The renowned pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and socio-political organization, Afenifere, has said there is an urgent need by the Federal Government and security agencies to be more innovative and decisive.

Afenifere stated this in a statement on Saturday while reacting to the recent reports of banditry and kidnapping in Ogun, Edo, Ekiti, Oyo, Kogi, Zamfara, and Niger States.

The statement issued by Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, urged President Bola Tinubu to take proactive actions towards tackling the ravaging security issues.

Recall that on Monday, May 13, about eight cocoa farmers were kidnapped at Marindoti Cocoa Farmers’ Settlement in Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State.

Three students of Millicent Secondary School in the same area on their way to write their Senior Secondary School Examination, were also kidnapped on the same day.

There have been other incidents of kidnapping and other criminal activities across the country recently.

Reacting, Afenifere said that there is the urgent need to dig deep into the roots of the menace and to be decisive in applying the necessary measures.

Part of the statement reads, “The starting point is to probe into the motivation for kidnapping and related banditry. Three identified motives are economic, ideology and politics. Each of these has sub-strata and sometimes interlopers.

“For instance, the economic factor of banditry could have a territorial claim as an underpinning. It can also be as a result of some interests wanting to assert political superiority.

“These are relatively easier to deal with if the authorities and the people in the given area are committed to dealing with it.

“The other aspect is one based on ideology. Most of the time such an ideology is religious or faith-based. In a situation where a given person is brainwashed to believe that only those who share the same ideology with them are qualified to live freely, the authorities and the society have a lot of work to do.

“As stated, sometimes the line between economic, ideological and political reasons for terrorism or kidnapping gets blurred. While the reason may sometimes not be so clear-cut, the means of subduing the menace can be handy if the authorities are desirous of putting an end to the menace”.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the last election, Peter Obi, has paid a condolence visit to the family of the late Nollywood actor, Junior Pope.

The former Anambra State governor also signed the condolence register.

Nollywood actor and former spokesperson of the Labour Party presidential campaign council, Kenneth Okonkwo, shared pictures and videos from the visit on his Instagram page ON Saturday afternoon.

He captioned the pictures and videos: ” HE Peter Obi arrived at the residence of John Paul Odonwodo Junior Pope, to pay his condolences to his family over the sad, and untimely departure of their child, brother, husband and father. He consoled his mother, Mrs Maria Odonwodo, the widow, Jennifer, and his children.”

Recall that Junior Pope died on April 10, 2024, alongside three others after their boat capsized on the Anam River in Anambra State while returning from a film location.

He was laid to rest at his hometown, Ukehe in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, on Friday.

The Federal Government has constituted the governing councils of 111 federal tertiary institutions in the country.

This list of the constituted governing councils was released on Saturday by the Federal Ministry of Education.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who released the statement containing the list, stated that inauguration and retreat of the councils would hold on May 30 and 31, 2024.

She said, “The inauguration and retreat for the Governing Councils will take place on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31, 2024, at the National Universities Commission, 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Both events will commence at 9:00am daily.”

The list contained names of technocrats, politicians and traditional rulers for 50 universities, 37 polytechnics, and 24 colleges of education.

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Alli; former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Peter Okebukola, and labour activist, Issa Aremu, are among the individuals appointed to lead the councils of various academic institutions.

The former INEC Chairman will serve as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS), Messrs Olanipekun, Alli, Okebukola and Aremu will chair the councils for the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State, and Federal College of Education (Technical), Keana, Nasarawa State.

Others on the list include a former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, who will chair the governing council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN); Joy Emordi, a former Senator, who will chair the council of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Imo State, and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, who will ead the council of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State.

The immediate-past Executive Secretary of NUC, Adamu Rasheed, who resigned from office a few months into his second term in office, was also named to chair the governing council of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State.
This is coming few days after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatened to strike nationwide over the non-constitution of governing councils for universities months after they were dissolved.

In June, the National Universities Commission (NUC) dissolved the governing councils of all federal universities after a directive from President Bola Tinubu.

But months after the move, ASUU insists that the dissolution is “illegal”, claiming that the move has “paved the way for all manner of illegalities in the Nigerian University System”.

“ASUU shall do all within its powers to ensure that the dignity of the academia is fully restored in line with practices obtainable in forward-looking climes,” ASUU’s president Emmanuel Osodeke said in a Tuesday press conference.

“So, Nigerians should hold the Federal and State Governments responsible if the matter of Governing Councils is allowed to snowball into an avoidable industrial crisis.”