The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the official version of the national anthem it issued remains the correct lyrics.
On May 29, President Bola Tinubu signed the national anthem bill 2024 that reintroduced the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” into law.
Subsequently, the NOA released the standardised lyrics of the reintroduced national anthem.
However, on Tuesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio reportedly said what the agency is circulating is different from the new national anthem approved by the upper legislative chamber.
“Take note of what we have here; what we have is different from what the NOA has,” Akpabio was quoted as saying.
“Where we have Nigerians ‘all’ are proud to say, they have Nigerians all and proud to say. Also, where we have ‘though’ tribe and tongue may differ, they have ‘though tribes and tongues.
“Also, at the end, where we have ‘Nigeria shall be blessed’, they have Nigeria ‘may’ be blessed. We are using ‘shall’ which is a compulsion that this country shall be blessed. So tell the National Orientation Agency to drop what they are circulating now.”
But in a statement, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director general of NOA, said the official version of the national anthem the agency unveiled remains the correct lyrics approved in the Act signed by the president on May 29.
“Mallam Issa-Onilu clarified inquiries from the media on the correct lyrics of the new national anthem, saying as an act of the Parliament, the NOA is duty-bound to only promote the official version,” the statement issued by Paul Odenyi, spokesperson of the agency, reads.
“Believing that the Senate President was misquoted, Mallam Issa-Onilu advised the media to always cross-check their facts before publication.
“He also advised the media to check the Act signed by the President as approved by the National Assembly to confirm the version as released by the NOA.
“The official version that we issued remains the correct lyrics. We are making an effort to standardise the instrumental and audio versions before we release it to the public.”
In one respect, it was fitting that former President Goodluck Jonathan was invited to make a statement yesterday at the lecture organised by the federal government to celebrate uninterrupted democracy in a quarter of a century.
The theme of the lecture, delivered by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and a former governor of Katsina state, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, was “25 Years of Enduring Democracy: Prospects for the Future.”
By the way, since the forum was convened to reflect on the last 25 years of the nation’s democratic journey while looking forward into the future, the participation of other political parties should have been visible. It was a huge deficit in the organisation of the event that this was lacking. Afterall, APC has been in power cumulatively for only nine of the 25 years of steady democracy.
The significance of Jonathan making a statement on democratic culture should not be lost on Nigerians. Jonathan called for an alternative to the present winner-takes-it-all system in order to lessen frictions. He described the prevalent game of politics in Nigeria as “zero-sum” type. It would be a pity if Jonathan’s proposition does not generate a virile debate in the polity. For instance, how would his idea work in a presidential system? Jonathan also urged leaders to give democracy content by improving the quality of lives of the people.
Jonathan’s attitude to power is one of the good stories in the last 25 years of Nigeria’s experiment with liberal democracy. His decisive role is a huge rebuke to the comments from some cynical quarters that “there is nothing to celebrate.”
As the votes were being collated in the 2015 presidential election, Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to concede defeat. He relieved the nation of the poltical anxiety often associated with the prolonged judicial conclusion of the electoral process. As they say, the final counting of the votes is often done in the courtroom by the tribunal judges.
It is also remarkable that in reciprocation, Buhari has been gracious to admit that the act of his predecessor would deepen the nation’s democratic culture. At home and abroad Jonathan has continued to receive the applause justifiably for being a democrat. He ensured a peaceful transfer of power from one party to another one. If you think Jonathan’s action “is no big deal,” juxtapose that heroic moment in 2015 with the extremely bitter atmosphere which enveloped the political landscape after another election.
Beyond that, those who take whatever happens in the West as the standard for democratic practice may wish to compare Jonathan’s heroism with the attack on the Capitol building in Washington, United States, on January 6, 2021. In what was akin to a coup, a mob of supporters inspired by President Donald Trump of the Republican Party descended on the parliamentary house in order to disrupt the conclusion of the process of the presidential election won by Joe Biden of the Democratic Party. Trump wanted to prevent Biden, who was legitimately elected as president, from assuming office. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considered the incident “an act of domestic terrorism.” In the course of the ensuing violence, lives were lost and about 140 Capitol and Metropolitan policemen were criminally assaulted. The damage done to the Capitol building was estimated to be $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the same Trump said the other day that unless he wins the next presidential election, that would be the “last” election in the country regarded as the citadel of democracy. Trumpists still insist that Biden “stole” the election despite court rulings to the otherwise.
The American democracy is over 200 years old. In precise terms, some theorists consider the point when the first American president, George Washington, peacefully transferred power to his successor, John Adams, as the “real birth” of democracy in the United States in 1793.
Except for those who suffer from incurable inferiority complex, the Jonathan 2015 moment in Nigeria’s democracy was democratically superior to the Trump abortive coup in America in 2021. While 2015 was a high point of Nigeria’s democracy, 2021 was a low point in the democratic history of America.
Another comparison could made between a brilliant episode of Nigeria’s democracy and the symptoms of democratic recession in another advanced country, the United Kingdom. Masari, who delivered the Democracy Day lecture, expectedly recalled the story of the failed attempt by some forces to change the Nigerian constitution so that the president and governors could have third terms in office. This happened towards the end of the second term of President Olusegun Obasanjo. After the invidious plot failed, Obasanjo later made a national broadcast denying that he made a bid for a third -term. But those who were actively involved on both sides of the third- term debate continue to tell the stories of the highwire political manoeuvrings which took place. Masari was the Speaker of the House of Representatives while Senator Ken Nnamani was the President of the Senate. In an alliance with some forces cutting across political parties, the National Assembly deftly moved to put an end to the third-term plan. In fact, the whole exercise of constitutional review, which was the pretext for the third-term game, was jettisoned all together. Powerful forces could not force the third-term provision into the constitution. On that occasion the strength of the parliament was put to test. And the legislative institution rose to the occasion valiantly.
Some years after the third-term debacle in Nigeria, the British parliament was divided on the deal to be struck by the United Kingdom with the European Union on Brexit. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wanted to have his way to quicken the process for his own political advantage. He longed for a place in history as the prime minister who “got Brexit done.” To realise his dream, all means were fair in the Brexit war. Fearing that he might not secure enough votes in parliament to back his position, Johnson manipulated the process of “prorogation” of the parliament. Prorogation refers to the period between the end of the parliamentary session and the commencement of a new session. In simple terms, Johnson suspended the British parliament so as to avoid a proper scrutiny of his Brexit deal. The Speaker of the House of Commons at the time, John Bercow, called it a “constitutional outrage.” Johnson’s act was later ruled as “unlawful” by the court. The Liberal Party is currently campaigning to review the Brexit deal. Yes, that was what happened to the “mother of all parliaments,” as the British parliament is often admirably called.
So, democracy can decay.
The other powerful point made at yesterday’s occasion was that of Ambassador Babagana Kingibe. He asserted that the process of democratic growth should be seen as a continuous one. He also shared his experience about the challenges of democracy. Kingibe was the running mate to Bahorum Moshood Abiola in the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election. It was 30 years two days ago that Abiola declared himself president at Ekotedo in Lagos State in what amounted to the climax of the struggle to reclaim the June 12 mandate. The election was annulled by the military government of President Ibrahim Babangida. The military government of General Sanni Abacha incarcerated Abiola until his death on July 7, 1998. Kingibe joined the cabinet of Abacha while Abiola was in jail.
On June 12, 2018 Buhari proclaimed Abiola the elected president and Kingibe the elected vice president based on the results of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Abiola was posthumously awarded the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), while Kingibe was awarded the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON). The point Kingibe made yesterday about meeting the challenges of democracy in Nigeria and making a distinction between “democracy as a system” and “governance as a process” is quite significant. Remarkably, as pointed out in the foregoing, Kingibe also made references to challenges faced by the advanced liberal democracies. He was quite on point to advocate that democracy should be defended at all costs as no alternative to it could be contemplated.
Such is the role of the individual in history with all its contradictions and complexity. The journey is often full of twists and turns.
Perhaps, Vice President Kashim Shettima made the most vigorous point about the role of the individual in the struggle for democracy. He recalled again the part played by Tinubu as a leader of the struggle for the revalidation of the June 12 mandate. In his view, the verdict of history would be kind to Tinubu. Shettima said: “As we celebrate our past, we look to the future with clear and determined vision. Today is not just a day of remembrance, it is a call to action”
Now, the challenges of democracy are immense. They include the weaknesses of the institutions of democracy such as the parliament, political parties, electoral body, free press, judiciary and the civil society.
Voter apathy is also a serious problem. About 93 million registered to vote in 2023 and 87 million actually collected their voter’ cards. However, less than 30% of those who registered actually turned out at the polling booths on the election day. Democracy should be widely participatory.
According to the English liberal philosopher, John Stuart Mill, “democracy is government by discussion.” Such discussions come as public reasoning. Public reasoning is an essential ingredient needed in deepening democracy. But the public sphere in Nigeria is too toxic to allow proper public reasoning. Incivility, prejudice and shallowness prevail in the media especially the so-called social media.
It’s tempting to look into the horizon and see only the cloud. That would be a wrong thing to do. It is important to seek out deliberately the silver linings in this cloud. In other words, it is only those democratic forces who elect to have an optimistic outlook while working hard to deepen democracy that could mobilise the people towards a future of genuine democracy and social justice.
Doubtless, it is quite useful to reflect on the past as the nation ponders the future.
For clearly understandable reasons, not a few people are disappointed at many stops in the nation’s democratic journey.
Yet, it is important to look into the future with hope.
All told, the earnest hope is that in another quarter of a century some of the challenges will be overcome in the course of democratic development.
Information reaching us as at 10.05 pm is that one of the coordinators of the #WeAreHungry Protests slated for tomorrow 12 June 2024 has been arrested by security agents in Lagos, following series of threats by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force to clampdown on peaceful democracy day protest.
Around 10 pm, Comrade Sanyaolu Juwon, the National Coordinator of the TIB sent distress messages to members of the movement saying he has been arrested and taken to an unknown location. Efforts to reach him have been futile. We are not surprised at this strategy of intimidation but the news we have for this tyrannical and ruinous Tinubu regime is that the arrest is rather too late. The veil is off and Nigerians can see through the cluelessness of this government.
We want to state categorically that the tactics of the Nigeria Security apparatus already mobilized by the Presidency, is too late. Nigerian are not deterred as they have resolved to protest against hardship and nothing shall stop them tomorrow.
We also want to advise that instead of wasting time on harassment and arrests, the Police should release him immediately as these acts of human rights violation will be heavily resisted now and beyond.
Our demands, in the midst of the wicked policies of the Tinubu regime, are that hardship must end, gruesome hunger must end, insecurity claiming lives of thousands must end, hike in fees must stop, fuel hike must end etc.
In conclusion, we again urge Nigeria’s longsuffering people not to concede to threat and intimidation. Protest is an alienable right under a democracy. We shall not relent until victory is achieved.
SIGNED 1. Speaker Bright, Coordinator, TakeitBack Movement, North West 2. Peluola Adewale, National Mobilization Officer, Joint Action Front (JAF) 3. Hassan Taiwo Soweto, National Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign 4. Comrade Ayoyinka Oni, Chairman, African Action Congress (AAC), Lagos Chapter 5. Kunle Wizeman Ajayi, National Chair, Socialist Workers League
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.
The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.
The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by a president elected 15 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.
A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with kidnappers when family members are abducted.
But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.
A map of Nigeria locating Kano, Ibadan and the state of Nasarawa. Lagos and Abuja are also located.
No Money for Milk
On a recent morning in a corner of the biggest emergency room in northern Nigeria, three women were convulsing in painful spasms, unable to speak. Each year, the E.R. at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, received one or two cases of hypocalcemia caused by malnutrition, said Salisu Garba, a kindly health worker who hurried from bed to bed, ward to ward.
Now, with many unable to afford food, the hospital sees multiple cases every day.
Mr. Garba was sizing up the women’s husbands. Which source of nutrition he recommended depended on what he thought they could afford. Baobab leaves or tiger nuts for the poor; boiled-up bones for the slightly better off. He laughed at the suggestion that anyone could afford milk.
Image
Salisu Garba, a community health worker, treating patients at a hospital in Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city, last month.
More than 87 million people in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, live below the poverty line — the world’s second-largest poor population after India, a country seven times its size. And punishing inflation means poverty rates are expected to rise still further this year and next, according to the World Bank.
Last week, unions shut down hospitals, courts, schools, airports and even the country’s Parliament, striking in an attempt to force the government to increase the monthly salary of $20 it pays its lowest workers.
But over 92 percent of working-age Nigerians are in the informal sector, where there are no wages, and no unions to fight for them.
For the Afolabi family in Ibadan, in southwestern Nigeria, the descent into poverty started in January with the loss of an electric tuk-tuk taxi.
Forced to sell the taxi to pay his wife’s hospital bills after the difficult birth of their second child, Babatunde Afolabi turned to occasional construction work. It paid badly, but the family managed.
“We had no thoughts about starvation,” he said.
Patients wait to be seen at the Murtala Muhammad General Hospital. The crowds are thinner than they used to be, as many can no longer afford the bus fare.
But then, he said, cassava — the cheapest staple in many parts of Nigeria — tripled in price.
All they can afford now, he said, is a few biscuits, a little bread, and for their 6-year-old, 20 peanuts a day.
A Country Built on Gas
Nigeria is a country heavily dependent on imported petroleum products, despite being a major oil producer. After years of underinvestment and mismanagement, its state refineries produce hardly any gasoline.
For decades, the national soundtrack has been the hum of small generators, fired up during daily power outages. Petroleum products move goods and people around the country.
Until recently, the government subsidized that petroleum, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
Many Nigerians said the subsidy was the only useful contribution from a neglectful and predatory government. Successive presidents have pledged to remove the subsidy, which drains a hefty chunk of government revenue — and later backtracked fearing mass unrest.
Nigeria is a country that runs on imported gasoline, which the government has long subsidized to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
“It was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt,” Mr. Tinubu said in April, at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.
Instead, many Nigerians are going bankrupt — or working multiple jobs to stay afloat.
Mr. Garba, the hospital worker, used to be solidly middle class, even though 17 family members, including 12 children, depended on him.
After shifts at the hospital, where he is setting up the first statewide ambulance service in addition to working in the emergency room, for which he is paid $150 a month, he heads to the Red Cross. There he occasionally receives a $3.30 volunteer stipend for helping tackle a severe diphtheria outbreak.
At night, he works at the pharmacy that he and a colleague set up. But few people have money for medicine anymore. He sells about $7 worth of medication per day.
Last year, Mr. Garba sold his car when the gas subsidies were removed, and now takes a tuk-tuk to work. Unable to power the generator, he reads medicine labels at the pharmacy by the light of a small solar lantern. He can only afford to buy rice and cassava in small quantities.
Life under the previous government was very expensive, he said, but nothing like today.
“It’s very, very bad,” he said.
It’s gotten so dire that there have been several deadly stampedes for free or discounted rice distributed by the government — including one in March at a university in the central state of Nasarawa where seven students were killed.
The vast majority of Nigerians work in the informal sector, with no salaries, unions, or safety net. And because of skyrocketing inflation, many can no longer afford basics, like food.
Mr. Tinubu promised to create a million jobs and quadruple the size of the economy within a decade, but has not said how. The International Monetary Fund said last month the state has started subsidizing fuel and electricity again — though the government has not acknowledged this.
“There’s still very little clarity — if any — on where the economy is headed, what the priorities are,” said Zainab Usman, a political economist and director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The Tapping Craze
A spate of new crypto-mining games that promise to generate income the more the user plays has people across Nigeria spending all day tapping on their smartphone screens, desperate to earn a few dollars.
People tap as they pray, in mosques and churches. Children tap under desks at school. Mourners tap at funerals.
Many Nigerians desperately hope that hours spent tapping on smartphone cryptocurrency apps will eventually earn them a bit of cash. One man, Rabiu Biyora, says he made millions of naira this way.
There’s no guarantee any of them will ever benefit from the hours they put in mindlessly tapping.
Then again, they can’t count on the national currency, the naira.
The government has twice devalued the naira in the past year, trying to enable it to float more freely and attract foreign investment. The upshot: It’s lost nearly 70 percent of its value against the dollar.
Nigerians can become paupers almost overnight. So they’re searching for anything that might hold its value — or ideally, get them rich.
“People are looking for me everywhere,” said Rabiu Biyora, the undisputed king of tapping in Kano, opening one of his five foldable phones to add to his 2.7 billion taps on the TapSwap app. “Not to attack me, but to collect something from me.”
A relaxed, businesslike 39-year-old followed everywhere by young tech-savvy acolytes, Mr. Biyora would only say that he made “over $10,000” from the previous tapping craze.
With the proceeds from his tapping, Rabiu Biyora is opening an office in Kano to promote and educate people on cryptocurrencies. Nigeria already has the world’s second highest cryptocurrency adoption rate.
He profits from everyone else’s taps, so he encourages them in posts on social media, and by providing free internet to anyone willing to sit outside his house. Nigerians don’t need much encouragement — despite the risks and volatility, Nigeria has the second highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in the world.
So every evening, struggling young men gather by Mr. Biyora’s home and tap.
Pleas for Help
In much of Nigeria, it’s normal to share with your neighbors and give alms to the poor.
Every day, people come to the gate of Kano’s Freedom Radio station to drop off sheets of paper containing heartfelt appeals for help paying medical bills or school fees, or to recover from some disaster.
A radio presenter chooses three to read out daily, and often a sympathetic listener calls in to pay the supplicant’s bill.
But lately the appeals have multiplied, and offers of help have dried up.
Good Samaritans used to come to the E.R. and pay strangers’ bills for them, Mr. Garba said. That rarely happens now either.
Still, Mr. Garba said, the number of patients coming to his hospital has almost halved in recent months.
Many of the sick never even make it. They can’t afford the 20-cent bus ride.
A presenter on Kano’s Freedom Radio station reads out petitioners’ requests for assistance. But these days, few listeners have the means to help.
Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Ibadan, Nigeria.
A correction was made on
June 11, 2024
An earlier version of a map with this article misstated the name of a state in central Nigeria. It is Nasarawa, not Asarawa.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..Learn more
Ruth Maclean is the West Africa bureau chief for The Times, covering 25 countries including Nigeria, Congo, the countries in the Sahel region as well as Central Africa.
The former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido has stated that the Nigeria Government is rich enough to afford any amount as the new national minimum wage.
Recall that Organised Labour, which initially demanded ₦494,000, later reduced its demand to ₦250,000, while the government offered ₦62,000.
Amid the ongoing negotiations, state governors had declared that they couldn’t pay the ₦62,000 proposed by the government.
Reacting to the development on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television, Lamido argued that if the government could spend ₦17 trillion for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway without passing through the National Assembly, then it can afford to pay any amount as minimum wage.
He said, “Nigeria is very rich with resources and can overcome any problem and pay any amount we feel is responsible for Nigerians.
“If the government can embark on an N17 trillion project that is not in the budget, not advertised, not tendered for, or did not go through due process, it means that Nigeria got the money.
“How can a government execute a budget of N17 trillion without a budget or passing through the National Assembly, it means the money is there; there is money in Nigeria.
“If they can carry out such a project then they can pay any minimum wage.”
Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have abducted passengers along Maiduguri/Kano highway.
Sources told Daily Trust that the insurgents struck between Garin Kuturu and Mannanari village near Auno, which is along Damaturu highway at about 5:50:pm on Monday.
They reportedly blocked the highway before forcefully taking away some passengers.
The incident left hundreds of travelers and commuters stranded on both ends of the ever-busy road.
They had to return to Benishek and Auno respectively.
“There was an incident between Mannanari and Garin Kuturu where some Boko Haram fighters came out to block the upcoming vehicles and some passengers were abducted.”
“We are not sure of the number as we speak but certainly there was an abduction on Monday evening.”
Residents narrated how many commercial drivers took refuge in their community momentarily when the insurgents were operating between Garin Kuturu and Mannanari villages.
“They came out with three wheelbarrow and I believe they were looking for food stuff. We don’t know how many people abducted but some commercial drivers came back and later returned to Maiduguri before reinforcement of military arrived.”
A passenger, who craved anonymity, said he alongside others were stranded for hours.
“We were heading for Kano from Maiduguri when the driver got hinted about the attack and took a detour,” he told Daily Trust.
“We have been waiting for the military to clear the road but we don’t know when. We are stranded here.”
Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima was killed in a plane crash, the nation’s president said on Tuesday, after searchers located the wreckage of the aircraft in a foggy forest.
The military plane carrying Chilima, 51, and nine others disappeared on Monday, after it failed to land in the northern city of Mzuzu due to bad weather and was told to return to the capital, Lilongwe.
“The search and rescue team have found the aircraft … completely destroyed with no survivors, as all passengers on board were killed on impact,” Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said addressing the nation.
The Tinubu Address
“Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is,” he said, describing the accident as a “terrible tragedy.”
Photographs shared with AFP by a member of the military rescue team showed army personnel standing on a foggy slope near debris bearing the registration number of the Malawi Army Air Wing Dornier 228-202K aircraft.
Rescuers had been combing a fog-cloaked forest south of Mzuzu on Tuesday, after authorities located the last tower it transmitted to before the plane disappeared.
Earlier, army commander General Paul Valentino Phiri said other countries, including Malawi’s neighbours, had been aiding the search effort, with support including helicopters and drones.
The group departed just after 9:00 am (0700 GMT) from Lilongwe on Monday to attend the funeral of a former cabinet minister some 370 kilometres (230 miles) away in Mzuzu.
Malawi’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on board.
– Widely loved –
Chakwera said he had previously flown on the same aircraft for similar trips. The crew had successfully operated it just hours before the accident, he added.
“And yet, despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its flight back to Lilongwe, sending it crashing down,” he said.
First elected vice president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talking Chilima was a widely loved figure in Malawi, particularly among young people.
But in 2022, during his second stint in the job, Chilima was stripped of his powers after being arrested and charged with graft over a bribery scandal involving a British-Malawian businessman.
Last month, a Malawian court dropped the charges and he resumed his official duties.
“Chilima was a good man, a devoted father and husband, a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction and a formidable vice president,” Chakwera said.
“I consider it one of the greatest honours of my life to have had him as my deputy and counsellor for the past four years.”
Akwa Ibom state government has the largest social welfare programmes in almost every sector in the country, but adding free football tickets could be counterproductive. The government provides free education for all primary and secondary school students with free books, and this has been going on since 1999. It pays about N700 million yearly as WAEC fees to its students and, in addition, there’s a scholarship and bursary scheme for university and polytechnic students.
Gov. Umo Eno has increased the bursary to N100,000 per student from what his predecessors offered. He is also extending generous financial help to all students with disabilities, including those who are not from the state as recently published lists of beneficiaries indicate. In terms of medical care, there is free health care for pregnant women and children under five years of age. Women who have multiple births are also generously provided for. The government also routinely sponsors people on pilgrimage to Israel. It is common to see some persons with the suffix ‘’JP’’ attached to their names. It stands for ‘’Jerusalem Pilgrim’’.
The current governor has gone a step further to provide free foodstuffs to thousands of the very poor across the state. A new body known as Akwa Ibom Bulk Purchase Agency has been set up by law to drive the program whose aim is to offer succor to vulnerable citizens facing hard times. The Umo Eno administration has also introduced a free housing scheme for widows and the poor.
Known as the Arise Shelter Initiative, the scheme plans to deliver 100 homes for the poorest of the poor in the 31 LGAs. The gesture was first introduced by Mrs Unoma Akpabio as a pet programme of her NGO when her husband was governor, but the incumbent governor has upgraded it into a government programme.
It all started when Gov. Eno watched a video of a young girl celebrating the completion of her NYSC with her aged father at home in Obubra, in neighbouring Cross River. Reports say the governor was so moved by the wretchedness of what passed as her family home that he ordered a brand new three-bedroom house to be built for her father.
Civil servants are not left out. Some 150 of them are getting free housing units out of the 236 apartments being built at Grace Housing Estate in the outskirts of Uyo.
Of all these, I detest pilgrimage sponsorship and offering free football tickets whenever the Super Eagles play at the state-owned Godswill Akpabio Stadium. It happened last Friday when the national team played against South Africa in a 2026 World Cup Qualifying game. The three categories of tickets cost N1,000; N2,000 and N3,000. These are quite affordable to the people, but the government chose to pay over N40 million to the NFF to buy off the tickets and fill up the 30,000 seats in the iconic stadium.
This is an ill-advised policy that was started by the Akpabio administration. Gov. Udom Emmanuel continued with it and now it would seem that it has become an agenda of the government. Over N600 million might have been spent on free tickets since the stadium was built ten years ago. We have to scrub the practice because the disadvantages are many.
In the first instance, watching football games (or any other games) at the stadium is a luxury pastime. It is not a necessity that the poor needs to survive. It is, therefore, wrong for the government to fund a hobby or lifestyle for people who can afford it. Second, the tickets are quite affordable and football fans in the state and neighbouring states can afford them.
Third, by asking Akwa Ibom people to go watch the games free, the government is unwittingly shutting out those who are able and willing to pay for the tickets, including hundreds of fans who would have come from Calabar, Benin, Aba, Port Harcourt and other places with enough money to buy the tickets and spend on hotels accommodation. Think of the economic benefits lost. By hosting the UEFA Championship league final last week at Wimbledon, the London economy is said to have gained $68 million.
Putting people on football welfare encourages indolence and is antithetical to basic economics and business principles. I understand the assumptions behind this practice. Football is the people’s favourite hobby, and whenever the national team is in an international competition, it deserves our support at the stadium. The government probably believes that the people are too poor to afford N1,000 ticket; and that it owes us a duty to provide the opium that football matches have become in these difficult times. That’s not true.
Truth is the games are organized by FIFA and it is the duty of the NFF to market and sell the tickets. Akwa Ibom government has done enough by providing the stadium free to the NFF who should actually be paying handsomely for its use. The stadium was built at a great cost and is maintained expensively by international facility managers. That is why it is still as beautiful as it was when it was completed in 2014.
This is not your typical federal government assets that are rotting away all over the country because of quota-driven incompetence. Akwa Ibom has done well for itself in just 15 years. We have an iconic stadium; we have a splendid airline; we have our own airport, with a first-class international terminal and an MRO soon to be put to use. We must benefit from these assets.
Football is a huge global business. It was wrong to have started this football welfare. Now, it may be difficult to wean the people off it, but we must do it. I implore the government to engage a reputable marketing communication firm to drive corporate advertisements for the stadium and discontinue the practice of giving out free football tickets. Interested fans can buy for themselves.
Dauda Lawal, governor of Zamfara, says President Bola Tinubu is not getting proper security briefing on the operations of bandits in the state.
After meeting with the president on March 26, Lawal described Zamfara as the “centre of banditry” in northern Nigeria.
He said the spate of insecurity in Zamfara may consume the northern part of the country if not urgently addressed.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Lawal said if the government is committed, banditry could be eradicated in two weeks.
“While we are trying to take care of the situation, somebody, somewhere, somehow, behind our back, is negotiating with bandits… as a governor of a state, without my knowledge,” he said.
“When the situation really got bad, I had to meet Mr President and complain one-on-one, and I told him the true situation of what Zamfara is facing in terms of security.”
When asked if he believes the president is “properly briefed” on the actual state of things, the governor said: “Based on the conversation we had, the answer is no. And I had to explain everything to him, what we are going through and what needs to be done.
“Zamfara state has become the hub of banditry in northern Nigeria. If you can take care of Zamfara today, believe me, you’d have solved 90 percent of the banditry issue in northern Nigeria as a whole.
“If we are committed, if we are serious, we can take care of this situation within two weeks maximum. But the political will is not there.”
THE STATE POLICE DEBATE
Lawal said as a governor, he does not have control over the military, police or personnel of the civil defence.
He said such a situation has rendered his government helpless in suppressing the operations of bandits in Zamfara.
“In most cases, you get frustrated in terms of where do you get help from,” he said.
“When you need these people, they would be nowhere to be found. And therefore the best thing to do is to set up that kind of security outfit.
“There are a lot of security undertones in the security issues. Some of you find it difficult to come and say but I know what we are going through. But like I said, sometimes you are helpless and when you need them they are not there or even when they are there, they are given certain instructions on what to do and not to do.”
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