Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C, a US-based lobbying firm, has deleted an X post announcing the purported appointment of Karl Von Batten, the firm’s managing partner, to a White House position.

According to the firm, US President Donald Trump appointed Von Batten to serve as a commissioner on a White House presidential commission.

“Dr. Von Batten is deeply grateful to President Trump (The Chief) for this appointment and for the confidence placed in him,” the firm said in the now-deleted statement on Wednesday.

“This presidential appointment represents a tremendous honor and reflects Dr. Von Batten’s longstanding commitment to public service, leadership, and our nation.

“Dr. Von Batten looks forward to answering the call to serve our President and country.”

The firm did not specify the commission to which Von Batten was purportedly appointed.

There has been no official communication from the White House confirming or denying the purported appointment of Von Batten.

The post was also no longer on the lobbyist’s official page.

The announcement was widely reported locally and internationally, triggering concerns that the lobbyist’s purported new role could further complicate an already rocky relationship between President Bola Tinubu and Washington, which has been strained over the past year by allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria, as well as US sanctions and visa restrictions.

Earlier this year, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), hired Von Batten’s firm to protect and strengthen his “reputational standing” in the US ahead of the 2027 polls.

The 12-month agreement was worth $1.2 million. Since then, the lobbying firm has stepped up its criticism of Tinubu, who is seeking re-election.

Over the past weeks, the firm has sought to bring Tinubu’s past dealings with US drug-enforcement into the spotlight, including by filing Freedom of Information Act (FOI) requests and lawsuits seeking US records relating to the president.

Von Batten said he had also briefed senior members of Trump’s team on allegations of misappropriation of US-funded World Bank loans by senior members of the Nigerian government.

‘VON BATTEN’S APPOINTMENT ‘UNPAID ROLE, NOT WHITE HOUSE POSITION’

According to Sunday Dare, Tinubu’s special adviser on media and public communication, Von Batten was appointed to an unpaid education commission and not a White House policymaking position.

Dare said the appointment was to the commission on presidential scholars, an education panel administered by the US department of education.

The presidential spokesperson said the commission has no responsibility for American foreign policy, national security, diplomacy, or relations with Nigeria.

Von Batten did not refute the report.

“President @realDonaldTrump is the greatest American President, greatest American President, and it is an honor to even be thought of for any role associated with his Administration, paid or unpaid,” the lobbyist said in response to Dare.

“I am proud of my President and would serve for free for a thousand years if he asked.”

Von Batten said he was proud to have been asked to serve “helping recognize the best of the best” among America’s young men and women. (Cable)

Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has raised concerns over the use of dangerous chemicals in ripening and preserving fruits, recounting how a laboratory test found his wife’s freshly squeezed orange juice “not fit for human consumption”.

Osinbajo spoke at the Open Day for Gardeners’ Seminar themed “Leaving the Earth Better Than We Found It”, held in Lagos on August 28, with a video of the event shared on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.

Osinbajo said his wife, Dolapo, developed frequent headaches after she began drinking freshly squeezed orange juice every day.

“Dolly, my dear wife, likes to have a full glass of freshly squeezed orange juice every day, a very healthy habit, by the way, especially since she stopped consuming any form of carbonated drinks many years ago,” he said.

“But then after a while she started having some strange headaches drinking her fresh juice every day. Then she checked everything she was eating and drinking, and we were wondering what could the cause of this be?”

He said they initially ruled out the orange juice because it was considered a healthy drink.

“We assumed, of course, it couldn’t be the ‘healthy’ orange juice,” he said.

“The results came back. It showed the orange juice, freshly squeezed, was not fit for human consumption.”

Osinbajo attributed the result to the use of harmful chemicals by some farmers and fruit sellers, warning that the problem could expose Nigerians to health risks.

His words, “Apparently farmers use dangerous pesticides for fruits and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable sellers use very dangerous chemicals sometimes to ripen or preserve fruits and vegetables.”

“Calcium carbide is used very frequently to force fruits such as bananas, mangoes, pawpaws and tomatoes to change colour and look ripe very quickly,” Osinbajo added.

The former vice-president cited studies from different parts of the country which he said had documented the use of chemicals among some fruit sellers.

He referenced a 2024 study in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, where, according to him, half of 20 fruit sellers interviewed admitted using calcium carbide. Similarly, another study in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where 25 per cent of fruit sellers reportedly admitted to using the chemical to ripen fruits.

Osinbajo further referred to a 2023 survey in Lagos, saying 22 out of 50 fruit retailers admitted using chemicals to preserve their produce.

“These were the ones who agreed they do,” he said.

His call comes amid growing concerns over the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard products in Nigeria, with NAFDAC and SON facing increased pressure as Nigerians use social media to expose food, drugs, cosmetics and other consumer goods suspected to be dangerous.

Residents and youths of Enugu State on Friday marched through popular streets in the state capital in support of the government’s campaign against insecurity, declaring their zero tolerance for terror, criminality and violent extremism.

The youths, including undergraduates and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who ultimately converged at Government House, Enugu, where they were received by the Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, pledged to mobilise young people across the state against criminal activities and violent extremism.

Addressing the group, Mbah said security was one of the recurring risk factors identified by his administration while mapping out the developmental building blocks for the state, hence his decision to tackle the menace head-on from the outset.

While commending the youths for taking the initiative to support the anti-crime efforts of the President Bola Tinubu Administration and the Enugu State Government, the governor said his administration’s “Tomorrow Is Here” mantra was not a mere political slogan, but a commitment to investing in young people who would take charge of the state’s future.

“For you to march through the streets and end here preaching the message against crime and terrorism is profound. Ordinarily, we should be the ones preaching to you against such vices.

“But by this act, you are telling us that you are not going to be on the fringes or stand by and watch. Rather, you are going to be at the forefront of the campaign against cultism, crime and terrorism,” the governor said.

Mbah said greater involvement of youths in the fight against criminality would lead to a significant reduction in crime, freeing up resources for job creation and poverty eradication.

He noted that some countries had shut down many of their correctional facilities after recording significant reductions in crime, stressing that a similar transformation could be achieved in Nigeria when young people took ownership of the campaign against criminality.

The governor said the state had adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards criminality, adding that a safer Enugu would attract more investors and generate other multiplier effects for the economy.

He urged the youths to take their campaign against crime and terrorism to every part of the state, saying their initiative would send a strong message that criminality was no longer fashionable among young people.

According to him, the government would complement the youths’ campaign through non-kinetic interventions, including job creation, increased investment in education and digital skills development.

“Your campaign is heartwarming. When citizens apply scholarly and constructive approaches, government will be glad to engage them constructively and productively too,” Mbah said.

Earlier, a leader of the march and Deputy Rector of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Dr Emeka Ejim, described the coalition as a broad-based youth movement comprising corps members and students united by a common agenda to campaign against crime, cultism and terrorism.

Ejim pledged the group’s support for the state government’s security efforts, saying Enugu had distinguished itself in the fight against crime and cultism through a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic measures, including skills acquisition and job creation.

“We pledge never to join bad groups within and outside Nigeria. We are joining you against terrorism,” he said.

Also speaking, the Enugu State leader of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Okeke Kelvin, said the association would mobilise no fewer than two million youths to support the campaign against violence and terror.

“This is the only way we can show you that we are against terror. We say no to terrorism,” Kelvin said.

The student leader commended the state government for investing heavily in modern security infrastructure in the state, noting the settingup of the Command and Control Centre, Centre for DNA Forensics and Criminal Investigation, Distress Response Squad DRS), and others, which he said were yielding results.

“For instance, they tried you at Affa in Udi, and in no time the kidnappers realized they cannot ply their trade in Enugu State,” he stated.

NYSC corps members Olaranju Oreose and Emmanuela Momoh expressed gratitude to Governor Mbah for the peace and security they enjoy in Enugu, saying the state had totally changed their views and allayed the fears they initially nursed when posted to the South East region.

“I am Olaranju, representing the General CDS President. Sir, as a corps member from the South West, and I have been in Enugu from January till now, I want to say that my journey and experience so far here has been wonderful in terms of security.

“Initially, I had the fear of coming this far distance to Enugu. But having been here, I have changed that thinking. I want to let you know that no one amongst us here, no matter the tribe, no matter the religion, is supporting terrorism.”