President Vladimir Putin of Russia has mourned the passing of Pope Francis, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Putin, in a message to Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, said throughout the years of his pontificate, Pope Francis actively promoted the development of dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, as well as constructive cooperation between Russia and the Holy See.

The Russian leader said in a message, “Please accept my most sincere condolences on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis.

“In this sad hour, I would like to convey to you and the entire Catholic clergy my words of sympathy and support.”

The Vatican had announced that Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church died on Monday after suffering from pneumonia.

Fresh protests broke out in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Monday over the persistent killings of indigenous residents by suspected Fulani militants.

The demonstrations, which were led by Christian leaders including Plateau chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Polycarp Lubo, began at the Fawvwei Junction community road, causing significant traffic gridlock and leaving commuters stranded.

The protest follows a recent surge in violent attacks on communities in Plateau with more than 100 people reportedly killed in Bokkos and Bassa Local Government Areas over the past two weeks.

“We are not happy over the continuous attacks and killings by gunmen in our communities. That’s why we have come out again to protest these happenings,” one of the protesters, Gyang Dalyop, said.

Another protester, Hannatu Philip, urged the government to intervene before the situation spirals out of control.

The demonstrators, carrying placards with various inscriptions, were seen marching toward the Rayfield Government House to demand urgent security intervention.

[TheNation]

Following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, the Catholic Church has entered a period known as sede vacante, which is Latin for “the seat being vacant”.

This triggers the centuries-old process of selecting a new pope.

With no clear frontrunner, attention has turned to a number of high-ranking cardinals considered potential successors to the 266th pontiff, who led the Church from 2013 until his death at age 88.

The selection of a new pope will be decided during a conclave, a secretive gathering of eligible cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

The process is guided by long-established traditions and rituals, though the outcome is far from predictable.

According to reports by The Telegraph and CNBC, several cardinals have emerged as possible papabili, a term used to describe those considered likely to be elected pope.

The list includes figures from various regions and theological leanings, some closely aligned with Pope Francis’ progressive vision and others representing a more conservative approach.

Here are 10 cardinals being widely mentioned in Western media as likely contenders:

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines)

Tagle holds the title of Cardinal-Bishop of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle (pro hac vice). He also serves as President of the Catholic Biblical Federation, Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, and is actively involved in several Roman Curia departments.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Italy)

Parolin has been the Vatican’s Secretary of State since 2013 and joined the Council of Cardinals in 2014, the same year he was elevated to cardinal.

Cardinal Péter Erdő (Hungary)

Erdő has been Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary since 2003

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (USA)

Burke is a prominent conservative figure in the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of St. Louis and Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest court, from 2008 to 2014.

He was also Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta between 2014 and 2023.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (Italy)

Zuppi has been the Archbishop of Bologna since 2015 and previously served as an auxiliary bishop in Rome.

Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk (Netherlands)

Eijk, a former medical doctor and moral theologian, has been Archbishop of Utrecht since 2007 and became a cardinal in 2012.

Cardinal Mario Grech (Malta)

Grech has served as Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops since 2020, playing a pivotal role in the global synodal process.

Cardinal Peter Turkson (Ghana)

Turkson currently heads the Pontifical Academies of Sciences. He previously led the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and was the first prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development

Cardinal Angelo Scola (Italy)

Scola is a seasoned theologian and philosopher who served as Archbishop of Milan from 2011 to 2017 and Patriarch of Venice before that.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM is an Italian Catholic prelate who has served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since November 6, 2020.

As 1.3 billion Catholics around the world mourn the death of Pope Francis, they now await news of who will take up the mantle of spiritual leadership

Adelabu Adegoke was one of the most flamboyant and charismatic politicians in      pre-independence Nigeria.    When one day, the press asked him about deliberations in the Western Region    House of Assembly, he replied that it was a “peculiar mess”. He pronounced the words with a Yoruba intonation making the two words sound like “Penkelemesi”. So, his sobriquet became Penkelemesi.

Today, his grandson, Adebayo Adelabu, is the  Minister of Power who rather than do the job he is paid for, prefers serving Nigerians peculiar mess as menu.    Under his watch, the national grid  in 2024 on  average, collapsed monthly  and, power supply remains  epileptic while tariff is astronomically increased.  In other words, Nigerians under him pay astronomical electricity tariff for the darkness supplied.

However, rather than be quiet, Adelabu insults Nigerians at per second billing.  For those who may not be aware, Nigerians  as customers buy everything in the hope of being supplied electricity. We    buy all: from    wires, poles, transformers to    meters with which we are billed. Despite these, Adelabu adds to the injury with insults and loads of Trump-like alternative truths. For instance, in April, 2024, Adelabu  needed to astronomically increase electricity tariff in line with the biddings of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank who falsely claim that the cost of electricity is too cheap in Nigeria.  

So, the grandson of Penkele spins a tail in which he blames and insults Nigerians for the epileptic power supply and why they had to be punished with high tariff increases. He said:  “A lot of people will come back from work, they want to have dinner, or they want to see their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back. Some people will be going to work in the morning, a freezer that you left on for days, they will still leave it on when all the items in the freezer are frozen and five, six, eight hours of their absence will not make it to defreeze, they will still leave it to be consuming power just because we are not paying enough.”

In his 2024    Independence      Day message which also marked his one year in office, the Minister    told Nigerians that over 40 per cent of us are enjoying 20 hours of electricity daily. The truth is that while some    Nigerians have less than four hours of electricity supply    daily, many have less. There are actually towns that were not supplied electricity at all within that period.  In fact, as at April 18, 2025 areas in  Kaduna metropolis like Romi and Sabo, for weeks, have had less than two  hours power supply daily!

In any case, where did the increase in power distribution come from when for decades our maximum power  distribution  capacity remains  4,000 megawatts? Nigerians    knew Adelabu was lying because that was not the reality of their existence. Also, Adelabu    knew he was lying because as the Yorubas say, two persons cannot be deceived simultaneously; if the person being deceived does not know, the      deceiver knows what game he is playing.    However, Nigerians were too hungry to be bothered about debunking such optics by a man belching at the nation’s table. This spin by Adelabu on hours of power supplied is not original.    It is an old template in the files of the Power Ministry. It was used on June 9, 2020 by one of his predecessors,    Mamman Kwagyang Saleh, who on June 9, 2020 on    the Nigerian Television Authority, claimed Nigerians were  enjoying  18-24 hours of power supply every day.

Adelabu had also    tried to play on the intelligence of Nigerians. While not increasing  power distribution above the  4,000MW  we have had for over a decade, he categorised consumers into what he classified as Band A, B, C.    Under this false categorisation, he billed those in Band B,    N63 per kilowatt-hour and those in Band A N209 per kilowatt-hour.      After achieving the tariff increase, the    Ministry decided to “regularise electricity tariffs” which is an euphemism for tariff increase and obliteration of the deceptive ‘Band’ system.

In his latest outing on April 17, 2025,  Adelabu held a long, sonorous press briefing with no verifiable statistics to back his claims.  He told Nigerians: “We have increased our generation to 6,003 megawatts, up by 1,700 megawatts in one and a half years since President Tinubu assumed office. It took Nigeria over 40 years to achieve an incremental 2,000 megawatts of average energy; we achieved this in less than two years.”

The claim by Adelabu that it is the Tinubu government that has increased power generation to 6,003MW    is contradicted by facts from the supervisory Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC. In    its    “Daily Energy Watch” for January 28, 2015, the agency stated that power generation    was 6,421 MW. In January, 2017, Buhari’s Minister of Power Babatunde Fashola announced a power generating capacity of 7,000MW. When Fashola in his    Monday, July 9, 2018 press briefing    made similar claims as an indication of progress, the eleven distribution companies under their Association of      Nigerian Electricity    Distributors, ANED,    issued a statement accusing the government of lying as    the country had almost hit that mark before Buhari came to power on May 29, 2015.  

So,    Minister Adelabu’s    claims ten years later, that due to hard work the Tinubu administration had significantly increased power generation to 6,003 MW, cannot but be a fallacy. Generally, contrary to the claims of Adelabu, our power sector is in a sorry state and urgent steps need to be taken. One of them is the overdue review of the demonstrably fraudulent 2013 privatisation which handed over the sector to mainly incompetent distribution companies some of which have  gone  bankrupt. The review has statutorily been due since 2018.    

If need be, the privatisation should    be reversed. The Dominican Republic did so in 2003, the German cities of Berlin and Hamburg    also did,    and  California with a $3 trillion economy equally did. This led to the liquidation of Enron    on July 16, 2005. Nigeria which began to generate and distribute electricity in 1896, has one of the    best experiences in the world. Along with    public power supply, we also had an independent or private power company called Nasco which was established in 1925. The latter was quite efficient and reliable. But the    Federal Government smashed Nasco on the basis that no company should compete with    NEPA/PHCN. Along with the reversal of the privatisation swindle, the Nasco model remains a viable one.    Anybody interested in further reading  can pick a copy of the    2020 book: “The light in the tunnel may be an oncoming train:   A Research      on Privatisation in Nigeria focusing on electricity”, which I co-authored with Ahmed Aminu Yusuf. 

Former Defence Minister, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma, retd; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, President of Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Rev Lucius Ugorji, and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, have expressed angst against the present high level insecurity in the country.

Similarly, the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, and Kebbi State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, expressed same sentiments, pleading with President Bola Tinubu to save Nigerians from frequent killings by bandits, herdsmen, and insurgents.

Their reactions came against the backdrop of militia’s attacks on communities in Plateau and Benue states, which have claimed no fewer than 200 lives in the last two weeks.

They expressed indignation that President Tinubu could afford to remain abroad when Nigerians were being slaughtered at home by militias, marrauding herdsmen and other criminals.

Defend yourselves against bandits, Danjuma tells Nigerians

In fact, Gen Danjuma reiterated his earlier call on Nigerians to rise and defend themselves, warning that relying solely on the government for protection was no longer realistic.

Speaking at a public event in Takum, Taraba State, weekend, Danjuma said his warning from five years ago remained relevant amid growing wave of insecurity across the country.

According to him, the recent spate of killings in Benue, Plateau, and other parts of Nigeria has once again validated his concerns.

“The warning I gave some years ago is still as valid today as it was then. Nigerians must rise and defend themselves.

“We cannot continue to sit and watch while bandits, terrorists, and criminal gangs massacre our people unchecked,” he said.

Danjuma, who hails from Takum, lamented what he described as the government’s inability to provide adequate security, stressing that the time had come for communities to take proactive steps in protecting their lives and properties.

“It is now very clear that the government alone cannot protect us. We must stand up and defend ourselves, our families, and our lands before these criminals overrun the entire country,” he added.

Tinubu gallivanting across Europe as Nigeria bleeds, he doesn’t care — Atiku

On his part former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, criticised President Tinubu for remaining in Europe as insecurity engulfs the country he leads.

In a statement issued yesterday, Abubakar claimed that Tinubu y does not care, citing cases of political leaders who cut short their trips to attend to urgent matters back home.

“The Tinubu administration has proven, time and again, to be utterly incapable, wholly incompetent, and completely devoid of any coherent ideas for tackling Nigeria’s deepening security crisis.

“This is not just my position — it is a growing consensus among political opposition leaders, respected security experts, and even members within the ruling party who, though too timid to speak publicly, confess this uncomfortable truth behind closed doors.

“The blood of innocent Nigerians continues to be spilled with appalling regularity — most recently in the Logo and Gbagir communities of Ukum LGA in Benue State.

“Yet, the Tinubu presidency remains disturbingly indifferent, displaying neither urgency nor the basic decency of public empathy.

“Leadership demands presence. In 2016, President Barack Obama cut short an important diplomatic visit to return home after five police officers were killed in a lone gunman attack.

“In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa abandoned a state visit to Egypt to return to South Africa amid an electricity crisis.

“Even U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, heavily criticised for fleeing to Mexico during a deadly winter storm in Texas, eventually returned and acknowledged his mistake.

“In our history, President Goodluck Jonathan returned from Equatorial Guinea in 2014 following a deadly bomb blast in Abuja.

“That is the expected minimum in moments of national trauma. Yet President Tinubu, incapable of solving Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, chooses instead to gallivant across Europe, governing Nigeria in absentia as if from a holiday perch.

“If he cannot act, the least he can do is show up. If he cannot lead with empathy, he should at least attempt to perform it. Nigeria is bleeding. Nigerians are dying. The president is nowhere to be found.

“An inept administration may not suddenly discover competence. But we will not stop calling it out. If Tinubu cannot deliver safety and dignity to Nigerians, the very least he can do is pretend to care.”

Abubakar said Tinubu must prove that he cared for all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic, political or religious affiliation.

Nigeria bleeding, please bring us down from this cross, Kukah begs Tinubu

The Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, on his part, appealed to President Tinubu to save Nigerians from the cross of pain and hunger.

In his Easter message yesterday, the cleric called on the government to protect Nigerians from “marauders, murderers, savages and ravenous predators who threaten to overrun our nation.”

He said: “Mr. President, hunger, sickness and desolation stalk the land. We still believe removing the subsidies was the right decision.

“We note that the country now has a huge volume of resources in its domestic reserves. For over 10 years now, farming has become one of the most hazardous occupations in our country.’’ Kukah further criticised the government’s moves to assuage Nigerian’s plight by means of palliatives distribution, warning that such a move diminished the dignity of citizens.

He advised the government to “make food security a fundamental human right to all citizens” and called on the President to “please bring us down from this painful cross of hunger.”

According to him, bandits, who were brought into the country as a strategy for upstaging the government of the day and to gain power, have become embedded in every sphere of the lives of Nigerians, killing people and destroying communities.

“Today we have watched as the cancer of insecurity and violence have metastasised. Now, this cancer threatens the very foundation of our common humanity,” Kukah asserted.

He maintained that the insecurity in Nigeria was reaching a breaking point as terrorists, bandits and kidnappers cut lives short and subject their victims to the most inhuman conditions.

“Taken together, they have placed our country outside the purveyor of human civilisation. Across the country, every day, innocent citizens are kidnapped and held under the most inhuman conditions. A dark pall of death hangs languidly from north to south.

“It is impossible to find a home, a family, or a community that has not been caught in the cusp of this savagery. Now, Mr. President, Nigeria is reaching a breaking point.

“The nation is gradually becoming a huge national morgue. Mr. President, with a greater sense of urgency, hasten to bring us down from this cross of evil.

“Mr President, we all admit that you neither erected this cross nor did you affect our collective crucifixion.
“Notwithstanding, Nigerians have been dangling and bleeding on this cross of pain and mindless suffering for too long,’’ Kukah said.

We must rejig our security philosophy —Bakare

Also, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, CGCC, Pastor Tunde Bakare, who spoke on the State of the Nation, yesterday, said Nigerians have lost faith in the capacity of the government to guarantee their security, warning that it was a dangerous trajectory.

Calling for the redesigning of the country’s security architecture, Bakare said: “In recent weeks, there have been gruesome reports of killings in several parts of the country, including Edo, Benue, Plateau, Zamfara, and Borno states.

‘’Because citizens have lost faith in the capacity of the government to guarantee their security, communities are forming poorly trained, poorly equipped and unprofessional militias, with some taking the law into their hands, heightening the risk of an inter-ethnic crisis. This is a dangerous trajectory.”

He called for the formation of zonal security councils, chaired by a governor from the respective zone.
“We must then reinstate national security federalism by activating constitutional procedures for multilevel policing, including local, state and zonal policing systems. ‘’Against this backdrop, we must redesign our security architecture by facilitating the formation of Zonal Security Councils, chaired by a governor from the respective zone, on a rotating basis.

‘’Such Zonal Security Councils, which will be formed by state and local policing systems within respective zones, must be managed by nonpartisan security experts, while the chairperson at each point in time will represent the zone at the National Security Council,’’ Bakare added.

Mindless killings in Nigeria troubling – CBCN President, Most Rev Ugorji

Also, President of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev Lucius Ugorji lamented that the mindless slaughtering of innocent citizens in parts Nigeria was not only troubling but also sadly presents the nation as a country under siege.

In his Easter message in Owerri yesterday, Most Rev Ugorji, who is also the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, said: “We are celebrating Easter this year in an atmosphere that breathes pessimism and despair.

‘’The general insecurity of life and property is heightened by the rising wave of kidnapping for ransom, and the mindless slaughtering of innocent citizens by criminal gangs.

“We seem to be a nation under siege. No place seems safe: our homes, places of
business, our highways and even the sacred precincts of places of worship.

“Government’s lack of political will to address the rising criminality across the nation is pushing the populace to resort to self-help to defend their Iives and sources of livelihood.

“Economic hardship continues to sweep across the nation on account of the withdrawal of fuel subsidies, and the floating of the national currency.

“The appalling economic condition is worsened, as our national debt continues to surge due to external and internal borrowings to finance budgets and infrastructural projects. Thus, the future of the present and future generations is mortgaged.

“This state of affairs is driving many compatriots to a feeling of cynicism. Having had myriad of shattered dreams and aborted hopes, many Nigerians groan with anguished hearts as they behold a future that promises them little or nothing.”

According to him, the prevailing disillusionment that reigns among the citizenry, mirrors the frustration felt by the apostles and disciples at the excruciating passion and humiliating death of Christ.

“After the crucifixion of their Lord and Master, they returned home with shattered dreams and hopes-dispirited, dejected, downcast and miserable.

“In this gloomy and cheerless context, the joyful and heart-warming Easter message resounds: God has raised Jesus to life. He would not permit death to triumph forever nor allow his people to die and perish in their helplessness.

“He desires that Christ and, indeed, all should have life and have it to the full. Amid our feeling of despair and disillusionment, Easter has a message of hope, namely that the darkest part of the night is the beginning of dawn.

“This message of hope underscores that even though the forces of evil might seem, at times, to have an upper hand over the good, on the long run, the good always triumphs over evil.’’

CAN blast FG over incessant killings in Nigeria

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in Kebbi State, in its reaction, asked service chiefs in the country to live up to the expectations of Nigerians by ensuring the security of their lives and property as constitutional rights.

State chairman of the association, Venerable Ayuba Kanta, who made the call in his Easter message in Birnin Kebbi yesterday, said if leaders escape justice on earth for failing to protect their people, the wrath of God, which is certain, awaited them.

He lamented that “unfortunate killings continue in the country, despite presence of security agencies, peace has eluded this country for no tangible reasons.”

IPAC tasks FG to secure Nigeria amid rising insecurity

In its reaction yesterday, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, asked the federal government to take immediate action to address the escalating insecurity in Nigeria, stressing the urgent need for safety and good governance.
The council said citizens deserved a secure environment and quality leadership, in line with the constitutional mandate that placed the security and welfare of the people as a top priority.

In a statement issued to mark Easter celebration, Dr Yusuf Dantalle, National Chairman of IPAC, expressed grave concern over the persistent violence and killings carried out by non-state actors, particularly in Plateau and Benue states.

He said: “Easter is the essence of Christianity, the hope of the faithful, signifying the supernatural resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after His crucifixion for the sins of mankind.

“IPAC enjoins Nigerians to use this joyous occasion, which symbolises the triumph of life over death, to rededicate their lives to God and embrace Christ’s virtues of love, compassion, tolerance, and sacrifice.
“Tragically, Nigerians no longer feel secure in their own country. The incessant killings by non-state actors must stop immediately.

“Enough of the bloodshed. Citizens expect the dividends of democracy, not carnage. Security agencies must rise to the challenge and decisively tackle terrorism, insurgency, banditry, militancy, and kidnapping for ransom.
“There can be no meaningful development without public safety and order. Restoring sanity to the polity requires political will and swift action. Together, we can build a better society, but we must act urgently to ensure peace, unity, and progress for our dear nation.”

Two boys were playing together in the garden. Soon, the play degenerated into an argument, and they engaged in a shouting match. From afar, the father of the boys cautioned them to stop arguing and continue their play, but they wouldn’t budge. Shortly after, they lunged at each other and almost engaged in fisticuffs. The father, at this point, wades in. He ordered one of the boys, his step-son, to go to the naughty corner and face the wall for six minutes while he told the other boy, his biological son, to continue his play in the garden.

The above scenario aptly captures the developments in Rivers state. President Bola Tinubu on March 18 2025, declared a six-month emergency rule in the state, following the political crisis that pitched the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, against the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, on one hand and the state house of assembly on the other.

The disagreement was primarily between Wike, the immediate past Rivers state governor, and Fubara, one of his long-standing allies whom he installed as his successor. Wike’s angst was that he might lose his political status in Rivers as Fubara was allegedly trying to bring down the structures that helped him to become governor. After almost two years of unending strife without any headway, President Tinubu, as the father of the nation, decided to wield the big stick by suspending Fubara and his deputy for six months. He also suspended the members of the Rivers assembly, but every right-discerning person knows they are not the major gladiator in the battle, just a pawn in the game. He left Wike to continue his job in his cabinet.

Of course, the president’s action has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians. While some have argued that based on the provisions of sections 1(2), 14(1)(c), 176(1) (2) and 305(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the suspension of democratically elected officials in Rivers state is unlawful and unconstitutional, others have justified the suspension, saying no responsible government will fold its hands and allow Rivers State, a major economic lifeline of the country to go up in flames.

However, the majority of Nigerians share the view that to be fair, the president should have also suspended Wike, who is a major player in the crisis rocking the state. This would have made him sober and take a deep introspection over the issues at stake. But that is not to be the case, as Fubara’s temporary displacement seems to have given Wike the feeling that he has the upper hand. He has been granting interviews with his characteristic bumptiousness while Fubara is at home licking his wounds and brooding over the incident.

In the latest media parley he had with some select journalists, Wike even expressed dissatisfaction with the presidential declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspension of the governor, saying what he wanted was outright removal.

Hear him: “As a politician, I am not happy with the declaration of Emergency Rule in Rivers state. I wanted the outright removal of the governor. But for the interest of the state, the president did the right thing to prevent anarchy in the state. The matter is in court, but people must say the truth. The governor was gone. It is not on my place to make it good for the governor. As a politician, my business is not to make him comfortable and that is why there is power plane.”

Wike’s remarks are grossly unacceptable, a direct affront to the president, and one would have expected the presidency to call him to order, telling him to face the task assigned to him in the FCT. Whether his intervention is constitutional or not, the president has acted in what he considers the best interest of Rivers. Fubara, who was at the receiving end, has quietly accepted his fate, but Wike continues to talk garrulously and pour petrol on fire. His comments, if left unchecked, can infuriate the supporters of Fubara, many of whom have been made redundant by the sole administrator, Ibok-Ette Ibas, who appears to be pursuing an ‘obliterate anything Fubara’ agenda.

Wike was even seen in a video last week in London, where he hosted the suspended lawmakers. Of course, that is one of the consequences of his not being suspended. In the recent media parley, he even said he is ready to forgive Fubara if he apologises to him. Except if he truly knows from within his heart that he wronged Wike, but if not, I think it will be very idiotic for Fubara to offer any apology at this point. If his fight with Wike is not because of any breach of agreement (Ngige-Chris Uba saga), if it is for the interest of the good people of Rivers state, then any apology from him will amount to utter wimpishness.

I am not in support of Fubara. He keeps creating an impression of a flawless ‘Sim’ple man, but that appears to be a mere facade. In fact, I was alarmed last week when I read reports that he donated the sum of N300 million to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to hold a conference in Rivers State. Only God knows how much of Rivers’ resources he has donated so far, yet he created the impression of a man who places a premium on frugality and is judiciously using taxpayers’ money. Nobody would have known this if not for his suspension from office and the fact that the NBA moved the conference away from Rivers state, which prompted the sole administrator to ask for a refund.

What, however, impresses me about Fubara is the maturity and dignified silence he has maintained since his suspension. One inciting word from him to his supporters could have set the state on fire. He has, however, remained silent, allowing Nigerians, especially Rivers women, to fight the battle on his behalf. That is quite commendable, and his silence shouldn’t be taken as a sign of weakness.

On the other hand, Wike too should have a sober reflection. The current face-off between him and Fubara, is it karma at work? The law of karma states that your deeds and actions, whether good or bad, will eventually return to you. I read an old news item recently where former governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi, was more or less lamenting his recommendation of Wike, who was his former chief of staff, to be a minister.

Amaechi while addressing clergymen of the Niger Delta Bishops’ Forum who visited him in Government House, Port Harcourt in August 2013 said: “I hear you also visited Nyesom Wike. I try not to talk about Wike. I say so because he is my subordinate, I try not to talk about him but I hear you visited him. Why I won’t talk about him is that Nyesom Wike, his second tenure as Obio Akpor council chairman was by the grace of God, but I was the architect of that second term. Nyesom Wike was appointed chief of staff by me. Nyesom Wike, as a minister of state, I nominated him. I was under pressure from the president to drop him, but I refused. The president persuaded me to drop him and bring a woman, but I refused. I hear he is going all over town saying I didn’t appoint him. I didn’t appoint him, the president appointed him, but I nominated him to be a minister as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. I did, but you know, character doesn’t come easily, character is a very difficult thing, and I am a man of character.”

In writing this article, I sought the opinion of a senior lawyer on why the president didn’t suspend Wike. Though he chose to remain anonymous, he said: “It will appear that the president has taken a side in the Rivers crisis. Much as he tries to put up a face, it is very evident that he has leaned in the direction of Wike. For a balance of the situation, something should have been done to Wike to show a kind of fairness, but the presidency does not see it that way. Their view is that if Wike was suspended, it will seem like a punishment.

“They believed that the suspension of democratically elected institutions in Rivers is not seen as a suspension but as a temporary solution to the crisis. According to them, the governor would have been impeached and the crisis would have escalated, but by suspending him, the president has saved him from impeachment. However, that argument does not gel with the average Nigerian who thinks that Wike, being a major player in the crisis, would have also been awarded a penalty.”

In conclusion, there are pertinent questions to ask, which are very germane to the Rivers crisis. Will the president’s intervention bring a permanent solution to the crisis in the state? After the six-month suspension is over, what next? With no peace-making efforts in sight, will the president extend the suspension, thereby technically keeping Fubara out of office till almost the end of his tenure?

With Wike still firing from all cylinders and saying he wants an outright removal of Fubara, will that improve or worsen an already bad situation? Eleven PDP governors are challenging Fubara’s suspension in court; if they triumph, will the president respect the court order and terminate the reign of the sole administrator?

What happens if, after six months, the president restores Fubara to his position and the lawmakers loyal to Wike still go ahead and impeach him?

Akinsuyi, former group politics editor of Daily Independent, currently studies sustainability communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

On the evening of 5 April 2012, the prime-time bulletin on the television news of the Malawi Broacasting Corporation (MBC), announced to the country that the president, Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, “had been taken ill and had been flown to South Africa for specialist treatment.” At another end of the capital city, Lilongwe, a presidential convoy was on its way to the Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) where an air ambulance awaited with instructions to fly to South Africa a president who was supposedly alive but unwell.

Earlier in the day, around 11:00 in the morning, Ngwazi Professor Bingu had collapsed while receiving in audience the Member of Parliament representing the south-east constituency of the capital city, Lilongwe, Agnes Penemulungu. The judicial commission of inquiry which later investigated what transpired thereafter received evidence which showed quite clearly that the presidential court had not prepared nor practiced for the possibility of a life-and-death emergency involving the president. Elton Singini, a senior judge, chaired the inquiry.

The commission of inquiry established as a fact that the president died earlier in the day inside the ambulance en route to Kamuzu Central Hospital in the capital city. According to the inquiry report, “the President was brought in dead (BID) at Kamuzu Central Hospital [KCH] at around 11.25 in the morning” of 5 April.
At the time of the news bulletin announcing that he was to be flown to South Africa later on the same day, President Bingu had been dead for over eight hours. Despite being aware of this, the presidential retinue instructed staff at the hospital to apply cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the presidential remains for over two hours. In the process, they crushed his rib-cage.

More was to follow. At the airport, the air ambulance pilots from South Africa declined to board the body, citing the fact that their permission was to fly with a patient not a dead body. High level conversations ensued between Lilongwe and Pretoria. It may have helped and was certainly relevant that Malawi’s Foreign Minister at the time was Peter Mutharika, President Bingu’s younger brother who was also intent on stepping into the shoes of his just deceased brother. Peter needed time to set the wheels in motion to leap-frog Vice-President, Joyce Banda in the succession stakes.

South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma who had retired for the day had to be woken up to personally authorize the flight. Shortly after mid-night on 6 April 2012, the air ambulance took off for South Africa. In Malawi, the people were told their president was headed to South Africa for medical attention. In South Africa, the authorities knew that the air ambulance on its way from Lilongwe would arrive with the dead body of Malawi’s president. Shortly after 02:30 on 6 April, the aircraft landed at South Africa’s National Defence Force (SANDF) Waterkloof Airbase on the outskirts of Pretoria. From there, it was transferred to a mortuary.

The authors of all this malign chicanery designed to deceive the people of Malawi, however, forgot to also notify the processes of bio-chemistry. By the time the body arrived the morgue in South Africa, it had been “in the open without refrigeration for about 18 hours after death.” As a result, the very important and high profile invitees to the state funeral of President Bingu which took place on 23 April, 2012, had to endure the uncomfortable company of flies, as well as the majestic fragrance of human of putrefaction. As the report of the Justice Elton Singini Commission of Inquiry recorded, “the body had started decomposing as evidenced by the smell and a few flies hovering around.”

Four years earlier, in August 2008, Levy Mwanawasa, the president of neighbouring Zambia, died in a military hospital near Paris in France. While attending the summit of the African Union in Cairo, Egypt, on 29 June 2008, President Mwanawasa had collapsed following what was later understood to be an aneurysm (Stroke). He was stabilized there before being transferred to France where he died two months later. At his death, it came out that two years earlier, during his first term as president in 2006, President Mwanawasa had suffered an earlier stroke.
For that, he received extended treatment in the United Kingdom. No one told Zambians.
The year after the death of President Mwanawasa, in June 2009, Omar Bongo, who had ruled Gabon for 41years died in hospital in Spain. When he left Libreville at the beginning of the previous month, his compatriots believed that their president, the doyen and favorite of France Afrique, was away on a working visit – a phrase all too familiar to Nigerians – to his favorite haunts in Europe. At his death, it emerged that more than one month before his death, President Bongo had been hospitalized for cancer treatment in Spain.

President Bongo was not the last long-serving African president to die in Spain. On 8 July 2022, former Angolan president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, died also there after prolonged cancer treatment. Following his death, a family crisis broke out over his funeral, which delayed the repatriation of his remains to Luanda for more than one month. Six weeks after his death, in the third week of August 2022, a judge in Spain finally authorized the return of the body of President dos Santos to Angola for burial.

When he departed Nigeria on 2 April, the presidency in Abuja issued a statement claiming that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president, was off to France on a “short working visit”, during which he would “retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary.” They barely stopped short of telling Nigerians that their president was headed to Lourdes for the grace of its historic apparitions. President Tinubu is a Muslim; it was in the middle of the Christian season of Lent and no one had apparently bothered to advise him or his image makers that it is usually Christians who undertake two week-long retreats in the middle of this season.

The day after the end of the initially announced 14 days, the same presidential retinue disclosed that the president had relocated from France to the United Kingdom, from where he was doing an excellent job as Nigeria’s president in Europe.

The evidence seems inescapable that President Tinubu has significant health challenges and needs regular medical attention from doctors overseas. For this, his destination of choice is clearly France. In 22 months as president, Tinubu has made at least eight trips to the country under different guises for a cumulative period of over 60 days.

While that he’s been away this time, hundreds – if not more – had been killed in massacres in different parts of Nigeria. As president, Tinubu is also the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s armed and security forces. Yet, from Europe, he is reported to be passing the buck to state governors to do that which only he has the tools to accomplish under Nigeria’s constitution.

Excluding the five years and three months of the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan from February 2010 to May 2015, Nigeria has had a presidency in near-permanent occupancy of sanatoriums overseas for 15 years. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which Tinubu led, was aggressively voluble in asking for candour on the health status of a terminally ill President Umaru Yar’Adua.

After going into marriage with Muhammadu Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to create All Progressives Congress (APC), they made virtue of unlooking when Buhari took up residence in foreign hospitals for much of his presidency.

It should be no news that a man of President Tinubu’s age is unwell. Those invested in concealing that reality from Nigerians are more interested in protecting their present perquisites than in the wellbeing of their principal or of the country.

The presidency is more than just an office. For those around the occupant of the office, it also means money, power, and privilege. To preserve it, most people in and around the presidency take liberties, sometimes, even with the wellbeing of their principal or with accountability to the people in whose name he holds office. For the country and even for the president, the wages of this interminable subterfuge are prohibitive.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has reportedly arrested a man said to be in possession of a firearm in a church in Bokkos LGA, Plateau state, on Sunday.

According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, the incident occurred at about 8:30 am when operatives of the NSCDC, acting on intelligence, apprehended the suspect during a routine security patrol around the church compound.

“The suspect was found in possession of a gun and could not provide any satisfactory explanation or legal documentation for it. The swift action of our operatives helped prevent what could have escalated into a serious security breach,” a source told Zagazola.

Photos said to be that of the suspect holding a firearm have been circulating online.

Afolabi Babawale, the NSCDC spokesperson, has not yet responded to TheCable’s request for confirmation of the incident.

The publication said authorities have not released the suspect’s identity as they continue their preliminary investigations.

On April 4, the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) reported that suspected bandits killed over 10 people in the area, with the death toll later rising to 52.

The attack came seven days after some gunmen attacked the Ruwi community, in Bokkos LGA of the state.

Speaking about rising attacks in Plateau, Caleb Mutfwang, governor of Plateau, said bandits have taken over 64 communities in his state.

He added that the latest killings in Bokkos LGA are “sponsored and genocidal”.

[TheCable]

 In a recent media outburst, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike taunted me for losing a case which he had won at the Supreme Court. Even though, I appear regularly in domestic and regional courts in Africa, Mr. Wike dubbed me "a television lawyer". 

I did not join issues with him on that occasion because Mr. Wike is the only life bencher in Nigeria who has never handled a case in any trial court or appellate court. Another reason for ignoring Mr. Wike's vituperations is that it is no crime if a lawyer loses a case in any court. In other words, only a corrupt lawyer wins all cases in all courts. 

A couple of days ago, Mr. Wike subjected me to another scurrilous attack in a press conference held in Abuja to showcase the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory. In the course of the press conference, he veered off and was alleged to have accused me lying about the defection status of certain legislators during an appearance on Channels TV.

While referring to a recent Supreme Court ruling that addressed the issue of defection, stating, “A few days ago, the Supreme Court settled this matter of defection." He then said that, "If someone of Femi Falana’s caliber can go on national television and lie, it’s very serious. Lies can cause a lot of crises. He expressed concern that such misinformation, especially from a respected legal figure, could escalate tensions if not addressed."

Specifically, Mr. Wike accused me of lying against the Supreme Court over its decision on the defection of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. Contrary to Mr. Wike's assertion, I did not lie against the Supreme Court in respect of the judgment in question. All I said was that the matter of the defection of the 27 legislators was raised _suo_ _motu_ and determined by the eminent Justices of the apex court. 

My comment was based on the undeniable fact that the vexed issue of the defection of the 27 legislators was pending in the Port Harcourt judicial division of the Federal High Court at the material time. In addition, there are video tapes and a sworn affidavit where the 27 legislators had confirmed their defection from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress. 

It is public knowledge that Mr. Wike had praised the Supreme Court to high heavens and held a thanksgiving service to celebrate the decision on the defection of the 27 legislators. However, he decided to attack me for commenting on the same judgment without any legal justification.  

I wish to state, without any fear of contradictions, that my fundamental right to criticise the decisions of courts is guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. 

I would have ignored the minister's latest gratuitous attack but for the fact that he had recently called on the Body of Benchers to discipline lawyers who have the temerity to criticise the judgments of Nigerian courts. 

However, unlike Mr. Wike who calls judges names whenever they disagree with his politics of opportunism, I have always criticised the judgments of domestic and regional courts with utmost decorum and in good faith.

While Mr. Wike believes that it is a professional anomaly to criticise the decisions of Judges, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has always welcomed the criticism and review of its judgments because the Justices believe that they are prone to make mistakes like all mortals. It is undoubtedly clear that Mr. Wike is not familiar with the case of Adegoke Motors Limited v Dr. Babatunde Adesanya 2 1989 3 NWLR (Pt 109) 250 at 274 where Oputa JSC of blessed memory said that, "We are final not because we are infallible; rather we are infallible because we are final”.

About five years ago, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad said to lawyers, “As critical stakeholders in the task of justice delivery, you have the responsibility of drawing our attention to where things are going wrong or on the verge of going wrong." Justice Muhammad further stated that It would not be out of place for lawyers to subject Justices in the country to criticism where necessary as a step to ensuring improvement in the justice delivery system.

From time to time, many respected Justices commend my criticism of the judgments of courts and the defence of the Judiciary. It is on record that at a recent valedictory service held in Abuja, a retiring Justice of the Supreme Court referred to one of my critical comments pertaining to the Nigerian Judiciary. 

In the light of the foregoing, Mr. Wike delibetately set out to incite the Supreme Court against me as the allegation levelled against me by him is spurious and tendencious in every material particular. Since he has become the unsolicited defender of the Judiciary, I challenge him to report me to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for professional misconduct.

No doubt, the minister's latest gratuitous attack but for the fact that he had recently called on the Body of Benchers to discipline lawyers who have the temerity to criticise the judgments of Nigerian courts. 

However, unlike Mr. Wike who calls judges names whenever they disagree with his politics of opportunism, I have always criticised the judgments of domestic and regional courts with utmost decorum and in good faith.

No doubt, the decision of the Supreme Court is final on defection of legislators from the political party that sponsored them to another political party. In their wisdom, their Lordships said that defection can only be proved with the production of the register of members of political parties. My fear is that this decision will be waived by unpatriotic politicians to justify political prostitution in Nigeria. 

In the interest of political stability and national morality, I have respectively called on the Supreme Court to continue to rely on 

the cases of the Attorney-General of the Federation ?. Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (PT.1041) 1 at 178, Dapialong v Dariye (2007) 8 NWLR (Pt 1036) 332 and Abegunde ?. Ondo State House of Assembly & Ors (2015) LPELR-24588(SC) where it had been held that the consequence of a defection by a legislator is the automatic loss of his or her seat in the legislative house.

While Mr. Wike believes that it is a professional misconduct to criticise the decisions of Judges, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has always welcomed the criticism and review of its judgments because the Justices believe that they are prone to make mistakes like all mortals. It is undoubtedly clear that Mr. Wike is not familiar with the case of Adegoke Motors Limited v Dr. Babatunde Adesanya 2 1989 3 NWLR (Pt 109) 250 at 274 where Oputa JSC of blessed memory said that, "We are final not because we are infallible; rather we are infallible because we are final”.

About five years ago, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad said to lawyers, “As critical stakeholders in the task of justice delivery, you have the responsibility of drawing our attention to where things are going wrong or on the verge of going wrong." Justice Muhammad further stated that It would not be out of place for lawyers to subject Justices in the country to criticism where necessary as a step to ensuring improvement in the justice delivery system.

It may interest Mr. Wike to know that from time to time, many respected Justices commend my criticism of the judgments of Nigerian courts and the defence of the Judiciary. It is on record that at a recent valedictory service held in Abuja, a retiring Justice of the Supreme Court quoted with approval one of my critical comments pertaining to the Nigerian Judiciary. 

In the light of the foregoing, it is indubitably clear that the allegation levelled against me by Mr. Wike is spurious and tendencious in every material particular. To that extent, he 

has failed in his desperate bid to incite the Justices of the Supreme Court against me without any basis whatsoever. However, it is high time that Mr. Wike was prevented from further parading himself as the unsolicited defender of the Nigerian judiciary.