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I won’t mind breaking some toes to serve Oyo People – Makinde
Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has declared that he would not mind breaking some toes if it would aid his determination to serve the ordinary people of Oyo State.
Governor Makinde, who made the declaration while speaking at the thanksgiving service to mark his 52nd birthday said that he would continue to fight on the side of the ordinary people.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the Governor, who clocked 52 on Christmas Day, made the declaration during his Birthday Thanksgiving Service held at the St Peter’s Cathedral, Aremo, Ibadan.
According to Governor Makinde, his determination to render service to the ordinary people informed his decision to declare free and qualitative education in the state adding that education remains the surest way to lift people out of poverty.
The Governor said: “If I can be who I am today, then no child should be left behind in Oyo State. And that explains my passion for education. Once we give education to our children, the sky is their starting point.”
He stated that he never thought he would live up to 30 and that he has remained grateful to God every year he has lived beyond 30.
“I thought I would join the Army, fight for my country and possibly get killed and that may be the end of the story. So for me, every year I have lived above 30 years is like a bonus,” he said.
The Governor maintained that he was getting more mature at 52 appreciated everyone who has made an impact on his life, even as he expressed appreciation to the people of Oyo State, without whom he said he would not have been able to achieve anything in last six months of his tenure as Governor.
He said: “There is nothing really much to say; today is my birthday and I am getting mature. Quite frankly, I never thought I would live up to 30. I have a friend here and every time we were talking, we always thought that we would go into the Army, fight, get killed and that would be the end of our story.
“We actually went for recruitment into the Army but were rejected. But today, we are seeing Seyi Makinde at 52 and all I can do is to give thanks to God.
“When we were going through the electioneering period, people said the political terrain here is rough, and I could get killed. So, I looked at myself and said that I could take the risk since I am more than 30 because I had always believed that anything I have after 30 would be like a bonus to me.
“That is why without looking back, I will continue to serve the people of Oyo State, without minding whose toe I will step on. Truth is, I will break some toes if I really have to and will continue to fight for the ordinary people of this state.”
He added: “My story won’t be complete without all of you and I thank you all. Today is the first time I am celebrating my birthday like this. In the area I grew up, the first time they would bring a cake for somebody’s birthday was when the last child of my family, Iyabo, celebrated her birthday. My parents kept delivering male children until they got to the 5th one.
“I remember after the delivery of the fifth child, who happened to be a female, my mother, in the labour room, was shouting for everyone to hear that she had a female child. For her, it was special treatment.
“Some of us who stayed in the area where I grew up, we used to eat in a communal setting. So, when they brought the cake for her birthday, it was strange to us and we suddenly rushed it. My mum cried that day. That was the kind of environment where I grew up.
“So, if I can be who I am today, then no child should be left behind in Oyo State. And that explains my passion for education. Once we give education to our children, the sky is their starting point.”
The Governor, who singled out the people of the State for appreciation for the support they have continued to offer to his Government, further said: “For the people of Oyo State, I want to thank you because we would not have achieved anything without you. People have been commending us that there have been changes within six months we came into government.
“I want the people to know that it is not only Seyi Makinde that is doing these but all of us. And you know that decisions are always taken by consensus. We discuss, thrash out issues and superior arguments always win. So, in 2020, I look forward to a more robust argument, discussions, and alignments.
“This time last year, I didn’t know I will become the Governor of Oyo State but I prayed to God during my birthday and the last cross over night that if my wish to serve the people of Oyo State would be to their benefit, let it be so and God answered that prayer. So, I want to pray today again that all our wishes, in the coming year 2020, God will make them manifest.”
In his sermon, the Archbishop of Ibadan Province, Most Revd Segun Okubadejo, who spoke on the topic, “a gift for Christmas,” encouraged Christians to gift Christ the best of their thoughts, actions, and deeds.
He said: “The gift Christ is asking of us today are the gifts he has given through finished work of redemption and the gifts are not for Christ’s benefits, they are for our benefits.
“Today, I am telling you children of God here celebrating Christ’s birth, the first gift Christ wants from us is love. He has deposited that love in us and he is asking for the same love. Love to God and to our neighbours.
‘We all know what lack of love causes in the home, the society. Lack of love is disturbing us. In the political circle, lack of love continues to cause crisis. So, today, Christ is asking for the gift of love.
“The second gift he is asking is that of humility in place of pride. Pride has turned the society and a lot of people into something else.
“Today, Christ is asking for the gift of doing good deeds,” Okubadejo stated.
The United States has announced the termination of legal status for over 500,000 immigrants, ordering them to leave the country within weeks, as President Donald Trump pushes forward with what he calls the largest deportation campaign in American history.
The sweeping directive, issued on Friday, affects approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived under a programme launched by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, in October 2022 and later expanded in January 2023.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the affected immigrants will lose their legal protections 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. This means they must leave the United States by 24 April, unless they secure another immigration status permitting them to stay.
Welcome.US, an organisation that supports asylum seekers, has urged those impacted to “immediately” seek legal counsel regarding their options.
A Reversal of Biden’s Immigration Policy
The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programme, introduced in January 2023, allowed up to 30,000 migrants per month from these nations to enter the United States for two years. The initiative was designed to offer a “safe and humane” alternative to the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border, which had seen a surge in arrivals.
However, the DHS reiterated on Friday that the programme was never meant to provide permanent residency.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated.
Mass Deportations Under Trump
Trump, who has made immigration control a cornerstone of his presidency, has vowed to crack down on migrants—particularly those from Latin America.
Last week, he invoked rare wartime legislation to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, a country that has controversially offered to imprison both migrants and U.S. citizens at a discounted rate.
The latest order signals Trump’s intent to follow through on his hardline immigration policies, raising concerns among human rights advocates about the humanitarian impact of such mass deportations.
Tens of thousands of malnourished Nigerian children face a dire future as lifesaving food supplies are set to run dry, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) warned on Friday, attributing the crisis to a funding shortfall exacerbated by U.S. foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The agency said that within the next two months, 80,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria could lose access to vital treatment, while a total of 1.3 million children under five in Nigeria and Ethiopia remain at risk of starvation this year.
“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by May, and that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia that depend on this type of treatment cannot be served,” UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Kitty Van der Heijden, said in a video press briefing from Abuja. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”
The situation in Nigeria is even more urgent, with UNICEF warning that food supplies for malnourished children could be exhausted as early as the end of this month. Van der Heijden recounted a harrowing experience at a hospital in Maiduguri, where she saw a child so severely malnourished that her skin was peeling off.
U.S. Aid Suspension Escalates Crisis
UNICEF’s funding crisis follows a significant drop in international donor contributions in recent years, compounded by the U.S. government’s decision to halt all foreign aid for 90 days upon Trump’s return to the White House in January.
According to Reuters, the U.S., a major donor to UNICEF, implemented sweeping suspensions on USAID programmes worldwide, disrupting the delivery of essential food and medical aid. The impact has been catastrophic, with global humanitarian efforts thrown into disarray.
“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” Van der Heijden warned, adding that the abrupt nature of the cuts left UNICEF unable to cushion the impact.
Health Services Crippled in Ethiopia
Beyond food shortages, UNICEF highlighted the devastating effects of the funding crunch on health services in Ethiopia. Programmes providing nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children have suffered, with 23 mobile health clinics shut down in Afar, leaving only seven operational.
As the crisis unfolds, humanitarian organisations continue to urge global donors to step in and prevent a full-blown catastrophe. Without urgent intervention, tens of thousands of children in Nigeria and Ethiopia may not survive the coming months.
The Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed a total revenue of N1.678 trillion among the federal, state, and local governments for February 2025.
The revenue distribution was announced in a statement issued on Saturday by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa. The allocation was finalised at the March 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, which was chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and attended by the Accountant General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi.
Breakdown of Distributable Revenue
The total distributable revenue of N1.678 trillion comprised:
Statutory revenue – N827.633 billion
Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue – N609.430 billion
Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue – N35.171 billion
Solid Minerals revenue – N28.218 billion
Augmentation – N178 billion
According to the FAAC communiqué, the total gross revenue available for February 2025 was N2.344 trillion. Deductions for the cost of collection amounted to N89.092 billion, while transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings stood at N577.097 billion.
The communiqué also revealed that gross statutory revenue for February 2025 was N1.653 trillion, which was N194.664 billion lower than the N1.848 trillion recorded in January 2025. Similarly, gross VAT revenue fell from N771.886 billion in January to N654.456 billion in February, reflecting a decrease of N117.430 billion.
Revenue Allocation to Tiers of Government
From the total N1.678 trillion distributable revenue:
Federal Government received – N569.656 billion
State Governments received – N562.195 billion
Local Government Councils received – N410.559 billion
Derivation revenue (13% of mineral revenue) to benefiting states – N136.042 billion
Allocation from Statutory Revenue (N827.633 billion)
Federal Government – N366.262 billion
State Governments – N185.773 billion
Local Government Councils – N143.223 billion
Derivation revenue (13%) – N132.374 billion
Allocation from VAT Revenue (N609.430 billion)
Federal Government – N91.415 billion
State Governments – N304.715 billion
Local Government Councils – N213.301 billion
Allocation from EMTL Revenue (N35.171 billion)
Federal Government – N5.276 billion
State Governments – N17.585 billion
Local Government Councils – N12.310 billion
Allocation from Solid Minerals Revenue (N28.218 billion)
Federal Government – N12.933 billion
State Governments – N6.560 billion
Local Government Councils – N5.057 billion
Derivation revenue (13%) – N3.668 billion
Allocation from Augmentation (N178 billion)
Federal Government – N93.770 billion
State Governments – N47.562 billion
Local Government Councils – N36.668 billion
Revenue Trends and Economic Outlook
The FAAC report highlighted a significant increase in Oil and Gas Royalty and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenues for February 2025. However, there were declines in Value Added Tax (VAT), Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT), Excise Duty, Import Duty, and CET Levies compared to the previous month.
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