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OPINION: Flight Attendants And King Wasiu Ayinde’s Curse

Published

4 months ago

August 11, 2025

By Lasisi Olagunju

My literature teacher told me that situational irony is a fire station burning down, or a Babaláwo dying of Mágùn. Some 40 years ago, Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, cursed his enemies in a song that they would challenge a moving vehicle, stand arrogantly in its front and then lose their limbs to the fury of a tipper truck: “Otá mi ‘ò níi yà f’ókò, akóyoyo ní o kan l’ése…” Curses don’t act the same day they are pronounced; they ponder well before they act. Sometimes curses, like defective guns, backfire. Wasiu’s 40-year-old invocation turned on him on Tuesday last week. He shocked himself and the world with his using his own body to block a moving airplane. He was lucky; his inner head assisted the outer to duck from death.

It is cool that he has begged the pilot and her crew members for forgiveness. He also apologised to his ‘father’ and father of the nation, the president. Even if the expression of regrets was merely for the optics, that the guilty publicly accepted his guilt would mean he won’t be kept kneeling till eternity. But, does the law accept apologies? Should it accept remorse as enough restitution. We will soon know.

American professors of Sociology, Mark Cooney and Scott Phillips tell us in the March 2013 edition of the ‘Sociological Forum’ that apology can be complete and can be incomplete: “A complete apology has several components, including admission of wrongdoing, acceptance of responsibility, expression of remorse, and a promise not to repeat (the wrong). Not all apologies are complete. Some do not admit wrongdoing (‘I am sorry if anybody took offence’). Others are mere expressions of remorse (‘I am sorry you were hurt’).” The complete apology is the one that remembers to add the third leg: ‘I won’t do it again.’ You don’t say sorry today and issue fresh threats tomorrow against your victim.

The plane-stopper should by now know that some fights are not worth one’s life. A medicine required that the ingredients be ground like pepper; our star singer thought it was bravery to make himself one of those ingredients. If he was an Oyo-Yoruba man, he would have heard his elders say “a kì í fi ara ẹni í ṣe oògùn alọ̀kúnná.” I congratulate him on being alive to say and sing sorry.

In matters of misbehaviour, very many big men and women are ‘Malla’; Wasiu is simply unfortunate because hubris stripped him naked. Flight crew and flight attendants get routinely harassed and insulted, sometimes assaulted by beings who think they are bigger than the rules. A lady I call T did her industrial attachment under me as News Editor of the Nigerian Tribune in 1999. She later graduated from the University of Ibadan and got an air hostess job. Last Friday, she told me that behind air hostesses’ pepsodent/close-up smiles are scars of insults and indignities they suffer at the hands of uncouth passengers. She told the tale of a ‘rich’ lady who asked a flight attendant to come dispose of her baby’s soiled diapers. “The hostess said ‘No. I am a food handler, I cannot use the same hands I use in serving food to dispose of your baby’s poo.’ It became an issue.” From my friend, I heard many stories of “do you know who I am”; the story of an entitled passenger who struck a cabin crew member on the face and was escorted off the aircraft before takeoff. She told the tale of drunk, unruly rich dudes coming home for Christmas from South Africa. “They demanded more alcohol than they should have. We said no and they became unruly.”

There should be more of such dramatic stories. I contacted an old university friend who used to work in that system. She told me: “Several years ago, I had a big issue with General Musa Bamaiyi who was NDLEA chairman from 1995 to 1998. He told his boys to come and offload me from the flight. What was my sin? He was carrying a gun and wanted to board and hand it over to the flight crew himself because he said cabin crew did not know how to handle such a weapon. The Captain and the Flight Officer were not on board, so, I could not let him enter with the gun. The rule is: you would need to get the captain’s permission. I told him but, maybe, he felt I was lying. The captain came in and noticed that it looked like the man had come with his trouble again; he asked Bamaiyi’s bodyguards to step off his aircraft, he collected the gun and the General went to have his seat.

“Then there was an Aviation Minister (name withheld) who threatened to get off the aircraft because I could not find a space for his bags in business class. He came with like 8pcs (eight pieces) of luggage that he wanted to stow in business class. He was the last to board and the aircraft was full. I tried explaining to him that there was no space for his bags. I offered to tag it ‘coco’ (carry on carry off) so he would pick them at the foot of the aircraft. He said no way. I offered that the photo frames in the coatroom be tagged so his bags could go in; he said no. So, I apologised that I had no space for what he had considering that the flight was full. I reported the matter to the captain. The captain said to me ‘if he wants to get off so be it.’ He got off the airplane and called my MD to sack me because, he said, I was rude. I remember a prominent Nigerian from a prominent family (name withheld) was on the flight. The man told me if I got queried and needed a witness, I was free to mention his name. The airline set up a committee to investigate the incident. At the end, they told me to resume flying as I had not done anything wrong. I wasn’t even called before the panel. The committee suggested that the airline should find a way to appease the minister but there was no reason to sack me.

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“I had another experience where the passenger refused to switch off his phone for takeoff. And he was quite rude and insulting. I reported him to the flight crew who in turn told ATC (Air Traffic Control). I think ATC called NCAA or FAAN who met the man on arrival and took him away, kept him for a while before releasing him and warning him.”

On those flights, my friend was the purser, the person in charge of the passenger cabin, sometimes the most senior. Some airlines use other terms for purser: Lead crew, cabin manager, head flight attendant, chief flight attendant.

Maltreatment of flight crew and flight attendants is not a monopoly of this place or of this age. In the Fall of 1985, four American researchers did a piece on what they called “aggressive acts directed by passengers against flight attendants aboard commercial planes from 1978 to 1980.” ‘Assaults against Airline Flight Attendants: A Victimisation Study’ is what they entitled their work. They went into media reports and spoke with victims. They found that the assault incidents were “often perpetrated by professional athletes or prominent entertainers…”

The Wall Street Journal of February 27, 1980 carried a report: ‘Skies Aren’t Friendly for Airline People Who Get Assaulted.’ It reported that “more and more flight attendants are being kicked, bitten, pawed, shoved, or slugged by airline passengers these days.” A year earlier (September 19, 1979), a flight attendant lamented to a Dallas Times-Herald reporter in these words: “It used to be that passengers were demanding; now they’re getting mean.” The newspaper reported it under the headline: ‘Verbal Abuse, Assaults against Flight Attendants Increase’.

On March 12, 2025, the Associated Press, in a report, quoted court records as saying that a passenger on a regional flight to Miami, United States, attacked a flight attendant, kicked and punched the seat of the person in front of him and swallowed rosary beads. An FBI agent’s affidavit filed in a US District Court affirmed that the passenger was traveling with his sister, who said her brother told her before the violent outburst to “close her eyes and pray because Satan’s disciple(s) had followed them onto the plane.” The 31-year-old passenger was jailed on charges including misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor obstruction of police and a felony count of criminal property damage.

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There is a newspaper called South China Morning Post. On April 4, 2025, it reported an in-flight conflict between two women passengers sitting next to each other. “One of them complained about the other’s body odour, while the other objected to the strong smell of her fellow passenger’s perfume. A verbal altercation between them soon gave way to a physical confrontation. Two female flight attendants and two male colleagues attempted to intervene and break up the fight.” As the melee ensued, one of the flight attendants shouted out: “Open your mouth. You have bitten me!” The attendant was hospitalised for injuries to her arm.

United Airlines Flight 976 was a flight from Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on October 19–20, 1995. It recorded the most bizzare of all abuse cases so far. According to the airline, during the flight, one Gerard Finneran, a Wall Street investment banker, was refused further alcoholic beverages when the cabin crew determined he was intoxicated. “After they thwarted his attempt to pour himself more, Finneran threatened one flight attendant with violence and attacked another one. He then went into the first-class compartment which was also carrying Portuguese president Mário Soares and Argentinian foreign minister Guido di Tella and their security details. There, he climbed on a service trolley and defecated, using linen napkins to wipe himself, and later tracked and smeared his faeces around the cabin.” History has recorded the incident as “the worst case of air rage ever” with Forbes magazine, in a February 5, 2015 report saying “It’ll be hard to ever top that nasty bit of air rage, at least short of an actual act of terrorism.” The shit man, like the other offenders before him, faced prosecution and suffered punishment.

Gross as that case was, and in all the cases cited in the literature of assaults on airline workers, none shows what Wasiu Ayinde did, using his own body to stop a moving plane. It was an unfortunate way to insert oneself into history books. His Wikipedia page is already blessed with a generous mention of that tragic outing.

I don’t know if the wealthy Wasiu Ayinde has heard the story of a vast forest of beasts where pride trumped the arrogant. The story is courtesy Lakshmi Mitter, Indian author and columnist. In that story here retold by me, Lion maintains his place as the undisputed king of the jungle. But in that same forest lived arrogant Tiger, who thought himself the ULTIMATE in might, stronger than Lion. Tiger strutted about, boasting to the other animals: “Look at me; my teeth are the sharpest; I have strong jaws, my body is agile, I am the most effective of all hunters. Even the so-called king of the forest is no match for me!”

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Wise old Elephant cautioned him and referenced the old song of Sir Shina Peters of the soldier ant that derobed a giant. Elephant warned Tiger: “Do not be so proud. Sometimes, even the smallest creature, armed with wisdom, can defeat the strongest.

But proud Tiger ignored the advice; he even insulted the Elephant calling him clumsy. The wise always know it is pointless counselling a fool; so, ponderous elephant walked away. One day, Tiger strayed into a nearby village and attacked some cows, and had a heavy, enjoyable meal. The surviving cows were distraught. Their leader sought help from an unlikely ally, the Queen bee. She listened carefully and promised to act and help.

That very night, when Tiger returned for another feast, queen of the bees sent her army into action. Some bees buzzed menacingly around Tiger’s ears while others stung him sharply. Tiger roared, it growled and snarled. In pain, he swiped wildly, but in the darkness he could not see his tiny attackers. Even if he did, what could he do to a whole community of soldiers? Overwhelmed and humiliated, he fled back to the forest.

Subdued Tiger recalled the Elephant’s wise words and became wise. From that day on, Tiger became humble. He never troubled the village cows again and he never bragged about himself as being mightier than the mightiest in the forest.

At the Abuja airport on Tuesday, our celebrated musician played the tiger in the forest; he strutted and roared. He dared the law and insulted the king and his throne. His arrogance blinded him to the reality that in this forest of the skies, there are rules and the pilot is king, his attendants are law enforcement officers. Some whispers of sanity were said into his ears, but the star friend of the president wanted war and was ready for a fight. You don’t have the king as a client and be cowardly (A kìí l’óba, k’á l’ójo). The ultimate songster blocked the aircraft with his full chest, and held up crew and passengers alike.

But the “bees” were ready: airline staff, aviation authorities, and the ever-buzzing swarm of camera phones. Their unsparing sting was swift, painful and public. They denied Tiger Talazo all opportunities to lie against the truth. By the time the noise died down, the proud tiger of the tarmac had learnt a timeless truth: aircrafts have their own rules, and arrogance has no boarding pass.

News

OPINION: Time For The Abachas To Rejoice

Published

8 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

General Sani Abacha was a great teacher. He pioneered the doctrine of consensus candidacy in Nigeria. He founded a country of five political parties and when it was time for the parties to pick their candidates for the presidency, all the five reached a consensus that the man fit for the job was Abacha himself. Today, from party primaries to consensus candidacy; from setting the opposition on fire, to everything and every thing, Abacha’s students are showing exceptionally remarkable brilliance.

Anti-Abacha democrats of 28 years ago are orchestrating and celebrating the collapse of opposition parties today. They are rejoicing at the prospect of a one-party, one-candidate presidential election in 2027. Abacha did the same. So, what are we saying? Children who set out to resemble their parents almost always exceed their mark; they recreate the parents in perfect form and format. Abacha was a democrat; his pupils inherited his political estate and have, today, turned it into an academy. Its classes are bursting at the seams with students and scholars. Aristotle and his Lyceum will be green with envy, and very jealous of this busy academy.

Like it was under Abacha, the opposition suffers from a blaze ignited by the palace. But, and this is where I am going: fires, once started, rarely obey and respect their makers.

My friend, the storyteller, gave me an old folktale of a man who thought the world must revolve around him, alone. One cold night, the man set his neighbours’ huts on fire so he alone would stand as the ‘big man’ of the village. The man watched with satisfaction as the flames rose, dancing dangerously close to the skies. But the wind had a scheme of its own. It hijacked the fire, lifted it, and dropped it squarely on the arsonist’s own thatched roof. By dawn, all huts in the village had become small heaps of ash.

Fire, in all cultures, is a communal danger; whoever releases it cannot control its path. The Fulani warn that he who lights a fire in the savannah must not sleep among dry grass, a wisdom another African people echo by saying that the man who sets a field ablaze should not lie beside raffia in the same field. Yet our rulers strike anti-opposition matches with reckless confidence, believing fire is a loyal servant that burns only the huts of opponents. They forget that power is a strong wind, and wind has no party card and respects none.

When it is state policy to weaken institutions, criminalise dissent and have rivals crushed with the excuse of order, the blaze spreads quietly, patiently, until it reaches the bed of its maker. Fire does not negotiate; it does not remember or know who started it (iná ò mo eni ó dáa). In politics, as in the grassland, those who weaponise flames rarely die with unburnt roofs over their heads.

The folktale above is the story of today’s ruling party. People in power think it is wisdom to weaken, scatter, or destroy opposition platforms outright. They have forgotten the ancient lesson of the village: When you burn every hut around you, you leave nothing to break the wind when it blows back. A democratic system that cannibalises opposition always ends up consuming itself. Our First Republic is a golden example to cite here. History is full of parties that dug graves for their rivals and ended up falling inside.

Literature is rich with warnings about the danger of lighting fires; they more often than not get out of control. In Duro Ladipo’s ‘Oba Koso’, Sango is the lord of fire and ultimately victim of his fire. In Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, we see how a single spark of regicide grows into a blaze of paranoia and bloodshed that ultimately consumes Macbeth himself. In D. O. Fagunwa’s Adiitu Olodumare, we see how Èsù lé̟̟hìn ìbejì is consumed by the fire of his intrigues; Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ shows a similar pattern with Macbeth: Okonkwo’s role in Ikemefuna’s death ignites a chain of misfortunes that destroys his honour and his life. In ‘The Crucible’, Arthur Miller’s characters take turns to unleash hysteria through lies, only to be trapped by the inferno they created. Ola Rotimi’s ‘The Gods Are Not to Blame’ and even Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ echo the same lesson. Again and again, literature insists that those who start dangerous fires whether of ambition, deceit, violence, or pride, should never expect to sleep safely. Always, the tongue of the flames turns and returns home.

Abacha must be very proud that the democrats who fought and hounded him to death have turned out his faithful students. From NADECO to labour unions and to the media, every snail that smeared Abacha with its slime is today rubbing its mouth on the hallowed hallways of his palace.

Under Abacha, to be in opposition was to toy with trouble. Under this democracy, all opposition parties suffer pains of fracture. Parallel excos here; factional groups there. Opposition figures are in greater trouble. It does not take much discernment before anyone knows that Tiger it is that is behind Oloruntowo’s troubles; Oloruntowo is not at all a bad dog. But how long in comfort can the troubler be?

In 1996, Professor Jeffrey Herbst of the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, United States, asked: “Is Nigeria a Viable State?” He went on to assert – and predict – that “Nigeria does not work and probably cannot work.” He said the country was failing not from any other cause but “from a particular pattern of politics …that threatens to even further impoverish the population and to cause a catastrophic collapse…” That was Nigeria under Abacha. We struggled to avert that “catastrophic collapse”; with death’s help, we got Abacha off the cockpit, and birthed for ourselves this democracy. Now, we are not even sure of the definitions of ‘state’, ‘viable’ and ‘viability’. What is sure is that the “particular pattern of politics” that caught the attention of the American in 1996, is here in 2025. As it was under Sani Abacha, everyone today sings one song, the same song.

Abacha died in 1998; Abacha is alive in 2025. It is strange that his family members are not celebrating. How can you win a race and shut yourself up? My people say happiness is too sweet to be endured. The default response to joy is celebration but we are not seeing it in the family of the victorious Abacha. Because the man in dark goggles professed this democracy, this democracy and its democrats have apotheosised Abacha; he is their prophet. They take their lessons from his sacred texts; his shrine is their preferred place of worship.

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“As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” – Romans 14:11. Our political lords copied those words and, in profaned arrogance, read it to Nigeria and its terrorised people. Now, everyone, from governors to the governed, bows; their tongue confesses that the president is king, unqueriable and unquestionable.

When a man is truly blessed, all the world, big and small, will line up to bless him and the work of his hand. Governors of all parties are singing ‘Bola on Your Mandate We Shall Stand.’ In the whole of southern Nigeria, only one or two governors are not singing his anthem. Northern governors sing ‘Asiwaju’ better and with greater gusto than the owners of the word. In their obsessive love for the big man’s power and the largesse it dispenses, they assume that ‘Asiwaju’ is the president’s first name. They say “President Asiwaju.” The last time a leader was this blessed was 1998 – twenty-seven years ago.

Our thirst for disaster is unslaked. All that the man wanted was to be president; he became president and our progressive democrats are making a king out of him. And we watch them and what they do either in sheepish horror, complicit acquiescence or in criminal collusion. We should not blame the leader for seeing in himself Kabiyesi. That is the status we conferred on him. Even the humblest person begins to gallop once put on a horse. True. Humility or simplicity disappears the moment power unlimited is offered.

The chant of the president’s personal anthem is what Pawley and Müllensiefen call “Singing along.” It is never a stringless act. Worse than Abacha’s Two-Million-Man March, we see two hundred million people, crowds of crowds, move together in one voice, bound by an invisible script and spell. We feel a ‘terrorised’ democracy where citizens learn, through bowing, concurring and context rather than conviction, to sing the song of the kingly emperor. People who are not sure of anything again discover that synchronised voices create safety, and belonging. They proceed to stage it as a ritual for economic and political survival.

The popular Abacha badge decorated the left and right breasts of many fallen angels. Collective chanting signalled loyalty and reduced individual risk. Under this regime of democrats, the badge will soon come, but the chant is louder and wider cast. Unitarised voices have become instruments through which power is normalised, and by which dissent is dissolved.

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Two years into this democracy in 2001, Nigerian-American professor of African history and global studies, Raphael Chijioke Njoku, warned that “new democracies often revert to dictatorships.” He was a prophet and his scholarship prescient. We are there.

There are sorries to say and apologies to drop. On September 8, 1971, Nigeria killed Ishola Oyenusi and his armed robbery gang members because they stole a few thousands of Nigerian pounds. Why did the past have to shoot them when it knew it would stage greater heists in the future? It is the same with Sani Abacha and his politics. Why did we fight him so viciously if this grim harbour was our destination? I do not have to say it before you know that the spirit of the dead is out celebrating its vindication.

American political scientist, Samuel Huntington, in his ‘The Third Wave’, lists four typologies of authoritarian regimes: one-party, personal, military and racial oligarchy. The last on this list (racial) we may never experience in Nigeria but we’ve seen military rule and its unseemly possibilities. The emergence of the first two (one-party and personal dictatorship) was what we fought and quenched in the struggle with Abacha. Unfortunately, the evil we ran out of town has now walked in to assert its invincibility. What did Abacha’s sons do that today’s children of Eli are not doing ten-fold? Democracy is a scam, or, at best, an ambush.

Politicians have borrowed God’s language without His temperament. They have restructured the Presidential Villa into Nigeria’s Mount Sinai where commandments descend on tablets of gold bars. The whole country has become an endless Sunday service; the president sits on the altar, ministers and party chieftains swing incense burners, emitting smokes of deceit and self-righteousness; the masses kneel in reverence and awe of power. They look up to their Lord Bishop, the president, as he dispenses sweet holy communion to the converted – and dips the bottom of the stubborn into baptismal hot waters. We were not fair to Sani Abacha.

We cannot eat banana and have swollen cheek. But we can eat banana and have swollen cheeks. What will account for the difference is the sacrifice we offer to the mouth of the world. The words of the world rebuke absolute power. By choking the space for alternative voices, my Fulani friend said the ruling party is setting the whole political village ablaze, including the patch of ground on which its own structure stands. No parties or leaders survive the inferno they unleash on others. The flame of the fire the ruling party ignites and fans today will, inevitably, find its way home tomorrow.

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Ex-Nigerian Amb., Igali, To Deliver Keynote Address As IPF Holds Ijaw Media Conference

Published

9 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

…invites general public to grace event

A former Nigerian ambassador to Scandinavian countries, Amb (Dr.) Godknows Igali, is billed to deliver a keynote address at the second edition of the Ijaw Media Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2025, in Warri, Delta State.

In a statement jointly issued by Arex Akemotubo and Tare Magbei, chairman and secretary of the planning committee respectively, said the conference, with the theme: ‘Safeguarding Niger Delta’s Natural Resources for Future Generations,’ speaks to the urgent need for responsible stewardship of the region’s land and waterways.

According to the statement, the conference will feature
Dr Dennis Otuaro, Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, as the chairman while a former president of the Ijaw Youth Council, Engr Udengs Eradiri, will deliver the lead presentation.

The statement described Otuaro’s chairing the event as a reflection of the conference focus on policy, accountability and sustainable development in the Niger Delta.

According to the statement, both the keynote speaker and the lead presenter are expected to shape discussions on environmental protection, governance and the role of the media.

According to the statement, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, is expected to attend as Special Guest of Honour.

The statement further list Pere of Akugbene-Mein Kingdom, HRM Pere Luke Kalanama VIII, first Vice Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council, as Royal Father of the Day, while Chief Tunde Smooth, the Bolowei of the Niger Delta, as Father of the Day.

Others include: Mr Lethemsay Braboke Ineibagha, Managing Director of Vettel Mega Services Nigeria Limited; Prof Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress; Sir Jonathan Lokpobiri, President of the Ijaw Youth Council; Hon. Spencer Okpoye of DESOPADEC; Dr Paul Bebenimibo, Registrar of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko; Chief Boro Opudu, Chairman of Delta Waterways and Land Security; and Chief Promise Lawuru, President of the Egbema Brotherhood.

The organising committee said the conference is expected to bring together journalists, policymakers, community leaders, and researchers to promote informed dialogue and collective action toward protecting the Niger Delta for future generations.

News

Okpebholo Pledges To Clear Inherited Salary Arrears, Gratuities At AAU

Published

9 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has assured the management of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, of his administration’s commitment to addressing accumulated unpaid salaries, gratuities and other critical challenges inherited from past administrations.

In a statement, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Dr. Patrick Ebojele, said the governor gave the assurance when he received the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor (Mrs.) Eunice Eboserehimen Omonzejie, and members of her management team on a courtesy visit to Government House, Benin City.

Okpebholo, who congratulated the Vice-Chancellor and her team on their appointments, noted that their presentation underscored the depth of challenges confronting the institution.

“From what you have outlined today, it is clear that Ambrose Alli University was on life support. I must commend the progress you have recorded so far since assuming the office,” the governor said.

“I am impressed by your efforts, and I want to assure you that in any way possible, this administration will support the university to reposition it and restore its lost glory.”

Addressing the issue of accumulated salary arrears, the governor described the non-payment of staff salaries over several years as unfair and unacceptable.

“It is not right for people to work and not be paid. The issue of unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities running into billions of naira is something I will take as a project,” he said.

“These are issues inherited from the past government, and we will address them.”

Okpebholo also acknowledged other concerns raised by the university management, including hostel infrastructure, accreditation-related challenges and facilities required for programmes such as Medical Laboratory Science.

“This year’s budget is already at an advanced stage, but I expect that these critical needs will be properly captured in your budget proposals. Once that is done, we will see how best to move the institution forward,” he added.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Omonzejie, explained that the delay in paying a courtesy visit to the governor was due to a recently concluded accreditation exercise and the need to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the state of the university.

She noted that the university she inherited was in a moribund state, plagued by infrastructural decay, unpaid salaries and accreditation challenges, among others.

Omonzejie expressed profound appreciation to Governor Okpebholo for what she described as “life-saving interventions” since his assumption of office.

According to her, the governor’s approval of an increased monthly subvention, restoration of affected staff to the payroll, support for graduating backlog medical students, improved security logistics, and the facilitation of road construction through the Niger Delta Development Commission have significantly revived the institution.

She also formally presented pressing needs requiring urgent attention, including accumulated unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities and union deductions, as well as the construction of lecture theatres and hostels to enhance accreditation and expand student intake, particularly in the College of Medicine.