A man, simply identified as Obinna, has lost his life while sleeping in his apartment during a fire incident in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State.

The Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.

He said that the incident happened on Saturday at 7:30 p.

Hundeyin said that the Oke-Odo Division received a distress call from a resident of the house concerning the incident.

“After a distress call was received, the Divisional Police Officer immediately visited the scene with operatives of the division.

“Fire service was contacted on phone and by the time the fire was put out, a tenant, who was sleeping in his room got burnt and died in the fire incident.

“The pictures of the victim and the building were taken,” he said.

The image maker said that the corpse had been evacuated and deposited at the morgue at General Hospital in Yaba for post mortem examination.

The spokesperson said that the cause of the fire was not yet known.

According to him, investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident. (NAN)

By Adams Samuel, Abuja.

About 225 Nigerian youths have graduated from the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG).

The School of Politics, Policy, and Governance (SPPG) is an unconventional school designed to attract, develop and produce a new generation of political leaders who will listen and serve the new class of citizens who know their rights.

The 2024 graduation ceremony with the theme: “People, Politics, Policies and the Power of Words,” took place over the weekend at the Musa Yar’Adua centre in Abuja.

Delivering her keynote address, world renowned and multiple global award winning author, Chimamanda Adichie urged the graduands to use the knowledge and skills acquired in transforming the political and leadership sphere of Nigeria and the Africa continent at large.

She said the graduands in making the desired difference must be upright, fearless and always speak the truth to powers as well as using their voices to build the strength in the multi-ethnicity of Nigeria for the country’s growth, development and progress.

“Remember that living in a multiethnic country means being very considerate, I want you always to speak the truth.

“We, the very younger generation are now participating in rhetoric that is very dangerous for the unity of the country, it should not be so. Nigeria can in fact co-exist as a united multiethnic state. It is people like you that can make it happen.

“I hope that as you graduate, you will continue to say it is not okay that we have the kind of political conversations that some times happen in Nigeria. I urge you to opt out of it and say I am not going to do this or be part of it 

“The best kind of change happens when people say it is not okay,” she said.

The Founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili said, upcoming leaders must be knowledgeable enough in all aspects of life, policy and administration if they must change the existing narrative of politics and governance in Nigeria and Africa.

Dr. Ezekwesili noted that as trained leaders with the required tools to take Africa by storm, they must be ready to face resistance.

“We don’t want new breed politicians and leaders from SPPG without the knowledge of economics and economic policy,” she said.

The Chief Executive Officer, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, Alero Ayida-Otobo who asked the graduands not to forget the knowledge acquired during the ten months  hectic studies said, the certificate they were awarded is a call to action and responsibility for the change all Nigerians have been longing to see.

She urge them to be the unconventional leaders that create meaningful impact, shape policies, challenge injustice among other vices.

” I implore you to relentlessly pursue a future that marks you as different, to be value-driven public leader.

“As you embark on your leadership journey, please, I urge you to champion sustainable development, critical analyse information, engage in respectful discuss, listen to opposing views, collaborate across sectors and most importantly, foster inclusive solution,” Ayida-Otobo concluded.

The graduation ceremony also has a bilingual literature on politics, policy and governance written in English and French unveiled for the use of about 20 countries with SPPG in Africa and beyond

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has clinched all 23 local government chairmanship seats in the local government elections conducted in Benue on Saturday.

The Chairman, Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), Mr Richard Tombowua, announced the results on Sunday in Makurdi.

Tombowua said that the APC also won all 276 councillorship seats in the state.

The chairman said that the election held in all the 5,102 polling units in the state spread across 276 council wards in the 23 local governments.

According to him, the results brought in by the 23 local government electoral officers show that APC won all the seats, which were keenly contested by five other political parties.

“A total of eight political parties participated in the elections, but in the field only five participated, which are APC, APGA, LP, PDP, and SDP.

“There is no local government where there was a candidate that was returned unopposed; every local government election is contested the same thing with the ward council,” he said. (NAN)