News
Niyi Odebode: The Hero Who’s Leaving PUNCH After 31 Years
Friday Olokor
Today, Sunday July 21 2024, another history is being made as a good man, Niyi Odebode.
Niyi Odebode bows out of Punch Newspapers as DEPUTY EDITOR after 31 years in active service. As Deputy Editor to three Editors, he has been the person generating all the awards -winning stories in PUNCH. The Editors won’t acknowledge or give him credit before management, but we know.
He is Egba man, from Ogun State, I’m Ika man, from Delta State. He didn’t commission me to do this, I didn’t take his permission because if I do, he will discourage me! If any issue I raise here are lies, arrest me and go to court!
The story of my Journalism career won’t be complete without mentioning this great man. And he will be among the few people in PUNCH I will celebrate, when I write my memoir. While Niyi has been severally celebrated as a hero for his good work and high professional mental alertness, especially by those who worked under his supervision, many left PUNCH unsung.
Niyi is a workaholic and drives you ‘crazy’ to perfection. Unlike many others who sit with their two legs stretch out on tables, dishing out instructions to we foot soldiers, Niyi will provide a guide on how a Reporter, especially those under his jurisdiction will excel and that is why today, Friday Olokor can squeeze out water from stones, even in the Sahara Desert.
Although we worked briefly in Lagos (and in different desks), my mastery became strengthened when he became my direct boss as Abuja Bureau Chief of THE PUNCH.
Some years ago, a very Distinguished Editor, (now also an ex-PUNCHer) on leave once visited Abuja and saw how Niyi was giving instructions to me, and provided guide on questions to ask a political heavyweight and the story that I churned out. Before then, he had jokingly asked: “How have you been coping with FRIDAY OLOKOR, who is believed to be stubborn?” I wasn’t there but was told that Niyi’s response ended all the lies being given to a dog in order to hang it.
I remember Niyi being quoted as telling him that “Olokor is greatly misunderstood; although he could be stubborn, yet you can get the best from him if you understand and manage him well.” Niyi knows my forte or what could be best described as strength. I became a UTILITY & RESCUE REPORTER through the instrumentality of oga Niyi because he knows my strengths. In the past, some bosses were misled by envious leopards into believing that there’s something fishy about being here and there, a development which my friend and colleague, Sunday Aborisade Sunday Aborisade Sunday Aborisade calls me “OLOKOR EVERYWHERE.” Today, if you call me ‘CSO Reporter’, ‘Protest Correspondent’, or any other names, you’re not wrong! In fact, one of them while in Abuja, usually mocks with mischief labeling me CSOs.
I covered a major event, the December 25 (Christmas Day) attack on St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State by Boko Haram. Subsequent days when other competitors were sending between 5 & 10 Journalists, including their Bureau Chiefs and Managing Editors, Niyi directed thus: “Resume there in the church, go to the Hospitals and get me stories with photos. I have confidence in you.” And for about one week, I had two pages adorned with human angle “Stories By Friday Olokor.”
Niyi reorganised the Abuja Office of THE PUNCH and injected into it, sanity, conviviality, decorum and warmth. Everybody related like brothers. But the place became toxic when he left. But despite all these, Niyi is not a weakling because he’s guided by THE PUNCH spirit of discipline, decisiveness and merit. At a time when his colleagues in other organisations have become mercantile consultants, Niyi’s constant refrain had been: “The Lord Shall Provide.” My problem with him is that he’s too fearful, reason being that there’s a particular mole (working for his former boss) after him. The person succeeded, but where’s he today? On several occasions, on Saturdays, as Politics Editor, his former boss summoned him to “appear in the office in the next 30 minutes”, on the suspicion that he could be attending a meeting between politicians and other Politics Editors, according to the briefing he got from the particular mole. Some of us can’t be like him: You take, we take, don’t stop us. If you try to be greedy, the whole world will hear. As my people will say, “Egbe Beri, Ugon Beri…”
A detribalised Nigerian and rare breed, he’s one of the finest editors who have given Journalism a good name. If everybody will be like him, Nigeria will be a good place to live. Niyi will admire, assess and defend you (if you deserve it) NOT BECAUSE OF AFENIFERE OR EGBA SOLIDARITY but because of your output, competence, what you can do, proficiency and drive for NEWS. While some people will die unsung, the name, OLANIYI ODEBODE will continue to resonate in my mind, psyche and Encyclopaedia of world Journalism.
As you make history today after 31 years in PUNCH, I don’t have much to say but just congratulations. The best is yet to come and may God answer you according to your desires.
***Friday Olokor, Abuja-based journalist with Arise TV News Channel was former Group Politics Editor of The PUNCH
President Bola Tinubu has assented to the 2026 Appropriation Bill, which provides for an aggregate expenditure of ₦68.32 trillion.
He also signed the bill extending the implementation period for the 2025 budget from March 31, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
This was announced on Friday in a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The ₦68.32 trillion budget for this year earmarks ₦4.799 trillion for statutory transfers and ₦15.8 trillion for debt service.
It allocates ₦15.4 trillion to recurrent expenditure and ₦32.2 trillion to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure.
“With capital expenditure accounting for about 50 per cent, the 2026 budget underscores the administration’s continued commitment to economic stability, national security, infrastructure development, and inclusive growth.
The allocations reflect a strategic balance between statutory obligations, debt servicing, recurrent expenditure, and capital investments critical to driving productivity and improving the quality of life for Nigerians,” the statement read in part.
The President also has assented to the Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which extends the implementation period of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act from March 31, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
The extension, the statement revealed, would ensure the full and effective utilisation of appropriated funds, particularly for critical infrastructure and development projects that are at advanced stages of implementation across the country.
It will enable ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to consolidate ongoing works, enhance project completion rates, and maximise value for public expenditure. With the 2026 Appropriation Act coming into force on April 1, the Federal Government will commence full implementation in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda,” it added.
Additionally, President Tinubu directed MDAs to ensure disciplined, transparent, and efficient utilisation of allocated resources, with a strong emphasis on value for money and timely project delivery.
He commended the National Assembly for its diligence, cooperation, and patriotism in expeditiously considering and passing the budget.
The President reaffirmed the importance of sustained collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government in advancing national development objectives.
Tinubu also assured Nigerians of his administration’s resolve to deepen fiscal reforms, enhance revenue generation, and prioritise investments that will stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and strengthen social protection mechanisms.
The budget is also expected to be partly financed through external borrowing, following the approval of a foreign loan plan exceeding $21 billion to bridge the fiscal gap.
₦9.85trn Increase
The 2026 budget represents an increase of ₦9.85 trillion over the initial proposal of ₦58.47 trillion that Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly, and ₦13.33 trillion higher than the 2025 budget.
The President had while presenting the 2025 budget proposal before federal lawmakers in December 2025, pegged the capital expenditure at ₦26.08 trillion and the crude oil benchmark at US$64.85 per barrel.
He disclosed that the expected total revenue was ₦34.33 trillion; ₦15.52 trillion for debt servicing.
The proposal was anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of ₦1,400 to the US Dollar for the 2026 fiscal year.
Amid the growing concerns over insecurity across the country, Tinubu said his administration would “invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results”.
“We will take decisive steps to strengthen agricultural markets. Food security is national security.
“The 2026 budget prioritises input financing and mechanisation; irrigation and climate‑resilient agriculture; storage and processing; and agro‑value chains,” he told the National Assembly members.
Nigeria’s budgets in recent years have come under fire with experts critcising the poor implementation and release of funds for the execution of important national projects.
But the Tinubu administration said that the 2026 national budget was well-planned to solidify the gains of its reform agenda.
“Our ‘Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity’ is critical. It is a commitment to double down on what is working, to solidify gains, and to ensure that the shared prosperity we speak of becomes a lived reality for more Nigerians, faster,” Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said in a statement.
Popular sports broadcast journalist with Classic FM 97.3, Temisan Okomi, has died.
A journalist with News Central, Olawale Adigun, confirmed his death in a statement shared on X on Friday.
He wrote on X, “The worst way to go into the weekend is hearing about Temisan Okomi’s passing. I’m so gutted and, at the same time, terrified. This man meant so much to me.”
Recall that news of his death has since stirred reactions on X, with colleagues and fans expressing shock and grief.
The late journalist had worked with Lagos Television, HiTV, and other prominent media organizations in Nigeria.
His last post on X was on April 14, 2026, when he wrote, “The Champions League is hard, man.”
Ibrahim Abdulkarim, a political associate of ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has claimed that the former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has agreed to deputize the Obi in the 2027 presidential race.
He spoke during an interview on Trust TV, said the Obidients and the Kwankwassiyya Movements are already aligning towards Obi/Kwankwaso ticket.
Asked if Obi and Kwankwaso had struck a deal, Abdulkarim said “yes, I can categorically tell you that they have agreed”.
We all know that. Both the Obidients and the Kwankwassiyya Movements are aware of the agreement”.
Recall that Kwankwaso recently decamped from the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
His move stirred suspicion that the two political gladiators may have agreed to run for the 2027 presidency on a single ticket.
Just in: Tinubu assents 2026 Appropriation Bill, 2025 Budget Extension
BREAKING: Popular sports analystt, Okomi is dead
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