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Tinubu Confers Posthumous Honours on Ogoni Four, Calls for Reconciliation, Unity

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10 months ago

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President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday conferred national honours of the Commander of the Order of the Niger posthumously on four late Ogoni leaders.

They are Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage, popularly remembered as the Ogoni Four.

Tinubu announced the conferment when he received the report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.

He urged the people of Ogoniland to embrace reconciliation and unity after decades of division.

“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among us.

“I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to close ranks, put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with one voice,” Tinubu said.

Wednesday’s meeting comes 16 months after the President, in May 2024, promised to “pursue diligently and honourably” the Ogoni cleanup and increase the number of its indigenes benefitting from its empowerment programmes.

Tinubu also pledged his commitment to unlocking the human and natural resource potential of Ogoniland while ensuring the environmental and economic security of Nigerian communities.

At the meeting, the President assured stakeholders that his administration would support the journey of Ogoniland towards peace, environmental remediation, and economic revival, while also facilitating the return of oil exploration to the area.

He stated, “I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of the Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production.

“The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march towards shared prosperity.”

Tinubu cited developments in 2022 when the Buhari administration transferred the operations of the Ogoni oil field to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its joint venture partners.

He argued that his government would honour and build on Buhari’s decision.

In his closing remarks, Tinubu called on the people to seize the moment, saying, “Let us together turn pain into purpose, conflict into cooperation, and transform the wealth beneath Ogoni soil into a blessing for the people and for Nigeria.”

Consequently, he directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to commence engagement between the Ogoni people, NNPCL, its partners, and all relevant stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting operations.

“A dead asset is not valuable to the community, the country or the people.

“The longer we procrastinate, the worse it is for everyone,” the President said.

He also directed the Minister of Environment to integrate pollution remediation and environmental recovery into the broader framework of dialogue with the people.

The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who presented the report, said the consultations included all four Ogoni zones, with input from local communities, traditional leaders, and the diaspora.

Ribadu said, “In all aspects of our national life, Ogoni is one, thirty-something years of very unfortunate history rewrite the wrong now,

“To us was instruction, then we carry out this dialogue, community engagement, talking with the people and getting to understand how to move forward. It has succeeded like what you have seen today.

“He gave directives to all government agencies and institutions and also directly to our office that we must implement everything that have been agreed and we have taken it.”

Ribadu affirmed that his office, alongside all relevant agencies, is committed to restoring peace in Ogoniland.

“We will make sure that we follow his own directives and his instructions.

“We are going to make sure that peace is restored already, it is, and hopefully you will see the benefit of it not just in Ogoni land but the entire Niger Delta and by extension Nigeria,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Dialogue Committee, Prof. Don Baridam, noted that the committee ensured all stakeholders were carried along in the process, noting that the report reflects the collective will of the Ogoni people.

Baridam said the report captured the people’s demands for structured participation in oil production, renewed environmental cleanup, and a framework for sustainable development.

Oil was first commercially discovered in Oloibiri, Ogoniland, in 1958. However, exploration stopped in 1993 following sustained protests against environmental degradation and injustice.

The Ogoni Four refers to four traditional chiefs from the Ogoni community in Rivers State who were murdered on May 21, 1994, in the village of Giokoo.

The killings took place against the backdrop of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People campaign, led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, which had been mobilising the Ogoni against oil companies, particularly Shell, and the Nigerian state.

The subsequent struggles of Ogoni leaders to protect their environment from harmful oil exploration were met with severe repression, culminating in the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine other leaders by the Abacha regime in 1995.

The Punch

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UK PM Burnham Unveils 10-Year Plan, Begins Cabinet Overhaul

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3 days ago

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July 21, 2026

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The new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, on Monday, unveiled a 10-year plan to tackle the country’s economic and social challenges as he began reshaping his government, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves among senior ministers leaving the Cabinet.

In his first speech outside 10 Downing Street, Burnham said his government would introduce measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis, end rough sleeping, build more council homes and devolve more powers away from Westminster.

“This moment will be a circuit breaker for Britain,” Burnham said, adding that details of the government’s cost-of-living package and how it would be funded would be announced from Tuesday.

According to the BBC, Reeves announced on X that she was stepping down as Chancellor of the Exchequer, describing it as “the privilege of my life” to have served in the role. The broadcaster reported that Burnham had offered her another senior cabinet position, but she declined.

The cabinet reshuffle also saw Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, Housing Secretary, Steve Reed and Business Secretary, Peter Kyle leave government as Burnham assembled his own team.

Speaking to reporters after his Downing Street address, Burnham said he would examine the tax-free personal allowance ahead of his first Budget in the autumn but acknowledged that raising the threshold would have significant fiscal implications.

He also pledged to reform England’s social care system, saying he did not want to leave office without fixing a problem that had persisted for decades, while reaffirming his commitment to existing fiscal rules.

The BBC also reported that Burnham held his first conversation with a foreign leader after taking office, speaking with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The resignation of the outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was leaving office “with good grace” and “a smile.”

Burnham is expected to continue announcing appointments to his new Cabinet as his administration takes shape, according to the BBC.

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Finance Minister Oyedele Defends Nigeria’s Rising Debt

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3 days ago

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July 21, 2026

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Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has clarified the sharp increase in Nigeria’s public debt.

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance on the state of the nation’s economy on Monday, Oyedele attributed the increase to naira depreciation and accounting adjustments rather than fresh borrowing by the Bola Tinubu administration.

Oyedele was responding to questions from the senator representing Kebbi Central, Adamu Aliero, over claims that the current administration had borrowed about N80 trillion in addition to the N75 trillion public debt it inherited.

According to the minister, comparing the country’s debt stock at the start of the administration with the current figure without accounting for exchange rate movements created a misleading impression.

“When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare that figure with today’s debt stock and conclude that this government has borrowed massively.

“However, it is important to note that, following the reforms and the depreciation of the naira, the foreign currency component of our public debt had to be revalued because Nigeria reports its debt in Naira. That accounting adjustment alone added more than N40 trillion to the public debt figure,” he said.

He added that the securitisation of the Ways and Means advances inherited from the previous administration also contributed significantly to the increase in the debt stock.

The minister further said that much of the government’s domestic borrowing was used to refinance existing debt rather than accumulate new obligations.

According to him, the Tinubu administration had adopted a prudent borrowing strategy focused on infrastructure and long-term economic growth.

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ADC Tells Tinubu to Resign As World Bank Reveals 139million Nigerians Live in Poverty

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4 days ago

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July 20, 2026

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Saturday asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign rather than seek re-election, asserting that the World Bank’s recent report showing that 139 million Nigerians live below the poverty line is his scorecard.

The ADC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the World Bank’s report, which also estimated that 17 million Nigerians are at risk of starvation, was “disturbing.”

“The evidence of 139 million people living in poverty and 17 million at risk of starvation is President Tinubu’s scorecard,” the party said. “On account of this catastrophic failure alone, President Tinubu should be contemplating resigning from office rather than seeking re-election.”

It decried that the “catastrophic” situation was occasioned by the Tinubu administration’s policies, which it said, “have favoured money over people and statistics over survival.”

The opposition party maintained that the economic growth Mr Tinubu’s government has repeatedly boasted of as a result of its economic reforms is “meaningless” if the livelihoods of people at the grassroots have yet to improve since 2023, when he assumed office.

“Instead of changing course, the government has stubbornly stuck with its ruinous economic policies and even continues to market recklessness as courage and wickedness as ‘necessary pains.’

“However, three years down the line, it is now clear that the chicken has come home to roost,” the ADC said.

According to the party, Nigeria desperately needs a leader who truly cares about citizens’ well-being and understands that economic reforms should improve citizens’ lives, not worsen their misery.

“A president whose government is not openly feasting while asking the people to continue fasting. A government that does not wallow in profligacy while handing the people palliatives,” it added.

The party condemned the ruling APC’s social intervention programmes aimed at cushioning the effects of its economic policies, adding, “Poverty cannot be defeated through palliatives.”

The ADC pledged that if elected in 2027, it would tackle the root causes of hunger by reducing energy costs, enhancing food production, and ensuring that farmers returned to their farmlands.

It also vowed to rehabilitate the 264 abandoned dams, improve access to fertilisers and quality seeds, and invest in storage facilities.

According to the party, transportation, waste, and food prices would be reduced while creating productive jobs.

“Hunger cannot be separated from poverty, education, or healthcare. That is why an ADC government will prioritise nutrition, primary healthcare, quality basic education, and skills development because no nation can build a prosperous economy while millions of its children are hungry, out of school, or cannot read simple texts,” the party said.

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