The Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Salako, said on Friday that President Bola Tinubu remains committed to providing adequate and qualitative healthcare delivery for all Nigerians.

The minister disclosed that part of the Federal Government’s plan to tackle the challenge of brain drain in the health sector is to recruit more health professionals to aid qualitative healthcare delivery to Nigerians.

Salako also said that the government is engaging with Nigerian health workers abroad to leverage their expertise and rich exposure to improve the health sector development in the country.

The minister disclosed this on Friday during his tour of the FG health facilities in Ogun State.

During the tour, the minister was at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta as well as the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta among others.

Addressing a town hall meeting at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Salako disclosed that the FG is “harvesting” the contributions of Nigerian doctors in the UK, US, and Ireland amongst others to support the country’s healthcare system.

He noted that to mitigate the japa syndrome, the government is expanding its capacity to train more health workers and has been given the green light by Tinubu to recruit more health workers to address the shortage of manpower in the health sector.

“We are expanding our capacity to train health workers, we are also harvesting the Nigerian health workers in the diaspora – we are having a robust diasporan engagement with Nigerian health workers in the UK, US, and Ireland, they may not be physically present but we can still harvest their contributions to the health sector in Nigeria.

“Mr President has given us a waiver to recruit more health workers than any other sector. These are the mechanisms we are putting in place to make sure that we address the challenges in the health sector”, Salako stated.

Salako also appealed to the state government to domesticate the Mental Health Act at the state level to expand access to mental health care for the residents of the state.

Speaking with the journalists, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, said that the state will domesticate the Mental Health Act, adding that it is part of the commitment of the state to the people.

Coker stated, “We are going to domesticate the act because it’s one of our commitments to the people. With the pressure of society, more people suffer from mental health challenges. It is our job to ensure that our citizens are kept safe.

“Collaboration with the federal government is continuous daily. We collaborate on the primary health level. We have facilities that the federal government is helping us to upgrade. We will continue to partner with the federal government in every area possible to serve the good people of our dear state”.

Earlier in his address, the Provost and Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Paul Agboola, disclosed that the hospital is ready to partner with the state government to domesticate the Mental Health Act.

“It’s quite a great joy for us that the Minister is visiting the hospital. We are looking for collaboration from the Ministry of Health on the implementation of the Mental Health Act.

“We want to collaborate with the state government to domesticate the Mental Health Act in the state. I have spoken with the Commissioner for Health and she is ready for the domestication”, Agboola stated.

[Punch]

...As Bauchi Speaker insists on collaboration

Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, has commended Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, Non-Government Organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders on their unwavering dedication to the ideals of fairness, justice and social progress in Nigeria.

Speaking during a two-day co-creation workshop on the State Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Bill organised by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC, Meranda, in her address to other State Assembly Speakers and deputy speakers present, insisted that the presence of CSOs at the workshop is a testament to the shared commitment they have towards building a more just and inclusive society.

She said, “Gender inequality remains a pressing issue. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Nigeria ranks 125th out of 146 countries in gender parity, particularly in economic participation and political empowerment. These statistics underscore the urgency for legislative intervention and policy transformation.

“The importance of a co-created bill cannot be overstated. We are not here to impose generic solutions but to co-create a context-specific bill tailored to the realities of Nigeria and our respective states. This means listening to the voices of marginalized communities, understanding their challenges, and integrating their perspectives into the legislative process.

“We must ensure that this bill does not remain a mere document but becomes a dynamic tool for change—one that establishes clear implementation mechanisms, enforcement strategies and monitoring frameworks.”

She urged other speakers to recognise the critical role of legislation in shaping an equitable society, saying: “The need for a comprehensive bill addressing inclusivity and diversity in Nigeria cannot be overstated. Such a bill will dismantle systemic inequalities, ensuring equal access to opportunities and resources, promote gender equality, creating a fairer society for women and girls, empower persons with disabilities, ensuring their full participation in social and economic life, bridge the economic divide, supporting low-income individuals through inclusive policies, foster social cohesion, promoting unity amidst Nigeria’s rich diversity, and align Nigeria with global development goals, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Beyond legislation, we must commit to effective implementation, adequate funding, and continuous monitoring to ensure that the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are fully realised.

“The Lagos State House of Assembly remains committed to supporting this cause and ensuring that our legislative frameworks align with the principles of equity and inclusion. We will continue to provide the necessary backing to ensure that the objectives of the workshop translate into tangible policy actions that impact lives across the nation.”

On his part, the Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, posited that collaboration by all stakeholders is key in having it signed into law. He said, “It has to be a shared responsibility. No single entity, especially the government, can solely carry the burden of enacting and enforcing the State Equity Bill. We all have a part to play. 

“In particular, my fellow members of the House of Assembly, I ask you to view this bill as not just a legal instrument, but a stepping stone toward a better society. Let us urge for its swift acceptance and execution. 

“To civil society organisations, your participation in policy making, advocacy work, research and bottom-up activism is very important. Let us work together to facilitate acceptance from the general public and guarantee its effective utilisation. 

“To development partners, your relevance to the topic is your experience and support in the embedding of best practices towards equity and inclusion in Nigeria. 

“To the citizens the bill is for you. I encourage you to engage, offer feedback and actively integrate yourself in the creation of a society where everyone is given a fair shot at success. 

“The passage of the bill will mark a new era of governance in our various states—one that prioritises justice, fairness and inclusion. Let us seize this moment to rewrite the narrative and build a state where every individual, regardless of background or status, is empowered to contribute to our collective progress.”

[Vanguard]

US President Donald Trump signed a memo Friday calling for curbs on Chinese investments in strategic sectors like tech and critical infrastructure -- including restrictions by a foreign investment review panel.

The move comes at a time of growing trade tensions and strategic competition between the world's two biggest economies.

It is aimed at promoting foreign investment, while protecting US national security interests "particularly from threats posed by foreign adversaries" like China, the White House said.

In particular, the memo took aim at China for "increasingly exploiting United States capital to develop and modernize its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses."

It called for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to be used to restrict Chinese investments in key US sectors such as technology, critical infrastructure, health care and energy.

CFIUS is a panel that weighs the national security implications of foreign investments in the United States.

"President Trump is keeping his promise to prevent foreign adversaries from taking advantage of the United States," the White House said.

Friday's memo came after Trump imposed additional customs duties of 10 percent on all products imported from China at the start of this month, over the country's alleged role in the deadly fentanyl trade.

Beijing has pushed back against the accusation.

But on Wednesday, the US president suggested that a trade deal with China was "possible."

[tbsnews]

Bello Turji, the notorious bandit leader, has allegedly imposed a N22 million levy on four villages in Sokoto state following the killing of one of his men during a military operation in the area.

According to Daily Trust, locals said the levy is also meant to compensate for missing firearms during the raid.

The report noted that Aminu Boza, a lawmaker representing Sabon Birni west in the Sokoto house of assembly, identified one of the affected villages as Garin Idi, the hometown of Idris Gobir, the state’s deputy governor.

Boza also noted that Turji had relocated his base to the eastern part of Isa LGA of Sokoto.

“He is just like a businessman who has multiple shops and is going around to supervise them. He is currently in the eastern part of Isa,” Daily Trust quoted the lawmaker as saying.

“That was where the villagers met him for negotiation, and he reduced the money from N25 million to N22 million.”

The lawmaker berated the military for failing to sustain operations in the area, saying their withdrawal leaves villages vulnerable to attacks.

“I have always criticised the military for not sustaining their operation in the eastern part of Sokoto because anytime they withdraw, it is the villages that bear the brunt,” he added.

“Because the bandits always vent their anger on the villagers.

“The ministers of defence have visited Sokoto about four times and assured our people that banditry would soon be a thing of the past.

“But look at it, the bandits are still attacking our people. A few days ago, they killed six operatives of the Sokoto community guards.

“I am appealing to the military to intensify and sustain their operation in the eastern part of Sokoto. This is the only way to restore total peace in the area.”

Boza added that Turji is demanding N250,000 from each family of the 13 worshippers abducted in Sabon Birni LGA about two weeks ago.

“They have so far released five captives after their families paid the money,” he said.

This third installment in the Nicholas Said column series expands on my previous pieces and brings the discussion to a conclusion.

Perhaps the final straw that broke Nicholas Said’s back and drove him to leave combat duties during the Civil War was the imposition of an inexperienced 18-year-old white boy named Lieutenant Robertson James — described as “one of the least qualified officers in the regiment” — as the leader of his platoon.

On the day Said finally received his long-denied back pay of $200, he voluntarily resigned his sergeantship, demoted himself to private, laid down his arms, and requested a secretarial assignment. He later left that role to work at the army hospital.

Dr. Burt Green Wilder, a physician at the hospital, sought an assistant who neither smoked, drank excessively, nor ate pork (and who could write well), criteria that Said, a linguistically gifted ex-Muslim and teacher, met easily. He secured the job as a "hospital assistant." 

Soon after, most of his Black comrades in the Civil War were killed or severely wounded in battle. The wounded were brought to the hospital where Said worked. He experienced what Dean Calbreath called his "baptism in blood, which soaked his clothing and clung to his flesh."  

Dr. Wilder, impressed by Said’s intellect, described him as “very philosophical in his mind and interested in unusual things, religious problems, etc.”

On May 13, 1865, about a month after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered and the Civil War ended, Said married in South Carolina. The marriage lasted only two years. There’s no evidence it produced any children.

Dr. Wilder, who later became a leading professor of anatomy at Cornell University, refuted the findings of a racist post-war commission that claimed Black people were innately inferior by singling out Said, a "multilingual intellectual from the very interior of Africa," as a direct contradiction. 

Instead of returning to the North from where he enlisted in the U.S. Army or to Borno, Said stayed in South Carolina, devoting himself to teaching Black people to read and write for free while farming on the side. 

His work caught the attention of General Robert K. Scott of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, who praised Said as “a thoroughly educated man and a distinguished linguist, who converses fluently in ten languages and who is equally conversant in both the Greek Testament and the Koran.”  

Southern newspapers, incredulous at the idea of such an African, mocked the claim.

Despite the racism he faced in the military, Said found warmth and respect from many white individuals, including Southerners, precisely because of his sharp intellect and unusual multilingual aptitude. That’s why he once remarked, according to Calbreath, that “the kindest people with whom he had ever met and domiciled [with] are the Southern whites.” 

He also became one of America’s first Black people to devote their time to getting scores of Black people registered to vote. His accomplishments were so noteworthy that the New York Times’ William Swinton, himself a polyglot, profiled him extensively on August 13, 1867, in an article titled “The Negro Pundit.”

“He has certainly made himself a remarkable philologist. Remarkable it would be in even the most cultured of Caucasians, but still more so in one who bears on his black visage the symbols of his savage race [i.e., Said’s Kanuri facial marks],” Swinton wrote. “For he knows, in addition to English and his native tongue, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew, Greek, German, French, and Italian…. Nor is it merely a parrot-like faculty of imitation, for he has a deep penetration of their genius and affinities and, in some instances, a fair, and in others, a profound acquaintance with their literature” (208).

The New York Times profile was republished in over two dozen newspapers. The Nation, a liberal newspaper, even suggested that Said was “was so talented he might make a good candidate for vice president someday, or at least a cabinet secretary or maybe an ambassador to Russia.” 

Two months after the New York Times profile, Said wrote about himself in the Atlantic Monthly, one of America’s most iconic magazines. His article, titled “A Native of Bornoo,” caused his profile to soar in South Carolina and got him a more prestigious teaching job at a private school where he taught English and French.

After actively participating in Charleston’s politics, where many Black officials were elected—triggering violent white backlash—Said left the city. He became a peripatetic teacher in rural South Carolina before moving to Georgia.

To gain acceptance in the South, he concealed his Union Army service, even falsely claiming he arrived in the U.S. post-war. His autobiography completely blacked out his participation in the Civil War.

In Georgia, he encountered Lucius Bryan, a virulently racist aristocrat who had written that Africans had “never built a city, never bridged a river, never made the smallest discovery having any tendency to widen the little space that separates him from the gorilla.” But after meeting Said, Bryan softened his stance. He grudgingly acknowledged that Said’s intelligence and learning equaled that of any white man.

So, he encouraged Said to tour Southern states to demonstrate “the possibility of elevating the colored race to a standard of equality with Europeans.”

Said agreed, arguing that Africa “has been, through prejudice and ignorance, so sadly misrepresented that anything like intelligence, industry, etc., is believed not to exist among its natives.”

Beginning his lecture tour in March 1870, he electrified audiences. Though often introverted in one-on-one dialogic engagements, he transformed to a spine-tingling orator on stage. “On the stump, he seemed as one inspired. His sentences were short, clear-cut, and logical. When gesticulating with his arms, the eye could almost see sparks dripping from his fingertips,” Calbreath quoted one observer to have noted.

Attendance at his lectures initially cost 25 cents (about $5 today), later increasing to 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. Subscribers also paid similar amounts for his forthcoming autobiography.

During a visit to The  Atlanta Constitution (the flagship newspaper in Georgia now called the Atlanta-Journal Constitution) on July 22, 1870, the editors described him as “a very intelligent son of Africa… [who] talks intelligently on almost every subject.” 

Said let the editors read a rough draft of his autobiography. They wrote that they were “astonished to find it well written…. The contents are novel, and, as far as we read them, very interesting.” 

 Other Southern newspapers dubbed him the “wandering African celebrity” or the “learned African.” In Florida, a star-struck bank clerk inscribed on Said’s account application: “This is the wonderful Nickolas [sic] Said, doubtless.”

As his fame grew, so did lecture fees, rising to 75 cents. Fame also made him a magnet for girls. A teenage Georgia girl named Annie from a small town called Bainbridge (which now has a little over 14,000 people) threw herself at him. Their short affair led to a pregnancy, which Said wasn’t aware of. 

Annie gave birth to a girl whom she named Nancy Said. No one knows whether her descendants are alive. Short of getting DNA samples from Said’s relatives in Kukawa and comparing them to the probable descendants of Nancy Said in Bainbridge, Georgia, we have no way of knowing.

Despite warnings, he moved to Alabama, a perilous state for educated Black men. Yet, he found surprising warmth there, even impressing a former slave owner and Confederate soldier, Mitchell Smith, who recommended him to local politicians in another Alabama town Said moved to, saying, “Nicholas Said…is, by far, the most intelligent and best-educated man of the African race with whom I have ever conversed.”

Settling in Bladon Springs, Alabama, for four years — the longest he had stayed in one place since his forced displacement from Kukawa — he earned “the highest esteem of the white citizens,” as James S. Evans Jr. (whose son would later destroy Said’s reputation) wrote. “He had a dash about him that was fascinating…. He knew something of political economy, had studied the principles of law, possessed a smattering of knowledge of physics, and had read much on religious topics.”

There, he taught, completed his manuscript, and married again on September 24, 1874, to Rachel Thornton, a 24-year-old single mother with a six-year-old son. There is no information that he had a child with the woman.

In 1877, he left Bladon Springs without his wife and resumed his lecture circuits in Mississippi and Tennessee, carrying his autobiography. This time, he began calling himself Mohammed Ali ben Said, though he later reverted to Nicholas after settling in Haywood County, Tennessee.

In Haywood County, Tennessee, Nicholas Said mysteriously vanished from public view. It seems he fell into depression because of a series of injuriously libelous falsehoods written about him by James Evans Jr., a popular but notoriously mendacious, drunken, and unapologetically racist Alabama journalist whose father respected Said a great deal. These fabrications were republished in multiple newspapers.

Evans conjured stories about Said entirely from his imagination, claiming he was a South African criminal, a linguistically gifted forger and thief serving time in prison. There is no record of Said fighting back to reclaim his reputation.

Some believe he died in Haywood County in 1882, but no official record of his death exists in the United States. Or, as Dean Calbreath speculates, did he return to Borno unnoticed? No one knows for sure. 

•Says, Persons of Interest attempting to use neighbouring countries to access Nigeria
•Says: ‘Nigeria, not a safe haven for criminals’

The Federal government has announced plans to cancel its Visa-on-Arrival policy, saying “it is not working”. Accordingly, government is set to introduce landing and exit cards which prospective visitors would pre-fill before coming into the country.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo spoke on Friday during the closing ceremony of the week long capacity building training on Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Record API/PNR Data in National Security and Law Enforcement held at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS in Abuja.

According to him, some persons of interest have been trying to evade the new systems out in place across Nigeria’s five international airports. He said intelligence has revealed that such persons now travel to neighbouring countries in order to access Nigeria through its vast land borders.

Consequently, he said the ministry will work with relevant partners to deploy the API/PNR system across its land borders, noting that Nigeria cannot be a destination for criminals.

At the event, Comptroller General Immigration Service CGIS, Kemi Nandap said the programme originated from discussions held with the United Nations Organization on Counter Terrorism in Bangkok, Thailand last year. Nandap said the immigration service has a crop of well-trained and patriotic personnel who are ready to give their best to the country.

Objective profiling

The Interior minister said the API/PNR is not optional, recalling that system was not on place when he was made minister. He said; “What the API, PNR gives us is objectivity in decision making, objective profiling, not subjective profiling. What we had was subjective. The visa system, that is one of the core, because I always tell people the visa is not just an approval of entry, it is a migration management device. It is a security device to manage migration into your country. So the way it is at the moment is very subjective. We are not really too objective and that is why we are automating the whole process end-to-end. And the e-visa solution, we are working hard to be able to meet the first of March or peradventure if we are unable, the 1st of April, we will hit it live.

“We automate the system. People apply online and we will do what we need to do. That solution will be integrated with the Interpol system, the criminal records system, so that we can be able to take decisions. We do not want foreign attachés approving and issuing visas. It is not going to be that any more, we want to be able to screen people more. This cannot be a destination for wanted criminals in the world. Nigeria is not a safe haven for any criminal and it will never be.

“Another thing we are trying to do even for our expatriates is to see how we can integrate all these our immigration solutions. What we are doing is to harmonize all these solutions in our data centre, harmonize the database and be able to let the solutions speak to one another rather than having solutions in silos. “We want to have integrated solutions. So what we are looking at is that for any decision that borders on immigration into Nigeria, it will be impossible for approvals to be given without the clearance of interpol, criminal records system and all background checking agencies in real time. Security is not a sector where you can afford to be 99.9% correct.

“People must fill the landing card which will be integrated with the visa solution, integrated with the passport solution, then to all background checking systems across the world before you come. So we will be able to share this data with other agencies and across the world. This is to sanitize the process. A scenario where it is difficult for NIS,on the tip of a finger, to tell me the number of foreigners who are into Nigeria is unacceptable. A scenario where somebody comes into Nigeria, disappears, and becomes untraceable is unacceptable. A scenario where there is abuse of immigration policies and processes is unacceptable. A scenario where somebody needs to come to Nigeria, stay for six months, waiting to regularize the residency in Nigeria is unacceptable. It is not done anywhere in the world. So we are going to bring these massive reforms and these reforms start between March 1 and April 1. Why we are trying to do these is to be able to safeguard our people, is for us to be responsible in the comity of Nations, and for us to be able to contribute our fair quota to international peace”, he added.

FG approves relocation of 29 custodial centres

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has approved the relocation of 29 out of Nigeria’s 256 Custodial Centres due to rapid urbanization. Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo disclosed this on Friday in ABUJA when he commissioned 39 mini green maria for conveyance of inmates to and from courts, and five bullet resistant guard booths at the headquarters of the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS in Abuja. The minister also explained the idea behind the establishment of a paramilitary academy, saying paramilitary jobs are not poverty alleviation schemes but lifelong careers that young Nigerians should aspire to get.

[Vanguard]

The Labour Party (LP) in Osun has announced its withdrawal from Saturday’s LG election in the state.

According to NAN, Adebayo Bello, chairman of LP in Osun, announced the party’s withdrawal in Osogbo, the state capital, on Friday.

Bello said the party’s decision to withdraw from the election was due to a lack of preparedness of the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) to conduct a peaceful poll.

The Osun LP leader added that the election should be postponed for one or two months to enable OSSIEC to prepare adequately.

On his part, Oyebode Babalola, a chairmanship candidate on the platform of LP, said there are “some traces that the election might be disrupted tomorrow,” adding that participating will “put the lives of our people in jeopardy”.

“Although we are ready for the election, but we are not going to participate due to security concerns,” Babalola added.

Adewale Adebayo, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) chairman, also said his party will not participate in the election.

Adebayo added that when he attempted to officially deliver the party’s withdrawal letter to the OSSIEC office on Thursday, no commission official was present.

“We want to confirm that we are not participating in the illegal local government election, slated for Saturday,” he said.

“We are very disappointed that all OSSIEC staff, including its chairman, have absconded from their headquarters since Wednesday.”

The Osun LG elections are scheduled for Saturday across 30 LGAs and 323 wards in the state.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has also withdrawn from the elections, citing that participating in the poll would contradict an appeal court’s ruling.

Also, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has called for the suspension of the LG election in the state over a high likelihood of violence and security threats.

[TheCAble]

I have carefully read and listened to former Nigerian military president, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babagida's public remorse and regrets over the atrocious annulment of the June 12,1993 presidential elections. He did this 32 whopping years later. I want to very quickly say that it takes a man with strong guts and balls and a man who has become repentant, born again and has seen the face of God to publicly recant his earlier wrongful deeds and offer public apology to the entire nation. This was no doubt meant to heal gapinng wounds and balm wounded and bruised hearts.

The polls, the best, most transparent and credible elections, ever held in Nigeria till date, were meant to end decades of military d The annulment threw Nigeria into turmoil and widespread unreast, protests, maimings and killings. This forced Babagida to "step aside"; the enthronenent of the Enest Shonekan's Interim Government; and the arrest and detention of Chief Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner who later died in Aso Villa in questionable and suspicious circumstances. Of course, General Sani Abacha who was his second in command later sacked Shonekan in a bloodless coup. For years, IBB prevaricated on the annulment, claiming he did it in the best national interest. But on Thursday the 21st of February, 2025,Babangida during the presentation of his memoirs, "A journey In Service", pointedly regretted in the public: "I regret June 12. I accept full responsibility for the decisions taken and June 12 happened under my watch. Mistakes, missteps happened in quick succession. That accident of history is most regrettable. The nation is entitled to expect my expression of regret ". And wait for it:: he acknowledged for the first time that Abiola won the elections fair and square, trouncing his major opponent, Alhaji Bashir Tofa.

I want to salute Babagida for having the courage and humility to own up like a man; that everything that happened during the June 12 crisis took place under him as the head of state and the president who was also the Commander- in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I salute him for acknowledging that his government which actually organised unarguably the freest, fairest and most credible elections in the electoral history of Nigeria when it introduced option A4 from electoral books that were hithenlrto unknown to Nigeria or to the world. But unfortunately, regrettably like he now admits, he again turned around to annul the same elections in a way that was most bizarre, curious and unnatural.

To me, that he has come out to open up to doing something wrong and egregious to a bleeding nation should be appreciated. I believe that Nigerians should forgive him because to err is human and to forgive is divine ( Eph 4:32 ). I personally have now forgiven him because I was also a victim of the June12 crisis. It threw up all manners of challenges to me as a person, where in my very youthful age; in my thirties, I found myself marching on the streets of Lagos every day- from Ikeja bus stop roundabout, to Ikorodu road; up to Tejuosho market; from there to Ojuelegba, Surulere; to Mushin; to Shomolu and Igando, Alimosho.

Everyday, we were on the streets, protesting the mindless annulment. Some of us were killed in process; some were lucky enough to escape abroad on self exile. But some of us- very few indeed- refused to flee our dear country; we stayed back. We stared at the military eyeball to eyeball. We challenge authority and spoke truth to power. We challenged impunity and repression. I suffered several detentions across different detention centres. I virtually could not find means of livelihood for my youthful family because I was profiled, my phones bugged and no briefs were coming in. But I personally forgive him because it takes tons of guts to make public confession of having erred and atone for same as he has now done.

It is confession that leads to penance and penance leads to restitution and then forgiveness. If Babagida were to die today, I believe that he will see the face of God because he has prayed God to forgive him; and he has prayed Nigerians to forgive him. Beyond that historic and epochal mistake of the annulment of the June 12 election which constitutes his original sin, let me place it on record that Babagida is one of the greatest presidents that Nigeria ever had in terms of his ingenuity, rulership mantra; ideas for national resurgimento; ideas that contributed greatly to nation-building. These were aside the IMF-induced loans and pills which he introduced and which we again valiantly fought against successfully.

Babagida it was who gave birth to the Federal Capital Territory and laid the solid foundation for virtually everything you see there today. His government was peopled by intellectuals and not by half illiterates and quacks. He recognized and used intellects. He was luminous and he built bridges of understanding, friendship and brotherhood across Nigeria. Nigerians, please, accept IBB's confession and forgive him his sin of annuling the June 12,1993 elections. Let the wounds heal; let the heart melt; and let the spirit of national triumphalism prevail.

President Bola Tinubu conveys his deepest condolences to the people of Remoland and the Ogun State government on the passing of Oba Adeleke Adelekan Idowu Basibo, the esteemed Alaperu of Iperu.

Throughout his 22-year reign, Oba Idowu Basibo embodied the virtues of peace, tolerance, and prosperity, bringing dignity and grace to the throne of Akesan-Odoru.

President Tinubu recognises the monarch as a nurturing father figure to many, including Governor Dapo Abiodun, a distinguished citizen of his domain.

President Tinubu commends the late Oba as a beloved community leader who diligently championed governance that served the people's needs.

The President recalls Oba Idowu Basibo's enduring legacy of respect and wisdom, noting his impact on individuals and his age group, Egbe Bobakeye. His candid and invaluable advice to leaders will be fondly remembered and cherished.

As the monarch goes to the eternal home, President Tinubu expresses confidence that Oba Idowu Basibo's legacy will continue to inspire and influence future generations.

He offers prayers for the late Oba's soul to find eternal peace.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)