Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s penchant for self-promotional, cock and bull stories that are as deceitful as they are unconvincing, is legendary. His appetite for far-fetched and fanciful tales of highly dubious validity is out of this world. It was, therefore, not surprising that he was in his elements on Saturday, January 25, when he claimed that he now lives off rentals from one of his two houses in Kaduna.

To be sure, in a country where even local government chairmen live ostentatiously and own multiple properties here and abroad, Buhari’s three houses – two in Kaduna and one in Daura – should positively count for him, assuming that is true. But who owns the house he stays in the United Kingdom? Has he any house in Niger Republic, where he warned Nigerians he would relocate to after his presidency if anyone dares trouble him? Who owns the property where his wife, Aisha, luxuriates in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Buhari’s incredulous claim that one of his Kaduna houses is rented out, providing him with funds for his upkeep beggars belief. That means that after his two-term presidency, he now relies on one of his houses in Kaduna to raise money for feeding. Speaking at an All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meeting at the Presidential Banquet Hall of the Katsina Government House, Buhari said, “After my eight years as a civil president, I have only three houses; one in Daura and two in Kaduna. I have given one out for renting where I get money for feeding.” It was a subtle campaign, carefully nuanced to sustain the Buhari incorruptibility myth.

Nigerians are incensed and understandably so. Prof Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), poignantly captured their accusatory mood: “Someone should please tell @MBuhari that he is no longer running for the office of Messiah and, therefore, no longer has any need to keep lying about his earthly acquisitions,” Odinkalu tweeted. Even with his barely disguised disgust, Odinkalu was more charitable than some others. A former Nigerian ambassador to one of the Southern African countries under Buhari wrote: “Does this man have any brain cells left? How can he deceive himself so badly that he even says this nonsense in public?”

So, does Buhari believe his own lies? Yes, he does. That is why he keeps repeating them. But this particular cock and bull story is so outlandish. Buahri is not an ordinary Nigerian. He was not only a General of the Nigerian Army, but also a military head of state and elected president. Nigerian military top-brass retire with mouth-watering emoluments, which have even been further enhanced by President Bola Tinubu. According to the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers and Enlisted Personnel in the Nigerian Armed Forces, which Tinubu signed on December 14, 2024, the Chief of Defence Staff and service chiefs are entitled to a bulletproof SUV or its equivalent, Peugeot 508 or an equivalent vehicle as backup to be replaced every four years and maintained by the military; five domestic aides (two service cooks, two stewards and one civilian gardener); an Aide-de-Camp/security officer, special assistant, personal assistant and standard guard (nine soldiers); three service drivers; one service orderly, escorts and free medical cover in Nigeria and abroad.

 Though Buhari was retired as a Major General at the age of 43 on August 27, 1985 after spending only 23 years in the military (1962-1985), he was the head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria for 20 months. So, he is entitled to the same benefits accruing to the CDS and service chiefs who were under his command. Besides, the upkeep of former presidents is statutory as stated in the “Remuneration of former Presidents and Heads of State Act 1999,” which provided for the remuneration and perquisites of office of former heads of state and former vice presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Act which also specifies the allowances to be paid to family members of deceased former presidents and heads of State, explicitly states: “The Federal Government of Nigeria shall in its annual budget make provision for the remuneration of former Heads of State and former Vice-Presidents.”

Buhari is entitled to all these benefits. In fact, unlike former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was not in the military, Buhari enjoys bounteous retirement benefits as a former military top brass and ex-president. So, simply put, once again, Buhari lied. And that raises a very fundamental question. Does he believe in his own lies? Apparently he does, which explains why he continues to make these bogus claims. Some people have also wondered why it was necessary for him to tell this cock and bull story, so hare-brained that it only elicited incredulous gasps from Nigerians. For him, the cock and bull stories have become habitual, a way of life. But more importantly, he persists in telling these fibs because they serve his purpose. These far-fetched, howbeit self-promotional cock and bull stories define the Buhari essence. He has profiteered from his lies and at 82 years, it is too late in the day to change. People don’t learnt how to be left-handed in old age.

On October 16, 2014, Buhari formally declared his ambition to run for the presidency once again, blasting the then Jonathan-led PDP administration of leading the country towards the precipice. He purchased the N25 million APC presidential nomination form with a purported bank loan. Did Buhari use Aso Rock as collateral for the loan and when did he pay back? Buhari lamented what he called the “high cost” of the nomination form. Yet, under his watch, the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) fixed the cost of its presidential expression of interest and nomination forms at N100 million in 2023, a proof of his hypocrisy. The N25 million cock and bull bank loan story was a deliberate ploy to create the impression that he was different from the pack of Nigerian leaders by not enriching himself while he was in public office.

Yet, this same man became president and refused to fulfil his promise of public declaration of assets, a task which his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, easily accomplished even without making such promise on the hustings. Buhari’s latest cock and bull story of sustaining himself out of office with the rent he collects from his Kaduna property is another ploy to wheedle the unwary and sustain the lie that he did not enrich himself corruptly. But how could Buhari be a Mr Clean when his administration has been adjudged one of the most corrupt in Nigeria’s post-independence history? And this verdict was given not by the opposition but chieftains of the ruling APC who succeeded him. How could Buhari be a saint when most, if not all his lieutenants, including personal aides and ministers are being tried for massive corruption? 

But can anyone blame Buhari for this insulting holier-than-thou hubris? In any country other than the banana republics of Africa, including Nigeria, Buhari will be busy accounting for his wretched eight-year stewardship, a record he should be ashamed of. And if he is held to account, he will not be insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians with his cock and bull stories. On August 17, 2023, I wrote an article, Why Buhari must be put on trial, where I stated, emphatically, that elsewhere, presidents are called upon to give account of their stewardship and those found wanting are punished. It is even more so in the case of Buhari because even if no criminal charges are brought against him – I don’t see why not having presided over a criminal enterprise in the name of governance – he should be put on trial… for not doing his job well enough and ruining Nigeria, literally.

Any claim by Tinubu of fighting corruption that excludes holding Buhari to account is a hoax. This perpetual immunity which Aso Rock tenancy confers on former presidents is the reason why corruption festers and why Buhari waxes lyrical about his incorruptibility with his cock and bull stories, which every Nigerian knows is a scam.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) appears to be a victim of polarised perception. While the Bureau may not have engineered it, dilemmas in message reception are a cause. This crisis comes when individuals or entities act innocently, reeling out information they consider reasonable or expertly cultivated but lacking control over how it is received. The control is open to many vagaries. The vagaries are uncertain, turning positive or negative, popular or unpopular. The sender can be celebratory when popular but disillusioned when otherwise, depending on self-esteem or zeal to power on.

Sometimes, a sender strikes believability with a category or categories of audiences, while others will remain brickwalls, completely untrusting of the information. The ultimate wish of most senders of information, especially in public spaces, is for the message to resonate with as many people as possible or with the critical mass of the audience in segments. The NBS is caught between this balancing act of perception and credibility, considering the body’s status as the pivot of national data collection and as the provider of valuable figures for development planning.

NBS figures will likely be caught in a politically polarised nation like Nigeria, not because the organisation is lacking in quality expertise, making it look like a quasi-research and development outfit, or because its research processes are not compliant with international best practices, enhanced by its regular collaboration with multilateral organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, The United Nations Development Organisation (UNDP), amongst others but because it just had to experience its portion of cynics, and its city of critics.

Statistics are data or computations largely emerging from a painstaking process of applying techniques to unearth realities, gain insights into a phenomenon and leverage it for development. It is a social scientific route to quantitative knowledge production, moving away from a prosaic, descriptive pattern for visualising realities and essences in figurative, illustrative and graphical patterns. Though they might be fraught with limitations, these are usually not enough to obfuscate the benefit, provided methods are reasonably chosen, mixed and dutifully executed, and in so far as analysis is also evidence-driven, fact-based and rigorous.

The NBS is saddled with these responsibilities on behalf of Nigeria, investigating Gross Domestic Product (GDP), trade and industry, trade statistics, population and demographics, financial and monetary data, labour and employment, social and welfare data, transportation and infrastructure, prices and cost of living,  agriculture,  energy and environment, crime and security, information and communication technology, and special surveys and reports, comprising data on health, education, and child welfare, multiple indicator cluster surveys and data on poverty and social welfare. Objectivity and freedom from values are the expected characteristics of the outcomes.

But why do people disbelieve or become unkind in remarks on the NBS figures? First is the possible disparity between reality and data, which should not be the case if research is to be trusted. Second is the more significant problem of trust in government and its agencies, resulting from past failures and the government’s persistent inability to deliver on promises. The third is suspicion of political influence, which can hardly be the case given the body’s practices, including partnerships with global agencies. Fourth is illiteracy preventing people from appreciating the process of gathering statistics; fifth is past disappointments arising from gross misrepresentation of facts.

However, there are many more reasons why NBS should be believed. Some of these are the fact that its investigations often go through third-party validation, in addition to scientific techniques, with some being modern tools and applications for research. NBS has also improved the practice of leveraging digital tools and engendering increased transparency with public access to its methods and datasets. These should prove openness and confidence in its productions.

It should also be remembered that NBS is regularly audited, while the bourgeoning public interest in its figures should necessarily be a guardrail for right conduct. Again, the organisation’s outputs often align with those of autonomous agencies, where its benchmarks are comparative. Importantly, mistrusting the NBS data appears a recipe for chaotic planning, considering its relevance to decision-making and business planning.

The establishment is to announce a new GDP for the country. This is coming after the landmark modification in the nation’s labour force figures, which replaced the methodology for calculating it. The organisation’s helmsman, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, has argued that the Rebasing is a vital exercise that ensures our economic indicators are current and accurate reflections of the financial realities on the ground”

He continued “As economies evolve, new industries emerge, and consumption patterns shift” The outcome of all these is that statistics will capture the changes, including the expansion of the digital economy, the input from the Marine and Blue economy, Pension Funds, and addition from the creative industry.  Moreover, Prince Adeniran said “Rebasing our GDP and CPI allows us to align with these transformations, providing a more precise and relevant picture of Nigeria’s economic landscape. This process is foundational to informed policymaking, strategic planning, and effective governance”

The NBS chief is not done yet “It is one exercise the NBS conducts with significant importance and professionalism. The rebasing exercise is designed to ensure that our economic indicators accurately reflect the current structure of our economy, incorporating new and emerging sectors, updating our consumption baskets, and refining our data collection methods. This is our responsibility as the official producer of data in Nigeria.”

Well said, but how much will the populace trust this heartfelt declaration? English statistician and scientist Francis Galton once said, “Statistics are the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of Man.”  Statistics, a United Nations (UN) document stressed “exists to provide information to the general public, governments, business and research communities in the economic, demographic, social and environmental fields. This information is essential for evidence-based decision-making, for mutual knowledge and trade” Because of this, another sage added, statistics should not be regarded as “opinions; (but) the unbiased record of a nation’s reality.” Need I say more?

Adeniyi is a professor of mass communication and dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies, Baze University, Abuja.

Pep Guardiola said he cannot see Manchester City winning the Champions League on current form, but believes his side will be better when they face the might of either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich next month.

City needed a second-half fightback from 1-0 down to beat Club Brugge 3-1 on Wednesday to avoid crashing out before the knockout stages for the first time since 2012.

Their reward could be just a stay of execution against either the defending champions or Guardiola’s former club Bayern. 

City have also been a diminished force in the Premier League this season, where they sit fourth — 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.

But Guardiola is hopeful they will be strengthened by the return of key players from injury and new signings Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis in the coming weeks.

“Right now no. I’m so realistic,” said Guardiola when asked if the 2023 champions could win the competition again.

“Madrid is back in terms of results, Bayern played an incredible season so far with (coach) Vinny (Kompany). If we have to play tomorrow it will be difficult but in two weeks we don’t know.

“We are going to prepare well, be fit and try it and see what happens.”

Despite their struggles, City have won six and drawn one of their last eight games.

“At least lately we are getting results,” added Guardiola. “We are fourth in Premier League, not in the title race, no way, but still we are there.

“FA Cup we are there. Sometimes it is impossible today but tomorrow the mindset, the vibes change and I’m pretty sure we will try and create problems for Madrid or Bayern.”

City’s narrow escape played a central role on a dramatic final night for the first season of the Champions League’s new Swiss model format.

Guardiola said he could appreciate the change has made the early stages of the competition more appealing to fans, even if it caused him far more tension.

And he believes other big clubs will face similar struggles in the future.

“As a spectator how many things (were still to be decided) is nice. The problem is we play more games in October, November, December and in the future important teams will live what we lived this season.

“We were on the verge, 45 minutes from being out. It is an incredible lesson for me, the club that nothing is (taken) for granted.

“Congratulate the team because still they have pride and we’ll see how we arrive in two weeks.”

[Vanguard]

A Gwagwalada Magistrates’ Court, Abuja on Thursday sentenced two lovers, Mohammed Nazifi, 30, and Bilkisu Ibrahim, 25, to three months imprisonment each for adultery.

The police charged the lovers with a one-count charge of adultery by man and woman, to which they pleaded guilty.

Nazifi pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying he was a married man with little children to take care of.

Ibrahim also begged the court for mercy, saying she had a 3-year-old child and an aged mother, who depended on her.

The Magistrate, Olatunji Oladunmoye, had previously remanded the convicts in order for them to provide a witness that would vouch for their conduct of good character.

He finally sentenced them when they could not provide any.

Oladunmoye sentenced the lovers to 3 months imprisonment each with an option of N25,000 fine each.

The magistrate said the essence of the punishment was not to ruin or destroy the convicts but to reform them.

He added that it would also serve as a deterrent to anyone who wanted to toe the same path.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Dabo Yakubu, told the court that the complainant, Mr Dayabe Abdullahi of Chibiri village, Kuje, Abuja, reported the matter at the Area Command, Gwagwalada, Abuja on Jan. 16.

Yakubu said that the convicts conspired and had sexual intercourse, and both confessed to the crime in their statements.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 387 and 388 of the Penal Code.

According to him, sections 387 and 388 refer to a man or a woman subject to customary law where extra-marital sexual intercourse is recognised as a criminal offence.

“If the man or woman has sexual intercourse with anyone other than his spouse, he/she is guilty of adultery and shall be punished with imprisonment for a term. The term may extend to two years or with fine or with both,” he said.

NAN

The West has always been fascinated with Africa’s wealth, beginning from the slave trade to the present. King Leopold and the Congo comes readily to mind.

An intriguing documentary, The Empire Pays Back, broadcast on the UK’s Channel 4 in 2005 expounded on Britain’s debt to Africa. It was a precursor, in many ways, to the now strident calls for restitution and reparation.

In a scathing piece by Richard Drayton published by The Guardian, he made the case that “Britain was the principal slaving nation of the modern world.” Des Eskin’s book, The Brutish Empire: Four Centuries of Colonial Atrocities as well as Dan Hick’s The Brutish Museums

The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution extend the conversation.

In the present century, China has entered the fray with the LSE highlighting the continuing scramble for Africa: “If we separate African countries into two groups – the resource-rich countries and the resource-poor countries – the nature of resource endowment (rich or poor) is a strong explainer of the divergent distribution of Chinese FDIs across Africa. The resource-rich countries receive an overwhelming share of Chinese FDIs in Africa.”

This introduction is important in situating the decades’ old conversation around OPL 245 and Dan Etete’s role in the matter. The overwhelming sentiment is one of corruption and self-serving opportunism but it is not new. Where resources are available, the capitalist and imperialist vultures of the West will circle above.

If you ask the average enlightened Nigerian whether he knows Dan Etete, his answer will almost certainly dwell on the reference to Malabu Oil and OPL 245. It’s quite remarkable though that if one should probe deeper, the bloke will not be able to say what exactly the issue is.

Truth is foreign interests and the Federal Government had not been up to par on the transaction in many respects. The story almost always appears to end on the note of reading that Dan Etete was found guilty in France. But of course, take a detour from the prevailing narrative and you will discover that the French granted him a full pardon.

So, why is Dan Etete always referred to in negative terms? As they would say in popular lingo, “Wetin dis Dan Etete do sef?”

What exactly happened with the Malabu Oil and the OPL 245 transaction? How come Dan Etete keeps being accused of corruption when the Federal Government, a foreign government and a respectable British bank certified the payment of the sum of $1.3bn to him and his company?

Let’s take a trip to the website of ENI, the Italian oil giant that was part of the transaction where an explanation is presented regarding the payment of $1.092 billion as compensation for the revocation of Malabu Oil’s rights to OPL 245 after years of legal wrangling and contentious back-and-forth:

“To break the deadlock, the FGN’s then Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, proposed the following solution to the parties: first, the FGN would be the sole party to the contract with Eni and Shell; and second, the FGN would settle the ongoing legal disputes with Shell and Malabu by paying the latter compensation for giving up the rights to OPL 245.

“On 29 April 2011, Eni, Shell and the FGN signed a Resolution Agreement that transferred the rights to OPL 245 to Eni and Shell. This agreement included settlements made solely between Eni and Shell and the FGN, represented by the Ministers of Petroleum, Justice, and Finance.

“As part of this agreement, Shell and Eni paid $1.3 billion (the price plus the signature bonus) to an escrow account opened by the Nigerian Government with JP Morgan in London.

“During the same period, the FGN paid Malabu $1.092 billion as compensation for revoking the rights to OPL 245. Malabu dropped its complaints against the Nigerian Government.”

In order to fully understand the story, let’s go back to the beginning, to 1998 when General Sani Abacha, the man in the dark glasses, was Head of State and Dan Etete was Petroleum Minister, pushing the vision to increase indigenous participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.

It was on April 29, 1998 that the FGN under Sani Abacha awarded OPL 245 to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd with Minister of Petroleum Dan Etete amongst the shareholders. Exploration was hindered between 1998 and 2011 due to legal disputes and international arbitrations intervolving the FGN, Shell, and Malabu.

It is noteworthy that in 1999 when the FGN revoked the licenses of 31 OPLs, Malabu’s OPL 245 was not included in the list. In fact the company was asked to commence exploration. However, political intrigues supervened when on July 2, 2001 the FGN revoked the granting of exploration rights to Malabu without providing any warning or giving a reason for its decision, and reallocated the rights to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the state oil company.

Malabu Oil reacted on September 10, 2003 by filing a lawsuit against the Nigerian Government and Shell. Then on November 30, 2006 the FGN, NNPC and Malabu entered into a settlement agreement whereby OPL 245 was again allocated to Malabu, only for Shell to respond by suing the FGN.

The almost intractable deadlock was resolved on April 29, 2011 when the FGN, Shell and Eni signed the Resolution Agreement that transferred the rights to OPL 245 to Eni and Shell. This led to the FGN paying $1.092 to Malabu as compensation for revoking the rights, and Malabu thereafter dropped its complaints against the Nigerian Government.

A report by WoodMackenzie provides some context as to why this case has continued to excite conversation: “Deepwater OPL 245 is located in the southern Niger Delta. Two large oil and gas discoveries, Etan and Zabazaba, were made in 2005 and 2006. The block is believed to contain around 1 billion barrels of oil of discovered and prospective resources.”

One billion is a huge number and its estimated value of $3.5bn makes OPL 245 one of the most lucrative basins in Nigeria and thus the interest from oil giants across Europe, and with so much at stake, the stakes, pardon the pun, will be very high with accusations of corruption flying high, and in such instance any Nigerian official involved in the process such as Dan Etete, will always be left with the short end of the stick in a business deal with foreigners.

In a 2019 story in The Africa Report, Dan Etete who rarely grants interviews to the press asked a rhetorical question of his interlocutor: “Shell and Malabu have always fought each other. How could two enemies have united to corrupt the government?”

Dan Etete’s story alongside the ensuing controversies around OPL 245 reads in many ways like fiction, and it is to a fictional tale that we will now repair for context in understanding how Africans are corrupt while those from the West are investors.

Those interested can look up British writer and politician Jeffrey Archer’s short story entitled “Clean Sweep Ignatius” to read about the West’s view of corruption among Africa’s political elite.

But ironically, the man who wrote that tongue-in-cheek story ended up being sentenced to four years imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice after having served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1986 under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher!

There you have it; the stereotype that foreign interests must perforce find a black sheep to heap the blames on when doing business in Africa, especially Nigeria. The result is that we end up missing the essence and dwelling on the concocted accident built around the hapless black sheep.

For decades, Dan Etete has been in the eye of the storm, but to what end? The fact is OPL 245 was a very profitable block such that multiform interests wanted a piece of the pie. JP Morgan, Shell, Eni and the FGN have since sorted matters out without Dan Etete being a cog.

The Nigerian should not end up as the butt of every joke as depicted by Peter Enahoro in his book How To Be A Nigerian where an English gentleman eating chocolate in a London restaurant looked at a Nigerian who was noisily chewing on chicken bones.

Excuse me Mister, if you eat the bones, what do you feed your dogs in Nigeria?

Aware that the question was not innocent, the smart Nigerian pointed at the white man’s plate and answered: “Chocolate,”– thus countering the single story!

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, says President Bola Tinubu would not cede power to the younger generation without a fight. 

He added that politicians often resort to extreme measures to win elections.

The former governor of Rivers spoke in Abuja at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development.

Amaechi harped on the need for political vigilance, warning that power must be fought for, urging Nigerians to always safeguard their votes if they intend to achieve a semblance of credible leadership.

“None of you here seated can defend the votes. If you have complained, complain, Nigerians have been clapping for you,” he said.

“The only way Ibrahim Shekarau became governor was because people lined up.

“It happened in Ghana before the election of the last president. Two days, a lot of us were called to intervene. But why did they do that? The people were ready to die.

“You are talking and abusing everybody. Nobody has power and will give it to you — not even me. If you want a pastor as president, go and get one.

“The politician is there in Nigeria to steal, maim, and kill to remain in power. If you think Tinubu will give it to you, you are wasting your time.”

Amaechi recounted his experience in the days leading to the 2015 presidential election — when a newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He attributed APC’s success to the determination and preparedness of leaders of the party to go the extra mile.

The ex-minister noted that former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat only after realising that the APC was fully prepared to defend its mandate.

He asked citizens to adopt similar measures in future elections.

In October 2024, Amaechi said he is disappointed in Nigerians for their laid-back disposition to the prevailing economic hardship.

“The people should be angry. There should be protests. Not even protests against anybody but against the politicians that ‘we won’t vote’,” he had said.

The ruling APC had clapped back at Amaechi, saying he is one of those who destroyed Nigeria.

Amaechi was one of the 14 aspirants for the presidential ticket of the APC before the 2023 general election.

He polled second in the primary election with 316 votes, behind eventual winner Tinubu, who secured 1, 271 votes.

[TheCable]

I can understand if many people outside the US wish to forget about President Donald Trump and get on with their lives. However hard you try, you can’t keep up with the chaos in the White House since January 20.

It would be a defamation of the animal kingdom to call Trump a bull in a China shop. He is worse. Regrettably, Trump is inspiring copycats around the world, and it won’t be long before they start following his example, especially his anti-immigration hysteria.

Trump didn’t create the migrant crisis facing the world. He wasn’t there when the Huns, Goths, and Vandals invaded Europe, marking the first recorded significant migration and reshaping European demographics. Conquests, geography, tyranny, wars, or the sheer human desire for new frontiers have always led to different kinds of migration. Even the contemporary rise in migrations had nothing to do with Trump.

Before Trump

For example, the Syrian Civil War, the destabilisation of Central Asia, and later the conflicts in Sudan and Central Africa, all of which also had nothing to do with Trump, have been some of the biggest migration triggers in the last nearly two decades.

However, the cruelty of Trump’s approach has been different, something that otherwise civilised countries—including Britain—are surprisingly fascinated by. Deporting undocumented migrants using military planes and hunting them down in sanctuaries by executive orders that read like martial laws is, let’s put it plainly, fascist.

We saw a bit of it in his first coming, but the fragile balance in Congress restrained him. Now, there are nearly no guardrails except perhaps the courts. Under Trump, this new face of US exceptionalism may gradually gain appeal in other parts of the world, mainly Europe.

More than a report

On January 22, The Telegraph of the UK carried a story whose timing could hardly have been fortuitous. The story, published as the first batch of Mexican immigrants were being herded aboard a military aircraft at the US southern border, was entitled, “Up to one in 12 in London is an illegal migrant.” 

The story said, “Government ‘must do more on deportations’ as new estimate suggests more than one million people are illegally living in the UK,” with London, the largest haven, hosting 585,000 of these illegal immigrants.

The report said these numbers may even be underestimated and blamed illegal immigrants for the pressure on the health service, public utilities and infrastructure. The Labour government must crack down on illegal immigrants, the report said, to save Britain from imminent ruin.

Stoking the flames

Immigrant bashing is not new in Britain. That was one of the main reasons for Brexit. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Co. fabricated numbers to suggest that not only foreigners from faraway places but also eastern Europeans were stealing British jobs and making the country hell when many of these immigrants were doing odd jobs that British citizens were not interested in. Farage’s Reform UK party rode on the back of this illiberal sentiment to get 14 percent of the votes in the last election. He is still stoking the flames. 

In a slight reinvention of what Abraham Lincoln did with Liberia in the 19^th century, UK Conservatives under Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak made a deal that could potentially ship off about 52,000 asylum seekers to Rwanda in a few years. As controversial as this deal remains, it’s considered better than the misery under which migrants, including children, were held indefinitely in detention camps.

The danger of the Trump model

However, if the prevailing Trump model takes hold in Britain or elsewhere in Europe, even detention camps in Manus or Nauru may soon look like redemption centres. Grabbing people from wherever they may be found, handcuffing them and herding them off to the airports to be deported on military flights like war criminals may appease right-wing sentiments in the short run. Still, it hardly addresses the root cause of the crisis: though the decision is hardly random, people will go wherever they believe they will have a better life if they can pay the price.

The other side of the argument is that governments must also take action to protect their citizens and their countries. Yet, in doing so, civilised countries recognise there are international conventions, including the Geneva Convention on Refugees, that protect migrants, especially those fleeing persecution. The current Trumpian model tears families – including children – apart, treating potential deportees like animals.

Mind the gap

It’s a model that Britain and the rest of Europe must resist. Trump is an aberration, even though the next four years may feel like a lifetime. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries; the US, a country with a significant immigrant gene (13 percent of the population is born outside), will hardly shed it in four years of a chaotic government.

One of the most iconic Republican Presidents, Ronald Reagan, once said, “Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands.”

Schengen countries, particularly Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Belgium, tend to face more significant pressure due to geographical and historical ties with non-European countries. Yet, this is the more reason Europe needs to resist being Trump’s copycats because we have seen that xenophobia has far more deadly effects on the stability of these societies than it might have in the US, with a larger, better-adjusted migrant population.

Changing attitudes

It’s fair to argue that the resurgence of violent extremism, the narcotic trade, not to mention other franchises of criminal gangs trafficking in humans, have blurred the lines between genuine migrants and refugees, putting host countries at serious risk. Yet populist politicians do severe damage by exploiting the fears and magnifying the problem.

After 9/11, attitudes towards migrants, especially those from largely poor Muslim countries, have been exploited by Western politicians often to create the trope that their culture and civilisation are under siege. Yet, in a country like France, for example, with a significant Muslim population, studies have shown that people believe the number of Muslims to be four times the actual figure. At the same time, in the UK, their presence was overestimated by a factor of three.

Historically, migration has never been in one direction, even for countries that were once major destinations. Yet Trump’s recent actions evoke Idi-Amin framing Indians and Pakistanis as the problem with Uganda decades ago, after which he brutally expelled 50,000 of them or the Nigerian government in the 1980s under Shehu Shagari expelling thousands of Ghanaians, only for Nigerians to find that the real problem was an incompetent political leadership.

Migration is not a destination

Thomas Sowell’s book Migrations and Cultures: A World View, a classic on the subject, records that even though the migrations of conquerors, refugees, slaves, and sojourners have been outstripped by those of migrants going to settle permanently in new lands, “It has been estimated that, between the mid-1830s and the late 1930s, approximately 30 million people left the Indian subcontinent and nearly 24 million returned.”

Any country anxious to emulate Trump should remember that migration is a process, not always a destination. While some sojourners never leave to return to their countries of origin, some keep moving, and others, like Trump’s grandfather, who emigrated to the U.S. from Germany to avoid military service, return despite the odds.

Migration can be harmful and good, but the single narrative that frames it as the root cause of nearly all of today’s social problems is lazy populism, which denies even the personal odysseys of its propagators.

In January 2000, THISDAY moved from a rented property in Ikeja, Lagos to its current corporate headquarters at 35 Creek Road, Apapa. The fully computerised newsroom was a first in the country at the time. We had hardly settled when our Chairman, Prince Nduka Professor (middle name on his birth certificate) Obaigbena, called for a meeting of editors, line editors and reporters. He handed each of us a very colourful Mac Book laptop and said “from today, nobody writes with longhand in THISDAY. Everybody must type or edit stories personally and send it straight to the planner.” Apart from Waziri Adio who had returned from his Master’s degree programme at Columbia University in the United States with a laptop and Eniola Bello (who had learnt how to type), the rest of us had no clue how to use a computer. So, the whole idea sounded ridiculous. And we made our views known.

Before then, we would pass our handwritten stories to a pool of typists or “computer operators.” Now that he was insisting everyone would type their own stories, he had effectively cut out that stage of the production process and rendered the typists redundant. Juliana Taiwo (now Mrs Obanloye) was one of those ‘computer operators’ who took the opportunity to go back to school, became a reporter at THISDAY and is currently the State House Correspondent for the SUN Newspaper. But it was a tough decision back then. Considering that THISDAY was always late to the newsstand at that time and there were serious complaints from agents and vendors, we knew what had just been introduced would only compound the situation. The more we argued that we needed time to introduce the new practice, the more Obaigbena became adamant that implementation was immediate. When we told him that the decision could take our newspaper completely out of the market, he said, “THISDAY readers will wait for us”.

As THISDAY Newspapers celebrate its 30th anniversary, it is difficult to think of any other individual who has had as much impact on the practice of journalism in this country in the last few decades than Obaigbena. The anniversary therefore presents an opportunity to reflect on the ethos of a publisher who defies norms. While some of us prefer structure, long-term planning and certainty, he is a man who never bothers to calculate the probability of whether an idea would succeed or fail. And to him, whatever needs to be done must be done immediately regardless of the prevailing circumstances. I recall one of the editors once confronting Obaigbena, “Chairman, you are the kind of man who would impregnate a woman and ask her to deliver the baby immediately. Life doesn’t work that way.” Yet, I cannot count the number of times that he presented us with situations, which we argued were impossible and ended up proving us wrong.

In his column last Sunday, Simon Kolawole wrote about the ‘Hell Yes’ audacity of Obaigbena as a publisher. But part of it also stems from a disposition that believes “If I fail, it won’t define me; It only means that I tried”; afterall, THISDAY’s attempt to publish in South Africa did not work out and the enormous costs involved almost took our newspaper down in Nigeria. That unsuccessful experiment accounted for why when the idea of ARISE Television was broached, some of us were not enthusiastic, to put it mildly. I recall the first meeting with editors when Obaigbena conceived the idea almost two decades ago. “The future of journalism is in the electronic,” he said in what we believed to be a rationalisation for another fancy project. “The print will die.” Because some of us fought the idea at the time, we were labelled ‘enemies of ARISE’ but today we can see what he saw back then. So, here is also a toast to ARISE Television at 12.

Obaigbena is a man of relentless vision. He saw the disruptions that were coming to the journalism profession many years before they even appeared on the horizon here and he wanted to be ahead of the pack. Take the printing in full colour for example. THISDAY did not even have a printing press of its own at the time. And there were times the newspaper was produced from a business centre. But he did not think this was a problem. He simply put people on a plane to the heritage press in Abuja with the camera-ready pages and they returned to Lagos the next morning with copies of the newspaper. Our competitors thought it could not be sustained, until they realised that was the way to go and also began to print in colour. It was THISDAY that rebranded rejoinder to ‘right of reply,’ giving responses from readers prominence before it became the industry standard. THISDAY also introduced the idea of conversations with world leaders by bringing people like former American Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, the late General Colin Powell and several others. On the entertainment side, THISDAY has, at different times, brought Beyonce (who came along with Jay-Z), Snoop Dogg, Dionne Warwick, Toni Braxton, Lionel Richie and many others.

At THISDAY, what Obaigbena has done is to create a work environment that inspires innovation and creativity, especially at the editorial level. He has also helped to nurture a culture that is open to new ideas and flexibility even in the face of uncertainty. And what is perhaps most remarkable is that several of his enduring innovations have appeared dramatically – as if on the spur of the moment. Take for example the much-celebrated THISDAY backpage. It all started on a Sunday afternoon in mid 1999. Obaigbena called a meeting of the Board of Editors and said he had decided to assign the backpage to individual columnists. Without much elaboration, he simply asked for some sheets of paper and began writing. He would finish a page and hand it over to each one of us to read. “I am writing my backpage for tomorrow as I will be writing every Monday. Victor Ifijeh (current Managing Director of ‘The Nation’ newspapers) will be writing on Tuesday. Eniola Bello (current THISDAY Managing Director) will write on Wednesday. Segun, you will be writing on Thursday. Festus Eriye (current editor of ‘The Nation’ on Sunday) will write on Friday. And Waziri Adio (founder of Agora Policy and immediate past NEITI Executive Secretary) will write on Sunday. There will be no backpage columnist for the Saturday Newspaper.” That’s how the backpage journey started.

Meanwhile, it is not an accident that THISDAY has produced many people who have served government both at the federal and subnational levels in different capacities. Obaigbena encourages reporters and editors to have public sector experiences and exposure, and the usual refrain is always that there is a lot to learn and “if it doesn’t work out, you can always come back to THISDAY.” In many instances, he goes out of his way to negotiate such appointments as was the case with me. Two weeks after the election of Umaru Musa YarAdua as President in April 2007, Dr Aliyu Modibbo, then Minister of Commerce under President Olusegun Obasanjo (who would become Minister of FCT under Yar’Adua) called that he had been directed to sound me out on the appointment of presidential spokesman. Although I appreciated the consideration, I turned down the offer because, as I told him, I had no interest in working for the government. When I informed Obaigbena, his anger was that “Yar’Adua is trying to poach my editor behind my back” but he appreciated that I declined the offer – or so I thought.

On 30th May 2007, a day after Yar’Adua’s inauguration, when I had forgotten about the job offer, I got a call from Obaigbena who was in Abuja. “Look Segun, I am here at the Villa with the president. He insists that it’s you he wants to be his spokesman. I told him that the editor of THISDAY cannot take a public appointment that is not of cabinet level. He has elevated the office to Special Adviser because of you and I have accepted the job on your behalf. Now wait for Mr President.” He then handed his mobile phone to Yar’Adua. That was how I moved from the newsroom to Aso Rock. And on a personal note, I cannot thank Obaigbena enough for the support he gave me while on the job. I had three predecessors. Dr Doyin Okupe was a Special Assistant while Mr Tunji Oseni and Mrs Oluremi Oyo (both now of blessed memory) were Senior Special Assistants. The fact that from my period till now every presidential spokesman has been a Special Adviser is because of the way Obaigbena ranked (and still ranks) the editor of THISDAY!

With the liberal spirit of a publisher blessed with a trail-blazing management style, what makes Obaigbena particularly unique in a newspaper environment is that he likes building consensus even on issues he feels very strongly about. At THISDAY, there is hardly any decision that doesn’t involve the Board of Editors and that includes sidelines like awards, musical and fashion shows that have little to do with mainstream journalism and in which some of us were completely disinterested! THISDAY is also a place where you form life-long relationships. It is a bond that binds permanently and to which anyone who has passed through the newspaper is proud of.

I was at THISDAY/ARISE ceremony in Lagos on Monday night not because of the ceremony (which has never been my thing) but rather to see old faces. And there were many. Tony Onyima, Simon Kolawole, Shina Badaru, Ayo Aminu, Donald Andoor, Sunny Hughes, Iby Dakouru, my own ‘I-Jay baby’ (Ijeoma Nwogwugwu that is), ‘Ruthless Ruth’ (Osime), Constance Ikokwu and so many others: It was a time to celebrate and reflect on the friendships that have endured beyond the newsrooms at Ikeja and Apapa. On a lighter note, it was almost as if there was an award category for dancing between THISDAY and ARISE given the way Eni-B shuffled his feet during the performance by Flavour and Rufai Oseni moved his body in rhythm to the timeless tunes of Diana Ross.

The story of THISDAY is like one of its famous refrains, it never ends. Obaigbena is a lover of the ellipsis, which symbolises an unfinished idea or thought. Each time we get a breaking story that would elicit responses, Obaigbena would ask the editor to insert the famous line: “More to follow…” With all that THISDAY has accomplished in 30 short years, I have no doubt it remains an unfolding story. For sure, there is much more to follow…

The God of Politicians

Amid chants of “Speak for Lagos”, “Continue with your work”, “You are the Speaker”, Mojisola Meranda was escorted to into her new office at the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex on Monday by colleagues. But before the business of the day, there was an intense prayer session. With the former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa still laying claim to the office, it was no surprise that after the loaded Yoruba chorus of how God did what they thought was impossible, one of the members started a session of intense prayers, beginning with thanking God “for disgracing all the enemies around her” while also beseeching the Almighty against “every agent of darkness.” And for those that seek Meranda’s failure or for her to commit error, there was a thunderous declaration met with a fervent Amen: “They shall die!”  

But it is not only in Lagos that our politicians are invoking the name of God into their affairs. At a thanksgiving church service penultimate Sunday in Kolokuma/Opokuma, Bayelsa State, Douye Diri told the congregation how he became “miracle governor”. That’s what he called himself but before I share his ‘testimony’ let me remind readers of what exactly happened. As one of the off-season elections, Bayelsa State gubernatorial election was held on 16 November 2019. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon, secured a landslide victory with 352,552 votes, representing 70.59 percent of the total votes cast to defeat 44 other candidates including Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who came second with 143,172 votes representing 28.66 of total votes cast. But barely 24 hours to Lyon’s inauguration in February 2020, the Supreme Court nullified his election on grounds that his deputy, Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo presented false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding real name and educational qualification. Because of this ‘guilt by association,’ the apex court ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Lyon, delete his votes and immediately declare candidate of the party with the highest number of lawful votes and geographical spread, winner. That was the ‘miracle’ that brought Diri to power in Bayelsa State.

Now to his Church testimony: “Let me reveal to you why it is important to thank God and have faith in Him. Sometime ago, a senior citizen of this country invited me to Abuja and asked me to perform certain sacrifices, but I declined. I told him my faith in God will not allow me to do it. He got angry and told me I would never become governor. He told me that he had spent $10,000 to bring the people for the sacrifice and asked for a refund, which I obliged. When the Supreme Court’s pronouncement came, the man was shocked and could not call me. Sadly, he passed on after some time. The story I have narrated was witnessed by my deputy and a friend in Abuja as both of them accompanied me to visit the senior citizen.”

While we thank God for making Diri Governor in Bayelsa five years ago, the case of Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina State is more prophetic. But nobody should be surprised when it comes to pass. “Some people have circumcised themselves to side talks saying it is a period of four years I will do and come back to them, but who told you that I am coming back to you?” Radda asked before answering his own question. “For me, I will return to the God who gave me this mandate in 2023 to seek for my re-election in 2027.”

I am aware that our politicians are so religious that they and God appear to have a pact when it comes to their aspirations. I just wish the same God who helps them to win elections will also help them to deliver on the public good. Is that too much to ask for?

It must be about forty years ago when I found myself seated next to Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel at a dinner at the Good Earth (Chinese) Restaurant at 233 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London.  The heavyweights around the table were Chief Sobo Sowemimo S.A.N.; Alhaji Femi Okunnu S.A.N.; Dr. Bolaji Ajenifuja; Professor Bolaji Kuti; Alhaji Alade Idris Animashaun; Professor Theo Ogunbiyi; Chief Akin Disu  and several others.  Perhaps it was inevitable that discussions would centre on the widely publicized BBC Panorama programme on Nigeria which was broadcast on the previous day.  The trailer cut straight to the marrow:

“It’s amazing that Nigeria first had Cable lines in 1886 and telephones in 1893.  Electricity followed in 1896 and in 1898 Lagos became the second city in the world (after Munich, Germany) to have electric street lights when most cities were gas lit.  Iju Water Works has been supplying potable water in Lagos since 1910.  What went wrong ?”

Chief Emanuel provided the answer.  With a chuckle he declared:

“King’s College, Lagos !!”

The Old Boys of King’s College around the table – Alhaji Okunnu and Alhaji Idris Animashaun protested vigorously.  However, nothing would dissuade Chief Emanuel from pinning the blame on King’s College.  Anyway, the argument went back and forth.  Chief Emanuel was adamant. He insisted that the British colonial government had founded King’s College in 1909 to groom Nigeria’s future leaders but the Old Boys had abdicated their responsibility.  According to him the country was in ruins and the rescue mission was being dumped on St. Gregory’s College and its Old boys.  It was all said in jest.  Hence, there was no damage inflicted on the conviviality around the table.

Even back then, Chief Emanuel had his tentacles in many businesses.  He was already a tycoon and business mogul at the relatively young age of fifty years.  He did not suffer fools gladly.  In fact, he could be very abrasive.

Here we are forty years later and we are confronted with our latest scorecard and auditor’s report by “The Economist” magazine.  On 11 January 2025, it published a hefty special report entitled “THE AFRICA GAP” which according to “Private Eye” magazine identified a number of ways in which the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world is getting wider.

“If its fifty-four countries are to seize the opportunity they have to do something exceptional:

break with their own past and with the dismal statist orthodoxy that now grips much of the world.  Africa’s leaders will have to embrace business growth and free markets.”

Back to the memorable dinner in Knightsbridge, Londo it was a clear case dereliction Chief Emanuel was in his element – teasing and taunting the old boys of King’s College (Alhaji Okunnu, Alhaji Idris Animashaun and me) for the decay and decadence in Nigeria.  As far as he was concerned, the old boys of King’s College (“KCOB’s) had abdicated their responsibility.

The “KCOB’s” were unanimous in defending the reputation of our alma mater.  However, the more we protested, the more adamant and vehement Chief Emanuel was.  He was having great fun at our expense.  It was all good-hearted banter anyway.  He just would not stop.  He proceeded to highlight the self-evident decay of King’s College – the pristine and elegant colonial structure had become an eyesore.  The classrooms which were meant for only twenty-five students had exploded beyond quadruple that number.  It was the same story with the boarding house and its dormitories.  The toilet facilities had collapsed entirely.

Chief Sowemimo (ex-C.M.S. Grammar School, Lagos) joined forces with Chief Emanuel) So also did Chief Akin Disu (also ex-C.M.S. Grammar School) to regale us with their dismay over the state of affairs in Nigeria and Lagos State in particular.  Whichever way, the old boys of King’s College were the culprits !!  It was confirmation of the old adage – many a true word is said in jest.  The humour was not lost on us the KCOB’s as we retaliated by pointing that both King’s College and St. Gregory’s College had become victims of circumstances.  The chequered history of Nigeria was well known to all of us.  Even if it is true that the British Colonial government  had deliberated created King’s College, Lagos (founded in 1909) as an elite school in the image of Eton College or Harrow schools (public schools) as the incubator for Nigeria’s future leaders, the military coup of January 15 1966 had blown the mission totally off course.  Six months later there was a counter coup which threw the entire nation into turmoil.  The nation was on the verge of breaking up.  From 1966 to 1975, the leadership of Nigeria fell on the head of General Yakubu Gowon (ex-Barewa College, Zaria) who was toppled on 29th July 1975 and replaced by another old boy of Barewa College – General Murtala Muhammed who was assassinated on 13th February 1976 in Lagos.  It was a chilly Friday morning.

Incidentally, I had visited him at his house at 6 Second Avenue, Ikoyi on the day before.  That is a story for another day.  He was replaced by General Olusegun Obasanjo (ex-Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta).  On 1st October 1979, General Obasanjo handed over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari (ex-Barewa College, Zaria).  The Vice-President was Dr. Alex Ekwueme (ex-King’s College, Lagos).

In between all that turmoil and turbulence was the Nigerian Civil war which raged between 1967 and 1970.  It cost more than a million lives.  On the Nigerian side was the Head of State -  General Yakubu Gowon while the Biafran side was led by General Emeka Ojukwu (ex-King’s College, Lagos).

Of course, Chief Emanuel was quick to capitalize on a photograph which was widely circulated.  It was taken at the meeting in Kampala where the OAU (Organisation of African Union) had endeavoured to broker peace between Biafra and Nigeria in 1968.

On the Biafran side was Sir Louis Mbanefo who was my father’s classmate at King’s College and on the Nigerian delegation were Chief Anthony Enahoro (ex-King’s College), Minister of Information, Chief Wenike Briggs (ex-King’s College, Minister of Education; Alhaji Femi Okunnu (ex-King’s College), Minister of Works; Chief Allison Ayida (ex- King’s College) Permanent Secretary; and Chief Philip Asiodu (ex-King’s College) Permanent Secretary.

It was with glee that Chief Emanuel declared that it was all a King’s College, Lagos affair.

However, here is the official report by Reuter:

“Peace talks opened between Federal Nigeria and Secessionist Biafra in Kampala today (Thursday) with both sides agreeing on the need for a ceasefire in their 11-month-old civil war but differing on its timing. President Milton Obote, of Uganda, formally opened the talks in the conference Hall of the Parliament Building.  In speeches at a public opening session, the Biafrans said an immediate cessation of fighting should be the first step of peace, while the Federal side said it wanted discussions first.  Then a ceasefire.  Observers in the Uganda Parliament’s Conference Hall, where the meeting started, noted that while the two sides were strong in condemnation of each other, they appeared to be leaving room for compromise.  

The Nigerian Civil war broke out a month after Biafra’s secession from the federation a year ago and has gradually increased in intensity in recent months.  As the two sides came to the conference table – after months of urging by other African States – Nigeria has captured several important Biafran centres.  The two sides came to Kampala after preliminary talks in London, and the meeting is under the auspices of the commonwealth secretariat, led by the Secretary-General, Mr. Arnold Smith, of Canada.  Both the Federal side and the Biafrans are represented by five-man delegations and are accompanied by observers.  Chief Anthony Enahoro, Commissioner for Information in the Lagos Government, leads the Federal Delegation, while the main Biafran spokesman is Chief Justice and Former World Court Judge, Sir Louis Mbanefo (ex-King’s College)”.

It was uncanny how deferential Chief Emanuel was to Chief Sobo Sowemimo, S.A.N., the Jaguna of Egbaland.  The chemistry between them was palpable and self-evident.  It was Chief Emanuel who whispered to me that Chief Sowemimo was actually the friend of his elder brother, Dr. Abosede Emanuel.  However, the Jaguna of Egbaland was his benefactor.  Jaguna had grown up in Kano.  Hence, he spoke Hausa language fluently and his network of Hausa speaking northerners  was instrumental to Chief Emanuel’s highly lucrative business contacts with the likes of General Murtala Mohammed; General T.Y. Danjuma; Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida; Alhaji  Ahmed Joda; Senator Mahmoud Waziri, etc.

It was well after midnight before we left the Chinese restaurant.  We had been so thoroughly engrossed in dissecting the problems of Lagos; the fate of Nigeria, and the future of democracy  in Africa that we did not notice that the restaurant had closed !!  All the staff had gone home.

Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel and I were the last to leave.  We were neighbours in Chelsea.  All the same he remained an enigma.

His chauffeured and Mercedes Benz Limousine were waiting for him.  I preferred to walk all the way down Sloan Street, then King’s Road and Flood Street.  I could not but notice the policeman who was standing in front of the house of Mrs. Margaret Thatcher who was then the Prime Minister of Britain.