The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Let us embrace, formalise and put the self confessions in the North to better use

    Let us embrace, formalise and put the self confessions in the North to better use

    On these pages on 31 December, 2023 I asked the question: ‘Is It Time For a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Nigeria or Do We Simply Go Our Separate Ways’?

    God works in mysterious ways.

    Today, given nothing more than the honest  confessions of some of our Northern compatriots, the very beginnings of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission have, very stealthily, walked in on us.

    While we have the individuals to thank, Nigerians must embrace their effort while the Federal Government should formalise it as one of the ways of finally resolving our socio – political, even developmental, conundrum.

    “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa was a court-like body established in 1995 to investigate and address human rights violations during the Apartheid era.

    It was aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing by providing a platform for victims and perpetrators to share their stories and come clean for purposes of ultimate truth and restorative justice. Its goal was obviously not to prosecute individuals but to foster reconciliation, promote forgiveness and usher in overall development in the country.

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    In like manner, if not exactly on all fours since Apartheid was a system of segregation and mental enslavement which traumatised the entire Black population of South Africa for 46 years (1948 – 1994), the Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, also known as the Oputa Panel, was a Truth Commission established in 1999 to investigate human rights violations during Nigeria’s military rule from 1966 to 1999.

    Its mandate included uncovering the truth about the violations and recommending redress for victims.

    While both were products of institutional reform in each country, what has now, almost miraculously, walked in on us in Nigeria unappreciated is, unbelievably, the result of some honest soul- searching by some of our patriotic Northern counterparts who, where many Southerners would rather not talk at all, or lie through their teeth, preferring instead, to put the blame on others, chose to own up to their collective guilt.

    Although these were told at different fora, a trending WhatsApp post by, again surprisingly a Northerner, has now put together what they describe as the contributions of Northern leaders, especially their politicians, to the extremely parlous situation of the region – poverty,  socialised insecurity – banditry, Boko Haram, unemployment etc. The WhatsApp post contains some facts which, were they made by non- Northerners, would have been rightly considered extremely provocative.

    But these individuals were only being truthful; the kind of truth one now expects to see come from the south too, in order to birth total healing and reconciliation to our country.

    As usual, space constraint will limit what can get published of the humongous lot in an article like this.

    Limited as it would be, however, it should be capable of washing our country clean if each part would own up to its own shortcomings, apologise to all and promise to turn a new leaf while the Federal Government, on its part, would waste no time, in institutionalising it as a worthy effort towards cleaning up our past.

    Although the contributions of Professor Usman Yusuf, the former Executive Secretary/Chief executive officer of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should take the cake for his consistent exposition of the contribution of Northern leaders to the region’s underdevelopment,  this piece will yield that position to the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, who has no less been vehement in his disdain for what he says has, over the years, pauperised the North.

    In his recent critique, the governor held nothing back, declaring inter alia: “All of us, including myself, all the politicians in Northern Nigeria, including all of us here, should be held accountable for what is happening in Northen Nigeria for the past 15 years in terms of poverty, unemployment and insecurity.

    As at 2016, there was nothing like banditry. What went wrong?

    He called on Northern politicians to apologise to the people for their failure to address the region’s persistent underdevelopment. Expressing concern over the state of  the region, he attributed its current challenges to decades of mismanagement and neglect by political leaders, admitting that the region’s multifaceted challenges did not begin two years ago, but rather, the result of systemic issues which have been allowed to persist for over 20 years by Northern political leaders who have held public office.  “We all need to look at ourselves in the mirror and apologise to the people of Northern Nigeria. We let them down,”

    He emphasized that the problems facing the North are deeply rooted in a long history of underdevelopment, highlighting, in particular, the widespread poverty and financial exclusion that continue to plague the region despite the billions sunk in social intervention programs in the region under former President Muhammadu Buhari, but from which majority of the population were excluded.

    In my article of  May 5. 2024,  titled:  ‘Poverty and insecurity in Northern Nigeria: Prof Usman Yusuf’s views beginning to resonate with region’s leaders’,

    I quoted him as follows: “I am old enough to clearly remember thirteen Administrations from that of General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975) to the current one of President Muhammadu Buhari (2015- to date). It is safe to say that none of these administrations came to power with so much hope, expectations and goodwill of citizens and the international community like President Buhari’s.

    Unfortunately, all this goodwill has been squandered by this government due to a messiah complex, intellectual laziness, bad governance, endemic corruption, incompetence, mediocrity, nepotism, arrogance of power, sense of entitlement, stubbornness, aversion to constructive criticisms, delegation of responsibility without supervision or holding anyone accountable, indifference, distance and disconnection from, and insensitivity, to the sufferings of our people”.

    Professor Yusuf has not let down since  and if you look critically at all the arrows he shot in the guided missile above, they are all headed for former President Buhari, a President of Northern extraction.

    And he wasn’t yet done with Northern leaders.

    I therefore wrote further in my referenced article: “The North has become a literal inferno and given the overwhelming parlous state of affairs in the region they(Northern leaders) can, no longer, afford to neglect him(Yusuf). What makes the situation worse is the fact that, like forever, especially during the immediate past administration of President Buhari, the North literally had a complete lock down of all the country’s consequential appointments.

    In some of his stirring ‘sermons’, Professor Yusuf listed some of such  positions; likewise in the current Tinubu administration where the North holds the offices of  Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, Chief of Army staff, both Ministers of Defence, as well as the Minister of Police Affairs.

    Yet, he went on, Northern leadership has completely failed the people, choosing instead, to look elsewhere, or blame others and  concluding that the time has come for the entire Northern leadership, whether in government or not, to look at themselves in the face and agree that they have failed the people, promising to do better”.

    Then the bit I consider rather provocative were it to have been contributed by a non Northerner.

    It came from a young man – the youngest amongst the contributors – who identified himself as proudly coming from Bornu state.

    He opened up by asking what Nigeria’s major problem is. “Come let me tell you: the major problem of Nigeria is Northern Nigeria. If you want to see conflict, Northern Nigeria, rape, Northern Nigeria. In fact, if you want to see thieves, stealing on an industrial scale, come to Northern Nigeria. Thieves engaged in primitive accumulation, just come to Northern Nigeria.

    I am proud to be an indigene of Borno state. I am from Borno state. The North is where you come to if you want to see conflict, hatred, nepotism, cronyism. In fact, if you cut off the Southern part of Nigeria from the North, in ten years the South will be a proud member of the comity of nations. 70 per cent of people who govern this country are from the North, but if you want to see hunger, starvation, poverty, come to the North”.

    On and on he went, touching on critical issues on which the region has taken aback, not only the North, but the country as a whole.

    Many others – Northerners all – spoke very truthfully on all the issues underpinning Nigeria’s current under development and the negative roles played by Northern leaders in all of them.

    So dispassionate are  the speakers that I honestly, and very sincerely, believe that  were all of us, Nigerians, to be this honest in owning up to our faults and, government in turn, taking the appropriate measures to benefit from it all, Nigeria can, very soon, overcome its current developmental somnambulism, as well as restore a measure of concrete and tangible security, pan Nigeria.

    May the good Lord guide Nigeria aright.

  • DSS, Pat Utomi and misplaced priorities

    DSS, Pat Utomi and misplaced priorities

    In a nation facing serious existential threats one is forced to wonder or throw my arms into the air in exhilaration over the intention by the Department of State Security Services, DSS to sue Professor Pat Utomi following the latter’s announcement of the formation of a shadow government. This disproportionate focus on Utomi’s political activities reveals a concerning misallocation of security resources when far more serious threats to national security demand urgent attention.

    This is not the first time Professor Utomi has formed such an alternative political structure. Shortly after President Umaru Yar’Adua took office in 2007, Utomi established a similar shadow cabinet. That effort, despite initial media attention, gradually faded away without posing any threat to Nigeria’s democratic institutions or national security. It served primarily as an intellectual exercise and a platform for policy critique—exactly what shadow governments are meant to do in functional democracies.

    Shadow governments, or shadow cabinets as they are sometimes called, represent a legitimate democratic tradition in many mature democracies. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the opposition party forms an official shadow cabinet that scrutinizes government policies and presents alternatives. These structures strengthen, rather than undermine, democratic governance by ensuring robust policy debates and accountability.

    Professor Utomi’s initiative should be viewed through this lens—as an attempt to deepen Nigeria’s democratic culture rather than subvert it. His shadow government aims to offer alternative policy perspectives and hold the current administration accountable, functions that are essential to democratic health.

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    I know the man in question, as a student of the Great University of Benin, he encouraged my activities in student unionism, not once did he ever tinker or talk about violence as a means for rescuing our nation, Professor Utomi has long established himself as Nigeria’s political iconoclast—a man willing to challenge orthodoxy and propose alternative visions for national development. His decades-long career as an economist, political scientist, entrepreneur, and public intellectual demonstrates a consistent commitment to Nigeria’s progress.

    Like America’s Patrick Moynihan, who served as both scholar and statesman, Utomi combines academic rigor with political engagement. Moynihan was known for his willingness to speak uncomfortable truths about social problems while offering thoughtful policy solutions. Similarly, Utomi has never shied away from diagnosing Nigeria’s ailments, even when his prescriptions challenge powerful interests.

    In the mold of Bernie Sanders, Utomi represents a persistent voice for systemic change and greater equity. Just as Sanders has spent decades advocating for economic justice in America’s political wilderness before his ideas gained mainstream traction, Utomi has consistently championed institutional reforms and social justice in Nigeria, often ahead of popular opinion.

    While security agencies focus on Utomi’s utopian like political activities, Nigeria faces genuine existential threats that demand urgent attention. Widespread insecurity manifests in multiple forms with Boko Haram and banditry doing a tag team in the NorthEast and NorthWest, in the SouthEast and South South kidnapping for ransom and militancy are ravaging these regions while killer gangs are leaving hundreds dead in their homelands in Benue and Plateau, areas which had in the not too far past had been abodes of peace.

    These threats represent clear and present dangers to Nigeria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and citizens’ welfare. Rather than square off with these challenges and for once deal with the perpetrators behind these monsters, the DSS feels it would better serve the nation by redirecting resources toward addressing these genuine security challenges and  monitor or rather attempt to bully the activities of intellectuals engaged in a form of political discourse.

    Far from silencing voices like Utomi’s, the Tinubu administration would benefit from engaging substantively with the ideas and critiques offered by his shadow government. The current economic challenges facing Nigeria—including inflation, unemployment, and currency instability—require diverse perspectives and innovative solutions.

    Professor Utomi brings decades of experience in economic management, entrepreneurship, and public policy to the table. His expertise could complement government efforts to address these challenges if the administration were to adopt a more inclusive approach to governance.

    Democracies mature when they embrace, rather than suppress, the opposition. The United States, United Kingdom, and other established democracies have institutionalized mechanisms for opposition voices to contribute to governance through shadow cabinets, congressional oversight, and robust public debate.

    Nigeria’s democratic journey remains incomplete without similar institutional frameworks for constructive opposition. The DSS’s reaction to Utomi’s shadow government suggests a concerning intolerance for political dissent that undermines democratic consolidation.

    I would rather urge the Tinubu administration to engage substantively with policy proposals from Utomi’s group, even if it chooses for constitutional reasons not to recognise it, this  way, this administration can show Nigerians that it is also not docile and desires to move the nation forward. By doing such we would have strengthened our

    democratic norms by showing that it is an administration that can tolerate and even encourage constructive criticism

    Pat Utomi’s shadow government represents an opportunity,not a threat, for Nigeria’s democracy. His track record demonstrates a genuine commitment to national development rather than personal aggrandizement or destabilization. The DSS’s focus on his activities reflects a misunderstanding of his intentions and a misallocation of security resources.

    In mature democracies, figures like Utomi are valued for their contribution to public discourse and policy development. Nigeria would be well-served by embracing such voices rather than treating them with suspicion. The Tinubu administration has an opportunity to demonstrate democratic confidence by engaging with, rather than marginalizing, Utomi’s shadow government.

    Nigeria’s security challenges are real and pressing. Let the DSS focus our national security apparatus on addressing genuine threats while creating space for the intellectual and political opposition that strengthens rather than weakens our democracy. Pat Utomi deserves to be heard, not hounded.

  • Malcolm X’s birthday

    Malcolm X’s birthday

    Monday, 19 May, 2025, marks a hundred years since Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little on 19 May, 1925. His father was Earl Little and a follower of the black Jamaican Marcus Garvey, and so was his mother. Marcus Garvey had devoted himself to the promotion of the universal unity of black people, founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914, and even established a shipping line – The Black Star Line – to move blacks in the diaspora back to Africa.

    This grand establishment-challenging agenda had its risks, including to his life, but Garvey declared: “In life I shall come back, or in death even to serve you as I served before. In life I shall be the same; in death I shall be a TERROR to foes of African liberty. … If I may come in an earthquake or a plague or a pestilence, or if God would help me, then be assured that I shall NEVER desert you and make your enemies triumph over you!” On his impending imprisonment, he said: “If I should die in Atlanta, my work will only just then begin. For I shall live in the physical or the spiritual to see the day of Africa’s Glory.” So, he exhorted, “Look for me in a whirlwind or a storm! Look for me all around you!”

    Due to Malcolm’s father’s Garvey-inspired activities, the father was a prime target of hatred by the white extremist group Ku Klux Klan (KKK). And when his father died in what looked every bit like very cruel circumstances, his family believed that it was the handiwork of the KKK, though the authorities ruled the death as suicide. This official position denied the family any death benefits, and it complicated the family’s trauma, leading to the eventual emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother.

    From then on, Malcolm who was six years old was denied direct parental upbringing. Living in a foster home and with his aunt did not adequately compensate for this deprivation. That his teacher racistly dissuaded Malcolm from the aspiration of becoming a lawyer in future, while rather advising him to aspire to become a carpenter, aggravated his social destabilisation; and Malcolm took to a life of petty crimes which eventually led him to jail at the age of 21.

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    Malcolm spent the time in jail reading voraciously, educating himself and developing his oratorical skills. By the time he left prison, Malcolm who, when he entered prison, could barely sustain a logical argument, had become a quintessential debater. Even TIME magazine which was evidently hostile to Malcolm could not help but describe him as “a spellbinding speaker.”

    On unity, Malcolm said to black people: “When black people wake up and become intellectually independent enough to think for themselves as other humans are intellectually independent enough to think for themselves, then the black man will think like a black man, and he will feel for other black people. And this new thinking and feeling will cause black people to stick together. And then at that point, you’ll have a situation where when you attack one black man, you’re attacking all black men.”

    Malcolm then noted: “And this type of black thinking will cause all black people to stick together. And this type of thinking also will bring an end to the brutality inflicted upon black people by white people. And it is the only thing that will bring an end to it. No federal court, state court, or city court will bring an end to it. It’s something that the black man has to bring an end to himself.”

    Moreover, in a 1963 speech titled, “Blacks Do for Yourself,” Malcolm said: “20 million black people in this country have been like boys in the white man’s house. He even calls us boy. … [No matter] how big you get, he calls you boy. You can be a professor; to him, you’re just another boy. … If you can’t do for yourself what the white man is doing for himself, don’t say you’re equal with the white man. If you can’t set up a factory like he sets up a factory, don’t talk that old equality talk.”

    Malcolm then admonishes: “Get off the welfare. Get out of that compensation line. Be a man. Earn what you need for your own family. Then your family respects you. They are proud to say this’s my father; she’s proud to say that’s my husband. Father means you’re taking care of those children. Just because you made them … don’t mean that you’re a father. Anybody can make a baby. But anybody can’t take care of them. Anybody can go and get a woman, but anybody can’t take care of a woman.”

         Malcolm was a black women’s rights advocate who declared: “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.  And as Muslims, the Honorable Elijah Mohammad teaches us to respect our women and to protect our women. Then the only time the Muslim gets really violent is when someone goes to molest his woman. We will kill you for our women. I’m making it plain.”

    Malcolm continued: “We believe that if the white man will do whatever is necessary to see that his woman gets respect and protection, then you and I will never be recognized as men until we stand up like men and place the same penalty over the head of anyone who puts his filthy hands out … in the direction of our women.”

    In the words of his wife, Dr. Betty Shabazz, “Malcolm was a good man. … Whatever discipline I have came from Malcolm. Whatever strength I have came from Malcolm. Whatever tolerance and love of my people came from Malcolm. … [For] that, I have Malcolm to thank.” She also said that she had “a husband who served in the streets of America. But I was never fearful. … Malcolm took the fear out of my heart, out of my mind and out of my existence.”  

    On what young people should know about Malcolm X, his friend, the famous female African-American literary icon, Maya Angelou, said: “They should know he had an incredible sense of humor. … Malcolm was a faithful man, great loving person who really loved black people, and then one of the most courageous persons I’ve ever known. Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently; you can’t be consistently kind, consistently fair, merciful, just, loving; you cannot.”

    In a 4 June 1964 interview, Malcolm remarked: “I found that anywhere I went, if someone tried to attack me for being blunt and frank and vocal about our problem, there was always someone in the audience ready to put them down. … When I was in Nigeria [in 1964], I spoke at the University of Ibadan which is a beautiful African school … and I did the same thing. I indicted America really by just describing the real plight of the black people of this country. And after I had given this lecture, a Negro stood up, from the Caribbean area here, and tried again to attack me. The students came up on the speakers stand, took the microphone away from him, ran him not only off the stand, ran him off out of the hall and off the campus.” 

    Regarding this kind of examples, Malcolm said: “I cite them very bluntly so that our people in this country will realize that we shouldn’t be fighting our struggle for independence and for the liberation of our people as if we were underdogs. Everybody on this earth is on our side who has a true understanding and knowledge of the nature of the plight or the struggle that we’re facing.”

    In a 20 February, 1983 interview with Gil Noble, Robert Haggins, Malcolm’s personal photographer, said in response to the question on what it was about Malcolm that struck him: “For one thing, the discipline. The fact that everybody was organized. The respect for each other and the way Malcolm addressed me: ‘Sir.’ ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘No, sir.’ Immaculate cleanliness. … The whole demeanor of Malcolm as an individual.”

    He also noted: “Malcolm had an uncanny sense of the value of the media and the value of pictures. He knew that the media was creating him in terms of being a monster … fist clenched, blazing eyes, teeth clenched, all these sorts of things. He wanted me to make photographs of him as a human being.” Haggins further declared: “Malcolm was the only leader out there that taught black people to be proud of being black.”

    In the Gil Noble interview, another of Malcolm’s aides, Earl Grant, who had skills in photography, electronics, research, and some training in the services, and recorded Malcolm’s speeches in addition to serving as his body guard, noted: “The whole existence of black people in this country has been a struggle from Day 1. And what little progress we have made was because somebody made it happen. … And that was what Malcolm was trying to do. He was trying to make it happen.”

    Grant noted further: “This country doesn’t allow black males to mature. It allows them to grow up physically, but not to mature mentally, intellectually, spiritually. And Malcolm gave black men that chance in this country.” According to Grant, “Malcolm was the best thing that ever happened to us. … For one thing, he was honest.” Grant also remarked: “[Malcolm] was a historic figure. He was a holy man. That’s one of the reasons he’s not alive today. … He was too clean to be kept alive in this country.”

    Malcolm was constantly transforming: from being a street boy and prisoner to being a morally-upright, intellectually-inquisitive and inspirational international figure; from being a Christian to being a Muslim Minister; from regarding whites as “blue-eyed devils” to appreciating, from his experience from performing the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, that it was possible to find good whites; and from bearing the “slave-master’s name” Malcolm Little at birth to becoming “Detroit Red” in his street days to becoming Malcolm X when he left prison (and joined the Nation of Islam) to becoming El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz when he performed the pilgrimage.

    The moral of Malcolm X’s birth and life is that nobody should give up on themselves or be written off by society. You can always rise above your personal limitations or the encumbrances of your birth. Being a Muslim Minister himself, Malcolm’s life personified Chapter 39, Verse 53 of the Qur’an which says, “Do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah.”

  • Security as a development imperative

    Security as a development imperative

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not sleeping well. Not because the challenges of governing a complex nation like Nigeria are light, but because one issue has refused to relent—security. The increasing tempo of violence, particularly in Nigeria’s rural communities and forested regions, has emerged as a frontline concern. According to his Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, referring to the security burden “the President is concerned about what’s going on”—a statement that both reflects the gravity of the situation and the urgency with which the administration is responding.

    In a week dominated by national security deliberations, emergency meetings, international diplomacy, and new military acquisitions, President Tinubu’s message was clear: Nigeria must not be allowed to slip into the hands of criminals, bandits, or foreign-sponsored terror networks. The forests must be reclaimed. The borders must be secured. And above all, the people—especially those in neglected rural areas—must feel the presence and protection of their government.

    Perhaps the most headline-grabbing move this week came on Wednesday, when the President approved the immediate recruitment and deployment of armed forest guards. The unit, designed to operate within Nigeria’s vast and largely ungoverned forested areas—some 1,129 of them—is to serve as a permanent force within the country’s broader security architecture.

    These forests, long exploited by terrorist groups, bandits, and criminal gangs, have served as safe havens and launch-pads for attacks, especially in states like Borno, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina. From the notorious Sambisa Forest to Kamuku, Sububu, Dajin Rugu, and beyond, these stretches of land have become synonymous with lawlessness.

    The forest guards initiative, a joint effort between federal and state governments under the oversight of the National Security Adviser and Ministry of Environment, is both a security strategy and a socio-economic intervention. Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be recruited—trained, armed, and deployed not just to chase criminals, but to reclaim sovereign territory. It is a step the President described as essential to “ensure that no part of Nigeria is abandoned to lawlessness.”

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    But the initiative is more than a knee-jerk reaction. It aligns with President Tinubu’s broader understanding of the interplay between security, food production, and economic survival. With farmlands in the North-Central, North-East and even parts of the South under constant threat, insecurity is eating away at Nigeria’s ambition to achieve food self-sufficiency. Farmers have fled. Markets have collapsed. Communities are under siege. To fix the economy, the President knows, he must first fix security—especially in the hinterlands.

    Friday saw another symbolic but strategic move. Two new Agusta A-109S Trekker helicopters were inducted into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the ceremony, President Tinubu reiterated his determination to invest in “cutting-edge defence technologies” and equip the armed forces for both conventional and asymmetric warfare.

    The induction was part of activities marking the 61st anniversary of the NAF, but more importantly, it reflected a President who understands that visible power projection can restore confidence. The President made it clear that the military’s transformation is a priority in the Renewed Hope Agenda, not just to tackle bandits and terrorists, but to make Nigeria more attractive to local and foreign investment.

    The symbolism of the helicopters cannot be overstated. Air power is fast, intimidating, and often decisive in modern counterinsurgency operations. The acquisition of these and other platforms—like the T-129 ATAK helicopters and King Air surveillance planes—is a message to enemies of the state: Nigeria will not back down.

    Still, the crisis is not entirely homegrown. At the heart of Friday’s emergency security meeting was a sobering intelligence briefing: the jihadist push from the Sahel is intensifying. Terrorist and insurgent groups from neighboring states are flowing across Nigeria’s porous borders, exploiting weak points and forming alliances with local cells.

    General Musa, speaking after the meeting, did not mince words. “The pressure is what actually came into Nigeria because of the nature of our borders”, he said.

    It is a problem that has plagued the sub-region for over a decade. As countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and move further from ECOWAS and democratic norms, Nigeria is left with a delicate balancing act—one that President Tinubu is navigating with a mix of firmness and diplomacy.

    That diplomacy was on display Thursday when the President received six new ambassadors, including the Malian envoy, Cheick Oumar Coulibaly. Despite the shifting alliances, Tinubu emphasized unity, calling on West African nations to “strengthen bilateral relations” and insisting that “no nation can succeed alone.”

    The Malian envoy responded in kind, pledging continued cooperation and acknowledging Nigeria’s leadership in regional peacekeeping and counterterrorism. It was a soft moment in a hard week, but it underscored Tinubu’s twin strategy: secure the homeland, but never abandon the neighborhood.

    President Tinubu’s security recalibration is not solely about soldiers and helicopters. There is a growing realization within the Villa that insecurity is at the root of Nigeria’s most pressing problems—poverty, food scarcity, rural-urban migration, and even inflation.

    With farming communities under siege, markets dislocated, and transportation corridors disrupted, Nigeria’s food system is struggling. And no amount of subsidized fertilizer or irrigation projects will matter if farmers cannot safely till the soil.

    This is why the Tinubu administration’s renewed security drive must be seen through a developmental lens. By stabilizing the rural economy, the President hopes to spark a chain reaction: more food production, fewer imports, lower food prices, and improved livelihoods.

    It is also why he has instructed security agencies to work more closely with state governors, traditional leaders, and local councils. Security is no longer the exclusive domain of the armed forces—it is now a “whole-of-society” effort. Everyone, from local vigilantes to community leaders, must play their part.

    One point that came through strongly this week is that the President is not acting alone. The presence of top security and intelligence chiefs at the State House—NSA Nuhu Ribadu, DSS DG Oluwatosin Ajayi, all service chiefs, and even a DIG of Police, representing the civil force,—reflects a reinforced security culture in Abuja: collaborative, intelligence-driven, and proactive.

    The new strategy is not merely about boots on the ground; it is about clarity of mission, unity of command, and agility of response. From kinetic operations to psychological warfare and community engagement, Nigeria is adapting. And President Tinubu, despite the obvious weight of responsibility, is leading from the front.

    As the week closed, General Musa offered a reassurance that captured the mood inside the corridors of power: “We are going to continue to succeed. That, we assure all Nigerians.”

    For a nation weary of violence but still hopeful, these words matter. Yet they must be backed by continued action, transparency, and tangible outcomes. The Tinubu administration has made security the bedrock of its development plan. Now it must deliver—steadily, relentlessly, and with the discipline the President himself demanded at the helicopter induction.

    In the coming weeks, Nigerians will watch closely as the forest guards begin their work, as regional alliances are tested, and as the military expands its operational capacity. But more than anything, they will judge the President not just by the number of helicopters in the sky, but by whether their children can go to school, whether they can walk to the market, and whether the farm down the road will be safe to harvest again.

    The President may be losing sleep—but if his new measures hold, perhaps millions of Nigerians will finally sleep a little easier.

    Reform, Recognition, and Global Engagement

    Meanwhile, the President’s schedule in the just-concluded week was a study in balancing the demands of governance with a deep appreciation for national values, cultural pride, and diplomatic visibility.

    The week began with celebration and statesmanship on Sunday. Tinubu paid glowing tributes to Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the revered Afenifere leader, on his 99th birthday, describing him as “a rare Nigerian who served unblemished.” The President also felicitated Senator Mohammed Sani Musa at 60, applauding his work on fiscal reform and legislative excellence. Similarly, he celebrated longtime ally and businessman Chief Dipo Eludoyin, highlighting his loyalty and support for the Renewed Hope Agenda.

    On Monday, the focus shifted to governance. Tinubu swore in two new INEC commissioners and two members of the Code of Conduct Bureau, strengthening democratic and ethical institutions. He then presided over a crucial Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that approved several landmark initiatives. Among them was the launch of MediPool, a group purchasing platform aimed at lowering drug prices and improving access to essential medicines. The FEC also renewed the Group Life Assurance Scheme for federal workers, ensuring financial protection for public servants and their families.

    A particularly ambitious decision was the unveiling of a $100 billion cultural monetization plan. Coordinated by the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, the initiative seeks to unlock Nigeria’s rich heritage and creative assets as a viable revenue stream. Additionally, FEC approved a revised National Employment Policy, the first in six years, which aims to address the evolving labour market and tackle unemployment and underemployment head-on.

    Infrastructure received a major boost as well, with N1.2 trillion allocated for roads, power, and aviation. Notably, N175 billion was approved for Section II of the East-West Road, and the power sector saw new bids and equipment approvals. In aviation, nearly N1 trillion was committed to navigation systems, airport command centers, and terminal upgrades. These moves underscore Tinubu’s commitment to economic revitalization through strategic capital investment.

    Tinubu also acknowledge prominent some Nigerians same Monday. He celebrated veteran journalist Lekan Sote at 70 for his five-decade media career, and on Tuesday, he congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke at 65, praising his national outlook. That same day, he honored Prince Bisi Olatilo, the broadcasting legend, for 50 years of professional excellence.

    On Wednesday, President Tinubu approved revised procurement thresholds for federal MDAs, aimed at reforming and streamlining public procurement processes.

    By Thursday, he was back to personal diplomacy, congratulating Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue on his birthday and meeting with BUA Group Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu to reinforce public-private collaboration.

    Friday saw a cultural flourish as Tinubu received the 46th Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, reaffirming ties with Nigeria’s traditional institutions.

    On Saturday, Tinubu departed for Rome to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican—an invitation extended to only a select group of global leaders.

    Altogether, it was a week that showcased leadership in motion: blending reform, recognition, and international diplomacy.

    He is excepted back in the country early this week to continue the clinical steering of the state’s ship, aiming to arrive at the promised destination he has always envisioned for Nigeria, through the carefully planned Renewed Hope Agenda. May Nigeria prevail.

  • Issues in Lagos APC LG primaries

    Issues in Lagos APC LG primaries

    Not surprisingly, the just concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Lagos State to select chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the local government elections slated for July 12 have been highly competitive and uproariously contentious in many instances. Critics of the party would readily attribute this to what they perceive to be a tendency within the party to impose candidates, stifle free intra-party contestation and promote the dictatorship of an emergent party oligarchy. That may not necessarily be the case. Rather, intra-party contests for the emergence of candidates to fly the party’s flag in elections in Lagos State are always fiercely fought because those who succeed would almost invariably go on to win the general elections.

    Thus, the primaries can be described as the election proper. And this is not limited to Lagos State, especially with regard to local government elections. There is hardly any state where the party in power does not go on to win 100 per cent of local government chairmanship and councillorship seats, given the control exercised by state governments over members of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), electoral umpires that they constitute and administer. In the Lagos APC local government primaries, 432 out of 470 aspirants, who submitted nomination forms, were cleared to contest for the 57 Chairmanship seats across 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). This is apart from the thousands of others who competed to emerge as the party’s councillorship candidates in the 377 wards in the state, represented by a councillor each.

    It was no doubt a Herculean challenge for the electoral committee. Headed by respected Senior lawyer, Mr Babatunde Ogala (SAN), with wide acceptability across the various partisan groups within the APC in the state, the electoral committee was no doubt carefully selected. In the same vein, the Appeal committee to handle grievances arising from the primaries is headed by another respected lawyer, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), who is the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Lagos State and he is assisted by four other reputable members. The appeal committee no doubt has its work cut out for it, as no less than 100 petitions arising from the chairmanship contest are reportedly pending before it.

    The number of petitions by aspirants dissatisfied with the primaries can certainly not be blamed on the incompetence or deliberate violations of the rules by the electoral committee, as understandably alleged by most of the aggrieved aspirants. There is no outcome of the contest that would not have elicited vehement protests in such a hotly fought intra-party exercise. This was obviously why the party leadership and stakeholders strongly pushed for the emergence of the candidates through consensus arrangements to reduce the incidence of bitterness and fractionalization that would arise from competitive primaries.

    However, this appeal for wisdom and caution through the adoption of a conciliatory, consensual method of selecting candidates fell largely on deaf ears, and this is understandable. The consensus approach would no doubt have favoured more the entrenched, pro-status quo forces in the party and was thus opposed by the younger and more impatient elements pressing for radical change.

    Consequently, only four LCDAs – Iba, Ijede, Lekki and Otto-Awori – opted for the emergence of the chairmanship candidates through consensus with delegates later affirming the choices for each of the LCDAS. With the exception of Yaba and Mainland Local Government Councils, which did not hold primaries, about 1,530 delegates voted for chairmanship candidates in the remaining 55 local government and LCDAs, which saw 27 delegates voting to elect candidates in each of the councils through indirect primaries.

    The forthcoming local government elections are very critical to the APC in Lagos State, especially against the background of the last presidential election in the state, where the party’s organisational lethargy and grassroots complacency were largely responsible for its worst electoral performance since the inception of this political dispensation in 1999. True, its control of the LASIEC can easily be utilised to manufacture an overwhelming victory for the party as happens in local government polls in virtually all states. But the APC needs a true and credible measure of its grassroots electoral strength in preparation for the critical 2027 state and national elections.

    In this regard, the party cannot afford the festering of otherwise avoidable intra-party fissions that can drive sizable numbers of its membership into the fold of the opposition or breed grassroots apathy that can prove electorally costly in contests mediated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The party must therefore balance the need to reward its eminent leaders who have rendered selfless service to the party and the state over the years, through the sponsorship of their nominees to appointive and elective positions, with the no less important imperative of not denying hardworking and dedicated party members who may have no prominent connections their right to also hold such offices.

    Again, the APC in Lagos State must ensure that it balances the requirements of democracy with the equally important criterion of according the right place to merit and demonstrated competence in the emergence of candidates for public office, especially at the local government level, where there is a dire need for accelerated development. It is at the grassroots that the war against poverty can be most effectively and concretely waged with positive results. But the objective of the President Tinubu administration in pursuing the attainment of financial autonomy for the local government councils can only be realised if the best, brightest and most experienced hands are engaged to run the affairs of the councils.

    It is thus difficult to understand, for instance, how an aspirant for Chairmanship of Ojokoro LCDA like Hon. Mobolaji Sanusi, could have reportedly scored only two out of 27 delegates’ votes in a council where he had been recommended by no less than 12 reputable residents of the area, most of them former public office holders, as the most suitable consensus candidate. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director of the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LAASA), a position in which he served with demonstrable competence and exemplary integrity for four years, Sanusi had practised as a lawyer and respected journalist for over three decades without blemish.

    In addition to being a successful businessman,  he has also been actively involved in campaigns for the ACN and now APC in Lagos and at the national levels in all elections over the last two decades. Although he has accepted the outcome of the primaries with grace and equanimity and pledged his continued loyalty to the APC and President Tinubu,  Sanusi is certainly the kind of candidate that should be encouraged by any progressive political party.

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    Some of the petitions appear to be rather frivolous and unserious. For instance, a full-page advertorial against the outcome of the primaries in Alimosho Federal Constituency alleged grave irregularities in six local councils but was signed by only one person supposedly resident in Ipaja. One would have expected known names in each of these councils to have endorsed the petition. It appeared to be just a case of one power bloc protesting against being outwitted by another bloc without necessarily possessing superior democratic credentials.

    In Agege and Orile-Agege, the Presidential Council of the APC in the area alleged that “The political climate in Agege and Orile-Agege is uniquely troubling. For over a decade, a carefully orchestrated structure was dominated by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has monopolized power. He exercises unchecked power over local government executives and ward officers who, by design, form the voting delegation in primaries…The implication is clear -any primary process steered under such influence cannot, by any objective measure, produce a fair or credible outcome”. This is not a tenable or convincing excuse. Building and sustaining an enduring political structure cannot be a crime.  Those who want to dislodge the current structure in the area must build their own, especially if they claim to enjoy popular grassroots support.

    Petitioners in Ikosi-Isheri claim that the elected Chairmanship candidate, Samiat Bada, had served as Vice-chairman for five years and another six years as Chairman before winning the recent primary to contest the forthcoming election. But has she violated any law in contesting again, even though she had previously held office for a considerable length of time? But in Yaba LCDA, the son of a prominent chieftain of the party who reportedly currently represents Shomolu/Bariga Local Government on the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is being allegedly imposed on Yaba, without any emotional, political or other ties to the council. The propriety of this, if true, should bother party leaders.

  • Oyebanji: A festival of endorsement in Ekiti

    Oyebanji: A festival of endorsement in Ekiti

    Since the return of civilian administration in 1999, Ekiti State has produced five governors: Otunba Niyi Adebayo of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Engr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Progressives Congress (APC); and Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the APC.

    None has attracted or received huge adulation for style more than the incumbent. BAO, as the governor is fondly called, has become a brand, a reference point, and a home-boy leader in whom the indigenes and residents are well pleaded.

    Today, the blood of all Ekiti flows in the veins of the Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji government. The over 120 towns and villages are in one accord. Gone are the theatres of war and rumours of violence. There is peace in the ruling party, the government it midwifed, and the state. There is no scandal. There is no controversy. There is no bickering. There is no media confrontation. There is no protracted antagonism. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. Ekiti is not in the news for the wrong reasons.

    Twenty-nine years after its creation, the state is in the safe hands of its youngest founding father, who keeps the vision and hope alive. As Ekiti gazes at 2026, the collective focus is the continuity of good governance under the people-friendly governor who has demystified power and mobilised the people to take ownership of the administration.

    Nearly all the bigwigs in the Fountain of Knowledge state have endorsed him for a second term. They cut across the ruling and opposition parties. It is unprecedented. Greater is the number of townspeople, particularly the voters, who have endorsed him in their hearts without voicing it. In every district, constituency, local government, town, and ward where the endorsements have taken place, there is justification. It is just too easy to point to the imprints of the current administration in every neighbourhood.

    It is a big lesson to his colleagues in some other states, especially those who are distracted by the predecessor-successor crisis they brought upon themselves by their lack of knowledge, experience, foresight, hindsight, and tact.

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    Oyebanji stands tall in character, sincerity, and integrity before the common man who is more interested in the distribution of the dividends of democracy than plunging with the players into the murky waters of politics. Across the sensitive sectors, there are no letdowns in the scorecard.

    There is public trust because the governor is straightforward, loyal to the state, and genuinely concerned about the yearnings for improved welfare. Workers, pensioners, traditional rulers, top politicians, traders, and youths are perceptive that a new foundation for future prosperity is being erected.

    There is inclusion. There is an open-door style of governance. But Oyebanji has also been firm and decisive in decision-making, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programmes dictated by need analysis.

    The humility of his heart and soul is legendary. Never allowing power and the prestige of a transient position to draw the wool across his eyes, BAO is still the pre-2021 BAO – simple, tender, respectful, and wiser. He accords the elders due respect and encourages a system of problem-solving. The picture of a governor prostrating for his elders in public is not showmanship; it is spontaneous, voluntary, and cultural. It is an expression of the internalised beliefs, values, and virtues of an Omoluabi.

    The inclusive policies of his administration have birthed the expansion of the structures of participation and responsibility. The masses’ involvement has engendered commitment and fostered a sense of belonging among the people who are linked by historical factors as “One Zone-State” and not by accident of geography. A sense of involvement is a core and tangible dividend of democracy.

    As an Ekiti man to the core, the governor’s grassroots exposure is a vital asset in boosting communication and cementing the bond with the countryside. Since he is approachable, channels of information and feedback on government policies and programmes are also accessible. Equipped with the Ekiti dialect he enjoys speaking, there is no perceived aloofness and remoteness. Oyebanji does not forget that he needs to check on his old teachers, former barber, cobbler, old mates, a political ward, or those who played the game of draughts on the streets with him that a good habit is not only for the fun of it. Critics may impugn a populist tendency. But the governor, in the process, feels the pulse of the people in his environment and what good governance entails. He practicalises service delivery and he discovers the areas his administration needs to improve upon.

    Yet, BAO, the political scientist, is also adept at diplomacy, which he taught his students of Foreign Policy at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, in the mid-nineties. The nucleus of his administrative style is the application of tact – to the extent that being diplomatic entails a problem-solving skill that enables him to restore order and normalcy in any situation without upsetting the two sides in a dispute.

    The corollary is native intelligence, which has greatly assisted the governor of the complex and politically sophisticated state in tackling challenges through reasoning, understanding, and judgment in a moment of grave anxiety.

    It is also a rare display of wisdom for someone who knows so much to also be so calm and reticent to the extent that observers are logically content that a slice of butter would not melt in his mouth.

    That image of a powerful man who nevertheless cannot hurt a fly has been helpful so far in his politics of penetration and consensus-building. Oyebanji became a unifying factor, with the past governors who never politically saw eye to eye now joining hands to build a protective shield around him.

    He is an APC chieftain, but through his exceptional inter-party relations, Oyebanji, who also has many Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members enjoying appointments in his administration, is also reaping the partisan benefits of political tolerance and accommodation.

    It is gratifying that the multiple endorsements have not diverted his full attention from state duties to praise singing. The governor is focused on the implementation of people-centred developmental policies, programmes and, particularly, infrastructural projects that are evenly distributed across the three artificially delineated senatorial districts. There is balance. There is equality. Also, there is equity.

    There is the element of luck in Oyebanji’s political ascendancy. Being a true Christian, he understands that it is the special grace of God that has ensured his survival on the slippery political field.

    It would be strange, and indeed, counter-productive, if the governor changes this unique style, for whatever reason, with the passage of time. The character should persist so that he can also remain a man of honour.

    Next year, he is expected to break the second-term jinx. The feat would also make him a reference point in Ekiti politics.

  • JAMB: Beyond technical glitches…

    JAMB: Beyond technical glitches…

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is the government agency charged with organizing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across Nigeria.  JAMB as an agency was a military creation by a decree promulgated by the Act (no.2 of 1978). Since then the agency has been in charge of organizing admission exams into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

     Like all human institutions, there have been challenges along the way. Many students and their parents have had stories to tell either of joy or sadness. There have been cases where due to either genuine mistakes or tacky acts of negligence, otherwise brilliant students have either had their results seized for alleged UTME center fraud or errors in the handling of the exam marks.

    However, it is equally notable that there have been recorded excellent performances from some students who have scored very high marks in the well sort after UTME exams. With the appointment of Prof. Ishaq Oloyeded by the Buhari government in 2016, notable changes have taken place around the organization of the UTME exams. It is now more digitized and for some time, the Commission has contributed huge revenues from the form sales to the economy.

    The JAMB registrar seems to have enjoyed something of a heroic adulation by many Nigerians given the improvements with the organization of the exams and the other improved administrative processes that have made it easier for the organization to minimize the series of flaws that have bedeviled the process like exam malpractices and late release of results. These improvements seem to have given Prof. Oloyede somewhat of a heroic acceptance in academic circles.

    Then with the UTME results that were recently released by JAMB, eyebrows are being raised. First there was disbelief amongst some students and their parents with the results. The social media had been awash with some students calling on JAMB to look into their results because given their academic records, they could not align their 2025 UTME results with their previous academic performances.

    Luckily, unlike many institutional failures in the country, JAMB was alerted and a stakeholders’ meeting held and a promised immediate investigation carried out. Over 387,000 candidates in most states in the South East and Lagos were affected. JAMB admitted that a technical error that compromised the integrity of the results in about 157 centers nationwide had occurred. 

    The registrar in a teary and emotional press conference said that the board discovered discrepancies linked to faulty server updates in its Lagos and South East zones which led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination. The national outrage had been massive and there was even a protest match by some parents and candidates at the JAMB office.

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    Sadly, the gravity of the issue was such that a distraught candidate, Faith Opesusi allegedly committed suicide after finding out she allegedly scored 146 points out of 400, a mark that was possibly too low to get her any slot at her choice university. She was one of the 78 percent of students that scored below 200. Some other candidates must be undergoing levels of trauma and depression. They are young and impressionable and are in a society that often measures success by academic achievements

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that now that this tragic issue has happened, beyond retaking the exams, the Nigerian government and its education agencies must recalibrate in order to minimize such grave errors  that have earlier come in small forms and left unattended leading to this tragic loss of life. The education of our children must be prioritized in ways that there is better eaze of gaining admission and studying the chosen courses by succesful students. This is because most dreams of candidates begin to die from their being disenfranchised from UTME exams to admission nepotism into chosen universities. In a country with little or no statistics or research findings on the effects of admission challenges into Nigerian tertiary institutions, candidates feeling suicidal or depressed must be avoided for a growing economy like Nigeria.

    We spoke to Prof. Anthony Kila, a renowned educationist, a Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development and a political economist and the Centre Director, Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS). He is a veteran lecturer and public affairs analyst. He believes that the nation must learn from this very sad incident even if we all agree that humans cannot be seen as infallible. Errors will occur in human institutions but there must be efforts to avoid the avoidable ones.

    To Prof. Kila, there could not have been a deliberate attempt to sabotage the efforts of the candidates by the management of JAMB. What we must do is to try to improve systemic efficiency first by making sure that competence and diligence cannot be compromised in staff recruitment either in JAMB or any other institution. There must be a staff audit to determine competences that can drive human excellence  for both staff and contractors.  There must be efforts to make sure that the academic sector must, like Ceasar’s wife, be beyond reproach.

    A system must be in place for remedies that can assuage the anger and disappointment that comes with human and technical errors and they  must be swift, fast and reliable.  Again Nigerians must build institutions that can stand irrespective of who is at the helm.  The system must be such that each human in the system optimally functions. JAMB and other academic examination bodies must begin to institute measures that make the system accountable, flexible and credible. In the academia, there must be no room for errors let alone grave ones like the one that impact young impressionable candidates that often believe that getting academic achievements validate their existence.

    As regards the candidate that committed suicide,  Prof. believes that we must readjust our social values where there is an assumption that failure at any instance means the end of the world. He believes that parents and teachers must let young people understand that failure and success are two sides of the same coin of life. Failing is not an end and succeeding at the level of progressive exams like UTME does not crown anyone with life successes.

    There must be a reorientation of students to let people who had failed entrance exams like UTME several times but still succeeded in their dreams as professionals in different fields of life. Very often, there is a illusion that succeeding in getting admission at the first sitting is the magic wand for life success.

    There must be a more convenient way to come over such human errors and still maintain trust in institutions and calm down candidates and their families. The skepticism in the system can be assuaged if there is a set way that errors can be corrected with minimal discomfort. There could be an imediate remarking of scripts or a way that the exams can be re-taken. Good that JAMB is planning this.

    He also believes that we must let young people understand that admission criteria does not always end with high scores. Scoring high marks is good but in a competitive admission environment, high scores might be relative. A candidate might score 300 for a course that the admission cut-off mark is possibly higher. 

    The Roundtable Conversation observed that it was a very teary-eyed Prof. Oloyede that accepted full responsibility as the registrar of JAMB. How does his fellow Prof. analyze that in a society where crying is not seen as a ‘manly’ behavior? He believes that shedding tears is a human expression of emotions either for joy or sadness. In this instance, it is obvious that the registrar recognized the gravity of the errors that put a question mark on his integrity given the charismatic image he has enjoyed for his efforts at re-organizing JAMB to be more functional.

    However, while his acceptance of responsibility seems exciting in an environment where the social impact of not taking responsibility for systemic errors abound, his reactions are commendable  but he must go beyond that. There must be a thorough investigation of the incident that led to such technical glitches with so much impact that a life was sadly lost. There must be a forensic audit to establish whether  the issue was out of human negligence or an unavoidable technical problem. That is the only way to forestall future incidents.

    The Roundtable Conversation totally agrees with Prof. Kila. If we agree that education is the bedrock of any society, then we must be more deliberate in handling academic processes. This incident is not new, the scale might be massive but it is not a one-off one. Possibly the role of social media in highlighting the issue through first person narratives helped.  The academic future of our children must be of international best practices if we must catch up with development.

    Beyond re-taking the exams which by the way might be neither here no there because of trust deficiencies in the system by affected candidates, some might be too disoriented to do as well as they might have done in the initial exam. The affected candidates might need therapy to address the trauma the issue might have caused them.  There must be a thorough investigation and the culprits identified and if there are punishments stipulated in the law, that the law takes its cause. The acceptance of responsibility and the tears of the registrar might not just be enough.

    The academic world runs on high levels of credibility, diligence and integrity. The young who are the future and the victims of the system must be reassured if they see that the people who caused their traumatic experience if culpable face the law. That way, they too would grow understanding that actions or inactions have consequences. Is there room for justice with JAMB in this instance?

    • The dialogue continues…
  • Fielding adults as kids

    Fielding adults as kids

    Suddenly, it has dawned on those who make the decisions concerning our football to drop the serial coach of the country’s U-20 side, the Flying Eagles, for another tactician who has qualified the team for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. This hitherto unsung coach in qualifying for the World Cup beat the defending champions of the Africa leg of the competition, Senegal, on penalty kicks 3-1 after a barren 120 minutes draw. A breath of fresh air, many people have said. But the reason one has refused to join the bandwagon of celebrating fans is the thought of the players’ true ages. This has been the albatross of the beautiful game in Nigeria.

    Yes, I’m not the players’ parent or guardian to authenticate their ages, but it would help the country’s football in leaps and bounds if we make it our mantra to always parade players with the correct ages – in this case, secondary schools and those being nurtured by credible football academies. It would be foolhardy if any of these players’ age verification documents were sworn affidavits, otherwise known as “Oluwole” in sports circles here.

    Any player who produces sworn affidavits as his age certificate should be screened out of the team. Any child born in the last 25 years in Nigeria ought to have an authentic birth certificate,  or those screening the players should insist on the birth certificate. Perhaps, track the players’ ages from their educational background. With a population of over 200 million people living in the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, it is only fair to state here that one of the reasons our football is in a coma rests largely with the dearth of nurseries here. For Nigeria to reinvent its dominance of the beautiful game globally, our football chieftains must eschew the must-win approach to competitions by not encouraging or casting an indulgent eye on our coaches who cheat by picking over-aged players in their squads. This has been the death knell of the beautiful game here.

    Nigeria shouldn’t win all the competitions she enrols for, though that is usually the essence of participating. But at the age grade tournaments, whose priority is to discover, nurture and expose budding talents in the country, it is important to deemphasise victories but embrace the big picture of releasing young and trainable boys and girls for the game’s good.

    It is disturbing to note that despite all the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria has won. The Atlanta’96 Olympic Games gold medal in the soccer event, we haven’t been able to qualify for the quarter finals of the senior World Cup, which was what Senegal achieved in her debut outing at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup which Brazil lifted.

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    What am I saying? What made Principal Cup tick back in the years were those school boys who played for our domestic league clubs in the country. They brought the rivalry and stiff competition for first team shirts in these clubs to the Principal Cup which made it very exciting for fans who aligned with the schools-based on their club preferences. That is, if their Alma Mater wasn’t among the competing teams. Such school boys as Henry Nwosu, Haruna Ilerika, Tarila Okoronwanta, late Stephen Keshi, Sam Okpodu, Clement Temile, Davidson Owumi, Edema Fuludu, Friday ‘Elastic’ Elahor, Daniel Amokachi, Yakubu Ayegbeni, Sunday Edema Benson, the late Wilfred Agbonibvare, Ikponwosa Omoregie, Baldwin Bazuaye, Humphrey Edobor, etc.

    What this striking relationship with the schools brought to the fore was connections among the fans. I wept literarily watching the absolutely poor display of the Flying Eagles against their South African counterparts. The docile atmosphere around the place where I sat to watch the game explained the disconnect between the team and Nigerians, as many people didn’t know their sports stars. A few of the fans were miffed about the calibre of players Nigeria fielded, with many of them vowing that this squad wouldn’t beat boys of their age in many parts of Lagos and its environs. Indeed, the South Africans were not good. But the Flying Eagles were hopeless with what they displayed throughout the game on Thursday.

    Nigeria can produce 200 different sets of U-20 players across the nation, but their innate skills need to be harnessed properly by knowledgeable coaches with the pedigree of grooming boys at that level to trophies. This idea of rotating coaches within the country by way of balancing the quota system is ruinous. This is the difference between our national teams at all levels and genders and those nations that keep on winning soccer competitions.

    It isn’t too late to draft a competent technical crew for the Flying Eagles, irrespective of the sentiments of allowing the coach who qualified the squad members to enjoy the fruits of their labour to play at the FIFA U-20 competition. Ordinarily, the U-20 boys should be drawn from recognised soccer academies who are products of the NFF’s youth football ecosystem,, not what we have now. Bad coaching makes good and talented players look ordinary.

    Being a good player for the domestic teams and/or playing the game at the highest levels in Europe doesn’t translate to being a coach. You must have enviable coaching credentials and track records of producing teams that play fluid, exciting soccer with boys who score goals with aplomb. Not former games masters. Time was when YSFON served as the template for discovering, nurturing and exposing youth players to the world through different age groups around the country. In fact, YSFON’s exposed kids through such tournaments as the Gothia Cup of yore formed the bulk of those Golden Eaglets players, or should I call them kids who won the FIFA U-16 World Championship trophy in 1985 in China. Nigeria won the inaugural FIFA U-16 World Championship, held in China, in 1985. They defeated West Germany 2-0 in the final with Victor Igbinoba scoring a spectacular long-range shot.

    Academies, which are nurseries for warehousing the game, have been standardised to protect the sector and backed by law for effectiveness. It is at this level that countries’ playing patterns evolve depending on what the coaches feel could bring the best from their nationals.  Standards are set for owning such academies, including their curriculum, to shut out quackery. These academies are registered by the country’s FA with the right synergy struck, where players’ movement in and out of the country is documented.

    The serious-minded soccer nations expose players from academies who also have the template to monitor those who did well and have juicy packages in big clubs in Europe, the Americas and the Diaspora. These academies ensure that the players’ career paths are cut to fit their ambitions. Those of them eager to combine playing soccer with going to school are enrolled to be educated. They also have drawn up training schedules to suit their schools’ curriculum, knowing the importance of education when their career as soccer players are over. Nothing happens in such countries by accident.

    The beauty of this system is that it also provides a platform for coaches to be trained and retrained on how to handle kids until adulthood. In fact, many of these coaches end up specialising in training young ones. They won’t be persuaded to handle clubs since they enjoy doing the job. It is, therefore, easy for these countries to name age-grade teams’ coaches, not by guesswork or sentiments but by their achievements in the local competitions in such countries. This academy system ensures that players’ data is accurate. They are stored and used in subsequent editions as the players grow.

  • Celebrating eminent journalist, Dare Babarinsa, at 70

    Celebrating eminent journalist, Dare Babarinsa, at 70

    On May 9, one of the most accomplished exemplars of journalistic practice in post-independence Nigeria, Mr Oluwadare Babarinsa, attained the significant milestone of marking seven eventful decades this side of eternity. It can be said with no equivocation of Mr Babarinsa that journalism is his life. The graduate of the University of Lagos has not looked back since putting his hands on the plough of journalism at the commencement of his career over four decades ago. Of his education, Babarinsa said, “I went to Anglican Grammar School, Ile-Ife, from 1969 to 1973. After that, I was a teacher briefly at Ire-Ekiti and Ikole-Ekiti before I gained admission to the University of Ife in 1976. I was there for two years before crossing over to the University of Lagos to study Mass Communication. Since 1981, after my graduation, and after I finished my NYSC on July 15, 1982, I have been into journalism”.

    From editing the Corps Torch, a magazine of the NYSC during his youth service, he was employed by Drum magazine, from where he joined the Concord Group of Newspapers in November 1982. A master wordsmith and meticulous craftsman, he joined the then trail-blazing Newswatch as a staff reporter in 1984 and rose to become Associate Editor of the magazine. Of his Newswatch years, he recalls in an interview that “It was a great experience working with Newswatch. You cannot get a better environment to practice journalism. Journalists were in charge; we were not beholden to any moneybags”. He was one of those writers whose delectable and arresting prose, along with icons such as Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed, made Newswatch a weekly must-read for undergraduates like me.

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    As Executive Editor of the TELL Magazine, of which he was a co-founder, Babarinsa continued his service to Nigeria and humanity through the medium of journalism. Not given to self-promotion, he courageously but quietly contributed his quota to the struggle against military dictatorship in Nigeria through his fearless articles at the Newswatch and TELL magazines. An author, his book, ‘House of War’, captures vividly in gripping prose the struggle for power in Nigeria’s Second Republic with particular focus on the intra-party conflicts within Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). His publishing company, GaskiaMedia, published Chief Bisi Akande’s epochal autobiography, ‘My Participations.’

    As an unapologetic and proud Yoruba patriot who embodies the best of the ‘Omuluabi’ ethos, Mr Babarinsa’s response to a question on why his company is named GaskiaMedia is insightful and interesting. His words, “Yes, Gaskia is a Hausa word. Gaskia has a very high-level universal aspiration; it means truth. It is not a Fulani word; it is one of the best-used words in Africa, and therefore, it carries a deep philosophical meaning. It means, it also means the truth”. To a deeply reflective and broad-minded journalist and a great human being, we say ‘a happy, blessed and fulfilled birthday sir.’

  • The Nigeria First procurement policy

    The Nigeria First procurement policy

    Last week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu mandated the “Renewed Hope Nigeria First” policy on all federal government procurements. I commend Mr. President for reactivating this policy vide an Executive Order, which will certainly add value to the economic reforms by President Tinubu. The policy will certainly catalyze the return of Nigeria’s manufacturing value chain, which is critical to our productive sector as the only way to economic prosperity.

     However, it is worth noting that the “Nigeria First” procurement policy was enacted by the previous administrations, but the policy implementation failed. It is therefore important that the government takes note of the pitfalls so as to ensure its success during this administration. The pitfalls include lack of political will, lack of a properly crafted strategy to ensure that the strategic objective is achieved. Another reason why is the previous attempts have failed is also due to lack of proper national development plan to ensure that the productive sector is reactivated having been comatose for decades, to be able to provide those required materials that will ensure that we buy only Nigerian products.

    Most of the time, policies must be ingrained within the polity before they can be successfully implemented and impactful. That is the crucial pillar that will ensure that the “Nigeria First” policy works. In 1933, the United States of America, under the leadership of President Franklin Roosevelt, implemented the “Buy American” policy. To ensure the success of the policy, there was a robust strategy to also ensure that local production was boosted to ensure that the policy was sustainable. Therefore, I expect the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) who has been mandated to look at the entire federal government procurement list and come up with a proper plan for restrictions to also ensure that we are working pari passu with enabling the critical infrastructure that will drive our productive sector and to also ensure that the federal government is looking policy side by side with Nigeria’s multilateral trade policy and agreements with our allies so that we don’t also shoot ourselves in the field around the risk of losing strategic advantage and other issues.

     Another key point to note is that part of the strategy to ensure the success of this policy is that we should just let the principles of the reality of demand and supply drive our internal supply standards. By the supply side, I mean “quality”. Over time, we all know that some of the key factors that determine demand availability, cost and quality. In the case of the “Nigeria First” policy, I am particular about cost and quality. Because cost and quality are also products of the economic vicious cycle of the cost of production. Inflation is driving the cost of almost everything higher as it is today. So how government is able to enable production, like I stated earlier, in a way and manner that it scales down the cost of products and services while ensuring that various agencies of government like the SON, NAFDAG, etc ensure that the quality and the standards are maintained, so that consumers will be happy to continue patronizing locally made products.

     We should also note that there are some products that may not be within the restriction bracket, but the fact that we have them locally made qualitatively and with good competitive pricing will naturally push consumers to the locally made ones rather than the foreign goods and services. Thus, it is very important that while this policy is implemented, the strategic pillars are put in place to ensure success and sustainability, i.e., ensure the productive sector is active, ensure the standards, and ensure that we scale down all the economic variables that are high. Of course, with President Trump’s global tariff war, the “Nigeria First” policy is also good because all countries are looking inwards to see how they can be creative to retain foreign exchange and to also guarantee that we boost exports in the long term.

     The strategic and economic objectives of the “Nigeria First” can only be achieved if we have a strategy for it. Otherwise, it will fail. What do I mean by that? In the short term, the big players in the local industry, like the Dangote Refinery, BUA, Cement, Innocent Motors, etc., will likely be the ones that will be able to make the impact. But suffice it to say that some of the industries are facing challenges of capacity, for example, Innoson Motors and others who still require some materials for them to keep up with the demand, because there’s high demand already. We should recall that even for the administration of President Tinubu, there was an attempt by the federal government and some state governments to procure vehicles from Innoson, but the order level was so high that Innoson could not keep up with the rate of orders. 

     Accordingly, increasing the capacity of the productive sector remains a critical success factor on the top line. Another critical success factor is the medium-scale and the small-scale industry in the productive sector, because those subsectors have a high impact in terms of production and supply of products and services. Furthermore, the agriculture value chain is also a critical success factor. For instance, there are about 30 million pupils and students who attend primary, secondary, and tertiary schools in Nigeria. At the beginning of every new session of classes, most of them make new uniforms. What makes uniform is the Cotton. Hence, we can note the intersectoral links across value chains in Nigeria. That is why we have a need for a strategy, not silo-driven policies that may be impactful and/ or sustainable, as we have seen over time due to the gaps across the value chains. Otherwise, the policy could fail within the next two years.

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     Available and sustainable electricity/ energy remains a pillar for the success of our economy, or any policy that supports it, for that matter. If the government does not address the power deficit in Nigeria, this policy and all other economic recovery and development strategies and policies will not succeed. Without available, scalable, and sustainable electricity, Nigeria will not make any progress as a nation. Therefore, due to the power deficit in Nigeria, the federal government should be creative in providing “bridges to compensate for any shortfall in the policy implementation, pending when Nigeria achieves optimal availability of electricity. For instance, within the framework of a bilateral/ multilateral framework/agreement with other countries, Nigeria will not take complete products, but 50% will be made within the country. Maybe Nigeria will import what are called “Completely Knocked-Down” (CKD) items. Then we assemble that items in Nigeria. That will reduce the cost of production.

     Moreover, it is very important that part of the policy are timelines to measure performance and impacts and conduct economic and social impact assessment to ensure that, the policy is working in terms of driving government expenditure down, in terms of adding value to the economy, and also in terms of building capacity, and when and if necessary, rejig the policy to ensure sustainability. That is the only way to succeed.

    Another very important point is the political will to sustain the policy. Because the rhetorical question has failed before. Let us recall that during President Jonathan or President Buhari, when they banned the importation of furniture, for example. Public officials were still importing furniture for official use. Senators and other public officeholders were still bypassing this policy. And if that continues to happen in this particular instance, then the objective will be defeated. As we have seen many times, it is political will that will ensure the success of such very important policies. Quintessential leadership from the top to ensure that not just the procurement of the items, but the process itself ensures that no public official, no matter how highly placed, could bypass or violate the policy. Unless you measure the impacts time to time, and I like the point when you talk about timeline, not just timeline of execution but timeline of measuring impacts and measuring performance is the only way that you will ensure sustainability along the lines of those crucial you know pillars of success otherwise in the next one year we are going into elections that will not be the focus and before you know it will also go the same way the previous executive orders went all right thank you gentlemen.