Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, expressed deep sorrow over the death of Olorogun Oscar Ibru, a prominent businessman and philanthropist.

Ibru, the chairman of the Ibru Organisation and eldest son of the late industrialist Michael Ibru, passed away on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at age 67 after a brief illness.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Family announces death of ex-agriculture minister Audu Ogbeh 

Born on August 11, 1958, he was a key figure in Nigeria’s business and philanthropy sectors.

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In a heartfelt social media post, Ibori referred to Ibru as a “dear brother” and prayed for his soul’s repose. He wrote, “Skidoo!!! So long my dear brother! Sleep well in the Lord. Tode Olorogun Oscar Ibru. Igbruuuuuuuuuu!!!”.

By Sunny Igboanugo

Journey began on Sunday, May 4 from the Babatunde Fashola Train Station at Agege. For others it started from the Ebute Metta. It was my first train experience in Nigeria. The executive train arrived on the dot of 3pm. Boarding completed, the pleasure trip commenced.

In this particular train ride, you could decide to cross your legs and be sipping your usual coffee, tea or whisky – just like you were in your sitting room or some lounges elsewhere. You could decide to move around engage friends as if you were in the club or just look through the windows and watch the beauty of the landscape speed away in a cascading swing of colours, just like the kaleidoscope.

I did all these without noticing any form of anxiety, or some sudden thrumbling of the heart, the way you felt in the sky in those troubling moments that dot almost every minute in the air. You were also immune to the bumping, tossing, swerving and bouncing dances and other nightmarish tales whenever the tyres hit the tars on most of the Nigerian roads.

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No! Sleek, smooth, effortless, noiseless – pure pleasure – pure joy – an experience that attracts, just like the bee to the nectar. That was how good it felt.

I remember asking myself and aloud too, what if this went round the country? How much of the tears would it save? 80, 90, 95 per cent? Perhaps, perhaps not. But surely something close to it. Then why not? Is it that Kadiri the barber has lost his skills or his hair clippers have gone blunt?

Of course, the answer to this could not only be obvious, but stretch as much in length as the number of compatriots Nigeria has happened to. The hyperboles, expletives and other nuances of these parlous tales are enough for me to add to the list.

Besides, the essence here is not to descend into the sad reality of the Nigerian story, past and present, occasioned by the wickedness of leaders and enabled by supine and recumbent followers whose only thought is self and not the whole. That should be left for another day, lest the test-bud went sour once again and the ecstasy of the tale diminished.

That addendum was introduced, just to emphasise that Nigeria could actually breathe and taste the milk and honey abundant in the country if only those in charge were willing and ready to donate just a fraction to touch the perched lips of the millions out in the streets. Imagine what it means to ride on such executive trains from Lagos to Enugu or Port Harcourt to Abuja. Just imagine! There I digress again. But back to the subject matter – the journalist clinic.

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The feeling from the thrills of the train ride continued in Abeokuta, the city on the hill. The welcoming scenery and ambiance of the ancient town had its one part of the enchanting story. The serene feel in the Academy Suites – a modest but sparkling affair, with clean rooms and appreciable cousins to the courteous staff, provided the setting for the hosting of the 60 – plus new entrants that came to town.

The noiseless environment and clement weather delivered the atmosphere for the needed rest with the nights breaking into refreshing and welcoming mornings that gave each new day a fresh zest for business.

Business? Themed: MARKET SQUARED: Turning Connections into Gold in the AI Age, the two days of intensive engagement provided a forum for a blend of the old and new techniques in the process of learning, unlearning and re-learning the profession.

Taiwo Obe, Convener-in-Chief and Founder/Director of The Journalism Clinic, organisers of the event, welcomed participants with an inspiring story of his own personal journey that swung from the tortuous and intimidating challenges to the alluring feelings of success.

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Thereafter, he yielded the floor for the sponsors of the event, who were present to deliver their goodwill messages, among them the Chief executives of NLNG, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Lagos State Government, Ogun State Government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as well as financial institutions like Fidelity Bank and Polaris Banks.

On hand too were media houses like The PUNCH, TheCable, Premium Times, The Nation, Business Day, Penpushing Media Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Innovation Media Consulting Group, Real Pharmaceuticals, Academy Suites among others.

Then the real business of the business. Dolapo Otegbayi, Principal Consultant at DKO Consultant, who captivated her audience in her delivery, themed: You & Your Market, led the flow with emphasis on the need for media organisations to understand their target audiences deeply as well the new impetus of the use of the AI to blend with relevant human insight and observation.

Rasheed Adebiyi, PhD, Director of the Centre for Innovation, Research and Technology at Fountain University, Osogbo, followed with his equally captivating delivery on how practitioners could capture their audience by moving beyond demographic data and delving into psychographic and behavioral data to understand audience preferences and consumption patterns.

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On her part, Helen Emore, PhD, Managing Director of Scientia Partners Innovation Hub, in a delivery laced with hilarious and rib-cracking jokes, while stressing the need for media organisations to curate their narratives effectively, urged participants to build communities, engage authentically, and recognise the shift in economic power towards consumers.

Dan Mason, Trainer/Comms Consultant at Dan Mason Media, offered practical tips for “Finding the Unicorn” – compelling content that resonates with online audiences, demonstrated how AI tools could be used to generate story ideas, optimise headlines, and enhance storytelling, while stressing the importance of understanding audience priorities and adapting content accordingly.

Richard O. Ikiebe, Media Scholar and Adjunct Faculty at Pan Atlantic University, on his part roused the house to a hot debate regarding the old and new practitioners, when he examined historical trends in Nigerian media, urging participants to learn from the past while recognising the unique challenges of the present.

The event also featured Owners’ Forum, with prominent media executives including Joseph Adeyeye of Punch Nigeria Limited, Frank Aigbogun of BusinessDay, Betty Dibiah Akeredolu-Ale of Branama Children’s Television, Mojeed Musikilu of Premium Times, and Toun O. Sonaiya of Women Radio 91.7 FM, sharing their experiences and insights on audience engagement, revenue generation, and digital transformation.

In the end, participants agreed on the need for:

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* Increased investment in audience research and data analytics.
* Development of innovative content formats and distribution strategies.
* Enhanced collaboration and partnerships within the media industry.
* A renewed focus on ethical journalism and combating misinformation.
* Empowering journalists with the skills and tools to effectively utilise AI.

But it was not only about the business. The second day was punctuated with birthday songs and sharing of cakes to celebrate Gracie, daughter of the Masons, who just turned nine, and whose face featured in her little corners while tagging along her parents all through the programme.

Of course, that journalists are reputed to working hard and playing hard, was evident when everyone turned up at the poolside on the eve of departure, May 6, to share a wonderful time of food and drinks under the cool, sonorous voices of a life band delivering old and new renditions of both Nigerian and foreign songs.

Why not? How else to mark the good news? Earlier in the day the meeting hall had erupted when colleagues heard that the name of Lanre Arogundade, the effervescent and indomitable activist, composite fire-eating Nigerian media warrior, and former Chairman of the Lagos Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), had been removed from the watchlist of the Department of State Services (DSS).

For 40 harrowing years, the former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and now Executive Director, International Press Centre (IPC), had borne the bitter imprimatur of that tag in his harassment at airports by security agents outside other forms of discomforts.

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Even with his resolve to fight on against the enemies of freedom, while expressing happiness at the development announced by Musikilu Mojeed, Edito-in-Chief of Premium Times and President of the International Press Institute (IPI), Arogundade’s special dig to the songs at the party, also underscored the raison d’etre for merriment.

The next morning of May 7, was marked by the visit to the Gateway International Cargo Airport, an ambitious edifice being built by the Ogun State Government, which authorities boast would host Nigeria’s best in the aviation industry, complete with smart – touch of the button facilities comparable anywhere in the world.

At the end of the guided tour where officials in charge of the tried to prove their words, it was back to the train station for yet another smooth, memorable ride to Lagos. Hours after that unforgettable event, the world itself rose on Thursday to the global cry – Habemus Papam – we have a Pope!

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By Sunny Igboanugo

Frank Kokori spent four good years behind bars for his historic efforts in the war for the restoration of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola but annulled by the military government of Ibrahim Babangida and sustained by Sani Abacha. As the General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), he became the arrowhead on which the war was fought.

His modus operandi was leading the famous NUPENG strikes, which completely crippled economic activities in Nigeria and almost made it ungovernable. These strikes were said to be the most effective weapon that made the most impact to the government of the day, if not the only weapon.

Abacha, then Head of State, who by records ran the most despotic regime in the country, was not one to be enamoured of street demonstrations or media criticisms, be they locally or internationally. But the crippling of the economic foundation of Nigeria, which Kokori and his men effected through those strikes, was said to have hit him where it hurt.

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Worse still was that Kokori, having fought his war by going underground, could not be physically contained like other traducers of the government, who the dark-goggled dictator simply picked up and threw into his overflowing gulags across the country. But through some special military engineering, tactics and special operations, his efforts finally paid off, as the Chief of Ovu Kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government of Delta State, was eventually captured.

Sprung out from his underground fortress in August, 1994 and detained thereafter, the nine-week strike of NUPENG ended effectively. So too, the June 12 struggle. In fact, there must have been a party in Aso Rock, the seat of power in Abuja for Abacha and his henchmen to celebrate that particular feat.

To underscore the importance of Kokori’s capture and ensure there was no repeat, the junta made sure they put him so far away from the rest of the Nigerian society and from an environment he was familiar with – the Bama Prisons in Borno State – reputed to be one of the worst of such facilities in the country. Even there, he was forbidden from contact with human elements – detained in solitary confinement, where he only had ants and mosquitos as companions.

That was his ugly fate until the end of the Abacha junta in 1998. Kokori was eventually released by Abdulsalami Abubakar, the military General who not only took over from the ex-military dictator, but began a set of counter actions to redeem the testy firmament of the hitherto iron-fist regime, starting with the release of political prisoners and eventually the transition programme that produced a civilian government in 1999. That was how Kokori was relieved from his near fatal ordeal.

Now, with this stellar performance as the arrowhead of the June 12 struggle, it would have been expected that Kokori, would naturally assume a central place in the sharing of the accolades and the booties accompanying it after the war was finally won. Nada! This same Kokori died on December 7, 2023 and about three months later, was buried on March 8, 2024.

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Accounts in certain quarters indicate that the fiery labour leader, who once boasted that without me, there will be no June 12, not only died in penury, but did lamenting on his deathbed about being abandoned, before he succumbed to the protracted kidney disease he battled for years. This was a whole five years after the June 12 struggle had been given its full essence in Nigeria’s democratic history and structure.

Recall that Muhammadu Buhari, President – 2015-2023, had in 2018 – ahead of his re-election campaigns, put in place a set of measures aimed at full recognition of the historic events in the Nigerian polity. Apart from recognising Abiola as the winner of the election, he capped it all by instituting June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

It means for this period, no one remembered him. Of course he was not alone. Other frontliners in the struggle, many who had similarly passed away in all the ceremonies in Abuja and elsewhere, as the airwaves were practically thrown open to celebrate and mark the June 12 struggle, shared and still share the same fate.

Only a completely bereft would would be wondering about this turn of events. But for even a passive observer, the reason for this is not farfetched. It is all about the Yorubanisation of the epochal event. For a certain tendency in the Nigerian South West, June 12, was a struggle of the Yoruba, by the Yoruba and for the Yoruba. They hug this essence and guard it so jealously that any other non-Yoruba, no matter his contribution(s), is a gatecrasher.

Indeed, June 12 today is more associated to Tinubu and Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, who actually took refuge in beautiful cities outside Nigeria from where they launched attacks, than those who actually sniffed gunpowder and were bloodied on the battlefield, including those who either died in the struggle unofficially or officially sentenced to death as a result of immediate and related events.

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It is more wont for those names to prop up immediately, in some cases spruced up with other Yoruba June 12 leaders, especially those who lived long enough to be in the camp of Tinubu’s political machinery from the Alliance for Democracy (AD), up to the All Progressives Congress (APC) than other warriors from other ethnic groups.

Yes, the likes of Niran Malaolu of The Diet, Kunle Ajibade of The News Magazine, do not seem to come into much reckoning for the simple reason that they are not prominently known APC members, regardless that they not only bore and still bear the physical lacerations of the struggle, but practically smelt death. They come into distant mentions, not to talk of Chris Anyanwu of The Sunday Magazine and George Mba, the non-Yoruba, whose lives were equally sequestered and put on the slaughter slab in the struggle. They have since taken distant positions in reckoning and as outsiders, at best, get nothing more than some peripheral mention – offhandedly referenced in speeches and official statements.

So, at the burial of the ex-NUPENG leader last year, the highest he got for his effort was some feeble comments from Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), said to have represented President Bola Tinubu. For those, who expected a major democratic edifice to be named after him, their anticipation, naturally came to naught.

Of course, Kokori was not alone. Before him, Ndubuisi Kanu, the vibrant June 12 campaigner suffered the same fate. Yes, the Lagos State Government named a park after him. But it was probably for his record as once Military Governor of the state than his efforts in the struggle.

Chukwuemeka Ezeife, too, whose face was permanently etched on the same struggle, must also have died a broken man as his efforts came to naught. His struggle to free Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) flopped, even while ostensibly leveraging his relationship with Tinubu in the June 12 struggle. At best, he was rewarded with some indecent silence.

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Like Ezeife, who went home empty-handed, as Nigerians would say, Dan Suleiman, a retired Nigerian Air Force officer, who died on February 1, 2023 and buried in his Guyuk town, Guyuk Local Government of Adamawa State home on February 17, also went to his grave without any fanfare and without any visible June 12 imprimatur.

Ralph Obioha – yes, the same Obioha, who stood on the same podium with Abiola during the Epetedo Declaration, who was harried by day and haunted by night by the infamous Abacha goons and who eventually lost his First African Trust Bank (FATB), has continued to bemoan his fate privately and silently.

So, for the South East caucus at National Assembly in that pitch at the Senate for the immortalisation of Humphrey Nwosu, this picture could not have been lost. Their pitch for the astute Professor of Political Science, before his burial on Saturday, March 29, 2025, must have been the case of the proverbial hen, who said its hysteria at the kite soaring away with its chick. It must be for the world to hear its voice and not for the predator to release its prey.

In other words, they simply put up a show at fulfilling all righteousness or perhaps, much like continuing to stoke the consciousness and conscience of the powers that be in today’s Nigeria. Someone must at least remind these people that they owe the country a debt to maintain some decency in their nepotistic attitude to governance, if anything, to preserve some level of national sanity.

That must be the reason for the proposal. Else, the mere paucity of logic, almost zero insensitivity and extreme callousness reflected in the argument of the naysayers either in the Senate during the debate or elsewhere amply demonstrated that June 12 is not a booty some people in the South West wants to share with anyone. Indicators show that they believe they not only own it exclusively, but would guard it jealously.

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Even Adams Oshohmole, who they must have gone to procure purely for his vacuous rhetoric, apparently to add fillip to this obvious mindset, seemed quite stuck. Words seemed to have failed him. Not only that his submissions appeared quite obtuse, infantile and untenable, but his lines failed him.

On the floor of the Senate he had claimed Nwosu never indicated that Abiola won the June 12 election, but this was something the former election boss, even wrote down in a book, almost a decade before. Even his subsequent appearance on Channels Television, where he further attempted to dress up his earlier floppy position as to why Nwosu did not deserve to be honoured, sounded more pitiable.

This was the same Oshiohmole who, as Labour leader, sold out to the same junta Nwosu stood up to, turning around to accuse him of cowardice. His ground was that he failed to defy the court injunction and announce the result of the June 12 election willy-nilly.

In fact, as Chairman of then National Electoral Commission (NEC), Nwosu was actually waiting for the Court of Appeal, whom he was sure to reverse the decision of the Abuja High Court that stopped him from announcing the full result.

He was still waiting for this outcome when he was sacked from his job with the dissolution of the commission. But the self-same Oshiohmole, who never defied his removal as National Chairman of APC or remained stuck in office to demonstrate courage, believes that Nwosu ought to have defied both the military and the courts.

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“He should have announced the result even if it means death,” he insists. Now confronted on this by Omoyele Sowore during and interview, the simple question the former NEC boss posed was: “As what?” As sacked NEC Chairman? In other words, Quo warranto? Translated to English: On what authority? To what effect?