The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

Olunloyo: Rich man, Poor Man

Omololu Olunloyo’s passing throws up the consequences of politics for family, a subject many don’t address.

Recently, his daughter Kemi announced she has renounced the family.

But it is not a joking matter. She told the story of how about 25 touts defiled her at 13 and wounded her brother when they were on a journey.

Her father’s political enemies were after a pound of flesh. Many should not underestimate the extent of that trauma, and there is no way it might not have damaged something in her for the rest of her life and brother’s.

Recently, Femi Fani-Kayode gave a graphic account of how as a boy the army stormed their home at night and bullied his father with their arms and uniforms and voices.

Read Also: Tompolo predicts Fubara’s return as Rivers gov, calls for peace in Niger Delta

It was during the 1966 coup. The children watched, and no one can underestimate how such an experience in such an age can turn a person upside down.

Olunloyo might also have been ravaged by that experience of his children. Yet, he kept an ebullient persona throughout his life.

I recall in the 1980’s at the Concord Press when he paid a visit.

Mike Awoyinfa, Dele Momodu, Ohi Alegbe and Femi Ojudu and myself engaged him for over an hour. We were all on our feet at the car park, and we discussed everything from the anomaly of army rule, to the dearth of intellectualism in Nigeria and the meltdown of the Soviet Union.

It was a feast on our feet.

He invited me to view his Ibadan library.

I never obliged.

The following Saturday, Awoyinfa captured the ferment in his column and titled it, Rich man, Poor Man.

April 14, 2025
It’s about power

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori put his finger on the power of investment in the investment in power. This, I think, should be the model for governors who are trying to take advantage of the opening up of many watts to states to ease the federal burden. In signing a slew of bills into law, especially the Delta State Electricity Power Sector law 2024, Governor Oborevwori said it would “unlock a plethora of investment opportunities in the power generation, transmission and distribution…” it’s a trinity bomb.

Read Also: Reps name 19-member committee to oversee emergency rule in Rivers state

If each state sees power as not just light in a darkness, it will help turn states that see it in terms of dollar investments. It is a huge industry. For a state like Delta with more metropolitan areas than any other in the federation, it is a boon door for its citizens and the country. A city like Warri that is gradually waking up under him from its long slumber, it is power to the city!

April 14, 2025
Justice or interest of the stronger?

There appears a re-awakened zeal by leaders in Africa to grill some of the universal concepts that guide economic, social and political action. Observed weaknesses of these concepts, especially their inability to approximate their real essence are some of the issues that reinforce the desirability for such inquisition.

Of late, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had cause to interrogate western liberal democracy and returned a verdict that it does not suit African needs. Curiously also, the military president of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore joined the fray last week, with the claim that no country has developed under democracy.

“It is impossible to name a country that has developed in democracy. Democracy is only the result” he said. Traore may have been moved to this conclusion by the recurring political instability and deficiencies in the deliverability of that governance framework.

But even as the suitability of western liberal democracy to the African cause remains a moot issue, justice is another concept whose real meaning and application will continue to confound observers especially in the manner it finds practical expression in Nigeria.

It does seem ours is a vague notion of justice that means different things in different situations. The inability to discern universalism or some form of regularity in the application and enforcement of justice in the country has continued to raise questions regarding its real meaning and essence.

This is not entirely new as it preoccupied the attention of early philosophers, dividing them along the line. Socrates saw justice as the equitable and fair treatment of others. “Justice is a virtue that must be cultivated in order to lead a fulfilling life and injustice is a fault that leads to misery and failure”, he said.

But Thrasymachus argued in Plato’s Republic that justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger- justice is simply what the rulers or those in power deem to be in their own interest. The other strand of his argument was that justice is not an inherent good or a natural principle but rather a tool used by the strong to maintain their dominance and ensure their own interests are served.

Read Also: Nothing new in FBI report on Tinubu, says Onanuga

Karl Marx provided yet a third perspective to the definitional and philosophical issues embodied in the concept of justice when he categorised it as tied to the mode of production and the historical stage of the society. The main thesis of his presentation is that the current capitalist system’s legal and political structures are designed to maintain the status quo and benefit the ruling class rather promoting genuine justice.

Socrates’ notion of justice as the equitable and fair treatment of persons aligns with our general understanding of the concept. But the perceived inability of justice to guarantee fairness and equity to all was the driving force for the positions shared by Thrasymachus and Karl Marx. And they seem to find ample support in the serial double standards in the application of justice in societies especially the developing ones.

These were the feelings evoked when former senator, Adamu Bulkachuwa confessed before his colleagues at the 9th Senate of influencing the decisions of his wife Zainab while she served as a judge and President of the Court of Appeal.

He had in a valedictory speech at the 9th Senate, spoken of his “wife whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues”. Despite attempts by the senate president to stop him from spilling the bean, he refused to bulge.

The same feelings thrown up by the revelations of Bulkachuwa are behind the euphemism “Go to court”. Go to court has become the popular response of politicians accused of brazen electoral malpractices. Yes, our laws provide ample avenue for those dissatisfied with the outcome of elections to seek legal remedy. That is not what those who readily ask complainants of obvious electoral fraud to go to court imply. It is deployed in a pejorative sense.

Where this leaves the judiciary and justice is anybody’s guess. But it highlights the curious electoral judgments that sometimes emanate from our courts, including the Supreme Court. A contestant that came fourth in a governorship election was declared overall winner by the apex court in circumstances that have remained confounding.

It is not for nothing that the prompt handling by the federal government of the brutal killing of 16 northerner travellers in Uromi, Edo State, resonated feelings of inequitable and unfair treatment of past victims of such lawless acts across the country. Yes, the federal authorities and the police did the right thing by promptly responding and arresting some suspects for interrogation.

The heavy deployment of security agencies to restore order and avert further relapse, are part of the responses demanded by the situation. But the attention given to the Uromi incident appears a marked departure from the responses of the authorities to similar bloodletting across the country in the past.

Just before the dust raised by the Uromi incident was about to settle, more than 50 innocent citizens were murdered by a band of terrorists in some communities of Plateau State. Plateau and many states in the north-central have been home to frequent attacks and despoliation of their communities by a band of terrorists suspected to be Fulani herdsman. Though the federal government is giving similar attention to the Plateau case, such responses were at best tepid, in past incidents.

Governor, Caleb Muftwang captured the double standard in handling such killings when he said last week that the attacks have been going on for 10 years without gathering national attention. Hear him: “If these attacks have been going on for close to 10 years, it tells you there is a deliberate, conscious attempt to clean up the population”.

Muftwang must have also shocked the nation when he revealed that more than 64 communities in the state have been taken over by the bandits and renamed after sacking the original owners.

The north-central is not alone in this unfortunate fate. Similar acts of terrorism have also seen many innocent citizens in the southern parts of the country sent to their early graves. Curiously, the criminals are rarely arrested and prosecuted. They simply disappear into the thin air with the government seemingly helpless.

Even then, Global Terrorism Watch had since 2014 named Fulani herdsmen, the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world. Despite this rating, the authorities are yet to call that group by its rightful name. Little wonder they have been operating with an air of near invincibility leaving in their trail blood, sorrow and awe.

When the federal government responded to the Uromi incident in the manner it did in the face of the uproar and threats from sections of the north for reprisals, our commitment to justice for all was bound to face serious inquisition. That is not to diminish the efforts put in by the government to discourage and punish resort to lawlessness in the Uromi incident. No!

Rather, it is a demand for commensurate response to the serial attacks, killings and despoliation of communities by rampaging herdsmen across the country. Where were those threatening reprisals and fanning embers of discord when communities in Benue State were serially attacked with innocent people massacred and displaced? Why did the northern ‘crusaders for justice’ not find their voices during the massacre at Uzo-Uwani in Enugu and similar atrocities committed by the herdsmen? Or is it a verity of George Orwell’s Animal Farm where all animals are equal but some are more equal than others?

Ironically, there has emerged the phenomenon of gun-wielding ‘hunters’ from the north going to the south on hunting expedition. Curiously, the government sees nothing wrong with it in the face of kidnappings and sundry acts of terrorism by those taking advantage of the forests to kill and maim their victims.

Yet, we want to stem the tide of insecurity in the south linked to the masquerades hiding in the forests? If gun-wielding hunters from the south cannot similarly invade forests in the north without clearance from the local authorities, something must be wrong with the manner of hunters that invade southern forests in the face of subsisting insecurity.

These are issues of double standards that challenge our notion of equity, fairness and justice. They interrogate the actions and responses of the government and influence the swing of opinion between our conventional notion of justice and its characterisation by Thrasymachus and Karl Marx.

April 14, 2025
LP, NLC: made for crises

After the Supreme Court virtually washed its hands off intraparty crises, particularly leadership and nomination struggles, the Labour Party (LP) and its parent body, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have renewed their bitter and acrimonious contest for the soul and body of a party which has served as a special multipurpose vehicle for many political candidates and office seekers. The summary of the judgement is that the courts have no jurisdiction to determine who leads a political party. It is an extreme judgement not backed by logic or the spirit of the law; but as at today, it has become the regnant wisdom in political organisations. Before the judgement, the LP was embroiled in a two-way contest for its soul. After the judgement, the contest has become a hydra-headed and bitter and ferocious three-way battle between the factional LP leadership led by Lamidi Apapa, which was earlier elbowed out by NLC toughs, the intransigent current leadership led by Julius Abure, and the usurper leadership led by caretaker Nenadi Usman, a former Finance minister conjured out of nowhere by NLC leaders to head the party.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court judgement of two weeks ago that set aside the recognition of the Abure-led leadership of the LP by the Court of Appeal on the basis of lack of jurisdiction, there have been two interpretations of the judgement since it failed to clarify which leadership is recognised. The NLC claims the judgement automatically recognises the Mrs Usman-led caretaker leadership of the party. This was pure inference. The court made no such declarations. The second interpretation suggests that since the court offers no categorical recognition, the status quo remains until another convention is held sometime in 2026, implying that Mr Abure remains party chairman. But there is yet another tangential interpretation by the Mr Apapa-led, but almost inexistent, LP faction. He claims that since the court implied that the status quo should remain, and since the only known status quo he knows is his own leadership, then it is okay to lay claim to the party leadership. He is being theoretical.

Clearly the three factions will have to fight it out one way or the other. In March 2024, the NLC bullied its way into the party headquarters, ransacking the secretariat and defying the law and resorting to self-help. But in the end, the labour union neither secured the backing of the law nor got the recognition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Stuck in the middle of nowhere, the NLC gradually crawled back into its lair and waited for court arbitration. That search for arbitration led the combatants to the Supreme Court which paradoxically returned the contenders to square one. Determining what square one is in the LP has become the most confounding puzzle. Mr Apapa’s claim is of course opportunistic. He insists that as the most senior Deputy National Chairman of the party, he was assuming leadership consequent upon the court judgement, and would summon the National Working Committee meeting of the party for Monday, preparatory to planning a convention.

Read Also: LP battle shifts to Anambra

Mr Abure, on the other hand, continues to hold on to the party’s leadership position while threatening to impose stiff sanctions on anyone attempting to undermine the party. He specifically lambasted former LP presidential candidate Peter Obi and Abia State governor Alex Otti for flouting party rules and regulations, thus undermining the peace, unity and integrity of the party. Mr Abure and some members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) affirmed their control of the party organs also based on their interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. But confident that it had the upper hand by virtue of the same court judgement, the Mrs Usman-led caretaker committee summoned the party’s factional NEC to a meeting at the Transcorp Hilton, thereby avoiding the ugly scenario of having to physically battle for the keys of the party’s headquarters. Nothing of substance was discussed at the meeting regarding the leadership and unity of the party.

With the case now out of the courts, it is going to be a test of wills between the three factions of the party. The propaganda war has already begun. Combatants are testing the waters by holding meetings, making declarations, and watching how the pendulum swings. The situation is not helped by the bullying tactics of the NLC which conflates unionism with political partisanship. NLC chairman Joe Ajaero worsens the problem by his impetuousness and cantankerousness. More damningly, there is no one of diplomatic stature in the party, not Mr Obi, not Dr Otti, not Olumide Akpata, not anyone as a matter of fact with the leverage and negotiating skills to bring all contending parties to the table to hammer out a deal. Everyone is busy threatening everyone. While Alhaji Apapa is scavenging for political carrion on the sidelines, and Mr Abure faces existential battle and is spitting fire and venom against usurpers, Mrs Usman is attempting to build something on nothing in alliance with the tactless Mr Obi and the guileless Dr Otti. The LP will for the foreseeable future be locked in a stalemate until someone in the party wakes up to wisdom. But finding that one wise man in that ill-fated party is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

April 13, 2025
The perfunctory protests

Last week, the country woke up to hear that some agitators will be holding a ‘Take back the country’ protests in many cities. Led by Omoyele Sowore, a politician and media proprietor, the action, which hinted at some display of violence sometime in the future, perhaps August, was to get the government to end the Rivers state of emergency, annul the Cybercrime Act, and stop the demolition of properties at Oworonsoki in Lagos. Disappointed that the protests were uneventful, the organisers promised that when they reconvene in August, they would ‘shake Nigeria and the world’.

They needn’t bother. The world is uninterested in Nigeria, concerned as they are with bigger fishes in US president Donald Trump and his tariff wars as well as the Gaza nightmare. If the world is to pay attention to Nigeria, it would be if the country became another Somalia or Sudan, which is probably what the protesters long for. What took place last Monday was protest for protest sake, an action probably fuelled by donors. Why should the country be bothered about Oworonsoki demolitions, and what is it about the Cybercrime Act that appears repugnant to law and order? And for Rivers State, where the executive and legislature were locked in a mortal battle for survival in the midst of spiraling pipeline vandlalisation, what alternatives did the protesters proffer?

Read Also: INEC ward delineation: Protests escalate as Itsekiri shut down oil facility in Delta

Youth angst in Nigeria is real. But so it is in the rest of the world. As events in Asia, America, and Europe are showing, if Nigerian youths and the political opposition continue to see national events and crises from the cracked prism of rigid political dualism, rather than agitate for inclusion and political conciliation, the country, already threatened by massive insecurity, will explode. If that happens, it is the youths that will be consumed, and the world will not give a damn. Instead of threatening to shake the world, protesters should shake their common sense to see how national crises can be safely combated or mediated.

April 13, 2025
If Tinubu had caved in (2)

From his birthday remarks, President Bola Tinubu disclosed he was close to quitting the 2023 presidential race. But he didn’t quit, and for reasons he has not fully explained. One day he will. The first part of this piece examined the spiritual dimension of the president talking and speaking his way to victory in a race that was loaded against him in every area and ramification. In retrospect, and despite the divisive and hypothetical postulations of his leading opponents in the race, Nigeria is fortunate that the president stayed in the race, won, and assumed office. Scores of former leaders and leading politicians desperately worked to get the victory annulled or the swearing-in abandoned, but former president Muhammadu Buhari and eventually the country stayed the course.

Two major factors indicate how fortunate the country is that President Tinubu held out and eventually won. It does not matter whether he was hated before the poll or is still hated after, nor whether some analysts rate his economic and political measures and interventions high or low and disastrous. What matters is whether his two main opponents in that race would have added value to Nigeria on the scale and existential issues President Tinubu’s election has done. Secondly, it also matters that he is idiosyncratically suited to taking the huge and seismic measures needed to reposition the economy, which measures his predecessors had scorned. Consider, for instance, what the election of former vice president Atiku Abubakar or former Anambra governor Peter Obi would have meant for Nigeria had President Tinubu abandoned the race. No matter how the 2023 race is analysed, Alhaji Atiku would have won if President Tinubu did not run. He had better network than Mr Obi, had selected a Christian running mate, thus rendering the same-faith factor nugatory, and was far more experienced than his theorising opponent. Mr Obi would have stood no chance.

But much more than that, what would have made President Tinubu’s exit from the race impactful for Nigeria is what an Atiku presidency would mean for the country. He tried to galvanise northern support by appealing to ethnic sentiment, a factor he has not quite abandoned in his persistent desire to re-enter the race in 2027. Had he run and won, he would have succeeded another Fulani man who presided over Nigeria for eight years with devastating consequences for the Middle Belt and the South. His presidency, whether Nigerians like it or not, would have reinforced not only the myth of Fulani leadership over Nigeria, but also the myth of the indispensability of the endorsement of a few oligarchs. President Tinubu shattered those myths, in addition to consigning the religious balance requirement to the dustbin. Worse, an Atiku presidency, which would probably have run for another eight years, would have destroyed the confidence and psyche of other aspiring political leaders from the South and made them and other minority groups obsequious and defeated.

As it stands, any aspirant who understudies how the late MKO Abiola and President Tinubu crunched the political numbers and ran their races, and that aspirant perhaps does even better than the two eminent politicians, would stand a good chance of winning. Had Atiku run and won, it would have taken an epiphany sometime in the far future to appreciate that as a matter of fact, no northern or southern politician could win office without receiving substantial support from other regions. President Buhari tried it three times and failed because his campaign was insular and based on the unfounded myth of overwhelming northern electoral numbers. President Buhari had that regional dominance but still failed, until he reached out and expanded his horizon. Had President Tinubu exited the race and Alhaji Atiku won, that salient and all-important geopolitical dynamics would have been lost in the tumult of the race. Now, it is abundantly clear that President Tinubu, like him or hate him, understood how to win the presidential race, a lesson particularly useful for future southern aspirants, and humbling for future northern aspirants who can’t draw the right examples.

In 2027, Alhaji Atiku will still not stand a chance, assuming he becomes a standard-bearer, and not even if he promised the Mandela option of a single term. His politics are too jaded, and his worldview unfortunately too parochial. Likewise, Mr Obi stood no chance in 2023 and will stand no chance in 2027, despite his risible politics of trying to be all things to every region and every person. His politics was fatally damaged in the last presidential race when he framed the election as a religious war. The electorate will confront him with his fervour if he joins forces with Alhaji Atiku.

Read Also: Okpebholo, Edo PDP clash over Tinubu’s re-election campaign kick-off

There is yet a second calamity Nigeria was spared by the participation and victory of President Tinubu in the last poll. The pains that accompany his economic measures may prevent many Nigerians from valuing his boldness, while his appointments may incidentally stoke ethnic apprehensions and anger proponents of ethnic exceptionalism, but there is no denying the fact that his controversial measures have completely rejigged the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy and positioned it for extraordinary growth in the years ahead. The measures have started to yield dividends, particularly in terms of opening up the economy and reclaiming lost grounds, but the accompanying early pains had made some Nigerians to be dismissive about his person and policies. Yet, neither Alhaji Atiku nor Mr Obi, who both unreflectingly confessed that they would not have embraced such measures, would dare reverse the policies should they win in 2027. Of course they won’t run, let alone win, but it bears restating that the tectonic shifts the Nigerian economy is witnessing today, and enduring stoically, would never have occurred had President Tinubu abandoned the race as he hinted.

Today, and going forward, Nigerians may be acculturating to the fact that anyone one with enough savvy and grit can run for the presidency. President Tinubu, much more than Chief Abiola, shattered so many myths and made that realisation possible. His staying in the race and winning it also shattered the myth that a president must be a captive or stooge of shadowy principalities both to run for office and revert to them for support over difficult and controversial policies, especially economic policies. President Tinubu is turning the economy inside out in a way neither Alhaji Atiku nor Mr Obi could have dared. Thank God for that. This does not of course mean that all his policies are infallible or that the president himself has become a mythical figure. It is, however, important to note that his presidency has greatly affected Nigerian politics in ways no one else could have done. How he reinforces the great highlights of his presidency to leave the country and the people changed forever will depend on what he does in the years ahead. For now, he must have the satisfaction of knowing that his staying in the race in 2023 has done for the country what his exit could never have done. It is a milestone worthy of reminiscing at 73. He needs many more such milestones, including remaking the country’s structural foundations, to cement his place in history, whether his policies are understood and appreciated now or not.

•Concluded

April 13, 2025
The bloodletting resumes

Even before the anger and the remorse died down over the Uromi killings in Edo State, Plateau State erupted in an unrelated orgy of violence that claimed dozens of lives. Then came the unpalatable confirmation from Borno State officials that the Boko Haram wars had recrudesced, with three local government areas unreachable by the state government. On the other side of Nigeria, to the Northwest, bandits have continued to lay spectacular siege to scores of communities in the region, taxing, levying, abducting and maiming hapless indigenes. In all this, as far as the victims are concerned, the government has been caught flatfooted.

Read Also: Tinubu charges heads of education agencies to protect integrity of sector

Two hypotheses have been bandied around for the recrudescence. One, that the government has continued to deploy weak and ineffective security paradigm which prioritises defence and occasional attacks, instead of massive and unrelenting offensives until the enemies are vanquished. Two, that as the 2027 election cycle draws near, some enemies and political opponents are sworn to make the government look weak, incapable and unelectable. The truth may contain elements of the two hypotheses. However, the government was not elected to find excuses, no matter how genuine, but to deploy all state resources to extirpate the cancer. The current security paradigm is clearly not working. It should be replaced. Battle plans need to be drawn and executed relentlessly, without pause or hesitation until the objectives are realised.

Insecurity has spread to all corners of the country, and the people are frustrated and angry. If the centres of provocation are not dealt with in all the regions, the people may brush the government aside and resort to self-help. The fact staring everybody in the face is that the country is on edge. A little push would set it on a point of no return. It is time the government got fed up, set timelines, and mobilise the country for a final push. The country is not contending with skirmishes or minor provocations; it is at war. Let the government, therefore, put the country on a war footing and mobilise thousands of young men willing to fight to end the bleeding. It is time to end the pussyfooting.

April 13, 2025
APC more troubled than leaders admit

Judging from media reports, too many Nigerians are obsessed with the demons troubling both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) to care what is happening elsewhere in the polity. The main reason is not far-fetched. Both parties are immersed in intractable civil war, and have managed by dint of their incompetent leadership to project their griefs and tardiness on public consciousness. Voters take note, and are entertained by the buffooneries which quarrelsome PDP and LP leaders play. There is of course the unpretentious sidekick, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), sometimes half-wake, but often sleepwalking through Nigeria’s electioneering epochs. It does crazy things to be noticed, and like the LP has offered its bed to all kinds of pimps and whores. And so, consumed by these avoidable distractions, potential voters do not notice that hard talking and deep swearing opposition leaders are casting a sheep’s eye at the APC.

No one can accurately predict how long the buffooneries in the main opposition parties will last. The PDP is rent in two, each side digging its heels in, resolute against any kind of reconciliation. All the party’s governors are not on one page, and the ones who might wish to take a shot at the presidency are too irredentist and ethnically fanatical to be of any use to the party or the country. Its political leaders, whether previous or new presidential aspirants, lack the political and diplomatic pizzazz to drive the party in the right direction or help foster peace and amity. The party pretends to some kind of conservatism, but at bottom, and particularly for its leaders, most of whom are either mercantilists or opportunists, ideology is an inconvenient abstraction. They are desperate to unite in the face of the existential threats the APC constitutes, but they lack the wherewithal to enforce administrative discipline within their ranks. In fact they seem to now wish for a celestial intervention to help them resolve their longstanding logjam, or at least conjure a deus ex machina to whip everybody into line. But given the intractability of their fight, they seem absolutely ill-suited to cutting corners. Instead of wishing the implosion of the ruling APC, they will have to sweat out a consensus or carefully and tediously rebuild their party, a prospect and hard undertaking that unfortunately seems repugnant to their casual approach to politics.

As expected, and partly because it has nothing to boast about, the LP has concerned itself more with disparaging the APC than mending its own cavalier politics. It is more disunited than the PDP, has no known ideology to anchor its soul, and possesses no skills except perhaps the eclecticism of their former presidential candidate, the overrated Peter Obi. Constantly wrong-footed by two intransigent factions, party leaders, including the parent Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have switched between strong-arm tactics one day, and half-hearted conciliation the next day. Neither tactics has worked. Deflated and exasperated, they have allowed themselves to embrace solutions completely alien to the nation’s laws or even their own ground rules. Like their opposition cousins in the PDP, they have reduced their initiative to hoping that the APC would implode sooner than later, at least before the next round of electioneering. But that next round is already here, and the opposition parties have remained paralysed and flustered by deep mutual loathing and internal dissensions.

Nigerians may be close to writing off the two blundering opposition parties, but they also appear nervous that the APC’s unity and strength may be nothing more than a make-belief. Last week, the country was abuzz with speculations that the seven governors’ courtesy call on former president Muhammadu Buhari at his Kaduna home might not be as altruistic as the visitors themselves painted the occasion. They paid the visit, speculators on social and traditional media said, to prevail on the former president to restrain his fretting associates who once belonged to his legacy Congress of Progressive Change (CPC). The associates, it had been speculated, were on the verge of bolting from the APC, the ruling party having been formed by a merger of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), factions of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If the CPC faction breaks away, the speculators reasoned and concluded, the APC might be in trouble, especially with the 2027 poll in view.

Read Also: Okpebholo, Edo PDP clash over Tinubu’s re-election campaign kick-off

Characteristically, ex-president Buhari has reportedly remained sanguine about the whole news. As far as he was concerned, he would remain a loyal party man, the APC having given him the opportunity to be elected twice as president. As for the so-called footloose others, he was quoted as saying, they were perfectly within their rights to determine their political future. It is not clear whether that was the answer his visitors wanted; but that would be vintage Buhari. As president, he did nothing to substantially help any faction or presidential aspirant in their bid to become presidential candidate, and did even less to campaign wholeheartedly for that candidate once he emerged. Asking him to prevail on potential defectors at this day and his age is like asking him to foreswear who he really is. He is contented, untroubled by the din around him, and unwilling to take risks he never took as a fledgling young military officer or an ageing and staid elder.

Should the CPC faction bolt from the stable, the APC would of course quake. That quake would be seismic only if those who bolted are significant in status and number. The potential defectors may be disaffected and annoyed, especially as they now watch from the sidelines how technocrats seem to be taking plum appointments, but they are unlikely to be rash in taking a decision as weighty as defecting from certainty to uncertainty. In their calculations, they would want to be sure that their defection would cause an exit avalanche big enough to cause a run on the ruling party. Nothing guarantees that ruinous outcome. If they defect and the ruling party manages to attract a significant number from other parties to fill the void left by the departing CPC members, then the defectors’ goose would be cooked. Nothing is more calamitous to a politician than to be left stranded. The APC probably has its scenarios worked out, and will do everything to keep its aggrieved members. But if the potential defectors stick to their guns, the APC will wield the big stick. It will be a great gamble, but the ruling party seems to know that the alienated CPC men, assuming they are significant in number, may not be as valuable as they have sold themselves in the media.

April 13, 2025
Tinubu in Paris: A stepping away to step up

In a political culture where optics are often mistaken for substance, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s relative silence over the past week has been both strategic and deliberate. The President, who quietly departed Abuja for Paris, France, about eleven days ago, has taken a critical pause—not for leisure or spectacle, but for something far more consequential: introspection and midterm recalibration.

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, aptly described the trip as a “working visit,” but a deeper look reveals it as a strategic retreat—an intentional withdrawal from the noise of daily governance to reflect on how far the administration has come and to chart the path forward for the remaining half of his first term.

Since assuming office in May 2023, President Tinubu has embarked on an ambitious journey to restructure Nigeria’s socioeconomic architecture. From bold fiscal reforms to tackling subsidy regimes and currency liberalization, his administration has been nothing short of transformative—though not without pain. With nearly two years of this hardnosed policy recalibration under his belt, this Paris retreat comes at a pivotal moment.

This is a time to measure outcomes, revisit assumptions, and test the durability of the reforms put in place. The President is expected to be evaluating everything from the economic impact of fuel subsidy removal, to the outcomes of foreign exchange reforms, to the social safety nets being constructed to cushion the ordinary Nigerian from inflationary shocks. It is, in essence, the President stepping into the role of national CEO, poring over the books and forecasts before announcing his next big move.

The facts already point to significant wins. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s net foreign exchange reserves have surged to $23.11 billion—an impressive leap from a precarious $3.99 billion in 2023. This growth is a direct consequence of the administration’s fiscal discipline and renewed investor confidence, signalling that the economic stabilization agenda is starting to yield fruit.

But not all victories can be measured in spreadsheets. The Tinubu administration’s journey so far has been one of tough calls and complex trade-offs. Removing fuel subsidies, for instance, was necessary to halt fiscal haemorrhage, but it also brought hardship to millions of Nigerians grappling with rising costs of living. The President knows this. He understands that transformation without compassion is a hollow achievement. Hence, this moment in Paris is not just about numbers and graphs—it is about striking a new balance between economic realism and social protection.

Interestingly, while the President may have stepped back from the public stage, he has certainly not stepped away from governance. Throughout the week, his voice has still resonated across the national discourse, albeit in more solemn and ceremonial tones. On Sunday, he celebrated Dame Emmanuella Fashola on her 60th birthday, commending her service and role in promoting unity. In the same breath, he mourned the passing of former Oyo Governor, Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo—a titan of intellect and statesmanship.

On Tuesday, he extended condolences to the family of the late Dr. Pascal Dozie, an icon in Nigeria’s banking and entrepreneurial space. And by Thursday, he had once again returned to the podium of national reflection—celebrating Africa’s foremost industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on his birthday, while also mourning the loss of a judicial legend, Justice Ibitola Adebisi Sotuminu.

Read Also: Sustain collaboration with Tompolo, Ijaw youths urge Tinubu

Beyond these tributes, however, was a key diplomatic engagement that reaffirmed Tinubu’s active presence even while abroad. On Thursday, the President met with the United States State Department’s Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, in Paris. Their discussion focused on regional security, including collaborative efforts to build durable peace in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They also explored avenues for expanding economic cooperation across Africa, with Nigeria naturally positioned as a strategic gateway.

The significance of this meeting cannot be overstated. It reflects not only the President’s ongoing diplomatic engagements, but also Nigeria’s emerging role as a stabilizing force in regional security architecture and a focal point for transcontinental economic cooperation. That this meeting occurred while Tinubu is on a self-imposed strategic retreat speaks volumes about his ability to blend deep internal reflection with active international diplomacy.

These engagements, though not policy-shaking in the traditional sense, underscore one vital truth: the wheels of governance have not stopped turning. The President may be physically removed, but his hand is still firmly on the tiller. This is leadership by remote command—a demonstration that a modern presidency does not have to be chained to geography to be effective.

Even more importantly, the President’s trip sends a broader message about the maturity of the Nigerian state. That the machinery of government continues to function—ministries working, security agencies on alert, institutions delivering—is a testament to a leadership style that emphasizes delegation, continuity, and the strengthening of institutions over the cult of personality.

As Nigerians look ahead to the President’s return, expectations are justifiably high. The Paris retreat, after all, is not just a time-out; it is a think tank session, a policy lab, and a strategic war room rolled into one. What emerges from it could very well shape the trajectory of Nigeria for the next two years—and possibly beyond.

Insiders suggest that the President’s focus in the coming months will be on consolidating reforms, driving industrialization, attracting more foreign direct investment, and expanding job creation, particularly for youth. If the first half of his term was about diagnosis and shock therapy, the second half is expected to be about stabilization and inclusive growth. More structured palliatives, better coordination among agencies, and a push toward local production in key sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and ICT may define the new phase.

It is also likely that the President is using this period to refine his cabinet’s focus and performance metrics. In the months ahead, Nigerians should expect a more aggressive pursuit of delivery—where ministers and heads of agencies are held to account for outcomes, not just activity.

Ultimately, Tinubu’s Paris sojourn is a political and strategic intermission, one that acknowledges the immense work already done and the even greater challenges that lie ahead. By choosing reflection over rhetoric, and quiet strategy over showmanship, the President has demonstrated that leadership sometimes requires stepping away to step up.

And when he does return to Nigerian soil, the nation should be prepared for the next chapter—one that promises to be more focused, more intentional, and more responsive to the everyday Nigerian’s hopes and hardships.

Steady Hands at the Helm While Tinubu Charts the Course

Meanwhile, with President Tinubu away in Paris on a working retreat, taking time to evaluate the midterm progress of his administration and blueprinting the path ahead, his absence has in no way slowed the engine of governance. Instead, what we have witnessed is a demonstration of a well-oiled administrative machinery, with trusted lieutenants keeping the wheels of state turning smoothly—firmly guided by the principles and directives laid down by the President.

At the forefront of this charge has been Vice President Kashim Shettima, a loyal deputy who has spent the week not just filling in but reinforcing the President’s vision across sectors. Over the last weekend, Shettima hosted the CEO of Big Win Philanthropy, Jamie Cooper, at the Presidential Villa. The meeting was more than a routine diplomatic courtesy—it showcased the administration’s relentless pursuit of partnerships to tackle malnutrition and create jobs for Nigerians. In Shettima’s words, President Tinubu’s “bold vision and pragmatic leadership” are the guiding light for a Nigeria on the rise.

On Monday, the Vice President was on hand to welcome Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria to the State House, signalling Nigeria’s continued commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic ties with global partners. The reception was symbolic—a nod to Nigeria’s position as a key African player engaging with the world even as the President consults globally from France.

Elsewhere, other key players in the administration were equally active. The Presidency, through its communication channels, swiftly shut down rumours that President Tinubu had sacked INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu. The prompt and firm rebuttal by Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Dr. Daniel Bwala, was a clear indication that the administration is not leaving room for distractions, even in the President’s physical absence.

Tuesday saw Shettima speaking with characteristic frankness at a public engagement, where he stated that Nigeria’s fiscal woes stem not from its federal structure but from poor resource management. It was a moment of candour—and one that reaffirmed the Tinubu administration’s readiness to face hard truths and lead by reform. That same day, the Vice President also inaugurated the board of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), further strengthening the power sector reforms.

Meanwhile, in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume rolled out a new Performance Management System aimed at tracking public sector efficiency. It was a reminder that the Renewed Hope Agenda includes not just grand visions but measurable targets.

By Thursday, Akume was also inaugurating a new board for Galaxy Backbone, a move geared toward advancing the country’s digital infrastructure. At the same time, the Presidency launched a National Community Engagement Framework Drafting Committee to deepen grassroots participation—a timely initiative to close the distance between government and the governed.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the week was Shettima’s presence in Calabar, Cross River State, where he flagged off a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone. Backed by the African Development Bank’s $2.2 billion commitment, the project is a strategic thrust to revolutionize agriculture and ensure food security. Remarkably, it came just days after a similar project was launched in Kaduna—proof that this administration does not pause.

In sum, what the week has shown is that while President Tinubu remains momentarily out of sight, he is far from out of touch. His vision is alive in the actions of his vice president, advisers, and ministers. Governance has not just continued—it has expanded in scope, deepened in reach, and sharpened in focus.

The country waits in anticipation of the President’s return, not out of anxiety, but with the certainty that what is coming next is backed by quiet preparation and a renewed drive. The groundwork is being laid, the agenda is marching on, and the state is not idle—it is busy, disciplined, and determined.

April 13, 2025
The Uromi killings and matters arising

On his Facebook page, on 28 March, 2025, a popular United-States-based Professor of Communication, Farooq Kperogi, stated and asked in exasperation: “Several people have sent me unwatchably bloodcurdling videos of northerners being burned alive in what is said to be Edo State. What exactly is going on? I am despondent as I am confused. Edo has no history of hostile relations with the North. Can someone explain to me what’s going on? None of the people who shared the videos with me was able to answer my questions satisfactorily. That’s why I am asking publicly.”

In a 29 March, 2025 article, Kperogi noted: “My inquiry has led me to understand that the Uromi community has been gripped by abductions for ransom, which sometimes result in deaths. Seething with rage and vengeance over the incessancy of deadly kidnapping by ‘Fulani herdsmen,’ the community was primed for jungle justice. When local vigilantes accosted a bus traveling northward through the town, they found Hausa hunters armed with hunting guns and machetes aboard. In the bigoted, know-nothing estimation of the Uromi vigilantes, Hausa hunters were one and the same as Fulani kidnappers. So, they burned the innocent Hausa hunters for the crimes of anonymous Fulani bandits.”

Kperogi noted further: “I honestly couldn’t bring myself to watch the dreadfully nightmarish videos to the end. I broke down at the point when one of the hunters was thrown into a flaming fire from a wheelbarrow and he exclaimed “Wayyo Allah!” in anguish. It was too much for my fragile heart to handle. These sorts of savage slaughters of innocents persist in Nigeria not just because of a progressive loss of faith in formal institutions for the redress of communal grievance, heightened anxieties about safety, and increasing faith in the efficacy of jungle justice but also because of the absence of consequences for them.”

According to Abubakar Adam Ibrahim in a 3 April, 2025 article on “Grieving in a time of feast,” in Daily Trust, “They had been travelling to celebrate [Eid] with their own loved ones before they were intercepted at Uromi, beaten, clubbed, hacked, and torched in the most inhumane way possible. The suspicion that they could possibly be a kidnapping gang that had terrorised Uromi of late has been given as a justification – they were, after all, travelling with locally made guns and hunting dogs because they were hunters.”

As Ibrahim further notes, “On the part of their murderers, there are three possible motivations – not vindications – for the barbarism that resulted in these lynchings. One might be fear, the other might be hate, and the third might just be sheer savagery. Fear because, according to reports, kidnapping gangs have besieged Uromi recently, and in response, the community had set up a vigilante group to secure the lives of the locals. Fear has made people do the most awful things in the name of self-preservation. The possibility of hate being a motive cannot be ruled out entirely, considering the ethnic hues that have coloured these killings. If it is neither of these two, then it has to be just the intrinsic savagery of the masterminds, who simply could not pass up the chance to spill the blood of others. None of these is good or even acceptable.”

Furthermore, Ibrahim observed: “The Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has, to a large extent, made a significant effort in damage control. Already, the killings were poised to draw retaliation from the North. The statement of the Edo State Government regarding the lynching was reassuring, or at least it sounded reassuring, and his visit to Kano, where most of the victims were from, to pay condolences and appeal for calm, was a great work of interstate diplomacy. Only God knows the number of lives that have been saved as a result. This does not discountenance the fact that the lives that were lost should never have been lost to begin with.”

Ibrahim said in this regard: “The failure of our security systems has meant that individuals, groups, and communities are taking security into their unprofessional and unregulated hands. The consequence is the democratisation of violence, whereby those with the greater capacity for violence fare better. Violence is something that the state must retain a monopoly of and not be made accessible or normalised under any circumstance. Until this monopoly is restored, and until criminal groups are obliterated from the Nigerian system, incidents like the one at Uromi will recur where innocent travellers and non-native locals are murdered in cold blood.”

As Emeka Omeihe stated, in this regard, in his column in The Nation on 7 April, 2025, “The killing of 16 travellers of northern extraction by a vigilante group in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, has exposed the dangers in the quasi security outfits that emerged in response to the festering insecurity in the country. More than anything, the chilling incident highlights scant regard to law and order, due process and sanctity of the human life. In it can also be located a culture of violence that is increasingly enveloping this country and increasingly threatening its social fabric. If this culture of violence, mistrust and easy resort to self-help is not urgently stemmed, it may soon begin to define us as a people.”

Possibly in response to the view that illegal vigilante groups like the one which perpetuated the Uromi murders were operating due to the absence of optimal security cover by authorised security forces, the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) organised a webinar on 8 April, 2025 on “Preventing Extrajudicial killings in Nigeria: The role of the security agencies.” The presenter at the webinar was CP Adewale Saka Ajao, Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory Command.

In his remarkably dispassionate and highly intellectual presentation, CP Ajao noted that extrajudicial killings, whether perpetrated by conventional security agencies or unrecognised or illegal persons or groups, were killings not authorised by the court. He also distinguished between extrajudicial killing and loss of life in the process of self-defence. According to him, going ahead to kill a person as an act of retaliation after the person has been effectively restrained and arrested is not self-defence, but a case of extrajudicial killing.

Moreover, CP Ajao identified the causes of extrajudicial killings as weak and inefficient judicial system and delay in or undue lengthening of the trial process, perception of the security agencies and the judiciary as corrupt, resulting in lack of confidence in both the security agencies and the judiciary. He also identified lack of human rights training by the personnel of security agencies, the use of violence as an electoral strategy by politicians, the political, ethnic and religious partisanship by security personnel, drug addiction and undiagnosed mental health issues.

Read Also: Uromi killings: Fed, Edo govts set up fact-finding committee

As is usual with social media reactions, comments on Kperogi’s post at the beginning of this article seeking to verify the gory videos ranged from the measured to the reckless. One deeply reflective commentator sought to know why about twenty-four hours after the dastardly act, information about it was still scanty on the mainstream media. The same kind of question was raised in a more rigorous manner by Yushau A. Shuaib in The Guardian of 31 March, 2025. Specifically, he stated: “In school, we are taught that the media – often described as the Fourth Estate – exists to educate, inform, and serve as a watchdog for society. Yet behind this noble ideal lies a troubling reality: media narratives are frequently shaped by the interests of their proprietors, patrons, and editors. Even on deeply sensitive national issues, editorial direction can be swayed by commercial gain, political allegiance, or ethnic loyalties.”

He further observed: “A … recent and … distressing case underscores this troubling trend: the lynching of Northern hunters—predominantly Hausa-speaking Muslims – in Uromi, Edo State, on Thursday, March 28, 2025. The victims, reportedly en route to Kano for Eid al-Fitr celebrations, were travelling in a truck when local vigilantes intercepted them and allegedly found dane guns. This sparked a mob attack. A harrowing video showed the men pleading for mercy as they were beaten and burned alive, while onlookers stood by with chilling indifference. … Despite the horror captured on video, most national newspapers downplayed the incident. Shockingly, the atrocity was eclipsed by frivolous matters that received more prominent coverage.”

Shuaib then said: “Several factors fuel this persistent media bias, including ownership influence, where proprietors and sponsors shape narratives to align with their interests; lack of diversity, as many newsrooms are dominated by personnel from a single region, leading to skewed perspectives; and commercial priorities, where advertising revenue and political patronage often outweigh the public interest – as evident in the prioritisation of birthday tributes over national tragedies.”

This view tallies with the following admonition from Lawanti: “History has shown us how societies unravel – not all at once, but step by step, lie by lie, silence by silence. Hausa and Fulani have weathered invasions, colonialism, and political exclusion – together. What must not happen now is for digital agitators to succeed where imperial powers failed.

The whole saga indicates the increasing significance of the social media in the collection and dissemination of information. Unfortunately, the social media is largely unrestrained, and the consequences of social media exuberance could be dire. As Kabiru Danladi Lawanti notes in the 11 April, 2025 edition of Daily Trust, “Genocide never begins with violence. It begins with language – systematically crafted to dehumanise, divide, and desensitise. Rwanda and Yugoslavia were not failed states; they were fractured societies, where identity was weaponised through the media until violence felt logical. Northern Nigeria today is not Rwanda. But some of the same psychological architecture is quietly forming – this time, across the digital landscape.”

The largely unsatisfactory performance of the mainstream media in the Uromi murders brings to the fore the skepticism about the existence of ‘a free press’. What this situation underscores is the fact that communities or segments of a community underserved in the existing media ecology need to consider the establishment of a variety of media outfits, targeted at different audiences (local, state, regional and national) and the intensive training of requisite personnel, as a matter of urgent strategic investment to avoid the kind of media silence or blackout or media de-prioritisation that was witnessed in the reportage of the Uromi murders.

April 13, 2025