The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • January 15, 1966 Coup: A reassessment

    January 15, 1966 Coup: A reassessment

    It is not in doubt that Nigeria’s first military coup d’état, executed in the early hours of January 15, 1966, remains one of the most controversial and misunderstood events in the nation’s history. Led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and spearheaded by the charismatic Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, this intervention came at a time when our nation teetered precariously on the brink of collapse. To understand the motivations behind this dramatic action, one must examine the profound crisis of governance that had reduced Africa’s most promising nation to a laughingstock of democratic pretensions.

    By late 1965, Nigeria had descended into what could only be described as organized anarchy. The federal elections of 1964 and the Western Region elections of 1965 were not merely flawed—they represented the complete desecration of democratic principles. These elections were rigged with such brazen impunity that they shocked even the most cynical observers of African politics. In the Northern and Western Regions, opposition parties faced systematic harassment, their members intimidated, their rallies disrupted, and their candidates prevented from campaigning freely. The electoral process had become a grotesque charade where ballots were stuffed, results were written and announced before voting had been completed, and the will of the people was treated with contemptuous disdain.

    The Western Region crisis epitomized the hypocrisy and double standards that characterized the First Republic. When chaos erupted in the Western House of Assembly—complete with a theatrical dance that led to a broken mace and the infamous “roforofo” fighting—Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa moved with lightning speed to declare a state of emergency. This swift action led to trumped-up charges of coup plotting against Chief Obafemi Awolowo, one time Premier and the region’s most popular politician with many of his acolytes in the then Action Group, who were subsequently sentenced and imprisoned. The speed and decisiveness with which Balewa acted against perceived threats in the West would later stand in stark contrast to his paralysis when confronted with actual violence.

    Chief Samuel Akintola’s boast to voters remains one of the most infamous declarations in Nigerian political history. With characteristic arrogance, he declared that even if the people did not vote for him, he would still return as Premier of the Western Region. When this prophecy fulfilled itself through electoral manipulation, the Western Region exploded. Operation Wetie unleashed unprecedented violence as enraged citizens burned properties, attacked political opponents, and plunged the region into chaos. Lives were lost, properties destroyed, and civil order completely broke down.

    Yet here was the supreme irony: the same Balewa who had been so quick to declare emergency rule over a broken mace now claimed, to the utter astonishment of the world, that he lacked the constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency in the face of widespread violence, arson, and murder. This selective application of federal authority exposed the rot at the heart of the First Republic—a government that protected its political allies while allowing the nation to burn.

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    The Tiv crisis in the Middle Belt added another dimension to Nigeria’s descent into chaos. The massacre that ensued, with federal troops deployed against citizens in what amounted to a campaign of suppression, further demonstrated the government’s willingness to use violence to maintain political control. If soldiers could justifiably topple Shehu Shagari’s government in 1983 for corruption and economic mismanagement, what exactly was wrong with the January boys’ intervention when confronted with electoral fraud, regional violence, ethnic persecution, corruption and the complete collapse of constitutional governance?

    Let me submit that the loss of lives during the January 15 coup was indeed tragic. The deaths of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, and particularly the killing of senior military officers like Brigadier ZakariaMaimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Kur Mohammed, and Lieutenant Colonel Pam remain painful chapters in our history. One wishes the young officers had found a bloodless path to reform. However, to characterize this intervention as an “Igbo coup” represents a fundamental distortion of historical truth that has poisoned Nigerian discourse for generations.

    Violence is an inherent risk in forceful changes of power—this is an unfortunate reality throughout history. What the January 15 boys sought was not ethnic domination but a halt to Nigeria’s drift toward complete disintegration. If certain elements insist on labeling these young patriots as murderers, then consistency demands we apply the same designation to the architects of the July 29 counter-coup: Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammed, Ibrahim Bako, TY Danjuma, Sani Abacha, and others who orchestrated a revenge mission that saw the targeted killing of Igbo officers and civilians which then  laid the foundation for the Nigerian Civil War.

    The infallible claim that the coupists intended to install Obafemi Awolowo as Prime Minister stands as the primary evidence cited by those who insist this was not an Igbo coup. Indeed, authorities no less than General Ibrahim Babangida have publicly rebuffed the long-held notion that seeks to pass a collective verdict of guilt on Ndi Igbo for an action planned and executed by young  Nigerian officers who had grown disgusted with the corruption and misrule they witnessed. There is also the gnawing evidence of General Aguiyi Ironsi and fellow Igbos like Alexander Madiebo and Conrad Nwawo playing opposing roles to the January 15 protagonists, if I am mistaken the trip mentioned are either Hausa Fulani or Shuwa? Sarcasm intended, It will also appear that Colonel Arthur Unegbe, who was the Quarter Master General, an Igbo from the ancestral town of Ozubulu, gunned down for refusing to hand over the keys of the Ikeja armoury to the January 15 protagonists was also a part of the plot to install a hegemony of the Igbos!

    Now, with all these evidence, it is particularly galling that individuals like Femi Fani-Kayode—whose father, Remi Fani-Kayode, was a direct beneficiary of the electoral manipulations of 1965—continue to peddle this divisive narrative. Alongside an equivocal character like Reno Omokri and the  comedian Bovi, they persist in casting aspersions and stoking hatred against a people who had nothing to do with planning the January 1966 coup, suffered enormously in its aftermath, and continue to bear psychological scars from the counter coup,  pogrom and civil war that followed. Their selective memory and deliberate distortion of history serve only to perpetuate the ethnic divisions that continue to undermine Nigerian unity.

    The January 15, 1966 coup was not an Igbo conspiracy but a desperate intervention by young Nigerian officers who watched their beloved country crumble under corrupt, incompetent leadership. While we may debate their methods, questioning their patriotic motivations while ignoring the catastrophic failures of the First Republic represents intellectual dishonesty of the highest order. Nigeria must finally confront this history honestly if we are ever to move beyond the poisonous ethnic narratives that continue to define our national discourse.

  • Christianity and my dialogue with complex religious questions

    Christianity and my dialogue with complex religious questions

    • By Tunji Olaopa

    I have always been fascinated, like a host of intellectuals, philosophers and theologians, by the place of religions in the human search for meaning. Even more than this, I have been intrigued by the role that religion and its complexities play in the national consciousness of a plural and fragmented nation like Nigeria, or any other nation for that matter. This plays into a kind of a general pattern of investigation for an institutional reformer who is consistently intent on those variables that are conducive to building a formidable set of institutions for making a nation work. But beyond this professional interest, religion and spirituality have featured as fundamental dimensions of my philosophical search for meaning in life. It seems almost inevitable that humans would confront and engage the divine, given the complexity of the universe and the diverse experiences that life involves.

    Christianity plays a very significant role in the human search for meaning in a world of meaninglessness. It is a unique spiritual formation that embeds theological, existential and philosophical concerns that serve as a source of eschatological comfort and reflective interests for millions all over the world. I have narrated the story of my Christian journey and spiritual trajectory many times. Christianity possesses two significant meaning for me. On the one hand, it has been a source of a deep, stimulating and continuing experience of faith that hold a person in awe of the divine and allows for personal and spiritual development. On the other hand, Christianity also possesses an intellectual interest that is stimulated by existential challenges, especially of the kind that a postcolonial lifeworld generates for those trying to make sense of their existence.

    For me, the relationship between these two dimensions of my relationship with Christianity reflects the perennial question of how faith and reason relate. This is a question that define a long trajectory of theological discourses in medieval philosophy. From the theologians and philosophers to the apologetics, reason has served as one critical tool for understanding the “why” behind the architecture of belief. St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, hold quite some philosophically fascinating framework that allow reason and faith to sit together as the manifestation of divine intelligence. For Augustine, faith is needed to guide reason into virtuous action. For Aquinas, faith and reason are two complementary ways for apprehending divine truths. For Tertullian the Apologetic, on the other hand, faith and reason are critically opposed. When he asked, “What has Athens got to do with Jerusalem?” he was asking if there could be any form of relationship between reason and faith.

    In my lifelong search for discernment, I have articulated a frame of reference that enables me to hold strongly to my Christian faith while allowing my intellectual quest for enlightenment to continue without ceasing. Reason challenges my intellectual curiosity and allows me to increase learning in terms of how faith, knowledge and existence relate especially for billions of people across the world. Like the medieval churchmen, keeping faith and reason apart or in delicate balance has not always been easy for me. This is because my keen intellectual curiosity keeps exploring the boundaries where reason and human experiences challenge faith and spirituality. In this piece, permit me to reflect on such boundaries that, I believe, would further contribute to how religion, spirituality and Christianity can enable us to think about living together and building not only a personal but also a collective and ecumenical framework in a multi-religious space.

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    My first question is how to understand Christianity’s relationship with non-Christian beliefs, especially in contexts where Christianity has to jostle for religious dominance with other religious belief systems? This is a fundamental question that bothers on how Christianity is diluted, concretized or complemented when it arrives in a different context in the process of its universal spread. Take the practice of Christianity in Nigeria as a good example. This raises three cogent concerns for me. One, how does Christianity relate with African cultures in ways that “culturalized” the faith without stigmatizing the cultural practice as fetish or idolatrous? The phenomenon of African Indigenous (or Independent) Churches (AIC) has been studied by scholars working in the area of African Christianity and Pentecostalism. The idea of the Aladura Church and the Christ Apostolic Church, for instance, provides a strong religious and spiritual framework for answering my question. But that of the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity does not. The ROF seems to represent an unsuccessful attempt to graft Christianity into a framework of esoteric and cultural framework.

    Two, the contextualization of Christianity—especially Pentecostal Christianity—within Nigeria’s tough postcolonial context of struggles and search for meaning has given birth to all sorts of caricatures that generate deep queries about the social mission of Christianity itself. No two people have spoken to this challenge as deeply as Karl Marx and Fela Anikulapo Kuti. On the global scene, Marx considers religion as the opium of the people; a delusional tool by which the priestly class keep the masses on a leash to an ideological frame that keeps exploiting them. In Africa and Nigeria, Fela lambasts the political and religious classes for deepening the crisis of meaning confronted by the people. “Shuffering and Shmiling” is Fela’s classic and devastating complement to Marx’s criticism. It is so easy, within this context, to see how Nigeria’s development condition could have served as the instigator for the dominance of the prosperity theology and the miracle mentality that have unfortunately become commercialized. From Christianity to Islam, we now have a huge cohort of charlatans and impostors who have beclouded the genuine spiritual experience of salvation and enlightenment for millions. And now we have abject Christians who are shrouded in sham religiosity devoid of deep spirituality that connect personal growth to collective responsibility towards others, and towards one’s nation. 

    The third point is even more fundamental. And it has to do with religion’s role in nation-building. We all are familiar with how religion has contributed immensely to the fragmentation of the Nigerian polity. The constant conflict and theological and political opposition, especially between Islam and Christianity, has continued to be the source of tension in the continuing attempt by successive governments to facilitate the project of achieving One Nigeria devoid of ethnic and religious animosity. Here, the spectre of theological absolutism rears its ugly head! In summary, this is the belief that one religion holds the key to the understanding of God’s plan for humans and the eternity. One immediately sees how and why such an absolutist claim (ostensibly canonized to foreclose regression of the faiths into syncretism), held by Islam and Christianity, could be the source of practices that undermine any ecumenical or inter-faith relations in Nigeria. Theological absolutism excludes other religions and their perspectives on the relationship between God and humans.

    I have always been deeply suspicious of theological absolutism, especially when it concerns my quest for an understanding of how God and humans interact. If God is all we have been saying about Him—the eternal and the divine that is unknowable sufficiently by the human mind—how then can one religion capture the entire essence of that God? My worry is even more aggravated within the complicity of Christianity, Islam and other faiths in Nigeria’s underdevelopment. The fundamental question is simple enough: How can Nigeria achieve a civic national space of mutual relations if religions eschew open-minded and ecumenical relationship with one another? Or, how can they step into the breach as a collective spiritual panacea to Nigeria’s myriad postcolonial predicaments if they attempt to exclude and cancel out one another as “false”? Indeed, for me, the combination of the caricaturing of the Christian faith mentioned earlier, as well as the refusal by many clerics to engage in ecumenical conversation, serves as the basis for my conviction that Christianity has arrived at a reformation point that explore its complexity and significance in a context like Nigeria.

    But then, I still have to content with my own attachment to Christianity and its construction of itself as the only religion that guarantees eternal life through the work of salvation done by Christ. How do I navigate Christianity’s theological absolutism without falling into the trap of excluding other faith from their attachment to their convictions? How am I not part of the refusal of inter-faith relations that I am suspicious about? These are crucial and fair questions for any Christian or even Muslim. Indeed, I had the conviction very early in my spiritual trajectory that the believer’s pilgrim journey is strictly personal and is self-validating. And this validation is achieved through personal experience of faith and theological conviction, and the guidance of spiritual mentors and masters in the faith. And here, I return to role of reason in my spiritual discernment. While I hold firmly to the limitation of reason in grasping spiritual enlightenment, I equally put a lot of weight on how limited human understanding of the vast stretch of mysteries not only behind the Christian faith but also in the universe as a whole. When the Bible, in I Corinthians 2:14, therefore insists that the natural understanding cannot grasp spiritual matters, I read this not only as the extension of the domain of faith beyond that of logic and reason. It is also the strategy for trusting my Christian faith to assist me in navigating my existential predicament without limiting other’s right to their own spiritual paths. More precisely, acknowledging, for instance, Christianity’s insistence on the role of Christ in God’s plan of reconciliation and redemption, does not necessarily imply invalidating other religions’ existence and spiritual understanding.      

    This is the firm implication of saying that the spiritual journey is deeply personal and self-validating. When I accept Christ’s injunction in John 14:6—“I am the way, the truth, and the life”—I accept it for myself as a pathway to spiritual meaning. And yet that injunction does not stand alone. It is wrapped in a complex relationship with other injunctions that insists that I must love my neighbors, give unto Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar, and pray for those in government.

  • Peter Obi’s defection dance in Enugu

    Peter Obi’s defection dance in Enugu

    • By Femi Odere

    In what can now be seen as a manifestly confused state of mind,  former Anambra State Governor and 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in a ceremony that was attended by his increasingly diminishing political allies and ADC promoters. Almost all the politicians in attendance were individuals who had either held one public office or another, who, as Peter Obi himself, were colossal disasters in their various public offices that their constituents would rather forget than advertise. It is therefore easy to predict the endgame for such an assemblage of politicians.

    ‎The event fell flat on its back even before takeoff. And here’s why. Firstly, it beggars belief why Obi chose Enugu in Enugu State instead of Awka in Anambra State, where he comes from, for joining the ADC. It has always been the wont of serious and authentically popular politicians when making transitions of this magnitude to do so in their traditional political strongholds and not anywhere else. This move was another manifestation of Obi’s lack of depth. 

    ‎Secondly, a man who scrupulously widened the gap among Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities in his 2023 presidential bid cannot turn around now to talk about “national reunification” to which he alluded in his defection speech.  His posturing and talk about the unity of Nigeria amounted to grandstanding and lip service because his choice of Enugu spoke louder than his incoherent appeal for unity.

    ‎‎Anybody with a discerning mind who has followed Peter Obi’s political trajectory will not only find his trademark “Me First” strewn all over his declaration speech but also a clear pattern of his inability to change, as a leopard cannot change its spots, having abandoned the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on whose platform he governed Anambra State for eight years, to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    ‎‎In 2019, Obi was the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP and the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who, in all likelihood, he will once again be a running mate to in their special-purpose ADC vehicle, as there’s clearly no pathway for clinching the presidential ticket of the party.

     In the run-up to the 2023 Presidential Election, Obi joined the Labour Party (LP) and became its presidential candidate. With the Obidient Movement, he tried to exploit youth anger to ride to the presidency, a ploy that failed tragically. Obi resorted to religion and ethnicity, the two most potent factors that have plagued our country since independence as his campaign strategy. Yet, he came a distant third at the polls.

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    ‎‎In all of this, you see a man who is driven by desperation.  But for collective amnesia, nobody will take Obi seriously in a presidential contest. He is not different from the proverbial rolling stone that gathers no moss but also lacks the presence of mind to know that he had used his proverbial “15 minutes of fame” that comes only once in one’s lifetime in 2023. After the ADC presidential ticket is settled, we expect another verdict or another assemblage.

    ‎Peter Obi’s speech at his defection show exposed him as a man with little or no understanding of where Nigeria was in 2023 and where we are, about two and a half years after. His speech was full of rhetoric about a failed state but he failed to provide any insight as to how things can be improved.

    ‎‎Obi’s criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s tax reforms, which have been applauded by economists and financial experts, is proof of his inability to understand the dynamics of statecraft. His political jamboree at the Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, can indeed be likened to a naked dance in a market square.

    • ‎‎Femi Odere is Convener, The Alternative Platform (TAP)
  • How Tinubu’s reforms are reshaping Nigeria’s global standing

    How Tinubu’s reforms are reshaping Nigeria’s global standing

    Last week unfolded like a carefully choreographed score in the long and often arduous symphony of reform that has defined the presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It was another eventful week, yes, but more importantly, it was another week in which Nigeria began to take delivery of the fruits of reforms that were painful at the start, disruptive in the middle, and are now steadily yielding measurable rewards.

    The week’s defining moment did not even begin in Abu Dhabi, where the President spent much of the period on official duty. It began at home, with the quiet but consequential announcement that Nigeria had been officially removed from the European Union’s list of high-risk third countries for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The decision, reached in December 2025 and made public on January 9, only fully sank into national consciousness on Thursday when the Federal Government formally welcomed the development. And rightly so.

    For years, Nigeria laboured under the stigma of that designation, an invisible but costly tag that subjected Nigerian businesses, banks, and individuals to enhanced scrutiny, raised compliance costs, slowed transactions, and dampened investor appetite. Its removal is not cosmetic. It is structural. It is the difference between suspicion and confidence, between hesitation and engagement. It is, in real terms, a restoration of trust.

    This milestone did not happen by chance. It followed Nigeria’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025, after painstaking reforms to address long-standing deficiencies in financial oversight, regulation, and enforcement. The European Union’s own Delegated Regulation, adopted on December 4, 2025, merely followed the evidence. From January 29, 2026, transactions between Nigeria and EU member states will no longer attract automatic heightened scrutiny. That alone is a quiet revolution for Nigerian commerce.

    Finance Minister Wale Edun captured the moment succinctly when he described the delisting as a validation of President Tinubu’s “extraordinary leadership, unwavering political will and clear reform vision”. It is also, unmistakably, a reward for the sacrifices Nigerians have endured since May 29, 2023, sacrifices often questioned in the moment, but now increasingly justified by outcomes. The reforms were tough because the rot was deep. The resistance was fierce because the vested interests were entrenched. But Tinubu’s boldness, his refusal to govern by half-measures, has ensured that progress, when it comes, comes with weight.

    If Brussels provided the validation, Abu Dhabi supplied the momentum. President Tinubu arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to participate in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and once again demonstrated that foreign trips under his watch are not ceremonial excursions but transactional missions.

    On the sidelines of the summit, Tinubu and his UAE counterpart witnessed the signing of a landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. For Nigeria’s business community, this was not just another trade document, it was a doorway.

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    Under the agreement, the UAE will eliminate tariffs on over 7,000 Nigerian products, granting immediate duty-free access to agricultural and industrial goods ranging from fish and seafood to oil seeds, cereals, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Over the next three to five years, tariffs will also fall on machinery, vehicles, electrical equipment, apparel and furniture. For Nigerian manufacturers long hemmed in by narrow export markets, the CEPA offers a clear, competitive pathway into one of the world’s most dynamic trading hubs.

    The agreement goes further. Nigerian businesses can now establish operations in the UAE through subsidiaries and branches. Business visitors gain extended access, while executives and specialists can relocate with their companies for renewable three-year periods. For investors, the clarity provided by the agreement removes long-standing ambiguities that have discouraged capital inflows. This is economic diplomacy with intent.

    Tinubu understands something fundamental: that credibility abroad is inseparable from coherence at home. That is why his participation at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week was not limited to applause lines. He spoke of electricity as the foundation of modern economies. He spoke of balancing industrialisation with decarbonisation. He spoke of reforming global finance to unlock private capital for developing economies. And he backed words with policy.

    On Thursday, he approved the full roll-out of Nigeria’s carbon market framework, a far-reaching climate policy projected to yield at least $3 billion annually by 2030. It is an audacious move, positioning Nigeria not as a passive recipient of climate prescriptions but as an active player in the global carbon economy. With a national carbon registry, mandatory emissions reporting, phased compliance, and generous incentives for investors, the framework aligns environmental responsibility with economic opportunity. It is diversification by design.

    Yet even as the President was winning friends and sealing deals abroad, he did not lose sight of duty at home. Thursday also marked the 2026 Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day. Though physically in Abu Dhabi, Tinubu was fully present in spirit and message. Represented at the ceremony by Vice President Kashim Shettima, he used the occasion to reaffirm his commitment to the welfare and dignity of Nigeria’s Armed Forces.

    His message was sober, respectful, and deeply human. He honoured the fallen, acknowledged the pain of their families, and spoke directly to serving personnel across land, sea and air. “A nation that forgets its fallen heroes loses its direction; Nigeria, however, remembers,” he said. It was not rhetoric. Under his administration, defense and security have remained a priority, not just in words but in budgets, reforms and institutional attention.

    Beyond the big-ticket assurances that defined the week; Nigeria’s removal from the European Union’s AML/CFT watchlist, the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and the solemn national salute to the Armed Forces, the week also revealed something quieter but equally instructive about Tinubu: a President attentive to the full texture of national life.

    From Sunday, the tone was set with a message to former Senate President Ahmad Lawan, where Tinubu acknowledged legislative service anchored on dialogue, stability and cooperation. It was not mere courtesy, but a reminder that institutions endure because individuals once carried them with discipline and restraint.

    On Monday, the President turned to history and heritage, mourning the passing of Oba of Badagry, Babatunde Akran. His tribute reflected a respect for traditional authority and community leadership, recognising how decades of steady guidance can hold together harmony, tolerance and identity in an ancient kingdom.

    Tuesday and Wednesday extended that sensitivity to personal loss and national memory. Tinubu mourned former First Lady of Ogun State, Chief Lucia Onabanjo, whose long life symbolised compassion and quiet service, and Yakubu Mohammed, a veteran journalist and co-founder of Newswatch Magazine, who helped define fearless reporting in difficult times. In both, the President spoke not just to families, but to values, service, courage and conscience.

    The same attention followed in his felicitation of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, and the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Mariya Mahmoud, tying personal milestones to ongoing reform efforts. He celebrated Nigeria’s creative power at AFRIMA, hailed party stalwarts, honoured elder statesman Bisi Akande, and mourned the humane courage of Imam Abdullahi Abubakar.

    These gestures underline a presidency that watches the details, recognising that governance is not only about agreements and policies, but about people, memory and meaning.

    Taken together, last week told a coherent story. From Brussels to Abu Dhabi, from climate markets to military remembrance, the threads were connected by a single theme: deliberate leadership. Tinubu’s presidency has never promised instant gratification. It promised restructuring. It promised pain before progress. And increasingly, it is delivering proof that the path, though steep, was not misguided.

    Nigeria’s removal from the EU’s AML/CFT list is not the end of reform; it is a checkpoint. The CEPA with the UAE is not a silver bullet; it is an instrument. The carbon market framework is not a slogan; it is a system. Each gain is incremental, yes, but together they signal a country steadily reclaiming credibility, competitiveness and confidence.

    For Nigerians who placed their trust in Tinubu’s administrative and political acumen, last week offered something rare in public life: reassurance. Reassurance that sacrifice was not in vain. Reassurance that boldness, when anchored in vision, pays off. And reassurance that Nigeria, once again, is learning how to convert resolve into results.

  • Who is afraid of Benjamin Kalu?

    Who is afraid of Benjamin Kalu?

    • By Andrew Ike

    In the complex tapestry of Nigerian politics, few figures have emerged in recent years with the promise and performance of Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. His trajectory from a first-term legislator to the Sixth highest-ranking political office holder in Nigeria represents not just personal achievement, but a beacon of hope for the people, most particularly the youths of the South-East region. Yet, as is often the case with rising stars in Nigerian politics, his ascent has been met with organized resistance that raises a fundamental question: who is afraid of Benjamin Kalu, and why?

    Benjamin Kalu’s political credentials are like a profile of any progressive leader, impressive by any measure. Since his election to represent Bende Federal Constituency in 2019, he has distinguished himself as a legislator of substance rather than merely rhetoric. His legislative achievements include sponsoring and co-sponsoring numerous bills aimed at economic development, youth empowerment, and regional integration. As Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs in the 8th Assembly, he brought transparency and accountability to legislative communications, ensuring that Nigerians remained informed about the workings of their parliament.

    His elevation to Deputy Speaker in June 2023 was not a product of political accident but recognition of his competence, bridge-building abilities, and commitment to national cohesion. In this capacity, Kalu has championed legislative reforms, promoted inclusion in governance, and consistently advocated for policies that address the developmental deficits in the South-East. He has been instrumental in pushing for the establishment of the SouthEast Development Commission,  infrastructure projects, including the coastal rail lines, and federal road networks that connect the South-East to other regions.

    Beyond infrastructure, Kalu has been a voice for Ndi Igbo on the national stage, articulating the region’s concerns while emphasizing the importance of unity and cooperation across Nigeria’s diverse landscape. His approach reflects a new breed of leadership—one that combines ethnic advocacy with national responsibility, seeking not to alienate but to integrate, not to complain but to construct.

    The South-East region, before the Nigerian Civil War, was an economic and educational powerhouse. Cities like Aba, Onitsha, and Enugu were thriving commercial centers, and the Igbo entrepreneurial spirit was legendary. The devastation of the war and subsequent marginalization left deep scars that persist today. Benjamin Kalu represents a generation determined to restore Ndi Igbo to those dizzying heights of influence and prosperity.

    His vision for the South-East is comprehensive: economic revitalization through improved infrastructure, political inclusion at the federal level, security enhancement to protect lives and investments, and youth empowerment to harness the region’s demographic dividend. Through his legislative work and political advocacy, Kalu has consistently pushed this agenda, earning him recognition as a leader who sees beyond the immediate to the transformative.

    This new breed leadership is characterized by pragmatism over sentiment, results over rhetoric, and collaboration over confrontation. It is precisely this approach that has endeared him to many but also made him a target for those who thrive in the old politics of division and patronage.

    Recent months have witnessed a coordinated campaign against Benjamin Kalu, one that appears disproportionate to any political disagreement. Reports indicate that over one hundred billion naira has been spent in efforts to undermine his reputation and political standing. This staggering sum has allegedly been deployed to hire what can only be described as social media misfits—individuals and groups tasked with launching relentless attacks on Kalu’s character, distorting his record, and creating false narratives about his intentions.

    The intensity and sophistication of these attacks suggest deep-pocketed interests who feel threatened by Kalu’s rising influence. The deployment of trolls, sponsored negative content, and coordinated misinformation campaigns are hallmarks of political desperation rather than legitimate opposition.

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    At the heart of this orchestrated assault lies a simple speculation: Benjamin Kalu may run for Governor of Abia State in 2027. This possibility appears to have triggered panic among certain political actors who see his potential candidacy as an existential threat to their own ambitions or interests.

    But one must ask: is it not within Benjamin Kalu’s constitutional right to aspire to any political office for which he is qualified? Does democracy not thrive on competition and the people’s freedom to choose among candidates? The attempt to delegitimize a candidacy before it is even declared reveals the weakness of those making the attempt—they fear the people’s verdict.

    Interestingly, Kalu has on at least two occasions publicly called on Governor Alex Otti of Abia State to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). This invitation, like Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony offering Caeser the Roman Crown was not an attack but an olive branch, a proposal that makes eminent political sense. Such a move would unify progressive forces in Abia State, eliminate needless political friction, and most importantly, benefit the people of Abia.

    An APC-controlled state government working in harmony with an APC-controlled federal government would guarantee improved access to federal projects, interventions, and resources. It would confer on Governor Otti the party leadership in the state, enhancing rather than diminishing his political capital. This is politics as it should be—focused on development and the people’s welfare rather than ego and personal empire-building.

    So where exactly did Benjamin Kalu go wrong? Is it a crime to be competent? Is ambition now a vice rather than a virtue in Nigerian politics? Is advocating for regional development and national unity an offense worthy of a hundred billion naira smear campaign?

    The answer, of course, is that Kalu’s only “error” is being effective, visionary, and popular—qualities that threaten those who have built political careers on mediocrity and manipulation. The real question is not who is afraid of Benjamin Kalu, but what they are afraid of losing: relevance, control, and the ability to continue politics as usual in an era demanding transformation.

    As Nigeria approaches another electoral cycle, the people of Abia and the South-East must recognize these distraction campaigns for what they are and focus instead on leadership that delivers results, embodies integrity, and offers genuine hope for the future.

    • Ike writes from Aba.
  • Traders, business owners get N50m boost from Somolu council chairperson

    Traders, business owners get N50m boost from Somolu council chairperson

    No fewer than 500 traders and entrepreneurs have benefited from N50 million to boost their businesses, courtesy of the chairperson of Somolu Local Government Mrs. Shakirat Temitope Ashimi.

    The beneficiaries got a sum of N100, 000 each, while a utility bus was donated to the Market association in the council area.

    Ashimi explained that the cash support was initiated to help business owners and traders recover money spent from their business capital on sundry expenses during the yuletide period and to meet pressing bills on children’s education, among others, in the New Year.

    Ashimi said: ”Now that you are back from the yuletide period, I know many of you would have eaten deep into your business capital. I know you will like to pay your children’s school fees and endeavour to stock your goods.

    ”The Human Rights Advocate Group were assigned to pick small business owners who do not have any affiliations with the government and recommend them for this cash transfer initiative, the second in the series, since we assumed office.

    Read Also: Somolu LG boss lifts 500 residents, presents six vehicles to community leaders

    ”We contacted the leadership of the markets to give names of business owners who are struggling to stabilise, the orange sellers association, plantain chips owners, groundnuts sellers, banana sellers, hairdressers association, fashion designers, meat sellers, shoe makers, fish sellers and others who could rise again with N100,000. From the data we received, Nigerians are resilient and hardworking. They are struggling, but for now, we can only afford to give N100, 000 to 500 business owners.

    She added: ”The reports we got from the first edition have encouraged us to do more and even make it a continuous exercise. The Business Support programme may not be able to solve all your financial needs, but we want to help you to stabilise and remain in business. Let us continue to work hand in hand to promote peace, Harmony, development and joy.

    “The majority of the recipients are women, hence the home must be secured; they should do everything humanly possible to support their husbands and remain in their marriage.”

    Receiving the bus on behalf of the market association, Mr. Kunle Okueigbo, promised to use the vehicle for the purpose for which it was donated.

    The Apex Leader of APC in Somolu Local Government, Demola Olisa, commended the Chairman for deeming it necessary to lift the residents from obscurity.

  • We’re committed to delivering dividends of democracy – Makinde

    We’re committed to delivering dividends of democracy – Makinde

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has reiterated his administration’s commitment to delivering dividends of democracy to residents of the state.

    ‎The governor stated this on Friday, during a courtesy visit to the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Alao, at his palace in Orile-Igbon, Surulere Local Government Area of the state.

    ‎‎The governor, who called for more cooperation from residents of Ogbomoso Zone, assured them that the rehabilitation of inner roads in the five local government areas would soon be flagged off, noting that his focus is to ensure that the state is developed without leaving any zone behind.

    The governor equally expressed the confidence that there will be continuity of good governance in the state, as he would be succeeded by a governor who will sustain and surpass the achievements recorded by his administration.

    Read Also: Ibadan Bodija explosion victims urge Makinde to use N30bn FG support for compensation

    ‎Earlier in his remarks, the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon commended Governor Makinde on various unprecedented achievements recorded by his government, just as he pledged the continued support of the people of the zone to the governor.

    ‎The event had in attendance the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Hon Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola; Senior Executive Assistant to the Governor on General Duties, Chief Bayo Lawal; Chairman, Oyo State Local Government Service Commission, Basorun Akinwole Akinwale; Chairman, Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr. Saka Balogun, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members, among others.

    Traditional rulers in attendance included the Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oyediran and the Aresapa of Iresapa, Oba Moses Ajiboye.

  • 193,000 Kwara residents to benefit from Tinubu’s RHWDP

    193,000 Kwara residents to benefit from Tinubu’s RHWDP

    Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State yesterday revealed that a total of 193,000 residents would benefit from President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP) in the state.

    The governor said this in Ilorin at the launch of the non-partisan socio-economic initiative of President Tinubu to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

    The governor said that the beneficiaries cut across the 193 wards in the state.

    The governor said the programme attests to the President’s love for the less privileged and his government’s dedication to achieving the $1 trillion economy by 2030.

    “This is the most innovative grassroots social programme rolled out to address poverty irrespective of religious difference, political persuasion, tribal or gender difference or place of birth,” the Governor said in Ilorin through his Senior Adviser and Counselor, Alhaji Sa’adu Salau, who represented him.

    “This is a practical demonstration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s love for the grassroots and the poorest of the poor. This is the most data-driven FG special intervention towards ensuring a $1 trillion economy by 2030.”

    Read Also: Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, Akume others eulogise Akande at 87

    AbdulRazaq commended Tinubu’s administration for its economic recovery programmes that support the poor, saying the initiative aligns with the state’s social investment programme, which his government introduced to empower the aged, downtrodden, and small-scale businesses.

    He thanked the President for his various supports to Kwara and how he entrusted him with the task of chairing the National Steering Committee for the programme.

    “I call on all people of the state to support this innovative programme rolled out by the President to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty,” the Governor added.

    The event was attended by top government officials, local government chairmen, party executives led by the Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, leaders of artisans’ congress and market women association, representatives of community-based organisations in the state.

    Fagbemi said APC will get more than 75 percent votes in Nigeria’s General elections in 2027, saying the party has delivered its mandate to citizens, while also working harder to strengthen public safety.

    He commended the APC family on the purposeful leadership across the Federation and on how it continues to wax stronger.

    State Coordinator for RHWDP, Mubarak Bello, said the scheme is designed to take development and economic growth directly to the grassroots and make national growth a reality for every Nigerian, right from the ward level.

    “The programme is anchored on President Tinubu’s renewed hope Agenda, which seeks to achieve a $1 trillion economy by 2030, requiring a growth rate of 15% while the current rate sits below 5%,” he said.

    “Key targets of the initiative include sustainable support for economic activities with minimum thresholds of 1000 economically active individuals for smaller wards and 2,000 for larger ones.”

  • Osun 2025: Ogunbiyi collapses structure for Oyebamiji, declares Senate ambition

    Osun 2025: Ogunbiyi collapses structure for Oyebamiji, declares Senate ambition

    A former leading governorship aspirant and Chairman, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Akin Ogunbiyi, on Saturday collapsed his political structure for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), ahead of the 2026 election.

    The Ile-Ogbo-born politician also declared his intention to contest the Osun West Senatorial seat on the APC ticket.

    Ogunbiyi, who named his political movement ‘Idera De’, was among the 8 contenders for the APC gubernatorial ticket, which Oyebamiji later clinched through a consensus arrangement.

    While addressing his supporters across the state during a debrief meeting with members and leaders of his campaign structure in Osogbo,  Ogunbiyi commended them for their steadfastness.

    According to him, we are very happy because I am from the West and we want the governorship candidate to emerge from the Osun West. We are grateful to God that one has happened.

    “As for my belief and vision to govern the state. That has become a secondary issue now that a candidate of the party has emerged. So I have come to brief my supporters across the state that there is no more grouping. Just like all of us, aspirants, nine of us, we all agree to work for the party.

    Read Also: Architect of half-salary in Osun is now your chief economic adviser — Oyebamiji replies Adeleke

    “Everyone of us had a meeting, and we resolved that everyone of us will work. We will do everything within our respective constituencies to ensure that Bola Oyebamiji emerges as the governor of Osun State from August this year.”

    He expressed confidence that Oyebamiji will emerge as the winner on August 8th 2026.

    He said: “Our leaders have individually and collectively mentioned to me that I will pick the senatorial ticket. I don’t have any reason to doubt them. So I am putting on record to my supporters that we have not lost anything.

    “The most important thing is for Bola Oyebamiji to emerge as the elected governor. If that happens, by the grace of God, I, Akin Ogunbiyi, from Iwo Federal constituency, by the special grace of God and the support of our leaders, I will emerge as the senator of the West.”

    Subsequently, he officially disbanded his political structure, charging them to work tirelessly for Oyebamiji’s emergence as the governor of Osun State.

    “Before I came to do this today, I had all my caucuses, we had all met and resolved that the party’s candidate is the ultimate that we have to work for. That has been done. We may not be too happy that they didn’t give us the governorship, but that doesn’t mean that we are not still going to work for the party. We have 170,000 votes in Iwo, and I am telling everybody that by the special grace of God, progressives should count on Iwo, as we have always done in the past, we will still deliver for Oyebamiji, and we will deliver for APC.”

  • Oyo APC chieftain drums support for Tinubu’s re-election

    Oyo APC chieftain drums support for Tinubu’s re-election

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Abdulwasiu Ajao, popularly known as Danladi, has declared that he was strategically working to drive support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

    He also disclosed a formal declaration of his intention to contest the Akinyele/Lagelu Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Ajao, who officially joined the APC amid widespread enthusiasm, is widely regarded as a grassroots-oriented politician with broad acceptance across communities in Akinyele and Lagelu Local Government Areas.

    His entry into the ruling party was celebrated by party stakeholders as a major boost to the APC’s political structure and electoral prospects within the constituency and Oyo State at large.

    The declaration was made during an APC Akinyele Local Government meeting held in Moniya, Ibadan, where Danladi addressed party leaders, elders, and members.

    He explained that his decision to seek elective office was driven by a sincere desire to deliver purposeful, people-centred, and impactful representation at the National Assembly.

    An agricultural expert by training and practice, Danladi has spent years championing initiatives focused on improving agricultural productivity, strengthening rural livelihoods, and promoting youth participation in agribusiness.

    He noted that his background has shaped his development philosophy, particularly in areas of food security, sustainable development, job creation, and grassroots economic empowerment.

    Read Also: Osun 2026: APC group begs for female running mate slot, vows 300,000 votes

    According to him, one of his core priorities is to unlock and maximise the vast agricultural potential of Akinyele and Lagelu through the development of value chains that empower farmers, attract private investment, and generate employment opportunities for youths and women.

    He also pledged to promote digital skills acquisition and innovation, positioning young people in the constituency to compete favourably in the modern economy.

    Beyond his legislative ambition, Danladi disclosed that he is actively mobilising party members and residents for the ongoing APC e-registration and revalidation exercise, describing it as a critical step toward strengthening the party’s base ahead of the 2027 general elections.

    He stressed that the exercise would crystallise into massive support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while further consolidating the Renewed Hope Agenda of the APC-led Federal Government.