WHEN Napoli FC of Italy striker Victor James Osimhen broke the rule to support the retention of Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles Head Coach, I knew it wasn’t Osimhen talking. Enemies of the beautiful game in Nigeria used him to set an agenda or should I say they wanted to test the murky waters of popularity for a coach who has failed in all the assignments he has handled. A few days after Osimhen’s proclamation, the real voices of shame from the Dankaro House in Abuja campaigning for Peseiro’s continuous destruction of the Nigerian game across all strata joined the chorus citing the nearness of the competition to accommodate such an unwelcome decision.
The question is why have our football administrators chosen to sacrifice the country’s quest for another World Cup ticket using Peseiro? Our football chieftains ought to know that Peseiro would insist on going to the Mundial, considering Nigeria’s Group C which has South Africa, Benin Republic, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Super Eagles have been untidy in their outings under Peseiro making it imperative for our football authorities to seize the opportunity of his contract expiration to return to the negotiation table, shake hands and walk away from keeping him on the job. Terminating Peseiro’s contract with a home game in Nigeria to spare against Sao Tome and Principe won’t translate to taking any risk if the federation knows its onions. If Super Eagles can’t beat Sao Tome and Principe in Nigeria, they have no business going to the next World Cup. Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup preparations should begin with the game against Sao Tome and Principe with the mantra being fielding younger boys who can run for 120 minutes on the pitch and panting and gasping to drink water with every stoppage in the game. Our mumu don do!
These Lilliputians at the Dankaro House in Abuja have forgotten so soon how Clemens Westerhof joined the Super Chicken then in 1989 deep inside the country’s campaign for the Italia 90 World Cup to reconstruct our football for the good of the game from late 1990 till 1998 when the country’s football was at its apogee. In five years the Dutchman changed the team’s sobriquet from Super Chicken to Super Eagles.
Westerhof wielded the stick in the game against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon where Nigeria lost 1-0 through François Omam-Biyik’s 31st-minute goal at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo – Yaoundé – Cameroon. But Nigeria was gradually remoulding a new squad which gave Nigerians a renewed hope for better days. Alloy Agu rose from his spectacular outings in the domestic league to man the post against the roaring Lions, conceding a goal, though he lost a tooth. The worthy price for change. Agu was replaced by Goalkeeper David Ngodigha another product from Port Harcourt who grew in confidence with every domestic game he partook in.
Westerhof recognised where the problems of the team were and mustered enough courage to sweep the problematic players out and introduced an adequate competition for shirts in the Super Eagles again. The Dutchman set benchmarks for inviting players while also reading the riot act on benchwarmers and those who didn’t play for elite clubs in Europe. Indeed, players knew where they stood in Westerhof’s era. Westerhof took a predominantly home-based squad to the Algiers ’90 Africa Cup of Nations, losing 5-1 to the hosts, Algeria n the opening game. These rookies improved with every game and qualified to play against Algeria in the final. Nigeria lost 1-0 in the finals but had exposed at least 40 new players who ruled the world for their European clubs and for their fatherland. Post Westerhof era ushered in Johannes Bonfere who virtually replicated what his former boss did. Bonfere can’t be said to be responsible for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games gold medal with many of the players telling stories of how they gathered n the field during matches to change Bonfere’s cumbersome tactics which created problems for the fluid ones which he learned from their European clubs’ coaches. Both Westerhof and Bonfere have crossed the 70-years but their legacies stare us in the face because they both had plans which rocked the world anytime Nigeria was playing on the global stage under their watch.
From 1989 to 1994 when Westerhof left the country’s 1994 World Cup camp in the United States, he had implanted a playing style anchored on the late Rashidi Yekini’s darting run and ruthless finishing in front of the goalkeeper.
The battle of Mombasa had Austin Okocha leading the big boys in the Super Eagles to destroy the junior Harambee Stars of Kenya 3-0 to restore Nigeria’s hope of an appearance at the 1996 Olympic Games. Nigeria’s Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games squad was a collection of Westerhof’s previous invitees and those he had earmarked for the future. I still hold it against Johannes Bonfrere for dropping Jonathan Akpoborie from the squad. Only in Nigeria would Akpoborie have been dropped for some of those in the team.
Peseiro should be asked to go. If he stays as a result of lack of cash, the new administration should provide the cash to upset Peseiro’s and others’ entitlements. Nigeria can’t have a prolific striker in the class of Victor Osimhen and not qualify for the 2026 World Cup. It is pure witchcraft.
Most times I’m taken aback by people’s high expectations of Super Eagles during matches. They blindly or should I say they patriotically expect our foreign legion to recreate some of the scintillating skills which they exhibit playing for the European clubs when they star for Nigeria in international matches. They won’t replicate their European clubs’ form with a national team coach like Peseiro. It won’t happen. Nigerians shouldn’t be subjected to another round of permutations when the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup begin.
The target for African teams at the Mundial is to surpass the quarter-finals stage with Cameroon as the other country from the continent to have played at the quarter-finals in 1990. The Indomitable Lions lost to England 3-2, with ageless Roger Mila, the poster man of the competition.
We don’t need another pilgrimage in 2026 to repeat what we first achieved in 1994, 29 years ago. The argument that Nigeria is stuck with Peseiro based on his contractual terms is unacceptable. Nigeria under Peseiro invites an average between 24 to 28 European-based players leaving the NFF with the shortest part of the stick in terms of cutting costs. Little wonder the stories have been one of the debts since most of what comes to the federation go out to source funds for the players.
South Africa, Benin Republic, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe will battle Nigeria to the finish for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers’ single ticket in Group C if we don’t set Peseiro free. Paying the Portuguese as much as $70,000 monthly for what he does with the Super Eagles is scandalous. We need to have a new slate managed by more qualified coaches who will truly return the country’s football to winning ways. Winning the Africa Cup of Nations should be our birthright. But it won’t happen with a failing journeyman such as Peseiro. NFF should know that Peseiro would drag our plans backwards by two years, meaning that after the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire next year, Nigeria would begin another round of reconstructing the team. Can Peseiro lift the Cup of Nations next year? No way. Would he be sacked next year? Yes. Why don’t we sack him and gain time?
Recruiting a new coach now would make sure he isn’t given the task of lifting the Cup of Nations next year. Rather, such a new coach’s target would be to play in the semi-finals. Is it achievable with proper planning from today? You tell me.
In a robust and rigorous reaction to my submissions in the first part of this piece, a professor of Political Science and International Relations (formerly of the Abia State University but now an Executive Director with the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA), Professor Steve Egbo, disagreed with my views. Incidentally, that would apparently not be the first time he would respond to my column. As he wrote, “Good morning, Mr Segun. This is the second time I will be commenting on your article. You may still likely remember the first. As usual, you wrote in anger, but I am of the opinion that your column today in The Nation (Saturday), ‘Putin, the West and the rest of us (1)’ would have made a more interesting reading if you had allowed your angst against America and the West to be moderated more reasonably and less scathingly. My thinking is that you piled up a lot of things that are not tangentially related.”
Professor Egbo continued, “In a similar context, it seems that you brought in a lot of contradictions and juxtapositions just to convince yourself, and of course your readers, that America and her allies are no angels. I may agree with you on some of these bases though, but I will quickly point out that, at a comparative level, America has been a force for good much more than Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Mao’s China, Putin’s Russia and other dictatorships ever were or would have to be. Did you ever wonder what our world would have been if Adolph Hitler had won the race for the atomic bomb?”
While Professor Egbo vehemently condemned Putin’s war of aggression and territorial ambition in a 21st-century world, he also pointed out the Russian strongman’s error of judgement and strategic miscalculations in invading Ukraine hoping for a quick victory that has turned out to be completely misbegotten. I do not disagree fundamentally with his submissions.
My piece is no justification of strongman dictatorial rule even as the West struggles with the manifest crises of liberal democracy as their societies grapple with social and moral paralysis of ever-increasing gravity and intensity. Putin and other leaders of strong-arm dictatorships inevitably face eventual struggles for increasing democratic control of their governments by the majority of their peoples which is the dominant proclivity and inclination of mankind as indicated by the sweep of history across space and time.
The miscalculations of Putin in his aggression against Ukraine and the fallout of the aborted rebellion by the Wagner group of state-sponsored mercenaries, do not affect my thesis that “might is right” is the dominant rule in international relations and America and her Western allies are no exception to this dictum in their diplomatic practice. The Professor may well ask himself why America is not a signatory to the legal framework of the International Criminal Court and no American soldier can be brought to book under international law, no matter their perceived crimes.
In a book written over four decades ago entitled: ‘The West and the Rest of Us: White Predators, Black Slavers and the African Elite,’ the polyvalent scholar, Chinweizu, gave a vivid and graphic historical depiction of the West’s inequitable and oppressive relationship with Africa over a period of five centuries; a relationship that cannot be exonerated from the continent’s current condition of underdevelopment, although the author launched “a damning and dangerous attack on Africa’s political and ruling elites who love to imitate the West, including copying bad ideas like wholesale liberalization and privatization of key sectors of the economy such as energy and water, which should be a preserve of the public sector.”
According to Wikipedia, Chinweizu dedicated his book “to victims of the West’s assault upon the rest of us, especially to Amerindians and aborigines of Australia who were exterminated and expropriated, millions of Africans who were enslaved in the Americas, countless Africans who died resisting European invasion and occupation, soldiers from the Third World who were conscripted to fight and protect western empires, Third World liberation fighters who have struggled for a better life for their people, and all of us who want to achieve a just, non-imperialist and enduring peace for all of mankind.” Chinweizu, it must also be said, was not sparing of the violent invasions, compulsory conversions, and slavery perpetrated in Africa by conquering Arab Muslims long before the European conquerors arrived on the continent.
We must be cautious in waxing lyrical about the West’s being a “force for good” in the world compared to the reprehensible dictatorships mentioned by Professor Egbo. Incidentally, Dr. Dapo Thomas, whose journal article on the Russo-Ukraine war, originally spurred this piece also has a benign view of the West’s benevolent and altruistic disposition as a force for democratic expansion in the world. Even then, Thomas cites Putin’s rationalization for his war of aggression against Ukraine and earlier on against Crimea and Georgia in its territorial sphere which were forcibly annexed by Russia.
According to Dr. Thomas, “Taking recourse to history and still trying to justify Russia’s anti-West policy, Putin reminded the West that it began its colonial policy back in the Middle Ages, followed it up with the global slave trade, the genocide of Indian tribes in America, the plunder of India, Africa, the wars of England and France against China. It was this that led to the opening of Ports for the opium trade.” In his words, “What they did was to put entire nations on drugs, purposefully exterminated entire ethnic groups for the sake of land and resources, staged a real hunt for people like animals. This is contrary to the very nature of man, truth, freedom, and justice.”
Even though Putin’s historical analysis in this regard can hardly be faulted, Dr. Thomas strongly denounces his military adventurism in the territories claimed by Russia thus, “Russia’s allusions to what the US and its Western allies did in Iraq, Libya, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Yemen, Belgrade, and Afghanistan would have been a very good justification for its actions in Ukraine. But unfortunately, while Russian invasions of Georgia, and Ukraine ended in a buffet of annexations of some parts of these places, the US and its allies never annexed any parts of the countries they had interventions in. Most times, the US and its allies would plant democracy, supervise the transition process; ensure the stability of the polity before withdrawing from those countries. This happened in Yugoslavia when Operation Allied Force of NATO destroyed the Yugoslav military infrastructure to halt the ethnic cleansing going on in Bosnia and Kosovo. Despite what was going on in Czechoslovakia, the US refused to intervene because it would constitute a rollback of communism in Eastern Europe. And it never wanted a collision or conflict with the former Soviet Union”.
It is open to debate about how many countries America and its Allies had succeeded in effectively transplanting democracy to in non-western lands. In any case, Saddam Hussein was a trusted and close ally of the US which armed Iraq in its war against Iran until relations soured between the two. Under the dictatorial Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, that country enjoyed harmonious relations with the US until the Islamic revolution of 1979 that overthrew the Shah. The US has shown no inclination to encourage democratization in Saudi Arabia, which is its close partner in the Middle East. But then, this is not to exculpate Putin for his citing historical cases of Western violence and aggression against others as a reason for exhibiting a similar disposition. Two wrongs do not make a right. He could as well have demonstrated his opposition to alleged aggressive behaviour by the West by behaving in a diametrically opposite manner showing higher ethical standards.
But this does not preclude the fact that the US possesses the greatest potential and capacity to nudge the world towards the de-escalation of conflicts and, at least, the elimination of nuclear weapons in the short run. She is the preeminent global military power with considerable — and still unrivalled — economic power. In his 2004 book, “Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire,” the historian, Neil Ferguson, depicts the extent of America’s military reach thus, “Commentators like to point out that the Pentagon’s budget is equal to the combined military budgets of the next 12 or 15 nations and that the US accounts for 40-45 percent of the defense spending of the world’s 189 states. Such fiscal measures, impressive though they sound, nevertheless underrate the lead currently enjoyed by American armed forces. On land, the United States has 9000 M1 Abram tanks. The rest of the world has nothing that can compete. At sea, the United States possesses nine ‘super carrier’ battle groups. The rest of the world has none. The United States is far ahead in the production of ‘smart’ missiles and pilotless high-altitude ‘drones’.”
The military position of the US must have significantly improved since the publication of this book in 2004.
Such a historically unprecedented constellation of military superpower can predispose any country to a hubris that can ultimately prove counterproductive. In 1966, the American legislator, Senator J. William Fulbright, published a book entitled ‘The Arrogance of Power’ in which he tried to urge on his countrymen the imperative of circumspection in the utilization of its immense powers. In his prescient words with specific regard to his country’s penchant for attempting to forcibly impose its democratic traditions on others, he wrote, “Traditional rulers, institutions, and ways of life have crumbled under the fatal impact of American wealth and power but they have not been replaced by new institutions and new ways of life, nor has their breakdown ushered in an era of democracy and development. It has rather ushered in an era of disorder and demoralization because in the course of destroying old ways of doing things, we have also destroyed the self-confidence and self-reliance without which no society can build indigenous institutions.”
While post-war Japan between 1945 and 1952 may have been an exception to Fulbright’s observation, his admonition speaks eloquently to developments in contemporary Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan among others following failed attempts at forced democratization projects in these countries by the West.
Understanding Russia’s adventurism in Crimea, Georgia, and Ukraine can benefit from the late political economist, Professor Samir Amin’s insightful perspectives in his book published in 2006 entitled “Beyond US hegemony?: Assessing the Prospects for a Multipolar World.” According to him, “The ruling class in the US freely proclaims that it will not ‘tolerate’ the reconstitution of any economic or military power capable of challenging its global dominion. To this end, it has given itself the right to wage ‘preventive wars’, with three main potential adversaries in mind. First, the dismemberment of the Russian Federation following that of the USSR is a major objective strategic objective for the US. Until now, the Russian ruling class does not appear to have understood this… Has Putin finally understood this? Is Russia beginning to shake off its illusions?”
Samir Amin continues, “Second, the huge size and economic success of China are such that the US is seriously worried and here too has a strategic goal of dismembering the country. Europe comes third in the list, as seen by the new lords of the earth. Up till now, however, the North American establishment does not appear to be so uneasy about its relations with Europe”. No matter our differing ideological inclinations may be, we must not dismiss, out of hand, contending prisms for perceiving and comprehending contemporary global realities.
President Bola Tinubu will, on Saturday, fly out to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to participate in the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5thMYCM) of the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union Member States.
This was announced in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, on Friday, in a statement made available to journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The statement said as the Chairperson of ECOWAS, the Nigerian leader will join Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers of the AU Member-States, and high-level dignitaries at the mid-year meeting which will take place on Sunday, July 16. According to the statement, President Tinubu, who would be returning to Abuja after the event, will be accompanied to Nairobi by senior government officials.
“The President will present a report on the status of regional integration in ECOWAS, highlighting actions carried out during the period under review by ECOWAS institutions, member-states, the private sector, and other stakeholders to deepen integration through trade, free movement of persons, investment promotion, infrastructure development, peace, security and stability.
“The 5th MYCM, which is convening under the AU’s theme for 2023 christened ‘Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation’, will bring together the Bureau of the AU Assembly, comprising the Heads of State and Government from Comoros, Botswana, Burundi, and Senegal, as well as the leaders of the eight RECs. President Tinubu, who will be accompanied by senior government officials, is expected to return to the country at the conclusion of the meeting”, the statement said.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Friday, met with wives of the 36 state governors of the federation, soliciting their collaboration in the task of taking her pet-project, the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), to the grassroots nationwide. A statement issued by her spokesperson, Busola Kukoyi, Senator Tinubu also used the forum to admonish the governors’ wives that the exalted office in which they have found themselves is for them to impact the lives of people nationwide.
According to the statement, the meeting was specifically scheduled to formally acquaint them with the objectives and the mission of her pet project, the RHI. During the meeting, the First Lady congratulated the governors’ wives on the successful conduct of the 2023 elections which brought their husbands to office, saying it is now time to keep promises made during the polls.
She reminded them that their current exalted positions in Nigeria is an opportunity to impact more meaningfully, not only in the lives of people in their states, but the country in general.
While assuring the governors’ wives that the Renewed Hope Initiative will in no way interfere with their programs and projects in their respective states, the First Lady sought support to reach the grass roots, noting that “the past can most assuredly chart a path for the present and future and this can best be done collectively for better and more sustainable impact.”
“I wish to remind each of us that the exalted positions we are in today should be seen as an opportunity to impact more meaningfully, not only in the lives of people in your states but Nigeria as a whole,” she added.
Speaking with newsmen after the meeting, wife of Kwara State Governor, Amb Olufolake Abdulrazak, expressed readiness of the governors’ wives to support the project. She said they would go back and elect zonal coordinators who would equally facilitate the desired reach at the grassroots. She further expresses confidence that the renewed hope initiative of the First Lady will go a long way to complement their individual projects in their various states.
The immediate past Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Oluwole Oke, has alleged that Nigeria was losing about N8 trillion annually to tax incentives and waivers. Oke said about N6 trillion of the money is lost annually to companies that abuse the system, while N2Trillion worth of waivers achieve the objective of the Federal Government.
He said most of the abuses arise from fiscal items like capital allowances, Investment Allowances, Pioneer Status Incentives, Free Trade Zone exemptions, Value Added Tax Exemptions, etc. He said these gaps have negatively affected Nigeria Tax to-GDP ratio of Nigeria, which stands at 10.6%, being one of the lowest in Africa.
Oke admitted that it is within the ambits of the powers of the Federal Government to exercise executive and legislative jurisdiction over items in the Exclusive Legislative List contained in the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. He said items like taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains, export and imports are exclusively within the control of the Federal Government.
He said available data shows that while the Federal Government has good intentions, these practices have and continue to create a major black hold in the purse of the Government of the Federation. These losses, he said are occasioned and driven primarily by abuses by Companies that have been granted tax-based waivers and incentives.
He said if urgent steps are not taken to investigate the situations, Nigeria may not only be hanging on a fiscal cliff, it may fall off the cliff and be heading to Venezuela, which is a situation where a country has huge resources but is in deep economic crisis, recession and depression. The House therefore resolved to investigate allegations of fragrant abuse of tax incentives, tax breaks and tax waivers by institutions and companies benefiting from such incentives in the country.
National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has expressed optimism that Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, would soon resume duties. Omisore said there was no cause for alarm but prayers for the governor to return after adequate rest. He spoke in Akure when he met with the Acting Governor, Hon. Lucky Ayedatiwa,
The APC National scribe who said he was on a “solidarity visit” said the twist in the wish and prayer of the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was regrettable. He reiterated that the National Chairman never said the governor was incapacitated and explained that the visit was meant to dispel the misapprehension of Adamu’s statement
“Mr. Chairman only urged people to pray for the quick recovery of your governor; not on account of being incapacitated. Our visit, therefore, is to reinforce the position of the national secretariat that we only prayed for the quick recovery of Arakunrin Akeredolu SAN, and not otherwise”, Omisore stressed.
Ondo APC Chairman, Engr. Ade Adetimehin, who dismissed insinuation that the state chapter of the party was in crisis, said the party was united under Akeredolu’s leadership and there was no place for bickerings. Acting Governor, Ayedatiwa, called on journalists to always cross-check, when in doubt, to avoid embarrassing and misleading people.
•Alleges further threats to his life, cries out for help on hospital bed
•DSS official: Security guard bit off our colleague’s finger
A 27-year-old private security guard in Osogbo, Osun State capital, Olakunle Ewuoso, has expressed concerns over threats to his life following his face-off with operatives of the Department of State Service(DSS) which left him partially paralysed.
It was learnt that a DSS officer identified simply as Sola, who was not in uniform, and one other person had gone to shop around Ogo-Oluwa with a motorcycle they parked on the road that leads to the restaurant. Ewuoso, a guard at the restaurant, was said to have pleaded with them to remove the motorcycle from the road but they refused.
The refusal of the DSS officer to move his bike reportedly led to a heated argument that degenerated into a fracas between them. A video sighted by our correspondent shows two men brutalising Ewuoso by lifting him up and slamming him on the ground while residents of the area make efforts to intervene.
The Nation investigation revealed that after the brawl, Ewuoso was invited to the State Command of the DSS alongside his bosses to write statements and was directed to report at their command the following day to resolve the issue finally.
It was, however gathered that when he reported at the Command as directed, he was subjected to further torture with axes and cutlasses on the excuse that the officer he had an altercation with got wounded during the brawl.
Speaking with our correspondent from his hospital bed, Ewuoso said he has been living in fear after the torture he was subjected to at the DSS Command.
He said: “On Wednesday, while I was on duty I saw a bike man with his passenger parking their motorcycle on the road that leads to the parking lot of our restaurant.
“I approached them and pleaded that they should repark their motorcycle. The rider pleaded that they would not be staying there for long, so I should allow them to park at the spot.
“I explained to them and the rider agreed to re-park the bike, but the passenger objected to it, saying who was I to tell them where to park on a government road.
“I told them that their bike was parked at the entrance of our premises and it would disturb customers who might want to patronise us.
“He held me and threatened to slap my face if I made further comments. I was very surprised because I had never met him before.
“I told him it was a matter of common sense that the place where they parked the bike leads to a business premises.
“But he shrugged and told me that if I knew who he was, I would have run away. I told him that no matter who he was, he should do the right thing.
“The man, who wore a sky blue striped shirt, felt offended by my statement, so he slapped and punched me. I was about defending myself when his partner who road the bike joined him in beating me.
“When passersby and some of my colleagues saw what was happening, they attempted to rescue me from them. That was when the passenger introduced himself as Shola, a DSS officer.
“He also told the people ‘don’t come near this if you don’t want to smell yourself’. The statement made people to stay away from us while some of them set up their phones to do video recordings.
“They beat me to the point that I lost my strength, it took the intervention of some of the boys in the area to rescue me.
“After that, they left the scene hurriedly because a mob was already gathering against them.”
After the brawl, said Ewuoso, some DSS operatives visited his workplace and took him to their Command headquarters in Osogbo.
“When I arrived there, they started beating me. They slapped me repeatedly, saying that I was so bold to beat their officer. I was begging them not to kill me. I told them that their officer was the one that beat me and I didn’t even know that he was an officer because he was in casual wear.
“I was at the command with my boss and the owner of the restaurant, who also pleaded and we were released that night. They told them that they should come with me the following day (Thursday). I cried all through the night.”
“On Thursday morning, when I visited the command with my bosses, they took me to a separate place while my bosses were taken to a separate section so that they could write statements.
“At the place where I was kept, some officers started to torture me. I was beaten with cutlasses on my back while they used the butt of an axe to hit my kneecap repeatedly.
“They said they would render me useless so that I would not be employed by any security organisation again.
“After the beating, they said I should be reporting to their command every day for seven days.
“I did not see Sola at the scene, but I felt that he arranged with his men to subject me to that kind of torture as if I was the one that beat him during the initial brawl.”
Ewuoso added:
“I could no longer walk after I was tortured. I don’t have feelings in my legs again. I was carried from their command to this hospital for treatment.
“And they are threatening that if I fail to report to their command by 10 am every day for seven days, they would arrest and might kill me.
“They said they would make my death look like a kidnap. I didn’t want to talk to journalists about it because they (DSS officers) may feel offended. But one of my brothers assured me that they will pursue the case legally against them (DSS).
“I am living in fear. I heard the news that some of their men killed a police officer at a popular bar in Osogbo last year without justice for the family of the policeman.
“I am living in fear. My life is under threat. I pray that my case will not be like that of the policeman they killed without justice. Nigerians should help me. President Bola Tinubu should help me.”
However, the spokesman of DSS, Peter Afunaya, dismissed Ewuoso’s allegations as a beer parlour gossip in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.
“This is beer parlour gossip. Get your facts right and professionally, then you can ask your question,” he said.
But a top DSS official in the state, who asked not to be named because he was not the one authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that official investigation into the matter had commenced, describing the claims made by the private security guard against the DSS official as lies.
He said: “The issue between the private security guard and our officer was a case of two fighting. In fact, they mobilised themselves in scores to beat him up at the scene. The security guard bit off the finger of the DSS operative. It was a terrible situation.
“When our officer reported at the station, we drafted our men to the scene and saw armed hoodlums hanging around. We invited the owner of the restaurant alongside the private security guard to our office, and they wrote statements.
“They were never tortured. We don’t know about the claims of beating him with axe and hammer.”
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended the appointment of the son of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and 26 other lawyers for appointment as judges of the Federal High Court and Sharia Courts of Appeal of Kaduna and Kano states. Also recommended for appointment is Kadi Muhammad Aminu Danjuma, as the Grand Kadi, Kaduna State. NJC’s spokesman, Soji Oye, in a statement on Friday, said the recommendations were made at the council’s 103rd meeting presided over by the CJN.
The CJN’s son, Ariwoola Olukayode Jnr, who currently practices law in Abuja, is among those recommended for the Federal High Court.Others are Ekerete Udofot Akpan, Hussaini Dadan-Garba, Egbe Raphael Joshua, Anyalewa Onoja-Alapa, Aishatu Auta Ibrahim, Ogazi Friday Nkemakonam, Ogundare Kehinde Olayiwola, Onah Chigozie Sergius and Hauwa Buhari.
Others are Ibrahim Ahmad Kala, Hauwa Joeph Yilwa, Amina Aliyu Mohammed, Sharon Tanko Ishaya, Chituru Joy Wigwe-Oreh, Musa Kakaki, Owoeye Alexander Oluseyi, Abiodun Jordan Adeyemi, Agbaje Olufunmilola Adetutu, Salim Olasupo Ibrahim, Dipeolu Deinde Isaac, Abdullahi Muhammad Dan-Ige and Mashkur Salisu.
Those recommended for appointment for the Sharia Courts of Appeal onlf Kano and Kaduna are Muhammad Adam Kadem, Salisu Muhammad Isa, Isa Idris Sa’id and Aliyu Muhammad Kani.
Oye added: “All recommended candidates are expected to be sworn-in after the approval of the NJC recommendations to the President and their respective state Governors and or confirmation by their State Houses of Assembly, as the case may be.”
Parents’ inability to pay N6,000 school fee gave rise to idea, says proprietor
Indigent kids: It has helped us to keep our dreams alive, stay away from crime
Many indigent children and potential recruits into deadly gangs in Ajegunle part of Lagos State notorious for criminal activities are finding meaning in life working as agents of environmental change. They are working against improper disposal of plastic bottles which is said to be affecting human populations, the ecosystems and invariably worsening global environmental crisis. The kids, aided by their parents, gather plastic bottles and hand them over to their school’s authorities which accept them as part or full payment for their school fees. The idea was mooted by the proprietor to give them access to education, INNOCENT DURU reports.
FIFTEEN-year-old Musbau was excited with his enrolment in a public school in Ajegunle area of Lagos. His excitement derived from the realisation that his enrollment would automatically remove him from the army of out-of-school children loitering around the community and serving as tools for criminal elements.
But the excitement fizzled out in a space of time as he was scared by some ugly experiences he had with some of his school mates. “I was not happy with the public school that I was attending because there were many bad boys there,” he said as he began the disturbing story of how he later quit the school untimely.
“They (students) used to join bad gangs. They always fought, and while going home, they would be stealing from traders. I was in that school for two years before I lost interest in it.”
Rather than open up to his father about his predicament, Musbau kept his pains to his chest and was dying in silence. In the circumstance, truancy became inevitable.
He said: “I would always dress up as if I was going to school but I would not go. Instead, I would roam the streets until closing time and go back home because I had lost interest in the school on account of the activities of the bad boys.”
With time, Musbau completely jettisoned his education, joining the league of young boys aimlessly roaming the streets of crime-infested Ajegunle.
“Our neighbourhood is notorious for all manner of vices. Very often, you would see young boys snatching bags from passersby and extorting money from traders. They beat and stab anyone who resists them,” the dark- complexioned man said.
But even as he wandered around, his longing for formal education remained undying. Fortunately, luck smiled on him during one of his aimless movements.
He said: “I was passing in front of Morit International School one day when I saw a man who happened to be the proprietor. I told him that I needed help.
“I told him that I wanted to go to school and that he should help me. I had no money for school fees. My father also didn’t have money to pay.
“The proprietor asked if I would be coming for lessons but I said no; that I wanted full time education.
“After listening to me, the proprietor agreed to give me admission. He discussed my plight with his friends who bought books and uniforms for me.”
Musbau’s new school is populated by children from indigent homes.
The school fees, according to the proprietor, Patrick Mbamarah, range between N6,000 and N7,000 per term (less than $10 in three months). But meagre as they seem, many parents in the neighbourhood cannot pay, causing many children to be out of school.
Bothered by the need to repeatedly send the pupils home for not paying their fees, Patrick, the proprietor, dug into his wealth of experience in recycling and decided to make the pupils to gather used plastic bottles and bring them to school to settle their school fees instead of watching them roll into gutters and drainages and consequently blocking free flow of waste water and flood.
Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, in a recent post on his twitter handle said an equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped every day into oceans, rivers and lakes.
A report on https://www.trvst.world/ identified recycling as one of the ways of addressing the challenge raised by the UN scribe. “When we recycle plastic bottles we also prevent them from contributing to pollution, where they leach harmful chemicals into the environment.”
Patrick’s idea of ridding the environment of plastics, recycling them and using the proceeds to settle pupils’ school fees has not only helped the environment, it has also helped to sustain Musbua’s education and that of numerous others in the school.
He said: “I keyed into the school’s programme of ridding the environment of plastic bottles because it prevents those rubbish from entering and blocking our gutters.
“Although I am on scholarship, I still gather plastic bottles to support others who need them to pay school fees and reciprocate the kind gesture of the school.
“I also do it for the good of the environment and also to prevent other children from taking to the street and experiencing what I went through.”
Asked how his colleagues in his former school reacted seeing him in the new school, Musbau said: “When my colleagues in the public school heard about my admission here, they started laughing at me.
“They said I was a fool, wondering why I would leave a public school for a private school. They also mocked me for picking plastics.
“But I know what I am doing. Apart from coming to school, I am also an apprentice in a furniture making workshop.”
Ten-year-old Rodiat is another pupil whose educational dreams have been helped to come alive with using plastic wastes to settle school fees.
“My parents pay part of my school fees and the school authorities use the plastic bottles that they bring to school to settle the other part,” she said.
From picking plastic bottles from her immediate environment with the help of her parents to settling her school bills, Rodiat has grown into an activist, advising people against indiscriminate dumping of bottle water plastics on the road or water ways.
She said: “People drop plastic bottles indiscriminately on the road after using them. I pick them up whenever I see such.
“People mock me whene they see me picking the plastic bottles. They think I am selling them because we have no money to eat.
“Some of those mocking me are out of school and they have never deemed it necessary to do what I am doing to have access to education.
“There are many of my peers in my community who are out of school. They help their mothers to hawk various items.”
Rattled by her brilliance, Rodiat said, many of her out of school friends come to her on Fridays to tap from her knowledge.
Said she: “We have a space at the back of our house. Every Friday, these out of school friends gather at that open space in our house for me to teach them. I teach them using the knowledge I acquire in school.
“One of the parents during last Christmas period gave my mother some money to buy things for me in appreciation of what I am doing for the daughter.
“There are many homeless kids in our neighborhood. Some of the girls have been impregnated and are now loitering around the streets.
“It is an eyesore for me. I have promised my mother that I will not be like those girls.”
The practice of using plastics to settle school fees appears to have engendered the spirit of kindness among the pupils. Rodiat’s classmate, Ramota, for example, does not have any reason to gather plastics to pay her school fees as her parents settle her bills as and when due. Yet she goes out of her way to pick plastic bottles to help the less privileged among her school mates. Her words: “My parents pay my school fees in full but I also join in ridding the environment of plastic bottles, which I bring to school to support my colleagues whose parents cannot pay their fees.
Lagos school
“I feel bad whenever I see plastic bottles littering the roads or drainages. So I always advise people, including adults, not to drop plastic bottles anyhow on the road because they always find their ways into drainages, and by doing so, cause flooding because water will not be able to pass freely.”
Ramota noted with regret that happenings in the neighbourhood expose many young ones to crime and the situation could have been worse if the opportunity provided by her school was not in place.
She said: “I have seen people fighting in our neighbourhood. They don’t only fight, they also stab one another using different kinds of weapon. Many of them are out of school and I don’t want to be like them or like the girls walking about aimlessly.”
Basit, a 10-year-old primary four pupil, said but for the arrangement put in place by the school, he would have been at home by now helping his mother to wash clothes and selling in the shop.
The young boy and his siblings are among the crop of children in the area that picking plastic bottles has helped to access education.
“My siblings and I are schooling here,” he said in response to our correspondent’s enquiry.
“Our parents pay a part of our fees and the school uses the proceeds from the plastic bottles we bring to clear the balance.
“This has helped us to have access to education and we are happy about it. In our neighborhood, young ones like me often join the adults when they are engaging in bloody fights.
“At times, the young ones break objects like electric bulbs to stab their opponents. Many within 15 years of age smoke Indian hemp and other substances. I cover my nose whenever I see them.”
Why I initiated picking up plastic bottles to settle school fees – Proprietor
The Proprietor of Moriet International School, Patrick Mbamara, in a chat with our correspondent, said he established the school as a profit making venture but the poverty level in the community and the pains he felt sending indigent pupils home for owing school fees compelled him to jettison his primary aim for establishing it.
The school, he said, was established in 2010 but because they were owing, “I shut down the school. By 2013, I started again and since then we have been in operation.
“I came up with the idea of using plastics to pay for school fees as far back as 2014, but I didn’t know how to figure my way around the project until 2018 when I partnered with one ACI.
“We started the project properly in 2019 and since then I have not stopped.”
Speaking on how his recycling background fertilised the idea, Patrick said: “I know about polymers, plastics and other related materials. How you can make oil or diesel from even the plastic bottles. I know about these things. “I have done recycling on sachet water before. I thought at one point that all these plastics we have around are actually money, and if I could get the parents of these pupils to start picking them for school fees, it would be a great idea.”
To actualise the dream, Patrick called a Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) meeting and almost all the parents bought into the idea.
“I told the parents who did not subscribe to the idea because they can pay their children’s bills that they could still bring the plastic bottles from their market places so we could use the proceeds to settle other pupils’ school fees and that it would also be environmentally good for the society. At the end of the day, I got all the parents into the project.”
On how the idea works, he said: “They are the pickers and I am the middleman. When they bring the plastic bottles, I gather them from the parents and call the recyclers to come and pick them.
“Whatever number (of plastics) they bring, I weigh and record the value against their names as school fees. Whatever is the balance, they would have to decide whether they want to pay it with recyclables or with cash. I accept any of that to help them continue with their education.”
Asked if the school offers quality education with the amount being paid as school fees, Patrick said: “Our fees are affordable and that does not mean that we are not offering standard education to the pupils.
“We do offer them standard and quality education. We try to test our quality by attending quiz and debate competitions to see how well our pupils are doing compared with pupils from other schools.
“My children attend this school too. I have a boy and three girls and they are all in this school.
“If I am offering substandard education to the pupils, my children will be part of it. If I am feeding other people’s children with poison, my own children will be taking it too.
“For my children to be attending the school shows that our standard of education is not poor, because I will not want my children to get poor education.
“For the records, we use the Nigerian British Curriculum blended.”
Recently, he said: “We were invited for a programme at American Corner, Ikeja. If we are not doing well, we would not be invited to a place like that.
“By God’s grace, we will be participating in their debate coming up in September. We have made private education affordable and accessible in our local environment.”
We address six SDGs aside from tackling environmental issues
Aside from using his idea to tackle environmental problems, the proprietor said it also covers six other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like good health and wellbeing, quality education and gender equality because admission is not restricted to male candidates. He said: “We respect and accommodate both genders inasmuch as plastics don’t select genders.
“Our concept also addresses clean water and sanitation, sustainable city and community, life below water and life on land.
“We also address peace and strong institutions. We do just more than riding the community of plastics.
“We would like to be supported by kind hearted Nigerians to accommodate more indigent children who are out of school.
“The school fees are between N6,000 and N7,000 a term. Pre-school is N6,000 while primary school is N7, 000. We have made education affordable and accessible to our immediate community, and with the support of kind hearted Nigerians we can pull out more children from the street and save them and the society for crime and criminality.”
Robbery suspect tells Ajegunle crime story Akire, an armed robbery suspect, painted a grim picture of how endemic crime is in Ajegunle where out of school children are easily recruited as foot soldiers when he was apprehended back in 2020.
He claimed that he came to Lagos about 15 years ago as a good boy but was unfortunate to live in Ajegunle a.k.a. AJ City, where crime was the order.
His words: “I am a criminal who has tasted all kinds of crimes. I was a petty thief before I graduated to armed robbery.
“But it was not my fault. Fate brought me to AJ City where crime is a normal way of life. It was when I came to AJ city that I came to realise that crime is a culture in the place, except you don’t want to socialise.
“I must confess to you, even parents encourage their children to commit crime.
“It was when things became difficult for me and there was nobody to assist that I joined the bandwagon.
“For instance, when I begged people for as low as N10, they would tell me to join them in their hustle.
“I noticed that almost every guy in the area belonged to one cartel or the other.
“I decided to join a cult group, but I was given a condition: procure a gun before I would be accepted.
“It was while I was looking for a gun that the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) arrested me. I was charged to court and remanded in prison.
“In prison, I met other criminals from AJ City. We formed a gang there. When we came out, we started with picking pockets, traffic robbery and burglary.
“Along the line, my gang members started graduating to armed robbery. I was lagging behind, because I had no gun.
“My mates were making fun of me. They used to scold me when we met at joints.
“Well, I made up my mind that I was going to grow up. So, I also acquired a gun and I was initiated into real crime. The rest is history.”
Corroborating Akire’s confession, Patrick said Ajegunle was a peaceful community “until we started having cult gangs and since then, it has not been encouraging.”
The problem with all this, according to him, is single parenting. “I have done my own local research and have come to see that most of the targets of these cult groups don’t have their father and mother together or that their father is married to another woman or multiple women.
“Poverty is an issue in this area. Illiteracy is also a huge problem on the part of the parents.
“Another thing is poor upbringing of children. Here, you will find babies giving birth to babies. The main problems are single parenting and broken homes.”
He regrets that the life of crime, violence and promiscuity was impacting negatively on the kids.
Patrick said: “We have had cases where pupils bring sharp objects to school because of what they see outside. They think that what they are doing is normal.
“Sometimes they bring sharp sticks and even penknife to school. But because we keep eagle eyes on them, we spot them and take the objects away from them. “It is not that it happens every time; it only happens occasionally. But it is not even supposed to happen in the school environment at all.
“If I am able to pull out these children from being lured into social vices, we are invariably contributing to the peace of Ajegunle.
“One of our pupils was prone to becoming a street boy but I have succeeded in pulling him away from becoming that.”
Effects of plastics on environment, humans
There have been global concerns about the impacts of plastic bottles and other forms of plastics on humans and the environment.
A report on https://www.trvst.world/ titled ‘Plastic Water Bottles – Environmental Impacts’ says: “Since the 1950s, we have produced around 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic worldwide. And 60% of that plastic has found its way to landfills or the natural environment.
“Plastic water bottles may be useful and cheap, but they have environmental consequences. From production to disposal, bottled water production affects climate change, humans, and wildlife.
“Discarded water bottles and their caps make up the third and fourth most recovered plastic trash in Ocean Conservancy’s yearly beach clean-up.
“It is easy to pick up bits and pieces of plastic from the ocean, but it is impossible to clean the ocean of microplastics.
“Around 700 species of organisms, such as turtles, whales, seabirds, fish, and mammals, have ingested or become entangled in or with plastic debris.
“The floating microplastics also promote the spread of harmful marine bacteria and invasive organisms, disrupting the marine ecosystem’s stability.”
Examining the effects on plastics on landfills, the report said: “PET is durable, but durability is one of its significant problems. A plastic water bottle can last for at least 450 years before it completely disintegrates.
“Because of its resistance to degradation, a plastic bottle will take up valuable space in landfills for years. Landfills are not infinite and can fill up quickly if we continue to send large volumes of non-biodegradable items like plastic bottles there.
“Perhaps the worst thing about plastic pollution on land is the tendency of waste plastic to migrate to the ocean.”
On the effects on human health, it said: “When we eat fish, microplastics are swallowed and introduced into the human food chain.
“The average person is exposed to microplastics through water, air, and food throughout the entire year.
“The toxic nature of microplastics makes them carcinogenic. That places the well-being of people who consume fish at risk.
“We may find chemicals like BPA, an endocrine disruptor, in plastic. It can leach out into water bodies, sink into the soil, and contaminate the groundwater.
“It may be absorbed by plants and thereby enter into the food chain. Ingesting such a chemical can interfere with the immune, neurological and reproductive human systems.
“Plastic pollution can affect the availability of safe drinking water. Microplastics have been found in tap water in a lot of places in the world.
“Drinking clean water is essential for physical well-being, and when microplastics or plastic chemicals contaminate water, our health is in danger.”
Recycling as solution
In line with what is being done in the aforementioned Ajegunle school, the report suggested recycling of plastics as one of the ways of tackling the problems posed by plastic pollution.
It states: “Recycling is a process that turns waste into new resources, and plastic water bottles have enormous potential.
“A large percentage of plastic water bottles end up in the trash, although recycling options are available.
“Only 9% of all plastic ever made has been recycled. In many places, plastic products can be recycled through the curbside recycle bin. However, in America, only 30% of bottled water plastic ends up in the recycle bin.
“Recycling takes advantage of the durability of plastic and ensures resource conservation through material recovery.
“When waste recyclable plastic is recycled, it cuts back on the number of raw materials that go into plastic production.
“This helps to conserve resources and reduce emissions associated with plastic manufacturing.
“When we recycle plastic bottles, we also prevent them from contributing to pollution, where they leach harmful chemicals into the environment.”
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of over 64, 863.5 kilogrammes of nitrous oxide known as laughing gas, following its abuse by people who use it for recreational purposes at the Apapa seaport in Lagos and in Imo State.
This came barely 24 hours after the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) directed all commands and formations of the Agency to begin an immediate clampdown on illegal sale and use of the gaseous substance.
Spokesman of the Agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Friday, said following credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa seaport on Wednesday 12th July intercepted two containers marked MSKU 7626856 and MSKU 7689448 suspected to contain cartons of Nitrous oxide and plastic pressure release nozzles imported from China.
He said as a result, a joint examination of the containers was carried out by NDLEA officers, men of the Customs Service and other stakeholders the following day, Thursday 13th July.
Babafemi said during the search of the two containers, a total of 522 cartons of Nitrous Oxide containing 16,366 packages weighing 64,852kgs were recovered along with the paraphernalia for recreational use.
The statement reads: “The importer of the consignment, 30-year-old Stephen Eze, and his agent, Michael Chukwuma, were thereafter arrested and detained for further investigation.
“In the same vein, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on Thursday 13th July intercepted three cartons containing 18 canisters of the same substance weighing 11.5kg heading to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
A swift follow-up operation was conducted in the stadium road area of Elekahia, Port Harcourt same day, leading to the arrest of the owner of the shipment, 24-year-old Tonye Kalio.
“While commending the officers and men of the Apapa Port, and their Imo State Command counterparts for being pro-active and swift, Marwa said the clampdown on illegal sale and use of nitrous oxide will continue nationwide to protect young Nigerians from the devastating effects of abusing the substance and in the overall interest of public health.
