Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
Fayose says the APC-led administration has only recorded unprecedented hardship – Argues that mismanagement of fund by the administration has affected states – Expresses disappointment over President Buhari’s Democracy Day speech Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state has yet again, delivered a scathing remark on President Muhammadu Buhari, one year after taking the mantle of leadership, Vanguard reports. Speaking through Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media, Fayose stated that one year of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has recorded nothing but woes and unprecedented hardship. According to the outspoken governor, states can no longer pay workers’ salaries, millions of jobs were lost, prices of essential commodities skyrocketed as a result of the mismanagement of resources.
“Despite President Buhari’s electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it and make life more bearable for Nigerians, he increased the price of petrol to N145, increased electricity tariff in spite of lack of power supply.
“Food scarcity last experienced when Buhari was military Head of State between 1983 and 1985 has returned to the country, with Nigerians being unable to feed,” the media aide’s statement read in part. The governor also reminded Nigerians that “Foreign Reserve was $28.6 billion, Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07 billion, dollars was less than N200, petrol was N87 per litre and most importantly, one bag of rice was N8, 500 and power generation was over 5,000MW when Buhari assumed office. “Today, power generation is less than 1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced to $26.5 billion, dollar is now over N350, petrol has increased to N145 per litre and one bag of rice is now over N15, 000!” “I read the president’s speech and all that I saw was a president still sounding like he was campaigning for votes more than one year after winning election. It is disappointing that the President’s speech was once again about promises, not about what has been done.
“Not even a mention of one kilometre of road tarred by this administration, no single job was created except the ones created in Central Bank of Nigeria for their cronnies and children, not a single megawatt of electricity generated. This is shameful. “The reward Buhari gave to Nigerians for electing as president was to increase petrol pump price by N58.50 and get the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to justify the increment by saying Nigeria was broke! “In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.” The governor also waded into the issue of Niger Delta Avengers, as he urged the federal government to use dialogue, not force, in order to solve the crisis in the Niger Delta region. Fayose expressed confidence that use of soft power will lead to resolution of the problem. He further warned that damage suffered by the oil facilities in Delta and Bayelsa would hamper the flow of revenue for the Nigeria’s economy.
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