Business
The many illegal acts of FUNAAB Management exposed + How they plan to extinct the Legislative arm of the Students’ Union
SAVE THE LEGISLATIVE ARM OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA STUDENTS’ UNION (FUNAABSU) FROM EXTINCTION
“He that stands for nothing dies for nothing”
Looking back to time and history, executives and the leadership of the Legislative arm of the Union-SRA of this regime, were to attend a leadership Conference organized by the University Management in Ekiti State between 14th and 16th Dec 2015, and the scheduled time for their departure was 13th Dec 2015. Unfortunately, the then Speaker of the SRA, Late Rt. Hon. Adelaja Fisayo died Dec 10 2015. As a result of his death, a meeting was held to postpone the Leadership Retreat as a sign of respect to the dead between the Union executives and the leadership of the Legislative arm of the Union, the President, Nnewonye Dennis (a.k.a. DENCO) insisted to go ahead with the planned trip without recourse to sympathy. This caused a friction between members of his cabinet as a few of them had decided to be in solidarity with the Legislative arm of the Union. This however led to factions between the executives, abrasion to the relationship between the executives, Legislative arm and then hostility between the Management, basically the Dean Students Affairs, Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson and the Legislative arm. A walk in respect of the Late Speaker was orchestrated and led by the Vice President of the Union. This led to the Vice President being ostracized by Nnewonye Dennis and his other executives. The Dean Students Affairs, Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson accused the Vice President and the leadership of the House for leading a just protest stating that they were not “loyal” to the management. He stated this majorly because they had refused to pander to his whims and caprices.
The President, Nnewonye Dennis breached a provision of the constitution according to Article 3, section 30, sub-section II that the Legislative arm of the Union “shall make final approval of all decisions taken by the SSRC as entrenched in the constitution and/or maybe referred to it by the SSRC” when he acted as an obstinate dictator by increasing the annual due without following due process. This draconian act of his created uproar, sending ripples of displeasure among FUNAABites. The breach of the provision of the Union’s constitution was supported by the Management basically the Dean student affairs, Prof. Akegbejo-Samson, an indication that the Management was against the Legislative arm of the Union. It is pertinent to note that Legislative arm had received petitions against the Union President accusing him of a myriad of atrocities. This cumulated in a suspension, giving the Legislative arm to investigate such accusations. The accusations range from; breaching of the Union constitution, and misappropriation of funds realized after an event of the Union, THE FRESHERS’ NIGHT.
In the course of the suspension of the President, the Management, basically the Dean Student Affairs Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson pestered the Legislative arm of the Union and insisted that the President of the Union, Nnewonye Dennis be reinstated, the members of the Legislative arm were threatened with expulsion. The Identity cards of some honorable members of the Legislative arm of the Union were seized and some students who supported the Legislative arm were detained by the police at the order of the Suspended President, Nnewonye Dennis and the Chief Security Officer, Mr. Peter Bolarinwa.
It is a tradition that the Union will provide souvenirs for the students every year. This year, the Legislative arm of the Union approved 1.2 million Naira, at the rate of 120 Naira per souvenir (10,000 copies of books) to the welfare director, Oyelere Motunrayo (Ay welfare). He produced less than the approved quantity at a cost higher than the approved cost without informing the Legislative arm of the Union. What stirred the hornet’s nest was the fact that he produced substandard books and was a far cry from the expectation of FUNAABites.
According to the agenda of their sitting which was pasted on notice boards, the State of the Union was a major burning issue to be discussed at their sitting on 21st July, 2016. I was shocked when I got to the venue of the sitting and discovered that Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson had through the security officials planned to disrupt the sitting. From enquiries, I learnt that the Speaker of the Legislative arm of the Union was in a meeting with the Dean Student Affairs, Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson and the Chief Security Officer, Mr. Peter Bolarinwa in a bid to make sure the sitting will not hold. However, the honorable members of the Legislative arm of the Union had in accordance with the FUNAABSU constitution in article 4, section 37, sub-section I that “in the absence of the SPEAKER and his DEPUTY, any of the members present shall be elected as the presiding officer for the meeting” elected an honorable member of the Legislative arm to preside over the sitting. In the course of the sitting, to our utter bewilderment, a Commander of the security unit of the University had stormed the venue of the sitting with other members of the security official and aimed to seize the MACE. He was however met with stiff resistance. A pandemonium ensued between honorable members of the Legislative arm and the security officials, the commander shouting that the Legislative arm had planned to impeach “their boy” Nnewonye Dennis. They threatened that they shall make sure some of the honorable members are rusticated. They also said that the faces of some honorable members have been noted while others were beaten. If these could be done against people elected into power, worse could be done to we ordinary FUNAABites
It is pitiable that the President of the Union, Nnewonye Dennis has sold the Union to the Management for selfish reasons. It is from impeccable source that he is after getting a job from the Management after graduation. He has rendered himself a vassal of the Management to support tyranny, brutality and injustice perpetrated by the management against fellow FUNAABites. This is an SAVE OUR SOUL(SOS) call to all quarters, we are really being oppressed. Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samson who we call the Dean of Student Affairs has shown us that his interest is not in our welfare. He derives a lot of benefits from the Union most especially the President, and as such he is a major player in the decision making processes of the Union.
This is a clarion call to all concerned parastatals, government bodies, NGOs and security personnel to please help unjustifiable reproach on our Union, irresponsible acts of favoritism, nepotism and threats on student leaders and all. We are tired of outside influence, threats and every form of oppression!!! Kindly save our souls!!!!
Thanks
A Concerned FUNAABite
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
celebrity radar - gossips
Nationwide Talent, One Broadcaster: Tinubu Picks Pedro, Bello, Din, Mohammed to Lead NTA
Tinubu Overhauls NTA Leadership: Media Powerhouse Rotimi Pedro Takes Helm as DG
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a major shake-up at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), appointing renowned media executive Rotimi Richard Pedro as the new Director-General in a move widely seen as a bold step toward modernising the state broadcaster.
Pedro, a Lagos native, brings nearly 30 years of expertise in broadcasting, sports rights, and marketing communications across Africa, the UK, and the Middle East. A trained entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, he also holds an MSc in Investment Management and Finance from City University Business School, London.
In 1995, Pedro founded Optima Sports Management International (OSMI), which rose to become one of Africa’s leading sports content providers—distributing premium events such as the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, and CAF competitions to audiences in over 40 countries.
His career highlights include top roles at Bloomberg Television Africa and Rapid Blue Format, as well as advisory work for FIFA, UEFA, Fremantle Media, and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB). At the AUB, he was instrumental in securing exclusive pan-African free-to-air media rights for all CAF competitions.
Alongside Pedro’s appointment, Tinubu named Karimah Bello from Katsina State as Executive Director of Marketing, Stella Din from Plateau State as Executive Director of News, and Sophia Issa Mohammed from Adamawa State as Managing Director of NTA Enterprises Limited.
Industry insiders credit Pedro with building commercially viable broadcast platforms, driving sponsorship growth, and delivering world-class content to African audiences. His appointment marks one of the most significant leadership changes at NTA in years—signalling the government’s intent to strengthen the broadcaster’s competitiveness in a fast-evolving media landscape.
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