society
JANUARY 15th 1966: A MORNING OF MURDER, MAYHEM AND CARNAGE by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
Published
3 weeks agoon

JANUARY 15th 1966: A MORNING OF MURDER, MAYHEM AND CARNAGE by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
JANUARY 15th 1966: A MORNING OF MURDER, MAYHEM AND CARNAGE by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
In the early hours of the morning of January 15th 1966 a coup d’etat took place in Nigeria which resulted in the murder of a number of leading political figures and senior army officers.
This was the first coup in the history of our country and 98 per cent of the officers that planned and led it were from a particular ethnic nationality in the country.
According to Max Siollun, a notable and respected historian whose primary source of information was the Police report compiled by the Police’s Special Branch after the failure of the coup, during the course of the investigation and after the mutineers had been arrested and detained, names of the leaders of the mutiny were as follows:
Major Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna,
Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu,
Major Chris Anuforo,
Major Tim Onwutuegwu,
Major Chudi Sokei,
Major Adewale Ademoyega,
Major Don Okafor,
Major John Obieno,
Captain Ben Gbuli,
Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi,
Captain Chukwuka,
and Lt. Oguchi.
It is important to point out that I saw the Special Branch report myself and I can confirm Siollun’s findings.
These were indeed the names of ALL the leaders of the January 15th 1966 mutiny and all other lists are FAKE.
The names of those that they murdered in cold blood or abducted were as follows.
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister of Nigeria (murdered),
Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Old Northern Region (murdered),
Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the Shettima of Borno and the Governor of the Old Northern Region (abducted),
Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the Aare Ana Kakanfo of Yorubaland and the Premier of the Old Western Region (murdered),
Chief Remilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode Q.C., the Balogun of Ife, the Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region and my beloved father (abducted),
Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh, the Oguwa of the Itsekiris and the Minister of Finance of Nigeria (murdered),
Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun, Commander of the 1st Brigade, Nigerian Army (murdered),
Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, Commander of the 2nd Brigade, Nigerian Army (murdered),
Colonel James Pam (murdered),
Colonel Ralph Sodeinde (murdered),
Colonel Arthur Unegbe (murdered),
Colonel Kur Mohammed (murdered),
Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema (murdered),
Alhaja Hafsatu Bello, the wife of the Sardauna of Sokoto (murdered),
Alhaji Zarumi, traditional bodyguard of the Sardauna of Sokoto (murdered),
Mrs. Lateefat Ademulegun, the wife of Brigadier Ademulegun who was 8 months pregnant at the time (murdered),
Ahmed B. Musa (murdered),
Ahmed Pategi (murdered),
Sgt. Daramola Oyegoke (murdered),
Police Constable Yohana Garkawa (murdered),
Police Constable Musa Nimzo (murdered),
Police Constable Akpan Anduka (murdered),
Police Constable Hagai Lai (murdered),
and Police Constable Philip Lewande (murdered).
In order to reflect the callousness of the mutineers permit me to share under what circumstances some of their victims were murdered and abducted.
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was abducted from his home, beaten, mocked, tortured, forced to drink alcohol, humiliated and murdered after which his body was dumped in a bush along the Lagos-Abeokuta road.
Sir Ahmadu Bello was killed in the sanctity of his own home with his wife Hafsatu and his loyal security assistant Zurumi.
Zurumi drew his sword to defend his principal whilst Hafsatu threw her body over her dear husband in an attempt to protect him from the bullets.
Chief S. L. Akintola was gunned down as he stepped out of his house in the presence of his family and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh was beaten, brutalised, abducted from his home, maimed and murdered and his body was dumped in a bush.
Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari had held a cocktail party in his home the evening before which was attended by some of the young officers that went back to his house early the following morning and murdered him.
Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun was shot to death at home, in his bedroom and in his matrimonial bed along with his eight-month pregnant wife Lateefat.
Colonel Shodeinde was murdered in Ikoyi hotel whilst Col. Pam was abducted from his home and murdered in a bush.
Most of the individuals that were killed that morning were subjected to a degree of humiliation, shame and torture that was so horrendous that I am constrained to decline from sharing them in this contribution.
The mutineers came to our home as well which at that time was the official residence of the Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region and which remains there till today.
After storming our house and almost killing my brother, sister and me, they beat, brutalised and abducted my father Chief Remi Fani-Kayode.
What I witnessed that morning was traumatic and devastating and, of course, what the entire nation witnessed was horrific.
It was a morning of carnage, barbarity and terror.
Those events set in motion a cycle of carnage which changed our entire history and the consequences remain with us till this day.
It was a sad and terrible morning and one of blood and slaughter.
My recollection of the events in our home is as follows.
At around 2.00 a.m. my mother, Mrs. Adia Aduni Fani-Kayode, came into the bedroom which I shared with my older brother, Rotimi and my younger sister Toyin. I was six years old at the time.
The lights had been cut off by the mutineers so we were in complete darkness and all we could see and hear were the headlights from three or four large and heavy trucks with big loud engines.
The official residence of the Deputy Premier had a very long drive so it took the vehicles a while to reach us.
We saw four sets of headlights and heard the engines of four lorries drive up the drive-way.
The occupants of the lorries, who were uniformed men who carried torches, positioned themselves and prepared to storm our home whilst calling my fathers name and ordering him to come out.
My father courageously went out to meet them after he had called us together, prayed for us and explained to us that since it was him they wanted he must go out there.
He explained that he would rather go out to meet them and, if necessary, meet his death than let them come into the house to shoot or harm us all.
The minute he stepped out they brutalised him. I witnessed this. They beat him, tied him up and threw him into one of the lorries.
The first thing they said to him as he stepped out was “where are your thugs now Fani-Power?”
My father’s response was typical of him, sharp and to the point. He said, “I don’t have thugs, only gentlemen.”
I think this annoyed them and made them brutalise him even more. They tied him up, threw him in the back of the lorry and then stormed the house.
When they got into the house they ransacked every nook and cranny, shooting into the ceiling and wardrobes.
They were very brutal and frightful and we were terrified.
My mother was screaming and crying from the balcony because all she could do was focus on her husband who was in the back of the truck downstairs. There is little doubt that she loved him more than life itself.
“Don’t kill him, don’t kill him!!” she kept screaming at them. I can still visualise this and hear her voice pleading, screaming and crying.
I didn’t know where my brother or sister were at this point because the house was in total chaos.
I was just six years old and I was standing there in the middle of the passage upstairs in the house by my parents bedroom, surrounded by uniformed men who were ransacking the whole place and terrorising my family.
Then out of the blue something extraordinary happened. All of a sudden one of the soldiers came up to me, put his hand on my head and said: “don’t worry, we won’t kill your father, stop crying.”
He said this to me three times. After he said it the third time I looked in his eyes and I stopped crying.
This was because he gave me hope and he spoke with kindness and compassion. At that point all the fear and trepidation left me.
With new-found confidence I went rushing to my mother who was still screaming on the balcony and told her to stop crying because the soldier had promised that they would not kill my father and that everything would be okay.
I held on to the words of that soldier and that morning, despite all that was going on around me, I never cried again.
Four years ago when he was still alive I made contact with and spoke to Captain Nwobosi, the mutineer who led the team to our house and that led the Ibadan operation that night about these events.
He confirmed my recollection of what happened in our house saying that he remembered listening to my mother screaming and watching me cry.
He claimed that he was the officer that had comforted me and assured me that my father would not be killed.
I have no way of confirming if it was really him but I have no reason to doubt his words.
He later asked me to write the foreword of his book which sadly he never launched or released because he passed away a few months later.
The mutineers took my father away and as the lorry drove off my mother kept on wailing and crying and so was everyone else in the house except for me.
From there they went to the home of Chief S.L. Akintola a great statesman and nationalist and a very dear uncle of mine.
My mother had phoned Akintola to inform him of what had happened in our home.
She was sceaming down the phone asking where her husband had been taken and by this time she was quite hysterical.
Chief Akintola tried to calm her down assuring her that all would be well.
When they got to Akintola’s house he already knew that they were coming and he was prepared for them.
Instead of coming out to meet them, he had stationed some of his policemen inside the house and they started shooting.
A gun battle ensued and consequently the mutineers were delayed by at least one hour.
According to the Special Branch reports and the official statements of the mutineers that survived that night and that were involved in the operation their plan had been to pick up my father and Chief Akintola from their homes in Ibadan, take them to Lagos, gather them together with the other political leaders that had been abducted and then execute them all together.
The difficulty they had was that Akintola resisted them and he and his policemen ended up wounding two of the soldiers that came to his home.
One of the soldiers, whose name was apparently James, had his fingers blown off and the other had his ear blown off.
After some time Akintola’s ammunition ran out and the shooting stopped.
His policemen stood down and they surrendered. He came out waving a white handkerchief and the minute he stepped out they just slaughtered him.
My father witnessed Akintola’s cold-blooded murder in utter shock, disbelief and horror because he was tied up in the back of the lorry from where he could see everything that transpired.
The soldiers were apparently enraged by the fact that two of their men had been wounded and that Akintola resisted and delayed them.
After they killed him they moved on to Lagos with my father.
When they got there they drove to the Officer’s Mess at Dodan Barracks in Ikoyi where they tied him up, sat him on the floor of a room, and placed him under close arrest by surrounding him with six very hostile and abusive soldiers.
Thankfully about two hours later he was rescued, after a dramatic gun battle, by loyalist troops led by one Lt. Tokida who stormed the room with his men and who was under the command of Captain Paul Tarfa (as he then was).
They had been ordered to free my father by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon who was still in control of the majority of troops in Dodan Barracks and who remained loyal to the Federal Government.
Bullets flew everywhere in the room during the gunfight that ensued whilst my father was tied up in the middle of the floor with no cover. All that yet not one bullet touched him!
This was clearly the Finger of God and once again divine providence as under normal circumstances few could have escaped or survived such an encounter without being killed either by direct fire or a stray bullet. For this I give God the glory.
Meanwhile three of the soldiers that had tied my father up and placed him under guard in that room were killed right before his eyes and two of Takoda’s troops that stormed the room to save him lost their lives in the encounter.
At this point permit me to mention the fact that outside of my father, providence also smiled favourably upon and delivered Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the Shettima of Borno and the Governor of the Old Northern Region from death that morning.
He was abducted from his home in Kaduna by the mutineers but was later rescued by loyalist troops.
When the mutineers took my father away everyone in our home thought he had been killed.
The next morning a handful of policemen came and took us to the house of my mother’s first cousin, Justice Atanda Fatai-Williams, who was a judge of the Western Region at the time. He later became the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
From there we were taken to the home of Justice Adenekan Ademola, another High Court judge at the time, who was a very close friend of my father and who later became a Judge of the Court of Appeal.
At this point the whole country had been thrown into confusion and no one knew what was going on.
We heard lots of stories and did not know what to make of what anymore. There was chaos and confusion and the entire nation was gripped by fear.
Two days later my father finally called us on the telephone and he told us that he was okay.
When we heard his voice, I kept telling my mother “I told you, I told you.”
Justice Ademola and his dear wife who was my mother’s best friend, a Ghanian lady by the name of Aunty Frances, were weeping witgh joy.
My mother was also weeping as were my brother and sister and I just kept rejoicing because I knew that he would not be killed and I had told them all.
I believe that whoever that soldier was that promised me that my father would not be killed was used by God to convey a message to me that morning even in the midst of the mayhem and fear. I believe that God spoke through him that night.
Whoever he was the man spoke with confidence and authority and this constrains me to believe that he was a commissioned officer or a man in authority.
These mutineers who carried out this mutiny and coup were not alone: they got some backing from elements in the political class who identified with them.
Some have said that it was an Igbo coup whilst others have said that it was an UPGA (referring to the political alliance between the Action Group and the NCNC) coup but that is a story for another day.
Whatever anyone calls it or believes two things are clear: the consequences of the action that those young officers took that night were far-reaching and the way and manner in which they killed their victims was deplorable and barbaric.
Such savagery had never been witnessed in our shores. There has never been another night like that and the results of that night have been devastating and profound.
In my view not enough Nigerians appreciate this fact.
Some in our country cannot forgive those who participated in the mutiny and though I do not share that sentiment or disposition this is understandable.
Others believe that those young men (they were all in their 20’s) did the right thing and claim that those killings were necessary and heroic.
This is a sentiment which I not only despise but which I also find unacceptable and appalling.
There is nothing heroic about rebellion and the cold blooded murder of innocent and defenceless men and women.
The coup affected the country in an equally profound manner because the events of that night led to a counter-coup six months later. It was a devastating and disproportionate response.
Sadly after that came the horrendous pogroms and slaughter of the Igbo in the North which eventually led to the civil war in which millions of people died, including innocent children. This was also horrendous and deplorable.
Yet the bitter truth is that if the new Head of State, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who himself happened to be Igbo, had done the right thing and actually prosecuted the ringleaders of the coup namely Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Anufuro, Major Ademoyega, Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Okafor, Captain Ben Gbulie and all the other young officers that planned and executed the mutiny of January 15th 1966 after it was crushed, there would have been no northern revenge coup six months later.
I have not added Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna (who was actually the leader of the coup) to the list because he could not have been locked up or prosecuted by General Aguiy-Ironsi simply because he ran away to Ghana immediately after the mutiny in Lagos failed and after he and his co-mutineers were routed by Lt. Col. Jack Yakubu Gowon and his gallant officers.
For some curious reason after the coup was successfully crushed, General Aguiyi-Ironsi just locked these young mutineers up and he refused to prosecute them.
This bred suspicion from the ranks of the northern officers given the fact that Aguiyi-Ironsi himself was an Igbo.
The suspicion was that he had some level of sympathy for the mutineers and the fact that they did not kill him during the course of the mutiny only fuelled that suspicion.
The northern officers also felt deeply aggrieved about the wholesale slaughter of their key political figures that night.
In my view that, together with Aguiyi-Ironsi’s insistence on promulgating the Unification Decree which abolished the federal system of government and sought to turn Nigeria into a unitary state, made the revenge coup of July 29th 1966 inevitable.
The revenge coup was planned and led by Major Murtala Ramat Mohammed (as he then was) and it was supported and executed by other young northern officers like Major T.Y. Danjuma (as he then was), Major Martins Adamu and many others.
This is the coup that was to put Lt. Col. Jack Gowon (as he then was) in power and when they struck it was a very bloody and brutal affair.
The response of the northern officers to the mutiny and terrible killings that took place on the night of January 15th 1966 and to General Aguiyi-Ironsi’s apparent procrastination and reluctance to ensure that justice was served to the mutineers was not only devastating but also frightful.
300 hundred Army officers of Igbo extraction who were perceived to be sympathetic to the January 15th mutineers were killed that night including the Head of State General Aguiyi-Ironsi and the Military Governor of the old Western Region who was hosting him, the courageous Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi. This was very sad and unfortunate.
What happened on the night of January 15th 1966 was indefensible, unjustifiable, unacceptable, unnecessary, unprovoked and utterly and completely barbaric.
I beg to differ with those that believe that there was anything good about such a mutinous bloodbath and this is especially so given the fact that it was carried out by a small handful of ungrateful, cowardly and treacherous men.
Blood calls for blood: when you shed blood, other people want to shed your own blood as well and sadly this is the way of the world.
The minute the shedding of blood in the quest of power becomes the norm we are all diminished and dehumanised: and this applies to both the perpetrators and the victims.
The January 15th coup set off a cycle of events which had cataclysmic consequences for our country and which we are still reeling from today.
I repeat with greater detail, this included the Northern ‘Revenge’ coup of July 29th 1966 in which 300 Igbo officers and an Igbo Head of State (Gen. Aguyi-Ironsi) were killed, the pogroms in the North in which over 30,000 Igbo civilians were killed and a civil war in which 3 million Igbos (including 1 million children) and hundreds of thousands of Nigerians were cut short.
What a tragedy!
Coups may have happened in other countries in Africa but that did not mean that it had to happen here.
In any case the amount of blood that was shed on the morning of January 15th 1966 and the number of innocent people that were killed was unacceptable.
It arrested our development as a people and our political evolution as a country.
Had it not happened our history would have been very different. May we never see such a thing again.
Yet regardless of the pain of the past I believe that we should do all we can to put these matters behind us.
We must not allow ourselves to become prisoners of history. Rather than being propelled by pain and bitterness and becoming victims of history, we must learn from it, be guided by it and move on.
We must learn to forgive, even if we do not forget and, equally importantly, we must first establish the truth about those ugly events and understand what actually transpired.
What happened that night traumatised the nation. None of us has been the same since.
I can identify with that because I was a part of it, I witnessed it and i was a victim of it.
Yet by God’s grace and divine providence my father’s life was spared: not because he was special but simply by the grace of God.
Every day I think about those that were killed that night and I remember their families.
We share a common bond and we are all partakers of an ugly and frightful history.
I tell myself: “were it not for divine providence, my father would have also died and I would not have been what I am today, because he was the one who educated me and did everything for me.”
If nothing else I know there was a purpose for that.
We must resolve among ourselves that never again will people be attacked in their homes, dragged out, abducted and shot like dogs in the middle of the night.
Never again will women, wives, children and the unborn be slaughtered in this way.
Never again shall we witness such barbarity and wickedness in our quest for power.
Never again must any Nigerian suffer such brutality and callousness.
May the souls of all those that were murdered on January 15th 1966 continue to rest in peace and may God make Nigeria great again.
(Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Fika, a former Minister of Culture and Tourism and a former Minister of Aviation)
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society
TYBLI Unveils 2025 Initiatives to Promote Reading Culture Among Nigerian Students
Published
3 hours agoon
February 7, 2025
TYBLI Unveils 2025 Initiatives to Promote Reading Culture Among Nigerian Students
Sahara Weekly Reports That The TY Buratai Literary Initiative (TYBLI) has launched its 2025 activities aimed at fostering a stronger reading culture among Nigerian students.
The initiative, founded and sponsored by Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Rtd.), seeks to enhance literacy, encourage creative writing, and reward young literary talents across the country.
Speaking at a press briefing, Dr. Lizi Ben-Theanacho, Chairperson of TYBLI, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to advancing literacy through book placements and literary prizes.
“Our foundational mandate is to contribute to a more literate Nigeria through book placements, ensuring quality, age-appropriate leisure reading materials for youths. Further, we exist to incubate literary potential through the TYBLI Young Adult Literature Prize (YALP). “TYBLI is an educational outreach and community give-back service initiated and sponsored by Lt. General TY Buratai (Rtd.),” she stated.
Reflecting on the successes of 2024, Dr. Ben-Theanacho highlighted key milestones, including the placement of TY Buratai Book Boxes in three schools—one in Nasarawa State and two in the FCT—and the expansion of literary awards in Nigeria.
She noted that the organization created the largest number of winners for a single literary prize in Nigeria, pushing the boundaries of creative recognition and reward. As part of its 2025 agenda, TYBLI plans to build on these achievements with a series of new initiatives: Publication of an Anthology: The best 10 entries from the 2024 YALP competition will be compiled and published at no cost to the participants, with copies distributed to secondary and tertiary institutions nationwide. Increased Prize Money: The Grand Prize for the 2025 YALP winner has been raised from ₦1 million to ₦1.5 million, thanks to sponsorship from Amb. Babagana Kingibe, GCON, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Additionally, each of the six geopolitical zone winners will receive ₦500,000, doubling the previous amount. Expanded Book Placements: TYBLI will place Book Boxes in five more schools, spanning Kaduna, Nasarawa, and the FCT.
Forerunners and Illustrators Award: This year’s honorees include Kola Onadipe and Frances Effiong, both pioneers in Young Adult Literature (YAL) in Nigeria. 2025 Timeline of Activities February 2025 – Flag-off Press Conference April 2025 – Call for YALP 2025 Submissions May 2025 – Book Placement Exercise June 2025 – YALP Submission Deadline July 2025 – Unveiling of Judges August 2025 – Announcement of Longlist September 2025 – Shortlist Adjudication October 2025 – Final Shortlist Announcement November 1, 2025 – Grand Winner Announcement & Award Ceremony.
Dr. Ben-Theanacho called on corporate organizations, government agencies, and individuals to support the initiative. “We are making an impact one reader at a time, transforming literary fortunes six winners at a time. With clarity and focus, we will continue working towards a more literate Nigeria as a vehicle for social transformation. Please partner with us,” she urged.
Also speaking at the event, Dr. M.S. Abubakar, Vice President of TYBLI, lamented the decline of reading habits among Nigerian youths, attributing it to the proliferation of digital entertainment and mobile gadgets. “It is a sorry state. People now prefer to watch movies instead of reading books. If you mention Things Fall Apart, they ask for the movie instead of the book. Unfortunately, there is no way you can compare reading with watching,” he said. Dr. Abubakar emphasized the need for early reading habits among children, noting that failure to cultivate such habits at a young age could have long-term consequences.
“Someone once said, ‘If you want to hide something from an average Nigerian, put it inside a book.’ But readers are leaders. This initiative should be encouraged and sustained,” he added. He also praised Lt. Gen. Buratai for his commitment to the literary initiative and urged more wealthy Nigerians to invest in literary development, similar to the way industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford funded educational projects in developed nations.
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society
Group Accuses Kaduna Governor of Keeping Political Prisoners
Published
13 hours agoon
February 7, 2025
Group Accuses Kaduna Governor of Keeping Political Prisoners
…Urges Amnesty International, others to wade in
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) known as the Voice of Truth Nigeria (VTN) has accused the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani of keeping political prisoners in spite of valid and subsisting orders of court of competent jurisdiction granting them bail.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by VTN’s Programmes Coordinator, Dare Quadri, the group stated that the political prisoners are Jimi Adebisi Lawal, the former Senior Advisor and Counsellor to ex-Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; Umar Waziri, the former Accountant-General of Kaduna State; Bashir Saidu, a former Kaduna State Commissioner of Finance and Yusuf Inuwa, also a former Commissioner for Finance in the state.
The statement reads in part “It is worrisome that a man who parades himself as an activist and a member of the civil society would abuse his office and resort to using his position to compromise the judiciary and victimize political opponents who were charged on trumped on charges even when the court has granted them bail and they have since met the bail conditions. It is commonplace that an accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. But, in Governor Uba Sani’s Kaduna State, the reverse seems to be the case.
“It is a sad commentary on our judiciary that the application for the variation of the bail terms have been stalled over one flimsy excuse or the other.
“According to credible information available to us, while Saidu was accused of laundering N155 million; Lawal, Waziri, Inuwa and a company known as Solar Life Nigeria Limited were charged for allegedly laundering N64.8 million by the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on the 21st of January, 2025, contrary to the earlier unfounded claim of misappropriating the sum of N423 billion.
“After taking their non-guilty pleas, the Federal High Court heard their bail applications and consequently granted them bail.The court ordered the defendants to provide two sureties with N50 million each, who must have landed property in Kaduna with verified Certificates of Occupancy.
“Shortly after the defendant were granted bail, the agency responsible for the verification of Certificates of Occupancy (Cs of O), Kaduna Geographical Information Service (KADGIS), suddenly suspended verification services for Certificates of Occupancy (Cs of O), just as its Director-General was said to have suddenly travelled out of Kaduna to an unknown destination and without any information as to when he would return.
“All these schemes, we were reliably informed, were at the instance and under the direction of Governor Sani who has vowed to keep the defendants behind bars for as long as he desires. And to make through his boastings the defendants has remained in prison custody since the 21st of January, 2025 even when they have met all the bail conditions because KADGIS, acting on the instruction of Governor Sani, refused to verify the Certificates of Occupancy (Cs of O) in spite of two letters written by Mrs Anthonia Layi Oyibo, the Deputy Registrar of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, seeking their verification. The first was dated 21st day of January, 2025 and the second was dated 3rd February, 2025.”
The group therefore urged all well-meaning Nigerians, the international community and foremost human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), among others, to prevail on Governor Sani to stop the abuse of power and free all the political prisoners “without further delay”.
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Business
Rite Foods Partners NASRE Foundation to Support Ailing Journalists
Published
1 day agoon
February 6, 2025
*Rite Foods Partners NASRE Foundation to Support Ailing Journalists
Rite Foods Limited, a leading indigenous manufacturer in the Food & Beverages sector, has partnered the Noble Association of Social and Resourceful Editors(NASRE) Foundation to provide support for ailing journalists and widows of deceased media practitioners in the country.
This collaboration comes as part of NASRE’s ongoing efforts to assist journalists facing health challenges across the country, having embarked on three outreach programmes last year.
The NASRE team was warmly received on Wednesday, February 5th, 2025, by the management of Rite Foods at its Head Office in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Receiving NASRE team on behalf of the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Saleem Adegunwa, the Head of Corporate Communications and Brand Management , Mr. Ekuma Eze was elated with the visit.
Earlier during the visit, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NASRE, Mr. Adeyemi Obadimu had outlined the foundation’s mission and the purpose of the meeting. He revealed the health and financial challenges facing most veteran journalists, who had, during their active years, served the country meritoriously, but are now struggling to survive.
Obadimu highlighted that NASRE’s outreach programme last year was a success, benefiting over 70 individuals, including journalists suffering from partial stroke, widows, and widowers of deceased practitioners . He emphasised the importance of taking care of journalists in need, especially, the veterans who have contributed greatly to the industry.
“Journalism is a thankless job, and as much as we may be appreciated in our bylines, it is crucial that we care for our colleagues who have dedicated their lives to the profession,” said Obadimu.
Butressing his point, the Director, Public Engagement, Mr. Bunmi Obarotimi who represented the President of the association, Mr. Femi Oyewale said: “NASRE’s intends to launch the Foundation officially in this current year and we are proud to have Rite Foods as our partner going forward.”
In his response, Ekuma Eze commended NASRE Foundation for its noble and impactful initiatives, recognising the significant difference it has made in the lives of journalists and their families. He praised the foundation’s efforts in providing assistance to over 70 journalists and their dependents last year. Eze reiterated Rite Foods’ unwavering commitment to supporting initiatives that foster the well-being of the media community.
“At Rite Foods, we are deeply invested in contributing to the development of our society. We understand the importance of health and well-being, especially for those who dedicate their lives to sharing vital information with the public. We believe in the mission of NASRE and are committed to supporting your work in every way possible,” Eze stated.
“This partnership will go beyond just providing financial support; we are dedicated to helping create an ecosystem where journalists can thrive, even in the face of adversity,” he added.
He also spoke about the company’s long-term goals, highlighting Rite Foods’ plan to expand beyond Nigeria and into other African countries. “We have exciting plans for the future,” he added. “Rite Foods is committed to not only strengthening its footprint within Nigeria but also extending our reach to the wider African continent. We believe that our growth will not only benefit our business but also contribute to the national economy, creates job opportunities, and foster the development of the beverage and food sectors.”
Eze emphasised that Rite Foods has been actively involved in national economic development, focusing on reducing unemployment and improving service delivery. As one of the leading manufacturers in the beverage, drinks, and sausages sectors, Rite Foods remains committed to excellence in all its business operations, he said.
Through innovation, quality products, and partnerships like the one with NASRE, the company aims to continue breaking new ground in the industry.
He concluded that, “Our mission at Rite Foods is clear: to improve lives, deliver quality products, and contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria and Africa as a whole. We are proud to partner with organizations like NASRE that share our values of social responsibility and community development.”
The partnership between Rite Foods and NASRE marks a significant step in supporting the health and well-being of journalists, ensuring that those who have dedicated their careers to the industry receive the care and recognition they deserve.
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