The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who is facing a 19-count charge, has written a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, pleading to be allowed to face his trial in Kogi.

Ex-governor Bello, in the letter he wrote through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN, maintained that only Lokoja Division of the high court has the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the allegations that were raised against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. 

At the resumed proceeding in the matter on Thursday, Bello, failed to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja to enter his plea to the charge against him.

However, a lawyer that announced appearance for him, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, SAN, brought the attention of trial Justice Emeka Nwite to the letter his client wrote to the CJ.

Addressing the court after the matter was called, Adedipe, SAN, said, “My lord, after the proceedings of the last adjourned date, I went back and gave a report of what happened in court to our team.

“However, I was made to understand that a letter had been written on behalf of the defendant to the honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting in substance, that this matter be administratively transfered to the Federal High Court, Lokoja Judicial Division, which we believe have territorial jurisdiction to handle this matter.

“That letter was received at the Chief Judge’s Chambers and the office of the of honourable CJ wrote the prosecution team through Mr. Iseoluwa Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, on June 13, notifying him that administrative steps has been activated, whereof he was directed to provide a response to the request for transfer of the matter.

“My lord, as of this morning, I am not aware whether there has been a response by the prosecution team in compliance to the directive of the CJ.

“We are also not in receipt of any decision that has been made on this request by the CJ.

“I am also aware that this administrative directive of the CJ has been formally communicated to this court.

“We have filed an affidavit wherein we attached two documents referencing the details that I have just highlighted.

“My duty is first to the court. As of the moment, I am not urging anything from the court, but just to present the facts as they were,” Adedipe, SAN, added.

On his part, the EFCC, through its counsel, Mr. Kemi Pinhero, SAN, urged the court to compel the defence lawyer to explain why the defendant was not in court, despite an undertaking he made on June 13 to ensure his presence in court for arraignment.

He prayed the court to dismiss “the story of the defence lawyer as dilatory and a further attempt to treat this court with scorn.”

The EFCC counsel argued that the letter to the CJ did not discharge the undertaking that were made by the senior lawyers representing the defendant.

Pinhero, SAN, further argued that even where a petition is forwarded against a judge to the National Judicial Council, NJC, it does not stop proceedings on cases pending before the judge.

Consequently, he applied for the court to invite the two senior lawyers representing the former governor to show cause why they should not be dealt with for contemptuous conduct.

Bello, who piloted affairs of Kogi state for eight years, is facing a charge bordering on his alleged complicity in money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of about N80.2billion.

EFCC alleged that the former governor, alongside his nephew Ali Bello and two others, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu, were complicit in money laundering.

Though the ex-Kogi governor previously failed to appear before the court for his arraignment, however, he briefed lawyers to file an application to set aside an arrest warrant that was issued against him on April 17, as well as to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to try him.

The former governor maintained that the EFCC acted in breach of a subsisting judgement of a High Court in Kogi State when it entered the charge against him and also applied for a bench warrant to be issued for his arrest.

Even though the court, in a ruling it delivered on May 10, declined to vacate the arrest warrant, it, however, gave the defendant the opportunity to voluntarily present himself for arraignment.

[Vanguard]

So, what next? That was another great question after Wednesday’s presentation. Will it take another 16 years before a sequel? There’s never been a holiday between The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu and Writing for Media and Monetising It. But this work, which greatly benefited from the interviews and resources of great content creators, strongly suggests that to be more, we must challenge ourselves to do more!

It was different 16 years ago. Very different. At that time, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was relatively new and walking where angels feared to tread. That was unusual for a government institution, especially a law enforcement agency.

So unusual that one of Nigeria’s most courageous social crusaders, Gani Fawehinmi, a thorn in government’s side, joined forces with the Commission in the fight against corruption, even when the man he loved to hate, Olusegun Obasanjo, was president.

But you couldn’t blame Gani. The first decade after transitioning to civilian rule in 1999 was an “enough moment” for Nigeria. It was a time when it became clear that among the country’s many problems, corruption would either kill it or it would have to kill corruption.

Like Ribadu, Like Githongo

Nuhu Ribadu, an assistant commissioner of police from a family with a distinguished record in the security services, had the most unwanted job of being the first chairman of the EFCC. He took the job when his counterpart in Kenya, John Githongo, was famously saying the most significant threat in fighting corruption is corruption itself. It would fight back.

Githongo was right. Corruption in Kenya fought him back so furiously that it exiled him to the UK. You can read the rest of the story in Michela Wrong’s It’s Our Turn to Eat. To help Ribadu deal with his own misery back home, the press pitched in big time. It took it as its own war to the point where the Commission was often accused of media trial.

I felt obliged to document parts of that era in the book The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu: A Riveting Story of Nigeria’s Anti-corruption War, published by Spectrum Books. That was in 2008, when, as my mother would have said, the world was asleep. There was no Instagram, and Twitter was only two years old.

Mack Zuckerberg was 19, and Facebook was four. That was the era when respectable newspapers scooped one another by paying the author to be the first to serialise the book, while street rags ripped the same book for fast bucks. I know that thanks to technology, there has been a somewhat deadly mutation, but that’s not where I’m going.

Journey to a Sequel

My point is that when I wrote my first book 16 years ago, the options and opportunities for sharing – or promotions – were minimal. Of course, big-time authors sold in millions even decades ago. But newbies like me still struggled with only perhaps a cat hell’s chance of making their voices heard. Not so anymore.

The change we’re living through is relentless, a point poignantly made by Dr Reuben Abati, who reviewed the book, and the cross-generational panel of discussants chaired by Professor Abiodun Adeniyi. There is a shortage of resources, especially for young journalists, writers, and content creators, who must adapt well to the changing seasons. This book tries to fill the gap.

That’s one of the reasons why promoting my new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It, has been different. Unlike The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu, which you’ll have to scratch your head to remember if it was ever written and who the author was, this new book has been in your face from day one!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of promoting it – being in front, sharing moments with followers and readers whose feedback, sometimes hilarious, sometimes cryptic, but mostly enthusiastic, has been altogether encouraging. After seeing the promotional videos, some folks have even jokingly asked if I had not missed my career train!

Beyond Nollywood Things

Much of the impact of the promotional tour resonated during the public presentation of the book in Abuja on Wednesday, 26 June – an event that had one of the best collections of professionals and persons from all walks of life. It was conceived, developed, and executed by friends working assiduously in the background with LEADERSHIP and Premium Times Books.

You’ll have to believe me when I say Writing for Media and Monetising It is much more than the stunts and amateur videos. It’s a book written from my heart. The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu is different, not for a shortage of heart but for the nature of the narrative. It’s a snapshot of what, at the time, was an evolving history.

This new book was, to paraphrase Francis Bacon, part of the repayment of the debt to my profession. I wrote this book to give back to the craft that fostered me.

The change we’re living through is relentless, a point poignantly made by Dr Reuben Abati, who reviewed the book, and the cross-generational panel of discussants chaired by Professor Abiodun Adeniyi. There is a shortage of resources, especially for young journalists, writers, and content creators, who must adapt well to the changing seasons. This book tries to fill the gap.

As contained in the statement by PT Books when the book was released, “navigating the exciting maelstrom that the media – and its various iterations or strands of practice – have become.” I couldn’t agree more.

Clear, simple and concise writing is a craft. Writing for Media and Monetising It is not only about such writing. It is also about how to get compensation for it.

One matter that has come up repeatedly, both before and after the presentation, is whether it is possible to “make money” in the media today and, if so, whether that point is sufficiently addressed in the book. Unlike The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu, which tries to capture an evolving attempt to tackle systemic corruption and its inherent challenges, the new book examines the threats and opportunities in the media.

What’s in a Book?

The book provides a step-by-step approach, with many examples and insights on media law, writing for impact, syndication, generative AI, and managing feedback and trolls, among other things.

The unique quality of the book is that it combines the seasons that fostered my career, to borrow from Sonala Olumhense’s blurb, with a narrative of how younger writers can take advantage and be rewarded by evolving trends in the media.

This 15-chapter book also benefits hugely from interviews with some of the best, from Abimbola Adelakun, Fisayo Soyombo to Ruona Meyer, and from Farooq Kperogi, Sam Omatseye to Toyosi Ogunseye, and Pulitzer Prize winner Dele Olojede, who gave an interview for the first time in 13 years.

One matter that has come up repeatedly, both before and after the presentation, is whether it is possible to “make money” in the media today and, if so, whether that point is sufficiently addressed in the book. Unlike The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu, which tries to capture an evolving attempt to tackle systemic corruption and its inherent challenges, the new book examines the threats and opportunities in the media. Even though it focuses on journalists and journalism, its broader scope is how to get reward for literary work, especially in a convergent world.

The Heart of the Matter

The summary of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, was that “The book significantly closes the gap between practice and entrepreneurship – a gap that has impoverished the media industry!” Of course, the media is not the only “victim” of the harsh economic tide.

But the point in Idris’ intervention, amplified by the panel comprising Kadaria Ahmed, Ahmed Shekarau and Emeke Ishiekwene, is also about adaptation and research – metrics that need not only be measured by the quantum of immediate financial gains. Scale, niche and leverage of a content creator’s cultural assets will deliver benefits, ultimately.

So, what next? That was another great question after Wednesday’s presentation. Will it take another 16 years before a sequel? There’s never been a holiday between The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu and Writing for Media and Monetising It. But this work, which greatly benefited from the interviews and resources of great content creators, strongly suggests that to be more, we must challenge ourselves to do more!

Azu Ishiekwene is the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It.

Naija News reports that the two bodies met and commenced meeting today at approximately 4:30 pm at the Education Ministry headquarters in Abuja.

After more than two hours of deliberations, both parties agreed to settle their differences in a peaceful manner to avoid a strike.

The meeting featured the presence of two Education Ministers, Prof. Tahir Mamman and Dr Yusuf Sununu, along with other senior officials from the ministry representing the government’s position.

ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, informed reporters following the meeting that the discussions had just started with hopes that the government would take action on the agreements reached.

“We have discussions on all the issues and we have given assignments to some people to look at and agree on the way forward,” he said.

Speaking on the two-week ultimatum issued by the union, Osodeke said they would go back and give the details of the meeting to their union members.

He said: “What is important is that we have started the process and our prayers is that we resolve it for the interest of our young men and the interest of the nation.

“The government has spent one year in office and we have not been called for any formal meeting. Today we are having the first formal meeting. There is a process we have started and we are going to set deadlines. We are going to meet to look at what has been done on those issues and we hope the process will continue.”

A Lot Of Consultation Will Continue

On his part, Mamman told journalists that consultations would commence immediately to address the lingering challenges in the education sector.

He said: “We’ve had a very good meeting and a very productive one. We’ve discussed progress on how to ensure that the system works well, and lots of the issues we talked about are those that we inherited and some that are ongoing. We discussed them all without exception and we have a consensus on the way forward.

“A lot of consultations will continue on some information we don’t have, which is beyond the scope of the ministry and which will require us to connect with our colleagues in other ministries.

“But the most important thing is that we had a very good meeting and agreed to continue with the consultations to overcome the problems bedevilling education in Nigeria.”

Naija News reports that ASUU had earlier warned that it might launch a country-wide strike due to the federal government’s inability to fulfill its promises.

The union has directed the government to fulfill all pending requests within a fortnight.

Key areas of dispute include being dropped from the IPPIS, redoing the terms of the 2009 agreement between FGN and ASUU, settling all unpaid Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) backlogs, and addressing all outstanding pay issues, among other matters.

[NaijaNews]

Many Nigerians are curious as to why the government has not yet implemented the recommendations of the Oronsaye Report.

There are rumours of political manoeuvring and lobbying by some powerful individuals who stand to lose from the proposed merger of ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs).

Others speculate that the government may face logistical and financial challenges in the mergers. However, the delay is causing anxiety among civil servants and citizens alike, who are eager to see a leaner and more efficient government.

They say the government must provide clear and transparent communication on the progress of the mergers and address any concerns or obstacles hindering the implementation.

LEADERSHIP reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the merging, scrapping, and subsuming of some MDAs  in February this year in line with its policy of reducing the cost of governance.

The president’s special adviser on policy coordination, Hajiya Hadiza Bala-Usman, said the decision was based on the Steve Oronsaye Report on Civil Service Reforms inaugurated under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2014.

According to the report, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria will be merged with the Voice of Nigeria, while the National Commission for Museum and Monuments will be merged with the National Gallery of Acts.

The National Theatre will merge with the National Troupe of Nigeria, while the National Meteorological Development Centre will merge with the National Meteorological Training Institute.

National Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) is to be merged with the Centre for Disease Control in the Federal Ministry of Health, while National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is to be merged with the National Commission for Refugee Migration and Internally Displaced Persons.

The Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa will be merged with the Directorate of Technical Aid to function as a department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission is to be merged with the Bureau for Public Enterprises. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission will merge with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, while the National Agency for Science and Technology and Science and Engineering Infrastructure will merge with the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation and the Project Development Institute.

The special adviser further revealed that the National Biotechnology Development Agency will be merged with the National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology, while the National Institute for Leather Science Technology will be merged with the National Institute for Chemical Technology.

The Nomadic Education Commission will merge with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education, and Non-formal Education.

The Nigerian Army University will be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy to function as a faculty within the latter.

Similarly, the Air Force Institute of Technology also will be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy to function as the faculty of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

The Border Communities Development Agency will be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission.

The National Salaries Income and Wages Commission is to be subsumed into the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission while the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution is to be subsumed under the Institute for International Affairs.

The Public Complaints Commission is to be subsumed under the National Human Rights Commission while the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis is to be subsumed into the Institute for Veterinary Research.

On the agencies to be relocated, Hadiza Bala Usman said the Niger Delta Power Holding Company is to be relocated to the Ministry of Power while the National Agricultural Land Development Agency will be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

Meanwhile, a director in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, who pleaded anonymity while speaking on the expiration of the 12 weeks given to the presidential committee to develop a workable plan for implementing the merger of MDAs, said it was wise to give the committee this week to see what they will come out with, since the deadline just expired.

Responding on whether he was aware of the preparedness of the MDAs for the merger, he said the Office of the Head of Service does not have such information, and that it is the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation that is in charge of the merger because MDAs are under the SGF, not the Head of Service.

“The 12 weeks given to the presidential committee to implement the merger just expired, and today is Monday; you people should be patient and hold forth. Let us see what this week brings out. It is too early to ask what is happening.

“On if the MDAs are prepared, I would not know how prepared they are, because MDAs are under the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. They are in charge of parastatals, not the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation,” he said.

[Leadership]

The Debt Management Office (DMO) Wednesday clarified that Nigeria’s fresh borrowing was N7.71 trillion in the first quarter of 2024.

It explained that the fresh borrowing includes N2.81 trillion as part of the new domestic borrowing of N6.06 trillion provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act and N4.90 trillion as part of the securitization of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances approved by the National Assembly.

The DMO made the clarification in a statement titled, “Explaining the Q1 2024 Public Debt Data,” saying the N24.33 trillion increase in the total debt was a result of a combination of fresh borrowing and naira devaluation.

The DMO noted that the exchange rate shifted from N899.39/$1 in Q4 2023 to N1,330.26/$1 in Q1 2024 which represents a depreciation of 32.39%, causing the naira value of external debt to rise sharply despite the actual dollar-denominated debt remaining relatively stable.

In Q1 2024, the total public debt in naira terms stood at N121.67 trillion, up from N97.34 trillion in Q4 2023.

The DMO explained that while the total external debt stock remained almost flat in dollar terms, the naira value surged due to the devaluation.

Since about N7.71 trillion was fresh borrowing, it means that about N16.62 trillion increase in total debt was due to naira devaluation.

This N16.62 trillion increase, combined with new domestic borrowing of N7.71 trillion, accounts for the total spike in Nigeria’s public debt stock.

The statement read: “Returning to the trend in the Total Debt Data between Q4, 2023, and Q1, 2024, the increase in Naira Terms of N24.33 trillion is being misinterpreted as New Borrowing. The amount actually represents New Borrowing of N2.81 trillion as part of the New Domestic Borrowing of N6.06 trillion provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act, New Domestic Borrowing of N4.90 trillion as part of the securitization of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances approved by the National Assembly, as well as, the depreciation in the official Naira Exchange Rate from USD/899.39 in Q4, 2023 to USD/N1,330.26 in Q1, 2024.

“Consequently, whereas, the Total External Debt Stock was relatively flat at USD42.50 billion and USD42.12 billion in Q4, 2023, and Q1, 2024 respectively, the Naira values were significantly different at N38.22 trillion and N56.02 trillion respectively, representing a difference of N17.8 trillion. This explains the perceived sharp increase of N24.33 trillion in the Total Debt Stock in Q1, 2024. The difference in the Exchange Rate for the two (2) periods also explains why in US Dollar Terms, the Total Debt Stock actually declined in Q1, 2024 (USD91.46 billion) when compared to Q4, 2023 (USD97.34 billion).”

[DailyTrust]

Yoruba people have a proverb that translates, “When a youth stumbles, they look ahead; when an elderly stumbles, they look backwards.” As a child, I thought the proverb was talking about how children and elders contrarily process the embarrassment of falling in public. I assumed that an elder looks backwards when they fall because it would be too shameful to look elsewhere. Growing older helped me appreciate the wisdom the proverb encodes. The youth and the elderly look in opposite directions when they miss their footing to draw upon sources of wisdom available to them.

Foundering during one’s youth is a chance to look ahead and learn from the experiences of those who have walked a similar path. There is always someone ahead whose wisdom, insight, and experience one can readily call upon. An elder looks behind them to review their stumble because they are expected to have accrued enough experience to reflect and make amends.

 When President Bola Tinubu fell on his face during the Democracy Day celebrations, I briefly wondered what the Yoruba in their wisdom had to say about the direction an elderly president looks when they lose their balance.

What happened to Tinubu was, of course, a physical fall and not the metaphorical one that the proverb reflected on. Yet, tripping up on Democracy Day of all days— especially for a man who boasts he helped fight military dictatorship—symbolises his presidency more than anything else. He is a faltering leader, and I want to believe that even he knows that this presidency of a thing is way beyond his much-vaunted abilities. Forget the repeated excuse of him inheriting a bad situation (every president since 1999 has said the same anyway), this man has confronted a situation whose scale neither his administrative abilities nor the propaganda machine that propagated his managerial capabilities can possibly sustain. His second year as president has started counting, but his leadership remains as unexciting as it was on Day One.

I observed two sets of responses to Tinubu’s fall. Younger people, especially those with social media accounts, thought it was funny and were quick to restage the moment he slipped in many satirical skits that instantly flooded social media. Given the anonymity social media platforms offer, the moral accountability and cultural codes of respect that would otherwise restrain us from laughing at the pitiable sight of an old man falling down are far looser. When you are young and vibrant, I suppose an old person whose body has succumbed to the will of nature can be a comic spectacle. Even if it occurs to you that you could one day end up the same way, the possibility will still be so remote that you could laugh.

Older people, especially those closer to the generation of the president, did not think his tripping over was funny. Not only did they demonstrate a fellow feeling for the president, but they were also mortified by the irreverence of youths laughing at an elder. Despite the justified criticisms, I do not see the satirists as lacking either empathy or even good manners. The man who stumbled on Democracy Day was no random elder but a political figure already despised by a younger generation for everything he represents. Few things in life can possibly be as delightful as the irony of a person who sells their soul to acquire invincible political power losing their physical balance. It was the same reason the internet went wild when former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe tripped and fell on a red carpet in 2015.

Perhaps because I am caught between the older and younger generations, I am ambivalent at the sight of a president falling on his face. When you have seen videos of people falling on the road out of the hunger Tinubu’s policies induced, his awkward situation loses even its schadenfreude worth. Even if you want to laugh, you are reminded that millions of us are only divine grace away from collapsing either due to hunger or the stress of living in Nigeria under his leadership. Nigeria is tough at the moment; so tough that survival is a traumatising sport.

Things have reached the point where everyone is advising everyone to take to farming. On the surface, this looks like a wise counsel but it is a non-solution. How is a country supposed to survive the real challenges of the 21st century when the majority of its citizens resort to subsistence farming just to alleviate hunger? Would they also need to take up animal husbandry to meet other dietary needs? Given how much agricultural produce Nigeria wastes every year due to the broken value chain of agriculture, our troubles are not food shortages. There is food, but the majority of us just lack purchasing power. Give it a maximum of one year, and it will eventually dawn on the proponents of mass farming that the agricultural practices that led to what is called “food security” in richer nations have long gone beyond the pre-modern planting methods we are being encouraged to take up in 2024.

Tinubu himself was embarrassed by the Democracy Day fall given how he tried to ameliorate the embarrassment with a joke as soon as he got the chance. For him to have alluded to the pillorying he received on social media, he must have been self-conscious about it. What I truly wonder is the nature of his shame: that he fell on his face or that the physical fall metaphorises his presidency? Tinubu’s reaction to his own stumble brings me back to the earlier question: when a president stumbles, in which direction is he supposed to look? I suppose a quick retort will be that a wobbly old person like him should look into their past to draw the necessary wisdom to process their fall.

Trouble is, which past would a man with Tinubu’s history be looking into? His past is pretty recent. Virtually every biographical detail about the man pre-1999 (family history, educational path, and even career trajectory) when he became the Lagos governor is under contention. The rest is so enshrouded in overlapping scandals that he is one president who will probably never be able to launch his autobiography. Whatever he has to say about himself (or his biographers’ document) will instantly be investigated by the online sleuths who, with their access to a world wide web of information, will puncture through the façade.

If his pre-1999 life is draped in the mystery of who he truly is and the road that brought him here, his personal history that unfolded after he became governor is no less fabricated. His alleged leadership record, wildly celebrated by a band of hired intellectuals and professional sycophants, has been a hyperbolic celebration of what is essentially mediocre leadership. His praise singers drummed him up and trumpeted his praises to Aso Rock. Now that he is up there, it turns out there is very little quality in his past that he can draw on to salvage Nigeria.

He is not stumbling because Nigeria is a difficult state to administer. No, he is falling because he was promoted beyond the degree of what suffices as his past—his administrative record, experience, and leadership sagacity—can sustain. The incoherence and lack of coordination in his government give him away as a man who has subsisted on propaganda rather than a true achiever.

So, here we are, stuck with a stumbling president who is too old to look in the forward direction and has very little in his past to call upon at a crucial juncture in the life of the nation. Without the benefit of a past and a future, the best he can do is to look lost.

Georgia stunned former champions Portugal 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the knockout stage at Euro 2024 —- their first-ever major tournament.

The match was settled by an early Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strike and a Georges Mikautadze penalty kick.

The win, albeit against a largely second-string Portugal who had already made it into the next round, represented the greatest result for Georgia.

This was since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. 

But there was nothing undeserved about the way Willy Sagnol, a former Bayern Munich and France defender, and his side claimed a third-place finish in the tournament’s Group F.

It was a win that had now set them up for a last-16 meeting with three-time Euro winners Spain.

Georgia’s win also means that England will line up against Slovakia, Romania take on Netherlands and Portugal face Slovenia in the round of 16.

Hungary, who had been in contention for a spot in the next round, were edged out.

The tournament debutants took the lead in the second minute when Kvaratskhelia, the Napoli winger, raced away after a careless pass by Antonio Silva.

He then powered a low shot past Diogo Costa in Portugal’s goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo —- one of only three starters for Portugal who also played in their 3-0 win over Turkey on Saturday —- stretched and strained for every ball.

This was as he sought to become the oldest goal scorer at a Euro tournament at the age of 39.

But Georgia defended as if their lives depended upon it and sought to catch Portugal on the break.

In the 53rd minute, Silva compounded his earlier error by committing a foul in the penalty box which led to an award of a penalty kick after a VAR check.

Mikautadze, who had provided the pass for Kvaratskhelia to open the scoring early on, steered his kick past Costa, making him the top scorer at Euro 2024 so far with three goals.

Ronaldo was booked in the first half for arguing and he cut a frustrated figure when he was substituted after the break, kicking out at a water bottle.

Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili made late saves to keep Portugal at bay in the final minutes.

At full-time, Georgia’s squad and coaching staff sprinted onto the field to celebrate in front of thousands of their fans.

Reuters/NAN

IN his 1961 book, The Theatre of the Absurd, Martin Julius Esslin, a Hungarian-born British journalist and professor of drama, lamented what he called absurdism, “the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose.”

Esslin, who died in London, United Kingdom on February 24, 2002, aged 83 years, couldn’t have had the oil-rich state of Rivers, Nigeria, in mind when he wrote his famed book 63 years ago.

But nothing captures the state of affairs in Rivers State today more profoundly than Esslin’s “theatre of the absurd”.

What manner of democracy is this where one man captures an entire state and all citizens become mere pawns on his political chess board?

Adept at self-deceit, on June 12, the Federal Government rolled out the drums in celebration of democracy. At the end of the day, it amounted to idolisation and deification of the powers that be with the unveiling of a large painting portrait of President Bola Tinubu at the Eagle Square, Abuja, touted as a message of hope for Nigerians and the African continent.

How a painting, even if it is the world’s largest painting portrait on a canvas as claimed by the promoters could translate to a message of hope for Nigerians and the African continent beggars belief. But it is typical of the theatrics of the new kids on Nigeria’s power bloc and the country’s descent into the odious valley of hero-worshipping. But I digress.

Back to Rivers State where the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, would rather let the state he ruled with iron-hand for eight years burn than let go his “structure of criminality,” apologies to Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, be dismantled.

But dismantled, the structure must be, if the state will have any fair chance of breathing and making any appreciable progress. And this is not about Governor Siminalayi Fubara but the health of the country’s much-abused democracy and public good.

Truth be told, no one captures a state in the manner Nigerian politicians are doing and use same in promoting public good. It can only be for self-serving purposes and that is exactly what has happened in Rivers State.

This week, Rivers is burning and grenades are exploding, a very dangerous dimension to the lingering political crisis just because local government chairmen whose three-year tenure expired recently are refusing to gracefully bow out.

And they are demonstrating unchallenged because the police that had earlier warned against such public nuisance are looking the other way all because they don’t want Wike’s structure to be dismantled.

Like the axiomatic tortoise on a senseless journey, which said it will not return until it has been thoroughly disgraced, the former chairmen are spoiling for a war in defence of their godfather’s political structure.

Explaining what he did at a New Year luncheon in his country home, Rumueprikom, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on Sunday, January 7, 2024, Wike said: “Those who open their mouths to talk don’t know anything. I was the one who paid for the forms for anybody who wanted to run for elections as governor, House of Assembly and National Assembly. Let one person raise his hand and say he bought forms.”

Nobody disputed his narrative because it is true. He also mentioned those who were at the meeting where he unilaterally took the decision to include 71-year-old Chief Onueze Chukwujinka Joe (OCJ) Okocha, OFR, SAN, JP, DSSRS, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, life member of the Body of Benchers, former member of the National Judicial Council, NJC, and one-time Chairman of the Council of Legal Education; 72-year-old Sergeant Chidi Awuse, traditional ruler of Emuoha Kingdom and chairman of Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council; and 65-year-old Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia, a senior lawyer who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 after obtaining a Masters Degree in International Law, LLM, from the University of Hull, England and former governor of Rivers State, who was already Commissioner for Education in 1992 when 56-year-old Wike was an undergraduate at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.

Apparently, none of them saw anything wrong in the idea of a democracy where only one man usurps the role of the people in deciding who governs them.  

Boasting about how he single-handedly made Fubara governor, Wike thumped his chest: “If I had wanted another person, nobody would have stopped me. Nobody had what it takes to even be near me… If I wanted an Ikwerre man, nobody would have stopped me.”

This is not the language of democracy which is a government where people exercise the power of deciding who governs them.

Granted, godfatherism is a global phenomenon. But godfathers elsewhere use their personal resources to influence, not dictate, electoral outcomes. They support their preferred candidates by throwing their considerable weight behind them using moral suasion but they don’t foreclose competition because the ultimate decision lies with the people.

But here, those who have never worked anywhere else other than in government, corner the resources of the state entrusted in their care for the promotion of common good and use same to subjugate the people.

Take the case of Wike, for instance. He had barely graduated from the Nigeria Law School where he proceeded to in 1997 after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in law from Rivers State University of Technology before he became chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area in 1999. In 2007, he was appointed chief of staff to Governor Rotimi Amaechi and in July 2011, he became Minister of State for Education under the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, substantive Minister of Education in September 2013 and ultimately two-term governor of Rivers from 2015.

There is no evidence that he inherited any family fortune that would account for the wealth he is using to finance the structure that has become a problem for Rivers State.

Yet, as at the time Wike left Port Harcourt for Abuja to assume duty as the Federal Capital Territory Minister, the entire Rivers political superstructure that included governor, state lawmakers, federal lawmakers, judiciary, local government chairmen and council of traditional rulers, was in his pocket.

As it were, his godson, Fubara, was supposed to be in government, a mere figurehead, while he will be wielding the ultimate power from Abuja.

But there is no perfect crime. Wike didn’t realise that the man he thought would be the strongest link in that conspiratorial chain of state capture, Fubara, would fall through the cracks sooner than later and the minister is battling to reconfigure his political structure, which he has vowed not to surrender.

The people must ensure that that does not happen. For Rivers to survive, Wike’s political structure must be dismantled because it is not for the common good. The structure was set up in order for someone to maintain a vice grip on the resources of the state for personal aggrandisement and to service political loyalty.

The quarrel between Wike and Fubara is a divine intervention and the people cannot afford to sit on the fence. It is not going to be an easy battle because a lot is at stake but that is one battle that the people of Rivers must win and decisively too.

But beyond Rivers, Nigerians must fight against this cancer of malevolent godfatherism and culture of state capture, without which this democracy is doomed. Freedom does not come cheap. It has a price, which in the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson, philosopher, statesman, U.S. Founding Father, who served as the third president, is “eternal vigilance.”

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has alleged that the failed attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Hotel Presidential, a five-star hotel in Port Harcourt, was a deliberate ploy to strengthen the call for a state of emergency by haters, who want to undermine the state to achieve their evil plans.

He clarified that he was not fighting anybody but rather defending the state against predators and protecting Rivers state against those who feel that they own the lives of others.

Meanwhile, the prime suspect in the failed detonation of the alleged explosive device outside the perimeter fence of Hotel Presidential, during a protest on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, has been nabbed, revived and is now receiving intensive care at the State University Teaching Hospital.

This came as the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, warned politicians in Rivers State to shun violence and prevent the current political crisis from escalating, stressing that such a situation would work against the interest of the state.

In another development, a faction of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state has expressed concern over the possibility of an outbreak of guerilla warfare.

Governor Fubara, when he received on a courtesy visit, a delegation of the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Orji Kalu, to Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said: “As a matter of fact, let me tell you, I know of everything that is happening. On Tuesday, they (protesters) were aware that you are in the state. So, there was an attempt to create serious problem.

“In fact, there was a plan to detonate dynamite at the Hotel Presidential because you people were there. But this God that we serve, it happened that the man, who was trying to do it, detonated it but just few seconds after, it blew his hands off.

“The plan was that as you were hearing of state of emergency, it will be such that by the time they finish, when you return to have your sitting on Thursday, the debate will be from somebody from this state, who called you to tell you not to come to Rivers State. He will now raise issue of state of emergency, and say after all, distinguished colleagues saw it happen while they were in Rivers State, that you saw what happened.

“But you see, when you are with God, even your child who is planning evil, will go and tell somebody that God is with this man because he is clean, this is what my father is planning. That is what is keeping us in this state.”

He wondered why it seemed that the law was silent or inactive to take its course over offenders as somebody appeared to be bigger than the law on the agitation, but there is nowhere in the country where tenure elongation for former local government chairmen has been an issue.

He pointed out that no governor in Nigeria can take 10 per cent of the abuse rained on him by former local government council chairmen.

Fubara said he had taken those insults and attacks in his strides without going hard on the purveyors because they planned to distract him, stressing that he had remained focused on delivering good governance and democratic dividends to Rivers people.

In his address, Chairman, of the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Senator Kalu, said they were in Rivers State to carry out oversight duties on some projects under their purview.
Kalu, who is the member representing Abia North senatorial district, commended Fubara for his love for peace, determination to offer quality governance and keep pace with providing the right climate to engender economic growth to all residents in the state.

The Senate committee chairman also urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to shealth the sword, and call his supporters to order as a commitment to fostering peace and putting the interest of the State above all considerations.

Prime suspect of explosion nabbed

Tuesday, a middle-aged man, yet to be named had blown up himself during a protest by some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in support of police occupation of the 23 local government area secretariats over the LGA leadership crisis in the state.

It was alleged that the suspect was among the protesters and that he had the suspected dynamite that went off in his hand.

It was gathered that the dynamite had exploded and shattered his hand as well causing panic in in the area.

According a source, Obinna (surname withheld) said the suspect was whisked away by other protesters as security agents trooped to the location where the explosion happened.

At press time, the Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, who did not deny the report, had said she was yet to find out the full details of what transpired but promised to get by to our correspondent later.

But, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Olatunji Disu, while appearing on a television programme monitored in Port Harcourt, confirmed that a young man blew up himself with an explosive, noting that investigations were still on into development.

However, police have mounted tight security around the RSUTH with a mandate to secure law-abiding citizens, and particularly patients and staff of the facility.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh, said on getting information of the incident, the state government immediately alerted the Ministry of Health and all medical facilities in the state to be on the lookout for the patient(s) with suspected injuries arising from blasts.

Oreh said the severely injured patient was brought into the facility by some persons, who claimed that he was taken from a road traffic accident scene, adding that on close observation, it was discovered that the injuries were not related to any road traffic accident.

Oreh said the management of RSUTH and the state government were working in collaboration with the Police which has been duly notified and already playing its role in investigating the incident and the suspect.

MOSOP warns against violence, demands respect for rule of law

President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, who issued the warning in a statement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, also condemned calls for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state, noting that the situation in Rivers can be resolved if politicians respect the court and the constitution.

Nsuke said it was the constitutional duty of Rivers people to defend the state, by refusing to be tools for violence and by cooperating with the relevant security agencies to ensure that peace was maintained through “a strategic and honest management” of the crisis.

The MOSOP president urged the feuding camps to show maturity and decency in the interest of peace and stability and commended Rivers people, the police and other security agencies for preventing the crisis from escalation and bloodshed.

APC faction worries over guerilla warfare in Rivers

The party said the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday at the Hotel Presidential axis of Port Harcourt was worrisome, adding that the protest was organised against all advice and caution by a political group.

A statement by Darlington Nwauju, spokesman of the APC faction, yesterday, said: “The protests appear to be orchestrated and stage-managed to justify their call for state of emergency, even where no such situation ordinarily exists.

“We are miffed by the deployment of guerrilla warfare to our polity and wonder why this ugly narrative must always headline political activities in Rivers State.

“Regrettably, this shameful and unfortunate incident reminds us of the January 19, 2023, bombing of the APC campaign venue at Rumuwoji town hall, another suburb of Port Harcourt, which left six APC members injured, and all the signs point to the same group, which seem to have the privilege of getting away with whatever violent crime they launched.

“We challenge Police authorities in Rivers State to rise to the occasion this time by quizzing sponsors/leaders of the protest of June 25, 2024, who are not only known political honchos, but apostles and sympathisers of the call for a state of emergency in Rivers State.

“They seem to apply the notion that whatever you can’t get you destroy. Their modus operandi, which is now common knowledge, is that whatever they want to launch, they first raise public outcry and point fingers to the opposite direction to deceive the public.”

[Vanguard]

Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north, says he will work with his colleagues in the red chamber to seek President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the political crisis in Rivers state.

Kalu spoke on Wednesday when he led a delegation of the senate committee on privatisation and commercialisation on a visit to Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers.

Rivers is engulfed in a political crisis over a power tussle between Fubara and Nyesom Wike, his successor, who is now the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

During the visit, Kalu said Fubara and Wike needed to end their feud to avert anarchy in the state.

“We should not derail democracy; we should support democracy because democracy needs to be supported. If we don’t support democracy, democracy will collapse,” he said.

“So, I would like to plead with you and the former governor that you people should take the interests of your people foremost in your hearts.

“Continue to be holding your people, because if your people demonstrate like other people, we will have a state of anarchy, and it’s not good to have anarchy.

“Few of us here have access to President Bola Tinubu, and we are also going to plead with him seriously to see how we can shorten everything happening here.”

In his remarks, Fubara said he is not to blame for the political crisis in Rivers.

“We should be bold enough to look at the faces of people to tell them the truth,” he said.

“I am not fighting anybody; if I am fighting, people will know, and my pattern will change.

“What we are doing is to defend ourselves. We can’t just fold our hands. It is only a tree that will be standing, only for some to come and chop it off.”

In October 2023, Tinubu intervened in the political feud, facilitating the signing of a peace pact agreement by both parties involved.

However, hostilities have continued between the governor and his predecessor as well as their supporters.

[TheCable]