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UNCLE SAM AT 90

UNCLE SAM AT 90

MOHAMMED HARUNA pays tribute to Sam Amuka-Pemu, Veteran Journalist and Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers

It seems like only yesterday but it is about 20 years or so ago this month when I wrote a widely publicised and well received tribute to Prince Samson OruruAmuka Pemu, aka Sad Sam, aka Uncle Sam, on the occasion of his 70th Birthday. In that piece I talked about his immeasurable contribution to Nigeria’s journalism as columnist, editor and publisher. As columnist using the pen name Sad Sam, his popular weekly column, “This Nigeria” in the Sunday Times which he also edited, was a must read because of what I said was its “combination of humour, wit, simplicity and clarity of language.” Among his classic pieces I mentioned this memorable one he entitled “The rising cost of dying”. I don’t remember the date now but from its obviously imaginative title to its body text, it very well captured all these four qualities – and more – in a way that was typical of Sad Sam. An inversion of sorts of the common expression, “the rising cost of living”, the piece was a humourous comment on the bad habit of Nigerians, especially the rich, of spending more to bury their poorer cousins than they ever did to support them in life. More than 50 years after he wrote the piece, that foolish habit has refused to die. On the contrary, it seems to have even grown. Perhaps it was in consideration of such bad habits of Nigerians that Uncle Sam chose to declare himself Sad in those good old days. However, as I said 20 years ago, a happier and more easy-going person than Uncle Sam is hard to imagine. His philosophy seemed to be to live life to the fullest and spread happiness all around him. Life, he often said, was too short for anyone to take it too seriously. Perhaps it was this happy-go-lucky attitude to life that has helped him live to reach the ripe young age of 90 years on June 13. Opportunity, it is often said, knocks only once. For Uncle Sam as a newspaper publisher, it knocked twice, first in March 1973 when he co-founded Punch with the late Chief Olu Aboderin, and then in July 1984 when he had to leave Punch less than 10 years from its founding, following the souring of the relationship between the two. In between his leaving Punch and founding Vanguard the man thought he could live life outside being a newspaperman.

He dabbled into offshore fishing but soon discovered he just had to return to the only profession he knew best how to practice. Among so many of us who paid tribute to Uncle Sam on his 70th birthday 20 years ago none captured his essence like his favourite journalistic godson from the heydays of Punch. I am, of course, talking about Muyiwa Adetiba, predictably his first Editor at Vanguard and now a veteran columnist with the newspaper. As Muyiwa said in his tribute, Uncle Sam stood out as someone who knew how to identify talents, delegate authority and responsibility without abdication, and was as generous in rewarding hard work as he was quick in detesting sloth. At the risk of sounding immodest, I believe I am a living example of his search for talent and generosity. At the height of Punch’s popularity in the late seventies or so, he led a small team all the way to Kaduna from Lagos in search of northern talents. We met in the course of that trip and he offered me a job in the newspaper. His offer was hard to resist but I declined because I thought at that time Punch was more entertainment than hard news, although I did not tell him so. In spite of my saying no to his offer, Uncle Sam, who, like me, is small in stature, gave me two very expensive designer safari suits that became my favourite wear for many years. Not one to easily give up on his objective, he told me that his offer was open any time I changed my mind. Among the many virtues I admire in the man is his insistence that though comments are free, they must be fair and balanced. This must be why, several years ago, he would not let me be until I got him a good writer who could articulate a northern point of view on issues as a counter to Vanguard’s predominantly southern viewpoint.

This was how, first, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, a former Editor of Trust, and subsequently Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former university teacher, retired federal permanent secretary and the last executive secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, came to write their weekly columns in his newspaper. In recent years Uncle Sam has gone well beyond his success as a newspaperman to become, among other things, a pioneer, and, given his wide and deep contacts in the country, a highly valued member of the National Peace Committee chaired by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar. This nongovernmental organisation has played a critical role since 2014 in monitoring and ensuring that our elections at both national and state levels are conducted in the most peaceful and credible manner. As the man celebrates his 90th birthday, it is not surprising that he was rewarded a day before his birthday with the national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), one of Nigeria’s higher national honours, by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, in his speech commemorating this year’s Democracy Day. Uncle Sam, here’s wishing you Happy 90th Birthday and many, many more returns in good health!

 Haruna is National Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission, Abuja

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MOHAMMED HARUNA pays tribute to Sam Amuka-Pemu, Veteran Journalist and Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers It seems like only yesterday but it is about 20 years or so ago this month when I wrote

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NDDC Decries Disruption of Projects Commissioning in Calabar, Warns Against Unhealthy Politics

NDDC Decries Disruption of Projects Commissioning in Calabar, Warns Against Unhealthy Politics

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has dismissed as bad politics and mischievous, allegation by officials of the Cross River state government that it hijacked projects undertaken by the state.
Speaking Wednesday in Bayelsa state during the inauguration of some projects executed by the Commission, Chairman, Governing Board of the interventionist agency, Barrister Chiedu Ebie, wondered why some people would descend so low as to tell barefaced lies against the commission just to cast it in bad light and score cheap political goals.
The NDDC boss warned such individuals to leave the Commission out of their dirty politics as the commission was irrevocably committed to the socio- infrastructural development of the Niger Delta region and therefore, has no time for inanities.
His words: “Last week we were in Calabar to Commission a state office and also some roads in Calabar South local government area and Calabar Municipality but it is very unfortunate that despite the good work and the amount of efforts and energy put into these projects, not just by the contractors but also by the staff who monitored, evaluated and certified them, that people will take it upon themselves to cast us in bad light or ensure that they spin the wrong narrative out there.
“Yesterday or two days ago, the media was awash with the projects we went to commission in Calabar where they alleged that due process was not followed in the award of the road projects”
Continuing, Barrister Ebie stressed: “The law said that the Chairman and Managing Director shall sign contracts on behalf of the Commission. We only do that when the due process is followed- the procurement process is done, the award letter issued and the bill of engineering measurement also issued.
“So, how can a mischievous individual sit down and say there was no award letter, there was nothing, and so, how did the contractor go to site? Did he just go there and do whatever it is he wanted to do?
“Politics is politics, leave your politics aside, do not include the NDDC because this is a new NDDC and we are determined to make a difference.”
Recall that persons suspected to be agents of the Cross River state government, last week disrupted the commissioning ceremony of NDDC- executed road projects in the capital, Calabar, claiming the projects belonged to the state government.

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The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has dismissed as bad politics and mischievous, allegation by officials of the Cross River state government that it hijacked projects undertaken by the state.Speaking

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Benue Killings: Adebayo Expresses Disappointment in Tinubu’s Visit

Benue Killings: Adebayo Expresses Disappointment in Tinubu’s Visit

The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its 2023 presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has expressed disappointment with the way and manner President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue State over the recent killing by Fulani herdsmen was trivialized and reduced to politics.

Insisting that Nigerians must be serious with the way they tackle important issues, Adebayo described Tinubu’s Benue town hall meeting during the visit as sickening.

Writing in his official X handle, he said: “Our entire governmental doctrine and leadership mentality in Nigeria needs a thorough revamp and our people desperately need mental liberation. How could the emphasis be on the 2027 election and little on the sadistic massacre?” 

He took exception to President Tinubu’s emphasis on his sacrifice to visit Benue instead of addressing the leadership lapses that led to such wanton destruction of innocent lives.

He said: “The bulk of the speech is on the sacrifice @officialABAT had to make to promptly respond to the killing, instead of critical questions about the failure of leadership and breach of the constitutional duty to secure the citizens. No observer would believe that the people of this great state have just suffered a dastardly and gruesome massacre merely a few days ago.”

He also condemned the traditional rulers in the affected area for their insensitivity to the plight of their subjects. 

Adebayo noted that rather than grieve over the unfortunate incident, the traditional rulers were busy endorsing Tinubu for a second term in 2027. 

“That the traditional rulers felt that they had to pledge their ‘massive support’ for @officialABAT in the 2027 election on this sombre occasion is both pathetic and undignified. I could not believe my eyes and ears. The political elite’s deterioration seems irredeemable. A new direction is inevitable; May God help Nigeria. We need to bid farewell to poverty and insecurity in Nigeria,” he stated.

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The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its 2023 presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has expressed disappointment with the way and manner President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue

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2027: Fresh Trouble for Katsina PDP As 263 Ex-aspirants Join Coalition

2027: Fresh Trouble for Katsina PDP As 263 Ex-aspirants Join Coalition

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The gale of defections sweeping through the Katsina State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a different dimension following the defection of 263 former aspirants of the party into a new coalition.

The coalition, under the leadership of a former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr. Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, is said to have been working behind the scenes to form a political party to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.

The defectors include 25 former state House of Assembly aspirants, 13 chairmanship and 225 councilorship aspirants on the platform of the PDP during the 2023 general election.

They announced their defection to the new political movement at a strategic meeting with leaders of the coalition held at Inuwa’s office along Katsina-Mani road on Thursday.

Speaking on behalf of the 25 former state Assembly aspirants, Jamilu Yahaya said they left the PDP because it had become disconnected from the aspirations of the Nigerians it seeks to lead.

He explained that the former Assembly aspirants under his leadership will work with leaders of the coalition to form a political party that will oust the APC from power in 2027.

Yahaya, who read the names of the defectors, said: “We have entered an agreement with leaders of the coalition, and we are going to support it to succeed. We will woo other members of the PDP to join the coalition.”

On his part, the chairman of 2023 local government chairmanship aspirants, Yasir Ibrahim, said they left the PDP to join forces with the coalition because of deceit and leadership crisis rocking the party in the state.

He stated that 13 local government chairmanship aspirants have joined the coalition, and efforts were ongoing to woo aggrieved PDP members into the coalition ahead of the 2027 poll.

Earlier, the chairman of the 2023 councilorship aspirants in the state on the platform of the PDP, Hon. Aminu Usman, said 225 out of the 361 former councilorship aspirants have joined the coalition.

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Francis Sardauna in Katsina The gale of defections sweeping through the Katsina State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a different dimension following the defection of 263

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Troops Foil Bandits’ Attack on Katsina Communities, Kill Eight, Recover Weapons 

Troops Foil Bandits’ Attack on Katsina Communities, Kill Eight, Recover Weapons 

Linus Aleke in Abuja 

The Nigerian military has stated that troops of 17 Brigade, Operation Fansan Yamma, at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Kurfi, foiled a planned bandits’ attack on communities and killed at least eight of them during an intense firefight along the Kurfi-Batsari Road in Katsina State.

The military revealed that the vigilant and gallant troops also recovered weapons from the bandits during the gun battle. 

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, stated in a release that regrettably, one gallant soldier was wounded in action and has since been evacuated to the 17 Brigade Medical Centre for treatment.

According to him, “In a significant development, troops of 17 Brigade, Operation Fansan Yamma, at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Kurfi in Katsina State, encountered terrorists along the Kurfi-Batsari Road at about 5 am on 18 June 2025. During the encounter, the troops swiftly engaged the terrorists, and after a prolonged duel, defeated them, thwarting the attack.

“The terrorists suffered significant casualties, with eight killed in action. The troops also recovered five AK-47 rifles, six AK-47 magazines, and 13 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition. One of our troops was, however, wounded in action and evacuated to the 17 Brigade Medical Centre for treatment.”

General Kangye said the situation in the area remains calm, while troops’ morale and fighting efficiency remain high.

Noting that the Defence Headquarters commends the bravery and professionalism of the troops involved in the operation, Kangye reassured Nigerians of the military’s continued efforts to ensure the safety and security of citizens.

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Linus Aleke in Abuja  The Nigerian military has stated that troops of 17 Brigade, Operation Fansan Yamma, at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Kurfi, foiled a planned bandits’ attack on communities

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FG’ll Unlock Potentials of All States, Says Tinubu

FG’ll Unlock Potentials of All States, Says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has said the Federal Government will unlock the potential of every state in the country.

Tinubu disclosed this in a post just as he embarked on a one-day working visit to Kaduna State.

According to the president, the move is to empower all the states of the federation to serve their people boldly and effectively.

He described the Governor Uba Sani-led Kaduna State as Nigeria’s most promising frontier of progress and purpose.

Tinubu said: “What Kaduna is doing is a clear sign of what is possible when the sub-national governments are empowered, trusted and supported by the centre to do more.”

Tinubu had since inaugurated the ultramodern Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development in Rigachikun, Igabi Local Government Area of the state.

It is named after the late governor of the state, Alhaji AbdulKadir Balarabe-Musa. (NAN)

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President Bola Tinubu has said the Federal Government will unlock the potential of every state in the country. Tinubu disclosed this in a post just as he embarked on a