Monday, 25 September 2017
Sunday, 2 July 2017
THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN,... THE FIRST AND THE BEST AMONG EQUALS
Considered the best for the 2017 rating in the whole of Africa by the National University Commission,NUC, the University of Ibadan started off as the University College, Ibadan (UCI) which was founded in 1948, occupying, at first, the old site at Eleyele. It later moved to the new site which covered over 2,550 acres of land. The site was generously leased by the chiefs and people of Ibadan for 999 years. The establishment of the University could be traced directly to the reports in 1945 of the Asquith and Elliot Commissions which were set up by the British Government in 1943. Equipment was transferred to the university from its sub-university status forerunners, the Yaba Higher College, (established in 1932 but formally opened in 1934), and the Yaba Medical School (established in 1930). There were 104 foundation students (including 49 students in teacher training and survey courses) who began their courses at Ibadan on 18 January 1948. The formal opening took place on 25 March, 1948.
In February 1948, London University allowed Ibadan its special relationship scheme. Arthur Creech Jones, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and an influential member of Elliot Commission, cut the first sod at the permanent site of the University College on 17 November, 1948, which thereafter became the Foundation Day.
For the foundation medical students, the facilities provided in 1948 by the Native Administration Hospital at Adeoyo and the Government Hospital Jericho, for which the Faculty of Medicine was responsible, were inadequate. Consequently, medical students of the earlier years went to London University for clinical training. To provide more satisfactory clinical facilities at Ibadan, the Nigerian Government made available funds for the building of the 500-bed University Teaching Hospital which was completed in 1957. Thereafter, medical students were fully trained in Ibadan, the first batch graduating in 1960.
With the expansion of facilities at Ibadan, the number of students offered admission increased. In the 1958-59 sessions, UCI for the first time had a little over 1,000 students; in 1963-64, the figure exceeded 2,000; and topped the 3,000 mark in 1968-69.
The figure for 1972-73 was 4,110 and, for 1974-75 and 1975-76, 5,369 and 7,375 respectively. Some of these students included those residents at the Jos Campus, which began with an enrolment of 101 students in the 1971-72 sessions. In the 1973-74 session, the Jos Campus had 326 students most of whom were prepared for courses in the Faculty of Arts. In the 1975-76 sessions, the number of students at Jos increased to 550. On 25 September, 1975, however, the Government announced the creation of a University of Jos, and arrangements were made to transfer second year students in Jos to Ibadan and to hand over the campus at the end of the 1975-76 session to the new administration at Jos University. The Government also announced the setting up of a new University College at Ilorin, to be affiliated to the University of Ibadan. In 1976-77, the total number of students at the University of Ibadan was 8,586. In the 1984/85 session, the student population was 13,862.
Since the 1989/90 session, student population has increased to 14,000 in accordance with the directive of the National Universities Commission (NUC) of ten percent (10%) growth for the first generation universities in Nigeria. As at the end of the 1992/93 session, the student population was 14,632. In addition, there were over three thousand five hundred (3, 500) external degree students who receive lectures, tutorials on a part-time basis. Moreover, the University’s Institute of Education runs an Associate Certificate of Education programme for Grade Two Teachers at different centres in Nigeria.
The University of Ibadan, then University College, awarded its first postgraduate degree in 1952, when the University was under a “scheme of special relation” with the University of London. By 1962, when University College transformed into an independent University of Ibadan, 64 students were registered for graduate degrees. Since becoming an independent academic institution in 1962, the University of Ibadan has enrolled 81,768 postgraduate students and awarded 45,709 higher degrees, including 2 DSc. 4,366 PhDs, 36 MD/MS, 4,700 Mphil/Professional Master’s Degrees, 32,3254 Academic Master’s Degree, and 4,281 Postgraduate Diplomas. During the last academic year alone, 5,789 students were enrolled into a postgraduate programme. Over the years, University of Ibadan graduates have meaningfully contributed to society in many ways from establishing other institutions of higher learning in Nigeria to impacting various sectors of the global economy. Several alumni have also returned to the University of Ibadan as professors and staff.
Larger admissions over the years and limited funds for providing accommodation facilities gradually threatened the concept of a residential University at Ibadan. The Jos campus, when established, experimented with off-campus accommodation. From the 1972-73 sessions, students, at the Ibadan campus have also been allowed to live off-campus in large numbers. Married students are encouraged to live off-campus.
There are ten undergraduate Halls of Residence (Mellanby, Tedder, Kuti, Sultan Bello, Queen Elizabeth II, Alexander Brown (situated at UCH), Independence, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Idia, Obafemi Awolowo) and two postgraduate Halls of Residence, namely, Tafawa Balewa and the New Postgraduate Hall. It should be noted that Obafemi Awolowo Hall that, hitherto, provided accommodation for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of both sexes became an exclusively undergraduate Hall of Residence (for both sexes) from the 2001/2002 session.
Catering Facilities
Until 1972, each Hall of Residence had its own catering facilities, but steps were taken during that year towards providing a more centralized catering service. The Central Cafeteria, with a capacity for 1,600 students, was completed on 4 January, 1976 and catered for the majority of students. Because of the larger number of students, however, catering services continued to be provided by selected caterers in Independence, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Queen Elizabeth, Tafawa Balewa and Alexander
Brown Halls. Official catering for students ceased in 1984, in consonance with the Federal Government directive to Federal Universities to disengage from Hall catering services for students. However, in the 2001/2002 session, the University Administration decided to appoint two Catering Contractors for each Hall of Residence. Food is sold to students on the pay-as-you-eat system.
Student Unionism
From its inception, the University has encouraged Student Unionism and the Student Union has thus been an important feature of the University existence. Housed in a magnificent complex known as Student Union Building, which now includes the modified Central Cafeteria as well as an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the Union has as its aims:
(a) To promote the social, cultural, intellectual and sporting activities of its members;
(b) To foster the general interests of its members;
(c) To contact, co-operate and exchange ideas with other external organizations whose aims are acceptable to the Union.
The Student Union has been an advocate of student participation in University administration, and since 1973, students have served on various University Committees, including the Consultative Committee on Community Development, Student Welfare Board, Careers Board, Library Committee, Catering Board, Sports Council, Lodgings Bureau, Intra-campus Transportation Committee (ICTC), and the Student Disciplinary Committee. In addition, all academic departments have staff/student liaison committees.
On-Campus Accommodation
The University provides accommodation for its senior, intermediate and junior staff. The Abadina complex caters for the residential needs of Junior Staff. As at May 1977, there were 516 housing units on campus. There are also the University Hotels Ltd, the Pro-Chancellor’s Lodge and other buildings. The University no longer provides off-campus accommodation for Senior Staff because the accommodation and maintenance problems of the University increased as the number of junior and senior staff rose.
Staff Population
In 1959, there were about 530 junior staff. In February 1973, the number had risen to 4,197. In 1958, there were only 44 Nigerian Senior Staff (Academic, Library, Administrative and Technical) officers, as against
136 expatriates. But by 1 February 1973, the University had 117 Senior Administrative and Technical Officers, Technicians/Technologists as well as school teachers in the International School (Secondary) and Staff School (Kindergarten and Primary). These did not include a total of 566 academic staff of which 416 were Nigerians and 150 expatriates.
By March 1, 1997, the University had a total of 793 academic staff (including the Library and the Ibadan University Press) as against an establishment of 1,066 for the 1976/77 session. At the same time, the University had a total of 819 administrative professional and technical staff although the established figure for the 1976-77 session was 1,079. In the 1984/85 session, the total number of Junior staff on the pay roll of the University was 4,006, while that of Senior Staff was 2,348. Of these, 95 percent were Nigerians. At present staff population is 2,604 academic staff, 953 Senior staff 1651and Junior Staff 1080. The University of Ibadan Women Society runs the Crèche Nursery School while the Baptist Service Centre operates a primary school.
Funds, Funding and Sources
The University is a cosmopolitan tertiary institution with most of the staff being Nigerians. Staff salaries and other recurrent expenditure, besides capital works, made the University College (later University of Ibadan) an expensive establishment to run. While the British Government, the Cocoa Marketing Board, the Nuffield Foundation, the United African Company, and other interested bodies inside and outside Nigeria made generous contributions towards the funding of capital projects, the brunt of the recurrent expenditure fell on the Nigerian government whose subvention rose from N200, 000 British pounds in 1949-1950 to N7, 464,000 in 1971/72. The Federal Government’s recurrent grant for 1972/73 was N=10, 226.00 and for 1973/74, N11, 036,000. The figure for the 1975/76 session (Ibadan and Jos Campuses) was N=23, 171,000, and for the 1976/77 session, N=29, 826.000; for 1983/84 N=41, 221,000. See the table at the next page for subsequent funding:
On-Campus Accommodation
The University provides accommodation for its senior, intermediate and junior staff. The Abadina complex caters for the residential needs of Junior Staff. As at May 1977, there were 516 housing units on campus. There are also the University Hotels Ltd, the Pro-Chancellor’s Lodge and other buildings. The University no longer provides off-campus accommodation for Senior Staff because the accommodation and maintenance problems of the University increased as the number of junior and senior staff rose.
Staff Population
In 1959, there were about 530 junior staff. In February 1973, the number had risen to 4,197. In 1958, there were only 44 Nigerian Senior Staff (Academic, Library, Administrative and Technical) officers, as against
136 expatriates. But by 1 February 1973, the University had 117 Senior Administrative and Technical Officers, Technicians/Technologists as well as school teachers in the International School (Secondary) and Staff School (Kindergarten and Primary). These did not include a total of 566 academic staff of which 416 were Nigerians and 150 expatriates.
By March 1, 1997, the University had a total of 793 academic staff (including the Library and the Ibadan University Press) as against an establishment of 1,066 for the 1976/77 session. At the same time, the University had a total of 819 administrative professional and technical staff although the established figure for the 1976-77 session was 1,079. In the 1984/85 session, the total number of Junior staff on the pay roll of the University was 4,006, while that of Senior Staff was 2,348. Of these, 95 percent were Nigerians. At present staff population is 2,604 academic staff, 953 Senior staff 1651and Junior Staff 1080. The University of Ibadan Women Society runs the Crèche Nursery School while the Baptist Service Centre operates a primary school.
Funds, Funding and Sources
The University is a cosmopolitan tertiary institution with most of the staff being Nigerians. Staff salaries and other recurrent expenditure, besides capital works, made the University College (later University of Ibadan) an expensive establishment to run. While the British Government, the Cocoa Marketing Board, the Nuffield Foundation, the United African Company, and other interested bodies inside and outside Nigeria made generous contributions towards the funding of capital projects, the brunt of the recurrent expenditure fell on the Nigerian government whose subvention rose from N200, 000 British pounds in 1949-1950 to N7, 464,000 in 1971/72. The Federal Government’s recurrent grant for 1972/73 was N=10, 226.00 and for 1973/74, N11, 036,000. The figure for the 1975/76 session (Ibadan and Jos Campuses) was N=23, 171,000, and for the 1976/77 session, N=29, 826.000; for 1983/84 N=41, 221,000. See the table at the next page for subsequent funding:
Table 2
YEAR N= .
1984/85 39,176,874
1985/86 40,591,117
1986/87 39,336,594
1987/88 41,053,725
1988/89 48,323,493
1989/90 50,839,240
1990/91 48,353,326
1991/92 93,392,277
1992/93 244,729,291
1993/94 199,663,016
1994/95 378,695,949
1995/96 263,579,734
1996/97 353,175,377
1997/98 373,274,761
1998/99 667,729,572
2000 870,020,393
2001 2,336,095,700
2002 2,139,138,353
2003 2,578,874,079
2004 3,140,778,623
2005 2,816,089,200
2006 4,737,353,985
2007 4,594,460,280
YEAR N= .
1984/85 39,176,874
1985/86 40,591,117
1986/87 39,336,594
1987/88 41,053,725
1988/89 48,323,493
1989/90 50,839,240
1990/91 48,353,326
1991/92 93,392,277
1992/93 244,729,291
1993/94 199,663,016
1994/95 378,695,949
1995/96 263,579,734
1996/97 353,175,377
1997/98 373,274,761
1998/99 667,729,572
2000 870,020,393
2001 2,336,095,700
2002 2,139,138,353
2003 2,578,874,079
2004 3,140,778,623
2005 2,816,089,200
2006 4,737,353,985
2007 4,594,460,280
With inadequate public response to its appeal for an Endowment Fund in the 1950s, the University College relied heavily on government financial aid. From 1952, the government set its financial relation with the University College on a quinquennial basis. National crisis in the 1960s disturbed each quinquennial arrangement in favour of ad-hoc grants. Financial grants also came from notable donour agencies, like, Nuffield which donated the Arts Theatre, Ford Foundations, and Rockefeller both of which contributed N7, 717,592 to Ibadan’s development in the 1962-67 quinquennium. In 1976-77, the contribution from the Ford Foundation was $15,664,16. Such outside grants have, in many ways assisted the academic development of the University, particularly in postgraduate studies and staff (manpower) development.
In the past few years, both local and outside grants have dwindled to only $3,277, 894, in 1983/84 and $2,903, 520 in 1984/85 session. During the 2000/2001 session, the Mac Arthur Foundation approved a grant of $100,000 (One hundred Thousand US dollars) to the University of Ibadan to develop a strategic plan to implement a campus wide computer-based information technology system. For the subsequent years the table below indicates the Foundation’s funding:
Table 3
Year Grant Beneficiary $ .
In the past few years, both local and outside grants have dwindled to only $3,277, 894, in 1983/84 and $2,903, 520 in 1984/85 session. During the 2000/2001 session, the Mac Arthur Foundation approved a grant of $100,000 (One hundred Thousand US dollars) to the University of Ibadan to develop a strategic plan to implement a campus wide computer-based information technology system. For the subsequent years the table below indicates the Foundation’s funding:
Table 3
Year Grant Beneficiary $ .
2002-2004 Mac-Arthur University of Ibadan 3,000,000.00
2005-2007 Mac-Arthur University of Ibadan 3,400,000.00
2008-2010 Mac-Arthur University of Ibadan 4,000,000.00
2007-2009 Mac-Arthur Faculty of SocialScience, U.I. 200,000.00
2007-2009 Mac-Arthur Faculty of Law, U.I. 250,000.00
2005-2007 Mac-Arthur University of Ibadan 3,400,000.00
2008-2010 Mac-Arthur University of Ibadan 4,000,000.00
2007-2009 Mac-Arthur Faculty of SocialScience, U.I. 200,000.00
2007-2009 Mac-Arthur Faculty of Law, U.I. 250,000.00
TOTAL 10,850,000.00
The University College in 1948 had three founding faculties (Arts, Science and Medicine). Today, there are 13 faculties: Arts, Science, Agriculture and Forestry, the Social Sciences, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Basic Medical Sciences, Pharmacy, Clinical Sciences, Law, Public Health and Dentistry.
The academic wings of the University include the Library, the Institute of Child Health, the Computing Centre, the University Press, the Industrial Training Co-ordination Centre, the Institute of Education, the African Regional Centre for Information Science, the Women’s Research and Documentation Centre, the Ibarapa Community Health Project and the Behavioural Sciences Research Unit, which gave birth to the present Departments of Psychology and Guidance & Counselling. The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), financed by the Federal Government, maintains a special link with this University.
The former Academic Board set up under the University College Ordinance (No. 25 of 1948) gave way to the Senate under a new law in 1954. Under that Ordinance (No. 10 of 1954), a recognized Council was also established. The membership of Council changes periodically. With academic independence, the University had a new Act in 1962, which, with subsequent amendments in 1972 and 1976, has remained the basic Constitution of the University. The Constitution also provides for Congregation, Convocation and such officers as the Visitor, Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Bursar and Librarian.
Though financially dependent upon Government and other organisations, and though constitutionally tied to the Federal Government through the President who is also the Visitor, the University, from its colonial origin, has been trying to safeguard its autonomy in teaching, learning and research. The special relationship scheme with London University did not prevent the College from adapting its syllabuses to suit local needs wherever possible. Several changes were in fact made in the degree structure as the need arose. Although the College began with general and honours special degree courses in selected disciplines, these were re-examined from 1962 when the College gained its academic independence. From 1963, general degree courses gave way to honours special degrees. To introduce a greater element of flexibility into the teaching and examination programmes, the Faculty of Science began in 1969, the Course System which, with the exception of the Faculty of Medicine, was generally applied in the 1972-73 session. After the initial operational problems, especially in such areas as decentralised control and the need for increased staffing to tackle a variety of academic and administrative duties, the Course System has now become fully established in most faculties.
The first set of students in the Faculty of Science trained under the Course System graduated in June 1972. In its teaching, postgraduate and research programmes, the University has adequately met the challenges posed by the changing times and changing national priorities. Far from being encased in a colonial cocoon, the University boldly ventured into new fields such as the Jos Campus scheme and the establishment in 1970 of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology now the Faculty of Technology. Above all, the University has continued to maintain a high standard of scholarship in its various academic disciplines.
Despite changing political and constitutional arrangements, the independent University of Ibadan has been generally fortunate in its leadership.
Visitors
The Visitor to the University has always been the Nigerian Head of State. The University of Ibadan has had the following Visitors since it became independent.
· The late Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, M.A. (Linc.) M.Sc. (Penn.), Hon. LL.D. (Linn.). Hon. D. Litt. (Nig) (1960-1966); Major-General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975);
· Two other Heads of State, the late Major–General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (Jan.-July 1966), and the late Brigadier General Murtala Muhammed July 1975–Feb. 1976) each had very short tenure as military Head of State, as such the brief tenure did not afford them the opportunity of relating to the University as Visitors);
· Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979);
· In 1979, with the advent of the civilian administration, President Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari [1979-1983] succeeded General Olusegun Obasanjo as Visitor to the University;
· Major-General Muhammadu Buhari CFR (Dec. 1983-August 1985), as the Head of the Federal Military Government, became the Visitor to the University;
· General Ibrahim Babangida, CFR, fss, mni, who assumed the title of President, became the Visitor to the University on 26 August, 1985, through a military coup. In August 1993, he stepped aside and handed over to Chief Ernest A. Shonekan;
· Chief Ernest A. Shonekan was appointed as the Head of the Interim National Government from August–November 1993, and as such he became a titular Visitor to the University for the brief tenure;
· The late General Sani Abacha, GCON was Visitor from 1993-1998;
· General Abdusalam Abukakar, as military Head of State became the Visitor to the University [1997-1999];
· Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR returned as the University Visitor from 1999-2007 the second time. This time, as a civilian President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
· Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar-Adua GCFR, the current Visitor is the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria [2007- ]
The academic wings of the University include the Library, the Institute of Child Health, the Computing Centre, the University Press, the Industrial Training Co-ordination Centre, the Institute of Education, the African Regional Centre for Information Science, the Women’s Research and Documentation Centre, the Ibarapa Community Health Project and the Behavioural Sciences Research Unit, which gave birth to the present Departments of Psychology and Guidance & Counselling. The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), financed by the Federal Government, maintains a special link with this University.
The former Academic Board set up under the University College Ordinance (No. 25 of 1948) gave way to the Senate under a new law in 1954. Under that Ordinance (No. 10 of 1954), a recognized Council was also established. The membership of Council changes periodically. With academic independence, the University had a new Act in 1962, which, with subsequent amendments in 1972 and 1976, has remained the basic Constitution of the University. The Constitution also provides for Congregation, Convocation and such officers as the Visitor, Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Bursar and Librarian.
Though financially dependent upon Government and other organisations, and though constitutionally tied to the Federal Government through the President who is also the Visitor, the University, from its colonial origin, has been trying to safeguard its autonomy in teaching, learning and research. The special relationship scheme with London University did not prevent the College from adapting its syllabuses to suit local needs wherever possible. Several changes were in fact made in the degree structure as the need arose. Although the College began with general and honours special degree courses in selected disciplines, these were re-examined from 1962 when the College gained its academic independence. From 1963, general degree courses gave way to honours special degrees. To introduce a greater element of flexibility into the teaching and examination programmes, the Faculty of Science began in 1969, the Course System which, with the exception of the Faculty of Medicine, was generally applied in the 1972-73 session. After the initial operational problems, especially in such areas as decentralised control and the need for increased staffing to tackle a variety of academic and administrative duties, the Course System has now become fully established in most faculties.
The first set of students in the Faculty of Science trained under the Course System graduated in June 1972. In its teaching, postgraduate and research programmes, the University has adequately met the challenges posed by the changing times and changing national priorities. Far from being encased in a colonial cocoon, the University boldly ventured into new fields such as the Jos Campus scheme and the establishment in 1970 of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology now the Faculty of Technology. Above all, the University has continued to maintain a high standard of scholarship in its various academic disciplines.
Despite changing political and constitutional arrangements, the independent University of Ibadan has been generally fortunate in its leadership.
Visitors
The Visitor to the University has always been the Nigerian Head of State. The University of Ibadan has had the following Visitors since it became independent.
· The late Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, M.A. (Linc.) M.Sc. (Penn.), Hon. LL.D. (Linn.). Hon. D. Litt. (Nig) (1960-1966); Major-General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975);
· Two other Heads of State, the late Major–General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (Jan.-July 1966), and the late Brigadier General Murtala Muhammed July 1975–Feb. 1976) each had very short tenure as military Head of State, as such the brief tenure did not afford them the opportunity of relating to the University as Visitors);
· Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979);
· In 1979, with the advent of the civilian administration, President Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari [1979-1983] succeeded General Olusegun Obasanjo as Visitor to the University;
· Major-General Muhammadu Buhari CFR (Dec. 1983-August 1985), as the Head of the Federal Military Government, became the Visitor to the University;
· General Ibrahim Babangida, CFR, fss, mni, who assumed the title of President, became the Visitor to the University on 26 August, 1985, through a military coup. In August 1993, he stepped aside and handed over to Chief Ernest A. Shonekan;
· Chief Ernest A. Shonekan was appointed as the Head of the Interim National Government from August–November 1993, and as such he became a titular Visitor to the University for the brief tenure;
· The late General Sani Abacha, GCON was Visitor from 1993-1998;
· General Abdusalam Abukakar, as military Head of State became the Visitor to the University [1997-1999];
· Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR returned as the University Visitor from 1999-2007 the second time. This time, as a civilian President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
· Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar-Adua GCFR, the current Visitor is the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria [2007- ]
Chancellors
· The University of Ibadan’s first Chancellor (1963-1966) was the late Alhaji, the Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, P.C., K.B.E., first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria. He died in the first military coup of January, 1966;
· The late Sir Kashim Ibrahim, GCON, K.C.M.C., C.B.E., Hon LL.D. (Ibadan), (1967-1975) succeeded Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Late Sir Ibrahim was one of the most respected public figures in Nigeria. He later served as Chancellor of the University of Lagos in 1975;
· On 24 April 1976 when he was inducted as Chancellor of the University of Ibadan., His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, CFR Hon. LL.D. (Nigeria), Hon. LL.D. (Ibadan), served in capacity till 1984;
· On I September, 1984, His Royal Highness, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’oba N’edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Erediauwa, CFR, B.A. (Cantab), Hon. LL.D. (Ibadan), Hon. LL.D. Zaria), was inducted as Chancellor on 17 November 1984. He held office till 1994;
· His Royal Highness the late Orchivirigh Alfred Akawe Torkula, Tor Tiv, IV, took over as Chancellor from the Oba of Benin in March 1994 and served till mid-November, 2001‘;
· On 17 November, 2001, His Royal Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero, C.F.R., Hon. LL.D. (Nigeria) was inducted for the second time as, and now, is, the incumbent Chancellor of the University.
All these men have served the University of Ibadan with great devotion, distinction and commitment and brought great dignity to the University’s annual Foundation Day Ceremonies. In moments of crisis, the University has profited immensely from their wealth of experience and the high regard in which the public and those at the helm of affairs hold them.
Pro-Chancellors/Chairmen of Council.
The University has also benefited greatly from the services of high calibre men who as Pro-Chancellors and/or Chairmen have led its Governing Council.
Between 1948 and1967, there were five Chairmen of Council:
· Professor Kenneth Mellanby CBE, Sc.D (1948-1951)
· Sir Sydney Phillipson KBE, CMG, M.A. (Manc.) (1951-1958);
· Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam CMG, MB (1958–1961)
· Dr. Okechukwu. Ikejiani, B.Sc., (New Bruns.) M.Sc. (Chic.), M.D. (Toronto), L.M.S. (Nova Scotia), Sc.D. (Lincoln) (1961-1965)
· Sir Louis Mbanefo, M.A. (Cantab), LL.D (Lond.) (1965-1967).
Thereafter, the post of Pro-Chancellor and that of Chairman of Council were syncronised by the Federal Government, presumably, for ease of administration . Special mention needs to be made of the late Sir Sydney Phillipson who guided the affairs of Council for seven years during the pioneering years and the late Sir Samuel Manuwa who for nearly a decade served Ibadan with dedication. Alhaji Abdurrahaman Okene was Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council during a period of economic recession. He and his team on the Council faced the challenge of seeking new ways of sourcing for funds for the University for its ever increasing demands, as well as ensuring prudence and greater efficiency in the husbandry of available funds.
The following have held the combined offices:
· Chief the Hon. Sir Samuel Manuwa, CMG, CBE, C.St.J., F.R.S. (Edin), M.D. (Edin.), F.R.C.S., F.R.C.P., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.P., F.I.C.S., D.T.M.&H. (Liv.), Hon. LL.D. (Edin), Hon. D.Sc. (Nig.), Hon. D.Sc. (Ibadan), Hon. D.Litt. (Ife), F.R.S.A. (1967-1975);
· Alhaji Abdurrahaman Okene. (1975-81).
· Dr. Christopher G. O. Okojie, OFR, L.S.M. (Nig.), F.I.C.S. F.M.C.G.P (Nig.), a well-known Medical Practitioner, was Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council from August 1981 to Dec. 1983.
· Dr. S.J. Cookey, OON, a renowned educationist held the post from August 1984 until 1985 when he was re-assigned, in the same capacity, to the University of Benin.
· Professor Tijani M. Yesufu, B.A., B.Sc. (Econs), Ph.D. (Lond), an eminent scholar and distinguished administrator who previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, and then Pro-Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was appointed Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council of the University of Ibadan from 1985-1986.
· Alhaji (Dr.) Liman Ciroma CFR, Hon. LL.D. became the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council from 1986-1992.
· Prof. Iya Abukakar, Ph.D (Cantab), F.A.S., Hon. D.Sc. (Ife), Hon. D.Sc. (ABU), FNAS (Nig. & NY), FRAS (UK) FIMA (UK) an alumnus and distinguished scholar, former Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and one time Minister of Defence and Minister of Internal Affairs became the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council on 8 October, 1993.
· Mr. Felix O.A. Ohiwerei OFR, B.A. (Ibadan) Ridder In de orde Van Oranje-nassau, a distinguished alumnus, former Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries and Chairman, Unilever Nigeria Plc., was appointed Pro-Chancellor/Council Chairman on 8 May, 2000 till March, 2004.
· Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, OFR, (D.Litt.) another distin-guished alumnus, former Chairman, NAL, former Managing Director, Dunlop the immediate past Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council succeeded Mr. Ohiwerei in 2005 till November, 2007.
· Chief WOle Olanipekun, SAN is the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council with effect from February, 2009
· The University of Ibadan’s first Chancellor (1963-1966) was the late Alhaji, the Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, P.C., K.B.E., first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria. He died in the first military coup of January, 1966;
· The late Sir Kashim Ibrahim, GCON, K.C.M.C., C.B.E., Hon LL.D. (Ibadan), (1967-1975) succeeded Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Late Sir Ibrahim was one of the most respected public figures in Nigeria. He later served as Chancellor of the University of Lagos in 1975;
· On 24 April 1976 when he was inducted as Chancellor of the University of Ibadan., His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, CFR Hon. LL.D. (Nigeria), Hon. LL.D. (Ibadan), served in capacity till 1984;
· On I September, 1984, His Royal Highness, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’oba N’edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Erediauwa, CFR, B.A. (Cantab), Hon. LL.D. (Ibadan), Hon. LL.D. Zaria), was inducted as Chancellor on 17 November 1984. He held office till 1994;
· His Royal Highness the late Orchivirigh Alfred Akawe Torkula, Tor Tiv, IV, took over as Chancellor from the Oba of Benin in March 1994 and served till mid-November, 2001‘;
· On 17 November, 2001, His Royal Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero, C.F.R., Hon. LL.D. (Nigeria) was inducted for the second time as, and now, is, the incumbent Chancellor of the University.
All these men have served the University of Ibadan with great devotion, distinction and commitment and brought great dignity to the University’s annual Foundation Day Ceremonies. In moments of crisis, the University has profited immensely from their wealth of experience and the high regard in which the public and those at the helm of affairs hold them.
Pro-Chancellors/Chairmen of Council.
The University has also benefited greatly from the services of high calibre men who as Pro-Chancellors and/or Chairmen have led its Governing Council.
Between 1948 and1967, there were five Chairmen of Council:
· Professor Kenneth Mellanby CBE, Sc.D (1948-1951)
· Sir Sydney Phillipson KBE, CMG, M.A. (Manc.) (1951-1958);
· Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam CMG, MB (1958–1961)
· Dr. Okechukwu. Ikejiani, B.Sc., (New Bruns.) M.Sc. (Chic.), M.D. (Toronto), L.M.S. (Nova Scotia), Sc.D. (Lincoln) (1961-1965)
· Sir Louis Mbanefo, M.A. (Cantab), LL.D (Lond.) (1965-1967).
Thereafter, the post of Pro-Chancellor and that of Chairman of Council were syncronised by the Federal Government, presumably, for ease of administration . Special mention needs to be made of the late Sir Sydney Phillipson who guided the affairs of Council for seven years during the pioneering years and the late Sir Samuel Manuwa who for nearly a decade served Ibadan with dedication. Alhaji Abdurrahaman Okene was Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council during a period of economic recession. He and his team on the Council faced the challenge of seeking new ways of sourcing for funds for the University for its ever increasing demands, as well as ensuring prudence and greater efficiency in the husbandry of available funds.
The following have held the combined offices:
· Chief the Hon. Sir Samuel Manuwa, CMG, CBE, C.St.J., F.R.S. (Edin), M.D. (Edin.), F.R.C.S., F.R.C.P., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.P., F.I.C.S., D.T.M.&H. (Liv.), Hon. LL.D. (Edin), Hon. D.Sc. (Nig.), Hon. D.Sc. (Ibadan), Hon. D.Litt. (Ife), F.R.S.A. (1967-1975);
· Alhaji Abdurrahaman Okene. (1975-81).
· Dr. Christopher G. O. Okojie, OFR, L.S.M. (Nig.), F.I.C.S. F.M.C.G.P (Nig.), a well-known Medical Practitioner, was Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council from August 1981 to Dec. 1983.
· Dr. S.J. Cookey, OON, a renowned educationist held the post from August 1984 until 1985 when he was re-assigned, in the same capacity, to the University of Benin.
· Professor Tijani M. Yesufu, B.A., B.Sc. (Econs), Ph.D. (Lond), an eminent scholar and distinguished administrator who previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, and then Pro-Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was appointed Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council of the University of Ibadan from 1985-1986.
· Alhaji (Dr.) Liman Ciroma CFR, Hon. LL.D. became the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council from 1986-1992.
· Prof. Iya Abukakar, Ph.D (Cantab), F.A.S., Hon. D.Sc. (Ife), Hon. D.Sc. (ABU), FNAS (Nig. & NY), FRAS (UK) FIMA (UK) an alumnus and distinguished scholar, former Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and one time Minister of Defence and Minister of Internal Affairs became the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council on 8 October, 1993.
· Mr. Felix O.A. Ohiwerei OFR, B.A. (Ibadan) Ridder In de orde Van Oranje-nassau, a distinguished alumnus, former Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries and Chairman, Unilever Nigeria Plc., was appointed Pro-Chancellor/Council Chairman on 8 May, 2000 till March, 2004.
· Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, OFR, (D.Litt.) another distin-guished alumnus, former Chairman, NAL, former Managing Director, Dunlop the immediate past Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council succeeded Mr. Ohiwerei in 2005 till November, 2007.
· Chief WOle Olanipekun, SAN is the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council with effect from February, 2009
Vice-Chancellors
University College, Ibadan had three non-Nigerian Principals, they were:
· Professor Kenneth Mellanby 1948-1953
· Mr. J.T. Saunders 1953-1956
· Dr. J.H. Parry 1956-1960
University College, Ibadan had three non-Nigerian Principals, they were:
· Professor Kenneth Mellanby 1948-1953
· Mr. J.T. Saunders 1953-1956
· Dr. J.H. Parry 1956-1960
Professor K. Onwuka Dike, M.A., Ph.D. (Lond.), was Ibadan’s first Nigerian Principal and Vice-Chancellor from 1960 to 1967. Ibadan owes a great deal to the vision of its first Nigerian academic Head. Of particular importance was his commitment and contribution to the establishment of the Post-graduate School at Ibadan. When Professor Dike resigned in 1967 as a consequence of the Nigerian Civil War, he was succeeded by the late Professor T. Adeoye, Lambo, CBE, J.P. M.D., F.R.C.P. (Edin.) D.P.M., Hon. D.Sc. (ABU), Hon. LL.D. (Kent State Univ.), a world renowned psychiatrist who served as Vice-Chancellor until 1971. During a brief interlude, the late Professor G. M. Edington, FRCPath, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Pathology in the Medical School, acted as Vice-Chancellor, before the late Professor Horatio Oritsejolomi Thomas, C.B.E., C.O.N., M.B., F.R.C.S., one of Nigeria’s most distinguished surgeons was appointed Vice-Chancellor in 1972.
Professor H.O. Thomas was succeeded in December 1975 by Professor Tekena N. Tamuno, B.A. Ph.D. (Lond.), D. Litt of the D.epartment of History. Professor Tamuno was the first alumnus of Ibadan to occupy the post of Vice-Chancellor. He served in this capacity until 30 November 1979. when the late Professor Samuel O. Olayide, B.Sc (Lond.) M.Sc., Ph.D. (Calif.) of the Department of Agricultural Economics, was appointed Vice-Chancellor a post he held till 30 November, 1983.
At the expiration of Olayide’s term of appointment, Professor L. Ayo Banjo who had been the Deputy Vice-Chancellor from December 1981, and Ag. Vice-Chancellor from November 1983-November 1984 was appointed substantive Vice-Chancellor from December 1, 1984. Professor Ayo Banjo has the singular distinction of being the first, and to date the only Vice–Chancellor of the University to serve for two terms, from December 1984 to November, 1991.
Professor A.B.O.O. Oyediran M.D., a former two time Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and former member of Council served as Vice-Chancellor from 1 December, 1991 till 30 November, 1995. Professor O. A. Ojengbede, FMCOG (Nig.), then Provost, College of Medicine, acted as Vice-Chancellor from 1 Dec. 1995 to 24 March 1996.
Professor Omoniyi Adewoye PhD. (Colum.) of the Department of History whose appointment as Vice Chancellor commenced on 25 March 1996, served in that capacity until 25 March 2000.
During the interregnum after Professor Adewoye’s tenure‘, Professor Olufunso O. Olorunsogo, Ph.D (Ibd.) then Deputy Vice – Chancellor (Administration) was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor from 26 March to 24 September 2000.
Prof. Ayodele O. Falase, FRCP (Lond) M.D. (Ib), former Provost, College of Medicine and Head, Department of Medicine on two previous occasions, was Vice-Chancellor from 25 September 2000- 2006.
He was succeeded by the incumbent Vice-Chancellor, Professor O.A. Bamiro, B.Sc [Notts], Ph.D [McGill]
In November 1973, the University celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its foundation. One of the highlights of the celebrations was the launching of the book entitled The University of Ibadan, 1948-73: A history of the first twenty-five years. The book was commissioned by the University Council, and was edited by two distinguished Professors of African history, J.F. Ade-Ajayi and Tekena N. Tamuno, It was published by the Ibadan University Press. Contributors, who incidentally were, largely, alumni of the University, examined in considerable detail, the growth and development of Ibadan with emphasis on its pioneering role and contributions to the development of higher education in Nigeria. An Endowment Appeal Fund was launched by the then Visitor, His Excellency, General Yakubu Gowon, to mark the occasion.
The second Endowment Appeal Fund was launched in Lagos during the 1978/79 session by the former Chief-of-Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Major-General Musa Yar-Adua under the auspices of University of Ibadan Alumni Association. In 1981, “Ibadan Voice” was published by the University Press. The book which was a collaborative work of former students, teachers, administrators, professionals and technical staff of the University since its foundation as a College in 1948, was edited by Professor Tekena N. Tamuno, The various chapters portray reminiscences, recollections, thoughts, reflections and views on Ibadan. This exciting book focuses attention on the growth and development of the University of Ibadan as a social institution and as a centre of excellence in research, teaching, and learning. Ibadan, as essays in the book demonstrate, made deliberate, but necessary adjustments to match the pace and complexity of Nigeria’s development as a nation-state under civilian and military regimes.
Under the 1975-80 quinquennial plan, the University proposed new academic programmes and major capital projects. Among these was the upgrading in 1980/81, of the erstwhile Faculty of Medicine to Collegiate status, and at the instance of Council the Federal Military Government promulgated, on 25 June 1984, the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan Statute. The College currently comprises four Faculties: Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Dentistry and Public Health, and the Post-graduate Institute of Medical Research and Training (PIMRAT). The Faculty of Pharmacy has since become independent and ceased to be part of the College. Also established are the following professional/academic programmes - Technology, Law, Communication and Language Arts, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Urban and Regional Planning, Industrial and Labour Relations, Information Science, Social Work.
Professor H.O. Thomas was succeeded in December 1975 by Professor Tekena N. Tamuno, B.A. Ph.D. (Lond.), D. Litt of the D.epartment of History. Professor Tamuno was the first alumnus of Ibadan to occupy the post of Vice-Chancellor. He served in this capacity until 30 November 1979. when the late Professor Samuel O. Olayide, B.Sc (Lond.) M.Sc., Ph.D. (Calif.) of the Department of Agricultural Economics, was appointed Vice-Chancellor a post he held till 30 November, 1983.
At the expiration of Olayide’s term of appointment, Professor L. Ayo Banjo who had been the Deputy Vice-Chancellor from December 1981, and Ag. Vice-Chancellor from November 1983-November 1984 was appointed substantive Vice-Chancellor from December 1, 1984. Professor Ayo Banjo has the singular distinction of being the first, and to date the only Vice–Chancellor of the University to serve for two terms, from December 1984 to November, 1991.
Professor A.B.O.O. Oyediran M.D., a former two time Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and former member of Council served as Vice-Chancellor from 1 December, 1991 till 30 November, 1995. Professor O. A. Ojengbede, FMCOG (Nig.), then Provost, College of Medicine, acted as Vice-Chancellor from 1 Dec. 1995 to 24 March 1996.
Professor Omoniyi Adewoye PhD. (Colum.) of the Department of History whose appointment as Vice Chancellor commenced on 25 March 1996, served in that capacity until 25 March 2000.
During the interregnum after Professor Adewoye’s tenure‘, Professor Olufunso O. Olorunsogo, Ph.D (Ibd.) then Deputy Vice – Chancellor (Administration) was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor from 26 March to 24 September 2000.
Prof. Ayodele O. Falase, FRCP (Lond) M.D. (Ib), former Provost, College of Medicine and Head, Department of Medicine on two previous occasions, was Vice-Chancellor from 25 September 2000- 2006.
He was succeeded by the incumbent Vice-Chancellor, Professor O.A. Bamiro, B.Sc [Notts], Ph.D [McGill]
In November 1973, the University celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its foundation. One of the highlights of the celebrations was the launching of the book entitled The University of Ibadan, 1948-73: A history of the first twenty-five years. The book was commissioned by the University Council, and was edited by two distinguished Professors of African history, J.F. Ade-Ajayi and Tekena N. Tamuno, It was published by the Ibadan University Press. Contributors, who incidentally were, largely, alumni of the University, examined in considerable detail, the growth and development of Ibadan with emphasis on its pioneering role and contributions to the development of higher education in Nigeria. An Endowment Appeal Fund was launched by the then Visitor, His Excellency, General Yakubu Gowon, to mark the occasion.
The second Endowment Appeal Fund was launched in Lagos during the 1978/79 session by the former Chief-of-Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Major-General Musa Yar-Adua under the auspices of University of Ibadan Alumni Association. In 1981, “Ibadan Voice” was published by the University Press. The book which was a collaborative work of former students, teachers, administrators, professionals and technical staff of the University since its foundation as a College in 1948, was edited by Professor Tekena N. Tamuno, The various chapters portray reminiscences, recollections, thoughts, reflections and views on Ibadan. This exciting book focuses attention on the growth and development of the University of Ibadan as a social institution and as a centre of excellence in research, teaching, and learning. Ibadan, as essays in the book demonstrate, made deliberate, but necessary adjustments to match the pace and complexity of Nigeria’s development as a nation-state under civilian and military regimes.
Under the 1975-80 quinquennial plan, the University proposed new academic programmes and major capital projects. Among these was the upgrading in 1980/81, of the erstwhile Faculty of Medicine to Collegiate status, and at the instance of Council the Federal Military Government promulgated, on 25 June 1984, the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan Statute. The College currently comprises four Faculties: Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Dentistry and Public Health, and the Post-graduate Institute of Medical Research and Training (PIMRAT). The Faculty of Pharmacy has since become independent and ceased to be part of the College. Also established are the following professional/academic programmes - Technology, Law, Communication and Language Arts, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Urban and Regional Planning, Industrial and Labour Relations, Information Science, Social Work.
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
BREAKING :FORMER GOVERNOR, SUNTAI DIES
Mr.Danbaba Suntai, a former Governor of Taraba State, is reported dead.
The former governor, whose helicopter crashed, died in the United States of America.
Suntai had remained unconscious since the crash of the helicopter on October 25, 2012, in Adamawa State.
A former Commissioner of Information in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Bello, confirmed the death of the former governor in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.
Bello, who served in the regime of Suntai, said the “former governor died in the United States.”
BREAKING : THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD !
Former Botswana president Ketumile Masire has died at the age of 91‚ his foundation said on Friday.
Masire‚ a key figure in Botswana’s independence movement‚ passed away on Thursday night after being admitted to hospital last week.
“The Board of Trustees of the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation (SKMF) and the Masire family wish to inform all friends and supporters of SKMF of the passing on of Rre. He died peacefully at Bokamoso Private Hospital surrounded by his family at 2210hrs on 22 June 2017‚” the foundation said in a statement.
“We thank well-wishers and friends from near and far‚ for their prayers‚ thoughts and comforting messages of support during this difficult time.
“Rest in Peace Sir Q.”
A report on the SKMF website said Masire was in a critical condition when he was admitted to the intensive care unit at Bokamoso Hospital on June 18.
Masire was Botswana’s second president and was hailed for his leadership after it gained independence from Britain.
He was also well respected by South African freedom fighters.
“President Masire ascendance to power in 1980 was crucial to the PAC and its military wing APLA as we sent more young people to military training. It became more easier to pass through borders of Gaborone without any ‘E-Toll’ or difficulty. Botswana became the gateway for our troops to get into other countries such as Lusaka‚ Harare‚ Dar es Salaam‚ Accra etc‚” the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) said in a statement on Friday.
“We are thankful for revolutionary and courageous contribution that Sir Masire displayed in his entire life to help not only Botswana but his beloved country to realise its liberty. Africa is not where we want to see it but Sir Masire and his generation rescued Africa from imperial forces.
Monday, 12 June 2017
QUEST FOR A QUICK RICHES, WEALTH, POWER AND FAME
The ugly happenings in the recent times in some parts of Nigeria where human beings were being reportedly killed for ritual purposes,called for greater concerned from all and sundry.
Sometimes in 2013, there was a case where a man in his thirties got hooked while trying to exhume a corpse somewhere in Ilobu, a town in Osun State. It was reported that the man,while trying to exhume the said corpse,got hooked inside the grave and eventually gave up the ghost. Among the eye witness, it was reported that a day to the incident, that the man was seen bragging while at a beer parlour, that this time tomorrow, he would be a rich man. Of course nobody would have wished him otherwise as there's nothing that God can not do. There have been cases of an unknown persons exhuming copses in the community for long. But no one has ever been caught.
Also, some couple of years ago in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, a place, popularly called "Soka", was discovered, where it was discovered that human beings, having being kidnapped, were being taken to for rituals. Information has it that some fresh human parts and some containers containing human blood were discovered, as well as some decomposing human parts.
Recently, in Osun State, a female student of the Osun State University, Ipetu-Ijesha campus, boarded a public transport, even from one of the town's motor parks to Oshogbo,the State's capital. Information has it that the innocent lady fell into the wrong hand of the vehicle's driver himself,having being hypnotized and was taken to an herbalist who had earlier bargained with him. The driver, having been caught,confessed to have received a sum of ten thousand naira from the herbalist as a reward for the work he had done for him.
Not quite long ago also, a man in a private vehicle was caught with a female human parts inside the Boot of his vehicle having being ordered by the security operatives to open it during one of their stop and search operations on the road.
In all these cases and even some that were not officially reported or even known, the question is that ; Are we to live in this world forever ? Or that those that are into this dastardly act do not have blood flowing in their veins? Or that they fail to realize that their victims were equally human beings like them ? Or that their conscience have died ?Or that they've no emotions ? Or that,... .
There's a common saying that, it takes two to tangle. In all the cases of the ritual killings, information have it that there have been some influential individuals in the society who have been patronizing them to buy those human parts from them. This has made it extremely difficult to really prosecute both the "sellers" and the "buyers" of these illegal commodities. Sometimes the law enforcement agents are "helpless" to actually prosecute these wicked souls of their dastardly deeds because of those involved.
If however, these ugly scenario is not properly checked or totally put to a stop, it may come to a situation whereby these people would just be publicly kidnapping people on broad day light for their ritual activities with nobody dare to check them.
For this not to happen,the following are some suggestions that could be
employed :
* INSTALLATION OF CCTV CAMERAS IN ALL STRATEGIC POSITIONS :
As done in advanced countries of the world, there's need for us in Nigeria also to install CCTV cameras all over some strategic position,so that peoples movements could be monitored, especially those with evil intentions could easily be detected before raining an havoc on innocent and peace loving people.
* ONCE A CASE OR CASES OF KIDNAPPING OR HUMAN KILLINGS ARE ESTABLISHED AT A COMPETENT LAW COURT, THE CULPRITS SHOULD BE MADE TO PAY THE SUPREME PRICE :
In other words, there should be an eye for an eye principle. Once a person is confirmed guilty of kidnapping or killing of another person(s) in a competent law court, such must equally be killed without no options.
* RELIGION EDUCATION SHOULD BE FULLY RE - INTRODUCE BACK INTO OUR EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM FROM THE PRIMARY TO THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL :
The Scriptures says that, "my people are perishing for lack of knowledge". Because as of today, that the religion education is no longer made compulsory as part of our educational curriculum, our younger generation are beginning to doubt the existence of God. The fear of God seems not to again be in their minds.
* TEACHING OF THE WORDS OF GOD TO THE CHILDREN BY THE PARENTS:
It's quite unfortunate these days that the majority of our parents have little or no time for their children to inculcate the fear of God in them through the teaching of God's will with them. Everything is money,money and money. Worst still,some of the parents would leave home early in the morning and will not return back home until 11 pm.
JUNE 12TH,1993,..., TWENTY FOUR YEARS AFTER
JUNE 12TH, 1993,..., TWENTY FOUR YEARS AFTER
The main essence of this write up is to bring it to our memory lane the explanation on how the issue about the popular "June 12th" holiday came into being,especially to our younger generation who are less than thirty years old to the understanding of the significant of the day.
Saturday, June 12th,1993 was like any other day. The sun gave its illumination from its horizon. The blares of the automobiles horns rented the peaceful and calmed atmosphere. Everyone is seen moving on with their daily activities. The beautiful songs of the birds in the sky were adding glamour into the peaceful morning. Everybody, both young and old, were happy to have made it to the new day. Little children were seen rolling motorcycle tyres on the roads due to less traffic congestion. Everyone seemed to have been eagerly waiting for the commencement of the Presidential elections. Especially those that were of the voting age and have since registered as voters. Everyone seemed to be tired of the military despotic type of leadership. The aged (both educated and otherwise) were equally not left out. Everyone was waiting for the real and genuine 'change' that was to come the way of every Nigerian both at home and in diaspora, when a true and genuine Democratic government must have been in place after the election.
Prior to the presidential election of the 12th of June, 1993, two political parties, the S.D.P ( the Social Democratic Party) and the N.R.C (the National Republican Convention) emerged as the two political parties to contest for the election. Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, popularly called M.K.O, was the presidential candidate for the S.D.P, while Alhaji Bashir Tofa, emerged as the flag bearer for the N.R.C.
A couple days to the election, a national presidential debate was organized for the two candidates. Among other things, this was done to enable the two candidates to tell both the Nigerians and the international communities of what their political manifestoes were. As well as telling the people what they would do if eventually elected as the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The outcome of the debate indicated that Chief M.K.O. Abiola would be a better candidate for the election.
The election went on as scheduled. There was no cases of snatching of the ballot boxes. No cases of molestation from either of the two contesting parties. No cases of killings. Everywhere was peaceful. The voting exercises ended well. The counting of the votes started to time and also ended well .The following day, a Sunday,was suppose to be the day for the announcement of the election results as well as for the declaration of the winner. Throughout the Sunday, every Nigerian and the international communities ended up being disappointed by the refusal of the Electoral body's chairman to announce the result and declare the winner. Nothing equally happened the next day. Throughout the week that followed the election week ,nothing was heard as regarding the announcement of the election results and the declaration of the winner from the electoral chairman. Two weeks past,nothing was heard. At this stage, many Nigerians could no longer bear it. People took to the major streets in protests against the refusal of the electoral chairman to announce the election results as well as declaring the winner. These protests went on and on. Still nothing was done or heard to douse the political tensions which have almost enveloped every nooks and crannies of the country. Meanwhile from the few results that were later released by the electoral body, there was an indication that even without the release of the remaining results, the S.D.P candidate, Chief M.K.O. Abiola seemed to have won the election.
With these, many concerned Nigerians wanted the international communities to wage into the political crisis by prevailing on the Federal government to order the electoral chairman to announce the remaining election results and declare the winner. However, all these appeals went into the government's deaf ears.
The acclaimed winner,Chief M.K.O, Abiola had to eventually declared himself the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Lagos, having travelled abroad to inform the international communities of the Nigeria political imbroglio, and realized that nothing was done in respect of this.
Chief M.K.O. was eventually arrested by the Federal government for treason. He remained in the prison for some years. Meanwhile, the self-styled military president General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (even though not being elected by votes),who imprisoned him later 'stepped aside' having appointed Chief Earnest Shonekan,a man from the same state as Chief M.K.O. Abiola to head an interim national government.
Unfortunately the interim government was soon booted out through a bloodless military coup d'etat headed by the then Army Chief, General Sanni Abacha. General Abacha equally saw no reason why Chief M.K.O. Abiola could be set free from the prison. While Chief Abiola was still in the prison, the news of the sudden demise of Head of State, General Sanni Abacha filtered into the air unbelievably. The reason was that the previous day to his death, that was on a Sunday, the Head of State was seeing, with the Palestinian's President, 'Yesser' Arafat at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport on his was back to his country after a State's visit to the country. Few days later the unimaginable news of the death of Chief M.K.O. followed. The outcome of this news brought about serious protests by the Nigerians. It was alleged that Abiola must have been killed by the Federal government as a result of the death of the Head of State as a way of "balancing the equation".
Since 1999 when Nigeria returned back to the Democratic system of government, June 12th of every year have been observing by some States governors,particularly those that are of the South Western States of the country as a Democracy day in the country.
Now that another June 12 has come, all Nigerians, particularly the lovers of Democracy should come together for the sustainability of our Democracy and make it the best in the world if possible.
Long Live our nascent Democracy,Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
HAPPY CELEBRATION !
The main essence of this write up is to bring it to our memory lane the explanation on how the issue about the popular "June 12th" holiday came into being,especially to our younger generation who are less than thirty years old to the understanding of the significant of the day.
Saturday, June 12th,1993 was like any other day. The sun gave its illumination from its horizon. The blares of the automobiles horns rented the peaceful and calmed atmosphere. Everyone is seen moving on with their daily activities. The beautiful songs of the birds in the sky were adding glamour into the peaceful morning. Everybody, both young and old, were happy to have made it to the new day. Little children were seen rolling motorcycle tyres on the roads due to less traffic congestion. Everyone seemed to have been eagerly waiting for the commencement of the Presidential elections. Especially those that were of the voting age and have since registered as voters. Everyone seemed to be tired of the military despotic type of leadership. The aged (both educated and otherwise) were equally not left out. Everyone was waiting for the real and genuine 'change' that was to come the way of every Nigerian both at home and in diaspora, when a true and genuine Democratic government must have been in place after the election.
Prior to the presidential election of the 12th of June, 1993, two political parties, the S.D.P ( the Social Democratic Party) and the N.R.C (the National Republican Convention) emerged as the two political parties to contest for the election. Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, popularly called M.K.O, was the presidential candidate for the S.D.P, while Alhaji Bashir Tofa, emerged as the flag bearer for the N.R.C.
A couple days to the election, a national presidential debate was organized for the two candidates. Among other things, this was done to enable the two candidates to tell both the Nigerians and the international communities of what their political manifestoes were. As well as telling the people what they would do if eventually elected as the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The outcome of the debate indicated that Chief M.K.O. Abiola would be a better candidate for the election.
The election went on as scheduled. There was no cases of snatching of the ballot boxes. No cases of molestation from either of the two contesting parties. No cases of killings. Everywhere was peaceful. The voting exercises ended well. The counting of the votes started to time and also ended well .The following day, a Sunday,was suppose to be the day for the announcement of the election results as well as for the declaration of the winner. Throughout the Sunday, every Nigerian and the international communities ended up being disappointed by the refusal of the Electoral body's chairman to announce the result and declare the winner. Nothing equally happened the next day. Throughout the week that followed the election week ,nothing was heard as regarding the announcement of the election results and the declaration of the winner from the electoral chairman. Two weeks past,nothing was heard. At this stage, many Nigerians could no longer bear it. People took to the major streets in protests against the refusal of the electoral chairman to announce the election results as well as declaring the winner. These protests went on and on. Still nothing was done or heard to douse the political tensions which have almost enveloped every nooks and crannies of the country. Meanwhile from the few results that were later released by the electoral body, there was an indication that even without the release of the remaining results, the S.D.P candidate, Chief M.K.O. Abiola seemed to have won the election.
With these, many concerned Nigerians wanted the international communities to wage into the political crisis by prevailing on the Federal government to order the electoral chairman to announce the remaining election results and declare the winner. However, all these appeals went into the government's deaf ears.
The acclaimed winner,Chief M.K.O, Abiola had to eventually declared himself the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Lagos, having travelled abroad to inform the international communities of the Nigeria political imbroglio, and realized that nothing was done in respect of this.
Chief M.K.O. was eventually arrested by the Federal government for treason. He remained in the prison for some years. Meanwhile, the self-styled military president General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (even though not being elected by votes),who imprisoned him later 'stepped aside' having appointed Chief Earnest Shonekan,a man from the same state as Chief M.K.O. Abiola to head an interim national government.
Unfortunately the interim government was soon booted out through a bloodless military coup d'etat headed by the then Army Chief, General Sanni Abacha. General Abacha equally saw no reason why Chief M.K.O. Abiola could be set free from the prison. While Chief Abiola was still in the prison, the news of the sudden demise of Head of State, General Sanni Abacha filtered into the air unbelievably. The reason was that the previous day to his death, that was on a Sunday, the Head of State was seeing, with the Palestinian's President, 'Yesser' Arafat at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport on his was back to his country after a State's visit to the country. Few days later the unimaginable news of the death of Chief M.K.O. followed. The outcome of this news brought about serious protests by the Nigerians. It was alleged that Abiola must have been killed by the Federal government as a result of the death of the Head of State as a way of "balancing the equation".
Since 1999 when Nigeria returned back to the Democratic system of government, June 12th of every year have been observing by some States governors,particularly those that are of the South Western States of the country as a Democracy day in the country.
Now that another June 12 has come, all Nigerians, particularly the lovers of Democracy should come together for the sustainability of our Democracy and make it the best in the world if possible.
Long Live our nascent Democracy,Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
HAPPY CELEBRATION !
Saturday, 10 June 2017
BREAKING : MOST WANTED AND THE RICHEST KIDNAPPER IN NIGERIA IS NAPPED BY THE POLICE
A day is for the thief and many days are for the owner,so the popular saying.That's the case of the most wanted and the richest kidnapper in the history of Nigeria,whom the Nigerian Police authority has confirmed to have been arrested.
The Inspector-General’s Intelligence Response Team led by ACP Abba Kyari on Saturday said it has arrested one of the most wanted suspected kidnappers in Lagos.
Kyari, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria, said the suspect was arrested at his Magodo residence in Lagos.
“IRT headquarters in Abuja is celebrating the arrest of the most wanted brilliant and notorious high-profile kidnapper in Nigeria.
“He has collected several billions of Naira as ransom in the last seven years as the kingpin of kidnappers.
“He was arrested at about 1.00p.m on Saturday in his residence in Magodo Estate, Lagos,” Kyari said.
He commended the Force Headquarters for mobilising the resources to go all out against the “richest and most notorious kidnapper” in the history of Nigeria.
Kyari said the Inspector-General had directed that the suspect should be paraded before newsmen on Sunday in Lagos. (NAN)
Monday, 5 June 2017
RELIGION TOLERANCE,... A PANACEA TO NIGERIA GREATNESS
taiwoolawumi@hotmail.com
It's no longer news that Nigeria is a secular state. In other words, everyone is authorized, under the law, to practice the religion of his choice as long as it doesn't pose any security threat to the general public.
There are three religions in Nigeria. The Islam, the Christianity, and the traditional religion. The Muslims are for the Islam, Christianity is for the Christians, and the traditional religion is for the traditional worshippers. These religions have, as their object of worship, the Almighty God. While the Muslims pray to God through the prophet Mohammed(SAW), the Christians approach God through Jesus Christ,while the traditional religions worshippers approach God through Ogun, Sango, Oya, Obatala, and so on. The Muslims worship in the Mosque, the Christians worship in the Church and the traditional worshippers worship in the shrines(Ojubo,in Yoruba). The Muslims, though do go to the Mosques everyday, their main day of worship is on Friday of every week. For the Christians, just like the Muslims too, they do go to the Church every day of the week for some special Church's programmes. However, they go for the Church' worship proper on very first of the week (Sunday),except a few of them like the Seventh Day Adventists, who observe their worships on Saturdays ( the Sabbath) according to their belief. The same thing with the traditional worshippers. Except that they do worship yearly depending on which of the deities they believe in. For instance, the Ogun worshippers, apart from the fact that they do worship on any other day of the week as the situation may demand for, they do worship on yearly basis. The same applies to the other deities.
The constitution of the country allows for the freedom of religion. That is, every Nigeria is free, under the constitution, to practice the religion of his choice without any intimidation from any quarters. Be that as it may, no religion is given the authority under the constitution to rubbish or castigating any other religion under whatever guise; either by preaching against their doctrines, disturbing them while preaching, or by inciting their members against any other religion different from hers.
Irrespective of our faiths,as worshippers, there are some obligations that are being expected of us towards God as well as our fellow human beings. Which means that, in a simple language, religion can be thought of as a way of life of people to make heaven after death as well as for mutual coexistence among people.
Gone are the days when people bothered less about one's faith or belief ! Nothing like, "he's not a Muslim, so I have nothing to do with him". Or that since he's not a Christian, " I just have to hate him". Or that he's a traditional worshipper, an idol worshiper, hence he doesn't deserve to live. When we see ourselves as one ! When we eat in the same plates ! When we sleep together in a place with our two eyes soundly closed ! When the Christians are not suspecting the Muslims. When the traditional worshippers are not treating the Christians with contempt ! When there was a real love among the people, irrespective of their faiths and beliefs. When people are being appointed into positions of responsibilities without minding their religious belief.
There's this general saying that, if a house is continuously enjoying peace, it then means that the bastards in that house are yet to grow to maturity.
Unfortunately, this issue of discriminating against one another on the basis of one's belief in Nigeria became more pronounced in the early eighties when there were cases of religion crisis in the Northern part of the country between the Muslims and the Christians. As a result of this unfortunate happenings, several thousands of lives were lost as well as some properties worth millions of Naira. Ever since then, the country has been continually witnessing such occurrence. As a result, the Muslims are beginning to see whosoever that wouldn't share the same faith as theres, as being an " infidels". The same thing with the Christians. The situation has unfortunately degenerated into the level that an average Christian sees a Muslim as a threat,each time he has an opportunity to have him by his side. So also a Muslim begins to see an average Christian as an infidel who deserve not to be alive.
There's no doubt that these attitudes between the Muslims and the Christians has in no small measure, negatively affected the growth and the well-being of the country.
It's true that our staying here on earth is temporary. Be that as it may, the kind of the relationship that we have here on earth with those that we came across with is a function of our making heaven or otherwise. Non of the two books ; the Qur'an or the Bible preaches hatred, let alone the taken of lives of whosoever that doesn't share our faiths. So,if any one would now hide under any religion to indulge in killings or developing an hatred towards whosoever that wouldn't share our religion's belief, doesn't worship the Almighty God, no matter how religious the people may hold him or her. Islam, according to the Muslims,is a religion of peace. So also is the Christianity, according to the Christians. Therefore, if either of the religions would engage in hatred or killings of anyone who refuses to share their faiths, then, such religion remains no longer a peaceful one as it may be claimed to be. If a man bought a new car,for example, or own a property, and he discovers that someone has damaged the car, or destroyed the property, such a man wouldn't be happy with whosoever that must have done that to him, no matter the reason. The same way with the Almighty.
I want to believe that God is more than sufficient to fight for Himself. No one can assist Him to fight against whosoever that's perceived to be His enemy.
Some of our selfish leaders have been unfortunately making use of this ugly situations to better their political fortunes. Some of us, during an elections, vote on the basis of religion sympathy and not on the competence or the qualifications of whosoever that's seeking for political office. "As long as he doesn't share my religion's belief, I won't vote for him, let him even be more than qualify".
Until we change our orientation away from what it used to be, our country, Nigeria, will continue to move backwardly instead of being moving forward.
A word,they say,is enough for the wise.
It's no longer news that Nigeria is a secular state. In other words, everyone is authorized, under the law, to practice the religion of his choice as long as it doesn't pose any security threat to the general public.
There are three religions in Nigeria. The Islam, the Christianity, and the traditional religion. The Muslims are for the Islam, Christianity is for the Christians, and the traditional religion is for the traditional worshippers. These religions have, as their object of worship, the Almighty God. While the Muslims pray to God through the prophet Mohammed(SAW), the Christians approach God through Jesus Christ,while the traditional religions worshippers approach God through Ogun, Sango, Oya, Obatala, and so on. The Muslims worship in the Mosque, the Christians worship in the Church and the traditional worshippers worship in the shrines(Ojubo,in Yoruba). The Muslims, though do go to the Mosques everyday, their main day of worship is on Friday of every week. For the Christians, just like the Muslims too, they do go to the Church every day of the week for some special Church's programmes. However, they go for the Church' worship proper on very first of the week (Sunday),except a few of them like the Seventh Day Adventists, who observe their worships on Saturdays ( the Sabbath) according to their belief. The same thing with the traditional worshippers. Except that they do worship yearly depending on which of the deities they believe in. For instance, the Ogun worshippers, apart from the fact that they do worship on any other day of the week as the situation may demand for, they do worship on yearly basis. The same applies to the other deities.
The constitution of the country allows for the freedom of religion. That is, every Nigeria is free, under the constitution, to practice the religion of his choice without any intimidation from any quarters. Be that as it may, no religion is given the authority under the constitution to rubbish or castigating any other religion under whatever guise; either by preaching against their doctrines, disturbing them while preaching, or by inciting their members against any other religion different from hers.
Irrespective of our faiths,as worshippers, there are some obligations that are being expected of us towards God as well as our fellow human beings. Which means that, in a simple language, religion can be thought of as a way of life of people to make heaven after death as well as for mutual coexistence among people.
Gone are the days when people bothered less about one's faith or belief ! Nothing like, "he's not a Muslim, so I have nothing to do with him". Or that since he's not a Christian, " I just have to hate him". Or that he's a traditional worshipper, an idol worshiper, hence he doesn't deserve to live. When we see ourselves as one ! When we eat in the same plates ! When we sleep together in a place with our two eyes soundly closed ! When the Christians are not suspecting the Muslims. When the traditional worshippers are not treating the Christians with contempt ! When there was a real love among the people, irrespective of their faiths and beliefs. When people are being appointed into positions of responsibilities without minding their religious belief.
There's this general saying that, if a house is continuously enjoying peace, it then means that the bastards in that house are yet to grow to maturity.
Unfortunately, this issue of discriminating against one another on the basis of one's belief in Nigeria became more pronounced in the early eighties when there were cases of religion crisis in the Northern part of the country between the Muslims and the Christians. As a result of this unfortunate happenings, several thousands of lives were lost as well as some properties worth millions of Naira. Ever since then, the country has been continually witnessing such occurrence. As a result, the Muslims are beginning to see whosoever that wouldn't share the same faith as theres, as being an " infidels". The same thing with the Christians. The situation has unfortunately degenerated into the level that an average Christian sees a Muslim as a threat,each time he has an opportunity to have him by his side. So also a Muslim begins to see an average Christian as an infidel who deserve not to be alive.
There's no doubt that these attitudes between the Muslims and the Christians has in no small measure, negatively affected the growth and the well-being of the country.
It's true that our staying here on earth is temporary. Be that as it may, the kind of the relationship that we have here on earth with those that we came across with is a function of our making heaven or otherwise. Non of the two books ; the Qur'an or the Bible preaches hatred, let alone the taken of lives of whosoever that doesn't share our faiths. So,if any one would now hide under any religion to indulge in killings or developing an hatred towards whosoever that wouldn't share our religion's belief, doesn't worship the Almighty God, no matter how religious the people may hold him or her. Islam, according to the Muslims,is a religion of peace. So also is the Christianity, according to the Christians. Therefore, if either of the religions would engage in hatred or killings of anyone who refuses to share their faiths, then, such religion remains no longer a peaceful one as it may be claimed to be. If a man bought a new car,for example, or own a property, and he discovers that someone has damaged the car, or destroyed the property, such a man wouldn't be happy with whosoever that must have done that to him, no matter the reason. The same way with the Almighty.
I want to believe that God is more than sufficient to fight for Himself. No one can assist Him to fight against whosoever that's perceived to be His enemy.
Some of our selfish leaders have been unfortunately making use of this ugly situations to better their political fortunes. Some of us, during an elections, vote on the basis of religion sympathy and not on the competence or the qualifications of whosoever that's seeking for political office. "As long as he doesn't share my religion's belief, I won't vote for him, let him even be more than qualify".
Until we change our orientation away from what it used to be, our country, Nigeria, will continue to move backwardly instead of being moving forward.
A word,they say,is enough for the wise.
BREAKING : RAPIST BURNT TO DEATH IN LAGOS
Nemesis has caught up with a notorious Badoo cultist and r*pist after he was lynched to death by an angry mob today.The suspected Badoo rapist and cultists before he was burnt alive (Photo: Ikorodu Ambassadors Group/Facebook)
An angry mob in Ikorodu have burnt to death a suspected notorious Badoo cultist terrorizing the area after he was caught by the vigilante group popularly called the Onyabo.
According to information gathered from Ikorodu Ambassadors Group, the general public prevented the Police, SARS and the Vigilante from taking the suspect away. Two people were hit by stray bullets that was shot to disperse the crowd. One was hit on the hand and the other on the head, but the crowd refused to let them take the alleged suspect away.
He was eventually beaten to a pulp before he was burnt alive by the crowd.
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
INCREDIBLE : PROSTITUTES KILLED CUSTOMER
Information has it that two prostitutes have been arrested by the men of Ogun State Police Command, for allegedly killing one Adeyinka Olayinka, one of their customers.
The two sex workers were Kudirat Raji,which is also known as Angela, and Esther Basiru.
The unfortunate incident was reported to have taken place on Tuesday 30th of May 2017, at the KS Hotel, Ifo, in Ifo Local Government Area of the state.
According to Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state Police Public Relations Officer, the victim, Olayinka, who was supervising a construction work going on in his building site at Ifo decided to pass the night on the fateful day in the hotel.
The Police PPRO said preliminary investigation revealed that the victim contracted one of the sex workers, Kudirat Raji, to pass the night with him on an agreed amount, but the deceased reneged on their agreement which led to hot argument between them.
While the argument was going on, Esther Basiru, who is a friend to Kudirat allegedly broke a bottle and injured the deceased’s friend who was at the scene while Kudirat used the broken part of the bottle to stab the deceased on the armpit. The Police Spokesman said in the process, Kudirat thereby cut one Olayinka’s nerves, consequent upon which he bled to death.
He said the Manager of the hotel quickly alerted the police and the Divisional Police Officer, Ifo Division, Anthony Haruna, led his men to the scene and promptly arrested the two suspects.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ahmed Iliyasu, the state Commissioner of Police, has ordered the transfer of the case to Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and possible prosecution of the suspects.
ESCAPED CONVICTED ACTRESS PRISONER REARRESTED
A Nigerian actress, Rabi Ismail, who escaped from prison about six years ago, after being sentenced to death has been recaptured.
Rabi escaped from lawful custody in Hadejia Prison on December 16, 2011.
According to Francis Enobore, the spokesperson for the Prisons authorities, the once escaped prisoner was recaptured by the Intelligence Unit of the Nigerian Prisons Service with the support of men of the State Security Service .The prisoner bearing number k/22c Rabi Ismail was sentenced to death by hanging for culpable homicide by a High Court in Kano on January 5, 2005 for killing her boyfriend, Auwalu Ibrahim, to acquire his property.
Ismail was subsequently held in Kaduna Central prison from where she was transferred to Hadejia prison before she escaped six years ago.
In July 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the lower courts that sentenced her to death by hanging.
The court found her guilty for drugging and drowning Ibrahim in 2002 in Kano. Rabi who was 39 years old when she escaped six years ago, had lured Ibrahim to a picnic at Tiga Dam, where she poisoned him with chocolate and pushed him into the dam.
The Controller General of Prisons expressed appreciation to the assistance rendered by security agencies particularly the SSS and the police in arresting the fugitive.
He appealed to members of the public to continue to provide useful information on escapees and indeed any criminal element in their midst to security agents, noting that such outlaws pose security threats to the society.
A CAR RUBBER NABBED IN LAGOS
A man was nabbed on Monday with the combined efforts of a military personnel and hoodlums after he allegedly stole a car and was about trying to escape with an 11-month-old baby in in the vehicle.
A man, Adebowale Olayinka,by name, who narrated the story on Facebook said a woman parked her car by the roadside to “quickly buy meat in Gbagada”. The woman left the engine running because her baby and her grandmother were in the car.
The thief reportedly kicked the grandmother out of the car and tried to escape with the baby. “Fortunately a soldier was passing by, immediately he took a bike to run after him, this led to multiple accidents on the road and the car stopped working and kidnapper decided to lock himself and the baby inside the car in the middle of expressway but area boys came to rescue of the baby,” Olayinka said.
“He was caught and was taken to Pedro Police station at Somolu.”
Monday, 29 May 2017
HORROR : WOMAN GAVE BIRTH TO TWINS ; ONE HUMAN,ONE SNAKE !
Somewhere in Uganda is a woman living with a 30-foot-long Python which she claims to have birthed.
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In 2007, Nalongo got in the family way and was delighted to learn that she was pregnant with twins. The same year, her husband died just a few months before she gave birth and in December of the same year she gave birth to the most unusual twins ever.
The woman who claims to have given birth to snake Unusual because one was a girl and the other one was a snakelet. A tiny Python.
The woman claims that the snake is her son who lives in the body of the reptile and true to her claims, she has lived with the Python for the last nine years. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take her unusual baby to school and resorted to staying at home nursing, feeding and looking after it.
Her neighbors have tried understand her while her family which was more practical disowned her years ago.
Recently, she was reported to the wildlife department and officers raided her home and almost took the Python away. She managed to convince them that she is the only one who knows how to feed it. She refused to let her child live with animals in the forest.
The woman now claims that no man wants to be with her as soon as they learn that she gave birth to a snake. She has appealed to well-wishers to help her because she is straining to feed the Python which gobbles up around 40 chicken eggs a day.
NIGERIA DEMOCRACY AT EIGHTEEN,...ANYTHING TO CELEBRATE ?
* circa 800 BC - Jos plateau settled by Nok - a neolithic and iron age civilisation.
* circa 11th century onwards - Formation of city states, kingdoms and empires, including Hausa kingdoms and Borno dynasty in north, Oyo and Benin kingdoms in south.
* 1472 - Portuguese navigators reach Nigerian coast.
* 16-18th centuries - Slave trade: Millions of Nigerians are forcibly sent to the Americas.
* 1809 - Islamic Sokoto caliphate is founded in north.
* 1830s-1886 - Civil wars plague Yorubaland in the south.
* 1850s - British establish presence around Lagos.
* 1861-1914 - Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs through local leaders.
* 1922 - Part of former German colony Kamerun is added to Nigeria under League of Nations mandate.
* 1960 - Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government.
* 1962-63 - Controversial census fuels regional and ethnic tensions.
* 1966 January - Mr Balewa killed in coup. Maj-Gen Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi forms military government.
* 1966 July - General Ironsi killed in counter-coup, replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon.
* 1967 - Three eastern states secede as the Republic of Biafra, sparking bloody civil war.
* 1970 - Biafran leaders surrender.
* 1975 - General Gowon overthrown by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who begins process of moving federal capital to Abuja.
Obasanjo - first time round
* 1976 - General Mohammed assassinated in failed coup attempt. Replaced by his deputy, Lt-Gene Olusegun Obasanjo, who helps introduce US-style presidential constitution.
* 1979 - Elections bring Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
* 1983 January - The government expels more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and were taking jobs from Nigerians.
* 1983 August-September - President Shagari re-elected amid accusations of irregularities.
* 1983 December - Maj-Gen Muhammad Buhari seizes power in bloodless coup.
* 1985 - Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.
* 1993 June - Military annuls elections when preliminary results show victory by Chief Moshood Abiola.
* 1993 August - Power transferred to Interim National Government.
Abacha years
* 1993 November - Gen Sani Abacha seizes power, suppresses opposition.
* 1994 - Moshood Abiola arrested after proclaiming himself president.
* 1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland, is executed following a hasty trial. In protest, European Union imposes sanctions until 1998, Commonwealth suspends Nigeria's membership until 1998.
* 1998 - Gen Sani Abacha dies and is succeeded by Maj-Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar. Moshood Abiola dies in custody a month later.
* 1999 - Parliamentary and presidential elections. Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in as president.
* 2000 - Adoption of Islamic Sharia law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue results in hundreds of deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
* 2001 - Tribal war in Benue State, in eastern-central Nigeria, displaces thousands of people. Troops sent to quash the fighting kill more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
Ethnic violence
* 2002 February - Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Hausas from mainly-Islamic north and Yorubas from predominantly-Christian southwest.
* 2002 November - More than 200 people die in four days of rioting stoked by Muslim fury over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Kaduna in December. The event is relocated to Britain.
* 2003 12 April - First legislative elections since end of military rule in 1999. Polling marked by delays, allegations of ballot-rigging. President Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party wins parliamentary majority.
Obasanjo re-elected
* 2003 19 April - First civilian-run presidential elections since end of military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo elected for second term with more than 60% of vote. Opposition parties reject result. EU poll observers cite "serious irregularities".
* 2003 September - Nigeria's first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, launched by Russian rocket.
* 2004 May - State of emergency is declared in the central Plateau State after more than 200 Muslims are killed in Yelwa in attacks by Christian militia; revenge attacks are launched by Muslim youths in Kano.
Trouble in the south
* 2004 August-September - Deadly clashes between gangs in oil city of Port Harcourt prompts strong crackdown by troops. Rights group Amnesty International cites death toll of 500, authorities say about 20 died.
* 2006 January onwards - Militants in the Niger Delta attack pipelines and other oil facilities and kidnap foreign oil workers. The rebels demand more control over the region's oil wealth.
* 2006 February - More than 100 people are killed when religious violence flares in mainly-Muslim towns in the north and in the southern city of Onitsha.
* 2006 April - Helped by record oil prices, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders, which had written off two-thirds of the $30bn debt the previous year.
Bakassi deal
* 2006 August - Nigeria agrees to cede sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. Transfer takes place in 2008.
* 2007 April - Umaru Yar'Adua of the ruling People's Democratic Party wins the presidential election.
* 2008 September - Militants in the Niger Delta step up their attacks on oil installations, in response to what they describe as unprovoked attacks by the military on their bases.
Boko Haram uprising
* 2009 July - Hundreds die in northeastern Nigeria after the Boko Haram Islamist movement launches a campaign of violence in a bid to have Sharia law imposed on the entire country. Security forces storm Boko Haram's stronghold and kill the movement's leader.
Government frees the leader of the Niger Delta militant group Mend, Henry Okah, after he accepts an amnesty offer.
* 2010 May - President Umaru Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar'Adua's stead, succeeds him.
* 2010 December - Christmas Eve bomb attacks near central city of Jos kill at least 80 people. Attacks claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram spark clashes between Christians and Muslims. Some 200 killed in reprisal attacks.
* 2011 March - Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
* 2011 August - Suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja kills 23 people. Boko Haram claims responsibility.
* 2011 December - Christmas Day bomb attacks by Boko Haram on churches kill about 40 people. President Jonathan declares state of emergency to contain violence by Boko Haram.
* 2012 January - More than 100 killed in single day of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Kano, shortly after Boko Haram tells Christians to quit the north.
* 2013 May - Government declares state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat Boko Haram.
* 2013 September - Boko Haram murder more than 150 people in roadside attacks in the northeast. Separately, security forces fight Boko Haram insurgents in the capital Abuja.
* 2014 April - Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 girls from a boarding school in northern town of Chibok, in an incident that draws major national and international outrage.
* 2014 November - Boko Haram launches a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in early 2015. It switches allegiance from al-Qaeda to the Islamic State group.
* 2015 February-March - Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger form military coalition and push Boko Haram out of all towns back into Sambisa Forest.
President Buhari elected
* 2015 March - Muhammadu Buhari wins the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to do so in Nigeria's history.
* 2016 June - Naira currency floated in attempt to stave off financial crisis caused by low oil prices.
* 2016 November - Niger Delta Avengers rebels bomb three oil pipelines in attempt to renew southern insurgency.
* 2017 January - Scores die as Nigerian air force accidentally bombs refugee camp rather than Boko Haram redoubt in Rann on Cameroon border.
Nigerian navy sends ships as part of regional force to oblige The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh to step down after he loses election.
* 2017 May - More than 80 of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Chibok are freed in a prisoner swap with the Islamist group Boko Haram.
Nigeria became a sovereign nation in October 1960 and a Republic in 1963. Since then till May 29, 1999, the reign of government has been between the Civilians and the Military.The first Military Coup d'etat in the country's political history was in 1966, when some military officers forcefully took over government from the elected civilian government. The coup d'etat began on January 15, 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, killed 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty. The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day span of time before the coup plotters were subdued. The General Officer Commanding, of the Nigerian Army,Johnson - Aguiyi - Ironsi then used the coup as a pretext to annex power, ending Nigeria's nascent democracy. Though the military justified their action on the coup by alleging that the civilian government was corrupt.
The Nigerian civil war, better known as the better known as the Biafran's war broke out on the 6th of July 1967, and ended on the 15th of January 1970. It was a war fought between the government of Nigeria and the secessionist state of Biafra . Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated federal government. The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter coup, and persecution of igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over oil production in the Niger Delta played a vital strategic role
* MAJOR EVENTS IN NIGERIA BETWEEN 1970 AND 1979 :
* General Gowon 1967-1975
* Generals Murtala Muhamed and Olusegun Obasanjo ran Nigeria and altered the constitution again, creating 19 federal states.
* 1970 (January 15): The Biafran War came to an end, leaving nearly two million people dead.
* 1971 (April 2): Nigeria changed from driving on the right hand side of the road to the left.
* 1973 (May): Government establishes the National Youth Service Corps Scheme and introduces compulsory one year service for all graduates of Nigerian universities.
* 1974: General Gowon reneged on a promise to restore civilian rule in 1976.
* 1974: Gowon announces indefinite delay in trasition plan.
* 1975 (October): Gowon was overthrown in a coup, on the anniversary of his ninth year in office, by General Murtala Mohammed. Murtala rolls out transition plan to civil rule due to terminate in 1979.
* 1976 (February 13): Murtala Mohammed was gunned down, in an abortive coup attempt, on his way to work from his residence.
* 1976 (February 14): General Murtala Mohammed was succeeded by General Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo pledges to keep to Murtala's transition agenda.
* 1976 (September 2): The Universal Primary Education Scheme (UPE) is introduced. This was to make education free and compulsory in the country.
* 1978: Ban on political parties was lifted
* 1979 (October 1): General Obasanjo handed over to Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari (Excutive President of Nigeria). Five parties competed for the presidency, and Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) won.
* 1979 (October 1) -1983 (December 31): Second Republic of Nigeria under Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
* THE BUHARI COUP :
The second military era was preceded by a civilian regime, the Shagari Administration,whose advent in October 1979 was welcomed by most Nigerians, despite inter-party recriminations over the presidential elections.
Nevertheless, the euphoria was short-lived, by mid-1982 much of the economic, social and political turbulence that characterised the First Republic had returned. These included intra and inter-party rivalry, bitterness and conflict, evident in the formation, first of an NPN , the National Party of Nigeria/ NPP the Nigerian Peoples' Party alliance,and later on of a UPN Unity Party of Nigeria/NPPalliance. These culminated in large-scale bitterness, violence and vandalism that characterised the national elections of 1983.
Besides, the Nigerian economy had so deteriorated that food and other imports, including traditional staples like palm oil and rice already high,.accentuated. All this was in spite of an expensive Green Revolution Programme sponsored by government. To salvage the economy, the governmentuimposed stringent austerity measures and contemplated a IMF loan from the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
Rancorous preparations for the 1983 elections,rising agitation for more states particularly by the majority ethnic groups previously opposed to state creation, and an alleged coup plot sponsored by a disgruntled Borno businessman, Alhaji Z. B.Mandara, increased the air of political uncertainty. Other social ills included corruption, unemployment,high cost of living, rising incidence of armed robbery, and violent ethnic and religious riots and disturbances in Kano, Maiduguri and Modakeke. The military struck again in December, 1983.
The Buhari Regime, 1984 - 1985: The military regime headed by Major-General Buhari consistedof senior military officers such as Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, Brigadier 1. B. Babangida and Major General Domkat Bali - all of the Supreme Military Council, SMC. The Administration's many decrees, military tribunals and emphasis on discipline soon won for it the characterisation as "the first true military dictatorship, albeit benevolent" that Nigeria ever experienced. As in 1966, the military take-over had considerable initial public support, particularly following revelations of abysmal corruption by public officers, many of whom were arrested and detained.
The regime set about recovering ill-gotten wealth from politicians and other public officers through special military tribunals that it set up. It also sought to cleanse the nation's aegean stables of corruption and immorality by instituting a "War Against lndiscipline'',WAI, campaign to fight laziness, lateness, disorderliness, hoarding and examination malpractices and to inculcate habits of cleanliness, order, patriotism and nationalism in the citizenry. To a considerable extent these aims were realised. Hence, "WAI" became an important legacy of the Buhari Administration. Nevertheless, the various new decrees carrying long prison terms or the death penalty for "miscellaneous offenses" or"economic sabotage," including examination malpractice, counterfeiting and drug and currency trafficking, met with criticism in some quarters as being too drastic.
Attempts to revamp the nation's economy met with serious constraints, particularly dwindling revenue from oil and tremendous burden of re-paying the nation's mounting internal and external debts. Government's economic recovery measures included a currency change early in 1984 which involved prolonged border closure, wage freeze, cut-back on government spending, and other "tough medicine."
Although purposeful, these measures achieved only moderate success. In October, 1984, General Buhari himself declared that the government was"to all intents and purposes bankrupt." However,apparently conceding to public opinion, Buhari steadfastly refused to obtain an IMF loan which would entail devaluation of the naira.
The stringent economic measures applied bythe government led to large-scale retrenchment ofpublic servants; students' unrest in tertiary institutions against the re-introduction of fees and withdrawal of food subsidy; and increased unemployment. Gradually, the Buhari Administration appeared to wear an inhuman and insensitive face.The last straw in the regime's worsening human rights record was the passage of Decree No. 4.This sought to ensure that journalists reported"truthfully" and that public officers were not maligned by the press. However, the decree was widely seen as government's attempt to muzzle the press. The conviction and imprisonment of two journalists of The Guardian, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson, and the imposition of a N50,000 fine on The Guardian's publishers under this Decree, increased fears of government's intention to gag the Press. The activities of the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO)in harassing radical intellectuals and other opponents or critics of the Government, side by side with the numerous harsh decrees carrying severe penalties, doomed the Buhari regime. It was overthrown on August 27, 1985 in a military coup.
* THE BABANGIDA COUP :
Administration 1985 - 1993:
An administration headed by Major-General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida set about to restore basic human rights and to revamp the economy. Babangida, until then the Army Chief of Staff, had been a member of the Buhari's Supreme Military Council, but had become alienated.
Of the tasks that faced the new administration,those of human rights, the economy and governance were perhaps the most serious. Conscious of public alienation by Buhari's human rights abuses, the Babangida administration rode to popularity by seeming to redress the abuses. It immediately repealed Decree No. 4 on newspaper censorship,and freed all detained journalists. It also curtailed some of the powers and excesses of the NSO,which it replaced with a new body, the State Security Service, the SSS. It set a date, 1990, for Nigeria's return to civilian rule ,which was laterchanged to 1992 ; and it made the first step in this journey by creating the Political Bureau in January1986. The Bureau subsequently organised a nation-wide debate on the form of, and the transition to, civilian government (Kraus, 1989: 235).The Transition Programme, formally inaugurated in July 1987, was drawn mostly from the recommendations of the Political Bureau. The programme was to be completed by the end of 1992when an elected civilian government would takeover from the military.
Several notable developments intended tosteer the transition on course occurred late in 1987.They were: the establishment of the Mass Mobilisation for Economic Recovery, Self Reliance and Social Justice (MAMSER) in August 1987; the creation of two additional States, Akwa lbom and Katsina, on September 23, 1987 intended to furtherenhance Nigeria's Federal System; and the setting up of Constitution Review Committee (CRC) and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in September 1987. In December 1987, Local Government elections were held on non-party basis(Uya, 1992: 36 - 37).
Further milestones in the Transition Programme were reached in the next several years.They included the submission of a report and Draft Constitution by the CRC in March 1988; the part election and part nomination of the Constituent Assembly which subsequently met in Abuja and, in April 1989, submitted a Report and a Draft constitution. Soon afterwards, the AFRC lifted the five-year ban on political activities. Several burning issues featured in the political and constitutional debates throughout 1988 and 1989. They were the idea of rotatory presidency and attempts to introduce a Federal Sharia Appeal Court into the Constitution.The AFRC, however, intervened in the end to maintain the status quo in the case of the Sharia controversy.
Following the lifting of the ban on politics,approximately forty political organisations werefounded throughout the country. Of these, NECrecommended thirteen to the AFRC for registration.But even these were subsequently disqualified anddissolved by the AFRC as unsuitable. The AFRC then proceeded to establish two new political parties for the nation, viz: the Social Democratic Party(SDP), and the National Republican Convention(NRC), on the principle that one was "a little to theleft," and the other was "a little to the right," to maintain an ideological balance. The two parties were to be national in outlook and organisation, and politicians imbued with the high ethos which government sought to instill in the people. Accordingly, somecategories of persons were banned for life or for specific periods from participating in the unfolding politics, for reasons which included previous criminal records, and their currently occupying sensitive public positions. The heightened political activities,however, received a severe jolt on April 22, 1990 when an army Major, Gideon Okar, and some soldiers attempted a military coup d'etat which was quickly crushed. Undaunted, the two political parities held their conventions during the followingmonth. In December 1990, Local Government elections followed. State Assembly and (Sovernorshipelections followed in December 1991 and, inJanuary 1992, the elected civilian governors ofNigeria's then thirty states were sworn in. Thus,Nigeria became governed in the form of a diarchy a situation suggested earlier on in 1972 by Nigeria'selder Statesman, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.
The Presidential election, intended to finally usher in the Third Republic, was scheduled forDecember 5, 1992. It was, however, preceded bypolitical events that were no less significant or portentous. Decree No. 53 of 1992, for example,stripped the National Assembly of most of the powers granted it by the 1989 constitution, including the power to legislate or discuss and pass revenue bills. Then late in October 1992, the AFRC cancelled the presidential primaries held by the two parties in the previous month on grounds of gross election malpractices. The 23 presidential aspirants who had contested in the primaries were also disqualified and banned from further political participation. Those banned included Chief Olu Falae and Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (rtd) of the SDP, and Mallam Adamu Ciroma and Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi of the NRC, all front runners in the presidential primaries.
A review of the electoral process and regulations instituted by the AFRC led to the emergenceof 250 presidential aspirants by February 1993,including new political stalwarts, like Chief M.K.O.Abiola, Alhaji Ali-Monguno, General Yakubu Gowon(rtd), Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu and Alhaji BabaGana Kingibe. The final Presidential Elections,including the main election scheduled for June 12,1993, were to be conducted under the so-called"Option A4" System. The terminal date for military rule was also fixed for August 27, 1993.
The story of the election that eventually tookplace on June 12, 1993 and the annulment of the victory supposedly won overwhelmingly by ChiefM.K.O. Abiola cannot be recounted in any detail here. Suffice it to say that it was annulled and from then on, Nigeria's political stability and unity suffered severe blows that became very hard to contain. In its immediate effect, the annulment intensified public outcry and pressure for Babangida to relinnuish power which he reluctantly did on August 26, 1993 by "stepping aside" and handing over to the Interim National Government chosen by him and headed by Chief E. Shonekan.
The condition of acute political uncertainty wentside by side with grave economic decline. The.bases of economic policy were the Fifth National Development Plan (1986 - 1990), and the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) offered as an alternative to IMF Loan. SAP sought to achieve sustained self-reliant growth and to end high budget and balance of payments deficits. It also aimed to reduce dependence on imports and oil, reduce nonproductive public sector investments, and stimulateprivate sector activity through "privatisation and commercialisation" of State Corporations andParastatals, initiated by Decree 25 of 1988 (Kraus,1989:236). The measures to achieve these objectives included devaluation of the naira and attracting foreign investment by liberalising existing indigenisation policies. Others were raising higher revenues, and reducing state intervention, expenditures, and subsidies particularly on petrol, intendedpartly to placate the IMF.
As in previous reforms, these efforts weredaunted by the general air of political instability and uncertainty, corruption, dwindling oil revenue, a backward agricultural sector, a high inflation rate reckoned at eighty per cent in July 1993, and excruciating external debt estimated at $27 billion by October 1993.
Excepting some activation of primary production and exports, especially of cocoa, the consequences of the nation's economic course and, by implication, of SAP, were dire and ratifying. Among them were mass poverty, misery and general social malaise partly epitomised by anti-poverty protests, riots and strikes across the country;acute food shortages; collapse of infrastructure and of businesses, including banks; abandoned capital projects; inability of government to pay worker's salaries for months on end; and rising crime rate particularly of drug trafficking, armed robbery, and" (alias "419") for which Nigeria and Nigerians became notorious internationally and were shunned by many foreign investors and businessmen as high risks. According to a prevailing parlance, SAP had sapped life out of Nigeria and most Nigerians.
And, rather than alleviate these conditions,other aspects of government's domestic and foreignpolicies tended to exacerbate them. This was trueof the return of the Babangida regime to the policyof repressing the Press, its critics, human rightsspokesmen and organisations and radical intellectuals. At the foreign policy level was Nigeria's military intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone through the ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group). Although purposeful, those interventions further drained Nigeria's wealth. Moreover, by setting up the puny ING, Babangida laid the basis for the future rise of Nigeria's most monstrous dictator,General Sani Abacha.
The Sani Abacha Administration, 1993 1998: We shall pass over the ING (August November, 1993) headed by Ernest Shonekan, aformer head of UAC of Nigeria, Pie. Declared illegalby the Courts, the ING also lacked respectability,credibility, resources and resolve to solve thenation's many ills. It was shoved aside in a palace coup on November 17, 1993 by Sani Abacha, its Defence Secretary (and close associate of General Babangida), who established a new military government, under the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) as the highest policy making organ of Government.
What followed under Abacha were five years ofunbridled dictatorship, economic mismanagement,gross human rights abuses and virtually a negationof government. Aiming from the outset to perpetuate his rule, Abacha first dissolved all the elected State and Federal Legislatures and sacked the governors. He then re-enacted the tortuous and wasteful process of transition to civil rule including the formation of new political parties, the fashioning of anew constitution (1995), election of new Local Government Councils, State and Federal Legislatures and Governors and, finally, the unprecedented, forced adoption of himself as the sole presidential candidate by the five government approved political parties.
On the foreign scene, the Abacha regime virtually isolated Nigeria from her traditional friends,especially in North America, Europe and Australia.Some of these countries clamped sanctions on Nigeria much to her economic hurt. Abacha's sudden death in June 1998, seen by many Nigerians as an "act of divine intervention,"and the death of Abiola shortly thereafter, effectively helped to pave the way for a return to civil rule.
Under Abacha's successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigerians, now thoroughly tired of, and disillusioned with, the endless transition that the Babangida and Abacha regimes had foisted on them, co-operated to return the country speedily to civilian rule. Within a year, new political parties were formed, a Constitution (1999) was promulgated, and elections were held into Local Government Councils, State and Federal Legislatures, and to select the Governors, their Deputies, the Presidentand Vice President. The latter posts were won by General Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar respectively. Thus, on May 29, 1999, Nigeria returned, once more, to full democratic governance.
Now that Nigeria circa 800 BC - Jos plateau settled by Nok - a neolithic and iron age civilisation.
Now that Nigeria is eighteen years old democratically, there's reason for us as people to come together to define the type of the country we want,particularly for our yet unborn generations.
A fool at eighteen, is a fool forever !
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Now that Nigeria circa 800 BC - Jos plateau settled by Nok - a neolithic and iron age civilisation.
circa 11th century onwards - Formation of city states, kingdoms and empires, including Hausa kingdoms and Borno dynasty in north, Oyo and Benin kingdoms in south.
1472 - Portuguese navigators reach Nigerian coast.
16-18th centuries - Slave trade: Millions of Nigerians are forcibly sent to the Americas.
1809 - Islamic Sokoto caliphate is founded in north.
1830s-1886 - Civil wars plague Yorubaland in the south.
1850s - British establish presence around Lagos.
1861-1914 - Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs through local leaders.
1922 - Part of former German colony Kamerun is added to Nigeria under League of Nations mandate.
1960 - Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government.
1962-63 - Controversial census fuels regional and ethnic tensions.
1966 January - Mr Balewa killed in coup. Maj-Gen Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi forms military government.
1966 July - General Ironsi killed in counter-coup, replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon.
1967 - Three eastern states secede as the Republic of Biafra, sparking bloody civil war.
1970 - Biafran leaders surrender.
1975 - General Gowon overthrown by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who begins process of moving federal capital to Abuja.
Obasanjo - first time round
1976 - General Mohammed assassinated in failed coup attempt. Replaced by his deputy, Lt-Gene Olusegun Obasanjo, who helps introduce US-style presidential constitution.
1979 - Elections bring Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
1983 January - The government expels more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and were taking jobs from Nigerians.
1983 August-September - President Shagari re-elected amid accusations of irregularities.
1983 December - Maj-Gen Muhammad Buhari seizes power in bloodless coup.
1985 - Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.
1993 June - Military annuls elections when preliminary results show victory by Chief Moshood Abiola.
1993 August - Power transferred to Interim National Government.
Abacha years
1993 November - Gen Sani Abacha seizes power, suppresses opposition.
1994 - Moshood Abiola arrested after proclaiming himself president.
1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland, is executed following a hasty trial. In protest, European Union imposes sanctions until 1998, Commonwealth suspends Nigeria's membership until 1998.
1998 - Gen Sani Abacha dies and is succeeded by Maj-Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar. Moshood Abiola dies in custody a month later.
1999 - Parliamentary and presidential elections. Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in as president.
2000 - Adoption of Islamic Sharia law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue results in hundreds of deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
2001 - Tribal war in Benue State, in eastern-central Nigeria, displaces thousands of people. Troops sent to quash the fighting kill more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
Ethnic violence
2002 February - Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Hausas from mainly-Islamic north and Yorubas from predominantly-Christian southwest.
2002 November - More than 200 people die in four days of rioting stoked by Muslim fury over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Kaduna in December. The event is relocated to Britain.
2003 12 April - First legislative elections since end of military rule in 1999. Polling marked by delays, allegations of ballot-rigging. President Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party wins parliamentary majority.
Obasanjo re-elected
2003 19 April - First civilian-run presidential elections since end of military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo elected for second term with more than 60% of vote. Opposition parties reject result. EU poll observers cite "serious irregularities".
2003 September - Nigeria's first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, launched by Russian rocket.
2004 May - State of emergency is declared in the central Plateau State after more than 200 Muslims are killed in Yelwa in attacks by Christian militia; revenge attacks are launched by Muslim youths in Kano.
Trouble in the south
2004 August-September - Deadly clashes between gangs in oil city of Port Harcourt prompts strong crackdown by troops. Rights group Amnesty International cites death toll of 500, authorities say about 20 died.
2006 January onwards - Militants in the Niger Delta attack pipelines and other oil facilities and kidnap foreign oil workers. The rebels demand more control over the region's oil wealth.
2006 February - More than 100 people are killed when religious violence flares in mainly-Muslim towns in the north and in the southern city of Onitsha.
2006 April - Helped by record oil prices, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders, which had written off two-thirds of the $30bn debt the previous year.
Bakassi deal
2006 August - Nigeria agrees to cede sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. Transfer takes place in 2008.
2007 April - Umaru Yar'Adua of the ruling People's Democratic Party wins the presidential election.
2008 September - Militants in the Niger Delta step up their attacks on oil installations, in response to what they describe as unprovoked attacks by the military on their bases.
Boko Haram uprising
2009 July - Hundreds die in northeastern Nigeria after the Boko Haram Islamist movement launches a campaign of violence in a bid to have Sharia law imposed on the entire country. Security forces storm Boko Haram's stronghold and kill the movement's leader.
Government frees the leader of the Niger Delta militant group Mend, Henry Okah, after he accepts an amnesty offer.
2010 May - President Umaru Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar'Adua's stead, succeeds him.
2010 December - Christmas Eve bomb attacks near central city of Jos kill at least 80 people. Attacks claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram spark clashes between Christians and Muslims. Some 200 killed in reprisal attacks.
2011 March - Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
2011 August - Suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja kills 23 people. Boko Haram claims responsibility.
2011 December - Christmas Day bomb attacks by Boko Haram on churches kill about 40 people. President Jonathan declares state of emergency to contain violence by Boko Haram.
2012 January - More than 100 killed in single day of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Kano, shortly after Boko Haram tells Christians to quit the north.
2013 May - Government declares state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat Boko Haram.
2013 September - Boko Haram murder more than 150 people in roadside attacks in the northeast. Separately, security forces fight Boko Haram insurgents in the capital Abuja.
2014 April - Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 girls from a boarding school in northern town of Chibok, in an incident that draws major national and international outrage.
2014 November - Boko Haram launches a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in early 2015. It switches allegiance from al-Qaeda to the Islamic State group.
2015 February-March - Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger form military coalition and push Boko Haram out of all towns back into Sambisa Forest.
President Buhari elected
2015 March - Muhammadu Buhari wins the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to do so in Nigeria's history.
2016 June - Naira currency floated in attempt to stave off financial crisis caused by low oil prices.
2016 November - Niger Delta Avengers rebels bomb three oil pipelines in attempt to renew southern insurgency.
2017 January - Scores die as Nigerian air force accidentally bombs refugee camp rather than Boko Haram redoubt in Rann on Cameroon border.
Nigerian navy sends ships as part of regional force to oblige The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh to step down after he loses election.
2017 May - More than 80 of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Chibok are freed in a prisoner swap with the Islamist group Boko Haram.Now that Nigeria is eighteen years old democratically, there's reason for us as people to come together to define the type of the country we want,particularly for our yet unborn generations.
A fool at eighteen, is a fool forever !
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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