In Yoruba, there is a proverb: “Ojú l’arí, ọ̀rẹ́ ò dé ‘nú”—literally it means ‘we only see the face; friendship does not go deep inside.’ That is the name the Group Managing Director of the NNPCL, Mr Bayo Ojulari, bears. The name calls attention to why appearance and essence sometimes wear different colours. It teaches a lesson in how names, faces and accents may be mere masks—not mirrors.

In Nigeria, the powers of power always wear tribal costumes. Every big position is a sacred grove, only the initiates have its access cards. Kinship confers initiation rights at the grove; free cakes are the benefits. For this and other familial reasons, about a month ago when Ojulari was made the boss of Nigeria’s national oil company, Yoruba people, home and abroad, danced round the world. They thought the NNPC had become their grove. 

There is a town called Oke Ode in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. Chiefs and youths of that community competed for space in newspapers, on radio and TV with press releases thanking President Bola Tinubu and their own stars for the appointment of Ojulari. They said he was their son in whom they were very well pleased. The chiefs, in particular, added, for effect, that he was “able and capable of bringing the necessary turnaround in NNPC for the benefit of Nigeria and the entire citizenry.”

But the man by himself gave a definition of himself last week. He spoke extensively to BBC Hausa in flawless Hausa language, clearly and purposively choosing and declaring where he belongs. Newspapers did English translations of what he said: “I was surprised when people said I was not from the North. I am a child of the North, and I come from Ilorin. I was brought up in Kaduna State. I started learning Yoruba when I was 15 years old. When I left Kaduna, I went to Zaria to study, so I am a northerner,” he said — and added: “I need the support of the North to do this work well and bring development to the North and the whole of Nigeria…” 

What Ojulari said is a culture jolt to Western Nigerians, and I saw it in more than one critical Yoruba circle. It is a reminder that the face is not necessarily the soul. It is also a warning that a name may and may not mirror allegiance or belonging. 

Three things I noted in what the man said: That he is from the North is true and the truth; Kwara is geographically north. It appears settled forever, no matter what I may think or feel. That the man is from Ilorin will be declared false by Ilorin, and held to be very untrue by the people of Oke Ode, his father’s hometown. The city he claims, Ilorin, is in Kwara-Central senatorial district; the town that claims him, Oke Ode, is an Igbomina town that sits deep in the savanna of Kwara South. Much more fundamental is this: “I need the support of the North to do this work well and bring development to the North and the whole of Nigeria.” Now, read the last clause of that sentence again. Did you see that ‘the north’ comes first before ‘Nigeria’? So, between the two which one is really his country?

In the pantheon of the gods, some deities are more worthy than others. The North is that deity who stands by you with everything it has. When you have northern Nigeria on your side, you can sleep completely and totally. No ant will dare walk your skin; rodents won’t disturb your rest. Ojulari knew this as a proven fact. He, therefore, desperately wanted the North behind him. And, with that interview, the boss man has owned the North; the North is expected to accept and own him. 

I believe Ojulari could claim his northernness without posting a disclaimer of his ethnic, linguistic and communal roots. His interview has stomped his feet on the eyes of that part of the earth which calls him son. The language and tone of the interview suggest his mother tongue is a footnote; an afterthought that came after 15 years. His hometown, Oke Ode, did not even feature at all in his story as told by him. I hope his Yoruba is strong enough for him to understand that rain beats one into the same house more than once. He can still make quiet amends. 

A lesson: Butterfly gazed at her reflection in a clear pond and said, “These wings are too grand for an insect—I must be a bird! I am a bird!” 

Butterfly convinced herself and stopped associating with insects; she opted for the assembly of birds. 

In his majesty, the eagle arrived at the next meeting of birds. He spotted butterfly and queried her:

“Why are you here?”

Beautiful butterfly replied: “I have wings like you. I fly. This is where I truly belong. I am a bird.” 

The eagle smiled, patted butterfly on the back and gently told her: “You are truly beautiful, but you are not of our tribe. You flutter, we glide and soar. The world may keep praising your beauty but you should never let achievement, praise and adulation make you forget who you truly are.” 

So, the Hausa-speaking Yorubaman who started learning Yoruba at the age of 15 should listen to the elders when they warn his butterfly never to think itself bird. Achebe’s Ikemefuna called Okonkwo father. We all know how fatal the boy’s run for cover turned out in his ‘father’s’ arms. Maybe I should kuku read out that part of the story: “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his matchet, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, ‘My father, they have killed me!’, as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down…” 

The enemy is behind everything that happens to anyone here. In electronics and computing, a glitch is an unexpected software or hardware malfunction. Here, you have your phone frozen or your app crashed, you respond cursing the devil that is responsible for the trouble. You suffer network failure, you hit or tap the desk and pray against the spirit of lost connections. Or you simply blame the village witch, and the next-door neighbour whose jealous, suspicious eyes you’ve been seeing in your dreams. You bind and curse them all —and all their generations. 

At exactly 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, thousands of students across China prepared to take the Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Language and Culture exam. One after another, they logged into the AP testing platform. For some, the exam began smoothly—they managed to answer a few listening questions—then their screens abruptly froze. Like today’s dog expertly pursuing today’s hare, the obedient citizens of the tech world did what the manuals advised troubled users to do: log out and try again, standard troubleshooting step. Many logged out and attempted to sign back in. But the system told them no: “Access denied. This account is already in use.” Nothing they did resolved the glitch. They remained logged out and locked out – and stranded.

The experience was not a one-centre fiasco. The malfunction was widespread; students from over 700 high schools were impacted. A makeup examination was later organized for those affected. 

China is home to 56 officially recognized ethnic groups—a fine mix of cultures, languages, and traditions. But when the AP Chinese exam system glitched, no one pointed fingers at anyone’s ethnicity. No teacher or senator screamed: “Glitch caused by majority Han to retard the progress of the Hui.” There was no binding the devil and cursing the enemy. The problem was simply taken for what it was —a glitch, a technical chaos.

JAMB discovered that a glitch happened to a part of its 2025 exam and explained how it happened; it offered apologies and remedies. But some people say the JAMB glitch was not an accident; they say it was a carefully designed plot by the Yoruba, led by JAMB’s Professor Ishaq Oloyede to deny Igbo children university education.

Nigeria is an impossible country. Oloyede is an Egba man from Abeokuta, therefore he must be carrying out a Yoruba agenda against their historical southern rival across the Niger. That is what some people say in rooms and verandas and on rooftops. I gasped reading very enlightened people, even respected top media people, entering the fray, blasting the walls of reason. 

Well, it turned out that the glitch affected more candidates in Lagos (a Yoruba state) than the total number of the victims in the South-East. In Lagos, there were 206,610 victim-candidates; the whole of the five South-East states had 173,397. Could the Yoruba have hated their neighbours so much that they would add their own part of the earth to the scorched? Only a suicide bomber would not mind inflicting more harm on himself than on his target. And suicide bombing is not a Western Nigerian delicacy. 

Read the “moth in the hardware” story in the evolution epic of the computer. Anything machine can malfunction at any point and be caused by anything. That is why it is called a machine, an invention by man. Read the Greek origin of the word and its long journey to today’s form and meaning.

The genius called Thomas Edison, when he encountered technical hiccups which he called ‘bugs’ in his inventions, famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Science historians say Edison tackled the bugs and hiccups in his inventions through a combination of rigorous experimentation, documentation, and iterative problem-solving. I am almost sure that our scientists and engineers are part of this JAMB controversy, not as professionals proactively in search of solutions to future glitches, but as public or closet ethnic champions. 

I read a report credited to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The chairman of ASUU-UNN, Comrade Óyibo Eze, told newsmen in Nsukka on Wednesday that the massive failure, which he claimed mostly affected candidates from the South-East, was a deliberate attempt by JAMB to stop children from the zone from getting higher education. 

“JAMB knows that children from the South-East must score higher before they can get admission, whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use a 120 JAMB score to get admission to read medicine at universities in their area. In the JAMB recently released result, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 examination, over 1.5 million candidates scored less than 200, and the majority of these are from the South-East and Lagos State, where many Igbos reside,” he said.

Nsukka’s ASUU reduced a national disaster to a glib tribal talk. It even added Lagos to its sphere of tribal influence. Jesus said: “It is finished.” Until I read that news report, I had thought that ASUU (of any branch) was what we thought it was: an association of intellectuals. Now we know. “If gold rusts, what shall iron do? For if a priest, upon whom we trust, be foul, no wonder a layman may yield to lust.” Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote those lines in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ apparently had ASUU-UNN in mind. 

The union should have left such cheap tribal talk to arrogance of ignorance and those who revel in it. There is a reason why university teachers are called intellectuals. “An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.” That was Albert Camus in ‘The Enigma of the Universe’ (1948). If you are called an intellectual, your scent must be self-awareness; your breath, critical thinking; your thoughts, introspection. Psychologist John H. Flavell called it metacognition—thinking about thinking. A union of university teachers which failed to question its own assumptions, and neglected an analysis of its reasoning before taking a stand on a key national issue puts all branches of knowledge to shame. 

Shakespeare’s King Lear says, “I am a man/More sinn’d against than sinning.”

We should have enough of people reading tribal meanings into anything and everything they are involved in. What I write here is a debugging attempt, an effort at telling ethnic moths to remove themselves from our computer relays, an attempt at protecting the system from human glitches. 

Or, maybe we should just pack up Nigeria since we cannot live a minute without threatening each other. And over what? Over glitches that can happen even under an angel’s watch.

•Restructuring of security architecture, bi-camera legislature, revenue formula on agenda
•Moved from May 27, 28 to June 11, 12

More details are beginning to emerge on specifics that may dominate debate at the all-inclusive political summit being put together under the leader of The Patriots and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emerita Anyaoku, to fashion a workable constitutional framework for the country. 

 A draft proposal for discussion gleaned by the Nigerian Tribune at the weekend showed that no fewer than 34 critical items therein, barring any major adjustments subject to the final approval by the organisers. The items cover fundamental restructuring in all the layers and arms of government, as well as the security services cum architecture. 

Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that a new date has been proposed for the summit due to the 26th anniversary of Nigeria’s return to civil rule on May 29. 

The summit, according to the sources, has been shifted from May 27–28 to June 11 and 12 in Abuja.

Among the other issues listed in the proposal are: provision for judicial adjudication of corruption and betrayal of trust matters, remunerations of members of the National Assembly, remunerations and compensations in the public service, electoral system, political party structures, revenue management format, security architecture, and fiscal arrangement.

Management of resources and revenue, concurrent functional responsibilities, regional border changes and disputes, as well as equal rights among federating regions, basis of state government, status of the federal capital territory (FCT), federal Executive Council, powers and functions of the President, restructuring of states based ethnic homogeneity and other items are contained in the document.

Tagged: “Issues to be presented by the Secretariat for Consideration and Ratification by the Summit, the document observed that the “2025 Summit of The Patriots affords a veritable opportunity to canvass topical issues that are prepared in advance for consideration and concurrence by delegates before departure. As many issues as are presented and accepted will serve as the basis for post-Summit advocacy and demand of action by the National Assembly.”

 It noted that the 2014 National Conference was a major dialogue convened by then President Goodluck Jonathan to address critical national challenges and propose reforms, noting that, “While the conference covered a wide range of topics (e.g., governance, security, economy, and social cohesion), the principal recommendation centered on managing the subsisting 1999 Constitution and its behemoth stipulations, regarding which there is a consensus about its multifarious inadequacies.”

Two of the most striking items listed in the proposal are the setting up of a technical panel to facilitate constitutional reforms, as well as the process for the enactment of a new constitution that would be widely accepted by Nigerians.

The proposed technical panel, which is number 32 on the list of the items reads: “There shall be a Technical Panel to Facilitate Constitutional Reforms in Nigeria (TPF-CRN). The body shall be set up by the President.

“The panel will facilitate the processes towards the drafting of the Regional and then the Federal Constitutions by the people of Nigeria.

“The TPFCR shall undertake the following functions: Facilitate all processes and activities towards the enactment of a new Governance Framework for Nigeria

•Provide information and advice only that will facilitate the activities of the linguistic/ethnic nationalities, sub-nationalities as they interact and consult voluntarily towards that fashioning out of cooperative and collaborative frameworks.

•Sensitize and guide voluntary aggregation of the peoples identified in (b) above into viable socio-economic and political units, primarily based on contiguity of land territory, local resource control and self-management of governance affairs.

•Provide secretarial support to the accredited representatives of the linguistic/ethnic nationalities, sub-nationalities in their respective quests to aggregate and or disaggregate to form new regions.

•Provide advisory support to the emerging leaders of political units based on (d) to enable them work out understandings and frameworks for local governance, such as would be embodied in their articles of associations: A respective Regional Constitutions.

•Facilitate the organisation and hosting of the Convention of the bona-fide representatives of the emerged regions, being outcomes of (e) above, with the purpose of articulating the form and content of a new framework for federal governance.”

The document stated that the framework for governance shall be presented for ratification and enactment into a new Constitution for the Federation of Nigerian Nations (FNN), stressing that the “outcome shall not be abridged or tampered with in whatever form.”

It also suggested that the National Assembly shall facilitate a new federal constitution within six calendar months.

“The National Assembly shall transmit the enactment to the respective State Assemblies for passage with a simple majority vote.

“On ratification by a simple majority number of state assemblies, the new federal constitution for Nigeria shall be voted upon by all Nigerians of voting age. With a simple majority vote, the New Constitution shall be deemed to have been passed by the People of Nigeria,” it emphasised.

 It noted that Nigeria was nowhere near the complexity of the Indian nation that has endured since 1947, stressing that, “If we are truly serious about solving the problem of the Nigerian question, we no longer need to view the fact of our 371 ethnic nationalities as an albatross on our quest for development. We must confront it frontally.”

Reaffirming the ethnic heterogeneity of the country, the document states: “Nigeria should be considered for operation as a 10 state-polity with as many federal territories constituted to give identity to every of the 360 residual ethnic nationalities.

“We have far less than the 2,000 ethnic nationalities of India to contend with.

“The implicit profligacy of 109 senators, 360 honourable members, 36 executive governments, 36 state assemblies, and 774 local governments bears no restarting to emphasise that the political class is merely self-serving at the expense of citizens. Nigeria is unlikely to fare well any much longer.”

[Nigerian Tribune]

The Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, has expressed profound sadness on the passing of Chief Sir Sylvester Chukwudozie Ezeokenwa, KSJI (Ezeudo-Umuchu), the beloved father of Chief Barrister Sly Ezeokenwa Jr., National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), on Thursday, May 15, 2025.​

In his condolence remarks, Governor Soludo described Chief Ezeokenwa as an outstanding community leader, a consummate political figure, and a pioneer officer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State. His unreserved dedication to the party and his relentless efforts in galvanising grassroots support have notably contributed to making APGA stronger as a foremost progressive party and are deeply appreciated.​

The Governor further stated that the deceased’s legacy of service, leadership, and tenacious commitment to societal progress, which has continued to reflect in his son (Barrister Sly Ezeokenwa Jr.) as the APGA national chairman, will always be remembered and cherished by all APGA members and Ndi Anambra at large. ​

Therefore, Governor Soludo condoles with Chief Barrister Sly Ezeokenwa and the entire Ezeokenwa family, praying for the peaceful repose of their patriarch’s soul and comfort for the family at this difficult time. 

Signed,

​Christian Aburime

Press Secretary to the Governor

Following the conclusion of party primaries, sixteen (16) Political Parties have uploaded their candidates' nomination forms for the Anambra State Governorship Election by the deadline of 6.00pm on Monday 12th May 2025 when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.

As provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 and listed as item 4 on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, the Commission has published the personal particulars of each candidate and his running mate by displaying copies of the Form EC9, along with all the accompanying academic credentials and other documents submitted by them, at our State Headquaters and the 21 Local Government offices across Anambra State.

We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by a candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.

The final list of candidates will be published on 9th June 2025 which is at least 150 days before the day of the election in line with the provision of Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and listed as item 7 on our Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.

The Anambra State Governorship Election is scheduled to hold on Saturday 8th November 2025.

Sam Olumekun mni

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee

I interviewed Yinka Quadri and Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo) on the same day. I still remember the red Peugeot 505 they drove to the Onipetesi office of The Punch that evening. Yes, they honoured this reporter and interviewed them in the office at Onipetesi. I was a regular at Tunji Bamisigbin’s and Ralph Nwadike’s office. It was a productive hunting ground for me to catch both budding and made actors. It was there I was first drawn to Funsho Adeolu because of the Adegeye in his name. Oga Bello Adebayo Salami, I interviewed in Ebute Metta and Jide Kosoko I interviewed in his office around Jibowu. 

Unforgettable experience was my session with Sola Sobowale in her office off Allen Avenue, Ikeja. We sat on the floor, swigged gists and laughed loudly. 

Beautiful soul, that one, in and out. We spoke for a long time until mummy duty called when the twins returned from school. I spent many days on the Ikorodu set of Checkmate. That was where I forged a bond with Amaka Igwe. (Then she was Amaka Isaac-Ene), Ngozi Nwosu and Uncle K, Kunle Bantefa. But the hard work that goes into each movie, each series we sit back to enjoy on DStv, Netflix, YouTube, Prime and the cinemas is huge. Forget the glamour. The sweat, tears and focus it requires to become a face or voice In Nollywood is unquantifiable. 

I will never forget the few hours I spent on the set of one of Amaka Igwe’s movies, somewhere in Ogudu GRA and the way Norbert Young wowed me that day. Nobody, no other actor has left such a mark on my 20-something year old mind then like he did. In one of his scenes, he was required to cry and he produced the right amount of tears each time the director shouted ‘Action’.  Then ‘Cut’ and Norbert Young wiped his eyes, returned to the people he was sitting with and they continued their gist, laughing and joking. The Director would then call for another take and Norbert would tear up again, cry so convincingly I wanted to go console him. One minute later, he was back to his gisting session, jokes and laughs. They had many retakes of that scene, even this reporter was exhausted in her chair. But Norbet Young didn’t run out of tears or miss his lines. 

In those days, I enjoyed my time on location because it helped me understand the beat more, see how movies were put together and I could do two interviews in one day and book four for later. There were no phones then, remember?

My date with Pete Edochie is a full book. Olu Jacobs? We are a blessed country. 

Ah, I must not forget the biggest interview of all (for me). Chief Hubert Ogunde in his Ososa village in Ogun State. Weeks after that, the old man went the way of all mortals. So, is this a peep into the book: “What Funke Egbemode did before she became Editor?” I’m shaking my head. Not exactly. I’m just in a collaborative mood and mode.

Nollywood has come a long way and as I watched the 11th edition of the African Magic Viewers Choice (AMVCA), my sad heart lifted and told me: “It’s not over for the Nigeria Economy.” Nollywood has shown that everything that Nigeria needs to be great is in Nigeria. All we need to do is to keep the thick grabbing fingers of politicians and civil servants away from it.

All those encounters with the veterans I started this piece with happened more than 30 years ago. I saw the boyish look of Funsho Adeolu in an old flick and I said to myself: “This is the story of Nollywood.” The boys are now men. As I watched Femi Adebayo on stage with his well-deserved award for the beautiful SEVEN DOORS, many happy thoughts flooded my mind. I remember T’oluwa Nile, Rattlesnake, Saworo Ide. I remember Aye and J’ayesimi, Taxi Driver, Owo lagba, etc. I remember the humble beginning of the Nigeria entertainment industry. Many didn’t give it a chance. They talked and looked down on it. But here we are, on the way to fantastic greatness already doing enviable exploits and, wait for it, all on its own. Nollywood is successful all by itself. Our music, our movies are our exports, our ambassadors by themselves. 

Or is there any other sector of the Nigerian economy that started small, weathered the storm of piracy, no funding, low funding, then grew, expanded, became a national pride like our music and movie industries? I must have missed it. 

How many states that produced these hard working actors have film villages that we can reference? But Ibrahim Chatta and Kunle Afolayan pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and built two. Just like Aliko Dangote did what successive Nigerian governments could not do for decades – a working refinery, Nollywood employs thousands of Nigerians. 

As manufacturers and Internationals leave Nigeria in droves, our entertainment industry is growing roots and bringing in the sheaves in tons. It is touching many sectors that once refused to touch it with a barge pole. The industry that we sneered and hissed at is increasingly looking like our bailout. Or you think a Youth Corper can just walk into Kunle Afolayan’s movie school like he’s doing the academy a favour today? No, he would have to follow due process because it is a profitable, focused corporate entity. 

When Funke Akindele hit the N1 billion mark with: “EVERYBODY LOVES JENNIFER,” in 2024, and Mo Abudu’s: “WEDDING PARTY,” shook the charts, who saw them coming?

While American filmmakers are leaving for Canada and UK locations, Nigerian veteran actors are building film villages that are also resorts for us to save on flight tickets to Europe and Dubai and enjoy our breathtaking natural landscapes. Donald Trump in all his troublesome trumping is seeing Hollywood as deserving of attention, shouldn’t that tell us it is time to rev up our support for this reliable joy-giving sector of the economy? This is our tangible alternative to oil. This is the only evidence that we can actually diversify the economy, earn ‘hard currency’ , attract foreign investors without setting up dozens of committees or organising summits. We will just pray for those who keep running around the world looking for foreign investors that the Lord will open their eyes to what is already in the pockets of their trousers.

The decision by the Bukola Saraki-led reconciliation committee to endorse Senator Samuel Anyanwu’s return as National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has created more problems within the party.

Sources who spoke to Punch disclosed that the move did not go well with the PDP Governors’ Forum, members of the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees, and other party stakeholders, thereby reigniting tension within the party.

A senior PDP leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity stated that the South-East caucus, along with Peter Mbah, the BoT Chairman, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, and some members of the NWC, were upset that the Saraki-led panel endorsed Anyanwu’s resumption without consulting them.

The source stated, “There is renewed agitation over the way Saraki handled the situation. He met with just a few NWC members and decided that Anyanwu should resume office as National Secretary, without consulting the full panel, the entire NWC, or even the governors who assigned him the task.

“I can tell you that some governors like Seyi Makinde, the Enugu State governor, the Zamfara State governor, and even the Bayelsa State governor are not happy about it. They see it as a deliberate move to undermine them and portray them as weak.

“Even some NWC members are uncomfortable with the decision. They expected the Saraki-led panel to meet with them before arriving at such a conclusion.

“Remember, things had been relatively calm since the governors nominated and the NWC approved Koshoedo as National Secretary, until Saraki’s meeting with a few NWC members stirred things up.

“What the governors, the BoT chairman, and several NWC members want is peace within the PDP. They want the interest of the South-East, which made the nomination, to be protected and respected, not for the party’s unity to be sacrificed in favour of a few individuals.”

A PDP chieftain also told the aforementioned publication that the name of the Deputy National Secretary of the PDP was forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the party’s scribe.

“I am aware that as of Wednesday, Koshoedo’s name was forwarded to INEC; he is the recognised secretary of the party as of today. I am not aware of any other arrangement outside that,” the source said.

Another party insider confirmed that the decision to endorse Anyanwu did not go down well with many party leaders.

[NaijaNews]

Former Vice President and Founder of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Atiku Abubakar, has reiterated his conviction that education is the most transformative force for personal and national development.

He stated this while addressing AUN graduating class of 2025.

“My father was jailed for resisting my enrollment in school,” he revealed in a podcast series produced by AUN’s Communications and Multimedia Design department.

“We started from nothing — sitting on the bare ground, writing with our fingers. That’s how far I’ve come.”

Contrary to popular assumptions, Atiku clarified that AUN was not a direct response to his childhood struggles.

“The AUN story is different. It was the American Peace Corps who taught me in 1961 that truly ignited the vision,” he said.

Atiku emphasized the importance of patience and courage, sharing personal anecdotes from his journey.

“I’ve faced tribulations. I’ve been hunted, but I never wavered,” he said.

“Patience is not weakness. It is a weapon of the wise. When we resisted military dictatorship, they offered me a governorship without an election — I rejected it. In 1999, I earned it the right way and became Vice President.”

He also recounted learning courage from his mentor, the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who faced a death sentence with unflinching bravery.

“His blood pressure was normal on the day of his scheduled execution. That’s a soldier. That’s courage,” Atiku said.

Atiku also detailed surviving an assassination attempt in Kaduna.

“I hid my wife and children in a wardrobe and stepped forward to confront the attackers. They shot at me but missed. I stood up and demanded, ‘Why did you fire?’ That’s what courage looks like,” he said.

To aspiring entrepreneurs among the graduates, Atiku offered a clear directive: “Build with integrity. Keep your business independent. Don’t rely on government. Avoid unnecessary confrontation, but never compromise your values.”

[DailyTrust]

The Ward 5 Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nelson Adepoyigi, who was kidnapped a few days ago, has been killed by his abductors.

Adepoyigi was kidnapped last Monday while parking his vehicle at his residence in Ifon.

Following the kidnap of the APC chairman, the abductors had demanded a N100 million ransom, but after a series of negotiations and pleas, it was reduced to N5 million.

Adepoyigi was killed after two persons from his community in Ifon volunteered to deliver the N5 million ransom, but they were also captured by the kidnappers, who insisted that an additional N30 million ransom be paid before the release of the trio.

However, the two volunteers were released by the kidnappers, with sources within the community disclosing that the kidnappers confirmed that the APC chairman had been marked to be killed by those purportedly behind his abduction.

While confirming the development, the Chairman of Ose Local Government, Kolapo Ojo, lamented that security challenges in the area are now in a critical situation.

“This pattern of brazen abductions, even at the very gates of people’s homes, confirms that insecurity has taken a dangerous and intolerable dimension.

“We urge our people to remain vigilant, promptly report suspicious activities to the nearest security post, and stand united as we work together to overcome this threat,” he said.