NEWS
Ikire Town In Osun State Ravaged By Heavy Floods
On Saturday morning, Ikire town, which serves as the headquarters of Irewole local government area in Osun State, experienced prolonged heavy rainfall, resulting in the submergence of several areas.
The downpour, which started around 8 am and continued until the afternoon, led to significant damage to properties estimated to be worth millions of Naira.
According to reports, residents disclosed that the flooding affected various parts of the town.
Among the areas hit were Oja-Ale, Atoto, Fulani, Mateba, UNIOSUN Road, the Campus area, and the well-known Naira and Kobo junction along the Ife-Ibadan expressway.
In the aftermath of the flood, numerous shops, residential houses, farmlands, and livestock were severely impacted.
A student of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Onigbinde Michael, who spoke to DAILY POST via phone, expressed the extent of the devastation.
However, he found it challenging to quantify the exact level of loss incurred by the community.
He said “More than 100 residents have been affected. In the affected areas of Ikire, you will observe residents scooping water out of their houses and shops.
“Some of them are even trapped in their building with no help in sight. Some even came out and saved some trapped victims from drowning. The case is pathetic.”
In response to the flood incident in Ikire, the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, instructed the Commissioner for Environment to expedite flood prevention measures.
Through a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke expressed sympathy over the flood disaster.
The governor acknowledged that the flood wreaked havoc on the western part of the state and reassured the people that his administration would address the root cause of the flood, take measures to prevent future occurrences, and hasten the implementation of the state’s flood prevention plan.
The governor said “It is touching to learn about the monumental damages that flood has wrecked on homes and livelihoods in Ikire. The scale of the losses suffered by our people as a result of the flood disaster is too heavy especially at a time of economic strain as now.
“I want to, on behalf of the State Government, convey heartfelt sympathy to everyone affected in one way or the other.
*As a government, we stand with the people of Ikire in this difficult moment and assure them of our commitment to support them overcome the challenges posed by the incident.
“My administration has activated emergency measures to rescue people and livelihoods hugely impacted by the flooding. I assure victims of the incident that the government will do all in its capacity to support them.” He added.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Environment, Mayowa Adejoorin, disclosed that he has instructed personnel from the Ministry to swiftly find a temporary solution to tackle the flood situation.
In a statement obtained by DAILY POST, Adejoorin said, “in the meantime, I have directed the Permanent Secretary and Director of Flood control to mobilize some personnel to the spot for urgent attention. I want to assure the people of Ikire of our maximum support in combating the flooding.
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
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The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
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