The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Why do Northern problems persist?

    Why do Northern problems persist?

    Northern Nigeria is in tatters, politically, economically and socially. Almost everywhere you turn, the news is of death, destruction and despair as if we were a rudderless and leaderless people …

    The Bank of the North building in Kano, the Turaki Ali House in Kaduna and other tall buildings erected in several northern cities and towns in the 1960s and 70s were a sky-is-the-limit statement for the future of the northern private sector. That future is here, but we might as well return to the 1960s because Sardauna’s heirs now know only to erect silly flyovers in a region where the predominant means of township travel remains the human foot.

    —Suleiman A Suleiman in The North in tatters, Daily Trust, July 1, 2024

    The living reality in Northern Nigeria is very explosive. If anyone is interested in finding the practical meaning of the Hobbesian description of life being ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’, just look at what life is in Northern Nigeria. Indices of poverty, unemployment and inequality are beyond description. Conditions of schools and hospitals are, to say the least, depressing. The civil service, in virtually all the 19 states, is only a shadow of itself, with hardly any public service activity taking place. Our illustrious and respected traditional institutions have been devalued and reduced to a state of hopelessness. Most of our religious leaders and centres are far removed from God’s way of life. Few industries exist in the region. And on account of insecurity, agricultural activities, the mainstay of the economy of the region, is highly on the decline.

    — Salihu Mohammed Lukman, in Open letter to Northern politicians, Daily Trust, July 1, 2024

    The courage to provide a comprehensive analysis of the prevailing realities in Northern Nigeria has been a rare commodity, especially when the speakers or writers are Northerners themselves. But the two writers cited above were hardly the first to point out the Northern problems in Nigeria. At different times, but largely in passing comments, highly influential Northerners had highlighted in various ways the multiple problems besetting the North. The list includes former Governor of the Central Bank and controversial Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai; and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. However, none had addressed the issues as comprehensively as Suleiman and Lukman.

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    But, as I pointed out earlier on this column, the Northern problems in Nigeria date back to colonial times, when the erstwhile separate Northern and Southern Protectorates were merged into a single colony in 1914 in order to use the economic and human resources from the South to sustain the North (see The Northern question again: Facts unknown or ignored, The Nation, June 26, 2024).

    In the last two decades, these problems have been complicated by the scourge of insecurity that continues to decimate the region’s homes and farmlands. The social, economic, and political underpinnings of the region’s backwardness today, which Northern leaders have continued to ignore, provided the basis for the scathing rebuke of the present crop of Northern leaders by Suleiman and Lukman. In the light of this rebuke, how much shame do Northern leaders wish to endure over their negligence in developing their region all these years?

    But the most critical question now is what to do to solve the Northern problems and, by so doing, solve Nigeria’s problems. What should be done to make Northern leaders look inwards, rather than to Abuja, in order to develop their region? Let’s go back again to history.

    According to Suleiman, the glorious North existed when it was a region by itself, following the foundation laid by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, who was the Premier of Northern Region from 1954 until his assassination in a military coup on January 15, 1966. With various economic, educational, and political policies, Ahmadu Bello put his region on a path of development in order to catch up with the Western and Eastern Regions. The opposite has happened since his death.

    Hence Suleiman’s historical references in the opening quote and this one in the body of the essay: “… none of the North’s two layers of leadership – the federal government and the 19 state governors – has proven capable of reimagining in 25 years what Sardauna achieved economically for the region in 10”. Embedded in this comment is Suleiman’s rebuke of former President Muhammadu Buhari in the same essay for looking away while the North was being decimated under his watch, despite his campaign promise to unify the region. Never mind that Suleiman left out decades of military rule under Northern leadership, which did next to nothing to improve the fortunes of the region.

    An interesting takeaway from Suleiman’s reference to Sir Ahmadu Bello is the fact that there was a time in history when the North was on track for development, championed by Sir Ahmadu Bello himself. This implies that the North has lacked leadership for 25 years since the return to democracy.

    A close look at the bahaviour of Northern Governors reveals several findings. One, each of the 19 state Governors has turned his state into a small fiefdom and then, with a few exceptions, milked the state’s resources dry. They are not bothered that, vis-à-vis the rest of the country, their state or region as a whole has the lowest literacy rate, the highest number of out-of-school children, the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate, the lowest contribution to GDP, the lowest Human Development Index, and the most insecure.

    Two, the Governors allowed insecurity in their region to fester until it got mapped unto old historical wounds between Fulani and other groups, who owned the land and farms. The result is unbridled herder-farmer clashes, cattle rustling, banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes. Some of these crimes have since spread across the country.

    Three, the same Governors and insecurity have compromised possible interventions by traditional rulers in their region, who are either threatened with deposition or kidnapped.

    Urgent solutions are necessary, which will require presidential and legislative actions. But that will be the subject of another essay in the coming weeks.

    •An earlier version of this article was published on July 10, 2024

  • Dilemma of Governor Mbah

    Dilemma of Governor Mbah

    The 2027 general election has become like a sword of Damocles dangling on the head of some key actors whose political parties are in disarray. Thanks to the brinkmanship of key leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose former chairman Vincent Ogbulafor once boasted would rule Nigeria for 60 years, the party has become a gargantuan shadow of itself. The dire condition of the party resulted in the exodus of state governors, former presidential candidates and several bigwigs who felt that the PDP’s political boat may soon capsize.

    Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar who has always treated the PDP like a special purpose vehicle for his presidential ambitions, has already jumped out of the troubled ship. While he has not ported at another political party, perhaps out of fear of the unknown, there are strong indications he may join the African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose leadership has been hijacked by former senate president, David Mark. 

    The governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, and the entire PDP structure in the state moved over to the All Progressive Congress (APC) in August 2024, a development that shook the PDP. Ten months after, the governor of Akwa Ibom State engineered a wholesome movement of the PDP structure in his state, to the APC. Of course, several other bigwigs have left the old warhorse, for the ADC which many are now taunting as a damp squib, after its abysmal performance in the recently held by-elections across several states.

    With the PDP doddering, Governor Peter Mbah who got elected by a controversial razor tin vote advantage in 2023 must be weighing his options, as the race to the 2027 general election dominates the political landscape. Mbah’s challenge is made worse by the fact that the politically conservative Enugu State voters, appears to have shown inflexibility with the recent result of the Enugu South Urban Constituency reordered election.

    Apparently, to the shock of Mbah and his supporters, one Bright Ngene, who originally won the state legislative assembly election in 2023, again won the reordered election after postponements arising from repeated disruptions. To make it more embarrassing for the ruling party in the state, Ngene of the Labour Party, who was sentenced to seven-years imprisonment for a community related dispute, won the election from the prison. It remains to be seen whether he will serve what is remaining of his tenure from the prisons. 

    From the whiplashing the PDP received in the 2023 general election in the state in the hands of the Labour Party (LP) and the recent mud on its face in the Enugu South Urban Constituency reordered election, the PDP on whose platform Mbah was elected is seriously in decline. The PDP which dominated the state like a colossus, making it nigh impossible for any other party to breath in the state must be wondering what happened to her glorious days in the sun.

    The PDP produced Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, who after eight years of reign handed over to Sullivan Chime. Sullivan after eight years in power handed over to Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who also ruled for eight years. During the reign of the three former governors, the state House of Assembly, the federal House of Representatives and the Senate were dominated by the PDP. The stranglehold on the state was so strong that the contentions for the PDP primaries were more contentious than the general elections that followed. During that era, to be in the good books of the governor and be chosen as the party candidate was the main coronation that party members fought for, not the general election that will follow.

    The domination was so annoying that this column spent considerable space and time canvasing that other parties, should be allowed to breathe. Back then, to contend that the All Progress Congress (APC) should be embraced by politicians was considered a mortal sin. Each time this column comes out with a piece considered favourable to the APC, relations and friends would throw tantrums alleging that one has sold out to haters and hegemonists. The challenge faced by the APC continued even when some big wigs, like former Sullivan Chime, joined the party. 

    But what is commonly called the Peter Obi tsunami untangled the PDP stronghold in a most dramatic manner. Even the amiable immediate former governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was shellacked, as he could not win his senatorial seat, after completing eight years as governor. Out of the three senatorial zones, PDP got one, while the LP got two. In the House of Representatives, LP got seven out of the eight slots for the state. As for the House of Assembly the PDP won 10, while Labour won 14.  

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    With such a clean sweep, it remained contentious about who really won the governorship race. But with the performance of Governor Mbah as governor, can one say that such upset is now in the distant past? One would have been tempted to say so, if not for the recent success of the LP candidate, in the Enugu South Urban Constituency election. No doubt, Governor Mbah is arguably one of the best performing governors in terms of infrastructure development. Within two years he already has few legacy projects tucked in his sleeves.

    One such legacy project, the International Conference Centre, Enugu, is currently hosting the Nigeria Bar Association Annual General Conference. There are others like the modern bus terminals at strategic places across the states and the CNG buses adorning the state roads in their ecstatic beauty. There is also the Enugu Air, not to talk of the incomparable state security network that has made the state one of the safest destinations in the country. The governor is also reportedly resuscitating the palm oil and cashew industry state owned agro-allied industrial base.

    So, what is responsible for the poor midterm political assessment of the governor by the people of Enugu South Urban Constituency, as shown in the recent reordered election? Again, is that result a reflection of how the ordinary people elsewhere across the state, feel about Governor Mbah, despite his high performance in the development of infrastructure across the state? Furthermore, could the sins of PDP before he took over as governor, be so entrenched and nauseating that it obfuscates the governor’s performance so far?

    There is the unconfirmed rumour that Governor Mbah may move over to the APC in the coming months. This column has written a piece on the similarities between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Peter Mbah, in January this year, titled “Two Ideas Men”.  So, moving over to APC may indeed be helpful to his political future. But he must not do it in such a way to engender a backlash. As we await Mbah’s political manoeuvre, this writer thinks he has two major challenges, which will be explored at another time.

  • Tunji Bello: A witness to history

    Tunji Bello: A witness to history

    Nearly a week after the official handover of the 550-seater architectural masterpiece that is now the Olatunji Bello Auditorium at the Epe Campus of the Lagos State University (LASU) to the officials of the institution, quite a lot has certainly been written about the rare philanthropy of my dear friend and brother, Olatunji Bello, the executive vice chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to fill a book of tributes. While much of the story has run in bits and parts of which the running threads in the various accounts is the exemplary generosity of the donor, the timeliness and uniqueness of the sacrifice, the public spiritedness that have come to define not just his chequered private and public life, I believe yours truly couldn’t but to preface this piece with an innocuous detail which I consider as bearing the imprimatur of Divine approval on the initiative as yours truly, and my colleague Tunji Adegboyega (Cyclone) undertook the 127-kilometre journey to the venue last Wednesday morning.

    We had arrived at the venue early enough – that is some few minutes after the 10 am kick-off time to meet the venue nearly packed full. It turned out a roll-call of who-is-who in public service and the professions; time to reconnect with old time buddies, friends and colleagues. The governor was there, so also was his deputy, Femi Hamzat, and the chair of the occasion, the minister of education and Tunji’s namesake, Tunji Alausa.   It was in every way, Tunji Bello’s day with past and present Lagos State executive council members represented.

    However, just before the event proper kicked-off, the skies suddenly became pregnant with the foreboding of a possible disruptive rain. Given that the event was an outdoor one, the prospect was somewhat troubling. In fact, the cultural troupe brought in to perform actually staged their performance under the light showers.

    By the way, with yours truly and Cyclone seated in a position that was particularly vulnerable, he on his part couldn’t but wonder aloud if the donor had thought of the minor rite of African logistics of putting the rainmakers on the standby particularly with nearly one-score traditional rulers clad in their traditional regalia seated on the front rows!

    While any thought of such question popping up was not only  bizarre but also late in coming, yours truly could only chuckle that the light showers which had become somewhat threatening at the point could only be a sign of blessing; or better still, a note of approval from the celestial realm which only the discerning could interpret; which probably explains why the blue skies soon after receded to give way to the clear sunny skies that would provide the much needed warmth to the event and thus put the stamp of Divine approval on the exemplary offering from a noble heart!  In the end, it was like the elements had determined that being Tunji Bello’s Day, they would ensure that nothing would be allowed to mar its success.

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    Call it an awesome moment in which the anxieties and not least the endless wonders of the nights, would melt into a beautiful testimony. It was a sight to behold.

    Of course, the story behind the auditorium story is already in the open. So are the lessons. Indeed, the story that began some 14 years as an annual prize in five disciplines of Law, Mass Communications, Social Sciences, Engineering and Medicine for brilliant but indigent students offers great lessons in the power of the small but silent beginning, of commitment and the perseverance to see worthy causes through. For while 14 years might seem like nothing given TB’s blessedness, yet, in a clime where showmanship has become something of popular culture, it is certainly a big deal that the seed of those years has not only survived but thrived. Seen in that context, the 550-seater auditorium would seem a mere icing on the cake, a natural progression of a life constantly in the purpose – an attestation to the character, something in the DNA of the dreamer that is beyond the ordinary.

    To those who somehow conceive of giving as something of a painless art, Tunji would offer two pragmatic counsels: nothing good comes easy; the other, a reminder of the Biblical parable that “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”.

    For Tunji, the moment came when he had to sell a prized property so the work could go on.

    Also worthy of note is that the project actually predated the vice chancellorship of his dear wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello. In fact, a huge dose of the credit deservedly belongs to her. As Tunji himself is wont to testify, the idea of giving back to the university was originally hers. However, on receiving what could only be the tiny mustard seed, his was to mull on the idea until it found concrete expression in the gigantic project that became the auditorium.

    Call it a divine arrangement: an idea conceived in the womb of our doughty professor being fertilised by the spouse and delivered during her tenure as vice chancellor.  I love the coincidence!

    My colleague, Segun Ayobolu has written on the Tunji Bello phenomenon and the grace of selfless giving just as Tunji Adegboyega has in his Sunday column echoed the same sentiment of the cheerful donor.

    Let me add that the Tunji Bello that I have known since 1986 on the Features Desk of the Concord newspapers actually embodies the truth about giving as life itself! However, while it is no surprise that names like the late Bashorun MKO Abiola and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu feature among those that inspired and continues to inspire him, those close to him, particularly those who have benefitted from his generosity, including yours truly, cannot but testify to the uniqueness of his persona, particularly his innate propensity for charity and charitable causes.

    Let me end this with a simple takeaway: the fact that one does require a big pocket to start giving. I love how Tunji elliptically puts it: If God gives you a dream or an idea, he will somehow avail the means to bring it to accomplishment!

  • Yoked to inanities

    Yoked to inanities

    As in life, as in death: former President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) shut down what might have flared into — and still be — a raging inanity.

    That controversy brewed on July 9, at the launch of Garba Shehu’s book, According to the President: Lesson from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience.  It was set to grow into a media din — until PMB’s death, in London, England, on July 13, squelched it all.

    The old soldier — in death, as in life — brooked no inane quips, no sundry rants! So, his deployment of what Ripples called “strategic deafness” during his presidency.

    The controversy?  Boss Mustapha’s banger: “When you sum up” what “… gave us victory in 2015, the aggregate of the total vote were 15.4 million votes.  So, … what we brought to the table — the other parties … in the merger — in addition to Buhari’s12.2 million votes, were 3.2 million votes.”

    Armageddon!  Differently phrased, all what the APC merger — read the South West huffing-and-puffing, and flexing of messianic muscles — added to PMB’s 2015 win were barely three million votes, in a 15.4 million haul!  Armageddon!

    Those stung would howl.  Those that sting would smirk.  

    The stung South West: for a wilful diminution of its well — and fairly acclaimed — help to, at last, get PMB across the presidential line.

    But the stinging “North” — of Mustapha, PMB’s second Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF): no retreat, no surrender, Nigerian politics being what it is!

    Still, Ripples cares less about these partisan warriors — inside the same party! — for politicians would be politicians. The worry is the media, which reflex always gets drawn into sterile controversies, while critical issues crave attention.

    In truth, Mustapha’s take was a fib — but not because the “12 million votes” were duds. But without the North-West/South West entente that romped APC into life, PMB would — yet again — have laboured in vain.

    But as the South West came through for PMB in 2015, the North West too came through for PBAT in 2023.  The North East though, got the Vice President. 

    That alliance fired President Bola Tinunbu to power; and may yet gift him an encore in 2027 — never mind the palace conspiracy theories and theorists: by Buharists (read the CPC rogue minority); and BATists (read rash players in the BAT ruling court).  Also add: media “we vs them” commentators, that screech shriller than the bereaved!

    Yes, Mustapha’s “12 million votes” claim was provocative. But that wasn’t his only take. 

    His other take was that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) was building on PMB’s policies and programmes: in infrastructure, in agriculture, and sundry sectors, thus from 2015, breathing fresh life, after the PDP-era paralysis of 16 desert years.

    His exact words: “President Tinubu’s administration has not only retained the momentum of governance reforms, but has introduced bold initiatives that further entrench institutional credibility and fiscal sustainability.”

    This is true: with virtually all-Nigeria now construction sites in roads and rail.  That’s an APC legacy, near-absolutely unknown to the pre-2015 PDP years.

    So, why didn’t this second comment get traction, though it would have neatly juxtaposed the APC era with the PDP epoch?

    Again, that’s ode to inanities: to which both politicians, and the often sensational media, are yoked!  No wonder, a good chunk of public discourse is mere junk.

    Little wonder too, political desperadoes, with annoying “me-too” complexes, and a surfeit of pay-as-you-go analysts, are ever ready to drum “we-are-always-a-hopeless-case” dirges, otherwise known as “nothing is happening”!

    With such merry recourse to fashionable self-ridicule, it’s little surprise that at mid-term, the media gets more drawn to shrill voices that bad-mouth; not crack minds that grind out solutions, to long-term hard problems.

    But back to Mustapha’s sweet-sour takes — twin-hyperboles, though.

    PMB’s “12 million” votes might be statistically correct.  But that they romped him into power is wrong.  Had the South West votes not gifted the required national spread, PMB would still have come short.

    No less hyperbolic was the claim that PBAT was, neat and sweet, deepening the PMB policy regime.  That isn’t true in every material particular.

    PMB was brilliant in infrastructure and agriculture, with near-zero cash, setting up new exciting templates, after the PDP years.  But he wasn’t so brilliant in monetary policy. 

    Indeed, he had little choice outside debt capital because the till was empty.  The PDP-era, of gargantuan steal, had cleaned out the till. Under President Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015), that heist had become an epidemic.

    PBAT, on the other hand, has been sparkling in monetary policy, while maintaining the PMB-era strides in infrastructure, with many legacy projects; but far less glaring in agriculture, though he promises a dramatic upsurge, during the harvest months, 2025.

    The clear elephant in the room, for PBAT, is still the food inflation challenge, though progressive numbers suggest it’s trending down — but not as down as many crave.

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    But these two contrasts build one solid story.  From a suspect monetary policy of its early nativity (2015 to 2023), the APC order, under two presidents, has evolved a far more organic, and certainly, far more coherent and promising economic vista, than anytime during the Obasanjo-led PDP era (1999-2015).

    Yeah, to Nigeria’s brow-beaten citizenry, “reforms” has become a buzz word.  That word, it was, that the Obasanjo lobby waved, as a magic wand, to sell his doomed third term agenda. 

    But unlike the Obasanjo era, these present “reforms” are springing visible projects — roads and rail — aside more reassuring economic numbers.

    Still again, the mighty elephant in the room: reform pains!  These pains condemn the government to rivals’ emotive blackmail.  The pocket still hurts. The belly still rumbles.  That’s the opposition charter, en route 2027 — to milk the people’s misery!

    By fixing PMB-era monetary challenge — which Chukwuma Soludo hyperbolized as a “dead economy” — PBAT has somewhat made the economy potentially more rounded, though traditional progressives continue to rile at his harsh neo-liberal choices, which seem to leave the people — in any case, the most vulnerable — winded and angry.

    On balance though, there would appear a progressive uplift from the PMB years — a rich continuity the ruling order ought to toast, not break into Buharist-BATist free-for-all, as if under opposition curse.

    Proof?  Barely 10 years after PMB’s Lagos-Ibadan-Kano medium gauge rail, PBAT is sighting a bullet train, linked to Lagos-Abuja-Kano; and Abuja-Port Harcourt — in three years!

    That was virtually impossible during the PDP years — except PDP projects as audio tricks (witness the endless stunts pulled on the 2nd Niger Bridge) — even with the Jonathan parting gift of the Abuja-Kaduna rail, which PMB completed and inaugurated.

    So for APC, doesn’t it then make more sense to frame public communication that consolidates its gain from 2015, rather than split hairs between 2015 and 2023?

    Had it done that, it would have taken the wind off the sail of power opportunists, that offer little beyond cheap emotive blackmail.

  • George and impenitent PDP governors

    George and impenitent PDP governors

    But for its assault in sensibilities of Nigerians, the assemblage of impenitent PDP governors with the likes of Osun’s Ademola Adeleke, the dancing governor and  Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed of  ‘Every West African Fulani is a Nigerian’ in Gusau, Zamfara, last week Saturday where the forum attributed PDP’s unimpressive outing during the August 9 by-election to “intimidation and excessive deployment of security forces”, is a gathering of humour merchants. The forum even added a bit of sardonic humour as one is not sure of what to make of the forum’s expression of “profound gratitude to members and supporters of the PDP nationwide” who did not bother to vote for PDP which secured one seat as against 12 for APC of the 16 contested seats. It is sad that even as leading lights of PDP scramble to escape a sinking ship, which PDP has become, some others have chosen to keep on playing the ostrich perhaps believing that Nigerians suffer from collective amnesia.

    To close observers of Nigerian politics, the tragedy of PDP cannot be separated from the 2013 revolt of ‘Group of Seven’ led by Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bukola Saraki, the 2022 revolt of ‘Group of Five’ otherwise known as the ‘integrity group’ led by Chief Bode George and Nyesom Wike, his estranged godson and of course the current self-serving PDP coalition-seeking migrants led by former senate president, David Mark and irritated Nasir el Rufai.

    Bode George along with other past PDP leaders including Obasanjo and Ahmadu Ali have always treated PDP gang wars as ‘family affair’. But with George’s threat to quit the PDP after, issuing  what many saw as empty threat to PDP southern leaders and Wike following their categorical rejection and dismissal of the Ibadan consultative meeting as  “divisive and unrepresentative”,  the end of such illusion seems near.

    The mistake George has always made was to dress up PDP in a borrowed robe of a political party, a modernization agent ingenious mid-19th century creation of European elites.  The result was that PDP gang wars viciously fought over sharing of our national patrimony remains largely unchecked all through PDP 16 years of the locust.

    The truth is that PDP, birthed by the G13 group headed by the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme in 1998 but quickly hijacked by retired generals and  their military contractors and ran by gangs headed by garrison commanders has never been a political party. 

    This was why former US ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, during his March 19, 2010 lecture titled : Nigeria in Turmoil dismissed PDP as “an elite cartel at the centre of power in Nigeria with no ideological or programmatic basis, but simply as essentially a club of elites for sharing of oil rents and political spoils”. 

    Except for those playing the ostrich or those below 40 years of age, we can all remember how Nigeria became victim of PDP gang wars. The creation of artificial fuel scarcity by PDP politicians in the early days of Obasanjo’s presidency was used to justify government fuel subsidy policy which was nothing but a scam to loot the nation’s resources. But for their gang war inside the hallowed senate chambers of the National Assembly, Nigerian would not have known how PDP leading lights increased the number of fuel importers from four to over a hundred which did not only help them to defraud Nigeria of billions of naira but also allowed their siblings to steal $1.7b without importing a pint of fuel.

    It is often said that there is honour among thieves. But those who wage war against Nigeria are ready to engage in open fight on the floor of the National Assembly. It was through one of such vicious gang confrontations on the floor of the National Assembly that the nation got to know that the privatization exercise was a scam through which Nigeria’s total investment of over $100b acquired between 1960 and 1998 was sold to PDP stalwarts for a paltry $1.5b.

    They unbundled PHCN. But depending on whose figure you take, that was after expending $10b according to President Yar’Adua, Speaker Dimeji Bankole ($16b), Ndidi Elumelu, chairman house committee on power probe ($13b), Gabriel Suswan of NEC Presidential Review Panel on NIPP ($10.231b). They then sold the unbundled PHCN to PDP stalwarts led by Jerry Gana, supervised by Liyel Imoke, the Power Minister. Unfortunately what the nation got for her pains was darkness.

    It is not therefore difficult to conclude that from even taking a cue from Bode George who served jail term for helping friends with contracts as chairman of Nigerian Ports Authority (he was later acquitted on technical ground after fully serving  his term), the warring gang of seven that sank PDP in 2013, the gang of five also known as  “the Integrity Group” that wrecked PDP in 2023 and the current governors and PDP leading lights who today freely criss-cross  between PDP/APC  and ADC , it has always been about themselves and not about Nigeria.

    The focus remains greed of leading PDP stalwarts fighting over the sharing of resources and office positions. Bode George himself agreed with Wike that Atiku Abubakar in 2023, out of greed  breached the PDP constitutional provision on periodic rotation of offices between the north and south. He admitted that, in the contest for PDP VP slot in 2023, Wike who secured 13 out of 17 votes was short-changed. That Wike fought back with fury against Atiku’s 2023 ambition, was not unexpected.

    Unfortunately, those who refused to anticipate the consequences of sowing the wind are those today exhibiting intense dislike for Wike. Some treat him with revulsion. Others loathe him while some of their media platforms will not accept having a successful outing without an opportunity to pour odium on Wike. He is treated as a clown because of his diction, dancing steps and his throaty songs, “as he dey pain them, he dey sweet us”.

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    Unfortunately for his intra party rivals, he always has the last say. As a heavy investor in PDP, he had asked Iyorchia Ayu, PDP chairman to account for an alleged missing N1b party convention proceeds. And for his south south governors who could not stand his guts, he did nothing wrong by challenging them to account for proceeds of 13% derivation funds they took from Buhari, after showing to Nigeria what he did with his. After all, all is fair in war if politics is war by another name.

    Of course he did not spare those who tried to deny he was generous with River State money. They include those who sought his financial help during their failed PDP youth leadership contest before moving on to set up their own a civil society group, editors of below the line publication trying to join PDP, those whose battle he fought while they sought refuge in Ghana and got to power only to allegedly receive Rolls Royce as gift from contractors and spend billions on a non-existing metroline. Others who got bruised include those who knelt down groveling before him for support for their gubernatorial ambition etc.

    To show his was not just tales, we have had people like Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker of the House of representative coming out to corroborate his position by publicly scolding Bala Mohammed, his state governor, for his lack of grace after climbing to power on Wike’s back.

    The 16 years of PDP gang war over the looting of our resources and confiscation of asset kept in their temporary care for the future of our children is well documented. The garrison commanders who saw resources put in their care for building a better future for our people as spoils of war cannot escape the judgment of history.

    The above serious contradictions which threaten the survival of PDP as “an elite cartel for sharing of oil rents and political spoils”. Atonement by PDP past office holders for their baleful past which is partly responsible for the current nation’s nightmare and of course offering policy alternatives are the serious challenges before PDP governors if they are serious about retaking power from ruling APC in 2027 or any time in future. And this is not helped by empty and shallow promises by those who did nothing to turn the fortune of Nigerians around after spending about 20 years in PDP and APC past administrations but now two years out of government, promise to solve Nigerian problem in one year if given another chance.

  • Citizen Jennifer’s ordeal

    Citizen Jennifer’s ordeal

    Even with the dismissal of eight members of the Anambra State Vigilante Services (Agunechemba) involved in the assault of a youth corps member, Jennifer Elohor and her colleagues, the larger issues thrown up by that incident should not be lost.

    Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi while announcing the punitive measures, said the operatives who claimed to be pursuing suspected cultists, acted outside their mandate and would be handed to the police for prosecution.

    “The Soludo administration will not tolerate any form of unprofessionalism, brutality or abuse of office by security operatives. Any officer found guilty of misconduct will face immediate dismissal and prosecution”. Emeakayi said.

    He appeared to have struck the crux of the matter when he stressed that the case would mark a turning point in reforming community security operations in the state and restoring public confidence in it. It is hoped so.

    A viral video which circulated in the social media space last week had shown the moment armed operatives of the state’s security outfit stormed the corps members’ lodge in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state and assaulted the female member. In that video, the victim was seen being beaten and stripped naked by gun-trotting men as she ran in pains begging to be spared by her tormentors.

    Reports had it that the corps member was badly brutalised and subjected to humiliating and sexually degrading threats in an attack that exposed the excesses of such quasi-security outfits. Expectedly, the incident attracted wide condemnations as there didn’t appear any justification for the jungle justice on the poor lady.

    The embarrassing scene must have compelled the state government to wade into the matter. Initial reaction from Emeakayi was that the incident occurred during a joint security operation when operatives of Agunechemba pursued suspected cultists into a residential compound.

     According to him, the operatives were trailing some suspected cultists riding on motorcycles when they pursued them into a compound. In the process of searching the houses in line with their mandate, the unfortunate incident involving the corps member occurred.

    He however, admitted that while the security operatives were on a legitimate assignment, the manner they acted was not acceptable. He did not indicate the manner of their operation that was not acceptable to the state government. Neither can it be interpreted as a reference to the assault on the corps member. There must have been certain actions taken by the operatives in the course of the search that led to the unfortunate incident.

    The turn of events that led to the assault on the corps member to the extent of beating her mercilessly; tearing her dress and leaving her virtually naked remains foggy. Equally cloudy was the business the vigilante operatives had prying into phones and laptops of the corps members in a hot pursuit that ostensibly trailed fleeing cultists.

    What is not in doubt is that the operatives searched the phones and laptops of the corps members. Not with the admission by the state government that it replaced Jennifer’s damaged phone and laptop. That corroborates the narrative that the operatives accused the corps members of being internet fraudsters and took advantage of that to invade their privacy.

    Even then, Jennifer had in an interview at the weekend revealed how the operatives stormed their lodge, accusing them of involvement in internet and wire fraud. She said all attempts to explain to them they were youth service corps members including showing them valid identity cards fell on deaf ears.

    Rather, they manhandled them, grabbed their phones and laptops apparently in search of internet fraud evidence. So, the claim they were in hot pursuit of cultists fleeing on motorcycle collapsed irretrievably in the face of the new evidence from the victim.

    That raises question on the business of the vigilante group with the fight against financial and internet fraud. What is the business of such ad hoc and untrained security unit with the sophistication posed by financial and wire fraud?

    The dismissal of the erring operatives and the account of the incident by Jennifer have put a lie to the claim that they were pursuing cultists. Ironically, nothing was again heard of their encounter with the touted cultists. And if one may ask, were the suspected cultists riding on motorcycles males or females? In the unlikely situation that they were females, why did the security outfit beam its searchlight on the female corps member?

    All this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the operatives ran into trouble because of their insistence in searching the phones and laptops of the corps member for alleged involvement in internet fraud. Extortion and the desire to invade the privacy of the female corps members may have been behind that show of shame. It is inconceivable how the search and subsequent damage of phones and laptops will aid the unmasking of cultists.

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    Nonetheless, it is good a thing the Anambra State government moved quickly to fish out the culprits and has dismissed them from the services of the organisation. This should serve as a serious lesson to all those in similar positions that brazenly violate the rights of citizens without regard to due process and the rule of law.

    Perhaps, Jennifer’s case attracted prompt attention of the authorities because she is a youth corps member. Who knows the number of innocent citizens that have been so serially assaulted and harmed without attracting public notice? This is not the first time that the security outfit and others floated by state governments would be embroiled in human rights’ abuse controversy.

    Last February, their operation in Owerre-Ezukala, Orumba South LGA in which they claimed to have killed a good number of unknown gunmen and arrested others was marred by controversy. Villagers and relatives of three construction workers killed during the process and tagged unknown gunmen had staged serious protests proclaiming their innocence.

    The three consisting of a welder and tiler were said to be working in a church building when they were attacked and killed. Ironically, one of them was from Soludo’s hometown, Isuofia. A brother to the welder gave a chilling account of a scene depicting the Agunechemba security operatives celebrating the feat with a display of his brother’s welding equipment as evidence of his involvement in criminality. Allegations of indiscriminate arrests and extortion as bail conditions have also been freely traded against the outfit. But all these changed nothing.

    When Emeakayi said this singular incident marked a turning point in reforming the security outfit and restoring public confidence in it, he knows exactly what he was talking about. If it took the assault on the corps member for the state government to come to terms with that reality, so be it. That is by no means a vote of no confidence on the reasons behind the proliferation of such quasi security outfits in recent times.

    Agunechemba is not alone in the rising allegations of rights abuses and extra-judicial killings by quasi security outfits floated by state governments in the wake of the cascading insecurity across the country. Amnesty International documented several cases of human rights abuses by the Ebubeagu security operatives in Ebonyi and other states in the southeast.

    These include the killing of four persons and injuring of others in October 2021 at Amasiri community in Afikpo North LGA of Ebonyi State as well as accusations of its deployment to supress opposition.

    Its research also showed that Orlu, Orsu, Okigwe and ideato all in Imo State, were at some points under attacks by Ebubeagu operatives. The group was fingered in the killing of 14 youths in Awomama in the Oru East LGA of the state on July 2022. It has also been accused of suppressing opposition in the state.

    Agunechemba like others of its kind is a child of circumstance. It is borne out of the multi-dimensional insecurity across the country in the face of the inability of the conventional law enforcement agencies to effectively tame the monster. But their operations have been dogged by accusations of rights violation and extra-judicial killings.

    They post a record of largely ill-trained, ill-equipped and overzealous lot unable to rise to the exigencies of their sensitive offices. These manifest quite often in their constant resort to high-handedness and human rights violations as seen in the corps member’s ordeal.  If the state governments must continue to retain their services, they must upgrade the quality of their personnel and properly train them on rules of engagement in civilized and democratic setting.

    Ironically, their conduct has continued to create doubts on the propriety of the current agitations for state police.

  • Tunji Bello: Giving back

    Tunji Bello: Giving back

    It was a striking story that justifiably grabbed the headlines: the donation of a new auditorium to Lagos State University (LASU), Epe Campus. The giver, Tunji Bello, a former journalist, lawyer and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), may well have pictured the public applause before the event because the gift was indeed applaudable.

     Officially named the Olatunji-Bello Auditorium, the multipurpose facility is reported to have a capacity of more than 500 seats. The story indirectly began in 2011 when Bello was serving as Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment in the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration. That was the year he turned 50, and “had committed to instituting an annual prize in five disciplines, namely Law, Mass Communications, Social Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,” he said in his speech during the official unveiling of the facility.

    Ten years later, he wanted to do more to mark his 60th birthday in July 2021. At the time, he was Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources in the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration. He said “the idea of throwing a big party to mark the occasion was completely off the table.” His wife, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Vice Chancellor of LASU, had suggested “building something for LASU to mark my 60th birthday.” She had not become the VC then. She was appointed in September 2021.

    He eventually bought the idea, “after much reflection,” and imagined “an auditorium, truly befitting and fit for purpose.” However, the architect’s budget for the project “frightened” him and he was “filled with doubt as per the feasibility of going ahead.”

    Then he had a brainwave about how to actualise the project. He narrated: “After days of wrestling with the architect’s budget in my head, it suddenly occurred to me I could ask those going to buy me gifts for the 60th birthday to monetise such and hand me the cash to do something really dear to my heart.

    “It worked. A very wealthy friend and known businessman had wanted to surprise me with a brand- new Toyota Land-cruiser Jeep. I appealed to him to convert it to cash. With donations from other able friends and well-wishers, we got started in 2021.”

    Midway into the construction of the auditorium, unforeseen storms threatened to disrupt work. Bello said: “The toughest moment was late 2023 and early 2024 when the Naira went down, and inflation upset all previous calculations. It meant that the costs were almost tripled at the point of buying finishing materials.”

    The new challenges called for greater sacrifice. “To continue, I had to sell my property at Magodo estate to keep the workers on site in order that it may not become an abandoned project after three years of construction,” he revealed.  Selling his personal property, especially one in a high-value area like Magodo estate, elevated the donation to an investment in education

    This context about how an idea became a concrete reality reinforces the significance of Bello’s philanthropy. The journey from initial concept to a completed building, with all its challenges, highlights that Bello is not just a donor but a true project champion.

    The most remarkable detail is that he had to sell his personal property to ensure the project’s completion. This act transforms his philanthropy from an act of generosity to a profound personal sacrifice. It demonstrates a level of commitment that is rare and inspiring, and shows how far he was willing to go to prevent the project from becoming a failure.

    By seeing the project through all its phases, he ensured that the university received a fully functional, high-quality facility. This commitment guarantees that his contribution will serve students and the community for years to come, truly cementing his legacy. The completed auditorium will stand as a physical reminder of his dedication and serve as a venue for generations of learning and community events.

    In addition, he announced to the students that a communications company owned by one of his friends would provide “free Wi-Fi at the auditorium to enhance your learning experience”; and another’s management company would handle the maintenance of the auditorium and its facilities for a year before LASU authorities “assume full responsibilities.” 

    Interestingly, he mentioned three figures whom he regards as inspirational philanthropic models: his late father,  Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello, who, “in the early 1950s,”  donated a “vast tract of land” towards the building of Ansar Ud DeenCollege at Isolo in Lagos; his “late boss and mentor, Bashorun MKO Abiola, winner of June 12, Presidential Election, who, on a single day in the late 80s, announced an endowment for universities across Nigeria; and “our dear President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, on assumption of duties as governor in 1999, declared that all his salaries and allowances be donated to charities including orphanages. He had also about four years ago announced an endowment fund of one billion naira to this great university.” 

    Bello hoped the auditorium will inspire the students “to double your zeal to excel in your academic pursuit.” He declared that the donation was to express appreciation “to God Almighty for his grace and to my dear native Lagos State for the great opportunities given to me.”

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    He was “one of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s scholarship award as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan in the early 1980s,” he noted, adding that he later had the privilege “to serve in public office in various capacities.” He also served as a commissioner in the state under then governor Bola Tinubu, and was Secretary to the Lagos State Government in the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

    He argued that “Private individuals who really have the means should invest in public tertiary education to create more opportunities as prevalent in several developed countries.”

    What would Nigeria look like if its citizens, especially those who have financial power, appreciated the burden of blessing and the implications for social giving and social development? Socially purposeless wealth is a tragedy.

    It is popular to argue for speaking truth to power. What about speaking truth to the power of money? This should be built on the socially influenced and socially influential logic of giving back to society.  It suggests that demanding measurable social responsibility from the financially powerful is not necessarily inspired by a sense of entitlement; but there is a sense in which it is a social entitlement.  It does not need to be imposed because it is properly self-imposing. 

    The beauty of Tunji Bello’s giving is that it was driven more by a deep sense of social responsibility than the possible possession of surplus wealth. This is a compelling story of imagination, conviction, faith, determination and resilience.

  • Governor Eno scores for albinos

    Governor Eno scores for albinos

    Governor Umo Eno did something that touched my heart and that of anyone who understands the power of connection and humility.

    He devoted an occasion to associate with albinos.

     He gave them donations, and used his platform as the state’s first citizen to evangelise empathy.

    The governor told his audience how he was mocked as a child because of his looks, and when he was running for governor, some insensitive souls balked at the prospect of an albino governor.

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     The Bible says, call not a person common that God supports, and that is the eternal testimony of the chief executive of Akwa Ibom State.

     He tickled the audience when he said his wife responded to the mockers by calling him “my golden boy.”

    He did not only give them gifts, he embraced the boys and girls, as well as the grownups. They will never forget the moment. They know that albinism is no handicap. The last time a governor exemplified this public trait was when former Nasarawa governor Tanko Al-Makura joined a parade of handicapped persons in Abuja.

     During the French Revolution, Abbe Sieyes quipped, “power from above, confidence from the below.” Such humble gestures fulfill such a line.

  • Two acts, Two Olatunjis

    Two acts, Two Olatunjis

    Two great developments happened last week, and they serve as beacons of large hearts in an age of greed. The first was the donation of a magnificent auditorium to the Lagos State University (LASU) by friend and brother Olatunji Bello, current CEO of the FCCPC. The other is a donation of a house to the Kogi State University by Olatunji Dare, well-known columnist and professor of Journalism.

    I attended the event of Bello’s donation, and in attendance were well-known dignitaries.

    Enter the BOS of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Enter his deputy, Femi Hamzat. Enter Aremo Segun Osoba, and many dignitaries.

    These two efforts were not just a show of love. they demonstrate that to give is better than to get, and the former makes sense only in the latter.

    Bello, a former editor, columnist and three-time commissioner and secretary to government in Lagos State, exemplifies what many lack who occupy public office: the meaning of giving. For many office holders, to give is to “dash” money and ignite the vanity of the man of power.  For Bello, he is giving as legacy. His wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, is the vice chancellor of a school that has grown under her watch to be a top-ranked institution and the most subscribed not only in Nigeria but on the sub-continent.

    The hall, an over 500-seater, is a modern edifice with tech bells and whistles, and should give the students a reason to ponder. Located in Epe, the place was corralled by the Nigerian army and made a wanton with their power and distorted glory, and former head of state General Sani Abacha was commander.

     The locals resisted them and uprooted them as nauseating neighbours.

    Today, it has moved from ragtag to renaissance, brute to beauty, which is the essence of learning

    Poet John Keats calls it truth is beauty. Bello started it also as a homage to his late father, and it was a testimony to how we can change thing with just a little thought.

     I recall a line an American trainer taught us in Concord Press about writing a lead sentence, and referred to a story of how a house gets its first brick.

     He crooned: “In the beginning there was nothing.” So, it was before Bello said, let there be an auditorium and we have a monument of the mind.

    Professor Dare has a similar story, only this time it is a tribute to his late mother. He started the idea years ago, and informed the university top brass including the ebullient Professor Olu Obafemi.

     The house is located in Kabba, and that is where he hails from in Kogi State. Dare, a role model in the media and self-effacing exemplar of fine prose, was not even present at the event, but local worthies, the cream of the community and university including Professor Obafemi, materialized for him.

    Theirs contradict what a Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of COZA said about Christ Apostolic Church Founder. That he had anointing but was poor.

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    Such an irresponsible drivel from a so-called man of God.

    He apologised, though without contrition. His ilk who populate the Pentecostal brand have raised money over values.

     Their followers deceive themselves they love God, but it is money over the holy of holies.

     Hear Jeremiah: “Let the rich man not glory in his riches.” Christ asked a rich man to sell his wealth to the poor. How many times have you heard that in the churches?

    What a coincidence. Two top media names, though of different generations, have bestowed grace to education.

     In an absorbing novel, The Safekeep  by Yael van der Wouden that won the women’s prize for Literature, the Dutch author makes the point that a house is not just a house, but a memory, a history, a hope and a striving.

    It is my hope that the students and faculty will make these two gems into fuel for progress.

     As Euripides wrote: “Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead forever.”

     These two are legacies forever.

  • Men as shadows

    Men as shadows

    The phrase litmus test is often abused. But no time in this republic have so much stakes attended by-elections like the one we witnessed last week. The trigger was not the PDP, but a sense of euphoric illusion by the new party in town.

     New in guise. ADC, we are told, has been refurbished. A new set of bigwigs strode in and raped it.

    The deflowered party, though stooping from waist wounds, turned a limp into a swagger, and boasted it was going to fell a giant in a wrestling match.

    Well, the battle is over, and it was an anticlimax for being a shellacking.

     “Anticipation,” wrote Samuel Coleridge, “is more potent than surprise.”

    We sought them. We found them not. We cannot say how are the mighty fallen because the Lilliputians  did not rise.

     Jonathan Swift, the English satirist, wrote in his famous classics about moral pigmies.

    In the by-elections, we saw them as though we saw them not. Not in the places where they made a boast. Not Zamfara, Kaduna, Taraba, Kano, and not even in the east except in a skewed story of a moral Lilliputian. Not anywhere.

    By-elections are mock exams, foreshadows of the big battle ahead. It is the people’s pulse, two years after their chiefdoms are hailed. It is often a chance to bait and switch from the president and governors, or to hail them.

    So, we saw that Pitobi urged his supporters to shun Labour Party, which is and is not his home to ADC that will and will not be his home.

     In Kaduna State, former governor and now pigmy in the state Malam El-Rufai mobilized his  ADC supporters , and he could not even deliver his ward. He was warded off.

    More important, it is a sign that the social media, and to great extent, the mainline media may need to do more work to understand the pulse of the grassroots.

    There were a number of messages. The Taraba story and Southern Kaduna twist have upended Muslim-Muslim hysteria.

     In medicine, doctors use virus to kill virus. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is an antidote to bigotry. So, it is a Nigerian-Nigerian ticket as this essayist advanced during the tempestuous campaigns.

    For El-Rufai, and the rodents of the social media, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna may have given us the quote of the year: that there are no polling units on Twitter and Facebook.

     Voters do not ululate or gyrate on TikTok, or Instagram. It shows that political engineering is paying more dividends than pundits and their hirelings are ready to admit. It also demonstrates that, for all the hardships in the land, there is a growing understanding that the nation is largely at one with President Bola Tinubu’s approach and philosophy.

    Media pundits have decided to look the other way, and pretend the elections did not happen. The cry of rigging by some is passe and self-serving. We did not see any rumination from the errant tongue of Obi, nor a dance from ADC Southwest alawada man. Neither is El-Rufai, so quick to act the philosopher, sighted in public. The Adamawa chieftain still chafing from his disrobing from honour has said he is no more desperate. We’ll see.

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    In Zamfara State, where many know to be flashpoints of bandit violence, the party in office still prevailed. The fight against the hoodlums will not go away in short order, but the leadership of Nuhu Ribadu is bearing fruits.

     Gone Ansaru leaders. Away with many a big-name gang leader. Peace comes in small doses, and they are coming. If the social media does not see it, the people who voted did. Governor Sani’s Kaduna victory combines empathy with transformational work in schools, roads, industry, commerce and financial engineering.

    Bago made the enemies bang in Niger State. Okpebholo has turned Edo, for all Obi’s outcries, into fortress APC.

    We cannot underplay the power of governors, as they delivered. Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, the boom of Anambra orchestra, can boast of his party APGA’s first senator in Anambra South. But for Taraba, Kano and Adamawa states, all governors delivered. APC victories in those states are not only plus for religious embrace, but also indication of APC’s growing strength.

    If anything, it is a challenge for the other parties, including the PDP that played bridesmaid in most of the polls, except in Oyo State, to wake out of its torpor.

     But the news of its inability to decide on zoning only emphasizes why it continues to wobble.

     Governor Seyi Makinde, however, evinced his hold on the state last week.

    ADC recalls a story in the Bible of a soldiers on a mountain. The scriptures described them as shadows as men. That is Atiku, El-Rufai, et al. But men as shadows will strike before you know it.

    ADC confirmed it has big names but small power. They are like bubbling froths on a bowl of water but nothing beneath.  As Sunny Ade croon, e simi ariwo – stop the noise.