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My Binoculars: Remembering Journalist Ambassador Udigwe

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Binoculars: Of security, military, intelligence and non-kinetic Comradeship against a common enemy in the north east war theatre

My Binoculars: Remembering Journalist Ambassador Udigwe

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Udigweeee as I called him when alive was a calm and gentle man. He was a non-conformist in the newsroom of Abuja Newsday newspaper in the year 1991 when I decided to move to Abuja to deepen my exposure in the journalism profession. Ambassador Udigwe was a good human angle writer that inspired me as a cub reporter. But his greatest strength was his investigative skills. In my profession, you are either a good investigator or a good writer. Very few possessed the two strengths. But all of us have our unique strengths depending on which genre you choose. I choose the print where I can perfect the two without too much proprietorial interference.

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I was just a cub in the writing business but he took interest in me when I agreed to cross over with my Lagos bureau Chief Martins Oloja who was promoted Editor of the paper in Wuse. He would send me on errands at times and I would gladly do them for him. For a senior colleague, Udigwe’s simplicity spoke volumes because he could blend with all regardless of status. He was not a psychological bully.

One day he dragged me to his usual relaxation joint where he drank fresh palm wine. We sat down and I was served the white drink in a calabash. I gladly turned it down because I was not into that kind of indulgence then. He smiled and asked why. I said, sorry Udigwe, I stopped drinking because it was not suitable for my persona. “My brain was too light for Alcohol because just a bottle could disfigure me” I told him so he laughed and ordered “Abacha” an Igbo delicacy which I ate for the first time in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). 

My refusal of the drink did not make him sideline me as others would have done. He asked them to bring something non alcoholic for me. I did drink and he was happy that I was beginning to hang out which is one of the last times to gather information in our profession. He took me to some of his key assignments and taught me some tricks which are still in my brain 30 years later.

In one of our visits, he told me that he was a pure “wawa man” from the Oji river area of Enugu when I asked why he despised wearing English suits or complete native attires with a cap to match our official dresses. And that palm wine was the water with which abacha was washed down people’s throats from where he came from. The wawa people then were looked down upon by the metropolitan igbos of Enugu township because like gwaris who ran away from modernization, they too kept off too much of western civilization. They had this Okonkwo mentality painted by Chinwe Achebe  in ” things fall apart” that the white man was always out to divide them so they despised his ways.

My Editor, then Martin’s Oloja and news Editor Clement Wasa never knew this but I learnt so much about simplicity from Ambassador. He was to me a special Igbo breed who never saw me from any other prism but a young colleague eager to learn. In contemporary parlance I would call him an “obidient” professional with a Peter Obi kind of detribalised mind set.

DEATH OF UDIGWE

I was devastated when he died suddenly before my other friend Alifa Daniel left us in Newsday for the Concord newspaper which business man Moshood Abiola had just started. Alifa was a bit private, not the hanging out type but has remained a friend till this day. Martins Oloja was my boss and we had mostly official relationships so I had to settle for Jok Shok who introduced me into core unionism when he became the secretary of the Nigerian Union of Journalism NUJ FCT council under Ndamadu Sule as chair and later the Chair of the council. That was when I started honing my non-conformist skills tapped from Udigwe. As long as that thing is wrong you can’t get Udigwe to do it. He was very informal so we blended and sometimes laughed at formalities.

One day just like a meteorite my friend Udigwe died after a protracted illness. It’s been 30 years since he bowed out of this world. Into the looniness of eternity. 

Sadly, I later learnt that he was not married and had no child around to replace him. I never had the opportunity to ask why he didn’t have a nuclear family because it was not an issue after he took me as a kid brother and family. In fact the Newsday family was his home especially where Elsie Tobrise used to torment him about his sometimes awkward dress sense. Sometimes Udigwe will dress like a real wawa traditionalist but I had no issue with that. Because that was Udigwe for you. Always smiling under heavy newsroom pressure or even a query for missing a report. I can never forget his infectious smiles. As if I was his first son.

Have your rest, big brother journalist Ambassador till we meet to part no more. You touched my life.

My Binoculars: Remembering Journalist Ambassador Udigwe

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NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

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NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

By: Balami Lazarus 

The piece is written with an understanding of the capital market, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Group Exchange (NGX).  I am a part owner of some listed companies, a bona fide shareholder, and a member of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN). Therefore, I believe that this will open the eyes of someone out there to this profitable and protected business investment through the laws, rules, and regulations under the watch of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria. 

Recently, my friend and I were listening to the Network News on NTA at 9 a.m. when business news came up on the capital market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. My friend was not following the simple breakdown of the transactions known as deals, which quickly informed me he was a novice in the activities of the capital market, its transactions, and the lush investment opportunities that abound therein. 

However, students of business and financial management are aware of shares, common stocks, bonds, and other securities instruments available on the floor of the capital market for investors to take positions in the shares of the companies listed for daily trading at the stock exchange market. To my knowledge, some people are ignorant of the investment windows in the stock market and how they are done and carried out, where your money, time, and patience work in your favor depending on how you position yourself in the market as either a long-term, mid-term, or short-term investor. 

There are differences between capital markets and financial institutions. Financial institutions are the banks, while capital markets are the stock exchange floors where sellers and buyers transactions are expressly carried out on their behalf by brokers through securities firms, provided that they are mandated to do so by their clients, who are the investors. 

Common stocks have been the backbone of the capital market. Owership of common shares by individuals, directly or indirectly, has built individual wealth, which has helped in the expansion of the Nigerian Business Environment (NBE)..     

Therefore, investment in the capital market is safe and secure because investors are highly protected by the laws of the land. Interestingly, as a shareholder, you are a part owner of the company. “When you invest in common stock of a company, you become a part owner of the company.” This makes you a direct owner of a portion, with the privileges thereof provided by law.

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist: 08036779290

NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

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Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

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Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima's partnership will continue beyond 2027

Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

Dr. James BWALA

Some politicians and their calculations of events, incidents, and expectations leading to the 2027 presidential elections have so far exposed their wicked agenda against the Tinubu-Shettima partnership and the recreation of good governance in Nigeria. History has recorded beautiful scenarios that this administration has brought to play in changing the old narratives of governance in Nigeria. And we have seen these numerous plays, from the dollar narratives to market trading and the ideas of price control. Tinubu and Shettima’s table of governance has been full of ideas, and the partnerships have been supportive of mutual respect. But evil hunters in the political domain would always prefer the idea of scattering the table to put leaders afar just to gain their mutually conceived and derailing ideas into play.

It is laughable to compare reasons for Tinubu’s needs as Governor of Lagos State when he replaced Kofoworola Bucknor as Deputy Governor with Femi Pedro in 2002, who served with him until 2007. That was Lagos, and this is Nigeria, for which the ground and outlook are miles apart and the North is not against itself. For sometimes, some politicians in the game of Troy have fashioned for themselves a belief on the contrary to Mr. President’s thinking towards achieving many goals he had been working alongside his vice president to achieve and make history not only for Nigeria but also for themselves.

Never in the history of Nigeria have the two first families been seen coming together from the days of struggling to power to governance, as demonstrated by the Tinubu and the Shettima families. Long before now, the two leaders had built a relationship of trust and respect that fortified their wine of understanding despite forces from within and outside the party they are leading today. The calls from such separatists did not start today, and nothing they do can amount to this administration losing focus on giving over two hundred million Nigerians the desired dividends of democracy, and neither Tinubu nor Kashim Shettima are losing focus on their promises to Nigeria.

The idea they are circulating on social media for 2027 and the possibility of the vice president being replaced by Kwankwaso from the Northwest by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was a fabrication of their own imagination. Who are those powerful people around Tinubu who got his mind on what they were trying to sell on social media? And what also do they know about the discussions Tinubu and Kashim Shettima are having when they meet behind closed doors to share their views on governance? 

The NNPP presidential aspirant, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has made it crystal clear during his campaign that he cannot be VP to anyone given his pedigree and belief in the political circle, even at a time when he has a better opportunity to bargain with the APC. Despite the outcome of the 2023 general election and the crowd he seemed to have pulled for the NNPP, the Ganduje factor still speaks loud even as of today. And politics in Kano has many faces, which has recorded a time when great politicians have failed to deliver even the Almighty Kwankwasiya movement. As such, Kwankwaso, even though he is not speaking publicly, cannot have an effect on the Tinubu and Kashim Shettima relationship and partnership in leading Nigeria to the Promise Land.

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I believe these mischief makers are already putting Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s administration on trial, as they did promise to do so both in court and in public opinion. The court case that the former governor of Kano State and National Chairman of the APC is having has nothing to do with the presidency and the administration of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima except that Ganduje belongs to the APC family and holds a vintage position in the party. These criminals in political circles are trying to pin the case on the party or the presidency to the effect that they are claiming that the move to dethrone Ganduje was equally a move to replace Kashim Shettima as VP in 2027.

The 2027 presidential election will come and go like any other election before it, and we shall be witnesses to the fact of history that the Tinubu and Kashim Shettima administration have recorded, which shall speak for them in the deciding factor. No one, either in person or group, can change the destiny of Tinubu’s golden boy.

** James BWALA, PhD writes from Abuja

Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

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Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

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Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

By: Dr. James BWALA

Although the commissioner for information in Borno State refused to mention in his statement those NGOs trying to malign the Zulum administration’s efforts towards the internally displaced people, IDP, a video in circulation with the confession of one of the arrested suspects alleges that an international INGO with the name ALIMA and others are behind the numerous fire outbreaks being experienced at various IDP camps across the state lately. 

It could be recalled that on one of his outings, to support the IDPs in Borno, the governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, received hurtful news of such experiences that made him lose it. But I ask again: why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps? A statement reads:

PUBLIC NOTICE ON SUSPECTED CASES OF FIRE INCIDENCES IN IDP CAMPS IN BORNO STATE 

The Borno State Government has received situation reports (SITREPs) from reliable sources regarding suspected cases of fire outbreaks in some IDP camps within the state. This recent rise in the frequency of infernos in IDP camps has been a matter of concern, and all hands are on deck to forestall any further occurrence of fire outbreaks in the state. The government has been investigating the occurrence of the infernos on a case-by-case basis, with a view to establishing the remote and extant causes and developing a strategy to stem future occurrences.

On March 29, 2024, the Ministry of Information and Internal Security received a report in which a suspect admitted that he and his “co-conspirators” were “hired” by some NGOs (names withheld) to set IDP camps on fire. This matter is under investigation, and further necessary action shall only be taken on the basis of the outcome of the investigation. Those arrested are in detention undergoing intensive interrogation, while the NGOs who were pinpointed in the alleged violent practice have been summoned for preliminary interrogation.

The government assures members of the public that this matter will receive appropriate and expedited attention, and any culprit will be dealt with according to the law. 

Meanwhile, members of the public are urged to be calm, peaceful, and law-abiding. Any breach of security should be reported to the nearest law enforcement agency or traditional rulers for transmission to the relevant authority.

*Announcer*

Prof. Usman Tar,

Honourable Commissioner, 

Ministry of Information and Internal Security, Borno State

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I have worked in a camp while working with some INGOs in Maiduguri, sometimes before returning to the field as a journalist. I can say without mincing words that some INGOs can do everything possible to keep their jobs. However, I am pained by such a move at the detriment of the efforts and support of the people of Borno State and Governor Babagana Umara Zulum. If there are such NGOs, they must be exposed! 

The government of Borno State and its resilient people have suffered enough in the last 13 years of insurgency. It is not a palatable experience for the governor to be moving from one point to another, trying to see that his people are met with the needed support and shelter after having fled their homes in the wake of the death harvest by agents of darkness. Governor Zulum has become a touring governor on mines fields with sweat-sucked clothes, trying to reach out to the needy across the landmines field. As such, he does not deserve this sabotaging move by the organization, which should also come to help as well.

The suspect, who made mention of the names of INGOs sponsoring the outbreak of fire in IDP, should be thoroughly investigated because some are also alleging that he could have actually been under duress to mention the names of some organization as a result of the beating he received. If at all that was the case, these partners alledgedly in crime can be acquitted; otherwise, they actually should not have a place to operate in the state or anywhere else on Nigeria’s soil because the need for them is to help our people and not to add salt to injury in a place where deaths mounted.

James BWALA, PhD, writes from Abuja.

Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

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