Social media, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter), has always been a platform where individuals can express themselves, share ideas, and grow their influence by gaining followers. However, a concerning trend has emerged: some users, instead of requesting others to follow them honestly, resort to deception to expand their follower base. These users are not necessarily scammers in the traditional sense, but their deceitful tactics are creating a nuisance on the platform.

The strategy is simple but underhanded. A user creates a post, often pretending to give away something, offer financial help, or share a prize in celebration of a personal milestone. In reality, there is no giveaway or assistance, only an intent to deceive. The goal is to attract attention, spark engagement, and ultimately gain more followers by luring people into interacting with the post.

For example, users may post things like: “Send your account, and I’ll give away N5,000 to five people!” In some cases they go as far as deceptively posting something like, “Follow me and retweet this for a chance to win a brand-new phone!”

While the language may vary, the purpose remains the same: to exploit the curiosity or hope of other users in order to drive up engagement. In some cases, users will even follow through with minimal giveaways to maintain the facade, but the overwhelming majority of these posts are just tricks to inflate their follower count.

You may have asked in this context, “Why Do They Do It?” The answer to your question cannot be farfetched as the primary motive is to quickly and efficiently boost their following, as social media metrics are often viewed as a form of credibility. With a higher number of followers, users can: Increase their social influence, attract potential business opportunities, gain attention from brands looking for influencers to promote products and elevate their status within the X community.

For these users, the ends justify the means. Instead of organically growing their followers by offering valuable content, they resort to deception, prioritizing follower numbers over genuine interaction and trust.

At first glance, this follower-gaining tactic may seem harmless compared to financial scams. However, this deceitful behavior can have long-term negative consequences for the platform and its users. This is as it erodes trust. In fact, social media platforms thrive on trust. When users start questioning every interaction or doubting the authenticity of every giveaway or offer, the very fabric of the platform weakens. People become less likely to engage with others, limiting the sense of community that X aims to foster.

In a similar vein, the deception wastes the time and energy of innocent users of the platform. This is as many users, lured in by the promise of rewards, spend time interacting with these deceptive posts, only to end up disappointed. This wastes their time and adds to the growing frustration many feel on social media.

Also is the false metrics the deception generates. Despite the allure of their posts, the followers these deceptive X users gain are often not genuinely interested in their contents. This creates a distorted picture of their actual influence. Brands or businesses looking to collaborate with influencers based on follower count may find that these users offer little real value in terms of reach or engagement.

The reality is that growing a follower base organically on X requires time, effort, and authentic interaction. Instead of posting valuable content that engages the community, these deceptive users take shortcuts, exploiting the algorithms and the trust of fellow users. By masking their intentions with fake offers, they can generate more shares, likes, and follows than they would through legitimate means.

The allure of a quick follower boost can be tempting, especially when follower count is often seen as a status symbol. But what isgained through deception does not last. Eventually, many followers realize the truth, and the trust deficit created by such deceit can harm the user’s reputation in the long run.

While the number of followers might seem crucial in the social media landscape, genuine engagement should be the goal. X users should focus on cultivating real relationships with their audience by providing authentic content and meaningful interactions. It is better to have a smaller, loyal follower base than a large, disinterested one gained through deceit.

To those using deception to grow their follower count: consider the value of trust and authenticity. There is no harm in openly requesting followers or promoting content honestly. Social media is meant to be a space for connecting and sharing, not tricking others into following for non-existent prizes.

Deceitful users on X may not be scammers in the traditional sense, but their tactics of deception for gaining followers are undermining the platform’s integrity. Instead of fostering genuine relationships and building a community of engaged followers, they prioritize quick, artificial growth. As users, it is essential to be aware of these tactics and promote authenticity, both in our own behavior and in our expectations from others. Social media should be a space for real connections, not one filled with tricks and false promises.

Fiction writer James Hadley Chase famously titled one of his popular novels, “The Vulture Is A Patient Bird”. That title often reminds me of the Yoruba anecdote which denounces the carnivorous bird as a cheat because it feeds on human carrion but man cannot (would not) feed on it. Thus, the vulture prospers from man’s misery without any risk of a backlash or revenge.

I don’t know of any culture where vulture is part of the menu. There are too many cultural taboos hanging around the ‘Dracula-hooded’ birds. They feed on carrion. Carry disease-bearing pathogens. Their relatively tasteless meat in comparison to chicken, cooks forever and is never tender. They are classified with evil or apocalyptic evocations in many cultures.

Human Vultures

Those are the vultures in the animal kingdom. In our real human world, we also have human vultures whose menace we grudgingly acknowledge but still tolerate under a barrage of excuses. Enter Boko Haram, ISWAP, cattle rustlers, armed herdsmen, unknown gunmen and other rogue elements who have totally demystified the government’s claim of exclusively controlling the means of coercion!

If the principal aim of the government is to protect its people and maintain order and stability, the Nigerian government has failed spectacularly in the last 15 years. Swathes of Nigerian territory are under the control of criminals. The government and its security forces continue to lie about the severity of the situation.

Over the years, instead of a frontal attack on the problem, the government and its security agencies were pussy-footing under a number of convenient excuses. The political elite in the affected northern states started playing ethnic and religious cards. When the government decided to end the embarrassment once and for all, the move was sabotaged through blackmail and a campaign to turn the people of the region against the government as if the fight against terrorism was an anti-north agenda.

Foreign terrorists were recruited to add an even deadlier dimension to the terrorists’ capabilities. Issues of the expansionist ambitions of some of the bandits which, in the last 10 years, have tried to colonise the Middle Belt region were quickly dismissed as farmers/herders clashes. Historical carryovers, such as unacknowledged unfinished ethnic wars were dismissed as non-existent.

When illegal mining of minerals in the North was a small-scale affair being run by the locals underground, it did not attract the level of organised violence that it currently enjoys with the involvement of the traditional and political elite. Now mining gangs have their own private armies. The government claims to be in charge of granting mining concessions but we all know that the bandits run the roost in many areas.

In the South where bandits come disguised as herdsmen and routinely waylay motorists on inter-state highways, the government continues to deny what is obvious. Even in cases where the locals have adduced evidence of some of the terrorists being foreigners, the government continues to tell the convenient lie of herders and farmers at loggerheads. That lapse has led to the generalisation in the South that all terrorists operating from the forests are Fulani.

Because of all these acts of omission or commission, as the case may be, we watched from the gallery of nonchalance as terrorism became a lucrative industry, especially after bandits in many states of the North started collecting taxes and protection levies from the people. Up till now, there are parts of the North where farmers have to pay terrorists to access their farms safely. In those places, the government is a distant memory.

The new fad is for the terrorists to issue video recordings of their domination of rural communities and their dispensation of their warped notion of justice — ranging from public floggings to more serious forms of physical torture. Some have even been turbaned by emirs! They are entrenched. They are the de facto government.

Government Abdication

It used to be embarrassing to those in government. Now, it seems that even the people have come to terms with the reality of Boko Haram and the other terrorists controlling territories outside the purview of the Nigerian constitution. We have, through a mixture of neglect, subterfuge and incompetence legitimised terrorism, insurgency, hostage-taking and allied crimes.

Enough of the shameless excuses! There is really no big deal about fighting terrorism if you have the will. Granted that we have lost a lot of ground in the years of complete lethargy, it is never too late to reclaim our space and rid the land of terrorism completely, once and for all. And I truly mean once and for all!

Granted that security is a specialised subject with its own esoterica and technicalities, I wager that what we have before us does not exclusively deserve the formal or conventional wisdom of the usual “experts” and their textbook analyses and fixations. If a band of largely illiterate brigands can outwit and overwhelm our entire security agencies, it is time we weaponise our collective cerebral muscle and deploy the same accordingly. We must out-think them!

We have heard, ad nauseam, about the introduction of “non-kinetic” tactics in the fight against terror. New terms are being introduced daily by the growing army of “security experts” doing the rounds on national television regularly. Nobody – least of all the terrorists – is impressed by all the technical jargon.

Nigerians don’t care whatever tactics you deploy to rid the country of terrorists. All they want is for their government to live up to what it claims to be — an authority in charge. If a government cannot protect its people from any kind of aggression, then it has lost its reason for being called a government.

Between July 2023 and June 2024, kidnapping alone accounted for 1,056 deaths in 1,130 reported incidents. According to the research document, “Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry”, Zamfara State recorded 1,639 kidnap victims and 146 civilian deaths with about N1.048 billion being deployed as ransom nationally.

Just Do It!

To put an end to all this nonsense, the authorities first have to agree that, among other things, anyone who takes up arms against Nigerians or against the country is a terrorist, no matter under what guise. All terrorists, no matter where originated or based, are equal. Any non-authorised civilian group carrying weapons should be treated as terrorists. After all these years, there shouldn’t be anything like “repentant terrorists” anymore. Any terrorist that hasn’t repented by now does not deserve to live.

Government should map out the territories currently being controlled by terrorists. Security contractors should then be contracted with specific targets, deliverables, expected outcomes and mutually agreed Standard Operating Procedures. Security contractors should concentrate on taking out terrorist kingpins remotely through drones and other digital devices while our police and armed forces are adequately armed to mop up. With the lion’s share of the 2024 budget allocated to Defence and security, we ought to be able to finance this without any problem. State policing is imperative.

The reason for the current spate of insecurity is that the government is not yet ready to stamp it out. When those in government are sufficiently conscientised to end the scam, we will all breathe easy; but not a moment before then.

If Providence grants the collective invocations of Nigerians, the government will regain its consciousness and declare that all birds of prey are equal; that what is good for the hawk is good for the abominable vulture.

Forget the taboo. We shall barbecue the vulture!

Man’s three basic needs or necessities are generally given as food (including water), clothing, and shelter. Food (including water) is needed to keep body and soul together and give us the energy required for our daily activities. Apart from air, food (including water) is the most basic – and important – of man’s needs. Water appears more indispensable to the human body than food. Clothing basically is meant to keep us warm as well as cover our nakedness. Shelter or accommodation is the roof that we need over our head, just as the Mighty Diamonds crooned.

Taking a cue from the Creator of the universe as told in the BIble, light was the first of His creation to bring order and form into a disorderly and formless world. It was afterwards that He began to create all else.

If a vox populi is conducted among the generality of Nigerians today, I am certain the order of priority will be something like food, fuel and power supply (light). Clothing and shelter will come a distant fourth and fifth. In our institutions of higher learning, however, the order of priority will be different. It will be something like water (including food), power supply (light) and shelter (hostel accommodation). Many of the disturbances or student unrest that we have witnessed have centred around water and light issues. Only the electricity subsidy that we heard the Presidency has extended to the hospitals and our institutions of higher learning – if it is substantial enough – will starve unrest from our institutions of higher learning in our present circumstances.

It is a matter for regret that we have proven unable to solve the twin-problems of water and light; rather, they have become exacerbated all over the place. Other problems of decrepit infrastructure, inhospitable learning environment, and inadequate hostel accommodation have joined the league of problems that our so-called leaders of tomorrow contend with in our institutions of higher learning. Things get worse there; they don’t improve or get better.

What you are about to read – Let there be light – was written by Wole Olaoye, erstwhile Student Union president of the then University of Ife (Great Ife), now Obafemi Awolowo University but still “Great” all the same. When we return, we shall make some closing remarks.

“It has been seven seasons now since banner headlines “OAU TO GENERATE 8.03 MW OF ELECTRICITY” announced to the world that Obafemi Awolowo University was poised to become the first university in Nigeria to generate its own power and, in addition, cater to the needs of its immediate neighbour, the Ile-Ife community. In the beginning was the promise and the promise was visionary but the promise has now been dashed.

In the place of round-the-clock provision of electricity leading to increased productivity, enhanced quality of research and improved health, the university now has an abandoned project with sundry installed equipment and facilities rotting away as yet another symbol of the Nigerian government’s corruption and medieval backwardness.

In 2017, Obafemi Awolowo University entered into a working relationship with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to provide a gas-powered turbine that would produce the institution’s independent power needs. The project was to be delivered within two years.

When the project was launched amidst pomp and pageantry, the institution’s then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, revealed that with the coming to fruition of the project and consequent disengagement of OAU from the national grid, the institution would save between N35 million and N65 million monthly. He added that their daily energy requirement was below six megawatts. The gas-turbine-based system being installed was projected to produce eight megawatts daily, hence the assurance that the institution would be in a position to share the excess with neighbouring communities.

Seven other federal universities were also approved to self-generate electricity: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; Bayero University, Kano; Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; University of Lagos, Akoka; Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Warri; in the first phase of the federal intervention.

For OAU, trouble started in the form of what appeared like a personality clash on the surface but was actually the monster of corruption gripping the federal system under the (Muhammadu) Buhari administration. The Rural Electrification Agency was headed by Clara Ogunbiyi at the time. For some reasons, there was no love-lost between her and the newly-appointed Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman. If you put your ears to the ground, you would hear that the lady was considered uncooperative with the various sleaze schemes brought to her table. Eventually, she left Nigeria to its peccadilloes and resumed a new job in a saner environment at a global agency.

She was replaced as managing director by Ahmad Salihijo, who did nothing to facilitate the completion of the Ife project but soon demonstrated that he had demons of his own to contend with. As soon as the Buhari administration expired, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) swooped in. Salihijo was suspended by the new Tinubu administration. Many eyes popped when the EFCC made public the kernel of its findings. One of the pegs of the investigation was the uncovering of 27 accounts linked with the suspended REA Managing Director.

The commission said, among other things, that about N1.2 billion, which immediately accounted for Ahmad’s suspension, had been wired into the accounts of eight staff members, including two directors. The allegations against the top officials of REA are criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of public funds, procurement fraud and money laundering.

In announcing Salihijo’s suspension in a statement signed by Ajuri Ngelale, the presidency had said: “In the light of new findings unearthed during a comprehensive investigation into the financial activities of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), President Bola Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension of the managing director/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, alongside three executive directors of the agency, from office.

“Furthermore, President Tinubu has ordered a wider investigation into the conduct of the aforementioned officials in a fraudulent mis-expenditure amounting to over N1.2 billion over the past two years, some of which has already been recovered by anti-graft agencies”.

Cynical Nigerians said it would all end up as a game of musical chairs. Abba Abubakar Aliyu was appointed as the MD/CEO to replace Ahmad; Ayoade Gboyega as executive director, corporate services; Umar Abdullahi Umar, executive director, technical services; Doris Uboh, executive director, rural electrification fund (REF); and Olufemi Akinyelure, head of project management unit, Nigeria electrification project.

Although Ngelale reiterated President Tinubu’s determination to elevate the yearnings of Nigerians for good governance and qualitative service delivery above the narrow interests of individuals who are entrusted to provide critical services to Nigerians, the Ife power project stalls still.

The institution’s stakeholders who have been anxiously hoping that all encumbrances in the way of the completion of the project would immediately be removed were surprised that, so far, nothing concrete is happening. The Asian staff who came for the installation of the last set of equipment on site have since returned home. Then, some sources indicated that the Tinubu government wants to convert the project to a solar-powered facility instead of the gas originally designed and upon which the 75 percent completion already achieved is based.

There is also talk of introducing a new player who had never been part of the project before. Nigeria! Now, being a self confessed Engineering illiterate, I will refrain from laughing in vernacular or composing panegyrics concerning this project; neither is required, although this tragic stalling of a developmental project is both galling and dispiriting. For goodness’ sake, how does corruption dog every attempt to gain an inch?

Rather than news about project completion, we have been regaled with tidings of a different kind. It will be recalled that throughout his tenure, President Buhari removed only two ministers. The man posted to the Ministry of Power was one of them, having been sacked for alleged corruption in September 2021.

Last July, hearing in his case was stalled because he was said to have suddenly taken ill outside the court premises and had to be sprinkled with water to revive him. While granting Saleh the benefit of the doubt, there have been too many incidents of government officials dramatising fainting spells or showing up in wheelchairs when dragged before the law. Those are mere distractions.

The buck stops at President Tinubu’s table. Will he allow the present scandalous situation regarding the OAU power project to continue or will he direct the incumbent Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to expeditiously resolve this matter to ensure that, for once, corruption is put to shame? When will Tinubu declare, ‘Let there be light?’”

So sad, not so? But there are more intrigues to the independent power project issue at OAU than president-emeritus Wole Olaoye hinted at above. He only scratched the issue on the surface. My own investigations revealed that more than corruption was involved. Tribalism also played a role in the stalling of the OAU independent power project. Some of the equipment meant for the project were said to have been cleared at the port and transferred to some other locations up North. The authorities must speak to that.

It is not the power project alone that is stalled, the Opa dam that is supposed to supply water to the university community has also been mired in controversy. Land grabbers are engaged in a tussle with the university over a swath of land belonging to the university, which has adversely affected the dam. At a point the water in the dam was suspected to have been poisoned by enemies of the university community.

The unwholesome activity of land grabbers is another headache the OAU authorities have had to contend with. Sometime ago, a Fidelity bank account belonging to a prominent traditional ruler into which funds were reportedly paid by those who bought part of the OAU encroached land, made the rounds.

As if these headaches were not enough, illegal miners also invaded the university and began to mine minerals right within the vicinity of the staff quarters and student’s hostel accommodation! Spirited efforts by the university to ward off the encroachers and procure a licence to prospect for minerals on its own land were reportedly rebuffed by the Buhari presidency!

Reprieve, however, came with the new sheriffs in town as Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals, gave listening ears to the OAU authorities and suspended the so-called licence being flaunted by the encroachers. That done, it is, however, not yet ‘uhuru’ for OAU. The vice-chancellor, Professor  Adebayo Simon Banire, has a mountain to climb. So also the new chairman of the OAU council, my friend, classmate and coursemate, Professor Gafar Siyan Oyeweso.

All of us the alumni of Great Ife, male and female, young and old, at home and away must stand up to be counted. The battle is not for the OAU authorities or students alone, it is for all of us that have a stake in Great Ife. If there is one way we can give back to our alma mater, it is to make its battle our battle and its cause our cause.

The urge to pray for the survival of Nigeria’s Labour Party (LP) has suddenly become a patriotic duty; not for the sake of the party but to rescue Nigeria’s democracy. It is really saddening that since 1999 when democracy was restored in the country, the otherwise known best system of government in other climes has remained a motionless experiment in Nigeria. How come ours is the only country where no one can identify the political grouping to which any politician belongs?

As of today, the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was a few years ago, a state deputy governor under a different political party. No one is sure if the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his executives are not members of the APC making it obvious that politics in Nigeria is a game of chance with no speck of principles.

In a Nigerian election, it is easy to see a ballot paper displaying the logos of as many as 18 political parties but no less than 14 of those parties are fake and are merely used by those running them as revenue generating entities. With less than one month to the next Edo governorship elections, 5 such parties, the other day declared their support for one of the few real parties. When asked to explain their decision, they said what their parties wanted to do are exactly same as that of the candidate they are now supporting. How come they never knew that? The reality therefore is that Nigeria is made up of a team of political speculators who see politics as an avenue for material exploitation and are thus prepared to even belong to more than one political party at the same time. This explains why the setting up of government has become a relay race between the two strongest political parties APC and PDP.

During the 2023 general elections, the charisma of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the LP and the fact that many Nigerians had become frustrated by the unending relay race between the leading political twins pushed many to support the Labour Party. Under the cover of the party, political power fell into the hands of charlatans, many of whom had earlier lost the nominations of the leading political traders. Except something is done quickly to remove the grains from the chaff, the LP would itself degenerate beyond the subsisting mercantile groupings. It is against this background that many welcome the on-going efforts to reposition Nigeria’s Labour Party. If that is done, it would be easier to expose the social democrats in the workers’ party whenever they decide to operate as capitalists and power grabbers. All those who are part of the struggle should thus be encouraged to take it to its logical end.

Last week’s stakeholders’ conference at Umuahia which constituted a 29-member caretaker committee to restore the LP to life is a right step in the right direction not necessarily in favour of the party but as stated earlier in the bigger interest of Nigeria’s democracy. To start with, the emergence of a strong LP would drive the drunken leading parties back to line. It would push them to remember that the main purpose of democracy as a system of government is to develop Nigeria and not for a group to confiscate the national wealth. To start with, it is good to hear that most well-meaning leaders of the party were all part of the Umuahia conference. Apart from Peter Obi and his 2023 running mate, Senator Victor Umeh, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and other governorship candidates of the party such as Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of Lagos State, Chijoke Edeoga of Enugu State and Athan Achonu of Imo State were all reportedly at the meeting. 

Another evidence that the stakeholders really mean business is that both the interim chairman and the secretary are tested politicians who are coming to office with strong administrative experience. Nenadi Usman, the chairman was once a senator representing Kaduna South. She had previously served as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. Coming in as secretary of the committee is former Senator Darlington Nwokocha, who was elected to represent Abia Central Senatorial District on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election. Nwokocha was later elected the Minority Whip/Principal Officer of the 10th Senate and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on the NDDC. Earlier, he was in the House of Representatives, from 2015 to 2023 as the member representing Isiala Ngwa North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State.

In addition, for the first time in recent history, Labour party leaders appear to be on the same page. As Peter Obi explained at the Umuahia meeting, “we are not here to suspend or sack anybody, but to rebuild the party…. Whatever we are going to do in future, everybody is free to participate in it and nobody will be excluded…. Even after this meeting, we will continue with more consultations and reconciliation… In going forward, let everybody learn to sacrifice.” To Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central)”allowing the current leadership of the party to continue in office is like building on quicksand, saying nobody is against anybody…What brought us here is a doctrine of necessity…Our party is currently rudderless.” On his part, the Labour Party National Transition Committee chair, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar described the Umuahia Decision 2024 as a turning point for Nigeria’s future as it brings to an end in the LP, “the era of transactional leadership of graft and crime.”

It is however worthy of note that like a normal viable political party, there are dissenting opinions by members. The Kaduna state chapter of the party for instance rejected the emergence of Nenadi Usman as the party’s National Caretaker chairman. In a statement, the State LP chairman, Auwal Tafoki, following the stance of the party’s outgoing National Working Committee led by Barrister Julius Abure, described the emergence of Usman, an indigene of the state, as illegal and unconstitutional. They raised 2 main allegations; first that Usman is allegedly not a registered member of the party and second that the organ which convened the Umuahia meeting was unknown to the party’s constitution.  There is doubt however if these technical points make sense now that even the electoral body is shunning the LP. The party has not been invited to at least two recent major political activities organized by the Independent national Electoral Commission INEC.

It is valid and in order to raise technical points that should keep a political party within the rule of law and indeed, to avoid arbitrariness. But such technicalities would certainly become dysfunctional if they are intended to keep a political party in a state of dilemma in which little or no progress is achieved by the party while those holding it to ransom continue to appropriate its resources. In fact, crises in other Nigerian political parties are attributable to unending legal arguments employed by different factions to undo their parties. The support of this piece for the repositioning of Nigeria’s labour Party will evaporate if after the reforms, the party returns to the usual posture of political parties in Nigeria whose members are basically self-seeking. Instead, we look forward to the LP providing leadership and compelling other parties to see politics as a basis for societal development.

For this to happen, LP unlike other Nigerian parties must be well administered. The party must depart from the old system where everyone is pursuing public office to the detriment of an effective management of the ruling party. No Nigerian political party has a viable membership register. That must stop. There must be adherence to regular meetings of organs of a political party as enshrined in the party’s constitution. Nigerian political parties must stop working to the answer by holding national conventions whereas local and state congresses that should have elected delegates to the national conventions were not held.

Also to stop is the idea of politicians turning organs into secret cult like the case of legislators colluding to deceiving Nigerians about their remunerations. For example, many Nigerians were disappointed to find that labour party legislators from a social justice background joined others to accept unduly expensive official vehicles at the expense of the nation’s economy. The character of a Labour Party differs substantially from that.

Perhaps unknown to most Nigerians, the Nigerian government hosted its political opposition in the hallowed chambers of the Federal Executive Council last Wednesday. It was a unique opportunity to hear an opposition perspective on the current state of the nation right in the executive chambers of Aso Villa. This was in a week when Mr. Dinuba was out touring in China after sneakily authorizing a cruel increase of petrol pump prices over and above the wildest imagination. The opposition flag and message were carried by an unusual mascot: American tech billionaire and philanthropist, Mr. Bill Gates.

Escorted by Nigeria’s leading money mascot, Aliko Dangote, Bill Gates got an opportunity to literally gate crash into the Executive Council Chambers at Aso Villa where he had the rare opportunity of lecturing the entire Federal Government including Vice President Kassim Shettima and ministers. A lecture on basic development challenges ended up as an unscheduled talk on the inconvenient truths of the present times in Nigeria.

What was auspicious is not so much the presence of the two money merchants. It was rather the message that Mr. Gates had to deliver at the Aso Rock Council chambers that should interest us. Forget the fact that America’s own money men do not get to casually walk into council meetings at the White House to lecture anybody about anything. It is not usual for Gates, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffet to hike a ride and gate crash into a White House Council meeting to talk about anything. If indeed they have to make a Congressional appearance on any subject, they have to be invited by the relevant committee leadership and answer specific questions. But this is Nigeria. All anyone needs to qualify to lecture an entire Nigerian government is a trove of cash and influence either as a refinery owner or a rich technology billionaire turned philanthropist.

In any event, both Dangote and Bill Gates are familiar sights in Nigeria’s power precincts. Dangote is constantly on hand in all meetings that have to do with running a successful economy especially on matters that concern cement and petrol. Bill Gates similarly shows up ever so often in Abuja and Lagos to talk about Guinea worms or his over $2.8 billion spend on charity, especially primary healthcare, in and around Nigeria.

What is important is the message that Mr. Gates had for his unlikely audience in Abuja. I am sure that most of those there gathered must have been uneasy in their padded seats as the man delved deeper into the substance of his subject. Mr. Gates told them unkind and uncomfortable truths. His contentions were in two major areas of Nigeria’s contemporary economic and social situation: government spending priorities and tax performance.

Mr. Gates told our government people what they probably already know but dare not openly admit in the corridors of power. All is not well in the economy. Nigeria’s economy has stagnated in the last 15 years. The revenue to GDP ratio has worsened over the same period. For the first time, our debt exceeded 50% of GDP. Our government is now the third most indebted in the world with debts still climbing.

That is not all. Nigeria now has the second highest rate of food insecurity in the world with hunger ravaging more than half of the populace. Access to primary healthcare remains a mirage while out of school population has just approached 20 million. Given his preoccupation with primary healthcare in his Africa wide philanthropy projects under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he is shocked about the average annual spend of N3,000 per citizen in Nigeria. It is of course his contention that what Nigeria needs now is attention to the basic components of development like primary healthcare, basic education and poverty alleviation.

Implicit in his elaborate presentation is an excoriating critique of the current trend and direction of priority of the Tinubu government. Implicit in Bill Gates’ well timed lecture is an outright condemnation of Mr. Tinubu’s emphasis on wasteful and luxurious government spending. Mr. Gates says it without naming it.

Nigeria ought to be sending more kids to school away from the streets, buying more medicines and medicaments for health centres and hospitals in remote places, assisting basic enterprises so that common people can find resources to meet their basic needs. Nigeria ought to be sending more hands to the farms to produce the food now urgently needed to feed millions of the hungry.

Our priority ought not to be presidential yatchs, fleets of luxury SUVs, new presidential jets, mansions and expensive junkets to literally all corners of the globe to attend inconsequential gatherings that have nothing to do with the welfare of the common Nigerian. In the latter respect, the intrinsic value of Mr. Bill Gates’s lecture to our Council of Ministers is actually in the eloquent silences of the message. He told us what we ought to prioritize and left our ministers to conclude on the wrong priorities of the government they are serving.

Within the present Nigerian political space, there exists a dialect that belongs alongside Mr. Gates’ preoccupations. In fact, Mr. Gates’s rhetoric corresponds to the outlines of the contention of the mainstream political opposition. Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party are more less saying the same things as Mr. Gates but not in aid of a philanthropic end. Indeed, the basic developmental logic of Mr. Peter Obi since after the 2023 presidential election corresponds to the kernel of Mr. Bill Gates major argument. Of course, Mr. Gates was not out on a political campaign. He was merely marketing his philanthropy. But his philanthropy is essentially a humanistic development agenda. It takes its departure from a human development perspective. Its broad contention is that Africa’s future depends on its ability to harness its resources to actualize its present human resources in the things that matter and will uplift the majority of Africans.

It has been the consistent position of Mr. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last presidential election, that what Nigeria needs is a basic developmental strategy, not a grandiose pretentious display.  Mr. Obi has consistently harped on the need to prioritize basic development issues of primary healthcare, poverty alleviation and education. In accordance, he has taken the Tinubu government to task on its wasteful priorities of luxury, white elephant projects and highways that lead nowhere in particular.

As a way of addressing the paucity of revenue in relation to GDP, Mr. Gates used his speaking opportunity to critique Nigeria’s tax performance. In his view, Nigeria is collecting less tax than it should. Literally, Nigerians are not being taxed enough.  Or, better still, the Nigerian tax administration system is not sufficiently effective to collect all that is due to the government. The latter is more true than the former. Predictably, ordinary Nigerians who have been at the receiving end of all manner of multiple and incidental taxes have jumped on Mr. Gates on the social media to question his temerity to talk about taxation in Nigeria.

Perhaps Mr. Bill Gates does not understand the massive implicit taxation regime under which Nigerians have lived for decades. In Nigeria, the same people who pay monthly income tax, annual business tax and several other incidental taxes are also subject to several implicit taxes. Government for the provision of water, electricity, security etc taxes people. Yet, nearly every Nigerian provides his own water borehole, private electricity generator, private security guard etc. These are all services that the government taxes and levies people but does not provide any services.

On the surface, ordinary Nigerians contend that Mr. Gates cannot talk about personal income tax in Nigeria where the government taxes people without discharging the reciprocal obligation of providing social and other services. In Nigeria, we have governments at both federal state and local government levels that levy a multitude of taxes, charges, levies and tariffs without delivering the corresponding services and infrastructure.

Nigerians are unhappy that Mr. Gates would come from the United States, a country where governments account for every dollar of tax payers’ money by way of services to the people.  Yet, it would seem that Mr. Gates is more concerned about corporate and institutional taxes than personal income taxes which has little loopholes for tax avoidance since these taxes are direct charges on monthly incomes at source.

Mr. Gates of course admits the ineffectiveness of government services in Nigeria but still insists that the Nigerian government needs to find the resources to fill the gap between its current obligations and what it needs to maintain the semblance of a functioning nation state.

So far, there have been no signs from government circles that the oppositional essence of Mr. Bill Gates’s visit and address to the Federal Executive Council struck any chords within government circles. Instead, what has lingered is the war of nerves between Mr. Dangote and the NNPCL over what killer pump prices to charge Nigerians for gasoline. Implicit in that price war is yet another unstated petroleum tax whose incidence falls almost uniformly on every Nigerian who has cause to stop by the gas station in order to keep moving.

Mr. Bill Gates has delivered his message and returned to America. It was a message about a more viable alternative development strategy. I doubt that the political import has yet dawned on the Nigerian ruling class who were the immediate audience. The Nigerian opposition will keep up the Bill Gates message but they are not likely to receive the claps and ovation that Bill Gates got in Aso Rock last Wednesday. What a pity?

In Nigeria, as in many parts of the world, there is a pervasive belief among politicians and leaders that they can evade the consequences of their actions. Many corrupt leaders and bad politicians operate under the illusion that they will go unpunished, confident that their wealth, power, and influence will shield them from justice. However, this belief is rooted in a dangerous misunderstanding. It is a lie to think that they can escape divine retribution because, as the Bible consistently shows, God rules over the affairs of men. Leaders may enjoy temporary immunity from accountability, but history and scripture prove that no one escapes the judgment of God.

The Bible is clear on one foundational truth: God governs the world, including the rise and fall of leaders. Daniel 4:17 reminds us, "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will." This verse makes it abundantly clear that no leader is beyond the reach of God's will, and none can rule without divine oversight. Leaders may think they are untouchable, but their reign is allowed by God for reasons only He knows, and they are ultimately accountable to Him.

In Nigeria, the failure to acknowledge God’s supreme rule is at the heart of many leadership crises. Politicians amass wealth through corrupt practices, impoverishing the masses while living lavishly. Some believe they are immune to any form of accountability, both from the people and from God. But this mindset is a gross misunderstanding of the workings of divine justice. Proverbs 16:4 says, "The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." Leaders may rule corruptly for a time, but they are unwittingly fulfilling a purpose that will culminate in their reckoning.

A closer look at the Bible offers examples of leaders who believed they could escape judgment, only to face the inevitable consequences of their actions. Take the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful ruler who thought he was invincible. He became prideful and believed his kingdom was built by his own might. God swiftly humbled him, making him live like an animal in the wilderness until he acknowledged that "the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth" (Daniel 4:25). Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that no leader is above God's rule.

Similarly, in the New Testament, King Herod Agrippa, puffed up by pride, accepted praise from the people who claimed his voice was that of a god and not a man. Acts 12:23 recounts his downfall: "Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died." Herod’s arrogance led to his swift and humiliating demise, proving once again that God rules overall and no leader can escape His judgment.

Leaders today, particularly those in Nigeria, should take heed of these lessons. The belief that they can go unpunished for corrupt governance and the oppression of their people is a grave misconception. It is true that some may seem to thrive in their corruption for years, even decades, but the wheels of divine justice turn in God’s timing, not ours.

Psalm 37:1-2 offers encouragement to those who feel disheartened by the apparent success of corrupt leaders: "Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away." Though justice may seem delayed, it is inevitable.

In Nigeria, where leaders frequently enrich themselves while leaving the people in poverty, the temptation to believe that corrupt politicians will go unpunished is understandable. But scripture reassures us that no one, no matter how powerful, is beyond divine judgment. Even if their downfall is not immediate, it is certain.

God’s timing often frustrates human expectations. As Ecclesiastes 8:11 notes, "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong." This is true in Nigeria today, where the slow pace of justice encourages more corruption. But while human justice may falter, God’s justice is sure. No leader can outrun His judgment, though they may prosper for a time.

In fact, God often allows tyrants and corrupt leaders to rise for specific reasons. As seen in the story of Pharaoh in Egypt, God hardened his heart and allowed him to rule oppressively to demonstrate His power through the liberation of the Israelites. But Pharaoh’s end came swiftly and decisively when God’s judgment finally fell upon him (Exodus 14:28). Leaders like Pharaoh may seem invincible for a time, but God’s purpose will always prevail.

To think that any leader who rules with cruelty and impoverishes the people will go unpunished is to deny the sovereign rule of God tantamount to foolhardiness. Scripture offers numerous examples of leaders who thought they could escape divine judgment, only to meet their end in humiliating or tragic ways. Nigerian politicians should take heed: no amount of power, wealth, or influence can shield them from God's justice.

As Psalm 75:7 reminds us, "It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another." The belief that corrupt leadership can persist without consequence is a dangerous and false notion. While the people may suffer under bad leadership for a time, justice, whether divine or through the course of history, will eventually prevail. Leaders, particularly those in Nigeria, would do well to remember that they rule not by their own might, but by the grace of God, and they are ultimately accountable to Him.

It took me less than one hour into President Bola Tinubu’s administration to spot a giant red flag. His famous words at the inauguration, “subsidy is gone”, instantly set off an alarm in my head. In my article on it, ‘Why (Most) Nigerians Oppose Subsidy Removal’ (June 4, 2023), I wrote: “With all of Tinubu’s experience in government, I thought a presidential pronouncement on such a very sensitive and emotive topic could have been better managed.” My worry, on hearing his declaration, was that it lacked strategic thinking and it was going to create chaos everywhere as there would be panic buying. Little did I know that chaos was going to be the core administrative model of his government.

To start with, President Muhammadu Buhari budgeted for petrol subsidy for only the first half of the year. It went without saying that from July 2023, subsidy would be gone — unless his successor decided to retain it. Why, then, was Tinubu in a hurry to announce the death of subsidy one full month ahead of schedule? The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, aka NNPCL, quickly issued a statement to “clarify” that the announcement would take effect from July, but it was a waste of time. That would only lead to hoarding and hardship. A couple of days later, NNPCL announced a new price of N488/litre in Lagos, up from N185. In other parts of Nigeria, it was as high as N557.

When Tinubu made the ill-advised Eagle Square declaration, the price of crude oil was $75/barrel and the FX rate was N463/$. In June 2023, when the pump price of petrol was adjusted, I understand that the base assumption was an exchange rate of N600/$ — thereby creating some wriggle room in case of depreciation of the naira. Two weeks later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decided to float the naira in its “willing buyer willing seller” policy which — as overly optimistic projections go — was supposed to stimulate the inflow of billions of dollars into the economy, undercut the black market and stabilise the naira around N650/$ at most. The poorly managed float ended up killing the naira.

In July 2023, the theory and practical of floating parted ways as the naira started spinning out of control, hitting N800/$. The Tinubu administration reacted by increasing petrol price to about N600. Thereafter, the naira went fully naked in the FX market, crossing the N1,000/$ mark in September 2023 and racing towards N2,000/$. To make matters worse, oil went up to $93/barrel. However, petrol price remained unchanged. Shockingly, the government and NNPCL insisted there was no subsidy. By the end of August 2024, the FX rate was about N1,600/$ and oil was close to $80/barrel, but petrol remained N617. Amazingly, NNPCL kept saying there was no subsidy, just “a shortfall”.

Alhaji Umar Ajiya, the chief financial officer (CFO) of the NNPCL, added some comedy to the tragedy, saying: “What has been happening is that we have been importing PMS, which has been landing at a specific cost price, and the government tells us to sell it at half price. So, the difference between the landing price and that half price is a shortfall.” Ajiya was only doing what NNPCL historically does: pulling the wool over our eyes. Now that NNPCL has adjusted petrol price to around N855/litre, we are still being told government does not fix the prices, that the market has been “fully” deregulated and it is the market forces that are at work, or at play — a barefaced lie that will go unpunished.

Before the latest price hike, NNPC was buying petrol at N1,200 and selling at N600. To cover the “PMS shortfall” from January to July 2024 alone, NNPC forked out N4.2 trillion. By December 2024, we will have spent about N8 trillion on “PMS shortfall” for this year alone — money that should have otherwise been shared by the federating units. Even if we (expectedly) steal or waste 50 percent of it, there will still be some N4 trillion left to spend on education, roads, health, water, etc. As our forefathers would say, “at all at all na him bad pass”. That is, half a loaf is better than none. The reality is that we have been subsidising petrol consumption since most probably August last year.

Nigerians have been very patient with Tinubu but it appears he does not appreciate this. He would do well to come clean on this subsidy issue. The starting point is the need for conceptual clarity. What exactly is he trying to do? Is he increasing petrol price to reduce the subsidy bill? Or is he trying to generate more revenue from the sale of petrol? When he says “subsidy is gone”, is he deregulating the pricing so that any marketer can buy petrol and sell at a price that covers the cost and provides a profit margin — as the case has been with diesel for decades? Or is he just making a political statement for the cameras? Until we know what he is doing, we cannot have a meaningful debate.

Secondly, it is very clear that there was no preparation for this policy. There was a lack of proper thinking — and this should be surprising for someone who said what he wanted in his life was to be president. You would think he had developed a solid blueprint over the years, but the impression I keep getting from the day he was sworn in till now is that he has been doing things on an ad-hoc basis. For a major issue like the pricing of petrol, you would have expected scenario painting. If the cost of petrol per litre is x, are we going to sell at x plus profit? Or are we going to modulate the price? Where will funding come from? Floating the naira after removing the subsidy was so reckless.

Thirdly, the lack of transparency in the whole game is so irritating. Why is Tinubu playing games? While NNPCL and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum, were busy playing with words on the latest petrol price hike and saying it was all about market forces, Tinubu was saying in faraway China that the increase was because he had to take “hard decisions” for the sake of Nigeria’s development. Don’t they have a WhatsApp group where they can co-ordinate what they tell Nigerians? In any case, “subsidy scam” was one of the catch phrases the APC used to oust the PDP in 2015. Buhari famously asked: “Who is subsidising whom?” It is now an albatross around APC’s neck.

On assuming power and seeing the reality of subsidy in 2015, the first APC administration resorted to semantic sophistication, preferring to call it “cost under recovery” — as if that would solve any problem. They belatedly ended the denial by finally calling a spade a spade. The second APC administration, headed by Tinubu, has rebranded subsidy as “shortfall”. Subsidy denial amounts to lying to your doctor about your illness. Obviously, the denial is also an ego thing. Tinubu, who reputably tamed the Atlantic Ocean, is also celebrated as having slain the subsidy dragon, thereby doing what Napoleon — and all previous Nigerian leaders — could not do. So why burst his bubble?

I know that petrol has been regarded as the most important product in Nigeria and issues around its pricing are tricky. Diesel pricing is free of government control and we have moved on with our lives. Same for kerosene and Jet-A fuel. The labour unions have never called a strike over diesel price, even though a large chunk of inter-state transport is by luxury buses which run on diesel. Most goods — foodstuffs, equipment, etc — are moved across the country by trucks and trailers running on diesel. Medium to large-scale businesses run on diesel. All these impact on the cost of living. Diesel was N700 when Tinubu came in and is now N1,300 or thereabout, but there are no calls for strike.

Why always petrol? I asked a senior friend last week and he reasoned that it was because it is one product that affects the life of every Nigerian. Really? More than the prices of garri, rice, yam, maize, tomato and beans? I have never heard that anybody went on strike because of rising prices of yam or rice. Does that mean Nigerians consider petrol to be more important than food? I don’t think so. My conclusion, which may be tenuous, is that we think, rightly or wrongly, that petrol is “government property”. Therefore, government should take sole responsibility for the pricing in the interest of Nigerians, whether or not it can afford the bill. We classify petrol as a socio-political commodity.

Early 2023, when petrol was N185 in Lagos, I told a filling station attendant that I had just returned from Ghana where a litre was about N700. He replied: “But their government is doing something for them. Fuel subsidy is the only thing we enjoy in Nigeria.” His sense was that Ghana was spending the revenue from petrol on its citizens. I wanted to explain to him that the Ghanaian government does not sell petrol, that it is purely the business of private companies, but courage failed me. Petrol price in Ghana is determined like the price of yam: how much did I buy it? How much did I transport it? How much will I sell to make a margin? We have been unable to achieve this in Nigeria since 1986.

I don’t know who brought up this idea that with Dangote Refinery, petrol would be cheap because it is locally refined. How? The major cost input is crude oil. If crude oil goes for $80/barrel, products cannot be cheap — except we subsidise the crude. A benefit of local refining is the elimination of shipping cost, which does not amount to much. Shipping is the cheapest form of cargo transport across the globe. The biggest benefit of local refining is that we would conserve the FX we spend on fuel imports. The downside, though, is that if we sell crude in naira, we will lose the opportunity to earn FX from oil exports and that could further hurt the naira. Every policy comes with a trade-off.

In the final analysis, whatever we do with petrol subsidy, there will be repercussions. We remove it, Nigerians will suffer but the treasury will suffer less. We retain it, Nigerians will suffer less but the treasury will suffer more. Know that, know peace. It is for the government to weigh its options. But this administration has been disingenuous. They should come out and tell us the truth with their chest. They should lay bare their thinking. Do you want to treat petrol as a socio-political commodity? Do they want to truly deregulate? Why play games? In 2024 — over 180 years after education came to Nigeria — we are still being treated as a colony of ignoramuses. It is what it is.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

GUTTER POLITICS

If you have been following the campaigns in Edo state ahead of the 2024 governorship election, you would be forgiven for thinking the most important issues are marital status and child-bearing. The PDP went on a campaign of taunting two of the leading candidates for being single or unmarried, while Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC) went completely into the gutter by saying the incumbent governor and his wife are childless. How low can Nigerian politicians go in the struggle for power which, more often than not, is for the ultimate goal of personal aggrandisement and not the progress of the society? Unfortunately, their supporters will defend (or try to justify) the nonsense. Tasteless.

HATE SPACE

Canadian police authorities have arrested a 46-year-old Nigerian woman who allegedly made a hate speech — to the extent of vowing to poison the meals of people from some ethnic groups. The cyber space is full of hate speech but while Western countries are arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators, Nigerian authorities appear to be more interested in fighting personal battles for politicians and other VIPs over “cyber stalking” and “defamation”. They must also crack down on those cowards stoking ethnic and religious hate on social media. These characters think they can post whatever they like and go scot-free. They are a clear and present danger to this society. Action.

CYBER CRIMINALS

Other forms of cybercrime that are not taken seriously in Nigeria are sextortion and revenge porn. Two Nigerian brothers have just been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison by a US court for sextortion. Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, 24 and 21 years old respectively, lured Jordan DeMay, a young American boy, to send them nude pictures, pretending to be a girl. They then threatened to spread the images except he sent them money. The boy sent all he could and threatened to kill himself, to which the criminals said he should go ahead. DeMay committed suicide immediately. It’s good Nigerian authorities helped with investigation but they need to be doing more at home. Tragic.

NO COMMENT

Prof. Tahir Mamman, minister of education, recently tried to get JAMB to bar students less than 18 years old from writing the UTME. After the uproar, Dr. Tanko Sununu, his minister of state, has come out to “clarify” the matter. “People just pick up some remarks the minister made, misinterpreted the statements to imply that age restriction has been placed for WAEC and NECO examinations,” he said. “What we have been mentioning was the entry age for university — candidates sitting for the UTME.” That is, you can write the senior school exam if you like but you can’t write the UTME until you are 18. The glaring difference between six and half a dozen. What a clarification! Wonderful.

Todsy, the Super Eagles of Nigeria play against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in one of the group qualification matches for the African Cup of Nations 2015.

The match will be played on home ground in Uyo, the only venue approved by FIFA as suitable for Nigeria’s Grade A international football matches. That speaks volumes.

Uyo is a venue with excellent facilities but that holds mixed fortunes for the national team. The beautiful modern city in the heart of Nigeria’s remaining rainforest area has hosted as many matches that have been lost as have also been won. It is a home ground that does not play out as one. Gone are the days when the home ground of the national team was described as ‘an abbatoir’ where visiting teams are ‘slaughtered’ on the hallowed turf of the ‘main-bowl’.

The Uyo Township Stadium is seen these days, particularly by visiting teams, as a neutral ground where they can come and stretch the patience of fanatical Nigerian fans. They do not fear coming there to play anymore. The myth of Nigeria’s invincibility at home has been broken, so, winning for the Super Eagles has become psychologically more difficult.

So, as they line out today, for the first time ever, Nigerians lack the usual confidence that their beloved Super Eagles will trounce the Cheetahs, a team that was Nigeria’s whipping boy for all the decades since football between both nations began. It used to be unthinkable that Nigeria could ever lose a football match to Benin Republic. If things were done correctly by Nigerian football administrators, both teams should never belong to the same planet of football. Haba.

Even today, the Cheetahs parade Nigerian players that fail to make the cut of the third-eleven of the Nigerian national team, yet they only have to stroll across the border at Seme, simply and easily change their nationality, and start to play for Benin Republic. These are some of the players that now constitute a real threat to the Super Eagles. This Saturday, they are coming, led by an aggrieved foreign coach, to attempt to terminate Nigeria’s shaky march to Morocco 2025.

The Cheetahs have become a real threat to Nigeria’s ambitions.

The Cheetahs are led by a man with an axe to grind with Nigeria. Gernot Rohr, a German, handled the Super Eagles longer than any coach since Clemens Westerhof in Nigeria’s football history.

At the end of his last contract, for not winning anything and for his team not being convincingly impressive. His contract was not renewed. He left angrily. A segment of the Nigerian media, particularly one suspiciously benefitting from his generosity or presence, somehow, supported and promoted his re-engagement by the Nigerian Football Federation and failed. Meanwhile, the NFF were under pressure from the people to win anything, even pako (wood), but they failed to do so. Reason prevailed, however, and Gernot Rohr was asked to leave. Since then, Rohr has been on a revenge mission.

The elements must have been enjoying the drama and stretched it further with the present plot where a once-rejected coach lies in the other path of Nigeria’s qualification.

He has won Round One on neutral ground in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire in a humiliating and convincing defeat of the former ‘giant’ of African football, a team that has diminished in stature and reputation and become vulnerable on home ground, threatened by all teams now, small or big, in African football.

Some analysts credit former minnows in Africa football with developing their football and earning their new place as worthy challengers on the continent. My truth, however, is that it is Nigeria’s decline at all levels of development (excluding female football), and a reflection of the state of the country itself.

The Super Eagles have lost the stronger feathers in their wings!

AFCON 2023, for a period of one month, showed glimpses of interesting possibilities and potential for greatness, but since then, the team has returned to their flightless nature of the past decade.

So, as the match today approaches, sadly, Nigerians are not brimming with their usual confidence. And that includes me. That’s why, also, the build-up to the match has been ‘humble’ and uninspiring. Expectations have been limited. This is reflected even in the team’s build up.

Without a coach until one week ago, the composition of the Super Eagles, as team of players, has not changed significantly from the team that inspired Nigerians at AFCON 2023, and dampened their spirit since then.

More or less, the same set of players are back in it. Captain William Troost-Ekong has fully recovered from a major injury and surgery, but has not played for the national team since February.

Africa’s current Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, did not play the last set of matches with the Super Eaglesincluding the one against Benin Republic. His state of mind will be a big factor in his performance. It may either weigh him down, or be a source of challenge to prove that his absence was a factor in Nigeria’s loss. He has also been embroiled in several controversies, all of them psychologically dampening. These include his spat with the last coach of the Super Eagles, Finidi George, issues with his coach at Napoli, and issues around his end-of-season transfer saga, a very poor advertisement for his management, and a huge distraction for any meaningful preparation for this match in Uyo.

Victor is the last player to arrive at the Uyo camp with only 24 hours to train with the team for the first time since February. To start him in the line-up will even be a big gamble for coach Eguavoen who is handling the team without earning the right to do so.

Until a few days ago, the team did not have a preferred coach. In fact the team has not had a permanent coach since the team’s relative success at AFCON in February. In the period after then till now, there have been 3 different unsuccessful coaches that handled the team, including the man now saddled once again to do so on a temporary basis for the next two matches over a period of one week.

I feel sorry for Augustine Eguavoen. He is making his 4th appearance at the helm. Yet, he fails till now to secure the people’s confidence. He could neither negotiate nor reject an assignment that is laden with ‘poison’.

Should he ‘fail’ again, he would surely carry the can of responsibility. Should he succeed, his employers are already searching for a foreign successor. So, he has little motivation beyond self to deliver victory.

Finally, he is saddled with assistants that are untested ‘rookies’ in international football. How will the megastars in Super Eagles relate with these local handlers without their level of exposure and experience in playing or even coaching?

That’s the setting for the match this weekend in Uyo.

For once, I shall join in the night vigil for the Super Eagles.

I hope that, somehow, they find the motivation, inspiration and good fortune to inject some rhythm into their game, play with patience, be clinical in front of goal when the rare chances come their way, and win this match for all Nigerians.

Victory will provide a launch pad for hope and better performances ahead for the rest of their campaigns for qualification for AFCON 2025, and the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

I wish the Super Eagles the best of luck today.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is no stranger to the struggles between governance and the expectations of the masses. As democratic practices have evolved over the years, so too has the discourse around governance, transparency, and accountability. A recurring theme in the political landscape is the growing chorus of criticism directed at those in power, often dismissed as “wailers” by government sympathizers. However, a deeper look at the situation reveals that this so-called wailing is rooted in concerns over misgovernance, rather than an outright opposition to democracy itself.

Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the country has witnessed fluctuating fortunes in governance. Promises of development, economic prosperity, and improved welfare for citizens have often been sidelined by pervasive corruption, poor policy implementation, and a lack of accountability from political leaders. Over time, these issues have resulted in widening inequality, high unemployment rates, an economic downturn, and a growing sense of disenfranchisement among ordinary Nigerians.

Democracy in its true form is meant to serve the people, ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs met. Unfortunately, many Nigerian politicians seem to have misinterpreted democracy as a system that allows them to pursue personal interests at the expense of the people they swore to serve. This disconnect between the government and the governed is the crux of the widespread dissatisfaction, and it is here that the term “wailers” comes into play.

In Nigeria’s political lexicon, the term “wailers” has been used to mock and diminish critics of the government. Those who speak out against poor governance, failed promises, or questionable policies are often lumped together and ridiculed as wailers by the ruling party’s loyalists. But who are these so-called wailers?

Wailers, in reality, represent a cross-section of concerned Nigerians who refuse to stay silent in the face of misgovernance. They are the voices demanding accountability, transparency, and good governance. Far from being a nuisance, their outcry is essential to keeping democracy alive. In a functioning democracy, dissent and critique are vital in holding leaders accountable. Wailing, as it is condescendingly termed, is simply an expression of frustration that the democratic promises of good governance are not being fulfilled.

The irony of the situation is that the government, which should be responsive to the needs of the people, often deflects legitimate criticism by labeling it as mere noise-making. Misgovernance, under the guise of democratic leadership, has unfortunately become a recurring theme in Nigeria’s governance cycle. When policies fail, the economy tanks, or social services crumble, the government points fingers at external factors or past administrations, conveniently ignoring the systemic issues within their own ranks.

By dismissing legitimate concerns as wailing, the government and its supporters misunderstand the true essence of democracy. In a democracy, the people are sovereign, and their cries should be taken seriously, not mocked. The wailers are not enemies of the state; they are citizens fighting for the democratic values that the government itself should champion.

One of the greatest threats to democracy is silence in the face of injustice. If Nigerians stop wailing, if they cease to express their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, it would signify the death of democratic engagement. The very fabric of democracy is woven with threads of dialogue, debate, and, yes, even dissent. When citizens are too afraid or too disillusioned to speak out, misgovernance flourishes unchecked.

The current state of Nigeria demands active citizen participation. The wailers, far from being misguided or obstructionist, are crucial to Nigeria’s democratic project. They are the individuals who dare to ask the hard questions, who refuse to accept mediocrity, and who push for a better Nigeria. Silencing these voices only perpetuates the cycle of misgovernance that has plagued the country for far too long.

For Nigeria’s democracy to truly work there must be a shift in how criticism is viewed. Instead of dismissing critics as wailers, the government must engage in constructive dialogue. There needs to be a space for civil discourse where the concerns of the people are addressed, rather than dismissed.

Without a doubt, democracy thrives when there is an ongoing conversation between the rulers and the ruled. This conversation should be respectful, transparent, and aimed at improving governance. The current trend of labeling dissenters as wailers only deepens the divide between the government and the people. Nigeria cannot afford such division, especially at a time when the country faces numerous socio-economic challenges.

The misunderstanding of the wailers in Nigeria is symptomatic of a larger issue: the disconnect between the government’s perception of democracy and the realities of misgovernance. As long as legitimate concerns are mocked and ignored, misgovernance will continue to thrive. It is time to reframe the narrative around dissent and to understand that those who speak out are not wailers but advocates for a better, more just and more democratic Nigeria.

In the end, misgovernance and democracy are at odds with each other. The wailers, far from being a nuisance, are a crucial part of the democratic process, fighting for the very values that Nigeria’s democracy is supposed to uphold. Their voices must not only be heard but respected as part of the nation’s quest for genuine progress.