The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged President Bola Tinubu to disclose the agreements and spending details of loans obtained by the administrations of Nigeria’s past presidents since May 1999.

SERAP urged Tinubu “to direct appropriate ministries, departments and agencies to provide our organisation with copies of the loan agreements obtained by the governments of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.”

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the organisation’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, which was made available to PUNCH Online on Sunday.

SERAP is also seeking “the spending details of any such loans as well as the interests and other payments so far made on the loans.”

Nigeria’s four past democratically-elected presidents include Obasanjo, who ruled for eight years from 1999 to 2007.

Obasanjo’s administration was succeeded by the late Yar’Adua (2007 – 2010); followed by Jonathan (2010 – 2015); and then the immediate past president, Buhari, whose administration ruled from 2015 – 2023.

The organisation stated that “widely publishing the agreements would allow Nigerians to scrutinise it and to demand accountability for the spending of the loans.”

SERAP lamented that the details provided may help to explain why “despite several billions of dollars in loans obtained by successive governments, millions of Nigerians continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.”

This latest demand by SERAP is coming two weeks after it gave the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other 35 state governors one-week ultimatum to provide the loan agreements and spending details of the loans obtained by their states and the FCT.

As contained in the latest sub-national debt – domestic and external debts, which were released by the Debt Management Office as of December 30 and June 30, 2023, respectively; PUNCH reports that “for the sub-nationals, Plateau got N16.32bn; Rivers borrowed N7.07bn; Zamfara, N14.26bn; and the FCT under the leadership of Nyesom Wike borrowed N6.75bn from domestic creditors,” amongst others.

However, in its response, the Zamfara State Government refuted the DMO’s report that it borrowed N14.26 billion, adding that it has “never applied for loans or approached the state Assembly or National Assembly for such a request.”

Also, the Kaduna State Government, through the Ministry of Finance, denied procuring a fresh $17.69m loan.

“We did not borrow the said amount or any other amount as reported. The claims are entirely false and fabricated,” said the state Commissioner for Finance, Shizzer Bada.

However, SERAP demanded that Tinubu establish an “independent audit on the spending of the loans obtained by the governments of the former presidents,” and make its results available to the public.

“Democracy requires accountability and accountability requires transparency.

“Nigerians are entitled to information about what their government is doing in their name. This is part of their right to information,” SERAP said.

The statement noted that publishing the agreements and details of spending of the said loans “would demonstrate” Tinubu’s “oft-expressed commitment to openness in government and to promote accountability,” adding that it would also “improve public accountability” in the MDAs.

Quoting the DMO, SERAP said that “the total public domestic debt portfolio for the country is N97.3 trillion ($108 billion). The Federal Government’s debt is N87.3 trillion ($97 billion).”

It said that the interest paid on loans by the FG in 2015 was $5.5 billion; in 2016, $4.4bn; in 2017, Nigeria paid $5bn as interest; in 2018, $6.5bn was paid; while $6.2bn was paid in 2019.

“We would therefore be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest,” the organisation said.

It noted that Tinubu’s administration “has a responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how any loans obtained by the Federal Government are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.”

“Our requests are brought in the public interest, and in keeping with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, and the UN Convention against Corruption, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to Nigeria is a state party.

“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities,” the statement concluded.

[Punch]

There’s always the tendency to ascribe our failings and flailings in our developmental and democratic growth as a nation, to our amoeboid leadership recruitment process. I differ slightly though from this perspective. I contend that prospective leaders must first be identified and groomed before they can be deployed to the various sectors we expect them to function. Tunji Olaopa’s 2022 essay titled “Nigerian Civil Service and the Trajectory of Public Administration” illuminates the evolution of Nigeria’s civil service which was inaugurated in 1954. He alludes in the paper to “a very strong and professional civil service regarded as perhaps the strongest of the colonial legacies bequeathed to Africa”.

Olaopa speaks to the “quality of the officers who founded the civil service and the institutional quality of the public service itself.” He lists Nigeria’s “civil service pioneers” to include: Simeon Adebo, Jerome Udoji, Samuel Manuwa, Ahmed Talib, Abubakar Koko, Sule Katagum, Joseph Imoukhuede, Ojimiri Johnson and Fola Ejiwunmi. This generation of public servants Olaopa notes is what we now describe as the “golden age of the public service in Nigeria.”

The second generation of public administrators and civil servants who grazed the limelight between the 1960s to the early 1970s are those popularly described as “super permanent secretaries.” This is the generation of Allison Ayida, Sunday Awoniyi, Liman Ciroma, Philip Asiodu, Abdul Aziz Atta, Festus Adesanoye, Olu Falae, Solomon Akenzua, Francesca Emmanuel, Ahmed Joda, Gilbert Obiajulu Chikelu, Gray Longe, M.A. Ejueyitchie, among others. Olaopa reminds us that the actual core of this generation who were festooned with the broche of “super permanent secretaries” were so described because they were called up at a period of grave national emergency. It was during the Nigerian civil war and they were requested to avail the country of their “administrative acumen, competencies and wisdom,” to steer Nigeria through the war and stabilise the polity thereafter.

Olaopa observes that beginning from the 1975 civil service purge by the Murtala Mohammed/Olusegun Obasanjo government and onwards to the era of the Ibrahim Babangida Structural Adjustment Programme, (SAP), a de-institutionalisation process had begun. The concomitant value-orientation of the inherited civil service had been damagingly eroded. He laments that his generation of permanent secretaries came at an age when, according to him, the service “was already deeply embroiled in the dynamics of the bureau pathology that had debilitated the civil service”. He laments that his generation of public servants was mentored by the icons of decades past who connected them to the ideals of the golden age “in terms of their passion, professionalism and knowledge-propelled zeal for service.” Such was the archetypal stuff the pioneering Nigerian civil service was made of.

I needed to lay this background to underscore the rigour, the exertion, the perspiration which typified the discovery and grooming of those who operated the levers of public administration in decades past. They were an integral part of the conceptualisation of government policies and also contributed largely to their actualisation. I should equally remind us that the famous, now ancient, “fattening rooms” of the Kalabari, Efik and Ibibio in south-south Nigeria admitted women in their puberty and prepared them for womanhood. Among others, they are grilled on marital etiquette, their culinary capacities improved upon even as they were tutored in acceptable social customs and comportment. They were usually admitted to facilities away from their families and could be so boarded for various lengths of time, the minimum being for one month.

Reports in recent weeks and months have alluded to the disappearance of Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of Kogi state from the prying lenses of the public and press. The initial rumour was that he had made himself a permanent guest of Lugard House, Lokoja, the government house of the intriguing state capital which sits at the confluence of Nigeria’s two largest rivers, the Niger and the Benue. Not satisfied with the eight full years of his despotic, even demonic over-lordship in Kogi state, he has chosen to encamp permanently within the same facility on an extended post-disengagement vacation. Elsewhere in the media, it has been suggested that Bello is now a permanent member of his successor, Usman Ododo’s convoy on all his travels. Ododo is his official shield from investigators on his trail.

After hectic, sweaty public service immersion over long spells, the tradition has been for public officers to embark on extended holidays and rest. Willie Obiano, the immediate past governor of Anambra state, left for the United States on extended rest, immediately after he handed over to his successor Chukwuma Soludo in March 2022. Babatunde Fashola was chief of staff in Lagos state; governor of the state for eight years and minister under the Muhammadu Buhari regime for eight years. He served notice during his valedictory conversations that he wanted to return to be “president” of his home, after being a virtual absentee for 20 years! The practice of former governors pursuing “residency programmes” in the very same addresses where they operated for years, is novel.

As governor of Kogi state, Bello hailed and serenaded himself, by himself with his oriki whenever he had a microphone. He introduced himself with flourish as “His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, CON, the Executive Governor of Kogi State”. Humility, civility and restraint had no place in his thesaurus. He beaded himself with the moniker of “white lion” and rechristened Government House, Lokoja the “lion’s den”. Yahaya Bello apologists and boot-lickers defaced the public space with billboards celebrating their idol, throwing him in the face of a populace so mercilessly trampled upon by him. He never left people in doubt about his limitless powers as a governor cum demigod who could do whatever he wanted and get away with it.

Bello cast a permanent pall on the people of Kogi state. Mentions of his name were in cover-mouthed whispers. Remember the depiction of the former Ugandan carnivore, Idi Amin Dada, in the film titled The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin. The character, Maliya Mungu was his undisguised hitman. Bello reportedly recruited spies in various WhatsApp groups who reported the direction of discourse to him and fed him with the names of his critics. He mutilated the payrolls of hapless civil servants and paid them preposterous percentages. Workers and pensioners dropped dead like flies during his reign, unable to cater for the basic needs of their families. By its very characteristic, the economy of Kogi state is fuelled by the civil service. Staccato remittances of workers’ salaries were therefore going to affect the burgeoning business community in the state.

Elections were weaponised in the vilest of fashions. Bello’s goons were condemned to win every and any election “by force, by fire.” There were mortal consequences for failure. His aides moved around on election days with platoons of vagrants and policemen, scaring voters with gunshots, seizing ballot boxes and rewriting poll results. For dissenting with poll riggers in her unit, hapless woman politician, Salome Abuh was on November 18, 2019, burnt to death in her home in Ochadamu. Bello’s men reportedly dug trenches around Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s community, Ihima, all in a bid to disenfranchise her during the February 2023 senatorial election which she contested. Yahaya Bello indeed corroborated the action saying he was helping to build a security hedge around her during the election.

Yahaya Bello is the first governor I ever heard about, who launched a post-disengagement media and public relations salvage project. Some officials and members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE), about a month ago honoured an invitation to visit Kogi state to tour some of Bello’s so-called legacies. Curiously, for all the time the team led by the president of the NGE, Eze Anaba, spent in the state, the most senior state official they encountered was the Kogi state information commissioner. They could neither meet Bello at whose instance they visited nor his successor, Usman Ododo. I sent private notes to some of our colleagues who went on the needless voyage asking them a few questions: Apart from being herded through so-called Yahaya Bello’s achievements, did you go to the streets to find out the last time civil servants and pensioners were paid their monthly entitlements 100%? Did you check about the last time workers were promoted after writing promotion exams? Did you find out how many permanent secretaries own official vehicles? Did you try to obtain contract award documents about Yahaya Bello’s so-called “legacy projects”? Did you endeavour to compare with the costs of similar projects elsewhere? Did you ask for example to be driven through the “State Secretariat/House of Assembly/DSS road”? Do you know that all through his years in office, Yahaya Bello didn’t rehabilitate that all-important road?

Bello is validating the title of a classic novel by the legendary American thriller writer, James Hadley Chase. Back in 1957, Chase wrote The Guilty Are Afraid a blockbuster which gained global appeal and readership in its days. This is the same Bello who was showcasing his boxing skills to the world on social media, virtually calling for a match with Anthony Joshua. We have seen him working out on the treadmills too, thumping his chest as he reminded us that he will flatten Mike Tyson in a fitness contest. So why wouldn’t Bello move around freely, “flex” as we say in contemporary Nigerian lingo, the way his former contemporaries are free birds? It is uncharacteristic for the lion, king of the wild to be mirrored cringing beneath the bed of his successor.

We are indeed talking here about a “white lion,” a very rare albinoid species native to the Timbavati region in South Africa. Public discourse in recent weeks has thrown up the thesis about Bello evading arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) for the monumental heist his regime committed against Kogi state during his reign as King Herod. The weekend edition of Aljazirah newspaper of April 6 and 7, 2024, had Bello’s photograph and that of the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede with the headline: ‘Ex-Gov Yahaya Bello Seeks Safety in Kogi Govt House’. Bello is said to be reaching out to former first lady, Aisha Buhari, even as the EFCC is hot on his trail. The president, Bola Tinubu, is said to have distanced himself from Bello’s plea to be given a soft landing in his matter.

Yahaya Bello is a very good example of the post-1975 degeneration of the public service to which Olaopa alluded. He was neither scouted for leadership nor was he trained for the job. He was reportedly an anonymous personnel of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission, (RMFAC). He reportedly made good for himself ostensibly through corrupt enrichment and floated a transport company, Fairplus Transport with a handful of minivans. With this, he sold the impression of a nouveau riche to delegates to the 2015 gubernatorial primary of the All Progressives Congress, (APC). Bello emerged second behind the late governor Abubakar Audu in that contest. He was hoisted to the gubernatorial high stool courtesy of some unprecedented judicial interpretation of the constitution, upon Audu’s mysterious death before the results of the governorship election!

We must revert to the leadership grooming process of the pre-independence era and its immediate aftermath to begin the sanitisation of governance and leadership. And beyond the EFCC, Bello should have his day in court to defend his appalling human rights record during his eight-year sojourn in Government House, Lokoja. Hopefully, victims of his queer and insensitive governance model will have the last laugh.

Olusunle (PhD) is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA).

On December 26, 1991, Algerians voted in the first round of parliamentary elections. Over 40 parties fielded candidates. As returns started coming through, it became clear the country was in the throes of a political earthquake. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) took 189 of the 231 seats decided in the first round of elections for the 430-seat parliament, trouncing the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), which only got 15 seats. FIS candidates were in the lead in 140 of the 199 districts left to be decided in the 2^nd round, all but guaranteeing that the party would “attain a two-thirds majority, the amount needed to ratify constitutional amendments”. On January 11, 1992, the Algerian military forced the resignation of President Chadli Benjedid, before cancelling the election.

The following year, Nigeria was due to go to a much-delayed election to choose a successor to its military ruler. With a pervasive commitment to native exceptionalism, however, no one thought it could happen in Nigeria and, despite the events in Algeria the previous year, there was no plan for an annulment scenario.

When on June 22, 1993, Ibrahim Babangida, the Army General who had ruled Nigeria since August 27, 1985, announced the annulment of the presidential election of June 12, 1993, he induced shock around the country to the point of inaction. Alao Aka Basorun, a leading lawyer and 14th president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), telegraphed popular scepticism about Babangida’s intentions, accusing him repeatedly of harbouring “a hidden agenda” but not even Aka had foreseen an annulment.

As the Babangida transition program grew more interminable, civic groups interested in policing it agreed to coalesce into the Campaign for Democracy (CD). At the time of the annulment, it was led by Beko Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor and younger brother to Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Without a plan, the leadership of the CD was initially unsure how to respond. At the emergency strategy meetings called by Beko in his Imaria Street home in Anthony Village, Lagos, there was clear ambivalence as to how to respond to the annulment. Amidst the confusion, there was one exceptional young man who came prepared with clarity and rigour about how to respond.

Rotimi Sankore, who died at 55 of complications from cancer, was the clear intellectual and strategic leader of the argument that won through into the nationwide shutdown that followed the annulment of the June 12 elections in 1993, ultimately forcing Ibrahim Babangida to “step aside” from power in August of the same year into infamy.

Born as Rotimi Johnson on June 6, 1968, he was the son of Jimi Johnson, a pioneer in Nigeria’s art and theatre, and one of the stars of The Village Headmaster. Among his early mentors, Rotimi counted Wole Soyinka, who was a close friend of the family as well as Soyinka’s cousin, Fela.

Rotimi was a precocious polymath from an early age. It was close to impossible to find a subject under the sun on which he was not reasonably informed. He could easily have been home-schooled but, Nigeria being what it is, he reluctantly got persuaded that it was useful to own a university degree. In reality, the degree certificate needed him more than he needed it.

A graduate of Communications Studies and Language Arts, Rotimi spent his undergraduate days at the University of Ibadan (UI), where his extraordinary breadth of networks and insight became a huge resource to the student movement. While embedded in the leadership of the student movement at UI, Rotimi was also a stringer and writer for the Guardian newspaper in Lagos.

Recognising him as the Svengali of a student union government whom they thought implacable, the UI authorities expelled Rotimi in 1990. Following legal assistance in which Olisa Agbakoba and the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) were instrumental, he eventually graduated with the help of a court order which nullified the expulsion.

Rotimi was a versatile thinker who prospered in every genre of journalism. Until the period immediately following the arrival of the regime of General Sani Abacha, he worked with or wrote for The News and Tempo weekly magazines; as well as with The Guardian. In London, he wrote for The Guardian, Index on Censorship, and The Journalist. Among other titles, Rotimi also wrote for the Mail & Guardian in South Africa, the Global New African magazine, and New African Woman.

After the crisis of the June 12 annulment, Rotimi masterminded several civic and advocacy start-ups, including the Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER) and later CREDO, an organisation that advocated around Africa for the protection of free expression and associated political rights. In exile to the United Kingdom, Rotimi became a member of the executive council of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), eventually going on to lead its Black Members Council as the Chair.

He became the pioneer editor of the Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) website for African journalists reporting on public accountability, corruption, democracy and rights-related issues. At the turn of the Millennium, Rotimi founded the Africa Human & Social Development Information (AfriDevInfo), which pioneered the use of data and statistics for journalism and policy advocacy during the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Rotimi was also a broadcast journalist. Until his passing, he led the editorial board of the Nigeria Info Radio Group, part of the AIM Media Group with 13 stations in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Onitsha (incorporating Nigeria Info FM, WaZoBia FM, Cool FM and Arewa Radio Stations). In this role, he also contributed to programme development on the sister television station WaZoBia TV. At his death, Rotimi was executive director of the Africa Centre for Development Journalism. His weekly current affairs programme, Public Square, was the flagship of NigeriaInfo FM 99.3 and drew the highest ratings in the country among its genre.

Rotimi was a pioneer in data journalism as a tool also for policy education and was especially passionate about access to public health information and education for under-served and excluded communities, particularly girls. In pursuit of these concerns, he regularly advised many international institutions, including the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); the UNAIDS; the World Health Organization, (WHO); the Geneva-based Global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; the Africa Development Bank (ADB); and the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa.

Contemporaneously with his journalistic undertakings, Rotimi invested considerable energy in fostering the advancement of solidarity with women’s groups. He was an early inspiration for the creation of the Women’s Rights Project (WRP) at the CLO and became a founding member of one of Nigeria’s leading women’s rights organisations, the Women Advocates Research & Documentation Centre (WARDC).

Beyond Nigeria, Rotimi was instrumental in the development and adoption of the Gender Protocol of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He was also a major actor in advocacy for the ratification of the African Union’s own Protocol on the human rights of women in Africa.

In an intrepid career, Rotimi excelled as a journalist and advocate for the public good, an enterprise to which his life was dedicated. It was fitting that his battle with mortality would inspire his terminal piece of earthly advocacy.

In late 2022, Rotimi was diagnosed with what was supposed to be malaria which proved to be stubbornly resilient. Following bouts of unsuccessful therapy, he asked for a full health check. The results returned at the beginning of 2023 querying cancer. Further tests confirmed the dreaded “C”, indicating extensive metastasis. A grim prognosis gave him weeks to live at best but Rotimi beat that by over one year during which he deployed his considerable reach and expertise to comforting people affected by cancer.

Confronted with the reality of his mortality, Rotimi chose to meet it with a determined sense of humour until the end and with eternal optimism. In conversation in the last week of his life, he was resolute: “My brother, we cannot let the bad guys have it all their way”.

Rotimi Sankore is survived by a daughter, his mother, and a brother.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Whether real or imagined, none of the metonyms for “Lagos boy” is complimentary. The “Lagos boy” moniker once came up in the late 1980s. Commodore Olabode George, then Military Governor of Ondo State, had just been removed from office after spending two years. The African Concord magazine then did a post-mortem of his turbulent rule. Newly purchased boats for the coastal part of the state were alleged to be second-hand. By then, for analysts writing about the George years, rigor-mortis hadn’t set on another uproarious component of his time in office. It was his wife, Feyi George’s “Queendom.” So she came up for examination, too. Her Excellency was quarrelsome and garrulous, something that was strange to people in that part of the country, no matter how high they climb. In the hinterland, even if your yam seedling flourishes beyond measure, yielding a big harvest, native wisdom asks that you shawl it from prying eyes with your two palms. But Feyi was the wife of a “Lagos boy.”

Shortly after her arrival as the First Lady, Feyi met grey-haired market women, old enough to be her mother in the Erekesan Market of the state capital. Singing her praises and dancing to welcome her to their midst, Mrs. George’s Lagos spirit suddenly clambered over. Why are Lagos top-shots fond of being descended upon by spirits? Then she said; I paraphrase, “you are older than me but today, I am your mother.” Later, on an official tour, Feyi George went ahead to openly slap Mrs. Tola Ajayi, a Permanent Secretary and wife of a judge. The woman did not allow the slap thaw. She handed Her Excellency multiple hot slaps. So when George was asked what he would want to be remembered by and he said, “…that a ‘Lagos boy’ passed through this place,” African Concord summed it up that George had used “Lagos sense” for the people of Ondo State.

“Lagos sense” and “Lagos boy” connote so many things about the Lagosian. Writers like Cyprian Ekwensi drew the picture of a dreadful Lagos. The “Lagos Boy” could mean smartness, suavity, celebration of inanity, fraudulence, erecting facades on dross to make it look real, and so on and so forth. Even before the colonialists came, Lagos, once known as the “Venice of West Africa,” was dreaded by inhabitants of the hinterland. It was surely the city to make quick bucks. A city once described by Matthew Gandy (“Learning from Lagos” New Left Review, 2005) as “a smoky expanse of concrete and shanty-towns, sprawling for miles across the islands, waterways and onshore hinterland of the… Lagoon,” Lagos was home to money-doublers and soul-scarred gamblers. It was where you could make quick money through mere hubris. Some other writers have described Lagos as “a place of desperation to make it by hook or crook,” with some others giving it the fitting description of “a huge Dickensian space full of heartbreak.” Paul French, in his Lagos: Africa’s capital of Noir, said Lagos had popularly been described as “the capital of crimes such as 419 and internet fraud also known as the ‘Yahoo Yahoo’”.

Lagos was and is however not all about con. It is a land of bravery and unmatched can-do spirit. Historically, it is a representation of boldness and venturesome traits. Indeed, the Ibadan cognomen as where the robber’s superior argument acquits him, at the detriment of his accuser, will seem to be more appropriate as a metaphor for the daringness on the streets of Lagos. Lagos could not stand bad rulers. This was demonstrated, first by Madam Alimotu Pelewura, the lyalode of Lagos. On December 16, 1940, Pelewura gathered over seven thousand “angry and overburdened women” who represented every branch of petty traders in Lagos to protest the Income Tax Ordinance of 1940/1941 on the female gender. The protesters closed all markets with over a thousand mobilized women milling round, particularly Broad Street, Bourdillon and Marina. Pelewura led the women to petition the office of Sir Bernard Bourdillon, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. One hundred and ninety two women signed that petition drafted by lawyer and statesman, Oged Macaulay, son of Herbert Macaulay, a prominent Lagosian and nationalist known by the sobriquet, Ejo N’gboro – the snake on the Street.

Lagos’ fight of injustices and inequity was myriad. Lagosians fought the “Battle of Salt Water” called Ogun Olomiro. They rose against the king of Lagos, Oba Akitoye, for his inability to tame the monster of water scarcity. They did not mind the fact that the Oba’s own army too couldn’t get water as the soldiers drank salt water from shallow wells which they dug by hand. It led to the 1851 dismantling of Lagos by the British who deployed canons to level the city to the ground. It was also a precursor to the signing of the treaty with Oba Akitoye, as well as the ceding of Lagos to the British by Oba Dusunmu. The intransigence and daringness of Lagos are reflected in one folksong composed by indigenous Lagosians. They sang: “The British leveled Oluwole/(Oyinbo wo Oluwole); Lagos kept silent/(Eko o wi nkan); The British stylishly took over Marina/ (Won f’eso, won gba Marina); They now said they would dismantle Lagos Island/ (Won tun ni awon mi a wo Isale Eko); They must have thought we were dumb!/ (Won sebi kurumo ni wa!). Late Yoruba Fuji musician, Sikiru Ayinde Balogun (Barrister) later popularized this folksong of Lagos’ resistance to British colonial lords.

Travelers to Lagos, long before independence, through the petro-dollar years and even till today, are handed stern warning to be wary of Lagos and Lagosians. They are sleek, ephemeral and unreal. Perhaps because of its daily infiltration by strange persons of different persuasions, the Lagosian has come to be classified as immune to some of the traits associated with a Yorubaman. He didn’t totally represent the gentlemanly Omoluabi ethos that undergirds the value system of the children of Oduduwa. A trustworthy Lagosian is as scarce as a hen’s teeth. He would grab and run with what doesn’t belong to him. It was repeatedly said that a Lagosian would sell particle to you as an article.

Bola Tinubu is the Lagosian who occupies the highest office in Nigeria today. Ex-Senator, two-term governor of Lagos State and currently president of Nigeria, he has come to approximate the character trait of Lagos. He is the Lagos posterboy and in this case, one who personifies the “Labelabe” leaf. This leaf is a sharp-edged plant that grows by river banks. My people thus say that it is almost impossible for worshippers of the water goddess to pay obeisance to their goddess without the connivance or abetment of the Labelabe. Due to its lacerating sharp edges, the leaf is also used in preparation of potion for protection from evil doers. While chanting incantations on the potion, the reciter chants, “If anyone runs into the Labelabe leaf, they will be soaked in blood.” If Tinubu lost some votes of his Yoruba people in the 2023 presidential election, it may not be too far from the truth to say that his morally prude Yoruba kinsmen from the hinterland who believed that anything Lagos was fraud were the ones who withdrew their votes.

I went into this long epistle about Lagos to situate the recent tirade against the Tinubu government by ex-Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar. Abubakar’s grouse is with the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway recently awarded by the Tinubu government to the president’s known friend, Gilbert Chagoury, owner of Hitech Construction firm. Atiku made us aware that Tinubu awarded the contract at a whooping sum of N15.6 trillion, an amount almost the total of all Nigeria’s 36 states and FCT budgets for 2024 of N15.91 trillion. This is against the backdrop of the known fact that the lengthiest highway in Africa, which runs from Cairo in Egypt, to Cape Town in South Africa, is going to cost the sum of $1.6 billion. The road is 1,156 kilometers. Atiku has received knocks for raising the shroud off this stinking corpse. Many people have asked whether Nigerians expected Tinubu to award the road contract to his enemies. Some equally submitted that even Atiku had promised to sell Nigeria’s refineries to his friends if elected the Nigerian president. So when David Umahi, Minister of Works, went on a converts-winning evangelism to media houses last week to seek Nigerians’ buy-in into the prudence and fidelity in the road project, the dead body he and Tinubu buried in a shallow sepulcher still left gaping tell-tales.  

Gradually, Atiku has led Nigerians by the helm of their garments to see the sickening level of the putrefaction oozing out of the project. For me, Atiku’s greatest submission on the project is that a contract of such magnitude was awarded without any competitive bidding. Where is this ever done in any sane part of the world? As much as Umahi attempted to cover it by showing that such practice was a construction custom, the minister would need to cover his face in shame for this lame defence. How can a road contract the size of the budgets of all Nigerian states be sealed without bidding? To worsen it, the contract was awarded to a known business crony of the president, a fraternity which, before his presidency, Tinubu openly gloated over. Add these two together and you get a fertile ground for grand corruption.

You may not like Atiku’s face and the constancy of his cantankerous politicking but if you are bothered about how corruption has become the necklace on Nigerian governments’ necks, Atiku’s arithmetic should worry you. He seems to be saying that, for Bola Tinubu, the monkey, a known banana glutton, was on the verge of jumping at the banana tree again. Umahi’s waffles and the ill-logics of his defence of the wobbly legs of the humongous contract are sickening and worrisome. From the Umahi waffles, it is obvious, as Atiku alleged, that government only began to think about the percentage of counterpart funding after the project award. He provided evidence. There were so many shameful anomalies that Atiku’s eagle eyes sighted on the road contract. Though Umahi deployed a number of engineering bombasts to convey the quality of the road the Tinubu government has on its hands in the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, he couldn’t ward off the army of wriggling maggots that have made this project their dormitory.

Another very fundamental aspect of Atiku’s toothcomb examination of the N15.6 trillion project is that the Nigerian parliament was too engrossed in a slumber to know that incongruities were passing by its backyard. So when the president, a couple of weeks ago, told the world that the parliament’s “integrity is intact” and going ahead to deride “those who are talking about malicious embellishment in the budget” as people who do not “understand the arithmetic,” Nigerians can now understand the quid pro quo chemistry behind Nigeria’s executive and legislature’s dalliance. Among a litany of questions, Atiku had asked why the National Assembly approved N500m for the road project while the Tinubu administration released N1.06tn, a figure over 200 times the amount in the Appropriation Act.

If anyone thought Atiku was embarking on this verbal pugilism because he loves the Nigerian people, in the words of Americans, they have another think coming. In Nigeria, both government in power and the opposition are like the discomfiting and excessively big “Ipa”, (scrotal lymphedema) a disease that makes a man’s scrotum swell disproportionately. Yoruba will ask what good the “Ipa” does for the buttocks. Nigerians are the palm kernel and Nigerian politicians are the two stones, one underneath and the other on top, which are both attempting to access the fruit of the kernel. The two stones don’t like our palm kernel. It is a ploy to mouth the edible seed.

Some people have said that the Tinubu government is just acting true to type by aping the paterfamilias of some governments before it. It is being said that, in the so-called Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Aso Rock just wants to help its business partner link a road from Lekki to its hotel corridor. If some few billions of Naira get drowned in the process, so be it. Simplicitas. As Atiku asked, if they must piss on us, they should, at least, cover it with some pearls and sequins by calling it rain!

Adebanwi’s Guggenheim

We live in a world where virtually all news that emanate from Nigeria are depressing stories of bloodshed, banditry, government’s insensitivity, corruption and all-what-ought-nots. Thus, when news of Nigerians who go outside the perceptional loop flows in, it does the reverse.  One that hit the airwave last week was that of Nigerian professor, Wale Adebanwi, who bagged the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The fellowship was said to have been awarded on the awardee’s trajectory of prior career achievements and exceptional promise. Adebanwi is the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies and Director of Centre for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, U.S. In a pool of thousands of academics, Adebanwi was finally chosen as one of the 188 winners of the 2024 awards.

Anyone who knew Adebanwi decades back as he burnt the midnight candle would not be surprised about what he has made of his life. I first got to know him around 1989 as he sneaked into Prof Alaba Ogunsanwo’s crowded class at the University of Lagos. I later learnt he was combining stringing jobs in Ibadan with the Tribune with some other tabloids, even as he schooled in the Mass Communication Department of the university. We were to later meet again in 1994 at the University of Ibadan as graduate students of the Political Science department. He finished tops in our Master’s class with a CGPA of about 72 per cent. He was to later hold two Ph.D degrees in Political Science from the University of Ibadan and another in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar.

Wale was instrumental to my eventual career path as a journalist with the Tribune and has since been a lifelong advisor. If you use Wale’s life as a guiding path in any endeavour, you seldom would come to grief. But for him, a life of academy would have been for me a mirage. The Guggenheim Fellowship was spot on in the choice of Adebanwi as a scholar who is generating new possibilities and pathways across the broader culture. I can testify.

Once on a visit to his Oxford University office where he served as first African ever to be appointed as the Rhodes Professor of Race Relations and Director of the African Studies Centre at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, I was proud of my Nigerianness.

All the above, however, pale into insignificance when compared to Adebanwi’s humanity and humaneness. Perhaps borne out of his upbringing as son of a clergy, Wale’s life personifies piety and goodliness. This is to say congratulations to the Iresi, Osun State-born scholar who makes my generation very proud.

Nigeria is a nation with a long history of perennial challenges of public power supply. The country seems to have unfortunately accepted the anomaly as part of its national life. Since one came of age, the power sector bears the trade mark of inefficiency. The problem of insufficient power supply has remained unchanged. The old reasons adduced for poor performance in the sector more than two decades ago are not different either. Despite the poor supply situation, citizens still pay through their noses for an underperforming power sector which delivers little or no quality services. Many Nigerians cannot remember a time when they enjoyed constant public power supply up to 15 hours per day. A lot of money has been spent and much more still allocated to the power sector but no remarkable progress was made. 

However, what ordinary Nigerians constantly experience is poor service outcome, routine tariff increase and general inefficiency. The latest assault on Nigerians is the announcement of new tariff regime and classification of customers, currently placed on new categories of bands A-E. The citizens had no input when decisions were taken on this band classification. Effective from April 3, the charges of selected customers on Band 'A' has increase to over 300%. Days after, federal government has hinted on extending similar measures to other band categories.

The unit cost of electricity for those placed on Band A was jacked up from ₦68 per kWh to ₦225 per kWh excluding VAT. Those on other bands are denied electricity supply in a failed attempt to meet up with the obligations of band A customers. The prevailing lie in government circle was that the increment only affected a small percentage of Nigerians and that government still subsidises electricity. Officials implementing government policies are often economical with the truth regarding the impact of anit-people policies. In this case, the only thing that matters to them is saving without considering the economic impact of such savings on the well-being of the people. 

Government failed to understand that industrial customers whether big, medium or small placed on Band A will factor in the cost of fuel, diesel and the increase into the prices of the goods and services they provide. Therefore, whether customers are placed on Band A or other categories with or without electricity, the burden of every company's expenses is transfered to the ordinary people - the customers/consumers.

When will government concede to the mood of the nation and inputs of the masses before taking any decisions on issues directly affecting them?  Pundits say the band idea is a ploy to assist the cash-trapped DiSCos to raise fund. This is happening in a country where power outages last more than 24 hours daily or even days in most places. It is also happening in a country where the national power grid had collapsed more than 58 times between 2017-2023. How could government remove subsidy on electricity but goes on to subsidise hajj fare to the tune of over N90bn? Is Nigeria ready to move from a poor nation to a developed one?

Nations occupying the front row in industrial growth and development attain such feat with serious investment in power supply. There is no gain saying the fact that, access to uninterrupted public power supply has become a tall dream in Nigeria. The more money is spent on the sector, the worse it becomes. Bogus contracts entered into by government with industry players like Siemens to remedy the situation has suffered several set-backs and the end is not yet in sight. The long wait for remedy continues while government officials have often admonished citizens to keep hope alive. Both past and present governments do not seem to have a grasp of the fundamental problems bedeviling the power sector. If they do, Nigeria cannot be shamelessly talking about 4,500mw of electricity since 1960. 

One major problem facing the sector is the appointment of people without requisite knowledge and experience. The endemic corruption in the sector and lack of purposeful goals have also contributed to the obvious failure. Almost all ministers of power since 1999 except Engr. Bello Suleiman were/are square pegs in round holes. They were/are green horns occupying compensatory political positions earned on recommendation or political party affiliation. As novices, they come on board bereft of ideas or blueprint to drive government agenda. It is a disservice appointing an accountant or a lawyer minister of power.

Policies often put in place by these appointees to address the challenges are mostly badly thought out; externally influenced or geared towards inflicting more pains. Since year 2000, tariff increase has been the only visible item dominating and governing the Multi-year Tariff Order (MYTO) while other germane issues like customer privileges are relegated to the background. In fact, Nigerians wake up to multiple tariff upward reviews every two to four years without additional power infrastructure to support the aging ones or addressing the needs of several rapidly expanding communities. 

There is no home grown solution to the intractable problems of power except borrowed directives handed down by World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These borrowed ideas deepen and worsen the economic woes of the poor citizens. A country where little children always jump up in excitement and shout "Up Nepa" when public power supply is restored after days of black out has no business increasing the cost of electricity or services not adequately rendered. Those in charge should go back to the drawing board, comprehensively work hard to improve on the sector instead. 

The power sector was painfully balkanised, claimed and annexed in favour of some highly placed individuals just like the Europeans did to Africa in 1885 Berlin Conference. The companies were shared as business status symbol serving the interest of a few. Provision of excellent services for Nigerians was secondary on the power sector reforms agenda. How could a country allocate such all-important national asset to incompetent, non-experts in government or their associates whose interest only hinges on making quick money. The Nigerian bidding system is so magical that one wonders how these ill-prepared investors schemed their ways through the processes without anybody flagging their glaring incompetence. The process deliberately accorded certain privileges to bidders/owners who cannot differentiate between a fuse and feeder pillar.  

The country should as a matter of urgency innovate and diversify in areas of power generation. This could be regionalised based on the corresponding resources within every geographical zone. The north east is blessed with potentials in solar energy. The north-west is endowed with the blessings of hydro-electricity and wind. The north central can boast of a good level of coal deposit and resources for hydro-power supply. The south east is blessed with little water, gas and abundant coal deposit. The south-south and south west have resources in hydro-power and gas. The world is going green and Nigeria has to run with the idea together with the world. 

Unfortunately those at the helm of affairs and friends of people and institutions close to the corridors of power have only succeeded in allowing the sector to thrive but generally restricted it from flourishing. They have succeeded in bringing the sector down on it's knees and resorted to untenable ideas and prescriptions not peculiar to Nigerian circumstances. With the enormous human and financial resources invested in the power sector, after 64 years of existence, Nigeria has no business being in the league of nations lacking adequate power supply. 

This electricity tariff increase is ill-conceived and equally ill-timed. It should be halted. Let Nigerians breathe.

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze is a Media and Development Communication Specialist.

Being Press Statement Presented by Prof Usman Tar, Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Borno State, at the NUJ House, Maiduguri on Saturday 13 April 2024 in memory of the 10th Anniversary Abduction of Chibok Girls and general security situation in Borno State

Members of the fourth Estate of the Realm, a very good afternoon to you all. On behalf of the Borno State Government, let me thank you profoundly for honouring our invitation for this Press Briefing.

This press briefing will cover the following issues: the abduction and rescue of Chibok girls; the management and resettlement of IDPs and matters arising; the Borno Restoration Project; and the Borno Peace, Reconciliation and Development Programme (Borno Model). With me are colleagues from the Representatives of the l key branches of the Government and strategic MDAs.

1. On the Abduction of Chibok Girls and Matters Arising

Ten years ago, the Boko Haram insurgents criminally abducted 276 innocent girls at their hotels at Government Girls Secondary School Chibok. This painful date is engrained in our collective memory and we shall not rest on our oars until the last of our innocent girls are back home with their families. On this auspicious occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the abduction of Chibok Girls, the Borno State Government identifies and sympathises with all those who are affected by abduction. The Government wishes to inform the public that we shall continue to struggle to salvage our abducted girls on behalf of the parents and relatives of the Chibok girls who are still in captivity. The Borno State Government is committed to rescuing and reuniting the remaining Chibok girls and reuniting them with their families. We understand the pain and anguish that the families of those still in captivity are going through, this is our sorrow!

We also wish to use this occasion to take stock of the rescued girls and provide an update on how the girls are coming to terms with adjusting to normal life after captivity, and efforts of the Borno State Government to sustain the momentum on the rescue of the remaining girls. So far, out of the 276 abducted Chibok Girls,187 have been rescued and reunited with their families. Most of the rescued girls have, over the years, been enrolled in different schools or graduated under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. A number of the girls have been enrolled into local and foreign scholarships or empowerment programmes. Many have since been reunited with their immediate families and are continuing to receive psychosocial support to reconcile them with normal life. Furthermore, 16 recently rescued girls are being rehabilitated by the Borno State Government and attending the 2nd Chance School where they learn skills in various vocations that will provide them with sustainable livelihoods, while their kids are also placed in nursery schools. Four rescued girls have voluntarily decided to return to their parents.

We remain hopeful and determined that, with the combined efforts of our security forces, intelligence agencies, and community support, all abducted persons will be safely returned.

The Borno State Government will not rest until every missing person is found and returned home safely. We call for unity and support from all citizens as we navigate these challenging times together.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the abducted Chibok girls and, indeed, all missing persons. We will continue to stand together during this difficult time.

2. On the Return of IDPs to their Ancestral Homes, Fire Outbreaks and Matters Arising

The Borno State Government is fully committed to the return of all IDPs - both those in formal and informal camps - back to their ancestral homes. So far, over 90% of active IDP Camps have been decommissioned and the displaced persons resettled, while the balance shall be resettled within 2024 In Sha Allah. The dismantling of each IDP Camp and resettling of the displaced persons is normally preceded by the restoration of security, clearance of farmlands initially within a 5 kilometer radius and restoration of vital infrastructure especially schools, water systems, electricity and mobility. This, village-by-village; town-by- town; and household-by-hold our people are being resettled with military precision and meticulous logistic engineering. We thank the agencies of the FGN, especially the armed forces and security agencies, for their unflinching support in this regard.

In addition to the domestic IDPs, we are also dealing with the issue of Nigerian refugees who are seeking asylum in Niger, Chad and Cameroun. The Borno State Government is deeply grateful to our neighbouring countries and our neighbourly kiths and kindreds for their magnanimity and hospitality in accommodating our citizens in their territories. The relocation of Nigerian refugees is in the radar of the Federal Government. Recently, the Executive Governor of Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum had sought an audience with the President CnC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, on the issue of relocation of Nigerian refugees to their ancestral homes within Nigeria. The President has pledged to support this process, and provide the federal might that is needed to ensure a seamless return of our people back home after a decade of stay as refugees. This process requires patience on the part of our people. The return of our teeming displaced citizens require careful logistic work and restoration of security and vital infrastructure as a precursor to the actual relocation and resettlement. We urge our people to exercise patience while the state and federal governments find sustainable solutions to our security and developmental challenges.

The Borno State Government is not oblivious of the extant challenges that may be associated with the relocation of the IDPs and refugees. While we relocate our IDPs and refugees, we also have a solum duty to maintain law, order and security in the remaining camps. We are dealing with the risk of attacks by unscrupulous elements and the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgency, and the rising cases of crime and criminality in our active IDP Camps. A case in point is the recent breach in security and issues surrounding the missing IDPs near Ngala town. Certain narratives suggest that these IDPs numbered between 200 and 300 were abducted.

It is important to clarify that while there have been cases of missing internally displaced people, the number, according to the available data, stood at 106 boys and girls, and so far 8 have since returned to their respective camps. On March 3, 2024, these youth left their camps to look for firewood in the bush far beyond the distance that security agencies permitted and considered secure. These IDPs may have come into contact with violent non-state actors in the bush.

The Borno State Government is working closely with the Federal security agencies to safeguard the lives and property of the citizens in the state. In particular, the government is working on the rescue of the missing IDPs and all others in captivity. The Government calls on all stakeholders, including the media, humanitarian partners, and the general public, to approach this issue with sensitivity and understanding. We must work together to address the root causes of displacement and provide support to those in need.

The Borno State government is also not ruling out criminals who take advantage of the security situation to commit atrocities. However, security forces are on the trail of these criminals. Meanwhile, investigating is ongoing on alleged cases of crimes, and we urge citizens to exercise patience while we deal with this all alleged crime. Our citizens should be rest assured that anyone or agency who is found culpable shall face the fill wrath of the law.

Despite the recent challenges in Ngala, the Government wishes to confirm that peace has gradually returned to Borno state, and the "Build Back Borno Better Project" is on course. We would also like to state that about a million IDPs have returned to either their local government headquarters or ancestral homes. The reconstruction and rehabilitation of destroyed communities and public infrastructure is ongoing, and the public's trust in our government and security agencies remains high.

The Borno State Government is working tirelessly to improve conditions in the IDP the camps, enhance security measures, and facilitate the voluntary return and reintegration of displaced persons into their communities.

While fully cooperating with security agencies to carry out the kinetic approach against the insurgents, the Borno State Government is also investing heavily in non-kinetic measures, particularly the mass clearance of farmlands for agriculture and the involvement of community leaders and traditional rulers in alternative dispute resolution.

3. On the Borno Restoration Project and General Security Situation in the State

The Boko Haram insurgency is its final days of extermination, degradation and decimation. Our gallant troops have worked tirelessly to weaken, degrade and downgrade the insurgency through a relentless counter-insurgency operations. The officers and men of the Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have given a good account of themselves. They have established a firm and effective presence in all territories that were hitherto disturbed by the insurgents. Today, our gallant troops have maintained a full presence in all the 27 LGAs of Borno State.

In the same vein, while supporting the kinetic operations, the Borno State Government has given considerable attention to non-kinetic operations which includes, the battle for hearts and minds, community-driven dispute resolution mechanism and massive investment in rural and urban infrastructure.

The policy foundation of Borno of the Borno State Restoration project is the 25 year Development Plan and 10 year Strategic Transformation Initiative; the Borno State Agricultural Transformation Agenda and the Borno State Infrastructure Transformation project, among others. The 2024 budget contains a bouquet of key development projects to be accomplished this fiscal year, building on previous budget cycles. Within the tenure of the Gov Zulum Administration, the Government's key development deliverables shall be delivered inshaa Allah.

4. On the Borno State Government Peace, Reconciliation, and Development Project (Borno Model)

The Borno Model is a programme for voluntary reception, processing, rehabilitation and reintegration of those who are affected by, or trapped in the embroglio of the Boko Haram Insurgency. The Borno Model was erected to provide a constructive solution to the vacuum created by the demise of the Boko Haram Kingpin, and terror leader Abubakar Shekau.

The Borno State Government established this platform to provide a sub-national space for a non-kinetic solution to the vestiges of Boko Haram Insurgency, without prejudice to the FGN DDRR infrastructure and the "Operation Safe Corridor" - a federal platform for the rehabilitation of ex-combatants. We know that terrorism is a federal crime and any initiative to counter terrorism and insurgency must conform with federal rules and norms of engagement.
There are kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to preventing and countering terrorism. For the past one decade, the FGN has deployed federal troops under different code names to fight terrorism with mixed results. It is worthy of note that putting boots on the ground exclusively had its limitations; the wholesome application of kinetic approach has so far not yielded the desired result. The efficacy of non-kinetic approach has become imperative. This includes the battle for the hearts and minds of the people, Psychological operation (Psyops), dialogue, reconciliation, mediation and peace-making.

The Borno Model is a child of necessity. It was borne following an opportunity created by the demise of one of the factional commanders of the BHT Abubakar Shekau and following a combat stand-off between the Al-Bamawi and Shekau factions. A vacuum was therefore created by the leadership and command crisis within the BH sect.
On 29 August 2021, the Borno State Government called a meeting of relevant stakeholders which led to the establishment of a special purpose vehicle for reconciliation known as the Borno Model to provide a corridor for willing repentant insurgents to return and surrender unconditionally to the Government of Borno State. The surrender process is a complex process involving initial surrender to military formations serving as the initial point of submission, transportation of the returnees to holding and processing facility at Hajj Camp Maiduguri where the returnees are received, profiled, processed and subjected to intensive programme of deradicalisation, civic education and entrepreneurship training.

The Borno Model is designed to be consistent and conformant with the federal code for law and order. There is an ongoing broad-based consultation between the Borno State Government and Federal defence/Securty establishments to harmonise the Borno Model with the FGN DDRR. As a sub-national entity, the Borno State Government is keenly interested in harmonsing the Borno Model with with Federal DDRR. The Borno State Government is deeply committed to ensuring that the Model meets the expectations of diverse partners and stakeholders. But as a local solution to a national problem, the BOSG reverses the right to take ownership and leadership of the Borno Model. Nevertheless, we look forward harmonising the Borno Model with DDRR will hopefully yield a hybrid model that will meet both national standards and our local reality.

“We regret voting for Tinubu in 2023. We won’t repeat such a mistake again, say Northern Elders”. That was the banner headline carved out by the media from the latest intervention of the Northern Elders’ Forum, NEF, in Nigeria’s political space.

I chuckled. It’s an old trick. Mother Fowl knows what to do when it wants more corn.

The struggle for domination in the business of selling political-spare-parts is older than Nigeria’s flag independence. In every corner of the political space, there have always been self-styled  Elders, Youths, Professionals, Critical Stakeholders, Vanguards, Progressives, Custodians and all sorts of unelected persons elbowing each other for prime access to the media space.

Northern Elders

The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), founded eleven years ago by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, is one such contraption. It claims to speak for the entire northern region of Nigeria and has vigorously pursued whatever agenda it sets itself in the geopolitics of Nigeria. There are many such elite interest groups scattered all over the country; so, NEF hasn’t really done anything wrong.

I do not grudge the NEF their right to freely associate. It’s a free world where other ethnic nationalities in the country are also entitled to cobble out their own special purpose vehicles for political patronage or other self serving fallouts of programmed activism.

Until recently, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed was the most visible face and spokesperson of the organisation. In the recent past, he has been the chief of staff to Senate President during the tenure of Dr Bukola Saraki. He is now a Special Adviser On Political issues in the office of Vice-President Kashim Shettima. There is something to be said for media visibility in the political space, especially when you give the impression that your exertions are altruistically based on the common good. Nigerians recognise a selfish quest even when disguised as heroism.

Last year, the NEF controversially declared that the presidential race should still be open to candidates from the Northern part of the country because the North had a deficit of four years in the Nigerian power roulette: “Since 1999, the South has ruled the country for 14 years and the North for 10 years” it said.

Many people have, over the years, wondered which North the NEF claims to be speaking for when its silence or equivocation over serious heists that have bedevilled the Middle Belt area of the region has been louder than a thunderclap? Can it truly claim to speak for every section of the North in the same way that the Ohaneze speaks for the Igbos?

Arrogance

The arrogant presumptuousness that attends some of its pronouncements is remarkable. During the campaigns last year, it claimed that no region had ever suffered under any leader than the North did under the Buhari administration and no region benefited from more undeserved advantages than the South did. That was at a time when nepotism had become a defining stamp of President Buhari’s government and the children of political bigwigs were unfairly smuggled into juicy public appointments, thereby distorting the federal character composition of many parastatals and agencies.

NEF’s claim that, at the right time, it would advise Northerners on who to vote for, was seen by analysts as proof that the elderly members of the organisation were still living in the past.

I don’t play ethnic games, nor am I interested in ‘politricks’. I insist, however, that if we must navigate our way out of our serious national problems, we have to re-interrogate our assumptions, shun the “We-Vs-Them” attitude that brought the First Republic to grief, and reject blackmail as a negotiation tool.

To say all this is to reassert my right to love the North and other parts of Nigeria as I do, and help the area achieve its great potentials without pulling down the larger household. If Nigeria must exist, then it must work for all Nigerians, not just a section of it.

The Forum’s recent claim that President Tinubu has failed to secure the country, and that the northern part of the country has been the most hit as a result of the president’s incompetence was downright laughable, considering that, measure for measure, Buhari who hailed from the North had a poorer record (within an 11-month timeline) than the incumbent president in many areas of governance. For example, it took Buhari six months to appoint ministers. He fiddled most times while Nigeria burnt. His statements during crises were divisive. Indeed, ethnic killings became rife under his administration. Remember the Naira recolouring scandal? What about the eventual bastardisation of the Ways and Means procedure?

NEF was largely silent when it mattered most in the eight years of the Buhari government. That fact in itself does not disqualify the Forum from commenting on public affairs; it only means that it should use its tongue to count its teeth before doing so.

According to NEF’s new spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the fact that the criminals were ‘allowed’ to kidnap the school children was a sign of serious security lapses.

“It is unacceptable for Nigerians, particularly those in the northern region, to continue living under such insecure conditions. Unfortunately, just months into the Tinubu administration, there have already been clear signs of failure in providing the vital aspects of security of life and property to citizens.”

Many netizens are now asking NEF, where were you when the list of terror sponsors of Northern origin was released? What is your comment on the development? What solutions do you proffer?

Ncef

And talking about solutions, another unelected body which describes itself as a coalition of statesmen in Nigeria under the aegis of the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF), has blamed foreign invaders masquerading as religious extremists for the spate of killings and bloodshed in the country.

“Nigeria is facing a racial and cultural domination agenda disguised as religious intolerance… In Plateau and Kaduna states the owners of the land have been driven into IDP camps while the names of the villages have been changed to Fulani names. In Plateau State, over 102 villages were reportedly taken over by Fulani invaders while in Kaduna State, over 109 villages have been dislodged. The owners of the land are in IDP camps”, says NCEF.

To reset the country on the path of normalcy, the NCEF recommends the following:

Immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference.

Immediate ban of nomadic cattle rearing and abolishment of the RUGA project mooted by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dismantling of terrorist cells and infrastructure.

Any business investor that requires land should apply for land like other citizens.

Preferential treatment should not be accorded any group in Nigeria.

The ethnic nationalities should assert their right and ownership over their ancestral land and assert the dominion of their thrones in Nigeria.

The ethnic socio-cultural groups should consider these issues in greater detail. The demand for devolution of power should be intensified by the ethnic nationalities.

President Tinubu should appoint a Special Investigator to conduct a Commission of Inquiry into the causes, as well as expose the actors, in the various acts of terrorism and religious insurgency that overwhelmed Nigeria since 2009.

The Forum called on the various indigenous ethnic nationalities to come together to renegotiate Nigeria.

It appears to me that, going forward, anyone who wants to be politically relevant and ‘appointable’ will have to ventilate a larger, more all-encompassing vision rather than the same atavistic tricks in the service of narrow agendas which have kept the various regions of the country, especially the North, on their mendicant knees.

Congratulations, Pelumi

Hearty congratulations to the travel content creator who is the first woman to solo drive a car from London to Lagos, and now Lagos Tourism Ambassador, Pelumi Nubi. As they say in cyberlingo, Naija no dey carry last!

If a roll call of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s performing Ministers is made today, the likelihood is that the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, will make the list. The former governor is one of those we can call a square peg in a square hole. I have followed the way he has been going about discharging his duties. His on-the-spot assessment of projects under his ministry has revealed the canker-worms of corruption and abuse of office that have eaten very deep into the fabrics of our society. For anyone familiar with the system, civil servants are, perhaps, the most corrupt section of the society. They are the engine room of corruption but undue attention is, unfortunately, devoted to politicians. Not that those ones, too, are not corrupt but the system works in such a way that without the connivance and active participation of civil servants, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for politicians to steal a dime. Who teaches the politicians how to steal? Who shows them the way? Who leads the way to the common till? Who knows where the pounds and pennies are stored? Who prepares the papers and helps the politicians to cover their tracks? A thieving civil service is the bedrock of corruption in Nigeria.

In one video of Umahi I watched inspecting a road construction project under his watch, the Minister lampooned the site engineer for incompetence, unprofessional conduct, disobedience of lawful orders, connivance at the application of substandard materials, manipulation of relevant information and cover-up – all of which were tailored towards cutting corners to save costs and achieve poor quality delivery to feather the nest of contractors and the collaborating civil servants. Good quality materials are quoted but poor quality materials are used instead. Quality and quantity are compromised and the country is thereby ripped off to the tune of millions, even billions, in local and foreign currencies.  What is creamed off is shared between the collaborating and conniving contractors and civil servants.

We pay through the nose for good quality jobs but end up getting poor quality jobs. We lose on both ends. Contracts here are usually inflated. The cost of five, six or even 10 projects elsewhere is the cost of one here. After which we end up with poor quality jobs and get no value for money. A road that is meant to last, say, 10 years hardly lasts ten months – or even weeks! Infrastructure is decrepit here because of over-invoicing and poor quality delivery.  In every sector, we should have more to show for the quantum of resources poured into it. Take, for example, the billions in hard currencies that have been poured into power supply, only for us to sink deeper and deeper into the miry clay of power outages!

Sabotage, occasioned usually by those saddled with the onerous but sacred responsibility of watching our back, ensuring that the right thing is done and that we get value for money, is the reason we hear of trillion Naira budgets year-in, year-out but do not see commensurate results. Much of the money budgeted ends up in private pockets. Budget padding is just a tip of the iceberg. Budget round-tripping is worse than budget padding. What this means is that the same projects are circulated in the budget each year, money is voted and the money so voted is collected and shared but no sod is turned on the said projects. Year-in, year-out, the same ritual is performed. Like Prof. Wole Soyinka’s “Abiku”, such projects keep coming repeatedly, sowing tears and sorrows in the polity while a few elements smile to the bank with looted funds.

Umahi is a politician but it would appear he has a sense of duty. The way he interrogated the site engineers and contractors in one of the videos I watched gave me the impression he did not want to compromise professionalism on the altar of filthy lucre. He may not be an angel but, as they say, there ought to be some honour even among thieves. Honour appears to be glaringly missing among Nigeria’s teeming, thieving population. And this is where the First Republic politicians – and civil servants, to boot – were better, far, far better, than their current counterparts.

Corruption is everywhere but its colouration, texture and intensity differ from place to place. A story is told during COVID-19 to show how the same corrupt act was more damaging to Nigeria than Ghana: A group of foreign investors travelling to both countries forgot to take their COVID-19 vaccine. At the point of entry in Ghana, Ghanaian officials demanded a bribe from the foreigners, after which they were led to the appropriate vaccine centre to take the vaccine before being allowed into the country. On the Nigeria side, the foreigners were allowed to romp into town after settling the officials without being compelled to take the necessary vaccine. The foreigners were the ones demanding to be allowed to take the vaccine but the Nigerian officials insisted there was no need. “God will protect us”, they told the foreigners, and waved them on!

What went wrong? Is it poor workmanship? The contractors used were some of the country’s best; so, what went wrong? Is this a question of poor quality or substandard materials? A case of cutting corners? The usual Nigerian factor? What exactly went wrong? Is it inappropriate usage that is the problem? The indiscriminate traffic and parking of heavy duty vehicles constitutes a menace not only to other road users but also to the road itself. Every road is built to specification and failure to adhere can ruin such roads before their life span expires. Who exercises such control on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway?

The novice that I am on this subject, I ask questions, like Peter Abelard, so that I may get answers. Said Abelard: “Nothing can be believed unless it is first understood” And I have the confidence Umahi will be willing to look into this matter and offer illumination, like he did on the Lagos – Calabar expressway. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway is said to be the busiest road in the country. Often, our problem is also the lack of maintenance culture. We allow matters to get to a head before we act, whereas it is said that a stitch in time saves nine. The Ibadan-Ife expressway is another road that Umahi should take a look at. As it is today, that road is a dead trap. Efforts to rehabilitate it has woefully failed. Ditto the Ife-Ilesha junction axis of the same stretch of road.  Once a road expires, such as these ones have, the right thing to do is scrap them and lay new asphalt, and not waste money doing patch-patch work that does not work.  The cost of bad roads – in lives and limbs, time lost, maintenance and repair of vehicles and inconveniences suffered generally – cannot sufficiently be quantified in Naira and kobo.

Are contractors who do shoddy jobs made to face the music? Are their godfathers called to question? Site engineers who compromise on quality ought to be fired and not given a slap on the wrist like Umahi did to the ones in one of the videos I watched. Until people get punished for doing the wrong thing, we are going nowhere in this country!

• Says group are lightweights who should be ignored

Minister of State for Defence Bello Mattawalle has described the Northern Elders’ Forum as a political burden to the region, saying that they do not speak for Northerners.

He said the threats issued by the group against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is “reprehensible and naïve”.

Mattawalle said in a statement that it is preposterous for a group of people seeking political relevance to overburden the system and create political disunity among Nigerians.

He described the forum as a political paperweight trying to embark on a destructive journey that will bring the North to disrepute for personal and selfish gains. 

Mattawalle said: “This NEF is more of a political burden to Northerners. The group is seeking to erode other people’s rights in order to be recognised or made relevant in the scheme of things despite the failure of their sponsored candidates in the 2023 general elections.

“Inasmuch as many have overlooked them in respect of their utterances, it is pertinent to underscore their overbearing attitude on issues that affect political unity and cohesion. 

“They cannot offer any positive idea or thought about the future of Northern Nigeria or, indeed, of Nigeria and its unity and togetherness.

“We all know President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR won the February 2023 presidential election convincingly. So, who is NEF to want to undermine the President’s victory and even threaten to unseat him?

“This same group of people has intentionally shied away from their responsibility of engendering unity in the North by appreciating the incremental development being brought to the region by Ministers appointed by President Tinubu from the North, especially North West.

“The NEF has not deemed it fit to seek audience with Mr. President to discuss issues affecting the Northern region despite the numerous challenges facing the North as rightly highlighted by the President and being addressed by him.”

He added: “The group is yet to visit any of the ministers dealing with issues of security, agriculture, water resources, police affairs, education, health, budget, foreign affairs, or any head of security agencies in the country so far for firsthand knowledge of government programmes and actions. 

“The majority of them are more interested in faulting the government so as to be recognised or accorded some relevance.

“Our region, the North, is united, disciplined and politically-driven enough not to listen and accept being teleguided by any group of elites who had fed fat in the past on the North’s resources and opportunities which had retarded development in the region and nation due to their selfishness. 

 “President Tinubu is poised to do a lot for the North as President of Nigeria, elected by the people of Nigeria, not by one ethnic group or the other.

“Therefore, anyone mistakenly seeing President Tinubu as a failure or a weakling is making a mistake and should rethink.

“Such a person or group is either blind or misguided and unable to see the new Nigeria that is emerging.

“Therefore, the NEF statement allegedly expressing regret for voting for President Tinubu is unfortunate.

“NEF is not more than a group that has refused to accept reality and is living in delusion.

“The truth is that the North is proud of its support and vote for President Tinubu and will continue to be proud of her relationship with the President given the enormous change and development his government has brought to the region.

“My advice to NEF and others alike is to support the present government and join hands with President Tinubu, GCFR in order to further move the country forward.”

[TheNation]