The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Customs, NMDPRA collaborate to end fuel diversion

    Customs, NMDPRA collaborate to end fuel diversion

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) are strengthening their collaboration to combat the diversion of petroleum products intended for domestic use and to safeguard Nigeria’s energy security.

    This renewed partnership, highlighted during a meeting between Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Adewale Adeniyi and NMDPRA Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ogbugo Ukoha in Abuja.

    During the engagement, Adeniyi reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to strengthening interagency cooperation, particularly in safeguarding Nigeria’s domestic energy security and ensuring that petroleum products meant for local consumption are not diverted to neighbouring countries.

    He noted that collaboration between both agencies had already produced measurable results, especially through Operation Whirlwind, which he described as a model for intelligence sharing, joint enforcement and coordinated field operations.

    Adeniyi said the Nigeria Customs Service remains fully aligned with ongoing reforms in the petroleum regulatory space and will continue to provide technical input, operational feedback and border management expertise to support the implementation of new guidelines being developed by the NMDPRA.

    He commended the Authority for its efforts to harmonise legacy processes with the Petroleum Industry Act, stressing that clear and efficient export point procedures are essential as Nigeria moves from being a net importer to an emerging exporter of petroleum products.

     “We welcome every initiative that strengthens energy security and ensures that the gains made in reducing cross border diversion are not reversed. Our shared responsibility is to protect national interest, support legitimate trade and maintain a transparent system that stakeholders can rely on. We will continue to work closely with sister agencies to achieve these outcomes,” he stated.

    In his remarks, the Executive Director, Ukoha, said the NMDPRA enjoys a longstanding and productive working relationship with the Nigeria Customs Service, noting that Operation Whirlwind remained the high point of that collaboration.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    He explained that both agencies deployed personnel, exchanged intelligence and jointly monitored petroleum products in border corridors, leading to a marked reduction in cross border diversion.

    Ukoha said the purpose of the visit was to brief the CGC on newly developed guidelines for designating export points for petroleum products as Nigeria’s refining capacity expands.

    He said the NMDPRA is engaging key institutions, including Customs, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Nigerian Navy, to ensure the guidelines reflect operational realities before implementation.

    He recalled several field operations and strategic engagements with the Customs leadership, including the joint launch of Operation Whirlwind in Yola, where both agencies reinforced their commitment to curbing diversion and securing the domestic supply chain.

    He added that while enforcement had played a major role in reducing irregular movements of petroleum products, the removal of fuel subsidy had significantly reduced the economic incentive for cross border smuggling.

    According to him, the NMDPRA will continue to work closely with the Customs Service to sustain progress and ensure that petroleum exports are properly regulated without exposing the country to energy security risks.

  • How to achieve effective power reforms, by Yusuf

    How to achieve effective power reforms, by Yusuf

    Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, yesterday said the nation’s power sector reform remains a long-term and incremental process rather than a quick fix.

    He said the sector’s complexity, political economy constraints, and institutional weaknesses make progress gradual rather than instant.

    According to him, without decisive action to address structural inefficiencies, improve governance, and ensure fiscal discipline, the current trajectory will remain unsustainable.

    He noted that despite multiple reform efforts over the years, the sector continues to face deep structural, financial, and governance challenges.

    He said these challenges were multi-dimensional, spanning political economy constraints, tariff distortions, weak investor capacity, transmission bottlenecks, and a persistent liquidity crisis across the value chain.

    He added that the inability to implement a fully cost-reflective tariff regime—largely due to social and political sensitivities following recent macroeconomic reforms—has entrenched subsidy dependence and widened the sector’s financing gap, thereby making government intervention to become unavoidable in the short term to prevent system collapse and sustain electricity.

    He listed recent macroeconomic reforms, including foreign exchange unification and fuel subsidy removal, to have further complicated the reform environment by heightening cost-of-living pressures and intensifying resistance to tariff adjustments in the power sector.

     “However, without cost-reflective pricing, the sector is unable to generate sufficient liquidity to sustain operations or attract new investment. The resulting subsidy burden has forced government to repeatedly intervene financially, effectively transferring inefficiencies and revenue shortfalls onto the public balance sheet,” Yusuf said.

    According to him, the current trajectory, characterised by rising sector debt currently at about N4 trillion, is fiscally unsustainable without deeper structural corrections, improved transparency, and gradual but credible reform implementation.

    He advocated for a balanced approach-one that combines short-term government support with medium- to long-term structural reform.  This, he noted, is essential to building a financially viable, reliable, and inclusive power sector that can support Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

    He pointed out that the current financing model for the sector is not sustainable based on the sector’s liabilities which have risen to nearly N4 trillion and continue to grow.

    He stressed that there is an urgent need to ensure that all outstanding claims are properly verified; subjected to rigorous audit and managed transparently and credibly.

     “Nigeria’s experience with fuel subsidy regimes demonstrates the vulnerability of subsidy systems to abuse and malpractice. Strong oversight and accountability mechanisms are therefore essential to prevent similar outcomes in the power sector,” Yusuf said.

    He noted that one of the major problems that has continued to weigh on the finances of the sector is the lack of a cost reflective tariff regime.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    He said government should implement a phased and predictable transition toward cost-reflective pricing, with targeted social protection for vulnerable consumers.

    He said the phased transition should be backed by a strong governance and accountability regime which will be targeted at improving transparency in subsidy management, debt verification, and financial settlements.

    He noted the urgency in addressing the distribution sector weaknesses by enforcing performance benchmarks for distribution companies, including recapitalisation, technical upgrades, and loss reduction.

    He also canvassed for a reform in  transmission management by exploring alternative management or concession models for TCN to improve efficiency and investment.

    “It is important to support decentralisation and renewables; encourage state-level initiatives, independent power projects, and renewable energy adoption to reduce pressure on the national grid. Also, we need to limit fiscal exposure as government financial support should be clearly time-bound and linked to measurable reform milestones,” Yusuf said.

  • Cold chain shortage, others threaten Nigeria’s banana export

    Cold chain shortage, others threaten Nigeria’s banana export

    Despite ranking as the fourth-largest banana producer globally, Nigeria’s ambition to capitalise on the estimated $140 billion world market is being severely hampered by persistent challenges, particularly in quality control and logistics.

    Recently a global banana supply crisis opened up a N22 trillion export opportunity for Nigeria, as climate change and plant diseases slash output in traditional producing nations, according to experts.

    Stakeholders are urgently calling for reforms to transform the sector from a domestic staple into a major global revenue earner. The global banana supply is in crisis, with devastating plant diseases like Panama disease (TR4) and Black Sigatoka, compounded by climate change and extreme weather, slashing output in traditional exporting countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia.

    The Chief Executive, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Olufemi Oladunni said disruption has created a massive opportunity for new suppliers.

    With an annual output of approximately eight million metric tons, largely for domestic consumption, Nigeria has the raw volume, but lacks the necessary guarantee of better and more regular supply as well as more constant quality needed to compete overseas.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    To address this, he recommended a road map which includes increased cultivation and processing in addition to pest control as  farmers confront diseases  that have destroyed the crop across the continent in recent years.

    He stressed the need to develop disease resistant banana plants and to establish infrastructure to support banana exports to Europe.

    Right now, only a few countries in Africa can export bananas to European markets. These include Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon. Olufemi believes the country is in a better position to sell bananas overseas but lacks the wherewithal to compete with better mass production from other  enterprises in Africa.

    According to him, what the industry has done to retain its global position is  to ensure  that growers guarantee better and  more regular supply as well as  more constant quality.

    According to the Executive Director Gogreen Africa Initiative, Ambassador Adeniyi Sola Bunmi   Nigeria already grows millions of tons of bananas/plantains (roughly 7–8 million tons a year, quoting the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) figures mostly for domestic consumption.

    He noted: “Nigeria is one of the world’s top banana/plantain producers (multi-million tons), so scaling value-addition (chips, flour, puree, dried fruit) targets an existing, large supply. There is a strong demand  for domestic eating and snack markets plus diaspora demand for processed plantain/banana products. Small but growing export potential if quality and cold-chain improve.”

    He listed the challenges to include pests   diseases and poor surveillance and extension. Others are  increase rate of post-harvest loss caused by poor cold/logistics and low level of value-addition

    The Director-General, African Centre for Supply Chain, Dr. Obiora Madu, had lamented that the country’s fresh fruit export is “weak and uncompetitive.” This is starkly illustrated by the fact that Nigeria exported a mere $45,000 worth of bananas and plantains to the United Kingdom last year, according to UN COMTRADE, compared to countries like Cameroon, which saw a 15 per cent rise in banana exports in August, with the UK market alone contributing nearly €10 million to its earnings.

  • Seplat Energy wins three awards

    Seplat Energy wins three awards

    Seplat Energy Plc has secured three significant awards across finance, upstream operations, and sustainability, reinforcing its position as one of Africa’s most admired corporate performers.

    At the 30th Anniversary of the PEARL Awards in Lagos, Seplat clinched the Market Excellence Award for the 2025 Highest Net Asset Ratio, a recognition that underscores the company’s strong asset efficiency and profitability on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The PEARL Awards—established in 1995 to promote discipline, transparency, and growth within Nigeria’s capital market—apply a rigorous, data-driven process to honour top-performing listed companies.

    Explaining the metrics, the organisers stated that the Return on Net Assets (RONA) ratio highlights how efficiently a company converts its assets into earnings. Seplat’s performance in this category reflects sustained operational strength and investor value creation.

    The company also won Upstream Deal of the Year at the World Energy Capital Assembly (WECA) Awards in London, a global recognition that celebrates outstanding transactions, financial performance, and innovation in the oil and gas industry. The accolade places Seplat among globally respected deal-makers shaping the future of upstream energy.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    Rounding off the honours, Seplat received the Education Intervention of the Year at the SERAS Africa Sustainability Awards in Lagos. The award recognises the company’s contributions to human capital development and its role in driving inclusive, community-focused education initiatives. This year’s SERAS theme—“Sustainability 2.0: Innovating for Impact and Inclusive Growth”—reflects a shift towards more intentional, future-ready actions across the continent.

    SERAS Founder Ken Egbas emphasised that African companies must increasingly connect “growth to inclusion, profit to purpose, and ambition to equity,” noting that Seplat and other winners demonstrated exemplary leadership in sustainable development.

    Pearl Awards President/CEO Tayo Orekoya highlighted the credibility of the awards’ methodology, adding that each category is determined through verifiable metrics. NGX CEO Jude Chiemeka commended the Awards’ founders for fostering a culture of performance excellence within Nigeria’s capital markets.

    Together, the recognitions affirm Seplat’s strong strategic execution, operational resilience, and commitment to innovation and social impact—hallmarks that continue to position the company as an industry leader both locally and globally.

  • Desperation politics in Nigeria

    Desperation politics in Nigeria

    By Oluwole Ogundele

    It is profitable to reflect from time to time on the meanings of politics and governance. Nigerians are humans as opposed to lower animals without the capacity to engage in critical thinking. Indeed, politics is the pursuit of the common good. It is at variance with power grabbing with all its authoritarian/despotic tendencies and unfettered suppression of dissent. Politics not enshrined in sophisticated social engineering including empathy and compassion, is a disaster to society. Healthy politics reduces suspicions, security challenges and material poverty to the barest minimum.

    But many people assume, rather wrongly, that politics is not of considerable antiquity in this part of the global village. The broad geographical area later christened Nigeria by the British colonial overlords in 1914, had a lot of indigenous political systems to manage the diverse ethnicities and sub-ethnicities as well as communities before the coming of Europe. This human phenomenon can be traced to the late Stone Age period, when homogenisation of populations in the region began to change to heterogenisation following the emergence of farming ways of life. In other words, this phase witnessed the beginnings of agricultural productions and subsequent division of labour.

    There were human migrations at least on an intra-regional scale in Nigeria, contrary to the narrative during the pre-farming period. Different craft men and traders started to settle outside their homeland. Gradually, almost every human settlement/community became a kaleidoscope of cultural traits such as dietary patterns, spatial behaviour, and peace/conflict resolution strategies

    Consequently, this intra-regional dynamics and sensitivities brought about the evolution of new political arrangements across the country.  Not surprisingly, every community began to craft a new understanding of relationship management aimed at engendering peace and progress. In actuality, managing diverse socio-economic and cultural identities was/is a much more difficult exercise than what prevailed during the pre-farming phase when (in most cases) only extended families lived together.

    The emergence of the “parakoyi” system in a Yoruba market was/is a good illustration of a pragmatic structure to manage cultural nuances and/or sensitivities.  Members of the “parakoyi” were/are in charge of the day-to-day management of the market. They also worked hand-in -hand with the king and/or chiefs. Priests and priestesses of such indigenous divinities as Ogun and Sango were involved with the issues of politics and governance. Erring leaders and members of the followership class faced the wrath of the divinities. No room for legal jargon or bigotry.

    But painfully, we have abandoned most of our age-old, fine-grained values and value systems as a result of colonial encounters.  Any country that fails to link up critically with its past, is doomed to failure. Most Nigerians today, are busy playing politics of desperation. Indeed, the leaders are untouchable. These leaders and their associates defecate anywhere on the Nigerian landscape with reckless abandon.  We have sent the gods and goddesses away from the country as a result of poor cultural education.

    The upsurge in insecurity recently is a good example of politics of desperation. The on-going aggravated kidnappings and banditry are politically motivated. All these are an attempt to de-market and embarrass the current federal administration, so as to pave the way for a new set of political leaders in 2027. In the process, numerous human lives are being wasted. Many Nigerian politicians have lost a substantial part of their humanity due to ugly power struggles.  No empathy! No compassion! 

    Only a moron would assume that these desperados have better agendas for the Nigerian people. Their mission is to rape mother Nigeria harder than hitherto. After six and a half decades of independence from Britain, Nigerian politicians have failed to grow up. They run up and down for selfish reasons while the ordinary people continue to wallow in material poverty.

    Corruption and a gross lack of patriotism on the part of the political class make it difficult to turn the over 40 types of solid minerals in Nigeria into wealth. Local processing of these minerals is yet to occupy centre stage in the scheme of things. Therefore, no value is being added to these natural resources. No serious research collaborations with the universities and polytechnics. Not unexpectedly, Nigerianisation cannot be broadened and deepened. We are just a bunch of consumers of what foreign nations produce.

    What a shame!

    Nigeria’s lithium reserves are huge. The estimate is more than $34 billion. Political leaders (past and present) have not learnt to work together for the common good of Nigeria. Unbridled egotism and myopia make them not see the country as a collective project. Every one of them is a “saint”! No good conscience! They wrongly assume that every Nigerian has a memory like a sieve.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    Nigerians need a good leadership that has no space for all forms of bigotry. Security and welfare are of the essence. It is a big shame that some politicians are defending crimes and criminality in this country, as if they have surrendered their souls to Satan. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should kindly stop the nauseating exercise called “de-radicalisation” of terrorists. It is at variance with logic. The exercise is a huge insult to those whose relations and/or friends have been killed by the monsters among us.

    In today’s Nigeria, human lives and those of chickens are on a par. PBAT should deal decisively with those glorified animals called terrorists. Their sponsors must not be allowed to sleep. They have done enough havoc to the heart and soul of Nigeria. Normalisation of absurdities in Nigeria has to stop now.

    Only those who are politically biased against President Tinubu would not see some positive aspects of his administration. The ways and manners he has been managing the ASUU-government issues are highly commendable. Nigeria needs a stable university environment for meaningful research and world-class teaching to be done.  Similarly, federal retirees are now smiling to the banks due to prompt payments of their gratuities and/or pensions. The era of waiting for years to get retirees’ entitlements is gone, as a result of President Tinubu’s robust interventions.  There is nothing wrong with commending our leaders whenever they work for fairness, justice and equity.  This is light years away from sycophancy. Indeed, it is about authenticity and/or mutuality of respect.

    Nigerians would like to see the beginning of an era whereby politics dances creatively with honesty, unity and maturity. That is a pre-condition for sustainable peace and progress.  It is the duty of the present generation of political leaders to show good examples to our youths.  The youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Today’s leaders should stop polluting them. No basis for supporting evil people as a result of pettiness and spiritless-ness/godlessness.

    Let us see terrorism as a highly condemnable behavioural trait alien to Nigeria. Politics should not be a do-or-die affair. Contemporary Nigerians need to learn from the past, enshrined in leadership with a human face. The political leadership class members before Europeanisation were serious-minded humans, relying heavily on the powers of some local divinities as social control mechanisms.

    These values and value systems enabled the ancient Nigerian communities to bring erring leaders and the led to book. Politics of desperation was very unpopular.

    •Prof Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.

  • When U.S. fact-finding team visited

    When U.S. fact-finding team visited

    It would appear US president, Donald Trump’s threat of unilateral military action against Nigeria for alleged Christian persecution and genocide is gradually giving way to diplomatic engagement. That much could be discerned from meetings between officials of the Nigerian government and the US, hallmarked by last week’s visit of a fact-finding team to Nigeria.

    The evidence is also perceptible in statements emanating from both sides of the discussions. The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu had taken to his X handle to announce that he hosted a delegation of US congressmen as part of ongoing consultations between both countries. The meeting, according to him, followed earlier talks in Washington DC.

    Ribadu disclosed that discussions centred around counter terrorism cooperation, regional stability and ways to “strengthen the strategic security partnership between Nigeria and the United States”. But the meeting with the Nigerian government team was not the end of the assignment of the US fact-finding team.

    Straight from Abuja, the delegation made for Benue State where discussions were held separately with the governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia followed by another with religious and traditional leaders to get their own side of the story. It is not clear whether the visit was arranged by the Nigerian government. But it appears the US team had their itinerary even before they left their country.

     US Congressman, Riley Moore posted in his X handle after one of the meetings: “It was an honour and deeply moving to meet with His Excellency, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, Bishop Isaac Dogu and His Royal Highness, James Ioruza, the traditional ruler of the Tiv people to discuss the ongoing genocidal campaign by the Fulani in Benue State”.

    Moore said the US will not ignore the suffering reported by local leaders. “The US has heard your cries and we are working diligently towards solution”, he said. The delegation also visited the camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) where they heard first-hand, gory details of the killings from victims. Moore shared some of these chilling and heart-rending killing details which he said, will remain with him all his life.

    But he admitted that US concerns were positively received even as he hinted on the establishment of a joint task force between Nigeria and the US to “tackle these critical issues”.

    So, guns-a-blazing may no longer happen in the form threatened. If it will come, that will be through mutual understanding and agreement. That appears the reading from statements by the US delegation and their Nigerian counterparts. But all will depend on how Trump receives the report of the delegation. Going by Moore’s statements during and after the visit, the report is not going to favour Nigeria.

    Beyond this, there are, arising from the visit, issues that should not be allowed to peter out. And they relate to claims and statements that suffused the social space in reaction to Trump’s threat. Of particular concern was the insinuation that self-determination campaigns by the IPOB were responsible for Trump’s action. Those who canvassed this odious view, feign ignorance of the obvious infractions that influenced US action. It served their narrow interests to shift the blame to IPOB knowing the mortal harm it will inflict on the region where their activities are most felt.

    But when the US delegation came, they neither visited the southeast nor IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. They did not visit Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State to show evidence of Christians killing Christians which many writers have been referencing upon. He could not have shown them the Christians that populate the Ebubeagu security outfit or its variant called Agunaechemba that has been fingered in alleged extrajudicial killings.

    In one of those incidents, construction workers including a man from Isuofia, Soludo’s community were murdered on allegations of being IPOB hitmen. Neither could he have shown the US team evidence of the sins of his kinsmen severally killed in the north during religion-induced riots.

    Yet, he found comfort to say that Christians are killing Christians in the southeast in the circumstance he did. What could be the motive other than rope in the Igbo, majority of whom he admitted are Christians, in the US allegations of Christian persecution and genocide in Nigeria. But who said Christians or adherent of other religions do not commit crimes for it to be an issue?

    The US authorities had their lead and knew precisely where to get instant corroborative evidence-the Middle Belt. So, they wasted no time to arrive Benue State where they conferred with Bishops Anagbe and Dogu among other Christian leaders. They met with the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ayatse.

    Anagbe had twice prior to the US visit, made presentations to the US Congress on the killings in Benue. So, there was no limit to the weight of evidence the delegation could garner from Benue State. That fact is evident from Moore’s posts detailing chilling accounts of the killings through his interaction with victims in the IDP camps.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    The views of Tor Tiv are also not hidden. He had openly told President Tinubu at a stakeholders’ meeting last June that the killings and displacements in Benue State were a” calculated, well planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign” by herder terrorists and bandits and not mere herder-farmer clashes or communal disputes.

    He had then also insisted the violence is a war and a systematic effort at ethnic cleansing while its characterisation as herder-farmer conflict obfuscates its true nature and deeply offends the victims’ realities. He is likely to show evidence of this claim to the US fact-finding team.

    The findings of the US team are likely to puncture claims by Governor Alia in the wake of the controversy that: “in my state Benue, we don’t have any religious, any ethnic, any racial, any national or state genocide”. He had also claimed there is no jihad going on in any part of the country.

    Alia must have been cornered by the dialectics of St. Aquinas’ allegory of two cities – the City of God and the City of Man when he said, “I’m speaking to you as a reverend father in the church. I’m speaking to you as a governor of a state”.

    It is difficult to operate from the two contrasting realms without running into serious contradictions. Ironically, his claims mock the distinction by medieval philosophers between the ecclesiastical and corporeal realms; between the purview of state and religion. It was not for nothing that his Bishops opted to meet separately with the US delegation.

    It is not clear why the US team did not visit Plateau State, another key Middle Belt state faced with the same pattern of killings as Benue. Jonathan Ishaku, a top journalist and author from Plateau State shared frustrations in his Facebook for inability to hand over three of his books to Moore.

     He named them as: The Road to Mogadishu, Janjaweed in the Middle Belt, The Butcher of Kaduna and the Rise of state-backed violence. Their titles speak for the contents and add to extant evidence available to the fact-finding team. Do we still have to worry about how Trump reached his conclusions?

  • Nnamdi Kanu, Omotosho and the rule of law

    Nnamdi Kanu, Omotosho and the rule of law

    Sir: Now that Nnamdi Kanu has been sentenced, we can see clearly that the sky did not fall. The most beautiful thing is that this is a big win for the rule of law in our democratic setting. Keeping him for so long gave the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) proponents a measure of legitimacy that they did not deserve. We must learn and prepare our courts to handle thorny and vexatious cases. The more we try these people, who are on the lunatic fringe of society, the more we have a clearer definition of who we are as a people.

    Throughout my writings, I have emphasized the rule of law as the pinnacle of our democratic society. The failure to try criminals leads to a culture of nihilism, vigilante justice and anarchy.

    We must build more prisons and update our criminal justice system. We must not allow criminals living on the fringes of our society to determine our ethos. Rule of law and justice must go hand in hand. One of the most puzzling things that troubled me is the way the proponents of Biafra were asking for a criminal to be freed without trial. Some trivialized the sins of Nnamdi as political as such; he should be set free using political methods to set a criminal free.

    Some even argued that there is nothing he has done that other people have not done. They used yellow journalism to tell us that Boko Haram members are being recruited into the Nigerian Army.

    The Biafrans were attempting to amputate justice by agitating for Kanu to be freed without trial.

    I sincerely believe that in Nigeria, all criminals should have their day in court. Calling it a political case does not make it less criminal.

    In politics, we are expected to disagree with each other on issues. The moment you slap someone due to this disagreement, you have left the realm of politics into criminality and you should be prosecuted for criminal assault. Politics is not a criminal enterprise even when unruly politicians use criminal methods to gain ascendency. It is this misrepresentation that made a swath of Southeast politicians to agitate for the release of a criminal without trial.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    Why didn’t they appeal to Norway to free Simon Ekpa on political grounds? At the end of the day, Nnamdi Kanu who was giving orders to summarily execute people had a fair trial that was denied to his victims.

    We must jettison the temptation to deny citizens of due process. We may not be happy with the outcome but that is not a reason to impugn the integrity of the judge. The right thing to do is to appeal the case. At the post mortem, one of Nnamdi’s lawyers regaled us with Nnamdi’s knowledge of the law. He said Nnamdi knows more law than the lawyers and the judge.

    Here we go again with stupid braggadocio. What is the knowledge of the law if you have no respect for our courts and the presiding judge? In what universe do these Biafrans exist? How come these Biafrans are so gullible that they will take the hallucinations of a sick person as ordained truth?

    I will advise them to plead that their client is impaired by reason of insanity instead of questioning this judgment which was based on sound legal reasoning.

    Court proceedings are public records. Those in doubt should get a copy of the transcript of the judgement instead of substituting their emotional tantrum for sound legal reasoning.

    •Dr Austin Orette, Houston, Texas, United States

  • Sailing through the hard times

    Sailing through the hard times

    Sir: Many households, weary from rising rent and stagnant income, are planning to return to their villages after the yuletide. For some, it is a temporary escape; for others, it is a permanent retreat. The truth is simple—Nigeria’s economic hardship has pressed heavily on the shoulders of her citizens.

    Young people, especially those unable to secure opportunities abroad, now fight daily battles against financial discouragement and emotional fatigue. Yet, paradoxically, the younger generation—the Gen Zs or Zoomers—also stand out with a new kind of hunger. They want steady progress, stable salaries, and real opportunities. They want dignity. They want a Nigeria that works—not for a few, but for all.

    Their voices, loud and unbroken, echo across social media platforms, workplaces, and political spaces. They are demanding the Nigeria their parents dreamed of but never fully saw. The Christmas and yuletide period, especially in Igbo and Southern Nigeria, is traditionally a time of celebration—family reunions, cultural festivals, weddings, dedications, and homecomings. But the festive season in 2025 carries a different tone. The harmattan has arrived earlier and harsher than usual. The dry winds bring not just cracked lips and dusty roads, but a fresh wave of expenses: skincare, warm clothing, more transport costs, and increased food prices.

    Sadly, many vulnerable Nigerians—sick elderly people, young men and women battling chronic illnesses, and families with little means—feel abandoned by a system collapsing under the weight of insecurity and inflation. Survival has replaced festivity. Kidnapping, killings, and banditry have become daily headlines. The recent abduction of 25 female students in Kebbi is a heartbreaking example of the insecurity tormenting the nation. Many religious leaders feel intimidated, while others press ahead, preparing grand end-of-year programs to rekindle hope.

    But in the middle of all this darkness, one truth remains: Nigeria has not reached her end. It is easy in times like this to point fingers—to blame the government, to blame leaders, to blame ourselves. But blame has never built a nation. Blame has never healed a wound. Blame has never lifted a man from poverty.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    Nigeria’s history has always shown one pattern: when things get tough, Nigerians become tougher. This is not the first time we have walked through fire. This is not the first time we have seen gloom before glory. This is not the first season where the future looked blocked, yet the nation moved forward. What Nigeria needs now is not a nation-wide choir of self-accusation. What we need is a collective return to courage, innovation, unity, and strong faith. We need to believe again—believe that our hands can still build, that our voice can still matter, and that our votes in the 2027 General Elections can redirect the ship of this nation.

    We must also remember something profound: Nations rise when individuals stop waiting for rescue and start taking responsibility for the little corners they can influence. Hope may feel thin, but it is not absent. The Nigerian spirit is too rugged to be defeated by one cycle of hardship. Across cities, states, and local communities, the signs of a new awakening are emerging:  Nigerians now know that leadership matters—more than tribe, more than party, more than slogans. And because of this awareness, a new Nigeria is not just a dream—it is a growing possibility. Hope is not a feeling; it is a discipline. It is the daily decision to believe that your life, your family, and your country can still change for the better. Yes, 2025 has been difficult. Yes, the burden is heavy. But storms have never stopped Nigerians from rising again.

    Let us enter the yuletide season with renewed strength—not because things are perfect, but because Nigeria is still a land of possibilities. Let us prepare for 2026 with fresh vision—not fear. And let us move toward 2027 with courage—not despair.

    •Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu, Nkono-Ekwulobia Anambra State.

  • Matawalle: Judging a book by its cover

    Matawalle: Judging a book by its cover

    By Jack Okude

    It’s all too obvious that Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence, is one of the most misunderstood public officials in the country. He was governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023. Matawalle came under intense media attacks recently and from the same sources that had felt uncomfortable with his political trajectory. And more significantly with his closeness to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    This can only point to one undeniable fact. Matawalle is a victim of politics, far from the picture being painted of him. His traducers, obviously high on political sophistry and drunk on a toxic broth of vengeful politics, fail to judge him using empirical, verifiable indices. This is the danger of judging a book by its cover, or reviewing a book without reading it. Either way, the auditors of Matawalle’s political profile and his role in the containment of banditry in the northwest, have misread the book which Matawalle had become. It’s a book steeped in strategy, loaded with satire and scripted with cryptic lines in some places, making it difficult for persons of low intellect who cannot discern the satirical lines of the author, to understand.

    Just because, you don’t like the cover of a book, you huff and puff that the book lacks substance when in reality, the same book contains nuggets that you need to cure you of your complicated diseases of hatred, virulent revulsion and atavistic aversion. Matawalle’s sin is his adoption of non-kinetic approach in the fight against banditry and terror. The two dark networks afflicting Nigeria at the moment. On account of his deployment of emotional intelligence, psychological operations (PsyOp), de-radicalization and rehabilitation, economic empowerment, among other non-kinetic strategies, he was portrayed as being sympathetic of banditry and the bandits. This, taken textually and in context, is a fallacy; a spin fabricated in the foundry of extreme politics.

    But it bears restating that the non-kinetic approach adopted by Matawalle was not entirely his sole idea but that of the northern governors whose states came under the scourge of banditry and terror. During his era as governor, there were pictures and videos showing other governors holding dialogue with leaders of the bandits. Now, you wonder why these critics left the other governors who adopted the same approach and focused on Matawalle. The reason is: Politics!

    Matawalle is neither a fan of banditry nor a sponsor of same. Politicians, especially those from his northwest geopolitical zone, are the ones promoting this dim-witted narrative just to de-market a man whose rise in the nation’s political horizon, particularly as a champion of northwest politics and a strong determinant in the zone’s power equation is both sterling and stellar. But they have failed in their ignoble gambit oiled by pecuniary inducements.

    The consistent sermons of the nation’s intelligence community on the deployment of non-kinetic approach to secure the release of abducted Nigerians in different states further justifies Matawalle’s technique which he deployed as Zamfara governor and which he currently favours as the first phase of negotiation before the deployment of the kinetic approach of guns-a-blazing, bombs and mortars.

    But take away politics from the niggling matter of banditry and terror. A stronger global persuasion recommends the use of non-kinetic approach especially in developing countries like Nigeria where poverty, lack of access to education and affordable healthcare make people fall into the hands of terror merchants who bait their recruits with money, food and other social amenities which the country should have provided for them.

    Experts have continued to advocate for the use of non-kinetic methodologies in combatting communal conflicts, the type the country is battling with today. They say this approach should involve a huge 75 percent of the strategy while kinetic approach, the use of military might, should be about 25 percent and should be deployed only when non-kinetic approach has failed. The war against terror and banditry demands such measure because the enemies have integrated themselves among the people whom they use as shield in moments of attack. It is a case of the carrot and the stick favoured by the military.

    As governor, Matawalle dangled the carrot and was able to preserve the lives of the citizens. It must be emphasized that banditry in Zamfara predated his arrival at government house. He inherited it. By his carrot approach of active engagement of all stakeholders in the ecosystem, he pushed back the seething rage of the bandits. The Gusau-Anka-Gummi road which was a no-go area before he emerged as governor became safe again during his tenure. Other roads including the famous Wurno-Isa- Shinkafi- Gusau road, a fortress of bandits, reopened for commuters.  Markets, including the popular cattle markets were opened as socio-economic activities made a rebound under his tenure. Matawalle brought his signature non-kinetic approach to the defence ministry and some people are misreading the dashboard from their biased side of the prism.

    The recent successes recorded in the release of some abducted Nigerians without shooting a gun which could have endangered the lives of the abductees mirrors the Matawalle template. By adopting the non-kinetic approach to release the abducted Nigerians, it will be unfair to tag the military apparatchik as sympathisers and promoters of terrorism and banditry. Such impression rubbishes the efforts of the NSA and the entire security network.

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    It is on record that under Matawalle’s watch as governor, over 1,000 captives were released by bandits without any ransom paid. This was achieved through dialogue and negotiations with relevant stakeholders and the bandits. On November 8, 2020, the 26 schoolgirls abducted by bandits from Faskari in Katsina State were released unconditionally by the bandits, following a non-kinetic approach facilitated by Matawalle. The freedom of many other abductees was effected under Matawalle during his tenure which on record, was the safest four years in the state. This freedom was won by the non-complicated act of negotiation and stakeholder engagements. This approach has been widely lauded by citizens and security experts as not only effective but also promotes the principle of preservation of citizens’ lives in moments of crisis.

    Obviously, Matawalle is a victim of baleful politics. Those attacking him and profiling him as a banditry apologist are politicians and their obtuse hirelings who mischievously or ignorantly conflate non-kinetic approach to taming terror with sympathy for same. They lack the intellect to see beyond the lucre-tainted walls of their mental prisons.

    President Tinubu, a leader who has demonstrated superior grand vision for a better Nigeria than any leader in this 4th Republic, needs the calming effect of Matawalle to secure the northwest without spilling the blood of the innocents. Besides, the President needs the vast network and political equity of Matawalle to win the full confidence of the zone to advance his development and political agenda for a prosperous Nigeria.

    On this note, President Tinubu should ignore the rancid rancour from the Matawalle haters. The minister is working with the security apparatchik in a seamless synergy that promotes unity, effectiveness of non-kinetic measures and preservation of the lives of citizens. He deserves commendation, not deprecation.

    •Okude, a policy analyst, writes from Abuja.

  • How corruption and incompetence broke Abuja/Lagos CCTV project

    How corruption and incompetence broke Abuja/Lagos CCTV project

    By TJ Ishola

    On paper, the National Public Security Communication System (NPSCS) was a modernizing dream: a single, nationwide security backbone — secure voice trunking for security services, CCTV coverage of major cities, video-conferencing for commands, e-policing databases and an emergency dispatch network.

    In practice, it became a cautionary tale of poor procurement, weak oversight, questionable technical choices, vandalism, and the political churn that turned a strategic security asset into expensive scrap. The story of the NPSCS shows not only how projects fail in Nigeria, but also how they can be designed to succeed — if lessons are acted on with political will, technical discipline and strict anti-corruption safeguards.

    The NPSCS contract — commonly described in the press as the “Abuja/Lagos CCTV project” — was awarded in 2010 to ZTE (a Chinese telecoms contractor). The full commercial contract value was about $470 million; China Exim Bank provided a preferential buyer’s credit of roughly $399.5 million (85% of the contract) while the federal government provided a 15% counterpart contribution ($70.5m). The aid/loan terms were long: a 20-year maturity with a seven-year grace period and a low fixed interest rate — attractive loan terms that increased the political appetite to proceed quickly.

    The project’s technical promise was large: base transceiver stations across the country to provide a secure communications backbone, thousands of solar-powered CCTV cameras and control centres to give police and other agencies real-time visibility and interoperable communications. If implemented as designed, NPSCS could have helped coordination across agencies and provided a modern platform for crime detection and response.

    Where it unravelled — procurement, governance and implementation failures

    The collapse of the NPSCS was not a single fault but a cascade of avoidable failures.

    1. Procurement irregularities and weak statutory compliance: Parliamentary probes and committee hearings repeatedly flagged gaps in procurement practice. The House ad-hoc committee that investigated the project (chaired by Hon. Ahmed Yerima) recorded serious concerns — including that due process, as required by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), was not adhered to in critical respects. The committee’s hearings and follow-up motions in the House made clear that procurement red flags were not limited to bureaucratic error but pointed to structural governance deficits.

    2. Questionable technical delivery and substandard equipment: Independent reporting and follow-up inspections showed that large portions of the deployed equipment were either non-functional shortly after handover or of poor specification. Investigations found that only a fraction of the cameras and subsystems remained operational; some handed-over control rooms were not integrated with police workflows; and key features were missing or incompatible with Nigerian operational environments. Media investigations and technical reviews described kit already dilapidated within a few years of installation.

    3. Treating a system-integration programme as an equipment sale: The NPSCS was approached like a high-value hardware purchase rather than a long-term systems integration and operations programme. Contracts delivered boxes and cameras but did not secure sustainable operations & maintenance (O&M) commitments, spare parts pipelines, training for Nigerian engineers, or service level guarantees tailored to local conditions. Big ICT projects require long-tail O&M and governance arrangements; the NPSCS lacked them.

    4. Vandalism and lack of local protection / maintenance: Physical assets — solar panels, camera housings, fibre runs and BTS sites — suffered vandalism and theft. In many instances there was no sustained maintenance budget or local rapid-response capacity to repair damaged sites; the effect was progressive degradation of what had been installed.

    5. Political discontinuity and fragmented custodianship: The project traversed administrations and ministerial custodians. At hearings, former officials and agencies pointed fingers; some agencies claimed limited knowledge of contracts or their technical content. Parliamentary committee work was sometimes initiated but not always followed to its logical conclusion, and the political appetite to prosecute malfeasance or correct the design choices fell away as priorities changed. The House investigations themselves show the project’s vulnerability to political turnover.

    6. Financial exposure despite non-performance: Even as the system underperformed, the Exim Bank loan was disbursed (100% by 2020 per project records) and Nigeria continued to carry the debt burden. That meant taxpayers paid for a large portion of a system that failed to deliver expected security outcomes — a fiscal as well as operational loss.

    What parliamentary records and committee minutes reveal (quoted and paraphrased)

    The House Ad-hoc Committee hearings in 2016, chaired by Hon. Ahmed Yerima, highlighted the scale of the loss and procurement lapses; during hearings the committee noted that the naira equivalent amount “ran into over a trillion,” and the Bureau of Public Procurement reported that due process had not been followed in award of the contract. Those findings were reflected in motions and order-papers in the House as the committee sought answers and accountability.

    House order papers and committee records (2016–2017) show the House formally receiving and debating the committee’s report and asking for follow-up actions and prosecutions where necessary. The public record of these order-papers underlines that parliamentary scrutiny occurred, but subsequent enforcement and prosecutions — if any — were not commensurate with the scale of the concerns raised.

    More recent government communications (e.g., the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs announcement in July 2023) acknowledge the network’s dilapidation, the vandalisation of facilities, and the need to place the network under a managed concession with a Project Management Team (PMT) to restore and manage the network. That admission is a tacit recognition of both the technical decay and the governance vacuum that followed initial delivery.

    Corruption and accountability — why deterrence failed

    Where major procurement is opaque and oversight weak, corruption becomes a structural risk, not an unfortunate side effect. The NPSCS suffered from a familiar pattern: award of a large single-vendor contract (high concentration of value), limited competitive disclosure of technical specifications and acceptance criteria, and inadequate independent technical verification pre- and post-handover. Parliamentary probes exposed irregularities, but the combination of legal complexity, political changes and weak prosecutorial follow-through meant few visible deterrent consequences followed. The result: a project that delivered far less than it cost — and little evidence that those responsible paid a commensurate price.

    A blueprint for revival — how to redesign and rescue a project like NPSCS

    Reviving the NPSCS (or designing a successor) is possible, but it must be done differently. The following prescriptions are practical, actionable and derived from both the failings of the original project and international best practice.

    1. Ring-fence governance, budget and technical stewardship

    Create an autonomous, fenced Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under statute or regulation with a multi-stakeholder board (Police, NSA, Finance, Budget & National Planning, Justice, BPP, ICRC) empowered to manage procurement, implementation and O&M. The PIU should have procurement authority limited to the project and an independent technical secretariat staffed by qualified engineers and programme managers.

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    2. Force technical due-diligence and phased acceptance

    Competitive, modular procurement instead of single monolithic contracts. Procure in phases (pilot → scale) with hard, independently-verified acceptance tests and performance bonds. No final payment until independent verification confirms system performance (SLA metrics: uptime, video quality, latency, interoperability). Use third-party technical auditors named in the contract and paid from escrowed funds.

    3. Local capacity, maintenance and transfer of skills

    O&M, training and spare parts must be part of the contract with KPIs and local hiring quotas. Long-term maintenance contracts with clear service windows and penalties for non-compliance ensure the system does not decay when vendors depart. Build Nigerian technical centres of excellence for security communications that receive regular audit reports.

    4. Open standards, interoperability and anti-lock-in

    Require open protocols and modular hardware so different vendors can replace components and avoid vendor lock-in. Data formats, API standards and inter-agency interoperability should be mandated in the tender documents.

    5. Transparent procurement, parliamentary oversight and sunshine clauses

    Publish tender documents, bids, evaluation scores and contract addenda on an open portal. Make the PIU’s quarterly technical and financial reports publicly available and tabled in the National Assembly. Parliamentary committees should be empowered to commission independent forensic technical reviews where needed.

    6. Clear consequences — legal, administrative and financial

    Pre-defined sanctions: blacklisting for vendors that breach quality or anti-corruption clauses; criminal referrals and asset forfeiture where graft is proven; contractual clawbacks and performance bonds used to fund remediation. Strengthen coordination with EFCC and ICPC so procurement crimes are investigated swiftly and visibly. Deterrence requires the credible, publicised enforcement of consequences.

    7. Community protection & anti-vandalism strategy

    Pair camera deployments with community policing and visible local value: traffic management feeds, licence plate enforcement, and public emergency-call kiosks. When citizens see direct benefit, community protection of infrastructure improves. Invest in tamper-resistant housings and rapid repair teams.

    8. Debt transparency and fiscal prudence

    Any future financing must be linked to measurable, phased delivery and independent verification. Loan disbursements must align to verified deliverables; governments should avoid up-front full disbursement arrangements that leave creditors and taxpayers exposed while service delivery lags. Use escrowed disbursement linked to validated technical milestones.

    •Ishola writes from the United Kingdom.