An analysis of public holidays and official leave days as a percentage of total available workdays in a year indicates that Nigerian workers spend approximately 15.7% of their time away from work.

This is according to a review conducted by Nairametrics Research, which relied on officially declared public holidays and statutory annual leave entitlements.

In a typical calendar year with 261 potential working days excluding weekends, Nigerians are entitled to between 41 to 46 days off.

These include public holidays, annual leave, and sick leave, as stipulated by labour regulations and employment contracts.

This estimate, however, excludes workers engaged in essential services such as healthcare, security, emergency response, and those in shift-based roles, who may not observe all national holidays or who work on rotational schedules that reduce or redistribute time off.

For a country navigating the complexities of economic recovery, youth unemployment, and increasing global competitiveness, the volume of time spent off work has sparked heated boardroom debates and policy roundtables.

Yet, for the average Nigerian, these breaks are not just welcome, they are necessary.

In the United States, the term “holiday” typically refers to fixed dates of national or religious significance. In the UK and Commonwealth nations, it’s interchangeable with “vacation.” But in Nigeria, holidays and leave are deeply ingrained in the socio-cultural and religious fabric of the nation.

Holidays like Eid, Easter, Christmas, and Democracy Day are observed nationwide and often serve as periods of rest, family reunions, and communal activities. These pauses, while seemingly disruptive to productivity, are considered essential for both cultural cohesion and worker rejuvenation.

A breakdown of the 41 days of rest 

• Christmas Holidays(Dec 25 &26): 2 days (Christmas Day & Boxing Day)
• New Year(Jan 1): 1 day
• Easter Holidays: 2 days (Good Friday & Easter Monday)
• Muslim Holidays: 5 days (Eid-el-Fitr, Eid-el-Kabir, and associated days)
• Democracy Day (June 12): 1 day
• Labour Day (May 1): 1 day
• Independence Day (October 1): 1 day
• Annual Leave (Statutory): 20-28 days
• Sick Leave (Approximate): 5 days

Additionally, workers are entitled to approximately 5 days of sick leave annually, although not all employees take full advantage of this provision. So, this comes to a total of 41 to 46 days, depending on the number of sick leave days permitted or taken.

How Nigerians perceive holidays 

While some business leaders have expressed concern over the volume and distribution of public holidays, particularly when they fall mid-week and disrupt operations, data from surveys and academic research suggest that most Nigerian workers value these breaks as essential to their well-being.

• A 2020 survey of 247 bank employees in Anyigba, Kogi State, found that over 90% of respondents viewed public holidays as vital for religious observance, family bonding, and mental recovery.
• The study, published in the KIU Journal of Social Sciences, revealed a strong preference for preserving national holidays, despite occasional concerns about workflow disruption.
• Global research echoes this sentiment. A 2006 report by Ernst & Young, cited in Boyd (2014), indicated that employees who took more leave achieved higher performance reviews, with each additional ten hours of leave translating to an 8% improvement in annual ratings.

Similarly, studies by Kühnel & Sonnentag (2012) and Zenger & Folkman (2015) confirmed that regular periods of rest reduce burnout and improve staff retention.

Despite these benefits, there are concerns from an output and productivity standpoint.

A 2017 study by Botes reported measurable dips in productivity across sectors during holiday periods, especially in industries like finance, logistics, and manufacturing.

Additionally, research conducted in Sweden (Mohammed et al., 2018) found that while holidays improve morale, they can also introduce stress-related health risks tied to financial obligations and social pressures.

Nonetheless, for a country where religion, community, and family remain deeply embedded in the social fabric, these days off are not just tolerated—they are expected.

[Nairametrics]

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says its operatives have arrested a 63-year-old suspect for alleged impersonation and extortion under false pretences to influence investigation into a $4.5 billion Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) fraud.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Dele Oyewale, spokesperson of the EFCC, said the suspect, Ernesto Chukwukamma, was arrested for allegedly posing as a journalist affiliated with the commission.

Oyewale said Chukwukamma deceived a petitioner to part with N2 million, with a promise to help suppress a report implicating him in the alleged PTF fraud.

The suspect reportedly told the petitioner that members of a supposed correspondents’ chapel attached to the EFCC were in possession of a damaging report alleging that the petitioner stole $4.5 billion during the winding down of the PTF.

He allegedly threatened the petitioner and demanded money to halt further investigations.

The EFCC spokesperson said Chukwukamma was taken into custody while attempting to withdraw the N2 million allegedly collected from the petitioner.

Oyewale said the suspect will be charged in court upon the conclusion of investigations.

[TheCable]

What began as a confrontation between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio has since morphed into a full-blown mob campaign designed to shred her credibility, assassinate her character, and drown her voice under a wave of orchestrated smear. Let us call it what it is, this is no longer a political dispute. This is a brutal mobbing, and it is unjust.

At first glance, the matter seemed confined to the Senate floor. Natasha, representing Kogi Central, made serious allegations of sexual harassment against Akpabio. Whether these claims were true or not, they deserved an impartial investigation. Instead, the reaction from certain quarters has been anything but measured. A growing list of individuals and interest groups have risen, not in defense of truth or justice, but to destroy Natasha by any means necessary.

But who started this online mobbing? The earliest and most vocal instigator appears to be Dr. Sandra Duru, also known as “Professor Mgbeke”, a U.S.-based activist and self-acclaimed forensic investigator. Duru took it upon herself to lead a ferocious digital assault against Natasha, going beyond mere commentary into the realm of character assassination. In a Facebook Live session, she released private call logs and WhatsApp messages allegedly exchanged with Natasha, accusing the senator of offering a ₦200 million bribe to frame Akpabio for organ harvesting and link him to the death of a young woman, Iniubong Umoren.

Duru’s role in this entire saga goes beyond that of a whistleblower. She positioned herself as a judge, jury, and executioner, driven by what many now suspect to be political or personal motives. But even her credibility took a nosedive when media personality Francess Olisa Ogbonnaya came forward to expose what appeared to be a sinister conspiracy. In an interview with investigative journalist Adeola Fayehun, Ogbonnaya alleged that Duru paid her ₦300,000 to fabricate a damaging audio clip that would implicate Natasha. She refused to follow through on parts of the script that were indefensible, triggering a fallout with Duru.

Ogbonnaya supported her claims with screenshots of WhatsApp chats, payment receipts, and a script titled “Light Mask: The Politics of Blackmail and Emotional Manipulation.” It became glaring that this was not merely about truth, it was about takedown. Adding fuel to the fire, during Duru’s live broadcast, a missed call from “Senator Akpabio SP” appeared on her phone screen, casting a heavy cloud of suspicion over her independence and intentions.

So, who are those really behind the mobbing? While names like Duru stand out, this goes deeper. It is a coalition of politically motivated actors, attention-seeking influencers, and digital mercenaries who would rather protect powerful men than listen to inconvenient truths. They operate like a virtual lynch mob, amplifying falsehoods, spreading edited content, and spinning narratives with zero accountability.

Was there a conspiracy against Natasha? The evidence, though circumstantial, suggests so. The scripting of fake audios, financial inducements to influencers, and coordinated online attacks are all red flags. There is an unmistakable pattern of silencing, framing, and defaming, hallmarks of a premeditated smear campaign. The question is not whether Natasha is guilty or innocent. The question is: Why is due process being replaced with digital stoning?

It is deeply troubling that the real issue, whether or not a sitting Senate President committed sexual harassment, has been completely buried under the noise of leaked chats, unverified claims, and character defamation. What we are witnessing is coordinated aggression against a woman who dared to raise her voice. Instead of letting institutions do their job, people with no official stake in the matter are now leading the charge to crush her, not just politically, but personally.

Natasha is no stranger to hostility. During her senatorial campaign, she was belittled, mocked, and resisted with every force imaginable. She defied those odds, won her seat, and started speaking out against the rot in the system. Now, she is being punished for it, not with policy debate or legal rebuttal, but with public humiliation, digital warfare, and targeted harassment.

And what danger does this mobbing culture pose to democracy? A grave one. When society replaces institutions with mobs and trials with trending hashtags, democracy dies a slow death. When a woman in power is mobbed like this for speaking up, it sends a chilling message to others: “Keep quiet, or we will ruin you.” It is no longer about Akpabio. The fight has shifted. It is Natasha versus “Them”, those who would rather protect the status quo than confront uncomfortable truths.

Nigeria must rise above this toxic culture. Let the facts be examined, not the person. Let justice be pursued, not vendetta. And most importantly, let us stop normalizing mob attacks against voices we do not agree with. Because when we fail to protect one, we endanger all.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to condemnably comment that social media mobbing, which is an aggressive, coordinated online attack aimed at discrediting or destroying someone’s reputation is not good for our democracy. Without a doubt, it has become a ruthless weapon in today’s political arena. When directed at politicians, the consequences can be far-reaching, and often irreversible. Here’s a blunt, realistic analysis of the impact:

First and foremost, Social media mobbing allows detractors to chip away at a politician’s credibility rapidly. With hashtags, edited videos, doctored screenshots, and viral misinformation, political careers can be damaged overnight. The court of public opinion rarely waits for facts, it reacts to emotions, and mobbing feeds on that frenzy.

In a similar vein, politicians under siege often find themselves forced to address personal attacks instead of focusing on governance or legislative work. Mobbing shifts attention from meaningful debates to petty mudslinging, effectively hijacking public discourse and derailing policy progress.

Still in a similar vein, the barrage of insults, threats, and ridicule can take a serious mental health toll. Some politicians withdraw from public engagement, others lose the fire to continue serving. Female politicians, in particular, bear the brunt of gendered insults and misogynistic narratives, often making them question their safety and space in politics.

In fact, mobs manipulate public sentiment to serve the interests of the powerful. When politicians challenge entrenched systems or expose wrongdoing, mobbing becomes a tool to silence them and protect the status quo. This was evident in Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s case, where a personal allegation triggered a mobbing campaign seemingly designed to deflect attention from her claims and protect elite interests.

Also, when online mobs replace due process and institutions, democracy takes a hit. Social media becomes judge, jury, and executioner. This undermines the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent: whoever controls the narrative online, controls the outcome, facts be damned.

Again, potentially brilliant, well-meaning individuals get discouraged from entering politics after seeing how quickly mobbing can ruin reputations. In a country like Nigeria, where we desperately need fresh, uncorrupted voices in politics, social media mobbing is acting as a gatekeeper of the worst kind.

However, social media mobbing is not activism. It is not justice. It is digital vigilantism that can destroy lives, stifle dissent, and poison democracy. When it becomes the dominant mode of engagement with our leaders, we do not just lose good politicians, we lose the soul of civic discourse itself.

HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
The President and Commander-in-Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Your Excellency,

AN URGENT APPEAL TO END THE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NABTEB CERTIFICATE HOLDERS IN NIGERIA’S UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS: A Clarion Call for Inclusion and Justice

We write this public appeal with deep concern—and an even deeper hope—that the time has come for Nigeria to embrace equity and inclusion in its higher education admission system, particularly with respect to the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) certificate holders.

In an age defined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), where digital skills, robotics, artificial intelligence, and technical innovations are shaping the future of nations, Nigeria must urgently reconsider its exclusionary stance against NABTEB certificate holders—especially in critical fields like engineering, computer science, and technology.

NABTEB: A Legitimate Pathway, Not a Lesser One

NABTEB was created to promote technical and vocational excellence. It certifies young Nigerians who graduate from technical colleges with hands-on skills in mechatronics, computing, industrial mechanics, electrical installation, plumbing, and more. These young men and women are not “dullards” or “alternatives.” They are gifted, skilled, and ready to build Nigeria’s future.

And yet, most Nigerian universities—including older ones like the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan—do not accept NABTEB certificates for admission into engineering and other technical faculties. This systemic discrimination contradicts the government’s stated vision of promoting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

A mother’s testimony of heartbreak and injustice

Princess Temitope Aladegoroye, a respected broadcaster and mother, shares the story of her gifted son—a young engineer and coder with professional certifications from FESTO (Germany), CISCO (USA), and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Labour. He graduated with distinction from a technical college and passed NABTEB brilliantly.

However, he could not gain admission into his dream faculty—Engineering at UNILAG—because his NABTEB certificate was rejected. He was then forced to sit for WAEC GCE. But in a shocking twist, his result was withheld, possibly due to a traumatic experience during the examination where he was harassed and demonized for wearing traditional Yoruba beads (Òdè-Ifá and Òṣun beads) which he has worn from birth as an Ọ̀nìṣeṣe (traditional spiritual worshiper.

The result is a young genius plunged into depression and despair. A child full of brilliance, now withdrawn and broken—not for lack of ability, but because his country shut the door on him.

This is just one child. But there are thousands more like him, hidden in communities across Nigeria—burning with ideas, but blocked by policies that fail to recognize their path.

The Current Reality
Out of Nigeria’s over 170 universities, only a handful accept NABTEB for technical courses. These include:
i) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
ii) Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
iii) Bayero University, Kano
iv) Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
v) Federal Universities of Technology in Akure, Minna, and Gashua
However, most other private and public universities—including top-tier institutions—do not accept NABTEB, relegating thousands of technically gifted youths to the sidelines.

Why This Must Change
1. Inclusion and Social Justice_: NABTEB is a federally recognized exam body. Its exclusion contradicts constitutional guarantees of equal opportunity.

2) Skills-Based Economy:_
4IR demands hands-on thinkers and makers. Technical college graduates are exactly what Nigeria needs.

3) Government Policy Alignment:_ The Federal Government is actively promoting TVET, entrepreneurship, and youth employment. Universities must not work at cross purposes.

4) Mental Health and Talent Waste:_ As seen in Princess Aladegoroye’s story, these rejections damage lives, morale, and national potential.

Our Prayer and Appeal
Your Excellency, we respectfully call on you to direct the following urgent actions, that:
1) JAMB should mandate all UTME-participating institutions to accept NABTEB as a valid O’Level requirement, especially for technical disciplines.
2) Nigerian Universities should update their admission guidelines to remove discriminatory clauses and embrace NABTEB.
3) WAEC should investigate and release all unjustly withheld results, especially in cases involving cultural or religious profiling.
4) Ministry of Education & NUC should issue a policy directive reaffirming NABTEB’s status and its place in the National Qualifications Framework.

A Nation That Believes in Its Builders
Your Excellency, it is our belief that every robot built by a Nigerian child matters. Every app coded by a young genius counts. Every drone, every circuit, every hydraulic project in a Technical College classroom is a step toward national greatness. Ẁe appeal to Your Excellency to kindly discourage blocking the future of our children with elitist barriers.
We urge Your Excellency to listen to the voices of reason and compassion, and to build an inclusive, just, and future-ready education system—one where no gifted child is left behind.

Respectfully,

Richard Odusanya & Princess Temitope Aladegoroye
(On behalf of Nigerian Parents, Technical College Students, and Concerned Citizens)

Richard Odusanya
Concerned Advocate for Youth & Technical Education
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Princess Temitope Aladegoroye
Executive Director, Nubia Africa
Broadcaster, Lifestyle Coach & Humanitarian Advocate
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cc:
* The Minister of Education
* The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)
* The Register West African Examinations Council (WAEC)
* The Register National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NAPTEB)
* Chairmen, Senate & House Committees on Education
* All Vice Chancellors and University Governing Councils

When a Government Hears Power, Not Pain

Nigeria’s democracy is quietly undergoing a test—one that is not playing out through constitutional amendments or high-profile legislation, but through the lived experience of one woman: Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Between March and May 2025, she submitted twelve formal petitions to relevant authorities. These were not casual remarks or politically motivated gestures. They were direct, documented appeals for help, citing cyberstalking, death threats, defamation, the sudden removal of her police security, and even an alleged assassination attempt.

The petitions included names not unfamiliar to Nigerians—Senate President Godswill Akpabio, former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello, Senator Nwebonyi, and political figure Dr. Sandra Duru. These names carry political weight, and perhaps, it is that very weight that left her appeals suspended in silence.

The Response Came—But Not for Her

Despite the volume and gravity of these petitions, there was no investigation. No follow-up. No reply. What did receive swift response, however, was a televised comment—one line repeated publicly by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan expressing concern about discussions allegedly held between Akpabio and Bello regarding her elimination. Days later, the Federal Government filed a criminal defamation charge. Twelve ignored pleas. One expedited prosecution.

To many observers, the contrast is troubling. It suggests that in today’s Nigeria, a woman may speak into the void with official petitions, but the moment she utters a sentence that unsettles the powerful, the legal system awakens—not to listen, but to confront her.

A Vague Invitation After Months of Silence

In a recent interview with journalist Adeola Fayehun, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan revealed that shortly after her legal counsel went public with the inaction on her petitions, she received a letter of invitation from the police. This letter arrived not after careful deliberation—but after public exposure. Even then, it included no date, no time—just an undefined call to appear

This form of reactive administration undermines trust. It suggests that state processes are not being led by principle, but by pressure. The timing, the vagueness, the optics—all leave questions in the minds of those watching.

Returning from London with Caution, Not Confidence

The senator is returning to Nigeria from London, where she had been attending to personal matters. She will appear in court this Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to respond to the defamation charge brought against her. In the same interview, she invited Nigerians to be present in court—not to protest, but to observe, to bear witness.

She spoke with composure, but with visible unease. She acknowledged the risks, referencing incidents in Nigerian courts where defendants have faced unexpected violence. She did not sound like a politician strategizing—she sounded like a citizen preparing herself. She admitted she may be granted bail—or she may be remanded in custody. She is not certain what Tuesday will bring. But she is showing up.

That, in itself, is something the nation should pause to consider.

The Larger Pattern Beneath the Moment

From a psychological and institutional view, this situation fits into a troubling pattern. A woman asks for protection and is ignored. A woman speaks publicly and is charged. A woman returns from abroad to defend herself and fears the very courtroom she’s been summoned to. This is not an isolated event—it’s part of a deeper discomfort within our system that many Nigerians, especially women, understand too well.

When justice responds to power faster than to danger, it becomes difficult to convince citizens that our institutions serve them equally. It becomes harder for young people—especially young women—to believe that reporting harassment or intimidation leads anywhere other than deeper exposure.

To the Attorney-General: There’s Still Room for Balance

Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, you occupy a position not only of law but of perception. This case, now public and international, places your office in a delicate light. Twelve petitions were submitted. Their silence contrasts sharply with the urgency of the defamation charge. Many Nigerians are not asking for outcomes—they are simply asking for equal attention. Your legacy will not be shaped by what laws were technically followed, but by whether the average citizen felt the law was equally available to them.

To President Tinubu: The Nation Looks Higher Than the Ministries

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, respectfully, it is now clear that this matter is larger than any one agency. The public is not focusing on the IGP. The weight of this moment has moved beyond the AGF. It now rests with you.

You may not have known all the details. In a system this complex, that’s understandable. But now you do. And the question becomes not what your officials did before, but what your leadership will choose to do next.

No one is asking you to interfere with the courts. But people are watching to see whether justice in Nigeria still flows from a place of impartiality, or from proximity to political power. When a senator returns from abroad in fear, and publicly calls on citizens to attend her hearing—when she doesn’t know whether she’ll go home or be detained—this becomes more than law. It becomes a mirror for how the country handles accountability, fear, and truth.

Justice Delayed, Yes—but Cannot Be Forever Denied

There is still time to ensure this does not become a lasting stain on our justice system. There is time to allow the law to breathe evenly across all names—both the accused and the accuser. Twelve petitions deserve a fair hearing. One charge deserves due process. But above all, the nation deserves to see that its institutions are not tilted toward only the most powerful voices.

If justice bends to power, it fractures. But if justice stands straight—even when uncomfortable—then perhaps this democracy still has hope. Twelve petitions. One woman. A courtroom soon to be filled. And a presidency quietly watched.

Let it all proceed. But let it proceed with conscience.

Two subjects- Democracy and Poverty- offer a freedom that I feel free to delve into for this occasion.  We live in an assumed democracy in which poverty has become the most common feature of social being and economic existence.  Whether you are rich or poor,  the consequences of both democracy and growing poverty govern your daily life. If you are rich, your ability to keep your fortune depends on whom democracy delivers to regulate and protect your business. Similarly, your ability to enjoy a peaceful sleep at night is now a function of the insomnia among the many poor people.

The relationship between Democracy and Poverty  is now a universal concern. It happens that these two words dominate and unite today’s world.  The rhetoric of order among nations and within nations is now ruled by the problems of democracy and those of inequality. While democracy defines the disposition of power and the ways in which the powerful organize societies to determine who rules and who is ruled, equality defines the relative access of the people to scarce resources. The poor are those who are farthest away from the sources of resources and the distribution points of national resources.

Democracy is first  about who decides and who decides who decides. It is in addition about how societies decide who decides for them. On the other hand, poverty and inequality describe the plight of the majority of humanity who are farther away from where  decisions about power and resource allocation are made.

Democracy describes the degree of freedom to choose and be chosen in a society. The first condition of democracy is therefore freedom from the things that threaten our right as humans to make free choices about how we are ruled and who rules over us.  We are talking about freedom from hunger, want, material deprivation,  insecurity  and other constraints that keep men and women chained to the state of nature.

This is why the achievement of material contentment and reduction of poverty always precedes the flowering of democratic freedom. If we go back to the emergence of democracy in Western Europe, we see this clearly. It was the Industrial Revolution that increased the prosperity that enabled people to overthrow kings and monarchs and demanded the right to vote directly for those who would rule over them. Monarchies were toppled, kings were beheaded, decapitated bodies of queens were paraded on streets populated by commoners. Parliaments of elected deputies replaced kingly courts. Elected leaders emerged to either displace of share power with the dethroned kings.

In Asia, it was the creation of new prosperity by military autocrats that suppressed labour unions and freed those with new wealth to demand civil and political rights. The majority were empowered by new prosperity  to demand democratic rights. Democracy came riding on the back of prosperity and the deathbed of autocracy.

In Africa, democracy has remained stunted because post colonial parliaments were decreed into existence on the backs of poor people. The form of political organization preceded the content of the lives of the people. An unproductive political elite foisted formal democracy on the people who were mostly poor. This is the major reason why democracy has remained stunted in most of Africa.

Though increasingly popular, democracy has become a very divergent concept among nations of the world. It is easily the most abused word or concept in the world. It is used freely to describe a wide variety of modes of power acquisition, allocation, succession or abuse in different countries. The wide variety of forms of governance in the 27 countries that make up the European Union are democracies. The United States has long been touted as the bastion of global democracy in which the power of the people enthroned and empowered a government of the people by the people for the people.

China claims it is merely a one party democracy. It is the people as members of the Communist Party who decide who rules and decides for its over 1.4 billion people. . To that extent, China is a one party democracy.

Russia, Hungary, the Philippines and Turkey have enthroned a different format of democracy. This is a hybrid between authoritarianism and populist democracy. This is what is now called illiberal democracy. You are represented but not necessarily free to choose who represents you. Argentina, Brazil and a good number of Latin American countries have borrowed elements from here and there to constitute their peculiar forms of democracy.  What unites all these iterations of democracy is that  periodically, people are made to vote for new leaders and the outcome of the voting ritual determines who rules.

 On the scale of relatively free democratic traditions, of the 54 countries in Africa, less than 20 can be described as democratic in significant ways. There is now something called African democracy with its peculiar features. It is a democracy united by the preponderance of majority poor populations. To a great extent, it is this factor of predominant poverty that distinguishes different versions of African democracy.

Nigerian democracy therefore derives its specific character from the new identity of Nigeria as the world’s leading capital of poverty.

2. Threat of Endemic Poverty in Nigeria

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stirred an unnecessary storm when it joined the rest of the enlightened world to recalibrate poverty in national life. It revised the definition of poverty by shifting from the now proverbial living on $2 a day to something called “multidimensional poverty”.  This has unsettled our politicians. While the politicians are used to saying that we have an internal poverty republic of about 100 million people, the new NBS categorization now puts Nigeria’s poverty population at a disarming 133 million. This represents 65% of the fictional total population of about 220 million. In simple language, this means that those who are NOT poor have now been overwhelmed by the poor. The poor are now omni present, literally all over us in fulfiment of the Biblical saying that “the poor you will always have with you”.

AS at the time of this writing, the World Bank has revised and updated the poverty statistics as they relate to Nigeria. As at 6th May, the World Bank reported that  the poverty rate among rural Nigerians is now at 75%. Similarly, 41.3% of the urban Nigerian population now lives below the poverty line. This clearly indicates that unlike previously when poverty was mostly a rural affliction, it is now a national emergency. This is a deterioration from the situation that obtained  in 2018/2019 when only 30.9 % of the population lived below the international extreme poverty line. This indicates that the figures have doubled instead of improving.

Under the Multidimensional Poverty categorization, poverty is merely broken down into its familiar indices: homelessness, lack of access to food, healthcare,  education,  affordable energy, fair opportunity etc. These lacks are now recognized as the defining indicators of poverty. Nothing in this postulation sounds like ground breaking rocket science. Telling us what everyone already knows and using that obvious measure to arrive at a new poverty demographics is merely shifting the furniture in an old familiar home.

While the more academic disputation about categories and indices rages, no one has dared dispute the golden basic economic rule of poverty: if your country is mostly unproductive with a GDP growth rate that is slower than the rate of your population growth rate, your road to universal poverty is guaranteed.

Poverty does not need too much academic disputation. Nor does it require too many clashing intellectual definitions. The indices and markers of poverty are all too familiar. A lifelong embrace with poverty leaves permanent unmistakable scars. If you have no roof over your head, you know who you are. If there is perennial uncertainty about where the next meal will come from, you can guess where you belong. If you are tormented by avoidable and curable diseases and you dare not find a hospital, health center or pharmacy shop because you have no money, you can draw your conclusions. Worse still, if junior cannot continue in the neighborhood school because there is no way of paying his fees, his fate is nailed. Lack of access to everything that distinguishes humans from beasts in the state of nature is the commonest definition of poverty. The poor know themselves and their condition. We also know them but sometimes prefer to live in criminal denial.

Poverty does not joke with its victims. It afflicts, scars, invades, ravages, dominates and pervades whole segments of the populace. It rapidly conquers territory as we notice shanty towns and slums spring up right before our eyes to surround our fancy new estates and palatial neighborhoods. An adversary that has conquered 63% of a national population and living space is not a laughing matter. Surrounded by such a rapacious and aggressive enemy, we all are doomed.

By its rate of increase and the dislocations it breeds, poverty has become a national security issue of urgent concern. The Nigerian state is today threatened by factions of its own citizens mostly united by the universal lack of access to the indices of poverty as identified by the statisticians. The criminality, violence and insensitivity of those entrapped in the internal poverty republic has made life unsafe for the rest of us. Insecurity defines our national space. Fear rules our lives. Everybody is afraid of everybody. To keep us safe, the state has to buy bigger guns than the criminals with the money meant for medicines, school books, basic housing and clean water. A society that should be at peace  is spending fortunes on the instruments of war.

Worse still, poverty has grown somewhat resilient and incremental. Upward mobility and the pursuit of the dream of a better life by succeeding generations is fast disappearing from our psychology as a people. Downward mobility is now the norm.

It used to be part of the ‘Nigerian dream’, the ethos  that with education and dedicated hard work, one could overcome poverty in one  lifetime or generation. It used to be a favorite saying among us that the poverty in our beginnings will not accompany us to the grave nor escort our children through life. Not anymore.

These days, the most pervasive and assured legacy that people pass on to succeeding generations is a near universal assurance of poverty. Poor parents survived by even poorer offspring in a land devoid of opportunities. Poverty as an inheritance and a legacy defines a new pervasive lack of upward social and economic mobility that now pervades the Nigerian nation space.

The demographic rate of increase of our poor population is the highest in the world. Every hour, an average of 50 Nigerians are entering the poverty republic with no hope of returning or exiting. As people migrate into poverty, there is hardly any opportunity or measure to reduce the population of the poor. It is a one- way ticket. As the new graduate leaves the village in hopelessness with no hope of returning better than he is leaving it, the elders pour libation and wish him well: “Go in peace and never return the way you leave us…”

Not any more. Parents now impoverish themselves to educate their children only to discover that those children can not find work nor do they have a chance to replenish the assets sold to pay for their education.

In this atmosphere, the plight of democracy is foreseeable. Those who keep lamenting the plight of Nigerian democracy have failed to locate the bulk of the crisis in the ever expanding frontiers of  poverty in our country. Over time, Nigeria has ended up redefining democracy in our own image as: “Government of the poor by the rich for the rich…”

3. It all takes us back to the Mathew effect from Biblical literature.

“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away from them” (Mathew 13:12).

In the ever shrinking landscape of opportunities in our economic space, politics has emerged as the most dominant sector of our national economy. It is a sector in which the investment climate is relatively unrestricted and minimally unregulated. The entry requirements are faily liberal. You probably need a basic school certificate obtained through schooling or some affidavit or purchased at Oluwole. You need start up capital which would be a lot of cash carted around at night in “Ghana Must Go” bags or in the trunks of cars. The investment may be considerable initially but the return on investment is more attractive than in virtually any other industry. Of course the chances of failure are there as in any other business. But success guarantees a great escape from the Poverty Republic.

Nigerian politics is the only industry in the world where a pauper that used to travel from Lagos, Port Harcourt or Maiduguri by night bus suddenly graduates to travelling the same route by private jet perhaps for the rest of his life.

This embarrassing statistic has turned politics and democracy into a vicious scramble rather than a contest for leadership. People are ready to kill or be killed in the race for power.

Let us make no mistake about it. The political industry has in the last 25 years been a net contributor to the national GDP. Abuja has become more like Washington DC, the location of choice real estate and corporate offices of businesses that deal in invisible trade. Abuja is today arguably the most expensive piece of real estate on the African continent.

What we are witnessing is a deliberate weaponization of poverty as a political strategy. Government policies are deliberately designed to deepen the levels of poverty and desperation.

People therefore change their parties as often as imaginable. Politicians have breakfast in one party, lunch in another and maybe dinner in a totally different party.

In this landscape, there can be no free and fair elections. Selection replaces election. The security apparatus of the state becomes an extension of the rival private armies of politicians while the rest of the populace, predictably poor, fan out into dangerous factional private armies armed to the teeth to empower their patrons.

The highest bidder wins the escape from the poverty republic. Votes that cannot be bought in cash are transacted through ‘ways and means’ in the form of what is now called the ‘soft power’ of “stomach infrastructure” in the form of loaves of bread, small cash enough to fund just one pot of soup for today at least.

These  are all strategies for enlisting the poor majority into a national bazaar of falsehood. They are means of enlarging the coast of the Republic of Poverty while entrenching the hold of the rich on the commonwealth.

But in recent times, something seems to have changed for good. The poor seem to have wizened up. As evidenced in the state governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states recently, voter turnout has sunk to the lowest levels in history. In Ondo, voter turnout was only 25.9% of registered voters, a number said to be the lowest since 1999. In Edo, the turnout was even more abysmal- less than 22% of registered voters.

The poor collected the money and items of “stomach infrastructure” and stayed home on election day. They have come to a late realization that the politicians only part with a pittance and would disappear after the elections, never to return for another four years.

We need to salvage Nigerian democracy from its defining conundrum. The central question is: how do we observe the formal imperatives of our US-type presidential democracy and find the resources to grow an economy that caters for the myriad poor and the development of the country?

4. Conclusions:

The immediate challenge of democracy in Nigeria and indeed the rest of Africa is to recalibrate its relevance from point of view of its meaning for the poor majority.

•               There can be no democracy in Nigeria for as long as there is any child that will not be in school tomorrow because their parents cannot afford the fees

•               We cannot talk of democracy in Nigeria for as long as there are still children anywhere in the land that have to depend on oil lamp light or even moonlight to study for their exams

•               Democracy will have no meaning in Nigeria for as long as there are children anywhere in Nigeria that will receive their lessons under trees or in roofless classrooms.

•               There can be no democracy in Nigeria for as long as there is any Nigerian child that will go to bed on empty stomach for want of food.

•               There can be no democracy for as long as there are children anywhere in Nigeria who can only dream of a third meal for the day as a fantasy

•               Nigeria cannot be said to be a democratic country for as long as there are families that have no roof over their heads.

•               There is no democracy in a land where the results of elections are foretold two years ahead of the very elections

•               No one can speak of a true democracy when voters are chased away from voting centers by partisan goons and thugs

•               We cannot step foreward and claim to be a democracy when election results are issued for places where no one cast a vote

The children and youth being bred in our current atmosphere are figuratively “democracy’s midnight children”. They will return to haunt us when tomorrow comes.

•Above are excerpts from a lecture given by Dr. Amuta to mark the 60th birthday of  former Rivers State governor , Rotimi  Amaechi last Saturday in Abuja.

Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer. He identified seven “social sins” that he believed could lead to societal decline and suffering. These are wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, politics without principle, and worship without sacrifice. He was very much on point with those submissions. Indeed, I believe that is what is plaguing our dear country.

I am very much concerned with the moral turpitude going on in this country.  A report in the May 25, 2025, online edition of this newspaper reported that “The village head of Guiwa community, Garba Mohammed, has been arrested along with 13 others for allegedly supporting and shielding armed bandits operating in the Mashegu area of Niger”. It’s not the first time. In April 2022, the Zamfara State government dethroned two emirs and a district head over allegations of aiding the activities of bandits terrorising communities in the state. Those affected by the government’s decision include the Emir of Zurmi, Abubakar Atiku; the Emir of Dansadau, Hussaini Umar; as well as Sulaiman Ibrahim, who used to be the district head of Birnin Tsaba. Can you imagine that? Those who are supposed to protect their people are the ones selling them out to bandits for pecuniary gains. Does that make sense?

Who are the people committing vandalism of national assets like oil pipelines, electricity transmission towers and the like? Are they not ordinary Nigerians? Did they realise that they are saboteurs? Are they aware that what they are doing is economic crime? Do they care? Recently, in Abuja, where I live, most of the manhole covers were looted by some unscrupulous citizens and sold off to some metal and iron dealers in the local markets. One of the miscreants was caught by a CCTV camera using a Sienna bus to pack the manhole covers. When the police swung into action, some of the looted assets were discovered at Dei-Dei market here in Abuja. The PUNCH of February 10, 2025, reported, “The Federal Capital Territory Police Command announced the recovery of 125 stolen manhole covers in Abuja, reaffirming its commitment to cracking down on criminals targeting public infrastructure. According to the command, the latest recovery was made on February 4, 2025, during intelligence-led operations in the Dei-Dei area, where officers discovered the stolen items hidden in a pit.”

It’s easy to blame the government for every conceivable evil in Nigeria. We routinely take swipes at the politicians for being corrupt but fail to see how we, as ordinary citizens, contribute immensely to the underdevelopment of our dear country. Imagine those who engage in internet scamming, banditry and kidnapping. What justification do they have to plunge their fellow human beings into untold hardship and misery? These fiends duped and plunder soft targets in the name of getting even with society, which they claim has been unfair to them. They forgot the popular saying of American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr, which says, “If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.”

If you go to the local market for shopping and you’re not vigilant, you’ll be ripped off. The food sellers sometimes sell with false or padded measurements, and the butchers sometimes use formalin, a poisonous substance, to preserve their meat so that it won’t go bad easily. There are fruit sellers who use carbide and other harmful substances to ripen their fruits or preserve them from going bad. These bad practices constitute food poisoning and health hazards.

Early this year, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control raided Aba, Onitsha and Idumota markets, where fake, expired and substandard drugs, wines and spirits with a street value of over N1tn were confiscated. The Guardian Newspaper of May 30, 2025, reported that the Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, explained that the enforcement operation, carried out between February 9 and March 27, 2025, led to the seizure and destruction of expired, banned, and counterfeit drugs worth over a N1tn in three open drug markets, Idumota, Aba, and Onitsha. Imagine the number of deaths and permanent disability that those merchants of death have caused by selling those unwholesome products to unsuspecting consumers. That’s what Mahatma Gandhi called commerce without morality.

Is our politics not without principle in Nigeria? The political class adopted the Machiavellian principle of “the end justifies the means” to capture power. They maim and kill purportedly in order “to serve”. They buy our votes and subject us to quadrennial misery by reneging on their campaign promises. They keep campaigning on the same theme of providing us light and water, roads and bridges, schools and hospitals, security and welfare. Yet none of these campaign promises have ever been fulfilled. Were it not so, Nigeria should not be in the class of countries with a low Human Development Index that she currently occupies.

Nigerian politicians, like many of their counterparts across the globe, indulge in personal aggrandisement. They loot our commonwealth and plunge us into deprivation.

They loosen their belts over their pot bellies while asking us to tighten ours. To Nigerian politicians, service delivery is a mere hollow ritual. A catchphrase. While they have signally failed to deliver on their last campaign promises, they have activated the machinery to capture power in 2027, just two years into the current government. What a special breed of people who are perpetually preoccupied with the next election rather than the next generation!

There is no gainsaying that Nigeria is in dire need of an ethical revolution. We need attitudinal change. There is a need for concerted efforts at nation-building. We must all be the change we want to see. Parents must renew efforts at inculcating the right values in their children. Values of hard work, discipline, honesty, humanity, dignity and integrity. Our religious leaders must purge themselves of all traits of spiritual corruption and speak truth to their congregation by making them live by the core values of their religion. Religious and traditional leaders are supposed to be the moral compass of society. They are shirking in that responsibility. They have joined the rat race for the get-rich-quick syndrome. This is unhealthy and unwholesome. They must retrace their steps and live by the holy grail so that they can lead society aright.

Nigeria’s political class should allow for credible elections and stop undermining the electoral process through violence and financial inducements. The media, civil society and government information and orientation agencies should re-strategise to sensitise people about living rights and nation-building.

Truly, “Shadow Government,” or “Shadow Cabinet,” like the one led by Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa during Nigeria’s First Republic, is a vestige of the Westminster parliamentary model that Nigeria inherited from the British.

“The Official Shadow Cabinet”, or “His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition Cabinet”, is the recognised opposition party to the government in Britain. Made up mainly of frontbenchers of the opposition party in the House of Commons, it is responsible for scrutinising the work of the government.

In the parliamentary system, members of the shadow cabinet, who must be elected members of the House of Representatives, are expected to monitor and checkmate government ministers who have been assigned to run certain government ministries.

As members of a possible “Government-In-Waiting”, shadow ministers should be familiar with the workings of the ministries assigned to them, ahead of the next election that may return their political party as the next government.

That is one of the reasons that you witness the “Tom & Jerry” game of wits between British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and Opposition Leader, Kemi Badenoch, on the floor of the House of Commons, Britain’s lower chamber.

The opposition leader and the shadow ministers are expected to use a fine toothcomb to scrutinise the policies, programmes and projects of ministers of His Majesty’s Government, while the Prime Minister and his ministers are not expected to take offence for being criticised by their opposite numbers.

They will do the same anyway, if and whenever they are out of government and the shoe is on the other foot. It is probably one of the best ways that the British know to put a government on its toes and hold the ministers accountable to the electorate.

It doesn’t look as if the individuals that Prof Pat Utomi has nominated into the “Big Tent Coalition of Shadow Government” are members of the 10th House of Representatives, nor are they about to run for the house in any election. They shouldn’t pose an “insurrectional” threat to the government.

Utomi is probably thinking of a platform that can be used to help steer governance to better ways of providing existential political goods, like healthcare, and education; social goods, like law and order, ethics, transparency and integrity; and infrastructure, for Nigerian citizens.

He argued, for instance, that the policy choices of the government of President Tinubu Bola Tinubu had worsened poverty, driven multinational corporations out of Nigeria and intensified terrorism. He forgot to add the scourge of the high cost of foodstuffs.

The self-imposed assignment that Utomi and his cohort want to impose on themselves is not so much different from what the media, which is created by Section 22 of Nigeria’s constitution, has been undertaking even from the days of the nationalists who fought for Nigeria’s independence.

The government should, therefore, take his initiative in its stride and not fret over a legitimate aspect of the practice of democracy, whereby contrary opinions must be heard even if the opinion of the government that was voted into office will prevail.

Utomi’s criticism is not too different from the “pepper” that Obafemi Awolowo, First Republic’s leader of the opposition, or even General Olusegun Obasanjo, notable public letter writer, usually gave to military and civilian governments on behalf of the Nigerian people.

Nor is it different from the words of former Interim Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Bisi Akande, who said, the “failure of intelligence, political naivety and a disconnect between… Jonathan’s administration and… realities of the Nigerian situation”, caused Boko Haram insurgent to flourish under his watch.

APC’s one-man riot squad, “weapon of mass destruction” and National Publicity Secretary, Lai Muhammed, also counselled President Jonathan to tread softly as his intention to fire Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Lamido Sanusi may end up destroying the CBN.

He warned President Jonathan against untidy handling of the sacking of Sanusi and pointed to the negative implications that may “include a loss of confidence in the economic management of the country, leading to uncertainty among domestic and foreign investors, as well as pressure on the (foreign) exchange rate”.

He added: “Foreign portfolio investors in government bonds and the stock market (may) make their exit, (with) the corresponding fall in the value of share prices… (as) a protracted standoff between the President and the CBN Governor will spell bad news for economic growth and incredible poverty.”

And, in the classic mode of a lethal member of a shadow government, Muhammed warned President Jonathan “against precipitating a crisis in the economy, (as he urged) all Nigerians to advise him against such an imminent tragedy”.

How are these submissions any different from the following savaging of British Prime Minister Starmer by Badenoch? “Starmer is a failure of a prime minister; when Labour (Party) negotiates, Britain loses; and his (first) budget means fewer jobs, lower growth and higher borrowing costs.”

Even in America, the bastion of presidential government, Senators and Congressmen of the opposition party, sometimes assume the posture of a shadow cabinet and render (sometimes) senseless and virulent criticisms of the President and his government.

America’s Democratic Party President, Barak Obama, got vicious shellacking when members of America’s Republican Party ripped apart his Affordable Act Care health plans that would not only take care of poor, vulnerable and economically dislocated Americans who cannot pay for their treatment, but care for all sick American citizens.

In 2010, Republican John Boehner of Ohio started the assault against Obamacare like this: “I think it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this “monstrosity’”, even though the Republicans ended up not repealing the Act.

Maybe the government should have just regarded Utomi, Tinubu critic, Dele Farotimi, who has the portfolio of the ombudsman, and the rest of their “gang”, as mere political irritants, like the proverbial fly in the ointment.

Some are playing with the idea that Utomi’s “Big Tent” has two legitimate purposes: To check opposition politicians from further defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress and to accommodate broad shades of political groups within one coalition, instead of having splinter groups that are doomed to lose elections.

Those who criticise politicians for defecting have the military intrusion into Nigeria’s political space to blame. The military’s unitary administrative model “socialised” state actors to think that opposition, in any form, is necessarily an enemy that must be hunted down at all costs.

The military’s imposition of a presidential system in Nigeria in 1979 fostered a winner-takes-all mindset on Nigerian politicians, who are generally sore losers that always want to be on the winning side: It explains why they defect from the opposition to ruling political parties, without qualms.

The suing of Utomi by gumshoes, the Department of State Services, because the “activities and statements made by the defendant and his associates are capable of misleading segments of the Nigerian public, weakening confidence in the legitimacy of the elected government, and fueling public disaffection” is unnecessary overkill.

And adding the name of Farotimi to the charge list leads one to wonder if the DSS is fighting a proxy war on behalf of a nonagenarian attorney. Or is it a rehash of Femi Osofisan’s dramatic comedy, “Who is Afraid of Solarin?”

Popular Nigerian musician Raoul John Njeng-Njeng, widely known as Skales, has opened up about why most artists miss their blessings.

He made this statement via his X handle on Monday, stating that determination is key.

He claimed that many artists lack patience and often quit just before their blessings arrive.

He encouraged artists to remain persistent.

“Your music will take you places all over the globe. You just need to be consistent enough to see it happen.

“Most artists quit before the blessings show up. Keep going,” he wrote.

DAILY POST recalls that the artist stated his life has been restarted after his hit song Shake Body trended again, 10 years after its release, following Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal’s viral dance.

[DailyPost]