In a strategic move to sustain its impressive performance, leading financial institution Fidelity Bank Plc has announced significant changes to its Board of Directors, effective January 14, 2025.

According to a regulatory filing on the corporate disclosure portal of NGX Regulation Limited, the Bank has received the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) approval to appoint Alhaji Abdullahi Sarki Mohammed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, Ms. Obiaku Augusta Okam as a Non-Executive Director, and Mr. Sufiyanu Ibrahim Garba as an Executive Director, all effective January 14, 2025.

Alhaji Mohammed brings over 36 years of experience in financial services, public administration, and human resources development, having held key leadership and executive roles at prestigious institutions including First Bank of Nigeria Plc and Polaris Bank Limited. His extensive expertise encompasses banking, public service, and business advisory.

Ms. Okam boasts more than 30 years of impressive experience across banking, financial services, real estate, and retail sectors. Currently the Managing Director/CEO of Skycurve Nigeria Limited, she has held leadership positions at Zenith Bank Plc and Nigeria International Bank Limited (Citibank).

Mr. Garba has over 30 years of multifunctional and cross-border experience at leading financial institutions in Nigeria and the United Kingdom including executive and leadership roles at prestigious financial and non-financial institutions such as Access Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Keystone Bank Limited. His career background spans banking, financial services, public service, general management and business origination across a broad range of segments.

Commenting on the appointment, Mustafa Chike-Obi, Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc stated that “The Board welcomes these distinguished individuals and looks forward to leveraging their extensive experience to drive the Bank’s strategic objectives and further its growth trajectory.”

In a separate regulatory filing on January 16, 2025, the Bank announced the meritorious retirement of Alhaji Isa Mohammed Inuwa, a former Independent Non-Executive Director, and Mr. Chidi Agbapu, a former Non-Executive Director, following the completion of their tenures in line with the Bank’s policies whilst expressing sincere appreciation for their service and wishing them the very best in their future endeavours.

Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank serving over 8.3 million customers through its 251 business offices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, as well as through digital banking channels. The bank has garnered multiple local and international awards, including the Export Finance Bank of the Year at the 2023 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards, Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023, and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. It was also recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023 and the Best Domestic Private Bank in Nigeria by the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2023.

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old man, Samuel Egbetokun for allegedly poisoning cows in the Alabata community of the Odeda Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson of the command, Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday stated that the suspect had laced cassava with rat poison and tossed it to the cows while they were grazing.

According to the PPRO, two out of the three cows that consumed the harmful substance died instantly while a third is currently undergoing treatment.

“The incident came to light on January 16, 2025, when a 54-year-old man, Idris Lawal, of Akingbasa Village, complained to the local police station,” the statement read.

“His cattle rearer, Boji Sanni, caught a man throwing cassava mixed with a substance suspected to be rat poison to his cattle while grazing on January 15, 2025.

“The rearer reported that before realising the cassava was laced with poison, some cows had consumed it. Consequently, two female cows died, and a third is undergoing treatment. The value of the dead cows is estimated at N1,500,000.

Detectives from the Odeda Division, tasked with conducting a preliminary investigation, combed the area and recovered the poisoned cassava, which was secured as evidence.

“The suspect then reportedly confessed to the crime following his arrest.

“The Commissioner of Police has taken a personal interest in the case, particularly due to concerns about potential retaliation from herders or cattle rearers. He is warning others to refrain from such actions, emphasising that this case will serve as a deterrent,” Odutola said.

In Nigeria, a nation that takes pride in its expanding digital economy and the prospect of a cashless society, the forgotten community of lepers languishes in the shadows.

As the country advances technologically, persons affected by leprosy are left behind, grappling for survival.

In this report, Gift Oba delves into the profound impact of this exclusion, exploring their daily struggles while they simultaneously battle the invisible barriers erected by a system that fails to recognize their existence.

In Ogun State, persons affected with leprosy face a devastating form of exclusion and no longer consider themselves indigenes of Nigeria due to their loss of fingers and inability to be captured on the National Identification Number (NIN)portal.

Jimoh Ahmed, a victim of leprosy and the Chairman of the Integrated Dignity Economic Advancement, an association that caters for persons affected with leprosy in Ogun State, revealed that some of their members were left out during the NIN registration process, resulting in their bank accounts flagged and telephone numbers disconnected.

Ahmed, in an interview with DAILY POST, lamented the untold suffering this has added to them.

“I would say people affected with leprosy are no longer Nigerians because whatever we want to do now, they ask for NIN.

“Most of our members do not even have fingers anymore and could not be captured in the NIN office.

“Some of them that have money in the bank cannot collect it because they have flagged their accounts and the banks are always requesting for NIN,” he said.

The National Identification Number, NIN, was introduced in Nigeria in 2012 by the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC,. The NIMC was established in 2010 by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act, 2007 to create, operate and manage Nigeria’s national identity card database, integrate the existing identity database in government institutions, register individuals and legal residents, assign a unique national identification number and introduce general multi-purpose cards.

This document, essential for accessing basic services like healthcare, banking, and even voting, remains elusive and effectively erases lepers from the very fabric of society.

We Find It Hard To Feed – Patients

The majority of Ogun State’s lepers who reside in the colony and neighbouring villages have bemoaned the hardships they face trying to provide for themselves.

The state has two colonies, one located in the Iberekodo area of Abeokuta and the other in Ijebu Igbo, yet these persons struggle to survive.

Ahmed stressed that they most times have to rely on the N10,000 naira stipends given to them by the state government, emphasising the need to reintegrate into society, particularly as the nation’s economic difficulties worsen.

He disclosed that their major occupation in the colony was farming but due to land encroachment, they are now left with nothing.

Ahmed said, “Even those still residing in the community, the heartache is too much for them. For them to eat is hard.

“The government is giving some stipends which is N10,000. It increased from N3,000 to N10,000 in 2013. From 1999 when Governor Osoba was there, he increased the money from N500 to N1500.

“In 2003, precisely on May 27, 2003, before Governor Daniel entered office, he visited the colony that day; they increased the money from N1500 to N3000 and from N3000 till 2013 before Governor Ibikunle Amosun increased it to N10,000.”

While appreciating the government for its palliative during the festive period,he begged them to look into increasing their stipends.

“We have been appealing to the government, the present Governor Dapo Abiodun for the increment, just to review the money because the hardship is too much now.

“We are over a hundred persons; some stay in the colony, and other members are still in the community area because we’ve been trying to let the people know that we want to integrate them into the community, and we’re doing it.

“In that community, the first job we do is farming but due to the encroachment of the land, there’s no opportunity for that.

“That is why we’re only appealing to some members to diversify in their own business.

“We’re trying to let them know that they can’t do only farming but there’s no money for us to establish the business.”

“Don’t Enter My Cab” – Ogun drivers to lepers

Despite the country’s advancement, DAILY POST gathered that in Ogun state, transportation has been a major challenge for these persons.

Ahmed, while stressing that the majority of drivers in the state do not want to carry them, said, “Whenever we want to enter a car, when they see our hand or leg, they’ll say ‘don’t come in.’”

Regarding schooling, he also bemoaned the fact that some who had enrolled had been forced to drop out because they couldn’t handle the humiliation and shame of discrimination.

While Section 17(1), (2), 42(1) of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees equal rights for all Nigerians, lepers, however, have been forced to live on the fringes with their voices silenced and their struggles ignored.

We Can Enroll Them Without Fingerprints – NIMC

When contacted by DAILY POST, the Head of the Corporate Communication Unit, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, said the NIN enrollment can accommodate persons affected by leprosy.

Adegoke insisted that no one is discriminated against by the commission, emphasizing that even in several Northern states, everyone had registered.

He said, “We don’t neglect anyone; we have never deferred anyone. Even in some states in the Northern part of Nigeria, we registered everybody.

“They go to our centres or if they want us to bring the system to them, we can talk to any of our people, if they have centres like leper colony just like we did in Ondo and some other state, we can bring the system to them to register them there, yes we can do that.”

When asked if there was an alternative way to enroll them without the use of fingerprints, Adegoke said, “There are ways; if they don’t have fingers, what we do is that we take their pictures, send it and generate a NIN for them.

“We can enroll them. There is no need for a finger”, he added.