It’s nothing to laugh off, however tempting. If the movies imitate life, we may not be as far away from an African pope. It happened in The Conclave, a film by Peter Straughan released in 2024, based on the novel by Robert Harris.

Through the intrigues, rivalries and scandals of the plot, Adeyemi, a Nigerian cardinal at the Conclave, almost emerged as pope before a contestant snookered him with the scandalous love story involving him and a nun, Shanumi, who had a child for him while he was 39 and she was 19. 

If the plot sounds like something from the fertile imagination of the movie director, a Nigerian, Arinze Cardinal, came close to claiming the papacy in 2005. Arinze didn’t miss it because of any scandals. Once the youngest Catholic bishop in the world, he was judged not just as one of Africa’s best but also as a global theological legend. Still, he was a nearly pope.

Banking on hope

That was two decades ago, when the papacy was a relay amongst a few European countries, with Italy claiming the lion’s share of 217. Pope Francis was the first Jesuit and cardinal from the Americas to rise to the top of the papacy, raising hopes that the next one may come from Africa or Asia.

This hope is not based solely on legend. Africa is the fastest-growing region for the Catholic Church, with about 20 percent of the church’s 1.4 billion population. This demographic shift has spurred optimism that, after the Americas, Africa or Asia could produce the next pope, and better if he is the first Black pope in modern history.

What does it mean for Africa?

An African pope will inspire faith across the continent, demonstrating that, when it matters, the church casts its vote where its mouth is. Papal historians say that some early popes were from North Africa, citing Victor I, Miltiades I, and Gelasius I, from Roman-era Africa.

But Africans are unwilling to exhume the tombs of papal history going back to the 5^th century for the remains of the last Black pope. They argue, for example, that if grace is the leveller, the rock upon which Peter’s Church is built, the baton of its highest office cannot be made to look like the exclusive right of three European countries – Italy, Germany and France.

An African pope might be the most unambiguous indication yet that the Catholic Church might be inclined to continue with the legacy of Pope Francis, especially his advocacy for the poor, marginalised, and developing countries. And perhaps more than any time in the recent past, Africa has a solid lineup at this year’s Conclave.

The lineup

OK, only a few bookmakers are betting on any of the 18 African cardinals in Rome. Most forecasts put their chances at 14 percent or less. Yet, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Côte d’Ivoire are among the best crop you can find anywhere in the world.

The least favoured African candidate, Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea, is not because of competence. He is a risky candidate because of his age (79, three years older than when Francis assumed the papacy) and his conservative views. His position on various issues, from LGBTQ rights to the exclusive use of Latin for the liturgy, puts him at odds with most European electors.

Stars not enough

Despite its bright stars, why does Africa still appear unlikely to get the number one spot? Cardinal Sarah’s dilemma – his mainly conservative views – reflects not only the sentiment amongst the other 17 cardinals and the predominant position of the 281 million faithful on the continent, this conservatism also impairs the chances of the African cardinals.

The beggar church

Yet, conservatism is only one of the many obstacles. The African church may have the fastest-growing flock, but it is also the begging bowl. In a world where money is the bicycle of the gospel, the African church is the largest recipient of many forms of financial aid. Although the irony is less rampant among the Catholic church than it is among Pentecostals, Africa has some of the world’s richest Forbes-worthy pastors in contrast to the majority of the poor flock.

According to one statistic, at 32.6 percent between 2020 and 2023, the African Catholic church received the largest assistance per region from the Catholic Charity Aid. Compare this with the German national church, for example, which has $26 billion of the net assets of the Church.

Some also argue that African cardinals have limited chances because they have faced less scrutiny. An article published by www.devdiscourse.com on April 22 acknowledged that even though a figure like Cardinal Turkson has emerged as a potential candidate, “Vatican insiders highlight the lack of public scrutiny by African contenders compared to their Western counterparts, potentially complicating their candidacy.”

Conclave politics

Yet, others say politics may be the most potent obstacle against African candidacy, reminiscent of the deadly secret plots in Straughan’s movie once the doors in the Domus Santa Martha were shuttered and millions of the faithful waited outside the Sistine Chapel to see the white smoke and the face of the new pontiff.

It won’t take very long to find out. Pope Francis wanted his successor elected within two weeks of his death. It used to take much longer. In The Conclave, for example, which spiked 283 percent across streaming platforms in one day from 1.8 million to 6.9 million, it took five votes over an unspecified period to elect the cardinal from Kabul, Cardinal Benitez.

The longest papal conclave after the death of Pope Clement IV lasted almost three years, from November 1268 to September 1, 1271, after which Pope Gregory X was elected.

Long road to change

For the pontificate and the faithful, it’s been a long road since. The Catholic Church has evolved from its medieval conflicts, reformation and counter-reformation through seasons of loss of power.

While books like In God’s Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I by David A. Yallop highlight the tragedy of an institution endangered by internal corruption and fierce power play, the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown explores the grip and fascination of theological myth over the faithful and even millions of non-believers.

Yet the encyclicals of Pope Francis, his willingness to confront dogma with doubt and creed with charity, show the extent of introspection and modernisation in the Church. As the world waits for the white smoke from the Conclave, those who hope these changes may be so profound as to produce an African pope may have to wait a bit longer. Perhaps a sequel to Straughan’s movie would be the sign.

The odds, this time, favour yet another Italian pope.

Long before the late Sergei Mavrodi arrived on the Nigerian financial scene in November 2015 with his MMM pyramid scheme, his reputation as an international fraudster preceded him. As far back as 2007, Mavrodi had been convicted in Russia for defrauding 10,000 investors. But somehow, he survived brushes with the law over sharp practices to go global with a Ponzi scheme that promised 3,000 percent ‘return on investment’ after upending the savings of more than a few people in his country. With such tantalising promise, it came as no surprise that Mavrodi would hit the jackpot in Nigeria where too many citizens are looking for ‘miracle money’.

Unfortunately, by December 2016, the scam had unravelled, leaving about three million Nigerians holding the wrong end of the candle just days before Christmas. “What is the scam here, if all members are warned in advance about all the risks, the possible and impossible ones?” an unrepentant Mavrodi asked in a letter he posted on the page for swindled participants of the scheme but addressed to then President Muhammadu Buhari. “They know there are no investments at all. The warning is a red text on a yellow background placed on the most prominent place of the website.”

Following that misadventure, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned Nigerians about patronizing Ponzi schemes. SEC listed a few of these ventures to include Now-Now Alert, Flip Cash Investment, Result Investment Nigeria Limited, Helping Hand and Investment, No Failure Development and Empowerment Nigeria Ltd, and several others. Despite the warning, patronage for these Ponzi schemes only increased. A few of them also devised a clever way to legitimise their businesses: They boycotted industry regulator, SEC, and secured certificates of registration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). That became the tool for deceiving the unwary.

The latest of these ‘businesses’ is Crypto Bridge Exchange otherwise called CBEX which has scammed our people to the tune of more than a trillion Naira, going by most reports. Registered with the Corporate Affairs (CAC) last September, its EFCC certificate was obtained in January this year. Because they do their businesses online, it is easy for most of these crooks to evade accountability, but it is also obvious that they have collaborators within the system. It is important that they be identified and brought to justice.

Meanwhile, I have read the lamentation of several of the victims, but they have only themselves to blame. The Yoruba people have a way of putting this: “Ẹni ńwá’fà ńw’ófò.” Crudely translated, it means financial deals that are too good to be true most often end in tears. Perhaps the United States SEC definition of Ponzi schemes would be more useful. “A kind of pyramid scheme that operates on the ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ principle,” the US commission explains. “With the promise of large returns as bait, the fraudster takes in money from new investors and uses it to pay off the earlier investors until no more new recruits can be found and the whole scheme collapses, with the newest investors losing everything.”

It is easy for all kinds of dubious businesspeople to prey on the greed and ignorance of gullible Nigerians. That is because the virtual collapse of the moral frame of our government mirrors other fractures in our society. There is also a way in which we can connect this to the get-rich-by-any-means mentality that is at the heart of the activities of ritualists as captured in my column of last week. Incidentally, I received several mails on that column but one stood out for me. It is from a young man, Oluwafisayo Agbolabori. He highlighted several things that are often ascribed to ‘miracles’ by many Church leaders in Nigeria in a manner that absolves people of their responsibilities. “At the individual level, such ‘miracles’ corrupt the minds of the gullible into thinking that there is an ‘invisible hand’ somewhere that could change N3,000 to N3,000,000,” he wrote. “As a Christian, I strongly believe in miracles. But my point is this: Instead of sharing these ‘miracles’ that, at best, can’t be replicated by most of our people, the clerics can share the potency (miracle) of self audit, hard work, self reliance etc…”

I agree with Oluwafisayo. The mentality that stupendous wealth could be ‘created’ outside productivity or credible investment also explains why promoters of Ponzi schemes continue to thrive. But the real enablers are the regulatory institutions whose certificates assist these crooks in their nefarious activities. That is where the real inquisition should begin on this matter.

Francis, The Exemplary Pope
Whether you are a Pentecostal or a Catholic, there is something about the Papacy that makes almost every occupant a unifying force for Christians. But in the death of Pope Francis, just as it was with Pope John Paul II in 2005, there is a sense of universal grief. Whatever misgivings anybody had about some of his positions on contemporary issues, Pope Francis was a genuine shepherd who preached love and tolerance in a world where hate and bigotry have become the defining ethos. “Pope Francis will long be remembered for his outreach to those on the margins of the Church and of society,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

From his humble background as a chemical technician and bouncer in his early life, to Bishop in his native country of Argentina, Pope Francis preached social justice for all humanity. He emphasized that clerics must be like medics in a “field hospital” attending to people where they are. And he demonstrated uncommon humility throughout his life and ministry. For instance, in an unprecedented gesture to make the notorious warlord rivals of South Sudan embrace peace, he kissed their feet one by one at the Vatican, after organizing a spiritual retreat for them in April 2019.

There is hardly any worthy social cause that the late Pope did not endorse. On immigration, he tasked leaders to erect bridges and not walls and he supported the campaign on the sustainability of our environment. “The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face,” Pope Francis wrote in his famous ‘Laudato Si’ delivered in 2015 while advocating “a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature.” 

But perhaps the most controversial legacy of Pope Francis was his taking sides with the marginalised communities in every sphere of life by preaching inclusivity. On that score, he challenged doctrinal orthodoxy on the LGBTQ issue with his famous refrain, “Who am I to judge?” on matters of faith and sexual choices. It was not a popular position even among the Catholics, to put it mildly. Within the Pentecostal family, it was almost an anathema.

As I write this piece, I received a forwarded message. After reading it twice, I felt it perhaps sums up the message Pope Francis was trying to pass to some of us who could not understand him. Almost as if the sender was reading my thoughts, she followed up with a terse message: “It’s easy to be judgemental. The late Pope is a shining example of how NOT to be. A sad loss.” I was shocked that the message reflected exactly what I was thinking at the time.

On reflection, it couldn’t have been an accident that Pope Francis died on Easter Monday. “There are three virtues that the world still needs — faith, hope and love,” King Charles of England wrote in his Easter message last weekend. “And the greatest of these is love”. Yet, to love means we must embrace and respect others even when we disagree with their choices. Therefore, to those whose knowledge of the Bible is restricted to what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, Pope Francis is reminding us that there is also Psalm 130 verse 3 in the same Bible: “Lord, if you kept record of our sins, O LORD, who could stand?”

Now, to the WhatsApp message. Like all such messages, nobody knows the original writer, but here it goes, though slightly abridged:

I chuckled the first time I came across the phrase, “Until you have money to finance your temptations, don’t brag about morals. Too much is hidden in poverty.” It peeled back the comfortable layers of ‘self-righteousness’ we often wear and exposed an uncomfortable truth: that what we sometimes call morality may, in fact, be a privilege of limited options. It reminded me of another saying: “You call it corruption – until it comes your way. Then you’ll call it connections. And if you’re religious, you might even call it grace.”

In our moral superiority, we mistake the absence of opportunity for strength of character. And in doing so, we judge others through a lens clouded by comfort, detachment, and unchecked privilege. It’s easy to seem disciplined when nothing desirable is within reach. Easy to appear loyal when there’s no better offer on the table. Easy to claim honesty when a lie has never promised to save you. And so, we stand on our ‘safe little hills’ of assumed virtue, pointing fingers at those who fall—never pausing to ask whether we’d have done any better in their place. Maybe we haven’t resisted as much as we think. Perhaps we’ve just never been offered the shortcut.

This isn’t to romanticize failure or excuse poor choices. It’s not to say wrong becomes right if it’s understandable. No. It’s a call to humility. A reminder that judgment without context isn’t strength. It’s easy to judge others simply because they sin differently than you. It’s easy …to scoff at the one who compromised – until your own values are tested not in theory, but in fire. And when that ‘fire’ comes – and it does come – you begin to understand that real morality is quiet. It’s forged in private. And it costs.

We shouldn’t glorify mistakes or blur the line between right and wrong. But we must stop weaponizing virtue. Because morality isn’t proven by the absence of failure. It’s revealed in the presence of options. It’s folly to assume we’re better simply because we haven’t faced the same storms. Life has a funny way of humbling people. The very thing you once judged may become the thing you one day understand. And when that moment comes, may you be met with compassion – not condemnation. We’re all human. All learning. All navigating the chaos of life with the tools we’ve been given, in stories the world may never fully know. So, hold your standards high – but hold your heart higher. Speak truth—but season it with tenderness. And let your integrity be the kind that doesn’t need a stage to be real.

Pope Francis did not author the above. But that, I guess, was the message he was trying to pass to some of us. May his legacy endure!

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed that investment scams accounted for $5.8 billion, representing over 50 percent of all reported crypto losses in 2024.

In a 47-page report, the FBI emphasised cryptocurrency’s central role in cybercrime losses, citing nearly 150,000 complaints linked to fraudulent crypto activities.

According to data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), total internet crime losses skyrocketed to $16.6 billion, a 33% increase from 2023.

It noted that investment scams emerged as the most damaging among the various schemes, with reported losses totalling $5.8 billion.

The FBI report added that crypto-related scams contributed $9.3 billion, reflecting an astonishing 66% year-over-year surge.

Many of these investment fraud cases involved “pig butchering” scams, a manipulative scheme where criminals cultivate fake online relationships to coerce victims into investing in fraudulent crypto platforms.

The report emphasised the significant effect of cryptocurrency scams on older Americans, noting that individuals aged 60 and older have reported losses surpassing $2.8 billion, which makes them the most targeted demographic.

The FBI said it had initiated Operation Level Up in early 2024 to combat the rising trend, identifying more than 4,300 victims of crypto-related scams.

However, 76% of those contacted were unaware they had been victimised, indicating the sophistication of cybercriminal tactics.

It further stressed that scammers are progressively using QR codes, crypto ATMS, and stablecoins, like Tether’s USDT and the decentralised stablecoin DAI, to deceive users.

They sometimes employ AI-generated identities to pose as financial advisors or acquaintances online.

LEADERSHIP recalls that many Nigerians recently lost huge amounts in investment scams involving a fraudulent crypto platform called CBEX when it abruptly shut out its investors mid April.

[Leadership]

Patients, especially those in the rural communities, including the nursing mothers are having serious challenges in accessing healthcare services as a result of the ongoing strike embarked upon by the workers of the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory.

The workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) as well as the teachers in the six area councils resumed the strike last month over non-implementation of N70,000 national minimum wage by area councils’ chairmen.

Abuja Metro reports that the council chairmen have refused to speak to the press on the lingering crisis between the councils and the workers regarding the implementation as well as the payment of other allowances.

Efforts by both the two ministers of the FCT, Nyesom Wike and Hajiya Maryam Mahmud, to resolve the crisis have yielded no result.

Many of the chairmen reportedly boycotted a dialogue meeting earlier called by the FCT Minister of State, Hajiya Maryam Mahmud, to resolve the crisis.

Patients groan

Abuja Metro visited some of the health centres across the six area councils, where it was observed that many of them had been under lock and key.

In many of the centres, some patients, especially nursing mothers, who came to immunise their new born babies were forced to turn home.

At the maternity health centre in Abaji, our reporter observed as the centre remained shut with no single health worker present.

A pregnant woman, Mrs Zainab Mohammed, who came by bike to see medical personnel at the centre, was forced to return home after she saw that the centre was under lock and key.

 The woman said she resides around the Kekeshi area of the town and has been using the centre for her ante-natal, adding that the closure of the centre is going to affect many of them in such condition.

“I first visited a health centre at low-cost housing and discovered that it was shut, before I decided to take bike to the maternity centre so that I can meet with any of the medical personnel to attend to me because I could not sleep last night due to waist pain. And unfortunately, on getting here, again, the centre was also shut,” she said.

A health worker at the centre, who resides close to the centre, Mrs Amina Bala, told our reporter that the centre did not open for service due to the ongoing strike over the non- implementation of the new minimum wage.

At the Kwali Township Clinic, the centre was also under lock and key, while patients who came to see medical personnel were forced to turn home.

Mrs Gladys Gambo, a nursing mother, who came to the clinic with her newborn baby strapped to her back for immunisation, said she had to leave after she was told that the health workers were on strike.

“I came this morning, being Thursday, hoping to see if I can meet with any of the immunisation officers but discovered that the clinic has been shut down,’’ she said.

Also, at Gwagwalada, the township clinic was also not opened with dust and pure water polythene bags littering its frontage.

Some patients, including staff, were seen seated in front of the clinic’s corridor discussing the strike.

A nursing mother, Mrs Maryam Yakubu, who came to the clinic with her newborn baby for immunisation, was also forced to return home after she was told that the clinic was not open.

Mrs Yakubu, who spoke with our reporter, said she came to the clinic for immunisation but there was no officer to attend to her.

“Actually, I was put to bed at a private hospital some weeks ago, from where they asked me to come to this township clinic to immunise the child but unfortunately, on getting to the clinic this morning, it was shut down. I was told that the workers are on strike,” she said.

She added, “Now, I have to go back home and my husband is not at home, which means I have to call him on phone to let him know the situation of things before taking any decision.’’

A community health worker at the centre, Samson Iliya, said the ongoing strike has been affecting patients in the area, adding that many patients suffering from various ailments, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, high blood pressure and diabetes were not being attended to.

He said, “Several patients, including nursing mothers, who came this morning with their babies for immunisation were turned back due to the strike.”

A medical personnel at the clinic, who preferred anonymity, said the workers decided to embark on the strike due to the failure of the council chairmen to implement the new wage.

“The truth is that nobody is happy to see health workers going on strike because health is ahead of everything but we have no option than to embark on the strike as directed by NULGE to press home our demand,” he said.

Workers begin protest today

The Gwagwalada Area Council chapter of the #Take-It-Back Movement# has thrown its weight behind the joint unions of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), FCT Chapter, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT Wing, ahead of the mass protest scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025.

The workers are protesting over non implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage and other entitlements by the six area council chairmen.

Abuja Metro had reported that the workers earlier fixed Wednesday, April 23 for the protest but was shifted to Thursday, April 24.

Speaking to newsmen on Wednesday in Gwagwalada, the leader of the #Take -It -Back -Movement, Comrade Manasseh Ben Paul, declared that the planned protest was not just another protest but a “Thunderous declaration” against what he described as “Broken promises and deliberate neglect” of the area councils’ workers and the primary school teachers in the FCT.

He said it was unfortunate that the council chairmen had turned their workers and primary school teachers to beggars.

“These council chairmen have turned the workers and primary school teachers to beggars. Besides, teachers are the architects of communities and the guardians of our children’s futures,” he said.

According to him, the workers’ demands are clear and non-negotiable.

The Take-It-Back Movement warned that if the chairmen fail to meet the workers’ demands by the end of April, there will be mass mobilisation to shut down the six area councils and the FCTA.

Council chairs mum

The Chairman of Kwali Area Council, Danladi Chiya, who often speaks on behalf of the council chairmen in his capacity as FCT ALGON chairman, had been refusing to talk to our correspondent on the issue.

Several calls put across to his line yesterday were not answered nor did he respond to text messages earlier sent to him.

Other area council chairmen also refused to talk on the issue. One of them referred our reporter to the FCT ALGON chairman, who he said, is the only one that can speak on the issue.

[DailyTrust]

The publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has accused President Tinubu of using strong arm tactics in pressuring the opposition to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Making this statement on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Momodu claimed that fear was driving politicians to the APC and not out of genuine loyalty.

According to him, “I’m not surprised; Okowa’s defection isn’t shocking given the recent harassment he faced.”

He added that, “I would be surprised if President Bola Tinubu genuinely believes people are joining the APC out of love or administration, this is survival now; prison as martyr days are over.

“We once admired the likes of Nelson Mandela, MKO Abiola, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo for enduring detention in the name of principle. These days, nobody wants to go to detention.

“Everybody wants to stay at home and talk about the money they’ve made from politics; name one politician who has not been harassed by either the EFCC or the ICPC at some point.”

On Wednesday, Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the APC.

Ifeanyi Okowa, a former Delta governor and PDP 2023 vice-presidential candidate also joined the APC.

“Be assured that we will not go in the wrong direction. We will take the best direction, the best path for our people,” Okowa said in a video circulating on social media.

Senator Kawu Sumaila, Kano South, also defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, ahead of the 2027 general election and joined the APC.

According to Momodu, Tinubu’s administration prioritizes using intimidation over persuasion to maintain power.

“For me, it’s clear that this government’s strategy is ‘if we can’t persuade you, we’ll force you.’ And for now, that force appears to be working. But politics can change in 24 hours,” he said.

Momodu also slammed the APC’s internal instability, stating that financial resources are the only thing keeping the party strong.

“The APC is in more trouble than any other political party in Nigeria; the only thing holding it together right now is the access to resources they have to share.

“But beneath that surface, there are serious problems. For nearly two years, APC members have blamed former President Buhari for the country’s issues.

“Now, the same party is running back to Kaduna, trying to appease him. Whether he accepts their efforts or not doesn’t matter much to me,” he stated.

Momodu claimed that governors are being threatened to support APC or face attacks.

“They’re being told behind the scenes, ‘If you support us, we’ll leave you alone. If you don’t, we’ll make life difficult for you.’ That’s the reality of the current political climate.

“And honestly, I don’t blame the governors. What choice do they have?” He said.

Citing the emergency rule in Rivers, the PDP chieftain said the suspension of Siminalayi Fubara as the governor sends a clear message to dissenters.

“Rivers State was peaceful, yet Fubara was suddenly removed in a swift and aggressive move orchestrated by a minister in Abuja, Nyesom Wike.

“Nothing happened afterward — no consequences. That sent a message, and now everyone is taking note.

“If that isn’t coercion, then what is? What exactly was Fubara’s offense that warranted such a response? Now we hear he’s negotiating with them. That’s his choice. I’m not concerned with who he negotiates with,” he added.

Momodu asked Tinubu not to trust desperate politicians, adding that his focus should be on upholding democracy, not securing a second term through coercive means.

He said Tinubu, once a pro-democracy figure, must now allow democracy to thrive in Nigeria or risk facing deep regret later in life.

[DailyPost]

Spending unappropriated revenue is a serious offence in a democracy. But that may not be applicable to us here where equality before the law is not only a myth but where our governors who are above the law can feely fritter away N300m. As if that is not bad enough, there are just too many ignoble fortune-seekers within the noble profession of law who will rather trade in chaos than in stability.

If you are in doubt, just take one look at the two-year old war against Fubara’s government. What you see are reckless elders fuelling the crisis by talking from both sides of the mouth; hungry and angry youths who expect crumbs following and hailing Fubara after every act of sabotage against his own government, television platforms that lionize clueless Fubara every morning while they smile to the banks in the afternoon with millions they haul in through news commercialization.

We cannot easily forget, Ugochinyere, an interloper from Imo State who became Fubara interpreter of court judgments. 

And of course we now know those ignoble men in the judiciary who after collecting Fubara’s N300m gift, failed the people of the Rivers by not availing their governor of the proper interpretation of court judgments or bold enough to remind him the buck stops at his table. However, to make up for their betrayal, they are today blindly fighting the perceived enemies of Fubara – the executive, legislature and even the Supreme Court, moving from one television house to the other.

But it must be said that we have always had ignoble fortune-seekers in our judiciary.  The first republic threw up Ben Nwabueze, the author of Unitary Decree 34 of 1966 which led to a civil war and whose effect continues to haunt the country. He also featured in the aborted third republic with his interim government decree that effectively aborted the third republic, paving the way for Sani Abacha, an evil dictator to wage a five-year war against Nigeria.

In the second republic, we had Chief Kehinde Sofola, an attorney general and one-time chairman of Body of Benchers who sadly admitted that “the primary duty of the judiciary is to protect the judiciary”.  In the fourth republic, we have had an Abubakar Malami, attorney general who sabotaged Buhari’s anti-corruption war by attempting to smuggle and indicted fellow into the civil service, chased out of office the chair of the EFCC he had falsely accused of fraud, and misled President Buhari on the war against Nigeria by immigrant herdsmen whose illegal infiltration of reserved forest in the southwest he encouraged.

Now let us examine how the NBA chairman is prosecuting his defence of Fubara’s N300m gift.

Governor Fubara, unable to manage his own government, committed an error of judgment by opting to deal with Victor Oko-Jumbo-led three-man House of Assembly, despite Court of Appeal affirmation of a Federal High Court order that it was constitutionally wrong of him to deal with only three of the 32-man assembly. Fubara had insisted that 27 members of his House of Assembly do not exist.  In February, the Supreme Court put an end to such conceit by declaring that:  “What is clear is that the 27 lawmakers are still valid members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of the House by the governor in cahoots with the four other members” and made it clear that “Sections 102 and 109 cannot be invoked in aid of this unconstitutional enterprise”.

The Supreme Court was to add that “As it is, there is no government in Rivers State… political disagreements cannot justify these attacks and contempt for the rule of law by the governor of a state or any person. What he has done is to destroy the government for the fear of being impeached”.

Afam Osigwe who slept all through two years of what the Supreme Court described as ‘Fubara’s despotic rule’ did not wake up from his slumber long after the fallout of the supreme court judgment with the aggrieved 27 House of Assembly members whose salaries had been seized for two years, demanding their pound of flesh by slamming the governor with impeachment notice.

Exploiting the ethnic divide as the first Ijaw man to be elected governor of Rivers State, Fubara was ready for a showdown. He publicly told jobless and marginalised Rivers youths who follow him around streets of Port Harcourt to wait for instructions. Less than 24 hours later, oil pipeline whether by fifth columnists as argued by his supporters, or his supporters, started exploding.

The president chaired a security meeting of his security chiefs. He promptly shared the intelligence at his disposal with the National Assembly and what followed was declaration of six months of state emergency and suspension of the warring governor and his state House of Assembly members jointly responsible for absence of government in the past two years in Rivers.

Since Rivers State allocation was ordered to be withheld by the Supreme Court following Fubara’s breach of one of the most serious impeachable offences in a democracy- spending taxpayers money without appropriation, a sole administrator needed to be appointed to ensure payment of salaries to essential workers such as teachers, medical workers and civil servants.

It was not until this time Osigwe woke up from his deep slumber. But that did not stop him from concluding that the situation in Rivers did not call for declaration of a state of emergency. Osigwe, who is not privy to the information at the disposal of the president and the National Assembly that have upheld the decision of the president insisted the president’s action was illegal. He also declared the president’s suspension of the governor and other elected members of the state assembly unconstitutional ignoring the fact that the constitution gives the president discretionary power to do whatever he deems fit to avert anarchy.

As an officer in the temple of justice, he did not wait to allow the courts that can make a distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law to decide if the president’s discretionary powers cover suspension of the main obstacle to peace and the democratic process, i.e, the fumbling Governor Fubara and his vengeance-seeking lawmakers.

Afam decided to usurp the role of opposition leaders like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who are at liberty to exploit every action of the president for political gain like opposition politicians; Afam started moving from one television station to the other selling what can at best be described as warped logic.

But we now know, courtesy of the Rivers’ sole administrator, that Afam’s blind fury is all about Fubara’s N300m gift to NBA which the sole administrator insists must be returned. He anchored his argument on the fact that since the money does not belong to Fubara but to Rivers State programed to benefit from hosting the NBA’s conference, which Afam had unilaterally moved to Enugu as if Rivers has ceased to exist because of Fubara’s temporary absence, there was no basis to refund the money.

As if taking  N300m that would have been enough to build an hospital or a cottage industry that could absorb some Rivers street boys was not enough assault on sensibility of Nigerians, the claim  by the chairman of the NBA 2025 Conference Planning Committee, Emeka Obegolu’s (SAN), that the money was “an unconditional gift to support the event” was insensitive.

It is also not of any relief that while successive governors of Rivers including Fubara, Nyesom Wike, Rotimi Amaechi often try to outdo each other by bringing notable Nigerians to commission projects, the readily available jobs to the teeming youths of Rivers remain blowing up of oil pipelines when the elite want to blackmail the federal government or torching of government buildings, and visiting violence on each other when involved in intra-party feuds that have come to define every election in Rivers.

It is reassuring that credible voices in NBA including that of Andrew Emwanta, president of the African Public Interest Lawyers Union are already warning Osigwe who after sleeping all through two years of Fubara’s ‘despotic rule’. He accused him of starting a condemnation of the emergency move “barely two hours after the broadcast”. For him, “The proper thing to do, “to save the image of our profession, is for that money to be refunded. It’s Rivers taxpayers’ money. If you are not doing business with them, return their money.”

 It is sad that NBA’s Afam Osigwe and some of his fellow travellers are not ashamed of joining PDP parasites whose elections Wike claimed he partly funded and their media enablers who regard Rivers as ATM without password.

Afrobeat singer Mayorkun has hinted at marriage, revealing he’s off the singles market.

In a recent interview on Arise TV, he disclosed that he’s committed to someone special, although he prefers to keep their identity private for now.

Mayorkun said: “I am off the market. There is no chance for any other girl. I am not going to mention my partner’s name or give any details about her now. My fingers are crossed on that. But eventually, everyone will know her.”

This isn’t the first time Mayorkun has been linked to someone. He made his relationship public with UK-based Nigerian choreographer Cocainna, sharing photos and videos on Snapchat.

However, it seems that relationship has ended, as Mayorkun confirmed they’re no longer together but maintain a good relationship.

A video surfaced of him being close to Dorathy Bachor at a birthday party in 2023 surface online. 

However, neither party has confirmed or denied the rumoured relationship.

[TheNation]

For a sermon that urges people to “understand their terrain”, it is ironic how many things Pastor Poju Oyemade got wrong in his message that compares realities between Nigeria and the USA. Most of the blowback to the respected pastor focuses on the controversial claim that Nigerian doctors are trained with a mere N500,000, but his sermon contains the same fallacious claims Nigerian leaders make when they relativise their country with advanced economies. It is one thing for the average talker on social media to construe subsidised medical education as a government charity to doctors, but it is another thing when a cleric repeats it. How come those who mouth these things never stop to ask why the government at the state and federal levels chooses to subsidise rather than demand full monetary value?

Nigerian universities, public or private, cannot come anywhere close to medical training in US schools simply because of affordability. For an under-producing economy, there is a practical limit to what can be charged if you want people to be able to afford medical training. Already, we are a society short of doctors; erecting any more financial barriers in their training system will be hugely detrimental. It is in the interest of the government and society to keep the costs of doctor training low enough. Can the existing arrangement be better structured to enhance value for the parties involved? Absolutely! But we cannot progress by making misleading arguments that fail to weigh the current calibration of interests by the parties involved.

In addition to the affordability, countries where they charge far more for medical training are incomparable to Nigeria in terms of training facilities and amenities. Do we want to compare Johns Hopkins Medical School with even our UCH, where their electricity supply was cut off for 100 days plus? It was just in January that medical students at UCH protested the prolonged power outage. When you listen to the heartbreaking accounts of how they coped during that dark period, you will be amused that someone thought comparing us with a country where no one worries over something as basic as electricity makes for a logical argument. Doctors at Johns Hopkins pay more, but their training also returns value for money. Can the same be said of Nigerian doctors? How many times has Pastor Poju heard of doctors in the USA going on strike over salaries, like they frequently do in Nigeria? Even our leaders know the difference, and that is why successive presidents opt for foreign hospitals rather than local ones staffed with N500,000 trained doctors!

Some of the arguments that Pastor Poju made in that video reprise what you read on social media by netizens, given to blindly defending Nigeria. One of them is that Nigerians work harder abroad while those at home are shiftless. He specifically said, “If you ask a Nigerian to do two jobs, he will curse your life out.” Really? Does the opportunity to take multiple jobs exist for Nigerians as it does for their counterparts elsewhere? To have a society where people can take multiple jobs, you must also have a productive economy that rewards. When the pastor looks around in his Lagos abode and sees the thousands of people who leave their homes at 4am to return at night, does he think they remain poor because they do not do enough?

Since the pastor’s data on Nigerians’ work culture is anecdotal, let me offer him one too. The other day, a well-meaning activist shared a video of herself scolding a mother who had brought her underage daughter to assist her in her sweeping job at 5am. We later learned from that poor mother that she leaves her home in Oworo by 3am to resume at the job at Ikoyin by 5am, and for a salary of N19,800! Will Pastor Poju agree that such a woman’s poverty is a consequence of her not taking a second job or driving for Uber? I can offer him more examples of how Nigeria’s problem of undervaluing labour contributes to the poor work culture. Once, I wrote a column on the poor remuneration of labour in Nigeria and I was shocked when several readers got back to me with figures of what they earn across sectors. The details were so ridiculous; I do not know how possible it is to survive on those salaries. For people to raise families on those amounts, they must already work on multiple fronts.

Before we accuse Nigerians of laziness compared to their immigrant counterparts, let us be sure that we have provided them with similar opportunities, but they failed to take them. Each time I think of the Oworo-to-Ikoyi woman’s 11-year-old daughter who joins her mother to do a menial task for a pittance, I wonder how exhausted she must be by a life that has not even started! If she grows up to despise work, some privileged person who does not know where she has been will compare her to her mate in the USA and conclude she is “lazy”. I am admittedly sensitive to an unnuanced comparison between Nigerians at home and abroad.

Pastor Poju made an important point about “employment data”, which he says does not capture the reality of Nigeria’s underground economy. I agree with him on that score. Truly, we can make a legitimate argument that the mathematics of “less than a dollar per day”, which international organisations use to count the number of poor people in the third world, focuses too much on what we lack at the expense of what we have. Those measurement scales are designed to be universal and can therefore elide the complexities of people’s lives in their respective countries. Yet, that should not becloud the reality of the harshness of our economic situation. If we decide to calibrate our own barometer for calculating poverty in the country, it should be to more accurately pinpoint where the problem lies and how it might be addressed, rather than being merely defensive against external agents.

We are a society so invested in faux patriotism that when we challenge poverty figures, we do so simply to contend with the international organisations that calculated them and not necessarily because we have developed a better understanding of the problem. You will hear economic advisors share spurious examples, such as the price of a bottle of Coke in the USA or how much a plate of food in Lekki Phase One costs. Those are unsophisticated understandings of what constitutes poverty in the world and its realistic effects in a modern world. Even Pastor Poju had yet another anecdote of a woman who bought wigs to prove that Nigeria might not be as poor. If a person can invest enough capital to sell wigs at N250,000 each, can she really be classified as part of the country’s informal economy system?

The people who feel the effects of these issues keenly and express their angst on social media are not, contrary to Pastor Oyemade’s wild assertion, being “programmed to hate their country”. That claim misunderstands the social terrain that precipitates these discussions and the issues that will not disappear simply because people engage in some syrupy positive speak. It is not self-hatred, expressing frustrations with your country. Those who act otherwise are not necessarily patriotic; they are just partisan. Many of them will turn coat the day the government they dislike comes to power.

It is also a part of the expression of our citizenship to stand up to a country that diminishes us. James Baldwin once said, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticise her perpetually.” As a cleric, Pastor Oyemade must also know that not every prophet in the Bible spoke peace to Israel at its crucial moments. Some denounced their homeland with curses. Was that (self-)hate or exhortation to righteousness? Those who still criticise Nigeria do so because they care and do not want to see it drown in injustices. I will take that over their indifference any day.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, said Nigeria is in advanced discussions with JP Morgan to re-enter the Government Bond Index and renew investors’ confidence.

Oniha disclosed this on Wednesday at a Nigerian Investors’ Forum on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund  Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

The DMO boss explained that Nigeria has enjoyed favorable credit assessment among rating agencies in recent times on the back of the sweeping reforms initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings of seven Nigerian banks and two bank holding companies to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘, noting that the outlooks are Stable.

The upgrades of the Long-Term IDRs of the banks followed the recent sovereign upgrade and reflect Fitch’s view that Nigeria’s sovereign credit profile has become less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness, the rating agency said.

Fitch also upgraded Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘ on 11 April, a decision that reflected increased confidence in the government’s broad commitment to policy reforms implemented since its move to orthodox economic policies in June 2023, including exchange rate liberalisation, monetary policy tightening and steps to end deficit monetisation and remove fuel subsidies.

“These have improved policy coherence and credibility and reduced economic distortions and near-term risks to macroeconomic stability, enhancing resilience in the context of persistent domestic challenges and heightened external risks,” Fitch said.

Nigeria was removed from the JP Morgan index in 2015 ostensibly due to its deviation from orthodox monetary policies and influence of capital control in its management of foreign exchange.

Principally due to reduction in oil revenues at the time, Nigeria introduced currency restrictions to defend the naira after it failed to halt a dangerous slide with burning of dollar reserves. The bank had earlier warned Nigeria to restore liquidity to its currency market in a way that allowed foreign investors tracking the index to conduct transactions with minimal hurdles.

“Foreign investors who track the GBI-EM series continue to face challenges and uncertainty while transacting in the naira due to the lack of a fully functional two-way FX market and limited transparency,” the bank said in a 2015 note.

Nigeria was listed in JP Morgan’s emerging government bond index in October 2012, after the central bank removed a requirement that foreign investors hold government bonds for a minimum of one year before exiting.

The JP Morgan Government Bond Index reflects investor confidence and opens doors to billions of investment flows, making Nigeria’s proposed re-entry a positive signal to the market and investors.

Oniha explained that talks with JP Morgan were ongoing and had gained momentum in recent times due to the stability created by the FX market reforms.

“With all the reforms that have taken place, particularly around FX, we have started engaging JP Morgan again to get back into the index. We think we are eligible now,” the DMO DG said.

[Punch]

I met Quadri Alabi, the child of destiny, on Tuesday, at the News Central TV in Ogba, Ikeja. They – Quadri, his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong and Ms. Hassana Nurudeen, co-founder of Ray of Hope Prisoner Outreach – were coming out of the studios after an interview as I was stepping in for the newspaper review segment of the same breakfast programme.

I held the young lad’s hand, looked into his eyes and wished him well and shook hands with Inibehe, who I thanked for his labour of love.

I didn’t watch the interview live but the breakfast crew of Olive Emodi, Joe Hanson and Gbenga Aborowa, told me it is a must watch. And having watched the video clip, I concur. It is one interview every well-meaning Nigerian should watch because it speaks to the real issues of our law enforcement’s ruination – the fact that the police, the country’s primary law enforcement agency is not fit for purpose.

I referred to Quadri as a child of destiny because right from the day he intuitively jumped in front of Mr. Peter Obi’s campaign convoy in 2023, he came across as someone destined for a divine purpose. If you ask him, as I did last Tuesday, why he did what he did on that fateful day, you will not get an answer just as I didn’t.

During the interview, Hassana Nurudeen said the NGO, which she co-founded with Stephen Oguyinka, together with one Oyiga Michael, a social media influencer, organised a football match at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre between Twitter Influencers and Kirikiri inmates.

It was at that event, part of the group’s prison outreach, that she met a guy called Jonathan, who had been in detention for about four months because he was owing someone N1.2 million. After the match, the NGO did crowd funding to raise the money and secured Jonathan’s freedom.

It was in the course of a thank-you-visit that Jonathan told Hassana that the boy who stood in front of Peter Ob’s convoy was actually his prison mate. She called Quadri’s mother on phone and the distraught woman confirmed his son’s ordeal. She took the case to the court of public opinion by escalating it in the social media, which, by the way, the Sultan of Sokoto recently described as a tool worse than a terrorist organisation. A pity!

When the story went viral on Twitter, many Nigerians, including Peter Obi, called Inibehe to intervene. And he did. After interfacing with Hassana and convincing himself that it was a case of persecution, he took remedial steps to ensure that Quadri regained freedom.

First, he escalated the matter by bringing it to the attention of the appropriate authorities, before proceeding to the court to find out the status of the case, after which he applied for the necessary documentations and then made an application to the Apapa Magistrate Court where the Magistrate who had earlier scheduled the case for April 28 agreed to hear it on April 17. Then the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Babajide Martins, reviewed the case file and found out “for a fact that truly Quadri had no case to answer.” There was no evidence to support his arrest or the effort to prosecute him for armed robbery. With the DPP’s advisory, Inibehe and his team went back to the court and the Magistrate implemented the advice and Quadri was accordingly discharged.

Inibehe didn’t just jump on the case to chase clout. “I carried out my own personal investigation. I don’t jump on cases because they have gone viral or become sensational. Before I get on any matter, I must have personal conviction and I must have done due diligence. I met with Quadri at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre and had an interview with him for over two hours and thereafter spoke with his mother. I did everything as a lawyer to have them contradict themselves but they were consistent and the sequence of events supported their position. I was convinced thereafter that this was another case of abuse of power by the police,” Inibehe told his interviewers.

What did the police do to investigate the case? Nothing! And if not for providence, Quadri would still be in prison today just as there are hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people languishing in jail for crimes they knew nothing about. Hassana said the NGO secured the release of about 22 inmates who were wrongfully accused and jailed since 2022. In 2024, they secured the release of two minors, one of them a 15-year-old lad who had spent about 10 years in prison unjustifiably.

And what was Quadri’s crime? The touts in his neck of the woods thought he must have made a heck of a fortune after his day in the sun in 2023 and wanted their share. The baale of the Amukoko community where they lived not only joined in the conspiracy but summoned Quadri’s mother, threatening that if the money that had allegedly been given to her son was not split in two, she wouldn’t see him again. What did the police do to investigate this? Nothing!

On the day Quadri was arrested, he was coming back from work and didn’t know that there had been a fight earlier in the day in the neighbourhood. The touts stole his phone and money before handing him over to the police who locked him up in a cell with four strangers. In the morning when the complainants – a man and his wife – came to the police station, the suspects were paraded and they couldn’t identify him. Yet, the police at Amukoko Police Station detained him for a week before charging him to court in January. In Kirikiri prison, because he couldn’t afford to pay the marshall, he was subjected to the indignity of cleaning up faeces from morning until 6pm.

Inibehe, who insists that Quadri’s case is a painful example of the putrefying corruption, monstrous impunity, and pervasive injustice in the Nigeria Police Force, demanded that the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Jimoh Moshood, and Inspector General of Police should, as a matter of urgency, remove the DPO of Amukoko Divisional Headquarters, CSP Ismaila Olaniyi and subject him to orderly room trial along with the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, Inspector Odigbe Samuel, and other officers who participated in what he called the “evil, sinister, oppressive, and corrupt scheme of framing-up a teenager for armed robbery at the behest of rogue Area Boys.” He also demanded a N100 million compensation and public apology from the police.

“There are many Quadris languishing in detention centres across Nigeria because of the unbridled criminality, lawlessness, and lack of accountability in the Police institution and the weakness of the justice system. History will vindicate the just,” he said.

But CP Jimoh Moshood, would have none of that. Insisting that Quadri’s statement after arrest indicated that he was 18 years and not 17, he emphasized that no one was above the law, regardless of age. “I personally checked the record at Amukoko Police Station. He wrote down his age as 18, and that is the basis on which we proceeded with the investigation.”

Pooh-poohing Quadri’s birth certificate presented by Inibehe, Moshood said the documents must be verified. “The best person to confirm someone’s age is their parent. A birth certificate or affidavit of age declaration must be thoroughly investigated. These days, with AI and digital tools, anything can be fabricated.”

The irony is that the police neither verified the documents nor sought clarification from Quadri’s mother.

But his argument sounded hollow, as always. Anyone who knows Moshood right from his days as the Force Public Relations Officer will not be surprised because he is one officer with whom every conversation sooner than later runs off the rails. With him, well-reasoned arguments might as well be whispers in the wind and no matter how compelling the points are, they won’t get through. So, Nigerians need not bother with his defence of the indefensible.

But it is sad that even in the face of incontrovertible evidence, CP Moshood is still lying about the facts of the matter. First, his claim that the DPO personally arrested Quadri after receiving a distress call is a lie. It is also not true that Quadri made a confessional statement as claimed by Moshood who should know that by law, as ruled by the Supreme Court, if someone is to make a statement that may implicate him, it must either be on video or in the presence of a counsel.

But what I found most bizarre is Moshood’s rage that Inibehe took Quadri to a “presidential candidate after his discharge.”

Warning that politics should not be mixed with criminal investigations, he said: “If someone commits a crime, it doesn’t matter if they are close to a presidential candidate or a media personality—they should face the law… When the boy was asked to go, the lawyer took him to that presidential candidate first.”

That got me thinking. Could it be that the reason the police framed a 17-year-old minor for armed robbery was because of his presumed association with Peter Obi, the political establishment’s bête noire? That, indeed, is the tragedy of Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu’s watch.