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Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, aka KWAM 1, has been the official ‘palace entertainer’ for almost a decade. Evidently through the instrumentality of then All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his ‘Nigeria, Sai Baba, Sai Buhari’ song that preceded the 2015 general election was a campaign anthem that also elicited an uncommon dance step from the man who would go on to defeat an incumbent president. Early in 2021, when it became obvious that APC bigwigs were plotting to edge Tinubu out of the race for the party’s presidential ticket, it was KWAM 1 who released a song of defiance, ‘On your mandate we shall stand, Bola…’ which has turned out to be prophetic. So, when the avid supporter begins to sound like a ‘wailing wailer’, there is fire on the mountain.
In a video posted on his Instagram page titled ‘A Special Message to Mr President,’ last weekend, KWAM 1 lamented the suffering Nigerians have had to endure since Tinubu assumed office. “Akanbi (Tinubu), my boss, please don’t turn a deaf ear to people’s outcry,” KWAM 1 sang in a mournful tone that speaks to the economic and security challenges in the country today. “Nigerians are angry. The Naira is becoming worthless. People are weeping and without electricity. How did we get to the point where Nigerians are now being kidnapped every day?”
The two sectors most critical to the survival of any nation (and their people) are economy and security. Nigeria is currently challenged on both. The security situation is so bad that kidnappers now enter palaces to kill traditional rulers and take away their wives while innocent school children have become game for these dare-devil criminals who operate across the country, including on street corners and major highways. The situation is worse on the economic front. Prices of even basic foodstuffs are now beyond the reach of most Nigerians. And things can only get worse, given rising inflationary pressure. Last November, the exchange rate for cargo clearance by the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) was raised from N757/$ to N783/$, representing a 3.4 per cent increase. By December, it was raised from N783/$ to N952/$. That was a 22 percent increase within a period of just 30 days. By last weekend, the rate had been further jacked up from N952/$ to N1356/$! That represents a 43 percent increment within another month!
In his column, ‘Urgent Need to Halt Soaring Food Prices’ last Sunday, Waziri Adio painted a dreary picture of the current situation. He urged action lest we have a crisis on our hands. “In a country where 26.5 million people are officially classified as food insecure, where citizens spend 59% of their incomes on food and where 104 million people are classified as income poor, nothing can be more existential and more dangerous than sky-high food prices,” Waziri wrote. “The negative impacts on social stability, economic growth, human development and national security are simply too grave for the government not to swing into crisis mode.” And just yesterday, the gravity of our situation was brought home by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Temitope Fadeshemi. “The level of poverty in Nigeria is alarming. An estimated population of 88.4 million people in Nigeria is living in extreme poverty,” he said in Kaduna. “Overall, 12.9 per cent of the global population in extreme poverty was found in Nigeria as of 2022.”
Yes, it is difficult to fault the explanation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso on the forex situation. Especially given the abuse to which a regime of multiple exchange rates had been subjected by the last administration. Nor can we argue against the removal of subsidy in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry that has further pauperised Nigerians. But the cavalier way these decisions were taken without considering the consequences is what has led us to where we are now. The dire situation in the power sector was on Monday aptly captured, ironically by Tinubu’s own newspaper, The Nation: “Zero Megawatt to Discos cripples homes, businesses.” To worsen matters, public officials continue to live in opulence and recklessly spend scarce resources, including to purchase exotic vehicles for themselves at outrageous prices.
Following his return from a ‘private’ visit to France on Monday, the president would have seen media highlights and must have listened to the full rendition of KWAM 1’s ‘special message’. Considering that the president also started badly in Lagos before he turned things around, I want to share the optimism with which KWAM 1 ended his dirge. That is why I am recommending that the president again watch Saworoide, the 1999 Mainframe (Tunde Kelani) movie that was sponsored by the Tinubu Inauguration Committee for his swearing-in as Lagos State Governor 25 years ago.
The movie was weaved around Saworoide, a brass bell talking drum. Written by the late Professor Akinwunmi Isola, a world acclaimed authority on Yoruba tradition and culture, Saworoide is the story of a fictional community called Jogbo which, like Nigeria, has enough to meet the needs of people in terms of resources but not enough to satisfy the greed of a few powerful individuals. Principal actors include the late Isola himself, Adebayo Faleti (also now of blessed memory), Kola Oyewo, Bukky Wright, Lere Paimo, Kunle Bantefa, Kunle Afolayan, Peter Fatomilola, Ayantunji Amoo, Kabirat Kafidipe, and the late Larinde Akinleye.
In ancient Jogbo, the king and his subjects had a binding social contract that engendered prosperity for all but with dire consequences for deviants. “For the fictional Yoruba land of Jogbo, a ritual with the Saworoide had been established for rulers about to ascend the throne. Lapite (Oyewo) who becomes the King early in the story rejects the ritual as he intends to use his new position to enrich himself and escape accountability,” a Mr Tishe wrote on the enduring lessons of the movie depicted through metaphors and allegories with a powerful message on good leadership. “Although fictional, the events in the land of Jogbo call for reflection and action on the part of leaders and citizens for positive change.”
For 16 years (since he left office as Governor), Tinubu had been plotting to be president of Nigeria. So, now that he has realized what he publicly admitted as a ‘lifelong ambition’, he cannot be described as an accidental leader. Therefore, in moments of introspection, Tinubu must ask himself whether his presidency is simply about the trappings of power or whether he is interested in leaving a worthy legacy for posterity. It would be a shame if it were all about the former. Meanwhile, I understand that the Tinubu administration is undertaking important and necessary reforms which hopefully will yield gains in the future. But you don’t preach sermons to hungry people. Immediate measures are required to relieve the pains of Nigerians. And there is also an urgent need to tell Nigerians what his medium to long term economic and security plans are beyond this ‘kick-and-follow’ approach that is not helped by mixed messages from some of his palpably incompetent ministers.
Here is the point. The ‘Emilokan’ philosophy, which is about entitlement, may have helped Tinubu wrest the presidential ticket of APC—which to be fair is no more than a party carefully constructed by him as a special purpose vehicle to power—from conspirators. But such disposition is of no use to him in presiding over the affairs of Nigeria. When leaders place more importance on what they believe they are entitled to rather than what they offer society, they are setting themselves up for big time failure. The only thing that can untangle the multitude of problems we face in the country today is for Tinubu to humble himself and admit that Nigeria has given him so much and use his stewardship to pay back.
That explains why I recommend that the president should go back to watch Saworoide and the sequel, ‘Agogo Eewo’ (the gong of taboo). In a 2020 review, ‘Saworoide, An Allegory of Present Day Nigeria’, Tobi Oduselu concluded his treatise on a sombre note. “While this cinematic masterpiece shows a semblance to Nigeria’s current realities, it also serves as a predictive imagination of how the future will turn out if the current mishandling of our resources persists,” Oduselu wrote. “It is not enough to promise change; it is imperative to deliver on those promises and take care of the people.”
As the Yoruba would say, a half-hint (this time, of impending doom) is sufficient for any ‘Omoluabi’ to get the full message!
Lagos Traffic and the Water Option
Inside the Control Room of the Monitoring and Data Management Centre of the Lagos Waterways Authority (LASWA) at the sprawling Falomo Jetty last Friday afternoon, I watched activities in real time on the entire stretch of the Lagos lagoon, from Ikorodu to Badagry. The General Manager, Damilola Emmanuel, was on hand to take me through what I was seeing live on the big screens. But what was I doing at the Falomo Jetty?
In Lagos last weekend for a burial ceremony, I visited Bode Makanjuola, CEO of Caverton Offshore Support Group, who also oversees Caverton Marine, a critical subsidiary. He offered to take me on a boat ride from their Jetty in Ozumba Mbadiwe through the lagoon to showcase their latest venture. The diversification into boat building, according to Bode, began with the construction of a 40-passenger Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) ferry. And the ferry on which we rode was constructed right in Nigeria, specifically at their Badore, Lagos Jetty. It features 20 USB charging points, radio channels and a space left for television. Although not yet operational, I found the ferry service more luxurious than the ones I experienced in Zanzibar a decade ago and Sierra Leone last year. “Now, we have ten of such ferry each of which, as you can see, is built for the luxury of passengers and very safe,” Bode assured me.
To beat the Victoria Island traffic after the visit (and boat ride), I asked to be dropped at the Falomo Jetty (to access Ikoyi) and then I had the chance encounter with the LASWA boss, Damilola. Surprisingly, the lounge at the jetty is better than what you find in some airports in the country. Established in 2008 by the government of Babatunde Fashola, the agency can serve as a catalyst for decongesting Lagos roads. But it needs to encourage private capital which Caverton Marine and other players are tapping into.
Bode has bold ambitions. “In addition to passenger ferries, we are also actively building security and cargo boats. We have plans to expand our fleet to include fishing and leisure boats, ensuring that we meet diverse industry demands and contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s maritime sector,” Bode told me before we parted at Falomo last Friday. “In line with international marine vessel classification agency guidelines, our boats are designed and built with precision, utilizing cutting-edge technology and with the expertise of our dedicated team, we intend to exceed the most stringent industry standards.”
From what I saw last Friday, water transportation can be a viable option for those who want to avoid the impossible Lagos Road traffic. But it will require considerable investment, especially from the private sector in partnership with the Lagos State government. Bode Makanjuola is already positioning himself with an investment that is already in millions of dollars. Under the prevailing business environment in Nigeria, such daring comes with enormous risk. And enormous reward!
The Yoruba set a huge store by character, which they insist is more precious than rubies and gold. “E hu iwa Omoluwabi'' is a refrain that so unambiguously states what the Yoruba expect from every true-born son or daughter. Those who deviate are referred to as bastards – “omo ale”. Proper or good behaviour is non-negotiable. There are certain characters or behaviours that must not be mentioned, not even once, among Omoluwabis.
One of such is stealing/cheating. Another is laziness or slothfulness. Liars and unreliable people, those who are not bound by their words, are loathed among the Yoruba. They are to be avoided like a plague. Wealth does not define the Yoruba; character does. Good character, not wealth, is what the Yoruba believe a person should flaunt and which every other person should acknowledge, respect and emulate.
A number of songs, proverbs, and words of wisdom of our elders are drummed into the ears of every Yoruba child. One such song, which I learnt in elementary school and which remains ingrained in my soul, is: “Kini n f’ole se l’aiye ti mo wa? (2ce) L’aiye ti mo wa ewon ko sunwon/Ewon ko sunwon f’Omoluwabi/Kini n f’ole se l’aiye ti mo wa” Thieves and vagrants are ostracized; murderers are excommunicated and anyone related to such fellows are enveloped in shame.
Unable to live with such shame, many have been known to commit suicide, considering death a more honourable outcome - “Iku ya j’esin”. Begging was alien to Yoruba land and culture. It used to be considered a shameful thing. The Yoruba taught the virtues of hard and diligent work - “Ise l’oogun ise/Mura s’ise ore mi/Ise la fi n d’eni giga…” Students were taught to study hard – “Bata re a dun ko-ko-ka/Ti o ba ka’we e/ Bata re a dun ko-ko-ka”
I first noticed it in Lagos – “Eko gb’ole, o gb’ole” - but street begging has since enveloped the entire Yoruba landscape. Beggars of Yoruba extraction compete favourably with those who were seen as the traditional beggars. These days, there are no vices that were loathed in Yoruba land that have not now seized the entire Yoruba landscape. Look around you, the “twale” and “alright sir” boys and girls, the area boys and area girls, are mostly Yoruba youths.
While their Igbo counterparts are busy learning trade and their Hausa counterparts are riding Okada and pushing carts to eke out a living, the Yoruba youths are useless to themselves and to the society. Yet, they insist on living life to the hilt, and on the fast lane, to boot. They are the enforcers. They are the political thugs. They are the “agberos” They are the petty thieves waylaying and stripping the hapless of their phones and other valuables at street corners.
Cultism has run riots among Yoruba youths. It is no longer the exclusive preserve of students in the institutions of higher learning. Primary schools, secondary schools, any gathering of youths in Yoruba land these days is infested with cultism. They kill, they maim. Rival groups waste one another with relish.
Evil – all manner of evil – walks naked on our roads, wasting our future before our very eyes. Now, our youths are said to have graduated into the ranks of kidnappers, bandits and terrorists! All eyes used to be on the Fulani but the kidnappers of the Ekiti school children are said to be of Yoruba extraction.
Governance in Yoruba land progressively took a dip the very moment Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in pursuit of his ambition to rule Nigeria, left the office of premier of the Western Region for the position of Leader of Opposition in the Federal parliament. Cracks soon set in between him and his successor, SLA Akintola, with other Action Group leaders siding with this or with that. The Fulani-led government at the Centre cashed in on that, aided by Nnamdi Azikiwe and his Eastern Region, to set the Western Region on fire and send Awo to jail.
From that moment, things fell apart in Yoruba land. Akintola, Fani-Kayode and others betrayed Awo. Fani-Kayode in turn betrayed Akintola. In the Second Republic, the core opponents of Awo were big-time Yoruba politicians and business moguls, the likes of Meredith Adisa Akinloye, Richard Akinjide, Omololu Olunloyo, FRA Williams, Bashorun MKO Abiola, among others.
Dogs began to eat dogs. Bola Ige dumped Alayande out of the Oyo governorship race. Cornelius Adebayo did similarly to Chief Josiah Olawoyin in Kwara state. Both disrespected the counsel of Awo. Ige got his due recompense at D’Rovans, Ibadan years later as his peers ditched him for Chief Olu Falae.
Against Awo’s advice, both Ige and Sunday Afolabi served in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government in the Fourth Republic. A man who hates your father cannot love you, the son, Awo was reported to have told his two political sons gone errant. Both Ige and Afolabi perished in Obasanjo’s government. Those who did not perish serving Sani Abacha lost relevance and the reputation that had taken them decades to build – the likes of Ebenezer Babatope, Alhaj Lateef Jakande and Olu Onagoruwa, who also lost his first son to the bargain.
The Fourth Republic started well for the mainstream Yoruba political leadership in 1999 but wily Obasanjo unhinged it four years later in 2003. Only Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Lagos governor survived the Obasanjo tsunami. A new king was born!
Whatever aileth the Yoruba nation today must be placed squarely at the door mouth of the Asiwaju of Yorubaland and Jagaban Borgu. Tinubu uprooted the Awo political dynasty and created a new political empire of his own. The Yoruba nation today is cast, for better or for worse, in the image of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. If all is well, give the credit to Tinubu. If all is well the other way round, as our elders would say, hang it as well around Tinubu’s neck!
The creation, nurturing and blossoming of the Yoruba area boys and girls coincided, if I can put it that mildly, with the ascendancy of Tinubu as the master of South-west politics. Coping with the influx of Hausa/Fulani criminals into Yoruba land is difficult enough, especially with the obstacles deliberately put in the way of containing the criminals by Federal power. To now have to contend with the sad spectacle of our own children themselves swelling the ranks of the criminals is distressing, to say the least.
But what do we expect from jobless youths? What do we expect from generations whose destiny has been wasted by our political leaders who have no plan for them other than use them as thugs and then dump them? Why are our youths not being helped to learn a trade like their Igbo counterparts? Whatever you may say, the Fulani are smart; they buy carts and okada for thousands of their youths and then unleash them on us down South. Who will do similarly for our own youths?
Yesterday (Tuesday, 6 February, 2024), I was invited to join the Afenifere team to commiserate with Ekiti State’s Gov. Biodun Oyebanji over the tragedy that befell the state recently. Two traditional rulers were felled by suspected Fulani terrorists and some school children were kidnapped on their way to/from school. God have mercy! Ekiti suddenly became Chibok and Dapchi!
The Afenifere delegation was led by Chief Korede Duyile, who described the disasters as unfortunate. Duyile proffered the following solutions: that the governors of the south-west cooperate more than ever before to confront the security threats facing the sub-region; and that Amotekun, the security outfit of the South-west, be given appropriate arms and ammunition. “We want Amotekun to be fully armed. It is not easy to work with bare hands or with incantations”, he said. He also faulted the country’s structure: “If governors are in control of security, it will be easier to tackle these problems” he said, adding that the need to restructure the country has become more urgent than ever.
Responding, Gov. Oyebanji described the killing of the Obas as “sacrilege and an affront to the Yoruba race”, which he said his government would not take lightly. The culprits would be brought to book, he vowed. Despite party differences, the South-west governors are cooperating on security and had measures in the pipeline before the unfortunate death of their chairman, Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state. After giving Akeredolu a befitting burial later this month, the South-west governors will unfurl their plans.
Oyebanji praised President Tinubu for providing leadership and encouragement to Ekiti in its trying moments. Despite being out of the country, he said the president called him on a daily basis and also gave directives that have been of immense benefit to the state. “I want Afenifere to thank him for me” he said before passionately pleading with the Afenifere to forge a common front and work together “because it is only in unity that we can confront and defeat this menace. Your voice carries weight”
Nigeria needs urgent restructuring. And the South-west itself needs urgent repositioning. Governance must be elevated to a higher level. Hope renewed, which Tinubu promised, must not remain a cliché. Blood and flesh must be infused into it. Time to act is now!
As the plane made its way into the Abuja skies, weeks back, I made a quick count of the luxury birds sunbathing to the right of the runway. This was a Saturday, the private jets were there in the tens, waiting to ferry Nigeria's luxury class to the next stop in their ever-busy schedules. I wondered about the cost of acquiring one of those toys, maintenance costs and all that. Then settled on what the Aviation authorities could be charging for licensing and parking fees. I couldn't get reliable information on that from my contacts in the Sector.
A few hours after, I was at Ikoyi. I pulled apart the curtains to take in the sight from the neighbouring lagoon. Seated majestically before me are the twins. They have been my neighbours for almost three months. I cannot recollect them moving, at any point, from the spot in which they are moored in the last 3 months. These are Yachts or possibly Superyachts said to belong to two of Nigeria's richest men - Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola.
Streettalk estimates each of the boats at @$40 million. I wondered if and what they pay to have the yachts moored (parked) on our waterway all these months. I wondered how much was paid as tax on the yachts at the time of acquisition. I wondered about how much Nigeria might be indulging or subsidising luxury.
Nigeria, though faced with an acute revenue problem, has been struggling for almost 10 years now with implementing or executing luxury tax. The Jonathan administration had in 2014 unveiled plans for the introduction of tax on a number of Luxury goods. Targeted were private jets, yachts, luxury cars, first class tickets on airlines, champagnes, wines and spirits.
For some reason, the implementation process has never been able to find wings. The three Finance Ministers who have served since 2014 have offered us reasons this has yet to take off, even with the national treasury in dire straits. Over the years, there is no record of implementation or collection.
Whereas the 2019 Budget had a projection of N2.5 billion, there is no record that even One Kobo was collected. I do not know if the Budgets for subsequent years carried this budget hole. But from what I have seen, there is still no record of implementation.
It is the way it is. We are overwhelmed in our sea of contradictions. We are not willing to let go of our indulgences and luxuries, but ever generous with tears over the fruits from our plantation of contradictions. We are chasing Dollars with our Naira, to stockpile and speculate, with politicians buying up to fund elections, then wondering why Naira is on a freefall. We are in a rat race to buy dollars to fund our foreign travels, education for the children, health check and holiday abroad, yet wondering how come Naira is not holding firm.
We buy up PTA to offload. We are bingeing on all forms of foreign goods and services, without improving on local productivity, yet we want an exchange of One Naira to Dollar. In fact, we want One Naira to a Dollar so that we can travel the world and import all sorts of dregs, growing other economies while destroying ours.
As with politics and leadership, so is it with the economy, it is difficult to figure out what the Elite Consensus is. We are too impatient to grow from the bottom? As we must eat foreign rice, we flood neighbouring ports, and find ways to smuggle them in, putting local production in jeopardy. We cannot even agree on what exactly to do with whatever.
Experts argue for Naira devaluation, then complain that there is a freefall. Oh, they want the CBN to let its hands off the official window to do away with the arbitrage window. But is that all that there is to it? Would that not lead to a further free fall of the Naira even beyond the level people are already complaining of? How will manufacturers who need foreign equipment and inputs cope? Contradictions. People want a total removal of 'subsidy' on Petrol, yet complaining about the cost of Diesel! Contradictions.
The dots around our desires, wants, indulgences, luxuries, contradictions and lack of consensus on where to go, what to do, and how to do it are not that difficult to connect. We have an acute revenue problem, but cutting on our luxuries and excesses and growing the revenue basket, with the luxury tax being a low-hanging pick, is not a pill we are ready to swallow. We must reconcile with the contradictions in our choices to get ourselves out of the mess we have put ourselves.
Religious intolerance has bred extremism and resulted in thousands of deaths in Nigeria, divisions, and terrorism as a bad omen and example of a nation at war with itself. Meanwhile, the twin evils of extremism and terrorism are the core reasons for a decaying society and our present predicament as a troubled nation. As it were, all religions involve specific intellectual beliefs. Each has several literatures held especially scared which contain historical materials with which the validity of the doctrines are connected as well as their modes of propagation.
Unarguably, Africa is a melting pot of different religions. To some outside observers, this is a volatile religious fault line—as exemplified by the ethnic and sectarian bloodshed in Nigeria, where hundreds of Muslims and Christians have been killed. To others, religion is not so much a source of conflict as a source of hope in sub-Saharan Africa, where religious leaders and movements are a major force in civil society and a key provider of relief and development for the needy, particularly given the widespread reality of failed states and collapsing government services.
From my personal experience and observation; the more religious a person is, the more dangerous he is. Because religion carries with it deep-rooted prejudices that cause conflict, mistrust, and oppression. When you use religious faith to determine what is true, then you open yourself up to delusion. The more religious or “faith-full” someone is, the more likely it is that they will hold destructive, delusional beliefs as truth. The thing about a delusion is that it is often very difficult to crack from the outside, and intelligence is no defense from the inside against delusion.
Additionally, as commentator Charles Ellicott, a distinguished English Christian theologian, academic and churchman. Ellicott profoundly posited: "These, by claiming the title of Christians, wearing in before men the uniform of Christ, but by their lives dishonoring His name, did the gravest injury to the holy Christian cause” (Ellicott’s Bible Commentary for English Readers, entry for 2 Timothy 3:5). Ironically, those who have a form of godliness are those who make an outward display of religion. They present themselves as godly, but it is all for show.
There is no power behind their religion, as evidenced by the fact that their lives are unchanged. They speak of God and live in sin, and they are fine with that arrangement. Otherwise, how else does one explain a situation in which we find ourselves and the overrated system full of RELIGIOSITY without corresponding results? Therefore, we argued that religious extremism, as distinct from religion, motivates wide-scale acts of terrorism, justifies individual acts of violence, and promotes hatred of the “other.” To prove its point, the article looks at the secular-religious debate in Turkey, the use of fatwas by Muslim extremists as part of the dangerous elements in religious extremism as exemplified by a couple of unfortunate incidents in Nigeria for example with Deborah Samuel and many others on my mind.
Furthermore, fatwas are a central feature of the Islamic legal tradition. A fatwa is a religious opinion or ruling (hukm) issued by a qualified jurisconsult known as a mufti or mujtahid. Within the Sunni tradition, fatwas are non-binding religious decrees, whereas in the Shi’a tradition, they can be binding depending on the jurist’s authority. Firstly, the dictates of a fatwa play an important role in advising Muslims about their daily practices under the shari’a (Islamic law). Secondly, adherence to juristic rulings, however, is purely voluntary and a matter of conscience between a believer and God.
Essentially, one of the many examples is on the 12th of May 2022, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Samuel was gruesomely killed by her fellow students who accused her of blaspheming Prophet Mohammed. The mob that lynched Deborah Samuel was composed of students and some "foreigners" hired by the extremists to carry out the attack.
Analytically, the role of religious extremism in the Capitol Hill insurrection can easily be identified. In January 2021, a rally organized to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election escalated into the violent takeover of the United States Capitol building. While rioters utilized a wide variety of symbols and slogans in the planning and execution of those attacks, religious motives were a regular fixture of what one reporter labeled “a Christian insurrection.”
Firstly, religion’s appearance that afternoon was not unexpected, as prominent religious supporters of the Trump Administration framed electoral defeat as an anti-religious conspiracy even before the November election. Secondly, in the days before the Capitol violence, supporters launched a “Jericho March” against alleged electoral fraud, intended to imitate the biblical siege of Jericho by Israelite force.
Following from the above, one prominent definition of extremism as a motivation for terrorism is that extremism comprises ideological beliefs about an obligation to bring back the political system to a form suggested by religious norms through violence. Therefore, the label of extremist is attributed to groups fighting for their political agendas against mainstream systems accepted by the majority of people (e.g., Boko Haram tendencies and Separatists elements in Nigeria, ISIS against the government of Syria, or MILF or Moro Islamic Liberation Front against the government of the Philippines). Such a definition of extremism associated with political violence is related to broad collective responses against perceived oppression or injustice, and it may be fueled by extreme religious dogma or not.
In conclusion, I like to use this article that focuses on "The Link Between Religious Extremism And Terrorism" - as we briefly review the different interpretations and understandings of extremism and terrorism within the context of religion and propose an alternative MODEL that allows for a more accurate and complete understanding of various dimensions of religion.
Finally, permit me to share with you an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s speech “Where Do We Go From Here?” delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, on August 16, 1967. MLK Jr profoundly posited "I’m concerned about a better World. I’m concerned about justice; I’m concerned about brotherhood and sisterhood; I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence, you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence, you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that."
Richard Odusanya
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[OPINION] Edo 2024: PDP stakeholders’ ‘selective amnesia’ on waiver for Ighodalo - Ehichioya Ezomon
AdminPreviously unknown groups and talking heads have emerged in the lead-up to the primaries for the September 21, 2024, off-cycle governorship election in Edo State. Most of the groups and individuals come out openly and forcefully to promote and defend the interests of certain aspirants as “the best qualified” for the journey to the Osadebey Avenue Government House in Benin City, the capital city of the “Heart Beat of the Nation.”
But others simply throw dirt, and engage in diatribe and campaign of calumny to discredit, malign and sully the public and private image and reputation of aspirants they consider as threats to the ones they obscurely and obliquely advance their political interests.
Such’s the antic of a so-called “Concerned Edo PDP Patriots” in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came out swinging at Dr Asue Ighodalo, a leading aspirant on the party platform. For all intents and purposes, the group appeared to have woken up to the “evil” of unfairly granting waivers to new or returning members to contest for any political offices.
This, they said, contravenes provisions of the PDP constitution, and shouldn’t be extended to Mr Ighodalo, a Lagos-based businessman reportedly backed by Governor Godwin Obaseki, who’s also a Lagos businessman brought in and “installed” by Governor Adams Oshiomhole in 2016.
Despite the group’s protestation, the Governor Caleb Mutfwang-led PDP Governorship Screening Committee for Edo State cleared Ighodalo and nine other aspirants, who appeared before it on January 29 – with eight of them receiving their clearance certificates the next day.
The aspirants cleared are: Hon. Omosede Igbinedion, Anslem U. Ojezua Esq., Hon. Felix E. Akhabue, Dr Asuerinme Ighodalo, Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, Arthur Esene, Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Amb. (Prof.) Martin Uhomoibhi, Osaro Osaze Onaiwu, and Umoru Adizetu Hadizat.
If the PDP granted Ighodalo a waiver, would it be the first time to a non-party or core member? Did the stakeholders forget, unaware or ignorant of the blatant breach of the party constitution majorly to make “new or returning members” eligible for elective offices?
Were the “worried” members out of the political space since 1999, when PDP powerbrokers – and chieftains of political parties across the board – routinely disregard provisions of the party constitution, and give waivers to those who can afford the “asking price” and possess the warchest to prosecute campaigns?
Little or no thoughts are given to such candidates’ sources of wealth nor to their capability, capacity, competence, and the ground game to winning elections! All the party “elders” care about is how to “get their share” of the booty before the elections are confirmed or tossed by the courts.
Going by the PDP constitution, new members are required to sustain a continued membership for a minimum of two years, to be eligible to contest for elections, while returning members will remain on probation for at least one year, during which they won’t be eligible to vote or be voted for “except if granted waivers.”
Waivers have been contentious because many new or returning members want to contest for elective offices before they serve out the mandatory periods of probation. And the executive committees of the PDP at all levels have exploited the “loopholes” in the party constitution to grant or refuse waivers, for which the National Executive Committee (NEC) has the final say.
A few examples of waivers granted by the PDP in recent times will suffice in this discourse! In 2010, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who ran for president in 2007 under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), returned to the PDP, and was granted a waiver to participate in the primaries for the 2011 presidential poll, with a PDP chieftain in Adamawa State, Alhaji Sadiq Aliyu Jada, taking the party to court for “illegal waiver” for Atiku.
On Aug 29, 2014, after defecting from the APC, the PDP – amid protests from other governorship aspirants in Adamawa – granted waivers to former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, former Lagos Military Governor, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), and former governorship candidate Marcus Gundiri, to contest for the primaries for the 2015 General Election.
In October 2017, the PDP granted waivers to former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, Engr Seyi Makinde and other returnees to the party. While Ladoja – then gunning for the post of national chairman – joined from Accord Party, Makinde moved from the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In 2018, Mr Oseloka Obaze, a protégé of former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, was granted a waiver to contest in the 2018 stand-alone governorship. Likewise on June 25, 2020, the PDP waived membership for embattled Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi of Ondo State for the governorship election for that November.
The most glaring of the Edo PDP stakeholders’ “selective amnesia” are the waivers the party granted to Governor Obaseki, and Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu to run for re-election in 2020 – after the APC denied Obaseki the ticket, and he defected to the PDP days to its primaries. While it weighed the waivers, the PDP postponed its primary poll in Edo from June 19-20, to June 23, 2020. According to Comrade Shaibu, he and Obaseki spent “naira and dollars” for the waivers and ticket for the governorship, which they won.
It’s like the “PDP Patriots” were saying, “Those are past cases; let’s turn a new page and deny Ighodalo a waiver because he’s not a bona-fide member of the PDP. And in any case, Governor Obaseki can’t grant him a waiver.” And one may ask: Is it Obaseki’s duty to grant a waiver or the leadership of the party?
The screening is over, but it’s crucial to understand the context of the petitioners’ complaint in a preemptive statement – as the waiver for Ighodalo was speculative as of the time of the petition on January 28. Meaning that the undersigned – Musa Aliyu (Owan East), Suleiman Braimoh (Etsako West), Victor Ikponwonsa (Egor), Osadolor Ogie (Oredo) and Ebosele Odion (Esan Central) – were intent on disqualifying Ighodalo at the screening in 24 hours, to prevent him from the primaries, and scuttle his governorship ambition!
Besides directing the petition to the Mutfwang committee, the PDP group copied the PDP Acting National Chairman; members of its National Working Committee (NWC); Zonal Vice Chairman (South-South); Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum; Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT); and Edo State Working Committee.
Thus, the tone of their petition was unambiguous! It reads in part: “We, the undersigned, wish to bring to your attention a matter of critical importance regarding the purported waiver planned for the aspirant of the incumbent Governor, Asuen ighodalo, in the upcoming Edo State Gubernatorial election of 2024.
“It has come to our notice that the planned waiver directly contravenes the party’s constitution, as amended, in Section 9, Paragraph 3, of Page 68, which unequivocally states that there shall be a minimum of two years membership span for a member to be eligible to stand for election into any public office.
“It is evident that the anointed candidate of the governor does not meet this requirement as stipulated in the party’s constitution. Granting a waiver that overlooks this vital membership requirement not only undermines the integrity of the democratic process, but also goes against the fundamental tenets of our party’s constitution.
“With this in mind, we respectfully urge the screening committee to consider this petition and to refrain from making any erroneous decisions that could potentially jeopardize the party’s chances of retaining the state.”
Without a doubt, the complainants were fighting the political interest of a certain aspirant(s) they weren’t bold enough to reveal, and cleverly “choose and pick” from the PDP constitution the provisions that align with their objective to halt the aspiration of Ighodalo that’s gained widespread acceptance.
Since entering for the race – and informing his ward members in Ewohimi community of Esan South East local government area of Edo State, officially declaring interest at the state headquarters in Benin City, and obtaining the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja – Ighodalo’s received support and solidarity from PDP members and the electorate in Edo State.
He lately got an enthusiastic reception from PDP members in Uhumwode, Orhionmwon and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas of Edo South, when he visited the areas as part of his consultations across the 18 local government areas of Edo State. As first reported by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on January 26, Ighodalo received a unanimous endorsement of the party faithful as their “consensus aspirant” for the PDP primaries.
Amid applause, the party stalwarts and members said that Ighodalo’s endorsement – moved and seconded by elderstatesman, former Sen. Roland Owie and Mr Charles Egbe – “was informed by his track record of excellence in the various capacities he had served outside politics.”
In a speech, Ighodalo, who appreciated the people’s approval, and appealed to them to nominate him as the PDP flagbearer for the September 21 poll, said the governorship election isn’t about tribe, religion, family connections, “but about the man with the capacity and capability to develop Edo State,” adding that, “Edo has no reason not to be developed if the right leaders are chosen to lead the state.”
Touting his “track records” in the business world, Ighodalo said he’s “the best aspirant for the election,” and declared: “I am the leader that will take the state beyond the next level, hence my appeal for your nomination and support. Let us choose who can help us know the developmental road to lead Edo, and in doing so, we will have good roads and other basic amenities.
“So, I am appealing to you all to give me the opportunity to help our people in Edo, and I promise you all that I will help the people and remove them from poverty. We are going to govern Edo together, as one man cannot do it alone. So, together, we will create a better state and Nigeria.”
Some PDP members, who voluntarily stepped down their governorship aspirations, accompanied Ighodalo during his official declaration in Benin City, and obtaining of the nomination forms in Abuja, to drum support and cooperation for his inspirational bid for Governor that Esan people of Edo Central have clamoured for since 1999.
Yet, Ighodalo isn’t beating the drum for an Esan Governor, but a Governor of Esan extraction. So, as he moves round selling himself and his vision and mission to Edolites, his simple message is that he’s the wherewithal to turnaround the fortunes of Edo State, like the big and viable businesses under his direct or nominal belt within and outside Nigeria.
This message of good governance to redeem Edo State, and provide the dividend of democracy to ameliorate the people’s suffering, has resonated everywhere Ighodalo goes for consultations ahead of the primaries, and the September poll.
Perhaps, the “Concerned Edo PDP Patriots” don’t like to hear the message, and wanted to shut him out of the political contest. But the Mutfwang screening committee, and God didn’t sanction their entreaties! And Dr Asue Ighodalo’s still standing, his political fate in the hands of PDP voters at the governorship primaries!
Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria .
On Sunday, August 15, 1971, the United States economy was literally facing a firing squad. The Dollar was in a mess. Price gougers were everywhere and foreign exchange was cruel to the Dollar. The newspaper headlines were of scorn and ridicule but President Richard Nixon did one thing. He faced the issue squarely.
“The strength of a nation’s currency is based on the strength of that nation’s economy,” he said. Nixon nipped the problem in the bud. Everything changed. He rescued his country from financial and social crises. Today, Nigeria is in a similar situation, albeit slightly dissimilar, given that the American economy is by far the strongest in the world. Thus, President Bola Tinubu needs to act in a manner that moves the nation from “Renewed Hope” to “Renewed Confidence”.
The loss of hope was what triggered the Arab Spring and other springs. In December 2010 in the town of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Tarek El-Tayeb Bouazizi, a trader who had lost hope in the economy of his country set himself on fire. That act became a catalyst for countrywide protests. The protests included several men who emulated Bouazizi’s act of self-sacrifice. Hope is good. However, hope is not edible.
In Nigeria, there are reported and unreported suicide cases due to economic hardship in the country. A few weeks back, a woman who worked at a bank locked herself in the convenience of her company and swallowed poison, leaving behind a suicide note which points at her giving up on Nigeria.
With the free fall in the value of our currency, we are beginning to see more public expression of frustration. In the coming months, the unrelenting fall of the Naira could lead to an increased risk of suicide and even social unrest. In Kano State, where social unrest forms quickly, a group of local bakers warned the government about things to come. They protested the high cost of flour with a bag that sold N10,000 a few years ago now selling at N41,000. The Kano bakers cannot afford the price spiral and social unrest arising therefrom could pose additional risks to economic recovery and create setbacks with lasting impact on general economic performance.
For a government looking for an economic spark plug through Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, and business startups, the fall of the Naira and global jokes about it are downright depressing. The fall of Naira indeed poses grave dangers to the viability of businesses in Nigeria. Last August, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, a young Nigerian celebrated all over the world for creating two unicorns and a general partner at early-stage venture capital firm, Future Africa, told Rest of World, an America-based publication, that his firm is advising its portfolio companies to explore business abroad to avoid Naira-related challenges.
Jokes about the Naira
Over the past two weeks, social media have been awash with hilarious jokes about the Naira. This is not restricted to Nigerians. First, a Toronto-based television station announced that Nigeria’s currency was now worth 0.0011 American Dollars. This was followed closely by a South African Prokerala showing that one Zimbabwean Dollar equals N2.77. In its February 2, 2024 edition, Bloomberg described the Naira as the worst-performing currency in the world. In their cartoon section, two US newspapers taunted Nigeria over the Naira. This is infinitesimal compared to the number of local jokes about the Naira in our media. Besides, social media has amplified the crash of the Naira to such an extent that Nigeria has literally and metaphorically become a laughing stock. Nigerians are either losing faith in the country or have lost a sense of patriotism.
These hilarious jokes and caricatures are a metaphor for a bigger problem.
There are genuine concerns that Nigeria may follow a similar trajectory to Zimbabwe and Venezuela. This concern is well-founded. The echoes of Zimbabwe ring eerily and loudly in Nigeria today. There are many reasons why history students could look back on the crash of the Naira and its impact on our reputation, global stature and the living standard of our people. This concern is heightened for many reasons. However, I will highlight only a few.
Concerns over the Naira
The first is poor policy articulation and implementation. Recall that the policy origin of the current Naira tumble can be traced to the simultaneous removal of subsidies and years’ long currency pegs last year by the current administration. This was done without considering other factors that need to be in place to make the economy function optimally. Nigerians are worried that our economy handlers are not doing enough to stem the decline.
The second is the damaged reputation of the country occasioned by the Naira crash and the ongoing economic and security instability. Local and foreign investors are losing confidence in the Nigerian economy because of high-level financial, economic and political instability.
The next is that the cost-of-living crisis escalates and inflation ravages the country. Prices of essential goods and services are going off the roof and people are perplexed at the rate of degeneration.
The fourth is that microeconomic indices are unfavourable given the reduction in demand for goods and services due to high prices and reduced supply. The latter itself is due to lack of production or high cost of importation.
Also, there are unfavourable macroeconomic indices such as escalation of unemployment. This correlates with a high crime rate, high inflation occasioned by a fall in the value of the Naira, banks’ inability to grant medium to long-term loans and general perception of impending economic catastrophe hovering over Nigeria like an ominous overcast.
The fifth is that wealthy Nigerians and other average citizens worried about the erosion of the value of their money and assets are converting them into Dollars or are moving their assets to dollar-denominated investments abroad to hedge for further loss.
Finally, the volatility of the Naira implies that fresh capital investments in infrastructure and power, mainly dependent on imported plants and machinery, shall be negatively impacted, leading to projects being put on hold.
How did we tumble in such a short time from a respectable nation to a butt of jokes? Not only amongst us but within the global community?
A brief historical odyssey on Naira volatility suffices. The tragic history dates back to 1983 when the Naira began its nosedive and successive governments have failed to ameliorate the plunge. In 1983, $1 was exchanged for about 72 Kobo. But the Naira fell to trade at about N9 to $1 by 1990. In 2000, $1 was exchanged for about N85 at the official window. In 2010, $1 was officially exchanged for about N150, but more at the notorious black market. By 2020, $1 was exchanged for about N360 at the official window. In recent years, the Naira has faced challenges related to external factors. These include fluctuations in oil prices, the global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and serial mismanagement.
A cursory look at this administration’s response to the Naira crisis shows an attitude of calm amidst the panic at the early stages of the free-floating of the Naira, as policymakers expected the fall in Naira. However, there were more panic reactions to this problem as the President and his economic team worked to stem the tidal wave blowing the Naira. Recently, we have seen monetary, fiscal and tax policy adjustments, and currency interventions to boost the Naira. Structural reforms by taking steps to diversify the economy to reduce dependency on a single sector and improving the business environment to attract foreign investment are ongoing. Unfortunately, these policies and actions have not stabilised the Naira in the short run. More needs to be done and quickly too. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and a combination of strategies may be necessary.
Additionally, the success of these measures depends on practical implementation and the cooperation of various stakeholders. Investor confidence remains our greatest challenge. It is advisable for this administration to carefully analyse the specific economic conditions and consult with experts to tailor appropriate solutions for the country. Every good head, home and abroad must be brought into the room to stop us from remaining a butt of jokes. Saving the Naira is most important now and all stakeholders must work together to end this comedy show.
“The sun and moon grew dark, and the stars no longer shine…Then the LORD will pity his people and be indignant for the honor of his land! He will reply, ‘Look! I am sending you grain and wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations.” Joel 2: 10, 18-19.
God’s mercy is locating you today! What you are going to read here is simply a declarative and prophetic message. And God’s word does not fail. Are you in darkness? Are you weeping, going through sleepless nights, in pain and regrets? You have been bruised, rejected and humiliated. Or you are currently unhappy and also lack the grace and refreshing that come with the presence of God. Now, this is your chance to be restored. Yes, I pray that as you go through this write-up, that the light of God will shine upon you again in Jesus’ name! Look at the above bible text again. The sun and the moon grew dark, and the stars no longer shine! These were elements that were once bright and favourable. They were put in place to bless us, but all of a sudden, they grew dark and stopped shining. My God! This is exactly what some of us are going through now. Our once bright lights have not only dimmed, but are totally put out. And the worse is that we don’t even understand how we got into this situation, not to talk of how to come out of it. The situation seems hopeless! My God!
Now, the sun represents our day, the moon our night and the stars our destiny. How? In Genesis, God told us at creation that the sun will rule the day, and that the moon will rule the night. The Psalmist also told us that the sun shall not smite us by the day nor the moon by night. Then the stars, we saw how Jesus’ star appeared and led the wise men from the eastern lands to where he was born. We also saw the stars of the brothers of Joseph bow down to him. And Job even went further to call some of these elements by name – Orion, Pleiades. Sure, these are entities put in place by God to influence the affairs and destinies of men. So, when they spiritually go off for any person or people, the consequences in the physical are always terrible and even disastrous. We must always ask God that our sun, our moon and our stars should keep shining. We must always command them and whatever they represent to bless us in the name of Jesus. We must command the sun to bless us every day and the moon every night. We must command our stars to continue to shine and locate us. Please, note that I didn’t say worship them, no, but command them and whatever they represent to bless us. I said this because that is the mistake the occult and the false religion make; they worship these heavenly entities, leaving the creator. It is very wrong! We must only worship God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth through his son Jesus Christ.
Now, before we go on, it will be good for us to note that there are several factors that can contribute to our sun, moon and stars going dark, and not shining. These include: attacks and arrows from the enemy, living in sin, disobedience and ignorance. Ignorance here is about not knowing what God has in stock for us and how to get them. That is why the word of God said that the entrance of his word will always bring light and understanding. And rightly applying that understanding will also always produce deliverance, breakthroughs, miracles, prosperity, godliness, etc. On sin, your light will never shine if you are living in sin. You already know that. And for the arrows of the enemy, we will today repel them. They will be neutralized or sent back to where they are coming from. Whatever that has made your sun, moon and star not to shine again must be removed today in the mighty name of Jesus!
Grain, wine, oil
As you are reading this message, know that total restoration is already taking place in your life. God’s face will shine upon you again! Like Jesus, your star will arise again and lead men to bless and lift you. Some will come from unexpected quarters, the ‘eastern lands’. The believers will come. The unbelievers will come. Because you have found favor with him even your enemies will bless you. Everything that God made will favor you from today, in Jesus’ name! The LORD will have mercy upon you once again. See how Joel puts it, “Look! I am sending you grain and wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your need. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations.” He said that the pastures will be green again. The trees will again be filled with luscious fruit – Amen!
Look at that – grain, wine and oil. Each of these represents a section of the blessing that is coming your way. Grain is talking about plenty to eat. Food shall be surplus. You shall feed fat and be well-nourished again. Food is a primary need of man. You cannot exist without it and God knows that. Not just food, but you shall have good and enough food. You shall not have to do ungodly things to eat. Not eating to survive, but feeding well and giving to others. God will bless what you do. And wine talks about happiness, joy, celebration. You cannot have these without being in good health and things going well for you. God will make everything go well, so you can celebrate. Yes, it is sweet to celebrate.
There are some of us, families that do not understand what it means to celebrate. For a very long time they have not had any cause to celebrate. It has been pain, sorrow, tears, crises, losses, disappointment, sickness and even death. But from today, I command celebration into your life in the mighty name of Jesus! Then, oil is the presence of God - the anointing, the grace. The grace of God that will help you fulfil his will in your life. Any part of your life that has been held down shall be oiled today. I release grace to you. I pray that your sun, your moon and your star will begin to shine again from today in the name of Jesus! God bless you! Share this message with others.
“Powerful entities, countries, strong men and their ways always lead me to Wago’s story. South Africa brought the long word ‘xenophobia’ into my consciousness. And, I am not alone. In business, they loathe, bully and muzzle whatever is Nigerian – even on our own soil. They milk us right here – how much was your DSTV subscription three months ago? How much is it now? Their telecoms foothold here, MTN, what is your experience doing business with it? Television station owners in Nigeria should also have stories to tell of their experiences with their South African host. So, it was not a surprise to see Nigerians on Saturday fully backing Cape Verde in wishes and prayers against South Africa. My friends who supported South Africa said they did so not out of love. They said Nigeria peeling and munching the Bafana Bafana in the semifinal would be sweet revenge for that country’s past and present monkeying acts. Another friend who has relations in South Africa did not want Nigeria to face that country in the semifinal “because we will defeat them and our people may be targets of attacks in South Africa.” But, for how long will that fear alter the direction of our supplication?”
Sports, especially football, have opiatic effects on Nigerians. I call it kinetic booze. The ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football competition has been remarkable in numbing the people’s terrible pain and pangs of hunger. Since this thing started, morbid fears of violent death and of mass abduction get forgotten every night in sporty ecstasy. “Let’s give them opium, and let them sleep and dream.” That is from Miguel de Unamuno’s Don Manuel, a fictional Catholic priest with no belief in afterlife but who keeps himself happy doing good. We kill our misery drinking football to stupor. We dream of winning the next match and the next with the cup of victory. We are happy. The government should be happy too – and I think it is. Like all festivals, however, this season must end – and it will on Sunday, 11 February. But then, government won’t be government again if it does not have for the people another means of “illusory happiness.”
But what is at stake in AFCON’s semifinal match on Wednesday between Nigeria and South Africa is more than football. Every goal scored by either side will go to settling some mordant scores. We watched the AFCON quarter final match between tiny Cape Verde and big South Africa on Saturday night. Was that really a match between those two? Nigerians took it as their war; they say South Africans are not our friends. We invested money, men and emotions in their freedom from apartheid. We lost every kobo of those investments. The harvest from that field has been barns of hurtful engagements on all fronts. They do not hide their disdain for us; they dislike us – in sports and in politics, in business and in everything.
From banking to pay TV to food retailing, and from telecom to sports, Nigeria and South Africa have teams slugging it out. In football, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana will face Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the AFCON semifinal on Wednesday at 6pm. In telecoms, the fixture has always been Nigeria’s Globacom versus South Africa’s MTN. They play in Nigeria and have played in Ghana. I think they play in a few other places. It has been intriguingly tough for the Nigerian side but it is significant that Glo has diligently manned the post to the anger and discomfort of the competition from outside. When mobile telephony was launched here in 2001, we were stunned that we made one second’s call and paid for 60 seconds. Nigerians grumbled, they whined and complained. We demanded that we should be billed based on our consumption. A strong pushback, led by MTN, said no, billing per-second was not possible here – but it was possible in South Africa where it came from. We were helpless until 2003 when indigenous Globacom came in and set us free from the snares of the alien.
Trapped tigers when freed feed on their helpers. That is why we say ingrates are not better than thieves (Eni t’a se l’óore tí kò dúpé, bí olósà kóni l’érù lo ni). We push delicious bush meat to them, they unleash on us snakes. People have died; people have lost valuable investments in South Africa just because they are Nigerians. When President Bola Tinubu and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa met at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September last year, they hugged as brothers and their countries as friends. But, “what greater wound is there than a false friend” (Sophocles). Even in international relations and politics, friendship should be a two-way street. Here, it is breached. A Nigerian diplomat was quoted by Paris-based English quarterly magazine, The Africa Report in its September 2023 edition as saying that “there are over 100 South African businesses in Nigeria” but “there are less than 10 registered Nigerian companies in South Africa.” The magazine goes further to note that “several Nigerian businesses have experienced little success in South Africa and exited.” It gave examples. Every fair and foul move you see on the football field of play is displayed across other sectors where Nigeria and South Africa engage. In most cases, the Nigerian side always loses because of unfair deals -and because of the Nigerian state’s peculiar I-don’t-care attitude to such challenges.
There is this character, Wago, in Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds. Wago is a fearsome, fearless champion who does not fight fair. He does everything to have his way: he bullies, he threatens, he does sorcery. He does not say sorry and will not beg whenever he is proven wrong; even his plays are hard tackles. “I am Wago, the leopard-killer,” boastful and haughty, he tells his terror-stricken listeners. He thinks his strength represents his village’s superiority over the other villages. He sets out to subdue his opponents and hoists up his community as the ultimate dispenser of favours. And he has had his way many times. Now, he must fight this war over the great ponds of Wagaba. Wago has an old rival to fight and settle all claims, once and for all. If his rival falls, he rises above all men, and his village becomes the exclusive owner of the ponds that serve all. The story ends with Wago and his land failing, disastrously – a victim of his own dark ways of doing the business of war.
Powerful entities, countries, strong men and their ways always lead me to Wago’s story. South Africa brought the long word ‘xenophobia’ into my consciousness. And, I am not alone. In business, they loathe, bully and muzzle whatever is Nigerian – even on our own soil. They milk us right here – how much was your DSTV subscription three months ago? How much is it now? Their telecoms foothold here, MTN, what is your experience doing business with it? Television station owners in Nigeria should also have stories to tell of their experiences with their South African host. So, it was not a surprise to see Nigerians on Saturday fully backing Cape Verde in wishes and prayers against South Africa. My friends who supported South Africa said they did so not out of love. They said Nigeria peeling and munching the Bafana Bafana in the semifinal would be sweet revenge for that country’s past and present monkeying acts. Another friend who has relations in South Africa did not want Nigeria to face that country in the semifinal “because we will defeat them and our people may be targets of attacks in South Africa.” But, for how long will that fear alter the direction of our supplication?
What they do to us here, we dare not do to them there. I maintain more than one telephone line because my job demands that I do. I have a Glo line and an MTN line. I have one other. Two weeks ago, my MTN line stopped working. The company said the line was barred because I had not linked the SIM with my NIN. But that was a lie. I did that a long time ago – the same day I linked my Glo line which is still working – perfectly. It turned out that I was just one person out of millions of Nigerians who suffered that barring of lines. While the problem was across all service providers, the difference has been in how customers are treated. The unjust penalty was not the biggest headache victims have had to contend with. Getting it fixed is a pilgrimage of sorts to the way the behemoth from South Africa treats its Nigerian customers. It has been a yellow-fever experience for millions everywhere they go. At all the centres where I went to try to do as I was ordered, I met people under the searing rays of the sun – waiting for attention. They are still there in tens and scores, suffering and sweating. I finally got my line fixed on Friday but I will be naive to think that it will not happen again.
The Ogiyan of Ejigbo in Osun State, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin, who clocked 50 years on the throne a few days ago, is one of the deepest speakers of Yoruba language I have (yet) met. About a decade ago, he told me that people who are too big for reprimand will ultimately ruin their society (a tóbi má se é bá wí, wón máa nba ìlú jé ni). South Africa is big in everything good and bad. Until 1989, it was a nuclear power on the African continent. I remember I joked with my friends when in October 2015, the Muhammadu Buhari regime slammed a $5.2billion fine on MTN for failing to disconnect unregistered phone lines. I told my friends that if at all anything would be paid, the money would not come from the South African pocket. I told my friends that they and all other Nigerians who were on that network would pay the fine. Reports said the company eventually negotiated its way out, settling Nigeria with $1.7billion. But, who really paid? Certainly, Nigerians. And the practice that led to that fine, was it fixed? If it was properly fixed, my line and millions of others would not be axed two weeks ago. The same company recently declared a trade dispute with Globacom over interconnectivity fees. MTN claimed N7.05 billion from Globacom; Globacom fought back with counterclaims. A threat to disconnect Glo lines was made and was rebuffed by the threatened. The Bola Tinubu government did well here; it intervened and asked both parties to do reconciliation. Reports say the reconciliation exercise brought the figure down from N7.05 billion to N2.3billion. I had thought that hyperbole existed only in literary and rhetorical heavens. However, with this, I could see that making exaggerated claims can serve as havens if you are big enough. But, should there not be consequences for such a hand-of-God attempt at scoring a goal against an opponent? There will be none. We are dealing with a well-heeled pampered behemoth here.
If you call your food bowl a po, your neighbour will poo into it. It is how you dress that you will be addressed. We allow free-range hunters to poach our elephants. And, because big misfortunes have wrestled down the giant, small ones are finding the courage to play with its balls. Someone said it wasn’t only in Nigeria they do what they do. They say business cemeteries in Ghana, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, etc contain skulls of those who dared the powerful. For too long, we’ve played soft with South Africa and its twigs. We’ve got wounded and stretchered off the field. That is not how to win against a team of bullies. There should be reciprocal gestures – you bite me, I bite you. A country that will survive and be respected will protect its own and, while dealing with the outside, do as Niccolo Machiavelli counseled: Act as “a true friend and a true enemy” at the same time.
The AFCON semifinal match coming up on Wednesday is a metaphor for settling scores. People who think they are powerful wear the costume of the gods. They toy with the rules and do whatever they like without consequences. Powerful persons and entities are gods; impunity is their turf. Whatever they do, you can’t call them to account. That is why they are gods – they are pampered with sweets of unquestionableness. South Africa, a country beautified with our feathers, with its businesses, does that with us routinely at home and abroad. As of 2019, official records in Nigeria showed that we lost 118 lives to xenophobic attacks in South Africa, 13 by the South African police. I do not have more current figures. That country looks down on us with disgust because we indulge it – even when the field of play is built on our soil. My history teacher in secondary modern school took me through the stories of imperial Rome, Hannibal, Carthage, the three Punic Wars and delenda est Carthago – the patriotic, defiant phrase which ended Cato’s every speech in the senate. Defeating South Africa on Wednesday will serve some poetic justice.
When death comes (and it will surely come), we do not have a choice in the matter. Death is inevitable, and because we are mere mortals, we cannot fight back. Even when we do, due to advances in medical science, the effort does not last the distance. We eventually surrender when death knocks on the door.
Why should we even be afraid of death anyway? Didn’t William Shakespeare write about “Death counterfeiting sleep” in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’? What is the difference between death and sleep? As our mum laid-in-state, beautifully draped in a white apparel, you could think for a moment that she was sleeping. So, death can imitate sleep? Even in death, Mama was beautiful.
Death has a way of teasing, taunting and challenging us to a contest: in the red corner is where you would find death in its massive and ebullient frame, jumping up and down and behaving like a bully, ready to strike and deliver the deadly upper cut, while the rest of us are sequestered in the blue corner, absorbing all the punches until we are down and out.
Death also oppresses. How do we, for example, restrain cancer that has become the harbinger of death in many forms? If it was possible to cut a deal with death, I am sure Steve Jobs, the American inventor, entrepreneur and co-founder of the highly successful Apple Inc. that now has a market cap of more than $2.85 trillion, would still be alive. When Steve surrendered to pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011, he was only 56 years old.
While we are still alive, it is the impact that we make on the lives on others that is important than the money we have in the bank. We must constantly aim at making the world a better place through our humanitarian interventions.
Until our mother, Mama Rose Osovbakhia Braimah (nee Abebe), passed away on November 4, 2023, she always talked about a humanity that thrives, spreading joy, happiness, success and peace. Each time a new administration was inaugurated in the country, Mama used to wonder whether it will be better than the previous one.
During her lifetime, Mama was a dependable care-giver, gracious philanthropist, engaging story teller and unrelenting activist for a better society. Mama was an extraordinary woman in several ways. As she grew older, Mama was concerned about the pervasive economic hardships and deteriorating quality of life of Nigerians.
Mama was born in Ughodin Quarter in Iruekpen, Ekpoma, in Esan West local government area of Edo State. Ughodin is one of the 12 contiguous quarters of Iruekpen, my home town. The others are Ikhin (where I hail from), Idumebo, Idumogo, Abia, Idumemalua, Idumoza, Ogbomo, Idumehonle, Idumeke, Idumegbede and Evbokpe.
The late Christopher Ebhodaghe Abebe, foremost human resources executive and distinguished Nigerian who later became the chairman/managing director of the United African Company (UAC), established in 1879 as a trading company and evolved as a conglomerate – where he spent his entire career and became the first indigenous African to be appointed to that position in 1975 – hailed from Abia in Iruekpen.
Pa Abebe was the father of late Stella Obasanjo, wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. So, elder statesman Obj (Baba Iyabo) is our in-law. Pa Abebe retired in 1980 and was honoured with the Order of the Federal republic (OFR). He died in 2018 at the ripe age of 99 years.
Our Matriarch, Mama Braimah, was a beautiful woman, resourceful wife, highly respected community leader and exceptional fountain of knowledge. Her worldview was shaped by the values of hardwork, respect and perseverance which she imbibed from her parents. It explained why she was a strict disciplinarian.
As a young woman of 23 years, Mama was betrothed to our late father and she travelled from Iruekpen to Kaduna by rail – escorted by our late uncle, Pius Akuza and Alfred Ilenre, a noted Iruekpen emissary who has also passed away – to meet him to start a family.
My father worked for the government in the ministry of education. Due to his frequent postings, Mama had to traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria with our father.
Mama was an enterprising small-business owner. While at Ughelli (now in Delta State), for example, she travelled frequently to Onitsha for her business. The transition from being a member of a large community of farmers in the village to becoming self-employed in different cities was remarkable.
If Mama wasn’t buying and selling food items and other merchandise, especially bags of rice, you would see her behind her Singer sewing machine. She was also a seamstress. At other times, she was either cooking or praying. Mama was a kind and generous soul, always ready to hand you a gift and lend a hand.
Our late mother was a Deaconess in the Christ Chosen Church of God International where the presiding pastor is Apostle Promise Okafor. She worshipped at the Upper Lawani Street Parish in Benin City, and devoted her life in the service of God.
Her commitment to the Christian faith was profound. She could pray and fast for long hours. Mama averred that every course of action in life was ordained by God. She believed in destiny.
Mama always told his children that quality education is priceless, and she explained that it was the best meal ticket for a child to escape the shackles of poverty. As far as she was concerned, illiteracy is a disease!
Our mother had a strong analytical mind, and instilled the values of discipline, hardwork, love, kindness, courage, perseverance, selflessness, humility and leadership in all her children and those who had the opportunity to drink from her fountain of wisdom and knowledge.
Mama provided exemplary leadership in all her civic engagements, and she frowned at our permissive society that encourages impunity.
Deaconess Braimah was fond of singing and dancing, praising God in her elegant dance-steps. Mama lived a life of purpose. One of her wishes was that parents, teachers and religious leaders should uphold strong family values in a decent society that is fair and equitable.
Before Mama’s glorious life ended peacefully in her home in Benin City, she lived in the ancient city from 1980 to 2023. This was after our mother and her family lived in Ughelli for 10 years. During this period, I completed my primary education and gained admission into Government College, Ughelli – one of the best secondary schools in Nigeria – as a young lad.
Mama Braimah was blessed with nine children. Sadly, three of them preceded her in death. She was also survived by three step-sons, a brother, two sisters and grandchildren. When Mama’s funeral obsequies were announced, it was a week-long activities from January 23 – 29, 2024 to celebrate her life: service of songs, funeral service and interment, reception and thanksgiving service which held in Benin City.
But her traditional and final rites of passage held in Iruekpen, Ekpoma on January 29.
Meanwhile, we had to perform the final burial rites of my old man who died 27 years ago on January 19 in Iruekpen before we could commence the burial rites of my mother. For most young members of the family who asked questions, we had to explain to them that tradition and customary laws must be obeyed.
In the village, respect for one another and the rules of engagement are based on a hierarchy of leadership that has been passed on from generation to generation. Age grade determines everyone’s position and station in the village and there are sanctions and fines for bad behaviour. Interestingly, the women in Iruekpen have a strong voice which cannot be ignored in the conduct of community affairs.
As I travelled with family members by road from Lagos to Benin City (twice) and between Benin City and Iruekpen (thrice), we had our hearts in our mouths due to the “unfriendly” condition of the roads. We also feared for our safety but the presence of policemen and soldiers on the way allayed our concerns.
I am using this opportunity to appeal to the federal government to fix these roads as soon as possible and consider a minimum of 50 metres setback after the thick bushes on either side of the busy highway must have been cleared. Most accidents occur as motorists struggle to avoid the numerous potholes and failed sections of the highway. The Benin – Iruekpen road is a death trap.
On January 24, our mother was laid to rest at her home in Benin City. During the service of songs the previous day, it rained briefly – for about five minutes and stopped – as I read her profile.
We are thankful to family members, friends, colleagues, associates and well-wishers for their support, generosity, kindness, prayers and participation.
May Mama’s memory continue to be a blessing.
Braimah is a global public relations and marketing strategist. He is also the publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (https://lagospost.ng), and can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
THERE is hardly any jurisdiction in the common law in which a man with his current record could possibly still sit as a judge of a superior court of record. In Nigeria, however, Hyeladzira Nganjiwa proudly sits on the bench of the Federal High Court and currently serves in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State in South-East Nigeria. From the bench, he has been embroiled in all sorts controversy lately .
Nganjiwa went to Government Secondary School, Damaturu, when it used to be part of Borno State, finishing in 1978. In 1979, University of Lagos admitted him to read law. In 1984, he enrolled to become a lawyer in Nigeria. Nganjiwa did his compulsory national service with the Ajaokuta Steel Company, before finishing it in 1985 with the Ministry of Justice in Ilorin when both were part of old Kwara State.
Thereafter, Nganjiwa returned to his native Borno State, from where he compiled a career as a public prosecutor, rising to the rank of Chief Legal Officer at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, until 1995, when he became Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the Borno State Ministry of Justice. Nganjiwa thereafter returned to private practice from where President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him a judge and he was sworn into the bench of the Federal High Court on May 28, 2012.
Less than a few years into his judicial career, Nganjiwa was accused of sundry allegations on which he was charged to court.
Persuaded that the judge was transacting in shady judicial business, the EFCC arraigned Nganjiwa a mere five years into his judicial career on June 23, 2017 on 14 counts of unlawful enrichment. This was a charge of judicial graft.
A judge who takes his office seriously will be affronted by such a charge and will make it a priority to clear his name. This was the least of Nganjiwa’s concerns, however. Instead, he asserted impunity, claiming that the court could not try him when he had not yet been disciplined by the National Judicial Council, NJC. This was worse than an odd argument to make for three reasons.
First, the NJC polices judicial misconduct alright but is neither the police nor a public prosecutor. Second, the NJC lacks the wherewithal by itself to investigate unlawful enrichment. Third, it was akin to saying judges are lawless. Rule 1(1) of Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers, which the NJC enforces, requires all judges to “respect and comply with the laws of the land…” That would include the laws on unlawful enrichment.
At the High Court of Lagos, Justice Adeola Akintoye was not much persuaded by this objection and threw it out. Nganjiwa appealed to the Court of Appeal, which agreed with him. On December 11, 2017, the Court of Appeal ruled that he could not be prosecuted, unless the NJC had disciplined him on the matter.
Interestingly, in the same judgement, the Court observed that : “If a judicial officer commits theft, fraud, murder or manslaughter, arson and the likes, which are crimes committed outside the scope of the performance of his official functions, he may be arrested, interrogated and prosecuted accordingly by the State directly without recourse to the NJC.” The Court of Appeal was able to see that theft, fraud, murder or manslaughter were not part of the job specification for a judge. But they seemed to believe that judicial corruption could be; but we digress.
A dissatisfied EFCC appealed to the Supreme Court, which at the end of May 2022, threw out the appeal and discharged Nganjiwa. It did not acquit him though. So, the Supreme Court set him free but fully blemished with the whiff of judicial corruption.
In any other jurisdiction, this would have been the end of Nganjiwa’s judicial career but in the weird logic of the NJC, however, it was its rejuvenation instead. On the 10th anniversary of his appointment as a judge of the Federal High Court, Nganjiwa, who had been under suspension all these years while the proceedings went on, returned to the bench with a license once more to go judging.
Last November, the latest postings by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court took Nganjiwa to Abakaliki. As if by divine synch, one month later on December 20, Godswill Akpabio, president of the Senate, formally declared vacancies in respect of certain seats in the upper chamber, including that for Ebonyi South, formerly represented by David Umahi who now serves as a Minister in the federal cabinet.
Two days thereafter, on December 22, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, issued a notice of by-elections covering the seats which the Senate president had declared vacant. It required the parties to conduct their primaries for purposes of selecting their candidates between January 5 and 9, and to complete candidate nomination formalities by January 13. In all, the parties had 17 days (including week-ends) to complete candidate selection and another four days to complete all filings with INEC. The Commission fixed actual voting in the by-elections for February 3.
On January 9, five persons claiming to be “intending delegates” in the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, initiated proceedings in Nganjiwa’s court in suit no. FHC/AI/CS/6/2024 between Chief Stanley Okochie Nkaa & 4 Others v. PDP, INEC & 2 Others, asking the judge to exclude the party from the by-election because the selection of its candidate, Silas Onu, four days earlier, was not preceded by 21 days’ notice. The law actually only allows aspirants to sue.
In the course of the proceedings, one of the named plaintiffs told the court that he had not instructed anyone to initiate the case in his name. His name was removed from the list of parties. That should have told most judges that something was not right. But not this one.
But 23 days after the case was filed, on February 1, Nganjiwa issued a 57-page judgement granting the claimants everything they asked for. He specifically issued “an order of perpetual injunction” restraining INEC from recognising the PDP candidate in the by-election, “and his name shall not be included in the election”.
This was exactly two days before the by-election. As a practical matter, this was not an order that the INEC could have complied with without postponing the ballot in Ebonyi South because it had printed all the ballot papers and deployed significant electoral capability ahead of the date. As most sensible lawyers know, injunctions are equitable remedies and equity does not act in vain.
Having made these serious orders against INEC (a defendant) in the proceedings, however, Nganjiwa very curiously also awarded costs of one million Naira in its favour to be paid by the PDP and its candidate whom he had just directed the Commission to exclude.
In the course of his judgment, Nganjiwa felt called upon to justify why he had to accept everything INEC said as gospel. He described the Commission as “an unbiased Empire” (sic), proclaiming that as the reason why he had “no doubt in my mind to doubt whatever information(s) supplied by the (INEC)” (sic).
When you end up with a court judgement that induces moral and jurisprudential indigestion on this scale, there is a word for it: you have been Nganjiwad.
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.
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I grew up amongst Methodists and was taught by some of their best like Reverend J Obaba. Methodist Presbyter Samuel Adeoye Osinulu who was Principal of the Methodist Boys High School, MBHS, Lagos from 1955 to 1966, influenced generations of youths. These included the founding Governor of Lagos State, Brigadier General Mobolaji Johnson; his successor, Naval Admiral Adekunle Shamusideen Lawal; former Ogun State Governor, Segun Osoba; ex-Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Nuraini Yusuf; and former National Planning Minister, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi who actually lived in his house as a boarder.
The MBHS had also produced the founding President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and his fellow nationalist, Chief Hezekiah Oladipo Davis.
Indeed, the Methodists in Nigeria are some of the best Christians on earth. However, the main problem is that for decades, a land-grabbing syndicate which prices earthly things far above heavenly gains, has entrenched itself in the Methodist Church Nigeria, MCN.
This cartel, has an incredibly insatiable appetite for church and school property. In Lagos alone, they have swallowed the lands of the Methodist Primary School, Yaba. They fell on the lands of the Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Lagos. Only the resistance of the Old Girls has saved the school’s sports field. The cabal has also run the Wesley University, Ondo, aground.
After the Tinubu administration in Lagos returned schools to the missions and former private proprietors, the cartel immediately seized the old MBHS school premises on 11, Broad Street, Lagos and swallowed it.
It was while digesting this, the cabal in 2012 first invaded the MBHS school lands at its new site on 11, Sinari Daranijo Street, Victoria Island wanting to build high-rise private luxury flats for sale to the public.
In the last dozen years, this is the Third Missionary Journey of the MBHS Old Boys after receiving SOS calls from the school, to ‘Come over to Macedonia’ and rescue it from the Church cabal. The battles to save the school lands have been waged each time a Prelate of the MCN is leaving or a new one comes into office.
Let me give a background. Methodist missionaries established the MBHS in 1878. I was privileged to be a student and Prefect when the school marked its centenary.
The first battles were in 2012 when Prelate Sunday Ola Makinde was about departing. The church administration, saying it wanted to raise funds, moved into the school premises to build private flats.
However, the Old Boys led by Mr Toyin Amusan, blocked the move. A peace meeting held on July 11, 2012 with a 17-Member MCN delegation led by Prelate Makinde, agreed to leave the school lands which by then, had been reduced by land grabbers from 5.7 to 3.3 hectares.
The second attempt was in 2021 under Prelate Samuel Chukwuemeka Kalu Uche. This attempt was again resisted by the Old Boys. The MCN led by the Prelate and the Old Boys led by Mr Kolapo Sogbetun, held peace meetings on November 2 and 9, 2021 to resolve the stalemate. Prelate Uche ordered the church and its agents never to touch the school lands again. He however, made two requests of the Old Boys. First, that they should refund the N30 million the Church had spent on construction, and secondly, provide an alternative land for the MCN business ventures. Three days later, the Old Boys formally wrote the church, accepting both requests and also offering to contribute in building the new church business premises. However, the MCN in its November 18, 2021 letter signed by its Secretary, Rt Reverend Michael. O. Akinwale said the Prelate made a mistake in requesting for N30 million and that the actual compensation it wants the Old Boys to pay it is N390 million. But the Old Boys stuck to the initial agreement.
The on-going third stage battles began in 2023 after Prelate Oliver Ali Aba took over the MCN mantle. Compared to his predecessors, Reverend Aba has been the most tactical, brazen and audacious. When his agents who invaded the school lands were evicted in August 2023, he made a tactical withdrawal and then on Monday, January 29, 2024, the MCN cabal returned in full force complete with over five dozen armed thugs who physically attacked the unarmed Old Boys led by 81-year-old Chief Tunde Fanimokun and 85-year-old Reverend Peter Omole.
When I watched the videos of the attacks, they reminded me of the heartless attacks by armed bandits of the Idoma villages which produced Prelate Aba.
Some have questioned how we knew that the attackers are thugs and not members of the church. My answer is simple: Methodists are not scruffy, cudgel-welding, stone-throwing, foul-speaking ‘Area Boys’. In any case, some Old Boys at the scene identified and called by name, some of the clearly drugged attackers because they are known street thugs in the vicinity.
I have also read some opinions online arguing that since the MBHS is in Lagos, the focus should be on the Lagos Diocese not the national MCN. This is an uninformed opinion and an attempt by the Church’s National Headquarters to hide behind a finger.
First, the Lagos State Government handed over the school to the national MCN, not the Diocese. Secondly, the body that surreptitiously obtained a second C of O Number 21/21/20112 signed by Governor Raji Fashola on February 6, 2012, was the MCN. This was a vain attempt to override the subsisting C of O in the name of MBHS, signed by Governor Lateef Jakande on October 25, 1983.
Thirdly, it was the Registered Trustees of the MCN which on July 20, 2012 incorporated the J. Wesley Investment Company limited with N10 million shares. The 14 shareholders who are the Trustees themselves, include then Prelate Sunday Makinde with N3.5 million shares, and his predecessor, Dr Sunday Coffie Mbang with N500,000 shares. Then, the same MCN Trustees on November 11, 2016, illegally, sold 8,235.744 square metres of the MBHS school land to their private company for the princely sum of N1 million.
Fourthly, it is the MCN Trustees and their private J Wesley company that are using the school lands as collateral. Fifthly, it is the twosome that are building commercial flats in violation of the C of O that specifically states that the lands are for educational purposes only.
The truth stands naked; however, the current leaders of the MCN are desperate to robe it in priestly attires. The little veiled aim of the cabal is to relocate the MBHS and take over its entire lands.
Conscientious Nigerians, Methodists worldwide and the Lagos Sate Government need to join the Old Boys in ensuring that not an inch of the MBHS lands is stolen under any guise.
[OPINION] Five Simple Things President Tinubu Should Do to Ease Killing Hardship in Nigeria - Femi Olufunmilade
Admin1. Flush out terrorists that have made a soft target of farming communities in Benue, Plateau, Niger, Taraba and Zamfara states. Then facilitate the return of displaced persons, mostly farmers, back to their communities with security and rehabilitation support ahead of the fast-approaching farming season. And ensure the terrorists are prevented from migrating to attack other states. These will boost food production and stem the rising food inflation.
2. Ensure the commencement of refining of petroleum products at the Port Harcourt and Dangote Refineries translate to significant reduction in the pump price of products as openly anticipated by the the Central Bank's Governor, Yemi Cardoso, recently. Indeed, that's the anticipation of most Nigerians. Significant price-reduction in petroleum products will have huge, positive multiplier effects on all sectors of the economy in the form of reduced cost of products and services to the Nigerian consumers. Cost of transportation, food, soap, pomade, dresses etc will go down. The President owes us this. Port Harcourt refinery is a public utility, while Dangote refinery was built with huge public support such as $2 billion FG-guaranteed Chinese loan, NNPC 20% shareholding acquired for $2.7 billion, and concessionary forex to the tune of billions of dollars from our Central Bank. Even God Almighty holds the view that: "To whom much is given, much is expected" (Luke 12: 48). Let those paid talkers coming on TV to tell us it's Aliko Dangote's prerogative to sell petroleum products to us at his preferred prices shut up and stop being callous and inhuman! Nigerians are co-stakeholders in the Dangote Refinery! If profit reduction is what this will require, so be it!
3. Send an executive bill to the National Assembly on State Police. A unitary police system has failed resoundingly in a supposedly federal state. The failure became noticeable under President Babangida who advised landlord associations nationwide to form Neighbourhood Vigilantes. The problem has assumed a monstrous look now beyond the capabilities of stick and machete-weilding vigilantes. Hence, we have attained a national consensus on State Police. I can consult in this respect, in case the president is encumbered by the so-called dangers of State Police. I have an exhaustive list of such dangers with appropriate counter-measures. Vaccilating further on this subject that borders on life and death only reinforces the skepticism of those who insist the issue of restructuring to President Tinubu was only a matter of rabble-rousing sloganeering while scheming to be president. One uncharitable fellow likened the president to a philanderer who defaulted in his commitment to a band of ladies of easy virtue.
4. Reintroduce fixed exchange rate for sectors that constitute the lifewire of our economy and weigh heavily on people's welfare in a regime of openness, transparency, and accountability in the allocation of available foreign exchange. The current experiment is destroying our economy and livelihoods. People are being pushed into poverty for no fault of theirs. Their salaries and savings are simply losing value in the floating forex market hourly! We need to ration what we have on a scale of preference. For example, pharmaceutical industries and other manufacturing concerns will be offered forex to import rawmaterials, production equipment and machineries. Round-tripping will be prevented by putting in place necessary safeguards, including EFCC arrest and prosecution of errant bank officials and importers. Those who need forex to import Champagne, Rolls Royce, Gucci wears etc can purchase forex from the parallel market. Unless this is done, the Naira will continue to slide in value. We ain't seen nothing yet. Those hackneyed arguments about corruption in a fixed exchange rate regime aren't helping us. Even in its floating state, corrupt manipulators are killing the Naira!
5. Introduce mandatory health insurance for all Nigerians. A N1,000 per each of 200 million Nigerians will amount to N200 billion. That's chicken feed in your budget. You can double it over time and limit beneficiaries to Nigerians with NIN and let the coverage be total for those above 60 years and below 20 years. The intricacies can be worked out. I wasn't a baby when the UPN States in the Second Republic ran a Free Health programme in their states: Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, and Bendel. The late Bola Ige, my illustrious mentor and boss, once told me that, as Oyo State Governor in the Second Republic, he ensured that, at all times, all public health facilities had enough stock of three categories of simple pills, which, according to him, took care of not less than 60% of records of illnesses: antimalarial, antibiotics, and analgesics. For now, people are dying of common malaria in hundreds of thousand due to lack of money to buy antimalarial, talkless of those with high BP, diabetes and the like! And you and your lieutenants should set a good example by patronising a local hospital. You can create a presidential section at the National Hospital and equip same to suit your needs. We no go vex.
--- Olufunmilade is a Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies; and Director, Buratai Center for Contemporary Security Affairs, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Nigeria.
January came with mixed emotions in Akwa Ibom State with the passage of two of its political leaders – Senator Itak Ekarika and a former member of House of Representatives and businessman, Hon. Bassey Etim. They served the country diligently at the National Assembly and contributed immensely to the development of the state in various capacities. I shall devote more space for them in another piece, but for today, I will like to pay attention to another icon, statesman, two-term member of the House of Representatives and former Minister of the federal republic, Chief Nduese Essien, who turned 80 on Saturday, February 2. He was in the House between 1999 and 2007, and on April 6, 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him minister of the newly created Lands, Housing and Urban Development ministry. As a pioneer minister, Chief Essien not only established the requisite bureaucratic structure and human resources, he also ensured the review of the National Building Code, resolved the lingering crises at the Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Authority and completed the ministry’s headquarters building. Chief Essien is a community leader, elder statesman, astute politician and my good friend. I send my best wishes to our newest octogenarian, a man of noble pedigree and good breeding.
Even as a young businessman, Chief Essien was a household name in the 1980s when he founded and managed a chain of bookshops known as, Students Care Bookshop, in Calabar and its environs. It was a favourite shopping place for books and stationeries in those days for undergraduate students. But I only got close to him in 2021 while writing a book on the oil politics of the Obasanjo presidency. In a clear violation of the Constitution, President Obasanjo had refused to pay the Niger Delta States, especially Akwa Ibom State, the 13% oil revenue from derivation. This led to a six-year fight between the federal government on one side and some Akwa Ibom professionals, activists, elders and politicians led by then-governor Victor Attah. I should note that the other Niger Delta States were also deeply involved in the struggle. The book, ‘’Akwa Ibom Heroes: Inside the Struggle for the abrogation of onshore-offshore oil dichotomy’’, published in December 2021, details the various dimensions of this struggle and the 13 persons who played major parts on the side of the Akwa Ibom State government. Chief Nduese Essien is one of them.
I interviewed him (and others) for weeks and got deep insight into the politics and fights that led to the scrapping of the obnoxious dichotomy and the compromises and negotiations that resulted in the creation of NDDC. On his vantage position as the Chairman of the South-South Parliamentary Caucus of the National Assembly, Chief Essien worked with governors, lawmakers, technocrats and others to achieve what has become a major milestone in the history of Akwa Ibom, and till this day, his invaluable contributions continue to inspire succeeding generations of leaders. In addition to leading the caucus, he also served on the House committees for internal affairs and women affairs in his first term, and because of his integrity and self-discipline, he was appointed chairman of the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, National Ethics, and Values upon his reelection in 2003. Additionally, he was elected regional director in charge of West Africa and served as chairman of the Nigerian Chapter of the African Parliamentarians Network against Corruption.
On Sunday, a large crowd of dignitaries, led by Governor Umo Eno, trooped to his hometown to celebrate with him. In speeches after speeches, the dignitaries praised the octogenarian for his patriotism, love for his people and mental acuity. ‘’Chief Nduese Essien is a leader with the courage of his convictions. His intellectual and patriotic contributions have earned him deep respect and admiration across borders’’, said Senator Ekong Sampson, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, who represents the elder stateman in the upper chamber.
Born on February 2, 1944, in Nta Isip, Ikot Ibiok in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Essien is one of Nigeria’s most remarkable national lawmakers, political activists and thought leaders. He attended the Qua Iboe Church Primary School, Usung Inyang Eket, before proceeding to the Salvation Army Secondary School, Akai Ubium, all in today’s Akwa Ibom State, for his secondary education. He later moved to St. Augustine’s Grammar School, Nkwere, Orlu, Imo State, where he completed his secondary education before proceeding to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he earned a B.Sc in Business Administration in 1972.
Soon after he left ABU, Chief Essien was hired by Nigerian Chronicle newspaper, Calabar, then a thriving state-owned newspaper, and was assigned to the commercial division. From the Chronicle, he joined College of Technology, Calabar (now Cross River State University of Technology), as a lecturer. He left in 1979 to start business consultancy which soon diversified into other ventures, including Students Care Bookshop, one of the biggest indigenous bookshops in the then Cross River State.
As a young man, Chief Essien was interested in in the politics of the time which largely focused on military rule, state creation and the return to democracy. He never missed an opportunity to speak up in local and national conversations. He is well-known among his peers, particularly in St. Augustine's Grammar School, Nkwere, and ABU, where he began his activism. In 1979, he was elected Public Relations Officer of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Eket chapter.
After his two terms at the National Assembly, Chief Essien returned to live with his people in Eket, supporting grassroots, state and national initiatives at peace and consensus building especially during the peak of militancy in the Niger Delta region. He was appointed to serve on the National Technical Committee on the Niger Delta. It was the committee that created the blueprint for peace, which culminated in the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme and the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. In 2014, Chief Essien was appointed into the National Reform Conference where he joined eminent Nigerians from all walks of life to produce a report that could have resolved some of our national issues if it had been implemented. It was shortly after the National Conference that he voluntarily retired from active politics. Chief Nduese is my neighbour in Uyo, and I have formed the habit of walking over to see him whenever we are in town. He is an intellectual with a laser-sharp mind who swerves easily from serious sociopolitical discussions to jovial banters, interspersed with loud guttural laughter.
He has been honoured with many chieftaincy titles, including the Attah of Eket, Adaidaha ke Efik Ebrutu, Onwa Na’Etiriora of Amanze Kingdom in Anambra State, among others. I join others to wish Chief Essien good health as we look forward to his climbing up the ninth floor!
Enugu State has maintained considerable level of political stability since the fourth republic. After then Gov. Chimaroke Nnamani vs Chief Jim Nwobodo skirmish that tored the State House of Assembly apart (2000 — 2003) and other unpalatable happenstances that characterized Nnamani's second term (2003 — 2007), Barr. Sullivan Chime succeeded him, holding out olive branch of pacification. From thence, subsequent administrations have maintained a stable polity both in the judicial, legislative and executive arms of government. This millpond calmness subsisted presumably because the State was a running on one-party system. Peter Obi's Labour Party (LP) thwarted this equation, as a result of which current Governor Peter Mbah was not all that "lucky" like his predecessors to inherit a unipolar State legislature.
Until the recent fiats of the state election petition tribunal, Labour Party had more members than the ruling PDP in Enugu State House of Assembly. The stakes were tensed as rivalry of the two parties heightened by the claims that Mbah was sitting on a mandate he allegedly 'stole' from their member — Hon. Chijioke Edoga. As the inauguration of the House drew nearer, and the politics of which party should produce Speaker was raging, hearings began at the various tribunals. Suffice to say that Gov. Mbah was dragged to limit and his temperance stretched at both ends.
If he escaped one, he may not be lucky in the other. However, by a dint of rule of law, in line with the provisions of the House rule, the leadership question was settled seamlessly as the minority held sway. Then every attention was turned to the tribunal, with torrents of evidence and counter evidence accompanied by tumultuous social media frenzy. From tribunal to the Supreme Court, those who had passed vote of no confidence on the judiciary after it quashed Peter Obi's petition, still managed to hip too much hope that Mbah will be sacked, by the "forthrightness" of the self same judiciary.
It then follows that what they hated was more of Mbah's guts than the judiciary. They were ready to cuddle the "corrupt" judiciary in their newfound strange bed fellowship, so long as it can sack Mbah. It was a deja vu of what St. Augustine of Hippo preached to his congregation about those who make selective adherence to Bible teachings. "If you believe what you like in the bible, and reject the ones that don't sit well with your ego or lust, then it's yourself you believed in, not the Bible" said the Doctor of the universal Church. Like the Church of ancient North Africa where Augustine pastored, these Party faithfuls had selective belief on the judiciary in relation to electoral jurisprudence.
No one should blame them. Never in the history of a democratic Nigeria did we witnessed such sociopolitical revolution. It weighed heavily on Enugu, as then Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (though a member of the G-5 group of PDP) did not buy the idea of result mutilation to rig the election as the leader of the group did in his state. Mbah did not have it easy on the ballot like predecessors. Those who are already angered by PDP's antecedence of "ojebego" electoral slogans took their rebellion to opposition. Despite being a Catholic and Edoga an Anglican, Mbah faced strife during Mass, at Ugwu Di nso Eke Catholic Church. It was a pointer to an impending revolution in the state, seeing that the stigma found home even in the Church. The venerable iconic image of Holy family of Nazareth (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) was replaced by three avatar images in Labour Party logo and shared virally across social media platforms.
It was a potent signal that Enugu politics will witness unprecedented turnaround from the status quo, for as Paschal Blaise said, "Men never do anything so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
The shocker came on the first ballot — Presidential and National Assembly polls on February 25 2023, which saw LP sweep majority of the federal legislative seats in the state. However, after a careful postmortem of what transpired, some Bishops of the faith of both Governorship candidates called for caution on how their faithfuls indulge in protest voting.
Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma of Enugu Anglican Communion was the first tweet: "Saturday (25th February) a lot of mistakes were made because of wrong emotion. Some who were elected have no experience and cannot legislate. That mistake must be avoided during the Governorship and State Assembly elections on 18th March please. The Church will surely speak!" His Catholic counterpart in Nsukka diocese — Bishop Godfrey Onah through his homilies corroborated similar sentiment, which led to allegations from LP members that he was bribed with N5million by ruling party.
What these Church leaders implied was that best leadership reform happens when people de-emphasize party and adopt best candidates, irrespective of party affiliation. But their message was coming"late" as some wrongly claimed. Of the 17 Local Government Areas in the state, it was only two which results were contested. This showed the influence of the voices from pulpits. Yet Enugu will not remain the same again. Peter Obi's goodwill is contagious, and it trickles down to all candidates of the party whether merited or not.
But it was incredible that amidst all these, Peter Mbah maintained serene decorum. He never appeared swayed by the whirlwind of novel rivalry. While, waging judicial war of alleged electoral malpractice and the crisis of legitimacy and acceptance among Ndi Enugu, Mbah fearlessly went ahead to touch the lion's tail when he decided to implement one of his campaign promises — eradication of the endemic Monday sit-at-home order in Enugu.
As a way of little background, Nnamdi Kanu's inductrination of a faction of native Igbo youths (majority of whom have no social capital) into his Biafra secession struggle has demystified the highly-revered Igbo witt. They take irrational decisions on their hollow approach and dictatorially impose it on the whole tribe. And so, their irreconcilable sit-at-home strategy was deep wound in the flesh of Ndigbo. How could anyone do this to the fledging economy of the region?
It didn't sit well with anyone. It was a dreadful plague. But overtime, Stockholm syndrome began to set in among them, and they started falling in love with the suffering. Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition in which a hostage emotionally bonds to his or her captor. The term came from a Swedish Norrmalmstorgssyndromet, which was named after the robbery of Kreditbanken at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 — 28, 1973. And when rescuers broke in to free them and arrest the captors, the hostages started defending their captors.
In layman’s understanding, Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response, that occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. This psychological connection develops over the course of the days, weeks, months, or even years of captivity or abuse.
A prototype of that condition was happening to Ndigbo nay Enugu people when Mbah enforced the Monday sit-at-home abolition order in the state. A fraction of the suffering masses covertly rose in defence of the IPOB order.
They have fallen in love with their abusers. People now use Mondays to rest, and works begin on Tuesdays.
Mbah still managed to have his way in the end by consistently preaching the gospel of liberation and enforcement order until Monday is restored to the weekly calendar of the state. If this was not done, his local/foreign investment renewal dream for the state would be a tall order.
He also went on to dare another sacred grail of Enugu politics — public water scheme. Over a half century, government boreholes was not just dry but dilapidated in Enugu. He promised to rehabilitate it in his manifesto. However, private merchants of waters supply in the State also attempted to impose another level of Stockholm syndrome on the people. They tried to gaslight the masses to talk down on the project, in an attempt to perpetuate their capitalist grip of the monopoly water business in the state. In the end, the dream came through, as the honorable commissioner for Information and Communication , Mr AKA Eze Aka announced it and provided details.
It is quite interesting that within eight months, a full book of essay on sociopolitical happenstance can be written of a State that hardly made news over the past two decades of democratic experiment. When tumults arise, people of rare stern personalities usually rise to hold out the stake. From the foregoing, Mbah may be of that stock. If this becomes the case, then Enugu will be better for it.
May daylight spare us!
✍️ Jude Eze.