The Federal Roads Main tenance Agency (FERMA), Nigeria’s first institutional mechanism for monitoring and maintaining all federal roads in the country has been in operation for at least two decades since it was set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. Its establishment was no doubt as expedient then as it is to day as an intervention to perhaps the most common challenge to the nation’s development framework. 

Although the number of Nigerian roads that has ever had any type of construction is quite scanty, poor maintenance is probably a bigger problem because each time a road has a hitch, it increases the number of bad roads along with their adverse effects on the people and the economy. 

Between 2003 and 2015, FERMA functioned in a manner that its name became known across the nation. At the approach of any major festivity, the government would issue a directive to FERMA to ease all major roads for travellers going to unite with their families in their country homes. As the popularity of the organization grew, young unemployed Nigerians evolved their own branch of FERMA patching potholes and helping to make passage easy. They were quickly classified as local ‘ferma’ and are still operating till today as some of them do get some gratification from road users. But the real FERMA itself is no longer able to function as it used to be or even as visibly as its unofficial local affiliates. Why?

It is honestly simplistic to imagine that the decline in the activities of FERMA is attributable to the posture of its knowledgeable technical operatives. What Nigerians know about road works is about one Minister of Works always inspecting works and briefing the media on government’s preparedness to provide good roads. In reality however, what Nigerians desire is good roads put together by a team of diligent workers and not necessarily a strong works leader even though it is difficult not to acknowledge the strength of character of Dave Umahi, the current Minister of Works. Indeed, he is not just a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers; his carriage easily portrays engineering expertise. However, what Nigeria needs today is not strong men, but strong institutions that would survive over time.

Nigeria needs a Ministry of Works, whose Minister is at the head of policy making along with a strong management team superintending over a viable work force. With or without the Minister or any other particular official, the institution ought to function effectively from generation to generation. Nigeria cannot get close to any developed nation if it continues with its strong-man posture. Whether it is Umahi in Works, Keyamo in Aviation, Tunji Ojo in Interior, Alausa in Education, Pate in health, Idris in Information etc, a system works best with units whose mandates are related to the professed expertiseof its work force in which functions are not personalized and in which there is established uniformity in operating procedures routed in a unity of direction that is properly oiled by institutional memory.

Today, our people have a perception that our road contractsare usually never well-thought out. Just a job for some expatriates with no details such as maintenance. Quite often, nothing is said about culverts, sidewalks, drainages etc. If contracts pass through the appropriate processes, such omissions can be minimized. Besides, announcing huge contracts for road construction every week does not produce good roads; yet, we continue to do that without end while expecting different results. Many years back, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, who had served as Minister of Works was forced to reveal why our road projects don’t end. According to Ogunlewe who should know, road contracts are politicised as we dissipate scare resources while purporting to approve many new roads that don’t get built.

Each time a contractor is mobilized to return to phase 2 of a road project, the original phase 1 supposedly completed earlier would have gone into disuse. Here, it is wasteful to enumerate factors responsible for why our roads go bad so quickly. The obvious reason of concern today is that Nigeria lacks maintenance culture. This is not only about roads but about all facets of life in the country. For example, Nigeria has always been a one-stadium nation because as soon as a new one is built, the existing ones are abandoned.Many years ago, we all knew of the famous Liberty Stadium, Ibadan. It coexisted with a few others in the days of strong regionsbut they all gave way to the magnificent National Stadium Surulere, Lagos built in 1972.

At the time, it was a national monument with an Olympic-size swimming arena and a multipurpose arena used for football, rugby, athletics, boxing etc.It was the nation’s main sporting facility used for the 1973 African Games (AAG), the 1980 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as well as one of the venues of the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup and later the 2000 AFCON, co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria. The Abuja National Stadium now renamed MKO Abiola Stadium which was built in 2003 is likely to face the same fate due to lack of maintenance of facilities in the location.For the same reason, no one talks anymore about the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.

Bearing in mind that Nigeria no longer has resources to erect huge structures, one would have expected those in power to have since developed the idea of never allowing what exists to die. But instead, we have continued to follow the old idiom of‘penny wise, pound foolish’ – an approach which explains why Nigeria’s huge structures; be they buildings or roads are destroyed because of failure to spend a small amount to maintain them.If those who set up FERMA had this in mind, it would appear that we are sliding backwards because not much has been done to ensure that such a maintenance tool is empowered to rescue us from bad roads that can be maintained rather than waiting to raise enough funds to rebuild and upgrade. 

In July 2024, FERMA’s Managing Director Engr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi told the media that the Agency was set to commence ‘operation free our roads’ initiative nationwide. Those of us who had followed the performance of the Agency in the past looked forward to interventionist projects such as patching of potholes, pavement strengthening, repairs of failed sections, bridge/culverts construction and general maintenance.Their effort didn’t yield much. On closer inquiries, we now know that the invaluable work of the Agency is yet to be prioritized. Only last week, federal legislators at an investigative hearing were told that government needs approximately N880 billion each year to maintain the federal road network nationwide. 

The Minister of State for Works, Mohammed Goroyo who disclosed the figure at the hearing highlighted the persistent shortfall in FERMA’s budgetary allocations forcing the agency to adopt reactive rather than preventive maintenance strategies.Goroyo emphasized that with only N168.9bn budgeted for 2025 there would be lack of adequate funding which would in turn result in deteriorating road conditions, increased repair costs, and disruptions to commuters and businesses. The impact of poor roads on an overstretched economy such as we have now cannot be overstressed. It is therefore time to call on well-meaning patriots to appeal to our leaders to recognize that projects such as ‘free our roads’ are more useful to our people than some of the contrived items in our budgets.

Budget padding everywhere is condemnable but its Nigerian focus is grossly irritating. Why are the extra provisions not deployed to matters of general public interest like roads maintenance? To make matters worse, legislators who should have insisted on ensuring that law is enforced are now the ones shedding crocodile tears over the non-implementation of votes for roads maintenance.Last week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, openly decried the non-implementation and non-remittance of five per cent of the petrol pump price to the FERMA.Abbas who stated the parliament’s position noted that certain relevant authorities were still flouting the law, despite the efforts of the lawmakers.

It will be recalled that Section 14(1)(h) of the FERMA Amendment Act 2007,provides for five per cent of the pump price of petrol and diesel to be allocated to FERMA and the state maintenance agencies.Who are the relevant defaulting authorities that the Speaker is referring to? One is tempted to imagine that the failure to name names suggests that those involved are untouchables, otherwiseby now there would have been noisy threats of summons and warrants of arrests! We can only appeal here to all that empowering FERMA would benefit us all.

The Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, Paul Adefarasin, has broken his silence over a viral video falsely claiming he brandished a firearm, describing the incident as hurtful and maliciously driven by “clickbaiters just looking for money.”

Speaking during his sermon on Sunday, which was streamed live on the church’s YouTube channel and monitored by Vanguard, Adefarasin said he was deeply shaken by the accusation and the reaction that followed.

“Several persons called me. I was shocked. I was hurt. I’m human,” he said. “What we have had to witness was clickbaiters just looking for money. I probably wasn’t even their target; their target was to make more money.”

He categorically denied owning or using a firearm: “I was falsely accused of pointing a firearm at an aggressive content creator who came within personal distance. I do not have a pistol license. I do not carry a firearm. And I pointed no firearm at anybody.”

Adefarasin explained that the alleged incident occurred on a Saturday while he was observing the Sabbath. “It happened on Saturday when I observed Sabbath. I believe in the principle of Sabbath,” he said.

He further stated that his ministry would not lend weight to misinformation and online attacks. “It’s our policy not to dignify hate speech and false accusations. We believe God is bigger than that.”

Quoting scripture, he added: “We believe in what He said in Romans 12:19 — ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

Reflecting on the emotional toll, Adefarasin said, “God is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and He’s able to first give us succour. And what the enemy means for evil, He works it for good.”

He concluded, “On that note, I will lay that matter to rest.”

[Vanguard]

Veteran journalist and Arise News TV anchor, Dr. Reuben Abati, has broken his silence following scathing remarks by Lere Olayinka, a media aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, during a controversial appearance on The Morning Show last Friday that included claims that he begged Wike for money.

Olayinka, speaking live on the Arise News flagship programme, had, besides claiming that Abati begged Wike for money, also accused the TV anchor of partisanship, claiming he had become the unofficial spokesperson of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

He also questioned Abati’s absence from the studio that day, implying it was a calculated move to avoid accountability.

“I wasn’t expecting him to be here. He has taken the position of special assistant on media to Rotimi Amaechi.

The fiery exchange stems from a recent comment made by Amaechi during his 60th birthday celebration, where he declared himself “hungry” — a statement widely seen as a veiled criticism of the current administration. Wike, his political rival, dismissed the remarks and questioned the credibility of a man who had held multiple top political roles to claim hunger.

Abati, reacting on Arise News, criticized Wike’s response as “rude and disrespectful,” especially coming from someone whose political rise was closely tied to Amaechi. This opinion apparently struck a nerve with Olayinka, prompting his Friday outburst.

In a swift and pointed response issued over the weekend, Abati, according to GWG, Dr. Abati dismissed Olayinka’s claims as baseless and defamatory.

He categorically denied ever aligning with Amaechi or seeking favours from Minister Wike.

“I am not Rotimi Amaechi’s spokesperson, nor do I have his phone number. That’s a fabrication.”

He further explained that his absence from Friday’s show was due to a prior intellectual engagement — a book review for “Oprah Benson – Live and Legend,” authored by Dr. Udu Yakubu — and not an attempt to dodge any confrontation

Abati also clarified a claim Olayinka made regarding an alleged probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According to the broadcaster, his interaction with the EFCC was a routine and procedural invitation — not a criminal investigation. He added that the agency under its former chairman, Ibrahim Magu, later issued a formal apology to him.

Taking a swipe at Olayinka’s use of the word “hubris” during the interview, Abati suggested the media aide had misused the term and lacked the intellectual depth to warrant further engagement.

Despite the attacks, Abati stood firmly by his earlier criticism of Minister Wike, arguing that public officials must always be subject to public scrutiny.

Abati besides dismissing Olayinka’s claims that he begged Wike for money also addressed the media aide’s attempt to resurrect old allegations against the late Senator Buruji Kashamu, insisting that no court ever convicted the deceased, either in Nigeria or abroad.

Closing his statement, Abati expressed deep gratitude to his co-hosts, especially Rufai Oseni and Vimbai, for their professionalism during the episode. He also thanked his wife, Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati, for her unwavering support.

“Your strength remains my anchor,” he wrote.

ON Thursday this week, it will be 32 years of that June 12 phenomenon. On July 9, 1998, the lifeless body of a young man adorned the front page of the Nigerian Tribune. The tear-jerking, bloodied body decorated the front pages of many other Nigerian newspapers like manacles in the hands of a convict. He had been shot dead by the police in Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was during a Southwest-wide protest against the perceived murder in detention of Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993 election. The lifeless young man was one of the countless lives Nigeria propitiated at the grove of military despotism. It was the sacrifice to have the freedom of today.

According to Nigerian newspapers’ edition of that day, students, workers, apprentices, bystanders were felled by police bullets. It was like the June 1976 protest by black school children in Soweto, South Africa which led to minimum of 176 dead and estimated 700 felled, with over a thousand people injured. The report said, in Lagos, about 40 lives were lost. Fourteen in Idi-Araba, 4 at Oshodi, 3 at Oworonshoki, and 2 at Ojodu. Unconfirmed sources told reporters that ten lives were lost at Mushin and ten at multi-million Naira Lagos abattoir area at Oko-Oba. In Ibadan, police dispatched five persons to their untimely graves at the Bodija estate area and three at the Bodija market. Perceived military apologist, Arisekola Alao’s Bodija building was in turn damaged by the protesters, leading to the death of two of them. In Abeokuta, the palace of the Alake of Egbaland was looted and torched. The monarch’s staff of office, beaded crown and royal umbrella were looted as well. A tyre warehouse belonging to one Alhaji Fatai Gbemisola was set ablaze with vehicles vandalized in their hundreds.

The above should remind one that life usually comes in binaries – good/bad; poor/rich; live/die and so on. Orlando Owoh, Yoruba Kennery music singer, perhaps had this binary in mind when he sang that beneath the sweet apple of the pineapple lies its lacerating pine. “Opon oyinbo fi dundun se’wa, oro inu e t’o egbeje” he sang. Owoh could as well have been talking about Nigeria’s binary, of yesterday’s June 12 struggle and today’s civil rule.  

The repercussion of the election annulment by General Ibrahim Babangida was colossal. Hundreds of Nigerians were murdered while uncountable suffered collateral deaths. Many got imprisoned; livelihoods were lost, destinies got truncated and many never recovered their well-being, even till today. Many children and dependant of the dead had their destinies stymied by the crisis. On July 7, 1998, with General Sani Abacha obdurately soldiering on, in spite of widespread calls on him to release Abiola from prison and honour the people’s electoral wish, Abiola’s death was announced.

The casualties of June 12 were legion. Business colossus, Alfred Ogbeyiwa Rewane, was one of them. Nicknamed Osibakoro by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Rewane was a staunch member of the Action Group political party and chairman of the AG-controlled Western Region Development Company. In the 1990s, as the military bared their fangs, Rewane was the refuge and sponsor of politicians and activists who desired what we eventually have today. His Lagos home was NADECO’s meeting venue. At Rewane’s memorial in 2000, late Chief Bola Ige recalibrated an earlier funeral oration he delivered in Warri at Osibakoro’s burial when he said, “The freedom we actually enjoy in Nigeria today must be credited, in good measure, to the self sacrificing disposition that (Rewane) displayed consistently…Osibakoro provided the progressive Nigerian politics with the sinews to fight the good fight…he stood up as a comforter of the family of the detained, those under house arrest, those in jail or those forced into exile…he never missed a chance to support all who were on the barricades. He had unwritten pact for instance with the guerrilla press.” On October 6, 1995, shortly after celebrating his 79th birthday, Osibakoro was brutally assassinated by agents of General Abacha at his residence in Ikeja, Lagos. They were never found.

In 1994, armed gunmen stormed activist and human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi’s Lagos law chambers at Anthony Village. Two of his guards were defaced with bullets but unbeknown to the messengers of death, Fawehinmi was away. Beko Ransom-Kuti was also about this time programmed to be eliminated. His 8, Imaria Close home was torched when he could not be found. Same fate befell Ayo Opadokun. His Yaba home was raided and burnt. But for providence, NADECO chairman, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman would have been dead. His Chevrolet car was sprayed with a hail of bullets which shattered its windscreen but he miraculously escaped unhurt. In February 1996, affable publisher of The Guardian newspaper, Alex Ibru, was shot and lost an eye in the process. Earlier, his newspaper house had been burnt by yet unknown arsonists.

Either self-imposed or providence’s grim retribution, on January 17, 1996, a plane carrying Abacha’s son and 13 others developed engine fault and crashed in Dausayi village in Kano. Thereafter, bomb blasts began to boom in Nigeria like rockets. On January 29, 1996, NTA news alleged that Wole Soyinka was the mastermind of terror activities in Nigeria with Today, Kaduna-based newspaper, accusing NADECO activists of being behind the terror. Many got killed by the coldblooded military regime of Abacha. The list is exhaustive and includes Rear Admiral Babatunde Elegbede, Dr. Sola Omatsola, Toyin Onagoruwa, Alhaja Suliat Adedeji and Mrs. Bisoye Tejuosho. Chief Abraham Adesanya escaped death by the whiskers when his car was sprayed with bullets while the likes of Chiefs Olu Falae, Olabiyi Durojaiye were detained.

Earlier, on October 25, 1993, a Nigeria Airways Flight WT470 was hijacked by four Nigerian boys who were riled by the annulment of the June 12 election. They were Richard Ogunderu (19), Kabir Adenuga (22) Razaq Lawal (23) and Benneth Oluwadaisi (24). They called themselves members of the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD). Three members of Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING) were on that flight. They were Brigadier-General Hafiz Momoh, Prof Jubril Aminu and Rong Yiren, the vice president of China. They initially planned to divert the plane to Frankfurt, Germany but shortage of fuel made them to detour to Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger after the planned landing at N’Djamena, Chad and Gabon was disallowed. In Niamey, they made their demands: de-annulment of the June 12 election, re-investigation of the murder of Dele Giwa and the mysterious crash of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules that claimed 160 lives. It was believed to be a deliberate killing of the soldiers by the Babangida government.   

Nigerian journalism also suffered casualties of the June 12 war. Apart from millions lost to shutting down of newspaper houses’ operations for months, many journalists were detained and jailed by the Abacha regime. They fell victim of the Detention of Persons Decree No 2 which allowed for indefinite, incommunicado detention of citizens; the Offensive Publications Decree No 35 of 1993 which gave the military government latitude to seize any publication it deemed likely to “disturb the peace and public order of Nigeria” and the Treason and Treasonable Offenses Decree No 29 of 1993 which was later used in 1995 by a special military tribunal to convict Kunle Ajibade, Chris Anyanwu, George Mbah and Ben Charles Obi as “accessories after the fact of treason”. Their crime was reporting an alleged coup plot. Niran Malaolu, Deputy Editor of The Diet newspaper, was also imprisoned on December 28, 1997 after being convicted in July 1998 to 15 years in prison, alongside 95 others, for participating in a coup to topple the Abacha government.  

Chief Frank Kokori, former General Secretary of The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) was also a major force in the June 12 election struggle. But for him, Abacha would have possibly succeeded in his life presidency ambition. Kokori locked down Nigeria during the crisis by deploying his NUPENG in pursuit of democratic struggles. He was detained by Abacha and died miserably and dejected in Warri on December 7, 2023. There are a thousand and one other casualties of the June 12 crisis that this piece cannot possibly capture. I went into the above chronology to remind Nigerians, especially the youths of today, that the civilian government we have enjoyed in the last 26 years came with weeping, wailing, deaths and gnashing of the teeth.

The sacrifices of June 12 remind me of John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo’s The Casualties. It was a poem written about the Nigerian civil war that raged between 1967 and 1970. Record has it that an estimated 100,000 military casualties and between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died. It was a period of tragedy and atrocity. Clark began this famous poem with the lines, “The casualties are not only those who are dead./They are well out of  it;” nor are casualties “only those who lost/Persons or property, hard as it is.” Rather, he said, the casualties are the “emissaries of rift/So smug in smoke-rooms they haunt abroad/They do not see the funeral piles/At home eating up the forests/They are wandering minstrels who, beating on/The drums of the human heart, draw the world/Into a dance with rites it does not know.”

The casualties, as Clark lyricized in that poem, are not those who died in the June 12 war, either as ancillary or intended victims. They are the hidden and multifaceted victims of the war who extend beyond the frontiers of those directly affected. The casualties today are the Nigerian people. They include Nigerians who are unlucky (yes!) not to have died from the war but are today grappling with the castles they built in their minds about a democratic rule which, 26 years after, has turned into myths.

Fast-forward to 32 years after. Last week, Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, responded to sons, brothers, sisters, kinsmen and countrymen of those casualties of the June 12 war who voted him into office. They had asked for accountability on the trillions of Naira of their money being spent on construction of the Lagos-Calabar highway. In a tone similar to Babangida’s “we’re not only in office but in power,” at the heat of criticism of his inhuman rule, Tinubu also said last week: «Don›t listen to those critics. They don›t know what they›re talking about. If they don›t like the road or if it›s too expensive for tolling for them, they could go to Idumota.” While Abacha and Babangida scoffed at us, victims of June 12, with guns, Tinubu does with Nebuchadnezzar arrogance.

The question all of us, the casualties, should ask is, is what we have today all our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and contemporaries fought and died for? Did Rewane die to have a government that would spend N15.6 trillion “to tame the Atlantic” for a road project which did not go through any competitive bidding, and the contract awarded on a single-source basis, thus contravening the Public Procurement Act and Environmental Impact Assessment Act? Did he die to have a beneficiary of his death speak glowingly about Sani Abacha’s business partners, the Gilbert Chagourys and their Hitech Construction company, as a “symbol of courage and commitment” and openly acknowledge them as “my partner in daring”? Did those young boys risk their lives to hijack a plane for a democratic Nigeria, only to have Nigerians, 32 years after, have a government that carries on as if hunger, anger, starvation, hopelessness that rule the airwaves are not unusual?

More importantly, a very apposite question to ask is, 26 years after we got civil rule, is Nigeria a democracy? Leading scholar in democratic studies, Prof Larry Diamond, in a keynote at the conference “20 years of democracy in Nigeria: 1999-2019,” held at the St. Antony College, University of Oxford, on December 6, 2019, said Nigeria, as it is today, is a semi-democracy. Or anocracy. Prof Wale Adebanwi, in his Introduction to the book, Democracy and Nigeria’s Fourth Republic ( 2023) which he edited, described semi-democracy and anocracy as “a form of government that mixes democratic and autocratic attributes.” Robert Mattes has also described semi-democracy as a “hybrid regime” while some scholars call it “flawed democracy/regime”. The description of such government by the Economic Intelligence Unit is that, it is a “poorly functioning government, often with corrupt elected officials and officials otherwise unaccountable to the citizenry”.   

Following in the saying that the one on whose head a coconut pod is smashed to access its milky fruit often doesn’t partake of its eating, how many of the children of Rewane, Ige, Opadokun, Ransom-Kuti, Ndubuisi-Kanu, Elegbede, Omatsola, Onagoruwa, Suliat Adedeji, Tejuosho, Abraham Adesanya, Falae, Durojaiye and many more who gallantly fought the military to a standstill in the June 12 war, are beneficiaries of this government? Rather, the toads of the war fought by those Nigerians above 32 years ago are Nigerians’ tormentors of today in power. Are the lives of children of these June 12 warriors even better?  If the dead can see, will the casualties be happy with Nigeria where they are now? If there is another June 12 war to be fought today, will anyone stick their necks in a fight against establishment?

Anyway, happy June 12, Nigerians. Like the boring refrain of a dirge, government will again declare a public holiday on Thursday and we will be fooled with voodoo statistics showing us as a happy people. But, are we really happy?

WHAT kind of English Language is the “ignore” that I used here – Queen’s, King’s or Nigeria’s English? There is history behind it, which goes back many decades – to those periods when men of principles and ideology, who shunned money, position, and principles and dared the powers-that-be, were still plentiful in the Legal profession (both Bar and Bench). As the story goes, Kanmi Ishola-Osoba, who contested, as it were, the alias of “The people’s lawyer” with his more illustrious senior, Comrade Alao Aka-Bashorun, and the sobriquet of ”Fela’s lawyer” with debonair Tunji Braithwaite, got pissed off by the antics of a judge and, characteristically, minced no words in giving it back wholesale to “Me Lord”, as they are addressed, male or female. Wanting to make up on a later occasion, His Lordship’s warming up to Kanmi was rebuffed by the radical lawyer. Reporting the incident to other lawyers and friends, Kanmi reportedly said: “I gave him the ignore!”

Tinubu snubs Sanwo-Olu

Can that be the kind of “ignore” that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave the Lagos State governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, penultimate Saturday at the commissioning of the first phase of the Lagos-Calabar expressway in Lagos? Tinubu reportedly shook hands with other dignitaries but passed Sanwo-Olu over. To tell you that it was not an accident or mistake, Dr. Reuben Abati, in “Mid-term, coastal road and other stories”, described what happened as snobbery and open humiliation of Sanwo-Olu by Tinubu. I didn’t make much of that incident until later events made me dig deeper. Politicians are usually not your ordinary type of normal or okay people. They quarrel this moment and make up the next – except in rare cases like that of the erstwhile “Baba Kekere” to Tinubu who now appears, unfortunately, to have turned the corner in his estrangement with Tinubu. Just as the Second Republic Lagos state Gov. Lateef Jakande aka “Baba Kekere” was deemed the natural successor to the late sage and leader of the Yoruba, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, so also was Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola deemed the alter ego of Tinubu – the unannounced yet widely-known and respected Prime Minister of Tinubu’s political dynasty – until both men missed it! Isasi abi edi?

 After the (deliberate?) public ridicule in Lagos penultimate Saturday, godfather and godson might have made up. I understand many peace-makers immediately swung into action to mend fences. My sister, Funke Egbemode, must have been one of them! In her “Lagos: Mr. Governor, this sacrifice must get to Olodumare”, she counselled Sanwo-Olu to offer a sacrifice of atonement to Tinubu while at the same time she pleaded with the Jagaban to accept the sacrifice. Those who claim to know, however, say the open display of the parting of ways two Saturdays ago appears cast in iron, similar to Aregbesola’s, which, they say, is worse than that of the “Eleyi of Ogun State” in the rundown to the 2023 presidential primary of the APC, leading to the earthshaking “ayajo” (invocation) of “Emilokan” by an obviously desperate and go-for-broke Tinubu! “Eleyi”, however, was able to quickly make amends, fall in line and secure a second term in office. Incidentally, the same “Eleyi” was the one Tinubu commanded to step in and perform the assignment that, appropriately, was Sanwo-Olu’s as the host governor at the road commissioning.       

Controversy trails Lagos-Calabar expressway commissioning

 Before continuing with the “ignore” story, let us quickly return to the controversy generated by the commissioning of the first phase of the Lagos-Calabar expressway. Brickbats were traded on Kosofe Post, a platform to which I belong, over the appropriateness or otherwise of Tinubu’s action. Said one: How can he commission a 30km section of a 750km project? What’s the rush for? To celebrate two years in office? He should have waited for his third year in office. – Engr. Olusola Emmanuel Adedayo.

  “The People’s Democratic Party could not commission a 30km part of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in 16 years! Also, the second Niger Bridge was completed and commissioned on the page of newspapers (by them) before APC/President Muhammadu Buhari came to the rescue and practically completed (the) project.” – Oloye Salami Oluwaseun.

 “We should appreciate the fact that the President initiated this project for national growth and development. Meanwhile, a project can be commissioned at the beginning or a phased commissioning (can be done). The 30km (that was commissioned) is a phase of the project (and it is) to confirm the continuity of the project. Has the project stopped? No!” – Fatoki Ayobode Kehinde, Special Adviser on Environment, Ikosi Isheri LCDA.

 “If not for political optics, why would you even contemplate commissioning a project that is just at 4% completion stage?  The bane of our society over the years is that we reduce leadership to an act of noise-making, rather than actually fixing things and doing things right”. – Hon. Okufuwa Samad Oluwatoyin.

 “I see no issue with Tinubu’s action. Jonathan did the same thing when he flagged off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway…” – Francis Adebayo.

 “Should President Tinubu proceed by commissioning every 30km project as if there are no other important things to focus on in the nation? Nigerians love to celebrate mediocrity!” -Hon. Okufuwa Samad Oluwatoyin.

 “To commission means to put something/someone into active service. Thus, can the commissioned road be put to (active) use? Citing other irregularities or improper socio-political actions of past governments represents the level of negative values or misplaced priorities of Nigerians.” -Taiwo Lasisi, President, Ta’awun Political Forum, Lagos.

 A respected lawyer, an SAN to boot, also forwarded to me criticisms from Network for the Actualization of Social Growth and Viable Development, which reportedly described the commissioning as “premature and misleading”, following which it cautioned “against the politicization of infrastructure delivery”, adding that “project commissioning should reflect substantive completion and usability of the project in its entirety or at least a major functional section”. Another critic said, “The so-called commissioning… just cannot be right…”

Tinubu: Balancing act or what?

 My response: Was the 30km actually completed? And was it properly done? As the Chinese would say, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step taken… Let’s encourage Tinubu and Umahi to forge ahead with the project. When we see the quantum of federal projects that were taken to the North during Buhari’s tenure – with funds sourced from the South or borrowed (which all of us will have to pay back), I want to support every meaningful project that the South can benefit from the Tinubu administration as compensation and balancing act.

 I wouldn’t have reasoned like this in the past, but time and experience reshape a man! Count the number of federal projects that Buhari attracted to his home state of Katsina alone, not to talk of the entire North! The North has more federal institutions than the South. It has virtually all the significant military institutions. It has more states, more local governments, and more (though questionable) allotted population figures. All these attract more federal resources to it. The North produced most of the country’s military leaders, and those ones leveraged the position to favour the North with all the above advantages. Northerners reportedly control more of the country’s oil wells, despite that not a drop of crude oil is mined in their region. They parade the country’s richest men. To crown it all, they hijacked the federal capital from Lagos and took it to the North! That people in the South cannot see all of these – or simply choose to ignore it, thinking it does not matter, baffles me.

 In Acts 26: 24 as the apostle Paul spoke in his own defence, mesmerising everyone with his much learning, Festus, one of the rulers who would determine his fate, exclaimed: “Paul, thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee mad!” Sometimes, much learning is a chain! Let the South take heed!

Sanwo-Olu: Guilty as charged?

I now return to Sanwo-Olu. Tinubu could have pretended that all was well. An enemy who pretends to be a friend is more deadly than one that shows his true colour. That way, you are better informed whether to mend fences – where possible – or keep a safe distance if making peace becomes impossible.

 Sanwo-Olu has pleaded his innocence against the many allegations levelled against him: That he was lukewarm to Tinubu’s plight during the #ENDSARSNOW protest. That he flirted with Atiku Abubakar in the run-down to the 2023 presidential election, thinking that Tinubu would not surmount all the obstacles hewn his way, first, to the APC flag, and then to the presidency itself. That he deliberately neglected to do the needful during the Lagos presidential election, which Tinubu embarrassingly lost to Peter Obi/Labour Party. To make matters worse, he allegedly thereafter swung into action and handsomely won his own second term election three weeks later.

 As if behaving like a man they wanted to roast for dinner who soaked himself in oil and stood by the fireplace, Sanwo-Olu was said to have been fingered in the Obasa impeachment saga that rocked Lagos politics to its very foundations. The embarrassment apart, note that Tinubu, the godfather of Lagos politics since 1999, reportedly described the event as a “coup”. And what is the penalty for coup plotters, especially failed coups?

 Sanwo-Olu, they alleged, wanted to snatch the Lagos political structure from Tinubu. What is the crux of the fight-to-finish between Nyesom Wike and suspended Gov. Siminilaye Fubara? Is it not about who controls the political structure in Rivers State? So, in the recently conducted Lagos local council polls, those familiar with the matter said not a single councillor position was conceded to the governor. 

Beware the ides of politicians!

As journalists, we say, from vantaged professional training and experience, that there is no smoke without a fire; which is why we pursue every lead. But in politics, there are smokes without a fire! Some kitchen cabinet members of a South-west governor conspired one day to arrest the rising profile of another politician who did not belong in their camp. What they did was to inform His Excellency that someone sighted the politician in question at Bourdillon. His Excellency screamed!

 In our political parlance, any reference to “Bourdillon” is Tinubu. The governor in question and Tinubu were light and darkness at the time. The accused was summoned! He swore with everything that he never went near Bourdillon, but the harm had been done. His accusers withstood him to his face – even though they knew they were telling lies! The man fell. Whether he recovered, I cannot tell.

 In Nigerian politics, it is not all smoke that fire ignites! 

FORMER Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has described the Civil War period as the most difficult period of his life.

Gowon made this known on Saturday in Abuja after being honoured with a LifeTime Integrity and Achievement Award at the 5th Convention of the Christian Men’s Fellowship, Abuja Anglican Diocese.

Gowon explained that his decisions during the Civil War were never driven by hatred, but by a difficult necessity to preserve national unity.

He urged people to always stand for the truth, and stressed the need for forgiveness, reconciliation, and unity across faiths and ethnicities.

“I always remember the Civil War. It was the most difficult period of my life. It was not my choice, but I had to be there, and had to do what I did in order to keep this country together.

“It was never a hatred against any people, I can assure you,” he stated.

Reflecting on life after that period, the former Head of State stressed that his decisions had often been guided by prayers and a desire to act with integrity and compassion.

“As far as this heart is concerned, everything that I do, it is through prayers. I ask God to help me to do the right thing the way He thinks it should be done, with love and respect for all the people.

“That is why, at the end, what do we have to say? As they say: no victor, no vanquished,” he added.

Gowon also lauded the progress Nigeria has made since the Civil War.

He called on all citizens to support the government’s efforts to uphold peace, love, and mutual respect.

Chairman of the occasion, former President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by John-Kennedy Opara, former Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, congratulated the honourees on their consistency in living with integrity.

[Nigerian Tribune]

He said, “These men have touched lives, and God has used them in different ways to touch the nation.

“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.”

Quoting Psalm 25:14, he called on men to live right and stand for integrity, regardless of the situation.

The Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, who presided over the convention, commended the honourees and urged Christians to uphold truth, integrity, and courage.

According to him, the theme for the programme is apt because there is a need to encourage Christians to stand for the Lord right from their homes.

He also encouraged Christians to stand strong in the society, in their workplaces and in their businesses.

If you thought nothing good could ever come out of the police barracks, you may just be wrong!

Nigeria’s police chief, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, recently hugged media attention for the right reasons when he showcased the brightest and best of the organisation at the second edition of the Nigeria Police Awards and Commendations ceremony in Abuja.

For a change, the police had good stories – of valour, competence, dedication, integrity and much more – to tell, showing that in spite of the bad headlines, which the Force had attracted in the past, it still had many good eggs in its basket.

Police Awards

The event featured awards in various categories: Crime Buster of the Year; Community Policing Advocate of the Year; Detective of the Year; Police Sports Person of the Year; DPO of the Year; Area Commander of the Year; Patrol Team of the Year; and Traffic Officer of the Year. There were also awards for Gallantry and Integrity and Police Officer of the Year. The IGP Special Recognition Awards were also given to officers who distinguished themselves in professional fields such as Public Relations, Legal Practice, and Medical Services.

For once, the police smelt of roses. But beneath the glitz and the backslapping among ‘long-time-no-see’ old geezers, and the impeccable ceremonial dressing of the younger elements, there was the undercurrent of the theatricality of it all. Was the show just being put up to satisfy the public yearning for a police service with a human face rather than a police force that wasn’t sure whether it was an army of occupation or a bunch of strong-arm fixers?

IGP Egbetokun deserves his flowers for motivating his men with the award scheme. Perceptive analysts are, however, quick to warn the police not to be carried away by the sound of its own panegyrics. Critics and commentators recall one of the lowest points in the history of policing in Nigeria – the EndSARS protest, and warn that the types of complaints that culminated in that protest have been rearing their heads again.

Bad Eggs

The other day, when a policeman shot and killed a 14-year-old student at a checkpoint in Ibadan, Oyo State, allegedly because the boy’s father, who was driving refused to stop as ordered, the verdict of the motoring public was not focused on the driver who refused to stop. It was on whether the punishment for refusing to stop at a police checkpoint is death.

The trigger-happy policeman, confronted by an irate crowd, ran for cover at the nearby Ladoke Akintola Airport. A huge crowd of protesters carried the boy’s corpse and deposited it in the governor’s office at the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, demanding justice.

The authorities moved swiftly to douse the tension caused by that incident, which could easily have ballooned to a city-wide riot. But let nobody think that the people will take their eyes off the ball. They will wait to see how the whole issue will be handled before ‘incidenting’ it among their ‘actionable’ grievances.

Around the same time, one Inspector Obi Modestus was shown in a viral video assaulting an Uber driver in Lagos. The video, shared on social media platform X by user @dammiedammie35 (Oyindamola), drew widespread condemnation from the public. Despite passengers’ pleas for him to stop, the officer dragged the driver into a police vehicle and later returned to demand the deletion of the video.

The Complaint Response Unit (CRU) of the Lagos State Police Command has reportedly summoned Inspector Modestus. The Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, warned that, “The Lagos State Police Command, under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police CP Olohundare Jimoh, will not condone any form of incivility to members of the public.” Nigerians are watching!

Generally, Nigerians hold senior police officers in high esteem because the higher echelon of the Force are more polished than the lower ranks. People often wonder if civility is not one of the subjects in the training modules of the police colleges that produce the rank and file who interact with the public daily.

In these days of banditry, kidnapping and sundry acts of terror, you would think that the police would realise that their best allies are the young people in the society. But it seems the reverse is the case as the police seem to think that young people have access to easy money, which they can be forced to share at gunpoint.

When I watched the video of some policemen of the Ogwashi-Uku Division assaulting the President of the Student Union Government (SUG) of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku, I told myself that the matter ought to be escalated to the superior officers at the Police High Command in order to stem the madness.

In the video, the President of the Student Union alleged that the officers slapped him and threatened to shoot him unless he parted with a N500 bribe. They eventually shot at his vehicle. The SUG President shouted in rage: “You slapped me because I refused to settle you. You will see what you have never seen in your life before… Ogwashi-Uku divisional police slapped me, SUG president, because I refused to settle them N500!”

The officers didn’t bargain for a brazen fight back. They jumped into their operational vehicle. The student ran after them as they drove off. He screamed, “Look at you, criminals! The whole world is going to see you!” One policeman stepped out of the vehicle and fired a shot in the air.

The police made a quick getaway. The student leader and his colleagues licked their wounds. End of story for the day. But a psychological wound had been inflicted on the young people, which would make them so susceptible to anti-police protests in the future. And all because of some miserable N500!

Good Eggs

In the midst of all the stories of woe, there are accounts of policemen who have behaved like guardian angels to members of the public. I have personally been assisted by a police patrol team to change a flat tyre of my brand new VW Passat at night on the Shagamu-Benin Expressway in the dangerous 80s when armed robbery kingpins, Lawrence Anini and Monday Osunbor, reigned supreme. There are still many good policemen out there, but the bad eggs and empty barrels are naturally louder.

The Police High Command may wish to review a 2012 study done on the subject, “Do the Nigerian public trust their police?” by Etannibi Alemika, Nic Cheeseman and Adrienne LeBas.

The key findings of that study reveal that:

Nearly one-half (48.5%) of the respondents felt somewhat or very unsafe in meeting the police.

Only 6.3% of the respondents felt that the police were effective most of the time in preventing or containing violent conflicts.

Only 6.4% of those interviewed expressed a lot of trust in the police. An additional 16.7% said they somewhat trust the police.

IGP Egbetokun may wish to update that study. The commendable institution of an annual award scheme to reward outstanding policemen should go hand in hand with a deliberate, research-based study to help build more trust between the police and the public. Without trust, all police exertions will be in vain.

Former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has dismissed claims by his political rival and successor, Nyesom Wike, that he made him governor, challenging journalists and the public to interrogate the origins of that assertion.

In a recent interview marking his 60th birthday, Amaechi said his emergence as governor in 2007 was the result of a judicial process and not political patronage. “Nobody made me governor but God, Dr. Peter Odili, and the Nigerian judiciary,” he declared. “Surprisingly, no journalist has ever asked that man that said he made me governor how he did it? Nobody has ever asked that question.”

Amaechi, who was elected governor after a landmark Supreme Court ruling reinstated his candidacy despite being substituted before the 2007 elections, emphasized that the judiciary played the decisive role in the outcome. “I went to court. Lateef Fagbemi was my lawyer. He’s now the Attorney General of the Federation. Maybe you should ask him.”

The former governor also pushed back against another widespread narrative – that he offered Wike the position of Commissioner for Finance in his administration. “It is not true that I offered him the position,” Amaechi said, adding that former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, had travelled to Port Harcourt to inform him of Wike’s interest in that portfolio. “And I said no, because he has to work under me. I wanted him as Chief of Staff so that I can supervise him,” Amaechi stated.

He dismissed suggestions that his decision was based on mistrust or rivalry. “It means the governor supervising his staff,” he said. “He made himself Chief of Staff, he made himself Governor, he made himself Minister, he made himself local government chairman. So end it there. Don’t go further.”

Amaechi, who was also a two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari, used the interview to reflect on his career, political developments in Nigeria, and the state of Rivers under his successors. He expressed disappointment that many of the projects he executed had been abandoned, including model secondary schools, health centres, and the Greater Port Harcourt City project.

On why he no longer visits the state, Amaechi offered a terse explanation: “That’s why I don’t go to Rivers State, because it gives you mental disorder.”

Amaechi’s comments come amid ongoing political tension in Rivers State and growing speculation about his political future ahead of the 2027 elections.

[Guardian]

A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, has exposed large-scale fraud spearheaded by individuals, public officials, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), as well as private enterprises, during the federal government’s infamous subsidy regime.

According to him, for 25 years the perpetrators capitalised on the system’s loopholes to defraud the country of billions of naira by forging documents, breaching payment procedures and looting the national treasury.

By the time incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, on May 29, 2023, Nigeria had spent N16.5 trillion on subsidy payments, the bulk of which had been stolen.

Tinubu had in his inaugural speech declared that “Fuel subsidy is gone”.

Bawa said the looting spree was carried out under four administrations between 1999 and 2023.

According to Bawa, the regimes under which the national treasury was plundered were those of former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2006), the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007-2009), former President Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2014), and Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023).

These revelations are contained in the book, The Shadow Of Loot and Losses – Uncovering Nigeria’s Petrol Subsidy Fraud, which the former anti-graft czar authored.

According to the figures disclosed by Bawa, of the four administrations, Buhari’s topped the controversial subsidy payment with N11 trillion, followed by Jonathan’s, which doled out N3.9 trillion. The Obasanjo government came third with N812 billion while Yar’Adua occupied the rear with N794 billion.

Obasanjo and Buhari spent eight years in office while Jonathan ruled for six years, having initially completed the two years left by the Yar’Adua administration, as the deceased’s deputy, winning the presidential election in 2011.

In the 317-page book, Bawa said the subsidy payments, which were usually fraudulent, were oiled by inadequate regulatory frameworks, weak law enforcement mechanisms, and a lack of transparency in the whole process.

Bawa said these lapses encouraged the spike in subsidy payments from N123 billion in 2006 to N886 billion in 2014 and the outrageous figure of N11 trillion in 2023.

The former EFCC boss further said the Nigerian petroleum subsidy fraud can be explained using the fraud triangle of “Pressure (Needs), Opportunity and Rationalisation.”

He said, “Pressure is the motivation that pushes someone to commit fraud; opportunity is the circumstance that allows one to commit the fraud, while rationalisation is the process by which an individual justifies committing a fraud.”

How The Act Was Perpetrated

Bawa identified inflated import volumes, alteration of bill of lading dates, non-declaration of over-recovery, floating storage vessel, single importation, and double subsidy payments as among the mechanisms through which the petroleum subsidy scam was perpetrated.

According to him, oil marketing companies manipulated import quantities to increase subsidy payments extensively from the late 2010s.

He said an investigation of the practice led the EFCC to uncover illicit gains amounting to over N30 billion.

Bawa continued, “In many instances, government officials were found to have either knowingly or unknowingly participated in the fraud by stamping and signing the forged documents. Some officials reported that they had signed off documents while on duty, despite the fact that they were aware that the documents had been compromised. There were those who signed off on fraudulent documents, not knowing that the documents were fabricated.”

He cited a case where a company imported five million litres less of PMS than the 12 million litres it claimed. The firm was paid N700 million subsidy, which it was not entitled to.”

He said the development raised critical questions about the fraud mechanisms, the failure of regulatory agency oversight, and how the EFCC eventually uncovered these illicit activities.

Taming The Monster

On the efforts of the commission to check the menace, Bawa chronicled cases of investigations, arrests, prosecutions, convictions and recoveries made by the agency.

He said that although there were no cases of infraction in 2006 and 2007, the commission recovered N11.5 billion in 2008, N4.88 billion in 2009, and N10.3 billion in 2010.

The former chairman of the EFCC described 2011 as the peak of petrol subsidy fraud, “during which we identified activities amounting to N41.7 billion.

“In total, the fraudulent activities accounted for approximately N68 billion, of which around 80 per cent was recovered,” he said.

Bawa added that in the last 25 years of democratic governance, Nigeria has expended N16.5 trillion on subsidies, adding that what was disconcerting about the entire process is that a chunk of the money was spent on false claims and theft from the nation’s resources.

The Way Forward

Bawa argues that subsidy in itself is not evil; however, its fraudulent implementation led to the government being denied enormous resources meant for providing infrastructure, improving education and health services, which benefit vulnerable Nigerians.

He therefore called for a well-managed subsidy programme.

He said, “Retaining a well-managed subsidy programme could have provided the much-needed relief to vulnerable populations by ensuring that the cost of living remains stable and providing a buffer against economic shocks.

“This emphasises the critical importance of establishing robust mechanisms for monitoring and regulating the distribution of subsidies to prevent abuse and ensure that they fulfil their intended purpose.”

Bawa also called for a genuine fear of God and the existence of a competent and efficient justice system.

Bawa said, “A system that is not only equipped to prevent and deter crime but also possesses the capacity to investigate and effectively prosecute offences is crucial. Such a system fosters trust and confidence among the citizens, encouraging public cooperation and engagement in maintaining law and order.”

The former EFCC boss urged Nigerians and foreigners alike to change their attitude, adhere to ethical standards, and place the nation above themselves.

Furthermore, he called for adequate funding and deployment of technology in public institutions to curb corruption.

The former EFCC boss urged Nigerians and foreigners alike to change their attitude, adhere to ethical standards, and place the nation above themselves.

“Cultivating the culture of doing the right thing, regardless of the circumstances, can drive sustainable shifts in societal norms,” he said.

LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that several Nigerians have been convicted of oil subsidy fraud, the latest being Mamman Ali, the son of Ahmadu Ali, a former chairman of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

 [Leadership]

While calling on Almighty God to admit in his heavenly kingdom Nigeria’s legends - Chief Mike Ejeagha, Professor Jibril Aminu and Muhammad Uwais, JSC, who joined our ancestors last week, Mr Osita Okechukwu in agony singled out what he dubbed Uwais Electoral Reform and Nigerians Debt Burden. 

He lamented that 17 years down the line successive governments have failed to implement the vital sections of the Uwais Electoral Reform Committee recommendations, with attendant collateral damages, multidimensional poverty, gross unemployment, huge debt burden, crass inequality and general insecurity.

Okechukwu reminded us that the Uwais Report was meant to enhance higher percentage of voters participation, reduce electoral malpractices and engender free, fair, credible and transparent elections, and most importantly, the public nomination of chairmen and members of electoral commissions at the national and state level.

Okechukwu submitted that the best tribute to Justice Uwais is to posthumously adopt and implement the fine tenets of his report, as the only politically correct solution of restoration of democracy and global recognition.

He appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to as a matter of urgent national importance, muster the political will and clear the Uwais debt burden by amending the constitution, albeit to make public appointments of chairmen and members of both national and state electoral commissions mandatory.

Okechukwu opined that not only will the amendment consolidate local government financial autonomy, in addition Almighty God has graciously obliged Mr President all the necessary arsenal viz,

cordial relationship with the National Assembly and same synergy with about 30 State Governors, as well as the overwhelming endorsement of Nigerians in this regard.