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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:32

[OPINION] Humphrey Nwosu: Senate did not surprise me - Tonnie Iredia

Late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the outstanding Nigerian who led the team that conducted the June 12, 1993 presidential election recognized worldwide as the best in Nigeria’s history was buried last week. He was aged 83. AsDirector of Public Affairs and spokesperson of the Nwosu-led electoral commission, I am pained that I was unable to play my anticipated roles in the burial ceremoniesdue to my absence from the country.

In absentia however, I monitored events and offered suggestions and indeed sent recorded messages and tributes. I am grateful to my other former colleagues who kept the flag flying. But I have remained miserable that no one dissuaded South East senators and a few others from seeking the support of the senate for the immortalization of the most successful chief electoral officer Nigeria ever had. The effort was superfluous.

Behold, even the South East Senators failed to recognize that many legislators are hardly well disposed to any person who stands or ever stood for free and fair elections. The major reason Nigeria has had a subsisting plethora of electoral malpractices is because our political class lacks faith in credible elections hence, they fought desperately against the bill on electronic transmission of election results because it could stop rigging.

Indeed, some two decades back during a debate on an electoral reforms’ bill, Senator Tsuari reminded his colleagues that many of them got into the senate through electoral malpractices. Although the senate harassed him and Senator Nuhu Aliyu who said he recognised many crooks in the senate that he had dealt with before retiring as Deputy Inspector General of Police, such insider testimonies were instructive.

Thus, it is redundant for anyone to lose sleep simply because the senate refused to honour a man whose performance attracted international applause and commendation. Someday, many good-hearted Nigerians will honour Humphrey Nwosu because researchers will establish that elections before and after his time were a sham. For example, our first major election in 1959 witnessed the pouring of acid into ballot boxes to distort results. The next one in 1964 saw electoral officials declining to register opposition politicians thereby returning several candidates of the ruling party unopposed. In the case of the 1979 election, the ‘twelve two-third of 19’hullabaloos portrayed the declared winner as holding-on to a stolen presidency. The 1983 election on its part produced results for polling units where voting did not even hold. That was the last election before the era of Humphrey Nwosu.

After Nwosu, the next election was in 1999, with former American President, Jimmy Carter who led international election observers stating that the number of voters at the polling booths did not match the results announced. In 2003 and 2007, the observers were unanimous that Nigerian elections were far below the global benchmark. The 2011 election ended in violence across parts of the country with many deaths. In 2015, half of the country compulsorily used the newly introduced Card Reader while the other half relied on ordinary register and incident forms. In 2019, many people believed that the electoral body deployed a manipulated technology to rob the main opposition of victory just as the 2023 election suffered from an inexplicable glitch. Did any of these anomalies happen under Nwosu?

The senators who blocked Nwosu immortalization relied on a few incoherent arguments. One said if Nwosu had declared the winner, his brother would not have died in the crisis that ensued. A second said he knew M.K.O Abiola and that when the latter visited Kano he rode in his car. A third senator said by not declaring the results Nwosu lacked the courage to die in active service. These legislators were probably victims of selective hearing who heard only what they wanted to hear about June 12. They didn’t hear that Nwosu tabled the results before a court as soon the government of the day became ambivalent about the contest. They also didn’t hear former President Babangida in a book launch declaring the real enemy of June 12. Unlike our current senators who recently refused to obey a court order stopping them from investigating a subject, it was only superior legal arguments that convinced Nwosu to justifiably disregard the last-minute order of Justice Bassey Ikpeme stopping the June 12, 1993 election.

In other words, Nwosu’s seeming disobedience of the said order had nothing to do with irrational courage. He rightly disobeyed because Section 19(1) of the Presidential Election Decree No. 13 of 1993 ousted any court from making Ikpeme’s type of order. Second, the legendary Justice George Oguntade had earlier ruled that the electoral body did not even need to appeal such illegal orders. Third, the above facts were presented to government which reluctantly gave a go-ahead for the election to continue. Midway into the election, another court presided over by Justice Dahiru Salleh did not only stop further announcement of results but went on to issue a warrant of arrest on Nwosu and his principal officers. The then Attorney General, Clement Akpamgbo who earlier rationalized the disobedience of the first order was now the one who served Justice Salleh’s warrant on Nwosu.

Other things which most people did not know included the following: a) Nwosu still proceeded to the Court of Appeal Kaduna Division against Salleh’s order; b) part of the documents he presented to the court was an attachment of results of the election showing that Abiola won; c) government then suspended the electoral body leaving Nwosu and his commissioners with no platform to hold-on to; d) as the court was preparing to make a ruling, the June 12 election result was annulled; e) those who say Nwosu should have announced the result even if he had to die, did not know that Nwosu was really not the one to make the announcement but another national commissioner, Professor Felix Ideriah who was in fact the chief retuning officer for the election. Nwosu could not have usurped the position of Ideriah as Yunus Ari Hudu the then Adamawa REC illegally did with the 2023 Adamawa governorship election results.

The premium placed on courage by the senate appears misplaced because for fear of suspension, there are no substantive dissenting voices in our senate. Besides, some activists in the senate who often lay claim to courage don’t appear to know that the public was aware of credible behind the scene stories of how they contrived to start national strikes that usually ended abruptly with insignificant gains to workers. The only one Nigerian activist among labour leaders who showed ample courage concerning June 12, was Frank Ovie Kokori former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers NUPENG. When he died in 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu an activist,who should know,described Kokori as “a man of proven integrity and foremost nationalist of uncommon courage who fought against the dreaded military regime.”

Although many see President Tinubu as a politician on the same page with federal legislators, the reactions of both groups to the life and times of Humphrey Nwosu of the June 12 fame are not the same. Whereas the senate denied recognition to Nwosu, President Tinubu had in a tribute described the former visionary election boss as “a bold and courageous administrator as well as a patriot and national asset.”The President did not forget to charge our current electoral umpires to behave like Humphrey Nwosu as a champion of democracy by upholding “credible, transparent, and democratic elections that embody the people’s right to choose their leaders.” We can only hope that Tinubu would match his words with action by appropriately honouring the late Nwosu.

Of course, because the senate did not do well in its jaundiced assessment of Nwosu,many Nigerians could not endorse their posture and position. Prof Nwosu-led electoral commission was mandated to conduct 4 elections namely: Local government elections which was successfully handled in 1990.The governorship/houses of Assembly elections in 1991 and the National Assembly election in 1992 which were similarly successful. It is therefore uncharitable to reject a man who efficaciously conducted 3 out of 4 elections only because the government of the day and their visibly ‘known gunmen’ stood between him and the end of the 4th election.

It would have been great if the senate had listened to the persuasive contributions of senators such as Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi, North). But the pain caused some opposition senators by rejecting their motion on Nwosu was deserved – being a lesson on what happens to unprincipled legislators who because of fear of material losses, are ever so frightened to vote according to the wishes of their constituents and political parties.

Published in OTHERS' VIEWS

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:28

Segun Odegbami: ‘Sport has the power to change the world – how true?’

Last Wednesday, at the invitation of the Federal University Lokoja, I delivered the 15th Distinguished Public Lecture of the university.

I am devoting my column this weekend to a slightly edited version of the presentation.

When I received the invitation, what immediately came to my mind was that the university must know, or must have seen, something that the rest of the world does not know about an ‘ordinary’ football player like me.

Let me state clearly upfront, therefore, that it will be sheer arrogance for me to come to this citadel of learning and pretend to be who I am not. So, I am here humbly without any airs, without any intention to go on an intellectual rigmarole to justify my position on the subject of today’s presentation, one way or the other.

So, having nestled comfortably against that background, I am here only to enjoy the spotlight of the moment, and to share my work in Sport (limited as it is) as well as my unique experiences, take you all on a journey to a place you have never been before, and probably a side of today’s subject matter that may not be found in established academic sports literature.

Once again, little of this my presentation is drawn from a book. It is the product of my personal experiences, significant and sometimes interesting; events, people and places that will help me to successfully navigate what is truly an intriguing topic for a public lecture.

To start with, the title of this presentation is not original to me – “Sport has the power to change the world – how true?”.

It is only the ‘how true?’ that I own, and will try to tackle today.

Otherwise, the title is a well-known and well-worn quote by a global political icon, delivered some 20 years ago in Monte Carlo.

As lyrical and beautiful as the words may have sounded to the ears, since then Sport has not changed the world. It has not even impacted the world the way that it should, had the world appreciated and deployed its full power and potential.

So, the world took the words of the late former President of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, as only political rhetoric deriving from emotions of a well-documented period in his life that was impacted by sport.

Yet, the Madibba’s speech was epochal, expressed before an audience of very famous global athletes at the First Laureus World Sports Awards event in Monte Carlo.

These were his words:

‘Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to the youths in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where there was once despair.

It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.

It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.

The heroes standing with me are examples of that power.

They are valiant not only in the playing field, but also in the community, both local and international. They are champions and they deserve the world’s recognition.

Together, they represent an active vigorous Hall of Fame, a Hall of Fame that goes out into the world spreading help, inspiration and hope.

Their legacy will be an international community where the rules of the game are the same for everyone, and behavior is guided by fair play and good sportsmanship”.

Mandela was not just an ordinary political activist and was not flippant with words. He was serious. He was a respected sage, probably the most famous human on earth at the time of his speech, a man that gave his life to protesting against the dehumanization of Black persons in his country under one of the most oppressive systems of government in history. Apartheid was a satanic White-supremacist system that made Slavery in the 16th to 19th Centuries look like a picnic.

In eulogizing the exploits and accomplishments of great athletes, Dr. Mandela’s words had a deeper and broader meaning, enough for me to borrow and use in this lecture to present Sport beyond the cliche of ‘unifying people’.

In 1993, Mandela was released from jail after serving 27 years out of a life sentence.

In 1994, he was elected the first Black President of a new South Africa.

In 1995, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup, and as President he attended the final match between South Africa and New Zealand. That afternoon of June 24, 1995, Mandela emerged from the underground tunnel of Ellis Park Stadium onto the bright sunlight of an arena with 62,000 spectators packed like Sardines, a rainbow coalition of Black, White and Colored people singing, dancing and drumming together for the first time in a public place. The entire stadium was chanting ‘Nelson’ Nelson, Nelson’, the name of a once-demonized man who became the most loved and first elected Black President of South Africa.

It was a scene viewed on television by over 3 billion humans around the world. It could have been a scene straight out of a fictional movie titled ‘the impossible’. A South Africa of such coloration was inconceivable, until that moment.

Even Nelson Mandela must have stared in disbelief at what Sport manifested on that day, a rugby national team that united sworn enemies, birthed a new country and showcased the possibility of a new World Order.

So, to describe Sport as capable of changing the world must be taken seriously. It was one of the first global public proclamations of the ‘Power of Sport’ as a global tool that can change the world.

Before then, the crisis had either blessed or bedeviled sport around the world for decades.

The first in my personal experience was the temporary cessation of the brutal, 3-years Nigerian Civil War in 1968.

It is documented in some history literature that the fighting between the troops of Nigeria and Biafra stopped temporarily to allow the soldiers of both armies to listen to the radio commentaries of the two matches involving visiting Santos FC of Brazil, led by legendary Pele, the most popular athlete in the world at the time, and Bendel Insurance FC in Benin and Nigeria’s national team, the Green Eagles, in Lagos.

Another event, also in my experience, is one that almost shattered the myth that sport is immune from the vagaries of Politics.

The Olympic Movement, probably the largest and most powerful organisation in the world, was rattled by politics. It happened in 1976.

It was former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Andrew Young, that connected the dots of the historic events from 1976 leading to 2000, and put Nelson Mandela’s great speech in Monte Carlo in proper perspective.

During a visit to Nigeria, Ambassador Young was reported to have said that but for the sacrifice made by African athletes in 1976, Apartheid would not have ended when it did;

that Nelson Mandela would not have been released from jail when he was;

that South Africa would not have elected a Black President when it did;

and that the Rugby World Cup would not have taken place in South Africa and united the country the way it did.

All of this happened mainly because some athletes sacrificed their personal ambition and dreams. What happened in 1976?

To amplify what happened, two years ago, a ‘Wall of Fame’ was constructed inside the premises of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, in Lagos, Nigeria, in reference to the 1976 event.

On the wall are the names of the Nigerian athletes that gave up their ambition to become Olympians in order to respond to a directive by the Presidents of 27 African countries led by Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, and Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo.

One day before the start of the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, the athletes were instructed to boycott the Games should the International Olympic Committee, IOC, fail to expel New Zealand from the Games for disregarding the global isolation of South Africa and engaging in a rugby match with the Apartheid regime shortly before the Games.

The IOC insisted they would not expel New Zealand because Rugby, which was the sport in question, was not an Olympic event.

Africa, however, stood its ground, and the IOC threw out all the athletes from the 27 protesting African countries (plus Iran and Guyana that joined in sympathy) from the Games Village. The devastated African athletes became the pawns in this unprecedented political/diplomacy power-play.

I was one of the young Nigerian athletes that were sent packing from the Games Village that day, left to manage the psychological and physical damage done to our dreams of becoming Olympic gods, only to end up forgotten for 47 years on the tarmac of history.

That 1976 boycott was the start of a series of political interferences in sports. The next two Olympics in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984, suffered similar fates and became pawns of the global political chess game between the Superpowers at the time.

After 1984, the world realized the unprecedented damage being done to the youths of the world and to the most unifying activity known to man. The world had to quickly reset the buttons of the Olympic spirit in order to bring back sanity to the Olympic movement, to the Olympic Games and to Sport in general.

Since then, every country in the world has avoided tampering with the sanctity of sports as a unifier of the world, a catalyst for dousing tensions, for creating friendships, for peace and conflict-resolution.

Just for the records, our sacrifice of the 1976 Sports boycott, the first in Olympic history, was eventually remembered.

The Nigerian athletes were re-United again some 2 years ago after 47 years in Limbo.

We were lavishly celebrated and rewarded on July 28, 2023 by Airpeace Airline and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA.

All our names are now written Marble on that special ‘Wall of Fame’ in Lagos, in everlasting testimony to the ‘Power of Sport’ to change the course of history. So, Nelson Mandela was right.

From Monte Carlo in the year 2000, Mandela’s words kept engaging my head. Was the power of Sport restricted to politics only? Can’t it be deployed to impact other sectors? The questions kept running through my head. Remember that my world view was limited to my experiences as a football player for Nigeria.

Some years after I ended my sports career, more by accident than by design, I ventured into the world of sports media, sustaining a weekly column in a newspaper that I wrote even as an active athlete since 1978.

In 1985 I became part owner of Nigeria’s first all-sports newspaper. It was my baptism into a new world in sport beyond that of an active athlete and politics.

Sports and the media are Siamese Twins, inseparable. Within a few years, I expanded into the wider spectrum of tv and radio, becoming some sort of an authority by always adding the invaluable athlete’s experience and perspectives to analysis.

Some years later, it was not surprising when the school of African Studies at Harvard University in the USA invited me as a resource person, along with 4 other experts drawn from different countries in Africa, for a discourse on the Sports Business in Africa.

To be considered an ‘expert’ was a clear demonstration of how far behind Africa lagged in the global sports Industry.

I managed to bluff my way through the program. I actually knew nothing about the real business of sport, but the experience was a wake-up call. I took away useful information and lessons – the Sports media industry, as a part of the global sports entertainment industry, was one of the most flourishing sectors in the world. Today, it reportedly has a conservative estimated value of some $2.5 Trillion Dollars, with Africa still in the doldrums and Nigeria, not scratching the surface.

The media is another space that uses the power of sport to thrive outside politics!

Beyond the entertainment industry, the further scope of sport is vast, a long chain of related and connected activities.

The Sport Business conversation was a window for me into yet another frontier of the power of Sport to impact the world.

One day, soon after my Harvard experience, I was invited by the Nigerian Heart Foundation, NHF, to help raise funds for a golf tournament in their work of creating awareness for a rampaging ‘silent killer’ in Nigeria.

One in every 5 Nigerians walking the streets was suffering from one heart-related disease or the other. Life expectancy amongst the largest Black population on earth had plummeted to below 50 years of age. High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Obesity, and several forms of cancer were ravaging the people. I was shocked to learn about these things happening around me, unnoticed.

It was another eye-opening experience for me. The close connection between Sport and Health is a no-brainer. They go together, hand in hand. But I did not think or realize the magnitude of that connection until my work with the NHF.

I soon abandoned trying to raise funds for the Foundation and started working closely to create public awareness about the prevalence of Non-Communicable diseases in Nigeria and by extension the rest of Africa.

I was eventually appointed African Ambassador of Non-Communicable Disease (Nigerian Alliance), followed shortly after as African ‘champion’ for ‘Exercise is Medicine (USA)’ – local responsibilities but of global dimension and significance.

To crown my Sport and Health experience, I was invited as a resource person to the 13th World Public Health Congress in Ethiopia to give a report on my work with the children in a sports school that I established in 2007 in response to another event that took place in 2004. The jigsaw puzzles were falling into place.

Meanwhile, all of this was still scratching the surface of the connection between Sport and Health.

One day, working with the NHF and some professors of Physical and Health Education from different countries in Africa and Canada on the campus of the Jomo Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, we joined a group of Town planners, environmentalists and engineers working on the re-modeling of the city of Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean coastline of Kenya.

What has Sport got to do with Town planning and City re-engineering? That was the question I asked myself as we sat down for the meeting.

Our contribution was in identifying and designing locations within the city for sport and leisure activities, lanes for running and for cycling, recreational parks, no-car zones, sports infrastructure areas, etc, how to make the city a healthier place for the citizens to live, to reduce air pollution and carbon footprints, block by block.

It was a massive project and another eye-opener of the power of Sport beyond politics, to nursing and healing the environment and the world, village by village, city by city.

The project ‘screamed’ Climate Change’ an existential threat to humanity as we speak. Sport and climate change. Another dimension.

It gets even more interesting.

In the year 2004, I attended the First World Scholar Athletes Games in the University of Rhode Island, USA. It was a friendship games for Students in secondary schools under the age of 17 from over 150 countries.

The United Nations organization was involved in the Games. Their representatives were there to introduce and promote the activities of a new special Sports Unit set up in the UN to drive aspects of the Millennium Development Goals Agenda at the time.

The UN’s objectives did not even have the coloration of politics. The unit was to develop programmes that will support the global fight against illiteracy, poverty, hunger, unemployment and diseases (HIV/AIDS) in the world by 2015!

This was taking Sport to absolutely new dimensions, way outside the political struggles between the West and the East, between capitalism and communism, the ideological and cultural wars of civilization between the world’s super powers, and so on.

Sport had become a weapon to save the world in various ways and through programmes been revealed in my personal experiences.

Remember the Genesis of all these – Nelson Mandela’s speech stating that Sport has the Power to change the world. I could already see and experience the expanding scope, dimensions and possibilities for making it a reality.

Now, here was the United Nations getting involved, introducing sport for the first time as a tool beyond the regular unifying, friendship and peace mantras.

At adjacent seminars organised for participants during the Scholar Athletes Games I sat, listened and drank lavishly from the fountains of new knowledge from experts in various fields exploring the potentials of sports as a ‘weapon’, if well deployed, to solve many hitherto intractable societal problems in the world.

I listened to Former President Bill Clinton on the final day. He spoke on sports as part of the globalization of humanity, and ended with a final admonition for everyone of us to be ready to make a difference in the world with our activities if we cannot as individuals change it. It was a great counsel.

By the time I was leaving the USA in 2004, Sport had become to me a serious agent that could take a shot at changing the world for good if well-deployed. I decided to make it my mission for the rest of my life.

Everything I am going to say from now onwards are the consequences of that my decision.

Even this my presentation here today is, only, therefore, my personal testimony of my work along that line.

I returned to Nigeria from my experience at URI in 2004 a different person.

I established a small specialized model sports secondary school in my village. It became my laboratory to research, to teach, to learn, to document the impact of various aspects of Sports on young children.

For example, what are the benefits or effects on children at an early age of certain foods, of intense physical activity, of outdoor activities as opposed to sitting behind computers for hours, of vigorous running, jumping, kicking or even walking for hours, and so on?

We also set out to build a model to tackle the issue of illiteracy., knowing that the most affected environment in the world, the area with the largest concentration of illiterates (between 13 and 18 million out-of-school children), incidentally, was in some parts of Northern Nigeria, an area facing compounding internal conflicts and crisis. The challenge was in enrolling the children into schools, how to retain them in the schools, a teaching methodology that will make learning easier and acceptable to their religion and culture, and provides a pathway into a future that fulfills their passion and talent, and assures their success in life.

Sport ticks all the boxes, a perfect tool, in my estimation, that could drive out illiteracy in such a difficult environment. I needed to test and prove it.

I took my plan to Borno State. I met the Governor, told him my idea. I requested for 2 students that had been deprived of schooling by the Boko Haram insurgency, or for religious or cultural reasons, to be sent to my school as a test case.

He sent 5 young boys. They were all 15 years old and in 3rd year of Junior Secondary School before they stopped schooling due to the crisis.

They could hardly speak any English, had no numeracy or literary skills, but were very passionate about their football and would do anything to play the game, including giving our educational plan a chance despite initial fears of religious and cultural indoctrination.

But the lure of sport swept aside all fears and apprehensions. They came to the special school located in a little village in the heart of Yorubaland for their sport and education.

Wasimi became their home for the next 3 years, as they went through the special sports and academic programs at senior secondary school level, with a teaching methodology from the UK for children with learning difficulty.

They graduated 7 years ago. Since then, 3 of them have become University/ Polytechnic Graduates, completed their national youth service and have become young leaders in their communities. To date, they are still involved at various levels of Sport.

Abdullahi Mohammed, Abdulfatai Mohammed and Lawan Bukar, all alive and kicking today, have become ambassadors of the power of Sport to eradicate illiteracy, to empower the youths with education or professional skills, and to become leaders in their communities.

That path remains a veritable model for the world to see, to measure and to adopt.

Finally, 21 years ago, I set out on my most ambitious expedition yet. I had studied the impact of sports in countries that host major international events. I proposed using Sport to catalyse, facilitate, accelerate and enforce the biggest and fastest infrastructural development program for the West African sub-region, by West Africa bidding to host the First World Cup to be held in the African continent in 2010.

The idea was simple. More countries in the project would mean more collaboration, reduction in the burden of cost for a single country, and wider spread of the benefits to more countries. The 8 years of preparing to receive and host a visiting global community of at least 1 million sports fans over a one-month period would change that region completely, forever. It was too good to be true. Yet, Sport had the power to achieve that and more. The evidence was all over other parts of the world – in China, in the UAE, in Europe and America.

In these places, sport continues to expand its deployment for infrastructural, social and economic development.

West Africa would have fulfilled the over half-a-Century old dream of the founding political fathers at Independence of a powerful, united and flourishing subregion with a superhighway and rail system running from Dakar to Calabar, a single currency for the region, a borderless region with one visa requirement for all, a common security, immigration and customs apparatus across the region, free trade and movement across the region, etc.

That was my dream in 2003/2004. I revived it again in 2024 for Sport to lead in building a new West Africa through hosting the 2030 or 2034 World Cup.

It did not find and has not found acceptance only because understanding and appreciating the Power of Sport to Change the World has still not found ardent followers, particularly amongst the intelligentsia and big business that can drive it. So, it remains on the tarmac, idling away!

Well, It has become my life’s mission to be an ambassador of spreading the message of the Potency of Sport to impact the world and possibly change it for good.

It is not an easy road to travel but I am always encouraged by Bill Clinton’s wise counsel.. ‘If you can’t change the world, ensure you make a difference’.

That’s what I am doing here today. It is up to you to make of it what you will. Sport is connected to every aspect of life – science, technology, business, law, medicine, film, agriculture, tourism, media, health, leisure, hospitality, psychology, entertainment, environment, education, engineering, architecture, climate change, merchandising, manufacturing, and so on and so forth, in a relationship only limited by personal imagination and creativity.

As a university community I urge you to look critically at the stories I have told you today about some of my personal experiences, and be ready also to test them and go where no one has been, and explore the endless possibilities in the power of Sport, the most potent soft-power tool on the planet that is connected to every aspect of our lives.

The Madibba, Dr. Nelson Rohlilahla Mandela was right: ‘Sport has the power to change the world’.

I rest my humble case!

Published in SPORTS

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:26

Anambra guber: Amid tensions, withdrawals, Ukachukwu emerges APC flag bearer

Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2025 Anambra State election, following a tense and chaotic primary held in Awka on Saturday.

Ukachukwu clinched the party’s ticket with 1,455 votes, defeating his closest challenger, Valentine Ozigbo, who secured 67 votes.

Other contenders in the race included Engr. Johnbosco Onunkwo and Hon. Edozie Madu.

Recall Vanguard had reported that the exercise was marred by confusion and controversy, with accreditation still ongoing as late as 7 p.m., long after the scheduled 9 a.m. start time.

Delegates were reportedly being accredited at undisclosed hotels around Awka, while many party members and supporters remained at the official venue, the Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, where the process had yet to begin as of 6:30 p.m.

Earlier in the day, violence erupted as suspected thugs allegedly hired by one of the aspirants attacked delegates, injuring several people in the presence of security operatives.

The chaos led to the withdrawal of three aspirants—Sir Paul Chukwuma, who also resigned from the APC entirely, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, and Chief Chukwuma Umeoji. Chukwuma cited the presence of “unprogressive elements” in the party, while Okonkwo expressed concern over the safety of his supporters.

In his withdrawal letter, Okonkwo stated: “This decision to withdraw from the race was a difficult but necessary one because of some developments that are inconsistent with my principles and values. The project is not worth risking the lives of my supporters.”

Despite the turbulent process, Ukachukwu, speaking after being declared the winner, vowed to deliver Anambra to the APC. “Nobody has won the governorship of Anambra without my support; it has never happened before. I have been playing godfatherism, but now I want to be the father of the father—no more godfather,” he declared.

The Anambra governorship election, scheduled for November 2025, is Nigeria’s next major off-cycle election. Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the incumbent, will contest on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

[Vanguard]

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:24

[OPINION] Anambra 2025: A case of no vacancy? - Law Mefor

There are tons of endorsements for Anambra state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, who is running for re-election on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) ticket in the November gubernatorial election. The overwhelming number of people who support Governor Soludo surpasses all the support ever given to an incumbent governor in Anambra state’s history, so it is safe to assume that there is no opposition at all. It is also almost impossible to compile the complete list of all the endorsements that are coming to Governor Soludo.

It is important to emphasise that every endorsing group is contributing financially to help the adored governor purchase the party’s reelection form. Even the students who supported Governor Soludo contributed ₦2 million to the cause!

The impressive array of endorsements has 60 support groups uniting to officially express their support for Governor Soludo’s second term. The convergent support groups were unreserved in their praise of Mr Governor’s outstanding accomplishments and vision for a better Anambra.

The solidarity of Governor Soludo’s supporters is demonstrated by their convergence and singleness of purpose. The fact that more than 60 support organisations from throughout Anambra State united in support of Governor Soludo’s reelection campaign brought tears to many people’s eyes. There is no greater indication of inclusive leadership and dedication to the advancement of the state by the solution administration.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of the massive endorsement. The general Anambra public has learnt many lessons, the most important of which is an open acknowledgement of the effective government of their state under Professor Soludo. The broad support for Governor Soludo’s reelection recognises the accomplishments of his administration and its dedication to the advancement of the state.

Given that APGA is at the core of every Anambra man, woman, and child, grassroots mobilisation is, in fact, the foundation of the Soludo support base. The participation of several support groups from around the state, especially grassroots organisations, emphasises how crucial it is to rally support from the bottom up rather than imposing rules from the top down and to govern for the common good rather than settle a few politicians and elites with scarce resources meant for development.

Rumour has it that the opposition parties have more candidates than followers in Anambra State. The overwhelming support for Governor Soludo’s reelection in every ward of Anambra State is a fitting example of the APGA motto, “nkea bu nke anyi.” One may argue that the togetherness and solidarity are impressively unchangeable. “Onye aghana nwanne ya,” or “let no one be left behind,” is the APGA’s motto.

It is important to emphasise that the fact that 60 support organisations came together to approve and even present a staggering N30 million shows how powerful solidarity and unity can be in accomplishing a shared objective. In order to score a stunning goal inside the net come November, the people and the administration are aiming for the same goal. APGA, Soludo’s political party is upbeat and certain of electoral victory in the 21 LGs and now also almost certain it would win the 326 wards in Anambra State.

In an indication of success before the elections, several organisations and groups have hurried to support Governor Soludo. The undeniable evidence everywhere merely confirms my frequent assertion that there is no vacuum.

“I don’t see anyone that can challenge you in the election,” said All Progressives Congress (APC) leader and Works Minister, Engr David Umahi, in a public statement to Governor Soludo. Nobody. Who is that? I see none. Governor Soludo, who works extremely hard, has performed remarkably well, fulfilling all of his promises in his People’s Manifesto. Beyond his manifesto, Soludo has gone. He never promised free education, for instance. However, up to senior secondary school, Anambra children are now eligible for free education, and a subsidy for tertiary students is on the horizon.

Let me reiterate my direct advice to the opposition: let them all support Soludo so that he can run unopposed, just as the APGA did by letting him run as the only candidate and aspirant.

As the Americans say, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

The fact is that no governor before Soludo has completed, in comparison, what he did in three years without taking out a single dime, while also paying off the mountain of debt he inherited from previous state governments. This is not to argue that borrowing is bad as long as it is prudently used to finance productivity rather than consumption. It is a compliment to both Soludo and Anambra State that he has not borrowed. It is indisputable proof of responsible financial management, fiscal discipline, and accountability.

Last but not least, Soludo has implemented a very extensive security intervention that is significantly calming Anambra State and regaining the state’s former reputation as the safest in Nigeria. This is accompanied by the governor’s push for moral rearmament and social reformation to restore the three virtues for which Onye Anambra has always been reputed – Uche (wisdom), Uchu/Igba mbo (hard work), and Egwu Chukwu (fear of God/integrity).

Although it is within their rights to run and lose, there is no benefit to running just to add the pointless title of former governorship candidate to one’s resume. The question now is not whether Soludo would win—he will because there is no other viable option—but rather whether he would make history as the only candidate for governor in a Nigerian general election. Can the opposition, knowing that there is no vacancy in Agu Awka, step aside and support Soludo and use the money they would have wasted for more worthwhile endeavours, like aiding the underprivileged in their communities?

Law Mefor, PhD, is the commissioner for information of Anambra state

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:12

[OPINION] The Power Of Soft Power - Wole Olaoye

Every corridor of power is strewn with its own peculiar coterie of grovellers. They may come under various designations – Special Assistant, Press Secretary, Special Adviser, Commissioner or some other official nomenclature – what unites them is their blind and unthinking resort to extra-legal measures in defence of their principals.

Some public officials who don’t know any better, actually enjoy having a gang of attack dogs to do battle against real and imagined foes. But check throughout history, such lickspittles usually bring their principals to grief, especially when they take liberties with dispensing punishment to their boss’s perceived traducers. So many corporate and political reputations have been ruined on the altar of intolerance orchestrated by overbearing aides.

Flashback

One of the oft-referenced instances of the above occupational disease is the case of dehumanisation of a journalist by the underling of a military governor 52 years ago. The case continues to be referenced because its subject matter is of abiding relevance to governance, human rights and the limits of the deployment of brawn in place of brain.

Journalist Minere Amakiri’s article on the teachers’ strike of 1973 had been published by the Nigerian Observer on Military Governor Alfred Diete-Spiff’s birthday. What temerity! On His Excellency’s birthday! The governor’s aides decided to teach the intrepid journalist a lesson he would never forget. They arrested and detained him and shaved his head like a common criminal before administering 33 lashes of the cane on him. It was a bloodied, shaven, traumatised Amakiri that emerged from detention following high profile protests by members of the fourth estate of the realm.

The battle shifted to the courts with the late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, appearing for the plaintiff. In his Statement of Claim, Amakiri stated that at 3.15 p.m. on July 30, 1973, the defendant, ASP Michael Iwowari, who was an aide to Governor Diete-Spiff, came to his residence and invited him to the State House where he (Iwowari) questioned him about publications in the Nigerian Observer concerning the Rivers State teachers’ protest.

He said ASP Iwowari unlawfully imprisoned him in the said Government House after the whole of his hair had first been shaved and he was subjected to severe beating. He was detained from 4 p.m. on July 30, 1973, until 7 pm on July 31, 1973, without any food or refreshment.

The court found the defendant, ASP Ralph Michael Iwowari guilty for the detention, assault and battery of Minere Amakiri. Giving a breakdown of the monetary compensation awarded, Justice Ambrose Allagoa said N200 was for each of the 33 strokes of cane received by Amakiri; N2,600 for being detained illegally and N2,600 for the unsolicited shave and pain he was subjected to by the defendant and his sidekicks. Total damages worth N10,000 were awarded in favour of Minere Amakiri, a tidy sum in those good old days.

Landmark

Since that time, Amakiri’s name regularly pops up whenever the issue of executive recklessness and human rights infringement perpetrated by sycophantic underlings in the corridors of power, is being discussed.

Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, dodged that bullet recently when she bluntly refused to be sucked into a ready-made controversy which would have cast her in the mould of a petty abuser of power.

Whereas, Amakiri’s brutalisation happened in the analogue days when there was no social media, the recent matter which could have brought out the worst in Mrs Tinubu was all over the digital media and was feasted on by the major news and gossip networks and platforms.

Health Initiative

Mrs Tinubu was in Delta State to further the cause of her Renewed Hope Initiative Health Programme. At the occasion, 10,000 professional kits were distributed to midwives in the South-South geopolitical zone.

As is usual with the grovelling sycophancy that attends such events, the Master of Ceremony introduced Senator Tinubu as the mother of all through a chant: “Na our Mama be dis o eh; na our Mama be dis o, we no get another one…”

The response was supposed to be “Na our Mama be dis o eh”

But the audience, the overwhelming proportion of which comprised students, chorused instead: “Na your Mama be dis o, eh…”

If she was embarrassed by the rejection of her ‘mothership’, the First Lady did not show it. Subsequently, however, one Osato Edobor, a student of the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences, Agbor, published a video of the event on TikTok, showing the nursing students gleefully rejecting Mrs. Tinubu as their mother.

The provost of the nursing institution, Mrs. Rita Ogonne Evbodaghe, promptly did the typically Nigerian thing – she issued a query to Ms Edobor, accusing her of engaging in a “malicious act” by recording herself singing and posting an “unofficial response” to a song during the First Lady’s arrival at the Dome Event Centre in Asaba.

The matter refused to leave the front pages and many were looking forward to the drama that would follow its expected escalation. Human rights activist and politician, Omoyele Sowore, swiftly announced his support for the beleaguered nursing student: “We will be providing backing to this lady with all our physical and legal might to ensure the authorities at Delta State College of Nursing Sciences do not perpetrate this egregious act of injustice, as an injury to one is an injury to all.”

Mrs Tinubu sidestepped what would surely have been a public relations trap with a press statement issued in the first person, thereby establishing her ownership of the sentiments expressed therein:

Re: Students’ Expression During First Lady Of Nigeria’s Visit To Delta State

“My attention has been drawn to a video circulating on social media, showcasing the warm reception I received during my recent visit to Delta State. I’m deeply grateful for the enthusiasm displayed by the people of Delta State, nurses, midwives, women groups, and student nurses at the event.

“The Renewed Hope Initiative’s donation of 10,000 Professional Kits to Midwives in the South-South zone was a huge success, and I’m thrilled to have played a part in motivating midwives across the nation. Our goal is to reduce infant and maternal mortality, and morbidity in Nigeria, and events like these bring us closer to achieving that.

“However, I’ve been made aware that some students from the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences have been issued a query regarding their participation in a playful welcome chant. While I respect the institution’s right to maintain discipline, I also believe that students should feel safe to express themselves in a light-hearted manner.

“As the First Lady of Nigeria, I hope that educational institutions will foster an environment that balances discipline with free expression, allowing students to thrive and grow. I trust that the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences will handle this matter with understanding and fairness.

“Thank you again to the people of Delta State for your warm welcome, and to the students, nurses, and midwives who made the event so unforgettable.”

I say, Bravo! Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by the way, is a product of Great Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) where she must have imbibed the spirit of activism. But then, the lesson we must not permit ourselves to miss is that a tigress does not necessarily have to proclaim its tigritude to show its dominion.

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:09

Ex-Oyo governor Victor Olunloyo dies days before 90th birthday

Victor Omololu Olunloyo, a former governor of Oyo state, is dead.

Olunloyo, a mathematician and engineer, died a few days before his 90th birthday, according to a statement issued by the family on Sunday.

The statement, signed by Oladapo Ogunwusi on behalf of the family, was titled ‘Victor Olunloyo goes home’.

“With a heavy heart but gratitude to the Almighty, we announce the passing into glory of Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, former governor of Oyo State, mathematician and engineer and renowned technocrat, a few days before his 90th birthday,” the statement reads.

“The Balogun of Oyo and Otun Bobasewa of Ife, Dr. Olunloyo was first Rector, Ibadan polytechnic and first Rector, Kwara State Polytechnic among other notable appointments.

“His long record of service to the nation and humanity is a source of pride to his family and associates even as we come to grip with this devastating event.

“The Olunloyo family will appreciate the understanding of the press and the public as they commence efforts to give him a befitting burial.

“Even from everlasting to everlasting, He is God.”

Olunloyo was governor of Oyo in Nigeria’s second republic from October 1, 1983 to December 31, 1983 — when the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari seized the reins of power at the centre.

[TheCable]

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:07

Governors Await Federal Govt’s Blueprint On State Police Take-off

Governors across the states of the federation are awaiting the federal government’s modalities for the establishment of state police before they can swing into action.

At the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) last December, the federal government and governors of the 36 states in the country agreed to finalise discussions on the creation of state police at their next meeting scheduled for January 31, 2025.

At the December parley, the council presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima received written positions on the matter from all the 36 states, with majority of them backing the state police.

However, the January meeting was not held as governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were unable to attend because they had an emergency meeting in Delta State.

When LEADERSHIP Sunday contacted some of the governors on the matter, they linked the apparent inertia to the federal government’s non-release of the modalities for creating state police after they had presented their documents to the NEC.

They also explained that before state policing can take off, there must be national and sub-national legislation to ensure hitch-free operations.

Pending when the national document on state policing will be released, the governors said they would strengthen the synergy between federal security agencies and their state-owned security outfits.

In the wake of worsening security challenges in the country, some governors set up security organisations and equipped them to complement the police and sister agencies to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other vices.

In Gombe State, Governor Inuwa Yahaya launched “Operation Hattara”, which comprises members of the state government vigilante group called GOSTEC, Kaduna State set up the Kaduna State Vigilance Service (KADVS), Katsina State (Community Watch Corp (CWC) and Enugu State came up with the Neighbourhood Watch Group.

In Akwa Ibom State, the government launched Ibom Community Watch (ICW) for intelligence work without bearing arms; Borno State operates Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and in April 2024, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi State unveiled the Metropolitan Quick Response security outfit to work in partnership with the Rapid Response Squad of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Abia State joined the train with “Operation Crush”, Kebbi State kicked off Vigilantes Group of Nigeria (VGN) while Cross River State recently launched “Operation Okwork” comprising mainly personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.

Plateau State has “Operation Rainbow”, which is coordinated by a retired Brigadier-General of the Nigerian Army, Ebonyi State operates Neighbourhood Watch while the South West states of Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ogun have Amotekun Corps.

Responding to our correspondent’s enquiries on state police, Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule said he welcomed the initiative because it has the potential to effectively combat the current security challenges in the state.

Through his special assistant on public affairs, Mr. Peter Ahemba, the governor said his administration can effectively handle the operations of a state police if put in place.

He said state police would benefit both the state government and the people as the officers would know the state and its terrain better.

Ahemba said, “Some of the issues triggering security challenges are local, state police personnel will better respond swiftly to such issues since the personnel will know the terrain better.

“The state government awaits enabling legislation from both the national and state assemblies to enable the state take the necessary steps in this direction,” he stated.

The Osun State government has also expressed its commitment to the take-off of state police once the federal government spells out the formalities.

The spokesperson to the governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, told LEADERSHIP Sunday in Osogbo that the state government is concerned about the security of the people and would be ready to key into the take-off of state police.

Meanwhile, the commandant of the regional security outfit Amotekun Corps in the state, Dr Adekunle Omoyele, has said the state government was committed to effective operations of the outfit with the provision of the required logistics.

Omoyele, who spoke on the reforms introduced into the operation of Amotekun in Osun, stated that additional 1,150 personnel were recruited, trained and inaugurated on Friday, March 28, 2025.

In Zamfara State, the government said it is yet to implement state police as the federal government has not released the blueprint for the proposed policing system.

In its absence, the state government said it would continue with its security outfit Community Protection Guards (CPG).

The director-general on media and communications, Nuhu Salihu Anka, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the state was aware of the federal government’s plan to allow state police, adding that the state is waiting for Abuja to finalise the template.

According to him, the state government is currently focusing on the security outfit Community Protection Guards (CPG) recently launched to curtail security challenges in the state.

The commissioner for internal security, Dr. Mua’zu Danmusa, did not respond to messages sent to his mobile phone.

Similarly, Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has said the state remains one of the promoters of the state in the country and has not changed.

Aiyedatiwa who said the state already had a template with Amotekun, noted that the state was ready for the implementation of state police whenever the federal government gives its nod.

His chief press secretary, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, told our correspondent that the governor had promised to continue to strengthen Amotekun and ensure partnership with other security agencies to secure the state until the federal government approves state police.

His words, “Ondo is one of the promoters of state police and that still remains. We already have the template with Amotekun and the state is ready for implementation whenever the federal government gives the nod.

“In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our Amotekun and ensure partnership with other security agencies to secure the life and property of our people,” he said.

Also, the Commander of the State Security Network Agency( Amotekun) Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said the operatives of the corps have continued to work relentlessly to ensure the safety of life and property of the residents of the state .

Adeleye, who said the breaches at the borders of the state had reduced as a result of the activities of the Amotekun Rangers, noted that his men were able to arrest 32 suspects for kidnapping in the last one week in the state.

Apart from the arrest, the Amotekun boss hinted that the corps were able to intervene in about 15 kidnap issues and that the timely intervention foiled the kidnapping.

According to him, “In recent times, we have an upsurge of criminal activities including kidnapping inclusive in the state. The officers and men of the Ondo State security network mobilized additional support from the neighbouring local government and entered into the forest reserves and areas noted for these nefarious activities. We were able to flush them out and arrested over 32 suspects.”

Adetunji, however, urged the residents of the state to always give the security agencies timely and actionable information once any suspicious movement is noticed.

The Anambra State government says it still believes that the creation of state police will help to tackle the security challenges in Nigeria.

The commissioner for information, Dr. Law Mefor, however, said the state government’s ad-hoc security arrangement “Operation Udo Ga Achi” and “Agunechemba” operatives had been helpful in the fight against insecurity in the state.

Mefor said, “The state government certainly favours the creation of state police in line with the position of most states in Nigeria.

“The Solution Government believes state police will go a long way in dealing with insecurity in Nigeria because security is local.

“The new Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2024, which created Agunechemba and led to the launch of “Operation Udo Ga-Achi” strike force, has provided a robust legal framework for a new security intervention in the state.

“Both ‘Agunechemba’ and ‘Operation Udo Ga-Achi’ are doing fantastically well and this is evident in the fact that Anambra is calming down.

“Insecurity is Anambra is drastically deescalating and fake and evil native doctors who have made our people to believe that wealth without work is possible are now on the run and many have been apprehended and are being investigated for trial in court,” Mefor said.

In the same vein, an official of Kaduna State government has said Governor Uba Sani is still an advocate of the establishment of state police.

In a chat with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Kaduna, the official who pleaded anonymity, said the governor believes that the state police will fill the gap of inadequate security manpower to tackle security challenges.

Last year, Governor Sani strongly advocated for the creation of state police to combat bandits terrorising his state and the North West zone.

When contacted, the commander of the Kaduna State Vigilance Service (KADVS), Brig. Gen. Umar Muhammad Ibrahim (rtd), said he would not speak on telephone on how his men were assisting conventional security to tackle criminals in the state.

[Leadership]

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:04

[OPINION] Urgent Need to Expand Nigeria’s Anti-Graft Toolkit - Waziri Adio

Two recent events in Abuja beamed the spotlight on the protracted and yet-to-be-won battle against corruption in Nigeria. The first was a conference and a report presentation by Chatham House, one of the world’s preeminent think tanks; the second was the unveiling of an initiative to promote transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s 774 local councils by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The attention and reflection offered by the two events were necessary and timely, especially in the context of the seeming dip in enthusiasm about anti-corruption in both political and popular consciousness in the country.

It is important to keep the fire of the anti-graft campaign burning as corruption remains the bane of the Nigerian society. The second part of the last sentence is a statement straight out of the inaugural address of President Olusegun Obasanjo at the dawn of this republic in 1999. Without a doubt, anti-corruption has been the most consistent feature of the last 25 years in Nigeria, even when we have also seen uneven emphasis across administrations. We have had a phalanx of laws, institutions, policies and initiatives devoted to checkmating graft in the country, and some significant progress has been made. But there is still much more to be done. In taking this necessary work forward, we need to expand the toolkit for tackling corruption in Nigeria.

I will share my highlights of the two events, interspersed with observations, then conclude with a few comments.

On 3^rd April, ICPC unveiled an initiative to deepen openness and probity in Nigeria’s local government areas (LGAs). The initiative is called the Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments in Nigeria (ACPPLG) and will be run with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CFTPI), a civil society organisation. In the main, this initiative is designed to nudge the local councils to comply with laws and policies mandating proactive disclosures of their finances and operations.

All the 774 LGAs will be assessed and ranked based on their performance in terms of public and pro-active disclosures in five broad categories: fiscal transparency, open procurement, human resources, citizens’ engagement, and control of corruption. These five categories have 27 sub-categories, ranging from proactive publication of annual budgets, budget implementation reports, revenue flows, annual audits, debt profiles to records of tenders, procurement and recruitments, staff nominal rolls, and policies on bribery, conflict of interests and whistleblowing and the existence of functional websites, social media accounts and records of interactive engagements with citizens.

I think this is a very important initiative. The local councils are the most critical tier of government in terms of service delivery. This is the tier of government that is not just the closest to the people but it is also where the presence and essence of government should be felt the most. This is hardly the case at the moment. The LGAs are technically the closest tier of government to the people but they are realistically the farthest from the people in terms of impact. Local elections are the least credible, the local officials are rarely accountable, and the local people are seldom involved in decision-making about local priorities and resource allocation. Where governance is needed the most is where it is the most broken. We need to reposition our local councils for them to effectively discharge the responsibilities entrusted to them in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and for them to deliver, like their counterparts elsewhere, on the promise of good governance embedded in the theory of decentralisation.

The 11 July 2024 ruling by the Supreme Court affirming that local councils should only be run by democratically-elected officials and compelling direct federation allocation to the LGAs remains a step in the right direction. But even if both conditions are fully met, they are not sufficient to bring about the needed development at the local level. Accountability and responsiveness will be critical. Free and fair elections and financial autonomy by themselves do not necessarily guarantee accountable, efficient, and responsive governance. This is where the initiatives by ICPC and others can bridge the gap.

The disclosures required by ICPC and on which LGAs will be assessed and ranked are already mandated in various statutes including the laws on freedom of information, public procurement, fiscal responsibility and others. Providing an incentive (through a league table) for LGAs to comply is a great idea that additionally serves three purposes: encouraging peer review/peer learning among the LGAs, reducing the incidence of malfeasance through openness, and empowering citizens with information that they can use to hold local officials to account.

I am aware that CFTPI has been publishing an index for the three tiers of government along these lines. But a ranking by ICPC, an organisation with investigative and prosecutorial powers and national reach, definitely will carry more weight. The partnership between the two organisations is the kind of strategic collaboration needed and a reinforcement of the desirability of a handshake between government and civil society.

It is also noteworthy that the Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Aliyu, attended this event, alongside not just his directors but also the heads of key anti-corruption agencies such as the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Public Complaints Commission (PCC)—all pledging support for the initiative and stating they would be tracking the processes and finances of LGAs to actualise the landmark and desirable ruling of the Supreme Court and in line with their mandates.

But ranking and threats are also not enough. It will be important to get the residents of the various LGAs to become invested in and committed to holding local officials to account and to have the applicable tools and the capacities to do so. The LGAs can publish all the required pieces of information on their websites and this might still not make much difference. The information on the websites might not make much meaning or be accessible to most of the people in the LGAs for instance. The point here is not to dismiss the importance of this critical transparency (and potentially investigatory) tool but to say that other things need to be layered on it, including capacity building and nurturing for community-based groups/local opinion leaders and even the local officials.

On its part, Chatham House hosted a conference in Abuja on March 19^th with the theme: “Renewing Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Agenda—Pathways for Change and Reflections on 25 Years of Policy.” Not unexpectedly, Chatham House brought together the leading figures in the anti-corruption space in the country, from government to civil society, development partners and think tanks.

The agenda statement set the tone for the frank and insightful discussion that followed: “Over the past 25 years, Nigeria has developed a broad set of anti-corruption frameworks and institutions. Yet, corruption remains endemic at multiple levels of society, a reality that has corroded public trust in government, stunted economic growth, and weakened Nigeria’s external standing. Corruption’s resilience—despite the raft of legislation and government bodies created over the last quarter-century—continues to underscore the limitations of top-down policy and legislative responses.”

The event was both reflective and forward-looking, and this was well-captured in the framing of the two sessions: “Taking Stock: 25 Years of Anti-Corruption Efforts in Nigeria”; “Looking Ahead: A Participatory, Multi-Level Approach to Anti-Corruption.” The various speakers and the participants highlighted the need to bridge the research and policy gap, to ensure comprehensive value-reorientation, to leverage technology to limit human contact, to focus on fighting corruption in all sectors and all tiers of society, to make it less difficult for those who want to do the right thing, to celebrate, protect and link integrity champions, to build enduring and resilient social movements, and to impose proper and context-meaningful sanctions for bad behaviours.

The conference also marked the official unveiling of the 50-page research paper by an Associate Fellow of Chatham House’s Africa Programme, Dr. Leena Hoffmann. Entitled “Taking Action against Corruption in Nigeria—Empowering Anti-Corruption Role Models and Coalitions to Change Social Norms,” the paper argues for a normative, bottom-up and networked approach to strengthening the fight against corruption in the country. The conference and the paper were part of Chatham House’s Social Norms and Accountable Governance (SNAG) project, implemented by its Africa Programme since 2015 and supported by the MacArthur Foundation through the groundbreaking On Nigeria programme.

Using a behavioural and norms-based lens, the SNAG project conducted surveys and produced research papers to deepen the understanding of the depth of and the motivations for corruption in Nigeria. I find it interesting that Chatham House started its first major research with trying to understand why Nigerians partake in corruption but concluded the project with valuable insights into why some Nigerians resist corruption. As the report underscores (which is a confirmation of the work by organisations such as Accountability Lab that have been naming and praising integrity icons in the country), there are actually Nigerians who resist corruption, at a significant cost to their careers and sometimes to their safety. Doing the right thing has a cost, and the cost can be steep, but that has not been a deterrent to those who choose to be positive deviants.

One of the things we need to do is to recognise that such people exist, to continue to celebrate and protect them, and to reduce or even eliminate the cost of being upright, then hope that they can create a tipping point. The paper also argues that there is safety in numbers, and I think this is eminently sensible. Integrity icons and anticorruption champions within and outside government stand a better chance if they work together in “networked coalitions” and are supported with the necessary laws (such as a whistleblower law) and with strategic guidance on how to navigate the mines of the narrow path.

As stated earlier, there is an apparent sense of fatigue about anti-corruption in the country. This could be due to hopes raised and dashed by different administrations. Or because people have seen impunity go unpunished so often that they have become jaded or sceptical or even disillusioned. Whatever the reasons, it is important to keep alive the campaign to significantly reduce corruption in Nigeria. And in doing this, we will need to expand the toolkit of the anti-corruption crusaders as these two events affirm. We definitely need more than the disproportionate emphasis on law and order of the last 25 years. This is not to say we should undo the laws or slow down on enforcement/sanctions. No. But we need to spend more time on the not-so-sexy work of prevention, research and strategy.

We need to make it difficult for people to engage in corrupt practices by putting in place, and constantly strengthening, mechanisms and systems that checkmate corruption before it happens. Preventing corruption is not headline-grabbing but it is cheaper. We also need to significantly hike the cost of engaging in corrupt practices. As is often said: corruption is not a crime of passion but a crime of calculation—perpetrators do cost-benefit analysis and weigh their chances. Where the cost is low and the benefit is high, you know what will happen, especially where it doesn’t take much effort to undertake or conceal.

Systems and laws do not implement or enforce themselves. They are implemented and enforced by humans whose actions are dictated, sometimes subliminally, by how they have been socialised. This is why it will also be critical to focus on how to change entrenched values that predispose people to, or drive, corrupt practices. Behaviours are what we see, more like the tip of an iceberg. Beneath behaviours are bigger and deeper elements: attitudes, belief systems and values. We need to dive deep to understand what is there.

So, merely telling people to change their behaviours through clever play with words or some fancy behavioural change campaign without addressing the values that define and motivate them may not amount to more than empty preachments. We need to surface the norms that drive action and know what buttons to press to make the difference. It is going to be some tough and persistent work, needing a lot of probing, nuance, rigour and reflection. But it is a necessary and worthwhile work, if the goal is to slay the monster of corruption in our country.

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:02

[OPINION] Much ado about Uromi - Bolanle Bolawole

“When beggars die, there are no comets seen; heaven themselves blaze forth the death of princes” - spoken by Calpurnia, Julius Caesar’s wife, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

At first, I took little interest in the Uromi massacre for obvious reasons. How many of such assaults on our sensibilities do we suffer on a daily basis? So, any time I come across them - incessantly - on social media, especially when the authors are kind enough to warn viewers to beware, I delete and move away! To maintain one’s good health in today’s Nigeria, one must learn to go to Afghanistan, as writers call it. Afghanistanism means avoiding unfortunate issues or one that could land someone in trouble while preoccupying oneself with innocuous issues, especially from far away lands, to maintain one’s sanity and keep out of trouble.

Another reason why I initially avoided Uromi was because I knew that after the uproar and outrage that greeted it, it would soon pass into oblivion like many others before it in our recent past. Ours, like I have repeatedly said, is a country of one scandal, one moment. Before Uromi, we had the Natasha versus Akpabio “he wants to f*ck me” scandal, which is still trending. As if that and the lady’s kangaroo suspension were not bad enough, another leg of the macabre dance was the plot to recall her from office. Recall that it was in that same Kogi state that the attempt, in 2018, to recall another senator, Dino Melaye “caput” on its head “yakata”, as they say.

The shenanigans of a vindictive recall process apart, the embarrassment of watching Kogi state officials fall one on top of the other devising all manner of machinations to keep Natasha away from her place of birth, despite her undisputable rights, under law, to freedom of movement, beggars belief! If sensible and reasonable persons still remain in the land of Yahaha Bello, this is the time for them to show up to be counted.

In the midst of the Natasha/Akpabio melodrama, a state of emergency was declared in Rivers state. An elected governor was removed - even though his election was fraught with mind-boggling irregularities - and a retired military officer was asked to take his place. The irony of the situation was lost on a president who was a pro-democracy activist and one of the arrowheads of the “military-must-go” struggle that cost ordinary as well as prominent Nigerians lives and limbs as well as properties and liberties.

In the last one week alone we have had Uromi, the sack of the Board and Management of the NNPC, the president himself jetting out to France for what they call a two-week working visit, a euphemism for what I am sure you know! By now Nigerians must have become adept at reading the lips of their presidents! To divert attention, the president gave the people something to cheer for in the clean sweep at the NNPC. This is the proverbial case of someone who poured honey in your mouth but farted into it as well!

As if that was not a mouthful, news also broke that the government had introduced N10,000 and N5,000 denominations into the economy. I was at the Ikeja Shopping Mall when someone suddenly screamed, “They have killed us o! Tinubu has introduced N10,000 and N5,000 denominations o!” The whole place immediately went dead. Who does not know the implications of such a move? Mercifully, the CBN was quick to declare the information as fake news!

So, you can see that it is not every news that you must hurriedly react to if you want to keep your blood pressure in check. For me, Uromi was one of those. I simply sighed, “Aaah, Uromi, the birthplace of the Enahoros - Anthony and Peter - is in the news for the wrong reasons” and moved on. Anthony Enahoro moved the historic “Independence Now” motion in the emerging Nigerian parliament in 1953 while his brother, Peter Enahoro aka Peter Pan, remains one of the country’s most celebrated journalists and writers.

Uromi also reminded me of the Yoruba “iromi”; in my native Owo (Ogho) language where the “u” vowel starts everything, it will be pronounced “uromi”. My people say that the iromi/uromi dancing on top of the river has a drummer dictating the tunes beneath the river. In other words, there is no smoke without a fire. The massacre at Uromi could not have happened if there were no underlying causes. Unfortunately as with all things Nigeria, Nigeria immediately happened to efforts to unravel the truth. Were they innocent hunters? Or were they terrorists masquerading as such? We may never know; I mean, we may all never come to an agreement as to who they actually were.

Returning to Calpurnia, the Fulani - and their Hausa foot-soldiers - are the “princes” of the Nigerian federation while the others, especially those from the Middle Belt down to the South, are the “beggars”, difficult as this is to swallow. That is why the torrents of mindless butchering of the “beggars” have neither commanded the attention of the government nor gingered it to action. Whereas any slight calamity that happens to the “princes”, no matter how minute when compared with the horrendous afflictions visited on the “beggars” in the Middle Belt down to the South, is quickly and squarely attacked and addressed to the satisfaction of the “princes”, who must not be offended.

With one example after another ad nauseum, ad infinitum, this has become not a mistake or oversight but a deliberate and deliberative cause of action. It is politics at work - vile politics that value votes to human lives. Questions have been asked, which must be answered. Were the victims of the Uromi massacre really hunters armed with dane guns, killing lions and elephants, and found with lots of cash on them? Were there no forests in the North where they came from that they had to travel down South? Were they appropriately documented with local authorities according to extant Forestry laws operating in those states?

Pardon me! Being an apostle of Peter Abelard, I ask questions so that I can understand. Says Abelard: “Nothing can be believed unless it is first understood”. Assuming they were terrorists as alleged - or they looked like one? Yes, there are laid down rules and regulations of bringing criminals to justice and self-help is itself a crime under our laws, but where criminality trumps the law again and again and the law lies prostrate, can we in clear conscience ask the people not to take their destiny into their own hands?

The very fact that vigilantes were set up under the nose of the government and were known to law means that the necessity for their operation has been established. The State has failed to protect its citizens. The citizens have been saddled with the duty of providing for themselves what the State has failed to provide. And this is the case, not only in Uromi but all over the country, including Kano where the unfortunate hunters were said to have originated from. And can we say, in clear conscience, that there have been no mistakes or unfortunate incidents in all those other places - even with the Federal Government’s security agencies? How many times have the Nigerian Air Force apologised for mistaking innocent villagers for terrorists and wiping them out in the process?

I did not watch the gory details of how the Uromi 16 met their end - and may never do because I cannot stand such spectacles. So, you may understand that I can never root for it - not even for my enemies. But, truth be told, Uromi is just one of such bestialities that is today a common occurrence all over the place. Once human essence is deprecated, any bestiality becomes sport. Ask them in Kosovo! Witness it in Rwanda! Have you forgotten Liberia and Sierra Leone?

That is why we must never fall into that pit; once we do, it is no longer a case of John Bunyan’s he that is down needs fear no fall. The further down we are; the farther still we fall. The more gory sights we witness every day, the more our sensibilities are dulled; moreso if the victims are people known to us. If we seek to address and redress this - which I think we should before we fall irretrievably into Thomas Hobbes’s state of nature - then, selectively serving justice is not the way to go. We shall be creating weightier problems if we travel that route.

Are we not aware of the perception in the Middle Belt and the South that the “princely” status of the North has prevented the criminals in its midst from being brought to book? What, then, is the remedy left for the victims? A skewed justice system that dispenses justice with fear and favour cannot serve the course of justice. If we cry for peace from now till Armageddon without serving justice, like Peter Tosh crooned, we shall only be wasting our time. Worse than Uromi lurks around the corner.

The symptoms of a failed state are there for us all to see. Non-state actors challenge the State for control and sovereignty over its territory. Citizens have taken over tasks that the government is statutorily assigned to perform. Citizens’ confidence in the government is at its lowest ebb. Poverty, criminality, and corruption bestride the polity like a colossus. In the face of all of these, the judiciary, touted as the last hope of the common man, lies prostrate.

Google says the symptoms of a failed state include “the presence of an insurgency, extreme political corruption, overwhelming crime rates suggestive of an incapacitated police force; an impenetrable and ineffective bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics…”. Which of these is not present in our country today? In the same way Rome was not built in a day, our problems did not just spring up in 2023 but they have steadily and stealthily crept upon us, right from Independence, like a thief in the night (Proverbs 6: 6 - 11).

If you think what we experience today is the worst, note that it doesn’t get better here; it gets worse. Our best years are always behind us. It promises to remain so until the people gain the class consciousness that victim-on-victim violence is not the solution. The repraisals threatened by misguided Northern youths fit into that narrative. The oppressors are not touched and the oppression of the oppressed is not mitigated. Instead, we have a vicious cycle of people who should forge a common front to fight their oppressors leaving the oppressors and fighting to liquidate one another, as was the case with the enemies of Jehoshaphat fought to liquidate one another without Jehoshaphat himself lifting a finger (2 Chronicles 20: 20-37).

Poverty of ideas, more than the poverty of substance, is the bane of the common man in Nigeria. Their day of liberty comes when they learn to loan one another commonsense.

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Sunday, 06 April 2025 07:00

[PRESS RELEASE] Atiku Mourns the Passing of Jerry Vampa, Devoted Aide of Over Three Decades

With a heart weighed down by sorrow, His Excellency, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, laments the passing of his long-serving aide and confidant, Mr. Jerry Vampa.

Mr. Vampa, a native son of Michika in Adamawa State, was not merely an employee but a steadfast companion on the arduous journey of politics. Their paths first crossed more than 35 years ago, when Jerry, having distinguished himself at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Yola, in the erstwhile Gongola State, answered the call to service and joined the budding political voyage of the Waziri Adamawa.

In a solemn message conveyed through the Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Saturday, April 5, 2025, the former Vice President expressed a deep and personal grief at the loss of the man affectionately known to all as “Uncle Jerry.”

“Uncle Jerry,” Atiku reminisced, “was the embodiment of humility and warmth. To all who knew him, he was truly everyone’s uncle—a kind spirit, gentle in manner and generous in heart. He was with me from the very beginning, a living archive of my political odyssey. In him, we found not only dedication, but also serenity, loyalty, and quiet strength. My heart is broken. His absence will be deeply felt.”

Among colleagues in the Atiku Media Office, Uncle Jerry was a beloved figure whose jovial nature and unwavering commitment earned him universal affection and respect.

“He shall be remembered,” the statement continued, “for his unwavering fidelity to duty, his remarkable constancy of spirit, and his profound passion for service. Uncle Jerry leaves behind a legacy etched in dedication and friendship, one that shall not fade with time.”

The Waziri Adamawa extends his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, the people of Michika, and all who had the privilege of crossing paths with the late Mr. Vampa.

In prayerful reflection, Atiku beseeches the Almighty to grant eternal repose to the soul of Uncle Jerry and to bestow upon his family and loved ones the strength and solace needed to endure this great loss. May his memory remain a light to all who mourn him.

Signed:
Paul Ibe
Atiku Media Office
Abuja

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