Author: Dodo Elias Denen

CLEEN Foundation, a non-governmental organisation trained some security stakeholders on prevention of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) in Ikeja, Lagos State.

The two-day training which started on Monday had the theme: “Serious and Organized Crime (SOC) on Prevent for the Crime Prevention Steering Group (CPSG).

The Executive Director of the Foundation, Mr Gad Peter, in his opening address, said that the idea to train stakeholders on crime prevention was because Lagos state was among states more prone to security challenges.

Peter said that the Prevent Project was for everyone irrespective of status.

“This project is not only for people in small community even the rich people we thought are protected suffer from molestation and do what they do not want to do.

“We need to pay attention to what is happening around us.

“Nigerians want to know how our security agents are responding to this issue of crime and criminality that push people into depression,” he said.

He called on all stakeholders in Nigeria to work together to secure the country’s future.

“We must ensure that everyone plays their part in promoting peace, security, and stability in the nation,” he said.

The Executive Director urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kennedy Osezuah, said that SOC was a criminality that required a level of planning, preparation and coordination.

He said that the impact goes beyond the crime itself, negativity impacting socio-economic, political dynamic and structure.

“SOC includes but not limited to trafficking and dealing in drugs and people, weapons and counterfeit good, sophisticated theft and robbery.

“Fraud and other forms of financial crime, cybercrime, kidnapping, child sexual exploitation,” he said.

According to him, SOC is not new in the society, just that it is taking a new dimensions.

Osezuah, who is the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) Ifako Division, said that SOC required a response across the whole of government, and close collaboration with the public, the private sector and with many other.

He highlighted the role of Organised Criminal Groups (OCG) within the community in the state.

“OCG is a well structured or coordinated crime planned by two or more people for a purpose, it could be local or international,” he said.

According to him, the audience that Prevent intervention intend to target are those in anti-social behavior and low level crime but not yet as a member of an OCG.

“We cannot allow this menace to continue in our society, we have to be conscious to curtail the ugly trend,” he said.

Mr Trevor Service, Training advisor, SOC Prevent, United Kingdom, said that prevention was one of the approaches used to deal with SOC.

“Prevent is the concept of providing meaning alternative pathways to those most likely to join OCGs to prevent the growth and proliferation of membership leading to a decline in criminal activity,” he said

According to him, Prevent is close to community policing.

“It is critical for the police to involve the community at a very local level and prevent is part of a community-oriented policing approach,” he said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP),
Grace Longe, of the National Institute Police Studies (NIPS) called for concerted effort of all to prevent crime.

“We all need to contribute our quota in our little way to ensure that SOC Prevent program succeed.

“We are working to ensure that the initiative work so that the youth who are our future leaders can drive upon it.

“When the society is doing well, everybody is at peace,” she said.

NAN reports that the training was in collaboration with Brighter Future, Torchlight Group and Tag international.

The training had in attendance representatives of Nigeria Police Force, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Others are Ministry of justice, Ministry of Education, National Orientation Agency, Police, Community Relation Committee, and other communities development partnership.

… Challenges Africans to Look Inwards Instead of Reliance on Int’l Donor Funds

President Bola Tinubu has commended Tony Elumelu for the impact his foundation, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has had on young people and SMEs in the country and beyond since 2010.

He also challenged Africans, including its political and business leaders, to look inwards instead of undue reliance on international donor funds.

He made the call at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Generation Unlimited (GENU) Breakfast Roundtable meeting, a side event at the ongoing 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, yesterday.

The event also served as a forum for the launch of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Impact Report titled “The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship
Programme: A Decade of Impact.”

The president, who was represented by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Doris Uzoka-Anite, also stressed on the need for local solutions to economic growth and unemployment, while offering incentives to willing investors

The President who was represented by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Doris Uzoka-Anite, decried the over reliance by Africans on foreign donors, calling for an end to that mindset.

He said: “I don’t think we are doing enough as Africans for Africa. We need to do a lot more. Tony Elumelu has been the major person driving investments in supporting the youths and start-ups.

“We need to challenge ourselves a bit more further. Africa has some of the richest people on the planet. We have a resource-rich continent with huge population of young people.

“We need to take up the challenge upon ourselves as Africans to support one another. It is about time we stopped looking for international organisations for donor funding. We need to go out of that mentality.

“We will rather have donor funds coming in to support what we have on ground already and not then coming to give us a seed or showing us the way. We actually know how to do things. In Africa, we have a rich culture and if we go back to our tradition, there is a whole lot we can learn from each other.”

On the importance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), he said they were the engines of Nigerian and African economic growth, adding that they contributed almost half of national GDP, and more than 80 percent of employment.

While wooing potential investors with promises of right infrastructure provision such as regulations, property rights, access to justice, protection from unfair competition, power, as well as roads to market and ports, he said: “We must organise the disorganised SME market, and enable greater organisation and formalisation.

“We must invest in SMEs. Governments and the private sector have important roles to play in this regard. Our investing must be coordinated, targeted, and generous. This is where the example of the Tony Elumelu Foundation is a worthy role model for all.

“We must create and expand pathways for our SMEs to export their products and services and integrate into global value chains.”

In his speech, Founder TEF, Tony
Elumelu said this highlights the significant contribution of the TEF’s flagship 100 million dollars Entrepreneurship Programme in advancing Africa’s socio-economic development.

He noted that 13 years ago, the foundation took a bold step to rewrite and change Africa by enhancing entrepreneurship development to galvanise African solutions.

Stressing on the seed capital, training and mentoring and networking provided by TEF, he added “we have lit a beacon, and we need the beacon to shine brighter and better. To do this, we need the support and collaboration of everyone.

“100 million dollars is a drop of water in the ocean compared to what we need in Africa. Young Africans need economic support. We’ve seen the devastating effect of climate change, how our young ones due to hopelessness are migrating and living in difficult situations. We want to put a stop to that.”

To achieve that, Elumelu called for collaboration to prioritise young Africans, bring more women to economic activities and alleviate poverty, adding that “poverty anywhere is a threat to all of us everywhere”.

Sharing the Lagos experience at the gathering, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that TEF’s work aligns with Lagos State programmes on economic empowerment and poverty reduction.

Sanwo-Olu said that collaborative efforts must be evolved to enhance the scale of impact to deepen inclusion, equity and fairness.

Also speaking, Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa (UNDP) said they partnered TEF due to similar belief in galvanising development across Africa and globally, adding that Africa’s wealth was its population, which constitutes 70 per cent of young, vibrant and innovative Africans.

“It is our loss if we don’t invest in them because that is the future of prosperity,” she said, just as she called for enhanced collaboration and investment to strengthen economic development of African youths.

Earlier on, TEF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Somachi Chris-Asoluka, said the organisation is the partner of choice for all development agencies across the world who want to transform the way they give to Africa, who want to have a more catalytic, impactful partnership with the African continent.

She said: “The Tony Elumelu foundation is a leading philanthropy in Africa empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries.

“We launched our flagship program, the Tony Elumelu foundation Entrepreneurship programme in 2015 with a $100 million commitment by Mr Elumelu and his family.

“His goal was to see 10,000 African entrepreneurs over 10 years, in only eight years, we have more than surpassed that target so date.

“We have funded 18,000 entrepreneurs, disbursing over a 100 million dollars directly as seed capital to these entrepreneurs and they have gone on to create over 400 thousand jobs across all African countries.”

…Says She is A Blatant Liar, Shedding Crocodile Tears

A renowned legal practitioner and Managing Partner, Alpha-Harris Solicitors, Barr. Anayo Mba and lawyer to Ngozi Braide has cleared the air on the allegations of intimidation and sundry acts levelled against her by a lawyer, Chinwe Onuoha.

The lawyer had gone to social media, especially Facebook and TikTok, to alleged that she bought a house from Ngozi, who refused to hand over the property to her. She further alleged that Ngozi pulled down the roof of the house she converted to a factory, leading to the destruction of equipment valued at N20 million by rainfall and loss of employment to 20 workers.

Mba further alleged that Braide was using her power as a police officer to intimidate her.

Since the allegations, the social media has been on fire as people, even without hearing the other side of the story, have been raining curses and condemnation on the woman police officer.

In a swift reaction, legal adviser to Braide, Barrister Anayo A. Mbah, managing partner of Alpha Harris Solicitors, Lagos, has described the allegations against Ngozi, his client, as baseless, wicked, malicious and blatant lies.

Anayo said Chinwe Onuoha had no reason to go to social media to start lying against a benefactor who helped her a lot when she was in need, “but rather than show gratitude, she is paying her with ingratitude, thereby trying to make her regret helping her and discouraging the heart of gold from helping the needy.”

“Chinwe was in dire need when Braide gave her succour; but because of her greed, she ended up betraying her close friend and benefactor.

“The post you saw on Facebook and TikTok is in relation to the matter that is pending before the Lagos State High Court, Ikorodu Judicial Division, before the Honourable Justice Akinkugbe. I was briefed by the defendant in that case, who happened to be Mrs. Ngozi Braide, and when we were served with the processes by dropping, we had to go to court and get certified true copies of the processes.

“Because the lady pretended she served by posting to an address that was not actually the defendant’s address, we had to apply to get the court processes. Now we knew what she was asking for, what the claim was all about.

“We discovered that the claim was about a house owned by the defendant, Ngozi Braide, in Ikorodu, Lagos, and she is claiming to have bought the house from the defendant and that the defendant refused to give her receipt of payment and deed of assignment. And we wondered how she sold a house and didn’t give receipts. But she explained to us that she never made any sales to her. What happened from the beginning was that Mba had an accommodation problem in her previous apartment in Ojodu and Chinwe Onuoha was arrested by her landlord when she violated an order for possession given by a magistrate’s court in Ojodu.

She was arrested and detained at Ojodu Police Station. From there she called on her (Ngozi) to assist her. Ngozi went there to help her get bail and that was when she told her about the accommodation problem seeking her assistance, because she knew that Ngozi had a house in Ikorudu. She asked if she could temporarily stay there while she looked for alternative accommodation, and my client, being a woman with a large heart; a very kind person, and coming from the fact that they were old-time friends, said she could stay temporarily for three months because she believed that by that three months Onuoha would have found an accommodation. And that was how the woman came into the property.

“So, when my client started demanding vacation and possession of the property, Chinwe Mba now started saying she liked the place and would want to buy it. Ngozi said she didn’t want to sell the property as she only gave her the place to stay temporarily for three months, and now she was requesting to buy it.

Braide also informed her that her brother was coming to stay in that property that she wanted Mba to leave.

“My client refused to sell her property, and before we knew it, she instituted this action and laid claims. Now, coming to the matter in court, I don’t really want to go down the way she went, because I know that what she did was contempt of court by claiming what does not exists in the records of the court. All she spoke about, apart from the fact that the matter is pending in the court, there is no truth about it. And there are records to show what actually transpired in the court. The matter is subjudice to the court. She was the one that complained about the matter. She should have allowed the court to decide before she went public. I am not against going to the press, but when you go to the press report what exactly happened in the court.

“What happened in court? First of all, she said my client had always been in court, but my client has not appeared in that court in person. She has always been represented by her lawyer, and there is nothing in the record of the court that shows that my client has appeared in that court for one day.

“Secondly, she mentioned the restraining order she applied for. Yes, she applied for the order restraining my client from entering her own property, but the court refused it, and the reason the court refused it was stated in the court ruling. She applied for an order restraining my client based on the fact that there is an urgent need for the court to grant that injunction and the court looked at the whole processes and everything, all the facts and evidence based on the affidavits she provided, because that application is what is called ex- parte, the other party is not meant to participate in the hearing, even if she is court. So, based on her own evidence, the court looked at it and said there was nothing like real urgency, which she created by her own facts, and the court would not rely on it to give an order restraining the defendant from entering into the property. The court adjourned the hearing of the case, which she also filed. But she presented to the world by her post that the judge made a pronouncement in her ruling that the reason she was not going to grant that application for the injunction was because the judge knew that the defendant was a police officer and a responsible person who would know ordinarily that she wouldn’t have to take law into her hands. This is a blatant lie against the defendant, the judge and against the court, and a calculated attempt to deceive the public and blackmail the court with what the court did not say. The court never mentioned or brought into its ruling the position or conduct of character of the defendant in the ruling that she gave relating to dismissing the ex-parte application. So, she knows what she is doing. She knows that lying against the court is contempt of court and she knows the implications and consequences of what she is doing. So she is telling blatant lies from beginning to end. After the court processes has been signed, the court went on vacation.

“Why did Chinwe Onuoha go to the social media to rubbish a woman who housed her for three years without collecting a dime as rent and why didn’t she wait for the court to decide the case that she instituted herself? For your information, it was someone that called Ngozi to inform her that Chinwe was destroying her property. Onuoha, who was shedding crocodile tears and acting drama, was the person that pulled off the roof of the house to punish Ngozi. When we investigated, we discovered that Chinwe Onuoha has destroyed many things in the house. For instance, she said she bought the house for N2.3 million, and she was not given a receipt. How could she have paid N2.3 million for a house valued at N30 million? Was she buying the land or the fencing? I mean, there are things she shouldn’t have said. I repeat, Mba lied. Is it possible for Ngozi who suffered to build a house, to use her hands to destroy the house that she built?

“Onuoha was the person who removed the roof to destroy the house when she packed out. She was only acting drama and shedding crocodile tears to whip up sentiments and sympathy.

She lied to the world that she was being oppressed by a woman police officer.”

In her claims alleging abuse of power, Chinwe Onuoha said: “I went into the factory to assess the damage that had been done. They ruined all my equipment. They ruined my bottle mould, reverse hoses, my ozone generator. When they realised that they could not ruin the bottle line, because it was big, they removed the zinc sheet, so that the rain would destroy the equipment, and this is an equipment I have not even finished paying for. And since the day of this incident, it has been raining cats and dogs in Ikorodu, and the whole rain has been beating my equipment.

“If you enter my factory, you will see my bottle line lying in a pool of water. The whole motor has been completely destroyed and my factory is flooded. What kind of wickedness is this? How can law enforcement officers penetrate such issues in a civilized society.”

Meanwhile the lawyer insists the claims are false. He said, “I can categorically tell you that all her allegations are blatant lies. I wouldn’t have joined issues with her, but to keep the record straight, she is deceiving the public, lying against her benefactor and the court.

“She had moved out of the house and did a lot of damage by changing a residential home to a factory, partitioning some areas. She packed out and decided to punish Braide for asking her to move out of her house. She failed to tell how she moved into the house; rather, she lied that she acquired the house.

“This is someone who was evicted by her former landlord for not being able to pay rent would lie that she opened a factory worth N20 million and had many workers. Someone whose colleagues refused to represent her in court, yet she ran to social media to shed crocodile tears. She took the matter to the court, yet, as a lawyer, she doesn’t trust her legal profession but went to the social media to whip up sentiment.

“In whatever we do, we should fear God. Ngozi and Chinwe Onuoha were very good friends for many years. Ngozi was a friend indeed by assisting Mba who was in need. When Onuoha was given notice to quit and was arrested by her landlord and detained at the police station, Ngozi assisted her by bailing her and giving her a place to stay for three months to enable her settle down and get another house. But rather than leave after three months, Onuoha converted a residential building to a factory, defacing the house and converting some rooms to a warehouse and doing so many damage. That made Ngozi to give her verbal notice to quit, as a friend, but Onuoha cashed in on the fact that they were friends and decided that she won’t leave and stayed put in the house for three years. Ngozi had to petition the Zone 2 Police Command headquarters, Onikan.

“Seeing that the police had intervened, Chinwe begged Ngozi to give her some time to quit, but rather than say thank you to Ngozi, Onuoha went to court. While in court, she packed out and opened the roof of the house so that the rain would destroy the property. She did not stop at that. She equally dropped some charms all over the premises.

“However, we shall follow the matter to a logical conclusion. I rest my case for now by saying unequivocally that Chinwe Onuoha lied against her benefactor, the court and the world as a whole.”

…To launch compendium on Nigeria’s unsung trailblazers

The Nigeria Silent Heroes Award (NSHA) is gearing up for its highly anticipated fifth annual event, scheduled for Saturday, September 16, 2023, at the prestigious Abuja Continental Hotel, formerly known as Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.

This grand occasion will pay tribute to outstanding individuals from various walks of life, including members of the security forces, industry leaders, clergy, judiciary, lawmakers, civil servants, traditional rulers, technocrats, business luminaries, and even media figures.

NSHA, a distinguished non-governmental organization, seeks to acknowledge the profound impact of these exceptional individuals on our society. It honors their kindness towards fellow citizens, families, communities, and the environment, as well as their silent yet heroic contributions to our nation.

Mrs. Ozioma Odita-Sunday, the dedicated Project Coordinator, expressed her excitement about the award, stating, “Through this recognition, we aspire to inspire others to become Silent Heroes. This year marks our fifth edition, during which we’ve celebrated the remarkable contributions of farmers, artisans, technocrats, and uniformed personnel who have silently driven our nation’s progress and shaped it for the next generation.”

The event promises distinguished guests, with Oba Adewale Akanbi Telu, the Paramount Ruler of Iwo land, serving as the Royal Father of The Day. Special guests of honor include luminaries such as Heirs Holding CEO, Mr. Tony Elumelu (CFR); Mr. Monte Lucky Ehiwuogwu, MD/CEO Monaco Ventures; and Sir Mike Ejiofor (Fsi), former Director DSS.

A remarkable lineup of awardees includes individuals from diverse sectors, such as business and industry, philanthropy, traditional leadership, ICT development, transparent banking culture, integrity and good governance, faith, policing, journalism, education development, local government administration, law and advocacy, medicine, and journalism (print media and book publishing).

Notable awardees also comprise outstanding contributors to the fields of business and enterprise, gospel music, tourism and hospitality development, politics, trade facilitation, farming, food security, and grassroots politics.

Furthermore, NSHA organizers have ambitious plans to launch a compendium that shines a light on the unsung trailblazers among us. These individuals have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to propel our nation’s progress, often without receiving the recognition they deserve.

According to the organizers, “In our larger society, there are unsung heroes diligently working behind the scenes, driving our nation’s progress. These are the SILENT HEROES who, despite their significant contributions, have remained in the shadows. They are the unsung reasons for our nation’s modest progress across various fields, including education, security, journalism, industry, oil and gas, real estate, and governance.”

The forthcoming book, “NIGERIA’S SILENT HEROES Volume 1,” serves as a testament to the remarkable milestones achieved by these dedicated individuals. The compendium offers readers a glimpse into the rich profiles of these unsung heroes, individuals who have made significant contributions to humanity.

This spotlight on these exceptional Nigerians aims to inspire the younger generation, instilling in them the belief that hard work, integrity, and consistency are values that yield substantial dividends.