Before the mid-70s, a team of young Nigerians enjoyed the privileged opportunity to be admitted into Annunciation Catholic College (ACC), Irrua, which was one of the best secondary schools in the old Bendel State, now Edo and Delta States.

They came armed only with their dreams, innocence and excitement to pursue a future which looked far away but attainable. For them, education provided the only super-highway to the future and being at ACC was a predictable prelude to fulfilling that future. ACC was not only the dream of children but more for their parents who wanted to enjoy the pride of having their children in an elite school.

Behind them was the blighted wreckage and fatalities of a 30-month Civil War whose nightmare still cast an overhang over life after four years. The students came from different parts of the country, including that part of the country that was severely hurt and most affected by the war. The new government came with a “no victor no vanquished mantra.” The young children were only too happy to begin the new journey of life, build new relationships and nurture dreams that could one day see them live their lives and rule their world.

They were dream seekers and life is for those who dream and have the strength of character to make their dreams a reality.

Years later, life has changed. The world has changed even more, getting increasingly more connected, to create a global village and satisfy the ever expanding human quest and capacity for world’s secrets in the form of knowledge still floating out there. The more immediate benefit of a global village is that people separated for decades can seek out each other and basically shout across the divide which only excludes the opportunity to touch each other but more of feelings and euphoric recollections.

Meanwhile, those innocent dream seekers have come of age, and now scattered across the world, into professions and opportunities to become real men, influencing their world while creating new opportunities and providing broad shoulders for others to climb on.

Here, the dramatis personae begin to emerge from the shadows, from a world of the past, into reality. After decades in separate worlds and even beyond the precincts of career dreams, Commodore Christian Anuge (Rtd.) and Henry Edeko, who lives in the UK, got connected in 2013 and were regularly in touch. They discussed the general old boys group and had, at this time, also reconnected with Christopher Okoh, also in the Uk. Henry and Chris Okoh relayed their different experiences at the various attempts to form or connect with the ACC Old Boys Association, UK branch.

Fast forward to 2015, WhatsApp was just becoming a useful tool for communication and social media networking. Some time around 2017, The ACCCLASS OF1980 WhatsApp group was formed by Thomas Imafidon(aka Arula) and he added Henry Edeko and Christian Anuge either by commission or omission. Thomas was originally our classmate. Henry and Christian must have been on that platform for most of 2017 sometimes joining in discussions. Someone, a 1980 old boy then mentioned on the platform and reminded their Admin that Henry Edeko and Christian Anuge were a year their senior, in a rather graceful way – ACC style. It was mentioned on the platform that we were enriching their discussions and it was from then on that we just became silent members of that platform until very recently.

All the same, we were amazed by the level of interaction and strength of bonding amongst the 1980 Class Old Boys. This is the beauty of technology, being able to look deep into the past, and then beautify the present with its excavations while shaping the future ahead. The seed to form our own class platform had been sown; so in January 2018, Henry Edeko proceeded to form the ACCCLASSOF1979 WhatsApp group to enable members of the set interact with one another, and be able to pull resources together for the upliftment of our Alma Mater, the Annunciation Catholic College, Irrua.

When the dream seekers came to ACC, there were no phones. Perhaps the only phone would be at the local government headquarters in Ubiaja or Ewohimi for administrative purposes. The new world is different. There are mobile phones everywhere which have attracted the benign involvement and invitation of WhatsApp, which is an over-the-top (OTT) operation.

From that moment in January 2018, members of the set didn’t disappoint. They could sit virtually from time to time and relive the world they dreamt about in the 70s. Thankfully, God has been kind. A majority have made good, and could connect from different parts of the world.

The founding trio of Henry Edeko, Christian Anuge and Christopher Okoh contacted Dr. Paschal Isele, who was also the Senior Prefect of the School during our final year in 1979, to secure his imprimatur. The whole episode caught the fancy of other classmates; Martins Akhigbemidu, Dr Peter Olumese, Daniel Arewoh. At the same time Henry Edeko extended Admin rights to other old boys as administrators of the platform, so that they too, could be in a position to add other identified classmates to the platform.

Within one week, the platform had about fifteen members added to it, and this engendered a regular informal discussion until it was decided to formalise the Class Association which resulted in an initial meeting, held on February 27th, 2021, via Zoom. At this inaugural meeting, the first task was to establish the leadership positions of the Class of ‘79. It was easy for members to nominate and agree that Dr. Paschal Isele should be the Chairman of the Set, as he was the Senior Prefect of the School in our final year at ACC Irrua. To continue from where he stopped over 40 years ago!

With the Chairman in place, other nominations were made which saw the election of the following members of the executive: Dr. Paschal Isele – Chairman, Mr. Christopher Okoh – Secretary, Dr. Peter Olumese – Assistant Secretary, Prof. David Ogbeifun – Financial Secretary, and Commodore Christian Anuge (Rtd.) – PRO/Publicity Secretary.

With the ExCo members now in place, it was time to begin work on the main objective of forming the 1979 Set of ACCIOBA. Members agreed, after a painstaking selection of what needs to be done for our Alma Mater, that we should buy and donate Lawn Mowers to ACC Irrua, since members saw that the school lawns were now poorly kept. By March 2021, membership in the platform has grown to over 20; donations were generously made by members which raised enough money that enabled the Set to buy four (4) Lawn mowers which were donated to the school on 30th March 2021, to the joy of every member of the set and the entire ACCIOBA community.

Membership drive became a major need for the Set. Hence, at every subsequent meeting, the need to grow our membership on the platform was always emphasized. By 2022, membership has grown to be about thirty-one. Given the strength of the Set in 2022, it was easy to again decide on a new project to be executed in ACC Irrua. At this time, the Global body of Accioba had drawn up several developmental projects in a development plan for the rebuilding of ACC Irrua. Amongst the expected projects was the perimeter fencing of the school compound. In fact, some other sets had started the fencing of the front area of the school up to the fourth side and the 1979 Set decided to embark on the fencing of about 200 metres stretch of the remaining side from the back. This area had a deep valley which made the task of constructing the fence particularly challenging to execute.

Following the successful execution of two key projects in ACC Irrua, members took a decision, in one of our meetings in 2022, to have some Welfare Plans in place for members. A three-man Committee was set up to come up with a welfare package to be put in place for members of the Set which saw, amongst others benefits, the provision of a token support to any member who is celebrating any of his children’s Wedding. This was however, limited to a maximum of four children per member. Few members have so far benefitted from this Welfare Package to the joy of all members.

Not much was done in 2023 other than the continuous membership drive. The Chairman took the initiative to publish on the set’s WhatsApp platform, the names of all the students of 1974 set that left ACC Irrua in 1979 as a rear view memorial of that epochal time of our lives. This helped in bringing out more names of classmates to be further contacted to join the set as we believe that the more we are, the better it should be for us all and for our Alma Mater. However, in 2024, we again decided to execute another project. This time around, the need to support the completion of the Government approved new hostel complex became paramount. Two members of Class 79, Dr. Peter Okojie and Dr. Godfrey Ekhomu had taken up the building of four out of the eight halls of residence in the hostel complex at the school. Some handsome amount was contributed to the project by the Set.

There is the need to mention here that the 1979 set of ACCIOBA are made up of prominent members that have been able to make significant contributions to the rebuilding of our Alma Mater. It is also on record that the 1979 Set is blessed with members that are holding key positions in the Global body of ACCIOBA. The immediate past Global President of ACCIOBA, Dr Paschal Isele, is a member of the Set. Another member of the Set, Dr. Peter Okojie, is the current President of the North American Branch of ACCIOBA. Also, a staunch member of the UK ACCIOBA branch and member of the Set, Mr. Henry Edeko, has also made significant donations to the Global body for the continuous rebuilding of ACC, Irrua. It must be mentioned too, that when aggregated, members from the 1979 set of ACCIOBA have made more donations towards the rebuilding of ACC Irrua than any other set to the glory of God. Some of our members were indeed honoured by the former governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, for their efforts.

Annunciation Catholic College, Irrua was founded in 1955, which made the School 75 years old by March 2025. A Platinum Jubilee Celebration was held last week by the Global body of ACCIOBA to commemorate this great attainment by the school. The 1979 set has therefore decided to organize a Reunion Party to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations by ACCIOBA Global. For the first time since 1979, the members have a blessed opportunity, this weekend, to convene at the College ground where the journey began decades ago. It is not virtual reality any more but a physical gathering of those tiny little boys who have grown into real men affecting their world in a most positive way.

I dedicate this column today to two illustrious Nigerians who have achieved great things and made giant contributions to our society in their different forays. In the order in which our paths crossed, the first is Dr. Aderotimi (Rotimi) Adelola and the second is Professor Babafemi Badejo (BB). My path and Dr. Adelola crossed at the Omegabank (formerly Owena Bank). The Revd. Segun Agbetuyi had been hired to reposition Owena Bank and Dr. Adelola was one of the fine technocrats he recruited to help get the job done. My path and Agbetuyi crossed when the union leaders opposed to his radical restructuring efforts attempted to bribe me into publishing a story that would damage Agbetuyi and his restructuring agenda.

The unionists came to my office with cash stashed in two cartons of beer. After listening to them, I rejected their offer and drove them away with the bribe money. As they amassed their bait; the union leaders had boasted that Agbetuyi would smear himself once their damaging report was published by the high-flying Saturday PUNCH, which I edited together with the daily, The PUNCH. Saturday came, no dice! It was then Agbetuyi realised I had turned down the unionists’ offer. He anxiously wanted to meet me and sent Sola Oloidi, the Bank’s Public Relations guy at the time. 

When I got to the Apapa head office of the bank at the time, Agbetuyi himself was downstairs waiting to receive me. That was how a relationship with the bank and its key managers developed and blossomed for many years. Its PR department became a second home to me after I left the PUNCH - what with the likes of Segun Ilori, Ademola Akinbola, and Ayo Arowojolu holding sway there at one time or the other! I printed the bank’s Omegabank newsletter for a spell of time until Soludo’s bank consolidation dabaru of the banking sector.

From Omegabank, Dr. Adelola went on to accomplish other milestones, one of which was as the longest-serving Secretary to the Ondo State Government under Gov. Olusegun Mimiko (aka Gba-sibe). What you are about to read are excerpts from the “Foreword” to Adelola’s “Working under the Sunshine: Reminiscences on how a State Government in Nigeria created values for the People”. Incidentally, Professor Femi Mimiko who wrote the “Foreward”, is not only the blood brother of Gov. Mimiko, he was also my classmate at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife. Femi read Political Science while I read History/Political Science. I invite you to enjoy the bit of the “Foreword” that space constraint will allow us here.    

“A major lacuna in Political Science, Public Administration, and governance scholarship, which we have so often referenced, is the tendency to undertake analysis of social formations, and the workings of their political economy, only at the macro level, to the exclusion of the nuances presented by the sub-national realm. The immediate implication of this marginalization culture is that the particular is often lost in the treatment of the general. A preponderance of academic inquiry into, as well as the softer levels of discourses of Nigeria, fits within this disturbing mould.

“To be certain, Nigeria’s system, by a combination of the state formation process, the character of the state, organisation of its politics, and the structuring of its economy suffers from the lingering challenge of throwing up responsive governments capable of answering to the yearnings and aspirations of the people – their own ‘revolution of rising expectations,’ as it were.

“The central government in Nigeria, without much regard to the theoretical precepts in federalism, under which the federating units and central government are supposed to be ‘coordinated and independent’, remains the very locus of power, authority, and influence; animating the other levels of government. The truth, which we have to deal with, is that this governance structure detracts from the possibility of throwing up leaders with the vision and technical capacity requisite for transformationalism. It instead has proven itself adept at producing leaders, many of whom are ‘short in capacity, limited in vision, and too compromised, to be the anchor for national unity and development.’

“In specific terms, the nature of the compromises that many a political practitioner must make to access power, heavily concentrated in the central government – under the rubric of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) – are such that constrain the prospects of emergence of leaders ‘of such quality and commitment requisite for a fresh berth for the country.’ Small wonder, the outcomes in mediocre performance, often paraded in the Nigerian leadership landscape since independence in 1960.

“This, however, does not suggest that the ecosystem of governance in Nigeria is completely bereft of flashes of captivating performance at the sub-national levels – local and State. Yet, under the restrictive analytical framework referenced here, the failure of the Nigerian central government is often projected over the entire country, denying observers the opportunity to engage with significant and impressive efforts at transformational leadership at the other levels of governance. The point being made here is that in the wholescale focus on the macro level, and prioritization of the central government in analysis, the dysfunctionality often associated with that level of government in Nigeria is magnified and projected over the entire social formation, without regard to regional specificities.

“For a fuller, truer, and more nuanced sense, it behooves any serious analyst to look beyond the bigger picture and apprehend critical trends at the lower (sub-national) levels, some of which may be significant enough to shape the nature of the analytical narrative, and the conclusion reachable. It is also not impossible to have what constitutes best practices across governance landscapes within a country. Except the details of such possibilities are tracked and interrogated, it becomes difficult to exact the advantages thereto as we keep at the task of reinventing government, to the ends of good governance, conceived by Goran Hyden in his 1992 work on the same subject, as ‘the conscious management of regime structures to enhance the legitimacy of the public realm…’

“This is one of the primary reasons why Adelola’s (book) deserves the attention of scholars and practitioners of development alike. As the title suggests, the book is a dissection of the patterns of governance of a sub-national unit in Nigeria, over eight years, under a civil democratic dispensation. In the words of the author, it is an effort to elucidate ‘the workings of the people-oriented State Government under the transformational leadership of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, CON, and the first Governor of Ondo State to serve an undisrupted two terms in office.’ “

I agree with Professor Mimiko that Abuja is not Nigeria, just as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or his government is not all there is about governance in the country. Focus must not only be on the government at the Centre but also on States and Local Governments just as Dr. Adelola has appropriately done in his reminiscences. 

Professor Badejo I met during COVID-19 in company of other egg-heads at the University of Lagos Staff Club where we met to discuss the state of the nation and the way forward. Since then, we have become like family. Thus, his latest success did not come to me as a surprise. Let’s savour it with him as much as space would permit us!

“The Award Committee of the 2025 Africa Annual Events and the University of Texas at Austin have conferred the prestigious Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Award on Professor Babafemi Badejo, a political scientist, lawyer, and diplomat, in recognition of his lifelong dedication to African studies and service to the African people. In a statement, the committee announced that the award “named in honour of the late Nelson Mandela, is a lifetime achievement recognition given to individuals who have demonstrated resilience, courage, and commitment to African liberation, the promotion of freedom and rights for Africans, and outstanding leadership in public service”. Past recipients include renowned scholars and leaders such as Bonny Ibhawoh of McMaster University, Canada (2018), and Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja (2024).”

Advocate for African development and professor of Political Science and International Relations at Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Badejo’s career has been dedicated to shaping African governance, peacebuilding, development, and international relations. His extensive research, publications, and policy engagements have significantly influenced discussions on Africa’s role in global politics, security, and socio-economic advancement. He has also played a practical role in peacebuilding efforts across several African countries during his tenure at the United Nations.

Badejo’s work reflects his strong conviction in celebrating African culture and consciousness. His intellectual contributions span key issues such as corruption, leadership deficits, and the evolving nature of democracy in developing nations. The award coincides with Badejo’s 70th birthday, marking a significant milestone in his career. The recognition, according to the statement, serves as an inspiration for future generations of African scholars and leaders. 

In his acceptance speech, Badejo described the award as both a privilege and solemn responsibility. “To be recognised in the name of Nelson Mandela—an enduring symbol of Ọmọluabi, Ubuntu, courage, resilience, justice, and African dignity—is truly remarkable.”, he said. Addressing Africa’s challenges, Badejo emphasised the continent’s leadership deficit and the external forces that exploit its vast natural resources, pledging, however, “a renewed commitment to research, peace, and governance reform in Nigeria and the continent”

We say congratulations to Dr. Adelola and Professor Badejo and wish them more power to their elbows!

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the group chief executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.

President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.

Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.

Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country's geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.

President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.

Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All the appointments are effective today, April 2.

President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasised that the board's restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The Tinubu administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC's share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.

The new board chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris

He started his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.

Musa became Total Nigeria's Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation(NBBF) board.

Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. 

Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.

Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer to begin a stellar career in the oil sector. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).

During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavours.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)

In all functional democracies across the world, from the OECD countries to the continent of Africa, the successes and failures of democratic governance are directly proportional to the readiness of the governments to pursue institutional and governance reforms. These reforms prioritize the public service first as the inevitable complement of democracy (to paraphrase Joseph Schumpeter), and second, as the mechanism for implementing good public policy. Democratic governance, in other words, depends on how optimal and efficient the public service is as the powerhouse of government’s policy commitment to its citizens. This is the reason why the difference between a prosperous democracy and a failing one is the commitment to institutional reforms.

However, complementing democracy is a task that would not come automatically. The political and bureaucratic leadership must make a conscious effort to make reform an enabling framework that achieve the capability readiness of the public service. It is only within this context that we can start talking of a democratic order that is founded on the responsiveness of the public service to the aspirations of the citizenry. The struggle to initiate reform designs and blueprints, and follow through with their implementation does not often come easy as the trajectories of reforms in Africa often reveal. 

But we only need to look at comparative efforts across the world to see why the capability readiness of the public service is key especially in a developing country like Nigeria. The experience of Japan after the disastrous bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War is a significant example of how a country could leverage policy and institutional reform to get back on its feet. The establishment and efficiency of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and its operational philosophy mirrors the significance of the governance policies that brought the Asian Tigers into reckoning. Apart from a strict governance regulation, including protectionism, that influenced the market in specific regulatory manner; as well as the deployment of sociocultural principle, like the Keiretsu principle that organized the private sector into a cooperative economic structure, the public service was also organized around the idea of technocratic and meritocratic “embedded autonomy” which implies that the bureaucracy was insulated from political exigencies and eternal pressures. Now, the governance resolve of post-war Japan and the Asian Tigers has become a governance and reform lesson no country can ignore.      

The inauguration of any democratic government is always interesting. Electioneering campaigns regal the citizens with promises of good policies. This comes from the recognition that governance and institutional reforms form the bedrock of development planning that articulate government programs, especially for effective and efficient service delivery to the people. Once electioneering is done with, the move from election victory to governance articulation is meant to concretize clear development performance and outcomes that bear significant impact on the lives of the generality of people. What is rather interesting, from a Nigerian perspective, at least, is the heightened attention that public service institutional reforms received in the early years of a government’s administration which all too gradually get sidelined in a way that undermine the progressive transformation of the public service into a formidable complement of democratic governance. 

Inevitably, government is then constrained into an arbitrary engagement with governance and administrative matters and problems that leads to setting up ad hoc committees and task force structures which elevate the already burdensome cost of governance problem. This is further aggravated by the penchant for administrative discontinuity that insists, quite illogically, that a government must reinvent the reform wheel rather than deepening and consolidating the reform agenda of the previous administration, or at best incorporating some of its elements into a new framework. The reformer in me worries about the danger that reform complacence or the trade-off of solid reform measures for short-term political gains poses for Nigeria’s transformation trajectory.

The administrative history of institutional reforms in Nigeria is laced with cogent examples of what I am saying. Let us start with the Gowon administration and the Udoji Commission report of 1974. It was the keen awareness of the significance of the public service in the context of enhanced, expanded and deepened role of the state, and what it could contribute to the development planning and management in Nigeria needed as a post-independent country, that led the constitution of the Commission to recommend a way to get the public service capability ready for the objective of national development. And yet, the administration turned deaf ears to the fundamental implications that the recommendations of the creative managerial disruption of the system the Udoji Commission proposed. Those recommendations were meant to take the Weberian “I-am-directed” public service beyond its post-golden age era into the future that demands some critical reforms to withstand modern administrative and national exigencies of a newly independent country. At a critical moment when political will was required to take the recommendation beyond the pages of the report, the government faltered.   

The government’s political will was not lacking in the need to implement the Dotun Phillips report of 1988, initiated by the Buhari administration and carried through by the Babangida administration. The study group was given the objective of a professionalized civil service circumscribed by a managerial philosophy into the institutional context of presidentialism. However, there was an underlying conception-reality gap that disrupted the significance of the report and its recommendation, and this was further aggravated by the inflexibility of the administration’s endorsement of Decree 43 as a legal instrument for the implementation of the recommendations. When some aspects like the politicization of the office of the permanent secretary who ceased being accounting officer and whose tenure was coterminous with that of Ministers therefore failed in the face of reality, and in a governance context of command and control, the system chose to throw away the baby with the bathwater rather than getting back to the drawing board and initiating amendment to the legal instrument as part of a learning journey. 

Unfortunately, the succeeding reform commission—the Ayida Panel—got the marching order to simply reverse the trajectory that was already leading away from the traditional model for doing government business to a managerial reform blueprint. This was a foolhardy attempt at rescuing the form of the golden era of public administration of the 1960s and 1970s without the full benefits of the new managerial revolution that demands professionalism and performance management. By the time we arrived at the Obasanjo administration, and the commencement of the democratic experiment in 1999, Nigeria has sufficiently learnt some administrative and reform lessons that led to the inauguration of the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR), the most comprehensive reform blueprint ever in Nigeria’s reform history. The approval and opportunity for the civil servants to reform the system led to the establishment of the Bureau of Public Service Reform as the lead agency and engine room for continuous learning, change management and the incremental institutional improvement of the public service. Implementing the NSPSR raised lots of fundamental issues, like whether or not the civil service can reform itself; whether or not to policy choices should be made based on selectivity or comprehensiveness, and the issue of getting the basics and details of institutional reform right so as to be able to manage the sequencing of the reform around building new systems and models on the restructured Weberian bureaucracy. 

In a 2005 study of the administrative trajectories of twenty-nine African countries, Ladipo Adamolekun introduced a useful typology for reckoning with the administrative progress of African states. He characterized the 29 African states into four different categories: the advanced, committed, hesitant and beginning reformers. Nigeria fell into the ‘hesitant’ reforming African state. Unlike the committed and advanced reforming states, the hesitant reformers, like Nigeria, manifest the symptoms of not always seeing through reform designs, innovation and ideas, just like we saw with the Udoji reform. To be hesitant is to be enthusiastic about reform ideas, commit to seeing them through, but stopping short of implementing the key reform innovation in ways that impact the efficient service delivery capability of the public service. 

The perfect example that articulates Nigeria’s reform hesitancy is the failure of successive Nigerian governments to deal with the cost of governance issues that has been limiting Nigeria’s institutional coordination and functional capacity. Nigeria operates one of the most expensive governance systems in the world. This derives from the multiplication of structural and institutional processes and dynamics that not only burden budgetary allocations through the large chunk of money spent on recurrent expenditure, but also undermine functional efficiency due to wastage and redundancies. This phenomenon was consequent on the breakdown of the internal establishment control mechanism built around the control tool of organization and method (O&M) and the treasury control of establishment that regulates the capital and recurrent ratio of the budget. The core elements of this controls were the manpower forecasting and planning system of identifying, planning and acting upon human resource requirements and problems related to the conceptualization of the role of the state in the running of the national economy, as well as the trend analysis of service’s growth in size and expansion of the scope of responsibilities. 

The Oronsaye Report—or, the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies—was meant to first articulate a rationalization framework that reduces all parallel, ad hoc and redundant structures; and second, achieve governance accountability that will instigate more efficiency in the conduct of government business. The overall objective was to get the MDAs to achieve more with less. The Committee was guided by five fundamental principles: (a) the economic challenges and the need for Government to make more efficient use of its resources to achieve its development objectives and goals; (b) the fact that Nigeria had undertaken reforms in the past; (c) it was imperative to reform to meet the challenges of a better socio-political and economic society; (d) there was no need to create another body to perform the functions of an already existing statutory entity. The fact that an institution was inefficient and ineffective should not warrant the creation of a new one; and (e) the reform would ensure efficient and effective management of Government structures and functionaries to guarantee better service delivery and good governance. 

And yet, given the fundamental significance of the Report of the Committee, no government from the Jonathan administration to date has been unlock the binding constraints nor muster the audacity to fully implement the recommendations of the Committee. Several reasons can be adduced for this. The first is that the long-term demands of reforms are counteracted by the short-term tenures of many administrations. Second, since there is no making an omelet without breaking eggs, reform implementation requires offending vested interests that would be affected by the hard-political decision these reforms require. Third, reforms possess deep and expensive psychological implication due to the trauma that would attend, for instance, the rationalization and consequent rightsizing of the MDAs will demand in terms of specific downsizing and severance compensations. 

However, since institutional reforms are inevitable, it becomes imperative that the Tinubu government has to facilitate specific systemic and structural changes in order to get the basic rights. These include the following: (i) elimination of the dysfunctional non-value adding processes including silos operations which create red tapes and operational bottlenecks; (ii) the efficient activation of the performance bond that MDAs signed with the President as the means of instituting the performance management system; (iii) strengthening of MDAs’ programme and project management capabilities; (iv) the recalibration of research and policy analysis functions of MDAs through the re-professionalization of their Department of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS); (v) the identification of core skills requirements of the MDAs that touch on the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda, and their sourcing and deployment through retraining, fresh recruitment, contract appointment, staff exchange, sabbatical, donor technical assistance, etc.; (vi) strengthening the merit system through more rigorous entry-level assessment and induction system to mitigate the extent to which the service inherits low-quality education and deficits from the tertiary institutions; (vii) reprofiling of public service institutional capacity to better optimize the potentials of PPPs to boost service delivery; and (viii) the imperative of launching a national waste reduction strategy that involves (a) the unbundling of the expenditure structure of government; (b) productivity audit of the MDAs, (c) getting MDAs to articulate their productivity and waste reduction plans based on agreed national benchmark, (d) launching of the productivity metrics and tools for holding MDAs accountable to national productivity targets, and (e) launching of the new national assets and facility management and national maintenance system.

However, and preparatory to institutionalizing the above, it is logical and expedient that the Tinubu administration establish the Program Management Office (PMO) in the short term to act as the MDAs’ institutional life support model. This becomes functional, for instance, in generating project management ideas which can then be mainstreamed to activate performance-managed operations in the MDAs. This will serve to reinforce the MDAs with required skills and competency upgrade needed to deliver high performance that urgently backstops the Renewed Hope Agenda. This involves, among other things, a backend review of the capability readiness of the MDAs (or at least carefully selected ones based on criteria that are aligned with the eight national policy objectives and priorities of the federal government). There is also, following on this, the need to activate the performance management system components of the Federal Civil Service Implementation Strategy. This demand that the federal government institutionally insist, through the support of key players provided by a consortium of experts and firms, that the MDA deliver on the performance bonds signed with the government.  

The Tinubu administration has what it takes, in terms of extant reform blueprints and designs, professional expertise and technocratic know-how, and the political will to break the jinx that has bedeviled other administrations in terms of passing on reform ideas that could have turned the tide of efficient service delivery to Nigerians. All that is required is taking the first step, say, by going full throttle with the implementation of the Oronsaye Report, and dealing a final blow to the cost ofd governance problem in Nigeria’s governance framework. 

Since the rift between Nyesom Wike, the former Rivers State governor, and Siminalayi Fubara, his successor, blew open in October 2023, I have written four articles on the saga in this column. The last piece before this was titled “Wike-Fubara high-stakes feud: Blame Tinubu if Rivers implodes” (BusinessDay, May 27, 2024).

That intervention was prescient, as, indeed, Rivers State has now imploded politically. Recently, on March 18, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s trigger-happy president, declared a state of emergency in Rivers, sacking its governor, deputy governor and members of the House of Assembly. In parallel, Tinubu appointed a retired vice admiral and former Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ibas, as the state’s Sole Administrator.

In a democracy, that’s a political cataclysm of great proportions. But, as I said in my May 2024 article, the blame rests squarely with Tinubu. For self-serving political calculations, Tinubu took sides in the conflict and empowered one party against the other, thereby fuelling the crisis and enabling it to fester and snowball into an apocalypse. Thus, for me, the state of emergency must be viewed not only through its constitutionality, but also its political context. So, before we come to the constitution, let’s start with the political.

At the heart of the Rivers State saga are, politically, three evils: they are: godfatherism, political corruption and abuse of powers. On the first, it’s no secret that Wike handpicked Fubara as his successor. But as is often the case between political godfathers and godchildren, the relationship went sour. Wike wanted to entrench himself as the ultimate godfather of Rivers’ politics and turn Fubara into his poodle, but Fubara was determined not to be Wike’s lapdog. That “insolence” drew Wike’s ire and triggered his deep animus towards Fubara. As Wike himself said in October 2023, he was fighting for his political life. Hear him: “All of us want to be politically relevant; all of us want to maintain our political structure. Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?”

Of course, Nigeria’s quintessential political godfather is Tinubu. Although he left office as Lagos State governor in 2007, he handpicked all his successors, who became his serfs. Mutual belief in godfatherism makes Tinubu and Wike kindred spirits. Thus, instead of supporting the elected governor of Rivers State, Tinubu sided with Wike against Fubara, expecting him to submit to his “godfather”. But Tinubu’s bias wasn’t just about shared values. He was more motivated by self-interest. Tinubu needed to reward Wike for controversially helping him to secure the crucial 25 per cent in Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election. But, more importantly, he wants to capture Rivers State and much of the South-South in the 2027 presidential race. Hence, he made Wike the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and steamrollered through Godswill Akpabio as Senate President.

Q: “At the heart of the Rivers State saga are, politically, three evils: they are: godfatherism, political corruption and abuse of powers.”

But, as I wrote in a column titled “Wike is not a fit and proper person to be FCT Minister” (BusinessDay, November 20, 2023), being the FCT Minister, the equivalent of a state governor, made Wike extremely powerful and emboldened him to leverage the office to control the politics of Rivers State. Truth is, Wike is irrelevant without political office; it is what gives him oxygen. To quote him again: “If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?” But it’s being the “Emperor of Abuja”, and backed with federal might, that enables Wike to wield political and financial patronage powers, which he uses to fuel his “base”, remain “politically relevant” and foment trouble in his state. Yet, Tinubu’s self-serving relationship with Wike prevented him from being even-handed; instead, he strengthened Wike politically and weakened Fubara. Even now, Tinubu sacks Fubara, a democratically elected governor, but keeps Wike, the agent provocateur, in office as a crony minister. It is utterly perverse, an abuse of political powers.

But there’s also the abuse of judicial powers. The Supreme Court validated the membership of the 27 members of the Rivers State House, who, as recorded in the House’s Hansard, unlawfully defected to another party and should have, under section 109 of the Constitution, forfeited their seats. But once their seats were validated, the 27 lawmakers, Wike’s loyalists, triggered the governor’s impeachment. The judiciary is certainly complicit in the crisis.

Which brings us to the constitutionality of the state of emergency. Of course, section 305 of the Constitution empowers the president to declare a state of emergency under some grave circumstances. But the state of emergency that Tinubu declared is flawed substantively, procedurally and morally. In terms of substance, there is nowhere under section 305 that gives any president the power to declare a state of emergency and then sack a democratically elected state governor and other elected state representatives.

In 2004, when President Obasanjo used a state of emergence to sack the then governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, Chief Rotimi Williams, who chaired the Constitution Drafting Committee that drafted the 1979 Constitution, which the 1999 Constitution mimicked, said: “There is no provision contained in any part of our Constitution which confers such a power on the President.” In constitutional interpretation, judges are guided by the original intent of the drafters. So, while would anyone ignore the views of Chief Williams, whose committee drafted the 1979 Constitution? Those views were shared by Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney-General of the Federation under President Jonathan’s administration, who advised Jonathan not to sack the governors of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe after declaring a state of emergency in those states in 2013. According to Adoke, “the removal of a Governor is nowhere provided for in the mechanism for implementing a State of Emergency.”

But faced with the Obasanjo model and the Jonathan model, Tinubu and his Attorney-General, Lateef Fagbemi, opted for Obasanjo’s authoritarian approach, ignoring the views of constitutional drafters, lawyers and scholars. Ideally, the Supreme Court should clarify the matter. Unfortunately, there’s no judicial independence in Nigeria. With the Supreme Court seemingly in cahoots with the presidency and given its penchant for perverse rulings, few trust the apex court to be an impartial arbiter.

Which brings us to the constitutional process. Section 305 (6)(b) of the Constitution provides that a state of emergency must be approved by “two-thirds of all the members of each House of the National Assembly”. That’s a high threshold, meaning two-thirds of 109 senators (i.e., 72) and two-thirds of 360 members of the House of Representatives (i.e. 240). Now, how can any parliament determine those numbers by a voice vote? Yet, that’s what Nigeria’s supine and rubberstamp National Assembly did! The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe, said the so-called “ratification” was “unconstitutional”. Truth is, both substantively and procedurally, the state of emergency is illegal and unconstitutional.

Yet, there’s also morality. Tinubu strongly condemned Obasanjo’s state of emergency proclamations in 2004 and 2006, which, respectively, removed the governors of Plateau and Ekiti States. He brutally attacked President Jonathan’s state of emergency in the terrorism-ravaged states of Bornu, Adamawa and Yobe in 2013 even though their governors were not removed. But now, Tinubu defends his power-grabbing state of emergency by saying: “I have a country to run.” Really? Well, leaving aside Tinubu’s customary hypocrisy, he’s acting as a tyrant, an autocrat. That puts Nigeria’s social cohesion and democracy in danger!

I bring you greetings today from our customer service space in this column. This is an area of the field we are not only passionate about, but we also offer speed conversations, corrections and training, where necessary.

These gum-chewing receptionists in hospitality spaces who forget what their job descriptions are get my goat all the time.

Although I have written copiously about this from different angles, it’s never enough. I travel a lot across the world, and some of the worst customer service faux pas occur in Nigeria. And I love my country dearly, but we must understand that customer service failures are directly related to poor relationships and poor footfalls in a business, especially in the hospitality business. Why should I come back to your hotel if your staff were crappy, rude, uninterested and unprofessional?

So I arrive at Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, for a meeting, and I check into one of my favourite hospitality places. And by the way, it’s a highly elevated space, not well known but very well apportioned with beautiful, breathtaking grounds. I had not been there in a while, but the ambience was as beautiful as I have always remembered it.

But something had shifted, just a little bit, and it had to do with attitude and service. Upon my return to my room later in the day, tired from my many meetings, I found that my toilet was not flushing (pardon my French). The first person I complained to had the audacity to ask me if I had touched something or if, in fact, I understood how the flushing button worked. I asked him if they had some technology-orientated flushing button that prevented my daft head from comprehending flushing toilets. Of all the things in the world, you are trying to project your toilet-flushing conundrum to your guest. My fault; I can’t flush the toilet. Yup, this cannot be housekeeping’s fault or even the hotel’s fault for pretending that my room, which I want to believe was double-checked before it was allocated to me, was fine.

Customer service rules include but are not limited to clearing up the bad customer experience and replacing it with a good one so you forget the bad experience while working on a make-good proposition, but more importantly, communicating properly. Who trains front office staff in communication and public speaking? Who teaches housekeeping and waiters how to manage an angry and hurt guest? How do hotel staff manage crises?

This comment about whether or not I know what a toilet flushing entails could never rear its head if the staff knew what to say.

In fairness, they tried to move me to another room, but I was too tired.

The following morning after I left for my business of the day, the technicians, etc., fixed it. But I knew that I had been checked into a dodgy room when, by evening, my convenience space was flooded. Yeah! You did not guess. It’s a plumbing fault. A fault they knew about all along but tried their luck with the wrong person. So my room had workers going in and out, much to my discomfort, most of the day.

The entire enchilada impacts your entire business and determines whether you have return customers. These are the crème de la crème of the hospitality industry. Guests who can swear by your soft feather pillows, the pleasantness of your staff, polite staff and the absolutely decadent food at your restaurant. When I say pleasant staff, I do not mean the ones who are trying too hard; they simply irritate you. Those who want to carry you and your luggage, who greet you five times and who ask if you are enjoying the meal before you have started eating. These are a complete put-off. I wonder who taught them to drive you insane. Subtlety is the name of the game. Not six waiters hovering around you when all you want to do is eat in peace. Out here, the attention is often more about your tip than caring about you, which is so sad!

Back to meals, at one restaurant where I had gone for breakfast, I requested cold milk, qualified with “very”. The young waiter proceeded to give me lukewarm milk. So I asked her, Did you not hear me? ” She goes, “Sorry, let me go and get you cold milk.” Some other waiter was to deliver something in my room for 1pm. At 2:30pm, I had to go and remind her. “Sorry, Ma, I wanted it to be chilled, so I put it in the fridge.”

She had told me at 1pm, then she failed miserably. Could you not have called me to intimate me? “Sorry, Ma.” I don’t know if sorry cleans up this customer service mess. Something needs to be done. It adds to the minus of Nigeria’s image.

I rest!

In a startling twist to the political intrigues in Rivers State, Chief of Staff to suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Mr. Edison Ehie, has alleged that he was offered N5 billion to coordinate the impeachment of his principal.

This is coming as Fubara, yesterday, vowed to continue to defend the interests of Rivers People, just as the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, and Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in the state revealed their plan to sue President Bola Tinubu’s appointed Sole Administrator of Rivers State for the alleged misuse of fund.

I was offered N5bn to impeach Fubara —Ehie

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Ehie claimed he has evidence of the bribe offer stored on his phone.

He said: “I can also open my phone to show you, in the beginning of October 2023, when they approached me with a bribe of N5 billion. It is here in my phone,

“It was for impeachment. It’s here. I have it and I have printed it and distributed it, in case, in their evil imagination, they decide to attack me. I already have a son and a brother.”

Ehie said the offer was made while he was serving as the majority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

He also denied claims that he orchestrated the October 30, 2023, bombing of the Rivers Assembly complex on Fubara’s orders.

The allegation was made by a former Head of Service in the state, George Nwaeke, who alleged that he witnessed a bag of money being handed over to Ehie at the Government House to execute the operation.

Dismissing the claims as false and politically motivated, Ehie said: “It is very important to clarify that I had no hand and was not part of the burning down of the Rivers State House of Assembly. Like everyone else, I woke up in the early hours of October 30, 2023 to hear of the burning down of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”

Ehie stated that he had instructed his lawyers to file a lawsuit against Nwaeke for criminal libel.
“I will not join issues completely with Mr. George Nwaeke because I have already instructed my lawyers to file an issue of criminal libel against him, and I hope he is very prepared to substantiate his claims and his allegations,” he said.

He further alleged that Nwaeke had sought financial assistance from him on the same day he resigned as head of service.

Fubara vows to defend Rivers’ interests

Meanwhile, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara has vowed to defend the interest of people of the state despite the ongoing crisis that degenerated into a state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu penultimate week.

He said: “Their goal is to create problems and deny people their means of livelihood. We will not allow that. We will continue to operate peacefully and respect constituted authority to ensure that our state remains a model for others in Nigeria,”

Fubara assured residents that the ongoing political crisis in the state will ultimately strengthen the people rather than weaken them.

He stated this when he received Muslim leaders from 20 Islamic-based groups, including the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, at his private residence in Port Harcourt during an Eid-el-Fitri visit.

Addressing the delegation, Fubara urged them and his supporters to trust in God’s process, saying: “This season is one of love, sharing and sacrifice. You have come to share in our pain and have made a great sacrifice through your prayers. As Christians, we believe that everything happens for a purpose, and I strongly believe that this situation is leading us toward a greater purpose.”

He acknowledged that the current political tension might leave many feeling depressed but emphasized that supernatural forces may be at play beyond human understanding.

“No matter what we see, we must remain steadfast. In all things, we give glory to Almighty God. I believe that, in the end, we will emerge stronger,” he added.

TMG, CSOs to challenge Rivers Sole Administrator in court

The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, and several Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, have declared their intent to challenge the actions of Rivers State’s Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), in court. They accused him of unlawfully spending state funds without an approved budget.

At a press briefing in Port Harcourt, TMG Coordinator, Nathaniel Akporuvweku condemned the state of emergency and Ibas’ governance as unconstitutional. “No provision in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, allows for the appointment of a sole administrator to govern any state in Nigeria,” Akporuvweku argued.

He listed grievances against Ibas, including: Suspension of all political appointees in the state, unauthorized spending of state funds without due process, appointment of government officials without legislative approval and secret investigations of Governor Fubara.

“The ongoing political instability is distressing to Rivers people. The Sole Administrator must adopt a neutral approach to avoid worsening tensions. If he continues this unconstitutional spending, we will have no choice but to seek legal redress,” Akporuvweku warned.

He reiterated calls for President Tinubu to lift the state of emergency and restore democratic governance in Rivers State, emphasizing that the rule of law must prevail.

Don’t kill democracy in Nigeria, Dele Momodu tells Tinubu

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dele Momodu, yesterday, faulted President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Fubara, his deputy and the Rivers State House of Assembly, labelling the move as “anti-democratic.”

Momodu, who spoke on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief, said that the decision contradicts the democratic ideals Tinubu once advocated.

His words: “I think it is very unfortunate. I know President Tinubu very, very, very well. Though I’ve not been in the same party with him and all that, we were together in exile, and he fought gallantly for this democracy. So a lot of us, co-comrades at that time, are actually very embarrassed that we have a pro-democracy leader in government, and yet what we are witnessing is worse than dictatorship.

“And I have said it openly so many times, in many open letters, you can fail in economy, no problem; people will forgive you and say you’re not a professor of economics. You can fail in other areas, but don’t fail in democracy.

“I’m pleading with President Bola Tinubu, ‘Please don’t kill democracy in Nigeria.’

“Everybody who loves him will tell him this. I don’t; I’ve not asked him for anything, but we love him for his contributions to the motivation in the back, which is what is going down the drain.”

[Opinion Nigeria]

The Abia State Government, under Governor Alex Otti, is facing mounting criticism and legal scrutiny over its insistence on proceeding with the controversial Abia Airport project in Nsulu, Isialangwa North LGA, despite a standing court order halting all construction activities.

Reports indicate that clearing operations have commenced on the access road to the proposed runway, in direct violation of a ruling by the Abia State High Court. On December 20, 2024, Justice Enyinnaya Okezie of the High Court in Okpuala Ngwa issued a stay order following a lawsuit filed by representatives of the Nsulu communities, whose land is targeted for acquisition.

The lawsuit, numbered HIN/62/2024, challenges the government’s bid to acquire over 1,025 hectares of land without securing a fair and transparent agreement with the affected landowners. During an initial hearing, C. Ogwo, counsel for the Abia State Ministry of Justice, assured the court that all project-related activities would be suspended pending a determination of the motion on notice. Justice Okezie explicitly ruled that “action on the subject matter in this suit shall be stayed until the motion on notice is determined.”

However, landowners claim that bulldozers have been deployed to the site, allegedly driven by statements from the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, in what they describe as a blatant disregard for the judicial process. This has triggered outrage among Nsulu community leaders, who are calling for intervention to prevent the government from setting a dangerous precedent.

“It is troubling for a state government to openly defy an order from a court of competent jurisdiction,” a prominent Nsulu leader stated under anonymity, fearing potential repercussions. “Governor Otti and his administration must understand that no one is above the law.”

Beyond the legal defiance, affected communities are also raising concerns about the fairness and transparency of the land acquisition process. They argue that there has been no formal agreement on the exact land area to be taken, the project’s impact on local livelihoods, or a publicly available Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from the relevant health authorities.

Additionally, there are allegations that the government is attempting to install handpicked community representatives to manipulate negotiations, further deepening distrust. One Umuala community leader voiced frustration, stating, “I feel betrayed by a government I once trusted to do the right thing. While we are not opposed to the airport project, we are deeply concerned about the vast land being seized and the lack of transparency.”

Another community elder reinforced this sentiment: “We are not against the airport, but the land acquisition process has been shrouded in secrecy. Rather than genuine engagement, the government is relying on media propaganda to portray opposition where there is none.”

Anger has been heightened by the government’s decision to send bulldozers to Umuala before resolving outstanding issues. “Government propaganda won’t erase the fundamental problems with this project,” another leader remarked. “At some point, the truth will overshadow the state’s rhetoric.”

He urged the community to resist any land clearing efforts until an enumeration report is released and verified, and adequate compensation is provided, as expected in any lawful and civilised process.

The Nsulu Stakeholders Forum (NSF), a key community advocacy group, has warned that the government’s defiance of the court order could undermine investor confidence in Abia State. According to NSF Convenor Mazi Chigoram, the administration’s actions send a discouraging signal to potential investors.

“This is about a court order issued within the state. If the Otti government can disregard it so blatantly, how can any private investor be assured of fair treatment if a business dispute arises? Ignoring judicial rulings de-markets Abia and creates an environment where no serious investor would want to operate.”

The group urged the state government to respect the court’s directive, warning that moving forward with land clearing amounts to an unlawful land grab that could tarnish the Federal Government’s role in approving the airport project.

“Governor Otti must not create the impression that he disregards court orders. The rule of law demands that all parties await the court’s final decision.”

As of now, the Abia State government has not issued an official response to the allegations. The fate of the Abia Airport project, and the relationship between the government and the Nsulu communities, hinges on the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings and the administration’s willingness to uphold judicial authority.

Tensions remain high as affected communities continue to demand transparency, equitable compensation, and adherence to due process.

The People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Nigeria’s oldest surviving political party, has long been synonymous with radicalism and populism, tracing its roots to the late Mallam Aminu Kano and Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

Despite its historical significance, the PRP has struggled to maintain political relevance in contemporary Nigerian politics, often overshadowed by dominant parties like the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

However, recent defections by some of its 2023 governorship candidates have reignited discussions about the party’s viability. The exit of these politicians, who formally joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has not only raised questions about PRP’s future but also sparked a broader conversation on Nigeria’s opposition landscape ahead of the 2027 elections.

A party on the margin?

While the APC, PDP, Labour Party (LP), and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) frequently dominate political discourse, the PRP has remained largely in the background. Its absence from mainstream political conversations has led to debates over whether the party should continue to exist or be among the smaller political parties deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Some political actors have also pushed for the registration of new parties, arguing that Nigerians deserve more alternatives beyond the existing dominant parties.

On March 26, several PRP governorship candidates across the country announced their resignation from the party and their defection to the SDP. Their decision follows a similar move by former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who recently left the APC for the SDP. El-Rufai’s defection has seemingly sparked momentum for the SDP, with more politicians gravitating towards the party.

Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Hayatuddeen Lawal Makarfi, chairman of the PRP Gubernatorial Candidates’ Forum, described their move as a strategic realignment rather than a mere defection.

“We appreciate the warm gesture of the most influential political leader of today, whose visionary and unwavering leadership qualities have been felt even by the blind in this country. He is facing persecution because he has refused to compromise standards due to his fear of God and love for Nigeria,” he said.

Makarfi, the party’s 2023 governorship candidate for Kaduna State, lamented the state of the nation, stating that Nigeria is “bleeding” under a system where citizens are trapped between “soaring poverty and collapsing institutions.” He criticised both the APC and PDP, accusing them of turning governance into a “cabal of shared incompetence.”

“The 2027 election must not be APC vs PDP; it should be Nigeria vs failure. We see the SDP as not just another party but the last hope of the common man,” he added.

While SDP National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam welcomed the defectors, assuring them of equal opportunities within the party, the PRP leadership downplayed the defections, insisting that the party remains unshaken. The party’s national spokesman, Comrade Muhammed Ishaq, said PRP respects the right of individuals to associate freely and will not engage in confrontations over members leaving.

“We are a law-abiding political party, and the Nigerian Constitution guarantees free association. This is their right, and we have no problem with that,” Ishaq told Daily Trust.

PRP national chairman debunks defectors’ claims

However, PRP National Chairman Alhaji Falalu Bello dismissed claims that Makarfi led a substantial number of gubernatorial candidates in defecting to the SDP.

“Who elected him, and where was he elected? Makarfi town is close to Kaduna; anyone can visit to check if he ever had a campaign office there as a governorship candidate. Otherwise, anyone can wake up tomorrow and claim to be defecting from PRP or even President Tinubu’s camp,” Bello said.

He said only six individuals were visible at the SDP reception for defectors, questioning Makarfi’s claim of leading a mass exodus from the PRP.

“The PRP has a long history, having formed governments in Kano and Kaduna states. Any genuine PRP governorship candidate in Kaduna would have a significant following because of the party’s pedigree. So where was his campaign office?” Bello asked.

A former managing director of the Bank of the North, Bello was elected PRP national chairman in September 2018 to replace the late Alhaji Balarabe Musa. He survived attempts to remove him by some aggrieved party members in September 2020 before being re-elected in 2022 at the party’s national convention in Abuja.

A party in decline or a political ideal?

Founded in 1978 as a leftist alternative to the dominant political parties of the time, the PRP emerged as the reincarnation of the NEPU and became a beacon for socialist ideals under Mallam Aminu Kano. However, following the 1983 coup led by then-Major General Muhammadu Buhari, the PRP was banned.

In the Fourth Republic, the party was revived under Balarabe Musa, who had won the Kaduna State governorship in 1979 with the PRP but struggled to regain its former prominence. Despite its deep ideological roots, the PRP has remained a marginal player in Nigerian politics, failing to win major elections in recent years.

However, its national chairman argued that the PRP’s influence transcends electoral politics, emphasising that it represents an enduring political ideology.

“The PRP, as the descendant of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), is not just a political party—it is an ideal rooted in the minds and beliefs of the people. A 90-year-old woman in Bauchi still holds her NEPU membership card. That tells you that PRP is bigger than individuals,” Bello said.

He also revealed that discussions for a merger between the PRP and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took place in 2024, but the plan did not materialise.

“PRP has always been open to alliances. In the past, we formed a government in Kaduna through a coalition, so political mergers are not new to us,” he added.

Bello dismissed Makarfi’s claims, noting that the latter was originally an APC member who only joined the PRP a few months before the 2023 elections after being dismissed by El-Rufai.

Defectors defend move

However, when contacted, Makarfi refused to engage in a war of words with the PRP chairman, citing Bello’s age as a reason for restraint.

“Most of us who left the PRP are young people, and we would not want to join issues with a 71-year-old national chairman, who we hold in high esteem. Those who came to the SDP last Wednesday were representatives of defectors nationwide; it was not necessary for all of us to travel to Abuja,” he said.

When Daily Trust asked him for the full list of all the members of the PRP Gubernatorial Candidates’ Forum that defected to the SDP, Makarfi said in a chat: “We went to the National Secretariat (of SDP) with the following representatives: Rivers (Emiyare Etete), Enugu (Elder Chris Agu), Anambra (Anthony Umeh), Jigawa (Capt. Ahmed Kaugama), Kwara (Abdulkareem Mustapha) and Kaduna (himself).”

Quizzed further on the identities of the other members of the forum he and the five others represented, he said: “The others may include: Kebbi, Gombe, Nasarawa and Plateau. We are still doing our consultations and will soon round up.”

He maintained that the move was well thought out, adding that the 2027 election results would validate their decision.

“We appreciate the opportunity given to us by the PRP, but we have the right to associate with any party of our choice. The future will tell whether we made the right decision,” Makarfi added.

Experts weigh in

Dr Kabiru Sufi, a lecturer at the Kano State College of Arts, Science and Remedial Studies, said the PRP’s historical significance makes its recent crisis more alarming.

“The PRP has always been associated with progressives. The defection of its gubernatorial candidates is a serious blow, especially considering the party’s internal divisions even before this episode,” Sufi said.

He predicted further defections across the opposition space, stating that more political figures may switch allegiances as 2027 approaches.

Similarly, Professor Sadeeque Abba, a political scientist and former deputy vice chancellor at the University of Abuja, described party defections as a normal political evolution.

“Political parties are not static institutions; they expand and contract over time. The movement from PRP to SDP is part of a broader trend of realignments ahead of the 2027 elections,” Abba explained.

He noted that dissatisfaction with party structures and governance failures often drive such shifts, adding that PRP’s inability to secure a strong presence in the National Assembly has left it politically vulnerable.

“If PRP had even five senators in the National Assembly, it would have had a stronger voice. But coming eighth in the 2023 presidential race shows its current limitations,” Prof. Abba added.

[DailyTrust]