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Sunday Dare: Profile Of Buhari’s Ministerial Nominee, A Trans-Generational Operator

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Well-traveled journalist, a seasoned scholar and accomplished administrator, Mr. Sunday Dare, was on Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019, announced as one of the 43 Ministers Designate by Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari.

The multilingual 53 year-old hails from Ogbomoso in Oyo State, South-West Nigeria, and represents a generation of Nigerians, who have come full circle having been born just before the Civil War, witnessing the 2nd and 3rd republics, fighting the military junta via guerilla journalism, helping to entrench the 4th Republic before now taking up leadership roles. Mr. Dare’s impressive resume reads like a thriller novel, as it shows a man that has lived an exciting, challenging but ultimately successful and exemplary life.

After bagging a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) degree in International Studies and a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from two of the most respected universities in Northern Nigeria, Mr. Dare took to the skies to pursue more knowledge abroad. Before this, though, he left his indelible mark all over his country of birth. Tired of seeing his country ravaged by poor and contemptuous corruption aided and abetted by unscrupulous military leadership, he joined the elite league of news reporters, who dedicated their lives to afflicting the comfortable while comforting the afflicted. While his contemporaries choose to join the civil service or take up cushy jobs in the banks, he chose to risk his life by investigating corruption, unearthing deep truths and exposing it to the world. This was one of the most dangerous jobs anyone could do at the time, but he and a select few did it and excelled at it. For more than a decade, he lived vicariously. He saw his closest friends and mentors dragged to jail, felled by bullets or beaten to within an inch of their lives. He was never deterred.

When in 1999, the military handed over power to civilians, Nigeria owed a great amount of gratitude to the likes of Mr. Dare. But, he had done his service to his fatherland and it was time to move on. Given how much respect and experience he had garnered over the years, Mr. Dare was offered so many fellowships and jobs abroad. In 2001, he took up the challenge to become the Chief of the Voice Of America (VOA) Hausa Service, Africa Division in Washington D.C. His job, simply put, was to compete in content and audience share with the already established BBC Hausa Service. Armed with all the experience he needed, Mr. Dare quickly conceptualized and directed radio programming in Hausa and English languages to a targeted weekly audience of over 21 million in Nigeria and countries in the West Africa Sub-region. He was a hit. He held the job for eight years until the call to return home became too loud to ignore.

In 2009, he became the Media Adviser to the Honourable Minister for Information and Communication on all media-related matters and government information dissemination and media policy. He held the job for a year until he was asked to take up the role as Chief Of Staff/Special Adviser Media to Former Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Being the first person the great man saw in the morning and the last person he saw at night was a herculean task. The political leader was oiling his machinery to get the Progressives into power at the center, hence his schedule was grueling. Mr. Dare was, among other things, responsible for the overall coordination of all political, social and business activities while simultaneously acting as Media Adviser and was coordinating all media interventions, interviews, interactions,  communications, speech writing, research, documentation, and advice on policy matters. The job of at least four men but he did it with enviable calm and grace. 

At the request of President Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu reluctantly released Mr. Dare from his duties and he was appointed as Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC. This has been his role in the last three years until this new call to serve.

In 2010, the father of two lovely girls became an Oxford University Research Fellow with his research work published under the heading: New Media and Citizen Journalism in Africa-A Case Study: Using New media Tools and Citizen Journalism to Investigate Corruption in Nigeria. He has authored three other books and is working on two more.

He is also a multi-award winner home and abroad and is a member of many prestigious associations. He is constantly sought out to provide insight on establishing media outlets, a skill he is most proud of. 

In the run-up to the 2019 elections, Mr Dare briefly offered himself to serve as Governor of his beloved state but aligned with the party when it chose to field another person as the candidate. His contributions to his community have won him accolades as he introduced a new way of doing politics to the grassroots. His health intervention, “Digi Dare”, was a fan favourite. 

President Buhari made a particularly great choice in picking this man, who bridges the gap between the old and the young. He is a product of tested and trusted political operators but has the mien and energy of youth. His love for technology and how it fits into almost all spheres of life shows how balanced he is. Little wonder his nomination has drawn praise from everyone from his traditional rulers to his massive followers on social media. 

Mr Dare is duty-ready!

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BIG STORY

BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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