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WAGES is oxygen to the worker. In the main Holy Books, they are sacred. Leviticus 19:13 says: “… The wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.”
First Timothy 5:18 admonishes that: “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” Deuteronomy 24:15 specifies a periodicity for wage payment: “You shall give him his wages on the day that he earns them before the sun sets—for he is poor and is counting on it—so that he does not cry out to the Lord against you, and it becomes a sin for you.
The Holy Koran in 11:15, says: “To them, we shall pay the price of their works and they will not be paid diminishingly.” The Hadith narrates that The Prophet (SAW) said: “You should pay the laborer his wages before his sweat dries” -Sunan Ibn Mâjah, 2443.
So, ordinarily, it should be unthinkable that a religious institution like the Methodist Church Nigeria, MCN, would owe its staff, not just one, two, or three months salaries, but as much as 29 months! This is the story of the registered Trustees of the MCN and how they knowingly and willfully, violate the tenets of the Holy Bible.
There is the follow up issue: how does a body like the MCN collect taxes from workers’ salaries but does not remit them to state authorities? Didn’t the Bible say in Mark 12:17: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”? Does the collection of taxes from workers’ salaries and not remitting them, not amount to theft? There is also the corollary issue of the MCN deducting pension contributions from workers and not remitting them contrary to Section11:6 of the 2004 Pension Act.
This story of how the registered Trustees of the MCN continue to degrade the Church began on May 14, 2008 when they established the Wesley University, Ondo. Many professors, lecturers, senior staff and non-academic staff left their jobs to join the new university. A few years down the line, they were to regret their actions as they had their careers ruined and found themselves neck-deep in debts as their salaries were not paid, some, for years!
To be sure, the Trustees put on a religious visage by claiming the university’s mission is: “Fostering moral values and driving sustainable development”. They added: “We nurture minds and build tomorrow futures, today.” Then they imposed fees most of their members cannot afford. For instance, the nine-month pre-degree tuition and examination fees with textbooks is N245,000.
Despite this, and raising funds, the MCN Trustees and their cabal began paying staff one month salary every quarter. It got so bad that between 2014 and 2019, the MCN was owing some staff of the university a cumulative 29-month salary. After their appeals to the university and the MCN failed, the staff took their case to the National Universities Commission, NUC. The NUC in its July 19, 2018 letter to the Vice-Chancellor, said it was compelled, by its findings, to threaten the constitution of a visitation panel to determine the viability of the university on the ground of its failure to pay staff salaries.
In August 2020, the former Acting Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor William Olu-Aderounmu, and 88 former staff took their case to the public by addressing a press conference in Ibadan. Olu-Aderounmu revealed that at a time, the university took a N500 million loan and spent it without paying outstanding salaries. But rather than these softening the hearts of the MCN Trustees and their servants in the university, their hearts became hardened like those of the Biblical Pharaoh in Exodus 19:12. So the staff dragged the Wesley University and the incorporated Trustees of the MCN before His Lordship Hon Justice Kiyersohot D. Damulak of the National Industrial Court, NIC. The staff engaged the services of noted human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Aborishade, while the university and the MCN, hired Professor O.J. Jejelola and Chief Adeboye Olatunde.
However, the facts of the case were self-evident; so, the justice that rolled down like waters, to paraphrase Amos 5:24, were consent judgements. For instance, the MCN and the university agreed to pay a former staff, Mr Ogungbe Akinboye Oluyombo, N14,243,71, unpaid wages; 10 per cent annual interest for the unpaid wages; N2,405,535.15 as tax remittance deducted from his salaries but not remitted, and N1, 094, 872.29 pension deduction which was not remitted to his Pension Fund Administrator.
In the case of the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Professor Olu-Aderounmu, the defendants were ordered to pay him N7,603, 690.82 unpaid salaries at 10 per cent annual interest rate and refund $1,200 to him as amount he “incurred on behalf of the defendants” during his 2017 visit to the United States. The defendants were also ordered to remit N1,748,193.90 deducted as taxes from his salaries. The court ordered the defendants to pay the sums within 60 days or pay an additional 10 per cent interest annually. A soul-stirring case was that of Professor Emmanuel Abiodun Fayose, a geologist. Although his salaries were unpaid, he had to settle the case of a young lecturer who was about to commit suicide because the university where he was pursuing a doctoral programme wanted to deny him graduation as he could not pay his debts. After that, the elderly Professor simply resigned. The court ordered the defendants to pay his N7,249,213.29 unpaid salaries. It also ordered that he be paid N1 million each in the months of March and April, 2022 and N500,000 subsequently until the amount is liquidated.
A very painful case is that of Professor Adebowale Biodun Areo, former Dean, College of Social and Management Sciences who had mobilised the staff to fight for their rights. Unfortunately, he passed away before his case could be heard. It is now left for his family to fight for him.
But neither the MCN Trustees nor the current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Samuel Sunday Obeka have shown any remorse. In doling out 38 First Class and 159 Second Class Upper Degrees out of 348 degrees in 2023, Obeka, a Bishop, claimed that these court-certified cases are not only mischievous but also spurious.
He claimed the issue had to do with “part-time lecturers who were engaged on semester basis”. He added: “It is very unfortunate that some of the part-time lecturers are treading the path of blackmailing the university.” True? That his predecessor and Deans were part-time lecturers “blackmailing the university” by asking for their earned salaries?
I pray that the Prelate and his disciples in the MCN hierarchy take advantage of this season of sacrifice and resurrection to pray for forgiveness and change their ways.
Happy Easter.
“Some judges have achieved a considerable degree of expertise….in displaying an immunity from contemporary knowledge and concerns.”– David Pannick, KC, Judges, p. 32 (1987)
Emmanuel Araka was 60 years old when Allison Madueke, then over 20 years his junior, a Navy Captain and military governor of Anambra State, terminated his judicial career in March 1985. At the time, Araka had been the Chief Judge of Anambra State for six years and a judge for double that. At the time also, the retirement age of judges in Nigeria was 65.
Araka’s crime was that he took the job of the judge too seriously and believed that a judge should be manifestly independent of political and executive influence.
Araka was born in 1925 to a father from Onitsha who worked as head-teacher in a primary school in Agbor in present day Delta State, where he was born. His secondary education took him through Hope Waddell Institute in Calabar, now in Cross-River State, where one of his teachers was Eni Njoku (the famous “Teacher Nwanjoku”), who was to become the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos.
Following successful studies at the Trinity College, Dublin, Araka was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1951. Over the next two decades, he built a formidable career in private practice and in politics. Twelve years after becoming a lawyer, in 1963, he became Queens Counsel, the equivalent of today’s Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.
Two years before that, in 1961, Chike Obi, who represented Onitsha Federal Constituency in the then House of Representatives, had to quit parliament after being convicted of the political crime of sedition. In his place, Onitsha people elected Araka to represent them in the Federal House.
The onset of military rule in 1966 interfered with Araka’s career in politics but did not entirely derail his availability for public service. At the end of the civil war, he returned to legal practice but not for long.
In 1972, Administrator of the East Central State, Dr. Ukpabi Asika, appointed Araka a judge of the High Court. When in 1976, the East Central State was split into Imo and Anambra states, Araka naturally became a judge in his home state, Anambra. Two years later, in 1978, Anthony Aniagolu, the first Chief Judge of Anambra State was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court and Araka succeeded him in office, becoming the second Chief Judge of the State.
Around the time of Araka’s appointment as a judge in East Central State, something happened over in Lagos State which made an impression on many judges and judicial wannabes. The then military governor of Lagos State, Mobolaji Johnson, had extended an invitation to the Chief Justice of the State (as they were then known), John Idowu Conrad, JIC, Taylor, to attend a state dinner. It was reported that Chief Justice Taylor, “after reading it, endorsed a brief note to the governor at the back of the invitation card, informing him that he would be unable to attend, because the Lagos State government had several cases pending before him and it would therefore, in the circumstances, be most inappropriate for him to honour the invitation.”
In doing so, JIC Taylor didn’t just underscore the institutional value of judicial independence, he also underlined its reliance in large measure on the moral fibre of the individual judge.
This was the state of affairs when Araka arrived the Bench. Fourteen years later, Allison Madueke, a member of the First Regular Course at the Nigerian Defence Academy, arrived as military governor in 1984 with no hint of having received the memo. Having settled in, the military governor summoned the Chief Judge to a meeting in the government house in Enugu. Araka, demurred. Madueke later complained in his memoirs that he “had not reckoned that I was dealing with a law administrator that had a mind of his own”.
That was Araka’s crime. The invitation was renewed unsuccessfully twice, whereupon Captain Madueke “applied for his retirement”. Madueke narrates that he later met the then second-in-command to General Muhammadu Buhari, General Tunde Idiagbon, while the latter was on an official visit to Owerri and secured Idiagbon’s authorisation to terminate Araka’s judicial career for being independent. In March 1985, Madueke fired Araka.
Madueke, who has just turned 80, whoops that this was “something of an earthquake in Anambra State”. It was more than that in the judiciary, where it established a norm that independence was costly. Judges re-calibrated.
Today, cavorting with the executive has become a judicial past-time. In his controversial memoirs, The Accidental Public Servant, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nasir el-Rufai, recalls that one of his first moves in that role was to visit the then Chief Judge of the Territory to secure the support of the judiciary. He exulted that thereafter, “the FCT judiciary supported us strongly throughout my tenure”.
In November 2023, the current Chief Judge of the FCT, Husseini Baba Yusuf, went one step further, corralling the FCT judiciary to visit the current Minister of the Territory, Nyesom Wike, to pledge judicial allegiance to his rule. There, the Chief Judge promenaded somewhat naked before the Minister, pleading that “[a]s a judiciary, we are part of the government and we should be able to do things that will make govt work.”
Three months later, the list of new nominees to the bench of the FCT High Court included an in-law of the Minister, Lesley Nkesi Wike, who only became a Senior Magistrate in Rivers State in 2023, appointed by the Minister when he was Governor of Rivers State.
One year earlier, in November 2022, Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, had kicked up a firestorm when he travelled to Port Harcourt and at a reception hosted by the same Nyesom Wike who was then the Governor of River State, stepped into the political minefield to offer judicial support to Wike and four other governors who were at odds with their political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The Chief Justice, a devout Muslim, was not under the influence of anything that he should not have consumed but, despite the febrile political season, many were willing to give him benefit of the doubt.
This past week, Chief Justice Ariwoola bettered himself. Under the guise of the traditions of the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan, he led the Nigerian judiciary supposedly to break the fast with the president. The team accompanying the Chief Justice included two of his immediate predecessors, each of whom left office under a cloud. Walter Onnoghen, one of the two, is Christian.
No one had ostensibly warned the Chief Justice about the perils of turning into a prayer warrior for politicians. At the visit, the Chief Justice took the microphone and under the guise of prayers offered to the president intoned: “May the Lord continue to bless you and your administration. Let your ship land and berth beautifully. We shall continue to pray for your administration because there are many good things in the pipeline for Nigerians.”
It is possible that Olukayode Ariwoola has always had a secret career as a clairvoyant which would equip him to know what will happen in future. What is clear is that after these lines, few people can approach the court that he presides over with any expectation of even handedness in any case in which the administration is party.
Lawyers and judges speak glibly about judicial independence, often treating it as something material, guaranteed by constitutional provisions and by large swathes of money. It is, of course, important that judges are provided for so that they have no excuses to fall prey to bribery or material importuning. Official emoluments are usually not enough competition, however, for the kinds of blandishments that can be deployed in pursuit of the favours of a senior judge.
For that reason, the job requires a lot of skill, patience, and balance. But more than any other thing, it requires persons willing to defend independence. Of all the many virtues that he surely must possess, being an Araka is not a charge that can be levied against the current occupant of the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“I know the arithmetic of the budget and the numbers that I brought to the National Assembly, and I know what numbers came back… Those who are talking about malicious embellishment in the budget; they did not understand the arithmetic and did not refer to the baseline of what I brought,” President Bola Tinubu declared at the State House, upper Friday. And there was ominous quiet on the home front. He was hosting the leadership of the Senate at the breaking of Ramadan fast. Do you remember the fuss generated a couple of weeks ago by the allegation of N3.7 billion budget-padding leveled against the senate by Senator Abdul Ningi? Its most fitting description is the relations between the cattle and the egret. While some Nigerians worry that Tinubu was offering presidential shield to parliamentary fraud, the anecdote of cattle and egret best explains it. It is an Aso Rock cattle and National Assembly egret, both in dalliance for self survival. Hapless Nigerian people had nothing to do with it.
Except on a closer scrutiny, it may be difficult to explain the odd alliance between cattle egret and the cattle. The cattle egret is a famous bird which feeds on ticks and flies. It is a parasite on cattle. Often found taking shelter on their back, feeding fat pecking ticks off their skin, the alliance between these strange fellows is for the sake of self. Egrets get their daily meal by helping the cattle take away their discomfort. They reduce the number of flies on the cattle’s body. The cattle could, in anger, flick their horns or tails to haunt the egret to death for the audacity of climbing their back. The cattle however allow the egret endless stuffing of its guts with their tick irritants. And there is mutual satisfaction. So, when Tinubu said, “Thank you very much… But your integrity is intact,” you would imagine the cattle speaking at an Iftar gathering of cattle egrets.
Tinubu put a final wedge on the controversy last week. With statistics? No. He flung his self-acclaimed knowledge of arithmetic, ostensibly as an accountant. What is the recency of the president’s knowledge of accounting and arithmetic? Comparing his’ with, for instance, Seun Onigbinde of BudgIt’s, who statistically confirmed the padding allegation, our president’s may be rusty arithmetic. Not to worry. With that smooth presidential assent, the president, a man of integrity who recently celebrated an iconic 72nd birthday on earth, removed his age-long and highly acclaimed apparel of integrity and wore it on each of the 109 senators. Now that the president has thus pronounced, our Senate now wears angelic, cocaine-white apparel. Onigbinde had said: “TETFUND should not just get an allocation. What are you spending money on? INEC is collecting a huge chunk of funds but there is no public details about what the funds are used for. If you put all these together, that is around N3.5 trillion to N3.7 trillion. So, if Ningi wants to interrogate that there are components of the budget where there are no breakdown, that is very factual.”
Don’t mind Onigbinde. The president’s arithmetic is hippopotamus-sized. The trillions of Naira allegedly padded have received their lost integrity. Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s N90 billion constituency projects inserted into the budget have become angelic. They have shed their quills of fraud and self-centeredness, a la the president. The N500 million Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed “ranking” senators got infused into the budget, totaling N17billion, has removed its sleaze waistcoat feathers. The president, a man of highly burnished morality, is happy. The senate is glad. Nigeria is moving on regardless, even if you insist it is on wobbly legs.
On this Mount, today is however not a day for arithmetic. Not a day for fraud arithmetic. It is a day for birds, singing and drumming birds. While the president flaunts his arithmetic knowledge, let us flaunt biology. The biology of birds. Do you remember what that irritable American ex-president, Donald Trump, once called quid pro quo? In the Nigerian lingo, it is better rendered as, You Rub My Back, I Rub Your Back. It is benefitting the need of one without posing any noticeable risk to the other. When you carry a shameful swarm of ticks and ants on your back like the Tinubu presidency does, you need Akpabio’s cattle egrets to feed fat on them for your peace.
Sorry, I digressed. Rather than peer further light into Tinubu’s vacant, Rub My Back, I Rub Your Back, Paddy Paddy budgetary arithmetic, I elect to veer into society today. The social schism among Nigerian singers and drummers particularly bothers me. Most likely due to my biographical work on a Yoruba Apala music lord, Ayinla Omowura, I have received several calls to do a review of the recent back-and-forth accusations and allegations between Yoruba Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, also known as KWAM 1 and his erstwhile lead drummer, Kunle Ayanlowo. My work, entitled Ayinla Omowura: Life And Times Of An Apala Legend (2020), dwelled tangentially on the crisis in Omowura’s musical group – between him and his drummers, and his band manager, Bayewumi, who eventually killed him. This recent musical ruckus was shot to the zenith of discourse, especially in the southwestern part of Nigeria, by Ayanlowo. The drummer had complained that in decades of drumming under the Fuji musician, KWAM 1 fed his guts the fattest gains from the organization’s huge takings, leaving him in the cold. The musician debunked the claim. Without drummers, Ayanlowo submitted, musicians are in the cold. This is true.
This is leading me right into a short history of drumming and singing which tear singers and drummers asunder. Àyángalú is known to be the progenitor of drummers, the deity spirit of the drum. It is drummers’ guardian spirit. In one of his SOS calls in the social media against KWAM 1, Ayanlowo brought out a drum as witness to his allegation against his former boss, asking Àyángalú, the twine that solders them together, rather than the Bible or Quran, to judge between them. This is a recognition of the spiritual potency of drums and the abiding spirit of Àyángalú who is often symbolically acknowledged and represented in drums. For instance, out of all the ensemble of drums, the one called Gudugudu, with a pot-like shape, represents the sacred symbol and spirit of Àyángalú. When going out for major performances, an appeasement and invocation of the guardian spirit of Àyángalú is often done. Drummers pour libations, mostly of dry gin alcohol, on their drums, with prayers to the spirit of Àyángalú to wear them like garment.
Music is as old as the Yoruba society. The Yoruba music world is a complete confetti of drum, song, chant and dance. In the Yoruba world of music, drums and musical instruments deployed for melodious rhythms and tones acted as bridge between humans and different deities called Orisa. They constituted the age-long rituals with which society communicated directly with their deities. There is no way the concourse between spirituality and ritual performances can be discussed without the agency of traditional drumming and singing. Drummers and musicians played mediatory roles in meeting the spiritual and the social needs of the communities where they lived. They invoke deities to provide assistance and guidance to their earthly worshippers. Both singing and drumming were thus traditionally perceived as sacrifices to the Orisa. When the deities were sufficiently roused up by enthralling songs, they got thrilled enough to intervene in the people’s individual lives. The mystical and supernatural nature of drums is demonstrated in that, if the hearts of a warring party is as hard as stone, drumbeats tenderize them like flesh. In the heat of fierce battles, a drummer only needs to drum the eulogy of the warriors and an armistice is procured. It was why they followed warriors to the front.
The Àyàn family is reputed to be the family of drummers. Àyàn is the family that produces assorted sorts of Yorùbá drums. To keep the family tree intact, animals are killed by members, their skins tanned for the preparation of drums. They also prepare generations to come for drumming. In the olden days, the Àyàn family went to war with warriors, showering eulogies on the fighters, chanting and invoking their praise poetry. This spurred them into victory. During the wedding of Àyàn daughters, a special memento of a specialized Dùǹdún drum, festooned with tiny bells called Saworoidẹ, is given to them as gift by the Àyàn family.
Before KWAM 1’s Ayanlowo, many Yoruba made fame out of their drumming craft. One of such was Shittu Ọ̀kánjúà, a drummer of the late Atáọjà of Osogbo, Oba Adénlé; Babátúndé Ọlátúnjí. The list also includes Ọba Adetoyese Láoyè, the late Timì of Ẹdẹ, in Osun State who, with his scintillating drumming of the Dùǹdún drum, produced the renowned signature tune of the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Station.
By either happenstance, location in history or abiding connection with Ayangalu, forefather of drum ancestry, Ibarapa people of Oyo State constitute the highest number of drummers in history. Ranging from Ramoni Adewole Alao, a.k.a. Oniluola, (said to have migrated to Abeokuta from Idere in Ibarapa Central Local Government) Alhaji Mutiu Jimoh, a.k.a. Mutiu Kekere (Ebenezer Obey’s drummer, who hailed from Idere) to even Ayanlowo, who is a major cast in what has become drummers’ eventual tiff with their musician bosses, the list of Ibarapa drummers who helped traditional musicians to stardom is endless. Other famous musicians who also eventually had issues with their singing bosses were Kamoru Ayansola (Sikiru Ayinde Barrister); Orikanbody Ayanwale, who drummed for Kollington Ayinla; Aromasodun, who also drummed for KWAM 1; Rafiu Ojubanire (Haruna Ishola) and Shittu Shitta Alabi, the drummer of Yesufu Kelani who slumped and died on stage in 1972, drum in his hands. Recall Kelani’s elegy to Alabi entitled “Iku O Mo Olowo” – death is no respecter of wealth.
Drumming was more revered than singing by the deities because it provided links between the supernatural and the physical world. Entertainment came only as a latter function of drums and singing. So, aside being used for communication purpose, mourning, praise-singing, declaration of hostility and sober reflections, each drum and drumming indicate what they communicate. The different drums like Gángan, the talking drum; Ìyá Ilù; Dùndún; Ómèlè; Bátà and the Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀ were all totems of different gods, each of which was associated with a drum. Cylindrical drums like Ìgbin, Ìpèsè and Ógidàn bore paternities with individual Orisa, spirit or deity. While the Ìgbin drum has causal link to the snail called Ìgbín by the Yoruba, the deity’s paternity it bore was Ọbàtálá, arch-divinity associated with procreation. Ìpèsè drum was a ritual performance for the deity Ọ̀rúnmìlà and Ogidan drums were solely for the veneration of Ogun, the god of iron. Ìgbin was made with the skin or dermis of the deer called Ìgalà. Till today, in the Èjìgbò area of Ọ̀yọ́ State, the Ìgbìn drum is still the totem of worship of Ọbàtálá during the people’s New Yam Festival. The Bembẹ̀ ̣ drum on its own is peculiarly beaten with hands and not sticks, accompanied by two bells and has as its totem, the worship of the river goddess of Ọ̀ṣun and Ọya. The Àshíkò drum, a cylindrical and tapered drum, made of hardwood and goatskin hide, is also used during festivals. Other drums were Agidigbo, Osán, Sákárà, Gúdú Gúdú, Gbèdu etc.
Drums and drummers maintained their superiority until the late 1960s in Yorubaland. Their hold however began to wane when drums ceased being primarily agencies of ritual spiritual performances. During this time, drummers were kings as virtually everyone not only enjoyed the rhythm they produced but could access the words communicated with their drum sticks. During my research, I spoke with drummers like Adewole Alao, lead drummer to Ayinla Omowura, who told me of how he had acquired quite formidable following before his fans asked him to look for a singer to accompany his drumming rhythms. Adewole thus told me he had to scurry almost the entire Abeokuta city before he found the melodious-voiced Ayinla. They had hardly been together for a decade before fight for superiority tore them apart. Adewole went his way, while Omowura picked another drummer named Adenekan, a.k.a. Yebere, who was principally apprenticed as a barber but who drummed for leisure. Ayinla was together with Yebere until another tiff spiraled among them, which led to the return of Adewole to the musical fold.
In one of his live plays, Omowura, who was killed during a scuffle in 1980, sang a song which will seem to capture the disagreements that occur between musicians, their drummers and even band organizations in general. In the song, he provided the allegory of an imaginary husband who gave his wife money to prepare a bowl of soup. When the soup was ready and a plate of accompanying eba was placed before him, the husband removed his clothes and fled the house. The lyrics goes thus in Yoruba, “K’eyan o f’owo obe si’le o/K’obe wa jina/ k’an gb’eba sí’le, k’o f’ere ge…” He sang the song when Bayewumi, the man who was to later stab him to death, decided to pull out of the band. In the song, Omowura likened Bayewumi’s abrupt pull-out to one who had invested immensely in a cause but when it was time to reap its fruits, amazingly, of his own volition, fled the pot of honey.
When asked what led to the disagreement between him and Omowura, just like in the KWAM 1 and Ayanlowo case, Adewole put it to sharing of proceeds of their musical sweats. In virtually all the scuffles among musicians and their drummers, this has always been the case. In 2019, when I got to Adewole’s house in Abeokuta, I was more than shocked. It was barely habitable for any human being. He had no presentable chairs for guests to sit on. Noticing my discomfort, the old man burst into tears, amid sobbing, “Se bi ile gbajumo se ye ko ri niyi?,” meaning, “Is this how a socialite’s house is supposed to be?”
So, why do drummers always engage in a tango with their singer counterparts? Sometimes in the late 1970s, billed for a recording at the EMI studio in Lagos, Omowura was shocked to discover that all his drummers and backup vocalists suddenly disappeared. The bus that went to their individual homes could not see any of them. It was like the trade dispute of today. They alleged that he was short-circuiting them from the takings of the band. Ibadan drummer, Alamu Tatalo also had a dispute with Amuda Agboluaje, the vocalist he recruited, leading to a bitter rivalry that was never sorted out till both died. So also did Awurebe exponent, Dauda Akanmu Ade-Eyo, a.k.a. Epo Akara who had a bitter feud with his drummer, Alhaji Lalere.
Why do virtually all drummers live in penury? Why don’t they harvest the fruits of stardom like singers? The truth is that both singing and drumming are beggarly vocations, from time immemorial. This may thus not be unconnected with the poverty-stricken fate that comes their way. Anyway, some of them maintain that the singers are not in the real sense their bosses; that each of the musical ensemble, to which drumming is one, is a critical component that makes the musical medley. When I asked Adewole why he left the Omowura group, he said the Apala lord turned him, the boss, to a servant – “o so oga d’omo ise.” I submit that contemporary crises among musicians are a resurfacing of the ancient rivalry that has always existed between drummers and singers and battle for supremacy between drums and songs. Does standing in the front as lead vocalist make the singer the leader? This was the question that the Jamaican Wailing Wailers, the musical triumvirate of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Neville O’Riley Livingston also confronted in the early 1970s. When Briton Christ Blackwell of Island Records, on a UK tour he organized for the group, announced to the British audience that the group was Bob Marley & The Wailers, rather than a trio among whom rotated lead singing of tracks, the road to the eventual disintegration of the group was already paved.
Illiteracy, the challenged beginning of most drummers and the violence-ridden nature of music, especially traditional music, are the roots of confrontations that often occur between singers and drummers. The way out is insistence on legal agreements and representation by all the parties. This will spell out the terms of their engagement. In this way, frictions will be reduced among these men and women who soothe our souls with melodious music.
"Many a cross we bear is of our own manufacture; we made it by our sins. But the cross which the Savior carried was not His, but ours. One beam in contradiction to another beam was the symbol of our will in contradiction to His own. If Innocence itself took a Cross, then how shall we who are guilty complain against it?" — Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
It has been six weeks of preparation for the solemn feast of the Lord's resurrection popularly called Easter. It is all climaxing this week. Yet, the country's atmosphere is not looking 'Easterish' partly because of the prevailing unfriendly economic reality and partly due to bemired sociopolitical cloud that hovers around us.
APC government which Nigerians brought upon themselves has become a cross of their own making.
The Government has made Nigerians have less need to visit Holy Lands on pilgrimage, especially this lent and Easter seasons. How can one desire pilgrimage trips again when our country is gradually becoming Golgotha - a place of skull itself (Mk.15:22). Replicas of agonizing faces, mirroring that of a suffering Messiah is common sight in every street and home (Is. 53:7). Harrowing spate of extrajudicial killings and traumatizing cases of abductions dot our newlines.
This year's lent pointed to a Good Friday in which everything around us paints gory imagery of Calvary pains of Christ.
For instance, the vacant purses readily made us experience the poverty of Christ who had no place to lay his head, and had to 'borrow' everything including the donkey he rode on, into Jerusalem and even the tomb he was buried in (Matt. 8:20, Mk. 11:11, Jn. 19:41-42).
Secondly the perpetual power failure brings to mind the total eclipse that dusked on the world for three hours when the Lord gave up the ghost (Lk. 23:44-46). It replays in our psyche and awakens in our memory the nightly darkness under which cover, so many evils were perpetrated in the build-up to the Lord's Passion.(Jn. 13:30). In our time and clime, kidnapping is perpetuated in daylight and ransom demanded at twilight.
Thirdly, the prevailing empty stomachs tell us how the Lord felt after fasting for forty days; and more still the cry of "I am thirsty" from the height of the cross (Jn. 19:28).
With recurrent power outage, under the present global warming, we are subjected to helish heat and sweating, which is becoming a foretaste of the Getsemany heat in which Christ excreted blood (Lk. 22:44).
The harsh economic atmosphere in the country parallels the unstable state of the ancient Jewish polity under Pontius Pilate, influenced by the tyranny of their Roman colonial authority, headed by Caesar.
But shall we allow these man-made hardships weigh us down from appreciating the light of the Lord's resurrection and celebrating the grace of Easter?
The answer is No!
Remember the darkest part of the night is just before the dawn. Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. However, we should be tenacious in our resolve to engender the new dawn despite the tragedy of the forlorn 2023 election miasma. Much as we recite the ejaculatory "Prayer For Nigeria In Distress," we must be resolute in our demands for a better leadership in the country by holding our leaders (especially those imposed on us by subversion of laws) to account.
My fellow Concoursites, never you despair. Raise your head and see that your salvation, is near. Your upliftment is by the corner. The day of your breakthrough is at hand. Remember, the God of Good Friday is also the Lord of Easter Sunday. He exhorted us to be still and know that He is God (Ps. 46:10). From here, if you listen carefully, you can hear the voice of the Man of Calvary crying "it is finished!" "it is finished," your ugly condition is finished in Jesus Name! (Jn. 19:30).
Meanwhile, don't take your mind off the ladder that leads to the good news. Many blessings are hanging on a silken cord, and only the sharp edges of repentance, prayer and patience can cut them. Let's hold fast to these virtues.
This is how Christ redeemed us: Suppose a golden chalice is stolen from an altar and beaten into a large ash tray. Before that gold can be returned to the altar, it must be thrown into a fire, where the dross is burned away; then the chalice must be recast, and finally blessed and restored to its holy use.
Sinful man is like that chalice which was delivered over to profane uses. He lost his Godlike resemblance and his high destiny as a child of God. So our blessed Lord took unto Himself a human nature, making it stand for all of us, plunged it into the fires of Calvary to have the dross of sin burned and purged away. Then, by rising from the dead, He became the new head of the new humanity, according to which we are all to be patterned.
The cross reveals that unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday. Unless there is a crown of thorns, there will never be the halo of light. Unless there is the scourged body, there will never be a glorified one. Death to the lower self is the condition for resurrection to the higher self.
So be steadfast in your faith. Be ready to sing the victory song.
God's mercy endureth forever. He condescended so low to those whose debts He have pardoned to become a debtor Himself by His promises.
Now, the only debt we owe is to ourselves. The only price left is for us to try like Apostle Paul, "to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, to associate with His suffering and participate in His death" (Phil 3:10).
The Master Himself has set the pace and opened the fountain, as it where, of salvation. Ours is only to follow His footsteps till we bath in that fountain which washes off stains, even of the least venial sin and makes us eschatologically clean for beatific visions, imperfectly here at Easter feasts and perfectly hereafter in the Heavenly feast of resurrection (Rev. 19:9).
Happy Easter.
Shalom!
I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Rev 1:18
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gave us total victory! Yes, complete victory over sin, self and Satan. You must know and appropriate this in your life and circumstances, everyday. Yes, we have already won this battle even before it started. Our LORD is perfectly, always in control! The right understanding of Jesus’ authority over the affairs of all creation will always enhance our relationship with him, and also inspire our confidence in his words. The God we are serving is the creator of all things; both living and non-living. Everything exists by him and through him. He made all things and is always in perfect control of the whole universe – the heavens, the earth, the waters, humans, spirits, plants, animals, events. Everything! Nothing can exist or function without him. He is God that came in flesh. Hope you saw this in the first chapter of the gospel of John? Narrowing this down to ourselves, God brought us into existence. He has his master plans for our life and he is ever-willing and capable of bringing to pass all his purposes for our life. He is in control!
In the book of Revelation chapter one and verse eight our LORD was trying to authenticate the message he was giving to the church through John. It was like a signature on that message. He wanted John and the entire church to know that all he had told them would ultimately come to pass, hence, his putting his position and authority as a seal. He wanted them to know that he was still in full control of events. And remember that the church was going through serious persecution at that period and needed a message of encouragement and hope (Like we need it now). That was immediately after Jesus ascended. He had to reassure them that he was coming back as he promised. That all they were passing through would be temporal, as he was coming to bring everything to an end. His signature to this was, "I am the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end, the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One." Amen! Revelation 1:8
Alpha And Omega
The LORD said to the church that he is the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, while Omega is the last. What this title signifies is that Jesus is the beginning and the end of everything. The first and the last! He started it all and he will also end it. If we go back to the beginning of the world, the bible said that the earth was empty, formless and in total darkness until God sent in light and began to create. Like, I said earlier, I want to take it for granted that you already know that Jesus is God. And that the bible clearly told us that he created all things. So, he is the beginning of all things. The Alpha of the creation, and he will also end what he started. It is very important that we understand this and also apply it in our life and relationship with God. We must begin to understand that we are like projects in his hands. He started it all. He initiated our existence, our faith, our visions, our ministry, our career. He gave us those visions we are currently running with. And if that is true, then he will not fail to faithfully, gloriously conclude what he started. He does not abandon his projects on the way. When we fully appreciate this, then, we will begin to have full confidence in our relationship with him. Our faith, our life, our family, our destiny are perfectly in his hands and he will see them all to perfection. I believe this is also why he once told Jacob, "I will not leave you until I have fulfilled all that I spoke concerning you." And that is exactly what he is also telling you today. You are secured in his hands. Relax! He will surely lead you to your promised land. He is in control. Give your life to Christ today. Happy celebrations!
1: I send hearty Easter greetings to all Nigerians. I am sure that many Nigerians are already used to the fact that during the annual celebration of the two most important events in the Christian calendar – Christmas and Easter – I have the practice of writing a national Message in which I reflect on the meaning of the Christ-event for us as a People and Nation. While I am aware that many people look forward to reading my Messages every year, as I have done over the past many years, there are those, I believe, who must be wondering what Bishop Kukah is going to say again, or whether he is not tired of speaking with Buhari now gone. My messages will continue for some time and have nothing to do with whoever is in power.
Every religious leader has an obligation to deliver these Messages to his people. In doing this, I am only joining my voice with that of thousands of Priests and Bishops here and elsewhere.
I know there are many who think that when I speak, I am attacking government or that I am taking sides with some imaginary opposition. Unfortunately, people erroneously believe that God and Caesar do not mix. The truth is that, God is the Creator of All, including Caesar! Caesar’s obligation is to be inspired by the way and will of God and govern according to His will. When those who govern seek the will of God, public service becomes a call to use the resources of state for the good of all.
In keeping with my discipline as a priest of the Catholic Church, I do not carry the partisan flag of any political party or hold brief for or against one set of politicians or another. What I try to do is to highlight the issues facing us as a Nation, provide moral clarity, and offer some policy options from where I stand. From where I stand, I often see missed opportunities, wrong turns likely to lead to cul-de-sacs. I try to differentiate between mistakes of the head and those of the heart. Often, our destination may be the same, but the routes often differ and what I believe I should do in conscience is offer perspectives. I allow for the fact that of course, I could be wrong, but then, Democracy is about letting our voices be heard. While those in power and politicians talk to the people, as a priest, I talk with the people. But when our voices and views are taken together, we can compose a beautiful melody for a united nation. In this way, government’s vision and policy become our vision and policy, thus creating a common threshold of trust. In keeping with the exhortation of St. Paul, we must preach this Gospel, welcome or unwelcome. So, fellow citizens, a very happy Easter to you all.
The great Bishop Fulton Sheen, in his timeless book, Life of Christ, stated that: There are only two philosophies of life. One is the feast and then the hangover, the other, the fast and then the feast. Deferred joys purchased by sacrifices are always the sweetest and most enduring. Against this backdrop, it is easy to see why the Nigerian dream has turned into a nightmare over the years. Our leaders chose the feast rather than the fast. We are today reaping what we sowed yesterday. For over sixty years, our leaders have looked like men in a drunken stupor, staggering, stumbling and fumbling, slurring in speech, with blurred visions searching for the way home. The corruption of the years of a life of immoral and sordid debauchery have spread like a cancer destroying all our vital organs. The result is a state of a hangover that has left our nation comatose. Notwithstanding, Easter is a time to further reflect on the road not taken. It is a time to see if this Golgotha of pain can lead us to the new dawn of the Resurrection. Nigeria can and Nigeria will be great again. Let us ride this tide together in hope.
Many Nigerians are wondering and asking questions such as, what time of day is it? Where are we? How did we get here? Where is here? Where are we going? How long do we still have to travel and are there any map readers to tell us if we are on the right path? Neither I nor anyone can answer all these questions, but together, we can think through them. Let us not all pretend to be ignorant. It is not so much who knows what. It is rather a matter of accepting the challenges, having the honesty to ask the most difficult questions, and holding each other accountable. In this way, the road may be long, but it will be easier to travel together in faith and confidence.
Even though it is not daybreak yet, all of us must agree that the night is far gone. The only reason why I am confident that daybreak may not be too far away is because of my faith in God and the power of the risen Christ. There could not be a better metaphor for addressing the situation we are in now than to turn our attention to the meaning of Easter and the promises that are contained in the meaning of Christianity. St. Paul said: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light (Rom.13:12). With the risen Christ, we can dispel encircling clouds of doom.
The belief in the resurrection is what sets Christianity apart from other world religions. It was inconceivable, unfathomable, indescribable, preposterous and incomprehensible. How could a dead man rise from the dead? Unfortunately for us, those soldiers who had been stationed at the tomb, men whose careers and life depended on carrying out the task of guarding the tomb confessed that they were like dead men because, at the resurrection, His appearance was like lightening and clothes were as white as snow (Mt. 28:3). The accusers of Jesus and his enemies, rather than seeking trial for them for their negligence became fraudulent conspirators. We hear that: The chief priests met with the elders and gave large sums of money to the soldiers and said, you are to say that the disciples came at night and stole the body while we were asleep (Mt. 28:12-13).
The resurrection confirmed that indeed, Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ promised by the prophets for hundreds of years. The event of the resurrection split human history, becoming the marker of time and events. Everything else in human history from took place either before Christ (BC) or after Christ (AD). Consider the following: His birth announced peace to ALL men and women of good will (Lk. 2:14). Salvation is to be found only through him alone. In all the world, there is no other name through which salvation is given (Acts 4:12). It is the reason why at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and all proclaim that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2:10). If we Christians take the resurrection of Jesus to heart, then we will appreciate that suffering is a prelude to a better and more rewarding life. It might be argued that Nigerians have suffered enough. True, but the good life is a shifting aspiration with no
ercede to enable Nigeria rise again. Amen.
finishing post. The important thing is to make it feasible for every generation to pursue happiness with less stress. We Christians still face the challenge of following Jesus truly.
Millions of people say that they believe in Jesus. Merely calling Jesus Lord is not enough because Jesus said; Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 7:21). Millions of people believe in Jesus, but this is not enough because their perception of Jesus is often flawed. There are those who call him one of the prophets of God. Some call him a good man. Others think He was a teacher who worked miracles and of course, the Jews who considered him a blasphemer because of His claims to being God. However, what people believe about my father is not important. It is what I know about my father that is important. As such, too many Christians are often misled by the perceptions of others who say they believe in Jesus but are not Christians. It is the resurrection that confirmed Jesus as being the Christ, the son of God. Jesus is not the Son of God in a biological sense, but is so in the incarnation, that is, God taking the human form without sin. Had he not risen, he would have been Jesus, a good man who perhaps lived and preached in a particular period of time. The world would have since forgotten of him or remembered him like other good men.
The coming of Jesus was foretold by prophets over seven hundred years before He came. The world expected Him. The only challenge was no one knew when it would be. His place of birth (Bethlehem), circumstances of birth (by a virgin) were foretold. The lord himself will give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, his name shall be Emmanuel (Is. 7:14). The Lord says, Bethlehem, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you will come a ruler of Israel (Mic. 5: 1-2). The whole of the book of Isaiah chapter 53 gives a detailed account of the sufferings that would be endured by the Messiah. He is like a lamb led to the slaughter, never uttering a word. He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die and no one cared about his fate…He was placed in a grave with the wicked…the Lord says, it was my will that he should suffer, his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness (Is. 53: 7-10). These prophesies were his letter of credence, the proof of the claims that had been made.
Against this backdrop, the early Christians faced a dilemma. Jesus, their Master had died the painful and horrible death meant for criminals. Against the run of play, He had risen indeed as He and the prophets before Him had said He would. The event generates controversies. His bedraggled apostles were still reeling from it all when Jesus says they are to proclaim His message to the whole world (Mt. 28:15). They have neither a headquarters nor do they even have a start-up capital. Jesus tells them to simply depend on the good will of people, but merely eating whatever is set before them (Lk. 10: 8). Their only currency of exchange is faith and peace. Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house’ (Lk. 10:5).
Preaching the resurrected Christ is not merely a statement of a historical fact that has become associated with the Easter celebrations. Easter is about coming to the terms with the complex reality that; God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts not our thoughts (Is. 55:8). Preaching and bearing witness to the resurrection came with a heavy price for the early Church. The apostles were imprisoned, tortured, flogged, humiliated and killed. As far as confronting the throne of power is concerned, as far as challenging the structures of injustice and abuse of power are concerned, nothing has changed. Today’s Pilate is still firmly on his throne of arrogance, hubris and egotism. The persecution of Christians is still rife all over the world. Much as we try to pretend, persecution is rife in our country through brutal and subtle means whether by outright denials of basic rights or threats and blackmail. In all this, we cling to the words of the great song, Onward Christian soldiers which says, Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane, but the Church of Jesus constant will remain. Those who preach a discounted Christianity, focusing on quick solutions, miracles, drama and theatre, claiming that we were not born to suffer, suggesting that we were destined for prosperity, must choose between their cross-less Christianity and a Christ-less cross of human suffering which tyrants often afflict their people. Both have no salvific value.
Today, things are hard. Really very hard in Nigeria. I see it on the faces of our people every day. We are in one of the most difficult phases of our national life. But we are not alone. However, I am optimistic that our country will heal from the scars of hunger and destitution, that the wounds of physical and psychological violence will heal. But first, we Christians must wake up to our duties and responsibilities of what it is to be Christian as an individual, a family, a community or in public life. There are tough times ahead. Politics alone will not change the fate of our country, neither will all the right economic policies or positive ratings by the world’s agencies. We need to do more. Nigeria has lost its soul and the evidence lies before us all. The mindless corruption and debauchery in high places is merely a symptom of a deeper rot. It is not the real disease. We must recover our lost soul. Christians cannot discount our high moral values simply because, this is Nigeria and, things are hard or everyone is doing this or that. With nothing but the moral force of faith in the risen Jesus, 11 semi-illiterate men, pursued by the roman authorities, finally converted the empire itself. If you doubt the force of true believers, think again. Not by power nor by might, but by my spirit, the Lord says.
The evil that we see around us is a consequence not a cause. We have relied on tools of social sciences to create all kinds of doomsday scenarios about the impending end of Nigeria. In the 90s, the pessimists told us that we were on the road to Rwanda. Time passed and we never got to Rwanda. Then the experts wrote so many opinion and editorial articles claiming that rather than Rwanda, we were heading for Somalia. We have arrived at none of these destinations not due to poor map reading but due to superficial and scaremongering reading of history and analysis of social dynamics of society. Faith renews a people and a nation. St Paul said it all: To have faith is to be sure of the things that we hope for, to be certain about the things we cannot see……No one can please God without faith (Heb. 11: 1, 6). I leave you with four points to ponder on.
First, the federal government must come up with a robust template for how it wishes to reverse and put us on a path of national healing. This must include a deliberate policy of inclusion that will drastically end the immoral culture of nepotism. The government must design a more comprehensive and wide-ranging method of recruitment that is transparent as a means of generating patriotism and reversing the ugly face of feudalism and prebendalism.
There is need for a clear communications strategy that will serve to inspire and create time-lines of expectations of results from policies. There is need for clarity over questions of the Who, What, When, and How national set goals are to be attained and who can be held accountable. This will take us away from the current Communications-by-announcement-of-appointments policies as if this is all that government is doing.
Second, the notion of rejigging the security architecture is a hackneyed cliché that is now at best, an oxymoron. It is difficult to fathom our current situation regarding the ubiquity of the military in our national life. It is impossible to explain how we can say we are in a civilian Democracy with the military literally looking like an army of occupation with an octopussean spread across all the 36 states and Abuja. This has very serious consequences both for its professionalism, its integrity and perceived role in protecting society. No other person than the immediate past Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor who recently referred to the military as facing the dilemma of what he called, see finish. It is now difficult to say whether the persistence of insecurity is a cause or a consequence of military ubiquity. Trillions of Naira continue to go into bottomless pits with little measurable benefits. Our military’s professionalism cannot be diluted by the recruitment of hunters, vigilante groups and other unprofessional and untrained groups. This is not sustainable because it leaves the military open to ridicule and perceptions of surrender. Fighting insecurity is now an enterprise. I believe our security men and women can defeat these criminals in a matter of months. All we hear and see are fingers pointing to the top. No, this must end. The alternative is too frightening to contemplate. The time was yesterday, but today is still possible.
Third, it is cheering to hear that the President has announced that kidnapping and banditry are now to be treated as acts of terrorism. If so, we need to see a relentless and implacable plan to end this menace with a definite date line for bringing these terrorists to their knees, no matter what it will take. Without a timeline for eliminating these evil, despicable, malevolent and execrable demons from among us, our future as a people will be imperiled. I commend the government over its promise to stop paying ransom to bandits and kidnappers. However, merely going to the forest and returning with victims leaves the government open to suspicion from citizens. The government needs to show results of a well co-ordinated plan and time lines to bring back all citizens in captivity and give us back our country.
Fourth, I encourage the President to continue on the path of probity, to take further steps to cut down the overbearing costs of governance and to put in place more comprehensive plans towards achieving both food and physical security across our nation. Merely distributing money through already corruption riddled structures is not enough and diminishes the dignity of our citizens. No one needs to line up to receive aid when we are not in a war. Give our people back their farms and develop a comprehensive agricultural plan to put our country back on the path of honour and human dignity. May our blessed Mother who stood by the cross of Her son, watched Him die and laid to rest and rejoiced to see Him rise, intercede for our dear country. Nigeria must embrace the blessings of the risen Christ so as to heal again
There is hardly a week that I will not encounter scammers on a couple of occasions, especially those inviting you to one WhatsApp Zoom meeting or the other. Once they introduce themselves, usually with a first name, and start sounding nice, asking after your work, family and health, be on your guard! They will then ask whether you are aware that there is a Zoom meeting coming up so-so time on this or that platform that you both belong to, according to them. At first, I used to play along with a view to wasting their credit. Either I was driving and they should call back or I was urgently trying to complete a task. They would insist you take time off whatever to quickly check the text message they will soon send to you. Very well, I would say. They would then call back to ask whether you have now checked the text message. Once they realize you are just wasting their time, their reactions usually vary. Some will insult you and hang up. Others will simply quietly carry their nuisance elsewhere. After some time, I decided to begin to rain fire, hail and brimstone on them. Once I confirm that they are the ones, I will open fire: “You will die sudden and untimely death before the set zoom meeting! It shall not be well with you and the entire members of your family…” Many of them will quickly zoom off without saying a word. Others will exchange fire for fire! One of them surprised me recently: after he zoomed off and I had thought that was all, he called me on my mobile land and complained: “But you are a pastor; why should you wish me dead? A pastor is not supposed to do that!” Such effrontery!
I wonder if there are still mugus out there who fall for this Zoom meeting nonsense. There must be; otherwise, they would not have continued playing the trick on people. There was one particular one that, once he said a word, I knew immediately that he was the one on the line. His intonation always gave him out. At one point I had to advise him to go for voice training if he wanted to go far in his criminal venture; that he should learn to disguise his voice! All the same, he still tried me on a few more occasions. Once I reminded him that he had still not trained his voice, he would immediately switch off. For quite some time now, he has given me a break. These criminals learn new tricks every day. It is unfortunate that many unsuspecting members of the public fall for their tricks, with many having tales of woes to tell. Do you wonder why they are left to run riot, without the law enforcement agencies being on their trail? The law enforcing the compulsory registration of sim cards and the advancement in technology should help in this direction, but here in Nigeria, what works elsewhere fails spectacularly here. Rampant corruption negates great ideas here. Those charged with the responsibility of making systems work are either the saboteurs of the system or are the informants and insiders that assist the criminals to beat the system. Ex-bank workers and ex-military men have been found as direct or indirect criminals polluting the system all over the place. Some are so audacious that they sit inside and piss inside!
We still have a long way to go in the fight against crime and criminals. Where corruption is endemic, crime cannot but fester. Where poverty stalks the landscape, those seeking all manner of means, fair and foul, to make a living will spurn sermons of good behaviour. A materialistic society such as ours, where what matters are riches, however acquired, and not good character, crimes cannot but be the order of the day. Punishments are rare here; or better still, only petty criminals stand the chance of getting caught and punished here while big-time criminals always smile their way to the bank. They soon deodorize and legitimise their loot by running for and winning elections into big political offices to become “Honourables” and “His Excellencies”, thereby acquiring immunity from censure and prosecution. They bag chieftaincy titles and are decorated with national honours. Their tribes have grown over leaps and bounds since the Fourth Republic began in 1999; such that, now, they have a vice-like grip on the leadership of the country: the three tiers as well as the three arms of government. Since we now operate a democracy, crimes and criminal activities have, however, been democratized in a sense, such that even the lumpen elements have joined the big guys, having some sectors of the crime enterprise ceded unto them, such as banditry, kidnapping, etc while the big guys are in charge of budget padding, crude oil theft, forex round-tripping, etc. Where do we go from here?
Last week, there was an uproar when a post began to trend widely and wildly, accusing some alleged officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of criminal extortion of money from a Nigerian traveller at one of the country’s international airports. The story appeared outlandish to me but, this is Nigeria, where anything can, and does, happen! Here, because of our experience, whenever government officials are accused of any form of abuse of office, the first thing is to deem them guilty as charged until the contrary is proved. In saner climes, the contrary is the case as an accused person is deemed innocent until the contrary is proved by a court of competent jurisdiction after the person so accused must have had his day in court. In the NDLEA case, the emotive story ran thus: “Around 4.30 to 5 pm at the Muritala Mohammed Airport today, officers of the NDLEA arrested and detained an innocent man for no good reason and demanded a bribe of N5 million. Hear the audio voice and see the picture of the man. His mother was robbed in Calabar yesterday at midnight by armed robbers. His 8-year-old daughter was shot by the armed robbers and the girl is in intensive care (at the hospital). When the victim spoke to the doctor on phone before coming to Nigeria, they told him to visit the pharmacy and buy a normal drug (and bring it) along. He bought it from a pharmacy in the US and took his flight. He works in the US and was granted emergency leave at his place of work to come to Nigeria. Can you believe that the NDLEA called it a contraband drug and that even if it is a single pill, he has no right to buy any drug; that only somebody that is licensed can buy any drug and bring it to Nigeria. Listen to this audio. Please share until it gets the attention of the aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, and the NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa”.
Now, who will read this kind of story and not go for the NDLEA’s jugular? For another, Marwa and the NDLEA remain few of the remaining oasis of decency, decorum and quality service delivery in the aridity of putrid bad governance that has become the country’s hallmark. And, as they say, if gold rusts, what will iron do? So you can imagine the kind of bashing that Marwa and NDLEA got within hours on social media! But, pray, what is my own? My beef was that the media also did not leave me alone! Remember, I was Marwa’s Director of Media and Publicity when he jostled for the presidential flag of the then ruling party, the PDP, in 2006. So, ever since, some news on Marwa, the media would bounce it off me and I would contact Marwa where I have no ready answer. In this instance, I contacted him and he told me nothing of such happened that involved the NDLEA.
Femi Babafemi, who is the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, later effectively blew the lid off a scam that the anti-drug czar knew nothing about. His press statement, titled “NDLEA alerts public on new scam”, ran thus: “The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, wishes to alert members of the public, especially those who have loved ones abroad, to a new scheme by scammers who impersonate NDLEA officers and call unsuspecting citizens to inform them of the arrest of their relatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos or at any other international airports in Nigeria, with illicit drugs upon arrival in the country. After throwing the family members into panic, the scammers then make a demand of millions of Naira to facilitate the release of such persons from NDLEA custody. We have thwarted a number of such bids in the past when the family members called the Agency’s official contacts for help or clarification. At the moment, there is one of such scenarios the Agency has just investigated. In this case, the picture of a Nigerian man based in the US is being circulated with an audio of a purported NDLEA officer negotiating the payment of N5 million with a female relative for the release of the US-based Nigerian purportedly arrested at the Lagos airport on Friday, 22nd March upon his arrival with a ‘contraband’ Just like in previous instances, our investigation has also shown that the current incident is the work of scammers. No NDLEA officer is involved in the audio conversation and the person whose photo is attached to the audio recording being circulated is not in our custody at MMIA or at any of our commands either as at yesterday or any other day. The family members involved in this case are advised not to part with their hard-earned money to scammers. Nigerians with loved ones abroad are also urged to keep discussions on travel plans of their relatives to themselves to avoid the hijacking of such by criminal elements for devious schemes”.
Can you beat that? Studies have shown that criminals are usually one or two steps ahead of law enforcement. It is only in cases where the law is smart and efficient that it can quickly close the gap on criminals. Otherwise, criminals will have a field day and crime will fester. The yeoman’s job that Marwa and the NDLEA have done since my erstwhile principal mounted the saddle has been worthwhile and has, appropriately, received the commendation of all. The bashing they got over this scam, for no fault of theirs, is, therefore, unfortunate. Rather than discourage or deter them, it must, however, further energize them to forge ahead to rid the country of the scourge of hard drugs. I shudder to think what the country would have become by now if not for the wonderful job that Marwa and the NDLEA have done in the last few years. This is not the time for them to relent or rest on their oars!
Have you noticed the wind of progressive fever blowing through Africa? Pause awhile and take note of the inexorable propulsion of fate. Whether we like it or not, the only sure thing in this world is change. If you walk on the streets of Rome today, you may actually be locking steps with great personages of the ancient Roman empire, but of what value are they — or their expired powerful empire— now?
The Roman civilisation lasted about 1,000 years, from 753 BCE to 476 CE, with its impacts still apparent today. The Roman civilisation began as a monarchy influenced by the Hellenistic Empire.
My favourite quote in these matters belongs to Lord Tennyson:
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new,/And God fulfils Himself in many ways,/Lest one good custom should corrupt the world…”
Expired Empires
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous empire in history. At its height, it stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, and southward into parts of the Indian subcontinent. It conquered the Iranian Plateau; and expanded westward to the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains. Only the history books remind us today that there was once a Mongol Empire.
The Ottoman Empire, a.k.a. The Turkish Empire was an imperial realm that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.
The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II, which marked the Ottomans’ emergence as a major regional power. Now, it is a faint memory.
The British Empire 1(601 — 1997).was a large group of regions dependent on the British and under the control of the crown of Great Britain. At one point, the British Empire ruled over almost a quarter of the earth and its population. The British Empire’s last region controlled was Hong Kong until 1997, which was then returned to the Chinese authority. Today, the empire does not exist, but the Commonwealth is a group of states, including the United Kingdom, that still recognises the British monarch as a symbolic head of the organisation. The sun has eventually set on the British empire.
The Spanish Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it was the first empire to usher in the European Age of Discovery and achieve a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa, various islands in Asia and Oceania, as well as territory in other parts of Europe. It was one of the most powerful empires of the early modern period, becoming known as “the empire on which the sun never sets”. At its greatest extent in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Spanish Empire covered over 13 million square kilometres (5 million square miles), making it one of the largest empires in history. It has become history with time.
The Russian Empire, also known as Imperial Russia or simply Russia, was a vast realm that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its proclamation in November 1721 until its dissolution in March 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 square kilometres (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world’s landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British and Mongol empires; it also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. The empire’s 1897 census, the only one it conducted, found a population of 125.6 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity. Like other empires before it, the Russian Empire is dead.
Nearer home in Africa, we had the Mali Empire, Ethiopian Empire, Oyo Empire, Ghana Empire etc, all of which have joined the list of expired superpowers.
Beyond Ideology
And the cycle is fated to continue. When the Second World War ended in 1945, the world was made to believe that life’s contestations were between a God-fearing, democratic and capitalist west and a godless, autocratic and communist east. Now we know better. Domination is the name of the game. With the passage of time, China has embraced some capitalist practices while the US has adopted some welfarist measures to stem social discontent.
Could anyone have accurately predicted on September 2, 1945, when the Second World War officially ended, that China would, with the passage of time, produce successful billionaires? Confronted with cold reality, every nation is trying to introduce whatever measures that can achieve set goals, whether such measures are ideologically alluring or not.
Change is the name of the game. In South Africa, the political party in power, the African National Congress (ANC), while assured of the loyalty of the old guard, is unable to keep many of the younger elements within its fold. Julius Sello Malema who had served as the president of the ANC Youth League left the party to establish the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a party that is fast becoming a potent force in South African politics. Malema and his EFF members represent the younger generation. They are determined to remain loyal to the dream of a greater Africa. Indeed, Malema’s well publicised position on black-on-black violence in South Africa was so Nkrumahist that the world took notice that a new pan-African movement was born.
Malema may not have been born in the 70s when Nigerian students put their lives on the line for the liberation of southern Africa, but his sense of history and commitment to a new South Africa and a united Africa have made his influence incredibly pervasive throughout the continent. Young people see him as a role model and a partner for the tomorrow of their dreams.
The emerging movement for change in Africa is not based on narrow ideological definitions. It is rooted in a general subscription to the ideals espoused by Malema. The younger elements in Africa, whether they are in the military, the professions, or in the youth wings of political parties, are in a hurry to take their country back. That is why the world is confronted with the situation in Mali, Chad and Niger. The younger elements in the former French colonies would rather die than watch France continue looting their patrimony. The French bazaar is over.
The New Senegal
It is against that background that the recent election of 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye as President of Senegal must be understood. Inspired or possessed by Malemamania, the young people have resolved to fulfil their destiny as the landlords of tomorrow. Unlike their parents, they will not accept France’s brigandage. This is not the best of times for imperialists and their acolytes. France will do well to look for other sources of livelihood than open thievery. The Western powers who have always backed France’s continued enslavement of Africans are in for a surprise.
This wave of Malemamania is pan-African in its scope. The spirits of Nkrumah, Olympio, Lumumba, Mandela, and other heroes of Africa are stirring in the young people. The evils planted by Europe in Africa are being uprooted before our very eyes, one country at a time. The French empire is unravelling. Assata Shakur’s admonition has whipped up the consciousness of the continent’s youth:
“The guards say that the grass is unauthorized do not let the grass grow/You can spy on the grass. You can lock up the grass./You can mow it down, temporarily./But you will never keep it from growing.”
I see the clouds of malemamania gathering all over Black Africa. And I say no one can stop the rain!
Exactly 20 years ago, I had the privilege of delivering the 18th Convocation Lecture of the University of Maiduguri. The assigned topic was: ‘The place of Nigeria in the global village.’ Big pity, I was unable to point at the exact location of Nigeria in international politics because of my finding that the country’s political class was “behaving like a child born drunk.”
To many people in government at the time, it was almost a criminal offence for me to have couched such a ‘damning’ finding while in office as the Director General of the federal government owned public broadcaster- the Nigerian Television Authority NTA. Indeed, the lecture was transmitted LIVE by the NTA. Should such an official remain in office for speaking truth to power? Apart from the relevance of the relationship between drunkenness and Nigeria’s type of politics to today’s article, it no doubt makes ample sense to reserve details of the Maiduguri subject for my memoirs.
But then, the lecture has remained memorable to me for the simple reason that my finding has also remained impeccable. Nothing has changed or about to change the posture of the typical Nigerian politician who seeks
office for personal gains without passing through a credible process. For 16 years, the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party PDP ran the federal government using unwholesome electioneering campaigns, rancorous party primaries, grabbing votes in several polling centres where elections did not even hold and at the end corrupting service delivery while leaving society worse than before. By the time the PDP left office in 2015, everybody including many of its members were frustrated enough to warmly embrace the party’s defeat. Interestingly, almost everything the party did wrong from 1999 to 2015 has become worse since the coming-in of the successor All Progressives Congress APC. In fairness to the latter, many of its members came from the PDP making it easy for the sub- sisting political vices to be further compounded.
How best can the nation reduce the strangle-hold of the PDP/APC which were clearly two sides of the same coin? Whereas the PDP tried to pre tend that some of the things it did wrong were inadvertent, the APC was brazen. The latter went beyond picking up votes from locations where voting did not hold to scoring more votes than the number of voters available. It was
against this backdrop that some patriots looked forward to a neutral third force from wherever in 2023 to rescue the nation. The Labour Party LP was able to present the picture of a redeeming new team. But apart from its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, many of its members were virtually unknown just as it was unable to point to any visible structure anywhere. In place of structure, it had people, many young and frustrated. In the end, the party performed well in many locations and till today many of its adherents firmly believe it was simply rigged out by incumbents.
From its emergence in 2023 till today, intra-party squabbles have rendered the party impotent. If the operations of the Lamidi Apapa led faction which appeared sponsored threw the party off-balance, more worrisome was the unexpected posture of the few elected members of the party. Perhaps the public had mistakenly assumed that leaders of a workers’ party would lead by example and openly reject convoluted arrangements by opportunists to further exploit the public. That has not been so. LP legislators neither spoke against the anti-people policy of purchasing exceedingly expensive luxury vehicles for lawmakers/other elite groups nor did any of them even betray the inclination to at least pretend to reject the vehicles. The argument in certain circles that the hawks in the system would have just confiscated the vehicles of those reluctant to accept theirs is puerile because it is such sacrifices that underline the traits of men.
Of course in looking for- ward to egalitarianism from Labour leaders, people were not asking for too much be- cause everywhere, they are known for a number of qualities- empathy, pro-activity, altruism and people-oriented. It is therefore obvious that today’s office holders spon- sored by the LP have nothing to do with the philosophy of the party. In fact, many of them did not become flag- bearers by virtue of being workers or long time members of the party, instead they became flagbearers of the party by accident. It is thus quite possible that like most other politicians, many LP office holders were probably born drunk which seems to explain the prevalence of their delinquent and irrational behaviours. Just as the APC assimilated many PDP dissidents, many aspirants strolled into the LP from other groups in search of an alternative platform to qualify to contest elections.
In my part of Nigeria, our people say if a man is mad, his entire family ought not to also be mad at the same time, so there will be one family member who is sane enough to restrain his unstable relation from damaging the image of the family. Why have the few respected members of the LP particularly, their subsisting presidential candidate stayed aloof? The party probably got it right when it ignored the tantrums of the self-acclaimed factional leader, Lamidi Apapa that was struggling to pull down his own house during the election petition era. But does it also make sense to ignore the national treasurer of the party, Oluchi Oparah who at a press conference asked Julius Abure in his capacity as chairman to account for billions of naira raised from the sale of nomination forms etc. Is a call for accountability a crime? Bearing in mind that the person raising the allegation was the official custodian of party funds, can the public perception of the party remain positive without an official probe?
At other levels, it is quite difficult to see any official that is truly committed to the survival of the party. Only last week, 6 legislators of the Enugu State House of Assembly reportedly decamped from the party to the PDP without telling the nation the role they ever played as leaders to resolve the crisis they are supposedly escaping from. Knowing how materialistic Nigerian politicians are, it will not be irrational to imagine that the 6 legislators merely decamped to the ruling party of their state to maximize gains as ruling party legislators. Otherwise, is the crisis in the LP from which they are running greater than that of the PDP where many anti-party activities have become entrenched? How does one explain the involvement of the government of Abia State in the transparently indiscrete national convention of the LP in Nnewi? It is true that Governor Alex Otti was himself absent, but did his deputy and entire executive go there without his consent to guide the convention that even INEC saw to be fishy?
History has always made it easy to identify those who teleguide events. Many years ago a former governor of Edo State, announced at the eve of an election that some criminals were using his name to buy voter’s cards. In the twinkle of an eye, some vigilant police personnel arrested no less than 5 such buyers but they never arrested any seller. At Nnewi last week, the police reportedly arrested 5 persons who were distributing pamphlets at the venue of the contentious national convention. What was the content of the pamphlets and why was it the distributors that deserved arrest and not those who were too drunk to listen to persistent wise counsel from some of their leaders against the hurried national convention? It is in fact clear that only the drunk would organize a national convention whose delegates at the ward, local government and state delegates that were to vote at the convention had not been elected.
We hear the BOT of the LP has at last taken over the running of the party until everyone becomes sane. While wishing them luck, the point must be made that Nigerians have relied on political parties for too long. It is time to focus on outstanding individuals irrespective of their political parties. Put differently, we should from now on give our mandate to persons of integrity with a track record of excellent performance instead of looking up to persons rooted in transactional politics.
Two weeks ago, armed men invaded the Lagos home of Mr Segun Olatunji, editor of FirstNews, grabbed him, loaded him onto a vehicle and sped off. There was no warrant of arrest, as you would expect in a democracy, or a word to his family on what his offence was. There was no information on where he was being taken. The newspaper issued press release upon press release raising the alarm, but there was no response from any quarters: the military, the police, the DSS, or even Boys Brigade. Sadly, only sections of the mainstream media gave prominent coverage to this disturbing development — after all, Olatunji is only a journalist, not a politician or billionaire. The irony!
The military authorities played dumb for long. It took a dogged move by the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria, under the leadership of Mr Musikilu Mojeed, the editor-in-chief of Premium Times, to uncover the fact that Olatunji was seized by men of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). If Olatunji, reportedly asthmatic, had suffered a medical crisis on the way and died, his body could have been fed to alligators and we would be here asking “Where is Segun Olatunji?” until the world comes to an end. The military would never claim responsibility. In a country where kidnapping is two for one kobo, how can you pick up someone without disclosing who you are and what you want?
I hope criminals will not imitate this method and leave us guessing if it is the military authorities at it again. If journalists who have voice and institutions behind them can be treated like this, imagine what will happen to an average Joe. This dangerous development must be thoroughly investigated. Whoever is culpable must be brought to book. It is extremely dangerous for the security agencies to be picking up people in a Gestapo manner. This must not become the norm. If a journalist has committed an infraction, due process must be followed in terms of invitation, arrest and trial. Journalists are not above the law, but they should also not be treated without respect for the law.
Olatunji is lucky to be alive. He was lucky that the military finally admitted that he was in their custody and released him thereafter. When Nigeria was under military rule, the story might have been completely different. Mr Chinedu Offoaro, a reporter with The Guardian, disappeared one weekend in May 1996 and never returned. No dead body has been found till this day. I remember attending a prayer meeting organised by The Guardian seeking his safe return. Till today, we know nothing about his fate. We presume he is dead because that is the only sane thing to do under the circumstance. But how can you ever heal and come to closure when all you have is presumption?
In the heyday of His Royal Madness, Gen Sani Abacha, media houses were shut down or bombed with glee. I still tease my wife that she would never have agreed to marry me if we had met under military rule. Journalists and activists were routinely harassed, arrested, tortured or killed. Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of Bashorun MKO Abiola, was killed by Abacha’s goons in daylight. Her killers were reportedly asked to rape her first (they allegedly got a pittance of N50,000 for not following the order to the letter). Pa Alfred Rewane, a 79-year-old businessman, was assassinated on the suspicion that he was funding the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the leading pro-democracy group.
In 1995, Abacha said there was a coup plot against him, led by Col Lawan Gwadabe. Abacha rounded up dozens of suspects and set up the special investigation panel (SIP), led by Gen Patrick Aziza, for preliminary interrogations. TheNews magazine reported that the suspects had been exonerated by the panel. Thereafter, soldiers invaded the magazine’s office at Omole, Lagos, in search of Mr Bayo Onanuga (now presidential adviser) and Mr Dapo Olorunyomi (now publisher of Premium Times). They were not around. Mr Kunle Ajibade, the most senior editor around, instantly became unfortunate. He was arrested, charged with coup plotting and sentenced to life imprisonment.
I will never forget the tragic case of Bagauda Kaltho, a journalist at TheNews at the time of the phantom coup. He disappeared in 1996. We suspected that it might have to do with the cover story on the Aziza Panel as he was one of those who contributed to the report. Kaltho’s friends and family lived in suspense for years. The next thing we heard from Mr Zakari Biu, head of Abacha’s anti-terror squad, sometime in 1998 — two years after Kaltho had gone missing — was that Kaltho had died while trying to plant a bomb at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna. Kaltho was cast as an agent of NADECO who died from mishandling that bomb. All our follow-up questions went unanswered or ignored.
When the Durbar incident happened on January 18, 1996, the then Kaduna deputy commissioner of police, Alhaji Umaru Suleiman, had said the “bomber” was burnt beyond recognition. “Anyone who tells you that the body can be identified is lying,” he said emphatically. However, a picture of Kaltho’s corpse that was shown to us by Biu two years later was highly recognisable: no burns on his face. The late Mr. Young Arabamen, then police PRO, dismissed our questions with contempt: “There is no contradiction… Suleiman’s statement was on-the-spot assessment while what Biu told the country is a full-scale investigation which himself and his team carried out… you don’t wallow in speculation.”
Before Abacha, Nigerian journalists lived through the dictatorships of Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Gen Ibrahim Babangida. For instance, in 1984, The Guardian reported an exclusive story on ambassadorial postings. Mr Nduka Irabor and Mr Tunde Thompson, who authored the story, were arrested. While cooling their feet in detention, the Buhari government quickly enacted Decree No 4 (Protection of Public Officers Against False Accusations) and jailed them. Although Babangida abolished Decree No 4 when he came to power in 1985, no government closed down more media houses than his own “liberal” government — but Abacha surpassed him in attacks and killings.
The military era was when those who disagreed with government policies were classified as “radicals”. Dr Patrick Wilmot, a Jamaican academic who taught sociology at the ABU, Zaria, was deported for his political views. Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the legendary social crusader, was arrested and detained times without number. He was once arrested in Lagos at night, taken by road to Gashua (Yobe state), and detained in the nation’s oldest and hottest prison cell. By the way, Gashua by road was a 24-hour trip. Defenceless Nigerians were mowed down on the streets for protesting over harsh economic conditions. Maybe we need to be reminded of these military evils every now and then.
Whenever I hear some Nigerians canvass for a return to military rule, I pinch myself to be sure I am awake. Some people are eternally bitter over the 2023 presidential election and think the solution to their problem is a coup. “If I won’t have it, let no one else do!” The coup campaign was so loud that the military hierarchy had to deny plotting one. I would not have cared about the coup baiters if it was just the social media generation who were high on the initial smoke emanating from Niger Republic, but I became alarmed when my contemporaries and those far older than I am started entertaining the thought. God is so kind that he doesn’t allow us to retain memories of pain forever.
What I have recounted today, triggered by the unlawful arrest and detention of Olatunji, are the events pertaining mostly to the media under military rule. I can write a whole book on how activists were tortured, how protesters were massacred with evidence of dead bodies riddled with bullets, and how the general populace was subjected to perpetual fear, anxiety and humiliation by the jackboots. If we retain memories of pain, no right-thinking person will seek a return to military rule, not even as a joke. They are not in power and are still assaulting our rights so brutally. If they can do this under democracy, imagine what they will do if they are fully in charge and their word is law.
Someone said if the military were in power, we would have conquered Boko Haram, banditry and oil theft long ago. Not so fast. Mali has been under military rule since 2021 and Burkina Faso since 2022. Militants are still operating massively over there. Niger Republic recently lost dozens of soldiers. One of the many justifications for the coups in these countries was that the civilian governments could not contain insecurity, in addition to harsh economic conditions. But are their citizens safer, richer and freer today? More so, who is fighting insurgents and bandits in Nigeria? Is it not the military? What would they do differently if they were in power? Level up communities with nuclear bombs?
I often hear a barbaric statement made by many otherwise respected Nigerians that we need a “Jerry Rawlings” to come and kill all Nigerian leaders, past and present. In 1979, Rawlings, an air force officer, seized power in Ghana and executed eight military officers and three former heads of state for corruption. Some say, unabashedly, that this is what Nigeria needs to do to be able to fight corruption — as if the Nigerian coup leaders will be saints. You would be forced to think corruption has ended in Ghana or that Ghana has become Singapore because of the mass executions. This warped street logic has curtailed the ability of otherwise intelligent Nigerians to think rationally.
There is no doubt that our democracy has not delivered the desired dividends to the majority of Nigerians since the return to civil rule in 1999. We are still soaked in poverty and disease. We are struggling daily to get a few hours of power supply. We are clearly in the grip of insecurity, north and south. Public infrastructure is still in a dire state everywhere. Frauds and scams in government are getting bigger by the day. All these problems and challenges are enough to frustrate Nigerians. I myself am frustrated. But before 1999, the military ruled Nigeria for 29 out of 39 post-Independence years and the country was not exactly El Dorado, neither was the system free of corruption.
This is my message to the coup baiters: the military can never be the solution to our problems, no matter the fantasy in your heads. We have been ruled by them before. Countries currently being ruled by the military have not become better than Nigeria. Our first instinct should be to protect and promote our democracy. It has a self-cleansing mechanism which we must engage with in our quest for a better Nigeria. We should never seek a return to the era when our civil liberties were trampled upon, and when we had no right to seek redress. Our democracy, despite its failings and ailments, still gives us a voice. We don’t have to lose it before we value it. Thank God, Olatunji returned alive.
AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…
BACK TO SCHOOL
The 137 schoolchildren abducted in Kuriga, Kaduna state, were freed last week after 18 days in captivity. Governor Uba Sani, who had been under intense pressure since the abductions, can now breathe easy. The Uba Sani Foundation has promised the children scholarships up to university level and pledged to renovate their schools. There was controversy over the actual figure of those kidnapped — initial reports said 287 — and there are conspiracy theories here and there, as there were when the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted 10 years ago. My own interest is always to rejoice with the parents and guardians who were more than glad to be reunited with their wards. Cheers!
EXCLUSION ZONE
I was fascinated by the decision of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to shut down a KFC outlet at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for discriminating against a passenger on wheelchair. Mr Debola Daniel was denied entry by a member of KFC staff who told him blatantly that wheelchairs were not allowed. Daniel was disgracefully treated. I am glad this high-profile experience has mainstreamed the issue of inclusion. However, I don’t think shutting down the business is the right response, although Nigerians love knee-jerk sanctions. A fine and a demand for apology would be okay, followed by a compulsory training on inclusion to educate businesses. Civil.
FELICITATING FAYE
It always feels special whenever a young African ascends to power. I am happy for Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the president-elect of Senegal. He is just 44. This should offer African youths hope that they can end the era of gerontocrats on the continent. Also, Senegal has proved yet again that a well-organised African opposition can defeat the ruling party without whingeing. But when the euphoria dies down, Faye will have to face the task ahead: tackling poverty, disease and unemployment. It is not just about cutting ties with France — as some of his emergency supporters are goading him to do — but improving the quality of life of his people. This will require a bit more tact and thinking. Focus.
NO COMMENT
If I were Mr Peter Obi, the man who popularised the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, I would be borrowing from the Tinubu playbook by now. In 2006, Tinubu, then governor of Lagos state, got his associates to quietly register the Action Congress (AC) on sensing that his opponents had infiltrated the Alliance for Democracy (AD). AC later co-founded the All Progressives Congress (APC). The LP has entered into a prolonged crisis, culminating in an open war between its leadership and that of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which founded the party in 2002. When NLC’s foot soldiers picketed LP’s secretariat recently, they were accused of stealing staff salaries. Wonderful.
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Another round of bank recapitalisation is here and for the next two years between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2026, the nation’s 25 commercial and six merchant banks are expected to shore up their minimum share capital by as much as 100 per cent, in some categories. The CBN said all international banks should move their capital to a minimum of N500 billion; national banks up to a minimum of N200 billion; regional banks (N50 billion); merchant banks (N50 billion) and N20 billion for non-interest banks operating nationally and N10 billion for those operating regionally.
To achieve this, the banks will adopt one or a combination of these three options: inject fresh equity capital through private placement, rights issue and/or offer for subscription; mergers and acquisition and/or upgrade or downgrade of licence of authorisation (meaning downgrade from international bank to national or regional or reverse). I can bet that the last option would be the least popular.
This wave of recapitalisation is a bit different from that of Charles Soludo implemented between July 2004 and December 31, 2005 in which all the banks were forced to recapitalise to a minimum of N25 billion. It shrunk the industry from 89 to 24 banks. This time, the banks have different capital requirements, depending on their type of licence.
Other key differences between the two programs are: (i) Soludo’s came with a huge surprise as the operators had no inkling of the announcement before it was made, but Yemi Cardoso had in November given a hint of the review, thus preparing the banks for the Thursday announcement; (ii) Shareholders’ funds were included as part of the N25 billion share capital in 2004, but excluded in the current review, indicating that retained earnings will not be counted as part of their share capital this time (iii) Soludo gave a shorter timeframe of 18 months, unlike Cardoso’s 24-month deadline.
I was in the thick of the flurry of activities 20 years ago, going on roadshows across the country with colleagues to help raise money for the bank I was working for. It was fun and exciting. Eventually, the bank merged with four others to form a brand-new institution known as Sterling Bank. This time around, I would be watching the drama from outside, having retired 11 years ago. But I still take a lot of interest in the industry.
I am particularly gratified to see Nigerian-owned banks spreading across Africa, helping businesses and households meet their financial needs. When Prof. Soludo announced the 2004 recapitalisation programme, there were just a handful of subsidiaries of Nigerian-owned banks in other African countries, while only First Bank (London), Union Bank (London) and UBA (New York) had a presence outside the continent. The growth is emblematic of our preeminence in the continent. I believe in Nigeria and what our private-sector people can do.
There will be very few or no mergers and acquisitions this time because, as a CEO told me, ‘’we don’t have many candidates for that this time around’’. But watching from outside, I expect that Polaris, Union and Unity will receive a lot of overtures for mergers. The CBN has asked the banks to file their implementation plan, clearly indicating the preferred options for meeting the new capital requirements and the various activities and their timelines before the end of April.
Among the top five, Access Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank, appears the most prepared for this recapitalization, in spite of the recent devastating death of its CEO, Herbert Wigwe. Last Thursday – the day the CBN announced the new capital review – Access Holdings unveiled plans to raise $1.5 billion through the issuance of various financial instruments such as ordinary shares, preference shares and others. It will also raise N365 billion through the Rights Issue of Ordinary shares, the proceeds of which would combine with its existing N250 billion paid-up capital, to exceed the new regulatory limit.
Access Holdings’ shareholders will meet in Lagos on Friday, April 19 to consider and approve these plans. In addition, they would also be asked to formally approve the appointment of Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who was named chairman of the Board two weeks ago, as its non-executive director. Other lenders would be equally busy, Zenith most of all. While others would be engrossed in capital raising only, Zenith will combine that with transiting into a holding company structure – a task other comparator banks had completed over two years ago.
It is going to be a herculean task juggling the two. The other three Tier One banks (GT, UBA and First Bank) are yet to announce their recapitalisation plans and date for annual general meetings, but it is clear from their current position that they too would be going for upwards of N250 billion each in additional capital. The capital market and institutional investors would be quite busy, but with inflation at over 30 percent and disposal income severely depressed, ordinary Nigerians would be shut out completely.
Leaning on its 2004 experience, the CBN expects that a highly capitalized banking industry should be in a position to not only withstand the prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds but also to enhance its resilience, solvency and ‘’capacity to continue to support the growth of the Nigerian economy’’.
As Lead Speaker at the Ohaneze Ndigbo Retreat which ended a few days ago in Enugu, I saw the gathering as part of the cocktail of measures being put in place by the current leadership of Ohaneze to ensure greater group cohesion and more strategic engagement, going forward. As Ndigbo would say, the mother hen that does not bring its chicks together from time to time to educate them about their environment, to warn them about the dangers in that environment and also to explain to them how to successfully navigate the environment, has laid a solid foundation for their eventual decimation by hawks and other predators. Ndigbo say that it is by coming together to review existential issues that a family can periodically re-ignite and strategically address its interests in a lasting and sustainable way.
I had the option of giving the theme of the retreat, “Ako Bu Ije” a purely academic treatment. I could have delved into the foundations of this deep philosophical concept, its meanings, its implications for social morality and cohesion, and how this could be used to carry out a review of the Igbo worldview as a whole. But the clear and present existential dangers facing Ndigbo as a people ruled out that option. It was better to use the occasion to trace the possible root causes of these dangers and propose viable remedial actions; weaving same around the concept of Ako Bu Ije; as the essential philosophical, and even spiritual, underpinning of a way forward.
It is a matter of record that some of the problems of Ndigbo today are self-inflicted. It is also a matter of record that many of these problems have been externalized in such a way that others are being blamed for them. The factors undermining Igbo collective political and even spiritual well-being revolve around a mercilessly conspiratorial (and not objectively competitive) political environment that the people do not seem to fully understand.
I touched on the significance of the kolanut, on the essence of the ritual of the breaking of the kolanut and on why the kolanut is a symbol of communion and not a snack in Igboland. The full spiritual meanings, and implications, of the statement “He who brings kolanut brings life” was explained. The ceremonial consecration of the kolanut by Ndigbo was represented as no empty social gesture, but as a very important step of first calling on the forces of nature for protection and guidance in support of all that is good.
The bringing of the kolanut is, first and foremost, an opportunity for prayers for life more abundant. Since prayers bring blessings and is meant to strengthen life, whoever brings and offers the kolanut has brought an opportunity for life to be enhanced through prayers; hence the call at the beginning: “He Who lives Above, the Giver of life, protect us”.
The kolanut ceremonies also emphasize the interdependence in the community of all living things. That is why it is said: “May the river not dry up and may the fish not lack water to swim in”. The river looks more beautiful because of the fish, while the life of the fish depends on the steady flow of the river. Ndigbo also pray this before and after eating the kolanut: “Elders shall live and the young shall live. Our harvest shall be rich and none shall pray for the misfortune of another, lest his farm be the only patch of earth without rain’, etc.
From the foregoing, a proper understanding of who the Igbo man really is, is central to any attempts at finding a lasting solution to any, or all, of his problems. The average Igbo man likes to be consulted, noticed or at least taken into account as part of what is going on around him. He does not like to be hurried to a decision, or asked to simply comply with what has been decided upon. He would rather be involved in events he can influence to some extent. He likes to air his opinions and be acknowledged as a person, a contributor, or facilitator. He loves fair competition and visible, effective and sometimes dramatic performance.
Many proverbs bring out these points about the Igbo essence. He will proudly declare: “Onye aju na-ebu anaghi aza ide ji uno” (A person who is unsteady on his feet, drowsy, or staggering, is never given the title of “The pillar that holds the edifice). Ndigbo will also tell you: “Onye nmanya na egbu anaghii aza akwaa akwuru”. (A drunken person is never hailed as the unshaken, and unshakable, one)”. No family or kindred sends out its mad offspring to represent it in the village square as “Onu na-ekwuru oha” (Voice of the people).
These proverbs point to core values that make a clear distinction between the appropriate and the inappropriate, between the absurd and the norm, and between the sublime and the ridiculous. It was with this last observation in mind that the discussion dovetailed into the notion of Ako Bu Ije.
The deeper “sense” of Ako bu ije literally means “Wisdom and deep insight into the core values of life gives you the true path to anything lasting in the journey of life”. We can describe “ako” as “having deep inner promptings”, or knowing how to navigate life in a sustainable way and without undermining yourself or harming others in the long run. The Igbo saying “Agbusi gbaa otele, ya amuru ako’ (when the buttock is stung by an ant, it learns the wisdom of paying close attention before choosing where to sit) bears this out.
“Ije”, on the other hand, literally means to walk. But its deeper meaning refers to the journey of life, or the way to go in what you are doing and maintain an edifying and sustainable trajectory.
From the foregoing, therefore, we said, for the purpose of the retreat, that ako bu ije simply means: Life is best guided by wisdom, insight, discretion and a deep sense of propriety. The question that arose therefrom was this: In what ways can ako bu ije now become the rousing bell for a gathering of wits in the form of an Igbo renaissance? The answer is simple. It means that deep thinking, patient understanding of the operating environment, commitment to lasting values, or strategic engagement and evidence-based decisions and alliances, offer the best foundation for lasting success in every sense of the word.
The dummy out there, that the Igbo society is always essentially atomistic, and in a way that makes it largely ungovernable, does not have a leg to stand on at all. This questionable thesis is sometimes justified by referring to the misunderstood saying: “Igbo enwe eze”. (Igbos know/have no kings). This assertion simply means that Ndigbo do not confer on any single feudal authority an unquestioned, and unquestionable, right to decree and overrule all and sundry. When the Igbo man says: “Agbara nyekaria nsogbu ezi ya osisi esi nweta ya” (literally “when the oracle, or your talisman, becomes so powerful as to even try to terrorize its owner, then it is time to take it outside and show it the tree from which it was carved”).
Ndigbo are simply saying that the collective right of the people should be invoked to remind anyone with tyrannical aspirations that a hero is always a people’s hero. That is also why Ndigbo say that “A masquerade that flogs its drummers and followers ceases to dance, because it walks alone”.
From the foregoing, it should be clear that the Igbo concept of power and authority rests more on respect for the laws of the land, than on personal whims. The true Igbo concept of success is always linked with respect for Omenala. The people, and the laws of the land, always determine the difference between right and wrong. That is also why Ndigbo say: “Asokalie eze anya ekpuchie nkata na iru wee gwalua ya okwu aru”.
The idea of covering the face with a basket is often assumed to be out of fear for the life of the person who decides to speak out before the king. But it is not! No one has the right to walk up to the community leader and insult him, for any reason. It is just not done, no matter how wealthy you are. To dare such, you must either be part of a select group sent to admonish the leader, or you are stepping forward as the messenger of the community – sent by the community.
Once you are sent in this way, you no longer represent yourself; just as a man is presumed to have transcended to the spirit world once he is dressed up as a masquerade. The covering of the face upholds the dignity of the office of Eze and affirms that no one may insult the office in his capacity as a mere mortal. But this mysterious being from the beyond, speaking for the gods and men (but using the voice of a man) may do so to any unworthy occupant of an office.
The major trade mark of the traditional Igbo charlatan is that nothing he does can ever lead to sustainable development, or a healthy communal, religious or Family life. He is dangerous to social morality and the economic life of the people; because of his ‘Okpata otitaa’ approach to life. It is such charlatans who parrot the proverbs like: “Ewu na eso onye bu igu” (The goat runs after whoever has palm fronds – read ‘green leaves ‘)
This statement is true, but it applies only to goats and any other nonvolitional living thing that behaves like a goat. Such sayings were originally meant to warn people against thoughtless materialism and immorality as a philosophy of life. But today it is freely used to justify irresponsibility, unfaithfulness and every form of debauchery.
How can it be true that only the person who offers immediate material satisfaction deserves loyalty? In Igboland, where the cardinal communal philosophy says: “A human being is no goat’’ The fact that this proverb and others like it have become the most popular in Igboland in recent times shows that we Ndigbo are facing greater existential threat at the philosophical level of distortion of pristine concepts than at the purely material.
The road from this culture of leadership charlatanry lies in progressively creating and nurturing new values. If all the avenues and platforms for opinion molding machines are deployed in the right way, there should eventually arise the needed critical mass of Ndigbo who will one day say: “Thus far and no further”.
Ako Bu Ije can only hold true where reciprocity is nurtured alongside the need for self preservation.
The naira is progressively rebounding against the dollar and petrol prices have remained largely stable, but inflation keeps rising almost unstoppably. Something isn’t adding up. If the initial drivers of inflation have been relatively tamed, why isn’t this reflected in the prices of consumer goods?
The answer appears to be embedded in a new term I’ve learned: "greedflation." It’s a neologism made by combining "greed" and "inflation" to describe a situation where inflation is driven not just by the usual economic factors like supply and demand imbalances, cost-push factors, or monetary policy, but by corporate greed and the naked exploitation of consumers by conscienceless marketers.
Of course, it needs to be acknowledged from the outset that the ongoing, totally avoidable, unprecedented inflationary pressures on the Nigerian economy were activated by the thoughtless, insensitive, neoliberal, IMF-inspired economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There’s no way to sugarcoat it.
When you unleash a double whammy of petrol subsidy removal and a boneheaded depreciation of the naira (deceptively called “floating,” which is actually “sinking”) in a rudimentary, import-dependent economy like Nigeria’s, you inevitably open the floodgates to soul-crushing hyperinflation—such as Nigeria is going through now.
Fortunately, Tinubu seems to be seeing the light now. He has so far bucked pressures from the IMF to allow petrol prices to climb to over 1,000 naira per liter.
The government had denied Daily Trust’s September 2023 report that it had resumed paying subsidies through the backdoor to keep the current pump price of petrol. Five months later, the IMF confirmed the report.
The IMF regretted that Tinubu had “capped retail fuel and electricity prices” in order to “ease the impact of rapidly rising inflation on living conditions, thus partially reversing the fuel subsidy removal.” The IMF doesn’t want the government to “ease the impact of rapidly rising inflation,” so it “advised the administration of President Tinubu to completely stop the payment of subsidies on petrol to free funds to run the government,” according to Daily Trust of February 14.
“Running the government” is more important to the IMF than the wellbeing of the people. People can drop dead on the streets as a consequence of starvation that subsidy removal instigates. The IMF doesn’t care. In fact, that is what it wants.
Well, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Energy, Mrs. Olu Veŕheijen, has called the bluff of the IMF— at least for now. On March 8, in defense of partial subsidies to stop petrol prices from increasing further, she said “the government has the prerogative to maintain price stability to address social unrest. They reserve the right to intervene.
“If the government feels that it cannot continue to allow prices to fluctuate due to high inflation and exchange rates, the government reserves the right to intervene intermittently…”
The naira is also being rescued with subsidies after it drowned in the shark-infested waters of the global currency market in the aftermath of its “floating”— at the prompting of the IMF, of course. Is Tinubu finally growing some testicular fortitude against the racist, callous, anti-people bullies at the IMF? It’s too early to tell.
Well, why are the effects of the thawing of the neoliberal nonsense that Tinubu started with not showing in the prices of goods? It’s partly down to the unrestrained avarice of sellers. This phenomenon is happening even here in the United States, although it seems to be less vicious than what I am sensing in Nigeria.
The traditional term to describe the act of taking advantage of consumers by arbitrarily jacking up prices is “price gouging.”
The idea behind this concept is that companies, retailers, and street sellers (in the case of developing economies like Nigeria) take advantage of certain conditions (such as supply chain disruptions, increased demand, economic recovery phases, natural disasters, etc.) to raise prices beyond what would be justified by cost increases alone, thereby increasing their profit margins at the expense of consumers.
Nigerians experienced this phenomenon in its rawest, crudest, most rapacious form in May 2023 when petrol marketers jacked up the pump price of petrol from less than 200 naira per liter to more than 500 naira per liter—on old stock that was subsidized by taxpayers’ money—shortly after President Tinubu announced that petrol subsidies were gone for good.
Greedflation is most observable, according to experts, in industries with a few dominant players or where there is a lack of competition, such as in the building sector in Nigeria. Interestingly, the government has been able to successfully persuade cement manufacturers to bring down the prices of cement, so this fact isn’t applicable across the board.
In the informal economy, prices of goods and services remain unusually high even when the factors that propelled them in the first place are easing. So, while the government is still to blame for the current inflation, the primitive acquisitive impulses of marketeers and profiteers help to make this worse.
As I pointed out before, this isn’t exclusive to Nigeria. Here in the United States, we’re also contending with greedflation and even what has been called “shrinkflation.” Shrinkflation occurs when companies, instead of increasing the prices of goods, shrink the quantities they put in the packages of the goods, which forces consumers to buy more.
So, there is a shrinkage in quantity, but not in price, and companies that do this hope you won’t notice. In a February 11 video, President Joe Biden called shrinkflation a “rip-off” and urged companies to put a stop to it.
For example, the price of a bag of okra (as Oyinbo people call okro) at Walmart, which I regularly buy for my “swallow,” hasn’t changed, but the quantity has. Two bags used to be enough for a week’s worth of soup. Now I need four.
American consumers are fighting greedflation and shrinkflation by cutting back on spending, finding cheaper alternatives to products they habitually used, and ditching name brands for generic and cheaper brands.
This has translated to drastic declines in sales for many companies, which is forcing them to reduce the prices of their products to attract more sales.
I don’t know if Nigerian consumers have the alternatives that Americans have to cause sales declines in the products of greedy marketers, which might then force them to bring down their prices. Maybe not.
And that’s why governments in Nigeria have to be extra careful to not implement policies that can trigger inflation because prices of goods in Nigeria are like our ages: when they go up, they never come down.
Of course, there are exceptions. But, for the most part, petrol and commodity price hikes in Nigeria are often permanent. That's how you know that "deregulation," "liberalization," "market forces," etc. that Nigerian political elites influenced by right-wing economics like to spout are all scams. Any economy where prices go up and never come down for any reason is a giant swindle.
The Tinubu government that instigated this preventable downturn in the economy by playing the IMF playbook has a responsibility to help tame the monster of greedflation that’s devouring our people.
Strengthening the capacity of regulatory bodies to monitor and penalize price manipulation and collusion among businesses can help control unjustified price increases. Educating consumers about their rights and how to report unfair pricing practices can empower them to fight against greedflation—in addition to ditching exploitative marketers where they can.
The government can also borrow a leaf from governments in the West, which use tax policies to incentivize businesses to maintain reasonable price levels, especially for essential goods and services.
Fighting greedflation requires the commitment of both the government and conscientious elements in the private sector, along with the active participation of civil society, to create a more stable, fair, and competitive economic environment.
“Corruption in the Senate of Rome was a prevalent issue throughout the history of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Senators would often accept bribes from wealthy individuals, foreign ambassadors, or even other senators to influence their decision-making. Senators would use their influence to secure positions of power or prestigious appointments for their family members, regardless of qualifications or merit”.
“Moreover, the Senate was also known for its lavish lifestyles and extravagant spending. Senators often embezzled public funds for personal gain, enriching themselves at the expense of the Roman people”. The widespread bribery, nepotism, political manipulation, and financial misconduct undermined the integrity and effectiveness of the Senate as a governing body. These corrupt practices played a role in the decline and eventual fall of the Roman Empire”.
The behavioural pattern sketched above was typical of the Senate of Rome over two thousand years ago. Yet were I not to reveal this information, it can be mistakenly assumed that it is all about the primitive behaviour of the 10th Senate of Nigeria. In the wake of the 2023 general elections, we have witnessed the iconic personification of corruption by the three organs of government, especially the Judiciary and the National Assembly. I have always argued that it is impossible to have a corrupt executive without a corrupt Parliament and a corrupt Judiciary and vice-versa. It is a systemic crisis in which they are all implicated.
Thanks to the principle of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances. Notionally and in the anticipation of any of them going rogue, the three organs are separate and intended to serve as checks against any tendentious deviant behaviour of one another. A dysfunctional society ensues where all of them have gone rogue and a vicious cycle of degenerate behaviour rules the nest. A corrupt Executive cannot call a corrupt Judiciary to order. Neither can a corrupt Judiciary call a corrupt Parliament to order.
This is the interpretation of the persistently high ranking of Nigeria on the ladder of worldwide corruption by the Transparency International, TI. The peculiar dimension of corruption in Nigeria today is that it is not the revenue generated by Nigeria that is being plundered, it is the money borrowed internally and from the international community.
The Nigerian debt abyss is summed up in the excerpts that follows. “The ICIR shows that as of June 30 2023, Nigeria owes the World Bank $14.5 billion, according to data from the Debt Management Office. Nigeria’s debt to China increased from $3.93bn as of June 30, 2022, to $4.73bn as of June 30, 2023, showing an increase of $800m in one year. Nigeria’s total public debt reached N87. 91 trillion by the end of the third quarter of 2023”.
This then begs the question, what is the opinion of the lending agencies and countries to Nigeria, (World Bank, IMF, China) on the routine evidence of the way and manner Nigerian public officials spend the money we borrow from them?
Does it not amount to double jeopardy to the low income earners who fare far worse under the ‘IMF’ regime and bear no responsibility for bringing Nigeria to this sorry pass? Worst of all is the regular advertisement of the self-enriching criminal abuse of the loans in the public glare.
Since the pipers dictate the tune, why have these pipers (loaners) fail to exercise their right of first refusal and insist that their money should (for instance) not be used to buy exorbitant state of the art SUVS for the pleasure of four hundred and sixty Nigerians? How does the claim by the IMF that it “works with governments to ensure responsible spending” square up with this kind of spending? Do they not know that the reasons their prescriptions do not work is attributable to the nugatory effect of rampant public sector corruption and impunity. If they know then what are they doing about it?
How does building a fifteen million dollars Vice Presidential Lodge rise to the bar of IMF “responsible spending”. Where is the responsible spending in funding the opulence and conspicuous consumption of a few in a situation in which Nigeria is rated the poverty capital of the World?. After the damage has been done, they will then turn around to blame the country for what was foreseeable right from the beginning.
It is a behaviour that hacks back to colonialism. The colonial powers would couple together a disparate group of nationalities to form a country, in the full knowledge that the potential to fail far exceeds the probability of success. After the ‘country’ has duly fulfilled the potential to fall, they will then assume the posture of condescending detachment as if they were not the authors of the failure in the first place. As Anthony Kirk Green remorsefully noted “the tragedy of 1967 is that many of its seeds were not, as is often claimed, sown in October or even July 1966, but in the 1950s or, as some see it, in 1914 or maybe in 1900 itself.”
In its 2022 tracking report, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, published its investigations into how the Constituency projects budget item of the Nigerian national assembly are utilised. It reads like a compendium of the escapades of a 419 syndicate. Owing to space constraints, I can only scratch the top of the iceberg.
‘Records have it that at least N2 trillion has been spent on constituency projects from 2003 to date, even as Sunday Vanguard gathered that N95 billion and N100 billion had been allocated to the projects every year and shared among the 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives’
“In addition to the N100 billion appropriated annually for constituency projects, the National Assembly embedded additional projects into mandate budgets of MDAs. This is done to increase the project portfolios of concerned legislators and their influence on MDAs. The value of the insertion was in billions. Meanwhile, many of the awarded constituency projects across Nigeria have not started, been abandoned or named but are not in existence”.
In all of this contemporary perversion, the most unique individual is the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. One of the most negatively predictable public official in Nigeria, his public career has been a study in the utility of public corruption for upward mobility in the ladder of political leadership in Nigeria.
A few years back, of all the potential choices former President Muhammadu Buhari could make as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, it was Akpabio he headhunted for the position-with predictable consequences. ‘Barely a month after his appointment, Akpabio clashed with the acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh. Ms Nunieh, who was subsequently relieved of her position, accused Akpabio of graft and sexual harassment. Five months after he exited office in 2015, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the EFCC, arrested Akpabio over an alleged theft of N108bn ($227m) belonging to Akwa Ibom State’.
Given the conspicuous stench that was bound to emanate from his election to the office of Senate President, I offered the unsolicited counsel that it was non-strategic of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sponsor Akpabio for the position. It turned out I was shooting blind concerning the ulterior motive behind his adoption as Senate President.
I have been subsequently schooled that “the charges from seven years ago could now become a tool in the hands of the executive branch. Some political analysts, including Olanrewaju Suraju, chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, suggest that the executive could use these graft charges to push through policies, effectively compromising the legislative process”.
In the account of institutional perversion in Nigeria, the story of how Akpabio turned and twisted his way to the Senate is in a class all by itself. In what must go down in history as a lowliest turn of the Supreme Court, he suborned the highest Court in the land to sanction the proposition that it was all well and good to run for the Presidency and Senate at one and the same time. That having lost the pursuit of the former, you are simultaneously entitled to go after the other.
In diabolical humour, former Governor of Imo state Rochas Okorocha who equally contested for the Presidency, wondered aloud “I was there in the field with you running for President, I never knew how you were able to meander, leaving some of us. Next time you must teach me how to do that.”. The combination of Akpabio and the Nigerian Senate has proven to be a marriage made in heaven. No deed is too profane nor outrageous for the Senate to contemplate. In anticipation of the debt Nigeria is about to incur, their first order of duty was to self-allocate seventy billion naira on the purchase of choice SUVs to “support their working conditions”.
Senator Abdul Ningi is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a reform minded public official. His outing was one of those instances in which thieves could find no honour among themselves. Regardless of the motive, the more of such resultant whistle blow, the better for the Nigerian public. He alleged “For the first time in Nigerian history, today we are operating two different budgets. One budget was approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu, and the one was implemented by the presidency. The one approved by us is N25tn while the one operated by the Federal Government is N28tn.”
There are a few loose ends here. First is that Senator Abdul Ningi cannot just wake up one morning and cook this up, no matter the motives. If he did, then he is a good candidate for Aro mental hospital in Abeokuta. Neither does this corruption prone Senate deserve to be given the benefit of doubt. Where the honesty and probity of these lawmakers are concerned, you bet on them at your utmost peril. Certainly, not when, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (at the same session) gave us a heads up. “if we want to go into those issues, all of us are culpable. Some senators here, so-called senior senators, got N500 million each. I am a ranking senator, I didn’t get?”
If terror keeps escalating in Nigeria, it is simply following the logic that corruption and terrorism coexist in a mutually reinforcing relationship. Speaking directly to the Nigerian dilemma, Sarah Chayes argues ‘Governments that ostensibly fight terror, may actually generate more dire security crises than they curb as a result of corrupt governance practices’.