Bayelsa State governor Hon. Seriake Dickson has been hailed for giving Late General Andrew Owoye Azazi a hero’s burial.
First daughter of the deceased, Mrs. Akpo-olade Madeline Okoro, made the commendation while paying tribute to her late father at the service of songs in honour of General Azazi in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
Describing her father as a courageous, selfless, intelligent and caring man who impacted positively on so many lives during his lifetime, Mrs. Okoro particularly lauded President Goodluck Jonathan and all those who stood by the family in their moment of grief.
She said General Azazi was a man who could stand before his contemporaries and speak the truth regardless of the consequences.
According to Mrs. Okoro, she received the news of her father’s death while overseas and expressed optimism that the legacies of her father left behind will inspire them to greater heights.
In his remarks, Deputy Governor of the state, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd), said the demise of General Azazi was an overwhelming loss to the state and Nigeria as a whole.
Making reference to the ill-fated helicopter crash, he prayed against the recurrence of such a tragic incident in the state.
Former Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, eulogized General Azazi, as a man who lived a life of service to humanity, noting that his demise is an indication that all mortals are on a journey on earth, which will come to an end one day.
Describing the deceased as a treasured friend, Chief Alamieyeseigha recalled when he first met the late Four-Star General in 1973 at the Nigerian Defence Academy and how their meeting made him (Alamieyeseigha) a better cadet at Academy.
Also paying glowing tributes, General Bob Ake, the only surviving General of the three from Peretorugbene community, said the former National Security Adviser was an Icon and a source of pride not only to the Ijaw Nation and Nigeria but to the entire sub region of Africa.
Speaking, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Kaduna State, Elder Abokie Galadima, described the death of former Governor Patrick Yakowa and Azazi as an act of God.
He said that the testimonies about both personalities were a pointer to the fact that they lived worthy lifestyles, stressing the need to sustain the channels of communication between the two states established by the duo.
In his homily, Very Reverend Father, Joseph Opelema, emphasized the need for mankind to exhibit kindness at all times as death can come calling anytime.
He enjoined the family and people of the state to take solace in the fact that Azazi lived a fulfilled life and left behind worthy legacies.
Dignitaries at the service include, President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Dame Patience, Governor Seriake Dickson and wife, Rachael, Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Rivers and Delta states, National Assembly members and other top government officials.
About 200 students may have been expelled by the authorities of Covenant University, Cannanland, Ota, Ogun State, recently for what was described as “disregard of paramount core values.”
A source said while the Education Secretary, Prof. Aize Obayan was addressing the students, the students were murmuring, then the Chancellor immediately took to the microphone and said: “if I hear the voice of any student, the curse of the Lord shall fall upon that one.” The chapel immediately went dead silent.
Frustrated and angered by the development, some of the affected students gave account of what happened as they battled emotions while narrating their situations.
Vanguard investigation revealed that out of the figure, about 126 were expelled for not attending the ‘departure service’, meant to sign off from the school after the end of the Semester and Matriculation of students on November 30. Five other students were thrown out for smoking while unconfirmed source said additional 60 got the same fate for violating other rules bordering on the University’s “core values”.
Also, a few others were given four weeks suspension for failure to sign the head count that was conducted a couple of weeks earlier.
A letter of expulsion signed by the Registrar, Ntia Ubong, stated that the affected students contravened Chapter 1, section 30, page 40 of the 2010-2014 Student Handbooks.
We gathered that the massive expulsion was predicated on the anger of the Chancellor, Bishop David Oyedepo who was said to have been infuriated after seeing students loitering around when they were supposed to be at the Chapel for the Departure Service.
He was said to have personally chased students to the Chapel and ordered for a search into all the halls and colleges to fish out those who did not attend the service.
Several attempts to get the school authorities comment on the issue proved abortive. The Institution’s Corporate Affairs Head, Mr. Igban Emmaunel also refused to comment as calls pulled through to him were unanswered and text messages not replied.
The students are calling on relevant authorities in the country to intervene in order to save their future.
How The Problem Started…
Few of the affected students gave account of what happened at different points. The similar accounts go thus:
“On November 30, the last day of the semester, preceding our December break, there was also a Matriculation for the 100 level students; in fact some students had their last semester exams on that day, some of them finished around 3:00pm while the matriculation started around 8am. Some students retired to their rooms to relax while some engaged in some other activities jubilating the end of the semester.
“Some also got drinks from the matriculating students. Even as these were going on, some students who finished around 3pm retired to their halls. By 5pm, they announced that we should get prepared for the ‘Departure service’ which was to start by 8pm. Some students were already seeing their parents off while some of us were just trying to relax to get off the stress of the exams.
“Most of us hadn’t gotten through the tiredness of the sleepless nights of the exams; so, some us stayed back in our rooms. The departure service is usually a day before we go home and it is usually presided over by the Chancellor. Before the commencement of the service, they used to lock up the main doors of the halls so as to prevent cases of theft. I was not bothered since there were a lot of us in the hall. Some minutes past 8pm, they switched off the light and all of us in the hall went into our rooms. Because of the darkness and the cold, I slept off immediately.”
He continued: “The persistent knocks on the door woke me up and I realised that they had come to search for people who had not come to service. Before I realised what was going on, I found myself with other students numbering about 30. They took down our names and counted us to make sure that no one was omitted. They said the Chancellor was at the service and we refused to come. I heard them talking about other halls and they asked us to wait. I didn’t take it seriously because I never believed in my wildest imagination that we would be expelled. We were later asked to go to our various halls.
“Some of those who went into hiding were lucky as they were not found. Shortly, those who went for the service returned and told us there was poor attendance at the Chapel and how students were diving in through the windows, scampering for seats. In fact, one narrated to us how the Chancellor jumped through the window to vent his anger on some students who had jumped in,” he stated.
Another expelled student also gave similar account of the incident:
“I couldn’t go to the service because, I was not feeling well which was as a result of the stress of the exams we had just finished. After a while, I managed to go but I heard that they started driving people back around 7:30pm while the service was to start around 8pm. I was surprised because the rule was that you’ve got to be seated 15minutes to the service. Again, it was never made compulsory, but they tried to get students out of the halls to prevent cases of theft. So, because I was not feeling well, I went back to my room because I needed to rest for a while.
“I thought it was a joke when they said we are in for expulsion because we failed to come for departure service. I have never done anything contrary to the school laws. I have never faced any panel before and neither did I have any unpleasant case in my file. I never thought it was real until letters were handed to me the following morning.”
Giving account of how letters were handed out to them, the visibly troubled student said:
“By 6am, they announced the names of those who were caught in halls and colleges. Usually after the departure service, one can sign out from there and go but because it ended late and no one could travel, students had to wait till the following morning. But the hall officer told those of us whose names were written down that if we leave, we should be considered gone from the university forever. That gave us an insight into what was likely to come as punishment. By 7:45am, we were called once again to go downstairs for our letters. Those who collected theirs before mine were crying and I wondered what the punishment could be until I read the letter stating I was expelled from the university.”
Parents Have Also Reacted…
A few parents who volunteered information spoke to us on condition of anonymity fearing that their children might be victimised in case the issue was resolved amicably. One of them said with bitterness that it is unacceptable, adding that the expulsion was not commensurate with the offence deemed to have been committed. He urged the school authorities to rescind its decision adding that the future of the students is at stake.
“For me, it is not acceptable. These students were not given fair hearing. Expulsion should not be a punishment for failure to attend service. We all agree, it is a Christian school but failure to attend church service could be due to a lot of reasons. I gathered that some of the students even finished their exams about 5pm that day. So, those people that finished at that time had barely three hours to prepare for the service.
“But stampeding them to congregate for service and then expelling those who did not come is a decision taken too far. For me, if there was poor attendance, I think the authorities have a responsibility. They have not been fair in putting the service so close to the examination. Even God will not do that.”
Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State may have lost one of his legs in the fatal road accident that immediately killed his aide. Doctors at the Lokoja Specialist Hospital where Mr. Wada received first aid treatment said his leg is “totally broken.”
The doctors said the governor was brought into the intensive care unit with a severely fractured femur, a senior government official said. He added that the doctors said the governor is in good condition and did not sustain major head or spinal cord injuries.
“There is hope,” he said.
The state government arranged for a helicopter which flew the governor to the National Hospital in Abuja, a source at the government house told PREMIUM TIMES.
The governor is in “serious pains,” the aide, who saw the governor at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, said.
The governor’s convoy was involved in an auto crash on Lokoja-Ajaokuta road, around Salem University on Friday afternoon.
The accident left his aide-de-camp dead, Idris Mohammed, and injured two other officials.
The cause of the accident is still unknown. The stretch of road where the accident occurred has no potholes – a major cause of accidents on Nigerian roads.
A witness told PREMIUM TIMES that the part of the road immediately before the accident spot had “banking issues.”
Banking is the necessary force that helps cars avoid skidding while moving on curved path/road.
Unknown gunmen on Friday attacked the Maiha Prison and Divisional Police Station in Maiha Local Government Area of Adamawa.
A resident of the town, who preferred anonymity, said in Maiha in Adamawa that the attack took place at about 3 am. on December 28. The source added that the attack also affected the Government Lodge and two courts, which were set ablaze by the gunmen.
The witness, however, could not confirm if there were casualties or if some prison inmates were released during the incident. Reacting to the development on phone, the state Controller of Prisons, Andrew Barka, confirmed the attack.
Mr. Barka, who declined to give details of the attack, however, said that he was on his way to Maiha. “I am on my way to Maiha with the Commissioner of Police,” Mr. Barka said.
The Police Commissioner, Godfrey Okeke, refused to speak about the issue, dismissing the reporter with, “Please I am busy for now, don’t disturb me.”
For the second day running, unknown gunmen have again struck and killed five persons in Borno state, bringing the total number of persons killed in pre dawn attacks in less than 48 hours to twelve.
The latest incident according to a statement by the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Maiduguri, Sagir Musa, occurred in Musari community – a village located at the outskirt of Maiduguri.
Mr. Musa said the gunmen sneaked into the community and “secretly carried out selective killings of five people including a serving Nigerian Police Traffic Warden”.
The JTF spokesperson said the incident happened in the early hours of Friday, between 1 – 3 a.m.
He also added that the JTF troops that responded to a distressed call came and arrested three of the suspected assailants and recovered 1 AK 47 Rifle with ten rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.
He said investigation has since commenced on the incident and the operation to apprehend fleeing members of the gang is ongoing.
It is recalled that a similar attack happened Thursday in various locations within Maiduguri, leading to the dead of at least six persons.
Also, Thursday, unknown assailants disguised as customers and killed a prominent business man in the city, Abubakar Girgiri Gashua in front of his store.
Today, we gather here to honour a true hero of the Ijaw Nation. We are here to pay our deepest respect to a great leader and national icon. For us in Bayesla State, the tragic, unfortunate and untimely death of General Andrew Owoye Azazi (CFRC) has created a huge vacuum that would be very difficult to fill. We have not only lost a kinsman, big brother, father, grandfather, friend and colleague; the Ijaw Nation has clearly lost one of its finest and very best! He was a patriot who gave his all!
That is why, as a government, we did not hesitate to declare him as a true hero of Ijaw land and one who is deserving of a heroic burial as his remains will be the first to be interred at the Heroes Park – an exclusive burial/final resting place reserved only for all true legends and heroes of the State. The Heroes Park, where General Azazi will be buried is a fitting tribute to his person and bears eloquent testimonies to the proud legacies and ideals that he was known and admired for. It will also serve as a constant reminder of his unblemished and outstanding record of service to the State and Nation.
To the wonderful family that he left behind, please be rest assured that our prayers will always be with you and you can count on our continued support and co- operation.
Truly, we have lost a visionary leader and statesman and there may be no greater tribute to General Azazi’s illustrious military career than the fact that he was a first class military officer, who rose through the ranks as a professional soldier and duly earned his place in the history of the Nigerian Army as the only decorated four star general who truly earned his rank. Upon his retirement from the army, he was appointed the National Security Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a position which further endeared him to the public as a thorough- bred intelligence officer with an uncommon insight. Undoubtedly, he left an indelible mark of service in this regard with a remarkable performance.
His career in the military was, no doubt, a feat and clearly he will be remembered as one of the most distinguished and outstanding officers of the Nigerian Army. And as the accolades continue to pour in to celebrate his noble stewardship from different quarters, we are further assured that General Azazi was really extraordinary, combining an enviable leadership character with a legacy of service and patriotism.
My family and I send our profound thoughts and prayers to General Azazi’s wife Alero, his children and grand children, to all members of his immediate and extended families and his loved ones.
General Andrew Owoye Azazi, an officer and a worthy gentleman, has finished his race but certainly his good deeds will remain in our hearts until we meet to part no more.
May the Almighty God grant our dear general eternal repose. Amen.
Urges Former President To Accept Incident With Philosophical Calmness
Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson has commiserated with former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo over the fire that gutted some sections of his hill top abode in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Hon. Dickson expressed serious concern shock and sadness over the inferno, describing it as temporary setback, coming at a time when Christians all over the world are still celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
He called on the elder statesman to accept what has happened with philosophical calmness and remain thankful to God for His mercies and kindness that no lives were lost.
He said the Government and people of Bayelsa State were deeply saddened by the incident and have remained prayerful to God to give him the courage and strength to overcome the loses he suffered as a result of the inferno.
Governor Dickson used the opportunity to appreciate Chief Obasanjo’s immense contributions to Nation building and prayed God to continue to protect and guide him in all his endeavours.
Information available to 247ureports indicates that governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has been involved in grisly Motor accident.
As gathered the governor was seriously wounded in the accident which was fatal, the accident was said to have occurred as the governor was making his way back to Lokoja from Ayingba where he went for a function.
247ureports also gathered that the ADC to the governor died at the spot, while the governor has been taking to a government hospital in Lokoja the Kogi State capital; it is also gathered that he is admitted at the intensive care unit of the hospital alongside others that were injured in the accident.
Reports from unconfirmed sources said Wada may be in loss of consciousness at the State Medical Center where was rushed. The car was said to have somersaulted following what an eyewitness said was a high speed car-tire blow-out.
The accident occurred around Jingbe, just before Salem University (along Lokoja-Ajaokuta road) while the governor and his entourage were returning from Ayingba.
Meanwhile the body of Governor’s ADC is being taken out of the Kogi State Specialist Hospital, apparently for preparation for burial according to Islamic rites.
The popular Eleven Eleven Roundabout is for the third time being pulled down and reworked between 2007 and 2012.
The same treatment was extended this year to the Marian Road /Mary Slessor Avenue on which the epitaph of the famous twin -saving Scottish missionary, Mary Slessor seats on.
The Mary Slessor round about apart from having some of its pillars covered with tiles and the platform on which the image on which the missionary stands on, there is no much value and aesthetic addition.
The Eleven Eleven Roundabout which was built by the Mr. Donald Duke administration and had on its sides features which resemble Egyptian burials vaults, (mummies) was reworked in 2009 to remove those images which church leaders and most residents complained gave the impression that the state worships idols and replaced with a water fountain.
It was adored and loved by the people for its aesthetics but in November this year, it was pulled apart again and reworked without much change to the previous one.
This perhaps, agrees with the opinion of some people who believe that reworking these two roundabouts is ostensibly not for value addition but for egoistic and somewhat hidden reasons.
Some residents who spoke to crossriverwatch in Calabar said that the projects have created opportunity for some people to make money.
“I have not seen anything new that was done in those two roundabouts that is significantly different from what was there. My heart was ape when they removed the image of Mary Slessor from its stand but thank God they have brought it back” Offiong, a Calabar landlord told our reporter.
Ita Esin, another respondent who was waiting for a taxi at the eleven eleven roundabout told our reporter that “this work they are doing every year has become an avenue to steal money without suspicion. They have to do one thing that will last for years and use the money for other things”.
Laura Abang, a graduate from Unical said “when you want to develop a tourism town you have great aesthetics that form part of the tourist sites and one of them is roundabouts within the metropolis. Government has to look for long lasting aesthetic designs that will survive centuries and build their own fame and mystique rather than these stop-gap expediencies that come crumbling every year.”
There were also a lot of emotional outburst by most people interviewed as some of them threatened that, had the image of Mary Slessor not been restored; there would have been street protests.
To them the image of the woman on the strategic roundabout reminds most people in the state of the evil that was perpetrated through the killing of twins; an act that the Scottish lady stopped in Old Calabar kingdom.
“I was beginning to wonder what image they would hoist on that roundabout until they returned the lady. I would have gone on a one man protest if they had brought something else”. Sister Jane, a nun at the nearby St Bernard Catholic Church said.
According to her, what Mary Slessor did for humanity in the Old Calabar kingdom surpasses most efforts by politicians therefore her image standing tall on that roundabout while bearing a set of twin in her hands shows the love and care she brought to the land.
“The Sisters residence, the St Bernard Catholic Church, Holy Child Secondary School are marks of missionary activity, therefore her standing on that strategic roundabout is worth it” Sister Jane added.
On the Eleven Eleven roundabout, residents observe that the money spent on reworking it ought to have been invested somewhere else.
‘They are several roads in Calabar South which are impassable. Government should have deployed that money there and not on pulling down and reworking Eleven Eleven Roundabout”. Ilade Ekpang said.
According to him, the old structure at the roundabout was okay with water coming out from its fountain which contrast with what was previously there. “Close to the roundabout is a lodge which is hardly opened. With the water fountain, visitors would be preoccupied looking at the water not at the old building which houses the lodge”.
