Isidore Okpewho, Foremost Literary Scholar, Dies
A foremost scholar of Oral Literature and award-winning novelist, Isidore Okpewho, has died at 74.
He was a prolific author, co-author and editor of about 14 books, dozens of articles and a seminal booklet, A Portrait of the Artist as a Scholar.
According to an online news portal, Premium Times, Okpewho, a professor, died peacefully at a hospital in Binghamton, a town in Upstate New York, United States, where he had lived and taught since 1991.
His teaching career spanned University of New York at Buffalo (1974-76), University of Ibadan (1976-90), Harvard University (1990-91), and State University of New York at Binghamton.
According to the Canadabased professor in Carleton University, Nduka Otiono, quoting family sources, the distinguished professor at State University of New York, Binghamton, passed away on September 4, 2016, surrounded by family members.
Although he battled illness recently, the scholar
CBN READS RIOT ACT ON N213BN ELECTRICITY STABILISATION FUND
collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the NEMSF.
The N213 billion facility was launched in 2014 and was expected to bring about improvements in power supply for the benefit of all Nigerians.
In May this year, the CBN disbursed N55,456,161,481 from the facility, which was the fourth batch from the N213 billion.
Listing the sanction in the latest circular, the central bank stated that firstly, if a collection bank and the principal collection bank fails to provide the refinancer/ administrator with statement of account for the transaction account
ANXIETY AS APC, PDP GOVERNORS STORM BENIN IN BATTLE FOR EDO STATE
that the people must own the process of electoral system. It has been observed that whatever the modalities INEC has put on ground to conduct a credible poll, the people must ensure that they behave in a civil manner to help democracy grow in the country," he said.
Also, Prof. Mim Abutudu of the University of Benin, in his presentation stated that rigging and fear of electoral manipulation could be a high risk factor that could raise the level of violence and urged INEC to ensure that materials were deployed on time to the various polling units.
The Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Mr. Benson Olugbuo, explained that the foundation had as one of its cardinal objectives to monitor and report the level of security threat to the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
Stakeholders agreed that the activities of security agencies, including officials of INEC must be checked to ensure that the process was and humanist demonstrated exceptional capacity in dealing with his challenging health conditions.
Indeed, only two years ago, his last book to which he had long committed his intellectual resources, "Blood on the Tides: The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology", was published by University of Rochester Press.
Born on November 9, 1941 in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria, Okpewho grew up in Asaba, his maternal hometown, where he attended St. Patrick’s College, Asaba.
He proceeded to the University College, Ibadan, for his university education. He graduated with a First Class Honours in Classics, and moved on to launch a glorious career: first in publishing at Longman Publishers, and then as an academic after obtaining his PhD from the University of Denver, USA. He crowned his certification with a D.Litt from University of London.
With his two earliest seminal academic monographs, "The Epic in Africa: Toward a Poetics of the Oral Performance within five business days after the end of each month, the first sanction would be a warning letter to the bank, instructing that the infraction must be remedied within two working days.
Further infraction on the matter involves a financial penalty of a minimum of N500,000 daily until the infraction is remedied, on each account that such infraction is committed.
"If there is further infraction by the deposit money bank (DMB) after payment of the above financial penalty, the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank under the CBN-NEMSF shall be terminated," it added.
Secondly, the circular stated that if a DMB does not comply with a request by the refinancer/ violence-free, credible and fair to all.
Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Sam Olumekun, has disclosed that Incident Form would be used if the Smart Card Reader failed to authenticate a prospective voter.
Olumekun, who spoke with journalists shortly after receiving the Director General of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), BrigaiderGeneral Sule Zakari Kazuare, in his office in Benin City, however, said the commission anticipated that the use of the incident form would be few and far between on Saturday.
According to him, "We don't expect that there will be too many of such cases but if condition warrants it, off course we will use it."
He also disclosed that the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) would continue at the local government INEC offices until Thursday, adding that some persons, who tried to (1979) and Myth in Africa: A Study of Its Aesthetic and Cultural Relevance (1983)", Okpewho quickly established his reputation as a first-rate scholar and pioneer of Oral Literature in Africa.
For his distinctive and prolific output, he was honoured with a string of international academic and non-academic awards that included the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) in Humanities for the year 2010.
As a writer noted: “Recognition for Professor Okpewho’s work has come with some of the most prestigious fellowships in the humanities: from the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars (1982), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1982), Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences at Stanford (1988), the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard (1990), National Humanities Centre in North Carolina (1997), and the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2003). He was also elected Folklore Fellow International by the Finnish administrator to provide copies of statements for any other Discos' accounts maintained by it and such other information relating to the transaction effected or to be effected on the transaction accounts within five business days from the date of such request, the bank would be served a warning letter at first.
"Failure to comply within two working days will attract a financial penalty of a minimum of N500,000 daily until the infraction is remedied. If there is further infraction by the DMB after payment of the above financial penalty, the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank under the CBN-NEMSF shall be terminated," it added.
Thirdly, any DMB that does not comply with the operational process hijack the 2014 PVCs in the state were arrested by security agents and the PVCs collected from them.
However, the Director General of the NYSC, BrigGen Kazaure, met with corps members participating in Saturday's governorship election in the state, warning them that any corps members found wanting during the election would bear the full weight of the law.
Kazaure, who visited the state to solicit for adequate security for corps members participating in the governorship election, visited the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, headquarters of the state police command and the state headquarters of INEC.
Addressing the NYSC Director General, the Commander of the 4 Brigade, Brig-Gen Bebenla Raji, said the army was working with the police, the DSS, FRSC, NSCDC and the Nigeria Police to ensure a peaceful election and protection for the participating corps members. Academy of the Sciences in Helsinki (1993).”
Okpewho also served as the President of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA).
For his creative writing work, Okpewho won the 1976 African Arts Prize for Literature and 1993 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Africa. His four novels, "The Victims, The Last Duty, Tides, and Call me by my Rightful Name" are widely studied in Africa and other parts of the world, with some of them translated into major world languages.
“We will miss his charming presence, warm-heartedness, and wise guidance,” said a member of the family last night in Binghamton, New York, adding: “But we are consoled by the great life he lived, the many lives he touched beyond the nuclear family, and the remarkable intellectual legacy he left behind.”
Reacting to the demise of the literary titan, Gordon Darah, Professor of English at Delta State University, Abraka, and President of document (circular) issued by the CBN pursuant to the accounts administration agreement, would also be issued a warning letter with other sanctions stated in the first and second infractions stated above.
Fourthly, if there is a closure of a transaction account by a DMB without prior written consent of the refinancer, the penalty, according to the CBN, would be N2 million and further infraction entails terminating the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank.
Other issues that would be regarded as infractions as highlighted by the central bank that could attract various forms of sanctions include: when a collection bank and principal collection banks do not provide the
He said: "As long as you have me here, rest assured that the corps members are well protected. We have even gone as far as arranging for the corps members to have the phone numbers of the officers that will be at the respective units where the corps members will be stationed."
He also stated that more protection would be given to the corps members as troops would be stationed in not too far distances to the polling booths in line with relevant laws guiding the conduct of elections.
While receiving Kazaure in his office, the outgoing Edo State police commissioner, Chris Ezike, assured Kazaure of police protection for the corps members, charging him to inform the corps members that any of them found wanting on Saturday would be prosecuted. Students Protest, Want New Poll Date Secondary school students Nigeria Oral Literature Association (NOLA), said: “That is a library destroyed by the fire of death.”
Okpewho is survived right to view Transaction Accounts or any such other information relating to the transactions effected or to be effected on the Transaction Account in real time; where collection banks allow revenues (including cash collections and revenues received from all electronic or other platforms) generated by any Disco to be paid directly in any account other than the Feeder Collection Accounts as stipulated in the Account Administration Agreement; and where collection banks allow a debit/withdrawal from a Feeder Collection Account ( FCA) to the principal collection account contrary to terms of the Accounts Administration Agreement.
Others include a situation where the DMBs open additional bank account(s) have called for a shift in date of the gubernatorial election in Edo State scheduled to hold on Saturday to another date as it clashed with their Mathematics examination also scheduled by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for the same day.
The students who stormed the Government House, Benin City, with placards with various inscriptions said holding the examination and the poll same day would disenfranchise them.
The students also said they would kick against any plan to be moved to other states for the Mathematics examination as planned by WAEC, adding that this would not only disorganise them but also put them at a disadvantage.
Spokesman for the students Iko Emmanuel Moses said: “Our position about the General Certificate Examination (GCE) in Edo State, the scheduled governorship election on the 10th of September, with by his wife, Obiageli; his children — Ediru, Ugo, Afigo, and Onome as well as members of his extended family. for a Beneficiary Disco, whether not for the purpose of receiving payments, fines, fees or electricity consumed by its customers without the prior written consent of the refinancer as well as where the DMBs permit debit/withdrawals from the FCA to a nonprincipal collection account.
These attract sanctions that range from N2 million and their termination as Mandate Banks.
Meanwhile, the naira closed at N422 to the dollar on the parallel market yesterday, marginally stronger than the N423 to the dollar it was last Friday. On the interbank forex market, the spot rate of the naira closed at N314.20 to the dollar, slightly higher than the N314.77 to the dollar it closed last Friday. a deep sense of regret and pains, we wish to express and oppose the disturbing circumstances surrounding the above examination of this year and its effect on our expected performance in the examination.
“The plan to relocate us out of Edo State, our state, to other regions to sit for the examination because of the September 10 election in Edo State as scheduled by INEC is an ill wind which will affect our chances to perform well in the examination. We have found this situation very disturbing, discouraging and we cannot take the risk.”
In his response, Governor Oshiomhole said he would pass their protest letter to the president, saying the election was fixed by INEC which is an independent body.
He said the responsibility of fixing the governorship election in the state rested with INEC, explaining that he was not consulted when the election for September 10 was scheduled.