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Oladosu, Popoola, Others Make List of Fed Poly Ede Alumni’s Board of Trustees
In a bid to standardise its structure and enhance its global outlook, the Federal Polytechnic Ede Alumni Association has appointed some distinguished members of the body into its Board of Trustees (BoT) seat.
The 10-man BoT member is to be chaired by renowned businessman and politician, Alhaji Sikiru Babson Oladosu, while Mrs. Fadekemi O. Abiodun-Afolabi (PhD), will serve as the board’s secretary.
The appointment of the BoT members was recently ratified by the National Convention/Annual General Meeting of the Alumni body held last month.
Explaining the need for the appointment and constitution of the BoT for the Federal Poly, Ede, Alumni Association, the National President of the ex-students’ body, Mr. Bashir Shittu Olaleye, said the new board will be responsible for the smooth governance and initiation of policies for the purpose of progressive development of the Alumni body.
Among other roles to be performed by the board is to support the strategic campaign plan on major projects that have been earmarked and to influence and facilitate the receipt of gifts and donations towards the Association’s identified projects, since the properties of the Association is vested in the Board of Trustees.
Other members of the BoT include renowned techpreneur, political commentator and founder of the popular Rate Your Leader App, Joel Popoola; House of Representatives member, Hon. (Mrs) Taiwo Olukemi Oluga; Mr Festus Olaifa, and Mr. Kola Bakare.
Others include Barrister Daud Biodun Akinloye, the current Alumni President, Mr. Bashir Shittu Olaleye ; Mr Adejare Sunday Odeleke and Mr Olugbenga Bamidele Oyawa.
According to the Alumni body’s National Executive Council (NEC), the tenure of the BoT members will be for four years, and they can be re-elected by the general meeting.
The BoT chairman, Alhaji Oladosu, Sikiru Babson is an indigene of Ede in Osun State. He had his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Banking and Finance department at the prestigious Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State. Also, he has possessed Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
Prior to his journey to Higher National Diploma (HND), Alhaji Oladosu had ventured into several businesses; he is a seasoned farmer, entrepreneur, fashion designer and politician of note. As a businessman, he floated the following companies – Blazer Connection Fashion, Blazer Connection Farms, and Blazer Connection Properties.
He has varied working experiences, notable was Sales Representative at Tama Gas and Petroleum, Lagos, Sales Manager at Ecstasy Wears Nigeria Enterprises at Jos in Plateau State. He was also involved in part-time Lecturing in the department of Banking and Finance of Federal Polytechnic, Ede and later concentrated in the Nigerian politics which he was involved prior to completion of his Higher National Diploma.
He is currently the Managing Director of SUNSALAK Engineering Limited and CEO of Blazer Connection Multi-Investment Company. He is happily married and blessed with children.
Mrs. Fadekemi O. ABIODUN-AFOLABI (PhD) was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State but grew up in Ibadan, Oyo State, , where she had her secondary school education at the distinguished St. Anne’s School, Molete and later moved to the School of Science, at Ile-Ife in Osun State. She then proceeded to the Federal Polytechnic, Ede where she graduated in Financial Studies (O.N.D 1995) and Accountancy (H.N.D 1998). She also holds the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Geography from the University of Ibadan, and another set of B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Accountancy from Saint Monica American University, Cameroon. She holds a master’s in business administration with specialty in Business Law from the National Institute of Business Management in India, and a PhD in Forensic Accounting & Auditing from Charisma University, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, UK. In Canada, she obtained a Diploma in Immigration Consulting,
In 2018, her family relocated to Canada where she joined one of the Global Big 5 Management Consultancy services, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) as the Independence Manager. She presently manages her own firm Bixbite Consults Inc., which provides services such as Business & Financial Management Consulting, Audit & Investigation Services, Canadian Student Recruitment, and Immigration Services.
Joel Popoola is a British citizen of Nigerian descent, the founder of a digital democracy project – Rate Your Leader grew up in Gbongan, Osun State where he had his primary and post-primary education at St Paul’s Anglican Primary School and Community High School Gbongan respectively.
Aside his ND and HND in Financial Studies and Accounting respectively from Federal Polytechnic Ede, Joel holds a master’s degree in Managerial Psychology from the University of Ibadan. He’s a software testing consultant.
Joel, described by a local newspaper in England, Sunderland Echo, as ‘the City Man” in 2019, is an Advance Member of the Institute of Directors, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, currently leading IoD – Special Interest Group Africa for the Institute. He hosted governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to IoD event in the UK earlier this year, as the first elected leader in Africa to address the Institute since inception in 1903.
And, in 2018, Joel, through one of his companies, Aacle Ltd, initiated the first employability and entrepreneurship training for the student of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, in conjunction with FPE Alumni Association. This event was at no cost to the alumni or any of the participating students.
Popoola is a full member of the prestigious Chatham House – The International Institute of International Affairs. He is a full member of International Institute of Strategic Studies, an associate member of Rain Cloud, Westminster, a full member, London Tech Advocates and he was welcomed late last year to UK Tech Founders as a full fledge member.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, declined a request by the Department of State Services (DSS) to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, in his ongoing defamation trial.
Sowore is being prosecuted over comments made on social media in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
The Federal government argues the statement contravenes provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, as well as sections of the Criminal Code, and is capable of inciting public disorder.
Director of Public Prosecutions, M. B. Abubakar, told the court that Sowore’s remarks amounted to cyber harassment and criminal defamation under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes Act and Sections 59 and 375 of the Criminal Code.
He insisted the activist must be held accountable for using digital platforms to malign the President.
During proceedings, counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, urged the court to issue a bench warrant, arguing that Sowore had been duly served with the charge and hearing notice but failed to appear.
He described the absence as a clear disregard for judicial authority.
According to Kehinde, allowing such conduct to go unchallenged could undermine the court’s authority — particularly in politically sensitive matters involving state institutions.
He also dismissed a letter submitted by activist Deji Adeyanju seeking an adjournment on Sowore’s behalf, describing it as an attempt to delay the case.
However, presiding Judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, declined the request. He ruled that it would be premature to issue a bench warrant because the second defendant in the matter, X Corporation (formerly Twitter), had not been properly served with the charge sheet.
The judge held that due process in serving all defendants must be completed before any coercive orders can be considered.
Counsel to X Corporation, Christabel Ndiokwelo, confirmed that although her client received the hearing notice, the formal charges had not yet been served.
Counsel to META (Facebook), Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), was also in court.
He aligned with the government’s position, describing Sowore’s absence as deliberate. He also dismissed Sowore’s claims that social media companies were collaborating with the DSS to censor him as “baseless and diversionary.”
Justice Umar adjourned the case to December 2, 2025, for proper arraignment, and directed that fresh hearing notices and charge documents be served on all parties to prevent further delays.
Following US President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), US Senator Ted Cruz has declared that the next step is to hold Nigerian officials accountable.
Cruz is championing the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill designed to protect Christians and other religious minorities from widespread persecution in Nigeria.
After the CPC designation, Trump also warned of possible military action in Nigeria if its leaders failed to protect Christians in the country.
Reacting in a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, Senator Cruz said he has been pushing legislation to designate Nigeria as a CPC and to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials responsible for religious persecution.
He thanked President Trump for the designation and for “fighting to stop the murder of Christians in Nigeria.”
According to Cruz, the next step is to hold Nigerian officials accountable, promising to publicly identify them in the coming weeks.
His post reads: “I’ve been pushing legislation to designate Nigeria a CPC and to impose sanctions on the Nigerian officials responsible.
“Thank you to President Trump for his leadership in imposing the designation, and more broadly, for fighting to stop the murder of Christians in Nigeria.
“Now we should take the next step and hold Nigerian officials accountable. I intend to be very explicit about who they are in the coming days and weeks.”
Last weekend, Trump declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged killings of Christians.
In a statement posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, Trump said Christianity faces an existential threat in Nigeria, describing the alleged killing as a “mass slaughter.”
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” he wrote.
The US president added that the United States “cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening” and directed Congressman Riley Moore and House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole to investigate the matter.
The Nigerian government has repeatedly rejected claims of Christian genocide in the country.
In September, the Federal government described claims of a systematic genocide against Christians as “false, baseless, despicable, and divisive.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said portraying Nigeria’s insecurity as a religious conflict was a gross misrepresentation of reality.
“Portraying Nigeria’s security challenges as a targeted campaign against a single religious group is inaccurate and harmful.
“The federal government strongly condemns and categorically refutes recent allegations by certain international platforms and online influencers suggesting that terrorists operating in Nigeria are engaged in a systematic genocide against Christians,” he said.
Idris stressed that extremists have attacked citizens of all faiths, noting that Muslims, Christians, and even non-religious Nigerians have suffered alike.
Between May 2023 and February 2025, he said, security forces killed over 13,500 terrorists and rescued nearly 10,000 hostages.
He added that the recent capture of top Ansaru leaders and over 700 convictions of Boko Haram suspects reflected Nigeria’s progress in the fight against terrorism.
“These criminals target all who reject their murderous ideology, regardless of faith,” the minister stated.
The Oyo State High Court has granted the Peoples Democratic Party approval to proceed with its elective national convention scheduled for November 15–16, 2025, in Ibadan, the state capital.
The court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to attend and monitor the exercise, Channels TV reports.
Delivering the ruling, Justice A. L. Akintola issued an interim order permitting the party to continue its convention plans without obstruction.
The decision came after an ex-parte motion filed by Folahan Adelabi against the PDP, its Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum; Governor Umaru Fintiri, who heads the National Convention Organising Committee; and the INEC.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice Akintola held that the claimant presented a compelling case that warranted immediate judicial intervention.
“The motion ex-parte has merit and succeeds as prayed,” the judge ruled, granting temporary reliefs that safeguard the party’s schedule and direct all parties to allow the convention to proceed as planned.
The judge subsequently adjourned the hearing of the substantive motion for an interlocutory injunction till November 10, 2025.
The interim order, issued on November 3, 2025, was sealed by the Oyo State High Court and endorsed by its Principal Registrar, S. O. Hammed.
