The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • NMDPRA decries illegal lifting of petroleum products

    NMDPRA decries illegal lifting of petroleum products

    The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has cried out over illegal lifting of petroleum product from the Bonny Terminal to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

    In a letter, dated June 8, 2023 and addressed to the Chief of Defence Staff, NMDPRA’s Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Farouk said a vessel, Barumk Gas, was lifting Butane from the Bonny River terminal without authorisation.

    The letter, which The Nation sighted in Abuja yesterday, said the regulatory authority was not involved in the operation.

    The letter, titled: Economic Sabotage and Illegal Lifting of Petroleum Operation from Bonny River Terminal, reads: “The urgent attention of the Chief of Defence Staff is drawn to the illegal petroleum lifting operations taking place at Bonny River Terminal.

    Read Also: Politics of petroleum subsidy and official sleaze

    “The vessel, Barumk Gas, is lifting Butane at Bonny River Terminal without the authorisation or participation of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, which is the agency of government statutorily responsible for regulating operations at the terminal.

    “This unlawful action is being facilitated with the active connivance of Exxon Mobil, which has illegally destroyed the locks on the sea-line valve whose keys are in the custody of the authority.

    “The actions of Exxon Mobil and Barumk Gas constitute economic sabotage, criminal damage and theft of Nigeria’s national resources.

    “You are, by this letter, kindly requested to urgently prevent the sailing out of Barumk Gas until investigations into the matter are concluded.”

  • The ‘Nigeria Air’ scam

    The ‘Nigeria Air’ scam

    SIR: Two days before the curtain fell on the Muhammadu Buhari administration, an aircraft marked ‘Nigeria Air’ was sneaked into the country, celebrated in the media as the launch of a new national carrier, only to be spirited out of the country mysteriously after 24 hours, to its rightful owners.

    In an apparent attempt to deliver on his promise to birth a national air carrier before the exit of the Buhari administration, Hadi Sirika, the former Minister of Aviation, through his actions caused great embarrassment to the nation. He must be held liable.

    The ongoing investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation has brought to the fore startling revelations about the shady project. But it shouldn’t stop at that. Sirika and his accomplices involved in this scam must be made to account for every kobo spent. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and annual budgetary figures indicate that about N85 billion was committed to this project between 2016 and 2023.

    Every man desires to be successful in his/her endeavours in life. What I find difficult to comprehend is the obsession of the former minister with launching a national carrier at all costs.

    Read Also: Reps’ verdict: Nigeria Air launch is a fraud

    Revelations emanating from the House probe allege that Sirika had contacted Ethiopian Airlines a few days before the unfortunate incident, to provide an aircraft that would be presented to Nigerians as a Nigeria Air aircraft. The aircraft has since been returned to Ethiopian Airlines. This is shameful and embarrassing to a country whose national airline, the Nigerian Airways, was once the pride of Africa and the black race in the decade following independence from colonial rule until corruption, waste, inefficiency, and red-tapism killed it. Since then, successive governments have sought to return the nation to that glorious era by entering into partnerships with various international airlines like South African Airways, British Airways, and KLM. All such efforts ended in futility. Virgin Nigeria, which was a partnership with British Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic, was short-lived.

    Aviation is a global business that is best left in private hands. Government should act as a regulator. The shareholding structure of the proposed Nigeria Air is 95% privately owned and 5% government owned. Who are the private investors involved in this deal? These and many more questions are what Nigerians expect answers to as the parliamentary probe into unravelling the Nigeria Air scam continues.

    •Peter Ovie Akus,

    New Jersey, USA.

  • 30 years on

    30 years on

    • As we mark June 12 again, it’s time to reflect on our failings and love affair with democracy

    At a point in the chronicle of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s quest to be president, some critics likened it to the tragedy of Moshood Abiola who won the election but did not actualise the people’s mandate at the polls. History has seen the June 12, 1993 polls as a colossal waste of a watershed hour in the nation’s history. It was seen as perhaps the best time the people of the country voted to quash the supremacy of tribe over higher values and a moment of cooperative piety, when people did not see faith unless it was faith in this country and its march towards an inexorable future.

    Today marks 30 years of that moment. Abiola, like all great men of history, was a flawed creature. But he was one of us, and he had the fears, hopes, future and dream to renew this country. Clips from his speeches at that time about giving the country a berth in the world, reinvigorating our youth, bringing rigour to our debates, retuning the economy and fine-tuning our culture resonate today and also haunted the rhetoric of President Tinubu as candidate. It might have been three decades ago, but it is as though we just woke up a day after.

    Yet, we cannot afford to forget the toils and bloodshed of those years. The military government under Ibrahim Babangida turned the first soldier into a potentate, an imperial lord whose sword shaped our fears and abolished our hopes. We cannot forget the rise of youth and students, the earthquakes of protests in major cities, especially in Lagos and Ibadan. We saw the political class coalesce and how every major stakeholder abided that phrase of defiance: “On June 12, we stand.” We were gung-ho with the republican spirit.

    The soldiers surged to the streets. They made heroes of some otherwise unknown figures. Some of them became martyrs. Bagauda Kaltho, a journalist, was slaughtered and deprived his family, the country and the humanity the opportunity of a formal goodbye. His remains were never seen. Alfred Rewane, a plutocrat of plebian credentials who devoted his treasure to the struggle, was murdered in cold blood. The wife of Abiola, Kudirat, fell in a hail of bullets because of her trenchant voice for freedom. These were the prominent names. We cannot name many who died in those high-handed days. Those who were shot at on the streets, the anonymity of the market woman, student, father, mother, child, brother. Their sin was to ask back what the soldier took from them: the sacred fruit of their vote.

    But we cannot forget as well those who toiled in hiding and stalemated the country and dared the behemoth of the IBB act. They were journalists, labour leaders, politicians, lawyers, students, et al. We cannot blot out the roles of newspapers like Abiola’s newspaper, the Concord Press, that went into oblivion under the draconian weight of the junta. Let’s remember the warriors of the pen in two major magazines, The News and Tell, and how the journalists were hounded and threatened. The editors, led by Bayo Onanuga for The News, and Nosa Igiebor for Tell, did not flinch in the face of terror. Their magazines marked the golden age of that genre and its graveyard but they embarrassed and exposed the hypocrisies and butchery of the soldiers. Some, like Alex Kabba of The News, took shelter in the United States Embassy before fleeing the country.

    Read Also: June 12: Thirty years after

    The slight figure of Frank Kokori, the general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) and his work with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). Kokori was the most wanted figure in the country because he led a shutdown of a critical sector of the economy. They combed cities and villages, but the man was in this country, clocking the regime to its final exit. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka had to stay in exile as he galvanised world opinion against a junta he once gave a chance and it even honoured him. Novelist Chinua Achebe defied his handicap to testify in the United States Congress.

    Some politicians worked the military into a barbarian frenzy. Some of such figures were Anthony Enahoro and now President Tinubu. Tinubu became at once a financier and fighter. He was detained and subjected to indignities until he was able to escape through what was known as the NADECO route. We hail all the members of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, for standing firm. One of its members, Chima Ubani of blessed memory, who was always hailed as the governor of Lagos because he decided when Lagosians would go to work and when they would stay at home during the crisis.

     We cannot play down the sacrifice of many who blazed in hunger because of the economic paralysis of those days. Companies did not pay salaries and traders munched their investments. Fears of a national catastrophe forced some to leave the cities to their villages.

    Yet, as heroic as those times were, we started to see big names negotiate the people’s patrimony. It was a time of perfidy, of treacherous horse trading, stabs in the back and upturning of social contract. The unanimity of the sing-song, “On June 12, we stand” became derided as “On June 12, we sit,” among many obscenities. Some courts became hostages of the junta while some traded with the opportunity.

    But the battle came to end with the death of Sani Abacha who took over from his fellow traveller Babangida who had “stepped aside” under pressure. Yet, after the military yielded to a civilian democracy, we have seen over the years that the country still witnessed the throes of despotic hangovers. The incidents of Odi, do-or-die elections, brigandage of politicians and their acolytes, the hobgoblin of the soldiers who got elected into office without shedding their autocratic backgrounds only show we have had to treat those septic tanks over and again. Hence those who called for the military to intervene and undermine the polls that just happened ought to see this day as a reminder that we had a past of the caveman’s hubris that we should forget only with consequences.

    We join all those who will see today as one for a reflection on the virtues of democracy, which, with all its flaws, is still the best that civilisation has woven as a system of popular persuasion, which U.S. President Abraham Lincoln defined as “the government of the people by the people and for the people.”

    It shows that the only people who deserve freedom must watch from the tower of the vote.

  • Abiola and lessons of June 12

    Abiola and lessons of June 12

    The 30th anniversary of June 12, 1993, presidential election is an opportunity to reminisce and honour the memory of the late Chief Moshood Abiola and other fallen martyrs of democracy, as well as to proffer solutions on the way forward. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI reports

    Thirty years ago, the military authorities tried without success to sweep the outcome of the June 12, 1993, presidential election under the rug. It was an election in which 14 million Nigerians gave the late Chief Moshood Abiola and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe the mandate to govern the country. But, 10 days after the historic election, the military junta led by General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the election.

    However, this development threw the country into several months of chaos, as angry Nigerians questioned the decision of the military government to cancel an election that was adjudged to be one of the most credible polls in the country’s history. By the time Abiola died on July 7, 1998 — the day he was due to be released from detention — he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy. Many observers believe the country’s current 24 years of uninterrupted civil rule was erected on the blood of innocent citizens who paid the prize for insisting on the restoration of June 12, as the annulled poll has come to be known.

    The late Abiola was a committed democrat who paid the supreme price for democracy to flourish in the country. But, all the fuss about June 12 transcends the late Abiola as a person; he was a symbol of the people’s aspiration for democracy. There is a consensus that the annulment represents the killing of the aspirations of the majority of Nigerians for elected representatives to preside over their affairs, rather than self-imposed dictators. Nigerians were fed up with military dictatorship then and wanted change.

    With the benefit of hindsight, June 12 was a watershed in Nigeria’s political history, though the military authorities did not know what they were toying with then. Babangida continues to defend his action, but he is likely to go to his grave pondering what might have been if he had not annulled that election. It came after a convoluted transition and political engineering that lasted 10 years. The Babangida-led ruling military junta had organised elections to return the country to civil rule. After successful governorship and parliamentary elections, the presidential election was held on June 12, 1993. But midway into the official declaration of the results, the self-styled President Babangida, annulled the election, citing spurious reasons.

    A series of events followed in the wake of this development: protests, unrest, an interim government led by the late Ernest Shonekan, and a bloodless “palace coup” by the late Gen. Sani Abacha. Nigeria’s longest period of military rule eventually ended on May 29, 1999, when Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar who succeeded Abacha organised fresh elections that returned the country to civilian rule.

    But, 30 years after June 12, 1993, presidential election, how far has the country imbibed its positive lessons, particularly the sanctity of the ballot box?

    In recognition of Abiola’s sacrifice, former President Muhammadu Buhari five years ago honoured the Abeokuta, Ogun State-born businessman and politician by awarding him the country’s highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), which is reserved for only heads of states. Buhari also made June 12 a national public holiday to commemorate Democracy Day; thereby reducing May 29 to merely a handover day from one administration to another.

    The National Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group, Hon. Olawale Oshun said the late Abiola deserves the honour because he sacrificed for the democracy Nigerians are currently enjoying. He told The Nation: “He had a choice; some people had suggested that he should give up the struggle and leave the country after he was purportedly granted bail by the military. Some people felt he should have taken the advice and fled the country. If he had accepted it, they would not have succeeded in killing him. But, we would still probably be wallowing in military rule.

    “But, he opted to remain and fight for the people’s mandate that was given to him. That was the reason he gave and he defended that mandate and lost his life in the process. Various pro-democracy movements, such as the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and many other groups in the diaspora, participated, but he invigorated the process of getting the military to come to terms with the fact that they have to leave the corridors of power. So, the June 12 struggle was more like an action that precipitated the exit of the military. Abiola was a great man; he had a vision about how to develop the country.”

    Following the June 12 debacle, Nigeria has made progress, by being able to sustain civil for 24 years so far. But, indications are that the country is still struggling to find its feet. Oshun who was the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives during the aborted republic said democracy usually thrives once there is a vibrant economy. He said: “One of the crucial things we need to do to advance in our democratic journey is to build a thriving economy. We must make Nigeria a productive economy; not one that is claiming to be a member of the global community but all it can boast of is importing practically everything it requires from countries like China.

    Read Also: June 12 annulment, tragic mistake – Jerry Gana

    “We were once an aspiring productive economy under General Yakubu Gowon, whatever his weaknesses were. The duties placed on imported goods yielded enormous revenue for the government and it also stimulated industrialisation. There were strict controls on goods imported into the country and there were massive investments in the various industries.

    “All that is gone now and we have suddenly become an importing country but I hope not forever. Once the country is productive and people are gainfully employed, the security challenge we are talking about will disappear. It will remain only petty crimes. Criminal activities like banditry are crimes of bitterness and protest against the society that produced them. If the majority of the people have something to do, you will see that the bitterness will gradually recede and will be eliminated.” 

    The elder statesman said it is gratifying that someone who was an active participant in the struggle for the restoration of June 12 and democracy has emerged as the democratically elected leader of the country at this point. His words: “For now, I can say that we have somebody who was an active participant in the June 12 movement as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What that would do is that with the anticipated good governance that is bound to emerge from the stable of Asiwaju, because of his experience at the Senate and as governor, I believe that dividends of democracy are going to follow shortly.

    “If that is the case, I will say that democracy has started to evolve. This is because once he settles down, he will change the direction of our economy, to a productive one, and improve our security situation by making our country a much more secure one. He would also provide more infrastructure, and then everything about growth and development would fall into place. If that happened, we would have started benefitting from the struggle for June 12.”

    A civil society activist and former lecturer in the Department of Political Science of Bayero University, Kano, Dr Naseer Kura said the gains of the last 30 years have been a mixed bag of fortunes. He said: “When the military was at the helm of affairs, Nigerians from all walks of life firmly stood together to ensure that the country transmitted from dictatorship to democracy. But, unfortunately, the zeal with which Nigerians fought for the restoration of democracy and good governance has waned. Now, Nigerians are even afraid to speak out and point out the failings of those in authority. Today, all the gains of June 12 and the entire struggle for the de-militarisation of the political space are no longer there, and Nigerians are afraid to point out their feelings. The tyranny and impunity in the system have continued to weigh down some of the gains of the June 12 struggle.”

    He said the areas Nigeria needs to improve on include ensuring that institutions of democracy are not hijacked by the political elite. He added: “Before now, Nigerians from different backgrounds and social statuses were able to come together and discuss the interest of the country, to ensure that everything works for the benefit of the generality of the people. But, now, things have changed; ethnicity and religion now play a major role in politics and governance. In this state of affairs, corrupt individuals are supported either because they share the same religion or ethnicity.”

    Broadcaster, social worker and human rights activist, Ambassador Emmanuel Gabari said Nigerians did not learn much from the June 12 saga, “Otherwise politicians will have embraced the sanctity of the ballot box and respect the choice of other citizens,” he said, adding: “One of the things Nigerians have been clamouring for over the years, which I believe we are ripe for now, is independent candidacy.

    “Political parties in the country have become a challenge because they are working against the advancement of democracy, rather than supporting its growth. Like I always tell people, the electioneering process starts from the primaries of political parties. But, from the way political parties are organised today, they have become a cesspool of corruption; the motive of people who come together as members of political parties is now primarily to enrich themselves.”

    Kano State-based Gabari, who is the Executive Director of African Focus For Youth Development (AFFYD), said members of political parties do not contribute anything towards achieving the objectives of establishing the parties, particularly in cash. This, he said, puts the financial burden of running the parties on people with deep pockets that are eyeing one elective or appointive position or the other.

    He added in his interview with our reporter over the telephone: “Since the constitution makes political parties the only means through which Nigerians can vie for elective positions, the emphasis of those at the helm of affairs in these parties is on selling their party’s tickets to the highest bidder. So, a potentially good candidate that does not have the wherewithal and who is not able to throw money around and lobby party delegates do not stand any chance of flying his party’s flag in an election. The country at large would have lost the services of such persons because they do not have the financial muscle to participate in our expensive electioneering process. So, we must try to discourage money politics because the Nigerian is the ultimate loser.

    “Secondly, the electoral umpire, INEC, needs to do more to regain the trust of Nigerians; the body must convince Nigerians that their votes still count because the image of INEC was further battered during the just concluded election as a result of the way and manner it conducted the election. Many people were disenfranchised because electoral officials did not arrive at some polling units until about 2 pm and because some other people could not find their names in the electoral register, following the so-called creation of new polling units. In some places, voting was still on until about midnight and the wee hours of the day. An election should not be that stressful. This is particularly given the huge sum of money that was voted for the conduct of the just concluded election.

    “If the commission is sincere about organising free, fair and transparent elections, going forward, it should work out the modalities for online voting, so people can vote from the comfort of their homes. This is because the lives and security of some people were threatened during the recent exercise; people were beaten up for daring to come out to vote; and others were coerced to vote for political parties against their choice. While all this was happening, the security officials posted to ensure that there is law and order, just sat down and watched helplessly. This is capable of discouraging many people from exercising their right to vote in future.

    “When it comes to the collation of results, it could well be that the last election was not rigged. But, the way INEC went about the whole process leaves much to be desired. It’s not about coming to a live television programme to promise heaven on earth, but on the day of the election, you do the very opposite. Officials of the commission, including its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, kept assuring Nigerians that following the declaration of results at each polling unit, they will be uploaded in real-time to the commission’s result viewing portal. But, this was done selectively on the day of the election by uploading results for the House of Representatives election, as well as that of the Senate, but ignoring the results of the presidential election.”

    Besides the issue of organising free, fair and transparent elections, observers believe the way forward is for the Nigerian state to re-engage with its diverse people; and to decentralise the governance structure by devolving power and functions to the federating units as befits its plural nature.  

  • Nigeria: Returning to war zone

    Nigeria: Returning to war zone

    SIR: Returning to Nigeria after a wonderful conference cum holiday in a beautiful Island of the United States of America, is like a war general who had escaped the horrendous war, now going back to the war zone after all his colleagues had been arrested.

    I do not actually blame the japa generation – the generation leaving Nigeria in droves for greener pastures – because everyone deserves to live a good life. No citizen should suffer from the failures of leadership.

    Nigeria, my country, is blessed beyond measures in human and material resources, but our leaders lack the requisite competence to harness these unquantifiable resources.

    In the political arena, Nigeria seems to put her worse foot forward. We define politics in terms of tribe, zone, ethnicity and party affiliations, consigning competence and moral qualities to the gutters. How else do you define a country where the leaders compete amongst themselves as to who is most powerful? Who is richest or who has the most following?

    The citizens have turned tools in the hands of these chess masters. They turn out policies that would not work or rather, would be made not to work.

    The japa generation would wonder who would ever choose, on their own volition, to return to a country where nothing is certain. Education is truncated or stalled for bad policies; security is unsure for lack of competence and corruption; energy, in terms of power, is at the lowest ebb; anti-human policies are awash; I mean, you can name any vice and you will sure find it in my country.

    The long awaited removal of fuel subsidy is now with us. The outgone Buhari regime finally removed the subsidy, as his last gift to Nigerians, though welcomed by the Tinubu administration, which is expected to champion the course. Now, do not get me wrong, I believe that the erstwhile much touted subsidy was a ruse, a charade and fraud of the highest order. Many billionaires had been produced on this subsidy scam, and so, it must go. All of our presidential contestants knew this and they all vowed to remove it. We all applauded their decisions. At least, they all had a common ground on this vexed issue.

    In The United States as elsewhere, fuel is not cheap at all and the citizens are used to it and probably laugh at us in Nigeria. I go with my friends here to buy fuel and it sells for between $3.4 to 3.5. Do a mental conversion to Naira and you’ll understand how much they pay for fuel here. Are they complaining like Nigerians? No! This is because the system has been structured in a way to provide buffer. You could work extra jobs, that are actually available, to cushion the effect of such increment, which, of course, do not happen often.

    Read Also: Kwara Gov, Tor-Ijeomah, Jack-Rich, 13 others for SGF honouring committee

    Secondly, you do not have to own a car or ride in your car to go to work. The public transport system is top notch. You have options in trains or buses, which are cheap or you could do Uber.

    Primary and secondary education are free. You do not have to worry about the spiral effect of removal of subsidy. There is provision of student loan for tertiary education and food is the cheapest thing you can get.

    So, in a situation where the government is doing its utmost best to make life meaningful for her citizens, a removal of any subsidy should not cause uproar.

    Unfortunately, the Nigerian leadership knows next to nothing about proper governance and all that it entails.

    How I wish Nigerians have the opportunity to do something extra like elsewhere. Why can’t car owners do a pool, like if you find colleagues traveling together, share the fuel money or even use their cars as a mini Uber or cab? Why can’t we run small businesses to earn extra income? Many things we can do to cushion the effects. May God help the new government to right the wrongs of many years.

    •Prof. Tunji Oyelade,

    Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.  

  • We just want to plant corn, Mr. President

    We just want to plant corn, Mr. President

    SIR: Dear Mr. President, the first rains have fallen in the northwest region and I wish to plant corn in commercial quantities. There is one huge problem, though. The murderous bandits scattered in the bushes will not allow me to go anywhere near my farm. In fact, there are thousands of farmers with arable lands 10 times larger than mine, but are forced to abandon these farms to remain uncultivated because of the appalling bandits. The farmers dare not visit their own farms, let alone attempt to cultivate them.

    Bandits have been seen to display ridiculous levels of impunity by either taking control of hard-working farmers’ harvests; kidnap the farmers for ransom, or both. Worst-case scenario, the farmers lose their lives for failing to cooperate.

    This trend cuts across major farming towns in no fewer than five of the seven north-western states, and a few local government areas in Niger State. Farmlands in Funtua, Dandume, Faskari, Bakori, Kankara, Malumfashi and Danmusa Local Government Areas in Katsina will largely remain uncultivated. In Zamfara State, the case appears even worse. According to Yusuf Anka, a conflict journalist in Zamfara, villagers have been attacked and killed almost on a daily basis within the past week. This has clearly sent chilling messages of terror across the region. Farmlands in Tsafe, Anka, Gummi, Gusau and Talata Mafara Localities of Zamfara will most definitely remain idle, unless, of course, something drastic is done by the president, through his now obviously funded (and equipped) armed forces.

    Nigeria has 35 million hectares of arable land, which is bigger than that of most of the countries of the world, according to the World Bank. The immediate past minister of agriculture in 2022, admitted that only 44% of the nation’s arable land is being utilized. Whether this ‘utilization’ is judicious and efficient enough is a topic for another day. In any case, it is safe to say that this percentage will continue to southwards as the bandits continue to ransack villages, and inject terror into the minds of city boys and farmer wannabes like me. I cannot risk my life for all the corn in the world!

    Read Also: Tinubu’s emergence as president new dawn for Nigeria

    The northwest region hosts the majority of the poorest of the poor in Nigeria and these numbers can only start to drop if the poor inhabitants are allowed to do what they do best, which is subsistence farming at the very least. No amount of interventions, grants or agricultural initiatives will have any palpable impact if the security of the common farmer cannot be guaranteed.

    There might probably be a new National Security Adviser (NSA) for the president within the coming days or weeks, or least of all, a new approach to addressing the security challenges facing each region of the country. What this submission is calling for is an improved tempo and a display of urgency from the centre in dealing with these unrepentant terrorists once and for all.

    Since this administration has decided to be gutsy in removing fuel subsidy within hours of its inauguration, for instance, we can say that the administration will not be afraid of trying new things. Is it with the implementation of state police? Is it through the tightening of regulations surrounding combating of the financing of terrorism? Is it with the reorganization of the country’s armed forces? It cannot hurt to try new things, at this point, honestly.

    The least the northwest region deserves is to feel safe again. It will no doubt be the biggest payback from President Tinubu by a mile! We in the northwest care less about who gets what appointment and where. We just want to safely plant and harvest corn, Mr. President.

    •Aliyu Sulaiman,

    Katsina.

  • Nigeria (Scam) Air

    Nigeria (Scam) Air

    If there is a prize for con artistry, the proposed national carrier project, Nigeria Air, as midwifed by former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika gets it.

    When a Boeing 737-860 aircraft in the carrier’s colours and logo was unveiled at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIAA) on 26th May, the ex-minister rhapsodized about accomplishment of a long nursed dream. He trumpeted the arrival of the aircraft via a celebratory tweet, saying: “We are here. To Almighty God be all the glory. It has been a very long, tedious, daunting and difficult path…” Later same day at the unveiling of the aircraft, he suggested that the carrier was a project delivered, saying inter alia: “We started in 2016 and it ended today. There is a history behind all of these. There were challenges for that matter. We didn’t allow them to make us lose focus. We stayed with our eyes on the ball and today we’re here.” Sirika postured like the aircraft that came in on 26th May was a first of many aircraft expected to make up the new carrier’s fleet in the coming years. He told whoever cared to listen that it was envisaged that within the next five years, the fleet would hit the 35 aircraft mark: “You don’t come in one day to dump 35 airplanes. You can’t come in one day and start going to London. So, it’s a gradual process. The airplanes will be coming one after another. And in the next five years, according to the business case, we’ll achieve the 35 aircraft mark,” he said.

    But it was all too obvious the aircraft flaunted by Sirika was neither Nigeria Air’s nor a maiden flight of the carrier as should be standard industry practice, because the proposed national carrier hasn’t even secured an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Industry stakeholders and watchers wasted no time pointing out it was an Ethiopian Airline registered aircraft that flight tracking information showed had flown to Turkey, Somalia, Mogadishu and other routes prior to being brought into Abuja for static display. And few hours after the Abuja ground pose, the aircraft returned to Addis Ababa, with tracking information showing it was back in Ethiopian Airline service on 31st May  and operated Addis Ababa-Mogadishu and Mogadishu-Addis Ababa flight as of 1st June. The four-day lapse between the aircraft’s return from Abuja and restoration to ET service was believed to be when it was on ground at the Ethiopian capital to undergo rebranding for that airline and necessary checks for operational fitness.

    On the heels of the static display in Abuja, industry stakeholders on the platform of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) described the carrier unveiling as a charade. Spokesman of  the group and chair of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, said the process adopted by Sirika in establishing a national carrier lacked sincerity and transparency. Besides, according to him, there were indications that the Federal Government which has only five percent of the shares in the planed carrier is bankrolling the project, whereas other shareholders that have 46 percent are quiet while Ethiopian Airlines that is the core investor with 49 percent controlling share has not contributed funds to the airline. Okonkwo said AON was in court to stop the establishment of the airline because of the lack of transparency. He further argued: “There is an attempt by somebody to hang on to Nigeria Air, using it as cover to take over Nigeria’s aviation industry. So, the purpose is self-serving. The cost of establishing this airline is about $250million. Who paid the money? MRS and Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO) listed as shareholders are not talking and have not made any contribution to the company and indications show they are not interested… Nigeria Air unveiling was meant to confuse Nigerians.” According to the AON, interests behind the national carrier project are eyeing Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) rights worth about $20billion.

    Read Also: Nigeria Air: Why EFCC must probe, prosecute<br>Sirika, Emefiele, others, by APC chief

    The carrier unveiling was the last major outing by Sirika as minister and, according to him, it was in fulfilment and delivery of the core component of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency’s aviation roadmap. Against wise counsel to avoid rush, the ex-minister insisted the new carrier would take off before the expiration of President Buhari’s tenure on 29th May; and just when it seemed commonsense had prevailed otherwise, he announced two days to the Abuja display that Nigeria Air’s aircraft would arrive Friday, 26th May. And like he touted, the aircraft came in with fanfare to a water salute at NAIAA. The choreography was propped up by Ethiopian Airline Chief Commercial Officer, Lemma Gudeta, who lauded the Federal Government’s effort and assured that the project under the watch of his organisation would ensure Nigeria’s economic development. “Based on the initial business plan we are working on in collaboration with stakeholders in the consortium, Nigerian Air will be a $1billion company in five years’ time,” he said. adding: “As a company in Africa that has operated for the last 77 years in aviation, Ethiopian Airlines is very much pleased to be part of the beginning of the Nigeria national carrier…”

    But all who had hoped to start patronising the service of the new airline drew a blank with the evidence that the Abuja show was only a ghost launch. Not only did the displayed aircraft swiftly return to ET service, it’s now officially made known that the proposed carrier is far from being in shape to fly – having taken only the first step in a five-step procedure to secure an AOC. Last week, Dayo Olumide, Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, confirmed that the aircraft that landed at NAIAA on 26th May was a chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines. Responding to queries by the Senate Committee on Aviation on Tuesday, he told the members: “The aircraft that came in and left was a legitimate charter flight. Anyone of us here, if we have a destination wedding in Senegal, we can charter an aircraft. You don’t need to have a licence to do that, you just charter an aircraft, you pay for it and it will be brought here, take your passengers and off you go. And that is what we did. But in this case, it was to unveil. Ever since 2018, all you have seen about Nigeria Air were pictures and drawings, not the real aircraft. And we thought it was time to show what the real aircraft will look like and also to let shareholders know.”

    Olumide confirmed that the proposed carrier is yet to be certificated. “For us to get that licence, which is my mandate, we must among other things have three aircraft before the NCAA would give us a licence, and those three aircraft must be Nigeria-registered. There are five steps that one goes through to have a licence. We have gone from the first to the second one, but the problem is when you change what we call post-holders,” he said. “Post-holder is a technical term for director of maintenance, or chief pilot. When you change them and replace them completely, you have to go back to phase one to interview them to be compliant to the civil authority. But having gone back to phase one doesn’t mean you have done anything thing wrong. That is a correct and normal process,” the airline chief added.

    Well, you heard it from the horse’s mouth: what Sirika hyped as the launch of the national carrier penultimate weekend was only a charter flight meant as demo to investors! That is not mentioning the insulting irony of enlisting a foreign flag carrier that had operated successfully in its own right to come hoodwink Nigerians over the false start of their own flag carrier. Meanwhile, NCAA being under the Aviation ministry, there were reports of frantic attempts by the ex-minister to arm-twist the agency into handing the national carrier an AOC without following established procedure. Top officials of the agency were kicked out by him and only safeguards stipulated in the new Act regulating the authority saved the Director-General, according to industry experts. And so, Sirika delivered Nigeria Air national carrier project that is all up in the air. It is about time he got invited by investigating authorities to account for all that went down.

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

  • Tinubu, June 12 and NADECO

    Tinubu, June 12 and NADECO

    President Bola Tinubu was among top National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftains who fought for the revalidation of the annulled June 12, presidential poll won by the business mogul, the late Chief Moshood Abiola. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU revisits the contributions of the irrepressible pro-democracy crusader and apostle of justice to the titanic battle.

    The ‘June 12’ battle was not for men of frail will. On the battle field were great fighters who dared the military. These democratic forces were scattered at home and abroad. Many lost their lives and property. When the fight became hotter, some developed cold feet, betrayed the cause and deserted the battle. However, many also endured the heat and fought to the end during the delicate period.

    The twilight of military rule, particularly between 1993 and 1998, when pro-democracy forces, led by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), pressed for the revalidation of the annulled June 12,1993 presidential election, was a very turbulent period. 

    The historic poll was won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    Among pro-democracy arrowheads who stood firm to the end is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Third Republic senator, who later served as two-term governor of Lagos State and leader of opposition before becoming president. 

    Reflecting on the period, Tinubu who had narrated his story to some reporters in Lagos, shortly after vacating office as governor, said the battle took its toll on many freedom fighters. 

    After the military President,  Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the election, stepped aside, the interim contraption headed by the late Chief Ernest Shonekan filled the void for three months before Justice Dolapo Adesanya declared it illegal. Then, the late Gen. Sani Abacha took over and renewed the onslaught against NADECO.

    Tinubu had to leave Nigeria in a hurry. While decrying the injustice of cancellation, he was tagetted for liquidation by the military. 

    He was detained in Lagos, and when he left detention, he disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. 

    Tinubu said: “My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one. I gave her some information and some briefing. I left at 1 a.m. 

    “While in Benin Republic, I was still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and coordinate the struggle with others on ground. We put a group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a very challenging time.”

    While in exile, the military broke into his house and the residence of his illustrious mother, the late Chief Abibat Mogaji. When Babangida annulled the poll, Tinubu who had opposed the satanic act as a senator, also took his mother to Abuja to appeal to the military leader to allow the election to stand. IBB, as he is fondly called, refused.

    Mrs. Mogaji’s residence was later assaulted. The soldiers stormed the place, broke her soak-away, believing that Tinubu kept guns there. They carted away the generating set and cut the telephone line

    When Tinubu returned to Nigeria, he had no Victoria Island home to return to. He said it had been taken over by Abacha’s men. “They dispossessed me of the house, as well as my office on Saka Tinubu Street. My vehicles and everything else I owned. They claimed they found bombs in it and dispossessed me of it,” he recalled. 

    Tinubu started making sacrifice to the Abiola’s cause as a senator, long before the Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yoruba joined the presidential race. Although the SDP senator had wanted to be Senate President, he was advised to jettison the ambition because of the understanding that the presidential candidate should come from the Southest. Therefore, he stepped down for Senator Iyorchia Ayu from Benue State. 

    Also, while some senators thought Tinubu would be used against the democratic project by IBB because of the military president’s closeness to the Tinubu family, Senator Tinubu proved them wrong. 

    Tinubu supported Abiola because of his vision for the country. He brought to bear on the Abiola project his corporate experience and capacity for  strategic planning.

    The military did not want to disengage. Human right activists and the media were resolute that soldiers should return to the barracks. Therefore, Tinubu and other like-minded federal legislators strategised and organised a successful joint session of the National Assembly to reach a resolution against military stay beyondAugust 27, 1993. “In a motion moved by a House of Representatives member and supported by a senator, at the joint session of the National Assembly, it was resolved that the military must hand over to a democratically elected civilian president by August,” Tinubu recalled.

    Read Also: Democracy Day: Tinubu addresses Nigerians tomorrow

    When President IBB later came to address the joint session of the National Assembly,  the lot fell on Tinubu to speak on behalf of the SDP caucus. “I frontally told him that he should not miss the opportunity to leave the legacy of handing over to a democratically elected government,” he said. 

     After that incident, he became a persona non grata to the military administration.

    Tinubu went to 22 states to campaign for the SDP candidate.  The Option A4 and the Open Secret Ballot System introduced by Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), were effective. There was no room for manipulation and the number of ballot papers could not be greater than the number of registered voters and vice versa. It could be lower because some people could get accredited and not vote. Everybody would vote at the same time. At the close of poll, Abiola won.

    In Tinubu’s view,  the two-party system would have been the greatest legacy of IBB. 

    When the the news of the annulment came, Tinubu was with Abiola. The collation of results had stopped abruptly. Figures from all the states, except Taraba, were ready.  But, the military had unleashed crisis on the country.

    As the military was mooting the idea of ING, a ministerial offer was dangled Tinubu. He rejected it. Also, some people advised him to return to Mobil, where he was treasuer. He rejected the option. He was among the G-30 senators pushin for de-annulment. 

    The military leaders were smart. In post-IBB period, they cajoled SDP leaders, promising to address June 12. But, after Gen. Sani Abacha displaced Shonekan and made Gen. Oladipo Diya his Chief of General Staff, they disowned June 12 altogether after stabilising his regime with the active support of politicians in his cabinet. 

    Tinubu rallied some senators for a session at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. There, they declared Abacha government illegal. Later, he went underground. 

    “I went underground, using the 090 mobile phone. I was still granting press interviews to foreign media. The military people were mad. I became a thorn in their flesh and they arrested some of my colleagues, including Abu Ibrahim, the late Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute and Okoroafor. I was still underground, holding press conferences. The military declared me wanted,” Tinubu said. 

    However, they granted bail to the arrested senators, excluding Tinubu. Instead, there was a manhunt for him by the police and the SSS. 

    Later, Tinubu disguised, dressed like a malam, and went to the police at Alagbon, Lagos. The officers did not even know him when they saw him. 

    Reminiscing on his ordeal, he said: “I went in, deposited my phone and my charger. Senator Abu Ibrahim was with us. The officers were wondering why I, a Mallam, could not speak Hausa. I removed my turban, showed up at the front desk and declared that I had come to surrender.

    “There was pandemonium among the officers, as to how I got there. The AIG then was very nice and they put me in the cell. They poured water into the cell room and said, ‘sleep there’. That was the nastiest experience I had within first 48 hours that I was there. 

    “It was on a weekend. I told them I would embark on a hunger strike. The late Anthony Enahoro was on the stairway and Beko Ransome-Kuti was at another angle on the stairway. They brought me out repeatedly for interrogation. They asked me to renounce, but I said no, I would not recognise Abacha. 

    “They took me and my colleagues to court. People who were supposed to meet their bail conditions were stopped from doing so immediately they saw me. They cancelled everybody’s bail because they could not isolate me.

    They gave an order that we should be taken out of court, but kept in the police custody at Alagbon. They kept about eight of us in a photocopying room, an eight-by-eight room. We were sleeping across one another. It was a matter of the first to sleep would maintain the position. If your head was this way, your leg would be there and so on. It was a nasty experience.”

    Although his colleague,  Abu Ibrahim, was let off after interrogation, and following the intervention of the influential northern leader, the late Gen. Hassan Katsina,  he refused to leave. He rejected the isolated bail.  Ibrahim and Tinubu are still very close till today. 

    The matter shifted to court and on the day Tinubu was denied bail, market women protested. Eventually, the Court of Appeal granted him bail in enforcement of his fundamental human rights. “Our passports were confiscated and deposited with the court. Later, the High Court ruled that our passports be released to us. That night, they finally announced our bail and conditions attached to it. The presiding judge then is today the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari. 

    “We heard that they put so much pressure on him  not to release us, but he ordered our release. They were going to re-arrest me and I suddenly went underground to continue my protest,” Tinubu recalled.

    The military started throwing bombs in Lagos and held the activists responsible. They bombed Tinubu’s house, but as he recalled, his wife and children had been evacuated. He was also accused of planning to bomb the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot at Ejigbo.

    It was double  crises for Senator Tinubu, who was being tried for treason which carried a penalty of life imprisonment. He was declared wanted. 

    On the advice of his uncle, the late Kafaru Tinubu, former Commissioner of Police and lawyer, Tinubu left Nigeria for Benin Republic by the “NADECO route.”

    When he escaped abroad, soldiers stormed his house, carted away his  eight vehicles and other properties to Alagbon. His wife and two toddlers were dropped in a bush. The late Dr. Beko Ransom-Kuti and the diplomatic missions came to his aid and ferried them to the United States while Tinubu was still in Benin Republic. 

    Besides, Tinubu became immobile due to lack of passports. Through military spies, his routes were discovered.  “Twice, I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding.The day they came for me at the hotel. I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market, where Yorubas are dominant.

     ”I was also to meet Akinrinade and the rest of them. The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception winked to me and I turned back. 

    “I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect, and had very strong sympathy for us. Professor Wole Soyinka and Alani Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them,” he stressed. 

    Tinubu’s saving grace may have been the British High Commission, which  got proper information through the Consular-General that his life was in danger. He stamped a visa on a sheet of paper and did a letter, authorising the airline to pick him from Benin Republic to any port of entry in Britain.

    He ecplained:”  I didn’t know how they got to me. A lady just walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said I had been granted an entry into the United Kingdom. She said I could be killed if I failed to leave in the next 48 hours. 

    “It was Air Afrique that took me from Benin Republic to London. Meanwhile, my wife was still in the United States. I landed in Britain and worked my way back to Benin Republic. I picked up my passport from somewhere. I went to an African country and through their connections, they gave me a diplomatic passport as a cultural ambassador.”

    Tinubu said he used the passport to travel to Cote d’Ivoire to hold meetings at the Hotel Continental, where they were planning to make anti-Abacha broadcast. When he returned, he found that military assailants had broken into his hotel room and taken away his briefcase and diplomatic passport. 

    “They dropped a note, saying: ‘You cannot be twice lucky.’ I was taken over by panic. Fortunately, in my back pocket, I had the photocopy of the sheet of paper on which the British had stamped a visa for me to travel out of Benin previously. 

    “I took that to the British High Commission in Abidjan. They listened to my story and asked me to come back at night. They did all their verification and found my story to be true. I returned to them and they gave me another sheet of paper and wrote the number of the flight that would take me out of that country.

    “But I had no money. Somebody suddenly drove in. The person is a well-known name I don’t want to mention. I met him and explained my condition. He had a traveller’s cheque, but the money was not enough. I went back to the British High Commission and the woman said she could assist me with her own personal money to bridge the shortfall in cash.”

    For two years, Tinubu never set eyes on his family. 

    To boot the anti-military fight, Tinubu was among those who founded and coordinated Radio Kudirat and Radio Freedom.

    On how he later joined his family, he said: “The law of political asylum stipulates that your first country of landing and acceptance is the safe haven, so it’s not transferable. That was how Cornelius Adebayo was stuck in a United Nations camp. 

    “My wife had to invoke a family clause that exists in America to fight for her husband to join her before they granted me a special privilege to leave UK to join my family in the United States.”

    The struggle was intensified by NADECO at home and abroad. Abacha was planning his transmutation to a civilian president through the endorsement of the five fingers of a lepros hand when he suddenly died. 

    Then, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar took over. Suddenly, Abiola also died in mysterious circumstances. 

    It was the end of the battle. 

  • Prepare to fight with subsidy cartels, NGO cautions Tinubu

    Prepare to fight with subsidy cartels, NGO cautions Tinubu

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Pristine Initiative for Social Development (PRISOD), has warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that his administration will face serious backlash and confrontation from oil subsidy cartels in the aftermath of his subsidy withdrawal in the country.

    The NGO gave the caution in Abuja, saying oil subsidy was a “multi-trillion naira scam whose beneficiaries are well-heeled, rich and powerful”.

    In a statement by its Executive Director (Strategic Communication), Aare Fola Arogundade, PRISOD noted that over N7 trillion was spent on petroleum subsidy in 2022 alone and N3.6 trillion earmarked for first half of this year.

    “We now know that over half of these sums went into private pockets. So, we’re talking about people who have got stupendously rich on this racket and who will not cave in easily to being denied this filthy lucre.

    “Any group of persons who have illicitly amassed such wealth would of course have a huge war chest ready to deploy to protect its interests, even at the cost of human lives,” the NGO said.

    Read Also: Democracy Day: Tinubu will deliver dividends of democracy, says Gbajabiamila

    PRISOD said it is not unlikely that such persons have primed foot soldiers ready for battle at short notice.

    “Vice President Kashim Shettima already described them as ‘powerful and ruthless’. So, the Tinubu administration is apparently aware of their capabilities and should be ready to face them, fire for fire.

    “We know that their strategy would include making the country ungovernable for this administration by way of civil unrest and other forms of public disorder. President Tinubu should be ready to instantly crush such tendencies,” it added.

    The NGO praised President Tinubu for his courage in taking the step that many of his predecessors had shied away from and urged him to faithfully implement programmes that would mitigate the short-term effects of the subsidy withdrawal.

  • Who is afraid of Monguno?

    Who is afraid of Monguno?

    • By Alfred Ndukwe

    The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, a retired Major General, is once again a victim of orchestrated media attacks. What many Nigerians see are symptoms of the media attacks. They do not see the faces behind the attacks and the evil intents of the architects of the media lynching.

    Monguno is by nature taciturn; a thoroughbred military professional who is not given to charlatanry or garrulous jests. A consummate strategic thinker and astute manager of men, this explains why he was able to work effectively with the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, himself an ascetic, frugal retired General.

    A man of the character of Monguno who runs away from headlines and media blitzkriegs suits his job. He has remained largely self-effacing, limiting himself to his office, the president’s office and strategic international trips. You won’t find him frolicking at rendezvous, hobnobbing with politicians or making political utterances; a man of quiet efficiency. Such is the nature of Monguno and such should be the character of an intelligence officer, especially one at the zenith of his career.

    President Buhari had during his time alluded to the efficiency of Monguno as a major contributory factor to his government’s tactical and technical defeat of Boko Haram insurgency and the bold reclamation of annexed local governments in Borno State from the insurgents.

    The successful conduct of elections in parts of the north which were security-challenged in 2019 and 2023 owe largely to the counter-terrorism dexterity of Mungono who gave Buhari and the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) iron-cast assurance of relative peace during the polls.

    Ahead of the 2023 elections, for instance, some Nigerians had predicted doom and gloom. Some even propounded the likelihood of the formation of an Interim Government, a constitutional aberration. But Monguno’s intelligence masterstroke calmed feisty tempers and defused every tension. In the wake of wanton destruction of lives and property occasioned by the proliferation of illicitly acquired small arms and light weapons, Monguno midwifed the establishment of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons to promote an illicit arms-free society. The Centre is fully operational and is recording tremendous successes. Monguno has also built two magnificent and iconic state-of-the-art office complexes for the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The NCTC is intended to optimise efforts in addressing evolving security challenges especially terrorism and violent extremism. And here we are; a new government of renewed hope has berthed on our democracy shore.

    Read Also: ONSA’s structural, strategic evolution under Monguno

    Perhaps, it’s the disappointment of those baying for pre-election trouble that is now driving them to shoot down Monguno and tarnish the reputation he has built over the years which has earned him copious commendations and validations both at home and from international intelligence agencies. Monguno’s traducers are taking advantage of his unobtrusive nature to taint his image before President Tinubu.

    This is why many persons within the security circle are peeved at the attempts by some retired Generals to garb Monguno in a filthy garment using a particular online medium notorious for smear campaigns and blackmail against public office holders. A former Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff were touted as the brains behind the recent scheme to tar Monguno in the darkest of veneers. They have scripted a devious narrative to pitch Monguno against President Tinubu to score cheap political point. It’s the same campaign of calumny that they orchestrated against the NSA in the days of President Buhari using some persons in Aso Rock. Their plot was to get Monguno out of their way as they shamelessly and insensitively turned the fight against insurgency into a money-making enterprise to enrich themselves and their backers.

    In March 2021 in an article published in Sunday Sun newspaper and other newspapers captioned: Monguno, Saint Among Sinners; Ken Ugbechie, a leading Nigerian journalist and columnist wrote: ”Monguno is the archetypal saint among sinners. Those who vilify him for alerting the nation to a structural dysfunction in the security apparatchik obviously do not mean well for Nigeria. The war against insurgency has cost the nation blood, human blood. It has cost money, stymied the economy, stunted education and learning, polarised the nation along traditional fault lines of religion and ethnicity, chased away investors and cast a pall of fear across the land. Every well-meaning Nigerian wants an end to it. Monguno is merely echoing the voices of these well-meaning Nigerians. His is a patriot’s rousing, jarring us out of our self-induced numbness.”

    The above referenced the attacks on Monguno by some hirelings whose shenanigans to oust the NSA from Buhari cabinet failed. It’s on record that Buhari trusted Monguno. Despite the schemes of a ruthless cabal to persuade then President Buhari to dismiss the NSA and install one of their stooges, Buhari stuck to his gun. He did not only ignore the plot to remove Monguno, President Buhari gave him a wider sphere of influence. Those familiar with the undercurrents in Aso Rock and its extended corridors said Buhari’s confidence in Monguno has so much to do with the integrity of the NSA, his professionalism and sterling antecedent in the military. Even when service chiefs were changed, Buhari retained Monguno as NSA, knowing full well that his efforts to galvanise and coordinate the relevant security agencies is sine qua non for effective dismantling of the structures of the insurgents.

    Those who are scheming for political positions in the Tinubu government should continue with their jostling; but they need not smear Monguno to get what they want. It will be a disservice to the Tinubu government and to the nation that those who were dismissed by previous governments on account of their inefficiency would scheme their way into the Tinubu cabinet. Instead of appointing previously dismissed military chiefs into his cabinet, President Tinubu should carry out a forensic inquest into how money meant for procurement of military hardware was spent in the past years. The former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in a plane crash on May 22, 2021 in Kaduna had so much to say on the procurement of military hardware before he died that fateful day. But his briefs and executive summary are still in the National Assembly. President Tinubu should excavate these files to see who played what role in the purchase of arms on behalf of the federal government.

    As for Monguno, the NSA should consider the virulent attacks on his person as part of the price he has to pay for success and for standing with the voiceless people of Nigeria. The media mob is evidence that he has ruffled feathers. It shows that some powerful persons who were used to feasting on public funds rather than fighting the insurgents are not happy with him. This should never dampen his spirit; rather, it should fire him up to do more for his country.

    • Ndukwe, security analyst, writes from Lagos.