Foundation honours Nigerian who rejected $6m bribe

R : Mrs.Desiree Osunsina; Mr. Akinjide Adeosun, AAF Chairman; his wife & Secretary to Oyo State Government (SSG), Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun and Otunba Olumide Osunsina, Managing Director,Megamound Investments at the Award ceremony.

… As Makinde, Awosika, Ighodalo others speak on virtues of integrity in nation-building

Decades after the first Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company, SNEPCO, Dr. Olufemi Lalude, rejected a $6 million bribe offer, Akinjide Adeosun Foundation, AAF, conferred him with this year’s leadership award.

The award, “Leadership in Integrity “was conferred on Lalude, now 81, during the 5th edition of the annual AAF colloquium with the theme Integrity – a sine qua non to building a prosperous nation.

Speaking, AAF founder and Chairman\CEO of St. Rachael’s Pharmaceutical Nigeria Limited, Mr Akinjide Adeosun said the recognition of the former SNEPCO MD was in line with the core mandate of the Foundation which was based on the belief that life will be good for everyone if the nation gets leadership right in all spheres.

“Integrity is an essential building block to building a prosperous nation. Truthfulness, Honesty, Respect for People, Hard work, Humility are the traits of Integrity.

“Many years ago, Our Awardee, Papa Dr.(Engr.) Olufemi Lalude, the First Managing Director of the Shell Nigeria Exploration & production Company SNEPCO was offered a bribe of USD 6m. The organization that offered him the bribe moved against him. However, he refused to be cowed & stood his ground. He was sued with his employer but he triumphed.

“Today Papa at 81 is living a peaceful, joyous and fulfilled contented Life. We are celebrating him today. He began his career with Integrity as his legacy in mind. We have many good people in Nigeria. We must celebrate them to dwarf the bad publicity the few bad people is giving our nation,” In his presentation, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde submitted that Nigeria would continue to find it difficult to grow without putting structures in place to strengthen openness, truthfulness and transparency in leadership. According to him, the absence of a structure for checks and balances is likely to continue to stunt the growth of the country.

“There is a large trust gap between the citizens and leaders of this country due to lack of transparency on the part of the political class. When we talk about integrity in governance, it entails honesty, transparency and accountability in governance. Integrity is tied to the prosperity of any nation in so many ways. And as a leader, you have to be very honest. When a leader is honest, it means he can be trusted, and the citizens can close their two eyes while sleeping”, he said.

The governor’s presentation along with those of other panellists, which included Ibukun Awosika, Chairman of First Bank Nigeria; Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Women in Business (WIMBIZ); Mags Saba, head of secondary, Lagos preparatory school, Ikoyi , Lagos and Engr. Victor Bandele, Executive Director, JV Districts, Total Exploration Nigeria Limited, formed the highlights of the communiqué of the 5th annual AAF colloquium.

The foundation noted that a reset of our value system and commitment to teach children right is required and therefore recommended that civics and values should be taught aright from primary schools. They also called for the restoration of history as a subject in schools because “to discover where we want to go, we must recognize where we are coming from.

To restore dignity in business life in Nigeria, AAF also recommended that organizations need to embed checks and balances to institutionalize integrity in staff, processes and procedures.

AAF recommends the implementation of compulsory free education & compulsory free health by the national & sub-national governments in Nigeria. This he surmised will lead to an educated, healthy citizenry fired to productive activities leading to a prosperous nation.

The event was held in Lagos and participants joined virtually from all over the world.

Breaking: ASUU suspends 2-week warning strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has suspended its two-week warning strike it declared last week across all public universities in the country. The union announced the suspension on Wednesday at a press conference held at its headquarters in Abuja. President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, who read a prepared speech before newsmen, explained that the development followed intervention by the Senate and some other well-meaning Nigerians. However, he sad the National Executive Council of the Union resolved to give the government a one-month window to address all contending areas.

JUST IN: If Tinubu Had Told Me, I Wouldn’t Have Agreed To Rivers State Of Emergency Rule – Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has stated that he would not have agreed with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if he had discussed his move to declare a State of Emergency in Rivers State. Wike noted that he is not in conflict with the suspended Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara He stressed his opposition on the State of Emergency rule, stating that only the President knows the right time to lift it. While speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, Wike remarked that Fubara has permitted himself to be manipulated by his adversaries to oppose him. The FCT Minister said: “ I made it clear that this impunity will not stand, so what is happening in PDP is what I call undertakers because I see no reason why you will put yourself under that kind of crisis. “I don’t have any crisis with him (Fubara). I’m not the President who declared a State of Emergency; if Mr President had called me, I wouldn’t have agreed to the State of Emergenc...

Woman Burned to Death, Accused of Kidnapping 7yrs Old Boy in Delta

By Tessy ogbemi An angry mob set ablaze a woman accused in a failed child kidnapping attempt in Agbarho community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. The incident happened on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. An eyewitness disclosed at the scene of the incident at Ekwvere Road claimed that the woman hid the seven year old boy she allegedly abducted in a sack, adding that she was even carrying a Bible on one hand. Community sources said some residents in the area accosted the lady when they observed the way she was dragging the sack, to know what she had in it. "She was unstable when they asked her to disclose what she was carrying in the sack. When the bag was forced open, they found a seven year old child in it. They shouted and it attracted a large crowd,” a source said. It was gathered that the angry mob immediately brought a used tyre to the scene, which they forced down her neck after beating her to a pulp. “The lady and the tyre we...

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