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US-based Academic, Prof Adesegun Banjo Who Tried To Overthrow General Abacha Is Dead

Published

7 years ago

March 25, 2019

Editor

By Adewale Adeoye

Former University don, Prof Adesegun Banjo, the June 12 hero who led the attempt to overthrow late General Sani Abacha through armed insurrection passed on quietly penultimate week. In this report, Adewale Adeoye reports on a life of war, intrigues and sacrifices that came to an abrupt end.

He died with a bundle of untold history

The reporter begins the story on a painful, personal note. I knew Prof Adesegun Banjo. I met him around 1996. He was in exile in Ghana. My first meeting with him was dramatic. The late Sanni Abacha’s government had placed a bounty on his head. He was wanted dead or alive. His offence was treason. Prof Adebanjo had truly planted to overthrow the government of Sani Abacha following the ancient axiom that disobedience to an illegitimate order is just. I can only remember a handful of Nigerians that made the sacrifices this Professor of Human Anatomy made to the campaign against totalitarian rule in Nigeria.

The crusade started in the United States, (US) where he had worked as a surgeon. He had saved some 4million dollars through dint of hard work, Spartan discipline, self-denial of the good things of life and support from his charming wife. He then went into the open market. He purchased 3000 rifles, several sub-machine guns, thousands of medical equipment and kits. He even bought machines that could make several bullets. He bought medical equipment for the soldiers he planned to recruit in case they sustained injuries. How successfully beat the security operatives in Europe and America where he may have sourced the weapons.

His calculation followed three years of planning and several reconnaissance home visits. He took his time to study the barracks and the locations of the sentry. At Dodan Barracks, Ikeja and Ojo Cantonments, he took special interests with the hope of seizing them and converting them to his command posts.

He had a near perfect plan. He would bring in the weapons through the sea and land, launch a blitzkrieg of military assaults on important military installations. He would then launch a grand attack beginning from a rural community. From his calculation, he needed few men to start to be tripled after taking over the radio stations and making announcements for more to join the rebellion.

He kept his masterplan to his chest. With his calculation, he would take Lagos in days, followed by Ibadan and then he would move to Abuja. He already had field men in the Niger-Delta and in the Middle Belt and in some parts of the North. The effort was to be coordinated by him. Prof Banjo felt the military had to be overthrown by all means. He raised personal funds, recruited American soldiers including a Vietnamese Major who first trained him in Guerilla warfare. He wanted to build a small, swift and mobile army that would, within the shortest time storm Nigeria and destabilize the military high command.

He was a man of martial intrigues. In the days of his campaign, he suspected everything human; flying objects and creeping things. He was a man driven by suspicion and he had the habit of looking at his quest from one corner of his eyes as if suspecting you were holding a gun or that he had a pistol hidden under his trademark French suit. In Ghana, I had an extensive interview with him. A stocky and strongly built man by all standards, he wore the fierce mien of a revolutionary and the daring eyeballs of a prowling lion.

On that day I met him in Ghana at the Teachers House, through another radical journalist, Bunmi Aborisade, I had waited for about two hours before he stormed into the room, sweating. I thought he was coming from Kumasi, some hundreds of miles away. After the meeting, he left bile on my lips. Nothing can be as devastating as a journalist holding on to an exclusive story but with the instruction never to publish.

I was in The Guardian Newspaper. His fears were genuine. The newspaper had just been closed down and then reopened. He didn’t want the newspaper to be closed again, he explained, adding that more importantly, he was not in a safe place in Ghana. Later, I saw a tainted old Renault pulled up. The driver, a short man with a chest the size of a little bulldozer opened the door for him. He jumped inside. I watched the red, tail light disappeared into the corner of Accra street, far away from the balcony where I stood in awe. It took about 10 years later for me to know that he actually came to meet me from the room next to where I had met him.

Prof Banjo endured an extraordinary punishment for his rebellion against injustice. The weapons he procured were, by accident, sighted by Beninoise Gendarmes. Initially, the security operatives praised him, promising that since the weapons were meant to fight Abacha, they would assist him. At Benin Republic, he bribed the officials to the tune of 1.5million. He was almost entering Nigeria when he got a call from Copenhagen asking him to pay some 5000 dollars. He left to raise the money but felt he should offload the goods first. It was in the process than one of the Benin Gendarmes noticed the protruding butt of a gun in the container. He raised the alarm. Banjo was picked up. At first, the officials said they would allow him to go. But information had reached Abacha.

So, the second day, the country was flooded with Nigerian top military echelon including Col Frank Omenka of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, (DMI). Local authorities told him Abacha had passed on 100 million dollars to some Beninese officials. That was how he was detained at the Port Prison. He spent 10 days amidst diplomatic manoeuvres by Nigeria to repatriate their most priced fugitive. He planned to escape with a small knife with 26-hydra heads, cutting the protective fence.

But somehow, a spy was in the midst who hinted Abuja. Within the shortest time, top security officials later told Banjo that the sum of 100million dollars was dispatched to the Benin Republic to oil the hands of officials who had sold him. But it was not going to be easy for Abacha as foreign countries were already alerted many of who did not want him killed. Banjo was bundled into a toilet, his wife separated from him. He spent 10 days in the septic tank relying on the keyhole to sniff some fresh air. He made an attempt to escape, through a jackknife he had kept in his kitty. An alarm was raised, he retreated. Thus began his ordeal. He was taken to court in the Benin Republic. He relied on the ECOWAS treaty that goods in transit must not be questioned. The judge being a Yoruba was moved by his story, especially the courage displayed by his Igbo wife who refused Amnesty offered by President Nicephore Soglo, so that she could go, leaving her husband. The Judge set them free. This was after more than one year in very harsh and dehumanizing cells. But as he walked away from the Court, a call came in from the Beninese President believed to have acted on Abacha’s prompting that he should be detained again. He and his wife were locked in a primitive toilet with constant heaps of faeces. His wife developed pterygoid plexus, an infection of the base of the brain. They spent 14 months in detention before a compassionate female judge freed them again. The two escaped to Ghana through the assistance of a Nigerian journalist, Mr Moshood Fayemiwo who paid dearly for this. Abacha’s agents later kidnapped Fayemiwo who was brought to Nigeria and detained at the office of Directorate of Military Intelligence, (DMI).

When he died peacefully penultimate Wednesday, after protracted struggle with cancer, a bundle of history untold, died with him. The family is yet to make official announcements. Many of his friends and colleagues are yet to be informed. He lay in the mortuary as at press time, but family sources say he will be buried in May this year.

“I had 120 young men stationed at the Nigerian Ports Authority. They were waiting for my weapons. My plan was that if the customs found the weapons by chance, the battle would start right at the seaport”, he had told me in Ghana before he left the country after Abacha had sent a chartered aircraft to plead with him, pick him up and pay him off. When that effort failed, the government of Abacha sent two Nigerian journalists accompanied by one of Abacha’s own son. The assignment was to poison him. They feigned media practitioners who had come to interview him. Prof Banjo awed them when he stormed the venue of the interview with some 15 armed men in Accra. “I was hinted of their plans. So, I prepared for them. Throughout the interview, they were shaking like a lily,” he had told me. He said after his escape from Ghana, the Nigerian military had rounded up many of his local supporters-but some were innocent-and dumped them in the high sea, stones on their necks, no fewer than 100 of them.

One of the emissaries sent by Abacha died in mysterious circumstances in Lagos a few years after Abacha himself had kicked the bucket. History may find it difficult to record another Nigerian academic who stood so fiercely for justice through armed struggle against the military like Banjo. After consistent attempts to kill him in Ghana he had escaped to Uganda. Luckily he knew President Yoweri Museveni. They had met at Makerere University years back. But he could not help him. This forced him to run to Zimbabwe. Abacha had also secured the services of mercenaries, mostly from Saudi Arabia charged to kill or kidnap and bring him to Nigeria. His network in the international intelligence community, mostly of Yoruba stock hinted him in advance.

Unfortunately, when he returned to Nigeria in 2001, life and people became unkind to him, except the love and affection of his immediate family. He tried, but never got a good job. The government and politicians ignored him and treated him like a leper. His efforts to sustain his cancer treatment through medications did not succeed because of funds. He needed only 5 million naira to treat his kind of blood cancer which had a cure, but he could not raise a penny. But one thing is certain, Banjo, who was the immediate junior brother of the late Col Victor Banjo of the Biafra fame, is now totally free from the affliction of a society he tried so much to salvage but that never gave him recognition, not even a wreath after his last breath. His efforts, though aborted, also remain the most striking high-level radical collaborative political efforts between two arch rivals, Yoruba and the Igbo nation.

Before he died, he told me one of his regrets was that the remains of his late brother, Col Banjo lay in an unknown shallow grave, yet to be honoured, even though his covert investigations had revealed the spot is somewhere in Enugu, known only to the late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu and his few lieutenants.

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Atiku Abubakar @79: Celebrating a True Statesman + Dele Momodu’s Inspiring Tribute

Published

6 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The rich cultural border town of Jada in Adamawa State, Nigeria, came briskly alive during the week, when trusted colleagues and associates, party bigwigs and immediate family members, trooped in to honour a man, whose legacies of political sagacity and entrepreneurial wizardry have become a reference point, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.

With fanfare, razzmatazz and deep-rooted joy, the about-to-become-octogenarian hosted a week-long soiree rooted in legit discourse, high profile networking and philanthropy for all and sundry.

Known for his near-impeccable public service image, Atiku is revered as the Midas of our time, converting almost nothing to something of immense value.

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, once described the invincibility of the Wazirin Adamawa as follows:

1. Give him pure water and he’ll turn it into Farro water
2. Show him a Primary school and he’ll turn it into a world class univeristy
3. Show him a jetty and he’ll turn it into a world class port
4. Give him a bull and a heifer and just few years and he ll give you a herd
5. Give him a bag of chaff and he’ll mill it into animal feed
6. Give him a bottle of bala blue and he’ll turn the cream to farro juice
7. Give him a home and he’ll bring Nigeria into it as family members
8. Make him walk into an environment where there is contention and fight and see how they fade into peace.

From the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the Yola Airport in Adamawa State, heartfelt accolades from supporters trailed every movement of the vice president, who absorbed all with equanimity, acknowledging greetings with finesse and humility, stopping at regular intervals for a deep hug and claspy handshake that says more friendship and camaraderie.

The grand finale of the activities was held at the Atiku Family Event Hall in Jada with a well-attended Commemoration Lecture that drew dignitaries and admirers including political associates, mentees, members of the diplomatic corps and many others from far and wide. Though it was meant to be an in-house celebration, it drew together distinct policy makers and more.

From one distinguished speaker to another, soul striking lectures and goodwill messages were delivered including tributes aimed at extolling the stateman-like qualities of His Excellency.

It is instructive to note that Atiku, as he is easily recognized, is not just another politician; he is exceptionally versatile as a detribalised, prolific entrepreneur and a practitioner of politics without bitterness. It is not a wonder therefore that he has excelled in politics, public service, and entrepreneurship, most especially.

It was in the notes of the one of the keynote speakers, Chief Dele Momodu, that the underlying greatness, humane qualities and more of Atiku Abubakar were laid bare before public scrutiny.

Momodu, in a lecture he titled Alhaji Atiku Abubakar: The Consumate Democrat, took the audience down memory lane as he highlighted the uncommon humility the Waziri Adamawa demonstrated when he stepped down for MKO Abiola in 1993.

The details of Chief Momodu’s speech are as follows:

ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR: THE CONSUMMATE DEMOCRAT

It gives me great pleasure, and I consider it a privilege, to have been invited to speak about one of the greatest Nigerians alive today. There’s no way I would have turned down this request.

Just last week, I was invited to a roundtable meeting at the British House of Lords in London, also at the behest of Alhaji ATIKU ABUBAKAR. I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to ALHAJI for his confidence in me and his demonstration of love for me at all times.

My earliest recollection of Alhaji was wayback in 1993, in the beautiful city of Jos, where three political gladiators, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Chief Moshood Abiola had locked horns in a world heavyweight bout to decide who picks the Presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party. I was barely 32/33 at that time but I was politically savvy and heavily inspired and motivated by my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola.

The SDP primary of that year remains unprecedented till this day. I will not bore you with details of the Convention that brought these juggernauts into a three horse race, which only one of them can, and must win. But there was a logjam and the only way a winner could have emerged was for one of them to step down and quit the race. This was a tough decision for all of them.

Alhaji Babagana Kingibe enjoyed the avuncular support of most of the SDP Governors. Alhaji Atiku had access to the extensive networks of his mentor Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. The Abiola team calculated well and smartly by reaching out to the godfather pronto. The incredible then happened. Without much ado, Alhaji stepped down and thus cleared the coast for the eventual victory of my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola. Since then, unknown to Alhaji Atiku, I have been his big fan. Alhaji did not throw tantrums or sulk endlessly like a baby. He did not seek to destroy their party. Not that he didn’t have enough reasons to be angry and bitter but he chose the path of uncommon equanimity and submitted himself to the immutable will of Allah at His appointed time.

What could have made matters worse, Alhaji Atiku failed to clinch the runningmate slot, against conventional wisdom of give and take. Again, Alhaji Atiku went back to his drawing board, and about his life peacefully without raining a tirade of insults against distinguished elders who have paid their dues to our country. Even when he had the opportunity to retaliate after the June 12 debacle, Alhaji followed a path of honor by supporting Chief Abiola, unconditionally, and for the revalidation of his mandate. Alhaji Atiku is not your common politician.

As fate would have it, he later contested the Governorship election in his home state and won. But before settling down to his Gubernatorial assignments, he was invited to be the Vice President to President Olusegun Obasanjo. He would soon become the most effective and influential Vice President ever in Nigeria. As the head of the economic team, he was able to attract and work with the best and brightest. The gentleman’s agreement was that he would Vice for the office of the President after one term, but again he was let down. He could have fought tooth and nail against his Boss, President Olusegun OBASANJO but he chose the path of absolute peace and patience. But his boss was unhappy that Alhaji and his friends ever challenged him. President OBASANJO went after them like bullets. And there were collateral damages here and there. Several of my friends in Alhaji’s office at the Presidential villa were summarily sacked.

I must confess that I have never seen a man like Alhaji before. He takes everything in his strides. Most politicians would have brought down the rooftops. His faith in Allah is unshakable. What should have been to his glory eventually became his albatross. But Allah compensated with extraordinary favor as a businessman. While his peers became parasites feeding fat on the State, Alhaji became King Midas and most businesses he touched turned to gold. Though he never abandoned his political dreams, he pursued his ambition with visionary clarity and painstaking discipline. He never engaged in violence. He rather invested unrelentingly in the rule of Law. Whenever he contested and he felt robbed of victory, he headed to the courts of the land. Many of his landmark cases have since enriched our jurisprudence and legal lexicon. He has remained a tireless fighter and defender of the rights of the common man.

It is a tragedy that such a man of sharp intellect and prodigious talents has been endlessly maligned in the name of politics.

It must be noted that many of our political icons had suffered similar persecution in the past. My sad conclusion is that when we refuse to encourage good people, the worst amongst us will continue to thrive.

I make bold to declare my maximum respect for ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR as a great man of ideas and ideals, a peacemaker, man of God, blessed family man, absolutely detribalised, very cosmopolitan, well educated, versatile, humble in spirit, unpretentious, experienced and exposed. He is without doubt a man of diversity and destiny. May Allah preserve him for the benefit of all us because in the days of tribulations, kids must run to the elders of the house. No one else is better prepared for this role at this auspicious moment.

Please, let’s all rise and give a standing ovation to a leader who has refused to give up on his goals…

Other speekers, who eulogized the celebrant in goodwill messages were former Adamawa Governor Jibrilla Bindow, Senator Ishaku Abbo, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako and several others.

In his traditional soft-spoken nature, Atiku expressed gratitude to all attendees, with special appreciation to the organizers, and special mention of Prof. Ahmed Shehu (Pullo Jada) for their dedicated efforts to ensure the smooth sailing of the event.

THE MAN ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Below is brief history of the former Vice President as told by himself –

I was born on the 25th of November 1946 in Jada village, Adamawa State Like many of my generation, my father was opposed to Western education and tried to keep me out of school. When the government discovered this, my father spent a few days in jail. I was then enrolled in Jada primary school.

When I was only 11 years old, my father drowned and died while trying to cross a small river. The task of raising me then fell on my mother. At that age I resolved to work hard, remain focused and be successful in life to make my her proud. In 1960, I was admitted to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola.

Academically, I did well in English Language and Literature but I struggled with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I spent most holidays working to earn extra money. In 1961, when I was 15 years old, my mother’s elder brother sold the family house in Jada without her knowledge and rendered us homeless. I spent that holiday working and from my earnings, I bought a house for my mother in Ganye. I became an orphan when my mother suffered a heart attack and died in 1984.

Post Secondary School

I graduated from secondary school in 1965. After that, I studied at the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna for a short while. I left when I was unable to present an O-Level Mathematics result. I worked briefly as a Tax Officer in the regional Ministry of Finance, from where I gained admission to the School of Hygiene in Kano in 1966.
I graduated with a Diploma in 1967, having served as Interim Student Union President at the School. In 1967 I enrolled for a Law Diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration, on a scholarship from regional government. After graduation in 1969, I was employed by the Nigerian Customs Service.

Family

I met nineteen year old Titilayo Albert when I was serving at Idiroko, Lagos, and in December 1971 I married her secretly, because her family was initially opposed to the union. On 26 October 1972, Titi delivered a baby girl and we named her Fatima. Titi later gave birth to Adamu, Halima and Aminu.

In January 1979 I married Ladi Yakubu as my second wife. I wanted to expand the Abubakar family. I had no siblings and I felt extremely lonely as a child. I did not want my children to feel that way.

This is why I married more than one wife. My wives are my sisters, my friends, and my advisers and they complement one another. Ladi gave birth to Abba, Atiku, Zainab, Ummi-Hauwa, Maryam and Rukayatu.

In 1983 the late Lamido of Adamawa who had become like my father made me the Turaki of Adamawa. This position was usually reserved for one of the Emir’s favorite sons and was rarely given to non-royals like me. To ensure that I met the ‘blood tie’ requirement for the title, the Lamido gave me one of his daughters, Princess Rukaiyat, to marry.

She gave birth to Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila and Abdulsalam. I married Fatima Shettima in 1986. She gave birth to Amina (Meena), Mohammed and two sets of twins Ahmed and Shehu, Zainab and Aisha and then Hafsat. Jennifer Jamila Atiku-Abubakar is my last wife. She gave birth to Abdulmalik, Zara and my youngest child, Faisal.

Customs

My Customs career commenced on 30 June 1969. My first posting was at Idi-Iroko, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic. My other assignments included the Lagos Airport, Apapa Ports (1974), Ibadan Customs Command (1975), Kano Command (1976), Maiduguri (Area Comptroller, 1977), Kaduna (1980) and the Apapa Ports in 1982.

In April 1984, when I was the Murtala Muhammed Airport Area Administrator, my name was associated with a scandal that made headlines. As part of efforts to cripple corrupt politicians who had stashes of stolen cash in their possession, the new military government had phased out the old naira currency and replaced it with new ones. Orders had been given to ensure that all luggage entering the country was properly screened to prevent smuggling of the old notes. The Emir of Gwangu and Ambassador Dahiru Waziri had arrived from Saudi Arabia with many suitcases. As is customary, the suitcases were supposed to pass through Custom officers for check but the Emir’s son, who was a Major in the Army and also ADC to Head of State Gen Buhari drove straight to the Tarmac with soldiers, off-loaded the suitcases there, picked up his father and the Ambassador and drove away. The soldiers had threatened to shoot the Custom officers who had protested and tried to stop them. My officers reported in writing to me and I in turn reported the incidence to my boss, the Director of Customs. A few days later, one of the officers leaked the story to Guardian Newspapers and their correspondent called me to confirm if it was true. I did.

Soon after, Newspaper Headlines read, “Passenger with 53 suitcases leaves airport unchecked”. This scandal embarrassed the government and they tried to make me deny it happened. I refused and they threatened to throw me out of service. The Minister of Finance then, Soleye, who oversaw the Customs Service played a big role in ensuring I wasn’t dismissed. He had said it would be unfair to punish me for being honest and standing by my officers.

In 1987 I was promoted to Deputy Director of Customs and Excise in charge of Enforcement and Drugs. In April 1989, when I was 43, I voluntarily retired from Customs after 20 years of meritorious service.

Business

I’ve always had a good nose for business. In my early years as a Customs officer, I received a 31,000 naira Housing Loan, built a bungalow in Yola, and rented it out. With the rent I collected in advance, I bought a second plot and built another house. I continued building new houses with rent from completed ones and after a few years I had built 8 houses in choice areas in Yola. When I was transferred to Kaduna, I continued this process and in a few years I had 5 houses there.

In 1981, I moved into agriculture. I became the largest maize farmer in the whole of Gongola state. Unfortunately, due to Government policies that increased the cost of production, the business fell on hard times and closed in 1986.

The most successful business I ever ventured into was with Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman. He intimated me about how profitable Oil and Gas Logistics business could be and, trusting his abilities, I partnered with him to form NICOTES which started operating from a container office at Apapa ports.

When the business began to grow, we relocated to Onne, Rivers State. The company, now known as INTELS (Integrated and Logistics Services) is a multi-billion naira company that has a staff of over 15,000 people and pays huge dividends to its shareholders. My other businesses include agriculture, feed making, plastics, printing, TV/radio media, and beverages.

Politics

I met Shehu Musa Yar’Adua towards the end of my Customs career. He invited me to the political meetings that were happening regularly in his Lagos home; and that was how my foray into politics began.

In 1989 the political meetings became Peoples Front of Nigeria and I was elected as the National Vice- Chairman.

We wish the Wazirin Adamawa a happy birthday, and many fruitful years ahead!

Headline

Season of Compensations: Tinubu Submits 32 Ambassadorial Nominees to Senate

Published

6 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after he sent the first batch of three names.

Bayo Onanuga, media aide to President Tinubu made this known in a statement on Saturday.

According to the statement, President Tinubu, in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 nominees as non-career ambassadors.

Onanuga stated that there are four women on the career ambassadors’ list and six women on the non-career ambassadors’ list.

The statement reads, “Among the non-career ambassador designates are Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

“Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

“Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list.

“Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State, and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.

“Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).

“The other nominees are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kawara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).

“The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.

“Last week, President Tinubu sent three ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation. The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun). All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said more nominees for ambassadorial positions will be announced soon.”

Headline

FG Must Urgently Deploy Modern Technology to Curb Killings – Obasanjo

Published

7 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that Nigerians owe no one an apology for seeking assistance from the international community to tackle the country’s insecurity, stressing that lives are being lost daily regardless of religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

Speaking on Friday night at the ongoing Plateau Unity Christmas Carols and Praise Festival in Jos, Obasanjo said the Federal government must urgently deploy modern technology to curb killings, noting that with technology, no criminal should be beyond the reach of security agencies, as the country has the capacity to take them out.

“In these days of technology, there should be nobody who can hide after committing a crime,” he said. “Before I left government, we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria once identified… Every Nigerian life matters, whether Christian, Muslim or pagan. Nigerians are being killed; this must stop.”

He insisted Nigerians have the right to seek international partnership if domestic efforts fall short, arguing that saving lives must remain the nation’s priority.

Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, who also addressed the gathering, reassured citizens that Nigeria would overcome its current trials. “By the grace of God, those who want Nigeria destroyed will not succeed,” he declared, praying that national and state leaders continue to receive strength and wisdom to act rightly.

The governor said the annual carol event was inspired by the vision of uniting the people of Plateau through worship and thanksgiving. “God is delighted when we come together in unity to exalt His name,” he said. “Despite all odds, we are gathered again this year to celebrate the goodness of God in the land of the living.”

Mutfwang welcomed dignitaries in attendance, including former President Obasanjo; General Lawrence Onoja (rtd.); former Governors of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye and Jonah Jang, who attended with his wife, Ngo Talatu; former Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen; former Governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna; former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.); and the GOC 3 Division, Major General Folorunsho Oyinlola, among others.

Expressing delight in the diversity of worshippers, the governor said Plateau citizens put aside denominational differences to worship under one banner. “With unity, we will shut the door against the enemy that troubles us,” he said.

The event featured ministrations from renowned gospel artistes including Buchi, Uche Etiaba, Pastor Chingtok, and choirs drawn from various denominations.