One Person Confirmed Dead, Four Others Injured as Explosion Rocks DICON’s Ordnance Factory in Kaduna

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September 21, 2025
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*DHQ confirms incident, condoles victims’ families

John Shiklam in Kaduna and Linus Aleke in Abuja

One person has been confirmed dead following yesterday’s explosion at the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in Kaduna.

Several other staff members sustained injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has confirmed the incident and extended its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and wished a swift recovery to those injured.

The Public Relations Officer of DICON, Maria Sambo, also confirmed the incident in a statement issued yesterday.
According to her, the explosion occurred around 10am at the corporation’s ordnance factory disposal pit, where expired explosive materials were being destroyed.

The statement quoted the Director General of DICON, Major General Babatunde Ibrahim Alaya, as saying that a Board of Inquiry has been constituted to determine the immediate cause of the unfortunate incident.
“On Saturday, September 20, 2025, at about 10 am, an explosion occurred at DICON Ordnance Factory Disposal pit, killing one person and injuring others.

“Some old storage bunkers used to store raw materials for production contained several expired materials for production which have exceeded their lifespans, including a large quantity of Ammonia Nitrates, Primer Caps, Propellants and others.”

The statement explained that DICON had commenced the controlled disposal of the expired materials in July 2025 and had already safely destroyed the Ammonia Nitrates and most of the other items.

“However, the unfortunate accident of the explosion occurred while specialists were concluding the destruction of the remaining quantity of the expired items at the disposal pit on Saturday, September 20, 2025.”
According to her, the injured DICON staff were receiving treatment at 44 Nigerian Army Referral Hospital, Kaduna, while the body of the deceased personnel has been deposited at the mortuary.”
The statement extended condolences to the family and friends of the deceased staff, and wished the injured speedy recovery.

It also assured the public that the situation is under control, adding that there is no cause for alarm.
“The neighbouring community is assured that DICON, as a responsible professional organisation, has institutionalised operational safety to the highest level, and they can go about their normal business. The remaining materials have been made safe,” the statement added.
Sambo said a board of inquiry has been set up to determine the immediate cause of the incident.

Meanwhile, in a statement signed by the Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, the military also confirmed that the incident tragically resulted in one fatality and injuries to several other personnel.

Gusau further revealed that the injured personnel were receiving medical treatment at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna.

The statement added that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, extended his condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and wished a swift recovery to those injured.

“The surrounding community has been reassured that DICON maintains strict operational safety standards. The corporation remains committed to upholding safety protocols and will conduct a thorough investigation to prevent future incidents,” the statement added.

The post One Person Confirmed Dead, Four Others Injured as Explosion Rocks DICON’s Ordnance Factory in Kaduna appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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Remi Tinubu: Primus Inter Pares First Lady at 65

By Mobolaji Sanusi

“There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born, and the day we discover why.” — William Barclay

The celebration of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s 65th birthday today is uniquely an issue because of two things: The esteemed position she occupies, and secondly because of her admirable assertive but simplistic humility despite her privileged position of power and influence over the years.

However, not many people know that she shares her assertive humility with the very first woman to carry the First Lady tag in recorded history. We all proclaim the First Lady title but a negligible number of us, especially in our African continent, bother to unravel how the title of First Lady came to being in the early days of an independent United States political history.

The title was ab initio deployed to describe the spouse of America’s pioneer president. Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, United States first president, was the first spouse in global history to be referred to as “First Lady” in an 1838 article authored by one Mrs Sigourney in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian newspaper.

Senator Remi Tinubu moving a motion on the floor of the Nigerian Senate

Mrs. Sigourney in the article, highlighted how Martha Washington never got intoxicated by power, even after her husband, George became president. She wrote: “The First Lady of the nation still preserved the habits of early life. Indulging in no indolence, she left the pillow at dawn, and after breakfast, retired to her chamber for an hour for the study of the scriptures and devotion.”

Precisely how Mrs Sigourney described Martha Washington as a piously religious and humble woman of substance aptly captures the virtuous attributes of our current First Lady. However, Remi Tinubu, CFR, is much more to humanity than Martha was.

We may unknowingly assume she’s just the usual First Lady. Expectedly so because hitherto, previous First Ladies who occupied Nigeria’s Presidential Villa largely played the role of hostess to dignitaries who visited Nigeria’s seat of power. But our own Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CFR, wife of incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, plays more than that simplistic role euphemistically described as that of the “other room”—apologies to late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.

With the glimmer so far displayed at the Aso-Rock Villa and how she served in Lagos House in the same role, it won’t be out of tune to describe her as being indeed, the primus inter pares amongst the wives of presidents that have lived in the federal seat of power.

And this is not hyperbolic. Our First Lady possesses an inspiring credentials quite uncommon within the club of wives of former presidents in this country. She has so many firsts attached by providence to her name. Not many people would easily realize that she’s the first Nigerian woman imbued with the privilege of serving as a senator before becoming First Lady to her president husband.

She has also made history by not just being a senator but the first woman in the annals of the nation’s political history to have served an unbroken three-term tenure as a senator. She’s also the only First Lady, by virtue of her versatile legislative experience that’s nuanced in proper workings of government. Like Senator Hillary Clinton remarked during the 1992 Presidential campaign in the USA that voters would get her and her husband working for the country if Bill Clinton was elected President, Nigerians “got two for the price of one” with the election of President Tinubu in 2023.

At 65, Remi Tinubu was providentially prepared for the role she played and still playing in the nation’s public life. Having been properly schooled at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu Ode, Ogun state where she sat for her West African School Certificate in 1979, her subsequent education at Adeyemi College of Education for her National Certificate in Education and later at the University of Ife where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Education prepared her for her current role as the mother of the nation.

She combines this with very deep spiritual rigour that saw her becoming a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God after obtaining a postgraduate diploma in theology from the church’s Bible school in 2010. All these, coupled with a strong parental grounding led her to becoming a woman of indisputable sense of admirable ethos, spirituality and humility.

Remi Tinubu behind (2nd left) her husband, President Bola Tinubu after he took the oath of ofice on May 29, 2023

Remi Tinubu’s husband’s incursion into politics threw her into public eye. Ever since, she has evolved into carving her own niche without breaching the space provided for her to operate within by her husband. Since founding the New Era Foundation in 2000 with several laudably impactful programmes to showcase decades after, Remi Tinubu has never looked back. Her New Era Foundation was built on empathy, with a strong focus on supporting underprivileged groups—especially children, women, and young people.
Drawing on her background in education, she championed initiatives that inspired learning and excellence.

Among the most notable was the state’s first-ever Spelling Bee competition for secondary school students. Designed to foster academic achievement, the programme also carried a powerful message: regardless of socio-economic background, hard work, dedication, and academic excellence can propel any child to the highest levels of success. To reinforce this belief, the Foundation created the “One-Day Governor” initiative, giving the Spelling Bee winner the opportunity to serve as the state’s governor for an entire day—complete with media attention, a seat at the governor’s desk, and participation in a state council meeting.

In the Senate, she became a strong advocate for state police to enhance security in our communities, and for reforms of the postal system. It is no surprise that education reform, state police, and postal reforms remain priorities for the President today.
Senator Remi Tinubu has distinguished herself as First Lady of Lagos State, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and now as the First Lady of the nation. She has also excelled as a devoted wife and mother, offering unwavering support to the President in his service to the country.

Her humility and grassroots orientation drew people’s exaltation. With her husband’s assumption of office as Nigeria’s 16th President, she also becomes the 16th First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, assuming a newly-elevated role from her Lagos position, within Nigeria’s national narrative.

As Nigeria’s First Lady, she has pursued her pet project – Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) – committedly. With her selfless dedication to uplifting the hoi poloi in the country, RHI has continued to live in the consciousness of the people through benevolent initiatives, sponsored not from the government till, but through partnerships with successful private entities like the African Initiatives of Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Tony Elumelu Foundation and other anonymous wealthy entities of this world.

Very many Nigerians who have been privileged to encounter the First Lady, including yours sincerely, will stoutly vouch for her intolerance for inanities in all imaginable endeavours. This is why the many that had thought that her RHI initiative would become another showpiece project designed for photo Ops have been greatly been disappointed. RHI, through its anchored five thematic pillars of agriculture, education, health, economic empowerment and social investment have been widely recognized as a big success in alleviating and palliating the toil of our vulnerable class, with special attention to women, children, elderly and the youth.

About two months ago, Remi Tinubu’s RHI empathetically donated one billion naira (N1billion) towards helping victims of recent Plateau state violence. Till date, her several food outreaches, health interventions, monetary donations, most times amounting to half a million naira per person, doled out as grants to farmers, market women, widows, business owners, school children, physically challenged people and the elderly and the sick, have percolated through the thirty-six states and Abuja with beneficiaries volunteering to publicly attest to having received the First Lady’s humanitarian largesse.

Commendably so heartwarming to equally know that in just barely two years, Remi Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative has reportedly benefited over 40 million Nigerians. She fed the hungry, clothed the needy, fortified the healthcare worker, equipped the farmer, provided grants for the traders, rescued the elderly from untimely deaths and restored hope of thousands of girls. What other things could be more rewarding than to use one’s position to benefit humanity.

Even today at 65, she has come out to publicly tell her well-wishers not to embark on celebratory jamborees but rather deploy money kept for that to sponsor a laudable national library project initiative. True to her selflessly humanist nature, she called on her admirers to, on this occasion of her 65th birthday, contribute money to a designated account with the federal ministry of education to be used for the completion of the abandoned national library project. That is Remi Tinubu for you – always thinking of how to make indelible imprints on the sand of time. Others in her shoes or even higher shoes could possibly have called for donations to build personalized presidential library known more for hospitality business than any meaningful intellectual pursuits.

Our ravishing First Lady is imbued with the lovingly assertive character of a mother, the panoramic scrutiny of a genuinely focused legislator; a tenderly affectionate heart of a humanist and above all, she has been a sincerely obedient wife to, as your sincerely writes this, the patriarch of progressive politics in the country, Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our dear president.

There’s a popular aphorism which goes thus: “Don’t just count your years, make your years count”. In all ramifications, Remi Tinubu, through her steadfast contributions to mankind, has in deeds, words and actions affirmed her not only counting her years but equally making those years count.

At sixty-five, our darling Yeye-Asíwájú of the universe is obviously redefining and making productive, the covetous office of the First Lady — from its being hitherto a position of ceremonial glamour to making it become a throne of substantial impact with enduring substance.

Happy 65th Birthday Yeye-Asíwájú’.

•Sanusi, former MD/CEO of LASAA is a managerial psychologist and current managing partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS.

The post Remi Tinubu: Primus Inter Pares First Lady at 65 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

By Mobolaji Sanusi “There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born, and the day we discover why.” — William Barclay The celebration of Nigeria’s First
The post Remi Tinubu: Primus Inter Pares First Lady at 65 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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Jonathan: A Leader Who Fails to Perform Should Be Voted Out

*Obasanjo, Mahama seek reform, protection of democracy in Africa

*If I wanted third term, I would have got it, says Obasanjo

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said any leader who fails to perform should be voted out of office if proper elections are conducted.
This is as former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, called for the reform of democracy and its protection in Africa.
Obasanjo also denied allegations that he sought a third term in office when he was president, insisting that if he had wanted a third term, he would have got it, adding also that no Nigerian can produce evidence to support such allegations.

Jonathan, who described electoral manipulation as one of the biggest threats to democracy in Africa, said that unless stakeholders come together to rethink and reform democracy, it may collapse in Africa.
Jonathan spoke at the 2025 edition of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) Democracy Dialogue, held in Accra, Ghana.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Communications Officer at Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Mr. Wealth Dickson Ominabo, quoted the former president as saying that where democracy fails to meet expectations, desperation can open the door to authoritarianism.

He added that leaders must commit to the kind of democracy that guarantees a great future for the children, where their voices matter.
He said: “Democracy in the African continent is going through a period of strain and risk of collapse unless stakeholders come together to rethink and reform it. Electoral manipulation remains one of the biggest threats in Africa.

“We in Africa must begin to look at our democracy and rethink it in a way that works well for us and our people. One of the problems is our electoral system. People manipulate the process to remain in power by all means.
“If we had proper elections, a leader who fails to perform would be voted out. But in our case, people use the system to perpetuate themselves even when the people don’t want them.

“Our people want to enjoy their freedom. They want their votes to count during elections. They want equitable representation and inclusivity. They want a good education. Our people want security. They want access to good healthcare. They want jobs. They want dignity. When leaders fail to meet these basic needs, the people become disillusioned,” Jonathan added.

He also spoke on youth participation in governance, describing it as very encouraging, but emphasised that for the youth to succeed in governance, they need the wisdom and experience of older people to guide them.
Also speaking, the President of Ghana, Mahama, said democracy would not survive unless Africans actively worked to protect and strengthen it.
He warned that weak institutions, elite capture, exclusion, leadership deficits, and external interference erode citizens’ trust in democracy.

“Democracy will not survive if we don’t work for it. We need a reset of democracy and governance to ensure accountability. Anybody who wants to serve must be accountable to the people. Our citizens are tired of corruption, misgovernance, and lack of opportunities.
“To renew democracy, we must strengthen institutions, deliver development, and educate our citizens. We must protect the media and civic space. A free press is democracy’s immune system. Democracy dies when citizens lose faith, when leaders abandon integrity, and when institutions succumb to capture. But democracy can be renewed when citizens rise to defend it.”

On his part, former President Obasanjo, who was the chairman of the event, warned that democracy risks collapse if it continued to be practised in its current form without urgent reforms.
He said Africa’s current democratic practice is unsustainable and must be urgently reformed.
The elder statesman said democracy was originally conceived as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Obasanjo, however, added that it has drifted far from that vision.
“Democracy dies because democracy has refused to be reformed,” he declared. “There are three aspects of democracy that cannot continue to exist the way it was as defined by the American president: government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

“In that definition, democracy is meant to be for all people. And if democracy will not die and be buried, democracy must be reformed in context, in content, and in practice.”
Obasanjo likened the failures of democracy to a local proverb in his part of the world, “the thing that killed the vegetable is the insect in the vegetable.”

He explained that democracy was being destroyed from within due to the way it is currently practised.
“The thing that is killing democracy and will kill it is the practice of democracy,” he warned.
“All the essentials that should be part and parcel of democracy are being ignored or bastardised in such a way that democracy has failed to deliver. And democracy cannot deliver unless it is reformed. If it is not reformed, it will not only fail, it will die and be buried.”

The former president, however, argued that despite its flaws, democracy remains irreplaceable.
“Is there any real substitute for democracy as it was originally designed, government of the people, all the people. What we have now is a government of some people, by some people, over all the people,” he lamented.
He further criticised the interpretation of democracy as simply “government of the majority,” insisting that this perspective marginalises minorities and undermines inclusivity.

“And they talk of a government of democracy as a government of the majority. If you talk of the government of the majority, what do you do with the minority? Then the minority is not part of the people?” Obasanjo queried.
He condemned leaders who overstay their welcome and consider themselves indispensable, describing such an attitude as a “sin against God.”

“I think I’m not a fool. If I wanted it, some thought I wanted it, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian, dead or alive, who will say I called him and told him I wanted the third term. None.”
According to him, securing debt relief for Nigeria during his administration was a greater challenge than obtaining a third term in office.

“I keep telling them that, ‘look, if I wanted to get debt relief, which is more difficult than getting a third term and I got it, ’ if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he said.
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, stressed that democracy must go beyond elections to include accountability, service, and discipline.

“For many, democracy is all about elections, but that is a narrow view. Democracy is about accountability, discipline, and results. Unless accountability governs the relationship between citizens and governments, unless discipline permeates our social fabric, and unless results drive our public engagement, we will continue to sit on gold mines and oil wells but wallow in poverty. Any system, democratic or otherwise, will die if it does not deliver results.”
The keynote speaker, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, called on politicians to demonstrate patriotism through their conduct and commitment to democratic norms.

“A deliberate effort must be made to ensure that the lifestyle of public officers reflects service and inspires confidence. Politics should not become a do-or-die affair or a ticket to self-enrichment. Institutions such as the judiciary and electoral bodies must inspire confidence.
“Despite the appeal of ethnic or religious emotions, leaders must rise above being seen merely as champions of their ethnic or religious groups.”

The post Jonathan: A Leader Who Fails to Perform Should Be Voted Out appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

*Obasanjo, Mahama seek reform, protection of democracy in Africa *If I wanted third term, I would have got it, says Obasanjo Chuks Okocha in Abuja Former President Goodluck Jonathan has
The post Jonathan: A Leader Who Fails to Perform Should Be Voted Out appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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One Person Confirmed Dead, Four Others Injured as Explosion Rocks DICON’s Ordnance Factory in Kaduna

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