I have received so many condolence messages from friends and persons I do not even know on the death of my boss, brother and friend, Dr. Herbert Wigwe. Indeed, the outpouring of grief across the country has been overwhelmingly comforting. I thank you all.

But this evening, I received a strange call from a friend, who told me that Herbert’s death is a punishment from God because when Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank, some people who worked for the acquired bank had developed heart attack and died. I lost my cool and told him that he’s talking nonsense.

Even before Access bought Intercontinental in 2011, there were many mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry arising from the banking consolidation of 2004 and 2005. The bank I worked for then merged with four others and formed a new, bigger bank. Many lost their jobs, but they ended up reentering the industry as the sector expanded, while some others changed careers. Those who attended business school would recall that all M&As will always result in job losses because the synergy created usually lead to some redundancies. This is typically presented in the equation: 1+1 = 3.

Herbert is not the first person to die in an air accident. Remember ADC, Dana and Bellview air crashes? Did the passengers all die because of what they did? In 1995, many school kids coming home for Christmas holidays from Abuja died in Sosoliso air crash in PH. Did those children die because they bought a bank? Did they die because of their sins? What of those air crashes involving Ethiopian airlines, Malaysian airlines and other international airlines?

Is air crash the only way that people die tragically? What of those who die from drowning, fire disaster, electrocution, armed robbery attacks or even kidnapping? Is it also because of whatever they did on earth? What of women who die from childbirth? What of children who die from the six childhood killer diseases?

The person who called me this evening presented a very uninformed and nasty understanding of death, ethereal and esoteric matters. He was very insensitive to the huge loss that has befallen me. I am happy that I gave him a piece of my mind.

The Nigeria Labour Congress said it has put machinery in place for a two-day nationwide protest slated for February 27 and February 28, 2024.

The NLC’s National President, Joe Ajaero, said the protest would begin a week after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government which will expire on February 23.

Ajaero, who spoke during a briefing with journalists in Abuja, said the decision followed an emergency National Executive Council meeting on the state of the economy and matters related to insecurity in the country.

On February 8, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress gave a two-week ultimatum to the government to meet demands ranging from wage increments to improved access to public utilities and accused it of failing to uphold pledges to soften the impact of reforms.

Ajaero said the Federal Government should not flout the deadline of the 14-day ultimatum.

The organised labour lamented that millions of Nigerian workers are facing hunger, erosion of purchasing power and insecurity due to reforms that drove up inflation.

This followed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to scrap a popular but costly fuel subsidy last May and his administration’s lifting of restrictions on currency trading, which more than tripled petrol prices.

Details later…

President Bola Tinubu has been appointed the African Union, AU, Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership against the backdrop of his ambitious, innovative, and people-focused efforts in the sector.

This was disclosed in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on Friday.

The Commission of the African Union, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — Africa CDC, in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tinubu was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.

In his new role, the Commission subsequently invited President Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme, MELP, under the theme, ‘Impactful leadership in health: a whole government approach’, billed for Saturday, February 17, 2024, at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.

Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe (15 August 1966 – 9 February 2024)

“I remember a friend of mine in the oil industry, who during a meeting of an economic think tank. He called the then president aside and said, ‘Mr President please stop this subsidy, we are tired of making money…We’re bringing in this fuel at an elevated cost and half of it is exported out of Nigeria by the same people collecting money for it” 

There is an apparent consensus of opinion that Nigeria has not had a good outing under the stewardship of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The main extenuation for this lapse is that he inherited a basket case from his predecessor, Major General Muhammadu Buhari.That may well be the case but this extenuation flies in the face of his own verbalised utmost quest and carnal desire (lifelong ambition) to become the president of Nigeria. I do not exactly recall whether it was 

Usman Dan Fodio who counselled society to be wary of whoever desires the aroma of power the most. Buhari’s obsession with power and what he did with it for eight years proves the point. May Nigeria be spared the repeat of the Buhari cross all over again.

Beware of what you crave, you may just get it. Having now been gratified with the object of his ‘lifelong ambition’, Nigeria lies prostrate before President Tinubu but he has so far failed to master the moment. In fairness to him and unlike his predecessor, he has largely refrained from making a song and dance of the Buhari (dysfunction) extenuation. Save when he characterised the transition from Buhari to his government as ‘moving from darkness to a glorious dawn’. While the characterisation of the former President’s tenure as an era of “darkness” is apt, it would amount to standing reality on its head to cite the incumbent president’s tenure as anything near a glorious dawn.

The potential crowning glory of the Buhari dysfunction and one I regret not supporting was his desire to foist former President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan as the president of Nigeria. And he was thick enough to try it. If he had succeeded, he would have sufficiently radicalised Nigerian politics, and clarified the choice before the country as never before. Already cut too deep, the cleavages would have irretrievably cut deeper. The affront was bound to foster a make or break crisis whose ramifications would force a fundamental constitutional review of the status quo or worse. 

Imagine the spectre of Vice-president Atiku Abubakar as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate and Ahmed Lawan as that of the APC, and the certainty that the election will be rigged in favour of either presidential candidate. To the contrary, with the election of Tinubu as a sop to the Yoruba, Nigeria has won a battle but lose the war. As we have come to learn, the restructuring din has quietened down to a whimper. A very smart politician, contemporaneously I 

cannot recall him ever owning restructuring as priority- that is if he ever touched the idea at all on his campaign rostrum.

 As programmed, he has deflated the bubbles of the only viable status quo answer to the question of what ails Nigeria. I was surprised at the conniving power politics posture of the Yoruba intelligentsia towards the realpolitik of contemporary Nigeria. The better option of Peter Obi was put down as representative of Igbo triumphalism! It went all the way back to the politics of playing the Yoruba against the Igbo. 

I marvelled at the spectre of respected scholars who taught us on how tribalism is the bane of Nigerian politics becoming the standard bearers of the very ill they professed against. It was the perfect opportunity to breach the to- your- tents-o-Israel barrier that had kept Nigeria down for so long. Love your neighbour as you love yourself, thus sayeth the Lord. And it was reckoned as one of the most important commandments. 

“The two great commandments, as found in Matthew 22:36-40, are to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” and “love thy neighbour as thyself.” The Lord did not qualify the commandment as applicable only to those you like. It is a challenge to our individual and collective morality and test of commitment to principles, to stand by a principle when it is not convenient to do so. The more cynical of them rationalised their position with the logic that if Nigeria is fated to ruin and damnation, it makes sense to have your son at the commanding heights! 

As you might have rightly guessed, the reference to Rawlings in the caption is a metaphor for a near revolutionary take over of government. To a considerable extent, the inability of Tinubu to stare down the challenges and problems of Nigeria boils down to not wanting to commit class suicide. If he really wants to commit to doing his job well, he has two options.

One is to go for a constitutional review towards the end of securing the restoration of federalism. The other is to lead by the power of example. The latter point is not as trite as it sounds. In the affairs of men, it is inevitable for society to experience crisis and tribulation. So by itself, the bad spell Nigeria is going through is neither new nor unprecedented. What matters most is the demonstration of enlightened self-interest, the capacity of the ruling elite to mobilise the citizenry by the power of personal example and discipline. 

Within the context of Nigeria, It may sound utopian, but think of a shirtless Rawlings driving a bulldozer. If you have your leaders miraculously borrow a leaf from this playbook, the masses will forget they have not eaten a piece of meat for weeks.

I do not need to go into the sordid details but the statement of intent indicated in the budget presented by the president a few months back is a contraindication of leadership by example and a mockery of the Nigerian masses. It is a budget of how not to mobilise the people behind your leadership. It is not a budget of how to exhort your people to think of what they can do for their country and not what their country can do for them. 

As Nigeria’s cup of iniquity overflows with no discernable silver lining in the dark horizon, my mind has been waxing subjective and unorthodox dimensions. In my last outing, I wrote of making atonement for the sin of our forefathers participation and connivance in the slave trade as a spiritual panacea for what increasingly appears to be a digging deeper into the hole of mass immiseration and underdevelopment. I got this inspiration from the most accomplished American president, Abraham Lincoln. He believed that the American civil war over the institution of slavery was punishment and atonement for the role of America in the transatlantic slave trade. 

As I contemplate the ratcheting up of public service corruption in Nigeria today to the level of unimaginable perversion and sickness, my mind wandered to how Shehu Yar’Adua came to terms with the dilemma. I doubt if decent society has any lessons to learn from the peculiarity and oddity but it is story worthy of being told. It is a story of how effective he was in securing his political goals and objectives. It was as cynical as it was effective. If the former number two man in the military government of Obasanjo, was sending a political subordinate on an errand, he would inquire about the cost implication of the task. Having been apprised of the financial implication, say ten million Naira, he would give the money as requested. He would then top up the money with another ten million, so the fellow would have less incentive to fignal with the original ten million. And it worked! 

In theory and practice, I do not know how to substantiate this primitive formula but ranged against what presently obtains, it appears to me a good bargain (if we can get ten billion naira value for a contract awarded for twenty billion). 

It is six months now since Isa Yuguda has made his earth shaking revelation. The response of the President was to cast a vote of confidence in the man at the centre of the worst scandal in Nigeria and reappoint him as the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Neither has he deemed it worthwhile to invite the remorseful friend of Yuguda to come and tell all he knows as a participant-observer who has become tired of making billions at the expense of the Nigerian public 

President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate upgrade of key health infrastructure and equipment across all six geo-political zones.

In a statement on Friday by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, the President said the upgrade aligns with his administration’s vision of overhauling the health and social welfare sector for enhanced service delivery to all Nigerians.

The President said the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), will comprehensively upgrade cancer-treatment infrastructure and other critical developments in six tertiary hospitals across several geo-political zones.

He added the ministry and the NSIA will carry out a full renovation and expansion of prior investments to improve broad-based access to high-quality healthcare in all six geo-political zones of the federation.

The President said six teaching hospitals across geo-political zones have been marked for the establishment of oncology and nuclear medicine centres.

The hospitals are University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, University of Nigeria (Nsukka) Teaching Hospital, Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, University of Jos Teaching Hospital and Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

The statement reads: “Upgrading health infrastructure and equipment is a top priority of President Tinubu’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative. To advance this landmark effort, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) will carry out the comprehensive upgradation of cancer-treatment infrastructure and other critical developments in six tertiary hospitals across several geo-political zones, in addition to the full renovation and expansion of prior investments to improve broad-based access to high-quality healthcare in all six geo-political zones of the federation.”

The following teaching hospitals across geo-political zones have been marked for the establishment of oncology and nuclear medicine centres per facility as part of President Tinubu’s bid to ensure that world-class cancer diagnosis and care is accessible across the country.”

The statement added that ten critical healthcare services were also approved for expansion projects across radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterization will be carried out in ten hospitals across all geo-political zones.

The ten hospitals are listed below:

– North-West: Reference Hospital, Kaduna — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology)

– South-East: Medical Diagnostic Centre Complex, Enugu — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical & radiation oncology)

– North-West: Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization)

– South-West: University College Hospital, Ibadan — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization)

– South-South: University of Uyo Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

– North-East: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

– South-South: Federal Medical Centre, Asaba — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

– North-Central: Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

– North-Central: Jos University Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

– North-East: Federal Medical Centre, Nguru — (Radiology and clinical pathology)

It added: “These critical projects are set to be delivered within 12-18 months and will improve screening and diagnostics for communicable and non-communicable diseases; reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes for non-communicable diseases; create considerable employment opportunities for clinical, administrative, and managerial personnel across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, all while building the capacity of clinical personnel in advanced procedures, diagnostics and treatment modalities, in accordance with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.”

[NaijaNews]

Following the placement of N20 million bounty on two suspected kidnappers terrorising Abuja and it environs by the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested one of them, Dahiru Adamu, whose real name is Saidu Abdulkadir.

He was arrested when police operatives raided two kidnappers’ camps bordering Nasarawa State and Abuja via Kuje Area Council on February 15, 2024, at about 12am and dislodged the camps.

FCT police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, said Abdulkadir was the gang leader and one of the wanted suspects of the kidnapping syndicate paraded by the FCT Police Command on February 14, 2024.

The police further said the bandits on sighting the police operatives, opened fire and engaged the Police in an intense gun duel and were eventually overpowered by the Police, as one Habu Yakubu and Isufu Abubakar, earlier abducted from Kwaita Village via Pegi district of Kuje Area Council, were rescued unhurt and the suspect arrested.

She further said peliminary investigation revealed that the suspect masterminded the kidnap and killing of one Mr Sunday Yahaya Zakwai, the district head of Ketti Village.

While effort was still ongoing to apprehend the other wanted suspect on the run, the FCT commissioner of Police, CP Ben Igweh, has reassured criminals in FCT that there was no hiding place for them.

He equally urged residents to report suspicious activities through the following emergency lines: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883; PCB: 09022222352.

[Leadership]

Laolu Akande, former spokesman of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, says Nigeria needs bold leaders to confront the country’s multifaceted challenges, especially security and economic problems.

He made this known on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday.

According to him, leaders must be honest and courageous to overcome the challenges in the country.

“The problems as of today, the widespread hardship in the land and the menacing insecurities require courageous leadership at the very top. Our leaders must be bold enough to fire appointed public officials who don’t deliver on their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

“We have seen in this country how lack of consequences and impunity have created new problems and made old ones worse.

“For example, we have seen how we have been fighting insecurity for decades now and when it seems we’ve solved it at one point, it comes in another form. The problems re-emerge everywhere. There have been claims of collusion of corruption in certain agencies our leaders should not be shy to thoroughly investigate, discover what is really happening and punish those responsible for the corruption and collusion if that is established.

“How is it possible that more than half of the oil lifted in Nigeria for instance is being stolen and no one has been caught or punished in several years?

“As a nation, we are struggling to meet up with our OPEC quota. OPEC cut Nigeria’s quota to 1.38 million barrels per day from 1.78 million bpd because for years, we have failed to meet our quota.

“A President or a governor or elected senator or assembly member is no use, in the long run, if he or she fails to use the big stick against those holding our commonwealth down. Our leaders must be bold enough, honest and forthright to draw a line in the sand on the issue of corruption. It requires boldness. Corruption is corrosive. A former President said if we don’t kill it, it will kill us.

“In 2015, many Nigerians thought that former President whose campaign spearheaded the ‘Change’ narrative would actually bring the change. I served under that administration but that has not happened wight years after. Our leaders who made the promises are still grappling at the straws. Corruption is worse, economy is biting, insecurity is relentless. We seem to lack the bold leadership to look at the problems eyeball to eyeball and say, ‘No more’.

“But Nigerians have given the same set of leaders – the APC, who made that illustrious promise of ‘Change’ in 2015, another chance now under a new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who would have spent nine months in office at the end of this month.

“The burden that President Tinubu is carrying is heavier than that of President Buhari and it is important that is said because now President Tinubu is not just carrying the burden of promise but he is carrying the burden of truncated hope. And good a thing he has rightly named his agenda Renewed Hope. Nigerians have placed so much expectations on the promises and now they are wondering how come they believed a lie. So, it is up to President Tinubu to show that those promises made in 2015 were no lies. And that is why we are appealing to him today and all those in authority that the government be it executive, judiciary or legislature, it’s important to apply courage and boldness.”

[DailyTrust]

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) to re-open the investigation and prosecution of those who murdered the founder of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, in 1986.

Dele Giwa was murdered on October 19, 1986 in his Lagos office through a letter bomb.

Delivering judgment on Friday in a suit against the AGF, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo held the Chief Law Officer of the Federation is under obligation to prosecute and penalize killers of media practitioners in the country.

Apart from Dele Giwa, the court ordered that the killings of other journalists in the discharge of their lawful duties must be investigated and perpetrators brought to book in line with the provisions of the law.

The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, had dragged the AGF before the court for the enforcement of fundamental rights of media practitioners to safety as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and African Charters on Human Rights.

Justice Ekwo in the judgment ordered the Federal Government to ensure adequate protection and safety of lives of journalists as enshrined in sections 33, 39 of the Constitution and Articles 4 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

Details later...

[DailyPost]