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Tinubu: From baobab to serial election winner

In celebrating his 73rd birthday a week ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu received very many goodwill messages. Of the lot, a particularly striking one was by former President Muhammadu Buhari who described President Tinubu as “a serial winner of democratic elections.” This compliment confirms President Tinubu’s claim, in his famous pre-primary election “Emilokan” speech delivered to party faithful on 3 June, 2022 in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He said, on that occasion, that former President Buhari invited him to be his vice-presidential candidate in the 2015 election, because Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had never lost an election.

In this regard, in a 24 November, 2023 article titled “Tinubu, the baobab,” published in this paper, but outside this column, this writer noted: “President Tinubu’s life experience, I believe, is the stuff of which legends are made, and his is the epitome of a grace-filled life. He won a senate seat at the first attempt, won the governorship seat at the first attempt, and won the presidential election at the first attempt. The crowning glory of this legendary winning streak would be his institution of sustainable good governance in Nigeria.”

Incidentally, with respect to this objective, the President remarked as follows at the special Ramadhan fast-breaking dinner he hosted at the Presidential Villa on 29 March, 2025: “Those who are very close to me knew the odds were very much against me. … I almost dropped the idea of running, of continuing the race. … When I assumed office, it was extremely difficult. But the day of the inauguration … I had to decide on what is not in the original script of my speech. It’s on the subsidy. I looked straight into the crowd … and I knew what was in the handing over note that I reviewed a night before. … I had to decide. Whichever way it comes, the hallmark of a great leader is the ability to decide to do what you have to do at the time it ought to be done. That was the day I said the subsidy is gone. The following day, floated the currency.”

The President continued: “I was hounded and abused, thoroughly criticized in the papers. But I believe in the cause of retooling our economy and changing the narrative of our nation. Not because of me, but because we were spending the money that belongs to our generation yet unborn in advance, ahead of their birth. It cannot continue. We reversed the situation. It is less than two years in office. The economy is turned round. We’ve taught management to ourselves. … We must achieve food security and sovereignty for our country. … We’re about less than 24 months in the administration. What they think … will blow up in our face is giving us the hope and Nigeria is turning around.”

Read Also: Food prices drop, ease cost of living

In one respect, while acknowledging the positive impact of President Tinubu’s policies, the Guardian of 15 March, 2025 reported Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State to have said: “Looking at it, 20 to 22 months down the road, to the glory of God, with your wisdom, tenacity, far-sightedness, and your Renewed Hope initiative, this is the first time in the history of this country that we will be fasting while the cost of foodstuffs is coming down. … Inflation, which we were all afraid of, is also coming down. The price of petrol is also coming down every week. I congratulate him for this feat.”

In contrast, Malam Buba Galadima, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and one of President Tinubu’s staunch critics, was quoted in The Nation’s Hardball column of 14 March, 2025 to have said that the fall in food prices was as a result of food imports and that “this will make the economy of the North, which depends on agriculture, to dwindle as many won’t be able to farm again to gain any meaningful profit.” As Hardball rightly asked, “Pray, who does falling food prices hurt? The northern ‘Talakawas’ that need cheap food to make life more livable? Or the rich that would spend even less on food, while sinking their excess money into more earthly comfort? Who?” Hardball also rightly noted: “Galadima has a right to play whatever politics he likes, no matter how senseless. Still, his illogical take – ease on food prices as anti-northern conspiracy – is likely to make him the butt of jokes, even among the northern masses he is trying to hoodwink.”

President Tinubu has made some new friends, due to the unimaginable patronage they have received from him; and he has made some new enemies, due to the unfulfilled expectations of some of his erstwhile backers. Strangely enough, some opposition politicians have been accusing him of inciting crises in their parties in order to facilitate his winning of a second term election in 2027. In a particularly noteworthy example, former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, an erstwhile supporter of President Tinubu and former member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), said to some leaders of his new party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP): “The crisis … in the Labour Party is contrived. It is funded by the government of the day. Everyone knows it. Jumping from one court to another is all designed to distract the party leadership from focusing on their core functions.”

El-Rufai continued: “The same thing is happening in the PDP. Even the NNPP has been targeted for destruction. There are people that have resourced to go and cause problems in NNPP. The last thing I read about NNPP was that one faction of the party has expelled Kwankwaso and the sitting governor. When you see things like that you know it’s contrived crisis. Which party sacks a sitting governor, and the only governor they have? You know it’s contrived. I don’t have the details. I cannot mention names.”

Another of President Tinubu’s erstwhile supporters is Mr. Dele Momodu, a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). On the heels of the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of Governor Fubara, the Deputy Governor and the members of the House of Assembly, Dele Momodu said: “I think it is very unfortunate. I know President Tinubu very, very, very well. Though I’ve not been in the same party with him and all that, we were together in exile, and he fought gallantly for this democracy. So a lot of us, co-comrades at that time, are actually very embarrassed that we have a pro-democracy leader in government, and yet what we are witnessing is worse than dictatorship.”

Interestingly and ironically, Dele Momodu counselled: “You must deepen our democracy, which President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded in doing, which Obasanjo succeeded in doing, despite allegations and accusations of a third term attempt, still managed to hand over power to President Yar’Adua.” He also noted: “He [President Tinubu] should just do his job. The only thing that can guarantee a second term is to do your job well. You do not need to intimidate anybody.”

All considered, it would be a fitting birthday tribute to recap below the 24 November, 2023 article titled “Tinubu, the baobab,” which was referred to earlier in the present article:

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Yoruba ethnic group has an interesting proverb about ascendancy: Eni t’ó bá ma ga, esè rè á tínrín. (‘Those who would be tall cannot avoid having thin legs.’) Being tall here is the metaphor for recording the highest levels of achievement or reaching the highest rungs on the social ladder. Thin legs, on the other hand, are the metaphor for all the vicissitudes, cumulative challenges and obstacles encountered on the way to the top. No doubt, President Tinubu has had more than his fair share of these legs.

“The president has, like Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, received the unkindest cut of all from people who, in the normal course of affairs, should be there for him. In fact, a review of the politicking preceding the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary shows clearly that many aspects of the denigration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by Peter Obi (the presidential candidate of Labour Party – LP), Atiku Abubakar (the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party – PDP) and their followers were leftovers from the derogation of Asiwaju by significant sections of the Yoruba elite. This bears out the Yoruba proverb that says that the enemy is in the backyard, but the traitor lives right within the house with the target.

“Some detractors have stridently cast aspersions on every bit of the president’s life and have invested huge resources into dragging him through the mud. Considering all the denigration, flagellation, sabotage, ingratitude and peer envy the president has suffered for so long, it is understandable for him, warts and all, to have earned substantial sympathy. Providentially, at every turn, he has been lifted well above his detractors.

“Getting this far in life in spite of the seemingly overwhelming challenges on his path is enigmatic. Steadily, his detractors have inadvertently been creating a mystique around him, making him to live out the Yoruba saying, that the more they debark the baobab tree, the fatter it becomes. I found it noteworthy that a columnist with Nigerian Tribune, Suyi Ayodele, placed the president in the class of àkàndá. Specifically, in the article titled, “Salute to Melchizedek of Nigeria”, he said: “There are people known in Yoruba worldview as Àkàndá (special beings). Everything about them is a mystery (Àdììtú). They get away with everything that would easily consume other mere mortals.” …

“In this regard, the following articulation by Yap Kioe Sheng of the United Nations (UN) outline of the essentials of good governance is noteworthy: “Good governance has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are considered and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.” As another UN-related perspective states, the key question any effort towards good governance would seek to answer is: “Are the institutions of governance effectively guaranteeing the right to health, adequate housing, sufficient food, quality education, fair justice and personal security?”

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be deterred by detractors of whatever hue. And when he has recorded optimal success with respect to the above-mentioned indices of good governance, as his Renewed Hope Agenda promises, this nation would have been blessed with a profound visionary, an undisputable hero and an epochal and enduring inspirational figure.”

As President Tinubu continues to savour his 73rd birthday celebrations, here’s wishing him more grace.

April 6, 2025
A noose called Natasha

A noose is dangling over the head of the Nigeria’s legislature and the Kogi State Government. It is known as the Natasha noose. It gave enough warning before creeping up the thick cranial base of her tormentors. We warned too. And we darkly conjectured, even remotely comparing her to the dreaded Empress Catherine, a lady of German extraction who went ahead to rule Tsarist Russia for thirty three years after doing away with her husband, the hapless Tsar, with the help of her lovers. She accounted for the scalp of many feckless Russian noblemen, but can also be wildly generous to them in parting package. Now that Nathasha is precariously perched like the infamous mosquito on the most delicate part of the male anatomy, it will take more considerable diplomatic skills and political acumen than her interlocutors have shown to prise her away.

But Natasha’s adversaries appear unrelenting, obviously in haste to dragoon and quarter her for good. Having lost the battle to recall her, they have gone ahead to reopen the case with immediate effect, as if adding a few more questionable signatures will redeem the validity, credibility and legitimacy of the whole exercise. Little have they realized the massive pressure they are piling on the weak links of struggling democracy and the net effect of all this on an INEC already hobbled by institutional vulnerabilities and the erosion of public confidence. Despite its fondness for hiding behind one finger, INEC frailties are on ample display in the battle to recall the stormy petrel, even though it is to its credit that it came off very well.

When they first brought the sack of aramanda voters’ list, INEC threw it back at them claiming that it was an unsigned document. But twenty four hours later, having been briefed or having debriefed itself, INEC countermanded its earlier instance by affirming that things were in order and the recall was on song. Meanwhile, background groaning and grumbling began emanating from the selfsame INEC about how arduous and expensive a recall process can be. Then suddenly last Tuesday evening, the electoral commission dismissed the whole exercise as flawed and lacking in requisite numbers. There are rumours that the commission has been guided by the irate voice vote at Natasha’s Okene rally and its convulsive possibilities. The Okene damsel has become a piece of bone stuck in the throat of gendered hegemony.

In the end, perhaps nothing could surpass the analytical bravura and penetrating acumen of Ambassador John Galbraith’s observation of Indian society at the turn of the sixties. The great liberal economist and John Kennedy’s ambassador to India noted with caustic asperity that the more underdeveloped a country is, the more overdeveloped its women are. Galbraith might have been driven to sardonic generalization by the great disparity he noticed between the sprawling squalor and appalling misery among Indians in general around this period and the chic sophistication and alluring glamour of many of its women, particularly those from the highest caste.

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Judging from the events of last Tuesday in particular and the preceding weeks in general, it is clear that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is a lot smarter and more politically savvy than all her assailants put together. One may of course object to some of her antics which smack of political desperation and brinksmanship. One may demur at her jankara tactics which do not conduce to the highest form of civility in parliamentary procedure and her lachrymose exertions which amount to sheer emotional blackmail. But there can be no doubt that she has shown extraordinary bravery, courage and fortitude in the face of unrelenting adversity and barely veiled attempts to silence her.

This being an authoritarian, harshly hierarchical and patriarchal society, the most progressive and egalitarian intervention can only be one that offers a lifeline and support to the female folk where and when they run afoul of the gender patrol unit of the male dominion. As the dominated stratum of a subordinated sub-class, African women are more likely to end up as victims of a double jeopardy: oppressed at home by men who are themselves oppressed abroad. To be sure, some women have proven to be equally adept, if not even more accomplished, in fiscal malfeasance than their male counterparts. But when examined closely, it will be discovered that these are lone, individual aces whose impact on society is far less devastating than the structured financial heists often associated with male-dominated financial empires and consortiums.

   In any case, pitching for women in a male-ordered world is a practical affirmation of the right of all humanity to economic and political freedom. Ultimately, it is an act of enlightened self-interest. This is a struggle for parity which has preoccupied the human society since the advent of the nation-state paradigm about six centuries ago. Some human societies do it better and faster than others, such as Iceland, Finland and the Scandinavian countries and they are happier, more humane, more productive and more prosperous for it. It is unfortunate that many in Nigeria and Africa pay lip service to the imperative of a modern, egalitarian and more democratic country without understanding how the emancipation of women plays a crucial role in the struggle to roll back the boulders of authoritarianism and traditional tyranny in post-independence and post-military Nigerian politics.

Given the normative poverty of contemporary Nigerian politics, it is possible that neither Natasha nor many of her adversaries in the senate understand or appreciate the huge symbolic overcast against which the messy struggle to recall her from the senate is unfurling. Epic developments in history often take place under an ideological occlusion with contending protagonists often shielded from the true historic import of what they are struggling for and the possible outcome. Natasha herself cannot be said to be ideologically driven. Rich and pampered from childhood, she is a scion of the new plutocracy with its morbid acquisitiveness and anti-democratic panache. But then only few heroines of history ever emerge from the side of the people to fight for the people.

   Natasha is still very far from being a Nigerian incarnation of Nancy Astor, the American-born British politician and indefatigable campaigner for female rights. She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons and this was in the early twentieth century. Endowed with a caustic tongue and nettling wit, she held her own in verbal duels with male folks particularly against Winston Churchill whom she once memorably dismissed as being perpetually drunk. Once while campaigning on a rural farm, a jeering and sneering farmer thought he had the feisty lady’s back against the wall when he asked her if she even knew how many toes a sow (female pig) has. The imperious lady was having none of that nonsense. “ Remove your boots and count, man!” she shot back.

Natasha does not need to remove her boots. What she has removed are the velvety gloves revealing her capacity to deliver bare knuckle blows to the plexus. She has shown that she needs little help. Judging from the way she has fought her corner like a ferocious kitten, it is obvious that this is going to be one helluva fight. She has outsmarted and outwitted her fumbling and plodding enemies all the way. She has blindsided and steamrolled the Nigerian senate making the habitués of that hallowed chamber look like a bunch of political neophytes.

When they were thinking of further hamstringing her locally, she was making a dramatic appearance abroad with her endless supply of tears on the ready. You begin to wonder whether the feisty lady keeps a generous supply of fresh onion bulbs in her swanky upmarket handbag. The reputational damage to the nation’s fledgling democracy is better imagined. And the lady is not done. Last Tuesday, Natasha upped the stakes beyond the imagination and expectation of her complacent adversaries.

In what must rank as the most fearsome and daring pushback against a sub-national government and its entire security apparatus in post-military Nigeria, the senator representing Kogi Central District defied all odds and stumbling blockades put in place by the state government, including a subsisting ban on all rallies and vehicular processions, to address a rally of her teeming supporters in the politically combustible and volcanic Ebira principal homestead of Okene. Instead of coming by road and battling the heavy duty dragnet inch by inch and ground by ground like an infantry general, she came in a chariot of thunder and dust, descending on the venue from a chopper. The security people must have wisely concluded that they were up against a heavenly mob and the multitude of irate voters about to be violently disenfranchised by the anti-democratic paladin.

Since these are the same constituents who are said to have demanded her ouster and recall from the senate, you would have expected her to be met by a scant crowd of surly and rude denizens tearing into her with verbal rockets. Instead, the reception was tumultuous with the frenzied crowd chanting her name and singing her praises to high heavens as the senator herself latched on to the palpable mood of high octane hostility to launch some fiery broadsides against her adversaries. To further cement the solidarity of her people against electoral and legislative aberration, she had invoked her Ebira identity reminding the surging crowd that as an Ebira person, fear is unknown to her and she would never succumb to blackmail or be cowed by anybody born of a woman. It was a deft way of summoning the moody, irascible phalanx from the Ebira hilly range.

Let us use this column to appeal to all men and women of goodwill in the senate to sheath their sword and bury all ego-fueled obsessions with legislative rules of conduct. This is a battle they cannot win. Even if they do, it will be a Pyrrhic victory which would have cost the senate the last shred of its remaining credibility and legitimacy. This will gravely imperil the fortunes of democracy. From all available evidence, this woman will not go down lightly. She may have a few aces further up her sleeves. The salacious and insalubrious revelations have already cost the august gathering considerable reputational damage.

This is not consistent with the higher seriousness Nigerians have come to expect from the upper chambers of their legislature as evidenced by the brilliance and sagacity of their forbears in the First and Second Republics and even the brief Third Republic before it was snuffed out. Let the senate drop this tomfoolery of a recall which has already been compromised at source and reach out to the few surviving elder statesmen in the nation to broker a peace deal with Natasha. At this perilous point, either side needs a soft landing.

April 6, 2025
NNPCL Leadership recast, fruits of FCT off TSA and other matters

In a week crowded with symbolism and significance, one decision from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stood tall above all others—the sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) board. Unfolding quietly in the early hours of Wednesday, this bold move wasn’t just a reshuffle of personnel; it was a recalibration of intent—a strong signal that the nation’s oil sector, long burdened by inertia and opacity, is now being primed for transparency, efficiency, and growth.

With this single act, President Tinubu redefined the conversation around Nigeria’s most critical sector.

Gone were Chief Pius Akinyelure and Mallam Mele Kyari, two names synonymous with the old guard. In their place, a new duo has emerged: Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the newly appointed Group CEO, and Ahmadu Musa Kida, now Chairman of the Board. Backed by a balanced, regionally representative board, the Tinubu administration has entrusted this team with the task of transforming the NNPCL into a modern, commercially competitive institution.

Ojulari brings to the table not just technical depth, but reformist energy—having recently led a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell’s assets by a consortium of indigenous firms. Kida, a respected oil executive and sports administrator, combines engineering experience with leadership acumen. Together, they symbolize Tinubu’s vision of blending global best practices with home-grown expertise.

And the mandate is nothing short of ambitious.

Read Also: Food prices drop, ease cost of living

President Tinubu’s immediate charge to the board was unambiguous: conduct a strategic review of all NNPCL-operated and Joint Venture assets, align operations with value maximization, and help drive the administration’s aggressive targets—raising daily oil output to three million barrels by 2030 and daily gas production to 10 billion cubic feet.

This is not a wishlist. It is a roadmap, and with it comes the expectation to elevate Nigeria’s energy footprint globally while boosting local content and investor confidence at home.

Already, the reforms of the past year are bearing fruit. Foreign investments in the sector hit $17 billion in 2023. With the right structure and leadership, the administration aims to double that to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by the end of the decade. These numbers, if achieved, could reset Nigeria’s economic narrative entirely.

In a country where oil has too often symbolized squandered potential, the NNPCL reconstitution is not just administrative—it’s an assertion of political will.

Yet even amid such high-stakes reform, President Tinubu did not lose sight of the national mood. On Sunday, he joined other Muslim faithful to mark the end of Ramadan with Eid prayers, demonstrating humility, shared faith, and a connection with everyday Nigerians.

Later that day, the State House became a stage for one of the most telling interactions of the week: the traditional Eid-el-Fitr homage paid by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) community, led by the energetic Minister, Nyesom Wike. This was actually the first time the Tinubu Presidency would be hosting the Sallah homage reception.

During his remarks, President Tinubu offered a clear explanation for his administration’s decision to remove the FCT from the Treasury Single Account (TSA)—a bold departure from centralized financial orthodoxy. The move, he said, was driven by the need to fast-track development in the capital city, long stifled by bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The results, he noted, were already visible: roads being opened in rural areas, long-abandoned infrastructure like the Vice President’s official residence revived, and public services—from healthcare to education—being given a much-needed facelift.

“We wouldn’t have been able to open our mouths to celebrate if not because of the progressive ideas you brought to FCT,” Tinubu told Wike, in what was both a commendation and a challenge to do even more.

But perhaps more memorable than the policy clarifications was the President’s message of unity and inclusivity. Emphasizing the importance of results over rhetoric, he urged Nigerians to look beyond ethnic and religious identities in their leadership choices. “We are not looking for magic. We are looking for results,” he said with disarming candour.

It was a timely reminder that leadership, when stripped to its essence, is about impact—not identity.

On Wednesday, President Tinubu departed for Paris on a working visit—an interlude not of rest, but reflection. According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the visit was designed to assess the progress of his administration midway into his first term and to strategize for the road ahead.

The trip comes at a significant moment. Key reforms—especially in monetary policy—have begun to stabilize the economy. Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have climbed dramatically, surging from $3.99 billion in 2023 to a robust $23.11 billion. This is not merely an accounting achievement; it is evidence that the fiscal discipline and structural reforms introduced under Tinubu’s leadership are gaining traction.

In Paris, the President is expected to engage in midterm reviews with his closest advisers, identify bottlenecks, and chart the next wave of policy initiatives. Far from being an escape, the retreat appears to be a strategic breather before the next phase of a presidency that remains steadily on the move.

Even from his Paris base, President Tinubu remained connected to the pulse of the nation. On Friday, he sent out a heartfelt tribute to 15-year-old Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, the autistic Nigerian prodigy who made history by setting a Guinness World Record for the largest painting on canvas.

“You are Brave, Audacious, and Tenacious,” the President declared, applauding the young artist for his inspirational achievement unveiled in Abuja during World Autism Awareness Day.

At over 12,000 square meters, the painting—aptly titled “Impossible is a Myth”—stands not just as a record-breaking canvas, but as a monument to human potential, creativity, and inclusion.

In honouring the young artist, Tinubu did more than recognize excellence; he made a statement about the value of neurodivergent contributions in a diverse society. His message was simple: in a nation rebuilding itself, everyone counts.

Celebration, Continuity, and the Care of a Nation

As the headlines this past week focused rightly on seismic shifts—particularly the reconstitution of the NNPCL board, the President’s strategic retreat in Paris, and his progressive fiscal stance in the FCT—another current ran subtly beneath the surface of statecraft: that of continuity, compassion, and the enduring bonds of nationhood.

President Tinubu, even while orchestrating major reforms, demonstrated that leadership is not merely about recalibrating institutions. It is also about recognizing people—their milestones, their memories, and their contributions.

Across the week, the President took deliberate moments to celebrate, mourn, and appoint individuals whose lives and roles reflect the broader values of service and national development.

On Sunday, he congratulated veteran journalist and former Lagos State Commissioner, Kehinde Bamigbetan, on his 60th birthday. A long-time ally and public communicator par excellence, Bamigbetan’s journey reflects a chapter in Tinubu’s own political evolution—from Lagos governance to national leadership.

That same day, in a key appointment that aligns with his administration’s healthcare reform agenda, Tinubu named Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe as Chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA). A medical doctor, legislator, and policy advocate, Oloriegbe’s selection signals a technocratic tilt—matching domain expertise with governance responsibility.

On Monday, in the realm of security and border control, President Tinubu extended the tenure of the Immigration Comptroller-General, Kemi Nandap, until 2026. The move offers stability to a sector navigating reform, technology upgrades, and global migration shifts. That stability is necessary, especially as regional and global mobility become increasingly complex.

Also on Monday, the President took a moment to hail business titan Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank, for being admitted into the prestigious Freedom of the City of London. In Ovia, Tinubu sees a model of Nigerian excellence—globally competitive, yet deeply rooted in local development.

By Wednesday, the President was again in celebratory mode—marking the 70th birthdays of two distinguished scholars: Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, an energy policy expert and university chancellor, and Professor Mobolaji Aluko, a pioneer in Nigerian higher education. Both men symbolize the intellectual capital Nigeria must harness to power Tinubu’s bold agenda, especially in education and energy.

But even in celebration, there was room for solemnity. The President mourned the death of Alhaji Abbas Sanusi, the Galadiman Kano and a revered elder in the emirate. His passing was a moment of national reflection—on heritage, humility, and history.

By Friday, the arc of empathy continued. The death of Dr. Idris Abdulaziz Dutsen Tanshi, a revered Islamic cleric from Bauchi, was met with a heartfelt tribute from the President, who acknowledged the cleric’s moral voice in turbulent times.

Yet even amid grief, governance did not pause.

That day, President Tinubu appointed Ayo Sotinrin as Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, reinforcing the administration’s rural development agenda. Similarly, Nasir Naeem Abdulsalam was named MD of Ajaokuta Steel, signaling renewed faith in industrial revitalization.

He also congratulated Aare Adetola Emmanuel-King at 50 and Asiwaju Sulaiman Adegunwa at 80, while mourning Senator Solomon Otegbola, the Asiwaju of Aworiland—a man whose life mirrored the quiet dignity of public service.

In sum, this past week will be remembered as one that blended institutional reform with cultural empathy, administrative vision with human recognition.

By overhauling the NNPCL board, President Tinubu showed that he is not beholden to the status quo. By defending the FCT’s fiscal independence, he affirmed his faith in decentralization and innovation. By traveling to Paris for self-review, he modeled introspective leadership. And by celebrating a teenager’s world record, he reminded us that greatness often comes from unexpected places.

It was a week that confirmed one thing: Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not just leading from the front—he is thinking ahead, reaching wide, and digging deep. If this tempo is sustained, Nigeria may well be on the cusp of a historic turning point.

While his self-reflection lasts in Paris, you can be sure that it will not be a dry week this week because our President doesn’t look back once he has his hands on the plough. There will be one or two in the course of the week. Just hang on.

April 6, 2025
Baba Lekki fumes and fulminates against senate

On Friday morning, just as one tucked into a most delicious meal of Kokoruwa, Sukuniyan and Cocoyam porridge in post-Ramadan bliss, a major commotion seemed to have erupted outside the house. The mad dustbin woman was shouting on top of her voice. From his room, one could hear Okon breathing heavily and mumbling heavy curses. “I been dey hope say no be dis kata woman who come bring dem Igbirra masquerades, becos I don beg her abi wetin now?” Okon was overheard rumbling with fright and premonition.

    “Etubom Okon, go and find out what is going on now”, yours sincerely ordered the crazy fellow from the safety of the sitting room.

     “Ha, oga, I no fit for dat one. Na true say my papa don quench, but mama still dey for Itigidi. I no want dem Natatashe woman come pieces me like dem fowl for Agege market”, the mad fellow moaned. But the foreboding dissolved as soon as Baba Lekki sauntered in half clad mumbling some fevered incantations. Apparently, he had been involved in some altercation about correct fares with the lorry driver and his hobos who brought him all the way from Ubiaja where he had gone on recce for some dreaded self-determination group in connection with the Uromi tragedy. The old contrarian had been eerily quiet since the advent of the new administration claiming he was on a watching brief. “Ogboni             man no dey fight ogboni man for public”, he would quip when hard-pressed.

   “Ha baba wonranwonran, so na you dey cause all them wahala and man wan pee for trousers thinking say na dem Tatashe abi Natasha woman?” Okon hollered mightily relived.

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    “ Ha, Okon, na dat girl go drive all dem yeye people comot dem senate. Natasha no be ordinary woman. As him name Akpoti be, and as dem Yoruba people dey say, na for home apoti go wait for them to come siddon. The girl dey roll dem with only one finger”, the choleric contrarian crowed with malicious relish.

    “Kai, baba, na dis Igbirra people go finis dem for dis obodo!” Okon wailed, eyeing yours truly with suspicion and unease.

    “Dem be better people. I gree dem own well well. Dem Igbirra people no dey carry last at all at all. But he be like if say for some of them something come dey do krain krain for dem head”. The crazy old man chanted as he furrowed his eyes in utter mischief.

    “ Ha ! Baba, how you come see dem rally for Okene?” Okon asked in half trepidation.

    “Okon, na dat one dem dey call Verdict 25. You know say for Verdict 83 as dem yeye boys de talk nonsense for NTA dem Ondo man come appear and him dey cry and dey piss. Luku, governor he dey run oo. But this Natasha own as dem lawyer go put am, evidence of crowd na crowded evidence and him come surpass bag of Aba signature. Even mad dog de sabi fire”, the old man snorted and vanished into thin air.

April 6, 2025
Bye bye, Kyari

Welcome Ojulari. But we are tired of stories on NNPCL. We now want testimonies.

Was Mele Kyari, the immediate past group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) Ltd,. fired by President Bola Tinubu? Was he not? Well, since the government itself did not expressly say he was fired, some Nigerians have chosen not to say he was fired. I therefore stand on that existing protocol.

But that is without prejudice to what I know, to wit: that, as a civil servant, the man ought to have left office by January 8, when he clocked 60, in line with civil service rules and regulations. But he did not. And we were not told that he had tenure extension. As a matter of fact, he ordinarily ought to have proceeded on pre-retirement leave some months before.

I also know that it took an official release from the government to announce his replacement as well as reconstitution of the company’s board.

Kyari, as far as I am concerned (and I guess I am speaking the minds of millions of Nigerians) had outlived his usefulness in that capacity a long time ago. That President Tinubu kept him for this long is part of the mystique of government.

At this juncture, permit me to extensively quote my thoughts on the man, as published in my column of September 15, 2024, titled” At last, Dangote petrol”.

Olawale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy in September last year announced Dangote Refinery’s coming on board:

“From October 1, NNPC Ltd. will commence the supply of about 385kbpd of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, to be paid for in Naira. In return, the Dangote Refinery will supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market, to be paid in Naira. “Diesel will be sold in Naira by the Dangote Refinery to any interested off-taker. PMS will only be sold to NNPC, NNPC will then sell to various marketers for now,” he said.

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“This, however, is my worry. I am sure millions of Nigerians must also be wary of this role assigned this company whose incompetence should qualify it for a space in the ‘Guinness World Records’. A company that tells you good morning when in actual fact it should be good night. A company that says it has sufficient stock of petrol to last for ages even when fuel queues have blocked all major roads in the country! NNPCL! Ha!

“How the company would be happy that a private concern succeeded in doing what it could not do in decades — ensure its refineries produce fuel for Nigerians, and then cooperate with that private concern — is yet to be seen. And, even if NNPCL must be involved, why under the same incompetent management? People who had spent billions of dollars turning around refineries that have refused to turn around? People who should ensure we refine petroleum products as a major crude producer but have found the job of importing the products more lucrative?

“I said it several times in the Muhammadu Buhari era that most of his cabinet ministers got the original of whatever spell they used on their principal that made him retain them and their incompetence until the very end when they all fumbled and wobbled out of government.

“If there is any such spell that Kyari, the group managing director/chief executive officer of NNPCL and his team are using on the present government, I destroy it with Holy Ghost fire!

“For me, Kyari has outlived his usefulness in that capacity and ought to have left that seat as early as yesterday. The Bola Tinubu government should do Nigerians the noble service of asking Kyari and his team to go home and rest.”

I am not done yet: “A friend of mine usually tells us that somebody who eats stockfish and does not pick his teeth would never pay his debt. Something must be wrong with our oil industry managers, as exemplified by Kyari and the others, who don’t feel ashamed in the midst of their peers at international oil fora, that they are importing refined petroleum products despite being a major crude producer. With men like these, who feel comfortable in such company, we cannot make progress in that vital sector.”

Those were my thoughts on this same page six months ago. I stand by them, largely.

But thank God, Kyari has now gone in peace. God has finally answered my prayer that Holy Ghost fire should annul whatever spell he had cast on the president (if any) because the president could have extended his tenure and some people would still have justified it.

However, for whatever it is worth, we have to credit Kyari for revamping the moribund Port Harcourt Refinery. Many people may be saying it is not the entire facility that is working despite the success and the humongous cost that the country committed to the revamping. This is true. But then, that we are now lifting some products, including petrol, from the refinery years after it had been dormant should still count for something.

Even my personal belief that the refinery would still not have worked if President Buhari had remained in power remains what it is in spite of available ‘circumstantial evidence’ — mere conjecture! The fact on ground as at today is that the refinery has been in production in the last four months. That is some progress and kudos to Kyari for that.

But, what I am saying is that given Kyari’s length of service in the industry, he ought to have understood the system, the global nature of the sector and how to truly reposition NNPCL as a force to reckon with in the comity of oil-producing countries.

Energy Reforms Advocates (ERA), an energy advocacy group, in its reaction to Kyari’s exit commended President Tinubu’s decision. It described it as a courageous step toward reforming Nigeria’s oil sector and tackling entrenched corruption.

A statement by ERA’s president Abdulkadri Isah, on Wednesday, barely a few hours after the announcement of Kyari’s exit said “The probe into fake refinery projects must be swift and thorough. Nigerians deserve to know how billions of dollars were allocated to non-existent or uncompleted projects while the country continued to rely on fuel imports,” he stated.

But, true, beyond commending the president over Kyari’s exit, there is a need to probe his tenure. As a matter of fact, people had been calling for this long before now. Indeed, such probe should be a routine in the company, and especially when a chief executive is leaving. The kind of opacity that enveloped NNPCL’s accounts during Kyari’s tenure justifies the calls for probe. NNPCL handles a lot of money, the bulk of which was believed to have escaped scrutiny in the Kyari years.

We also have turn-around maintenance projects that were handled under his watch which did not yield results. That should however be a project for the relevant government agencies.

For me, the Bayo Ojulari-led NNPCL already has its job cut out for it. One of its immediate concerns should be how to resume the naira-for-crude arrangement that expired last month-end and which Kyari did not seem keen on renewing. In spite of its imperfections, naira-for-crude was partly successful in reducing fuel prices. And, to that extent, it was rekindling the people’s hope that subsidy withdrawal was truly the way to go. This is not the kind of policy to stop abruptly, especially given where we are coming from. If government removed subsidy, it should not simultaneously stop what seems a soothing balm of hope to it.

Discerning Nigerians must have known, as I argued in my September 15, 2024 piece that Kyari cannot understand local refining of crude because, for the most part of his time in NNPC, all they knew was the template of importation of petroleum products. As a matter of fact, some people would argue that Kyari would never have wished for stoppage of fuel importation, for reasons they did not seem to be able to substantiate. But what is also incontestable is the fact that Kyari’s body language seemed to support the belief that he is more comfy with importation. Hence, he would not be in a hurry to renew the naira-for-crude deal.

I stumbled on the humongous amounts that this country still spent importing fuel even after Dangote Refinery and Port Harcourt Refinery as well as others have started or resumed production and I couldn’t but keep asking why things hardly work to plan in this country.

This was not what we bargained for before these refineries took off.

I know the Muhammadu Buhari administration had sold some of our crude upfront and we therefore do not have enough for the local refineries to meet our demand. I know we may have to import fuel to engender competition, especially to prevent one or two major players from hijacking the market and all that. But the figure of the forex we coughed up within so short a period, and despite the availability of more functional refineries is staggering. It is unfortunate I couldn’t just lay my hands on it as at the time of concluding this piece, otherwise, we would weep for the country where things we hope to give us joy usually end up delivering melancholy.

Ojulari and his team should quickly look into whatever was wrong with the naira-for-crude deal, with a view to resuming it. Reforms are embarked upon for the ultimate benefit of people, not for dead bodies.

Enough on Kyari.

In terms of qualifications, Ojulari fits the bill. In terms of experience and exposure, he appears spot-on. But sometimes these alone are not enough. I heard him saying at the handing over ceremony something like he would continue where his predecessor stopped. I hope that was mere political statement as he also quickly added that he looked forward to taking the company to the next level. They are not exactly the same thing o.

Taking NNPCL to the next level is not just the government ‘s expectation from him and his team, it is also what Nigerians expect.

We expect to see an NNPCL that would aspire and indeed take steps to do what its successful contemporaries are doing all over the world, that are fetching their owners cool money for developmental purposes. We look forward to seeing a truly improved and credible NNPCL that would tell us it is noon and we don’t have to bother to confirm. We want an NNPCL that its account record would be open to scrutiny.

We are tired of stories concerning NNPCL. Ojulari, we now want testimonies.

I congratulate and welcome you to the hot seat that you are now privileged to sit on. It is a seat many would fall over themselves to sit on, despite its hotness. So, you are lucky to be sitting on it today. Heard of good problem? Yours is one.

Once again, congratulations. But remember: “oju la ri, ore o de ‘nu o.

April 6, 2025
Uromi killings, threats and counterthreats

The March 27 lynching of 16 northern travellers at Uromi in Edo State on their way to their home state of Kano cannot be excused by any stretch of argument. The lynch mob disputes the narration that the murdered men were hunters, insisting instead that they were probably kidnappers with fabricated stories of cross-country hunting expeditions. Whatever they were, saints or sinners, lynching cannot be defended. Captured on video, the horrific act has incensed the entire country and instigated a rash of ethnic, regional and religious threats and counterthreats. Though the Edo State government has moved very quickly to douse tension and promised justice to the slain, it appears insufficient to assuage irate northerners who have promised revenge. The social media did a truly despicable job of amplifying the ensuing national rage.

However, the Uromi lynching was not the first horrific mass murder on Nigerian roads orchestrated by vigilantes or protesters. There have been many others, both on highways and in the countryside. The March 27 killings will obviously not be the last because of the social and political dynamics that catalyse them. Just days after, on April 2, armed militiamen slaughtered over 50 people in Bokkos local government area of Plateau State, perpetrating the bloody cycle of ethnic cleansing and reprisals that have savaged the state for decades. Unfortunately, those killings have not elicited the kind of rage that followed the Uromi killings. It seems as if the country has become inured to the Plateau militia killings. Worse, the security and law enforcement agencies have not unfolded measures to curb the social media incitement that followed the Edo lynching, nor shown whether they have arrested those who uploaded videos openly threatening reprisals or promising ethnic and religious war. Consequently, there has been little deterrence.

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More fundamentally, the Uromi killings, like other horrifying mob actions that unfortunately overlap ethnic and religious divisions, are symptomatic of deeper structural malaise troubling the country. Until this malaise is confronted and tackled dispassionately, expect further spirals of mob actions capable of tilting the country into the abyss. Every lynching that hues to ethnic and religious divisions moves the country closer to the precipice. The Uromi killings, particularly the regional dimension it has taken, speak to the failure of Nigerian leaders’ capacity to forge a nation out of diversity. When analysts compare the mainly northern outrage over the Uromi tragedy to their silence over the Plateau or Benue ethnically-inspired killings, they are not just searching for false equivalences. They are also deeply worried about the dangerous undercurrents frothing below the surface as well as the eruptions likely to follow in the near future.

Nigeria’s ethnic and religious schisms have not abated; instead, they have become ossified. If nothing concrete is done, they will reach breaking point. Though the Uromi killings have little to do with the ethnicity or religion of the unfortunate travellers, considering that the Hausa community in the town was not attacked and unarmed Hausa travellers were let through, deep-seated suspicions about the connection between herdsmen and kidnapping in nearby forests easily turned the situation into a tinderbox. As long as the abductions and rape and murder in the forests and farmlands of many southern communities persist, attacks and reprisals such as were witnessed in Uromi, Edo State, will continue. It would be a mistake to conclude that the March 27 killings were targeted. They were not. Instead, they were a natural if tragic and indefensible consequence of the impotence of Nigeria’s law enforcement paradigms. The problem goes beyond the constant struggle between farmers and pastoralists. The problem now seems underscored by a strange and foreign ideology of struggling for living space, the Lebensraum that underpinned NAZI ideology during World War II.

Now and again, communities may have boundary disputes that explode into open and violent confrontations. What is happening in Benue, Plateau, and the countryside of many southern communities, however, goes beyond such episodic eruptions. The attacks have been ferocious and orchestrated, with attackers fully armed, and locals suspicious of the impartiality of security agencies, especially under the last administration. In Plateau State for instance, many communities have been sacked and occupied by invaders, with the federal government unable or unwilling to vanquish the marauders and return stolen lands to their rightful owners. When the government demonstrates a lack of capacity, it leaves room for often untrained and uncoordinated vigilantes to sometimes take the laws into their own hands. If the government is honest enough to admit the ineffectiveness of their law enforcement paradigms, and recognises that whole swathes of farmlands, neighbourhoods and highways have become very unsafe, they might feel the urgency of devising new security initiatives to tackle the crises before they spiral out of control.

In addition, given how easily and quickly the Uromi killings (and so many other killings in different parts of the country) were regionalised, ethnicised, and religionised, it is a pointer to the desperate need to settle the national question of how Nigerian national groups should relate in the same geographic space. It is far better to control the explosion than pretend the problem does not exist. Indeed, with so many youths unafraid to put up videos calling for war and pogrom, while insisting that the country is unworkable, how many of them would be arrested? If past administrations arrogantly pretended that Nigerian unity was not negotiable, and each succeeding administration has been reluctant to enact Perestroika-type restructuring because they are afraid of unpredictable outcomes, the current administration should find a way to broach the subject and do something about it before apocalypse comes. To continue to pretend all is well, or that the situation can still be managed or left to chance or the elements, is to make doomsday inevitable. There is simply no other way to explain why the Uromi crime was escalated into a call for pogrom or war, with some of the videos bellowing anti-Christian and even anti-Igbo rhetoric.

April 6, 2025
Bayelsa’s Wike rally

Bayelsa State governor Douye Diri has been frenetic about the NEW Associates public rally planned for April 12 in Yenagoa by Mr. George Turnah, an ally of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike. The organisers hope the rally would burnish the image of Mr Wike as well as underscore support for President Bola Tinubu. Mr Diri would have none of it in light of the stalemated turf war between suspended Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, an Ijaw man, and Mr Wike, his predecessor. Since Bayelsa is the only majority Ijaw State in Nigeria, and considering that a mega meeting of Ijaw leaders had recently been concluded in Yenagoa, the state capital, to drum up support for their suspended kinsman, Mr Diri takes it as a personal slight to have to ‘host’ the Wike rally.

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Firstly, he shouted himself hoarse about the impossibility of holding the rally, which he insisted would lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state. Then, secondly, he arrogated to himself the right to deny the rally organisers any public space in the state for the rally. Still, the organisers pressed ahead. Then, finally, out of desperation, the state got a court injunction to stop the rally, with a hearing scheduled for April 11. Mr Diri may have many reasons to be concerned about the rally, but he reminds Nigerians of the botched attempt to deny Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan the constitutional right to hold a rally in her hometown. Worse, Mr Diri has re-enacted the abysmal tactics of suborning the courts to legitimise anti-constitutional measures. It is ironic how many Nigerian governors, leaders and politicians claiming to be democrats and constitutionalists pass the dictatorship test. It was of course unwise to try to hold a pro-Wike rally in Bayelsa, but it is even more reprehensible to deny the rally organisers their constitutional rights.

April 6, 2025
If Tinubu had quit 2023 presidential race (1)
On the day he turned 73, President Bola Tinubu reminisced on the 2023 presidential race and confessed he nearly quit. The man widely believed to have a steely interior stunned his audience at the State House in Abuja on March 29 when he disclosed just how close he was to abandoning the race. It was an interesting revelation that quaintly humanised him during the crisis triggered by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency redesign. Everyone, he indicated, thought the crisis was a product of his ambition to run for the presidency. Should he quit, they believed, the crisis would abate, especially because they didn’t see an immediate end to the naira shortage madness. The reports did not, however, say whether the president’s eyes moistened as his visitor spoke to him about dropping his ambition because the naira crisis was all about him.

Historians recall that during World War II, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, flagged off the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, his eyes moistened with barely concealed tears, and his hands shook very badly as he held a cup of coffee. He moaned that he knew that some of the ‘boys’ he was seeing off that day would never come back. President Tinubu gave no hint about what else he felt about the presidential race beyond wondering whether it was not time to quit the race as he saw wealthy people reduced to nervous wrecks over the naira crisis. While candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi openly extolled the naira redesign measure, knowing of course that it was expected to hurt the chances of then candidate Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress standard-bearer was agonising over what fateful step to take to mitigate disaster. The president did not also reveal how long he contemplated the option of withdrawing from the race, but it is fitting that when his relative told him he would be defeated, he was spiritually smart enough to vigorously assert that he would win.

Many people are today spiritually aware of death and life being in the power of the tongue, and have learnt to confess unwaveringly from the depths of their souls their victory over hostile circumstances. The time may come soon when President Tinubu will give further insight into just how he steeled himself to victory despite nearly the whole country and the entirety of the federal government being against his presidential ambition. That story has not been told. Yes, the country remembers how he organised and funded his campaign, posted sentries to various lookout mountains in the North and Middle Belt, and shuffled his men as well as his cards to take advantage of various positions and situations. Yes, they have reviewed his calculations, especially where he planned to win the most votes, where he planned to place second, and which regions to focus on in order to eventually place first overall. Yes, also, the country remembers how the balkanisation of opposing parties helped ensure his victory ultimately.

But so far, neither he nor anyone else has spoken of what went on in his mind, where and how he conjured the audacity to speak out about his turn (emi lokan) in Abeokuta, and where, despite knowing how well he was encircled by enemies, he found the courage to deprecate the naira redesign measure and pronounce that voting would take place and he would win the presidential poll. By his unmeasured and cavalier remarks, he seemed to wave a red rag to a bull, yet seemed all the more confident he would win. Did he place the confidence for victory in his calculations and permutations or was it something more ethereal, more spiritual, more transcendental? His opponents in the party, he knew and saw clearly, had a head start over him, as they removed former Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole from the chairmanship of the ruling party, stifled the chances of the APC’s Osagie Ize-Iyamu who was comprehensively beaten by then Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party, and engaged in fierce manoeuvres to whittle down his influence and reduce him to pulp. And he saw just how bitterly his party’s leadership, interim and substantive, resented him. Yet, he shouldered on inexplicably.

By far the most damaging to his ambition was how most of his high-flying mentees in and around the corridors of power broke ranks with him and plotted his defeat. Where did he get the courage to plod on? Citing implausible theories about political liberalism, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was then vice president, simply scorned history and culture and vied for the same stool with his mentor. Former Osun governor and Interior minister Rauf Aregbesola turned vindictive and scurrilous; former Ekiti governor and one-time Mines and Steel Development minister Kayode Fayemi also actively undermined his mentor; and a host of other officials who had received a helping hand from him at one time or the other lacerated him. But it got even worse. Many of those close to him, who did not actively undermine him, were either indifferent to his ambition or insistent he could never win the 2023 presidential race. After all, did not his relative, the president mused, turn to him and told him pointblank that he could not win the race. In other words, he knew that some of those skeptical about his chances did not come to that conclusion out of malice; yet he neither wavered nor relented.

Sometime later, perhaps the public would catch a glimpse of how his mind worked and still works, and the spiritual insight that underpins his ambitions. It may be assumed, however, that his spiritual insight is the product of his own deliberate and orchestrated efforts to get into realms the ordinary politician would find inaccessible. Or perhaps it is a mixture of both divine and personal orchestration. It would be interesting to know what he saw when he announced his interest in the race, especially when his party leaders had virtually given him up for dead, shut him out of the corridors of power, denuded him of influence within the party he laboured more than others to build, and largely stripped him of the support of those he had helped to prominence. Even his Yoruba kinsmen became his chief opponents, hating, despising, denigrating, and ridiculing him with passion, composing spiteful hymns about his childhood, educational background, family dynamics, and political trajectories. It is unclear whether most of those who resented him even knew why, especially the unmoored youths of the Southwest who paradoxically roam and idolise the Lagos he helped to elevate.

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To throw his hat in the ring, shrug off the insults, turn a blind eye to the massive betrayal of mentees and friends, repose faith in the unconventional and provocative Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, contend with overwhelming internal opposition from the ruling party and the presidency, and go on to announce that it was his turn to assume the presidency and would win the office is either sheer political lunacy or a far deeper and inscrutable appreciation of how spiritual and celestial constellations align in favour of an individual. More, having gone through a particularly tough and chastening childhood, he had been forged in furnaces fiery enough to empty a normal person of hope and purpose. If he emerged through all the trials fairly unscathed, perhaps he felt he had become adopted by the ‘gods’. Indeed, throughout the presidential race, he spoke the language of the spirit, and did not for once spoke about or make room for doubts or contemplate the thought of defeat. While his closest and most faithful allies oscillated between days of highs and weeks of lows, aspirant and later candidate Tinubu fixed his gaze on possibilities and outcomes which were fairy tales to the ordinary man.

Until President Tinubu gives unfettered insight into how his mind worked before the poll and what factors have shaped his outlook over the decades, or how he became inured to the demons that torment the ordinary man, the public would never know what transpired in the last poll beyond the arithmetic of the votes or the regional dynamics that thrust him into the presidency. Nigerians catch glimpses of his real but hidden self in some of the policies and appointments he has made so far, whether it was the subsidy removal measure, the currency float, or the tax bills. And they also catch glimpses of the hidden hands of the spiritual forces arrayed on his side, whether it pertains to defeating ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s coordinated efforts to scuttle the presidential poll result, the massive calls for coup and revolution, and the continuing sabotage in various sectors of the economy and society. Whatever it is, on the occasion of his 73rd birthday, he gave a hint into the other, unspoken and hidden side of how he nearly turned himself into an alien to win the election. Meanwhile, he has taught many a Christian leader a lesson in how to resist the portents of failure and disaster, by asserting that there is a lifting up when others speak about casting down, and by turning words into spirits.
- To be continued
April 6, 2025
Atiku, Wike: the jousting continues ad nauseam

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 presidential race is a story of what might have been. Does he regret how he ran the race? Does he know a different outcome was actually within his reach, had he been less presumptuous? Or was he just plain incompetent in political strategy? There is nothing in the former vice president’s public statements, now or in the past 20 months or so, that gives any indication he was remorseful about the tactics he used in the race. If he suffered pangs of remorse privately, he has been clever and successful in masking it. If he didn’t feel any remorse, then he must be more stoical than many people give him credit. But any normal and clever politician in Alhaji Atiku’s worn shoes would have pined away in regret for frittering away what was undoubtedly his best chance to clinch the race.

Last week’s verbal jousting with Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister Nyesom Wike indicates that the former vice president actually remains sanguine about his monumental electoral loss. He may never get the chance again, whether to run for the top office or win. In 2023, all he needed to do was indulge in the realpolitik that had hallmarked his decades-long political career. He was not the most perceptive and principled of leaders, but nature at least afforded him chances upon chances in two or three dizzying months in mid-2022 to win the diadem he had coveted all his life. Uncharacteristically, for someone so placid about political morality and so unfeeling about other people’s opinions, he flung it out of the window and failed to seize the moment. Last week, in their verbal jousting, both men showed who was to blame and what that critical factor that would have produced a different outcome was.

Alhaji Atiku drew the first blood in a television interview where he insisted that Mr Wike’s character disqualified him from being picked as running mate. He was not only the second pick by a committee the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) set up to do the sieving, the former vice president said dismissively, his role in the Rivers State crisis and his giddy display at the FCT made the former Rivers State governor a misfit for the onerous responsibility of deputizing for the president. Now, of all the criticisms anyone might level at Mr Wike, assaulting his character is the most intolerable. He believes he is a political purist, and more, he believes his judgement is generally infallible, moored, he thinks, on the most indubitable ethos any system could forge. For instance, in his diatribe against Rivers governor Siminalayi Fubara, the issue of character failure of his successor remains the recurring theme. To, therefore, be accused of character failure was a gauntlet he would never fail to take up.

The former vice president had obviously forgotten his facts or mixed up his story, thundered Mr Wike through his spokesman. The PDP committee in question, roared Mr Wike, actually had the FCT minister as the number one pick, with 13 votes, and former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the number two pick with only two votes. The former vice president, he said, mixed up his facts or lied sacrilegiously in the time of Ramaddan. Incidentally, PDP spokesmen later shamefacedly admitted that Mr Wike was first pick. And as for impugning his character as governor, former governor, and now FCT minister, the former vice president, he said, simply evaded the truth, avoided blame for his 2023 humiliation, and pursued red herrings. Mr Wike said he had since moved on beyond the 2022 mishap, advising Alhaji Atiku to do the same.

Unfortunately for the former vice president, Mr Wike, despite his own private failings, many of which are obvious, was right in his summation of why the PDP lost the presidential election. It was tactical folly for the PDP presidential candidate to have imagined that picking Dr Okowa would enable him to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. He had thought that the Ifeanyi in Dr Okowa’s name would help him appeal to both the Igbo and South-South votes. At another time and perhaps era, theoretically, he would be right. But not when a certain Peter Obi was also in the race on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), and certainly not when the Southeast’s herd mentality could not be immediately discounted or mitigated by any known factor. What is even more flummoxing is that everyone, save the former vice president, knew that the ideologically superficial Mr Obi was nevertheless sensible enough to know that all he needed to do in the race was lock the Southeast down and make a dangerous, if fatal, pitch for the Christian vote. The LP candidate was in fact coherent and largely successful in both efforts. It clearly sounded the death knell to a presidential ambition to ignore the damage Mr Obi was capable of doing, and to pick an intelligent but largely uncharismatic running mate with no strategic appeal.

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If Alhaji Atiku had picked Mr Wike, as the more politically savvy PDP committee suggested, he would have saved the party from fracturing, thus defanging the nuisance value of the Group of Five (G-5), kept the usually conservative South-South in the bag, set the cat among the Southeast pigeons who would doubt their insular champion, and convinced enough Middle Belt and core North voters to put all their eggs in one basket as he parochially preached. He had the clearest and most enticing pathway to the presidency in the 2023 poll. But instead, he was sure, without any basis, that his main opponent, the then candidate Tinubu, would falter. He then reinforced the farce by reposing confidence in the promises of many presidential insiders of the day, leading him to defy the threats of the G-5 and Mr Wike. No one so more willingly committed political suicide.

Alhaji Atiku may be unprincipled, but he is not stupid. He probably knows that he made a big mistake in 2023. He also probably suspects that the last presidential election was his best and last chance to run for the coveted office. But he needs a sacrificial lamb to convince the world that too many ‘traitors’ doomed his electoral chances, and also needs any ointment wherever he can find it to salve his wounded conscience. He has never wished to be a statesman, and would, therefore, be loth to admit his error nobly and bravely. He will, therefore, continue to joust with Mr Wike, abuse him at every turn, and nitpick his faults. Redirecting the attention to the FCT minister will, however, not mitigate his failure to make hay while the sun shone in 2023. Whereas hope may be rising for Mr Obi at the LP as the Supreme Court has weighed in against the intransigent party chairman, Julius Abure, in the PDP, and in the foreseeable future, the pall is unlikely to lift anytime soon, regardless of how mendacious the former vice president can be.

April 6, 2025
Before Chelle goes

No stories. The World Cup is neither executed through prayers, nor is it a lottery or a centre where anyone can walk in to operate the gaming machines. No. It is a platform to showcase excellence built over time and not a stage to exhibit mediocrity as we have always done in the past.

If Nigeria must avoid missing the next World Cup, the players must know the implications of not attending the Mundial. Not attending the World Cup for eight years would destroy the progress we have achieved in the past. Nigeria’s other cadres have missed out on participating in their World Cups. We glossed over it. Soon, the hurricane would sweep off Nigeria from the senior World Cup, leaving in its wake sorrow, blood, tears, and all shades of buck-passing. What a pity. I weep for Victor Osimhen.

What does patriotism to your fatherland mean in football? Let’s take a trip back to the Euro 2020 Final and watch how Cristiano Ronaldo, in spite of his injury, sat on the bench and joined the coaching crew on the touchline to shout, instruct, and motivate his colleagues to victory. CR7 could have walked down into the dressing room to do other things, but the patriotism in him didn’t make him do that. He joined in that instance to ensure victory for his country. Luke Shaw was shown a red card against Italy but stayed with the England squad for the next game against Ukraine despite being suspended for the match instead of returning to Manchester United. Patriotism, passion and loyalty are the identities of a warrior, and the players mentioned above understand this wholeheartedly.

Would we also want another shameful situation where we wake up one morning to find the international media awash with stories that Eric Chelle has quit the Super Eagles as Head Coach, like most of his predecessors have done in the past?

Can any follower of the game categorically say that the contractual deal between Chelle and his employer, NFF, is cast in stone? Can we beat our chests to say that Chelle has been paid his wages, bonuses and allowances to date? Again, what would Chelle be doing between April and early September when the next two World Cup games would be played? Who has seen Chelle’s contract to say that all the terms can be met, beginning with getting an official car and driver, not forgetting a befitting five-star accommodation space fitted with an Olympic-sized swimming pool to say the least?

Would anyone be surprised to read here that there are whispers in the camp about unpaid entitlements for the coaches and backroom staff? I hope the NFF knows that the European clubs would be neck deep in their preparations for the 2025/26 season. They wouldn’t be favourably disposed towards releasing their players for national team matches. The players too, would want to participate in their clubs’ pre-season training sessions to quicken the processes of blending the old and recruits meant to fortify their European clubs.

Already, we are being told that the NFF will soon schedule a crisis meeting to address undisclosed subject heads. Indeed, it appears that Chelle’s contract doesn’t specify what would happen in the future. However, uncertainty over his long-term position has reportedly left him reconsidering his role.

According to Nigerian sports journalist and lawyer, Osasu Obayiuwana, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation.

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“Eric Chelle is considering terminating his contract as Super Eagles manager. Sources within the NFF say that uncertainty over his fate beyond the FIFA World Cup qualifying series has led to a dramatic change of heart. The NFF will hold a crisis meeting to address the matter,” Obayiuwana revealed.

Yes, Chelle has seen that Nigeria’s chances of participating in the 2026 World Cup are far-fetched. And he needs to plot the trajectory of this movement as a professional football manager so that he isn’t marooned with Nigeria’s anticipated failure to pick the Group C’s sole qualification ticket. Ignore the cheap talk of qualifying as the group’s second-best team. This comes with another round of more difficult games.

Rather than allow the laws take its course on the issue of South Africa fielding an unqualified player against Lesotho, our soccer federation chieftains are taking turns to shed light on it publicly, forgetting that the task of winning the remaining four matches is much easier than leading the campaign for the points deduction from their current points haul. What these NFF busybodies don’t understand is that deducting three points from Bafana Bafana’s points’ haul leaves the door ajar for Republic of Benin to finish in second position, of course, Benin have no game against South Africa making the last Group C game between Nigeria and Benin one in which the visitors a spoiler when the chips are down in October.

I hope nobody will be talking about a South African conspiracy when the Rwandans come to Uyo in September to play us as if it is their first game in the competition. NFF people must learn how to keep their traps shut with due respect. If the Rwandans come to Uyo for the three points, it would be a legitimate ambition, having beaten us 2-1 inside the Stadium of Champions in Uyo during one of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification games.

Now that we have a coach for the Eagles, NFF chieftains should task Chelle to establish enduring structures for the team to return to its previous winning form rather than insult fans with sloppy displays reminiscent of what we saw in Uyo last month against Zimbabwe, which ended 1-1. Nigeria has lost the fear factor, which made teams pitched against us here panic before the kick-off until they eventually get bombed with goals on match day. Rock in your casket, gangling Rashidi Yekini.

NFF should allow the coach to pick his players since the buck stops on his table when things go awry. It won’t be a bad idea if the present members of the body’s Technical Subcommittee are removed and replaced with practising tacticians of repute. Being a former footballer doesn’t immediately qualify you to be a member of the NFF technical sub-committee.

Whenever the Super Eagles’ team lists are released, they always look the same. Those who tottered during the competitions are swept back into the team on the altar of being experienced. The question to them is when will the budding talents in the 774 Local Government Areas of the country be eligible to play for Nigeria? In the past, we used to blame a mafia to certain players in the former Midwestern region in Nigeria. A senior colleague described those calling the shots before team lists are released as the ”committee of friends,” with the coaches kowtowing to their choices.

Indeed, Chelle should develop a template that makes it mandatory for only regular players from the top European leagues to be invited to play for Nigeria going forward. Chelle needs to be told to stick to his plans by committing the country to play warm-up international friendlies against countries better than the Super Eagles to really assess our team. Friendly matches are trial games designed to expose new players and identify areas for improvement in the team, thereby introducing healthy competition for shirts among the players.

April 5, 2025