A traditional festival, ‘Oro’ has been scheduled for August 1 to 15 in Lagos State.

The Oro festival, among others, is a prominent festival in the Yoruba tradition.

It’s celebrated by male descendants and usually characterised by a daytime procession and high-pitched sounds in some areas or across the community as the case may be.

It’s believed that females and non-indigenes mustn’t be present during the ritual rites of the festival.

Some netizens have argued that this announcement was made to stop the planned nationwide protest which was scheduled for August 1 to 10.

Disclosing this, a Lagos media on X with username, @Lagospedia wrote, “Public Announcement:

“Attention Residents and Visitors of Lagos

“Please be informed that the Oro Festival will be observed in various communities across Lagos from 1st of August to August 15.

“This traditional Yoruba cultural event involves significant rituals.

“Retweet for awareness.”

[ThisNigeria]

With eight days to go, the planners of the nationwide protest are set to hit the streets  against the crippling economic hardship in the country.

As the hunger protest movement gains momentum, with thousands of youths set to take action, national and state authorities have warned the organisers to tread softly.

In the same vein, leaders from the southern and northern parts of the country have also joined the government to oppose the plan.

State governors have cautioned against the protest, saying it is potentially dangerous.

And for the second time in two days, the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, has appealed to the planners not to take the laws into their hands but to embrace dialogue.

He said while President Bola Tinubu’s government acknowledges every Nigerian’s right to engage in protests, it is equally committed to ensuring that these activities do not disrupt public order or violate the rights of others.

Idris, who stated this when he received the Charismatic Bishops Conference on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja on Wednesday, said the government is aware that some people would want to hijack the planned protest and unleash violence on innocent Nigerians.

“You see, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes in the freedom of everyone within the confines of the law to do what he thinks is right for him. “Therefore, the President is not an opponent of protest of any kind but the President is an opponent of violence and anything that will negatively hamper the wellbeing of Nigerians. He believes and he has always been saying that within the tenets of democracy, you have every right to do whatever you want to do provided that right does not infringe on another person’s right.

“Why everybody is very cautious and very wary of this national protest is because we have seen what has happened around the world. We know it’s almost impossible to hold this protest and then have peace at the end of the day. We cannot do that because some people are waiting to take the laws into their own hands,” he said.

Idris explained that President Tinubu is fully aware of the genuine concerns and complaints expressed by Nigerians across the nation, and he is actively working to implement effective policies aimed at alleviating the challenges faced by the citizenry and bringing relief to all Nigerians.

The minister said in an unprecedented move, Tinubu is fashioning out a policy of paying stipends to all young university and polytechnic unemployed graduates in the country pending their formal employment in any sector of the economy.

He explained that because of the President’s commitment to the welfare of Nigerian workers, even after the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage concluded its assignment and submitted its report, the President sustained his engagement with the Organised Labour Unions until an amicable resolution was reached, which gave birth to the N70,000 national minimum wage.

Idris said the introduction of the Compressed National Gas (CNG) policy by the President is a game changer in the country’s economy because of its ability to bring down the cost of transportation by about 60%,  thereby providing a viable alternative for petrol and diesel.

In his remarks, Archbishop Leonard Kawas, the president general of the Charismatic Bishops Conference, disassociated the conference from the planned national protest, saying some groups had approached them about joining the protest.

“Your Excellency, recently, we received calls from other religious organisations asking us to join in preparation for a nationwide protest that would start on 1 August 2024. We are here to let you know that we do not think the same. We have decided to go all out and call for a truce.

“We have decided to sue for peace and humbly request that our brothers and sisters who are aggrieved in one way or the other that they should give us some time while we continue to communicate and negotiate with this government on areas that are pertinent to them,” he said.

He said after the 2024 Synod, the bishops  had resolved to partner with the federal government in prayers and advocacy for the success of the Tinubu Administration.

The Charismatic Bishop Conference also used the occasion to present a Meritorious Service Award to the minister.

Rally Potentially Dangerous, Say Governors

Meanwhile, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma has strongly opposed the nationwide protest scheduled for August 1-10, labelling it ill-timed and potentially dangerous.

The governor made this comment to State House correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa alongside former Senate President Pius Anyim and Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru.

Governor Uzodinma, who is also the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and the Progressive Governors’ Forum, expressed serious concern about the timing and potential consequences of the proposed demonstrations.

The governor highlighted the fragile nature of Nigeria’s current political climate, warning that poorly managed protests could lead to dire consequences.

Drawing parallels to the 2020 EndSARS protests, which began peacefully but later turned violent, the governor warned of the risk of the planned August demonstrations being hijacked by criminal elements.

He urged citizens to remember the lessons from that experience and be wary of creating opportunities for similar incidents.

Uzodinma also questioned the motives and organisation behind the planned protests.

He said, “Democracy is about the opinion of the people, and the protest is allowed in a democratic setting. Every protest must be reasonably conceived to be able to make political sense.

“I think it’s too early at this time in the life of this government for anybody to come out to say he wants to protest. First of all, there have not been any engagements where those who are sponsoring the protest were able to tell us the reasons for the protests.

“Second, given the global situation today and the insecurity in the country, we have a very fragile political environment that, if not managed and protected very well, may collapse the entire country.

“So those who are going to protest, what is the reason for the protests? And suppose they have no reason for the protests; in that case, I think I’ll advise well-meaning Nigerians, citizens of this country who are making sacrifices – some of us have paid the supreme price for the existence of this country – we should guard our country very jealously.

“I think it is the wrong time for anybody to do any protests because the implication of doing that, if care is not taken, is that it may be hijacked. Like the EndSARS experience, where criminals now hijacked an innocently conceived agitation by young Nigerians,” he said.

Northern, Southern Leaders Caution Planners

Also yesterday, leaders from both the Southern and Northern regions of Nigeria, along with various other stakeholders, pleaded with the country’s youths.

These respected leaders, who are part of the Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), in a press statement urged the younger generation and other Nigerians who intend to participate in the highly-anticipated nationwide protests to reconsider their plans.

The leaders highlighted that meaningful progress is never achieved through violent protests or any form of unrest and that hardship is a challenge faced globally, not just in Nigeria.

They expressed concern that the protests may be infiltrated by hoodlums and troublemakers, potentially leading to a dangerous outcome.

The statement reads, “We have appealed to the organisers of the planned protest to halt it, as protests have never been the solution to any problem in the world. The situation in Nigeria is not unique to our country alone; it is a global issue. Through this medium, we advise our young people not to join the protest, as such protests can easily be hijacked by unruly elements, rendering the original purpose ineffective. “Furthermore, we urge President Tinubu to address the nation and reassure the citizens that he has the best intentions for our beloved country.”

LEADERSHIP recalls  that President Tinubu had already pleaded with the organisers to postpone the protests and allow his administration more time to implement programmes that will benefit the people.

The planned protests, scheduled for August 1, have gained momentum on social media, with hashtags such as ‘EndBadGovernance,’ ‘TinubuMustGo,’ and ‘#Revolution2024’ trending.

The impending protests are driven by grievances over the high cost of living and the economic challenges in Nigeria, which have been attributed to the removal of fuel subsidies, the fluctuating value of the national currency, and other economic reforms implemented by the Tinubu administration.

60 Reps Ask Tinubu To Dialogue With Youths

In their reaction, the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives urged the Tinubu-led federal government to dialogue with planners of the protester towards addressing their concerns.

The opposition lawmakers reached this resolution during a session they held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Speaking with journalists after the dinner, chairman of the Caucus, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, discouraged the planned protest, especially given the insecurity in parts of the country.

The minority leader urged the government to sit with the protesters and also look into some of the issues they had  raised.

“We are not going to encourage any protesters because in the past, we have observed in most cases that even peaceful protests have been overtaken by hoodlums, and with the insecurity in some parts of the country, you may not have control of the gathering of people. Some unscrupulous people may use the opportunity to create chaos.

“So we are discouraging any protest but we appeal to government to dialogue and also look at critical areas that are necessary and address them amicably,” he said.

The opposition leader called on the government to use the carrot-and-stick approach to addressing the country’s insecurity problem.

No Going Back, Students Declare

Amidst the pleas for truce, Nigerians who have resolved to join the protest are the National Association of University Students (NAUS), the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), and the National Association of Nigerian Colleges of Education Students (NANCES).

This was contained in a memo addressed to all students, student unions, student associations and affiliated organisations covering Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, which was made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday.

The memo was jointly signed by Comrade Obaji U. Marshal  national president, NAUS; Amb. Shuaib Ishaka Yahaya, Senate president, NAUS; Comrade Ridwan Opeyemi Munirudeen, national president, NAPS; Comrade Adeniji Boluwaji Temitope, Senate president, NAPS; Comr. Egunjobi Samuel Oluwaseun, national president, NANCES  and Kur Isaac Ushahemba, Senate president of NANCES.

The students said they have taken the collective decision after due and painstaking consultations on the way forward for Nigerian students.

“The present economic quagmire occasioned by the rising cost of living, hike in cost of commodities , hike in petroleum price, hike in electricity tariff, insecurity, poor funding of our institutions which presently affects more than 80% of the population in the country is felt most by young Nigerians studying for various academic qualifications across tertiary institutions.

“This development has led to poor socioeconomic welfare for students, a loss of interest in academic activities and a fall in grades, an increase in crimes and criminality, and an increase in violence on campuses and their environs.

“Furthermore, the inability of federal, state and local governments to provide adequate immediate and long-term palliatives, especially for Nigerian Students, to cushion the effect of the high cost of living, is rather disappointing and also raises the alarm of the student movement in the country, of a seeming lack of initiatives and ideas on the most effective approach to sustainable economic recovery and growth.

“Hence, the trio of NAUS, NAPS and NANCES, representing the voices of millions of Nigerian students, emphatically condemn the lackadaisical attitude of the government and declares a National Day Of Protest For Nigerian Students starting from Monday, July 29th, 2024 till further notice, having communicated the government through various means including media but nothing has been done,” the memo said.

It added that the protest is a way for them to exercise their rights and drive home their demands to the federal and state governments.

“More directly, the trio of NAUS, NAPS AND NANCES frown at the ‘I don’t care attitude’ of the government towards reducing the current hardship being undergone by all of us, especially the students, which contributes to the impoverishment of Nigerian students.”

“The trio of NAUS, NAPS and NANCES therefore urges all Nigerian students to prepare for the National Day of Protest from the 29th of July, 2024.

“With this notice, student union officials are enjoined to be in touch with their respective associations for updates on the protest, as security agencies will also be put on notice,” it added.

[Leadership]

The Minister of Education’s reversal (or suspension) of his ban on “underage” university admissions after protests by stakeholders is another instance of this administration making a policy decision it has neither fully reasoned through nor consulted on with stakeholders. By not putting enough thought into executive decisions, leaders capitulate cheaply and their indecisiveness hurts everyone in the long run. Prof. Tahir Mamman was wrong on the ban, wrong to have suspended it, and wrong to have planned a re-introduction.

At the same Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination policy meeting where the ban was negotiated amidst the rowdiness of dissenting with the minister, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, also presented on the issues arising in university admissions. Several Nigerians shared the video through social media, captioning Oloyede’s presentation with the expected doses of scandalisation and sermonisation. People are justifiably shocked by the example of the systemic rot that Oloyede shared regarding a 12-year-old admitted to the university. The story might be eye-opening, but since we do not know enough about the person or their circumstances beyond their graduating at 15, we must treat it as merely anecdotal.

While I do not deny that we have a major problem on our hands, I see a ban as a superficial solution to a complex situation. The real issue here is that the Nigerian education system has become—like most other national infrastructure anyway—unduly privatised. We have a serious situation whereby public education—ideally subsidised with taxes and public funds—has collapsed, leaving parents with the more expensive option of paying—relative to their income—heavily for their children’s education. So terrible is the situation that more parents will rather take their children to the worst private schools—where their facilities are so decrepit that buildings can collapse on their poor children—than consider public schools. Many private schools are not necessarily better but they are at least accessible.

Right now, schoolchildren are on holiday. Give it a few more months when schools are about to resume, and you will start hearing Nigerian parents on social media agonising over the amount they have to shell out for school fees. From people pleading for assistance through WhatsApp, to church prayers for parents who will be stressed with the payments, you cannot miss the season. The problem of school fees is a major index of the collapse of the public school system. Elsewhere, private schools exist as an alternative, but not in Nigeria. Private schools are now like the generator—the supposed fallback option that has become the mainstay.

By turning education into a cash-and-carry affair, parents (as customers) can demand commensurate value and the providers must demonstrate it by delivering magical results. That is why, if the schools are not handing out “double (or even triple) promotions” to prove to the parents that they are getting value for their hard-earned cash, they are helping the children to cheat in external exams to make it seem they are truly delivering on quality learning. Years ago, I tried to register my child in schools in Ibadan and was stunned by the curriculum of lower classes. It was padded to impress parents with how much schools can stuff into the heads of even little children. Even though I attended a private primary school myself, I do not recall things being so bad.

Educationists tell us that at the early stages, children thrive better with minimal workload, exploration, and lots of play. But it is hard to sell “play-education” to a Nigerian parent who practically must sweat blood before they can pay school fees (many private schools in Nigeria do not even have a proper playground). They want their children to move through the system quickly—and brilliantly—enough to save them money. In an environment where schools have thus become a commodity, the mercantilist ethos will propel a redefinition of education to mean the ability to cram and disgorge textbooks while neglecting the social aspects of education. Unfortunately, no matter how brilliant a child might be, they still need socialisation. Remaining in lockstep with their peers is an integral aspect of knowledge-building. When kids skip classes, they miss this vital part of education and might lack the viral social competencies needed for life success.

In societies with functional public education systems, people try the reverse of what we do in Nigeria. They game the system by giving their children the age advantage. Such parents hold back their children from school enrolment until they are older. Because their system is stable and well-ordered, no one is in a hurry to see their kids graduate. When you think about it, the difference between the person who graduates at 19 and the person who does it at 22 is just three years of employment labour. If you retire at 70, what do you really gain by dedicating 51—instead of 48—years of your life to work? But then, their societies are stable enough for them to be certain the timing will work in their favour.

Nigerian parents who do otherwise are not crazy. By rushing their kids through the system, they are trying to buy time for them. Getting into the university early is hedging against the uncertainties built into the system: the ASUU strikes that will help you fritter away a portion of your life, and the prolonged years of unemployment. If you are lucky, you will still be young enough to take the jobs listed by employers who openly discriminate on account of age.

Yes, there are a few instances when children in stable public system societies go to the university at a young age, but that is when they are geniuses (different from being brilliant). But those are exceptions, and I know because I once tried to get my child to skip a class in the United States. While they readily agreed that the child was advanced for their class, they put up so many administrative barriers to the effort that I gave up. But what they also did was point us in the direction of resources that can help the child avoid the tedium of having to sit in class and learn what they have long mastered. It was even worse when we had to live in Germany. The child who had spent two years of school years of schooling in the US was going to be returned to first grade just because of age! When I protested, they told me that it was still no issue. If a kid is ahead of their class, they can always develop other interests.

And that brings me to another important point that Mamman’s ban will never address: the shrinkage of extra-curricular activities in our school system. In the past, public schools had programmes that occupied our attention and sucked part of our energy. One could learn sports and take part in competitive activities. Those not inclined toward physical activities could become part of debating societies or even learn crafts. Those activities hardly exist anymore. Even spaces where young people can explore and discover new interests hardly exist anymore.

Nigeria has no functional public libraries, no community centres, no public sports facilities, or recreational centres. Except perhaps for religious houses that provide spaces for young people to socialise outside their homes, the options are scant. That leaves book learning as their major recourse, to the disadvantage of other competencies they can acquire at the early formative stages of their lives.

These are the issues staring Mamman in the face, and not the cheap (non-)solution of a ban as if he is a military dictator. He must first come to terms with what has been lost in the Nigerian education enterprise and address them. Otherwise, he might just chase the wind.

Andy Murray withdrew from the tennis singles at the Paris Olympics on Thursday but the two-time gold medallist will play doubles in what will be the final event of his glittering career.

The British former world number one, who will retire at the end of his fifth Games, has still not fully recovered from back surgery last month.

He believes the men’s doubles, where he is playing with Dan Evans, offers his best chance of another medal.

“I’ve taken the decision to withdraw from the singles to concentrate on the doubles with Dan,” said the 37-year-old.

“Our practice has been great and we’re playing well together. Really looking forward to getting started and representing GB one more time.”

Murray won gold in singles at London 2012 and in Rio four years later, as well as silver in mixed doubles with Laura Robson in 2012.

His withdrawal means his final singles match was his brief second-round appearance at Queen’s Club against Jordan Thompson last month before he was forced to pull out because of a spinal cyst.

The Scot confirmed on Tuesday that he would retire after the Paris Olympics.

“Competing for Great Britain has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get to do it one final time,” the three-time Grand Slam champion posted on social media.

Murray has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, slumping to 121st in the world.

He has played with a metal hip since 2019 and suffered ankle damage earlier this year.

Murray was not fit enough to play singles at Wimbledon this month due to his back surgery but played doubles with brother Jamie and was defeated in the first round before an emotional tribute arranged by tournament chiefs.

“It’s hard because I would love to keep playing, but I can’t,” admitted Murray at the All England Club.

“Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.”

Murray ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon when he triumphed in 2013, defeating rival Novak Djokovic in the final.

He added a second title in 2016, taking his career majors total to three after breaking his duck at the 2012 US Open.

Murray won gold at the 2012 Olympics on an emotional day at the All England Club when he defeated Roger Federer just weeks after he had lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss on the same Centre Court.

Four years later, he defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first tennis player, male or female, to win two Olympic singles golds.

Murray also led Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015, the country’s first in 79 years.

He has won 46 titles in all and banked around $65 million in prize money.

[Vanguard]

“It is totally false to suggest, as we are apt to do, that Nigerians are fundamentally different from any other people in the world. Nigerians are corrupt because the system under which they live today makes corruption easy and profitable; they will cease to be corrupt when corruption is made difficult and inconvenient….The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely is a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership… I am saying that Nigeria can change today if she discovers leaders who have the will, ability and the vision”, Chinua Achebe, in his book, The Trouble With Nigeria.

“Nigeria could, however, follow another path. Its potential is huge. Its tremendous wealth, if properly channelled, holds out the hope that a stable government could unleash the unquestioned energy and talent that pulsates through the rich ethnic mosaic. The human capital is there. Thousands of Nigerian professionals are well-educated and skilled enough to drive the country forward. Anyone who visited Nigeria’s markets and witnessed its people endures the constraints of bad government and the sinking economy can testify to the country’s resilience”.

“Nigerians spend a good part of their lives trying to get the better of the government for their benefit or that of their family, their village, or their region. Rare is the head of state who acts on behalf of the entire nation. The people are not so much governed as ruled. It is as if they live in a criminally mismanaged corporation where the bosses are armed and have barricaded themselves inside the company safe. Nigeria’s leaders, like the colonialists before them, have sucked out billions of dollars and stashed them in Western banks”, Karl Maier wrote in his book, This House Has Fallen—Nigeria in Crisis”.

In the last couple of years, Nigeria has been confronted with an enormous national crisis that could only be compared with the crisis of the 1960s, which eventually led to civil war. If one reflects on what the country went through from after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election up to the demise of General Sani Abacha, one must thank God that Nigeria still survives as one united nation.
Nigeria’s problem is not just economic. Indeed, it is largely political. Nigeria is still undergoing the crisis of nation-building.

It is important that Nigerian policymakers appreciate the enormity of the crisis of nation-building still staring at us as a nation. I don’t like to sound alarmist or pessimistic but some of the unresolved conflicts in our country have the potential of escalating into unimaginable proportions at any given time.

The events leading to the return to democracy in Nigeria could only be understood as a divine intervention. Before then the fate of Nigeria, as a country, was precariously hanging in the balance. The country was a pariah nation among the international community. The economy was in the doldrums.

The Obasanjo’s presidency experienced chaos on many fronts. These included communal violence, notable cases include, Ife-Modakeke, Umeleri-Agulri, Huasa-Zango-Kantaf, Kuteb-Jukun clashes, etc. There was also the Bakassi issue, the Niger Delta crisis and ethnic separatism.

The second major crisis of Obasanjo’s presidency was the issue of oil subsidy which was triggered by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), then led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. The strike action paralysed the country for days if not weeks. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was forced to set up a special committee on the review of Petroleum Products supply and distribution. The committee was inaugurated on August 14, 2000, by the then Secretary to the government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette. The committee was headed by my friend, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi while the secretary of the committee was Chief Segun Ogunkua from Akure in Ondo state, who retired later as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. The other members of the committee were Adams Oshiomhole, Sylvester Ejiofor, Issa Aremu, Lucas Damulak, Joseph Akinlaja, Umaru Ndanusa, Chief Rufus Giwa, Imo Itsueli, Pat Utomi, Alhaji Abba Gana, Chief Nkem A. Ekwechi, S.O. Luwoye, Professor Emmanuel Edozien, Professor Dotun Phillips, Alhaji Ahmed Chanchangi, Chief D.K.O. George Taylor, Chief (Dr.) E.O. Ilodibe, Pastor E.O. Ogun, Mrs Emily Aig-Imokhuede, Chief Richard Uche, Mr. Ray Ekpu, Chief M.O. Onoja (M.M. Jir), Mr. A.S. Okoye, Dr. Samaila M. Kewa, Mr. Funso Kupolokun, Mallam M.S. Bashar, Dr. Titus Adeboye, Mr. C.O. Iwuozor, Mallam Wada Maida, Alhaji A. Umaru, Mr. G.D. Loma, Dr. S. Usman, G.M. Anyanwu and Alhaji G.Hamman.

The following recommendations were made—there is a concentration on the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS) to the detriment of kerosene and diesel, which are equally critical. All sectors and people should be satisfied; there is a need for major maintenance of industry infrastructure to stem the tide of low-capacity utilisation and output. Non-availability of needed fuel to power the machines was identified as one of the biggest problems; bureaucracy and politics could be a hindrance to running an efficient and profitable oil sector. Government’s overbearing influence on the sector should be reduced.

Persistent sabotage of the pipelines, though a new phenomenon, has overwhelmed and tasked the ingenuity of the leadership of the nation’s petroleum agencies. Unless a quick solution is found to this problem, it would be extremely difficult to truck fuel to all parts of the country; the government’s involvement in the downstream sector of the oil industry requires a new and more pragmatic approach that gives more opportunities to the private sector. In other words, the sector should be deregulated just as we have seen in the Nigerian Airways and the upstream sector of the oil industry.

Dislocation in the production, supply and distribution of petroleum will continue for as long as the government takes the commanding heights in the economy. Prices should find their level based on supply and demand; If and when a decision is taken on the issue of the inevitability of deregulating the oil sector, timing and adequate public enlightenment would be the key to success; Repair of the Nigerian four refineries is very essential as continued massive importation is merely a way of keeping the foreign refineries working. If they are brought back on stream, they will put many Nigerians back to work with the added advantage of better-quality fuel; the government agencies concerned with the petroleum sector, the Department of Petroleum Resources in particular and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to a lesser degree requires greater autonomy to perform their jobs creditably.

Government should explore the possibility of using more foreign crude and selling more of Nigeria’s high-quality crude to bring down the price; to curb the problem of vandalisation, the principal actors in the oil sector would need to intensify their community relations programmes such that it creates employment, quality life and sustainable development in their operational areas; if and when the oil sector is deregulated, there would be need for a price monitoring agency that would be saddled with making public the movement in the prices of fuel just as obtains in the money market today.

The three tiers of government stand to gain immensely from a deregulated oil sector as they can introduce taxes that would help the economy grow; the availability of petroleum products in the right quantum and time are the only determinants of the performance of the major and independent marketers; the government should develop a comprehensive energy policy to guide the oil sector and also to provide a basis for evaluation; the private sector is not necessarily the panacea of the problems bedevilling the oil sector. Both the public and private sectors would complement each other for a better and well-integrated economy; the government should restrict itself to providing the necessary infrastructure and enabling environment for good business in the downstream and upstream sectors of the oil industry.

If the recommendations by the committee had been fully implemented, I am sure the petroleum crisis would have been resolved by now. As is customary, we have a government in Nigeria that does not listen to itself.

The earlier crisis was the Shari’a issue which was regarded as purely political. The then governor of Zamfara state, Ahmed Sani, was the first to introduce Shari’a for criminal law, within a year of the 1999 elections which brought President Olusegun Obasanjo and new state governors to power. The Shari’a Establishment Law was introduced in Zamfara state on October 27, 1999, and came into force on January 27, 2000. The introduction of Shari’a in Zamfara state attracted a huge amount of attention, and Ahmed Sani became the self-appointed champion of Shari’a in Nigeria.

The Zamfara state governor had accurately judged the mood of the population. The introduction of Shari’a was initially very popular, for several reasons. Foremost among these was public disenchantment with a government and a legal system which were failing people in many respects. There is widespread poverty across Nigeria, and the north is especially underdeveloped. There was the expectation among the general public that Shari’a, with its emphasis on welfare and the state’s responsibility to provide for the basic needs of the population, would go some way towards alleviating their plight.

People also felt frustrated with the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary: crime was increasing, yet the police and the courts were paralysed by inefficiency and corruption. Shari’a was seen as an alternative to these problems, offering a system which promised to be faster, less cumbersome, and less corrupt. Finally, the introduction of Shari’a was no doubt attractive to many as a reaffirmation of their religious identity, especially in the context of recurring tensions between Muslims and Christians.

Capitalising on the mood in Zamfara state, other state governors soon introduced their own Shari’a legislation. By 2002, 12 states had adopted some form of Shari’a into their criminal legislation: Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara. These twelve states were so far the only states in Nigeria where Shari’a courts have the jurisdiction to try criminal cases.

However, some Muslims in other parts of the country, particularly in central and western states, such as Nasarawa and Kwara, where there are large Muslim populations, have been agitating for Shari’a to be introduced there; to date, these state governors have resisted the pressure. However, in the southwestern state of Oyo, it was reported that on October 31, 2002, a man was sentenced to flogging for extra-marital sex and the punishment carried out, even though Shari’a is not in force in the state. He was sentenced not by a Shari’a court, but by an Independent Shari’a Panel.

In all these twelve states, Shari’a applied only to Muslims. State governments have not attempted to coerce non-Muslims into being tried by Shari’a courts. However, non-Muslims are not prevented from accessing the Shari’a jurisdictions and may choose to take cases through the Shari’a courts if they wish. Some have done so in the belief that their cases would be treated faster, but overall, such cases are rare. Normally, non-Muslims accused of criminal offenses continue to be tried under the common law system by magistrates’ or High Courts, which operate in parallel with the Shari’a courts. A third type of court, customary courts, also deal with cases of non-Muslims in the south, as well as in Kaduna State. At the level of state governments, the state attorney general is responsible for the operation of both the common law and Shari’a systems in the state; there is also a Shari’a section in each state ministry of justice.

Most of the twelve northern states have adopted a Shari’a penal code and a Shari’a code of criminal procedure, based, in most cases, on that of Zamfara State. Some, such as Niger State, have opted to amend existing legislation to make it comply with Shari’a and have not introduced a separate Shari’a penal code or code of criminal procedure. There is still considerable confusion about which legislation is in force in the northern states, even among judges, academics, and other people described as Shari’a “experts.” In any event, there is an overlap between the Penal Code for Northern Nigeria and the Shari’a laws, as the Penal Code includes elements of Islamic law and provided the basis for whole sections of the Shari’a penal codes. However, there are some critical differences. In particular, the Shari’a codes contain provisions for death by stoning and amputations which were not included in the Penal Code.

These issues forced Obasanjo’s Presidency to be jittery at that time. It was then suggested within government that a central figure must be brought in to defend the Presidency. The lot fell, on Dr. Ibrahim Alkali Ayagi (1940-2020), who later served as the chairman of National Economic Intelligence Committee.

Between 1975 and 1978, Dr. Ayagi served in the cabinet of Colonel Sani Bello, then governor of Kano state, as Commissioner of Economic Development and later that of Education. In his tenure at the education ministry, two science high schools were built. His interest in education continued after his retirement, when he co-founded Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo Secondary School, Kano.
In 1984, Dr. Ayagi was appointed acting director of Continental Merchant bank, formerly Chase Merchant Bank of Nigeria. As Managing Director, he was critical of the adoption of the IMF approved Structural Adjustment Programme by the Babangida administration. The same government owned majority equity in the bank, and after, a lawsuit filed by Continental Merchant Bank against the central bank, he was relieved of his position.

He returned to Kano and was appointed Director of the Kano State Foundation. The foundation built two schools, and traded in farms supplies but his tenure ended in controversy due to a confrontational style in his dealing with the state government.

Dr. Ayagi took the challenge and defended President Obasanjo’s government. He appeared on television, radio, seminars and workshops. He held numerous press conferences.
In January 2003, he published a 14-page pamphlet “OBASANJO HAS NOT MARGINALISED THE NORTH”.

Apart from the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Presidential spokesman and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris Malagi, we don’t hear of prominent voices defending the Bola Tinubu’s Presidency these days.

Shortly after his appointment, Dr. Ayagi was in the office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation, to collect data on appointments made by President Obasanjo and other policy decisions. My immediate boss, Prince Dosu Oyelude and all of us gave him the necessary assistance for which he expressed his gratitude.
Let’s go back to his 14-page pamphlet.

Dr Ayagi asserted in the phamplet “these are days of “Politics”. Politics in Nigeria is the profession of politicians who earn their living and/ or who thrive on practicing the art of the possible. The art of the possible is the skill to make people believe in the possibility of the possible. Many Nigerian politicians have that skill in ample supply.
These are days of “Politicians” who profess their own feelings, beliefs and understandings as dogmatic and unquestionable truths and who go about castigating those who do not believe in those “truths” of theirs as enemies of their people and even as enemies of higher revered authorities.

These are days of the “politics” of resuscitation and the realignment of sentiments. The “politics” of resuscitating old conjectures and sentiments and using them to antagonize and to secure a lost political glory and privileges.

The Nigerian nation is full of such politicians. They exist and thrive in all parts of the country. They say what they want to say whenever they want to say it. They talk about how bad the Nigerian economy has been; the “collapse” of the naira; how people have been suffering, with no employment and no income; how the rate of crimes has risen: armed robberies, communal, religious and ethnic/tribal clashes in all parts of the country; market fires, bomb blasts; and especially for the part of Nigeria where the writer lives, “the marginalization of the north.”. All these ills and evils have been happening, according to them, because of the Federal Government—the government that came to power through a popular election in 1999 under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

If these accusations have been properly analysed and found to be justified by unbiased and professionally competent minds, one could argue that the responsibility could be heaped on the Federal Government and its leader. That might be a legitimate leadership price to pay. The led have the privilege to blame their leaders for the wrongs of society.

However, the accusations have not been proved. Of course, the communal, religious, ethnic/tribal conflicts and large-scale killings and destruction of property took place in many parts of Nigeria during this period. But this is not the first time such atrocities took place in Nigeria.

Disregarding the periods of the military regimes (which can be explained away by those with the art or skill of the possible), one could trace, through sheer memory, the upheavals and calamities that took place between 1963 and January 1966 and between October 1979 and December 1983. None of the proponents of marginalization could argue that those calamities took place because of the incumbent prime minister or president in the two periods respectively. And if they even dare to do so, they could not say it was because of the incumbent’s “betrayal” or “marginalization” of a section of the country. These are new forms of accusation invented by members of the newly formed elite group of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

The most favoured and used words from the lips of many members of the elite group in the part of the country of the writer are: “The North”, “betrayal” and “marginalization” mostly expressed in Hausa.
One hears these words virtually every day, especially from the Hausa section of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Voice of America (VOA) whose correspondents in Nigeria interview these politicians of “marginalization”, and what they tell them as if they were established truths. It is very common to hear from these broadcast organizations such things as: “To, ganin cewa mafi yawancin Yan Arewa suna ganin wannan Gwamnatin bata son su, ko bata yi musu kaza-da-kaza, ko ta yaudare su domin su suka zabe ta, amma ita kuma ta fi taimakawa ‘yan kabilar su da basu zabe su ba, yaya kaza da kaza?”

Meaning something like this: In view of the fact that most Northerners believe that this government is anti-north, or has betrayed the Northerners (who actually elected them) or has marginalized them, and so forth, what would you think about?”

These foreign Hausa broadcasting services do not even have the semblance of neutrality for which their English language broadcasts are known. They report, for instance, that “the North” has decided to do this or that or has decided not to support or vote for such and such candidate in the 2003 elections. Such sweeping conclusions from spurious and non-existent findings/decisions of imagined “Northerners” are not so common on the local radio stations. However, many a friend in “politics” would talk to one as a matter-of-factly as follows:

“Tun da yanzu mu Yan Arewa mun zama saniyar tatse- a tatse mu, a yar”. “As we Northerners have been exploited and discarded”.

In one’s presence they talk about “we, Northerners”, which, of course, one identifies with tokens, but then they complete those phrases with statements that one could agree or identify with. This is embarrassing and one tries to immediately find an unobvious way to cover the embarrassment. This makes one start to wonder about the meaning of “Northerners” and who they are. It gives one the feeling that perhaps one is no longer a “Northerner”. But they use the Hausa word “mu” which means the talker and the one being talked to. So it means I am regarded as a “Northerner” and I am shown to share the same views. In that case, what is being said is a misrepresentation of my views and the views of a great number of “Northerners”.

The ‘North’ is a generalised geographical location in Nigeria. However, this geographical location does not exist as a government unit, a political system, a religious denomination, a tribal unit, or, in fact as any unit of anything at all. It is the conceptualised idea of the elite special interest groups who must protect their influence and relevance and who must regain their lost glory. It was only after the coming to power of this new democratic government that the elite groups in the North started to come together to form their special interest groups as a countervailing force to the Afenifere in the South-West zone and to the Ohanaeze in the South-East. The Arewa Consultative (ACF) is the name of the elite groups that selected themselves to form what they see as the vanguard for the “North”.

Maybe groups of this nature had a function during the military administration. It is difficult to see what legitimate functions such groups could play in a democratic setting with multiple political parties. There are 19 states in the “North” and each is headed by an executive governor elected by a majority of the people in the state. These governors, despite their party political differences, meet regularly to discuss issues of common interest to the “North” and to decide on what line of uniform action to take. This is a more suitable democratic group of functionaries to discuss issues of common interest to the “the North” than a gathering of an extremely elitist group, of self-appointed people who carry no mandate whatsoever from the people of “the North”.

Only the (ex-) military elite, the traditional ruling elite and the monied/rich merchant/trading elite groups constitute the ACF, which has no representation from the generality of the people in the “North”. They are friends and associates of one another and selected themselves to form the ACF. They do not relate in any practical way with the majority of the people of the “North”.

Yet these are the people who led the campaign to portray all the actions and activities of the federal government under President Obasanjo as either ill-motivated or against the interest of “the North” They created the image of “marginalization” to portray the present Federal Government as Government of the Yorubas”. I must confess the same scenario is being played out in Nigeria today. The picture Dr Ayagi painted at that time is the same picture we are seeing today. But does the Presidency need a defence at all? Who remembers what Alhaji Wada Nas (1938-2005) said about the regime of General Sani Abacha GCFR or what Chief Michael Kaase Andooka SAN (61) said about President Umaru Musa Yar’adua GCFR?

In football what counts are the goals scored not the defence tactics, home support or corner kicks. At the end of the day, what will count is performance. The enduring legacy is nothing but performance.

A few days to Christmas of last year, 2023, I had a great time with Mr. Ken Calebs Olumese in his beautiful home in Lekki, Lagos. It was on a cool Sunday evening.

Although I had not seen him in a while, we had kept in touch via phone calls and WhatsApp messages.

Because I didn’t want to wait till his 80th birthday bash before seeing him, and I needed to apologise to him in person for neglecting to invite him to my last book presentation in May 2023, so I rang him up and informed him I would be coming to see him.

He deserved such reverence, for there are only elected 36 State governors in Nigeria. But there are three other governors as well.

The Governor of Central Bank, who is also constitutionally recognised by virtue of his role in fiscal matters. There is also is my friend, the prolific Nollywood director and kinsman (by state) to Mr. Olumese, Lancelot Odua-Imasuen, who enjoys the sobriquet of ‘The Governor’ among his motion picture industry peers.

The third and only legitimate, albeit unofficial, “Guv’nor” of Entertainment and Night Club Economy in Nigeria is Olumese, this great man from Edo State, who redefined the concept and business of night clubbing in Nigeria.

And so last December when he ushered me into his cozy living room, I had no other way of addressing him than how he has always been saluted by all and sundry – The Guvnor, Mr. Ken Calebs Olumese; with emphasis on THE GUV’NOR!

It was a happy moment and a reunion of sort as I had not seen him in person since about 2018 when he last visited me in office while I served Lagos State as Commissioner for Tourism Arts & Culture.

Although he had stopped drinking spirits, he had a wide array of choice liquor at his private bar. And knowing him, there was no need trying to decline his offer. He would hardly take no for an answer. I presented him with an autographed copy of my book, ’30: Three Decades Of The New Nigerian Cinena – A Bystander’s Verdict’. Expectedly, we spoke about many things, including his 80th birthday which officially came up on May 27th, 2024, although the main celebration and a book launch are scheduled for this Saturday July 27th, 2024.

For a man born on Children’s Day, this Guv’nor is a story teller. His power of recollection is impressive. He is unpretentious with facts and there is so much to learn from him. I listened with rapt attention as he narrated the story of his comfortable abode and how life is treating him in retirement, at old age.

I nodded in appreciation to how he deeply appreciates the importance of networking, friendship and goodwill and how he connected those attributes to many of his life’s successes. My visit was a friendly one. It was no interview session. And so we chatted freely, no holds barred.

It was the voice of a happy, fulfilled and contented man that I heard all through the few hours I shared with him. I felt something refreshing in hearing an almost 80-year-old man confessing to being very comfortable and at peace with soul and his Creator.

In his car, he drove me round some areas in his neighbourhood where illegal constructions had led to some demolitions of many structures. The Guv’nor was always well informed about his surroundings and development in the news. He understands and appreciates the importance of propriety and staying on the right side of the law at all times. And he was thankful for the foresight to plan ahead.

One name stood out among several that this enigmatic man of the arts & entertainment holds in high esteem; that of Dr. Bode Olajumoke, through whom he seized the opportunity of owning a parcel of land, abd ultimately a befitting home, in the heart of Lekki in Lagos. Talking about true friendship and brotherhood between those two.

When I see men age gracefully, I’m genuinely happy for, and perhaps, envious of them.

Ours, like many in this part of the world, is a society marred with various socio-economic challenges that can be very telling on health and finances. Survival is a battle with several hurdles. And so for men who scale through with minimal scratches, the need to celebrate with them becomes doubly necessary.

And this is why, for me, my heart joins that of the Guv’nor in shouting PEOPLE!!!! (pronounced as piipuu!) IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE THE NIGHT SHIFT COLOSSUS!!!

For the initiated, ‘People’!!! of course was one of Guv’nor Olumese’s favourite ways of drawing the attention of club patrons. It was a lend-me-your-ears call. A customised way of saying the party was about to get started.

For more than 30 years, the Guv’nor bestrode the night club scene in Lagos as the undisputed generalisimo.

He chose to stay in Opebi, on the Mainland part of Lagos, thereby debunking the myth that it had to be located on the more affluent Lagos Island of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and much later, Lekki, before a classy night club could thrive.

Like the talented Masked Man, Lagbaja, who in the 90s and 2000s with his last Friday of the month shows at the Motherlan’ venue, also in Opebi, and the great Fela Anikukapo-Kuti (with his African Shrine) before him, Guvnor’s Nite Shift club was the go-to hang-out place for executive night crawlers on the Lagos Mainland for many years.

With his background in advertising, Guvnor Olumese knew how to attract quality crowd. And more importantly, he knew how to keep them coming. No young entertainment-inclined journalist of my generation in the 1990s could stay away from Guvnor’s LED lights except you couldn’t keep up with the rules that demanded respectable presence.

And the rules got stricter when the Guvnor left the rented apartment of Night Shift for the more expansive, classy and permanent multi-purpose edifice in 1999, within the same Opebi axis.

That was where the business got transformed and The Night Shift Colisem was born; and with it The Glamour Boys of Nigeria (GBN), a select group of young and upwardly mobile professionals who considered Niteshift Coliseum and Guvnor Olumese as their 5 & 6. It was at the Coliseum that I would soon have the privilege of hosting my Bachelor’s Eve in December 2001, courtesy of the Guvnor’s generosity.

I hope that the larger story of Nite Shift Coliseum would be told some day, except many of the dramatis personae would prefer to plead the ‘Fifth Amendment’, and submit that what happens at the Coliseum, as a night shift activity, must stay and buried at The Coliseum.

It was one hell of a place. A joy giver, fun provider, entertainment merchant, a meeting place and a business enterprise of note.

Spouses of regular patrons of the Coliseum were conversant with its unique offerings too, especially when their hubbies won’t return home sometimes till about 8am or 9am, because they had been ‘detained’ by the Guv’nor.

Detention at the Coliseum meant that you were one of the favourites of the Guv’nor, chosen to keep his company after the club session would have ended. That sleep-depriving session could last anytime between 5am and 9am – 10am …with more booze, coffee and sometimes breakfast served, on the House.

On a good day, the Guv’nor would personally call one’s wife on phone to inform her of one’s detention status and then announce to her the monetary sum he would send to her through you the detainee.

Even if a wife was angry, the Guvnor’s ‘sorry, don’t be annoyed package’ was always a good compensation to assuage the most hardened hearts. So much so that many wives sometimes looked forward to their husbands being detained once in a while at The Coliseum.

I was a proud detainee on several occasions!

For 30 years, the Guv’nor was part of my adult, professional life and we maintained a near father-son relationship in nearly all of those three decades. He was present at my bachelor’s eve; at the naming ceremony of my son, ObaWanle, in 2009, and at least at two of my book presentations, among other engagements.

When I had the privilege of serving as the Director of Communications for the Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organisation in 2014/2015 and Guv’nor Olumese had received several requests from different cells of the campaign to have a Grand House Reception organised in H.E Akinwunmi Ambode’s honour, he needed and waited for my direction before that glorious red-carpet event could proceed.

It is on record that no civilian Governor of Lagos State since democracy returned in 1999, either as a candidate or Governor elect; or even as a sitting governor, has ever missed The Coliseum’s GHR.

All Their Excellencies, from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to Babatunde Fashola, SAN; Akinwunmi Ambode, FCA and the current governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, have all had the Coliseum honours bestowed on them through the GHR.

Perhaps, it will be a thing of prophetic honour that it is under the administrqtion of President Tinubu, in whose Lagos the Niteshift Coliseum birthed and blossomed, that the man who contributed in no small measure into making Lagos an entertainment haven and West Africa’s biggest creative hub will finally be deemed worthy of a national honour.

What a fitting tribute it would be for this people’s Guv’nor who was not just delighted in singing ‘Night Shift’ but actually made the 1985 monster hit by The Commodores his club’s signature tune.

Happy birthday to a man of great fun and kindred spirit, big boss Ken Calebs Olumese.

Ayorinde, CEO of Patrons Media Ltd, author and television anchor, is a one-time Commissioner for Information & Strategy in Lagos State.

Lateef Fagbemi, the nation’s attorney-general, became born again after having previously supported the Nigerian governors in their quest to deny local governments (LGs) financial autonomy. Insofar as the brief is good, lawyers, you know, can represent anybody, even terrorists, bandits, rapists, and killers. By the way, local government autonomy is the freedom given to local governments to exercise authority within the confines of the law or constitution. This is to enable them to discharge legally or constitutionally assigned responsibilities satisfactorily but without undue interference or restraint from within or higher authority.

This time, the minister of justice and learned silk has a different view of the subject of local government autonomy. Or, to put it another way, he now works for the Nigerian president who appointed him as the No. 1 legal officer. He went to the supreme court to request an interpretation of certain sections of the 1999 Constitution, which deal with local government autonomy.

The supreme court granted all of the attorney-general’s requested reliefs, which have overarching implications for both the express letters of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the fundamental federalist principles that place the governors in charge of overseeing and caring for the local governments. With little to no thought for the landmark ruling’s implications for Nigeria as a federation, the majority of Nigerians appear to concur and commend the Supreme Court on it.

The supreme court knew it could not overturn the constitution; it could only interpret it, so it made a political and policy decision with the judgement under review because the same supreme court in 2022 quashed President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 10 that sought to empower the accountant-general of the federation to bypass state governments and disburse federal allocations directly to local governments based on violating the principle of federalism.

Today, the supreme court is clinging to a perspective that no one can disprove. As a policy court, the supreme court renders decisions on constitutional interpretation as a court of first and last instance. In the end, the supreme court’s interpretation of the law determines its meaning. Any appeal would be to God and posterity. Put another way, the supreme court seems to have the authority to veer off course and create the appropriate legal consequences to fill the gaps and cure contradictions in the Constitution. The 1999 constitution, which has made Nigeria a unitary system and government, is the problem, not the Supreme Court.

It is the 1999 Constitution, which established a joint account between the states and local governments. Although inelegant, Local Government autonomy can be maintained as is, even without amending the constitution to smooth out any rough edges. However, in reality, the governors will be waiting for the Local Government councils and their chairmen to whip them into line.

The 1999 constitution, which established local governments as a layer of government to further solidify unitary federalism, is arguably the worst Nigerian constitution ever operated. The states are the only federating units in any organic federation. Nigeria, however, is not one. Following Nigeria’s unification or amalgamation in 1914, the country began as a unitary system and began to devolve powers by creating states, from 12 to 36 states as of right now and counting.

Weakening the states as federating units is a deliberate policy which includes the inclusion of local governments in the constitution. It was a calculated move to solidify the unitary system. This provides context for understanding the supreme court’s decision. Therefore, support or opposition to the supreme court judgement depends on one’s wish for the nation – unitary, or federal system.

By seizing the cash meant for the local governments, the governors attempted to regain the status of states as federating units. It was a bad idea that the supreme court just declared invalid. Under Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution, which created a joint state/local government account, state governors spend money due to the local government on their behalf. Although the governors had depended on the joint account, they will no longer be able to handle local government funds directly, according to this supreme court’s decision. Every local government would receive its money straight from the federation account and use it for its purposes without accepting any orders or allowing the state governors to meddle.

That’s where the issue is: state governors now have worthy challengers in their backyards in the local government chairmen. There is nothing a governor can do to stop the federal government from dealing directly with any local government chairman on any political or economic matter, and that is interference in the states’ affairs as federating units. For this reason, some commentators have claimed that the Tinubu administration is planning to seize control of local governments to circumvent the governors’ overarching influence, particularly when it comes to elections.

Even if this accusation was not the goal of the Tinubu administration, it will eventually turn out to be an unexpected consequence by default, and it may manifest itself to its fullest extent in 2027 when the incumbent president will be running for reelection.

If the governors haven’t seen this coming since 1999, it’s their entire fault. Since local government autonomy would need 24-state concurrent affirmations to pass as a constitutional amendment, the governors’ only action whenever it was introduced as a constitutional amendment was to block it in their states.

The complete handover of the local governments via their removal from the constitution is what the governors should have fought for the entire time. However, since the local governments serve as the foundation for revenue sharing, the states that unfairly benefit from the military’s favouritism—when they unfairly and unequally created the local governments—never gave that much thought because it would mean having less money to play with.

Currently, about 21 states with local government caretaker committees have three months to hold local government elections, or else their local government allocations will be withheld. Governors appoint caretaker committees despite Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution stating, “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is guaranteed under this constitution; and accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to Section 8 of the constitution, ensure their existence under a law that provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance, and functions of such councils.” When such occurs, since the supreme court has already made a decision, the governors will be unable to file an appeal with the apex court, as President Tinubu did while serving as the governor of Lagos state during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency.

What is more, Section 162(4) of the constitution allows the president to withhold funds from the federation account if a state or local government fails to comply with the provisions of the constitution or any law enacted by the national assembly. This section can be invoked by President Bola Tinubu as well.

An electoral agency for local government elections is now being considered by the national assembly. Let it then be mentioned that, as desired as this step may be, it may be the last straw that breaks the nation’s federalism since it will annex the local governments to the centre and finally castrate the states as federating units. Supporters of democracy and federalism should recognise the risk of delegitimising states, or splitting their powers as federating units by elevating local governments to the status of federating units. Naming local governments in the constitution as a tier is an aberration and anomaly that has to be fixed by removing them from the constitution and granting state governments the authority to create and manage them as they see fit. That is the situation in the other twenty-five federalist nations.

That is the neglected perspective and a risky one at that. Nigeria is either a unitary state or a federation. The judgement has, rather, dealt a severe setback to the principle of federalism as set out in Section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution. Many informed Nigerians have also stated this.

D. Law Mefor, an Abuja-based forensic and social psychologist, is a fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought. He can be contacted via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Twitter: @Drlawsonmefor.

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is not a stranger to adversity or its more sinister cousin, sabotage.

One of the bitterest battles he has fought in the last 25 years – the cement war – was against his kinsman and founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu. Folks close to both men have tried to patch them up, but the embers are still smouldering.

Dangote’s face-off with the Kogi State Government under former Governor Yahaya Bello over rights and royalties from Dangote Cement, Obajana, for the local community, was a skirmish compared to the cement war with Rabiu.

Wealth and comfort can be strange bedfellows, often mutually exclusive in the quest to conquer one mountain after the other. Dangote knows this only too well. And nowhere has the lesson been more evident than his pursuit to own a refinery.

Just like that?

I told this story before in an article in May 2023. In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, the government sold off two of Nigeria’s moribund refineries – Port Harcourt and Kaduna – to Blue Star, a Dangote-led consortium. Blue Star paid $670 million for the plants and walked away, thinking the deal was done. It wasn’t.

In 2007, the government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua capitulated. It refunded Dangote under pressure from labour unions and vested interests in the refineries on the excuse that the assets were “national patrimony” that should not be sold, “just like that!” It didn’t matter that at the time of sale, both refineries produced less than 20 percent of capacity without hope or promise of improvement.

Dangote took his money and walked away, bruised but unbowed. Six years later, he announced plans to build a private refinery, first in Ogun State, and later, he moved it to Lagos with a capacity of 650,000 bpd – over 200,000 more than the installed capacity of Nigeria’s four refineries combined.

Single train revenge

Dangote’s single-train refinery, originally estimated to cost $12 billion but finished at around $20 billion, is now at the centre of another storm. It’s not about International Oil Companies (IOCs) he accused of trying to undermine him. It’s the more deadly variety of wars: the one from within.

The regulators, particularly the head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, said in a television interview in the State House with the NNPC Group CEO, Mele Kyari, present, that Dangote Refinery was making products with unsafe Sulphur levels, and also trying to monopolise the industry.

Ahmed can raise valid safety concerns as a regulator and call out a monopoly. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provides safety standards and a price reflexive framework to prevent a monopoly. Under the Act, the regulator is empowered to act in the interest of consumers and fair play.

Sulfurous things and backstory

Ahmed didn’t say precisely what the tolerable Sulphur level was or provide evidence that Dangote was trying to become a monopoly. Instead, he contradicted himself by mentioning at least two other refineries, Waltersmith and Aradel, operating at different capacities. If this were a chat in a beer parlour, it would be pardonable.

But to think that the head of a regulatory agency will levy an accusation of unsafe Sulphur levels and offer no response when he was told that neither his agency nor the NNPC had a laboratory is scary. I’m not sure why Kyari stood beside him, grinning. Or why the State House posted the video on its official handle.

But the whole show leaves a bitter, corrosive aftertaste of sulfurous proportions.

Dangote has been accused of many things. He has been accused of feeding off government indulgences, from waivers to tax breaks and preferential forex allocations, even though he was not the only beneficiary. Even the 20 percent stake in the Dangote Refinery, which we are now told the government paid only 7.2 percent, left many questions about that transaction needing to be answered.

On another front, some have accused Dangote of hedging his bet poorly in the 2023 election that brought President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to power, unlike his adversary, Rabiu, who appears to have hit the bull’s eye.

Unkindest cut

But none of these charges is as unkind as those of Ahmed, who, if shame still means anything, should not have uttered the first letter of the “S-word,” never mind the phrase “Sulphur levels.” I’m not sure he can find his way to a viable lab owned by NMDPRA or NNPC because there isn’t one. The regulators rely on third-party labs in Lagos, such as GMO, Sewort, SGS, and others, to vet its imported petroleum products.

Yet, Ahmed chooses to publicly discredit, without proof, products that we are told have been repeatedly ordered by TotalEnergies and BP, among others.

In response to a question from a LEADERSHIP reporter on Tuesday about whether NNPC has a lab, the corporation said, “NNPC conducts rigorous testing on all its products to ensure they meet global safety and quality standards,” adding that NMDPRA can provide verified data through regular official reports. What does that mean in English?

A regulator’s record

And Kyari seemed pleased with this scandalous drama even though NNPC, which he superintends, has spent about $25 billion in turnaround maintenance of moribund refineries in the last 25 years, plus the recent $1.5 billion spent on his watch for more turnaround. One of the subsidiaries, PHRC, employed 487 new staff four years ago and paid N23 billion in salaries without producing one litre of petrol.

All that consumers are asking for, after losing a significant part of the battle for price, is the availability of petroleum products. God knows what they are getting under the current monopolistic system, which permits NNPC to play around with import licences, are long queues, contaminated products, and a regulator mockingly claiming to be a public company.

Suppose Dangote Refinery is in breach of any regulations; what steps have the regulators taken to call the refinery to order or help them overcome, except if they claim there was evidence of a malicious default? Our officials spend hundreds of thousands of dollars touring the world for foreign investors only to chew local investors with a microphone in a fit of what? Rage, sabotage, indiscretion or stupidity?

Feuding parties

The closed-door meeting among the feuding parties, which Tinubu ordered on Monday, may keep them on a leash for a while, but it hardly addresses the underlying issues. If products from the Dangote Refinery currently exceed the Sulphur levels – as Dangote had also said on a different occasion – why can’t the regulator work with the refinery to fix it without a scandalous press conference?

And is the talk about monopoly a fear-induced trope? How can Ahmed even speak of a monopoly when supply is hardly available, and the current distortionist-in-chief is NNPC, the sole importer of petrol and sole awarder of import licences for diesel?

It doesn’t smell good. Dangote Refinery is only 45 percent complete – the entire plant? Yet, Kyari and Ahmed joined former President Muhammadu Buhari in commissioning the plant last year? Seriously?

After years of working with petrol importers in his former life as the chief executive of PPMC, Ahmed is struggling with his new role as a regulator. He deserves public sympathy and can get it without being a retailer of beer parlour gossip or a bagman for vested interests.

Azu Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio is renown for his arrogance and hubris. So, when he tendered a public apology to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on the floor of the senate Tuesday, the stakes must have been very high. With a faceless but popular blogger running a vicious campaign against his family and threatening not to stop until Akpabio apologised to a female colleague he needlessly demeaned, it was obvious something would have to give. And the public statement, issued by a group of powerful women on the same issue, must have persuaded even a man like Akpabio that he had carried his offering beyond the sacred place.

The controversy began when Akpoti-Uduaghan attempted to speak before being recognised, an action that drew sharp reprimand from Akpabio. Despite her apologetic tone, Akpabio would not let it pass. He retorted with the biting remark that the Senate is not a “nightclub”. But commonsense has prevailed. On Tuesday, Akpabio said he would “not intentionally denigrate any woman and I always pray that God will uplift women.” He then added: “Distinguished Senator Natasha, I want to apologise to you…I do not mean any harm. People should concentrate on things that will move this country forward. Social media handlers should practice with decorum. We won’t out of anger regulate social media.”

I am impressed by how Akpabio handled this situation and I commend him for it. He hasn’t always displayed such wisdom when dealing with matters of alleged indiscretion. Many Nigerians still recall his altercation with Dr Joy Nunieh in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during his stewardship as Niger Delta Minister. But it is unfortunate to hear that Akpabio’s wife was dragged into what does not in any way concern her. Those who purportedly called to denigrate her exhibited the same traits they accuse Akpabio of. They obviously have no respect for women. No matter how we feel about issues, certain lines should not be crossed. I hope Akpabio has also learnt sufficient lessons from the experience.

On Monday, 24 hours before his apologies, a group of respected female professionals in the country under the aegis of Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), released a public statement on what they described as a “disheartening display of disrespect and gender bias” by Akpabio. Signatories included Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, Aisha Waziri, Amina Salihu, Asmau Joda, Ene Ede, Ene Orgah, Fatima Akilu, Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Kadaria Ahmed, Larai Ocheja Amusan, Mairo Mandara, Maryam Lemu, Maryam Uwais, Nguyan Feese, Rekiya Abaji, Sa’ida Sa’ad, Saudatu Mahdi, Ummahani Amin, Zainab Salihijo and Zaynab Musa. Other women coalitions, ‘WOMANIFESTO’ led by Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and FLEADERS, led by Bridget Obi and Nana Kazaure, had also made strong statements decrying what they described as the intimidating tactics of Akpabio.

Although the VIEW statement was anchored on how the senate president compared Akpoti-Uduaghan’s conduct to behaviour suited to ‘a nightclub’, they added that “This is not the first instance of such behaviour from Senator Akpabio; he recently silenced Senator Ireti Kingibe in a similarly dismissive manner, underscoring a troubling pattern.” After highlighting the hurdles Akpoti-Uduaghan overcame to get to the Senate (she defeated the political machine of the ‘White Lion’ of Kogi State now on the run), the group then addressed the fundamental issue in this controversy: “The exclusion or undermining of voices like hers can lead to governance that overlooks the needs and experiences of at least 50% of the population, reducing the overall quality and responsiveness of political decision-making. The contribution of the female voice in governance is not just a matter of fairness; it is a democratic imperative. Senator Akpabio’s censure of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan must be addressed seriously. This is a call to action for the Senate to uphold norms of respect and equity and to hold itself accountable.” 

Before I address what has become an institutional problem, let me state clearly that I do not subscribe to the erroneous notion that the leadership of a National Assembly controlled by the ruling party should be acrimonious in their relationship with the executive. In the United States from where we borrowed the presidential system of government, lawmakers from the ruling party collaborate with their president in the interest of the country without compromising their own integrity as an independent arm of government. But the leadership of an institution with the power of oversight on issues of transparency and accountability cannot be slavish in its dealings with the president. That is the challenge of the moment in Nigeria. I dealt sufficiently with that in my February column, ‘Akpabio: A Man for Every New Season,’ after he dissed President Muhammadu Buhari whom he served as Minister simply because the incumbent President Bola Tinubu facilitated his elevation to the office of Senate President.

While Akpabio may have apologised to Akpoti-Uduaghan, it is increasingly becoming a fad, especially in the Senate, that those who make laws for the rest of us can only find relevance in denigrating Nigerian women. It did not start with Akpabio. In presenting a motion to mark the International Women’s Day 2016 eight years ago, then Senator (now First Lady) Oluremi Tinubu argued, “We represent courage and resilience; without us (Nigerian women) I don’t think this country will move forward.” But the significance of the motion was lost on most of her male colleagues who trivialised the issue. Making his contribution, then Senate Leader, Ali Ndume (who is now facing persecution from his own party for being critical of the president), said: “I urge men to marry more than one wife. The first care of a woman is marriage. Men should take care of women by not just befriending them, but by going further to marry them. I know there is nowhere in the Bible that prohibits marrying more than one wife. Starting with the senate president (Dr Bukola Saraki) I ask him to consider marrying more than one wife.”

On a day the United Nations invested the theme, ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality’, Ndume made a formal request in plenary: “As a sign of respect for women, let’s urge men to marry more than one wife.” His prayer was seconded by Senator Suleiman Nazif. But Senator Binta Masi Garba did not allow the insult to go unchallenged: “We are not sex objects. Bible is in support of one man, one woman. We want gender parity where women and men can work side by side,” she said.

When those responsible for making our laws do not consider women as equal but rather mere consorts, we have a huge problem. A week earlier, in his contribution to the motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, advocating the need to patronise products made in Nigeria, Senator Dino Melaye said most memorably: “We must reduce the allocation for made-in-Nigeria goods and services to the basics. What are those factors limiting the production of these goods? We must tackle them. We must also begin to look at our legislation, then, we will begin to talk about made-in-Nigeria goods. We will also move to encourage made-in-Nigeria products and begin to talk about made-in-Nigeria women…”

The foregoing illustrates that the issue of disrespect for women goes beyond the person of Akpabio. It is institutional; even though the House of Representatives has shown more decency on the issue. On 15th March 2015, the Senate voted to dismiss the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill, 2016, sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi who was then Minority Whip. The bill sought to accord women rights equal to those of men in various spheres of life and to prohibit certain discriminatory practices. Interestingly, those who opposed the bill used religion as cover. While Senator Ahmad Rufa’i Sani cited the Quran to oppose it, Senator Emmanuel Bwalcha found his own justification in the Bible. The bill has been tabled at different times since then and has met not only rejection but ridicule by Senators. It therefore came as no surprise that not a single male senator thought it fit to censor Akpabio when he made the disparaging remark about Akpoti-Uduaghan in plenary.

I once referenced a 2013 piece ‘How Nigeria legalizes discrimination against women’ by Dr Aminu Hassan Gamawa, currently Chief of Staff to Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. Then pursuing his doctorate at Harvard Law School, Aminu had argued that the language used by the Nigerian constitution “is not gender neutral, perhaps because it was written by men.” For example, according to Aminu, “the pronoun ‘He’ appears in the 1999 constitution about 235 times.” Again, under our criminal law, he further pointed out, a man cannot be deemed to have raped his wife because, “Section 182 of the Penal Code provides that ‘sexual intercourse by a man with his OWN (emphasis mine) wife is not rape if she has attained puberty’”. Section 55 (1) (d) even recommends that a man should keep in the house what my wife called ‘Dr Do-Good’ (when our children were growing up) “for the purpose of correcting his wife”. 

Therefore, before we reduce this serious conversation to the banality of whether a ‘side chick’ (whatever it means) is part of the ‘constituency projects’ of our distinguished senators, we must call out the chauvinism and prejudice that drive public engagement in Nigeria. I concede that a patriarchal society such as ours revolves around the ‘man of the house’. But for us to develop as a nation, we must begin to cede to our womenfolk the rights and respect they are due. And these are rights and respect they have earned. In both the private and public sectors, Nigerian women have proven to be as good, if not better, than their male counterparts. We see that in many areas, notwithstanding the fact that the system is skewed against them.

It is a paradox that within Nigerian culture, as well as both Christianity and Islam, the mother is elevated to a distinct place of honour and respect. Yet, our elected legislators as influential policymakers, professing to be patriotic Nigerians and devout faithfuls, continue to denigrate and trivialize the voice of the female gender. It is therefore time to intentionally embrace our rich diversity, if only to create a fairer, more formidable, and resilient society. We must expose the misogyny that pervades in our public engagements and ensure that no voice is silenced. This shameful misconduct must stop, if we truly want a more meaningful, productive and inclusive Nigeria.

2024 Teens Conference: The Power of Music

In his ‘Introduction to the Book of Psalms’ published in 2002 as part of a series of little literary paperbacks to some books in the Bible, Paul David Hewson, popularly known as Bono, spoke to the power of music. The globally renowned activist and leader of the rock band, U2, had been invited to write the introduction by the publishing house that presented individual books from the King James Version of the Bible as separate volumes. “Explaining faith is impossible…Vision over visibility…instinct over intellect…A songwriter plays a chord with the faith that he will hear the next one in his head,” Bono wrote. “One of the writers of the psalms was a musician, a harp-player whose talents were required at ‘the palace’ as the only medicine that would still the demons of the moody and insecure King Saul of Israel; a thought that still inspires, if not quite explaining Marilyn singing for Kennedy, or the Spice Girls in the court of Prince Charles…”

Bono then went on to expand on the uplifting powers of music: “Psalms and hymns were my first taste of inspirational music. I liked the words, but I wasn’t sure about the tunes–with the exception of Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd.’ I remember them as droned and chanted rather than sung. Still, in an odd way, they prepared me for the honesty of John Lennon, the baroque language of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, the open throat of Al Green and Stevie Wonder–when I hear these singers, I am reconnected to a part of me I have no explanation for…my ‘soul’ I guess.”

I doubt if Pastor Evaristus Azodoh, a consultant urologist and ‘old Soja’, is a fan of Bono. But in choosing ‘The Power of Music’ as the theme for the 2024 edition of The Annual Teens Career Conference of The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Abuja, he argues that “Music is more than just melodies and lyrics; it has the power to uplift, inspire, and transform.” For this year, former Cross River State Governor, Mr Donald Duke, a lawyer and saxophonist of high repute, is a special guest among other confirmed speakers, including Dare Art Alade, an award-winning singer, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur and Mrs Bukola Bekes, a respected gospel artiste and music minister at the RCCG, City of David Parish, Lagos.

Specifically, the objectives of the Teens Career Conference are to: Teach the teenagers to take responsibility for their future; Have their imagination fired through interaction with accomplished professionals in the society; Make them realize that no matter the odds, they can reach their goals, and get them to understand that God still intervenes in the affairs of men. Although a Christian programme, physical participation at the Conference is open to teens and youth of all religious backgrounds from Abuja and the environs.

Speakers at previous editions of the Conference include UBA Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu, CFR, wife of the former Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Executive Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, ace comedian, Mr Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, popularly known as Ali Baba, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Mrs Serah Alade, former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chair, Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, former PENCOM Director General, Ms Chinelo Anohu, Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Nollywood actress, Linda Ejiofor (who was joined by her husband, Ibrahim) and wife of the late former Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Mrs Charity Shekari. Others are former House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, former Deputy European Union Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Robert Young, former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi as well as Ms Dorota Oakley Matuszyk, Ms Juliet Lamin (now of blessed memory), Dr Helen Paul, Messrs Samson Itodo, Seun Onigbinde, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Chinedu Azodoh, J.J. Omojuwa and Mrs Omowale David-Ashiru.

Participation at this hybrid event is strictly by online registration. Interested teenagers and young adults who seek to attend can register at the Conference website: www.rccgteapteens.ng