The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Pretentious killers of democracy

    Pretentious killers of democracy

    Those responsible for killing democracy in Nigeria are turning around to blame latter-day leaders for the monumental effects of the serious infractions they committed while in office.

    Those responsible for the fragility and weakness of institutions are shifting blame. They delude themselves into thinking that the country is enveloped in a collective amnesia.

    The master riggers, clueless actors, serial defectors, and religious bigots are mooting an inexplicable alliance and downplaying the obvious distrust. They hope to hijack power and return the country to the decay they wrought. They desperately need power to feather their nests and not to cater for the welfare of the masses. New people are not joining the gang. They are only recruiting their old, distraught followers in an unguarded noise making.

    Their aim is to garnish their lies with enticing flavours, taint the truth as a means of their prevarication, and instigate a section of the media against their target, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has refused to fall into their trap.

    The objectives are two-fold. They plan to weaken the government of the day—although they were not better in their days in power, as their antecedents clearly show. They now peep at 2027 in trepidation, knowing that as things get better, the nation will mock them and ignore their antics. This is the reason they are desperate to work for the collapse of the government by all means.

    Also, they play the diversionary game to get by. They apply emotional manipulation in their game of deceit. They do not want the world, especially their gullible supporters, to see what the current administration has done well. They are concerned about a few inevitable foibles and human pitfalls. What the government has done right is not visible to them. As goes the Yoruba saying: the enemy’s horse is always dwarfish. They do not bother about this administration’s accomplishments. They enjoy pointing fingers over the challenges that are half-solved and those being frontally tackled to achieve the desired result, as their implementation is ongoing.

    They raise an unrealistic standard they never met when they misused authority before power slipped from them. They complain not because of their love for the masses but because they miss the privileges associated with public office.

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    They are united not by vision, ideas, and conviction but by their morbid hate for their common foe in the highest office in the land.

    Their past gave some of them away as religious bigots. Now, they are still exploiting the opium of the masses for manipulation. Some of them – Christians – are treading the populist path by going to break fast with the Muslim faithful when they never met the criterion of sacrifice by observing Lent, which their religion demands. They sat on mats with commoners, taking pictures and inundating the social media with their symbol of camouflage reticence.

    Their adversarial media backers accuse pro-Tinubu supporters of warming up for a second-term mobilisation. But they are also promoting the crusade for an alliance by the disorganised and disunited opposition gang.

    At their recent outing in Abuja, they upgraded their propaganda to absurdity. They cried out to themselves, saying democracy was declining, falling, and not living up to expectation – their expectation, that is. They also turned to the judiciary to malign the temple of justice. The sin of the judiciary is that in the last presidential election, the loser was not proclaimed as the winner.

    Instructively, two leading members of the opposition claimed in 2023 that they, and not President Tinubu, won the poll. They were fooling themselves. At least one loser was lying. Beyond that, the court ruled, based on the constitution, the law, electoral guidelines, and the evidence before it, that the two leading losers could not prove their allegations against the winner and the electoral umpire.

    Whenever the court rules in their favour, it is the triumph of democracy. Whenever the ruling is against the hypocrites, it is a travesty of justice and the rule of law.

    In 1999 and 2003, the presidential battle shifted from the ballot box to the court. They won. It was democracy at work. In 2023, when they lost, it was the decline of democracy and natural justice.

    The propaganda is ongoing that all jurists or most of them are corrupt because they allegedly wrote judgments in the bedrooms of some imaginary political barons and moneybags. Yet, those making the allegations lack the courage to reveal the identities of the culprits.

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) is responsible for the discipline of erring judges. But the venerable complainants are timid; they fail to submit petitions that would make the body launch an investigation. They commit a fallacy of easy generalisation.

    It is ironic that those whose political careers were salvaged by the judiciary in the past are turning around to mock the Bench without justification. It is worrisome because while the executive and the legislative arms can be dragged into the mucky waters at any time, it is forbidden for the honourable judges to join issues with politicians outside the court, no matter the provocation and intensity of smear campaigns.

    It is nothing short of regression to maladaptive behaviour in the post-election period by pompous candidates with an inflated ego. These characters indulge in an unending murmuring, almost two years after the poll, due to their reluctance to embrace reality and accept their fate. That lack of adjustment, which makes them to hold on to the past instead of focusing on the future realistically, is likely to affect their preparation for the next election. Psychologically speaking, the attribution of failure at tge poll to their rival who won meant that they lack an internal  locus of control.

    They are regrouping after they were scattered by antagonistic interests in the past. But a deep gulf still exists between them and the masses who they have endlessly exploited in the past through their rape of democracy.

    The proponents of the newest theory of democratic decline derived a weapon of blackmail, following the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State by the President. They forget what their grand patron did in Ekiti and Plateau, the two states where the jungle never matured. The critics closed their eyes to reality and truth. As accomplices in the civilian dictatorship in Rivers, none of them raised an eyebrow when the House of Assembly was callously demolished by the power-drunk chief executive, who described it as his personal property. They also kept mum when lawmakers were denied access to the parliament, thereby denying 27 constituencies of representation for more than a year. They pretended as if all was well when only a three-member Assembly indulged in constitutional crimes against popular rule by erroneously giving the nod to the governor’s illegal actions. To them, all was well when the governor swore in commissioners who had not been screened by the parliament. They were pleased with running the state without a budget.

    As the Supreme Court judgment stated, there was no legal State Executive Council (Exco) in place, and the governor took the actions – in lawlessness.

    The appropriate Assembly, deriving its strength from the court verdict, immediately issued an impeachment notice. Over 14 breaches were listed. It was evident that the governor’s camp was packaging a resistance. The tough guys have been told by the chief security officer of the state to wait for some inexplicable instructions. Chaos was looming. Pipelines were blown off. But before the escalation of violence, the Commander-in-Chief acted fast.

    If any of the opposition leaders were presiding over the national affairs in Abuja, what would be his next line of action? Would he allow the Rivers of crisis to degenerate into a fire? Would they not later turn round again to blame the President for inaction?

    If democracy, as they claim, is declining or falling, then, the etiology of the rot should be probed. In rewinding the events of the past for a replay, they have been revealed, more or less, as the culprits.

    In 2003, a political earthquake reverberated across the Southwest. The then ruling party at the centre was the beneficiary. Five of the six governors in the region were thrown out of office in a curious electoral coup. But they accepted the turn of events. The affected governors never went to the tribunal for redress. Also, they walked freely on the streets. There was no invitation from any anti-graft body. They served their people to the best of their abilities and within the limited resources available to their states.

    Four years later, the so-called apostles of democracy were on the prowl, stealing the mandate of the people in many states. The mandates were later retrieved in court. The funny aspect of it all was that a do-or-die election was conducted, and the beneficiary, in sincerity, owned up that he rode to power on the back of a flawed and fraudulent exercise. On that account alone, the leaders of the then ruling party could be described as men of doubtful democratic credentials. They are fake democratic curators brandishing a puritanical zeal.

    When the anti-graft agencies became a tool for victimisation under their leadership, when court orders were wilfully disobeyed and violated, when their government became a cesspit of corruption, when federal allocations to states were seized and governors threatened, and when tension enveloped the polity because they wanted to hijack power in some states without actually winning democratic elections, they did not see it as a killing of democracy.

    The supporters of fuel subsidy are still annoyed and fighting back. They are few. They have made money from the loophole for years to the detriment of the larger population.

    In the history of Nigeria, none of them fought for democracy. While the soldiers among them claimed to have fought to keep Nigeria together, the question now is: What really brought about the civil war? Was the war not foisted on Nigeria by the scramble for power among ambitious soldiers? They created the ugly situation. They fought hard among themselves to clean up the mess. They rose to political fame by dismantling democratic structures. When they led the country in khaki, to whom were they accountable? Where did they derive their legitimacy when they ruled by the force of arms?

    What was their position on the June 12, 1993 election annulment? Did any one of them fight for the restoration of civil rule, which they became beneficiaries of in the Fourth Republic?

    Was the massacre at Odi and Zaki Biam democratic?

    What is their view on the resolution of the National Question? Are they not the unitarists serving as clogs in the wheel of federalism?

    President Tinubu should not allow these fake apostles of democracy to distract his attention from the implementation of his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda.’ He should remain focused. The greatest challenges now, like before, are security and the economy. As things get better, Nigerians should support him in his bid to reposition the country to attain greater heights in all spheres.

  • Peter Obi and the limits of populism

    Peter Obi and the limits of populism

    A video that went viral during this year’s Muslim Ramadan fast was that of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential general elections, Mr Peter Obi, breaking the fast with some urchins in a community in Northern Nigeria. There was Obi, a veritable billionaire, sitting legs outstretched on a mat with some Muslim youngsters scooping rice and choice protein into their mouths from the same plate. As Sam Omatseye observed in a commentary on the episode, the quality of the fried rice and chicken being devoured in the brazen politicization of what was supposed to be a sober religious observance was definitely not what the northern youths dining with Obi and members of their community were accustomed to. Indeed, the trademark designer French suit worn by the former presidential candidate stood in sharp contrast to the humble apparel of his Ramadan hosts even though Obi would want them to believe that he is in disposition, outlook and inclination one of the downtrodden members of the society who is wholeheartedly committed to their cause.

    Yet, the discomfiture of Obi at being forced to be a key actor in this farcical Ramadan breaking of fast theatre designed to score cheap political goals was all too obvious. Deep within him, the wealthy and hugely ambitious trader would have loved to be somewhere else but for the desperate need to correct his past electorally fatal missteps and carve a new political image for himself in preparation for another bid for the presidency even though he swears that he is not desperate to be President of Nigeria but only in contributing to actualizing the common good for her people. Before now, there had been another widely publicized visual in which Obi was seen in another northern Muslim community joining adherents of Islam in washing his feet in preparation for prayers, although it is not clear if that was during the fasting period.

    These antics of Obi illustrate vividly the superficiality of his politics of cheap populism devoid of deep convictions and firmly held principles. To Obi, image matters far more than substance. Like the chameleon, he changes to reflect the colour of his environment, and it is difficult to place who he really is in reality. During the campaigns for the 2023 presidential election, Obi had politicized religion to a degree never before witnessed in Nigerian politics. To whip up the support of Christians, which he successfully did to a considerable extent, he engaged in what was popularly called ‘church tourism’, going from church to church, particularly among the large Pentecostal congregations on some occasions, melodramatically calling on Christians to “take back your country”. Those Christian clerics and their delirious congregations who rapturously cheered his every word must be wondering now if this is the same man washing his feet to participate in prayers in mosques and breaking the Ramadan fast in Muslim communities.

    In reality, for Obi, neither Christianity nor Islam is of the essence; it is his ambition that matters, and the emotions and sentiments of religious adherents are to be cynically manipulated for partisan political ends. What, then, does Obi truly believe in? It is difficult to say. Is his much-advertised commitment to frugality and material asceticism not just a clever, hypocritical ploy to place himself in sharp contradistinction to a culture of opulence and display of affluence by a decadent political elite not necessarily out of principled conviction but to promote his political aspiration? It is not unlikely. If he can exploit religion with such hypocritical cynicism, is there anything else he cannot selfishly mine in a desperate quest for political gold?

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    Quite apart from the Christian vote, the other constituency actively cultivated by Obi in the countdown to the last presidential election was that of his Igbo ethnic kinsmen. He did not have to exert himself too much in that regard. Understandably desirous of an Igbo presidency for the first time in this dispensation, the Igbo massed enthusiastically around Obi who they saw as the best and brightest opportunity to achieve this objective especially because of the cynical support he enjoyed from the likes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Chief Ayo Adebanjo despite their repeatedly demonstrated deficiency of electoral value in the Southwest. And to his credit, Obi did well in achieving his objectives in the 2023 presidential election.

    Not only did he win nearly 90 per cent of the Igbo vote, he also won massive Christian as well as the large numbers of migrant Igbo votes in the South-South, Nasarawa and Plateau States in the North-Central as well as in Lagos and Abuja. But that could not provide him a pathway to the presidency with the entire far northern part of Nigeria, more than half of the country, understandably refraining from voting for a man who enjoyed the fanatical support of Christian pastors who openly denigrated both the North and Islam.

    It is that error that Obi is now cleverly trying to correct by enthusiastically seeking to project the image of a broad-minded nationalist who transcends a parochial mindset and does not discriminate against any religion. He knows that his religious parochialism and ethno-regional sectionalism cost him the last election. Yet, he is striving to cultivate a national political base, without which it is impossible to win a presidential election in Nigeria without the intellectual honesty to admit that he lost the last election because of a flawed electoral strategy.

    Rather, he has, in recent weeks, intensified his denigration of democracy in Nigeria to the extent that he contends that democracy no longer exists in the country. Yet, he has on national television and at different fora just this week subjected the President Bola Tinubu administration to scathing criticisms claiming that the government is a failure and he would have performed better if elected. Beyond doubt, he has publicly acknowledged being part of a coalition being constructed with a view to wresting power from the ruling APC in 2027. Would such expression of democratic rights of expression and association have been possible in a democracy that is dead and non-functional as Obi alleges?

    Speaking at the recent 60th birthday anniversary of Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and short-lived governor of Imo State, Obi launched an incendiary verbal attack on the judiciary to demonstrate his morbid thesis that democracy is in its death throes in Nigeria. According to him, he regained his truncated mandate as governor of Anambra State and went on to serve for two terms courtesy of a judiciary that once upheld the cause of truth and justice but no longer does so. His bile against the judiciary is that it did not uphold the comically deficient and flawed case presented before the various Election Petition Tribunals and the Supreme Court by his glaringly incompetent legal team claiming that Obi won an election he so clearly lost.

    He expected the judges to join him in his fantasy, make-believe world of imagined electoral victory and thus become complicit in his intellectual fraudulence and dishonesty to win his approbation and support. Obi forgets that at the time he contested for the governorship of Anambra State and his mandate was rescued by the courts, Nigeria’s electoral process was far more crude and less developed than what we have today. The kind of brazen electoral fraud that necessitated surgical judicial intervention at the time can no longer be perpetrated today, and the judiciary cannot be expected to upturn elections conducted in substantial compliance with stipulated due process.

    In a bid to position himself as the leading opposition leader, Obi this week hurled verbal tirades against the economic policies of the Tinubu administration. But he mostly engaged in rhetorical flights of fancy devoid of hard facts and convincing substance. For instance, Obi claims that Tinubu should not have removed the fuel subsidy or eliminated the parallel exchange rate markets that gave room for humongous criminal arbitrage without first improving national economic productivity. He did not tell us how he would have performed such governmental magical witchcraft had he been elected President.

    On the country’s debt profile, Obi said, “Also, we have a country that is in huge debt…The cost of debt servicing is above the budget for critical areas like health and education. 70 per cent of our primary health centers are not functioning. I would fix our PHCs and primary schools if I were President”.  But as President Tinubu said in November last year: “For us, it was a challenge when the nation was servicing its debt with 97 per cent of its revenue, it was nothing but the edge of the cliff…But today, I can report to you that we have brought that down to 65 per cent, and we have never defaulted in meeting all obligations, both foreign and domestic. We have our heads above water. All countries around us, across the world, are also facing challenges.”

    Understandably, Obi cannot see even one good thing that the Tinubu administration has done in its nearly two years in office. He is entitled to his partisanly tainted view. But being in opposition does not mean that politicians must be in denial of the achievements of incumbent governments, even when they have the responsibility to subject the ruling party to the highest standards of scrutiny and accountability. For instance, to cite an example given by Mr Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to Tinubu on Media, Publicity and Special Duties in his piece on President Tinubu’s 73rd birthday, “On Tuesday, February 4, President Bola Tinubu approved a whopping N758 billion to settle longstanding pension liabilities under the Contributory Pension Scheme for federal workers nationwide…It was the first time the Federal Government would commit funds to the Pension Protection Fund, a statutory provision designed to augment pensions for low-income earners. Apart from clearing all pension increases since 2007, President Tinubu’s intervention also settled the shortfall in university professors’ pensions, ensuring retired university lecturers receive their full salary as a pension”. Not even the most brazen opposition partisanship can obscure such landmark achievements.

  • Some notes on emergency rule in Rivers State

    Some notes on emergency rule in Rivers State

    Those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of a Tiger, will end up inside it” … John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America

    In my view, His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Similayi Fubara, made a strategic mistake when he triggered a situation that culminated in the political logjam. I am saying this because, whether we like it or not, Governor Fubara is a political godson of former Governor and current Honorable Minister of Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria (FCT), Barrister Nynesom Wike. We should also recall that in the build-up to the 20203 elections, Governor Fubara who was then the Accountant General of Rivers State, as an appointee of Governor Wike, was playing the “cat and mouse” game with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), whereby he was being investigated for some allegations of financial crimes; and from available information in the media, the then Governor Wike was giving Fubara political cover. Ironically, how the relationship between the godson and his godfather melted down is a function of how Governor Fubara was not able to apply emotional intelligence and political strategy to manage his boss and political godfather for the long game.

     Being a man who appointed him as the Accountant General of River State from the position and having worked with him for over 4 years, those years as one of his key allies and right-hand men, Governor Fubara should have understood the personality type and temperament of his boss. The fact that the then Governor Wike, in 2023, ensured the emergence of Mr. Fubara as the PDP Gubernatorial candidate for Rivers State against all odds, should have also been a food for thought for Governor Fubara. This is notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Wike was also supported into Government by someone else. But that should not be the reason why Governor Fubara should have played the same template that Governor Wike played. There is a Hausa proverb that says, “Where someone goes to dance and he is given money, if another person goes to dance in the same place, he will be beaten up”. In other words, “different strokes for different folks”. Therefore, Governor Fubara should have been more circumspect of his understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of his boss as well as the threat that his political godfather could pose to his tenure as Governor, and as such, he could have mapped out a better political survival strategy ab initio.

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    Now, I am not excusing Governor Wike for lack of patience or lack of introspection. But in my own humble view, the heap of the responsibility of patience and wisdom is more on Governor Fubara than Governor Wike. Indeed, for the cheerleaders of Governor Fubara, they did not help Governor Fubara from a strategic perspective to recognize that much as he is in a hurry to wean himself off his political godfather and mentor, and be independent; detaching himself from his political godfather should have been done strategically with a long-term vision in mind. After all Governor Fubara would have been naïve or reckless (I say this with all due respect) to have assumed that such political patronage was coming to him freely at no cost (whether he remained loyal to Minister Wike or not). By cost, I am not basically talking about financial cost, but including social and political implications. 

    Therefore, the decision of Governor Fubara to take up his former boss should have been made with a sense of history and a sense of reality. Governor Fubara knows that even in other climes, not in Nigeria, it is certainly a Herculean task for one to detach himself/ herself from his political godfather/ mentor, especially when the political father is responsible for his ascension into office in the way and manner that it mostly happens in Nigeria. Otherwise, the best play would have been for Governor Fubara to have gone to seek the Governorship on his own, get a nomination of the PDP or other political parties, and fund his campaign and work to win his election. For example, how President William Ruto was able to detach himself from President Uhuru Kenyatta to stand on his own, build a political movement, and win elections against the odds of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his power of incumbency in 2022.

     Furthermore, from a logical perspective, he who goes for equity should go with clean hands. It was not strategic for Governor Fubara to have immediately taken his boss head-on less than 2 months after he succeeded his boss, Minister Wike. Knowing the kind of person Governor Wike is – a dogged, determined, unforgiving, highly resourceful, and strategic man- the question is, was Governor Fubara suddenly realizing who Governor Wike is after he accepted and benefited from all the opportunities given to him by Governor Wike? How come Governor Fubara could not work with or manage Governor Wike even if it is one more year or 1 term for him to gather his senses of reasoning, logic and direction for him to be able to reposition himself, even if he wants to upstage his boss – which in my opinion is going to be a tall order.  Clearly, Governor Fubara fell into the trappings of his ego and what I call the allure of “political cheerleaders” who hide under the disguise of fighting for the betterment of River State (while using Governor Fubara as a Cannon Fodder for their individual and collective fights against Minister Wike) and pushed him into the pit of fight with his political godfather and now we have a political cul-de-sac in Rivers State.

     It would have been more politically expedient for Governor Fubara to have played the long game. I can give instances of case studies as follows: the former Governor of Kano State, and current national Chairman of APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and his hitherto political leader, former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso. Dr. Ganduje didn’t start fighting his former boss. He took his time and mapped out his strategy, the inevitable fall-out that ensured. That way, Dr. Ganduje is able to survive his two terms in office and extend his political relevance to the national level. We also have the case of the first executive Governor of Kano State (from 1979 to 1983), late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, and his then political godfather, late Mallam Aminu Kano. When late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi realized that there is no way he could upstage his political godfather in Kano  State and within the political party of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) at that time, towards the end of his first tenure, build up to the 1983, he decided at to resign from the PRP and decamped to Nigeria’s Peoples Party (NPP) and contest the elections for his second term (not at the beginning) as Governor of kano state which he failed albeit he was able to safe face to have more better political survival (having created the “Santsi” movement even within the PRP). That was a neater clean cut out than what Governor Fubara is doing. Indeed, even late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi ended that political stage of his political career with political scars. In the case of the former Governor of Oyo State, Dr. Rasheed Ladoja versus his hitherto political leader, late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu; Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja took a little bit more time before he reacted against late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. The rest is history because indeed at the end of that saga, even though Alhaji Rashed Ladoja was impeached and the Supreme Court returned him, he could not get a second term, and since then he has never returned to political reckoning at the state and national level in the past 18 years. My point is, Fubara should have been more circumspect in managing his boss over and beyond the cheerleaders who were hitherto even against him during the build-up for his gubernatorial campaign in Rivers State, where some of the people claimed that he didn’t even win the election, that the election was rigged in his favor. And then suddenly some of them have come to his side, nudging him and kneading him, and now they cannot help him.

     In this write-up, my objective is not to be politically correct, but to be practical in the circumstance and for us to look at how we get to where we are today with a view to understanding the political dynamics and the potential outcomes of taking such positions.

     So, going forward, political actors should think deeply when they are offered opportunities to aspire for public or political office so as to decide whether they are ready to go for the long run or if they want to test their political sagacity to go on their own without the so-called political godfathers.  Otherwise, by taking the mouthwatering offer of political office by playing rodeo on the back of a tiger, thinking that you can outsmart the tiger, will be at your own peril!

     My hope is that in the end, this political logjam will be in the overall interest of the people of River State, and it will be a lesson to all of us. Because in the end, no matter how badly they fight, politicians always ultimately settle somehow, somewhere, someday.

  • Leadership problem: Islamic solution

    Leadership problem: Islamic solution

    Preamble

    Today’s title in this column is not originally a coinage of ‘THE MESSAGE’. It is rather the theme of a public Ramadan lecture organised by MUSTAPHA AKANBI FOUNDATION (MAF) in Ilorin to which yours sincerely was invited as guest lecturer on August 29, 2010.

    The name Mustapha Akanbi cannot be strange to any contemporary educated Nigerian. It is a household name in Nigeria and beyond especially for those who are familiar with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other miscellaneous offences Commission (ICPC). The first Chairman of that Commission is Justice Mustapha Akanbi, an erstwhile President of the Federal Appeal Court of Nigeria.

    The Foundation

    Established in September 2006 shortly after the founder voluntarily resigned as the Chairman of ICPC despite the overwhelming pressure on him to continue, MAF is a non-governmental and non-partisan organisation dedicated to the uplift of mankind, to the enthronement of justice, equity and fair play as well as the promotion of the quintessential virtues of honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability in all human activities.

    The Foundation is committed to being in the vanguard of revolutionary changes aimed at reforming and transforming our society from being a body of self-serving individuals to a nation that places high premium on selfless service for the common good of all. The Foundation therefore, has, as its focus, the building and sustenance of a great nation founded on sound ethical values and good governance capable of holding its own in the comity of nations. It is in line with its focus that the Foundation chose the theme above and invited yours sincerely as the guest lecturer. At the occasion, I alluded briefly to the significance of Ramadan in the life of an average Muslim.

    About Ramadan

    Ramadan is no doubt the busiest month of the year for any genuine Muslim in any part of the world. It is the month in which paradise is liberally thrown open to those who are seeking to gain entry into it. It is mankind’s month of reunion with the Almighty Allah through repentance, remorse, reformation and new resolutions. In Nigeria, this sacred month wears a unique garment which even the blind can perceive with his or her inner eyes.

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    In Ramadan, every minute is meaningfully busy. Every moment is heavily pregnant and every soul is consciously cautious just as every reasoning faculty is spiritually engaged. There is no dull moment. With the introduction of Ramadan public lecture as distinct from the usual exposition of the Qur’an (Tafsir) in Lagos, Nigeria, about 40 years ago, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah introduced a useful innovation into the modern Muslim world to the benefit of humanity at large.

    With Ramadan lectures which invariably come up at weekends in the month, an opportunity was created for multitudes of Muslims to assemble at one point or another to be meaningfully engaged and learn through those lectures certain facts about Islam which could hardly be learnt from other sources.

    History of Ramadan Lecture

    The idea of Ramadan lecture arose in 1986 from a disappointment experienced with a pseudo Muslim who held an important position at a National Television Authority (NTA) station in Lagos but used such a position to suppress Islam. The man bluntly rejected a Cheque paid to his station for the sponsorship of Night air preaching which had been introduced the previous year due to unavailability of air space for Muslim preaching in the days.

    He called such sponsorship meant to educate Muslim multitudes during their Sahur in the nights of the sacred month an act of fanaticism. He also referred to his predecessor in office who initiated the idea as a fanatic. I knew this detail because I personally took the Cheque in question to him, which was issued by Bashorun MKO Abiola, and his brutish vituperation was poured directly on me.

    It was out of this unbelievably shocking experience that three gentlemen: the late Alhaji Saka Fagbo, then a Director at NTA Channel 10 in Lagos, Alhaji Abdul Majeed Shofola, the late Alhaji Abdul Kabir Ayomaya a staff of NTA and yours sincerely then a correspondent in the now defunct ‘CONCORD’ newspaper put heads together and resolved to introduce what globally came to be called ‘RAMADAN LECTURE’.

    Bashorun Abiola’s Involvement

    The idea was sold to the late Bashorun MKO Abiola who gladly sponsored the very first lecture and pledged to continue its sponsorship in subsequent years as long as he lived. And he conscientiously fulfilled that promise until he was incarcerated by the Sani Abacha regime for claiming his legitimately given mandate in 1995. The very first Ramadan Lecture was delivered by the late Alhaji Abdus-Salam Olatunde, then a National Hajj Commissioner in Lagos. Today, this noble innovation is no longer a Nigerian Affair. It is universal. Alhamdu Lillah! We pray the Almighty Allah to repose the soul of all those who were instrumental to the introduction of Ramadan Lecture and are no more today in eternal bliss. Amin.

    The lecture

    As a preamble, I told my audience that thinking of leadership in terms of those who are privileged to govern the country alone can never solve the problem of bad leadership in Nigeria. Leadership does not start from the top. It is rather a matter of good home management and excellent upbringing of children. Leadership is like a pyramid which has a base and an apex. Whoever wants to assess leadership in a society must start from the base rather than the apex. It will be unreasonable to sight a major fault at the roof of a house when the foundation of the same house is evidently faulty. Generally, children learn from their parents’ actions more than from the latter’s words.

    Any parent who starts the upbringing of his or her children with lavish celebration of birthday without teaching such children the act of money making early in life has initiated them into the world of reckless spending spree. The tendency for such children when they grow up is to look for money from any source including pilfering and stealing. What will be virtuous to such children is to get money to spend. It will never matter to them how they come about such money. And that is the root of corruption in a society like Nigeria where parents assist their children in cheating in the examination or in getting admitted into higher institutions with fraudulent pre-requisites.

    Leadership in Islam

    In Islam, leadership is so sacrosanct that the Prophet never relented in warning all leaders and aspirants to leadership about the delicate nature of ruling the people. In his farewell sermon, he reminded the Muslim Ummah that leadership is a great responsibility entrusted to an individual by the society as sanctioned by the Almighty Allah. The Prophet also admonished the people on their responsibility to both the state and leadership quoting Qur’an 4, Verse 59 thus:

    “Oh you, who believe, Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (of Allah) and those charged with authority among you. If you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger if you do believe in Allah and the last day. That is best and most suitable for final determination”

    However, he did not stop there. He went further to explain that obedience to those charged with authority is conditioned by their own obedience to God in their deeds as well as the rule of law that governs them. In one of his statements, he said there is no obedience or loyalty to any human being, ruler or otherwise, who is not himself, obedient to God and the rule of law. He concluded that: “Whoever entrusts a man to a public office, where, in his society, there is a better man than this trustee, has betrayed the trust of God and His Messenger as well as the people of that society”.

    The Prophet’s Exemplary Leadership

    The exemplary leadership of the Prophet and his great teachings were scrupulously followed by the Caliphs who succeeded him in office.

     When, shortly after the Prophet’s demise, Abubakr was elected as the first Caliph, his primary objective was to continue the pious administration which the Prophet left behind. He took the mantle of leadership with which he was saddled as a responsibility to Allah.

    In his acceptance speech as new Head of State, he addressed the people as follows: “Oh people behold me charged with the cares of government. Yet, I am not the best of you. In carrying out this great responsibility, I need your advice and assistance. If you find me doing well, please support me. If I make mistake, counsel me.

    To tell the truth to a person commissioned to rule is faithful allegiance. So long I obey God and act according to law, obey me. But if I neglect the law of God and His Prophet, I have no more right to your obedience. The strong among you shall have no right over the weak on the basis of his strength. Neither shall there be any room for sycophancy, nepotism or undue favouritism. Authority, power and sovereignty belong to God in whose hand is dominion over all things….”

    From the foregoing, and contrary to what is happening today, especially in Nigeria, it is clear that leadership is a privilege rather than anybody’s right. It is a public trust which should not be betrayed under any circumstance. It is a responsibility to be carried out, not just with human face but with human heart as well. It is a humane and not sadistic public duty. It is a covenant between God and rulers on the one hand and rulers and the ruled on the other. It is a measure of conscience, piety and discipline. No one who is bereft of these traits should be entrusted with leadership.

    Other Caliphs after Abubakr followed suit and lived ascetic lives despite their access to unlimited state resources. Ali bn Abi-Talib, in particular, did not limit those qualities to himself. He extended them to his appointed Governors.

    While appointing Malik bn Ashtar as the Governor of Egypt he gave him certain instructions in writing and admonished him to follow those instructions to the letter in his governance in that country. Please read those instructions soon in this column and compare them with what obtains in Nigeria especially when new rulers are taking the so-called oath of office.

  • Nightmare in nirvana

    Nightmare in nirvana

    Winter in Chicago had always been unforgiving. The temperatures plummet and the wind-chill becomes a silent, deadly adversary. For Marcus Faleti, the cold proved fatal. On January 1, 2017, at exactly 12:09 a.m., the 58-year-old succumbed to hypothermia and alcoholism, the temperature biting through the meagre layers of his existence.

    The wind-chill that night registered at 18 degrees. It was a lethal cold that Faleti could no longer fight. Homeless and impoverished, he was found lifeless at the Presence St. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Centre, a tragic end to a life marked by relentless suffering.

    Born in Nigeria, Faleti left for the United States 25 years ago, with dreams of prosperity and a better life in Chicago. The bustling metropolis, with its towering skyscrapers and promises of opportunity, seemed worlds away from his homeland. But as the years passed, the glittering facade of the American dream began to fade off, revealing a stark and unforgiving reality. Faleti watched helplessly as his dreams morphed into a nightmare of destitution and despair.

    For over fifteen years, he lived from hand to mouth, sleeping rough on the streets of Chicago. His days were marked by a relentless struggle for survival, scavenging for food and seeking refuge from the elements. His clothing, tattered and inadequate, offered little protection against the city’s harsh winters. Each gust of wind pierced through his bedraggled attire, chilling him to the bones.

    Faleti was a familiar figure in Wicker Park, often seen pushing his shopping cart overflowing with scavenged items or sitting on a bench reading the Sun-Times or Wall Street Journal. Despite his dire circumstances, he remained a voracious reader, a testament to the intellectual spark that never left him. “He was a good influence on everyone. Everyone liked him. He was a big newspaper reader and a very smart man,” recalled Nick Nixon, a friend who had known him since 1992, from their days as day labourers.

    Faleti had a profound impact on those around him, with his intelligence and kindness leaving a lasting impression. Yet for 15 years, the streets of Chicago became his home, a stark contrast to the sheltered life he once knew in Nigeria. Despite the brutally cold winters, Faleti often refused to go to a homeless shelter, fearing for the safety of his cherished shopping cart filled with his few possessions.

    He had an adult daughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but their connection had long been lost to the miles and years that separated them.

    Clare Rodriguez, a Chicago Park District supervisor, reflected, “Marcus was a part of the fabric of this park. He was a kind man and an icon of Wicker’s grounds.”

    While the 58-year-old’s death is a sombre reminder of the fragile lives led by the homeless, his story isn’t just about a man who Japa (Japa stitches together the Yoruba expression já pa, meaning “to run” or “flee” as ascribed to migration) and died in the cold; it is about a dream that got frozen and shattered.

    Faleti’s struggle with addiction and homelessness further highlights the harsh realities faced by migrants who seek a better life but find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair.

    Seven years after Faleti’s death, another tragedy unfurled, this time in the United Kingdom. Chidimma Susan Ezenyili, affectionately known as Suzy, was a Nigerian lawyer who relocated to the UK to work as a caregiver. The 37-year-old nursed hopes of a better future. But on February 22, 2024, while attending to an elderly client, Ian Hale, on Scott Road, Ezenyili slumped while on duty in the street of Bishop’s Stortford. She died two days later. The cause of her death was a severe brain hemorrhage, a tragic end to a promising life.

    Ezenyili’s journey was one of dedication and sacrifice. Despite feeling unwell, she continued to care for her client, driven by a sense of duty. Catherine Segal, the daughter of the elderly man Chidimma was caring for, recounted, “She was driven there by her husband with their three-year-old daughter as she wasn’t feeling well but didn’t want to let my dad down.” Her commitment was a testament to her character, but it also highlighted the immense pressures faced by immigrants in their quest to survive and support their families.

    Ezenyili relocated to the UK as a caregiver, but her aspirations went beyond that. She was a qualified lawyer in Nigeria and planned to attain her qualifications to practice law in the UK.

    Her dream was for her daughter, Mandy, to attend school in the UK and to make a new life here where she would have the opportunities that Suzy and Friday never had growing up in Nigeria. However, her dreams were cut short by her untimely death.

    Read Also: Nirvana sickle cell Initiative partners Access Bank

    Faleti and Ezenyili’s fates are part of a broader narrative of struggle experienced by Nigerian migrants. Many leave their homeland with hopes of a brighter future, only to find themselves grappling with unanticipated hardships in a foreign land. The plight of Nigerian migrants has become a front-burner issue in global circuit, with many facing exploitation, discrimination, and a lack of support in their host countries. The journey to greener pastures, many eventually find, is fraught with obstacles, and for some, it ends in tragedy. Accordingly, better-heeled Nigerian communities in diaspora have begun to advocate for better conditions and support systems for their fellow compatriots, but the road to change is long and arduous.

    Nigerian families, once comfortable, often find themselves living in slums in the UK, US, and Canada. This drastic change leads to mental health issues and marital strife. Financial strain and cultural dislocation cause marriages to crumble, with some husbands turning violent.

    There exists no greater illusion than the belief that distant shores offer a promised land where milk and honey flow without end. Yet, reality has unfurled its cold decree: there is no sanctuary more absolute than home. The recent waves of deportations across the Western Hemisphere depict a truth no one can ignore. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over 72,000 foreign nationals were deported from the United States in 2023 alone. As of March 31, 2025, America has deported over 100,000 migrants and made approximately 113,000 arrests since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

    Among them were thousands who had built lives, paid taxes, raised children—yet found themselves flung across borders the moment their presence was deemed discordant with national interests.

    The administration has also emphasized policies encouraging “self-deportation,” urging undocumented immigrants to leave the U.S. voluntarily to avoid forced removal. Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security reported a notable rise in “reverse migration” as a result. In addition to domestic enforcement, the U.S. is negotiating with multiple countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe to accept migrants deported from the U.S., aiming to overcome resistance from nations hesitant to take back their citizens.

    As Nigeria prepares to accept some of its affected citizens from the United States -5,144 Nigerians face arrest and deportation- the country must develop a more pragmatic and multi-faceted approach to resolving the issues driving emigration. Promoting local opportunities, encouraging entrepreneurship, and implementing government initiatives to improve living conditions in Nigeria are crucial, experts have argued.

    Nigeria must create a system where people do not feel the need to leave, while investing in education, infrastructure, and job creation. If Nigeria becomes more habitable, many youths will stay back and develop their homeland.

  • Uromi 16, Diri and human rights

    Uromi 16, Diri and human rights

    Before things became bad, Nigerians lived as one. We still do, but not on the same scale as it was in the not too distant past. Then, people harboured strangers in their homes without any fear. They provided for the strangers, treating them as royalty. We were a country of peace and love – peace in our homes and love in our hearts.

    Then things changed. They did not change overnight. The changes were gradual, but we pretended that all was well. Our leaders should have moved then to nip things in the bud. They did not; they watched as the people became divided along ethic, religious, social and political lines. That of political is understandable, but the same cannot be said about religion and ethnicity

    A nation where brothers and sisters, parents and children practiced different religions and still lived under the same roof became a place where they no longer wished to stay together. It became worse accommodating strangers under such circumstances. Every stranger was viewed with suspicion. The stranger was no longer seen as a friend, he was perceived as an enemy, especially in the wake of the herders/farmers clashes stoked by the activities of the religious sect, Boko Haram (Book is a Sin).

    It may not be wrong to say that the rise in Boko Haram insurgency fueled the related activities of herders/farmers skirmishes that have made the country a nightmare for us all today. There were robbery and kidnapping in the land long before insurgency and banditry became the order of the day but those criminalities were few and far between then. They became rampant and flourishing enterprises when insurgency, banditry, terrorism, organ harvesting and human trafficking seized the land.

    Nigerians hardly spoke of their rights to freedoms of association and movement when there was peace in the land. They were accommodating and tolerant of one another – until crimes and criminalities changed the course of things. We then remembered that the Constitution guarantees us certain rights. The right to life as well as to live in any place of our choice, freedom of worship, freedom of movement and freedom of association.

    We became conscious of these rights because of our intolerance of one another; when as brothers we no longer saw eye to eye despite sharing many things in common. For the stranger, it was a bitter experience. His identity was no longer enough to guarantee him peace or refuge in any part of the country. People ran away from the herder and the farmer believing that he has come to kill, maim, loot and rape. Politicians also introduced toxicity into the system, preaching bitterness and divisiveness.

    This is why a community or a people will first descend on a group of herdsmen or farmers before finding out what those strangers are doing on their land. The rule is kill first before asking questions. It is a strange and barbaric rule meant for the stone age. We say we are in the computer age, where at the press of a button, we get things done quickly and effortlessly. Painfully, our actions say otherwise.

    There is no advancement in our human relationship. We have become killers under the guise of securing ourselves and there is no part of the country that is not guilty of this. What happened in Uromi, Edo State, on March 27 is a sad reminder of how as a people we have become our brother’s killer instead of keeper. All because of the fear that the stranger has no good intentions. Our people have become mind readers without the requisite knowledge of the art.

    These mind readers divine only bad intentions. They have never seen anything good in a stranger that will warrant accommodating them. It is only to kill and hide the strangers’ bodies in shallow graves for the security agencies to fish out. Uromi did not just happen to us. It is an everyday thing that the nation must rise as one and do something about before it consumes us. It is Uromi today, nobody knows which town such a bestial act of killing 16 persons or more in one fell swoop will happen next.

    Uromi happened because we did not do anything when such incidents happened in other parts of the country in the past. For instance, when Godwin Ukalaka was beheaded in Kano years ago, nothing happened. Many of such incidents have happened in other towns and cities in the north and the south, with the perpetrators getting away with the crime. There may be no end to these dastardly acts until the perpetrators are brought to justice for all to see.

    Governor Monday Okpebholo has embarked on a peace mission to douse tension over the Uromi killing to avoid reprisals in the Kano home state of the slain 16 hunters. It is disturbing that while he is dousing inter-ethno-religious tension through his shuttle to Kano, another governor, Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, is stoking the fire of political divisiveness. Diri is incensed that a group is planning an event for his state on April 12.

    Read Also: Two more Uromi killing suspects arrested

    Like a dictator, he has read the riot act to the organisers, warning them to stay off Bayelsa. Diri may be the governor and chief security officer of his state, but he does not have the power to ban anybody whether an indigene of Bayelsa or not from gathering there. He claims to have directed the security agencies to stop the planned event because of its security implications. What are these security concerns? He did not say, yet he is wielding the power that he does not have by giving orders to military and paramilitary agencies.

    From his remarks, it is obvious that Diri is worried about the event because it revolves around Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike. His  associates under the acronym of NEW (the first three letters of his name) claim that they want to thank him and President Bola Tinubu for bringing more Ijaw people into the government. As a governor, Diri should not be hysterical over matters that can be resolved amicably without going public. As an Ijaw, he should even be happy for his kinsmen and join in the celebrations and not be against the event.

    He has drawn undeserved attention to the event through his unsubstantiated claim that it is meant to destabilise his state. Remarks like this belittle a governor no matter his political differences with the object of his attack. What will he gain by raising unnecessary tension in, as he says, “a peaceful” state like Bayelsa?

    He has set up the organisers for attack  and the consequences may be grave if things go awry in the state before, during or after the April 12 event. As a governor, Diri should learn to guard his tongue. Governors do not talk anyhow.

  • Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy in the eyes of the world

    Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy in the eyes of the world

    Foreign policy hardly plays any significant role in elections these days in most democracies unless the issue was really of an existential nature. Elections are won these days on bread and butter issues. This is unlike in the past when wars were fought to “make the world safe for democracy” or such idealistic slogans. The last elections in the USA was won on Trump’s promise to reduce inflation, particularly food inflation, and to bring prosperity to working class Americans through increased manufacturing jobs in the USA by so raising tariffs that any company that wants to sell in the American market would have to go  into production in America to make their goods competitive Labour prices would automatically go up when he removes illegal immigrants depressing the cost of labour and living wages would have to be paid to workers and that this will favour the workers. Of course he had a hidden agenda of making white America great again by removing illegal aliens who are mostly from the Third World.

    In the case of Vladimir Putin, his popularity is not based on his democratic credentials. Although, I have a feeling he could win an election on the basis of his wanting to restore Russian historical glory of the past from the Romanov Empire of Czarist Russia to the Soviet times even though like most empires, they were not based on the loyalty and support of the subject nationalities and the people. This nationalistic feeling would have made up for the oppression and economic deprivation common in the Czarist and Soviet Communist regimes. Empires in Europe and elsewhere from the British, French and German periods of domination in Europe appealed to their people on the claims of the ships and soldiers they could mobilise for war. Putin’s popularity is based on the political stability his regime has provided compared with the chaos that accompanied the collapse of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe.

    Whatever credentials Volodymyr Zelenskyy has are not based on proven democratic support but on the fact that he is a war-time hero. He was elected during an ongoing crisis of existential challenges and war-time exigencies have prevented his country re-electing and validating his democratic support or throwing him out of office. His heroic efforts at holding his country together in the face of overwhelming military challenges from Russia and Russian nationalist insurgents in Eastern parts of the country encouraged by mother Russia’s inspired  separatist sentiments.

    The picture of a small country being bullied by a former imperial country draws the kind of sympathy of a David fighting a Goliath.  The recent bullying of Zelenskyy on national television by the American president and the vice president to toe the American line or be made to face the music of slaughter by a much powerful Russian military has further solidified support for Zelenskyy at home and internationally. If the public has a vote, Zelenskyy would win hands down but in big international competition of the sort faced by Zelenskyy, he has no chance of winning unless the situation changes.

    There are signs the situation may change. Right now, President Putin appears not to want a settlement. What he seems to want is total surrender by Ukraine. He seems to deliberately delay the peace offer by President Trump of some form of an armistice based on ceasefire and maintenance of the military status quo. This is in favour of Russia which currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory adjacent to Russia in Eastern Ukraine. Trump’s suggestion for stoppage of bombing of energy and transportation systems and civilian infrastructure has only been observed in their breaches by Russia. Opening up of the Black Sea corridor has also been tied up with international removal of sanctions on Russia.  Putin ought to know that Trump who is virtually at war with other leaders in Europe is not in a position to lift the economic sanctions on Russia which are led by Europe. Russia has also linked ceasefire negotiations with peace treaty after the war including the final status of Ukraine including the limitations of what kind of military forces Ukraine should keep.  He also wants Trump to guarantee Ukraine’s ban forever from joining NATO which Trump without discussing with Ukraine and Europe has previously offered. These outrageous demands make nonsense of all the sacrifices of Ukraine since 2014 and her loss of territories and military personnel and the destruction of Ukraine by Russia through aerial bombing, artillery fire and missiles.

    Read Also: Hamas seeks global resistance against Trump’s plan in Gaza

     Since Trump has boxed himself in by campaigning that he would end the war in 24 hours and that Trump would listen to him alone, he is definitely under pressure to deliver. His boasting on his policy of “diplomacy through power” is facing the hardest test. If Putin humiliates him, he may be tempted as he had publicly stated, to cripple Putin through an attack on the Russian economy. He says he would unleash American oil weapon by flooding the oil market by American overproduction thus bringing down the oil fuelled war machine of Russia by apparently supplying Western Europe and possibly India. There is nothing he can do about China buying oil from Russia. The second option he has is that he may increase the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine including the weapons that the former president, Joe Biden, was unwilling or reluctant to supply and finally suggesting of much more American military and financial support for Ukraine short of putting American military on the European theatre.

    The question is – suppose these don’t work? Certainly a capitalist in the White House would not want to lose everything in a possible thermonuclear war where there would be no winners. Trump would not risk a nuclear war with Russia because of defending a country faraway in Eastern Europe almost remembering Neville Chamberlain and his abandonment of Czechoslovakia in the face of Adolf Hitler’s threat in 1938.

    The war can of course end if Ukraine realises the futility of its situation and reaches a modus vivendi with Russia like the other 14 former states of the old Soviet Russian Empire. Russia can of course go through internal political upheaval in which Putin loses power and a post-Putin regime signs a peace treaty with a Ukraine that is under a friendly regime. All things are possible in a political and military situation.

  • Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    I got interested in breeds of chickens early in life, while living with my grandmother in the 1940s and early 1950s. She raised chicken in the backyard solely for meat. I was always fascinated by her attempts to protect the little chicks from being snatched by hawks, usually just before nightfall. The behaviour of the hawks got me interested in ornithology. The interest crystallized during my Senior Fulbright Scholar Exchange year at the University of Wisconsin in the 1986/87 academic year. I spent time observing swallows in the course of their north-south migration across the Wisconsin skyline, often in response to food availability, weather changes, and habitat issues. I have since always wondered how much people knew about birds in general and about chickens in particular beyond eating their meat and eggs.

    Breeds of chickens

    There are over 100 breeds of chickens across the globe, divided into 9 broad categories. In the past, some were unique to particular localities. However, in our globalized world, many of them have been transported beyond their original habitat as part of international commerce. Nevertheless, some survive better in a particular climate than others, while others mature faster than the rest. Today, poultry farmers have improved on the methods of raising chickens on a large scale. So have scientists introduced genetic engineering as they seek new ways of growing chickens faster so they could produce more eggs and more tender meat. In the process, more is known about different categories of birds and their peculiarities.

    Read Also: DSS arrests two principal suspects over Uromi killings

    The ten categories of chickens have varying memberships: Brown Layers (22); Colored Layers (7); White Layers (10); Bantams (11); BBQ Special (12); Crested Breeds (6); Ornamental Breeds (5); Rare Breeds (18); Unusual Breeds (16). Indigenous Nigerian breeds belong to one or the other of the above categories. They include Naked Neck, Featherless Wing, Rose Comb, Wild Type, and Frizzle Feather. In my part of Nigeria, these indigenous breeds are known, respectively, as Abolorun, Opipi, Onigbaogbe, Ibile, and Asa. The various breeds raised commercially in Nigeria today belong to one or the other of the 9 categories listed above. They are mainly dual-purpose breeds for meat and eggs.

    Rising costs

    However, for Nigerian housewives today, the major concern is about the rising cost of eggs rather than knowledge of types of chicken. The cost of eggs has more than doubled since early 2023, which is why some housewives use it as a reference point for asking for doubling or tripling the amount of food allowance. The problem is that they complain about the rising price of eggs in their local markets, without knowing about the price of eggs across the globe. Worse still, like everything else, they put the blame squarely on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The truth, however, is that the price of eggs has been rising across the globe for some time now. This has given rise to the economic concept of eggflation.

    Recently, a survey was conducted on the price of one dozen eggs across 127 countries. According to the data, Nigeria is No 96 on the list and the average cost of a dozen eggs in the country rose from $0.40 (about N600 with pre-Covid exchange rate) to $1.92 (which translates to under N3,000). In Africa, only seven countries have cheaper egg prices than Nigeria. They are Morocco ($1.89), Uganda ($1.83), Cameroon ($1.80), Algeria ($1.73), Kenya ($1,59), Libya ($1.47), and Egypt ($1.45). These are countries in the bottom quarter of the price ranking. Rounding up that quarter is India at No 127. It is the only country in the survey, where a dozen eggs costs less than a dollar (at $0.97).

    By contrast, the top one quarter (30) countries with the highest prices for a dozen eggs include many European countries, such as Germany ($3.60), Italy ($3.77), UK ($3.84), France ($4.06), Greece ($4.25), Netherlands ($4.54) and Switzerland, where the cost of a dozen eggs is highest in the world at $6.81. In South and North America, the cost of a dozen eggs ranges from $1.68 in Paraguay to $3.36 in Canada and $4.16 in the United States. However, there are variations from one province or state to another within these countries.

    Critical factors

    The critical question is why are egg prices going up? It is all too easy to blame President Tinubu’s policies for inflationary pressures, which contributed to higher prices for eggs and many other products. But what about the other countries, where inflation is only in single digits, and the price of eggs is two, three, or more times higher than in Nigeria? The answer calls for global explanations.

    First, the Covid years dealt a major blow to feed production as activities were scaled down, leading to increased prices, felt in the markets as from 2023.

    Second, global events, such as the war in Ukraine, caused disruptions in the supply chain of feed ingredients, such as corn and wheat. This has caused major producers of chicken feeds to reduce or curtail production, leading to reduced supply and, consequently, higher prices.

    Third, across the globe, climate change has impacted both feed and egg production. Virtually every part of the world has experienced extreme weather (too hot or too cold) in the last few years. The impact has been felt by both feed producers and poultry farmers alike. The result is higher egg costs.

    Fourth, there have been disease outbreaks in some countries, such as the United States, where the avian flu disrupted egg supply, leading to shortages and higher prices.

    Fifth, immigration policies in the United States and some European countries have caused labour shortages, which have impacted egg production, leading to higher costs.

    The bottomline

    The bottomline is that the rising cost of eggs is a global phenomenon, and it is symbolic of increased prices of most consumer goods across the globe. Consumer illiteracy, limited knowledge of the world, untruthful politicians, and social media liars have made everything look like Tinubu’s fault.

    But then, the presidency has done little or nothing to properly educate the public about global events and the place of the administration’s policies within them. Even now that some of the policies have begun to yield some dividends, the administration has restricted its public communication to responding to criticisms, founded or unfounded. Now that the 2027 general election has begun to smell in the political air, the administration had better start preparing a robust midterm report, now that the midterm is barely two months away.

    Finally, it is high time it was made a central government policy to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on global feed supplies for chickens. Until chicken feeds are locally produced in abundance, the price of chickens and eggs will remain high.

  • Reduce corruption and political costs

    Reduce corruption and political costs

    We want an end to tanker crashes and explosions and loss of lives. The National Orientation Agency animated ‘anti-scooping petrol’ campaign must get to every Nigerian needy citizen. The high climate change temperatures may cause tyres to burst and also increase the pressure in the tanks making them potential bombs. Good, qualified responsible driving and quality maintenance of the hugely expensive vehicles, and good roads, not for increased and dangerous speeding, but for a smooth drive, are essential. 

    Following the closure of USAID etc., developing countries must quickly grow up and become self-sufficient through higher standards of political and private sector financially accountable and conclusive anti-corruption investigations to find funds to fill the huge financial hole created by disasters like the earthquakes in Bangkok, Thailand and Mandalay, Myanmar, with over 1,600 deaths. These demonstrate life’s fragility and are tragic for the millions affected.

    In Nigeria, we claim to be relatively natural disaster free. Nigeria has witnessed worldwide, stories of devastation and misery caused by droughts, floods, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and now another earthquake. Please add the huge cost of man-made conflicts and wars. However, we have our own problems costing us more than the cost of the above-mentioned natural and manmade disasters.

    We are all aware of the sad and distressing half century of oil pollution. We do have floods. There is also the plight of our IDP-Internally Displaced Persons even though many have helped ameliorate their suffering. Thanks, but more is needed to empower them to return to former social respectability and economic empowerment in their ancestral homes. This can only be done with successful, effective and permanent elimination, not mere interstate relocation, of terrorism and the widespread herder-caused conflicts with local farmers causing such high tensions resulting apparently in the killing of herders said to be in transit. The armed forces have been empowered but they need more support in equipment, drone coverage and personnel, in welfare, medical care of the wounded and family support. Hopefully all pension arrears have been met by recent presidential directive. PENSION PAYMENTS SHOULD START THE MONTH AFTER RETIREMENT, NOT 6-12 MONTHS. DELAYS ACCUMULATE AND BALLOON PENSION DEBT.

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu warns sick pilgrims against travelling for Hajj 2025

    Even without many natural disasters, our Nigerian governments  and Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, have still not all lived up to the fiscal responsibility and financial fundamentals for governance repeatedly sworn to when taking office. Why are politicians boastfully blind to the responsibility for payment of legally-binding outflows for pensions, salaries and running cost like utilities? When did they stop being a sworn and sacred duty and monthly, first line deduction, responsibility of accepting to serve or lead, depending on the mind-set of the political climate. It was a disgraceful abandonment of responsibility for governments and MDAs in the past to have failed to pay pensions resulting in a mountain of debt to armed forces and other pensioners. Yet the past leaders have escaped without censure or even explanation. Nigeria is just recovering from the shocking exposure of officials refusing for years to pay electricity charges for years, plunging many government arms including military formations and teaching hospitals into darkness precipitating misery and mortality-CITIZENS DYING IN DARKNESS IN A COUNTRY WHERE BANKS DECLARE TRILLION NAIRA PROFITS?????

    Most Nigerian doctors have operated with torches on pregnant women or performed abdominal surgery for gunshot wounds. Hospitals require electricity 24/7 to run theatre, laboratory and blood banks and darkness is synonymous with death and demonstrates impotence to help save life – thus failing the very reason the hospital was provided. The serial failure, over years, of hospital management or the supervising ministry to pay past electricity bills immediately, month end, or as-and-when-due is a crime against Nigeria’s patients and the medical personnel condemned, without medical tools, to care for sick citizenry from conception to the cemetery. Modern warfare requires 24/7 electricity to power combat equipment and installations.

    Nigeria is reeling over the dismissive attitude to payment of land use dues in Abuja as revealed in the recent past. Government and private sector impunity seems to know no bounds.

    Of course, we, the non-politically connected, pre-pay through A,B,C,D extortionary electricity bands. Remember we produce a microscopic 5-7000 Mw of power for 160+million, not 200m+, when other counties have more than 60,000Mw for a 60+million population elsewhere in Africa. China adds power to its grid at the rate of 30,000MW/year.  Nigeria cannot afford to continue to carry the huge corruption burden or the huge price tag of Salaries and Perks of political office.  The destruction of a building, costing millions in state citizens’ money, just to prevent legislators from sitting, is an unacceptable price to pay in steps to solve political problems. Converting it temporarily to an orphanage would have been a wiser move, but probably illegal. The excesses of political office and the unlimited budgets are counterproductive considering our poverty level. POLITICIANS – PUT A POVERTY PHOTOGRAPH ON YOUR WALL.

    The struggling Nigerian citizen demands a reduced cost of governance with such savings applied directly to poverty alleviation strategies especially improved and widespread education facilities and electricity access- keys to development and self-empowerment jobs. Politics and the private sector must deliver more fiscal discipline with wider population impact and not just Forbes Africa Rich List winners and trillion naira bank profits while we have fiscal losers like 18million Out-of-School youth denied quality education-a birth-right required for future empowerment.

  • For a presidential emperor?

    For a presidential emperor?

    Just as well — the House of Representatives just froze its bill to strip everyone else, except the President, of their immunity under the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

    It’s unclear, though, which is sadder: a bill that lacked rigour in concept, and is bereft of tracking Nigeria’s contemporary history, to fully adapt it to the country’s political sociology, much of it toxic?

    Or freezing it for now — to be later introduced? — even after the clear foggy thinking that, ab initio, thrust forward the bill?

    If our lawmakers must make effective laws, they must first understand their political habitat — or shouldn’t they? 

    Still, a bill that picks out only the President, from the entire universe of voters and elected personnel, as the sole decent mind meriting immunity, has neither shown enough critical thinking in concept formation, nor demonstrated enough nous in current political history, to claim mastery of its environment.

    Or how would the Constitution graft a presidential candidate and running mate — that ticket is legally incomplete without both “twins” — yet an amendment bill would purport to grant one constitutional immunity but deny the other?

    Where’s the rigour and the consistency in thinking here? Or are laws made, not by hard thinking but by flabby emotions?

    Okay, concepts are more difficult to form, for they belong to the realm of rigour. But tracking history, particularly contemporary history, is much easier. 

    So, before pushing forward that bill, the House should have refreshed itself in current political history.  It didn’t, it would appear.

    If it did, it would have noticed that in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term (2003 to 2007), we saw a President try to weaponize this same constitutional immunity, so he could bully and batter his Vice President, to gain a nefarious edge.

    Now, between President Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, there was really little to choose — in power or out of it. 

    But back then, the President accused the Vice President of sleaze, implying Vice President Atiku was indeed president of vice!  The other countered that the President was buying cars for his alleged girlfriends from the public till — holy hypocrisy!

    By that dirty brickbat, both showed why they were unworthy of their high offices.

    Yet, it was the President that wouldn’t lead by example — if Atiku’s allegations were true — that tried to rig the immunity process to elbow his deputy out of the way: first, to shut him up; and later, to wallop him in a one-sided “rofo-rofo” fight! 

    The courts eventually shut out the plot but the brutal fight wasn’t pretty.  But just imagine if Atiku too did not have immunity?  An unscrupulous presidential emperor could have crushed a fellow citizen, as high in the hierarchy as the Vice President, for whatever alleged infractions he was equally guilty of — just because he could?

    Now, is that ugly blast from the past the future that this bill envisages, with its skewed thinking that the President would always be reasonable and conscientious?  But this Obasanjo/Atiku rumble, with its many dirty revelations, showed the President’s alleged acts were no less unconscionable!

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    So, in real terms, where is that presumed halo that deems the President a saint, and the rest of the partisan polity, irredeemable sinners? Soapy thinking!

    Still, true: the Obasanjo/Atiku mutual gracelessness did not always blight their successors.

    The late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua didn’t cut the picture of a presidential bully to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, though not a few would argue that his tenure was too fleeting for a definitive verdict.  Maybe.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who completed the ill-fated Yar’Adua’s tenure and won a fresh term of his own, treated Vice President Namadi Sambo with decorum. 

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo too treated each other with mutual respect and trust.

    Yet, in these three cases, no one could wager if the end results were a function of genuine presidential grace, or vice-presidential long-suffering!

    Incidentally, both Obasanjo and Atiku are the only presidential pair still out there making a row — the one self-condemning himself to putting down his successors to stay relevant; the other still after the elusive — and illusive? — office of president, for which no stunt is too low to pull; no liaison too base to join.

    Buhari and Osinbajo live in quiet post-power dignity. So does Jonathan — and certainly Sambo — save Jonathan’s occasional verbal glitches that tend to underscore his lack of depth: the most recurrent problem that blighted his best-forgotten presidency.

    Even at that, in post-power etiquette, Jonathan towers above Obasanjo, whose old-age purgatory appears eternal ranting; and courting cheap controversies unbefitting of a former President.

    So long for history as teacher! Now, to how that frozen bill, being conceptually flawed, makes absolutely no sense.

    If the President and Vice President enjoy constitutional immunity, and so do the governors and deputy governors, it’s simply because the Constitution strictly follows the federalism concept.

    Federalism puts in place governments of states, regions, provinces, cantons, etc, co-ordinate with a central — federal — government, that though assumes additional responsibility of national defence (in war times) and treaty and diplomacy (in peace times).

    It’s precisely because the President is no Leviathan, that can do and undo in a federation, that both the President and Vice President, with governors and deputy governors, enjoy constitutional immunity. 

    That was no happenstance.  It rather reinforces the tenets of the federal concept.  This ill-thought-out bill, if passed into law, threatens to crash that fundamental balance — worse, in a Nigerian troubled polity still struggling to actualize its full federal essence.

    First, granting the President sole immunity would make him a tin god in his own federal cabinet, if ever he’s as cynical as Obasanjo in wielding his messianic complex — a complex not based on any public good, no matter the colourful preachments, but fired by a ruthless self-aggrandizement.

    Then, it would birth a presidential emperor, that would wreck our democratic polity. 

    Imagine, even without sole immunity, the sundry constitutional crimes of the Obasanjo era: the futile effort to summarily sack Atiku, the wayward removal of governors with the notorious “simple minority” of state legislatures, the wilful seizure of Lagos council funds, and the brazen attempt at subverting the Constitution to gain a third term!

    Removing or retaining immunity is neither here or there.  That the crude beneficiaries right now won’t, in the long run, morph into refined and decent players, meriting that honour, can’t be ruled out.  But if you must remove immunity, never grant any exemption.

    Sole immunity for the President is bad.  The House should forget that terrible idea.