6 interesting facts about the Idoma people

The Idoma culture is perhaps one of the most fascinating cultures in Nigeria. Exceptionally proud of their native heritage, the Idoma people have preserved many of their ancestors’ traditions, a number of them present in their mixture of elaborate traditional tales, artistic expressions, music and varied culture elements.

Like any other society, Idoma people reveal their customs, traditions, beliefs, norms and lifestyle through the distinctive behavioral traits. Jumia Travel, Africa’s No. 1 online hotel booking site presents 5 of these notably peculiar facts that have now marked out the Idoma among other ethnic groups in the country.

The Idoma people are not only found in Benue state

The popular idea is that the Idoma are an ethno-linguistic group primarily found in the western areas of Benue State, Nigeria. This is because they are the second largest group in the state and occupy 9 local government areas (L.G.A.’s) which include: Ado, Agatu, Apa, Obi,Ohimini, Ogbadibo, Oju, Okpokwu & Otukpo .

Aside from the western parts of Benue, the Idoma tribe have sparse settlements in other parts of the country, including Nassarawa and Cross Rivers States.

The men are obliged by tradition to pound yam for their wives

Unlike other cultures where the woman is expected to perform all culinary chores, the Idoma men are not always exempted.

The traditional head of Otukpo, Och’Otukpo John Eimonye, stated in an interview with Daily Trust Newspaper that the job of pounding yam is one of the expectations of the Idoma men and serves as a masculine chore when considered from hygienic, social and cultural viewpoints. This interesting detail thrills not just outsiders who learn of it but the indigenes who practice it as well.

The people strongly believe in the ‘Alekwu spirit’

With the advent of Christianity and other foreign religions, the traditional belief systems of most ethnic groups in the country has been influenced by western practices.

However, a majority of the Idoma people still believe strongly in the Alekwu , which is seen as a link between the living and the dead. They host an annual ‘Aje Alekwu’ festival where traditional religious practitioners commune and make sacrifices in worship of their ancestors across the land.

The Idomas have strong attachment to the worship of Alekwu-spirit of the ancestors which is believed to stand as an invisible watchdog of the family and communities while checkmating vices like adultery, theft and murder.

The groom and the rooster

While the marriage rites and customs of the Idoma people is not unlike that of the Ibos and some other south-eastern cultures, there are specific aspects that clearly distinguish their tradition.

One of those specific aspects is the fact that the groom and his family have to present the bride with a rooster and some money on the marriage day after the dowry has already been paid. If she  accepts, it is a sign of approval and disinterest if she reject the gift. While there are no certain reasons to justify the need for a rooster, it remains an interesting part of the ceremony.

Language Diversity

Classified as a minority ethnic group and often mistaken to be part of the Igbo tribe, the Idoma people are known for one language – Idoma, which is classified in the Akweya subgroup of the Idomoid languages of the Volta–Niger family.

With a population estimated to be about 3.5 million, varied dialects have over time emerged from the umbrella of this mother-tongue and they include ‘Western Idoma’ chiefly spoken by the Okpokwu and Ogbadibo local government areas; ‘Central Idoma’ spoken by Otukpo and Ohimini people; ‘Southern Idoma’ largely spoken by Ado communities and ‘Northern Idoma’ spoken by the Agatu & Apa regions.

The Okoho Soup

The Idoma people are known for their love of food, as there is an annual food festival in Benue State to celebrate women and the various traditional cuisines.

Most popular among their delicacies is the Okoho soup which is made with the peculiar Okoho plant, bush meat and many other ingredients.

Source: Jumia .com

EFCC speaks on suit seeking Oshiomhole’s prosecution

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reacted to a suit filed by an Edo State-based activist, Osadalor Ochie, challenging the failure of the commission to file fraud charges against former governor Adams Oshiomhole.
Mr Oshiomole was governor of Edo State from 2008 to 2016.
In the suit, Mr Ochie is asking the court to compel the EFCC to conduct investigations into allegations of fraud against Mr Oshiomhole.
Following the request at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, the court slated Tuesday for hearing, after processes were allegedly served on the two parties.
While representatives of Mr Oshiomhole appeared in court on Tuesday with a preliminary objection, no counsel represented the EFCC.
in his preliminary objection, Mr Oshiomhole sought to establish the non-viability of Mr Ochie’s charge on the grounds that the charge was allegedly brought later than its stipulated time.
In a latest reaction, the EFCC said it did not appear in court because the plaintiff failed to serve it with the court processes.
“Ahead of the November 19 date for the consideration of the preliminary objection by All Progressives Party National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, challenging the competence of the suit which seeks to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to arrest and commence criminal proceedings against him, the agency has blamed its absence at Tuesday October 23 hearing of the suit before Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court Abuja on the failure of the plaintiff to serve the Commission with processes. This is contrary to the October 9 ruling of Justice Chikere, that the Commission be served,” EFCC said in a statement.
In the statement, EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said “the Commission frowns at the attempt by counsel to the plaintiff, West Idahosa, to mislead the court with claims that the Commission had been served.
“Had the Commission been served, it would have been in court. Ours is an agency that holds the judiciary in high esteem and we will never disregard summons by courts of competent jurisdiction. The truth is that the Commission did not receive any summons.”

Source: Premium Times

PDP accuses Buhari of being insensitive to sufferings of Nigerians

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari of being insensitive to the “sufferings” of Nigerians.
Buhari had on Monday in Lagos said Nigerians “who feel they have another country may choose to go” elsewhere.
“What I said long ago in 1984 is still valid today. We have no other country but Nigeria. Others who feel they have another country may choose to go. We will stay here and salvage it together,” Buhari said.
However, the opposition party has described the president’s statement as “unpresidential, defeatist and characteristic of a failed leadership, which has lost all sense of responsibility towards its citizens.”
“Mr President’s comment is also a mockery on millions of Nigerians who have lost their businesses and whose families have been wrecked by the anti-people policies of the Buhari-led APC administration,” PDP’s media aide Kola Ologbodiyan said in a statement.
 The party noted that Buhari was “completely insensitive to the plight of our citizens and has no solution to the myriad of problems his incompetent and disorganized administration has caused our nation.”
Although, Buhari who became president in 2015 had on different occasions accused the PDP of looting the country’s treasury, crippling the nation’s economy.
The PDP also described the Buhari led government of being a “wasteful and inept administration, to the extent that many have taken to suicide missions and slavery as survival options.”
“Since Mr President now knows that Nigerians across the board are hurting over the failures of his administrations, the least he, as an elected leader, should have done, was to accept responsibility, rise up to the occasion and find solutions,” said the statement.
The opposition party stated that President Buhari rather than dismissing the pains of the suffering Nigerians and asking them to abandon their fatherland, he should offer soothing words instead.
The PDP urged Buhari to understand that Nigerians can no longer “take the failures, insensitivity and incompetence of his administration” as the “nation belongs to all of us. Our citizens believe and love their fatherland and will never abandon it”

Source: The Guardian 

FRSC warns commuters against disposing of waste from moving vehicles

 The Lagos State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned commuters against throwing waste out of moving vehicles, saying it could cause accident.
 An officer of the command, SP Adedotun Abayomi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ago Palace Way area of Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area that it was a bad habit that could lead to accidents and maybe, fatalities.
He spoke against the backdrop of a quarrel between a commercial bus driver and a private car owner whose vehicle was affected when a passenger in the bus threw out of the window a black nylon bag containing the waste of what she had consumed.
The said bag fell on the windscreen of Mr Chinedu Okafor’s car which almost caused an accident.
The FRSC official, an Assistant Patrol Commander, said that it was wrong for people to drop things off from a moving vehicle because it was likely to cause accident.
“Dropping off things from a moving vehicle is totally wrong and it is an offence known as “Failure to cover unstable materials’’, and it comes with N5,000 fine.
“People need to stop throwing things off moving vehicles, drivers should encourage their passengers use the dustbin in the vehicle instead of throwing them out,’’ he said.
Okafor, who struggled to control his car when the object hit his windshield, told NAN he was sad about the development and advised people to stop the habit of dropping off waste from vehicles.
“It is becoming a norm for people to drop things off while in a moving vehicle. It almost caused an accident for me today.
“These days you see people throwing what they have eaten off their vehicles, sometimes it is sachet of water, gala nylon, or even empty water bottle and so on.
“Everyone should cultivate the habit of putting dirt in the dustbin of the vehicle to avoid dropping them off which may cause accident and litter the environment,’’ he said.
Miss Bisi Kunle, a passerby also told NAN that she was disappointed anytime she saw someone dropping off things from a moving vehicle.
“l feel sad seeing such. The other day, someone spit on me from a moving vehicle.
“I am sure that it is a bad habit to drop off things but I doubt if the punishment is effective because people see it as a normal thing to do.
 “Therefore, the government should try to look into this matter and punish any defaulter so that people will stop such habit,’’ she said.

Nigeria denies plans to limit child births

The Nigerian government on Wednesday has denied it has plans of placing a two-children per family limit on its citizens.
Nigeria’s finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, at the 2018 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, noted that the Federal government was planning a birth control policy to check the prevalent poverty and unemployment in the country.
She said the government was consulting religious and traditional leaders nationwide on the issue after which a policy would be formulated.

Barely twenty-four hours after the statement was made, the finance minister said she was misinterpreted.
“The federal government has been engaging critical stakeholders like traditional and religious leaders to advise their members on child spacing,” Ahmed, Nigeria’s finance minister tweeted.
“We never said we are placing a cap on childbirth.”
The minister insisted that she only said the government was seeking religious and traditional leaders support to enlighten the public on child spacing.
“Exponential growth was identified as a challenge in the ERDP. We never said the Federal Government will place a cap on the number of childbirths, the government has been engaging traditional and religious leaders to educate their members on child spacing so they have the numbers we can adequately manage,” Ahmed said.


Source: The Guardian

After Dumping APC: Senator Shehu Sani Finally Reveals His New Party

Shehu Sani

Latest report as Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central in the Senate on Tuesday joined the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), three days after he left the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sani made this known in a statement by his Special Adviser, Political and Ideology, Mr Suleiman Ahmed, in Abuja.
He said that “It has become impossible for the senator to continue to co-habit with reactionaries and their perfidious and inimical style of politics.
 “Sen. Sani maintains the highest respect and honour for President Muhammadu Buhari. However, we prefer to live in a Cottage of Honour than a mansion of shame. Sen. Shehu Sani has returned to the PRP. PRP represen
“Sen. Sani is now free from the toxicity and infamy APC existentially represents. We left the APC for the emperors and their lackeys.”
Confirming the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview, the Kaduna State Chairman of the party, Dr Tom Maiyashi, said the lawmaker was now a member of the party.
Maiyashi said the lawmaker had been duly registered and offered membership card of the party.
He stressed that “Sen. Shehu Sani has registered with the party and his ward is Kaduna South.’’
The lawmaker had announced his resigntion from APC last Sunday in a letter addressed to the APC Chairman, Ward 6, Tudun Wada North, Kaduna State and obtained by NAN.
The letter, dated Oct. 19, signed by the lawmaker and copied to the national chairman of the party, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, however, did not state which party he would defect to.
The party’s appeal committee had affirmed Sani as candidate representing Kaduna Central after he was issued automatic ticket by the National Working Committee (NWC).
However, his name was substituted with Mr Uba Sani, an aide to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-rufai.
Uba Sani, Special Adviser to El-rufai on Political Matters, was declared winner of the primary election conducted in Kaduna on Oct. 6 for the Kaduna Central Senatorial ticket, by Chairman Primary Election Committee, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen.
Sani, however, did not participate in the election because he had been offered automatic ticket by the national body of the party.
Following the election, Sani, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Abdulsamad Amadi, said the process was ‘illegal’.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had given political parties Oct. 18 as deadline for submission of candidates’ lists for the National Assembly and state houses of assembly elections.
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Source: NAN

Nigerian professor found dead, suicide suspected

A lecturer at Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Frank Onyezili, has alleged committed suicide, official told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Onyezili, who was a professor at the Department of Biological Sciences in the institution, died last Friday.
Malik Abdullahi, a student of his department, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview, said that the news became popular on campus on Monday.
“Many of the students at the department and school generally got to know about his death on Monday. It is a painful thing because he was one of the better heads in the department,” he said.
Another source, a staff this time who pleaded anonymity told PREMIUM TIMES that the lecturer allegedly drank poison after leaving behind a suicide note.
“He actually left a note behind speaking about his death. One that many believed should not be disconnected from the fact that his family abandoned him to live and suffer here.”
When PREMIUM TIMES asked if he actually saw the note the professor left behind, he told our correspondent that “it is not about seeing the note alone this time. It is about what many of the people in the university community know.”
The spokesperson of the institution, Roseline Waku, confirmed the incident but declined talking about the details of the note the deceased left behind.
“It is true but I could not have access to the note,” she said.
The state’s police spokesperson, Moses Joel, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES calls and text messages as at the time of filling this report.
 PREMIUM TIMES however learnt that students and colleagues of Mr Onyezili have been visiting his house on campus to sign condolence register.

Obasanjo may lead to Buhari, APC’s victory – Balarabe Musa

Balarabe Musa

A former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa on Friday faulted the meeting between the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Speaking with DAILY POST, Musa said Abubakar’s renewed association with Obasanjo will reduce the possibility of the former becoming Nigeria’s next president.
He warned that the presidential flag bearer associating with Obasanjo may lead to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, emerging winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Abubakar, who was the Vice President under Obasanjo’s administration between 1999 to 2007, have endured a sour relationship with his former boss since they left power.
But yesterday, Abubakar mended fences with Obasanjo in a meeting attended by the founder and General Overseer of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Also at the meeting was Bishop Matthew Kukah and Sheikh Ahmed Gumi.

During the meeting, Obasanjo declared that he has forgiven Abubakar and was ready to help him “mend fence” internationally.
Reacting to the meeting, Musa stated that the reconciliation gives a wrong impression to Nigerians.
Stressing that the relationship between Obasanjo and Atiku was so bad, Musa stated that the reconciliation was “doubtful”.
According to him, “His association or reconciliation with Obasanjo is definitely a problem. I insisted that the reconciliation is doubtful because the relationship between them is so bad that nobody can imagine that they will reconcile so quickly.
“However, it has happened and I think the close relationship with Obasanjo is a problem for Atiku because it now seems that he is being adopted by the former president, I think it’s a lot of problem for him.
“That PDP coalition led by Obasanjo portrays a problem for Atiku because it gives the impression whether right or wrong that the PDP is being supported by a former president who is opposed to Buhari and is afraid of what he will do to him. This means that there is a credibility problem.
“His (Atiku’s) chances if it ever existed at all, is now reduced by his association with Obasanjo who is afraid of being probed by Buhari and I think that there is a credibility problem which may even favour APC and Buhari in 2019.”

Source: Daily Post

Search for missing general not punitive expedition – Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army says its search and find operation for the missing retired major general, Idris Alkali, at Dura-Du village of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State is by no means a punitive expedition as being expressed in some quarters.
It said its attention had been drawn to unfounded and unsubstantiated news about the search and find operation trending on several platforms.
A statement issued by Nuhu Angbazo, the Chief of Military/Civil Affairs, on Wednesday, said rather, the intensified effort was aimed at locating the retired senior officer’s whereabouts in line with the army’s cherished core values and global best military practices.
Mr Alkali was declared missing on September 3 and since then, the army had been trying to locate his whereabouts.
Mr Abgbazo expressed displeasure at attempt by some “unscrupulous and mischievous elements who wrongly pre-empt the operation and paint the army in bad light without waiting to hear the final outcome of the operation.”
“All citizens are therefore enjoined to go about their lawful duties without harbouring any fear as the Nigerian Army remains resolute and committed to ensuring the safety of lives and property of all citizens,” he said.
The chief of military/civil affairs, therefore, cautioned against withholding of useful information that could assist in the search effort.
He urged the public to “boldly come forward” with any useful information about the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer.
“The Nigerian Army will respect and ensure the protection of their privacy and confidentiality.
“Members of the public are urged to report any allegation of human rights violation in the course of the ongoing search operation to the Nigerian Army Call Centre on emergency number or the Nigerian Army Human Rights Desk on GSM number – 08034490803 and 193,” Mr Angbazo advised.

Source: Premium Times

Buhari summons Tinubu, Ambode over APC primary, Sanwo-Olu

Tinubu and Ambode

President Muhammadu Buhari has invited A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to Abuja, DAILY POST can authoritatively report.
 
President Muhammadu Buhari has invited A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to Abuja, DAILY POST can authoritatively report.

The meeting will hold at the presidential villa this afternoon.
A source close to the presidency told our correspondent that Buhari is worried over the strained relationship between the duo.
 
President Muhammadu Buhari has invited A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to Abuja, DAILY POST can authoritatively report.

The meeting will hold at the presidential villa this afternoon.
A source close to the presidency told our correspondent that Buhari is worried over the strained relationship between the duo.

Already, Tinubu and other APC leaders in the state have endorsed a former commissioner, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the party’s governorship ticket.
On Sunday, Ambode, apparently infuriated by the development, opened a can of warns against Sanwo-Olu.
He said: “The aspirant being put up to compete against us is not a fit and proper person to take this job. I have done everything in the last three and half years to serve people selflessly and to serve the poor.

“This particular aspirant is somebody that has been arrested for spending fake dollars in a nightclub in America, and he has been detained for months.
“He doesn’t have the competence to do what he is being propelled to do. This is somebody that has gone for rehabilitation before. The records are there at the Gbagada General Hospital. we don’t want to go to far. Our leadership should have a rethink”.
Meanwhile, the APC primary election in the state has again been shifted to Tuesday.