–Why it matters

By Seyi Balogun

Ekiti State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has embarked on a fight against quack journalists and impersonators whose activities soil the image of professional newsmen before the public.

According to the council, its ongoing anti-quackery war was to sanitise the media industry, protect the integrity of journalism and prevent members of the public from falling victim to individuals who use the identity and insignia of the union to perpetrate crimes.

Comrade Kayode Babatuyi, state NUJ Chairman, said this in Ado-Ekiti during an anti-quackery exercise in Ekiti, saying the union had identified a growing trend in which individuals with smartphones and access to social media platforms present themselves as journalists without the requisite professional credentials.

Babatuyi added that the exercise was further designed to draw a clear distinction between professional journalists and content creators, stressing that owning an android phone or operating a social media platform did not automatically make anyone a journalist. In his words:

“We are here this morning to sanitise the media industry and to allow members of the public to see that the profession is not a joke.

“We have noticed impersonation of our profession. A lot of people, because they think they have an Android phone, think they are journalists. We want to draw that line to enable them to see the difference between a professional journalist and a content creator.

“Today, we have come out to fight against those who have been impersonating us, who are quacks, who are not professional journalists, especially those who have been using the emblem of our union to perpetrate crimes.

“We are grateful that we have been able to apprehend some. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It is just a warning. We have not come fully yet.

“This is just to send a signal to them that we will be back fully, and whoever is arrested, we will ensure that we prosecute the person and send them to where they belong.”

Also speaking, Chairman of the Anti-Quackery Committee of the Ekiti NUJ Council, Abiodun Olofe, said the campaign was directed at two major groups: members of the public and individuals operating as fake journalists.

“The essence of this exercise is simple. We are passing a message to the general public that they should be aware of the quacks among journalists and should not have anything to do with them.

“We have realised that they are the set of people who are misinforming the public. To avoid all this misinformation, we are now telling the general public that it is only certified journalists that they should deal with.

“To those quacks out there, we are now battle ready for them. If you are not a practising and certified journalist, we will do everything humanly possible within the ambit of the law to show you the way out.

“This is a continuous exercise; it is not a one-off. We have started Today, and they should expect us any time we are ready again.

“If we make it a one-off thing, they might think that maybe we are not really ready to clamp down on them. But it is going to be a continuous exercise. It might be weekly or monthly, depending on the way we arrange it. They should be rest assured that it is not a one-off; it is going to be continuous,” he said.

He expressed appreciation to the leadership of the Ekiti NUJ Council for its support, saying the council had continued to work towards ensuring that suspected fake journalists were properly handed over to the government and relevant authorities.

Why the fight matters
Protecting Public Safety: Untrained individuals and impostors often spread unverified rumours, sensational claims, and panic-inducing misinformation that can escalate community conflicts.

Defending Professional Integrity: It is right and legal to promote the image of journalism as operating a smartphone or a social media page does not equal professional journalism; the crackdown draws a clear line between trained media practitioners and casual content creators.

Besides the above, stopping Identity Fraud by clamping down on non-members who illegally use NUJ insignia: car stickers and fake ID cards to evade scrutiny or perpetrate crimes is justifiable self-protectiion.

Preserving professional credibility is healing, restoring the soul of the press. When audiences cannot tell the difference between verified reporting and viral clickbait, trust in legitimate media organizations declines. Which is why the Ekiti fight is timely, right and constructive, as far as journalism is concerned.

But the crackdown should only be a beginning of the cleansing process. Unethical practices should be fought from within, in addition.

Ekiti has opened the door for others to come in the “beautiful world of Clean Journalism.”

–EFCC to incorporate Fraud Risk Assessment and Control to power projects

By Son Tertsegha, Abuja

The growing menace of vandalism and energy theft in the power sector, have prompted the Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, to seek the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to tackle them.

Tegbe made the request in Abuja on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, while leading a delegation from the Ministry on a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, at the Commission’s Headquarters.

The minister lamented that vandalism and energy theft were taking a heavy toll on the power sector, resulting in the loss of billions of naira annually.

He said the ministry lacked the statutory powers to prosecute offenders involved in vandalism and energy theft, making collaboration with the EFCC inevitable to address the problem.

Tegbe, specifically, canvassed for the Commission’s support in investigating and prosecuting individuals and entities involved in economic crimes undermining the power sector. In his words:

“There are two areas where we need your intervention. One area is vandalism. There is a lot of vandalism going on in this country. People are stealing manhole covers and other valuables. The vandalisation is affecting our towers. The President has charged us to create awareness and also prosecute people (those stealing and buying) but we do not have the power to prosecute offenders. We can only report to you. They can be arrested and prosecuted. We believe the Commission can help us in that area. We need to collaborate.

“The second area is energy theft. Companies that have access to power do not pay electricity bills. We are losing billions annually. We need your intervention.”

The minister further commended Olukoyede, for his “achievements in the investigation and prosecution of economic and financial crimes”, in addition to the recovery of proceeds of crime, adding that “it is a bold and ambitious approach.”

Tegbe expressed the hope that stronger collaboration between the ministry and the EFCC would help curb criminal activities undermining the sector and strengthen efforts to improve electricity supply in the country.

He also thanked the Commission for intervening in the legal dispute that stalled the 215-Megawatt Kudendan Power Plant project in Kaduna State.

In response, Olukoyede said vandalism and energy theft, are revenue fraud and “major concerns and acts of economic sabotage”, pledging the Commission’s collaboration with the ministry.

He also pledged to work with the ministry by instituting Fraud Risk Assessment and Control on all their projects.

“We are ready to work with you particularly in the area of incorporating Fraud Risk Assessment and Control to all your projects; both the abandoned ones and the new ones coming up. We will set up a team to analyse and audit some of the projects”, he said.

He further assured the ministry of the EFCC’s support in monitoring ongoing projects, adding that, “we must not wait till monies are stolen particularly on sensitive projects. It is not going to be business as usual.”

By Peter Dooior, Kadarko

The Alago Youth Movement in Nasarawa South Senatorial Zone should, with respect, exercise greater certainty and responsibility in the use of historical language. History is not established by repetition, political affiliation or social-media declarations. It must be supported by evidence, records, independently testable oral traditions, administrative instruments, court proceedings and other verifiable historical materials.

This is particularly important in the continuing debate over Kadarko.

Before anyone attempts to rewrite the history of the people and traditional institution of Kadarko, there is a fundamental question that must be answered: Where are the primary records?

If the argument is that Kadarko has always been exclusively an Alago historical and political possession, those making the claim should produce the documentary evidence rather than merely repeat the assertion.

THE 2018 QUESTION

There is an important historical episode that should not be forgotten.

According to records and recollections from the Kadarko side, in 2018, under the political environment of the All Progressives Congress (APC), an Alago forum publicly challenged the right of one of Kadarko’s prominent sons to speak on behalf of the Alago people, questioned his roots and reportedly declared that he was not Alago.

If that position was publicly made, an obvious question arises: If an individual was publicly disowned as not being Alago in 2018, on what historical basis are the same or similar voices now constructing an expansive narrative of Alago ownership or identity around Kadarko?

If other Alago political and cultural platforms associated with the PDP, Labour Party, SDP or other political formations disagreed with that 2018 position, where were their public rebuttals?

Silence does not prove history. Neither should a later political narrative erase an earlier public position.

The precise newspaper edition and statement should, of course, be produced and preserved as documentary evidence. That is the proper way to settle the matter—not through hearsay.

THE TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF KADARKO

Another body of evidence deserving serious examination is the history of the Kadarko traditional institution.

From records available to the Kadarko side, the traditional succession remembered by our people includes:

1. Ano Ayitogo, identified as the first District Head of Kadarko;

2.Mallam Usman Dodo Ogidi, associated with the traditional leadership of Kadarko from approximately 1991 to 2001;

3.Muhammadu Abu Doma, selected in 2005 but whose emergence was challenged; and

4.Fabian Orogu, who subsequently became recognised as Osokadoko of Kadarko.

These matters should be tested against appointment instruments, gazettes, Native Authority records, chieftaincy files, court proceedings, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs records, family records and traditional-council documents.

Publicly available historical material also identifies Fabian Orogu as Osokadoko of Kadarko in traditional-rulers listings available in research literature.

Following his death in January 2018, Umaru Usman Dodo was selected and subsequently confirmed as Osokadoko of Kadarko in March 2019. Contemporary reports identify the stool as a third-class traditional institution.

These records do not, by themselves, determine the ethnic origin of Kadarko. They do, however, establish that the traditional institution has an administrative and historical record that must be examined before its genealogy is rewritten.

THE 2005 CHIEFTAINCY DISPUTE

The 2005 episode is particularly important and should be investigated through the actual court file rather than competing oral narratives.

Our account is that when Muhammadu Abu Doma was selected as District Head of Kadarko, the present traditional authority, Mallam Umar Usman Dodo II, challenged the appointment as a principal complainant. The challenge reportedly included the argument that the appointee did not belong to any of the recognised ruling houses of Orogu, Isaleku, Ogidi and Ayitogo, alongside questions concerning his ethnic and traditional eligibility.

If court records, petitions, government correspondence and chieftaincy documents establish these facts, they should be made available for public examination.

Such evidence would be far more valuable than today’s social-media arguments.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE STOOL

Another question concerns the evolution of the title and status of the traditional institution.

Our records indicate that when Kadarko was upgraded to third-class status, the nomenclature of the traditional stool subsequently changed from the older ZHE KADARKO designation to OSOKADOKO. That change should be examined through the official government instrument authorizing it.

Whenever a traditional title is changed, important questions arise: Who authorised the change? When? What was the previous title? What was the justification? And what historical or traditional identity was being recognized?

These questions require documents, not assumptions.

ADMINISTRATIVE ATTACHMENT Is NOT ETHNIC ORIGIN.

This is perhaps the most important distinction in the entire debate.

The fact that Kadarko is today located within Keana Local Government Area does not automatically establish its ethnic ownership or historical origin. Conversely, the fact that a community was historically administered under a particular Native Authority does not, by itself, prove that every community within that administrative arrangement originated from the same ethnic group.

Administrative geography changes. Traditional institutions evolve. Local-government and state boundaries change. Historical claims must therefore be demonstrated through evidence.

Available contemporary and historical accounts indicate that Kadarko has been a multi-ethnic space involving Koro, Alago, Tiv, Gwandara Eggon and other communities. A 2020 response from Kadarko and Giza communities itself acknowledged the presence of several ethnic groups while advancing a competing interpretation of land and historical ownership.

Independent reporting on the Tiv position in Kadarko has also recorded a competing historical claim that Tiv presence predates some later administrative arrangements.

That disagreement is precisely why the history deserves investigation rather than political simplification.

WHERE ARE THE RECORDS?

If Alago institutions possess continuous records showing that Kadarko has always been administered, culturally represented or genealogically controlled through an Alago traditional structure, where are the records dating back to the 1970s and earlier?

If, as we maintain, our parents and traditional authorities were not participating in an “Alago forum” or “Alago Almanac” as representatives of Kadarko around 1976, that claim should equally be tested against documentary evidence.

LET THE RECORDS SPEAK.

Bring out the Native Authority documents, district records, chieftaincy files, court proceedings, gazettes, traditional-council minutes, genealogies, maps and colonial administrative records.

Let historians compare them.

A WORD TO OUR ALAGO BROTHERS AND SISTERS

This position should not be interpreted as hostility toward the Alago people. The Alago people have every constitutional right to organise themselves, form associations, participate in political parties and preserve their history and culture. Likewise, every individual has the constitutional freedom of association. Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria protects freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

However, freedom of association does not confer a right to appropriate another family’s history, nor should political affiliation become a mechanism for rewriting traditional genealogy.

If some Alago believe historical evidence supports their interpretation of Kadarko, let them produce it. If some Kadarko people believe their traditional institution has a distinct Migili history, let them equally produce their evidence.

The answer should be documentation, peaceful dialogue and objective examination—not intimidation or political expediency.

KADARKO MUST NOT BECOME A POLITICAL CANOE

This is an appeal to political parties, youth organisations, traditional institutions and community associations to exercise restraint.

Family histories are not campaign materials. Traditional institutions are not party manifestos. Ancestors are not electoral delegates.

If the Alago Youth Movement believes it has evidence establishing its historical claim, let there be an open historical forum involving historians, traditional rulers, elders, archivists, lawyers and representatives of the communities concerned.

Let the parties submit their documents. Let contradictory evidence be tested. Let historians examine the records. And let the conclusion belong to history—not to political expediency.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

The question is not whether Alago people have constitutional rights. They do.

It is not whether Alago people have their own history. They do.

It is not whether Alago individuals can associate with any political party or forum. They can.

The question is much narrower and more serious:

“What documentary evidence establishes the historical identity, traditional genealogy and institutional ownership of Kadarko—and when did that evidence begin?”

Until that question is answered through credible records, nobody should present contested historical assertions as settled facts.

Kadarko deserves history—not mythology.

Kadarko deserves evidence—not political invention.

And its people deserve the right to preserve their inherited identity without having their history rewritten for them.

Finally , we call for documentary history, peaceful dialogue and justice for all communities of Kadarko.