The Niger Delta Congress (NDC) unequivocally condemns the provocative and unrecognized annexation of Niger Deltan lands in a recent “Biafra  Declaration Day” organised by an affiliate of IPOB, under the banner of “BRGIE”, which held in Finland.

According to a statement on Monday, signed by Mudiaga Ogboru, the national spokesperson, “the audacious attempt by the terrorist group led by Simon Ekpa, a dual citizen of Nigeria and Finland, to impose an illegitimate and divisive agenda on the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta is not only provocative but constitutes an unacceptable affront to the dignity, sovereignty, and self-determination of our people. 

“Let it be stated categorically: the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta—comprising the peoples of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River States—have no connection, past or present, with the ideological farce that is Biafra.

“This fascist and irredentist agenda, driven by an external ethnic group with no mandate from or legitimate claim to the Niger Delta, is an egregious attempt to appropriate identities and resources that do not belong to them. 

“The people of the Niger Delta have a long and proud history of championing the rights of indigenous peoples. As the first region in Nigeria to demand and articulate the principles of political autonomy and resource control, we are the vanguard of self-determination. Our position is clear: while we categorically reject the retrogressive structure of Nigeria as it stands, we reserve the right to determine our political future on our own terms, free from the impositions of any external group or ideology. 

“Niger Delta and Biafra are polar opposites. The Niger Delta Congress rejects, in totality, the futile attempts by IPOB/BRGIE and its affiliates to subsume our distinct ethnic identities into their so-called Biafran project.

“Our people have spoken, repeatedly and unambiguously. We rejected being a part of Biafra when it was first declared in 1967, and not only do we reject it once again, but we will resist it. We are not Biafrans, we will never be Biafrans.

“The Niger Delta Congress calls upon IPOB/BRGIE and all its affiliate groups to desist from these reckless provocations and to recognize that our region will never be a theater for their chaos, tragedy, or economic sabotage. The NDC reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the Niger Delta remains a zone of peace, progress, and economic sustainability for its people. 

“Furthermore, let it be clear that the Niger Delta’s rejection of Biafra irredentism does not equate to an endorsement of Nigeria’s current political structure, which hinges on the ‘majorities’ subjugating the ‘minorities’. Our fight for justice, equity, and true federalism remains steadfast.

“To this end, the NDC will continue to engage all stakeholders in the Niger Delta and beyond to secure our territorial integrity, political autonomy and resource control that is the birthright of our people. 

“A Warning to Irredentist Agitators: The Niger Delta is neither a pawn in external agendas nor a colony to be appropriated by opportunistic groups. We are a proud, resilient, and self-determining people, and any attempt to contravene our sovereignty will be met with the full resolve of our collective will. Furthermore we would like to call on the authorities of Finland to check the excesses of this terrorist group as the Nigerian authorities have so far been unable to reign them in. Finally the NDC would like to call on the people of Niger Delta to neither be perturbed or distracted by the antics of these ethnic expansionists and genocidaires, while encouraging them to promptly report any suspicious activity capable of destabilizing our land”.

Some concerned citizens including media and corporate affairs practitioners have appealed to Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Banks, Dangote Foundation, MTN Foundation and other notable organizations and citizens to help provide  financial assistance for Kolawole Kuforiji, a Nigerian journalist who requires Deep Brain Stimulation surgery that is expected to cost  $35,000 (USD) about N57 million in Turkey.

Specifically, friends of Kola Kuforiji that initiated moves to seek financial support from concerned organisations and citizens  have so far sent SOS For Journalist Kola Kuforiji requesting for financial assistance to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dangote Foundation, MTN Foundation, All Nigerian Banks through the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), NNPC Foundation, Chevron Nigeria Foundation, Guinness Nigeria Foundation, Nigerian Breweries Foundation, Shell Nigeria Foundation, Total E&P Nigeria Foundation and  Babcock University.

Beside the calls for institutional supports to save the life of Kola Kuforiji, the group of friends have opened an bank account with Polaris Bank (Name of Account: SOS FOR JOURNALIST KOLA KUFORIJI/ Account Number: 1790322317) and have started making individual donations.

Donations to the fund from as little as N1,000 donor to N150,000 donors has rising to N842,940.00 from the last count.

The life of Kola, a 54-year-old husband and father of two, who had worked for about two decades with Rhythm FM (Sliverbird Group) reporting business  was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with a drug-resistant, Parkinson’s disease with pronounced difficulty in walking and tremor has been very ill for more than two years and the severity and debilitating nature of his illness has depleted the  finances of his family.

He was initially treated at   Ikorodu General Hospital, Lagos, where a presumptive diagnosis of his medical condition was made.

He was over a year ago referred to LASUTH, but there has been little improvement in his health.

Medical treatment abroad now offers the best option for his recovery with a recommendation from  Atasehir Medicana International Hospital – Atasehir / Istanbul, Turkey confirming that he will need a Deep Brain Stimulation surgery.

Over the years  Kola has explored his media platform as a strong tool to drive financial inclusion and expanding frontier of knowledge of Nigerians on the activities and stride of the energy, banking and finance sectors at large to national development.

Despite his illness, Kola remains hopeful and determined to overcome.

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced that Teresa Anania has joined the company as Chief Customer Officer (CCO).

Anania will play a key role in accelerating Sophos’ customer and partner success initiatives to maximize value of Sophos’ portfolio of cybersecurity solutions and services, including Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services and endpoint, network, email, and cloud security.

Anania has more than 25 years of experience in leading customer satisfaction and sales growth across public and private sectors, excelling in both direct and indirect sales channels.

Joining Sophos from Zendesk, Anania was responsible for the management and development of its global client base of more than 110,000 customers from small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) to enterprises. During her time at Zendesk, Anania led all post-sales functions, including Professional Services, Customer Support, Customer Service, Customer Success and Renewals, to deliver top line growth and measurable impact for customers. Anania has extensive experience specializing in scaling post-sales customer engagement for enterprise, commercial, and volume segments, delivering significant Return on Investment (ROI) and driving revenue.

As CCO, Anania will be responsible for developing a stronger customer-centric culture, working together with channel partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to deliver a seamless experience for Sophos’ growing customer base of more than 600,000 organizations worldwide. This vision also provides assurance that smaller customers, which are a prime target for attackers, have access to the same innovative security solutions and industry-leading threat intelligence as their larger counterparts, a critical overall mission for Sophos in 2024 and beyond.

“Sophos is in an exciting phase of its business growth, and I am eager to bring my career success building positive customer experiences to the company,” said Anania. “Sophos has a stellar reputation for continually innovating cybersecurity technology and managed security services that help organizations defend their businesses against ransomware, data breaches and other potentially business-ending cyberattacks. I will be working closely with channel partners, MSPs, and the global team, to advocate for Sophos’ customers and their security defenses and to drive value for partners from Sophos’ entire portfolio of solutions and services.”

“The threat landscape is always changing, and organizations need regular, interactive assessments of their overall IT environments to determine how to most efficiently and effectively adapt to defeat active attackers. To help facilitate this, security vendors need to take responsibility to ensure that customer investments in their products and services are providing real value to them, which requires engagement throughout contract lifecycles. This also requires world-class customer experience (CX) for renewals and upgrades to the most relevant and appropriate technologies and services, and an awareness of the full potential already available in existing licenses. The best tool is of little value without the right operation, so these components are critical to properly and consistently defending against modern attacks,” said Joe Levy, CEO of Sophos. “To provide this pathway, we’ve hired Teresa, who has an impressive track record building post-sales relationships and delivering experiences that increase customer satisfaction and drive topline growth. Her knowledge and expertise will allow us to further put customers at the center of our business, alongside our channel partners and MSPs. Most importantly, Teresa’s new role will help keep our customers as secure as possible, which is always our top priority. We are delighted to welcome Teresa to the Sophos team.”