoya and his family want to run to Canada and as a matter of fact that Olukoya is in Canada at the moment, I laugh at your foolishness, what will he be doing in Canada?  I am sure the last time he visited Canada was for the crusade and that’s a while ago. For audiovisual materials to be used for ministration in the church is not new in MFM; it’s simply part of the MFM digital upgrade routine when the general overseer gets busy. We do our findings and we come with truth and facts.

It’s obvious that you have no understanding of the true nature and person of DK Olukoya, his achievements, philanthropy, and the weight of MFM Ministries worldwide, The man can choose to live anywhere in the world but he has been in Nigeria doing his God called work, a man who is a grand patron to mega-science labs, health centers, university, and one of the biggest and fastest-growing ministries in the world, you really think will be moved by your callous and fake blogging scoops?  Maureen, You are a joke and a fraud and you will always remain one, I am doing this to make sure that children of God are not swayed by your deception since you pretend to be a sheep.

THE BRITISH IN HIM

Before I forget, know this and get this clear we got to know that his wife is not seeking for resident permit neither is she a resident permit holder, but a British citizen with a child that was born in the UK and has been schooling in the UK for about 15 years now. so the misguided story you have been pushing around that she is collecting 35,000 pounds for residency purposes is the most stupid, ridiculous, and unfounded statement ever told. As a matter of fact, it’s an insult to the person of Olukoya, that I have come to know.

GET A LIFE 

Pray that God gives you a life, so that you can move out of the Government council house that you live, repent, choose the right path ask for forgiveness from God and Olukoya and look for something reasonable to do with your life instead of going around doing fraudulent gofundme accounts for imaginary beings, you have been asked to publish all you have done with the gofundme accounts you have been defrauding people with yet you haven’t published. Maureen Badejo, submit to retribution for all your sins before it’s too late.

Femi Oyewale is a journalist and Ogun State-based publisher

By Best Agbese

In those days, the graduates of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin) pranced the land with mercurial elegance as proud products of one of Nigeria’s best second-generation universities. But this aura suddenly faded and over the years graduates of the varsity faced character discrimination in the labour market.

The decades of bickering between splinter factions of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) within the university, which led to the severance of ASUU-Unilorin branch from the national body shattered academic excellence on the campus. It insidiously affected public rating of the university by moralists.

Although, the duration of internal confrontations among factions of academic staff of the university spanning over 20 years, entrenched an uninterrupted academic calendar for the happenstance of exclusion from incessant ASUU strikes, it nevertheless, adversely affected the varsity in other areas. The coherence of teaching staff, necessary unity and the cordial interpersonal relationships between students and lecturers suffered strains. And in some cases, outright bruises on both parties.

Ostensibly, the cat and dog atmosphere on campus, ennobled by warring ASUU factions affected the quality of research and learning as well as the time-tested culture of collaborative understanding in the pursuit of academic excellence. Students were also aware of the redlines among their teachers and, proper intellectual development and moral upbringing also suffered some blot and drawbacks as a consequence of the union members’ fisticuffs.

Successive Vice Chancellors of the university, frequently boasted of a stable and sacrosanct academic calendar timeline as “the hallmark of the university,” which attracted a sea of admission seekers within and outside the country. But deep down their hearts, there was a void of an unstable workplace steep in cold animosity.

The scenario groomed students who probably could have been fit in academics. But the students must have been possibly defective in character, as they rather saliently learnt from their teachers, bitter unionism, irreconcilable differences and mastery of endless feuds as a way of life. The sacred universal doctrine of universities is that degree certificates are awarded only to students found worthy in “character and learning,” and the latter virtue was unwittingly abused by decades of bickering in ASUU-UniIorin.

Interestingly, before the incumbency of Professor Sulyman Age Abdulkareem as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, (VC-Unilorin), successive ASUU leaderships in the university made series of fruitless attempts to reabsorb itself with the national body of ASUU. And Prof. Abdulrasheed Adeoye’s led leadership of ASUU-Unilorin held several reconciliation parleys with the national ASUU under the midwife of the ASUU Zonal Secretariat.

Similarly, desperate efforts were made by Dr. Usman Raheem (now, a professor) to reunite ASUU-Unilorin with the national ASUU family. Unfortunately, these attempts flopped as a result of the stiff terms and conditions thrown up. But apparently, majority of teaching staff of the university were enthusiastic and willing to reintegrate with their parent national body.

The eagerness of ASUU-Unilorin to rejoin the national body was spurred by the years of humiliations, alienations and discriminations its members suffered from colleagues in other universities across the country. It dealt a heavy psychological blow on most of them. That the ultimate reintegration happened under Prof. Abdulkareem’s tenure is a coincidence that has confirmed his sincerity of purpose and passion for staff development in all nuances.

So, early in Year 2020, ASUU Unilorin branch regained its membership of the national body and participated in the strike declared by the national body to protest the failure of the federal government to implement the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding and the 2017 Memorandum of Action and the subsequent other activities of the ASUU national body.

So, the 2017 emergence of Prof. Abdulkareem, a renowned chemical engineer, thoroughbred academic, and inventor per excellence, as the VC- Unilorin descended blessings on the institution from different angles. No doubt, he was confronted with daunting multiple challenges. But unfazed by the enormity of challenges, he trudged on confidently with a principal focus on staff and student’s welfare as well as human resources development.

Prof. Abdulkareem recognized the importance of quality human resources development to drive development in the varsity’s immediate host community and the country generally. And so, he prioritized staff and student’s welfare as the main drivers of this agenda.

The ideal and motivating work environment which eluded the Unilorin campus was restored comfortingly, as expressed in the frustrations while it lasted, clearly lamented by a former branch Chairman of ASUU-Unilorin, Professor Salihu Ajao. He excitedly bawled the sentiments; “It is a good omen for the branch to return to the national body as his members had suffered various discriminations and embarrassments during the twenty years of fighting the national body.”

Consequently, UniIorin rebounded back to its glorious days as a leading citadel for learning, research and technology as well as the giant of students’ academic excellence. In the last one-year, Unilorin has re-ebbed its niche on home-grown technological solutions to the multiple local challenges in the country.

The duo of researchers at the varsity, Professor Bamidele Owoeye, the Head, Department of Physiology, and a Ph.D candidate in the department, Ahmed Bakare have established the potency of Bromelain derived from pineapple fruits in the effective management of COVID-19 cases in patients. The publication is entitled: “Bromelain reduced Pro-Inflammatory Mediators as A Common Pathway that Mediate Antinociceptive and Anti-anxiety Effects in Sciatic Nerve Litigated Wistar Rats,” which further scientific medical scrutiny and endorsement would add to the multiple other subsisting options of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Through the tireless efforts of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulkareem, the famed inventor of the” Age Sulyman’s oil spillage clean-up machine,” UniIlorin has recorded other numerous major research breakthroughs by both staff and students of the institution. These include, the development of a speed breaker device; invention of an anti-electricity power- theft device and the innovation of an oil spillage management product which is already in the market and effective.

Also, a machine capable of producing different shapes of pencil in commercial quantities has also been fabricated and Unilorin is at the verge of the discovery of a potential treatment and cure for the deadly Tuberculous disease.

An excitingly manifested result of a revived and stabilized Unilorin has seen a proportionate rise in brilliant academic performances of students. At the university’s 35th Convocation Ceremony, 130 students bagged First Class degrees in various disciplines; whilst 2,902 graduates bagged Second Class Upper Division.

The laurels of excellence to Unilorin, under Prof. Abulkareem who recently emerged, the Chairman, the Committee of Vice Chancellors in Nigeria have kept expanding. In the 2019 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) awards for excellent performance in admission processes in the country at the Second edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance Merit Award for 2019 held in Abuja, UniIorin cornered two awards. The institution outshined others in the categories of Most Subscribed Institution by Candidates and, the Institution with Highest Number of Admitted International Students. It earned the varsity a cash reward of N75 million.

The outbreak of COVID-19 was a major setback to most institutions of higher learning in the country, but UniIlorin outsmarted it. Long closures of schools or lockdown compelled the varsity to resort to e-learning for the convenience and safety of both staff and students. Lectures and assessments were smoothly conducted online and, all necessary arrangements were put in place for a hitch-free online classes or contacts between lecturers and students.

In recognition of the plight and economic hardships caused by COVID-19 lockdown nationwide, the Kwara State Government through the directive of Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasak reached out to staff of UniIorin with palliatives to cushion the effects of the hardships on the university community.

In his usual magnanimity and concern for the welfare of low cadre staff, the Vice Chancellor identified 643 staff on CONTISS 1 and 2, and other departmental staff of the university as the most vulnerable, and graciously shared the COVID-19 food palliatives to them. The palliatives comprised assorted food items.

Additionally, Prof. Abdulkareem perceived the Unilorin university community as very susceptible to the COVID-19 epidemic and a formidable vector of its spread. Therefore, the Vice Chancellor has placed an eagle eye on policing the varsity campus in this period.

He constituted and empowered a Coronavirus Prevention Committee of the University of Ilorin on COVID-19 to fully enforce all COVID-19 protocols and very strictly on campus. He ensured the ceaseless supply of disinfectants to the university community, soap and water, hand Wash spots, face masks and sanitizers.

Prof. Abdulkareem has not relented on his oars in sticking to standard practices in the university. He has attached ultimate premium to the promotion of deserving staff of the varsity. Academic staff are happy and encouraged to put it their best because the university management under Prof. Abdulkareem institutionalized timely and unhindered promotions once the rules are met. He is celebrated on campus by both staff and students as a symbol of fairness and justice as well as uncommon passion for staff welfare. He believes in the doctrine of give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God, what is God’s.

Therefore, Prof. Abdulkareem has set UniIlorin on a high operational pedestal to the point of emulation of his entrenched standards by other upcoming universities. Recently, Prof. Noah Yusuf, the Vice-Chancellor {V-C} of Al-Hikmah University, also located in Ilorin, Kwara state led a team of delegation to UniIlorin to understudy the secrets of its success story in varsity administration. The team also inspected UniIorin’s Entrepreneurial Skills Acquisition Center, which Prof. Abdulkareem has transformed and magnified into a national asset for practical skills acquisition for young Nigerians.

With these measures by the Prof. Abdulkareem administration, actively backed by the university management, coupled with the sustained focus on the welfare of students and staff, UniIlorin has graciously reclaimed its lost glory. It is now cruising higher on the crucible of academic excellence.

Agbese, Unilorin Alumnus is a researcher at University of Dundee, Scotland.