Rountrip

   One wouldn't have bothered his or her head over the fake news which recently hit the social media space about  the the spurious allegation that the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo, was arrested and jailed under the name of "Shawn Michael Davids" during his stay in Miami, Florida, USA, but a maxim that if a lie is told repeatedly, it may have colouration of truth, necessitated this piece in order to put the record straight. Politics is in the air, fake news makers are at it again! A discerning mind would decode the motives behind such a baseless write up. The sponsors and promoters of the news conjured a story that the performing governor of Ogun State was arrested and sent to jail for forgery, grand theft and credit card fraud. What a lie from the pit of hell! For the records, investigations have been carried out and it was discovered that the story was nothing, but figments of the imagination of those behind the fake news. These are those  who are hell bent on p...

      Once again especially at this time when the trumpet and sounds of electioneering have filled the air in Nigeria, the name Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dominated all facets of the nation’s media. Is that surprising to anybody? No! Not to a discerning mind who has followed the trajectory which this enigma has plotted for himself and after having carved it, marched with gusto and savvy into its curves both treacherous and sanguine. Year after year from 1999 to this moment, Asiwaju has become a constant factor in defining the outcomes of elections not just in Lagos state but also in Nigeria.   Since I have come to know this phenomenon, I have realised that this is a man that is deliberate in all his ways doing nothing superfluously but with utmost caution and carefulness ensuring that it meshes into the whole vision which he has crafted for himself and the people that he has come to lead. Every step he takes has been methodical and fills a gap in his overall quest...

   Mr Folorunsho Coker, Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has expressed concern over the dwindling tourism sector in Cross River State. Coker raised the concern at the opening of the Food Fashion and Art Exhibition entitled “Tour Nigeria,” organised by NTDC in collaboration with the Cross River Tourism Bureau at the Marina Resort, Calabar on Wednesday. “Cross River’s hospitality was second to none in Nigeria, but suddenly in the last few years this industry has noticed a turn of event that has slowed it down. Tourism cannot and should not fail in Calabar. The NTDC DG said that some people have blamed the downturn on the End SARS Protest, while others blame it on the economy but that the spirit of the people have remained and that NTDC was trying to revive it using the Tour Nigeria project. “Cross River has always been the cradle of tourism in Nigeria, but the last three times I visited, I did not feel that fire, all of a sudden, tourism in...

   The Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development  Corporation  (NTDC), Chief Folorunsho Coker, the Baba Eto of Yorubaland, on Wednesday March 16, 2022 paid a courtesy visit to His Royal Highness, Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero on the forthcoming Kano Durbar Festival.  Chief Folorunsho Coker was accompanied  on the visit by Mrs Ikilama Fibi, Director, National Travel Bureau. The Director General, Coker who is on the board of the Kano Durbar Committee with the Emir, also delivered a proposal to the Emir for the upgrade of the Durbar and used the opportunity of the visit to present the Kano Durbar Festival upgrade proposal to the traditional ruler. The Durbar festival is the largest procession of colourful horsemen in the world, and its significance and intangible cultural heritage cannot be overlooked.  Chief Coker, who was well received by the Emir, told the monarch the agency looked forward to creating a digital Kano Durbar experience for th...

A young entrepreneur and tourism/hospitality expert, Mr. Bolaji Kelani has said that he wanted to view for a seat in the Ogun State House of Assembly from Ota Constituency 1 in 2023 to make life better for his people. Bolaji Kelani, who inherited politics from his ageing father, Alhaji Mukaila Kelani, said in an interview that time had come for the youth to join politics.  The widely traveled politician and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated in an interview that he had looked around the state, and discovered that things were not being done right, adding that if vibrant youths with knowledge, understandings and thinking could be in positions of authority they can change things in the state, in the local governments and even in the country.  "That was why I decided to come in since some people are not doing it well. Look at a country like France, look at their President, Macron, he is a youth and everything has changed in France since he got to power.  ...

The Legal Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) is reportedly working to get judges to vacate a court order stopping its elective National Convention that it had scheduled for March 26, 2022. Bwari Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in suit number FCT/HC/CV/2958/2021 had ordered that the APC can only conduct its national convention after the determination of the substantive suit pending before the court. The court order has hobbled the APC as the next adjourned date of March 30, 2022, means it would not be able to hold its convention.  With the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) having published elections timetable, the APC is now under pressure to meet stipulated timelines failing which it may not be able to field candidates in the 2023 General Elections. The ruling party has been mired in crisis and controversies surrounding its national convention as high-ranking party...

   A trending set of documents with President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature as the endorsement has triggered outrage as top party members allege that the development has exposed the President as an unrepentant dictator. The documents endorsed by the president named some persons for key positions in the All Progressives Congress  (APC) forthcoming national convention, contrary to the position agitated for by a wide spectrum of the party who expressed their preference for election over selection.  Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has been named as the person who pressured President Buhari to sign the documents after successfully arguing the need to ensure the Fulani continue to have a hold on power via proxies. Multiple sources further revealed that the Kaduna State governor strategically leaked the documents with the President’s signature to cement his reputation as the ultimate power broker in the ongoing battle for control of APC. One of the sources said, “Gover...

         The division in the All Progressives Congress (APC) deepened at the weekend after some key party members alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has single-handedly dictated the composition of the next Executive Committee of the party.   APC has been bogged down with its chieftains joslting for who controls the incoming leadership of the party and by implication who has the upper hand in deciding the party’s next presidential flagbearer.    President Buhari has avoided formally naming or endorsing successor but handpicking the APC Executive Committee will enable him single-handedly to decide who runs to succeed him on the party’s ticket.    Documents sighted by our correspondent showed that President Buhari personally endorsed all the plans and choices of candidates presented to him by a clique in the party that is reportedly made up of some northern state governors and ministers in his cabinet.   ...