Oghara town in Ethiope West Local Government area of Delta state , is one of the three major clans of the Urhobo ethnic group. Aside benefiting from successive governments through the provision of social amenities such as stadium, teaching hospital, tertiary institutions and other things that keep life going, eminent personalities who have at one time or the other occupied public offices also hail from the town.

In spite the suspension of strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), last week, mad rush for the Premium Motor Spirits, PMS, at filling stations still linger after days of acute scarcity within the metropolis.

With a dry stick hung across his shoulders, weather-beaten raft hat perched on the head and a not-too-concealed dagger stuck into the waist of his trousers, the Fulani herdsman is a common sight across Nigerian highways and in interior bushes and farmlands as he traverses villages, towns and states. With hissing sounds with which he communicates with his herd, and with the use of the stick when necessary, the Fulani herdsman can be seen guiding his herd in search of greener pastures to graze on. The Fulani herdsman can herd alone or in a pair.

CHIEF Ayiri Emami, investor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has said his benefactor and former Delta state governor, Chief James Ibori who is serving jail term in the United Kingdom, UK, would return home to Nigeria not later than July this year.

My compliments to Remi Oyeyemi. His comments on the recent controversy raised by the classification of Yoruba rulers, made by the Alake of Abeokuta – or Egbaland? – were rather illuminating. He outlined the cause of the different versions of the history of the Yoruba that were offered by those whom he described –perhaps not too charitably – as “every Jick and Jack”. But he also conceded that most people are moved by “patriotism and the love of their immediate source of origin; just wanting to project pride in their own roots.

About a month before, I decided not to celebrate my 50th birthday for some reasons; I just wanted it to pass by like a beautiful yacht at night: unnoticed, and I made this very clear to my wife severally. She never argued. While I felt she was sensitive to my feelings, I also decided to be on my guard just in case she decided to be “mischievous.”

If the Kaduna State House of Assembly eventually passes into law an Executive Bill currently before it, a resident risks spending two years in jail if he plays any cassettes containing religious recordings or music in his car. This is one of the several provisions of the proposed legal document tagged, “A Bill to Substitute the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law, 1984” which Governor Nasir El-Rufai wants the lawmakers to approve, ostensibly as part of measures to curb the spate of religious upheavals in the area. Kaduna has had perhaps more than its fair dose of violent religious riots in northern Nigeria. Reports from human rights groups show that about 15,000 persons lost their lives in February and May 2000 alone when metropolitan Kaduna virtually went up in flames as sections of residents protested the move by government to hoist the Shariah flag in the state. Incidentally, the then Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi had proposed before the House of Assembly, a Bill seeking to implement the Islamic Shariah legal system, after a successful launch of the initiative in Zamfara Started months earlier.

How would anyone expect that, in rural communities where cows are not deities, herds of cattle can march through and destroy farmlands and be spared? And how can anyone parade hundreds of cattle through a Nigeria filled with armed robbers and yet consider cattle rustling as such a crime which unfortunate local inhabitants must pay for with their blood? Human lives are worthless where every other thing is exorbitantly priced . You need not wonder, there is a death penalty for murder but mass murderers are rarely apprehended.

Traders at the popular Mile 12 have expressed dissatisfaction on the plan to relocate the market to another area in the state just as they lamented the attendant economic hardship the closure had brought upon them and the customers over the last few days.

The people of Ezukwu Community, Ibusa in present-day Delta State have lived in peace with the rabbit for as long as they can recall. For them, the animal has spiritual affinity with their belief. Hence, whenever the rabbit finds its way into the home of an Ezukwu man, all he has to do is sing praises of Mother Rabbit until it goes out unharmed. The mystique surrounding this ancient myth is still upheld till date.

I am told that Ovuodoroye translates roughly to mean ‘everyman with his own greatness’ in Urhobo language. If that is so, then Olorogun Felix Ibru who passed on last week certainly lived up to his name. Ovuodoroye is the native and middle name in Olorogun Felix O. Ibru.

Samuel Nwankwo, 40, is a Lagos based business man with office at the popular Alaba International market, Ojo area. He is into furniture and interior decoration and lives at Bode Thomas in Surulere. Last Friday, he went to a popular hotel around his residence to unwind. Unfortunately, after the night out around 2am, he jumped into his car to go home but it developed a fault. He then decided to trek home, a distance of two poles, leaving his car in the hotel. As soon as he entered his street, he was accosted by four gun-totting men dressed in mufti. They emerged from a silver-coloured bus. They asked after his identity and he surrendered his card. He went further to point at his residence, explaining that he was coming from the nearby hotel where his car broke down. But his explanations fell on deaf ears as the men not only harassed, cajoled but also intimidated him after which he was bundled into the bus. What happened next is better experienced than imagined. He narrated his heart-rending encounter thus

MEMBERS of the Benue State caucus in the House of Representatives, yesterday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari for downplaying what they described as genocide against the Agatu people of the state.

Sequel to the success recorded by his epic movie, “Invasion 1897”, which broke new grounds at the international scene last year, Lancelot Imasuen has landed another big deal as he signs a multi-million naira production contract with a leading online TV platform, Nollytv. This is coming, as the Nigeria Police has commissioned the celebrated film director to produce a TV series, “Beyond Your Sight”, to up its ante.

While much has been said about the quality of parenting Ese had with a mother who runs and bukateria and a father out of job, prior to her alleged abduction, I want to focus more on what they did after, though the two are interwoven and adds up to the total bizarre picture that is now working us all up into a frenzy. According to Ese’s mother, the unfortunate incident took place late night, 12th August, 2015 when the then 13 year old girl refused to return from a visit to a sick friend. While no one has identified the veracity of the story told by Ese to her parents, if indeed there was a sick friend or if it was only an excuse to get the exit, it still bothers me that a little child of Ese’s age could be let loose to go visiting a friend all by herself, unless it was on the same street. At what time of the day? After school hours when she ought to be busy with her home work or helping out in the shop?