The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Hysteria over French military base

    Hysteria over French military base

    The hysteria over the siting of a French military base in Nigeria has strangely not abated weeks after the rumour gained traction, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. The story didn’t make any sense, but someone originated and disseminated it in the hope it would imbue the rumour with political colouration as well as probably weaponising it. There is of course no truth to the story, and government officials have strenuously refuted the story and provided evidence of its falsity. No one could hide white Frenchmen in the Sahel, or bivouac them in nondescript accommodations along Nigeria-Nigerien borders. But Northern Nigerian elites who could send scouts to confirm the presence or planned deployment of French soldiers in Nigeria were uninterested in taking such steps. They know what they are doing.

    Astonished that some Nigerian elites could be both ignorant and gullible, Niger Republic junta leader Gen. Abdourahame Tchiani added embellishments of his own. He probably understands that some Nigerians are eager to believe the worst of their leaders, so he gave them harder bones to chew. Last week he addressed his nation and accused Nigerian government of laxity in allowing the Lakurawa terrorist group to take root and flourish, to the point of now threatening Niger Republic. In fact he goes ahead to allege that Nigeria and France had colluded to arm the Lakurawa against Niger Republic, yes the same terrorist group that Nigeria is deploying huge military arsenal to combat. The aim, he alleges, is to destabilise the Niger Republic government and force its capitulation. Fortunately, other than a few hardened Nigerian irredentists, no one else in Nigeria or anyone at all in Niger Republic believes his tall stories about insurgency and destabilisation.

    Gen. Tchiani is under pressure over his country’s worsening economic, security and political conditions. He will clutch at any straw to stay afloat. His fellow coupists in Mali and Burkina Faso installed as military administrators of their countries are also reportedly under pressure over worsening socio-economic conditions. Their citizens are demanding a timetable for the restoration of democratic rule, months after they foolishly gave rousing welcome to the coup leaders, and many months after they rallied on the streets in favour of Russian presence on their soils and denounced ECOWAS attempt to compel the return of democracy. Their folly is now attracting a backlash in terms of worsening economy, human rights abuse, and faltering counterinsurgency operations against Sahelian Jihadists linked to al-Qaeda. Even their Sahel alliance (AES) has proceeded only tentatively.

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    The easiest part of any rebellion, whether a military coup or a revolution, is to make empty utopian promises. Some misguided Nigerians, including activists claiming to be dedicated to the cause of democracy and good governance, clamoured for revolution or coup after the 2023 polls and during the ‘end bad governance’ protests. The problem, always, is that once the coup madness is activated, no one can predict its course. It is, therefore, dismaying that some Nigerians, still clutching to the old power order, are lending themselves to the service of an ignoble cause. They focus on demonising France rather than on campaigning for Nigeria to ensure good and favourable terms in its economic dealings with other countries, including France. If Francophone countries detest France for various economic and probably political and security reasons that hark back to their histories, it is unrealistic for Nigeria to inherit other people’s conflicts. After all, France is one of the highest importers of Nigeria’s oil.

    The Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic) has shortsightedly opted for the embrace of Russia, with China and Turkiye on the sidelines, partly because they do not want to be accountable to their regional and continental neighbours. They also resent the peer review mechanisms put in place by their ECOWAS brother states. They are at liberty to engage in political and strategic alliances, whether these make sense or not, and expose themselves to proxy wars by the great powers. After all, last September they even indicated their resolve to issue new biometric passports for their countries. What is, however, dispiriting is when members of the Nigerian elite who should know better begin to sponsor despicable campaigns to force Nigeria into shortsighted alliances and also weaponise falsehoods to destabilise their country. Elections 2027 are not too far away. They should return to the drawing board and find ways of winning polls without destroying their country or setting ethnic and religious groups against one another.  

  • For PDP, it doesn’t just rain…

    For PDP, it doesn’t just rain…

    Few Nigerians hold out any hope that the minor opposition party, Labour Party (LP), would survive the tectonic moves triggered by its apparatchiks after they lost the presidential election. Increasingly, however, more Nigerians fear that even the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ageing and dystrophic party which held power for 16 years since 1999, may face irreversible decline if its leaders do not show imagination in rearranging their party. They were yet to resolve the controversy over who their chairman should be: Umar Iliya Damagum, who is in office in acting capacity and appears in league with the intransigent spoilsport Nyesom Wike, or another unnamed candidate from the North Central geopolitical zone who would be expected to throw out Mr Wike and his crowd. While they hesitated, the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu threw a spanner in the works as they upheld a High Court ruling invalidating Samuel Anyanwu’s position as the party’s national secretary. The appellate court declared Ude Okoye Ude as the genuine national secretary. But Mr Anyanwu stays resolutely in office, resisting deposition.

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    The acting chairman, Amabassador Damagum, stands indomitably pat; and now Mr Anyanwu joins the league of intransigents. They occupy two of the most sensitive, if not the most sensitive, positions in the PDP. For the party, it does not just rain, it pours. This year was fraught with tales of apocalypse for the party; next year could prove gloomier if reason does not prevail. How to make reason prevail will preoccupy party leaders all through next year. Should they try to cut the Gordian knot, hoping the mere act of wielding the knife would prove therapeutic, they might discover too late how surgical quackery kills patients effortlessly. Unfortunately for them, the only decisive man in the party’s leadership, Mr Wike, is not in lockstep with them. He sneers at them. The other leaders in the party are not only mediocre; they seldom put their money where their mouths are. This is a self-made tragedy whose seed was planted in the President Olusegun Obasanjo era, leaving the party with little choice but to contend with the leadership malady for much of next year.

  • In memory of Bola ‘Cicero’ Ige

    In memory of Bola ‘Cicero’ Ige

    Every December regurgitates the memory of his hideous murder at the Bodija Estate in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The scars have not healed. The pains linger in the minds of relations, associates, and empathisers. The puzzle remains unsolved. Who killed Chief James Ajibola Ige, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in the Fourth Republic government of Olusegun Obasanjo?

    On December 23, 2001, the news ricocheted throughout the country that unknown assailants had killed Ige. Twenty-three years later, the killers remain at large. The inability of the government to unravel his killing – most people believe he was assassinated – aptly underscores the illusion of justice.

    Ige, a lawyer, prolific writer, eloquent social critic, and astute politician, was a committed Awoist. He was a dependable ally of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Action Group (AG) in the First Republic.

    In the late sixties, he was a commissioner in the military government of Col. Adeyinka Adebayo in the Western State. In the Second Republic, he was governor of the old Oyo State on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). In the post-Third Republic period, he became the Deputy Leader of Afenifere. He died as an elder statesman.

    Full of magnetism, charm, charisma, and carriage, Ige was also a controversial politician. He was an orator with a caustic tongue. It was not for nothing Ige was popularly called the Cicero of Esa-Oke, his hometown in Osun State. He was simply electrifying on the podium. On some occasions, he also ran into crises. When the vicissitudes of life assailed him, he bore his ordeals with philosophical calmness.

    In the camp of Awoists, Ige and his colleagues -Lateef Jakande (Baba Kekere) and Bisi Onabanjo (Ayekooto) – were subjects of envy. On some occasions, Ige’s political career was threatened by malevolent colleagues. He survived the bitterness in Awo’s days. But it was a different ball game afterwards.

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    In 1999, he was rejected at the Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential primary by the Awoists. They said Ige, tagged a Yoruba irredentist, lacked a national outlook, unlike Chief Olu Falae, the former Secretary to the Federal Military Government and Minister of Finance. Supporters of Ige complained that the time-tested criteria of age, ideological learning, hierarchy and service to the fold were ignored by the wise men who converged on D’Rovans Hotel in Ibadan to pick the party’s flag bearer. That singular event marked the gradual of parting of ways between Ige and his old friends in the Awo camp.

    Before his murder, he had been assaulted at the palace of the Ooni of Ife where hoodlums seized his cap and hung it on a nearby tree.

    Ige’s murder provoked rage, curses, and regrets. He was a bridge builder. He had friends across the six geo-political zones. He believed in mentoring young Nigerians from all walks of life. Fork-tongued and skilled in the war of words, Ige’s mouth was sharper than the razor. He was also humorous.

    In Law, his profession, and politics, which he described as a vocation, Ige distinguished himself, to the delight of the indomitable Awo.

    But he was an ardent critic of Awo and the AG before he joined the fold. He had criticized the AG for lack of an articulated foreign policy. Awo opened a file where he kept the thought-provoking articles written by Ige, especially his documented attacks against his party. When Awo’s lawyer-friend, Chief Morohundiya, under whom Ige later took off as a pupil lawyer, took the rebellious young lawyer to the AG leader, Ige told Awo that he stood by the position he had taken. Indeed, Awo admired that candour and courage, for only a few could call a spade a spade. Recognising his potential, he resolved to groom him, encourage him and moderate his views.

    Consequently, Awo made Ige a member of the AG Committee for the Review of Foreign Policy, along with the late Prof. Hezekiah Oluwasanmi, Akin Mabogunje, Tunde Oloko, Olumbe Bashir, and Prof. Samuel Aluko. He was also an active member of the AG Youth Association, led by the late Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, and later, Ayo Fasanmi, the socialist chemist with a long beard. At 32, Ige became the AG National Publicity Secretary at the party’s rancorous Jos Convention.

    Having discovered his virtues – bravery and outspokenness – Ige was assigned to defend the oppressed United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) chieftains who were in an alliance with the AG when the leaders of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) hounded them into detention.

    When the House of Representatives primary in the old Lagos Mainland Constituency between Sikiru Shitta-Bey, the Secretary of the AG Youth Association, and Adewale Thompson, son of the licensed surveyor at Odaliki Street in Ebute-Meta, was deadlocked, Ige was the young AG leader sent to organise a fresh shadow poll. He reported to Awo that although both Shitta-Bey and Thompson were popular, it appeared to him that the pendulum of victory tilted more towards the direction of the son of Shitta-Bey, the “Seriki Musulumi” of Lagos. Awo ratified Ige’s report. Both Ige and Thompson hailed from Ijesa land in Osun State. Fourteen years later, Governor Ige appointed Thompson as Oyo State’s Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner.

    Ige stirred many controversies in the First Republic. He was a critic of the Balewa government. His platforms were public lectures, radio and television programmes.

    On the eve of the Commonwealth of Nations’ Heads of Government meeting in Lagos in the sixties, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa had to stop a live television programme in which Ige was a discussant. After dissecting the agenda of the meeting, Ige described the Commonwealth as ‘an organisation where the wealth was not common’. The programme was stopped immediately.

    He had dazed Western Regional Premier Ladoke Akintola, himself a wordsmith, with verbal missiles, after regaining political control at the end of the six-month emergency rule. When Akintola boasted that the ring of power had been fixed on his finger and nobody could remove it, Ige went on air, saying if the ring could not be removed, the finger could be cut off.

    Ige shared in the tribulation of Awo and other AG leaders. He was detained in Kwale, in the old Midwest Region, during the six-month emergency period.

    He was fluent in Hausa, having lived in Kaduna during his childhood. An effective campaigner, he had a heart of steel. Relying on his fluency in Hausa, he took the risk of leading a campaign train in Kano. Like Aminu Kano, he descended on Northern Premier Ahmadu Bello, a prince and Sardauna of Sokoto, who he described as an epitome of aristocratic and feudalist oppression, urging the ‘talakawas’ to free themselves from captivity. He narrowly escaped death when the goons of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) attacked his campaign train.

    When Awolowo was released from prison and appointed the Federal Commissioner of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council in the Yakubu Gowon administration, he had recommended Ige for a ministerial position. But still, Ige could not make the list due to the quota system adopted for the appointments.

    However, the military governor of Western State, Adeyinka Adebayo, appointed him the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources.

    Ige was dropped as a commissioner for rebelliously criticising other agencies of government. Out of government, he returned to his legal practice. In 1975, he became a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) set up by the Murtala/Obasanjo Administration to package a new constitution, preparatory to the return of power to civilians in 1979. The late Chief Fredrick Rotimi Alade (FRA) Williams (SAN) chaired the committee; Awo declined to serve in it.

    As a member of the “Committee of Friends”, Ige became a founding member of the UPN, led by Awo. In 1979, he vied for governor of Oyo State, defeating his rival and former Vice Principal, Venerable Emmanuel Alayande, to the discomfort of Awo who had favoured the old teacher and cleric for the slot. When Awo persuaded Ige to step down for the old man, with a promise to make him a minister after winning the presidential election, Ige was said to have retorted: “I cannot leave certainty for uncertainty.” Awo then asked: “Does it mean that my ambition is not certain?” Ige promptly apologised.

    After his victory at the poll, he mounted pressure on Alayande to serve as his Special Adviser on Education.

    The 1979 governorship election was a tough contest between Ige and Chief Richard Akinjide, First Republic Minister of Education and candidate of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). It was in the post-Adegoke Adelabu era and the UPN, an offshoot of the defunct AG, wanted to assert dominance in Oyo State.

    During a live television debate in Ibadan, the state capital, there was a hot argument between the two lawyers. The old “NCNCer” was said to have, in Ige’s view, politically disparaged Awo’s Free Education Policy. Akinjide had alleged that the programme bred miscreants. Ige’s reply was harsh. He asked: “How many of your relatives who benefitted from the programme are armed robbers, charlatans and social miscreants?” Tempers rose. Some scolded Ige for extreme polemics. Others merely laughed it off.

    Curiously, the relationship between Ige and his deputy, the late Chief Sunday Afolabi, was later strained. Ahead of the 1983 polls, Afolabi indicated interest in the governorship slot.  During the friction, the deputy governor claimed that the governor had stopped his allowances. Their mutual friend and former Military Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, offered to mediate in the crisis. It became Ige’s undoing. His rivals in the UPN came up with charges of disloyalty against him at the Yola Conference of the UPN. In that delicate moment, he narrowly escaped expulsion from Awo’s political family.

    In his book, Household of War, a veteran journalist, Dare Babaribsa, said historians aptly captured the anxious moment as the “night of long knives”. Ige’s saving grace was Awo, who applied wisdom in handling the sensitive matter.

    Afolabi later defected to the NPN to team up with Chiefs Adisa Akinloye, Akinjide, Busari Adelakun, Lamidi Adedibu and Dr. Victor Olunloyo to sack Ige from power. After the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) announced the results, riots broke out. The houses of notable politicians in the state were razed.

    Following the 1983 coup, Ige was detained, tried and sentenced to imprisonment by a military tribunal. There was drama as Ige and Olunloyo met in detention. Both men were to take a ride in a Black Maria. Olunloyo teased Ige, saying: “You must enter first, senior brother. After all, you spent four years in power. I only spent three months.” Ige hissed, ignoring the tantrums from the renowned mathematician. Ige was released by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, who ousted Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State in a palace coup in August 1985.

    But in his private life, Ige also courted controversy. At a public lecture, he had referred to the Olubadan of Ibadan and the Soun of Ogbomoso as Baales upgraded to first-class kingship by a former Military Governor David Jemibewon. Ibadan indigenes frowned at the remarks. His Ibadan title, the “Aare Alasa” was withdrawn by the Olubadan-in-Council and conferred on the Ewi exponent, Olarewaju Adepoju.

    Ige refused to participate in the Babangida transition programme in obedience to Awo’s advice to the progressives that they should dine with the devil with a long spoon. In 1986, Awo had shunned the Political Bureau set up by IBB and chaired by Dr. Samuel Cookery. He doubted the sincerity of the military President, warning that the nation had embarked on a fruitless search and “when we imagine that the new political order has arrived, we will be disappointed”. The prophecy came to pass. The victory of MKO Abiola, winner of the 1993 presidential poll, was criminally annulled by the IBB-led regime.

    Ige continued with the “siddon look” political observance philosophy during the Sani Abacha era when he dismissed the five political parties of the time as the five fingers of a leprous hand. When the Abdulsalami Abubakar military regime came up with its transition programme, Ige traversed the two parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had the majority of his colleagues in the “G-34” as members, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (APP). Although he wrote the constitutions of the two parties, he could not cohabitate with those described as the hawks of the Abacha era. Although the closing date for party registration had elapsed, the Federal Government registered AD to forestall the exclusion of credible Southwest leaders from the transition programme.

    But Ige’s party, the AD, could not fly beyond the regional level. A crisis seized the party from the onset. At D’Rovans Hotel in Ibadan, Awoists rejected Ige in preference for Falae as presidential flag bearer.

    Ige never forgave his colleagues. He fought back. Against Afenifere’s wish, he joined the Obasanjo government. He was mocked by Afolabi, the then Minister of Internal Affairs, who described his former boss as a guest to a meal seizing the hands of his host. Ige replied that he was not focused on the food but on service to his fatherland.

    In the Power and Steel ministry assigned to him, Ige was like a stranger. But it was a different ball game at the Ministry of Justice, where he motivated the celebrated suit on resource control and laid the template for the anti-graft war. He was a staunch believer in federalism.

    What would have been Ige’s position on today’s contentious national issues: restructuring  zoning or rotational presidency, state creation, regionalism, state police, local government autonomy, taxation in federalism, among others?

    The firebrand lawyer would not have stayed tongue-tied, or, as he would say, maintained the aloofness of siddon look. He would have provided the legal perspectives to most of the issues. Truly, the nation, especially the Southwest, has lost a Cicero.

  • Salihu Lukman and PBAT’s media chat

    Salihu Lukman and PBAT’s media chat

    Appraising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu‘s maiden media chat on Arise Television’s ‘The Morning Show’ programme, the immediate past National Vice Chairman (Northwest) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Salihu Lukman, said the president was in denial of the fact that his administration’s ‘so-called’ economic reform policies have failed. He was of the view that the president’s responses to questions portrayed him as “a President who is not listening” and likened Tinubu to an emperor operating in a dictatorial manner antithetical to democracy. Ordinarily highly articulate, one would have expected Lukman to critically interrogate the President’s responses to questions on specific policies and why he considered them inadequate even though I must confess that I only read reports of his Arise Television interview and did not watch it live.

    In the media chat, Tinubu spiritedly defended his administration’s economic reform policies including the removal of the fuel subsidy, merger of the hitherto existing parallel foreign exchange markets and the proposed tax reform bills while insisting that he had no intention of downsizing his Cabinet which some critics consider too large in view of the need to cut down on governance costs. But then, the President acknowledged his awareness of the severe hardships brought about by the reforms, expressed his empathy with the people and was optimistic that beyond the current pains, there would be enduring gains including a stronger, less dependent and more prosperous economy.

    All of this in my view does not suggest a President who is not listening or one who is alienated from the existential realities of the vast majority of Nigerians. Rather, it is akin to the surgeon who firmly believes that putting his patient under the knife, though a painful process, is imperative to save the latter’s life. Or the dentist in Wole Soyinka’s novel, ‘Season of Anomy’ who has to inflict the pain of dental extraction on his patient as the lasting panacea to an excruciating toothache.

    Lukman insinuates that if Tinubu were a listening leader, he would jettison his reforms on a wave of populism due to the attendant hardships. But Tinubu insisted during the media chat that only the reforms could save the country from the perilous path it had charted for decades. Successive post independence governments, civilian and military, had identified the need to remove the subsidy but could not summon the courage to do so. Those who did, sought to eliminate the subsidy in trickles and phases with little impact on the economy as fuel importers continued to criminally amass humongous amounts from the gargantuan fraud associated with the subsidy.

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    True, Tinubu as leader of the opposition had opposed the partial subsidy removal announced by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012. But then, the country at that time was earning huge revenues from crude oil sales with the price of a barrel of oil considerably exceeding a $100 while the country’s crude oil exports were also substantial compared to subsequent years when crude oil theft on an industrial scale led to a sharp drop in the capacity to export. Unfortunately, previous administrations particularly during the PDP’s control of the centre between 1999 and 2015, did not utilize the opportunity of relatively high crude oil prices and the resultant munificent revenues to resuscitate dormant refineries to boost domestic refining or concretely address the country’s chronic infrastructure deficit in roads, railways and electricity, for instance. These inherited deficiencies have contributed to the intensity of hardships being experienced today as the country continues to adjust to life without fuel subsidies.

    The removal by the administration of subsidy in the electricity sector leading to increase in tariff for certain categories of power consumers have also contributed to the prevailing economic hardships. But it is so easy to forget that under the PDP, no less than $16 billion was expended on the power sector with negligible impact on electricity supply. To compound matters was the largely opaque and fraudulent privatization of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) with individuals and entities without the requisite expertise or financial capacity buying the distribution and generation companies and thus leaving the sector no better than before the privatization. Dr Lukman is no doubt aware of all these factors but is motivated more by partisan considerations in his contribution to the discourse on the presidential media chat.

    Incidentally, the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, also toes the line of Salihu Lukman in accusing the Tinubu administration of not listening to the voice of the people. Speaking on the administration’s proposed tax reforms when receiving the Christian community in his state at the Bauchi Government House, he said, “These tax reforms are not only anti-North but also a threat to the unity of our country. The government must listen to the people. This is a democracy not a dictatorship or oligarchy. Policies should never be imposed on the people without considering their welfare…No leader should feel too proud or arrogant to admit when a policy is not working. If something is not popular with the people, change it! This is not about religion or tribe; it is about fairness, justice and the unity of Nigeria”. But courageous and visionary leadership is sometimes about a leader charting an unpopular course in the short run confident that it is in the long term interest of the people and that, ultimately, history will vindicate the just.

    In any case, Bala Mohammed and Salihu Lukman assume that there is a uniform and cohesive voice of the people to which a leader must listen and respond. As far as they are concerned, their narrow views, naturally based on their interests and prejudices is the sole authentic voice to which the President must listen and bow to. But this is not necessarily so. On the tax reform bills, for instance, the Archbishop of the Anglican communion of Kadina Province, Timothy Yahaya, has a different view. According to this newspaper on Thursday, the Archbishop told reporters that “The Tax bills will stimulate the economy, but the sharing of money is not the best for this country…Leaders must think outside the box and think of creating wealth instead of thinking of sharing what we extracted from the ground”.

    And the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, citing available details from data accompanying the Bills, has argued that the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) model will guarantee more income for states in the North and a reduction for states like Lagos and Rivers. In his words, “As credible data have shown, for instance, the new model recommends 6.17 per cent to Kano compared to 0.89 per cent due to it. It recommends 1.21 per cent for Zamfara compared to 0.05 per cent. Currently, Lagos gets 80.26 per cent but the new model only recommends 15.28 per cent representing an 81 per cent decrease. Under the new model also, Rivers’ share will decline from 7.74 per cent to 4.6 per cent accounting for a 41 per cent loss. With these figures, the narrative around the new derivative model is utterly incorrect and unfounded”.

    Continuing, Senator Bamidele reveals further that “For the record, the Tax Reform Bills, when finally enacted, utterly exempt all employees earning N1,000,000 annually or N83,000 monthly. The Bills exempt start-ups, shared services and technologically driven services from taxation and recommend zero VAT on essential services and consumptions. Even though it reviews the derivation formula to 60 per cent, this proposal is guided purely by the principles of equity, fairness and justice”. This is obviously why President Tinubu insisted during the media chat that the Tax Reform Bills are essentially pro-poor and seek to modernize the anachronistic tax laws that date back to the colonial era. In any case, why should Salihu Lukman and Bala Mohammed presume that the economic reform policies of an administration that is less than two years in office have failed without providing any empirical justification for their assertion?

    Yes, an already high poverty rate has been worsened by the administration’s drastic fuel subsidy and exchange rate policies. But some economists have also pointed out that there are signs of emergent recovery and future sustained growth. The country’s foreign reserves has hit the $42 billion mark and continues to grow. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cleared authenticated humongous foreign exchange owed to various sectors including foreign airlines. The country has recorded trade surpluses of no less than $6 trillion each over the last three quarters indicating steadily increasing domestic productivity.

    For whatever it is worth, the Naira accruals to the Federation Account has almost tripled and most states have declared their ability to pay the nearly doubled new minimum wage. Stakeholders report remarkable improvements in agricultural harvest this year although getting agric produce from rural farms to urban centres to curb spiraling  food prices remains a challenge. Even though the exchange rate of Naira to the dollar remains undesirably high, it has at least attained a level of stability that can enable businesses plan and make more reliable projections. Competition in a deregulated downstream petroleum sector is gathering momentum and we are gradually seeing the impact on fuel prices, a process that is likely to intensify as more refineries come on stream.

    Dr Lukman cites what he describes as the dormant state of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the major reason why he believes that the Tinubu administration cannot deliver on its promises to Nigerians. According to him, “The party cannot offer the country what it does not have. The APC is currently practically dead. There are no meetings at the level of the organs of the party. No platform to ventilate and aggregate opinions or ideas to enrich the governance system. The party members only come together when there is an election a candidate. Such candidates do not usually emerge from the internal arrangement of the party. Such candidates are not usually the most eligible and what the party does is to mobilize men and resources to rig them in”. To be fair to him, Lukman had always advocated for internal party democracy and the unhindered functioning of party organs even while he was in the APC.

    However, his description of the APC is no less true of what obtains in the other parties particularly the PDP and Labour Party (LP). This is why the opposition parties are crisis-ridden and, unless they are able to put their houses in order, are in no state to challenge effectively for power in current and future elections. But here, Lukman is guilty of a degree of hypocrisy. His benefactor and close associate, the temperamental Nasir ‘el rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, is essentially authoritarian in temper and outlook. He ran the affairs both of Kaduna State and the APC in the state with despotic arrogance riding rough shod over diverse interest groups including labour and religious constituencies. The current governor, Senator Uba Sani, is working hard to heal the wounds inflicted on the state by el rufai. Yet, Lukman never perceived the combustible former governor as an emperor. Lukman reveals that he and other like minded politicians are working hard to birth political parties that can produce the right leadership “amid a groundswell of recognition by leaders of the opposition to come together”. It will be interesting to see what kind of party they come up with especially with egotists like el rufai at its helm.

  • Don’t wake me from this sleep

    Don’t wake me from this sleep

    It is always a spectacle watching a dog bark at the elephant while running rings around the massive animal without striking it. And so, when I read the story that NFF had secured two sponsors to pay the wages of invariably two foreign coaches for the Super Eagles and perhaps the Super Falcons, I chuckled, knowing that the federation is another circus not patronised yet by the world.

    I subconsciously muttered, ” We have been through this path before.” Another platform unleashed on lovers of the game to bombard the internet by name-dropping of renowned coaches. I won’t be surprised to read stories of Pep Guardiola being eager (in their minds) to handle the Super Eagles.

    The fake news breakers would be hinging their hallucination on the bad patch the Spaniard is going through at the Etihad Stadium with Manchester City. Indeed, Guardiola’s expected stoic silence would raise the ante of the discussants until the topic melts away like ice cream forgotten on a slab in the scorching sun.

    Don’t be surprised if in the coming weeks you read of a Presidential secret dialogue with Mikel Arteta during the search for a new foreign coach for Nigeria. Of course, news would also break telling us that FIFA would soon ‘help’ facilitate the employment of a world class coach, such as Fabio Capello, with pictures to authenticate this falsehood. Journeymen coaches would also join the idiocy through faceless jobbers masquerading as their managers. The social media won’t be left out in the fuss, with comments targeted at helping decisions on who should coach the Super Eagles. May God help us.

    In all of this foolery, the federation’s chieftains who should tell Nigerians the truth would be basking in the euphoria of the speculations, with many saying that the media can enjoy their acts. What would be spewing out of the mouths of members of the federation in hush tones would be the need for the new foreign coach to have a deep knowledge of African football, forgetting that 90 per cent of Super Eagles play under the supervision of European coaches who haven’t stepped onto Africa.

    Our players discovered from the dusty roads and rickety foundation of quasi games masters in the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria have easily adapted to the new tricks of the game introduced to them. The resultant effect is that end of displacing the Europeans they met in such teams.

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    Frankly speaking, the search for foreign coach shouldn’t be a bazaar but one in which the new man to emerge would be heralded as the best, based on his coaching credentials and achievements over the last five years.

    Soon all-knowing sports commentators will tell us how the World Cup, which started in 1930, has not been won by a foreigner, rather than break this jinx. These confusionists fail to understand that England, the home of Football, currently have a foreigner as the Three Lions’ coach based on his antecedents in several leagues in the world.

    Tuchel is German no doubt. Fabio Capello is Italian and the late Sven Goran Erikson was Swedish. Wait for it, England’s Golden generation was assembled and coached by the late Erikson.

    It shows that the English have swallowed their pride and accepted that they do not have home grown coaches to do an international job. Will you blame the English? Take a look at the English Premier League and see if you will find an Englishman coaching the first five teams. That trend has been on for the last five years, and the English have taken their destiny in their hands and not indulge in sentimental talks that will lead them nowhere. Who cares if no foreigner has even won the World Cup like the English! This is Nigeria’s best chance to get a good coach, only if those who head the panel to recruit the coach open their eyes and block their ears to emotional talks.

    Each time we talk of a foreign coach, naysayers of Nigerian football will bring out their calculators, forgetting that global recession is the reason for the huge difference of the naira to any of the three big currencies in the world. But if we pick the right foreign coach and results start to come in, we will then realise that the Super Eagles is one of the biggest marketing brands in the world.

    One only hopes that this government sincerely pursues the task of getting a good coach for the Super Eagles, because the Eagles are the biggest public relations team that the government can use to change the narrative about the country to the world. The military, during the jackboot era, used sports to launder their image.

    Suddenly those who resisted the pressure to constitute the task force are the ones rooting for it and angling to put themselves and their friends on the board.

    I hope when the coach comes, these people will allow him work or else there will be fiascos from the first game.

    I am not a prophet of doom but let us get it clearly here; Nigerians who watch the Super Eagles play always feel that they are better coaches than the man saddled to coach the team. May we not see another era where we announce a foreign coach; he arrives in the country, accompanies the team to a tournament in the USA and refused to take the job, having seen the Super Eagles play as an observer? What don’t we condone from foreign coaches? A man sits on the bench throughout the duration of two matches and dumps us with bruised faces and hands akimbo.

    Another lesson the panel in search of a coach should guide against are agents or middlemen masquerading as managers. We must headhunt the coach we need based on the strength of our players. There was little to cheer in the Eagles under Jose Peserio because his methodology was defensive. Peserio’s pattern shut the door against the attack-minded players in the squad. This explains the low goals margin the Eagles scored. Nigeria is in a precarious position for the 2026 World Cup because we failed to score goals which win games.

    Let’s face the brass task. It would be easier for the proverbial Carmel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Nigeria to qualify for the 2026 World Cup competition. Reason – South Africa has more ‘home’ games than others in the group with the Zimbabweans opting to play their home fixtures where they can garner points in South Africa. No chance. Not when Bafana Bafana players are smelling blood with Nigeria’s wobbling performance in the first four qualification games. Super Eagles haven’t won a match which includes drawing Lesotho in Nigeria and holding the Zimbabweans to another nerve-wrenching draw. Need I remind ourselves about the Eagles’ shambolic 2-1 loss to the Republic of Benin on a neutral ground in Cote d’ Ivoire? Note: this game will be a piece of cake under the same setting for South Africa when the fixtures are played on this neutral ground. I love Nigeria but truth must be told if we hope to correct our flaws.

  • Kalu, Emir Sanusi II, Agary, Abaribe, others raise a voice…

    Kalu, Emir Sanusi II, Agary, Abaribe, others raise a voice…

    As the tumultuous year 2024 clock ticks to a close, Nigerians home and abroad like the global community eagerly await the dawn of 2025. As with all New Years, there are expectations, regrets, anticipations, dreams, plans and even the often laughable ’New Year Resolutions’ some of which fade away before the end of the first quarter of the year. But humans are born optimists. Pregnancies occur and there is growth and expectations of development. The child is born and there is hope of the expected milestones of growth both mentally and physically.

    So when a child is born and does not develop according to the known milestones especially the motor and cognitive stages, naturally the parents and extended family begin to ask questions and plans are made to assist the child lead a near normal life. These days, fatalism that fuels superstition has given room to realistic steps to assist children with physical or learning challenges to develop and maximize their potentials no matter how imperfect. The bottomline however is that the adults in the societal room make efforts to help the child with development challenges.

    This narrative is a mere illustrative sample of the developmental challenges and how the human community tries to fill the gap. At regional and national levels, Nigeria appears like the child whose development is challenged and the people that pride themselves as the greatest black people on earth have seemingly been oscillating between near development and a situation of total socio-economic chaos resulting in mass poverty and  gaining the country the notoriety of the country with the largest number of out-of-school children, the poverty capital of the world, the country with one of the highest number of maternal and child mortality and numerous other development challenges that have impacted the standard of living and life expectancy.

    Since 1999 and with the return to civilian democracy in the country, each administration has encountered daunting challenges that seem to worsen with each transition to a new government. The socio-economic problems in the country have in a way stunted the growth of a 64 year old independent Nigeria. But Nigeria has not always been in dire development straits. The descent to anomie started with the post-independent power struggle of which the military took a huge advantage of. Coups and counter coups, a three year war, and political instability almost pushed the country off the edge.

    The return to civilian democracy in 1999 has signaled some development but it is still not uhuru. The country is still tethering and the socio-economic problems seem to be escalating by the day. There has been a tendency for the blame game between the leaders and the led. The Bottomline line is that both sides of the aisle are casualties of systemic dysfunction.

    Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo Foundation, a socio-cultural group of women of Igbo ancestry or by marriage has since its birthing in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown period been concerned about the slow development not just of the region but of the whole country. The group, coming from a background of traditional dual governance of both men and women decided to take the lead  by doing something. The group has a Board of Advisers made up of only men working progressively with an all female Board of Trustees giving vent to the motto of the foundation which is “Partnering for Development”.

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    The vision of the group is to steer both regional and national conversations that could accelerate development. The first word Nkata in Igbo language means conversation. The group believes that the powerful tool of conversation, dialogue or effective communication can be employed to unknot the development crisis that has been affecting the country. They have in the last three years been deeply involved in strategic communication using all necessary tools to address issues of development in the country.

    For this year’s conference, the group brought together informed and influential Nigerians to Abuja to discuss the theme, “Driving Transformation Through Value Re-Orientation, Inclusive Leadership and Sustainability”.

    This theme was chosen after very wide consultations. The bane of Nigeria’s developmental problems is due to a multiplicity of issues. However, at the root of the problems is the loss of core values that held communities together. The values that do not by any means produce Saints but at least helped the society to uphold certain core values that helped in maintaining a more progressive and cohesive society. The values of integrity, honesty, diligence, respect and other values seem to be on the decline. Ironically, most people assume that the leaderships over the years are to blame but aren’t the leadership taken from the people?

    Again, inclusive leadership has been an issue in the democratic space. Civil Rights and Gender advocates have been worried that the Nigerian political space is suffused with masculine energy in that more than 90% of political offices are occupied by men in all tiers of government. What this means is that many qualified women do not get the much desired opportunpartake in leadership. Global institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) all have research findings that show that countries with less opportunities for women are always lagging behind developmentally.

    Ironically in Nigeria, statistics have shown that women excel in those areas where merit and capacity are the criteria. The informal sector that contributes a lot to the GDP has mainly women operators. Many women are at the helm of many financial institutions as chairmen and CEOs. In the academia, many women are in very high positions just as many perform well in sports, entertainment and music. It therefore beggars belief that when it comes to political inclusion, very few women are allowed to bring their competence and learning to contribute to national development.

    The near exclusion of women, the youths and those living with disabilities in the democratic process contributes to the lack of development in the country. No bird flies successfully with one wing. This is exactly the reality of the Nigerian situation. The human capital is neither fully developed nor utilized for the good of the country. So the conversation at the conference was robustly about three key points, value-reorientation, inclusive leadership and sustainability.

    The varied Speakers at the conference from the different sectors of the Nigerian society spoke brilliantly about the need for an introspection by the Nigerian society. National development is never sourced out. The citizens must choose what path they want to development. The political structure must be inclusive and equitable. The present political exclusion cannot birth a developed nation. The political party structure must change. Competence and merit must be the criteria for leadership selection.

    According to Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Soeaker Nigerian House of Representativesthe 10th assembly who Chaired the Conference, the house would be willing to revisit the gender equity bills and make other laws that would facilitate inclusivity to enhance development. In his speech, he agreed that national development cannot be achieved without women participation given the fact that women are natural builders.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, spoke of what he called “the uncomfortable truth”. According to him, while we all acknowledge the loss of values especially amongst his Igbo ethnic group, he believes that women have a role to play in raising their children with admirable values that ennoble. He said the people must go back to the values of integrity, diligence and honesty if any changes must happen to propel development. Acquitting wealth by any means is not a cultural attitude. Wealth in Igbo culture always comes from traceable business

    According to the Emir of Kano, HRH Lamido Sanusi II who was Royal Father of the Day, investing in women must be a priority and a national emergency because women hold the key to development. He believes that the idea of brandishing statistics of, maternal and child mortality, malnurished children, out of school children, child brides, female IDPs is defeatist. The governments must try to be proactive right from the cradle because an educated woman holds the key to the prevention of a lot of the socio-economic problems that affect the country. According to the Emir, investment in women development is key to national growth given the great role they play in the lives of their children.

    The Emir recalled the role he played as Central Bank governor in making sure more qualified women were appointed into many financial institutions and today more women are directors not just at the CBN but they are also CEOs of many banks. He went further to advise Nigerians about values that matter. He believes the people must distinguish between what and who they are. In his view, what you are might be a position but who you are is the value you bring to the people through what you are.

    The former First Lady of Ekiti state, Erelu Adebisi Adeleye-Fayemi a renowned civil and gender rights advocate reiterated her call for the protection and empowerment of the girl child or woman by ensuring they are educated, certain harmful cultural practice eradicated because rather than enhance development, those harmful cultural practices negatively affect not just the woman but the society at large. In her view, every woman who is denied a seat at the table, every girl who is denied education, every woman under the burden of domestic violence takes the country down the ladder of underdevelopment.

    Timi Koripami-Agary (PhD), a retired permanent Secretary and activist often called Mama Amnesty for her very effective role in the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta was the Mother of the Day at the conference. As a very renowned mediator on Labour, gender and conflict issues she maintains that development cannot happen like magic. She  insists that the country must be conscious of the value of women and equity to development. It would be delusional to assume that development can come without peace and gender justice rooted on the justice system that guarantees equity for all.

    The conversation as is being advocated by the Nkata group should be embraced by Nigerians from all regions because of the interdependence of all the regions. Bringing the conference to Abuja and the coalition of Nigerians from almost all tribes in the country was a good way to prepare the people for the coming year. There is no alternative to the national conversation that Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo Foundation has initiated. This is the first part of what happened at the Abuja Conference.

    The dialogue continues…

  • Beyond charity: What Nigeria’s Christmas food distribution stampedes reveal

    Beyond charity: What Nigeria’s Christmas food distribution stampedes reveal

    The joyous period of Christmas celebrations in Nigeria often bears a dark undertone that reflects deeper societal issues. The recurring tragedy of stampedes during food sharing events in Ibadan, Abuja and Ihiala, Anambra State during the yuletide season has become a haunting reminder of the complex interplay between poverty, organizational inadequacies, and cultural practices that continue to claim innocent lives.

    Typical of every Christmas season, various organizations, politicians, religious bodies, and wealthy individuals organize food distribution events as acts of charity. These events, while well-intentioned, turn tragic when massive crowds gather in hopes of receiving food items and other essential commodities. The desperation to collect these items leads to chaos, pushing and shoving that escalates into deadly stampedes.

    The fundamental driver behind these tragic incidents is the crushing poverty that affects millions of Nigerians. With over 40% of the population living below the poverty line, the prospect of free food and other condiments becomes an irresistible draw, compelling people to risk their lives in the process. The stampedes are symptomatic of a deeper malaise – the daily struggle for survival that many Nigerians face.

    As basic necessities have become luxury items, the announcement of free food distribution creates a perfect storm of desperation. People arrive hours before the scheduled time, often traveling long distances, forming large crowds that become increasingly difficult to manage. The fear of missing out on these rare opportunities for sustenance drives individuals to push forward aggressively, creating dangerous situations that quickly spiral out of control.

    These distribution events consistently exhibit a lack of proper planning and crowd control measures. Most times, organizers often underestimate the turnout or fail to implement adequate safety protocols. Proper venue selection with multiple entry and exit points, implementation of ticket systems, deployment of trained security personnel, clear communication systems, and emergency response preparations are either ignored or inadequately executed.

    Furthermore, the absence of a centralized database of vulnerable individuals makes it difficult to organize systematic distribution. This leads to a chaotic first-come-first-served approach that inevitably breeds disorder. Many organizers also fail to coordinate with local authorities and emergency services, creating a dangerous vacuum in crisis response capabilities.

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    The tendency to disregard orderly lines persists even among the elite, who often observe queue culture abroad but abandon such discipline within Nigeria. When educated and influential individuals repeatedly disregard decorum, it normalizes this behavior throughout society. Such a cultural phenomenon becomes particularly deadly during food distribution events where large crowds gather.

    The absence of respect for queuing systems reflects a broader societal issue where immediate individual gain often trumps collective welfare. This behavior is exacerbated during food distribution events where the fear of supplies running out drives people to abandon any semblance of order. The resulting chaos creates perfect conditions for stampedes to occur.

    Addressing these tragic incidents requires a multi-faceted approach that tackles both immediate and underlying causes. In the short term, stricter regulations must be imposed on organizations conducting food distribution events. These should include: Mandatory safety protocols that must be followed before receiving permission to organize such events. Professional crowd control personnel should be required at all distribution points. Distribution methods should be modernized through the use of voucher systems or appointment schedules to prevent overwhelming crowds from forming.

    Long-term solutions must address the root cause of poverty through sustainable economic policies and social welfare programs. The government needs to strengthen social safety nets and implement poverty alleviation programs that reduce the desperation that drives people to risk their lives for basic necessities.

    Developing a stronger queue culture requires sustained effort in public education and awareness. Schools, religious institutions, and community organizations must play active roles in promoting orderly behavior and respect for queuing systems. Public spaces should be designed to encourage orderly lines, and authorities should consistently enforce queue discipline in all public services.

    The sad loss of lives during yuletide food distribution events represents a tragic failure of society to protect its most vulnerable members. These incidents serve as stark reminders of the work that needs to be done in addressing poverty, improving organizational capacity, and transforming cultural attitudes toward public order.

    As Nigeria continues to develop, it must prioritize the safety and dignity of its citizens, especially during charitable events meant to bring joy and relief. The true spirit of the yuletide season – sharing and caring for others – should not be marred by preventable deaths. It’s time for all stakeholders to come together and implement lasting solutions that will ensure such tragic stampedes become a thing of the past.

    Only through concerted effort in addressing poverty, enforcing proper organization, and fostering a culture of order can Nigeria hope to prevent future loss of life during what should be a season of joy and celebration. The human cost of these stampedes is too high to ignore, and the time for meaningful change is now.

  • Hypocrisy of elite expectations

    Hypocrisy of elite expectations

    Selective activism

    As we are rounding up the year 2024 and preparing for the year 2025, I wish to share some points on how I think we should view and participate in governance in 2025 and beyond, especially the elites of this country.

     Some key policy decisions taken in 2024 by President Bola Tinubu, triggered regional, and national concerns, debates, and/ or controversies; and in some cases, rightly so. However, some of those decisions, or reform proposals have exposed the hypocrisy of the elites of this Country with regard to where they stand on germane issues that affect the masses or generality of the citizenry of Nigeria. In most cases, the hue and cries are louder or sustained, only if those decisions or reforms affect the elites and their families. They are not really concerned or do not demonstrate the same level of emotions and sensitivities with regard to issues that only impact the masses of this country. 

    By “elites”, I mean the middle-class citizens, who are mostly educated, gainfully employed, and part of the governance and leadership structure of Nigeria in the Civil Service, Public Service, and Private sector. We are mostly employees or employers of labor as professionals, traditional leaders, religious leaders, businessmen/women, entrepreneurs, academics, craftsmen, etc.

    Except for a few, we, the elites have been failing the masses of this Country by not really taking tangible actions that add value to our political processes. We mainly engage in “armchair “criticisms and cynicisms. Some of the questions are what are the contributions and sacrifices we are making to better the political process? What solutions are we offering and how are we part of the solutions? Only when things affect our relatively comfortable lives do we try to gaslight the situation and make it look as if “we are all in it together” with the poor citizens? During elections, about 80% of the people who go to vote are the masses. The majority of elites don’t vote because we don’t want the sun or the rain to beat us or we don’t want to get involved, and yet we expect Nigeria to be better. Those are some of the things that I call the “hypocrisy of our expectations”. 

    When policies or reforms majorly affect the masses, the elites only engage in mostly either rhetoric, political statements, or playing to the gallery, i.e. the elites are not persistent, and assertive on things that largely affect the masses. This behavior of the majority of Nigerian elites (which is similar to elitist behaviors in other societies and countries) has been the bane of our growth and development as a nation since independence – 64 years ago. The worrisome thing is that we are making things worse; from our collusion in wanton corruption to our deliberate or inadvertent contribution to the political, social, and economic retrogression of Nigeria – either by our actions or inactions. 

    A few instances of the hypocrisy of Nigerian elites that happened in 2024 include: The push back by some northern elites against the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms proposal presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly for legislation; which in my view is the view of a lot of Nigerians is an excellent reform proposal. Interestingly some northern elites in collaboration with some northern governors are leading the “selective activism” by deciding to wear the toga of activism; metaphorically carrying placards of protests against the Tax reform proposal; claiming that it is “anti-poor” and “not good for our people”. Rather than consult, engage, debate, and negotiate the Bill for the betterment of their people in particular and Nigeria in general; some northern elites are attempting to “kill” the Bill with some political leaders saying that the Bill is “dead on arrival”. Some northern elites have gone as far as giving the Bill, religious, regional, and ethnic connotations to stir up sentiments amongst the masses, including saying that the Bill is anti-Islam, \the poor and the vulnerable will be taxed, etc. – claims that are not true. I was rather expecting constructive engagements and criticisms based on facts and substance. 

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    Indeed, we have seen clearly in many other instances how the elites of this country only choose to speak on matters that impact or concern them and their families. Apart from the tax reform, some government decisions that further exposed the hypocrisy of the elites of this country with regard to governance, include the alleged attempt to move the Headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from Abuja (Northern Nigeria) to Lagos, and the ongoing claims of “forced retrenchment” of some staff of CBN – with claims that it is an attempt to force some staff that are from some sections of Nigeria out of the CBN. Actually, the CBN has confirmed that the exercise is based on exit package offers for staff that will accept to voluntarily resign – an initiative to downsize an over-bloated CBN. The hue and cry by the elites in the instances stated, whether from northern or southern Nigeria, claiming that the government is not acting in the best interest of the masses, are smoke screens to “protect” their interests, and not the masses. How many of the CBN staff are actually children of the 65 multi-dimensional Nationally poor Nigerians – whether they are from northern or southern Nigeria? How many of them are children of the masses? I even heard that in some cases the elites don’t want their children to be transferred out of the CBN Headquarters in Abuja. I am from the North, and I am an apostle of meritocracy, fairness, and equity. I believe that if we continue to operate with this “feeding bottle” attitude, we are not going anywhere. How many children of the masses are working in those “elitist” federal government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies? Therefore, it is only in the type of the aforementioned cases that you hear, we the Nigerian elites shouting or crying out.

     If we, the elites of the Country, put the level of fervor, gusto, and determination that we put into fighting for our children who are working in CBN, etc. to pursue good governance and demand accountability for the masses, then we would be in a better position as a nation. If we are able to apply the same sentiments, commitment, and gusto with regard to general unemployment and the generation of employment not only at the federal level but also at sub-national – Nigeria would be far ahead in terms of unity, growth, and development. Indeed, we all know that there is a limit to how many civil servants can be employed by the federal government. We have 36 states and the FCT. The majority of the population works at the state level and especially the private sector. How are the elites advocating for or pushing the agenda for government at federal and subnational levels to deliver good governance and create employment, such that people do not even have to pursue civil service jobs? The creation of employment in the public and private sectors through value creation, wealth creation, creating enabling socio-economic environments, etc. How are the elites doing that? And that is why I talk about the hypocrisy of our expectations.

    The elite and conspiracy of corruption

    Most of the elites of this country have been serially failing the people of this country, even worse than the politicians. And why am I saying so? Because, we constitute the powerhouse of governance in Nigeria, whether as Presidents, Governors, Federal ministers, Chairmen of Boards, or Managing Directors. Chief Executive Officers, Board members (in public and private sector), Permanent Secretaries, Commissioners, Directors, etc.; we are all members of the “Elite” strata of Nigeria We have been privileged and so Blessed by Almighty God that most of us that have been privileged to be in those positions (currently or in the past) have either become in cahoots with the vested interest to further plunder resources or cripple the economy of Nigeria; and become the key drivers of the corruption value chain. And yet we conveniently blame Presidents or Governors or “politicians” at our convenience. What a shame!

    Interestingly, for every politician that commits graft, you will find about 10 elites that enable, facilitate, and protect corruption. Sadly, most of those corrupt elites are so crafty, that most of the time, they end up escaping justice. When the elites do not have religious, tribal, ethnic, or regional sentiments when they share money or political positions, or when some of them engage in corrupt practices. They are mostly united in the conspiracy of corruption.

    I look forward to a polity in Nigeria in 2025, where the elites will actually do their jobs. Therefore, I will use this opportunity also to ask the masses to start calling out the elites, in addition to calling out the political class. Because most of the elites have been the master manipulators of our polity. They have been in cahoots with the political class, while it is convenient for them to pretend to be with the masses when it suits them, which is very unfortunate, to say the least.

     The elite of Nigeria should not be “happy passive consumers of good governance”. We have to be active and deliver our own part of our responsibility in Nigeria.

  • Quiet heroes of 2024

    Quiet heroes of 2024

    Some years are remembered for the wars they birthed, others for the peace they sustained. Yet, 2024 will be etched in Nigeria’s memory as a year of trials by flood and fire, famine and rigour.

    In the storm-tossed annals of the year, no figure looms larger than the vulnerable Nigerian—a silent warrior navigating tempests both natural and manmade. From the floodwaters of Maiduguri to the scorched remnants of Bodija; from the ruins of economic collapse to the invisible sacrifices of villagers displaced from their homes by bandits in the northwest and vengeful soldiers prowling Okuama, in the Delta; the vulnerable Nigerian has borne the weight of Nigeria’s failures.

    His most recent fate rattled in September, in the birth of a deluge. The waters rose, first as whispers, slithering through the streets of Gwange like a reptilian beast, until it became a roar that swallowed homes and histories. The collapse of the Alau Dam, on September 9, unleashed an apocalyptic flood, submerging Gwange and Maiduguri in chaos. Blind grandmother Zara Aji, plucked from the deluge by her teenage grandson, Mohammed, became a symbol of love defying calamity. Mohammed’s strength—wading through waters that clawed at him with relentless ferocity was a living metaphor for hope enduring even as the world drowned around him.

    The collapse of the Alau Dam was a calamity foretold—years of neglect had weakened its structure, and torrential rains became the final blow. What followed was not merely a flood but a merciless erasure of lives, homes, and livelihoods. The blind, the elderly, and the disabled bore the brunt of this disaster, their vulnerabilities amplified by society’s indifference.

    En route to the September deluge, Nigeria startled, on January 16, to a fire outbreak in Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State – and this set the tone to a slew of calamities for a citizenry still grappling with a comatose economy and the austerity imposed by removal of fuel subsidy and floatation of the naira. President Bola Tinubu’s gospel of “Renewed Hope” indeed knelled emptily to a people assailed by soaring food prices and hardships that outstrip their means.

    The government’s plea for patience and understanding predictably fell on ears tuned to the dirge of unfulfilled promises by previous administrations. The man who cannot afford to eat today will not be consoled by promises of a feast tomorrow.

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    Yet amid the hardships, 2024 has been a year when survival was an act of rebellion. And in this rebellion, the vulnerable Nigerian has stood tall—battered yet unbowed, invisible yet indomitable. While the world looked toward the metropolises of power for its champions, this individual emerged as a quieter yet more profound figure of resilience from the shadows. 

    In 2024, the Nigerian people—scattered across bustling markets, flooded streets, and impoverished neighbourhoods—became a paragon of this truth. Consider the Abayomis, a family in Orile-Agege, Lagos. Once part of the middle class, they now navigate the shadowy edges of poverty. Kunle Abayomi, a civil servant, fights the relentless battle of stretching N100,000 to feed his family of six. His wife, Folasade, juggles dual roles—educator by day, trader by night—while their children, eyes wide with dreams, watch their parents’ struggle with the stoicism of veterans.

    Inflation, the silent thief at 32%, ravages the Abayomis’ earnings. Kunle’s paycheck, a mere ghost of sufficiency, vanishes like dew under the sun of escalating costs. For Wale, the eldest son, the Nigerian Dream—a vision of prosperity—has dimmed into a distant mirage.

    No doubt, the plight of those submerged by the Borno floods or left homeless by the Ibadan disaster is heart-wrenching. Yet, beyond these calamities lies a deeper wound—the pervasive economic hardship that has gripped millions. Aside from the  Abayomis, families like the Ezeigbos of Surulere fight to keep afloat in an economy where survival is a gamble. Chidi Ezeigbo, an electronics trader, and his wife, Nkem, a vegetable vendor, embody this struggle. Each day is a wager, their efforts constantly undercut by fluctuating exchange rates and rising prices.

    Across Nigeria, economic hardship did not just strain wallets; it reshaped the very fabric of family life. Traditional gender roles, long enshrined in the patriarchal ethos, began to blur as the archetypal patriarch, once a figure of unchallenged authority, now shares his throne with women who step into roles once deemed unconventional. For instance, Folasade Abayomi, Nkem Ezeigbo, and countless others are not just wives or mothers; they are breadwinners and strategists, navigating the maze of survival with ingenuity and resolve. Yet, this shift is not without its tensions. For several families, the shifting balance of financial power sowed discord, challenging long-held notions of authority and unity.

    For decades, the Nigerian Dream shimmered as a lighthouse of hope—a promise of upward mobility, wealth, and security. Today, it stands fractured, its once-clear vision obscured by the haze of economic turmoil.

    The family, once a solid institution, now stands like a cracked mirror, reflecting the distortion of a once-cherished social ideal. For many it’s prosperity, for others, its career success, stardom or decent living. The parameters for ascertaining true prosperity varies from family to family, from one individual to another.

    Gender roles have shifted, authority has been questioned, and the lines between right and wrong have blurred beyond recognition, argued Adeyinka Somide, a sociologist and retired headteacher.

    As families struggle to recalibrate their lives in the wake of economic upheaval, they are faced with the harsh truth: survival often demands compromise. Parents who once preached virtue learnt to permit some ‘harmless’ vice. Sons and daughters, once guided by the moral teachings of their homes, now wander through a world of crime and moral ambiguity, driven by a sheer will to survive.

    No one can pretend we didn’t see this coming. The signs had always been evident as the noonday sun, looming for decades. Many saw it unfold but preferred to shrug it off, imagining that the ship of state was still on course, even as it drifted towards the gorge.

    But the worst has dawned in real-time. The consequences pervade the country, palpable in the air, like a suffocating fog clinging to every breath.

    In 2024, vulnerable Nigerians become a mirror reflecting the best and worst of our collective humanity. Their lives tell stories of a country that has failed its most fragile citizenry yet relies on their silent strength to persevere.

    Let their travails remind us that our survival as a nation hinges on the survival of Nigeria’s most fragile. As the floodwaters recede and the flames die down, the scars remain—on the land, on the people, and on the collective conscience of a nation grappling with severe economic hardships imposed by surgical policy reforms. These scars are a challenge to policymakers, and aid organisations, to ensure that vulnerability does not mean invisibility.

    The government, social workers, activists, and survivors must work together to achieve systemic change: better infrastructure, inclusive disaster response plans, and targeted support for the marginalized.

    The vulnerable Nigerian stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, reminding us that while economic hardship and nature’s wrath may be inevitable, our response to them is not. In their survival, they teach us that resilience is not a gift but a shared responsibility. They are the epitomes of courage, the bearers of burdens, and the silent architects of hope.

    The poetry of their endurance embellishes the Nigerian narrative of 2024.

  • Y2024 as mixed bag for me and as a Nigerian

    Y2024 as mixed bag for me and as a Nigerian

    Thank God the year 2024 is coming gradually to an end. On the international scene, there have been wars in Europe waged on Ukraine by Russia, wars in Gaza and Lebanon by Israel and growing unease between Israel and Iran. All across the Sahel in the Sahara, the countries have been plagued by Jihadist insurgencies of one kind or the other. These insurgencies are mixtures of racism and fundamentalism but camouflaged as going back to the old time religion of the prophet!

    Muslims are supposed to be brothers and it is very problematic interpreting these Sahelian wars as religious. Our country Nigeria has not been spared.  In fact, for almost a decade, we have been bogged down in the far north of our country fighting rebels claiming to be fighting to purify adherents of Islam. Nigeria has coordinated its response with the republics of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin in its resistance and pacification of the distressed areas of the Northwest and Northeast. The inability of France to see to the end of these conflicts in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger as the dependent governments of those countries would have wanted, has had ramifying effects on the politics and economic situation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). There has been military coups d’état or change of governments in some of the Francophone countries and expulsion of France and the withdrawal of the United States’ military presence in Niger and Chad for example. The call for restoration of democratic rule in the ECOWAS countries has precipitated crises in the sub-region and has led to the formation of an association of Sahelian states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and their consequent withdrawal from ECOWAS.

    We have not seen the end of the crisis yet. Wars have been raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR) as well as the Sudan proper and in the new Southern Sudan Republic. The war in the Congo is not new and this has been going on and off for more than a decade tying down considerable numbers of United Nations troops and sometimes intervention from neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda and Rwanda. The war in the Sudan has largely been ignored because the lives being lost in thousands are African lives that the world apparently regards as expendable because little attention is paid to it when compared with other areas of conflict in the world. It could also be the world is suffering from the ennui of African conflicts being the norm rather than the exception. In Asia, wars have broken out for almost a decade between the government and the rebels in Myanmar leading to thousands of death. Only The Americas, Australia and Western Europe have been spared the scourge of war.

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    But we can generalize that wars are still a rarity in current human affairs, while the areas termed “federations of peace “remain the norm. The world is however like the human body. When one part hurts a little, the whole body hurts. To drive this point home, the global inflation leading to human distress and hunger in many parts of the world are not unrelated to the disruption of the supply chain which the wars have affected in a closely integrated global economy. The cost of bread globally particularly in Africa, Europe and the Middle East has skyrocketed because the disruption of shipping in the Black Sea has affected the trade in wheat from Russia and Ukraine. The war itself has poisoned relations between Russia and the West to such an extent that Russia is threatening to use nuclear weapons. The situation is becoming more and more complicated to the extent that North Koreans are fighting on the side of Russia and the war in a small European theatre is taking on the colour of a global conflict. 

    The whole world is waiting for Donald Trump’s promised magic of ending the war in a jiffy when he is sworn in as president of the United States on January 20. Since the end of the Second World War, the conflict in Ukraine, apart from the Cuban Crisis of 1962, is the closest thing in which Russia and the United States have come to direct confrontation with dire consequences for global peace. The war in the Middle East between Israel and Iranian proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, may yet spill over to Syria which is in a state of political flux and its neighbours, Israel and Turkey are carving out territorial areas of influence may yet lead to more complexity in which America may be involved when President Trump assumes power in the United States in January 2025.

    The threat to the world from global warming and adverse climatic change has also not abated. The extreme weather that is becoming the norm all over the world poses existential threat to the world the only habitable planet we know of. It does not seem some politicians like Donald Trump who doubt the scientifically proven case of global warming are ready to slow down industrial and human activities in order to save the environment. The series of conferences of parties on how to reverse the trend of global warming has become a global jamboree in which nothing changes because people put national economies before environmental enhancement and the tendency nowadays is to kick enhancement measures forward. In the meantime, while the climate problem confronts humanity with threat of annihilation, pandemic diseases are not far behind and it does not seem mankind is more prepared than what happened to the world with Covid-19 when millions of deaths were recorded all over the world including in the most technologically advanced economies.

    Coming home to our country Nigeria, we have had a bad patch this year to put it in a diplomatic language. Prices of everything have soared because of the geometrical decline of the national currency. It is not just the cost of imports that are beyond the average consumer, local farm produce like vegetables, fruits and other necessities of life because of the cost of transportation are also priced out of their purchasing power.

    I have sympathy for those in government who have had to bear the anger of the masses. I have had to tell people that every government would like to be popular if it had the means and that I have not seen a government that would create an unfavourable environment for itself because of the harshness of economic conditions. A dictatorship that is not answerable to the people would enjoy the people’s support, if the economy was buoyant. Having said this, any democratic government must do all it can to work for the happiness of the greatest number of its people. It is obvious to me that previous governments in this country have lived beyond their means and our people have eaten the fruits and the seeds of the harvest without investing for the future. We mismanaged our economy from the 1970s till the present economic crisis. If we had industrialized the country and developed agriculture and built an excellent infrastructure, we would not have had a national currency that is virtually worthless. With all the natural resources both human and economic that we have, our Naira should be worth more than this.

    But I can see some light at the end of a dark long tunnel. We should in the foreseeable future, never have to import refined petroleum and its products. If the roads under construction linking the North from Sokoto to Badagry and the West with the East from Lagos to Calabar reach approachable levels of development and open up the country, they should affect agricultural production and trade as long as other means of transportation like railways, other arterial roads and aviation and shipping are not neglected. It also seems that the activities of the rampaging cattle herders have been curtailed. All governments of the federation, local, state and federal, should assist businesses to create jobs to absorb the teeming population of our youth whose empty stomachs pose a terrible danger to the security of our country.

    If the country was safer than it is now, people will be traveling more than they are doing now and that will reduce the pent up tension in the country due to emotional hardship of not seeing relatives as it used to be in the past. Governments should communicate more often than now with the governed. Those in government should scale down conspicuous consumption manifesting in huge houses and retinue of staff and fleets of cars and generally lavish living which gives the impression that government is dishonest when it asks people to tighten their belts. 

    Above all ,governments must do whatever it takes to drastically bring the cost of living down so that our people will not be dying needlessly struggling to share free food donated by churches, government parastatals and non-governmental organizations. The state and local governments must be challenged by the citizens to be aware of and alive to their responsibilities as the governments closer to the grassroots and the source of the people’s problems. The people must also rise to the present challenging situation and work at getting out of the proverbial poverty Africans appear condemned to. Our hope is that the year 2025 will be better.

    Personally, I pray that I will be happier next year and not suffer the loss of any young member of my family as I have this year. The death of Jumoke, my niece but more like a daughter because I brought her up like my own child has brought the futility of life graphically to me. I feel like what an American cynic said that “life stinks”.