Our Fishing Traps Seized By Okomu Oil – Communities
Host communities of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, yesterday, held a peace protest against what they tagged marginalisation and ill-treatment by the oil palm company.
The protesters drawn from the host communities of Gbelebu, Safargbo, Okomu, Oweike, Maikolo, etc, carried placards bearing inscriptions such as: ‘Govt tell Okomu Oil Company to open our road’; ‘Okomu Oil Company give us our fishing traps that are with you’; ‘stop polluting our stream with your agro chemical, it is our only source of drinking water’; ‘we are not terrorists, stop harassing us with military, Okomu Oil’, accused the company of blocking and positioning fiece looking military men on the only road that links them to Udo.
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The protesters also acussed Edo State government of selling the whole land wherein they farm to the company thereby enslaving them, just as they lamented that they have no where to farm anymore in their land.
Speaking to the press shortly after the protest, the Fiyewei (spokesperson) of Okomu clan, Chief Sunday Ajele, said it quite unfortunate that government of Edo State has joined in the enslavement of the people with continuous sales of the land wherein the natives farm to a foreign company.
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L-R: Chief Gbadiagha Obeke, the Tunwei of Safaragbo; High Chief Enoch Sulubor, the Amananaowei of Gbelebu; Chief Sunday Ajele, the Fiyewei (spokesperson) of Okomu and Chief Wuluku Wilson of Okomu, addressing the press shortly after the protest.
“The state government sells the land to multinational where this forest people farm and even trade. If you sell the land to multinational, where do you want these people to survive? Ordinarily, we expected the state government to come to the aide of these host communities and question this multinational why the ill-treatment but unfortunately, the state government has joined them in the enslavement.
“A country that has constitution, it is unfortunate that the constitution is not working. A country with laws yet the law is not working. The law protects only the rich while the poor who are the forest people that feed the nation are suffering. Everything we buy in the market comes from the forest,” he said.
On her part, Mrs. Biobokogha Pena-ere from Okomu said the company has put the communities into bondage through their maltreatment and harrasement, lamenting that they can no longer fish nor farm.
“Okumu Oil Palm is oppressing us, intimidating us, we don’t have good road, we don’t have good water. We cannot kill the fish we used to kill before because they have used their chemical to spoil our river, so no fish. The petty business we do to survive, they have blocked the road to access urban cities, so we can no longer do our businesses,” Pena-ere lamented.
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Also speaking, Chief French Yabike decried the activities of Okomu Oil Palm Company, alleging that the company has been busy evacuating their villages, just he further lamented that yet “in terms of employment nothing; talking about scholarship, nothing, everything they promised, nothing was done.”
He said Okomu land is divided into two area: BC 9 and BC10, and that they the native are in BC 10, alleging that Okomu Oil Palm Company has crossed to BC 10 part of the land and intimidating them with military.
“We are tired of the activities of Okomu Oil Palm Company. The company has been evacuating our communities. Some times ago, they came with soilders to evacuate Lemon camp. After that they proceeded to Agbede comminity and evacuated them, and later extended to Oweike, they evacuated it too,” he said.
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Also speaking, a chief from Gbelebu comminity, Ejueyi Segun, said the only road linking the community and others has been blocked by the company, saying the company does not owe the road as claimed.
He said, “The company has blocked the existing road before the company was founded. Since 2019, the road has been under lock and today it’s been locked completely. They used COVID-19 as an excuse to finally lock up the road with lockdown excuse. The alternative road is bad.
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“The road the company is claiming is not its road, that road was constructed by British West Africa Timber Contractors of those days before Okomu Oil Palm was set up there.”
Engineer Lawani Dumofaye, from Agbede community said “Just of last week, our local farmers mills were being burnt down by Okomu Oil Palm Company. We have been suffering. Our streams are being polutted with their Agro chemicals. We are suffering. We are calling on the international comminity and the government to come to our aides. We have a lot of graduates in our communities but none is being employed.”
Calls and WhatsApp messages sent to the Public Relations Officer the company, Fidelis Olise were not replied even after reading them.
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on Thursday shocked a female puff-puff seller during a rally in Osogbo by buying all her snacks with ₦50,000 and offering her employment as a chef at the Government House.
This happened when Osun public servants trooped out in their thousands in what they called an appreciation solidarity rally in support of the governor for his support and care since he took over state governance.
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It was observed that the governor, who sat in the bus, had sighted the woman who was among the crowd cheering him.
He immediately beckoned to the woman carrying a plastic container filled with puff-puff on her head and asked how much it would cost to buy all the snacks.
The female hawker, who was visibly surprised and star-struck at the level of her proximity to the governor, found it difficult to even tell the governor how much she sold the snacks.
Surprisingly, Adeleke handed her a bundle of ₦50,000 to the cheers of the crowd.
The lucky woman knelt down in appreciation of the governor’s generosity.
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Excited onlookers quickly rushed to share the snacks in the plastic already purchased by the governor.
The governor invited the vendor inside the vehicle where one of his officials questioned her academic background, and she revealed that she holds a Nigerian Certificate in Education.
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Adeleke further asked about the dishes she could prepare and instructed his aides to take her contact details for employment as a chef in the Government House.
Confirming the development, the Commissioner II at the Osun State Civil Service Commission, Olaniyan Taofeek, shared the video on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “The moment Gov. Adeleke turned the life of a puff-puff seller into a Government House chef.”
A Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media, Oni Gbenga Lawrence, also corroborated the incident in a post on X, stating: “Moment Governor Ademola Adeleke turned the life of a puff-puff seller to Government Chef… not only ₦50k but he invited her into his car and employed her as chef in the Government House.”
The Guardian correspondent, who was at the scene of the welcome rally, made efforts to interview the lucky vendor, but they did not yield as she was not allowed to alight from the bus throughout the event.
(The Guardian)
According to the circular, the move is part of the government’s effort to strengthen quality assurance and standardization within the education sector.
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“The withdrawal of licenses is aimed at ensuring that schools operate in line with approved standards and provide quality education to students,” Danjuma said.
The circular also outlined a review of fees for license application, registration, and annual renewal.
British-born Nigerian missionary, Ruth Elton, reputed to be the oldest missionary has passed on at the age of 91.
Ruth Elton, born 7 September 1933, was a British-born Nigerian missionary whose lifelong dedication to faith, healing, and revival left an indelible mark on communities across western and central Nigeria.
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It was learnt that Elton died on Saturday at Sharon compound, Alafia Bamin Quarters in Ilesa, Osun State.
She was the only daughter of Pa Elton and her remains have been deposited at the mortuary.
Ruth Elton, daughter of Sydney Granville Elton (Pa Elton), who is referred to as one of the founding fathers of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, had approached a Kaduna court and nationalised as a Nigerian.
At old age and despite the happenings in Nigeria, she still held in high esteem her father’s prophecies that although Nigeria could be known globally for corruption, it would only for a while as new dawn would beckon when the country would be known worldwide for righteousness and prosperity.
Elton moved to Nigeria in 1937 with her parents and served as a Christian missionary across Egbe, Okene, Koton Karfe, and other parts of Kogi, Ondo, Oyo, and Osun States.
A naturalised Nigerian, having renounced her British citizenship in the 1970s, she embraced the country completely and became fluent in Ebira and Yoruba.
Elton, who remained single, believed that she had made a true mark in the country and apart from her missionary work, she saw her efforts in taming infant mortality, especially in Okene, Kogi State as a generational impact.
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Relating her experience on infant mortality in the country, Elton recently noted that many newborn babies had passed on due to lack of proper care and hygiene, adding that the practice of force-feeding babies contributed to the challenges, especially in the face of poor awareness.