The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • EFCC: Nigeria’s own Sphinx

    EFCC: Nigeria’s own Sphinx

    Preamble

    Sophocles, a Greek playwright and dramatist of renown who lived between 496 and 406 B.C produced a tragic play entitled Oedipus Rex in 411 B.C. The play has drawn tremendous ovation from literary men and women through the centuries not only for its wonderful setting but also for the allusive purpose it has served since then.

    In the play, we learn of a curse that fell on the land of Thebes (a capital city in ancient Greece). On the land not only were people sick and dying in quick succession with the cattle being afflicted by an epidemic of rinderpest but even the crops were blighted. At that time, Oedipus was the King.

    Our concern here is not how Oedipus became the King or what later became of him. The allusion we want to draw here is that when Oedipus was young he saved Thebes from a similar curse: the depredation of the monstrous sphinx (a winged monster with a woman’s head and a lion’s body).

    When Oedipus was young a sphinx took her permanent seat on a rock by the main road that divided the city into two. This sphinx had a riddle which she put across to every passer-by and she promptly devoured anyone who could not solve the riddle. For a very long time, the city of Thebes remained under the plague of this sphinx who was feeding fat on the flesh and blood of living things in the city. As a result, many people took to hunger strike while many more embarked on a permanent seclusion. That was the situation in Thebes until the young Oedipus suddenly emerged as a hero of his time by solving the riddle of the sphinx. The sphinx thereby, in despair, leaped from her rock seat and dashed out her life.

    Thus, the veil of curse was lifted on the city of Thebes while Oedipus was immortalized as the saviour of the Thebesians.

    Today, Nigeria is masquerading in the cloak of a similar spell. The only difference is that while the Thebesians of yore were consciously aware of their plight and were desperately making efforts to find a solution to it the Nigerians of the 21st century remain largely unbothered.

    For almost the whole length of her life as a country, Nigeria has advertently lived with a self imposed sphinx without any serious attempt to eliminate it.

    Corruption is Nigeria’s own sphinx today. This sphinx has grown into such a monster that it is almost becoming impossible to conquer. For more than a decade since 1999, two statutory bodies have been set up to curb the scourge of corruption in Nigeria. One is Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission (ICPC). The other is Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Both bodies were established for the same purpose through different modalities.

    Subsequent to that of the ICPC, the establishment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2003 was rather in response to the pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering which named Nigeria as one of the 23 non-cooperative countries in the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering than the government’s self-consciousness and determination to fight corruption.

    Although some individuals and groups believed that fighting corruption was a potent means of developing the country, the behaviour of the governments at the federal and state levels did not suggest an all out support for Commission. This is understandable because most of the people suspected to be massively involved in corruption were government officials including some State Governors.

    By September 2006, the EFCC had had 31 of Nigeria ‘s 36 state governors under investigation for corruption. Most of these Governors appeared indifferent despite the negative publicity about them in the media. In December 2007, the Nigerian Federal Government, after extensive investigations by EFCC and other organizations, cleared the Vaswani brothers who had been deported from Nigeria for suspected corruption of any wrongdoing and invited them back into the country.

    Leading Nigerian daily newspapers reported the facts of their clearance quoting text from Federal Government’s issued directives. In April 2008, the EFCC began investigations into the activities of the daughter of the former Nigerian President, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello over an alleged corrupt utilization of N10 million ($100,000) from previous year’s unspent funds of the Ministry of Health. Also charged was the then Health Minister Professor Adenike Grange and her deputy over an alleged stealing over N30 million from the ministry’s unspent funds of the previous year. Investigations were carried out but nobody was convicted. Some of the affected persons remain as government functionaries either in the executive or legislative wing of the government. There were many other cases of the like.

    This development threw a new dimension into the whole idea of establishing supposed independent bodies to check corruption in the country and raised a big question on the intention behind it. Thus, people became suspicious of the government’s intention to fight corruption even as they considered the exercise as a political witch-hunt strategically used by the ruling party against opponents. And for this reason, the international community did not see any seriousness on the part of Nigerian government in fighting corruption. The government’s hand in glove about funding EFCC and its counterparts further strengthened the suspicion.

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    It was in this melee that a change of guards occurred at the topmost echelon of the EFCC and a woman, Chief (Mrs) Farida Mzamber Waziri, emerged as the new Chairperson of the Commission and was sworn into office on June 6, 2008. On assumption of office, Mrs. Waziri said emphatically that she would step on toes. But she prayed God to guide her against stepping on innocent toes. And ever since, the Commission’s website has continued to contain a long list of the country’s most wanted criminals while the Chairperson has since proved her mettle as a woman of substance.

    Going by her published profile, Mrs. Waziri has all it takes constitutionally and educationally as well as experience to revolutionize the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria. And she is generally considered the ideal choice for the post of the Chairman.

    Although the Commission, under her Chairmanship has performed wonderfully well in tracking down and prosecuting many corrupt elements in the country and in recovering some of the loots, the citizenry believe that the woman would have performed better if she had full cooperation of the government. This is not just because the Commission seems to be handicapped by government’s inaction to bring those caught to book but also in campaigning seriously against corruption in all spheres of life especially through the mass media.

    Corruption is not about embezzlement of public funds alone. And fighting it should not be restricted only to government officials and agencies.

    So far, the Commission is a success story but that much is not known to most Nigerian and the international community because there is no media back up that can showcase that success. Professor Doris Akunyili succeeded so tremendously as the Director General of NAFDAC because she had the benefit of media publicity provided for in her Agency’s budget. This has not been applicable in the case of EFCC. The impression here is that giving that Agency the full power to operate is like providing the nose with which to hang those in government.

    If the Thebesian authorities did not cooperate with Oedipus, how could he have saved that city from the scourge of the sphinx? Nigerians should ask the government the same question in respect of EFCC. Without the government’s cooperation, is there any possibility of getting an Oedipus to defeat Nigeria ’s sphinx? This is a food for thought.

  • Identity politics and national development

    Identity politics and national development

    By identity politics, I mean a societal culture whereby the political, social, environmental, and economic dynamics are influenced and/ or determined by racism, tribalism, ethnic jingoism, religious extremism, chauvinism, and other forms of bigotry and parochialism. However, Nigeria and indeed any other Country or society will be better if they are able to overcome parochialism, ethnic jingoism, and other forms of identity politics.

     Global Perspective

    Identity politics has been part and parcel of the political evolution of the entire world. It is part of global sociology. Interestingly, rather than diminishing, identity politics is becoming a more prominent global reality. Certainly, identity politics has always been driving global, national, and subnational politics and socio-economic power dynamics from time immemorial, but more so in the past 60 years. Even though it is being hypocritically downplayed, we witness and experience it everywhere in public and private sectors, including our workplaces and communities. Like other parts of the world, identity politics is part of African culture. The current and historical political dynamics in almost all African countries are the stark reality of the global socio-political situation, which are the indications that national and global geopolitics will continue to be run along the lines of nationalism and protectionism rather than globalization, which in my view are other forms of identity politics.

     Accordingly, globally, we are experiencing a reversal of the achievements made in the past 60 years of trying to break down the barriers of race, religion, ethnicity, prejudice, etc. We are witnessing what is happening in Gaza for the past over 50 years between the Israel and Palestine and the position taken by the global superpowers, especially the western powers, and even the middle-east power blocs, who play the ostrich when it comes to those interests that satisfy their strategic objectives, regardless of how inhumane and how horrible the situation is for the less fortunate countries, states, communities and/ or people. The same scenario is playing out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, etc. These hypocrisies in conversations and actions are amongst the reasons why I believe that the politics of identity will continue to drive political systems and the emergence of political leaders in societies and nations, including “democratic” societies/Countries.

     Identity politics hinders or destroys societies or national development, fosters polarization, disunity, inequality, and injustice, with the attendant negative consequences.  It narrows the view and progress of any nation or society. Therefore, in my view, in trying to address the issue of identity politics, from a strategic perspective, it is for us to see how we can bring what I call a “balance”, rather than trying to eliminate it or trying to pretend that it is the only problem, or trying to think that some people can actually just stop it. This is because politics of identity is part and parcel of our moral and societal fabric across the world, regardless of race, religion, and regardless of how old or how deep the so-called “democratic tenets” are. The politics of identity remains a key element, leverage or driver of political campaigns and the determinant of electoral victory, or attainment of political power even in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, etc.

     Consequently, if it is something we cannot do away with, then why shouldn’t we have a system that will manage the process for all of us? Even within the boundaries of countries of the superpowers or the top economies of the world, the politics of identity is what is driving those countries, whether they are at war or they are at peace. From the United States of America to the United Kingdom to Europe to the Middle East to the Far East, Africa, or anywhere else. The re-emergence and growing popularity of the right-wing political parties and power blocks sweeping elections across Europe is key evidence of the prominence of identity politics in the global scheme. Hence, the politics of identity is a key factor that determines the political direction of the entire world.

     Nigeria and the 2027 Elections

    Identity politics in Nigeria is so strong that it cannot be overshadowed even by the power of incumbency at the subnational, state, or national level. It guides our political awareness, determines our political, social, and economic directions. A classic example is the fact that even though Nigerians are aware of the failures of political leaders at the federal and subnational levels. But because of identity politics, we ignore the mistakes or failures of our political leaders at our own peril. For instance, during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, and the tenure of Late President Muhammadu Buhari, or the incumbent President Bola Tinubu, citizens will mostly to be sentimental and never complain or criticize the President, if he comes from their region, state, tribe or religion, even if they are eating from the dustbin or dying in droves. Conversely, citizens are also reluctant to celebrate or commend the President or Governor, even if he is performing well, if he is not of their region, state, tribe, or religion. It is even worse at the state levels, because in the States; the most of the people that are suffering the most are the people that are defending the state governors, no matter how poorly they perform. That is what is identity politics does to a society.

     The politics of identity is a topic of discussion in any political forum and any democratic process. The only difference is that in the more advanced democracies, it is done more sublimely/ hypocritically than in a country like Nigeria. So, to contextualize this perspective, to the buildup to the 2027 general elections, as we approach the mid-term of President Tinubu, I wonder if should we could easily de-emphasize or wish away identity politics. In fact, in my view identity politics will play a huge role in the 2027 general elections, more than ever before.

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     It is highly likely that in the 2027 general elections, we will witness how identity politics may tip the dynamics even more than population. While population has been driving and determining political directions and electoral victories, whether it is in terms of official census numbers, which some citizens challenge its veracity or in reality where the numbers are actually true; political permutations and manipulations will ensure that identity politics will be a critical success factor for the incumbent or for those that want to upstage the incumbent in Nigeria at Presidential, State government, and even local government levels.

     Most times, for strategic or diplomatic reasons, we outwardly downplay the politics of identity only so as to give a sense of “unity and/ or “fairness” or maybe a sense of “justice. But the identity politics always manifests, especially buildup to and during elections, as it has been from time, only more so as the political evolution of Nigeria is becoming more and more complex rather than simplistic due to the failure of successive administrations to deliver the crucial political reforms and socio-economic development.

     Politicians have also recognized identity politics as a very important tool for electoral success, and political control, not just in Nigeria but in many countries across the world.

     Meanwhile, it is worthy of note that some countries like Singapore, Switzerland, etc., have achieved some level of political balance based on ideals like unity in diversity, properly domesticated political systems and structures, meritocracy, etc. Such achievements were also not without costly sacrifices that have remained indelible scars in their histories and evolution. While political idealism is more in the realm of theory; countries like Singapore and Rwanda has demonstrated that societies and countries can overcome identity politics and succeed. Therefore, it is essential that well-meaning and forward-thinking Nigerians should continue advocating for inclusivity, unity in diversity, proper domestication of political systems and structures that will suit our national peculiarities, meritocracy, etc., as the possible best ways forward.

     Way forward for Nigeria

    Change the Political system with a significant reduction of power from the center

    One of the best ways to dilute or neutralize the politics of identity in Nigeria is to change the political system and structure of the Country. Even though changing the political system and structure may not immediately eliminate identity politics, but it will certainly downplay it in the mid to long term, and will provide some level of balance in restructuring the political system of Nigeria from the current presidential system. This is because identity politics is even more pronounced at the local levels, and that is why thinking that we can wish away identity politics at the national level is only wishful thinking.

  • Negative vibes and what upsets us as a people

    Negative vibes and what upsets us as a people

    Racism, bigotry, prejudice antisemitism, Islamophobia, Tribalism (ethnicism), sexism and homophobia and anti-communism etc. are what put us off because we just don’t like them or the people with whom we associate them with.

    There are so many people in the current world whose lives are ruined by hatred for one thing or the other. There is of course nothing wrong in wanting to be with one’s type whether what unites one with others is language, race, or religion. But this does not extend to not wanting others of different hues, language or religion to be around.

    One’s religion, race skin colour or ideology should not determine who one relates to. I have always believed that everyone has the right to meet or associate with anyone who has same ideas or with one who can add some virtue to one. Of course, the Almighty who made all of us made us differently as men and women, black, white,  brown, yellow, Jews and gentiles, divided into five races namely Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid and Amerindian.

    Caucasoid includes people from Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of central Asia and south Asia, characterized by light to olive skin and various hair and eye colours.

    Mongoloid incudes people from Asia, the Arctic and Americas with yellow to brown skin tones.

    Negroid includes people of African descent, with dark skins coiled hair and wide noses. Australoid includes indigenous populations from Australia, New Guinea and parts of South Asia characterized with dark brown to black skin tones and wavy to curly hair textures

    Amerindian includes Native American with a mix of Mongoloid and other characteristics.

    There have been debates over racial characterization because these five divisions do not cover mixtures of racial types. However there is broad agreement on three types of races namely Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid into which human beings fall into.

    Racial categorization is really not the object of my article. I have dwelled on it to show how wrong even educated Nigerians are when they talk glibly about “Ibo race” “Yoruba race”, “Hausa” race. There is no such thing! However some Fulani types were regarded as Caucasians by some racist colonial administrators who favoured them in Nigeria. Physical features of some Fulani can have similarities with those of other Caucasians but not all of them have Caucasian features.

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    Discrimination or even hatred based on whatever separates one man from another is just wrong and absurd and absolutely wrong. The situation in which the German Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party decided that Jews posed existential problems to the German nation was absolutely crazy. He then went ahead to industrially murder about six million of them who committed no crimes and just because they were of different religion than those of the ordinary Germans. The hatred of the Jews had always been a madness of all Europeans from the Atlantic to the Urals. Russian pogroms against the Jews were as odious as those of the Nazi but only different in scale.

    Racism in France and the UK were a hindrance to human progress and Benjamin Disraeli had to become a baptized Jew before his talent as a politician was allowed to flourish. The story of the sentencing of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery officer in the French army who was accused of leaking military secrets to the Germans in 1894 epitomizes rampant anti-Semitism in France. Dreyfus was eventually pardoned after a spirited campaign by Emile Zola, a prominent French writer published his article “j’accuse”. Effort to silence Zola failed and attracted international attention. Dreyfus was eventfully freed in 1906. Even in the UK, anti-Semitism got close to the House of Windsor when Edward viii embraced national socialism before he abdicated and was accused of antisemitism. What happened in Germany was therefore not strange to followers of political trends in Europe.

    The killing, a few days ago in Sydney, Australia, of 15 innocent people in a Jewish fun-fair of Hanukkah is related to the Benjamin Netanyahu war against Palestinians in which he slaughtered thousands in response to Palestinian killing of innocent Israelis. The Israeli prime minister is blaming the Australian prime minister of recognition of the non-existent Palestine for breeding anti-Semitism. It is clear to me that one act of hatred triggers another hateful action.

    Coming home to Nigeria. There is so much mutual dislike if not hatred among the various ethnicities in Nigeria. It is so bad that if one does not share the same sentiments with the ethnic haters, one is almost considered a traitor against the group. In some places, homophobia is so rampant that a lesbian or homosexual is seen as a leper. What is tolerated in America is seen as a journey too far in Nigeria. This is why our government says Nigerians would rather starve to death than accept AID tied to toleration of same sex relationships.

    As long as people of this orientation keep to themselves, one should, in my view not bother.

    It is very dangerous when it gets to a situation of intolerance of other people based on even ideology. Communists are regularly persecuted in some western countries while a capitalist democrat would not be tolerated because such a person would be considered a danger to the state security.

    There was a time in the USA when a senator, McCarthy led a national movement against communists as if they were some kind of vermin. Jimmy Lea at 78 faces a life sentence in People s Republic of China for holding on to his liberal political philosophy as against the communist ideology of the state. These days in Donald John Trump America, to be labelled a “liberal” is like a sentence of political death.

    President Trump openly discriminates against black Africans and Haitians in preference to Norwegians or Scandinavian immigrants.

    In America where there is a right to own weapons, dislike of the other person for whatever reason is dangerous and can lead to one life’s termination. Of course these differences have different implications. The racial discrimination is the most obvious and could be most significant in the life of anyone. It could, in most western countries, determine where you live, which institutions you go to, what hospitals you are allowed to go to when ill, it could determine your economic opportunities and who you associate with generally.  

    It sometimes controls what country’s visa is readily available to you .In other words your race is your destiny. As a black person, I have to be twice as good as my colleague to attract the same attention or recognition. It will probably not matter so much if hatred for others different from one were not tied to possession of nuclear weapons as threatened by the North Koreans and Americans when confronting each other or Americans and Chinese in their struggle for world domination if not now but in the future.

  • Emergency power: Supreme verdict for the ages

    Emergency power: Supreme verdict for the ages

    Outside a validly declared state of emergency, the President possesses no power whatsoever to interfere with state executive or legislative institutions – Supreme Court

    WITH THESE REMARKS, the Supreme Court, has once and for all, cleared the air over a vexed provision under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) dealing with the extraordinary measures that the President can take in a state where he has declared a state of emergency. By the way, the statement was made in passing, and I believe that it was deliberate on the part of their Lordships .

    It was made in passing because the court went out of its way to do so, after holding that it has no jurisdiction to hear the case which it equally held that the plaintiffs had no locus standi (legal right) to file. The case was instituted by 11 states against the state of emergency declared in Rivers on March 18 by Predident Bola Tinubu. He also suspended the governor, his deputy and the House of Assembly. All the institutions were restored on September 18.

    For long, the court had shied away from speaking on Section 305 under which the President can declare a state of emergency in any part of the country under certain conditions in order to restore peace, law and order. These conditions are, among others, when the nation is at war; under real or imminent threat of danger; and the breakdown of law and order.

    For reasons best known to the apex court when similar cases came to it in the past, it refrained from making any pronouncement on the section, preferring to, as they say, ‘blow muted trumpet’ by allowing the issue to pass. For instance, it struck out the suit brought against the state of emergency declared in Plateau State by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 for want of jurisdiction and allowed the matter to end there. Obasanjo suspended then Governor Joshua Dariye and the House of Assembly in the wake of the emergency. President Tinubu did the same thing in Rivers 10 months ago.

    So, the Plateau and Rivers cases are ‘on all fours’. But something changed in the Rivers case. The court came out boldly to pronounce on Section 305, perhaps to settle for all time the unending row over whether or not the President can suspend a governor, his deputy and the state legislature where there is a state of emergency.

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    It is obvious that the Supreme Court’s decision is in response to calls to lend its voice to the matter and lay it to rest forever. This column was among those that made such calls. In a March 27 article titled: Much ado about Section 305, we appealed to the court to so act so that the nation can benefit from its wisdom. Part of the article is reproduced below, with the rest concluded online.

    An institution like the Supreme Court should not keep mute when the nation is confronted with serious legal and constitutional matters because of mere technicality such as want of jurisdiction. It should go into the merit of the case and make its stand known for good or for ill. The court should not be too legalistic on such matters, and the issue of Section 305 is one of them. There are times that the court should not talk too much law in order to resolve certain issues in the national interest. It has done well to speak on Section 305 without being inhibited by the technical issue of jurisdiction. It does not have to make a declarative, consequential or injunctive order on every case to achieve this.

    It is not always that the court should use the force of law to correct things. At times, moral force achieves more than the force of law because once the Supreme Court speaks whether on the merit of a case or not, its name would do the rest. The court’s name alone is enough authority on any matter. When you  hear: ‘the Supreme Court has said…’, you sit up and ask no further questions.

    It is in the light of this that some people are now dissipating energy on whether the court in the Rivers case upheld the President’s power to suspend a governor, his deputy and the state assembly during a state of emergency. If the majority decision did not uphold that power, what then did it say? The quote at the top of this essay is clear and unambiguous and it comes from the lead judgment. It is not written in French or Latin, but in plain, simple English. Again, if the majority decision did not uphold the President’s power to so act during an emergency, why then is there a dissenting judgment?

    I believe the dissenting Justice’s action was informed by his disagreement with his Learned Brothers’ stand.  Although, the position might have come as an opinion (obiter dictum) in the course of the judgment which struck out the suit for lack of jurisdiction, it amounts to Intellectual fraud for anybody to want to twist the statement. What those arguing this way wanted was for the court to disclaim the President’s action and upbraid him for what they consider as undermining the Constitution. Thus, all this their noise about the Supreme Court not upholding the President’s power to suspend some democratic institutions during a state of emergency.

    They should hold their breath and wait for the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment. No matter the noise, what is written has been written and cannot be altered. The Supreme Court, the judicial oracle in Abuja, has spoken and so be it.

  • Cannibal economy

    Cannibal economy

    When Dangote Refinery reduced the price of petrol to N739 per litre, Nigeria did not erupt with relief. Instead, it went quiet. There was no buzz over fare reduction at the motor parks or recalibration of metres at the fuel stations; there was no easing of food prices in markets already booby-trapped with hardship. Life remained hard and unforgiving, as before.

    Yet everyone knows what would happen if Aliko Dangote increased fuel price. If petrol soars to N1,000 per litre tomorrow, Nigeria would instantly convulse. Before the news settles on the airwaves, prices would already be in flight. Transport fares would leap and traders would reprice goods on anticipation alone. Panic would spread and once again become the most valuable commodity in the Nigerian economy.

    This our reality. Nigeria’s truest fate is scarcely written in policy documents or election manifestos, but in the unguarded, bitty moments of our daily life. It manifests in the market stall, where commodity prices are maniacally jerked upwards, in the motor park where travel fares are randomly adjusted by insolent transporters, and in the landlords’ quorum where house-rents are arbitrarily increased without explanation or compassion.

    This is where Nigeria reveals itself, most honestly, as a living temperament. And what that temperament increasingly reveals is a country locked in an intimate, exhausting war with itself.

     There is persistent cry over hardship, but the citizenry, for all their lament cuddle their pain; they study it closely, acquire its rhythms, and subsequently reproduce it with frightening efficiency.

     Nigerians have trained themselves to respond more enthusiastically to bad news than to relief. So, when fuel prices rise by even the smallest margin, markets erupt with inflated prices. Every trader and artisan suddenly discover a reason to increase the price of his wares and services. From bread, tubers, onions, rice, water, to transport, plumbing, and rent, nothing is off limits to the bandit merchants. The logic is rarely interrogated; it is enough that a reason exists. They cite inflation as a slogan rather than a measurable reality.

    But when fuel prices fall, logic evaporates and memory falters. Everyone suddenly remembers old stock, high overheads, invisible costs. The same petrol price that justified yesterday’s increases becomes irrelevant today. What disappears in these moments is scarcely economic sense, but ethical restraint.

     We amplify disaster because it permits us  to overcharge, hoard, and excuse predation. Hardship gives moral cover. Progress, on the other hand, is treated with suspicion, as though it were temporary or undeserved. Good news is received quietly, if at all, and rarely allowed to alter behaviour.

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    This is not how rational economies function. It is how maimed societies behave. Such economic bad faith is less the flaw of a faceless system and more the machination of a bandit populace—ordinary Nigerians—who have learned that there is little social cost to exploiting relief when it appears.

    Somewhere along the way, we unclasped morality from pricing. We stopped asking whether an increase was fair, necessary, or humane. We asked only one question: Can I get away with it?

    That question has wrecked us. Today, a 45-minute flight from Lagos to Owerri can cost N400,000. A road journey on a commercial bus drains N80,000 from commuter pockets. House rents rise arbitrarily, detached from value and reason, and supermarkets owners change price tags with the casualness of a fickle weather.

    And yet, petrol prices are relatively steady. The forex market, while strained, is not in free fall. The sacred barometers—fuel and dollar—have stopped swinging wildly. So why are we still bleeding?

    Perhaps, because the real inflation is no longer monetary. It is moral.

     What remains, then, is intention. We have crossed from inflation into something grislier. Some would call it market behaviour; but I would call it predation. We are no longer merely reacting to hardship; we are deepening it.

    There is a particular irony in how easily we ask, why life is so hard and why nothing works. For a people who practice the very injustices they protest against, this is markedly cheap and delusive.

    It is within this moral context that the petrol price reduction by Dangote Refinery must be examined soberly, not romantically. Professor Wumi Iledare’s warning that Nigerians should not rejoice over the billionaire’s gift is neither hostility nor pessimism; it is caution from someone who understands that a nation’s market may plummet especially during its purported boom era.

    Relief without structure can be deceptive. A single dominant supplier, even one welcomed as a national saviour, can gradually stifle competition if regulation is weak and applause too loud and unquestioning. Today’s price cut can, without firm oversight, become tomorrow’s market control. Monopoly rarely announces itself as a threat. It often arrives as efficiency, convenience, and national pride.

    That is why the administration of President Bola Tinubu must resist the temptation to outsource reform to private intervention. An enabling environment shouldn’t thrive on cronyism, but on clear rules and oversight, transparent allocation, and fierce protection of competition.

    Yet, even the most robust regulatory framework will struggle in a society where ethical limits are breached. Thus, Nigeria will either perish or survive on the moral habits of its people. It all begins in the family, the first and most influential institution of all. The family teaches restraint, fairness, empathy, or fails to. From there emerges the individual, personifying those lessons in public spaces. Individuals form institutions—markets, schools, churches, unions—that reflect private ethics at scale. From these institutions emerges society, and from society, government.

    Government is not an alien force imposed from outer space. It is society invested with power. Humans give both government and civilisation character, and constitute the fragments from which nations are assembled. Thus, when families normalise sharp practices, markets grow ruthless. When dishonesty is excused at home, its permeates social institutions, rotting all to the core. The society that rewards cunning over conscience, suffers transactional leadership.

    This is why the line Nigerians draw between themselves and their government is often dishonest. The landlord who raises rent without justification condemns state exploitation. The trader who inflates prices protests inflation. The transporter who refuses fare reduction curses leadership failure. Yet, leadership rarely invents cruelty; it simply magnifies it.

    Sometimes, the bad leadership we complain about is simply a perfect reflection of who we are. National rebirth, therefore, cannot be legislated into existence, it must be practically lived. It requires a re-education of instinct, a deliberate refusal to profit from another person’s pain. True rebirth demands that relief be allowed to mean relief, not merely another opportunity to extract advantage.

    Nigerians must acknowledge improvement when it occurs, however briefly, and let it manifest through news pages, markets and motor parks with the same speed as bad news. Good citizenship is not only about what we can take, but also what we are willing to restrain.

    It’s about time we embraced a humane path to national rebirth: easing another person’s burden is not foolishness. It is survival in a shared space. Until this lesson is learned, fuel price cuts will remain symbolic gestures and governments will cycle endlessly through blame and disappointment.

    Nigeria’s greatest enemy has never been external. It has always been internal: in the citizens’ eagerness to exploit one another and call it business.

    Nigeria must stop feeding on itself, lest it becomes trapped in an exhausting loop, endlessly fighting its own reflection and wondering why it never wins.

  • Much ado about Section 305

    Much ado about Section 305

    It is a section of the Constitution not frequently used, except the need arises. Whenever it is used, it causes a quake in the land. The country has been quaking since President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18 after invoking the almighty Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The imposition of emergency rule is not the problem, the din is over the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, and the House of Assembly…

  • Donation? N200b? Herder-farmer

    Donation? N200b? Herder-farmer

    Terrorists do not usually work alone. They have collaborators or force people to cooperate in their murderous activities.  

    There has been a doctor arrested and others indicted for colluding with terrorists. There are many more participants but some will be unwilling collaborators, acting under threats. Terrorists often ‘know where you and your relations live’. Terrorists need support systems for fuel, food, transport, financial, medical and even education support to the terrorists.            

    To the secret service investigation in those areas, the identification of a doctor and a petrol station involved are important and the security agencies are to be encouraged to spread their net wider as the revelations are just the tip of the iceberg of complicity in exposing the vast network which supports the works of terrorism. For example, it has been repeatedly reported that helicopters have been seen and heard supporting terrorist activities in the ‘bush’. Have we investigated enough to prove the efficacy of helicopter incidents or know the origin and destination of such helicopter incidents and the identity of the funders, the operators and personnel involved?

    Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, recently unsuspended, after serving a six-month suspension from the senate has made huge waves positive with her Amazonian achievements with her available funds from good use of the Salary and Perks of office of a serving Senator of Nigeria. It is not yet confirmed if the funds used included the much-abused constituency project funds which most Nigerians want abolished due to poor transparency and apparent misuse as they do not have a stellar track record of usefully using such huge funds for their constituents. Instead, there is a reported poor impact with little good for the citizenry under almost all the members of the National Assembly, (NASS).

    Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan really stands out as someone who demonstrates political concern of the economic progress of her constituents. This cannot be said of most NASS members as they would be hard-pressed to demonstrate any marked value added to the community in proportion to the funds made available to them. Such politicians would rather plaster their outsized mugshot photographs on bags of food consumables for distribution to the needy.

    Where is the dignity in cunningly first taking the citizens’ money from them through ‘legally but morally illegal’ i.e. legally-illegal means and misappropriation gimmickry as budgetary hyper-allocations and then the politicians ‘returning’ a tiny part of that money with items plastered with the so-called donor’s mugshots and lots of press?

    For years we have been insulted and abused by the misused statement that the president/governor/ LGA chairman ‘donated this or that’ when in fact it is our money they are using and so they cannot donate it back to us. ‘Our mumu don do’ as Charlie Boy/Man/Baba would say! Over many years, the media usually celebrates and perpetuates this misconception, cementing it both in the political lexicon and in the psyche of the citizenry who now have been misled and schooled by the media to ‘appreciate and eulogise and even deify’ the misnamed ‘donor’ and the donation. Seriously the media must take responsibility for not sufficiently protecting the impressionable public by interrogating the origin of such funds and widely publishing the same.

    There are only two types of funds that politicians can use and it is not nuclear physics for journalists creating a news item to quickly research and conclude on the nature or type of funds being made available for the correct reporting of each such event.

    For maximum fiscal accountability, funds are either ‘Public or Personal’ so instead of blanket ‘donated funds’, the media must begin to distinguish between the two and speak out in their headlines. ‘On behalf of the people, the president/ governor/LGA chairman released the sum of ABC millions. Ask if money is merely an ‘allocation’ from public funds ‘on behalf of the citizens’ or ‘a personal donation’. The source of all funds tricking down to the citizenry is important and the media should demand that such origins should be made clear in all circumstances or reports will be withheld so as not to give undue glory to someone who was acting as a ‘public fund conduit for good’ and not as a donor of personal funds.

    The media needs to also know and point out that politicians seem to have lost a sense of perception, purpose, position and even currency value along with their moral compass and a singularly high degree of excessive self-worth in security and financial terms.

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    For example, a head of government is reportedly suing an international media outlet for $1b. Even though he is a multibillionaire, the amount appears preposterous. In contrast, and to put it in economic context, imagine a Nigerian politician who proudly approved a mere N70,000 as minimum wage [but many millions for fellow politicians monthly] reportedly suing a colleague, for N200billion i.e. N200,000,000,000.  Think please. N200b is a month’s salary for 2,857,143 citizens or a N70,000 monthly salary for 238,095 years. Is this degree of self-importance a red flag requiring personality disorder analysis? Remember that it was the politicians charging N100m for the party presidential nomination form that triggered kidnappers immediately demanding N100m/ person for ransom.  What will this N200billlion translate into in the terrorist world? 

    Regarding the media, we used to report herder-farmer clash placing the initiator as the herder. Gradually it is now farmer-herder clash reversing the blame. We should revert to the herder-farmer clash nomenclature.

  • Sudden deaths

    Sudden deaths

    Approximately 173,000 deaths occur daily in 2025. As the year runs out soon, it is estimated that about 64 million people would have died this year alone, based on a global crude death rate of 7.67 deaths per thousand population. Of this number, about 15 million were sudden deaths. Whether we like it or not, we will be part of the statistics some day.  

    We may accumulate all the wealth we want now, eat the best foods money can buy, use the best doctors and healthcare facilities in the world, or pray or sacrifice all we want, we cannot avoid death. It is the only certainty we know for sure. That is why at the news of someone’s death, the Yoruba would say ojó á jìnnà sí’ra won o. It is a way of praying for longevity, knowing full well that our turn will come. Nevertheless, we still mourn deaths, especially sudden deaths. This particularly true of the death of someone we saw or spoke with hours ago, who was otherwise hale and hearty and was not involved in an accident. Within the past few months, many such cases have made the news in Nigeria alone.

    Nine months ago, I wondered why more young people were dying prematurely (Why more young people are dying these days, The Nation, March 12, 2025). Today, my focus is on the rise in adult sudden deaths in the world at large but particularly in Nigeria.

    By adult sudden death, I mean a situation in which an apparently healthy adult (say, 50+) suddenly dies, often from natural causes, rather than from an accident. I use the word “apparently” advisedly: There are often undisclosed or unknown underlying causes.

    The most prevalent underlying cause of sudden death has to do with a heart problem. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops working. When this happens, the person suddenly loses consciousness. If CPR is not available there and then, the organs needed to keep the person alive will stop working because the blood has stopped carrying oxygen to them. As a result, death can happen within minutes, or at most within an hour of onset.

    I always remember a close friend, who was alert enough to get behind the steering and start driving. After driving for about 30 minutes or so, he noticed that he was getting rather weak. He wisely parked his car off the road to take a brief rest. He leaned on the steering wheel and passed on minutes later. What he did not realize was that his heart was shutting down and his organs were failing, even when he felt no pain.

    There are many heart diseases that could lead to cardiac arrest, such as coronary artery disease (for example, due to high cholesterol), plaque disruption, abnormal heart rhythm, and faulty heart’s electrical system. There are also non-cardiac causes of sudden death, such as a massive stroke or blood clot. When clotted blood breaks, small lumps can travel to block the passage of blood to the heart, the lungs, or the brain, depending on the location of the clot and how far it is able to travel.

    In addition to medical conditions, lifestyle, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and irregular or no medical check-ups could trigger or conceal any of various underlying conditions.

    It is possible to die suddenly without a clear symptom. However, some individuals may experience palpitations, chest pain, dizziness, fatigue, or shortness of breath before sudden death. These individuals often have underlying heart or lung problems that are either unrecognized or ignored. Others may have have stopped taking medication for high blood pressure, asthma, or any other medical condition. In such cases, sudden death is a possibility. That’s why anyone experiencing any of these problems is advised to see a doctor at once, especially those who know that they have one underlying condition or the other.

    The possibility of sudden death is heightened by lack of self awareness of their body and health problems; unwillingness to disclose medical problems to those who could help; lack of, or delayed, access to medical care; misdiagnosis; sheer ignorance; poverty; and illiteracy.

    Although precise worldwide data on sudden death varies, depending on data collection methods, autopsy rates, and documentation culture. However, it is estimated that over 15 million people die suddenly every year and that many cases are unreported. Sudden cardiac arrest accounts for about 5 million cases of sudden deaths worldwide.

    Reliable statistics are hard to come by in Nigeria. Nevertheless, a study published in 2013 showed that cardiac arrest accounted for about 50 percent of all cases of sudden death between 2003 and 2011 at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital. While only 4 percent of the cases occurred in less than 24 hours after admission, about 72 percent of cases occurred out of hospital. The data derived from case notes and autopsy reports of cases of sudden death.

    The LAUTECH data cited above were collected over a decade ago. In the last five years, coronavirus hangover, environmental stress, economic pressures, ultra-processed foods, and self-medication have complicated our lives. Besides, silent killers, such as cancers and other noncommunicable diseases, have been on the rise.

    That is why it is important to take certain precautionary measures to avoid premature or sudden death. The usual precautions include (a) a heart-healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and low in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats; (b) avoid alcohol and self-medication in managing stress; (c) exercise regularly—walking and stretching will go a long way in toning the body and the heart; (d) keep blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and complete blood count in check—you should track your base white cell, red cell, and platelet counts; and, above all, maintain regular medical check-ups.

    My heart goes to families who have lost a family member to sudden death. For those who are still here, ojo á jìnnà sí’ra won o. For those on the other side, may their souls rest in peace.

  • Aliko Dangote goes to war

    Aliko Dangote goes to war

    Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, often comes across as mild-mannered and personable. But you don’t become a billionaire and stay ahead of the chasing pack by being sentimental. On the contrary, most businessmen in his class are ruthless in taking decisions to protect their interests. It is not for nothing that through the years he’s battled to stave off accusations of being monopolistic in disposition.

    But say what you like about the man, you cannot deny that he’s a visionary given to outlandish dreams. One of such is the 650,000 barrels per day refinery which was first announced in 2013 but didn’t start production until September 2024. The facility was originally supposed to be completed between 2018 and 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic and other logistical challenges ensured this goal wasn’t met.

    Although, one man’s outsize dream the facility has become intertwined with Nigeria’s economic future. A nation rich in oil and gas has for decades suffered from non-existent local refining capacity – leaving it at the mercy of an army of importers of all manner of petroleum products. Conspiracy theorists even say that the demobilisation of the nation’s four refineries is a function of consistent sabotage on the part of those whose interests are helped by sustaining the regime of importation.

    Different estimates put the amount Nigeria has spent on turnaround maintenance of the government-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna – from 2000 to 2024 – at between $18 billion and $25 billion. Despite sinking this fortune into what are increasingly looking like expensive junkyards, there’s no hope in sight that production would start on a consistent basis in any of them soon.

    So, when an enterprising individual pulled off what a whole nation and successive administrations couldn’t deliver he was celebrated as a hero. Dangote has harped on the fact that his facility has the capacity to meet the petrol needs on the entire West African sub-region. In other words, there was no need for further importation.

    His position was seen in certain quarters as self-serving. After all, a man who had poured $20 billion into a project would be desperate to recoup his investment and pay off loans.

    Before the coming of his behemoth, there were players in that space who also invested heavily in tank farms, trucks and other assets. The coming of this massive refinery was bound to disrupt their businesses as it is also doing to markets across the world from which Nigerian and other African importers hitherto sourced products. Surely, they would be less than enthused about something that was bound to put them out of business sooner than later.

    What would follow the take-off of Dangote Refinery was an early dispute with the regulator, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA, on the refinery’s preparedness and product quality. Mediatory meetings temporarily pushed this row to the back burner.

    The battle would soon turn to the fact that the authorities still left the gates wide open for all manner of importers despite the presence of the infant facility that could supposedly meet local consumption.

    Conscious not to be seen as enthroning a monopoly, and also worried as to whether Dangote could actually cover Nigeria’s local requirements despite his claims, the government never imposed any ban on importation.

    Perhaps to show that it was truly in favour of empowering local refiners, the administration briefly toyed with the idea of a 15% levy on imported petroleum products. The idea was quickly shelved in mid-November, leaving the status quo in place. Whether this was done to please importers or just to ensure that a competitive edge remained in the market is anybody’s guess.

    Clearly, the situation wasn’t pleasing to all players – Dangote being one of them. Things boiled over on Sunday with the billionaire businessman levelling a series of grave allegations against NMDPRA and its chief executive officer, Farouk Ahmed.

    He accused the agency of undermining his refinery, sabotaging the economy and urged the government to probe its activities.

    He claimed NMDPRA’s leadership was colluding with international traders and oil importers to frustrate local refining through the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products.

    Stating that Ahmed had been living above his means, he pointedly alleged that the public office holder had spent $5 million training four of his children in posh schools in Switzerland. Dangote said the bills being picked by the NMDPRA boss raised serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum sector. It was akin to detonating an improvised explosive device (IED).

    Just yesterday, he followed up with a full page advert in major newspapers which he personally signed, doubling down on the corruption allegations against Ahmed. In a further escalation, a petition has now been filed with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) calling for the investigation, arrest and prosecution of the NMDPRA boss for living above his means.

    These are very serious allegations made by no ordinary whistle-blower. The shockwaves have swept through the oil industry and government circles. Already, the House of Representatives has plunged headlong into the matter, vowing an investigation.

    Curiously, while Dangote has been hurling devastating missiles in his direction, the silence from Ahmed and the NMDPRA has been uncomfortably loud. These are very grave allegations against a senior government regulator by the country’s preeminent business figure. The dispute is playing out before local and international audiences. That’s why silence isn’t an option. Those being accused should either rebut the charges with facts or confront the implications of what’s been said.

    Not too long ago, the erstwhile Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, found himself in the eye of a storm over claims he lied about graduating from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. For days the scandal raged. The minister tried unconvincingly to respond to the allegation but was forced to step aside when the matter became an embarrassing distraction for the administration.

    The dispute between Dangote, the NMDPRA and its boss isn’t going away soon given that the accuser has plumped for the nuclear option. His allegation that regulatory actions are being deployed in ways that undermine his refinery while protecting entrenched interests in fuel importation is not a casual complaint about red tape. It is an accusation of regulatory distortion – one that questions the integrity of institutions created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

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    The danger of government silence in moments like this cannot be overstated. In countries with strong institutions, allegations against regulators trigger one of two responses: a public defence backed by evidence, or a transparent inquiry.

    Silence won’t stop the raging debate. Instead, it hands it over to the loudest and most powerful voices. The nation’s reputation is also not helped by such unresolved accusations.

    Dangote’s allegations, whether true or false, shape perception simply by being made. Silence allows those perceptions to calcify. If he is right and no investigation follows, it confirms the suspicions Nigerians hold about regulatory capture and protection of rent-seeking interests.

    This episode also tests the credibility of the PIA itself. It was sold as a clean break from opaque oil governance – a framework designed to professionalise regulation and insulate it from informal power. Allowing one of its flagship institutions to be publicly splattered with mud without response undermines that promise more effectively than any hostile foreign report could.

    Nigeria’s real problem is not conflict between powerful actors. It is the state’s regular reluctance to arbitrate such conflicts openly. Too often, elite disputes are sorted out quietly through political “settlements” that produce temporary calm while leaving institutions weaker and public trust eroded. That path may defuse tension, but it poisons reform.

    This is why the temptation to frame the current fight solely as Dangote versus Ahmed must be resisted. The issue goes beyond personality; it is process. Does Nigeria have regulators who can enforce rules transparently? Is government willing to defend its institutions publicly – or discipline them when necessary?

    Demanding a response is not asking for capitulation. Dangote does not deserve special treatment because of his wealth or size and usefulness of his refinery to the country. But neither does any regulator deserve immunity from scrutiny. Accountability cuts both ways, and credibility is earned through openness.

    Dangote has spoken. Serious allegations are now in the public domain. The government must decide whether it believes in the institutional order it has built. It must move swiftly to get to the root of this oily wrestling match between two Sumo wrestlers.

  • Dangote, cartel and national interest

    Dangote, cartel and national interest

    Only those unfamiliar with recent happenings in the midstream and downstream petroleum sector could afford to pretend that they didn’t see the roforofo coming. However, whereas the moment had become somewhat inevitable, yet, even by the so-called Nigerian standard where rules and conventions are more often than not observed in the breach, there is a lot to be said about Sunday’s laser guided missiles hurled at the regulator of the midstream and downstream petroleum sector, and the cartel of fuel importers, by the president of the Dangote Group, that speaks to the extraordinariness of the current time.

    That the gloves are finally off is an understatement. To those who know, the battle has been joined long before the Sunday, December 14 event with the latter date merely being the H-Hour. It was the day chosen by Aliko Dangote to step out, guns-a-blazing, in what became his long-awaited riposte to the sectoral undercurrents that has seen his corporate behemoth spar with the regulator and the cartel of fuel importers over the course of the past few months. 

    Call it bare-knuckle: no ambiguities, no pretences and no attempt sophistries: the Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), he asserted, had become a major source of his headache. Yet, much as he thought little of the institution, he actually thought far less of its helmsman, Farouk Ahmed, whom he accused of compromise, corruption and possibly, sabotage.

    As they say of war, all is deemed to be fair!

    Yes, Dangote, in a burst of moral outrage, challenged Nigerians to figure out how an individual, who had spent his entire life in public service, somehow managed to shell out a princely $5 million fees for his four wards in Swiss secondary schools over a six-year period without the unseen hands of benevolent patrons.

    The expenditure, in his judgment, ‘raised serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum sector’ and so should matter, not just to the anti-graft agencies, the tax man but to every Nigerian interested in getting the sector sanitised. I couldn’t agree more with him!

    His words: “When you look at his income, his income does not match paying this kind of fee. And even if it’s me paying $5m for six years for my four children, the taxman has to look at my taxes and how much I pay,” he stated. In other words, the industry policeman, rather than serve the public interest, would seem hostage to interests that are at variance with the national interest!

    Yet, much as one is tempted to see the charge, particularly the underlying insinuation, coming at this time, as nothing short of extraordinary, I don’t think Nigerians should suffer the distraction of failing to understand what the real issues are: the governance of the midstream and downstream sector, and the question of whether the current framework could be said to be fair and even-handed at a time of the sector’s transition.  While the anti-graft bodies have taken the hint, and so should not detain us here, Nigerians must be seen to appreciate the need to sift the wheat from the chaff so as not to throw the good away with the bad!

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    Surely, that there is no love lost between Dangote Refinery and NMDPRA is certainly an open secret. Most certainly, I understand why the former will be piqued by what appears to be unhelpful posturing of the latter. Only last year, on July 18, 2024, Farouk Ahmed, had alleged that local refineries, including the Dangote refinery, were producing inferior products compared to imports – a charge that was stoutly denied by the refinery at the time. Trust Nigerians: they let things pass without a firm resolution of that particular issue.

    Again in October, NMDPRA would make another claim: that Dangote Refinery supplies the market far less than it claims. It puts the company’s daily average at 20 million litres as against the 50 million litres requirement of the local market. Expectedly, this was promptly refuted by Dangote Group spokesman, Anthony Chiejina: “the refinery now loads 45 million litres of PMS and 25 million litres of diesel daily, which exceeds Nigeria’s demand”. In fact, he told Bloomberg: “This significant production capacity not only guarantees local supply, but also enhances energy security and reduces dependence on imports”. 

    Still, Nigerians remain at sea for answers. In fact, it remains a national shame that issues of determining how much crude is refined and consumed daily continue to be a source of dispute. In this particular instance, the government apparently considers the NMDPRA figures as more believable; hence it suspended the 15 percent fuel import tax originally proposed to take immediate effect until the first quarter of next year.

    I do appreciate how challenging the refining turf is. Surely, a man who has committed so much of his life and fortune to deliver the national dream should feel entitled to protection by the government. Yet, such expectations, call for a delicate balancing between the corporate’s guarantee of survival and the overall stability of the economy. Surely, Nigerians are not confused about what the issues are: Dangote Refinery deserves every support that the government can give – and this subject to its proven capacity; just as the nation’s best interests must remain a major consideration at all times. That would explain why the government, in its wisdom, came up with the adjustment in the 15 percent tax to, in the words of FIRS chairman Zacch Adedeji, “provide adequate time for stakeholders to complete alignment on technical templates, public communication frameworks, and import scheduling, thereby minimising disruption to the supply chain and ensuring that the reform achieves its intended stabilising impact.” We are talking of something that is only three months away!

    Finally, on the cartels in the downstream arena: the club of international traders and local marketers all of whom, Dangote believes have colluded to undermine local refining; ‘organised cartels’, he claimed, pose a “bigger threat than drug mafias”.

    He recounted multiple sabotage incidents at both his facility and public refineries, a notable example of which was the removal of spare parts from a 400-ton boiler described as the largest ever built!

    “If I tell you the sabotages that we went through, including some of the machine manufacturers that were on the verge of going to court, you will know what I’m saying.

    “Drug mafias are actually smaller than the people who are in oil and gas. They have robbed so many people in this sector,” he was quoted to have said.

    Surely, that is where the main battle ahead lies. My answer: VIGILANCE!  Even here, there can be no underestimating the capacity of the Dangote Group to do battle. Already, we have seen evidence of this at the bully pulpit and at the fuel dispensing pumps. Thanks to the undeclared war, petrol prices are expected to drop to N739 per litre nationwide, beginning today, with initial implementation at MRS stations in Lagos – all things being equal. While the question of whether this is merely a pyrrhic victory or one that will usher in lasting respite for the fuel consumer lies in the womb of time, it is a Nigerian win all the same!