NEWS
Stop Crying for My Late Husband- Adebayo’s Wife
Mrs Alice Adebayo, widow of the late Chief Jide Adebayo, had appealed to family members, friends, sympathisers and Omu-Aran Community to stop crying.
Adebayo made the appeal in her tributes at the funeral service for the former Acting Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the 2nd ECWA Church, Agamo in Omu-Aran, Kwara, on Saturday.
The in her tributes at the said that instead, they should intensify their prayers and have believe that Adebayo has gone to rest.
She said: “I want to thank everyone, the Church, family members, friends and Omu-Aran Community for your support and assistance.
“You have assisted us with your prayers, with finances and word of advises.
“God will uphold our families; you have done what need to be done to safe his life, but our God the creator knows our movement.
“Even, doctors did their best to save his life. My husband was always promoting family values wherever he found himself.
“I want to appeal to us to stop crying, but to intensify our prayers and have the believe that he has gone to rest. Almighty God will uphold our families.”
Also, a friend of Adebayo, Alhaji Funsho Salawu, in his own tributes, said: “He lived a very good lives.
“The volumes of condolences since his demise is an extraordinary and unprecedented.
“We have lost somebody who is very difficult to replace; he was a personification of humility and kindness.
“Omu-Aran Government Secondary School (GSS) has lost a worthy ambassador and a rare gem and humanity has lost one of his finest.
“May God Almighty console his friends, family and the entire Omu-Aran community.”
Also, Rev. S.O Adewumi, the new Chairman, 2nd ECWA Church, Agamo, District Church Council, Omu-Aran, said that Adebayo did the best he could do while alive.
Adewumi said Adebayo had done what his family and the community could be proud of, adding it may be painful today, but happiness is coming.
“I want every one of us to remember that death is inevitable; whatever we do we shall be accountable to God,” he said.
Mr Charles Aniyikaye, on behalf of the Choir, 2nd ECWA Church, said that Adebayo was the Life Choir Patron of the Church.
“He was always passionate about the church welfare and it’s members.
“Whenever we have programmes, he would be the one to call his friends one by one to donate to the church.
“Not until Thursday, it has never occurred to us that Chief Jide Adebayo can just died without bidding us good bye.
“He was a brilliant journalist, who commanded high sense of reasoning and wisdom in his chosen career.
“We are consoled by the fact that most people in Jide Adebayo’s shoes, mostly died young, even our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified at his prime.
“His memory will remain evergreen in our hearts for a long time.
“He was installed on the Sept.9, 2012 as our life Patron and he has been very dedicated, committed and selfless in his contributions to the church and humanity.”
Mr Buki Ponle, Managing Director of the agency, had described the death of Adebayo as devastating.
Ponle, in a condolence visit to Adebayo’s residence in Idimu, Lagos on Friday, said that Adebayo’s exit was painful.
“His demise is causing a pain too deep to bear, especially in the NAN family.
“At 66, he is too young to die, as he was full of life,” Ponle said.
L-R Alhaji Funsho Salaudeen, Alhaji Musa Salami, Dr K.K Salau and Omu-Aran Development Association’s President, Maj Gen Lasisi Abidoye (rtd) during a Church Service for late Ex-NAN Acting MD, Chief Jide Adebayo on Saturday in Omu-Aran at the 2nd ECWA Church.
The managing director, represented on the visit by Mr Ephraims Sheyin, Head, NAN Lagos Operations, said that the deceased was loved by all because he showed empathy.
“He touched lives and ensured justice and equity. He was an effective mobiliser.
“While I pray for the soul to rest in peace, I pray God to give the Omu Aran community in Kwara, where he governed as Prime Minister, as well as the wife and children, the fortitude to bear the loss,” he said.
Ponle said that the entire journalism profession, particularly NAN, would miss the contributory role of Adebayo in the development of the profession.
The deceased’s widow, who received the NAN delegation, thanked the NAN managing director for the great show of love since her husband took his exit.
“I am also overwhelmed with the deep affection by the NAN family in spite of the fact that my husband left the Agency several years ago.
“Practically the whole NAN family is here. Those that are not here have been calling to commiserate with us. We are grateful and shall remain grateful,” she said.
Until he retired from the services of the Agency six years ago, Adebayo served as acting Managing Director, first Executive Director, Marketing Department, and Head, Lagos Operations.
He also served as sports editor and covered the 1998 world cup held in France. (NAN).
Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged President Bola Tinubu to reduce the price of petrol to N300 per litre ,to make things easy for Nigerians during the festive season.
George, the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland, made this plea at an interactive session with newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.
The price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, is currently above N1,000 per litre.
According to the elder statesman,Nigerians are going through hardship, the President should give an order to reduce fuel price, specifying time frame the people will enjoy such window of relief.
He said that the federal government as well as well- meaning individuals and businesses could bear the cost of such price slash , to bring happiness to all Nigerians.
The PDP leader, who noted that December and January are special months , said that such gesture could start from the middle of December and run through January.
“I have been thinking, as a Nigerian, what can we do because the anger and the hunger are almost equal on the streets of Nigeria.
“What am I suggesting is that Mr President should sit down with his managers and give an order that from the middle of December to the end of January, the cost of petrol will be N300 per litre.
“The government can absorb the losses in the interest of the suffering people.
“If they (government) want others to contribute, let us know how much that is going to cost and ask people to donate, to bear the cost.
“We will be sending a lot of messages of happiness across the tribes and homes.
“Everybody in Nigeria will be happy because it will positively impact on this period of the year. It is a challenge and he (Tinubu) can do it.
“We need this in this December and January to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians, ” George, a PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) life member, said.
Advising the President to take further measures to bring relief to the people, he said that the gesture would crash prices of essential commodities and services for the benefit of all .
He said that government’s efforts should be concentrated on reducing high inflation rate, unemployment, poverty and youth restlessness in order to create a better future for Nigerians
Speaking on the recent presidential election in Ghana, George noted that Nigeria’s electoral system needed reforms to guard against electoral frauds and manipulations.
According to him, the nation will continue to grope for development if the system fails to encourage best candidates to emerge.
Stating that election must reflect the wishes of the people and be devoid of religious and tribal sentiments, George said that Ghana election should be a wake up call for Nigeria.
“INEC performance must improve. The commission must make sure that the voice of the people is heard in elections.
“Electoral offenders should be made to face the music and sent to jail. We must be very firm about due process, credibility and transparency in elections,” he said.
Urging the President to revisit resolutions in the 2014 Constitutional Conference, George said that the current constitution was not federal in principle and practice.
“We should not deceive ourselves, the constitution is a problem. It is a military constitution, it is not democratic,” he said.
George called on the National Assembly to ensure devolution of powers and electoral reforms that would do away with manual collation of election results and mandate electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
George disagreed with political watchers saying no vacancy in presidency in 2027.
On the dwindling strength of the former ruling party, George, who noted that all organisations had its ups and downs, said that selfish interests and disregard for party rules remained PDP’s major challenge.
He said that PDP could bounce back and win presidential election if the leadership decided to elevate national interest above selfish interests and adhere to the party’s constitution.
“We will tell ourselves some serious old truth. We messed ourselves up. ” he said.
Stating, however, that the PDP was not dead, George said that lack of justice, equity, fairness and the inability to adhere to the party’s zoning and rotational principle cost the party victory in 2023.
Calling on the party’s founding fathers alive to wake up and rescue the party, George said that Nigerians were still waiting for the former ruling party to take over power and put things right. (NAN)
President Bola Tinubu, is set to perform the groundbreaking of 2,000 housing units of the Renewed Hope City in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, in the next few weeks.
Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, announced this during an official assessment visit, on Wednesday in Lagos
Dangiwa said Lagos would represent the South-west, while the president would do that of the North-West in Kano, before doing that of the four other regions.
“Arrangements is already on ground, we have gotten sites, and work has commenced for 2000 houses in the Renewed Hope City that we intend to build in Ibeju-Lekki,” he said.
Towards achieving the set goal, the minister said the visiting team also paid a courtesy visit to Gov.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu to discuss area of collaboration between the federal and state governments.He disclosed that the federal and Lagos state governments had agreed to set up a Tripartite committee and ensure all the issues of concerns between the parties were resolved amicably for the benefit of all.
Earlier, the Minister embarked on an assessment visit of deplorable Federal Government buildings and assets across Lagos state in a bid to commence rehabilitation on them in a few months.
Dangiwa said the rehabilitation was necessary as the deplorable buildings posed a challenge and security concerns to the Lagos state government. (NAN)
Gov. Hyacinth Alia on Wednesday presented the sum of N550.1bn as the 2025 appropriation bill to the Benue State House of Assembly for consideration and passage into law.
Alia told the lawmakers that out of the total budget size, N175.4 billion is for recurrent expenditure while the N374.
7 billion is for capital expenditure.The governor said that the total estimate represented a 47.
5 per cent increment over the 2024 revised and approved figure of N373 billion.He stated that the appropriation bill tagged “Budget of Human Capital Development, Food Security, and Digital Economy” was to consolidate the gains made in 2024.
Alia further explained that the proposed recurrent expenditure of N175.
4 billion was 13.55 per cent higher than the previous year.According to him, budgeted capital expenditure of N374.7 billion represents a 71.5 per cent increment on the 2024 revised capital expenditure.
“The budget breakdown indicated that the sum of N212.2 billion, representing 38.52 per cent is for administration; N196.6 billion, representing 35.68 per cent is for the economy; law and justice will take N26.6 billion, representing 4.84 per cent while social welfare will gulp N115.5 billion, representing 20.96 per cent.
“We have the vision. We have the will. And most importantly, we have the people ready to work alongside us to turn this vision into reality.
“Together, we will build a state where every citizen has the opportunity to succeed, where food is plentiful, and where the digital economy opens new frontiers of opportunity for all,” he said.
The governor said the intention of the government was to stay within the limits of its recurring revenue to build the state without accruing unnecessary debts for generations unborn.
He, however, said that since the 2025 budget was a deficit one, it proposed a borrowing plan of a conservative sum of N26bn, representing a modest 4.7 per cent of the proposed aggregate expenditure for 2025.
“This is lower than the state’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 8.2 per cent which is within the benchmark of the 25 per cent debt sustainability threshold.
“Despite these favourable debt ratios, I want to reiterate that borrowing will only be considered as a last resort and for regenerative investment purposes,” he added.
Alia stated that the problem of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remained a challenge, adding that they have reasonably improved their living conditions.
He said the Bureau of International Cooperation and Development has elicited substantial grants from donors, totalling N85bn. (NAN)
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