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IRUKERA: HOW NOT TO REWARD ALTRUISM

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*By Tunde Olusunle*

Monday January 8, 2024, Nigerians woke up to the news of the suspension of Betta Edu, who was formerly the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. On the same day, Babatunde Ayokunle Irukera who was for six years Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, (FCCPC), was relieved of his appointment. Both developments compelled an essay which I titled “On Betta Edu and Tunde Irukera.” The article was generously ventilated by the media even as I attempted to draw comparisons between two public offices with different pedigrees and also different “misdemeanours.” Evidence in the public domain attested to blatant disregard for public service rules and mammoth thievery by one of the two people I wrote about. The other public servant was uncharacteristically innovative, transparent and altruistic in his approach to work. He literally excavated a government agency in the throes of asphyxiation and obliteration, to a world class organisation, to local and international aplomb.

Much unlike me, I had, just weeks before, written about Irukera following the recognition of the agency he superintended over as “Government Agency of the Year.” This was evidence to how very closely I followed the good works of Irukera. The honour in question came from *Leadership* newspapers one of Nigeria’s most reputable tabloids. FCCPC was selected for the acclamation for “promoting fairness, regulatory stability and consumer protection within the marketplace.” My piece alluded to the uncommon-ness of Irukera’s attitude to public service which is construed by many office holders as licence for the wholesale looting and holistic decimation of departments assigned to them. Haven’t we just been told that nine officers in the Nigerian Customs Services, (NCS) were recently fingered in a N12 Billion scam?

In pronouncing the FCCPC under Irukera as an authentic public service exemplar, *Leadership* noted that since his appointment in 2017, the organisation had pursued “a transformative journey reshaping and rebranding the erstwhile Consumer Protection Council, (CPC).” Further, the newspaper noted that the organisation had been refocused as a “proactive and consumer-centric FCCPC.” Irukera’s oversight of the commission’s transformation and operationalisation beginning from January 30, 2019, *Leadership* noted had been a game-changer. Further still, the awarding newspaper said: “Following the enactment of the FCCPC Act, Irukera has demonstrated “unwavering dedication to fostering a dynamic and responsive regulatory environment.” The FCCPC under Irukera it was observed “has recorded numerous milestones across diverse sectors including healthcare, digital finance and electricity.”

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According to *Leadership,* “one of the standout accomplishments of Irukera’s FCCPC is the strategic development and implementation of the Patient’s Bill of Rights.” That initiative establishes a comprehensive framework empowering patients with essential rights such as informed consent, confidentiality and unrestricted access to their medical records.” The Patient Bill of Rights, *Leadership* observed, “serves as a charter of principles delineating the rights and responsibilities of patients, healthcare providers and the regulatory body.” This is “an approach which fosters a culture of transparency, accountability and patient-centric care.”

Irukera’s leadership at the FCCPC witnessed other strategic initiatives and impactful interventions in other sectors, notably in digital finance, the power sector and in the nation’s bureaucracy. FCCPC was also catalytic in shaping Nigeria’s business environment which became more cognisant of the emplacement of fairness, consumer protection and regulatory stability. Local and foreign investors have continued to experience the transformative impact of standardised practices instituted by the FCCPC. This congruence between national and international standards, in combination with rigorous process auditing and the development of guidelines and standard operating procedures, serves as an imprimatur of quality assurance in the Nigerian marketplace. These are identified perspectives about Irukera’s exertions in public service as dispassionately enunciated by one of Nigeria’s more serious newspapers.

Confident of his transparent governance approach, Irukera was never shy of media engagement. On the eve of the last yuletide therefore, Irukera hosted the media where he noted that the FCCPC under him, had become a wholly self-sustaining department. According to him, the FCCPC made history in 2023 by generating N56 Billion. The feat was achieved by the simple enforcement of compliance to existing laws vis-a-vis the payment of penalties by defaulting companies. This was a novelty by any standards in a milieu where many government funded establishments overdraw their allocations, expend their internally generated revenues, (IGR) and still prospect for supplementation. Irukera noted at that media interface that the organisation hired new staff in strict adherence to service procedures. This assisted the federal government in taking off young, qualified, unemployed people from the streets.
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Perhaps if every ministry, department or agency under the thoroughly dysfunctional Muhammadu Buhari regime had transparently recruited qualified youths across board, the national despondency levels will be mitigated albeit marginally. Much of what we picked up in the media space was hush-hush recruitments into “A-grade” MDAs like the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), the Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) and so on. After addressing staff emoluments, overhead costs and capital requirements, the FCCPC, Irukera noted gifted the federal government N22 Billion by way of remittances! This was a most un-envisaged precedence by a government agency which was picked up from the backwoods and transformed into a national model, even bride.

On Wednesday February 28, 2024, the Senate of the Federal Republic under the leadership of Godswill Akpabio, rubber-stamped the request of President Tinubu to sack Irukera. He was deemed inefficient! For those who have followed the quiet yet impactful revolution which Tunde Irukera has pursued in the past six years, nothing can be more preposterous. There wouldn’t be a joke more cruel, more malevolent, more unfeeling than such a testimonial to a man who has invested so much in service to nation at testy times such as we have been in the past decade. Irukera demonstrated that government concerns can be effectively and productively run. What do we make of an organisation like the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies, (NBAIS), which was in September 2022 reprimanded by the legislature for unjustified spending? The Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation queried NBAIS for spending N8.5 Billion annually, on 6000 employees to administer examinations to 500 students. No heads have rolled ever since in the Professor Muhammad Abdullahi-led organisation.

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The spiteful removal of Babatunde Ayokunle Irukera from office the way it has been done is gross injustice and colossal disservice to patriotism and sacrifice. There have been unfounded suggestions to the effect that Irukera was blackmailed as one of those who “substantially” supported former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo’s bid to contest the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in 2022. This is most farfetched for a technocrat like Irukera whose gaze is almost permanently fixed to his desk treating official correspondences, receiving briefs, holding meetings. In other climes, Irukera should by now have in the bag recognitions like the “National Productivity Order of Merit,” (NPOM) as well as a minimum investiture with a national honour in the category of “Officer of the Order of the Niger,” (OON). He chose, however, not to hunt for titular aggrandisement preferring to immerse himself wholly and completely in service to fatherland.

Irukera’s mistreatment echoes the manner Damilola Ogunbiyi who was Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency under the Buhari government, was unjustly treated in 2019. She has since moved on to the global heights of the “Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for All.” She is also Co-Chair of UN Energy. Irukera always had a flourishing law practice in the United States before heeding the call to avail his country of his multiplex competencies and experiences. He is not a jobber like many whose only CV is “being abroad.” For as long as he remained in his job in Nigeria, he ran his family by telephone, virtually. The manner he has been treated will be a major disincentive to Nigerians out there who would otherwise be glad to come contribute their quotas to national development. In Irukera, Nigeria has a brand ambassador who should be engaged to hoist the nation’s banner across the world. He deserves to be genuinely apologised to, pacified and given his flowers.

 

*Tunde Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, scholar and author is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA)

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Davido vows not to apologize posting Okpebolo’s ‘fine’ WAEC results

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Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has explained why he would not apologise to Edo Governor, Monday Okpebholo, over his social media post displaying the governor’s alleged West African Examinations Council result.

According to him, he did nothing wrong by sharing the result, insisting that he was only informing Edo residents about what he described as their governor’s academic record.

The singer stated this in an exclusive interview with News Central on Tuesday in Osun.

He said, “I’m not going to apologise. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just telling people of the state the results their governor has.”

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The controversy followed comments by Okpebholo during political activities ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election, in which he criticised Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke.

Okpebholo had mocked Adeleke over his dancing, questioning his leadership style while campaigning for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO.

He said, “Before somebody signs paper, he will dance. Are you not tired? For four years, this man has been dancing. Before he takes breakfast, before he drinks tea, he will dance.”

In response, Davido, who is Adeleke’s nephew and had actively campaigned for his uncle, shared what appeared to be Okpebholo’s WAEC result on his Instagram Story on Friday.

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The post, which had no caption, generated reactions on social media, with a commentator, Tugbiyele, describing the publication as inappropriate and disrespectful and calling on Davido to apologise.

However, reacting to the call, Davido defended his action and criticised Okpebholo for travelling to Osun to comment on his uncle.

He said, “Yes, and you came, you left your state, you came to another state. You came in and then started talking that my uncle is a dancer; he is not serious.

“The road to your Government House is not done. My uncle is not serious. First of all, you were not even elected; you were selected.”

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Davido further questioned Okpebholo’s understanding of electoral victory, saying, “You don’t know what it means to win an election. That’s why you could go there and talk.”

The singer also criticised the governor over his comments about Adeleke and said he sympathised with Okpebholo’s children.

He said, “I feel so bad for his kids. Because you see what my dad is doing. Do you understand? Yeah, you’re abusing a sitting governor in his own state.”

Davido also mocked Okpebholo over his alleged stay in a hotel, saying, “A whole governor staying in a hotel, walking around like…”

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He warned the Edo governor that Adeleke would respond politically when the time came.

He said, “In fact, finish your three years, we’ll visit you when it’s time for you to get re-elected.”

Tugbiyele, in a video originally posted on Facebook, had appealed to Davido to apologise to Okpebholo, arguing that the singer should not have personally responded to the governor’s comments about Adeleke.

He said, “I watched a video when Governor Okpebholo called the governor of my state, Adeleke, the dancing governor. And the governor’s relation, David Adeleke, replied by publishing the WAEC Secondary School leaving result of Governor Okpebholo, the governor of Edo State.”

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Tugbiyele said that although the alleged result might not have been impressive, it should not have been used to ridicule the governor.

He said, “The result is not good enough, but it’s possible. The governor did a resit. We are not aware of that, but I think Davido, David Adeleke’s publication is inappropriate.”

He argued that Adeleke could have responded to his Edo counterpart through official channels rather than allowing Davido to engage in the exchange.

Tugbiyele concluded with a direct appeal to Davido, saying, “Davido, David Adeleke, please, as a proper Yoruba, please apologise to Governor Okpebholo. God bless you, David. God bless Nigeria.”

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UK Parents Accuse Cyprus IVF Clinics Of Using Wrong Sperm, Egg Donors

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At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived through IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using sperm or egg donors different from those selected by their parents.

The cases were uncovered by a BBC investigation involving families who say they carefully chose anonymous donors based on factors including medical history, appearance, personality, education and interests.

However, the parents later became concerned that the donors they had selected were not used during their fertility treatment.

Half of the 30 children were born following treatment at the Dogus IVF Centre, where several members of staff were involved in the care of affected patients.

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The families’ concerns have raised questions about the regulation of fertility clinics in northern Cyprus, a territory recognised internationally only by Turkey and outside the European Union’s regulatory framework.

Clinics in the territory have become popular among British patients seeking IVF treatment because of lower costs, high advertised success rates and access to a wide range of sperm and egg donors.

One mother, identified as Rachel, said she was “absolutely scandalised” after discovering that the sperm donor she had selected for her treatment at Dogus may not have been used.

Rachel underwent treatment at the clinic in 2012 and selected an anonymous Danish sperm donor through Cryos International, the world’s largest sperm bank.

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She said she chose the donor because his profile indicated that he would be willing for any biological children to contact him once they turned 18.

But after her son Jonah was born, Rachel became concerned that he did not resemble the donor described in the profile.

She said she repeatedly asked the clinic for medical documentation confirming that the donor’s sperm had been used, but never received the information she wanted.

Thirteen years later, DNA testing carried out by Rachel and Jonah indicated that he was biologically related to her but did not have the genetic ancestry expected from the Danish donor she had selected.

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The BBC contacted Cryos International, which said it had no record of supplying sperm to Dogus for Rachel’s treatment.

The revelation has left Rachel concerned that her son may have been deprived of the opportunity to identify and contact his biological donor in the future.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are genetic siblings out there,” she said.

At least 11 of the 30 children identified by the BBC have undergone commercial DNA testing. The results indicate that they have genetic ancestry from Turkey or surrounding regions, raising further questions about whether the donors selected by their parents were used.

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Most of the children who have taken DNA tests were conceived through IVF at Dogus between 2012 and 2024.

Fertility experts consulted by the BBC said the number of cases was highly unusual.

The British Fertility Society said the apparent use of incorrect donors on multiple occasions could indicate “negligence” or “deception” and suggested that the issue could reflect a systemic problem rather than the actions of a single doctor or clinic.

Several staff members have been linked to the cases at Dogus.

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Dr Sevket Alpturk, the clinic’s owner and responsible manager, treated the parents of six children whose families have told the BBC they suspect the wrong donors were used.

The BBC approached Alpturk with the allegations, but he did not respond.

Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip treated nine of the other children linked to Dogus. She has denied misleading patients and said Alpturk was responsible for signing off procedures at the clinic.

Firdevs later worked at other clinics, including Miracle IVF, which she currently runs. Nine additional cases identified by the BBC involved patients treated by her after she left Dogus in 2015.

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She said her clinic has complied with the law and that patients sign consent forms explaining how donors are selected.

However, several parents told the BBC they were not properly informed about the donor arrangements.

Patient co-ordinator Julie Hodson, who was a main point of contact for many British patients at Dogus, has also been linked to several of the cases.

Emails seen by the BBC show Hodson telling patients that Firdevs would arrange orders for sperm from Cryos.

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Firdevs disputes this, saying the procurement of sperm was not part of her responsibilities and that she did not know patients were being told otherwise.

The BBC contacted Hodson about the allegations, including claims that she failed to place or pass on donor requests, but she did not respond.

Cryos International said it was shocked by the number of families who could have been affected.

The sperm bank told the BBC that it had blacklisted Dogus in 2016 after concerns that the clinic had failed to order Cryos sperm for a patient despite telling the patient that it would.

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Cryos has since suspended its relationship with Firdevs and Miracle IVF while an investigation by the northern Cyprus authorities continues.

The territory’s Ministry of Health said earlier this year that it had launched an official investigation into the allegations. However, the ministry has not responded to repeated requests from the BBC for an update.

Firdevs has said she was cleared of breaking any laws, although the BBC has been unable to independently verify that claim with the Ministry of Health.

The UK Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice, warning that fertility treatment in northern Cyprus carries risks because of the lack of regulation and advising people seeking treatment there to conduct thorough research.

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The allegations have left affected families facing uncertainty over their children’s biological origins and potential genetic medical histories.

Laura Bridgens, founder of Donor Conceived UK, described the reports as deeply troubling and said donor-conceived people have a fundamental right to know the truth about their origins.

For families such as Rachel’s, the issue goes beyond the circumstances of their children’s conception.

Rachel said she loves her son and that the discovery does not change their relationship, but she remains upset that Jonah may have lost the opportunity to know his biological donor.

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“Even so, what happened is not OK,” she said. “It’s a huge deal and could have been absolutely traumatising for him.”

The investigation has raised questions about how many other families could have been affected and whether authorities will be able to establish how the alleged donor mix-ups occurred.

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Pastor queries Tonto Dikeh for setting up church

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Nigerian pastor, Pastor Andrew Emajere of COGA Ministries has questioned former Nollywood actress and evangelist Tonto Dikeh’s decision to establish a new prayer ministry in Abuja.

The pastor raised concerns about the growing number of people venturing into christian ministry, questioning the process through which individuals become church leaders.

Reacting to Tonto Dikeh’s new prayer ministry, Emajere asked, “What does Tonto Dikeh know in the spiritual world that convinced her to open a prayer ministry? She built a church worth of 300 million, how did we arrive here?”

He argued that there should be stricter screening for people who want to establish churches.

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“If I become president, before you can open a church you must pass through screening. Christianity has now turned [into] something else.”

Emajere also compared the situation with Islam, questioning whether similar developments would be accepted within the religion.

“Have you seen a woman open mosque and call herself a female Imam or Alfa? People don’t take Christianity serious in this country,” he said.

The pastor further questioned Tonto Dikeh’s transition from entertainment to Christian ministry, asking.

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“Which day did she repent in Pastor Jerry Eze’s church that she is already a General Overseer? How did we arrive here?”

He also expressed concern about the role of public figures in Christian ministry.

“A woman that has not handled her kitchen duties finish, you went ahead to put them in Christianity, why won’t confusion come in?” He asked.

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