The Benin Traditional Council, on Monday, announced the funeral rites for the Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa, who joined his ancestors. It listed the funeral rites as Ekioba, Ekenaka, Agbado Eken. The rites, according to tradition, are carried out by the Edaiken N’Uselu, Crown Prince Ehenede Erediauwa, and within the 15 days of the exercise, all funeral ceremonies are prohibited. In this interview, Prince Solomon Ebuwa, the Chairman of the Assembly of Benin Aborigines World Wide and a former National Coordinator of the Great Benin Centenary, explains the rituals in the kingdom just as he debunks the insinuation that human beings are used for sacrifice.

When last year Enugu people united to enthrone Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to steer the mantle of governance for a first period of four years following his blistering popularity at the poll, a lot of expectations obviously rested on his shoulders. A prepared Ugwuanyi had during his inaugural address at the Micheal Okpara Square on May 29, assured the tumultuous crowd of his administration’s resolve to roll its sleeves in order to meet the burgeoning yearnings of the people especially now that the nation’s mono-cultural economy is buffeted by crude oil glut at the global scene while grappling with insecurity challenges at the home front.

EVEN when the past one year had largely been marked by issues that often times send the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its affiliates back to the trenches, activities of the organised labour were clearly bereft of its traditional punch.

For obvious reasons the talking point in the Nigerian polity as President Muhammadu Buhari marks his first year in office is government’s decision to scrap the contentious Petroleum Support Fund, otherwise known as fuel subsidy, a development culminating in marketers being directed to sell premium motor spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, between N135 and N145 per litre. Not surprisingly the hike in the pump price of petrol elicited mixed reactions, with those against it raising a deafening din of condemnation and demanding that government should immediately revert to status quo: that is, continue to sell the product at N86.50 a litre.

FIRST, let me say that the plan of the Fulanis to subtly take over Nigeria has been an old plan. Let me also say that, the cattle Fulanis are one ethnic group in Nigeria. Not all the Fulanis are cattle rearers. Only the cattle Fulani are. There are other Fulanis in the Fulani ethnic group who are not cattle rearers.

Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, is facilitating the development of the ancient city. Recently, he visited Akure National Union in Ibadan where he met with Akure sons and daughters and invited them to come and develop their ancestral home. Aladelusi, a United States-based industrialist until his ascension to the throne, hosted Sunday Vanguard in his palace at Erekeson in the Ondo State capital, during which he opened up on the ranking of monarchs in Yorubaland.

At the backdrop of the new fuel price pricing template announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, may be forced to review its foreign exchange policy to stimulate supply of foreign exchange.

At a time the spate of violence across Nigeria seems to be threatening national security, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, offers a valuable intervention, in this interview conducted at his palace preparatory to a non-violence programme, Peace Icons and the NMVA, coordinated by veteran broadcaster and cultural activist , Mr. Cally Ikpe. The monarch, who has passion for getting the teeming youths of Nigeria gainfully engaged, examines the country’s rate of violence within the context of the role of the youths and concludes that addressing the challenge is an urgent issue of national interest. He ascended the throne in December, 2015.

The decision of the Federal Government to hike the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, to between N135 to N145 per litre and liberalizing the product’s importation, has thrown up a number of issues and has brought efficiency in the Nigeria’s petroleum industry to the fore.

The incident occurred in 2005, few days after the immediate past Alake of Egbaland, Oba Oyebade Lipede, joined his ancestors, according to the father of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Chief Alani Bankole, at a launch of his book, titled, ‘ Alake of Egbaland:The Succession Dynamics’.