The Abia government has placed a N25 million bounty on the killers of five soldiers in the state.

On May 30, five soldiers of the Nigerian Army were reportedly killed by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) while trying to enforce sit-at-home at Obikabia junction in Aba.

The IPOB earlier gave a directive for total compliance with the sit-at-home order to commemorate Biafra Day on May 30.

On Friday, the army said it would avenge the killing of the soldiers.

In a statement on Friday, Okey Kanu, the commissioner for information in Abia, condemned the attack on the soldiers by the suspected separatists.

“The Abia state government considers the event of Thursday, May 30, 2024, a serious affront to its resolve by criminal elements who are hell-bent on returning Abia to the dark days of insecurity and fear amongst citizens, especially in Aba, the economic heartbeat of the state,” the statement reads.

“This is more regrettable in the light of the fact that unprecedented investments have been made in the last one year to restore the city’s public infrastructure and reposition it as an attractive investment destination for local and foreign businesses.

“To underscore its resolve, the state government is offering a N25 million (twenty-five million naira) reward to anyone with useful information that could lead to the location and arrest of any of the criminals connected to the unfortunate killings and the subsequent state of apprehension across the city of Aba and environs.

“The security formations in the state have been directed to treat informants with all the confidentiality required to guarantee their full cooperation and assistance until the criminals are fully apprehended and brought to book.

“Furthermore, the Abia state government will, in line with its commitment to the welfare of the security operatives working within its territory, take up the responsibility of supporting the families of the slain soldiers, including payment of regular stipends to their spouses and the education of their children to university level.”

[TheCable]

My first encounter with royalty and power politics is the stuff of family and Yoruba history. At the end of the Ekiti Parapo war, the architect and motivator of the Ekiti uprising, Prince Ishola Fabunmi and his main lieutenant Dada Akoja (my forefather) returned to Okemesi. The long serving Monarch of the town was Fabunmi’s great uncle, Aponlese. Reputed to have been on the throne for an improbable hundred years, he had grown feeble and weak. As is often the case, the returning triumphant General and Prince, Fabunmi resolved on taking the throne and requested his Uncle to abdicate. The confidence of Fabunmi was predicated on the anticipated support of the returnee Okemesi contingent of the Parapo war. But his close friend and confidante demurred and warned that those who were goading him on may turn against him at the critical moment. And so it transpired. 

On the day of the coup, rather than turned the cannon fire on the Palace, his military confederates turned against him. The mob headed for his residence and he had to flee the town. They pursued and were upon him when my Dada intervened, stood against his pursuers and enabled his escape. In retaliation, the mob turned on him, burnt down his residence and drove him out of town. The most recent is the one concerning my friend Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 

Back in the day, we were political and intellectual collaborators. Like many Nigerians I first took notice of him as a regular newspaper contributor. He was an intellectual rebel in the political debate over the wildfire regionalist push for the enthronement of Sharia jurisprudence in the Northern Muslim states. He called to question the propriety and honesty of purpose of the introduction of Sharia especially the orthodox penal code in a context that does not fulfil the condition precedent. To convict an offender and proceed to exact the severe punishment presupposes the prerequisite of a society where no one is compelled to steal in order to assuage hunger and basic necessities of life. He argued and rightly so in my view that such a precondition does not exist in Nigeria and the Nigerian society must ab initio be deemed as failing to satisfy the primary condition for the introduction of Sharia. 

The first fruit of our collaboration was the establishment of a political pressure group called the Progressive Action Group, PAM. It was conceptualised as a response to the failure of the political system to fulfil the role of continuous and regular leadership reproduction and recruitment into the civilian political class-to assume political succession from one generation to another. There was an emergent generational gap and vacuum-to whose remedy we programmatically addressed ourselves. We intended ourselves as a kind of political nursery for preparing and producing a successor class at the shortest possible time. As it were, the major indication of this systemic failure was the recycling of political leaders rather than a renewal with successor generations. 

On the occasion of my fortieth birthday, I got him and six other friends including Odia Ofeimum, Sina Odugbemi, Ruben Abati, Kayode Samuel, Dotun Oni and Professor Adebayo Williams to write essays in my honour as companion to a collection of my columns and got the hybrid published as “Beyond Abacha: Companion Essays”. Sanusi titled his chapter “Shariacracy In Nigeria: The Intellectual Roots Of Islamist Discourses”

He wrote “Over a long period of time I have become suspicious of the Northern political establishment. The Northern Muslim population has often been used as a cannon fodder by the establishment in its political battles with other class fractions of the Nigerian elite. At the end of it all the people remain poor, uneducated, malnourished and oppressed. I approach my analysis of Shariacracy from a Shariati perspective. 

“I try to examine it from the point of view of the welfare of the people and their liberation from these pathetic conditions. This has placed me in seeming conflict with traditional scholarship and the political class. What they portray as piety, I consider hypocrisy.  What they see as achievements, I see as diversion. Until Shariacracy focuses on the true problem of the North, the condition of its people, it will not be, in my books, serving the purpose”. He wrote this 23 years ago and couldn’t have served a better notice of his future interventions in the public life of Nigeria. 

At the height of his crisis as CBN governor, I weighed in on the controversy as follows “Inherent in him are the contradictory character traits of humility and arrogance. In his father and grandfather he inherits the DNA of non-conformity and aristocratic hauteur. That he made a success of his banking career owes less to any special aptitude for banking and more to the fact that people of his talent make-up would generally make a success of any assignment they are given”.

“Without prejudice to the allegations against him, I think he generally acquitted himself brilliantly as the Governor of the Central bank but he was equally immensely flawed. He was too politically brash, controversial and confrontational. He was self-adulation and gave the impression that his accomplishments amount to a licence to redefine the job profile of the CBN governor in his own image; he was unduly populist and constructed the CBN as a law unto itself”

Unable to reconcile this character profile with the sedate pomp and pageantry that conventionally define monarchy, I argued on his behalf that he would never be interested in becoming the Emir of Kano. When next I saw him, I confidently told him I had dismissed the speculations making the rounds that he may be interested in mounting the Kano throne. He cut me off and protested ‘I am o, I am o! He achieved his heart’s desire and wasted no time in the imposition of his activist personality on the traditional institution. Faced with a considerable push back by the reactionary establishment, he retorted with this vintage Sanusi “I have reflected over and over on my speech and I still don’t see what I said that is so wrong and offensive. I didn’t say the North cannot survive as a country. After all, Niger Republic is there with some help from Paris. I didn’t say that the North in the past had no glory. I know it has a rich history. I didn’t say the North cannot be rich and better. In fact, I think it can and it is a disgrace we are where we are”

The quality I admire most in him is his resilience, the ability to bend with the winds of adversity and emerge triumphant. There has been this persistent speculation that his early adulthood had been partly spent in the pursuit of fundamentalist causes in dangerous sects. Consequently, he was one of a group of fifteen zealots who were locked up in Sokoto Prisons indefinitely for sectarian extremism by General Sani Abacha. According to Jafar Jafar “Sanusi Lamido Sanusi escaped firing squad by whiskers and jailed for about two and half years under Abacha’s Decree 2 in Sokoto Prisons for “inciting violence”,

He thereafter picked up himself and applied his talent in the service of the banking industry. And boy, was he massively rewarded! And then he became the Emir of Kano as he wished. It was from this Olympian height that he was pulled down by one of the personifications of contemporary Nigerian political regression, former Kano state Governor, Ibrahim Ganduje. Their collision was predictable. There was no way a rogue Governor and a reformist Emir in the same domain could avoid a confrontation and showdown. 

And when the end of the beginning came, Sanusi did not exhibit an iota of self-pity or depression. It was as if he knew he was coming back to the throne and refused to be addressed as the former Emir of Kano. He would insist on being identified as the 14th Emir of Kano. As I was concluding a one year academic visiting fellowship at the University of Oxford in 2020, he was coming in for a similar fellowship at St Anthony’s college at the same institution. He subsequently escalated his academic ambition by registering for a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

At the end of the day what matters most is what best serves public interest. Is it an Emir who defines his role as a reformer in a society desperately in need of progressive reform or a Governor caught on tape stuffing wads of proceeds of corruption into the cavernous folds of his babariga? I actually believe that it is a badge of honour to be at odds with such a contrarian character with the charge of “Insubordination” no less. If Kano state was not all about Ganduje, then it was wrong to have deposed Sanusi in the first place. It was a wrongdoing that cried for remedial justice. 

I sympathise with the dethroned Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, who is an innocent victim of crass power politics. Nonetheless, here is an audition for the two Emirs and you be the judge of who better serves the cause of Nigerian public interest. The theatre was the politicisation of the relocation of certain offices of the Central Bank to Lagos.. Here goes Bayero. 

“We are indeed suspicious on why Mr. President single-handedly relocated key departments of CBN, and outright relocation of FAAN to Lagos.

“We are receiving a series of messages from my subjects, and most of them expressed concern over the relocation of CBN and FAAN to Lagos…the Federal Government should “come out clean on this matter and talk to Nigerians in the languages they would understand.” And then came Sanusi 

“Moving certain functions to the Lagos office (which is bigger than the Abuja head office) is an eminently sensible move,”. “It makes eminent strategic sense. And I would have done this if I had stayed.

“All this noise is absolutely unnecessary. The CBN has staff manning its branches and cash offices across the federation..

“My advice to the governor is to go ahead with his policy. Once the CBN starts bending to political pressure on one thing it will continue doing so. ethnic and religious bigots will always shout but the CBN should rise above it and just do what needs to be done

One puzzle remains. How did the federal government manage to insinuate itself into what was clearly within the remit of the Kano state government? 

The Senate is currently undertaking a comprehensive amendment of the Central Bank Act of 2007, but the exercise is generating mixed reactions in the banking industry. Operators are worried that some of the new clauses being proposed by the lawmakers are capable of eroding the autonomy and independence of the apex bank and therefore weakening its capacity to perform. The amendment bill is being sponsored by Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos East) and is co-sponsored by 32 others. Wednesday, May 29 was slated for a public hearing for this amendment. Senator Abiru was once the chief executive of Polaris Bank, a fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a member of Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN). He holds a first degree in Economics from Lagos State University. In August 2020, Abiru resigned from the position of CEO of Polaris Bank to run for the senatorial seat. Many in the financial services sector are worried that a man with such credentials is leading the charge to weaken our central bank, and this is the context of my intervention today.

The proposed amendments include setting the tenure of the Governor and Deputy Governors at a single, non-renewal term of six years; appointment of a minimum of one career staff of the Bank in the Committee of Governors; appointment of at least one woman among the external directors and the establishment of the position of Chief Compliance Officer in the rank of a Deputy Governor. It is also proposed that the five external directors should hold office for a non-renewal single five years. In addition, the amendment intends to increase the Ways and Means to government to 10% of the total of total revenues of the previous three years. These are quite commendable innovations. I’m particularly pleased with the single tenures for the Governor and the Deputy Governor and the creation of the Chief Compliance Officer. I’m surprised that the CBN had not established the Chief Compliance Office all this while, yet the apex bank had since mandated the commercial banks to create the position in the last 15 years or so. I remember that Access Bank has a Chief Compliance Officer as far back as when I joined in 2008. How could the CBN not have had one? There is also a provision in the proposed review of the law that states that changing legal tender should be done in phases and in a manner that does no cause any distortion to the economy. Nobody would disagree with this given our recent experience. I also support the proposed increase in the CBN’s paid up capital from One billion Naira to one trillion Naira, and the provision that such reviews should be done as regularly as is necessary.

But there are a few provisions in the proposed amendment bill that have jolted stakeholders, the banking industry and even international partners like the IMF. The bill seeks to establish a seven-member Coordinating Committee for Monetary and Fiscal Policies to be chaired by the finance minister. The Coordinating Committee will set ‘’internally consistent targets of monetary and fiscal policies that are conducive to controlling inflation and promoting financial conditions for sustainable growth’’. In other words, the bill, if passed and signed into law, will give the finance minister powers to fix interest rate – a traditional duty of any central bank the world over. In addition, the CBN’s budget would be approved by the National Assembly while the Governor will have to appear before the lawmakers twice in a year to give accounts of his stewardship, in addition to answering to their routine summons as often as they deem fit. With these amendments, the CBN will essentially revert to its former status as an appendage of the Finance Ministry, about 20 years after it secured an autonomy.

A central bank independence matters for price stability which in turn conduces for a consistent long-term growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic central banks responded swiftly to steer the global economy out of meltdown due to their independence. Now, facing rising inflation, central bankers are responding to the challenges – although at different speed and timelines. In many countries, their responses helped to tame inflation. Compare this to the 1970s when most central banks were still subjugated under bureaucratic and political influences and how sluggishly the central banks responded to the high inflation then. This is why the IMF was among the first to kick against the proposed amendment of the CBN law, stating that the proposed amendments ‘’could undermine the authority of the CBN and weaken its capacity to respond to emerging challenges appropriately’’. Indeed, Turkey and Venezuela are good examples of this.

Eminent economist and former director of the CBN and former member of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Prof Akpan Ekpo, is unsparing in his assessment of the proposal. Speaking to this writer, he said: ‘’The Coordinating Committee is unnecessary. The Finance Ministry may have its own committee to determine crucial fiscal variables, while accommodating monetary policy. That is, the CBN will be represented in that committee as is the case in the MPC where the Finance Ministry is also represented. The seven-member Coordinating Committee will undermine the independence of the CBN and place it under the control of the Finance Minister. The CBN (Monetary policy) and the Ministry of Finance (Fiscal Policy) must coordinate and collaborate. Its global best practice that doesn’t require any legal backing. The misnomer of the Coordinating Committee will create further distortions resulting in the mismanagement of the economy. I am particularly worried that the Senate is increasingly becoming an institution of revisionism. Just this week, it reverted to the old National Anthem without as much as a debate or convincing reason; and now the senate is taking the CBN back to the apron string of the Ministry of Finance. What else should we expect from this senate?

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice stirred the hornet’s nest again as regards the issue of local government autonomy. The Minister expressed concerns about the mal-administration of local governments’ portion of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) by the States Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), the tenure of office of local government Chairpersons that is often times truncated by Governors and this coupled with the subnational governments' failure to conduct local government elections and thus, in many cases, preferring to appoint Caretaker Committees and or Sole Administrators to administer local governments in breach of the constitution.

The Minister is also of the opinion that the responsibility for conducting local government elections should be transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because of how State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) now come across as bad advertisement for democracy.

We sympathise with the Attorney-General who we believe from his antecedents sincerely desire a truly representative democracy where development will be bottom up as opposed to the top down approach we are currently executing.

However, given the saying that beheading is not the antidote for headache, he can not in the process of trying to solve a challenge that can easily be put right, cause a damage that will have fundamental repercussions to our country and our fledgling democracy. ARG posits that our democracy needs to be strengthened by operating as a truly federal structure where the two tiers of government, the national and subnational, operate as equal partners. Any attempt to create a third frontier in local government autonomy is a call for future chaos and it bodes no good for anyone.

The federal government must completely hands off local government administration- it is the prerogative of the subnational. Let the reforms come from that level through legal means and civic advocacy. That is what will stimulate enduring change. Any other approach like the one being touted will only engender confusion.

While the Afenifere Renewal Group(ARG) commends the sincere intention of the Minister to further trickle down good governance to the people, it is important to clearly state that the construct of local government autonomy, as being ideated, essentially undermines the underpinnings of federalism as a governance template. The proposed alteration is essentially anathemic to the fundamental principles of federalism because it subtly offers the central government power to control activities at local level within the territory of the State. Though, no two federal systems are the same, one of the fundamental principles of federalism is the parity in relationship between the two levels of government established (i.e. central and subnational government). Not being a federating unit, it is an aberration that local governments' administrative costs would be drawn from the federation account, as they are unknown to the central authority as created by the subnational blocks.
Further, the autonomy,as being conceived, focuses more on “rents sharing” as opposed to creating and enhancing productive capacities at the local government level. What is waiting to be accomplished is focusing on optimizing productive capacities of our economy.

Moreover, the State tier, by virtue of its legislative mandate over development management enjoys the most effective and efficient coordinators precept over its territory. At a time when the mitigation of the ravages of climate change, rapid urbanisation, land grabs and the associated insecurity and food poverty are increasingly being intertwined with efficacious management of land and biodiversity, the quest for autonomy being envisaged further undermines the capacity of federating unit governments to seamlessly plan comprehensively across their territories. The putative autonomy of local government, most importantly undermines the capacity of state governments to manage vulnerable rural areas that are now melting pots of different security risks. What could be more complicating, when higher authorities from the Centre hold strategic interests that run contrary to those of the sub-nationals or the federating units; and they hold the fiscal life-line of the autonomous local governments!

While it is most unacceptable that some State Governors are holding onto resources that should percolate to municipal authorities under them, the standard procedure should be enabling the appropriate legal and financial institutions of state to confront and stymying the unwholesome act and affecting punishment as may be appropriate. To that extent, the focus for our country at this point in time should be optimal unleashing of regional potentials rather than investing energies towards outright eradication of the vestiges of Nigeria's federalism still operational and manifesting in the control being wielded by States over the affairs of the local government areas within their jurisdictions.

Further, the heist on local government resources or any other resources for that matter, as being the crux of current agitations, should rather as highlighted earlier be deemed a corruption issue, and an extension of tier-inclusive governance failure.

It would be recalled, that, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), himself, as a Governor in Lagos State, had running battles with the Federal Government, first and victoriously, with respect to the prerogative reserved by States when it comes to land management and control, and second, with respect to the powers of States to create local governments, an endeavour that would be stonewalled by the reactionary and unitary standpoint of the government of that era. This second endeavour would project him as a quintessential champion of true federalism.

Now that he is in charge, and considering the current circumstances of our nationhood that make optimal unleashing of regional resources and blockage of any form of haemorrhage even more pressing and expedient, the sustenance of the prebendalist order where Local Governments that were created by military fiats and indeed by mere delineation of swathes of lands into jurisdictions to confer on certain regions' gerrymandering and fiscal allocational advantages, without recourse to whether they have the resources and means to attain autarky, can no longer be acceptable.

Our federal system would stand strengthened when the local governments construct as currently available in the constitution is delisted, with the States reinvigorated to determine what administrative structure suits them.

However, while we maintain that the federating units or States reserve the right to subdivide its territory into suitable adminstrative structures and determine their powers and responsibilities, the ARG strongly favours elective autonomy for any so envisaged local government structure. This, however, would not justify why INEC should be responsible for organising elections of adminstrative structures for any State tier that is an equal opportunity partner with the central government in a federal arrangement. INEC, over the years, has equally not proven to be independent enough to guarantee fairness. Similarly,as currently constituted,the SIECs have also not shown capacity and have rather come across as bad advertisement for democracy. But they can be and should be reformed and rejigged to bequeath flawless elections therefrom.

It is based on the foregoing that the ARG has voted not to support the autonomy being proposed for the local governments. It must however be clearly and firmly stated that this position was informed by the altruistic quest to protect the sovereignty of our States cum Region in line with the fundamental principles of federalism.

Nevertheless, we are not oblivious of the rightful agitation of a segment of our society for what has been described as local government autonomy because of the seeming lack of governance or effective service delivery in our local communities.
Therefore, we strongly appeal that current sub national governments not already doing so, should immediately take deliberate steps towards addressing some of those concerns, particularly the issue of democratic local government Councils and full and effective discharge of financial obligations to local governments under their jurisdiction.

For Afenifere Renewal Group

Hon. Olawale Oshun.
Chairman

Chief Ayo Afolabi
Secretary

As counsel to the family of late Joshua Ejigbo, we are deeply appalled by the recent insensitive and callous statements made by Mr. Ben Agande, the spokesperson for Veritas University, Abuja, regarding the tragic death of our client's son, Joshua. Mr. Agande's dismissive remarks about the family acting on a "phantom autopsy" and his insinuation that they are spreading falsehoods are not only untrue but also deeply hurtful to a family grieving the loss of their child.

It is evident that Veritas University, rather than expressing remorse for their negligence, has chosen to defame and attack the grieving family of Joshua. This behaviour further demonstrates their lack of empathy and accountability in this matter.

Let us be clear: Veritas University, while acting in loco parentis, had a legal and moral duty to ensure the safety and well-being of Joshua while he was under their care. They failed in this duty on multiple fronts:

1. The gymnasium where the incident occurred was unsupervised, leaving students vulnerable to potential hazards.

2. The delay in attending to Joshua's injuries and the lack of basic first aid in the gymnasium and emergency care facilities at the university's clinic undoubtedly exacerbated his condition.

3. The university allowed an underage student to use gym facilities without obtaining express written consent from his parents.

These failures amongst several identified constitute a clear breach of the duty of care owed to Joshua, and we intend to hold Veritas University fully accountable for their negligence.

Furthermore, Veritas University, as the owner and occupier of the premises where this tragic incident occurred, bears an undeniable responsibility under the legal principle of owner/occupier liability. The university had an inherent duty to ensure that its premises were safe for all students before inviting them onto campus. It is unconscionable that an institution that collects substantial fees from its students failed to provide the most basic protection to the young people entrusted to its care.

This negligence is not only a legal liability but also a moral failing of the highest order.

Moreover, the university's version of events surrounding Joshua's death is blatantly contradicted by the medical certificate of cause of death. While the school attempts to portray the incident as unexplainable, the certificate clearly indicates that Joshua died a violent death under their watch. This discrepancy raises serious concerns about the university's transparency and cooperation in helping the family uncover the truth. It is evident that Veritas University is more concerned with protecting its commercial interests and maintaining a facade of morality to attract unsuspecting families than with revealing the truth and taking responsibility for their negligence.

We urge Veritas University to retract their insensitive statements, issue a sincere apology to the family, and take immediate steps to address the systemic failures that led to this tragedy. We will not rest until justice is served for Joshua and his family.

For: A&G Solomon®

Ataguba S. Aboje, Esq, CIPP/E, NP FRN, MCIArb, FICAD, FBDFM, FCIGCD

Managing Partner

Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria

Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

Notary

Before we could say Jack Robinson; before we could catch our breath, the ever refreshing and glorious month that is May has come and is closing its cycle today. It is a month of storms, a month of lightning and thunder. It is a month of restoration. When lightning and thunder strike, we dash under the table, under the bed, shaken to our marrows for whatever can give us that momentary cover. Yet, there must be lightning and thunder to moderate temperate and tropical atmospheric temperature imbalance. May comes with a weather that is a mixture of rain and sunshine, a signal to the rainy days ahead. In these times, the failings of EKDC and its siblings scattered at Ikeja, Ibadan, Benin, Enugu, Kaduna, Jos—I am sure in combustible Kano, as well—do not get as much trumpeted on rooftops as they are accustomed to receiving in January and February when the day and night can be refreshingly cool. This reminds me by way of digression, as my boss, Allah-De, was wont to say, when the weather begins to wink at you, a sign that rain is on the way, get your candle ready. These days, get your inverter ready! But pray that the inverter supplier/engineers do not become the new NEPA, NEPA of blessed memory, unfeeling and uncaring. Who can fight Nature, despite your thunder arrestor and a booster one mounted by the supplier; thunder can still damage your inverter as it has done to mine! What is Nature? I am entreating Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev who dismantled the Soviet Union to be on standby.

There is so much to say and write about the month of May. As Numerologists are wont to say, those who preoccupy themselves with the science of numbers, Figure 5 represents Love. It is powered by the force that is Love. May, being the fifth month of the year therefore swings in the Law of Numbers as the month of love. Sandwiched between April, the fourth month which swings in Nature featuring awakening and sprouting and June the month of power, the love of May is particularly significant and it is not to be interpreted in the narrow sense. For love is not indulgence. It is severity. The releasing power of love gives to everyone that which is of benefit to him. Thus, it is said true love gives benefit, not comfort. Ultimately in benefit lies comfort. The tongue of fire in a furnace, for example, is beautiful and attractive. A child finding it irresistible only needs to touch once in his life to learn the right lesson! In experiencing, therefore, lies knowledge, and knowledge rightly applied leads to maturity and development. Instantly, the hearty, unburdened laughter of the child turns to a loud outcry!

In May, regeneration in Nature, a gift of love, drives everything relentlessly towards its climax, particularly towards the end of the month. In this driving or forcing towards blossom, everything is animated and it regenerates the good and the bad, to bring to their authors, in justice, the bountiful harvest of their labour. This May ending today, what can we say has been amiss? Practically everything, some would say. If anything, the standard of living has taken more heartless bashings and dipped beyond last year’s levels. The beating of the chest since Buhari’s era on the catalogue of magic achievements on occasions of anniversaries has continued. I did state in this column that I was going to give Bola Tinubu one year of honeymoon to find his feet. That honey moon was over two days ago. I will henceforth mount my observatory pole. In the area of security, it is the same old story! But thank goodness, life goes on. Perhaps in the hope which Bola Tinubu has made his sing song. Hope of a better tomorrow, however, only if we ourselves change for the better. For only a completely different people who can produce a completely different leader, thus a completely different nation since the people can only give what they have. In a democratic setting such as the world clamours for and embraces, leaders rise through the ranks of the populace to brandish before their gaze their own mirror which the leaders constitute. Who has heard of cocoa being harvested where a seed of oranges was planted? Who has not heard of the law of sowing and reaping? This column has stated repeatedly that our world is governed. We supply the threads for the weaving of our carpet of fate.
The season of mango is moving away. In the goodness of the Almighty, maize is returning to town. A reflective person may not easily discountenance the fact that one mango seed holds the promise of hundreds of thousands of mango fruits. Anyone may venture to count the number of ears of corn on a cob of maize. Upon reflecting that there may sometimes be as many as five cobs on a stalk and as many as four hundred ears of corn to a cob, we see that the lesson rings home powerfully that there may be as many as 2,000ears of corn generated from an only one. Then the picture is of the Law is clear: Whatever a man soweth that shall he reap in multiples and many times over.

Back to the subject of May and Nature raeminds me of those memorable thoughts of Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet agent of change and liberation of its various peoples who constituted the country from an unnatural union. Mr. Gorbachev said in 1994: “As an ongoing re-evaluation of values is basic to the evolution of civilization. In its early history, mankind treated Nature with reverence. People were afraid of Nature, regarding it as something superior and unfathomable; they worshipped Nature as a kind of deity. Harming Nature was considered a deadly sin. Later, as man accumulated knowledge and practical skills, he began to see himself as superior to Nature, setting himself the goal of conquering it and subordinating it to his own interests. Soon it became apparent that the arrogance of technical knowledge scars Nature with wounds that will not heal.”

Mr. Gorbachev went on to blame the problem in the relationship between man and nature on “a crisis of spirit.” He urged the world to recognize the urgent need to reconsider the old views and attitudes towards nature and reach a new level in learning the laws that govern the system that incorporates man and nature.”

What then is Nature? This brings us back to the fundamental issue Mr. Gorbachev raised in his profound perception. What is Mother Nature? Like many human words which have lost their original meaning in human perception long ago, the concept of Nature remains nothing but a vague expression for many people today. Many long to be close to Nature. They throng the sea shore for its refreshing spectacle, the rippling of waters, the undertows, the sheer breath-taking expanse of the ocean that bows the spirit; tides rising and falling. Some wander in the woods for oozing of insects, the ruffling of leaves. Some head for the mountains for their rarifying effects on the spirit and others behold the undulating hills. Many long to be close to Nature when they are tormented by the plastic city life and flee to the beautiful greens of the invigorating countryside, even if only for a short while. These days it also has suddenly become wise to be natural for the sake of good health. Medicine is advancing quite all right. But has it not created two problems where it solves one? Natural spring water is thus the vogue. And there is a return in droves to herbal remedies once discarded as having no place in modern medicine. Talk of beautiful nature fills the air. We speak of natural beauty and everyone is enraptured by beauty that is natural, which has moved away from artificiality that is not animated, that is dead. Yet simultaneously, man has not evinced signs of being tired to tinker with the conquest of Nature. Are we not in the time of Mr. AI, the rapidly growing Artificial Intelligence? Two weeks ago, one product of Artificial Intelligence was posted to me. It was a lady you cannot believe is not real! I am told before long An Artificial Intelligence pilot will be flying our planes. It is been sold to us as far more competent and precision-driven than man! After all, what are drones?

Any talk of nature today is likely to evoke no more than images of coarse forms, that is, outward appearances. Pictures of landscapes automatically arise as do those of all that are perceivable by the physical senses. At best, this picture conceives of the earth or the galaxy or the entire subsequent Creation as belonging to Nature. In a sense this would not be an altogether false or incomplete picture if these manifestations often called seen as no more than mere visible effects of the intricate natural activities behind which stand some beings. Yes, some beings! But not perchance human beings. To be certain , Nature is the undistorted material effects of the activities of these Nature Beings. Matter has no life of its own. It assumes a living form when it has been glowed through. These forms, glowing, warm and active are then able to unite to produce power and even stronger forms. When the animating glow withdraws, matter collapses or dies and returns to its primeval state. The glow is a healthy union of radiations and distinguishes what belongs to Nature.

Engrained in the works of Nature also is the capacity for self-strengthening and propagation. In the end we will all become aware that all of life is radiations and that the visible life is nothing other than the coarse replicas of fine animating core. We can now connect the dots about what tells a woman from a man as being bundles of different radiations. Thus, we are told in the enlightenment graciously mediated to all mankind in these times that a woman is defined by the nature of her activities.

Thus, the tones in the radiations of the month of May, most importantly of the special power from On High, drive the month in all its encompassing invigorating love. So is it that we stand encompassed in the unrelenting driving power of May. In the grip of its radiance, of that unfathomable Love which only Jesus Christ, the Love of God can mediate, swinging in Figure 5, and the Holy Spirit in Figure 7 which is also perfection, in unswerving Justice, lays upon no one nothing more than he has taken upon himself–both Arms in everlasting Holy Trinity with the Father, the Father in Them and They in the Father.

When we look at the world, every country and possibly as many men and women, the signs of the nature of the harvest of the future of our world is self-evident, even today. In May, specifically, 30 May, out of love, the Almighty Creator renews His Creation with the outpouring of Power from On High, from the Highest Temple standing at the peak of Paradise, into our universe. It is the Day the Holy Dove appears over a vessel, called Chalice. It is from this vessel that all the worlds below receive power from the Almighty Creator for their continued existence, flowering and fruiting. We must bow our spirits in worshipful thankfulness and adoration for His ever-present Grace.

For millions in anguished parts of the world, certainly for us in vast swathes of the African continent, this is a daybreak on a new democratic promise. The warning is clear. sooner or later, the clamour of equity breaks down the stoutest gates on guard across the citadel of impunity,

The Trump debacle is a challenge also, a call to preparedness and steadfastness.  Installed and putative fascisms – secular, military or theocratic - will extract from this only the wrong lessons, batten down and ‘crack down’ in self-protection.  It is “Not yet Uhuru”, not anywhere close for humanity in our global village. Nonetheless, a celebration, albeit in a minor key, is justified.

Donald Trump

p.s.  Seeing that this trite, personal gesture attracted such inordinate attention at the time, let me answer the question before it is asked: Yes, I may choose to apply for restoration of my card of Permanent Residence, known as the Green Card. Possibly.

Wole SOYINKA

A.R.I. (Permanent Resident)

Ogun State, Nigeria

May 30, 2024

This week last year, two things were enthroned in the Nigerian political space. One was the man, Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in as the president. The other was the myth of the man as a headhunter endowed with a unique instinct for sourcing the right talent and an astute administrator. So much was this idea of Tinubu as administrative capacity believed that his supporters were sure he would—to use the language of former Abia state governor Orji Kalu—forward Nigeria to all forwardness. Well, it is one year now, and we might as well start asking how that myth has fared.

Let me digress here to point out that two kinds of people propagated the myth of Tinubu’s governing capacity. In one category are those you might call the Know-No-Betters. These are those who have never seen—let alone lived in—a properly functioning city and therefore have no frame of comparison when they were told Tinubu would build Nigeria as he built Lagos. They could be beguiled by the travesty of Lagos, a city where property value costs a fortune but cannot even boast of something as basic as potable water because that is the height of their experience. Even when they see the seedy sides of Lagos, their desperation for an idol to worship pushes them to willingly blind themselves to reality by eagerly gorging on glossy photoshopped images of Eko Atlantic. When you can self-soothe with the visuals of utopia, dystopia becomes livable.

Then there are the Dishonest-Know-Betters—the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on peddling lies, distortions, sentiments, and blatantly voiced falsehoods. They have experienced functional societies so they know what we have is subpar but they still tell you it is sufficient. Nigeria’s future does not concern them because they have built a safe house elsewhere where they and their children will forever be untainted by the rottenness of the country.

So, how has the myth of Tinubu as a savvy administrator held up? Well, two separate policies might best illustrate how they have conducted themselves in office so far. On May 29, 2023, Tinubu pronounced the three words that immediately unleashed hardship on Nigerians who had already endured hell under the Muhammadu Buhari administration: subsidy is gone. Now, the issue is not that he removed the subsidy—that was already expected—but he was haphazard about such a significant step.

Here is why: about a month after that pronouncement, he announced that he could announce the decision because he was under the influence of some “spirits.” Please think about that for a moment. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria made a decision that would affect the lives and livelihood of millions of people, not because he had sat down and worked out a policy agenda with an economic team, but because he was pushed by some voices in his head? Wow!

If it was some “spirits” that took possession of him and forced the words out of his mouth, it means there was no thorough planning to see how the fuel subsidy removal would work, how to mitigate the resultant suffering, and how to assess if their programme was working. Even worse, it means he cannot fully take responsibility for the fallouts of such a programme since it originated from some forces. Whatever pain and hardship you will experience due to his policy decision is not for him to bear. After all, he only acted under some supernatural influence when he pronounced the policy into effect. That too is worth ruminating over: the man some people convinced themselves would turn Nigeria into a Dubai does not plan.

Then came this year when the same administration that told us that the fuel subsidy that helped to attenuate the economic reality was a waste also approved a whopping N90bn to subsidise the hajj pilgrimage. Again, this is worth a reflection: the man saw Nigerians groan in pain from his fuel subsidy removal and grovelled for help, but looked away. They insisted on delivering the hard shocks because the subsidies were supposedly a waste of resources. They offered “palliatives” instead. Their efforts in this direction were so poorly thought-out and poorly organised that they reversed the plan. So, while they had no answer for the pain of the generality of Nigerians and resolutely watched people suffer, they had no qualms catering to a tiny segment of the population embarking on something as privileged as a religious pilgrimage.

What is worse than Tinubu paying N90bn on the hajj this year is that he has to pay it next year, and the year after, and continue like that, especially as his second term election approaches. If he fails to sustain it, the Muslim population whose vote he is targeting through the humongous expense will not forgive him. Worse still, they would have forgotten what he paid in 2024. He has to keep up the spending. Given the Nigerian penchant to turn virtually any initiative into an avenue to siphon public funds, do not be any surprised if that N90bn starts ballooning yearly. You assess the situation he got himself and long-suffering Nigerians into, and wonder how a man who was so mythicized could unravel that quickly. When it came to administering pain and shock, Tinubu was possessed with the spirits of “courage” and “freedom” as he gayly put it. When it came to standing up to religious and ethnic sentiments, his pandering revealed those spirits as “cowardice” and “economic bondage.”

But that is not only where the legion spirits of indecisiveness have possessed the man. First, he took forever to assemble a cabinet even though he won the election in March. He had enough time to decide on a team; he just took it for granted. By the time he unfolded his team, there was initially some confusion over who had made the list. When the final list was unfolded, it was anything but inspiring. Even some of his supporters who had boasted that he knows how to look for the best people were disappointed by how many of those nominated were recycled from the garbage cans of the past administration. To think they even expanded the cabinet just to take some clowns on board.

He signed the Student Loan Act into law, but they later withdrew it with the promise to return. Till now, they are still fumbling through the launch. He recalled ambassadors from their posts, but it turned out that he had no plans in place to replace them. He also proposed the Green Tax but had to reverse it when the introduction turned out to be ill-timed. Then there were the Import Tax Adjustment Levy, Expatriate Tax, and the Cybersecurity Levy that were introduced but needed to be reversed. He will probably go down in history as the president with the most reversed policies in the history of governance at the rate he is going. Even the construction Lagos-Calabar highway, announced with fanfare, had not been fully thought through. Then the blatant and needless lies such as the UAE visa ban and the Maersk affair suggest that they lack any integrity. If they cannot be honest with even the simple things, why should you trust them on the big things?

Plot all of these together, and you come up with a solid picture of a man whose administration lacks coordination and takes decisions based on what their hormones (and some spirits, of course) dictate. Tinubu’s myth as an efficient administrator that has always been propped up with media propaganda and self-serving intellectuals has severely unravelled, revealing an unpleasant picture of the man, the myth, and the mediocrity. To think we are going through this after “16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party” and “eight years of Buhari.” Add the past one year, and you see 25 directionless years. God help somebody!

'Nigeria has lost a gem to the cold hands of death'

The nation was, in the early hours of Sunday, 26th May 2024, awoke to the sad news of the demise of DIG Larmorde, who was undergoing medical treatment in faraway Egypt. The news of his demise was shocking to the generality of Nigerians who knew him in much the same way as it evoked a deep sense of loss for those who had the good fortune of working and interacting closely with this dutiful, unassuming and gentlemanly Officer of the Nigerian Police Force.

My first encounter with DIG Lamorde was in 2007, when I was representing a high-profile political figure from the south-south geopolitical zone of the country. He was courteous and pleasant and treated my client with dignity. Our parts were to cross again in November 2011 when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, appointed him as the Ag. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while I was serving as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.  

In all my interactions with him and his official capacity as chairman of the EFCC, I found Ibrahim Lamorde to be passionate and dutiful in the discharge of his duties. Under him, the EFCC’s operations were professional, cases were painstakingly investigated, and the rights of persons under investigation were duly respected as they were treated with respect and the dignity they deserved. Mr Ibrahim Lamorde would, in his characteristic candour, proffer opinion based on facts before him and independently discharge his duties in accordance with the dictates of his conscience and the best traditions of reputable investigating authorities.

DIG Ibrahim Lamorde (Rtd)

Despite his rank and exalted position, Ibrahim Lamorde was never carried away with the allure of power. He was humble yet firm in his convictions. I recall vividly his discussions with me regarding his modus operandi as a top cop and Chairman of the EFCC. He stated, “Public Officers must hold themselves accountable to their superiors, the society and most importantly, God.” This was the barometer against which all his official actions and conduct were measured. He often reiterated his resolve not to pander to the wishes of people in authority, as he felt bound to do right at all times and circumstances. Given my experiences with those who have held the office of EFCC Chairman before and after him, I am moved to state boldly that he was a rare gem.

As we mourn his passing to the great beyond, I am convinced that his good works will speak for him before his creator. May Allah console his family and grant him Ajannah Firduarsi.

Adieu to a Gentleman, Officer, and Patriot.

Signed

Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, CFR, SAN