News
Tribute to Hon. Kehinde Ayoola, Oyo State Former Commissioner for Environment | By Rahaman Onike
The news of sudden death of Honourable Kehinde Olatunji Ayoola came to the entire cabinet of the Oyo State Government and the good people of the state with rude shock early hours of Thursday, May 14.
I wept profusely like a baby when family source broke this sad news to me. It was so shocking that I could not control my emotion to have suddenly lost an highly cerebral, versatile and patriotic citizen at his prime age.
Given his pedigree and current position as the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, the office occupied by him since 18th September 2019, his death remains a colossal loss and inescapable reality to family, friends and the good people of Oyo State. Out of the entire cabinet members of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Hon. Kehinde Ayoola, was not just cynosure of all eyes, but he was uniquely a major engine that drives the administration’s policy directives, programmes and strategic plans.
Hon. Kehinde Ayoola was not a political upstart, he has been into political activism since 1980s before he joined active politics in 1999 when he contested and won election into membership of Oyo State House of Assembly. When the House was inaugurated, Hon. Ayoola served as the first speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly during that political dispensation.
Our path crossed for the first time when we both served on the think tank committee when Alhaji Yunus Akintunde, the former Commissioner for Works and Transport was contesting for Chairmsnship elction under Zero party system in 1993.
We became intimate friends since he joined on our political group, Action 99, the platform on which he rode to secure ticket under the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) when he was contesting for membership of the Oyo State House of Assembly. It is not an over statement that late Kehinde Ayoola was a rare gem.
Right from his secondary school days at the Olivet Baptist High School, (1977-1982), Great Zuma, as he was fondly called by mates in secondary school was a genius based on any definition of the word genius apart from his rare oratory skill. His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed in his tribute that “Kehinde Ayoola was a loyal friend with a dedication to duty that cannot be questioned.
In his own exact words, Engr. Seyi Makinde declared that the deceased will call sorely missed for his great oratory skills and his love for the people of Oyo town and Oyo state”.
For whoever is familiar with his academic records when he was in the secondary school would not be surprised with his excellent rethorical communication skills.Throughout his days in the Secondary school, he received the best performance prizes in English Language and Literature in English despite the fact that he was in science class.
For the purpose of insight, Hon. Kehinde Ayoola was born at Apaara Compound, Oyo East Local Government Area of Oyo State on January 14,1965.He attended University of Nigeria, Nsukka(15th October 1983-17th November, 1984). He left Nsukka for Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile Ife, where he studied Animal Science (1984-1989) and graduated with second class honors.
He also pursued his master’s degree in Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile Ife, and specialized in Environmental Control and Management at the University’s Institute of Ecology and Environmental Studies.
Before he got the state appointment, Hon. Ayoola has been a great entrepreneur. He was the former Chief Executive Officer, Aurum National Resources Ltd Ibadan and he was the Managing Director, Friendsphere Agro -Environmental Ltd.
When he was in the University, he was an athlete and commander of the Man ‘O War. His antecedent as a political strategist and tactician was attested to by Governor Seyi Makinde in his tribute where-in it was stated that Kehinde Ayoola got connected to him in 2002 when they both served as members of the Fortune Group for the election of Senator Rasheed Ladoja.
He also served as the Director General for his 2015 campaign and Deputy Director for his 2019 campaign. Of course, he was once served as the National Financial Secretary, Social Democratic Party(SDP) before he defected to his current party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
One aspect of Ayoola’s life is that he was a prolific writer and this has really contributed to his large following on the social media particularly facebook. If not for his sudden death, he was planning to complete and do public presentation of the two books, he was working on. One is more or less a story book and in writing the book, he tilts towards a genre called ‘faction'(a mixture of facts and fiction). The other manuscript he was working on which his sudden death could not allow him to complete is semi autobiography as described by him.
Late Ayoola was a full member of several professional bodies and affliate member, Association of Environmental Impact Assessment of Nigeria (AEIAN).
In terms of social life, Hon. Ayoola was a lifelong supporter of 3CE Football Club of Ibadan and was equally an ardent fan of Arsenal Football Club of England. Apart from his attribute of intellection, he was a pastor at the New Covenant Church, Apata, Ibadan.
He got married to Olukemi an Associate Professor of Agronomy at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Ayoola on the September 21,1996 and the family is blessed with two children . May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
By Rahaman Onike
Public Affairs Analyst writes from Oyo town, Oyo State
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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