The semi-final match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Wednesday, February 7, at the ongoing 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’ivoire, ended with a combination of joy and sadness for Nigerians.

DAILY POST reported that at the last count, five Nigerians reportedly dropped dead while watching the match; a development that has left many in utter bewilderment as to how men, who were healthy before the match, could suddenly cave in to death following the tension and anxiety generated by the football match.

Before the match, hopes and expectations were high among Nigerian fans, who wanted nothing but victory.

However, events took a somber turn when the anticipated victory did not come as quickly as expected. Five persons were reported to have died as a result of the tension that characterized the fiasco, before Nigeria eventually snatched victory away from the South Africans through penalty shoot-outs.

But then, it was already late, because the deed had been done; five men were already gone to the world beyond.

The first casualty came when the South African team was awarded a penalty kick against Nigeria towards the end of the game, while the other ones happened when the match got to the penalty shoot-outs. Those were the reported figures; there could be others whose deaths were not reported, probably in the hinterlands.

However, first on the roll call was a former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Ika Federal Constituency of Delta State, Dr Cairo Ojougboh. He was said to have journeyed to the world beyond when a penalty was awarded against Nigeria.

According to the report, as soon as the South African team scored against Nigeria, Ojougboh screamed, then collapsed, and died immediately.

Again, a deputy bursar at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Alhaji Ayuba Abdullahi, also suffered a similar fate watching the tension-soaked encounter. According to sources, he died while watching the match at a viewing centre in Sango area of Ilorin metropolis.

“Abdullahi watched the game till the end of the extra time, before he felt uncomfortable and was rushed to a private hospital in the area, where he, unfortunately, gave up the ghost.

“The deputy bursar watched the match from the beginning till the end of the extra time. When it was time for the penalty kick, he complained that he was feeling frenzy, and needed to go back home to rest. He never knew that his blood pressure level had gone up.

“So, on getting home, he collapsed, and he was rushed to a private hospital in Sango, from where he was referred to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. But, before he could be attended to at the teaching hospital, he died,” a source volunteered.

Also, a serving member of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), simply identified as Samuel, was equally reported to have slumped and died while watching the match.

According to witnesses, the Kaduna-born corps member died before the last shootout that launched Nigeria into the final stage of the competition.

“We lost one Nigerian a few minutes ago during our victory celebration over South Africa today at our sport viewing centre here in Numan, Adamawa State.

“The Corps member who is serving in Numan, from Kaduna State has slumped before the kick-off of the winning goal. He died before they could reach the hospital in Numan; may his soul rest in peace,” the witness said.

The NYSC Coordinator in Adamawa State, Jingi Dennis, said the corps member was confirmed dead at the General Hospital in Numan.

“According to his colleagues who went with him to watch the match, the late corps member told the people around him that he did not like watching penalty shootouts. He then bowed his head, and suddenly collapsed.

“He was confirmed dead at the General Hospital in Numan by the doctor,” the coordinator said.

There was also a man said to be working as a sales representative with a multi-national manufacturing company in Nigeria, who equally slumped and died as he was watching the semi-final football encounter in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The man, aged 43, and identified as Mikail Osundiji, was said to have died out of shock after the central referee nullified Nigeria‘s second goal by striker Victor Osimhen against the South Africans.

Checks revealed that the late Osun-born Osundiji, who was a father of two, did not show any sign of sickness before he showed up at the football viewing centre located at the Federal Housing Estate (FHE) in Olomoore axis of Abeokuta metropolis to watch the match.

His elder sister, Mrs. Adetunji Nofisat, who spoke to journalists, explained that Osundiji suddenly breathed out heavily after the cancellation of Nigeria’s second goal, lowered his head, and fell to the ground at the football viewing centre.

“That was when other people at the football viewing centre rushed to him and took him to one of the private hospitals in Olomoore before the doctor on duty pronounced him dead,” she stated.

There was also a report about the death of an Anambra-born billionaire, Chief Osondu Nwoye, resident in Ivory Coast, who allegedly died while watching the same semifinal match between Nigeria and South Africa.

A major motor spare parts dealer and CEO of Group Auto Promotion Cote d‘Ivoire, Nwoye, who lives in Ivory Coast, according to report, was shouting on top of his voice when the Nigerian star striker, Victor Osihmen, scored the second goal, which was later cancelled by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

It was alleged that the shock of seeing the goal cancelled, and the subsequent penalty that was awarded against Nigeria, was too much for him to bear.

He subsequently collapsed in the stadium, and was immediately rushed to the hospital, but all efforts to revive him failed, as the doctor pronounced him dead.

So, even as most Nigerians were jubilating over the eventual victory of the Super Eagles over their counterparts in South Africa, it was such a mournful moment for family and friends of the deceased.

While some have described what happened as one of the mysteries of life, which can end any time, others would want to look at it from the health status of the victims before the ugly incident.

The Medical Director, Hosanna Hospital, Festac, Lagos, Dr. Chikodi Onyemkpa, is among those who would want to view their deaths from the medical angle, rather than one of life’s mysteries.

He expressed doubt if that was the first time such had happened.

“Frankly, there is nothing strange about it. However, individuals that know they have health challenges like high blood pressure are encouraged not to get into extreme situations like watching football matches which they have interest in,” he advised.

Onyemkpa also expressed fear that the economic situation in Nigeria that was gradually going in the direction of violent confrontation was not helping matters.

According to him, if it continued, many people would still die not because they got into the street, but because the news of what happened in the street was coming to them.

He went biblical to explain how bad news could contribute to what had happened when he said: “For those that read their Bible, they should remember that it was bad news that killed Prophet Eli. It was bad news that caused Prophet Eli’s daughter-in-law to have premature delivery. So, what has happened is not new.”

However, viewing the development from the medical prism, Dr Onyemkpa said the medical connection to what had happened was that there was extreme excitement which the heart couldn’t just handle.

He likened what happened during the match which led to the unfortunate incident to running a 100 metres race, saying, “Have you ever done a 100-metre-race and discovered that you were struggling to breathe; you were panting excessively? There is a threshold that your heart will be able to handle.”

“If the emergency management chemicals in your body get produced at a level that is beyond the coping capacity of your heart to handle, then there will be a sudden event that will be disastrous; that’s the thing,” he told DAILY POST.

He stressed that the heart couldn’t just cope with the stress of the excitement that characterized the match.

“When there is an emergency, your body gets into what is called a fight flight mode; that is either you fight or you run. For your body to get into that mode, a chemical substance called adrenaline is injected into your blood immediately, telling your body either to run for life or to fight for your life.

“So, that sudden event of prepping your body for that is also associated with the heart picking up. That’s why when there is a gunshot by your window, suddenly your heart will start racing, meanwhile you are sitting down in your house.

“Your heart will be racing as if you have done a 100-metre-race; that is what happens. So, when there is sudden news, your heart picks up, either to run away from danger or fight to extricate yourself from danger.

“That protocol is managed by a chemical substance called adrenalin. And what adrenalin will also do is that your heart will start racing and your eyes become sharp, and you just want to automatically, without thinking, respond that way. So, if the heart is not able to take that load of responsibility, then there is a problem,” he said.

He also made an analogy with starting a car engine to explain how the heart works and what happens in certain situations of one’s health condition.

He said: “You start a car, you rev the engine and all that before you start to run. Some cars are said to be very good because you just start the engine and you touch your leg on the accelerator and it will move from zero rpm to about 6000 revolutions per a minute. Those are fantastic engines.

“But, you put your foot on some engines, and they cannot do more than 2000 revolutions per minute. The other one might be up to 6000 per minute. So, the one that can handle a bigger pressure, you say it is a better engine. And the one that cannot handle as much as 6000, you say it is not that sharp an engine. So, what it is now is that you have injected adrenalin and you are expecting an engine that can only do 2000rpm to do 6000 and it packs up; that is all.”

To prevent future occurrence of the sad incident, he advised that “people should know their health status before engaging in any activity that is tension-filled and emotion-laden, like watching football, especially one that is as important as the Nation’s Cup, involving the nation’s football team.

“So, if you know your health, you will know the level of pressure you can handle. This is not the first time that people have been advised not to watch explosive matches if they know they cannot handle the pressure.

“Wait for the match to be over and you can watch the replay.

“And even when you are watching the replay of the penalties of the match between Nigeria and South Africa, it still looks as if you are watching the event alive, but then, the tension is less because you already know what the result is.”

For the Consultant Cardiologist at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Dr Ramon Moronkola, the spate of deaths while watching football matches could be attributed to either heart attack or stroke.

“For people that develop heart failure, for example, or those that have had what is called Ischemic Heart Disease, which is a kind of blockage in their heart, any form of excitement can lead to heart attack,” Moronkola said.

He also noted that grief or excitement could cause such deaths, particularly if there was an underlying medical case that was diagnosed or even undiagnosed.

The medical doctor told DAILY POST that, “People can die suddenly as a result of grief or excitement. For those who die as a result of excitement, usually, there is an underlying cardiovascular issue, either known or unknown to the individual.

“Some people are also prone to developing what is called arrhythmias when there is an emotional surge. Arrhythmias means that the heart is beating abnormally and goes into an abnormal rhythm, and that can also lead to sudden death.”

The President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society, Prof Augustine Odili, had this to say: “The possibility is that they might have had what people call heart attack, which is known to be caused by the expression of emotions.

“Again, it is also important to talk about how each of them died, and at what point. Two of them, I learnt, died when the Nigerian player scored a goal and the goal was disqualified and then South Africa scored and the penalty shootout,” he told our correspondent.

He also agreed with Dr Onyemkpa on the need for people to know their health status before engaging in any activity that would cause so much excitement or emotion as a way of preventing such sad developments in the future.

He noted that apart from everyone undergoing regular health checks, there should be provisions for immediate resuscitation.

“There is nothing that can be beyond regular checks. Even if you have no symptoms and don’t feel any pain, it is good to check. It is when there is no war that you prepare for war.

“So, even if you have no symptoms, and you are not sick, it is good to have regular checks, so that you can detect any underlying issue. That is the only way forward.

“Try regular health checks so that you can know what your background condition is and manage it appropriately. If you have high blood pressure that is not controlled and you have an emotional surge, your blood pressure will go through the roof compared to someone whose blood pressure is well controlled,” he advised.

In his contribution a Consultant Psychologist, LASUTH, Dr Leonard Okonkwo also aligned with the earlier speakers that the people who died watching the football match between Nigeria and South Africa, probably, had one disease or the other around their heart.

To prevent future occurrences, he also called for regular medical checks so that people could know their medical status.

He told DAILY POST that, “Many times, people have these conditions without knowing. Watching a match that is full of tension and emotion, it is very normal for the blood pressure to go far beyond what the heart can handle, and when that happens, the heart packs up, leading to sudden death.

“What has happened is not unusual because football is a sport that is full of emotions, particularly when Nigeria is involved at that stage.

“For the match to have got into the penalty kick, it built a lot of anxieties even for people who don’t have hypertension.”

“So, people should just know their health status to avoid this kind of situation in future and that can only be done through regular medical check-ups,” he stressed.

[DailyPost]

I had planned to write on leadership lessons from the late General Murtala Muhammed who was assassinated 48 years ago. Tuesday this week is the anniversary of that sad memory. I had wanted to remind our leaders in Nigeria who are beginning to blame their predecessors for their poor leadership after eight months in office that the great leader, Hurricane Murtala spent only six months in office and was able to achieve three significant things we can’t easily forget.

The three remarkable things include incredible creation of a brand new capital for the federation. He set up a powerful panel comprising all the experts and stakeholders to recommend a site. He accepted the panel’s report and proclaimed a new capital for the Federation where our present leaders are blaming opposition for leaking a document, which contained a whopping N1.8 billion worth of recommendation for a panel to discuss appropriate wage review details for public servants.

Yes, Murtala who also led the whole of Africa to proclaim to the powerful West that indeed “…Africa has come of age…” at an extra-ordinary session of the then OAU on Sunday, January 11, 1976 had in a broadcast to the nation on February 3, 1976 proclaimed Abuja as the Nigeria’s new capital. He legalised it and also proposed Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Lagos as regional capitals of some sort, he designated “Special Areas”, for strategic reasons.

I had wanted to deconstruct the leadership style of Murtala and recommend some lessons from his proactive strategy without which we might not have had one of Nigeria’s major achievements in history – building a new capital. We will return to this important beat and other details in honour of the iconic Murtala someday.

I hope we can take away something significant here for our leaders: that Murtala was in power for only six months and the panel he set up to recommend a new capital reportedly travelled to several capitals around the world including Camberra in Australia, Washington DC, United States, and they didn’t spend hundreds of millions, according to the late Dr. Akinola Aguda I interviewed for Abuja Newsday in 1989.

Now to the brass tacks today, leadership lessons from football (management). Some of our leaders are likely to be in Abidjan to watch the epic AFCON final between Nigeria and Ivory Coast today. This isn’t new. Most world leaders do that whenever their countries get to finals. The female leader of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic wore the team shirt and cheered her team at the 2018 World Cup final between Croatia and France in Moscow, Russia.

At the 2023 World Cup final in Doha, Emmanuel Macron was right there when France lost to Argentina. Macron was seen consoling Kylian Mbappe who was depressed by the loss to Argentina. And so as our leaders watch today’s final, let us also entertain them with some facts about sport and indeed football leadership, which will be useful to them.

First, our leaders should see the quality of stadia the sports leadership in another West African country has provided for the very successful competition that ends today. But much more than mere provisions of facilities for the beautiful game that normally unites our people behind our national team, there are more significant lessons that our leaders can borrow from football management model.

Why the lessons?
It seems to us from the fumbling and faltering we experience daily, that our leaders are just leading us by intuition; as their weak spirit leads them. Most of our leaders seem unprepared for leadership challenges as we are beginning to perceive again. They need some reflections and lessons on what leadership is all about: security and welfare of the people, which they can’t provide at the moment.

As I noted here in 2016, 2017 and 2022, I would like us to discuss again some points about business models that can affect governance and nation building in global context. Most of our political leaders may not know that they actually need to go to good business/management and leadership schools to manage their politics and development well. General knowledge is good, but with the way the world is witnessing some convergence between politics and business, it is important that leadership lessons and models that modern leaders need should include some modules in business and management schools.

It is sad that most of our leaders in Nigeria do not understand that we regard them as mere wasters. They gamble with the destiny of a great nation for four to eight years. They do not record significant achievements for eight years that most of them spend in office. They just take oath of office, enjoy themselves very well and just take a large portion of the state resources and go away in a culture of impunity where even anti-corruption managers too are corruptible and no institution to prosecute them.

And as soon as our dealers we call leaders leave office, the memories we have of them begin to fade away from even the week they leave office. That is why it is important to advise those who wish to seek public office next time that modern leaders need some empowerment called “dynamic capabilities” through proper education in business and political management. What is the nexus between business management education and success in politics? Here is the thing: good political leaders in modern governance system should begin to see people as customers to satisfy every day.

Leaders at all levels need to read the constitution contextually. For instance, the 1999 constitution, sections 130 (2) and 176 (2) actually provide that the president and governors are, and should be regarded as “chief executives” of the federation and states respectively. The services they should deliver, therefore, ought to be treated as if they were goods and services to be delivered to the customers called the people. As I was saying, so they should seek to treat service delivery as a brand whose equity should always be improved upon so that return on investment (ROI) to the owners will be tangible and robust.

The way most of our leaders see government money is something to be spent anyhow without accounting for it to the owners – the people. In this regard, there is an urgent need for curriculum reform in our local business and management schools to reflect realities of these times. Leaders of tertiary institutions and their regulators should note.

In this milieu, we still maintain Faculties of Business Administration and Public Administration instead of Business/Management School and Governance/Government School. These schools and faculties should be reformed and rebranded as leadership training institutions where would-be leaders should be trained on critical governance issues such as “Project Management”, Managing Finances/Management Accounting, Emotional Intelligence, Culture and Value Studies, Organisational and National Culture, etc.

In modern governance system, medical doctors who have got degrees in the science of medicine need to acquire science of management before setting up their businesses/health centres. There should, therefore, be many of them in management and business schools for science of management (of their clinics and hospitals). In modern times, management and leadership are taken very seriously beyond reading motivational speakers’ books that fill our bookstores and shops.

According to experts such as Margaret Weathley, to discover order in this chaotic world, we need to go back to school to discover case studies on “leadership and the new science”. The point here is that business owners all over the world headhunt chief executive officers who can manage their firms to make profits to shareholders. And these well paid CEOs work hard to make profit and if they don’t, they are fired. That is the way our leaders should think to make impact on the lives of the people that employ them.

My friends and colleagues at work know that I have been following Real Madrid so fanatically for about two decades now. I have just some interest in Barcelona because of the artistry of some of their icons such as Lionel Messi. But I follow Real Madrid in and out of seasons as a business model that is unique. Which is why I have often used the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona as examples of how to invest and manage talent, which I have also quoted sources to say can be overrated using again, Messi and Ronaldo as a case study. The two icons made their name and impact at the Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Recall that in the first year anniversary of the Buhari administration, I had on May 28, 2016, written on this page an article titled, “Buhari: Anniversary

Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward #11 Rodrygo celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Granada FC at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on December 1, 2023. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Lessons from Real Madrid & Barcelona”.
I had then observed that in the last few years (about eight years) these two clubs have been producing the World Footballer of the Year (Ballon d’Or). Not only that, one of them, Real Madrid was then the richest (Manchester United had just then taken over), according to Forbes. Manchester United (England) was the third on the rich list in 2015. Bayern Munich (Germany) was fourth while Arsenal (England) was the fifth. Let’s stop at the sixth, Manchester City. I had then discussed the enterprise spirit in the investors in Real Madrid and Barcelona within the context of strategic human resource management (SHRM) model that leaders could borrow from. I still maintain today that the two players of the two selected teams, Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo remain the discussion points every week after soccer competition. They remain the most frequently discussed in the world in soccer excellence, even in contextualising talent and training.

It is said that Messi now playing in the United States, is a raw talent while Ronaldo now making wave in Saudi Arabia is a reconstructed phenomenon through robust training. Now a former Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola is turning Manchester City to another Barcelona in England. Only good world-class coaches are employed to maintain the brand equity of the top clubs that always produce excellent results.

This again is to draw the attention of our leaders at all levels to the point earlier made that you cannot rise above the quality of your team members or workforce. This is the model that a businessman called Perez Florentino, current President of Real Madrid has taught the world of business and leadership. The Spanish investor does not brook mediocrity in HR framework. He believes that only the best players can win big for Real Madrid that has won European Champions League back to back, (three times) first in the modern era of the tournament. Real Madrid has the highest number of CL trophies in Europe. He believes that you cannot recruit mediocre footballers to win La Liga and Champions League.

Therefore, if you want to be a high-flying organisation, economy or ruling party or government, you have got to aim for the best brains that can deliver services to the people in the manner Real Madrid have been doing and Manchester City are beginning to do. And this is the contextual issue here: The quality of your team should not be compromised on the altar of ethnicity and religion. Like Real Madrid, get the best anywhere to achieve results.

“Baba-Wole! Whether you like it or not, it is my duty to carry your bag into the plane today”, insisted Aketi, as we threw banters on the queue at the Ibadan Airport en route Abuja. I yanked my bag from his hands but he promptly reclaimed it. Our mutual friend, Bisi Ogunbadejo, who was also travelling, flashed a knowing wink, having gotten used to witnessing countless Great Ife theatrics between many of our alumni.

It was two weeks to Aketi’s electoral victory. I joked with him that, on second thoughts, it was probably fitting that he should carry my bag into the aircraft because it was likely to be the last time I would be seeing him as an ordinary citizen. He replied, matter-of-factly, that he would remain the same old Aketi we all knew and that power could never change him. It turned out to be prophetic: I didn’t have any physical interaction with Aketi again till he answered the final home call seven years later.

LEADERSHIP INCUBATION

Rotimi Akeredolu, a.k.a. Aketi was one of a kind. Way back at the University of Ife, he had been the Vice-President of the Students’ Union during the presidency of another patriot, John Olakunle Mabayoje, alias Awe. It was that position that honed him for future challenges because it brought out the latent goodness in him, especially his extraordinary ability to be empathetic. Aketi never went into any battle half-hearted. He always threw everything he had into the fray. As far as he was concerned, any battle worth waging was worth waging well.

That was the background that moulded his performance later in life as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association and later as Governor of Ondo State. Mabayoje traced Aketi’s trajectory from Ife to government house in a tribute he wrote when he learnt of the demise of his trenchmate:

“Emperor Aketi” as he was known at the University of Ife, started his political career at the University of Ife where, from being an activist, he successfully ran for the office of Vice President of the Students Union at a time when our dear country was at a crossroad following the removal of General Yakubu Gowon from office to end agitations which we all participated in between 1974 and1975 under my predecessor in office, Ayo Olukotun. 1975-1976 proved to be indeed a watershed year in the Nigerian academic community and the country as a whole. Rotimi was an integral member of the body of student leaders of that time. Courageous and savvy he was blessed with courage and wisdom beyond his years…”

Aketi’s demise brought to the fore the importance of vision and tenacity as necessary qualities for success in any worthwhile endeavour. There are leaders and there are dealers. Some people stumble into positions of power unprepared. True leaders, on the other hand, are armed with both vision and an action plan. More importantly, they demonstrate that rare quality of empathy, being one with the people in season and out of season; in good times and in bad times.

LITMUS TEST

There are many landmark projects that were executed during the stewardship of Aketi as governor of Ondo State. What captured the imagination of the world, however, was the way he handled the tragic loss of scores of worshippers in his native Owo town when a band of armed terrorists attacked St Francis Catholic Church in the town during Sunday Mass  on June 5, 2022. The entire Owo community and sympathisers all over the country were unconsolable. As governor, Aketi  didn’t play Tarzan. He showed that human blood flowed in him. When he made his way to the pulpit amid wailing indigenes, he, too, broke down in tears. That picture is etched in the minds of many people as they fondly recall how their governor rose to the occasion in those dark days.

He swore that never again would Owo be a sitting duck for any group of killers to take pot shots at. He said he would ensure that the dead had not died in vain by preventing the possibility of such a massacre in future. It was not surprising therefore that he was the arrowhead of the founding of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Operation Amotekun. Those who chose to misunderstand the governor’s intention and who wanted to characterise the security outfit as a tribal army were shamed as Amotekun made one giant stride after the other.

To calm the frayed nerves of those tagging the Amotekun corps as a regional army, Governor Akeredolu took time to explain: “The Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun Corps, as a response, is now not just the first line of defence, but the ultimate bulwark in the protection of a way of life and of a civilisation. The efforts of our determined and valiant Amotekun personnel since inception must be underscored, encouraged and highly commended. We must all rise at this time to acknowledge their efforts.”

Other states outside the Southwest have started copying the idea. That is one everlasting lesson that people have learnt from Aketi’s stewardship. Power is not just about fancy clothes and sirens and assemblage of dark-goggled security guards. It is about caring, about holding the hands of the bereaved, about showing through words and deed that their governor has their back.

In a way, Aketi defined his era. A man may not know his worth until he takes his last breath. Positions of power attract favour-seekers like bees and nectar. The truth about a man’s worth is told after he expires. Is the funeral train purchased like party supporters paid to attend rallies? Or did they rise early in the morning to join the queue to do honour to their beloved leader? It is clear that Aketi bought himself a place in the hearts of his people. The currency he paid was love, diligence, honesty of purpose and brutal frankness.

Teach us to number our days, Lord, so that the preacher at our funeral would not have to lie about some phantom goodness which none but the liar saw in the deceased.  The outpouring of grief since Aketi’s death testifies to the fact that he has positively touched many lives and the human community is poorer without him.

When the story of this era is told, Aketi’s stewardship will be chronicled as one of the brighter moments in people-centred governance in Nigeria. His tenure certainly lived up to the words of the Great Ife anthem: “Conscious, vigilant, progressive, a luta against all oppression…”

Adieu, Aketi. May the celestial rewards reserved for those who positively impacted the lives of their fellow men and women never pass you by.

The Last Dance

(For Jimi Solanke, 1942-2024)

His artistic gift was of elephantine proportions,

So, to each encounter-er, Jimi Solanke was at once  the compelling thunderclap amidst the loudest of silences  the coarse hair of Àjànàkú’s tail mounting sentry behind an otherwise hairless mass

Those piercing eyes conveying visions from unshared secrets

— Lamp posts of an aerobicised body

Ernest and persistent, commanding and pleading…

If six blind beggars are telling different tales

About the same mass

It is because they feel the elephant from different sides.

Is it the ivory of the tusk that tickles your fancy?

Or the rough tarpaulin of the body?

Or the four pillars with which it pounds the earth?

Or the trunk— nature’s straw

Enabling the slaking of thirst?

The elephant lies down like a hill On its deathday

Carvers bearing cleavers gather…

The last question on the elephant’s mind Is, “Who will mourn my demise when I expire?”

The heavens and the earth know

That Father Time’s unseen eyes do bear witness

To Lákátabú’s connection of the dots

Between the cradle and the grave

And they lead the cortège…

Yes, they do  to attest that this funeral blurs the line

Between a requiem

And an alleluia

As Bàbá Àgbà does his trademark bata dance

Into ancestor-hood.

Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Isiaq Oloyede, yesterday warned that students seeking admission into tertiary institutions across the country must ensure that letters of provisional admission handed over to them are the genuine ones issued by the board so as not to thwart the dream of furthering their education.

The warning came as the commissioner of police in Ogun State, Abiodun Alamutu and the Vice Chancellor, Abia State University (ABSU), Prof. Onyemachi Ogbulu, warned students of the institution, particularly those studying at its Ogun State affiliated institutions: Harvarde College in Abeokuta, to shun cultism, but approach their studies with total dedication to be profitable to their parents that invested so much on them.

They spoke during the 2023/2024 matriculation ceremony of Harvarde College yesterday in Obada-Oko, Ewekoro local government area of Ogun State.

Represented by the board’s coordinator in Ogun State, Akeem Abdul-Hammed, the JAMB registrar declared that any tertiary institution admission seeker that fails to follow due process would get  into problem in the future.

Ogbulu declared that the institution would not renege in its war of expulsion and other  penalties against students found to be contravening laid down standards.

Ogun CP, Alamutu, who lamented the menace of cultism  and other related activities across the state, stressed that the trend had become a serious source of concern to security agencies.

President and founder of the institution, Dr. Adebayo Ouwatosin, charged the students to remain focused towards achieving excellent academic success which he said required diligence and perseverance.

[Leadership]

Cote d’Ivoire forward, Sebastien Haller has said the Super Eagles will face a different Elephants side on Sunday.

The two teams will clash in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, at the Alassanne Quattara Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan.

Nigeria defeated the hosts 1-0 earlier in the competition.

Centre-back William Troost-Ekong scored the decisive goal from the spot in the second half.

Haller is however upbeat they can beat the Super Eagles this time around.

“It’s an advantage to both Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire because we faced each other in the group stage so we know each other well,” the striker said at a press conference on Saturday.

“However, the approach to a knock-out game will be different from a group stage game.”

As curtain draws on the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) holding in Ivory Coast, with the Super Eagles of Nigeria facing the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, airfare to the West African country has hit the rooftop, dashing the hope of many Nigerians who planned to fly to the country to watch the match, check by Daily Trust on Sunday reveals.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that there has been an outcry over the high airfare to Abidjan, which is less than one hour, 30 minutes from Lagos.

Nigeria’s Air Peace, Asky and Air Côte d’Ivoire, are few of the airlines flying to Abidjan.

Checks by our correspondent revealed that a one-way ticket from the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) costs between N890,000 to N1.2million, while a return ticket costs over N2m, depending on the airline.

A check on the website of Asky yesterday showed that a one-way fare is 1,229,811 for Sunday’s flight when the final match would be played, while the same flight costs N890,000.

On Air Côte d’Ivoire, the flight was priced at $913, which is over N1.3m at N1,450 to a dollar.

Yesterday, a Professor of Law, Joy Ezeilo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), decried the price of flight ticket to Abidjan, saying she dreamt of watching the AFCON match live but was shocked with the price of the return ticket, which is estimated at over N2.1m.

She wrote, “I am dreaming of watching AFCON 2024 live and I enquired about flights to Abidjan to watch our Super Eagles play in the final. I believed that Ivory Coast, being so close (an hour and 35 minutes) wouldn’t cost me too much.  However, my travel agent of over 20 years sent me a price quotation of N2,183,000.00, which was a huge shock. I did the math and realised that I would need to save my five months’ salary as a Professor of Law on the last professional step to buy one return ticket to a West African country.

“This is a sad reflection of our current economic realities. Please refrain from attempting to convert to US dollars, it is extremely depressing and demystifying of a full professor position. This will push the resolve of brilliant young ones we are training and mentoring to take over from us farther away from the classrooms to becoming political aspirants/election delegates.

She, however, pointed out that she had made an alternative plan which includes recharging her DSTV at N19,800, and to buy 20  litres of fuel to generate power because they didn’t have electricity during the semifinal match.

“The struggle continues!  Good luck to our Super Eagles! You are in my thoughts and prayers,” she stated.

However, an aviation management consultant, Babatunde Adeniji, said with the huge demand for flight to Abidjan, the value of a seat on the route also increased.

“Demand and supply of must-watch mean that each seat becomes so much more valuable. The demand and supply principle states that because of this final match, which is coming up just once, the value of your seat has gone up. If you throw a bid now on a 120-seat aircraft for all Nigerians to bid for seats, you know some people would bid much more than this amount you are even talking about, and that’s what is happening with ticketing,” he said.

[DailyPost]

On Wednesday, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the federal high court, Lagos, ordered federal government to fix the prices of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles, motorcycles, motor vehicles, and their spare parts. This looks like a judicial attempt to address the biting inflation and the harsh economic climate caused in the main by naira devaluation. My mind instantly flashed back to 1984 when the military government of Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari announced price controls for essential commodities, also known as “essenco”. The military had overthrown the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari on the back of untold economic hardship and corruption.

The hardship started in 1982 but Shagari papered over the cracks obviously because a general election was approaching. Crude oil prices were falling — from an average of $34 in 1981 to $32 in 1982 and $29 in 1983. Our foreign reserves, which stood at a decent $10 billion in 1980, had crashed to just $1 billion in 1983 as oil revenue dwindled. Before the oil boom of 1973, our foreign debts totalled $420 million. With the deceit of “unlimited” oil wealth, our debts had ballooned to $14.7 billion by 1982. We earned $22.4 billion from oil exports in 1980 but just $9.6 billion in 1982. The dramatic fall ruined the economy. Still thinking we were rich, we failed to make key adjustments.

We had become hopelessly addicted to imports because of what we celebrated as a “strong currency” — even though it was clearly propelled by oil revenues which are eternally volatile and unreliable. We insisted on keeping the naira at par with the dollar. We still refer to this as the “good old days”. With companies unable to access forex for raw materials and spare parts, they started folding up or sacking workers. Civil servants were being owed salaries, some for three to four months because, simply put, government was broke. Oil wealth has a way of making you live above your means until the day breaks and you realise your tummy has expanded beyond your feeding capacity.

As Nigeria could not import enough basic stuffs like rice, sugar and milk because of forex shortage, Shagari decided to introduce “import licensing” by issuing permits to a closed group of “importers” and allocating the little dollars in the kitty to them. We set up a presidential task force to import rice to sell at “control prices”. Many of those who got forex — using their connections with Shagari’s government — were not even importers or manufacturers and did not really need the allocations. They were believed to have diverted the scarce currency to the streets, and that was apparently the origin of the street trading in dollars which we have now given the fancy name of “parallel market”.

Shagari’s government went into absolute turmoil. It tried to keep Nigeria afloat through an emergency “stabilisation plan” that cut spending, reduced imports and hiked duties. There was still no relief. As we say in Nigeria, “water don pass garri”. Prices of goods and services went through the roof. Unemployment was unforgiving as retrenchment became the order of the day. The opposition parties came hard on the ruling party, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). This was the condition of Nigeria when then-Brigadier Sani Abacha announced the overthrow of Shagari’s government on December 31, 1983. We all celebrated the coup, expecting a better economy and lower prices. 

Buhari did the “right thing” for “the masses”: he ordered price controls for essential commodities. Soldiers took over the streets, invaded warehouses, shops and markets and started dictating the prices at which goods should be sold. I recall vividly how soldiers came to our village’s central market and started forcing traders to sell goods below the prices at which they themselves bought from wholesalers. “How much is Omo?” a soldier, with a horsewhip in his hand and a rifle on his back, asked an old market woman.  “Fifty kobo,” she replied. “It should be 30 kobo,” he decreed, brought out three 10 kobo coins and paid. He went on and on and on. The poor woman was distraught.

When the soldier had bought three to four items, the woman pleaded with him to move to the next stall. We were kids and bystanders and were somehow enjoying it. We believed prices were too high and thought traders and hoarders were the problem. We knew nothing about costs of production and transportation and other pricing mechanics. All we wanted was cheaper sugar, milk and Omo. How it was achieved was none of our business. My grandmother, a trader, miraculously escaped the raid by the soldiers. She later told me that what the soldiers were doing was wrong. “I cannot sell my goods for less than the cost at which I bought them. It is as I buy that I sell,” she explained to me.

Despite the highhandedness of the military enforcers, prices did not come down. In fact, things got worse as traders began to hoard the goods to avoid being forced to sell at a loss. They only sold whenever the soldiers were not around (and, in any case, how many shops and markets across the federation could they police closely?) I would later take economics in my fifth form in secondary school. We were taught that when supply is below demand, prices would rise. We were also taught that you cannot control prices if you do not have excess supply. If you are in charge of supply and you can meet demand, you can decide to lower your prices. They don’t teach this in military schools.

Now that Lewis-Allagoa has ordered federal government to fix the prices of sugar, flour, vehicles, etc, we are celebrating again. It is a pro-poor judgment, isn’t it? But we’ve been here before, haven’t we? The logic behind price control, as canvassed by its proponents, is that inflation is caused by traders and hoarders who are profiteering at the expense of the masses. There should be an element of truth to this, but that is probably 0.00001 percent of the reason for inflation. Don’t take my word for it: order a used motorcycle or spare part directly from the US and do the math. It is common sense prices will rise as component costs rise. If transportation cost goes up, the price of tomatoes will rise.

How do we enforce this judgement? We import sugar. At what point are we going to fix the price? Should we go to Brazil and order their exporters to sell to us at a particular price? Or is it when the importer has brought in the commodity — after buying dollars at N1,200 or higher — that we will order her to sell at a fixed price? Or is it at the point that the importer sells to the distributor? Or when the distributor sells to the wholesaler? Or when the wholesaler sells to Iya Mufu at Oke Arin market? I guess police will be ordered to use horsewhips to force her to sell at N50 what she bought at N100. Even locally produced goods are at the mercy of rising production and transportation costs.

Apparently, there is an outdated law called Price Control Act that was enacted by the military in 1978 during the oil boom era when petrodollars launched us into a subsidy binge, including paying for meals and laundry for university students. Those were the “good old days” of subsidising consumption instead of production. According to Mr Femi Falana, the senior lawyer and human rights activist who instituted the price control suit, a Price Control Board is saddled with the responsibility of fixing the prices of goods, preventing hoarding of goods, and protecting customers from exorbitant prices. The goods listed in the law include bicycles, matches, salt and sugar.

What better time to “fix” the prices of these all-important items than now when cost of living has gone haywire and Nigerians are in severe pains? Sure, you can keep prices below cost through subsidies. No problem. But when the bubble bursts, you will be more than sorry. Venezuela did it for a long time with petrodollars and Venezuelans thought they were on top of the world. Under President Hugo Chávez, they barely paid the market price for anything. Petrodollars subsidised all. When oil revenues crashed and funding the mammoth subsidies became impossible, the inflation did not have Part Two. Since 2015, over 7.5 million Venezuelans have gone on a “japa” spree.

The solution to our current economic woes is not artificial price controls. It will only worsen the scarcity, empower black markets and raise prices. The solution is not border closure either, as suggested by Alhaji Abubakar Kyari, the minister of agriculture and food security. He obviously learnt nothing from our previous border closure in 2020. He should please ask the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for data on food inflation for that year. Those who benefit the most from these knee-jerk policies are the security officers at the borders. We always avoid the hard work when it comes to policy thinking. The real challenge is: how can we reduce associated costs and boost supply?

Every economic reform must factor in safety nets for the poor. There are rational measures that can be taken in the short-run to reduce the pains. As Waziri Adio, one of Nigeria’s leading public policy analysts, proposed in his column last week, President Bola Tinubu can take urgent steps to address the food inflation by reducing tariffs on key items for a limited period of time. Releasing grain reserves can also help stabilise prices by boosting supply. This is a more sensible and realistic route to “price control” instead of using horsewhips and guns. If Iya Mufu buys a bag of flour at N40,000, how on earth can government force her to sell to consumers at N35,000? I mean, who does that?

Tinubu’s directive that grain reserves be released to boost supply and, hopefully, tame food inflation is a welcome step. Let’s hope the grains would not be diverted to hoarders. This is Nigeria. While the price control judgment has to be appealed and the law eventually amended, the truth is that Nigerians are suffering and they need to breathe. I have witnessed episodes of economic hardship since I was a kid but I have never seen anything of this dimension. I know Tinubu is clinically implementing tough reforms — which, I must agree, is inevitable if we are to have an economy — but I hope it does not end up as a case of “the surgery was successful but we lost the patient”.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

GO FOR GOLD!

Displaying more of grit and less of panache, the Super Eagles are one match away from winning Nigeria’s fourth Africa Cup of Nations title. I believe I am speaking on behalf of millions of Nigerians when I say we are aiming for the trophy against Côte d’Ivoire today, having painfully lost four finals before. The way Nigerians of all “tribes and tongues” have been celebrating our outings once again confirms my bias — that we really love this country. We do not hate one another. It is just that our leaders have politically mismanaged our emotions. We are united by sport, Afrobeats and Nollywood but divided by politicians. Imagine how great Nigeria would be with quality leadership. Unstoppable.

AFRODEMOCRACY AGAIN

Senegal, one of the most politically stable African countries with no history of military intervention, is on the verge of a debilitating crisis with the strange conduct of President Macky Sall, who is due to step down as president this year after serving two terms. It is very clear that he wants to handpick his successor and is afraid of a strong opposition candidate being elected. In the typical behaviour of African leaders who have no respect for the liberal principles of democracy, he had been clamping down on opposition leaders and has now postponed the election, the first time ever, to “resolve” the crisis he orchestrated. And to think this man came to power as an opposition leader! Nauseating.

RIP, KT

I lost a dear friend on Wednesday. Kayode Tijani, the sports journalist and archivist, died at 55 after a prolonged illness, dating back to the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2019. He went there whole and returned in bad shape, never to recover. KT, as we called him, was one of the most knowledgeable sports journalists in Nigeria and had an incredible trove of videos on the country’s sporting history dating back to the 1960s. He worked at a number of reputable media organisations home and abroad. He was one of the major supporters of TheCable, the online newspaper I founded 10 years ago. I pray that his family, friends and fans will be comforted at these difficult times. Devastating.

NO COMMENT

Something to celebrate: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has commenced oil production from the Akpo West field in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. This will add 14,000 barrels per day to our production. It may look small — compared to 250,000bpd from Agbami — but given the various mortgages on our future oil production, this is better than nothing. The NNPC said the new production “is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive”. Have you noticed that many statements from government agencies these days start with “in line with President Tinubu’s vision” or “renewed hope agenda”? Is it a standing order or the signature tune? Wonderful.

About 21 days before his death, the Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe in a post on X formerly known as Twitter, urged his followers to number their days.

The business mogul reportedly died in an ill-fated chopper that crashed in California, United States, a few days ago.

According to reports, Wigwe was on board a chopper with his family, including wife, son and three other passengers when the unfortunate incident occurred on Friday.

Shortly after the report of the incident on Saturday, netizens began digging out some of his previous posts on his official X handle.

In one of the posts, Wigwe urged his followers to always see life as a precious gift, urging them to ensure that every moment of their lives counted.

He wrote, “Today and always, let us remember that life is a precious gift – a chance to breathe, feel, love, experience and connect.

“Let’s honour this gift by living with purpose, kindness, and gratitude, making every moment count. Let us number our days”.