Images of Ebiraland

By Mathew Raji Andah For ten years, 1981-1991, there was a steady rise in their numbers. They were the beneficiaries of a contractual agreement, trained at the tertiary institutions of the host country. They studied hard to earn their PhDs or diplomas in medicine, engineering, economics, linguistics and other specialties. Upon graduation, many have gone back home, some have opted to travel to other parts of the world or stayed behind in the host country. Others failed to graduate, returned home, stayed behind or gone to overseas. No one knows exactly how many there are. Conservative estimate put their number at about a hundred. They are the Ebira-sovietniks. The Ebira-sovietniks who went home upon graduation--probably about 30 percent-- are making their mark in the academia, the medical, engineering and other professions. Those who failed to graduate before heading home have enrolled and did so at home upon arrival. To both group of returnees, readjustment and settling down was hard. T

Ismail M. Kabir, Lagos. Between controversial existence and a contentious exit. There are various sides to a story. For an event that happens with few or no significant eye witness, the news come in different versions; some partially correct, others completely cooked up. In some cases, such non-witnessed event pass round as rumour until eventually confirmed. Rumour it was, when a phone call from Okene announced the death of two famous Ebira youths! They were killed by the Police, reported the news. Being on a Sunday when nothing too special should ensue save for the usual church services and social functions, the news sounded as the most unexpected, as a matter of fact, incredible! The thought of losing such youths on an ordinary day like Sunday undoubtedly was the reason for the astonishment. Not a single person of Ebira origin, within or outside the soil would believe such shocker upon first hearing. Text messages, phone calls and of course physical enquiries lingered, all in an atte

Sunday Williams, Abuja A group has proposed the creation of gainful employment opportunities at the Ajaokuta Steal Company and the National iron Ore Mining Company for youths in Ebiraland as a panacea to the recurring violence in the Kogi State Central Senatorial Zone. The proposal was contained in a communiqué by the Righteous On-lookers Association issued at the end of a peace parley on communal crises in Ebiraland which was convened by the president of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Moses Bello. The group said "for a long term measure for peace in Ebiraland, there must be the creation of gainful employment opportunities for the youths through the ASCL & NIOMCO and other places. Serious youths should be encouraged to develop educationally." The senatorial zone has been plagued by widespread violence which has claimed lives and property. In a proposal for a lasting solution in Ebiraland by Ahmed Adoke, the group's patron, it called for re-orientation programm

We congratulate Abdulmalik Badamasuiy on his prestigious appointment as the Special Assistant (Diplomacy and Bilateral Cooperation) to the Honourable Minister/Deputy Chairman of National Planning Commission, Abuja. See full profile here . We wish him success in the discharge of his duties. Malik's recent paper. Click to view "NTU has enabled me to grow personally as well as academically, enabling me to achieve things that I did not think possible" - Abdulmalik Badamasuiy. ( Read more about Abdulmalik's impact at Nottingham Trent University here ) . When on December 14th, 1969, friends and family members of Badamasuiy gathered for the naming of a ‘bouncing’ baby boy in Adavi, Kogi state, little did they know that the Boy will be highly respected by the Government and people of Texas in the United States. Even his childhood did not give an inkling of a rising star. Eloquent and courageous, he always left footprint of an unrepentant advocate of a equal

After the police storm, Ogaminana now wears this horrific look: One of the hijacked GIHL trucks Deserted homes around Inorere area Ogu Unoko (pot market) of the famous Ohu Ogaminana ridden with police bulltes Some of the hijacked trucks Youths step out of their hideouts, after the raid One of the burnt homes around Uhucheba (the worst hit) One of the Okada (Motorbikes) repair shop burnt down by the Police One of the burnt shops, around Oziokutu The remnant of Ohu Ogaminana (Ogaminana main market) Inorere, a shadow of its old self A family compound burnt in Uhucheba A humiliated community, Uhucheba in sorrow Asema compound razed by the Police A humiliated Uhucheba

Ismail M. Kabir, Reporting from Lokoja. With Shaky hands, I tried to take snapshots of the ghostly sight of Ogaminana. The town was aglow with commercial and social activities on my way to Lokoja from Okene, about 20 hours earlier. Along the Idanuhua road, I saw two long vehicles laden with Iron ore, parked in the middle of the road. Upon inquiry, I was told they were the hijacked vehicles conveying iron ore from Itakpe Iron ore Minning project. I couldn't get hold of my camera to take the shots, I planned to do so upon my return, but as fate would have it, Ogaminana has worn a horrific look before my return. In a commando-styled reaction to the loss of one of their colleagues in a gun battle between the police and Ebira youths following the hijack of GIHL trucks conveying Iron ore from Itakpe to Warri, Nigerian Police turned Ogaminana community of Adavi LG, Kogi State into a shadow of itself. About 20 lives were lost, Motor Vehicles numbering about 50 were burnt to ashes while mo

Teddy Nwanunobi (Leadership), Abuja The crisis that have been rocking the nation's steel sector may well be at its end, as there are indications that Indian steel giant, the Global Infrastructure Holding (Nig.) Limited, would be stripped off the rights of control over the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and the Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO). This follows the recommendation of the committee set up by the Federal Government to probe the concession and later purchase agreement between government and GIHL on the two steel companies to terminate the agreement with immediate effect. It would be recalled that the minister of mines and steel development, Chief Sarafadeen Isola, had, on the orders from the presidency, set up a 5-man committee on October 30, 2007 to into the Concession and Share Sale/Purchase Agreement that was entered into between government and the Indian steel company. LEADERSHIP can authoritatively report that the report of the Mallam Magaji Inua-led