“We must therefore not shirk from accusing our friends, or praising our enemies, nor need we be afraid of praising or blaming the same people at different times; since, it is impossible that the men [and women] who are engaged in public affairs should always be right; and unlikely they should always be in the wrong. We must therefore detach ourselves from the actors [and actresses] in our story, and apply to them only such statements and judgments as their conduct deserves” – Polybius, c200-118 BC.

Once again, I find myself risking being misunderstood by the millions of political opponents of President Tinubu and the Federal Government.

There will be those who might read into what follows an attempt to secure an appointment or benefit somehow from it. That is a cross everybody regularly in the public domain must carry.

But, if it will help to persuade the doubting Thomases that there is no ulterior motive behind this, let me disclose that I am so physically challenged, any President must be out of his mind to offer me an appointment.

I will need a straight jacket if I accept. I can hardly walk; and can’t seat for long.

Perhaps, it is worth repeating that it had been my personal principle to stay out of politics and to be neutral and objective in my comments of national affairs.

I have religiously kept out of partisan politics – so much so, no Head of State, military or civilian, has escaped the sharp point of my pen.

I don’t intend to stop now.

In fact, the matter of solar panels at Aso Rock, to any economist, is primarily an investment decision – before any other considerations. 

Unfortunately, this is not the best of times for Tinubu.

THE BEST DECISION BY FG

“It is part of a king [or President] to do good to his subjects and be maligned for it” – Alexander the Great, 356-323   BC

Few rulers are loved by the majority of their subjects – particularly when several things are going wrong; as they now are in Nigeria.

Nothing seems to be going right at the moment and the promises made two years ago are becoming difficult to redeem. All these are perfectly understandable.

Let us now address the investment decision involved in this needless controversy.

But, first a personal example would help to illustrate the point devoid of associated sentiments. 

Three years ago, I invested in an inverter; after being persuaded that it was cost effective.

Like every economist, there was a need to keep a strict record of all transactions. Primarily, after paying my DISCO’s fraudulent bills, petrol still had to be bought for the generator.

Records of fuel purchases for the gen-set were kept meticulously for two months before the inverter was installed.

Record-keeping continued after the inverter was installed.

In two months, we saved 30 per cent of the cost of the inverter plus installation.

In eight months, the inverter had paid for itself. A friend who opted for solar power, about the time I was going for inverter, had a similar happy story to tell.

The first truth is; solar or inverter power supply constitute huge savings on power generation costs; and they are far more environmentally-friendly.

Objectively, the switch from DISCO to solar power is the best investment decision the federal or any state government can make right now.

The facts, devoid of emotions, speak very clearly for themselves.

If for a mere, the word mere is deliberate, N20 billion investment, the Presidency can save annual Disco bills of N70 billion or more, we should all be urging them to do it as quickly as possible.

Obviously, the critics are not being objective.

Like subjects since time immemorial they must grumble at measures taken by the ruler – even, when in this case it serves their own economic interests.

The second truth is: after the initial cost of N20 billion, annual maintenance charges are frequently less than ten per cent or N2 billion.

Who would want government in any country, especially the Poverty Capital of the World, to spend N70 billion annually providing power to the seat of power; instead of N2 billion?

One of the sharpest critics of the expenditure was the nurse with the placard pointing out that several Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria have been disconnected by DISCOs and implying that it was wrong for Aso Rock to budget N20 billion for solar power.

It was an emotional appeal – not an economic one.

I have lived very close to the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan since 1974. Each of them is a sprawling institution – almost as big as Aso Rock.

Yes, they, as well as other universities, need regular power supply. But, the existing reprehensible situations did not arise yesterday. They built up gradually. Teaching Hospitals should also come forward with their own plans to go solar and leave DISCOs strictly alone.

At any rate, I fail to understand the logic implied in the position.

Are those who have latched unto the protest saying that Aso Rock should have no power supply if Teaching Hospitals don’t? That would be absurd.

Government’s seat of power must have power supply irrespective of who occupies the office of president.

And, in this case, they want to reduce the cost of power supply!!! What is wrong with that? 

ASO ROCK AND WHITE HOUSE COMPARED

“Comparisons can sometimes lead to misleading conclusions.”

The unexpected blistering attack on social media and the political opposition drove the president’s spokesmen to want to justify the investment by drawing attention to the fact that America’s White House also has solar power panels installed. The defence made a good case worse.

To begin with, the White House is not faced with a crippling bill by any power provider in Washington D.C.

So, there is no immediate need to switch fully to alternative source of power supply. Furthermore, the solar panels were installed by the late President Jimmy Carter, in the 1980s – whose foresight regarding solar energy was not shared by his fellow countrymen.

No other president has shared his vision. Donald Duck will certainly not shift to solar during his four destructive years in office. The occupants of the two presidencies are not faced with the same problems; neither are they compelled to offer the same solution.

Tinubu’s decision makes perfect sense for Nigeria; and he does not need comparison with any other country.

The challenge to the critics is for them to fault the economic soundness of the decision; not to indulge in playing to the gallery on a matter which is clear.

IS IT VALUE FOR MONEY?

“Nobody should be condemned on suspicion.” That is one of the pillars of fair comment.

Some critics, unable to find objective reasons for opposing the initiative, have resorted to declaring that the contract would be inflated and awarded to a political crony. To be candid, I cannot vouch for the FG that in the end, the nation would receive value for money.

While approving the decision on purely economic principle, it is not possible for me to determine whether or not the cost is inflated for reasons known to government. For that reason, I would suggest that the contract be subjected to the most open and stringent process of competitive bidding. If not for anything else, but to minimise the impact of mindless opposition to this profitable project.

IS THE PRESIDENCY ISOLATING ITSELF?

“The Presidency is isolating itself from the problem faced by other Nigerians” – A critic of the project (name withheld).

Several television talk show hosts had a field day with the matter.

In addition to the “Tinubu can do nothing right” gang, others not so biased also objected to the acquisition because it isolates Aso Rock from the problems confronted by Nigerians.

I agree with their observation absolutely. But, permit me to quickly add that self-indulgence by rulers, irrespective of type of government – monarchy, dictatorship, democracy or theocracy – rulers are always insulated from the pains of the common man.

One example would help to make the point.

During the Second World War, while the ordinary citizens in England and Germany were under aerial bombardment by hostile forces, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, and Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, 1899-1945, a democrat and a dictator, were both protected in secure bunkers – from which they governed.

No Briton or German begrudge them their secure positions.

Furthermore, as food scarcity made life more miserable for ordinary people, the bunkers were fully provisioned.

Exceptional treatment comes with the territory everywhere – not just Aso Rock.

THE REAL WASTE – SPENDING $2BN ON REFINERIES

“Hitting the ground running can have disastrous consequences.”

That was my warning to newly-elected President Tinubu shortly after he pronounced that “fuel subsidy is gone” to global applause – before the repercussions brought him up short on his victory lap.

To regain momentum, he allowed himself to be persuaded by Mele Kyari and the Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, that the quickest way to bring fuel prices down was to revive the four refineries.

He believed them; and authorised $2 billion to be released immediately.

It was a great blunder.

Nobody, not even Donald Trump, should spend that sort of money without asking a lot of questions.

But, even without being asked, some of us were warning Tinubu to forget the scraps called refineries.

Former officials are reportedly singing at the EFCC Headquarters; Warri refinery is shut down despite wasting $897 million on it; Port Harcourt refinery is in limbo.

Altogether $2bn hastily approved has gone down the drain. That is the real waste; to be charged to Tinubu’s account. 

From independence in 1960 till a few years ago, Nigeria’s most credible arm of government was the judiciary. It is certainly no longer so. But because it was designed to be the last hope of the common man,to reverse the situation and restore the judiciary to its old place of pride is a thing that must be done.

Happily, the starting point of this restoration has begun as the National Judicial Council (NJC) under the leadership of Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun is now attempting to redress the negatives in the system that vocal critics have been highlighting. In other words, the critics are not enemies of the NJC as some people imagine, they are instead the well-meaning and best friends of the Nigerian judiciary.

The week before, the NJC handed down a one-year suspension without pay to three judicial officers, including one Justice of the Court of Appeal, for actions considered as judicial misconduct. An official statement by the NJC listed the affected officers as Justice Jane Inyang of the Court of Appeal, Uyo Division; Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, and Justice Aminu Baffa Aliyu of the Federal High Court, Zamfara Division. Although the weight of the NJC’s hammer may not immediately assuage the huge public dislike for the judiciary, it is certainly encouraging that the intervention has come to remind citizens that perhaps Justice Kekere Ekun, is set to implement her promise to restore the judiciary’s dignity. 

 Notable groups and individuals almost immediately applauded the NJC for sanctioning the erring judges. One of such groups, Citizens’ Gavel, a civic-tech organisation promoting access to justice, transparency, and accountability in Nigeria, praised the NJC for implementing disciplinary measures against erring judges over acts of judicial misconduct.On his part, Professor Akinseye-George, President of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), said the NJC’s recent actions serve as a beacon of reform and integrity which deserves commendation for its principled and courageous decisions. No one should however be surprised that not every analyst is prepared to commend the NJC’s efforts. Indeed, some critics are not convinced that the sanctions are strong enough to deter other compromised personnel.

In fairness, the sanctions do not quite fit the offences but it is praise worthy as a departure from the posture of homily of the immediate past leadership of the NJC. Rather than dealing squarely with the specific judges who issued conflicting directives on the same Emirship tussle in Kano, Justice Ariwoola-led NJC decided to summon the heads of the relevant courts to a meeting with the then CJN. The promise to tackle the unnecessary struggle for territorial power at the expense of societal harmony by the judges concerned never saw the light of day; making the historic city of Kano to become a throne with two Kings. Interestingly, the current sanctions are not related to the Kano debacle. If it is still coming, it qualifies to be recorded as a clear case of a disciplinary action that was deliberately delayed.

 One of the current decisions of the NJC to restore sanity to our judiciary is its intervention in the plot by politicians to play politics with the appointment of a Chief Judge (CJ) for Imo state. It is good that the NJC intervened swiftly to restore the old constitutional order which states that theChief Judge of a state or indeed any judge “cannot be removed or disciplined without the input or participation of the National Judicial Council NJC.”The danger of the executive and legislature colluding to remove a CJ that is difficult to manipulate speaks for itself. The prompt intervention of the NJC in the Imo case would certainly push states such as Benue away from politicising the office of the CJ. Thepositive point here is that the NJC has successfully thwarted the cherished goal of state governors who are anxious to replace CJs that are difficult to be compromised. 

  However, one must necessarily be cautious in applauding the NJC for its current professional standing because history tells us that the Council is always only able to do so at state level as it did in the past in Kwara, Abia, Rivers, Plateau and Ekiti states. But whether it can similarly behave when it concerns the position of the CJN where the other side to the case is the President is not certain. Our position is influenced by the story of how Justice Walter Onnoghen was wrongly replaced by Justice Tanko Muhammad as CJN in 2019. In that case, it was the executive branch headed at the time by President Muhammadu Buhari that removed Onnoghen without the NJC’s consent.It was the same President that solely proceeded to appoint and swear in Justice Tanko Muhammad to serve as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria. The NJC neither rejected Buhari’s action nor did it penalize Tanko Muhammad for accepting a constitutional breach which favoured himself.   

 That was not all. The NJC was also coerced into taking two questionable steps. First, it recommended an extension of Tanko’s illegal acting appointment and second, proceeded a few months later, to confirm the same appointment.Since then, the NJC is yet to tell the nation why it timidly accepted the President’s position to which it had made no input as required by law. Now that the NJC is rejecting the same unconstitutional posture from the Imo state governor, is it a case of double standard or a reflection of better leadership by Justice Kekere Ekun? Until the latter is able to reject such behaviour from the President, we can only clap with one hand for now as it would be easier to rescind the half-hearted clap if latter events suggest that the applause was rather in a hurry.

 If the intention of the NJC as currently constituted is to win back the confidence of the public, it should deal quickly with the cases which have turned the spotlight on the judiciary. An obvious bad trend is the struggle between federal and state high courts for territorial empire. This should not happen as no one can change the fact that the federal high court is a court of limited jurisdiction. It therefore has no business getting enmeshed in chieftaincy matters by fashioning some cases with the garb of enforcement of fundamental human rights.Even non-lawyers know that this has the been stand of the Supreme Court in the case of Alhaji Umar Abba Tukur V The Governor of Gongola State which was decided about four decades ago. Should the NJC have tolerated for one minute, the refusal ofthe federal high court in Kano to faithfully abide by the principle of stare decisis?

Many members of the public were expecting not only a speedy handling of such cases but huge fines imposed on the lawyers who filed them before the wrong courts. That did not happen just as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) surprisingly failed to perform better than the NJC that many of its members often criticise. Otherwise, what has happened to the call by a former NBA President, Y.K Mikyau, SAN that the lawyers who filed the cases before the wrong courts be investigated and be sanctioned by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers if found wanting? Has the call been swept under the carpet or handled secretly so that we all forget about the case in due course?

Then, there is the annoying issue of the NJC making retirement from office, the punishment for criminal offences such as perjury. It is not only that the punishment does not fit the crime, it allows lay persons to suspect the existence in the judiciary of discrimination in some cases while in others, it projects a deepinstitutional hesitation which seeks to protect the principle of esprit des corps. Perhaps those who are dissatisfied with the stand of the NJC are hyper critical but we need to answer Professor Ndikalu’s question: ‘Will a judge who is suspended for one year without pay not more likely to come back more hungry and more corrupt?’

Finally, the greatest challenge today in our justice delivery system is located within cases emanating from politics and elections. They are therefore those that the NJC should handle with iron fists. We are thus at a time when the nation is in dire need of judicial activism in which politicians should no longer be helped to cover their reprehensible acts. Political events that are widely known or transmitted on national television are notorious facts. In a good system notorious facts need no proof; instead, judicial notice is taken of them. This is a courageous posture that can keep Nigerian politicians at bay.

Today, icon of Akure Kingdom in Ondo State, foremost Yoruba leader and one of the major twines holding together the Yoruba nation, Baba Reuben Famuyide Fasoranti, clocks 99 years on earth. Born on May 11, 1926, Fasoranti is also a noteworthy bridge linking the highly romanticized First Republic politics and governance to the current order of things. Fasoranti’s political trajectory and ideology are deeply rooted in progressivism and Yoruba ideals and principles. As a politician, he affiliated with and imbibed the political philosophy of Yoruba’s ancestor, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Through the Action Group (AG) party and later the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) Fasoranti served his political tutelage under leaders like Awo himself, Chief Michael Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, rising to be the leader of Afenifere, Yoruba political cultural group. During the Second Republic, Fasoranti served as Commissioner of Finance in old Ondo State between 1979 and 1983. Legend has it that Fasoranti was Awolowo’s choice for governorship of old Ondo State but the content Fasoranti rejected it for personal reasons.

During the bloodthirsty military despotism of General Sani Abacha, Fasoranti was one of the NADECO leaders whom that regime attempted to assassinate. In 1996, a clear attempt was made on his lift by regime goons. While the likes of Fasoranti are alive today by Providence, the Alfred Rewanes were not that lucky.He is held today as a symbol of the never-dying spirit of resistance against forces of tyranny and oppression. Fasoranti’s politics has never been about himself but the advancement of his people, a philosophy upheld by his resilience and fortitude in the face of visible danger and personal losses. When his daughter was killed by herders on the Akure-Ore road some years ago, Fasoranti, like the biblical Job, took Providence’s judgment with astonishing equanimity and stoicism. As leader of Afenifere, Baba Fasoranti has held the forte for Yoruba like his predecessors, canvassing and holding aloft solidarity to the unity of Yoruba people, supremacy of Yoruba ideals and the betterment of the lot of his people.

Fasoranti’s trajectory as a teacher must have imbued in him the principles of integrity, leadership, service and a teachable spirit. As a young man, he meandered through a primary school in his Uso village, to Ondo Boys’ High School, Yaba Higher College in Lagos, and the University College, Ibadan, the latter being where he bagged a higher degree in English/Geography. Upon beginning his career trajectory, it was his Alma Mater, Ondo Boys’ High School, that Fasoranti pitched his tent. He later became Principal of Oyemekun Grammar School and Iju-Itaogbolu Grammar School. Fasoranti is today held by his people as a legend who dedicated his life to the advancement of education and the place of knowledge in the advancement of society. As an underscore of his obsessive love for education, Fasoranti established the Omolere Nursery and Primary School and Akure High School, which today are his huge and imperishable imprints on the rock of education.

Regardless of my views, I must confess that my people of Akure hold President Bola Tinubu, through Baba Fasoranti, in a very high esteem. A chemistry works between the duo that is difficult to decipher. Could it have been forged in the smithy and grits of the NADECO years? When Afenifere delegation visited Tinubu in Aso Rock in 2023, the president did the near-centenarian the rare honour of personally wheeling him about in his chair. Akure people also say that never in the history of federal governance in Nigeria have they witnessed the kind of gale of federal projects that are coming to them under this government. The hitherto impassable Akure-Ikere road which our son, Ademola Adegoroye, gave impressionable fillip to as an 11-month minister, has received huge financial backing from Tinubu. So also the dualization of the Akure-Ore road where Baba Fasoranti’s daughter was unfortunately killed. The dualization of Ilesha-Akure-Benin road, I am told, has also been awarded. In the same vein, the most massive project ever in the area, the Akure Teaching Hospital, is sprinting so well that I am told Tinubu wants Baba Fasoranti to see it fructify in his life time.

While praying to God to grant Baba Fasoranti centenary and post-centenary existence, in good health, I salute this great son of Akure Kingdom today on his 99th birth anniversary.

My new friend is 86 years old, Albertus Johannes Venter, famously known as Al J. Venter, with Boer and German ancestry. He is a white South African war correspondent, documentary filmmaker and author of more than forty books. Venter initially served in the South African Navy between 1956 and 1960, rising to the rank of Acting Leading Seaman. He was twice wounded in combat, by a Soviet anti-tank mine in Angola and by sub-machine gun fire. Venter was in Nigeria in 1965 to work for John Holt, and during the Nigerian 1967 civil war, covered it as an Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane’s International Defence Review, which produced the war memoir, Biafra’s War: A Tribal Conflict In Nigeria That Left A Million Dead (2016). In coverage of the war, he was in the company of his friend, Frederick Forsyth, who was BBC’s war correspondent for Biafra.

In my piece of November 24, 2024, with the title, Obasanjo and Tinubu’s Tańtólóhun dogs, I critiqued Nigeria’s presidential media team’s reactive and oftentimes combative approach to communication. In it, I drew a parallel between this bellicose communication approach and German art enthusiast and scholar, Horst Ulrich Beier, famously known as Ulli Beier’s narrative about the power and powerlessness of dogs. For a media team, President Bola Tinubu apparently or ostensibly keeps a kennel of Rottweilers dogs who, like Beiers’ Tańtólóhun dogs, almost every time get unleashed on perceived haters of their principal.

Outgoing African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina seems to be the latest victim of the blood-baying incisors of these Tańtólóhun hounds. In the last two years of this administration, the presidential groove must be brimming with dry bones of top-placed Nigerians whose fleshes have been mercilessly torn into pieces by these insufferable dogs. As president of AfDB, Adesina has variously commented on the economies of virtually all countries in Africa. He had been a passionate bother about the slide in African economies and how, in the immortal words of Chinua Achebe, African leadership had left its plates unwashed and a swarm of flies now holds conferences inside its dirty plate.

Following this path, which has variously earned him kudos as a concerned African, Dr. Adesina, in a keynote address delivered at Chapel Denham, an investment firm’s 20th anniversary held in Lagos, issued a stern warning that, if Nigeria desires to attain a globally competitive and industrialized status by 2050, it must radically transform its economic model. He then warned of a looming deeper economic depression which he saw manifest in his mental computation. His bother was that, with a current per capita of a mere $824, Nigerians are significantly worse off than they were in 1960 at independence. 

 Silence as an answer was golden. Weren’t we warned that it is not all clothes that are spread to dry under sunlight? Replying Adesina with such gruff is akin to a proverbial man lost his virile sexual potency, and who, rather than insert into where his effort was needed, claimed he could insert a thread inside the eye of a needle! Street wisdom counsels silence in this regard. Between the duo of American president, Abraham Lincoln and celebrated American humorist, Mark Twain, a quip credited to either of them dictates the route to follow by the presidential media office in the circumstance. It says it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubts. The moment our boss, Bayo Onanuga, chose to disobey Twain and Lincoln, he let the cat out of the bag.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the media office, we were entertained to a caterwaul of boring statistics. Adesina’s “figures (that) do not align with available data”, it said, and his comparative analysis of Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1960 and 2025, misleading. “GDP per capita is not the only criterion used to determine whether people live better lives now than in the past. Indeed, it is a poor tool for assessing living standards,” the post stated. Apparently still fuming that anyone had the temerity to have another opinion about the Eldorado government Aso Rock runs today, Onanuga argued that GDP does not reflect economic realities: “GDP per capita is silent on whether Nigerians in 2025 enjoy better access to healthcare, education, and transportation, such as rail and air transport than in 1960,” he said.

However, the Tańtólóhun dogs did their comparative analysis and reached a conclusion favourable to their narrative. “We can comfortably say without contradiction that it (the economy) is at least 50 times, if not 100 times, more than it was at Independence,” they said. They also recalled that, “in 1960, Nigeria had only 18,724 telephone lines for about 45 million people” but, “today, over 200 million Nigerians have access to mobile and digital services.”

The tirelessly whining old Ọkọ Idọgọ train eventually arrived its destination. According to the Nigerian presidency, which reads 2027 into every patriotic call for a governmental sanity, Adesina’s statement was politically motivated. It compared him to the Villa’s tormentor and Achilles’ heel. “Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mould of Peter Obi, and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement,” Onanuga said. The question that needed to be asked the Tańtólóhun dogs was asked some decades back by another Juju music great, Chief Ebenezer Obey, in an evergreen vinyl. In a situation as imponderable as this, Obey asked the Woman cloth seller who held a whiplash as she stood guard of her clothes, what correlation that existed between cloths and goats that could necessitate her standing sentinel over clothes with a whip: Do animals eat lace cloth materials? (Kínni Màmá Aláso ńtà t’ó y’egba dání, àb’éwúré ńje lace ni?) We are asking the Tańtólóhun dogs same Obey question over this statement against revered Dr. Adesina.

Venter’s Takka Takka Bom Bom: A South African Correspondent’s Story is a 27-chapter book of 399 pages, with a chapter entitled “Nigeria: Crazy, but I love it!” It was a title he got from his first report for Argus Africa News Service describing his experience in a 5-year-old post-independence Nigeria. Compared to other countries he had been, the then 27-year-old Venter said he spent “next to nothing” commuting from Calabar, through Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Benin across land to Lagos. “It was significant that I never once encountered any hostility throughout my Nigerian peregrinations, political or otherwise. Lagos was then among the most secure cities in Africa,” Venter wrote, stating, “We were out every night, often on foot, moving around the bars on Lagos Victoria Island or up to Yaba and Ikorodu Roadway – often until the wee hours.” Is the situation same today in Tinubu’s Nigeria? The plenty in Nigeria of the time can effortlessly be found in Venter’s fluid narrative. It is also in the people’s sense of nationalism. Take, for instance, an American Peace Corps female volunteer whose story is in the book. She had sent home a postcard which referred to Nigeria as a disgusting filth pile and slums. All hell was let loose when somebody in the post office passed the card over to someone in government. Not only was the lady kicked out of the country, Nigerians were still disconsolate until Washington apologized for this indiscretion.

Statistics on poverty rates, income growth, and factors like affordability of housing, commute times, and environmental quality are also indicators of overall well-being of a people. The Villa should have availed us that. A few days ago, the World Bank alerted that poverty rate among Nigeria’s rural population had slid to an alarming 75.5 per cent.

Now, we have the Nigerian government gloat on a claim of its having paid up IMF debt. The reality staring us in the face is that the suffering of Nigerian people is spreading like bushfire in the harmattan. If the Villa voodoo media doctors can, for a minute, open the shutters and see beyond the comfy Aso Rock, what will confront them is the reality that, every hour, Nigerians slide into poverty and die because they cannot access healthcare and food. Thousands also slant into depression. Flaunting apocryphal statistics of citizen comfort across ages that are as smelly to the senses as the “remains of dead animals, birds, reptiles and much more” won’t work. The description of smell was given by Venter of Lome witch-doctors’ Akodessawa Fetish Market while filming a documentary in Togo. Citing Venter, the Villa statistics-bandying, without corresponding description of the people’s plight today, finds simile in “using magic to communicate with supernatural spirits and dead people.”

Today, while Aso Rock is winning the war of political demographics and idolatry bow of opposition parties by its feet, it is not winning the hearts of the people. Nigerian political parties, governors, senators, Reps are jumping inside the dirty pond of APC to swim in the mud preparatory to 2027. Great that a Charles Soludo, desperate for a second term, has found an “ideological” liaison in a combine of APC and APGA for an illicit romp. Yes, the president is now “Dike si mba Anambra,” (warrior from the Diaspora) a chieftaincy title conferred on him on Thursday by Igwe Chidubem Iweka who said it was a title “by all the royal fathers from the 179 communities of Anambra State.” What war has the president won since he secured the tenancy of Aso Rock that makes him a Dike, warrior? Hunger war? Hopelessness war? Insecurity war? War against corruption? After politicians finished their trade-off huffing and puffing at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka that Thursday and federal largesses exchanged hands, did the people of Anambra go to bed happier or hungrier?

It is apparent that the statistics juggling by “Dike si mba Anambra”’s people are all geared towards 2027. Beautiful. While they appear to have tightened the nuts and bolts of the human factor, I wish they spare a minute to screw together God’s nuts and bolts, too. It is like hunting a game, killing and disemboweling the animal but failing to reckon with its bile busting to foul up a neatly-dressed venison. This reminds me of a gory picture Juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade, painted in one of his 1970s songs. KSA’s imaginary enemies had sent a kid on an errand to the l’éku-l’éja market, almost similar to Lome’s Akodessawa Fetish Market. The kid’s assignment was to buy some fetish bric-a-brac with which they hoped to put a final seal of spiritual victory on their enemy. The fetish objects comprised one of the most lethal assemblages ever, but effete in the real sense of it  –  dry head of a cobra, bought for six pence; seven carcasses of the animal called Itun; seven bitter seeds of Abere and seven seeds of alligator pepper, all of which were pounded with a traditional black soap. Little did they know, sang KSA, like nincompoops, (Paddy Ode-nsin) that they had been sold a dummy!

“If the problem is in the name or nomenclature employed by Utomi, then, we may have to search for a less “provocative” name, but no one should tell us that our democracy does not need a vibrant opposition or that the institutions in place at the moment are up to the task. They are not! Can we, therefore, appropriately refer to what Utomi has cobbled together as a “shadow government”? I do not think so. Think-tank, maybe! Pressure group, fittingly! Who elected you our leaders? And who make you rulers and judges over us? That, I think, is the point the Minister of Information was trying to make before he overshot the tarmac “

PROFESSOR Pat Utomi, man of many parts but better known these days as a political activist and relentless critic of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency, has announced the formation of what he has described as a “shadow government” whose purpose, ostensibly, is to hold the feet of the Tinubu administration to the fire for the purpose of safeguarding the good health of our renascent democracy, ensuring good governance, and the delivery of the much-vaunted dividends of democracy to the mercilessly-abused and long-suffering Nigerian people. My suspicion is that many Nigerians will consider the Utomi move a welcome development, especially with the rag-tag opposition parties that exist only in name and appearance and not in contents and substance.

 A gale of defections has hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is the largest opposition party, running it ragged; the next party after it, the Labour Party, is in disarray, with multiple factions laying claim to its leadership, while the former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai’s defection into the Social Democratic Party (SDP) appears a non-starter. Serial presidential candidate and ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s talk of a merger or coalition that will give Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) a run for their money in 2027 holds no promise but jeers. The National Assembly is seen by many as rubber stamp; the judiciary is looked at suspiciously as compromised while Labour at best is a caricature of its former vibrant self. Student unionism that once stood as a beacon of hope for national redemption has itself fallen into the cesspit of corruption that epitomises the country’s political landscape. Any hope, renewed or rehashed, appears forlorn. And in the absence of nothing, anything goes.

Story of the Tortoise

 Nature abhors a vacuum; hence the void that Utomi seeks to fill with his shadow government, which appears more at home in a parliamentary system of government than in the presidential system that we operate here. An enemy more powerful than the Tortoise one day invaded Tortoise’s home and bound him hand and foot, Tortoise made a last plea: That he be let loose and set on his feet again just for a moment. Wondering what magic he would perform, his captor obliged. Tortoise then scratched the ground with his hands and legs and said, “Let it be recorded for posterity that I protested and gave a good fight before being carried away into slavery”! If all Utomi’s shadow government achieves is for history to record that some people scratched the ground with their hands and legs when, in their view, the country was turning the corner into a one-party state, let it be so recorded for posterity to judge!

Why “shadow government”?

An online medium reported Utomi’s endeavour thus: “Economist and political advocate, Professor Pat Utomi, has unveiled a shadow government established to serve as a credible opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The initiative, which he described as a ‘national emergency response’, was launched virtually under the banner of Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government. Utomi said the body was created in response to what he described as worsening economic and security conditions under President Bola Tinubu’s government.

 “According to him, the new body draws its membership from a cross-section of Nigeria’s opposition parties and is tasked with regularly scrutinising government actions, identifying policy failures, and proposing alternative solutions in key areas, including the economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, law and order, and constitutional reform. He said, ‘The recent spate of defections to the All Progressives Congress provides further evidence that all is not well with democracy in Nigeria. The imperative is that if a genuine opposition does not courageously identify the performance failures of incumbents, offer options and influence culture in a counter direction, it will be complicit in subverting the will of the people.’

 “He explained that the group would meet weekly to review public policies, offer alternatives, and push for reforms in key areas, emphasising the importance of focusing on integrity and transparency, which he said are sorely lacking under the current administration. ‘This shadow team must also address issues of ethics, transparency, and integrity, which continue to challenge this government at every turn. Nothing is more urgent than tackling the rising poverty across the country. Multinationals are shutting down, and millions are unemployed…’, he said.

 “Utomi further noted that the immediate priorities would include stimulating local production, decentralising security, and promoting inclusive governance. Today, I bring to this pioneer body the desperate cries of a people troubled by how their reality seems bound for serfdom. I challenge you to awaken these people who wrongly believe that everything is fine as long as they can manage a share of what little still trickles down from crude oil sales,” he said.

“Utomi also criticised the economic direction of the current administration, especially its handling of the petroleum subsidy removal. He accused the government of using broad consensus among politicians as a cover for poor planning, saying, ‘Making propaganda of most leaders being in agreement on removing the petroleum subsidy was to cover up policy errors of how to remove it without further structural damage to the economy.’

 “On the issue of security reform, Utomi called for decentralised policing, arguing that communities should be empowered to maintain their own security infrastructure through a layered approach involving local forces, state police, and a Federal National Guard… We will travel farther if we get the communities to have their own armed and well-trained police forces, which will be layered with state police and the Federal National Guard,” he said, adding that corruption and centralisation have contributed to the resistance against such reforms.

 Speaking on the makeup of the shadow cabinet, Utomi noted that it includes a range of professionals and public figures drawn from across the opposition. He said the team would operate not only as a think-tank but also as a policy watchdog, offering credible alternatives to government decisions.

 “Among those appointed is human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, who will lead the Ombudsman and Good Governance portfolio. Farotimi joins other prominent voices such as Oghene Momoh, Cheta Nwanze, Daniel Ikuonobe, Halima Ahmed, David Okonkwo, and Obi Ajuga on the policy delivery unit.

The broader shadow cabinet includes a diverse lineup of experts and professionals: Dr. Adefolusade Adebayo, Dr. Peter Agadah, Dr. Sadiq Gombe, Chibuzor Nwachukwu, Salvation Alibor, Bilkisu Magoro, Dr. Victor Tubo, Charles Odibo, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Eunice Atuejide, Gbenga Ajayi, Dr. Mani Ahmad, Peter Oyewole, and Dr. Omano Edigheji. Additional members include Sidi Ali, Ibrahim Abdulkarim, Adenike Oriola, Promise Adewusi, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, Ambrose Obimma, Rwang Pam, Dr. Kingsley Anedo, Prof. Auwal Aliyu, Dr. Ghazali Ado, Nana Kazaure, Aisha Yusuf, Dr. Charles Gilbert, and Olujimi Akiboh.”

Caveat emptor!

I do not think there are many Nigerians who would say that the problems itemised here by Utomi are not real or that they do not need confrontation; not even the government can say that because the government itself has not only similarly identified the problems but President Tinubu himself has said now and again that it is confronting them head-on. How successfully, effectively, and efficiently, however, remains the bone of contention. Now that Utomi’s shadow government is poised to present alternatives, Nigerians will be in a better position to determine which option is better – the government’s or Utomi’s. 

 My suspicion, however, is that no government in power where the system of shadow government is alien will not tend to see any other “government” not recognised by law as subversive and treading on the dangerous path of treason. Therefore, there must be understanding and caution on both sides. The APC government must understand that vibrant opposition is the fulcrum of democracy. It must also not forget that a few years back, it was in the opposition. If it had been clubbed to death at the time by the ruling party, it would not be in power today. 

 It is in this respect that the Federal Government’s response to Utomi’s shadow government is ominous. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, was reported to have criticised the initiative, describing it as unconstitutional and unsuitable for Nigeria’s presidential system. Said he: “At a time when our nation is set to celebrate 26 unbroken years of presidential democracy, the idea of a so-called ‘shadow government’ is an aberration. Nigeria is not a parliamentary system where such a system is practised, and there is no provision for such in our statute books. While opposition politics is a central feature of democracy, it must be practised at all times within the bounds of propriety. This idea of a shadow government sadly does not pass that test. Our bicameral legislature amply features members of the opposition, and it should be the right place to contest meaningful ideas for nation-building.”

 If the problem is in the name or nomenclature adopted by Utomi, then, we may have to search for a less “provocative” name, but no one should tell us that our democracy does not need a vibrant opposition or that the institutions in place at the moment are up to the task. They are not! If the opposition parties, legislators, judiciary, Labour, etc are already doing the needful, there would have been no use for Utomi and his co-travellers. It is the failure of those institutions that now necessitates the emergence of Utomi’s “shadow government” or whatever else we may choose to call it.

Win-win situation

 By the way, what is a shadow government? In our context here, a shadow government has been defined as “a government that is prepared to take control in response to certain events, especially one made up of the leadership of the largest opposition party in parliament, which would assume control should the ruling party be displaced in elections”. Usually, a shadow government is composed of a shadow cabinet, albeit with no executive powers, with portfolios assigned to respective senior members of the opposition party whose duty it is to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government as well as to offer alternative policies. In short, it is government-in-waiting, as we have it in the United Kingdom.

 Can we, then, appropriately refer to what Utomi has cobbled together as a shadow government? I do not think so. Think-tank, maybe! Pressure group, fittingly! Shadow government? No! Who elected them our leaders? Who made them rulers and judges over us? That, I think, is the point the Minister of Information was trying to make before he overshot the tarmac – like Utomi himself has also done. Apart from the reservations that I have about the composition of Utomi’s think-tank, I also do not think its task should be limited to only identifying the “performance failures” of the government. Utomi and company should be honest enough to give credit, and applause, where it is due. Otherwise, it will not be long before they begin to sing like a broken record and sound like brass and tinkling cymbals.  

Governors of Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states on Saturday paid glowing tributes to Pa Ruben Fasoranti, the leader of pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, who clocked 99.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, described the elder statesman as a rare symbol of patriotism, courage, and integrity, whose life of selfless service has become a guiding light for generations of Nigerians.

Speaking at the Multi-Purpose Auditorium of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, the venue of the event, Aiyedatiwa extolled the virtues of the Afenifere leader, noting that his life reflects the very essence of the Yoruba Omoluabi ethos.

“What we are celebrating here today is not just the number. It is not just the years in the life of an icon and one of the brightest lights of our country, Nigeria, but the life in the years and journey of an elder statesman and an exemplary personality who has exemplified service, courage, conviction and devotion to humanity throughout his life,” the governor said.

The governor added that it was no surprise that such a public lecture was chosen to mark Chief Fasoranti’s 99th birthday, noting his longstanding contributions to education, culture, and leadership in Nigeria.

“On behalf of the government and good people of Ondo State, I say happy 99th birthday to Pa Fasoranti. May your life be celebrated the most and your legacy continue to inspire us all,” he said.

Governor Seyi Makinde also felicitated Pa Fasoranti on his birthday, as hailed his contributions to the emancipation of the Yoruba ethnic group and the progress of Nigeria. He prayed to God to grant his agelong desires on the Yoruba nation and Nigeria as a whole.

According to Makinde, Pa Fasoranti has, for decades, continued to stand tall as a Leader, role model and father, thus he deserves to be celebrated.

He said: “On behalf of the Government and the good People of Oyo State, I felicitate Pa Reuben Famuyide Fasoranti, Leader of the pan-Yoruba Sociopolitical Organisation, Afenifere, on the occasion of his 99th birthday.

“Baba, we celebrate your exemplary life of service to the Yoruba Ethnic Group and your immense contributions to nation-building over the years.

“As you clock 99, it is our prayer that God grants all your heart’s desires on Yoruba emancipation and the continued progress and well-being of the South-West and Nigeria as a whole.

Governor Ademola Adeleke celebrated Fasoranti, describing him as a great asset to the Yoruba race. His Ekiti State counterpart, Governor Abiodun Oyebanji, in his words, said Pa Fasoranti has displayed great exemplary leadership worthy of emulation.

While speaking, former governor, Mimiko said that the elder statesman’s life had been full of modesty, integrity and honesty.

“Baba is modest in everything, sartorial elegance, everything about him has made remarkable contributions to this state as a former commissioner for finance.

“In terms of his homework, I mean, ethos. He’s run his business very successfully.

“He is an educationist, but most importantly, the Yoruba people have proved their confidence in him as their asiwaju, as the leader of Yoruba people worldwide,” he said.

In his remark, Daniel, while delivering the lecture, emphasised the urgent need for unity among the Yoruba people to safeguard their cultural heritage and identity.

He called for a renaissance of traditional values through deliberate efforts in education, political engagement, and community mobilisation.

He also paid tribute to Pa Fasoranti for his consistent advocacy for justice, unity, and development of the Yoruba people.

In his welcome address, Chairman of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA), Ondo State Branch, Mr Yinka Akinola, described Chief Fasoranti as an alumnus truly worth celebrating—a man whose life embodies academic excellence, moral strength, and selfless service to society.

Chief host, Chief Seinde Arogbofa, reflected on a time when external influences threatened to erode Yoruba values, saying it was leaders like Fasoranti who stood firm in defence of the culture and identity now being upheld.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, represented by the institution’s Registrar, Mr G.O. Saliu, extended the university’s appreciation to the elder statesman, stressing that every society thrives on the strength of individuals like Fasoranti who embody its ideals and preserve its legacy.

Chairman of the event, Professor Williams Olu Aderounmu, praised the celebrant for his commitment to principled leadership and community development, adding that Chief Fasoranti is deserving of a Yoruba global award for his contributions to the cultural and political advancement of the Yoruba people.

The Olowo of Owo and Chairman of the Ondo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye, noted Chief Fasoranti’s long-standing relationship with the people of Owo, particularly through his close working ties with the former governor of Ondo State, late Pa Adekunle Ajasin, in whose cabinet he served as Commissioner for Finance.

He lauded Pa Fasoranti for helping to preserve the identity of the Yoruba race and urged others to follow in his footsteps and make him proud.

[Nigerian Tribune]

The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has launched the AI Campus Network, a pan-African initiative aimed at training 10,000 young people in artificial intelligence, digital technology, and media innovation by 2030.

In a statement on Saturday, CJID said the University of Lagos will serve as the inaugural host institution for the initiative, in collaboration with the institution’s Google Developers Groups on Campus (GDGoC).

The centre said the programme is designed to equip a new generation of African creators, coders, and tech leaders with industry-relevant skills and real-world experience.

The initiative, it said, will feature coding bootcamps tailored for secondary school students, university undergraduates, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, and young professionals.

CJID said the programme will offer internship placements coordinated with partner organisations to bridge the gap between training and professional practice.

“The future of AI, digital technology, and media innovation is here,” said Akintunde Babatunde, executive director of CJID.

“We are repositioning young Africans to be not just users, but creators and leaders in the technology space. This is not just a skills-building project—it’s about transforming Africa’s role in the global tech ecosystem.”

He added that the AI Campus Network will prioritise inclusion, with a focus on participants from underrepresented communities, particularly young women.

“We are committed to ensuring that young people from diverse backgrounds have the tools, mentorship, and opportunities to shape the future of AI and media technology. We are not waiting for the future to happen—we are building it,” Babatunde said.

CJID said the AI Campus Network will be rolled out to other Nigerian universities before expanding into Ghana by the last quarter of 2025.

The long-term goal, it said, is to establish a network of learning hubs across Africa.

Since 2023, CJID has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence advocacy and innovation on the continent.

It developed DUBAWA AI, a tool that detects audio disinformation in three West African languages, and launched a multilingual chatbot that debunks disinformation in English and Arabic.

The organisation has also hosted two editions of its AI and Media Summit, supported the development of AI tools for newsrooms, and partnered with Nigeria’s federal government through the AI Collective—a consortium driving the implementation of the national AI strategy.

In November 2024, CJID collaborated with the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) to integrate AI into higher education, training 41 lecturers from 21 universities.

The AI Campus Network, it said, represents a natural progression of its ongoing work to democratise access to technology across Africa.

[TheCable]

Where is the owner of the dismembered hand dangling from the mouth of this dancing ape? And where is the body from which he amputated the human foot he is using as a clapper in his celebration orgy? In which unfortunate country did this happen? Where was the law when these beasts were on the prowl? Who is going to redress this unspeakable transgression?

As members of the global human family, what hope for the rest of us, the unarmed survivors, who are usually told to patiently await our turn to be guillotined, with our body parts used in a mock-dance.

Mercifully, I’ve since learned that the video was shot in Burkina Faso by their own religious lunatics who are nonetheless as cannibalistic as the Nigerian variant. Thanks to PRNigeria, an online medium, we now know that “The viral video originated from Burkina Faso. The men seen dancing with what appear to be human body parts are militants from that country, celebrating the defeat of their enemies.

“If you have also seen the video, may I ask you how it makes you feel? Or, have you reached the stage of being unshockable – which the late educationist, Dr. Tai Solarin, warned us against many years ago?

No, we must not allow society to get used to these numbing depravities regularly posted on social media by subhuman monsters who should never have been born. Boko Haram started the trend with colourful video clips of decapitation. Then, its leader, Abubakar Shekau, posted even more horrifying videos of himself personally slaughtering helpless victims.

Borno And Middle Belt

Even the mere retelling of just a tiny slice of the horror we have been through gives goose pimples. Now, we are being bombarded daily with even more horrendous stories of whole families dismembered and then incinerated in Benue and Plateau states by bands of terrorists who, in some cases, have since taken over the villages.

Governor Zulum of Borno State was almost reduced to tears the other day when he was calling for help. It was pathetic, more so because Zulum has been one of the more forthright and competent administrators among the current generation of governors. Horror has its limits. For Boko Haram to be knocking on the door of the state capital when we all but thought that those demons had been consigned to the bottomless pit, was galling.

Perhaps because of the trauma, and for want of better intellection-based solutions, Professor Zulum then went on to ban the sale of alcohol throughout the state. I would have thought that, as an academic, the governor would commission social scientists to help him establish the causative factors of the state of anomie so that appropriate actions could then be taken. I was therefore taken aback when the good professor simply announced the ban on alcohol.

I haven’t yet done a research on the subject but I suspect that irresponsible parenting which exposes children to homelessness, begging, narcotics and anti-social behaviours would feature prominently among the causative factors. The almajiri system provides a ready army for Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations using religion as a cover.

Truth be told, the traditional milieu in which parents can just abandon their children (some as young as three years old) to a mallam for religious training, does not belong to the 21st Century. Such impressionable children are gullible enough to be pumped with anti-social sentiments and queer religiosity which ties their candidacy for paradise to the number of skulls they harvest.

If the political elite want to end the odious almajiri system tomorrow, they can; but will they? If it’s a matter of political realignment or demanding more political appointments, the elite will show up in their resplendent voluminous robes. But which of them is looking out for the children of the poor?

Security Summit

The Senate has recently been wrestling with the idea of a national security summit to address the state of insecurity in the country. We have had several such summits in the past and they came to naught. We all know that talk-shops mean different things to different people: contract to the contractor, honorarium to the academic, photo-op to the politician, mudslinging latitude to party apparatchiks, visibility to the ambitious ‘in-coming’, etc.

There are many recommendations from past summits/conferences gathering dust in abandoned files in the federal and state government’s offices. Let’s task the relevant committees of the National Assembly, in collaboration with the security agencies to update what had been done in the past.

We don’t have all the time in the world, so we must treat this issue with the urgency it deserves, Already, the terrorists have retaken villages earlier seized from them by the army in the Northeast. They’re collecting taxes. They’re torching and renaming villages in the Middle Belt. They’re killing hunters and vigilante members in the Southwest. And, if social media revelations are anything to go by, hundreds of newly imported foreign fighters are massing around Kwara State with the aim of attacking the Southwest.

If their progression continues unchecked, who says they will not forcefully declare a republic someday soon? After all, their unmourned leader, Abubakar Shekau, once declared a caliphate.

What To Do

It is my considered opinion that we have to do the following urgently: The armed forces are overstretched and should be limited to the worst areas of insurgency and banditry in the Northeast and Middle Belt and selected strategic infrastructure (for example, oil installations in the creeks). The strategy of the savages is to open up many fronts of engagement to overstretch the elastic limits of the armed forces.

Relevant laws should be amended to allow hunters and vigilantes, under the supervision of the state police, to bear arms up to the calibre of AK 47, the favourite weapon of the vagabonds. If not, people in the rural areas will start acquiring their own superior weapons in a bid to counter the terrorists.

All states should establish their own police forces immediately. All states should also constitute vigilante groups for their villages under the supervision of the state police.

The diplomatic corps should be sensitised on the criminal activities of their nationals, e.g., Chinese cyber criminals exposed in Lagos.

To side-step traitors within the system and expose sponsors of terrorism, the federal government should contract an independent ‘digitracker’ to help expose how the ransom money of bandits is laundered between various accounts.

The federal government should release the list of terrorist sponsors identified by the UAE government.

Habemus Paparam

The declaration, “Habemus Papam” reminded me of my Latin classes in the days of yore. By the time the identity of the new pope was revealed, the announcement triggered shock waves around the world. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost went into the second day of the papal conclave as a voter and came out as Pope Leo XIV.

A 1977 graduate of mathematics who later read Philosophy and bagged a doctorate in Theology, he is the first Augustinian friar and first American/Peruvian to become Pope. Augustinians embrace a lifestyle of poverty, travelling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preaching, evangelisation, and ministry, especially to the underprivileged. His motto indicates his spiritual egalitarianism: In illo uno unum -“In the One, we are One”. May his reign be impactful.

Those who couldn’t tolerate the late Pope Francis’ advocacy for the poor should hold their breath until they hear this new pope. What are Augustinians if not advocates for the poor?

Football fans are in for a blockbuster day of action across Europe’s top leagues today, with mouth-watering fixtures headlining the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Eredivisie schedules.

In the English Premier League, title-chasing Liverpool host Arsenal in the day’s standout fixture at 16:30 GMT.

Earlier in the day, Newcastle United welcome Chelsea at 12:00, while Manchester United take on West Ham United.

Nottingham Forest face Leicester City, and Tottenham Hotspur clash with Crystal Palace, all scheduled for 14:15 GMT.

In Spain, the most anticipated La Liga tie will see fierce rivals, Barcelona and Real Madrid, square off at 15:15.

Other La Liga fixtures include Leganes v Espanyol (13:00), Athletic Club v Deportivo Alaves (17:30), and Real Betis v Osasuna (20:00).

In Italy’s Serie A, Inter Milan travel to Torino for a 17:00 kick-off, while Napoli face Genoa under the lights at 19:45. The day also features Udinese v Monza (11:30), Hellas Verona v Lecce (14:00).

Germany’s Bundesliga offers a major clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at 14:30, followed by Eintracht Frankfurt v St. Pauli (16:30) and VfB Stuttgart v Augsburg (18:30).

In the Dutch Eredivisie, top contenders Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven meet in a crucial fixture at 13:30.

The early kick-off sees PEC Zwolle take on Go Ahead Eagles (11:15), while FC Twente play FC Utrecht (13:30). The day rounds off with AZ Alkmaar v FC Groningen and Ajax v NEC Nijmegen, both starting at 15:45.

[Punch]