Looking at Africa’s future through the lens of progress, evidence, foresight, and optimism – although it’s difficult to predict the future with certainty, several African countries have shown great potential for development. Countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana and Botswana have made significant strides in economic growth, infrastructure development, and social progress. 

Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria are the top most powerful countries in Africa, according to US News and World Report’s 2019 power ranking. 

Several African countries, including Mauritius, Botswana, Cape Verde, Seychelles and Rwanda, are known for good governance. These countries have made significant progress in political stability, rule of law, and control of corruption. Speaking of issues of uniqueness, diversity, duration of existence, and variety, I would say, that Africa is sufficiently primed for greatness.

Let me continue with the profound words of Joshua J. Marine. Marine posited: “Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful” Yes! Leadership cum politics are phenomenal realities – as a continent, we sure need to get our art together. For example, each country faces unique challenges and opportunities, and their development paths will likely depend on different factors including governance, economic policies, education, and international partnerships. Suffice it to say that It is still rudderless as far as many of the countries in the continent of Africa is concerned.

Succinctly put, to view Africa solely as a hotbed of disease and hunger is to ignore the significant strides that countries and communities have made. There is still much work to be done. But looking to the past can provide some hope for the future: Rwanda, once known primarily for its tragic genocide, is now known as a model of stability and economic growth, while Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement this year to end two decades of war and enmity. African countries must push for further peace initiatives while they continue to support refugees and populations affected by conflict to improve stability and growth on the continent further.

Before I proceed, I want to be clear, don’t get me wrong, Africa lacks selflessness in  leadership. Unarguably, Africa is the most resourceful continent and the naturally wealthiest in the world. Despite the amazing advantage of having nice weather, massive forests with fruit, vegetation and plantations, wildlife, gold, diamonds, Uranium, various metals, and manpower willing to work hard for low wages, Africa is the poorest economically in the world. Because leadership is everything and due to corruption, stupidity, and greed, nearly all African leaders are failing with some few exceptions.

Collectively, the continent has more to gain pulling together and harnessing its vast natural resources to finance the development agenda towards greater prosperity. It must also ensure that future growth and exploitation of natural resources is results-oriented, climate resilient, and sustainable. Nearly half the world’s gold and one-third of all minerals are in Africa. 

Here’s a look at the resources African countries have below:

Africa area = 30,37 million km2

China area = 9,6 million km2

US area = 9,8 million km2

Europa area = 10,18 million km.

– Africa has 60% arable land.

– Africa owns 90% of the raw material reserve.

-Africa owns 40% of the global gold reserve.

– Africa, 33% of the diamond reserve.

– Africa has 80% of Coltan’s global reserve (mineral for telephone and electronics production), mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

– Africa has 60% of the global cobalt reserve (mineral for car battery manufacture).

– Africa is rich in oil and natural gas.

– Africa (Namibia) has the world’s richest fish coastline.

– Africa is rich in manganese, iron, and wood.

– Africa has thirty-half million km2 (30 875 415 km2).

-Africa has 1,3 billion inhabitants (China has 1,4 billion inhabitants in 9,6 million km2).

Which means Africa is SUB-POPULATED.

– The arable lands of the Democratic Republic of Congo can feed all of Africa. And Africa’s arable land is a cord to feed the whole world.

– The Democratic Republic of Congo has important rivers that can illuminate Africa.

The problem is that the CIA, western companies, and some African puppets have destabilised the DRC for decades.

– Africa is a culturally diverse continent with dance, music, architecture, sculpture, etc.

– Africa accommodates 30.000 medicinal recipes and herbs that the West modifies in its laboratories.

– Africa has a young global population that should reach 2,5 billion by the year 2050.

In the meantime, countries such as China are moving quickly to invest in Africa’s future, while the United States and other Western nations have taken more passive roles.

After weeks of anticipation, the Central Bank of Nigeria last Thursday released a circular reviewing the minimum capital requirements for all commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks operating in the country. The review came exactly two decades after a former Governor of the CBN Prof Chukwuma Soludo raised the minimum capital requirements for banks from N2 billion to N25 billion, and three months after the current governor Yemi Cardoso, gave banks a heads up that they would have to raise fresh capital to serve as buffers against risk assets on their balance sheets, prevailing economic headwinds, and bolster their ability to handle big ticket transactions.

Under the current review, commercial banks with international banking licences would have to raise their minimum capital to N500 billion, national banks to N200 billion, regional and merchant banks to N50 billion, non-interest national banks to N20 billion, while non-interest banks will have to meet a new minimum threshold of N10 billion. To meet the new capital requirements in two years, the CBN directed banks to consider the injection of fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issues and/or offer for subscriptions. They could also consider mergers and acquisitions and/or upgrades or downgrades of their licences.

However, the clincher in the circular was the central bank’s definition of what it meant by minimum capital. It said minimum capital shall comprise of paid-up capital and share premium only and shall not be based on shareholders’ funds. CBN further excluded Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Capital for the purpose of meeting the new minimum capital requirements by banks. Shareholders’ funds refer to the net worth of a company after all its liabilities have been deducted from its assets. It comprises the share capital and retained profits or earnings that have been reinjected into the business by its shareholders. AT1 Capital, on other hand, are debt securities or instruments that have no fixed maturity. They usually comprise preference shares or high contingent convertible securities.

By excluding shareholders’ funds and AT1 Capital, the CBN prioritised direct cash injections into the banks over accounting entries to satisfy recapitalisation requirements. Also, though not a member of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, whose mission is to support global central banks’ monetary policies and financial system stability, the CBN by its recapitalisation guidelines deviated from the Basel III criteria for regulatory capital.

Basel III reforms were introduced in December 2010 after the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, which revealed several weaknesses in the capital bases of existing banks, as definitions of capital varied widely between jurisdictions, regulatory adjustments were generally not applied to the appropriate level of capital, and disclosures were either deficient or non-comparable. These factors contributed to the lack of public confidence in capital ratios during the global financial crisis. To address these weaknesses, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published the Basel III reforms with the aim of strengthening the quality of banks’ capital bases and increasing the required level of regulatory capital. In addition, the BCBS instituted more stringent disclosure requirements.

Under Basel III, components of regulatory capital for banks comprise Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) Capital made up of common shares and stock surpluses, retained earnings, other comprehensive earnings, qualifying minority interest and regulatory adjustments; as well as Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Capital, which is the sum of capital instruments meeting the criteria for AT1 and related surplus, additional qualifying minority interest and regulatory adjustments. CET1 and AT1 are classified as Tier 1 Capital for banks on a going concern basis. Then there is Tier 2 Capital which is gone-concern capital and applies to banks that have failed. Tier 2 instruments must absorb losses before depositors and general creditors do so.

While it must be acknowledged that Basel III is not legally binding in any jurisdiction, and as earlier indicated, the CBN is not a member of the BIS in Switzerland, Basel III was intended to form the general basis for national or regional rulemaking for regulatory capital. Nonetheless, as with Basel I and II, even BIS members have taken different approaches to implementing Basel III. Some regulators have even gone as far as arguing that the rules apply to banks with $100 billion in assets or more. This in effect addresses any concerns raised by some market analysts at the weekend that the CBN was not complying with Basel III reforms in its latest recapitalisation programme. Besides, no Nigerian bank can boast of a balance sheet size of $100 billion in assets. Despite all their sound and fury, not one of them comes close!

Basel III aside, no Nigerians banker worth his or her salt can say that they did not see the recapitalisation programme coming. They did not need a Cardoso (or Cardi-B as he is often called in social media circles) to tell them that their banks had to initiate measures to raise fresh capital. For instance, Access Holdings Plc, in its 2023 financial accounts that was released 24 hours before the CBN circular, announced its intention to raise N365 billion through a rights issue in 2024. There was also speculation among market analysts two weeks earlier, that Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc (GTCO), which is yet to release its 2023 accounts was toeing the same path with a capital raise of N350 billion to N500 billion.   

Effectively, bankers who did not have their heads buried in the sand already knew that the naira devaluation and spiralling inflation had wreaked havoc on their risk assets, notwithstanding the supernormal profits that they declared in the second half of 2023 due to FX revaluation gains. Buttressing this, Cardoso last December revealed that due to the impact of the forex unification policy and efforts to remove the subsidy on petrol by the federal government, banks had breached some of the key metrics such as single obligor limits, resulting in the erosion their capital. It also led to a deterioration of their asset quality that could easily clog up banks’ balance sheets with non-performing loans. And as any banking system regulator knows, low asset quality affects banks’ capital and therefore their soundness.

But what the banks did not anticipated was that the CBN would not allow them to use their shareholders’ funds, which has retained earnings as a key component, as the basis for computing revised capital requirements. Unsurprisingly, since the release of the circular, there’s been disquiet in the banking sector as Nigerian lenders and their shareholders absorb the enormity of the daunting task over the next two years. Add to this a seminal WhatsApp group dedicated to all things markets that I belong to, which almost blew a gasket at the weekend as members heatedly debated the merits and demerits of the non-inclusion of retained earnings in the new capitalisation requirements for banks.

Had the CBN allowed the banks to use shareholders’ funds as a basis for the new capital base, most, if not all banks, would have carried on with business as usual because the retained earnings on their balance sheets already exceeded their paid-up capital and share premium combined by several hundreds of billions of naira. As things stand, some Tier 1 bank holding companies and banks have retained earnings in excess of N500 billion – the new capital base threshold for international banks. These are Access Holdings – N715.13 billion, FBNH Plc – N608.73 billion, UBA Plc – N750.81 billion and Zenith Bank Plc – N894 billion, while GTCO at N424.50 billion is not far off. By implication, if banks’ retained earnings are added to their current paid-up capital and share premium, they would meet and exceed the new minimum capital requirements stipulated by the CBN.

Another concern that came up was that with the exclusion of retained earnings, the options given by the CBN for fresh capital injection through either private placement, the issuance of new shares (or public offers) and/or through mergers and acquisitions was dilutive for existing shareholders of the banks. One of the first persons to throw the first salvo over the new recapitalisation guidelines released by the CBN was Mustapha Chike-Obi, Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc and Chairman of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria ((BDAN), who was quoted on Arise News Channel on Friday morning as stating that the non-inclusion of retained earnings would not work and called on the CBN to provide additional clarification on the issue.

Similarly, Johnson Chukwu, CEO of Cowry Assets Management Limited, faulted the exclusion of retained earnings and advised the CBN to align the new capital requirements with industry dynamics to facilitate a seamless transition. According to him, the exclusion of retained earnings will result in banks incurring recapitalisation costs, adding that this would force banks to declare cash and bonus dividends for their shareholders and undertake rights issues.

Other market analysts further posited that the exclusion of retained earnings from new capital requirements for banks would put them under pressure, given the huge amounts lenders would have to raise in an environment where capital is already constrained. According to one such analyst, “You have a situation where the CBN has adopted a contractionary monetary policy stance with high interest rates and is issuing OMO bills at 27%. This was done to curb inflation, attract foreign portfolio investors into the market and thereby improve FX liquidity. As such, capital is constrained in the country due to the tight monetary stance of the CBN. So how are banks expected to raise an estimated N3 trillion to N4 trillion to meet the new capital thresholds? This is just contradictory.”

He also wondered what the of objective of the CBN was, asking if it is to improve capital buffers of banks and strengthen their ability to fund big ticket transactions to grow the economy, how will this be achieved with the high interest rates on treasury bills that have crowded out the private sector? “In addition, with the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45% and Liquidity Ratio at 30%, how are the banks expected to lend money to their customers. So, if the banks raise fresh equity capital, are they going to continue lending to government?” he asked.

Though it is true that the CBN’s contractionary stance is at variance with its decision to compel banks to raise fresh equity capital, it will be short-sighted for anyone to think that the current monetary tightening will be remain in place for an eternity, as the policy measures are short-term in nature. Like any central bank, once the CBN determines, say12 months from now, that inflation is beginning to recede and FX stability has been achieved, it will begin to lower interest rates and loosen its stance on CRR and the liquidity ratio, by which time the banks will be recapitalised or nearing recapitalisation and ready to create new risk assets for economic growth. Yet, for the CBN’s monetary policy to succeed, a lot of action will still be required from the fiscal side which has continued to run an expansionary budget and has failed to implement measures to address structural bottlenecks that are adding to Nigeria’s economic woes.

But even as bankers and market analysts at the weekend were losing sleep over the exclusion of retained earnings, CBN officials countered that there was either an absence of sincerity on the true position of things in the banking sector or there was pervasive ignorance. A CBN official who spoke to this writer off the record, dismissed the retained earnings of several banks, calling them mere accounting entries that are not worth the paper on which they are written. According to him, a lot the banks had been granted forbearances over the years and if the forbearances are withdrawn by the CBN, their retained earnings will be wiped out. He said total forbearances in the industry were roughly the capital the central bank is asking the banks to raise.

Providing further insight, he said almost all banks in the country have massive exposures to defaulting debtors, particularly in the energy sector (power sector and oil and gas loans), that they have scant hope of recovering. “These are loans that were given out 10 years ago to power sector investors during the privatisation exercise that have not been recovered. Then there are loans that were given to local oil and gas companies to acquire the assets of oil multinationals. All these loans are impaired, and the banks have little or no hope of recovering them. Yet, the CBN kept rolling over the forbearances to give the semblance of financial system soundness and stability. This was what Cardoso inherited from his predecessor Godwin Emefiele who was very lax with the forbearances that he gave to the banks, and they were too many of them,” the official disclosed.

The official said that save for the foreign banks – Citi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic IBTC – and to a lesser extent a few local banks such as GTBank, Zenith Bank and perhaps Access Bank, all the other banks have significant exposures to bank debtors whose non-performing loans (NPLs), running into trillions of naira, have not been written off against their income. He added that withdrawing the forbearances in one fell swoop would be injurious to the system, so the best route is for banks to raise fresh capital and for the CBN to allow them to bite the bullet in a phased manner.       

However, a few market analysts who sensed that the CBN has no confidence in the retained earnings of several banks, are questioning why the regulator cannot simply isolate banks that are under forbearance and allow the few without forbearance to count their retained earnings against capital. They were of the view that the blanket decision to disregard a significant portion of the book value of the banking system would amount to discrediting the financial statements of banks that external auditors and CBN examiners had approved over the last couple of years. They also felt that the CBN should tighten and monitor the calculation of risk weighted assets (RWAs) of banks so that they are not fictional, and once this is done, the CBN should focus on capitalisation of ratios. (RWAs are bank loans and other assets, weighted according to risk.) Furthermore, they recommended the exclusion of some part of retained earnings such as unrealised gains on assets and FX revaluation gains.   

Responding, the central bank official said CBN examiners had been acutely aware of the problem of rising NPLs and made recommendations to several banks to raise fresh capital in their respective examination reports, but their recommendations were ignored by both the banks and CBN executives. “Instead of being a proper regulator, the CBN became an enabler by not enforcing its own prudential guidelines,” he said. The CBN official added that the hot air being blown by banks over retained earnings was misplaced because the bulk of it was not cash and the objective of the central bank is to inject fresh cash into the balance sheets of banks.

“If they have confidence in their retained earnings, the banks should pay them out as dividends to their shareholders. But realistically, they cannot do so because a lot of these retained earnings have gone into various aspects of their balance sheets and are probably part of their risk assets which are impaired, they are also probably part of their fixed assets which you cannot immediately liquidate. So, it is difficult to include such retained earnings as part of their capital because it’s not actually cash. And since it is the CBN’s objective is to create new risk assets by way of loans, this can only be achieved through fresh cash injections,” he explained.

In addition, CBN is not unaware that the supernormal profits arising from FX revaluation gains that a lot of banks will declare for the 2023 financial year are not cash backed, so for them to pay dividends, they would have to do so from depositors’ funds. Banks can get away with it, according to Ugochukwu Obi-Chukwu, Founder/CEO of Nairametrics, “Because banks’ cashflow statements include depositors’ funds, so it is fungible and often impossible to know what funds the banks are paying out.” This interchangeability of shareholders’ funds with depositors’ funds on the financial statements of banks, renders it difficult for the public to know when a bank is distressed just by looking at its financials. It is for this reason, Obi-Chukwu noted, that central banks can only detect looming bank failure when they conduct stress tests. This, he added, reinforces Emefiele’s position when he oversaw the CBN that banks are not owned by their shareholders but by depositors because they have a significantly higher stake in banks and must be protected at all cost. In essence, without depositors, shareholders have no banks.

Well, as the banking sector recapitalisation exercise slowly but surely kicks off from today, it is expected that so many issues will be thrown up for the CBN and banks to wade through. Although it is uncertain that the central bank will back off from the non-inclusion of retained earnings to the revised capital base for banks, it will be advisable for the regulator to revisit the 30-day deadline given to banks to submit their implementation plans for recapitalisation.

For one, the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) renders the 30-day target unrealistic, as the Act stipulates that any changes to a company’s equity structure must get the approval of its shareholders. Two, a company’s shareholders can only meet by way of an annual or extraordinary general meeting after its board of directors must have met and considered the alterations to the equity structure. Three, to convene an AGM or EGM, at least 21 days notice must be given, to enable shareholders attend and approve or reject the changes to the capital structure.

Spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi on Tuesday revealed that the force would give post-humous awards to the families of six police officers killed in Delta State.

Announcing the development while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Adejobi detailed that  the police would be there for the families of the deceased soldiers during the difficult time.

Naija News reports that the police spokesman further disclosed that this would be the first time that the the IGP would be organising an event of this nature.

”The IGP has decided to give post-humous awards to the six and our fallen heroes will also be honoured. We are going to move with their families shoulder to shoulder and navigate these difficult moments,” he said.

Naija News had earlier reported that six officers killed while investigating the disappearance of three colleagues in Delta State.

Adejobi had while announcing the development disclosed that  six other officers are still missing and five suspects have been arrested in connection with the killings.

The statement released by Adejobi after the development read,  “The Nigeria Police Force is profoundly saddened by the devastating loss of six courageous officers in Delta State who exhibited exceptional valour in the face of adversity.

“These brave officers tragically fell victim to a cowardly ambush by armed assailants while undertaking a mission to investigate the disappearance and rescue of three of their colleagues in the Ohoro Forest, Delta State, while six others are currently missing-in-action.

“Our hearts extend to the families, friends, and colleagues of the fallen officers during this period of profound sorrow. We stand in solidarity with them, offering our deepest condolences and earnestly praying for the peaceful repose of the departed souls.”

[NaijaNews]

There is an urgent need to address the neonatal mortality in Nigeria, the General Manager of External Relations and Sustainable Development, Andy Odeh, has said.

Odeh spoke at the public presentation of the winning work of Prof. Hippolite Amadi to the industry community.

The event was organised by the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited, sponsors of won by Prof. Amadi, in collaboration with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). 

Represented by the Acting Manager of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Yemi Adeyemi, the General Manager noted that Nigeria, as per a 2023 World Health Organisation (WHO) Report, ranks second globally in maternal, neonatal, and child deaths.

According to him, Professor Amadi’s innovations offer a beacon of hope in the face of this alarming statistics.

“The ground-breaking innovations of Professor Amadi, as recognised by The Nigeria Prize for Science, are not merely a step forward for our nation but a beacon of hope for the countless new-born lives that hang in the balance. We cannot afford to let the cries of our newborns fade into the background of our daily lives.

“The urgency to combat neonatal mortality is a solemn duty to safeguard the future of our nation’s children, and we must answer that call with unwavering determination and immediate, decisive measures.

“NLNG is very proud of Professor Amadi’s discoveries through The Nigeria Prize for Science.

“Our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria is the core of the prize, and we believe strongly that the 2023 winning entry speaks in unambiguous terms as one of the ways we can achieve this vision. NLNG remains committed to the prize and will not relent in finding solutions to the nation’s development issues,” Odeh said.

The event not only celebrated Prof. Amadi’s achievements but also served as a platform to encourage collaboration between the researcher and industry investors.

[TheNation]

Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said some officials were conspiring with land grabbers to work against the federal government on the issues of lands allocation in Abuja.

Wike said some of the people calling themselves investors bought hectares of land and start reselling to Abuja residents, with the connivance with legal and land secretariat.

The minister said this during a press briefing with select journalists in his office in Abuja, while reacting to the allegations by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SNECOU Group Limited, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, that he wanted to deal with Igbo people.

Ukachukwu had said FCT minister ordered the demolition of investment on 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Anambra-born businessman accused Wike of ordering the demolition without any court order despite pending valid two court orders from separate courts restraining him and the FCT administration from tampering with the property.

In his media chat with journalists, Wike said such cases on his desk were numerous, and thriving because of the corrupt civil servants aiding and abetting the property investors he called “land grabbers”.

He said they were defrauding people and the government by buying land in large quantities and reselling to residents, after they might have told the government that the lands were for investments.

“They are conniving with the legal secretariat here. Do you know we can sack them? Sack the land administrator? Have you seen the court judgement? Go and read the court judgement and see whether the court says the land is their own?” Wike asked.

“They went to tell the court to say tell FCTA to return our documents they are holding. I met these matters here. They were over 1000 cases on lands. As the court says ‘FCTA release their documents’ , does that show that you’re entitled to the land? There is no way they would go in there. It is our property!”

Speaking about the conspiracy of how they get court judgement, Wike said, “Do you know after they filed a suit against us, they made a deal with the law secretariat. They brought an external lawyer, and the external lawyer will agree with them, and the judgment will be served. I’ve never seen how corrupt human beings can be.

“The point I’m making is that all sentiments that I’m revoking people’s lands (is) by law. Nobody has said you revoked the land because I’m a Yoruba man. Nobody has said you revoke the land because I’m a Hausa man. What has this gotten to do with Igbo? What kind of a crazy, childish sentiment is that? He said.

[DailyTrust]

Real Madrid legend Marcelo has named his all-time best XI players that he has shared the pitch with in his glittering career.

The Brazilian left-back accomplished everything in his career with Real Madrid and the Brazil national team.

Marcelo included current and former football stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Ronaldo Nazario in the list.

He went with Keylor Navas as the goalkeeper and picked Chelsea’s Thiago Silva to partner former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos in the centre-back position.

In the midfield, Marcelo went with the likes of Casemiro and Luka Modric.

Marcelo’s all-time best XI (via Madrid Xtra):

Ronaldo Nazario, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Roberto Carlos, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, Rafinha and Keylor Navas.

[DailyPost]

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Tuesday, said security agencies will go after individuals with fake university certificates in the country.

According to the minister, the individuals will be tracked after the committee set up by the Federal Government to investigate the activities of university certificate racketeers in the country submits its report.

The Federal Government had set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers following an investigative report published by Daily Nigerian which exposed the activities of degree mills in the Benin Republic.

The Daily Nigerian reporter, Umar Audu revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme back in Nigeria.

The investigative report, which exposed the illegalities perpetrated by some tertiary institutions in the West African countries, led to the Nigerian government placing a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.

The committee set up by the Federal Government was also tasked with investigating Nigerian private universities established in the last 15 years.

Recently, the committee invited memoranda from the public. Selected members of the committee also visited institutions in the Benin Republic.

While speaking at the first quarterly citizens engagement in Abuja on Tuesday, the education minister, Mamman, said, “On the issue of the fake degrees, we set up a committee and we expect them to submit their reports soon. Once the report is submitted, I can assure you that individuals with fake certificates will be apprehended. They will be tracked by security agencies.”

Also speaking at the engagement, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu, noted that the quarterly citizenship engagement was aimed at creating awareness of the activities of the ministry.

He noted that the engagement would “ also promote mutual understanding with stakeholders and citizens, build and sustain public trust, and improve transparency and accountability in the sector.”

“Worthy of mention is that this engagement also aims to improve efficiency and streamline government operations by identifying and addressing bottlenecks,” Sununu said.

[Punch]

Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, and retired judges, yesterday said the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, ought to handle investigations into the recent murder of 17 soldiers, and an unconfirmed number of villagers at Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The legal luminaries, who faulted the handing over of the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom, Delta State, HRM Clement Ikolo, one of the eight persons declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, Abuja, over the incident, by the Police to the Army, said it is not the constitutional duty of the Army to investigate the murder.

They advised the Army to return the monarch to the Police for proper inquiries into, and prosecution of the the murder cases.

Among those who spoke to Vanguard were former chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono Obla, SAN, Cosmos Enwelizor, SAN, Chief Magistrate E. O. Eferakoro, retd, former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, a retired President of the Delta State Area Customary Court, Miakpor Emiaso, and Hon. Justice Jonathan.E. Shakarho, retired Judge of the Federal High Court.

Police should handle investigations – Enwelizor, SAN

Cosmos Enwelizor, SAN, who spoke on the phone in Rivers State, said: “My take is that the Army should allow the Police do the investigation and punish whoever is found culpable in the crime committed.

“Every criminal matter should be handled by the police as enshrined in the constitution. Our constitution does not give power to the Army to declare any Nigerian wanted. The constitution does not also empower the Army to arrest and prosecute anybody. It is not their responsibility. It is only in Nigeria that you see the Army doing everything and this is not good for our constitution.

“The Army should refrain from committing a constitutional breach by declaring citizens wanted for criminal offences. It is only the Police that has the constitutional right to arrest, prosecute, and or declare anybody wanted and not the Army. If there is any crisis anywhere, the Police have the power to wade in and arrest the situation, not the Army.

“If you go to other countries, even in Africa, you can never see a soldier on the streets. The role of the Army is to protect the country’s territorial integrity, not to declare citizens wanted. How can the Army invade a community, Okuama, destroy everything, and then declare a king wanted?

“While I sympathize with the families of those 17 soldiers killed by hoodlums, I want to say that the killers of those soldiers might not necessarily be indigenes of the community.”

Army not empowered to probe murder – Obla, SAN

Also reacting yesterday, constitutional lawyer and former aide to ex-President Muhammdu Buhari, Obono Obla, SAN, told Vanguard in Cross River State: “The Army has no scintilla modicum of constitutional or statutory duty to investigate a case of murder.

‘’The constitutional or statutory responsibility of the Army is to defend the country against external aggression or anything that would compromise the country’s territorial integrity.

“The allegation against the suspects is that they murdered 17 soldiers. The army can arrest them. However, after that, they have to hand them over to the Nigeria Police Force which has the constitutional and statutory responsibility to detect and prosecute those who have committed crimes.

“Section 4 of the Nigeria Police Force Act 2020 lists the duties of the Police force to include prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders, and preservation of law and order.

“The Army is part of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Section 3 of the Armed Forces Act 2004. By section 3 (3), the Armed Forces shall be charged with the defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by land, sea, and air and with such other duties as the National Assembly may, from time to time, prescribe or direct by an Act.

Army has no right to declare anybody wanted – Eferakoro, retired judge

Speaking in Delta State, a retired Chief Magistrate E. O. Eferakoro, said it is an aberration for the Army to have declared the king wanted, advising his lawyers to file for fundamental human rights applications.

His words: “The Army does not have the right to declare anybody wanted. It is a function of the Police. Then, the Police in Delta State should not have handed the king over. The best they could have done is to hand him over to the Inspector-General of Police, and not the Army.

“At this stage, the king’s lawyers should go to court and file fundamental human rights applications. Ordinarily, as a citizen, since he heard that they declared him wanted, he did the right thing by submitting himself to the Police in charge of civil authority, not the army.

“I believe the lawyers should go to court. If they can be rehabilitating riff-raff in the north, why will they be declaring our own dead or alive and then putting a bounty on their head?

“Then, what was the Army’s mission to that place? There are conflicting stories. They should investigate these things; the Police should do the investigation. There are allegations by the youths that the Army came for an illegal operation and that some persons were using the Army. I believe they should investigate these issues.”

Army shouldn’t be involved – Emiaso, retired Customary court president

Similarly, a retired President of Delta State Area Customary Court, Miakpor Emiaso, said: “I do not think it is much of a constitutional issue, it is simply what the law is. It is not everything go to the constitution; there are things we do in our common world that are regulated, not necessarily on direct provisions in the constitution.

“We have different sources of law, the constitution is one of them. Of course, we have judicial precedence and then we have statutes.

“We run a country governed by law and the law spells out the limit where each person belongs, where your authority lies, and where it stops. We need to straighten out these things in the country.

“The military getting involved in the Okuama thing is in itself against the cannons of natural justice because here, they are the accusers and the prosecutors and apparently, they are going to be the judges.

“They are aggrieved, they are the ones that have been hurt. It is bad, it is terrible that people should kill our soldiers, persons who are in military uniform, raised hands against them, not just hit them, but kill them, snuff life out of them; it is highly condemnable.

“But we are saying that having happened that way, the military who are aggrieved are the accusers, they are now investigating what has happened, they have taken over the whole scene of the crime in Okuama, not allowing any other person to come into the place, not even the Police. You can, of course, predict the outcome of whatever investigation they are carrying out.

“Their decision eventually would match their preconceived notion of who did what in Okuama. In this situation, an independent neutral body stands some chance of being objective in what they do, and the outcome of what they would do, l align myself with that position. You cannot be a judge in your case.”

What the military is doing is illegal- Justice Shakarho, retd

On his part, Hon. Justice Jonathan. E. Shakarho, a retired Justice of the Federal High Court, said: “It is the Police that have powers to investigate and prosecute, all the Army is doing is illegality from beginning to end. If people come to my house to attack me, then I will bring my family people to fight them.

“You do not do that, you report to the Police, they will investigate, and those found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted. The Army is taking laws into its hands. They have killed civilians in so many states.

“The king did the right by saying, look I am innocent, let me hand myself over to the police, and he did that. Police were wrong to have handed him over to the Army. The Police hierarchy was wrong to allow it; the Inspector-General of Police should stop it. That is anarchy.

“You kill a naval officer, you give him a warrant to go and attack, you kill Air Force personnel, Air Force will go and attack, you kill an Army officer, and Army will go and attack? It is not done like that. Police should retrieve the king and carry out their investigation; they should be the ones to charge the matter to court.

“If they feel it is a murder case, then they will file information through the Ministry of Justice in the necessary High Court, not the Army. The Army has no right to prosecute any matter. Holding the king is illegal, even from the start of destroying Okuama and everything, it is illegal.

“Two wrongs do not make a right. Holding the traditional ruler in Abuja in military custody is an illegality, there is no justification in law.’’

Hand Delta monarch back to police after interrogation –Nwoko, SAN

Also reacting, former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, advised the Nigerian Army to hand the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom back to Delta State Police Command for proper investigation and prosecution.

Nwoko, who admitted that the constitution empowered only the Police to investigate murder cases, noted that the Okuama incident is a little bit complicated because it directly affected the Army, as the Police were not on the ground.

His words: “It is not as simplistic as people would like it to sound. First, they killed soldiers when they went for an operation. Whatever the name of the operation; whatever took them there is another issue, they were soldiers who were murdered.

“Since the soldiers are the direct victims of the attack, and being that they were the security team on the ground, there is nothing wrong with soldiers stepping in to take preliminary steps to apprehend the culprits or persons suspected to be involved.

“After apprehending suspects, they should immediately, after preliminary findings, hand them over to the civil authorities, the police, to now investigate because it is multiple murder cases that are being alleged. It is not within the powers of the Army to investigate murder or punish or prosecute.

“It is within the powers of only the Police to do that. Since the soldiers saw what happened, if they can arrest one or two persons, they should hand them to the police which represents civil authorities for proper investigation and prosecution.
“As of the time that Ewu traditional ruler surrendered himself to the police, do not forget that the army had cordoned off the scene of the crime, they had barricaded the entire community. The police do not know anything that happened there.

“The man that goes out to hand over himself to the police did the right thing. The Police, on the other hand, do not have access to the scene of crime, it is for them to say, soldiers, you were the people on the ground, what happened?

“For soldiers to give a packaged report to the civil authorities that would help in a proper investigation, they should also have the privilege of asking the suspects: who are you? Where do you live?”

Asked if a constitutional aberration is in the making, Nwoko responded: “The only problem we have is that the Army are the direct victims, so, they are the only people that can say this is what transpired.”

“If by tomorrow, that man or any other person arrested in respect of that matter is charged to court, any evidence given by any other person outside the soldiers that were on ground will be hearsay, and not admissible. The police that would prosecute him were not on the ground.

“Formally, since the man has reported himself, the Army should find out who he is and where he was on the day the incident happened, and then, package the report and hand him over to the police.’’

It’s in the army’s interest to hand over to the police- Afolabi, SAN

In Edo State, Olayiwola Afolabi, SAN, said: “The Nigerian Army is the complainant in this matter, so, the Nigerian Army, being the complainant, cannot investigate its case, they are working against themselves, it is wrong and in that way, the case will fail because the constitutional responsibility of investigating a crime is the police’s.

“The case in question is not a coup; it is not a coup plot. If it is a coup, the Nigerian Army has the right to investigate the coup plotters, but in this case, it is a criminal allegation of murder.

“They do not have the right to investigate it because by doing that, they are destroying the case against themselves. The police should investigate, and charge them to the court if found culpable.

“Now, you are the one that is alleging a crime, and you are the one that is investigating the same crime, it is wrong. It will be in their interest to hand over the investigation to the police and any statement they have obtained from those suspects. Constitutionally, it is wrong.

“Police will have to start afresh, there have been similar cases that the courts decided, and once this action by the army is continued, the case will fail from the onset.”

Govt ought to demand monarch’s release – Okpoko, SAN

Also speaking to Vanguard, Chief Thompson J. Onomigbo Okpoko, SAN, said: “The constitutionality of what happened when the police handed over the monarch to the army is neither here nor there. The duty to investigate criminal activities is that of the police, not the army.

“But because the army appears to be the complainant in the matter, the police ought to have been circumspect in handing him over to those who are complaining against the killing.

“The whole nation is complaining about the killing of our soldiers. The killing of the soldiers particularly touches me, if people cannot respect themselves, and do what is right, we should be able to say it.

“The monarch did what was right and surrendered himself to the police. The police ought to keep him and inform the army that the man has surrendered to them.

“Therefore, the police will have custody of the man, but you know the soldiers, they think force can resolve all disputes. If they go to the police and say this man who surrendered to you, we want him; if the police refuse to give him up, it may result in a crisis.

“To save the situation, the police handed him over to the army. The fact that they handed him over to the army is not a license for the army to humiliate the monarch, torture, or detain him beyond the period the constitution prescribes.
“It is a matter of compromise. As I said, the government should demand the release of the monarch and insist on an independent commission of inquiry to find out the truth.’’

Proclaiming monarch, 7 Urhobo natives wanted obnoxious – UPU

Meanwhile, the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, the apex group of the Urhobo ethnic nationality in Delta State, has expressed displeasure with the action of the Nigerian Army in declaring the traditional ruler of Ewu kingdom, HRM Clement Ikolo, and Urhobo natives wanted over the killing of 17 soldiers, recently, in Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government Area.

President General of the group in a statement, Chief Ese Gam, said: “The Urhobo nation condemn in its entirety this unprovoked declaration of eight prominent Urhobo sons and daughter wanted by the Nigeria army .

“First, what is the condition for this unwarranted declaration? Did the police or the army invite them? Did they refuse to come? We should not do things to attract media attention…

“This is a country of laws, if a person is to be declared wanted, it should be seen that there was an invitation and if the invitation is turned down, there should be a repeat invitation, but from nowhere, you say a professor, a lecturer in Delta State University, and the president general of Ewu Kingdom is declared wanted

“The police is the only body in this country that is empowered statutorily to arrest, investigate, and prosecute an alleged crime, here is a king (Ovie of Ewu Urhobo Kingdom) because he knows that his hands are clean, surrendered himself to the police, now, the police on their own handed over our royal majesty to the army.”

[Vanguard]

It was the morning of December 26, 1983 at the shooting of ‘Blues for a Prodigal’, a film by Wole Soyinka. The dry, mild harmattan morning was filled with dust and haze. The location was the Rotunda, a small bar, tidily tucked in at the back corner of the vast Oduduwa Hall complex of the University of Ife (as it was known then). The unique architectural feature of the Rotunda was its round and almost squat-like design with a door and several large, similarly round windows which were almost the size (but not the regular rectangular shape) of french windows. It is a fitting rendezvous between two thugs (emissaries of a highly-placed politician) and an undergraduate who chooses to dine with the devil.

As we sat down waiting that morning, we watched the film's production crew led by ace cinematographer, Bankole Bello, set up their equipment. The late Steve Awana from Lagos was in charge of continuity. Presently, the writer and director of the movie, Professor Wole Soyinka arrived. In tow was his secretary whom we commonly called Francis. He was a wizard with the typewriter and cyclostyling machine. The personal computer was still in its embryo, undergoing pregnancy tests then.

Apart from a few professional actors and technical practitioners from outside Ife with some members of the University Theatre, the rest of us in the Rotunda were students of the Department of Dramatic Arts of which Professor Soyinka was the Head at that time. Somehow someone had spread the word, just before the Christmas break, to many of us students present that morning that Prof would be conducting an audition for a movie. So we did not go home for Christmas and came to the Rotunda with much expectation. We soon learnt that the audition and casting for the movie had been done and the shooting had started a few weeks earlier at locations outside the campus at Ife and even as far as the beautiful and serene Takwa Bay, an islet off the Lagos Harbour.

For this particular scene and a few others at the Rotunda, a few persons were needed as bar-room patrons - a crowd scene kind of. It was not therefore a fresh audition for roles as such. Having learnt this, we still decided to stay back, contented to be part of the bar-room crowd. After all, being a passer-by or waka-pass (as commonly called in Nollywood), in a Soyinka film would be a huge priviledge on its own.

In the bar-room scene, if my memory does not fail me, two political thugs (Prof christened them Enforcers) are billed to have a meeting with a young undergraduate who is paid to carry out an assignment for a politician. The undergraduate seems to be reluctant to do the job.

By mid-morning, Mr. Bello, the director of photography, and his crew were ready. But the rehearsal could not go on. The person playing the undergraduate, the movie's lead role and who was central to the shooting that day, Felix Okolo, was not on set. No one knew where he was. But it appeared he had not returned from the Christmas holiday. The now-ubiquitous mobile phone was still nearly a distant two decades away then. So there was no ready means of calling or knowing where Felix was.

The director paced the floor for a few moments, thinking, and then decided on the next line of action. He asked that a stand-by be found for Felix so the rehearsal could go on while still waiting for Felix's arrival. A quick search round the room for Felix's look-alike... and Prof spotted me. I was handed a copy of the script. Moments later I was sitting directly opposite the much-storied Jimi Solanke (Enforcer 1) and his ally-in-crime, Jimmy Johnson (Enforcer 2) who was at that time a television star in Lagos. I felt small.

Jimi Solanke was already quite known then within and beyond the arts world. By the time we arrived Ife as undergraduates in 1980, he was not there. But his name and fame had travelled well ahead of him. We were regaled with his exploits at Ori Olokun Theatre under Prof. Ola Rotimi. Before then, he had cut his teeth in the early 1960's at the Mbari Club in Ibadan which paraded path-finders like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Demas Nwoko, Chris Okigbo, Mabel Segun, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke and subsequently at Orisun Theatre along with the likes of Segun Olusola, Ralph Opara, Segun Sofowote, Yomi Obileye and Tunji Oyelana. He later went to the School of Drama at the University of Ibadan where he had formal training in acting, music and dance. He joined Ori Olokun Theatre under the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in the early 1970's. The theatre then was in town, off-campus, at Arubiidi in Ile-Ife. There, he worked and got further training under Prof. Ola Rotimi (acting), Prof. Akin Euba (music) and Peggy Harper (dance).

With Ori Olokun, he had many glorious nights when he lit up the stage and the spark in many a heart. One of such was at the command performance of Ola Rotimi's Ovonramwen Nogbaisi in Benin in 1972. The story rang through the campus of how deeply absorbed Jimi Solanke was into the role of Oba Ovonramwen that many in the audience were moved to tears. So enthralled were the guests that the governor of the Mid-Western State, Brigadier-general Samuel Ogbemudia, at the instance of the Oba of Benin, did not allow him to return to Ife with the troupe. By military fiat, he was appointed Senior Cultural Officer in the state's Mid-West Arts' Council where he worked for about four years.

He left for the University of Ibadan in 1976 to join the activities at the opening of the National Theatre in preparations for the 2nd World Black Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC '77). At FESTAC, he played several roles. He acted in Nigeria's main drama feature, Langbodo, Wale Ogunyemi's adaptation of D. O. Fagunwa's epic, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole, playing the lead role, Young Akara-ogun. The play was directed by Dapo Adelugba. He also had solo vocal performances under Akin Euba's direction while he was Assistant Director, Dance to Peggy Harper.

After the festival, he took off to the United States. It was as if he was being awaited. Moments after his arrival in New York, through a phone call, he got his first job. Two days later, he took part in the recording of The Path, a song by Hugh Masekela which also featured Miriam Makeba, Groover Washington and George Benson. It was a big hit which set him on the path of more successful hits. He soon moved to Los Angeles where he started a series of school shows which he called Africa Revue, a feast of songs, story-telling and drama sketches - similar to what he was doing at Orisun in Soyinka's Before the Blackout. This was the precursor of his story-telling and songs programme on several Nigerian television stations.

He returned to Nigeria in 1982 to the University of Ife Theatre at the Institute of African Studies. I recall seeing him in a few plays. He played the lead role in Kole Omotoso's Equitorial Trials in 1982. Early in 1983 he took one of the major characters in the premiere of Wole Soyinka's Requiem for a Futurologist. He also took part in Etika Revo Wetin? - a satirical musical production also by Soyinka on the rather concerning state of things in Nigeria at that time. It was released ahead of the August 1983 General Elections.

On a couple of times in 1982, at the invitation of the director, Iyabo Folayan, Jimi Solanke came to the Pit Theatre to see our rehearsals of Fate of a Cockroach by the Egyptian playwright, Tewfik Al-Hakim. The present writer played the lead role, the King, while Sharon Hamlet (daughter of the Carribean lecturer, Prof. Hamlet of the Literature in English Department) was the Queen, with Joke Muyiwa as Um Attiyah, Okey Okoesime as the Savant and Tunde Oduwole as the Priest. Jimi Solanke offered some vital suggestions for improvement. I benefitted from his advice on voice modulation, enunciation of words as well as the use of appropriate mobile eye and facial movements towards achieving optimal theatrical effect.

Now back to the set of 'Blues...' The rehearsal with Jimi Solanke and Jimmy Johnson went on till break-time, but Felix did not show up. After break, a few short scenes where Felix did not feature were rehearsed and shot. We continued the rehearsal all day without Felix showing up.

The next morning, Prof asked me to see him. He explained that since no one knew when Felix would come and we could not afford to lose any more day because of the cost of production, he had decided to go ahead with the shooting. He had therefore re-written a few new scenes. This was easy, he said, since he was writing daily as the shooting went along. To my utter amazement, the master craftsman had overnight created another character, a younger brother to Felix, and transferred most of the lines I rehearsed the previous day to the new character whom he named Sope. He gave the script which he had typed himself to his secretary, Francis, who quickly had copies ready for cast and crew.

After rehearsing several times, and seeing I had mastered the role and the lines, the director called for a recording:

"Silence! Bar-room noise! Camera rolling, sound, lights..."

Just as we were about to begin shooting the scene, Felix Okolo walked in.

"Cut! Cut! Cut!", the director bawled. You would think this was in itself a scene from a play. And silence reigned all over the Rotunda...

All eyes were on Felix...and then shifted from Felix to Prof and from Prof to Felix... not knowing what next to do... But Prof wasted no time. He said that it would be unfair to ask me to go back and join the bar-room audience after nearly two days of rehearsal. He insisted on the new arrangement: that I would play the new character and he promised to make necessary adjustments in all parts of the script to accommodate the new role. He asked Francis to give Felix a copy of the new script for him to study.

This was how the illustrious professor, for whom the Nobel Prize was still three years away, graciously created a character for little me. He gave me a role in his movie and also ensured I was paid at that time a whooping N250. Before then in all the previous roles I had featured on stage and television, I had never been paid more than N25 for any of the performances. But in the twinkling of an eye, on the set of 'Blues...', I was transported, far beyond my imagination, from the crowd scene to playing a supportive role in the movie. I was on top of the moon. Several years later as I asked him to autograph my copy of his new collection of poems, Samarkand and other markets I have known, at the National Theatre in Lagos, I tried to remind Prof of how he gave me a role in 'Blues...', he looked at me with a blank expression on his face. The Nobel laurate could not remember. For him, what I cherish till this day belongs to a time long gone, a brief but forgotten and faraway scene in one epic drama of several lives rolled into one.

But, Jimi Solanke's bark jerks me back to the moment. All eyes and lights are riveted on us in that corner of the Rotunda. His threatening trademark booming baritone and his bulging eyeballs accentuated by a scar above one of the eyelids fill me with terror. His gaze is terrifying... holding me exactly where the director wants him to. The tormentor-in-chief is barking and asking after my brother. His companion is also not relenting. They are bent on cowering me into revealing my brother's whereabouts.

The effect is almost stupefying. It seems the director and everyone on set are satisfied with the effect and enjoying the moment. I stutter my words nervously... as I am meant to anyway. I am sweating and suffering from the enforcers' threat and the heat of the camera's lights. My assailants are unrelenting until I can bear it no more. The scene ends in a pandemonium with me suddenly rising and turning the table, drinks, ash-tray and all against the two enforcers as I bolt for the door. But Enforcer 2 stands in the way and makes to grab my shirt. I turn and the next moment I fly out the nearby french window, evading my two tormentors. And they come after me...with my footsteps whipping the harmattan dust up their faces.

Later, Felix (I still can't remember his name in the film) with his girlfriend, Rekyia (played by Yinka Adesina) and I appeared in a few more scenes with the enforcers in hot pursuit.

Those were some of my brief but cherished and unforgettable moments with 'Uncle' Jimi Solanke on the set of Soyinka's movie, 'Blues for a Prodigal'.

Much said, it was sheer fun to be on the same set with him. For any fledgling like me, there was usually one thing or another to learn from him. Off-set, when we let our hair down, he carried no airs around him. He was always good company. Tall, slim and dark: you would not, as they say, miss him in a crowd. Try ignoring him, his iconic voice would always rise above the raging din of the market-place, striking and soothing even the most impervious ear. The last time we met, a few years ago at Prof. Tunde Babawale’s birthday at the University of Lagos, he sang and danced as if to bring back the old days. The moments were suffused with old school music and dance and nostalgic recollections of times past.

Doubtless, Solanke's tutelage under Soyinka from 1960 helped to form and shape his professional career. The high point of that career and his working with Soyinka was perhaps the enactment of the role of Elesin Oba in the latter's beautiful play, Death and the King's Horseman. According to Professor James Gibbs, one of the best known authorities on Soyinka's works, in his tribute on Jimi Solanke which was published in The Guardian (Nigeria) of February 18, 2024:

"In 1976, he created the monumental role of Elesin Oba in Death and the King's Horseman. Thanks to Gerald Moore, who reviewed the University of Ife production for West Africa magazine (10th January, 1977), we have a vivid account of Solanke's outstanding portrayal. Moore wrote as follows:

'Fortunately Jimi Solanke, who has to carry the bulk of the play in the role of the Elesin, turned in what must be the performance of his life. His expressive body and eloquent dancing were matched by a voice of great range and flexibility. Not a word was lost, and each word in the right verbal texture of this beautiful play was made to work within our understanding.'

History was made by that production and that performance..." - James Gibbs

And what a production! What a performance!

The ground squirrel, hands in the air, was once quoted to have wryly declared: 'whatever one knows how to do well always effortlessly comes out like magic! Whenever he is going on a farm, he does not know how groundnuts roll into his mouth'.

Those words suit Solanke when he bestrode the stage. But as the years and the nation rolled on like a bolekaja lorry and theatre activities disappointingly dwindled, he devoted more time to music - a love from his younger days.

Born on July 4, 1942 in Lagos, he had started out much early with highlife music. He wrote the lyrics of Roy Chicago's 'Onilegogoro' when he was still in secondary school. He later joined musical bands and sang highlife pieces at night clubs in Lagos and Ibadan. He formed and ran a highlife band with Orlando Julius Ekemode. Thanks to highlife and juju pioneer, I. K. Dairo who bought the duo musical instruments and a vehicle. They toured the towns a bit until they crashed the lorry and, with it, their dream. That was in the 1960's. In-between acting, however, he continued his music. He recorded a few albums here in Nigeria and in the United States. When he returned home, he teamed up with Biddy Wright for musical shows at the National Theatre and elsewhere. They formed the high-flying Wura-Fadaka band which lit up the social circles of the late 1980's and early 1990's with old school music. Biddy Wright would tragically later perish in a domestic fire incident in the mid-90's.

Solanke's music, a kind of afrobeat, is a fusion of highlife, jazz and local rhythms and themes. 'Bare Eni Joye' and 'Ojooje' are some of his popular pieces. His songs are evocative, directed to the soul. They strike and stir the spirit.

Jimi Solanke would be better remembered as the man with the song and the story. He would be remembered as Baba Agba, the aged story-telling grandpa, on several Nigerian television stations. He would be remembered by children who, gripped, gathered round him to listen to his spellbinding stories. Younger generations would see him as the old piper whom they, enchanted, followed out of town even as he too led their path. As Baba Agba, he made the role of the African story-teller most fascinating, transporting his audience, right on and through television, back to the days when there was no television.

Today the arts landscape is considerably diminished by the singular departure on February 5, 2024 of this great actor, singer, folklorist, dancer and visual artist, Jimi Solanke. True, he could so often struggle with himself. Yet, in the end, as a masquerade with cloaks of many colours, he wore many more masks than most. And there was hardly anyone he wore that he did not, in spite of himself, breathe and stamp a unique and captivating presence onto.

'A man is either born to his trade, or he is not.', Soyinka would say in Death and the King's Horseman. Jimi Solanke would in all estimation appear to have been born into his. He was in his elements in leading roles. He could combine easily the majestic movements of the royal with the stately features and gait of the tragic figure. And he could sing to boot! A delight to watch any day, he was always almost sufficient spectacle at any show.

We remember his wife and children at this time. Mrs. Toyin Solanke would appear to be the proverbial woman behind her man. She too was at a time a member of the University of Ife Theatre. Through the uncertainties, the ups and downs, and the ons and offs like 'NEPA' (our national electricity supply), like most marriages, she stands like a pillar... showing that indeed love conquers all.

Baba Agba, these children clambering about your feet ask for but one more song, one more story... Baba Agba, they are here. Baba Agba, they are all ears... Alas, it's all silence as lights dim and curtains close! Ale le, awo mi lo (Night falls, the adept departs). A new song, a new act unfolds only in the horizon. Jimi Solanke takes a bow and exits the stage. A stalwart heads home. He feels for direction. May he find guidance on his path...


(Akin Orebiyii is a farmer in Ogun State, Nigeria)