Category: Femi Macaulay

Femi Macaulay

MONEY rituals are mysteries, and trying to understand them requires a mental leap from the physical world to the metaphysical realm. If there is a metaphysical world beyond the physical world, then it is possible that there are invisible powers that can be invoked to bring money.

It’s not surprising that physicalists argue that there’s nothing like money rituals. They need to go beyond physicalism to see that possibility.  The debate about money rituals, reignited by the murder of Favour Daley-Oladele, 22, a Lagos State University (LASU) final-year Theatre Arts student, at Ikoyi-Ile in Osun State, deserves attention.

An Apomu Magistrates’ Court in Osun State on January 10 ordered that ‘Pastor’ Philip Segun, 42, Owolabi Adeeko, 23, and his mother, Bola, 46, who allegedly killed Favour, be remanded in a correctional centre at Ilesa, Osun State, The police charged them with two counts of murder and conspiracy.

Owolabi’s chilling confession showed not only desperation but also bestiality: “I called Favour on December 8, 2019, to meet me at Ikoyi-Ile so we could spend some time together. She met me at a hotel in the area, but immediately she got there, she started complaining that she was tired and needed to rest.

“I told her that we needed to visit my dad’s younger brother before she would rest. It was a lie. I tricked her into going to the church of Segun. When we got to the church, again, she complained that she wanted to sleep, so, I asked her to go into the church and rest.

“When she slept off, I used a pestle to smash her in the head and she died. After we confirmed she was dead, Pastor Segun slaughtered her and removed the vital organs from her body so that they could be used for the ritual we wanted to perform to make money.”

He said his accomplice “used a knife and cutlass to dismember her body which was divided into three parts, breasts, head and legs with other vital parts.

“We buried the remaining part of her body beside Prophet Philip’s Church called ‘Solution Salvation Chapel’, while some vital parts were given to my mother to eat for spiritual cleansing.”

The police said:  “Owolabi explained that he decided to go into money ritual because things were not going well with his parents financially, especially his mother who used to be the family breadwinner. And when he sought assistance from the pastor, he was asked to bring a human being for that purpose and the available person at that time was his girlfriend.”

Owolabi’s collaborator said he “came to my place for money rituals and I told him that we need a complete human being for the rituals.” He was quoted as saying he wanted to try out what he had read in the Seventh Book of Moses.  When Favour’s remains were exhumed during the investigation, her head, breasts, neck and parts of her legs were missing.

It’s interesting that the pastor referred to the Seventh Book of Moses, described as “arguably one of the most popular magick books ever published.” The mention of this book shows that Favour’s murder had metaphysical dimensions. “The book consists of a collection of texts, which claim to explain the magick Moses used to win the biblical magick contest with the Egyptian priest-magicians, part the Red Sea, and perform other miraculous feats,” according to a description.

“It includes instruction in the form of invocations, magick words, and seals for calling upon the angels to affect worldly ends, from the sublime (calling down a plague of locusts and frogs upon your enemy) to the mundane (getting more money). Many manuscripts and printed pamphlet versions circulated in Germany in the 1800s, and an English translation by Johann Scheible first appeared in New York in 1880.”

Those who wonder why the pastor who claimed to be able to make Owolabi rich couldn’t make himself  rich, and why he charged  so little for such a big job, miss the point. He may well be a fraud.

Favour’s murder is a sensational crime similar to another sensational crime that had something to do with money rituals not long ago. Money was reportedly at the root of the murder for which then 27-year-old Adeyemi Seidu got a death sentence on March 27, 2019.  The circumstances of the murder suggested it was a money-ritual killing prompted by a get-rich-quick mentality.

Justice Samuel Bola of an Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure, found Adeyemi guilty of killing his girlfriend, Khadijat Oluboyo, in July 2018.  Khadijat was in her twenties and a final-year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, when she was killed by Adeyemi, a graduate in Quantity Surveying, Federal University of Technology, Akure.  Khadijat was the daughter of a former deputy governor of Ondo State.

According to the autopsy report, “there was an abnormal shaving of the hair on the deceased head and the pubic region while her two upper front teeth had been broken off leaving only some fragments left.” This aspect of the report seemed to give credence to suspicion that the killing was ritualistic. Adeyemi was said to have buried her corpse in his room in Akure for five days.

How Khadijat died showed she was a victim of brutish violence. The autopsy report said:   ”There were fractures on the bones of her neck, shoulder along with her second to the sixth ribs on both sides, a dislocation of her hip joints with another fracture on the upper part of her thigh. The injuries could not have been self-inflicted but given by another party and inflicted with a significant pressure especially the upper thigh region which had a lot of muscles. There were lacerations on her chest which damaged two major vessels known as the femoral artery and vein that circulate blood in the body. The combined effects of the injuries led to Khadijat’s death.”

The murder trial was concluded in less than a year.  In Favour’s case, justice should also be delivered in reasonable time. The money-ritual angle says something about our society.  There are frequent reports of suspected money-ritual killings across the country, showing a dark side of the society. Murder is evil; it is even more so when it is connected with a get-rich-quick idea.

There may well be people who got rich through money rituals. Only failed attempts usually hit the headlines.  Those who become rich through money rituals are unlikely to publicise the source of their wealth.

The point is not whether money rituals work, but that the love of money should never be taken to extremes.

Femi Macaulay

Traditional medicine has an unlikely promoter in the person of jailed senator and former Abia State governor Orji Kalu. He carried out the promotion unintentionally, but it was significant enough to attract attention.

Less than two weeks after Kalu was convicted and sentenced to prison on December 5, he bizarrely requested the Federal High Court in Lagos to grant him bail pending an appeal against his conviction. Kalu claimed he needed to consult his “herbalist,” adding that the medical facilities in the custodial centre were inadequate for the treatment of his health condition. He didn’t elaborate on his health condition.

Kalu’s request to be allowed to see his herbalist is food for thought. It reflects Kalu’s confidence in traditional medicine. Who is Kalu’s herbalist? Where is his herbalist based? How long has he been the herbalist’s patient? How many people of Kalu’s status are the herbalist’s patients? Are the herbalist’s services expensive?

Interestingly, Kalu, the Senate Chief Whip and senator representing Abia North District, also said granting him bail would enable him to play his legislative role.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), opposed the bail application, saying: ”Although bail is generally a right of an accused as guaranteed by the constitution, it is not a right available to a convict because the presumption of innocence had crystallised into guilt and conviction.”

Jacobs further argued that bail pending appeal didn’t apply to Kalu’s case. Such a bail could be granted in a situation where the term of imprisonment would have elapsed before determination of the appeal, he said, which isn’t the case in Kalu’s situation.

Although Kalu was sentenced to 12 years in prison for N7.65billion fraud and money laundering after a 12-year trial, it is expected that the determination of his appeal will not take that long.

Kalu’s health condition could be handled at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre, Jacobs stated. “He says he needs his herbalist to treat him, but he has not said that his herbalist came to the prison and was not allowed to see him.

“In one breath, the applicant is saying that he wants to be released on health grounds while in another breath, he is saying that as a senator, he needs to be released on bail so as to carry out his official functions.”

Justice Mohammad Liman will rule on Kalu’s bail application on December 23. Whether or not Kalu is granted bail to see his herbalist, his request is good for the image of traditional medicine, particularly at a time when medical tourism is popular among people in power.

Kalu’s inadvertent promotion of traditional medicine should fuel the efforts of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP) to gain respect.

In 2015,  the then NANTMP President, Prof. Omon Oleabhiele, had called for a traditional medicine bill at an event organised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to mark the 2015 African Traditional Medicine (ATM) Day in Lagos State. Oleabhiele urged the National Assembly to sponsor a bill in support of traditional medicine and its practitioners in the country. He also argued for the creation of a Traditional Medicine Board in all the states of the federation for the regulation of traditional medicine.

It is a measure of the importance of traditional medicine and traditional healers that since 2003 African Traditional Medicine Day has been observed every year on August 31. Ministers of Health adopted the relevant resolution at the 50th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The special day is meant to promote the critical role of traditional medicine in Africa.

African traditional medicine has been described as “the African indigenous system of health care.”  It has been argued that “In fact, the frequently quoted statement that 85 per cent of the people in Africa use traditional medicine is an understatement because this figure is much higher and continues to increase.”

M. Kofi-Tsekpo illustrates the thinking about African traditional medicine at decision-making levels since the 1970s: “At the Alma Atta Declaration of 1978, it was resolved that traditional medicine had to be incorporated in the health care systems in developing countries if the objective of the “Health for All by the Year 2000” was to be realised. Notwithstanding this strategy, African countries did not come near the objective at the end of the 20th century. Therefore, the Member States of the WHO African Region adopted a resolution in 2000 called “Promoting the role of traditional medicine in health care systems: A strategy for the African Region.” This strategy provides for the institutionalisation of traditional medicine in health care systems of the member states of the WHO African Region.

“Furthermore, the OAU (African Union) Heads of State and Government declared the period 2000 – 2010 as the African Decade on African Traditional Medicine. In addition, the Director General of the World Health Organization also declared 31st August every year as African Traditional Medicine Day. All these declarations signify the importance and the approval by Governments and international institutions of the need to institutionalise African traditional medicine in health care. Therefore the mechanisms for institutionalisation have to be developed to make these resolutions a reality.”

It is obvious that the establishment of NANTMP in December 2006 by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health, although well-intentioned, has not made traditional medicine more acceptable at formal levels of governance in the country.

A NANTMP communiqué is noteworthy: “We thank the Governors of the states that have formed the Traditional Medicine Board in their states such as Edo, Lagos, Anambra and Bauchi states.

“We urge other Governors whose Commissioners of Health and State House of Assembly have not created the Traditional Medicine Board to kindly request them to do so with dispatch.”

The body added: ”We also pray the Governors to ensure that genuine and registered members of the NANTMP be made Chairmen and members of the Board to protect the interest of the practice, unlike the present practice in some states whereby Medical Doctors and Pharmacists are made Chairmen of Traditional Medicine Board. What does a Medical Doctor who doesn’t want traditional medicine to be given to his patient want to do in a Board that is set up for regulation and promotion of Traditional Medicine Practice?”

Kalu’s need for his herbalist puts a spotlight on traditional medicine.  It is useful in getting Nigeria to further think about developing traditional medicine.

Femi Macaulay

IMO State Governor Emeka Ihedioha’s victory at the Court of Appeal on November 19 reinforced his victory at the Imo Governorship Election Tribunal on September 20.  A report had said news of Ihedioha’s victory at the tribunal was greeted with “massive jubilation.”

According to Prof Francis Otonta, the returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who announced the result of the Imo governorship election on March 12, Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a former deputy speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, won in 11 of the 27 local government areas, polling a total 273,404 votes to defeat Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) who won in 10 LGAs and scored 190,364 votes.

Ifeanyi Araraume of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), a former senator, had 114,676 votes and won in four LGAs. Fourth was Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a serving senator representing Imo west senatorial district, who polled 96,458 votes and won in two LGAs.

Otonta had declared that Ihedioha, “having satisfied all the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes”  “won the election and is hereby returned.” Judgements by the governorship tribunal and the Appeal Court upheld Ihedioha’s election.

The appellants, Nwosu, Araraume and Uzodinma had asked   the appellate court to void Ihedioha’s election on the grounds that he did not obtain the constitutional one quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with Section 179 of the Constitution.

This is what happened at the Appeal Court: “ In a unanimous judgment, the five -man panel presided by Justice Oyebisi Omoyele dismissed the appeal by Action Alliance and its candidate, Uche Nwosu for lack of merit and upheld the judgment of the lower tribunal…

“The panel upheld the judgment of the lower tribunal adding that the assessment of the tribunal was thorough and resolved the appeal against the appellants.

“In Sen. Hope Uzodinma’s appeal, there was a dissenting judgment of ratio 4:1

“Four members agreed that the appeal lacks merit… while a member saw merit in the appeal and said that the judgment of the lower court be set aside…

“In Ifeanyi Araraume’s appeal, the appeal was also dismissed for inability of the appellants to prove their allegations against the respondents.

The panel affirmed the judgment of the lower tribunal…”

This is what happened at the tribunal: “The three-member panel of the tribunal had in a unanimous decision… held that Ihedioha was lawfully declared winner of the governorship election by INEC.

“The panel chaired by Justice Malami Dongondaji, had in the judgment dismissed Araraume, Nwosu and Uzodinma’s petitions for lacking in merit on the grounds that they failed to prove allegations made in their petitions…

“The petitioners also alleged substantial non compliance with the Electoral Act and Guidelines, including other irregularities.

“The tribunal in its judgment held that the case of the petitioners was unmeritorious because they failed to call relevant witnesses and that evidence of witnesses called was based on hearsay.

“The tribunal in addition rejected documents tendered by the petitioners in support of their claims on the grounds that those who led evidence in the documents were not the makers of the documents.”

Ultimately, the Supreme Court is expected to give a final judgement on the matter. The judgements of the tribunal and the Appeal Court reflect the strength of Ihedioha’s case as well as the weakness of the appellants’ case.

It is interesting that the appellants are involved in a joint effort against Ihedioha. So far, it has been a failed effort, and it may well end as a failed effort.  The reality is that power changed hands in Imo State, resulting in the pendulum effect. Governor Ihedioha wasn’t expected to continue on the path of former governor Rochas Okorocha of APC, even though it is said that government is a continuum.

Indeed, the Ihedioha administration’s move to probe the Okorocha administration demonstrates discontinuity. It is curious that  the eight-member committee set up to investigate Okorocha’s performance in his two terms as governor between 2011 and 2019 is expected to “ascertain and document the locations of and balances on all bank accounts operated by Imo State government, its Ministries, Departments and Agencies as at May 29, 2019.”

The investigative panel is also expected to ”review all financial transactions and where necessary, a forensic audit with a view to ascertaining sources of funds and the application of same;  review such   disbursements/applications of state resources to ascertain the propriety of charges levied on accounts, interest payment on loans and deposits where applicable, authorisation, etc; and review the operations of the Imo State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) with a view to recommending appropriate strategies to reposition the agency for better performance and sustained growth and to conduct governance/financial reviews of key agencies of government with a view to documenting all revenues generated or subventions/allocations between 2011 -2019.”

Perhaps the probe would show that the Okorocha administration had something to hide; perhaps not. Ihedioha’s inaugural speech on May 29 gave an insight into the need for a probe.  ”Pensioners are owed for over 77 months, accruing fifty-seven (57) billion naira in Pension liability alone,” he said.  ”Eight years of bad governance led to a mind-boggling decay of critical public infrastructure; a crippling debt burden without any meaningful infrastructural or institutional developments to show for such a humongous debt.”

Ihedioha added: “In the light of recent revelations by interest groups, various institutions and agencies of state, many have asked what becomes of those who recklessly plundered our commonwealth. My answer is simple: They will be held accountable. While this administration will be forward looking and not embark on any witch-hunting, those who have held positions of authority must prepare to render account of their stewardship to the people because our resolve to hold their feet to the fire of probity and accountability is iron-clad.”

There may well be good reasons for such investigation. Okorocha had displayed desperation to determine his successor. He had desperately wanted his son-in-law, Nwosu, to succeed him. Nwosu had defected to AA from APC after failing to get what he wanted.  In a display of crude godfatherism, Okorocha had shamelessly supported Nwosu who was the governorship candidate of a political party different from his in the March 9 governorship election.

If things had worked out according to Okorocha’s plan and Nwosu had succeeded him, there would have been no question of a probe. Good governance implies exposing past bad governance, while carrying out the business of governance.

The legal battle is a distraction the Ihedioha administration does not need.  The government needs to concentrate on developing Imo State. Ihedioha’s expected victory at the Supreme Court will help advance his development agenda for the state.

Femi Macaulay

When constituents don’t benefit from constituency projects, who benefits? The answer to this question may well shed light on why Nigeria remains underdeveloped.  President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated that the issue is a cause for concern.

By backing a probe of those who contributed to the country’s underdevelopment through failed constituency projects, Buhari introduced another dimension to his administration’s anti-corruption effort. At the opening of the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Sector on November 19, Buhari observed that funds for constituency projects “didn’t produce results,” and supported an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Buhari said:  ‘‘It is on record that in the past 10 years One trillion naira (N1 trillion) has been appropriated for constituency projects, yet the impact of such huge spending on the lives and welfare of ordinary Nigerians can hardly be seen.

‘‘The first phase report of tracking these projects by ICPC confirms our worst fears that people at the grassroots have not benefited in terms commensurate with the huge sums appropriated for constituency projects since inception.

‘‘I am, therefore, delighted that through the effort of ICPC, some contractors are returning to site to execute projects hitherto abandoned and that project sponsors are being held to account.

‘‘The ICPC has my full support and the support of this government to hold fully to account contractors, complicit public servants and project sponsors who divert funds meant for constituencies, or other people-oriented welfare projects of our government, or who by other means, reduce the quality and value of such projects meant for our people.’’

Importantly, in June the ICPC had launched an investigation into N900b constituency projects in states. The probe seeks to verify constituency projects executed by immediate past senators and members of the House of Representatives in the 8th National Assembly between 2015 and 2018. The verification involves 180 key projects in the 36 states, with at least five projects identified for tracking in each state. The first phase will be conducted in 12 states across the six geo-political zones of the country: Kogi and Benue (North-Central); Adamawa and Bauchi (North-East); Sokoto and Kano (North-West); Imo and Enugu (South-East); Lagos and Osun (South-West); and Akwa Ibom and Edo (South-South).

A report said the commission “will make recoveries on projects/contracts confirmed to have been inflated or in which contractors underperformed or did not perform at all.”  ICPC Chairman Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye said: “The level of implementation of constituency projects in 16 focus states for 2015 is revealing. Out of 436 constituency projects for the year that were tracked, 145 were completed, 77 ongoing while 211 were not executed at all. For 2016, out of a total of 852 constituency projects in 20 states in the 2016 Budget that were tracked, 350 were completed, 118 were ongoing, 41 locations not specified in the budget and 343 not done or performed. In 2017, a total of 1,228 constituency projects in the budget were tracked for performance as at June 2018. Out of these, 478 were completed, 173 in unspecified location, 200 ongoing, 13 abandoned and 364 not started. The level of performance of constituency projects is therefore disputable.”

In summary, about 2,516 projects were tracked between 2015 and 2017; 918 were not done, 395 were ongoing and 214 could not be located. Owasanoye added: “Constituency projects are intended to be developmental, such as provision of water, rural electrification, rural clinics, schools, community centres and bursary for indigent students. In the light of annual budgetary allocations to constituency projects and based on actual releases by the government, it is firmly believed that the impact of constituency projects on the lives of ordinary Nigerians ought to be more visible…The concern is that in Nigeria, rather than address the needs of constituents, many constituency projects have become avenues of corruption.”

It is ironic that the beneficiaries of constituency projects are usually not constituents, but corrupt federal legislators and their associates. It is expected that constituents would demand explanations from their representatives.

Members of the National Assembly are embarrassed. But their embarrassment is beside the point. Interestingly, they offered a defence that wasn’t a defence.

For instance, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila argued that the ICPC report that informed Buhari’s position missed the point by failing to distinguish between budgeted funds and released funds. Gbajabiamila was quoted as saying:  “I think it is a breach of our collective privilege as a house and not one person. My concern is the unintended consequences of words spoken. These are words emanating from a report by ICPC. There could be unintended consequences that could come out of it. You put people’s wellbeing at risk.”

He added:  “The ICPC could easily invoke their power of investigation and look at releases as compared to what was budgeted… I will use this medium to send this message across to ICPC and other agencies to do their work of investigation well. There is a difference between money budgeted and money released. It is as simple as ABC.”

Gbajabiamila’s argument, which represents the position of members of the National Assembly, is simplistic and self-serving. The suggestion that the ICPC report exposes the lawmakers to attacks by their constituents is alarmist and downplays the facts of the matter. Beyond budgeted funds, there were actual released funds, which didn’t change the picture of large-scale underperformance that contributed to the country’s underdevelopment.

If the ICPC found out that out of about 2, 516 constituency projects tracked between 2015 and 2017, 918 were not done, 395 were ongoing and 214 could not be located, it is possible that funds were not released for the projects not done. But is that the case? Concerning the 395 ongoing projects, is it the case that funds for completion were not released? What about the 214 projects that could not be located? Why could they not be located? Are they real projects or unreal projects? Were budgeted funds released for these projects that could not be located?

It is scandalous that such projects which are supposed to develop constituencies, and thereby develop the country, are mostly con jobs.

Femi Macaulay

IT is ironic that the 38th Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) International Convention, held at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Enugu, from October 31 to November 3, ended in a fiasco. Writers are expected to be civilized, but the problem at the conference was civilizational. The theme of the convention was Literature, Nationalism and the Poetics of Integration. In the end, the event showed politics of disintegration. Indeed, the ANA may well be on its way out.

A new ANA National President was supposed to be elected at the convention. There were four contenders: Camilus Uka, Ahmed Maiwada, Ofonime Inyang and Chike Ofili.

A disturbing report by Evelyn Osagie of The Nation captured the development that showed the ANA’s underdevelopment: “Saturday, November 2, was characterised by political feuds and theatrics that culminated in the cancellation of the election allegedly on the grounds of “faulty” electoral process. The tension was heightened when the outgoing executive, led by Mallam Denja Abdullahi, was said to have allegedly brought in “soldier boys” and other security operatives to the venue, perhaps to monitor elections, amid counter allegations of money changing hands, among other malpractices.”

“Aggrieved delegates not only raised the alarm over the move, they also faulted the electoral process. As a result, a new electoral panel was constituted with Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo as chairman. Mr. Ofeimun, a former ANA president, Prof. Remi Raji, Diego Okenyodo and chairman of Lagos ANA branch Yemi Adebiyi as members.”

“All hell broke loose when displeased delegates, especially from Akwa Ibom branch, were further aggravated by discrepancies in the list of delegates qualified to vote. This led to a swarm of writers protesting, calling for the cancellation of the election.”

“Fearing that violence might arise, the leadership of IMT, venue of the meeting, ordered that they vacate the hall.”

“And since decisions could not be reached on how to conduct the election, after a long deliberation that ran into the night between Adimora-Ezeigbo-led panel and the 25 ANA branch chairmen, Raji addressed delegates in line with the association’s constitution, saying: “After deliberation between the five-man panel led by Prof Adimora-Ezeigbo and the 25 ANA branch chairmen, it was agreed that election is postponed, and would hold within the next 180 days as enshrined in the ANA constitution. The place or state where it would be held would be communicated to us through the chairmen of the state branches.”

As things stand, the ANA is without a substantive leader for the first time in its history. It is ironic that the fiasco happened in the same city where the association had held the maiden edition of its yearly convention 38 years ago, when the association was established by literary luminary Chinua Achebe, and others.

The outgoing ANA National President Denja Abdullahi was quoted as saying:  “ANA is an association of intellectuals. Anyone vying for any leadership position must do so with a mind to serve. Leadership is not a do-or-die affair. We know of those who paid for people’s accommodation and were sharing money. Why? What for? It is indeed unfortunate.”

It looks like writers have become politicians, and politicians have become writers. Abdullahi’s allegations would have sounded normal if they were about Nigeria’s politicians and political environment. But he was talking about writers, who are supposed to reflect high-mindedness.

According to the report, “Many, however, observed that the battle was not about who led the association but a war over ANA land at Mpape, Abuja.”  The late Gen Mamman Vatsa gave 60.9 hectares to the association in 1985. Abdullahi said in an October 2018 interview: “The government that gave the land in the first place which was at 60.9 hectares cut it into about 57 hectares and when the present developer took possession in 2012 and went to the Abuja land authorities to verify documents and papers discovered that the size of the land has been further reduced to 36.9 hectares.”

He added: “On the land presently we have burgeoning structures that will later translate into a conference centre, library, shopping malls, offices, auditorium, writers’ residency chalets, 50- one bedroom en-suite apartments for rent and all other structures. The national secretariat of the Association has been moved since March this year from the National Theatre in Lagos to a completed red-brick structure on the land that now houses it.”

One of those who want to lead the association, Ahmed Maiwada, a lawyer, poet and novelist, however, said in an interview this month:  “We must know who got the missing portions of land and how the land got out in the first place.” He also said: “I want to correct the impression that the 36.9 hectares of the ANA was salvaged by ANA legal team; it is a lie. I achieved that feat alone. If any other lawyer was there when I won the case in 2012, let him come out and say so. I was the Legal Adviser for ANA and I was the ANA lawyer for the case, too, and I was the only one going to court.”

According to Maiwada, “When I finished that case, I recovered 36.9 hectares. The value of that 36.9 hectares, as at 2012 when I recovered it, was 1.2 billion naira, according to KNVR, the new developer. After seeing that, I made a token request of 15 million naira only as my payment (it was supposed to be 10 percent on the value of the recovered land), because I was also a member of ANA, and didn’t want to charge more than that. Unknown to me, the ANA authorities then had requested for 20 million naira from the developer to pay me, and got it, yet I did not get a kobo. They should have kept, at least, 5 million naira and pay me my 15 million naira; but they didn’t. The developer was not supposed to give them a kobo, for that was not part of the agreement we signed with the developer. But he still gave them. These people blew the money.”

“The current ANA president would tell you the association paid me 5 million naira. How did I get that 5 million naira? There was a second case I was doing for ANA -I did about four cases for the association in all -and I declared a strike on the condition that the initial 15 million naira must be paid. That was when I heard the money had been paid. The developer had already sunk in money, and my success or failure in that case would affect him, so he promised to pay me. He, then, gave 5 million naira to ANA. That was how I got that 5 million naira. I told them that 5 million naira was only meant for the second case. Up till now, ANA hasn’t paid me the 15 million naira.”

The ANA’s mess is a bad story. It is a continuing story that is likely to get messier.