News

ERA/FoEN Crisis: Nnimmo Bassey Removed As Board Of Trustees Chair

Published

5 years ago

October 8, 2020

The crisis rocking the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth got messier Wednesday as General Assembly of the organisation convened to announced the removal of Nnimmo Bassey as the Chairman, Board of Trustees.

In a resolution reached by the General Assembly of the organisation on October 7, 2020, in Benin City, Edo State capital, the Assembly also passed a vote of confidence on Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo as Executive Director of the organisation.

The Assembly led by Dr. Uyi Ojo, Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, further warned the general public not to transact business with one Chima Williams who the Assembly said is parading himself as Acting Executive Director, ERA.

Quoting provisions of section 834(1) of the Companies Allied Matters Act 2020, the General Assembly in the resolution further “Vetted and approved the nomination and appointment of Chief Saint Emma Pii as chairman, Godwin Uyi Ojo as Secretary, and Jennifer Ero, as member of the environmental organisation.

Dr. Uyi Ojo, at the General Assembly yesterday.

” That Nnimmo Bassey has been removed as Trustee and chairman of the Board and is hereby removed and every step of illegality taken by him to undermine the interest of Environmental Rights Development Foundation (ERA/FoEN) is declared null and void.

” That Chima Williams who is parading himself as Acting Executive Director of ERA, be subjected to disciplinary actions within the ambit of the law. The public should take note that Chima Williams is not Executive Director of ERA and as such, no one should transact business with him”, the resolution read.

The General Assembly led by Uyi Ojo ordered closure of Lagos and Abuja offices of the ERA/FoEN until further directive from the Executive Director, Dr. Uyi.

Dr. Ojo lamented that since he became Executive Director, the Lagos and Abuja offices have been under the control of Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, adding that he access no access to cheque of the Foundation but being handled by Bassey and staff in Lagos and Abuja.

Recall in a press statement signed by Nnimmo Bassey as the Chairman of the board and five other members which was made available to newsmen on October 3rd, the board announced the sack of Dr Uyo Ojo as the Executive Director and appointed Chima Williams as the Executive Director.

” At its emergency meeting held on October 3, 2020, to discuss the report of the Independent evaluation of ERA/FoEN, the Board resolved that your services are no longer required and your appointment as the Executive Director is terminated with effect from October 3, 2020.

“The Board also prohibits you henceforth, from parading yourself in any manner, as representive of the organization or in any capacity as ERA Executive Director,” the statement reads.

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

21 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.

News

Police Arrest Nollywood Production Manager For Assaulting Crew Member

Published

24 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Police have arrested a Nollywood production manager, Anierobi Courage, for allegedly assaulting a crew member.

Anierobi Courage, better known as Nwa South, reportedly assaulted the head of makeup, Mary Chizzy Eze, on October 28, 2025, while on the set of the film “Lagos to Opulence.”

A trending video of the physical altercation showed the production manager pressing Mary’s throat after slapping her, an act that has sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Reacting to the public condemnation, the Nigeria Film Crew Community (NFCC), in a statement released on Thursday, described Courage’s actions as “animalistic behaviour.”

Announcing his arrest, NFCC called on Nollywood producers and other stakeholders to blacklist Courage across all productions.

“The production manager violently hit and strangled Mary Chizzy Eze for speaking up against unequal treatment among the crew. While she has received medical care, he has been arrested.

“This level of disregard for human dignity is unacceptable. We stand firmly against all forms of abuse, assault, and crew maltreatment,” the NFCC said.

News

‘EFCC Collected N10m Before They Released Me’ – Oladips Alleges [VIDEO]

Published

1 day ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian singer, Oladips has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of collecting N10 million from him.

The rapper made this known nearly a year after he was arrested by EFCC during a midnight raid in his estate.

Oladips was arrested with some of his neighbors for alleged fraud in November 2024.

He was released after spending five days in detention.

Speaking about his experience with the EFCC, Oladips in his latest interview on Trending podcast, stated that nothing was found on him after the EFCC investigations.

While revealing that the EFCC collected N10 million from him before his release, he lamented that “Nigeria just happened to me”.

“It’s just one smelling place like that. They just packed us there like sardines and they gave us nonsense food. Funny enough it was Zlatan that was sending me food. Zlatan is not even a friend, that’s my blood.

“He was sending someone to buy good food for me because the food there is bad. They just packed us there like sardines. I’m not even supposed to be there first of all. Like, why did I spend four to five days there when you people (EFCC) didn’t find anything on me, not even a single thing. And they still collect N10 million from me before they released me.”

When asked “Is it a thing you can take up against the EFCC later, or you will just allow the sleeping dog lie?”, the singer responded “Who is my father?”

“Who is my father now? At the end of the day, who is my father? It’s just me and my truth. It’s not something I will want to. I don’t just know how the system works. I for dey their page now if to say I dey do Yahoo. They didn’t find anything on me. If they are watching this, they know that I’m saying the truth.

“They collected money from me before they released me. They didn’t find anything on me. So, what was the money for? What was all that stress and suffering for? It’s just Nigeria. Nigeria just happened to me,” he said.

https://x.com/i/status/1983504280972615813