Chelsea have not ended their interest in Victor Osimhen.

The Blues remain keen to bring the Nigeria international to Stamford Bridge this summer.

Caught Offside reports that Osimhen is a sought-after man this summer and Chelsea are still willing to take him.

However, the reported €130 million release clause slammed on him by Napoli could pose a problem in any potential deal.

The 24-year-old is now among the most lethal strikers in world football and Chelsea are in the market for a new striker to help them return to the top of the table.

While Nicolas Jackson did not live up to fans’ expectations last season, Romelu Lukaku spent the 2023-24 campaign on loan with AS Roma and is no longer part of plans at Stamford Bridge.

Contrary to recent rumours, Caught Offside reports that Arsenal are not pushing for Osimhen.

The striker and Napoli have agreed he could leave the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium this summer.

Interestingly, Napoli are looking at Lukaku as a possible replacement for Osimhen, which could work in the west London side’s favour.

[Leadership]

While it is almost impossible to chronicle all the people who played one role or the other in Nigeria’s quest for a return to democratic governance from June 12, 1993, until May 29, 1999, some names missed out in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech have been tagged as too significant to be left out.

In his speech on June 12, the president listed 32 names as heroes of democracy, starting with the late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of Nigeria’s arguably freest election in 1993, to Chief Ayo Opadokun, the Secretary-General of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), an association of several pro-democracy and activist groups that championed the call for the military to exit the stage and hand over to Abiola.

Referencing the sacrifices made by the coalition, the president said, “The precious gift brought about by their selfless devotion can neither be repaid nor forgotten.”

However, many Nigerians observed that though the president noted that the list was not exhaustive, as several names who also played critical roles, some with their lives, were not mentioned.

Some of the names said to have been worth mentioning include Walter Carrington, Frederick Fasehun, Col Dangiwa Umar, Bagauda Kaltho, Joe Igbokwe, Mohammed Adamu, Dr Junaidu Mohammed, Alhaji Bukar Zarma, Nosa Igiebor, Bayo Onanuga, Sunday Dare, Gambo Sawaba, Mike Ozekhome, Clement Nwankwo and Alao Aka-Bashorun.

‘Proper planning would’ve ensured significant names weren’t omitted’

The immediate past Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, Martins Oloja, in an interview with Daily Trust Saturday, said, “Immortalising people and doing all this thing on June 12, is a very good cause, but since the president decided to name some people as heroes of democracy, I believe they omitted some significant names and only remembered the prominent figures.”

Using Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life to differentiate between significance and prominence, Oloja, who was the editor of the Abuja Newsday that was shut down during the period, said that being a reporter and editor during the period of Nigeria’s democratic struggle he knew several persons not on the list read out by the president but that played significant roles in the struggle and thus deserved to be recognised as heroes of “our” democracy.

He noted that people like the late former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, with his organisation of political groups; the late Justice Dolapo Akinsanya, who declared the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan illegal, were left out.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu had before then described the late Justice Akinsanya as “one of the heroines of the present democracy in Nigeria for the courageous judgement she delivered against the legality of the Interim National Government in November, 1993.”

Oloja added that the names of people like Joe Igbokwe, with his constant letters to editors for the actualisation of democracy; and Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former Ekiti State governor, who was generally described as the brain behind Radio Kudirat – the indispensable voice of the June 12, struggle that was broadcasting not only to Nigeria, denouncing the military dictators, but also sensitising the international community on the struggle to end military dictatorship in the country, were also not on the list.

He further said, “Even for the media, the president just mentioned some media establishments but didn’t mention some of the people who suffered specifically. For instance, Bayo Onanuga, the current president’s media adviser, who resigned from his job as the Editor of Concord as a result of the struggle. He resigned when it came to apologising to the military about a story. He refused and left.”

He also highlighted the roles of Ray Ekpu, Yakubu Mohammed and Dan Agbese, all of Newswatch, who were arrested on the same day for publishing an interview with David Mark on the intrigues that led to the cancellation of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

He added that even among the activists, it was a great oversight to ignore names like Mike Ozekhome, Clement Nwankwo, Alao Aka-Bashorun and Chief Amos Akingba, especially as the president decided to include the names of their contemporaries like Olisa Agbakoba, Femi Falana, Abdul Oroh, Senator Shehu Sani and Governor Uba Sani.

Oloja noted that while it was impossible to have an exhaustive list, proper planning of an event of that nature would have ensured that some significant names that readily came to mind were not subsumed under “among others” as the president did in his speech.

Walter Carrington

For instance, the late Carrington, a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, was so interested in Nigeria’s struggle for a return to democracy that his position was erroneously interpreted by the then military regime as the intention of the United States (US) to kick out the General Sani Abacha regime.

In his condolence message, former President Muhammadu Buhari described Carrington as a “long-time friend of Nigeria and an astute and courageous diplomat,” adding that the story of “Nigeria’s democracy under the Fourth Republic will not be complete without a mention of the heroic roles of the likes of Ambassador Carrington.”

Carrington remains arguably the most popular US ambassador to Nigeria even after his death in 2020. The road where the US Consulate and several other countries’ consulates are situated is named after him in Lagos.

Alao Aka-Bashorun

Similarly, Aka-Bashorun, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was another name believed to be too important to the democratic struggle to have been excluded.

One of his children, Dipo H Aka-Bashorun, in an opinion article to respond to the absence of his father’s name during the president’s June 12, dinner speech, said June 12, like with so many notable Nigerians, was inextricably connected to his name.

He wrote, “Where to start? His conviction of G.O.K. Ajayi (SAN) to join him and mount the legal defence of Chief MKO Abiola, the widely acclaimed winner of June 12, at his trial for treason. How about his years in exile; having had to leave Nigeria with a passport issued by the United Nations after the People’s Chambers (his law office) had been raided, sealed off, and his Nigerian passport seized? His role as a leading member of the human rights movement to take the case of Nigeria’s human rights abuses to the United Kingdom and the United States.

“His unwavering support of Mrs Kudirat Abiola’s resolve, commitment and determination to see the actualisation of her husband’s mandate? On June 4, 1996, Alao Aka-Bashorun was one of the first people to see Kudirat Abiola’s bullet-ridden body at the hospital. She had been on her way to pick him up for a meeting. The shock was too much to bear and he broke down at the scene and would never fully recover his memory again. Such was his price to pay for democracy in our beloved country, Nigeria.”

The younger Aka-Bashorun added: “The omission of his name at a dinner speech notwithstanding, history has been kind to his legacy. Associations like the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, which have held a widely acclaimed annual lecture since April 29, 2010, in his name as a bar leader and incomparable activist, have lived up to the creed that ‘the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain’ and are doing their part so that his name and achievements are not overlooked at the dinner table.”

Another of Aka-Bashorun’s children, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, said she was not surprised when her father’s name was omitted in the president’s speech “because when June 12, was officially made our Democracy Day and there was quite a bit of attention on the heroes of that day, my dad wasn’t mentioned. People were given post-humous awards, but he wasn’t recognised. As a family, we chose not to make a fuss.”

Morayo, who is the MD of TVC Entertainment, further said while their father had not gotten the recognition his role in Nigeria’s democratic struggle earned him, “A few people in government and well-meaning Nigerians have acknowledged to me privately the role my father played, but none of these has been publicly or officially stated by the government in power or others before them.”

Frederick Fasehun

The leadership of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) also described President Tinubu’s failure to acknowledge its founder, Dr Frederick Fasehun, in the list of the June 12, heroes as a mark of ingratitude.

The President of the Yoruba socio-political organisation, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, said that it took the family and estate of Dr Fasehun to blow their father’s June 12, trumpet for the younger generation to know and acknowledge him as one of the heroes of Nigeria’s democratic struggle.

Afolabi recalled that the medical doctor-turned activist sacrificed his livelihood and liberty to fight for the disannulment of Abiola’s mandate and the restoration of democracy through the OPC and NADECO.

He said, “Baba was jailed several times. Hundreds of innocent OPC members were killed. Some were arrested, jailed, maimed for life and extra-judicially killed.”

Bukar Zarma

Also recollecting the years of the struggle to install democracy, veteran editor of the then New Nigeria and publisher of Abuja Newsday, Alhaji Bukar Zarma, told Daily Trust Saturday that there was no hard feeling about not being recognised in the president’s speech because, looking back, “We can say the struggle was worth it. What is important is that the work was done; it does not matter who gets the credit. If they give one credit, fine; if they don’t, you should be happy that the work was done.”

Alhaji Zarma, who is now the Coordinating Secretary of the Leadership Selection Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), recalled that, “At one point when New Nigeria was the only newspaper in Northern Nigeria and I was the daily editor, all of us (editors) were in detention. I was detained at the NSO office in Lagos, and my roommates were Femi Falana; then Editor of Tribune, Folu Olamiti; and late elder statesman, Alhaji Sule Katagum, a former Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.

“Even for Abuja Newsday, as small as it was, I, as the publisher, and the editors were always arrested and detained. The paper was proscribed alongside others, but unlike others, it never recovered. All these only illustrate the crisis that befell the media during the struggle for democracy. I don’t think there is any group of professionals that paid the price journalists paid. Of course, there were the agitators who were often arrested and detained, but journalists were walking corpses because they picked you on the streets, in your houses and all others, and nobody can go to court to secure your release.”

Mohammed Adamu

Also sharing his experience during the struggle, Mohammed Adamu, a former editor of African Concord, who himself was identified as worthy of recognition, recalled in one of his writings on the struggle that: “For nine months I was in the dungeon of what we knew then as the SSS – bearded to the navel – and in just about four months I was beginning to dreadlock as I was hemmed daily between two giant air-conditioning power machines that supplied the entire building.”

His offence was the writing of an expose with the title: “El-Mustapha: The ruthless iron man behind Abacha’s junta”, which he said was “about the first ever to unravel and deconstruct – if you will – the once shadowy Chief Security Officer (CSO) who initially loomed large behind the throne even though he enjoyed de facto privileges to the subjugation or capitulation of all armed and unarmed forces in the country.

“By the sixth month in detention, TELL’s Osifor Whisky Onome was brought in to join me, and together we were now told that we had our hands in the Diya coup attempt, an event that ironically happened six long months after I had been taken in and three months after Onome had been. And to show how serious they really were, some of the civilian suspects in that coup attempt were moved to our tiny cell as a combined team of military police, the SSS and others began to interrogate us, preparatory, they said, to our being moved soon to Jos where the tribunal would sit.”

But after failing to establish a case against them, Adamu recalled that he and Onome were informed that they “were culpable because our writings, over time, having damagingly denigrated the junta, had, wittingly or unwittingly, motivated the coupists to act and also prepared fertile ground for the public to welcome the coup – had it succeeded.”

Joe Igbokwe

Also speaking with Daily Trust Saturday, Joe Igbokwe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, said he was recognised as he was invited to the anniversary dinner.

He said, “I was in that hall. He (President Tinubu) could not mention all the names. We thought he would mention all the names, but he did not mention all the names. I was there.

“You know, those of them that occupied power after the June 12, crisis in 1999 never knew anything about the struggle for democracy. Obasanjo came and hijacked Abiola’s position. After that, Yar’Adua came, Jonathan came and then Buhari. These are not the heroes of democracy. It’s now that we have heroes of democracy in power.

“I feel elated. Being remembered is the most important thing. If Asiwaju had not been elected, nobody would remember us.”

Nosa Igiebor

The co-founder and president of Tell Communications, publishers of Tell Magazine, Nosa Igiebor (72), told Daily Trust Saturday that he did not feel anything personal with his name not being mentioned among the heroes of June 12, and democracy.

Igiebor was arrested and imprisoned because of the June 12, struggle before he later went into exile.

He said, “June 12, has come and gone. I didn’t feel anything personal about not being mentioned, as there are many others left out, maybe inadvertently. I didn’t feel much celebrating June 12, as we have not fared better after 25 years, and we are even worse off than when we were fighting to end military rule and enthrone democracy.

“What matters to me is that Nigerians should be better off than they are. June 12, and democracy would have meaning and be appreciated by Nigerians if their lives are better with democracy and they are assured that there is hope and a future for their children.

“When the leaders were celebrating June 12, millions of other Nigerians were unfulfilled that the democracy they laboured for and expected dividends were not forthcoming.”

President will acknowledge all in due course – Presidency

Reacting to the concerns of many Nigerians, the presidency said the president would in due course acknowledge all the men and women who fought for the democracy currently being enjoyed.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, noted that the omission of some names was not an indication that the president snubbed them.

Onanuga said, “Even some of the names you mentioned here are not exhaustive. The fact that the president did not mention some names does not suggest he snubbed them or didn’t remember them. Indeed, while reading his speech, the president twice added, ‘among others’, because he realised the names were merely representative of the whole.

“The president, in due course, will acknowledge all the men and women who fought for the democracy we are enjoying today.”

Morayo Afolabi-Brown, said she was not surprised when her father’s name was omitted in the president’s speech “because when June 12, was officially made our Democracy Day and there was quite a bit of attention on the heroes of that day, my dad wasn’t mentioned. People were given post-humous awards, but he wasn’t recognised. As a family, we chose not to make a fuss.”

Morayo, who is the MD of TVC Entertainment, further said while their father had not gotten the recognition his role in Nigeria’s democratic struggle earned him, “A few people in government and well-meaning Nigerians have acknowledged to me privately the role my father played, but none of these has been publicly or officially stated by the government in power or others before them.”

Tobi Amusan failed to defend her women’s 100m hurdles title at the 2024 African Athletics Championship due to illness.

The reigning world record holder was aiming to win her third straight gold medal in the event.

Amusan came tops in the women’s 100m hurdles in 2018 in Asaba and two years ago in Mauritius.

Had she competed and won, Amusan would have joined Maria Usifo and Glory Alozie as the only athletes with three consecutive African titles in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Nigeria’s Adaobi Tabugo has already qualified for the final.

Team Nigeria won two gold medals on the first of the competition on Friday.

[DailyPost]

The Lagos State Government has attributed the recent cholera outbreak in the state to an unregistered tiger nut drink.

The cholera outbreak has impacted multiple local government areas in Lagos, including Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, and Kosofe, with hospitals reporting the highest number of cases.

As of June 21, Lagos has recorded 24 deaths and 35 confirmed cholera cases, with Eti-Osa identified as the epicenter of the outbreak in Nigeria’s commercial capital. 

In an interview with Punch on Saturday, Kemi Ogunyemi, special adviser to the Lagos state governor on health, mentioned that upon noticing a rise in suspected cholera cases in Eti-Osa LGA, the government conducted a direct assessment of the area.

Ogunyemi revealed that a survey indicated a common factor was a tiger nut drink being sold, while noting it was not registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

She mentioned that authorities were then sent out to locate the drink in order to test samples for cholera.

Her words: “We found empty bottles with a name on them, but we discovered that it wasn’t even registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the regulatory body that ensures the safety of consumables.

“There was a phone number and a name on the bottle, and we started tracing. We did contact tracing, similar to what we did with COVID-19.

“We combed the area to ask people where they got the drinks from. We couldn’t find any full bottles. We only found empty ones, which were of no use because we could not test them. The phone number on the bottle was not reachable.

“Cholera is also water-borne, so we took samples of the water to test it. The bottom line is that we took stool samples because different things cause diarrhoea.

“It could be anything else. We found out that it was confirmed cholera, specifically Vibrio cholera subtype 01, which is the most infectious and aggressive type.

“There are different types, but we identified this one. In Lagos Island, Eti-osa, and Kosofe, we recorded the highest number of cases that went to the hospital.

“I’m not talking about reported cases. These are the people who did the right thing by going to the hospital to complain of symptoms, and they were treated. That’s when we were alerted.”

Ogunyemi urged residents to practice good hygiene and ensure that the items they purchase for consumption are registered with the appropriate government agencies.

[Vanguard]

Alex Otti, governor of Abia, says members of the public should be wary of an individual allegedly impersonating the state’s chairman of the disability commission.

David Anyaele, the special assistant on persons with disabilities (PWDs) to the governor, who spoke on Friday in Umuahia, the state capital, said steps are being taken to investigate the activities of the alleged impersonator.

In May 2023, Okezie Ikpeazu, the former governor of Abia, appointed Eldad Monu, a PWD, as chairman of the commission and also constituted the governing board, representing various disability clusters.

But Anyaele said Otti dissolved all boards of ministries, parastatals, and agencies when he took over as governor to reconstitute them.

The governor’s aide described the alleged impersonation as “an affront and an act of deceit”.

He noted that many national and international organisations might have “ignorantly funded the impersonator’s activities” under the guise of representing the disability commission.

“The public is advised to report any entreaties, requests, or demands by this impersonator or any other person acting on his behalf, using the disability commission as a cover, to the state government for appropriate action,” he said.

[TheCable]

When I sat down to write my column this week, I was overwhelmed by the multitude of issues I wanted to address: the presidency’s pushback against New York Time’s factual reporting on the unprecedented economic crunch in Nigeria that was exacerbated by President Bola Tinubu’s twin policies of subsidy removal and floating of the naira, the political and judicial shitshow in Kano regarding emirship, the unabating suffering in the land, minimum wage, etc.

Every country, including the United States where I live, has problems. I always recognize that. But it seems to me that Nigeria’s problems are peculiar because they are always the same year in, year out, and people who should solve them don’t even pretend to be interested in solving them. They repeat the same motions, mouth the same sterile and predictable defenses, and hurl the same insults at critics.

So, I asked myself if there was even any point in my writing. Who reads what I write anyway? Of those who read, who cares? Of those who care, who is in a position to change anything? Am I wasting my time by writing about issues that won’t change? Should I take an emotional break from Nigeria?

This isn’t the first time I am grappling with these questions publicly and privately. I am sure I am not the only person who struggles with these questions. 

Many people have wondered what I stand to gain from my passionate interventions in Nigerian affairs when I am not a direct victim of the dysfunction of the country and won't be a direct beneficiary of the systemic overhaul I desire for the country.

 I used to think people who asked me these questions were shortsighted. I still think they are. 

But I am, right now, just sick and tired of being sick and tired. We owe debt for this colorful expression to the late African-American civil rights activist from Mississippi by the name of Fannie Lou Hamer.

At a memorable speech she delivered at a rally with Malcolm X in Harlem, New York, on December 20, 1964, in support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's Congressional Challenge, Ms. Hamer said, among other things, “And I've been tired so long, now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we want a change.”

My own emotions are different from Hamer’s. I am not even in the emotional state to ask for a change because I’ve been doing exactly that for more than 20 years. I think I am once again suffering from what I called outrage fatigue in a 2021 column. 

It is, as I pointed out, instigated by sustained sensations of powerlessness, hopelessness, mental exhaustion, and cynicism, which ultimately lead to indifference and even compassion fatigue.

My outrage usually flows from a wellspring of righteous indignation over injustice, avoidably missed opportunities, elite cruelty, and preventable existential catastrophes. It is nourished by expectations that its forceful ventilation will jolt people to act and cause policymakers to make amends for the good of the society.

That was what Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist James Earle “Jimmy” Breslin meant when he said, “Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers.”

But outrage, rage, and even compassion, are not a permanent condition; they are intrinsically temporary. It’s impossible to keep your sanity while you are in a perpetually agitative emotional state. In other words, outrage fatigue is an unconscious self-defense mechanism. It’s the mind’s way to decompress and regain equanimity.  

It’s bad enough when outrage changes nothing and when both the people on whose behalf you’re outraged and the people whose bad behavior activated your outrage use you for target practice in throwing vituperative darts for daring to be outraged. But it’s worse when people pretend that the consequences of ignoring well-intentioned outrage are unanticipated. 

I wrote scores of articles warning that the neoliberal path to development that the Tinubu administration has now wholeheartedly embraced would result in exactly what Nigeria is going through. In fact, before Tinubu was sworn in as president, I wrote that removing petrol subsidies would instigate an unmanageable economic catastrophe that would make governance difficult.

It turned out that more than a decade ago Tinubu himself had written almost exactly what I have been writing about the consequences of subsidy removal on the economy. Now his media aides are pretending that they don’t know that his policies are responsible for the unexampled inflation that’s destroying the lives of common people. 

Today, every section of Nigeria is enveloped in profound existential turmoil thanks to both the inability and unwillingness of the government to confront the problems that afflict the country.

In Kano, we now have two emirs, a federal emir and a state emir, and the judiciary just added fuel to the kingship fire raging in the state through what Professor Auwalu Yadudu fittingly called a “strange and baffling” judicial pronouncement.

Meanwhile, Kano State governor Abba Yusuf (who I used to like) has reverted to his default destructive vengeance that I advised him against in previous columns. He has reportedly sent bulldozers to tear down the palace where the “federal” emir lives. Recall that the governor’s first major “project” upon being inaugurated as a governor was to go on a frenzied destruction spree of opponents’ properties.

In my September 23, 2023, column titled “Why the Kano Verdict Can’t Stand,” I wrote:

“After its expected victory, though, NNPP’s Abba Yusuf and his benefactor Rabiu Kwankwaso need to rule with grace and maturity, not vengeance and infantilism. Destroying buildings is no governance. Plotting the dethronement of monarchs that didn’t support you is a page from Ganduje’s sordid playbook. They need to be different. Success, they say, is the best revenge.”

Like the federal government, they didn’t listen. Well, the law is clearly on the side of the Kano State government on the controversy regarding who is the emir of Kano. Although I think Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is a debauched egomaniac, he is right now the rightful emir.

 The federal government has no power to determine who is a king in any state of the federation. Femi Falana has also pointed out that federal courts have no jurisdictional competence to sit in judgement over kingship matters.

So, the Kano State government just needs a little more maturity to let the judicial process play itself out. Destroying the residence of Aminu Ado Bayero is the sort of destructive infantilism I counseled against, but which seems to flow in the DNA of the governor.

To be honest, I am just tired. A popular leftist American bumper-sticker slogan says, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” Well, I am paying attention. It’s just that I have reached the elastic limit of my outrage because Nigeria’s tragedy is self-inflicted, predictable, and preventable.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

Time: 12:00pm

Guest: Dr. Jamillah Okpatuma

(Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, National Hospital Abuja) 

Topic: "Cholera: A Public health Challenge"

Date: 22nd June, 2024                     

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92877141732?pwd=VEJWb29OL2VVekZUTHRpdWYxK0xxZz09

Meeting ID: 928 7714 1732

Passcode: 600206

......we are the poverty capital of the World.

The Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi has reacted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's downplaying the hardship in the country with his view that it's not peculiar to Nigeria alone

Obi said that rather than face the reality that we are the poverty capital of the World and the most insecure people and take decisive steps to stem the situation, the government is trying to play the ostrich even when the people are overwhelmed by the situation.

Writing on his X handle the former Anambra State Governor said "The problems facing Nigeria are well-known to all Nigerians. We are the poverty capital of the world, among the most insecure people on earth, among the hungriest, have poor education quality and the highest number of out-of-school children, high infant mortality, corruption, unemployment, the highest income gap between the poor and the rich, high corruption perception index, infrastructure and healthcare challenges, and more.

"It's disheartening to hear those in charge, who were hired to address our problems, make statements like "we are not the only ones struggling with poverty and hunger." Instead of merely acknowledging that other countries face similar challenges, we need to hear a thorough plan of action to tackle our unique struggles. We require concrete solutions and a clear vision to address these issues, not comparisons that downplay our circumstances. I urge those in leadership positions to offer tangible solutions, not mere reminders that others face similar challenges. We need a comprehensive approach to tackle our specific challenges, not generalizations that dismiss our experiences.

"A true leader provides direction, guidance, solutions, and reassurance in times of crisis. This is the hallmark of visionary leadership and a trait of nations that are making progress and advancing their development. They don't simply state the obvious but offer a roadmap for overcoming obstacles. Just like a pilot, who doesn't just announce turbulence; they assure passengers that they will do everything possible to ensure a safe journey.

"Only then can we begin to trust that our country is in capable hands, working towards a brighter future for all Nigerians.

Signed.
Yunusa Tanko
POMR SPOKESMAN 
21 June 2024.

There is much to differentiate between the respective felony trials of Hunter Biden and Donald Trump. For starters, even Trump supporters should agree that Hunter Biden’s crime – that he falsely stated on a gun purchase form that he was not using controlled substances – occurred in the middle of his addiction. It was not part of any planned criminal scheme, which is what a New York jury concluded in Trump’s case.

Nonetheless, the facts and circumstances underlying both convictions argue in favor of a pardon and commutation of prison terms, if any, for both men.

To his credit President Biden has already stated he would neither pardon nor commute the sentence of his son. However, if Trump happens to win the November election, his supporters with family members who have suffered the effects of addiction should support Hunter Biden’s pardon and commutation of any imprisonment sentence imposed on him. I once wrote a favorable review about Sen. J.D. Vance’s remarkable book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” in which Vance recounted the ravages of addiction in his own family and local community in rural Ohio. I would hope Ohio’s junior senator also weighs in supporting a pardon and commutation for Hunter Biden.   

Trump’s case is much different, of course. The former president is not an addict in any clinical sense, though a layman would say he’s addicted to attention. That’s not a crime. What is a crime is paying hush money prior to a campaign and then filing deceptive paperwork about it. Trump and his acolytes have criticized District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution as partisan. I’ve explained in previous columns why I think that criticism is wrong, but Hunter Biden’s conviction in Delaware has moved the debate past that point – or, at least, it should have.

Trump supporters claim that the New York trial was tainted because of its very venue – that the verdict was a result of a politically partisan jury pool (Manhattan County voted almost 80% for Biden over Trump in 2020). But they can’t have it both ways. Hunter Biden’s Wilmington trial took place in a city just as Democratic – and in Hunter Biden’s hometown. If 10 citizens (presumably Joe Biden-voting jurors, based on the overwhelming Biden vote in Manhattan) were biased when they voted for guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, how does that explain the conduct of the Delaware jury? It’s time for MAGA-style Republicans to accept both verdicts. But now what? History provides a guide.

I was once angry with Gerald Ford when he pardoned Richard Nixon for his Watergate crimes days after assuming the presidency in 1974. With the benefit of hindsight, I (and many leading historians) believe President Ford made the right decision. “Our long national nightmare is over,” Jerry Ford said after taking the oath of office. And in his wisdom, Ford realized that the healing process could never begin as long as Nixon’s behavior was the subject of criminal prosecutions. Since Donald Trump was tried and convicted, a cornerstone our democracy – the rule of law – has been upheld. Incarcerating Trump would undermine that message by making him a martyr to his followers.

So now I recommend to President Biden he would show grace and the necessary deflating of the hyper-partisanship of the 2024 presidential campaign by announcing his support for a pardon and commutation for his opponent by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. It’s not Biden’s decision to make, as it’s a state case, but I believe she would be receptive to the president’s entreaties, especially if he assured her privately of his sincerity. And I would hope that Trump – were he to win in November – would personally pardon Hunter Biden. I also hope, fervently, that it doesn’t come to that. There’s an irony here, however: A Trump pardon could forestall that disaster – it might actually help Biden politically.

Here’s my reasoning: Although Jerry Ford’s decision in 1974 was politically courageous, and right for the country, it came with a steep political cost. Ford almost certainly lost the 1976 presidential election because of the Nixon pardon.   

But President Biden is in a different situation. I believe that in this case the right thing for the country would also be politically popular, albeit not among most of his most vocal anti-Trump Democratic base. Donald Trump was indicted and convicted by a jury of his peers. So, a fundamental principle of our Constitution – that no person is above the law – has been upheld.  

By announcing his support for a Trump pardon, Joe Biden will also be upholding another fundamental principle: that the most important decision in our Republic – the election of the president of the United States – should be decided at the ballot box and not in a courtroom.

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Lanny Davis is the founder of the Washington, D.C., law firm Lanny J. Davis & Associates. He is co-chair of the global public affairs and strategic communications firm Actum LLC. From 2018-2024 Davis served as a legal advisor for Michael Cohen, but for the N.Y. DA trial Cohen is represented by experienced N.Y. counsel. Davis uniquely operates at the intersection of law, media, and politics to solve client problems. From 1996-98, Mr. Davis served as special White House counsel to President Bill Clinton. In 2006, he was appointed by his Yale College friend, President George W. Bush, to serve on a special post-9/11 White House panel to advise the president on privacy and civil liberties issues. He is the author of six books on politics, government, law, and crisis management. He has been writing his “Purple Nation” column since 2010.

Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), on Thursday, described the recent judicial orders in Kano State as an embarrassment to the judiciary.

Falana, while speaking on the court ruling in an interview on Arise TV, said there is a need for higher courts to address the political and judicial confusion in both Kano and Rivers states.

He said, “Sanusi was not said to have disobeyed any order, so if the order affected him, he ought to have been put on notice.”

Falana described the court’s stance as confusing with regard to the broader issue of the Supreme Court’s judgments on the limitations of federal high court powers over traditional institutions.

He further stated, “To be a Chief is not a fundamental right; it is a privilege.”

Falana said the state high court’s order in favour of Sanusi created further confusion.

He said, “The practice in the past was to allow the court of appeal to clear the confusion, and in this case, an appeal has been filed.”

Falana faulted the federal high court’s involvement in matters of traditional institutions, stressing that only state governments have legislative power over such issues.

He stated, “The constitution has made it clear that the National Assembly can only enact laws on matters in the exclusive legislative list; traditional institutions are residual.”

Speaking on the ongoing legal battle over the extension of local government officials’ tenures in Rivers, Falana referenced Section 7 of the constitution, which mandates democratically elected local government officials.

He said, “In the case of Rivers, there’s already a judgement that the amendment of the law is illegal and unconstitutional.”

Falana expressed concern over the disregard for Supreme Court decisions by political figures, calling for the media to challenge this behaviour.

He warned that the practice of extending tenures without proper elections could lead to chaos.

Falana added, “Ordinarily, the elections should have been conducted just like governorship elections.”

He also faulted the overreach of federal powers in local governance, advocating for a clearer delegation of responsibilities.

He said, “The federal government is currently over-bloated; there is a need to delegate powers to the federating units.”

Falana called for constitutional reforms to enhance the functionality and recognition of local governments, adding that these issues must be addressed to maintain the rule of law and democratic integrity in Nigeria.

[NaijaNews]