The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Where are our goalkeepers?

    Where are our goalkeepers?

    I don’t envy Super Eagles Head Coach Eric Chelle. He has a daunting task on his hands. I align with his decision to gamble on certain positions in the Super Eagles that require immediate surgery even if it means cutting off the nose to spite the face. These are emergency times for Chelle. Quick fixes? Call it whatever you like. Chelle, you have our backing because the rot in the Eagles is cancerous. Not one to paper over the cracks. Come on, Chelle, make the emergency moves now. Well done.

    Yes, I get irritated reading transfer stories on Nigerians who qualify to be invited to train with the Super Eagles being asked to sign for clubs in novelty leagues such as in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Niger, etc, with due respect to the countries. Imagine this transfer,  Wolwalo Adigrat University side in Ethiopia signed goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo and the illustration picture was taken at one of those Super Eagles invitation camps. Really sad! The only reason I would accept this transfer is if Ojo is an undergraduate in this Wolwalo Adigrat University. What is the matter with the NFF? Ojo, at a time was the best domestic league goalkeeper, earning him repeated Super Eagles invitation letters only to resurface in Ethiopia. This is the reason our good goalkeepers no longer play for European clubs as it was in the past.

    Looking at the clubs where Nigeria’s three chosen goalkeepers are: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars), all have been invited for the battles against Rwanda on March 21 in Kigali four days later in Uyo against Zimbabwe, one is forced to ask what has happened to our talented goalkeepers? Time was when two or three goalkeepers in the Super Eagles plied their trade in Europe. Not anymore. Can Nigerians feel comfortable watching any of these three goalkeepers at the World Cup against established stars? No chance. More so when there isn’t anyone on the horizon that we can headhunt for in Europe as was our practice, when we used to shop for replacements in weak areas in the Super Eagles.

    Interestingly, Super Eagles goalkeepers at World Cup  beginning with the country’s debut appearance at the Mundial in the USA in 1994  were the late Wilfred Agbonavbare who manned the goalpost for Spanish side, Rayo Vallecano; Alloy Agu  was the regular goalie for Turkey side, Kayserispor and the Super Eagles regular goalkeeper in USA 1994 Mundial, Peter Rufai who brought his experience from playing in such European clubs as K.S.C. Lokeren, K.S.K. Beveren, Go Ahead Eagles, S.C. Farense, Hércules CF, Deportivo de La Coruña, and Gil Vicente FC in Europe, to bear during Nigeria’s 1994 World Cup matches.

    Nigeria participated at the France 98 World Cup with Rufai who had changed clubs from Portugal to Spanish side Deportivo La Coruña, Abiodun Baruwa who played then in Switzerland for FC Sion and Willy Okpara who manned the goalposts in South Africa for Orlando Pirates.

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    At the Japan/ Korea World Cup in 2002, Nigeria took a crisis-ridden Super Eagles squad, yet the team had a tested goalkeeper in Ike Shorunmu who was the regular first choice goalie in Switzerland for Lausanne. Shorunmu was spectacular in the opening game against Argentina. Shorunmu’s heroics ensured that the scores were respective with a nifty header of a corner kick score by Gabriel Batistuta being the only goal of the match.

     The bitter crisis between the players and chieftains of the defunct Sports Ministry threw up a lot of contraptions with Adegboye Onigbinde picked to rescue an almost sunk side. Of course, he had no choice but to pick the best two goalkeepers  namely Austin Ejide of Gabros FC in Nnewi, Nigeria and  Vincent Enyeama of Enyimba FC of Aba. Yes, Enyeama did well against England with some reflex saves against England who played for a draw.

    The flipside to the search for Nigerian goalkeepers in Europe was the report on Tuesday in the media that Maduka  Okoye has been re-registered for this season by his Italia Serie A, Udinese FC.  Okoye had been accused of betting infringements forcing Udinese FC’s management to de-register him for the season. It appears Okoye isn’t guilty. It is a welcome development.

    The crisis in the Eagles at the South Africa 2010 World Cup was awful such that the team had two leaders – the designated NFF recognised by FIFA and the Presidential Task Force headed by His Excellency, the former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi leading the government team. It was a laughable setting yet the team had exposed goalkeepers plying their trade in three Israeli clubs, namely, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Hapoel Petach-Tikva and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Dele Aiyenugba was on the sheet of Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Austin Ejide played for Hapoel Petach-Tikva and Vincent Enyeama’s magnetic fingers ensured that Hapoel Tel Aviv got rave reviews from the international media. Recall, Enyeama and Ejide were at the previous World Cup co-hosted by Japan and Korea.

    By the time of the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Enyeama had become a megastar in goal for  French Ligue Un side, Lille OSC with Ejide changing his Israeli side from Hapoel Petach-Tikva to Hapoel    Be’er Sheva and the third goalkeeper being Chigozie Agbim playing for one of Nigeria’s biggest clubs, Enugu Rangers International FC. The crisis in the Eagles in Brazil took an embarrassing dimension with the players refusing to train for the second round game except their $3.8 million debt owed them by the federation was fully paid. The Federal Government promptly paid to make sure it didn’t get into an international disgrace. Rather than train for the game against France, the players, coaches and backroom staff spent training time sharing $3.8 million cash. No prize for guessing right that France beat Nigeria 2-0.

    Russia 2018 World Cup had goalkeeper Francis Uzoho playing in Spain for Deportivo La Coruña bringing his European experience to bear on the team’s wobbly performance. Daniel Akpeyi, who played in South Africa for Chippa United, was officially the second-choice goalkeeper, and Ikechukwu Ezenwa of Enyimba FC Aba was the third-choice. You can see why our prayer sessions would be intense if Nigeria’s flag eventually got hoisted among the comity of nations at the 2026 World Cup, we pray O’ Lord.

    Super Eagles’ defence is lightweight going by the names of those picked such as William Ekong (Al-Kholood FC, Saudi Arabia); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce SK, Turkey); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiacos FC, Greece); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England) and Igoh Ogbu (SK Slavia Prague, Czech Republic). Nigerians would have to pray throughout both matches against injuries and yellow or red cards. Bassey’s tackles are quite rough. He shouldn’t be encouraged to go beyond our half of the pitch because he isn’t a fast runner. He clutches on the opponents’ shirts when he realises that he has been outrun.

    Already, Nahan Tella and Simon are ruled out of both matches in Kigali and Uyo due to injuries sustained playing for European clubs. Big headache for Chelle as he would be left with no choice but to pick from those in the 39-man squad to replace Tella and Simon. Chelle has an impressive squad in the midfield to provide the passes for Ademola Lookman and Osimhen to score goals. I hope our players give their best during both matches. What is your opinion on this subject, dear reader? You tell me.

  • Further issues in the LSHA crisis

    Further issues in the LSHA crisis

    For members of the De-Renaissance Patriots, a socio-cultural group of eminent Lagos indigenes with accomplishments in diverse spheres of life, the Lagos State House of Assembly crisis, which has been finally apparently laid to rest following a meeting in Abuja between President Bola Tinubu and the 40 members of the state legislature, has to do essentially with the politics of indigeneship in cosmopolitan Lagos, which is its prime concern. Obviously not too concerned about the grave but yet unsubstantiated allegations that resulted in the earlier, now reversed, impeachment of Hon. Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker of the House, the De-Renaissance Patriots are of the view that having elected Hon. (Mrs) Mojisola Meranda as Obasa ‘s replacement, the new status quo should have been allowed to stand, especially as what it describes as her ‘forced’ resignation as Speaker is a slight on Lagos indigenes who supported her emergence.

    In a rejoinder to a well-publicized piece by respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Muiz Banire, on the LSHA crisis, the association of Lagos indigenes had averred that “The decision to reinstate Speaker Mudashiru Obasa at the expense of Hon. Meranda, an indigene, effectively disregarded the will of Lagosians from Epe, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Ikorodu divisions, who had overwhelmingly supported Meranda. The intervention of these external figures, therefore, dashed the hopes of Lagos indigenes and will be remembered in history as a betrayal of democratic principles”. The ‘external figures’ referred to here by the De-Renaissance Patriots are Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governors and revered progressive Yoruba statesmen, who had led mediatory initiatives to resolve the impasse in the Assembly and restore normalcy.

    But the position of the De-Renaissance Patriots as stated above appears fallacious and misleading. Obasa was not initially removed by his colleagues as Speaker because he was an indigene and neither was Mrs Meranda named to replace him because of the indigene factor. And no poll was conducted to empirically determine the views of Lagosians from Epe, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Ikorodu on the matter as insinuated by the Lagos Patriots. The politics of  indigeneship   is complex and intricate in a sprawling metropolis like Lagos where indigenes are a numerical minority in a political system predicated on liberal democracy where voting strength determines electoral supremacy.

    There is hardly anyone better placed than Dr Muiz Banire to intervene in the matter as he has done in his characteristic forthright and incisive manner. I had not known that he had played a major participatory role in the efforts by Chief Akande and Aremo Osoba to mediate in the crisis and thus is in a position to speak authoritatively on the issue. Banire is himself a Lagos indigene of an illustrious lineage. He served with distinction as Commissioner in Lagos State in the key Ministries of Environment and Transportation for at least 12 years and was active in the politics of the state for nearly two decades before he chose to quit partisan politics to concentrate on the practice of law. Even before his exit from the political scene, he was bold in speaking out and strove to be objective in his positions on crises within the party.

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    Banire thus speaks with considerable credibility when he avers that Baba Akande and Osoba were not procured by the presidency to play the role they did. Rather, they were invited by key stakeholders in the party in Lagos to intervene in resolving an avoidable crisis with potential cataclysmic consequences detrimental to the continued enviable progress of Lagos State. And there is no reason to doubt Banire when he testifies that the duo played their roles with dedication, diligence, determination, balance and an open mind to resolve the crisis in the best interest of Lagos State and the ruling party in the state. That the final resolution of the crisis did not strictly follow the pattern of the recommendations of the mediatory committee, at least as reported in the media, confirms Banire ‘s submission that Chiefs Akande and Osoba were not necessarily being teleguided by anybody. There is no indication that Dr Banire himself is supportive of the terms of the final settlement.

    But the important thing is that the unduly festering crisis has been contained and this is due largely to the towering stature of the President in the politics of the state. There was the danger that the crisis could have dragged on interminably with legal battles being waged from one level of our cumbersome legal process to the other right up to the Supreme Court with deleterious consequences for the development of the state. As things stand, all parties to the crisis have been given an opportunity to reset and learn appropriate lessons to inform future actions. The legislators have learnt that they cannot act unilaterally and independent of their party and its leadership in taking key decisions on its operations as a legislative body. Hon. Obasa has been given an opportunity to learn from his missteps, mend fences with his colleagues and improve on his human and public relations.

    Hon. Mrs Meranda has emerged as a self-sacrificial hero in the entire affair by subordinating her personal ambition for the collective party interest and I believe the party owes her a debt of compensation when it is time in future to collect her political ‘IOU’.  She could well have opted for the ‘Akintola taku’ option and sought to bring down the roof on everybody. From the perspective of the De-Renaissance Patriots, “…it is deeply concerning that Speaker Obasa, despite losing the confidence of the House, is being artificially sustained by external forces, thereby subverting democratic principles”. Again, this is fallacious. The political party which provides the platform for the legislators to be elected cannot rightly be described as an ‘external force’ in the affairs of the legislature. The same legislators who exercised the right to remove Obasa have exercised the right to reinstate him and there cannot be anything undemocratic about that.

    In his authoritative and inimitable manner, Chief Obafemi Awolowo stated in his address to the Oyo State Conference of the Unity Party of Nigeria on 8th November 1980, that “Indeed, the registered Political Party is the sole source from which candidates for election, and elected members of the Legislature and Executive, derive their life-blood for acceptability, public status, and legitimacy. Any elected member or group of elected members of a Political Party who refuse to toe the party line – that is, choose to break their link with the party source – must, of a necessity, either quickly affiliate with another Political Party for a link with another party source, or be doomed to political dehydration or anemia. In other words, by express provisions as well as necessary implications in the Constitution, the Registered Political Party is supreme and absolutely decisive in the conduct of our public affairs”.

    Commenting on the role of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) in the LSHA crisis, The Punch newspaper in its editorial of 11th February 2025, wrote that “The GAC’s involvement in this matter amounts to a democratic hijack. As an unelected advisory body with no constitutional authority, it has no place dictating the pace of legislative affairs”. Contrary to the newspaper’s view, associational and interest groups which are not necessarily creations of the Constitution have their legitimate roles in liberal democracies. The GAC was an innovation of President Tinubu when he assumed office as governor of Lagos State in 1999.

    Contrary to those who always strive to portray him as a power-monopolising, totalitarian godfather, Tinubu created the GAC then known as the G12, to enable him as governor to have access to the advice and input of men of distinction, wisdom and experience in public service to serve as a restraint on his exercise of power. In his book, ‘Reflections of a Public Man’, Alhaji Olatunji Hazmat, who was Commissioner for Transportation in the Alhaji Lateef Jakande administration in Lagos State in the Second Republic and a leading Lagos, Southwest and national progressive leader, wrote of a crisis that arose over the decision of two of his sons to contest the local government elections in the state based on their own campaigns and efforts and devoid of his influence. He gives us an insight into the workings of the advisory group even at that time.

    In his words, “The first open dissent I encountered about the boys’ ambition was at a meeting of the Group of 12 (G12), an advisory group of party leaders that met often at Isaac John Street, reflecting on important issues to guide and formulate policies. Though the group served at the behest of the governor, he was not mandated to attend its meetings. Now and then he would appear, depending on the hurried pace of events and the exigency of the moment. He had appeared at this very meeting because of the party primary and related electoral concerns…Here, at this meeting, the governor had expressed misgivings about my sons’ ambitions, saying one of them should drop out. I thanked him for his observations and there and then l plucked out a written statement and read it out loud and clear”.

    In that statement read to the G12 at the Isaac John Street meeting on 3rd January 2003,  Alhaji Hazmat had contended that “In this wise, it would be wrong, wicked and even malicious to deny a son a legitimate ambition simply because the father is a revered political presence. If we want to sustain the integrity and the equitable continuity of this democratic enterprise, we should emulate the enlightened tradition of the great democracies of the world where distinguished political lineages and ancestral beginnings are seen much more as a benefit than a liability. On this nobody should compromise. It is a matter of honour.”

  • Azu: Symbol of class, value at 60

    Azu: Symbol of class, value at 60

    In all of its 180 slim pages, the unique publication, ‘Azu at 60: Celebrating a Legacy of Words and Love’, compiled and crafted to commemorate the Diamond anniversary of Azubuike Ishiekwene, Frontline journalist, ace columnist, media manager, engaging polemicist, author and public intellectual, oozes class, quality and style. It is a true embodiment of the man simply called Azu by friends, colleagues and acquaintances – a unique manifestation of considerable value. The quality of the historic work in content, graphics, literary flair and the sheer erudition of its diverse contributors is not surprising given the reputation of its three ‘curators’ and editors – Louis Odion, Mojeed Jamiu and Ololade Bamidele – who rank among the best and brightest minds in contemporary Nigerian journalism.

    Although he is renowned as one of the country’s leading pharmacists and a former Minister of Health, Prince Juli Adelusi-Adeluyi, in the succinct but pungent foreword demonstrates not only exquisite literary craftsmanship but arresting intellectual versatility. Noting that 1965, the year of Azu’s birth, was a good one to arrive this side of eternity, Prince Adeluyi writes that “It was in March 1965 that Martin Luther King Jr led the famous Selma, Alabama demonstrations for voting rights for black people. It was also in 1965 August that Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the US signed the Voting Rights Act…In the Arts, it was the year the movie, Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise, came up on the cinema screens…In Science, it was the year of the revolutionary invention of the internet, a phenomenon which, like Azu, continues to grow stronger and more relevant with the fullness of time”.

    For Adeluyi, the dexterity with which Azu navigates the intriguing terrain of newspaper management in Nigeria and “His determination, zeal, creativity, persistence, perseverance and the Mona Lisa smile he wears through trying times, must have been a result of the special Ogbe-ani, Ndokwa milk that mummy Jenny fed him with when he was young”. It was with evident pride and immense sense of fulfillment that Azu’s teacher, renowned journalism scholar and inimitable columnist, Professor Olatunji Dare, testifies to his protege’s brilliance and sterling accomplishments in the introduction crafted with his trademark scintillating prose style.

    According to Professor Dare, “From early encounters in the class, Azu struck me as a young man who was most likely to succeed. He was driven, committed, and enquiring. On assignments, small and big, he strove to excel. You would hardly catch him making the same mistake or lapsing into the same solecism twice. He invested so much care into preparing his submissions that I remarked once that if every reporter were as meticulous as he was, copy editors would go out of business”. It was thus no wonder that Professor Dare did not hesitate to recommend Azu for employment on graduation and one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers, The Punch, immediately offered him a job.

    Azu’s rise to the topmost editorial and managerial echelons of The Punch was meterioc as he quickly proved his versatility, competence and professional astuteness. Even though he was to depart the newspaper in controversial and hazy circumstances, he demonstrated uncommon inner fortitude and tenacity to bounce back to even greater glory. As Dare put it, “Azu has, by dedication and sustained commitment to the art and craft of journalism, earned and re-earned the encomiums strewn across this volume, an eloquent testament to the high esteem in which he is held by his peers. He fell, he picked himself up, and by great striving rose and rose to a position of acknowledged eminence in Nigerian journalism. At 60, Azu has lived a life rich in purpose, achievement, and example. Nor is he done yet”.

    And on Azu’s latest book, Dare has subtle words of admonition for his former student. He writes, “Lately, with the publication of ‘Writing for the Media and Monetizing It’, Azu has ventured into what I call mercantile journalism, for want of a better term. By all accounts, the book has been a commercial success. Such books, I humbly suggest, should be left to those who are more interested in commercial success than journalism, in helping shape the standards of sense and sensibility in society”. Incidentally, Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi had humorously referred to the book in his foreword. In his words, “I was excited that this was Azu’s”eureka!” moment. For writing such a book, he himself would soon be in the ranks of Keith Rupert Murdoch, the Australian -American business magnate, investor and media mogul. Months later, I am yet to see Azu’s name among the rich-list of the Forbes magazine. Am I missing something?”.

    The calibre of those who testify to Azu’s qualities in this publication testify to his class and integrity. They include Alhaji Mohammed Idris, current Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Frank Nweke II, a former Minister of Information, Dr Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria,  Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, a highly esteemed Judge of the Court of Appeal, Mr Lekan Abdul, Chief Executive Officer of Bond Energy Limited and Dr Niyi Adeosun, MD/CEO of Ayodele Medical Centre, Lagos.

    Zainab Nda-Isaiah, widow of the late founder of Leadership newspaper, testifies to his professional proficiency and soaring sense of loyalty, fidelity and commitment. “I guess Azu means different things to different people” she writes. “Some know him as an author; many see him as a mediapreneur. To us, the family of Sam Nda-Isaiah, he has been a Rock!!! I believe he is all these and more – a consummate journalist, a leader’s leader,  and an intelligent troubleshooter who finds solutions where others see road blocks”.

    Some of Azu’s eminent professional colleagues – Funke Egbemode, Louis Odion, Joseph Adeyeye, Gbenga Adefaye, Mojeed Jamiu, Eze Anaba – offer insights into his career trajectory, his role and impact as a journalist and above all his attributes as a good human being. In his characteristically reflective and philosophical contribution, Louis Odion, focuses on Azu’s life of sacrificial self-giving affirming that “I, therefore, count myself among the countless beneficiaries of his generosity of spirit, which is quite ecumenical in texture. You only need to hint Azu of a difficulty – whether professional or personal – and, in the next moment, he has everything already worked out clinically, like an Oracle in terms of solution options”.

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    A number of contributors allude affectionately to Azu’s wife, Mrs Rume Ishiekwene and there is no doubt that she is a vital and indispensable factor in whatever he has achieved in six decades of an ongoing epochal life. Frank Nweke Jr recounts how her stubbornly insisting on his partaking of a feast of Amala, Ewedu and orishirihi accompaniments at the Azu’s Lagos home at Omole led to his postponement of a return trip to Abuja on an aircraft that fatally crashed. In her contribution, Mrs Ishiekwene writes, “As you turn 60, I find myself reflecting on the remarkable journey we’ve shared and the extraordinary man you are – both as a distinguished journalist of over 35 years and as the cornerstone of our family”.

    Rume writes further that “What makes you truly remarkable is how you’ve balanced these professional achievements with being an extraordinary father and husband. You’ve never watched from the sidelines of our children’s lives, you’ve been an active participant in their dreams”. In their respective contributions, the children – Ashioma, Emeke and Nkechi – all paying glowing tribute to their dad’s invaluable contributions to their life accomplishments.

    On a personal note, my first close interaction with Azu was when I was appointed Special Adviser/Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy in 2005. The Commissioner, Mr Dele Alake, and I had a dream of making Lagos the first state to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act. Accordingly, we set up a committee to work out modalities towards actualizing this objective and Azu was a member. His work rate was incredible and the quality of his contributions at meetings superlative.

    We worked at a frenetic pace holding several meetings over a two-month period culminating in  a very successful stakeholders forum at the Lagos Airport Hotel. Azu played a central role in drafting the final report which was to be the basis for the requisite FOI Act. Until I left the Ministry in 2009, we were still trying in futility to get the report through the labyrinth of the public service bureaucracy. We were quite lucky that Azu did not do a scathing column lacerating us for wasting his valuable time. I wish him a happy birthday and even more glorious years ahead.

  • Afenifere after Ayo Adebanjo

    Afenifere after Ayo Adebanjo

    Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, is at a crossroads. Its popularity is fading in Yoruba land, its supposedly base, stronghold, and main sphere of influence, whose interest it was set up by the founding fathers to articulate and protect, right from the pre-independence days.

    The organisation is also facing a crisis of relevance in the country as it has grossly failed to put its house in order. While Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have managed to weather the storm of division due to their comparatively stronger crisis resolution mechanism, Afenifere has not been that lucky. It has regressed into a bastion of strife and rancour.

    The Yoruba group has been bastardised. It has become a toothless regional bulldog that can only bark and cannot bite. Its factional handlers tend to exploit it as a tool for inordinate ambition, inexplicable political negotiation, and other motives that are not connected with the propagation of the Yoruba interest.

    Afenifere had a beautiful beginning. The name was coined for the defunct Action Group (AG) in the pre-First Republic by Chief Meredith Adisa Akinloye, who later abandoned the group.

    In the time of peace and war, Afenifere did great exploits. The relatively advantageous position of the Southwest in the pre-independence era and the early years of post-independence was due to the wonders of Afenifere government, led by its first leader and Premier of the then Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That administration was second to none in Africa. It has remained a reference point for many decades.

    Afenifere also fought against prolonged military rule. It teamed up with the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) in the agitation for the revalidation of June 12, 1993 presidential election results and the restoration of civil rule.

    Also, prominent Afenifere leaders, working in concert with compatriots in other regions, have never relented in their clamour for the resolution of the National Question to foster what they call ‘true’ federalism, peaceful co-existence, and unity in diversity.

    However, since the birth of the Fourth Republic, things have fallen apart for the group. Between 1998 and 2003, Afenifere has failed to move beyond the mess it created at D’rovans Hotel in Ibadan when it ignored its time-tested criteria of age, hierarchy, ideology, as well as unblemished service and unalloyed loyalty to the group. It has been roving in a circumlocution since that day it gathered its best patriots to select the Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential candidate.

    Since 2003, the intrigue and acrimony have been sustained. Prominent chieftains have been united in their hate for a chieftain of the organisation, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who won re-election as Lagos governor, despite their opposition, and who also became president amid their virulent blackmail and campaign of calumny against his ambition.

    It is ironic that without wide consultation, brainstorming, discussion, and in-depth analysis, the former Acting Leader, the late Chief Ayo Adebanjo, erroneously declared that the organisation would oppose one of its own and support an outsider for president. He tried to use a regional body to accomplish a personal goal without collective permission and consensus.

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    But the Leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, reiterated that Afenifere was backing Tinubu for president, to assuage the situation.

    Today, Afenifere is factionalised, despite the efforts by Fasoranti to unite the fold and motivate its members with gerontocratic wisdom to correct its multiple and cumulative mistakes.

    The great NADECO leader, Chief Abraham Adesanya, who took the mantle of leadership from Pa Adekunle Ajasin, handed over to Fasoranti as acting leader, an Awoist of long-standing, like Adebanjo. When the Ijebu-Igbo-born Second Republic senator passed on, the group proclaimed Fasoranti as its Leader.

    Adesanya had nominated Fasoranti, an Ondo State Finance Commissioner in the Second Republic, as acting leader, based on the advice of younger chieftains who noted that the appointment of either Sir Olaniwun Ajayi or Adebanjo would make it appear that Afenifere leadership was being monopolised by Lagos-based Ijebu Mafia that had dominated the group’s leadership.

    Under Fasoranti, the crisis worsened. The climax was the recognition accorded Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa as AD national chairman, instead of Chief Bisi Akande, by some anti-Tinubu chieftains. They also misled Fasoranti to accept that the factional convention in Abuja appeared to have met the party’s guidelines. But the other side kicked. Thus, tension developed momentarily between the two groups led by Fasoranti and Ayo Fasanmi, who coordinated the activities on the side as Deputy Leader in succession to the late Chief Bola Ige. Efforts by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), led by Olawale Oshun, to reconcile the two groups at Ibadan failed.

    Afenifere’s chieftains, particularly those of Ijebu-Igbo Mafia, were jolted out of their reverie when, based on the advice of younger elements, Adesanya asked a chieftain from outside Lagos and Ogun to steer the affairs of the group. But Fasoranti, a reticent leader and unassuming gentleman, later threw in the towel based on some internal contradictions, before he was prevailed upon to rescind the decision.

    Fasoranti’s inclusive policy became obvious when he asked Adebanjo to act as the leader but later withdrew the decision when he realised that the organisation was drifting.

    The pervading feeling among the mostly dormant and absentee chieftains of Afenifere is that the vibrant and vocal acting leader had often been credited with highly inflammatory utterances that created tension between him and his colleagues as well as rivals in the Awoist family who were electorally lucky and, therefore, perceived to be more successful in their chequered political careers.

    Pa Adebanjo was always combative, highly inflexible, and never condescending within the larger fold. He never avoided the use of harsh statements. As the father of all, he never assembled the scattered Yoruba progressive leaders in a bid to bring them under the same Afenifere roof. He never forgave those who may have offended him in the group. He never presided over genuine reconciliation in the larger interest of Afenifere and Yoruba land. Thus, many critics have argued that despite his contributions to the growth of the organisation, Adebanjo, at the twilight of his life, also came across as a divisionist.

    Indeed, at no time was Adebanjo the Leader of Afenifere, although some factional members, out of rebellion, decided to hold meetings at his Lagos and Ijebu-Ogbo homes without the permission of the Leader. This was in flagrant violation of the tradition of holding meetings in the house of the Leader, as it was done in Owo in the days of Ajasin and in Ijebu-Igbo in the days of Adesanya.

    The appointment of another acting leader without clearance from Fasoranti amounted to a coup. Whenever a king lives, another king cannot be enthroned. There is no leadership vacuum. Any plan for succession, even at this stage, can only be mooted by the Leader or at the general meeting, after uniting the fold and repositioning the organisation for future challenges.

     Afenifere now has two secretaries, two directors of organisation, and two publicity secretaries – three officers taking orders from Akure and three factional officers taking briefs from another place. This portrays an awful picture of a distressed regional mouthpiece. It is confusing.

    Afenifere’s unauthorised meeting outside Fasoranti’s home is about the grouping of minority members savouring the backing of the media. The views emanating from that corner are not representative of the hopes, feelings, and aspirations of the children of Oduduwa.

    All the progressive Yoruba leaders on both sides have paid their dues and served the region and the country in their respective capacities. The question is: why can’t they sheathe their swords and unite?

    Afenifere chieftains holding court at Adebanjo’s residence include Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Senator Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor, Chief Supo Sonibare, Hon. Oladipo Olaitan and Chief Sola Ebiseeni. They are eminent Nigerians in diverse fields.

    Those holding court in Akure are Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, Oba Olu Falae, Chief Korede Duyile, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, and Jare Ajayi.

    But there is a gap in membership. Is Afenifere complete without the involvement of other chieftains who once grouped under Deputy Leader Ayo Fasanmi when the organisation split? Are Prince Oluyole Olusi, Chief Bisi Akande, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Chief Busura Alebiosu, Dr. Amos Akingba, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Ayo Opadokun, Wale Oshun, Dr. Dapo Fafowora, Jimi Agbaje and Prince Dayo Adeyeye no more Afenifere members?

    The burial of Adebanjo, nevertheless, can be a meeting point for kick-starting reconciliation. The group’s crisis resolution mechanism should be revived and strengthened. Cracks on the wall of brotherhood should be mended. There is strength in unity. Afenifere also needs reforms.

    A divided Afenifere is not in the interest of Yoruba land.

  • Who owns the Schools ? 2

    Who owns the Schools ? 2

    By Kadijat Braimah

    “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we (should) fail to protest (against injustice).”  By Elie Wiesel

    Preamble

    This is one of the very rare occasions when this column, ‘The Message’, is compelled to serialize an article. The last time that such occurred was a decade ago.  That this article is being serialized now is a child of necessity. Ordinarily, professional Journalists who know their onions often strive to avoid serialization of articles except if it becomes a necessity like on this occasion. Generally, serialization of articles which often enables good readers to distinguish between professional journalists and mere writers has the tendency of leaving a sour taste in the mouth. 

    However, the seriousness of this article and the referential importance of its contents are the factors that necessitate its inevitable serialization. Surely, some serious-minded readers of this column who are intellectually inclined will appreciate the assertion here especially when the implications of the Appeal court on that case vis a vis the provisions of Nigerian constitution is taken into consideration. The delicate case of Hijab wearing by female pupils in public schools, whether in Lagos State or elsewhere, cannot be separated from the big but unnecessary question of who owns Nigerian public schools in the 21st century.

    Problem of Diversity  

    One good thing about life generally is the ability of the phenomenon called environment to conveniently accommodate the positive angle of life along with the negative angle despite their seeming incompatibility. This means that diversity may not be an oddity after all. It may serve a more purposeful end than humanly perceived. Perhaps that is why the Almighty Allah created all living things in twins of males and females as well as in couples of colours and hues. Yet, despite their natural differences they manage to cohabit without any visible rancour.

    Of all the creatures on earth, only human beings believe and emphasize the problem of incompatibility. At least we know that on a single farm land, all sorts of plants ranging from sugarcane to bitter leaf trees grow and cohabit without any visible rancour. And in the ecosystem, (forests or oceans) both the herbivours and carnivours coexist without threatening their habitats. It is only among human beings that the well fed rejoice in preventing the hungry ones from feeding even on remnants. With regard to this manifest situation, what is true of human beings in temporal life is equally true of them in spiritual life. Otherwise, how can some people who are claiming to be of faith insist on preventing others from covering their heads according to the tenets of their faith in a co-financed commonwealth affair when those of others do not prevent the half-naked ones from walking about in nudity despite the natural eyesore that the latter constitutes?     

    Genesis of Schools Takeover

    According to Dr. Amiel M. Fagbulu (quoted copiously in the first leg of this article last Friday), “the take-over of schools has not been reported upon sufficiently for most people to understand the nefariousness and Machiavellian dimensions attached to it. To start with, it meant loss of income to some proprietors who were actually milking the people while pretending that they were magnanimously making sacrifices for them. Next is the falsehood that the governments did not pay compensation to proprietors. Another was that it was the federal government’s decree that made takeover final and legal. Last but not the least is that by retaining their names government had conceded that take-over was just in name alone. There are other false assumptions that will be dealt with as they are made”.

    Fagbulu continues thus: “the takeover of schools was a final act of dissociation of former proprietors from ownership of their schools. The schools no longer belong to them. To talk of Muslim or Christian schools that are run with public funds is absolute nonsense. Any school that is run with public money is a public school. All others are private institutions at whatever level and by whatever name”.

    The Question of Compensation

    Also as a continuation of his expert treatise on education in Nigeria, Fagbulu further elucidated on the question of compensation for proprietors of old missionary and privately owned schools in Nigeria as follows: “the question of compensation was raised by the proprietors of most of the Christian- and Muslim-based schools. In the West (of Nigeria), the only bodies I clearly remember as handing over schools voluntarily and with no conditions attached were the Seventh Day Adventist group and Adeola Odutola who owned a fairly good secondary school at Ijebu-Ode. The noisiest ones were sole proprietors who individually owned schools. The discussions were preliminary and informal exchanges to advise both sides before the final decision was taken. The government of the Western State was glad to oblige but what silenced the demand were the conditions put to the proprietors based on government’s sense of fairness to the taxpayers whose funds had been utilised”. They were as follows:

    •“Proprietors would calculate their investment on all structures in the school including the land (x) which by the education laws of the time must be registered in perpetuity in the name of the school (at least in the West)

    •Proprietors would compute the total amount they had incurred in running the school from inception to date of takeover (y)

    •Proprietors would compile a list of the value of all gifts and donations the school had received (p)

    •Government would compile the value of all grants (general and special) that it had paid to the school up to the time of takeover (q). 

    •Compensation to proprietors would be C = [(x + y) – (p + q)]”

    Fagbulu’s personal comment

    When the discerning proprietors among them did the Arithmetic and found out that they would be seriously indebted to government at the end of the exercise, they blinked and went silent. A funny footnote to the exercise was the demand of one or two proprietors who wanted to be paid for their ‘brand’ name. Government had no use for their names anyway and when they eventually lost, they pleaded with government to kindly retain those names, a demand which was graciously granted”.

    His further comments

    “Heritage has at least two dimensions. Your child can only make claims to what belongs to you. That is one form of heritage. The other like UNESCO’s heritage, relates to values. The pleasure derived from listening to Sunny Ade’s music or reading Achebe’s books are golden gems they have bequeathed to the world. Achebe collects his royalty forever, which means that it is a heritage of his children. We who acclaim and cherish the books are not beneficiaries of the pecuniary offerings. Similarly UNESCO helps preserve those monuments in Egypt say, but it is the Egyptian government and people that own the monuments. The government, when it took over schools took over the land, the structures on them, and the responsibility to continue to run schools. Those who are capitalising on Heritage can be assured that it is their’s to cherish and share with the world. They are free to do so”.

    Analytical deduction

    In his analytical deduction on the unwarranted controversy over the ownership of public schools in Nigeria, then Octogenarian education expert revealed an eye witness account as follows: “A few students imported the Dancing Club from the Higher College, Yaba to the University College, Ibadan.

    We started the Bug and later others started the original Cult that was not malevolent. They are part of the history of that institution. The good things keep going from generation to generation and those who cherish them regard them as part of things to be retained forever. Heritage in the sense people are talking about it will survive on its own if the generations want them. There is no law that new influences cannot add their own quota before they pass away. There is nothing stopping those being locked out today from leaving their imprints that will be cherished behind”.

    He continued: “The form for the annual census of schools provides for three categories of ‘girls only’, ‘boys only’ and mixed schools. It is the responsibility of government to determine which of its public schools will be designated in any of the three categories. As a part of the process of development if it becomes necessary to alter the gender status of any school especially from a mixed to a single gender and vice-versa, it may be necessary to do some juggling of names. For instance a St. Agnes Girls’ School cannot become mixed and still retain its name. However it could become St. Agnes High School or something equally appropriate without much loss of identity. While the use of adjectives like Junior, Senior, Middle, High, and Primary are helpful indicators of level, those of gender like boy’s, girl’s, and mixed are pointless tautologies as names go. A St. Agnes should have no trouble ministering to both girls and boys, or doing whatever saints are supposed to do for both genders”.

    Elderly Advice

    “Government should not exert any serious effort to take on the trivial exercise of changing the names of schools for the mere fun of it. There must however be rhyme and rhythm in naming schools. Changing the name of an institution will always generate some heat. University of Ife alumni protested to the heavens but UNIFE is today OAU and the heavens have not fallen. It should be possible to reconcile all views with no ulterior motives through dialogue”.

    False Claim

    According to Pa Fagbulu, “the claim that the federal government enforced the takeover is false. Those who are old enough will remember that the exercise was not uniformly executed across the country. The Catholics put up a very tenacious resistance in the East and that slowed implementation. Some states only half-heartedly carried it out simply because Education has always been on the concurrent list and no central government could successfully enforce such a complex maneuver at a swoop even under the military. Decrees merely backed the intention of governments and the people who had spoken through Asabia”.

    He went further thus: “One lingering and unfortunate consequence of the takeover of schools is the undeniable fact that standards of education have fallen over the years since the takeover. It is in no way a direct consequence of the proposal but one of implementation by government. In fact the takeover was to be a new beginning whereby the following would take place in the spirit of Adefarasin and Asabia (recommendations): “

    1.         All existing and new schools would be registered: that implied that the basic minimum requirements for providing good education would be provided in all schools irrespective of who was the proprietor. That would satisfy the demand of the NUT that all educational institutions should provide equal facilities for the children to learn and the teachers to teach.

    2.         All schools would be bound by the same rules and treated equally when being assessed in respect of management, number and quality of staffing, and other areas that deal with the evaluation of the outcome of learning. I had the unpleasant duty of writing to the government of the Western State to give notice of closure in respect of the famous Government College, Ibadan of which I was by law the stand-in proprietor on behalf of the government, due to poor accommodation and general neglect. That decadence as it developed had shown that governments could default in providing fully for their schools and that any measure to avoid that unfortunate situation must be a corner-stone of any changes.

    3.         All schools would have properly constituted Boards of Governor to oversee the management of the schools as outlined in law. That body would be independent and good enough to get governments to act appropriately in funding schools”.

    Naked Truth

    “At the primary school level in particular, the Local Education Authorities have been greatly handicapped to the extent that it is difficult to believe that they exist at all. The (naked) truth is that governments have increasingly been unable to fund education adequately and though the rates might have been perhaps slower, the rot would have set in anyway if even schools had not been taken over”.

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    Undiluted Fact

     Commenting on the recent hullaballoo over Hijab and ownership of schools in Osun State, the Message observed as follows: “It is regrettable that a respected body like CAN can display so much ignorance in respect of education in Nigeria. To start with, the State of Osun like the rest of Nigeria cannot discriminate in the provision of educational facilities on the basis of gender or religion. Secondly CAN is operating from a false premise that some schools are Christian schools. All public schools belong to all the people irrespective of their religious beliefs”.

    “If we Christians want to have schools over which we will have full control the constitution provides for that. Finally the history of the take-over of schools credited to Gowon is also false. The take-over of schools was a direct consequence of the Asabia Commission and I was the originator of the idea with my colleagues who served after me as advisers to that body”.

    Reason for the Brouhaha

    “A main reason for that action was that the proprietors who received grants from government and fleeced parents through high fees made education very expensive. In spite of not investing their own money in education they failed to pay teachers on time if at all; they tyrannized teachers; they even went as far as not promoting teachers on merit especially if those teachers belonged to other denominations. CAN should please do its research and acknowledge that Adefarasin emancipated teachers and Asabia, its sub-committee recommended the procedures for achieving that end, If CAN needs being educated on this issue, I will oblige. In the meantime it should stop spreading falsehood.  Aregbesola may or may not be guilty of wanting to Islamize Osun; that is not my concern here. Accusing him of using education is however not true.”

    Conclusion

    Concluding, Dr. Fagbulu said: “it should be reiterated that public schools belong to the people and that government as the representative of the people has the responsibility to determine the future of education and the direction and shape schools take. There is no problem of education that cannot be solved through dialogue if those involved are sincere and have no hidden agenda. And for the sake of our children let us take interest in education and make constructive inputs. Government should take the lead and we should walk and work with it all the way”.

    Notice: Dr. Amiel M. Fagbulu is still alive and he can be reached through the following email address: amiel.fagbulu@ymail.com

    For futher details, and confirmation of the above quoted facts, see Vanguard of Thursday, October 17, 2013

  • As AU plans AI deployment for peace, development

    As AU plans AI deployment for peace, development

    As the African Union (AU) commissioned its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy around July last year (2024), and with the setup of an AU Advisory Group on AI by the AU Peace and Security Council also in June last year, it appears Africa is yet again playing catch-up. But, as the saying goes, “it’s better late than never”. The Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Africa is properly crafted and implemented, and it will catalyze the transformation of Africa in the short to midterm and the achievement of the Africa Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some of the key focus areas for the delivery of this project include entrenchment of democratic values, principles, and practices in politics; achievement of a capable institutional framework for leadership to be in place; achievement of peace, security, and stability for Africa, and more.

     How ready is Africa?

    To understand where we are in the global paradigm of AI, recall that about 3 months ago (in January 2025), when President Donald Trump was sworn in, within 24 hours, President Trump had secured over 500 billion US Dollars for AI infrastructure development in the United States of America. two days ago, during the biggest annual legislative strategy session for China, chaired by President Xi Jinping, to craft the 2025 strategy, the meeting deliberated extensively on AI and big data as one of the key policy directions. This will be China’s 15th five-year strategic blueprint (you can imagine how far they have come on AI). India has already done its own AI strategy since around 2018. So, this is where forward-thinking Countries are in terms of the conceptualization of the AI strategy, implementation, and impacts relative to where we are in Africa.

     The Continental AI strategy for Africa has a 5 years implementation plan. But suffice it to say that some of the critical priority areas that must be addressed before the AI strategy can work include critical infrastructure, the political structures across the continent, and the political will of African leaders. The rhetorical question is, “Do we have the political structures and the governance framework that will enable achievement of those strategic visions and objectives at a time when fragmentation is the order of the day across the world?”.  Specifically, in the case of Africa, there are conflicts across the Sahel, in Eastern Africa, specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, and South Sudan. We are witnessing the fragmentation of ECOWAS with the latest development in Guinea-Bissau, where President Umaru Sissoco Embalo, is threatening to pull out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). There has to be a unified approach to the AI strategy. It should be aligned to individual and continental aspirations or initiatives. Consequently, we have a lot of work to do in Africa. More importantly, it is how the leaders of the countries of Africa will ultimately harness AI to deliver good governance to the over 1.2 billion citizens of the continent, whereas we have issues of getting leaders of most Countries to practice real democracy or apply a good governance framework to the betterment of their citizens. Over 60 years or less since independence, the majority of African Countries are still grappling with the provision of basic amenities like clean drinking water, steady electricity, education, security, free, fair, and credible elections, etc. Therefore, while the AI Strategy is a welcome development, it is important for us to note that the foundations and building blocks of our Countries and Continent are fundamental to the success of the Continental AI Strategy.

     There is a governance and regulatory framework in place for the execution of the AI strategy. How the respective countries key their strategy into the overarching continental strategy is the first step in the right direction. And how they are able to address the concerns of ethics and regulation of AI, especially when we already have the critical infrastructural deficit, and data integrity is very important. This is because the crucial data that will be used to populate the framework of AI are actually data that Africa mostly relies on the West or the Far East to give us, to leverage. Generating our own homegrown crucial and credible data that is very important; because in Africa, we put more “face value” on our data rather than looking at our realities and using the real critical data, and that is where and why we mostly lean on the data that are coming from countries or continents that may not like the data to be in line with our current realities for their own strategic objectives.

     Interestingly, Nigeria already has a national artificial intelligence strategy that was formulated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and domiciled in one of its Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) – the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, and some other Countries in Africa have crafted or are crafting their AI strategies and policies. 2025 to 2026 is the timeline for all the Countries in Africa to craft their AI strategy as part of “phase-1” of the implementation plan of the Africa continental AI strategy.

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     Critical infrastructure Deficit must be addressed

    AI has come to stay. However, while we are plugging into AI, is energy/ electricity supply available, steady, or sustainable in the majority of African Countries? Critical Infrastructure deficit is a reality. Therefore, do all Countries in Africa have a national development strategy that has links or interlinks with these critical pillars for success? Infrastructure, in terms of energy, intermodal transportation, and even the bedrock of data for telecommunications (which are linked to energy as well), is fundamental. Thus, the dependencies and interdependencies are crucial to achieving the strategic national and continental AI objectives.

     Furthermore, Countries must achieve “policy coherence” in their public sector for them to achieve these seemingly disparate but relational sectors like technology, energy, digital economy, logistics and supply chains, etc. That being said, we need to face that reality and prepare for it because if we don’t prepare for the impacts of AI (positives and negatives), the negative consequences will be more devastating if we allow AI to evolve without Africa catching up fast.

     Human Capital Development

    Serious investments in human capital development, especially the youth who are the ones actually driving the tech and private sectors in China and the US. The youth of Africa are the ones who will scale new heights and push the boundaries of new frontiers.

    Public Service Culture and Political Will

    A point to note is that AI will not change our political system or corporate culture as African countries or Africa as a continent. It is our intentions that will drive the change that will bring peace and development, which technology and AI will enable. This is because the AI, robots, and technology are programmed to do exactly what we want them to do.

    Accordingly, the leaders of Africa should recognise that they have a role to play. Because AI is virtual reality. We need the human beings who are leading these countries to do the right things before we can safely, efficiently, and effectively deploy AI. With regard to how AI can be harnessed to achieve regional or continental security and peace, it is very important for us to understand that the technology is moving fast in terms of reconnaissance and surveillance, remote sensing, etc. Therefore, countries must build the capacities, competencies, and willpower to be proactive against risks and threats like terrorists so that they can be able to successfully react to risks and threats. Otherwise, AI will be just a buzzword in Africa. 

     Meanwhile, we should not lose sight of where we are in terms of our realities. For example, we are faced with heightening insecurity and conflicts across the continent. How have we leveraged the existing technologies to proactively quell potential crises or risks rather than allowing them to happen? As it is today, most national databases of countries across Africa are not up to par or synchronized across the board and effectively utilized for national security and development. This is worrisome considering the fact that the criminals, terrorists, and enemies are fully and effectively deploying technology in terms of communication, drones, deep fake AI, etc. Indeed, they are moving in tandem with the evolution of technology, and this makes them more formidable, as African countries are lagging behind. The risks and threats in Africa are escalating beyond any other region in the world.

    There must be Peace for Development to happen

    There must be peace before growth and development can happen. There must be stability in terms of the socio-economic well-being of our citizens across the countries in the continent for us to achieve the AI vision and objectives. Look at what is happening in Sudan, South Sudan, and DRC, for example, or in other parts of Africa. Even where there are no wars or battles, the socioeconomic headwinds in those countries MUST be addressed as part of the respective national and continental AI strategies because they are consequential to the achievement of the AI vision.

     Ethics and Regulation.

    The ethical and regulation issues of AI is a global concern. Nonetheless, with the ongoing international efforts to address the issues ethical and regulatory issues, I hope that it will be addressed on the continental and global platforms.

  • Living in fear of herders and kidnappers

    Living in fear of herders and kidnappers

    For years, many of us had lived in dread of kidnappers and herders in our country. The campaign against and fear of these miscreants are not over yet but there is light at the end of a long dark tunnel. This was something we were not used to. The saddest part of the situation was that most of us voters felt President Muhammadu Buhari, being a retired soldier would handle the problem with military might by dealing mercilessly with these miscreants. But we were disappointed that as they say in Yorubaland “for the leaves of coconut tree to soften up, they actually became harder.” I don’t know the reason for his absolute inaction. The result of this was that most of us confined ourselves to the urban centres and abandoned the rural areas where our people lived and where we had our extended families and the graves of our parents and ancestors.  This abandonment of the rural and agricultural hinterland of the country was eventually to lead to famine, worsening the insecurity of the country.

    For me this was terrible. I had to be sending monies to friends at home and pastors of our home churches to help keep the graves of our parents in order. I sometimes felt very hopeless asking what kind of lives we were living and remembering what Yoruba bards used to sing to us “Enter your father’s house, there can be no fear in one’s father’s house”. For about a decade, I lived in fear of kidnappers even while traveling from Lagos to Ibadan. What I really feared was not the ones that killed people instantly but the ones who carried people to the forest and held them for days, months and years before releasing or finally killing them.

    I remember what my friend Honourable Eddy Mbadiwe suggested apparently out of frustration that those who want should be allowed to carry concealed weapons like Americans, so that they have a fighting chance against these kidnappers whenever they struck. He didn’t get much support but it was a positive suggestion for those of us who are able and willing to defend ourselves. People after vetting should be allowed to carry weapons as they do in America so that good people are not killed miserably by those who do not value the lives they carelessly take. We all suffered during the Buhari years and to preserve our lives, we stayed put wherever we were.

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    One of my cousins at home made matters worse when he told me that our folks at home were in league with the foreign kidnappers whom they assisted with intelligence about those visiting home. I jokingly said if I was ever kidnapped, I would say I was a retired headmaster of a primary school instead of saying a retired poor professor! I was made to understand that this would not wash because the marauders would say if you are a poor retired headmaster, what about your children?

    A funny colleague said he told his children not to offer any ransom or sell his only house to give money to kidnappers but that his children should plead with the kidnappers to feed him until he died. I asked him – what was the point of feeding him when one bullet would put an end to his suffering and misery? In order to avoid any unpleasant experience in my old age, I stayed away from travelling to my hometown and my state.

    Recently, I broke the jinx by travelling to Ekiti State and to Ado and Ikere, Igbara-Odo and to Ilawe where I was born. I didn’t get home to Okemesi, the home of my ancestors who incidentally were warriors and would not have understood why I was living in fear. My ancestors were made of finer and tougher stuff. They were like “rams who go to meeting grounds of other rams to ask for fight if there were no rams in their vicinity”.  They were as “handsome as tigers but deadly in combat”.  My people bore the names of Akin meaning courage and lived courageously. But those were the days! The days of chivalry are gone and there was no point of glorifying foolhardiness. But even up till today, Okemesi people are regarded with awe just like every Yoruba person knows Ekiti people do not take nonsense and they would fight to the death if convinced about the correctness of their action. 

    There is this interesting story during the Second Republic. There was to be an election at the state level and even though the UPN led by Obafemi Awolowo fielded Chief Adekunle Ajasin as gubernatorial candidate, farmers in Ekiti were accosted on their way to the farms instead of going to the polling booth and when asked for their lack of patriotism, they responded that they thought voting had ended with Awolowo and since he was not on the ballot they were no longer interested in wasting their time!

    During the second week of March, I went home to Ekiti and came back hale and hearty because I believe in the protection of God Almighty and told members of my extended family that we must never live in fear and like J.F. Kennedy once said “we must never fear to negotiate but we must never negotiate in fear”. Fear is the worst tendency in man and no man should live in fear.

    One thing that I also noticed in my trip is how very clean Ekiti towns and villages are. I am one of those who agree that they are clean because they are small but some other settlements in the North and the East are small and incredibly dirty. Whatever the case, their cleanliness is obvious and the people should be commended.

    I don’t know whether the petering out of kidnapping and highway robbery has something to do with the change of government, but one cannot but notice that the Tinubu government and the change of guards of the military, the police and other security organisations must have led to the improvement in national security. But just as the security situation is improving down south, the spate of incendiary movements in the North especially in the Northwest and around Abuja is increasing. Those concerned with security in those areas must move in quickly to decapitate the heads of the snakes so that we can have peace nationally. The security leaders need to demonstrate absolute transparency, sincerity, loyalty and courage. In a situation where people feel some elements in the security organisations are feeding fat on the security problems of the country is not good enough. Where a ragtag army of insurgents hold the country to ransom, something has to be done. People should not be made to live in mortal fear in a country where we have the police and the military. The security organisations must justify the huge allocations given to them year in year out. Unless there is peace, the government will not be able to provide the wherewithal necessary to maintain internal and external order. We should all be involved in fighting insecurity in our country. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Whatever we do, we must realise that the much desired development cannot take place unless the country is secure and there can be no security if there is no development.

  • Orphans of the republic

    Orphans of the republic

    History will never be kind to the staff of the Federal Scholarships Board (FSB), who dared starving and homeless scholars abroad, to come back home and flog the education minister.

    Beyond his contempt for the state-sponsored scholars cum recipients of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), subsists an inordinate lack of tact and sensibility, perhaps. Another tragic manifestation of systemic and human failings.

    The BEA, an ambitious pact between Nigeria and fifteen other countries, was meant to serve as a bridge to intellectual prosperity and national progress. Instead, it manifests as a dark channel, where the light of scholarship dims to neglect.

    For years, the Nigerian government has defaulted on its obligations, leaving its scholars marooned on foreign shores, forsaken by the very nation that pledged to sustain them. It was in 2023, however, that this dereliction assumed horrific proportions. Reports from The Nation, FIJ, and The Cable, among others, have revealed the traumatic fate of these students, time and over again.

    These scholars, scattered across participating countries, were to receive $7,450 annually for postgraduate studies and $6,450 for undergraduates. This stipend was meant to take cater for their health insurance, medical allowances, and daily sustenance. The host nations honored their end of the bargain, covering tuition and accommodation, but Nigeria has serially defaulted – failing to pay the promised stipends. By the beginning of 2025, the stipends had vanished into a void of bureaucratic indifference.

    For the supposed beneficiaries, the impact has been devastating. How does a nation explain the sight of its brightest minds scrounging through garbage bins? How do we explain the tragic reality of our BEA scholars, some of whom have resorted to shoplifting – stealing bread to quiet the growl of their bellies. abroad? A recent report by the FIJ revealed how some BEA scholars in Europe were caught shoplifting.

    Desperation is an acid that corrodes dignity. With each skipped stipend, each Nigerian student abroad inches closer to insanity. In Hungary, the law forbids them from working. In Morocco, the host universities provide no accommodation. Some have been evicted, tossed onto streets that offer nothing but the cold draft of abandonment. Some battle depression, their minds cracking under the weight of uncertainty. Some contemplate asylum, seeking refuge from hardship foisted on them by a homeland that treats them as disposable chaff. A postgraduate scholar in one of the country’s European partners revealed that their stipend had been slashed from $500 to $220. Rent alone costs €250. Once gainfully employed in Nigeria, this student had resigned in pursuit of knowledge, believing in the certitude of government support. Now, he is adrift, an intellectual pauper betrayed by the very system that courted him.

    It’s even more alarming to mull the Federal Government’s response to the students’ plight. When they dared to raise their voices, what did they get? Silence, at first, then contempt. During a virtual meeting with a senior official of the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), the students suffered unimaginable derision from the character who reportedly mocked them, saying that if they were so angry, they should come back home and beat the Minister of Education. 

    And what of the $1,000 deducted from each student’s stipend in 2023, a sum promised for reimbursement when funds became available? Nothing. The promise to refund the money stays buried, till date, in a fog of bureaucratic opacity. Equally worrisome is the fate of graduates of the BEA programme, some of whom are still expectant of their arrears, forced to bear the weight of debts their own government refuses to settle.

    If the state cannot uphold its obligations, then why persist in the deception? If these scholarships are to be nothing more than instruments of torment, let them be abolished. There is no dignity in a scholarship that starves its recipient, no honor in a contract whose terms are ghosted in ink and empty promises.

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    It’s about time we understood that the affected students are not mere beneficiaries of a scholarship scheme but Nigeria’s ambassadors, sent to burnish the country’s intellectual prowess. And yet, they are now symbols of shame, reduced to mendicants and shoplifters. Their plight manifests as both an academic crisis and diplomatic disgrace.

    There is a tragic irony in the government’s contempt for these scholars. It is as though the government approves of the contempt meted to the students by the FSB officials responsible for their upkeep overseas – the latter lamented that some of the state officers see them as nothing more than the children of peasants—unworthy of the full dignity of a promise kept.

    If the Nigerian government still possesses a shred of integrity, it must act swiftly and decisively. First, the arrears must be cleared, and every kobo accounted for. The students must be paid what they are owed, and those who have graduated must not be left in limbo. Second, the administration of the BEA scheme must be overhauled. It must no longer be weaponized with bureaucratic contempt and as a cudgel against vulnerable scholarship beneficiaries. Third, and most crucially, Nigeria must rethink its educational priorities. Instead of sustaining a scholarship programme riddled with administrative failure, fluctuating currency value,  and corruption, why not invest those resources into the nation’s universities?

    President Bola Tinubu has done well with the students’ loan scheme but a lot still has to be done. In the 2024 fiscal year, a meagre N1.59 trillion—only 5.52% of the national budget—was allocated to the Ministry of Education. This falls woefully short of UNESCO’s recommended 15-20%. A recourse to educational foundations, in the light of Arnold’s 1869 treatise, could be in Nigeria’s best interest. President Tinubu could lay the foundation for such a monument by increasing Nigeria’s education budget to 18 per cent.

    Countries like Finland and Japan have shown that a robust, well-funded educational system can transform a nation. Nigeria could take a cue from either. The transformation of the Finnish education system, for instance, began some 40 years ago as the key propellent of the country’s economic recovery plan. Educators had little idea it was so successful until 2000, when the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardised test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40 global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best young readers in the world. Three years later, they led in math.

    Finnish schools are publicly funded. School managers at all levels are educators, not businessmen or politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality education irrespective of his or her descent. The differences between the weakest and strongest students in Finland are the smallest in the world, according to the most recent survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

    The foundations of Nigerian scholarship must be reconstructed to guarantee more progressive responses to internal problems of social advancement: problems of work and wages, of families and homes, of morals and the true value of life.

    True knowledge is never simply to teach bread-winning, furnish teachers for the public schools or vocation for the unemployed. It should above all, be an appendage of that fine adjustment between what Du Bois calls reality and the flourishing knowledge of life. An improvement of civilisation and solution to its seemingly intractable problems.

  • A woman’s world?

    A woman’s world?

    The Natashagate has reopened the vexed debate on gender parity. Feminists crave parity with men. They argue that men and women should be treated equally in all facets of life. Many men have come to accept their female counterpart’s position, not only for peace to reign but also because they believe that women like men should be given a chance in life too. It is an unending conversation, which has even pitched men against themselves. What a woman cannot do does not exist!

    Though born the same way as a man, the life of a woman is defined right from birth. From being a girl to becoming a woman she passes through some good and rough patches. What many women are complaining about today started long ago, precisely on the day they were born. Unlike her male counterparts, the girl-child has a set of rules to live by.

    The boys too have their own. You cannot grow up in the 50s, 60s and some years in the 70s without living under the strict ‘terms and conditions’ of hardcore parents who brooked no nonsense. They did not spare the rod so as not to spoil the child. But for the girls, the rules were sterner and they must not be broken under any condition. The girls broke them at their own risk. Interestingly, these rules were not meant to cage the girl-child, they were set to put them on the straight and narrow path.

    The path that they would follow in later years that people who did not know their backgrounds would see them and say: “you were raised well”. More often than not, they followed it up with the question: “who are your parents?”. From time immemorial, ours has been a society of morals and values. A society that places much store in the dignity, chastity and honour of a woman, than those of a man.

    This is why the girl-child comes into the world already ‘profiled’. From the cradle, she is taught how to be a woman and mother, who must always look down and not into others’ faces while she is being addressed. Society did and still does all these for the good upbringing of the woman. In the days of yore, this arrangement was accepted without fuss. Our mothers grew up to know their place in society, and they accepted what fate had chosen for them.

    Since as they say, the only constant thing in life is change, the modern day disruptive rules of raising children have come to rock the system. But the ‘Old School Way’ of doing things remains a constant. You can only change what is bad and improve on what is good. Just as no one changes a winning team, you also cannot change that ‘archaic’ (their word, not mine) way of bringing up a child. Today’s feminists are fighting the old order because they perceive those rules as ‘constricting’ and fashioned against women.

    What they do not realise is that there is nothing in the old order of raising children that says a woman cannot compete with a man. Nor fight for all the good things of life; go in search of knowledge in any part of the world, no matter how distant; seek the best jobs and aim for the highest positions available.

    All of these come with a fiat to do so with their heads held high. However, they should not in the desire to achieve their goals become a nuisance to themselves. As our parents were wont to say then: “remember the child of whom you are”.

    These words still ring in our ears today. Like a man, a woman is free to fight for a seat (this word again) at the table. Nothing and nobody should stop a woman from doing so. What society demands, just as it was instilled in us as we were growing up, is that the woman should not lose her decency in whatever she does, whether in the public or private domain. A woman must be a woman in deed, honour and character.

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    Nobody is saying that the woman should be a second fiddle. No, not at all. All that is being said is that a woman should not because of the perks of office be a disgrace to herself and her family. In whatever situation she finds herself, she must like Caesar’s wife be above board. A woman who acts indecently in order to get to high office will always face the repercussions, if not now, certainly sometime in the future because those who witnessed it all will never forget.

    The gender debate was ignited by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s out of the blue allegation of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The matter is being blown out of proportions by feminists, while the live issue of Natasha breaking the Senate Rules called the Red Book has been overlooked. This writer has nothing against women and I am not advocating that their place remains the kitchen.

    Our society has since passed that stage. Women whether in the political or any other space should be able to hold their own and learn to play by the rules (this word too!). It should not be one set of rules for them and another for men. Rules are rules and they are made for the peaceful coexistence of the members of a group as well as the larger society.

    No matter how many times men and women fight, they will continue to live together. This is why it is unfair for feminists and their co-travellers to always shout misogyny whenever issues arise as they are bound to, in any human enterprise. When they arise, the wise thing to do is to come and let us reason together. The truth is we shall continue to fight and live to fight again and again as man and woman. Are men misogynist when they insist on women doing the right thing by following the rules?

    Are they misogynist when they ask for proof from a woman accusing them of sexual advances and/or harassment? Are they misogynist when they demand of a female member to follow the group’s rules? So, for the fear of being accused of misogynism, a man should allow a woman to malign him and get away with it? All this noise about misogynism is to obfuscate matters so as to drown the main issue, but it will not work.

    With the ill-advised externalisation of her sexual harassment claim that is sub judice and best handled at home, those mouthing misogynism should by now know where the accuser who is doing everything to nail the accused is coming from and probably heading to. Our Senate may not be perfect just like any other political institution here or abroad, but it remains our highest law making body, and it should be accorded the respect it deserves by members and non-members.

    Before I am crucified, I make bold to say that I am a he for she. But for the fear of being called misogynists, many men are siding Natasha. They conveniently chose to forget that the accused deserves the benefit of doubt until clearcut evidence says otherwise.

    I will not for the fear of being tagged a misogynist back any woman, no matter how highly placed, who accuses a man of sexual misbehaviour until she proves the allegation. This is the rational way to go. People should not allow their emotions to get the better of them over this matter.

  • NOA + Health ministry; Suspension

    NOA + Health ministry; Suspension

    Congratulations National Orientation Agency (NOA).  Please also include public media messaging in all local languages to help prevent diseases especially cancer. NOA needs priority Health Ministry Media Campaign Meetings to identify the top 100 messages for dissemination.

    In my ultrasound clinic last week, I saw several different conditions. One patient was a mother of four who had family planning for nine years but developed an eight-centimetre cancer of the cervix because her clinic did not remind her to also, as a woman, do cervical screening annually. Her cancer grew because her clinic staff focused on the family planning forgetting to take the opportunity to do simple cancer and breast annual screening.

    Another patient was a delightfully intelligent  young man who understood immediately when informed of the steps of the test and on being reassured that no injections were to be given, cooperated completely allowed his closed eyes to be scanned. Sadly, he was completely irreversible blind in both eyes seeing just light in one eye. What future awaits him?

    Another patient came to the clinic close to delivery. The ultrasound finding was that the inside the uterus the baby’s cord was ‘around the neck’ like an incompletely tied tie. This required a Caesarean Section delivery to avoid the baby dying during the delivery.

    Another patient was child of seven who had a pain in the side and eventually revealed she was beaten in school.       

    Another child came for an eye scan, having suffered an injury inflicted in school. We see a large number, too many,  children with permanent eye injuries in the classroom, the playground or even at home and in the neighbourhood resulting from accidental but mostly deliberate use of catapults, fights, stones and sticks. There is a need for an NOA/Min of Health campaign against eye and other injuries in schools and homes.

    Another patient had testicular swelling which turned out to be a cancer of the testis. Yes.

    Another patient had giant fibroids causing her heavy periods and inability to get pregnant.

    Another patient has male infertility with absent sperm.

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    A pregnant patient was seen with a foetal heart rate of 160 beats per minute requiring immediate delivery or we would have lost another Nigerian to be added to the coming population census figures.

    Why are we discussing these patients who, though each an individual deserving 100% care, are collectively maybe a drop in the ocean of needs of Nigerian patients seen daily?

    The reason is that as we left the clinic wondering who would survive and get adequate treatment, we had to join the real-world stage and its playacting around matters which started out as a very serious accusation. The vehement rebuttal of male-on-female sexual harassment allegations in the National Assembly, the self-proclaimed and often ‘cry-able’ and not ever laughable ‘hallowed chamber’,  have degenerated. Now we witness displays of gross pettiness manifest embarrassingly by senator husband and wives receiving ‘my kiss is better than your kiss’ from their embattled or battling spouses.  Coming when Nigeria witnessed a ‘spiritual tongue exchange’ in pastor-ship ordination ceremony, it left a bad taste in the mouth. Apologies to true lovers everywhere.

    In 2025, with all the NGO programming and social media coverage of incidents, and widespread disgust around male-driven violence against females, it is expected that accusations of sexual harassment must never be trivialised. In fact, the accuser should never be dismissed by a deliberate policy of ‘never be taken seriously’, except when rape takes place. Because past accusations were quashed does not mean that subsequent accusations could not be true. Sexual harassment has a low conviction rate.

    Most Nigerians feel they have suffered the consequences of a poor output relative to the huge ‘investment in Salaries and Perks’ extracted from the state. Nigerians do not care much about the National Assembly gossip as they believe the National Assembly members mostly service themselves excessively to the detriment of the masses. A falling out among members is of little concern to Nigerians unless it reveals an honest outburst of anti-corruption fervour among the membership. It would be a demonstrable leadership stroke of  unusual justice if the sexual harassment matter was resolved by an impeccable unbiased evidence review and not reserved for the judgement of well-paid influencers, their teaming 1million ‘under-the -influence’ followers and heckling female politicians, we hope not affected by Stockholm Syndrome.

    The suspension for six months, even subject to an apology to the senate, hopefully not the senate president, an accused party in the matter, is an extraordinarily severe mega-punishment for all the constituents represented.

    It is as much overkill as some irresponsible states charging N50,000, almost minimum wage as simple traffic fines – the highest traffic fine relative to daily wages worldwide, inviting massive staff corruption. 

    Representation is a right of citizens. The representatives have responsibility to the citizens in their actions but are usually very full of themselves. But the job is not about self but national service. However sexual harassment is not a requirement of that national service and should be investigated and punished. Nothing swept under the uneven senate carpet. Some National Assembly members, even female, have fought physically before. Who was suspended for six months then? Nigerians demand the suspension be suspended or reduced to one week to cool tempers. An apology to Nigerians, the senate employers, seems to be in order.