Ooni hale and hearty- chiefs

Council of chiefs of Ife, Osun State, on Wednesday debunked media reports about the death of Ooni of Ife,  Oba Okunade Sijuade.
Media reported in the eve of Tuesday that the paramount ruler passed away at 85.
According to the council in a radio broadcast news, Ooni is hale and hearty, and is preparing for his son's wedding which comes up on Sunday.

White House rejects petition to pardon Snowden

The Obama administration has rejected a petition signed by almost 168,000 people calling on it to pardon former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden for leaking US government secrets.

The White House reiterated its tough stance against the exiled fugitive, whom supporters regard as a whistleblower, in response to the petition on its own website.

Lisa Monaco, an adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, told the AFP news agency that Snowden's "dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it".

She said that Snowden, who has been granted asylum in Russia after he leaked documents on vast US surveillance programmes to journalists, is "running away from the consequences of his actions".

"If he felt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience, then he should do what those who have taken issue with their own government do: challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest and importantly accept the consequences of his actions," she wrote.

"He should come home to the United States and be judged by a jury of his peers, not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime."

The US administration has branded Snowden a hacker and a traitor who endangered lives by revealing the extent of the National Security Agency spying programme.

But his revelation that the NSA siphons vast quantities of telephone data from private US citizens struck a cord and Congress has begun to amend once secret laws.

Snowden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second year in a row and has received a string of international awards for free speech and civil liberties.

"Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programmes," it said.

Earlier this year, Congress passed a law which requires the NSA to end bulk data collection. The administration said on Monday the NSA will stop accessing the records on November 29 and would destroy them as soon as possible.

EFCC drills Senate President's wife for six hours

WIFE of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s office in Abuja on Tuesday with a plethora of supporters who are lawmakers.

Mrs. Saraki was invited alongside Zainab Dankingari, the wife of a former governor of Kebbi State and daughter of the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

Mrs. Saraki arrived at the EFCC office by 12:36 pm and was taken into the Economic Governance Unit of the commission for interrogation and left the commission’s Idiagbon House headquarters, at Wuse 2, Abuja by 6.15pm.

Mrs. Saraki was accompanied to the EFCC headquarters by some senators, over 20 members of the House of Representatives and members of the Kwara State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad.

Some of the senators who visited the EFCC headquarters in solidarity with her are Senators Isah Sani, Dino Melaye, Abdul Abubakar, Binta Goje, Abdulahi Sabi, and Peter Nwaoboshi.

But some of the members of the National Assembly left after waiting for two hours, while others were at the commission until her release by 6:15pm.

She is expected to be at the commission to respond to questions for the second day on Wednesday.

However, the commission could not carry out the planned interrogation of Mrs. Zainab Dakingari.

Although she honoured the commission’s invitation, the operatives had to postpone her interrogation to Wednesday on health grounds.

She arrived at the commission by 3pm and was allowed to go before 4pm.

The commission had invited both women to appear before it on July 22, 2015.

It was stated that while Saraki was invited to respond to questions about contracts executed in Kwara State when her husband, Senator Bukola Saraki, was Governor from 2003 to 2011, Dakingari was needed in relation to how N2bn belonging to Kebbi State was spent.

Meanwhile, Mrs Saraki, has said that she would cooperate with any lawful inquiry in consonance with the ethos of democratic governance and expected the EFCC to carry out its responsibility with observance to the global practices of fairness, impartiality and transparency.

She said that she had ensured adherence to the stipulations of the law and observed international best standards in all her operations.

“As a citizen with the utmost respect for highest standards of transparency and democratic accountability, Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Saraki visited the EFCC today as per their invitation. Mrs Saraki made herself available to assist the commission wholeheartedly with any lawful enquiry they may have. Following today’s visit, Mrs. Saraki will continue to cooperate fully with the EFCC, and hopes for a prompt and positive resolution in satisfaction of this enquiry.

“Having placed an emphasis on the importance of accountability, transparency and diligent reporting, Mrs. Saraki maintains that she has always operated within the law and to the highest standards of global compliance in all of her activities,” she said.

Source: THE PUNCH

Ooni of Ife dies at 85

THE Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, reportedly passed on, on Tuesday, at 85 years and seven months. He was born on January 1, 1930.

Unconfirmed sources said the monarch, who was said to have been flown out of the country since last Friday, died in the United Kingdom.

Most top Ife indigenes and Osun State government officials contacted by The PUNCH late on Tuesday kept sealed lips but some traditional rulers in the state confirmed that Sijuwade had died.

The spokesperson for the Ooni, Chief Funmilola Olorunnisola, told one of our correspondents that, “I don’t have anything to tell you immediately.”

One Osun traditional ruler, who asked not to be quoted, confided in one of our correspondents on the phone last night that the Ife monarch had died.

He said, “The Ooni is dead. It is true. He died about two hours ago in the UK. His two oloris (wives) – Olori Moni and Olori Odun – were with him in the UK.

“He travelled out for treatment anytime he fell ill but he couldn’t make it this time. It is sad but I believe it is God’s time. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

“Tokunbo, his eldest child, will probably leave for the UK this evening. There is nothing we can do but we take solace in the fact that he lived well. The proper announcement will be done later,”

The traditional ruler’s account was corroborated by another monarch, who explained that the Ooni was indeed flown out of the country five days ago in an air ambulance after he slumped.

A call to the line of the monarch was not answered.

There had been fears over the health of the first class monarch since 2013 when he was taken out of the country for medical attention for over a month.

Oba Sijuwade ascended the throne in December 1980.

Born on January 1, 1930, Sijuwade became the fiftieth ruler of the ancient kingdom of Ife, popularly referred to as the cradle and source of the Yoruba, in 1980.

Though he took the name Alayeluwa Olubuse II upon his installation, he dropped “Alayeluwa” from his name a few years back, saying that only God is fit to be called “Alayeluwa.”

Alayeluwa means omniscience.

A former commissioner and indigene of Ife, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “It is true. I was with him on Wednesday. Last Thursday when we held the political summit in Ife, he supported us and sent an emissary to the summit. He slumped on Thursday and was rushed to Ibadan airport from where he was flown to Lagos in an air ambulance en route to England for treatment. He became stable by Saturday. It is sad that he relapsed and passed on.”

The flamboyant traditional ruler was crowned king on December 6, 1980 in a colourful ceremony attended by prominent traditional rulers the Emir of Kano, Oba of Benin, Amayanabo of Opobo and the Olu of Warri as well as the representatives of the Queen of England.

It was gathered that the Ife traditional council and the Osun State traditional council would meet on Wednesday.

A competent source disclosed that emissaries from the two councils would visit the Governor of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, to officially break the news to the governor.

Sijuwade was born to the Ogboru ruling house. The handsome king was a grandson of the Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He studied at the Abeokuta Grammar School and Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife.

He worked for three years in his father’s business and later did a two-year stint with the Nigerian Tribune, before attending the Northampton College in the United Kingdom to study Business Management.

At the young age of 30, he became a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate. In 1963, he became the Sales Director of the state-owned National Motors in Lagos. After spotting a business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria. This later became the nucleus of his widespread business empire. He also invested in real estate in his home town of Ile-Ife. By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man, whose fame and connection was global.

When Sijuwade became the Ooni, he inherited an ongoing dispute over supremacy between the obas of Yorubaland. In 1967 the crisis had been resolved when the late Yoruba sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was chosen as the leader of the Yoruba. In 1976, the Governor of Oyo State, General David Jemibewon, had decreed that the Ooni of Ife would be the permanent chairman of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs. Other Obas led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, said the position should rotate. The dispute calmed down when Osun State was carved out of Oyo State in August 1991, but still persisted. In January 2009, Sijuwade was quoted as saying that Oba Adeyemi was ruling a dead empire (the Oyo Empire, which collapsed in 1793). Adeyemi responded by citing “absurdities” in Sijuwade’s statements and saying the Ooni “is not in tune with his own history”.

It will be recalled that Oba Adeyemi, the Permanent Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, was conspicuously absent from a meeting of Yoruba leaders in April 2010.

In February 2009, Sijuwade helped mediate in a dispute over land ownership between the communities of Ife and Modakeke, resolved in part through the elevation of the Ogunsua of Modakeke as an Oba.

In August 2010 he mediated in the ownership dispute between Oyo and Osun states concerning Ladoke Akintola University, calling a meeting attended by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, governor of Osun State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, governor of Oyo State and the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education which resulted in an action plan.

Thousands March in New York against Iran nuclear deal

Protesters have poured into New York's Times Square to denounce the Iran nuclear deal as a threat to Israel and global security, demanding that the US Congress reject the pact.

Speakers at Wednesday's rally, including Republican politicians, called on the US Congress to throw the deal out, whipping up the crowd on that included supporters of right-wing Jewish and evangelical Christian groups.

The protest came as US Secretary of State and other senior officials briefed members of Congress about the deal behind closed doors.

Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington where the talks were held, said that some members of Congress came out from the discussions and told reporters that they were still very sceptical about the deal.

In New York, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, co-organiser of the Stop Iran Rally, claimed that there were 10,000 people in the crowd. Protesters held up US flags and placards denouncing the deal.

Al Jazeera could not confirm the number of people in attendance.

"We're here as Americans to speak with one voice to say stop Iran now, reject this deal," said George Pataki, the former three-term Republican governor of New York.

"This is a God-awful deal, this must be rejected. Congress must do its job and stand up for the American people, stand up for our safety and say no to this Iranian deal," he said.

The rally expressed support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose criticism of the deal has strained relations with President Barack Obama.

Recent polls have suggested that of the 79 percent of Americans who heard about the deal, 48 percent disapprove.

Organisers played a montage of news reports about bombings around the world carried out by armed groups linked to Iran. 

Jesse, an attendee at the rally, told Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey that it was "very, very obvious why anyone would be against the deal".

"Iran has been our enemy for 36 years. There is really no sensible reason why anyone would believe that Iran should be trusted with weapons of any type," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera

Nigeria spends N1tn to import food annually

Nigeria spends N1tn every year to import rice, sugar, wheat and fish, translating to over N10tn from 2005 till now, the Federal Government has said.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Sonny Echono, stated that Nigeria’s food import was growing at an unsustainable rate of 11 per cent, while the country had continued to rely on expensive foods from the global market.

Echono spoke during the opening of a two-day workshop on the theme: ‘Food crisis prevention and management charter’, held at the headquarters of the FMARD in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “Nigeria became a net importer of food and major importer of wheat, rice, sugar and fish. Importation of these four commodities consumes over N1tn in foreign exchange every year since 2005. The Central Bank of Nigeria showed that Nigeria is the world’s largest importer of United States hard red and white winter wheat, with an annual food import of N635bn.

“It is also the second largest importer of rice (N700bn in 2014), sugar (N217bn) and fish (N97bn). Nigeria’s food imports are growing at an unsustainable rate of 11 per cent per annum, while reliance on the import of expensive food in the global markets fuels domestic inflation, and Nigeria is importing what it can produce in abundance. Import dependency is hurting Nigerian farmers, displacing local production and creating rising unemployment.”

Echono, who was represented by the Director of Agriculture, Mr. Damilola Eniayeju, explained that the nation had vast arable land for cultivation, adding that this must be harnessed by stakeholders in order to effectively prevent a food crisis and reduce imports to the barest minimum.

He noted that the country had about 174 million people to feed daily as well as its neighbours, stressing that it was high time the nation started thinking of massive agricultural production for export.

Echono said, “Nigeria has huge agricultural potential, with over 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only 40 per cent is cultivated; a population of over 167 million, making it Africa’s largest market; and 230 billion cubic metres of water, making it one of the richest sources for agricultural growth in the world.

“Agriculture contributes to rural people’s livelihood by providing them with food and income. In addition, agricultural exports have potential to contribute to the national economy through generating foreign exchange and improving the balance of payments.”

The workshop had representatives from the Economic Community of West African States, United States Agency for International Development, United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and other international agencies.

Source: THE PUNCH

Boko Haram burns down Chief of Army Staff's house

Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have burnt down houses, including the family home of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in his village in Borno State.

At least, two people were killed and eight injured during the attack on Buratai village on Tuesday, sources told our correspondent in Abuja.

It was learnt that the terrorists killed two auto mechanics and torched some houses during the attack on the community.

“What really happened was that Boko Haram went there. They killed two motorcycle mechanics and torched some houses. It is not a massive attack. It was an isolated opportunistic attack, but the Army is on top of the situation. Troops are on the ground now,” a source stated.

Meanwhile, additional roads have been cleared of landmines by troops for use by commuters in compliance with the directive by the CAS to troops in the 3 and 7 Divisions of the Nigerian Army.

The acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement that the road linking Biu-Sabon Gari to Damboa in Borno State has been cleared of landmines.

“The public are encouraged to use the road as adequate security measures have been put in place for their safety,” Usman said.

Source: THE PUNCH