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What Happened Between Developer And Me Who Claimed I Was Anti-Igbo – Wike
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has explained how a land developer in Abuja who accused him of being anti-Igbo allegedly abused him via text messages.
Wike stated that the Federal Capital Territory will take a new phase and will no longer be conducive for those with the intention of deceiving the government with land developer identities.
The minister, in an interview granted to a group of journalists recently, said in the text message which he described as insulting, the land developer claimed that he vowed to deal with the Igbos.
The minister said, “In his text, he said, ‘You said you want to deal with the Igbos.’
“Imagine such a blackmail. The land we are talking about, did he give it to the Igbos? How can you think you are too smart to tell the public that I said I will deal with the Igbos and people can sit down and listen to such a thing?”
He stated that land grabbers present themselves as developers to the government with deceptive intentions.
Speaking on the lawsuits against the FCTA, he stressed that the suits against the FCTA were on before he assumed duties as the minister.
He added, “The problem in this country is impunity. ‘I’ve been doing it before and I’ll continue to do it and nothing will happen.’ Criminals are criminals, they may come in different ways. I’ve never seen land grabbing like in this FCT. Since I came in, there have been so many petitions.
One company called has over 10 petitions from different owners of properties. So, I summoned a meeting of all of them and they came with their lawyers who are senior advocates. I said look what is this? company A presented their own, company B presented their own, company C and company D Company and E did the same.
“I said okay I’m going to seek advice from external solicitors. I’m not going to take it from inside the house because the legal secretariat and land department have been so compromised. So, I sought the views of two very senior lawyers. They wrote to me with their opinions but arrived at the same thing.”
Wike explained that the land in question was allocated before he became the minister.
“First of all, what happened? This land that this so-called ethnic jingoist talked about was allocated when there was no minister. The minister left on May 29, 2023, and in June, the land was allocated by the Director of Lands.
These guys think they too are clever. We met and said to Company B, don’t do anything again until we are able to make a final decision. Do you know what happened? These guys, thinking they were too smart, went on trying to fence and allocate the land to people to buy.
“How did I know? a lady came and said look honourable minister, I want you to advise me. There’s a place I want to buy land. I asked where and she named the area and I said no, we were having problems with it and I told her not to. Another time, the lady came back because she is a friend of mine and said people were buying and building. I said what?
“Then, I was going to commission the biggest water park that is Sunrise and it was in the same area. So, I commissioned the water park which was on a Friday and on the Thursday this same company and their allies went to court stopping me from commissioning the water park project and alligning with the FCT lawyer. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the injunction. I drove from that place, came back and called the general counsel to ask who was handling the case for FCT,” the minister said.
He said he then instructed the general counsel to call the external lawyer and get the file back.
He, however, stated that illegal activities would no longer be tolerated as due processes would be followed in acquiring land.
“As long as I am in this FCT, it will no longer be business as usual. If you ask for land, I will ask for your financial capacity and the duration within which you’ll develop the place. If the duration expires, FCT is entitled to take it back,” he stated.
Speaking on the legality of demolitions in FCT, he said the investors are not using the acquired lands for their investment that could generate revenue.
He said, “If you say you want to build a park that will create jobs and revenue is what they call investments. Not when you say the government gave me land, we want to build houses and the government gave you land, even when I know that it is an illegal allocation and you start allocating to individuals who are now buying from you and then building by themselves. And that has depreciated the initial intentions of allocating the land.”
On why FCT demolished the buildings instead of taking legal action on offenders, the minister said, “Judgments and orders do not come overnight. It won’t work. They are connected with the legal secretariat here. They can sack land administration.
“What happened was they asked the court to tell FCTA to return the land documents to them and the court said FCTA release their documents to show that you have titles to the land.”
In a document signed by the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Olusade Adesola on September 21, 2023, the FCT minister ordered the revocation of about 165 plots of land over the violation and contravention of terms of development of the Rights of Occupancy, as contained in Section 28(5) (a) & (b) of the Land Use Act
This, however, led to outrage by affected and concerned Nigerians, calling for the withdrawal of the order.
An Abuja land owner, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, the minister, and the Director of Development Control to court for demolishing his building under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.
Despite the public outrage, the FCTA in October, vowed to take action against defiant landowners for tampering with land previously revoked by Wike’s order.
By Mario Deepromoter
Ukraine on Friday restricted the use of Telegram for its government, military and security officials, citing “threats” to national security on the app founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov.
“The National Security and Defence Council decided to restrict the use of Telegram in government agencies, military formations and critical infrastructure facilities,” the council said in a statement on Facebook, saying it was a “matter of national security.”
By Mario Deepromoter
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday, announced the commencement of the 2024 Olojo Festival, revealing the event’s ancestral and spiritual significance.
Ogunwusi spoke at his palace during a news conference on the 2024 Olojo Festival with the theme “Evolving Transformationaly Domestic Tourism With Community Festivals.”
According to him, the festival is significant because of the spiritual exercises that characterise it and the testimonies it attracts.
He said the celebration of the revered cultural event was held annually in the ancient city to celebrate the day of the first dawn.
The Ooni said the festival was in remembrance of “Ogun,” god of iron, who is believed to be the first son of Oduduwa, progenitor of the Yoruba people.
He added that the festival marked the birth of the “Aare Crown”.
Ooni said that several prayers rendered to Olodumare through the iconic “Aare crown” during the Olojo festival had been answered with so many testimonies.
He stated, “Olojo is the festival of dawn and the birth of the crown, “Ade Aare”, the crown of all crowns. The crown that gave birth to all crowns all over the world with all the colours of the rainbow. It is called the spectrum of rainbow crowns.
“The crown does everything humans do, it is a very spiritual crown, very sacred. I am a living example and witness. I have actually charged the crown, I have prayed with it, that I want this done, this particular time.
“This is my ninth year on the throne, going to my tenth year by the grace of God, I have seen a lot of testimonies.
“I will pray with the crown worn on my head, I pray to the almighty God, Olodumare through the crown. I have never seen any failure in it. It is our strong heritage, our strong culture and tradition and we will continue to uphold it forever.
He added that they were not idol worshipers, but rather custodians of their ancestors’ legacy, which continued to benefit them.
“These are things we should not joke about, It is our heritage, we should not compromise it with anything. It is created by nature, by God Almighty who is the supreme being,” he said.
Explaining the nature of the “Ade Aare”, Ooni described the crown as a sacred, mysterious being which bears the nature of humans.
According to him, the crown functions like humans.
He said, “Olojo is the time when the crown comes out for blessings. This is a crown that has life in it till date, right from time immemorial.
“The crown changes the weather, it does not see the atmosphere except once in a year, during Olojo festival.
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“In the crown, we see everything complete, we see the day, night, four corners of the world, the northern, southern, eastern and western poles.
“The birth of the crown is actually the first dawn pathfinded by Ogun, which is linked to our celebration.”
The Ooni added, “Olojo is the main new year celebration and this dovetails to everybody’s new yam festival all over because what is used to bring out yams are cutlasses and hoes made with iron.
“This is the time we get beautiful harvests, the time we get wallnuts, bitter kola. For us in Ile-Ife, we still uphold our heritage and that is why we celebrate the first dawn.”
Ogunwusi appreciated the sponsors for the festival.
“I want to appreciate you all, our sponsors, for everything you have been doing. For always responding to my calls. May God bless you and may our ancestors guide you all. I appreciate the state government as well,” he added.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Osun, Abiodun Bankole-Ojo, appealed to sponsors of the Olojo festival to look into the possibility of developing some tourism sites within the state, like the Oranmiyan Groove.
“Please corporate bodies, stop giving us monetary and material gifts, come and develop the Oranmiyan site as a tourist site. Government will not be able to do it all,” he said.
The Olojo Festival Chief Consultant, Ayo Olumoko, urged Nigerians and international tourists to grace the festival.
NAN reports that the Grand Finale for the 2024 edition of the annual Olojo Festival in Ile-Ife, will be held between September 26 and September 30.
On September 26, there will be Ayo Olopon Traditional Game, Festival Cultural Talent Hunt (Audition) and Olojo Festival Colloquium.
On September 27, there will be Ojo Ilagun, Iwode Ile-Ife (Community cleansing) and Oonirisa’s terrestrial message to the world.
September 28 is the festival’s grand finale official ceremony, Ojo Okemogun, and the Aare cultural procession.
September 29 is Ojo Ajoyo (Asekagba), Grand Royal Reception – Invitational, Adire Oodua Cultural Exchange Exhibition and Oonirisa’s Ife Award for Community Service, 2024.
September 30 would be for the Ojo Ibile (Oonirisa’s ancestral traditional propitiation) and cultural talents hunt.
By Mario Deepromoter
Trump expressed concern about his polling numbers among Jewish voters, lamenting his current standing compared to Harris, the Democratic candidate.
President Donald Trump suggested that Jewish-American voters could bear some responsibility if he loses the upcoming presidential election to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump expressed concern about his polling numbers among Jewish voters, lamenting his current standing compared to Harris, the Democratic candidate.
Reuters reports that Trump claimed that Israel could face extinction within two years if Kamala Harris wins the election, suggesting that Jewish voters who support Democrats would share some responsibility for that outcome.
Speaking to a crowd, Trump stated, “If I don’t win this election, the Jewish community will play a significant role in that. If 40% or even 60% of people are voting for the enemy, Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.”
He referenced a poll indicating that Harris had 60% support among American Jews.
Although he didn’t specify which poll he was citing, a recent Pew Research survey showed American Jews favouring Harris over Trump by 65% to 34%.
Trump also expressed disappointment over winning less than 30% of the Jewish vote in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Trump reiterated similar sentiments earlier at a summit in Washington aimed at combating antisemitism in the U.S.
The Trump campaign has prioritised appealing to Jewish voters in critical battleground states, where even a small shift in support could influence the election outcome.
In Pennsylvania, for instance, there are over 400,000 Jewish residents, and Biden won the state by just 81,000 votes in 2020.
In response to Trump’s comments, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, criticised him for his past associations with individuals accused of antisemitism.
Trump has consistently denied allegations of antisemitism, noting his Jewish son-in-law during his speeches on Thursday.
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