The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Lunacy at dawn

    Lunacy at dawn

    Separatist agitators early last week staged an attempt at insurrection, racking up fleeting attention but nothing more in consequential effect for their cause. In Ibadan, the separatists seized the airwaves of a local radio station for about an hour before being dislodged; and in Lagos, another squad assayed to overawe a divisional police station at the very seat of the state government, Alausa. By the time the wave of madness blew over, seven of them were in combined hold of security agents while the others were in flight – some with injuries sustained from their daring affront to the law. It was one rash challenge to the Nigerian statehood that was put down as swiftly as plied.

    The insurrection bids were separately staged in Oyo and Lagos state capitals, but obviously coordinated and strategically timed – factors pointing to an unseen hand and grand mastermind. Both attempts were staged simultaneously at dawn on the eve of the 29th May inauguration of the Bola Tinubu presidency in Abuja and sub-national administrations in 28 states, including Oyo and Lagos. The cause was the same, namely purported enthronement of a Yoruba Nation, and the modus operandi similar as the agitators wielded crude weapons and fetish totems and were clad in insignias of their dream republic. You couldn’t fail to see a roost operator in the shadows for whom they fronted as foot soldiers.

    In the Ibadan incident, the agitators hijacked the studio and seized the airwaves of Amuludun FM 99.1, a sub-station of government-owned Radio Nigeria, for about an hour. They reportedly stormed the station at about 5:40a.m. on Sunday, 28th May, in an 18-seater bus and held some night duty staff and the security guards hostage. Eyewitness accounts said six of them took over the studio while others mounted surveillance outside, chanting ‘Welcome to Yoruba Nation’ and threatening to harm staff members should they refuse to cooperate. The insurrectionists had earlier hijacked some vehicles to block the access route to the station, apparently so to impede early intervention by security agents. They also seized phones belonging to the station staff to prevent ‘SoS’ calls being made, and ordered them to remove Nigerian flags at the station and replace these with ‘Yoruba Nation’ flags.

    Reports further said upon arrival on the scene, the police initially tried to talk the agitators out of their crazy adventure as the area commander addressed them and even pleaded with them, but they did not listen to him. When the police got reinforced and were joined by army personnel, however, shots rang out and sent the agitators fleeing. But that was not before five of them, including a female member, had been nabbed. Speaking on the incident, the Oyo police command said its operatives on patrol intercepted a distress call about agitators who hijacked the radio station with the intent to declare liberation from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “Thankfully, no personnel from the establishment or any other person was hurt as the command responded swiftly in a well-coordinated rescue operation,” command spokesman Osifeso Adewale, a Superintendent of Police (SP) representing Police Commissioner Adebowale Williams, said as he declared the insurrection act “a clear case of terrorism” and vowed the perpetrators would be brought to book.

    About the same time that the Ibadan incident was unfolding, another set of separatist agitators stormed the Alausa Police Division in Lagos, chanting subversive songs and making video recordings with their phones. Lagos police command spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said in a statement that two of the agitators were arrested while the rest took to their heels when the police responded to them. According to him, in the course of their protest, the agitators assaulted some divisional police officers who attempted to disperse them. “Police reinforcement was promptly dispatched and  two of the agitators were arrested, while others escaped,” Hundeyin stated, adding: “Various charms, cutlasses and the insignia of the group were recovered from them. The Yoruba Nation agitators claimed they came to inform the station with an official letter that they have been approved (for take-off) by the United Nations.” The police spokesman further said investigation had commenced and the arrested suspects had volunteered valuable information, offering insight into the group’s membership and future plans as could aid the police to proactively deal with the threat it poses.

    Reports from police parade of the arrested suspects cited one of them saying someone codenamed ‘Black Lion’  enlisted them to hijack the radio station and go on air that Yoruba Nation had been established and there was nothing the Nigerian security establishment could do to stop them. The suspect was further reported saying the fellow who enlisted the agitators was not resident in Nigeria and was interacted with through phone calls – never mind it seems beyond him to have accurate details of enlister’s location when he doesn’t even know his true identity.

    Reputed scholar, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, is widely known to be in the vanguard of Yoruba self-determination struggle, but he disowned the separatist agitators, describing their actions as lawless and profoundly criminal. Akintoye in a statement by his spokesman, Olatunde Amusat, said he was aware of the existence of a group running a “totally different agenda for Yoruba emancipation” by way of criminal exploits. He stated: “The group has been warned repeatedly, but has refused to change. The Yoruba self-determination led by me runs a struggle that is totally peaceful and law abiding… We have no relationship whatsoever with the group that has repeatedly engaged in crime and we have no hands in their criminal conduct.”

    The separatist pitches in Ibadan and Lagos early last week were misadventures on steroids. The agitators were projecting an imaginary republic on the turf of an existent one, wielding cutlasses and puny charms against lethal arms of Nigerian security establishment. It was a new high in the civility quotient of Nigeria Police personnel and other security operatives who joined them that they did not bring down the separatist actors in a bloodbath. Civilised rules of engagement were obviously applied, and for this the security forces deserve commendation. This particular experience proves that tackling demonstrations or agitations by segments of the civil  populace in this country does not need to result in fatalities.

    But that isn’t to say the separatist agitators were not sheer nut cases and were only out on their lucky day, otherwise the mission they embarked upon was suicidal. It is seditious enough to hijack the airwaves licensed by a sovereign. You do not challenge an actual sovereignty with an imaginary sovereignty and hope to write your memoirs thereafter. A more substantial issue, for me, is who the separatist actors were working for, because it is beyond question there was a coordinating hand behind those wildcat pitches. Against the backdrop of alarms repeatedly sounded as inhering against the 29th May transition, the timing of the separatist strikes early last week seemed like a last-ditch effort to impede the handover. And the agitators obviously had a funder: some of them were clad in T-shirts bearing imprints of ‘Yoruba Nation Police’ and ‘Yoruba Nation Army’ – a uniform wear that someone other than the actors themselves must have paid to be produced. Besides, the simultaneity of the pitches in Ibadan and Lagos indicated a coordinating mastermind; and so was the strategic choice of targets: a Federal Government-owned radio station in Ibadan and a police divisional office in Alausa that is the seat of the Lagos State Government. With suspects having been arrested by the police and implicating items found with them, it shouldn’t be too difficult for the security agencies to unravel who enlisted and field-marshalled the agitators, and as well paid for the production of insurrection insignias. Uncovering such identity could get the nation closer to knowing the architects of the purported interim government whose ghost haunted the build-up to the 29th May transition.

    •Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.

  • Domineering DSS

    Domineering DSS

    Dramatically, the Department of State Services (DSS) yet again demonstrated lawlessness when its agents prevented personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from entering their Lagos office on May 30.

    The incident, which happened a day after the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu, suggested that the security agency may well continue to exhibit habitual lawlessness under the new administration. It took the intervention of the new president to normalise the situation.

    Tinubu’s spokesman, Tunde Rahman, said he had directed the DSS to “immediately vacate” the office of the EFCC, after reports of the incident were brought to his attention. According to him, “The President said if there were issues between the two important agencies of government, they would be resolved amicably.”

    It was abnormal that a government agency acted like a bully against another government agency. But that’s what the DSS did in this case. EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren said in a statement that its operatives arrived at their office, No. 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi on the morning of May 30, and were “denied entry by agents of the Department of State Services, DSS, who had barricaded the entrance with armoured personnel carriers.”

     He added that the action was “strange to the commission given that we have cohabited with the DSS in that facility for 20 years without incident.”  He also said “By denying operatives access to their offices, the commission’s operations at its largest hub with over 500 personnel, hundreds of exhibits, and many suspects in detention” were disrupted.  

    The alleged disruption affected cases scheduled for court hearings, and suspects who had been invited for questioning, he explained, noting that the incident had “wider implications for the nation’s fight against economic and financial crimes.”

    The two agencies should be partners, but the incident suggests the contrary. The “roles and functions” of the DSS include “Prevention, Detection and Investigation of threats of Espionage, Subversion, Sabotage, Terrorism, Separatist agitations, Inter-group conflicts, Economic crimes of national security dimension and threats to law and order.” The EFCC was established “to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes.”

    It’s unclear why the DSS acted with hostility on that day.  It’s confusing that the security agency’s spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, issued a statement that said: “It is not correct that the DSS barricaded EFCC from entering its office. No, it is not true. The service is only occupying its own facility where it is carrying out its official and statutory responsibility.” Perhaps the DSS found it embarrassing to admit the truth.

     Afunanya then, perhaps unwittingly, introduced a matter that may well explain the abnormal behaviour of the security agents on the day. “By the way, there is no controversy over No 15A Awolowo Road as being insinuated by the media,” he said.  ”Did the EFCC tell you it is contesting the ownership of the building? I will be surprised if it is contesting the ownership.

    “Awolowo Road was NSO headquarters. SSS/DSS started from there. It is common knowledge. It is a historical fact.

    “There is no rivalry between the Service and the EFCC over and about anything. Please do not create any imaginary one. They are great partners working for the good of the nation. Dismiss any falsehood of a fight.”

    If there was no “fight,” why did he also say that the anti-graft agency had “reached out to” the DSS “for a final resolution of issues surrounding the property under reference”?

    He added: “While the service has accepted the commission’s entreaties and certain concessions, sections of the media are advised to apply restraint in their reportage of the matter in order to avoid instigating any rancours between the two agencies.”

    Whatever triggered the incident, the point is that the situation could have been better managed, particularly on the part of the DSS, which was the aggressor.

    It’s a cause for concern that the DSS has failed to reinvent itself despite continuous public condemnation of its repulsive style and notorious crude methods. An instance of institutional aggression involving its agents in December 2021 illustrates the agency’s negative consistency.

     On the receiving end was the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a non- governmental organisation focused on the National Assembly and its legislative role and activities.

      CISLAC protested about the invasion of its office in Abuja by DSS operatives in a December 29, 2021 letter to the agency’s Director General, Yusuf Bichi, on “intimidation and profiling of civil society groups during Yuletide.”   

    According to the organisation’s executive director, Auwal Musa, DSS operatives, on December 27, 2021, “stormed” the office of CISLAC, the National Chapter of Transparency International, TI Nigeria, in Abuja.

     ”Laying siege,” he said, “the operatives demanded to see the Chief Security Officer of the building…our initial thought was that these were individuals masquerading as DSS agents…

     ”This thought was further reinforced by the fact that there was no prior notice, invitation or pending request from your office regarding any such visit.”

    Any doubts about the identity of the invaders disappeared following a phone call from the organisation to a number provided by them. “An individual further confirmed that he was an agent of your agency providing details of his position,” the letter said.

    CISLAC wanted the agency’s boss to “investigate those who carried out this visit and for what purpose(s).” In addition, the organisation wanted him to “call these operatives to order and charge them to be civil in their approach and not militarise our nascent democracy.”

    The use of particular expressions in the CISLAC letter was of particular interest. The organisation described the said invasion as a “Gestapo approach.” It also called the action “unprofessional.” It further referred to the approach as “bad policing.”  

    It’s curious that the DSS regularly uses methods that are condemnable. The agency should not continue to act without a sense of the rule of law, and should understand that lawlessness can never help its case. It should stop acting like an oppressive bully in perpetual search of whom to oppress.

    After the latest DSS show of dominance, who knows what will happen next, to whom, or where? Which individual or organisation will fall victim to the agency’s domineering character next?  

  • Key success factors of fuel subsidy removal

    Key success factors of fuel subsidy removal

    Sir: Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) of the immediate past administration of President Buhari is N3.3 trillion proposed to be committed on petroleum subsidy between January and June.

     Meanwhile, it’s already in the public domain that the immediate past regime expended a whopping N11 trillion on subsidy from 2015 to May 2023 when it exited.  Instructively, subsidy regime has been originally scheduled to come to a close by the end of June.

    Sometime in April, Nigerians vividly recall that the ex-President, Muhammadu Buhari was indeed poised to declare that from the beginning of the first quarter of 2023, curtains would be drawn on subsidy era before he changed his mind, and announced that he would prefer the new government to take charge of the crucial decision.

     Remarkably, it’s that historic decision that President Bola Tinubu has taken that has attracted condemnations from few Nigerians who have over the years been holding the nation by the jugular. It’s therefore safe and germane to conclude that, these people are the architects of the uproar and propaganda reverberating across the country following the president’s declaration.

    It’s curious that successive Nigerian government revel in fuel importation at cut-throat prices despite the fact that we have four refineries that could conveniently and profitably refine our crude oil for domestic consumption, as well as for exports, if they’re allowed to function.

     While submitting that drawing the curtains on the regime of subsidy is extremely difficult, President Tinubu has no other choice than to implement the removal since it’s already provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).  

    The PIA provisions has given petroleum industry a new order with the improved fiscal framework, transparent governance, enhanced regulation and the creation of a commercial and independent National Oil Company that would operate independently and enjoy unfettered freedom from institutional regulations like Treasury Single Account (TSA) and other regulations that constitute bottlenecks in its operational activities.

    Thankfully, Buhari implemented the creation of NNPC Limited before he vacated. The president is therefore advised to take the implementation to the new level, especially by swiftly rehabilitating the nation’s refineries, as well as the pipelines across the nation, some of which have been significantly vandalized.

     Finally, it won’t be out of place for the government to roll out palliatives to cushion the effect of temporary pains and agony that the astronomical increase in prices of petroleum products would be inflicting on the citizenry and corporate organizations.

    Such palliatives could be in form ensuring that agricultural products flood the markets in all the nooks and crannies of the country and at affordable prices. May be the government need to immediately acquire fleet of trucks from China, Brazil, Japan or wherever for the purpose of moving the produce from wherever they’re being harvested to markets for the citizenry.

     Government could also move immediately to increase the workers wage at all levels of government, while also mandating the Central Bank of Nigeria to stem tide of inflation that would normally associate with such policy initiatives.

     The government could reach out to downtrodden members of society, through cash transfers to provide them succour.

     On a related note, the federal government should also move to radically and immediately ensure that power is made available to households and corporate organizations and at reasonable price. These initiatives, if implemented would significantly lessen the pains and tribulations being inflicted by the transition.

    I appeal to Nigerians to cooperate, collaborate and support the new government in its drive to refocus, reset and reposition the oil and gas sector, and other related activities that would ensure prosperity, as well as launch Nigeria into the comity of great nations.

    • Kola Amzat (FCA, FCIB) Lagos.
  • Fuel subsidy and the common man

    Fuel subsidy and the common man

    Sir: While I was in Kano on a social visit, I overheard a conversation that Uber drivers in Abuja had increased the cost of commuting from the airport to the city centre to N15,000. Given the new price, I knew any time I returned to Abuja, I would have to trek home. As a university lecturer, there is no way I could afford such a price.

    The abrupt removal of the fuel subsidy by President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu on the floor of his inauguration, has exacerbated the economic difficulties Nigerians have been battling for years. The president has made the announcement and it is already being implemented religiously. However, as Nigerians continue to groan, we need to realize that sustaining the subsidy will not only cripple the economy but will also continue to keep us deeply indebted.

    Initially, I wanted to frown at the fact that the removal was carried out in the absence of an economic team which ought to help in recommending strategies that will cushion its effects, but because Tinubu is an acclaimed strategist, I believe that a lot of thoughts and strategies would have been considered or are currently being considered.

    But how would the ordinary Nigerians survive the pangs the removal is coming with? They have been appealing for the implementation of the minimum wage, but the state governors have been reluctant about it. The reality is that some states can’t pay. But even if the minimum wage is implemented, it won’t take a man who has a family anywhere.

    According to the new price template, Lagos State has the lowest pump price at N488 per litre, while Maiduguri and Damaturu have the highest at N577 per litre.

    Many experts and agencies have been pushing for the removal of the fuel subsidy for years, one of which is the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI. It has been consistent with her call since 2006, saying it was concerned about the huge financial burden it places on the growth of the Nigerian economy.

    An estimated $74.39 billion which translates to N13.69 trillion was spent on subsidies between 2005 and 2021. This figure is outrageous. Nevertheless, for the fuel subsidy removal to have positive impact, there is an urgent need to strengthen the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Currently, the implementation isn’t total but halfway.

    There is also a need to kick-start people-oriented welfare programmes to cushion the pangs. In doing it, attention must be given to the poor and vulnerable. The government should prioritize the rehabilitation of the nation’s four refineries. Nigerians do not know the amount of PMS they consume daily. We ought to know. Additionally, the government should enforce stringent sanctions for criminal activities in the sector and conduct appropriate stakeholder consultations, engagements, and enlightenment.

    To my fellow compatriots, we must all come together and fix our country as this is the only way we can all beat our chest and be proud of what we have.

    •Gidado Yushau Shuaib,

    Baze University Abuja.

  • School without fear

    School without fear

    • The NSCDC initiative for safe schools gives some hope for boys and girls

    It is a score for education and for the nation’s children. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has created what it calls Safe Schools Special Response Squad (SSSRS).

    The main idea is to enhance education without fear in primary and secondary schools across the country.

    It is a cheering piece of news as, finally, the nation can rest assured that the children in our schools will enjoy peace of mind while they learn.

    “The new squad will undertake regular patrol and response to distress calls from schools and the host communities and their duties have been clearly spelt out in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP),” noted Dr. Ahmed Audi, NSCDC Commandant-General.

    The country has been at the mercy of bandits for the past few years as children have been carted away to unknown spots in forests and other hideouts. This has brought anxiety to parents and teachers. It has created trepidation in the political elite who have clutched at straws for solution as news of the bandits continue to embarrass them.

    The main targets have been schools in northern Nigeria, especially in Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states. These main culprits have been boarding schools. The nation also watched with benumbed eyes as boys were whisked out of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State. It is a drama no one will forget of boys compelled into a long trek through forest trails with nothing to eat but a diet of unknown vegetables.

    The story of the Chibok secondary school still jars our national imagination. At night, hundreds of girls were heaped on the back of trucks and taken across our national borders and held hostage for years, some of them returning as mothers and ostracised from their roots and removed in time from their families.

    Leah Shaibu still haunts us. She is said to be a wife by coercion and also a mother of at least one child. The boys lose all focus, and the girls lose their pride. Most of them are victims of rape, cut out of their prime by the impunity of lusts from men who hide under God to own other mortals. The name of the town Jangbebe wore a national resonance when over 300 boarding school girls were whisked away a few years back.

    Some students are still under captivity in parts of the north. In places like Kaduna and Niger states, counting of the missing has not stopped.

    The NSCDC had earlier set up all female squads in the states, and the purpose was to focus more on the girls. No clear reason was given for collapsing it into the new squad. Perhaps it was due to the male victims. When it was set up, Ahmed Audi laid out the objectives.

    “This squad is to combat kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism in our schools and across the state.

    “The squad is an initiative of the corps to curb attacks on the vulnerable, especially schools.”

    Audi said members of the squad were trained in combat strategies, as well as rigorous training in line with internal security to fight against all forms of insecurity,” Fasilu Adeyinka said this on his behalf when the Osun State squad was set up in 2022 in Osogbo.

    Whatever the reason for consolidating the squads, the new SSSRS is welcome and it shows there is serious thinking about keeping children safe in schools. Boarding schools have become rare in the north because of this uncertainty. The immediate past governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, reorganised boarding in schools to ensure that they are closer to their real homes and they were mostly day students.

    We hope that implementation does not belie the noble intention.

  • Non-custodial sanctions and public safety

    Non-custodial sanctions and public safety

    Sir: Recently, the criminal justice system in Nigeria witnessed a revival. The signing into law of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA, 2015) and the Nigerian Correctional Service Act (NCoS, 2019) brought about a shift from a punitive system of criminal sanction to a humane system that emphasises reformation and behaviour modification of offenders towards making them better citizens at the long run. Examples of such sanctions include probation, parole community service, suspended sentences etc.

    The non-custodial sanctions are cost effective and save tax-payers’ funds as government will save funds which should have been spent on housing, feeding and general welfare of offenders in custodial centres. Non-custodial measures such as community service, which the offender is expected to perform unpaid work that benefits the society, can help the government save funds which would have been spent on such works. Again, the offender serves his or her punishment in the community, while not truncating their employments as well as family and social ties. This kind of sanction promotes healing of the victims of the criminal offence, and carries the victim along in the correctional process of the offender.

    In fact, in this new regime, the community is an important stakeholder in offenders’ management as the onus is on them to support in supervising such offenders serving terms in the community.

    Interestingly, the non-custodial sanction promotes public safety as minor and first time offenders will serve sanctions in their communities instead of custodial facilities where they can be socialized into more serious criminal lifestyles. The non-custodial form of sanction will eventually prune down the security challenges being faced in our correctional facilities in such a way that it will culminate into reduction of congestion in custodial centres, a conundrum that has been fingered as the major cause of attack on our custodial facilities. Hence, the non-custodial sanction will promote restorative justice as the offender, victim, members of the community where they reside, and other significant others will be mediate to restitute the victim and promote healing, further reducing acrimonies, feud as well as vendetta and promoting public safety.

    In short, the non-custodial measures are aimed not just for the punishment of offenders, but to preserve harmony in the society, reform offenders and pacify victims, thereby creating social equilibrium and public safety cum security. It is necessary that all and sundry get acquainted with the rubrics of this new penal practice. The relevant authorities including law enforcement, the courts, prosecution, and the correctional service should ensure that they inculcate this new practice in Nigerians through constant public enlightenment.

    Finally, this new order should be introduced in our education curriculum so that the younger ones can get to know them from the cradle.

    • Kelvin Abuchi Ugwuoke, Airport Road, Abuja.
  • A promise and a challenge

    A promise and a challenge

    • The Tinubu era starts with a storm.  Will it attain eventual calm and joy?

    The sweet and the sour, in the inaugural presidential speech which set out the general  policy direction of the Bola Tinubu Presidency, is the removal of fuel subsidy.

    It is sweet as honey to the economists of the rarefied suites of Broad Street, Lagos, and policy analysts nationwide.  They shout, with almost one voice, that oil subsidy is at best economic haemorrhage, at worst organised crime.  

    Both benefit only the elite fat cats but leave, in the lurch, the poor masses that oil subsidy was designed for.  For this, statistics abound.

    But it is bitter as gore to organised Labour — the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and  Trade Union Congress (TUC) — that  greeted it with hypocritical hostility.  Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd’s release on May 31, of new pump prices for petrol, ranging from N488 a litre in Lagos to N557 in Borno (with other pricing differentials in-between), further threw the atmosphere into a whirl, with the Labour movement declaring their beloved masses in mortal economic danger.

    Oil subsidy removal is one grand disruptor that could make or mar, for it harbours humongous social costs that must be adroitly managed.  Yet, its long-term resolution lies in vibrant local refining which would guarantee the fairest set of pump pricing; yet free scarce resources for critical physical and social infrastructure.

    Another grand disruptor is the hint at collapsing the official and street forex market rates into one unified window.

    Sweet: everyone probably would buy at the street Naira/US dollar exchange rate, thus ploughing back the differential into the Naira common purse for sundry investments, economic or social.  That should end eons of criminal arbitrage and soulless round-tripping.

    Bitter: critical national priorities, for which the official forex window was designed, would lose their priority status; and slug for forex in the open market.  

    As on the fuel pricing front, initial headwinds, no matter how violent, should coalesce into a market-determined Naira-forex parity: at the very start, higher than the present official rate but lower than the street market rate, other things being equal.  

    But again, the stiff challenge before the Tinubu administration is carefully managing the immediate storm before the anticipated mid and long-term calm — and gains. To stay the course would take immense policy courage. The administration is demonstrating this so far.

    Still, if this is any consolation for the angst to come  — which the Labour movement will milk to the full in populist campaigns — every major presidential candidate swore selves to fuel subsidy removal during electioneering.  Nevertheless, that could still be cold comfort when the pocket hurts, providing avenues for cheap blames.

    Despite these tough initial challenges, however, the Tinubu plan appears to hold a lot of promise, especially on the socio-political front.

    The most re-assuring, from that inaugural presidential speech, was the promise — and prospects — of a truly inclusive government.  That the new president hailed the right of rivals to approach the courts against his election is a reinforcement of the ethos of democracy, which crux is due process.  That he also pledged himself to the service of all, from fawning friends to implacable foes, was a nice byte to soothe nerves and lower post-poll temperature.

    But beyond these civic “good tidings” are even putative better economic deals, which could be socio-economic game-changers, leading to sustainable development and eventual mass prosperity.

    He committed to regular, sustainable and affordable electricity.  That alone, if consummated, could near-magically transform the core economic landscape, aside from adding priceless value to living.

    Apart from creating one million new jobs in the digital economy, he spoke of putting in place commodity boards to guarantee farmer-herder incomes from wild fluctuations, stem perennial wastes at crop harvests and birth a vibrant national grains reserve.  

    Throw in agricultural processing and creation of light industries to provide jobs, and a new credit culture to boost mortgage and mass consumption of hard-to-buy products (autos, furniture, kitchenware, etc) as a means of fighting corruption, and Nigerians could well be proud beneficiaries of a re-modelled economy that the new president promised.  That should stimulate re-industrialisation, which could make Nigeria a truly competitive economy.

    But crucial to all of these is the new government’s pledge to further drive investment in critical infrastructure.  This is one area the Buhari Presidency achieved a lot and it is heart-warming that the new government won’t just take its foot off the pedal.  It is the sound and logical thing to do.  None of the promised reforms is possible without support infrastructure.

    The Tinubu plan is both a promise and a challenge.  To surmount the challenge, in order to reach the promise, the new government must walk its talk. But citizens too must contribute own serious quotas. That’s the logical way to navigate the initial headwinds, tap into the promise and drift away from the present manna economy to a real sector, driven by quality manpower and hard work.

  • Omolewa is Oyo park management chairman

    Omolewa is Oyo park management chairman

    • Govt reopens parks

    Oyo State government has announced former Secretary of the Park Management System (PMS), Oluwatomiwa Omolewa, as the new Chairman, while Kasali Lawal (aka Baba Bola) will serve as the secretary.

    The appointment is part of the re-organisation of the PMS embarked upon by the state government.

    The new management team announced by the government yesterday comprises members of all major factions of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW).

    The government also ordered the re-opening of parks which had been shut following the dissolution of the PMS Disciplinary Committee, led by Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, aka Auxiliary.

    Recall that warring factions of the NURTW, at a meeting at the weekend, agreed to sheath their sword and work together with the government for peace to reign.

    At the meeting, stakeholders came up with suggestions on how to improve the system. One of the suggestions was that the PMS leadership should comprise members from all factions. The constitution of the new team reflected that.

    Other members of the management include Alhaji Tajudeen Jimoh (deputy chairman); Kamardeen Idowu (treasurer); Tirimisiyu Olowoposi (financial secretary); Abass Amolese (organising secretary) and Hamidu Mustapha Were (auditor).

    Others are Abideen Ejiogbe (first vice chairman); Ganiyu Mojeed (first trustee); Musa Alubankudi (second trustee), Rahman Akinsola Tokyo (second auditor) and Alhaji Wasiu Emiola (public relations officer).

    The peace pact followed the sack of Auxiliary. 

    Omolewa, who promised to work for peace, said: “I thank Governor Seyi Makinde for counting me worthy of this position. I assure the people of Oyo State and the government that there will be a difference in our attitude to work.

    “I promise that the people will notice a significant difference in our operations as we assume office.”

  • Ebonyi NNPP candidate Adol-Awam rejoins APC

    Ebonyi NNPP candidate Adol-Awam rejoins APC

    From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

    Ebonyi State governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the March 11 election, Prophet Chris Adol-Awam, has rejoined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

     Adol-Awam announced his defection, which he described as a return back to his home, at the weekend in Abakaliki, the state capital. According to him, he was returning to the APC with over 2,000 supporters, party members, running mate and party members across the 171 political wards and 13 local government areas of the state.

  • Panic in Lagos community as notorious cultists escape police custody

    Panic in Lagos community as notorious cultists escape police custody

    Aprehension has gripped residents of Ajegunle community in Olodi Apapa LCDA following the escape from lawful custody of notorious cultists handed over to the police by the people.

    It was gathered that the suspects including leader of Aiye cult in Ajegunle, Daisy Aiyenero, and his armourer, Taiwo Hassan, escaped from the custody of the Lagos Police Command’s Anti-Cultism base, Surulere, on May 31, few days after the community’s Crime Prevention Project (CPP), with the help of Police operatives from Layeni Division and Area B Command, arrested the suspects and handed them over to the unit.

    The Nation gathered that while in the custody of Anti-Cultism Unit, the leader of the gang allegedly contacted some members of the CPP and threatened to kill them and their families for giving the police information that led to the arrest of his gang and recovery of arms, ammunition.

    Sources who confided in our Correspondent yesterday, said some members of the community had already started relocating following news of the escape of the suspects.

    They said the police have not been able to give the community any good explanation with regards to how the suspects escaped from lawful custody, adding that the officer-in-charge of the unit claimed that he released one of the suspects on bail but could not account for the other three.

    It was gathered that members of the CPP, particularly, have been put under several pressure and had gone into hiding as a result of threats from the suspects.

    “We have been asking the Anti-Cultism unit what happened? But no tangible response has been provided. How was it possible for the suspects to escape lawful custody? As I speak with you, people have been fleeing the community and taking their families to safety.”