News

Varsity Don Wants NDDC Scrapped, 50 Per Cent Derivation For Oil Producing Communities

Published

2 years ago

June 8, 2023

Editor

By Joseph Ebi Kanjo

A university don, Prof. Florence Masajuwa has advocated immediate disbandment of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other related agencies over their “failure to end poverty and endemic conflicts in the communities and by extension the region.”

This is as she recommended 50 per cent shareholding/ownership right of the exploration profit of crude oil to host communities.

Masajuwa made the recommendations while delivering Edo State University, Uzairue Inaugural Lecture titled ‘The Nigerian International Petroleum Industry: Conspiracy of Silence.’

According to the university don, “NDDC as an agency has failed due to government’s inability to alter the opportunities and incentives that allow active participation of communities in the development process.”

Prof. Masajuwa, who is the Dean, Faculty of Law at the university further lamented that the “disquieting atmosphere oil communities found themselves since the advent of the oil industry is due to the absence of transparency between the industry and principal stakeholders including oil producing communities.”

“The lack of transparency and the use of the revenue for the good of the industry and leaving out the host communities is referred to as conspiracy of silence which often disturbs generations”

She urged that the Federal Government to look at other sources of revenue generation which, according to her, would “ameliorate the grim environmental and existential reality of oil producing communities.”

“The Nigerian economy has not broken the oil spell by diversifying the sources of income for development. It’s therefore time government started looking beyond oil revenue from oil producing communities”, she stated.

On the Petroleum Industry Act, she said it promotes “frontier exploration and create transparency and non-confidentiality; transform NNPC in a viable commercially based and self-sustaining national oil company.”

On the distribution of the gains and pains of the oil industry, she said women suffer innocuous discrimination despite the position of the constitution as stated which provides that “in furtherance of the social order of the country which is founded on ideals of freedom, equality and justice, very citizen shall have equality of rights, obligation and opportunity before the law.”

According to her, the National Gender Policy (NGP) stipulated “the mainstreaming of gender equality into all facets of human activities, hence, it ensures that women’s voices are amplified and their concerns are fully addressed through effective implementation of legislation and proper financing of gender equality work.”

The university don, therefore, “recommended that Federal Government only regulate and issue licenses to anybody that it consider as technically competent to explore the crude oil and get its own share of the exploration through taxes.”

“Oil bloc should be owned by its rightful natural owners (communities). Licenses can be given to anybody to explore the bloc but the community must retain their natural statutory 50% shareholding/ownership right of the exploration profit.”

“Their 50% royalty should be their inalienable rights and the royalty must be managed well, this way, communities take charge of their development, then there will be no need for PIAs, host communities 3% and the 13% derivation fund,” she added.

News

Why I Picked Amupitan As INEC Chair – Tinubu

Published

7 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday explained that his choice of Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission was based on his apolitical stance, integrity and impeccable record of service.

“President Tinubu told the council that Amupitan is the first person from Kogi, North-Central state, nominated to occupy the position and is apolitical,” a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, quoted him as saying.

The President spoke at the State House, Abuja, during the meeting of the National Council of State, which unanimously endorsed the nomination of Amupitan to succeed Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose decade-long tenure as INEC Chairman ended on Tuesday.

Tinubu told council members that Amupitan, a professor of law from Kogi State, North-Central Nigeria, is the first person from the state to be nominated for the top electoral job.

Council members, including serving and former leaders, backed the nomination, describing the professor as a man of proven integrity.

Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, said Amupitan’s track record “reflects a deep commitment to justice, knowledge, and national service.”

Following the council’s approval, the President is expected to transmit Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening and confirmation in line with constitutional provisions.

Aged 58, Amupitan hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

A professor of law at the University of Jos, Plateau State, he is currently the institution’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) and also serves as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.

He obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in law from the University of Jos, after earlier studies at the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin.

Called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988, Amupitan has built an extensive academic and administrative career spanning over three decades.

He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2014 and has written extensively on company law, corporate governance, and evidence law.

His published works include Corporate Governance: Models and Principles (2008), Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008), Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria (2013), and Principles of Company Law (2013).

Beyond academia, Amupitan has served on several boards, including Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, and the Council of Legal Education.

He was also a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja, between 1996 and 2004.

The Kogi-born scholar, described by colleagues as “a jurist of quiet influence,” is married with four children.

When confirmed by the Senate, Amupitan will become Nigeria’s 15th INEC chairman.

News

Meet New INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan

Published

12 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The appointment, which was confirmed by the National Council of State on Thursday, follows the exit of Professor Mahmood Yakubu from the electoral body.

According to a statement issued by Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga, Amupitan’s nomination marks the first time a native of Kogi State will head Nigeria’s election management agency.

The law professor hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi state.

Amupitan, who currently serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, has spent more than three decades in academia and legal practice.

He joined the institution in 1989 as an Assistant Lecturer and rose through the ranks to become a Reader in 2003 and a Professor of Law in 2008.

Details from the University of Jos website show that the new INEC boss obtained all his degrees, including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate, in Law from the same university.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988 after completing his programme at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.

Amupitan’s areas of academic and professional interest include Law of Evidence, Corporate Law, Corporate Governance, and Privatisation Law.

He was conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2014 in recognition of his contributions to the legal profession.

Beyond academics, Amupitan has held several administrative and national positions.

He has served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, Head of the Department of Public Law, and Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors at the University of Jos.

He has also represented the institution on several boards, including the Council of Legal Education and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, where he served as a member of the Governing Council.

He was, until his nomination, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Osun State.

The legal scholar has authored and co-authored over 50 academic publications, with research spanning corporate governance, electoral law reform, and petroleum industry legislation.

He has supervised more than a dozen doctoral and master’s students in law.

Professor Amupitan is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Institute of Management, and the National Association of Law Teachers.

Outside academics, he has served on several boards, including Integrated Dairies Limited, Riss Oil Limited, and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council.

He is married to Dr. (Mrs.) Yemisi Amupitan, and they have four children.

News

Elder Statesman Christopher Kolade Dies

Published

26 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

Veteran broadcaster and former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade, has died at the age of 92.

The family announced the elder statesman’s death in a statement on Thursday.

The statement said the late former Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria died peacefully on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.

“We are thankful for his incredible life of faith and service, and are grateful for God’s abundant blessings,” the statement read in part.

Kolade had a distinguished career as a diplomat, academic, advocate for integrity and corporate governance, among other things.

Born on December 28, 1932, in Erin-Oke, Osun State, Kolade was the son of an Anglican missionary. He attended Government College, Ibadan, before proceeding to Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he completed his higher education.

Kolade began his career in broadcasting, eventually rising to the position of Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.

He later became Chief Executive and Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, where he was widely recognised for his ethical leadership and corporate reforms.

The deceased also served Nigeria as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, leaving behind a legacy of diplomacy, integrity, and professionalism.

Kolade taught Corporate Governance and Human Resources Management at the Lagos Business School and Leadership & Conflict Management at the School of Media & Communication, both part of Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.

Kolade, a former member of the university’s Governing Council, also served as its Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, and was later Chancellor of McPherson University, Ogun State.

Deeply committed to promoting ethical standards in business, Kolade chaired several integrity-driven organisations, including Integrity Organisation Ltd GTE and The Convention on Business Integrity Ltd GTE.